25-26 JAN 2016 Hindi

6th National Voters’ Day observed with theme Inclusive and Qualitative Participation

25 January: National Voters’ Day (NVD)
6th National Voters’ Day (NVD) was observed across the country on 25 January 2016 by the Election Commission of India. The theme for the 6th National Voters’ Day is ‘Inclusive and Qualitative Participation’.

The Commission’s objective through NVD is to increase enrolment of voters, especially of the newly eligible ones.

The National function of the NVD was held in New Delhi and presided over by President of India, Pranab Mukherjee.

On the occasion, the Chief Election Commissioner Dr. Nasim Zaidi also released a book titled, ‘Belief in the Ballot’ and presented it’s the first copy to the President.

To celebrate and recognise the contribution of Government department/Agencies to the efforts of ECI for enhancing electoral participation, the election commission has introduced awards. Six newly eligible electors were given their EPICs by President of India.

The awards were given away to

Indicator	Name of Offficers	Designation
For Innovation	Sanjay Kumar Agarwal	DEO, Gaya
Balamurugan D	DEO, Purnea
For SVEEP	Lokesh Kumar Singh	DEO, West Champaran
Aboobacker Siddique	DEO West SinghBhum
Shirish Mohod	Nodal Officer, Maharashtra
Shekhar Channe	Maharashtra
For Electoral Roll Management	Antara Acharya	DEO MEdnipur
For Security Management	Manu Maharaaj	SSP Gaya
Sharat Kumar Sinha	DCP, Delhi
Best State Award	Ajay Nayak,	CEO BIhar
Thiru. Rajesh Lakhoni,	CEO Tamil Nadu
Chandra Bhushan Kumar,	CEO Delhi
National Award for Govt. Dept/Agency	Arvind Kumar Chaudhary, Secretary, Rural Development	Jeevika, Bihar
Anish Mankad	Gujarat Education Dept.
Vasumitra, Chief Postmaster General	Department of Posts
National CSO Award	Lalbiakzuala Lalmachhuana ion	Young Mizo Association
National Media Award	Hindustan, Bihar edition

25 January is the foundation day of the Commission, which came into being on this day in 1950.

The National Voters’ Day is also utilised to spread awareness among voters regarding effective participation in the electoral process.

After the completion of the NVD National function, the Commission inaugurated the construction of India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) campus at sector-22 Dwarka, New Delhi.

Election Commission of India will be presenting a Tableau with the theme ‘Inclusive and Qualitative Participation’ at the Republic Day parade on 26 January at Rajpath, New Delhi.

9th National Girl Child Day observed on 24 January

25-JAN-2016

Ation on 24 January 2016 observed the 9th National Girl Child Day. It is celebrated to spread awareness about the inequalities faced by the girl child in the country. It is observed on 24 January every year.

It was initiated by the government in 2008. Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has been taking different initiatives to address and reverse the trend of declining sex ratio in the country.

The Ministry has come up with some steps to contribute to the upliftment of the girl Child.

• Celebrate the birth of a girl Child.

• Take the Pride in daughters and oppose the mindset related to Paraya Dhan.

• Find ways to promote equality between boys and girls.

• Secure admissions to and retention of girl Child in schools.

• Engage men and boys to challenge gender stereotypes and roles.

• Report any incident of sex discrimination test.

• Strive to make neighbourhood safe and violence free for women and girls.

• Oppose dowry and child marriages.

• Advocate simple Marriages.

• Support women’s right to inherit and own property.

The objective of all these initiatives is to work towards ensuring that girls are born, loved and nurtured and grow up to become empowered citizens of this country with equal rights and opportunities.

International Day of the Girl Child is observed on 11 October as declared by the United Nations; it is also called the Day of the Girl and the International Day of the Girl. It started from 11 October 2012.

Union Government launched Sahaj Scheme for online booking of LPG cylinders

25-JAN-2016

Union Government on 25 January 2016 launched Sahaj Schemefor online booking of LPG cylinders. The booking can be done through the unified web portal www.mylpg.in which is available in 13 languages.

