Saudi Arabian princes detained

ON JANUARY 8, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Saudi Arabia, 11 princes have been detained after staging a protest at a royal palace in the capital Riyadh.

Public prosecutors said on Saturday that they had detained 11 princes for disturbing public order. They said the princes were protesting the move to end state payments of water and electricity bills for members of the royal family.

Since Mohammed bin Salman became Crown Prince last year, the oil-producing country has been trying to reform its economy to lessen dependence on oil production. The government is also trying to deal with a budget deficit caused by lower oil prices.

Jordan agree,UN request to send aid to stranded Syrians

ON JANUARY 8, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Jordan today said it had agreed to a UN request to deliver humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of Syrians stranded near a border crossing between the two countries. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Kayed said it will be a “one-off” operation to send humanitarian aid across the Rukban border crossing.

According to UN estimates based on satellite images, between 45 thousand and 50 thousand Syrians have been stuck for months on the Syrian side of the frontier near the Rukban border
crossing. Conditions are worsening for them as winter grips the
region.

The UN refugee agency says it has registered more than 6 lakh 50 thousand Syrian refugees in Jordan since the conflict in Syria began in March 2011. However, Amman says it is hosting 1.3 million Syrian refugees in the country.

German opposition:Reverse online hate speech law

ON JANUARY 8, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

New online hate speech regulations which took effect Monday, stipulates that German authorities can impose huge fines of up to €50 million ($60.1 million) on social media platforms which fail to promptly delete offensive content. The parliamentary leader of the Left Party, Sahra Wagenknecht, called the legislation a “slap in the face for all democratic principles,” claiming the courts, rather than private companies, should determine what constitutes unlawful content. Nicola Beer, the General Secretary of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), expressed similar sentiments. “The past few days have clearly shown private providers aren’t always able to make the right decision,” she told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. Other politicians, such as the leader of the Greens, Simone Peter, argued the law hampered free speech in Germany, leaving it at hands of US corporations to decide what was “hate speech” and what was not.

Presentation of The Indian Silk Export Promotion Council Export Awards

ON JANUARY 8, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

INVITATION

Presentation of The Indian Silk Export Promotion Council Export Awards

Dear Sir/Madam,

You are cordially invited to cover the following event.

Event	Presentation of The Indian Silk Export Promotion Council Export Awards Vice President of India, Shri Venkaiah Naidu will be the Chief Guest and will confer the awards to the outstanding exporters. Union Minister of Textiles and Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani; MoS, Textiles, Shri Ajay Tamta and Textiles Secretary, Shri Anant Kumar Singh will be present on the occasion.
Date	Monday, January 8, 2018
Time	5.30 PM onwards
Venue	Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi

Golden Globes 2018:

ON JANUARY 8, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

75th Annual Golden Globes awards have been announced

James Franco wins ‘Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical Motion Picture’

Lady Bird wins ‘Best Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical’

Gary Oldman wins ‘Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama’

Frances McDormand wins ‘Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama’ for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri wins ‘Best Motion Picture – Drama’

https://giphy.com/GoldenGlobes

UMC cuts spending to improve profit

ON JANUARY 8, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

United Microelectronics, the world’s no.3 contract chipmaker by market share, is hoping that it can offset headwinds in the quickly maturing smartphone market by tapping into the nascent field of artificial intelligence applications used in cars and consumer electronics.

“We don’t see that standardized chips such as core processors for mobile phones that are already shipping in large volumes will grow much, but we see substantial growth from various sensors, microcontrollers, or driver ICs [integrated circuit chips] collectively used to activate new AI features for electronic devices and vehicles,” said S.C. Chien, co-president of UMC in an exclusive interview with Nikkei Asian Review on Dec. 15.

Chien said that some areas that his company will venture into include bio-sensing, voice-activated speakers, advanced driver assistance system, or ADAS, and in-vehicle infotainment systems — a field known as edge AI.

While UMC sees itself as capable of developing edge AI, the company seems unable to afford to expand into cloud AI, which requires advanced data center servers offering massive computing power to handle complex tasks such as processing a large amount of photos and videos.

Panasonic is partnering with Taiwanese chip foundry United Microelectronics Corp. to develop and mass-produce a power-miserly version of a next-generation type of nonvolatile memory known as resistive random access memory, or ReRAM.

UMC’s bigger rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest contract chipmaker, had an advantage in cloud AI. For all of 2017, TSMC spent $10.8 billion, and plans to spend more than $10 billion for the next few years.

inputs asia.nikkei.com/

Anti-cancer drug when in ruthenium

ON JANUARY 8, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore, Ropar and Guwahati have combined ruthenium, a metal which is part of the platinum group, with commonly used pain killers, categorized as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, to develop four new drug complexes.

Anti-cancer activities of four new combination drugs with ruthenium — complex 1 (with naproxen), complex 2 (with diclofenac), complex 3 (with ibuprofen) and complex 4 (with aspirin) — were tested against lung, breast and cervix cancer cell lines in laboratory.

Complex 3 is more effective in preventing the enzyme causing pain and swelling, followed by complex 2 and complex 1. Complexes 2 and 3 have shown remarkable effects in stopping the growth of cancer cells in lung, breast and cervical cancer.

The study is sound and academically interesting, is regarded as indicative rather than conclusive. It is still preliminary to be adjudged as mainstay treatment.

biospectrumindia

Punjab Can Triple Milk, Poultry Production, Hunger Free India

ON JANUARY 8, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

January08, 2018 (C) Ravinder Singh progressindia2015@gmail.com

Punjab can triple Milk, Poultry production by 200% and Food-grains by 50% with little or no central assistance and produce enough food to eradicate HUNGER from India. Obviously fertile Ganga Basin would also contribute.

From 1.6% land area Punjab produces 11%-12% of Food-grainscan be further increased by 50% with the introduction HY Cornand Oilseed crops* in between two main crops – largely eliminating Paddy cultivation – Switch to more Productive Crop that requires fewer manpower, REDUCE WATER USE FOR IRRIGATION. *Soybean, Sunflower & Canola.

NDDB reports Punjab has 42 mt of Total Digestible Nutrientsagainst requirement of 13.7 mt but need to switch to premium sources like Corn & Foddar Crops, Oilseeds are Energy Crops draw minimum of Nutrients – when waste is Re-Cycled locally.

Alternately Punjab can convert 28mt of Farm waste in to Ethanolbut Eliminating Hunger is More Urgent or it could be MIX Program as Market evolves.

FDI in Food Processing is 100% so NRIs and Foreign companies have huge opportunity and Indian Investment can be Spread Wider with foreign participation.

Ravinder Singh, Inventor & Consultant, INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND PROJECTS

Y-77, Hauz Khas, ND -110016, India. Ph: 091- 8826415770, 9871056471, 9650421857

Ravinder Singh* is a WIPO awarded inventor specializing in Power, Transportation,

Smart Cities, Water, Energy Saving, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Technologies and Projects

CGHS Specialist Doctor Misbehave No E-Records, T-Medicine

ON JANUARY 7, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

January05, 2017 (C) Ravinder Singhravindersinvent@gmail.com

Honorable Health Minister,

Shri JP Nadda,

New Delhi

Sir,

Senior Citizens in CGHS Dispensaries are made to go from Counter to Counter, Counter to Counter and Counterand at the end after spending hour get nothing.

More than 20 years ago Dr. Dang Laboratory was installed. Any patient reporting was attended without delay andUrine or Blood sample collectedin minutes. By evening results were given and patients could also get Pdf Copy of the TEST RESULTS.

But HINDLAB Laboratoriesengaged for Laboratory services keep ‘No records of Test Reports’. It cost not even one rupee to keep Results of Previous tests.

This is Critical – Helps inPrescribing Medicine Based on History of 10-30 years as the case may be but also ‘Indicate Any Abnormal Change’ in VITAL FUNCTIONS OF ORGANS.

But Most Critical of All In case of Sudden attack and Patient is taken to a Private Clinic or Government Hospital – Instead of Conduction New Tests – some are Time Consuming – Doctor in charge of CRITICAL Care get Complete Medical History.

More than 10 years ago many laboratories came up whoCollect Blood or Urine from Residence and Home Deliver test reports also.

At each CGHS counter Staff is Uncooperative or Misbehave–Dr. Sonal Burman misbehaved and asked 87 yrs old CGHSpatient ‘Why Can’t You Come at 8AM?’ The Serial No in the Booking Register was 23,Patient reported at 12PM* and Closing hours of Dispensary is 3:30PM. *Coldest Day this winter.

Dr. Sonal Burman was functioning from a STORE ROOM – had no Computer and Even Basic Blood PressureTesting Equipment orStethoscope – not even a Blood Sugar Testing equipment forQuick Testing in One Minute.

Dr. Sonal Burman doesn’t Write prescription On Computer andCGHS Doesn’t maintain records of history of past Prescriptions of Patients when they serve Patient since 1953.

Patient lost her purse onJune16 lost the prescription with it. Police Complaint was also made. Had it been E-Prescription getting it printed cost nothing.

All it required was Get New TEST REPORT already due – give Blood and Test Report is E-Mailed to SPECIALIST and PRESCRITION ready within 10 hours.

Ravinder Singh, Inventor & Consultant,INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND PROJECTS

Y-77, Hauz Khas, ND -110016, India. Ph: 091- 8826415770, 9871056471, 9650421857

Ravinder Singh* is a WIPO awarded inventor specializing in Power, Transportation,

Smart Cities, Water, Energy Saving, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Technologies and Projects

Implement disabled friendly measures in Indian railways

ON JANUARY 7, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Virali Modi ने .@PMOIndia @sureshpprabhu @RailMinIndia :Implement disabled friendly measures in Indian railways पर अपडेट साझा किया है इसकी जांच – पड़ताल करें और टिप्पणी करें

मुद्दे पर अपडेट

Inaugurated The Divyangjan Project at Ernakulam Junction

Today I was invited as the Chief Guest of Honor to inaugurate the Divyangjan Project by Mathrubhumi News at Ernakulam Junction in Kerala. It’s amazing to know that my campaign, #MyTrainToo, was the sole inspiration behind this project. They have made permanent ramps at Ernakulam Junction, along with portable ramps to board trains, small wheelchairs to get inside the trains, they have sensitized…

पूर्ण अद्यतन पढ़ें

INVITATION WORKSHOP ON MEDIA TRAINING

ON JANUARY 7, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Date January 14, 2018 (Sunday)

Time 10:00 AM

Venue Indian Society of Interna”onal Law, Bhagwan Das Road (Opp.

Supreme Court of India) New Delhi-11002.

The Chief Guest Shri Surender Gupta (Chairman Gold Souk Group) will deliver

the Inaugural address.

PROGRAMME SCHEDULE

10:00 AM ——————————- Tea

10:30 AM ——————————- Deep Prajjwalan

10:35 AM ——————————- Saraswa” Vandana

10:40 AM ——————————- Welcome of the Chief Guest and

Dis”nguished Speakers

10:45 AM —————————— Address by the Chief Guest

11:00 AM —————————— Lecture on WHAT IS JOURNALISM

12:10 PM ——————————- Lecture on MODERN REPORTING

01:15 PM ——————————- LUNCH

02:15 PM ——————————- Certificates & Memento distribution

RSVP: ALL TIME NEWS & GLOBAL EDUCATION FOUNDATION

17/1, Kalka ji (Opp. Deshbandhu College main gate), New Delhi

Dr Harsh Vardhan dedicates supercomputer ‘Pratyush’ to nation

ON JANUARY 9, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Union Minister of Earth Sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan yesterday dedicated India’s fastest and first multi-petaflops supercomputer to the nation in Pune.

The supercomputer named as ‘Pratyush’ meaning the Sun, established at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, will be a national facility for improving weather and climate forecasts and services under the umbrella of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).

While inaugurating the facility at IITM, Pune, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that it will be India’s number one HPC facility in terms of peak capacity and performance.

Agusta,Giuseppe Orsi,Bruno Spagnolini,acquitted

ON JANUARY 9, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

An Italian appeals court has acquitted Giuseppe Orsi, the former president of defence and aerospace giant Finmeccanica, over charges of alleged bribes paid in exchange for a Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal to sell 12 AgustaWestland helicopters to the Indian government.

The court also acquitted Bruno Spagnolini, former CEO of the company’s helicopters subsidiary AgustaWestland, who had also been handed a four-year jail term on the same charges.

In December 2016 Italy’s highest court had ordered a retrial of the case after the former executives of the Rome-based group had been found guilty on corruption charges related to a 672 million Dollars contract to supply a dozen helicopters to New Delhi.

After yesterday’s acquittal Orsi’s lawyer said the judge found no evidence of corruption, of the passage of money or that Indian officials interfered with the tender.
A separate investigation into suspected corruption and money laundering is still open in India and involves individuals alleged to have worked as intermediaries in the deal.

India cancelled the helicopter contract in 2013 after Orsi was arrested, but AgustaWestland opposed India’s decision and the contract remains suspended and the subject of international arbitration in Paris.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has said the acquittal of the two officers in Italy will not affect the agency’s independent probe into more than 360 crores rupees bribe case. CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said in Delhi yesterday, that CBI had a completely different probe and a very strong case.

In India, the CBI last year charged former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi in a Delhi court along with nine others for bribery in the case. The contract was scrapped by the previous UPA Government in 2014.

Indian origin lawmakers can be catalysts in India’s growth:

ON JANUARY 9, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged Indian origin lawmakers from across the world to be partners in India’s development and act as catalysts in the country’s economic growth.

Addressing the first Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) Parliamentarians Conference in New Delhi this morning, Mr Modi said, they can help attract more Foreign Direct Investment to India by spreading India’s growth story globally.

The Prime Minister said, a record 16 billion dollars of FDI came into the country in the recent past.

Mr Modi said, his government has made far-reaching policy changes, with reform and transform being its guiding principle.

The Prime Minister said, India has moved far ahead and people can see the results of change in every sphere. He said, GST is a huge reform and government has eliminated multiple taxation system.

Mr Modi also said, the government is committed to eradicating corruption focussing on infrastructure and transport. He conveyed to the persons of Indian origin that the values of Indian culture and civilisation can guide a world gripped in increasing instability.

The Prime Minister added that India has always played a constructive role and persons of Indian origin can take pride in the country’s increasing strength worldwide.

Commending all the NRI Parliamentarians for their feat, the Prime Minister said, wherever the migrants of Indian origin went, they made that place their home, and kept Indianism alive.

Mr Modi said, today the people of Indian origin are the Prime Ministers in Mauritius, Portugal and Ireland. He said, he can see how a Mini World Parliament of Indian origin is present in front of him.

Earlier, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said, India plays a key role today in shaping global agenda on key issues including black money and terrorism. She said, her Ministry received overwhelming response from other countries for the conference.

Our correspondent reports that 124 sitting MPs and 17 mayors of Indian descent from 23 countries are participating in the day-long conference. The countries from which the MPs are participating include the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

There are two thematic plenary sessions during the conference.

USCIS: No policy change for H-1B visa holders

ON JANUARY 9, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

United States today said, it is not considering any proposal that would force H-1B visa holders to leave the country this give immense relief to Indian techie in US

The announcement by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) came days after reports emerged that the Trump administration was considering tightening H-1B visa rules that could lead to deportation of some 7 lakh 50,000 Indians.

The reports had said, it was mulling ending extensions for H-1B holders. In a statement, Chief of Media Relations at USCIS, Jonathan Withington said, they were never considering such a policy change, adding that any suggestion that USCIS changed its position because of pressure is absolutely false.

Mr Withington said, the agency is considering a number of policy and regulatory changes to carry out President Donald Trump’s ‘Buy American, Hire American’ Executive Order, including a thorough review of employment based visa programmes.

The H-1B programme offers temporary US visas that allow companies to hire highly skilled foreign professionals working in areas with shortages of qualified American workers.

Train delays due to fog worst in last 4 years

ON JANUARY 9, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Even Rajdhanis delayed beyond 24hrs

New Delhi – 9th January, 2018- In the first 15 days after the advent of fog this winter, it is turning out that train delays in the current fog season will be the worst in the last 4 years. This is according to the live train tracking data accumulated by RailYatri as reported by the train travellers. With the temperature in North India expected to drop further in coming days, the situation is not expected to improve anytime soon and RailYatri has issued a special advisory to all its travelers along with special alerts on trains most affected by the fog.

The National Train Delay Index as measured by RailYatri this fog season in the last 15 days of December 2017 stands at 87 mins with the worst of the typical fog days still to arrive in the northern part of the country. In general, the peak fog season is between December 15 to January 15. The National Train Delay Index as published by RailYatri over the last three years has been as follows – 72 mins (2014-15); 47 mins (2015-16); 96 mins (2016-17).

While the foggy winter is phenomenon a typically attributed to the northern part of the country, the train delays gets spread across the country due to its cascading effects.

Some of the top severely affected trains due to fog this season are–

1) Guwahati – New Delhi Poorvotor Sampark Kranti Express – Nearly 52 hrs delay

2) Anand Vihar – Sealdah West Bengal Sampark Kranti Express – Nearly 48 hrs delay

3) New Delhi – Bhubaneswar Duronto Express – Nearly 34 hrs delay

4) Anand Vihar – Agartala Rajdhani Express – Nearly 30 hrs delay

5) Gorakhpur – Trivandrum Raptisagar Superfast Express – Nearly 29 hrs delay

EU calls Iran Foreign Minister to hold talks

ON JANUARY 9, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

EU has called Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for talks in Brussels on Thursday along with the foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany in efforts to preserve the hard-fought deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

The meeting between Zarif and the three European parties to the landmark 2015 agreement comes after Iran warned the world yesterday to prepare for the withdrawal of the United States.

It also follows the high political tension in Iran following recent protests which claimed 21 lives, though Zarif has dismissed the idea the unrest would be on the agenda.

Iran signed the accord with six world powers, agreeing to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of many international sanctions, but US President Donald Trump has condemned the deal and threatened to pull out.

May’s Gov Reshuffle

ON JANUARY 9, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Prime Minister Theresa May busy Monday night reshaping her government team, keeping virtually all of her big-name ministers in place.

Day long procession of politicians strode along Downing Street to enter through the black-glossy door of Number 10 to hear their fates.

Former government minister Rob Wilson described the day’s events as the “most low-key, boring reshuffles for some years.”

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Wilson added: “That’s not necessarily a bad thing if you are a prime minister with little room for manoeuvre and a clear need not to put more malcontent ex-Ministers on the backbenches.”

The main opposition Labour Party described the re-shuffle as “re-arranging the deckchairs”.May started her re-shuffle when it was announced that Education Secretary Justine Greening was resigning. It was reported that Greening decided to go after refusing May’s offer as Works and Pensions Secretary.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Amber Rudd, all kept their jobs.

MP Matt Hancock was promoted to become the new culture secretary, replacing Karen Bradley. Bradley has been made Northern Ireland Secretary succeeding James Brokenshire who announced earlier Monday he was resigning on health grounds.

The change in personnel, which formed part of a wider cabinet reshuffle by May, could complicate moves to restart talks in the coming weeks to avoid a return to direct rule from London for the first time in a decade.
Northern Ireland has been without a regional government for almost a year, destabilising the delicate balance between Irish nationalists and pro-British unionists that has been shaken by Britain’s June 2016 vote to leave the European Union.

David Lidington has switched from his role as Justice Secretary to become Damian Green’s replacement as Minister for the Cabinet Office, David Gauke, the former secretary of state for work and pensions, takes over as justice secretary. Brandon Lewis was promoted, becoming the chairman of the Conservative Party, replacing veteran politician Patrick McLoughlin who resigned from the government.

CSIR-IICB scientists connect stress with gastric ulcer

ON JANUARY 10, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

A scientific team at CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (CSIR-IICB), Kolkata have for the first time identified the molecular mechanism by which acute mental stress affects the stomach causing gastric ulcer or stress-related mucosal disease.

The team has used drugs that can act specifically on mitochondria present in the stomach to prevent gastric ulcer caused by stress.

Stomach is known as the body’s second brain with a specialised neural network, repository of neurotransmitters and different kinds of nerve cells innervating the organ, though fewer in number.

By using a drug that prevents corticosterone from binding to the receptor found inside the cell, the researchers were able to significantly prevent stomach injury in the animals. Corticosterone is the main hormone involved in the regulation of stress response.

Further research can lead to a new generation of anti-stress medications with minimal side effects which would aim at targeting the mitochondrial pathology to take care of a bigger psychosomatic health complication.

biospectrumindia

ADB $300 million loan to Philippine

ON JANUARY 10, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

ADB $300 mill capital market reforms program will help boost long-term finance, both public and private, needed to fund the Philippine govt’s infrastructure projects

Philippine Finance Secretary SecSonnySays and ADB Pres Nakao at the ceremony for the $380 mill loan for Mindanao roads project and $300 mil capital market reforms program.

Finance Secretary @SecSonny – We look forward to more cooperation in the coming days in building prosperity in the Philippines.

Philippines, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and ADB President Takehiko Nakao sign the USD380-M loan agreement targeted to improve growth corridors in Mindanao at ADB HQ, president Takehiko Nakao sign loan agreement for Mindanao road network improvement project, exchange documents for capital market reforms program.

We are really in a unique position with the Philippines govt – not only in volume but in collaboration. Economy and country moving in right direction – VP

Germany summons Iran’s ambassador on espionage

ON JANUARY 10, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Germany said on Tuesday it had summoned Iran’s ambassador to reprimand Tehran against spying on individuals and groups with close ties to Israel, Reuters reported. The move came after the March conviction of a Pakistani man for spying for Iran in Germany went into force. Mustufa Haidar Syed-Naqfi was convicted of gathering intelligence on Reinhold Robbe, the former head of the German-Israel Friendship Society, and an Israeli-French economics professor in Paris, for Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards. The Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador to deliver the sharp rebuke once the German constitutional court rejected his appeal. The meeting took place on December 22 but was not disclosed until now. Philipp Ackermann, acting director of the Foreign Ministry’s political section, had reportedly told the Iranian ambassador that “such activities would not be tolerated and were completely unacceptable.”

Major blackout hits Kenya & Uganda

ON JANUARY 10, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

A major power outage has led to loss of electricity in Kenya’s capital Nairobi and in some central, western and coastal regions of the country, potentially leaving millions of people in the dark. A local power company, which is Kenya’s sole electricity distributor, said a “technical hitch emanating from [its] transmission system” has caused the blackout. Neighboring Uganda also suffered a power outage. The Ugandan power company said the blackout was caused by a “system disturbance” affected “several areas,” without giving the exact locations.

Israeli motorist shot dead in West Bank

ON JANUARY 10, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

An Israeli driver and West Bank settlement resident has been shot and killed by a suspected Palestinian gunman, the IDF and medical officials confirmed on Tuesday. Israeli soldiers are currently looking for the suspect. Tensions are running high right now in Israel and the occupied territories following US President Donald Trump’s decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem. Both Israelis and Palestinians consider the ancient city to be their rightful capital.

Economy in Nose Dive

ON JANUARY 10, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Economy in Nose Dive, Consensus Govt For Drastic Correction

January09, 2018 (C) Ravinder Singh progressindia2015@gmail.com

Honorable President of India and CJI may please note that Present Government is creating NON PERFORMING ASSETS – which are not disclosed to the public. Just 9 FamiliesBorrowings are Rs.16,81,580 Cr – Bank NPAs exceedRs.10,00,000 Cr, actual may be much more. Banks have admitted to Rs.7,30,000 Cr Wilful Defaulters.

Twice More Are Securing Banks Loans to Hide their NPAs* – like RJio. Then there are HEAVILY IN-DEBT Company Taking over Another Heavily IN-Debt Company, Loss Making Companies Taking Over Loss Making Companies. *RIL funding RJio Losses.

Most of the Govt of India projects are LEAST VIABLE like Railways, Power & Highways.

Industry is Worst Affected – No Investment No IPR, Farmers Produce Rotting, Services impacted by GST and Personals benefit borrowers.

Credit to 9 Families and NPAs together already far exceed all the Credit Growth to Private Sector therefore Credit for 1300m Indians is zero or Negative. Rs.10,00,000 Cr Credit to Farmers is an illusion are mostly CROP Loans only – Farmers can’t Develop Storages & Processing Facilities.

THESE ARE RBI FACTS. Government is planting FAKE news like Record Sale of Luxury cars – 38989 in 2017 up from 30188 in 2013. 8701 Cars More Sales than in 2013 doesn’t reflect HEALTHY ECONOMY – 30 LUXURY CARS PER MILLION POPULATION THAT TOO MAINLY FINANCED BY BANKS – PERSONAL LOANS.

Credit Growth Rate in % 2 Yrs, 5 Yrs of UPA, NDA 3 Yrs, FY17 & FY2018

Items	2009-11	2009-14	2014-17	FY2017	FY18*	44 Mths
Non Food 1-4	41	114	28	9%	0.3%	27.8%
1-Agriculture	36	98	48	12.4%	-0.4%	47.6%
2-Industry	54	139	6	-1.9%	-2.8%	3.2%
3-Services	39	107	35	19.5%	-2.4%	31.6%
4-Personal Loans	22	84	56	16.7%	8.8%	70%

*Nov24, 2017

India Needs ‘Consensus Government’ To Take Drastic Actions as Per The Law to Restore Health of India for Next 5 Years.

Ravinder Singh, Inventor & Consultant, INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND PROJECTS

Y-77, Hauz Khas, ND -110016, India. Ph: 091- 8826415770, 9871056471, 9650421857

Ravinder Singh* is a WIPO awarded inventor specializing in Power, Transportation,

Smart Cities, Water, Energy Saving, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Technologies and Projects

Swami Vivekananda’s Birth Anniversary

ON JANUARY 10, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Invitation for a panel discussion to commemorate Swami Vivekananda’s Birth Anniversary,Friday, 12 January 2018 at 4.30 pm

M7.6 – north of Honduras

ON JANUARY 10, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Preliminary Earthquake Report

Magnitude7.6Date-Time

10 Jan 2018 02:51:32 UTC
10 Jan 2018 02:51:32 near epicenter
10 Jan 2018 06:51:32 standard time in your timezone

Location17.469N 83.520WDepth10 kmDistances

201.9 km (125.2 mi) NNE of Barra Patuca, Honduras
245.2 km (152.0 mi) N of Puerto Lempira, Honduras
303.1 km (187.9 mi) SW of George Town, Cayman Islands
305.7 km (189.5 mi) SW of West Bay, Cayman Islands
312.0 km (193.4 mi) SW of Bodden Town, Cayman Islands

Delhi AAP Cabinet approve

ON JANUARY 9, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Delhi AAP Govt Cabinet today took Four Decisions

Tender For Purchase of Additional 1000 cluster buses approved for special transportation facility in rural areas

Delhi Budding Sports person Scheme Approved

** Under 14 Player – 3 lakh Financial Help
** Under 17 Player – 4 Lakh Financial Help

Mukhyamantri Teerthyatra Scheme Approved for Senior Citizens

Art, Culture and Theatre Person Promotion Scheme Approved for Budding Artists.

Dear Sagar Media Inc, I am RS-MP Rajeev chandrasekhar

ON JANUARY 11, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Trigger warning: Graphic Content

Dear Sagar Media Inc,

Men are paying money to have sex with children.

I am a Rajya Sabha MP and a father of two. It horrifies me to hear stories of children being snatched away and sold into prostitution.

It makes me angry that there are men in the country who go to brothels and seek sex with children.

So long as men are willing to pay to sexually exploit children, child trafficking will continue.

Sign my petition and ask the government to implement an action plan to bring an end to this horrific crime.

The plan must contain the swift arrest and action against customers, national tracking of child sex offenders and exclusive courts to try these cases.

This is a big fight and that is why I need each person’s support. Sign my petition.

If all of us come together, we can ensure that there is a fear instilled in the heart of men who rape children.

Thank you for your support,

Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Sign the petition

Journalist Taha Siddiqui escapes

ON JANUARY 11, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Pakistan Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has taken notice of an alleged attempt to kidnap journalist Taha Siddiqui in Islamabad early Wednesday.

Taha Siddiqui , the bureau chief of India based WION TV, was on his way to the Islamabad airport in an Uber when he was attacked.

Siddiqui escaped an abduction attempt after being assaulted by 4-6 armed men on his way to the airport on Wednesday morning.

“I was on my way to the airport today at 8:20 AM when 10-12 armed men stopped my cab and forcibly tried to abduct me. I managed to escape. Safe and with police now. Looking for support in any way possible,” he said on Twitter using account of another journalist Cyril Almeida.

In the press conference, Siddiqui said he considers his escape a miracle and was still recovering from the shock.

“They held a handgun on me, while one of the men asked to ‘shoot him in the leg’,” he said, adding that the cab driver witnessed the entire episode.

Bureau chief of World is One News, Siddiqui had filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court in May 2017 over alleged harassment by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). After hearing the petition, the Islamabad High Court had directed the FIA to stop harassing the journalist.

Geo news

CAIT STRONGLY OPPOSE FDI IN RETAIL

ON JANUARY 11, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) strongly oppose move to allow 100% FDI in single brand retail through automatic route as it will facilitate easy entry of MNCs in retail trade of India and will also violate poll promise of BJP. It’s a serious matter for small businesses. It is a pity that instead of formulating policies for the welfare, upgradstion and modernisation of existing retail trade, the Govt is more interested in paving way for the MNCs to control and dominate the retail trade of India. This love towards MNCs is highly condemned in strong words. Such a step will also result into making large number of people jobless. CAIT will soon declare its nationwide strategy to oppose this brutal move of the Govt.

CAIT National President Mr. B. C. Bhartia & Secretary General Mr. Praveen Khandelwal said that this decision is step towards allowing FDI in Multi Brand Retail. India is a consumer driven economy. Govt is unable to provide employment hence only source of employment is self employed. People literate, illiterate, rural or urban all get employed in retail trade.With small working capital and limited space traders are conducting their business operations.

We are one because our culture eating and dressing habits are one. These companies through their products will destroy the Indian fabrics of our society. Large scale unemployment and closure of small units will be witnessed.

Quake’s M 5.5 hit Kermanshah

ON JANUARY 11, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

US Geological Survey, and according to Iran’s state TV, the western province of Kermanshah was hit by a strong earthquake. Local media reported that an earlier earthquake hit Baghdad and central Iraq at around 10am (0700 GMT).

There was some panic in central Baghdad following the tremor and its aftershocks, with residents exiting buildings Reuters said, citing witnesses. There were no reports of significant damage, and electricity and internet services were not interrupted in central Baghdad.

