1- 9 agricultural products from north-east India accorded GI registration tag

Nine organic and exotic agricultural products from Northeast India were accorded geographical indication (GI) registration tag. GI tag will help to protect these exclusive special local crops and pave way for better branding and marketing of these products both in domestic and international Market.

Geographical Indication (GI) accorded products are:

Assam Karbi Anglong Ginger. Assam Tezpur Litchi. Meghalaya Khasi Mandarin. Sikkim Large Cardamom. Mizoram Bird Eye Chilly. Manipur Kachai Lemon. Tripura Queen Pineapple. Arunachal Orange. Nagaland Tree Tomato.

Union Government owned North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC) had played important role in getting GI registry. North Eastern Council (NEC) provided the financial support to this initiative.

About Geographical Indication (GI)

Geographical Indication is an insignia on products having a unique geographical origin and evolution over centuries. It is a mark of authenticity and ensures that registered authorised users (or at least those residing inside the geographic territory) are allowed to use the popular product name. In India GI registration is governed by the Geographical Indications of goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. Darjeeling tea was the first product in India accorded with GI tag.

2- Katsushi Inoue appointed as President & CEO of Honda Cars India Ltd

Honda Cars India Ltd

Katsushi Inoue on 30 March 2015 was appointed as President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL). He will assume charge on 1 April 2015 and succeed Hironori Kanayama who is due to retire. Inoue was associated with Honda Motor Co for past 29 years. In his last assignment he was serving as General Manager in Marketing Planning office in Japan headquarters. He also had worked with various Honda ventures in different markets across the globe, including Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, the UK, Poland and Germany. Apart from this appointment, HCIL also appointed Hiroyuki Shimizu as new senior vice president & director, marketing & sales. Shimizu has been associated with HCIL for over 25 years. In his last assignment, he had served as Director and Vice President in Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co Ltd. He had started his career in 1990 with Honda and has experience in product planning, marketing and sales.

About Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL)

HCIL is a subsidiary of the Japanese carmaker Honda dealing with the production, marketing and export of passenger cars in India. It has started its operations in 1995 and was formerly known as Honda Siel Cars India Ltd. It was joint venture between Honda and Usha International of Siddharth Shriram Group. Later Honda had completely bought out Usha International’s entire stake and was renamed Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL). At present it is 100% subsidiary of Honda.

3- Madan Mohan Malviya conferred with Bharat Ratna posthumously

Madan Mohan Malviya

Eminent freedom fighter and educationist Madan Mohan Malviya was conferred with Bharat Ratna (posthumously), highest civilian award of the country. His family members received the award from President Pranab Mukherjee at the glittering function held at Durbar hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.

About Madan Mohan Malviya

Madan Mohan Malviya was an eminent educationist and politician notable for his role in India’s freedom struggle. He was founder of Asia’s largest residential university – Banaras Hindu University (BHU) founded in 1916. Malviya was 4 time President of Indian National Congress and had served his term in 1909, 1918, 1932 and 1933. He is also remembered for his stellar role in the Independence movement and his espousal of Hindu nationalism. He was one of the initial leaders of the right-wing Hindu Mahasabha. He was Chairman of Hindustan Times from 1924 to 1946 and his efforts resulted in the launch of its Hindi edition named Hindustan Dainik in 1936. He is also credited for popularizing the slogan of Satyameva Jayate which was later adopted as the national motto. He was born on December 25, 1861 and was popularly known ‘Mahaman’. He died in 1946.

4- Two interceptor boats, FPV commissioned into Indian Coast Guard’s Eastern Fleet

Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) named Anagh and Two Interceptor Boats named C-430 and C-417 on 29 March 2015 were commissioned into Indian Coast Guard’s Eastern Fleet. They were commissioned by Lieutenant General Ajay Kumar Singh (retd), Lt Governor of Puducherry in a traditional ceremony with full military honours in Chennai. These commissioned ships will enhance Coast Guard’s capability in furthering its mandate of maritime safety and security, environmental protection. It will also enhance the coastal security capability and add more teeth to its existing fleet on the Eastern Sea Board. Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) Anagh ICGS Anagh is a 50 meter long vessel, propelled by water jet high speed FPV with maximum speed of 33 knots and displacement of 290 tonnes. It is capable to undertake various tasks such as surveillance, search and rescue operations, interdiction and medical evacuation. Interceptor Boats C-430 and C-417 Both boats have an overall length of 27.8 metres and have maximum speed of 45 knots with displacement of 101 tonnes. They are incorporated with twin diesel engine with twin water jet propulsion. They are capable of taking on coordinated operations with other sea-air units, besides surveillance, interdiction and search and rescue. These boats are also fitted with state-of-the-art communication and navigational equipment along with main armament of 12.7 mm HMG (Prahari). ICGS C-430 and C-417 have joined the fleet of 36 interceptor boats of Coast Guard.

