The Competition Master

Limca record holder Chikka Bhanu Prakash hoping for Guinness World Record

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKovVW3s2tiw-e2BYT8eh7A0skYNp76EqRzoLXs1-yKqoKeM5Xev_VF9wjc71RhroMASG5MlGrJiSeUOmUTDOGM7kNmBN0Sz4cXqBO5mCfDTqRg78AzR3KfJAXCL8-kFqGO3rEJcc2AE/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKovVW3s2tiw-e2BYT8eh7A0skYNp76EqRzoLXs1-yKqoKeM5Xev_VF9wjc71RhroMASG5MlGrJiSeUOmUTDOGM7kNmBN0Sz4cXqBO5mCfDTqRg78AzR3KfJAXCL8-kFqGO3rEJcc2AE/s1600/images.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="articleLead" style="text-align: justify;"> <br />
</div><div> </div><div class="body" style="text-align: justify;"> The string broke off and the first attempt went wrong. Though visibly  nervous, the 26-year-old marshalled his resolve and with his thumb nail  tried again, pulling off a feat which he hopes would fetch him a  Guinness World Record. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="body" style="text-align: justify;"> Chikka Bhanu Prakash, a software engineer on Sunday afternoon lifted  8.668 kgs weight with his left thumb nail and the effort would be sent  to the Guinness World Record for appropriate documentation. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="body" style="text-align: justify;"> According to Prakash, the ‘Heaviest Weight Lifted By Fingernail' was in  the open record category with Guinness Records and it meant there was no  previous record documented. “I will be sending this record for  documentation and hope it will be accepted,” said the MCA graduate  presently employed with Innobox Systems. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="body" style="text-align: justify;"> V. Sreenathachary, a triple Guinness World Record holder himself, acted  as witness and guided the event to ensure all the prescribed steps were  in place for making the claim. “In this category, the weight should be  lifted using nail at least to 10 cms from ground and held thus for five  seconds,” he said. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="body" style="text-align: justify;"> Today at the event organised by the Greater Hyderabad Padmashali  Sangham, Prakash who hails from Jablekpally village of Bhudan  Pochampally, lifted 8.688 kgs weight till 26 cms from the ground and  held it for 28 seconds. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="body" style="text-align: justify;"> “This is a record and with appropriate documentation, the effort will be  forwarded for consideration,” Dr. Sreenathachary said. For the purpose  of creating a record, a hole was drilled into the thumb nail and a  string was used to tie the weights and lift them. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="body" style="text-align: justify;"> Born in a weaver's family, Prakash had already made it to the Limca  Records for his work in nail art and also tried his nail for lifting  weights at his native Bhudan Pochampally and also in Jaipur once. “But  today, I followed the guidelines for an entry into Guinness Records and  feel elated at having succeeded,” he added. </div></div>

Limca record holder Chikka Bhanu Prakash hoping for Guinness World Record

The string broke off and the first attempt went wrong. Though visibly nervous, the 26-year-old marshalled his resolve and with his thum...

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Spanish conservatives party win general elections

