ಒಳ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿಯ ಒಳಸುಳಿಗಳು!

ಸದ್ಯ, ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಪಂಗಡಗಳನ್ನು ಒಳವರ್ಗೀಕರಣ ಮಾಡುವ ಅಧಿಕಾರ ಇರುವುದು ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಪತಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಮಾತ್ರ (ವಿಧಿ 341 ಮತ್ತು 342). ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿ ಪಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಯಾವುದೇ ತಿದ್ದುಪಡಿ, ಮಾರ್ಪಾಡು ಅಥವಾ ಬದಲಾವಣೆ ತರಬೇಕು ಎಂದಿದ್ದರೆ ಆ ಅಧಿಕಾರ ಇರುವುದೂ ಸಂಸತ್ತಿಗಷ್ಟೇ. ಒಳ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿಗೆ ಸದ್ಯ ಇರುವ ಅವಕಾಶವೆಂದರೆ, ಒಂದೋ ಸಂವಿಧಾನದ ತಿದ್ದುಪಡಿ ಆಗಬೇಕು ಅಥವಾ ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದ ತೀರ್ಪು ಹೊರ ಬರಬೇಕು.

‘‘ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿಗಳು ಏಕರೂಪ (homogenious) ಜಾತಿಗಳ ಸಮೂಹದಿಂದ ರೂಪುಗೊಂಡಿವೆ. ಆದುದರಿಂದ, ಅವುಗಳನ್ನು ಯಾವುದೇ ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಒಳ ವರ್ಗೀಕರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಒಳಪಡಿಸಿದಲ್ಲಿ, ಅದು ಸಂವಿಧಾನದ ವಿಧಿ14ರ ಉಲ್ಲಂಘನೆ.’’ ಎಂಬ ಈ ಉಕ್ತಿಗಳು ಆಂಧ್ರಪ್ರದೇಶ ಸರಕಾರ ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಒಳ ವರ್ಗೀಕರಿಸಿ(ಒಳ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿ)ನೀಡಲಾಗಿದ್ದ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿಯನ್ನು ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸಿದ ಪ್ರಕರಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದ ಸಂವಿಧಾನ ಪೀಠ 2004ರಲ್ಲಿ (ಈ. ವಿ. ಚಿನ್ನಯ್ಯ vs ಆಂಧ್ರಪ್ರದೇಶ, ಎಐಆರ್ 2005 ಎಸ್‌ಸಿ 162)ನೀಡಿರುವ ತೀರ್ಪಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಉಲ್ಲೇಖವಾಗಿವೆ.

ಆಂಧ್ರಪ್ರದೇಶ ಸರಕಾರ ಒಳ ವರ್ಗೀಕರಣ ಕ್ರಮ ಕೈಗೊಳ್ಳಲು ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಹಿನ್ನೆಲೆಯೂ ಇದೆ. 1975ರಲ್ಲಿ ಪಂಜಾಬ್ ಹಾಗೂ 1994ರಲ್ಲಿ ಹರ್ಯಾಣ ರಾಜ್ಯಗಳು ಈ ದಿಸೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸಿ ವಿಫಲವಾಗಿವೆ. ಆನಂತರ ಆಂಧ್ರ ಪ್ರದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾದಿಗ ಸಮುದಾಯ ಮಂದಕೃಷ್ಣ ಅವರ ನೇತೃತ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಒಳ ವರ್ಗೀಕರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಒಳಪಡಿಸಿ, ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕವಾಗಿ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿ ಕೋಟ ನೀಡಬೇಕೆಂದೂ ಹಮ್ಮಿಕೊಂಡ ಪ್ರಬಲ ಹೋರಾಟದ ನಿಮಿತ್ತ, ಅಂದು ಅಧಿಕಾರದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಚಂದ್ರಬಾಬು ನಾಯ್ಡು ಸರಕಾರ, ನ್ಯಾ.ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರರಾಜು ಆಯೋಗ ನೇಮಿಸುತ್ತದೆ(1996). ಆಯೋಗ ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಇರುವ ಉಪಜಾತಿಗಳು, ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ಮತ್ತು ಉದ್ಯೋಗ ಪಡೆಯುವುದರಲ್ಲಿ ಚಾರಿತ್ರಿಕವಾಗಿ ಹಿನ್ನಡೆ ಅನುಭವಿಸಿವೆ ಎಂದೂ, ಶಿಕ್ಷಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತು ಸರಕಾರಿ ಉದ್ಯೋಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಮತ್ತು ಸಮಾನ ಪ್ರಾತಿನಿಧ್ಯ ಗಳಿಸಲು ಶಕ್ತವಾಗುವ ನಿಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ, ಅವುಗಳನ್ನು 1.ಮಾದಿಗ, 2.ಮಾಲ, 3.ಆದಿ ಆಂಧ್ರ ಹಾಗೂ 4.ರೆಲ್ಲಿ (ಮೆಹತಾರ್) ಎಂದು 4 ಭಾಗಗಳಾಗಿ ವಿಂಗಡಿಸಿ, ಕ್ರಮವಾಗಿ ಶೇ. 7, 6, 1 ಮತ್ತು 1ರಷ್ಟು ಮೀಸಲಾತಿ ಕೋಟ ನಿಗದಿ ಮಾಡಿ, ವರದಿಯನ್ನು ಸರಕಾರಕ್ಕೆ 1997ರಲ್ಲಿ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸುತ್ತದೆ.

ಆಂಧ್ರಪ್ರದೇಶ ಸರಕಾರ ವರದಿ ಪಡೆದ ಕೆಲವಾರು ದಿನಗಳಲ್ಲೇ ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಒಳ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿ ಕಲ್ಪಿಸಿ ಆದೇಶವನ್ನೇನೋ ಹೊರಡಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಆದರೆ, ಉಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಆದೇಶವನ್ನು ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸಿದ ಪ್ರಯುಕ್ತ, ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯ ಒಳ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿಯ ಆದೇಶವನ್ನು ಜಾರಿಗೆ ಕೊಡುವ ಮುನ್ನ ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಪಂಗಡಗಳ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಆಯೋಗದೊಡನೆ ಸಮಾಲೋಚಿಸಿರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು ಆದೇಶವನ್ನು ರದ್ದು ಗೊಳಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಸರಕಾರ ಈ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ಒಳ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದಂತೆ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಪತಿಗಳಿಂದ (ಕೆ.ಆರ್. ನಾರಾಯಣನ್) ಸುಗ್ರೀವಾಜ್ಞೆಯೊಂದಕ್ಕೆ ಒಪ್ಪಿಗೆ ಪಡೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತದೆ. ಅದನ್ನೂ ‘ಮಾಲಾ ಮಹಾನಾಡು’ ಎಂಬ ಒಳ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿ ವಿರೋಧಿ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯೊಂದು ಸುಗ್ರೀವಾಜ್ಞೆ ಸಂವಿಧಾನದ ವಿಧಿಗಳಾದ 15(4), 16(4), 162, 246, 341(1), 338(7), 46, 335 ಮತ್ತು 213ರ ಉಲ್ಲಂಘನೆ ಎಂದು ಆಂಧ್ರಪ್ರದೇಶದ ಉಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ ರಿಟ್ ದಾಖಲಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಈ ನಡುವೆ ಸರಕಾರ, ರಿಟ್ ವಿಚಾರಣೆಗೆ ಬಾಕಿ ಇರುವಾಗಲೇ, ಕಾಯ್ದೆಯೊಂದನ್ನು (ANDRA PRADESH SCHEDULED CASTES, rationalization of reservation, ACT 2000) ಜಾರಿಗೆ ತರುತ್ತದೆ. ಉಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಅದೂ ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿತವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಆಂಧ್ರ ಪ್ರದೇಶದ ಉಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದ ಪಂಚ ಸದಸ್ಯರ ನ್ಯಾಯಪೀಠ ‘ಮಾಲಾ ಮಹಾನಾಡು’ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಿದ್ದ ರಿಟ್‌ಅನ್ನು ವಜಾಗೊಳಿಸಿ ಆದೇಶ ನೀಡುತ್ತದೆ.

ಉಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದ ಆದೇಶದ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಳ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿ ವಿರೋಧಿ ಬಣ ವಿಶೇಷ ಮೇಲ್ಮನವಿ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸುತ್ತದೆ.

ನ್ಯಾ. ಸಂತೋಷ್ ಹೆಗ್ಡೆ ಅವರ ನೇತೃತ್ವದ ಐವರು ನ್ಯಾಯಾಧೀಶರ ಪೀಠ ನವೆಂಬರ್ 2004ರ ತೀರ್ಪಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಲೇಖನದ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇಳಿರುವ ಉಕ್ತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಪ್ರಮುಖವಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾಪಿಸಿ, ಆಂಧ್ರಪ್ರದೇಶ ಸರಕಾರ ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಒಳವರ್ಗೀಕರಿಸಿ ನೀಡಿರುವ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿ ಅಸಿಂಧು ಎಂದು ಘೋಷಿಸಿ, ವಿಶೇಷ ಮೇಲ್ಮನವಿಯನ್ನು ಪುರಸ್ಕರಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. 1992ರಲ್ಲಿ ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದ ನವ ನ್ಯಾಯಮೂರ್ತಿಗಳ ಪೀಠ, ಇಂದ್ರಾ ಸಹಾನಿ ಪ್ರಕರಣದ ತೀರ್ಪಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇಳಿರುವ ಕೆಲ ಅಂಶಗಳನ್ನು ಪರಿಗಣಿಸಿ, ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಒಳವರ್ಗೀಕರಿಸಿ ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿ ನೀಡಲು ಅವಕಾಶ ಇಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು, 2004 ರ ಆದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದ ಸಾಂವಿಧಾನಿಕ ಪೀಠ ಹೇಳಿದೆ.

ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿ ಹೀಗಿದ್ದಾಗ್ಯೂ, ಇತ್ತ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದಲ್ಲಿ, ಒಳ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿಗಾಗಿ ಮಾದಿಗ ಸಮುದಾಯದವರ ಹೋರಾಟ ತಾರಕಕ್ಕೆ ಏರಿತ್ತು. ಹೋರಾಟದ ಬೇಗೆಯನ್ನು ತಣಿಸುವ ದಿಸೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಅಂದಿನ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಎನ್.ಧರಂಸಿಂಗ್ ನೇತೃತ್ವದ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಮತ್ತು ಜನತಾದಳದ ಸಮ್ಮಿಶ್ರ ಸರಕಾರ ಕಾರ್ಯಮಗ್ನವಾಯಿತು. ಸರಕಾರ ಸೆಪ್ಟ್ಟಂಬರ್ 2005ರಲ್ಲಿ, ನ್ಯಾ. ಎ.ಜೆ. ಸದಾಶಿವ ಅವರ ಏಕ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ ಆಯೋಗವನ್ನು ರಚಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಆಯೋಗ 6 ವರ್ಷಗಳಿಗೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಕಾಲ ಸಮೀಕ್ಷಾ ಕಾರ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ತೊಡಗಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು, 20.54 ಲಕ್ಷ ಕುಟುಂಬಗಳನ್ನು ಮುಖಾಬಿಲೆ ಮಾಡಿ ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ, ಶೈಕ್ಷಣಿಕ ಮತ್ತು ಆರ್ಥಿಕ ವಿಷಯಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದಂತೆ ಅಂಕಿ-ಅಂಶಗಳನ್ನು ಸಂಗ್ರಹಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಒಟ್ಟು ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಎಡಗೈ ಶೇ. 33.47, ಬಲಗೈ ಶೇ. 32, ಸ್ಪೃಶ್ಯ ಶೇ. 23.4 ಮತ್ತು ಇತರರು ಶೇ. 4.65ರಷ್ಟಿದ್ದಾರೆ ಎಂದು ವರದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇಳಿದೆ ಎಂದು ಪತ್ರಿಕಾ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮಗಳು ವರದಿ ಮಾಡಿವೆ.

ಸಂಗ್ರಹಿಸಿದ ದತ್ತಾಂಶಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾನದಂಡವಾಗಿ ಇರಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು, ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿಗಳನ್ನು(101ಜಾತಿ) 1.ಎಡಗೈ(ಮಾದಿಗ, ಮೋಚಿ, ಅಸಾದರು, ಸಮಗಾರ್, ಮಾದರ್, ಚಮ್ಮಾರ್, ಹರಳಯ್ಯ ಮುಂತಾದವು) 2.ಬಲಗೈ (ಚಲವಾದಿ, ಚನ್ನಯ್ಯ, ಹೊಲೆಯ ಮುಂತಾದವು) 3.ಸ್ಪೃಶ್ಯ (ಬಂಜಾರ, ಲಂಬಾಣಿ, ಭೋವಿ, ವಡ್ಡರ್, ಕೊರಚ, ಕೊರಮ, ಕೊರವರ್ ಮುಂತಾದವು)ಹಾಗೂ 4.ಇತರರು(ಆಗೇರ್, ಘಂಟಿ ಚೋರ್, ಹಂದಿಜೋಗಿ, ಕೂಸ, ಮೊಗರ್, ಬೇಡ ಜಂಗಮ, ಬುಡಗ ಜಂಗಮ ಮುಂತಾದವು)ಎಂಬಂತೆ 4 ಭಾಗಗಳಾಗಿ ವಿಂಗಡಣೆ ಮಾಡಿ, ಕ್ರಮವಾಗಿ ಶೇ. 6, 5, 3 ಮತ್ತು 1ರಷ್ಟು ಕೋಟ ನಿಗದಿ ಮಾಡಿ ವರದಿಯನ್ನು ಆಯೋಗ ಜೂನ್ 2012ರಲ್ಲಿ ಅಂದಿನ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಸದಾನಂದಗೌಡರಿಗೆ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸುತ್ತದೆ.ಮುಂದುವರಿದು ಸಂಸತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಮಂಡಿಸಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾಗುವಂತೆ ವರದಿಯನ್ನು ಒಕ್ಕೂಟ ಸರಕಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಬೇಕೆಂದೂ ಮನವಿ ಮಾಡಿರುತ್ತದೆ.

