2015 Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar Award

Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma was presented with 2015 Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar Award for life time achievement. The prestigious award was bestowed upon him by Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao in Mumbai, Maharashtra. About Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma Born: January 13, 1938 in Jammu and Kashmir. He is instrumental for making the Santoor a popular Classical Instrument which is folk instrument from Jammu and Kashmir. As a master instrumentalist of the Santoor he had recorded his first solo album in 1960. Later in 1967, he teamed up with flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia and Brij Bhushan Kabra to produce a concept album Call of the Valley. This album was one of the greatest hits in Indian Classical Music. He has composed music for numerous Hindi films and made his debut background music in Hindi film Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje (1956). Awards and Honours: He is recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1986), Padma Shri (1991) and Padma Vibhushan (2001). About Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar Award The award has been instituted in 1996 by the Sangit Kala Kendra headed by Rajashree Birla. Few of the past recipients of the award are Lata Mangeshkar, Pt Bhimsen Joshi, Pt Jasraj, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, Pt Ram Narayan, M F Hussain etc. The Sangit Kala Kendra was founded in 1973 by late industrialist Mr Aditya Vikram Birla to encourage and nurture the various visual and performing arts.

Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile

Indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile was successfully test-fired by the Indian Army. The missile test was carried out by Strategic Force Command (SFC) from a mobile launcher at launch complex-3 from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha. About Prithvi-II Missile Prithvi-II is a tactical short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) developed by indigenously by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It has been developed under Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) and currently deployed by India’s Strategic Forces Command (SFC). The missile is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1,000 kg of warheads. It has been designed to operate with both liquid and solid fuel twine engines and has strike range of 350 km. It has the ability to dodge enemy missiles and uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory to hit its target. The missile was inducted into Indian armed forces in 2003.

2015 UNESCO Fellini Medal

Marathi film Katyar Kaljat Ghusali and Bengali film Cinemawala are among the twelve films shortlisted for prestigious 2015 UNESCO Fellini Medal. Katyar Kaljat Ghusali has been directed by actor-turn director Subodh Bhave, while Kaushik Gangualy has directed Cinemawala. International Film Festival India (IFFI) 2015 in collaboration with the Paris based International Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication (ICFT) will present a Fellini Medal for first time in India. The award will be bestowed upon film, which reflects the ideals promoted by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Other films competing for 2015 edition of Fellinin Medal are: Mina Walking, Among the Believers, The Last Reel, Embrace of the Serpent, Land and Shade, The Pearl Button, Enclave, Wawa no Cidal, Ain and Valiya Chirakulla Pakshikal. About UNESCO Fellini Medal UNESCO’s Member States had instituted this prize in 1995 after passing resolution on General Conference for the safeguarding of the cinematographic heritage. The first Fellini medal was unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1995. It was instituted after death of Italian film director Federico Fellini in 1993 as an appeal to the international community to participate in a campaign to keep the seventh art alive.

China is building the world’s biggest animal cloning factory

China is building the world’s biggest animal cloning factory to recreate sniffer dogs, racehorses, pets and beef cattle. In this regard, Chinese scientists have signed a deal to create a commercial animal cloning centre in Tianjin, north-eastern China. Key facts The factory would be built in the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area (TEDA) which is a business development park sponsored by the government. It is joint project of Chinese biotechnology firm Boyalife and South Korea’s Sooam Biotech. Peking University and Tianjin International Joint Academy of Biomedicine are also part of it. The cloning factory will include cloning laboratories, a gene bank and a science education centre and will be constructed at the cost of 31 million US dollars. It would produce cloned animals such as pet and police dogs, racehorses and cow to be sold on the open market on an industrial scale. The factory would produce 100,000 cattle embryos annually and later expand the annual output to one million. It would help to produce enough beef to meet increasing demand. It should be noted that China’s first commercial animal cloning centre was established in 2014 in the eastern Shandong Province. Since 2000, Chinese Researchers have cloned sheep, cattle and pigs but not for non-scientific research. In 2009, South Korea’s customs service had deployed the world’s first cloned dogs.

MoU inked to set up Railway Chair on Sustainable Mobility at TERI University

India Railways has inked a MoU to set up a Railway Chair on Sustainable Mobility at New Delhi campus of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) University. The chair would focus and promote research on various aspects including sustainable mobility, green energy and use of energy efficient technology initiatives by the Railways. Key facts The Chair would facilitate research into finding innovative solutions to achieve sustainable development of railways which is crucial mode of transport in the country. TERI University would impart best knowledge and its professionals in all aspects of sustainability with a multi-dimensional perspective relevant to railways. It would also seek to strength the on-going research in railways for sustainable development in order to open new vistas of research in the field of rail transport.

