23-24 APRIL 2016
Hollywood movie director Guy Hamilton died
23-APR-2016
Veteran Movie director Guy Hamilton, who directed four hugely popular James Bond films, passed away on 20 April 2016 in a hospital on the Spanish island of Mallorca. He was 93.
He was popularly known for raising the profile of the Bond movie brand through his work with actors Sean Connery and Roger Moore.
About Guy Hamilton
• He was born in Paris in September 1922 and worked for the Paramount News newsreel company in England during World War II before serving in the Navy.
• He got his big break in 1948 when legendary British director Carol Reed hired him as first assistant director for The Fallen Idol, a thriller told from the perspective of a 9-year-old boy.
• In 1950, Hamilton went on to direct several movies and landed up for directing the Goldfinger.
• He directed four iconic Bond movies including Goldfinger in 1964, Diamonds are Forever in 1971, Live and Let Die in 1973 and The Man with the Golden Gun in 1974.
Time Magazine released list of 100
most influential people in the world
23-APR-2016
Time Magazine on 21 April 2016 released a list of 100 Most Influential People in the World.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, tennis player Sania Mirza, actress Priyanka Chopra, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and founders of Flipkart, Binny Bansal andSachin Bansal have been named by Time magazine in its list.
The TIME 100 is not a ranking, but a combination of public figures from various different fields. The list includes the public figures who have had some kind of significant impact on the world.
The most notable pioneers on the list
are:
• Aziz Ansari: He is an American actor and comedian widely known for his roles as Tom Haverford on the NBC series Parks and Recreation and as Dev Shah on the Netflix series Master of None.
• Caitlyn Jenner: Formerly known as Bruce Jenner, Caitlyn is an American television personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete. She revealed her identity as a trans woman in April 2015 and publicly announced her name change from Bruce to Caitlyn in a July 2015 Vanity Fair cover story.
• Sunita Narain: She is an Indian environmentalist and political activist as well as a major proponent of the Green concept of sustainable development.
The most notable titans on the list are:
• Tim Cook: He is an American business executive and the Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc.
• Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal: They started Flipkart in 2007 as an online bookstore.
• Pope Francis: He is the 266th and current Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, a title he holds ex officio as Bishop of Rome, and Sovereign of the Vatican City.
• Sundar Pichai: He is an Indian American business executive. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Google Inc.
• Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg: Chan is a pediatrician and Zuckerberg is the founder and CEO of Facebook. Through their Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, they have led efforts to improve education, cure disease, and build stronger and more connected communities.
The most notable artists on the list
are:
• Kendrick Lamar: He is an American rapper from Compton, California.
• Ariana Grande: She is an American singer and actress. She began her career in the Broadway musical 13.
• Charlize Theron: She is a South African and American actress, producer and fashion model.
• Priyanka Chopra: She is an Indian actress, singer, producer and philanthropist, and the winner of the Miss World pageant of 2000.
The most notable leaders on the list
are:
• Kim Jong-un: He is the supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly referred to as North Korea.
• Lori J. Robinson: She is a United States Air Force general who is Commander of Pacific Air Forces, Air Component Commander for United States Pacific Command, and Executive Director, Pacific Air Combat Operations Staff, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
• Raghuram Rajan: He is currently serving as the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, the central bank of India.
• Hillary Clinton: She is an American politician. She is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election.
• Justin Trudeau: He is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada, and the leader of the Liberal Party.
• Barack Obama: He is an American politician serving as the 44th President of the United States, and the first African American to hold the office.
• Donald Trump: He is an American businessman, politician, television personality, author, and candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election.
The most notable icons on the list are:
• Nicki Minaj: She is a Trinidadian-born American rapper, singer and songwriter.
• Sania Mirza: She is an Indian professional tennis player who is currently ranked No. 1 in the women's doubles rankings.
• Adele: She is an English singer and songwriter.
• Leonardo DiCaprio: He is an American actor and film producer.
Union Government constituted panel to double farmers’ income by 2022
24-APR-2016
on 22 April 2016 constituted the inter-ministerial panel to prepare a blueprint for doubling farmers' income by 2022.
The government's decision to set up the panel follows the budget announcement that set a target of doubling farm incomes by 2022.
The panel will be headed by Ashok Dalwai, Additional Secretary at the Union Agriculture Ministry. The other members will be officials from Agriculture and Food Ministries as well as experts from the Delhi-based National Council of Applied Economic Research and National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research.
Salient Features of the inter-
ministerial panel
• The panel will prepare a plan to shift farm policies from being production-oriented to income based ones.
• The eight-member panel will determine the potential areas of agriculture to investment and also suggests different ways to reduce the risk of farming by diversifying to horticulture and allied activities like livestock and fisheries to boost income.
