3-4 jan 2015 eng
American country music singer Little Jimmy Dickens died at 94
Little Jimmy Dickens, an American country music singer famous for his humorous novelty songs died on 2 January 2015 at Nashville. He was 94.
James Cecil Dickens born on 19 December 1920 in Bolt, West Virginia was best known for his self-deprecating sense of humor, small size (4'11") and his rhinestone-studded outfits. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and few grandchildren.
About Little Jimmy Dickens
• His original name was James Cecil Dickens
• He began his musical career in the late 1930s by performing on WJLS radio station in Beckley, West Virginia
• Later, he performed in various radio stations across the country under the name Jimmy the Kid
• He started as a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1948 after he was introduced by Roy Acuff to Art Satherly at Columbia Records and officials
• He became a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1983
• Some of the novelty songs recorded by Dickens include Country Boy, A-Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed, I'm Little But I'm Loud and others
• His song Take an Old Cold Tater (And Wait) inspired Hank Williams to nickname him Tater
• In 1950, Dickens formed the Country Boys with musicians Jabbo Arrington, Grady Martin, Bob Moore and Thumbs Carllile
RBI relaxed KYC rules for Non-Banking Financial Companies
Know-Your-Customers (KYC) rules for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) were relaxed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 2 January 2015.
The KYC rules were amended for NBFC’s due to practical difficulties and constraints being faced by them in getting KYC documents at frequent intervals.
As per RBI notification, the KYC exercise will be required to be done in three ways and they are
• For high-risk individuals and entities – in at least every 2 years
• For medium risk individuals and entities - in at least every 8 years
• For low risk individuals and entities – in at least every 10 years
These time limits will be adjusted by taking into account whether and when client due diligence measures have previously been undertaken and the adequacy of data were obtained. However, physical presence of clients may not be insisted at such periodic updations.
Previous norms said that the NBFC’s should undertake KYC once in every 5 years for low risk category customers and once in two years for both high and medium risk categories.
Jaffna-Kankasanthurai rail track restored by IRCON in North Sri Lanka inaugurated
18 kilometer long Jaffna-Kankasanthurai rail track in North Sri Lanka was inaugurated on 2 January 2015 by Sri Lanka’s Transport Minister Kumara Welgama. To mark the inauguration, famous Yal Devi Express was flagged off.
The restoration work of the commercial rail service covering a distance of 18 kilometers has been completed by Indian Railway’s construction company (IRCON).
The track corridor has two crossing stations at Kondavil and Chunnakam and five halt stations at Kokuvil, Inuvil, Mallakam, Tellipalai and Mavittapuram.
The rail track that connects Colombo and Kankesanthurai passes through the high security zone which was freed from the Tamil Tigers in 2009.
The complete 252 km railway track will be completed by IRCON in collaboration with Sri Lanka Railways in four segments of which three have been completed and are operational. The fourth segment will be completed by March 2015. Three completed segments covering a distance of 215 kilometer track length include
• Omanthai to Jaffna - 129 km
• Medawachchiya to Thiruketheeswaram - 69km
• Jaffna to Kankasanthurai - 18 km
Fourth segment will cover 37 km long stretch between Thiruketheeswaram and Talai Mannar Pier.
India is rebuilding the 252 km railway track on this route by providing a line of credit of 800 million US dollars. In late 1980s, the entire rail line between Colombo and the North was destroyed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the prolonged ethnic war conflict.
Former ISRO Chairman V R Gowarikar died in Pune
Senior Scientist and former Chairman of ISRO Vasant Ranchhod Gowarikar died after a brief illness in Pune, India on 2 January 2015. He was 82.
Chiefly known as the Father of the Indian Monsoon Model, Gowarikar was the first scientist to develop first indigenous weather forecasting model that predicted monsoon correctly. Between 1991 and 1993, he served as Scientific Advisor to late Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao.
He was Protégé of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, and was a part of the band of scientists who initiated India’s satellite research programme. Some other scientists in the team were A. P. J. Kalam, E. V. Chitnis, Pramod Kale, U. R. Rao and others.
His collaboration with Dr. F.H. Garner helped in creation of the Garner-Gowarikar theory, a novel analysis of heat and mass transfer between solids and fluid. It was under Garner’s supervision, he pursued his doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Birmingham, UK.
About Vasant Ranchhod Gowarikar
• He made valuable contributions in the fields of space research, weather forecasting and others
• He was associated with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as Chief and the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre as Director between 1979 and 1985
• He had also served as Secretary to Department of Science and Technology
• In 1967, he joined the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station in Kerala as Head of Propellant Engineering Division. He pioneered solid propellant development
• He was Chairman of the Marathi Vidnyan Parishad between 1994 and 2000.
