Halloween Costume ideas 2015
May 2017

New Delhi 
Three more ONGC employees - Santosh Kumar, Nirmal Kumar and Prabhat Gaurav have added on to the historic feat of scaling the Mount Everest.
With this, six ONGC employees have successfully accomplished Mission Everest .

Earlier, three ONGC employees Yogendar Garbiyal, N Jagoi and Rahul Jarngal had summited the Everest under the leadership of Padma Shri Loveraj Singh Dharamshaktu, Assistant Commandant, Border Security Force (BSF), representing Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF).

Santosh, Nirmal and Prabhat along with accompanying sherpas summited the Everest today.

All members of the expedition are in good health condition. The three ONGC employees have returned to South Col (Camp 4), while the other team, that summited the Everest yesterday are back to the Everest Base Camp.

Congratulating the achievement of the ONGC employees, CMD ONGC tweeted, "Filled with pride to know that three more ONGCians have scaled the Everest. Proud of Nirmal, Santosh and Prabhat on this achievement. Kudos!"

The ONGC Everest Expedition is a phenomenal employee engagement initiative taken by ONGC - a world leader in oil and gas Exploration and Production.

This is a unique HR initiative of ONGC to instill values of adventure, camaraderie, team spirit and bravado within the organization.

The idea of Mission Everest was borne out of the team's successful completion of the Everest Base Camp Trek in October 2015. From then on, there has been no looking back. ONGC CMD has then exhorted all team members on their return to target Mt Everest.

The IMF has been instrumental in the success of this expedition by not only providing training to the employees, but also preparing them for all the adverse conditions, under the mentorship of IMF president, Col H. S. Chauhan.

With this achievement, ONGC has become one of the first corporates in the world to successfully scale the Everest. 

Paris
Serena Williams' bombshell pregnancy announcement last month triggered a sequence of events that has left this year's women's draw at Roland Garros wide open and primed for a new champion.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner learned she was pregnant just two days before starting a successful assault on January's Australian Open and won't return before next year.
The French federation then refused to award Maria Sharapova a wild card for the tournament with the Russian on the comeback trail following a 15-month doping suspension.

With Li Na long since retired that means the winners of five of the past six French Opens -- Williams (2013, 2015), Sharapova (2012, 2014) and Li (2011) -- are absent from the field, while several pretenders to the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen are battling injury and loss of form.

Simona Halep, the 2014 runner-up, established herself as arguably the leading challenger by winning the Madrid Open before reaching the Rome final, but an ankle injury has hampered her preparations.

The Romanian, who faces Slovakia's Jana Cepelova in the first round, earlier this week rated her chances of playing in Paris as just "50-50".

But after practice on Friday, Halep sounded far more confident.

"I expect to play, I should be OK but I am waiting for another ultra-sound on Saturday," said Halep, who arrived early in Paris for treatment on torn ligaments.

World number one Angelique Kerber has endured a miserable clay-court season, losing early in Stuttgart and crashing out in her Rome opener, while retiring from her last-16 clash in Madrid with a lower back injury.

The German opens with a tricky first-round tie against fellow left-hander and former top-10 player Ekaterina Makarova.

Defending champion Garbine Muguruza's fortunes on the surface have proved almost as bleak.

Her only three wins came in Rome where she reached the semi-finals before a neck injury forced her to quit against eventual champion Elina Svitolina, the fourth time the Spaniard has failed to complete a match in 2017.

Muguruza begins her title defence against 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone, the wily veteran making her final French Open appearance before retiring at the end of the year.

'Already won my biggest fight' 
Petra Kvitova provides one of the tournament's feel-good storylines with the two-time Wimbledon champion making a shock comeback in the French capital.

The former world number two has been sidelined since December after suffering career-threatening injuries to her left hand while fighting off a knife-wielding intruder at her home the eastern Czech town of Prostejov.

"I actually already won my biggest fight. I stayed in life and I have all my fingers," Kvitova told reporters at Roland Garros.

"I knew this day would come but sometimes when I was watching tennis on TV, I didn't really feel great. I felt like the tennis was taken away from me, and it wasn't my decision.

"Suddenly I couldn't do what I love. So I'm happy that I can be here."

As 15th seed, Kvitova will face Julia Boserup of the United States in the first round.

The Czech star is one of few players with genuine Grand Slam pedigree in the draw, with Victoria Azarenka, the 2012 and 2013 Australian Open champion, not quite ready for Roland Garros after the birth of her son.

The 27-year-old hasn't played since last year's French Open but is scheduled to return in Mallorca next month as a tune-up ahead of Wimbledon.

Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki suffered a scare when she limped out of Strasbourg with a back problem, while third-ranked Karolina Pliskova's best results this season have come on hard courts.

Svitolina climbed to a career high of sixth after landing her fourth title of the season at the Italian Open, although the Ukrainian remained coy on her chances.

