Monday, May 23, 2016

Government to auction 2,000 megahertz of spectrum

May 23, 2016

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that the government will auction 2,000 megahertz of spectrum in the next 2 to 3 months. Speaking at an Assocham event in New Delhi , he said the government will go for one of the highest ever auction of 2,000 megahertz so that industry players have ample spectrum available.

Mr Prasad said, at base price recommended by Trai, the auction has potential to fetch bids worth 5.36 lakh crore rupees. The auction conducted in 2015 fetched bids worth 1.1 lakh crore rupees the highest ever received in any spectrum auction held in India.

Western Disturbance lashed the capital,HP

May 23, 2016

Light showers owing to a Western Disturbance had lashed the capital yesterday but failed to bring any respite as the maximum temperature again crossed the 45 degrees Celsius mark.

Rain lashed the national capital Saturday with a massive dust storm in the dusk hous bringing much-awaited respite to Delhiites reeling under hot weather conditions for the past several days.The weatherman has also predicted overnight showers in some areas which is expected to bring down the mercury by few notches.

Rain lashed several parts of Himachal Pradesh this afternoon including tribal district of Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur. Thunderstorm has been also reported from various districts which uprooted roofs of houses, sign boards and trees. Due to dark clouds the visibility was so low in the day that the drivers have to drive their vehicles with the help of headlights.

In remote Dodra Kawar area of Shimla district roofs of at least six houses and some government buildings were uprooted in the thunderstorm. The maximum and minimum temperature has decreased by four to five degrees throughout in the state. The met department has predicted rain during next 24 hours and warnings of thunderstorm at several places in low as well as middle hills have been also issued.

Jayalalithaa sworn-in as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister

May 23, 2016

AIADMK Supremo Ms. Jayalalithaa has been sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu today. Governor Dr.K. Rosaiah administered the oath of office and secrecy for her at a grand ceremony held at the Centenary Auditorium, Madras University at 12 noon. State Governor Dr.Rosaiah administered the pledge for the 28 ministers also. The University was decked up neatly in white and green for the occasion. The Ministers were administered swearing in pledge in batches.

This is Jayalalithaa’s second consecutive term as chief minister, and sixth overall. Her first term was between 1991-96, During her second year term in 2001 she was out of office for six months after she was unseated by Supreme Court vis-a-vis electoral disqualification in the TANSI case and was sworn in again.

She completed a successful five year term in 2001 to 2006. In 2011 to 2016 she was out of office from September 29,2014 to May 22, 2015 after being disqualified as a legislator and consequently lost chief ministership following her conviction in a graft case by a trial court in Bengaluru which was later set aside by Karnataka High Court.

The main opposition party, DMK’s treasurer M.K.Stalin attended the swearing in ceremony along with 14 MLAs elected from Chennai. Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu and Pon Radhakrishnan attended the meeting and extended greetings on behalf of the Prime Minister. Amidst loud cheers a smiling Ms. Jayalalithaa began her oath as the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu.

After the swearing in she went to the Secretariat and signed in five important files including cancellation of loans to micro small and medium farmers who acquired loan through cooperative units, closing down of State owned liquor outlets in phases beginning with closing down of 500 shops,giving 100 units of electricity for free of charge, increase from four to eight grams of gold for wedlock for brides who have completed degree and diplomas in addition to financial assistance.

India’s first reusable space shuttle, RLV-TD launched

May 23, 2016

India successfully launched its maiden indigenous winged Reusable Launch Vehicle, RLV from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh at 7 am today. Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO said, the mission has been accomplished successfully. The Re-Usable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator, RLV-TD, that is ultimately aimed at putting satellites into orbit around earth and then re-enter atmosphere, was carried up on a solid rocket motor.

The nine-metre long rocket weighs 11 tonnes. Very similar in its looks to the US space shuttle, the double delta-winged RLV-TD being experimented is a scale model which is almost 6 times smaller than the final version. The 6.5 meter long RLV-TD has aeroplane like structure which weighs about 1.75 tons. The cost of this project is 95 crore rupees.

