PM Modi conferred the Times Now Amazing Indians Awards 2016
15-JAN-2016
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 14 January 2016 conferred the Times Now Amazing Indians Awards 2016 to all the awardees.
The awards were given by Times Now in recognition of extraordinary achievers, ordinary people whose work shaped many lives
List of Awardees
|
Name |
Category |
Achievement |
|
Late Kallen Pokkudan |
The Eco Saviours |
Known as Mangrove Man of India for preserving the wetlands and the eco system was what he lived for |
|
S Ramakrishnan |
Unstoppable Indians |
for work done for welfare of people with physical & mental impairments |
|
Sunita Aralikar |
Stree Shakthi |
for her work championing cause of women empowerment, girl child adoption |
|
Popatrao Pawar |
The Grass Roots Soldiers |
He has brought along wing of change in his village hiware bazaar in Maharashtra by being a Sarpanch. |
|
Timothy |
Indian at Heart |
Dedicated to find shelter for homeless kids |
|
Chintakindi Mallesham |
Incredible Innovators |
Devised the electronic laxmi ASU Machine to put an end to agony of weavers |
|
Malavath Poorna |
Young Indians, Big Achievements |
She became the youngest female (13 Years) climber in the world to scale Mt. Everest |
|
Damini Sen |
Young Indians, Big Achievements |
Born without Arms in Raipur and holds a world record of largest number of drawing made by Toes in an hour. |
|
Murugan S |
Ordinary Indians,Extraordinary Achievement |
For rescuing and rehabilitating thousands of street children by being an auto rickshaw driver. |
|
Mathews K Mathew |
Energising India |
For devising a solar mosquito trapper cum destroyer to Mosquitoes. |
|
Yashraj Khaitan |
Global Indians |
An alumnus of university of Berkeley, he returned to India to address the challenges of power supply in the remote corners of the country. |
|
Ruma Roka |
Educators of India |
A teacher, Mentor & an interpreter who is breaking the language barrier and proving the hearing impaired can also learn and grow |
Kamal Haasan & Gautam Ghosh included in Shyam Benegal Committee on functioning of CBFC
15-JAN-2016
Eminent film personalities Kamal Hassan and Gautam Ghosh were on 14 January 2016 included in the Shyam Benegal Committee on functioning of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
The inclusion was done to give representation to more regions of the country and on the recommendation of the existing four members committee.
Earlier, on 1 January 2016, the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry set up the panel under the chairmanship of Shyam Benegal to review the provisions of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and recommend measures for the smooth run of CBFC.
The Other four members who are already in the Committee
• Shyam Benegal-Chairman
• Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra,
• Piyush Pandey
• Bhawana Somayaa
SBI launched India’s first start-up focused bank branch SBI InCube
15-JAN-2016
India’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), on 14 January 2016 launched and inaugurated India’s first start-up focused bank branch called SBI InCube in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The specialized branch aims to understand and address banking needs of a Start-up Business.
The bank also launched the wealth management service SBI Exclusif, which is targeted at the fast-growing affluent segment in the country.
About SBI InCube
• The SBI InCube branch will work towards fulfilling the specific financial needs of the start-ups.
• The service will provide advisory services to the budding entrepreneurs under one roof.
• It will assist start-ups in cash management, regulations, taxation, mentoring, foreign exchange and remittances and other financial services.
• The branch, in its current form, will not fund start-ups i.e. it will not provide loans. However, it will give them loans when they turn more mature.
• InCube branch in Bengaluru will be headed by an assistant general manager and a team of three other officers.
• SBI will soon launch InCube branches in Pune and National Capital Region (NCR).
DRDO successfully test-fired anti-tank missile Nag in Rajasthan
15-JAN-2016
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in the second week of January 2016 successfully test-fired Nag anti-tank missile at the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan.
The test was conducted during a night trial to validate the enhanced 4-km range capability of Imaging-Infrared seeker, which guides the missile to the target after its launch.
During the test, the Thermal Target System (TTS) was used as target for the missile. The TTS simulated a target similar to an operational tank as thermal mapping from tank to TTS was carried out for generating thermal signature.
Features of Nag missile
• It is a third generation fire-and-forget and can be fired anti-tank missile. It can be fired during night and day as well.
• It is equipped with top attack capability to nullify the explosive reactive armour (ERA) of a battle tank.