"There is no one I can name as a favourite," she said, with Svitolina's run to the 2015 quarter-finals the only time she has advanced to the second week at a major.

Meanwhile Italy's Sara Errani, the 2012 finalist, has tumbled down the rankings and needed to come through three rounds of qualifying just to reach the main draw.

Washington D.C. 
A recent study shows that higher than normal Body Mass Index (BMI) may cause worse cardiovascular health in those aged as young as 17.

The study was presented at the Conference of the European Society of Human Genetics.

Dr Kaitlin Wade, a Research Associate at the Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit (MRC-IEU) at the University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, and colleagues used data from The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) to investigate the potential link between increased BMI and cardiovascular health.

She said, "ALSPAC is a world-leading birth cohort study, started in the early 1990s with the inclusion of more than 14,000 pregnant mothers and their partners and children, and provides an excellent opportunity to study environmental and genetic contributions to a person's health and development. It was therefore ideal for this purpose."
The scientists found that cardiovascular risk due to increased BMI was likely to emerge in earlier life. The design of existing observational studies (those just looking for associations in the population) have meant that they are unable to make a distinction between correlation and causation.

The team was able to use genomic data from ALSPAC to detect the likely causal relationship between higher BMI and higher blood pressure and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) in those aged 17 and 21.

A thickening of the left ventricle in the heart (hypertrophy) means that it has to work harder to pump blood and is a common marker for heart disease.

"Our results showed that the causal impact of higher BMI on cardiac output was solely driven by the volume of blood pumped by the left ventricle (stroke volume). This, at least in part, can explain the causal effect of higher BMI on cardiac hypertrophy and higher blood pressure that we observed in all our analyses," noted Dr Wade.

The findings support efforts to tackle the obesity epidemic from an early age in order to prevent the development of cardiovascular changes known to be precursors of cardiovascular ill-health and disease.

Dr Wade shared, "It is the first time that the nature of this relationship has been shown in group of young adults where it has been possible to draw improved conclusions about its causation."

The researchers are now trying to untangle the relationship between higher BMI and disease mechanisms including metabolomics (the study of the chemical processes involved in the functioning of cells and the abundance and diversity of microbes living in the gut - the gut microbiome)

"We have also begun an analysis of the causal role of higher BMI on detailed measures of cardiac structure and function within the ALSPAC data. We hope to further explore these associations within an older population - the UK 1946 birth cohort," said Dr Wade.

He concluded by saying, "Whilst randomised controlled trials are important for disentangling cause and effect in disease, they are expensive, time-consuming and labour-intensive. Modern genomics allows us to detect causality more quickly and cheaply, and the availability of large quantities of genetic data means that we can overcome the limitations of observational epidemiological studies. We believe that there are clear messages for cardiovascular health in our findings and we hope that they may lead to increased efforts to tackle obesity from early life."

Professor Joris Veltman, Director of the Institute of Genetic Medicine at Newcastle University¸ Newcastle, United Kingdom, noted, "Distinguishing between correlation and causation is tremendously difficult in medical sciences, especially for complex interactions like those between obesity and cardiovascular disease. In this study, statistical genetics approaches were applied to longitudinal cohorts from the UK to improve this. The scientists could demonstrate that obesity also causes poorer cardiovascular health in young adults. In contrast, higher BMI did not seem affect heart rate in this group." 

New Delhi 
Undeterred by the severe terror threat and the traumatic attack after her concert, Ariana Grande is all set to return to Manchester.

The 23-year-old-singer promised her fans that she will return to Manchester to have a benefit concert to raise money for the victims and their family.

The 'Side to Side' hit-maker took to her Twitter and posted an emotional letter that expressed deep sense of sorrow for those lost and the families who are mourning their loved ones following the "heinous" attack.

Her letter read, "My heart, prayers and deepest condolences are with the victims of the Manchester Attack and their loved ones. There is nothing I or anyone can do to take away the pain you are feeling or to make this better. However, I extend my hand and heart and everything I possibly can give to you and yours, should you want or need my help in any way."

Adding, "I don't want to go the rest of the year without being able to see and hold and uplift my fans. The same way they continue to uplift me. Our response to this violence must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder and to live more kindly and generously than we did before. I'll be returning to the incredibly brave city of Manchester to spend time with my fans and to have a benefit concert in honour of and to raise money for the victims and their families."
Along with her full statement vowing to return to Manchester, the singer also tweeted a JustGiving appeal for the victims, which has seen more than 1.7 million GBP donated.
On May 22 a suicide bomber left 22 people dead after an explosion at Ariana's concert at Manchester Arena.
The singer had just left the stage when the terrorist attack happened.

After the attack, the singer tweeted her condolences to those who lost their lives and their families.

