Friday, November 24, 2017

We ran sophisticated election campaigns

Dear amazing Avaazers,
Ever wonder what happens to the money we all donate to Avaaz? Scroll down to find out the latest!
Start with this beautiful video about the nature reserve we funded with a threatened Maasai community to protect their very existence on the land!
White Helmets
“I may not know you personally, but I could feel your spirit and my community feels your kindness.
Thank you. Asante sana!”

– Nelson Ole Reiyia, Nashulai Maasai Conservancy leader
This reserve happened because 55,000 of us took an amazing leap of hope and trust to donate to Avaaz. Many of us take this leap each year, and we are changing the world in beautiful and jaw-dropping ways!
Like the lives we just saved in Myanmar:
Myanmar refugees
Thousands of Rohingya families were trapped when the Burmese military began a massive ethnic cleansing assault on them. So over 47,000 of us paid for relief and a rescue mission, with boats working around the clock to bring them to safety in Bangladesh.
“In the midst of horrific persecution and ethnic cleansing, the Avaaz global movement’s generous response is bringing hope and help to Rohingya families!”
– Claire Gibbons, Partners Relief and Development
And it’s not just in Myanmar — Avaazers raised over 2 million dollars to help civilians trapped in Syria, funding the White Helmets, a brave volunteer rescue brigade for families trapped under the bombs.
White Helmets
And we supported conservation heroes too – helping bring hundreds of wildlife poachers to justice!!
Poachers
Over 64,500 of us funded brave undercover investigators to infiltrate poaching rings in Africa, to gather the evidence to hold them to account. And it led to 218 arrests!
“The illegal wildlife trade has pushed elephants, apes, lions and many other animals to the brink of extinction. The Avaaz global movement helped defenseless wildlife fight back, putting hundreds of traffickers and many corrupt officials behind bars.”
– Ofir Drori – EAGLE (Eco Activists for Governance and Law Enforcement)
And we’re doing amazing things in politics too — like taking the fight to the far-right wherever they are on the march! See the full story here.
EU Politics GIF
We ran sophisticated election campaigns to stop the far-right taking power in France and across Europe, and organised massive rallies for tolerance in the Netherlands and Germany.
And that’s just scratching the surface — here’s a couple more examples of what we’ve done together this year:
We’ve got Monsanto on the run.
When scientists linked Monsanto’s biggest pesticide with cancer, we were THE driving force behind a global campaign for a ban. 50,000 of us donated to power a hard-hitting media and advertising campaign — and Europe is now on the cusp of a glyphosate ban!
Glyphosate
And we funded a global seedbank to fight back against chemical agriculture! Now any farmer anywhere can source a wide variety of plants for free, giving them an alternative to genetically modified seeds.
Seed Bank
We powered a network providing safe houses and support to help gay people escape Chechnya’s crackdown. When reports emerged of gay people being dragged off to torture camps, we funded groups on the ground organizing rescues and protection.
Safehouses
Plus we’ve taken journalists into war zones, funded scienctific studies to save bees, and paid for education for Syrian refugees.
Our gifts funded all of this to happen in 2017, ON TOP of the hundreds of online and offline campaigns for a better world that land in our inboxes every week! Over the years we’ve become incredibly effective on each and every one of these campaigns. That story is for another email ðŸ™‚
But it’s not just the money we raise. It’s HOW we raise it that makes Avaaz such a powerful force for good in the world. Here’s four things that make us special:
  1. Avaaz members are in charge – we don’t take money (ever!) from government, foundations, corporations or large donors. Only our members are in charge of Avaaz, meaning we can fund high-impact work that is too risky for others, like our undercover wildlife stings!
  2. We get political to get things done — Our donations are not tax deductible — so we can get involved in politics, like campaigning in elections to help hope defeat hate.
  3. We’re lightning fast — We can raise a million dollars in hours, and spend it straight away, helping us save lives in places like Myanmar and Syria with hardly any bureaucratic delays.
  4. We give away millions — When a great idea to change the world needs funding, we make it happen. We’ve given away over 24 million dollars to those best placed to help us win — from funding scientific studies to buying a rainforest for orangutans.
Donations Pie Chart
Some people worry that the nonprofit sector can be wasteful and slow. But Avaaz moves at lightning speed. Our movement has won awards for its effectiveness, and our campaigns are held up all over the world as shining examples of people power in action.
When Nelson first shared his vision with the Avaaz team, of that Maasai-managed nature reserve — we knew right away that Avaazers would love it. Not just because brilliant ideas like these are infectious, but because the optimism and solidarity and generosity of this community is one truly remarkable constant in these crazy times.
Thank you, so much, to everyone in this movement, for being who you are, and doing what you do.
With respect and gratitude,
Ricken and the whole Avaaz team
PS. Let others know about the everyday magic the Avaaz community makes – share the video report back here!