• It weighs 42kg having 1.90m length and can be fired against both moving and fixed targets.
• Besides HeliNa, a helicopter versrion, it has land, air-launched and man portable (weighing 14 kg) versions.
• To carry the land version, DRDO developed the NAMICA (Nag Missile Carrier) for the army.
• While the land version can hit targets in the range between 500m to 4km, the range of air-launched version is between 7 and 10 km. It can carry a war head weighing up to 8kg.
• It has been developed at a cost of 300 crore rupees by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).
• Once inducted in the Armed Forces, the HeliNa missile will be integrated with the weaponised version of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv, the light combat helicopter produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).
Muslim Personal Law Board spokesman Mohammed Abdul Rahim Qureshi died
15-JAN-2016
Mohammed Abdul Rahim Qureshi, Assistant General Secretary and Spokesman of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), died of a cardiac arrest on 15 January 2016 in Hyderabad, Telangana. He was 81.
Qureshi was also the president of progressive cultural organisation,Tameer-e-Millat, which was founded in 1980.
Tameer-e-Millat works in the field of educational and professional empowerment among Muslims. He had headed the group for over two decades.
The Islamic scholar held a B.Sc. degree in Mathematics. He was also a law graduate from Osmania University.
Qureshi had been a member of AIMPLB since 1971.
Union Government signed a loan agreement with World Bank for Neeranchal National Watershed Project
15-JAN-2016
Union Government on 14 January 2016 signed a loan agreement with World Bank in New Delhi for the Neeranchal National Watershed Project.
All 28 states which implement the watershed projects will benefit from this project. However, the nine states, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujrat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana will benefit more from the project as they are implementation of large number of watershed schemes in their states.
Features of Neeranchal National Watershed Project
• The project was approved by the Union Cabinet in October 2015with a total budget of 2142 crore rupees in which India would bear 1071 crore rupees and the rest 50 percent cost will be borne by the World Bank.
• It will be implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development over a six-year period (2016-21).
• It will support the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana in hydrology and water management, agricultural production systems, capacity building and monitoring and evaluation.
• Around 12 percent of the area of wasteland will be targeted through this project to make about 336 lakh hectares of land arable.
• The Minister said that the effective implementation of the scheme will go a long way in strengthening the economic conditions of the farming community.
WHO declared end of Ebola outbreak in West Africa
15-JAN-2016
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on 14 January 2016 declared West Africa free from Ebola outbreak. The decision was taken by the WHO as all known chains of transmission have been stopped in Liberia, which was worst affected among all the nations in the region.
The declaration came 42 days (two 21-day incubation cycles of the virus) after the last confirmed patient in Liberia tested negative for the disease 2 times.
Since its outbreak in December 2013 in the region, Liberia was worst hit as it killed 4809 people in the country. And, the region as a whole saw around 11000 deaths due to the outbreak.
Apart from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea were the other two most affected nations in the region. They were declared Ebola free in November 2015 and December 2015 respectively.
In the case of Liberia, the country was first declared free of Ebola transmission in May 2015, but the virus was re-introduced twice since then, with the latest flare-up in November.
Marat Safin inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame
15-JAN-2016
The Russian Tennis Federation on 14 January 2016 announced that former World No.1 tennis player Marat Safin joined the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
The official ceremony to induct Safin has been scheduled for 16 July 2016.
The Russian tennis player was announced as a candidate for the induction into the Hall of Fame in October 2015 together with Belgium's Justine Henin, a former women's singles No.1 and seven-time major champion, and Helena Sukova from the Czech Republic, who won 14 major titles in doubles and mixed doubles.
Who is Marat Safin?
• Marat Safin began his professional career in 1997.
• He held the No. 1 world ranking for a total of 9 weeks between November 2000 and April 2001.
• He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2000 US Open after defeating Pete Sampras.
• He won the 2005 Australian Open, defeating Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the final.
• He helped lead Russia to Davis Cup victories in 2002 and 2006.
• He became the first Russian man to reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships.
About International Tennis Hall of Fame
• The International Tennis Hall of Fame honours players and contributors to the sport of tennis.
• The hall of fame and museum are located in the Newport Casino, which was commissioned in 1880 by James Gordon Bennett, Jr. as an exclusive resort for the rich and wealthy.
• The first Hall of Fame members in the International Tennis Hall of Fame were inducted in 1955.
