Current Events 2011
Current Affairs [January 2011]- Karnataka Governor sanctions prosecution of CM Yeddyurappa
Karnataka Governor HR Bharadwaj on 21/1/2011 sanctioned the prosecution of Chief Minister Yeddyurappa on charges of corruption. This is for the first time in Karnataka's political history that a governor has permitted the prosecution of a chief minister. The Governor gave sanction for prosecution of the Chief Minister who is said to be involved in alleged land scams on a petition made by two lawyers. With this sanction, the lawyers will now approach a local court and will seek a court directive to the police for registering an FIR against the Chief Minister Yeddyurappa and the State Home Minister R Ashoka.
- Officer burnt alive by Oil Mafia
Yashwant Sonawane, Additional District Collector of Malegaon (Maharashtra) was tragically burnt alive by oil mafia at Manmad near Nashik on 25 January 2011. Mr. Sonawane was returning from Chandrar village after reviewing the situation in the wake of a demonstration by onion farmers, when he found some people adulterating kerosene in a tanker parked behind Sagar Dhaba at Panewadi near Manmad. The area has a notorious reputation for smuggling and adulteration of oil. Sonawane stopped and questioned them and also shot a video of them pilfering the kerosene on his mobile phone. The main accused Popat Shinde and three others allegedly poured kerosene on the official, and set him afire. Mr. Sonawane died on the spot. The horrifying incident has caused a lot of shock and anger all across India.
- Gujarat attracts Rs 20.83 lakh Crore investment in 2 days
Leading industrialists of India have flocked to Gujrat to sign MOU's during the two-day long Vibrant Gujarat Summit that began on 1/12/2011. Chief Minister announced that the state has been able to attract investments to the tune of Rs 20.83 lakh crores during the two-day long Summit. As many as 7,936 MOUs were signed by the state government with several industrial houses to invest in the state. It is rare for 60 of India's top Industrialists representing companies that command the bulk of market capitalization, to share the dais at a single event and it is even rarer to make investments to the tune of thousands of crores for a single state and that too over just two days. The major investments include Anil Ambani group, Adani Group, Essar Group, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra and many others.
- Australian firm set to sue Delhi CWG over non payment of dues.
In yet another case of embarrassment for India an Australian firm is set to sue the CWG organizers regarding non payment of bills. It is reported that the firm had played a very key and major role in the opening and closing ceremonies of the million dollar sporting event. Sydney Olympics maestro Ric Birch, who was creative director for the Delhi ceremonies, is likely to launch a multi-million dollar class action against Commonwealth Games organizers for substantial unpaid bills. The Australian government has already raised the issue with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna who has promised to look into the matter.
- 102 lives lost in Sabarimala Stampede
Around 102 pilgrims were killed and another 100 injured in a stampede about 40-45 km from the Sabarimala Shrine. The stampede was triggered when a jeep and an auto rickshaw rammed into a crowd of devotees in a narrow forest path at Pulimedu in Idukki district of Kerala on 14/1/2011. Most of the victims are from the Southern state of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The pilgrims were returning after seeking the blessings at the Sabarimala temple on the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti. The temple attracts millions of worshippers and an estimated 150,000 devotees were thought to have taken the narrow path out of the densely forested hills where the stampede took place. CM V.S Achuthanandan has launched a judicial probe into the matter.
- Suresh Kalmadi sacked as Chairman of Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee
Suresh Kalmadi and his deputy Lalit Bhanot were sacked as Chairman and Secretary General of the Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee respectively after three months since the end of the international event. The decision to remove the two top officials was taken by the new Sports Minister Ajay Maken after taking the legal opinion of the Attorney General. The organizing committee has faced several allegations of massive corruption and ineptitude in the months leading up to the games.
- Aarushi Talwar's father attacked outside court
Dr. Rajesh Talwar father of murdered teenager Aarushi Talwar was attacked by a man outside the Ghaziabad court on 25/1/2011. He received sharp blows from a meat cleaver used by the assailant and the bleeding doctor was immediately rushed to a Hospital. Rajesh Talwar had gone to the court to file a petition demanding a fresh probe by the CBI in the Aarushi- Hemaraj murder case. The attacker has been identified as Utsav Sharma who was earlier also involved in an incident where he attacked SPS Rathore, the retired police officer who was convicted in the Ruchita Girhotra suicide case.
- Republic Day celebrations peaceful in Kashmir
India's Republic Day celebrations in Kashmir passed of peacefully even as BJP activist's attempts to hoist the flag at Lal Chowk were foiled. Six activists were taken into custody immediately after they came out of a hotel near Lal Chowk and began walking towards the city centre. Another activist was arrested in Residency Road area adjacent to Lal Chowk when he appeared with a national flag and the BJP flag. The days leading to the Republic Day were fraught with tension as BJP's proposed 'EktaYatra' was seen as a move that could possibly reignite tensions in the valley.
Current Affairs For February 2011
National
2G scam: Former Telecom Minister A.Raja sent to Tihar Jail- Former Telecom Minister A Raja was sent to Tihar Jail in Jail in Delhi on Feb 17th in relation to the 2G scam. He will be in judicial custody for fourteen days until March 3rd. He was also earlier arrested by the CBI on 2nd Feb and was held in their custody in view of the evidence they had collected against him regarding his involvement in the 2G scam. A. Raja has been accused of issuing 2G licenses at throw away prices creating massive losses for the exchequer. According to the national auditor CAG, the 2G spectrum phone licenses were sold in 2008 for a fraction of their value and this has resulted in a notional loss of Rs. 1.76 lakh crores. The 2 G scam has created major uproar in Parliament and has sent shock waves across the country.
- Leaders of the outlawed United liberation Front of Asom (ulFA) met Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Feb 10 to signify the start of the much long-awaited peace talks aimed at ending 30 long years of insurgency in Assam. History was created when the eight member ulFA team headed by Arabinda Rajkhowa met Chidambaram at his North Block office for a first round of peace talks. This is a highly significant development considering ulFA has been trying since 1979 to carve out an independent homeland of Assam. While ulFA has not put up any demands or finalised any agenda for talks, the beginning of talks itself is being seen as a very positive step to restoring peace in the state.
- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that his government would set up the Joint Pariamentry Committee (JPC) to investigate the 2G spectrum scam. The government finally agreeing to introduce the JPC does not come about as unexpected. With the opposition being absolutely unrelenting in their demands for the introduction of the probe, the Congress had to finally give in. The previous years winter session in parliament ended with only ten working hours on record. In order to ensure that the budget session does not get similarly affected, several meetings with the different political parties were set up and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee tried to bring about a compromise, which in the end proved to be futile. In the Lok Sabha, on the first day of the budget session the PM said "On account of the controversy relating to allocation of 2G spectrum, the winter session of Parliament was lost. Our country can ill-afford this...in paralyzing Parliament, we all do disservice to those who have elected us." Later on he also announced the introduction of the probe when he went on to add "It is in these special circumstances that our government agrees to a JPC...we are a functioning democracy and must try to resolve our difference is the spirit of collaboration not competition."
- With the Income Tax Department celebrating 150 years of taxation in the country the government will issue coins of Rs. 150 in denomination. The special coins which also includes Rs 5 denomination would be released by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee ahead of his budget speech. The Rs 150 coin is prepared from an alloy of copper, nickel, silver and zinc. 'Sathyameva Jayathe' and 'India' would be engraved on the front side of the coin while the back side will feature a portrait of portrait of 'Chanakya and lotus with honeybee'. The Rs 5 coins will also be minted in a similar fashion. This is a special occasion with the IT department having completed 150 years of taxation from 1860 to 2010.
- The Bombay High Court on Feb 21 confirmed the death penalty to 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab and termed the case being the rarest of rare and held that there was "no scope of reform" of the convict. This comes nine months after the lone 26/11 terrorist who was captured alive was ordered to be sent to the gallows by the trial court on May 6, 2010. Kasab, an LeT operative was captured alive at Girgaum Chowpatty in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 while none other operatives who has come with him were gunned down by the security forces at the terror sites. Justice Ranjana Desai told Kasab through video conferencing "Aapko saza-e-maut yeh adalat barkarar karti hai. Aap Supreme Court mein appeal zari kar sakte hain (Your death sentence is upheld. You can appeal before the Supreme Court,"
- A special court in Ahmedabad on February 22nd convicted 31 people and acquitted 63 including main accused Maulvi Umarji, in the 2002 Godhra train burning incident that left 59 people dead mostly Kar Sevaks who were returning from Ayodhya on the Sabarmati Express. This triggered the 2002 Gujarat communal riots which left over 1200 people dead mostly Muslims. The court was the first one to pronounce a judgment, among the nine trying the 2002 Gujarat riots cases. The court accepted the prosecution's contention that there was a conspiracy behind the incident. Apart from the charges of murder, attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy, the accused were convicted under IPC sections 147, 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 323, 324, 325, 326 (causing hurt), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on religious grounds), various sections of the Indian Railways Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and Bombay Police Act.
- Malkangiri District Collector RV Krishna and Junior Engineer Pabitra Majhi were finally released by the Maoists after being kept for a week in captivity. The two were abducted by the Maoists on Feb 16th and the Maoists in a letter to the government, listed 14 demands for the safe release of the two hostages. These included halting anti-Maoist operations by security forces, release of all political prisoners, scrapping of accords with MNCs for land transfer and projects, and compensation for the families of Maoist sympathizers killed in police custody. Dandapani Mohanty and academicians G. Haragopal and R. Someswar Rao were chosen as mediators and had discussions with the Maoists. The negotiators had made the government agree to 14 key demands including the release of Ganti Prsadam, Padma (wife of top Maoist Ram Krishna), and Sriramulu Srinivas, another top Maoist. After intense round of negotiations the government finally relented and made arrangements to secure bails for the jailed Maoists. A further twist in the tale occurred when the Maoists released only Majhi and held back the Collector making a fresh list of demands. However after another round of discussion, common sense prevailed and the Maoists released the collector a day later.
Sports News
Cricket World Cup 2011 Officially Opened- The 10th edition of the ICC cricket World Cup, was officially launched on 17th Feb with a grand opening ceremony being held in Dhaka, Bangaldesh. The stadium was filled with spectators and evening proved to be visual spectacle with colourful fireworks, songs and dance routines to mark the start of the eagerly awaited event. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared the event open amid thundering cheers while the fourteen participating Captains were revealed to the public being carried in tricycles. Shankar Ehsaan Loy and other popular artists performed at the venue with the show stopper being Bryan Adams.
- The 34th National Games, was finally held in Jharkand and the event turned to be very successful. The games were held from 12th February 2011 to 26th February 2011.Many athletes all over the country took part in various disciplines and quite a few records were broken in the process. The long-postponed 34th National Games was originally scheduled for 2007. The Games have been deferred six times – four times due to delay in developing infrastructure and then postponed again due to the coming of Assemble Elections.
- India played Bangladesh at Mirpur in the first WC match of the tournament on Feb 19. India started with a bang scoring 375 with both Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli hitting sensational hundreds to take the match away from the hosts. Sehwag particularly looked murderous. The Indian team was expected to be under pressure to perform well against Bangladesh as their previous campaign in 2007 resulted in an early exit and left many disappointed fans back at home.
- World Champion Viswanathan Anand played against Magnus Carlsen of Norway to end the match in hard fought draw and finished second in the Bilbao Final Masters chess tournament. But the icing on the cake was when the Indian ace dethroned Carlsen from the number one ranking in live rating list for the first time since January this year and ended up as the top player in ratings too.
- Former Brazil striker Ronaldo announced his retirement from soccer on Feb 14. The 34-year-old three-time world player had a year end contract with Corinthians. But a shock loss led to an early elimination from the libertadores Cup and violent protests from fans. Ronaldo further added that frequent injury problems were one of the main reasons in him deciding to announce his retirement. Thus ends a brilliant career in which he scored more than 400 goals including a record 15 at World Cups.
International News
Mubarak resigns, Egypt celebrates- The people of Egypt went wild with celebrations after President Hosni Mubarak resigned and handed power to the military on 11th February. For eighteen days thousands of people had taken to the streets all over Egypt demanding the ouster of their autocratic President who had been in power for the past thirty years. One of the key reasons for such public outrage has been widespread poverty, inflation and rampant corruption in the government for many years. Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the anti-government protests burst with joy when the announcement was made. This has been a hard fought struggle for the people of Egypt after many episodes of violence having been reported between the public and Mubaraks forces.
- China has now overtaken Japan as the world's second-biggest economy. Japan's economy was worth $5.474 trillion (£3.414 trillion) at the end of 2010, figures from Tokyo have shown while that of China's economy is closer to $5.8 trillion for the same period. China has been enjoying a manufacturing boom for quite a few years now and it is expected that at its current rate of growth, analysts see China replacing the US as the world's top economy in about a decade. The US economy is currently almost three times the size of the Chinese economy in dollar terms.
- A massive earthquake on 22nd Feb has caused massive destruction in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. The 6.3-magnitude earthquake was the second in five months for the city and the death toll continues to increase with the police having confirmed 148 deaths with 200 still missing. The damage caused has been said to be much worse than the 7.1-magnitude quake on 4 September, which left two people seriously injured but no fatalities. The city's historic cathedral was one of the many buildings that got significantly damaged, while cars lay in a mangled heap under a pile of rubble and roads cracked open with fissures as a result of the tremors. Dazed, bleeding residents could be seen wandering through streets strewn with debris and piles of concrete.
- Inspired by the outcomes of Tunisia and Egypt over the past few weeks the people of libya have also taken out to the streets in their cries for freedom against their autocratic leader Muammar Gaddafi. Thousands of people have joined the struggle and there have been continuous reports of frequent clashes with the Muammars loyalists and the protesting public. Scores of people have been reported killed in continuing violence in the libyan capital, Tripoli, amid escalating protests against Muammar Gaddafi's 40-year rule across the North African nation. With each passing day the leader seems to be losing support from people working in his own government and is also under increasing pressure from International powers to step down.
- 'The Kings Speech' had a great outing at this years Oscars winning four awards. The film won in the best picture category and its director Tom Hooper received Best Director. Colin Firth received the award for best actor for his central role in Kings Speech while best female actor went to Natalie Portman for Black Swan. 'The Best Supporting Actor' and The Best Supporting Actress' awards were bagged by Christian Bale and Melissa Leo for their performances in film, 'The Fighter'. Indian musician AR Rahman missed out on his two nominations for his score in '127 hours.'
Current Affairs For March 2011
National
Godhra verdict: 11 get death, 20 get life term- A Sessions Court in Ahmedabad awarded death sentence to 11 people and life term to twenty others on 1/3/2011. The sentence was pronounced by Additional Sessions Judge PR Patel who had earlier convicted them of criminal conspiracy in the Sabarmati Express train burning case on Feb 22nd.
- The court had accepted the prosecution's contention that there was a conspiracy behind the incident and convicted 31 under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) like 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120B(criminal conspiracy).
- They were convicted under IPC section 147, 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 323, 324,325,326 (causing hurt), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on religious grounds), various sections of the Indian Railways Act, Prevention of Damages to Public Property Act and Bombay Police Act.
- The court had acquitted 63 others out the total 94 for lack of evidence including the alleged mastermind Maulavi Hussain Umarji. Fifty nine Kar Sevaks traveling in the S6 coach of Sabarmati Express were burnt alive near the Godhra railway station on February 2002. This incident caused wide spread communal riots in the State of Gujarat that resulted in the deaths of over 100 people, most of them Muslims. Justice Patel termed the case as "rarest of rare" and the court has given the accused 90 days to appeal in the High court.
- The Supreme Court on 3/3/2011 struck down on the appointment of Chief Vigilance Commisioner PJ Thomas after a three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia delivered its verdict on a Public Interest litigation (PIL) that sought his removal. The apex court has observed Thomas is a person who is tainted as he was an accused in the palmoline export scam. CVC PJ Thomas soon thereafter submitted his resignation. This has come about as big blow to the UPA government which is already facing several allegations of corruption. Furthermore Thomas is the country's 14th CVC and was selected by a three member panel that included the PM and the Home Minister. The opposition BJP had been highly critical all along and following his resignation demanded even the PM to step down. The PM took responsibility for the incident and cited the reason as error in judgement. An IAS officer of 1973 batch of Kerala cadre, PJ Thomas is the eighth accused in the palmolien case. He served as food secretary in Kerala in the early 90's during which time he had aggressively campaigned for the import of 1500 tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia. Reports later emerged that price paid for the oil- palmolein was unjustifiable high. He has since been fighting allegations of corruption, while the case is still pending in court.
- A Delhi court on 4/3/2011 accepted CBI's closure report seeking to drop all charges against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi in the two decade old Bofors case. The CBI was looking at closing all criminal cases against Italian businessman Quattrocchi, who is allegedly one of the recipients of kickbacks in the controversial Bofors gun deal of 1986 which ended up resulting in the fall of the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1989. Many influential figures were accused of receiving payoffs in the deal which involved the purchase of Bofors guns for the Indian army. The agency has been seeking withdrawal of the case against him as he has never appeared before any Indian court to face trial due to lack of evidence, even though a tax tribunal had ruled in Dec 2010 that illegal commissions were indeed paid in the deal. The agency had said that its plea to withdraw the case has been filed with bonafide intention as it has spent a huge amount of money on the investigation but has not been able to arrest the Italian businessman. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav observed: "At this moment we have to end the case therefore I allow the CBI plea to close the case. I think the CBI has moved this application to close this case after applying their minds, therefore there is no need of wasting public money in continuing the investigation." Advocate Ajay Aggarwal, who objected to CBI's application in the court, said he would challenge the order in the Delhi High Court.