She said, "Broken from the bottom of my heart, I am so so sorry. I don't have words."
Presently, the singer has postponed her Dangerous Woman world tour. 

Atacama, Chile
Construction began in Chile on Friday on the European Extremely Large Telescope, which when completed will be the world's largest optical telescope, some five times larger than the top observing instruments in use today.

The size of the ELT has the potential to transform our understanding of the universe, say its backers, with its main mirror that will measure some 39 meters (43 yards) across.

Located on a 3,000 meter-high mountain (9,800 feet) in the middle of the Atacama desert, it is due to begin operating in 2024.
Among other capabilities, it will add to and refine astronomers' burgeoning discoveries of planets orbiting other stars, with the ability to find more smaller planets, image larger ones, and possibly characterize their atmospheres, a key step in understanding if life is present.

“What is being raised here is more than a telescope. Here we see one of the greatest examples of the possibilities of science,” said Chilean President Michelle Bachelet in a speech to mark the beginning of construction at the site.

The dry atmosphere of the Atacama provides as near perfect observing conditions as it is possible to find on Earth, with some 70 percent of the world's astronomical infrastructure slated to be located in the region by the 2020s.

The ELT is being funded by the European Southern Observatory, an organization consisting of European and southern hemisphere nations. Construction costs were not available but the ESO has said previously that the ELT would cost around 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion) at 2012 prices.

Bhubaneswar
12-year old Odia girl Padmalaya Nanda is all set to represent India at the Little Miss Universe beauty pageant to be held at Georgia in US.
A class VIII student, Padmalaya credits the people around her for motivating her to reach this level.

"I thank people for their blessings and support. For the beauty pageant, I am giving my 100 percent and I am very confident. I am trying to promote my culture and if people support me, I will definitely win this title," she told ANI.
Padmalaya has requested to vote for her on Facebook starting from June 1 to June 4 to help her win the Little Miss Universe title.

New Delhi 
India on Saturday announced a USD 500 million line of credit to Mauritius as the two countries decided to firm up cooperation in the field of maritime security in the Indian Ocean region.

The two sides signed a maritime security agreement after extensive talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth.

In a statement, Modi said he and Jugnauth agreed that effective management of conventional and non-conventional threats in the Indian Ocean is essential to pursue economic opportunities and provide security to the people of both the countries.


“We have to keep up our vigil against piracy that impacts trade and tourism, trafficking of drugs and humans, illegal fishing, and other forms of illegal exploitation of marine resources,” the prime minister said.

The bilateral maritime accord will strengthen cooperation and capacities, he said, noting that the two sides also agreed to strengthen their wide-ranging cooperation in hydrography for a secure and peaceful maritime domain.

On his part, Jugnauth said the two countries need to ensure that the sea lanes of communications are safe and secure and regular patrolling is conducted to combat illegal activities such as piracy, illegal fishing in the territorial waters and drug trafficking.

A decision to extend the operational life of Coast Guard ship Guardian, that was given by India to Mauritius under a grant assistance programme, was also taken.

During his visit to Mauritius in March 2015, Modi had commissioned offshore patrol vessel (OPV) Barracuda, built and financed by India, into the Mauritian Coast Guard.

Holding that Mauritius has “strong” defence and security ties with India, the visiting prime minister said the acquisition of such OPVs and fast interceptor boats from India has enhanced the operational capacities of its police and coast guard.

Besides the maritime pact, three other agreements were also signed after talks between the two leaders. They were for setting up of a civil services college in Mauritius, one on cooperation in ocean research and the US dollar Credit Line Agreement between the SBM Mauritius Infrastructure Development Company and Export-Import Bank of India.

Modi said the agreement on the line of credit to Mauritius was a good example of the strong and continuing commitment to the development of that country.

The two sides also decided to ramp up cooperation in a number of areas including trade and investment.

“India is proud to participate actively in the ongoing development activities in Mauritius” Modi said, adding that emphasis was also given on cooperation in skill development during the talks.

Reaffirming Mauritius’ “unwavering” support to India for UN Security Council membership, Jugnauth also welcomed New Delhi’s support to the island nation’s claim over the Chagos archipelago.

Both the UK and Mauritius have competing claims over the archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

Jugnauth also discussed with Modi the issue of a comprehensive economic cooperation and partnership agreement (CECPA) on which discussions have been held in the past.

He expressed satisfaction over the resumption of the negotiations on the CECPA issue last year, saying Mauritius looked forward to its conclusion by the end of this year.           

“The CEPCA will play a major role in the economic dynamics between our two countries, by enhancing trade and enabling collaboration with Indian entities,” he said.

Referring to the India-funded Metro Express Project from Curepipe to Port Louis, Jugnauth said it will play a pivotal role in the economic development of the island nation. The metro network will have 19 stations.

