Neo literate women and voluntary teachers meet President of India

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Former PIO G.S. Bhargava passes away

 

New Delhi : September 22, 2009

 

Former Principal Information Officer (PIO) to Government of India, G.S.Bhargava passed away today. He was 85. He served as PIO from June 1978 to April 1980, during Janata Party regime. A veteran and distinguished journalist, he had specialized in defence matters and authored several books on the subject. Sh. Bhargava also served as Resident Editor of Indian Express at Hyderabad. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

 

RS/RS/spandey

 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Neo literate women and voluntary teachers meet President of India

 

New Delhi : September 22, 2009

 

A group of more than one hundred neo-literate women and voluntary teachers from 26 States and Union Territories met the President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, at Rashtrapati Bhavan today. The women and voluntary teachers are part of the Saakshar Bharat Mission, which was launched by the Government of India on September 8, 2009 on the occasion of International Literacy Day.

 

Interacting with the group, the President said that despite tangible progress having been made in reducing illiteracy since Independence, even today one-third of Indians are illiterate. Emphasizing the level of the challenge ahead, the President mentioned that of these one-third illiterates, half are women. She said it therefore is absolutely necessary to eliminate the large scale illiteracy amongst women in the country.. The President expressed her happiness that following her address to both Houses of Parliament earlier this year, the Saakshar Bharat Mission has been launched. The Mission proposes to reduce the number of illiterate women over the next five years. The President was also happy that other than imparting literacy, the Mission also provides a component of skills development to women. She urged the involvement of Self Help Groups (SHGs) in the process and was happy that Panchayati Raj Institutions were also part of the process. The President said SHGs have been doing good work in many areas in many states, which has been obvious during her visits to various states. The group of voluntary teachers also got a special word of praise from the President. The President referred to them as people undertaking the noble job of sharing and spreading knowledge.

 

The Minister of Human Resource Development, Shri Kapil Sibal speaking on the occasion said the Saakshar Bharat Mission could produce even better results if it truly took the shape of a national movement involving men, women and NGOs.

 

AD/SKS  /spandey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Sports Minister meets Somdev Devvaraman & Yuki Bhambri

 

New Delhi : September 22, 2009

 

Victorious Indian Davis Cup Team Members Shri. Somdev Devvaraman , Shri Yuki Bhambri along with supporting staff of team called on Dr. M.S. Gill, Sports Minister, here today. During the interaction, Dr Gill congratulated Indian Davis Cup Team for their brilliant performance in South Africa. He said that they have to do " tapasya" in the form of many years of intensive training to reach at the top in world tennis . Expressing his confidence, Dr Gill said " I am confident , they will show dedication and determination." Dr Gill further said "today in Devvaraman, Bopanna and Bhambri , we have a new young team India that will carry Indian Tennis forward to new glories in the years to come". The policy decision that only Indian Passport holder can play for India has led to success, he added.

 

Full text of Dr Gill's message to the Indian Tennis team is as follows "I am happy, that my decision last year, to insist, that only those Indian Players, who hold an Indian Passport play for India, has led to success. Our former stars were fading. Today, in Devvaraman, Bopanna, and Yuki Bhambri, we have a new team India that will carry Indian Tennis forward, to new glories, in the years to come. I congratulate them, but I do want to point out, that they have many years of intensive training, and tapasya, before they can really hit the top, in world tennis. I am confident, they will show dedication, and determination."

 

RM / AS  /spandey

 

 

 

 

 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Shri A Raja dedicates modernised Sansad Marg HPO to public

 

New Delhi : September 22, 2009

 

Shri A Raja, the Union Minister for Communication and Information Technology, in the presence of Smt. Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi, dedicated the Sansad Marg Head Post Office, modernized under Project Arrow, to the public here today. Referring to the availability of funds, Shri Raja said that all the post offices can not be transformed immediately. The post offices are being modernized in a phased manner to achieve the goal of changing and transforming post offices all over the country, he added. Pointing to the unique bond between public and postal staff, the minister said that delivering mail is not delivery only of postal cargo but in fact it is the delivery of trust which has been imposed by a person sitting thousands of miles away from the receiver. Urging the Department of Posts to utilize the opportunity offered by Project Arrow, the Minister asked, to prepare for the launch of Core Banking services that is planned to be rolled out in 4000 Post offices by next year.

