LA Law actor Larry Drake passed away
19-MAR-2016
Emmy Award winning actor Larry Drake, who famously played Bennyon L.A. Law, died on 17 March 2016 in Hollywood, California. He was 66.
Drake was best known for his portrayal of developmentally disabledBenny Stulwicz on the television show L.A. Law from 1987 until the show's end in 1994. He returned to the part of Benny in L.A. Law: The Movie that aired on NBC in 2002.
Drake had also provided the voice acting for Pops on Johnny Bravo.
The actor won two consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor for L.A. Law in 1988 and 1989.
Goa State Budget 2016-17 presented
19-MAR-2016
Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar holding the Finance portfolio on 16 March 2016 presented a 158 crore rupees revenue surplus budget in the State assembly. The total size of the budget for 2016-17 is 14694 crore rupees.
This is 9 percent higher compared with the 2015-16 figures. This is the first time in four years that the state increased the VAT on motor spirits by 7 percent.
The budget focuses on increasing all round allocations especially on social welfare, education, health and infrastructure apart from agriculture, horticulture, floriculture and fisheries.
The State achieved highest per capita income of 257490 rupees in the country during 2015-16. The State GDP achieved 10 percent growth rate with a GSDP of 60893 crore rupees.
The fiscal deficit was kept at 2.4 percent, well below the limit of 3 percent. The government borrowing ratio is also within the stipulated limit.
He also announced that Coconut trees will now be brought under the agriculture department instead of the forests department with a provision for mandatory permission for cutting any coconut tree.
Key Highlights of Goa Budget 2016-17:
• VAT on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) was increased to 18 percent from 12.5 percent
• Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol was increased to 22 percent from 15 percent
• Coconut trees will now be brought under the agriculture department instead of the forests department with a provision for mandatory permission for cutting any coconut tree.
• VAT as well as tax on entry of goods in respect of regasified liquefied natural gas used by the industry was increased from the existing 20 percent to 30 percent
• Goa Staff Selection Commission will be constituted for selection of candidates for appointments to the subordinate services, i.e. all non-gazetted posts in the Government organization as well as autonomous bodies and semi Government organizations.
• Two Offices of Deputy Collector will be established at Sattari and Sanguem respectively.
• Single window system will be created by integrating all services related to land matters, so that people buying land will not have to undergo various procedures.
• Digital Locker Integration will be created in line with Digital India Initiative of the Union Government wherein people will not have to submit required documents repeatedly for availing any certificate or service.
• The state government will increase the age limit for government job aspirants from 40 to 45 years.
• A full-fledged Coconut Development Board would be put in place headed by Coconut Farmer or an expert. It would be mandatory to seek NOC from the agriculture department to cut coconut trees.
• The government also announced the enhancement of support price for Coconut increased from 8 rupees to 10 rupees per coconut.
• IFFI-Secretariat will be developed on Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis with a token provision of amount of 1 crore rupees.
• With a seed capital funding of up to 50 Lakh rupees for start-up, the government will target 100 such start ups and invest through Investment Promotion Board (IPB).
• The luxury tax on hotel stay is reduced from 60 percent to 25 percent during off season between June and September.
• Entry fee for Casinos has been enhanced from of 700 to 1000 rupees per person.
• Necessary amendments will be made to remove Feni from ‘Liquor’ category and place it as a Heritage drink, since it has medicinal and other values. The state will reduce 5 percent of VAT on Feni to support local producers.
Ministry of Railways and ISRO signed
MoU for Remote Sensing and GIS
Technologies
19-MAR-2016
The Ministry of Railways and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 17 March 2016 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding Effective Use of Space Technology in Remote Sensing and Graphic Information System (GIS) based Governance Applicationfor Indian Railways.
The MoU was signed by Shobhan Chaudhuri, Railway Board Executive Director (Telecom Development), on behalf of Railways and Dr. P.G. Diwakar, Deputy Director, on behalf of ISRO.
The MoU aims for developing applications in the field of remote sensing and GIS for remote sensing at unmanned railway crossing including, all geospatial solutions and customized software solutions for providing reliable, efficient and optimal solutions to Railways in its various areas of operation thereby benefiting the rail user.
The MoU was signed in the context of Suresh Prabhu’s special mention in his budget announcement regarding geospatial and enhanced use of Space technology in various sectors of governance.
