Prime Minister Modi inaugurated extension of Delhi Metro Line till Faridabad

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 6 September 2015 inaugurated the extension of Delhi Metro connecting Badarpur to Escorts Mujesar in Faridabad.

This extension till Faridabad, an industrial hub in Haryana would allow hassle-free travel for around two lakh daily commuters between the national capital and the industrial hub in Haryana.

The total cost of the project from Badarpur to Escorts Mujesar was to the tune of 2500 crore rupees.

Out of this, 1557 crore rupees was borne by the Haryana Government, while 537 crore rupees was contributed by the Union Government and 400 crore rupees was spent by Delhi Metro.

The Badarpur-Escorts Mujesar line comprises of nine stations. These are Sarai, NHPC Chowk, Mewala Maharajpur, Sector-28, Badkal Mor, Old Faridabad, Neelam Chowk Ajronda, Bata Chowk and Escorts Mujesar. All these are elevated and located on either side of the Delhi-Mathura Road (NH-2).

Bala Tripura Sundari Devi Temple renovated under India-Nepal Economic programme inaugurated

Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Ranjit Rae on 5 September 2015 inaugurated the newly renovated Bala Tripura Sundari Devi Temple at Tripurakot. It is situated on the bank of glacial river Thuli Bheri in Dolpa district of Nepal.

The temple was constructed with 33.3 million Nepali rupees financial support from the Indian government.

Shree Bala Tripura Sundari Devi Temple is a historic structure said to be more than 900 years old, having great socio-cultural relevance in the life of the people of the Dolpa district. The renovation of the temple has upgraded the old structure with improved facilities for 20000 pilgrims visiting the temple every year.

Besides, Rae also inaugurated school building of Shree Chandannath HS School, Khalanga Bazar, in Jumla district, constructed with Government of India at a grant assistance of 24.94 million Nepali Rupees.

Established in 1951, and upgraded to Higher Secondary school in 2006 Shree Chandannath HS School is one of the important educational institutions of this remote district in Nepal’s mid western region.

This is the first development project undertaken by Government of India in Jumla District.

Apart from this, the Union Government also extended its assistance of around 300 million Nepali rupees for renovation, restoration, updation of various religious, cultural and historical sites of Nepal.

Background

These initiatives were undertaken by Indian government as part of the India-Nepal Economic programme, which has an outlay of over 75 billion Nepali rupees with more than 502 large and small development projects completed or currently being implemented in almost all the districts of Nepal.

These development projects mainly in the sectors of education, health and infrastructure development have been undertaken in response to local needs, and in partnership with the Government of Nepal.

Puducherry government announced annual Teacher's Day awards

Puducherry government announced annual Teacher's Day awards


Puducherry Government on 5 September 2015 announced the annual State Best Teachers’ Awards 2015. 20 teachers from four regions of the Union Territory were awarded in different categories.

Chief Minister N Rangasamy distributed the awards to encourage the teaching community and also to recognise their professional competence and achievement in the field of education at various levels.

Winners of the year’s Best Teacher awards in different categories were
• Dr S Radhakrishnan Award: Two awards each were given at two levels, that is, Primary (up to standard VIII) and Secondary level (up to standard IX to XII). These are
a) Winners at the Primary level award: R Sivakumar Headmaster Government Primary School, Irulansandai and G Krishnamoorthy, Headmaster Government Girls Primary School, Bahour.
b) Winners at the Secondary level: R Kulasegaran, Trained Graduate Teacher GGHSS, Kadhirkamam and NM Saminathan, Lecturer in Economics, Sinnatha Govt. Girls Higher Sec. School, Muthialpet.
• The Chief Minister’s Special Awards: These awards are given to a language teacher, four women teachers and a technical teacher.
a) Best Language Teacher: K Thamban, Lecturer in Hindi, VN Purushothaman Government Higher Sec. School, Palloor, Mahe.
b) Women Teachers: M Sandacoumary, Primary School Teacher, Government Primary School, Murungapakkam; R Anita, Trained Graduate Teacher, Arutchelvi Ayee Ammal, Government Girls Middle School, Mutharapalayam; R Vijayarani, Trained Graduate Teacher, Thanthai Periyar GHSS; Kovilpathu, Karaikal and Peddinty Padmavathi, Trained Graduate Teacher (Telugu), Kamala Nehru GGHS, Yanam.
c) Technical Teacher: M Sankar, Physical Education Teacher, Jeevanandam GHSS, Karamanikuppam, Puducherry.
• The Education Minister’s Regional Awards: These awards are given to six teachers in Puducherry, two in Karaikal and one each in Mahe and Yanam. Winners in different school
a) Puducherry: Soundarapandian, Computer Science Teacher from Jeevanandam GHSS, Karamanikuppam; K Latha, Headmistress, Government Girls’ Primary School, Bahour; P Kandiban, Trained Graduate Teacher, Government Middle School, Andiyarpalayam; V Rajaram and P Sahayamary Fathima, Trained Graduate Teachers, Thiru. Vi. Ka. Government Higher Secondary School; Arumathapuram and K Sidharthan, Headmaster, Arjuna Subbaraya Naicker, Government Middle School, Muthialpet.
b) Karaikal: S Ravindran, Trained Graduate Teacher, GGHS, Tirumalairayan Pattinam and J Krishnan, English Lecturer, Thanthai Periyar GHS, Koyilpathu.
c) Mahe: K Radhakrishnan, Mathematics Lecturer, Jawaharlal Nehru GHS.
d) Yanam: GV Suryanarayana, Headmaster, Rajiv Gandhi GHSS.