Lithuanian parliament Russians to its ‘Magnitsky list’

The parliament of Lithuania, or the Seimas, has overwhelmingly adopted a resolution adding the names of 44 Russian citizens to its version of the ‘Magnitsky List.’ The Lithuanian Seimas, on November 16, unanimously adopted a bill similar to the US Magnitsky Act, which imposes sanctions on Russian officials. The officials named in the Lithuanian act include Alexandr Bastrykin, the former Chairman of The Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General’s Office, along with judges Elena Stashina, Alexey Krivoruchko and Svetlana Ukhnaleva. 83 MPs voted for the new resolution, and only one abstained.

A World of Three Zeros: The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, Zero Net Carbon

Brookings India organised a private discussion with Muhammad Yunus on his new book A World of Three Zeros: The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, Zero Net Carbon Emissions, chaired by Brookings India Chairman Vikram Singh Mehta.
Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist, and civil society leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. Yunus chairs the Yunus Centre in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a think tank for issues related to social business, working in the field of poverty alleviation and sustainability. The Yunus Centre focusses especially on social business.
In his new book, Muhammad Yunus offers his vision of an emerging new economic system that can save humankind and the planet. In the book Yunus declares it’s time to admit that the capitalist engine is broken, that in its current form it inevitably leads to rampant inequality, massive unemployment, and environmental destruction. A new economic system is needed that will unleash altruism as a creative force just as powerful as self-interest.
Key takeaways from the discussion were:
  1. Innovations in technology can have an impact in reducing inequality, however, innovators sometimes fail to grasp the total impact of their innovations leading to inequality. For example, Artificial Intelligence can make healthcare more affordable, but is instead being used to replace jobs.
  2. Businesses need not all be about making money, but also provide solutions to people’s problems. There is an increasing number of businesses interested in the development of social businesses.
  3. Innovations such as cryptocurrency and community finance have the possibility of helping unemployed youth identify new endeavours.
  4. Poverty is created by deficiencies in the system and not by the poor.

36th International Geological Congress

36th International Geological Congress
On the Visit of the IUGS Delegation
New Delhi-24.11.2017

A high level delegation of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) comprising its President, Prof. Qiuming Cheng; Prof. S C Finney, Secretary General; and Prof. H Kitazato, Treasurer visited India during 20-24 November 2017 to discuss the preparatory aspects of the 36th International Geological Congress (IGC) to be held in Delhi, India in the year 2020.
Described as the Olympics of Geosciences, the IGCs are held quadrennially under the aegis of the IUGS through a process of global bidding. India won the bid in 2012 at Brisbane, Australia to host the Congress in 2020. The win is a remarkable achievement as the event makes a come back to the Indian soil after nearly 6 decades much to the excitement of the entire geoscientific community.
The event is being jointly funded by the Ministry of Mines and Ministry of Earth Sciences with the active support of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), and the Science Academies of the other neighbouring co-host countries, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The delegation, during its visit, inspected the India Expo Mart Limited, the venue for the event and expressed its satisfaction over the facilities available and its convenient location. The team described the state-of-the-art Centre as impressive, and equipped in all respects to host the mega Congress which has conventionally an attendance to the tune of 6000 delegates.
The IUGS dignitaries interacted with Shri Arun Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Mines; Dr. M Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, senior officers of the two Ministries, and key functionaries of the Organizing Committee. The Organizing Committee is headed by Dr. V P Dimri as its President, Dr. P R Golani as its Secretary General, Prof. Talat Ahmad, VC, Jamia Millia Islamia as the Chair, Scientific Program Committee, Prof. Somnath Dasgupta, former VC, Assam University as Chair, Field Trip Committee and other eminent geoscientists as Chairs of various other subcommittees. The IUGS was given detailed accounts of the progress made on technical, administrative and other fronts by the Organizing Committee. The Scientific Program, Field Excursions and the Legacy & Publication Programs and an overview of the preparations were presented to the visitors.
The IUGS team expressed its satisfaction over the entire spectrum of preparatory activities and described the quantum of work done as focussed and effective. It was of the view that the necessary pro-rata ground work has been done as part of the homework. They stated that going by the momentum of the preparatory activities, India is firmly getting ready for a very successful IGC.
The key functionaries, during their visit, also delivered lectures to a select audience comprising eminent geoscientists, academia, students and researchers.