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78Boqyk55q_wqUCGvfwijglZ2wt48pn1_qD-tD69aUGieqYVoZTWlDoLMbJUM2fEQVAo-wODQSBiEpLG-1cJSeGuJ214EN0TtCO382ns39JjMsxeafSmTy8Iq3KbpCEaRngnPS0dQNo0/s1600/4693238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78Boqyk55q_wqUCGvfwijglZ2wt48pn1_qD-tD69aUGieqYVoZTWlDoLMbJUM2fEQVAo-wODQSBiEpLG-1cJSeGuJ214EN0TtCO382ns39JjMsxeafSmTy8Iq3KbpCEaRngnPS0dQNo0/s320/4693238.jpg" width="231" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Spain's opposition conservatives swept commandingly into power and into the hot seat Sunday as voters enduring a 21.5 percent jobless rate and stagnant economy dumped the Socialists the third time in as many weeks Europe's debt crisis has claimed a government.<br />
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As thousands of jubilant, cheering supporters waving red-and-yellow Spanish flags and blue-and-white party ones gathered outside Popular Party headquarters, their leader and future Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy thanked Spaniards for their support, then sounded a somber note of warning.<br />
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"It is no secret to anyone that we are going to rule in the most delicate circumstances Spain has faced in 30 years," he said. "For me, there will be no enemies but unemployment, the deficit, excessive debt, economic stagnation and anything else that keeps our country in these critical circumstances."<br />
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Other than promise tax cuts for small- and medium-size companies that make up more than 90 percent of all firms in Spain, the 56-year-old Rajoy has not specified how he will tackle Spain's unemployment nightmare.<br />
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Rajoy faces the towering task of restoring investor confidence and lowering Spain's soaring borrowing costs with deficit-reducing measures, while not dragging an already moribund economy into a double-dip recession. It only just climbed out of one last year that was prompted by the bursting of a real estate bubble.<br />
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With 97 percent of the votes from the election counted, the Popular Party won 186 seats compared to 154 in the last legislature. The Socialists plummeted from 169 to 110, their worst performance ever.<br />
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The PP thus won an absolute majority and resounding mandate from a deeply troubled electorate. It needed 176 votes for such a cushion in the lower chamber of Parliament, the main one.<br />
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Rajoy said he has not promised miracles and there will be none, but that the PP has shown in the past it ruled from 1996 to 2004 and got Spain into the euro along the way it gets things done. He appealed to Spaniards to join together and resurrect the economy.<br />
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"We stand before one of those crossroads that will determine the future of our country, not just in the next few years but for decades," said Rajoy, loser of the previous two elections.<br />
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Earlier, as he waited for Rajoy to speak, one supporter, David Cordero, said he was happy with the prospect of change so as to create jobs and protect social services like state-paid health care and education.<br />
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"This is what this country needs right now," he said.<br />
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The conservatives won roughly 45 percent of the votes and the Socialists took 29 percent, according to official election results. In the last elections in 2008, the latter won by about 4 points.<br />
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The new numbers show Spanish voters have shifted decidedly to the right as they confront their worst economic crisis in decades and choose new leaders to pull them out of it.<br />
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As part of that mess, the country is also at the forefront of Europe's sovereign debt crisis, with the Spanish government's borrowing costs rising last week to levels near where other eurozone countries such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal had to request huge bailouts from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.<br />
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Besides the recent changes in which Greece and Italy replaced their governments with teams made up of technocrats, Ireland and Portugal which also required huge bailouts to avert default also saw their governments change hands.<br />
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Spanish Socialist party candidate Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba conceded defeat. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose popularity plummeted as the crisis deepened and enacted austerity measures that doomed him among supporters, did not seek a third term in office, or speak publicly Sunday night.<br />
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But Perez Rubalcaba said his party would fight to protect the welfare state from social spending cuts that Rajoy will almost certainly make to meet EU-mandated deficit reduction cuts his party has pledged to fulfill.<br />
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In the Senate, with 58 percent of the votes counted, it was 134 for the PP and 50 for the Socialists. Another few dozens seats in that chamber are not elected directly.<br />
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One surprise outside the economic realm is that a new pro-independence Basque coalition called Amaiur won seven seats and now outnumbers the region's traditionally strongest party, the moderate Basque Nationalist Party, with five.<br />
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This comes about a month after the armed Basque separatist group ETA declared an end to its armed campaign, saying it would seek independence through strictly peaceful means. </span></div></div>

Spanish conservatives party win general elections

Spain's opposition conservatives swept commandingly into power and into the hot seat Sunday as voters enduring a 21.5 percent jobless ra...