- Radhika Tanwar (21) a student of Ram Lal Anand College (Delhi University) was shot dead by an unidentified man on the Dhaula Kuan foot-over bridge near South Campus at around 10.30 AM on 8/3/2011. Radhika a second year BA student who lives with her family in Naraina locality of West Delhi was shot point blank by the assailant who fled the scene after shooting her in the stomach. Passersby took the girl in an autorickshaw to Safdurjung Hospital where she was declared brought dead. The incident has caused outrage in the Capital which has been witnessing increasing episodes of crimes against women, while the world was celebrating International Womens Day. The assailant has been identified as 25 yr old Ram Singh alias Vijay who hails from Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. He was caught a few days later and Delhi Police Commissioner B K Gupta said "Vijay suffers from psychopathic obsession. He used to follow women. He followed Radhika regularly. The immediate trigger was the snubbing of Radhika when he tried to speak to her". The police also went on to add Vijay "nurtured deep grudge" against the victim after he got beaten up for harassing her and often told his friends that he would avenge the humiliation whenever he got the opportunity. On 11/3/2011 another student Monica Kirnapure was stabbed by four people in Nagpur while she was on her way to class from her hostel. The twenty two year old girl lay in her pool of blood for ten minutes, a knife sticking out of her back, asking for water. No help came about from the bystanders until Sumedh Wanjaari hired a rickshaw to take her to the hospital where she died en route.
- Aruna Shanbaug a former nurse at Mumbai's KEM hospital has been in a vegetative state for the last 38 years after she was assaulted by a ward boy. A Bench of Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra rejected on 7/3/2011 the euthanasia plea filed by Aruna's friend Pinky Virani declaring 'the petition stands cancelled'. They also added Pinky was not allowed to appeal for the mercy killing of Aruna as she was not the staff of KEM hospital. The bench in its 110-page judgement saw the nursing staff of KEM hospital who have been looking after Aruna for the past 38 years as the real next friend of Aruna and declared the patient didn't have a single bed sore during the period. The apex court however allows passive euthanasia in appropriate cases which have been permitted by the concerned high courts. They also added there is no law in the country presently in the country on euthanasia and clarified unless the Parliament drafts a law, its stand on active and passive euthanasia will stay enforced. Aruna Shanabug was sexually assaulted on November 27 1973 by Sohanlal Walmiki who used a dog chain to subdue her which ended up cutting the oxygen supply to her brain damaging vital functions like sight, memory and normal movement.
- After lot of political drama the DMK and the Congress have come to a mutual seat sharing agreement ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections. The DMK party announced on 8/3/20011 that it will contest for 121 seats while the Congress will contest for 63 under the seat sharing deal for the April 13 Assembly polls. The Congress demand of 63 seats marks an increase of 15 seats in allocation of what they got during the 2006 Assembly elections. DMK chief Karunanidhi was initially ready to give 60 seats to the Congress but the Congress unrelenting demand on having 63 made him unhappy and he threatened to pull out his ministers from the government. The Congress refused to blink this time and after quite a few rounds of discussions the DMK finally relented to the Congress demands. The DMK has agreed to allocate 61 seats, up 1 seat from what they previously agreed and another two seats would be allocated to the Congress from the other allied parties of the DMK. Under the seat sharing formula, DMK will contest 121 seats, Congress 63, PMK 30, VCK 10, KMK 7, IUML 2 and MMK 1 for the 234-member assembly.
- Sadiq Batcha, a close aide of former telecom minister A.Raja committed suicide and was found hanging at his residence in Chennai on 16/3/2011. Sadiq Batcha (37) who is the Managing Director of Greenhouse Promoters has been under the CBI scanner for his suspected involvement in the 2G spectrum case and was questioned by the agency on February 22nd. Green House Promoters, initially a nondescript company with an equity base of Rs.100,000 in 2004, is said to have grown to over Rs.600 crore revenue company within a very short time frame. Raja's wife Parameshwari is said to have served as a director in the firm but quit during 2008. Batcha hails from Raja's constituency Perambalur in Tamil Nadu and initially worked as a sari seller until his friendship with the former telecom minister happened in the early 1990's.According to the post mortem reports the cause of death has been ascertained as asphyxia while the forensic reports are still awaited. This may come as blow to the CBI in their investigations into the 2G scam.
- Ahead of upcoming assembly polls, the political parties of Tamil Nadu have promised a host of freebies to woo the voting public. Top warring parties DMK and ADMK have taken the war of freebies to a new high. While DMK in their manifesto have announced 35 kg of free rice every month for below-poverty line families, AIADMK has promised 20 kg of free rice for all ration-card holders. The ruling DMK party has promised laptops to students in their first year of college while Jayalalitha's ADMK party promises them one as early as eleventh standard. While the DMK plans to give women free mixes, grinders its rivals have promised additional fans along with mixies and grinders. Furthermore Jayalalitha in her bid to woo female voters has promised 4gms of gold for 'Thali' (mangalsutra) free of cost to poor, besides offering cable TV connections at subsidised rates. Some of the other freebies include four sets of uniform and footwear for students, a hike in scholarship upto Rs 5000 from class 10 onwards, women self help groups get Rs10Lakh with 25 % waiver, 20 litres of mineral water a day to Below Poverty line families, six months' maternity leave for women and Rs 12,000 as pregnancy allowance and a host of other promises were made. This does came as surprise since Jayalalitha was a staunch critic of populist measures when the DMK party which came in power in 2006, promised to offer free colour TV's to the public and also kept up on its electoral promise. The partie's efforts in trying to gain an upper hand over each other by making such steep electoral promises does raise a lot of concerns. It does make one wonder if the State Treasury would be left with any money if such populist measures are left unchecked.
- The Congress and the Trinamool Congress reached a seat sharing agreement ahead of the West Bengal Assembly Polls. Mamta Banerjee of Trinamool has agreed to offer 65 seats after her rounds of discussion with the Congress party. She had earlier agreed to give 64 seats against Congress demand of 98. The alliance will fight against CPM led Left Front which has been in power for almost 35 years now.Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said "In West Bengal, Congress will contest 65 seats and TMC will contest 229. We will work in close cooperation to win the election to defeat the Left from the state."West Bengal will be voting in 6 phases. The first phase voting is on April 18, second phase on April 23, third phase on April 27, fourth phase on May 3, fifth phase on May 7 and sixth phase is on May 10th.
- With the revelations by Wikileaks about the Congress buying MPs to win the vote-of-confidence over the crucial Indo-US nuclear deal in 2008 came back to haunt party when a united opposition created an uproar in Parliament. On 17/3/2011 they were demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in view of the fresh charges that bribe was paid during the trust vote. The government on its part was dismissive questioning the credibility of the leaks. Also FM Pranab Mukherjee said "Each Lok Sabha is sovereign in its time. What happened in the 14th Lok Sabha cannot be decided in the 15th Lok Sabha...Government of the day is accountable to the 15th Lok Sabha and not to the 14th Lok Sabha. Whatever happened in the 14th Lok Sabha has come to an end with the end of the tenure". On 23/3/2011 Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj made a stinging attack on the Prime Minister and said "It is the habit of the Prime Minister to blame others. If it is price rise then (Agriculture Minister) Sharad Pawar is responsible, if it is 2G then (former Telecom Minister) A Raja is responsible and if it is Commonwealth Games then Suresh Kalmadi is to blame." The Wikileaks cable suggests that the Congress bought the support of MPs during a vote of confidence during the controversial nuclear deal in 2008. Three BJP MP's walked into the Lok Sabha with Rs 3 crores in cash and claimed that they had been offered that money to vote for the nuclear deal and that they had planned a sting operation to prove it. Following that a Lok Sabha committee, headed by Congress MP KCS Deo, was set up to examine their allegations in which was found there was no evidence of the allegations made by the BJP MP's.
- Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, parents of murdered teen Aarushi Talwar have surrendered their passports to a local court following a direction by the Supreme Court which also stayed their trial in the Noida double murder case. On 19/3/2011 the SC had stayed the CBI court order summoning the Talwars to appear before it on 22/3/2011. The Allahabad High Court on 18/3/2011 dismissed the couples plea seeking quashing of criminal proceedings initiated by the lower court which not only refused the closure report filed by the CBI but also summoned the couple as accused in the case. The HC declared that it could not prohibit the magistrate from taking cognizance of a case if prima facie it appears that there is sufficient evidence against a person. Earlier the CBI had file a closure report pleading closure citing lack of incriminating evidence, however the CBI has pointed a needle of suspicion to the parents and as a result left the option of proceeding against the Talwars with the Trial Court. The couple had challenged the order of the Allahabad High Court which the Supreme Court stayed on 19/3/2011 but asked the Talwars to surrender their passports. Satish Tamta, the counsel for Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, submitted the passports in the court of additional chief judicial magistrate Puspendra Kumar Singh. Fourteen-year-old Aarushi was found murdered at her home in Noida on May 16, 2008. A day after, Hemraj's body was found in the same building.
- Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 23/3/2011 revoked a total of 14 commercial pilot licenses (CPL) which means it brings an end to the flying careers of the those accused of having submitted fake training records from Rajasthan State Flying School to procure their licenses. The discovery of frauds in the issuing of licenses is a worrying development to the safety of air travel for the passengers and the industry. The fake pilot scam began unraveling when female Captain Parminder Gulati landed her airliner on the nose instead of the rear wheels which set the alarms ringing across many quarters. DGCA, the airline regulator stepped in and discovered she had submitted forged mark sheets to procure her license. Since then more pilots have been caught guilty of the same crime. The DGCA admits there was a lapse, and now says as much as 4000 pilot licences are now under fresh scrutiny. On 26/3/2011 a DGCA official Pradeep Kumar(48), pilot Pradeep Tyagi(35) and two of his touts Lalit Jain (34) and Pankaj Jain (23) were arrested by the Delhi Police. Tyagi along with his touts used to forge mark sheets for the fake pilots for huge a fee and also bribed Pradeep Kumar of the DGCA for expediting those files. A person is eligible to fly a commercial aircraft only when he or she secures a CPL, which is given out after a person completes 200 hours of flying during the training.
- Hasan Ali is a Pune bases stud farm owner who has been accused of allegedly stashing away 8 billion dollars in Swiss banks. It is speculated that the major portion of the money in offshore accounts belong to some politicians and industrialists and that Ali acts as a conduit for them and allegedly facilitates transfer of black money from India on a commission basis. He has been under the radar of the Income Tax (IT) department and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for a few years now while his premises were raided in 2007. According to Hasan Ali's statements he is scrap dealer with an annual income of Rs 30 Lakh which does not tally with kind of lifestyle Ali is known for. He is known to throw lavish parties, has a penchant for race horses and own quite a few of them and also own an expensive fleet of cars. A little ironic for a man with humble beginnings, whose father worked as an excise officer. Hassan Ali has been declared the highest tax defaulter in the country with dues allegedly over Rs 70,000 crores. Ali was arrested by the ED on 7/3/2011 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. But a Mumbai Court on 11/3/2011 rejected ED's plea for custodial interrogation of Hasan Ali on the grounds that the agency had not gathered sufficient evidence and Ali was released on bail. The Supreme Court on 17/3/2011 stayed the trial courts order, directed custodial interrogation of Hasan Ali to ED and was also critical of Mumbai Court Judge M L Tahaliyani's order of granting bail to Ali, saying it was "deeply disturbed" as to the manner in which the trial court judge rejected the ED's contention and had given a lengthy order for it. On 21/3/2011 the apex court extended his custody with the ED for an additional three days and when that duration came to a close a session's court remanded Hasan Ali in judicial custody till April 8, 2011.
- After the Congress it was the BJP's turn to be hit by the Wikileaks phenomenon when a US diplomat reported in the cable that senior leader of BJP declared to him that Hindu Nationalism was an 'opportunistic issue' for the party. "Pressed on the question of Hindutva, Jaitley argued that Hindu nationalism 'will always be a talking point' for the BJP. However, he characterized this as an opportunistic issue," a cable by Robert Blake, the Charge at the US Embassy, to his government, had said after a meeting with Jaitley on May 6, 2005. "Pressed on the question of Hindutva, Jaitley argued that Hindu nationalism 'will always be a talking point' for the BJP. However, he characterized this as an opportunistic issue," a cable by Robert Blake, the Charge at the US Embassy, to his government, had said after a meeting with Jaitley on May 6, 2005. Jaitley a senior leader of the BJP and also leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha , whom the cable described as "one of several aspirants to direct the next generation of BJP leadership", said in a statement that the word opportunistic in reference to Hindutva could be the "diplomat's own usage". He said the cable by the diplomat in 2005 makes a reference to his conversation with him. "The cable reflects my views on cross-border terrorism, illegal infiltration from Bangladesh and the unfair denial of US Visa to the Gujarat Chief Minister (Narendra Modi). "However, the use of the word "opportunistic" in reference to nationalism or Hindu nationalism is neither my view nor my language. It could be the diplomat's own usage," he said. Congress on its part was quick to give it back to the BJP. "Chickens are coming to roost, what goes out wrongly hits back like a boomerang. People living in glass houses are taught in this manner that they were to throw stones at others," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.
- The relations between India and Pakistan had soured post Mumbai 26/11 blasts. With the ongoing world cup when India defeated Australia in the quarters it became apparent that it was to face off against Pakistan in the semifinal. The clash between the two countries generated tremendous hype in the media of both countries. The match even took on political turns when PM Manmohan Singh invited his counterpart Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari to the cricket match. The invite was accepted by the PM of Pakistan who then along with Dr Manmohan Singh reached the cricket venue on 30/3/2011 where they shook hands with players and also engaged in diplomatic talks which has now leased a fresh breath of air to the relations between the two countries. As per the joint statement released in the capital on 29/3/2011 the Pakistani delegation updated India on the ongoing trial and investigation and agreed to allow an Indian Commission to come to Pakistan to investigate 26/11 attacks. The Pak delegation assured that India's National Investigative Agency (NIA) and Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) will cooperate in the 26/11 investigation. India on its part provided Pakistan information with regards to the Samjauta blast case and agreed that they would update them once the charge sheet was filed. According to the joint statement released in New Delhi on Tuesday, the Pakistani delegation updated India on the ongoing trial and investigation and agrees in principle to allow an Indian commission to investigate 26/11 attacks in Pakistan. The two countries have also agreed to hold home secretary-level talks bi-annually.
- India's population has risen to 1.21 billion in the last ten years, which is an increase of 181 million according to the new census released on 31/3/2011. India's population is now bigger than population of USA, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan and Bangladesh, says the Census report. On the positive side the overall population growth rate is 17.6 in 2011, significantly lower than 2001 when it was 21.15 per cent. Coming to the sex ration India has 623.7 million males and 586.5 million women. A matter of concern is that child sex ratio has slipped to its lowest since India's independence. For every 1000 male infants, there are 914 girls. The most populous state of Indian continues to be Uttar Pradesh with 16.49 per cent share in the total population, followed by Maharashtra with 9.29 per cent, while, the least populous state is Sikkim with 0.05 per cent share in the total population. This is the 15th Census conducted since 1872. It was carried out in two phases, covering 640 districts and 5924 sub-districts.
Sports News
ICC WC 2011 off to spectacular start- The ICC cricket world cup is on in full swing. The fourteen teams have all played their group stages and 8 teams qualified to the knockout stages. The teams that played in quarterfinals were West Indies, India, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Among these only four teams made it to the Semis where Pakistan and India played each other at Mohali and Srilanka and New Zealand played against each other in Colombo. The semi final match between India and Pakistan created unprecedented hype as the two teams have not faced off against each other since Mumbai 26/11 attacks. There was a never before seen rush to get the tickets for the match and people were selling their tickets in black market at astronomical amounts. India and Sri Lanka went on to win their semi finals respectively and face each other in the final on April 02 , 2011.
- Levon Aronian has won the 20th and final edition of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Championship held at Monaco. He had earlier also won in 2008 and 2009 respectively. The Armenian grandmaster tied his last round game against Sergey Karjakin and still maintained a one point lead over runner up Magnus Carlsen of Norway. Indian chess grandmaster and World Champion Vishwanath Anand came in at third position. With the 2011 edition the 20 year run of one the Worlds favourite chess events comes to an end and Aronian having won three of the last four editions does come across as a significant achievement.
- India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal won her first title of 2011 with a 21-13, 21-14 victory over South Korean Sung Ji Hyun in the Wilson Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton at Basil on 20/3/2011. It was her second win against the Korean in as many meetings whom she earlier defeated in the Indonesia Open Super Series as well. She reached the quarters of the All England Championship also held earlier this month where she lost to Eriko Hirose of Japan. Riding on her Swiss Open triumph Saina has regained her number three ranking with 69721.2637 points. At first place and second place are Shixian Wang (83506.4) and Yihan Wang (73988.9106) of China respectively.
- Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to win the BNP Paribas Open title at Calirfonia on 20/3/2011. The Serbian remains undefeated this year whose victories include Australian and Dubai open, has struck a purple patch notching up an impressive 18-0 record in 2011. He now jumps to number two in the ATP rankings pushing Roger Federer to the third place while Rafael Nadal is still at number one with a 14-3 record. Djokovic said "It definitely says good things. I am playing with a lot of confidence. I'm feeling the ball well on the court. I'm very dedicated. I have a big will to win each match. I want to keep on going and keep on playing good tennis."
- Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel drove a flawless race to win the season opening Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne on 27/3/2011. Starting from pole position Sebastian drove superbly to open more than a two second gap over runner up Lewis Hamilton of Mclaren following the first lap. At third place was Renaults Vitaly Petrov who made his first ever podium finish. Fernando Alonso came in fourth with Australian Mark Webber finishing fifth at the race. They used three stops strategies which was one more than the podium finishers. It was not a good start to the year for Mercedes with both their drivers Michael Shumacher and Nicco Roseberg being forced to retire.
