Dilip Kumar gets Padma Vibhushan award
i. Legendary
actor Dilip Kumar was today presented the Padma Vibhushan by Union Home
Minister Rajnath Singh at the thespian’s residence in suburban Bandra.
ii. Maharashtra
Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, were among other
dignitaries present at the actor’s home when he received the award.
iii. The
announcement to honour Bollywood veterans Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and a few
others with the prestigious Padma Vibhushan award was made by the government on
the eve of Republic Day on January 25, 2015.
iv. However,
Kumar, due to ill-health, could not attend the special function held at the
Rashtrapati Bhavan in April when other Padma awardees were honoured by
President Pranab Mukherjee.
v. Born as
Muhammad Yousuf Khan in Peshawar, Kumar made his debut as an actor in the film
“Jwar Bhata” in 1944 produced by Bombay Talkies.
vi. The
Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan award in 1991, the
Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 and the Padma Vibhushan earlier this year, for
his exceptional and distinguished contribution to the Indian cinema.
NGT bans registration of new diesel-run vehicles in Delhi
i. National
Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered ban on registration of new diesel-run vehicles
in Delhi to curb the growing menace of air pollution in the capital city.
ii. This ruling
was given by NGT bench headed by Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar and also
questioned Delhi government’s odd-even formula for vehicles to check pollution
in the city.
Key facts
- The ban on
registration of new diesel vehicles will be valid till 6th January 2016 as
interim steps i.e. till the next date of hearing of NGT on Delhi
pollution.
- NGT also ordered
the central and state government to stop buying diesel cars in
Delhi.
- On Delhi
government’s odd-even formula for vehicles, the tribunal mentioned that
might encourage people to buy two cars.
Background
- Presently around
23 per cent of the cars registered in Delhi are running on diesel. The
cars running are likely to emit 7.5 times more particulate matter (PM)
compared to petrol cars. As per WHO, emissions from Diesel cars produce
more toxic nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and may cause cancer.
- Earlier in April
2015, NGT had banned diesel vehicles over 10 years old in the national
capital which has been labelled as one of world’s most polluted city. In
November 2015, Delhi government had decided that private vehicles with odd
and even registration numbers will ply on odd and even dates from 1st
January 2016 for two week.
- About National
Green Tribunal
Renowned agro-economist Sharad Joshi passes away
i. Renowned agro-economist and veteran leader of farmers Sharad
Anantrao Joshi passed away in Pune, Maharashtra. He was 81.
ii. He was founder of Shetakari Sanghtana (farmers’ Organisation) an
NGO dedicated to the cause of farmers in Maharashtra.
About Sharad Joshi
- Sharad Joshi was
born in 1935 in Satara district of Maharashtra. Prior to establishing
Shetakari Sanghtana in 1979 he had worked with Pune University as lecturer
of Economics and Statistics and later worked with United Nations
(UN).
- He had served as
a member of Advisory Board of the World Agricultural Forum (WAF).
- Joshi had
spearheaded numerous agitations, protests, fasts throughout the state to
highlight the issue of reasonable prices for agricultural produce.
- He was Rajya
Sabha member from 2004 to 2010. He was the sole MP in Upper House to vote
against the bill providing 33% reservation for women in Parliament and
assemblies.
Union Govt inks MoU for establishing IIITs at Ranchi, Nagpur &
Pune
i. The Union
Government has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for establishing three
Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs) in the country.
ii. The
agreement to this effect was signed between Department of Higher Education
(DoHE) and private agencies including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata
Motors, ADCC Infocad and Hubtown.
Key facts
- These IIITs are
being set up at Ranchi (Jharkhand), Nagpur and Pune (Maharashtra).
- Apart from the
Central Government, these institutions will be operated on a
Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode with participation of state
government and industry.
- These IIITs are
expected to bring out high quality Information Technology (IT) manpower
required for building up IT industry in the country.
- The admission
process in all the three IIITs will be done through Joint Entrance
Examination (JEE)-2016 and shall have intake of 120 students in each
institutions.
- With this, the
total number of IIITs in the PPP mode has gone up to 16.
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