• Between 1995 and 1998, he served as the Vice-Chancellor of Pune University and was associated with several other varsities in different capacities
• In 2008, he along with his associates compiled The Fertilizer Encyclopedia that featured 4500 entries detailing the chemical composition of fertilizers
• He was born on 25 March 1933 in Maharashtra
• He also worked with the UK Atomic Energy Authority
• Awards conferred on him include
a) Padma Shri (1984)
b) Padma Bhushan (2008)
c) The Fie Foundation Award
Union Government accepted Bezbaruah panel report on safety of North East people
Union Government on 2 January 2014 accepted the recommendations of the Bezbaruah committee. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that the recommendations will be implemented in next 6 months.
The Bezbaruah committee of five members was set up under chairmanship of M P Bezbaruah in February 2014 to look into the concerns of the people of the North East living in other parts of the country.
The committee was constituted after the killing of Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania in a Delhi market. The report was submitted to the Home Ministry in July 2014.
Main recommendations of the committee
• It has recommended immediate, short term and long term measures to be implemented in certain time periods
a) Immediate – to be implemented within 6 months to 1 year
b) Short Term – to be implemented within a period of 1 to 1.5 years
c) Long Term – to be implemented within a period of 1.5 years to 3 years
Immediate measures:
• The committee has recommended amendment of Section 153 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as the second alternative
• Insertion of a new law in Indian Penal Code to deal with the rising against people of this region. The new law should include among others
a) Any offence against them should be made cognizable and non-bailable.
b) It also says that the investigation of the FIR should be completed in 60 days
c) A Special Prosecutor should be appointed to handle all such cases atrocities
d) The trail should be completed within 90 days
• Legal awareness training for the North East Representative from eight North East States
• It also recommended for setting up Relief Corpus Fund for helping heinous crime victims
Short Term Measures:
• Use of information technology to reach large number of people from North East India
• Sensitising law enforcement agencies about the culture and needs of the North East people
• Comprehensive computer database to keep tab on people from North East
• Promotion of Sports from North East India to establish bond with rest of India
Long Term Measures:
• Committee had recommended the Union Government to initiate debate on anti-racial laws
• Establishment of North East Centre in Delhi
Measures announced by Union Government
Any derogatory remark relating to race, culture or physical appearance of people of North Eastern states can land a person in jail for up to five years.
Apart from this, the Union Government has decided to provide legal assistance to people of North East by Delhi Legal State Services Authority. For the purpose a panel of seven lawyers including five women members has been constituted.
To increase representation of people of North Eastern states in force, the government has advised to Delhi police to recruit 20 police personnel to recruit 20 police personnel from each Northeastern States. The government has also decided that the Delhi Government will provide compensation and financial assistance to people of the reason who fall prey to violence.
Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara became fastest to score 12000 Test runs
Kumar Sangakkara, former Sri Lankan cricket captain, on 3 January 2015 became the fastest cricketer to reach 12000 Test runs. The left-handed batsman reached the milestone in his 224th innings played during the Sri Lanka’s second Test match against New Zealand played in Wellington.
Players in 12000 runs Club include
• Sachin Tendulkar: 15291 Runs at an average of 53.78 in 247 innings
• Ricky Ponting: 13378 Runs at an average of 51.85 in 247 innings
• Jacques Kallis: 13289 Runs at an average of 55.37
• Rahul Dravid: 13288 Runs at an average of 52.31
• Kumar Sangakkara: 12028 Runs (playing) at an average of 58.00
Sangakkara who launched his Test career in Cricket has made an impressive average of over 58.00, which include 37 centuries in 130 tests. His highest score was 319 against Bangladesh.
Earlier on 3 December 2014, Sangakkara became the fourth player to score 13000 runs in ODI cricket. Other three players to score 13000 runs in ODIs are Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Sanath Jayasuriya.
ICICI Bank launched Digital Village Project in Akodara Village of Gujarat
The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Bank on 2 January 2015 launched Digital Village Project in Akodara Village of Gujarat.
The project was launched in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochar.
The project aimed to provide services ranging from cashless banking to digitised school teaching. The digital village has three themes i.e. cashless, comprehensive and connected.
The project embarked the 60 year celebration of the ICICI group's existence since the erstwhile ICICI Ltd was set up in 1955.
Features of Project
• providing cash-less banking services to every villager.
• Banking was digitized in all offerings of bank ranging from opening an account to sale of goods to purchase of products including milk from the vendor or kirana stores.
• At the same time, the school records were digitized alongwith the Gujarat syllabus and even teaching methods and tools.
• The project aimed to ensure that all villagers must have access to all the required data and information in a digital format.
• The villagers will get SMS in Gujarati for their transactions and other digital services.