Skoch Lifetime Achievement Award
conferred on Venkaiah Naidu
19-MAR-2016
Union urban Development minister M Venkaiah Naidu on 18 March 2016 conferred with the Skoch Lifetime Achievement Award at 43rdSKOCH summit held in New Delhi.
He was selected for the award for his contributions to inclusive growth and towards poverty alleviation in India.
Besides, IT minister of Telangana State KT Rama Rao was awarded the Skoch Award in the Startup India category for his initiative in establishing the path breaking tech incubator T-Hub.
Skoch Challenger Awards
These awards were instituted in 2003 as the highest independently instituted civilian honours.
These were have been conferred on some of the best brains from across the country for their efforts in the area of digital, financial and social inclusion.
Tikka Shatrujit Singh conferred
France’s Knight of the Legion of
Honour
20-MAR-2016
The royal scion of Kapurthala's Ahluwalia dynasty, Tikka Shatrujit Singh on 17 March 2016 was conferred the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour).
French ambassador to India Francois Richier bestowed the honour on Singh in a ceremony held in New Delhi.
Singh was chosen for the highest French civilian distinction in recognition of his extraordinary work in exchanging the French lifestyle and Indian culture with each other.
Who is Tikka Shatrujit Singh?
• Tikka Shatrujit Singh is the Advisor to the Chairman of multinational group Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton (LVMH).
• He is known as the guru of luxury.
• He is the great-grandson and heir of Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala who was a celebrated Francophile. (A Francophile is a person who has a strong affinity towards the French language, French history, French culture or French people.)
• He completed his education from Doon School and Delhi University and worked in the banking sector for 10 years.
• Later, he joined LVMH as the Chief Representative in Asia in 1995.
About National Order of the Legion of Honour
• The National Order of the Legion of Honour (Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur) is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19 May 1802.
• The Order is the highest decoration in France and is divided into five degrees of increasing distinction: Chevalier (Knight), Officier (Officer), Commandeur (Commander), Grand Officier (Grand Officer) and Grand'Croix (Grand Cross).
• The order's motto is Honour and Fatherland.
• The Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur is France’s premier award to recognise eminent accomplishments of service to France. It is bestowed on both citizens of France as well as foreigners.
• In the past, personalities such as Pandit Ravi Shankar, Amitabh Bachchan, Manish Arora and JRD Tata were honoured with the prestigious award.
International Day of Happiness 2016
observed
20-MAR-2016
20 March: International Day of Happiness
International Day of Happiness was observed on 20 March 2016 across the world.
On the other hand, Red, the leader of the Angry Birds mobile game characters, was appointed by the United Nations as an envoy to inspire climate action toward a sustainable and happier future for all.
Red’s appointment, as Honorary Ambassador for Green, is part of a UN campaign launched on 18 March 2016 in partnership with the globally renowned characters to make a direct link between tackling climate change and people’s happiness and well-being on the occasion of the International Day of Happiness.
The campaign, in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Foundation, asks the general public across the world to make the Angry Birds happy by taking actions on climate change. The campaign also requests the public to share their photos and commitments on social media platforms using the common hashtag #AngryBirdsHappyPlanet.
Since 2013, the United Nations has been celebrating the International Day of Happiness as a way to recognise the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world.
Concept behind the International Day
of Happiness
20 March was declared as the day of International Happiness following a Bhutanese Concept that was coined by the fourth king of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck in 1970’s. It was when the country for the first time adopted Gross National Happiness (GNH) over Gross National Product (GNP) as its major goal.
Pfizer India appointed S Sridhar as
Managing Director
20-MAR-2016
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on 18 March 2016 appointed S Sridhar as its Managing Director (MD) with immediate effect for a period of five years.
However, Sridhar’s appointment will be subject to approval of the company's shareholders at the annual general meeting.
Who is S Sridhar?
• S Sridhar is a chartered accountant by profession with over 20 years of experience.
• He has served as Pfizer Chief Financial Officer for a period of seven years, and was appointed as Executive Director in May 2013.
• He also concurrently led the company's distribution function for three years.
• At present, he is heading Pfizer's anti-infective, cardio-vascular and ophthalmology business.
About Pfizer
• Pfizer Inc. is an American global pharmaceutical corporation headquartered in New York City.
• It is among the world's largest pharmaceutical companies.
• Pfizer was founded in 1849 by cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles F. Erhart in New York City as a manufacturer of fine chemicals.