January 2013

T. Samuel Died

Veteran Cartoonist and the pioneer of pocket cartoons in India, T Samuel died on 2 October 2012 at the age of 86. Samuel is now survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. Samuel started his journey as a professional cartoonist before Independence from Lahore with a Military Gazette. After partition he came to Delhi as a refugee and joined Shankar’s weekly, where he contributed the Kalu and Meena, the silent strip cartoon and some more related to social life. As a staff cartoonist, he served Delhi edition of Times of India, where he became famous as the creator of the pocket cartoon named Babuji. After serving Times of India for a certain period of time, he joined Indian Express as a cartoonist and carried on with his featured cartoon Babuji and Garib, the next strip cartoon series. He was back with Times of India and served it and its Hindi daily Nav Bharat Times till 1985, the year of his retirement.

Indravadan Ambalal Modi

Founder of Cadila Pharmaceuticals and industrialist, Indravadan Ambalal Modi died on 26 November 2012 after suffering from a brief illness and respiratory disorder. The 87 year old industrialist was the Chairman of Cadila Pharmaceuticals. He ventured himself into the Pharma industry in the year 1951 by setting Cadila Laboratories. Modi was the representative in the National Working Group on Patent Laws, India (NWGPL) and Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association (IDMA) and remained an active member in shaping the 1986 Drug Policy of Government of India. He is also referred as a Champion of Indian Patents Act, 1970 in the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry.

P K Venukuttan Nair

P K Venukuttan Nair, 81, a well known theatre personality as well as the Malayalam film actor died on 26 November 2012 at Thiruvananthapuram because of brief illness. Nair was a respected personality in theatre circles in the state of Kerala. Nair had also received state government award for the best drama director four times. Nair is survived by his wife. P K Venukuttan Nair was honoured by the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy for contribution to drama field. He was also the former Vice-President of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy. Apart from this, he was also Kendra Sangeetha Nataka Academy member. Some of the renowned works of the artist include Oru Cheru Punchiri, Swayamvaram, Swapnadanam and Ulkatal. He acted in over 90 plays and gave direction in 20 dramas as well.

Savita Halappanavar

Savita Halappanavar a woman of Indian Origin and dentist by profession died on 28 October 2012 in Ireland after doctors refused to perform an abortion. The doctors denied the abortion with a claim that Ireland was a Catholic Country.

Savita the Indian dentist was suffering from miscarriage when she was 17 weeks pregnant and the Irish law at the University College Hospital Galway denied abortion to her. This led to septicemia (blood poisoning), multiple organ failure leading to her death.

IRISH LAW

According to the Person Act 1861 of Irish Law on abortion and offences, abortion has is considered illegal in the country. This denial on abortion that took life of Savita created a widespread outrage, to make the Irish Government take a clear stand on Irish Laws on Abortion.

S.K. Khaitan

Shree Krishna Khaitan, the chairman of Khaitan group of companies, passed away on 4 November 2012. He was a native of Jhunjhunu village in Rajasthan and was born on 15 December 1939. It was S.K. Khaitan who had incorporated the Khaitan group of companies in 1975.

Khaitan Group is one of the leading fan manufacturers in the country with interests in home appliances and lightings business. S.K. Khaitan was also a philanthropist and was also involved in several philanthropic activities in the fields of education and healthcare. He was also the Founder Trustee of Seth Chiranjilal Khaitan Trust and Shree Krishna Foundation among others. S.K. Khaitan was a visionary man and was greatly inspired by the exploits of visionary giants like Henry Ford, Thomas Bata, Soichairo Honda and J. N Tata who built great brands around their own names. He had started entrepreneurship in very young age. During his lifetime, S K Khaitan was honoured by many industry associations, Central and State governmen

ACCUSED/RESIGNED/CONTROVERSY

BS Yeddyyurappa

B.S.Yeddyurappa( Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa), former Chief Minister of Karnataka on 30 November 2012 announced his resignation from Legislative Assembly and from primary membership of BJP party. Yeddyurappa submitted his resignation to the Speaker of the Assembly, KG Bopaiah. Yeddyurappa represented Shikaripura in his home district Shimoga, which is about 280 km north of Bangalore. Yeddyurappa resigned from chief Ministership in 2011 in the wake of allegations of corruption. He started his political career when he was elected as President of the Shikaripura Taluk erstwhile Jana Sangha in 1972. He won his first Assembly election in 1983 as BJP candidate. He belongs to Lingayat community. He became the first BJP chief minister in South India. At present, Jagadish Shettar is the Chief Minister of Karnataka.

