25th Nov-26th Nov 2014

Assam NGO Aaranyak nominated for UN Lighthouse Activities award

26-NOV-2014

Aaranyak, an Assam-based NGO working for the conservation of nature and a Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) on 25 November 2014 won United Nations Lighthouse Activities award for the year 2014.
They won the award under the focus area of information and communication technology (ICT) solutions.
They won the award for its community-based flood early warning system that has benefited 40 villages in flood-prone Dhemaji and Lakhimpur districts. Since 2010-11, the system has directly or indirectly benefitted more than 20000 people living in the catchment areas of two rivers, Jiadhal in Dhemaji and Singora in Lakhimpur districts.
The award was declared by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany. Representatives of Aaranyak and ICIMOD will go to Lima, Peru to receive the award on 11 December 2014.
Apart from community-based flood early warning system, the UNFCCC also announced 11 other shining examples of climate action, and they are:

	Initiative name	Details
	South Asian Forum for Environment’s Resolve, Trash2Cash initiative	It is an innovative solution to the city’s solid waste problem
	Solar Power Company Group	It has unlocked private financing to construct a total of 36 solar photovoltaic farms in sunny, northeast Thailand, accounting for 250 MW of installed capacity by the end of 2014
	Belgian-based EcoNation	It developed Lighten the Energy Bill to promote a unique financing mechanism that enables the installation and management of sustainable lighting systems, by absorbing the entire upfront investment and sharing the profits with the end user
	SmartSense	It is an ICT-enabled solution that is helping industrial and commercial energy consumers in India and Malaysia monitor, analyze and optimize their use of energy.
	Earth Roofs in the Sahel Program: A Roof + A Skill + A Market	the Association la Voûte Nubienne, through this programme addressed the problem of housing with a traditional, very low-carbon building technique known as Nubian Vault.
	Kopernik’s Ibu Inspirasi initiative	The initiative is bringing low-carbon technologies to women living in remote rural communities across an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands
	EcoMicro of Latin America	A micro finance institution that enables building the capacity of the region’s microfinance institutions so that they have the appropriate tools and know-how to develop and offer green financial products that help clients address climate change.
	National Resettlement Plan of Uruguay	It is relocating thousands of families out of flood-prone and polluted areas and into secure housing on secure land to help them adapt to the effects of climate change.
	Building Storm-resistant Houses initiative in Da Nang City, Vietnam	It has helped hundreds of lower-income households rebuild and repair their houses.
	Bhungroo initiative in Gujarat, India	It is a water management system that injects and stores excess rainfall underground and lifts it out for use in dry spells.
	Zurich Flood Resilience Program	It is an innovative initiative that includes Zurich Insurance, Wharton Business School, International Institute of Applied System Analysis, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Practical Action to look at the role of financing pre-event mitigation measures in building resilience to floods in communities that need it the most.

Haryana government reduced retirement age of government employees from 60 to 58

26-NOV-2014

Haryana government on 25 November 2014 reversed the retirement age of government employees from 60 to 58 years. It also reversed the retirement age of Class IV, visually impaired and handicapped employees from 62 to 60 years.
Government notification will come in effect from 30 November 2014. While, the upper age limit for fresh recruitment would remain 42 years.
The decision was made during a Cabinet meet chaired by Chief Minister Mahohar Lal Khattar at Chandigarh.

Some other decisions made by the cabinet
• The cabinet decided to increase VAT on diesel in the State from 9.24 percent to 12.07 percent
• The cabinet decided to remove toll tax at six locations on roads recently declared as national highways
• The cabinet also decided to give ex-gratia relief of three lakh rupees to kin of ad-hoc or contract basis employee in case of death on job
• The Cabinet cleared the removal of the Chairman and members of the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC)
• The Cabinet also scrapped the Haryana School Teachers’ Selection Board (HSTSB) while repealing the state Act passed by the Congress-led Bhupinder Singh Hooda government. The However, it allowed those teachers to continue who have been issued appointment letters
• About 605 posts in power utilities in the state will also be filled

Apart from this, the new Government has decided to review 115 decisions taken by previous Congress regime.

