Halloween Costume ideas 2015
November 2016

Mumbai
Superstar Salman Khan announced the release date of good friend Shah Rukh Khan's upcoming film with director Imtiaz Ali. Also starring Anushka Sharma the movie is scheduled to release on August 11 next year. The film's working title is "The Ring" and Salman asked his fans to suggest the official title for the project. "Shah Rukh ki film aa Rahi hai. Date Maine decide kar di hai. Title tum log decide kardo. (Shah Rukh's film is coming.
I have decided the release date and now you all decide the title) Best of luck #anushkasharma & #ImtiazAli," Salman captioned the first still from the movie. The picture has Anushka and Shah Rukh, 51, dressed in white, walking in fields with a smile on their face. "What you seek is seeking you" it reads.
Alia Bhatt also announced the release date on her Twitter page. "August is tooo far away ya!!!!! @AnushkaSharma @iamsrk. Am saving the date immediately.. But Imtiaz what to put in as the title???#CantWait," she posted. Shah Rukh thanked both the actors for announcing the release date.

"Aur bhai @BeingSalmanKhan ne jab commitment kar di hai toh ab hum kaun hote Hain. 11th Aug 2017 it is! "Thank u @beingsalmankhan & @aliaa08 for the date of Imtiaz's film. Ab bas title dhoond do! Wot u seek is seeking ....," he tweeted.

The movie is a love story shot in the stunning locales of Prague. Salman also recently promoted Shah Rukh-Alia starrer "Dear Zindagi" on social media. In 2015 SRK had released the first look of Salman's "Bajrangi Bhaijaan".

New Delhi
National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC), a Central Public Sector Enterprise under this Ministry provides concessional loans to minorities for self-employment and income generating ventures, through the State Channelising Agencies (SCAs) nominated by the respective State Governments/UT Administration.For availing assistance under NMDFC schemes, the annual family income eligibility criterion under Credit Line-1 is Rs.81,000 for rural areas and Rs.1.03 lakh for urban areas. Higher annual family income eligibility criterion of upto Rs.6.00 lakh has also been introduced as Credit Line-2, for increasing coverage of beneficiaries under NMDFC schemes. The details of thelending schemes and loan limit therein is as under:-

1.Term Loan:- Maximum Loan of up to Rs.20.00 Lakh per beneficiary is available under Credit Line-1 at an interest rate of 6% per annum. Higher loan of maximum up to Rs.30.00 Lakh per beneficiary is available under Credit Line-2 at an interest rate of 8% per annum for male beneficiaries and 6% per annum for female beneficiaries.

2.Micro Finance:- Maximum loan upto Rs.1.00 lakh per SHG member is available under Credit Line -1 at an interest rate of 7% per annum. Higher loan of maximum upto Rs.1.50 lakh per SHG member is available under Credit Line-2 at an interest rate of 10% per annum for male beneficiaries and 8% per annum for female beneficiaries.
  
3. Education Loan:- The Educational Loan of upto Rs.15.00 lakh (Rs.20 lacs for courses abroad) is available at an interest rate of 3% per annum for pursuing technical and professional courses with maximum course duration of 5 years. Higher Educational Loan of upto Rs.20.00 lakh (Rs.30 lakh for courses abroad) under Credit Line-2 is available at an interest rate of 8% per annum for male candidates and at 5% per annum for female beneficiaries.

4.Mahila Samridhi Yojana:- Skill development training is imparted to group of women in women friendly trades. Training period is of maximum 6 months with training and raw material cost of upto Rs.1,500 per women and stipend @ Rs.1,000 per women.
During the period of training, the women are formed into Self Help Group, followed by infusion of micro-credit maximum upto Rs.1.00 lakh per member for the purpose of using the skill developed during the training, for income generation activities.

New Delhi
Government has decided to introduce Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system for fertilizer subsidy payments. Under the proposed system, 100% subsidy on various fertilizer grades shall be released to the manufacturers and importers on the basis of actual sales made by the retailer to the beneficiaries. Initially, the modified subsidy procedure under DBT system will be introduced on pilot basis in 16 select districts and after its due stabilization, the new payment system would be rolled out in all states in the second phase. The proposed DBT will address the issues relating to diversion and smuggling of urea.

The DBT being implemented in fertilizer subsidy payment is slightly different from the normal DBT being implemented in LPG subsidy. Under the DBT in fertilizer sector, the subsidy will be released to the fertilizer companies instead of the beneficiaries, after the sale is made by the retailers to the beneficiaries on submission of claims generated in the web-based online Integrated Fertilizer Monitoring System (iFMS) by fertilizer companies. After implementation of DBT, it is expected that diversion/smuggling of fertilizers will be reduced to a large extent and the Government will save subsidy to the that extent. However, no assessment has been made to calculate the savings.

The proposed DBT for release of fertilizer subsidy to fertilizer companies has no direct relation with landholding of the farmers. The fertilizers will be available to all on ‘no denial’ basis.

Hyderabad
A private company involved in developing drugs and diagnostics to detect and treat multi-drug resistant infections, has received a Discovery award given by the Longitude Prize Committee, UK.
Vitas Pharma is incubated in the Technology Business Incubator, University of Hyderabad (UoH) and IKP Knowledge Park, the varsity said in a release here.

The awards ceremony was held at the Royal Society, London on November 21, it said.
Discovery Awards have been given to 12 teams from the US, UK and India selected from more than 70 applications received from 19 countries.

The company has prototyped a molecular test that detects the presence of bacteria with high specificity and sensitivity.

This low cost, 45-minute assay is easy to perform and amplifies bacterial sequences without the need for expensive equipment.

"It is envisioned that the kit will ultimately consist of 3 tests per sample and will flag the presence of bacteria in 30 minutes. Unlike other currently available tests, this assay combines speed and accuracy with low cost," the release said.

The Discovery Awards are seed grants for teams to develop their ideas for diagnostic for bacterial infections.

The Longitude is a 10 million prize instituted by the British Government to reward a team or individual that develops a test that is cost-effective, accurate, rapid and easy-to-use and allows health professionals worldwide to administer the right antibiotics at the right time, the UoH release added.

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur
Bangkok
The Indian women's cricket team beat arch-rivals Pakistan by five wickets in the T20 Asia Cup match. After triumphing over Bangladesh and Thailand in their first two matches, India rode on an all-round effort from captain Harmanpreet Kaur to record their third win.
Put in to bat by India, Pakistan posted 97/7 in 20 overs at the Asian Institute of Technology Ground here. India women chased down the score in the final over, keeping their composure intact and five wickets in hand.

India's One-Day captain and experienced opener Mithali Raj top-scored with 36, but it was Harmanpreet who led from the front, staying till the end and taking India over the line with a reassuring 26 from 22 balls that included three fours.

Earlier, left-arm tweaker Ekta Bisht returned figures of 3/20 while off-spinner Anuja Patil took 2/12 in her quota of four overs. 

Harmanpreet, with her slow medium pace bowling, picked up 2 for 16. Middle-order batter Nain Abidi top scored for Pakistan with an unbeaten 37. India next play Sri Lanka women on December 1 and Nepal women the next day.

New Delhi
Google has celebrated the remarkable contributions of scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose, pioneer of electro-magnetic waves and inventor of an early version of wireless telecommunication, with a doodle on Wednesday on what would be his 158th birthday
Widely regarded as the first modern Indian scientist, Bose was born in 1858 at Munshiganj of then Bengal Presidency of British India, now in Bangladesh.

"Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose was a master of scientific achievement with numerous accomplishments in various fields," Google said in a statement.

"Bose was to become known not only for his work in biophysics, but also his innovation in the world of radio and microwave sciences, ultimately inventing an early version of wireless telecommunication," it added.

Some scientists even believe that Bose was the real inventor of wireless, not Guglielmo Marconi.

In 1895 in Calcutta, he publicly demonstrated wireless transmission of electromagnetic waves for the first time anywhere in the world, using the waves to ring a distant bell and thereby to explode some gunpowder, according to a biography at Christ's College, University of Cambridge, where he studied natural sciences.

The Daily Chronicle of England noted in 1896 that "The inventor (J.C. Bose) has transmitted signals to a distance of nearly a mile and herein lies the first and obvious and exceedingly valuable application of this new theoretical marvel", Google added.

Bose's investigations into nature included the invention of the crescograph -- an instrument that measures movement and growth in plant life by magnifying it 10,000 times, Google said.

He went on to demonstrate the similarities between animals and plants, particularly when it came to reactions to different environmental, electrical, and chemical influences.

New York
Nearly 20 countries, including two UN Security Council permanent members France and Great Britain have joined hands to celebrate here the issuing of the Diwali postage stamp by the US.
The event co-hosted by the Permanent Missions of Belarus and India to the UN office along with the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine would attend the "Diwali" stamp dedication ceremony at the Trusteeship Council Chamber of the United Nations in New York on December 5, according to a media release.
The event would also honour Ranju Batra, chairman of the Diwali Stamp project, who worked behind the scene for several years campaigning before the US Postal Service (USPS) to issue a stamp in honour of the festival of lights. It has become the number one best seller in the history of USPS.

So far more than 170,000 Diwali stamps have been sold.

Other countries that have joined the event as co-sponsors are Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Germany, Honduras, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Moldova, Morocco, Panama, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Ukraine and Vietnam.

On October 6, the stamp was launched here by the USPS, capping seven-year-long efforts by Indian-Americans and influential American lawmakers to commemorate the festival of lights.

New Delhi
The Supreme Court  ordered that the National Anthem must be played in theaters across the country before a movie.
The apex court directs people in cinema halls should stand up when anthem is played. The court further said that National Flag should be shown on screen when anthem is played.

The Supreme Court directs Centre that the order should be given effect in a week's time and be circulated to all the states and UTs. The apex court further directs that no commercial benefits be taken by a person by playing the anthem.

GOA
‘The Age of Shadows’, a South Korean action thriller film directed by the critically-acclaimed film maker Kim Jee-Woon, is being screened as the Closing Film for the festival at a gala ceremony at the IFFI, 2016. 

Set in Seoul and Shanghai, during the Japanese occupation in the late 1920s, the film depicts an intense drama that unfolds between a group of resistance fighters trying to bring in explosives from Shanghai to destroy key Japanese facilities in Seoul, on one side, and Japanese agents trying to stop them, on the other. A talented Korean-born Japanese police officer, who was previously in the independence movement himself, is thrown into a dilemma between the demands of his reality and the instinct to support a greater cause.

Addressing the media, Mr. Kim said that his film is not an attempt to show action and violence on the screen but to depict intense emotions associated with the Korean Independence struggle against the Japanese occupation. He informed that he has tried his best to show these emotions through special sound effects and the ability of his actors to emote them on the screen.
Speaking about co-production of movies between India and Korea, the Director said that it would surely be great to incorporate elements of cinema from both countries into each other’s films. He would like to mix the elements of Indian cinema like humour and other real life emotions into Korean films, he added.

Replying to another question, Mr. Kim said that he has been greatly inspired by the stalwarts of Indian cinema like Shri Satyajit Ray and his films like Pather Panchali, Aparajita, among others, have had a major impression on his style of film making. He would like to collaborate with the Indian film industry to make films on history and the Independence struggle in both the countries, he added.

Mr. Song Kang-Ho, the lead Actor in the film, said that he is honoured that their film has been selected as the Closing Film at the IFFI, 2016 and he is hopeful that the times to come would see more critically acclaimed films from both India and Korea being screened for the people in both the countries.

‘The Age of Shadows’ has also been selected as the South Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards.

New Delhi
Coal India Limited (CIL) has taken a number of actions to promote cleaner coal technologies like use of surface miner and dispatch through merry-go-round/Conveyors etc. This was stated by Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha .

In view of major environmental concerns, especially the climate change, Goyal said that for all the new and expansion projects, detailed project specific Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) is undertaken and appropriate remedial measures, as prescribed, are planned and implemented for mitigating the environmental impacts. The Minster further added that for addressing the environmental concerns, especially about climate change, CIL will continue to undertake appropriate adaptation and mitigation centric measures.

“As outlined in India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), CIL will continue its endeavor to reduce emission intensity through introduction of eco-friendly mining technologies and creating additional carbon sink through massive afforestation”, he added.

Goyal also informed the house that CIL has planned to gradually increase its annual production of coal from 536.50 Million Tonnes in 2015-16 to One Billion Tonnes by the year 2019-20. The Minister further stated that so far, mine/projects have been identified to produce about 908 Mt and for balance to reach 1 Bt is underway. Roadmap prepared by CIL to substantially enhance production of coal by 2019-20 includes capacity addition from new projects, use of mass production technologies and identification of existing on-going projects with growth potential.

New Delhi
Union Minister of Textiles Smt Smriti Irani and Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh formally launched the United Payments Interface (UPI) cashless payments at Purbashree stall at Dilli Haat, INA.

After the inauguration, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that he is happy to inaugurate the cashless sale facility at Purbashree stalls. He informed that e-vending system has been introduced for the first time at North-East stalls (Purbashree Stall) in Dilli Haat, INA and it will be taken up by other stalls also. He also said that this New Year, the theme at the Dilli Haat, INA will be based on North East.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said that he is thankful to Smt Smriti Irani who had advised to beautify the stalls and to showcase the ethnicity of all North East states to attract the customers. This will help the people outside North East realise the ethnicity and culture of North east.

The cashless sales facility introduced at Purbashree stall is in line with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign for cashless transactions following demonetisation, he said. Dr. Jitendra Singh also said that this facility will be helpful for the small traders and their trade will be promoted.

The MDoNER took initiative to launch the e-vending and cashless transactions through United Payments Interface at Purbashree stall, a unit of the North East Handloom and Handicraft Development Corporation (NEHHDC), under the aegis of the Ministry.

In the UPI mode, customers could use their respective bank gateway apps (for e.g. SBI PAY for State Bank of India) and pay directly against purchases to the accounts of Purbashree from the convenience of their mobiles. Thus MDoNER has proactively made this possible as an initiative to match with the need to make India a cashless society.


New Delhi
President Pranab Mukherjee delivered in New Delhi the opening address at an international conference organized to mark the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

Speaking on the occasion, the President said India has the potential to emerge as a leading seat for international dispute resolution. He said while India has had a long history of peaceful resolution of disputes from the Panchayat system onwards to several enactments concerning arbitration prior to Independence, the year 1996 marked a watershed in the development and modernization of arbitration in India. Critical amendments were made to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act to ensure timely and just resolution of arbitral disputes. India last month launched a National Initiative towards strengthening Arbitration and Conciliation. The Prime Minister has also declared that an enabling alternate dispute resolution ecosystem is a national priority for India and that we need to promote India globally as an arbitration hub. The President expressed confidence that the deliberations in the Conference would explore ways and means of fostering a healthy and sustainable culture of international arbitration and conciliation.

The President said India is delighted to host the golden jubilee celebrations of UNCITRAL as part of our commitment to the purposes and principles of the United Nations and the evolution of its specialized programmes and agencies. It is a glowing testament to India’s commitment to the rule of law that India is only one of eight countries that has been a member of UNCITRAL from its inception, and has recently been re-elected for a term of six years. India recognizes that the impact of UNCITRAL has been far beyond mere facilitation of international trade. Its exemplary work over the years has provided significant thought leadership that has inspired transformation of several domestic legal regimes to facilitate both domestic and transnational commerce and trade.


A simple walking regimen can go a long way in improving your heart health, say researchers.
"We know walking is an excellent form of exercise, but research has been mixed on how successful a walking programme can be in changing biological markers such as cholesterol, weight, blood pressure," said Pamela Stewart Fahs, Professor at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

The researchers found that moderately intensive walking improves cardiovascular risk factors in the short term.

 For the study, a group of 70 women were tested as part of their volunteer participation in a community walking programme.
Participants were given a programmable pedometer to wear for waking hours over a 10-week period and asked to walk briskly for at least 150 minutes per week.
On completion of the programme, participants' weight, BMI, blood pressure and cholesterol were measured.

They were also asked to complete a survey about their physical activity, food choices, personal characteristics and behaviour from the 10-week period.

 The results of their post-test confirmed the team's initial hypothesis that walking would improve cardiovascular risk factors in the short term.

New Delhi
Indian Railways and IRCTC have included "transgender as third gender" in the option alongside male and female in ticket reservation and cancellation forms.

The decision which was taken on a representation made by a lawyer will include the facility for reservations and cancellations, both online as well offline.

The Delhi-based lawyer had made the representation after the Delhi High Court in February had asked him to approach the Railway Ministry while disposing of his petition.

The ministry in its circular referred to the direction of the apex court of April 2014, which had said that hijras, eunuchs, apart from binary gender, be treated as third gender for protecting their rights.

"Supreme Court (in the judgement) has directed that Hijras, Eunuchs, apart from binary gender, be treated as third gender for the purpose of safeguarding their rights under Part III of our Constitution and the laws made by the parliament and the State Legislature.

"It has, therefore, been decided to include the third gender/transgender option alongside male/female in reservation /cancellation requisition form. This information will be captured by the system and tickets to transgender will be issued on full fare," the circular stated.

Advocate Jamshed Ansari in his PIL before the high court had alleged violation of Article 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), by non-inclusion of "transgender/third gender" as a gender option in its forms.

He had also sought compliance of the apex court judgment in which it directed the Centre and the state governments to recognise transgender as the third sex, and to provide them with the benefits accorded to socially and economically backward classes.

He had further demanded special coaches and reserved seats for the transgender community in all trains, for their "care and protection".

On which the bench headed by Chief Justice G Rohini had asked the ministry to look into the averments made in the writ petition.

Doha
Indian teen golfer Aditi Ashok shot a final round of three-under 69 on a weather-hit last day to notch up her second successive victory on the Ladies European Tour at the inaugural Qatar Ladies Open here today.

Just a fortnight after claiming her maiden win at the Hero Women's Indian Open, the 18-year-old rookie professional from Bangalore totaled 15-under-par at the Doha Golf Club to grab a three-stroke win over Lydia Hall and Caroline Hedwall.

"It's been a great few weeks. I won my home event in the Indian Open, which was my first win. To win back to back events feels really good," said Aditi, the LET's leading rookie professional.

She started the final round tied for the lead with Nanna Koerstz Madsen but quickly gained a one stroke advantage when the Dane bogeyed the second hole, maintaining her lead as play was suspended at 12.09pm due to thunder and lightning on the course.

"It was really difficult at the start because of the rain. Then we stopped for more than an hour and a half and when we got back it was really windy, so that was difficult, but I guess it was the same for everybody. I was trying to hit greens and make pars," she said.

After a pair of birdies from Ashok, followed by a double-bogey from Madsen on the ninth, the young Indian talent had reached 14-under with a three stroke cushion through the turn.

"I think I was playing well through the front nine and got a couple of birdies on seven and eight. After that, I created quite a few chances on the par-5 ninth and tenth.

Then, I was short on 14. I did create enough birdie chances but I wasn't making any. Finally I was able to birdie 16. My goal was to be error free and I made a bogey on 17 but I played consistently well for the most part and made a birdie on 18," Ashok said.

"The first win was special, because I won in India, but I felt I played really well here and had to play well every day and shoot sub-par rounds. I think my game was better this week and obviously to win in the Qatar, the golf course is the same as the men's, so I know it's challenging and to win here feels good."

Madsen ended in fourth place on 11-under-par, with Annabel Dimmock in fifth and Nicole Garcia in sixth. Georgia Hall and Becky Morgan were joint seventh, with five further players tied for ninth.

New Delhi
Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh launched e-pashuhaat portal (www.epashuhaat.gov.in) on the occasion of National Milk Day here. Shri Singhinformed that for the first time in the world under the scheme National Mission on Bovine Productivity ‘e-pashuhaat’ portal has been developed for connecting breeders and farmers regarding availability of bovine germplasm. Through the portal breeders/farmers can sell and purchase breeding stock, information on all forms of germplasm including semen, embryos and live animals with all the agencies and stake holders in the country has been uploaded on the portal.  Through this portal, farmers will be aware about the availability of quality disease free bovine germplasm with different agencies in the country.  The portal will lead to propagation of high genetic merit germplasm


         India has the largest bovine population in the world. At  199m cattle it has 14% of the world cattle population and with 105m buffaloes it has 53% of the world buffalo population of which 79% of the cattle are Indigenous and 21% are Exotic and Crossbred varieties.
         80% of the Indigenous cattle are Non-descript and 20% belong to 37 breeds recognised by National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources.(NBAGR) with 13 breeds of Water buffaloes.
         The Indigenous bovine breeds are sturdy, endowed with the quality of heat tolerance, resistance to diseases and ticks with the ability to thrive under extreme climatic conditions and survive with low inputs. However, most of the indigenous have low genetic potential for milk production and are suited for draught animal power. But, some breeds have potential to be highly productive under optimal nutrition and farm management conditions alongwith selective genetic breeding.

 Current Scenario in India                                        
         The bovine population in India is owned by 60m marginal, small and medium farmer households with an average herd size of 2-3 milch animals.
         The figures of high milk production are reflective of the large numbers of bovine population rather than that of high productivity and resource efficiency.
         Dairying  activity is a major supplementary source of income for these farmers. However, the Indian Farm Management System is typically a Low Input, Low Output system with low productivity.
         The Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision for doubling the farmers incomes by 2022, makes the adoption of the strategy to enhance the share of income from animal rearing imperative.
Shortcomings in Animals Trade Market____________
         No authentic organized market
         Difficult to get quality- disease free high genetic merit germplasm.
         Misleading valuation due to lack of traceability and tracking.
         Other malpractices include Horns removed & Teeth filed to mislead for their age.

e-pashuhaat – Web Portal
Aims and Objectives:
         E-Trading Market portal for livestock germplasm and additional related services.
         Will connect farmers with breeders - Central, State, Co-operative, Milk Federations, and private agencies.
         Real time authentic certified information on availability of germplasm.
Details of the Portal
 Exclusive site for farmers as Farmers platform
         The Farmers platform on the main menu of the website will provide
         3 options in Germplasm marketplace for Animals, Frozen Semen and Embryos
         List of suppliers
         It will establish links between “farmer to farmer” and “farmer to Institutes”.
Targeted Outcomes For Farmers :
         One stop portal for bovine breeders, sellers and buyers.
         Creating and Comparative Farm Network
         Making Farmers exchange local knowledge and resources
         Availability of disease free germplasm with known genetic merit.
         Minimizes the involvement of middlemen.
         Increase in farmers’ incomes.
Targeted Outcomes
For Government: Central/States/UT
         Programme oversight in real-time with greater transparency
         Zero cost for States for Transportal creation
         Demand and supply position of various items
         Monitoring and evaluation reports generation
         Sire Directory /Annual Report generation
         Repository and aggregator of both public and private sector services
         Evidence based Policy support information for decisions.
        Forecasting and Targeting  Production Plan for Nation
        Targeted Genetic Development
        Assessing need for Infrastructure and Education
         Global recognition for using data mining and analytics
         Capacity building at all levels.

New Delhi
13th World Robot Olympiad, jointly organized by National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) under the aegis of Ministry of Culture and India STEM Foundation (ISF), commenced at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida . The two day (November 26th – November 27th) event was inaugurated by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (I/C) for Culture and Tourism.  The theme for this year’s event is ‘Rap the Scrap’. Over 2000 students from 51 countries are participating in this international championship and will showcase innovative solutions using robotics technology to reduce, manage and recycle waste. The competition is being held for students in the 9-25 years age group in the following four categories - Regular category (Elementary, Junior High, Senior High), WRO Football, Open category and Advanced Robotics Challenge.
    
 Encouraging the teams from across the world, Dr. Mahesh Sharma said, “Fostering innovation and creativity amongst youth is a key priority for the government and events like these are a great platform for that. National Council of Science Museums, an organisation under Ministry of Culture has been nurturing innovation and creativity through its network of science centres and Innovation hubs. Organising such an international event was very much evitable. We are happy to see so many enthusiastic teams across all age groups here. We wish them all the best and hope their skills will play an important role in addressing real world problems in the future.”  

Addressing on the occasion, Mr. Law King Hui, Chairman, WRO Advisory Council said, “The WRO holds a dear place in our hearts because it provides a platform for thousands of brilliant and aspiring young minds to come together and inspire one another in their attempts to address real world issues. I wish to point out the important role of robotics in the context of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, as well as 21st century skills which are globally recognised as crucial to be effective workers in the future. Applying STEM knowledge in forming concrete solutions, all the while thinking creatively and critically, with the ability to communicate and collaborate with others is the essence of WRO. 
The knowledge and experiences all participants worldwide have gained so far have made them winners in their own right. Winning the competition is not the most important part of their WRO journey, learning is!”

Speaking at the commencement of the event, A. S. Manekar, Director General, NCSM and Chairman Advisory Board of WRO 2016 Organising Committee said, “NCSM has been advocating hands-on, minds-on approach to learning and I believe this competition will spread awareness about Robotics education and build an ecosystem of STEM based hands-on learning education in India. It will be interesting to see students finding innovative ways of designing and programming autonomous robots to complete the task in lesser time.”

Sudhanshu Sharma, Co-Founder and CEO, India STEM Foundation said, “Since 2006, we have been playing a leading role in promoting Robotics and STEM education in India by creating such wonderful opportunities to engage students to learn real world application of core STEM (Science, Technology, engineering, Maths) concepts through the intervention of such Robotics and research based hands-on based learning platforms such as World Robot Olympiad. Over 100,000 school students have benefitted from our programs over the past 10 years. It’s a huge privilege for us to organize this international chapter of WRO at such a large scale jointly with National Council of Science Museums.”

Prior to this, regional competitions were held at Delhi, Lucknow, Tirupati, Trivandrum, Chennai, Kolkata, Varanasi, Guwahati, Bangalore, Surat, Mumbai, Bhopal and Chandigarh during August-October 2016. About 245 teams qualified for the National Championship held at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata (22-23 October 2016) and 27 teams from India qualified for WRO International Championship in different categories. From other countries also, students qualified in respective National Championship will represent their countries in this International Championship where more than 463 teams from 51 countries are expected to participate. The event is supported by Dept. of Science & Technology, Govt. of India.

ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal jury, Lola Poggi Goujan and Xueyuan Hun along with the Director, DFF, Shri C. Senthil Rajan at a press conference, during the 47th  IFFI-2016, in Panaji, Goa 
GOA
IFFI 2016, there are seven films competing for the International Council for Films, Television and Audio-visual Communication (ICFT)-UNESCO Gandhi Medal Prize from the International Film Section and one film from the Indian Panorama Section.            

C. Senthil Rajan, Director DFF, said that he is thankful to ICFT-UNESCO for giving this medal. He announced the contestants for ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi medal prize. These include ‘The Apology’ (Canada), ‘Beluga’ (Iran), ‘Cold of Kalandar’ (Turkey), ‘Exiled’ (Latvia), ‘The Family –Dementia’ (Spain), ‘Harmonia’ (Israel), ‘A Real Vermeer’ (The Netherlands) and ‘Allama (India).

Ms. Lola Poggi Goujan, Secretary General of ICFT and Jury Member, said that she is glad to be a part of IFFI 2016. She added that ICFT, an official partner of UNESCO established in 1956, is an NGO aiming to stimulate the production and distribution of high quality audio-visual work, especially of young artists and media avocations at large. She further said that the criteria for the Gandhi Medal will reflect UNESCO’s fundamental mandate of Building peace in the mind of men and women, particularly human rights, intercultural dialogue, promotion and safeguard of diversity of cultural expressions.

Ms. Xueyuan Hun, Associate, ICFT, said that this year they have received a lot of good films from the 47th IFFI and therefore it has become difficult to decide upon the awardee. The award will not only be based on the film but also on the idea. She further said that the collaboration is a joint venture of ICFT and IFFI. Giving her views on Indian films she said that message of the film and technical aspects of the film is what she likes.

Talking about the Gandhi medal in further detail, the panel informed that in 1994, UNESCO issued commemorative medal marking the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, the world’s advocate of peace, tolerance and non-violence. The medal bears a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi engraved by the French artist Pierre-Yves Tremois. Etched underneath is the Mahatma’s message of hope: “In the midst of darkness light prevails”. The reverse side carries the UNESCO Logo.

Director Fejria Deliba and the actress Farida Ouchani of film ‘Two Birds One Stone’ at a press conference, during the 47th International Film Festival of India (IFFI-2016), in Panaji, 
GOA
IFFI, Goa , Fejria Deliba, Director of ‘Two Birds, One Stone – Our Mother’, said that the movie is a simple love story of a Mother and her children, in a particular socio-political milieu. The film attempts to break stereotypes about women while emphasizing upon her identity beyond being a ‘Mother’.

The film is about a 70-year- old traditional and illiterate Algerian mother, Zayane Millia, who decides to venture outside of her neighbourhood for the first time in her life. This sets events in motion that will bring her children together for the first time in more than ten years at their mother’s home.

This is the first feature film from Ms. Deliba, and it uses drama and humour to challenge traditional narratives about French-Arab culture. The Director emphasized that silence is an essential part of her film which talks about people, life and communication. Cultural shock and family histories are interwoven with ever-present memories of the war in Algeria. Further, she added that she and her team are happy and honoured to be at IFFI 2016.

Farida Ounchi, actress of the film, also shared her experience while the making of the film and said while watching the film, you have to make silence inside your mind to understand the characters. She noted that in the present scenario in the French society, nobody would imagine a film like this in which a woman is shown to have a life beyond being just a mother. It's a first ever attempt to tell the story of woman from Algerian Point of view. This film also tells about difficulties in communication among family members due to generation gaps and ultimately how the family overcomes the barriers to become one again, she added.
Farid Bouzenad, actor of the film, told the media that it was a great experience to be a part of the film. This film depicts today’s French society. It is a story of love and family and can be shared with others.

Ms. Deliba, is a French actress and filmmaker of Algerian origin. As an actress, Ms Deliba has done a variety of theatre and cinema since the mid-1980s. After acting in films, plays and TV shows, she made her first feature, Two Birds, One Stone. She told media that having worked on screen as actress, it inspired her to work as director behind the camera.

New Delhi
Uber, the US online taxi hailing company, has rolled out new features in its riders and driver app, to make it a more personalised experience, the company announced.
Features like shortcuts, calendar integration, and people search, promises to make the cab-booking a faster and personalised with an improved performance on 2G and 3G networks.

"We rolled out this new app, built ground up globally, with a strong focus on improving on all these fronts," said an Uber spokersperson.

Uber's new 'Destination first' feature lets users choose the destination first as the app asks "Where to?" as soon as the cab-booking process is initiated.

With shortcuts, the app learns from a frequent user's routine and predicts the destinations.

Uber's "Calendar integration", will allow riders to connect their calendar with the app which will mark the user's appointments and meetings as shortcuts.

Additionally, Uber will be soon rolling out a feature that would make the destination of a user not a place but a person.

"We know that people use Uber to meet friends, whether it is at a concert or a night out. This means the rider's destination is often a person," said the spokesperson.

The feature will enable riders to set their destination to a person instead of a place for which the riders will have to sync their contacts with their app, type their name in the search bar.

"Once they have shared their location, the rider will get moving," announced the spokesperson.

The new app rolled out November 2, 2016, and will be available globally on iOS and Android in the coming days. 

MKRdezign

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