Introducing #India’s #RiceBucketChallenge

Capitalizing on the immense popularity of the ALS ice bucket challenge, an Indian woman has conceived of the rice bucket challenge as a way to encourage charity for the poor.

Unlike the ice bucket challenge, which requires the participant to dump a bucket of cold water over their head, the rice bucket challenge asks that participants simply donate a bucket of rice to somebody in need.

It is described on its Facebook page as an "Indian version for Indian needs".

The challenge is still in its infancy, with the inaugural donation made on Sunday morning.

It was conceived by Manju Latha Kalanidihi, a journalist from Hyderabad, and is proving a hit across the country.

It isn't very tough to go viral on social media. The Ice Bucket Challenge was introduced to spread awareness about the ALS and raise money for research to cure the neurodegenerative disease. The Ice Bucket Challenge may be making waves the world over, but the Rice Bucket Challenge is what is raging in India.

In a bid to help the poor, Hyderabad-based Manju Kalanidhi has sparked off the latest trend- a Facebook initiative, called an Indian version for Indian needs- that has gone viral across social media. The Facebook page describes it as a 'Desi Challenge for Desi Needs, Cook or buy one bucket of Rice / Biryani and feed the needy. Tag #RiceBucketChallenge and challenge your friends.'

This challenge isn't tough at all. All that the rice bucket challenge requires one to do is to provide a bucket of rice for the poor. Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, the Rice Bucket Challenge has even got its own hashtag trending too - #RiceBucketChallenge.

#India’s (@PMOIndia @narendramodi ) next #ChiefEconomic advisor? All about #Economist @arvindsubraman

US based economist Arvind Subramanian is reportedly poised to be India's next chief economic adviser and if confirmed, the appointment would bring in a second economist of international repute to a key policy after former International Monetary Fund chief economist Raghuram Rajan was appointed RBI chief last year.

The appointment of Subramanian, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, was reportedly recommended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Subramanian is currently the Dennis Weatherstone Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development.

Formerly an economist at the International Monetary Fund, he is a widely cited expert on the economics of India, China, and the changing balance of global economic power. His book 'India's Turn: Understanding the Economic Transformation' was published in 2008. His book 'Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China's Economic Dominance' was published in September 2011, and he is co-author of 'Who Needs to Open the Capital Account?', which was published in 2012.

He is an alumnus of St Stephens College, Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad, he obtained his M.Phil and D.Phil from the University of Oxford. In 2011, Foreign Policy magazine has named him as one of the world's top 100 global thinkers.

Before Narendra Modi came to power, Subramanian wrote a column in The Business Standard about the paradox of Modi and the Indian economy.

This is what he wrote: A Prime Minister Modi will expose a paradoxical tension between his mandate and mission. His electoral appeal is based on his ability to wield power, ruthlessly if necessary. His success in governing the economy will depend on coming to grips with, and making the best of, highly circumscribed power.

Subramanian pointed out that Modi's early objectives will be restoring macroeconomic stability and reviving investment, especially in infrastructure.

He has served as Assistant Director in the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund and has also served at the GATT during the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations.

Subramanian has taught at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government during 1999 to 2000. He has also taught at Johns Hopkins' School for Advanced International Studies during 2008 to 2010.

Just before the WTO deal collapsed, Subramanian criticised Modi's policies saying that India is right to support its agriculture, but is going about it the wrong way.

In a BS column, he wrote, "Indeed if India succeeds in its opposition, and the Bali deal collapses, the blow to an already weak WTO would be significant and India would bear much of the blame. And the costs of a weak multilateral trade system are greater for countries such as India, which is excluded from the emerging Asian trade architecture underpinned by the United States-led Trans-Pacific Partnership."

"India should withdraw its opposition to the TFA, reformulate its position on agriculture, proceed to persuade its partners of the merits and fairness of its new position over the next few months, and revisit this issue at the WTO in the near future," he wrote.

#President @BarackObama Is @TIME's #PersonoftheYear – #Again

President Barack Obama was named Time's Person of the Year Wednesday morning, making him a rare repeat winner. He was similarly honored in 2008, after he won election as the nation's first African-American President. 

The magazine says Obama, 51, was chosen "[for] finding and forging a new majority, for turning weakness into opportunity and for seeking, amid great adversity, to create a more perfect union." 

In addition, the newsmagazine (which, like PEOPLE is published by Time Inc.), states: "He will take the oath on Jan. 20 as the first Democrat in more than 75 years to get a majority of the popular vote twice. Only five other Presidents have done that in all of U.S. history."