The facility was launched by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge) Dharmendra Pradhan. He said that the government is targeting to add 10 crore new LPG connections by December 2018 to the existing 16.5 crore connections.

The facility will enable people to book the cylinder around the clock, which will help delivery of the cylinders even in their absence because the payment is already done. This will also eliminate hassles of exact change needed for payment or avoid delivery failure due to no cash situation.

The minister said that government has plans to ease the process of LPG refills and new connections and few of them are
• Installation of touch screen devices at prominent locations like airports, railway stations etc where consumers can book for their LPG refills.
• The new cooking gas connections will be provided on an EMI basis under which the connections will cost up to 3400 rupees on an EMI basis. The amount can be spread over 24 installments.

Earlier in January 2016, the Union Government dedicated the year 2016 as the "Year of the Consumers".

National Bravery Awards 2015 presented to 25 Children

25-JAN-2016

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 January 2016 presented the National Bravery Awards to 25 children.

This award scheme was initiated by the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) to give due recognition to the children who distinguish themselves by performing outstanding deeds of bravery and meritorious service and to inspire other children to emulate their examples.

It was in 1957 that two children, a boy and a girl were first rewarded for their presence of mind and courage by then Prime Minister Nehru. Since then ICCW confers these awards on children every year.

In 1987-88 ICCW instituted the Bharat Award for an exceptionally outstanding, meritorious and gallant deed. The other special awards include the Geeta Chopra and Sanjay Chopra awards (instituted by ICCW in 1978) and the BapuGaidhani Awards(instituted in 1988-89).

The selection of the awards is made by a high powered Committee constituted by ICCW comprising representatives from various Government Departments, some NGOs and Office-Bearers and members of ICCW.

The awards are presented by the Prime Minister of India prior to Republic Day and the children then participate in the Republic Day Parade.

Maharashtra’s first Solar Power operated Mini- Water Supply Plant commissioned

25-JAN-2016

Maharashtra’s first Solar Power operated Mini-Water Supply Plant was commissioned on 24 January 2016 in Hingna village of Mouda Taluka in Nagpur district.

The Solar Pump Unit has been installed on experimental basis by Rite Water Solutions under the supervision of the Zilla Parishad authorities.

The plant will facilitate villagers to get pure water supply for a very low cost, which can easily be borne by the Gram Panchayat.

Key facts related to Solar Power operated Mini-

Water Supply Plant

• The system runs completely on solar power for which 1800 Watt panels have been installed.

• It delivers 10000 Litres of purified water every day and the nitrate content from water is completely removed so as to prevent the ill effects on the health of villagers.

Jeevan Raksha Padak Awards 2015 announced

25-JAN-2016

President Pranab Mukherjee on 25 January 2016 approved the conferment of Jeevan Raksha Padak Series of Awards 2015 on 50 persons.

These series of gallantry awards were instituted in the year 1961. These are given to a person for meritorious act of humane nature in saving the life of a person in cases like drowning in water, accidents, fire incidents, electrocution, natural calamities, rescue operation in mines etc.

The award is given in three categories, which are:

i) Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak is awarded for conspicuous courage in saving life under circumstances of very great danger to the life of the rescuer.

ii) Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak is awarded for courage and promptitude in saving life under circumstances of great danger to the life of the rescuer.

iii) Jeevan Raksha Padak is awarded for courage and promptitude in saving life under circumstances of grave bodily injury to the rescuer.

Both men and women in all walks of life are eligible for these awards. The award can also be conferred posthumously.

The award is presented in the form of a medallion and a certificate signed by the Union Home Minister and demand draft for lump sum monetary allowance is presented to the awardee by the respective State Government to which the awardee belongs.