George Entwistle

BBC Director General George Entwistle on 10 November 2012 resigned from the job after the broadcaster put out a program which was denounced by the corporation’s chairman as shoddy journalism as a British politician was depicted in child sex abuse. George Entwistle in a statement asserted that he had decided that the honourable thing to do is to step down as director general after just eight weeks in the job.

He also asserted the fact that the director-general is also the editor-in-chief and ultimately responsible for all content. George Entwistle was facing widespread criticism since a rival broadcaster carried charges in October 2012 that a former BBC star, the late Jimmy Savile, was one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders and had sexually abused hundreds of children over four decades. Thereafter the BBC’s flagship news program Newsnight aired a mistaken allegation that an ex-politician sexually abused children. The programme did not identify the politician in the report, but he was widely named on the Internet as former Tory party treasurer Alistair McAlpine. Tim Davie, who is currently the BBC’s director of audio and music, is going to take over as acting director general.

Marc Grossman

The US special envoy to Af-Pak (Afghanistan-Pakistan), Marc Grossman on 27 November 2012 announced his resignation after being at the helm of diplomatic affairs in the volatile region for two years from 2010 to 2012. His resignation would come into effect from 14 December 2012.

Grossman would be succeeded by his Deputy Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, David D Pearce. Grossman, a former State Department diplomat, Grossman was roped in after the sudden death of Richard Holbrooke in 2010.

HONOUR

Brahma Chellaney

India’s leading strategic thinker and analyst, Brahma Chellaney on 25 October 2012 won the 2012 Asia Society Bernard Schwartz Book Award for his recently published book Water: Asia’s New Battleground.
Brahma Chellaney is going to be honoured with $20,000 prize money at a special event to be held at Asia Society’s headquarters in New York City on 23 January 2012. The book Water: Asia’s New Battleground” by Brahma Chellaney was selected from nearly 90 nominations submitted by US and Asia-based publishers for books published in 2011. Asia Society Bernard Schwartz Book Award was established in 2009 and is the only award that recognizes non-fiction books for their outstanding contributions to the understanding of contemporary Asia or US-Asia relations.

BOOKS

Victory India-A Key to Quality Military Leadership

The Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne on 20 November 2012 released a book titled Victory India - A Key to Quality Military Leadership authored by Colonel Vinay B Dalvi (Retd) at the Air Headquarters. The book has tried to present the process of identification, selection and training of the youths for moulding them into effective and inspiring military leaders of the nation.
The book is a compilation of well written contributory articles by military experts that includes Admiral Arun Prakash, Lieutenant General Arun Chopra, Lieutenant General Gautam Banerjee, Air Marshal TS Randhawa and different technologists, professors, sports medicine specialists and psychologists.

Colonel Vinay B Dalvi (Retd)

In the 37 years of his distinguished service of the Indian Army, Colonel Vinay B Dalvi has served almost every sector and commands of the Indian Army which also includes National Defence Academy, Instructional Training at Indian Military Academy and Officers Training Academy.

Yuvi

The book on Indian Cricketer Yuvraj Singh named Yuvi was released in third week of November 2012. Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar, the former cricketing legends were invited at the launch ceremony to offer insight on the cricketing star. Yuvi, the book on Yuvraj Singh is published by Harper Sport and written by Makarand Waingankar. The book illustrates the brilliance of cricket shown by Yuvraj Singh in his career as a cricketer and the way he recovered from Cancer.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and writer Katherine Boo on 14 November 2012won the national book award for nonfiction for Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, which sheds light on the lives of India’s poor as well as government corruption. Behind the beautiful forever is a story of an ambitious woman who has set her sights on being slumlord in Annawadi, a large slum close to Sahar International Airport in Mumbai the story also revolves around a boy and the harsh and illuminating after effects of crime or perceived crime. More broadly, the book explores themes of inequality and the perseverance of families striving for something better.

