92 Year Old Archaeologist and French Scholar Conferred Classical Tamil Awards

by President
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee today (December 21, 2012) conferred the
Presidentia !"ards for #assica Tami at a function in $ashtra%ati &ha'an(
)2 year od Prof( #( *o'indarajanar "as conferred Toka%%iyar !"ard for outstandin+
contribution in the fied of Tami studies( Prof( *o'indarajanar is an eminent archeoo+ist
"ho did fied"ork for 1, years in the historicay im%ortant re+ion from Pum%ukar to
-anci "hich ed to the identification of the .annaki tem%e( The a"ard carries a
certificate of honour, a memento and a one/time cash %ri0e of $s( 1 akh
Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowshis !Akademi "atna# and Akademi Awards
!Akademi P$raskar# for the Year 2%&2 Anno$nced
The *enera #ounci of San+eet 2atak !kademi, the 2ationa !cademy of Music, Dance
and Drama, 2e" Dehi at its meetin+ hed on 21 December 2012 eected three !'#
eminent ersonalities in the field of erforming arts( namely N. Rajam, T.H.
Vinayakram and Ratan Thiyam as Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellows !Akademi
"atna#) The 3eo"shi% of the !kademi is the most %resti+ious and rare honour, "hich is
restricted to a 'ery imited number at a +i'en time( Presenty there are ony 40 3eo"s
of the San+eet 2atak !kademi(
The *enera #ounci of the !kademi aso seected thirty si* !'+# ersons from the
fieds of Music, Dance, Theatre and Pu%%etry for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards
!Akademi P$raskar# for the year 2%&2(
,n the field of -$sic( nine eminent artists( namey $ajashekhar Mansur and !jay
Pohankar for 5industani -oca Music, Sabir .han (Taba) and &ahauddin Da+ar ($udra
-eena) for 5industani Instrumenta Music, 6(S( Thya+arajan for #arnatic -oca Music(
-ysore -) Nagara.a( !/iolin) and .(-( Prasad (Mridan+am) for #arnatic Instrumenta
Music, Iayaraja for #reati'e 7 89%erimenta Music and &hai &abir Sin+h $a+i
(*urbani) for 6ther Major Traditions of Music ha'e been seected for the !kademi !"ard
2012(
,n the field of 0ance( nine eminent ractitioners, namey Priyadarsini *o'ind
(&haratanatyam), -ijay Shankar (.athak), -a0hen+ada -ijayan (.athakai), -edantam
$amain+a Sastry (.uchi%udi), Sharmia &is"as (6dissi), :ai 2arayan Sama (#hhau),
Painkuam Damodara #hakyar (.utiyattam), :"aa Prasad (Music for Dance) and !diti
Man+adas (#reati'e 7 89%erimenta Dance) ha'e been seected for the !kademi !"ard
2012(
,n the field of Theatre( eight eminent artists ha'e been seected for !kademi !"ards
2012( They incude !rjun Deo #haran for Pay"ritin+, Tri%urari Sharma and ;aman
.endre for Direction, Par'esh Sethi, 2irma $ishi and Purisai .anna%%a Sambandan for
!ctin+, Murari $oychoudhury for Theatre Music and *huam $asoo &ha+at for Major
Traditions of Theatre (&hand Pather)(
For their contrib$tion to Other Traditional1Folk1 Tribal -$sic1 0ance1 Theatre and
P$etry( eight artists ha'e been seected for the !kademi !"ard( They are 2or$
Channabasaa for Folk -$sic !3arnataka#( .inaram 2ath 6ja for Suknani 6ja%ai
(!ssam), Prem Sin+h Dehati for 3ok Theatre (5aryana), Suochana #ha'an for <a'ani
(Maharashtra), Mattannur Sankaran .utty Marar for Thayambaka (.eraa), *o'ind $am
2irmakar for 2acha (#hhattis+arh), 5eera Das 2e+i for Mask Makin+ (5imacha
Pradesh) and Prafua .armakar for Traditiona Pu%%etry (;est &en+a)(
Nandini Ramani and Arun Kakade will receive the Akademi Award 2012 fr
!verall "ntri#utin$%chlar&hi' in (erfrmin) Art&.