The USGS said the quake’s magnitude was 5.5

Carles Puigdemont,elect Catalan leader

ON JANUARY 11, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

The two main Catalan separatist parties Together for Catalonia (Junts per Catalonia – JpC) and the Republican Left (ERC) have reached an agreement that aims to see former Carles Puigdemont re-elected as leader of the region in northeast Spain.

A spokesman for JpC confirmed that the two parties aim to “move forward with this new parliamentary term with Puigdemont as the president”.

JpC won 34 seats in the Dec. 21 regional elections, while ERC won 32 with the radical separatists CUP claiming 4 seats to give pro-Catalan independence forces a majority in the 150 seats Catalan Assembly.

Further remains to be seen just how Puigdemont could be re-invested as Catalan leader less than three months after Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy temporarily suspended Catalan autonomy and Puigdemont sought exile in Belgium.

He faces charges of sedition, rebellion, disobedience and misuse of public funds in Spain in the wake of the independence referendum on October 1st and the unilateral declaration of independence in the region on October 27th.

Puigdemont faces arrest and almost certain imprisonment if he returns to Spain and as in the case of his former deputy leader, Oriol Junqueras (who has spent over two months in prison), it would be unlikely the Spanish Supreme Court would grant him bail.

Agilent acquired Luxcel Biosciences

ON JANUARY 11, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Agilent Technologies Inc. announced that it has acquired Cork, Ireland-based Luxcel Biosciences (“Luxcel”), a developer of real time fluorescence plate-reader based in vitro cell assay kits.

This acquisition expands Agilent’s cell analysis portfolio with the addition of easy-to-use assay kits that are compatible with industry standard plate-readers.

Luxcel is developing a portfolio of in vitro cell-based assay kits and solutions targeting cell metabolism, drug safety and toxicity, as well as hypoxia and oxidative stress for a variety of life science customers from research institutions to pharmaceutical companies.

Scientists use this technology to understand the roll of cell metabolism across a variety of important research areas including cancer, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, immunology, and infectious disease.

Agilent entered the cell analysis market in 2015 with the acquisition of Seahorse Bioscience, a leader in providing specialized instruments and live-cell, kinetic assays.

The Luxcel team will remain in Cork and form a dedicated sensor chemistries and bioassay solutions group within Agilent’s Cell Analysis Division.

biospectrumindia.com

ASECNA to Deploy Space-Based ADS-B in Western and Central Africa

ON JANUARY 11, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Aireon and Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) will bring real-time air traffic surveillance to high-trafficked, terrestrial African corridors

MCLEAN, VA. January 9, 2018 – Aireon announced today that it has signed a data services agreement with the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA). ASECNA, created in December 1959 is an international public organization of 18 members States which headquarters is located in Dakar (SENEGAL).

ASECNA’s members states are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Centrafrique, Comores, Congo, Côte d’ivoire, Gabon, Guinée Bissau, Guinée Equatoriale, France, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritanie, Niger, Sénégal, Tchad and Togo.

ASECNA is one of Africa’s largest Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs), covering 16.1 million square kilometers of airspace, through six Flight Information Regions (FIRs) – Antananarivo, Brazzaville, Dakar Oceanic, Dakar Terrestrial, Niamey and N’Djamena.

ASECNA is responsible for air traffic services in a significant part of the African continent, handling frequently traveled routes between Europe, East and Southern Africa and South America. With AireonSM data, as early as 2019, ASECNA will be able to introduce a continuous layer of surveillance, augmenting existing infrastructure and completing coverage for their entire airspace. This will significantly improve service availability to airlines and enhance safety and efficiency in African airspace.

“The vastness of the landmass that ASECNA is responsible for poses an immense surveillance challenge, especially because it is not always possible to install or maintain ground infrastructure,” said Mohamed MOUSSA, ASECNA Director General, “With Aireon’s space-based ADS-B, we are looking towards the future, augmenting our capability and providing full, real-time air traffic surveillance to our airlines. This will not only provide a much higher level of availability of services, but will also significantly increase safety, as controllers will be able to see all aircraft, in real-time, across the ASECNA airspace. Safety will always be our top priority, and we look forward to having real-time surveillance in this part of the African continent.”

“The Agreement with ASECNA is a major step towards safety and efficiency in Western and Central Africa, allowing 17 African States to make a major step towards some of the main goals of the ICAO Global Air Navigation Plan,” said Don Thoma, CEO of Aireon. “Safety has long been a top priority in the region, and we are proud to be working with leading organizations such as ASECNA. For the first time, more than half of the African airspace will be under real-time air traffic surveillance.”

ASECNA joins other African ANSPs in the deployment of space-based ADS-B. South Africa’s Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) and Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) have also signed agreements over the last 18 months.

Obama Foundation

ON JANUARY 11, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Obama Foundation

Hello friends,Over the past year, Michelle and I have been working with an extraordinary team to dream up a campus for active citizenship on the South Side of Chicago. And while this Presidential Center may have our name on it, we’re developing it every step of the way with your input, and with you in mind.

So far, thousands of you have helped hone our approach to the Center and shaped its design. From community meetings to online surveys, you’ve inspired us, challenged us, and made our plans better.

Today, we’re taking a big step towards the start of construction. So I want you to hear directly from me where things stand — and share a few images of what we’re thinking, as well.

When I was younger, there was a time I dreamed of being an architect. So, as you might guess, I’ve been pretty hands-on in the plans for this Center — and Michelle has, too. We want it to be a place full of life and activity, where Chicagoans and visitors alike can explore, exchange ideas, learn, and have some fun.

First, as we’ve said before, the Obama Presidential Center will be an open, inclusive campus that integrates directly into Jackson Park. We’ll have a Museum and Library building, of course, but the campus will also include a place we’re calling the “Forum” — a public meeting space where anybody can come together for some local programming, or to gather for larger-scale events in an auditorium, maybe record something in a broadcast studio, or just have a bite to eat.

These buildings will frame a community-facing public plaza, designed to be a town square of sorts for gatherings both informal and planned. There will be play areas, an indoor athletic facility, walking paths, even a sledding hill. It will be a space for all seasons, for folks from all walks of life, from Chicago and all around the world. That’s the most vital aspect of the Obama Presidential Center — creating spaces for people to connect and collaborate, to take home a piece of what you’ve learned together. Because at the end of the day, the real action won’t happen here. It’ll happen in communities around the country, and the world. That was true when I was a candidate for president, and it’s true now.

The Forum and Library Building are two-story structures that are nestled into the park and, in fact, covered by part of it. The Museum building is a tower, a form representing hope — in particular, the hard-earned hope of what ordinary people have the power to do together. We actually designed it with this photo in mind — of hands coming together — and so each facade of the tower will be a little different from the next. It’s our way of showing that it takes many hands to shape a place.

Building something new is never easy. It requires patience. It requires listening. Not just listening for show, but actively incorporating what we’ve learned into the plans. And that’s why public input has been absolutely central to our process. We’ve taken your thoughts and concerns, and reconsidered and reconceived various aspects of the campus design and the details of the architecture. We’ve reimagined the landscape plans and the recreational spaces. And we’re far from finished. We’re going to continue to iterate on these plans, and we’re going to continue to turn to you for your feedback.

Here’s the most important thing: Michelle and I want this Center to be more than a building or a museum. We want to create an economic engine for Chicago and the South Side, and a cultural destination that showcases the South Side to the rest of the world. We want it to be a gathering place — somewhere for all kinds of people to come together and learn, not just from history or current events, but from each other. More than a museum with stories from the past, we want this to be a place that helps and inspires all of us to build our collective future. This Center is for young people on the South Side and for young people all around the world — the leaders of tomorrow who are ready to step up and build the world as it should be. And Michelle and I are grateful to all of you for being a part of it.

So please stay involved and stay tuned — we’ll be in touch with more soon.

– Barack

Donate today to support the Obama Foundation’s work:

African Union:Trump must apologies

ON JANUARY 13, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

The organisation representing African countries has demanded that US President Donald Trump apologise after he reportedly made outrageous words against the nations of the continent.

The group’s mission in Washington DC expressed its shock, dismay and outrage and said the Trump administration misunderstood Africans. The US leader made the alleged remark in a Thursday meeting on immigration.

Mr Trump yesterday tweeted that his language he used at the private meeting with lawmakers to discuss immigration legislation had been tough. But he added that the words attributed to him were not the language used.

He has been backed by two Republicans who were at the White House meeting, but Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said Mr Trump did use the outrageous words against African countries several times and used racist language.

The 55-nation African Union condemned the remarks yesterday, while a statement from ambassadors of all countries from the continent at the United Nations demanded a retraction and apology.

Ambassadors unanimously agreed to the resolution after an emergency session to weigh Trump’s remarks.

ED raids, P.Chidambaram & son

ON JANUARY 13, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Enforcement Directorate conducted raids at the premises of senior Congress leader P.Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram in Chennai and Delhi this morning. Mr Karti Chidambaram is facing charges of money laundering in connection with the Aircel Maxis case. Sources said, four properties were searched in Chennai and one in the national capital. However, Mr Karti’s lawyer has said the Directorate has taken possession of no document during the search.

It is said that the Foreign Investment Promotion Board FIPB in 2006 granted approval for the Aircel-Maxis telecom deal when Mr Chidambaram was the finance minister. The investigating agency says the FIPB acted beyond its mandate since the investment involved was more than its limit. However, Mr Chidambaram denies the charge saying, due procedures were followed.

The Enforcement Directorate earlier issued summons to Mr Karti to appear for questioning, saying a firm is controlled by him has been benefiting from the deal, which he denies. The case investigating being investigated by the CBI as well.

Sharp increase in prosecutions of tax evaders by Income Tax Department

ON JANUARY 13, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Naresh Kumar Sagar

The Income Tax Department has accorded the highest priority to tackle the menace of black money. With this objective in mind, the Department has initiated criminal prosecution proceedings in a large number of cases of tax offenders and evaders.

Prosecutions have been initiated for various offences including wilful attempt to evade tax or payment of any tax; wilful failure in filing returns of income; false statement in verification and failure to deposit the tax deducted/collected at source or inordinate delay in doing so, among other defaults.

During FY 2017-18 (upto the end of November, 2017), the Department filed Prosecution complaints for various offences in 2225 cases compared to 784 for the corresponding period in the immediately preceding year, marking an increase of 184%. The number of complaints compounded by the Department during the current Financial Year (upto the end of November, 2017) stands at 1052 as against 575 in the corresponding period of the immediately preceding year, registering a rise of 83%. Compounding of offences is done when the defaulter admits to its offence and pays the compounding fee as per stipulated conditions.

Due to the decisive and focused action taken by the Department against tax evaders, the number of defaulters convicted by the courts has also registered a sharp increase during the current fiscal. 48 persons were convicted for various offences during the current year(upto the end of November, 2017) as compared to 13 convictions for the corresponding period in the immediately preceding year, marking an increase of 269%.

A few illustrative cases are highlighted below:

i. A Dehradun Court convicted one defaulter for holding undisclosed foreign bank account and sentenced him to two years of imprisonment for wilful attempt to evade tax and to two years for false statement in verification alongwith monetary penalty for each default respectively.

ii. The Court of CJM, Jalandhar convicted a cloth trader with 2 years rigorous imprisonment for trying to cheat the Department by fabricating affidavits and gift deeds, in connivance with his advocate and witness, with the motive of evading tax. The Court, while awarding the sentence to the trader, also simultaneously awarded one year’s imprisonment to the advocate notarizing the forged affidavit and also to the witness for aiding and abetting the serious offence.

iii. In Bengaluru, the MD of a company engaged in infrastructure projects was found guilty of non-deposit of TDS of over Rs. 60 lakh(within the prescribed time), and was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of three months alongwith imposition of fine. Similarly, a Mohali resident was held guilty of non-deposit of TDS within prescribed time and sentenced to one year jail alongwith fine.

iv. In another case of Hyderabad, the Director of an infrastructure company was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of six months and fine for wilful attempt to evade tax. She was simultaneously sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for six months alongwith fine for false statement in verification.

v. The Economic Offences Court at Ernakulam sentenced an individual to rigorous imprisonment of three months for selling property to evade payment of taxes of about Rs. 76 lakh despite issuance of the tax recovery certificate by the Tax Recovery Officer.

vi. In yet another case reported from Agra, the Special CJM convicted one defaulter with imprisonment of one year & six months for wilful attempt to evade tax and for false statement in verification respectively alongwith fine.

The Income Tax Department is committed to carry forward the drive against tax evasion and action against tax evaders will continue in all earnest in the remaining part of the current Financial Year.

welcomes Gov. acceptance of non-animal skin and eye tests for pesticide safety

ON JANUARY 13, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Humane Society International/India welcomes government acceptance of non-animal skin and eye tests for pesticide safety

NEW DELHI (12 Jan, 2018)—In a move that could spare many animals from pain and death in crude 1940s-era experiments, the Registration Committee of the Central Insecticide Board under India’s Ministry of Agriculture has revised its pesticide testing regulations to recognize modern, human cell-based alternatives to rabbit tests for the assessment of eye and skin irritation. This decision comes after more than two years of campaigning by Humane Society International/India and negotiations between HSI/India, members of the pesticide industry and PETA India.

The revised “Guidance Document on Toxicology for Registration of Chemical Pesticides in India” also includes language that directs companies to consider new validated alternative methods to animal testing, and changing some previously ‘unconditional’ test requirements to conditional requirements. Notoriously cruel inhalation studies, in which rats or mice are confined to whole-body restraint tubes and forced to breathe in toxic vapours for up to six hours a day – sometimes for weeks on end or at such extreme levels to determine the chemical concentration that is lethal – are an example of a requirement that has been downgraded to conditional, meaning they may be waived going forward.

HSI/India Managing Director Jayasimha Nuggehalli said: “We welcome the Registration Committee’s move to replace notoriously cruel and obsolete animal pesticide tests. It has been a long journey, and there much is still left to do to bring Indian regulations in line with international best practices for reduction and replacement of animal testing for pesticides. The new regulations put India on the right path and will save countless animals from needless suffering.”

In 2016 HSI/India identified a “dirty dozen” pesticide animal tests that could be ended immediately without risk to consumer or environmental safety. The recent action by the CIB-RC addresses two of these test areas, but overlooks other internationally-recognized animal-saving approaches that could spare thousands more animals for every pesticide chemical tested. Examples include:

Calculation of a pesticide formulation’s toxicity instead of conducting repeat “lethal dose” testing via oral, skin and inhalation routes
An animal-free test strategy for skin allergy that predicts human reactions with greater accuracy than any of the accepted animal tests
An “extended 1-generation” test that reduces animal use by 1,200 rats per test

HSI/India will continue its dialogue with Indian authorities and industry executives until all available animal testing alternatives are fully accepted and implemented in practice.

Link to the revised document : http://www.cibrc.nic.in/ToxGuidanceDocSept2017.pdf

Media Contact: Vidhi Malla, vmalla@hsi.org, +91 9560103078

UNMA Welcomes UNSG’s Report – Making Migration Work for All

ON JANUARY 13, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

New York – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, welcomed Thursday (11/01) the release of the UN Secretary General’s report, Making Migration Work for All. The Report comes at a crucial time in the process to develop a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, and will serve as an important contribution to global discourse on international migration.

“Making Migration Work for All provides a forward-looking analysis and vision, and a principled approach to thinking about contemporary challenges around migration, and how to address them,” said Michele Klein Solomon, IOM Director for the Global Compact for Migration.

Making Migration Work for All recognizes the need to address the factors that compel people to leave their homes in search of safer, better lives. Strong emphasis is rightly placed on whole of government and whole of society approaches at the local, national, regional and global levels, with genuine partnerships not only between governments but with employers, unions, civil society entities and migrants themselves, amongst others, to manage migration.

The Report makes note of the fact that most of the world’s 258 million international migrants already move through safe, orderly and regular means, and that they bring significant benefits to their destination and origin countries.

The report notes, for example: migrants spend, on average, some 85 per cent of their earnings in their host countries, thereby not only addressing skills and labour shortages there, but also contributing directly to economic growth through consumption of goods and services locally. Moreover, migrants remit homeward 15 per cent of their earnings – in 2017 some USD 600 billion, per World Bank estimates – to the benefit of their families and communities in sender countries which, for many, is a lifeline.

Nonetheless, many countries today confront significant challenges surrounding migration governance.

With migration an expanding global reality, the Report brings a fresh coherence to the migration narrative. It challenges governments to put in place comprehensive national systems to manage migration, based on the rule of law. It places rightful emphasis on the need to maximize the benefits that migration offers.

IOM particularly commends the Report’s commitment to the notion that migration should be a matter of choice, not necessity, as well as the importance it attaches to protecting the rights of all migrants. IOM shares the UN Secretary General’s concern about migrants in vulnerable situations, including those in large and mixed flows and those affected by the growing effects of environmental degradation and climate change. The emphasis of the Report on addressing irregular migration is also particularly welcome.

“The best way to end the stigma of illegality and abuse around migrants is, in fact, for governments to put in place more legal pathways for migration,” said UN SG Antonio Guterres. “This will remove incentives for individuals to break the rules, while better meeting the needs of markets for foreign labour.”

Echoing discussion during the consultations phase of the global compact process, the Report places a priority on ensuring adequate regular pathways for migrants to access labour market opportunities at all skills levels. These pathways should be based on labour market and demographic assessments in countries of destination, not only for today but for decades to come.

This is but one of the measures the Report proposes to reduce both the incidence and risks of irregular migration and informal employment of migrants. Partnerships for skills development are one innovative proposal for addressing skills deficits in destination countries while benefiting countries of origin through training of their labour force. Another would be cross-border ethical recruitment initiatives that are rightly identified as promising for reducing both the costs and risks to migrants.

At the same time, Making Migration Work for All clearly recognizes that governments retain the authority to determine the conditions of entry and stay of migrants, consistent with international standards, and recognizes countries’ legitimate security concerns as well. The Report stresses that migration is not, per se, a threat and emphasizes the importance of ensuring cooperative approaches to human, state and public security, including on border management and returns.

Importantly, the Report places the migration narrative in a positive light, putting people at its centre. Making Migration Work for All recognizes the positive contributions of migrants and migration to inclusive growth, sustainable development and reducing inequalities within and between states over the long term.

IOM supports the call to Member States to put in place a follow-up and review mechanism for the compact to ensure continued yet flexible progress, and notes the Secretary General’s intention to look at how the UN, including IOM, can best organize itself to support Member State implementation of whatever commitments they make in the compact.

As the Report stresses, this needs to be consistent with his overall reform efforts as well as SDG follow-up and implementation.

The UN Migration Agency looks forward to continuing to engage closely with all partners as the process to develop a global compact for migration progresses. IOM believes that the development of a global compact for migration presents an historic opportunity to improve the lives and dignity of migrants as well as the ability of governments to manage migration.

The full report can be accessed here.

For further information please contact, Joel Millman at IOM HQ, Tel: +41 79 103 8720, Email: jmillman@iom.int

Moinuddin Malak tops Pre Qualifying II, 30 players qualify for Final Stage

ON JANUARY 13, 2018 BY NARESH SAGAREDIT

Kensville Golf & Country Club, Ahmedabad, January 12, 2018: Nagpur’s Moinuddin Malak (69-69) topped the leaderboard at the PGTI’s Pre Qualifying II for the 2018 season after finishing the second round with a total of six-under-138.

A total of 30 players qualified from Pre Qualifying II for the Final Qualifying Stage as nine players were tied in 22ndposition when the cut was declared at seven-over-151 at the Kensville Golf & Country Club near Ahmedabad.

Malak fired a second straight 69 which featured three birdies on his last five holes.

Ludhiana-based amateur Digraj Singh Gill, the round one leader, slipped to second place at five-under-139 after a 71 on Friday.

Three golfers shared third place at one-under-143 including Ikramuddin Shah, Ajay Baisoya and amateur Aditya Chahal.

Public statement

ON JANUARY 13, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Public Statement

Joint Citizens Protest demands scrapping of biometric UID/Aadhaar number database project

Speakers spoke against UIDAI’s proposal of 360 degree view of Citizens

The planned Joint Citizens Protest against world biggest Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) of 12 –digit biometric Unique Identification (UID)/Aadhaar numbers happened at the Parliament Street from 3 pm onwards on12th of January, 2018. More such protests are planned across the districts and cities in the country. Several speakers at the protest site demanded immediate stoppage of the biometric UID/Aadhaar number database project. There were concerns expressed at the decline in the number of citizens of the country due to citizen’ deaths as a consequence of UID/Aadhaar menace. There was talk about how disclosures about breach of UID/Aadhaar database by The Tribune reveal something similar to what Edward Snowden did albeit in an Indian context. It has compromised national security and the personal sensitive information of present and future Presidents, Prime Ministers, judges, legislators and officials handling sensitive assignments besides all the Indians. This has compromised both the right to privacy of citizens and nationals security

The current UIDAI chief Satyanarayana finds mention in the report Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology that examined the work of Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, asked about the surveillance by National Security Agency (NSA) of the US. It states that in the context of privacy of data, the Committee desired to know the Department’s stand on the issue of surveillance by US and interception of data sent through e-mails. To this, Satyanarayana, as Secretary, DeitY, responded during the evidence as under:-“Sir, about the US surveillance issue, there has been a debate, as you are aware, this morning in the Rajya Sabha itself and the hon. Minister has addressed this issue. He also emphasised that as far as the Government data and Government mails are concerned, the policy, the copy of which I have given to the Committee earlier, is going to address a large part of it. Hopefully, by the end of this year, if it is implemented, the things will be absolutely safe and secure…x.x.x.x…In the reply, the Hon. Minister also said that we have expressed our serious concern about the reported leakages and in the name of surveillance, the data that has been secured from various private sources, internet resources by the US Government. We have expressed it formally to the Government of the US and also during the Secretary of State’s visit a few weeks ago in India, this has been reinforced on a person to person basis.”

He added, “We have been assured that whatever data has been gathered by them for surveillance relates only to the metadata. It has been reiterated and stated at the highest level of the US President that that only the metadata has been accessed, which is, the origin of the message and the receiving point, the destination and the route through which it has gone, but not the actual content itself. This has been reiterated by them, but we expressed that any incursion into the content will not be tolerated and is not tolerable from Indian stand and point of view. That has been mentioned very clearly and firmly by our Government.” In effect, the Government of India has formally communicated to Government US that India has no problem if they conduct surveillance for metadata in fact it is acceptable and tolerable but “incursion into the content will not be tolerated and is not tolerable.”

Contrary to the claims of the promoters of biometric Unique Identification (UID)/Aadhaar like Nandan Nilekani that “Millions of people without any ID, now have an ID”, the fact is that of all the Aadhaar numbers issued to Indian residents till date – 99.97 per cent had pre-existing identification (ID) documents. This has been revealed in a reply to an application under Right to Information (RTI) Act by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The enclosed reply reveals that out of the 83.5 crore UID/Aadhaar numbers issued till then, only 2.19 lakh residents (0.03 per cent) have been given numbers based on the introduction by the introducer system because they did not have a pre-existing ID. This proves that that ‘an inability to prove identity” has not a major barrier to access benefits and subsidies. Now it has emerged that UIDAI’s project and its proponents have been complicit in engineering free flow of data to US and its allies contrary to government’s written submission on e-commerce opposing free access to citizen’s data base at 11thWTO Ministerial. Notably, companies like Accenture (USA), Safran Group and Ernst & Young have been given access to sensitive data of present and future Indians.

At the protest site there was reference to the presentation of J Satyanaraya, the chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on People Hub: …the Core of DBT dated 22nd, July 2016 wherein he revealed the purpose of People’s Hub is to have “Getting a 360 degree view of Citizens” that alters the relationships between citizens, government and the business enterprises. As per IBM, a “Single View of a Citizen” is required because it “Provides authorized access to citizen master data as a service.” It “supports security and privacy requirements for the access and control of data”. It “provides data quality management to establish a “enterprise” record for a party.” It “Performs as a synchronization point to control the distribution of citizen master data in a standardized way.” It “Increases service and accuracy, and decreases the cost of serving the public.”It provides “flexible platform capable of supporting multiple data formats and allowing for new sources to be readily added as requirements change. It also “provides analysis and discovery services to resolve identities and discover relationships.”

It may be recalled that Edwin Black’s book IBM and the Holocaust revealed IBM’s strategic alliance with Nazi Germany. IBM and its subsidiaries helped create enabling technologies, “step-by-step, from the identification and cataloging programs of the 1930s to the selections of the 1940s.” Notably, IBM was in the census business. The book reveals that IBM technology was used to organize nearly everything in Germany and then Nazi Europe, from the identification of the Jews in censuses, registrations, and ancestral tracing programs to the running of railroads and organizing of concentration camp slave labor. Coincidentally, IBM is involved in UID/Aadhaar project as well.

Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties (CFCL) participated in the protest to express its solidarity.

Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat press conference

ON JANUARY 12, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat in Delhi interacting with media on its annual media meet was in his elements to dwell on the volly of question tossed by media person in style appreciated by media fraternity.

Army chief after briefing the media for nearly 15-20 minutes opened the floor for the media to raise question.

On question of modernizing the force, the question was raised in many forms he categorically said, We need modern weapons and technology. We have to look at what we require to fight the future wars. We have to get systems that are best suited for our requirements:

Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat added, Please visit the schools of J& K and see for your self the way children are taught with two maps one of india and the second of J&K , the education in Kashmir needs to be revamped. Let it not got corrupted. There must be check on disinformation through madrasas and Masjids. Children are being taught wrong things in schools. What does it lead to in a child’s mind?

Chief added the China is a powerful country but we are not a weak nation and we are aware of his influence in the region.

Chief also paid Media his heartfelt gratitude for being mature and helping in assisting the mission of army but jibed not to seek our next mission strategy which need to be different unique so unpredictable to our adversaries, targets. Yes we can mull on last military skills. He said not primary media but social media need to be more mature and responsible which is need of the hour.

Touching media his verbatim

“Care to Martyrs family,widows, veterans and brotherhood are the culture for which people across nation join for this virtue embedder and shall ever imbibe to be part of family care,culture.

Naresh Kumar Sagar‏ @Nksagar 8h8 hours ago
More
Sagar Media Inc : Army Chief interaction with Media Repeated Q’s were asked on Dokhlam,BPJ,Morale of soldiers, Modernisation & Preparedness of Army, Twin front, He said forget 1962. Accepted some pitfalls in opening remarks.s surprise Media not spoke MIG submarine Vikrant slips
Naresh Kumar Sagar‏ @Nksagar 8h8 hours ago
More
Sagar Media Inc: Army Chief address with voluble diction suave persona non aggression attitude cool conduct in his two hours interaction Media paid apt attention to his each word spoken and showered lavish praise after the event.Balanced approach appreciable never in rage.
Naresh Kumar Sagar‏ @Nksagar 8h8 hours ago
More
Sagar Media Inc: Address Media Army Chief said we need to visualise future of combat. Technology help effective surveillance Engaging target can b differentiate weapon system.invoking internal security anti terrorist counter terrorists,engage human rts Nat disaster,beyond mandate
Naresh Kumar Sagar‏ @Nksagar 8h8 hours ago
More
Sagar Media Inc Army Chief: Assured Media the Coordination with China army is on move LOC and LOA differentiation are best resolved. Further adds we don’t need modernisation what others need our defence is as per need and requirements.

Quake hits central Myanmar

ON JANUARY 12, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

A strong 6 point magnitude earthquake hit a remote region of central Myanmar early this morning.

The US Geological Survey said, the shallow quake struck some 40 kilometres west of the town of Pyu.

It was followed by three weaker tremors in the region, of magnitudes 5.3. The USGS said, there is a low likelihood of casualties and damage, but noted that residential structures in the region are typically vulnerable to earthquake shaking.

The epicentre was located in a sparsely populated region between the capital Naypyidaw to the north and commercial hub Yangon to the south.

Pak open fire at Uri positions along LoC

ON JANUARY 12, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Pakistani troops violated cease fire and opened fire at Indian positions along the Line of Control in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

An Army official said today, no casualties have been reported so far. He said, Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing in Kamalkote area of Uri sector last evening.

The ceasefire violation was effectively retaliated by the Indian Army.

SINGAPORE EXPO Hall 7, 13/01 to 21/01, 12PM~10PM.

ON JANUARY 12, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Eubiq added new photos.

10 hrs ·

Be inspired with the latest home design and furnishing ideas at Home Inspirations 2018. The most anticipated home design and furniture show is back this year and what’s more? Stand a chance to win $11,888 in cash! See you at EXPO Hall 7, 13/01 to 21/01, 12PM~10PM.

Image may contain: 10 people, people smiling, food

PM Modi: Ask youth to create new India

ON JANUARY 12, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the youth to become an agent of change for the emergence of India as a new India.

Addressing the National Youth Festival 2018 via video conferencing, Mr Modi said in New Delhi today that the government wants to make youth job creators and as youngest innovators.

The Prime Minister urged the youth to make sports a part of their lives. He said, youth should resolve to create the India that the freedom fighters dreamt of.

Mr Modi said, government is there to help them economically in their innovation work and help them start their own businesses.

Mr Modi said, during the Mann Ki Baat programme on All India Radio last month, he had had called for organising mock parliaments in the districts to further the spirit of discussion among the youth.

He said there has to be an ecosystem of innovation among youth. Mr Modi said, some people will tell that today’s youth lack patience.

He said, in a way, this is what ignites an innovative zeal in the youth. He said, it enables the youngsters to think out of the box and do new things.

ISRO launch PSLV C-40, in the space

ON JANUARY 12, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

India today successfully launched weather observation satellite Cartosat 2 Series and 29 other spacecraft onboard its dependable Polar rocket from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

Naresh Kumar Sagar‏ @Nksagar 7h7 hours ago
More
Sagar Media Inc :Cart2 separate 1038 second and satellite are placed in orbit from foreign UK,Canada,Rep Korea all nano satellite completed 4th stage to re-ignite To put last satellites in orbit.
Naresh Kumar Sagar‏ @Nksagar 7h7 hours ago
More
Sagar Media Inc ISRO Launch 100 th satellite PSLV-C40 with 31 satellite successfully after 46 KM PSLV,2nd stage separate 3rd stage ignite and separate.4 th stage ignite to put 31 Satellite in desired orbit at 476 KM .4th stage normal reach goal at its destination.500km. Cart2

A jubilant ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar announced that the Cartosat 2 Series satellite, the seventh in the series, a nano satellite and 28 commercial payloads were successfully injected into the orbit one by one by the PSLV C-40, in the space of about 17.33 minutes since lift-off.

ISRO’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network took control of the Cartosat 2 Series satellite in space. International customer satellites are three micro and 25 nano-satellites from six countries — Canada, Finland, France, Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

President Ram Nath Kovind congratulated the scientists at ISRO saying it is a moment of pride for every Indian. He tweeted launch of India’s 100th satellite Cartosat-2, along with two co-passenger satellites as well as 28 satellites of six friendly countries, to is a milestone for our country .

