AAP questioned the slapping of sedition charge on JNU students

FEBRUARY 15, 2016 | EDIT

AAP leaders Ashutosh and Dilip Pandey on Monday met the Special Commissioner (Law & Order) of Delhi Police, on the JNU issue.

The two leaders submitted two video clips to the Police and demanded action against those being seen in these clips.

The AAP is of the clear view that those who raised anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans should be strictly dealt with in accordance with law.

But, what is however, highly objectionable is the way Delhi Police has been treating innocent students and teachers.

AAP also questioned the slapping of sedition charge on JNU students uniojn president.

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On “Afghanistan – The Way Ahead”

FEBRUARY 15, 2016 | EDIT

Join us for a discussion with Former Ambassadors of India to Afghanistan On “Afghanistan – The Way Ahead”
EVENT DETAILS
DATE		Tuesday, February 23, 2016
TIME		4:30 PM  – 6:00 PM (Registration: 4:00 PM)
LOCATION		WWF Auditorium, 172-B, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi – 110003
SPEAKERS		Mr Vivek Katju, Former Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs Ambassador Jayant Prasad, Director General, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses  Mr Amar Sinha, Secretary, Economic Relations, Ministry of External Affairs Ambassador Rakesh Sood, Former Special Envoy of the Prime Minister for Disarmament & Non-Proliferation Issues
CHAIR		Ambassador Satinder K Lambah, Chairman, Ananta Aspen Centre and Former Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of India
ABOUT THE EVENT
Since 1973, Afghanistan has been in a state of turbulent transition marked by instability and internal conflict. External intervention by the neighbours and by the erstwhile superpowers during the 1970s and 1980s failed to bring peace to this land; instead it spawned the new threat of a globalised jihadi terrorism. Post 9/11, there emerged a collective effort, backed by the international community, to bring stability to this fractured land. Fifteen years later, the commitment of the international community is flagging and Afghanistan is still struggling to cope with political, economic and security challenges against the backdrop of rising violence and conflict. Taliban remains a threat even as IS is seeking to mark its presence in the region. Under the circumstances, will the economic pledges made at the Tokyo Conference translate into reality? Can the newly established Quadrilateral Coordination Group consisting of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the US help underwrite a peace process? How capable are the newly established Afghan institutions in facing these challenges? Against this background, the session will seek to provide insights by analysing trends for the near future, up to 2020, and how India should factor these into its Afghan policy.
Please respond by clicking one of the buttons below
SPEAKERS   Mr Vivek Katju, Former Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs Mr Vivek Katju joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1975. He served in the Indian Missions in Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Washington D.C., Suva and also served as Deputy High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur. He was Ambassador of India to Myanmar, Afghanistan and Thailand. Mr Katju served at the Ministry of External Affairs ( MEA) in various positions including as Joint Secretary (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran), as Additional and Special Secretary (Political and International Organisations). Mr Katju served as Secretary West in MEA from September 2009 to August 2011. Currently, he is an analyst, commentator and columnist.   Ambassador Jayant Prasad, Director General, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses Ambassador Jayant Prasad is Director General, Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi.  He was India’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, Algeria, Nepal, and the UN Conference on Disarmament, Geneva. He was Rapporteur of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, Geneva (1986-87), Fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University (1998-99), member of U.N. Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (2005-07), and Visiting Scholar, Center for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania (2014-15). Before his 37-year public service career, he was lecturer in history, St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, after completing his studies at Modern School, St. Stephen’s College, and Jawarharlal Nehru University.   Mr Amar Sinha, Secretary, Economic Relations, Ministry of External Affairs Amar Sinha joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1982. He is an Economics Graduate from Patna University and has worked with the State Bank of India for over two years before joining the Indian Foreign Service. During his diplomatic career, he has served in various capacities in Algiers (1983-87), Buenos Aires (1987-90), in the Ministry of External Affairs as Private Secretary to Minister of State for External Affairs, Chemicals & Fertilizers, Parliamentary Affairs and Department of Electronics and Ocean Development from July 91 to May 96. He then served as Director (BSM) in Ministry of External Affairs from June 1996 to July 1997 and as OSD to Minister of State for External Affairs from July 1997 to April 1998. He also held diplomatic positions in Indian Missions in Washington DC [1998-2001], Jakarta [2001-2004] and Brussels [2004-2007] before being appointed