• Martina Hingis became the first Global Ambassador for the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2015.
Lagaan actor Rajesh Vivek Upadhyay died
15-JAN-2016
Bollywood actor Rajesh Vivek Upadhyay died on 14 January 2016 due to a heart attack in Hyderabad. He was 66.
Rajesh was mainly known for his roles in films like Lagaan and Swades.
About Rajesh Vivek
• Born on 31 January 1949, Rajesh Vivek was best known for his role of the astrologer Guran in Lagaan and as the Postman/Postmaster inSwades.
• He was first introduced in film Junoon, which was directed by Shyam Benegal.
• He had also played role of Veda Vyasa, author of the Mahabharata in the popular TV series Mahabharat.
• He made his mark as a villain in the beginning with films like Veeranaand Joshilay.
• He is also noted for his roles in the historic TV series Bharat Ek Khoj.
• His best acting was seen in the TV Serial Aghori which is his horror best.
Nepal formed 4-member EPG to review agreements with India
15-JAN-2016
Government of Nepal on 14 January 2016 formed a 4-member eminent persons group (EPG) to look into India-Nepal ties in totality and review all bilateral treaties with India. A decision in this regard was approved by the Cabinet at a meeting headed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
Terms of reference of the EPG
• The group will review the entire gamut of bilateral treaties including the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which has been the basis of bilateral relations for the last 65 years.
• It will hold interactions with various stakeholders and suggest measures to be taken to review or adjust or replace all bilateral treaties.
• Before finalising its recommendations, it will visit both sides for necessary consultations and study.
• The group will submit the recommendations to the respective foreign secretaries of Nepal and India.
The Nepal Government also sanctioned 1 million US dollars to run the secretariat of the EPG.
Members of the EPG
• Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, a former diplomat
• Surya Nath Uphadhyay, a former top bureaucrat
• Rajan Bhattarai, a CPN-UML parliamentarian
• Kul Chandra Gautam, former UN assistant secretary-general
Background
The committee was formed in accordance with a decision taken at the third Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) of Nepal and India that was held in Kathmandu in July 2014.
The JCM decided to form EPGs with four members on each side at the request of Nepal. Each EPG will have an eminent parliamentarian, a lawyer, an economist and a civil society leader.
3rd revised edition of the book titled Objective Railway Engineering-Track, Works & Others released
15-JAN-2016
Objective Railway Engineering- Track, Works & Others: MM Agarwal
The Minister of State (MoS) for Railways Manoj Sinha released a book titled Objective Railway Engineering-Track, Works & Others on 14 January 2016 in New Delhi. It was authored by a well known Civil Engineer MM Agarwal.
Features of the Book
• This is the 3rd revised and enlarged edition of the book, which contains 37 updated chapters which cover the entire spectrum of Railway Engineering.
• It was originally written in 2007. The book has since then been revised two times to include the latest technical developments in the track taking place on Railway around the world with special reference to Indian Railways.
• The book is designed for all professionals of Railway, whether in the field or in the office. It covers almost all aspects of Civil Engineering which are track, bridges, works & allied subjects like S & T, rolling stock, estimations & finance matters etc.
• This book is verywell patronized by all Railway Engineers / professionals in their daily work and used as referral book for all problems on all aspects of Railway Engineering.
• The latest edition of the book gives details about High Speed Railway, Dedicated Freight Corridors, Metro Railway, Track Management System & all other new developments taking place on Indian Railways along with the existing details about Track Standards, Track maintenance, Track Modernization, Railway Works Engineering, Bridge Engineering & Modern Signaling Techniques.
• Many new features like Steel Channel Sleepers, Fan Shaped Concrete Sleepers & their laying, latest track machines like Dynamic Tamping Express and 09-4 X Tamping Machines are added in this revised edition.
About MM Agarwal
• He is a well known Civil Engineer and author.
• He served Indian Railways for 33 years and retired from the post of Chief Engineer.
• He wrote seven books on various aspects of Railway Engineering in the past 40 years and they are getting updated regularly.
• Those books are Indian Railway Track - Design, Construction and Maintenance, Railway Works Engineering - Design, Construction and Maintenance, Indian Railway Safety-Ultimate Goal to prevent Railway Accidents, Railway Engineering, Rail Path Parchiya (Hindi)and Nirman & PUL Engineering (Hindi).