Mauritius also informed India about its ratification of the International Solar Alliance, a project involving 120 countries. It was initiated by Modi and former French president Francois Hollande.

K V Venkatasubramanian

Safe water, adequate sanitation and personal hygiene are indispensable for human health and progress. Lack of these can seriously impact psychological and social development of communities. The worst sufferers are women and children.

Some 300 million women and girls, mainly from underprivileged sections of society, defecate in the open, by one estimate. Deprivation of sanitation and toilet facilities imposes immense stress on women, who are forced to relieve themselves under cover of darkness. This poses threat to their safety and even life. Often, they are forced to reduce their food and water intake to minimise the need to exit home to use toilets.

Nearly 23 per cent of adolescent girls drop out of school for want and need of access to functional toilets, clean water and proper sanitation. These also affect children’s learning, safety and quality of their lives.

Unsafe water, poor hygiene practices and inadequate sanitation contribute to high incidences of diarrhoeal diseases, and under-five mortality caused by pneumonia, neonatal disorders and undernutrition, according to UNICEF. Contamination causes infection.  Absence of sanitation leads to contamination and results in infection. This contamination is a major cause of diarrhoea and leads to other major diseases such as jaundice, cholera, schistosomiasis (snail fever, caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomes) and trachoma (a chronic contagious bacterial infection of the eye). Diarrhoeal diseases are also responsible for stunting in children (low height-for-age).

Poor sanitation and its resultant diseases have a telling effect on everyone and a country as a whole. It imposes heavy burden on human, economic and environmental health. Hence, a clean nation alone can make sustained progress.

Realising the magnitude of this problem, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a clarion call to end open defecation by providing clean toilets and improving sanitation. Nearly three years ago, he launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) on October 2, 2014. The SBM offers a promising solution to address the issues of sanitation and water, and aims to achieve universal sanitation coverage and make India open defecation free by 2019, the 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.

The mission’s objectives are also to eradicate manual scavenging, effect behavioural change in healthy sanitation practices, and generate awareness about sanitation and its linkage with public health. It has two sub-missions— SBM-Urban (SBM-U) and SBM Gramin (SBM-G). The SBM-U focuses on making urban India free from open defecation and achieving 100 percent scientific management of municipal solid waste in 4,041 statutory towns. The SBM-G intends to bring about an improvement in the general quality of life in rural areas, by promoting cleanliness, hygiene and eliminating open defecation.

The progress on various fronts is being measured continually and updates are posted on the dashboard of the SBM website. So far, the advancement is impressive. Under SBM (Gramin), household toilet availability has improved by 22 percent to 64 percent since 2014; and over 2 lakh villages have self-declared to be open defecation free (ODF). Similarly, under SBM (urban), almost 32 lakh individual and community (and public) toilets have been built and 662 cities are ODF. Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Kerala have achieved 100 percent ODF status.

The Clean India campaign has, innovatively, induced a healthy competition among cities. The focus is on monitoring outcomes—the number of ODF cities and towns. A public survey places Indore as the cleanest city, and New Delhi (Lutyens Zone) among the top 10 clean cities in India. Gonda in UP is at the bottom of sanitation rankings of the survey of 434 cities. The study assessed cities and towns largely on improvement in processing of municipal solid waste and ending open defecation.

Infrastructure creation and citizen participation have created visibility on ground and begun showing promising results. Through several initiatives, the campaign has shaped a conducive environment for citizen participation. A social movement has steadily gathered impetus. Continually, the limelight is on stirring up attitudinal and behavioural change among society so as to make it a people’s movement.

Intensive multimedia communication campaigns through various media streams, ads on social media, introduction of apps, and billboards on streets remind public about the prime minister’s rallying cry. Celebrities have been roped in as brand ambassadors to motivate viewers and listeners on broadcast media to understand the importance of sanitation.

The mission stresses on toilets as key to women’s security. Ads on television and signs on village walls advise families to prevent their womenfolk from defecating in the open. To further the toilet construction programme, a new ad campaign on social media depicts women demanding their right to sanitation. The video ad, which highlights the plight of women, advocates a change in mindset among rural men folk about open defecation.

The campaign’s consistent thrust on cleanliness around historic monuments, public places and landmark cities--including heritage sights like Varanasi, Mathura, Agra and Lucknow—has changed public sensitivity about tourist places.

Toilet-building and sanitation are the two buzz words today. Clean India is not business as usual anymore—living with poor sanitation, that kills 50,000 people annually. Rather, it has stirred the collective conscience of people and has become everyone’s business—to throw filth out and bring health and happiness in.

