Bringing to memory the Classic win in 2001, India celebrated winning the FIH Junior Hockey World Cup clinching a 2-1 victory against Belgium in the final.
Last time India won the cup in Hobart in 2001 with the likes of Gagan Ajit Singh and Yugraj Singh then. This time India scored two field goals in the first half through Gurjant Singh (8th minute) and Simranjeet Singh (22nd) to emerge as winners.
The team coached by Harendra Singh was cheered throughout by home crowd, revived the fortunes of the game in a nation, which has boasted of a rich hockey tradition way back 50 years ago.
The other team Belgium scored a late consolation goal through Fabrice van Bockrijck’s penalty corner conversion in the 70th minute.
Earlier, six-time champions and title holders Germany had been relegated to a bronze defeating Australia 3-0 in the third-fourth place play-off match.
Congratulating the team, Minister of Sports Vijay Goel has commended their splendid win and said India have become the first nation to win the hockey junior World Cup at home and the title is significant as it came after a gap of 15 years for the second time.
He said the joyous moment of glory is more enjoyable as it came after Senior Indian Men and Women Hockey Teams lifted the Asian Champions Trophy earlier in the year. Vijay Goel said the best finish in Hockey in recent times reflects the hard work, dedication, discipline and determination of our players to succeed at the International Sporting arena.
A capacity addition of 14.30 GW of renewable energy has been reported during the last two and half years under Grid Connected Renewable Power, which include 5.8 GW from Solar Power, 7.04 GW from Wind Power, 0.53 from Small Hydro Power and 0.93 from Bio-power. As of 31st October, 2016, Solar Energy Projects with an aggregate capacity of over 8727.62 MW has been installed in the country.
Confident by the growth rate in clean energy sector, the Government of India in its submission to the United Nations Frame Work Convention on Climate Change on Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) has stated that India will achieve 40% cumulative Electric power capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030 with the help of transfer of technology and low cost International Finance including from Green Climate Fund.
The increased use of indigenous renewable resources is expected to reduce India’s dependence on expensive imported fossil fuels. India has an estimated renewable energy potential of about 900 GW from commercially exploitable sources viz. Wind – 102 GW (at 80 meter mast height); Small Hydro – 20 GW; Bio-energy – 25 GW; and 750 GW solar power, assuming 3% wasteland
The Government of India has set a target of 175 GW renewable power installed capacity by the end of 2022. This includes 60 GW from wind power, 100 GW from solar power, 10 GW from biomass power and 5 GW from small hydro power.
A target of 16660 MW grid renewable power (wind 4000 MW, solar 12000 MW, small hydro power 250 MW, bio-power 400 MW and waste to power 10 MW), has been set for 2016-17. Besides, under off-grid renewable system, targets of 15 MW eq. waste to energy, 60 MW eq. biomass non-bagasse cogeneration, 10 MW eq. biomass gasifiers, 1.0 MW eq. small wind/hybrid systems, 100 MW eq. solar photovoltaic systems, 1.0 MW eq. micro hydel and 100,000 nos. family size biogas plants have been set for 2016-17.
The target set for the various renewable energy sources for the next three years are:
The Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba, has paid an official visit to Japan from 19 December 2016 in a bid to consolidate existing Maritime Cooperation initiatives as well as explore new avenues.
Defence cooperation between India and Japan is currently robust and is primarily focused towards Maritime Cooperation ever since the commencement of the India-Japan Comprehensive Security Dialogue which was initiated in 2001.
Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) has participated in the MALABAR exercise in 2007, 2009, 2014 prior being included as a regular member in the exercise since 2015. JMSDF participated in MALABAR 15 and 16 held in the Bay of Bengal and Western Pacific respectively.
In 2014, Japan has also been included as an observer in the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), a Maritime Cooperation construct conceptualised and pioneered by Indian Navy in 2008.
Both navies also engage in Navy to Navy Staff Talks which commenced in 2008. The 7th Navy to Navy Staff Talks are scheduled to be held in 2017. JDS Matsuyuki participated in the International Fleet Review 2016 held at Visakhapatnam.