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated to ISRO and its scientists on the successful launch of PSLV today. This success in the New Year will bring benefits of the country’s rapid strides in space technology to our citizens, farmers, fishermen etc. In a tweet, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu also congratulated the entire team of ISRO for the successful launch.

Information and Broadcasting minister Smriti Irani congratulated ISRO scientists In a series of tweet, the minister said, the successful launch of satellite Cartosat-2 series is a hallmark of Indian scientific aptitude and indicative of the perseverance and proficiency of ISRO team.

She said, 28 satellites from 6 Nations carried by today’s launch are a testimony to not only our philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ but also compliments Prime Minister’s endeavour of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’.
News Content

PM Netanyahu in India

ON JANUARY 15, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with his wife Sara, were granted a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan ahead of his delegation level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

PM Netanyahu was given a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan this morning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among those present during the ceremony. Talking to reporters after the ceremony, Israel Prime Minister said, his visit to New Delhi is the dawn of a new era in the friendship between India and Israel.

PM Mr Netanyahu said it began with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic visit to Israel that created tremendous enthusiasm. Mr Netanyahu said it continues with his visit to India. He added that the flourishing partnership can bring prosperity, peace and progress for the people of both the countries.

Later, PM Mr Netanyahu laid a wreath at Mahatma Gandhi’s Samadhi at Raj Ghat. It is the first visit of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to India. He yesterday arrived on a six-day visit. India, Israel likely to sign 8 MoUs today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding delegation-level talks with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in New Delhi. During the talks, both the leaders will discuss host of issues including defence cooperation, trade, innovation, counter terrorism, agriculture and water harvesting. Several MoUs are expected to be signed in different areas after the talks. Mr Netanyahu will also call on President Ram Nath Kovind in the evening.

India and Sri Lanka sign MoU for collaboration in ICT development

ON JANUARY 15, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

India and Sri Lanka sign MoU for collaboration in ICT development and sharing of knowledge network in presence of IT minister Mr RS Prasad.

M7.3 – near the coast of southern Peru

ON JANUARY 15, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Preliminary Earthquake Report
Magnitude	7.3
Date-Time	14 Jan 2018 09:18:42 UTC 14 Jan 2018 09:18:42 near epicenter 14 Jan 2018 13:18:42 standard time in your timezone
Location	15.782S 74.765W
Depth	12 km
Distances	25.4 km (15.7 mi) SSE of Lomas, Peru 73.1 km (45.4 mi) SSE of Minas de Marcona, Peru 106.9 km (66.3 mi) S of Nazca, Peru 137.6 km (85.3 mi) SSW of Puquio, Peru 216.2 km (134.0 mi) SSE of Ica, Peru
Location Uncertainty	Horizontal: 7.5 km; Vertical 4.3 km

Dear Sagar Media Inc, Today, India marks Army Day

ON JANUARY 15, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Dear Sagar Media Inc,
Today, India marks Army Day to celebrate and honour the soldiers of our country.
In her petition Sagina writes, “Our policemen and soldiers are dying because they don’t have bulletproof jackets… This is an urgent request to the Home Minister and Defence Minister. Please provide adequate bulletproof armour for our army and policemen. Let us try and give our soldiers the best protection possible.”
Sign her petition.

You could also start your own petition to address any issues being faced by our defence personnel.

Petitioning Smt. Nirmala sitharaman

Prime Minister of India: We don’t want bullet trains; we want proper bulletproof jackets for our soldiers

Petition by Adv Sagina Walyat

1,18,486
Supporters

Sign the petition

We don’t want bullet trains. We want proper bulletproof jackets first.

A lot of our soldiers don’t have proper bulletproof jackets. Our policemen and even our SWAT teams are fighting terrorists wearing cricket helmets and knee pads. This is gear for sportsmen, not soldiers. They stop cricket balls, not bullets.

I am proud of our soldiers because they fight for India. But I am terrified for them because the country is not providing them with the protection they need.

Our army had asked for lightweight bulletproof armour 10 years back and they still don’t have it. Our policemen and soldiers are dying because they don’t have bulletproof jackets.

The Defence Minister asked for 50,000 emergency jackets to be procured 6 months back. The army still hasn’t got them. If they had, we might not have lost our brave soldiers who were martyred in Mumbai, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and many more before.

Why are we talking about bullet trains and giant statues when our army and police are not protected while fighting terrorist attacks?

This is an urgent request to the Home Minister and Defence Minister. Please provide adequate bulletproof armour for our army and policemen. Let us try and give our soldiers the best protection possible.

Sign and share my petition to keep our soldiers safe.

Sign the petition

The United States and India: Forging an Indispensable Democratic Partnership

ON JANUARY 15, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

CPR Invite
Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and the Center for American Progress (CAP) are pleased to invite you to a discussion on
The United States and India: Forging an Indispensable Democratic Partnership
Introductory Remarks:
Yamini Aiyar, President and Chief Executive, CPR

Speakers:
Nirupama Rao, Co-Chair, CAP Task Force on U.S.-India Relations,
Rich Verma, Co-Chair, CAP Task Force on U.S.-India Relations

Moderated by Ashok Malik, Press Secretary to the President of IndiaTuesday, 16 January 2018, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.Conference Hall, Centre for Policy Research

This event will be live streamed through Facebook live on CPR’s Facebook page.

The relationship between India and the United States has become an important priority for both nations, and is increasingly important to advancing shared interests in global peace, prosperity, and freedom. Over the past year, the Center for American Progress organized a binational group of Indian and American experts in a wide variety of fields to work together to craft a vision for the future of U.S.-India relations.

The resulting task force report – The United States and India: Forging an Indispensable Democratic Partnership – outlines a path forward for the bilateral relationship, along with a series of concrete recommendations that both sides can take to advance shared interests. The report focuses on five key areas: investing in jobs and economic opportunities; building a clean energy future from the bottom up; creating a U.S.-India security advantage in Asia; strengthening democratic institutions at home and around the world; and strengthening ties between Indians and Americans.

Please join the Centre for Policy Research and the Center for American Progress on Tuesday, 16 January for the release of the report and a discussion with the task force co-chairs – Ambassadors Nirupama Rao and Rich Verma, moderated by Ashok Malik – on the future of the U.S.-India relationship.

Introductory remarks:
Yamini Aiyar, president, Centre for Policy Research

Speakers:
Nirupama Rao, Co-Chair, Center for American Progress Task Force on U.S.-India Relations; former Foreign Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, India and former Indian Ambassador to the U.S.
Rich Verma, Co-Chair, Center for American Progress Task Force on U.S.-India Relations; Vice Chairman, The Asia Group and former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of India

Moderator:
Ashok Malik, Press Secretary to the President of India

Please RSVP to president.cpr@cprindia.org. The venue can seat up to 50 people on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Czech presidential elections

ON JANUARY 15, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Milos Zeman, the incumbent Czech president known for his anti-immigration stance, has won the first round of the Czech presidential election, which finished on Saturday. He defeated eight other candidates, winning 38.56 percent of the vote. The first runner-up was pro-EU candidate Jiri Drahos, a 68-year-old chemistry professor and former chief of the academy of science, with 26.6 percent of ballots cast. Since no candidate gained 50 percent or more of the vote in this first round, the two leading candidates will face each other in a runoff on January 26-27.

Protests in Tunisia

ON JANUARY 15, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Persisting poverty, Corruption, surge in vale added tax, rising prices, unabated unemployment, Tunisians marked on Sunday seven years since the uprising that launched the Arab Spring, with fresh protests after days of unrest over economy languishing low ebb and no sight of recovery of unemployment.

Tunisia had a relatively smooth democratic transition since the January 14, 2011 toppling of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years in power, an African the nation with rich history of prosperity.

After the Arab springs of seven years , public anger has risen over new austerity measures after a year of rising prices, with protesters again chanting the 2011 slogans of “Work, Freedom, Dignity”.

Ks of people took part in the protest outside the UGTT offices. “The people want the fall of the 2018 budget,” some chanted, echoing 2011 calls for the fall of the regime.

Hundreds more gathered after Ennahdha, an Islamist party that is part of the ruling coalition, and Prime Minister Youssef Chahed’s Popular Front party also called for demonstrations.

President Beji Caid Essebsi marked the anniversary by attending the opening of a youth centre in the working-class Tunis suburb of Ettadhamen, which saw night-time clashes between young protesters and police this week.“This year we will start to take care of the young,”

On Sunday, hundreds gathered in the capital, Tunis, responding to calls to protest from a powerful labour union and several political parties.

Security was tight as protesters poured through checkpoints into the capital’s Habib Bourguiba Avenue, which was the epicentre of the 2011 protests.

Demonstrators chanted against “poverty and hunger” as they marched up the avenue, accusing “thieves” of having stolen the country.

Outside the offices of the powerful UGTT trade union, demonstrator Foued el-Arbi waved an empty basket marked 2018. “This empty basket sums up our situation seven years after the revolution,” said the philosophy professor.

A wave of peaceful protests and night-time unrest hit cities and towns across the country this past week, after hikes in value-added tax and social security contributions introduced in early January.

The interior ministry says it has arrested more than 800 people suspected of taking part in violence, theft and looting since the start of the unrest.

Protester demands have included a review of the 2018 austerity budget and more efficient measures to fight enduring corruption.

SSP Narmada Canal 75% Supply Cut, Wasn’t Election Issue

ON JANUARY 15, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

January14, 2018 (C) Ravinder Singh progressindia2015@gmail.com

I had reported poor storage situation in Narmada Basin end of monsoon. Disaster Management action was to be in place but on Poll Eve Releases from Dam were many times needs at Kharif Harvest season.

http://www.nca.gov.in/dsr/dsr-jan-18/dsr-11-jan-2018.pdf

Gujarat is entitled to just 2.4 BCM of Water in present situation for June end season [Jan11, 2018] and even this is subjected Highest Distribution Losses – Gujarat is entirely depend on MP releases – reduced to 2540 Cusec already. Ecological releases are 621 cusecs for 180 down stream of SSP for Industries Agriculture & Domestic supplies all together. Less than2000 Cusec water shall be available for rest of season against 40,000 Cusec Mainline Capacity. MOST OF IT SHALL BE LOST TO LEAKAGES, FARMER PUNCTURES etc. On my advice in 1999 – Bypass Tunnel was made to divert water from Dead Storage but shall be of little help. [Supplies to Rajasthan are Cut for Long time – Maharashtra getting nothing]

Narmada Water Allocation, Monsoon & Latest Storage in BCM

States	Allotted	S. Capacity	Sep28, 2017	Jan11, 2018
MP	22.5	15.8	8.5	6.6
Gujarat	11.1	1.6	1.6	0.6
Total	34.5	17.4/21.6	10.1	7.2

Presently 203 Dams Live Storage Capacity in Gujarat = 7.751 BCM [Jan12] but of this South Gujarat including SSP has 4.1 BCM – adding Live Capacity of Gujarat Mahi River

Its over 5 BCM for 7.7 BCM of Live Gujarat. Surplus Storages are not linked to Narmada mainline. GUJARAT FACE CRITICAL DAYS AHEAD TILL 15th DAYS OF MONSOON SEASON.

Water will be diverted to industry: Farmers

Ahmedabad: Gujarat Khedut Samaj general secretary, Sagar Rabari, has threatened to launch an agitation to get Narmada water for farmers’ summer crop. The state government has asked farmers to be cautious in sowing for the summer crop and be prepared for paucity of water.

“The Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) has stated that given the low level of water in the dam, SSNNL will not be able to provide irrigation water for the summer crop in the Narmada command area after March 15,” Rabari said. He alleged that most of the water meant for farmers was given to industry.

Farmers’ association wanted to know where the water meant for irrigation had been diverted because the irrigation canal had not been completed in the entire command area. He alleged that the government had diverted the water meant for irrigation to industries.

Narmada canal breached, wheat crop damaged

Ahmedabad: A major breach in the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam canal was reported in Kokata village of Viramgam taluka. The breach has damaged standing crops in around 200 bighas land in the village and the adjacent village of Jaksi.

Sarojba Jhala, sarpanch of Kokata village, said this is the third breach reported in the area after October. “This had happened because the canal was not made of cement-concrete,” she said.

“On Saturday morning, the canal bank suddenly broke and water rushed into the fields. The standing crop of wheat in these fields was damaged,” Sarojba said.

She said that the banks were made of only bricks and this is why there were frequent breaches.

Former sarpanch of the village, Mahendrasinh Jhala said that there was corruption in high places when the canal was built.

“We will urge the government to conduct a thorough inquiry into the frequent breaches,” he said. “There is wheat crop is in the fields. The excess water which has rushed into the fields has damaged the crop. We will asks the government to conduct a detailed survey of the damage and compensate the farmers adequately,” Mahendrasinh said.

A senior official blamed the farmers for the breaches. He said the farmers in the area had installed motors nears the bank and draw water from the canal using the pumps.

Vibration of the motor pumps, damaged the banks. Several times leakage from pipes had caused soil erosion, the official said.

Ravinder Singh, Inventor & Consultant, INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND PROJECTS

Y-77, Hauz Khas, ND -110016, India. Ph: 091- 8826415770, 9871056471, 9650421857

Ravinder Singh* is a WIPO awarded inventor specializing in Power, Transportation,

Smart Cities, Water, Energy Saving, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Technologies and Projects

Dear Naresh, Come, Enrich Yourself by Speaking,

ON JANUARY 15, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Dear Naresh,

Come, Enrich Yourself by Speaking, Attending and Networking at

The First Global Conference on Creating Value, May 23-24, 2018

As co-Chair, I am honoured to ask you to submit papers and attend theFirst Global Conference on Creating Value https://goo.gl/4f56PXon May 23-24 at Leicester, UK. Creating Value is getting greater attention by business, society and academics as it impacts our endeavours, ourselves, our customers, employees, partners, our profits and our stakeholders, our Governments , society and sustainability.

Steve Vargo, Ann Francke, Stuart Hart, Chris Baker, Irene Ng, Peter Shaw, Michael Shafer, Christian Gronroos and companies such as Fujitsu Japan, Sanofi, Teletech, Hughes, ParijatAgro India and other companies from Japan, USA, Europe, Australia and India will be speaking or attending. This is a great platform to exchange ideas between business and academics for Value Co-Creation.

The last date to submit papers is January 31, 2018.

The Journal of Creating Value jcv.sagepub.com that I edit is being accepted as a leader in its field.

Articles for the conference will be considered for the Journal.https://goo.gl/4f56PX

I ask you to not only associate with the conference by submitting papers and/or attending, but also join the global Value Creation movement.

I look forward to seeing you at the conference soon, and to write for the Journal and also joining the Value Creation movement.

Twenty-year-old Viraj Madappa earns

ON JANUARY 14, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Twenty-year-old Viraj Madappa earns full playing rights on the Asian Tour, Himmat Rai too secures his tour card

Rayong, Thailand, January 14, 2018:Twenty-year-old Viraj Madappa, one of India’s most promising talents, finished tied 29th at the 2018 Asian Tour Qualifying School’s Final Stage to earn his maiden Asian Tour card in only his second season as a professional.

Madappa (73-67-69-72-71), who became the 2017 PGTI Emerging Player of the Year after amassing the highest earnings among the rookies in the season, posted an even-par-71 in the fifth and final round of the Final Stage at the Rayong Green Valley Country Club in Thailand on Sunday to total three-under-352 for the week. He thus finished inside the top-35 and ties for the week to claim his Asian Tour card.

Viraj, who as a rookie had six top-10s on the PGTI last year including a runner-up finish, made three birdies and three bogeys in the last round that saw him slip five spots from his overnight tied 24th. Nonetheless, Madappa’s final round performance was good enough for him to not only secure his card but also end up as the highest-placed Indian at the event.

The Kolkata-based Viraj had been one of India’s leading amateurs prior to turning professional in 2017.

Himmat Rai (71-71-71-66-74) was the other Indian to earn full playing rights on the Asian Tour as he closed the week in tied 34th place at two-under-353. Himmat, a former winner on the Asian Tour, dropped 16 places from his overnight tied 18th as a result of his final round of three-over-74 but still managed to make the grade by one shot. Rai now returns to the Asian Tour after a one year gap.

The event was won by Korea’s Seungtaek Lee who totaled 14-under-341.

The 2018 Asian Tour Qualifying School Final stage saw 243 hopefuls from over 30 countries vying for their playing rights at the start of the week. The first cut was made after 36 holes and a total of 153 players made it into the third and fourth round.

A further cut was made after 72 holes and 78 players progressed into the fifth and final round where a total of 44 players from 12 countries securing their Tour cards for the 2018 season after making the cut-off mark set at two-under-353.

The Indians who did not finish among the top-35 players and ties and thus missed their card, were Angad Cheema (tied 51stat even-par-355), Veer Ahlawat and Deepinder Singh Kullar (both tied 69th at four-over-359) and M Dharma (tied 73rdat five-over-360).

Yashas Chandra M S struck a brilliant

ON JANUARY 14, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Yashas Chandra’s brilliant 64 gives him commanding lead in Pre Qualifying III

Kensville Golf & Country Club, Ahmedabad, January 14, 2018: Mysuru-based amateur Yashas Chandra M S struck a brilliant eight-under-64 to take a commanding four-shot lead in round one of the PGTI’s Pre Qualifying III for the 2018 season being held at the Kensville Golf & Country Club near Ahmedabad.

Chandra sank nine birdies and dropped a lone bogey in the opening round on Sunday.

The two golfers in tied second at four-under-68 were amateurs Dhruv Sheoran of Pune and Stephan Erasmus of South Africa. Interestingly, Sheoran had won the 2017 PGTI Qualifying School held in January last year.

The top 24 players (+ ties) will qualify from Pre Qualifying III, a 36-hole event, for the Final Qualifying Stage.

Dear Sagar Media Inc, According to Abhishek

ON JANUARY 14, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Dear Sagar Media Inc,

According to Abhishek his father passed away because he did not receive timely medical attention or an ambulance after suffering a medical emergency at an airport.

He writes, “Each week millions fly through our airports including senior citizens, yet there is no guaranteed provision of basic medical support in the event of an emergency.”

Sign his petition asking the Ministry of Civil Aviation to ensure that emergency medical services are available at all airports.

Petitioning Minister of Civil aviation, Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Chairman Airports Authority of India, Shri Guruprasad Mohapatra

Minister of Civil Aviation : Mandate that Doctor, Ambulance & wheelchair be made available across all airports in India

Petition by Abhishek Singh
Hyderabad, India

11,129
Supporters

Sign Abhishek’s petition

My father the late Padmashree Dr Lalji Singh died due to a heart attack on 10th December 2017 at Varanasi. He was travelling from Varanasi airport to Hyderabad. Had he received the wheelchair assistance that he had pre-booked, timely medical intervention by a medical doctor, oxygen support or an ambulance to rush him to hospital his life could have been saved. It was a full 2 hours since when basic medical intervention was asked for at the airport to when it was provided at the distant hospital at Banaras Hindu University. An ambulance was not even made available and he was transported in a private vehicle as he struggled to breathe during those critical hours. Doctors at the hospital say that had primary care been provided within the first hour at the airport Dr Singh could have survived.

If this can happen to a world renowned eminent scientist, a former Vice Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, a Padma Shri recipient and that too in the nation’s Prime Minister’s constituency then what chance does the common man have under such circumstances?

Each week millions fly through our airports including senior citizens, yet there is no guaranteed provision of basic medical support in the event of an emergency. Airports are geared towards caring for emergencies arising from inbound traffic (aircrafts flying into the airport) but what about passengers flying out. Once we enter the airport our movement is restricted including exit. It should be the responsibility of the Airport Authorities and Airlines to look after the well being of passengers once they arrive at the airport.

Over the years there have been numerous instances of failures to provide timely medical intervention at airports resulting in deaths which could have been avoided and this number is rising.

The Solution

The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airport Authority of India need to mandate and make available across ALL civilian airports in India –

1. Medical Doctor – available at all hours the airport is operational

2. Ambulance

3. Minimum medical support (such as oxygen cylinders, and defibrillators)

4. Trained medical personnel

5. Standard Operating Procedures to care for medical emergencies not only for inbound but outbound passengers as well.

I appeal to everyone to sign this petition to impress upon the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of India to mandate these facilities and standard operating procedures across ALL civilian airports in India. No one should have to lose a loved one under these circumstances.

Sign the petition

4.4 M quake hits Athens

ON JANUARY 16, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

A moderate but shallow 4 point 4-magnitude quake jolted Athens today.

The national observatory and experts said the quake had a depth of just five kilometres and an epicentre 24 kilometres northeast of the Greek capital.
It was followed by weaker aftershocks.

The earthquake was felt across the capital and as far as Lamia and Corinth. There was no immediate report of damage or injuries.

Greece and Turkey sit on significant fault lines and have been regularly hit by earthquakes in recent years.

Romanian PM Mihai Tudose resigns

ON JANUARY 16, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Romania’s left-wing Prime Minister Mihai Tudose resigned today after losing the backing of his party due to internal power struggles, barely seven months after his predecessor suffered the same fate.

He handed in his resignation after senior members of the ruling Social Democrats (PSD) voted to withdraw their support at a leadership meeting.

The move heralds fresh turmoil for Romania, one of the European Union’s poorest countries, and comes on the eve of a historic visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

It is the second time in a year that the PSD has torpedoed its own government.

Tudose’s resignation will have to be signed off by centre-right President Klaus Iohannis.

He also needs to approve the PSD’s new Prime ministerial nominee, to be chosen at a party meeting tomorrow.

Stock Exchange Floor of Jakarta collapsed

ON JANUARY 16, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Floor of stock exchange building in Jakarta has collapsed, injuring at least 77 people.

Police say a mezzanine walkway fell into the lobby shortly after noon on Monday.

Local media report the exchange was closed at the time for the lunch break, but that some employees and visiting university students were inside.

Germany to increase elite unit

ON JANUARY 16, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Germany’s elite paramilitary unit will be increased by a third, and a second base will be opened due to increased terrorism threats, AP reported. In addition to the GSG-9’s base near Bonn in western Germany, another base, likely in Berlin, will be added, according to the unit’s head, Jerome Fuchs. The GSG-9 unit was created in response to German security services’ failure to prevent the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The actual number of the unit’s members is not public, but is estimated currently at 400.

ChinNuke submarines in East China Sea

ON JANUARY 16, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Japan accuses China of sending nuclear-powered submarines to disputed isles>
Tokyo has said that a Chinese naval submarine spotted in waters off flashpoint islands in the East China Sea was one of its new nuclear-powered attack vessels, AFP reported on Monday. The statement comes on the same day that China announced that three of its“coastguard vessels conducted a patrol in territorial waters off the Diaoyu Islands,”Beijing’s name for contested isles called Senkaku in Japan. Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said on Monday that the submarine has been determined to be “China’s Shang-Class nuclear-powered attack submarine,” which he said can be equipped with long-range cruise missiles. “The submarine’s underwater passing through our country’s contiguous waters is an act that unilaterally increases tension,” he added. Beijing has not confirmed whether it had sent a submarine.

UN WTO: Spain to replace US as 2nd tourism destination

ON JANUARY 16, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Spain is expected to replace the US as the world’s second biggest tourism destination, while France has retained the top spot, the UN World Tourism Organization said on Monday.

Spain could take second position with some 82 million visitors last year, AFP quoted UNWTO Dhief Zurab Pololikashvili as saying. John Kester, head of tourism trends at the UN agency, said that “everything indicates” that France would retain its top spot in 2017, which was a good year for the industry as the number of global tourists leapt 7 percent compared to 2016, the largest increase in seven years.

Turkish president hosts Qatari Emir

ON JANUARY 16, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani held talks in Turkey on Monday with his chief ally, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as tensions again surged between the emirate and its regional foes, AFP reports.

The talks were announced only hours in advance and took place at Erdogan’s presidential palace in Ankara, according to the Turkish presidency. Erdogan has been a major supporter of Doha in the crisis that has left Qatar diplomatically and economically isolated.

On June 5 last year, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt cut ties with Qatar. The latest meeting between the leaders of Turkey and Qatar came as the UAE accused Qatar of “intercepting” two Emirati passenger planes en route to Bahrain.

ON JANUARY 16, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Arbaaz Khan starring ‘Nirdosh’ will bring Back Gripping Entertainers!

Nirdosh starring Arbaaz Khan, Manjari Fadnis, Ashmit Patel, Maheck Chahal and Mukul Dev is the talk of the town since the entire cast was witnessed in Delhi. Arbaaz Khan along with the cast interacted with media and revealed the details of his upcoming flick. Nirdosh is Bollywood’s first suspect thriller and it promises to be one of the most entertaining films so far.

As per the details revealed by the cast, Nirdosh is a story of Gautam Grover (Ashmit Patel) and his wife Shinaya Grover (Manjari Fadnis) who live in Mumbai and has a picture-perfect family. Gautam is shocked when Mumbai police arrest his wife Shinaya on a murder charge. Court grants remand of three days for Shinaya. A strict officer in crime branch- Inspector Lokhande (Arbaaz Khan) is given the charge of the case. During police interrogation, Arbaaz’s character investigates and unfolds the truth.

Producer Pradeep Rangwani is all excited about his first Bollywood venture and he is sure that the movie will bring back the age of edge-of-the-seat entertainers in Bollywood that will hold the audience’s attention until the end.

Well, for teh same, Director Pradeep Rangwani says “There are lots of twists and turns in the story. All the characters seem to have layers as the story moves ahead. Every character has a different story to tell which keeps the guessing game on. ”

The film is produced by UV films and directed by Pradeep Rangwani and Subroto Paul, slated to release worldwide on 19th January 2018.

Khelo India Curtain Raiser

ON JANUARY 15, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Opinion of Global leaders

ON JANUARY 15, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Army : 7 Pak soldiers killed

ON JANUARY 15, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

As India celebrates its 70th Army Day, reports coming say that the Indian Army has carried out “retaliatory action” against Pakistan killing 7 soldiers and injuring 4 others in forward areas along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district. Details awaited on this story.

Just this morning, security forces foiled an infiltration bid near the Line of Control in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, killing five Jaish-e-Mohammad militants. A defence spokesman said that five militants were killed.Earlier, Director General of Police S P Vaid said four JeM militants were killed at Dulanja in Uri sector in a joint operation by the Army, police and other security forces.

Army chief General Bipin Rawat said today that the Pakistan Army has been continuously trying to help terrorists sneak into India along the LoC in J&K. “We are using our might to teach them a lesson. We will keep effectively retaliating to any provocative action by Pakistan. If we are forced, then we may resort to ‘other action’ by stepping up military offensive. We will not let anti-India activities succeed at any cost,” General Rawat said.

He also called out China saying disputes along the Line of Actual Control in the northern border (China) are continuing and transgressions are taking place. “We are working to stop them,” he said. Rediff

PM Netanyahu in India

ON JANUARY 15, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

IBMA, in the SME sector face closure, GST at 18%

ON JANUARY 18, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Why 18% GST on Biscuits when noodle GST rate is 12%.

Media interaction with the association of Indian Biscuits Manufacturers’ Association, Mr. B P Agarwal, President, (IBMA) told that , “Biscuits are common product of consumption from a rickshaw puller to a low-wage laborer in search of hygiene, energy, nutrition at a low cost.

26167940_10214572248601524_331831629796060583_n

Similar food products are subject to LOWER GST RATES, such as Sweets (5%), Processed Dry fruits (5%), Tea(5%), Juice, Namkeen, Jam/Jelly, Noodles, Pasta, Tomato Ketch-up (all 12%) but to utter surpise GST at 18% is imposed on Biscuit.

We urge the government to review their decision of imposing 18 % GST on Biscuit industry. There is urgent need to bring down the GST rate to 12% to avoid stagnation in growth of the industry” He further added that at the Proce level of Rs.5/- today the biscuit packet contains 50 grammes by weight , but if GST is not brought down to 5% , they may be forced to reduce this weight to 35 or 40 gms.

Biscuit manufacturers, especially in the SME sector, are hard hit because of unjustified imposition of Goods & Services Tax (GST) at a very high rate of 18%. The growth in the industry has started to stagnate since the imposition of the 18% GST and there is urgent need to bring down GST rate to 12%.

Biscuit is a mass consumption food product, hygienically processed and consumers of biscuit belong predominantly to the poorer segment but biscuits have been mistakenly understood to be a premium product, preferred for the consumption by the affluent society, whereas biscuit has been placed in the higher tax slab denying level playing field for biscuits in contrary to similar products.

Mr. Anoop Bector, MD of Cremica Biscuits was not present but send a note saying that “Biscuit is made of agricultural products like wheat, vegetable oil, sugar and milk and higher production of biscuit would benefit larger number of farmers.
Mr Shekhar Agrawal present made it known that Biscuit is highly Labour intensive, and stagnation in growth in production would adversely affect the industry which is estimated to provide employment to about 7.5 lakh workforce directly and more than 30 lakh persons indirectly in marketing, retail network, transport etc”.
All the people expressed that in case of any Natural calamity or Disaster the first consignment which is airlifted to the affected areas is packets of Biscuits and also it is in the World food programme and as such it is not a luxury but a essential food and basic necessity for the masses.
“Biscuit industry is subjected to escalation in cost of inputs/ingredients due to higher cost of transportation, fuel, packaging, wages etc.”added Mr. Pankaj Agarwal, CEO of Bonn Biscuits.
Swami Ramdev who was speaking to Sagar Media inc Senior Correspondent , SAgrawal during the launch of Patanjali Online expressed that GST needs to reviewed for lot of daily use items and also he was categorical in mentioning the Biscuit Industry which is under strain and the Government needs to may be have two slabs of taxes for biscuits of premium and ordinary category.
Concluding the Interaction it was proposed that certain category of biscuit is like salt and even the Government may think of abolishing the tax structure applicable as this is a healthy food even being served to patients in the Hospitals and case of emergencies all over the country.
IBMA has informed that they have submitted detailed representation to the Hon’ble Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, Union Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley, Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Miss Harsimran Kaur Badal and also to the Finance Ministers of all states, who are members of the GST Council.

IBMA has also sought intervention and support from Members of Parliament from various political parties for favorable consideration of levy of GST at lower slab of 12%.
“Lowering the rate of GST on Biscuit would result in higher production and would not affect revenue to the Central and State Governments,” was the opinion expressed in a note by Mr. Deepak Bherwani, Director, Krown Biscuits.

The media meet of IBMA was attended by various medias and biscuits manufacturers in large number and showed keen interest on the ready made food of biscuits for all purposes.