Background

The Haryana Government decided to reverse the retirement age of government employees which was increased by Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda just before the 15 October 2014 Assembly polls. The decision is likely to affect around three and half lakh employees of the State.

Comment: This decision of the Khattar-led Haryana Government is an attempt to provide more job opportunities to the young.

Iran Nuclear deal deadline extended by 7-months to 30 June 2015

25-NOV-2014

Iran and P5 + 1 Countries on 24 November 2014 agreed to extend the deadline on Iran Nuclear deal by 7-months to 30 June 2015. The deadline, which was to be met by 24 November 2014, was extended after both the parties failed to reach an agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme at an emergency meeting held in Vienna, Austria.
As per the agreement, Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany would seek to strike an outline deal by 1 March 2015 and a full technical accord by 1 July 2015.
However, the conditions set by Interim Accord in November 2013 will remain in place including a continued freeze by Iran of contentious parts of its nuclear activities. In return, Iran will keep receiving around 700 million US dollars in frozen funds per month.

Differences between the two sides

The 12-year stand-off though has made some progress but both the sides, especially Iran and the US, remained far apart on two crucial points: uranium enrichment and sanctions relief.
On uranium enrichment, the two sides are arguing over how many, and what kind, of centrifuges Iran should be allowed to have.
The US initially wanted Iran to slash its centrifuges to less than 2000 from the nearly 10000 it now runs, but says it can accept 4500 if Tehran agrees to other conditions meant to slow its ability to turn toward making weapons-grade uranium.
However, Iran, which came to the talks in February 2014 insists that it be allowed to keep its present program, says it can reduce to 8000.
This is important to be resolved because the US believes that machines can enrich uranium from low reactor-fuel level up to grades used to build the core of a nuclear weapon. Thus, the US wants deeper and more lasting cuts in the program than Tehran is willing to give.
Iran and the US also differ on how long constraints should remain on Tehran's nuclear program. On the one hand, US want restrictions between 10 and 15 years, but theIranians insist on no more than 10 years.

Risks of not meeting the 30 June 2015 deadline

U.S.-Iran relations have warmed since Hassan Rouhani became the President of Iran in 2013 and the thaw has extended to the nuclear negotiations.
Another extension, however, carries risks of its own, including possible fresh U.S. sanctions that could lead Iran to walk away.
On the one hand, it is feared that Republican controlled Senate in the US might not want any relaxation in the sanctions on Iran and may impose additional sanctions. This is because according to the Republicans Iran is not serious on any deal and just trying to buy out time.
On the other hand, hard-liners in Iran are of the view that their country will give away more than it gets under any final deal. This may increase pressure on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to break off talks

Adani Power signed binding agreement with Avantha group to buy its Korba West Power Co Ltd unit

25-NOV-2014

Adani Power 24 November 2014 signed a binding agreement with Gautam Thapar-led Avantha Group to buy its Korba West Power Co Ltd (KWPCL) unit. Adani will buy the 600 MW coal based power plant unit of Avantha group in at 4200 crore rupees. The 600-MW’s coal based power plant is at Korba in Chhattisgarh.
With this deal, Adani Power became the largest private sector power utility in India with an installed capacity of 11040 MW. The company has set a target of 20000 MW capacities by 2020.
In August 2014, Adani group acquired the 1200-MW coal-fired Udupi plant from the debt-laden Lanco Infra for 6000 crore rupees.

About Adani group

Adani Group was established in 1988. The company has three components: resources, logistics and energy creating an international and integrated infrastructure business.
Adani Power already has operational capacity of 9240 MW, comprising 4620 MW at Mundra in Gujarat, 3300 MW at Tiroda in Maharashtra and 1320 MW at Kawai in Rajasthan. It has a 660 MW plant ready for commissioning at Tiroda in Maharashtra shortly.
Adani Group chairman: Gautam Adani

Indian cyclist Deborah won four gold medals at Track Asia Cup 2014

25-NOV-2014

Indian Cyclist Deborah on 23 November 2014 won four gold medals at the Track Asia Cup Cycling Championship 2014. The Track Asia Cup Cycling Championship was held from 21 to 23 November 2014 at Indira Gandhi Stadium, New Delhi.
Deborah won two gold medals - in the women's elite keirin (8 laps) and sprint finals (3 laps) - on the concluding day of the championship for an overall individual tally of four gold medals.
Earlier, Deborah had won a combined gold with Kezia Varghese in the team sprint final on 22 November 2014. She won the 500 metre time trial gold in women's elite section on the opening day of the Track Asia Cup 2014.
Apart from this, in the championship India finished with medal tally of total 18 medals (5 Gold, 4 Silver and 9 Bronze).

