November 2012

S.VISHWANATHAN

S. Viswanathan on 8 October 2012 was appointed as a managing director of State Bank of India. His appointed came by the Central Government of India. Viswanathan, was earlier serving as a deputy managing director of State Bank of India. Prior to that he was heading the state-run bank’s investment banking arm, SBI Capital Markets Ltd.

The appointment of S. Viswanathan takes effect from the date of taking over charge of the post till April 30, 2014 , that isthe date of his attaining the age of superannuation or until further orders, whichever is earlier. Following the appointment, SBI has now four managing directors, including Diwakar Gupta, who the chief financial officer, Hemant Contractor, who is in charge of international operations and A. Krishna Kumar, who looks after national banking.

HUGE CHAVEZ

Huge Chavez re-elected as President of Venezuela on 9 October 2012 Venezuela.

It his third election victory in 14 years of Office. With this he will be spending 6 more years in Office. Huge Chavez had won with 54% of the vote defeating his challenger Henrique Capriles who managed to get only 45% of vote in presidential election held on 7 October 2012. Among the 19 million registered voters the turnout was a record of 80.4% voters.

BRIEF LOOK AT HUGE CHAVEZ CAREER

Huge Chavez was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007; thereafter he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
Following his own political ideology of Bolivarianism and Socialism for the 21st Century, he has focused on implementing socialist reforms in the Venezuela as a part of a social project known as the Bolivarian Revolution, which has seen the implementation of a new constitution, participatory democratic councils and the nationalisation of several key industries.

A.RAJA, KANIMOZHI AND SURESH KALMADI

The congress on 3 October 2012 nominated the former Union Minister, A. Raja, Kanimozhi and Suresh Kalmadi as the members of the Parliamentary Standing Committees on Energy, Home Affairs and External Affairs respectively.

Raja was arrested in the 2G scam case on February 2 last year and is on bail since 15 May 2012. Suresh Kalmadi, who was accused in the Commonwealth Games scam case, spent about nine months in jail and was released on bail on 19 January 2012. DMK MP Kanimozhi, also an accused in some cases related to the 2G spectrum allocation,was nominated to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs. Also,Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi was made a member of the Standing Committee. The role of the Parliamentary Standing Committees is to inspect the bill and give their opinion to the planned legislation associated about the regarding ministries.

HASSAN SHEIKH MOHAMUD

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud won the presidential elections of Somalia on 10 September 2012. He won the election by gaining 190 votes to 79 in the second round of competition.

Alliances were formed between the Prime Minister Abdiweli Ali and Hassan Sheikh.

SHORT DESCRIPTION ABOUT HASSAN SHEIKH MOHAMUD

1. He was born in Jalalaqsi on the Shebelle River of central Somalia in the year 1955

2. He completed his education in India and United States

3. Worked in the United Nations development program and World Bank as well as a university lecturer

4. In the year 2008, he worked with Somalia Civil Society

5. In 2009 history of mediation in Somalia is a book written by him was published

6. 2011, founded the peace development party as its chairman

His election as a President is welcomed by many of the nations of the world and there are expectations that Somalia will soon see a new dawn.

ONNO RUHL

World Bank appointed Onno Ruhl a Dutch National to be the country director for India on 10 September 2012.

He will replace the retiring N Roberto Zagha in October 2012. His appointment at this post will help the bank to formulate and implement developmental programs and steps in the nation.

ABOUT ONNO RUHL

1. Onno Ruhl holds a post graduate degree (MSc) in Economics from University of Amsterdam

2. He joined World Bank in the year 1993 and due to his potential leadership skills and strong experience in finance and operations; he held several positions in Asia and Africa.

3. He has served World Bank as its director for Nigeria and a country manager for Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

4. Prior to his joining to World Bank in 1993, Ruhl served the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Netherlands

5. He has served the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) as an Alternate Executive Director on the Board

JAIDEEP SARKAR

Jaideep Sarkar on 27 September 2012 was appointed as the new Indian Ambassador to Israel. The IITian and diplomat, is a private secretary to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a joint secretary of external affairs ministry, has replaced Navtej Sarna, the former ministry spokesperson.

MAR CLEEMIS

Pope Benedict XVI on 24 October 2012 appointed Major Archbishop-Catholicos Baselios Mar Cleemis as the Cardinal to boost Christianity in India. Cleemis is the head of the relatively-young Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and is the only Indian in the list of six senior prelates to be named as Cardinals in the latest expansion of the Church of Cardinals that is elected by the Pope.

Cleemis who is 53 years old, with this appointment has turned up to be the youngest Cardinals in the Catholic Church and is the first cardinal from the Syro-Malankara rite of Catholic Church and is now the first Prince of the Church as Cardinals are known. Mar Cleemis is at Vatican to attend the proceedings of the Golden Jubilee of the Vatican’s Second Council at Rome. His investiture would be held in Rome on 24 November 2012 along with five other Cardinals named by Vatican.

