Sunday, 25 July 2021

Lee Kiefer

 Lee Kiefer (born June 15, 1994) is an American right-handed foil fencer, four-time NCAA champion, ten-time team Pan American champion, nine-time individual Pan American champion, 2018 team world champion, three-time Olympian, and 2021 Olympic Gold Medalist.


Born June 15, 1994 (age 27)

Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.

Height 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)

Weight 45 kg (99 lb)

Sport

Country United States

Sport Fencing

Weapon Foil

Hand right-handed

Club Bluegrass Fencers Club

Head coach Amgad Khazbak

Monday, 20 July 2015

MAKE IN INDIA : INDIA, RUSSIA TO JOINTLY BUILD 200 MILITARY CHOPPERS

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MOSCOW: In a move aimed at boosting India’s defence sector, 200 helicopters will be manufactured in the country with Russian collaboration as part of intensification and diversification of their strategic ties.
The agreement, reached recently, is one of the several new defence projects on which the two countries are working on, including under the ambit of ‘Make in India’ programme, Indian Ambassador to Russia P S Raghavan told PTI here.
He underlined that the decades-old defence cooperation with Russia remains vibrant despite India purchasing military equipment from other countries, like the recent decision to buy 36 Rafale fighter aircraft from France.”This (India-Russia ties) is a huge, broad based relationship, getting broader every day,” he said.
“Recently, we have agreed to joint manufacture of helicopters in India… Joint manufacture of 200 helicopters in India is big bang. If two countries decide to manufacture 200 helicopters in India with transfer of technology, and licence production, this is big bang,” he said.
He said this could possibly be the first defence project under ‘Make in India’ initiative.
Raghavan was responding when asked to comment on the perception that the defence relations between India and Russia are getting diluted as New Delhi has been looking at other countries for military purchases.
Maintaining that India-Russia defence ties remain vibrant, he said, “people notice few things we do which are non-Russian… There are newer and newer products and newer and newer projects which don’t get noticed and attention gets diverted to few things that we do outside Russia.”
He said a number of projects are under active discussions and “sooner or later, they will come out in the open.” He, however, refused to give details about these, saying there can be no disclosure till the decisions are firmed up.
While dismissing the perception that the vibrancy of India-Russia ties in defence sector are getting eroded, the Ambassador said, “some impressions get formed on the basis of inaccurate or incomplete information.”
Acknowledging that India is diversifying its defence purchases “as many countries do” to take advantage of opportunities, he said, “But our armed forces are 60-70 per cent dependent on Russian supplies. That is a reality that cannot change overnight.”
Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Raghavan said Russia continues to remain India’s primary defence supplier.
“In fact, he (PM) has said that Russia has been and will remain primary defence supplier (of India),” he added.
He referred to the project to develop Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) jointly by India and Russia and said it is witnessing progress.
“Preliminary design phase is over… For final design, we need to know, how soon we can induct it, how soon we need to induct it…. We are talking about early induction. That is the current talk going on,” Raghavan said.
When asked how early the induction can take place, he said, “I cannot say that. It will depend on technical specifications and induction time.”
About newer projects which are coming up, he said the two countries are talking about Russian submarines and frigates being built.
He said efforts are underway to encourage Russian OEMs (Original equipment manufactures) to set up their units in Indian through joint ventures which could cater to repair and maintenance of military hardware like Mi helicopter and Sukhoi fighters.
He said the ‘Make in India’ initiative has evoked great interest in Russia.
“It has been of great interest to us also to involve Russia, particularly in defence field, repair, maintenance, overhaul of the Russian defence platform, eventually getting to manufacturing of some of the critical components in defence as well as civilian side,” he said.
The Ambassador said the present phase of Indo-Russian relations can be said to have started in the year 2000 when President Vladimir Putin came to India and the two signed Strategic Partnership.
“Since then, the relationship has moved very fast, both intensified and diversified,” he added.

