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National Statistics Day Theme, History, Significance, Quotes and More

By
Ravindar Nagar
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Every year on June 29th, India celebrates National Statistics Day. This day recognizes the crucial role statistics play in shaping the nation’s development and pays homage to the legendary statistician Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, fondly known as P.C. Mahalanobis.

A Look Back: The Origin Story

The Government of India established National Statistics Day in 2007, choosing Mahalanobis’s birthday for its significance. P.C. Mahalanobis was a pioneer in Indian statistics. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in 1931, which has become a premier institute for statistical research and training. His contributions extended far beyond academia. He played a pivotal role in crafting India’s industrialization plans and the second Five-Year Plan.

Theme for 2024: Data for Decision Making

Each year, National Statistics Day carries a specific theme. The theme for 2024 was “Use of Data for Decision Making.” This theme highlights the importance of leveraging data to make informed choices, not just in government policies but across various sectors.

Significance of National Statistics Day

National Statistics Day serves several purposes:

  • Raises Public Awareness: It educates the public about the importance of statistics in everyday life. From weather forecasts to public health initiatives, statistics play a crucial role in understanding the world around us.
  • Encourages Data-Driven Decisions: The day emphasizes the need for accurate data collection and analysis to formulate effective policies and solutions.
  • Honors Statistical Contributions: It recognizes the invaluable contributions of statisticians like P.C. Mahalanobis and inspires future generations to pursue careers in this vital field.

Quotes to Celebrate Statistics

  • “Figures don’t lie, but liars figure.” – Charles W. Lyman
  • “In God we trust. All others must bring data.” – W. Edwards Deming
  • “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” – Benjamin Disraeli (This quote highlights the importance of using statistics responsibly and critically)

National Statistics Day: A Celebration of Data

National Statistics Day is a reminder that data is a powerful tool. By harnessing its potential, we can make informed decisions, build a better future, and ensure a legacy of statistical excellence, just like P.C. Mahalanobis envisioned.

PT Usha: A small town kid who dreamed big & struggled hard to become an athelete

By
EBNW Story
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Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha, popularly known as PT brings a surge of pride among Indians as she was the toast of Indian athletics throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Her spectacular performance in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics where she became the first Indian to reach the finals of the 400m hurdles, but lost the bronze by one-hundredth of a second, remains a shocking instant in many minds till date.

It being a stupendous achievement for an Indian, and a woman, in those days, many newborns were named after her in the country.

However, not many know that Usha’s life was not rosy enough and had many struggles. 

She hailed from a small village, Payyoli, in Kerala’s Kozhikode district where she battled constant sickness as a child. However,  her coach, OM Nambiar, has been instrumental in Usha’s rise to success, and she credits for her tenacity on the track.

On her birthday today, we pay tribute to the woman and athlete who has done us all proud with her numerous achievements and inspires and trains athletes at Usha School in Kozhikode, Kerala.

These are 10 ways in which the athlete inspires us with her life story and mission.

  • Usha, a small town girl with big dreams was troubled by illnesses as a child. However, she was noticed in school when she was Class IV student and was asked to run with the school champion (who was in Grade VII). She stood first, and the rest is history.
  • Her parents, Paithel and Lakshmi, were ignorant of athletics. However, her uncle asked her to pursue the sport as she could then get a job as a sports instructor. But PT Usha just ran way into the record books. She participated in the National Pakistan Games at Karachi in 1980 where she won the 100m and 200m. By then, OM Nambiar spotted her talent and took on the role of a personal coach.
  • She participated in the Moscow Olympics as the youngest athlete and then bagged two silver medals at the Asiad held in New Delhi in 1982.
  • The 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles Usha lost the bronze medal by one-hundredth of a second. 
  • At the 1985 Asian Championships in Jakarta, she won five gold medals while she won four gold medals at the 1986 Asian Games.
  • She was called as Payyoli Express and a road in Kochi was named after her, and so were many newborns.
  • In 1991, she married N Srinivasan, a CISF inspector, and subsequently settled down to family life. The couple has a son, Ujjwal.
  • Usha, by end of her career, had won 101 international medals. She is now employed as an officer in the Southern Railways.
  • Usha also started the Usha School of Athletics in Kozhikode district in Kerala, an organisation dedicated to advancing promotion and practice of sports with state-of-the-art facilities.

Leather Embroidery of Rajasthan: Shop till you drop for colourful Mojdi & bags

By
EBNW Story
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0

Rajasthani Leather embroidery, made on leather products, can be found of appealing colourful Mojdis and bags which make a style statement for fashionistas. 

These leather products are obtained from camel as it is one animal mostly found in Rajasthan and hence its leather is used for making these products.

leather mojari shoes
leather mojari shoes (Image – Shailka)

“Mojdis”, a type of colourful shoes made from leather, have beautiful  embroidery done over them. Also, embroidered leather bags are pretty and can be found in abundance in local markets. 

Other leather products with rich embroidery on them are bracelets, hats, jewellery boxes, belts, wallets etc. 

These products gel with western wears too and can also be excellent souvenir gifts to take home.

Especially skilled craftsmen are required for these embroideries.

Earlier, most of the embroidery was handcrafted, but these days, machine embroidered products are used at a larger scale to increase the availability of embroidered products in the market. 

Sam Manekshaw death anniversary: Know rare facts about the first Indian Army officer to be promoted as Field Marshal

By
EBNW Story
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Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw death anniversary is observed on June 27 as he passed away on this date in the year 2008. Being the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of field marshal, his active military career spanned four decades and five wars beginning with service in the British Indian Army in World War II.

Manekshaw served as the Chief of the Army Staff during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War. Also, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan too.

Let’s share a few interesting facts about Sam Manekshaw:

Widely known as Sam Bahadur and Sam of the Brave, he was born on April 3, 1914, in Amritsar, Punjab.

Initially, he wanted to study medicine and become a doctor like his father.

However, he enrolled in the Indian Military Academy aiming at rebel ling against his father who did not send him to London to study.

Manekshaw was selected in the first batch of cadets called “The Pioneers”.

He achieved a number of firsts such as being the first graduate to join one of the Gorkha regiments, first to serve as the Chief of the Army Staff of India and first to attain the rank of field marshal.

Manekshaw married Siloo Bode on April 22, 1939, in Bombay and the two have two daughters, Sherry and Maya born in 1940 and 1945 respectively.

Manekshaw passed away to complications from pneumonia at the Military Hospital in Wellington, Tamil Nadu, at 12:30 am on June 27, 2008, at the age of 94.

Rajasthan: Shekhawati region and the Silk Road connection

By
EBNW Story
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Rajasthan’s Shekhawati region and the Silk Road, which once linked the modern-day India, Pakistan and China, are connected since ages and speak the story of splendour reflecting through its havelis which depict varying themes using natural hues

Shekhawati region, in fact, is situated in middle of this Silk Route.

The local traders, called as marwaris, built the havelis as public show of their wealth which depicted millions of themes, including Gods and Goddesses, folk mythology, daily lives of locals and advent of British rule too.

Each haveli bespeaks a story of splendour and has its own story to tell. 

The frescoes in these buildings are made with natural colour using ochre, red, white lead, lamp black and Indian yellow. 

Mandawa and Nawalgarh towns in this region have the largest concentration of havelis. 

The art is mesmerising and indicates at a time long gone by. These frescoes are not along the usual tourist path but once there, it will be worth every minute of your time.

Delta Plus Variant: 48 cases found in India

By
EBNW Story
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0

Delta Plus Variant (AY.1) in India: A total of 48 cases have been found from 45,000 samples sequenced (including
retrospective samples) in different states of India. The segregation is as follows:

State (10)Total cases
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Punjab
Gujarat
Kerala
AP
Tamil Nadu
Orissa 01
Rajasthan 01
Jammu 01
Karnataka 01
Total		07
20
02
02
03
01
09
01
01
01
01
48

Jamsetji Tata is the world’s top philanthropist of last century

By
EBNW Story
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0

Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, the founder of Tata Group, stands on top of the list of EdelGive Hurun Philanthropists of Century as he made an estimated donation of $102.4 billion in health and education sector.

Total philanthropic value of Tata makes to 66 percent of Tata Sons which is estimated at $100 billion.

The present philanthropic activities of the Tata Group are being headed and overseen by Emeritus Chairman Ratan Tata.

Who was Jamsetji Tata?

Jamsetji Tata was founder of Tata Iron and Steel Works Company (TISCO) in Jamshedpur which is presently called as Tata Steel. Jamsetji Tata passed away in 1904, but Tata Steel continues operating across 26 countries and has about 80,500 employees. Regarded as the “Father of Indian Industry”, he was so influential across the world of industry that Jawaharlal Nehru referred him as “One-Man Planning Commission”.

Tata Group

Known as the Indian public multinational conglomerate that manufacture automobiles, airplanes and other products, it is headquartered in Mumbai and was founded in 1868.