India’s Ambassador to Tajikistan (April 2007 to July 2010). During his last tenure in India [2010-2013], he was on deputation to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and served as Joint Secretary in the Trade Policy Division and the RMTR Division handling WTO related matters and issues related to multilateral economic negotiations. He also oversaw India’s participation in multilateral fora such as UNCTAD, APTA, BIMSTEC, G20, IBSA, BRICS, etc. After completion of his assignment in Kabul successfully as Ambassador of India to Afghanistan (June 2013 to January 2016), he has assumed the charge of the post of Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, on January 15, 2016. His charge includes Development Partnership, Africa, and countries in the Gulf and West Asia. He speaks Hindi, English, French and Spanish and is familiar with Dari. His interests include travelling, sports, reading and playing Bridge, Tennis and Golf. He has one son.   Ambassador Rakesh Sood, Former Special Envoy of the Prime Minister for Disarmament & Non-Proliferation Issues Ambassador Rakesh Sood is a Post Graduate in Physics and additionally in Economics and Defence studies. He has over 38 years of experience in the field of foreign affairs, economic diplomacy and international security issues. Before joining the Indian Foreign Service in 1976, Ambassador Sood worked for a couple of years in the private sector. Ambassador Sood initially served in the Indian missionsat Brussels, Dakar, Geneva and Islamabad in different capacities and as Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington, later in his career. He set up the Disarmament and International Security Affairs Division in the Foreign Ministry, which he led for eight years till the end of 2000. During this period, Ambassador Sood was in charge for multilateral disarmament negotiations, bilateral dialogues with Pakistan, strategic dialogues with other countries including US, UK, France and Israel (especially after the nuclear tests in 1998), and dealt with India’s role in the ASEAN Regional Forum, as part of the ‘look East’ policy. He then served as India’s first Ambassador – Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations in Geneva. He also chaired a number of international Working Groups including those relating to negotiations on landmines and cluster munitions and was a member of UN Secretary General’s Disarmament Advisory Board (2002-03). Subsequently, he was India’s Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2005 to early 2008, Ambassador to Nepal from 2008 to 2011 and to France from 2011 to March 2013. In September 2013, Ambassador Sood was appointed Special Envoy of the Prime Minister for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Issues; a position he held till May 2014. Since his retirement he has been writing and commentating regularly in both print and audio visual media on India’s foreign policy, its economic dimensions and regional &international security issues. He is a frequent speaker/contributor at various policy planning groups and reputed think-tanks in India and overseas.  CHAIR   Ambassador Satinder K Lambah, Chairman, Ananta Aspen Centre and Former Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of India Ambassador Satinder K Lambah was the Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of India from 2005-14 with the rank of Minister of State from 2010 onwards. He was the Co-Chairman of the Task Force on National Security 2011 – 2012.  Ambassador Lambah was the President of Association of Indian Diplomats in 2005. He was a Convener of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) in 2004-05 and the President of the Federation of Indo-German Societies in India from 2005-2014. He was the Special Envoy of the Government of India for Afghanistan and led the Indian delegation to the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan in 2001-02. In 2001, Ambassador Lambah Chaired a Committee on the Re-organization of Ministry of External Affairs and Indian missions abroad. Ambassador Lambah has served in several Missions abroad including as the Ambassador of India to the Russian Federation, Ambassador of India to the Federal Republic of Germany, High Commissioner of India to Pakistan, Consul General of India, San Francisco, and Ambassador of India to Hungary. He was Deputy Secretary General of the 7th Non Aligned Summit held in Delhi in 1983 and later Coordinator of the Commonwealth Heads of Governments meeting in India. His specializations include Economic Diplomacy and dealing with India’s neighbours. He opened the Indian Embassy in Bangladesh after liberation. He has been involved in many successful economic ventures. For instance, the first Export of an Indian Car (Sale of Maruti Cars) took place when he was Ambassador in Hungary. India’s largest investment ever upto that time of over $2 Billion in Sakhalin-I was made in 2001 when he was Ambassador in Russia. For this, in March 2015, he was conferred the “Urja Energy Security Award”. During his tenure as Consul General of India in San Francisco (1989-91) he was conferred a “Trustees’ Citation” by the University of California, Berkeley in 1991 for his initiating, coordinating, and spearheading the campaign which generated over US$2 million in a short span of four months for Indian Studies, resulting in the creation of two Chairs of  India Studies, a bi-annual lecture by a distinguished scholar from India, and an annual scholarship at the Graduate School of Journalism at U.C Berkeley. He is married to Nilima Lambah, author of “A Life Across Three Continents – Recollections of a Diplomat’s Wife”.