• Government of India conferred him with National Award (Railway Minister’s Prize & Award) for special work done on track modernisation on Indian Railways in 1973, President’s Award, Indira Gandhi Rajbhasa Award by for the best original book written for engineering professionals in 1993 and Award by Railway Board for best professional book for Railway technical staff in 2005.
Union Government sanctioned 791 crore rupees under NDRF for drought affected Telangana
15-JAN-2016
The High Level Committee (HLC) of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on 14 January 2016 sanctioned 791 crore rupees to the drought affected Telangana.
A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the HLC. The meeting was attended by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Union Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh.
The committee took the decision after the examination of the proposal based on the report of the Central Team that visited the state.
Earlier, the Central Team visited the state as the Government of Telangana on 25 November 2015 declared 231 mandals (blocks) as drought hit.
Harry Potter actor Alan Rickman passed away
15-JAN-2016
Actor Alan Rickman, known for films including Harry Potter, Die Hardand Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, died of cancer on 14 January 2016 in London, England. He was 69.
One of the best-loved and most warmly admired British actors of the past three decades, Rickman gained wider notice for his film performances as Hans Gruber in Die Hard and Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film series.
About Alan Rickman
• Born on 21 February 1946 in Acton, London, Rickman was known for playing a variety of roles on stage and screen.
• His first big break was as the Vicomte de Valmont in the stage production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses in 1985, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award.
• He played romantic leads like Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility and Jamie in Truly, Madly, Deeply. However, he often was praised for playing roles of numerous villains in Hollywood big-budget films, like German terrorist Hans Gruber in Die Hard and the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
• In 1995, he earned a Golden Globe Award, an Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of the title character inRasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny.
• He won a BAFTA Award for his role in Robin Hood.
Madhya Pradesh Government signed four MoUs with Singapore
15-JAN-2016
Madhya Pradesh (MP) Government on 14 January 2016 signed four MOUs with Singapore to collaborate in urban planning, skill development, clean energy and food processing.
The MoUs were signed in Singapore in the presence of MP Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan, who was on four day visit from 12 January 2016
Feature of four MoUs
• The MoU on setting up 1000 megawatt wind energy plant in western part of the state was signed between the Department of New & Renewable Energy and Singapore corporation unit, Sembcorp Green Infra Ltd. It was the biggest of the investment proposals.
• The MoU covering urban planning was signed between the Directorate of Town & Country Planning and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise,
• The MoU on capacity building and skill training was signed between the Department of Technical Education and Skill Development and ITE Education Services of Singapore
• The MoU covering food processing was signed between India’s LT Food Ltd and Singapore-based DSM Nutritional Products.
Earlier, Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan was awarded with Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellowship for his contribution in development and international harmony. It was by awarded Fellowship Chairman Mr. Eddie Teo in Singapore on 13 January 2016.
He is the fourth Indian to receive this fellowship. Previously, former vice-chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former union minister for investments Arun Shourie and chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh Chandra Babu Naidu had received this fellowship.
Ronaldinho announced as Brand Ambassador of Nagjee International Club Football Tournament
15-JAN-2016
The former Barcelona and AC Milan player Ronaldinho on 11 January 2016 was announced as the Brand Ambassador of the Nagjee International Club Football Tournament. The tournament will be held at the Corporation Stadium in Kozhikode, Kerala from 5 February 2016 to 21 February 2016.
The legendary footballer was a part of Brazil's 2002 World Cup winning squad and played an important role in the world's biggest sporting extravaganza.
About Nagjee International Club Football Tournament
• The Kozhikode District Football Association and Mondial Sports Management LLP joined hands to resume and revive the Sait Nagjee Trophy after a 21-year gap.
• Sait Nagjee Trophy was a premier football tournament in India and an event that was very popular in Kerala. However, it will be renamed and re-launched as the Nagjee International Club Football Tournament.
• The tournament will be inaugurated at the historic Kozhikode Corporation EMS Stadium, where it was initially started in 1952.
• It will see seven famed teams from across Europe and South America participate along with an Indian club team.
• The participating teams include Argentina's U-23 team, Premier League outfit Watford's U-23 team, La Liga side Levante's U-23 team, Atletico Paranaense's U-23 team from Brazil, German team TSV 1860 Munchen's U-23 side, Romania’s Rapid Bucharest's first team, Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin's U-23 team and an I-League team.