The Chief of Staff of the JMSDF, Admiral Tomihisa Takei also attended the Review. Indian Navy too participated in the International Fleet Review conducted by the JMSDF in Oct 15 at Sagami Bay, Yokosuka, Japan.
JMSDF for the first time participated in the Admiral’s Cup Sailing Regatta conducted by the Indian Navy in 2016 at Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala from 05 to 11 Dec 16. Warships of both countries regularly visit each other’s ports.
India and Japan share similar maritime challenges such as long coastline, extensive EEZ, coastal security, large coastal shipping and fishing fleet, wherein both navies have opportunities to learn from each other’s experiences. In addition common ground exists for cooperation on a number of issues common to both navies.
Indian navy chief Admiral Sunil Lamba
During the visit, Admiral Sunil Lanba is scheduled to hold discussions with Chief of Staff, JMSDF, Minister of State for Defence, Chief of Staff, Joint Staff besides other Senior Dignitaries and Naval Officers.
The friendship between India and Japan has a long history rooted in spiritual affinity and strong cultural and civilisational ties. India’s earliest documented direct contact with Japan was with the Todaiji Temple in Nara, where the consecration or eye-opening of the towering statue of Lord Buddha was performed by an Indian monk, Bodhisena, in 752 AD.
In contemporary times, among prominent Indians associated with Japan were Swami Vivekananda, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, JRD Tata, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Judge Radha Binod Pal. The Japan-India Association was set up in 1903, and is today the oldest international friendship body in Japan.
It’s called PPAP in short and the full form reads Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen, written in Japanese katakana as ペンパイナッポーアッポーペン, a parody song written by Pikotaro, a fictional singer-songwriter created and portrayed by Japanese comedian Daimaou Kosaka. It has become a rage in Japan and elsewhere to match Gangnam fame in 2016.
Though it was released as a music video on YouTube on 25 August 2016, it took some time before people realised that it forces one to see it again and again thus reaching almost a 100 million views on Youtube as of now.
It has also spawned several parodies, which too have reached more than 50 million views and some clocked 20 to 30 millions. The single itself reached number 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart and became the shortest single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.
Kosaka hit upon the idea of a silly song a-la Gangnam or Gentleman of Korean counterparts with much less inputs — single person portraying with no background and no one else in the video. Except for his Asian costume, no other item on the screen diverts your attention. And the lyrics, nothing unless you expand PPAP once and for all.
Kosaka came up with the tune when he was reportedly listening to the tune and wanted to pen down. When he looked around an apple and a pineapple caught his vision and there he imagined as if he is from the apple country, that is the US.
The song is written in the key of C♯ minor with a common time tempo of 136 beats per minute and the song Pikotaro’s vocals span from F♯3 to C♯5 in the song.
The music video portrays Pikotaro, dressed in a yellow snake and leopard animal print costume, making gestures you should assume as dance and then sings: “I have a pen, I have a apple. Uh, apple pen” with his gestures showing as if he is holding both of them and pushing them together. Produced with just 100,000 yen (about Rs.50,000), it has already reached 100 million views, which could be few millions of dollars for the producer.
On 27 October, Pikotaro posted a “long version” of the music video and on 17 November, Pikotaro made an appearance on the Japanese edition of Sesame Street, where he joined Elmo and Cookie Monster in singing their version of the song titled “CBCC (Cookie-Butter-Choco-Cookie)”.
When Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber shared the video on Twitter on 27 Sept, 2016, saying it was his “favorite video on the Internet”, it hit the road to worldwide recognition averaging over 1.5 million hits a day with several parodies coming out.
Union power minister Piyush Goyal and US Ambassador Richard Verma launched on Friday a new joint venture of US-India Clean Energy Finance (USICEF) Initiative which would help in unlocking OPIC financing and mobilize public and private capital to expand access to distributed clean energy projects.
Letter of Intents were signed and exchanged between MNRE and OPIC in presence of Piyush Goyal for the creation of a $20 million for US-India Clean Energy Finance (USICEF) Initiative, equally supported by the United States and India would support projects which, upon long-term financing and deployment, and would qualify for the support of long-term debt financing from OPIC.