The honour of Akademi Fellow has been conferred since 1954 and Akademi Award
since 1952( They not ony symboi0e the hi+hest standard of e9ceence and
achie'ements on a nationa basis, but aso reco+ni0e sustained indi'idua "ork and
contribution to the %ractice and a%%reciation of the arts throu+h %erformance, teachin+
and schoarshi%(
The honour of !kademi 3eo" carries a %urse money of $s =,00,000>/ ($u%ees three
acs) and !kademi !"ards carry $s 1,00,000>/ ($u%ees one ac), besides Tamra%atra
and !n+a'astram(
/,C4 President Presented 5ook -areechika6based on 7omen "elated iss$es
The -ice President of India Shri M( 5amid !nsari "as %resented the co%y of a book
entitled 8-areechika? based on short stories on ;omen reated issues "ritten by Shri
"a.an 3aoor 9"a.: here today(
6666;;;;
It may be recaed that the demo+ra%hic data for the creation of 2P$ "as coected for
the entire country durin+ !%ri to Se%tember 2010 throu+h house/to/house enumeration(
The data has since been di+itised and currenty, the biometric enroment is in %ro+ress(
Once collected( the NP" data along with biometrics wo$ld be sent to <,0A, for de6
d$lication and generation of <,0 n$mbers !Aadhar#) The *o'ernment aso
%ro%oses to issue "esident ,dentity !smart# Cards $nder NP"( Re)i&tratin in
the N(R i& mandatry fr all u&ual re&ident& f the cuntry under the
"iti*en&hi' Act 1+,, and "iti*en&hi' Rule& 200-.
2=th "oad Safety 7eek to 5egin Tomorrow with 0ri>e Against 0r$nken 0ri>ing
Theme is 8Stay Ali>e( 0on:t 0rink and 0ri>e?
-ake "oad Safety a Social -o>ement60r) C P @oshi
C$rtain raiser
The 24th road safety "eek be+ins tomorro"( The theme for $oad Safety ;eek to be
ceeberated from &st @an$ary to Ath @an$ary 2%&', is 8Stay Ali>e( don:t drink and
dri>e?) The em%hasis "i be on s%readin+ a"areness a+ainst drunken dri'in+(
Road Safety eek? is obser'ed a o'er the country in the month of :anuary e'ery year
in order to s%read road safety a"areness( It aims to +i'e e'eryone an o%%ortunity to
%romote road safety in their community, schoo, "ork %ace and on the roads in +enera(
666;;;
All Nobel PriBes awarded for work from ,ndia are somehow linked to the city of
3olkata) Sir "onald "oss carried o$t his ioneering research on -alaria in this
city for which he was awarded the Nobel PriBe in &9%2) Sir C/ "aman:s remarkable
disco>ery( the "aman 4ffect( for which he was awarded the Nobel PriBe in Physics
in &9'%( was made here in 3olkata) The legendry "abindranath Tagore and -other
Teresa were also awarded Noble PriBes for their work carried o$t in 3olkata)
Sir @C 5ose( Prof) Satyendra Nath 5ose( PC "ay( -eghnad Saha and many others
who b$ilt the edifice of modern science in the co$ntry) Sir @C 5ose is hailed as the
first of modern scientists of this co$ntry) Cis original contrib$tions to the
in>ention of radio are well known) The recent disco>ery of Ciggs6boson article
highlights the eoch making contrib$tions of Prof) Satyendra Nath 5ose to
article hysics) , do hoe that the modern scientists of this city wo$ld em$late
the e*amles of these leaders of science of the ast)
Caste 5ased Cens$s
In %ursuance to *o'ernment decision, a Socio64conomic and Caste Cens$s !S4CC#
is bein+ carried out throu+hout the country( The fied "ork for the Socio/8conomic and
#aste #ensus (S8##) is bein+ cnducted #y the re&'ective %tate$.T
/vernment&( The financia and technica su%%ort for this e9ercise is bein+ %ro'ided
by the *o'ernment of India( The Nodal -inistries in the 2o>ernment of ,ndia are the
-inistry of "$ral 0e>eloment and the -inistry of Co$sing and <rban Po>erty
Alle>iation( Technica su%%ort is bein+ %ro'ided by the Ministry of 5ome !ffairs (6ffice
of $e+istrar *enera and #ensus #ommissioner, India)(
The res%onsibiity of conductin+ the decennial Cens$s rests "ith the 6ffice of the
$e+istrar *enera and #ensus #ommissioner, India under 0ini&try f Hme
Affair&, *o'ernment of India(
Tir$$r First to Arri>e at Dero EiF$id 0ischarge Technology
Dr( ! Sakthi'e, #hairman !%%are 89%ort Promotion #ounci (!8P#) today announced
that Tir$$r is the first te*tiles cl$ster in ,ndia to arri'e at the Dero EiF$id 0ischarge
Technology(
!s far as "ater is concerned, "e are not facin+ any %robem since "e are re/usin+ the
"ater u% to )0@( Moreo'er, due to this A<D technoo+y, some mar+ina %ercenta+e "as
bein+ used after coour %rocessin+ / in the form of sat "ater as concentrated sat
soution / caed &$I28 Soution re/use(
,ndia:s "ank in the 2lobal Cometiti>e ,nde*
!s %er the atest 2lobal Cometiti>eness "eort 2%&26&', brou+ht out by 7orld
4conomic For$m, a S"iss non/%rofit foundation based in *ene'a, ,ndia ranks G9th
amongst &== economies in the *oba #om%etiti'eness Inde9 for 2%&26&', as
against G+th osition o$t of &=2 economies co>ered in 2%&&6&2)
The *oba #om%etiti'eness Inde9 (*#I) measures the com%etiti'e %erformance of the
economies around the "ord for doin+ business( It is a com%osite inde9 that combines
three com%onent indices co'erin+ 12 different %arameters (termed B%iarsC)(
5asic reF$irements!+%H#
D Institutions
D Infrastructure
D Macroeconomic en'ironment
D 5eath and %rimary education
4fficiency enhancers!'GH#
D 5i+her education and trainin+
D *oods market efficiency
D <abour market efficiency
D 3inancia market de'eo%ment
D Technoo+ica readiness
D Market si0e
,nno>ation and sohistication factors!GH#
D &usiness so%histication
D Inno'ation
National Po$lation "egister
The *o'ernment has decided that the National Po$lation "egister!NP"# enroment
"i continue as en'isa+ed, but, if in the course of enroment, a %erson indicates he>she
is aready enroed for !adhaar, the biometric data "i not be ca%tured by 2P$( Instead
the !adhaar number>enroment number "i be recorded in 2P$ and the biometric data
"i be sourced from the EID!I(
The demo+ra%hic data for creation of 2P$ "as coected in a se%arate schedue
aon+"ith the first %hase of #ensus 2011 i(e(, 5ouseistin+ and 5ousin+ #ensus 2010(
3urther, as %er Indian #ensus !ct, 1)4F data collected $nder cens$s is confidential
and can be $sed only for statistical $roses) 5o"e'er, to minimi0e the du%ication
of efforts bet"een EID!I and 2P$, the decision has aready been taken by the
*o'ernment as eaborated in re%y of %art (a) abo'e(
Committee to Form$late Policy 0oc$ment on Cororate 2o>ernance
The Ministry of #or%orate !ffairs had constituted a committee to form$late a Policy
doc$ment on Cororate 2o>ernance under the #hairmanshi% of Shri Adi 2odre. (
The #ommittee has since submitted its re%ort to the #entra *o'ernment su++estin+
ado%tion of certain Bg$iding rinciles of Cororate 2o>ernance:)
,ndian Ts$nami 4arly 7arning Centre
The ,ndian Ts$nami 4arly 7arning Centre !,T47C# estabished at ,ndian National
Centre for Ocean ,nformation Sciences( !,NCO,S 6 4SSO) Cyderabad(