HOW SAGY CAN TRANSFORM THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN RURAL INDIA, NIRMALA SITHARAMAN EXPLAINS WHY

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Last week, fellow parliamentarian Tathagata Satpathy wrote on the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) and chose to call it a “flawed scheme, that looks good on paper but whose implementation is flawed” (‘Adarsh Milligram Yojana’, ‘Poke Me’, ET, July 11). Since he has written so decisively about the flaws in “implementation” of Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana , a rejoinder is in order to set the record straight on why putting Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana into action is no rocket science. All that it perhaps takes from us is sincere commitment.
In comparison to a Lok Sabha MP, it may indeed be easier for a Rajya Sabha MP to adopt and allocate funds under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana . But to state that it is aHerculean task for a Lok Sabha MP to implement Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana is also incorrect. For instance, when an MP from the Lok Sabha claims that he finds it impossible to pick a few villages out of thousand-odd ones in his constituency and is left asking “on what basis” he should pick a village for adoption, the answer is not that difficult. What better basis for adopting a village than choosing, say, ‘the least developed village’ and transforming it into a ‘model village’?
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The outcry that the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) funds are too little for the execution of Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana because there are so many assembly segments within one parliamentary constituency is again hollow. As per the official website of the MPLADS, in the financial year 2014-15, the government had released Rs 2,147.50 crore for all the members of the current Lok Sabha. Even though a year has passed, 75 per cent of the funds — Rs 1,659.88 crore — remain unspent.
Many MPs have been unable to recommend more than 50 per cent of their MPLADS funds that were meant to be utilised in the past year. Drawing from my personal experience, I provided for three reverse osmosis water treatment plants, an underground drainage system, a digital community centre and a dozen roads in my adopted villages under the MPLADS, and was still left with enough money to fund more than 20 projects in the rest of the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.
One of the key reasons why villages have lagged behind is not because there are no schemes for their development. It is because these schemes have not been effectively implemented. The idea behind Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana is to use the leadership skills of MPs to ensure that at least around 800 adopted villages every year are given guaranteed access to the existing centraland state-sponsored schemes for which funds are already available with the district administration.
For example, my adopted village, Pedhamyanavanilanka, is a coastal village in Andhra Pradesh that gets submerged in water every monsoon. At the time I was conducting the ‘need assessment’ survey there to pencil down its top priorities, an obvious demand from the villagers was for the construction of an elevated bridge to ensure that the village is not cut off from rest of the world.
It did not require me to generate additional funds for implementation of this project. The proposal for such a construction was already covered under the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) scheme. All I had to do was to ensure that the project was expeditiously implemented.
There are dozens of centrally sponsored schemes — the Pradhanmantri Grameen Sadak Yojana, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employee Guarantee Act (MNREGA), the Jan Dhan Yojana, the Indira Awaas Yojana, the Pradhanmantri Jeevanjyoti Beema Yojana, the Atal Pension Yojana and others — which can be readily implemented in the adopted villages without having to mobilise additional funds. Then there are activities like promoting the culture of cleanliness and hygiene, gender neutrality, retention of children in school, etc, that have no financial bearing at all.
The least convincing claim against Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana is that it is an “armchair” scheme “imposed” on the people. Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana requires that its development plan is designed by individual members of the village in a gram sabha. Can such a scheme be called an “armchair” scheme? Under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana , MPs have to take up issues that are given priority by the villagers. Is this an “imposition”? It is, in fact, the closest that any administration has come to the people in designing, implementing and evaluating a scheme.
The prime minister’s vision for Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana is simple and yet game-changing. If around 800 parliamentarians adopt a village every year, by 2019, more than 4,000 villages will be transformed into model villages. Without putting an ounce of extra burden on the taxpayer and by effective utilisation of presently underutilised local area funds, Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana would transform the lives of more than 2.5 crore people in rural India. This, by no measure, will be an ordinary feat.

