Children's book writer Kamala Laxman died 16-NOV-2015
Kamala LaxmanA well-known author of children's books, Kamala Laxman, passed away in Pune on 14 November 2015 due to old age issues. She was 90.
Widow of legendary cartoonist R.K. Laxman, Kamala was commissioned by the India Book House in the 1970s to write stories for children, such as Thama and His Missing Mother and tales of Tenali Raman. The Tenali Raman stories penned by her were later memorably serialised into 13 and telecast on Doordarshan.
Kamala was born in Chennai. She attended St. Thomas' Convent and later graduated from Delhi's Indraprastha College. She also studied interior decoration from Sir J.J. School of Arts in Mumbai.
Xuerui Li defeated Saina Nehwal to clinch Women's Singles title at China Open Superseries 16-NOV-2015
Xuerui LiChinese shuttler Xuerui Li on 15 November 2015 won the 700000 US dollar Women's Singles final of China Open Superseries Premier Badminton tournament. In the final played at Fuzhou, Li defeated India’s ace shuttler Saina Nehwal 21-12, 21-15.
The top seed and defending champion Saina and Li, the reigning Olympic champion, have met 12 times against each other. Saina has won just 2 of those games. This was Saina's fifth final of the year 2015.
It was Li’s 2nd championship title of the year after she won the Denmark Open Superseries Premier in October 2015, beating India’s PV Sindhu to the title.
Syed Akbaruddin appointed as next Permanent Representative of India to UN 16-NOV-2015 Author :Shravan Nune
Syed AkbaruddinSyed Akbaruddin was on 16 November 2015 appointed as the next Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at New York. He will replace Asoke Kumar Mukerji who assumed the office in April 2013.
In this position, Akbaruddin will head India’s diplomatic mission in the UN and articulates the country’s stand on critical issues at the global forum.
Akbaruddin is a 1985 batch officer of Indian Foreign Service and currently, he is serving as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs.
He also served as MEA spokesperson and was Chief Coordinator of successful India Africa Foreign Summit held in New Delhi from 26 October to 29 October 2015.
So far, excluding Akbaruddin, 19 diplomats served as Permanent Representative of India to the UN. Notable among them are the incumbent Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari (1993-95), Brajesh C Mishra (1979-81), Nirupam Sen (2004-09) and Hardeep Singh Puri (2009-13) among others.
PRASAD and Swadesh Darshan schemes of Ministry of Tourism 16-NOV-2015 Author :Shravan Nune
PRASAD: National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive
PRASAD and SWADSH DARSHAN schemes of the Union Ministry of Tourism were in news in the second week of November 2015.
The two initiatives, along with Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs), were launched to achieve 1 per cent share of international tourist arrivals by 2016-17 from the present 0.68 per cent.
Both the schemes are under implementation in mission mode and aimed at developing world-class tourism related infrastructure.
Features of PRASAD
• Its objective is to augment religious and spiritual tourism in the country as India is a land of many religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism and Sufism.
• As part of mission strategy, religious destinations that have potential to be show-cased as world-class tourism products are identified and infrastructure is developed on a priority basis.
• In the initial phase, 12 cities, that are part of HRIDAY scheme, namely Amritsar, Ajmer, Amaravati, Dwaraka, Gaya, Kanchipuram, Kedarnath, Kamakhya, Mathura, Puri, Varanasi and Vellankani have been identified for development.
Features of Swadsh Darshan
• As part of the scheme, theme based tourism circuits are identified for infrastructure development across the country.
• Theme Based Tourist Circuit (TBTC) is defined as a tourist circuit around specific themes such as religion, culture, ethnicity, niche, etc.
• A TBTC could be confined to a state or could be a regional circuit covering more than a state or union territory (UT)
Veteran actor Saeed Jaffrey passed away 16-NOV-2015 Author :Shilpika
Arti AgarwalVeteran Bollywood actor Saeed Jaffrey passed away on 15 November 2015 due to age-related ailments. He was 86.
Jaffrey appeared in numerous Indian and British movies, including Gandhi, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, A Passage to India, Chashme Buddoor, My Beautiful Laundrette and many more. He also starred in critically acclaimed movie Shatranj ke Khiladi directed by Satyajit Ray.
The legendary actor also appeared regularly on the British soap operas, including Gangsters, The Jewel in the Crown, Common as Muck and Coronation Street in which he appeared as Ravi Desai.
Jaffrey was the first Indian actor to tour Shakespeare, taking his company across the United States.
He was also the first Indian to receive the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contributions to drama. In 1978, he was awarded with Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Shatranj Ke Khiladi.
The actor studied in Minto Circle, S.T High School and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). Later, he attended Wynberg Allen School, St. George's College, Mussoorie, and Allahabad University. He also attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and went to the United States on a Fulbright scholarship, where he took a second post-graduate degree in drama from The Catholic University of America.
Jharkhand Government introduced Mobile Governance 16-NOV-2015 Author :Rupali Pruthi
The Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on 15 November 2015 introduced Mobile Governance in the state to realise the dreams of Digital India during the occasion of 16th Foundation Day of the state.
The State Government launched 14 mobile applications and three web portals on the State Foundation Day to deliver the benefits of information technology to the people of the state in order to bridge the gap between the government and public.
To facilitate quick clearance for industries, the state government introduced Advantage Jharkhand Portal, the country's first single window portal.
The mobile applications were developed by Jharkhand Space Applications Centre (JSAC). These are designed to bring services from government, civic bodies and police force to the Android smartphones of the beneficiaries.
All the mobile applications can be downloaded free of cost from apps.jharkhand.gov.in portal. Although, they have not been put up on any popular application distribution platform yet, this option is open for exploration in future.
Approximately 2/3rd of the population in Jharkhand is mobile users and Mobile Governance could be a strong medium to disseminate information about government services, welfare schemes and rein in corruption.
Maareech, an Advanced Torpedo Defence System, handed over to Indian Navy 16-NOV-2015 Author :Shilpika
The Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on 14 November 2015 handed over the Maareech - Advanced Torpedo Defence System – developed by DRDO to the Navy Chief Admiral Robin K. Dhowan in Vishakhapatnam.
Highlights of Maareech
• Maareech is a joint project of Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), Kochi and NSTL, Visakhapatnam.
• It is a state-of-the-art indigenous system for torpedo detection and countermeasures.
• The system provides a complete solution to detect and locate the incoming torpedo and to apply countermeasures to protect naval platform against torpedo attack.
• The system is capable of detecting, confusing, diverting and decoying the incoming torpedoes.
• Two production grade Maareech systems have been developed and user evaluation trials completed onboard two Indian Navy ships.
Besides, Parrikar also dedicated to the nation the Seakeeping and Manoeuvring Basin (SMB). It is a one of its kind platform in the country set up as a joint effort of DRDO and Indian Navy.
With this, India joined the ranks of the few nations in the world who have the capability to undertake comprehensive hydrodynamic model testing of naval platforms and weapon systems.
International Day for Tolerance observed across the world 16-NOV-2015 Author :Rupali Pruthi
16 November: International Day for Tolerance
The International Day for Tolerance was observed globally on 16 November 2015 with an aim to educate people about the need for tolerance in society and help them understand the negative effects of intolerance.
In 1996, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) by its resolution 51/95 invited UN Member States to observe the International Day for Tolerance on 16 November, with activities directed towards both educational establishments and the wider public.
This action came in the wake of the United Nations Year for Tolerance 1995, proclaimed by the UNGA in 1993. On 16 November 1995, the UNESCO member states adopted the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance and Follow-up Plan of Action for the year.
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