“No action can give you freedom, only knowledge can make you free” - Swami Vivekananda
National News
Census findings point to decade of rural distress
For the first time since 1921, urban India added more numbers to its population in a decade than rural India did. At 833.1 million, India 's rural population today is 90.6 million higher than it was a decade ago. But the urban population is 91 million higher than it was in 2001. The Census cites three possible causes for the urban population to have risen by more than the rural: ‘migration,' ‘natural increase' and ‘inclusion of new areas as urban'.
Shukla, Kambar, Kant win Jnanpith
Eminent Hindi authors Amar Kant and Shrilal Shukla have been chosen for India 's highest literary honour Jnanpith Award for 2009, while renowned Kannada litterateur Chandrasekhar Kambar won it for 2010. Octogenarian Kant is a leading author whose famous novel Inhin Hathiyaron Se earned him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2007.
India to overtake Japan 's economy
India is poised to overtake Japan as the world's third largest economy. India is already the world's fourth largest economy, after the US , China and Japan . By the end of the year, India 's GDP will overtake that of Japan 's. Last year's figures show that the Japanese economy was worth $4.30 billion, not far ahead of India 's $4.06 billion, a narrow gap which is expected to close fast. But Japan has a population of just 127 million while India 's population is 1.21 billion and is rapidly increasing. Japan 's per capita income is $34,000 while India 's is $3,600.
Bhatnagar Prize for monk, 10 others
11 scientists have been selected for the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research's (CSIR) prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize this year. First given in 1958, the country's award in science is named after the founder director of CSIR, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar. It is given to a scientist up to 45 years of age and carries a prize of Rs 5 lakh. Mahan Maharaj gets the award for his “outstanding contribution” in the area of mathematics. The other winners are Palash Sarkar of the Indian Statistical Institute; Shiraz Minwalla of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research; K.N. Balaji and U. Ramamurthy of the Indian Institute of Science; Shirshendu De of IIT-Kharagpur; A.P. Sharma of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; R. Shankaranarayan of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology; G.N. Sastry of the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology and B. Sundaram of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research.
India gives world ` 2,276 tablet
India launched Aakash, the world's cheapest tablet at Rs. 2,276 ($46) — a fraction of what the big brands cost (Rs. 9,900-32,000). Aakash packs a punch and can do a lot of what the iPad does, perhaps in a slower, clunkier way. The device, manufactured by UK-based Datawind, founded by NRI brothers Raja Singh Tuli and Suneet Singh Tuli, aims to revolutionise education and is set to be sold at a government-subsidised rate of Rs. 1,400 to 100,000 college students. Sporting a 7-inch touchscreen, Aakash runs on Android 2.2 operating software. The device comes with Wi-Fi connectivity and has support of optional 3G modems. The cost of the tablet is being borne by the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology.
New Mining Bill
The Union Cabinet has approved the landmark Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation (MMDR) Bill, 2011 that provides for mining companies to keep aside 26 per cent of their net profits for a Mineral Development Fund to be used for the development and rehabilitation of project-affected people in tribal areas. The MMDR Bill will replace a 54-year old legislation governing the sector.
Indian Army gets its first woman jawan
Another glass ceiling has been broken in the Indian Army with a mother of two becoming the first woman Jawan. Sapper Shanti Tigga, 35 has joined the 969 Railway Engineer Regiment of Territorial Army.
Kochhar get ET Biz Leader Award
Chanda Kochhar, managing director of ICICI Bank, the country's largest private sector lender, has been named Business Leader of the Year while the 75-year young Bajaj Auto has raced ahead of other nominees to bag the Company of the Year. Emerging Company of the Year Award has gone to Shree Renuka Sugars. The new Entrepreneur of the Year is Rahul Bhatia, Group Managing Director, InterGlobe Enterprises, best known as the owner of IndiGo. Lifetime Achievement award was given to YV Reddy, Former RBI Governor while the Global Indian award was given to Vikram Pandit, CEO, CITI group.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Nobel Prizes 2011
Peace
Africa's first democratically elected female president, a Liberian campaigner against rape and a woman who stood up to Yemen 's autocratic regime won the Nobel Peace Prize. The 10 million kronor ($1.5 million) award was split three ways between Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, women's rights activist Leymah Gbowee from the same African country and democracy activist Tawakkul Karman of Yemen — the first Arab woman to win the prize.