Sunday, 19 July 2015

MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

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  1. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
1.1.               New Flagship scheme of M/o WCD introduced in 2014-15 Budget, formally launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 22nd January, 2015
1.2.               Seeks to reverse the trend of rapidly falling Child Sex Ratio(CSR) from the current level of 918 by preventing gender biased sex selective elimination; ensuring survival, protection and education of girl child
1.3.               Joint effort of  M/o WCD, M/o Health and M/o HRD with M/o WCD as nodal ministry
1.4.               Multi-sectoral action in select100 low CSR(Child Sex ratio) districts ,
1.5.               The Sectoral interventions under the programme include the following:

  1. Ministry of WCD: Promote registration of pregnancies in first trimester in Anganwadi Centres (AWCs); Undertake Training of stakeholders; Community Mobilization & Sensitization; Involvement of Gender Champions; Reward & recognition of institutions & frontline workers.
  2. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare: Monitor implementation of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT)Act, 1994; Increased institutional deliveries; Registration of births; Strengthening PNDT Cells; Setting up Monitoring Committees.
  3. Ministry of Human Resource Development: Universal enrolment of girls; Decreased drop-out rate; Girl Child friendly standards in schools; Strict implementation of Right to Education (RTE); Construction of Functional Toilets for girls.
1.6.               Coordinated delivery of services by different ministries
1.7.               Sensitization of communities for moving towards institutionally supported births
1.8.               Seeks to reduce Sex Ratio at Birth by 10 basis points per year to achieve overall improvement in CSR over a period of time
1.9.               Action at district , block and panchayat levels with a strong advocacy component
1.10.           Outlay for current year: Rs 100 cr
1.11.           Schemes Guidelines have been formulated and it is being implemented in the identified states
1.12.           Scheme has a strong advocacy component

  1. One Stop Centres for Women
2.1       36 centres to be set up in current year, one per state/UT
2.2       Total outlay of Rs 14 cr for current year (2015-16)
2.3       The centres will offer medical aid, police assistance, legal aid & counselling, psycho-
social counselling, and temporary shelter for women victims of violence
2.4       Will be integrated with Universal Helpline for Women
2.5       Aim to provide immediate support and aid to female victims of violence

  1. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014
3.1.               The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014 was introduced in the Lok Sabha in August  2014.
3.2.               It has following salient features :
  1. To address the issue of heinous offences committed by children above the age of 16 years, which will act as a deterrent for child offenders committing such crimes and will also protect the rights of victims to justice.
  2. Bringing in more clarity in the role and procedures of statutory structures such as Child Welfare Committees and Juvenile Justice Boards
iii.            Strengthening punitive measures for offences committed against children and including new offences such as corporal punishment; ragging and using children for vending, peddling, carrying , supplying or smuggling any intoxicating liquor, narcotic drug or psychotropic substance
  1. Streamlining and strengthening measures for adoption including providing statutory status to the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA)
  2. Making it mandatory for all child care institutions to register and stringent penalty in case of non-compliance.
  3. Introducing a new scheme for foster care for the first time

  1. Revamped STEP(Support to Training & Employment Programme for Women) Scheme
4.1.               Ongoing scheme of M/o WCD which has been revamped
4.2.               STEP Scheme Guidelines have been revised to provide updated skills and knowledge to women of the age group of 16 years and above.
4.3.               The assistance under the STEP scheme will be available in any sector (as compared to earlier ten sectors only) for imparting skills related to employability and entrepreneurship, including but not limited to the “Agriculture, Horticulture, Food Processing, Handlooms, Tailoring, Stitching, Embroidery, Zari etc, Handicrafts, Computer& IT enabled services along with soft skills and skills for the work place such as spoken English, Gems &Jewellery, Travel & Tourism, Hospitality”.
4.4.               Aims to provide skills that give employability to women and providing competencies and skills that enable women to become self-employed / entrepreneurs
4.5.               Scheme Outlay for current year (2015-16) is Rs 30cr

  1. Revamped Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK)
5.1.               Ongoing scheme of M/o WCD which has been revamped
5.2.               A committee of eminent bankers constituted  during August 2014 to study the role played by RMK and the existing legal framework for upscaling its activities in the field of microfinance
5.3.               Based on its recommendations, Governing Board of RMK  has decided the following:-
  1. Credit to individual applicants may also be provided besides the SHGs, directly or through partners of RMK.
  2. Instead of directly funding IMOs, it would be ideal for  RMK to engage with select 10-15 Institutions.
  3. Need based Skill training may also be provided
5.4.                     The scheme seeks to empower poor women  through skill training and micro financing