• The panel is expected to submit the report in two months. It will also look at reducing the cost of cultivation and addressing unpredictability of weather and price fluctuations in farm sector.
• The government is focusing not only on increasing crop yields but also on reducing the cost of cultivation to increase the net income of farmers.
• The schemes on soil health card, neem-coated urea and per drop more crop, are aimed to bring down the cost of cultivation.
Besides, the government is trying to address the unpredictability in agriculture due to market fluctuations, and due to weather by setting up an electronic National Agriculture Market and implementing a new crop insurance scheme.
Japan successfully tested its first
stealth fighter X-2 jet
24-APR-2016
Japan on 22 April 2016 successfully tested the first stealth fighter jet. With this, the country joins a select group of world military powers wielding the radar-dodging technology.
The domestically developed single-pilot prototype X-2 jet took off from Nagoya airport in central Japan on its maiden test flight. It safely landed at Gifu air base, north of Nagoya airport, after a 25-minute flight with no particular problems.
Even though the use of military force have a strict constitutional constraints after World War II, Japan still has one of the world's most advanced defence forces and the development of the stealth fighter comes as it faces new security challenges in the form of China's expanding force posture.
At present, only the USA, Russia and China have been internationally recognised as having successfully developed and flown manned stealth jets.
About X-2 jet
• It was developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and 200 other firms, measures 14.2 metres (47 feet) long and 9.1 metres wide and was built as a successor to F-2 fighter jets developed jointly with the United States of America (USA).
• Its delivery to the defence ministry is expected as early as May 2016 and the acquisition agency will continue analysing data and check its stealth technology capability.
• Japan began the project in 2009 and has reportedly spent about 39.4 billion yen (332 million US dollars) to develop the aircraft.
• The country was barred from developing aircraft for a number of years after its defeat in World War II but eventually produced the YS-11, a propeller passenger plane that began flying in the early 1960s.
• In another aviation milestone in November 2015, Japan's first domestically produced passenger jet, also developed by Mitsubishi Heavy, made its maiden test flight.
Radhika Apte won best actress award
for 'Madly' at Tribeca Film Fest 2016
24-APR-2016
Bollywood actress Radhika Apte on 22 April 2016 bagged the best actress in an international narrative feature honour at Tribeca Film Festival 2016 for her performance in anthology film Madly.
Radhika starred in Clean Shaven, which is a segment of Madly.
List of other Tribeca Film Festival 2016 Award Winners
U.S. Narrative Feature Competition Categories:
The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature – Dean, written and directed by Demteri Martin.
Best Actor in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film –Dominic Rains in The Fixer.
Best Actress in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – Mackenzie Davis inAlways Shine.
Best Cinematography in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – Cinematography by Michael Ragen for Kicks.
Best Screenplay in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – Women Who Killwritten by Ingrid Jungermann.
International Narrative Feature Competition Categories:
The Best International Narrative Feature – Junction 48, written and directed by Udi Aloni.
Best Actor in an International Narrative Feature Film –Alan Sabbagh in The Tenth Man.
Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature Film –Cinematography by Kjell Vassdal for El Clasico.
Best Screenplay in an International Narrative Feature Film – PerfectStrangers written by Filippo Bologna, Paolo Costella, Paolo Genovese, Paola Mammini, and Rolando Ravello.
World Documentary Competition Categories:
Best Documentary Feature – Do Not Resist, directed by Craig Atkinson (USA).
Best Documentary Cinematography – Cinematography by Jarred Alterman for Contemporary Color (USA).
Best Documentary Editing – Editing by Bill Ross for Contemporary Color(USA).
Directing Awards:
Best New Narrative Director Award — Priscilla Anany, director ofChildren of the Mountain (USA, Ghana).
Albert Maysles New Documentary Director Award — David Feige forUntouchable (USA
Short Film Competition Categories:
Best Narrative Short – Hold On (Houvast), directed by Charlotte Scott-Wilson (Netherlands).
Best Documentary Short – Extremis directed by Dan Krauss (USA).
Student Visionary Award – Ping Pong Coach, directed by Yi Liu. (Taiwan R.O.C., USA).
Storyscapes Award
Notes on Blindness: Into Darkness created by Arnaud Colinart, Amaury La Burthe, Peter Middleton, and James Spinney. Winner receives 10000 US dollars, presented by AT&T.
The award was given by Jessica Brillhart, Saschka Unseld, and Olga Serna, Senior Marketing Manager, AT&T.
The Nora Ephron Prize
Rachel Tunnard, director, writer and editor of Adult Life Skills (UK).
Tribeca X Award
Hearing Colors created by Greg Brunkalla for Samsung.