Physics
The "astounding" discovery that the expansion of the universe is speeding up won the Nobel physics prize for three astronomers whose observations of exploding stars transformed our view of the world, and of how it may end. Americans Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess had shown how the universe that emerged from the Big Bang may fly apart so far, cooling as it goes, that it "will end in ice".
Literature |
The 2011 Nobel Prize in literature was awarded to Tomas Transtromer, a Swedish poet whose surrealistic works about the mysteries of the human mind won him acclaim as one of the most important Scandinavian writers since World War II.
Chemistry
Israeli scientist Daniel Shechtman won the 2011 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his discovery of quasi-crystals a mosaic-like chemical structure that researchers previously thought was impossible. Shechtman's discovery in 1982 fundamentally changed the way chemists look at solid matter.
Medicine
A scientist who won the Nobel prize for medicine for work on fighting cancer died of the disease himself just three days before he could be told of his award, and after using his own discoveries to extend his life. Canada-born Ralph Steinman, 68, had won science's ultimate accolade, along with American Bruce Beutler and Jules Hoffmann of France .
Economics
Two Americans Christopher Sims and Thomas Sargent were awarded the Nobel prize for economics for work that was lauded as laying foundation for modern macroeconomic analysis.
Steve Jobs dead
Steve Jobs, who brought joy to the world by simplifying computers and phones died following an enervating seven-year battle with pancreatic cancer. The founder of Apple Inc revolutionized Mobile Communications, Music, Movies, made technology beautiful, ended the reign of Personal Computers, and changed our lives.
End of tradition: Barcelona bids adieu to bullfighting
Spain 's powerful northeastern region of Catalonia bid farewell to the country's emblematic tradition of bullfighting. A regional ban on the bloody pastime takes effect on January 1, 2012.
Saudi women gain right to vote, run in polls
Saudi Arabia will allow women to stand for election and vote, in a significant policy shift in the conservative Islamic kingdom. Women will also take part in the next session of the unelected, advisory Shura Council, which vets legislation but has no binding powers. Saudi Arabia adheres to a strict version of Islamic law that enforces the segregation of the sexes.
Palestine stakes state claim at UN
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas defied pressure from the United States and others to apply for full membership of the United Nations as a state, instantly securing overwhelming endorsement from the international community represented in the United Nations General Assembly .
Ex-Afghan prez Rabbani killed
Former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, head of the council tasked with trying to negotiate a political end to the war in Afghanistan , was killed at his home by a suicide bomber, in a major blow to peace efforts.
Oz military opens up frontline for its women
Australia will remove all gender barriers in its military over the next five years, opening up positions that had previously been considered too dangerous for women, including front-line combat roles. Australia will follow Canada and New Zealand in allowing women who meet physical and psychological criteria to perform any role they choose.
Swiss to share tax info from next fiscal
India and Switzerland will start exchanging information on tax-related matters from the next fiscal after the new tax information exchange treaty was ratified by the Swiss Parliament, paving the way for obtaining data on black money stashed in Switzerland .
Ig Nobel
The annual prizes, meant to entertain and encourage scientific research, are awarded by the Journal of Improbable Research as a whimsical counterpart to the Nobel Prizes. Prognosticators who predicted the end of the world and got it wrong, scientists who built a wasabi fire alarm, and researchers who studied how the urge to urinate affects decision-making were among the winners of spoof Ig Nobel prizes.
China puts space lab into orbit
China successfully launched its first unmanned "space laboratory". The 10.5m-long cylindrical module Tiangong-1 , which means " Heavenly Palace" was launched two days before its National Day celebrations, making China the third country after the US and Russia to operate a permanent space station, which it expects to be operational by 2020.
Kraft boss pips Nooyi in power league
Kraft Foods boss Irene Rosenfeld is the most powerful woman in U.S. business, bumping PepsiCo Inc chief Indra Nooyi into second spot after five years on top. Rosenfeld had led a hostile $18 billion take over of Britain 's Cadbury last year.
Karzai signs pact with Manmohan Singh
India and Afghanistan signed a strategic pact that catapults their relationship to a higher level, powered by a strong convergence over regional security and the shared threat from terror sanctuaries in Pakistan . In a major development, India has agreed to mentor the Afghan security forces as they gear up to deal with the drawdown of foreign forces by 2014. The proposal to train the Afghan National Security Forces was included in the first-ever Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) signed by Mr. Karzai and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during their third extensive meeting this year.
