Harun Rashid Khan - Deputy governor of RBI

Harun Rashid Khan is new deputy governor of RBI

Harun Rashid Khan on Monday assumed charge as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India for a period of three years.

Mr. Khan replaces Shyamala Gopinath who retired last month, RBI said in a statement.

As one of the deputy governors of the apex bank, Mr. Khan will look after the Central Security Cell, Department of External Investments and Operations, Department of Government and Bank Accounts, Department of Payment and Settlement Systems, Foreign Exchange Department, Internal Debt Management Department and Inspection Department.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Khan was Executive Director of RBI.

He had served in that position since October 2007 and looked after the Department of External Investments and Operations, Foreign Exchange Department, Internal Debt Management Department and Department of Government and Bank Accounts.

He was earlier Regional Director of RBI’s New Delhi Office and and had also served as Principal of the College of Agricultural Banking in Pune.

With a career spanning over 32 years, Mr. Khan had worked in diverse fields of specialisation like rural credit, currency management, banking supervision and regulation, debt management, reserve management, exchange control, personnel administration and internal accounts.

Mr. Khan has also been associated with number of committees both within and outside the RBI, including Committee on Technology Exports, Committee on Ways and Means Advances to the State Governments, Working Group on Instruments of Sterilisation and International Task Force on Central Counter-parties.

He also chaired the internal group of RBI on Rural Credit and Microfinance.

Based on the recommendations of that committee, known as the Khan Committee, the RBI had issued guidelines to expand the banking outreach through business facilitators and business correspondents with information and communication technology support for spearheading financial inclusion in the country.

Khan was also earlier the nominee director of RBI on the boards of Dena Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Punjab and Sind Bank, Bank of Rajasthan and the Orissa State Finance Corporation.

The RBI has four deputy governors looking after various departments.

In his latest position, Mr. Khan joins Subir Gokarn, K.C. Chakrabarty and Anand Sinha who also serve as deputy governors of the central bank.

Rohinton Nariman - Solicitor General of India

Senior lawyer Rohinton Nariman was on Wednesday appointed the Solicitor General of India after the Appointments Committee of Cabinet approved his name, sources in the Law Ministry said.

Nariman, 54, son of eminent jurist Fali S Nariman, replaces Gopal Subramanium who resigned to protest Nariman’s appointment, without his knowledge, as special government counsel in a 2G spectrum allocation scam case.

Nariman has argued a number of constitutional and corporate cases in the Supreme Court and high courts. He, with senior advocate Harish Salve, argued for Mukesh Ambani’s RIL in the dispute over the supply and pricing of gas from KG basin between the Ambani brothers.

Nariman was designated a senior advocate at age 37 in 1993 when the then CJI M N Venkatachaliah amended the rules to reduce the limit of the minimum age of 45 years for designating a lawyer as a senior advocate.

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Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships 2011

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships 2011
1. Girija Devi  ( Classical singer,Padma Bhushan, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 1977)
2. N. Ramakrishna
3. R.F. Dagar
4. T.K. Murthy (born 13 August 1924 is an Indian mridangam player.)

Role of Media in a Democracy

Introduction


Democracy means "A system of government in which all the people of a country can vote to elect their representatives". Media came into existence in 1780 with the introduction of a newspaper namely "The Bengal Gazette" and since then it has matured leaps and bounds. It has been playing a very important role in shaping human minds.


Role of media


Media plays a crucial role in shaping a healthy democracy. It is the backbone of a democracy. Media makes us aware of various social, political and economical activities happening around the world. It is like a mirror, which shows us or strives to show us the bare truth and harsh realities of life.


The media has undoubtedly evolved and become more active over the years. It is the media only who reminds politicians about their unfulfilled promises at the time of elections. T.V news channels excessive coverage during elections helps people, especially illiterates, in electing the right person to the power. This reminder compels politicians to be upto their promises in order to remain in power.


Television and radio have made a significant achievement in educating rural illiterate masses in making them aware of all the events in their language. Coverage of exploitative malpractices of village heads and moneylenders has helped in taking stringent actions against them by attracting government's attention.


The media also exposes loopholes in the democratic system, which ultimately helps government in filling the vacuums of loopholes and making a system more accountable, responsive and citizen-friendly. A democracy without media is like a vehicle without wheels.


In the age of information technology we are bombarded with information. We get the pulse of the world events with just a click of a mouse. The flow of information has increased manifolds. The perfect blend of technology and human resources (journalist) has not left a single stone unturned in unearthing rampant corruption in politics and society. We all are well aware of what tehelka did. Thanks to technology that has brought a kind of revolution in journalism.


Impact of media


The impact of media is really noteworthy. Excessive coverage or hype of sensitive news has led to communal riots at times. The illiterates are more prone to provocations than the literates. Constant repetition of the news, especially sensational news, breeds apathy and insensitivity. For instance, In Dhananjoy Chatterjee case, the overloaded hype led to death of quite a few children who imitated the hanging procedure which was repeatedly shown in most of the T.V. news channels. There is a plethora of such negative impacts. Media should take utmost care in airing or publishing such sensational news.


Commercialization has created a stiff competition in media. In order to outdo each other print media has often gone one step further in publishing articles, cover stories, etc. on sex.
Media experts say this is one of the means of attracting readers who are glued to T.V. news channels, which have cropped up swiftly in a recent past and they believe this is a cheap form of journalism.


Conclusion

No one is perfect in this world and so is the media. Here I am not degrading the media, rather I would say there is still a lot of scope for improvement by which media can raise upto the aspirations of the people for which it is meant. I cannot think of a democracy without active and neutral media. Media is like a watchdog in a democracy that keeps government active. From being just an informer it has become an integral part of our daily lives. With the passage of time it has become a more matured and a more responsible entity. The present media revolution has helped people in making an informed decisions and this has led to beginning of a new era in a democracy.