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LFC-DSK Academy to debut in IFA Shield

FEBRUARY 15, 2016 | EDIT

Pune, 15th February, 2016: Liverpool FC International Academy-DSK Shivajians shall make their debut and remain the sole representative from Maharashtra in the prestigious IFA Shield 2015-16, beginning in Kolkata on Tuesday, February 16, 2016.

LFC-DSK Academy is clubbed in Group-B along with Kolkata sides that include defending champions United S.C, Mohammedan Sporting, Mohun Bagan AC and La Liga youth squad Athletic Bilbao.

The Pune-based squad begins their campaign against recently crowned Under-18 I-League Champions AIFF Elite Academy in the tournament opener at the Barasat Stadium on the morrow.

LFC-DSK Academy, President, Shirish Kulkarni, said; “It is an honor for us to participate in this prestigious tournament. It provides us an opportunity to evaluate progress of our youth players amongst the best from India and the foreign participation and serves as a developmental curve for players both on and off the pitch.”

In Group-A, last year’s winners United Sports, Kingfisher East Bengal Club, Salgaocar FC, London-based Crystal Palace and a Qualifier will fight it out for top two positions.

Coached by Dave Rogers, the 18-man LFC-DSK Academy squad left for Kolkata on Sunday.

Instituted back in 1893, the IFA Shield is the fourth oldest cup tournament in the world after the after the English and Scottish FA Cup’s and the Durand Cup. Since last year the tournament is being conducted for Under-19 teams and follows a league cum knock out format.

THE SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Shubham Dhas, Iprotip Das

Defenders: Amey Ranawade, Lalnunsiama, Sairuat Kima, Safvan Muffed, Prashant K

Midfielders: K.Lalthathanga, Tenzin, Marchstarfield, Gagandeep Singh, Azaruddin S.K, Hitova AyemiRohit Kumar, Vanlalremkima

Strikers: Lallianzuala, Lalruatpuia, Mebanshan Suting

Head Coach: Dave Rogers, Academy Coach: Michael Rice, Physio: Samip Shah.

FIXTURES

16.2.2016: LFC-DSK Academy v AIFF Elite Academy (at Barasat Stadium)

20.2.2016: LFC-DSK Academy v Mohammedan Sporting (at Kalyani)

22.2.2016: LFC-DSK Academy v Athletic Bilbao(at Barasat Stadium)

25.2.2016: LFC-DSK Academy v Mohun Bagan AC (at Kalyani)

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PGTI Players Championship presented by Eagleton

FEBRUARY 15, 2016 | EDIT

PGTI Players Championship presented by Eagleton – The Golf Resort to feature some of India’s rising stars: 

Ø Prize purse of Rs. 30 lakh 

Ø Chikkarangappa, Shubhankar Sharma, Khalin Joshi, Udayan Mane, to headline field 

Eagleton – The Golf Resort, Bengaluru, February 15, 2016: The Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) will hold the second event of its landmark 10th season, the PGTI Players Championship presented by Eagleton – The Golf Resort, from February 16 – 19, 2016. The tournament carries a prize purse of Rs. 30 lakh.