New Delhi
The Associated Journals Limited, a company founded in 1937 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, announced its plans to resume publication of its Urdu newspaper Qaumi Awaz along with its digital version. Qaumi Awaz, one of the pioneers of post-Independence daily Urdu-journalism, had temporarily suspended publication in 2008. Its absence was felt by Urdu readers across the country and we hope to fill the vacuum that this had left behind.
The Company has appointed veteran journalist Zafar Agha as Editor-in-Chief for its Urdu newspaper Qaumi Awaz and the digital property with immediate effect. He will be responsible for building and leading the team of Qaumi Awaz and its digital and related assets.
The Associated Journals Limited, launched the beta version of its English Websitewww.nationalheraldindia.com in 2016 spearheaded by Neelabh Mishra as the Editor-in-Chief for its Hindi and English newspapers as well as digital properties.
Zafar Agha, a senior journalist and a well-known columnist with nearly three decades of print and electronic experience, started his career in 1980 with the first Indian news magazine, Link. In a span of a little over two decades, he pursued his dream with passion, working for many leading newspapers including The Business and Political Observer, India Today and The Patriot. He has been writing columns both for National and foreign newspapers. His TV programme Guftagu on ETV (Urdu) was widely seen and perceived as the most watched programme in Urdu.
The spirit of the forthcoming publication of The Associated Journals Limited, a not for profit company, is captured by the tagline ‘Freedom is in Peril, Defend it with All Your Might’. The publication and digital website shall follow the same editorial vision and principles as that of our Founder, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. It shall seek to give voice to the vision of Pandit Nehru and continue to occupy a liberal, progressive, secular space, furthering the best values of the Freedom Movement – that of building a modern, democratic, just, equitable, liberal and socially harmonious nation, free of sectarian strife.
Launched in 1938 as a daily newspaper in English, National Herald was in the vanguard of the Indian Freedom Movement. During its halcyon days and even in the decades after independence, the National Herald group of newspapers, including Navjivan in Hindi and Qaumi Awaz in Urdu, lent their influential voice to the efforts of building a peaceful, liberal and democratic nation imbued with rationality and scientific temper that their Founder had inculcated.

Prague
Petra Kvitova will make a "last-minute decision" whether to compete in the French Open as she prepares a comeback five months after her playing hand was badly injured in a knife attack, her spokesman said on Tuesday.
The two-time Wimbledon champion suffered career-threatening injuries to her left hand as she fought off a knife-wielding intruder at her home in the eastern Czech town of Prostejov in December.

The draw for the French Open will take place on Friday and Kvitova's spokesman Karel Tejkal said the Czech star could still make the 28 May - 11 June Grand Slam.

"It's not by chance that her name is still on the entry list for Roland Garros. The decision will be taken at the last minute," Tejkal said.

"We can already say it out loud – her long-term goal is to be fit enough to compete in Wimbledon."

The 27-year-old Kvitova won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014. This year's event at the All England club starts on 3 July.

Doctors had said the Czech player would not be able to return to competition before the second half of the year.

But Kvitova returned to training early in May and she was included on the entry list for the French Open.

"This unfortunately does not mean necessarily that I will be ready to play in Paris, but that I'm doing everything possible to give myself the chance and keep a positive mindset," Kvitova said at the time.

Ootacamund ( Tamil Nadu) 
President of India Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday addressed the 159th founder's day celebrations of the Lawrence School Lovedale at Ootacamund.

"We do not want merely informed robots without any soul. We want human beings who are sensitive to the needs of society," the President said, during his address.

He said "education does not merely mean imparting information. It is the value system that the schools provide, shape students to become worthy citizens of our great nation."

Established in 1858, the Lawrence School was set to impart vocational education to the orphans and children of European soldiers in India.

Leaked Facebook documents reveal the company walks a fine line between free speech and violent or hateful content.

The Guardian newspaper says it obtained the “more than 100 internal training manuals, spreadsheets and flowcharts” outlining how the social media giant decides what content can stay and what gets taken down.
According to the documents, Facebook does allows certain posts that contain violent language. For example, it’s OK to post “let’s beat up fat kids,” but prohibited to post “someone shoot Trump.”

"People commonly express disdain or disagreement by threatening or calling for violence in generally facetious and unserious ways," reads one of the documents.

Images showing non-sexual physical abuse or bullying of children as long as there is not a "sadistic or celebratory element." Live streams of people harming themselves is also allowed, the documents say because Facebook doesn’t want to "censor or punish people in distress."

A Facebook representative said the company’s top priority is keeping users safe.

"We work hard to make Facebook as safe as possible while enabling free speech," said Monica Bickert, Facebook’s head of global policy management. "This requires a lot of thought into detailed and often difficult questions, and getting it right is something we take very seriously."

Facebook has been under increased pressure to prevent violent content from appearing, as a stream of violent videos have been allowed to stay on the site for hours before being deleted.

One particularly gruesome video showed the brutal murder of Cleveland grandfather Robert Godwin in a crime posted on Facebook Live.

The company recently hired 3,000 more humans to help curb objectionable material, and The Guardian documents reveal the moderators are overwhelmed with requests to review material.