  1. Standard Operating Procedures to be implemented by Railways
6.1.                     Path-breaking initiative to ensure care and protection of such children in contact with railways.
6.2.                     M/o WCD and M/Railways have framed Special Operating Procedures (SOPs) to be implemented by Railways for runaway, abandoned, kidnapped, trafficked children via medium of railways.
6.3.                     The railway stations will have NGOs/Child Help Groups working with them who will work for restoration of children to their parents/guardians or their rehabilitation in absence of the former.
6.4.                     These stations will also help Child Help Desk/kiosk/Booths with a telephone facility to call child helpline 1098.
6.5.                     SoPs will be accompanied by awareness generation programme by M/o WCD in form of signages/posters, announcements and video spots at railways stations and coaches.
6.6.                     20 railway stations have already started implementing these SOPs
6.7.                     The aim of of SoPs is to Rehabilitate, rescue, restore those children who runway/abandoned/trafficked through medium of railways . It is expected to Reduce number of missing children drastically

  1. Proposed Amendments to National Commission of Women Act, 1990
7.1.                     The National Commission for Women Act, 1990 is proposed to be amended to give it more teeth.
7.2.                     Under the revised Act, the NCW Commission will now have powers of a Civil Court
7.3.                     Proceedings before it will be deemed to be Judicial proceedings
7.4.                     Commission to have more powers to summon, impose fine and carry out investigations in crimes against women
7.5.                     Services of a police officer of rank of IG to carry out investigations
7.6.                     It aims to reduce crimes against women

  1. Rajya and Zilla Samman Awards for Women
8.1.                     One woman from each district will be given Zilla Samman Award
8.2.                     One woman at state level will be given Rajya Samman
8.3.                     Awards were instituted in June, 2014 by the new government
8.4.                     To recognize contribution of women at grassroots level towards women’s issues and field work
8.5.                     The award scheme is already implemented
8.6.                     13 Rajya Mahila Samman and 126 Zila Mahila Samman given on International Women’s Day: 8th March, 2015.
8.7.                     Rs.18,20,000/- given away as Award money
8.8.                     Aim of awards is to incentivize the activities undertaken by women at the grassroots level in the direction of community development and nation building. This will also boost their morale and that of the others in the community to aspire to be like them and contribute to strengthening women in the community.

  1. National Bal Swachhta Mission
9.1.                     It is a part of the nationwide sanitation drive ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ launched by the Prime Minister on 2nd October, 2014.
9.2.                     The nationwide Bal Swachhta Mission has the following six themes:-
1)      Clean Anganwadis
2)      Clean Surroundings e.g. Playgrounds,
3)      Clean Self (Personal Hygiene/Child Health)
4)      Clean Food
5)      Clean Drinking Water
6)      Clean Toilets
9.3.                     It is a part of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme.
9.4.                     Being Implemented on a continuous basis
9.5.                     To promote habit of cleanliness among children and hygiene in surroundings

  1. Other Initiatives:
10.1.                 Home Ministry has carried forwardthe initiative taken by WCD Ministry to give 33% reservation to women in police force by implementing it in UTs and writing to states to implement the initiative
10.2.                 WCD Ministry has written to various Chambers of Commerce ensure formation of Internal Complaint Committees in all organisations to deal with cases of  sexual harassment of women at workplace
10.3.                 WCD Ministry has requested DOPT to monitor working of ICCs in government organisations , which has already been taken up by DOPT
10.4.                 Meeting with representatives of online marriage portals to ensure safety measures for women on these portals

  1. WCD Ministry & Social Media
Ministry of Women & Child Development  on Social media sites as below:

Shaheed Hemraj kin celebrate death of militant who beheaded him : villagers burst crackers

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MATHURA: Wife of Lance Naik Hemraj , beheaded by Pakistani militant on January 8, 2013 in Poonch sector of Jammu & Kashmir, celebrated the killing of Mohammad Anwar Khan who was behind the brutal killing of her husband.