The field will be highlighted by some of India’s rising stars such as local lads Chikkarangappa (2015 Rolex Ranking champion), Udayan Mane (2015 PGTI Emerging Player), Khalin Joshi as well as Gurgaon-based Shubhankar Sharma. All four youngsters will be playing their first PGTI event of the season.

The other top names in the field are current Rolex Ranking leader Feroz Ali Mollah, Mukesh Kumar, Shankar Das, Shamim Khan and Vikrant Chopra (joint 2nd in the Rolex Ranking), to name a few.

Bengaluru will be well-represented by M Dharma (joint 2nd in Rolex Ranking), C Muniyappa (former Indian Open champion), Abhishek Jha, R Murthy and Trishul Chinnappa besides the likes of Chikka, Mane and Joshi.

The field will also feature prominent foreign names such as N Thangaraja (Sri Lanka), Anura Rohana (Sri Lanka) and K Prabagaran (Sri Lanka).

The four rookies making their professional debut at Eagleton are Ankur Chadha from Gurgaon, Ashish Kumar Gupta from Lucknow, Rishiraj Singh Saini from Panchkula and Vashista S Pawar from Coimbatore.

Mr. Chetan Meda, Director, Eagleton – The Golf Resort, said, “We welcome all players to the PGTI Players Championship presented by Eagleton – The Golf Resort. Eagleton – The Golf Resort has nurtured Indian golfing talent for more than two decades and produced professionals such as Anirban Lahiri and Chikkarangappa who have gone on to win laurels for the country. We seek to continue playing an active role in promoting professional golf in the country through the staging of events such as the PGTI Players Championship.”

Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, Director, PGTI, said, “The return of the PGTI Players Championship to Eagleton – The Golf Resort bears testament to PGTI and Eagleton’s shared vision of growing Indian professional golf. Eagleton’s sustained efforts to promote the sport have thrown up some world-class talent such as Anirban Lahiri and Chikkarangappa. We seek to continue working with Eagleton by staging tournaments that create a platform to churn out more champions for the future.”

Chikkarangappa, who won PGTI’s last event at Eagleton, the TAKE Solutions India Masters 2015, will undoubtedly be the pre-tournament favourite once again. He is also fresh from his best-ever Asian Tour finish of tied fourth which was achieved at the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open last week.

The 22-year-old Chikka said, “It’s always special to come back and play on my home turf at Eagleton. I have a lot of good memories here. I’ve been in good form of late. I was pleased to achieve my target of winning the Rolex Ranking last year. The Asian Tour result last week provided me with the ideal start to the season.

“We’ve never really played at Eagleton at this time of the year. The wind will play an even greater role in the current weather conditions. The greens are soft and nice. If you putt well you can go really deep. I think the healthy competition between Shubhankar and me at the moment is good for both of us. We are both pushing each other to do better and taking our games to a higher level.”

Shubhankar Sharma, a rookie on the Asian Tour, will be another name to reckon with this week. Shubhankar, like Chikka, too posted his career-best result, a third place finish, on the Asian Tour last week. The 19-year-old, who lost in a playoff to Chikka at the same venue at the TAKE Solutions India Masters few months back, will be looking to set the record straight this time around.

Shubhankar said, “I’m quite satisfied with my start to the season. I achieved an important goal of mine by earning the Asian Tour card. I also battled hard in Dhaka last week to finish inside the top-3. I feel I’m now pretty comfortable playing in Asia and can perform well on a consistent basis there.

“Chikka will once again be the guy to beat here at Eagleton. He’s always in contention on his home ground. I think the toughest stretch of the course this week is from the second to the sixth. It’s a stretch were bad shots can pay a heavy price. Even if you are one or two under for those holes, it’s a good start.”

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A Magnificent Theatre Bazaar at Bharat Rang Mahotsav

FEBRUARY 15, 2016 | EDIT

New Delhi, 15th February, 2016: Travelling towards its next phase, 18th Bharat Rang Mahotsav has already filled theatre lovers with a surreal experience.