ELECTION COMMISSION PRESS CONFERENCE

ON JANUARY 18, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR ELECTION COMMISSION PRESS CONFERENCE

The Election Commission shall address a Press Conference to announce Election Schedule to Legislative Assemblies of Meghalaya, Tripura & Nagaland at 12 Noon today, 18th January ,2018 at Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi.

Please follow following instructions

Correspondents

Entry to the 4th Floor Press Conference Hall /venue shall be strictly on the basis of special entry passes, which shall be available from Special Desks set up in front lawn of Nirvachan Sadan from 10.30 AM onwardstoday.

Only one special pass will be issued per media organizationon a first-come, first-served basis on production of PIB Card.

First , PIB Accredited media persons will be issued “Special Entry Pass”

and

afterwards based on the availability of seats‘Special Entry Pass” will be issued to Non-PIB Accredited media persons based on Identity card of Media Organisation.

As the number of entry passes are limited, you are advised to collect the same expeditiously on a first-come, first-served basison production of PIB Card.

Still Photographers & Audio-Visual Camerapersons

Entry to the Press Conference Hall on 4thFloor is restricted to the following agencies:

Still Photographers: Photo Division, PTI, & UNI,

AV Camerapersons: Doordarshan & ANI
(C) LIVE VISUALS / RAW FEED
Live visuals/ Raw Feed of the press conference shall also be available at Media Centre at Ground Floor via a pool signal.News channels who wish to access the same, may authorize their Reporter/ Correspondent to collect entry passes for their technical staff, from Special Desks set up in front lawn of Nirvachan Sadan between 10.30AM and 11.50 AM today. Up to 2 passes only, per channel, shall be issued on production of PIB Card or Identity card of Media Organisation.

Such technical Staff/s will be allowed access to Media centre at Ground Floor for smooth reception of pool signal.

Rajesh

Mumbai Maharathi pulls out of PWL

ON JANUARY 18, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

In a reaction to unethical act by the organisers of the PWL, led by Sunil Yash Kalra, the CEO of ProSportify, the team owners of Mumbai Maharathi have decided to withdraw from the 3rd edition of the PWL with immediate effect, according to a release issued by the team today

While the team management has taken in its stride several instances of mismanagement and operational glitches by the league organisers, they reacted strongly to the incident that occurred at the toss between Mumbai Maharathi and their opponents. After Sakshi Malik won the toss, she oped to block the wrestler in the 74 kg category, but was prevented to so so by the organisers in a clear violation of the rules. Sakshi then had no option but to block a wrestler in another weight category and the 74 kg category proved vital in the final outcome of the match, with Mumbai Maharathi losing the tie 3-4 to Veer Maratha.

According to the rules, one weight category cannot be blocked for consecutive matches and for a total of 2 out of the 5 league matches. Mumbai Maharathi had blocked the 74 kg category in their first encounter and now sought to do so in their third encounter, adhering to the rules, but the league organisers stepped in to twist the rules and thwart Mumbai Maharathi.

Mumbai Maharathi are the 6th owners who have walked out of the league in 3 years.

Regards

Anuja Sharma

8860228778

56 billion animals are subjected to unbearable conditions

ON JANUARY 18, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Danny Auron – Avaaz <avaaz@avaaz.org>

To nksagar_1@yahoo.com <nksagar_1@yahoo.com>

Thursday, 18 January, 2018 1:21 AM

56 billion animals are subjected to unbearable conditions and slaughtered every year to feed our meat addiction. There’s one simple thing we can do together today: eat less meat. Join the global pledge and together let’s help end this cruelty:

PLEDGE NOW

Dear friends,

56 BILLION animals are crammed into filthy, windowless cages and slaughtered every year to feed our meat addiction.

It’s truly horrible, and it may take years to shut down these factory farms, but there’s one thing we can all do today that could accelerate their end: eat less meat.

Avaaz is 46-million-strong and global. If we each pledge to go meat-free just one day a week, even if we are already vegetarian or vegan, then invite our friends, celebrities, and companies to join, we could help build the largest global pledge ever!

Let’s send a signal to industrial meat producers that the tide is turning.

Count me in to cut back on meat!
I’m already vegetarian/vegan, or I already cut back!

What we eat shouldn’t be dictated by governments or vigilantes but free choice. And we have the choice to say no to such levels of planet-killing meat consumption! Livestock contributes more to global warming than all cars, planes, and buses worldwide, and 75% of all our agricultural land is devoted to crops for livestock feed. It’s gotten out of hand!

We don’t all have to become vegetarian overnight, but experts say cutting back on meat is the single best thing we can do to stop planetary catastrophe.

Momentum is already building, but if we supercharge a global pledge now, our movement from India, to Brazil, to the United States has unique potential to spark a worldwide trend to radically reduce demand for meat, and eventually shut down these revolting farms. Let’s each pledge one small step today:

Count me in to cut back on meat!
I’m already vegetarian/vegan, or I already cut back!

Many said we could never stop our fossil fuel addiction, but when enough of us together started changing our habits, and demanding our governments took action, the needle moved. Let’s come together again to stop this cruelty and save our planet, together.

With love and hope for 2018,

Danny, Allison, Marigona, Nataliya, Lisa and the entire Avaaz team

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS & EXECUTIVES DELEGATION TO USA

ON JANUARY 18, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Feb 19-23, 2018 : Washington D.C., Pittsburgh/Boston & Silicon Valley, CA

Building on the success of the eight edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) 2017 held first time in India in the city of Hyderabad from Nov 28 -30, 2017, FICCI is building a delegation of technology led women entrepreneurs to the United States of America in February 2017.

The GES was the largest entrepreneurial conference attended by over 1200 entrepreneurs from across the world that was jointly organised by NITI Aayog and the Government of the United States of America. The Summit was inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi in the presence of Ms. Ivanka Trump, Advisor to President Trump who was leading the US delegation.

On the sidelines of the GES 2017, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) jointly with NITI Aayog organized seven Road to GES events in Chennai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh and Hyderabad which brought together over 1500 entrepreneurs and key stakeholders from the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. Over 50 percent participation in each of these programs was from women entrepreneurs.

To keep the momentum on by strengthening the ecosystem that nurtures and fosters entrepreneurship, FICCI is partnering with leading institutions and universities in the US to design a one week programme especially for women entrepreneurs from India. As a part of this delegation, FICCI will be organising immersion boot camps, B2B Meetings, visit to iconic companies and interaction with US investors. The visit will culminate with a cultural evening.

We invite women entrepreneurs & executives from across the country from diverse sectors including but not limited to pharmaceuticals, healthcare, biotechnology, energy, media, financial technologies, information technology, cyber security, water, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, robotics, e-commerce,etc. to join the delegation.

To defray a part of the expenses incurred in connection with organizing the visit, a delegation fee of INR 50,000/- ( + GST @ 18%) is being charged per delegate. The travel & accommodation cost has to be taken care of by the delegate themselves.

For any further details & registration, your office may please feel free to get in touch with my colleague Mr Amit Tyagi, Additional Director, FICCIamit.tyagi@ficci.com. Last date of registration is 24th Jan 2018.

Looking forward to your response at the earliest.

With best regards,

Nirankar Saxena
Deputy Secretary General
FICCI

68th Senior National Championship for Men and Women begins today

ON JANUARY 17, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

68th Senior National Championship for Men and Women begins today at JLN Stadium, Chennai

Chennai 17th January 2018: The 68th Senior National Championship for Men and Women has started at the JLN Stadium, Chennai. 57 teams from all over India are participating which includes 31 Men’s teams and 26 Women’s teams. All the scores from Day 1 morning matches are below:

Category	Level	Group	Winning Team	Winning Team Pts	Losing Team	Losing Team Pts	QaurteWise Pts	Winning Team Top Scorers	Losing Team top Scorers
Women	1	B	Rajasthan	89	Telangana	61	26-16,17-17,28-11,18-17	A.S. Thampi 27pts, P. Divya 18pts, M. Gayathri	Nisha Sharma 31pts
Women	1	B	Indian Railways	89	Delhi	39	32-07,16-08,18-09,23-15	S. Menon 15pts, Navaneetha 16pts	Pratima Singh 16pts
Men	2	F	Maharashtra	65	Bihar	41	09-13,15-24, 10-19,07-09	Rohit Kumar 13 pts, Sanjeev Kumar 12pts	Amit Gahlot 19pts, Rakesh 09pts
Men	1	B	Punjab	76	Gujarat	65	22-12,10-10,20-27,24-16	Gurvinder Singh Gill 22pts, Satnam Singh 17pts, Rajveer Singh 14pts	Harpal 17pts, M. Kasirajan 15 pts
Men	1	A	Uttrakhand	85	Odisha	62	21-11, 27-16,21-17,16-18	Mohit Bhandari 20pts, Murali Krishna 17pts, Arjun Singh 15pts	Suman Sahoo 19pts, Ashok Kumar Nayak 12pts
Men	2	D	A.P	76	J&K	75	25-17, 21-15,18-19,12-24	T. Tammu Sandeep 20pts, J. Tharun Kumar 19pts	Ranbir Singh 18, Iqbal 19pts
Men	2	D	Pudducherry	22	Telangana	54	13-25,5-22,2-5,2-2	Sri Ganesh Patil 15pts, Prudhvi Reddy 8pts
Men	2	C	Chhatissgarh	49	Goa	32	12-06,10-05,08-10,19-11	Pratham Singh 15pts, Krishna Pandy 10pts	Flobert 14pts, Dilano 12pts
Men	2	F	U.P	88	West Bengal	76	15-10,17-17,21-23,00-12	Sagar Joshi 28pts, Arshdeep Singh 16pts	M. vivek 29pts, Vishal kumar 29pts

Veere Di Wedding to release June 1st 2018 !

ON JANUARY 17, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Veere Di Wedding starring Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania is all set to hit theatre screens on the 1st June 2018.

There has been massive anticipation surrounding the film ever since it’s announcement, as two power producers Ekta Kapoor and Rhea Kapoor came together ,to present audiences with a fun ride that explores the spirit of the modern day Indian woman.

With the posters of Veere Di Wedding piquing the audiences’ curiosity even further, the wait is finally over as the wedding of the season will now release on the first Friday of June this year.

Says producer Ekta Kapoor, ” This is definitely going to be a wedding to remember . We are happy to announce that Veere Di Wedding will release on the 1st June 2018″.

Adds producer Rhea Kapoor, ” We are hoping that Veere Di Wedding will usher in a new phase in the Hindi film industry. Nothing like this has been attempted before and we hope it’s a fun ride for the audience”.

Directed by Shashank Ghosh and written by Mehul Suri and Nidhi Mehra, the film stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania.

PM Modi to receive Israel PM Netanyahu in Gujarat

ON JANUARY 17, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

January 16, 2018 | Author: admin

PM Modi to receive Israel PM Netanyahu in Gujarat

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, will join Israel Prime Minister, Shri Benjamin Netanyahu, and Mrs. Sara Netanyahu, on a visit to Gujarat.

The city of Ahmedabad will greet Mrs. and Mr. Netanyahu with a reception, as they proceed to Sabarmati Ashram from Ahmedabad Airport. They will pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Sabarmati Ashram.

Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Netanyahu will inaugurate the iCreate Center at Deo Dholera Village in Ahmedabad. They will visit a Startup Exhibition and interact with innovators and Startup CEOs. The two Prime Ministers will dedicate a mobile water desalination van to Suigam Taluka, of Banaskantha district, through a video link. Both leaders will also address the gathering.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and Prime Minister Modi will also visit the Centre of Excellence for Vegetables at Vadrad in Sabarkantha district. They will be briefed on work plan of the Centre. They will inaugurate the Centre of Excellence for Date Palms at Kukama, Kutch District, through a video link. The two Prime Ministers will also interact with farmers.

Prime Minister Netanyahu will later depart for Mumbai.

68th Senior National Championship Basketball

ON JANUARY 17, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

68th Senior National Championship for Men and Women to tip off in Chennai from 17th January 2018

The 68th Senior National Championship for Men and Women will be held at Chennai, Tamil Nadu from 17th to 24th January 2018.
Uttarakhand Men and Kerala Women are the defending champions from the previous edition held in Puducherry.

Bengaluru 9th January 2018: The 68th Senior National Championship for Men and Women will tip-off at the JLN Stadium, Chennai, Tamil Nadu on 17th to 24th January 2018. The Championship is being organised by the Tamil Nadu Basketball Association under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India. The center of attraction would be the number of International players participating in this Championship, increasing the level of competition.

Tournament Format:

The 25+ teams in each of the men’s and women’s section are grouped into two levels: Upper Level 1 and lower Level 2. Level 1 features the top 10 teams from the previous championship divided into two groups of five teams each. Level 2 features the remaining teams.The tournament is played on a league cum knockout basis. In the league stages, all teams from each group play each other once. The top three Level 1 teams from each of the two groups qualify to the quarterfinals stage. The bottom (i.e. 5th) teams are relegated to the lower Level 1 for next year, while the two fourth placed teams from both the Level 1 groups play pre-quarterfinal games against the top two teams from Level 2.

Level 2 features four Groups (C, D, E and F) usually of 4-5 teams each. After the league stages, the top four teams (one from each Group) play qualifying matches in order to attempt to move to the upper Level. The two winning teams after these qualifying matches immediately qualify to the upper Level in the next edition, replaced the two bottom (i.e. 5th placed) teams from the upper Level 1 Groups. These two Level 2 to Level 1 qualifying teams also play another match which in turn allows the winning team to pick their pre-quarterfinal opponent (basically choosing between either the 4th placed team in Level 1 Group A or the 4th placed team in Level 1 Group B).For all the remaining Level 2 teams which didn’t qualify to the knockout stages of the main competition, a separate ‘Loser’s Knockout’ Tournament is held between them in order to give these teams much needed match practice, and a chance for them to test their bench strength.

The finals standings from the previous version of this Championship held at Puducherry in January 2017:

Standings	Women	Men
1)	Kerala	Uttarakhand
2)	Telangana	Tamil Nadu
3)	Indian Railways	Punjab
4)	Chhattisgarh	Rajasthan
5)	Tamil Nadu	Kerala
6)	Delhi	Haryana
7)	Maharashtra	Indian Railways
8)	Madhya Pradesh	Karnataka
9)	Karnataka	Odisha
10)	Rajasthan	Gujarat

68TH SENIOR NATIONAL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FOR MEN AND WOMEN FIXTURES AND GROUPINGS

GROUPINGS

(MEN)

LEVEL – 1 LEVEL – 2

GROUP “A”	GROUP “B”	GROUP “C”	GROUP “D”	GROUP “E”	GROUP “F”
UTTARAKHAND	TAMIL NADU	CHHATTISGARH	ANDHRA PR	ARUNACHAL PR	ASSAM
RAJASTHAN	PUNJAB	GOA	DELHI	CHANDIGARH	BIHAR
KERALA	HARYANA	HIMACHAL PR	JAMMU & KAS	JHARKHAND	MADHYA PRADESH
KARNATAKA	IND. RAILWAYS	SERVICES	PUDUCHERRY	MIZORAM	MAHARASHTRA
ODISHA	GUJARAT	SIKKIM	TELANGANA	TRIPURA	UTTAR PRADESH
					WEST BENGAL

WOMEN

LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2

GROUP “A”	GROUP “B”	GROUP “C”	GROUP “D”	GROUP “E”	GROUP “F”
KERALA	TELANGANA	PUNJAB	WEST BENGAL	ANDHRA PRADESH	ASSAM
CHHATTISGARH	IND RAILWAYS	GUJARAT	GOA	CHANDIGARH	BIHAR
TAMIL NADU	DELHI	HARYANA	HIMACHAL PR	JAMMU & KASHMIR	JHARKHAND
MADHYA PRADESH	MAHARASHTRA	UTTAR PRADESH	UTTARAKHAND	PUDUCHERRY	ODISHA
KARNATAKA	RAJASTHAN

COMPETITION INFORMATION

Venue: JAWAHARLAL NEHRU INDOOR STADIUM, CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU
Dates: 17TH TO 24TH JANUARY 2018
Format: LEAGUE CUM KNOCK OUT

Groups: LEVEL 1 – GROUPS “A” AND “B”

LEVEL 2 – GROUPS “C”, “D”, “E” AND “F”

17.01.2018

Court –INDOOR

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
1	TELANGANA	Vs	RAJASTHAN	WB	07.00 AM
2	INDIAN RAILWAYS	Vs	DELHI	WB	08.30 AM
3	PUNJAB	Vs	GUJARAT	MB	10.00 AM
4	UTTARAKHAND	Vs	ODISHA	MA	11.30 AM
5	RAJASTHAN	Vs	KARNATAKA	MA	01.00 PM
6	CHHATTISGARH	Vs	KARNATAKA	WA	02.30 PM
AFTER INAUGURATION
7	TAMIL NADU	Vs	HARYANA	MB
8	TAMIL NADU	Vs	MADHYA PRADESH	WA

Court – 1

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
9	BIHAR	Vs	MAHARASHTRA	MF	07.00 AM
10	PUDUCHERRY	Vs	TELANGANA	MD	08.30 AM
11	CHHATTISGARH	Vs	GOA	MC	10.00 AM
AFTER INAUGURATION
12	CHANDIGARH	Vs	JHARKHAND	ME
13	HIMACHAL PRADESH	Vs	SERVICES	MC

Court – 2

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
14	WEST BENGAL	Vs	UTTAR PRADESH	MF	07.00 AM
15	ANDHRA PRADESH	Vs	JAMMU& KASHMIR	MD	08.30 AM
AFTER INAUGURATION
16	MADHYA PRADESH	Vs	ASSAM	MF

18.01.2018

Court –INDOOR

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
17	MAHARASHTRA	Vs	INDIAN RAILWAYS	WB	07.00 AM
18	KERALA	Vs	RAJASTHAN	MA	08.30 AM
19	KARNATAKA	Vs	UTTARAKHAND	MA	10.00 AM
20	HARYANA	Vs	INDIAN RAILWAYS	MB	11.30 AM
21	KARNATAKA	Vs	KERALA	WA	02.00 PM
22	DELHI	Vs	TELANGANA	WB	03.30 PM
23	CHHATTISGARH	Vs	TAMIL NADU	WA	05.00 PM
24	TAMIL NADU	Vs	GUJARAT	MB	06.30 PM

Court – 1

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
25	MAHARASHTRA	Vs	WEST BENGAL	MF	07.00 AM
26	ANDHRA PRADESH	Vs	DELHI	MD	08.30 AM
27	GUJARAT	Vs	UTTAR PRADESH	WC	10.00 PM
28	ASSAM	Vs	JHARKHAND	WF	02.00 PM
29	TELANGANA	Vs	JAMMU & KASHMIR	MD	03.30 PM
30	BIHAR	Vs	ODISHA	WF	05.00 PM
31	SIKKIM	Vs	GOA	MC	06.30 PM

Court -2

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
32	UTTAR PRADESH	Vs	MADHYA PRADESH	MF	07.00 AM
33	ARUNACHAL	Vs	MIZORAM	ME	08.30 AM
34	GOA	Vs	SERVICES	MC	10.00 AM
35	GOA	Vs	UTTARAKHAND	WD	02.00 PM
36	PUNJAB	Vs	HARYANA	WC	03.30 PM
37	ANDHRA PRADESH	Vs	JAMMU & KASHMIR	WE	05.00 PM
38	WEST BENGAL	Vs	MADHYA PRADESH	MF	06.30 PM

Court -3

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
39	ASSAM	Vs	BIHAR	MF	07.00 AM
40	CHHATTISGARH	Vs	SIKKIM	MC	08.30 AM
41	WEST BENGAL	Vs	HIMACHAL PRADESH	WD	10.00 AM
42	ARUNACHAL PRADESH	Vs	TRIPURA	ME	03.30 PM
Court – 4
43	JHARKHAND	Vs	TRIPURA	ME	07.00 AM
44	CHANDIGARH	Vs	PUDUCHERRY	WE	03.30 PM

19.01.2018

Court – INDOOR

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
45	DELHI	Vs	MAHARASHTRA	WB	07.00 AM
46	KARNATAKA	Vs	MADHYA PRADESH	WA	08.30 AM
47	RAJASTHAN	Vs	ODISHA	MA	10.00 AM
48	KERALA	Vs	CHHATTISGARH	WA	11.30 AM
49	INDIAN RAILWAYS	Vs	GUJARAT	MB	02.00 PM
50	RAJASTHAN	Vs	INDIAN RAILWAYS	WB	03.30 PM
51	KERALA	Vs	KARNATAKA	MA	05.00 PM
52	TAMIL NADU	Vs	PUNJAB	MB	06.30 PM

Court – 1

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
53	WEST BENGAL	Vs	BIHAR	MF	07.00 AM
54	DELHI	Vs	JAMMU & KASHMIR	MD	08.30 AM
55	PUNJAB	Vs	GUJARAT	WC	10.00 AM
56	WEST BENGAL	Vs	GOA	WD	03.30 PM
57	BIHAR	Vs	UTTAR PRADESH	MF	05.00 PM
58	TELANGANA	Vs	DELHI	MD	06.30 PM

Court -2

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
59	UTTAR PRADESH	Vs	ASSAM	MF	07.00 AM
60	MADHYA PRADESH	Vs	MAHARASHTRA	MF	08.30 AM
61	HARYANA	Vs	UTTAR PRADESH	WC	10.00 AM
62	JAMMU & KASHMIR	Vs	PUDUCHERRY	WE	02.00 PM
63	JHARKHAND	Vs	MIZORAM	ME	03.30 PM
64	CHHATTISGARH	Vs	HIMACHAL PRADESH	MC	05.00 PM
65	CHANDIGARH	Vs	TRIPURA	ME	06.30 PM

Court -3

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
66	HIMACHAL PRADESH	Vs	UTTARAKHAND	WD	07.00 AM
67	ANDHRA PRADESH	Vs	CHANDIGARH	WE	08.30 AM
68	ASSAM	Vs	BIHAR	WF	02.00 PM
69	JHARKHAND	Vs	ODISHA	WF	03.30 PM
Court – 4
70	JAMMU & KASHMIR	Vs	PUDUCHERRY	MD	04.30 PM

Court -4

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
71	ARUNACHAL PRADESH	VS	CHANDIGARH	ME	07.00 AM
72	HIMACHAL PRADESH	Vs	SIKKIM	MC	03.30 PM

20.01.2018

Court – INDOOR

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
73	CHHATTISGARH	Vs	MADHYA PRADESH	WA	07.00 AM
74	KARNATAKA	Vs	ODISHA	MA	08.30 AM
75	HARYANA	Vs	PUNJAB	MB	10.00 AM
76	INDIAN RAILWAYS	Vs	TELANGANA	WB	11.30 AM
77	MAHARASHTRA	Vs	RAJASTHAN	WB	02.00 PM
78	UTTARAKHAND	Vs	KERALA	MA	03.30 PM
79	KERALA	Vs	TAMIL NADU	WA	05.00 PM
80	INDIAN RAILWAYS	Vs	TAMIL NADU	MB	06.30 PM

Court – 1

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
81	ASSAM	Vs	WEST BENGAL	MF	07.00 AM
82	PUDUCHERRY	VS	ANDHRA PRADESH	MD	08.30 AM
83	GUJARAT	Vs	HARYANA	WC	10.00 AM
84	WEST BENGAL	Vs	UTTARAKHAND	WD	02.00 PM
85	SERVICES	Vs	CHHATTISGARH	MC	03.30 PM
86	ANDHRA PRADESH	Vs	TELANGANA	MD	05.00 PM
87	MAHARASHTRA	Vs	ASSAM	MF	06.30 PM

Court -2

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
88	MAHARASHTRA	Vs	UTTAR PRADESH	MF	07.00 AM
89	MIZORAM	Vs	TRIPURA	ME	08.30 AM
90	UTTAR PRADESH	Vs	PUNJAB	WC	10.00 AM
91	ASSAM	Vs	ODISHA	WF	02.00 PM
92	CHANDIGARH	Vs	JAMMU & KASHMIR	WE	03.30 PM
93	ANDHRA PRADESH	Vs	PUDUCHERRY	WE	05.00 PM
94	CHANDIGARH	Vs	MIZORAM	ME	06.30 PM

Court -3

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
95	MADHYA PRADESH	Vs	BIHAR	MF	07.00 AM
96	ARUNACHAL PRADESH	Vs	JHARKHAND	ME	08.30 AM
97	GOA	Vs	HIMACHAL PRADESH	MC	10.00 AM
98	GOA	Vs	HIMACHAL PRADEH	WD	02.00 PM
99	SERVICES	Vs	SIKKIM	MC	03.30 PM
Court – 4
100	BIHAR	Vs	JHARKHAND	WF	02.00 PM
101	DELHI	Vs	PUDUCHERRY	MD	03.30 PM

21.01.2018

Court – INDOOR

No	Team “A”		Team “B”	Group	Timing
102	KERALA	Vs	ODISHA	MA	07.00 AM
103	DELHI	Vs	RAJASTHAN	WB	08.30 AM
104	KERALA	Vs	MADHYA PRADESH	WA	10.00 AM
105	GUJARAT	Vs	HARYANA	MB	11.30 AM
106	UTTARAKHAND	Vs	RAJASTHAN	MA	02.00 PM
107	TELANGANA	Vs	MAHARASHTRA	WB	03.30 PM
108	TAMIL NADU	Vs	KARNATAKA	WA	05.00 PM
109	PUNJAB	Vs	INDIAN RAILWAYS	MB	06.30 PM

About Basketball Federation of India

The Basketball Federation of India or BFI is the governing and controlling body of basketball in India, and is responsible for the development and promotion of the sport at all levels. BFI has been involved in conducting camps, clinics, events, and training sessions at its academies for the development of basketball. BFI came into being in 1935 and took complete control over Indian basketball in 1950. Prior to that time, the Indian Olympic Association handled the conduct of Indian basketball championships. Since 1950, the BFI has been conducting various such championships, from the grassroots to senior team participation in international tournaments. In addition, the BFI has been responsible for the establishment of strong sub-junior and junior level programs. The BFI has to its credit produced several international players of repute, among them 17 have been bestowed with the honour of Arjuna Awards. Earlier in June 2015, Satnam Singh Bhamara made history by becoming the first Indian national to be drafted by an NBA team, when he was selected by the Dallas Mavericks. More information at www.basketballfederationindia.org

Attached Fixtures and Groupings for the Championship

This email was sent to nksagar@redifmail.com

basketball Federation of India · No. 14 Sagar Apartment, · 6 Tilak Marg, Opposite Tilak Marg Police Station, · New Delhi 110001 · Indi

The United States and India: Forging an Indispensable Democratic Partnership

ON JANUARY 16, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

The friendship of two great country is so important for world peace, more the two united, the force of democracy in itself strengthen and the radical forces gets fear psychosis. Two massive giants together,with scale of its combat force, the intellectual strength and the handling of most of human challenges, thus two nations forging ahead shall be meaningful for the better globe for achieving peace,trade, and development of all sorts in an orderly way.
Rich values and quality of family way of life of Indians coupled with intrinsic meritocracy imbibe in US way of life to citizen US an ultimate destination for two creative minds of world. America education at its global best is every Indian students ultimate dream to be for his holistic growth.
Center for American Progress Task force has taken timely action to release this reports which in itself is candid, candor and classified documents for two nation to go through the pathways to tread,challenges to face and make the un -palatable be an easy task for the growth and development of two countries which in turn best for the world.
Imperative for the two nation to carve out a world where each person can live a healthy, peaceful life by taking stride in the way postulated in their reports.
The politicians of two countries must shed bitter experience of the past and move to people to people contact between two countries for the best and better future. America first and India first means there must be effective efficient, employment, education, health for all, the social securities for one and all. For India with high scale and capacity is enormous challenge to get to an ideal state but an efforts need to be made in this direction. India faced 36 years of sanction which retarded research works thus now an opportunity for India to march ahead for improving technology , converging science in every day life with coordination at disposal two democratic valued nations.
Reports elaboration was unique by two co- chair’s
In question answer session Indian intellectual admitted the Indian way of education
at vintage gold gets outdated with rapid pace of technology with its nucleus charge with federal & state government. US education keeps pace with converging technology at variants.Most of questions from team India dwell how to catch widening gap,treat to watch helplessness to We all Indian long for in our state of mind and in States of India.
Sagar Media Inc:Report release and discussion on The United States and India: ‘Forging an Indispensable Democratic Partnership’. High performing collaboration, Intellectual levels 2 high. AI next destination,better Globe for all, stands for values.Gr interaction two side at CPR apt attention.
View Tweet activity
Naresh Kumar Sagar‏ @Nksagar 20m20 minutes ago
More
Sagar Media Inc: India US to Gigantic democracy’s in world with two joins the highest intellectuals can work for better tomorrow across globe,great thinkers both sides, former the oldest civilization surviving with later, marvel latest best in the world make two compliment each other
Naresh Kumar Sagar‏ @Nksagar 24m24 minutes ago
India-US Relation are important for trade,employments,human relations,security,science,clean energy,climate, effective transport,Marine navigation trade,global security,peace,education for sustain development, new opportunities in AI,converging sciences,waste handling”. 2 Democratic nation.
The relationship between India and the United States has become an important priority for both nations, and is increasingly important to advancing shared interests in global peace, prosperity, and freedom. Over the past year, the Center for American Progress organized a binational group of Indian and American experts in a wide variety of fields to work together to craft a vision for the future of U.S.-India relations.
The resulting task force report – The United States and India: Forging an Indispensable Democratic Partnership – outlines a path forward for the bilateral relationship, along with a series of concrete recommendations that both sides can take to advance shared interests. The report focuses on five key areas: investing in jobs and economic opportunities; building a clean energy future from the bottom up; creating a U.S.-India security advantage in Asia; strengthening democratic institutions at home and around the world; and strengthening ties between Indians and Americans.

4.4 M quake hits Athens

Ambassador of Japan to speak on “India & Japan: Towards A Higher Stage”

ON JANUARY 19, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Ananta Aspen Center

Ambassador of Japan to speak on “India & Japan: Towards A Higher Stage”

Presents the Ambassador Series
with

H.E. Mr. Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India
on

“India & Japan: Towards A Higher Stage”

supported by
“Nippon foundation Logo” width=”100″ height=”90″ />

EVENT DETAILS

DATE Tuesday, February 6, 2018TIME 6:00 PM – 7:15 PM (Registration: 05:00 PM )LOCATION WWF Auditorium, 172-B, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi- 110003 SPEAKER H.E. Mr. Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to IndiaCHAIR Mr. B J Panda, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha

ABOUT THE EVENT

Japan and India share a “Special Strategic and Global Partnership”. The relations between the two countries are of immense importance to each other and the world. A resurgent Japan and a transforming India could potentially reshape the Asian Strategic landscape. Japan is a partner to India whether it is building industrial corridors in India or becoming the formal partner of the Malabar Exercise. Both the countries have witnessed significant deepening of bilateral relations in the past three years and a growing convergence in the political, economic and strategic interests. At one level, this is based on the firm foundation of common values and traditions and on an emerging consensus on contemporary issues of peace, security and development.