ಸದಾನಂದ ಗೌಡರೇ ಆಗಲಿ ಅಥವಾ ಆನಂತರ ಬಂದ ಜಗದೀಶ್ ಶೆಟ್ಟರೇ ಆಗಲಿ ವರದಿ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಯಾವುದೇ ಕ್ರಮ ಜರುಗಿಸಲು ಹಿಂದೇಟು ಹಾಕುತ್ತಾರೆ. 2013 ಮತ್ತು 2018ರಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾರ್ವತ್ರಿಕ ಚುನಾವಣೆಗಳು ನಡೆದು ಮತ್ತಿಬ್ಬರು ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿಗಳು ಅಧಿಕಾರದ ಗದ್ದುಗೆ ಏರಿದರೂ, ಯಾವುದೇ ನಿರ್ಧಾರ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಹಿಂಜರಿಯುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಹಿಂಜರಿಕೆಗೆ ಇದ್ದ ಕಾರಣ ವರದಿಯ ಪರ-ವಿರೋಧಿ ಬಣಗಳ ನಡುವಿನ ಸಂಘರ್ಷ! ಈ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ತೆರೆಮರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಹುದ್ದೆಗೆ ಹಂಬಲಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಯಡಿಯೂರಪ್ಪ, ಅಧಿಕಾರ ಸಿಕ್ಕ 24 ಗಂಟೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ವರದಿ ಜಾರಿಗೆ ಕ್ರಮ ಕೈಗೊಳ್ಳುವೆ ಎಂದು ಆರಂಭ ಶೂರತ್ವದ ಮಾತುಗಳನ್ನೂ ಆಡಿದ್ದರು. ಆದರೆ, ಅಧಿಕಾರ ಗಳಿಸಿದ ನಂತರ ಯಾವ ಕ್ರಮಕ್ಕೂ ಮುಂದಾಗದೆ ತೆಪ್ಪಗಾದರು. ವರದಿಯ ಪರ ಇದ್ದ ಹೋರಾಟಗಾರರು ಕೂಡಾ ಸದ್ಯ ಮೌನವಾಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ!. ಒಳ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿಗೆ ಅವಕಾಶ ಇಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದ ಸಾಂವಿಧಾನಿಕ ಪೀಠ ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟವಾಗಿ ತೀರ್ಪಿತ್ತಿದ್ದರೂ, ಆಯೋಗದ ರಚನೆ, ಸರಕಾರದ ಪಕ್ಕಾ ರಾಜಕೀಯ ನಡೆಯಾಗಿದೆ ಎಂಬುದು ಸಂವಿಧಾನ ತಜ್ಞರ ಅಭಿಮತ.

ಈ ವಿದ್ಯಮಾನಗಳ ಮಧ್ಯೆ, ಬಾನಂಚಿನಲ್ಲೊಂದು ಬೆಳ್ಳಿಗೆರೆಯನ್ನು ಕಂಡು, ಒಳ ವರ್ಗೀಕರಣದ ಪರ ಇರುವವರ ಮುಖದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಂದಹಾಸ ಮಿನುಗಿದೆ. ಆ ಮಂದಹಾಸದ ಹಿಂದಿರುವ ಕಾರಣ, ಪಂಜಾಬ್ vs ದೇವಿಂದರ್ ಪ್ರಕರಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯ ನೀಡಿರುವ ತೀರ್ಪು. ಆ ತೀರ್ಪಿನ ಹಿನ್ನೆಲೆ ಹೀಗಿದೆ-

ಪಂಜಾಬ್ ಸರಕಾರ ಕಾಯ್ದೆಯೊಂದನ್ನು (THE PUNJAB SCHEDULED CASTES AND BACKWARD CLASSES, reservation in Services, ACT, 2006) ಜಾರಿಗೊಳಿಸಿ ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿಗಳಾದ ಬಾಲ್ಮೀಕಿ ಮತ್ತು ಮಜಭಿ ಸಿಖ್‌ರಿಗೆ ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿ ನೀಡುತ್ತದೆ. ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿಯ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ ಪಂಜಾಬ್ ಉಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದ ಮುಂದೆ ಬಂದು ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯ ‘ಈ. ವಿ. ಚಿನ್ನಯ್ಯ vs ಆಂಧ್ರ ಪ್ರದೇಶ’ ಪ್ರಕರಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯ ನೀಡಿರುವ ತೀರ್ಪಿಗೆ, ಕಾಯ್ದೆ ವಿರುದ್ಧವಾಗಿದೆ ಎಂದೂ ಕಾಯ್ದೆಯ ಕಲಂ 4(5)ನ್ನು ಸಂವಿಧಾನ ವಿರೋಧಿ ಎಂದು ಘೋಷಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಈ ಘೋಷಣೆಯ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಪಂಜಾಬ್ ಸರಕಾರ ವಿಶೇಷ ಮೆಲ್ಮನವಿಯನ್ನು ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯ ನ್ಯಾ.ಅರುಣ್ ಮಿಶ್ರಾ ಅವರ ನೇತೃತ್ವದ ಪಂಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಮೂರ್ತಿಗಳ ಪೀಠ, ರಾಜ್ಯಗಳಿಗೆ ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಒಳ ವರ್ಗೀಕರಿಸಿ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿ ನೀಡುವ ಅಧಿಕಾರದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಆಗಸ್ಟ್, 2020ರ ತನ್ನ ತೀರ್ಪಿನಲ್ಲಿ, ಈ. ವಿ.ಚಿನ್ನಯ್ಯ ಪ್ರಕರಣದ ತೀರ್ಪಿನ ಪುನರ್‌ಪರಿಶೀಲನೆ ಸಪ್ತ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಧೀಶರ ಸಾಂವಿಧಾನಿಕ ಪೀಠದಲ್ಲಿ ಜರುಗಬೇಕು ಮತ್ತು ಇಂದ್ರಾ ಸಹಾನಿ ಪ್ರಕರಣದ ತೀರ್ಪಿನ ಕೆಲ ಅಂಶಗಳನ್ನೂ ಪುನರ್ಪರಿಶೀಲನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪರಿಗಣಿಸಬೇಕೆಂದೂ ಹೇಳಿದೆ.

ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಡಾ. ನಾಗನಗೌಡ ವರದಿ ಆಧಾರಿತ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿಯನ್ನು ಹಿಂದುಳಿದ ವರ್ಗಗಳಿಗೆ ಅನುಷ್ಠಾನಗೊಳಿಸಿದಾಗ ಒಳ ವರ್ಗೀಕರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಒಳಪಡಿಸಲಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಆದರೆ, ಎಂ.ಆರ್. ಬಾಲಾಜಿ vs ಮೈಸೂರು(ನ್ಯಾ. ಗಜೇಂದ್ರಗಡಕರ್) ಪ್ರಕರಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯ ಒಳ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿ ಅಸಿಂಧು ಎಂದು ತೀರ್ಪು ನೀಡಿತ್ತು(1962). ಆನಂತರ 1977ರ ತನಕ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಹಿಂದುಳಿದವರಿಗೆ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿ ಜಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇರಲೇ ಇಲ್ಲ ಎಂಬುದು ಬೇರೆ ಮಾತು. ಆದರೆ, 1977ರಲ್ಲಿ ಎಲ್. ಜಿ. ಹಾವನೂರ್ ವರದಿ ಆಧರಿಸಿ ಜಾರಿ ಮಾಡಲಾಗಿದ್ದ ಹಿಂದುಳಿದ ವರ್ಗಗಳ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿಯೂ ಒಳ ವರ್ಗೀಕರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಒಳಪಟ್ಟಿತ್ತು. ಅದನ್ನು ಕೆ.ಸಿ. ವಸಂತ ಕುಮಾರ್ vs ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ(ನ್ಯಾ. ಚಿನ್ನಪ್ಪ ರೆಡ್ಡಿ )ಪ್ರಕರಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯ ಎತ್ತಿ ಹಿಡಿಯಿತು(1984). ಹಾಗೆಯೇ, ಇಂದ್ರಾ ಸಹಾನಿ ಪ್ರಕರಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯ ಮತ್ತೆ ಅದನ್ನು ಸ್ಥಿರೀಕರಿಸಿ ಮಾರ್ಗಸೂಚಿಗಳನ್ನೂ ರೂಪಿಸಿತು. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ, ಹಿಂದುಳಿದ ವರ್ಗಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅದು ಚರ್ಚೆಯ ವಿಷಯವಾಗಿ ಇಂದು ಉಳಿದಿಲ್ಲ. ಅದೊಂದು ಒಪ್ಪಿತ ಮೌಲ್ಯವಾಗಿದೆ.

ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸರಕಾರದ ಹುದ್ದೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಅನ್ವಯಿಸುವಂತೆ 1993ರಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಹಿಂದುಳಿದ ವರ್ಗಗಳಿಗೆ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿ ನೀಡಲಾಗಿದ್ದರೂ, ಅದು ಒಳ ವರ್ಗೀಕರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಒಳಪಟ್ಟಿರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಸದ್ಯ ಒಳ ವರ್ಗೀಕರಿಸಲು ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸರಕಾರ ನ್ಯಾ.ರೋಹಿಣಿಯವರ ಏಕವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ ಆಯೋಗ ರಚಿಸಿದೆ. ಕಳೆದ 3 ವರ್ಷಗಳಿಂದ ಆಯೋಗ ಆ ನಿಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾರ್ಯೋನ್ಮುಖವಾಗಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ, ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಒಳಮೀಸಲಾತಿ ಜಾರಿಗೆ ಬರಬೇಕು ಎಂಬ ಕೂಗು ಕೇಳಿದ ದಿನದಿಂದಲೂ ಅದು ವಿವಾದಕ್ಕೆ ಒಳಗಾಗಿದೆ.

ಸರಕಾರ ಯಾವುದೇ ಇರಲಿ, ಜನಹಿತ ಕೆಲಸಗಳೆಲ್ಲವೂ ರಾಜಕಾರಣದ ದೃಷ್ಟಿಯಿಂದಲೇ ನಿರ್ಣಯಿಸಲ್ಪಡುತ್ತವೆ ಎಂಬುದು ಸುಳ್ಳಾಗಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಿಲ್ಲ ಎನ್ನುವಂತಾಗಿದೆ. ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿಗಳ ಒಳ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿಯೂ, ರಾಜಕೀಯದ ಒಳಸುಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಲುಕಿಕೊಂಡಿರುವುದೂ ಆ ವರ್ಗಗಳ ಹಿತ ದೃಷ್ಟಿಯಿಂದ ಸರ್ವತಾ ಸರಿಯಲ್ಲ. ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸರಕಾರವೇ ಈ ನಿಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಂದಾಗಬೇಕಿತ್ತು.ಆದರೆ, ರಾಜ್ಯ ಸರಕಾರಗಳು ಮಾತ್ರ ಒತ್ತಡಕ್ಕೆ ಒಳಗಾಗಿ ಕ್ರಮ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಿರುವುದು ಕಂಡು ಬರುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಆ ವರ್ಗದ ಜಾತಿಗಳ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ಇರುವ ಅಸಮಾನತೆಯನ್ನು ವೈಜ್ಞಾನಿಕ ತಳಹದಿಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಹೋಗಲಾಡಿಸುವ ತುರ್ತು ಕೆಲಸವಂತೂ, ಇಂದು ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಮತ್ತು ರಾಜ್ಯ ಸರಕಾರಗಳ ಮೇಲಿದೆ.

ಸದ್ಯ, ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಪಂಗಡಗಳನ್ನು ಒಳವರ್ಗೀಕರಣ ಮಾಡುವ ಅಧಿಕಾರ ಇರುವುದು ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಪತಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಮಾತ್ರ (ವಿಧಿ 341 ಮತ್ತು 342). ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜಾತಿ ಪಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಯಾವುದೇ ತಿದ್ದುಪಡಿ, ಮಾರ್ಪಾಡು ಅಥವಾ ಬದಲಾವಣೆ ತರಬೇಕು ಎಂದಿದ್ದರೆ ಆ ಅಧಿಕಾರ ಇರುವುದೂ ಸಂಸತ್ತಿಗಷ್ಟೇ.ಒಳ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿಗೆ ಸದ್ಯ ಇರುವ ಅವಕಾಶವೆಂದರೆ, ಒಂದೋ ಸಂವಿಧಾನದ ತಿದ್ದುಪಡಿ ಆಗಬೇಕು ಅಥವಾ ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದ ತೀರ್ಪು ಹೊರ ಬರಬೇಕು. ಆ ತನಕ ಕಾಯುವುದೊಂದೇ ಬಾಕಿ.

ಈ ಕಾರಣಕ್ಕೆ ʼಜೀನ್ಸ್ʼ ಜೇಬಿನ ಮೇಲಿದೆ ಸಣ್ಣ ಬಟನ್

ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತ ಜೀನ್ಸ್ ನಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ಅಚ್ಚುಮೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಡ್ರೆಸ್ ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದಾಗಿದೆ. ಇದು ಭಾರತದ ಮಾರುಕಟ್ಟೆಗೆ ಲಗ್ಗೆ ಇಟ್ಟು ಕೆಲವೇ ವರ್ಷಗಳಾಗಿದ್ದರೂ ನಂಬರ್ ಒನ್ ಸ್ಥಾನದಲ್ಲಿದೆ.

ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಜೀನ್ಸ್ ಧರಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಆದ್ರೆ ಯಾಕೆ ಪ್ಯಾಂಟ್ ನ ಜೇಬಿಗೆ ಸಣ್ಣ ಬಟನ್ ಇದೆ ಎಂಬುದು ಮಾತ್ರ ಅನೇಕರಿಗೆ ತಿಳಿದಿಲ್ಲ.

ಜೀನ್ಸ್ ಜೇಬಿನ ಹತ್ತಿರ ಸಣ್ಣ ಬಟನ್ ಫ್ಯಾಷನ್ ಗಾಗಿ ಇಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಲ್ಲ. ಇದಕ್ಕೊಂದು ಇತಿಹಾಸವಿದೆ. ಅಮೆರಿಕಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಅನೇಕ ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಜೀನ್ಸ್ ಜಾರಿಗೆ ಬಂತು. ಕಾರ್ಖಾನೆ, ಫ್ಯಾಕ್ಟರಿಗೆ ಹೋಗುವವರು ಜೀನ್ಸ್ ಧರಿಸ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದರು. ಆದ್ರೆ ಅವರ ಕೆಲಸದಿಂದಾಗಿ ಜೀನ್ಸ್ ಪ್ಯಾಂಟ್ ನ ಜೇಬು ಪದೇ ಪದೇ ಕಿತ್ತು ಹೋಗ್ತಾ ಇತ್ತು.

ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಪರಿಹಾರ ನೀಡುವ ನಿಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸಣ್ಣ ಬಟನ್ ಇಡಲಾಯ್ತು. ಇದನ್ನು ಮೊದಲ ಬಾರಿ ಜಾಕೋಬ್ ಡೇವಿಸ್ ಎಂಬುವವರು ಅನ್ವೇಷಣೆ ಮಾಡಿದ್ರು.

