“BE FR
ANK AND FEARLESS WHILE INTERACTING WITH SENIOR OFFICERS AS ASSISTANT SECRETARIES ATTACHÉ; DO NOT BE OVERAWED BY HIERARCHY DURING THE NEXT THREE MONTHS”
Talking to young IAS officer, Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised them to remain sensitive to their circumstances and surroundings. PM told the young bureaucrats that in order to be able to effectively connect with the people of India they have to be sensitive enough to the milieu they are working in.
Addressing IAS Officers of the 2014 batch at the Inaugural Session of Assistant Secretaries, the Prime Minister said that they had a great opportunity to enhance their skills and learning, far beyond what they had imbibed during their training so far.
Particularly mentioning the use of technology in governance PM asked the young officers to work towards technology upgradation in the working of Government. He also urged them to utilize next three months to add value their own skill and to add value to the departments they are attached with.
ISTANBUL: Dozens killed and over 140 were injured when suicide attackers attacked Istanbul’s busy Ataturk Airport. Turkish officials blamed the massacre at the international terminal on three suspected Islamic State group militants.
Binali Yildirim, Turkish Prime Minister told to media that 41 were dead including three suicide bombers .
A senior government official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol said the death toll could climb much higher. He first told local media that close to 50 people had already died, but later said that the figure was expected to rise to close to 50.
Hundreds of terrified passengers streamed out of the airport. The recent bombings in Turkey has have scared off tourists and hurt the Turkish economy, which relies heavily on tourism.
Hevin Zini, 12, a witness who just arrived from Duesseldorf, Germany, with her family said, “There was blood on the ground.” She told the Associated Press that, “Everything was blown up to bits… if we had arrived two minutes earlier, it could have been us.”
An eyewitness told news agency Reuters that one of the attackers “randomly opened fire” as he walked through the terminal building, shortly before three explosions.
Another witness, Paul Roos, 77, a South African tourist told and as reported in media said, “We came right to international departures and saw the man randomly shooting. He was just firing at anyone coming in front of him. He was wearing all black. His face was not masked. I was 50 meters away from him.”
“We ducked behind a counter but I stood up and watched him. Two explosions went off shortly after one another. By that time he had stopped shooting,” Roos told Reuters.
“He turned around and started coming toward us. He was holding his gun inside his jacket. He looked around anxiously to see if anyone was going to stop him and then went down the escalator … We heard some more gunfire and then another explosion, and then it was over.”
Talking to reporters, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, said all initial indications suggested the Islamic State group was behind the attacks.
“The findings of our security forces point at the Daesh organization as the perpetrators of this terror attack,” Yildirim said, using the Arabic name for IS. “Even though the indications suggest Daesh, our investigations are continuing.”
When Haryana based RTI activist filed petition in the Supreme Court on banning WhatsApp, fear loomed on 24×7 connected generation whether they will be able to enjoy free messaging and calling service or not. But today, as the highest court of India dismissed a petition seeking a ban on the ground that the messaging platform’s end-to-end encryption gives terrorists a means of communication that is impossible to intercept, users across the nation are rejoicing.
The petition was filed by a Haryana-based right-to-information (RTI) activist Sudhir Yadav who said WhatsApp has from April started to enable its every message with 256-bit encryption that cannot be broken into and thus could be a security threat.
Agencies quoted from the petition that stated that even if WhatsApp was asked to break through an individual’s message to hand over the data to the government, it too would fail as it does not have the decryption keys either.
Yadav in his petition said any terrorist or criminal can safely chat on WhatsApp and make plans to harm the country and the Indian intelligence agencies would not be able to tap into their conversations to take necessary actions; thus a ban on WhatsApp in India is required.
Yadav earlier wrote to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Ministry of Communications and IT on banning the WhatsApp but as he got no reply from both he went on filing the petition.
As the news
channels announced Cabinet clearing all recommendations made by the
Seventh Pay Commission report that will result in about 23.55 percent overall
increase in salaries, #Achche Din arrived for Central Government employees
across India.
The increase in
allowances and pension for more than 1 crore government staff and pensioners is
expected to give a big boost to the economy as it will make consumption demand
in urban areas go Northwards. JJ
Union Government had set up a high-powered panel headed by
Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha in January to process the recommendations of the 7th
Pay Commission. The recommendations and now cabinet clearance have a bearing on
the remuneration of nearly 50 lakh central government employees and 58 lakh
pensioners.
mage. Reuters
Highlights of recommendations mentioned by Sinha Panel:
·23.55 percent overall increase in salaries, allowances and
pension. This is estimated to put an additional burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore,
or nearly 0.7 percent of the GDP, on the government.
·Contrary to 14.27 percent increase in basic pay cabinet has
cleared a 20 percent minimum pay hike and 25 percent maximum.
·The minimum pay in government is recommended to be set at Rs
18,000 per month that is more than double the present Rs 7,000.
·For greater transparency, anew pay matrix will replace the
present system of pay bands and grade pay.
·Maximum salary for a government servant will be
about 2.5 lakhs a month, that's more than double the top-rung pay ofRs.90,000 a
month. The least a government officer can now be paid is Rs.18,000
a month (earlier it was 7,000/ month).