VIVEK RAE

Vivek Rae, on 8 October 2012 took over as Secretary in Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).

He succeeds Radha Krishna Mathur who at present is Secretary in Department of Defence Production and Ministry of Defence. Vivek Rae is a 1978 batch IAS officer of Union Territory cadre. Before joining the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises he was Director General (Acquistion) in Ministry of Defence.

ABOUT MSME

With the amendment of, Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 by the President of India, Ministry of Agro and Rural Industries (Krishi Evam Gramin Udyog Mantralaya) and Ministry of Small Scale Industries (Laghu Udyog Mantralaya) have been merged into a single Ministry, namely Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Sukshma Laghu Aur Madhyam Udyam Mantralaya). The micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are accepted as the engine of economic growth and for promoting equitable development. The major advantage of the sector is its employment potential at low capital cost. The labour intensity of the MSME sector is much higher than that of the large enterprises. The MSMEs constitute over 90% of total enterprises in most of the economies and are credited with generating the highest rates of employment growth and account for a major share of industrial production and exports. In India, the MSMEs play a pivotal role in the overall industrial economy of the country. In recent years the MSME sector has consistently registered higher growth rate compared to the overall industrial sector.

RAVI NARAIN

National Stock Exchange’s (NSE) chief and Managing Director Ravi Narain on 17 October 2012 was elected as chairman of the working committee of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). The appointment of Ravi Narain came in the annual meeting of World Federation Exchange which also elected elected Deutsche Borse AG’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andreas Preuss as its chairman, while Thomas A Kloet, CEO of TMX Group, as the vice-chairman of the working committee.

Ravi Narain is also the chairman of the National Securities Clearing Corporation and a board member of the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange. The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) is an international organization for securities and derivative markets such as stock exchanges. It comprises of Group of more than 50 Bourses or Stock Exchanges.

YASH CHOPRA

The Indian Filmmaker Yash Chopra died on 21 October 2012, nine days after being diagnosed with Dengue.

He passed away at the age of 80 at Lilavati Hospital at Bandra due to dengue and multiple organ failure. Also termed as the King of Romance, Yash Chopra had by his name Six National Film Awards, Eleven Filmfare Awards out of which four was Filmfare Award for Best Director. Yash Chopra, in his last interview with Shah Rukh Khan on television stated about his latest upcoming film named Jab Tak Hai Jaan and his retirement along with the plans of spending his time with family members. The Titan of Indian Cinema, Yash Chopra was born on 27 September 1932 Yash Chopra by profession was an Indian Film Director, Screenwriter and Film Producer in Indian Cinema, Bollywood. Working as an assistant director to I.S. Johar and B.R. Chopra his elder brother, he started his career and made his debut as a director with Dhool ka Phool in the year 1959 proceeded by films like Dharmputra in 1961. He turned up to set his stage as one of the most successful director with the commercial and critically successful drama Waqt in 1965, the film that set the stage for multi-starrers in the industry.

Yash Raj Films, yash chopra’s own production company stated with the launch of DAAG: A poem of love in 1973. Few of his most acclaimed films, were Deewar in 1975 that set the angry young man image of Amitabh Bachchan, Kabhi Kabhi (a romantic drama) in 1976, Trishul, Silsila in 1981, Mashaal in 1984 and Vijay in 1988 and Chandni in 1989. Some more movies of Yash Chopra were Lamhe in 1991, Darr in 1993 the debut movie of Shah Rukh Khan, Dil To Pagal Hai in 1997, Veer-Zaara in 2004. His latest movie Jab Tak Hai Jaan is scheduled to be launched during the week of Diwali in 2012 about a month after his death.
Awards and honours attached to his name were:

• He received Legion of Honour, France’s highest civilian honour

• Remained a Vice President for 10 years with Film Producers’ Guild of India

• Received Padma Bhushan in 2005

• Asian Filmmaker of the Year, 2009 at Pusan International Film Festival

• On behalf of Swiss Government he received a Special Award by Ursula Andress and was honoured for rediscovering Switzerland

• He received the BBC Asia Awards two times in the year 1998 and 2001 for the kind of contribution he made to the films

• In the year 2001 he received Dr. Dadabhai Naoroji Millennium Lifetime Achievement award

• For promoting tourism in UK via his films, he was conferred with a Certificate of Recognition from the British Tourist Authority and British Film Commission

• For his contribution to Indian Cinema he was conferred with Priyadarshini Award

• The Leeds Metropolitan University in Yorkshire awarded him with Honorary Doctorate in Art