The U.S.-India Clean Energy Finance facility (USICEF) would support project preparation activities for distributed solar projects in order to unlock OPIC financing and mobilize public and private capital to expand access to distributed clean energy solutions that will benefit disadvantaged communities in India and contribute to India’s ambitious renewable energy and energy access goals.
USICEF builds on the success of other project preparation facilities to support renewable energy in emerging markets. Through this initiative, project developers pursuing mini-grid, distributed rooftop and off-grid solar projects, as well as smaller-scale grid connected solar projects would be benefitted.
Rajeev Kapoor, Secretary, MNRE, White House Senior director John Morton and William Pegues, Managing Director, OPIC and representatives of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Good Energies Foundation were also present.
During the event, Udai Khemka presented Clean Energy Finance Forum (CEFF) Report to Goyal. The report has been prepared after an extensive domestic and international consultation with all categories of financial Institutions (including pension funds, sovereign investors, insurance companies, other financial investors/funds, banks, investment banks etc.), multilateral institutions, as well as strategic investors and developers.
CEFF has made recommendations which will help solicit greater investment into the renewable energy sector. Some of the key cross cutting recommendations includes to boost and Accelerate “Open Access” Markets; Improve PPA Bankability; Improve Ease of Access to Domestic Banking and Capital Markets; Encourage International Debt and Equity Investments and Mitigate Currency Risk.
Goyal assured that suggestions emerged out would be examined and corrective actions would be taken up soon. He also stated that the new initiative of USICEF launched would help the early-stage project capital gap for distributed solar by supporting project preparation activities necessary to access long-term debt financing and unlocking OPIC and private finance.
A revised Agreement between India and Cyprus for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal evasion (DTAA) with respect to taxes on income, along with its Protocol, was signed last month on 18th November, 2016 in Nicosia, which will replace the existing DTAA that was signed by two countries on 13th June 1994.
The Protocol was signed by Mr. Ravi Bangar, High Commissioner of India to Cyprus on behalf of India and Mr. Harris Georgiades, the Minister of Finance on behalf of Cyprus.
Both sides have now exchanged notifications intimating the completion of their respective internal procedures for the entry into force of the DTAA, with which the revised DTAA shall come into effect in India in the fiscal year beginning on or after 1st April, 2017.
The revised DTAA will enable source based taxation of capital gains on shares, except in respect of investments made prior to 1st April, 2017. In addition, the DTAA will also bring into effect updated provisions as per international standards and in accordance with the consistent position of India.
In a separate development, the notification of Cyprus under Section 94A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, as a notified jurisdictional area for lack of effective exchange of information, has been rescinded with effect from 1.11.2013, said a statement. The bilateral economic ties between the two countries are expected to be further strengthened by these measures, added the statement.
The Income Tax Department has carried out investigations since the de-monetisation of Old High Denomination (OHD) currency announced by the Government on 8th November, 2016 and unearthed Rs.2,600 crore in 291 cases across the country. In addition, open enquiries have been effected in more than 3,000 cases.
Approximately Rs. 393 Crore including Rs. 316 Crore cash and Rs. 77 Crore worth of jewellery has been seized. Of the cash seizure, about Rs. 80 Crore is in new currency. As a result of these investigations, approximately Rs. 2600 Crore of undisclosed income has been admitted by the taxpayers.
The success of the Department in unearthing undisclosed incomes and detecting large scale malpractices is due to its focused enforcement actions based upon high quality data analytics under various categories thereby identifying and prioritizing high risk persons/groups.
This, coupled with the professional manner of conducting the investigations in a swift and confidential manner, has helped the Department make an impact in a short time.
A 14 days joint training exercise of the Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Force commenced today with the Opening Ceremony at
File Photo: Visit of Foreign Minister of Maldives to India (August 15-16, 2016) (MEA)
in Maldives.
The training contingents comprised of a platoon strength from BIHAR Regiment and a similar strength of the Maldivian National Defence Force. Senior military observers of both the countries will be witnessing the validation phase of the Exercise.