The National Book Foundation, which administers the awards, nominated five writers in each of four categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people’s literature.

VARIOUS

Bangladesh

The worst industrial fire accident took place on 24 November 2012 in Bangladesh at Ashulia at Savar which is approximately 30 km away from Dhaka. In the history of Bangladesh, this is the most devastating fire accident which claimed several lives. The fire which broke out due to unexplained reasons started at Tazreen Fashion near the Dhaka Export Processing Zone and soon engulfed the ground floor and first floor of the multi-storey building. The government of Bangladesh constituted inquiry committee in order to find out the cause of this worst-ever fire accident. Concerned authorities were directed for proper medical treatment to the injured.

DRDO

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted its eighth ballistic interceptor missile. Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, K. Saraswat, had asserted that the attacker, a modified Prithvi missile, would take off from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur district of Odisha, mimicking an enemy missile while the interceptor would blast off from the Wheeler Island and pounce on the attacker in endo-atmosphere at an altitude of 15 km to 16 km. The interceptor missile is called Advanced Air Defence (AAD) system and it race at a supersonic speed to intercept the attacker and destroy it.
Out of the seven interceptor missiles tests conducted by the DRDO so far, six was successful. The first interceptor mission took place in November 2006 in exo-atmosphere at an altitude of 48 km and it was successful. The second test, which took place in December 2007, in endo-atmosphere at an altitude of 15 km was again successful. Out of the seven tests, five took place in endo-atmosphere at a height less than 20 km. The interceptor is around 7.5-meter long single stage solid rocket propelled guided missile which is equipped with a navigation system, a hi-tech computer and an electro-mechanical activator. The interceptor missile had its own mobile launcher, secure data link for interception, independent tracking and homing capabilities and sophisticated radars.

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the Pakistani National and the lone surviving terrorist of 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks, was hanged on 21 November 2012 at Pune’s Yerwada Jail at 7:30 am. The Home Minister of Maharashtra R.R. Patil confirmed that Kasab was hanged. The President of India Pranab Mukherjee rejected the mercy plea of Kasab. He was hanged five days before the fourth anniversary of the brutal terror attack on Mumbai that claimed 166 lives and sieged Mumbai for continuous three days. In the top-secret operation, the sole surviving terrorist of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab was hanged till death in Yerwada jail, Pune, on 21 November 2012. Kasab had killed 166 people on 26 November 2008 along with 9 other terrorists from Pakistan.

Ajmal Kasab’s Execution Chronology

• 26 November 2008- Kasab as well as 9 terrorists launched a commando raid in Mumbai

• 27 November 2008- Kasab caught and arrested

• 30 November 2008- Kasab confessed before police

• 16 January 2009- Arthur Road Jail selected for trial of Kasab

• 20/21 February 2009- Kasab confessed before the magistrate

• 22 February 2009- Ujjwal Nikal appointed as the Special Public Prosecutor

• 20 April 2009- Prosecution charged Kasab on 312 counts

• 6 May 2009- Kasab was awarded death sentence by the trial court

• 21 February 2011- Bombay High Court upheld the decision of the trial court

• March 2011- Kasab wrote to Supreme Court challenging high court’s decision

• 10 October 2011- Supreme Court stayed execution of the death sentence

• 25 April 2012- Supreme Court reserved its verdict after going through a lot of hearing over two and a half months

• 16 October 2012- Union Home Ministry recommended to president for rejecting mercy plea of Kasab

• 5 November 2012- President rejected mercy petition of Kasab

• 8 November 2012- Maharashtra Government was informed about the decision of President

• 21 November 2012- Kasab was hanged at 7.30 A.M. in Yerwada Jail, Pune

Background of Kasab

Kasab was a Pakistani militant and belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group. He was born on 13 July 1987 at Faridkot, Pakistan and is 25 years old. Kasab was found guilty in 80 offences which included murder, possession of explosives, waging a war against India and many more. The Supreme Court of India upheld the death sentence of Kasab on 29 August 2012. The defense lawyers on Kasab’s side are Defense lawyers Amin Solkar, Farhana Shah and Abbas Kazmi.