Yaduveer Chamraja Krishnadatta Wodeyar, the titular head of the Wodeyar dynasty of Mysore, tied the knot with Trishika Kumari in a traditional ceremony on Monday morning.
“Maharani Pramoda Devi, who is Yaduveer’s mother, was very particular that the wedding ceremonies took place according to the wedding customs, so we were happy to see our traditions being followed step-by-step. Every puja was in accordance with the scriptures and the tradition of the Mysore royal family. Even the wedding dress worn by Yaduveer has been specially designed by Her Highness Pramoda Devi,” said M Lakshminarayana, Secretary to the Mysore palace, reported India Today.
Pada puja, one day before the wedding. Picture courtesy: Facebook/Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar- The New scion Image Source
Around same time last year (in May), the 23-year-old Yaduveer was made the 27th titular head of the Mysore Wodeyar family in a grand coronation ceremony.
As per the legend and traditions of the Mysore royal family, no king of Mysore can have a son born to him succeed him to the throne. After the death of Srikanta Datta Narasimha Raja Wodeyar, Yaduveer was adopted by the royal family as the successor in a special ceremony that took took place on February 23, 2015. He was later crowned as the 27th Maharaja on May 28, 2015.
The special marriage hall of the palace, where the wedding was held. Photo: Rohin Image Source
Yaduveer is the grandson of princess Gayathri Devi–eldest sister of Srikantadatta and eldest daughter of the last reigning Maharaja, Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar.
Trishika Kumari, the bride, was engaged to Yaduveer Wodeyar in June last year who hails from the royal family of Dungarpur and is the second daughter of Maharaj Kumar Harshavardhan Singh and Rajkumari Maheshri Kumari.
The beautiful bride, Trishika Kumari Singh. Picture courtesy: Facebook/Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar- The New scion Image Source
Yaduveer Trishika tied the nuptial knot at an auspicious time called the ‘karkataka lagna‘ and ‘savitra‘ muhurtha between 9.05 am and 9.35 am and was held in the special marriage hall or Kalyana Mantapa of the palace.
“It is all about our customs and how we preserve our heritage,” said one of the royal invitees. The four-day ceremony included a special puja before the bride entered the palace, and later traditional South-Indian customs were also conducted, such as the pada puja and kashi yatra before the main wedding ceremony was held, reported India Today.
Bride Trishika Kumari Singh. Picture courtesy: Facebook/Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar- The New scion Image Source
It was in 1976, that the then titular prince Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar married Pramoda.
“I have witnessed the wedding of our Highness Srikanta Datta Narasimha Raja Wodeyar. It was the most grandiose wedding; the whole of Mysore was celebrating. This too is like that, with all the traditional forms of our culture in the ceremonies that are being held,” said another royal invitee.
Wedding rituals in process. Picture courtesy: Facebook/Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar- The New scion Image Source
A special reception will be held on June 28th for all the invited guests from across the country. The youngest royal coupe will step out and meet and greet the people of Mysore on June 29th. The royal Wodeyar Palace in Bangalore too will host a reception on July 2.
Picture courtesy: Facebook/Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar- The New scion Image Source
There could not be a better Monday morning for India than today. India, the nation of 1.25 billion plus people, has formally joined an exclusive club of countries controlling exports in missile technology. This is even more important as China is trying its very best to become a member of MTCR for over a decade but has failed to attain so.
Hey, China! You better keep playing your little games and say no to our NSG membership, while we already reach where it matters more and keep you waiting!
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar (L) receives the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) membership papers. (PTI Photo)
S Jaishankar, Indian Foreign Secretary signed onto the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), aimed at preventing the unchecked proliferation of missiles and their delivery systems.
In a presser issued soon after signing the accession document in the presence of the ambassadors of France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the Ministry of Externa Affairs thanked the other 34 members of the MTCR group for supporting its inclusion.
“India’s entry into the regime as its thirty-fifth member would be mutually beneficial in the furtherance of international non-proliferation objectives,” the statement said.
India’s admission in the elite MTCR is the next step for India in legitimising its nuclear energy and missile programs, post 1998 atomic tests that alarmed the international community.
As per the MTCR principles, it restricts the proliferation of missiles, rocket systems, unmanned air vehicles, or drones, and the technology for systems capable of carrying a payload of 500 kilograms for at least 300 kilometers, as well as systems intended for the delivery of weapons of mass destruction.
India signed a landmark civil nuclear deal with US in 2008 when it was given some access to nuclear materials and technologies and since then, has been pushing for its inclusion in the various elite groups controlling export of nuclear materials and regulate technologies relating to conventional, nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
‘Freedom from sexual orientation to ensure social justice and a truly inclusive environment’ and revoking ‘Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code,’ was the theme and aim of Gurugram’s first LGBTQ pride parade that took place on June 25 at Leisure Valley park in Gurgaon.
“It’s a call for freedom from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation to ensure social justice and a truly inclusive environment that has no one left on the margins,” their Facebook page states.
It’s a celebration of an inclusive dialogue resting on a political stage that is built on the notion of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Intersexual Queer pride, a carnival of individual identities, human rights and a larger solidarity against 377.”
Participants lighting candles in memory of the queer community members who lost their lives in Orlando, Mexico and Bangladesh recently was the final activity to end the parade with.