Exercise EKUVERIN – 2016 will be the 7th edition of Joint Exercise and is in continuation of a series of joint Exercises between the Indian Army and Maldivian National Defence Force. The previous edition of the Exercise was held at Trivandrum, India in 2015.
The aim of the Joint Exercise is to acquaint both forces with each other’s operating procedures in the backdrop of amphibious and counter insurgency/ Counter terrorism environment as also to enhance the existing military relationship between the Indian Army and the Maldivian National Defence Force.
The Indian Army contingent had landed at Male International Airport on 14 Dec 2016 on a C-130 military aircraft of the Indian Air Force. The exercise aims to enhance the interoperability between the Indian Army and Maldivian National Defence Forces in conducting joint operations and cement bonds of friendship between the two countries.
The joint military exercise named ‘Exercise EKUVERIN’ alternatively in India and Maldives with participation of an Infantry platoon from each side.
On the sidelines of International Civil Aviation Negotiations (ICAN) – 2016 held recently in Nassau from 5th to 9thDecember, 2016, R.N. Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation said that India signed agreements with six nations on air aviation.
The Conference was attended by 106 countries out of ICAO membership of 191 countries. India held negotiations with 17 countries and “Memorandum of Understanding” was signed with 12 countries. The major issues resolved at these negotiations as per the directions in National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP 2016) are:
Increase in traffic rights:- India renegotiated traffic rights with Oman increasing the entitlements with 6,258 seats effective from Summer 2017 as the existing entitlements were nearly exhausted. The points of call remained unchanged.
India agreed with Saudi Arabia to increase the capacity by 8000 seats per week from IATA season when Indian carrier’s utilization reaches 80%. This was in response to the needs of increasing traffic between the two countries where Indian carriers have been utilising open sky in Damman to mount more flights than the Saudi Arabian side.
India also agreed with Ghana to increase the present allocation of 2 frequencies to 7 frequencies per week to encourage connectivity between the two countries.
Open Skies agreement as per NCAP 2016 :- allows unlimited number of flights to six metro airports namely Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai, was signed with six countries namely Jamaica, Guyana, Czech Republic, Finland, Spain and Sri Lanka. The new arrangement will encourage connectivity and passenger travel between India and these countries.
New Air Service Agreements were signed with Jamaica and Guyana.
Code Shares:- In the present scenario code shares provide seamless connectivity to the travelling passengers and make possible connectivity between far off destinations not served by direct flights. As per NCAP 2016 code shares are to be encouraged and keeping this in view, negotiations were completed with 9 countries to enable the legal framework between the governments of these countries to make possible code shares between the airlines of two sides. The negotiations have enabled domestic code shares with Czech Republic, Portugal and Malaysia, domestic and international code shares including third country airlines with Guyana, removal of restriction of counting of capacity in case of code share with 3rd country carriers and domestic code share to additional two points to Mauritius, code share with 3rd country carriers and 4 additional domestic code share points with Saudi Arabia and Spain and code share with 3rd country carriers with Sri Lanka.
Resolution of other issues relating to Air Services Agreement was also completed with Ghana, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Portugal, Hong Kong, Ethiopia and Bangladesh.
Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines (Independent Charge) Piyush Goyal addressing at the National Energy Conservation Day function, in New Delhi on December 14, 2016. (PIB)
Union Minister for State for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines Piyush Goyal in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Thursday said that a comprehensive scheme including Intra-State and Inter-State transmission system has been identified as a part of ‘Green Energy Corridors’.
The German air agency KfW Germany is providing soft loan to be funded as 20% equity of the State government, 40% grant from National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) and 40% soft loan, whereas, the inter State transmission schemes are to be funded as 30% equity by PGCIL and 70% as soft loan, he said.
For Inter-state transmission projects pertaining to Part A, B and C of Green Energy Corridor, loan agreement for financial assistance of Euro 500 million from KfW, Germany has been signed by PGCIL and the projects are likely to be completed by 2018. Further, for implementation of transmission schemes under Green Energy Corridor-Part D, PGCIL has taken loan from ADB.