The recipients are given a lump-sum monetary allowance at the following rates:-

a) Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak- 100000 Rupees

b) Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak-60000 Rupees

c) Jeevan Raksha Padak-40000 Rupees

List of winners of award for 2015

Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak

Ullas Unnikrishnan (Posthumous), Kerala;

Munna alias Ramdars Sisodiya (Posthumous), Madhya Pradesh

Ankit Kumar Mishra (Posthumous), Uttar Pradesh

Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak

Shivakumar R., Karnataka; Laldinpuia, Mizoram; Shaitan Singh (Posthumous), Rajasthan; Jitendra Kumar Soni, Rajasthan; Shourya Veer Singh (Posthumous), Madhya Pradesh; Riya Chaudhary (Posthumous), Uttar Pradesh; Monika alias Manisha (Posthumous), Uttarakhand; Gaurav Kumar Bharti (Posthumous), Uttar Pradesh; and Ravindra Pal Singh (Posthumous), Uttar Pradesh

Jeevan Raksha Padak

Vikas Kumar Singh, Chhattisgarh; Amar Singh Gond, Chhattisgarh; Abhishek P.V., Kerala; Tomy Thomas, Kerala; Praveen P.K., Kerala; Jineesh, Kerala; Rabeesh, Kerala; Vipin, Kerala; Kiran Das, Kerala; Pradeep. M.V., Kerala; Harish Kumar Bhil, Rajasthan; Satish Vaijanathrao Bolegave, Maharashtra; Podo Soba, Mizoram; Syamol Kanty Chakma, Mizoram; Lalduhawma, Mizoram; R. Zoengmawii, Mizoram; R. Rothantluanga, Mizoram; Kuldeep Singh Kumpawat, Rajasthan; Rishipal Singh Kumpawat, Rajasthan; Jawahar Singh Yadav, Uttar Pradesh; Narender Singh, Uttarakhand; Shree Prakash, Uttar Pradesh; Kesav Kumar Yadav, Uttar Pradesh; Amit Kumar, Haryana; Aditya Raj Aanjaneya, Rajasthan; Abhiruchi Shrivastava, Madhya Pradesh; Muhammed Vahid P, Kerala; Romario Johnson, Kerala; Akshay Anand Tambe, Maharashtra; Mohit Kumar Mongare, Chhattisgarh; Kanhaiya Gadiya, Chhattisgarh; Avinash Pandey, Uttar Pradesh; Md. Javed Hussain, Bihar; Onkar Singh, Jammu & Kashmir; Rizen Wanchok, Jammu & Kashmir; Manjeet Singh, Punjab; Yogesh Kumar, Haryana; and Narendra Singh, Uttarakhand

ONGC received environmental nod for 53000 crore rupees KG basin project

25-JAN-2016

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on 22 January 2016 received environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests for drilling 45 developed wells in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin in Andhra Pradesh. The total cost of the project is estimated at 53000 crore rupees.

ONGC is planning to drill 45 development wells and set up a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility, among others. The project will be implemented in the northern discovery area of NELP-I offshore block KG-DW N-98/2.

It is expected that the proposed development drilling and subsequent development of fields will lead to production of 51.33 billion cubic meters of gas over a period of 16 years and 26.71 million cubic meters of oil in 12 years.

Among specific conditions, ONGC has been asked to obtain:

• Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance
• Approval from Directorate General of Shipping for commencement of drilling

ONGC has also been asked to comply with all recommendations and conditions specified by Andhra Pradesh Coastal Zone Management Authority. It has also been asked to use high efficiency diesel generator sets, adopt conservation measures to protect marine life and develop waste minimisation plan, among others.

About proposed project

• The proposed project will be implemented in the northern discovery area of NELP-I offshore block KG-DW N-98/2.

• The block is divided into Northern Discovery Area (NDA) having deep waters with depth of up to 1800 meters and the other one is Southern Discovery Area (SDA) which has ultra-deep waters having depth of up to 3100 meters.

• NDA has two clusters: Cluster 1 predominately has gas, and Cluster 2 holds a mixture of oil and gas.