This session will focus on the potential of India and Japan for working together to elevate their partnership to a higher stage and advance common strategic objectives at a time when the global community is faced with new challenges.

Please respond by clicking one of the buttons below

H.E. Mr. Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India

Ambassador Hiramatsu was appointed as Ambassador of Japan to India in November 2015 and to Bhutan in February last year. Prior to his appointment as Ambassador of Japan to India, he served as Deputy Vice-Minister for Foreign Policy from 2012 to 2015, where he was responsible for overall foreign policy making in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In this capacity, he played a central role in Japan’s new landmark legislation for peace and security. He was one of the authors of the first National Security Strategy in 2014. He was also responsible for a whole range of issues related to the United Nations including the reform of the UN Security Council.

Ambassador Hiramatsu also served as Director-General for Global Issues from 2011 to 2012 and was engaged in several important multilateral negotiations. He was a Prime Minister’s special envoy for climate change negotiations and contributed to establishing a new climate change framework. After joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1979, Ambassador Hiramatsu has dealt with a wide range of issues, which include national security, multilateral trade negotiations and global agenda such as development, climate change, health and women’s empowerment. He took important positions such as Deputy Director-General for Economic Affairs, Executive Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Director for Northeast Asia Division, where he was instrumental in realizing the historic visit of Prime Minister Koizumi to North Korea. His overseas postings include Paris and London. Ambassador Hiramatsu graduated from Kyoto University. He is married and has three daughters. CHAIR Mr. B J Panda, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda is currently serving in his 4th term in the Parliament of India. He was elected to his second term (2014 – 2019) in the Lok Sabha (House of the People) from Kendrapara Constituency, Odisha. Earlier, Jay Panda had been elected to the Lok Sabha in May 2009 as well as twice earlier to the Rajya Sabha (parliament’s other house, the Council of States) in 2000 and 2006, also from the State of Odisha. He is one of the founding members of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party, whose Founder President is Naveen Patnaik, currently serving in his fourth term as Chief Minister of Odisha.Jay Panda represents the new face of Indian politicians, several of whom have been educated abroad and have had alternate careers before choosing to serve the nation through politics. He graduated from the Michigan Technological University and, with a background in Engineering and Management, worked in the corporate sector before joining politics. He assisted the late Biju Patnaik and subsequently Naveen Patnaik, who founded the Biju Janata Dal party, which has found strong acceptance from the people of Odisha and has been repeatedly voted back in elections. Jay Panda had helped to form the erstwhile Young Parliamentarians Forum (YPF) and was its Convener. He has also been associated with the India-USA Forum of Parliamentarians from its founding in 2001 and is currently its Chairman. He was awarded the “Bharat Asmita National Award” for best parliamentary practices by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India in 2008. Since its inception in 2007, Jay Panda has been associated with the Citizens’ Alliance Against Malnutrition, an advocacy group including many parliamentarians across parties, Bollywood actors, other celebrities, civil society activists and non-governmental organizations. The Citizens’ Alliance has undertaken numerous initiatives to battle child malnutrition in India, including field visits to rural districts in several states, continual engagement with media organizations to highlight the issue, repeated interactions with the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition, Chief Ministers and other political leaders to raise the priority given to this critical issue. In his earlier corporate career, Jay Panda was active in industry organizations like the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the International Chromium Development Association. In the past he has also been associated with the Govt. of Odisha’s Industrial Advisory Committee and been a Director on the Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha (IPICOL). As a parliamentarian, he has been a member of many important committees like the Parliamentary Standing Committees on Finance, Home, Energy and Urban Development. In Parliament and public life, Jay Panda passionately espouses the cause of his home state Odisha as well as other national issues close to his heart, such as economic development, education and information technology. He frequently participates in national television discussions and writes op-ed pieces in newspapers. He holds a Private Pilot’s License for aircraft and helicopters and enjoys adventure sports like skydiving and bungee jumping. Currently, he is a member of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs as well as the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Affairs.

Having trouble with the link? Simply copy and paste the entire address listed below into your web browser
http://www.cvent.com/d/obGRfAPOy0-L5-0Mc6jSbw/njf0/P1/1Q?

Become a member

www.anantaaspencentre.in

INVITATION FOR COVERAGE

ON JANUARY 19, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

(“National Conference on Improving Accessibility”)

Dear Sir/Madam,

You are requested to cover the following event:-

Event

Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot, Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment will inaugurate “National Conference on Improving Accessibility” being organized by Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan). On this occasion he will inaugurate first 100 accessible websites of State Governments under Accessible India Campaign.

Ministers of State for SJ&E Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar and Vijay Sampla will be present.

Date

19th January, 2018 (Friday)

Time

10.00 AM

Venue

Hall No. 6, Vigyan Bhawan, Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi 110001

Dear Sir/Madam,

Event

Union Minister of Electronics & IT and Law & Justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad to launch “Cyber Surakshit Bharat”.

Date

Friday, 19 January, 2018

Time

10.30 AM

Venue

Hotel The Grand Vasant Kunj, Nelson Mandela Road, New Delhi

22310520_10213868218681216_8850419759303384074_n

Dear Sir/Madam,

The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley will launch National Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Data Portal and Corporate Data Portal to bring transparency, accountability and understanding among the stakeholders, as per thefollowing schedule:

Date: January 19, 2018 (Friday)

Time: 10.00 a.m.

Venue: Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra, 15-A, Dr. Rizal Marg,

Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-110021.

: INVITATION

Function:

Announcement on Smart Cities and Commencement of the Liveability Index program by Shri Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Housing & Urban Affairs

Date:

19/01/2018 (Friday)

Time:

3.00 p.m.

Venue:

Conference Hall, New Media Centre, 7E Raisina Road, , New Delhi

INVITATION

Dear Sir/Madam,

You are cordially invited to cover the following event:

Event

Director, IB Shri Rajiv Jain to be the chief guest at 13thRaising Day function of the NDRF

Date

January 19, 2018 (Friday)

Time

11:45 AM

Venue

Vigyan Bhawan, Plenary Hall, New Delhi

दिल्ली के सभी व्यापारी भाई आज MCD द्वारा हो रही सीलिंग से त्रस्त हैं,सीलिंग के कारण साउथ एक्सटेंशन की पूरी मार्किट बन्द रहे गई ।

इसलिए MCD द्वारा हो रही दुकानों की सीलिंग/ट्रेड लाइसेंस के खिलाफ व्यापारियों का विशाल पैदल मार्च एवं विरोध प्रदर्शन

दिनांक 19/1/18 शुक्रवार
सुबह 11.30 बजे से
साउथ एक्सटेंशन मार्किट
रिंग रोड
नई दिल्ली

से शुरू होगा इसलिए आप सबसे प्रार्थना है कि इस विरोध प्रदर्शन के कार्येक्रम में अधिक से अधिक संख्या में उपस्थित होकर व्यापारियों की एकजुटता का प्रदर्शन करें

निवेदक :
साउथ एक्सटेंशन मार्किट ट्रेडर्स एसोसिएशन

India Road Safety Awards

ON JANUARY 19, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Maruti Suziki India Road Safety Mission conclave and Awards in partnership with TIMES NOW was held at Hyatt Regency Hotel, New Delhi.

India Road Safety Mission: Times now Conclave Panel discussion Eco system for Road safety. Maruti Suzuki presenter said, As per the international road safety fora, regional road council was an essential part of mandate. We Activated Road safety council in Region and MP wanted to be the Chairman and as per protocol was the head. NHAI was asked to be part of council monthly to hold regular monthly meeting. Purpose to coordinate was to lead agency to move forward with various stake holder Engineers department, Transport ministry, HRD for safety and therefore talk to 29 states 7 UT to be part of saftey councils as per the regions. The requirement of fund was also an essential subject for which corpse need to debated,collected, spent and held in its totality.

In Conclave, Indian Roads difficulties and deficiencies were discussed. International Road Federation Indian chapters and various experts from road research institute spread across the country participated.These institute are with mandates of innovation in design, safety of roads. Furthermore, roads materials, to be used in fly over, grade separators. roads lighting, civic facilities, software’s to be best on National Highway, or other main roads for comfort of masses, to reduce the time of waiting on roads with update plans and participation.

Conclave was attended by Central, State, officials, Media’s, NGOs and many institutes participation were visible such as CRRI, IRF, Intel network etc.

Training of Drivers an important topic on which Maruti speakers explained their performance.

Pedestrian track Cycle Track, two wheelers, light vehicle and movement of buses, plying of trucks & safety were discussed.

Wearing of helmets,use of safety belts while driving Importance was explained through visual and lecture.

Awareness of Road Safety mission was illustrated as an important aspect with its regular novel advertisement subject found attention in their visual,lectures.

Mr Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of NHAI transport,Shipping Ganga Rivers rejuvenation gave the awards to Mayors of North Delhi, Ms Preety Agarwal, Dy Mayor of Mumbai, Mayor of Raipur alongwith COO, Raipur, Mr Gaurav Mishra , Mayor of Kolkatta and DCP Traffic , Chennai , Ms Shanmuga Priya, for her novel social participantion in North Chennai.

The Chief Guest Mr Nitin Gadkari in his address spoke the tiring difficulties of commutters on roads with humongous fleets of cars in Delhi NCR. Minister said the sturdy public transport is on my agenda and is working on various connecting Ring Road and other means of road navigation.Electric buses, mass rapid transport etc.

With pride Minister said,we are building roads, highway with target of 28 Km per day and complete 200,000 Km highway projects. Road accidents deaths are brutal and seat belt use reduce brutality to half.

Times Network, Sr VP ,Mr Hemant Arora was also present alongwith Mr Rahul Bharti from Maruti Suzuki. Mr Pasricha, EX-DGP, Maharashtra was among the other awardees. earlier in the day.

Joint CP , Traffic, Delhi Police, Mr Deependra Pathak talked about how Artificial Intelligence is being used by Delhi Police.

Log on to www.indiaroadsafetymission.com and also take the pledge , #PEHNIKYA. . Wear seatbelts and always stay SAFE.

Karnataka Men and Women dominate Day 2

ON JANUARY 19, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Karnataka Men and Women dominate Day 2 defeating defending Champions Uttarakhand Men and Kerala Women in very close matches at the 68th Senior National Basketball Championship

Chennai, 18th January 2018: Day two of the 68th National Basketball Championship for Men and Women saw some fast and furious action in the first half. The morning of day two, saw the Maharashtra Women’s team and Women’s team from Indian Railways competing against each other for the first match of day two with the Indian Railways Women’s team securing a comfortable over Rajasthan.

The final score at the end of four quarters was Maharashtra 48 and Indian Railways 98.

The first Men’s match of the day saw Maharashtra taken on West Bengal with the West Bengal team being victorious. The final score was 49-54.

The next Men’s game saw Uttar Pradesh take Madhya Pradesh with the men from Uttar Pradesh being victorious. The final score was 67-57.

The next Men’s game saw Chhattisgarh take on Sikkim with Chhattisgarh securing a comfortable victory over Sikkim. The score at end of all quarters was 45-19.

The next Men’s game saw Kerala take on Rajasthan where Rajasthan secured the victory over Kerala. The final score at the end of all four quarters was 72-87.

The next Men’s game saw Karnataka take on Uttarakhand. This was a nail biting game where Karnataka beat Uttarakhand by just two points. The final score was 85-83.

The following Men’s game saw Maharashtra taken on West Bengal. West Bengal beat Maharashtra in a close game where the final score was 49-54.

The next Men’s game saw Andhra Pradesh taken on Delhi where Delhi beat Andhra Pradesh in an exciting game. The final score was 50-68.

The following Women’s match pitted Gujarat against Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh secured a comfortable victory over their rivals. The final score was 30-59.

The next game saw the men from Arunachal take on the men from Mizoram. This low scoring game saw the men from Mizoram come out on top, with the final score being 28-56.

The next game saw Goa take on the Services team, where the Services team demolished their opponents. The final score was 26-87.

The following Men’s game saw Chhattisgarh take on Sikkim where Chhattisgarh dominated their opponents. The final score at the end of four quarters was 45-19.

The second half of day two of the 68th National Basketball Championship for Men and Women continued to see fast and furious action.

This men’s game saw Assam take on Bihar. A close game which saw Assam beat Bihar. The final score at the end of the four quarters was 64-56.

The following men’s game saw Jharkhand take on Tripura. This low scoring game saw Jharkhand beat Tripura. The final score was 33-14

The next game was the Karnataka women’s team take on the Kerala women’s team. A close game from the very beginning made it to extra time. The women from Karnataka were victorious at the end. The final score at the end of this high pressure was 70-67.

Quarter wise score – (10-18), (12-15), (27-12), (12-16), (09-06)

The following women’s game was Delhi taking on Telangana where Delhi secured a comfortable victory over their opponents. The final score was 85-43.

Quarter wise score – (28-10), (14-09), (18-10), (25-14)

The next women’s game saw the hosts Tamilnadu take on Chhattisgarh. A close game from the very start they teams were tied at 77-77 at the end of the four quarters. The extra time saw both the teams put up a fight to the finish where Chhattisgarh team won. The final score was 93 – 85.

Quarter wise score – (10-23)), (14-19), (21-15), (32-20) and (06-16)

All the scores from Day 2 matches are below:

Category	Level	Group	Winning Team	Winning Team Pts	Losing Team	Losing Team Pts	QaurteWise Pts	Winning Team Top Scorers	Losing Team top Scorers
Women	1	B	Indian Railways	98	Maharashtra	47	14-27,7-25,10-26,16-20	Anitha 16pts, Rajapriya 13pts	Mukda 10pts, Shireen 9pts
Men	2	F	West Bengal	54	Maharashtra	49	10-12,07-17,16-12,16-13	Bhrigendra 19pts, Arshdeep Singh 12pts	Amit Gehlot 14pts, Rakesh 13pts
Men	2	D	Delhi	68	A.P	50	12-10,12-17,12-18,14-23	Yadav 15pts, Akshay 11pts	T. Manu 12pts
Women	2	C	U.P	59	Gujarat	30	4-17,6-20,12-15,8-7	Vaishnavi 28pts	Nidhi 6pts, Dharti 6pts
Men	2	F	U.P	67	M.P	57	14-12,21-20,18-09,14-16	Pulkit 15pts, Vishal 14pts	Prakash 27pts
Men	1	E	Mizoram	56	Arunachal Pradesh	28	14-14,16-05,16-05,12-04	Moses 12pts	Sagar 15pts
Men	2	C	Services	87	Goa	26	02-24,04-22,09-20,11-21	Joginder 15pts, Issac 12pts	Aaron 11pts
Men	2	C	Chhatissgarh	45	Sikkim	19	19-04,10-2,8-10,8-3	Ashish 7pts	Ankit 12pts
Men	1	A	Rajasthan	87	Kerela	72	11-29,21-16,18-24,22-18	Vinod 39pts, Sharad 15pts	Gineeb 17pts, Eudric 15pts
Men	1	B	Karnataka	85	Uttrakhand	83	17-24,26-11,18-16,24-32	Arvind 34pts	Yadwinder 33pts
Men	1	B	Indian Railways	88	Haryana	77	21-19,23-28,19-20,14-21	Akash 17pts, Palpreet 16pts	Vikas 29pts, Rahul 20pts
Men	2	F	Assam	64	Bihar	56	22-12,12-13,15-12,15-19	Birender 20pts, Ajay 19pts	Sanjeev 22pts, Dheeraj 10pts
Men	2	E	Jharkhand	33	Tripura	14	19-00,12-05,00-02,02-07	Sukdeep 7pts	Atul 8pts
Women	1	A	Karnataka	70	Kerela	67	10-18,12-15,27-12,12-16,09-06	Bhandavya 27pts, Priyanka 22pts	Jeena 37pts
Women	1	B	Delhi	85	Telangana	43	28-10,14-09,18-10,25-14	Pratima 20pts, Raspreet 17pts	Manasa 14pts
Women	2	F	Assam	52	Jharkhand	28	14-06,17-14,16-06,05-02	Anju 10pts	Usha 11pts
Men	2	D	Telangana	70	J&K	57	18-08,14-21,18-11,20-17	Visu 31pts	Inderjeet Singh 26pts
Women	2	F	Bihar	54	Odisha	37	08-08,15-06,09-12,22-11	Priyanka 23pts, Kiran 18pts	Lipramayee 20pts
Women	2	D	Goa	33	Uttrakhand	19	05-04,08-06,12-01,08-08	Rachel 18pts	Ridha 8pts
Women	2	C	Punjab	71	Haryana	44	10-16,20-11,19-10,22-07	Samriti 21pts, Rajandeep 19pts	Bharti 24pts
Women	2	E	A.P	43	J&K	28	14-05,07-06,13-08,09-09	Padmavati 10pts	Peaul 25pts
Women	1	A	Chhatissgarh	93	T.N	83	23-10,19-14,15-21,20-32,16-06	Anju 28pts, Seema 20pts	Sri Vidhya 16pts
Men	1	B	T.N	102	Gujarat	63	21-15,25-11,29-21,27-16	P. Jeevanandam 20pts	Vinay 20pts
Men	2	C	Sikkim	62	Goa	75	20-21,12-26,16-14,14-14	Vassily 14pts	Ankit 25pts
Women	2	D	West Bengal	56	H.P	29	13-02,22-08,09-12,12-07	Salma 11pts	Alka 10pts
Men	2	E	Arunachal Pradesh	28	Tripura	22	09-05,09-05,04-04,06-08	Sagar 7pts	Shivang 8pts
Men	2	F	West Bengal	59	M.P	67	17-18,02-11,17-18,23-20	Prakash 30pts, Laxman 11pts	Arshdeep 16pts, Dheeraj 12pts
Women	2	E	Chandigarh	45	Pudducherry	27	10-08,20-6,6-7.9-6	Nisha 11pts	Priya 10pts

About Basketball Federation of India

Unique anthology on legendary Singer Mohammed Rafi released

ON JANUARY 19, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

New Delhi, January 18,

A bilingual book on legendary singer Mohammed Rafi
“The World of Rafi / Rafi Ki Dunia” was released recently in a function
organised at India Islamic Cultural Centre in New Delhi.

On this occasion, music lovers were present in large numbers besides well
known personalities from different fields were present. Many singers from
Mumbai, Amritsar and Delhi paid musical tributes to Mohammad Rafi Sahab. The
function was organised by Golden Greats.

Releasing the book, film producer and music promoter Amarjit Singh Kohli,
said that Mohammad Rafi remains till today the most versatile of all the
singers who could sing any type of song. Such versatile geniuses are born
in a millennium. Every singer has some idol and Rafi has perhaps the
biggest following amongst budding singers. He said that Vinod Viplav has
been doing marvellous job and he had earlier penned the legendary singer’s
first biography titled ‘Meri Awaz Suno,’

Music Organiser and presenter Mr. Kaushik Kothari said that probably
because of the miraculous blend of all the singing qualities that he
possessed with that humility and godliness that he conveyed and expressed
silently and so naturally during his lifetime. A man of few words, he was a
great human being and a singer that made him the greatest legend of all
time. This new book, edited by Vinod Viplav tells the different shades of
his personalities and his fan followings

United Nations begins the Urban Journalism Academy on World Urban Forum 9

ON JANUARY 19, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

United Nations begins the Urban Journalism Academy on World Urban Forum 9

Academy facilitates understanding of cities as centres of sustainability and inclusiveness

18 January 2018, New Delhi:United Nations commenced the first Urban Journalism Academy in New Delhi today with broad participation from more than 40 media professionals from across India. The academy shines a light on issues that are key to urban spaces today in light of rapid urbanization and ever limited resources.

The academy is a two-day precursor to the World Urban Forum 9 (WUF 9) to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 7-13 February 2018 and focuses on “Cities 2030, Cities for All: Implementing the New Urban Agenda”.

In the spotlight is the New Urban Agenda (NUA), adopted at the Habitat III in Ecuador in 2016. It provides the critical course to the holistic cities of the future that are inclusive and sustainable and assimilate the Sustainable Development Goals.

The first day of the academy saw introductions to the WUF 9 and the New Urban Agenda. Mr. Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, additional secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs underlined the initiatives taken by the government towards achieving SDGs and alignment to the NUA.

Keeping with the theme of the WUF 9, some of the issues deliberated on were housing as the most critical element in cities that can be the stimulus for economic development and poverty eradication.

With rapid urbanization, the massive anthropogenic pressures on the climate are evident. Hence the afternoon session saw climate action, environmental sustainability and resilience as a key session. The concluding session on day one focused on urban development, management and policy and the key enablers of urban prosperity.

The second and concluding day of the academy will see sessions on innovative governance, urban economy and municipal finance. The valedictory session will sum up the academy with the Minister (Independent Charge), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri providing the Indian government perspective on its urban agenda and its commitment to SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement.

For all and latest information on the Urban Journalism Academy please visit:http://www.unic.org.in/ or contact:

Hitesh Vaidya, UN Habitat, 9810712377,hitesh.vaidya@un.org

Shachi Chaturvedi, UN Information Centre, 9818750007,shachi.chaturvedi@un.org

RAJIV CHANDRAN

National Information Officer

United Nations Information Centre

for India and Bhutan

55, Lodi Estate, New Delhi 110003

Tel: 91 11 46532237

M: 9810606833

www.unic.org.in

Messe Muenchen India announces partnership with IPCA

ON JANUARY 19, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Messe Muenchen India announces partnership with Indian Printed Circuits Association

•   Messe Muenchen India and IPCA will jointly organize IPCA Expo with electronica India and productronica India
•   Messe Muenchen India and ELCINA will organize in partnership the 3rd annual edition of India PCB Tech conference
•   electronica India and productronica India bring the entire value chain of electronics

New Delhi, 17 January 2018: Messe Muenchen India (MM India) and Indian Printed Circuits Association (IPCA) entered into an agreement to jointly organize IPCA Expo and co-locate the show with electronica India and productronica India, which are scheduled from September 26–28, 2018 at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), Bengaluru. The initiative is intensely supported by the Electronics Industries Association of India (ELCINA). This alliance will bring together the state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies for manufacturing PCBs as well as the latest trends in PCBs from across the world.

Exhibition for PCB industry: IPCA Expo
IPCA is a non-profit organization serving the interest of its members for promotion of technology and business and have been organizing IPCA Expo annually to showcase the best of PCB technologies with the participation from national and international companies. This co-location will allow the PCB technology suppliers exhibiting at IPCA Expo to reach out to the vast portfolio of buyers of electronica India and productronica India. Also member companies of the World Electronic Circuits Council (WECC) will hugely benefit from this opportunity as it will enable them to enter the electronics market of India.

Delighted with this collaboration, Mr. Kushal Patel, President of IPCA asserted: “IPCA is the leading association that focuses on printed circuit board manufacturing in India. With this collaboration, we now offer a unique platform and a comprehensive show for the stakeholders of the electronics industry in our very own Silicon Valley of India–Bengaluru.”

Conference for PCB industry: India PCB Tech conference
IPCA Expo will showcase products, solutions and technologies related to PCBs and electronics manufacturing. On the other hand, the India PCB Tech conference will highlight the key trends and opportunities for the PCB industry in India. Running in its 3rd annual edition, the India PCB Tech conference is jointly organized by ELCINA and Messe Muenchen India and strongly supported by IPCA.

Mr. Rajoo Goel, Secretary General of ELCINA quoted:“The initiative to co-locate IPCA Expo and the India PCB Tech conference with electronica India and productronica India is a welcome move for the PCB and electronics industry as it will bring the entire electronics value chain under one roof and offer greater value to all industry stakeholders.”

Mr. Bhupinder Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Messe Muenchen India highlighted: “We are delighted with our cooperation with IPCA. This partnership combines both: Messe Muenchen India’s expertise in bringing the world’s leading electronic components and production technology suppliers to electronica India and productronica India and IPCA’s strength to deliver high standard support for world-class manufacturing solutions for the PCB industry.”

And Mr. Singh added: “Our collaboration will facilitate the Indian PCB manufacturing companies to source the best manufacturing technologies from across the world. Together with IPCA and ELCINA, we are organizing the largest and most value-driven edition of electronica India and productronica India in Bengaluru. We extend our gratitude to our partner associations and expect the upcoming edition to prove valuable for the industry.”

electronica India and productronica India will take place from September 26–28, 2018 at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, in Bengaluru to showcase the entire value chain of electronics technologies. Visit electronica-india.comandproductronica-india.com to know more about the trade fairs.

25 Years of India – ASEAN Relations

ON JANUARY 21, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

On the occasion of 25 years of India-ASEAN relations , FICCI in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs is organising a India-ASEAN Youth Awards to showcase exceptional contribution of the Youth from India and the ASEAN region in various fields. The specially curated show will be held at The Lalit Hotel New Delhi at 1900 hrs on 23rd Jan 2018 and will be followed by dinner.

Joining us for this initiative will be Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Hon’ble Minister of External Affairs, Government of India and the Hon’ble Ministers from the ASEAN countries.

I am writing to request you to please block your diary to be with us. A soft copy of the invitation is attached for your reference.

May I also request you for a line in confirmation. On hearing from you we will get in touch with your office to handover the formal invitation card.

I look forward to hearing from you and to receiving you on 23rd.

Best regards,

Susnato Sen

Senior Director

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry

UNMA appeal help

ON JANUARY 21, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

UN Migration Agency Appeals for USD 1.4 Billion to Help over 80 Million People in 50 Countries

Geneva – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, is appealing for nearly USD 1.4 billion to address the needs of over 80 million people in 50 countries in 2018. These vital funds will support people displaced within the borders of their own countries, migrants, refugees and the communities that host them, people returning to their areas of origin and people experiencing or recovering from conflict and natural disasters.

“The world is experiencing more complex emergencies than ever before, with millions of men, women and children struggling to survive,” said Mohammed Abdiker, IOM Director of Operations and Emergencies, from the Organization’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. “In terms of internal displacement alone, due to conflict and natural disasters, over 31 million people were newly displaced in 2016 adding to the millions already living in long-term protracted displacement.”

This appeal covers planned activities in crisis prevention and preparedness, emergency response, transition and recovery.

“IOM’s humanitarian programming aims not only to save lives but to help affected communities stabilize, build resilience and find solutions. The long-term impact of our responses is of paramount importance. Whether displaced by drought in Somalia, returning home to a recently liberated neighbourhood in Mosul or a member of the local community in Cox’s Bazar, where over 800,000 Rohingya refugees have settled, millions of people are in need not only of emergency assistance and protection but of innovative support that helps them get back on their feet, more resilient than they were before. This is IOM’s goal for 2018,” said Abdiker.

Information on IOM’s funding needs can be found online in the Humanitarian Compendium.

The planned areas of support include: Shelter and Non-Food Items; Activities to Promote Solutions to displacement, Support Community Stabilization and Transition; Camp Management and Displacement Tracking; Health Support; (Re)integration assistance; Humanitarian Communication; prevention efforts around Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Building; Psychosocial Support; Counter-Trafficking and Protection of Vulnerable Migrants; Technical Assistance for Humanitarian Border Management; Housing, Land and Property Support; Transport Assistance to Affected Populations; Migration Policy and Legislation Support; Diaspora and Human Resources Mobilization; and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).

The countries covered include: Afghanistan, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Federated States of Micronesia, Georgia, Guinea, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

Most of IOM’s funding needs are coordinated either under the country-specific inter-agency Humanitarian Response Plans or Regional Refugee Response Plans. IOM’s humanitarian funding requirements may change throughout 2018 as the settings in which the Organization works change.

In 2017, IOM humanitarian programming amounted to USD 1.1 billion.

IOM’s overall programme and budget can be accessed here.

For more information, please contact Olivia Headon at IOM HQ, Tel: +41794035365 Email: oheadon@iom.int

Franchise India and Padman Film

ON JANUARY 20, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

INVITATION
Franchise India cordially invites you to India’s biggest startup carnival in partnership with “PADMAN”, Akshay Kumar starrer upcoming movie

With

Chief Guests:

Mr. Akshay Kumar (Actor)
&
Shri Giriraj Singh
(Hon’ble MOS For Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Government of India)

On
Monday, 22nd January ‘2018
between 4.00 pm to 7:00 pm
at
India’s premier Education Institute and Startup Epicentre, IIT DELHI

For your kind info:

The Competition had attended by over 1500 young entrepreneurs, innovators, designers, professionals, investors, Media and collegiate community looking to take up entrepreneurship as a career mission.

The Startup Hunt is dedicated to finding the latest, hottest, and fastest-growing startups of the year. The auditions will happen across 10 metro cities in the month of January and Top 5 semi-finalist will be awarded.

Look forward to welcome you along with your camera person / Photographer.

Tamil Nadu Men stay undefeated

ON JANUARY 20, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Tamil Nadu Men stay undefeated till Day 3 of the 68th Senior National Championship

Chennai, 19th January 2018: Day three of the 68th National Basketball Championship for Men and Women saw some fast and furious action in the first half.

The first game of the day the Himachal Pradesh men’s team take on the men’s team from Sikkim. Himachal Pradesh seemed to be in complete control from the very beginning and secured an easy victory over their opponents. The final score was 70-34.

Quarter wise score – (22-13), (23-06), (10, 09), (15, 06).

The first women’s game of the day saw Delhi take on Maharashtra. A fair contest from the beginning saw Maharashtra beat Delhi. The final score was 53-73

Quarter wise score – (14-12), (15-15), (17-25), (10-21).

The next women’s game saw Karnataka taken on Madhya Pradesh where the women’s team from Karnataka secured the victory. The final score was 79-68

Quarter wise score – (15-17), (22-12), (20-16), (22-23).

The following men’s game saw Rajasthan taken on Odisha. Another competitive game right from the start saw Rajasthan come out victorious. The final score 85-71.

Quarter wise score – (22-23), (23-14), (19-24), (21-09).

The next women’s game saw defending champions Kerala take on Chhattisgarh where the defending champions Kerala secured the victory. The final score is 76-62.

Quarter wise score – (15-15), (18-11), (26-21), (17-15).

The following men’s game saw Chandigarh take on Arunachal Pradesh. Chandigarh were dominant from the very first whistle and won the game without much trouble. The final score was 88-28. Monu (jersey no. 10) from Chandigarh was the top scorer for the team with 10points.

Quarter wise score – (26-0), (22-7), (18-10), (22-11).

The next men’s game saw the Indian Railways take on Gujarat. A close game from the beginning saw the men’s team from the Indian Railways win. The final score was 74-65.