5- Adoor Gopalakrishnan honoured with Bishwaratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika International Solidarity Award

Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Acclaimed filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan on 29 March 2015 was honoured with Bishwaratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika International Solidarity Award. He was presented the award by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi at the function held at Guwahati, Assam.

About Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Gopalakrishnan is regarded as one of the finest filmmakers of India. As a film director, producer and script writer he had played a major role in revolutionizing Malayalam cinema. Adoor’s debut film was Swayamvaram (1972) which had pioneered the new wave of cinema movement in Kerala. For his contribution to film industry, he has won 16 National Film Awards, 17 Kerala State Film Awards and several international film awards. Adoor is also honoured with Padma Shri (1984) and the Padma Vibhushan (2006). In 2004, he was awarded with Dadasaheb Phalke Award- highest cinema award of India.

About Bishwaratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika International Solidarity Award

It is a biennial award instituted in 2013 and named in the memory of the cultural doyen Dr Bhupen Hazarika. The award carries a memento, citation, collection of books and cheque of 5 lakh rupees. The award was instituted by the Asam Sahitya Sabha and sponsored by the Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL). The first recipient of this award was eminent research scholar and dance exponent Lubna Marium from Bangladesh.

6- Aditi Arya wins Miss India 2015 title

Femina Miss India 2015

Aditi Arya from New Delhi has won the Femina Miss India 2015 crown at the 52nd edition of the beauty pageant.   The runners up were Aafreen Rachel Vaz (1st runner-up) from Mangaluru, Karnataka and Vartika Singh (2nd runner-up) from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.  2014 Miss India winner Koyal Rana crowned Aditi Arya with Miss India 2015 title at Yash Raj Studio in Mumbai. In this edition of beauty contest, 21 contestants from across the country had participated. The final winner trio was selected from the top five finalists that also included Tanya Hope and Deeksha Kaushal. The top five finalists were selected on the basis of judges’ score. The judge’s included Anil Kapoor, John Abraham and producer Firoz A Nadiadwala.

About Femina Miss India

Miss India or Femina Miss India is a national beauty pageant in India. It is organised annually by Femina, a women’s magazine published by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. The winner of Femina Miss India goes to compete globally for Miss World. While, the first runner up goes to compete globally in Miss International and the second runner up goes to compete globally for Miss Continental.

7- Australian cricketer Michael Clarke retires from ODI cricket

Michael Clarke

Australian cricketer Michael Clarke has announced his retirement from One Day Internationals (ODI) cricket format. He had made this announcement prior to playing ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. However, he will continue to represent Australia in the Test matches. He made his last ODI appearance in the final World Cup match against New Zealand. In this match he was captain of team and had scored 74 runs which and helped Australia win the 2015 World Cup by 7 wickets for fifth time. With this, Clarke has joined group of Australia’s World Cup winning captains that include Allan Border, Ricky Ponting (2 times) and Steve Waugh. Michael Clarke had started his ODI cricket career in 2003 and test career in 2004. In his ODI career, he had played 245 matches and had scored 7981 runs. His highest score was 130 runs. He had bowled in 106 innings and had taken 57 wickets.

8- Balbir Singh Senior awarded with Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award

Balbir Singh Senior

Veteran hockey player Balbir Singh Senior was awarded Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award by Hockey India. The award carrying trophy along with a cheque of Rs 30 lakh was presented to Balbir Singh at the inaugural Hockey India Annual Awards ceremony held at New Delhi. In his hockey career, Balbir Singh Senior had represented Indian team in three Olympics games including London Olympics (1948), Helsinki Olympics (1952) and Melbourne Olympics (1956). In all three Olympics the team had won the gold medal. He was captain of Indian team during Melbourne Olympics. His record of most goals (five) in an Olympic final in 1952 still remains unbeaten and he also figures in the list of 16 iconic Olympians of all-time.

Apart from this award, inaugural Hockey India Annual Awards were also presented in various categories.They are

• Dhruv Batra Player of the Year Award – Birendra Lakra (male),Vandana Kataria (female).
• Baljit Singh Goalkeeper of the Year Award – PR Sreejesh.
• Pargat Singh Defender of the Year Award – Deepika.
• Ajit Pal Singh Midfielder of the Year Award- Manpreet Singh.
• Dhanraj Pillay Forward of the Year Award- Aka shdeep Singh.
• Asunta Lakra Upcoming Player of the Year Award- Harmanpreet Singh (male), Namita Toppo (female).

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