• At the 2008 Asia Pacific Screen Awards, for his outstanding achievements to the films he received FIAPF Award

• In the year 2010 he was honoured with the Honorary Doctorate from the School of Oriental and African Studies

• The Government of Madhya Pradesh awarded him with National Kishore Kumar Award

• For his contribution via his films to ‘Brand Switzerland’ he received Swiss Ambassador’s Award 2010

• The Asian Awards in October 2010 he was given the Outstanding Achievement in Cinema award

• The Rotary Club awarded him with Vocational Excellence Award

• In the year 2001 was awarded Dadasaheb Phalke the topmost and the highest honour of Indian Film Industry

• Maharashtra state government’s Raj Kapoor and V. Shantaram’ Awards was given to him for his contributions to Indian Cinema

• In the year 2006 he received 4th Pune International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award

Some more associations of his life:

• Before his death he was on the Advisory Board of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry of Government of India

• Founder Trustee of Film Industry Welfare Trust established in the year 1996

• BAFTA gave him a lifetime membership for the his contributions to Indian Cinema, in 59 years history of the academy he was the first Indian to be honoured with the membership

SUNIL GANGOPADHYAY

President of the Sahitya Akademi and an eminent writer, Sunil Gangopadhyay died on 23 October 2012 due to heart attack at his residence in Kolkata. Gangopadhyay who died at the age of 78 is now survived by his wife and a son.

ABOUT SUNIL GANGOPADHYAY

Born on 2 September 1934, Sunil Gangopadhyay was an acclaimed poet and novelist from India. He provided a platform for the poets of new generations with Krittibas a seminal poetry magazine that he started in 1953 as a founder editor.

He was successful as a novelist, short story and travelogue writer as well as for his writings as children fiction. He as a poet and novelist has more than 200 books by his name and won several awards and honours as credentials to his name. His pen names were Sanatan Pathak, Nil Upadhyay and Nil Lohit.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

• He received Ananda Puraskar in 1972 and 1989

• He was awarded with Sahitya Akademi Award in 1985

• Gangopadhyay was honoured as Sheriff of Kolkata in 2002 as a prominent citizen of the city

• He was honoured with India’s highest literary award Saraswati Samman in 2004- this award is also listed under Schedule VII of Indian Constitution

• In the year 2011 he won the Hindu Literary Prize, shortlist, The Fakir

• In the year 2012 received Sera Bangali Lifetime Achievement Award by Star Ananda

JASPAL BHATTY

Actor and Satirist Jaspal Bhatti died in a road accident on 25 October 2012 near Punjab’s Nakodar town 40 km from Jalandhar.

The accident happened in around 3 am in morning when Jaspal Bhatti was on his way to Jalandhar from Bathinda for Promotion of his upcoming Film Power Cut. Jaspal Bhatti’s son Jasraj, was also injured in the accident along with the film’s heroine Surili Gautam. Jaspal Bhatti was on a 40-day tour for the promotion of his latest film .The tour was to end on 25 October 2012 with a media conference in Jalandhar. Bhatti was a very renowned face on Indian television and also for Bollywood films with his comedy shows and appearances. His TV shows Ulta-Pulta and Flop Show on Doordarshan had entertained TV audiences in late 1980s and 1990s. He had also directed a Punjabi Comedy film Mahaul Theek Hai in 1999, which is a comedy satire set on the police force, administration and society. Jaspal Bhatti was 57 years old and is Survived by his wife Savita Bhatti and son Jasraj Bhatti.

KEVIN CURRAN

Former Zimbabwe all-rounder and Coach Kevin Curran died at age of 53 on 10 October 2012. His death news came after he collapsed while jogging but the actual cause of death was not clear.

In his career Kevin Curran played 324 first-class matches and had made 15,740 runs with taking up of 605 wickets. He was a right-handed middle-order batsman and fast-medium bowler and had played 11 one-day internationals for Zimbabwe. Kevin Curran was a veteran of two World Cups for Zimbabwe - prior to their being given Test status in 1992 and had also five times cleared 1,000 runs in a season in the English league. Kevin Curran was a part of the Zimbabwe team that made its international debut against Australia at Trent Bridge in the 1983 World Cup, beating the opponent side by 13 runs. His highest international score was 73 in the famous 1983 World Cup match against India at Tunbrigde Wells. He followed that up with 63 against defending champions West Indies in the next match. He replaced Phil Simmons as Zimbabwe coach in 2005, retaining the post until 2007 before coaching Zimbabwean franchise Mashonaland Eagles. Kevin Curran first served as Zimbabwe’s assistant coach before assuming the duty full-time from August 2005 to August 2007, which was a period in which the team won nine and lost 28 of 42 ODIs.