“These reviewers will also help us get better at removing things we don't allow on Facebook, like hate speech and child exploitation, “ Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post about the hiring. “And we'll keep working with local community groups and law enforcement who are in the best position to help someone if they need it - either because they're about to harm themselves, or because they're in danger from someone else.”

The company also employs algorithms to mark objectionable content.

Facebook also faces criticism when it does take down material deemed offensive.

Last fall, the company removed an iconic photo showing a naked Vietnamese girl running from a napalm attack during the Vietnam War. Facebook later allowed the image to be posted.

British actor Roger Moore, best known for his movie role as James Bond, has died at the age of 89.

"It is with a heavy heart that we must announce our loving father, Sir Roger Moore, has passed away today in Switzerland after a short but brave battle with cancer," his children said in a statement Tuesday. "The love with which he was surrounded in his final days was so great it cannot be quantified in words alone."
A private funeral will be held in Monaco according to his wishes, they added.

Moore gained international fame for playing famous secret agent James Bond in seven films released between 1973 and 1985, including Live and Let Die and The Spy Who Loved Me. They were based on the books by Ian Fleming.

Moore was also one of the longest serving goodwill ambassadors for the United Nations Children's Fund, visiting projects for children in over 16 countries. He was awarded UNICEF UK's first lifetime achievement award in 2012, which was later named the Roger Moore Lifetime Achievement Award.

"With the passing of Sir Roger Moore, the world has lost one of its great champions for children – and the entire UNICEF family has lost a great friend," UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said in a statement.

Stars pay tribute
Russell Crowe led the tributes to the actor on Twitter, writing simply: "Roger Moore, loved him."
Michael Ball said: "My dearest uncle Roger has passed on. What a sad, sad day this is. Loved the bones of him. Generous, funny, beautiful and kind."
Mia Farrow wrote: "Few are as kind & giving as was Roger Moore. Loving thoughts with his family & friends," while Boy George added: "RIP Sir Roger Moore. He was the king of cool."
In a statement, fellow Unicef ambassador and actor Ewan McGregor said: "Thank you, Roger, for having championed so tirelessly the rights of all children for the last 26 years.
"You've shown that we all have the power to make a change to the lives of the most vulnerable children."

New Delhi
Targeting 500 million customers by 2020, digital payments firm Paytm today launched its payments bank with 4 per cent interest rate and cashbacks on deposits, zero fees on online transactions and no minimum balance requirement. Backed by Chinese firm Alibaba and Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, the company has earmarked initial investment of Rs 400 crore to build its banking network over two years.
Paytm is the third entity in the country to launch a payments bank after Airtel and India Post.”RBI has given us an opportunity to create a new kind of

“RBI has given us an opportunity to create a new kind of banking model in the world. We are proud that our customer deposits will be safely invested in government bonds, and be used for nation building. None of our deposits will be converted into risky assets,” Paytm Payments Bank Chairman Vijay Shekhar Sharma said in a statement. The company at present has around 220 customers who use its digital wallet. The wallets will be shifted to the payments banks and users will have to comply with ‘know your customer’ (KYC) norms for opening accounts. The company is setting up KYC centres across India to assist its customers in opening accounts.

“Our ambition is to become India’s most trusted and consumer-friendly bank. Leveraging power of technology, we aim to become the preferred bank for 500 million Indians by 2020. We will invest over Rs 400 crore over the next two years to build banking network across the country,” Paytm Payments Bank CEO Renu Satti said. Paytm Payments Bank accounts will initially be available on an invite-only basis. In the first phase, the company will roll out its beta banking app for its employees and associates. Paytm customers can request an invite through the Paytm Payments Bank website or the Paytm application on Apple’s iOS platform. “This will be a mobile-first product with first-of-its- kind feature of cashback on deposits. Every customer, to open a Payments Bank account, will get a cashback of Rs 250 as soon they bring deposits of a total of Rs 25,000 in their bank account.


“The account will have zero balance requirement and every online transaction (such as IMPS, NEFT, RTGS) will be free of charge,” the statement said. For savings accounts, the company would offer an interest of 4 per cent per annum. The company will also offer current accounts to its millions of merchants. Paytm plans to roll out 31 branches and 3,000 customer service points of the bank in the first year. Users will continue to be able to use their Paytm Wallet in the same manner as before, it added. Paytm will offer virtual Rupay debit cards to customers immediately and physical card on request for withdrawing cash from any ATM in the country.

“We are confident that India would be able to achieve the 9 targets under SDG 3 relating to health and well being for all at all ages.” This was stated by J P Nadda, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare during his addresses at the Plenary Meeting of the 70th World Health Assembly, at Geneva. The Union Health Minister spoke on the theme – ‘Advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: building better systems for health.’ 