IFFI nominates Nine movies for this year’s

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International Film Festival of India (IFFI) has nominated nine movies for this year’s International Council for Film, Television and Audio-visual Communication (ICFT) UNESCO Gandhi Medal. Out of nine films, five are from India.
The Indian films competing for the prestigious ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal are Kshitij – A Horizon, Manusangada, Poorna, Railway Children and Take-Off. The foreign films in the fray are Amok from Poland, Khibula – a co-production of Germany, France and Georgia, The Last Painting from Taiwan and Women of The Weeping River – a joint production of the US and UK.
All 9 films are being screened at the ongoing IFFI in Panaji, Goa. The ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Award will be given to a film that best reflects Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals of peace, tolerance and non-violence. The Award will be announced at the closing ceremony of IFFI on Tuesday.

Implement Clinical Establishment Act

Centre has asked the States to implement Clinical Establishment Act to take effective action against hospitals indulging in fraudulent and unethical practices. Citing the recent incident of overcharging from a patient by Fortis hospital in Gurugram, Health Ministry asked the States to issue warnings and take action against hospitals including private ones which indulge in malpractices.
In a letter to State Chief Secretaries, Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan drew their attention towards the widespread adverse coverage of alleged malpractices including exorbitant charges and deficiency in services by various clinical establishments in the recent past.
She said, such incidents have an extremely deleterious impact on the faith of the general public in the healthcare system and there is a need to ensure that such things do not occur and quality healthcare be provided at a fair and affordable price.
The Health Secretary has suggested calling for a meeting of all important hospitals including private ones, and conveying them that strict action will be taken against any of them found indulging in such malpractices.

Schedule of Winter session of Parliament

Winter session of Parliament will be held From 15th of next month to 5th January. Parliamentary Affairs minister Ananth Kumar announced this after the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, in New Delhi today.
Mr Kumar said parliament session and assembly elections date should not overlap. He said, earlier also many times Parliament session has been scheduled, considering assembly elections in the state.
The Minister said, Government requests and seeks cooperation from all parties, including the opposition, for the smooth functioning of both Houses to make the session fruitful. Mr Kumar said, this session will have 14 working days and 25th and 26th December will be Christmas holidays.

National Law Day Celebrations

INVITATION
Dear Sir/Madam,
EventNITI Aayog CEO, Shri Amitabh Kant and Chairman Law Commission, Justice B. S. Chauhan  to hold a Press Conference one the National Law Day Celebrations at Vigyan Bhawan on 25-26 November 2017.
Date24th November, 2017
Time03:00 p.m.
VenueRom No.-122  NITI Aayog

6 Days Lokgatha Utsav

You are cordially invited to cover the following event:
EVENT:Shri Manoj Tiwari, Member of Parliament and Eminent Folk Singer to announce 6 Days Lokgatha Utsav- A festival of cultural heritage of India on the birth centenary of Rashtrarishi Nana Ji Deshmukh. Shri Sachidanad Joshi, Member Secretary, IGNCA will also remain present.
DATE:24th November, 2017
TIME:01:00 PM
VENUE:Matighar Lawns, IGNCA, C.V. Mess, Janpath, New Delhi