Quarter wise score – (18-10), (18-17), (18-21), (20-17).

Karnataka ( 78 pts) won against Kerala ( 54 pts). Quarter scores ( 22 – 19) ( 21 – 9) ( 20 – 18) ( 15 – 8)

Top scorer Jeethanandar Singh No. 9 from Karnataka – 21 pts

The final mens game of the day saw the hosts Tamilnadu taken on Punjab. The cracker of a basketball match saw both the teams go at it from the very beginning. The final score at the end of the four quarters was

Total score – TN – 88 / PNB – 74

Quarter score – ( 20 – 21) ( 25 – 18) ( 29 – 14) ( 14 -21)

Top Scorer – Justin Gnanaraj NO. 0 from TN scoring 17 pts

Top scorer – Satnam No. 52 from Punjab scoring 26 pts

Category	Level	Group	Winning Team	Winning Team Pts	Losing Team	Losing Team Pts	QaurteWise Pts	Winning Team Top Scorers	Losing Team top Scorers
Men	2	C	H.P	70	Sikkim	34	22-12,23-16,10-09,15-06	Lakshay 17pts	Kamal 9pts
Women	1	B	Maharashtra	73	Delhi	56	12-14,15-15,25-17,21-10	Shruti 26pts, Mugdha 24pts	Pratima 23pts, Raspreet 21pts
Women	1	A	Karnataka	79	M.P	68	15-17,22-12,20-16,22-23	Sanjana 15pts, Roshni 13pts	Nima 27pts, Namrata 21pts
Men	2	F	West Bengal	63	Bihar	36	21-10,16-14,11-06,15-06	Arshdeep 25pts, Dheeraj 22pts	Abhisht 13pts
Men	2	D	Delhi	85	J&K	64	19-14,19-26,28-17,19-07	Arshdeep 31pts	Ranbir 19pts
Women	2	C	Punjab	55	Gujarat	41	18-04,11-13,18-13,08-11	Rajandeep 18pts	Nidhi 23pts
Men	2	F	U.P	87	Assam	63	22-23,26-08,23-16,16-16	Pulkit 21pts, Vishal 14pts	Birender 19pts
Men	2	F	M.P	36	Maharashtra	52	9-12,8-18,8-15,11-7	Rakesh 11pts	Prakash 24pts
Women	2	C	Haryana	30	U.P	64	10-12,03-23,13-14,04-15	Kavya 15pts, Vaishnavi 13pts	Bharti 14pts
Men	1	A	Rajasthan	85	Odisha	71	22-23,23-14,19-25,21-09	Vinod 28pts, Sharad 24pts	Ashok 23pts, Sravan 17pts
Women	1	A	Kerala	76	Chhatissgarh	62	15-15,18-11,26-21,17-15	Jeena 25pts, Shilji 14pts	Gulab Sha 17pts
Men	1	B	Indian Railways	74	Gujarat	65	18-10,18-17,18-21,201-7	Palpreet 17pts, Gagandeep 16pts	Vinay 17pts, Kasirajan 25pts
Women	2	E	Pudducherry	46	J&K	39	04-08, 15-12, 07-11, 13-15	Manju 17 pts	Pearl 27 pts
Men	2	C	Chhatissgarh	79	H.P	51	26-17, 13-15, 21-11, 19-08	Dinesh 24 pts, Rudraksh 14 pts	Ashwani 14 pts, Vishal 12 pts
Men	1	B	T.N	88	Punjab	74	20-21, 25-18, 29-14, 14-21	Justin 17 pts, Jeevantam 15 pts	Satnam 26 pts, Gurvinder 13 pts
Women	2	F	Assam	69	Bihar	49	12-16, 21-10, 16-10, 20-13	Anju 32 pts, Sonali 17 pts	Kiran 18 pts, Sandhya 13 pts
Women	2	F	Odisha	50	Jharkhand	44	05-20, 09-03, 08-14, 22-13	Lipramayee – 23 pts	Usha – 15 pts
Men	2	D	J&K	43	Pudducherry	14	13-10, 17-04, 06-00, 07-00	Jaskirat – 16 pts
Women	2	E	Chandigarh	62	A.P	28	09-11, 06-20, 03-15, 10-16	Nisha – 26 pts, Amrit 16 pts	N. Padmavathi – 17 pts
Men	2	E	Chandigarh	62	Tripura	13	13-00, 14-04, 14-03, 21-06	Maninder – 16 pts, Ravi -15 pts
Men	2	D	Delhi	68	Telangana	56	15-14, 14-13, 17-12, 10-29	Arshdeep – 19 pts, Yudhveer – 12 pts	Visu – 22 pts, Aravin – 16 pts
Men	1	A	Karnataka	78	Kerala	54	19-22, 09-21, 18-20, 08-15	Jeethandar – 21 pts, Arvind – 18 pts	Eudric – 15 pts, Akhil – 13 pts
Men	2	E	Arunachal Pradesh	28	Chandigarh	88	00-26,07-22,10-18,11-22	Ravi 15pts	Attahullah 8pts
Women	1	B	Rajasthan	38	Indian Railways	91	09-27,10-22,07-24,12-18	Madhu 24pts, Shruti 19pts	Nisha 16pts
Women	2	D	West Bengal	56	Goa	11	14-01,07-02,14-04,21-04	Salmadevi 12pts
Men	2	F	Bihar	60	U.P	51	12-23,12-18,12-11,15-08	Pulkit 23pts, Lav 14pts	Sanjeev 19pts
Men	2	E	Jharkhand	53	Mizoram	38	10-11,11-08,13-12,19-07	Mahtab 9pts, Vishal 9pts	Robert 11pts
Women	2	D	H.P	38	Uttrakhand	28	15-04,05-04,11-11,07-09	Jyotika 10pts	Srishti 10pts

About Basketball Federation of India

Wasim Khan wins

ON JANUARY 20, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Wasim Khan wins the PGTI Qualifying School 2018

Thirty-eight players earn full cards for 2018 season

Kensville Golf & Country Club, Ahmedabad, January 20, 2018: Delhi’s Wasim Khan (74-71-71-73) won the PGTI’s Final Qualifying Stage for the 2018 season being held at the Kensville Golf & Country Club near Ahmedabad.

Wasim’s final round of one-over-73 saw him end up with a tournament tally of one-over-289 which helped him post a one-shot victory.

Australia’s Kunal Bhasin (75-67-75-73) finished second at two-over-290 after he too shot a final round of 73.

At the end of round four, the top 38 players earned their cards for the 2018 PGTI season as the cut in the final round went at 13-over-301.

The top 38 included six amateurs. There were also eight foreigners among the 38 players who earned their full cards. The foreigners included three Bangladeshis, two South Africans, one Australian, one American and one Nepali.

Wasim Khan, who started the final day with a one-shot lead, had a quiet last round but still managed to emerge triumphant by one shot. The 26-year-old Khan, who had previously won one title at the junior level, had an early bogey on the second on Saturday but then strung together 11 pars followed by a birdie conversion from five feet on the 14th hole.

The professional from the Delhi Golf Club thereafter made some excellent par saves and salvaged a bogey from a tough position on the 17th where it could’ve easily gone wrong for him.

Wasim said, “The key to my success this week was the fact that I just enjoyed myself out there. Today, I didn’t really go for the pins but played regulation golf. It was a plan that had worked for me over the first three days as well.

“My driving and putting were solid. The exceptional up and down for bogey from 40 yards out on the 17th really helped my cause towards the end as the victory margin was just one shot.

“I’ll take a lot of confidence from this week into the 2018 season.”

Runner-up Kunal Bhasin, a three-time winner on the PGTI, also made a lone birdie and two bogeys in his fourth round.

American national Digraj Singh Gill claimed third place at three-over-291 while Bangladesh’s Md Ismail and Faridabad’s Ramesh Kumar were a further stroke behind in tied fourth.

Indian golfing legend Gaurav Ghei of Delhi secured sixth place at five-over-293.

The two other amateurs who finished inside the top-10 were Kolkata’s Sunit Chowrasia and Chennai’s Shivnaren Srinivasan. The duo ended the week in tied seventh at six-over-294 along with Vijay Kumar, Rajesh Kumar Rawat and Sahil Kulkarni.

Ekta Kapoor’S The Test Case

ON JANUARY 20, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

PRESS INVITATION

ALT Balaji cordially invites you to attend the Press Conference & to share with you the uniqueness of their latest venture’s project

‘THE TEST CASE’

(Ekta Kapoor’s venture, an ALT Balaji web series ‘The Test Case’, starring Nimrat Kaur, Anoop Soni, Atul Kulkarni, Rahul Dev in lead roles & Juhi Chawla in a Cameo. Directed by Vinay Waikul and Nagesh Kukunoor.)

To be addressed by:

Nimrat Kaur
Anoop Soni
Vinay Waikul (Director)

Time: 12:00 Noon

Date: 22nd January 2018 (Monday)

Venue: Le Méridien, New Delhi

You are requested to send correspondents/ photographers/ camera crew for the Press Conference.

Felicitation of Women Achievers by Minister of Women and Child Development,

ON JANUARY 19, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

INVITATION

Dear Sir/Madam,

You are cordially invited to cover the following event:

EVENT	:	Felicitation of Women Achievers by Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi. Minister of Food Processing Industries, Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal will also remain present.
DATE	:	20nd January, 2018
TIME	:	11:15 AM
VENUE	:	Hotel Ashoka, New Delhi

The Last Days of Mahatma Gandhi: Manoj Jha

ON JANUARY 25, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Monday, 29 January 2018 at 6 pm

Anhad Baat Cheet in collaboration with Oxford Bookstore

invites you to

A talk

(Remembering Mahatma Gandhi

On the eve of 70 year of his Martyrdom)

titled

The Last Days of Mahatma Gandhi

Manoj K Jha

Manoj K. Jha is a Professor at Department of Social Work, University of Delhi. His research interests revolve around methodological and conceptual issues of social protest movements, minorities and marginalised communities. He is also a visiting faculty to School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi.

YOU ARE WELCOME

Oxford Bookstore

N 81, Connaught Place, New Delhi – 110 001

RSVP: Manash – 9953970829

rsvp.oxforddel@apeejaygroup.co m

www.oxfordbookstore.com

CAIT COMMUNICATION TO PM URGING HIS INTERVENTION ON SEALING

ON JANUARY 25, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

In a communication sent to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) sought his intervention in the matter of sealing of business establishments in Delhi.

The CAIT has urged the Prime Minister to bring a suitable Ordinance for giving protection to traders from sealing. The CAIT has further suggested that since multiple issues are involved in this matter, a Special Task Force may be constituted under the Chairmanship of Lt. Governor of Delhi and comprising of senior officials of Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India and Delhi Government, MCD, DDA & other concerned Agencies and Representatives of Trade, to make a study of the multiple issues and their solution thereof within a time bound period.

In its communication to the Prime Minister, the CAIT said that the traders of Delhi are bing harrased & victimised on account of sealing under the guise of the order of Hon’ble Supreme Court by sidelining the fundamental provisions of The Municipal Corporation Act,1957 and the Monitoring Committee while exceeding its jurisdiction is working in a dictatorial manner giving no opportunity of hearing.

While listing out the issues, the CAIT said that the Monitoring Committee was set up by the Supreme Court to look into Commercial Establishments in Residential Premises but the said Monitoring Committee is exceeding its jurisdiction and passing orders of sealing in anywhere and everywhere at Delhi.The orders passed by the Monitoring Committee are general in nature and no specific charge is levelled against any establishments though misuse differs from building to building.

It is highly regretted that traders are deprived of taking shelter of the basic fundamental provisions of MCD Act,1957 which provide Right to have Show Cause Notice, Opportunity of personal hearing and put defence, Right to make an appeal to Appellate Tribunal and lastly the Right to make an Appeal to Administrator of Delhi i.e.Lt. Governor of GNCTD, Delhi.

The CAIT further said that there are many areas and markets in Delhi which were declared Commercial by MCD, DDA & other Agencies and as such levy of conversion charge do not apply but the Monitoring Committee is insisting of payment of Conversion Charges under the threat of sealing.Many areas are termed as Local Shopping Centres where plots were given by taking commercial rates and as such same premise of levy of conversion charge do not apply on them but again they are being forced to pay conversion charges under threat of sealing.There are many areas which are known as Commercial Markets even before the time of Mughal era and those areas are also being considered for sealing.

The sealing of business establishments in Delhi will certainly wreck the economy of national capital and will disturb the centuries old distributive character of trade of Delhi-added CAIT.

It is a matter of concern that the Monitoring Committee is acting in a most dictatorial way and has become an Administrative Authority on its own but unconstitutional and the officials of MCD and other Agencies do not muster enough courage to inform the Committee about their boundation as per explicit provisions of MCD Act and thereby conducting sealing and other activities by sidelining their own governing Act, the MCD Act,1957.Even the genuine explanation and documents of the traders are not being considered at all and no one is listening to the woes of trading community. The CAIT has sought an appointment with the Prime Minister.

India Sinks to Rank 177 of 180 in Environmental Index 2018

ON JANUARY 25, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

January24, 2018 (C) Ravinder Singh progressindia2015@gmail.com

As per UNFCCC Country Data India contributed 6.16% of GHG Emissions in 2012 for 2% of World GDP. In last 5 years thermal power – mainly Coal Fired plants generation increased by36.7%, petroleum consumption increased by 31%. Share of Thermal Power generation has actually gone up from 82% to 85% in Five Years. [2012-2017].

Coal/Lignite Based power generation in FY2016-17 is 945 BU in India when EU 28 Countries together produced 791 BU [2015]. Contribution of Coal Based power generation in India contributed 85% of electricity – EU 28 only 24%.

EU Produced 968 BU [2015] of Renewable Energy which includes [371 BU] Large Hydro – India to produce 182 BU from Renewables [60 BU] and Large Hydro [122 BU] FY2016-17.

EU Produced 857 BU of Nuclear Power – India likely to produce 38 BU only FY2016-17.

EU also produced cleaner 530 BU of Gas based power. India 49 BU only FY2016-17.

EU Produces 2355 BU Clean Power– Three Times Consumed in India.

At Present [Dec.2017] India’s GHG Emissions are 8% for 3% of World GDP.

Description	Dec2012	Dec2017	5 Yr Growth
Installed Cap MW	210,951	330,860	56.8%
Thermal Cap MW	140,976	218,959	55.3%
Apr-Dec Gen BU &	683.75	902.95	32.0%
Thermal Gen BU	561.88	767.95	36.7%

http://unfccc.int/files/national_reports/annex_i_natcom/submitted_natcom/application/pdf/459381_european_union-nc7-br3-1-nc7_br3_combined_version.pdf

EU – Trends in the consumption of different energy carriers within the total have changed significantly in the period 1990 to 2015, with a decrease of 40 % in the consumption of carbon-intensive coal and lignite, and of 11 % in the consumption of oil. Meanwhile there has been anincrease of over 20 % in the consumption of gas, which, in comparison to other fossil fuels, produces less greenhouse gas emissions. Renewables have seen the most marked increase with consumption increasing by over 190 % from 1990 levels. Consumption of energy generated fromnuclear power increased by 6 %.The share of renewable energy sources has increased to 13 % of gross final energy consumption. Figure 2-19). Electricity production from renewables has almost tripled in that period and now accounts for 30 % of generation compared to 13 % in 1990. The proportion produced by nuclear has slightly increased and was 31 % of total electricity production in 2015.

http://newsroom.uat.unfccc.int/media/420472/country-brief-india.pdf – https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/downloads/epi2018policymakerssummaryv01.pdf

India had not planned for CLEAN ENERGY – 36.7% growth in Coal-Thermal Power generation has Landed in a 177 Rank out of 180.

Ravinder Singh, Inventor & Consultant, INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND PROJECTS

Y-77, Hauz Khas, ND -110016, India. Ph: 091- 8826415770, 9871056471, 9650421857

New programmes of DST and SERB for young scientists and researchers

ON JANUARY 25, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Union Minister for Science & Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan today announced four schemes to promote young scientists and researchers in the country. The scheme primarily aims at early recognition and reward to young talent in the field of science. “The schemes focus on youth to empower, recognize and motivate them,” Dr Harsh Vardhan said, while announcing the new schemes.

The Minister said that in a bid to tap the potential of trained faculty in Universities, colleges and private academic institutions, 500 teachers will be assisted under the Teacher Associateship for Research Excellence (TARE) scheme. It will connect them to leading public funded institutions like IIT, IISc or national institutions like CSIR, preferably nearer to their place of work to pursue research. They will be paid Rs. 5 lakh yearly, and a monthly out-of-pocket expense of Rs. 5,000. This will be in addition to the salary from their existing employer.

The second scheme – Overseas Visiting Doctoral Fellowship offers support to 100 PhD scholars for training in universities/laboratories abroad upto 12 months during their doctoral research. They would be given a monthly fellowship equivalent to US $ 2000, one-time contingency allowance of Rs. 60,000/- to cover travel and visa fee.

The Distinguished Investigator Award offers a maximum of 100 fellowships to principal investigators of SERB/DST projects. “This one-time career award will be judged on the basis of a completed project,” said Dr Harsh Vardhan. “This is aimed at giving early recognition and reward to young scientists, he added.”

The selected 100 researchers will be given a monthly fellowship of Rs. 15,000/- for three years and an optional research grant, based on peer review of the project proposal submitted.

A scheme to encourage science writing seeks to tap the potential of over 20,000 PhD scholars in science to popularise and communicate their research outcome. Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Research, AWSAR carries a monetary incentive of Rs. 10,000/- each for 100 best entries in a year and a Certificate of Appreciation, besides getting the story published. Three leading stories from the selected 100 would be awarded Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 50,000/- and Rs. 25,000/- respectively.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that these schemes will be notified and applications invited from across the country on February 1.

Teacher Associateship for Research Excellence (TARE) Scheme of SERB, DST aims to tap the latent potential of faculty working in state universities, colleges and private academic institutions who are well trained but have difficulty in pursuing their research due to varied reasons including lack of facilities, funding and guidance. This scheme facilitates mobility of such faculty members to carryout research in well-established public funded institution such as IITs, IISc, IISERS and other National Institutions (NITs, CSIR, ICAR, ICMR labs, etc) and Central Universities located preferably nearer to the institution where the faculty member is working. Up to 500 TAs will be supported under this scheme.

Overseas Visiting Doctoral Fellowship of SERB has been instituted for enhancing the international mobility of Indian research students which has the potential to create a talented pool of globally trained manpower. The scheme provides an opportunity for research students to gain exposure and access to top class research facilities in academia and labs across the world. This scheme offers opportunities for up to 100 PhD students admitted in the Indian institutions for gaining exposure and training in overseas universities / institutions of repute and areas of importance to country for period up to 12 months during their doctoral research. The selected fellows will be paid a monthly fellowship amount equivalent to US $ 2000, one-time Contingency / Preparatory allowances of Rs. 60,000/- to cover visa fee, airport transfer charges, medical insurance etc.

SERB Distinguished Investigator Award (DIA) has been initiated to recognize and reward Principal Investigators (PIs) of SERB/DST projects who have performed remarkably well. The scheme aims not only to reward the best PIs of completed projects but also to motivate the ongoing PIs to perform exceedingly well. This positive reinforcement strategy would effectively improve the productivity of the research undertaken and the overall efficiency of the research ecosystem. DIA is a one-time career award devised to specifically cater to the younger scientists who have not received any other prestigious awards or fellowships. The award carries a fellowship of Rs. 15,000/- p.m. and an optional research grant for three years, based on peer review of the project proposal submitted.

AWSAR (Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Research) of National Council of Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC), DST has been initiated to encourage, empower and endow popular science writing through newspapers, magazines, blogs, social media, etc. by young PhD Scholars and Post-Doctoral Fellows during the course of their higher studies and research pursuits. As over 20,000 youth are awarded PhD in S&T every year in India, the scheme aims to tap this tremendous potential to popularize & communicate science and also to inculcate scientific temperament in the masses. AWSAR carries monetary incentive of Rs.10,000/- each for 100 best entries from PhD scholars in a year along with a Certificate of Appreciation besides getting the story published/projected in mass media. In addition, three leading stories from the selected hundred would also be awarded cash prize of Rs.1,00,000/-, Rs.50,000/- and Rs.25,000/- respectively. Further, twenty entries would be selected from articles submitted exclusively by Post-Doctoral Fellows relating to their line of Research for monetary incentive of Rs.10,000/- each and the most outstanding story to be given a cash prize of Rs.1,00,000/-.

UDAN Phase-II: 325 routes awarded;

ON JANUARY 25, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

UDAN Phase-II: 325 routes awarded; 40% for North East, hills

Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has awarded 325 air routes under the second phase of government’s flagship UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam naagrik) regional regional connectivity scheme. Around 40% or 129 of 325 air routes were awarded to newly created category of ‘priority areas’ that include Jammu and Kashmir. Northeastern and hill states, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands.

The routes under phase-II were awarded to 15 airlines and helicopter operators after bidding process. These include major domestic airlines such as SpiceJet, IndiGo, Jet Airways and Air India subsidiary Alliance Air and four helicopter operators — Heligo Charters, Heritage Aviation, Pawan Hans, and Skyone Airways Airports to be connected under phase-II: Total 78 airports i.e. 36 served airports, 13 underserved airports and 29 unserved airports will be connected. In addition, 31 helipads/ heliports will be connected through Helicopters in priority areas.

These proposed routes will get VGF estimated at Rs. 487 crores per annum for fixed wing operations and Rs. 130 crores for Helicopter operations per annum in the Priority areas. The government provides VGF or subsidy for 50% of seats set aside for being offered at discounted rates by airlines and all seats up to 13 passenger seats for helicopters.

An important court ruling in Pennsylvania

ON JANUARY 25, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

This week there was an important court ruling in Pennsylvania that gives us an even better chance of taking back the House this year, Naresh.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that Republicans unconstitutionally gerrymandered the state’s congressional map — a blow to Republican attempts to rig the system for their own candidates, and a victory for Democratic efforts to fight back.

Now under court order, Pennsylvania districts will be drawn more fairly — putting more seats in play this November. Plus, Democrat Austin Davis won yesterday’s special election in Pennsylvania’s 35th state House district by a 48-point margin. That’s 23 points more than the Democrats’ margin of victory in 2016!

With 24 seats to flip to take back the House this year, every single seat will make a difference.Let’s keep it up.

Hungarian Folk Days in India series,

ON JANUARY 25, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Dear All,

In continuation with the Hungarian Folk Days in India series, we present to you a Hungarian folk music concert by MUZSIKAS on Tuesday, 30th January at 6:30 pm at the IIC Auditorium. Seating on first come first served basis. Please be seated by 6:15 pm.

With kind regards,

—————————— —–

HARLEEN AHLUWALIA

NSIC sign MoU SME Corp Malaysia

ON JANUARY 25, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

NSIC sign MoU with SME Corp (Malaysia) on 25th Jan 2018 at 9.00am at Grand Ball Room, Leela palace hotel, Chanakyapuri,New Delhi.Shri Giriraj Singh Honble Minister of MSME, Government of India and Shri Mustapa Mohammed , Minister of International Trade and Industry, Government of Malaysia preside on this ocassion..

Press Invitation

ON JANUARY 25, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Press invitation
for International level sports event

India’s double Dutch challenge 2018
Place : Kamani Auditorium, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi
Date : 25 january, 2018, Timing : 2 p.m. to 6 p.m
Contact:
Manish Tiwari
9013524156
[1/25, 09:43] ‪+91 98100 77948‬: Media Invitation
Press Conference on All India Radio Tableau on Republic Day
Fielden Hall, (1st floor), Akashvani Bhawan, Parliament Street, New Delhi

Director General, All India Radio Shri F. Sheheryar will address the Press Conference in Fielden Hall, (1st floor) Akashvani Bhawan regarding Tableau of All India Radio for the Republic Day pageant 2018 and also the launch of the theme song of ‘EK BHARAT SHRESHTH BHARAT’.

Note: The entry will be from Gate No 3

All Print & Electronic Media are cordially invited to cover the event.

Aircraft NAL-SARAS PT1N designed and developed by CSIR-NAL

ON JANUARY 25, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Aircraft SARAS PT1N (14 seater) designed and developed by CSIR-NAL, a front-line aerospace research laboratory, has successfully made its maiden flight on 24.01.2018. The flight was commanded by Wg Cdr U P Singh, Gp Capt R V Panicker and Gp Capt K P Bhat from IAF-Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE).

The flight was piloted by Wg Cdr B Panicker, U P Singh and Group Capt K P Bhat; pilots Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) twin-engine aircraft would be used for coastal surveillance as well as training young cadets on transport flying.

The aircraft took off at about 11 AM from HAL airport and flew for about 40 minutes at the maximum height of 8500 ft at the speed of 145 knots. The chase aircraft (KIRAN) was piloted by Gp Capt Badrish and telemetry was commanded by Gp Capt Naraynen, Wg Cdr Pandey and Wg Cdr R Sridhar (Retd). All the system parameters are found normal. It was a text book flight. CSIR-NAL sources said that this was the culmination of the efforts of team CSIR-NAL, IAF-ASTE, CEMILAC and DGAQA.

The primary objective is to evaluate the system performance in about 20 flights and the data collected from this shall be used to freeze the design of production version aircraft. The production version aircraft will be of 19 seat capacity and will undergo civil / military certification.

The flight was monitored by Shri Jitendra J Jadhav, Director, CSIR-NAL, Air Marshal Upkarjit Singh, Director, IAF-PMT & Chairman, FRRB, Air Vice Marshal Sandeep Singh, Commandant, ASTE, Shri P Jayapal, Chief Executive CEMILAC and Shri V L Raja, ADG-AQA.

The NAL Saras is the first Indian multi-purpose civilian aircraft in the light transport aircraft category as designed by the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL).The Saras (PT-1N) plane made its maiden flight of 40 minutes on 24 January, 2018.

Dhaka Open:Ankur Chadha occupies tied fourth

ON JANUARY 25, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Ankur Chadha occupies tied fourth in round one of City Bank American Express Dhaka Open.

Bangladeshis dominate leaderboard as Shakhawat leads at 67

Dhaka, January 24, 2018: Gurgaon-based Ankur Chadha fared the best among the Indians in round one of the inaugural City Bank American Express Dhaka Open, a US$ 60,000 event, being played at the Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka.

While day one of the event tri-sanctioned by the Asian Development Tour (ADT), Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and Bangladesh Professional Golfers Association (BPGA) was dominated by local favourites Shakhawat Sohel (67) and Md Siddikur Rahman (68) of Bangladesh who were placed first and second respectively, Ankur Chadha ended the day in tied fourth after returning a two-under-70.

The 23-year-old Chadha, playing only his third season as a professional, made a slow start as he was two-over through 11 holes. Ankur, who finished inside the top-60 on the PGTI last year, then had a late flourish with four birdies on the last six holes.

Chadha sank a giant 50-footer for birdie on the 13th and also landed his approach to within three feet for birdie on the 17th.

Ankur said, “I had a strong finish today with those four birdies between the 13thand the 18th. One needs to be patient here and try to keep the ball in play. This course cannot be overpowered. You cannot look for too many birdies here instead you have to play percentage golf.

“I finished 60th on the PGTI last year but I still feel my game was better as compared to my rookie season in 2016 when I finished 59th. I was playing with more confidence in 2017 and felt more at home on the pro circuit. Hopefully, I can capitalize on this good start over the next three days.”

The trio of Rahul Bajaj, Arjun Prasad and Shankar Das were placed tied seventh with scores of one-under-71 thus making it four Indians in the top-10 on day one.

India’s 3 lakh villages ODF

ON JANUARY 25, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

India’s 3 lakh villages and 300 districts & 10 States/UTs declared ODF.

6 crore toilets built under Swachh Bharat

The Swachh Bharat Mission is the largest behavior change programme in the world. Through mobilization of rural communities, the SBM (Gramin) has truly turned into a jan andolan, a people’s movement. As per a progress update shared in the Capital today, over 6 crore toilets have been built across rural India under the Mission. Two independent surveys by the Quality Council of India in 2017, and National Sample Survey Organization in 2016, have pegged the usage of these toilets at 91% and 95% respectively. As an outcome, over 3 lakh villages and 300 districts have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF), across ten States and Union Territories, namely, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh and Daman & Diu.

The progress update was shared by the Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Shri Parameswaran Iyer today during a technical briefing given to the national media in New Delhi.

Terming this a “Sanitation Revolution in Rural India”, Shri Iyer said that 15 States/UTs are expected to be declared ODF by March 2018, and with this accelerating progress, the Mission is on track to achieve an ODF India by October 2019. He also shared some studies done by international agencies that estimate the health and economic impact of sanitation on a rural family. UNICEF estimates that the lack of sanitation is responsible for the deaths of over 100,000 children in India annually. A Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation study estimates that households in ODF villages in India have significantly better health indicators.

Another UNICEF study estimates that a household in an ODF village in India saves Rs.50,000 every year by way of disease treatment costs averted, saving of livelihood by not falling ill, etc. At the macro level, a 2007 World Bank study estimated that lack of sanitation costs India over 6% of our GDP.Shri Iyer announced that the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation will be launching a mass media campaign to promote the twin pit toilet soon. A twin pit toilet is a toilet model that is economical, safe, easy to clean, eco-friendly, and is effectively a self-contained waste treatment plant that does not harm the ground water beneath the toilet.

Speaking on the issue of solid and liquid waste, he said that there was a paradigm shift underway in the way the Mission looks at this issue. He said that the Mission is moving from seeing it as a Solid Liquid Waste Management issue to seeing it as Solid and Liquid Resource Management, because waste is a resource that can be tapped and converted to wealth and energy.

Speaking on the issue of drinking water in rural India, he said that there have been a number of initiatives to reform the National Rural Drinking Water Programme. He enumerated several steps to improve the speed and quality of implementation of the Programme, especially targeting arsenic and fluoride-affected habitations.

Shri Iyer also shared some stories of champions of Swachh Bharat from the field, including women, children, differently abled and senior citizens, who have contributed immensely to the sanitation mission through their dedication to cleanliness. These champions have gone beyond their call of duty to make Swachh Bharat a true jan andolan.

Swachh Bharat on Social Media:

Twitter: twitter.com/swachhbharat

Facebook: facebook.com/sbmgramin

YouTube: tinyurl.com/sbmgramin

Swachh Bharat blog:sbmgramin.wordpress.com

Adv HC Mumbai Mrs Dipti Srivatsan Kale

ON JANUARY 24, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Balgangadhar Tilak’s great grandson tortures women to suppress rape,victim turns to media after miscarriage of justice.

Disheartened from system,rape victim turns to media to send culprit Rohit Tilak behind bars.

