2016 Pulitzer Prizes Announced

2016 Pulitzer Prizes Announced 

The 2016 Pulitzer Prizes were announced on 18th April in the US. It is an award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States.

It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of American (Hungarian-born) Joseph Pulitzer who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher, and is administered by Columbia University in New York City.


The prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. In this award, twenty of the categories, each winner receives a certificate and a US$10,000 cash award and the one winner in the public service category of the journalism competition is awarded a gold medal.


Here is the list of some winners.

Breaking News Reporting – Los Angeles Times Staff

Investigative Reporting – Leonora LaPeter Anton and Anthony Cormier of the Tampa Bay Times and Michael Braga of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Explanatory Reporting – T. Christian Miller of ProPublica and Ken Armstrong of The Marshall Project

Local Reporting – Michael LaForgia, Cara Fitzpatrick and Lisa Gartner of the Tampa Bay Times.

National Reporting – The Washington Post Staff

International Reporting – Alissa J. Rubin of The New York Times

Feature Writing – Kathryn Schulz of The New Yorker

Commentary – Farah Stockman of The Boston Globe

Criticism – Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker

Editorial Writing – John Hackworth of Sun Newspapers, Charlotte Harbor, FL

Editorial Cartooning – Jack Ohman The Sacramento Bee

Breaking News Photography – Mauricio Lima, Sergey Ponomarev, Tyler Hicks and Daniel Etter of The New York Times and Photography Staff of Thomson Reuters.

Feature Photography – Jessica Rinaldi of The Boston Globe

Fiction – The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Grove Press)Drama – Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda

History – Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America by T.J. Stiles (Alfred A. Knopf)

Biography – Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan (Penguin Press)

Poetry – Ozone Journal by Peter Balakian (University of  Chicago Press)

Nonfiction – Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS by Joby Warrick (Doubleday)

Music – In for a Penny, In for a Pound by Henry Threadgill (Pi Recordings)

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Impact of Non Performing Assets

1. What is the impact of Non Performing Assets (NPA) in the banking sector on the over all economy? What has union budget done to resolve this issue?

The NPA in the public sector banks is estimated to be at little over 6%. 11 public sector banks have declared losses after a long time  due to NPAs. The problem has substantially increased in the post crisis period.
NPA impact on the overall economy will be as follows –
1. Restrictions on the investment
2. Growth recovery is obstructed
3. Loans to the agricultural sector will decrease
4. Repo rate reduction does not result in reviving the investment cycle
5. There will be high inflation and large fiscal deficits (IMF)
The measures under taken by the 2016 budget to handle this twin balance sheet problem are –
1. Allocation of 25,000 crore as part of the recapitalisation process , if needed more will be allocated. ( it is a direct measure)
2. introduction of a comprehensive code of resolution of financial firms
3. Amendments in SARFAESI (The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest)Act 2002 to enable the sponsor of an ARC(Asset Reconstruction Company) to hold up to 100% stake in the ARC and permit non institutional investors to invest in securitization Receipts.
4. Amendment to the Debt Recovery Tribunal law and making them functioning online
5. Introduction of comprehensive central legislation to deal with the menace of illicit deposit taking schemes
6. Increasing members and benches of the securities appellate tribunal
7. Increasing the amount sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana
These measures would help the credit flow and remove credit constraints for real sector. In addition, there is also a need for -
a. Implementing the PJ Nayak Committee recommendations on the Review of Governance of Boards of Banks in India.
b. Continuing the fiscal consolidation measures
c. Banks have to adjust the liquidity to their assets

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Mini Moon

The moon will appear to be smaller in size on full moon day on Thursday, a phenomenon known as 'Mini Moon' which will recur only after 15 years.

On Thursday at 9.35pm IST, the moon will be close to its apogee - the farthest point in its orbit around the earth which is a distance of around 406,350 km from the earth.
On an average the moon is 384,000 km away from the earth.

"When the full moon happens tomorrow it will still be very close to its farthest point from the earth. So it will be smaller than an average full moon," Debiprosad Duari, Director of M P Birla Planetarium, Kolkata, told PTI on Wednesday

Sky-gazers in India will however not be able to see the 'Mini Moon' at its precise apogee, which will happen at 10.55am on Thursday, due to the presence of daylight.

However, at night the view of the 'Mini Moon' will only be a shade lighter, he said.

The next time when the moon will be farther than tomorrow will be on December 10, 2030, he said.

The colour of the celestial body will be its usual silvery pearl and not any shade of pink or green as was being rumored over the Internet, Duari said.

Compared to a super-moon, a phenomenon when the moon is nearest to the earth, the mini moon will be 14 percent smaller in size.

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Who Was/Is Dr. B. R. Ambedkar?

He is beyond slayer, prophet, a revolutionary or a dalit icon.
Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) was conceptualized by the guidelines from his book "Problem of Rupee; its origin and its solutions''.
Established finance commission of india.
To empower women at that time, presented Hindu Code Bill in parliament but it was opposed by almost every male member of parliament (including Nehru and Sardar Patel). If passed, it would have ended Sati Pratha, Dowry system in 1951 only. After the bill lapsed, he resigned. (the draft also included divorce rights to women, portions of inheritance to daughters, while giving widows complete property rights.)
"I Measure progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved."
As Labour Minister in the Viceroy’s Council, he successfully led the struggle for reduction of work from 12 hours a day to 8 hours in 1942. He contributed the idea of setting up of Employment Exchanges in India.
He was almost single handedly responsible for establishing the Central Technical Power Board, the National Power Grid System and the Central Water Irrigation and Navigation Commission.
Rejected to draft article 370.
He proved the importance of price stability than exchange stability. He analysed the silver and gold rate exchange and its effect on Indian economy.
He contributed in Land Revenue Tax and excise duty policies to stabilize Indian economy.
He played an important role in the land reform and the state economic development.
According to him Hindu caste system, divided labours, was one of the hurdles for the economic progress. He emphasized on free economy with stable rupee which India has adopted recently.
He advocated the birth control rate to develop the Indian economy. This policy has been adopted by Indian government as national policy for family planning.
He emphasized on equal rights to women for economic development.
He laid the foundation of industrial relations after Indian independence.
"Dr. Ambedkar is my father in economics/ He is true celebrated champion of the underprivileged. He deserves more than what he achieved today. his contribution in economics is marvelous and will be remembered forever...."
-Amartya Sen | Nobel for economics
The Slogan Educate, Unite, Agitate.
ANNIVERSARIES are usually moments of stock taking, assessing achievements and failures. In the case of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, such an exercise would be both presumptuous and foolish. With many great leaders, we assess how they measure up to standards and ideals of a civilization. In Ambedkar’s case, the reverse is true. He is the yardstick to which a whole civilization must measure up.
We don’t judge him by our ideals; he should be the ideal by which we judge ourselves. In engaging with Ambedkar, the question is not of assessing him; it is of assessing ourselves, and trying to understand why we continue to avoid confronting his bracing call to justice, his advocacy of reason, the depth of his institutional imagination. He is the mirror in which we dare not look at ourselves; his presence is a constant reminder of our bad conscience and bad faith.

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