World This Week: Indian wins 2014 Waislitz Global Award
A young Indian, Anoop Jain won the 2014 Waislitz Global Citizen Award on October 8 for his exemplified values of a global citizen through his work in founding Humanure Power in Bihar 2011 that build community sanitation facilities in rural India.
The award also carries a cash prize of USD 100,000 recognition to the work. Jain was chosen the winner after getting the maximum votes by people across the world. He was among the four finalists for the award which is based on individual merit in four key areas of global citizenship, impact, innovation, and potential.
Among the four finalists was another Indian Swapnil Chaturvedi, founder of ‘Samagra Sanitation’ focused on providing sanitation services to the urban poor in India. Humanure Power deals with the problem of open defecation, which is a big problem in India. Around 650 million Indians defecate outside daily. Humanure Power has already seen over 17,000 users, while hygienically disposing of eight tonnes of human excreta.
Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP) Global Convenor Vijay Jolly congratulated the BJP- led Narendra Modi government for granting life time Indian visa's to PIO's (People of Indian Origin). Narendra Modi in his Madison Square Garden (MSG) address in USA on 28th September 2014 had promised to do so and within 48 hours later the Government of India in its gazette notification dated September 30 announced the implementation of the scheme stated OFBJP Convenor Jolly. It is miraculous, speedy and heartwarming said Jolly.
PIO cards valid for life time of cardholders and now not to report to local Police Stations even if their visit exceeds 180 days shall benefit millions of Indians worldwide. This shall avoid unnecessary hardships to PIOs claimed OFBJP leader Jolly. OFBJP also welcomes Modi’s announcement at MSG- Modi said PIO scheme shall be merged with OCI (Overseas Citizens of India) scheme. And US citizens shall enjoy new visa rights i.e 10 years India visa. The attempt is aimed at strengthening Indo-US business relations.
Professor Kailath wins US award for science
79-year old Indian-American Stanford University Professor Thomas Kailath is among 10 innovators to receive US National Medal of Science announced by President Barack Obama for their contribution to the field of science. Padma Bhushan recipient Kailath will receive the United States’ highest honour for achievement and leadership in advancing the fields of science at a White House ceremony later this year. The award recognises individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering. He becomes the sixth person of Indian origin to receive the award.
Being the first India-born student to receive a doctorate in electrical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he joined Stanford University as Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering in 1963 and was promoted to Professor in 1968, and was appointed the first holder of the Hitachi America Professorship in 1988.
Indians will travel to UK and Ireland on single visa
Indians will be able to travel to Ireland and United Kingdom on a single visa by December 2014. On October 6, Britain and Ireland inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on visa cooperation to allow Indian and Chinese visitors to travel to the two nations on a single visa. The scheme will start in China by the end of October.
India and China are the key markets for the British and Irish tourism, and it is expected that more than 10,000 visitors will use the program. The MoU was signed between Home secretary Theresa May and the Republic of Ireland to strengthen the common travel area.
The landmark visa deal will help Britain and Ireland share data and exchange information to inform and determine immigration decisions, and it will allow visitors from India and China to travel more easily between the two countries, the British Home Office said in a statement.
Skype to ban calls within India
It comes like a big blow for thousands of Skype lovers when they got to know that Skype has banned calls within India. Skype has announced that it will no longer permit calls to mobiles and landlines as of November 10. The ban applies only to calls within India, so anybody can still make or receive Skype calls to speak to users outside India. The company has not revealed the reason behind it. As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), messaging apps such as Skype and Viber that offer free calls and messages have been eating into the revenues of telecom operators.
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