30.76 Lakh Houses Sanctioned So Far Under PMAY (U) 

30.76 Lakh Houses Sanctioned So Far Under PMAY (U)
15.65 Lakh Houses at Various Stages of Construction
4.13   Lakh Houses Constructed Since Mission Launch
Hardeep Singh Puri Inaugurates National Workshop on Accelerating Implementation of Urban Missions

Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State(I/C) Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has informed that since launch of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) (U) on 25th June 2015, the Government has sanctioned a total of 30.76 lakhs houses across all verticals. Currently, 15.65 lakh houses have been grounded and are at various stages of construction and about 4.13 lakh houses have been constructed since the launch of the mission. Inaugurating the National workshop on Accelerating Implementation of Urban Missions: PMAY(Urban) and Swachh Bharat mission(Urban) here today, the Minister stated that the Urban India is undergoing a transition in terms of physical forms, demographic profile and socio-economic diversity. The important role of cities in national economic process and their global linkages demand more attention for their development, than being hitherto given. Cities are expected to perform efficiently in keeping with emerging demands for employment, commerce, trade, industry and other services.  The Housing sector is the engine of economic growth that enables and feeds into the aforementioned. It is a vital sector of the economy creating jobs and generating taxes and wages that positively influence the quality of life. The government has embarked on an ambitious plan to empower Indian citizens by 2022 that marks the 75 years of independent India, he added. Sh Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary (HUA) and officials from several states and industry associations are attending the conference.

Addressing the day long workshop, the Minister observed that the local demand for housing is pegged at around 12 million and informed that the government has endeavored a number of measures like infrastructure status to affordable housing, direct tax benefits under Section 80-IBA of the Income Tax Act, relaxation in FDI and ECB proposals, reduction in holding period for long-term capital gain benefits and standardized usage of carpet area definition. Emphasis on reforms like stamp duty exemption and single window clearance, have been actively pursued by the Ministry.

Highlighting the progress made under PMAY (U), the Minister informed that it has made noteworthy progress over the past missions.   A closer analysis of the PMAY (U) verticals will reflect that most of the projects under the BLC and AHP verticals of the Mission have shown considerable progress. “Today’s seminar is very focused.  We have all gathered to deliberate on the bottlenecks and roadblocks that impend the progress of States/UTs with respect to the implementation of the In-situ Slum Rehabilitation (ISSR) and Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) verticals. The ISSR vertical has had a few challenges in its implementation due to land related issues, financing models, selection of private developer, beneficiary participation and policy concerns of the States/UTs.  It is pivotal for the States/UTs to adopt a slum free approach and comprehensively develop their cities with focus on slum redevelopment taking complete advantage of the ISSR vertical” he added.  Sh Puri called on the states to ensure better outreach for Credit-linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) and focus on convergence between the banking institutions, private sector and beneficiaries. While the AHP vertical has shown considerable progress, to further promote the AHP vertical issues such as financing models, encumbrance free land, private sector participation etc. need more focus to cater to the housing demand emerging from the EWS segment with no land ownership.

The Beneficiary-led Construction (BLC) vertical has witnessed wider implementation. The States/UTs have actively pursued this vertical which caters to individual households having own land and policy enablement has ensured to protect the interest of those households with no own land through the AHP and CLSS components.  It is crucial that we as stakeholders introspect collectively, and emerge with a robust implementation strategy to fast track achievement especially with respect to ISSR, AHP and CLSS verticals.

Dwelling on the Initiatives taken in the direction of addressing the housing demand, the Minister informed that in order to create an enabled environment this Ministry has recently launched the 8 PPP models for affordable housing along with the housing technology challenge to bring in the state of art innovations into the housing sector. The Public Private Partnership Models for Affordable Housing has been initiated in order to address some of the identified challenges and give fillip to the Mission’s objectives. It is envisaged that a sizeable and sustainable response through strategic PPP models will allow a self-propelled market to address the challenge of land availability and its high cost. The private sector participation will also enhance access to financing and capital markets, as well as reduce costs through gains in construction, operations and time-bound delivery of houses.