Indulging into different aspects of theatre, this festival has become a medium of setting a benchmark for theatre at single place. Including Ambience Performance, Allied Events, National-International Plays, this year Bharangam has facilitated Food Bazaar and Theatre Bazaar inviting experts from various states to showcase their art through setting stalls in the premises.

 

Handicrafts, Traditional Dresses, Madhubani Paintings, Mask Making, Books, Ornaments, stalls have been included in the 41 Stalls installed in the Theatre Bazaar where visitors can buy products according to their interest in Theatre.

Being manufactured in different states, each product has an emotion attached to its origin. Viewing the stalls, it is acknowledged, there are infinite colors of our country which NSD has assembled at a single platform.

Ayurvedic supplements including tulsi products are being preferred along with traditional jewellery.

Jaipur’s Mohammad Asif a.k.a King of Master has inherited 400 year old business of Bengals for 32 years and is displaying his stall of Laak ki Choodi for second year in Bharat Rang Mahotsav. Known for his talent of instant Choodi making, Asif can prepare Choodi of your choice of colors and material in few minutes. Visitors can buy bengals made of glass, stone or brass under the range of 50-300 Rupees.

In this 21-Day long festival, more than One Lakh people have been a part of it till now and have enjoyed different colors of theatre in NSD which increased their love for theatre.

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Team Swachh clinics in partnership with BCCI

FEBRUARY 15, 2016 | EDIT

ICC Cricket for Good & UNICEF launch Team Swachh clinics in partnership with BCCI

DHARAMSHALA, 15 February 2016 – Building up to the ICC World T20 in India, the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket for Good and UNICEF in partnership with BCCI launched the Team Swachh clinics during the ICC WT20 Host City Tour. This is to promote a nationwide initiative that aims to build a social movement for sanitation and toilet use there by leading to an open-defecation-free India.

The ICC WT20 Men’s and Women’s trophies travelled on the Nissan Trophy Tour float through the picturesque town of Dharamsala. Exhilarated fans got the opportunity to photograph themselves with the ICC WT20 Trophies.

A  specially designed double-decker bus carried the children  from a local NGOs and Rishi Dhawan. Local hero, Rishi Dhawan interacted with his fans as the cavalcade made its way to

Playing cricket-based games with the children along with advocating the use of toilets, Rishi Dhawan engaged with the childrenwhen sharing cricketing tips and discussing the importance of hygiene and sanitation in the specially designed Team Swachh WASH clinic set up inside the HPCA stadium.

Calling the initiative a ‘social movement for sanitation’, Ms. Caroline Den Dulk, Chief of Communication, UNICEF India said, “The idea of team and team play is at the core of the Team Swachh initiative and it leverages the vast passion of the sport in the country to advocate toilet use and save lives of children”.

After Dharamsala, the ICC WT20 Host City Tour will visit each of the venues that will host the ICC WT20 matches. It will travel to Mohali on 16th February, followed by New Delhi (18th Feb), Kolkata (24th Feb), Nagpur (27th Feb), Chennai (1st March), Bangalore (3rd March), and Mumbai (6th March 2016).

Earlier in October 2015, the ICC Cricket For Good and UNICEF launched a five-year global partnership in New York. They decided to engage the broader cricketing community to empower children and adolescents. In particular, during the many ICC events over the next five years, they will develop and implement various community outreach programmes and initiatives in collaboration with coaches, cricketers and cricketing personalities.

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FEBRUARY 15, 2016 | EDIT

PRESS INVITATION

Friday Cine Entertainment cordially invites

You to attend the cover of Press conference and

To share with you the uniqueness of their latest Hindi Film

Ishq Forever

To be addressed by:

Lisa Ray (International model and actress- ‘Kasoor’ fame)

Javed Jaffrey

Ruhi Singh (former Miss India- ‘Calendar Girls’ fame)

Krishna Chaturvedi

Time   :  3:30 p.m
Date    : 16th February (Tuesday)
Venue : Spice Cinemas, Sec 25-A, Noida