ಮೂರು ಚಿಕ್ಕ ಬಟನ್ ಹಾಕಿದ್ರೆ ಜೇಬು ಸುರಕ್ಷಿತ ಎಂಬುದನ್ನು ಅರಿತು. ನಂತ್ರ ಈ ಸಣ್ಣ ಬಟನ್ ಫೇಮಸ್ ಆಯ್ತು.

ಕೇರಳದ 'ಹಿರಿಯ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿ' ಶತಾಯುಷಿ((107) ಭಾಗೀರಥಿ ಅಮ್ಮ ಇನ್ನಿಲ್ಲ

ಕೊಲ್ಲಂ (ಕೇರಳ): ‌105ನೇ ವಯಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಕ್ಷರತಾ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆ ಬರೆದು ಉತ್ತೀರ್ಣರಾಗಿ, ಪ್ರಧಾನಿ ನರೇಂದ್ರ ಮೋದಿಯವರಿಂದ ಪ್ರಶಂಸೆ ಗಳಿಸಿದ್ದ, ‘ನಾರಿಶಕ್ತಿ‘ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿ ಪುರಸ್ಕೃತೆ, ಕೇರಳದ ‘ಹಿರಿಯ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿ‘ ಭಾಗೀರಥಿ ಅಮ್ಮ(107) ವಯೋಸಹಜ ಕಾರಣಗಳಿಂದ ಗುರುವಾರ ರಾತ್ರಿ ನಿಧನರಾಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ

ಕೊಲ್ಲಂ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ ಪ್ರಕುಲಂನ ಶತಾಯುಷಿ ಭಾಗೀರಥಿ ಅಮ್ಮ, 2019 ರಲ್ಲಿ ಕೇರಳ ರಾಜ್ಯ ಸಾಕ್ಷರತಾ ಮಿಷನ್ (ಕೆಎಸ್‌ಎಲ್‌ಎಂ) ನಡೆಸಿದ ನಾಲ್ಕನೇ ತರಗತಿಯ ತತ್ಸಮಾನ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಉತ್ತೀರ್ಣರಾಗುವ ಮೂಲಕ ಇತಿಹಾಸ ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಸಿದ್ದರು. ಕೊಲ್ಲಂನಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಜ್ಯ ಸಾಕ್ಷರತಾ ಮಿಷನ್ ನಡೆಸಿದ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆಗೆ ಹಾಜರಾಗಿದ್ದ ಇವರು, 275 ಅಂಕಗಳಿಗೆ 205 ಅಂಕಗಳನ್ನು ಪಡೆದಿದ್ದರು. ಗಣಿತದಲ್ಲಿ ಪೂರ್ಣ ಅಂಕ ಪಡೆದಿದ್ದರು.

ಕೆಎಸ್‌ಎಲ್‌ಎಂ ಮೂಲಗಳ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ವಯಸ್ಸಿನ ಕಾರಣದಿಂದಾಗಿ ಭಾಗೀರಥಿಯವರಿಗೆ ನಿಗದಿತ ಅವಧಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆ ಬರೆಯಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಅವರು ಪರಿಸರ, ಗಣಿತ ಮತ್ತು ಮಲಯಾಳಂ ವಿಷಯಗಳ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಉತ್ತರಿಸಲು ಮೂರು ದಿನ ಸಮಯ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಂಡರಂತೆ.

ಚಿಕ್ಕವಯಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲೇ ತಾಯಿಯನ್ನು ಕಳೆದುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದ ಭಾಗೀರಥಿಯವರು, ಕುಟುಂಬ ನಿರ್ವಹಣೆಗಾಗಿ, ಮೂರನೇ ವಯಸ್ಸಿಗೆ ಓದನ್ನು ಮೊಟಕುಗೊಳಿಸಿದ್ದರು. ಓದು, ಅಧ್ಯಯನಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಹಂಬಲಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಕೊನೆಗೂ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ಮುಂದುವರಿಸಲು ಅವಕಾಶವೇ ಸಿಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಅಮ್ಮನಿಗೆ ಅಧ್ಯಯನದ ಬಗೆಗಿರುವ ಉತ್ಸಾಹವನ್ನು ಕಂಡ ಪ್ರಧಾನಿ ನರೇಂದ್ರ ಮೋದಿಯವರು ಕಳೆದ ವರ್ಷ ‘ಮನ್‌ ಕಿ ಬಾತ್‌‘ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಶಂಸಿಸಿದ್ದರು.

‘ಭಾಗೀರಥಿಯವರಿಗೆ ಹತ್ತನೇ ತರಗತಿ ಅಥವಾ ತತ್ಸಮಾನ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆಯನ್ನು ಪಾಸು ಮಾಡಬೇಕೆಂಬ ಕನಸಿತ್ತು. ಆ ಕನಸು ಕೊನೆಗೂ ನನಸಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ‘ ಎಂದು ಕುಟುಂಬದ ಸದಸ್ಯರು ನೆನಪಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ಸಂಧ್ಯಾಕಾಲದಲ್ಲೂ ವಿದ್ಯಾಭ್ಯಾಸದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ತೋರಿದ್ದಕ್ಕಾಗಿ, ಮಹಿಳಾ ಸಬಲೀಕರಣ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ನೀಡಿದ ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ ಕೊಡುಗೆಗಾಗಿ ಭಾಗೀರಥಿ ಅಮ್ಮನವರಿಗೆ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಪ್ರತಿಷ್ಠಿತ ‘ನಾರಿಶಕ್ತಿ‘ ಪುರಸ್ಕಾರ ನೀಡಿ ಗೌರವಿಸಿದೆ.

ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ನ ಕೆಲವು ಪ್ರಥಮಗಳ ದಾಖಲೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಕುತೂಹಲಕರ ಸಂಗತಿ

ಟೋಕಿಯೊದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್‌ ಕ್ರೀಡೆಗಳು ಶುಕ್ರವಾರ (ಜುಲೈ 23) ಆರಂಭವಾಗಲಿವೆ. ಕೋವಿಡ್‌ ಪಿಡುಗಿನ ನೆರಳಿನಲ್ಲಿ ನಿರ್ಬಂಧಗಳ ನಡುವೆಯೇ ಕ್ರೀಡೆಗಳು ನಡೆಯಬೇಕಿವೆ. ಸೋಂಕು ಹಬ್ಬುವ ಭೀತಿಯಿಂದಾಗಿ ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆಗಳನ್ನು ಖಾಲಿ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಂಗಣದಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಸಬೇಕಾದ ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯತೆ ಇದೆ. ಪ್ರೇಕ್ಷಕರಿಲ್ಲದೇ ಮೊದಲ ಬಾರಿ ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿದೆ.

ಈಗ ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ನ ಕೆಲವು ಪ್ರಥಮಗಳನ್ನು, ದಾಖಲೆ, ಕುತೂಹಲಕರ ಸಂಗತಿಗಳನ್ನು ನೋಡೋಣ.

* ಟೋಕಿಯೊ ಕ್ರೀಡೆಗಳ ಮ್ಯಾಸ್ಕಟ್‌ (ಬೊಂಬೆ ರೂಪದ ಸಂಕೇತ) ಮಿರೈಟೋವಾ. ಇದು ರಾಬೋಟ್‌ ರೂಪ ಹೊಂದಿದೆ. (ಮಿರೈ ಎಂದರೆ ಭವಿಷ್ಯ–Future, ಟೋವಾ ಎಂದರೆ ಅಳಿಯದ, ಶಾಶ್ವತ, Eternity. ಈ ಎರಡು ಪದಗಳನ್ನು ಜೋಡಿಸಿ ಈ ಬೊಂಬೆಗೆ ಹೆಸರಿಡಲಾಗಿದೆ). ಮೊದಲ ಬಾರಿ ಬೇಸಿಗೆ ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಕ್‌ ಕ್ರೀಡೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮ್ಯಾಸ್ಕಟ್‌ ಕಾಣಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದು ಯಾವಾಗ ಗೊತ್ತೇ? 1972ರ ಮ್ಯೂನಿಕ್‌ ಕ್ರೀಡೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ. ಆ ವರ್ಷ ‘ವಾಲ್ಡಿ’ ಎಂಬ ಡ್ಯಾಷಹೌಂಡ್‌ ಶ್ವಾನದ ಬೊಂಬೆ ಮ್ಯಾಸ್ಕಟ್‌ ಆಗಿ ಸ್ಮರಣಿಕೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ, ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್‌ ತಾಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಣಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿತು.

ಟೋಕಿಯೊ ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್ ಮ್ಯಾಸ್ಕಟ್ 'ಮಿರೈಟೋವಾ'

* ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್‌ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಗ್ರಾಮ ಕಲ್ಪನೆ ಮೊದಲ ಬಾರಿ ಸಾಕಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದಿದ್ದು 1932 ರ ಲಾಸ್‌ ಏಂಜಲೀಸ್‌ ಕ್ರೀಡೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ. ನಗರ ಹೊರವಲಯದ ಬಾಲ್ಡ್‌ವಿನ್‌ ಹಿಲ್ಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ 321 ಎಕರೆ ಪ್ರದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಗ್ರಾಮ ಮೈದಳೆದಿತ್ತು. 40 ಅಡುಗೆ ಕೋಣೆಗಳು, ಆಸ್ಪತ್ರೆ, ಅಂಚೆ ಕಚೇರಿ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ ಮಾಡಲಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಮಹಿಳಾ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಪಟುಗಳು ಆ ಬಾರಿ ಹೋಟೆಲ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಉಳಿದುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದರು.

* ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಉದ್ದೀಪನ ಮದ್ದು ಸೇವನೆ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆಗಳು ಹೊಸದಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೆ ಮೊದಲ ಬಾರಿ ಉದ್ದೀಪನ ಮದ್ದು ಸೇವನೆ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆ ನಡೆದಿದ್ದು 1968ರ ಮೆಕ್ಸಿಕೊ ಸಿಟಿ ಕ್ರೀಡೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ. ಆ ವರ್ಷ ಒಬ್ಬರು ಸಿಕ್ಕಿಕೊಂಡರು. ಕಂಚಿನ ಪದಕ ಗೆದ್ದುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದ ಸ್ವೀಡನ್‌ನ ಪೆಂಟಾತ್ಲಾನ್‌ ಸ್ಪರ್ಧಿ ಮದ್ಯಪಾನ ಮಾಡಿ ಭಾಗವಹಿಸಿದ್ದು ಖಚಿತಪಟ್ಟಿತ್ತು. ಅವರಿಂದ ಪದಕ ವಾಪಸು ಪಡೆಯಲಾಯಿತು. ಅವರು ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆಗೆ ಮೊದಲು ಬಿಯರ್‌ ಸೇವಿಸಿದ್ದರು!

*ಬೇಸಿಗೆ ಮತ್ತು ಚಳಿಗಾಲದ ಕ್ರೀಡೆ (winter games)ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಚಿನ್ನದ ಪದಕಗಳನ್ನು ಗೆದ್ದುಕೊಂಡ ಮೊದಲ ಸ್ಪರ್ಧಿ ಎಡ್ಡಿ (ಎಡ್ವರ್ಡ್‌) ಈಗನ್‌. ಅವರು ಆ್ಯಂಟ್‌ವರ್ಪ್‌ (1920ರ) ಕ್ರೀಡೆಗಳ ಲೈಟ್‌ ಹೆವಿವೇಟ್‌ ಬಾಕ್ಸಿಂಗ್‌ ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಚಿನ್ನ ಜಯಿಸಿದ್ದರು.1932ರ ಲೇಕ್‌ ಪ್ಲಾಸಿಡ್‌ ಚಳಿಗಾಲದ ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರು ಬಾಬ್‌ಸ್ಲೀಗ್‌ ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆಯಲ್ಲಿ (ಇದು ಹಿಮದ ಇಕ್ಕಟ್ಟಾದ ಟ್ರ್ಯಾಕ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಹನದಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಯುವ ತಂಡ ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆ) ಪಾಲ್ಗೊಂಡು ಮೊದಲ ಸ್ಥಾನ ಪಡೆದಿದ್ದರು.

ಮೈಕೆಲ್‌ ಫೆಲ್ಪ್ಸ್‌

* ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಅತಿ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಪದಕಗಳನ್ನು ಗೆದ್ದುಕೊಂಡ ದಾಖಲೆ ಇರುವುದು ಅಮೆರಿಕದ ಈಜು ಪಟು, 36 ವರ್ಷದ ಮೈಕೆಲ್‌ ಫೆಲ್ಪ್ಸ್‌ ಹೆಸರಿನಲ್ಲಿ. ಅವರು ನಾಲ್ಕು (2004 ರಿಂದ 2016ರ ಅವಧಿ) ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ಗಳಿಂದ 28 ಪದಕಗಳನ್ನು ಗೆದ್ದುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ! ಇವುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ 23 ಚಿನ್ನಗಳು ಸೇರಿವೆ. ಬೀಜಿಂಗ್‌ (2008) ಕ್ರೀಡೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರು ಎಂಟು ಚಿನ್ನದ ಪದಕಗಳನ್ನು ಗೆದ್ದುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದೂ ದಾಖಲೆ. 23 ಚಿನ್ನಗಳ ಜೊತೆ ಮೂರು ಬೆಳ್ಳಿ, ಎರಡು ಕಂಚಿನ ಪದಕಗಳು ಈ ಈಜು ಸಾಧಕನಿಗೆ ಒಲಿದಿವೆ.

* 1976ರ ಮಾಂಟ್ರಿಯಲ್‌ ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಸೋದರರಿಬ್ಬರು ಒಂದೇ ಕ್ರೀಡೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಚಿನ್ನದ ಪದಕಗಳನ್ನು ಗೆದ್ದುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದು ಇತಿಹಾಸ. ಅಮೆರಿಕದ ಮೈಕೆಲ್‌ ಸ್ಪಿಂಕ್ಸ್‌ ಮತ್ತು ಲಿಯಾನ್ ಸ್ಪಿಂಕ್ಸ್‌ ಕ್ರಮವಾಗಿ ಬಾಕ್ಸಿಂಗ್‌ನ ಮಿಡ್ಲ್‌ವೇಟ್‌ ಮತ್ತು ಹೆವಿವೇಟ್‌ ವಿಭಾಗಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಚಿನ್ನದ ಪದಕಗಳಿಗೆ ಕೊರಳೊಡ್ಡಿದ್ದರು. ಇವರಿಬ್ಬರೂ ಮುಂದೆ ವಿಶ್ವ ಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್‌ಗಳಾಗಿ ಬೆಳಗಿದರು. ಲಿಯಾನ್‌ ಎರಡು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ನಂತರ ವಿಶ್ವ ಹೆವಿವೇಟ್‌ ಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್‌ ಆದರು. ಮೈಕೆಲ್‌, ಲೈಟ್‌ ಹೆವಿವೇಟ್‌ (1981–85) ಮತ್ತು ಹೆವಿವೇಟ್‌ ವಿಭಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ (1985–88)ವಿಶ್ವ ಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್‌ ಆದರು.