The Minister urged the States and UTs to actively participate, contribute and present an action-oriented approach particularly for the progress of ISSR and AHP.   The private sector, the State Government and Parastatal bodies should join hands to fast track the Mission’s objective by coming forward to invest their resources and energy in public housing.

Celebrating the launch of The Last Battle of Saraighat

Penguin India has a event .
Celebrating the launch of The Last Battle of Saraighat
Celebrating the launch of The Last Battle of Saraighat
Fri Nov 24 2017 at 05:00 pm
Nehru Memorial Museum & Library, New Delhi, India
The book by Rajat Sethi and Shubhrastha will be launched in the august presence of Krishna Gopal, Ram Madhav, N.Biren Singh, Pema Khandu, and Himanta Biswa Sarma, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Shekhar Gupta.
Please join us for high tea at 5 pm.

Session on “India- Korea Relations in a Changing Global Environment”

Session on
“India- Korea Relations in a Changing Global Environment”

EVENT DETAILS

DATE Friday, December 1, 2017TIME 4:30 PM  – 6:00 PM (Registration: 04:00 PM )LOCATION Dome, Vivanta by Taj – Ambassador, Sujan Singh Park, Subramaniam Bharti Marg, New Delhi   SPEAKERS Dr AHN Choong YongChair, Korea Commission of Corporate Partnership; Co-Chair, India – Korea Strategic Dialogue  Mr Gaddam Dharmendra, Joint Secretary, Policy, Planning and Research, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India  Mr Naushad Forbes, Co – Chairman, Forbes Marshall,  C0-Chair,  India – Korea Strategic Dialogue  Dr JUNG Ku-Hyun, President, The Seoul Forum for International Affairs (SFIA); Professor Emeritus, Yonsei University  Mr B J PandaMember of Parliament, Lok SabhaCHAIR Mr Tarun DasFounding Trustee, Ananta Aspen Centre &  Former Chief Mentor, Confederation of Indian Industry

ABOUT THE EVENT India – Republic of Korea (RoK) relations are driven by a significant convergence of interests, mutual goodwill and high level exchanges. They have made great progress in recent years and have become truly multidimensional. The motivation for a close relationship between the two countries has been reinforced in modern times by political and economic imperatives. India and the Republic of Korea have renovated their relations and signed agreements in areas ranging from trade and investment to culture, counter-terrorism and civil nuclear energy.

India and South Korea share close trade and investment relations. Keeping the global environment in mind, there is a need for the two to add a strategic dimension and to move the economic relations to the next level.  It is also essential to examine and explore issues on India – Korea bilateral security, maritime, and diplomatic relations, energy collaboration and bilateral cultural and educational ties. It is important that India and Korea keep nurturing these relations especially in the changing global scenario where there is a sense of growing protectionism and geopolitical uncertainty in the world. The public forum will focus on these and various other aspects about the future of India- Korea ties in a changing global environment. 
Please respond by clicking one of the buttons below