For Intra-state transmission projects under Green Energy Corridor; the States of Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have signed the loan agreements from KfW, Germany for financial assistance of Euro 76 million, Euro 49 million, Euro 57 million, Euro 68 million, Euro 114 million and Euro 124 Million respectively.
Further, Goyal added that in order to integrate solar parks with the grid, Ministry of Power assigned PGCIL to implement Inter-State transmission scheme for evacuation from 8 solar parks (7200 MW). Transmission scheme for 6 solar parks (5750 MW) is already under implementation [Ananthapuram (1500 MW), Pavagada (2000 MW), Rewa (750 MW), Bhadla-III (500 MW), Bhadla-IV (250 MW), Essel Saurya (750 MW)]. Tender issued for Banaskantha Solar Park (700 MW), whereas Long Term Access (LTA) application for other MP solar park from the developer is awaited.
To evacuate power from the renewable capacity addition in renewable rich States (Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu), transmission system strengthening, both Intra State and Inter State, along with setting up of Renewable Energy Management Centre (REMC) and the control infrastructure is being implemented under GECs.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said India attaches high importance to Indonesia’s success as a pluralistic democracy with an open society based on the shared values of syncretism, tolerance and respect for diversity.
Hostin a banquet to the visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Mr Mukherjee said, “We see India and Indonesia as two countries providing a bulwark against radicalism and intolerance. India values its cooperation with Indonesia to address these common security concerns and transnational threats. Our proximity as close maritime neighbours indicates that this is a key area where we must work together as partners to achieve for strategic stability and security in the Indo-Pacific and safety and security of sea lanes.”
The President said Indonesia is the largest economy in ASEAN and India’s number one trade partner in the region. Our bilateral trade was about US$16 billion last year. We can try to realise the actual potential of our trade by diversifying our trade basket. India would value Indonesia’s active support for strengthening India-ASEAN relations during 2017 when we will be celebrating 15 years of Summit level interaction.
Subsequently, in his banquet speech, President Pranab Mukherjee said Indonesia and India helped to write the closing chapters of colonialism and started the Non-Aligned Movement. India looks forward to work with Indonesia to achieve the full potential of economic co-operation, maritime and air links and in increasing reciprocal investments.
India would be happy to contribute to Indonesia’s ‘maritime fulcrum vision’ of Indonesia Nusantara and, thereby, also to the security of the Indo-Pacific region. In the multilateral and global context of facing the common challenges of the 21st Century, India and Indonesia, together, are factors of stability for the world.
President-elect Donald Trump is meeting the IT honchos known as “Technology Roundtable” on Wednesday, December 14th, reportedly organized in part by Paypal co-founder and Trump supporter Peter Thiel.
The list of invitees include Alphabet (Google) CEO Larry Page; Apple CEO Tim Cook; Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella; Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg; Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins; IBM CEO Ginni Rommetty; Intel CEO Brian Krzanich; and Oracle CEO Safra Catz. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos may also join, though Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said he wasn’t invited.
During the election campaign, Cook and Page were allegedly involved in early discussions of how to stop Trump’s nomination, while Apple came under criticism by Trump for manufacturing its phones in China and refusing to provide security backdoors to law enforcement. Bezos was engaged in a running battle with Trump throughout the campaign and described Trump as “eroding our democracy.”
Other IT people invited for the roundtable include Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, IT investor and Shark Tank fame Mark Cuban, HP CEO Meg Whitman, and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff.
In less than a week after the demise of J.Jayalalithaa, Tamil Nadu is bracing for the worst storm on Monday, Dec. 12, called Cyclone Vardah with heavy rains and strong winds lashing the coast, forcing shut down of schools and cancellation of flights.
In Andhra Pradesh, the storm is feared to damage the paddy crops and orchards in Ongole and Nellore districts. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu reviewed the situation through teleconference on Sunday evening and advised the officials to keep food and other essential commodities ready.