The State/Regional Awardees were awarded with a cash prize of 10000 rupees and a certificate on the occasion of Teachers’ Day Celebration on 5 September.

Thailand's military-appointed National Reform Council rejected the draft of the new constitution

Thailand's Junta-appointed reform council on 6 September 2015 shot down a controversial new constitution drafted after 2014’s coup. This rejection could delay the return of democracy to the country by April 2017 at the earliest.

The 247-member National Reform Council rejected the draft charter by 135 votes to 105, with seven abstentions. The draft was rejected mainly due to a clause that enabled a 23-member panel to take over government during a national crisis.

As a result of the draft charter being voted down, the National Reform Council's term will end and a new 21-member constitution drafting committee will be set up. It will have 180 days to draft a new charter.

After the new drafting committee finishes its work, a new draft constitution will be put for a public referendum in four months. Until a new constitution can be drafted, the military government retains its substantial powers.

The military abolished previous constitution after it toppled Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in May 2014 after months of political unrest, and since then the government is functioning under a temporary charter.

Since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, Thailand has seen number of new constitutions. If the new constitution would have been passed, it would have become the 20th constitution of Thailand.

Indian boxer Vikas won silver medal in 75 kg category at 2015 Asian Boxing Championships

Indian boxer Vikas Krishan (75kg) on 5 September 2015 won the silver medal in the 2015 Asian Boxing Championships. In the summit clash at Bangkok, Thailand, Vikas was defeated 0-2by reigning Youth Olympic champion Bektemir Melikuziev of Uzbekistan.

With Vikas' silver, India finished their campaign with one silver and three bronze medals. L Devendro Singh (49kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg) won the bronze medals.

Overall, India with 16 points finished off the campaign with creditable fourth among the record 28 countries which participated in the Asian Boxing Championships.

The top three table-toppers were Kazakhstan (42 points), Uzbekistan (38 points) and hosts Thailand (17 points) respectively.

Also, six Indians made the cut for October 2015 World Championships, the first qualifying event for the Rio 2016 Olympics. Besides the medallists, the other two who qualified for the world event were Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Madan Lal (52kg).

G20 launched W20 to enhance role of women in business

The G20 grouping on 6 September 2015 launched the W20 (Women20) in Ankara, Turkey. The focus of the W20 is to enhance the role of women in business.

Though the grouping was created in April 2015 it was formally launched on the sidelines of the G-20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.

G20 is a group of major economies formed to bring together systemically important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy.

The mandate of W20 is to advance and realize recent G20 commitments on

• Achieving women’s full economic and social participation (Los Cabos Leaders’ Declaration, 2012).
• Enhancing women’s financial inclusion and education (St Petersburg Leaders’ Declaration, 2013).
• Reducing the participation gap between women and men in G20 countries by 25 per cent by 2025, taking into account national circumstances (Brisbane Leaders’ Declaration, 2014).

It is in addition to the existing official engagement groups of the G20-B20 (Business20), C20 (Civil society20), L20 (Labour20), T20 (Think20) and Y20 (Youth20).

Gulden Turktan was appointed as the first president of the group.

She is one of the founders and President of the Women Entrepreneurs' Association in Turkey (KAGIDER), and is currently a member of its Executive Board.