- The Indian team defeated Sri Lanka win the final of the ICC World Cup becoming the first team to lift the cup after 28 years on April 02,2011. Srilanka won the toss and elected to bat and posted a daunting 274 on board following a superb century by Mahela Jayawardhene. The Indian team had begun their bowling on a bright note with ace spear head Zaheer Khan bowling a superb initial spell but the end power over proved to be a costly affair and helped the Lankans post a very challenging total. Indian batting started on patchy note when both the dangerous openers lost their wickets early to Lasith Malinga who came up with an inspired spell of fast bowling. The stadium had gone quiet but the Indian innings was resurrected when Virat Kholi and Gautam Gambhir formed a respectable partnership but the star of the innings was Indian Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He promoted himself up the order ahead of the inform Yuvraj Singh took India home with an unbeaten 91. The Captain criticized throughout the tournament for his lack of form stepped up at the most crucial moment with a crucial innings and hit the last ball straight down the ground for a huge six. The nation erupted with joy and there wild celebrations all over India. Sachin Tendulkar was given a lap of honour when his team mates took him on their shoulders and a happy Sachin could be seen waving at the crowds. This is the highest successful run chase made in a World cup final and what makes the victory sweeter is India is the first team to win a World Cup on home soil.
International News
Earthquake and Tsunami strike JapanA powerful earthquake of 8.9 magnitude struck Japan on its north eastern coast on 11/3/2011. The earthquake resulted in a massive tsunami that caused wide scale destruction and loss of thousands of lives. Cars, ships and buildings were all swept away by the rampaging waters of the Tsunami which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo. The port city of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture was one of the worst affected. Ten metre waves struck the city deluging everything that was part of it-farmlands, cars, buildings, houses etc. Fires broke out in the city following the deluge. A cluster of two to three hundred bodies were found in one part of this city alone. This is the most powerful natural disaster to have struck Japan in its recorded history and is considered 8000 times more powerful than what struck Christchurch in New Zealand earlier this year.
As of March 30th 2011 according to official estimates the death toll now stands at 11,257 while another 16,344 people are still missing. Many of the survivors who have been displaced have lost all their property to the Tsunami. More than 173,200 people are living in the 2000 evacuation centres in the 17 prefectures mostly in the northern side of the country. Among the worst affected prefectures which are Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate 146,628 displaced people have been housed in close to 1,245 evacuation centres.
- The massive earthquake that struck the north east coast of Japan has resulted in a catastrophic situation at the Fukushima Nuclear power plant. When the earthquake struck they switched off the reactor and where about to use the onsite diesel back up power. The tsunami then struck and the back up power also failed. Hence after losing electric power, that system could not be used. Instead the operators are dumping seawater into the vessel and letting it cool the fuel by boiling. But as it boils, pressure rises too high to pump in more water, so they have to vent the vessel to the atmosphere, and feed in more water, a procedure known as "feed and bleed." Thousands of people residing in areas close to the plant were evacuated. Over the following days there have been many instance of radiation exposure traced in the vicinity. Radioactive water found in and outside reactor buildings is delaying work to restore cooling functions of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
- Having received inspiration from the revolutions of Egypt and Tunisia the next country to vehemently protest against government autocracy is the North African country of libya. The public are fighting to bring down Muammar Gaddafi's 41-year rule and are demanding new leadership and democratic elections. What actually began as a series of peaceful demonstrations took ugly turns when Gaddafi's army tried to crush protests by using force eventually turning into an all out civil war in the days to come. In a matter of days the uprising had spread to other parts of libya and Gaddafi was having trouble retaining control over many parts of the country. Gaddafi a harder nut to crack than Mubarak has continued to be on the offensive and refuses to give up power in spite of all the diplomatic pressure, much to the chagrin of his own country men. On 19/3/2011 a multi-state coalition began a military intervention in libya to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which was taken in response to the uprising in libya. The military operations began, with US and British forces firing over 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles, the French Air Force and British Royal Air Force[ undertaking sorties across libya and a naval blockade by the Royal Navy. Air strikes against libyan Army tanks and vehicles by French jets have since been confirmed. The situation is far from peaceful and remains to be seen what would be the outcome of the situation in the days to come.
- One of Hollywood's greatest icons Dame Elizabeth Taylor breathed her last on 23/3/2011 due to congestive heart failure. The 79 year old actress has been in the public eye for six decades having won three academy awards and has acted in over 50 films. The Cleopatra star's stunning looks, including her famed violet eyes, earned her fans around the globe and her stormy personal life that included eight marriages received as much press interest as some of her best works. She won two Oscars for her performances in "Butterfield 8"(1960) and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966) and a third Oscar for her humanitarian work in 1993. The actress has also battled many health ailments undergoing as much as 20 surgeries during the course of her life. In her later years she was a spokeswoman for several causes, most notably AIDS research.
National
Anna Hazares fast against corruption- Social Activist Anna Hazare started a fast unto death on 5/4/2011 demanding enactment of a comprehensive law like the Jan Lokpal Bill to tackle corruption. Just a couple of days since the nation was recovering from the euphoria of winning the world cup the 72 year old Anna Hazare began his fast at Jantar Mantar after taking out a march from Rajghat where he paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. Other eminent activists like Swami Agnivesh, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Sandeep Pandey were also present to lend support. The fast soon gathered a lot of momentum through continuous coverage and brought the government under a lot of pressure. The movement soon spread to all parts of India where hundreds and thousands of students, housewives, working executives and senior citizens joined the campaign to make the government to enact the important new law to fight corruption. Facing intense pressure, the Government, finally agreed to forming a joint committee to draft a stronger Lokpal Bill. The panel will have five members and five representatives of the civil society. It includes Anna Hazare himself, but not as a chairman, lawyers Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan, anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal and former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde. While Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will be the Chairman of the committee that will also include Law Minister Veerappa Moily, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Water Resources Minister Salman Khurshid as members.
- Indian National Gopal Das set foot on Indian soil on 7/4/2011 after spending 27 years in a Pakistan prison when he was convicted for charges of espionage. The 52 year old Das was set free from Lahore Jail after Pakistani President remitted his sentence following an appeal by the Supreme Court on humanitarian grounds. As soon as he set foot in India an emotional Das bowed down and kissed the soil. He was greeted by his family members including his brother Anand Vir, two sisters and niece Navjot besides, a dozen people from Bhaini Mian Khan village of Gurdaspur district of Punjab were there to receive him. When speaking to the media Das lamented that the golden period of his youth were spent behind bars in Pakistan. He said "I have a grudge against the Indian leadership who has never bothered about Indian prisoners rotting in prisons in Pakistan for so many years. Thirty-two Indian nationals, who have completed their jail term, are still languishing due to lack of initiative on the part of the Indian government,"
- The Election Commission had announced the election dates for four states on 1/2/2011 - Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry. The assembly elections so far have witnessed a good voter turn out in 2011. Assam witnessed a good voter turn out in both phases which were held on the 4th and 11th of April 2011 respectively. In the first phase the state witnessed a 73.03 per cent voter turnout and in the second phase the turnout was 70.35 per cent. An average of nearly 78 per cent voters exercised their franchise to elect new assemblies in the key southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the Union territory of Puducherry on 13/4/2011. While Tamil Nadu and Kerala registered a turnout of 75.21 per cent and 74.4 per cent respectively, in Puducherry it was the highest at 85.21 per cent, Deputy Election Commissioner J. P. Prakash told reporters in Delhi. Meanwhile the election process is currently underway in West Bengal where it is being held in 6 phases, the last date being May 10th. Counting will be on 13/5/2011 for all states.
- The Supreme Court on 15/4/2011 granted bail to Dr Binayak Sen who was earlier sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition and having links with the Maoists by the Chhattisgarh sessions court on 24/12/2011. A bench comprising Justices HS Bedi and CK Prasad passed the order after Dr Sen filed a petition challenging the Chhattisgarh court order. The Apex court had declared that the evidence on record proved no sedition charge against Sen and at worst termed him a Naxal sympathizer. The court further observed that mere possession of Naxal literature doe not make the person a Naxalite or guilty of sedition. Dr Sen was arrested in May 2007 when the government charged him with aiding the insurgents by passing notes between Piyush Guha, a businessman and jailed Maoist ideologue Narayan Sanyal. Dr Sen has maintained his innocence and denies any wrong doing rather said that he was being victimized for his criticism of Salwa Judum which was a group started by the state government to counter Maoist insurgents. He was released on bail in May 2009. Later a trial court convicted him of sedition and sentenced him to life imprisonment in 24/12/2010. Following that the High Court in Chhattisgarh rejected Dr. Sen's bail application in 10/2/ 2011 which he appealed against and was finally granted bail by the Supreme Court.
A fire broke out in the pantry car of the Mumbai – Delhi Rajdhani express on 18/4/2011 at early morning 2:20 AM. The fire spread to the near by coaches B5, B6 and B7 but an alert pantry staff ensured all the passengers were woken up on time and made to evacuate the train ensuring none of them were killed or injured in the process. They also delinked the affected coaches from the rest of the train thereby averting a major disaster. Railways gave Rs 10.6 lakh to 212 passengers (Rs 5,000 per passenger) as ex-gratia for the inconvenience and loss of baggage due to the fire in the 12951 Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani.
The railways has rewarded the nine staffers of the IRCTC with Rs 3,000 as a "token gesture", Sanjay Jain, Group General Manager of IRCTC said. There were a total of 30 pantry staffers in the train at that time.
- Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja who was earlier sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for raping his maid has appealed to the Bombay High Court against his sentence on 19/4/2011. Earlier a fast track court on 30/3/2011 had convicted the actor even as the victim had turned hostile during the trial. The court had considered circumstantial evidence which includes – a DNA report which tested positive, torn hymen, blood marks on victim's clothes, semen found on quilt and curtains and Shiney's hand which bore scratch marks of the victim. Shiney on his part has stated in his appeal that he had been falsely implicated and that the lower court has erred in law while convicting him.
- Five year old Karnit Shah who was kidnapped from outside his home in suburban Kandivali, Mumbai was rescued by the Police from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh on 20/4/2011. Karnit had gone missing since 6/4/2011 when he was last seen playing at the premises of his building Pranik Gardens. Karnit's family pulled out all stops to trace their little boy. His father Anand a stock broker and his mother Alpa turned to facebook and uploaded photos of their son along with mobile numbers hoping people may be able to help by offering some sort of information about their missing son. Various online communities sprang up as the appeal went viral. Thousands of people forwarded the boy's photos while the Shah's on their behalf also offered Rs Two lakh in compensation for any information that would assist in tracing their son. The incident became a nation wide flutter after it generated considerable press coverage as well. The police have arrested the main accused of the case, Sohan Singh, along with his alleged associates Sameer Khan, Sandeep Warige and Shankar Salve, where Singh ran a confectionery shop in Kandivali which is close to Karnit's residence. The police said children in the neighbourhood had spoken of a "Sunny Uncle", possibly in his 20s, who was spotted lately offering sweets to the children and his disappearance too had coincided with that of Karnit. After two weeks of relentless chase, the Mumbai police with the help of UP Special Task Force traced the boy to a hut in Handia, UP from where he was rescued.
- Congress MP Suresh Kalamadi was arrested on 25/4/2011 by the Central Buearau of Investigation (CBI) for irregularities in the CW games. The former Chairman of the CWG was arrested under the charges for 120 B and 420 (criminal conspiracy and cheating) of the Indian Penal Code. The CBI has charged him with criminal conspiracy to buy timing, scoring and result (TSR) system from a Swiss company at an inflated cost of Rs 141 crore which the agency has alleged had cost the government Rs 95 Crore extra. Two other senior officials of the Organizing Committee - Surjeet Lal and ASV Prasad - have also been arrested in the Time Scoring scam. The 66 year old Kalmadi a Lok Sabha MP for the Congress from Pune has been facing a lot of flak even before the start of the games for construction delays and gross misuse of funds. Some of Kalmadi's aides already arrested include Sanjay Mohindroo, M Jayachandran, TS Darbai, Kalmadi's personal assistant Shekhar Deorukhkar, Verma and Lalit Bhanot. Following his arrest he was suspended from the Congress party and soon enough it also brought a halt to his 15 year old reign as President of the Indian Olympic Committee (IOC). Veteran Sports Administrator VK Malhotra was unanimously named the acting President in his absence.
- The CBI on 25/4/2011 has filed a second charge sheet in the 2G spectrum case naming Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK Chief M Karunanidhi's daughter M Kanimozhi as a co conspirator. She has been charged with section 7 and 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The sections deal with acceptance of alleged gratification. The four other who have been charge sheeted with her include Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa's cousin Asif Balwa, Rajeev Agarwal -- Directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd and Karim Murani of Cineyug Films. However Dayalu Ammal wife of the Dr Karunanidhi has not been named in the chargesheet. Kanimozhi, Dayalu Ammal and Sharad Kumar of Kalaignar TV, have 20, 60 and 20% shares in the channel respectively. The CBI had already told the court earlier that Rs 200 Crores connected with the spectrum case allegedly was routed from Balwa's Swan telecom to Kalaignar TV. Kanimozhi has been named co conspirator in the scam along with former telecom minister A. Raja who was arrested in February and still remains in prison. She has been asked to appear at a court in Delhi on 6/5/2011, which is dealing with the scam.
- K. Balachander, one of India's most acclaimed and influential filmmakers will receive the Daba Saheb Phalke award for 2010 in an announcement by the Information & Broadcasting ministry on 29/4/2011. The award consists of a Swarn Kamal, a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and a shawl, given for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema. The prolific director who worked as a government servant in his early days was drawn to theatre where he began to write plays. Following this success a career in films soon beckoned him where he has made many classics that are well received and appreciated to this day. He was a bold director who always tried to explore new themes and many of his movies had strong female characters. Some of the director's famous works in Tamil include Apoorva Raganagal, Thaneer Thanerr, Varumayin Niram Sigappu, Server Sundaram, Sinthu Bairavi etc while the hindi film Ek Duuje Ke liye won him applause in the northern parts of the country as well. K. Balachander has spotted and groomed several artists in the industry the likes of which include Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan.
- Spiritual leader Sathya Baba passed away on 24/4/2011 at the Sathya Sai Hospital in Puttapathi, Andhra Pradesh due to cardio-respiratory failure. The 84 year old Godman was admitted in hospital for the past one month after complaining of breathing and heart problems. The doctors had described his condition as 'very critical' over the last three to four days when most of his major organs stopped responding to treatment. Upon hearing his death a pale of gloom had descended Puttaparthi and thousands of his followers could be seen mourning his demise. Spiritual guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba was buried on 27/4/2011 as hundreds of thousands of devotees flocked to pay their last respects at his temple in Puttaparthi. Queues stretched for kilometres through the town, which has shuttered its shops and businesses since last three days. He was buried with full state honours in the Sai Kulwanth hall from where he used to address all his devotees over the years. Sai Baba was born as Sathyanarayana Raju in a humble backward caste family on November 23, 1926. He emerged as one of the most popular godmen in India in modern times leaving behind an empire estimated from a conservative figure of Rs. 40,000 crore to a staggering Rs. 1.5 lakh crores raising questions over who will manage the Trust.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu was found dead in the remote and inaccessible Luguthang village, about 30 km from Tawang on 4/5/2011. The CM had gone missing on 30/4/2011 when on a flight from Tawang was found dead along with four others after their helicopter crashed in bad weather in the mountains regions. The helicopter's wreckage was found at Lobotang which is situated near Jang water falls in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. The rescue operations were hampered due to bad weather.
The other four members, who accompanied Khandu in the chopper, were - crew members Captain JS Babbar and Captain KS Malick, Khandu's security officer Yeshi Choddak and Yeshi Lamu, sister of Tawang legislator Tsewang Dhondup. This is the second death of a chief minister in two years after CM of Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was killed in a helicopter crash in the Nallamalla ranges in the state in September 2009.
- Air India pilots called off their 10-day-long strike and returned to work on 5/5/2011 night after the government agreed to reinstate the sacked and suspended pilots and look into their demands within a time-frame. The ten day strike has resulted in an estimated loss of over 150 crores inconveniencing thousands of passengers across the country. Civil Aviation ministry officials, the association president Captain A S Bhinder along with ICPA general secretary Rishabh Kapur said that the government has agreed to look into all the alleged irregularities. Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi the 3 member committee would give its report in the next few months. The strike by over 800 pilots on 27/4/2011 owing allegiance to the ICPA had resulted in the grounding of up to 90 per cent of the airline operations. The Delhi High Court had also slapped contempt notices on nine office bearers of the de-recognized ICPA for disobeying its order to call off the strike.
- National-level volleyball player Arunima Sinha alias Sonu, who lost her leg after being pushed out of a moving train on 11/4/2011 when she tried to fight an alleged robbery attempt. She lost her left leg after being pushed out of the Padmavat Express when three robbers tried to snatch her gold chain. Following her fall, one of Sinha's legs had to be amputated below the knee. The other leg suffered multiple fractures as she was hit by a train passing on the adjacent track. She was later admitted in AIIMS when her leg developed an infection. Since then the 23 year old sportswoman has been out of danger and recuperating well. She was offered a paltry compensation of Rs 25,000 which she snubbed following which the railways offered a job to Arunima. The incident generated lot of press interest and many people including cricketers Yuvraj Harbhajan came forward with monetary help for the athlete. However over the Government Railway Police (GRP) probe the officials have found many loopholes in Sonu's story. Some of which they allege that it might have been a suicide attempt and the passengers of train do not corroborate with her story. They also allege that location where Arunima was found does not corroborate with her version of the events. The sportswoman on her part has accused the officials of mentally harassing her and has refuted their charges.
Current Affairs For June 2011
National
Godhra verdict: 11 get death, 20 get life termA Sessions Court in Ahmedabad awarded death sentence to 11 people and life term to twenty others on 1/3/2011. The sentence was pronounced by Additional Sessions Judge PR Patel who had earlier convicted them of criminal conspiracy in the Sabarmati Express train burning case on Feb 22nd.