T. SAMUEL

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.

ABOUT T. SAMUEL

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.

NORODOM SIHANOUK

Former Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk died on 15 October 2012 in Beijing.

He was 89 Years old. Norodom Sihanouk was receiving medical treatment for many years in Beijing for cancer and other ailments. Norodom had dominated politics in Cambodia for nearly 60 years. He was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until 2004. He was the effective ruler of Cambodia from 1953 until 1970. After his second abdication in 2004, he was known as The King-Father of Cambodia a position in which he retained many of his former responsibilities as constitutional monarch. Sihanouk held so many positions since 1941 that the he was identifies as the politician who has served the world’s greatest variety of political offices. These included two terms as king, two as sovereign prince, one as president, two as prime minister, as well as numerous positions as leader of various governments-in-exile. He was succeeded in 2004 by his son, King Norodom Sihamon

SATYANARAYAN REDDY

Former Governor of UP and Odisha and a renowned freedom fighter B Satyanarayan Reddy died on 7 October 2012 folowing age-related illness in a private Hospital in Hyderabad.

86 years old Satyanarayan Reddy, was a bachelor who had dedicated his life for public service. He was a strong follower of JayPrakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohiya. Satyanarayan Reddy was a patriot and freedom Fighter who during quit India movement in 1942 also faced arrest for leading a procession of protest against the arrest of Mahatma Gandhi. He began his Political career as a member of Socialist Party and thereafter joined Janta Party and became its State General Secretary in 1977. It was during Emergency Period that Satyanarayan Reddy on August, 1 1975 was detained under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) for 18 months and sent to Musheerabad Jail. He became the governor of Uttar Pradesh in 1990 and served for three years and later he became the governor of Odisha. Satyanarayana Reddy as a Telangana protagonist, served as an inspiration for many who are in Telangana movement.

ACCUSED/RESIGNED/CONTROVERSY

SM KRISHNA

SM Krishna on 26 October 2012 resigned from his post of External Affairs Minister.

He submitted his resignation to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who accepted it and forwarded to the President of India. SM Krishna, before being inducted as the External Affairs Minister in 2009, served Maharasthtra as its nineteenth Governor from 2004 to 2008. He served as a Member of Parliament from the Mandya district of Karnataka in its in the 4th, 5th, 7th and 8th Lok Sabha starting from 1968.

ABOUT SM KRISHNA

SM Krishna (Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna), who belongs to Indian National Congress was the oldest member of the Union Council of Ministers at the time of his resignation remained the External Affairs Minister from 2009 to October 2012. Before taking up the responsibility as External Affairs Minister, Krishna served Karnataka as its sixteenth Chief Minister from 1999 to 2004. He also served as nineteenth Governor of Maharashtra from 2004 to 2008.

PAWAN VARMA

Indian Diplomat Pavan K. Varma in October 2012 resigned as India’s ambassador to Bhutan with an idea of entering into politics. Ambassador Pavan Varma is set to join the Janata Dal-United (JDU). He asserted that he wants to contribute to clean politics and good governance in the country. Pawan Varma, is a 1976 batch IFS officer and had taken voluntary retirement but is going to demits office on 31 December 2012. Pawan Varma is also an author of several well-acclaimed books, including Ghalib andThe Great Indian Middle Class. Pawan Varma’s resignation sets in process a minor shuffle which was long overdue,with increasing in strength of lobbying for key diplomatic posts.

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.

THE FOLDED EARTH AND A FREE MAN

The Folded Earth written by Anuradha Roy and A Free Man by Aman Sethi won the 11th Economist Crossword Book Award that was declared on 18 October 2012 at Mumbai.
The Folded Earth was successful in securing its position in the English Indian Fiction Category, whereas, A Free Man by Aman Sethi was successful in the category of Indian Non-Fiction books. A Bengali short-story collection Bengali written by Anita Agnihotri named 17 and translated in English by Arunava Sinha and a Malyalam Novel, The Araya Woman that was written by Narayan and translated in English by Catherine Thankamma were declared as the winners of the award for Indian Language Translation jointly.

Ravi Subramanian’s creation The Incredible Banker fetched the Popular Award by its name. The Crossword Book Award is presented to writers in different categories with a certain prize amount and these includes Non-Fiction, Fiction, Translation and Children’s Writing carrying an amount of 3 lakh rupees and a citation and a trophy. The Popular Award winner author gets a cash prize of 1 lakh rupees and a certificate.

EK THHI KUSUM

Ek Thhi Kusum a collection of short stories written by Prakash Pant, former State Assembly Speaker of Uttrakhand was released on Monday by Aziz Qureshi, Governor of Uttarakhand. The stories of the book are a collection of socio-economic tales of the far-flung areas of hill state. Ek Thhi Kusum in itself is an exploration of the pains and sufferings of common man and his trails to fit himself in the fast changing social environment.