YesNo  SPEAKERS AHN Choong YongDr AHN Choong YongChair, Korea Commission of Corporate Partnership; Co-Chair, India – Korea Strategic Dialogue
Dr. Ahn is currently Chairman, Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership (KCCP) and responsible for inducing voluntary collaborations between Korea’s big businesses and SMEs, and also Chairman of the Board, Korea Electric Power Corporation. Before taking his current post, he served as Foreign Investment Ombudsman (2006-2014) who is the troubleshooter responsible for resolving grievances raised by foreign investors at the Korea Trade and Investment Promotion Agency in Korea. He is former Chairman of the Presidential Regulatory Reform Committee (2010-2012). He holds also Distinguished Professorship at Graduate School of International Studies, Chung-Ang University.While on sabbatical from Chung-Ang University, he also served several posts such as the President of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (2002-2005); Chair of the APEC Economic Committee; Chair of Board, Choheung Bank; consultant to the World Bank; UNIDO Chief Technical Advisor to the Economic Planning Unit of Malaysia to design Malaysia’s industrial master plan; and served as President of several academic societies in Korea including the Korea International Economics Association, Korean Association of Trade and Industry Studies, and the Korea Econometric Society.
Dr. Ahn’s honors include the Economist of the Year Award from the Maeil Business Daily Newspaper in Korea, the Okita Policy Research Award by the National Institute for Research Advancement in Japan for his publication on “Modern East Asian Economy,” and Free Economy Publication Award by the Federation of Korean Industries. Since receiving his Ph.D. from Ohio State University, Dr. Ahn has published many articles in international journals including Review of Economics and Statistics, European Economic Review, Japanese Economic Review, Journal of Asian Economics and Monograph papers in North-Holland, Cambridge University Press, Springer and Edward Elgar, etc.  Gaddam Dharmendra
Mr Gaddam Dharmendra, Joint Secretary, (Policy, Planning and Research), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India
Mr. Gaddam Dharmendra joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1990. From 1992 to 1997, he served as Second Secretary in Indian Missions in Tehran and Dushanbe and from 2000 – 2007 he served in the Embassy of India, Washington DC and the High Commission of India, Dhaka.  During 2007-2010, Mr. Gaddam headed the Disarmament & International Security Affairs Division in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi. From September 2010 to October 2013, Mr. Gaddam was the Consul General of India to Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR. He, thereafter, served as India’s High Commissioner to Zambia till June, 2017. Beginning July, 2017, Mr. Gaddam has taken over as Joint Secretary (Policy Planning and Research) in the Ministry of External Affairs, South Block, New Delhi.  Naushad
Mr Naushad Forbes, Co – Chairman, Forbes Marshall,  C0-Chair,  India – Korea Strategic Dialogue
Dr. Naushad Forbes is the Co – Chairman of Forbes Marshall, India’s leading Steam Engineering and Control Instrumentation firm. He chairs the Steam Engineering Companies within the group. Forbes Marshall’s deep process knowledge helps their customers save energy, improve product quality, increase process efficiency, and run a clean and safe factory.  Market leadership in India and, increasingly, internationally comes from highly trained people and the depth of their knowledge.  A close connect with customers enables the design of products that address customer needs around the world.The products are made in a facility that is world-class in scale, aesthetics and work environment. Forbes Marshall has consistently ranked amongst India’s Great Places to Work. Naushad was an occasional Lecturer and Consulting Professor at Stanford University from 1987 to 2004 where he developed courses on Technology in Newly Industrializing Countries. He received his Bachelors, Masters and PhD Degrees from Stanford University. Naushad is on the Board of several educational institutions and public companies. He is the Chairman of Centre for Technology, Innovation and Economic Research in Pune. Naushad has long been an active member of CII and has at various times chaired the National Committees on Higher Education, Innovation, Technology and International Business. He was President of CII for 2016 – 17.  JUNG Ku-Hyun,Dr JUNG Ku-Hyun, President, The Seoul Forum for International Affairs (SFIA); Professor Emeritus, Yonsei University
JUNG Ku-Hyun is currently Visiting Professor at KAIST School of Business and also serving as President of the Seoul Forum for International Affairs. He is also Board Chairman of the Center for Free Enterprise. He has served as President and CEO at Samsung Economic Research Institute from 2003 to 2008 and as Senior Advisor in 2009 and 2010. From 1978 to 2002, he taught at the School of Business, Yonsei University in Seoul. During his tenure at Yonsei, he has served as Director of the Institute of East and West Studies (1992-1997) and Dean of the Graduate School of Business Administration and College of Business and Economics (1997-2002). He has written extensively in the areas of big business groups, globalization of firms, and East Asian economic integration.His book, Korean Management in the Last 20 Years (in Korean), was awarded the Best Research Book of 2008 by the Maeil Business Daily Foundation. In 2016, he co-authored two books, one on innovation of Korean companies and another on Korea’s third sector. More recently, he wrote a book on the functioning of the market economy(Principles of Market Economy, 2016, Vegabooks) and edited a book on the policy options of the new Korean government(2017, Cloud Nine). Dr. Jung has served in the past as outside board members of several corporations, as members of two Presidential Commissions and as advisors to key economic organizations and governmental agencies in Korea. He has a bachelor’s degree from Seoul National University (1969) and a doctoral degree from the University of Michigan (1976).  