ಲಿಯಾನ್ ಸ್ಪಿಂಕ್ಸ್‌ (ಬಲಭಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ)

* ಟೆನಿಸ್‌ 1988ರ ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಮರುಸೇರ್ಪಡೆಗೊಂಡಿತು. ಅದಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಹಿಂದೆ, 1924ರಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊನೆಯ ಬಾರಿ ನಡೆದಿತ್ತು. ಆ ವರ್ಷ ಆಸ್ಟ್ರೇಲಿಯಾ, ಫ್ರೆಂಚ್‌, ವಿಂಬಲ್ಡನ್‌, ಯು.ಎಸ್‌. ಓಪನ್‌ ಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್‌ ಆಗಿದ್ದ ಸ್ಟೆಫಿ ಗ್ರಾಫ್‌ ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ನ ಮಹಿಳೆಯರ ಸಿಂಗಲ್ಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಚಿನ್ನ ಗೆದ್ದು ಗೋಲ್ಡನ್‌ ಸ್ಲ್ಯಾಮ್ ಸಾಧನೆ ಮಾಡಿದರು. ಅವರು ಫೈನಲ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಸೋಲಿಸಿದ್ದು ಆರ್ಜೆಂಟೀನಾದ ಗ್ಯಾಬ್ರಿಯೆಲಾ ಸೆಬಾಟಿನಿ ಅವರನ್ನು. ಗೋಲ್ಡನ್‌ ಸ್ಲ್ಯಾಮ್‌ ಪದ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮಗಳ ಕೊಡುಗೆ!

* ಯುದ್ಧದಿಂದ ಜರ್ಝರಿತಗೊಂಡ ದೇಶಗಳ ಅಥ್ಲೀಟುಗಳಿಗೆ ಅವಕಾಶ ನೀಡಲು ‘ನಿರಾಶ್ರಿತ (refugee) ತಂಡ ಮೊದಲ ಬಾರಿ ರೂಪುಗೊಂಡಿದ್ದು, ಕಳೆದ (2016, ರಿಯೊ ಡಿ ಜನೈರೊ) ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ. ಯುದ್ಧಪೀಡಿತ ನಾಲ್ಕು ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಗಳ (ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ಸುಡಾನ್‌, ಕಾಂಗೊ, ಸಿರಿಯಾ ಮತ್ತು ಇಥಿಯೋಪಿಯಾ) ಹತ್ತು ಮಂದಿ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಪಟುಗಳು ಆ ತಂಡದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದರು.

* ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಪಟುವೊಬ್ಬರಿಂದ ಪ್ರತಿಜ್ಞಾವಿಧಿ ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸುವ ಪರಿಪಾಠ ಆರಂಭವಾಗಿದ್ದು 1920ರ ಆ್ಯಂಟ್‌ವರ್ಪ್‌ ಕ್ರೀಡೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ. ಐದು ಖಂಡಗಳನ್ನು ಪ್ರತಿನಿಧಿಸುವ ಐದು ಬಳೆಗಳ ಚಿತ್ರ ಹೊಂದಿರುವ ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್‌ ಧ್ವಜ ಮೊದಲ ಬಾರಿ ಹಾರಾಡಿದ್ದು ಕೂಡ ಇದೇ ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ.

* ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ ಕ್ರೀಡೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಮೂರು ಬಾರಿ ಆತಿಥ್ಯ ನೀಡಿದ ಮೊದಲ ನಗರ ಲಂಡನ್‌ (1908, 1948 ಮತ್ತು 1912).

* ಕ್ರೀಡಾ ಜ್ಯೋತಿಯನ್ನು ಕ್ರೀಡಾಪಟುಗಳ ರಿಲೇ ಓಟದ ಮೂಲಕ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಂಗಣಕ್ಕೆ ತರುವ ಸಂಪ್ರದಾಯ ಆರಂಭವಾಗಿದ್ದು 1936ರ ಬರ್ಲಿನ್‌ ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ. ಆ ಕ್ರೀಡೆಗಳ ಸಂಘಟನಾ ಸಮಿತಿಯಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಕಾರ್ಲ್ ಡೀಮ್‌ ಅವರ ಯೋಚನೆ ಇದು. ಗ್ರೀಸ್‌ನ ಕಾನ್‌ಸ್ಟಂಟೈನ್‌ ಕಾಂಡಿಲಿಸ್‌ 1936ರ ಜುಲೈ 20ರಂದು ಒಲಿಂಪಿಯಾದಿಂದ ಜ್ಯೋತಿ ಓಟ ಆರಂಭಿಸಿದ ಮೊದಲಿಗರೆನಿಸಿದರು.

* ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್ಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಮೊದಲ ಬಾರಿ ಭಯೋತ್ಪಾದನಾ ದಾಳಿ ನಡೆದಿದ್ದು 1972ರ ಮ್ಯೂನಿಕ್‌ ಕ್ರೀಡೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ. ಆ ಬಾರಿ ಆಗಿನ ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ ಜರ್ಮನಿಯ ಬವೇರಿಯಾದ ಈ ನಗರದ ಮೇಲೆ ಪ್ಯಾಲಸ್ಟೀನ್‌ ಭಯೋತ್ಪಾದಕ ಗುಂಪು (‘ಬ್ಲ್ಯಾಕ್‌ ಸೆಪ್ಟೆಂಬರ್‌’ ಎಂಬ ಹೆಸರು ಹೊಂದಿತ್ತು) ಇಸ್ರೇಲಿ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಪಟುಗಳು ತಂಗಿದ್ದ ಡಾರ್ಮಿಟರಿಯ ಮೇಲೆ ದಾಳಿ ನಡೆಸಿತ್ತು. ಇಸ್ರೇಲಿ ಕಾರಾಗೃಹಗಳಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ 200 ಮಂದಿಯನ್ನು ಬಿಡುಗಡೆ ಮಾಡಬೇಕೆಂದು ಒತ್ತಾಯಿಸಿ ಒಲಿಂಪಿಕ್‌ ತಂಡದ 9 ಒತ್ತೆಯಾಳುಗಳನ್ನಾಗಿಸಿದ್ದರು. ಅವರ ರಕ್ಷಣೆಗೆ ನಡೆದ ದಾಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಒತ್ತೆ ಸೆರೆಯಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಪಟುಗಳು, ಐವರು ಭಯೋತ್ಪಾದಕರು, ಒಬ್ಬ ಪೊಲೀಸ್‌ ಸಿಬ್ಬಂದಿ ಮೃತಪಟ್ಟರು.

​ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಜಗತ್ತಿಗೆ ಕಾಲಿಟ್ಟ ಹೊಸ ಮೂರು ದೇಶಗಳು, ಮಂಗೋಲಿಯಾ, ತಜಿಕಿಸ್ತಾನ, ಸ್ವಿಡ್ಜರ್‌ಲೆಂಡ್.

​ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಜಗತ್ತಿಗೆ ಕಾಲಿಟ್ಟ ಹೊಸ ಮೂರು ದೇಶಗಳು

Vartha Bharati
19th July, 2021 09:11 IST

ದುಬೈ: ಮಂಗೋಲಿಯಾ, ತಜಿಕಿಸ್ತಾನ ಮತ್ತು ಸ್ವಿಡ್ಜರ್‌ಲೆಂಡ್ ದೇಶಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊಸ ಸದಸ್ಯ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಗಳಾಗಿ ಅಂತರರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಮಂಡಳಿ (ಐಸಿಸಿ) ರವಿವಾರ ನಡೆದ 78ನೇ ವಾರ್ಷಿಕ ಸರ್ವಸದಸ್ಯರ ಸಭೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಆಂಗೀಕರಿಸಿದೆ.

ಈ ವರ್ಚುವಲ್ ಸಭೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಂಗೋಲಿಯಾ ಹಾಗೂ ತಜಿಕಿಸ್ತಾನವನ್ನು ಏಷ್ಯಾ ಪ್ರದೇಶದ 22 ಹಾಗೂ 23ನೇ ಸದಸ್ಯರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಗಳಾಗಿ ಸೇರಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲಾಯಿತು. ಅಂತೆಯೇ ಯೂರೋಪ್‌ನ 35ನೇ ಸದಸ್ಯ ದೇಶವಾಗಿ ಸ್ವಿಡ್ಜರ್‌ಲೆಂಡ್ ಸೇರ್ಪಡೆಯಾಗಿದೆ. ಇದೀಗ ಐಸಿಸಿ 94 ಸಹಸದಸ್ಯತ್ವ ಸೇರಿದಂತೆ 106 ಸದಸ್ಯದೇಶಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿದಂತಾಗಿದೆ.

ಎಲ್ಲ ಮೂರು ಅರ್ಜಿದಾರ ದೇಶಗಳು ಮಹಿಳೆಯರು ಮತ್ತು ಯುವಜನತೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಬೆಳೆಸಲು ಬದ್ಧತೆ ಹೊಂದಿದ್ದು, ಅವು ತಮ್ಮ ಸಾಮರ್ಥ್ಯವನ್ನು ಸಾಧಿಸುವ ನಿಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಐಸಿಸಿ ನೆರವಾಗಲಿದೆ ಎಂದು ಐಸಿಸಿ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ವಿಭಾಗದ ಪ್ರಧಾನ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥಾಪಕ ವಿಲಿಯಂ ಗ್ಲೆನ್‌ವರ್ತ್ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದಾರೆ.

"ಸಾಂಕ್ರಾಮಿಕದ ಕಾಲಘಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಚಟುವಟಿಕೆಗಳು ವಿಕಾಸಗೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದು, ಮಹತ್ವಾಕಾಂಕ್ಷಿ ಯೋಜನೆಗಳ ಜತೆ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಪ್ರಗತಿಯ ರೋಮಾಂಚಕ ಕಾಲಘಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾವಿದ್ದೇವೆ. ಸದಸ್ಯ ದೇಶಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕೋವಿಡ್-19 ಪರಿಣಾಮದ ಅವಲೋಕನ ಹಾಗೂ ಈ ಕ್ರೀಡೆಯನ್ನು ಜಾಗತಿಕವಾಗಿ ಬೆಳೆಸುವ ನಿಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸದಸ್ಯ ದೇಶಗಳ ಜತೆ ಪಾಲುದಾರಿಕೆ ಹೊಂದಲಿದ್ದೇವೆ ಎಂದು ಅವರು ಹೇಳಿದ್ದಾರೆ

Kargil Vijay Diwas 2021: On 26 July every year, Kargil Vijay Diwas is observed to honour the troops who gave their lives in the Kargil War.

Kargil Vijay Diwas 2021:  On 26 July every year, Kargil Vijay Diwas is observed to honour the troops who gave their lives in the Kargil War. The war lasted from May to July 1999. The day also marks the success of 'Operation Vijay' which was launched in 1999 to reclaim the territories taken by Pakistani invaders in the Kargil Drass region. 

We all know the Army heroes sacrifice their own lives during the Kargil War so that the entire country can sleep in peace. The stories of their bravery, courage, and passion are larger than life. Here we are providing a glimpse of 10 army heroes or their bravery stories that will not just make us proud but also their sacrifices will leave eyes a little moist. Each and everyone who fought for us in the Kargil War is heroes. Some of the stories of such legends are provided in this article. 

List of 10 Kargil heroes India will always be proud of

1. Captain Vikram Batra ( Param Vir Chakra, Posthumous) (13 JAK Rifles)

He was born on 9 September, 1974, in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh to Girdhari Lal Batra (father) and Kamal Kanta (mother). His mother was a school teacher and his father was a government school principal. 

He joined IMA in the Manekshaw Battalion in June 1996. He graduated from IMA on 6 December, 1997 after completing his 19-month training. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant into the 13th Battalion, Jammu and Kashmir Rifles. 

After a few training and completing several courses his Battalion, 13 JAK RIF, received an order to proceed to Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. On 5 June the orders of the battalion were changed and were ordered to move to Dras, Jammu, and Kashmir.

He is known as the Hero of the Kargil War and was instrumental in recapturing Peak 5140 and overlooks the Tololing nullah. During the mission, he chose 'Yeh Dil Mange More!' as their success signal. 

After capturing Peak 5140, he went for another mission to capture Peak 4875. No doubt it was one of the most difficult missions the Indian army attempted. In the battle, one of his fellow men had been shot. Then, to save him, he took the head and was killed while clearing enemy positions. He was awarded Param Vir Chakra, posthumously, India's highest and most prestigious award for his martyrdom during the Kargil War in 1999 that took place between India and Pakistan. 

Vikram Batra's famous quote when he came home in the holidays said "Either I will come back after hoisting the tricolour (Indian flag), or I will come back wrapped in it, but I will be back for sure.”

2. Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav (Param Vir Chakra) (18 Grenadiers)

He was born on 10 May, 1980 at Sikandrabad, Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh to Karan Singh Yadav (Father), and Santara Devi (Mother). He was the youngest person to ever be awarded the Param Vir Chakra. In August, 1999, Nayab Subedar Yogendra Singh Yadav was awarded Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military decoration. His battalion captured Tololing Top on 12 June, 1999, and in the process, 2 officers, 2 junior commissioned officers, and 21 soldiers sacrificed their lives. 

He was also the part of Ghatak Platoon and was assigned to capture three strategic bunkers situated on the top steep around 16500 feet high cliff on Tiger Hill. He was climbing with the help of a rope when the enemy bunker started rocket fire. He was hit by several bullets but continued with the mission without taking care of the pain. He crawled to the first enemy bunker and lobbed a grenade which killed around four Pakistani soldiers and set back the enemy fire. This provided an opportunity for the rest of the Indian platoon to climb up the cliff face. 

Yadav continued fighting and destroyed the second bunker also with the help of fellow soldiers and killed few more Pakistani soldiers which provided again an opportunity for the rest of the platoon to arrive. In this way, they accomplish one of the toughest missions of the Kargil war. 

In an interview with DD National, Yogendra Singh Yadav said "A soldier is like a selfless lover. With this unconditional love, comes determination. And for this love for his nation, his regiment, and his fellow soldiers, a soldier doesn't think twice before risking his life."

3. Lieutenant Manoj Kumar Pandey (Param Vir Chakra, Posthumous) (1/11 Gorkha Rifles)

He was born on 25 June, 1975 at Rudha village, Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, India to Shri Gopi Chand Pandey (Father) and Mohini Pandey (Mother). He was a soldier of 1/11 Gorkha Rifles. According to his father, he had joined the Indian Army with the sole aim of getting a Param Vir Chakra, the highest gallantry award. He was awarded the Param Vir Chakra posthumously. 