 Nadda stressed on the importance of building a strong, resilient health system that mitigates any country’s vulnerability to health crises. He said that the achievement of health related goals and targets, in Indian context, is a daunting task, considering India’s geographical size, regional and socio-cultural diversity. “India remains committed to ensuring quality and affordable healthcare for all. We have made strategic investments under the National Health Mission and the national disease control programmes. We are committed to further strengthening the health systems,” Nadda added 

 Nadda informed the participants that the National Health Policy, 2017 lays down the roadmap for various milestones and targets. “To translate the Policy into affirmative action, we are working with the States, Union Territories, academicians and development partners. A National SDG-3 Task Force has been set up with representation of key ministries, agencies and experts,” he said. 

Reiterating the commitment of the government, the Health Minister said that India is committed to achieving universal health coverage (UHC). He further added that health systems strengthening and universal comprehensive primary health care through Health and Wellness Centres has been identified as non-negotiable strategies towards UHC. “We plan to achieve more than 90% immunization coverage by 2020. We are rolling out universal population-based screening for common NCDs. There is more stress on quality improvement in public health service delivery. We plan to provide essential Drugs & Diagnostics-free of cost in public health facilities,” Nadda stated. 

Piyush Goyal launched the Saral Eindhan Vitaran Application (SEVA), developed in-house by Coal India Limited (CIL) for power sector consumers, here today. SEVA is a part of ‘Digital India’ initiative, which is aimed at increasing the Consumer Connect as well as the Transparency and Accountability in Coal dispatch.

Goyal said that this app, along with other such apps of various Ministries of Government of India, are in line with Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi’s vision of “Easy, Effective, Economical and Transparent Governance.” Goyal further informed that for the benefit of all the citizens, the links for all mobile apps regarding Ministries of Power, Coal, NRE and Mines would be sent to the respective mobile number from which a missed call on the designated toll free number 1800 200 300 4 is given.

The Minister added that this Government believes in suo motu dissemination of information of larger public interest and ‘m-governance’ would be the key to achieve this goal. These people-centric mobile apps would make the citizen empowered and hold the Government accountable for its decisions through increased transparency.

Talking about the SEVA app, the Minister said that there is a general perception that an app related to Coal dispatch would not be of importance for the common man. Contrary to this view,  Goyal said, by using this app the common man would be able to hold the Government accountable for the coal linkage allocations and would be able to check any pilferage or inefficiencies in coal consumption for power generation. This would, in turn, lead to rationalization of coal linkages and finally reduction in the power prices in the country. In near future , non-power sector mines would also be added in this App, the Minister added.

Earlier in the event, it was informed that the SEVA Dashboard provides summary of quantity of coal dispatched along with grades for the given day, month, and the latest yearly updates as well. It also provides information on rake movement including latest status of indents of rake, allotment and loading. This would help consumers making advance logistics planning. Further, the app has a dedicated backend team to monitor the status of specific grievances from consumers and take action on the feedback received on the app. While much of the information on the SEVA Dashboard is available in open access, consumer specific data would be password protected.

The consumer friendly mobile app helps in tracking of coal dispatch to 118 Power Plants through Fuel Supply Agreement (FSA) of around 500 MT besides, dispatch through Special Forward E-Auction and Bridge Linkage from more than 200 dispatch points spread over eight states of the country. Daily quantity involved is to the tune of 1.25 Million Tonnes involving the daily movement of around 195 coal trains besides dispatch through other captive modes of transport like MGR, road, belt, ropeways etc.

Vinod Behl

Despite fiscal constraints, NDA government is relentlessly focusing on energizing rural economy as engine of  growth and uplifting rural poor through a number of key initiatives/revamped policies related to rural housing & infrastructure, farm income, job creation and entrepreneurship promotion.

Modi government's rural development agenda revolves around its development mantra- "Sabka saath, sabka vikas' (inclusive development), ensuring that the benefits of development reach poor and under privileged.Significantly, the people  put their stamp of approval on government's development model in recently held assembly elections.

The government's intent to rejuvenate rural economy by giving a fillip to rural development, was clearly demonstrated through pro- poor budget theme and massive allocation for rural development. Against budgetary allocation of Rs 80194 crore for rural development in 2013-14  budget during UPA regime, the NDA government hiked it to Rs 87765 crore in FY 17 and for FY18, rural, agriculture and allied sectors are to get Rs 1.87 lakh crore of allocation.

Fully recognising that housing and infrastructure are the main drivers of economic development, the  NDA government put budgetary focus on it, right from its interim budget in 2014-15 when allocation for National Housing Bank (NHB), was increased to Rs 8000 crore to support rural housing as part of government's flagship programme of 'Housing for All by 2022'.

