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Natural Calamities

India's First Woman Photo-Journalist Dies

India's first woman photo-journalist Homai Vyarawala died in Vadodara on January15, 2012. She was 98years when she died. Her husband Maneekshaw Vyarawala had died in 1970.

Born on December 9, 1913 in a Parsi family Vyarawala grew up in Mumbai and moved to Delhi in 1942 where she photographed events leading to Independence, an employee of the British Information Service.
She took photographs of the key events that would have a decisive impact on Indian history, including a meeting where leaders voted for the June 3 plan for India's partition. She also photographed the first flag hoisting ceremony at Red Fort on August 15,1947, the departure of Lord Mountbatten from India and the funerals of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri.

She was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2011. Vyarawala also covered the visits of Queen Elizabeth and former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower. She was in the profession  for nearly four decades before retiring in the early 1970's. 

Dalai Lama Receives mahatma Gandhi Award for Peace and Reconciliation

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama was presented the Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Reconciliation on January 4, 2012 on the fourth day of the ten-day Kalchakra initiations in Bodh Gaya. The grand daughter of Mahatma Gandhi Ila Gandhi, presented the award to him.

Ila Gandhi, who is based in South Africa, is Chairperson of the Gandhi Development Trust that gives the award. The previous recipients of this award include Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi, South Africa's Nelson Mandela and Tanzania's Julius Nyerere. 

 NIT SILCHAR GETS ITS NEW KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA

 A new addition to the history of National Institute of Technology Silchar is the inauguration of the Kendriya Vidyalaya. Deputy Commissioner, Cachar, H. K. Deb Mahanta lights the lamp and inaugurates the new Kendriya Vidyalaya at the campus of NIT Silchar in the presence of Prof. N.V.Deshpande,  Director NIT Silchar. The Kendriya Vidyalaya is temporarily started at the NIT guest house and will be shifted to its own building which is under construction and will be completed within the next one and a half years.

The school is spread across 4 acres of land of which Chotelal Ankura, a local farmer donated 1 acre of his land for the school. Prof. Deshpande said that since he joined this institute, it has been one of his dreams to set up central school for the students of this locality.

Initially classes from 1 to 8 would commence from the current academic session 2012-13 with 18 faculty members led by the Principal R.A.Patil. Higher classes would be added as the school progresses.

“NIT Silchar is the second among all NIT’s in the country to house a Kendriya Vidyalaya in its campus. The establishment of the school will fulfil the long pending demand for quality school education for the wards of NIT employees as well as the natives of the regions.

Meanwhile, Rajat Gupta, a former faculty of NIT Silchar and now the director of NIT Srinagar was also present at this auspicious occasion and congratulated Prof. Deshpandey for his efforts.

Panch Parmeshwar Yojana Lanched in Madhya Pradesh

Panch Parmeshwar Yojana has been launchedby Chief MinisterShri Shivraj Singh Chauhan in the state in January 2012 for overall development of villages. The Panchayats and Rural Development Department has  launched  Madhya Pradesh Panch Parmeshwar Yojana with the objective of further empowering Gram Panchayats so that these institutions can work more effectively.   Lump sum funds to the tune of Rs.5lakh to 15lakh will be provided for development works directly to Gram Panchayats on the basis of villages population.

The easy availability of financial resources will facilitate Gram Panchayats to work more easily and smoothly. This multi-purpose scheme will help strengthen the three tier Panchayati Raj system further through infrastructure development. If required, the state government will release more funds directly to Gram Panchyat. Villages will be connected with all better roads.

So far, funds under various schemes were made available to Panchayats in piecemeal. That was why development works were undertaken in villages in bits and pieces. Panch Parmeshwar Yojana will help remove this lacuna and development work will gather momentum. At presents, funds are esperately received by the Gram Panchayats under various heads of 13^th Finance Commission, basic grants under State Finance Plan and revenue share from mining and stamp duties due to which they are un able to utilise these funds simultaneously. Under the new scheme, every Panchayat will be provided funds as per 13^th Finance Commission and third State Finance Commission. If any Panchayat gets less funds under Panch Parmeshwar Yojana, it will compensate the shortest from the funds received from mining and stamp duty revenue. Similarly, the Gram Panchayats which are getting more funds thus can get additional funds after utilization of previous funds.

The Chief Minister launched a signature campaign under the Beti Bachao Abhijan. Besides opening employment fair, Panch Sarpanch Sammelan and a cartoon exhibition at Dobhi.

  

Amjad Ali Khan receives Mallikarjun Mansur Award

Sarod Maestro Amjad Ali Khan, whose unique style of playing the instrument with his finger nails has enthralled audiences worldwide, has been presented the Mallikarjun  MansurAward in recognition of his achievements in January 2012 in Dharward, Karnataka.

