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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.