The storm is likely to hit both Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh coasts with the Indian Navy and the National Disaster Response Force on standby. The expected winds are in the range of 80 to 100 km an hour.
The government has not begun evacuation as the storm is expected to weaken by Monday afternoon. "Arrangements to be made for evacuating people in low lying and vulnerable areas. Relief centres to be kept in readiness along with necessary food, water and other arrangements. Army, Navy, Air-force and Coast Guard have been alerted to be on standby for deployment as and when necessary," a statement from the CM office said.
The Met office said the storm has weakened from very Severe to Severe storm. Already transportation was badly hit and 15 flights have been cancelled and 25 have been diverted so far with 9 of them reporting delay. All schools have been closed in coastal Tamil Nadu cities of Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, and Villupuram. Private firms have been advised to give a holidya to the staff or allow them to work from home on Monday.
The fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea for the next 48 hours and people in low-lying areas have been advised to move to safer zones.
National Disaster Management Authority, in a tweet, asked people "to remain in safe places and cooperate with state government officials and disaster management agencies".
The Navy said it is ready with relief materials including additional divers, doctors, inflatable rubber boats, integral helicopters and relief material including food, tents, clothes, medicines and blankets to rescue more than 5,000 people.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj underwent a kidney transplant at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Saturday and her condition is stable, said a statement. It said the minister, 64, is safe and is in Intensive Care Unit after the six-hour-long surgery.
“A dedicated team of 50 personnel comprising transplant surgeons Prof. M. Minz and Prof. V. K. Bansal, transplant anaesthesiologists Prof. M.K. Arora, Prof. Rashmi Ramchandran, Prof. Vimmi Rewari and Dr. Preet Mohinder Singh, nurses, technicians and support staff, undertook the procedure under the leadership of Prof. M.C. Misra, Director, AIIMS and HoD Cardiac Anaesthesia, AIIMS,” said the statement.
The kidney was donated by a woman, not any relative, in her 40s and both of them are doing well, said the statement.
President of India Mr. Pranab Mukherjee marked his 81st birthday by launching a ‘100 Million for 100 Million’ Campaign organized by the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (December 11, 2016).
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that he was delighted to launch the campaign led by Nobel peace prize winner, Shri Kailash Satyarthi, from Rashtrapati Bhavan, an institution which symbolises our Republic’s commitment to democracy, pluralism and secularism.
The President said that despite the progress the world has made in science and technology, economic development and in other fields of human endeavour, there are still over a 100 million children who are “out of school”. They are being denied their childhood and are facing exploitation in various ways. The world must realise without further delay that there can be no progress unless our children are safe, secure and unless they are provided the freedom and opportunity to become agents of change for the larger good of humanity. To ensure for them a bright, carefree and secure future, devoid of poverty, violence and want is our bounden duty.
The President said this global effort to mobilize 100 million youth for shaping a better future of 100 million children who are less privileged is the beginning of a change which was long overdue. It is only appropriate that this campaign begins from India, which has one of the largest populations of youth in the world. He expressed hope that the campaign, as it runs for five years, will have a path-breaking impact on the lives of children across the globe. He urged all children and young people from India and abroad to join this campaign and be the torchbearers for a vibrant, compassionate and happy world where every child is free from want, fear and exploitation.
The ‘100 Million for 100 Million’ Campaign aims to mobilise 100 million youth and children for 100 million underprivileged children across the world, to end child labour, child slavery, violence against children and promote the right of every child to be safe, free, and educated, over the next 5 years.
Earlier in the day, the President inaugurated twin tower apartments for staff of Rashtrapati Bhavan; Navachara-II, a hall for permanent exhibition of grassroots innovations at Rashtrapati Bhavan and a museum of vintage carpets & tapestries of Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Ayush ministry is collaborating with International Agencies in its quest for promotion of cooperation in the field of medicinal plants, the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with University of West Indies, Trinidad & Tobago in 2014.
To give further impetus to the promotion of international cooperation in the field of Medicinal plants, the NMPB has since revised its “Central Sector Scheme on Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants, 2015”, by including a component on “Bilateral / International cooperation and collaboration with International Agencies”.