It is a self criticism of the loosing moral and traditional values, which has been neglected in a blind pursuit of prospering and achieving the material satisfaction. He is a senior BJP leader of Uttarakhand and was the first Speaker to the state Assembly of Uttarakhand.

NEWSWEEK

Newsweek, the eighty year old print magazine on 18 October 2012 announced that it would shut down its print operations completely and go all-digital. The Editor-in-Chief of the Magazine and founder of the online Newsweek Daily Beast Company, Tina Brown posted a statement on the website that being affected by the harsh media environment, the magazine had planned to stop its print publication and move on the online platform completely. The Digital Publication of the magazine will be a single issue worldwide and a compilation of world events in a sophisticated context targeting on the opinion leading audience.

NEO-NAZI GROUP’S ACCOUNT BLOCKED BY TWITTER

Twitter on 18 October 2012 announced that it had blocked the account of a neo-Nazi group named Besseres Hannover on 25 September 2012. This blocking act is the first ever activity of blocking by the micro-blogging site in the country following the orders of the German Police to block the neo-Nazi groups. The company is still visible on its handle@hannoverticker that is calling itself as Das Nationale Informationsportal aus Hannover. But the messages updated by the group after 25 September is no more visible. The Besseres Hannover is charged for creating criminal organiations and inciting racial hatred.

BRAHMOS

The Indian Navy on 7 October 2012 successfully test-fired the 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile which is capable of carrying a conventional warhead of 300 kg, from a warship off the Goa coast.

The cruise missile was test-fired from guided missile frigate INS Teg—the Indian Navy’s latest induction from Russia off the coast of Goa.

The INS Teg, which has been built at the Yantar shipyard in Russia, had fired the missile successfully during pre-induction trials in Russiain 2011.

ABOUT BRAHMOS MISSILE

BrahMos is a stealth supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It is a joint venture between Republic of India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russian Federation’s NPO Mashinostroeyenia who have together formed BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited It is the world’s fastest cruise missile in operation. The missile travels at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0. and have the capability of attacking surface targets by flying as low as 10 metres in altitude.

GLOBAL JAMES BOND DAY

Global James Bond Day was celebrated on 5 October 2012 to mark 50 years since the world premiere of Dr.

No which introduced author Ian Fleming’s sophisticated secret agent to the people. The franchise went on to produce best selling Agent 007 films. It is making legends out of actors over the last 50 years and the James Bond movie franchise has made heart-stopping thrillers.

ANAND KUMAR

Anand Kumar, teacher and founder of Super 30 institute, which provides free residential coaching to students from economically backward families for IIT-JEE exams, named ’People’s Hero’ by People magazine of American Time Magazine Group. It is itself an uncommon occasion where the people magazine which usually profiles celebrities from films and other fields onto their magazine had chosen a person who is a teacher by profession.

The magazine stated that Anand has done it on his own, which is remarkable. Earlier Anand was featured in Different Magazine. Time magazine earlier had described Super 30 as the “best of Asia,” with Newsweek putting it into the category of world’s four innovative schools. Also, Discovery Channel made an hour-long documentary on Kumar and Super 30 and had described it as a “revolutionary experiment to bring about social change. Back in April 2011, Anand Kumar was selected by Europe’s magazine Focus as one of the global personalities who have the ability to shape exceptionally talented people and was also named among the list of 20 pioneering teachers of the world by UK based magazine Monocle.

BRAHMOS AND INVAR MISSILES

The Cabinet Committee on security on 18 October 2012 approved proposals worth over 8000 crore rupees for procuring around 10000 Invar missiles from Russia for the Army’s T-90 tanks and over 200 air-launched versions of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles for the Indian Air Force. Also, the Union Cabinet approved the waiver of the outstanding loan along with interest for the 370 tsunami affected fishermen and to reimburse the same to concerned banks. The Union Cabinet also approved setting up of a National Automotive Board, NAB a body which would act as a facilitator between the government and the industry and promote Research and Development activities in the sector.

DR. APJ ABDUL KALAM

China on 2 November 2012 invited Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the former President and Missile Man of India to teach at the Peking University of China.

The nation also offered him the lab of his choice to work on with the students. The invitation came up during Dr. Kalam’s visit to the Beijing Forum by the Chairperson Zhu Shanlu of Peking University.

ABOUT BEJING FORUM

Beijing Forum is the intellectual body backed by the Chinese Government, Chinese Ministry of Eductaion and the Beijing Municipal Government. It is co-sponsored by Beijing Municipal Commission of Education, Peking University, and Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies.