About Deborah

19-year-old Deborah is a tribal girl from Andaman and Nicobar Islands who survived the 2004 Tsunami that devastated the islands. She was trained at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Andaman and has emerged as one of the rising stars of Indian cycling.

WTO, WASTE and FINISH signed MoU to end open defecation in India

25-NOV-2014

Three global organisations on 24 November 2014 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to end open defecation in India. The agreement is for three years.
These three organisations are the World Toilet Organisation (WTO), WASTE and the Financial Inclusion Improves Sanitation and Health (FINISH). They share the common goal of making sanitation accessible and affordable to all citizens.
The MoU was signed to share best practices in the sanitation sector and help millions of Indians gain access to basic sanitation facilities.
The objective of the agreement is to support the Central government in making the country free of open defecation and promoting sustained usage of sanitation systems.

Status of open defecation in India

Open defecation is the practice of defecating outside or in public. It can be the outcome of cultural practices or having no access to toilets.
India has the largest number of people defecating in open in the world. Globally, India continues to be the country with the highest number of people (597 million people) practising open defecation as per the United Nations report the Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation 2014.

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women observed on 25 November

25-NOV-2014

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women observed across the world on 25 November 2014. The day was observed to raise awareness about violence against women and discuss solutions that would work for women community.
The campaign called Orange Your Neighbourhood to raise awareness against Gender-Based Violence will be held from 25 November to 10 December 2014. The campaign is part of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's campaign UNiTE to End violence against Women.
The campaign was taken to local streets shops and businesses, and organizes Orange Events in their own neighbourhoods. Orange events includes from marches, marathons and panel discussions to radio and television programmes, concerts and film festivals.
UN Women also launched HeForShe, a global campaign to engage men and boys as advocates and agents of change for the achievement of gender equality and rights of women.

About International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
• The Day was observed to create the awareness about violence against women, end the violence against the women and to show that prevention is possible against violence of women.
• The day was chosen to commemorate the Mirabal sisters, three political activists from the Dominican Republic, who were brutally assassinated in 1960 during the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship (1930-1961)

Kiran Gurrala appointed as CEO of CMDA

25-NOV-2014

IAS officer Kiran Gurrala was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) on 24 November 2014.
At the time of appointment, Gurrala was Additional Director of Agriculture. He has been appointed as CEO in place of A Karthik, who was holding the post of Member-Secretary of planning authority as well as the CEO.
Chief Secretary Mohan Varghese Chunkath notified the appointment in a Government Order

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel resigned

25-NOV-2014

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel on 24 November 2014 resigned after remaining at the top military post for less than two years (February 2013 to November 2014). He will stay on as secretary until his successor is confirmed.
68 years old Hagel’s resignation came under pressure from the US President Barack Obama who asked him to quit, as Pentagon embarked a new strategy to deal with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
President Barack Obama accepted the resignation of Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and paid tribute to his class and integrity.
Hagel is the first Cabinet-level person to resign after Democratic Party lost majority in the Senate and Obama administration is struggling to deal with the militant group ISIS.

Chuck Hagel

• He was the 24th United States Secretary of Defence
• Between 1997 and 2009, he served as United States Senator from Nebraska
• Hagel is a Vietnam War veteran and former Republican senator and received two Purple Hearts as an infantry squad leader
• A member of the Republican Party, Hagel was first elected to the United States Senate in 1996.
• He was reelected in 2002, but didn't run in 2008
Comment

In October 2014, it was reported that Hagel was sharply critical of the US strategy against ISIS and in relation to the Syria regime. He raised questions about Obama’s strategy towards Syria in a two-page internal policy memo, which was leaked. The memo said that Obama’s policy was in jeopardy due to its failure to clarify its intentions towards Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Bilal Tanweer won Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2014