• As per the proposal, the gas will be evacuated from Cluster 1 through dual subsea pipelines connecting to the fixed platform. From this platform, de-hydrated gas will be transferred to already existing onland terminal at Odalarevu, East Godavari district, by subsea pipeline. This pipeline will be connected directly to GAIL custody transfer point.

• From Cluster 2, the hydrocarbon fluids will be taken to an FPSO facility through dual subseas pipeline. The stablised crude oil will be transported through sea tankers and compressed and dehydrated gas will be evacuated on to fixed platform from FPSO to Odalarevu Onshore Terminal through dual subsea pipeline reaching the onland terminal to GAIL for custody transfer.

About Krishna Godavari Basin

• Krishna-Godavari Basin is a peri-cratonic passive margin basin in India.

• It is spread across more than 50000 square kilometres in the Krishna River and Godavari River basins in Andhra Pradesh.

• The site is known for the D-6 block where Reliance Industries discovered the biggest natural gas reserves in India in 2002.

Izumo Takuto and Zhu Chengzhu won ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals

25-JAN-2016

Japan's Izumo Takuto and Hong Kong's Zhu Chengzhu on 24 January 2016 became champions in the boys' and girls' categories, respectively, in the 11Even Sports 2015 ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals at the Abhay Prashal Stadium, Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

The three-day event came to its conclusion when Takuto hardly dropped a sweat beating Carlos Vedriel from Spain 4-0 in a one-sided final while Zhu overcame stiff resistance to beat Park Seri of Korea 4-2.

Each winner took home 3800 US dollars while the runners-up received 2100 US dollars each.

About International Table Tennis Federation

(ITTF)

• The International Table Tennis Federation is the governing body for all international table tennis associations.

• The role of the ITTF includes overseeing rules and regulations and seeking technological improvement for the sport of table tennis.

• The ITTF is responsible for the organization of numerous international competitions, including the World Junior Circuit and the World Table Tennis Championships that has continued since 1926.

19th National e-Governance Conference concluded at Nagpur

25-JAN-2016

he two-day long 19th National e-governance Conference with the titleTransforming India was concluded on 22 January 2016 in Nagpur, Maharashtra.

It is conference on e-Governance which provides a platform to policy makers, practitioners, industry leaders and academia, to deliberate, interact and recommend actionable strategies.

The 19th National conference was focused on strategies like GATI-Governance with Accountability Transparency & Innovation for citizen -centric services, financial inclusion-JAM & DBT, Urban Governance in smart cities plenary, Cyber security framework for citizen centric, decade of eGovernance-Way ahead, and Technology enabled education.

It is being jointly organized by the department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) under Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) every year in partnership with one State Government since 1997.

During Valedictory function of the conference, The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis honored 18 winners of national-e-governance awards in 12 categories for their outstanding achievement in the field of e-governance.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa won Presidential Election of Portugal

25-JAN-2016

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on 24 January 2016 won the Presidential election of Portugal. Sousa, a centre-right Social Democrats candidate and a former journalist, won the election by securing 52 percent of votes.

The outcome is likely to help maintain political balance after the inconclusive parliamentary ballot in October 2015.

His closest rival, Socialist Antonio Sampaio da Novoa, conceded defeat after picking up around 23 percent of the vote. Left Bloc candidate Marisa Matias had 10 percent.

Sousa, popularly known as ‘Professor Marcelo’ and aged 67 is the one-time leader of the center-right Social democrats. He will succeed President Anibal Cavaco Silva.

Earlier in October 2015 presidential election, a centre-right coalition won the most votes but lost its overall majority in November 2015. It was replaced by an alliance of left-wing parties that rejected its austerity programme in parliament.

Presidential Election in Portugal

Under the Portuguese Constitution adopted in 1976, in the wake of the 1974 Carnation Revolution, the form of government is ‘semi-presidential’ system. That is, president though is a ceremonial figure in Portugal but he plays an important role at times of political uncertainty. He has the power to dissolve parliament and remove the prime minister.