The court had accepted the prosecution's contention that there was a conspiracy behind the incident and convicted 31 under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) like 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120B(criminal conspiracy).
They were convicted under IPC section 147, 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 323, 324,325,326 (causing hurt), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on religious grounds), various sections of the Indian Railways Act, Prevention of Damages to Public Property Act and Bombay Police Act.
The court had acquitted 63 others out the total 94 for lack of evidence including the alleged mastermind Maulavi Hussain Umarji. Fifty nine Kar Sevaks traveling in the S6 coach of Sabarmati Express were burnt alive near the Godhra railway station on February 2002. This incident caused wide spread communal riots in the State of Gujarat that resulted in the deaths of over 100 people, most of them Muslims. Justice Patel termed the case as "rarest of rare" and the court has given the accused 90 days to appeal in the High court.
MPLAD Guidelines Changed; Easy to Implement- The Central Government, after a decade, is escalating the yearly distribution of MPLAD finances as of Rs.2 crore to Rs.5 crore for each MP. Dr. M.S.Gill, the Minister of Statistics & Programme Implementation is confident that the advantages of the plan must get to to the people at the very basic level and the plan must as well throw in towards promoting public honor and accord. So as to guarantee that the MPLAD finances can be used up sensibly, quickly, successfully and productively all through the nation, the guidelines are currently expanding their scope, being made precise and simple and effortlessly implementable. To offer MPs a more extensive range of projects that cover MPLAD finance, the silos of entitled things within the system are being distended.
- The Government has lately permitted expenditure of MPLAD finance in supporting physically challenged people and it has received large admiration. The Government following comprehensive talk and meeting, has determined to make huge changes in the entire system of MPLAD.
- The ECI (Election Commission of India) commenced the IIDEM (India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management) - a higher center of learning, study, guidance and addition so as to involve people in democratic practice and election organization. The primary time of this leading institute was inaugurated together at the Commission location by Dr. S. Y. Quraishi, Chief Election Commissioner of India in New Delhi and Mr. Ken Nyaundi, Election Commissioner from Kenya.
- Two more Election Commissioners Shri H. S. Brahma and Shri V.S. Sampath, were in attendance too. Higher Officials of the Commission and officials from South Africa and Commonwealth Secretariat were present the gathering. The initial course of IIDEM will be starter later on in July for the Electoral Commission of Kenya. IIDEM has four sections. These four parts are: Voter Education and Civic Participation, Research, Innovation and Documentation, Training and Capacity, and International Projects and Technical Collaboration Development. The Institute will be a countrywide and global center for exchange of nice followings in organizing of election.
- The investigated reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India that tacks the involvement among Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Government agencies heading towards enormous losses to the Government exchequer is however a new instance of the influence of corporate over the UPA Government to undermine official procedures that suit them in all possible ways.
- The body has realized that the earlier DGH (Director-General of Hydrocarbons) allowed Reliance to pump up its expansion overheads on the gas mining in the D6 block of KG basin to a massive 8.84 billion dollars from 2.47 billion dollars. This money in use by RIL influenced the proceeds of the Government. Government is supposed to act against the previous DGH with immediate effect.
- Dayanidhi Maran has resigened all thanks to the extensive probing by the CBI and the Government can now pat their backs. The investigation pointed to his part in compelling C Sivasankaran to sell his share in a leading Telecom company, Aircel by denying to award any fresh licenses on condition that Sivasankaran was the principal stake holder—it should have been a lot more than a twist of fate that a group firm of the new holder endowed in Maran's brother's enterprise hardly any months following it received licenses from Maran.
- As Maran resigned the day following the CBI achievement, the government cannot be blamed of favoring him similar to that of the main villain, A Raja. Dayanidhi Maran's was a varied term, the understandable low downs being the Aircel incident, in the offing with a fresh policy that permitted conceding of fresh licenses 4 years ago at prices of 10 years back (Maran was the real mastermind, Raja just built-up on what he established) and bullying the Tatas in their business in the telecom industry following a TataSky row with his brother's Sun TV (Maran's ministry collapsed as TDSAT thickened the plot). The merrier times counted for increasing FDI limits to 74% accordingly of which Vodafone emerged into the scene, and actually opening up the sector that involved huge distance by shelling out soaring fees.
Sports News
Doping cases surge up; curbing measures required- Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Ajay Maken has delineated a range of measures to find out into entire doping incident and curtail this pain in the neck. Shri Maken presented the particulars of the six point guidelines forwarded to the executives of SAI (Sports Ministry and Sports Authority of India) to probe into doping episode at a press conference.
- Taking into consideration the failed dope tests of eight athletes in various sports that include HariKrishnan in long jump, Tianna Mary Thomas in 4*400 m, M/s Mandeep Kaur, SiniJose, Priyanka Panwar in 400 m, Ashwini Akkunji, Joanna Murmu, and Sonia in shot put and "the current inquiry thereof, it is heading for that the Sports Ministry and Sports Authority of India must be aware of and concentrate on the function of the workforce support infrastructure that have been provided to these athelets," said Shri Ajay Maken. He further avowed that at the same time as each doping episode engages dishonor of the entire country, prohibition and even fear of honors and accolades being asked from the charged athletes; the task of supporting trainers, health center executives and extra requirements to be questioned, determined and rightfully inclined.
- 3rd test match held at the Windsor Park Stadium between India and West Indies, the former's first tour since the World Cup triumph ended in a disappointing draw. KA Edwards and S Chanderpaul stood at the crease for 161 runs for the fourth wicket. This means that India will need to wait more to win 2 test matches in the Carribean. Chanderpaul was partnered by Kieron Edwards as the former completed his 23rd Test century in all important 37-over toil to deny India a victory.
- Chanderpaul dealt with all the seam bowlers India had at their disposal with no difficulty, driving and extracting easy runs out of them and exhibiting rock-solid defense and rotating the strike regularly as Kerion Edwards chipped in. He stood steady at one end; he strained the Indian bowlers to shoft their attentions totally towards Kieron Edwards, who's supported and helped Chanderpaul to get to another achievement is professional playing career.
International News
Pravakar Sahoo – China leave India trailing- As compared to India, China is very antagonistic in the Bangladesh market. Except for price competition of Chinese goods, the friendly approach of Chinese sellers and executives at the customs is a reason to smile for traders in Bangladesh. When China comes into this scene Visa has never been a problem; China attracts ventures from Bangladesh to chip in showings for improved data on Chinese goods.
- Chinese sellers are all set to spruce up well-known goods on the demand of Bangladeshi importers to provide to the price responsive local marketplace of their South Asian neighbors. Plus, Chinese industry corporations deal with transportations, trade intricacies, and over and over again take notes on grievances. In a good number of industries, China is prepared for expertise transmit, while our very own Indian industries are yet to be. The country is not only playing with their business connections, but now has only a negligible investment presence in Bangladesh.
- EEPC India with a purpose to accomplish considerable increase in trade for manufacturing goods and services prepared a colloquium on being involved in business transactions with Canada. Talking on the colloquium the Joint Secretary Department of Commerce, Shri Arvind Mehta said, "Bearing in mind the fact, that China now has a widespread existence in Canada this episode could share the accomplishments on different added steps employed by the Government of India all through this year".
- The official further talked about the cut rate and uniqueness of the Indian producers will be of immense assistance to Canada as it is currently counting those countries that are a step ahead of NAFTA for trade development. The Consul General of India, Mrs. Preeti Saran in addition was present at the event. Even as conveying her important lecture she was buoyant that these events can direct to our targeted growth in trade involving the two nations.
- Acting High Commissioner, Mr. Mario-Ste-Marie, and High Commission of Canada in New Delhi was as well in attendance. EEPC INDIA through the backing of Indian High Commission at the Canadian Capital and Canadian High Commission in the Indian Capital are arranging the second season of the famous show in Toronto, "India Show". "India Show" Toronto, Canada is being prepared at most appropriate time with this year being confirmed as the "Year of India in Canada" by Dr. Manmohan Singh, respected Prime Minister of our country and Mr. Stephen Harper, his Canadian opposite number. This came in the light of Mr. Harper's visit to India in November 2009
- II, Confederation of Indian Industry and INSEAD examine on ranking countries on innovation, known as GII, Global Innovation Index was revealed in Geneva, Switzerland for the current year. The whole examination is a once a year attempt to evaluate dissimilar enablers for policy makers and added share holders such as trade and foundations to assess their dealings and impacts in comparison with additional countries in order that they can employ valuable measures. Formed about 4 years ago, GII examines they way nations influence their running surroundings to excite improvement outcomes. Five posts make up the innovation effort sub-index and these include foundations, research and development in the human resource department, socio-economic infrastructure, market advancements and trade advancements. The innovation production sub-index is made up of two pillars: creative outputs and scientific outputs.
- In the overall innovation Index, the country has ranked 62 for the year 2011 when evaluated against the position in the year 2010 of 56. Switzerland has been the leader of all these countries, climbing from 3rd in the GII for the year 2010, 2nd and 3rd positions are respectively held by Sweden and Singapore. Six countries from the EU make up the Top 10 list and it also takes in Hong Kong, the United States of America as well as Canada which are 4th, 7th and 8th. The only emerging economy that reached the Top 30 ranks in GII was China at 29.
- Dr. Naushad Forbes, Chair of the CII Innovation Council 2011-12 and Director of Forbes Marshall, said "At present there is some buzz about innovation in the entire world in all types beginning from commerce to government to civilization. Following the current economic decelerate the spotlight has swung evidently towards the budding regions not just with respect to a thriving possible market but also an attractive place for economical innovations.
- Analyzing this swing is vital to identify in what we are moving forward, GII is an initial spot to do that and undeniably on the correct path Roland Berger Professor of Business and Technology at INSEAD, Soumitra Dutta, and editor of the examination believes that innovation is dangerous to motivating development in both developed and budding economies, particularly for the period of a time when the worldwide economy is current recovering from past plummets. Except for CII, the year 2011 the added three knowledge allies in Global Innovation Index are the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), Booze & Company and Alcatel-Lucent
Current Affairs For July 2011
National
Introduction of LokPal bill in Lok SabhaThe much awaited Lok Pal bill will be introduced in Lok Sabha. The green signal was given by the government to Speaker Meira Kumar to allow the two day period needed to present the bill.The Minister of State Personnel Mr. V Narayaswamy gave the notice to Meira Kumar regarding the matter of Lok Pal bill.
Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal said that all the parties were in favour of introducing the bill at the earliest. The copies of the bill have been distributed to all the parties.
The bill has been finalised by the government after a number of meetings during the last month.
The government has kept out Prime Minister and other higher judiciary from the ambit of the bill. This decision has been strongly opposed by the all the activists of the bill.
The BJP has demanded that the bill should include the Prime Minister into the bill.
Regarding the matter the government has said that the prime minister will be questioned if necessary but only when he has stopped working and this can be done only in a limited amount of time i.e. 7yrs at most.
Anna Hazare has again threatened to go on hunger strike again if the government does not introduced a lok pal bill that handles every aspect of corruption and if the government fails to do so then he will go on strike on Aug 16.
The government has blamed NDA for the appointment of Kalmadi as the main organizer of the CWG 2010event. Sports minister Mr Ajay Maken said in the lok sabha that the NDA government begun the process in 2003, that led to the appointment of Suresh Kalmadi as the chairman of the CWG committee.
The statement has been made taking in view the leaked report which balmed the Prime minister's office for overlooking the objections made against kalmadi's appointment.
Suresh Kalmadi is in jail now facing charges of corruption on large scale against him.
- Around 17 people have died during the lighting in Bhubaneswar, Orissa. The people who died included 6 women. The lighting struck parts of Orissa with the coastal region accounting around 4 casualties. Most of the deaths occurred on Monday Aug 2, and other deaths were reported from places like Angul, Balasore,Deogarh, Sundergarh etc.
- The state government has announced a compensation of Rs50,000 each from the Chief minister's relief fund. The money will be given to the family of those people who died because of lighting strike.
The BJP asked the government about its action reaction the gurgaon land deal. The BJP asked whether the government will take it's stand in the similar way like that of the Bhatta-Parsaul in the Uttar Pradesh.
BJP leader Arun Jaitley said that the government unlawfully took the land from the poor farmers, due to which farmers are now suffering.
The collective loand of the farmers was taken unlawfully and then it was given to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable trust , quoted Arun Jaitely.
The Punjab and Haryana High court scolded the government for flouting the rules of land acquisition.
The Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust was set up by Sonia Gandhi in 2002 in order to address the concerns that Rajiv Gandhi had in his heart.
Jaitely refrained from disclosing the names of the people involved in the scam.
He said that he will not take any names, but the government should only answer and tell the names of all those people who benefitted from the deal.
Meanwhile Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has been continuously holding meetings against illegal land acquisition, he even flagged some rallies against the same matter.
Regarding the matter the Congress has said that now the matter rests between the Haryana government and the High Court.
India's famous artist M.F.Hussain passed away in London on July 03. M.F. Hussain took Indian art to the global stage but not without controversies. The eccentric painter who lived barefoot died at the Brompton and Harfield NHS foundation in London after months of prolonged illness.
Born in Maharashtra Hussain began his career as a painter by painting film posters.
He was popularly known as Picasso of India and was once a member of Rajya Sabha. He has been awarded the nation's 2nd highest Padma Vibhushan.
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The Picasso of India courted controversy after he showed hindu deities in nude in his paintings, and from then he was being considered as an anti-Hindu. After getting death threats in India he imposed exile on himself from the year 2006. Later in the year 2010 he accepted the citizenship of Qatar that was offered to him.
The painter courted another biggest controversy by portraying "mother India" as a naked woman. His paintings have often courted controversies and wrath of people as his work often depicted gods and goddesses in nude form.
He was a great fan of Madhuri Dixit such that he made a film with her called Gaja Gamini.
Sports News
London Olympics 2012 began its countdown.- With one to go ESPN star sports began its golden march to kick the London Olympics 2012 countdown. The countdown ceremony was broadcasts across 22 countries. Olympics being revered as the biggest sports event has made athletes to share the same anticipation like that of the rest of the world and have set their eyes on the event going to be held just after 365 days.
- Also ESPN sports channel will broadcast the complete Olympic events for the 1st time in the history to all of its sports fans across the globe. The London Olympics will be the most sought after event with maximum viewer interest. The channel will cover 302 events in all the 26 categories of sports and will showcase almost 10,000 players and athletes from more than 200 countries.
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MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner have ruled out the possibility to participate in the Japanese Grand Prix to be held this year. Both the racers have ride earlier for Japanese manufacturers.
The reason for withdrawal is the fear of radiation that currently exists in Japan due to the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster.
The Motegi circuit is situated near the Fukushima nuclear power plant whose reactors were destroyed by an earthquake and Tsunami during March this year and led to massive leakage of radiation.
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The race was originally to be held in April 24 but was later postponed to Oct 2, though no reason was given by the International Motorcycling Federation.
Stoner firmly said during the Germany Grand Prix that he will not go for the Japanese GP.
Further he said that his response would the same if anything similar would have happened elsewhere and that he is sure about the fact that other riders will be having the same opinion. Stoner became the world champion of the MotoGP in the year 2007.
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Hideki Irabu former Yankees pitcher was found dead in his home. The 42 year old was an excellent pitcher said former league manager Bobby Valentine. The quircky right hander had a fabulous arm in flame throwing the ball.
Los Angeles police officials have declared Irabu's death as suicide, disclosing no further information. To confirm the full information the investigating team is waiting for the autopsy report.
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Hideki was referred as the Japanese version of Ryan. Hideki arrived in the united states in the year 1997 and he was a hard throwing bowler with smashing speed of 98-mph.
Though he was made an excellent debut with the Yankees but later on became an object of disappointment during the next three seasons. And then he was given a tag called as a fat toad after he failed to perform well during an exhibition game.
- The UAE national Olympics committee has decided to bid for 2024 Olympics instead of 2020. The committee said that the infrastructure for the 2020 Olympics is 75% ready but it would be feasible if we bid for 2024 instead for 2020 so that we provide best of infrastructure to Olympics events and the players and athletes.
Dubai's crowned Prince Shaikh Hamdan said that " Hosting the Olympics would be a matter of pride for the entire middle eastern region and we want to fully satisfy everyone and ourselves that we are completely ready to host the games and for this we are going to bid for 2024 Olympics instead of 2020.
He further added that our first and foremost aim is to give a world class Dubai experience and a long lasting peace and satisfaction to the youth and to all the sports class events.
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The Manchester United has been named as the world's most valued team. The Red Devils have been estimated for a total amount of 1.165 billion pounds overshadowing American Franchises like the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys.
The assessment has been made based keeping in mind the total income they get and the various sponsorship deals they make throughout the year.
- This has come as the good news for the Glazer family who bought the Club for 790 million pounds in the year 2005, how they are still in debt but this does not deter them from being happy for making their club the most valued in the world.
- On hearing the news that squash is going to be considered for the 2020 Olympics World Squash Federation president N.Ramachandran was far more delighted. He said that after this decision he is more confident that the game will be included in the 2020 Olympics.
He said that he truly believes that squash will prove to be a great sport for the Olympics. This game fulfils all the criteria to be included in the Olympics and that with its inclusion in the Olympics squash will attain a new level in the world of sports.
He further added that squash has a number of high profile world champions and that with its inclusion in the Olympics it will provide massive participation from all over the world in the Olympics.
International News
Death toll rises in Syria- Death toll rises in Syria on the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad in the city of Hama. The military tanks pounded the city creating scenes like that of 1982 massacre. Human rights activists said that the assaults killed at least 24 civilians, included 10 in Hama. All this happened when the troops with the help of tanks tried to control the people. This violent attack led to the death of total 134 people throughout Syria in just 3 days. 90 of the people died only in Hama.