• It is the first time that top European and Latin American clubs are coming to India for a tournament
India saved 1 billion US dollars annually using Aadhaar: World Bank
16-JAN-2016
The World Bank on 14 January 2016 announced that India saved 1 billion US dollars annually by using Aadhaar. It was revealed in the bank’s publication World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends that was released in Washington DC, the USA.
As per the report, transfer of fuel subsidy to bank accounts using the Aadhaar-based Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) saved about 1 billion per year when applied throughout the country on account of reduced leakage and efficient gains.
The report further estimated that the DBT has the potential to save over 11 billion US dollars per year in government expenditure if the scheme is expanded to other subsidy programmes.
Findings of the report with respect to India
• China has the largest number of internet users, followed by the United States, with India, Japan, and Brazil filling out the top five.
• A digital identification system such as India’s Aadhaar, by overcoming complex information problems, helps willing governments to promote the inclusion of disadvantaged groups.
• In India, there are an estimated 1.063 billion population are offline.
• Nearly 900 million Indians have been issued digital IDs in the past fi ve years, which they are using to open bank accounts, monitor attendance of civil servants, and identify recipients of government subsidies.
• Digital governance played a role in improving public sector capability. For example, e-procurement helped in injecting more competition into the process by increasing the probability that the winning bidder comes from outside the project’s region.
World Bank released report titled World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends
16-JAN-2016
The World Bank on 14 January 2016 released a report titled World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends in Washington DC, the USA.
The report explored the impact of the internet, mobile phones, and related technologies on economic development across the world including India.
Further, it concluded that potential gains from digital technologies are high, but often remain unrealized and proposed policies to expand connectivity, accelerate complementary reforms in sectors beyond information and communication technology (ICT), and address global coordination problems.
In relation to India, the authors of the report that included Kaushik Basu, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of World Bank appreciated the Aadhaar scheme as it saved 1 billion US dollars by bringing down corruption.
Highlights of the report
• The world’s offline population is mainly in India and China, but more than 120 million people are still offline in North America and the digital divide within countries can be as high as that between countries.
• Worldwide, nearly 21 percent of households in the bottom 40 percent of their countries’ income distribution don’t have access to a mobile phone, and 71 percent don’t have access to the internet.
• The increased connectivity has had limited effect in reducing information inequality. For example, there are more contributions to Wikipedia from Hong Kong, China, than from all of Africa combined, despite the fact that Africa has 50 times more internet users.
• Digital technologies, apart from resulting in economic benefits, influenced the participation of women in the labor force, the ease of communication for people with disabilities, and the way people spend their leisure.
• By overcoming information barriers, augmenting factors, and transforming products, digital technologies can make development more inclusive, efficient, and innovative.
• Problem areas: Digital dividends are not spreading rapidly as nearly 60 percent of the world’s people are still offline and can’t fully participate in the digital economy.
• There also are persistent digital divides across gender, geography, age, and income dimensions within each country.
• Some of the perceived benefits of the internet are being neutralized by new risks like vested business interests, regulatory uncertainty, and limited contestation across digital platforms that could lead to harmful concentration in many sectors.
• Quickly expanding automation, even of mid-level office jobs, could contribute to a hollowing out of labor markets and to rising inequality.
• It also cautioned that the poor record of many e-government initiatives points to high failure of ICT projects and the risk that states and corporations could use digital technologies to control citizens, not to empower them.
• Mitigation strategies: Connectivity is vital, but not enough to realize the full development benefits. Digital investments need the support of analog complements like regulations, skills and institutions.
• Regulations are needed which help firms in leveraging the internet to compete and innovate. Improved skills will help people take full advantage of digital opportunities. And, Accountable institutions will ensure governments respond to citizens’ needs and demands.
• Market competition, public-private partnerships and effective regulation of internet and mobile operators encourage private investment that can make access universal and affordable. Public investment will sometimes be necessary and justified by large social returns.
• A harder task will be to ensure that the internet remains open and safe as users face cybercrime, privacy violations, and online censorship.
• Conclusion: The report suggested that Digital development strategies need to be broader than ICT strategies. It cautioned that when the analog complements are absent, the development impact will be disappointing.
• But when countries build a strong analog foundation, they will reap ample digital dividends—in faster growth, more jobs, and better services.