The President is elected for a five-year term and there is no limit to the number of terms a president may serve. However, a president who serves two consecutive terms may not serve again in the next five years after the second term finishes or in the following five years after his resignation. The official residence of the Portuguese President is theBelem Palace.

The President is elected in a two-round system: if no candidate reaches 50% of the votes during the first round, the two candidates with the most votes face each other in a second round held two weeks later. However, the second round has only been needed once, during the 1986 presidential election.

Australia won five-match ODI series against India, 4-1

25-JAN-2016

Australia on 23 January 2016 won the five-match One Day International (ODI) series against India 4-1. In the fifth and final match played at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, India defeated Australia by 6 wickets.

This is the first time that any team has chased more than 300 runs to complete victory against Australia in their own den. India will retain their No. 2 ranking in ODIs as well.

The ODI series between India and Australia was named as India tour of Australia, 2016. However, the tour will also see a 3-match T20I series, which will kick off on 26 January 2016 at the Adelaide Oval.

Series Report

1st Match: Played at W.A.C.A. Ground, Perth, Australia on 12 January 2016. Australia won by 5 wickets. Steven Smith(Australia) was declared the Man of the Match.

2nd Match: Played at The Gabba, Brisbane, Australia on 15 January 2016. Australia won by 7 wickets. Rohit Sharma (India) was declared the Man of the Match.

3rd Match: Played at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia on 17 January 2016. Australia won by 3 wickets. Glenn Maxwell(Australia) was declared the Man of the Match.

4th Match: Played at Manuka Oval, Canberra, Australia on 20 January 2016. Australia won by 25 runs. Kane Richardson(Australia) was declared the Man of the Match.

5th Match: Played at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia on 23 January 2016. India won by 6 wickets. Manish Pandey(India) was declared the Man of the Match.

Man of the Series: Rohit Sharma (India) for his truckload of runs in the entire series.

National e-Governance Awards 2015-16 conferred

25-JAN-2016

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on 22 January 2016 presented the National Awards for e-Governance for the year 2015-16 in Nagpur. These awards are given for the outstanding achievement in the field of e-governance.

The awards were conferred during the valedictory function of 19th National e-governance conference held in Nagpur on 21-22 January 2016.

Eighteen winners were awarded in 12 categories.

List of some of the winners:

Category	Gold	Silver
Excellence in Government Process Re-engineering	Shri Alex Paul Menon, District Collector, Balrampur, Chhatisgarh, who is the project-head of ‘Chhatisgarh online school monitoring system (COSMOS) Balrampur	The Social Justice Department of Madhya Pradesh for the project ‘SAMAGRA Portal’ – which is an initiative to implement integrated social security programmes.
Outstanding performance in Citizen-Centric Service Delivery	Department of Women & Child Development, Government of West Bengal for its online tracking system for missing children (Track Child)
Innovative Use of Technology in e-Governance	EPFO, (Employment Provident Fund Organization), Delhi under Ministry of Labour and Employment for its successful implementation of universal account number programme	Delhi Police for its lost report application
Innovative use of GIS Technology in e-Governance	Maharashtra Remote Sensing Applications Centre, Nagpur
Innovative Use of ICT by Central Government PSUs	IRCTC’s New Next Generation e-Ticketing System
Use of ICT for Development by Non-Government Institutions	Western Union, Mumbai for its collaboration with India Post for money transfer.

Other award categories included, incremental innovation in existing projects, best district level initiatives in citizen centre service delivery through ICT, innovative use of mobile technology in e-governance.

Besides, sectoral awards in the fields like (Focus Sector for 2015-16: Financial Inclusion), Innovative Use of ICT by State Government PSUs/Cooperatives/Federations/Societies, Outstanding e-Governance initiative by Academic and Research institutions were distributed.

The Paddy Procurement Automation System of Odisha, Village Profile Planning Atlas of Gujarat, Delhi Traffic Police Mobile App, online hotel reservation system of Himachal Tourism were also among the winners of National e-Governance Awards.

