Archive

GOVERNANCE In August 2012, three reports submitted by then Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Raion the allocation of coal blocks, functioning of the Delhi airport and allocation of additional coal blocks to Reliance Power had drawn immediate and sharp criticism from the government. The counter was coordinated from the Prime Minister’s Office. The Minister of State in the PMO, V Narayanswamy, was quick to state that the CAG was not following its constitutional mandate, rather over-stepping it by questioning government policy. In view of the recent judgment in the 2G spectrum allocation scam acquitting senior DMK leaders A Raja and M Kanimozhi of any wrong doing has once again brought the focus back on the functioning of the constitutional

PEACE AND JUSTICE Martin Luther King, Jr is the only non-president of US to have a national holiday dedicated in his honour, reports PRIYANKA TOMAR Every year on the third Monday of January, US observes its annual commemoration to honours the life and contributions of America’s greatest champion of racial justice and equality, the leader who not only dreamed of a ‘colour-blind’ society, but who also lead a movement that achieved historic reforms to help make it a reality. This year marks the 32nd anniversary of the federal holiday to honour Martin Luther King, Jr., (MLK), Nobel Peace Prize winning civil rights leader. This day celebrate the legacy of his life and the timeless values he taught everyone through his

WATER TECHNOLOGY Providing safer drinking water to those in need may become a little easier as Penn State researchers have developed a new desalination technique that removes salt from water using less energy than previous methods. The “battery electrode deionisation” method improves upon previous techniques by avoiding a regeneration step by alternating the direction of the electrical current. Thus, instead of using 1.2 volts, researchers switched between -0.6 and 0.6 volts to get the same result. “Globally, there is reduced access to fresh water,” said one of the researchers Bruce Logan, Professor at Pennsylvania State University in the US. “More and more, the waters that are being used are impaired, either due to salt or other contaminants, so we are

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT The Ministry of MSME is implementing “Digital MSME” Scheme for promotion of Information & Communication Technology in MSME Sector with a total budget of `85.705 Crore including Government of India’s contribution of `58.105 crore during 2017- 18 to 2019-20. The scheme envisages promotion of ICT applications to make them “Digital” by adopting new approach of Cloud Computing with the objectives to sensitize and encourage MSMEs towards new approach ie., Cloud Computing for ICT adoption in their production and business processes with a view to improve their competitiveness in National and International Market; Adoption of best practices to improve quality of products and services; and to benefit large number of SMEs in terms of standardizing their business processes, improvement

WOMEN WORLDS The expatriate Indian Princess Sophia was recently honoured by the British Royal Mail with a stamp to mark the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which gave women over 30 and all men over 21 the right to vote. She was one of the earliest women to fight for social justice and equality in the UK and had a massive impact on the social movements of that time. Princess Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh (8 August 1876 – 22 August 1948) was the daughter of Maharaja Duleep Singh, who had been taken from his kingdom of Punjab to the British Raj owing to political manoeuvring by Governor-General Dalhousie in India, and was subsequently exiled to England.

ARCHIVE Globally, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises have been recognized as the backbone of every economy. Contribution of MSMEs is manifold and includes employment generation, reduction of regional disparities, fostering equitable economic growth and several other advantages. The role of MSMEs has been recognized by successive governments and this can be witnessed in the evolution of policy frameworks & measures adopted from time to time. The ambitious ‘Make in India’ initiative by the Government of India is a significant push that would make a substantial impact on the indigenization and attract sizable foreign investment. The vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister to make India a global manufacturing hub can become a reality if our manufacturing sector becomes globally competitive

WORLD HERITAGE Ancient monuments and buildings in the countries, make them stand tall on world map. They are an asset to value for! and that’s why, World Heritage Day is a collective effort of the communities in the world to do the needful for these invaluable assets. The World Heritage Day takes an opportunity to hoist awareness about the assortment of cultural legacy and the efforts that are required to protect and conserve them and to think about their susceptibility also. Every year on 18 April, UNESCO celebrates the World Heritage Day, whose establishment was approved by the 22nd UNESCO General Conference in 1983. World Heritage is the shared wealth of humankind and protecting and preserving these amazing places demands

SOCIAL REFORM India is celebrating the 127th birth anniversary of Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar. It was this day 127 years ago; in a tiny village of Mhow, in present day Madhya Pradesh, Bhim Rao was born in the family of erstwhile untouchables. Indeed a lot of research, reading and writings have gone into the life and works of Babasaheb Ambedkar. To this day, he is considered as one of the greatest leaders of the independence movement not only in terms of his contributions as a revolutionary political activist but also in terms of an intellectual academic. Babasaheb belongs to the legion of leaders who not only did remarkable things to be written about but also wrote extremely worthwhile things to

FAUNA CARE The tigress had already killed 64 humans and he could be the next. He leaned against the rocky slope of a nearby hill and lit a cigarette. The tigress had already stalked him once before in this region and he wanted her to do it again. But he realised that the tigress was too clever. So, he thought of another trick. He used a buffalo as a bait for the tigress analysing that she would be able to kill it but unable to drag it off and he would take a shot at the big cat from the top of the hill. Rounding the hill in a dry riverbed, he observed lying a pair of Rock-jay eggs. As

POPULATION MATTERS As India brims and slowly spills over its edges with its ever increasing population, we are faced, and must deal with the cruel irony of our precious human resource becoming the monster that brings down our economy. For lack of a politer analogy, there is nothing more of the essence than finding a cork for this bottle. In 1989, the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme recommended that 11 July be observed by the international community as World Population Day, a day to focus attention on the urgency and importance of overpopulation issues. This year, the United Nations Population Fund will celebrate the theme ‘Family Planning is a Human Right’. Population density and population distribution across