- The government said that they have also lost more than 500 soldiers and security officials in the violent revolt. The condition of Hama prompted many Syrians to show and demonstrate solidarity from the start of Ramadan. Syria has been facing international wrath for its harsh measures.
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libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi has said that the war will go on even if the NATO team stops bombing. This has left no room for diplomacy from the Gaddafi's camp in order to stop the five month long conflict.
Do not even think that after all the sacrifices we have made or our sons, brothers have made by sacrificing their lives we will stop fighting. Nothing sort of it will happen said the libyan leader.
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The rebels and the western forces have continued pressure on the leader even as the holy month of Ramadan began. The NATO has continued its bombings forcing the loyalist of the leader to give up.
Also the rebels have seized up half of the country but they continue to loose the ground against the trained Gaddafi forces.
Regardless of the fact that whether the NATO stops bombing or not the Gaddafi government will continue its fight till libya is liberated said the libyan leader.
Hina Rabbani Khar was appointed as Pakistan's new foreign minister. Khar ,34, is the youngest minister to accept the post. This came as a big surprise for the people.
Khar was elected twice to the national assembly during Musharrafs' reign in 2002 and during Benazir's stint in the year 2008. She never went public to win campaign. Since she belongs to a political family it is said that for any years the seat was with held by her father Ghulam Noor Rabbani Khar and she gives her winning credit to her political father.
Rabbabi offers hope to a number of women in Pakistan not in terms of their lifestyle but in terms of their way to choose their lives. We have in the past few years the evolvement of women in Pakistan. The list includes the likes of Fatima Jinnah to Benazir Bhutto, Asma Jahangir, Sherry Rehman and now Hina Rabbani Khar. Now women are rejecting the roles that many men try to cast them in.
Since her appointment as the foreign minister of Pakistan Khar has been continuously criticised because to is too young to handle foreign affairs of Pakistan and that she holds a degree in hospitality management and she even has a degree in economics. But with a country with young population Khar seems to be making place for herself.
Ex wife of late footballer George Best claimed that the phone hacking scandal lead to Best's death. During the investigation police found out that Best,59 died from multiple organ failure in 2005 and that his phone was hacked by Glenn Mulcaire who is a private investigator.
Alex Best a fomer model and former wife of Best reportedly has said that the phone hacking lead to increased pressure on her former footballer husband which resulted in his death.
- She said that Best was an alcoholic and that when a person is subjected to tremendous pressure then they ultimately turn to alcohol for some relief. But Best had so many problems related with alcohol such that with the increasing pressure and alcoholic problem finally lead to his death.
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After facing public wrath and outrage China's rail minister ordered a two month safety campaign and has apologized for the accident which killed around 39 people in the country's Zhejiang province. This is the deadliest rail accident in the province of China after the year 2008.
Beijing sacked three of its rail officials even before the investigation began.
- China's rail minister has said that the safety campaign will extend till July and that the campaign will focus mainly on the operation involving high speed trains. China's government is trying hard to calm down the people after the accident by taking various measures as possible.
Current Affairs For August 2011
National [August 2011]
Anna Hazare Arrested Congress messed it up- The storm about the arrest of Anna Hazare and his team (virtually the whole nation) has just put Congress in a bit of mess then even they would have imagined at first. Anna and his followers not just maintained that their outlooks be taken on in the panel when drafting the Lokpal Bill, but exacted that only and only their version of the Bill be agreed too and, as a matter of fact, discussed in Parliament by the government. Interestingly, government cannot agree to these kinds of dictates from anybody in a parliamentary democratic system. Rather than letting off such a great deal of steam on their appeals that the government forwards their edition of the Bill in Parliament, Team Anna can simply have got any one of the 545 members of the Lok Sabha to bring in the asked for Jan Lokpal Bill. Definitely, the extremely disconcerted Opposition political parties can leap forward even at this time and forward the Team Anna edition of the Bill in the house.
- Social activist Anna Hazare head to his village Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra subsequent to his release from Medanta Medicity Hospital in Gurgaon after development in his state, a supporter alleged. Hazare was taken to the Hospital in uptown Gurgaon Sunday after he finished his 288-hour fast embarked upon since August 16. "He will go to Pune and will consequently head to his village", revealed a member of the TEAM ANNA. Hazare was released Wednesday once his fundamental factors were seen to be steady. As per Yatin Mehta, a part of the doctor's team observing Anna at the hospital, the revolutionary was in 'excellent state' and 'healthy'. Previously in the day, Anna had consumed soft solid foodstuffs such as rice, dal and idli. 'Following the success of his 12-day fast, Hazare's physical condition exhibited lot of development. His blood pressure is 141/90, which is standard,' Mehta understood.
- Sheila Dikshit, Delhi Chief Minister on Tuesday alleged that the government cannot remark on the CAG details pending parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) presents its proposals. On the succeeding day of the assembly's yearly monsoon session, which observed tumult by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs over the CAG and V.K. Shunglu Committee details on the CWG, the CM stated: 'I have told about it on numerous occasions that we cannot talk about the CAG report as it is in possession of the PAC, which is a legitimate fraction of parliament. We are subjected to get going against anybody when the PAC directs so.' Initiating a mocking assault on the BJP, Dikshit further said that the chief opposition party in the parliament has been fooling people by initiating a scuttlebutt as it is in front of a lot of annoyance because of repeated routs in the last three assembly and two Lok Sabha elections in the capital
- The Rajya Sabha was suspended for a short time Tuesday subsequent to raucous scenes over Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley posing the subject of selection of Lokayukta in Gujarat by the governor 'with no meeting with the state government'. Quickly subsequent to Jaitley lifted the subject; Chairman Hamid Ansari took attention to meetings and regulations of the house on discussing subjects about people running in high offices. Jaitley said that there were examples when even reminder to Governor had been conferred in Parliament. BJP members stood up from their chairs to back Jaitley, which translated to raucous scenes during the sessions due to which the house was suspended for ten minutes.
- Security in Indian cities is miserable. And the expectations are worse than thought as the condition will simply get worse in time coming up. This threatening note of concern was clouted here today by Mr. G. K. Pillai, ex-Union Home Secretary, at the FICCI convention on S&T for Homeland Security-2011: 'Safe and Secure City'. Mr. Pillai alleged that with the nation going through a high growth rate of 8 per cent, hopes of the citizens are increasing and loads of them are swarming into cities, raising the already augmenting crime rate due to the lack of work prospects. In the capital, for example, 82 per cent of crime is committed by first timers, that also by adolescents between the age of 16 and 26 years old. Novel kinds of criminal actions are growing for example cyber crimes, hacking, burglaries, snatchings, while rape, murder and car thefts are the ones most in trend. Mr. Pillai warned against radicalization of adolescence as this would develop them into anti-social activists and destroy their lives. He cautioned against ghettoisation of cities as well that originates of the practice of not giving homes on lease to someone of a certain community/religion/caste by some other community/religion/caste community.
Sports News [August 2011]
Speed lovers soon to see Greater Noida as their pit-stop- The highly anticipated homologation of the Budh International Circuit (BIC), setting for the first ever Indian Grand Prix, is all but done. Plus, the FIA team, headed by technical director Charlie Whiting, has also given his nod to all aspects of the 5.14m long track. As per a report declared by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) President, Vicky Chandhok on behalf of the supporters JPSI, Whiting, through the first of the two days of inspection, was mighty delighted in the fashion in which the circuit's making has been developing. "Mr. Charlie Whiting, the Formula One Race Director came to see the Budh International Race circuit some time back for a premeditated custom check," Chandhok stated in the statement. "He told us that the development was more than all right and was beyond of what he expected from us from the last visit he paid. He further put across assurance that the introductory Indian Grand Prix will be a titanic triumph," he added. On the other hand the statement read that as a general exercise for all fresh circuits, the physical issuance of Grade-I recognition to the circuit, will be sanctioned seven days ahead of the chief event to be held on October 30.
- A contentious offer that required controlling India's and World's most powerful cricket board BCCI and added national sports organizations was rejected by the government in late August, reports from the local media emerged. The proposal that is designed to regulate these sports bodies under federal intelligibility and responsibility laws were put forward by Ajay Maken, Sports Minister. However, the much needed bill was rejected by the cabinet and it asked Ajay Maken to return with a new and improvised version, one of the news networks of the county reported. The bill aimed to keep back no less than 25 percent of federation positions for previous players and puts a ceiling on the age of all administrators i.e.70. A further significant prerequisite of the bill was to get the associations under the purview of the Right to Information Act (RTI), a milestone regulation that lets members of the public to ask for information of the functioning of public bodies. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has usually been out of the government's purview and, unlike added national sports federations, does not rely on the finances given by the state. Sports bodies in India have been the focal point of numerous controversies in recent years. The popular Indian Premier League, after previous year's controversial exit of its Founding Chairman Lalit Modi, has been the center of numerous probing over charges of pecuniary indiscretions.
International News [August 2011]
Zardari nods to cooperate with China- Pakistan will cooperate with China to overcome terrorism and secessionism, cited Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani President. Zardari repeated Pakistan's pledge to get rid of extremism and he promised China of his nation's full cooperation in overcoming terrorism and secessionism, reported Associated Press of Pakistan. The Pakistani president landed in China in late August to be present at the first China-Eurasia Expo to be hosted by Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, in the first week of September. He alleged Pakistan denounces terrorism in all its types and appearances and will not relax on any attempt to get rid of it. Zardari also talked about his daughters were on board with him on the trip, which is a testimony of the relationships between the two nations existing since generations. He further talked about the upcoming trip of Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to China later on this week to be present at the International Political Conference and assumed it demonstrates Pakistan and China were making efforts to fortify relations and ultimately deep-rooting their international polity.
The United States parted company with its respected AAA credit rating for the first time in seven decades after being downgraded by Standard & Poor's. The country's credit rating was cut to AA+ following S&P alleged the conciliation made by Congress and President Obama in early August to slash expenditure and enhance the liability upper limit "doesn't meet the level, in our view, would be essential to even out the government's standard-term debt dynamics."
The agency was frank in its evaluation. Its statement read:
"We downgraded the 70-year long AAA rating of the United States since we think that the protracted storm over increasing the constitutional liability upper limit and the associated monetary policy debate point out that additional upcoming development surrounding the increase in public expenditure, particularly on privileges, or coming to an agreement on generating income is less probable than we formerly understood and will stay put to a arguable and intermittent procedure," the ratings firm believed.
Current Affairs For July 2011
National
Introduction of LokPal bill in Lok Sabha-
The much awaited Lok Pal bill will be introduced in Lok Sabha. The green signal was given by the government to Speaker Meira Kumar to allow the two day period needed to present the bill.The Minister of State Personnel Mr. V Narayaswamy gave the notice to Meira Kumar regarding the matter of Lok Pal bill.
Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal said that all the parties were in favour of introducing the bill at the earliest. The copies of the bill have been distributed to all the parties.
The bill has been finalised by the government after a number of meetings during the last month.
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The government has kept out Prime Minister and other higher judiciary from the ambit of the bill. This decision has been strongly opposed by the all the activists of the bill.
The BJP has demanded that the bill should include the Prime Minister into the bill.
Regarding the matter the government has said that the prime minister will be questioned if necessary but only when he has stopped working and this can be done only in a limited amount of time i.e. 7yrs at most.
Anna Hazare has again threatened to go on hunger strike again if the government does not introduced a lok pal bill that handles every aspect of corruption and if the government fails to do so then he will go on strike on Aug 16.
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The government has blamed NDA for the appointment of Kalmadi as the main organizer of the CWG 2010event. Sports minister Mr Ajay Maken said in the lok sabha that the NDA government begun the process in 2003, that led to the appointment of Suresh Kalmadi as the chairman of the CWG committee.
The statement has been made taking in view the leaked report which balmed the Prime minister's office for overlooking the objections made against kalmadi's appointment.
Suresh Kalmadi is in jail now facing charges of corruption on large scale against him.
- Around 17 people have died during the lighting in Bhubaneswar, Orissa. The people who died included 6 women. The lighting struck parts of Orissa with the coastal region accounting around 4 casualties. Most of the deaths occurred on Monday Aug 2, and other deaths were reported from places like Angul, Balasore,Deogarh, Sundergarh etc.
- The state government has announced a compensation of Rs50,000 each from the Chief minister's relief fund. The money will be given to the family of those people who died because of lighting strike.
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The BJP asked the government about its action reaction the gurgaon land deal. The BJP asked whether the government will take it's stand in the similar way like that of the Bhatta-Parsaul in the Uttar Pradesh.
BJP leader Arun Jaitley said that the government unlawfully took the land from the poor farmers, due to which farmers are now suffering.
The collective loand of the farmers was taken unlawfully and then it was given to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable trust , quoted Arun Jaitely.
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The Punjab and Haryana High court scolded the government for flouting the rules of land acquisition.
The Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust was set up by Sonia Gandhi in 2002 in order to address the concerns that Rajiv Gandhi had in his heart.
Jaitely refrained from disclosing the names of the people involved in the scam.
He said that he will not take any names, but the government should only answer and tell the names of all those people who benefitted from the deal.
Meanwhile Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has been continuously holding meetings against illegal land acquisition, he even flagged some rallies against the same matter.
Regarding the matter the Congress has said that now the matter rests between the Haryana government and the High Court.
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India's famous artist M.F.Hussain passed away in London on July 03. M.F. Hussain took Indian art to the global stage but not without controversies. The eccentric painter who lived barefoot died at the Brompton and Harfield NHS foundation in London after months of prolonged illness.
Born in Maharashtra Hussain began his career as a painter by painting film posters.
He was popularly known as Picasso of India and was once a member of Rajya Sabha. He has been awarded the nation's 2nd highest Padma Vibhushan.
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The Picasso of India courted controversy after he showed hindu deities in nude in his paintings, and from then he was being considered as an anti-Hindu. After getting death threats in India he imposed exile on himself from the year 2006. Later in the year 2010 he accepted the citizenship of Qatar that was offered to him.
The painter courted another biggest controversy by portraying "mother India" as a naked woman. His paintings have often courted controversies and wrath of people as his work often depicted gods and goddesses in nude form.
He was a great fan of Madhuri Dixit such that he made a film with her called Gaja Gamini.
Sports News
London Olympics 2012 began its countdown.- With one to go ESPN star sports began its golden march to kick the London Olympics 2012 countdown. The countdown ceremony was broadcasts across 22 countries. Olympics being revered as the biggest sports event has made athletes to share the same anticipation like that of the rest of the world and have set their eyes on the event going to be held just after 365 days.
- Also ESPN sports channel will broadcast the complete Olympic events for the 1st time in the history to all of its sports fans across the globe. The London Olympics will be the most sought after event with maximum viewer interest. The channel will cover 302 events in all the 26 categories of sports and will showcase almost 10,000 players and athletes from more than 200 countries.
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MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner have ruled out the possibility to participate in the Japanese Grand Prix to be held this year. Both the racers have ride earlier for Japanese manufacturers.
The reason for withdrawal is the fear of radiation that currently exists in Japan due to the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster.
The Motegi circuit is situated near the Fukushima nuclear power plant whose reactors were destroyed by an earthquake and Tsunami during March this year and led to massive leakage of radiation.
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The race was originally to be held in April 24 but was later postponed to Oct 2, though no reason was given by the International Motorcycling Federation.
Stoner firmly said during the Germany Grand Prix that he will not go for the Japanese GP.
Further he said that his response would the same if anything similar would have happened elsewhere and that he is sure about the fact that other riders will be having the same opinion. Stoner became the world champion of the MotoGP in the year 2007.
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Hideki Irabu former Yankees pitcher was found dead in his home. The 42 year old was an excellent pitcher said former league manager Bobby Valentine. The quircky right hander had a fabulous arm in flame throwing the ball.
Los Angeles police officials have declared Irabu's death as suicide, disclosing no further information. To confirm the full information the investigating team is waiting for the autopsy report.
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Hideki was referred as the Japanese version of Ryan. Hideki arrived in the united states in the year 1997 and he was a hard throwing bowler with smashing speed of 98-mph.
Though he was made an excellent debut with the Yankees but later on became an object of disappointment during the next three seasons. And then he was given a tag called as a fat toad after he failed to perform well during an exhibition game.
- The UAE national Olympics committee has decided to bid for 2024 Olympics instead of 2020. The committee said that the infrastructure for the 2020 Olympics is 75% ready but it would be feasible if we bid for 2024 instead for 2020 so that we provide best of infrastructure to Olympics events and the players and athletes.
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Dubai's crowned Prince Shaikh Hamdan said that " Hosting the Olympics would be a matter of pride for the entire middle eastern region and we want to fully satisfy everyone and ourselves that we are completely ready to host the games and for this we are going to bid for 2024 Olympics instead of 2020.
He further added that our first and foremost aim is to give a world class Dubai experience and a long lasting peace and satisfaction to the youth and to all the sports class events.
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The Manchester United has been named as the world's most valued team. The Red Devils have been estimated for a total amount of 1.165 billion pounds overshadowing American Franchises like the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys.
The assessment has been made based keeping in mind the total income they get and the various sponsorship deals they make throughout the year.
- This has come as the good news for the Glazer family who bought the Club for 790 million pounds in the year 2005, how they are still in debt but this does not deter them from being happy for making their club the most valued in the world.
- On hearing the news that squash is going to be considered for the 2020 Olympics World Squash Federation president N.Ramachandran was far more delighted. He said that after this decision he is more confident that the game will be included in the 2020 Olympics.
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He said that he truly believes that squash will prove to be a great sport for the Olympics. This game fulfils all the criteria to be included in the Olympics and that with its inclusion in the Olympics squash will attain a new level in the world of sports.
He further added that squash has a number of high profile world champions and that with its inclusion in the Olympics it will provide massive participation from all over the world in the Olympics.
International News
Death toll rises in SyriaDeath toll rises in Syria on the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad in the city of Hama. The military tanks pounded the city creating scenes like that of 1982 massacre. Human rights activists said that the assaults killed at least 24 civilians, included 10 in Hama. All this happened when the troops with the help of tanks tried to control the people.
This violent attack led to the death of total 134 people throughout Syria in just 3 days. 90 of the people died only in Hama.
- The government said that they have also lost more than 500 soldiers and security officials in the violent revolt. The condition of Hama prompted many Syrians to show and demonstrate solidarity from the start of Ramadan. Syria has been facing international wrath for its harsh measures.
libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi has said that the war will go on even if the NATO team stops bombing. This has left no room for diplomacy from the Gaddafi's camp in order to stop the five month long conflict.
Do not even think that after all the sacrifices we have made or our sons, brothers have made by sacrificing their lives we will stop fighting. Nothing sort of it will happen said the libyan leader.
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The rebels and the western forces have continued pressure on the leader even as the holy month of Ramadan began. The NATO has continued its bombings forcing the loyalist of the leader to give up.
Also the rebels have seized up half of the country but they continue to loose the ground against the trained Gaddafi forces.
Regardless of the fact that whether the NATO stops bombing or not the Gaddafi government will continue its fight till libya is liberated said the libyan leader.
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Hina Rabbani Khar was appointed as Pakistan's new foreign minister. Khar ,34, is the youngest minister to accept the post. This came as a big surprise for the people.
Khar was elected twice to the national assembly during Musharrafs' reign in 2002 and during Benazir's stint in the year 2008. She never went public to win campaign. Since she belongs to a political family it is said that for any years the seat was with held by her father Ghulam Noor Rabbani Khar and she gives her winning credit to her political father.
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Rabbabi offers hope to a number of women in Pakistan not in terms of their lifestyle but in terms of their way to choose their lives. We have in the past few years the evolvement of women in Pakistan. The list includes the likes of Fatima Jinnah to Benazir Bhutto, Asma Jahangir, Sherry Rehman and now Hina Rabbani Khar. Now women are rejecting the roles that many men try to cast them in.
Since her appointment as the foreign minister of Pakistan Khar has been continuously criticised because to is too young to handle foreign affairs of Pakistan and that she holds a degree in hospitality management and she even has a degree in economics. But with a country with young population Khar seems to be making place for herself.
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Ex wife of late footballer George Best claimed that the phone hacking scandal lead to Best's death. During the investigation police found out that Best,59 died from multiple organ failure in 2005 and that his phone was hacked by Glenn Mulcaire who is a private investigator.
Alex Best a fomer model and former wife of Best reportedly has said that the phone hacking lead to increased pressure on her former footballer husband which resulted in his death.
- She said that Best was an alcoholic and that when a person is subjected to tremendous pressure then they ultimately turn to alcohol for some relief. But Best had so many problems related with alcohol such that with the increasing pressure and alcoholic problem finally lead to his death.
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After facing public wrath and outrage China's rail minister ordered a two month safety campaign and has apologized for the accident which killed around 39 people in the country's Zhejiang province. This is the deadliest rail accident in the province of China after the year 2008.
Beijing sacked three of its rail officials even before the investigation began.
- China's rail minister has said that the safety campaign will extend till September and that the campaign will focus mainly on the operation involving high speed trains. China's government is trying hard to calm down the people after the accident by taking various measures as possible.
Current Affairs For September 2011
National [September 2011]
Justice Corner between India and UKThe Union Minister of Law & Justice of India, Shri Salman Khurshid, and the Minister of Law & Justice of United Kingdom along with Mr. Kenneth Harry Clarke, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice for the United Kingdom arranged a convention in late September for the advanced reinforcing of the cordial relationships among the two nations concerning the field of law.
The Minister from the United Kingdom was joined by some of the Federal Level Delgates, which included:
- The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Khurshid, Mr. Suma Chakrabarty;
- Member of the Special Advisory Panel to the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Ms. Kathryn Laing;
- The President of the Law Society of England and Wales, Mr. John Wooton;
- The next delegate was the QC of the UK Bar Counci, Mr. Khawar Qureshi;
- Finally, it was UK High Commissioner to India, Mr. Richard Stagg.
The Indian Contingency that was headed by Mr. Salman Khurshid included:
- The Secretary of the Legislative Department, Shri D.R. Meena;
- Plus, Secretary of Justice, Shri V.K.Bhasin;
The meeting also featured Mrs. Neela Gangadharan along with the Chairman of Bar Council of India and Shri Ashok Parija was also in attendance at the meeting between the two nations.
Previously, the Honorable Law Minister of India, Shri Salman Khurshid and his British counterpart Mr. Kenneth Harry Clarke inducted a colloquium on 'UK-India Co-operation on Emerging Legal Sector Issues'.
- Dr. Manmohan Singh paid a visit to Gangtok that was rattled by an Earthquake. He made an airborne study of the areas that were hugely affected by the quake all through the state. The Prime Minister surveyed all the affected areas, such as Mangan, Chungthang, Lachen and Lachung and also visited to see the casualties in a Govt. Hospital of the capital. He was explained about the loss of human life as well as property. Plus, the relief and rehabilitation attempts were studied at a meeting that saw the Governor Mr. B.P Singh, Chief Minister Mr. Chamling and other top ministers. Dr. Manmohan Singh later expressed his grief and said that he was extremely distraught at the terrible loss of lives, the injuries and the broad harm that was resulted by these tremors. He further stated that a central team of experts will turn up in Gangtok in seven days' time to identify suitable designs for damaged residents meant to be rebuilt. He also stated that all these constructions will be backed wholly by the Central government and from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (this lone relief fund is estimated to be worth INR 1000 cr.).
- Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Union Health Minsiter recently met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and is believed to have presented details on his discussions with party lawmakers from Andhra Pradesh on the Telangana subject, in the midst of rising difficulty for an "early resolution" on the statehood demand. Ghulam Nabi Azad who is also the general secretary, responsible of party affairs in the state, is supposed to have explained Sonia Gandhi regarding the situation in Telangana area at the back of the two week long strike in support of the making of a different state in the meeting. Sonia Gandhi and Azad have met for the first time on the Telangana subject since the former returned from the United States. Azad, who had intermingled with party officials, MPs, MLAs and MLCs from each of the three regions of the state on the controversial statehood demand, had said he would present the details soon. Azad was asked by Sonia Gandhi back in July to hold discussions with leaders from Telangana, Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra areas on the subject and draw out their demands. Azad has been getting entrustments of ministers, MPs and MLAs from each of the three regions since then and completed the process.
- Chairman of the freedom-supportive Jammu and Kashmir liberation Front (JKLF), Muhammad Yasin Malik, cautioned against another protracted period of agitation in the valley if local sensitivities are ignored if Afzal Guru, the mastermind behind the Parliament Attacks of 2001 is hanged. Addressing a media conference in the valley, Yasin Malik stated that the people of Kashmir have knowingly and cooperatively adopted more non-violent measures then they were earlier. There has been a cooperative change from violence to non-violence. 'I request each and every political shade of India not to compel Kashmiris into a new protracted period of agitation by hanging Afzal Guru. This is not needed unless you need a change back from non-violence to violence in Kashmir,' he presaged. He advises to learn from what happened in the past. 'When Maqbool Bhat was sentenced, every home in Kashmir has Maqbool Bhat born. Don't overlook this past veracity,' the chairman added. Yasin Malik also declared a series of protests for Afzal Guru's forgiveness and also in opposition to the 'hypocrisy' of the conventional political parties on the decree. A large number of Malik's supporters were taken into detention by police who interfered to bring back order in the area.
- In late September, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has given the Home Minister, P. Chidambaram a clean chit. The CBI robustly advocated P. Chidambaram in the legal proceedings of the Supreme Court, asserting he could not be blamed of not taking any actions to avert the 2G spectrum distribution scam or revoke licenses when he was leading the charge of the Finance Ministry. Revoking of licenses, being a chief policy decision, could have been done only by the government and not by a single person, Mr. Chidambaram in this case. Mr. Venugopal alleged that former Telecom Minister A. Raja jumped the gun and issued Letters of Intent to telecom companies on January 10, 2008. P. Chidambaram, the then Finance Minister would have not been able to revoke the licenses all by himself since the matter happens to be a key policy subject of the Union Government. "It is not a simple matter to come to a decision when proceedings were a part of it as well as a result of cancellation and you cannot put together criminality against the then Finance Minister," Venugopal added.
The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) have just released data regarding the reduced margins for IT professionals. No doubt that the earnings of the IT companies have gone up considerably all through the first quarter of the current fiscal year, but the apprehensions have been raised regarding the margins that have reduced as well. The chief reasons of such reduction in margins are believed to be: rising wage cost, currency movement and pricing pressures, which are all influenced by the forces of market.
At present, the companies engaged in the IT sector of our country are granted quite a lot of incentives thanks to the Software Technology Parks (STP) plan. Apart from that, the software companies are not liable to pay some of the most basic customs tariff. Moreover, quite a few items for the IT sector are included in the Information Technology Agreement, and for this reason let off from any kind of customs tariff. Section 10AA of the Income Tax Act offers for a subtraction from the entire income of hundred per cent of profits and gains earned by a unit that is situated in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) from the export of items or goods or from services for the first successive review years, of half of the ploughed back export proceeds for the subsequent five years.
In the current fiscal so far, the sector has grown by 19% already with estimated revenue of US$ 76 billion. If such a pace is maintained the IT sector will develop into an industry worth US$ 225 billion.
This data has been provided courtesy of Mr. Sachin Pilot, the Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology as his written response after he was quizzed in the Rajya Sabha.
Sports News [September 2011]
Manoj Kumar in 2nd round of World Boxing Championships- Manoj Kumar (64kg), Commonwealth Gold Medalist beat Valentino Knowles of Bahamas 17:11 to go into the second round of World Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. Kumar is only the sixth Indian boxer to get to this round of the championships behind L. Devendro (49kg), Suranjoy Singh (52kg), Akhil Kumar (56kg), Dinesh Kumar (81kg) and Vikas Krishnan (69kg). Manoj Kumar, contesting in the light welter weight category, outplayed Knowles, a bronze medalist at the previous year held Commonwealth Games. Following earning a vital one-point advantage in the first round itself, the 24-year-old extended the difference by another couple of points in the following round. He surged the ante in the last round and was declared victories in the last three minutes of the spell Kumar, who has emerged on the World Championships for only the second, will now be locking horns against European champion from Ireland, Raymond Moylette in the first of the many knockout phases. The Irishman has defeated Arturs Ahmetovs of Latvia 16:11 in an exhilarating game. Raymond Moylette is currently ranked 6th in the overall rankings.
- Dearth of housing services and soaring rentals has averted a number of national sports bodies to hold their training camps or important tournaments at the high-tech CWG venues. A few of them have started to decay inside a year-long time of the grand games here. In the past year or so, merely a few tournaments have been staged at the 12 CWG venues that consumed crores of rupees. The maintenance of these top-notch stadiums is a key distress for the government agencies. Athletics Federation of India (AFI) executive M.L. Dogra cites that AFI chooses to organize its camps at NIS, Patiala, or at different Sports Authority of India (SAI) centers rather than the posh Jawarharlal Nehru Stadium due to dearth of housing services there. There was just a single tournament held since the Commonwealth Games at the Karni Singh Shooting Range (by NRAI) – the Sajjan Singh Memorial Championship earlier in September. DLTA, the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association sports complex, nevertheless, is the lone exception, staging a whopping seven international tournaments already. These included the high-profile junior Davis Cup and junior Fed Cup. It will also hold the national championship in October. The complex has a housing division and the charges per room are Rs.1000/night and the national gymnastics team availed all its services in its recent visit. Women's Hockey Team heading to Australia; led by Anjum
- Women's hockey team is all set to board for Australia under the leadership of Striker Saba Anjum. Saba will be the captain of an 18-member Indian women's hockey team Down Under where they will be playing four Test matches against the in-from Oz. Following that, the ladies form India will be contesting in a three-nation 9-a-side International Super Series in Perth for eleven days Oct 12-24. The selections were held at the SAI Centre in Bhopal just a couple of days back. Anjum and Jasjeet Kaur Handa, hail from Railways who would also respectively be the captain and vice captain, on their trip. Anjum and Handa have 232 International Caps between them. The selectors of Hockey India, BP Govinda, Syed Ali and Rekha Bhide apart from Government Observers Harbinder Singh and Dilip Tirkey convened the trials where the 18-member team went through their rates of knots in the innovative 9-a-side format of the game. India will kick start their tour with four Test matches against Oz Oct 14 onwards and will later play in the 9-a-side format which has FIH permit. It will be for the first time that international teams will be contesting in such a tournament and the organizers have decided with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that the event will take place at Perth.
- The government will be supporting a voluntary initiative and work as a catalyst for private sector companies to take up social, ecological and economic responsibilities, said Veerappa Moily, Minister for Corporate Affairs. The trajectory of general growth and development takes a positive turn when enterprises are backed by proper policy system that promotes methodical movement towards responsible opinion, decision making and progressive movement aiming to reach sustainability, he said as he addressed ASSOCHAM 3rd Global CSR Summit named 'Indispensable to Corporate DNA.' "This kind of a responsible initiative on part of business appropriately backed by government only will secure our future and make sure that total benefits grow for people and also our planet in general, as companies press on to make spares that can be invested once more for economic growth," Moily added. The rest of the speakers of the summit included: Chairperson of ASSOCHAM National Council for Aorporate Affairs, Ms. Preeti Malhotra, and Chairperson of ASSOCHAM National Council for Knowledge Millennium, Mr. K.C. Mehra.
- ASSOCHAM has declared that India will be the 2nd largest steel producing nation come 2013. At present, it produces 80 million tones of steel each year and is ranked next to China, the United States and Japan at fourth. Enormous infrastructure requirements of the country call for quick growth of steel production capacities, said The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). In the past ten years or so, the use of steel increased at a multiple annual growth rate of 9.4 per cent when compared to the GDP growth of 7.7 per cent. But high levels of growth in construction, housing, automobiles and agriculture sectors indicate for steel demand greater than by 12 per cent in the years to come. "At such a rate, India may very well have installed competence to manufacture 150 million tones in the next nine years," believed the secretary general D.S. Rawat. The government are resolute to fast-track the novel Mine and Mineral Development and Regulation Act. India current has an estimated 25 billion tones of iron ore reserves but the confirmed economically mineable reserves are merely of seven billion tones of which the high reserve grades are just 1.3 billion tones. China – with rise in per capita GDP 7,500 dollars from 2,600 dollars in the last ten years – has been the one fueling the demand and makes up for almost 50 percent of the steel production worldwide.
- The National Construction Industry has been bumping with sharp and solid increase in prices of cement, steel rods, bricks and added input material which has seen a surge by over 30 per cent since 2009, said The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). As well, the industry has to deal with acute lack of almost 40 per cent skilled construction workers. Due to this, a number of construction projects are forced to overdue, cancellation or paused taking place all over the nation, underlines an ASSOCHAM report on 'Current trends in Indian construction industry.' The cost of the laborers has gone up by a massive 30 per cent all through the course of last two years, ASSOCHAM studies reveal. Apart from labor, steel and cement are the chief prerequisites and 75 per cent of the general construction outlay make up for them, reveals the discussed ASSOCHAM study. "Raise in costs are mainly because of increasing overall demand for goods and commodities, apart from ever-mounting shipping and energy costs are jointly conscientious for this kind of a climb in the sector," said Mr Rawat. ASSOCHAM predicts revival of real estate projects across India with onset of the annual festive season during September-October. Food Crop Cultivation uses 1257 Lakh Hectare of Land
- Land area used for cultivating food crops is estimated at 1257.25 lakh ha in 2010-11. The same figure in the previous estimation 1227.80 lakh ha (2001-02). likewise, land under cash crops, which includes cotton, sugarcane, jute & mesta has risen to 169.77 lakh ha during 2010-11 (145.88 lakh ha in 2001-02). Further, production of food-grains has risen to 241.56 million tones during 2010-11 (212.85 million tones in 2001-02). The production goal of food-grains for the year 2011-12 has been set at 245.00 million tones which are expected to be reached bearing in mind favorable climate settings until now. To boost production and output of food-grain crops, a variety of plans/programs like National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna and Macro Management of Agriculture etc. have been functioning in the nation. Shri Harish Rawat, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries provided all these details in written response as he was quizzed in the Rajya Sabha.
- The storm about the arrest of Anna Hazare and his team (virtually the whole nation) has just put Congress in a bit of mess then even they would have imagined at first. Anna and his followers not just maintained that their outlooks be taken on in the panel when drafting the Lokpal Bill, but exacted that only and only their version of the Bill be agreed too and, as a matter of fact, discussed in Parliament by the government. Interestingly, government cannot agree to these kinds of dictates from anybody in a parliamentary democratic system. Rather than letting off such a great deal of steam on their appeals that the government forwards their edition of the Bill in Parliament, Team Anna can simply have got any one of the 545 members of the Lok Sabha to bring in the asked for Jan Lokpal Bill. Definitely, the extremely disconcerted Opposition political parties can leap forward even at this time and forward the Team Anna edition of the Bill in the house.
- Social activist Anna Hazare head to his village Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra subsequent to his release from Medanta Medicity Hospital in Gurgaon after development in his state, a supporter alleged. Hazare was taken to the Hospital in uptown Gurgaon Sunday after he finished his 288-hour fast embarked upon since August 16. "He will go to Pune and will consequently head to his village", revealed a member of the TEAM ANNA. Hazare was released Wednesday once his fundamental factors were seen to be steady. As per Yatin Mehta, a part of the doctor's team observing Anna at the hospital, the revolutionary was in 'excellent state' and 'healthy'. Previously in the day, Anna had consumed soft solid foodstuffs such as rice, dal and idli. 'Following the success of his 12-day fast, Hazare's physical condition exhibited lot of development. His blood pressure is 141/90, which is standard,' Mehta understood.