India-France inked 16 pacts including chopper venture

25-JAN-2016

India and France on 24 January 2016 inked 16 agreements at the India-France Business Summit in Chandigarh. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) covered a wide range of sectors like urban development, urban transport, water and waste treatment and solar energy.

The agreements were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande, who began his three-day visit to India.

Hollande is the Chief Guest at the 67th India’s Republic Day (26 January 2016) celebrations. He is the fifth French leader to be a chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations, maximum number from any country so far.

The 16 agreements include

• Mou between AFD and Maharashtra on technical cooperation in the field of sustainable urban development for development of smart city in Nagpur.
• MoU between AFD and the Union Territory of Chandigarh on technical cooperation in the field of sustainable urban development for development of smart city in Chandigarh.
• MoU between AFD and the Union Territory of Puducherry on technical cooperation in the field of sustainable development for development of smart city in Puducherry.
• Wind Power Development Agreement between EDF JV with SITAC RE India to jointly explore opportunities for development of wind based power project in India.
• MOU between EPI ltd – Dassault Systèmes in urban sector development.
• MOU between EPI-Egis - urban sector development.
• MOU between EPI- Schneider Electric - urban sector development.
• MOU between EPI-Thales - urban sector development.
• MOU between EPI-EDF - urban sector development.
• MOU between EPI-Alstom - urban sector development.
• MOU between EPI-SA CAN - urban sector development.
• MOU between EPI-Lumiplan ITS India Pvt Ltd - urban sector development.
• MOU between EPI-POMA - urban sector development.
• Agreement between CEA (the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) and Green Ventures – Solar photo voltaic projects in the Indian rural areas (Varanasi, U.P.).
• Agreement between CEA (the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) and Crompton Greaves - To explore opportunities in Solar Photo Voltaic (PV) System with storage function for Indian Airports.
• Mahindra-Airbus cooperation to create the new private strategic partner for helicopters within the Make in India initiative.

Noted Malayalam film actress Kalpana Ranjani died

25-JAN-2016

Famous Malayalam film actress Kalpana Ranjani died on 25 January 2016 in Hyderabad. She was 51 and famously known as Kalpana.

About Kalpana Ranjani

• She was born to theater artists Chavara V.P.Nair and Vijayalakshmi.

• She made film debut as a child artiste in 1983 and acted in more than 300 movies in all south Indian languages. She was well known for her comedy acting.

• Her sisters, Kalaranjini and Urvashi are also actresses and her two brothersfor her performance in the film Thanichalla Njan.

• She has published her memoirs with the title Njan Kalpana.

PV Sindhu won Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold Badminton title 25-JAN-2016

India's Ace Shuttler, PV Sindhu on 24 January 2016 won the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold Badminton title. In the final clash at Penang, she defeated Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour 21-15, 21-9.

This was Sindhu’s second Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold title, having won it in 2013 as well.

With this, Sindhu has won five career Grand prix gold and first title of the year 2016. She also completed a hat-trick at the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold in November 2015.

Only two women's singles players (Saina Nehwal and Sung Ji-hyun) have more GP Gold title's than Sindhu.

Appreciating PV Sindhu for winning the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold title, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) announced a cash award of 5 lakh rupees for the shuttler.

India won Blind T20 Asia Cup

25-JAN-2016

India on 24 January 2016 won the first T20 Asia cup cricket for Blind. In the final clash played at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium of Kochi, India defeated Pakistan by 44 runs.

Batting first, India scored 208 runs in 20 over whereas Pakistan was restricted to 164 runs in 18.2 over.

So far, Pakistan was unbeaten in this tournament and had defeated India by 19 runs in the group stages.

India’s largest flag with tallest flagpole hoisted at Ranchi

25-JAN-2016

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on 23 January 2016 hoisted the largest flag of the country atop the tallest pole at Pahari Mandir in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

The flag is 66 feet in height, 99 feet in width and hoisted on a 293 feet-tall pole.