• Besides ATMs and other digital banking services, the bank has set up e-health, e-milk producer group, Wi-Fi connectivity and schools with digital black boards in the village, along with a host of other digital facilities.
Earlier, the village named Akodara in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat gained fame when the then CM of Gujarat Narendra Modi started Gujarat's first animal hostel in 2011.
The animal hostel is a concept conceived by Modi. Animal Hostel is a place where the cattle of the village are kept and maintained together and have all necessary infrastructure facilities to take care of them.
About ICICI Bank
The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) was originally set up as an Indian financial institution at the initiative of the World Bank, the Government of India and representatives of Indian industry to provide project financing to Indian businesses. It later got merged with ICICI Bank, which was set up in 1994.
Mario Matthew Cuomo, former New York Governor, died at 82
Mario Matthew Cuomo, former New York Governor on 1 January 2015 died due to heart failure in Manhattan, New York City. He was 82.
Mario Matthew Cuomo was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party. He served as the 52nd Governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994, Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1979 to 1982, and Secretary of State of New York from 1975 to 1978.
Cuomo was known for his liberal views and public speeches, particularly his keynote speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention where he criticized Ronald Reagan's policies.
The speech brought him to national attention, and he was widely considered a front-runner for the Democratic nomination for President in both 1988 and 1992, but he declined to seek the nomination in both instances.
His Books
• He was the author of Why Lincoln Matters. The book was published in 2004.
• He was the co-editor of Lincoln on Democracy, an anthology of Abraham Lincoln's speeches.
• In 1996, Cuomo wrote Reason to Believe.
• He also wrote a narrative essay titled Achieving the American Dream about his parents' struggles in coming to America and how they prospered.
Bharat Forge acquired France-based Company Mecanique Generale Langroise
Bharat Forge Limited (BFL) on 2 January 2015 acquired France-based Company Mecanique Generale Langroise (MGL) for nearly 90 crore rupees.
The acquisition aimed to consolidate its position in the oil and gas space. Bharat Forge acquired MGL via its German arm CDP Bharat Forge GmbH.
The acquisition will enhance BFL's ability to provide turnkey solution and simultaneously strengthens the product offering in the oil and gas sector.
Saint Goesmes based MGL focuses on precision machining and other high value processes like cladding for critical application in the oil and gas industry. It also supplies turnkey components for drilling applications in addition to components for power sector.
About Bharat Forge
The company was founded by Nilkanthrao Kalyani in 1961.Bharat Forge Limited (BFL) is the Pune-based Indian multinational company. It is a technology driven global leader in metal forming and other several sectors including automotive, power, oil and gas, construction & mining, locomotive, marine and aerospace.
The current chairman of the company is Baba Kalyani.
Kiran Bhai Vadodaria elected as INS president
Kiran Bhai Vadodaria on 2 January 2015 was elected as President of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) for 2014-15. He is the Chairman and Managing Director of Gujarati newspaper Sambhaav Metro.
He succeeded Ravindra Kumar of The Statesman. The appointment was announced at the 75th annual general meeting of the organization in New Delhi.
PV Chandran of Grihalakshmi was elected Deputy President of the INS while Somesh Sharma of Rastradoot was made Vice President.
Mohit Jain of Economic Times and V Shankaran were appointed as Treasurer and Secretary General of INS.
Among the 41-member Executive Committee, the notable members include Mahendra Mohan Gupta (Dainik Jagran), Sanjay Gupta (Dainik Jagran), Shailesh Gupta (Mid-Day), Vijay Kumar Chopra (Punjab Kesri), Viveck Goenka (The Indian Express, Mumbai), R Lakshmipathy (Dinamalar) and Jayant Mammen Mathew (Malayala Manorama).
About INS
The society was founded in 1939. Its headquarter is located in New Delhi.
The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) acts as the central organization of the Press of India. It is an independent body authenticating circulation figures of newspapers and periodicals in India. It is an organization which plays a major role in protecting and promoting the freedom of press in India.
Union Sports Ministry recognised Boxing India as national federation for representing Boxing
Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on 2 January 2015 recognised Boxing India (BI) as the governing body for representing boxing in India.
In this regard, the Ministry allowed Boxing India to use the name under the Emblems & Names (Prevention of Improper use) Act, 1950 for all its future correspondence.
BI already has been recognised as national federation by International Boxing Association (AIBA) to represent boxing in India and registered it as permanent member.
The registration is a stepping stone in expediting the administrative formalities and streamlining the overall functioning and activities of Boxing India.
The President of Boxing India is Sandeep Jajodia and it has been constituted with the support of 32 state boxing associations. The federation will held its first Elite Men's National Championship at Nagpur from 8 January 2015 to 14 January 2015.