Dr. T.S. Papola passed away

Noted labour economist Dr. T.S. Papola passed away in New Delhi. He was 74. He had served as an advisor with the erstwhile Planning Commission of Union Government for eight years from 1987 to 1995. About Dr. T.S. Papola Papola was specialised in labour and employment, industrial economics, development planning, regional development and enterprise development. Teaching career: Papola had over 4 decades of experience in teaching, research and advisory assignments. He had taught at the various universities in India and abroad including in University of Lucknow and Bombay, Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad) and University of Cambridge, UK. Consultative and Advisory Roles: Papola had served as Chairman and Member of several State and National level bodies including the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). He also had worked in consultative and advisory capacities with multiple international organisations such as UNCTAD, ILO, UNIDO, UNDP and UNICEF. Associated Institutions: He was founder member and former director and honorary professor at the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID), New Delhi. He also had severed as Chairman of Lucknow based Giri Institute of Development Studies. He was founder member of New Delhi based Institute for Human Development (IHD) and Chairman of the 4th State Finance Commission (SFC) of Uttarakhand. Books: Papola had authored 14 books and around 80 research papers in reputed journals. He also had edited a 10-volume series on Labour regulation in Indian industry. Awards and Honours: VKRV Rao Young Social Scientist Prize for outstanding contribution in Economics (1984), VKRV Rao Lifetime Achievement Award for contribution to Social Science, Kautilya Award (2007) by the UP-Uttarakhand Economic Association.

India’s Ambassador to China

Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale has been appointed as India’s Ambassador to China. He will replace Ashok Kantha, who was appointed as envoy to China in January 2014 for a two-year term i.e. till January 2016. Currently, Mr.Gokhale is serving as the India’s Ambassador to Germany. He is a 1981 batch India Foreign Service (IFS) officer. Prior, to his appointment as India’s top envoy to Germany, he had served at different Indian missions including in Hong Kong, Hanoi, Beijing and New York. Mr.Gokhale also had held the posts of director (China and East Asia) and joint secretary (East Asia) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) headquarters in New Delhi, . He is known to be one of the most knowledgeable Indian diplomat who is well versed with international affairs of China.

Dr. Satya Paul Agarwal passed away

Well-known neurosurgeon and Secretary General of Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) Dr. Satya Paul Agarwal passed away in New Delhi. He was 70. Dr. Agarwal was a well-known public health administrator. He had played pivotal role in execution of various disaster and emergency relief operations and control of disease and epidemics outbreak in the country. He was serving as Secretary General of Indian Red Cross Society since 2005. He was also the Chair of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Advisory Body on Sustainable Development and Health. He also had served as Director General of Health Services (DGHS), for Union Government of India from 1996 to 2005. He was awarded with India’s second highest civilian award Padma Bhushan for his contributions to public services. About Indian Red Cross Society IRCS is a voluntary humanitarian organization to protect human life and health with its network of over 700 branches throughout India. It was established in 1920 and is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and shares its fundamental principles. Its mission is to provide relief at the time of disasters/emergencies and also promotes healthcare facilities among vulnerable people and communities.

The Competition Commission of India

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has slapped penalties worth Rs 258 crore on three leading airlines- Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet for cartelisation in fixing cargo fuel surcharge. In this regard, it also issued a cease and desist order against these three airlines on the complaint filed by Express Industry Council of India (EICI). In its complaint EICI also had named Air India and GoAir apart from the three airlines. In its order, the CCI noted that These 3 airlines acted in collusion to fix fuel surcharge rates which resulted in indirectly determining the rates of air cargo transport. Imposed penalties are: 152 crores rupees upon Jet Airways, 64 crores rupees upon IndiGo and 42 crores rupees upon Spice Jet. The conduct of these airlines was contravention of the anti-competitive agreements in the air cargo industry and it undermined economic development of the country and ultimately affected the end consumers. Fuel surcharge was essentially introduced to mitigate the fuel price volatility. But cartelisation of it by these leading airliners has harmed the fair competition in the market. CCI however has imposed no penalty upon Air India and Go Airlines as they were not found violating competitive norms. It has asked Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet to immediately stop indulging in such anti-competitive practices.