A woman is misled,raped,tortured and attack with acid for raising a voice while the perpetrator roam the streets without arrest, destroying evidence and threatening the victim.

Balgangadhar Tilak’s great grandson tortures woman to suppress rape, victim turns to media after miscarriage of justice to spell fate of her case.

# Disheartened from system, rape victim turns to media to send culprit Rohit Tilak behind bars with petition file to -SC.

# A woman is misled, raped, tortured and attacked with acid for raising a voice while the perpetrator roams the streets without arrest, destroying evidence and threatening the victim the state of her case in peril.

# In a gross miscarriage of justice, great grandson of Balgangadhar Tilak has been allowed to roam free despite serious rape allegations against him.

Rohit Tilak has been accused of misleading a woman by claiming that he was unmarried, forcing himself on her and extorting money through black mail. On July 17, he was booked under sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural sex), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) 504, 506 (criminal intimidation) 507 (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication), but was granted interim anticipatory bail on July 20.

The victim said that the Pune court allowed the anticipatory bail on the grounds of allegations against the complainant without submission of any prove for the same.

In addition, the victim was attacked by acid and asked to withdraw the case, so additional FIR has been filed for the acid attack.

Judge Mrs. Lata Yenkar, who was presiding over the case, forced the victim to make her identity public in front of at least 1000 men accompanying Mr Tilak to the court.

“The total disregard of every law, every procedure and total trashing of the basic fundamental and human rights of the victim by the judge Mrs. Lata Yenkar ought to be addressed and whether this gross miscarriage of justice and open violation of the basic right to life and dignity of a woman victim should be accepted due to this failure of our system to deliver justice or to protect our women,” the victim’s lawyer said in an open letter.

In an appeal to media to help her end the violation of a rape victims’ rights, in only this case but as a common practice, the victim’s lawyer Dipti Srivatsan Kale asked, “Every woman in this country has a right to life and a right to dignity and if this is the way that we treat the women who approach the courts for justice in a rape case, what would be recourse open to such victims.”

The lawyer claimed that Judge Yenkar mistreated the victim in court of law by shouting at her, refusing her an in-camera hearing and forcing her to reveal her identity despite clear laws against it. The judge also disallowed the victim’s lawyers to admit recordings of abusive calls made by Mr Tilak.

It is also pertinent to note that the husband of Judge Mrs. Lata Yenkar, also a judge and was suspended under anti-corruption enquiry and is now in practice and accessible.

The victim had filed a transfer application with the District Judge but that too was summarily dismissed. After Judge Yenkar retired from her duty, the victim moved the Bombay High Court seeking cancellation of Mr Tilak’s anticipatory bail but the court has kept the matter pending for four months despite repeated requests highlighting urgency of the matter.

Meanwhile, the victim and the witnesses continue to be threatened by Mr Tilak and his wife with forcibly recorded pornographic videos and images and abusive calls.

The victim has approached every forum under the law for justice and yet she was insulted and threatened in every way with no justice.

‘With much anguish and despair’ and 20 years of experience as Bombay High Court lawyer, ‘I ask the question, if women are raped and common citizens killed with no one accountable whether the institution of justice survives’, the lawyer asked in the open letter.

“As a lawyer and an officer of the court, I raise this question what can be done to correct the state of evil that has afflicted our law and order and judiciary,” she questioned.

The victim has appraoched the high court, the PMO, the ministry for law and judiciary, the national womans commissioner, the CJI and the CMO before approaching the Supreme Court to invoke the writ jurisdiction for violation of her fundamental rights

India is committed to improving ease of doing business:

ON JANUARY 26, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today said India is committed to improving ease of doing business. Addressing the 42nd Joint Meeting of India- Japan Business Cooperation Committee in New Delhi, Mr Puri said, India offers opportunities to Japan in the fields like Make In India, Digital India, Skill India and Smart City Project.

He said, during the last three years, the government has taken a lot of initiatives to improve economic growth, investors confidence and business sentiments in the country. He said, India is the most liberal FDI regime in the world and during 2016-17, the country received foreign direct investment inflow to the tune of 60 billion dollars.

Nation celebrates 69th Republic Day

ON JANUARY 26, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Nation is celebrating its 69th Republic Day today. The main function was organized at Rajpath in the national capital where President Ram Nath Kovind took the salute of the parade.

27458898_1224492711014764_7342694502119260997_n

Under the custom to host a leader of a foreign country as the chief guest at the parade, this year, in a first, leaders of 10 ASEAN countries were the Chief Guests.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the three service chiefs paid tributes to soldiers at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate by laying wreaths.
President Ram Nath Kovind before parade begins awarded India’s highest peacetime military decoration Ashok Chakra posthumously to Indian Air Force Garud commando Corporal Jyoti Prakash Nirala, who laid down his life after gunning down two terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.

The award was received by Corporal Nirala’s wife Sushmanand and his mother Malti Devi at the majestic Rajpath.

Corporal Nirala was attached to a Rashtriya Rifles battalion under the aegis of ‘Op Rakshak’ in Jammu and Kashmir. On November 18 last year, an offensive was launched in Chanderger village of Bandipora district based on specific intelligence. The Garud detachment covertly approached the target house where the terrorists were hiding and laid a close quarter ambush.

Nirala succumbed to fatal gunshot wounds.The gunfight resulted in the killing of six terrorists. Corporal Nirala exhibited most conspicuous gallantry in fighting with terrorists and made supreme sacrifice.Last year November, Nirala had single-handedly shot down two terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir during an anti-terror operation and made supreme sacrifice.
The parade started with flag bearer contingent bearing the ASEAN and 10 ASEAN countries’ flags. Marching contingents from Army, Navy, Air Force, Paramilitary Forces BSF, SSB, ITBP, Delhi Police, NCC and NSS participated in the parade.

India’s strategic defence weaponry was also displayed during the celebrations. Tableaux of fourteen States and nine Central Ministries participated in the parade presenting the varied historical, art and cultural heritage of India. For the first time, All India Radio was part of the parade, showcasing its journey of more than eight decades in the domain of public service, promotion and preservation of socio-cultural and linguistic heritage. Punjab Tableaux depicted the grandeur of Sangat and Pangat in a creative and comprehensive manner and Maharashtra displayed the Coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji.

Traditional masks of Assam featured in state’s tableau while Kettukazhcha of Kerala drew the attention. Buddhist heritage place Sanchi and Monastery Kye Gompa also featured in tableaux. Income Tax Department Tableaux showed the collective support of people to the clean money drive. Eighteen children awarded with National Bravery Award also participated in the parade. A newly-raised all-woman bikers contingent of the Border Security Force made its debut on Rajpath.

The 27-member BSF women daredevils received cheers as they showcase their stunts and acrobatics on their Bullet motorcycles. At the end, there was a spectacular flypast by the Indian Air Force. The flypast commenced with the ‘Rudra’ formation comprising three ALH, followed by the ‘Hercules’ formation comprising three C-130J Super Hercules aircraft.

The flypast concluded with Sukhoi fighter jet carrying out a ‘Vertical Charlie’ manoeuvre over the saluting dais.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thanked leaders of ASEAN nations for participating in the Republic Day celebrations. In a series of tweets after the annual event, Mr Modi said, their presence with people of India is an unprecedented gesture of goodwill from ASEAN nations.

The Prime Minister said, he had the privilege to host the ASEAN leaders yesterday for the Commemorative Summit to mark 25 years of ASEAN -India partnership. Mr Modi said, this is no ordinary event and it is a historic milestone in a remarkable journey that has brought India and ASEAN to a deepening partnership of great promise for their 1.9 billion people, about one-fourth of humankind. He said, India- ASEAN partnership may be just 25 years old, but India’s ties with South-east Asia stretch back more than two millennia.

The Prime Minister said, forged in peace and friendship, religion and culture, art and commerce, language and literature, these enduring links are now present in every facet of the magnificent diversity of India and South-east Asia, providing a unique envelope of comfort and familiarity between the people.

Saying that INDIA-ASEAN trade and investment flows have multiplied several times, Mr Modi reiterated that ASEAN and India have immense opportunities to chart a steady course through the uncertain and turbulence times to a stable and peaceful future for the region and the world. He said, India and ASEAN have advanced the broad-based partnership through 30 mechanisms and with each ASEAN member, India have growing diplomatic, economic and security partnership. He said, ASEAN and India will work together to keep their seas safe and secure.

Rahul Gandhi on 6th row seat at R-Day parade

ON JANUARY 26, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

The oldest party in the country Congress, its President Shri Rahul Gandhi not spotted in front row, every onlooker on TV was utterly surprised to find the leader enjoy Republic Day parade at 6th row. Protocol is not followed by the organizers is matter of disbelief so the Congress Chief middle row need explanation.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi today attended the Republic Day Parade and took the designated seat in the sixth row, prompting an angry reaction from his party that accused the government of setting aside tradition and indulging in “cheap politics”.

Gandhi was seated in the sixth row, along with Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala said the Modi government’s “cheap politics” was at display today when it broke tradition and denied Gandhi a front-row seat.

Congress sources said the party presidents, including Sonia Gandhi who handed over the party reins to Rahul Gandhi in December last year, had always been seated in the front row at the Republic Day Parade.

“The Modi government’s cheap politics is for all to see. The Congress president was deliberately made to sit in the sixth row, after initially assigning him a fourth-row seat, at the Republic Day celebrations by the arrogant rulers, who set aside all past traditions. For us the celebration of the Constitution is foremost,” Surjewala tweeted in Hindi.

Panel Discussion on ‘The role of the transport sector in Delhi’s air quality

ON JANUARY 26, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Feb

Public debate over the quality of Delhi’s air reliably spikes every winter, along with the readings from air quality monitors. However, public discussion tends to rapidly taper off, even as the air quality remains consistently bad.

The Initiative on Climate, Energy and Environment (ICEE) at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) is organising a seminar series – Clearing the Air? Seminar Series on Delhi’s Air Pollution – to promote sustained and informed public understanding around the data, impacts, sources and policy challenges involved in clearing Delhi’s air. While we will focus on the Delhi context, the series will also reflect the fact that the problem extends far beyond Delhi. The seminar series will present the work of experts in a range of areas, to help promote informed public discussion about what changes are needed, what is possible, and how to get it done. Clearing the air in terms of knowledge and public information, we hope, will make a small contribution toward actually clearing Delhi’s air.

ICEE invites you to the fourth event in this series.

Panel Discussion on ‘The role of the transport sector in Delhi’s air quality: key drivers and opportunities for intervention’

Panellists: Amit Bhatt, Parthaa Bosu, Sumit Sharma
Moderator: Mukta Naik

Thursday, 1 February 2018, 4:00 p.m.

Conference Hall, Centre for Policy Research

Image Source

The seminar series began with a talk on air pollutants in Indian cities and the gaps in our knowledge about them, followed by two events on health impacts of air pollution. We now turn to specific sources of air pollution, and we begin with transport. Vehicular pollution has been a significant contributor to Delhi’s air pollution, accounting for up to a fourth of PM 2.5 emissions. Delhi has the largest vehicular population of any city in India, with over a crore registered vehicles. More than 90% of these are private vehicles, and this number has steadily grown over the years. However, regulatory interventions towards promoting cleaner fuel and phasing out old vehicles, as well as legal measures to cap or decrease the number of vehicles have primarily focused on public transit vehicles. The panel will deliberate on key technical and policy drivers for reduction and management of emissions from the transport sector, including the source composition of air pollution from transport, potential gains from changes in fuel standards and fuel types, and issues related to public transport and modal shares.

About the Speaker:
Amit Bhatt is the Director of Integrated Urban Transport at WRI India. He is based in Delhi and provides vision and leadership to all transport initiatives across WRI in India and neighbouring countries. Amit has over 17 years’ experience in the field of transport planning, non-motorised transportation, road safety, capacity building, street design and urban development. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Master’s degrees in Transport and Economics, and a diploma in Transport Economics and Management.

Parthaa Bosu is the lead consultant on air pollution with Environment Defence Fund, based in the United States. He was previously with the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), working on in-use vehicle emissions, and has also served as the India Director and South Asia Liaison of the UN Partnership, Clean Air Asia. Parthaa was a part of the working-group on non-motorized transport promotion at the Ministry of Urban Development, and structured the Green Freight India Working Group, which works on reducing emissions from freight and also making it more efficient. He is currently trying to nurture dialogues on rising air pollution and congestion in cities, and recently helped design the Chennai Freight Partnership with IIT Madras and the Madras Chambers.

Sumit Sharma is a Fellow and Associate Director of the Earth Science and Climate Change group of TERI. He has worked on a number of projects related to air quality management which involves air quality monitoring, emission inventorisation, air quality modeling (dispersion and receptor), and drafting air quality management plans. He has carried out a source apportionment study for the city of Bangalore, involving air quality modeling exercises and developing scenarios for air quality improvement. He also has been working on regional scale ozone pollution, and conducting workshops and training programs for sensitization of various stakeholders on air quality improvement.

The panel will be moderated by Mukta Naik, Senior Researcher, CPR.

Please do RSVP at climate.initiative.cpr@gmail.com

“Industry-Media Interactions”

ON JANUARY 26, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Description: Description: Description: cid:image003.png@01D1AB96.586911E0

01st February 2018, Hotel Lalit, New Delhi

Greetings From ASSOCHAM,

ASSOCHAM is organizing an “Industry-Media Interactions” of leading industrialists to obtain their reactions on Budget Proposals for 2017-18 by the Hon’ble Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley on 01st February 2018 (10.30 am) at Hotel The Lalit, New Delhi. In this regard, We would like to invite you as a delegate to attend the Industry Media Interaction schedule to be held on 01st February 2018.

Your participation would add immense value to the content of the conference.

A line of confirmation will be highly appreciated.

We look forward for your kind confirmation.

Sincerely,

Kushagra Joshi

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India

Banking & Financial Services,

5, Sardar Patel Marg, Chanakyapuri,

New Delhi – 110021

Mob:+91-8447365357

Phone: +91- 11- 46550624

Fax: +91- 11- 46536481/82

Driverless buses hit the streets in Stockholm

ON JANUARY 26, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Minibus with the text 'Åk med' (app 'Come along') on the side.

1 av 2

The self-driving bus in Kista. Credit: Ulla Engberg/Sveriges Radio

For the first time in Scandinavia, a self-driving bus will mix with other traffic along a public road in Kista, northern Stockholm.

The electric bus will take up to 11 passengers and will reach a maximum speed of 20 kilometres per hour, on a 1,5 kilometre straight road between Victoria Tower and Kista Centrum in Stockholm’s own silicon valley.

The pilot project will try out out the technology over the next six months on normal road conditions on weekdays from 7 am to 6 pm.

Already at the end of the summer, in a new residential area in Barkarby northern Stockholm, self-driving buses are supposed to be part of the normal public transport route.

“If that is successful, I would say that in just a few years, this will be a very common part of Stockholm transport system,” says Kristoffer Tamsons, Stockholm’s regional transport commissioner, and chairman of Stockholm transport.

Radio Sweden went for a test drive, and spoke to some of the people involved in the project.

“On the Trail of the Black”.

ON JANUARY 26, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

On behalf of Dr. Bibek

Debroy (Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime

Minister of India), I am writing to invite you to attend the

launch of our book titled “On the Trail of the

Black”. This book has been published by Rupa and is a

compilation of essays written by senior officials and young

professionals of NITI Aayog. The book focuses

on corruption and black

money across sectors such as health, education,

land, electoral financing, benami properties, demonetization

etc. and proposes actionable strategies to counter the

same.

Shri Rajnath Singh,

Hon’ble Home Minister of India will release the

book and a panel discussion will follow the release. Details

of the event are below:

a) Date: 27th January

2018 (Saturday),

b) Time: Starts 11:00 am.

c) Venue: Constitution Club of India (CCI)

d) Panel Members: Shri Amitabh Kant (CEO, NITI Aayog), Shri

Shakti Sinha (Director, NMML), Shri Ashwani Mahajan

(Swadeshi Jagran Manch), Shri Dhiraj Nayyar (OSD, NITI

Aayog) and Ms. Bhavana Kohli. Dr. Bibek Debroy will moderate

the panel.

Please consider this

email as an invitation for the book release. The event is

open for all. We hope that you would take out time or send

your representatives for the same. The invitation creative

containing the details of the venue and time schedules is

also enclosed for easy reference. Look forward to receiving

you. Pls send in a line of

confirmation.

INVITATION FOR COVERAGE

ON JANUARY 26, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

INVITATION FOR COVERAGE

Dear Sir/Madam,

You are requested to cover the following event:-

Event

Smt. Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism will inaugurate “Bharat Parv” being organized by the Government of India from 26thto 31st January, 2018 as part of the Republic Day 2018 celebrations.

Date

26th January, 2018 (Friday)

Time

5.00 PM

Venue

Red Fort (Lal Quila) lawns, Delhi-110006

: INVITATION

Dear Sir/Madam,

You are cordially invited to cover the following event-

Event : Jammu & Kashmir Student Exchange Programme – Closing ceremony.(500 J&K students visited Delhi from 18thJanuary, 2018 to 26th January, 2018)

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Shri Prakash Javadekar will be the Chief Guest for the function.

Dr. Satya Pal Singh, Minister of State for HRD, Department of Higher Education, and Shri Upendra Kushwaha , Minister of State for HRD, Department of School Education and Literacy will also be present on the occasion.

Date : January 26th, 2018 (Friday)

Time : 02.00 PM

Venue : National Bal Bhawan, Kotla Road, New Delhi-110002
BJP National President, Shri Amit Shah will hoist the National Flag tom (Friday) 26 January at 8:30AM at 11, Ashok Road. Photo Opportunity only.

Seminar on Made in India

ON JANUARY 25, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Pl Join Mumbai 4th Feb Sh Suresh Prabhu, Min Commerce & Ind Make in India & inaugration of Centre for Integrated Development &Research supported by Bhartiya Viklash Parishad

Prof. NK Goyal – Chairman Emeritus TEMA & President CMAI <president_cmai@cmai.asia>

To nksagar_1@yahoo.com

Thursday, 25 January, 2018 11:24 AM

Click to view full HTML

Dear Sir,

I request you to please join as our VIP Guest with Hon’ble Shri Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce and Industries at Mumbai on 4th Feb at 230 PM for Seminar on Make in India and inauguration of Centre for Integrated Development &Research supported by Bhartiya Vikash Parishad (http://www.bvpindia.com/) at Central Auditorium, Welingkar Institute of Management, Matunga, Mumbai and please join High Tea at 530 PM.

Please find invitation card at www.cmai.asia for your kind perusal.

Looking to welcome you personally.

Regards

Prof N K Goyal

President CMAI Association of India, Chairman Emeritus TEMA
Member Governing Council Telecom Equipment & Services Export Promotion Council, Govt. of India
Vice Chairman, ITU APT India, Adviser Gujarat Technological University

Chairman India Trade Promotion Services, Dubai UAE,

Director NFL National Fertilizers Ltd, Govt. of India

Erdogan threatens to expand Syria offensive despite criticism

ON JANUARY 27, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Protest in London against Turkish offensive in Afrin. US and Turkey argued over the status and future of Syria’s Kurds. Ankara has repeatedly slammed Washington for delivering military supplies to Kurds in Syria.

US told Ankara it will not deliver any more weapons to the Syrian Kurdish PYD/YPG fighters, Turkish media report. The news comes as the Turkish operation ‘Olive Branch’ in northern Syria has entered its eighth day. On Saturday Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Washington should immediately withdraw from northern Syria’s Manbij region, located some 100 km from Afrin. Speaking to reporters, the top official said that the US should take steps to end its support of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.

Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster held a phone call on Friday evening, Anadolu news agency said. McMaster confirmed that Washington would no longer provide weapons to fighters of the Kurdish People’s Protection units (YPG) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today threatened to expand Turkey’s offensive in Syria against a Kurdish militia, despite rising concern and calls for restraint from the US and other Western allies.

In the seventh day of the operation against the Syrian
Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, Erdogan vowed
to “clean up” the Syrian city of Manbij.

The United States has raised concerns over the deadly offensive, and analysts say direct military conflict between the two NATO powers is possible since the US has a military presence in Manbij. While the YPG is still working closely with Washington against the Islamic State extremist group in Syria, Ankara views the YPG as a terror organisation allied to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) inside Turkey.

The PKK is blacklisted by Ankara and its Western allies as a terror outfit.

Tokyo ‘disputed islands’ museum

ON JANUARY 27, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

China has said it is “strongly dissatisfied” with the opening of a museum in Tokyo devoted to disputed islands, AFP reported. The museum, run by the Japanese government, opened on Thursday. It displays documents and photographs defending Japan’s claims to two sets of islands that China and South Korea also see as their own. Japan has a longstanding dispute with China over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. They are administered by Japan, where they are known as Senkaku, but also claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu. The Japanese foreign minister is preparing to visit Beijing this weekend. Tokyo also claims islands in the Sea of Japan that are controlled by South Korea. Seoul immediately demanded the closure of the museum as it denounced Japan’s “unjustifiable claims” to its “inherent territory” on Friday.

Czech citizens go for Prez poll

ON JANUARY 27, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Czech citizens go poll until 2pm on Saturday to cast their votes as polls opened on Friday for the run-off in the presidential election. The incumbent Milos Zeman is facing challenger Jiri Drahos, the former head of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Zeman, 73, is favored to win another five-year term, but polls suggest it could be a tight race, AP said. In 2013 Zeman, then a former left-leaning prime minister, became president after defeating former conservative Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg in the second round of the election. Zeman, seen as a Russia-friendly politician, was one of the few European leaders to endorse Donald Trump’s bid for the White House.

He flew the EU flag at Prague Castle, but also proposed a referendum on the country’s membership in the bloc. Drahos links the country’s future to its EU and NATO memberships.

US designates six individuals as global terrorists

ON JANUARY 27, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

US has slapped sanctions on four Taliban and two Haqqani network leaders for terrorist activities and said Pakistan must work with the US to deny the terror groups safe haven on its soil and target their funding. All six have been designated as global terrorists by the US Department of Treasury.

The four Taliban leaders include Abdul Samad Sani, Abdul Qadeer Basir, Abdul Baseer, Hafiz Mohammed Popalzai, and Maulawi Inayatullah, while Haqqani network leaders as Faqir Muhammad and Gula Khan Hamidi.

All property and interests in property of these persons subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and the US citizens are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Sigal Mandelker said the Trump administration is targeting six individuals related to the Taliban or Haqqani Network who have been involved in attacks on coalition troops, smuggling of individuals or financing these terrorist groups.

He said the action supports the President Donald Trump’s South Asia Strategy by disrupting terrorist organisations and publically exposing individuals who facilitate their activities.

Aung San Suu Kyi calls on President Kovind

ON JANUARY 27, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi called on President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan today. During the conversation, the President said, Myanmar occupies the highest priority for India under its ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’ policies.

He assured India’s continued support to Myanmar in its peace process, and efforts towards national reconciliation and economic and social development. The President said, India-Myanmar relationship will get a boost if strong political and cultural bonds are supported by commerce.

He said, bilateral trade of just over 2 billion dollar is not reflective of close ties and there is immense scope for cooperation in sectors such as power, renewable energy, hydrocarbons and health.

He said, India had a longstanding relationship with her and her family and Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Mughal Gardens also have a special connection with her. The President presented her bush roses from the Long Garden of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

India, Cambodia ink four MoU

ON JANUARY 27, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

India and Cambodia today inked four pacts, including one to improve cooperation in prevention, investigation of crimes and legal assistance in criminal matters and a Line of Credit to fund Cambodia’s Stung Sva Hab water resources development project for 37 million dollar.

The pacts were signed after delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen in New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Modi said, the two countries are committed to take their relationship at a newer level. He said, India is eager to take forward its relationship with Cambodia in the fields of economy, culture, trade and people to people contacts.

The Prime Minister said, the roots of cultural and historical relationship are deep and there is a possibility to take it further.

He said, in the last two decades, Cambodia has registered 7 per cent economic growth annually while India is also one of the fastest growing economy in the world. Mr Modi said, there is a scope of further expanding trade ties between the two nations.

The Cambodian Prime Minister said, his country has benefited from India’s Act East policy. He invited Indian businessmen to invest in his country.

Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the visiting dignitary. Both leaders discussed issues of mutual interest related to development partnership, trade and investment, HRD and people-to-people contacts.

Mr Hun Sen was given a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the morning. Mr Modi was among those present during the ceremony. The Cambodian Prime Minister also laid wreath at Mahatma Gandhi’s Samadhi. Mr Hun Sen is on a state visit to India. He attended the India-ASEAN Commemorative summit in New Delhi on Thursday and also attended the Republic Day Parade yesterday along with other ASEAN leaders.

Death toll of Kabul blast hundred,158 injured.

ON JANUARY 27, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

The explosive device was hidden in an ambulance and detonated at a police checkpoint in the Afghan capital, Reuters reported citing unnamed officials.The blast ignited close to the building which formerly housed Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry. An eyewitness told the news outlet the blast was caused by a car bomb, which detonated near the gates of the former ministry building.Nearly hundred people were killed and 151 injured by an explosion in a central district of Kabul, close to where several embassies and government buildings are located, local media report citing officials.Taliban has claimed credit for the blast, according to Pajhwok. It comes just a week after a deadly attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in the city, likewise claimed by the Taliban.

‏Verified account @rashtrapatibhvn

Shocked at news of the terrorist attack in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the bereaved families and with those injured. India stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the people and government of Afghanistan in the fight against the forces of terror and evil #PresidentKovind

India has strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Kabul today calling it barbaric and dastardly. In a statement, the External Affairs Ministry said, there can be no justification for such reprehensible attacks and the perpetrators and their supporters should be brought to justice.It said, India stands in solidarity with the government and the people of Afghanistan at this difficult times of mindless violence and terror imposed on them.

It also conveyed its heartfelt condolences to the next of kins of victims of the terror attack and prayed for speedy recovery of those injured and offered all possible assistance, including for treatment of injured.

30th African Union (AU) summit in Ethiopia

ON JANUARY 27, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the global development would not have success if Africa fails to take advantage of its youth dividend.

“The international community will not find peace and security if Africa is not able to manage not only its conflicts, but above all, to make prevention and find a solution to its conflicts,” he said.

Guterres also praised African countries for their handling of migration issues, saying that “I have always seen African countries open their doors to refugees and migrants. This is a lesson that other parts of the world should understand.”

Affirming UN’s commitment to support Africa, Guterres said the partnership between the UN and the AU is “the most important partnership.”

“Cooperation with the African Union is really a fundamental strategic element for the United Nations to be able to fulfill its mandate,” he said.

Peace and security, development, and human rights are said to be some of the common areas of interest for the UN and the AU to strengthen their partnership.

The two organizations signed an agreement on Saturday to strengthen development in Africa, it was noted. According to Moussa Faki Mahamat, AU Commission Chairperson, AU’s flagship Agenda 2063 and the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDG) can go hand-in-hand towards the continent’s development.

The targets of the SDG mainly focus the economic, social and environmental aspects of development.

MHA Shri Rajnath Singh released the book,” On the Trail of the Black”.

ON JANUARY 27, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Sagar Media Inc: MHA Shri Rajnath Singh thanks Authors and belessed them and appreciated the book “On the Trail of the Black”. He said have not read complete book but gone through some pages, this book deal corruption in many sectors. Corruption mitigate development, income disparity cause civil unrest. Digital, Transparency, procedures policy are the keys to mitigate corruption in prevailing system.

MHA Sri Rajnath Singh said, Our PM is more concerned about corruption which dilute corruption.SIT formed in first cabinet meet, health sector need corruption free.. This is an important step of government reduced generic medicines and paid attention to other vaccinations available for infants.

Government is making an efforts in the Tax collection that too is imp to reduce corruption .We all need fight corruption. Minister further said Education can bring change, we need in society ideal personalities and with procedure reforms like DBT MENREGA is made Easy with Aadhar . Society need awareness. Niti Ayog Policy makers we approve. Inspiration personality need to be galvanized. There must be more respect for value based actions rather than money making acts.

Dr Advani Mahajan said, Don’t agree that we do not need of Lokpal, crypto currency surge in Demonetization, conflict of interest ,FSSAI Nexus MNC , 350 consultant paid by MNC shunted out, corruption need to eye nodal point of Nexus, over invoices and under invoice government fails all cases as the system lack experts in this field.

Mr Amitabh address In government tenure of forty years I have better experience many laws knots together making loop holes and destroy the systems. From couple of years digital online, make easy one page to three page law process, Institutions need strength Medical commission medical council, UGC need restructure, tech need to be used. DBT Aadhar benefiring tens of cr beneficiaries thus break bureaucratic nexus.

CEO Niti Ayog said Government procurement where corruption dwell, E procurement GEM is best and bid and auction with transparency makes the scenario better for economy. In new institution India need simple easy procedures, intelligence and other Alternative intelligence to take over.

Director NMML, Mr Shakti Sinha briefing on book Launch,” On the Trail of the Black”.

Many things need to be done. internal deptt inquiry, balancing act of CVC, CBI, other institution, law process more important to solve laws etc. No one wants to break law with bold initiatives a step to mitigate corruption.

Siddikur Rahman reigns supreme : Dhaka Open

ON JANUARY 27, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Siddikur Rahman reigns supreme on home turf with four-shot victory at City Bank American Express Dhaka Open.

Dhaka, January 27, 2018: Bangladesh’s Md Siddikur Rahman lived up to the expectations of the home crowd as he recorded a four-shot victory at the inaugural City Bank American Express Dhaka Open, a US$ 60,000 event, played at his home course, the Kurmitola Golf Club. Siddikur fired a final round of two-under-70 to end the week with a total of 14-under-274.

Sweden’s Malcolm Kokocinski (67) finished a distant second at 10-under-278 at the event tri-sanctioned by the Asian Development Tour (ADT), Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and Bangladesh Professional Golfers Association (BPGA).

Siddikur Rahman (68-66-70-70), the overnight leader by two shots, put up a consistent display on the final day making four birdies and two bogeys. The 33-year-old was in no mood to yield an inch to his rivals from the very start as was evident from his three birdies over the first 10 holes.

Rahman, who was in the lead since round two, did suffer a couple of setbacks with bogeys on the 11th and 13th but was solid through the final stretch thanks to a birdie and four pars on the last five holes that saw him sail home with a comfortable margin.

It was Siddikur’s fourth international win and second triumph on the ADT. Siddikur had also won his first event on the ADT, the 2011 Grameenphone Bangladesh Masters, at the same venue, the Kurmitola Golf Club.

Siddikur, a two-time Asian Tour winner, said, “I was really hungry for a win this week. I’m delighted that I could live up to the expectations of the fans here in Bangladesh.