According to reports, a group of militants tried to sneak into the Indian side along the LoC in Balnoie area of Mehndar tehsil on Monday. The troops challenged the infiltrators, resulting in the encounter in which one militant, Anwar Khan, was killed.

Hemraj’s wife Dharmvati, who lives in Kosikala village of Mathura, told reporters that she received the information over phone on Tuesday that the killer of her husband had been killed by Indian Army jawans. Though she didn’t believe the words of the caller who refused to reveal his name, she later saw the news on the television.

The entire village came out on the streets and celebrated the killing of Anwar Khan who had beheaded Hemraj. The villagers burst crackers and distributed sweets. A special aarti was also organized in the village temples on Tuesday. The local Congress leaders, too, joined Hemraj’s family in the celebrations.

“The way they had taken away my husband’s head, I too want the head of the killer,” Dharmvati said. She also demanded that the soldiers who killed Mohd Anwar must be rewarded by the government for their good job.

Hemraj’s daughter Nirmala said, “The moment I saw the news on TV, I was filled with joy.”
According to reports, Khan was also involved in beheading of an Army captain in Krishna Ghati area in 1996. After Hemraj’s brutal killing in 2013, his family had gone on a hunger strike demanding his severed head be returned to them. Then Army chief General Bikram Singh had met Hemraj’s family and promised them that his sacrifice would not go in vain.

Portland hails Narendra Modi's push to make India a 'Soft Power'

Portland, July 16 (ANI): Portland Communication's Soft Power Index report has hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push to make India a "soft power".

Portland Communications has listed many indices and metrics, following Joseph Nye's three pillars of soft power: political values, culture and foreign policy, one of which is to construct a top 30 country list in terms of soft power within these three pillars.

The report on the Soft Power Index is a first of its kind and is being carried by top publications like the Economist.

Although, India does not feature in the top 30 country list this year, the report states that with Prime Minister Modi at the helm, India is a country to watch out for in the next few years.

They have also included a special essay on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his contribution to soft power through digital diplomacy and mentioned various initiatives taken by him on social media.
The report has taken into account the fact that Prime Minister Modi's Facebook Page has more engagement than any other world leader, and has beaten Obama's engagement levels on social media. This despite Obama having over 43 million fans as compared to Modi's 29 million.

It also mentions that whenever Modi visits a foreign country, leaders of that country get an increased number of likes on their page.

For instance, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's video got the highest number of views owing to its connection to Modi.


Furthermore, the report hailed the Prime Minister's MyGov, Digital India, Clean India, Incredible India, Selfie with Daughter and Yoga Day campaigns on social media. (ANI)

Make in India effect: Foreign investment up 164 pc in auto industry

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Foreign investment jumped to US$2189.15 million (October 2014- April 2015) from US$ 830.69 million (October 2013- April 2014), in the industry.

 NEW DELHI: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the automobile industry has seen a 164 percent growth, in the seven month period from the launch of Make in India initiative on September 25, 2014, an official statement said on Thursday.

Foreign investment jumped to US$2189.15 million (October 2014- April 2015) from US$ 830.69 million (October 2013- April 2014), in the industry.

To attract more investments in the manufacturing sector, the Union Cabinet has introduced composite caps for simplification of FDI policy.

Under the new policy, all foreign investments like FIIs, NRIs and others will be clubbed together. This will be constituted as a composite cap.

This step is aimed at simplifying the FDI policy, improving ease of doing doing business in India and eventually leading to an increase in foreign investments in the country.
The policy proposed by Ministry of Commerce and Industry says “sectoral cap that is to say the maximum amount which can be invested by foreign investor, unless provided otherwise, is composite and includes all types of foreign investments, direct and indirect”.
During the period October, 2014 to April, 2015, FDI inflow recorded a growth of 42 percent from US $ 20.75 billion in US $ 29.42 billion.

FDI equity inflows also increased from US $ 13.41 billion to US $ 19.84 billion, recording an increase of 48 percent.
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