25-NOV-2014

Lahore-based author Bilal Tanweer on 24 November 2014 won the 2014 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize for his novel The Scatter Here Is Too Great (Random House India).
Bilal Tanweer was selected by the jury of the award consisting of authors Amit Chaudhuri, Aatish Taseer and Mridula Koshy. The award comprised of the price money of 2 lakhs rupees and a trophy.
The five other books shortlisted for the 2014 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize were: A Bad Character by Deepti Kapoor, The Vanishing Act by Prawin Adhikari, A cool dark place by Supriya Dravid, The Competent Authority by Shovon Chowdhury and The Smoke Is Rising by Mahesh Rao.

The Scatter Here Is Too Great: Bilal Tanweer

Bilal Tanweer’s book underlines the crucial importance of literature in our larger cultural landscape. The Scatter Here Is Too Great balances the universality of existential torment with the often horrifying nitty-gritty realities of its location, Karachi.
A vivid and intricate novel-in-stories, The Scatter Here Is Too Great explores the complicated lives of ordinary people whose fates unexpectedly converge after a deadly bomb blast at the Karachi train station.
Bilal Tanweer reveals the pain, loneliness, and longing of the characters and celebrates the power of the written word to heal lives and communities plagued by violence.

Bilal Tanweer

• Tanweer, born and raised in Karachi, has published fiction, poetry and translation in various international journals.
• In 2011, he was selected as a Granta New Voice and was one of the eleven recipients of the 2010 PEN Translation Fund Grant.
• His fiction, poetry and translations have appeared in various international magazines including Granta, Vallum, Critical Muslim, and Words Without Borders
• He was recently named an Honorary Fellow of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa.

Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize

The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize is an award named after journalist Shakti Bhatt, who passed away in 2007.
The Shakti Bhatt Prize represents the evolving ethos of South Asian literature. Other shortlists in the category included books based in the urban Indian metropolitans and rural Nepal, amongst other locales.
The award was won by Nilanjana Roy in 2013 for her book The Wildlings

West Bengal Governor KN Tripathi appointed as Governor of Bihar

25-NOV-2014

West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi was appointed as Governor of Bihar by the President Pranab Mukherjee on 23 November 2014. He will discharge the functions of the Governor of Bihar in addition to his own duties as Governor of West Bengal.
He will take the charge from Bihar Governor D Y Patil, who completes his tenure on 26 November 2014.
In July 2014, he was appointed as 22nd Governor of West Bengal. He will be in charge of Bihar until regular arrangements for the office of the Governor is made.
According to article 153, there shall be a Governor for each State but the 7th Constitutional Amendment Act 1956 facilitated the appointment of same person as governor for two or more states

Xiaomi launched Redmi Note 3G & 4G phablets

25-NOV-2014

Xiaomi on 24 November 2014 launched phablets Redmi Note 3G and 4G in India. The phones are priced at 8999 rupees for the 3G variant and 9999 rupees for the 4G LTE variant respectively. The 3G phones will be available on Flipkart while the 4G phone will be available in Airtel stores in six Indian cities.
Xiaomi also revealed that it is planning to have more than 100 service centres operational in India by 2015.
Specifications of Redmi Note 3G

• It is a dual SIM support (2G and 3G) smart phone with octa-core 1.7 Ghz processor coupled with 2GB of RAM
• It sports 5.5-inch screen of 720x1280-pixel IPS LCD
• It comes with 13 megapixel rear camera and 5 megapixel front camera.
• It has a heavy duty battery of 3100mAh
• This model runs on Android 4.2.2 with Xiaomi's MIUI v5 skin on top.

Specifications of Redmi Note 4G
• It runs on quad-core 1.6 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor coupled with 2GB of RAM
• It is a single SIM phone
• It will come with Android 4.4.2 KitKat with the same MIUI v5 skin.
• It sports 5.5-inch screen of 720x1280-pixel IPS LCD
• It also sports 13MP rear camera and 5MP front camera.

Xiaomi is a Chinese company which entered India in July 2014, created a stir in the smartphone market with its low priced but feature-rich smartphones. It sells through Flipkart, and is estimated to have sold about half a million Redmi devices and 1.2 lakh Mi3 handsets.