The flag is crafted from parachute cloth and has enough clippings to ensure strong winds do not blow it away. The mast sits on around nine feet diameter pedestal fitted with rock anchors.

The project took more than 120 workers and 40 days to put up the flag post, which cost an estimated 1.25 crore rupees, of which 44 lakh rupees was spent on the flag alone.

The flag surpassed the previous record set by the 96 feet x 64 feet tricolour hoisted in Faridabad in 2015 on a 250 feet-high pole. This flag was unveiled to mark the National Defence Day.

Historical significance of the flag’s site

• The flagpost is situated at the Pahari temple, located atop the 250-foot-high Pahadi Hill in the heart of Ranchi.

• The site was earlier known as Phansi Tongri.

• It was where freedom fighters were hung by the British during the independence movement.

• Locals hoist the national flag there every January 26 and August 15 in tribute to the slain martyrs.

In 2012, at the 60th National Film Awards, she

won the Best Supporting Actress award

International Customs Day observed on 26

January

26-JAN-2016

26 January: International Customs Day

The International Customs Day 2016 was observed across the world on 26 January 2016. The day is organised in commemoration of formation of World Customs Organisation (WCO) on 26 January 1953.

On 26 January every year, the Customs administrations of 179 Member States of the World Customs Organisation organize various national events to celebrate the first session of the Customs Co-operation Council. On its part, the WCO Secretariat chooses a topic for the International Customs Day.

The WCO is dedicating 2016 to promoting the digitalization of Customs process under the slogan Digital Customs: Progressive Engagement.

About World Customs Organisation

• The World Customs Organization is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

• The WCO is noted for its work in areas covering the development of international conventions, instruments, and tools on topics such as commodity classification, valuation, rules of origin, collection of customs revenue, and much more.

• The WCO maintains the international Harmonized System (HS) goods nomenclature, and administers the technical aspects of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements on Customs Valuation and Rules of Origin.

• At present, the WCO represents 180 Customs administrations across the globe that collectively process approximately 98% of world trade.

• As the global centre of Customs expertise, the WCO is the only international organization with competence in Customs matters and can rightly call itself the voice of the international Customs community.

Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Amendment Act, 2015 came into force

26-JAN-2016

The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015 came into force on 26 January 2016. The act was made to ensure more stringent provisions for prevention of Atrocities against Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.

The act came into force after the Lok Sabha passed this amendment bill on 4 August 2015 while the upper house Rajya Sabha gave its nod on 21 December, 2015. And the final ass ent by the President came on 31 December 2015.

The bill was provided to make amendments in the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015.

67th India’s Republic Day celebrated

26-JAN-2016

Republic Day 2016 was celebrated on 26 January 2016 across the nation. This was the 67th Republic Day of India. President of France Francois Hollande was the Chief Guest at 67th Republic Day parade.

First Republic Day was celebrated on 26 January 1950 when India became a Republic with Constitution of India coming into force on this day replacing the Government of India Act (1935) as the governing document of India.

Main Highlights of 2016 Republic Day Parade

• For the first time since 1950, a foreign army contingent marched down the Rajpath during the Republic Day parade. The 76-member French Army contingent was the participant of the parade.
• The parade witnessed participation of some of India’s most highly trained dogs from the army’s Veterinary Corps, after 26 years.
• The celebration was curtailed by 25 minute. The duration was brought down to 90 minutes from 115 minutes, but the format will remain the same.
• For the first time, an all-women stunt contingent named ‘Women Daredevils CRPF’ comprising of 120 soldiers will performed stunts on bikes. Apart from this women officers were also 2nd in command to the contingents of Air Force, Coast Guard and Navy.
• For the first time, the tableau of ex-servicemen of Army veterans was also showcased in the parade.
• The VVIP enclosure had a motorised glass roof so as to protect them from rain and cold weather, as in 2015 Chief guest Barack Obama and Michelle Obama held umbrellas to protect themselves from the drizzle at the Republic Day parade event.