As per the Working Group on Rural Housing for 12th Five Year Plan, there's a shortage of 14.8 million houses as in 2015. .Signalling government's priority for rural housing, budgetary allocation under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), was raised from Rs 15000 crore to Rs 23000 crore and a target of completing one  crore houses for homeless, has been fixed for 2017-18.A special interest subsidy provided under PM scheme, is bound to give further boost to housing , especially EWS and low- cost housing, favourably impacting rural India.

To boost rural infrastructure, Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rubran Mission has been launched for creating integrated project based infrastructure in rural areas, with a separate budgetary allocation of Rs 14389 crore under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), to augment road connectivity of villages.

Modi government is lighting up the lives of people with a dedicated Deen Dayal Upadhaya Jyoti Yojana to augment power supply with an aim to provide round the clock power at affordable rates through energy reforms focusing on green, clean energy. In 2017- 18 budget,there is a target of electrification of all villages by May 2018. The government has made a remarkable achievement of crossing 50 GW of installed capacity in green energy in 2016-17, almost at par with thermal energy. There is a target to have 175000 MW of installed capacity of renewable energy  by end 2022.

Affordable energy being the key theme of the government, over two crore BPL families have already been provided LPG connections within one year of the launch of pro- poor scheme -'Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana(PMUY) and by March 2019, almost entire BPL population   will get covered .  

In addition to tackling the  problem of homelessness, the government is making all out efforts to meet the serious challenge of rural distress caused by agrarian crisis, fully realizing that agricultural development is key to tackle poverty. A 2016 Rural Development Report by International Fund for Agriculture Development(IFAD) says that price incentives for agriculture can act as a catalyst  in farm income,leading to poverty elimination. Keeping this in mind, Ministry of Agriculture & Allied Services, with a record allocation of Rs 187223 crore for 2017-18, is working on e-National Agriculture Market (eNAM), to create a unified national market to help farmers get better price for their crop, with a target to double farmers income by 2022. A number of other related measures include providing comprehensive crop insurance to farmers and increasing  crop coverage area  from 30 percent in 2016-17 to 40 percent in 2017-18 to 50 percent by 2018-19 under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, besides increasing farm productivity by improving soil health, use of technology, undertaking water conservation programme in 50000 gram panchayats and by raising outlay for Long- Term Irrigation Fund to Rs 40000 crore in 2017-18. Under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), the target is to provide water to every field in 5 years.

As the root cause of rural distress is income deficit,the government has attached greater priority to several programmes related to job creation, skill development and entrepreneurship, with a view to enhance income. Under the new target- specific(2019) plan ,'National Rural Livelihood Mission', the government is putting strong focus on sustainable livelihood by targeting women self help groups and reaching out to all 7 crore rural BPL families and linking them to sustainable livelihood opportunities, in order to come out of poverty and lead a decent life.  MGNERGA, in its revamped form, with record allocation of Rs 48000 crore for FY 17, is being used as an efficient tool to support incomes for marginal farmers and landless labourers. On an average, 25-30 lakh works were completed annually till FY 2013-14 whereas 51.3 lakh works got completed in FY 2016-17. Rural Development Ministry is also making use of satellite based geo- tagging to check any leakages and assess actual asset creation under MGNREGA. With mass scale opening of  Jandhan bank accounts of urban and rural poor, 96 percent MGNREGA wages  are now being directly transferred to their accounts under Direct Benefit Scheme, compared to just 13 percent in 2013-14 under UPA government. 

The skill development programme, covering 45 lakh households, has been making a significant contribution to give a boost to Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), the flagship programme to provide loans  to promote rural entrepreneurship. The success of this scheme, aimed at unorganised sector, can be gauged from the fact that in FY 18, a record  Rs 1.80 lakh crore of loans have been sanctioned, immensely benefiting  entrepreneurs. Alternate employment is being provided to  youth by providing cheaper passenger vehicles to rural entrepreneurs. And under National Rural Livelihood Mission, government is planning more rural women led Ajeewika stores to provide them outlet to sell products produced by self help groups, directly to consumers. 

To ensure inclusive development, the government is promoting digital inclusion by providing mobile connectivity to over 55000 villages by March 2019 and initiating measures like Jandhan accounts debit cards, Aadhar Pay, Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), to put an end to middle men and ensure that benefits of various government schemes directly reach beneficiaries through digital transactions that touched 1569.3 crore in FY 17 till January. There is a target of 2500 crore digital transactions in 2017-18.

Obviously, the government has shown its commitment to improve the lot of 22 crore rural people by way of providing shelter, livelihood, affordable power supply, clean drinking water, affordable healthcare, sanitation( including toilets) and cooking gas.  PM Modi has put greater focus on governance by starting monthly review meetings with bureaucracy with a view to tone up delivery system by plugging any loopholes and leakages, thereby ensuring effective implementation so that rural people can reap the benefits of all pro- poor and pro- rural schemes launched by the government.

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