ABOUT DR. APJ ABDUL KALAM

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam (Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam) served India as its 11th President and is reckoned as an eminent scientist of India. Also known as the Missile Man of India for development of Ballistic Missile and its launch Vehicle. Dr. Kalam has also worked as an aerospace engineer with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). After retiring as a President of India he has been sharing the knowledge with the young people and students of the nation.

He is a visiting Professor to Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and Indian Institute of Management Indore. He is also a Chancellor at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram. He serves Aerospace Engineering at Anna University (Chennai) and JSS University (Mysore) as its Professor. Apart from all this he has been visiting different institutes across India as a visiting faculty.

AWARDS WON BY KALAM

• He has been awarded with India’s highest Civilian honour, Bharat Ratna in the year 1997

• In 1998 he was awarded with Veer Savarkar Award by Government of India

• In the year 2012 was awarded with Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) by Simon Fraser University

• He was conferred with Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration in 1997 by Government of India

• He was conferred with Padma Vibhushan in the year 1990 by Government of India

• In the year 1981 he was awarded Padma Bhushan

• Royal Society of U.K. awarded him King Charles II Medal in the year 2007.

• University of Wolverhampton, U.K awarded him Honorary Doctorate of Science in the year 2007

PRITHVI II

India on 4 October 2012 successfully test fired its indigenously developed, nuclear-capable ballistic missile Prithvi-II from a test range in Odisha. The missile was test fired by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Odisha.

All the radars and electro-optical systems along the coast have monitored the missile throughout its flight path. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) have developed Prithvi-II for the Indian Air Force for deep interdiction and the missile can be armed with a nuclear warhead weighing 500 kg. In this flight, it carried conventional explosives. Prithvi-II is a user-friendly missile which has a completely guided trajectory. The SFC had earlier launched it on August 25, 2012 and the flight was successful. The Indian Army is already armed with the single-stage Prithvi-II, which uses liquid propellants. From July 2012 onwards the Strategic Forces Command had launched a series of strategic missiles including Agni-I, Agni-II and Agni-III. It is one of the five missiles that were developed under the country’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.

RAJAT GUPTA

Rajat Gupta, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) director and McKinsey & Co. Managing director on 25 October 2012 was sentenced to two years in prison for passing inside tips to his business partner. Rajat Gupta was convicted in June 2012 on three counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy.

It was alleged by the US prosecutors that Rajat Gupta used his positions on the boards of Goldman and Procter & Gamble, one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, to pass information to hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, who then drew millions of dollars in profit from trading on it. Rajat Gupta is 63 years old. He was handed for a two-year prison term by US District Court Judge Jed Rakoff and he was also ordered to pay a USD 5 million fine. Rajat Gupta, the India-born businessmen in the US who was considered to be an icon is now being called “deceptive and dishonest” after his conviction on insider trading charges.

POST CARD CAMPAIGN IN MAHARASHTRA

Tribal women from Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district have sent 80,000 postcards to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on 6 October 2012 asking to make the district liquor-free. Hundreds of women from rural parts led by president of Shramik Elgar- Paromita Goswami and Dr Rani Bang took out protest rally in town and after the rally the participating women posted 80,000 letters to CM Prithviraj Chavan. The demand to ban liquor is being made since 2010 in Maharashtra. The different non- governmental organization and NGO’S have been asking a reassessment of the state government’s policy on liquor in the district, including the sale of country liquor and Indian made foreign liquor. But the Government side is showing no results.

A CULTURAL CARNIVAL

The German Ambassador to India, Michael Steiner on 19 October 2012 announced the event named Indo-German Urban Mela scheduled to start from 27 October 2012 at Delhi. The celebrations are the part of Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities. The nine-day cultural extravaganza that is scheduled to be held at Indraprastha Millenium Park that is meant for commemorating the sixty years of German and Indian ties. The Carnival that is named as Indo-German Urban Mela is partnered by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and other business organizations from Germany and India and aims towards achieving a holistic exchange, of culture, science, entertainment and technology. Before this the Mela travelled through Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai and has followed its journey to the largest show in the capital.

SUPER 30

Super 30, the acclaimed educational programme by Anand Kumar and known for training economically backward section for the IIT-JEE on 24 October 2012 entered into an agreement with University of Tokyo, to sponsor its student a chance to study at Japan. The agreement was inked between Director of the University of Tokyo, Yoshino Hiroshi and Anand Kumar founder of Super 30. Following the pact of this agreement, University of Tokyo would sponsor the study of atleast one student from the Super 30 at the University. This agreement is a follow-up of the Japanese Government Program named Global 30, of engagement with Super 30 for increasing the flow of Indian Students to Japan. The University came to know about the educational group named Super 30 by a programme run by the Japanese Government Broadcast Corporation (NHK) about Super 30 with a title Indian Shock, which highlighted the success story of the Mathematical Club. The Super 30 is an initiative of Anand Kumar at Patna, Bihar to train 30 students from economically backward section of the society, for IIT-JEE and a majority of its students have succeeded in the test so far.