After launch from the Sriharikota spaceport, it glided back onto a virtual runway in the Bay of Bengal. The vehicle re-entered the atmosphere after reaching a height of over 70 km. The mission, known as the hypersonic flight experiment, lasted about 10 minutes. Earlier, explaining the importance of the experimental RLV, ISRO Chairman Kiran Kumar said, it is essentially an attempt by India to bring down the cost of making infrastructure in space.

President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO for the successful test of the RLV-TD. In his message, the President conveyed his congratulations to space scientists at ISRO for their achievement.

In a tweet, Mr Modi said, launch of India’s first indigenous space shuttle RLV-TD is the result of the industrious efforts of the scientists of ISRO. He said, the dynamism and dedication with which the scientists and ISRO have worked over the years is exceptional and very inspiring.

Team Swachh Chhattisgarh felicitated by Delhi Daredevils and UNICEF

May 23, 2016

Team Swachh Chhattisgarh felicitated by Delhi Daredevils and UNICEF

RAIPUR, 21st May 2016: A group of 30 young adolescent girls and boys from Rajnandagaon district of Chhattisgarh, were felicitated today by senior officials of the state government, the CEO of Delhi Daredevils team and UNICEF for their special feat in making their respective village’s open-defecation free.

These ‘Team Swachh’ champions also interacted with the members of Delhi Daredevils players. The interaction was held under the backdrop of the UNICEF and Delhi Daredevil’s joint initiative, ‘Dare to Care’, which urges Indian citizens and the large support base of Delhi Daredevils to advocate for the rights of adolescent girls, especially those who are excluded and marginalized.

Rahul Dravid, mentor Delhi Daredevils team, Imran Tahir, Mayank Aggarwal, Rishab Pant, J.P Duminy Hand commentator Ian Bishop shared cricketing experiences with the young boys and girls from Team Swacch. They also discussed the importance of separate toilets for girls in all schools, to E girls remain in school and don’t drop out.

Eighteen years old, Bharati who is a leader-champion, from Heeravahi village led the campaign by ensuring a toilet for every woman and girl of her village. Her inspiring story has highlighted the urgent need of toilets for women for their dignity and safety.

“Open defecation is not just only unhygienic, but unsafe for girls. We created awareness in our community about the need of building toilets through special projects. Today, while we have community toilets, people are making efforts to build private toilets as well,” she said.

According to Swachhta Status Report released by the National Sample Survey (NSS), more than half of the rural population in India still opts for open defecation. The survey estimates that 52.1 per cent of people in rural India choose open defecation as compared to 7.5 per cent in urban India.

Speaking to the media, Mr. M K Raut, Additional Chief Secretary, said, “I congratulate both Delhi Daredevils and UNICEF for the grand success of the initiative. I am confident, that our Team Swachh champions will help catalyse the larger public and create much-needed awareness on the importance of sanitation.” He added that the Govt has made significant strides in making the state free from open defecation, ensuring safety and dignity for women. At the time of launch of the SBM-G in 2014, we had only 20 ODF villages in Churiya block of Rajnandgaon to begin with. Our efforts have resulted in making 1850 villages open defecation free across the state.

Mr. Prasanta Dash, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Chhattisgarh, said, “UNICEF will continue to lend support to the state government in using Community Approaches to Total Sanitation (CATS) model to end open defecation with special focus on women and adolescent girls.”

Rahul Dravid said that through the ‘Dare to Care’ initiative with UNICEF, the team was successful in highlighting urgent issues of adolescents, particularly those related to education, child marriage, sanitation and participation. “I congratulate UNICEF and Government of Chhatisgarh for this fantastic campaign which talks about building toilets and impats so many lives especially the lives of the young girls, “he added.

Mr. Hemant Dua, CEO, Delhi Daredevils too lauded UNICEF’s efforts in engaging the adolescents. “I, along with my team, am proud to be associated with UNICEF and our collective ‘Dare to Care’ initiative. I am sure that the Team Swachh champions will help bowl out diseases from the lives of children,” he said.