“My putting form was back today as I sank some long putts including a 15-footer on the ninth and a 35-footer on the 10th. Those two putts really lifted my confidence. I had a great week with the putter and made a lot of long putts except for the third round.

“This win is a huge boost for me ahead of the long Asian Tour season. I’ll look to build on the gains from this victory.”

Malcolm Kokocinski (70-70-71-67) posted the day’s best score of five-under-67 to rise from overnight tied third to second place. The Swede registered six birdies and a bogey on Saturday. He enjoyed a run of four straight birdies from the 11th to the 14th.

India’s Shankar Das (73) finished third at nine-under-279 while Bangladesh’s Akbar Hossain (70) was a further two strokes back in fourth.

India’s Shamim Khan took fifth place at six-under-282.

4th National Conference on Physical Education & Sports Sciences (NCPESS-2018)

ON JANUARY 27, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

4th National Conference on Physical Education & Sports Sciences

Respected Sir/Mdm, greetings from PEFI

Happy to share that Physical Education Foundation of India (Under the Aegis of Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports) is organizing 4th National Conference on Physical Education & Sports (NPESS2018) in New Delhi from 09-10 February 2018.

Online Registration is available on:

http://pefindia.org/Conference 2018/index.html

Last date of Online Registration is 31st January 2018.

Conference Event page:

https://www.facebook.com/event s/1928442730756805/

For More Information, Please Contact:

Mr. Tarun Kumar – 9910147545

…for Healthy India

Dr. Piyush Jain

National Secretary

Physical Education Foundation of India (PEFI)

www.pefindia.org

Cell – 9212799477

No Sikh Regiment in Jan 26 parade undermining Sikh sacrifices: S. Sarna

ON JANUARY 27, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

NEW DELHI, Jan 26 Excluding the proud Sikh Regiment from the annual Jan 26 parade for a second year in a row isn’t a coincidence but a calculated move to undermine the Sikh sacrifices in the freedom movement and on the battlefield in independent India, SADD chief Paramjit Singh Sarna has observed.

Never before the present BJP government, whom the Badals extend unconditional support, has the Sikh-regiment been ever sidelined in India’s display of its might tothe world outside.“The Sikh soldiers marching on the Rajpath have been a proud symbol of bravery and sacri’ce. But not anylonger under the present dispensation,” said S. Sarna.The Cellular Jail in the Andamans stands as ahistoric reminder of the scale of the Sikh role in freedom movement. “Most of the prisoners condemned to Kala Pani by the British were Sikhs.

Their names are still written all over the plaques inside the Cellular Jail,” the SADD chief noted. “But it’s insulting that the Sikh Regiment has now been pulled out of the Republic Day parade when the Sikh soldiers from across the three services have an unmatched record of bravery in India’s wars with the neighbors and also in dangerous troubled zones.”

S. Sarna wondered why the Badals, especially union minister Harsimrat Badal, has not been able to ensure the Sikh Regiment was given its due place in the parade.

Trump proposes US citizenship plan

ON JANUARY 27, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

US President Donald Trump’s administration has unveiled a sweeping new immigration plan to Congress that offers 1.8 million young unauthorized immigrants known as “Dreamers” a path to citizenship over 10-12 years.

In a comprehensive reform that will be formally presented next week, Trump also asked Congress Thursday to eliminate the popular “green card lottery” program and severely restrict family immigration, steps analysts say could cut in half the more than one million foreign-born people moving to the country annually.

And in the name of halting illegal immigration, he has also demanded Congress budget $25 billion for a “trust fund” for constructing a wall on the US-Mexico border — a major plank of Trump’s White House campaign.

“The Department of Homeland Security must have the tools to deter illegal immigrants; the ability to remove individuals who illegally enter the United States, and the vital authorities necessary to protect national security,” a senior White House official told journalists.

The White House’s offer of a path to citizenship for the Dreamers was much wider than expected. Earlier it had suggested it was only open to granting citizenship to the 690,000 young immigrants registered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

But in exchange, Trump was asking Congress to make future legal immigration more difficult — and to shore up the Homeland Security Department’s toolbox and funding to crack down on the overall population of unauthorized immigrants, estimated at some 11 million, including Dreamers.

That could make the plan difficult to get past Democrats, no matter how strong they want the Dreamers reform.

“There is no public policy justification for cutting legal immigration in half. None,” said Democratic Senator Brian Schatz on Twitter.The plan represents a sharp shift in US immigration policies.

Trump promised during his 2016 presidential campaign a tough crackdown on illegal immigration but has extended this to narrowing the doors for legal immigrants and refugees.

The end of the lottery system — which was introduced in 1990 to diversify the origins of new immigrants — was expected and has support from some Democrats. Trump has argued the program has allowed people into the country who have supported Islamic extremists.

“This program is riddled with fraud and abuse and does not serve the national interest,” the White House said in a summary Thursday.

Trump however at least momentarily undermined his push against the lottery when, in immigration bill negotiations with lawmakers in early January, he complained about immigrants from what he reportedly dubbed “shithole” nations like Haiti, El Salvador and countries in Africa, sparking widespread outrage.

Trump has also argued for ending “chain” migration, the practice of allowing the extended family members of people who already have US citizenship to immigrate.

Thursday’s proposal said that to “protect the nuclear family,” family immigration would be only permitted for spouses and minor children.

The White House plan immediately provoked the ire of Democrats, who made clear they would likely fight to water down the changes in negotiations in coming weeks.

Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida, said a bill calling for a big crackdown on undocumented immigrants and new restrictions on legal entry for relatives might be a hard sell.

“If you start putting in all of these highly charged toxic issues, it’s just not going to work,” said Nelson.

Pro-immigration groups said the proposal would reduce overall immigration by half and was aimed at bringing more Caucasians into the country.

“$25 billion as ransom for Dreamers with cuts to legal immigration and increases to deportations doesn’t pass the laugh test,” said Democratic Representative Luis Gutierrez.

“The White House released a hateful, xenophobic immigration proposal that would slash legal immigration to levels not seen since the racial quotas of the 1920s,” said Lorella Praeli, director of immigration policy at the American Civil Liberties Union.

But Republican leaders in Congress voiced solid support: Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said the White House proposal was a “framework” for crafting a final immigration deal.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton, a hardline conservative, called Trump’s framework “generous and humane, while also being responsible.”

However, some conservatives were angered by the sweeping offer to Dreamers, which they say constitutes an amnesty that rewards law-breakers and sets a bad precedent for other undocumented immigrants.

“Any proposal that expands the amnesty-eligible population risks opening Pandora’s box,” said Michael Needham, chief executive of the right-wing lobby Heritage Action.

“That should be a non-starter,” he said.

Commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 30th January 2018

ON JANUARY 27, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

INVITATION: Commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 30th January 2018

Dear Media colleagues,

Please carry a Photo ID with you to facilitate your entry into the UN Premises; and follow standard security procedures.

RAJIV CHANDRAN

National Information Officer

United Nations Information Centre

for India and Bhutan

55, Lodi Estate, New Delhi 110003

SADD condemns Sirsa’s sectarian statement

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

SADD condemns Sirsa’s sectarian statement, asks Badals if they sanctioned it

NEW DELHI, Jan 29 — MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa’s statement on Tipu Sultan is aimed at turning two minorities against each other and is part of dangerous sectarian politics perpetrated in the country by bigger forces, SADD chief Paramjit Singh Sarna has declared.

Sirsa, who is historically and religiously completely illiterate, was heard referring to 1970 as a period for Tipu Sultan to have written some letters when the Mysore king had died long back in 1799.“Illiterate Sirsa was clearly parroting what was dictated to him by Nagpur. If he was a true Sikh, he would have no business whatsoever raising a non-issue ofTipu Sultan’s portraits in the Delhi assembly into a Sikh versus Muslim matter. But he did it brazenly at the behest of communal forces,” S. Sarna noted.He asked the Badals if they had issued a prior sanction to Sirsa to raise completely uncalled-for objections over the Mysore ruler’s posters. “If he did what hedid came after Badals’ approval, then the father-son duo must now hang their heads in shame,” the SADD president thundered.

S. Sarna recalled how Sirsa smiled sheepishly standing beside Sadhvi Jyoti when she made a disgusting comment at an election rally few years ago.“Uneducated Sirsa, who’s raised on drug and extortion money, has become Nagpur’s agent in the turban to drive their divisive agenda forward.

His every public statement, every gesture is dictated by the anti-minority, anti-Muslim Sangh Parivar that treats even the Sikhs as menial bodyguards of the Hindus,” S.Sarna observed. He’s a shame on the Sikh community, the SADD president said. “The Sikhs have no truck with brokers and middlemen of communalism. Given Sirsa’s statement, we don’t know if the Badals qualify to be called Sikhs any longer.

Kulwinder Singh Mattoo

Advocate

West Bengal stretch of Prime Minister Urja Ganga Pipeline Project begins

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

GAIL commences construction work for the West Bengal stretch of Prime Minister Urja Ganga Pipeline Project.

New Delhi, 29th January, 2018: GAIL (India) Limited has started pipeline construction work in the state of West Bengal for providing gas supply to Matix Fertilizers, Durgapur. This project is being executed as a part of ‘Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga’ pipeline project i.e. Jagdishpur-Haldia & Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL) project and is being executed on a fast track basis. A total of 555 Km long pipeline with an approved cost of approximately Rs. 2700 crore in West Bengal will pass through eight districts like Puruliya, Bankura, Burdwan, Nadia, Hooghly, Howrah, East Medinapur and 24 North Paragana. Further project activities for execution of pipeline in the state of West Bengal upto Haldia and City Gas Distribution in Kolkata are also expected to commence shortly.

The prestigious 2655 Km long JHBDPL project was inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India in July’2015. The project is progressing in full swing. The pipeline will pass through the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha.

The project is being executed in a phased manner. Phase I consists of pipeline network from Phulpur – Dobhi with spurlines to Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Patna and Barauni (755 Km) and is scheduled to be completed by Dec ‘18. Phase II of the project beyond Dobhi (Gaya) towards Durgapur Haldia & Bokaro – Ranchi and Angul – Dhamra (1900 Km) is scheduled to be completed progressively by Dec’20.

The project will usher Industrial development in Eastern part of India by supplying environmentally clean Natural Gas to Fertilizer & Power plant, Refineries, Steel plants and other Industries. Further, the arrival of the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga will provide direct and indirect employment to thousands of people.

The project will also provide clean energy to households and transportation in the cities en-route the pipeline. The City gas Network laying activity in Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Ranchi and Cuttack has already commenced and activities in other cities namely Patna and Jamshedpur will start by next month. The pilot project in Bhubaneshwar for providing PNG & CNG has already been inaugurated in October 2017 & December 2017 respectively, by Hon’ble Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship.

Nine dead in Mexico shooting

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Mexican authorities investigating killing of nine men at a house in Monterrey, said Sunday small local drug-trafficking groups appeared to be involved but not major drug cartels.

The men were watching a football match on television on Saturday when armed attackers burst into the house, herded women into the bathroom and then opened fire on the men, the attorney general of the state of Nuevo Leon, Bernardo Gonzalez, said.

Seven men were killed on the spot and two others died of their wounds after being taken to local hospitals, he said.

Gonzalez said drugs were found in the house, and the attack appeared to involve local drug traffickers. But in an interview on local television, he insisted, “This is an isolated incident. It has nothing to do with a dispute between cartels in our state.”

Monterrey, an important industrial centre in northern Mexico, has been shaken by drug violence in recent years, stemming from a conflict between the Gulf and Zeta cartels.Omar Trevino, the Zeta leader known as Z-42 and considered one of Mexico´s most ruthless drug bosses, was arrested in 2015 in a posh Monterrey suburb.

Israel seek Polish clarification

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Israel seek Polish clarification, on Nazi death camps.

Israel summoned a top Polish diplomat today to express concerns over legislation Warsaw was advancing regarding the Holocaust and the definition of Nazi death camps. Poland’s rightwing-dominated Parliament adopted legislation on Friday setting a maximum three-year jail term for anyone who accuses the Polish nation or state of complicity with Nazi crimes, or who refers to Nazi German death camps as being Polish.

The measure, intended to apply to both Poles and foreigners, must still pass the Senate before being signed by the President. The Foreign Ministry said the charge d’affaires for Poland’s embassy in Israel, Piotr Kozlowski, was summoned to for a “clarification” with senior officials. A statement of the said, Israel’s opposition to the wording of the bill was expressed to him. The timing of the bill — the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day — was particularly surprising and unfortunate.

Late on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Poland of seeking to deny history with the bill. Polish officials routinely request corrections when global media or politicians describe as “Polish” former death camps such as Auschwitz set up by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland.

Yemen PM accuses separatists take over of Aden

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Yemen’s Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher has accused separatist forces backed by UAE of staging a coup in the city of Aden after they took over government headquarters. He also called on the Saudi-led military coalition to intervene, stressing that UAE was the decision-maker in the city.

Clashes broke out yesterday between the army of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is supported by Saudi Arabia, and UAE-backed forces seeking separation from the country’s north.

Reports BBC, at least 10 people have died and dozens of people are reported injured. The development further complicates an already dire situation in Yemen, where millions need aid.

UK May faces fresh challenge on Brexit

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

British Prime Minister Theresa May faces new challenges to her flagship Brexit law through parliament after lawmakers demanded changes only a day before parliament’s upper house begins to debate the legislation. The House of Lords Constitution Committee said in a report published today that the legislation to end Britain’s European Union membership has fundamental flaws, including ministerial powers it considers too sweeping.

The Lords committee expressed concern that the government will use the Brexit process to reshape EU laws without proper parliamentary scrutiny as they move into British law. It urged the government to reach agreement about which powers currently held in Brussels will return to Britain’s central government and which will be devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The legislation was cleared by the House of Commons this month and will come before the upper house- House of Lords tomorrow.

Japan and France meet for defense cooperation.

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Japan and France have agreed to boost defense cooperation.

Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera met with his French counterpart Florence Parly in Tokyo on Saturday. Onodera said France, with its vast exclusive economic zone in the Pacific region, is Japan’s special partner. Two ministers agreed to boost bilateral cooperation to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Ministers confirmed that North Korea’s nuclear and missile development poses a grave and imminent threat to the international community and have agreed to use all possible measures to step up pressure against the North to a maximum level.

Both ministers agree to conduct joint military drills on land and at sea.

Onodera and Parly then inspected a Japanese Self-Defense Force unit in charge of PAC3 interceptor missiles deployed in the Defense Ministry compound.

Onodera later told reporters that they also spoke in the meeting about China’s maritime activities in the South China Sea.

ASSOCHAM INDUSTRY-MEDIA INTERACTION ON UNION BUDGET 2018-19

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

To
– Managing Committee Members
– Patron Members
– Promoter Chambers
– Corporate Associates
– Associated Chambers
– Ordinary Members

ASSOCHAM INDUSTRY-MEDIA INTERACTION ON UNION BUDGET 2018-19
Thursday, 1 February 2018
Hotel: The Shangri-La, New Delhi

On the occasion of presentation of Union Budget by the Hon’ble Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley ji on Thursday, 1st February 2018. ASSOCHAM would be organizing a budget viewing session at Hotel Shangri-La, New Delhi at 10.00 a.m. on Thursday.

The TV channels which will cover the Industry interaction comprise:

CNBC Awaaz
ZEE Business
Bloomberg UTV
Headlines Today, AAJ TAK
NewsX
News Nation
News 24
ABP News
DD News
Sahara News
India News
Live India
ANI

In view of your acceptance in media as well stature of your industry, may I call upon you to kindly participate in the event at 10.00 a.m. on February 1, 2018 at Hotel The Shangri-La, New Delhi. The Interaction will be followed by Lunch.

I hope my request will be favourably considered.

We look forward for your kind cooperation.

With warm regards,

Yours sincerely,

D.S. Rawat
Secretary General
—————————— ———————–
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India
ASSOCHAM Corporate Office
5, Sardar Patel Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi – 110 021
Tel: 011-46550555 Fax: 23017008/9

M6.6 – southwest of Africa

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Preliminary Earthquake Report
Magnitude	6.6
Date-Time	28 Jan 2018 16:03:04 UTC 28 Jan 2018 16:03:04 near epicenter 28 Jan 2018 20:03:04 standard time in your timezone
Location	53.050S 9.645E
Depth	10 km
Distances	2204.9 km (1367.0 mi) SSW of Hermanus, South Africa 2215.7 km (1373.7 mi) SSW of Bredasdorp, South Africa 2223.8 km (1378.7 mi) SSW of Retreat, South Africa 2227.4 km (1381.0 mi) SSW of Grabouw, South Africa 2236.3 km (1386.5 mi) SSW of Cape Town, South Africa
Location Uncertainty	Horizontal:

” Safe Spaces”

ON JANUARY 28, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

“Safe Spaces” Offer Psychosocial Support to Rohingya Women

Cox’s Bazar – “The reason we have the mirror is that after everything that has happened to them, many of the women cannot bear to look at themselves,” says Lufta Bokshi, a psychosocial support officer who is helping Rohingya women refugees in Bangladesh come to terms with life after fleeing deadly violence and rape in Myanmar.

“We encourage them to look in the mirror so they can see they are still beautiful and that life can still be beautiful too,” she says.

At this new women’s safe space created by IOM, the UN Migration Agency, for Rohingya women in one of Cox’s Bazar’s vast refugee camps, a lot of work has gone into making things beautiful with the most basic of materials.

Outside, a sunflower is already showing its face in the newly planted garden. Inside, colourful hand-made paper flowers adorn the walls.

Despite the clamour and the chaos outside – where life in the camp is noisy and hard and holds many dangers – inside the security of the high bamboo fence that protects this space, a feeling of calm and safety reigns.

Only women are allowed to enter. Even the guard, who sits in a little bamboo cabin at the entrance, is female. And for those who come here, that matters so much.

IOM has recently opened four such spaces, with another four more planned and set to become operational in coming weeks.

“The spaces play a vital role in ensuring women and adolescent girls have somewhere they feel safe to express themselves, access important information, develop social networks, and strengthen their resilience to find positive ways to cope in the future,” said Megan Denise Smith, an IOM operations officer in Cox’s Bazar specializing in cases of gender-based violence (GBV).

More than 688,000 Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar since a major upsurge in violence in Myanmar’s North Rakhine State in August 2017.

While women at the centre say they feel safer here than they did in Myanmar, the violence and loss that they and their families experienced in Myanmar are experiences that remain with them in Bangladesh. The space to discuss their worries past and present helps them to develop coping mechanisms.

“When we share our worries with our sisters here, we feel much better. I feel happy because we can learn things from each other,” says Asama*, a young mother who attends the centre.

“In Myanmar we weren’t used to this. We never got a chance to get together to gossip, because the [authorities] thought that when we got together in a group we were organizing something against them.”

When women in the camps mention “family problems” they may be referring to normal ups and downs in relationships. But Mostafizur Rahman, an IOM psychologist, explains that usually they mean that they are trying to cope with the loss of one or more relatives in the violence they fled.

Raysuana, a participant in a focus group about what kind of support women attending the centres need, scores her relationship with close family and other relatives as 2 out of a possible 5. She says she doesn’t have any immediate family left. They all died in Myanmar.

The opportunity to discuss feelings out loud in a secure and supportive environment is crucial, according to staff and the women who attend the spaces. In Rohingya traditional society, women are rarely afforded the opportunity to speak up publicly. Here, they say, they can talk “fruitfully”, free from the “dominance of men”.

“When I stay in my own house, I worry more. But in the safe space I can be with other people who are similar to me and we can share our emotions,” says Fatima, another focus group participant.

At the IOM safe spaces women receive individual and group counselling. There are also craft materials, board games and television, where they can watch films and other programmes to help them build up their confidence and resilience.

“I can’t sleep at night for thinking about all the different things we can do (to help) these women,” says Bokshi, whose local organization PULSE is an IOM partner at the safe spaces.

Women and girls in the camps need psychosocial support not just to deal with the violence and traumatic experiences of the past, but also the current difficulties that they now face. The everyday challenges of surviving in a place surrounded by hundreds of thousands of strangers; coping with a life lived under tarpaulins, reliant on food aid just to survive; and the increased risk of gender-based violence that comes with life in a refugee camp.

Women and adolescent girls who visit the safe spaces also learn about the dangers of human trafficking. This is a very real risk in the camps, where traffickers can lure vulnerable adults and children with promises of good jobs and a better life, but in reality deal in slavery, forced labour, sexual exploitation and other abuses.

There is no single solution to finding ways to offer support to women in the refugee camps. While stories of violence, rape and loss are all too common, each person’s experience and response is unique.

But the IOM safe spaces offer a place for women to come together and find their strengths as individuals and through shared experiences.

The mirror is not just used in psychosocial support sessions. “When the women come in here, they are able to take off their head scarves away from the view of men. They can use the mirror to apply face cream or put on some make up. Little things. But things that give them a chance to feel normal,” says Bokshi.

During the past week, IOM responded to 159 protection/gender-based violence (GBV) cases. Since the start of the current crisis in August 2017, IOM has identified 15,151 extremely vulnerable individuals. Some 447 GBV cases have been assisted through IOM’s case management. Another 4,153 individuals have received psychosocial first aid and 24 victims of trafficking have been identified and assisted.

(*Some names have been changed for protection reasons.)

For more information please contact Fiona MacGregor at IOM Cox’s Bazar. Email: fmacgregor@iom.int, Tel. +8801733335221

CEA operations ?

ON JANUARY 28, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

CEA Operated As Commission Agents $250b Junk Investment

January27, 2018 (C) Ravinder Singh progressindia2015@gmail.com

This following Shocking discovery was made while investigating reports of India slipping to 177 Rank out of 180 in Environmental Index. Since CEA doesn’t give Capital Expenditure & Performance report I had to rely on data of Capacity Additions in 4 years.

In fight against Corruption things have worsened, when things could have improved substantially. Just as I was writing this BRPL Power Supply was tripped and Switched on 4 Times. A 1000 KVA Transformer was Switched On & Off as UNSKILLED Labor of BRPL was repairing a Temporary SINGLE PHASE Connection of building under construction.

$250b CEA JUNK GRADE POWER INVESTMENTS IN 4 YEARS

Here in the CEA data generation growth in 4 Years is only 24.7%since 2014, 241 BU

and Consumption Growth just 180 BU which is average power demand of only 27,511 MW – Consumer Requirement 20,500 MW, Peak Demand growth 30,937 MW in 4 Years.

Description	3/2014	3/2015	3/2016	3/2017	12/2017	3/2018*	4 Yrs	Cost Rs. Lakh Cr
Capacity Add MW	17,825	22,566	23,977	14,210	4,765	9,094	69,874	5,00,000
Peak Demand MW	129,815	141,460	148,463	156,934	160,752	160,752	28.3%
EHT Trans Lines Km	16,748	22,101	28,114	26,300	16,236	20,760	97,275	1,50,000
EHT Transform MVA	57,330	65,554	62,849	81,816	63,765	85,536	271,269	3,50,000
Generation BU	967	1,048	1,108	1,160	903	1,206	24.7%

*Expected based on April-Dec2017 Trend.

CEA and Ministry of Power Spent Rs.10,00,000 Cr to Supply Average Growth in Consumer Consumption of only 20,500 MW. Railways & Coal Ministry also Invested say Rs.2,00,000 Cr, States spend Rs.1,50,000 Cr on HT & LT Distribution Infra, their Loses Rs.2,50,000 Cr. = Rs.16,00,000 Cr.

Ø Alternate CLEAN Option 1. India could have 100,000 MW Multipurpose Hydro Power producting 400 BU of Power, Storage of 200 BCM, Canals + T&D Lines.

Ø Alternate CLEAN Option 2. India could have installed 4,00,000 MW of Solar Rooftops or Solar Farms producing 600 BU of Clean Power Annually.

Ø Alternate CLEAN Option 3. India could have installed 60,000 MW of ‘Mitsubishi Advanced Nuclear Reactors’ in Coastal zones.

Ø Alternate CLEAN Option 4. This Inventor Led ‘ENERGY EFFICIENCY’ Program – Cost Rs.16,000 Cr as Consultancy – Rs.84,000 Cr Invest – saving 200 BU of Power + Rs.15,00,000 Cr for Industry/Food Processing Farm to Fork Program.

Ø OUTCOME – INDIA RANKED AMONG TOP 30 CLEANEST COUNTRIES

Ø ADD $TRILLION TO GDP GROWTH – HEALTHY HUNGER FREE INDIA

Ravinder Singh, Inventor & Consultant, INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND PROJECTS

Y-77, Hauz Khas, ND -110016, India. Ph: 091- 8826415770, 9871056471, 9650421857

Delhi Traders Bandh

ON JANUARY 28, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

28th January, 2018

TRADERS 48 HOURS DELHI TRADE BANDH IS GETTING MOMENTUM

ALL MARKETS ACROSS DELHI WILL REMAIN CLOSED

The resentment and anguish of the traders of Delhi against ongoing sealing is increasing day by day leading to a call of 48 hours Delhi Trade Bandh on forthcoming 2nd & 3rd February by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). Support to Trade Bandh is began pouring in as the Delhi Hindustani Mercantile Association has declared to shut down Chandni Chowk market during the Trade Bandh and on the other side the North Delhi Traders Federation has also declared its support and entire North Delhi will remain closed. Closed to the heels the Ashok Vihar Vyapar Mandal and South Extension Market Association has also declared to remain closed. It is expected that during next two days, most of the markets in Delhi will officially declare their support.All wholesale, retail & commercial markets in Delhi shall remain closed for 48 hours.

CAIT Secretary General Mr. Praveen Khandelwal said that decision of Delhi Trade Bandh was taken yesterday at a meeting of Delhi Traders attended by representatives of about 500 leading Trade Associations from all corners of Delhi. The traders are agitated as they feel that under the guise of stopping misuse of buildings they are being targeted in a most arbitrary manner without giving any opportunity of placing their defence.What to say of defence, they are even not being informed of the offence committed by them and just a single line order to seal their business establishments has become the order of the day. It is pity that in a Country where terrorist like Qasab is given enough opportunity to place his defence, the traders of Delhi are being denied the right of show cause notice and opportunity of hearing as also making appeal to Appellate Tribunal & Administrator of Delhi.

Mr. Khandelwal informed that the first plan of the City was drawn in the year 1865 & 1866 by Lala Hardeo Das & Tika Ram under the superintendence of Mr. E.J.Martin, Executive Engineer which also contains several areas as Commercial and later on commercial activities keep increasing and were declared as Commercial or Mixed Land Use by the Authorities. But no one is bothered to study these areas and more interested in sealing of commercial establishments.

Not only Indian Jurisprudence but even Principle of Natural Justice lay great emphasis on following the due process of law before taking any punitive action. But in the matter of sealing the traders are mercilessly being deprived of these rights though the provisions of Delhi Municipal Corporation Act are explicit and clear.In case of misuse of building the Commissioner under Section 466A & 467 is duty bound to first make a complaint with the Municipal Magistrate within six months from the date when such misuse is came to his knowledge .Any complaint made after six months is liable to be rejected and no action can be taken.The facts of existence of offence can be borrowed from MCD record itself as under Section 124 MCD has to maintain a Municipal Assessment Book which contains details of user of all properties in Delhi.The MCD is under obligation to issue a Show Cause Notice under Section 343(1) with sufficient time to be given to reply.Even after the order of Commissioner to take punitive action, the person under Section 347B (O) (i) can make first appeal to Appellate Tribunal and then to Administrator of Delhi i.e. Lt. Governor. It is more interesting to note that so far Commissioner under Section 419 has not prohibited any area for commercial use. All these rights are snatched and the sealing is being done in a most anarchic manner leading to gross violation of MCD Act.

SADD condemns Sirsa’s sectarian statement

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

SADD condemns Sirsa’s sectarian statement, asks Badals if they sanctioned it

Kulwinder Singh Mattoo

Advocate

West Bengal stretch of Prime Minister Urja Ganga Pipeline Project begins

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

GAIL commences construction work for the West Bengal stretch of Prime Minister Urja Ganga Pipeline Project.

Nine dead in Mexico shooting

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Mexican authorities investigating killing of nine men at a house in Monterrey, said Sunday small local drug-trafficking groups appeared to be involved but not major drug cartels.

Seven men were killed on the spot and two others died of their wounds after being taken to local hospitals, he said.

Israel seek Polish clarification

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Israel seek Polish clarification, on Nazi death camps.

Yemen PM accuses separatists take over of Aden

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Clashes broke out yesterday between the army of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is supported by Saudi Arabia, and UAE-backed forces seeking separation from the country’s north.

Reports BBC, at least 10 people have died and dozens of people are reported injured. The development further complicates an already dire situation in Yemen, where millions need aid.

UK May faces fresh challenge on Brexit

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Japan and France meet for defense cooperation.

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Japan and France have agreed to boost defense cooperation.

Both ministers agree to conduct joint military drills on land and at sea.

Onodera and Parly then inspected a Japanese Self-Defense Force unit in charge of PAC3 interceptor missiles deployed in the Defense Ministry compound.

Onodera later told reporters that they also spoke in the meeting about China’s maritime activities in the South China Sea.

ASSOCHAM INDUSTRY-MEDIA INTERACTION ON UNION BUDGET 2018-19

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

To
– Managing Committee Members
– Patron Members
– Promoter Chambers
– Corporate Associates
– Associated Chambers
– Ordinary Members

ASSOCHAM INDUSTRY-MEDIA INTERACTION ON UNION BUDGET 2018-19
Thursday, 1 February 2018
Hotel: The Shangri-La, New Delhi

The TV channels which will cover the Industry interaction comprise:

CNBC Awaaz
ZEE Business
Bloomberg UTV
Headlines Today, AAJ TAK
NewsX
News Nation
News 24
ABP News
DD News
Sahara News
India News
Live India
ANI

I hope my request will be favourably considered.

We look forward for your kind cooperation.

With warm regards,

Yours sincerely,

M6.6 – southwest of Africa

ON JANUARY 29, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Preliminary Earthquake Report
Magnitude	6.6
Date-Time	28 Jan 2018 16:03:04 UTC 28 Jan 2018 16:03:04 near epicenter 28 Jan 2018 20:03:04 standard time in your timezone
Location	53.050S 9.645E
Depth	10 km
Distances	2204.9 km (1367.0 mi) SSW of Hermanus, South Africa 2215.7 km (1373.7 mi) SSW of Bredasdorp, South Africa 2223.8 km (1378.7 mi) SSW of Retreat, South Africa 2227.4 km (1381.0 mi) SSW of Grabouw, South Africa 2236.3 km (1386.5 mi) SSW of Cape Town, South Africa
Location Uncertainty	Horizontal: