DEPRESSION OVER BAY OF BENGAL TO BRING EARLY MONSOO
Meteorological Department says the onset of the southwest monsoon is likely to advance further due to a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal, which is expected to turn into a severe cyclonic storm by tonight.
Talking to AIR, Director General of India Meteorological Department, KJ Ramesh said the deep depression would help in the advancement of monsoon over Kerala and northeast India. He said, the deep depression is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by tonight and cross Chittagong by the noon tomorrow.
This will bring heavy to very heavy rainfall in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. Several parts of Odisha are also likely to experience rain or thunderstorm in the next 24 hours under the impact of a depression concentrated over the Bay of Bengal.
The Bhubaneswar MeT office today said wind speeds may reach up to 60 kilometer per hour and it may turn into a cyclonic storm during the subsequent 12 hours.
DIRTY WAR HAS TO BE FOUGHT WITH INNOVATIVE WAYS
Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat has said, the Indian Army is facing a dirty war in Jammu and Kashmir which has to be fought through innovative ways.
He stoutly defended the use of a Kashmiri as a human shield by a young officer. In an interaction with PTI, Mr. Rawat said, though a Court of Inquiry was finalising its probe into the incident, the main objective of awarding the officer, Major Leetul Gogoi was to boost the morale of young officers of the force.
Talking about the complexity of the security challenge in the state, he suggested it would have been easier for the armed forces if the protesters were firing weapons instead of throwing stones.
When asked about the solution to the Kashmir issue, Army chief Rawat said, it will have to be a composite solution and everybody will have to get involved. He also emphasised on the need for taking harsh measures to stop infiltration and counter-terrorism.
MODI EMBARKS ON FOUR NATION TOUR
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today embarked on a four nation tour to Germany, Spain, Russia and France.
Our correspondent covering Prime Minister’s visit reports that trade and commerce, economic cooperation and counter terrorism will be high on the agenda during the visit to these four European countries.
Mr Modi will visit Germany first where he will take part in the 4th Indo-German Inter-governmental Consultations and meet German Chancellor to strengthen bilateral relations.
The Prime Minister will arrive in Berlin this evening. He will then have an informal dinner with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the official country retreat. The consultations will begin tomorrow.
Both countries will hold ministerial level talks on various issues including trade and industry, technology, medicine and defence. Union Ministers Harsh Vardhan, Piyush Goyal, Nirmala Seetharaman, MJ Akbar are expected to facilitate talks between the two countries.
CEOs of business establishments are eager to put forward their thoughts and ideas in accomplishing the targets set forth. More from our correspondent:
In a series of messages on social Media platform yesterday, the Prime Minister hoped that this visit will open a new chapter in bilateral relations with Germany and further deepen strategic partnership.
Mr Modi said, India will seek active participation of Spanish industry in various Indian projects including infrastructure, smart cities, digital economy, renewable energy, defence and tourism. Mr. Modi also expressed his commitment to strengthening and advancing India’s multi faceted partnership with France which is India’s 9th largest investment partner.
The Prime Minister further said, he is looking forward to visit St.Petersburg in this special year as India and Russia celebrate the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
The Indian Ambassador to Germany Muktha Dutta Tomar has said that Germany is a valued partner for India and Prime Minister’s visit will reiterate the strength and the valued relationship of both the countries further.
In an interview to AIR, the Ambassador said that the Intergovernmental consultation will provide a road-map of Indo-German collaboration in trade, investment, science and technology, skill development, security and counter terrorism co-operation.
She said that Germany was among the top ten countries investing in India. India has lent support to 74 small and medium enterprises planning to invest 650 million Euros in the country.
RP-SANJIV GOENKA GROUP IN TALKS WITH LIVING MEDIA TAKE OVER
Aditya Birla Group on its way to exit Aroon Purie-controlled Living Media India that runs India Today Group, the latter is believed to have agreed to sell out majority stake to the $2.6 billion (revenue) conglomerate RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group. Multiple sources privy to the development informed Best Media Info that the deal was in an advanced stage.
The Aditya Birla Group had bought 27.5 per cent equity stake in Living Media in May 2012. The sources told Best Media Info that the stake went up gradually to a little less than a majority percentage figure and the Aditya Birla Group is willing to exit before it converts into shares.
When contacted, Dr Pragnya Ram, Group Executive President, Corporate Communications & CSR, Aditya Birla Management Corporation Private Limited, said, “We do not comment on market stories.” However, she did not deny such development.
Emails and text sent to Purie and Goenka remained unanswered till the time of filing of this report.
According to highly placed sources, the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group was among front runners prior to the Aditya Birla Group but it could not strike the deal because it wanted majority stake, which Purie was not willing to shell out. Five years on, the talks have revived again on the condition of buying out of majority stake in Living Media. “Some major management changes are on cards following the deal,” said another source in the know of the development.
Headquartered in Kolkata, the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group has interests in media through its media venture Open Media Network that runs the weekly current affairs and features magazine Open. The Group, which owns premium brands such as SaReGaMa, Spencer’s and Au Bon Pain, has assets in excess of Rs 31,000 crore. It has diverse business interests in industries like Power and Natural Resources, Carbon Black, Retail, Media, IT, Education and Entertainment and Infrastructure.