The salient features of Delhi Declaration on Traditional Medicines for South East Asian countries are follows:-
I.To promote National policies, strategies and interventions for equitable development and appropriate use of traditional medicine in the health care delivery system.
II. To develop institutionalized mechanism for exchange of information, expertise and knowledge with active cooperation with WHO on traditional medicine through workshops, symposia, visit of experts, exchange of literature etc.
III. To establish regional centers as required for capacity building and networking in the areas of traditional medicine and medicinal plants.
The Ministry of AYUSH has already set up Ayurveda Chair in University of Debrecen, Hungary and Rangsit University, Thailand.
Accordng to the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), 204 Patents have since been granted on formulations/ processes/ products of herbs / plants, on inventions that satisfy the patentability criteria as laid out in the Patents Act, 1970.
As per the Patents Act 1970 (as amended), patents can be imparted only to new formulations based on products related to herbs/ plants or processes related thereto, which are not in public domain and fulfill the criteria of patentability.
Though Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and Rules 1945, does not have any provision for registration of Ayurvedic formulations, to protect Traditional Medicinal Knowledge of India, the Ministry of AYUSH has created Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) in collaboration with Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) for digitalization of traditional medicinal knowledge.
More than 3 lakh formulations from the texts of Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha Systems have been digitalized till date under TKDL to protect Traditional Knowledge from misappropriation by providing defensive protection.
This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, ShripadYesso Naik in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.
Shriya Sharma Grown up to play lead heroine roles now
The little girl Sneha in “Kasautii Zindagi Kay” is now a grown up beautiful lady ready to don the lead heroine roles and her latest picture on Instagram have already rocked many in the film industry.
Playing the role of Sneha, daughter of of Prerna (Shweta Tiwari) and Anurag Basu’s daughter in the famous television show ‘Kasautii Zindagi Kay’, Shriya Sharma is not new to Telugu film indsutry.
She has acted in Telugu film Jai Chiranjeeva’ as the little girl Lavanya and later she played in Hindi films including, ‘Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic’, ‘Laaga Chunari Mein Daag’, ‘Knock Out’ and ‘Chillar Party’. In fact, her role in ‘Chillar Party’ won her the national award too.
Born in 1997 in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, she started acting at the age of 3 years and has completed 16 years in the film industry, with her latest film in Telugu “Nirmala Convent” bringing her back to the stardom.
A brilliant student, she has scored 95% in ICSE 10th standard and 91% in Central Board of Secondary Education, 12th standard. She is now studying Law at Mumbai University.
Union Minister for Defence, Manohar Parrikar and the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Sir Anerood Jugnauth at the Commissioning of CGS Victory the Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WFAC) of the Coast Guard of Mauritius, the vessel has been manufactured by the Goa Shipyard Limited, on December 10, 2016.(PIB)
Indian defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, arrived in Mauritius on Saturday, on a two day visit, the first ever visit by a Defence Minister of India to Mauritius. He is accompanied by senior officers of the Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and Ministry of Defence.
Parrikar called on the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Sir Anerood Jugnauth and was the Special Guest of Honour at the Commissioning Ceremony of CGS Victory and two Chetak Helicopters.
During the meeting with Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth, both sides expressed their deep satisfaction over the close and growing defence and security cooperation and collaboration between India and Mauritius. Emphasizing their mutual security interests, Parrikar said that the Government of India would continue to extend its full support to Mauritius for training and capacity building, as well as supply and maintenance of defence equipment.
CGS Victory, a Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WFAC), was manufactured by the Goa Shipyard Limited and funded by a Government of India Line of Credit. CGS Valiant, another WFAC also being manufactured by Goa Shipyard Limited for the Government of Mauritius, is due for delivery in mid 2017.
With the induction of the CGS Victory, the National Coast Guard of Mauritius will be able to widen its Outer Island support activities and conduct in-depth surveillance in the Mauritian EEZ for tackling transnational crimes such as drug and human trafficking, piracy, smuggling and terrorism.