Shah Rukh Khan named as Brand Ambassador of DHFL

25-NOV-2014

Housing finance company DHFL on 20 November 2014 announced to name Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador. DHFL is the second largest housing finance company of India.
Shah Rukh is the first brand ambassador of DHFL in its 30 year journey.

About DHFL

• DHFL was founded by Rajesh Kumar Wadhawan in 1984 with a vision to provide financial access to own a home.
• The company has been marketing its solutions to customers across 550 locations in India through national and regional level advertisement and event campaigns. It also has representative offices in Dubai and London.
• Chairman and Managing Director: Kapil Wadhawan

Former SC judge Chandramauli Kumar Prasad chosen as the next chairperson of PCI

25-NOV-2014

Former Supreme Court (SC) judge Justice Chandramauli Kumar (CK) Prasad was on 24 November 2014 chosen as the next chairperson of the Press Council of India (PCI).
CK Prasad will succeed Justice Markenday Katju as the Chairman of the PCI. He was selected by a committee headed by Vice-President Hamid Ansari.

Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad

• Born on 15 July 1949, Chandramauli Kumar Prasad graduated in Science from Magadh University and did Law from Patna University.
• He was enrolled as an Advocate on 27 November 1973 where he practiced in Civil, Constitutional, Criminal and Service matters at Patna High Court.
• Prasad was appointed as the Additional Advocate General of the State of Bihar in 1993.
• In November 1994, he was elevated as permanent Judge of the Patna High Court and later in the same year he was transferred to Madhya Pradesh High Court.
• He took oath as the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court on 20 March 2009.
• In February 2010, CK Prasad was elevated as the Judge of Supreme Court of India.

Report titled Future of India- The Winning Leap released by PwC

25-NOV-2014

The report titled Future of India- The Winning Leap was released on 24 November 2014 by global professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) International Ltd.
The report revealed the winning solutions required to lead India to unprecedented economic growth along with radical improvements in the Human Development Index (HDI) over the next two decades.
The report emphasises that India has the potential to achieve 9 percent growth rate and become a 10 trillion US dollars economy by 2034. To achieve this growth, a concerted effort from Corporate India, supported by a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem and a constructive partnership with the government will play a critical role.
The report is outcome of the research that comprised interviews with about 80 leaders in India and abroad, workshops with sector leaders, insights from academic and economic specialists, and an online survey completed by more than 1500 people.

Highlights of the report

India can only build shared prosperity for its 1.25 billion people by transforming the way the economy creates value. For India, to create 10-12 million jobs every year in the coming decades, corporations and entrepreneurs must work together to help deliver new solutions and build capabilities for growth.
The report investigates 10 sectors- education, healthcare, agriculture, retail, power, manufacturing, financial services, urbanisation and enabling sectors such as India's digital and physical connectivity. Together, these sectors constitute over 70 percent of India's GDP.
The report states that each of the sectors face challenges whose resolution will require new and scalable solutions that are resource efficient and environmentally sustainable. Moreover, all of these sectors are interconnected and hence a setback in one spawns setbacks in others and vice-versa.
The report stresses that linear growth in each sector would not be enough to meet the growth ambition envisioned for India. Given the complexity and scale of the challenges facing India, the resources required, and the urgency of demands for change coming from Indian citizens, sector players must deploy solutions that deliver non-linear growth.
To enable such non-linear growth, organisations must focus on five key themes which should form the basis of their capability building measures and investments:

•   Serving informed and empowered customers
•   Creating flexible and adaptive operating models
•   Drawing on non-traditional resources and partnerships
•   Adapting a growth and innovation mindset
•   Focusing on accountability, integrity and sustainability

The government also needs to extend support by creating national platforms that enable this growth and improving the ease of doing business index. For instance, immediate changes that could be harvested could be in areas like ease in starting a company and in paying taxes.