Kasab’s execution is second-fastest in the history

Kasab’s execution is said to be the second fastest in the history of India, only after Banswara-based Ramchandra a.k.a Raoji. Raoji was executed in just 3 years after murdering his family. Raoji was put to death on 4 May 1996. Comparing the two, Kasab’s execution is the second-fastest as he was hanged 4 years after his heinous terror attack in Mumbai. It is quite significant to note that the President Pranab Mukherjee decided to reject Kasab’s mercy plea while 14 other petitions till October 2012 were pending and this also included Parliament attack terrorist- Afzal Guru besides other important names.

South Pacific Island

Australian scientists from the University of Sydney discovered in the third week of November 2012 that the South Pacific Island which is located between Australia and New Caledonia in South Pacific is not in existence. The island is shown on the marine charts, world maps as well as Google Earth, but in reality it has no existence. Geologists from the University of Sydney became suspicious about its existence when navigation charts which are used by ships showed 1400 metres depth in the area while the scientific maps as well as Google Earth showed large island at that place. When the geologists sailed through the place, they found nothing except the blue ocean. The error had broadcasted through to world coastline database, which is responsible for making a lot of maps. It is notable that the island which does not exist at all has also appeared in the scientific publications since 2000.

India International Trade Fair

The 32nd season of Indian International Trade Fair started on 14 November 2012 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. The annual fair that would conclude after 14 days on 27 November 2012 was inaugurated by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee. Mikhail V Myasnikovich, the Prime Minister of Belarus was the Guest of Honour to the inauguration ceremony and he also inaugurated the Belarusian pavilion at the fair. Belarus has been selected as the partner country to the event, whereas South Africa is selected as the Focus Country for the 32nd edition of the International Trade Fair. In the state category, Uttarakhand has been opted as the Partner State and Andaman and Nicobar Islands was opted as the Focus State for the event.

Theme

The theme selected for the 32nd edition of the India International Trade Fair is Skilling India and the event would focus on the initiatives undertaken by different agencies, government departments and other private participants for development of skills among the youths. To make the event successful and pass on the idea behind the theme, several seminars and workshops were also organized. A total of 6000 participant exhibitors from across the world and the country have participated in the trade fair. The first five days of the trade fair would be open for business visitors only and from 19 November 2012 to 27 November 2012, the fair would be open for the general public from 9:30 am to 7:30 pm every day. For the senior citizens and the physically challenged people, there would be no fee. To make the event a eco-friendly one, the India Trade Promotion Organisation have made the complete venue a no smoking zone and have not allowed use of plastic bags at the organized venue, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

Ami Bera

Ami Bera, 47, California-based, Indian-American has become the only 3rd of the community to win Congressional election, making it to US House of Representatives on 6 November, 2012 by defeating Republican Dan Lungren. On 6 November 2012, Bera had neck to neck competition with the opponent Lungren with just 184 votes lead. The lead increased to 3800 votes on 13 November 2012. Later, on 15 November 2012, it was announced by The Sacramento County Registrar of Voters that the lead of Bera had increased by 5696 votes or 2.2 percent. Gradually the lead widened and Bera won the seat to the House of Representatives. Bera at present is in Washington for the orientation course that is organized for the new lawmakers. This is incidentally led by the opponent Lungren.

Previously, Dalip Singh Saund created history when he became the 1st Indian-American elected to the House in 1950s. Saund was the mathematician with interests in farming. The 2nd Indian-American to be elected was Bobby Jindal in 2005 and 2008, the health-policy expert. He is now the Governor of Louisiana. Democrat Bera now has become the third Indian-American to repeat the deed by defeating Republican Dan Lungren in the Seventh Congressional District of California. Ami Bera is a renowned physician.

DSC South Asian Literature Prize 2013

Three Indian writers- Uday Prakash, Amitav Ghosh and Jeet Thayil were shortlisted for the US Dollar 50,000 DSC South Asian Literature Prize 2013. The names of shortlisted candidates were announced on 21 November 2012 in London. Others who were shortlisted for the prize include Pakistani novelists Jamil Ahmad and Mohammed Hanif as well as Tahmina Anam of Bangladesh. Only contender from beyond the boundaries of Indian Subcontinent is Jason Grunebaum who is the American Writer, academic and translator.

