Employment news and Current News 13 September 2013

Employment news and Current News 13 September 2013

Educationist-activist Vinod Raina died of cancer

Educationist Vinod Raina, who died of cancer here on Thursday, was one of the key architects of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

He was member of the expert group on ‘Monitoring of Child Rights in Education’ set up by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and a sitting member of the Central Advisory Board for Education (CABE), the highest decision-making body on education.

Co-founder and executive committee member of NGO Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, Professor Raina was a physicist by profession who resigned from Delhi University in 1985 to devote himself to grassroots work in education. He was Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS).

A Homi Bhabha Fellow (1992-94), Prof. Raina was also a fellow of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (1994-1997), and Asia Leadership Fellow (2002) , Japan, in addition to honorary Fellow of the Indian Science Writers Association., worked with the Bhopal Gas Disaster victims and the anti-Narmada dam campaign.

He was also associated with the International Council of the World Social Forum and was Fellow and Chair at the Asian Regional Exchange for Alternatives, Seoul.

Karur Vysya Bank wins best banker award

Karur Vysya Bank has won Best Banker Growth-Mid Sized award in the second edition of The Sunday Standard Best Bankers’ Awards 2013.

K. Venkataraman, Chief Executive, KVB, received the award on behalf of the bank from Minister for Urban Development Mr Kamal Nath in New Delhi .

Poet Philip Levine wins $100,000 prize in US 

One of the most honoured poets in the U.S., Philip Levine, has received a $100,000 lifetime achievement prize.

The American Academy of Poets announced Thursday that Levine, a Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. poet laureate, has been given the Wallace Stevens Award.

The 85-year-old Levine is known for his detailed portraits of the working class. His books include “What Work Is” and “News of the World.

The academy awarded Patricia Smith’s “Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah” the Lenore Marshall prize, worth $25,000, for the best book of poetry in 2012.

Carolyn Forchş received a $25,000 fellowship stipend, and John Taylor won a translation award that includes a $25,000 stipend and $10,000 cash prize.

Poor can also open zero balance account in foreign banks 

People belonging to weaker sections in the country can also open zero balance accounts in foreign banks such as HSBC, Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank and avail free ATM-cum-debit card facility. 

The Reserve Bank on Wednesday said its 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account (BSBDA) guidelines are applicable to "all scheduled commercial banks in India, including foreign banks having branches in India".

The RBI said there is no requirement for any initial deposit for opening such accounts. As per the central bank's guidelines, the BSBDA should be considered a normal banking service available to all and the account should not have the requirement of keeping any minimum balance.

Banks are advised not to impose restrictions like age and income criteria of the individual for opening BSBDA," RBI said.

However, holders of 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' will not be eligible for opening any other savings account in that bank.

Under the BSBDA scheme, any individual, including poor or those from weaker section of the society, can open zero balance account in any bank.

The services available free in BSBDA scheme include deposit and withdrawal of cash; receipt/credit of money through electronic payment channels or by means of deposit / collection of cheques at bank branches as well as ATMs cards.

If a customer has any other existing savings account in that bank, he or she will be required to close it within 30 days from the date of opening a BSBDA.

The aim of introducing BSBDA is part of the efforts of RBI for furthering financial inclusion objectives.

There are 43 foreign banks with over 330 branches operating in the country.

Call for Nobel prize for Putin

A Russian educational foundation has suggested nominating President Vladimir Putin for Nobel Peace Prize for averting war on Syria.

The idea appears to be fast catching on, winning a surprising support from the U.S. conservative Fox News, a patently anti-Russian outlet.

The world knows that Vladimir Putin is the one who really deserves that Nobel Peace Prize,” said Kathleen Troia McFarland, a Fox News national security analyst who had served in national security posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations.

She lauded Mr. Putin’s “give peace a chance” proposal to avert U.S. strikes against Syria.

The Russian proposal to safeguard Syria’s chemical weapons “validates the great power status of Russia — and might even win Vladimir Putin a Nobel Peace Prize,” opined the Chicago Tribune.

A petition posted on the White House “We the People” website urged U.S. President Barack Obama to hand over his Nobel Peace Prize to Mr. Putin.

Another petition has been launched in France to strip Mr. Obama of his prize and award it to Mr. Putin, who “has been able to promote a diplomatic solution [in Syria] with his proposal to control the Syrian chemical arsenal.

Nobel laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf conferred with Indira Gandhi Prize

Liberian President and Nobel laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was conferred the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development by President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday.

74-year-old Sirleaf, the first democratically elected women Head of State of any African nation, will be presented with the award at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development was instituted in the name of former Prime Minister Late Indira Gandhi. It celebrates the values that she stood and fought for in the service of our nation and its people," a statement from Rashtrapati Bhavan said. 

The winners of the prize were recognised by Nobel Prize committee for their "non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work". 

The 2011 Nobel Peace prize winner is on a state visit in New Delhi.

Delhi world's second most populous mega-city

World Population Data Sheet released by the US's Population Reference Bureau on Thursday.

Delhi and its extended suburbs, with its population of 22.7 million as of 2011, is the second most populous urban sprawl in the world after Tokyo, outsizing the traditionally populous Shanghai and New York. With its 1.4 million persons in 1950, Delhi was not even in the top 30.

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