Winning Leap solutions from private sector fall within three broad categories:
• Fierce Catch-Up: This involves following traditional approaches or technologies to surmount challenges, but at an accelerated pace. For example Improving energy transmission and distribution efficiency.
• Significant Leap: This involves adopting new or different approaches or technologies, which may have been developed elsewhere but would also work in India. For example Shifting from coal-based power generation to nuclear or solar energy.
• Leapfrog: This represents a radically different approach- a paradigm shift that entails applying a new and potentially disruptive business model. For example moving from central to distributed power generation.
According to the report, if each sector of the Indian economy executes solutions drawn from above three categories, it will expand fivefold and can achieve 9-10 percent sustained economic growth over the next 20 years in a resource efficient manner.
Three Economic growth scenarios

With data and modelling from Oxford Economics, the report defines three possible economic growth scenarios for India, each hinging on different strategies and achievements that could come from corporations, entrepreneurs, and Government, and each reflecting a different focus for investment:

Scenario 1: Pushing old ways faster outlines a focus on investment in education, health, and other dimensions related to human capital. The analysis suggests that in this scenario, India's GDP could see a 6.6 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2014 and 2034.
Scenario 2: Turbocharging investment outlines the impact of rapid and significant investment in physical infrastructure and envisions a 7.0 percent CAGR for GDP leading up to 2034.
Scenario 3: The Winning Leap includes investment in both human and physical capital as per the previous two scenarios but also focuses on investment in Research & Development and innovation and envisions a 9.0 percent CAGR for GDP by 2034.
About PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) International Ltd

PwC helps organisations and individuals create the value they are looking for. It is a network of firms in 157 countries with more than 195000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax and advisory services.
In India, PwC has offices in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune where it provides Advisory and Tax Regulatory services by presenting finely defined deliverables

Legendary Kathak danseuse Sitara Devi died

25-NOV-2014

Legendary Kathak danseuse Sitara Devi died on 25 November 2014 at Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai. She was 94.
Her dance was based on the themes, poetry and choreography collected by her father. She was also inspired from the environment around her town and village and the characters used to come live in her character.
Sitara Devi’s roots were inextricably woven to the tradition of kathakars, the early Kathak dancers. Thus, she usually used to say that she is just a kathakar of Krishna-leela (tales of Krishna).

About Sitara Devi

• Sitara devi was born as Dhannolakshmi in the Brahmin family of a kathakar Sukhdev Maharaj in Kolkata in 1920
• Her first performance was a dance drama Savitri Satyavan performed by her at local school in Kolkata. This led her father to re—christen her name as Sitara or the star
• Rabindranath Tagore described her as Nritya Samragini, meaning the empress of dance, after watching her performance when she was just 16 years old
• She gave performances in several parts of India, and in several other countries, including at the Royal Albert Hall, London in 1967; and at the Carnegie Hall, New York in 1976
• She is known as a pioneering force in bringing the genre to Bollywood
• At the age of 12, she was recruited by Niranjan Sharma, a filmmaker and a dance director.
• She performed dances in Hindi movies which include her debut movie Usha Haran (1940). Other includes Nagina (1951), Roti, Vatan (1954) and Anjali in 1957 (directed by Chetan Anand, brother of Dev Anand)
• Her last performance in a Bollywood film was in Mother India (1957)
• She was honored with prestigious awards like Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Padma Shri and Kalidas Samman
• In 2011 she was honoured with the Legends of India Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to the classical dance genre for over six decades
• Sitara Devi married director K Asif of Mughal—e—Azam fame and then Pratap Barot. She was a vital force who stood for zest and vigour in Indian dance

About Kathak

Kathak is derived from Sanskrit word katha. It is a narrative drama evolved out of the Krishna temples of hinterland to scale the pinnacle of glory in the Muslim courts.
Kathak is one of the eight forms of Indian classical dance. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathakars or storytellers.
From the 16th century onwards it absorbed certain features of Persian dance and central Asian dance which were imported by the royal courts of the Mughal era.
At present, the form of dance contains traces of temple and ritual dances, and the influence of the bhakti movement.
History says that Kathak began in the ancient times and have literary references from the 3rd and 4th centuries BCE. The two texts are in the archives of Kameshwar library at Mithila.
There are three major schools or gharana of Kathak from which performers today generally draw their lineage. These are the gharanas of Jaipur (born in the court of the Kachwaha Rajput kings), Lucknow (born in the courts of Nawab of Oudh) and Varanasi (born in the courts of Nawab of Varanasi).