Uttar Pradesh State PCS

• 25 Oct 2023

Ankur Dhama Won Gold Medal in 5000 Meter Race of Asian Para Games

Why In News?

Ankur Dhama of Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh has won the gold medal in the 5000 meters (about 3.11 mi) race in the Asian Para Games on October 24, 2023.

Key Points:

• The Asian Para Games are being held in Hangzhou, China from October 22 to 28, 2023.
• Ankur Dhama had won two gold medals in the 2009 World Youth and Student Championships, and a silver and two bronze medals at the Asian Para Games in 2014.
• Ankur participated in the Para Olympics in 2016. However, I could not get a medal there. After this, in the year 2018, Ankur was awarded the Arjuna Award. He is the only para player among the six Arjuna Awardees of Baghpat.
• Asian Para Games
  • The Asian Para Games, also known as the Para Asia, is a multi-sport event regulated by the Asian Paralympic Committee, held every four years after each Asian Games for athletes with physical disabilities.
  • The Games are recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and are the second largest multi-sport event after the Paralympic Games.

Laadli Awards 2023: 'Gaon Connection' gets Double Honor

Why In News?

Recently, ‘Gaon Connection’ has been given double honor in the 13th Laadli Media and Advertising Awards organized for gender sensitivity in Jaipur by ‘Population First’, a prestigious organization working in the field of gender equality.

Key Points:

• Two ground reports from Uttar Pradesh documenting crimes against Dalit girls have been honoured at the Laadli Awards 2023. Both ground reports were awarded in the categories of English Investigative Story and Web Investigative Story respectively.
• The story titled '2 murders, 22 months (about 2 years), 1 court proceeding-families of deceased Dalit cousins in Unnao still awaiting justice', reported by Manvendra Singh and published on December 11, 2022, won the award under the category 'Hindi: Web – Investigative Story'.
• The story was a crime investigation in which three minor Dalit girls were allegedly poisoned in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao in 2021. Two of them died, while one survived.
• The story was part of a 10-part series of 'Gaon Connection' on 10 themes to mark the 10th anniversary of India's largest rural communication and insights platform.
• Despite the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, the family of two minor girls is still awaiting justice.
• The second story 'Accused out on bail for 8 years' published on October 7, 2022; 'Date-to-date for the minor victim's family in the Badaun gang-rape-murder case' won the award under the category 'English: Investigative Story'. It was reported by Shivani Gupta and Abhishek Verma (Cameraperson).
• The story was part of a series called 'Two Cursed' launched by Gaon Connection last year to assess the lives of rape victim's years after the crime took place.
• The 'Laadli Media Awards' is an initiative of Mumbai-based social impact organization Population First, supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and has been working for the past two decades to promote gender sensitization in the media across the country.
• At the 13th edition of the awards ceremony, a total of 87 journalists were awarded the Laadli Media Advertising Award for gender sensitivity, while another 31 received jury commendation certificates. More than 850 entries were received in 13 languages for the awards on gender sensitization from across the country.

Amar Ujala's Chandrabhan Yadav Received 'Laadli Media Award'

Why In News?

Chandrabhan Yadav, chief correspondent of Amar Ujala State Bureau (Uttar Pradesh), has been awarded the 'Laadli Media Awards 2023' by 'Population First', a prestigious organization working in the field of gender equality.

Key Points:

• The 'Laadli Media Award' is given by the 'Population First' organization to promote gender sensitivity. The Laadli media award was announced by the organization on October 21 this year.
• More than 850 journalists from 13 languages from across the country had submitted entries for this award, out of which 87 were selected and honored by the jury members. Apart from these, 31 journalists were given jury commendation letters.
• Chandrabhan Yadav, chief correspondent of Amar Ujala State Bureau, has been given this award for his story published in Amar Ujala titled 'Illness husband and wife both suffer, yet the wife is suffering'.
• Earlier, Chandrabhan Yadav had also received a fellowship from the Reach Media Foundation.
• The vice-chancellor of Baba Amte Divyang University, Jaipur, Prof. S.K. Singh was also present on the occasion. Dr Dev Swarup, Head of Policy and Partnerships, United Nations Population Fund, Jaideep Biswas, Programme Management Specialist, UNFPA, Anuja Gulati, Programme Management Specialist and Kalyan Singh Kothari, Secretary, Lok Samvad Sansthan felicitated Pandey.