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The Ramon Magsaysay Award is one of Asia’s premier prizes and highest honors which celebrates greatness of spirit and transformative leadership in Asia. The Award is presented in formal ceremonies in Manila, Philippines on August 31st, the birth anniversary of the Philippine President whose ideals inspired the award’s creation in 1957. Ravish Kumar of NDTV was one of awardees in 2019 and was recognized for harnessing journalism to give voice to the voiceless.

Janaushadi Suvidha aims at provision of Oxo-biodegradable Sanitary Napkin, under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP). The affordable sanitary napkins (at Rs. 2.50 per pad) will be available at Janaushadhi Kendras. This will ensure ‘Swachhta, Swasthya and Suvidha’ for the underprivileged women of the country. PMBJP is a campaign launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses.

Sittwe is located at the mouth of the Kaladan river, which flows through Mizoram in north-eastern India.The proposal for the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project was conceived by India, primarily to provide an alternative route to India’s landlocked northeastern states. The only access to these seven states is through the Siliguri Corridor, a narrow strip of Indian territory wedged between Nepal and Bangladesh. The port is also expected to open up sea routes and promote economic development in the North-eastern states, and also add value to the economic, commercial and strategic ties between India and Myanmar.

The currency swap agreement is an important measure in improving the confidence in the Indian market and it would enable the agreed amount of capital being available to India. The purpose of engaging in a currency swap is usually to procure loans in foreign currency at more favorable interest rates than if borrowing directly in a foreign market. There are two main types of currency swaps. The fixed-for-fixed currency swap involves exchanging fixed interest payments in one currency for fixed interest payments in another. In the fixed-for-floating swap, fixed interest payments in one currency are exchanged for floating interest payments in another.

All India Institute of Ayurveda, an autonomous body under the Ministry of AYUSH, has been designated as National Pharmacovigilance Centre for coordinating various activities of the initiative. Representatives of Central Drug Standards Control Organisation as the national drug regulatory authority and the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission being the WHO Collaborating Centre for Pharmacovigilance in the country are associated in the initiative as mentor and guide.

The total number of members in the legislative council of a state shall not exceed one third of the total number of the members in the legislative Assembly of that state. Further, the total number of members in the legislative council of a state shall in no case be less than 40.
Under Article 169 of the constitution, Parliament may by law create or abolish the second chamber in a state if the Legislative Assembly of that state passes a resolution to that effect by a special majority.
In a legislative council, about 1/3rd of members are elected by members of the Assembly, another 1/3rd by electorates consisting of members of municipalities, district boards and other local authorities in the state, 1/12th by an electorate consisting of teachers, and 1/12th by registered graduates. Legislative Councils are permanent Houses, and like Rajya Sabha, one-third of their members retire every two years.

The gurdwara in Kartarpur stands on the bank of the Ravi, about 120 km northeast of Lahore. Indian Sikhs gather in large numbers for darshan from the Indian side, and binoculars are installed at Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak. Sikh jathas from India travel to Pakistan on four occasions every year — for Baisakhi, the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev, the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and the birthday of Guru Nanak Dev. Kartarpur corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district to the international border facilitates pilgrims from India to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur.

Bhakti saints’ writings speak to us about the social conditions prevailing at that time, and the position of women at home and in society. They all wrote small lyrics or poems of devotional fervour, metaphysical depth, and with a spirit of dedication and utmost sincerity. Behind their mysticism and metaphysics is a divine sadness. They turned every wound inflicted by life into a poem.

The cave-shrine at Elephanta is a great monument of the Rashtrakutas, which contains the famous Maheshmurti. The central face with a calm and dignified appearance shows him as the creator, the one on the left, with a severe look, portrays him as the destroyer and the third, to the right, with a calm and pacific expression.
The traditions of the marble sculpture of Gujarat in Western India are seen in the profusion of intricately carved sculptures which decorate the Jain temples at Mount Abu, Girnar and Palitana. The ceiling of the Dilwara temple, especially, is one of the world’s master-pieces of intricate sculptural carvings.