- Sheila Dikshit, Delhi Chief Minister on Tuesday alleged that the government cannot remark on the CAG details pending parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) presents its proposals. On the succeeding day of the assembly's yearly monsoon session, which observed tumult by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs over the CAG and V.K. Shunglu Committee details on the CWG, the CM stated: 'I have told about it on numerous occasions that we cannot talk about the CAG report as it is in possession of the PAC, which is a legitimate fraction of parliament. We are subjected to get going against anybody when the PAC directs so.' Initiating a mocking assault on the BJP, Dikshit further said that the chief opposition party in the parliament has been fooling people by initiating a scuttlebutt as it is in front of a lot of annoyance because of repeated routs in the last three assembly and two Lok Sabha elections in the capital
- The Rajya Sabha was suspended for a short time Tuesday subsequent to raucous scenes over Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley posing the subject of selection of Lokayukta in Gujarat by the governor 'with no meeting with the state government'. Quickly subsequent to Jaitley lifted the subject; Chairman Hamid Ansari took attention to meetings and regulations of the house on discussing subjects about people running in high offices. Jaitley said that there were examples when even reminder to Governor had been conferred in Parliament. BJP members stood up from their chairs to back Jaitley, which translated to raucous scenes during the sessions due to which the house was suspended for ten minutes.
- Security in Indian cities is miserable. And the expectations are worse than thought as the condition will simply get worse in time coming up. This threatening note of concern was clouted here today by Mr. G. K. Pillai, ex-Union Home Secretary, at the FICCI convention on S&T for Homeland Security-2011: 'Safe and Secure City'. Mr. Pillai alleged that with the nation going through a high growth rate of 8 per cent, hopes of the citizens are increasing and loads of them are swarming into cities, raising the already augmenting crime rate due to the lack of work prospects. In the capital, for example, 82 per cent of crime is committed by first timers, that also by adolescents between the age of 16 and 26 years old. Novel kinds of criminal actions are growing for example cyber crimes, hacking, burglaries, snatchings, while rape, murder and car thefts are the ones most in trend. Mr. Pillai warned against radicalization of adolescence as this would develop them into anti-social activists and destroy their lives. He cautioned against ghettoisation of cities as well that originates of the practice of not giving homes on lease to someone of a certain community/religion/caste by some other community/religion/caste community.
- The highly anticipated homologation of the Budh International Circuit (BIC), setting for the first ever Indian Grand Prix, is all but done. Plus, the FIA team, headed by technical director Charlie Whiting, has also given his nod to all aspects of the 5.14m long track. As per a report declared by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) President, Vicky Chandhok on behalf of the supporters JPSI, Whiting, through the first of the two days of inspection, was mighty delighted in the fashion in which the circuit's making has been developing. "Mr. Charlie Whiting, the Formula One Race Director came to see the Budh International Race circuit some time back for a premeditated custom check," Chandhok stated in the statement. "He told us that the development was more than all right and was beyond of what he expected from us from the last visit he paid. He further put across assurance that the introductory Indian Grand Prix will be a titanic triumph," he added. On the other hand the statement read that as a general exercise for all fresh circuits, the physical issuance of Grade-I recognition to the circuit, will be sanctioned seven days ahead of the chief event to be held on October 30.
- A contentious offer that required controlling India's and World's most powerful cricket board BCCI and added national sports organizations was rejected by the government in late August, reports from the local media emerged. The proposal that is designed to regulate these sports bodies under federal intelligibility and responsibility laws were put forward by Ajay Maken, Sports Minister. However, the much needed bill was rejected by the cabinet and it asked Ajay Maken to return with a new and improvised version, one of the news networks of the county reported. The bill aimed to keep back no less than 25 percent of federation positions for previous players and puts a ceiling on the age of all administrators i.e.70. A further significant prerequisite of the bill was to get the associations under the purview of the Right to Information Act (RTI), a milestone regulation that lets members of the public to ask for information of the functioning of public bodies. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has usually been out of the government's purview and, unlike added national sports federations, does not rely on the finances given by the state. Sports bodies in India have been the focal point of numerous controversies in recent years. The popular Indian Premier League, after previous year's controversial exit of its Founding Chairman Lalit Modi, has been the center of numerous probing over charges of pecuniary indiscretions.
- Pakistan will cooperate with China to overcome terrorism and secessionism, cited Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani President. Zardari repeated Pakistan's pledge to get rid of extremism and he promised China of his nation's full cooperation in overcoming terrorism and secessionism, reported Associated Press of Pakistan. The Pakistani president landed in China in late August to be present at the first China-Eurasia Expo to be hosted by Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, in the first week of September. He alleged Pakistan denounces terrorism in all its types and appearances and will not relax on any attempt to get rid of it. Zardari also talked about his daughters were on board with him on the trip, which is a testimony of the relationships between the two nations existing since generations. He further talked about the upcoming trip of Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to China later on this week to be present at the International Political Conference and assumed it demonstrates Pakistan and China were making efforts to fortify relations and ultimately deep-rooting their international polity.
The United States parted company with its respected AAA credit rating for the first time in seven decades after being downgraded by Standard & Poor's. The country's credit rating was cut to AA+ following S&P alleged the conciliation made by Congress and President Obama in early August to slash expenditure and enhance the liability upper limit "doesn't meet the level, in our view, would be essential to even out the government's standard-term debt dynamics."
The agency was frank in its evaluation. Its statement read:
"We downgraded the 70-year long AAA rating of the United States since we think that the protracted storm over increasing the constitutional liability upper limit and the associated monetary policy debate point out that additional upcoming development surrounding the increase in public expenditure, particularly on privileges, or coming to an agreement on generating income is less probable than we formerly understood and will stay put to a arguable and intermittent procedure," the ratings firm believed.
The much awaited Lok Pal bill will be introduced in Lok Sabha. The green signal was given by the government to Speaker Meira Kumar to allow the two day period needed to present the bill.The Minister of State Personnel Mr. V Narayaswamy gave the notice to Meira Kumar regarding the matter of Lok Pal bill.
Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal said that all the parties were in favour of introducing the bill at the earliest. The copies of the bill have been distributed to all the parties.
The bill has been finalised by the government after a number of meetings during the last month.
The government has kept out Prime Minister and other higher judiciary from the ambit of the bill. This decision has been strongly opposed by the all the activists of the bill.
The BJP has demanded that the bill should include the Prime Minister into the bill.
Regarding the matter the government has said that the prime minister will be questioned if necessary but only when he has stopped working and this can be done only in a limited amount of time i.e. 7yrs at most.
Anna Hazare has again threatened to go on hunger strike again if the government does not introduced a lok pal bill that handles every aspect of corruption and if the government fails to do so then he will go on strike on Aug 16.
The government has blamed NDA for the appointment of Kalmadi as the main organizer of the CWG 2010event. Sports minister Mr Ajay Maken said in the lok sabha that the NDA government begun the process in 2003, that led to the appointment of Suresh Kalmadi as the chairman of the CWG committee.
The statement has been made taking in view the leaked report which balmed the Prime minister's office for overlooking the objections made against kalmadi's appointment.
Suresh Kalmadi is in jail now facing charges of corruption on large scale against him.
- Around 17 people have died during the lighting in Bhubaneswar, Orissa. The people who died included 6 women. The lighting struck parts of Orissa with the coastal region accounting around 4 casualties. Most of the deaths occurred on Monday Aug 2, and other deaths were reported from places like Angul, Balasore,Deogarh, Sundergarh etc.
- The state government has announced a compensation of Rs50,000 each from the Chief minister's relief fund. The money will be given to the family of those people who died because of lighting strike.
The BJP asked the government about its action reaction the gurgaon land deal. The BJP asked whether the government will take it's stand in the similar way like that of the Bhatta-Parsaul in the Uttar Pradesh.
BJP leader Arun Jaitley said that the government unlawfully took the land from the poor farmers, due to which farmers are now suffering.
The collective loand of the farmers was taken unlawfully and then it was given to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable trust , quoted Arun Jaitely.
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The Punjab and Haryana High court scolded the government for flouting the rules of land acquisition.
The Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust was set up by Sonia Gandhi in 2002 in order to address the concerns that Rajiv Gandhi had in his heart.
Jaitely refrained from disclosing the names of the people involved in the scam.
He said that he will not take any names, but the government should only answer and tell the names of all those people who benefitted from the deal.
Meanwhile Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has been continuously holding meetings against illegal land acquisition, he even flagged some rallies against the same matter.
Regarding the matter the Congress has said that now the matter rests between the Haryana government and the High Court.
India's famous artist M.F.Hussain passed away in London on July 03. M.F. Hussain took Indian art to the global stage but not without controversies. The eccentric painter who lived barefoot died at the Brompton and Harfield NHS foundation in London after months of prolonged illness.
Born in Maharashtra Hussain began his career as a painter by painting film posters.
He was popularly known as Picasso of India and was once a member of Rajya Sabha. He has been awarded the nation's 2nd highest Padma Vibhushan.
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The Picasso of India courted controversy after he showed hindu deities in nude in his paintings, and from then he was being considered as an anti-Hindu. After getting death threats in India he imposed exile on himself from the year 2006. Later in the year 2010 he accepted the citizenship of Qatar that was offered to him.
The painter courted another biggest controversy by portraying "mother India" as a naked woman. His paintings have often courted controversies and wrath of people as his work often depicted gods and goddesses in nude form.
He was a great fan of Madhuri Dixit such that he made a film with her called Gaja Gamini.
- With one to go ESPN star sports began its golden march to kick the London Olympics 2012 countdown. The countdown ceremony was broadcasts across 22 countries. Olympics being revered as the biggest sports event has made athletes to share the same anticipation like that of the rest of the world and have set their eyes on the event going to be held just after 365 days.
- Also ESPN sports channel will broadcast the complete Olympic events for the 1st time in the history to all of its sports fans across the globe. The London Olympics will be the most sought after event with maximum viewer interest. The channel will cover 302 events in all the 26 categories of sports and will showcase almost 10,000 players and athletes from more than 200 countries.
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MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner have ruled out the possibility to participate in the Japanese Grand Prix to be held this year. Both the racers have ride earlier for Japanese manufacturers.
The reason for withdrawal is the fear of radiation that currently exists in Japan due to the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster.
The Motegi circuit is situated near the Fukushima nuclear power plant whose reactors were destroyed by an earthquake and Tsunami during March this year and led to massive leakage of radiation.
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The race was originally to be held in April 24 but was later postponed to Oct 2, though no reason was given by the International Motorcycling Federation.
Stoner firmly said during the Germany Grand Prix that he will not go for the Japanese GP.
Further he said that his response would the same if anything similar would have happened elsewhere and that he is sure about the fact that other riders will be having the same opinion. Stoner became the world champion of the MotoGP in the year 2007.
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Hideki Irabu former Yankees pitcher was found dead in his home. The 42 year old was an excellent pitcher said former league manager Bobby Valentine. The quircky right hander had a fabulous arm in flame throwing the ball.
Los Angeles police officials have declared Irabu's death as suicide, disclosing no further information. To confirm the full information the investigating team is waiting for the autopsy report.
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Hideki was referred as the Japanese version of Ryan. Hideki arrived in the united states in the year 1997 and he was a hard throwing bowler with smashing speed of 98-mph.
Though he was made an excellent debut with the Yankees but later on became an object of disappointment during the next three seasons. And then he was given a tag called as a fat toad after he failed to perform well during an exhibition game.
- The UAE national Olympics committee has decided to bid for 2024 Olympics instead of 2020. The committee said that the infrastructure for the 2020 Olympics is 75% ready but it would be feasible if we bid for 2024 instead for 2020 so that we provide best of infrastructure to Olympics events and the players and athletes.
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Dubai's crowned Prince Shaikh Hamdan said that " Hosting the Olympics would be a matter of pride for the entire middle eastern region and we want to fully satisfy everyone and ourselves that we are completely ready to host the games and for this we are going to bid for 2024 Olympics instead of 2020.
He further added that our first and foremost aim is to give a world class Dubai experience and a long lasting peace and satisfaction to the youth and to all the sports class events.
The Manchester United has been named as the world's most valued team. The Red Devils have been estimated for a total amount of 1.165 billion pounds overshadowing American Franchises like the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys.
The assessment has been made based keeping in mind the total income they get and the various sponsorship deals they make throughout the year.
- This has come as the good news for the Glazer family who bought the Club for 790 million pounds in the year 2005, how they are still in debt but this does not deter them from being happy for making their club the most valued in the world.
- On hearing the news that squash is going to be considered for the 2020 Olympics World Squash Federation president N.Ramachandran was far more delighted. He said that after this decision he is more confident that the game will be included in the 2020 Olympics.
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He said that he truly believes that squash will prove to be a great sport for the Olympics. This game fulfils all the criteria to be included in the Olympics and that with its inclusion in the Olympics squash will attain a new level in the world of sports.
He further added that squash has a number of high profile world champions and that with its inclusion in the Olympics it will provide massive participation from all over the world in the Olympics.
Death toll rises in Syria on the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad in the city of Hama. The military tanks pounded the city creating scenes like that of 1982 massacre. Human rights activists said that the assaults killed at least 24 civilians, included 10 in Hama. All this happened when the troops with the help of tanks tried to control the people.
This violent attack led to the death of total 134 people throughout Syria in just 3 days. 90 of the people died only in Hama.
The government said that they have also lost more than 500 soldiers and security officials in the violent revolt. The condition of Hama prompted many Syrians to show and demonstrate solidarity from the start of Ramadan. Syria has been facing international wrath for its harsh measures.
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libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi has said that the war will go on even if the NATO team stops bombing. This has left no room for diplomacy from the Gaddafi's camp in order to stop the five month long conflict.
Do not even think that after all the sacrifices we have made or our sons, brothers have made by sacrificing their lives we will stop fighting. Nothing sort of it will happen said the libyan leader.
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The rebels and the western forces have continued pressure on the leader even as the holy month of Ramadan began. The NATO has continued its bombings forcing the loyalist of the leader to give up.
Also the rebels have seized up half of the country but they continue to loose the ground against the trained Gaddafi forces.
Regardless of the fact that whether the NATO stops bombing or not the Gaddafi government will continue its fight till libya is liberated said the libyan leader.
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Hina Rabbani Khar was appointed as Pakistan's new foreign minister. Khar ,34, is the youngest minister to accept the post. This came as a big surprise for the people.
Khar was elected twice to the national assembly during Musharrafs' reign in 2002 and during Benazir's stint in the year 2008. She never went public to win campaign. Since she belongs to a political family it is said that for any years the seat was with held by her father Ghulam Noor Rabbani Khar and she gives her winning credit to her political father.
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Rabbabi offers hope to a number of women in Pakistan not in terms of their lifestyle but in terms of their way to choose their lives. We have in the past few years the evolvement of women in Pakistan. The list includes the likes of Fatima Jinnah to Benazir Bhutto, Asma Jahangir, Sherry Rehman and now Hina Rabbani Khar. Now women are rejecting the roles that many men try to cast them in.
Since her appointment as the foreign minister of Pakistan Khar has been continuously criticised because to is too young to handle foreign affairs of Pakistan and that she holds a degree in hospitality management and she even has a degree in economics. But with a country with young population Khar seems to be making place for herself.
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Ex wife of late footballer George Best claimed that the phone hacking scandal lead to Best's death. During the investigation police found out that Best,59 died from multiple organ failure in 2005 and that his phone was hacked by Glenn Mulcaire who is a private investigator.
Alex Best a fomer model and former wife of Best reportedly has said that the phone hacking lead to increased pressure on her former footballer husband which resulted in his death.
- She said that Best was an alcoholic and that when a person is subjected to tremendous pressure then they ultimately turn to alcohol for some relief. But Best had so many problems related with alcohol such that with the increasing pressure and alcoholic problem finally lead to his death.
After facing public wrath and outrage China's rail minister ordered a two month safety campaign and has apologized for the accident which killed around 39 people in the country's Zhejiang province. This is the deadliest rail accident in the province of China after the year 2008.
Beijing sacked three of its rail officials even before the investigation began.
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China's rail minister has said that the safety campaign will extend till September and that the campaign will focus mainly on the operation involving high speed trains. China's government is trying hard to calm down the people after the accident by taking various measures as possible.
China's bank –People's Bank of China (PBOC) decreased the reserve ratio for banks by 50bps. This move was taken to support China's economy as economical growths are getting down in other parts of the world.
Before the announcements on the cuts were made reserve ratio was recorded 21.5%. This is the first such blow on the major monetary loosening by the PBOC since Dec 2008. Not only this the PBOC had earlier raised the RRR 6 times this year and even raised lending limits more than 5 times since the year 2010.The last RRR increase was recorded on June 20th this year.
In the U.S the unemployment rate dropped to 8.6% which lead to the addition of 120000 new jobs all over the country. This percentage was the lowest to be recorded in the last two years as announced by the Department of Labor.
In October this year the rate was 9%. As the U.S employers added 120000 new jobs this proved to be a significant improvement by the gain of 80000 jobs as compared to last month record.
Although this is still not a good news because if compared with the past 3 months the economy has added only an average of 114000 net jobs every month which is hardly enough to go by the population growth.
At present America still have 14 million jobless people, the economy needs to bulk up the job addition by 250,000jobs a month to bring down the unemployment rate substantially.
Ex-members of Taliban are going to attend the Bonn conference to be held in Germany for the topic about the future of Afghanistan after the year 2014.
The Afghan governments list of invitation to the meeting is being viewed as a crucial step to hammer out the country's future but regarding the invitation to the former members of Taliban the U.S officials have backed out of the meeting.