Another brave soldier who had sacrificed his life for the country's pride. His team was tasked to clear the enemy troops, he carried out a series of attacks to push back the intruders. Under intense enemy fire, the brave and grievously injured officer continued to assault that ultimately led to the capture of Jaubar Top and Khalubar hill in the Batalik sector. 

During his Service Selection Board (SSB) interview, he was questioned why he wanted to join the Army? He answered, "I want to win the Param Vir Chakra". And for his extreme courage and leadership, he was awarded Param Vir Chakra Posthumously.

4. Lieutenant Balwan Singh (Maha Vir Chakra) (18 Grenadiers)

He was born on October, 1973 at Sasrauli, Rohtak district, Haryana, India. Lieutenant Balwan Singh on 3 July, 1999 with his Ghatak Platoon was tasked to assault the Tiger Hill Top from the North-Eastern direction as part of a multi-pronged attack. The route was situated at the height of 16500 feet which was snowbound and interspersed with crevasses and sheer falls.

With the service of just three months, the officer set about his task with single-minded determination. He leads the team and moved for over 12 hours along a very difficult and precarious route and under intense artillery shelling to reach the designated spur.

His team used cliff assault mountaineering equipment to reach the top with stealth which made the enemy shocked. On seeing the Ghataks, the enemy panicked and in a desperate firefight attempted to repulse the Ghataks. In the firefight, Lt. Balwan Singh was seriously injured but he resolved to finish the enemy unshaken. With the injury, he refused to evacuate and continue the fight, encircle the enemy and killed four enemy soldiers. The inspirational leadership of the officer, his courage, and his bravery were instrumental in the capture of Tiger Hill. He was awarded Maha Vir Chakra for his courage and bravery. 

5. Major Rajesh Singh Adhikari (Maha Vir Chakra, Posthumous) (18 Grenadiers)

He was born in December, 1970 at Nanital, Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand), India to KS Adhikari (Father), and Malti Adhikari (Mother). To capture the Tololong feature on 30 May, 1999, as a part of Battalion was tasked to secure the initial foothold by capturing its forward spur where the enemy held a strong position. At a height of about 15,000 feet, the position of the enemy was located in a treacherous mountainous terrain that was covered with snow.

He was leading his company to fulfill his objective. With Universal machine Guns, he was fired from two mutually supporting enemy positions. He immediately directed the Rocket Launcher detachment to engage the enemy position and without waiting, rushed into the position and killed two enemy personnel in close-quarter combat.

The officer with his presence of mind ordered his Medium Machine Gun detachment to take the position behind the rocky feature and engage the enemy. During the fight, the officer was injured by the bullets but he continued to direct the Subunit. He refused to be evacuated and charged the second enemy position and killed one more occupant. The second position at Tololing was captured which later captured Point 4590. He, later, however, succumbed to his injuries. He was awarded Maha Vir Chakra posthumously, the second-highest Indian military honour for bravery on the battlefield.

6. Rifleman Sanjay Kumar (Param Vir Chakra) (13 JAK Rif)

He was born in March 1976 at Kalol Bakain, Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh, India to Durga Ram (Father), and Bhag Devi (Mother). 

On 4 July, 1999, he was volunteered to be the leading scout of the attacking column tasked to capture area Flat Top of Point 4875 in the Mushkoh Valley. When the attack progressed, the enemy started automatic firing from one of the Sangars posed stiff opposition, and stalling the column. 

The officer realised the gravity of the situation and showing unadulterated courage he charged the enemy Sangar with utter disregard for personal safety. In ensuing hand-to-hand combat, he killed three of the intruders and was also seriously injured. After injury also instead of being evacuated he charged on to the second Sangar. The enemy was surprised and they were left behind by one universal machine gun and started running.

He picked up the left behind weapon by the enemy and killed the fleeing enemy. He was profusely bleeding from the wounds but refused to be evacuated. He motivated his comrades and charged on to the area Flat Top from the hands of the enemy. He was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military decoration.

7. Major Vivek Gupta (Maha Vir Chakra, Posthumous) (2 Rajputana Rifles) 

He was from Dehradun. On 13 June, 1999, he was in command of the leading Charlie Company, when 2 Rajputana Rifles launched a Battalion attack on Tololing Top in the Drass Sector.

Under the inspiring leadership of Major Vivek Gupta, in spite of heavy artillery and automatic fire, he was able to close in with the enemy. As soon as the company openly emerged and came under multi-directional intense fire. Three personnel of the leading section of the company were hit and the attack was temporarily stalled. After knowing, that if it will continue like this in an open then there would be more loss so, he reacted immediately and fired a Rocket Launcher at the enemy position. Before the shocked enemy could recover, he charged on to the enemy position. And therefore at that time, he was hit with two bullets, despite it, he kept moving towards the position. After reaching the position, he kept engage the enemy in hand-to-hand combat and managed to kill three enemy soldiers despite his own injuries.

Taking inspiration from the officer, the rest of the company charged onto the enemy position and captured it. During the battle, he was hit directly by the enemy bullets and finally succumbed to his injuries. His inspiring leadership and bravery ultimately led to the capture of Tololing Top. He was posthumously awarded Maha Vir Chakra, India's second-highest military decoration.

8. Captain N Kenguruse (Maha Vir Chakra, Posthumous) (ASC, 2 RAJ RIF)

He was born in July, 1974 at Kohima District, Nagaland, India to Neiselie Kenguruse (Father) and Dinuo Kenguruse (Mother). 

On the night of 28 June, 1999 during Operation Vijay, he was the Ghatak Platoon Commander during the attack on Area Black Rock in the Drass Sector.

He took the responsibility of the daring commando mission of attacking a well-sited enemy machine gun position, on a cliff face, which was heavily interfering with all the approaches to the main objective of the Battalion. As the team of commando scaled the cliff face, intense mortar and automatic fire started that caused heavy casualties.

The officer got a splinter injury in his abdomen. It was bleeding profusely but he urged his man to carry in with the assault. On reaching the final cliff the team of the commando was halted by a sheer rock wall that separated them from the enemy gun post. The officer scaled the rock wall with courage while carrying a rocket launcher with him and fired at the enemy position. He took charge of the enemy position and killed two men personally with his rifle and another two with his commando knife in a hand-to-hand combat before succumbing to his injury. Due to his bravery, the single-handedly neutralised the position of the enemy which gave Batallion progress. He was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, India's second-highest military decoration.

9. Lt. Keishing Clifford Nongrum (Maha Vir Chakra, Posthumous) (12 JAK LI)

He was born in March, 1975 at Shillong, Meghalaya, India to Keishingh Peter (Father) and Saily Nongrum (Mother). 

In the operation to capture Point 4812 in the Batalik Sector, he was tasked to assault the feature of the South-Eastern direction. Do you know he led his column over the near-impossible vertical cliff feature? The enemy was entrenched with their positions and remained immune to even artillery fire.

The enemy pinned down the column of Lt. Keishing Clifford Nongrum with automatic fire for about two hours. In spite of all this, without seeing his personal safety, he threw grenades into it and killed six enemy soldiers. He then tried to snatch the universal machine gun from the enemy from the second position and received bullets. 

By seeing the action of the Lieutenant the enemy was stunned. Without seeing his injuries, he fought valiantly until he succumbed to his injuries. And due to this, the ultimate capture of Point 4812 was possible. He was posthumously awarded Maha Vir Chakra, India's second-highest military decoration.

10. Naik Digendra Kumar (Maha Vir Chakra) (2 RAJ RIF)

He was born in July, 1969 and belongs to Sikars, State Rajasthan to Shri Sivedan Singh (Father) and Smt Raj Gore (Mother). He was the commander of the Light Machine Gun Group during his company's assault on the Tololing feature on Drass Sector. The main aim was to capture a well-fortified enemy position.

When the Assault Group was nearing its objective on 13 June, 1999, it came under effective fire with the universal machine gun, heavy gun, and other small arms leading to heavy casualties in the Assault Group. He was hit by a bullet in his left arm. After his injury, he continued firing with one hand and brought down effective and accurate Light Machine Gunfire on the enemy. Due to this, the enemy head down and his own man advanced towards the objective. After the effective covering fire, his own troops physically assaulted the enemy position and cleared it after a fierce hand-to-hand fight. After being seriously injured, it was his bravery and courage that the Assault Group was able to capture the objective.  He was awarded Maha Vir Chakra, India's second-highest military decoration in 1999 (Independence Day).

These are the stories of some of the Kargil heroes who fought the battle with bravery and courage and made India proud. Their sacrifice will never be forgettable and therefore, Kargil Vijay Diwas is observed on 26 July to commemorate the sacrifices made by the soldiers in the Kargil War.

 

ವಿಶ್ವ ಎಮೋಜಿ ದಿನವನ್ನು ಪ್ರತಿವರ್ಷ ಜುಲೈ 17 ರಂದು ಆಚರಿಸಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಎಮೋಜಿ ಎಂಬುದು ಜಪಾನಿ ಶಬ್ದವಾಗಿದ್ದು, ಇದರ ಅರ್ಥ 'ಚಿತ್ರ ಪದ'.

ವಿಶ್ವ ಎಮೋಜಿ ದಿನವನ್ನು ಪ್ರತಿವರ್ಷ ಜುಲೈ 17 ರಂದು ಆಚರಿಸಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಎಮೋಜಿ ಎಂಬುದು ಜಪಾನಿ ಶಬ್ದವಾಗಿದ್ದು, ಇದರ ಅರ್ಥ 'ಚಿತ್ರ ಪದ'.

ಹೌದು, ಪಠ್ಯ ಸಂದೇಶಗಳನ್ನು ಕಳುಹಿಸುವುದು ನಮ್ಮ ದೈನಂದಿನ ಜೀವನದ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ಭಾಗವಾಗಿದೆ. ಯಾರ ಜೊತೆಗಾದರೂ ಚಾಟ್ ಮಾಡುವಾಗ ಅಥವಾ ಪಠ್ಯ ಸಂದೇಶಗಳನ್ನು ಕಳುಹಿಸುವಾಗ ಎಮೋಜಿಗಳಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂಬುದನ್ನು ಕಲ್ಪಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದೂ ಅಸಾಧ್ಯದ ಮಾತು. ಎಮೋಜಿಗಳಿಲ್ಲದ ಸಂದೇಶಗಳು ನೀರಸವಾಗಿರುತ್ತವೆ ಎಂಬುದಂತೂ ಸತ್ಯ.

ಪ್ರೀತಿ, ಪ್ರೇಮ, ನೋವು, ನಗು, ನಾಚಿಕೆ, ಗಾಬರಿ, ಅಚ್ಚರಿಯಂತಹ ಭಾವನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಬೇರೆಲ್ಲೋ ಕುಳಿತಿರುವ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗೆ ವರ್ಚುವಲ್‌ ಆಗಿ ತಲುಪಿಸಲು ಎಮೋಜಿಗಳು ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯ. ಕೊರೊನಾ ಕಾಲಘಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ನಾವು ಸಂವಹನ ನಡೆಸುವಾಗ ಸಾಂತ್ವನ, ನೋವು, ಅಳು, ಗಾಬರಿಯಂತಹ ಭಾವನೆಗಳು ಹೊರಹೊಮ್ಮುತ್ತಲೇ ಇರುತ್ತವೆ. ಇಂತಹ ಭಾವನೆಗಳನ್ನು ವ್ಯಕ್ತಪಡಿಸಲು ಎಮೋಜಿಗಳು ಮಾಡುವ ಕೆಲಸ ಅದ್ಬುತ ಎಂದೇ ಹೇಳಬಹುದು.

ಕೆಲವೊಮ್ಮೆ ಪದಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಪಡಿಸಲಾಗದ ಭಾವನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಎಮೋಜಿಗಳ ಮೂಲಕ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಪಡಿಸಿ ಹಗುರಾಗುತ್ತೇವೆ. ಎಮೋಜಿಗಳ ಮೂಲಕ ಮನದಾಳದ ಮಾತುಗಳನ್ನು ಕಳಿಸಿ ಸಮಾಧಾನಗೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತೇವೆ.

ಎಮೋಜಿಗಳ ಇತಿಹಾಸ- ಇದು ನಿಮಗೆ ತಿಳಿದಿರಲಿ

ಎನ್‌ಟಿಟಿ ಡೊಕೊಮೊದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಜಪಾನ್‌ ಮೂಲದ ಶಿಗೇಟಕಾ ಕುರಿಟಾ ಎಂಬ ಇಂಜಿನೀಯರ್ 1998ರಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಎಮೋಜಿಗಳನ್ನು ಸಿದ್ದಪಡಿಸಿದ್ದರು. 1990ರಲ್ಲಿ ಎಮೋಜಿಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿದ್ದರೂ 2010 ರಲ್ಲಿ ಮೊಬೈಲ್‌ ಬಳಕೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚುತ್ತಿದ್ದಂತೆ ಎಮೋಜಿಗಳನ್ನು ಅಭಿವೃದ್ದಿ ಪಡಿಸಲಾಯಿತು.

ಅತೀ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸುವ ಎಮೋಜಿಗಳು

ಸಂತೋಷದ ಕಣ್ಣೀರು ಇರುವ ಎಮೋಜಿ ಸದ್ಯ ಟ್ವಿಟರ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಅತೀ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಬಳಕೆ ಕಂಡಿರುವ ಎಮೋಜಿ. ಫೇಸ್‌ಬುಕ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರೀತಿ, ಹೃದಯಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದ ಎಮೋಜಿ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಬ್ಲೋವಿಂಗ್ ಅ ಕಿಸ್‌ ಸಹ ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ ಅತೀ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಬಳಸಿರುವ ಎಮೋಜಿ.