FIRST MUSEUM OF INDIAN CINEMA

Films Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India on 16 October 2012 announced its plan of establishing a National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC). The Museum would be located in the Films Division Complex, Dr. G. Deshmukh Marg, Mumbai and is predicted to come up by June 2013. The development of the museum was planned to mark the occasion of Indian Cinema that will complete its 100 years of journey from the day of first screening of Raja Harishchandra in 1913. The Museum would come up in two different phases and developed at an initial budget of 120 crore Rupees. This museum would be serving as the monument of Indian cinema and the first phase of the museum would start functioning from May 2013, the very day of release of Indian first film, Raja Harishchandra. The first phase will be in a portion of Gulshan Mahal, the heritage building renovated recently in a total area of 6000 square feet. To design the concepts and exhibits of the museum the ministry of culture has appointed National Council of Science Museums (NCSM). The Museum that is being developed will also showcase the technical aspects like screening and production of cinema and the social aspects covered by the Indian cinema in 100 years of its journey. To guide NCSM, an advisory committee that is being headed by Shyam Benegal the renowned Indian filmmaker has been appointed. The Museum will portray the step-by-step-development of Indian cinema in different phases comprising silent films, studio period and the times when Indian Cinema show its stars and mega stars.

OSMAN ALI KHAN

Osman Ali Khan the last Nizam of Hyderabad on 16 October 2012 was named in list of the 25 richest people across the world who ever lived by US website Celebrity Networth. Osman Ali Khan, the Nizam, who ruled Hyderabad between 1886-1967, was ranked sixth in world and the richest in India with $236 billion. He died in 1967 at age of 80. The list declared by US website Celebrity Networth was compiled after adjusting the fortunes of people across history for inflation. For example, $100 million in 1913 is equivalent to $2299.63 billion in 2012. As per the report, The 25 richest who ever lived had a combined fortune of $4.317 trillion, of which 14 are American.

PHASE-II OF COASTAL SECURITY

After the high level meet of Defence Ministry on 8 October 2012, the Defence Minister, A.K. Antony announced that the phase-II of the coastal security initiatives would be launched shortly. He also said that its time to focus on fool-proof marine security. Phase-II of the security initiatives would concentrate on development of a gap-free and robust Maritime Domain Awareness. The announcement came after the Defence Minister reviewed different steps taken for enhancement or the Coastal Security Network. In his announcement, he emphasised on completion of the pending tasks in a time-bound manner. Advising the Coastal States and different departments acting as stakeholders towards Coastal Security to monitor things closely, he promised that the Indian Coat Guard and Navy would complete their actions in a time-bound manner. He also requested the Cabinet Secretary to fix timeline for monitoring the performance of all. He stressed towards strengthening of the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in Government of India and the Department of Fisheries of States. The Defence Minister, laid emphasis on making the fishermen an integral part of their planning considering them to be the eyes and ears of the Coastal Security.
Appreciating the steps taken for monitoring the maritime traffic by installation of 46 coastal static radars, which includes 10 in the island territory and 36 in the mainland, he stated that the navy and the coastal guard has seen an unparallel growth in its capabilities.

FELIX BAUMGARTNER

Austrian Felix Baumgartner became the first skydiver on 14 October 2012 to go faster than the speed of sound, reaching a maximum velocity of 1,342 kilometers per hour. In jumping out of a balloon 39 kilometers above New Mexico, the 43-year-old also smashed the record for the highest ever freefall. It took just under 10 minutes for him to descend. Only the last few thousand feet were negotiated by parachute. The previous highest, farthest, and longest freefall was made by Kittinger, who leapt from a helium envelope in 1960. His altitude was 31 kilometers.

DHANUSH

India on 5 October 2012 successfully test fired nuclear capable Dhanush Missile, the naval version of short-range ballistic missile, Prithvi from a warship off Odisha coast. Dhanush, The indigenously developed naval version of the Prithvi short-range ballistic missile has a strike range of up to 350 km and can carry 500 kg of conventional or nuclear warhead. The test was conducted by the strategic force command (SFC) of the Indian Navy. The trial was a complete success.

Dhanush missile is a single stage missile and was developed by the DRDO and is about 8.53 metre in length and 0.9 metre in diameter which uses liquid propellant. The Dhanush missile is going to be used as an anti-ship weapon as well as for destroying land targets depending on the range.