The organizations former ambassador to Pakistan Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef along with other members of the delegation has already reached France to discuss in advance about the agenda of the meeting.
Regarding the meeting the US ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker said that there is no place for the involvement of former Taliban members to attend the meeting in order to decide the future of the troubled country.
- German drive for swift change for the European Union's treaty. This treaty is a sign of the difficulty that the leaders will face while transforming Europe to save the euro. In the meeting both the countries France and Germany are going to decide to reach to a solution of reaching a consensus that states that all euro zone economies are required to be bounded more closely if they want the euro to survive as a single currency. This means that changing the European treaty to give Brussels powers in order to punish spendthrift euro states.
After few minutes proceeding, the opposition and some other parties began their protest against the FDI in retail and firmly demanded that the center takes backs its decision. This chaos and shouting of slogans against the government continued for the next 7 days of the winter session of parliament.
Apart from demanding rolling back of FDI's decision other concerns were also being taken into account like demand for separate state of Telangana etc.
Partis like shiv sena and CPI-M stormed a lot leading the speaker Meera Kumar to adjourn the house session. Similar kinds of scenes were seen in Rajya Sabha with the only difference that the protest began much earlier even before the chairman came.
All the protesting parties have said that they are protesting against the FDI decision because this will affect the livelihood of the common man which includes farmers and traders.
The Kingfisher airlines experienced major lows which started on Monday. News are rife that Kingfisher's flight will continue to be cancelled till Dec 15. This is being done as the airline is experiencing major financial problems.
Following the next day it was reported that the loss had doubled and reached to Rs 469 crore. Following the news of loss the chairman of the airlines Vijay Mallya began his work to control damage. He held up a press conference in Mumbai and reassured its investor about the proper functioning of the airlines as soon as possible.
Further Mallya said that following the crunch this was not possible to allow flights and that he wasn't looking for any sort of bailout from the government side and that he has cancelled only those flights that were making losses.
The CBI has started collecting samples in the Bhanwari devi case who went missing on September 1. The CBI suspects that Bhanwari devi had been killed in a limekiln and that they are collecting samples from the factory. The CBI has also recovered the vehical that was used in the crime and has been sent for scientific examination.
One of the officials said that they have collected samples from the limekiln s around Jodhpur as they suspect that they might contain biological samples of the deceased.
From the seized jeep the crime branch has collected hair strands, a jewelery item that belongs to bhanwari devi, pair of shoes and small and torn pieces of clothes. The crime branch during its investigation has also recorded statement of workers at the limekiln.
As part of the forensic process the crime branch has also began to collect biological samples of the victims family.
Anna and his team are getting ready to face off the government another time following the conflicts regarding the draft report of the parliaments standing committee on the issue of Lokpal Bill. The conflicts aroused after the draft proposed by the standing committee does not included some key points that Anna and his team had demanded earlier.
Anna in an interview to the media personnel said that the government has once again betrayed the common man and he will again fast for a day long on Dec 11 against the government's proposed bill and if demands are not met then this fast can continue . Team Anna slammed the report as inadequate and just a joke as the report excluded the lower bureaucracy and citizens' from the charter.
- In a bid to provide a platform to the Buddhist communities all over he world the first Global Buddhist Congregation has decided to set up a Buddhist world body in India. This was another creater of row between India and Chinese ties.
The decision to make an organization will help to serve as a single and common platform for Buddhists all over the world was the main highlight of the meeting. And this decision was made after 4 day meeting of heads and Buddhists federation and sanghas as well as institutions from 46 countries.
The meeting highlighted the point that they need to develop a common platform that will help the Buddhist community to raise their voice untidily and to united response from all of the Buddhist tradition.
There were slogans of welcome as soon as she arrived at her house.
A lot people had gathered to welcome her so much so that every one wanted to escort her to her house on 6th floor and they all went into the lift along with the lady which lead to overloading of the lift so that some MP's had to come out in order to allow the lift to move.
Dressed in a pink salwar-kameez kanimozhi spent her first night at her house after spending days in the tihar jail. She was arrested by the CBI on May 20th after her involvement in the telecom scam.
She even filed many bail petitions earlier but all in vain and finally she was granted bail from the jail. Though she returned to her house but her real homecoming is waiting in her hometown Chennai where her politician father M. Karunanidhi is waiting for the returned of her beloved daughter.
Stating that a false case has been made against him, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and M. Karunanidhi's son MK Stalin stated that he will abide by the law and since he's innocent he will get justice and will face the interrogation and the false case registered against him boldly.
The Tamil Nadu State Police has already registered a case against Stalin. The case also includes five other peoples that includes Stalin's son Udhayanidhi in case of forcing a businessman to sell his property to them.
Talking to the media people Stalin said that the case had been filed by his arch rivals Tamil Nadu Chief Minster J. Jayalalitha in order to divert attention from the disproportionate asset cases that are filed in Bangalore.
In his statement to the reporters Stalin said that this was an attempt to malign his image and to divert the attention from the Bangalore cases against Jayalalitha. They were unable to stop the investigation against themselves so they have filed a false case against me".
- He further said that -"This is just a stupid attempt to divert the attention from the Bangalore cases. False cases have been framed against me and my son and all this I had expected this much earlier but it has come so late so I m not bothered by these things at all. My faith lies in justices being served to me.
The 7th half marathon of Delhi was full of an all African show with all the top honors being taken away by the African community. Around 30,000 people came to take part in the worlds most honored and prestigious half marathon braving the Delhi's winter chills.
The marathon saw the rise of athletes from the Dark Continent that won many awards both in the men and women's category. In the men's category the top 3 honors were given to the players Lelisa Dessia of Ethiopia, Geoffrey Kipsang and Mike Kigen.
While the winners from the women category were Lucy Kabuu of Kenya who was followed by Sharon Cherop and Aselefech Mergia.
The NBA commissioner David Stern gave a blow by delivering an ultimatum the NBA players' union further saying that he won't cancel the 2011-12 season.
The players union met in New York to discuss a strategy for the session in which the commissioner firmly said that he won't be setting any date for the cancelation of the 2011-12 seasons. Stern said that- "he won't say when he would call off the season since they haven't reached the season yet."
The NBA has cancelled many games during the month of November and even more games cancellations are expected to get cancelled. Stern even said that it will take up around 30 more days to make the league functioning.Stern even hinted by saying that if no progress is being made even the Christmas games could be in danger but after the meeting Stern just announced the cancellation of two weeks of finals in November.
Indian athletes have threatened to boycott next summer Olympics after a sponsorship deal was made with Dow chemical company. This firm had connections with the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster in which around 15000 people died after inhaling poisonous gas that leaked from the Union Carbide Factory.
The company has a tainted reputation in India following the disaster and the athletes have said that until and unless the sponsorship deal is not rejected within nine days they will boycott the summer Olympics that is to be held in London.
The withdrawal of athletes from the world's second largest economy will give a blow to both the Games and the International standing.
Michael Clarke's group has played just a single match after the team was condemned as the worst team of Australia test lineup. The sign of how Clarke's team has fallen was proved when they failed to won a test match since 1985. Now to the relief of millions of armchairs selectors – the comeback win to level the series in South Africa has proved fruit full to allow the team to face the next Acid test on their home soil only.
Clarke scored two win, followed by two losses and two draws and now he is going to his first home as a skipper.
Saudi prince and billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal who is an investor in world's top companies, also bought a $300 million stake in the fast-growing microblogging site Twitter. By this move the Prince has gained another foothold in the media industry of the world.
Alwaleed is a nephew of the Saudi king and he has a personal net whose worth was estimated by Forbes magazine in March this year and is just some points below $20 billion. Not only this Alwaleed also owns a 7 per cent stake in News Corp and he further plans to start a cable news channel in his homeland.
The stake in the Twitter was bought jointly by Alwaleed and his Kingdom . He also owns a Co investment firm and that the stake was bought after months of negotiations with the sites company. Following the stake buying the shares in the Prince Kingdom jumped to 5.7 percent in stock and trade market in Saudi Arabia.
The renowned tech company Microsoft has also brought itself in the scene of social media and all this was done in a low key affair. Microsoft also owns a small stake in the Facebook.
the site that has been introduced is made just for students who wants to share interesting discoveries over the internet and the site looks like a composition of both Facebook and Google +.
Though only certain universities have access to this site, the site is a blend of functions like web browsing, search functions and networking and it also includes an interesting feature named "video party".
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In order to help the detained immigrants a telephone hotline was launched by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement department. This hotline will allow the detained immigrants detained in their country to help them know their rights and to allow them to report cases if they are being treated unfair by other peoples.
The phone number can be used by detained immigrants. The move was launched as the US officials feels that the immigrants they may be US citizens or they may be victims of crime.
To ensure that such people who are in custody are properly notified about their rights. The US department guarantees that the phone line is made available 24 hours a day and will be having many interpreters in several languages so as to employee effective communication between the immigrants and the concerned authorities.
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As another blow to the already weakened relationship between the US and the Pakistan was announced when the US blamed the Pakistani officials for the NATO strike carried out by them. Be it the aggressive approach towards Pakistan or their tactical need in Afghanistan, all the hopes were laid down to rest when the Pentagon said that the respect all rules engagement and international law of conflict hinting to the NATO strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
Further the Washington even named the incident an act of war. An official said that-"the Pakistani soil misbehaved that led the NATO to strike back. And such response is continued then they will again shot back.
Pentagon spokesman captain John Kirby further said that they have delivered the report regarding the same to Pakistan's general Kayani in Islamabad by a US officer in charge. The officer is going to explain every detail of the findings to the general.
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The hearing for the WikiLeaks leaker was concluded in a US court. The leaker was a US Army intelligence analyst. He was accused of leaking secret classified files to the WikiLeaks website which gave enemies complete access to government secrets. However the defence lawyer of the accused said that his client has done no crime.
The lawyers from both the sides made several arguments at the hearing in order to decide whether Bradley Manning who is a Private First Class person should be court-martialed for the charges held against at him. The charges include aiding the enemy and wrongfully causing intelligence reports to be published on the Internet that caused furore and a mess for the government.
The prosecution held 22 criminal charges against the accused further saying that the massive release of documents by the accused had caused harm to national security.
In a move to stop Anna Hazare's movement against corruption finally the Union Cabinet cleared the Lokpal bill but without CBI. However the support by the cross party for the legislation was seen with doubt as the Cabinet vetoed the autonomy suggestion to the CBI.
A senior minister said that-"the CBI will look into only those cases that are going to be referred by the anti graft body". Further the government officials said that the Cabinet cannot agree to the suggestion of the division of the prosecuting and the investigating sections of the CBI.
Shanti Bhushan, a prominent team member of Anna Hazare's team said that- " The Lokpal bill without CBI is not of any use and does not have any meaning". He further said that if CBI is still under the control of the government it will still shield the corrupted government officials".
Kiran Bedi also raised her voice stating that is such a bill is made then it's better that it is not passed or else it will destroy even the remaining CBI power.
Following the reports Anna Hazare has said that he will go on for the 3 day fast in Mumbai from December 27 onwards.
Regarding the Mullaperiyar issue the activists from the Manitha Urimai Paathukappu Maiyam which is a human rights protection centre tried to obstruct and even delayed the Guruvayur Express that was passing through Trichy at 1.20pm. The protest was made against the double dealings of the parties like Congress, BJP and the CPM. Also the protesters also demanded the arrest of Kerela Chief Minister Oommen Chandy as they consider that he violated the SC'S verdict for the issue.
The activists staged a rail roko by plastering the walls around Tiruchirappalli Junction. However the police didn't provided any sort of permission to allow any such agitation. It was only after some time that the authorities came to know that they were misled by fake notice.
The activists consist mostly of lawyers and in order to show the support for the protest over the dam the Trading Malayali community shut downed their shutters. But to prevent things from getting worse the protesters were not allowed inside the railway premises and 8 of the protesters were arrested and later released at 5 pm by the police.
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While people were busy celebrating and welcoming the New Year but the Delhi Police remained on its toes to guard the city following the terror alert that were made for the arrest of some terrorists and Pakistani spies. The alert was also made by the Intelligence service and asked the police department to remain cautious.
the Delhi Police said that more focus would be given on the security of the five star hotels in the Delhi area that hold major New Year party for people thus seeing major rush of party goers. Apart from the hotel security the police said that they will do thorough checking of people New Year eve barricades were placed at prominent places to check the movement of suspicious peoples.
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The sole supplier of gas in the National Capital Region, the Indraprastha Gas Lrd(IGL), rose the prices of the automotive fuel by Rs 1.75 per kg. This step was made to pass on the status of the rupee's fall against the dollars. Also this step was made to as the production from the Relience Industries Ltd's dropped in the Andhra coast.
This rise in the price of the CNG (Compressed natural gas) is 5th revision for the Delhi and its NCR region. Other states of country like that of Mumbai that also have CNG services are also going to be affected due to the depreciation of the rupee's against dollar.
Following the CNG price hike it is said that the petrol's price are also going to shoot up by Rs 1 per litre.
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Just before the New Year's Eve, a man was held for carrying a major consignment of arms and ammunitions in DTC bus near Subhash Nagar Metro Station. The arms and the ammunitions were placed in a gunny bag to prevent any sort of suspicion by the locals travelling in the bus. Upon checking by the police the man named Ravinder was arrested. The police recovered 18 pistols and live cartridges from the gunny bag.
The police official said that that had received a tip off regarding the consignment. A team was formed under the supersvision of ACP of Tilak Nagar, and they stopped the bus and checked the suspicious man that was carrying the gunny bag. Upon recovering live cartridges and arms the man was immediately arrested. A case has been registered under the Arms Act.
The police said that they stopped the bus around 10.45am and they surrounded the bus and closed all the entry and exit gates of the bus. The accused who was sitting at the back seat with his gunny bag lloked suspicious and he was thoroughly checked. The arms and the cartridges were covered by vegetables and once they were removed the team and the passengers were shocked to see the ammunitions that were more than dozens in numbers.
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The Chief Minister of Bengal Mamata Banerjee led a campaign in Kolkata to create mass awareness for the Hooch menace that reports the illegally distilled liquor possession and selling of the liquor. The campaign was held to bring light on the scene of illegal selling of distilled liquor that caused death of 172 people. All the victims consumed spurious liquor in South 24-Parganas.
The campaigned carried massive placards that read "Say no to poison liquor". Some placards also had slogans and one liners as "Allow us to live a healthy life", "life is precious". The campaign included- Human Rights activists, students and politicians that marched from College Square to Esplanade. Apart from the chief minister, some of her ministerial colleagues like Subrata Mukherjee, Partha Chatterjee and Firhad Hakim also took part in the campaign against the Hooch incident.
Addressing the masses, the chief minister said that she will continue her campaign against illicit liquor that will be followed by raids and arrests of culprits until she is successful to curb the menace. By this campaign she is going to generate social awareness against drinking of illicit poison liquor.
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The Election Commission of India has said that it will keep a watch on all the ongoing malicious poll content and expenditure on that are done and incurred Facebook following complaints from Punjab province that the political leaders from various parties are their election mission by making use of the many social networking sites.
The Chief of the election commissioner SY Quraishi told a news paper that-"he and his team members have no problems with social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook as long as the content posted on these site is neither malicious nor violates any code of conduct in any way." He further said that if the political leaders are asking for votes online and wants to reach the young generation for votes then he does not have any problem with it as the sites are just forms of another media. He said that all we are concerned about are the expenses that will be involved while monitoring candidates who use social networking sites and other forms of media. Though there is no policy for monitoring this so far but the commission will find out a remedy to solve the problem.
Just as the controversy created by IT minister Kapil Sibal for urging social networking websites to censor or remove off the offensive content from their pages in another fresh move a trial court has directed several social websites that includes Facebook, Google, Orkut and Youtube, to censor contents like "anti-religious contents" or "anti-social content " that promotes hatred or communal disharmony in the society.
The trail courts administrative civil judge Mukesh Kumar has clearly directed all the social networking sites to remove all the objectionable content that is present in the form of photos or videos or text which can posses power to hurt religious sentiments. The order came after a civil suit was filed by Mufti Aijaz Arshad Qasmi who even submitted some printouts showing malicious contents as a proof.
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Australian cricket team captain Michael Clarke has asked the teams bowlers to bounce the Indian out from the second Test that will starts from Tuesday. The match is going to be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
Clarke in an interview said that-"he loves' the aggression of his teams fast bowlers. He said that he simply loved the way they his teams' bowlers served it up to the Indian batsmen during the last match that led to their strong victory in Melbourne. Also if conditions remain in our favour then we will bounce the Indians again during the second Test that is to be held in Sydney."
Clarke said that he wants his bowlers to be as ruthless as possible. And they should continue with the same strength and aggression that they previously showed in during win by122-run.
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The Indian media lashed their anger out at the country's batting line-up for letting the team down in the opening Test that was held at against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
The Indian team failed to cope with the Australia's pace attack when they failed to chase a 292-run target. The Oz players attack was so strong that the Indian team could only manage to gain 169 runs despite having batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag who have major batting experience.
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The team of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati reunited after a long gap of 9 yrs and this was just an act of choice not a mere chance. The team now bids to target the Olympic medal at the 2012 London's Olympic but they split up within months of their team formation.
Now Mahesh Bhupathi will pair up with fresh player Rohan Bopanna . They will play together for the first time after the Davis Cup. After their team formation the duo toiled in the Bombay Gymkhana for about two-and-half hours to begin their journey to the 2012 Olympics. The London Olympics are just 216 days away to begin.
Business and Economy Current Affairs 2011
Current Affairs [September 2011] Voluntary Initiative on Private Sector's CSRCurrent Affairs For August 2011
National
Anna Hazare Arrested Congress messed it upSports News
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National
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International Current Affairs November 2011
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