ಎಮೋಜಿಗಳ ಬಳಕೆ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಮಾಹಿತಿ

ಒಂದು ಸಂದೇಶದ ಜತೆ ಎಮೋಜಿಯನ್ನು ಕಳಿಸುವ ಮೂಲಕ ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾವನೆಗಳು ಸರಳವಾಗಿ ತಿಳಿಸಬಹುದು. ಅತಿಯಾದ ಕೋಪ ಬಂದಾಗ ಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗಿ ಕೆಂಪಾಗಿರುವ ಗೊಂಬೆಯ ಮುಖದ ಎಮೋಜಿಯನ್ನು ಬಳಸುತ್ತೇವೆ. ಅನಾರೋಗ್ಯದಿಂದ ಬಳಲುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾಗ ಬಾಯಲ್ಲಿ ಥರ್ಮಾಮೀಟರ್ ಇರುವ ಎಮೋಜಿಯನ್ನು ಬಳಸುತ್ತೇವೆ. ಗಾಬರಿಯಾಗುವಂತಹ ವಿಷಯ ತಿಳಿದಾಗ ಎರಡು ಕಣ್ಣುಗಳು ದೊಡ್ಡದಾಗಿ ಗಾಬರಿಯಿಂದ ನೋಡುವ ಎಮೋಜಿಯನ್ನು ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸುತ್ತೇವೆ. ಬೇಸರವಾದಾಗ ಕಣ್ಣುಗಳನ್ನು ಕೆಳಗೆ ಮಾಡುವ ಮತ್ತು ದುಃಖವಾದಾಗ ಕಣ್ಣೀರು ಬರುವ ಎಮೋಜಿಯನ್ನು ಬಳಸುತ್ತೇವೆ. ಅಸಡ್ಡೆಯಿಂದ ವರ್ತಿಸುವುದಾದರೇ ಬಾಯಿಯನ್ನು ಸೊಟ್ಟಗೆ ಮಾಡುವ ಮತ್ತು ಹುಬ್ಬು ಹಾರಿಸುವ ಎಮೋಜಿಯನ್ನು ಕಳಿಸಿಬಿಡುತ್ತೇವೆ. ತುಂಬಾ ಮುದ್ದು ಮಾಡುವ ಮನಸ್ಸು ಬಂದಾಗ ಮುತ್ತು ನೀಡುವ ಮೋಜಿಗಳನ್ನು ಬಳಸುತ್ತೇವೆ ಹೀಗೆ ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಂದು ಭಾವನೆಯನ್ನು ನಾವು ಎಮೋಜಿಗಳ ಮೂಲಕ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಪಡಿಸಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ.

A team of botanists from the Central University of Punjab (CUPB), Bhatinda have discovered a new native plant species of moss from Eastern Antarctica.

A team of botanists from the Central University of Punjab (CUPB), Bhatinda have discovered a new native plant species of moss from Eastern Antarctica.

Dr Felix Bast, CUPB Polar & Marine Biologist, HoD, Department of Botany, CUPB, found the plant species of moss on rocks near Bharati station at Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica during his expedition visit in Indian Antarctic Mission 2016-17.

The botanists have named the species ‘Bryum Bharatiensis’.

The peer-reviewed paper about the discovery of the new species Bryum Bharatiensis’ in Antarctica has been accepted to be published in the Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity, a leading international journal.

•Dr Felix Bast, CUPB Polar & Marine Biologist, HoD, Department of Botany, CUPB, had gone on India’s 36^th expedition visit to Antarctica in 2016-17.

•During this expedition, samples of the moss plant were collected. After returning from the expedition, Dr Bast along with PhD student Wahid Ul Rahman and Dr Kriti Gupta, HoD, Department of Botany, DAV College, Bhatinda, studied the samples through extensive taxonomic assessments.

•The scientists spent 5 years conducting the sequencing of the plant’s DNA, comparing it with 100 other plant species. Since the collection of samples in 2017, the scientists were able to confirm that the new species of the moss plant from Antarctica had been discovered for the first time.

•Dr Bast confirmed that the new species ‘Bryum Bharatiensis’ is the first and only plant species discovered till now under the Indian Antarctic Mission.

•The first station under the mission was set up in 1984 but was abandoned in 1990 due to its submergence under the ice.

•In 1989, Maitri station was set up, and later in 2012, Bharati station was set up. The new species was found near Bharati station at Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica.

•The scientists explained that the moss gets dried up as it gets covered under the ice during winters in Antarctica but it grows back by soaking the melting water during summers in Antarctica.

The Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (East), Riva Ganguly Das on July 6, 2021, addressed the Special Session of the 1st edition of the Indo-Pacific Business Summit. It was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs.

The Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (East), Riva Ganguly Das on July 6, 2021, addressed the Special Session of the 1st edition of the Indo-Pacific Business Summit. It was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs.

The summit which was held from July 6 to 8, over a virtual platform saw the participation of enterprises, governments, think tanks, business chambers, and academia from the countries in the region.

The Spokesperson of MEA Arindam Bagchi tweeted ‘Speaking about promoting trade facilitation in the Indo-Pacific through improved cross-border linkages and trade infrastructure, Secretary (East) underlined the importance of open, free, inclusive, and rules-based Indo-Pacific in facilitating trade and connectivity in the region.'

Secretary (East) addressed the Special Session of the 1st edition of the Indo-Pacific Business Summit organised by CII in partnership with @MEAIndia.

The event saw participation from Ambassadors & High Commissioners of various countries across the Indo-Pacific. pic.twitter.com/MvL0M6tRsn

The Indo-pacific business summit organized by CII saw sessions on how India and other nations in the Indo-Pacific region can expand their economic partnership and can also collaborate for future economic development.

• Secretary (East) Riva Ganguly, during the summit, highlighted the initiatives taken by India which include building the cross-border linkages and infrastructure, Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI), promoting digital connectivity, and Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI).

•  The summit saw the rich participation from the Ambassadors and High Commissioners of different countries across the Indo-Pacific. It is the region that spans from the east coast of Africa to the Pacific Island States.

The idea of the Indo-Pacific as a single strategic space is an outgrowth of the growing influence of China in the Indian Ocean Region. It further signified the interconnectedness of the Indian and the pacific ocean and the importance of the oceans to commerce and security.

To counter China’s growing influence in the Indo-pacific region, the first summit of the leaders of Quad was also hosted by the US on a virtual platform in March 2021.

The quad grouping includes India, Japan, the US, and Australia. It aims at safeguarding the interests of democratic nations in the Indo-pacific region and addressing global challenges.

The newly formed Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 8, 2021 approved a new package worth Rs 23,123 crore to boost emergency health infrastructure in states to tackle COVID-19 in the Fiscal Year 2021-22.

The newly formed Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 8, 2021 approved a new package worth Rs 23,123 crore to boost emergency health infrastructure in states to tackle COVID-19 in the Fiscal Year 2021-22.

The package has been titled ‘India COVID-19 Emergency Response & Health System Preparedness Package: Phase-II’. It aims to accelerate health system preparedness for immediate response for early prevention, detection and management with the focus on health infrastructure development, especially for Paediatric Care. 

PM Narendra Modi said after the announcement that the new package has been approved to fight COVID. He said under the package. necessary arrangements like pediatric care units to ICU beds, oxygen storage, ambulances, and medicines will be made in all the districts of the country.

This is the first formal announcement with respect to the healthcare sector after Mansukh Mandaviya took charge as the new Health Minister, replacing Dr. Harsh Vardhan. 

• The package will be implemented at a total cost of Rs 23,123 Crore, from July 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022. The central and state share will be: 

-Centre's share: Rs.15,000 crore

-State's share: Rs.8,123 crore

• The scheme will provide support to Central government hospitals and State/UT Governments to enhance their existing response to the second wave of COVID-19 and the evolving pandemic, including at district and sub-district levels in peripheral facilities.

• The scheme will focus on immediate needs for the next nine months of FY 21-22.

• India COVID-19 Emergency Response & Health System Preparedness Package: Phase-II comprises two components:

• Under this component, support will be provided to Central Hospitals, AIIMS, and other Institutions of National Importance such as RML, VMMC & Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi, RIMS, Imphal, PGIMER, Chandigarh, JIPMER, Puducherry and AIIMS Delhi for repurposing 6,688 beds for COVID management. 

• Under the component, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) will be strengthened by providing Genome Sequencing machines, besides sanctioning Scientific Control room, Epidemic Intelligence Services (EIS) and INSACOG Secretariat support.

• Support will also be provided for the implementation of the Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) in all the District Hospitals of the Country. Currently, it is implemented only in 310 DHs.

• All the district hospitals will also implement the Hospital Management Information System through E-Shushrutsoftwares. This will provide a major boost for the implementation of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) at the district hospitals. 

• Besides this, support will also be provided for the expansion of the National Architecture of eSanjeevani Tele-consultation platform to provide up to 5 lakhs teleconsultations per day from the current 50,000 Tele-consultations per day.

• The component will also include support to the States/UTs to enable teleconsultations with COVID patients at the COVID Care Centres (CCCs) through strengthening Hubs for eSanjeevani Teleconsultation in all the districts of the country.

• Support will also be provided for IT interventions such as strengthening of Central War room and strengthening the Country’s COVID-19 Portal, 1075 COVID helplines and COWIN platform.   

• Under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes, efforts will be primarily made to strengthen district and sub-district capacity for an effective and rapid response to the pandemic.  

• The States/UTs would be provided support to:

-Create Paediatric units in all 736 districts 

-To establish Paediatric Centre of Excellence (PaediatricCoE) in each State/UT for providing Tele-ICU services, mentoring and technical hand-holding to the District Paediatric units.

-Increase 20,000 ICU beds in the public healthcare system out of which 20 percent will be Pediatric ICU beds.

-Provide care closer to the community due to spread of COVID-19 in rural, peri-urban and tribal areas.

-Create pre-fabricated structures for adding additional beds at the existing CHCs, PHCs and SHCs (6-20 bedded units) and support would also be provided to establish bigger field hospitals (50-100 bedded units) depending on the needs at tier-II or Tier-III cities and district HQs.

-Install 1050 numbers of Liquid Medical Oxygen Storage Tanks with Medical Gas Pipeline System (MGPS), to support at least one such unit per district.

-Augment existing fleet of ambulances with the addition of 8,800 new ambulances.

-Engage Undergraduate and post-graduate medical interns and final year MMBS, BSc, & GNM nursing students for effective COVID management.

• Flexible support will also be provided to the Districts to meet the requirement of essential medicines for COVID-19 management, including the creation of buffer stock.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a Central Sector Scheme worth Rs. 15,000 crore for the "India COVID 19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Package" in March 2020, when the nation was faced with the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic.

The package is aimed at providing a critical impetus to the efforts of the health ministry and state and union territory governments and catalysing health systems activities for pandemic management. However, since mid-February 2021, India has been experiencing a second wave with spread into rural, peri-urban and tribal areas.  

Source: PIB

The renowned Indian Economist Kaushik Basu has been awarded the prestigious Humboldt Research Award for Economics.

The renowned Indian Economist Kaushik Basu has been awarded the prestigious Humboldt Research Award for Economics. Basu was conferred with an award by Professor Dr Hans-Bernd Schafer of Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany.

According to Cornell Chronicle, Kaushik Basu, who hails from Kolkata, has decided to use the award for the research on Game Theory and Moral Philosophy.  

Former Congress Party President Rahul Gandhi also congratulated Kaushik Basu on Twitter for being awarded the prestigious honour.

Thank you. https://t.co/2RO53Yz55I

In March 2021, Kaushik Basu had also held a virtual interaction with Rahu Gandhi where the two discussed a number of issues ranging from smart cities to the problem of unemployment in India.

• Kaushik Basu, a former Chief Economist of the World Bank (2012 to 2016), is currently a professor of Economics at Cornell University.

• He had also served as the Indian Government’s Chief Economic Advisor from 2009 to 2012.

• Kaushik Basu is also a recipient of Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in India.

• A graduate of the London School of Economics, Basu is the sitting President of the International Economic Association.

• He has written a number of papers, including, ‘Introduction: The State of Economics, the State of the World’, ‘Individual Preferences and Democratic Processes: Two Theorems with Implications for Electoral Politics’, ‘Inequality, Growth, Poverty and Lunar Eclipses: Policy and Arithmetic’.

The prestigious Humboldt Research Award is sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. It is awarded to as many as 100 recipients every year.

The award honours the economists and scientists from across the world for their work and entails the prize money of 60,000 euros. There is also an offer to carry out the research projects at a scientific institution in Germany for up to 12 months.

World’s tallest sandcastle built in Denmark now holds the new Guinness World Records.

World’s tallest sandcastle built in Denmark now holds the new Guinness World Records. The sandcastle standing at 21.6 metres high (69.4 feet) is 3.5 meter taller than the one built in Germany in 2019 that held the previous world record of 17.66 metres.

The sandcastle has been built with 4,860 tonnes of sand in the small seaside town of Blokhus. The town is in North Jutland, Denmark. The town was originally named Hune Hvarre. The town reportedly gets approximately 1 million visitors per year.

• World’s tallest sandcastle in Denmark is 21.6 metres high (69.4 feet) and built up with 4,860 tonnes of sand. The sandcastle is 3.5 meter taller than the one built in Germany in 2019.

• World’s 30 best sand sculptors under the guidance of Dutch artist Wilfred Stijger are behind the world’s tallest sandcastle.

• Stijger wanted this sandcastle to be built with an aim to represent the power of coronavirus over the world, hence, he put a crown atop the sandcastle.

• The sandcastle has been built in the shape of a triangle to avoid it from crumbling down. A wooden structure around the sandcastle helped the artists to carve figures on it.

• The sand used comprises 10 per cent clay and a layer of glue to make it sturdy during the autumn and winter. The sandcastle is expected to stand likely till February or March 2022.

• Till now, the world’s tallest sandcastle stood in Binz, Germany measuring 17.65 metres (57ft 11in).

• The sandcastle was built by a team of 12 sculptors and 8 technicians from Russia, Latvia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Holland under the guidance of Thomas van den Dungen, a sand sculptor who has been part of three successful Guinness World Records.

Pfizer and BioNTech announced on July 8, 2021 that they would seek regulatory authorization for a third booster dose of their Covid-19 vaccine.

Pfizer and BioNTech announced on July 8, 2021 that they would seek regulatory authorization for a third booster dose of their Covid-19 vaccine. 

The announcement comes after the initial data from an ongoing trial showed that a third shot increases the antibody level by 5-10 times against the original SARS-CoV-2 strain and the Beta variant first detected in South Africa, in comparison to the first two doses alone. 

The two companies are expected to publish more definitive data soon in a peer-reviewed journal and also submit it to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Medicines Agency (EMA) and other regulatory authorities in the coming weeks.

Pfizer, BioNTech to seek authorization for the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine. pic.twitter.com/fbw3vIkEkm

• Pfizer and BioNTech believe that a third dose of the vaccine may be needed within six to 12 months after full vaccination. This is based on the efficacy drop that was seen in Israel after six months.

• The statement from the two companies noted that while protection against severe disease remained high across the full 6 months, a decline in efficacy against symptomatic disease over time and the continued emergence of variants are expected.

• The US FDA along with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a joint statement on July 8, 2021 informing that the authorities were studying whether or when a booster might be necessary.

• The two agencies noted that the fully vaccinated Americans do not need a booster shot at this time but they are prepared for booster doses if and when the science demonstrates that they are needed.

Pfizer and BioNTech are aiming to seek authorisation for a third booster shot amid the global spread of highly transmissible Delta strain of COVID-19, which was first detected in India and was responsible for the deadly second wave of COVID-19 in the country in April-May 2021. The companies are expecting the third booster shot to perform well against the variant as well. 

Pfizer and BioNTech are developing a Delta-specific vaccine as well as a cautionary measure, the first batch of which has been manufactured at BioNTech's facility in Mainz, Germany.