Music Composer Aadesh Shrivastava died

Bollywood singer and music composer Aadesh Shrivastava died on 5 September 2015 at the Koliaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital in Mumbai. He was undergoing treatment for cancer for the last five years.

He was 49. He is survived by wife Vijeta Pandit and two sons, Avinesh and Avitesh.

Aadesh Shrivastava
Aadesh Shrivastava born on 4 September 1966 was a music composer and singer of Indian music. Over the course of his career, he had composed music for over 100 Hindi films.

He has composed music for films like Chalte Chalte, Baabul, Baghban, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Rajneeti and others. His chart buster songs were Kya Ada Kya Jalwe Tere Paro, Haathon Mein Aa Gaya Jo Kal, Gustakhiyaan, Gur Nalon Ishq Mitha, Mora Piya and others.

G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meet held in Turkey

The G-20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was held for two days on 4 September and 5 September 2015 at Ankara in Turkey.

The meeting was attended by the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G20 members, invited countries, and the heads and senior representatives of the relevant international organizations.

India was represented by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Raghuram Rajan.
The meeting reviewed the issues pertaining to current global economy including devaluation of Chinese currency (Yuan) and likely impact of change in interest rates by the Federal Reserve of the USA.

Further, it also discussed financial agenda of the Antalya Summit of the G20 leaders scheduled to be held in November 2015 in Turkey.

About G-20 Major Economies

The Group of Twenty (G20) is the premier forum for its members’ international economic cooperation and decision-making. Its membership comprises 19 countries plus the European Union.

G20 leaders meet annually, additionally during the year Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meet regularly to discuss ways to strengthen the global economy, reform international financial institutions, improve financial regulation, and discuss the key economic reforms that are needed in each of the member countries.

The G20 started in 1999 as a meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis. In 2008, the first G20 Leaders Summit was held, and the group played a key role in responding to the global financial crisis.

It consists of the US, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, the UK, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, and the European Union.

Teacher’s Day celebrated across India on birth anniversary of Dr S Radhakrishnan

5 September: Teacher’s Day

Teacher’s Day was celebrated on 5 September 2015.To mark the occasion, the president of India Pranab Mukherjee presented National Awards to meritorious teachers.

Also, he inaugurated the Be A Teacher programme of the Delhi government at the Dr Rajendra Prasad Sarvodaya Vidyalaya in the President’s Estate in New Delhi.

Under the programme, successful leaders from all walks of life - judiciary, civil services, media, medicine, entrepreneurship, etc– will volunteer themselves to spare some quality time to share their experiences with students of government schools.

Teacher's day was created in 1962 to mark the birth anniversary of the second president of India Dr S Radhakrishnan, who was also an academician and teacher.

The World Teachers’ Day

It is important to note that every country has its own Teacher’s day, which is celebrated on different dates. But there is also the World Teachers’ day that was created by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Every year, 5 October is celebrated as the World Teachers’ Day. A different theme is selected for every year to celebrate and honour the teachers of the world.

Union Government announced One Rank One Pension scheme for ex-servicemen

The Union Government on 5 September 2015 announced One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for ex-servicemen. The scheme was pending for nearly four decades.

Though the scheme was announced in February 2014, it was not implemented till date as the modalities of the scheme were not finalized.

What is OROP?

In simple terms, OROP implies that uniform pension be paid to the armed forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, regardless of their date of retirement.

At present, ex-servicemen receive differential pensions as it is calculated on the basis of their salary at the time of their retirement.

Differential payments occur as the salaries of personnel are frequently revised on the basis of pay commission’s recommendations.

For example, personnel who retired in 1990 receive fewer pensions compared to their juniors who retired in 2006 though they retired at the same rank with same length of service.

Features of OROP scheme

• Pension will be re-fixed for all pensioners retiring in the same rank and with the same length of service as the average of minimum and maximum pension in 2013.
• The benefit will be given with effect from 1 July 2014 to the ex-service men of all the three forces.
• Those drawing pensions above the average will be protected.
• In future, the pension would be re-fixed every 5 years.
• Arrears will be paid in four half-yearly installments.
• All widows, including war widows, will be paid arrears in one installment.
• Personnel who voluntarily retire will not be covered under the scheme.
• The estimated cost to the exchequer would be 8000 to 10000 crore at present, and will increase further in future.

To resolve further issues related to the implementation of the scheme especially those of inter-service issues of three forces, the government also announced to form a one member judicial committee that will give its report in six months.