 

Earlier in her welcome address, Ms. Radhika Doraiswamy, Secretary, Department of Posts, outlined the objectives of Project Arrow as improving not only the look and feel of the selected Post Offices but also its core operations in order to provide quality services to the customers. The Secretary pointed that since its launch in 2008, Project Arrow has been rolled out in over 1000 Post offices across the country. She congratulated the Delhi Postal Circle for modernizing 36 Post offices in the current year under Project Arrow and expressed that this modernization drive is the Department's contribution towards the city's preparation for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games 2010.

 

Also present on the occasion were Sh. P K Gopinath, Chief Postmaster General, Delhi Postal Circle and other senior officers of the Department.

 

The foundation stone of this building of the General Post Office and the Posts and Telegraph Directorate New Delhi was laid by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the then President of India on Friday 17th September, 1954. This Post Office was made as model Post Office on 26.6.1962 in Lower Selection Grade Sub Office. This Lower Selection Grade Sub Office was upgraded to the level of Head Post Office with effect from 1.4.1963 under Gazetted (Group 'B') post. This Post Office is fully computerized since 26th June 1998.The colour of the building was changed from grey to white in 1991, in consultation with its original architect Shri Habibur Rahman.

 

BV/AT/ PB  /spandey

 

 

 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Connecting Rural Roads in Sikkim

 

New Delhi : September 22, 2009

 

The Ministry Of Rural Development has released grant in aid worth Rs. 200,00,00,000 (Rs. 20 crores) to Sikkim for construction of rural roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).The sum is the first installment of Phase-VII of grants in aid to the Sikkim Rural Roads Development Agency. SRRDA is the state level autonomous agency for implementation of works under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in the state.

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana is a 100 % centrally sponsored scheme to provide road connectivity in the rural areas of the country. PMGSY envisages connectivity to all habitations with a population of 500 persons and above in the rural areas and about 250 persons and above in respect of the hill states, tribal areas and desert areas through good and all weather roads.

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Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Record power generation from Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station

 

New Delhi : September 22, 2009

 

The country's largest 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station (NJHPS) of Public Sector Undertaking Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd has surpassed generation of 5000 million units of electricity on 21st September, 09. This record power generation has been achieved 15 days ahead as compared to last year.

According to SJVNL, this record generation is due to excellent management of silt, water and machines both in terms of operation and maintenance of this prestigious Hydro Power Station.

The Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station (NJHPS) is designed to generate 6612 million units of electrical energy in a 90% dependable year. It is also providing 1500 MW of valuable power to the Northern Grid; Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh.

Himachal Pradesh, as an equity partner, gets 25% of the electricity generated at bus bar rates, and another 12% free of cost from this Hydro Power Station.

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PRA/SKK /spandey

 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Hollywood Bowl comes alive to the sounds of India

 

New Delhi : September 22, 2009

 

An audience of over 15000 sat enthralled all through the spectacular musical treat presented jointly by National Geographic and Incredible India at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on 20th Sept 2009, which was the high point of the "India Calling" Celebrations.

 

Hollywood Bowl one of the most prestigious venues for Musical Performances in the world, saw the presentation of Classical and Contemporary Music from India. The Event started with a special ensemble of Music created by Pundit Ravi Shankar who was himself present with his daughter Anoushka Shankar.

 

Thereafter the public were tapping their feet to the beats of Bhangra put up by Malkit Singh; later Kailash Kher touched their souls with his soothing voice. The melodies of Rajasthan came alive with the rendering by folk singers from the heartland of Rajasthan. Commenting on event, the producer of the show Danny Kapilian said "It is a very rare and special thing when an opportunity comes along to produce a one-time event such as "India Calling".

 

Shri Sujit Banerjee, Secretary Tourism, Govt. of India said "The rewards of producing "India Calling" are endless, but are rooted in promoting more inbound tourism for India from all around the world, and exporting India's culture at the same time."

 

In this instance, celebrating India's extraordinary musical and cultural heritage up to the present day - in a single event - is a particularly great undertaking for Ministry of Tourism which believes in taking the soft power of Indian Culture to win over the hearts of people globally and promote travel to India. Smt. Leena Nandan, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of tourism said on this landmark occasion that they had specially integrated a handicraft village and a travel expo with the event at Hollywood Bowl so that the combined impact of the craft and cultural traditions of India would spur people to make their travel plans.

 

AD/DB/spandey

  

     

 

PIB Kolkata