B J Panda 27 augMr B J Panda, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda is currently serving in his 4th term in the Parliament of India. He was elected to his second term (2014 – 2019) in the Lok Sabha (House of the People) from Kendrapara Constituency, Odisha. Earlier, Jay Panda had been elected to the Lok Sabha in May 2009 as well as twice earlier to the Rajya Sabha (parliament’s other house, the Council of States) in 2000 and 2006, also from the State of Odisha. He is one of the founding members of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party, whose Founder President is Naveen Patnaik, currently serving in his fourth term as Chief Minister of Odisha.Jay Panda represents the new face of Indian politicians, several of whom have been educated abroad and have had alternate careers before choosing to serve the nation through politics. He graduated from the Michigan Technological University and, with a background in Engineering and Management, worked in the corporate sector before joining politics. He assisted the late Biju Patnaik and subsequently Naveen Patnaik, who founded the Biju Janata Dal party, which has found strong acceptance from the people of Odisha and has been repeatedly voted back in elections. Jay Panda had helped to form the erstwhile Young Parliamentarians Forum (YPF) and was its Convener. He has also been associated with the India-USA Forum of Parliamentarians from its founding in 2001 and is currently its Chairman. He was awarded the “Bharat Asmita National Award” for best parliamentary practices by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India in 2008. Since its inception in 2007, Jay Panda has been associated with the Citizens’ Alliance Against Malnutrition, an advocacy group including many parliamentarians across parties, Bollywood actors, other celebrities, civil society activists and non-governmental organizations. The Citizens’ Alliance has undertaken numerous initiatives to battle child malnutrition in India, including field visits to rural districts in several states, continual engagement with media organizations to highlight the issue, repeated interactions with the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition, Chief Ministers and other political leaders to raise the priority given to this critical issue. In his earlier corporate career, Jay Panda was active in industry organizations like the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the International Chromium Development Association. In the past he has also been associated with the Govt. of Odisha’s Industrial Advisory Committee and been a Director on the Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha (IPICOL). As a parliamentarian, he has been a member of many important committees like the Parliamentary Standing Committees on Finance, Home, Energy and Urban Development. In Parliament and public life, Jay Panda passionately espouses the cause of his home state Odisha as well as other national issues close to his heart, such as economic development, education and information technology. He frequently participates in national television discussions and writes op-ed pieces in newspapers. He holds a Private Pilot’s License for aircraft and helicopters and enjoys adventure sports like skydiving and bungee jumping. Currently, he is a member of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs as well as the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Affairs.  CHAIR  Tarun Das 2017Mr Tarun DasFounding Trustee, Ananta Aspen Centre &  Former Chief Mentor, Confederation of Indian Industry
Tarun Das has spent his professional career in the development and promotion of Indian Industry. He was the Director General and Chief Executive of Confederation of Indian Industry, CII from April 1967 to May 2004 and Chief Mentor from June 2004 to October 2009.  He is currently the Chairman of Sasakawa India Leprosy Foundation (S-ILF); Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) and also Chairman, Advisory Board, JCB India.He is deeply involved with various non- profit institutions such as Ananta Aspen Centre(AAC); Ananta Centre (AC);The Aspen Institute, USA; Council on Energy Environment and Water (CEEW);Singapore India Partnership Foundation (SIPF);Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER);Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST);CII-Triveni Water Institute; World Wildlife Fund (WWF). He has been working closely on deepening international ties. He is Co-Chair, US – India Strategic Dialogue, India- Japan Strategic Dialogue, US-India -Japan Strategic Dialogue and India- Israel Forum and Member, India- Singapore Strategic Dialogue, India-China Strategic Dialogue, India- Turkey Forum, US – India Climate Change Dialogue and Trilateral Commission. He is also Member, International Advisory Board, Chubb (USA). He has authored a book: “Crossing Frontiers.” He has received Padma Bhushan, one of the highest Civilian Awards, for contribution in the field of Trade and Industry, by the President of India; Singapore National Award (Public Service Medal) by the Singapore Government for contribution to strengthening economic ties between India and Singapore; Honorary Doctorate in Science, The University of Warwick, UK; Honorary CBE for contribution to Indo-British relations; Honorary Doctorate by the Tel Aviv University,Israel for extraordinary commitment to promoting the Indian Economy in the global arena; Sweden Royal Order of the Polar Star for contribution in strengthening Indo- Swedish relations.