Khan showered praise on the cultural heritage of Dharward which he said has patronised music in big way and urged Rajasekhara Mansur, son of the legendary Hindustani singer Mallikarjun Mansur, who presented the award, to continue his fathers legacy.

The award, instituted by the Karnataka government, carries a cash prize of Rs.1lakh and a citation. Vocalist Kishori Amonkar, Pandit  Jasraj and Dr.Balamuralikrishna were its earlier recipients.

Five monuments from Rajasthan to seek the World Heritage status

The Rajasthan Govt. has recommended five heritage sites in the state for UNESCO’s world heritage status. The five historical sites includes Ranthambore Fort, Jhalawar Gagrone Fort, Chittorgarh Fort, Amber Fort, and Kumbhalgarh Fort. The final decision for the approval of these sites will be taken up at the world heritage session to be held at Saint Petersburg within July. These nominations will be discussed by the advisory bodies and world heritage committee during the session.

All the five monuments have unique features.

Gagrone Fort in Jhalawar is the only fort which is surrounded by water on its four sides.

Amber Fort in Jaipur is known for a distance architectural style which has both Mughal and Rajput influence.

Chittorgarh Fort is famous for its historicity.

While Kumbhalgarh Fort in Rajsamand have the second-longest continuous wall after the Great Wall of China.

And Sawai Madhopur  Fort in Ranthambore  is totally surrounded by forests.

The A-list stars upto in 2012

Akshay Kumar:

He has started shooting his new Khiladi movie with director Ashish R Mohan and has two more releases this year - Shirish Kunder's next and Neeraj Pandey's heist flick based on a 1987 incident in Mumbai. What is also noteworthy is that he's taking a month-long break in July, for his son Aarav's vacation. He will then complete his co-production with Himesh Reshammiya and start working for Milan Luthria's sequel to Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, followed by Ghajini director A Murugadoss's second Hindi film. Besides, he's also doing the remake of the Telugu film Ko with Prakash Jha next year.

Salman Khan:

He is working for brother Arbaaz's sequel of Dabangg and has planned his 2013 with buddy Sooraj Barjatya's new film and youngest brother Sohail's next.

Ajay Devgan:

Currently juggling the shooting of his production under the aegis of Ashwini Dheer, is also overseeing the post-production of his other film helmed by Rohit Shetty and releasing early July. Then he moves on to Sajid Khan's remake of Himmatwala and Prabhu Dheva's third Hindi venture. Also in the pipeline is another film with Rohit Shetty and Prakash Jha.

Imran Khan:

He continues to follow mamujaan Aamir Khan, and has committed to two more films. Having wrapped up Vishal Bhardwaj's next, the younger Khan will start shooting with Akshay for Milan's Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai sequel, followed by Punit Malhotra's next for Karan Johar and Sajid Nadiadwala's adaptation of Chetan Bhagat's Two States.

Ranbir Kapoor:

Imran Khan's arch rival is committed to films by Anurag Kashap as well as his brother Abhinav Kashyap. He's presently shooting for Ayaan Mukerji's next and awaiting the releae of his Anurag Basu directed film.

Hrithik Roshan:

Seems to be the most choosy actor. He has only his home-production in hand. Maybe that's because he's also the associate director of daddy Rakesh and has to oversee the post-production next year, after they finish film by this year-end. There is buzz that he might be working in Shaad Ali's next project.

Saif Ali Khan:

He only has the sequel to Judwaa after the Abbas-Mustan film he's currently filming in Turkey.

Most A-list stars are tied-up with films till next year. Leading the pack is Akshay Kumar, who has half a dozen films lined up for the next 12 months, followed by Ajay Devgan with five. Interestingly, Aamir Khan, who doesn't listen to a script till he's free of his pending assignments, has two more films after his suspense thriller that is slated to release on November 30.

Assam girl carries the Olympic torch in Nottinghamshire

Only exceptionally talented people get such opportunities and  Pinky Karmakar was one of those. A class X student from Assam’s Dibrugarh district represented India at the Olympic Torch Relay in London.

The Class X student was accorded a rousing welcome on her arrival at Dibrugarh airport where she was felicitated by many organizations and individuals including ex-Dibrugarh MP Sarbananda Sonowal. She gets a warm welcome when she arrived at her home on Saturday after participating in the London Olympics torch relay held at Nottinghamshire on June 28. Later, she was led to her residence at Barbaruah in an open jeep through the main roads of Dibrugarh town from the airport. Hundreds of people took out a huge motorcycle rally and escorted her to her residence.

Pinky's mother works as a tea-plucker and father is a painter in a Dibrugarh tea estate. In the evenings, Pinky teaches about 50 women, including her mother, in the tea garden. She also talks to elders at village meetings on social issues, including child marriage, alcoholism and adult literacy and alcoholism under Unicef and  her dedication prompted the London 2012 Organizing Committee (LOCOG) to choose her for the torch relay.