International Day against Drug Abuse 2021: COVID pandemic fuelling major increase in drug use

By
EBNW Story
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0

International Day against Drug Abuse 2021: International Day against Drug Abuse is celebrated each year on June 26 to help raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society.

A day ahead of the International Day against Drug Abuse 2021, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released the 2021 World Drug Report annual report which said that around 275 million people used drugs worldwide in the last year of unprecedented upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, up by 22 per cent from 2010. 

That’s among the key findings of the latest annual report, which also provides an overview of global drug markets, as well as their impact on people’s health and livelihoods.

It says that cannabis potency has quadrupled in some parts of the world over the last two decades, while the percentage of adolescents who perceived the drug as harmful fell by as much as 40 per cent.

The 2021 theme of the UNODC-led campaign is “Share facts on drugs, save lives” to achieve a world free of drug abuse.

Socioeconomic impact

Mental health conditions are on the rise worldwide which can spur a rise in drug use disorders.

Moreover, changes have already been observed in drug use patterns during the pandemic, including increases in the use of cannabis and the non-medical use of pharmaceutical sedatives.

Business as usual

The Report reveals that access to drugs has become simpler than ever with online sales, and major drug markets on the dark web are now worth some $315 million annually.

Positive trends

A rise in the use of technology during the pandemic has triggered innovation in drug prevention and treatment services, through more flexible models of service delivery such as telemedicine, enabling healthcare professionals to reach and treat more patients.

Key numbers

Between 2010-2019 the number of people using drugs increased by 22 per cent, due to increase in the global population.

Roughly 200 million people used cannabis in 2019 representing 4 per cent of the global population.

The number of cannabis users has increased by nearly 18 per cent over the past decade.

An estimated 20 million people used cocaine in 2019, corresponding to 0.4 per cent of the global population.

Roughly 50,000 people died from opioid overdoses in the United States in 2019, more than double the 2010 figure.

Fentanyl and its analogues now are involved in most of the deaths..

The number of new psychoactive substances (NPS) found at global level has been stabilizing in recent years at slightly more than 500 substances (541 in 2019) while the actual number of NPS identified for the first time at global level declined from 213 to 71 between 2013 and 2019.

India is 5th largest FDI recipient in 2020, says UN Report

By
EBNW Story
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0

India received USD 64 billion in foreign direct investments (FDI) in 2020 and has emerged as the fifth largest recipient of FDI inflows across the world, says the UN report.

World Investment Report 2021

“World Investment Report 2021” was released by UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). As per the report, global FDI flows have been severely hit by covid-19 pandemic. FDI flow have decreased by 35 per cent in 2020 to USD 1 trillion from USD 1.5 trillion in 2019. Lockdowns across the world have slowed down existing investment projects, and prospects of multinational enterprises (MNEs) to start new projects.

Study on India

According to report, FDI has increased by 27 per cent to USD 64 billion in 2020 by acquisitions in information and communication technology (ICT) industry. Pandemic has also increased demand of digital infrastructure and services globally. It has led to higher values of greenfield FDI project in ICT industry and has increased by more than 22 per cent.  Report highlights, second wave of COVID-19 India have impacted country’s overall economic activities. 

India has been ranked 18 among world’s top 20 economies for FDI outflows. Report further highlights, Investments from India will stabilise in 2021, with the support of country’s resumption of free trade agreement (FTA) talks with European Union (EU) and its strong investment in Africa.

Tamil Nadu’s economic advisory council: Raghuram Rajan & other economic experts appointed members

By
EBNW Story
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The Tamil Nadu government has decided to constitute an “Economic advisory council to the chief minister in which leading economic experts from across the world including former Governor of RBI Raghuram Rajan are its members.

This advisory council will comprise of leading economic experts from across the world as its members. Its members include Nobel laureate Esther Duflo of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in USA, former Reserve Bank of India governor, Raghuram Rajan, former chief economic advisor to central government, Dr Arvind Subramanian, Development economist, Jean Dreze and former Union finance secretary Dr S Narayan.

On the basis of recommendations of this council, government will revitalise economy in the state and ensure that benefits of economic growth reach all segments of society.

In fact, other than this council, PMEAC is another body which functions as a non-constitutional, non-permanent and independent body which have been constituted to provide economic advice to Government, specifically Prime Minister. It serves to highlight key economic issues that country faces such as inflation, microfinance, and industrial output. Council has been constituted several times since independence. Recently, Prime minister Modi revived the council in 2017. Presently, Bibek Debroy is the acting chairman of PMEAC. NITI Aayog serves as the Nodal Agency for PMEAC for administrative, logistic, planning and budgeting purposes.

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