68th Army Day celebrated on 15 January
16-JAN-2016
India on 15 January 2016 celebrated the 68th Army Day. Annually, the day is celebrated to commemorate the day, when Lieutenant General (later Field Marshal) K M Cariappa became the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army in post independence period.
He took over the command of Army from General Sir FRR Bucher, the last British Commander-in-Chief on 15 January 1949.
To mark the occasion, General Dalbir Singh, Chief of the Army Staff reviewed the Parade at Army Parade Ground, Delhi Cantonment.
He also awarded fifteen Sena Medals (including five posthumously) for individual acts of Gallantry and thirteen COAS Unit Citations for commendable performance of their respective units.
Dr Jancy James selected for Prof MV Pylee Award for the Distinguished Academician of India
16-JAN-2016
Dr Jancy James, the first woman Vice Chancellor of Kerala, was on 15 January 2016 selected for the Prof MV Pylee Award for the Distinguished Academician of India.
The award was instituted by Cochin University of Science and Technology in the name of MV Pylee. He is an Indian scholar, educationist and management guru and widely regarded as the father of management education in Kerala.
The award is given for excellence in teaching and research and contribution to academic community. It carries an amount of 1 lakh rupees and a citation.
About Dr Jancy James
• She is an established author, literary critic, researcher and translator.
• She is the former Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University and founder Vice Chancellor of Central University of Kerala.
• She served as member of Kendra Sahitya Akademi and as the National President of the Comparative Literature Association of India.
• She is a post-doctoral Commonwealth Fellow in University of Warwick, UK and also worked as a Faculty Research Fellow in Toronto University, Canada.
• She was a member of the Indian delegation at the Indo-US Higher Education Summit at Washington under the Obama-Singh Initiative in 2011.
India and Japan conducted joint Coast Guard exercise Sahyog-Kaijin 2016
16-JAN-2016
The Coast Guards of India and Japan on 15 January 2016 conducted their 15th joint exercise off the coast of Chennai.
India’s Coast Guard vessel Samudra Pehredar and the Japanese vessel Echigo were berthed at Chennai Port for the bilateral training called Sahyog-Kaijin 2016.
The highlight of the joint exercise was anti-piracy. However, search and rescue operations and interoperability between the two forces was also given emphasis.
The exercise also involved Indian coast guard ships like Rajkamal, Vishwast, Rajtarang, Hovercraft, C-415, C-417, one Dornier and one Chetak helicopter.
About Sahayog-Kaijin
• The Sahayog-Kaijin is a bilateral exercise, which is a part of the cooperative arrangements between two Coast Guards for the last 15 years.
• The exercise is also a part of the Memorandum on Cooperation, which was signed between India and Japan in 2006.
• It is a biennial bilateral exercise and the venue shifts in both countries on alternate occasions.
Delhi-based writer Ankita Anand won the Lorenzo Natali Media Prize for work on Khap panchayats
16-JAN-2016
An independent Delhi-based writer Ankita Anand on 14 January 2016 won the European Commission's prestigiousLorenzo Natali Media Prize for 2015 in Asia and the Pacific amateur category.
She earned the award for her sensitive portrayal of life for young women facing the threat of the diktat of khap panchayats in Haryana with the title Stirrings beneath the peepul published in the journal The Equator Linel.
Arison Tamfu, an editor for the Cameroon Journal, won the Lorenzo Natali Grand Prize for a critical investigative report on how UN Climate change negotiations that are calling on nations to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy are going to affect the development of African communities living where the resources are found with the titleAfrica’s billions might be buried forever.
About The Lorenzo Natali Media Prize
• It is organized by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development since 1992.
• It is awarded to journalists for outstanding reporting on development and poverty eradication.
• The Prize is divided into two distinct categories: amateur and professional journalism. An independent jury will identify one winner per category and per region.
• The Regions are Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe.
• Each winner of the prize will be granted 5000 Euros.
• The Lorenzo Natali Grand Prize of an additional 5000 Euros will be awarded to one of the winners.
About Ankita Anand
• She holds a Master’s Degree in English Literature from Miranda House of Delhi University.
• She is an independent writer.
• Earlier, she worked as secretary for the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, a copy editor for Penguin Books India, and as a coordinator for the India Habitat Centre’s Indian Languages’ Festival.
• She is also the co-founder of Aatish, a street theatre group that produces plays on socio-political issues, and a member of the People’s Union for Democratic Rights.