Ahimsa Messenger Programme launched

Smt. Sonia Gandhi has launched the 'Ahimsa Messenger' Programme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
The Ahimsa Messenger is directly related to the safety and empowerment of women. They will spread awareness and knowledge about for their legal rights and their economic and social growth, their safety and dignity in the society. The Ahimsa ‘doots’ (messengers) will be trained to empower them.
A unique feature of this programme is that adolescent boys have also been made an integral part of this programme.
At the initial phase of the programme some women from the Anganwadis will be trained to become Ahimsa messengers. Ahimsa Messengers would also serve as link workers in case of any violence and also facilitate the women to approach the concerned authorities in case of incidences of violence for suitable redressal and follow up on the case.
the Ahimsa messengers will lead to a significant change in the society by making women aware about their rights and helping to change the mindset of the society.

Global warming spurs spread of crop pests

The study carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter and the University of Oxford, shows a strong relationship between increased global temperatures over the past 50 years and expansion in the range of crop pests. The study revealed that Crop pests are spreading to colder parts of the world as climate change warms the world. It used published observations of the distribution of 612 crop pests collected over the past 50 years.

It said that the pests are moving onwards at a rate of nearly 3 km a year. If crop pests continue to march polewards as the Earth warms the combined effects of a growing world population and the increased loss of crops to pests will pose a serious threat to global food security.

Currently 10-16% of global crop production is lost to pests. Crop pests include fungi, bacteria, viruses, insects, nematodes, viroids and oomycetes. The diversity of crop pests continues to expand and new strains are continually evolving. Losses of major crops to fungi, and fungi-like microorganisms, amount to enough to feed nearly nine percent of today's global population. The study suggests that these figures will increase further if global temperatures continue to rise as predicted.

The spread of pests is caused by both human activities and natural processes but is thought to be primarily the result of international freight transportation. The study suggests that the warming climate is allowing pests to become established in previously unsuitable regions. For example, warming generally stimulates insect herbivory at higher latitudes as seen in outbreaks of the Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) that has destroyed large areas of pine forest in the US Pacific Northwest. In addition, the rice blast fungus which is present in over 80 countries, and has a dramatic effect both on the agricultural economy and ecosystem health, has now moved to wheat. Considered a new disease, wheat blast is sharply reducing wheat yields in Brazil.

Thus Renewed efforts are required to monitor the spread of crop pests and to control their movement from region to region.

List of Recently Appointed Person in 2013

List of Recently Appointed Person in 2013

Xi Jinping - President of China

Li Keqiang – Prime Minister China

Shinzo Abe – prime minister Japan

NicosAnastasiades – President Cyprus

Park Guen_ hye – president South Korea

Uhuru Kenyatta – president Kenya

John Kerry - 68th Secretary of State of the US

Mohan Pieris -  44th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka

VedPrakash -  UGC chairman

Obama  -  US President (Second Term)

Suchitra Ella - Founding Chairwoman of CII’s women wing

Mo Yan (writer) and Jackie Chan (Actor) - New Members of Chinese Parliament

Subra Suresh - President of Carnegie Mellon University

Ratan Tata – Member of  “National Academy of Engineering“

Rajiv Shah – Head of  United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Anil Dev Singh - New chief of IOA election panel

Scott Flemming - India’s basketball coach

Tony Hall - Director general of BBC

Ranjit Sinha - CBI Director

Barbosa - First non-white President of Brazil’s Supreme Court

Alok Joshi - New RAW chief

Rajeev Shahare - New High Commissioner to Maldives

Ajit Saran -  Member Secretary of National Commission for Women

Virbhadra Singh -  Himachal Pradesh’s Chief Minister

Narendra Modi-  Gujarat CM (4th time)

Cyrus Mistry - Tata Group Chairman

Asif  Ibrahim - Chief of the Intelligence Bureau

Urjit Patel - RBI deputy governor

YV Reddy - Head of 14th Finance Commission

Ami Bera and TulsiGabbard - new members of the US House of Representatives

Srinivasan - Federal Judge (Re elected)

Justice D K - Law Commission chief

Vivek Rae – MSME (Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) Secretary

Anil Kumble - Chairman of ICC Cricket Committee

Jaspal Rana - Junior pistol chief coach

Neiphiu Rio -  Chief Minister of Nagaland (3rd Term)

Mukul Manda Sangma - Chief Minister of Meghalaya (2nd Term)

Ashwani Kumar - Governor of Nagaland

Bobby Ghosh - Editor of Time International (first non American)

Khil Raj Regmi - New Prime Minister of Nepal

D K Jain - Chairman of 20th Law Commission of India

Ashok Tomar-  India’s ambassador to Brazil

Rakesh Mohan - Executive director of IMF board

VK Malhotra - Archery Association President (re-elected)

S. Ramakrishnan - Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC)

Luiz Felipe Scolari -  Brazil Football team coach

Mohan - Vice president of IBSF (re-elected)

SachinDevPavithran (Visually Challenged) - Architectural and Transportation Barriers ComplianceBoardmember

Ajit Pawar-  Maharashtra Deputy CM

Chautala-  IOA President

Parthasarathy Shome - Adviser to Finance Minister

ZiauddinYousufzai (Malala’s Father) - UN Education Adviser, Education attache at the Pakistan consulate in Birmingham, England

Vijay Kumar -  Senior Security Adviser in Home Ministry

VinodRai -  Chair of UN Auditors Panel (Re-elected)

NainaLalKidwai -  First Woman President of FICCI

Rita Singh -  Federation of Indian Associations President

John Brennan -  CIA director

HalimahYacob - First woman Speaker of Singapore

Kulwant Singh Gill - New Commandant of  NDA

R.K. Dubey - Canara Bank’s new CMD

Rajkumar Goyal-  Central Bank of  India new Executive Director Resources Department

Jack Lew - New Treasury Secretary of US

Lord DolarPopat - Minister in the UK cabinet (First Gujarati in UK cabinet)

Subhash Joshi - BSF Chief

John Kerry -  America’s Foreign Minister

Smita Singh - Member of Global Development Council