Amitav Ghosh has been chosen for River of Smoke, Jeet Thayil for the debut novel Narcopolis and Uday Prakash for The Walls of Delhi. Well known litterateur K. Satchidanandan chairing the jury said that the list represented diversity of the South Asian fiction in terms of idiom and theme. These works, according to the jury member were stylistically innovative, thematically fresh and have a definitive contribution to the genre of novels. Another member of Prize Steering Committee, Manhad Narula, described these novels as well balanced and excellent which represent finest writing of South Asian region. The winner of the prize is scheduled to be announced on 25 January 2013 at DSC Jaipur Literature Festival.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Chairperson of the National League of Democracy of Myanmar visited India from 13 November 2012 to 18 November 2012. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi spent several years in India during her early days when her mother Daw Khin Yi was Ambassador to India. She also spent some time as a Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study in Shimla in 1987. Besides her engagements in Delhi, travelled to Bangalore where she visited the Indian Institute of Science and the Infosys Campus. She also toured rural areas in Andhra Pradesh to gain a firsthand impression of the rural development and women’s empowerment programmes being undertaken in India.

Ram Jethmalani

The BJP(Bhartiya Janta Party) on 25 November 2012 suspended senior leader and Rajya Sabha member Ram Jethmalani from the party for gross indiscipline. Ram Jethmalani recently, openly attacked the party for criticizing the appointment of the new CBI chief. He had also challenged the party to take action against him on the issue. The party had also taken strong exception Ram Jethmalani’s public outburst against senior party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley who had written to Prime Minister expressing their reservations over the appointment of Ranjit Sinha as the new Director of the CBI.

Ernest Bai Koroma

Sierra Leone, the incumbent President Ernest Bai Koroma, leader of the All People’s Congress was re-elected as the President of the nation on 23 November 2012 after the electoral body declared results of the elections that took place in the country in third week of November. He had sworn in as the President of Sierra Leone on the same day, when the results were declared. He won the Presidential elections by securing 58.7 percent votes in his favour. Julius Maada Bio, the top rival of Koroma won 37.4 percent votes. The incumbent President managed to save himself from the second round of voting by securing more than 55 percent votes in his support. To support the growth of the country and make it one of the fastest growing economies of the world, the President of the war-scarred nation asked all the opposition parties that included Sierra Leone People’s Party’s (SLPP) to unite with each other and work for the cause of overall development of the nation. Christiana Thorpe, the Chief of the National Elections Commission on 23 November 2012 declared that any citizen of the nation can challenge the validity of the Presidential Elections by filing a petition in the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone within seven days of result declaration.

Joaquim Barbosa

Joaquim Barbosa was sworn-in as Brazil’s Supreme Court’s first non-White President on 23 November 2012 at a packed ceremony in the capital Brazilia. Barbosa became famous in Brazil after overseeing one of the country’s biggest corruption trials involving key members of the former President Lula Da Silva’s government. Barbosa is famous for his tough stand against political corruption. Brazil has the second largest non-White population in the world after Nigeria, but few of them achieve high office.

Hamid Karzai

Hamid Karzai, the President of Afghanistan paid a state visit to India from 9 November to 13 November 2012 following the invitation of the President of the Republic of India Pranab Mukherjee. On his visit to India he was accompanied by a high-level delegation to India. The Afghani President held delegate level bilateral discussions on various regional and international issues that are relevant for both the nations with the Prime Minister of India. During his India Visit the Afghanistan’s President attended a business meet at Mumbai on 10 November 2012 participated by the business leaders of India. On 12 November 2012, he delivered a Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Memorial lecture that was organised by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) in New Delhi. The geographical conditions of both the countries make them natural strategic partners of each other to create a common platform for the virtue of peace and cooperation in all fields. The good relations started between the two nations after the two signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement in October 2011 for creation of strong ties between both the nations.

Mount Tongariro Volcano

The Mount Tongariro Volcano erupted on 21 November 2012 at Tongariro National Park, New Zealand. The volcano left behind the cloud of ashes that spread across three-kilometer in the Skies of the North Island. The eruption took place about 300 kilometers from Wellington and the reported time at which the volcano grumbled was recorded as 1:25 pm on 21 November 2012. The volcano was used as the backdrop of many scenes and sequences of the film Lord of the Rings.

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