“Relationship between Modi and the Media”

Vigorous discussions on “Relationship between Modi and the Media” in ‘Word Count: Festival of Words today at Amphi Theatre
Ms_Jaya_Jaitly_and_Ms_Shazia_Ilmi.JPG
New Delhi: A new segment of 11th Delhi International Arts Festival 3 days- “words count -Festival of words”, curated by award winning screenwriter and novelist Advaita Kala started today at the Amphi Theatre of India Habitat Centre. The festival had Five sessions which includes does social media win elections? In which jiten gajaria, Ami shah and Arvind Gupta spoke about the imapact of SM on Elections, in second session Hartosh Singh Bal, Adityaraj Kaul and Ratan Sharda and Rahul discussed on the relationship between Modi and the media, third session was on Indian Political Thought in which Nanadakumar, JK , Himanshu Roy and Advaita kala spoke about Charting the evolvement of india political thought, in forth session stutee ghosh, ashish sandeep kadian and nitin gupta spoke on Are You Serious : Satire in the time of political correctness, the last session was on Politician as writer in which Pavan verma, V Saharubuddhe and Karthika VK spoke about their experience.
At the same time, Delhi International Arts Festival had also organised Puppet Show at Little Theatre Group in which artist of puppet group from Indonesia performed Beringin Sakti and Artist of Shadow play from Malaysia performed Wayang Kulit Dalang.

Sagoon’s Regulation A+ offering

Hi Nksagar_1,
We’re excited to let you know that our conversation with Ms. Sara Hanks, co-chair of Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and CEO of Crowd Check captured in a video is gaining a lot of eyeballs in the Nepali media. The video with information about Sagoon’s Regulation A+ offering in the words of Ms. Hanks is the subject of the latest posts of Nepali online news portals Image Khabar and My Republica. Read the coverage here:
1.   Image Khabar – www.imagekhabar.com/news/latest/technology/32214
2.   My Republica – www.myrepublica.com/news/31247/
In the video as you may know, Ms. Sara Hanks, an attorney who has more than 30+ years of experience in corporate and securities law has talked about how Sagoon had to go through a stringent process under her watchful guidance to qualify for launching a mini-IPO. She also talks to the audience about how Regulation A+ is useful for early-stage companies like Sagoon and retail investors and how she hopes to continue a long-term relationship with Sagoon.
We feel that good articles like these that educate us about Sagoon’s Regulation A+ offering in the words of a prominent member of the SEC Advisory Committee like Ms. Sara Hanks should be read more by everyone.
Therefore, we request you to share them as much on all your social media channels to help educate your family, friends and colleagues about the next social media revolution – Sagoon.
In case you want to explore the investment and co-ownership opportunity that Sagoon is currently offering, please visit www.sagoon.com/invest
Learn More
Best Regards,
Sagoon Team

Workshop on  Changing party system in Delhi


CPR and CSH are pleased to invite you to a workshop on
Changing party system in Delhi and the emergence of Aam Aadmi Party
Adnan Farooqui
Tuesday, 28 November 2017, 3:45 p.m.
Conference Hall, Centre for Policy Research
Image Source
The presentation analyses the emergence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the context of systemic changes in the nature of political competition in Delhi.This is done against the back drop of Delhi’s unique constitutional position, party system in the state, reasons behind the emergence of AAP and subsequent reversals in its political fortunes.
The analysis is done through the detailed study of post-poll electoral surveys and the election results in 2013, 2014, and 2015 elections. The attempt here is also to look at the nomination procedure and campaign strategy adopted by APP gleaned through the extensive interviews of the political actors involved.
Adnan Farooqi is Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. His academic interests are focused on electoral systems, party systems, and political parties.
This workshop is free and there is no registration required. Find all the available videos of our previous workshops, here.

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