The clinical studies of the vaccine are expected to begin in August, subject to regulatory approvals.

The National Election Board of Ethiopia on July 10, 2021, announced that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s ruling Prosperity Party won the Ethiopian General Elections 2021 with a landslide victory of 410 seats out of 436 seats in the federal parliament.

The National Election Board of Ethiopia on July 10, 2021, announced that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s ruling Prosperity Party won the Ethiopian General Elections 2021 with a landslide victory of 410 seats out of 436 seats in the federal parliament.

The victory in Ethiopia’s parliamentary election assured a second term in office for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The new government is expected to form in October 2021.

The June 21 vote was a test for Abiy who had come to power in April 2018 after the former Prime Minister had resigned amid widespread protests. The vote was postponed two twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Birhanu Nega, leader of the main opposition Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice party lost while opposition parties won only 11 seats.

Abiy deemed the election as Ethiopia's first free and fair election after decades, however, a fifth of Ethiopia could not take part in the election due to an opposition boycott, ethnic violence, war in Tigray’s northern region, and logistical challenges. Voting was not held in 3 of Ethiopia’s 10 regions.

• Abiy Ahmed is an Ethiopian politician who had been serving as the 4^th Prime Minister of Ethiopia since 2018. Abiy got re-elected to a second term as Prime Minister of Ethiopia with a landslide victory of his ruling Prosperity party of 410 seats out of 436 seats in the federal parliament.

• Abiy was the first Oromo from the Oromo Democratic Party to serve as the third Chairman of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front.

• He is an elected member of the Ethiopian parliament and a member of the Oromo Democratic Party and Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front’s executive committees.

• Abiy is the first Ethiopian and first Oromo who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts at ending the 20-year post-war territorial stalemate between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

• Within months of assuming office as PM of Ethiopia, Abiy had lifted a ban on opposition parties, opened one of Africa’s last untapped markets, and released tens of thousands of political prisoners.

• The Ethiopian General Elections 2021 was held on June 21, 2021. The elections initially to be held on August 29, 2020, were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The Ethiopian General Elections 2021 was the first multi-party election since 2005.

• The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front along with three member parties of the political coalition dominated Ethiopian politics since the overthrow of the Derg in 1991.

• The Democratic Front and the three-member parties of the political coalition namely Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM), Oromo Democratic Party (ODP), and Amhara Democratic Party (ADP) was dissolved on December 1, 2019.

• From there emerged the ruling Prosperity Party on December 1, 2019, and Abiy Ahmed, the former leader of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front became the first leader of the ruling Prosperity Party.

Cabinet Committees in India: comp lit list of cabinet committee's and members

Cabinet Committees in India: The Union Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi reshuffled the different cabinet committees on July 13, 2021. This comes after the expansion of the union cabinet, which was undertaken on July 7, 2021. 

Among the new changes, Environment and Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav along with Ports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, WCD Minister Smriti Irani and Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh have been included in the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA).

The new Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, MSME Minister Narayan Rane and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw have been included in the Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth.

Union Minister for Woman and Child Development, Smriti Irani, was also included in the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs and Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in the Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth.

1. Appointments Committee of Cabinet-Composition

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Home Minister Amit Shah

2. Cabinet Committee on Accommodation- Composition

Home Minister Amit Shah

Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal 

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri 

Special Invitees: MoS Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh

3. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs- Composition

Prime Minister

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

Home Minister Amit Shah

Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal 

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan 

4. Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs - Composition

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

Home Minister Amit Shah

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar

Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi 

Social Justice Minister Dr. Virendra Kumar

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju

I&B Minister Anurag Singh Thakur

Special invitees: MoS Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal and MoS External Affairs V Muraleedharan.

5. Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs - Composition

Prime Minister

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

Home Minister Amit Shah

Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar

WCD Minister Smriti Irani

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal 

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi 

Shipping and Ports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal

Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh 

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya

Environment and Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav

6. Cabinet Committee on Security - Composition

Prime Minister

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

Home Minister Amit Shah

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar

7. Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth- Composition

Prime Minister

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

Home Minister Amit Shah

Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal 

MSME Minister Narayan Rane

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

8. Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development- Composition

Prime Minister

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

Home Minister Amit Shah

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal 

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan 

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri 

Environment and Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav

Special Invitees: Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Steel Minister Ramchandra Prasad Singh and Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy

West Indies vs Australia: Chris Gayle becomes first batsman to score 14,000 runs in T20 History

Chris Gayle on July 13, 2021, became the first batsman in history to score 14,000 runs in T20. The landmark achievement came during the third T20I of West Indies vs Australia when the ‘Universe Boss’ took the Caribbean side to a comfortable 6 wicket victory.

The 41-year-old player smashed 67 runs off 38 balls while chasing the target of 142 set by the Australian team.

The West Indies player had not done well for the team in the first two games of the West Indies vs Australia series, as he scored 4 and 13 runs respectively.

As criticism started to surface, Chris Gayle of the West Indies cricket team showed that why he still remains one of the finest batsmen in the shortest format of the game.

The first player in history to get to 1️⃣4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ T20 runs! 🙀

Ladies and gentlemen...the UNIVERSE BOSS!! 👑#WIvAUS #MissionMaroon pic.twitter.com/ZWJpddlvHH

The universe boss had reached the milestone of 14,000 runs in the 20 over game with a six-off Adam Zampa. It was the first ball of the 9th over that saw the hard-hitting batsman hit the Aussie spinner for the maximum.

Just listen to the sound off the bat! #WIvAUS #MissionMaroon pic.twitter.com/2aR20EtMGA

Chris Gayle also went on to register a half-century on the occasion and celebrated another huge landmark of his cricketing career in style.

Player

Runs

Chris Gayle (West Indies)

14,000

Kieron Pollard (West Indies)

10,836

Shoaib Malik (Pakistan)

10,741

DA Warner (Australia)

10,017

Virat Kohli (India)

9992

•  Chris Gayle, while heading into the match had scored 13,971 runs in 430 matches of T20I format at an average of 37.55 runs.

•  The player has now scored a total of 22 hundreds and 86 half-centuries.

•  In T20 format, Gayle has over 1,000 fours to his name as well as over a thousand sixes.

•  His highest score in the format is an unbeaten 175 against the now-defunct franchise of Indian Premier League, Pune Warriors India, in the 2013 season when he was playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

•  Chris Gayle is also the top-scoring batsman for West Indies in T20 International (T20I).

The Australian Cricket Team has been touring the West Indies in June and July 2021 to play three One Day International (ODI) and five T20 International (T20I) matches.

India's first cryptogamic garden opens in Dehradun, Uttarakhand

India’s first cryptogamic garden was inaugurated by social activist Anoop Nautiyal in Deoban area of Chakrata town, Dehradun, Uttarakhand on July 11, 2021. The garden houses nearly 50 species of ferns, fungi, algae, bryophytes, and lichens.

The garden at Deoban is located at a height of 9,000 ft. The Chief Conservator of Forest (Research) Sanjiv Chaturvedi said, “We chose to locate the garden, which is spread over three acres, at Deoban because of low pollution levels and moist conditions conducive to the growth of these species,” Chaturvedi said.

The forests of Deodar and Oak in Deoban, Uttarakhand make a natural habitat for cryptogamic species for the ferns, fungi, and lichens.

• Cryptogams are referred to as non-seed generating or non-flowering plants or spore-producing plants that require moist conditions to survive. These are the oldest groups of plant species. They are known as Cryptogams because of their hidden reproduction.

• Ferns, fungi, algae, bryophytes, moss, liverworts, and lichens are the best-known groups of cryptogams.

• Uttarakhand houses 346 species of algae, 365 species of pteridophytes, 478 species of bryophytes, and 539 species of lichens.

• Algae comprising the most primitive organisms, predominantly aquatic, in both marine and freshwater habitats. Algae species are used as liquid fertilizers, biofertilizers that aid in repairing nitrogen presence in soil.

• Bryophytes, simplest and primitive land plants, aid in indicating and monitoring air pollution, preventing soil erosion, binding soil particles.

• Lichens, a complex life form of two separate organisms – algae and a fungus, aid in the formation of soil over the rocky surface. These are used as pollution monitors for their high sensitivity to atmospheric pollutants.

• Mosses, known for their high-water retention and antimicrobial properties, are widely used for the packaging and transportation of plants.

Ferns, the largest living group of primitive vascular plants, accumulate heavy metals thus aid in preventing pollution and indicating the moisture regime of the area.

• Fungi, multicellular eukaryotic organisms, are heterotrophs.

• The Chief Conservator of Forest (Research) Sanjiv Chaturvedi explained that the aim of a cryptogamic garden is to promote awareness about cryptogams and their important role in our environment and ecology.

COVID-19: Kerala launch Mathru Kavacham to campaign to vaccinate pregnant women.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George on July 12, 2021, informed that the Kerala government is all set to launch a campaign called ‘Mathru Kavacham’ to provide COVID-19 vaccines to all the pregnant women in the state.

George stressed that getting the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy is an important preventive measure. COVID-19 can adversely affect the health of pregnant women. The virus can have severe implications in people over 35 years of age, or people with high blood pressure or diabetes, or obese people. The infection can have adverse effects on the health of the baby.

•George further explained that as a part of the campaign, all pregnant women will be registered for COVID-19 vaccination. Those without smartphones or computers will be registered with the help of ASHA workers. The health workers will make sure all pregnant women in each sub-center area are registered and vaccinated.

•Special vaccination camps for pregnant women will be set up on special days at the district level. Arrangement for avoiding contact with others will be in place at the vaccination camps.

•Regarding COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy, George noted:

(i) One can receive the vaccine during any phase of pregnancy. It is advised to complete the doses of a vaccine. However, if one is infected during pregnancy, the vaccine can only be administered after delivery.

(ii) One should not be given the COVID-19 vaccine until three months if infected.

•Studies have shown that pregnant women with COVID-19 can suffer rapid deterioration in their health and are exposed to an increased risk of severe illnesses that might affect the fetus too.

•Pregnant women with COVID-19 are at an increased risk of developing severe illnesses compared to non-pregnant women in case of an infection.

•Pregnant women with COVID-19 are at an increased risk of pre-term birth and other pregnancy complications including neonatal morbidity.

•The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on July 2, 2021, had approved vaccinating pregnant women against COVID-19 based on the recommendations of the National Technical Advisory Group of Immunization (NTAGI).

#IndiaFightsCorona:

📍FAQs on #COVID19Vaccine for Pregnant Women

🛑Why is #COVID19 vaccine being recommended for #pregnantwomen❓

➡️Pregnant women with COVID-19 are at an increased risk of:

▪️Severe illness from COVID-19 compared to non-pregnant women.#We4Vaccine

1/6 pic.twitter.com/2eQXVZAgpJ

Khelo India Youths Game's 2021 postponed due to possible third wave of covid-19

Haryana Government on July 12, 2021, announced that ‘Khelo India Youth Games, 2021’ will be organized in February 2022 due to a possibility of the third wave of COVID-19 in October-November 2021.

The decision to postpone ‘Khelo India Youth Games, 2021’ was taken during the first meeting of the Organizing-cum-Coordination Committee for the preparation of the competition under the chairmanship of Haryana CM Manohar Lal, stated the state government’s official statement.

Sandeep Singh, Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs was also present in the meeting.

•Khelo India Youth Games, 2021 will be a competition to be held in the ‘under-18’ category.

•Haryana CM said that as the Director of AIIMS, New Delhi and many health experts have warned about the third wave of COVID-19 in October-November 2021, officers responsible for organizing the Games are advised to ensure all COVID-19 protocols are strictly followed.

•Earlier, the Games were proposed to be organized from November 21 to 30, 2021 across 5 places namely Delhi, Ambala, Shahbad, Chandigarh, and Panchkula.

•The official statement further read that further talks should be held with the Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur about the Games and explore possibilities of organizing some events of the Games in Himachal Pradesh.

•Khelo India Youth Games are the national-level multidisciplinary grassroots games in India.

•The Khelo India program has been introduced to revive sports in India at the grass-root level and develop India as a great sporting nation.

•While giving a presentation to the Haryana CM, Pankaj Nain, Director of Sports and Youth Affairs Department explained the features of Khelo India Youth Games, 2021. The Games will be held in the ‘Under-18’ age group across 25 different sports competitions including five indigenous games.

•Khelo India Youth Games, 2021 will witness more than 8,500 players in the games. Of the 5,072 athletes, 2,672 are male athletes and 2,400 female athletes.

•The mascot ‘Dhakad’ has been decided for the Games. The ‘Logo’ and ‘Jersey’ will be issued soon too.

 

India to host BWF world championship in 2026

The Badminton World Federation on July 13, 2021, announced that India will host the World Badminton Championship in 2026.

India was to organize the Sudirman Cup in 2023 but the sport’s global governing body BWF decided to award the hosting rights of the world mixed team championships to China. While this year’s Sudirman Cup was shifted from Suzhou, China to Vantaa, Finland due to the COVID-19 situation in the Asian country.

•India will be hosting the world championship for the second time. The previous event was hosted by Hyderabad, India in 2009.

•“Suzhou will now stage the 2023 edition of the BWF World Mixed Team Championships, with original 2023 hosts India accepting the opportunity to host the BWF World Championships in 2026,” the BWF said in a media release.

•Himanta Biswa, President, Badminton Association of India (BAI) said that hosting the world championships is a great achievement for us at the Badminton Association of India as well as for the country.

•Ajay Singhania, General Secretary, Badminton Association of India (BAI) said that Indian Badminton has been a great success with two successive medals coming from the Olympics.

•The Olympic-bound P V Sindhu is the world champion in women’s singles. She has won two bronze and two silver medals at the world championships.

•Saina Nehwal won the silver in 2015 and bronze in 2017 editions.

•Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, women’s double pair won a bronze in London in 2011.

•B Sai Praneeth is the first Indian male badminton player who won a bronze in the world championships in 2019 at Basel, Switzerland.

Euro-2020 : Portugal captain Cristiano Rinaldo wins Golden Boot.

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo on July 11, 2021, won the European Golden Boot at Euro 2020 after finishing as top goalscorer in which after Italy beat England in a penalty shootout at Wembley Stadium, England.

Ronaldo, 36, scored five goals for Portugal same as the Czech Republic’s forward Patrik Schick. The Portugal captain won with one tie-breaker of assists while Schick finished with zero assists.

•Ronaldo opened at Euro 2020 with two late goals in the 3-0 win against Hungary. He added another with his opening goal of a 4-2 loss to Germany and struck twice in the 2-2 draw with France.

•As per the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), with two goals against France, Ronaldo’s all-time tally for Portugal reached a staggering 109 goals that equaled to the world-record set by former Iran forward Ali Daei.

•UEFA uses assists tie-breaker followed by the fewest minutes played and then goals scored in qualifying to declare the winner.

•The European Golden Boot, also known as European Golden Shoe, is awarded to the leading goal scorer from the top division of every European national league.