a$tonomo$s body under Ministry of 8arth Sciences, is bein+ u%+raded continuousy to
%ro'ide tsunami ad'isories for the e'ents occurrin+ in the +oba oceans(
the ,ntergo>ernmental Oceanograhic Commission !,OC of <N4SCO# has set u% a
task team com%risin+ of e9%erts from tsunami "arnin+ centres of a ocean basins, with
,ndia as the Chair(
The IT8;# encom%asses a rea/time seismic monitorin+ net"ork of 1, broadband
seismic stations to detect tsunami+enic earthGuakes, a net"ork of rea/time sea/e'e
sensors "ith = 5ottom Press$re "ecorders !5P"# in the oen ocean and 2G tide
ga$ge stations at different coasta ocations monitor tsunamis and a 24 H , o%erationa
tsunami "arnin+ centre to %ro'ide timey ad'isories to 'unerabe community) ,t also
recei>es earthF$ake data from all other global networks to detect earthF$akes of
-;+)G)
,T47C aso acts as one of the $e+iona Tsunami ad'isory Ser'ice Pro'ider ($TSP)
aon+ "ith A$stralia I ,ndonesia for the Indian 6cean re+ion( !s the oceans on the
earth are interconnected, the tsunami "a'es +enerated due to any +reat earthGuakes in
the +oba oceans can affect the Indian #oasts,
Polymetallic Nod$les Programme
,ndia:s Polymetallic Nod$les rogramme is oriented to"ards e9%oration and
de'eo%ment of technoo+ies for harnessin+ of nodues from the Central ,ndian Ocean
5asin !C,O5# aocated to India(
It has 4 com%onents 'i0( Sur'ey 7 89%oration, 8n'ironmenta Im%act !ssessment,
Technoo+y De'eo%ment (Minin+), and Technoo+y De'eo%ment (Metaur+y)(
In the ,1,000 sG( km area of #I6&, the estimated %oymetaic nodue resource %otentia
is =F0 miion tones, containin+ =)A million tonnes of nicke, =)29 million tonnes of
coer and %)GG million tonnes of cobalt and 92)G9 million tonnes of manganese)
Cobalt and nickel are strategically imortant metals)
India has entered into a 11/year contract "ith the ,nternational Seabed A$thority in the
year 2002 for %ursuin+ de'eo%menta acti'ities for %oymetaic nodues in the Indian
6cean(
India continues to %ursue the %oymetaic nodues %ro+ramme cou%ed "ith research
and de'eo%ment efforts( #hina 6cean Minera $esources $esearch and De'eo%ment
!ssociation (#6M$!), #hina has been en+a+ed in carryin+ out the acti'ities %ertainin+
to e9%oration of Poymetaic 2odues in the Pacific 6cean( The detais of its acti'ities
are not kno"n(
CA2 of ,ndia briefs <N Secretary 2eneral on Cond$ct of <N A$dit
/inod "ai "e64lected Chairman of <nited NationsJ Panel of 4*ternal A$ditors
The Enited 2ationsC Pane of 89terna !uditors "hich com%rises S$reme A$dit
,nstit$tions !SA,s# en+a+ed in auditin+ Enited 2ations, its s%eciaised a+encies and the
Internationa !tomic 8ner+y !+ency, hed its 1=rd meetin+ "hich concuded ast ni+ht at
the <N CeadF$arters in New York(
Shri /inod "ai( the CA2 of ,ndia( who is c$rrent Chairman of the anel, met the
Secretary *enera, Mr &an .i Moon aon+ "ith the 5eads of the %artici%atin+ S!Is and
briefed him on the decisions of the PaneIs meetin+ re+ardin+ conduct of audit of the
Enited 2ations and reated or+anisations(
-arket "esearch and Analysis $nit of Serio$s Fra$d ,n>estigation Office
Serio$s Fra$d ,n>estigation Office !SF,O# "hich is a muti/disci%inary in'esti+atin+
a+ency under the Ministry of #or%orate !ffairs, has set u% the Market $esearch and
!naysis Enit for ca%acity buidin+, co/ordination "ith other in'esti+atin+ a+encies and
for market sur'eiance(