Varnapakitt-2019: Kerala to host India’s first-ever ‘trans art festival’

Agencies
September 20, 2019

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 20: Talented transgender members will soon get a platform to showcase their artistic and creative skills in Kerala, as the state government is gearing up to host an exclusive festival for the marginalised group next month.

The state Social Justice Department conceptualised the unique event as part of its various initiatives to support the TG community, make them part of the mainstream society and to promote their talents.

Titled "Varnapakitt-2019", the two-day event is considered to be the first such state-sponsored art festival to be organised exclusively for transgenders in the country.

According to authorities, the state-level festival is being organised as part of the transgender policy implemented by the government for the upliftment of the community.

The venue of the festival is expected to be the state capital and the official announcement of the dates are yet to come.

As part of the art festival, the Department also invited applications for cash awards from 10 transgenders who have proved their excellence in various social fields except cinema.

According to the Art Festival manual, released by the Department, any TG member aged 18 or above, who has the authentic identity card issued by the government, can take part in the festival.

Besides the performing art category including dance, music (both single and group), mono-act and mimicry, competitions will be held in story, poetry andessay writing, it said.

Transgender activist Sheethal Shyam hailed the government initiative and said it will be an exciting platform for the TGs to perform and show their talent to the world.

"It may be for the first time in the country that a state department is organising such an art festival for us.

There are several talented persons in our community who do not get a platform to perform and show their skills to the world because of the stigma attached to the gender," Sheethal, also an actor and dancer, told PTI.

Not just in the fields of art, there are several TGs who contribute and serve the society in different capacities but their services go unnoticed, the activist said.

"Many TGs are unsung heroes. Their services and talents go unnoticed. People are honoured in our state for fighting floods and came out of its hardships successfully.

But, our life is a fight everyday. But, no one recognises it," the activist said.

A member of the state Transgender Justice Board, Sheethal also said the art festival and the TG award are considered as a recognition to those who have fought several odds to express their gender.

Sharing her sentiments, Surya, another TG member, said the art festival and the TG award would be a motivation for their community members.

"It will help remove the stigma attached to the transgender community and motivate more people to come out revealing their gender," Surya told PTI.

Competitions are planned to be held in 20 categories and those who garner maximum points will be bestowed with 'Kalaratna' award, the festival manual said.

There won't be any separate competition for transman and transwoman, it added.

Kerala is the first state to unveil a 'Policy for Transgenders', in the country.

The government has introduced several innovative schemes ranging from 'transgender helpline', TG justice board and shelter homes.

As per the census conducted in Kerala during 2015-16, there are 1,187 third genders in the southern state.

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Agencies
June 8,2020

New Delhi, Jun 8: Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has said that CBSE board results can be declared by August 15. The results of both class 10 and 12 will be declared at an interval of just a few days.

However, the decision to open schools will be taken after August keeping in mind the current COVID-19 situation. At present, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has not set any date for reopening schools.

Nishank said during a discussion "We hope that the results of both 10th and 12th class will be declared by August 15. These include the results of previous exams and the results of examinations in July."

On the issue of reopening of schools, Nishank said "after August the process of opening schools will be started."

A final decision in this regard will be taken only after assessing the prevailing conditions. According to the HRD ministry, after August, new sessions will also start in universities.

Meanwhile, the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi has also written to the HRD ministry on the subject of reopening schools. Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia said in the letter, "Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said some time ago that we have to learn to live with coronavirus. So it would be better to open schools with proper safety measures."

Sisodia said that first of all, we have to assure every child that they are important to us. Everyone has equal rights over the physical and intellectual environment of his school. Education cannot progress beyond online classes only. It would be impossible to pursue education only by calling older children to school and keeping younger children at home.

Several private schools have also suggested measures to the HRD ministry to open schools and safety in schools during this period. However, the ministry is not in a hurry to reopen schools at present. According to senior officials of the ministry, at present, preparations are being made to conduct the remaining board exams of class 10 and 12 between July 1 and 15.

After the examinations, the first priority is to declare the results. Only then can the process of reopening school colleges begin.

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Agencies
February 10,2020

New Delhi, Feb 10: The government is set to privatise Central Electronics Ltd, a CPSE under the Department of Science and Technology, by selling its 100% stake with management control and has invited the Expression of Interest for the same by March 16.

The selected bidder will be required to lock in its shares for a period of three years during which it cannot undertake the sale of its stake in CEL, the PIM (Preliminary Information Memorandum) said.

"The government of India has 'in-principle' decided to disinvest 100 per cent of its equity shareholding in CEL (which is equivalent to 100 per cent of the total paid up equity share capital of CEL) through Strategic Disinvestment with transfer of management control (Strategic Disinvestment or Transaction)," DIPAM, the Disinvestment Department, said.

The process for the transaction has been divided into two stages, namely, Stage I and Stage II.

After BPCL and Air India, this is yet another CPSE which government is slated to privatise if it gets offers from bidders.

The government has set a challenging target of Rs 2.1 lakh crore disinvestment proceeds from CPSE sell-offs and IPOs, OFSs (Offer for sale) in the next fiscal and it going out all guns blazing to meet that target after revising this fiscal target of Rs 1.05 lakh crore to Rs 65,000 crore.

The Interested Bidders (which can also include employees of CEL) must have a minimum net worth of Rs 50 crore as on March 2019. DIPAM has released complete invitation Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) of CEL. Resurgent India Limited is the advisor to the Transaction.

CEL is a pioneer in the country in the field of Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) with the distinction of having developed India's first Solar cell in 1977 and first Solar panel in 1978 as well as commissioning India's first solar plant in 1992.

More recently, it has developed and manufactured the first crystalline flexible solar panel especially for use on the passenger train roofs in 2015.

Its solar products have been qualified to International Standards IEC 61215/61730. CEL is further working on development of a range of new and upgraded products for signaling and telecommunication in the railway sector.

In the SWOT analysis of the CPSE, DIPAM has stated under weakness that "the company has weak financial loss due to past losses, high manufacturing cost and non payment of dues by state nodal agencies affecting the financial position of the company".

The CPSE has adequate land for expansion, the SWOT analysis said adding "the CPSE faces threat of dumping of solar cells at very low rates which makes solar PV manufacturing industry unviable".

Entry of new players in the market for solar products and railway signalling systems also is cited as a threat.

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News Network
January 27,2020

New Delhi, Jan 27: The government on Monday issued the preliminary information memorandum for 100 per cent stake sale in national carrier Air India. As part of the strategic disinvestment, Air India would also sell 100 per cent stake in low cost airline Air India Express and 50 per cent shareholding in joint venture AISATS, as per the bid document issued on Monday.

Management control of the airline would also be transferred to the successful bidder.

The government has set March 17 as the deadline for submitting the Expression of Interest (EoI).

EY is the transaction adviser for Air India disinvestment process.

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