Besides studying, the shy but spirited Pinky runs a daily sports programme in her school. She never misses 'Sport for Development' session of the Unicef for primary school kids. After classes, she speaks to parents about the importance of fitness for children's development.

Pinky Karmakar shows the face of new empowered woman who also empowers others around her.

Mob thrashes congress MLA for BIGAMY

Congress MLA Rumi Nath and her second husband Jaki Jakir were thrashed and injured  by a mob of more than 100 people who ganged up and beat  them up at a hotel in Karimganj town in Assam. They were staying at a hotel of Karimganj unaware of what might hit them the next moment. The mob as many as 100 men berging into their room and before they could gather sense of the situation the mob started to attack. 


The mob  fury at her second marriage with her facebook friend Jaki Jakir last month without divorcing her first husband  Rakesh Singh with  whom she has a two-year-old daughter. She cried for help as the mob suddenly charged at her. She tried all she could, shouting for help, trying to escape, even bleeding but the blows did not stop. 100 men around her hitting her, slapping her and even kicking her thinking that its their right to meet up instant justice in her personal matters. Even after she fell on the ground and cried for mercy with folded hands the mob unmoved by her condition continued to attack.


Dr. Rumi Nath, a young 33years old MLA was first elected to the Assembly in 2006 on a BJP tiket from Borkhola constituency and later switched over to Congress and won the seat for the second time in the 2011 elections. She was accused of Bigamy and theft after she married her facebook friend Jaky Jkir 28years old, without divorcing her first husband Rakesh Singh

Rumi and Jaki were severely injured and found bleeding before they were moved away by police immediately after the incident took place. This was the first instance of a woman legislator being beaten up in public. This is the first time that a woman MLA has been kicked mercilessly and physically assaulted  in the public.

The MLA along with her second husband Jaki has been escorted to the state capital Guwahati and were treated by a team of four specialist doctors of the Guwahati Medical College Hospital and are now  out of danger.  MLA Rumi Nath and her husband Jaki  are being guarded in their MLA quarter in the Dispur capital complex by a strong contingent of police and CRPF forces.

3 Indian among 15 finalists in Google Science Fair                                

Two students from Bangalore, one from Lucknow and an Indian origin American are among the 15 finalists in this year’s Google Science Fair.

16-years old Rohit Fenn and Raghavendra Ramachandran (17) qualified for the final round from Bangalore, while Sumit Singh (14) has made it from Lucknow.                                                                                         

Another finalist is 17-years old Yamini Naidu, an Indian origin American.                                              

The three Indian students will fly along with 12 other finalists to Google’s headquarters in California in July to present their projects to the panel of judges and compete for prizes that include $100,000 in scholarship funds, a trip to the Galapagos Islands and more.                                                                  

Rohit’s qualifying science project is a partial-vacuum assisted flush that conserves over 50 per cent of the overall water used in a toilet to flush.                                                                                                           

Raghavendra Ramachandran, also from Bangalore, won a place in the final 15 with a project that involves re-converting the partially oxidized fuel (alcohols) into usable fuel.                                        

Sumit Singh, from Lucknow, designed a low-cost Vertical Multi-Level Farm, which could be used by small farmers to increase crop yield in agriculture and horticulture.                                                        

Yamini’s project is about creating a homology model of a human receptor protein using a computer modelling programme.                                                                                                                                     

Each one of us should be responsible enough to keep the environment clean and green.

India is our fastest growing market: Amway

India is currently the seventh largest market for Amway. In an interview with TOI, Amway Vice President Maud Pansing tells that India is currently the fastest growing market for Amway among the 80 countries it is present in.

They registered a 19% annual growth last year, making India the fastest growing market among the 80 countries they are present in. While China is the biggest market, growth rate for India is faster than china. Currently, they are working on a three years strategy for India as they see a lot of opportunity here. Their sales turnover was Rs.2130 crores in 2011 and this year they are targeting Rs.2500 crore worth of sales.

Amway is planning huge investments to enhance its market share in India. The company that is currently present in beauty, personal care and nutrition segments is also planning to introduce its durables category in India in the near future.

  Meet India’s oldest grandmother

India’s oldest grandmother, Sowmi Akka,120, staying at Coimbatore,Tamil Nadu says that she stays fit due to a healthy diet.                                                                                                                                

While interacting with the reporters Akka said that a healthy diet had helped her live a long and problem free life. ‘I eat everything. Yes, I take healthy diet, which provides me strength’, she said.

She said that she was self-reliant to perform all kinds of domestic work, such as cooking, cleaning the house and buying vegetables from the market.                                                                                   

Akka’s granddaughter, Amarawathy said that her grandmother’s eldest daughter is 95years old and there are more than 250 members in her family. She gave birth to 10 children and all the members live happily. She also mentioned that the entire family participated in a family reunion recently and enjoyed very much.