11th August 2015

President Pranab Mukherjee presented Saraswati Sammaan to Dr. M Veerappa Moily


  • President of India, Pranab Mukherjee  presented the 24th Saraswati Sammaan for the year 2014 to Dr. M Veerappa Moily, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) in New Delhi.
  •  He received the award for his epic Sri Ramayana Mahanveshanam written in Kannada.
  • Divided into five volumes, Ramayana Mahanveshanam was first published in 2007 in Kannada. Later the poem was translated into English, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil.
  • Moily’s work was selected for the award in March 2015 by a 13-member panel of scholars and writers headed by former Chief Justice of India RC Lahoti.
  • About poem Ramayana Mahaveshanam:
  • In the poem Ramayana Mahaveshanam, Moily tried to explore the Ramarajya or the true principle of the ideal State from a secular and modern point of view in his collection of poems.
  • Moily and his works as an author:
  •  He has authored four novels, three collections of poetry, a number of plays and numerous essays. His novels includes 
  • a) Kotta (made into telefilms in both Kannada and Hindi) 
  • b) Tembare (translated into English under the title, The Edge of Time) 
  • c) Suligali: Typhoon
  • d) Sagaradeepa: Ocean lamp
  •  His poems includes
  • a) Halu-Jenu Maththe
  • b) Nadeyali Samara
  • c) Yakshaprashne
  •  He has authored four volumes of an English book named Unleashing India
  • About Saraswati Samman: 
  • Saraswati Samman is an annual award that is given in recognition of outstanding prose or poetry literary works in Indian languages that are listed in Schedule VIII of the constitution of India

  • This Samman is given for the literary works of last 10 years. The award was established in 1991 by KK Birla Foundation and carries a prize amount of 10 lakh rupees along with citation and a plaque.


 Suraksha Bandhan launched to facilitate enrolment under Social Security Schemes


  • Facilitate enrolment under social security schemes Union Government in a Mission Mode through participating banks and insurance companies launched a drive named Suraksha Bandhan.
  • The schemes included are Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY).
  • The drive was launched in the atmosphere of Raksha Bandhan with an objective of taking forward the Government’s objective of creating a universal social security system in the country. 
  • During the drive, participating Banks supported by the participating Insurance Companies will work towards local outreach, awareness building and enrolment facilitation.
  • Jeevan Suraksha Gift Cheques, which will be available for purchase for 351 rupees in Bank branches by persons wishing to gift them to facilitate one year payment of premium for PMJJBY and PMSBY by the recipient will support the drive.
  • The recipient of the gift cheque would deposit the instrument in his or her bank account for a realizable value of 342 rupees, out of which 12 rupees will be for one year subscription of PMSBY and 330 rupees for PMJJBY. The balance of 9 rupees will be retained by the issuing Bank as a service charge.


India & World Bank signed agreement of US$ 308.40 Million for NCRMP-II

  • The agreement was also signed by the state Governments of Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and West Bengal.
  • The agreement was signed by Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs on behalf of the Union Government and John Blomquist, Program Leader and Acting Country Director in India, on behalf of the World Bank.
          Objective of the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project-II (NCRMP-II)
  • To reduce vulnerability to cyclone and other hydro-meteorological hazards of coastal communities in the above states.
  • It aims at increasing the capacity of the State entities to effectively plan for and respond to disasters.
  • The project will also finance technical assistance for strengthening of multi-hazard risk management at the national level and improving the quality of available information on multi-hazard risks for decision making across the country.
         NCRMP-II has four components and they are:
  • a) Early Warning Dissemination Systems
  • b) Cyclone Risk Mitigation Infrastructure
  • c) Technical Assistance for Multi-Hazard Risk Management
  • d) Project Management and Implementation Support
  • The primary beneficiaries of NCRMP-II will be coastal communities in the target states benefitting from cyclone risk mitigation infrastructure and early warning systems.
  • The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Home Affairs through National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and at the state level, it will be executed by the respective State Disaster Management Authorities.
Param Tyag Chakra Initiative launched to honour families of martyrs 
  • The Alumni Association of Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology innitiated the The Param Tyag Chakra initiative to honour family members of brave military men, who lost their lives while battling for the country.
  • A web platform has been launched by the Alumni Association of Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology in association with the management to gather the info of their family members.
  • Anyone can join this initiative in various ways such as by channeling the support and identifying and referring such families.
Kochi became first Indian city to join World Tourism Cities Federation Council
  • Kochi  became the first Indian city to be a member o Beijing headquartered World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) Council and join its league of leading tourism cities across the world.
  • The invitation to Kochi to be the member of the council was sent to Kerala Tourism Department by WTCF, which was formally accepted by the department. 
  • The membership acceptance document was handed over to Chinese Ambassador to India Le Yucheng by the Kochi Mayor Tony Chammany. 
  • Kochi became the member of the council on ground of its partnerships in culture, sports and tourism.
  •  Kochi's cuisine, martial arts and snake and dragon boat races fulfil the set ground for membership. 
  • About World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) Council
  • The WTCF, headquartered at Beijing, is a non-profit, non-governmental international organisation voluntarily formed by tourism cities.
  • WTCF was initiated in 2012 at Beijing with 58 cities and today it encompasses 135 members.
  • It is the world’s first federation that is committed to its core concept of Better City Life through Tourism and promoting cooperation between members in the development of tourism.
International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples observed
  • International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples was observed the theme Post 2015 Agenda: 
  • Ensuring indigenous peoples' health and well-being. 
  • This year's theme puts a spotlight on the issue of indigenous peoples' access to health care services, as improving indigenous peoples’ health remains a critical challenge for indigenous peoples, Member States and the United Nations.
  • The State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Volume II was launched at the UN 
  • International Day of the World's Indigenous People:
  • The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 23 December 1994 adopted resolution 49/214 and proclaimed that the International Day of the World's Indigenous People shall be observed on 9 August every year during the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995–2004).
  •  In 2004, the Assembly proclaimed a Second International Decade, from 2005–2015, with the theme of A Decade for Action and Dignity.




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