•The Award is shaped like a sculpture of a football boot.

•Originally called Soulier d'Or, meaning Golden Shoe in French, the award was incepted in the 1967-68 season. During 1968 and 1991, Eusebio, Fernando Gomes, Dudu Georgescu, and Gerd Müller won the Golden Boot twice.

•Since the 1996-97 season, the award has been presented by the European Sports Media.

•Lionel Messi has been awarded the Golden Boot six times.

MasterCard banned from issuing new cards from July 22 by RBI: what will happen to costumer's exciting.

The Reserve Bank of India on July 14, 2021 barred Mastercard Asia / Pacific Pte Ltd (Mastercard) from issuing new credit, debit and prepaid cards with effect from July 22 for its failure to comply with its data storage norms.

The central bank said in a statement, "The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has today imposed restrictions on Mastercard Asia/Pacific Pte. Ltd. (Mastercard) from on-boarding new domestic customers (debit, credit or prepaid) onto its card network from July 22, 2021."

The bank continued by saying, "notwithstanding the lapse of considerable time and adequate opportunities being given, the entity has been found to be non-compliant with the directions on Storage of Payment System Data."

The major supervisory action has been taken in the exercise of powers vested with the RBI under Section 17 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act). Mastercard will be required to advise all card-issuing banks and non-banks to conform to these directions

The RBI clarified that the supervisory action will not impact the existing customers of Mastercard in the country.

• The RBI in its circular on Storage of Payment System Data on April 6, 2018 had directed all system providers to ensure that the entire data relating to payment systems is stored only in India within six months time period.

• The system providers were also required to report compliance to the central bank and submit a System Audit Report conducted by a CERT-In empanelled auditor within specified timelines.

• However, the US firms said that the rules would increase their infrastructure costs and hit their global fraud detection platforms. The RBI did not relent.

The Reserve Bank of India had taken a similar action against Diners Club International and American Express earlier this year by barring them from issuing new cards due to similar violations.

Mastercard is a major Payment System Operator, which is authorised to operate a card network in the country as per the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act).

It is the third company to have been barred by RBI from getting new customers in India over violations of its data storage norms after American Express Banking Corp and Diners Club International.

The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021,

The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, also known as the Crypto Bill, was not listed among the 23 bills in the tentative list of government legislative and financial business that will be tabled in the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon Session of the Indian Parliament.

Earlier this week, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that all stakeholders' views and feedback have been ascertained and the Cryptocurrency Bill, 2021, is ready to be tabled in the Monsoon session of the Indian Parliament that begins on July 19, 2021.

Earlier, the Crypto bill was expected to be taken up during the Budget session but could not be taken up as the session was curtailed due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

•The Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Indian banks, and stakeholders are further holding deliberations to take a holistic decision on cryptocurrency before introducing the bill in Parliament.

•Though the RBI wants a ban on cryptocurrency, the government is not in the favour of an outright ban on cryptocurrency. Rather, the government is more likely to treat cryptocurrencies as a tradeable asset class with a market that can be traded and invested, as per government officials. The relative volatility of cryptocurrencies is among many concerns within the government.

•Further, regulation of cryptocurrencies is not on the Centre’s economic agenda currently. As per policymakers, the cryptocurrency market is witnessing substantial investments, but the cryptocurrency market’s impact on the Indian economy is not much.

•The Centre has 23 economic bills and amendments taking precedence as of now to be tabled in the Monsoon session of the Parliament. Some key bills include:

•Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021

•Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Amendment Bill, 2021

•Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021

•Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021

•Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021

•Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2021

•Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021

•Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021

•RBIPetroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Amendment) Bill, 2021

•The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, also known as the Crypto Bill, was a new bill on cryptocurrencies that suggested a ban on private cryptocurrencies in India and facilitate the creation of an official digital currency.

•The bill was to be taken up in the Budget session of the Indian Parliament.

•As per the bulletin relating to Parliamentary affairs issued by the Lok Sabha, the key purposes of the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 are:

(i) to create a facilitative framework for the creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India.

(ii) to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India,

(iii) allow for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses.

•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on May 31, 2021, had announced that banks to allow cryptocurrency trades with routine due diligence measures on the same. The central bank had also nulled the circular issued in 2018 that asked banks to not facilitate cryptocurrencies exchanges.

•However, the Indian government is yet to clarify its stance on cryptocurrencies. Sitharaman in Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Indian government is looking at a ‘calibrated’ approach towards cryptocurrencies in India.

•As per the blockchain data company Chainalysis, India has witnessed a 600 per cent jump in total investment in cryptocurrencies from $923 million in April 2020 to $6.6 billion in May 2021.

•The company in June 2021 stated that India ranks 18^th with total Bitcoin investment gains at $241 million.

what is "R" factor of covid-19 ? All you need to know

The Central Government, in its recent communications with the State Governments, has been pointing out an increase in the R factor of Corona in India and has urged the states to practice caution.

Ajay Bhalla, the Union Home Secretary on July 14, 2021, wrote to all the State governments and UTs saying that an increase in the R factor in some states is a matter of concern.

The letter stated that an increase in the R factor above 1.0 is an indicator of the spread of Coronavirus. Therefore, it has become important that the authorities concerned must be made responsible for ensuring the Covid appropriate behavior in all the crowded places.

R Factor of COVID-19 refers to the reproduction rate which denotes the number of people getting infected by one infected person.

The Health Ministry explained that if the value of the R factor is above 1, it means that one infected person is able to spread the infection to more than one person which establishes that the infection is spreading.

Reportedly, the Northeast states and Kerala have an increased R Factor, which is why the decline in positive COVID-19 cases has become slow in these regions.

The Institute of Mathematical Science in Chennai has come up with a study on this R factor of COVID-19 and has found that Manipur, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, and Kerala are on an increase in this factor.

In mid-May 2021, the R factor in India was 0.78, while in June end it was 0.88.

As per the findings by the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, between March 9 and April 21, the R-Value was 1.37.

Between April 24 and May 1, the value was 1.18. From April 29 to May 7, the R Factor was 1.10. Since then, the R factor value in India has been decreasing.

Lockdown and lockdown-like restrictions in the country can keep the R-Value under check. If people are not able to go out, an infected person will not be able to spread the infection.

Hence, the R-Value was low in May 2021, even though, the 2nd wave was raging at that time. Many of the states were under strict lockdown to keep the increasing positive cases under control.

As per the Institute of Mathematical Science in Chennai, the R-Value in the following states are:

States

R-Value

Kerala

1.10

Manipur

1.07

Meghalaya

0.92

Tripura

1.15

Mizoram

0.86

Arunachal Pradesh

1.14

Sikkim

0.88

Assam

0.86

Bhutan becomes second country to adapt India's BHIM-UPI

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with Finance Minister of Bhutan Lyonpo Namgay Tshering launched BHIM-UPI in Bhutan on July 13, 2021, via a virtual ceremony.

With this launch, Bhutan became the first country to adopt India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) standards for its Quick Response (QR) code, the Ministry of External Affairs stated in a press release.

This launch also made Bhutan the second country after Singapore to have BHIM-UPI acceptance at merchant locations.

During the launch, Sitharaman also carried out a Live transaction using the BHIM-UPI app to purchase organic products from a Bhutanese OGOP outlet.

India and Bhutan have already operationalized inter-operability for accepting Rupay cards in each other’s countries in two phases following the visit of PM Narendra Modi to Bhutan in 2019.

✅FM Smt. @nsitharaman & FM of Bhutan Mr Lyonpo Namgay Tshering @BhutanFinance virtually launch BHIM–UPI in Bhutan
✅Launch fulfils the commitment made by two countries during PM Shri @NarendraModi visit to Bhutan in 2019

Read More ➡️ https://t.co/xfxwCm9k2V
(1/9) pic.twitter.com/FfATpda3PR

• BHIM-UPI app has been launched in Bhutan in a collaboration between the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan to enable and implement BHIM-UPI QR-based payments in Bhutan.

• The app was launched by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at a virtual ceremony along with Finance Minister of Bhutan Lyonpo Namgay Tshering, Governor of Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan Dasho Penjore, Ambassador of India to Bhutan Ruchira Kamboj, Ambassador of Bhutan to India General V Namgyel, Secretary-Department of Financial Services Debasish Panda, MD & CEO of NPCI Dilip Asbe.

• While launching the BHIM-UPI app in Bhutan, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said:

(i) The services for BHIM-UPI in Bhutan have been launched under India’s neighbhourhood first policy.

(ii) BHIM-UPI is an achievement for digital transactions in India during the COVID-19 pandemic.

(iii) More than 100 million UPI QRs have been generated in the past 5 years.

(iv) In 2020-21, BHIM-UPI processed 22 billion transactions worth Rs 41 lakh crore.

• The launch of BHIM-UPI in Bhutan has enabled the seamless connection of the payment infrastructures of both countries.

• The app now in Bhutan will also benefit more than 200,000 Indian tourists, businessmen, and Bhutanese citizens who travel to Bhutan each year.

India and Asia's first National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC) will be set up on the banks of the River Ganges in the Patna University campus in Bihar.

India and Asia's first National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC) will be set up on the banks of the River Ganges in the Patna University campus in Bihar. The work on the centre is expected to begin after the monsoon season. 

According to a survey conducted in 2018-19 in the river Ganga by the teams of experts, around 1,455 dolphins were sighted in the river. 

The deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi said that the state government is working hard to set up the national dolphin research centre in the premises of Patna University. He added saying that a 7 km long stretch between Sultanganj and Kahalgao in Bhagalpur district has already been declared as Vikram Sheela Gangetic dolphin sanctuary.

• The setting of the National Dolphin Research Centre is a major step towards conservation of the Gangetic river dolphin.

• The centre will be set up on a 4,400 square metre plot of land within the Patna University. The centre would be about 200 metres from the Ganga river. 

• The construction of the NDRC building was recently cleared by the Bihar urban development department.

• The centre is expected to be set up by 2022. The project was initially proposed in 2011. Montek Singh Ahulwalia, then-deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, had approved the project proposal during his visits in mid-2011 to Bihar.

• However, the project continued hanging in balance for the next eight years. The Bihar state government has now finally decided to expedited the work and complete it by next year. 

The National Dolphin Research Centre is expected to boost up the conservation efforts of the endangered Gangetic Dolphin and enable in-depth research on dolphins including their changing behaviour, food habits, survival skills, cause of death and other aspects.

NDRC would be beneficial for project Dolphin, which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2020.

• Project Dolphin was announced by the Prime Minister along with Project Lion during his Independence Day speech last year to replicate the success of Project Tiger.

• Project Dolphin aims to protect and conserve Dolphins in both rivers and oceans of the country. 

• The project will involve the conservation of the Dolphins and the aquatic habitat through the use of modern technology, especially in anti-poaching activities and enumeration.

• The project will aim to engage the fishermen and other river/ocean-dependent communities, which will give a boost to biodiversity and also improve the livelihood opportunities of the local communities. 

• The project will aim to engage the fishermen and other river/ocean-dependent communities. 

• The project will also envisage activities that will help in the mitigation of pollution in rivers and in the oceans.

• The Gangetic Dolphin is India’s national aquatic animal. It is one of four freshwater dolphin species in the world. 

• The other three freshwater dolphin species are found in China's Yangtze River (now extinct), Pakistan's Indus river and South America's Amazon river. 

• The Gangetic Dolphin is found mainly in the Indian subcontinent, especially in Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems.

• The Gangetic Dolphin has been categorized as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List. 

• The dolphins prefer water that is at least 5 ft to 8 ft deep. They are usually found in turbulent waters, where they have enough fish to feed on.

• The dolphins act as indicators of the overall condition of the ecosystem. They provide the status of other species in that ecosystem and the river, as they are extremely vulnerable to changes in water quality and flow.

• Hence, the presence of dolphins in the Ganga gives a sign of a healthy ecosystem.

• Bihar has around half of the country’s estimated 3,000 dolphin population.

India's largest solar power park of 4.75 Gigawatt (Gw) is set to come up in Rann of Kutch in Khavada, Gujarat.

India's largest solar power park of 4.75 Gigawatt (Gw) is set to come up in Rann of Kutch in Khavada, Gujarat. The renewable energy park will be built by the largest power producer of the country, NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of NTPC.

The NTPC-REL said in a statement on July 13, 2021 that it has received a go-ahead from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to set up the 4750 MW renewable energy park under Mode 8 (Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Park) of Solar Park Scheme.

The state-run company plans to use the park to generate green hydrogen on a commercial scale. The Hydrogen produced from renewable sources is called green hydrogen.

• The NTPC-REL said in a release that “as part of its green energy portfolio augmentation, NTPC, India’s largest energy integrated company, aims to build 60 GW Renewable Energy Capacity by 2032.” 

• The company now has 70 power plants with a total installed generation capacity of 66 GW, out of which thermal (coal+gas) is 61 Gw, hydro 3.7 Gw, solar is 1 Gw and the balance is wind. An additional 18 GW generation capacity is currently under construction.

• NTPC had on October 7, 2020 incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary-NTPC REL - for its renewable energy. The company aims to add 7-8 GW renewable every year. 

• Besides solar and wind power projects, NTPC is also looking to invest in green hydrogen and green methanol, which are cleaner fuels manufactured at units powered by renewable energy.

• Currently, there are five operational solar power parks in the country, out of which Bhadla in Rajasthan
and Pavgada in Karnataka are the world’s largest single-location solar plants.

• India’s first solar power park of 0.75 Gw was fully commissioned in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district in 2019.

The NTPC project at Rann of Kutch will be almost twice the capacity of Rajasthan's Bhadla solar park, which is currently the largest single-location solar power project in the country.

Five Major Solar Parks in India

1. Bhadla Solar Park, Rajasthan
2. Pavagada Solar Park, Karnataka
3. Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park, Andhra Pradesh
4. NP Kunta Ultra Mega Solar Park, Andhra Pradesh
5. Rewa Ultra Mega Solar, Madhya Pradesh

• The NTPC has commissioned India’s largest Floating Solar plant of 10 MW on the reservoir of Simhadri Thermal Power Plant in Andhra Pradesh. An additional 15 MW (ac) will be commissioned by August 2021.

• Another floating solar plant of 100 MW is in the advanced stage of implementation on the reservoir of Ramagundam Thermal Power Plant in Telangana. 

• NTPC REL also recently signed an MoU with Ladakh and Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) for the generation of green hydrogen and deployment on FCEV buses. The signing of the agreement marks the inauguration of NTPC’s first solar installations in Leh in form of solar trees and a solar car port.

The Rann of Kutch region in Gujarat, which is the largest salt desert in the country already hosts two of India’s largest coal-fired power plants. It will now have the largest solar power park as well. 

The Gujarat government has identified the Kutch region to set up 40 Gw of hybrid renewable energy projects and has also earmarked 60,000 hectares for the same.