SPORTS
Makau sets new World record
Kenya 's Patrick Makau set a new World record in the Berlin Marathon in an official time of 2hr 03min 38sec. The 26-year-old defending champion smashed the old mark of 2hr 03:59 set by Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie in the same race in 2008.
Salgaocar wins Federation Cup
Salgaocar beat defending champions East Bengal 3-1 in the Federation Cup final at the Salt Lake Stadium. Edeh Chidi, Francis Fernandes and Ryuiji Sueoka struck for the winners.
Sodhi wins WC Final
Shotgun shooter Ronjan Sodhi successfully defended his prestigious World Cup Final title. The Delhi-based double trap marksman held his nerve in a "roller-coaster" of a final to clinch the gold in Al Ain (UAE). Sodhi capped a great year in Al Ain - he won two World Cup medals this year, qualified for the Olympics for the first time and also claimed the World No. 1 ranking.
NEWS & VIEWS
- Shoaib Akhtar stirred up a major controversy when he launched his autobiography- Controversially Yours .
- Adaminte Makan Abu , national award-winning Malayalam film, has been nominated as India 's official entry for the coming Oscar Academy Awards. The film had bagged three other national awards for best actor, best cinematographer and best background score.
- The Delhi Metro has been certified by the UN as the first Metro rail in the world that has helped in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and helped in reducing pollution levels in the city.
- Mansur Ali Khan ‘Tiger' Pataudi, one of India 's greatest cricket captains and an enduring-and endearing-icon who retained his aura beyond retirement, passed away. He was India 's youngest cricket captain. He led India to its first Test series victory abroad 3-1 against New Zealand in 1967-68 and also nurtured the famed Indian spin quartet during the 40 Tests in which he led India .
- Jammu and Kashmir will become the first State to formally launch the “My Stamp” concept as the customer's picture will appear on the stamp he chooses to buy.
- The government constituted an expert committee headed by Sam Pitroda to recommend ways and means to modernize Indian Railways. Deepak Parekh, HDFC Bank chairman, M S Verma, former SBI chairman, Raghuram, professor at IIM-Ahmedabad, Rajiv Lal, IDFC managing director, and Vinayak Chatterjee, chairman of Feedback Infrastructure Services, will be members of the committee.
- A Bill seeking a seven-year jail term for cow slaughter or even transporting the animal for that purpose was passed unopposed in the Gujarat Assembly.
- Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist who went on to become the first African women to win a Nobel Peace Prize died.
- State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation finally has a full-time head in Sudhir Vasudeva.
- Rest of India won the Irani Cup for the 24 th time, sixth on the trot after defeating Ranji Champions Rajasthan.
- In a big boost to the country's missile programme, nuclear weapons-capable Agni-II was test-fired successfully from a rail-mobile launcher on the Wheeler Island , off the Orissa Coast on 30 th September, 2011.
- Ashish Bagga of India Today was elected President of the Indian Newspaper Society for the year 2011-12.
- Senior advocate Fali S. Nariman was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for his out standing career.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Neutrinos faster than light challenge Einstein's theory
Albert Einstein's 1905 theory of relativity is one of the most fundamental pillars of physics — but now scientists say his conclusion that nothing can travel faster than light could be proven wrong. A group of European physicists at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research , plans to announce that it has clocked a burst of subatomic particles known as neutrinos breaking the speed of light, the cosmic speed limit.
Wonder drug from shark chemical
In what may revolutionize human medicine, scientists claim to have found evidence that a compound in the liver of sharks can be used as a drug to protect people from a number of diseases. The antibiotic squalamine, already known to be safe for use in humans as an antiviral agent could be used as a new type of drug to treat a broad spectrum of diseases from dengue and yellow fever to hepatitis B, C and D.
Record ozone loss in Arctic
An ozone hole five times the size of California opened over the Arctic this spring, matching ozone loss over Antarctica for the first time on record. Formed by a deep chill over the North Pole, the unprecedented hole at one point shifted over eastern Europe, Russia and Mongolia , exposing populations to higher, but unsustained, levels of ultra-violet light. Part of the loss comes from man-made chlorine based compounds, once widely used in refrigerants and consumer aerosols that are being phased out under the United Nation's Montreal Protocol. |
UILS