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Now IFFI to have section on 3D movies

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxCYOjXZyiAjqsDNoxV1QJbnhh5xg__vNPq0PLbsQYdpDpk49AxA92bZSzHoWzflKNcyOrYx-JnFgQuYY87bnfzn48GfRhzWuB-VUhmt1qwXIK3Xbj_HqOEDpU_C-louzGA9IR_S9s6E/s1600/IFFI_B_13_11_2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxCYOjXZyiAjqsDNoxV1QJbnhh5xg__vNPq0PLbsQYdpDpk49AxA92bZSzHoWzflKNcyOrYx-JnFgQuYY87bnfzn48GfRhzWuB-VUhmt1qwXIK3Xbj_HqOEDpU_C-louzGA9IR_S9s6E/s1600/IFFI_B_13_11_2011.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Giving a new technology boost to this year's festival, the 42nd International Film Festival of India will showcase 3D stereoscopic movies which are chosen not only for their content but also for the excellence in handling the medium.<br />
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The section which brings together 3D cinema classics from across the world includes movies like 'The Cave of Forgotten Dreams' directed by Werner Herzog, 'Pina' from Germany directed by Wim Wenders, 'Hara Kiri: The Death of Samurai' (Japan) directed by Takashi Miike and 'Toomelah' (Australia) directed by Ivan Sen.<br />
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At the other extreme of the festival is the old world charm of classic films from Soviet Russia. Archival prints provided by the 'Mos Film Cinema Concern', the largest and oldest film company in Russia and Europe whose output includes most of the widely-acclaimed Soviet films, ranging from the works by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein, form a part of this specially curated package.<br />
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The films which will be showcased as part of the 'Russian Classics' section include 'Uncle Vanya' directed by Andrei Mikhalov-Kochalovsky, 'The Mirror' directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, 'Go And Look' directed by Elim Klimov and 'The Day of the Full Moon' directed by Karen Shaknazarov.<br />
</div></div>

Now IFFI to have section on 3D movies

Giving a new technology boost to this year's festival, the 42nd International Film Festival of India will showcase 3D stereoscopic movie...

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Karnataka opts out of 2012 medical entrance test

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Karnataka  has decided to remain out of the all-India common entrance examination  to be conducted by the Medical Council of India (MCI) in 2012.</span></span></li>
</ul><div> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Stating  that the State syllabus is not on a par with that of the Central Board  of Secondary Education (CBSE), Higher Education Minister V S Acharya  said making the students appear for the National Eligibility cum  Entrance Test (NEET) would be unfair as they were not equipped to face  such examinations.</span></span></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">In  2012, the State will bring the syllabus of the first year Pre-University  Course (PUC) on a par with that of the CBSE. And in the subsequent  year, the II year PU syllabus will be revised. By 2014, Karnataka will  join the NEET</span></span></li>
</ul></div>

Karnataka opts out of 2012 medical entrance test

Karnataka has decided to remain out of the all-India common entrance examination to be conducted by the Medical Council of India (MCI) in ...

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Singapore PM backs India for permanent UN seat

Singapore PM backs India for permanent UN seat

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pitched for its permanent membership of an expanded UN Security Council

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Palestinian president to seek unity government deal with Hamas

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="4759" style="display: block;">                                          <ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The  Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, will meet the Hamas leader, Khaled  Mashal, in Cairo to agree details of a new unity government, hoping to  close a six-year schism between the political factions that has  separated the West Bank from Gaza.</span></span><br />
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<li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The meeting is scheduled to take place in Cairo.</span></span><br />
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<li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Israel  and the United States greeted news of the meeting with trepidation.  Israel has warned that an agreement with Hamas would have grave  consequences for its relations with the Palestinian Authority, both in  terms of security and the transferral of funds.</span></span><br />
</li>
</ul></div></div>

Palestinian president to seek unity government deal with Hamas

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, will meet the Hamas leader, Khaled Mashal, in Cairo t...

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Honour for Nehru is honour for India

Honour for Nehru is honour for India

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Singapore's decision to honour India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru with a bronze bust...

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India, China Annual Defence Dialogue in december

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">India  and China will hold their Annual Defence Dialogue (ADD) here starting  December 9 during which they will discuss resumption of joint Army  exercises and border issues between the two sides.</span></span></div></li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The ADD will be held  in Delhi.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The last round of Sino-Indian defence dialogue had taken place in Beijing in January 2010.</span></span><br />
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</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">New  Delhi had suspended military exchanges with China in August 2010 after  it refused to grant permission to a senior Indian Army Commander to  proceed on an official trip to Beijing.</span></span><br />
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</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The first two editions of the Army to Army exercise had taken place in Kunming in China in 2007 and in Belgaum in 2008.</span></span><br />
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<li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Putting an end to the strained military relations, India had sent its first military delegation to Beijing in June 2011.</span></span><br />
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</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"> National Security Advisor Shivsankar Menon will be leading the Indian delegation during these talks.</span></span><br />
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</ul></div>

India, China Annual Defence Dialogue in december

India and China will hold their Annual Defence Dialogue (ADD) here starting December 9 during which they will discuss resumption of joint...