The two Chetak helicopters from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), were gifted by Government of India to the Police Helicopter Squadron (PHS) of the Mauritius Police Force. These two helicopters have an operational life of 15 years and would enhance and supplement the existing capabilities of the Mauritius PHS for Search and Rescue operations, emergency evacuations and Anti-Cannabis cultivation operations in Mauritius.
Parrikar will call on the President of Mauritius, Dr. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim tomorrow. He will interact with senior Cabinet Ministers of the Government of Mauritius, including the Vice Prime Minister, Showkutally Soodhun and Finance Minister Pravind Jugnauth. He will attend a Deck Reception on-board the Indian Survey Ship INS Darshak, which is on a month-long deployment to Mauritius for conducting hydrographic surveys. Mauritian dignitaries and prominent members of the Indian community will attend the Deck Reception.
India has a long history of cooperation with Mauritius in the defence and maritime security sector. With this visit, both India and Mauritius reaffirmed their strong commitment to the maintenance of peace, security and stability in the Indian Ocean region.
The Ministry of Finance, Government of India through its Department of Financial Services(DFS) has asked all the Public Sector Banks(PSBs) and the Indian Bankers Association (IBA) to ensure hundred percent(100%) that deposits of new currency is properly reflected in the customers’ counterfoils.
In a letter addressed to all the Managing Directors (MDs) & Chief Executive Officers (CEOs)/Chairman cum Managing Directors (CMDs) of PSBs and Chairman, IBA, the DFS has stated that maintenance of records regarding deposit of SBN and Non-SBN, as the case may be, is essential both in the bank record as well as the customer’s record.
The letter further states though most banks providing correct information to the customers yet to ensure that it is done in 100% of cases without fail, all the bank branches in the country be alerted to reflect correctly the cash deposit in old and new currency and inform the customers about the same.
The Ministry has asked the MDs &CEOs/CMDs of PSBs and Chairman, IBA that this must be followed scrupulously and any deviation in this regard has to be prevented and if noticed, dealt with firmly and immediately.
The letter further states that to educate the public, banks may clearly display a prominent sign (including in the local language) in their respective branches requesting their customers to fill-up deposit slips clearly indicating old and new currency and the denomination of the notes..
The DFS has asked all the MDs &CEOs/CMDs of PSBs and Chairman, IBA to consider this urgently and action taken in this regard be reported by 16.12.2016.
The Ministry also appreciated the role played by the banks post-demonetisation especially when the old currency was accepted and till 24th November, 2016, when exchange of old currency to specified limit was also permitted.
The Tamil Nadu cabinet on Saturday decided to recommend J. Jayalalithaa’s name for India’s highest civilian honour, the ‘Bharat Ratna’ and installation of her life-size bronze statue in Parliament complex.
“A resolution was adopted in the Cabinet to recommend to the Centre to award Bharat Ratna to honourable Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa,” said an official statement after the cabinet meeting today. It said a memorial building will be built for both MG Ramachandran (MGR) and J. Jayalalithaa.
Meanwhile, opposition to her aide Sasikala Natarajan’s continuation in the Veda Nilayam residence of Poes Garden in Chennai is emerging from different quarters though the party, AIADMK, has kept silence on the issue of Jayalalithaa’s properties amounting to about Rs.113 crore, including movable assets of Rs. 41.63 crore and immovable assets of Rs. 72.09 crore.
The question over Sasikala inheriting the property has sent out mixed reaction. She came into Jayalalithaa’s life as an aide and caretaker in 1991 when she was about 34 years. Since then, all that one knew about her was that she was a close associate and caregiver.
Except for her brief expulsions twice, she had been with Jayalalithaa both at home, in election campaigns, tours, temple visits and vacations, including the jail term in Bangalore over Disproportionate Assets case. The AIADMK party cadre and leaders knew that Jayalalithaa had always kept Sashikala in high esteem as her sister in the last 35 years.
She was expelled from the house twice but it did not last for more than 100 days. Sasikala had even abandoned her husband and son to be with Jayalalithaa, a fact that the party may consider to keep her the de facto heir to Jayalalithaa.
