NOV 3rd 2015

>> National Tribal Crafts Mela ‘Aadishilp’ which gives tribal artisans an opportunity to showcase and sell their traditional art and craft works directly to customers, was inaugurated today by Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram here.
'Aadishilp', organised by Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd (TRIFED) at Dilli Haat, will be open till November 11.
''This kind of exhibitions providing tribal artisans an important platform to showcase their talents through their products to urban India

The mela will showcase hand crafted items, handloom products, cane and bamboo products, dry flowers, tribal jewellery, Dhokra craft, tribal paintings, tribal weaves and embroidery etc.

>> Suresh N Patel was appointed as the managing director & chief executive officer (MD & CEO) of Andhra Bank. He took charge on 2 November 2015 in New Delhi.

He has around three decades of experience in the banking sector at various levels and most of it in Gujarat.

He succeeded CVR Rajendran who retired on 30 April 2015 and became the CEO of Association of Mutual Funds in India.

>> Former West Bengal assembly speaker Hashim Abdul Halim passed away at the age of 80. From 1982 to 2011, during the Left Front rule, he served as the Assembly speaker for 29 long years and created a record.

In 1977, when the CPI(M)-led Left Front came to power, he was elected as an MLA for the first time. He was also elected to the state assembly for seven consecutive terms till 2011.

>> Mana Patel and Virdhawal Khade won the 69th senior National Aquatic Championships 2015.

In the women's category of the competition, Mana from Gujarat was announced as the best swimmer. She has broken her national record of 30:38 seconds made in 2014 by 13 micro second in women’s 50m backstroke race by completing the event in 30.25 second.

Apart from this, in the men's category of the competition, Khade from Maharashtra was announced as the best swimmer. He has created a national record in the 100m butterfly and won three gold medals in the events 50m freestyle, 50m and 100m butterfly.

A national record in 100m breaststroke event, was created by AV Jayaveena of Tamilnadu by beating the previous record of 1:16.76 with a record time of 1:16.25.

Rankings of the team as per points table:

·         1st Rank - Railways with a total of 27 medals (14 Gold, 9 Silver and 4 Bronze)

·         2nd Rank - Karnataka with a total of 28 medals (9 Gold, 8 Silver and 11 bronze)

·         3rd Rank - Maharashtra with a total of 29 medals (8 Gold, 11 Silver and 10 Bronze)

·         4th Rank - Gujarat with a total of 14 medals (4 Gold, 5 Silver and 5 Bronze)

>> First international film festival for the persons with disabilities (IFFPD) will be held in Delhi from 1st to 3rd December 2015. Announcing this here today Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Shri Lov Verma said the festival organized to recognise the spirit of the persons with disabilities and will show case cinemas that open our world to their mind space, and sensitise on issue relating to disabilities. 

A total of 40 films (10 feature films, 16 short films and14 documentaries) will be screened during the three days festival. These films have been selected out of 541 entries received from India and abroad.

The unique film festival being organized first time by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment along-with national films development corporation (NFDC) would also have workshop on film directing and screen writing etc for children. 

>> Deepak Singhal has been appointed as the Executive Director (ED) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He has replaced K K Vohra who will now look after the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).

Singhal will look after Rajbhasha Department and Right to Information Act Division, Human Resource Management Department (including HR Operations Unit), Corporate Strategy and Budget Department, Department of Corporate Services, Central Security Cell.

Earlier to this appointment, Singhal worked as the Regional Director in-charge of RBI, New Delhi.

>> Punjabi became the third most common language after English and French in the House of Commons of Canada.

Among the 23 Members of Parliament of South Asian origin who were elected to the House of Commons, Parliament of Canada during parliamentary elections, 20 speak Punjabi.

Newly elected Punjabi-speaking MPs includes 6 women and 14 men.

>> International Indigenous Terra Madre-2015, which brings over a 100 tribes from 58 countries, started in Shillong, Meghalaya.

"The Future We Want: Indigenous Perspectives and Actions" is the theme.

In the event, 12 American countries, 17 Asian countries, 7 Oceania countries, 14 African countries and 8 European countries will take part in the event.

>> Ravikumar Sreedharan was appointed as Managing Director of Indian unit of Information Technology firm Unisys Corporation. He has replaced Kumar Prabhas, who served as MD of Unisys India for last 8 years.

>> All India Radio's programme on child labour lifted the first prize under the Community Service Announcement category at the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Prizes 2015.

The award includes a prize worth 2000 US dollars along with a certificate and a statuette.

The programme was titled Nilkkam Ivarkkoppam, which means Stand Beside Them and was aired in Malayalam language.

Do You Know :

The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) founded in 1964 is a non-profit, professional association of broadcasting organisations.

Currently, it has more than 275 member broadcasters in 68 countries.

>> The Legatum Institute, a think-tank based in London just released its annual global Prosperity Index, a huge survey that ranks the most prosperous countries in the world. The index looks at the 142 countries in the world which have the most available data.

As a result the Legatum Institute compares 89 different variables. These variables range from traditional indicators like GDP per capita and the number of people in full-time work, to more interesting figures such as the number of secure internet servers a country has and how well rested people feel on a day-to-day basis.

The variables are then split into eight sub-indices. These are: Economy, Entrepreneurship & Opportunity, Governance, Education, Health, Safety & Security, Personal Freedom, Social Capital

Once everything has been calculated, the full index is created, and these are the results.

Top 5 in terms of overall prosperity :

·         Norway

·         Switzerland

·         Denmark

·         New Zealand

·         Sweden

·         India is at the 99th position in terms of prosperity among 142 countries.

>> Captain Krishna Swaminathan took the charge as the second Commanding Officer of INS Vikramaditya at Karwar.

It is Indian Navy's new and daunting aircraft carrier. The ship has the ability to operate Sea Harrier, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), Chetak Helicopters, MiG 29K/KuB fighters, Sea King, Kamov 28 and Kamov 31 from its deck.

>> In order to protect the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles that arrive during winters for nesting, the Odisha forest department  imposed a seven-month ban on fishing along the coast.

The ban will be in force from November 1 to May 31, 2016. The endangered Olive Ridley turtles arrive every year during winters for mass nesting in Rushikulya river mouth and Gahirmatha marine sanctuary.

The restriction has been imposed as per Odisha Marine Fishing Act (OMFA).

“Trawlers and fishermen have been directed not to fish within 20 km off the coastline in the turtle nesting sites. Use of motor boats and mechanised trawlers for fishing within 5 km from the coast between Astarang and Baliharchandi in Puri district has been prohibited”.

Over half a million Olive Ridley turtles arrive and congregate in the shallow coastal water of the Bay of Bengal in November and climb ashore for nesting between December and March. Most hatchlings emerge by May.

The state has three nesting sites — Gahirmatha beach in Kendrapada district, Devi river mouth in Puri district, and Rushikulya river mouth in Ganjam district.

The Gahirmatha turtle sanctuary is one of the world’s largest turtle nesting sites.