KATKTH

Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar under Yuva Scheme had initiated a programme in the month of October 2012 for sex worker of GB Road to train and engage them in handicrafts and other small-scale businesses. The programme started is basically meant for providing alternative livelihood to sex workers so that they can become self-defendant. The drive is named as Katkth of which more than two dozen sex workers is already a part. The drive was started by Delhi Police from Farash Khana area of Kamla Market in Second week of October.The high point of scheme is that it is not limited for sex workers as Delhi police is also providing free education to the children of sex workers so that they don’t get into illegal activities to earn their livelihood. The children are educated by private teacher and volunteers first thereafter they will join government schools. The participants of the programme are trained in making jute bags, mats, pen stands and different household items. Also, they are being provided job oriented professional course like beauty training, boutique and cloth designing.

KOSHIK

Koshik, an Asian elephant is to believe that he can reproduce human speech. And the words are Korean in nature. Apparently, the researchers from an Austrian University seemed to have validated the news.
Koshik can apparently match both pitch and timbre patterns, he also imitates human formants as well as the voice pitch of his trainers accurately. Biologically, elephants have a trunk instead of lips. While their large larynx are capable of producing a very low-pitched sounds, this particular elephant’s speech exactly copies the pitch and other characteristics of his human trainers’ voices. The other reason for Koshik’s such development could be the fact that he was the only elephant living at the Everland Zoo in South Korea for about five years, while humans were his only social contacts.

ALI ZIDAN

Libya’s 200-member General National Congress on 14 October 2012 elected Ali Zidan as the new Prime Minister. Ali Zidan, an independent, won 93 votes, a majority among those present. He beat a candidate favoured by the Justice and Construction party which is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. Announcing his victory, President of the National Assembly asked Mr Zidan to propose a cabinet within two weeks. Ali Zidan is a human rights lawyer. The previous Prime Minister, Mustafa Abu Shagur, was dismissed a week ago after failing to form a government.

MUKESH AMBANI

China based Research firm Hurun in a Report on 10 October 2012 declared Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, the richest Indian with a Personal Fortune of $19.3 billion.

Mukesh Ambani is preceded by Arcelor-Mittal chief L.N. Mittal, whose wealth is nailed down to be $16.9 billion. The other businessman included in the list followed by Mukesh Ambani and Laxmi Mittal are Azim Premji of Wipro with a Personal Fortune of $12.3 billion, Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharmaceuticals with $8.5 billion, Pallonji Mistry of Shapoorji Pallonji & Co, the largest shareholder in Tata Group with $7.9 billion, Shashi and Ravi Ruia of Essar Energy with personal fortune of $7.2 billion and Adi Godrej of Godrej Group with $6.9 billion. Four others Entrepreneurs who are included in the list of top 10 billionaires are Kushal Pal Singh of DLF with a Personal fortune of $6.3 billion, Kumara Mangalam Birla of Grasim Industries with $5.8 billion, Shiv Nadar of HCL Technology with $5.7 billion and Sunil Mittal of Bharti Airtel with $5.7 billion of Personal fortune.
In terms of women Savitri Jindal, the non-executive chairperson of O.P. Jindal Group, is the richest Indian woman with personal fortune of $5.6 billion, on the other hand Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the chairman and managing director of Biocon is the richest self-made woman with a personal wealth of $600 million. Also, In the list of people whose wealth was adversely affected in 2012 were Mukesh Ambani, L N Mittal, Shashi Ruia and Ravi Ruia, Kumara Mangalam Birla’s flagship company Hindalco and telecom tycoon Sunil Mittal.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the only self-made woman in the list of top 100 richest Indians. The reports shows that only five of the top 100 rich Indians are women. Among the women rich list, Savitri Jindal is followed by Indu Jain of Bennett Coleman with $1.7 billion, Anu Aga of Thermax with $690 million, Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon with $600 million and Shobhana Bhartia of Hindustan Times with $490 million. Talking of State, Mumbai is the place for 36 of India’s richest 100, followed by Delhi and Bangalore with 22 and 15, respectively. The youngest person put on the list is Shivinder Mohan Singh at 37 years old while the oldest one is Keshub Mahindra with 89 years of age.The average age of the Top 100 is 62 years while the average age of the Top 10 is 65 years.

HYDERABAD

The City of Hyderabad was named as World Third best city to visit in 2013 by Travel guide book Lonely Planet published on 22 October 2012. Hyderabad the capital city of Andhra Pradesh was described as “elegant and blossoming” by the Lonely Planet. The top 10 cities according to Lonely Planet to visit in 2013 are San Francisco, Amsterdam, Hyderabad, Derry/Londonderry, Beijing, Christchurch, Hobart, Montreal, Addis Ababa and Puerto Iguazu. Earlier in 2011, New York Times rated Hyderabad among the 41 top destinations to visit in the world.

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