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India donates USD 1 mln to Palestinian refugees

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Reaffirming  its firm support to the Palestinian cause, India has donated USD one  million to UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to provide daily  supplement of food to thousands of Palestinian children in camps in Gaza  Strip.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Minister  of State for External Affairs and Human Resources Development E Ahamed  handed over a cheque of USD one million to UNRWA Commissioner-General  Filippo Grandi.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">UNRWA  is the main provider of basic services, education, health, relief and  social services, to five million registered Palestinian refugees in the  Middle East.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">India  has been contributing annually to the UN welfare agency's budget and  since 2009-10 enhanced its annual contribution to USD one million.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Ahamed,  who is here on a two-day visit to the Palestinian territories, will  also participate in the inauguration of the India-Brazil-South Africa  Multipurpose Sports Centre that was constructed in Ramallah with the  funding of IBSA Forum.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The  IBSA Sports Centre is the first project completed by IBSA funding to be  donated as a gift from people of IBSA countries to the people of  Palestine. This also happens to be the first IBSA project in the entire  Middle East.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The  grouping is also supporting the rehabilitation of the "Al Quds Hospital"  in Gaza and the construction of a "Centre for People with Special  Needs" in Nablus in the West Bank.</span></span></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><br />
</span></span></div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"> Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Foreign Minister Riyad Malki.</span></span></li>
</ul></div>

India donates USD 1 mln to Palestinian refugees

Reaffirming its firm support to the Palestinian cause, India has donated USD one million to UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to provide ...

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Indo-American awarded with Guyana's top award

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="4763" style="display: block; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;">                                          </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Indian-American  Yashpaul Soi has been awarded with one of the highest civilian honours  of Guyana in recognition of his role in strengthening the democracy in  this country. </span></span><br />
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<li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The  award was presented to Soi, who is based in New York, by Guyanese  Indian-origin President Bharat Jagdeo at a special ceremony in the  countries capital Georgetown early this month.</span></span></li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Soi, an  eminent Indian-American community leader and one of the promoters of  Bollywood in the US, was presented the award for his outstanding role in  the struggle for free and fair elections and development of Guyana and  generally contributing to the national interests of that country.</span></span></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Previously Jimmy Carter was honoured by Guyana, also for his role in the restoration of democracy in the country.</span></span></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"> Along  with Soi, four other non-resident Guyanese were presented with the award  - Pandit Ramlall, Ramesh Kalicharran, both settled in New York, and  scientist Suresh Narine of Torontoa</span></span></li>
</ul></div></div>

Indo-American awarded with Guyana's top award

Indian-American Yashpaul Soi has been awarded with one of the highest civilian honours of Guyan...

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Ela Bhatt selected for Indira Gandhi Prize

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Renowned  social activist Ela Bhatt was selected for the prestigious Indira  Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development 2011 for her  lifetime achievements in empowering women through grassroots  entrepreneurship.</span></span><br />
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</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Bhatt,  who is the founder of NGO Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), was  selected for the award constituted by Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust by an  international jury headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.</span></span><br />
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</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">A labour  lawyer by training, Bhatt founded the SEWA in 1972 and under her  leadership, the NGO has grown into a 13 lakh strong organisation playing  a pioneering role in socio-economic and political empowerment of women.</span></span><br />
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</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"> Bhatt,  founder of the SEWA Cooperative Bank, the first women's bank in India,  is also one of the dozen global leaders who constitute 'The Elders', set  up at the initiative of Nelson Mandela in 2007 to promote human rights  and peace. </span></span><br />
</li>
</ul></div>

Ela Bhatt selected for Indira Gandhi Prize

Renowned social activist Ela Bhatt was selected for the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development 2011 for h...

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