Living Media acts as a holding company and owns 57.2 per cent stake in TV Today Network. The listed company controls its broadcasting assets, including Aaj Tak and Headlines Today, and also operates its publishing business, which includes a host of magazines such as India Today.
TV Today Network’s total revenue for financial year ending March 31, 2017 stood at Rs 630.57 crore, up from Rs 602.19 crore in previous fiscal. The company reported a net profit of Rs 99.13 crore in 2016-17, up from Rs 61.66 crore in previous year.
According to various media reports, Aditya Birla Group had paid about Rs 350 crore to buy the stake. After the entry of Birlas, the stock price of TV Today had gone up sharply in the past five years from Rs 54 a share on May 18, 2012, the day the deal was announced, to Rs 253 now while it touched its high at Rs 348 in November last year.
MAOISTS THREATEN AKSHAY KUMAR, SAINA NEHWAL
Pamphlets by Maoists threating actor Akshay Kumar and badminton ace Saina Nehwal have been recovered from Bailadila area in Chhattisgarh’s Naxal-affected Bastar district.
Kumar and Nehwal had donated Rs 9 lakh and Rs 6 lakh, respectively, to the families of each of the 25 CRPF jawans who were martyred in a Maoist ambush in the states Sukma district on April 24.
Kumar had also recently met Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi expressing his desire to contribute to the security forces and also with a plan to develop an smartphone app (application) so that any citizen can donate money to the family of those needy jawans or officers who get killed in the line of duty.
The pamphlets were circulated during the week-long anniversary of the Naxal movement, a senior police officer in Bastar said.
VIDISHA KA VIDUSHAK
VIDISHA KA VIDUSHAK
(Based on Kalidasa’s Malavikagnimitram)
Therukoothu Guru : P.K. Sambandan
Transacript & Music : Bhooshan Bhatt
Design & Direction : C.R. Jambe
The performances are scheduled from 30th, 31st May & 1st June 2017 at 3.30 pm & 6.30 pm daily at Abhimanch Auditorium, Bahawalpur House, Bhagwandas Road, New Delhi-110001.
Director, NSD is pleased to invite you for any of the performance on the given dates.
Please spare some time from your hectic schedule to witness the play.
You are also requested to provide space for a write-up in your esteemed publication on the event so that we could reach to masses through your best effort.
Looking forward at the venue.
With warm regards,
A.K. Barua
Public Relations Officer
National School of Drama
New Delhi
9810329401
THE SCREENING OF THE FILM VELVET REVOLUTION
27 May at 1:16 PM
Dear Colleagues,
Attached is the e-invitation for our screening of the film VELVET REVOLUTION about women journalists speaking truth to power.
The screening is on Tuesday, 30 May, 6:30 p.m., in the UN Conference Hall at 55 Lodi Estate.
Do try and come to watch the film, and feel free to share this invite with those interested in issues of media freedom.
Best-est,
RAJIV CHANDRAN
National Information Officer
United Nations Information Centre
for India and Bhutan
55, Lodi Estate, New Delhi 110003
Tel: 91 11 46532237
M: 9810606833
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DOES BASIC ENERGY ACCESS GENERATE SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS?
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CPR Initiative on Climate, Energy and Environment is pleased to invite you to a talk on
‘Does Basic Energy Access Generate Socio-Economic Benefits?’
Monday, 29 May 2017, 4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
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| Dr. Johannes Urpelainen |
| Conference Hall, Centre for Policy Research |
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| Image Source: Greenpeace |
The talk assesses the socio-economic effects of solar microgrids. The lack of access to electricity is a major obstacle to the socio-economic development of over a billion people. Off-grid solar technologies hold promise as an affordable and clean solution to satisfy basic electricity needs. We conducted a randomized field experiment in India to estimate the causal effect of off-grid solar power on electricity access and broader socio-economic development of 1,281 rural households. Within a year, electrification rates in the treatment group increased by 29-36 percentage points. Daily hours of access to electricity increased only by 0.99-1.42 hours, though the confidence intervals are wide. Kerosene expenditure on the black market decreased by 47-49 rupees/month. Despite these strong electrification and expenditure effects, we found no systematic evidence for changes in savings, spending, business creation, time spent working or studying, or other broader indicators of socio-economic development.
Speaker Bio: Johannes Urpelainen (PhD, University of Michigan, 2009) is Associate Professor of Political Science at Columbia University. His research focuses on international cooperation, environmental politics, and energy policy. His first book, Cutting the Gordian Knot of Economic Reform (Oxford University Press), draws on quantitative tests and extensive case studies to show that leaders in developing countries have used preferential trading agreements with the European Union and the United States to secure domestic political support and enhance the implementation of initially controversial reforms. The results from the book have been featured and used by various research and policy organizations, including the United Nations. The author of more than a hundred refereed articles, Professor Urpelainen’s research has been widely published in leading social science journals, such as The American Journal of Political Science, International Organization, and The Journal of Politics. Much of Professor Urpelainen’s current research focuses on finding practical solutions to the political problems surrounding sustainable development in emerging economies. These projects have brought him to a number of countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In his spare time, Professor Urpelainen loves to read biographies, improve his Hindi, and meditate.
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