Tel Aviv University students learning Minister Appointment In June 2014

Tel Aviv University students learning
Telangana the 29th state of India and TRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao was sworn in as its first Chief Minister.

Minister Appointment In June 2014

Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, who was due for retirement this month, was given an extension of six months.

Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan was sworn in as the Governor of Telangana, the country’s 29th state.

Arun Jaitley -- India’s Governor on the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank with effect from 27th May, 2014 in place of P. Chidambaram.

BJP leader and former Union minister Tapan Sikdar, died at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Cuban Eugenio George, chosen by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) as the best coach of the 20th century, died.

 Tata Power has commissioned its second solar power project of 25 MW capacity at Palaswadi in Maharashtra.

National Award-winning Bengali filmmaker Anjan Das, best known for films like 'Saanjhbatir Rupkathara', 'Achin Pakhi' and 'Faltu', passed away.

In a major promotion of Hindi in Israel, Indian businessmen here have announced a grant of about USD $ 33,000 for students learning the language, during World Hindi Day Celebration at Tel Aviv University.

World news 7 november 2012

 National:

New satellite to boost India’s remote sensing ability

The remote sensing ability of the country will get a boost with the launch of the SARAL satellite in December, K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said. The SARAL-Altika, a combined technology mission by ISRO and the French Space Agency (CLS), will map the variability of the sea level. The satellite will be carrying the ARGOS system for CLS and that will help in the transmission of data from Argo floats. The satellite will provide data to support operational research in marine meteorology and sea state forecast as well as seasonal forecast. While SARAL will be launched from Sriharikota, six other satellites will be launched from other countries. INSAT-ID will be launched in 2013. ISRO has many satellites in orbit, such as Oceansat-1 and -2, Megha-Tropiques, RISAT and INSATs, which are supporting ocean, weather and climate applications. The tsunami-warning system that the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) developed for the country is now called the Indian Ocean observation system that caters for the entire region. The INCOIS, under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, is hosting PORSEC 2012, which is being attended by nearly 500 delegates from 25 countries.

India, Pak set up panel to boost trade

At the Pakistan-India Business Round Table, held in Lahore, a joint business committee was set up to boost trade between the two countries. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, while agreeing with the proposal mooted by Punjab Province (Pakistan) Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for constituting a joint business committee, announced that the first meeting of panel comprising politicians, industrialists, traders, progressive farmers and experts will be held in December in Amritsar. The panel will draw a blueprint for improving trade and commerce ties between the two countries.

‘Majority of incompletely vaccinated children live in India, Nigeria & Indonesia’

More than half of the over 22 million infants who missed vaccinations including the three basic ones- three doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) during their first year of life in 2011 worldwide were from India, Indonesia and Nigeria, all having large child populations. “More than half of all incompletely vaccinated children live in three countries: India (32%), Nigeria (14%), and Indonesia (7%). Among all incompletely vaccinated children, 62% never received the first DTP dose (DTP1), and 38% started but never completed the series,” said the new data released in the WHO’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. It means, one in five children worldwide did not receive the recommended DTP against the three deadly diseases. Achieving the DTP vaccination of infants before they reach 12 months is one of the most important indicators of how effective vaccination programmes are in reaching infants with life-saving vaccines. An estimated 130 million infants are born each year and as per the WHO, immunisations can save between two and three million lives per year. Among the 194 WHO member states, 130 nations achieved above 90 % national DTP3 coverage. However, 22.4 million children were not lucky enough to get completely vaccinated at 12 months of age and remained at risk for vaccine-preventable morbidity and mortality.

International:

UK lifts advisory for travel against Jammu, Srinagar

In a major boost to the image of Jammu and Kashmir, the UK lifted its nearly two-decade-old advisory to its nationals to avoid traveling to Srinagar, Jammu and Ladakh and said this comes due to “improvements in the security situation” there. Germany and Japan are two other countries which have already lifted ban on its citizens to visit the state. UK High Commissioner to New Delhi Sir James Bevan said to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Countries like the US, Australia and New Zealand, however, still advise its citizens to refrain from visiting J&K despite repeated requests by the State Government to lift these restrictions. The travel advisories were issued after militancy gripped the state in 1989 and the abduction of six tourists by Al Faran, a mysterious terrorist outfit, near Pahalgam in July 1995.

Same-sex marriage upheld by Spain's highest court

Spain's highest court upheld the country's gay marriage law, rejecting an appeal lodged by the ruling People's Party seven years ago and confirming the legality of same-sex unions. More than 21,000 same-sex couples had tied the knot since Spain became the fourth country in the world to legalise gay marriage in July 2005. Eight of the Constitutional Court's 11 judges voted in favour of the law. The law, introduced by the former government of Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, was challenged in court by the People's Party (PP). There are 10 countries in which gay marriage is legal. The Parliament of The Netherlands, which passed a bill legalizing same sex marriage by a 3-to-1 margin in 2001, was the first national government body to pass national legislation. The Netherlands Legalized in 2001, Belgium Legalized in 2003, Spain Legalized in 2005, Canada Legalized in 2005, South Africa Legalized in 2006, Norway Legalized in 2009, Sweden Legalized in 2009, Portugal Legalized in 2010, Iceland Legalized in 2010, Argentina Legalized in 2010.

Business & Economy:

EGoM to decide price band for Nalco stake sale

The Empowered Group of Ministers on disinvestment will decide on the price band for offloading 12.5 per cent government equity in aluminium major Nalco. The stake sale in Nalco is expected to fetch the exchequer around Rs.1,500 crore. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved disinvestment of 12.5 per cent government stake in the Navratna PSU. The Department of Disinvestment would opt for the offer for sale or the auction route for selling stake in Nalco.

India's 2013 gold imports seen at 550 tonnes

India's gold imports may fall to 550 tonnes in 2013 from a peak of 967 tonnes in 2011, , after a drop that could be as steep as 45 percent this year as high inflation and prices bite into disposable incomes. India's 2011 imports put it ahead of China as the world's largest gold buyer, but they slid over 56 percent in the second quarter of this year after New Delhi hiked import duties. Overall first-half imports fell 20 percent. 

Technology:

Star formation in Universe has declined by '97 per cent'

Cosmic GDP crashes! Astronomers have discovered that the rate of formation of new stars in the Universe has drastically reduced to only 1/30th of its peak and that this decline is set to continue. In the largest-of-its-kind study ever, scientists carried out the most complete survey ever made of star-forming galaxies at different distances, with around ten times the data of any previous effort. With the range of distances, the time taken for the light to reach us means that we see identically selected galaxies at different periods in the history of the universe. Astronomers found that the production of stars in the universe as a whole has been continuously declining over the last 11 billion years, being 30 times lower today than at its likely peak, 11 billion years ago.

Actual location of Superman's home planet 'Krypton' determined

Now, Superman knows where exactly he came from. A noted astrophysicist claimed to have determined actual location of Superman's fictional home planet - Krypton. Krypton is found 27.1 light-years from Earth, in the southern constellation Corvus, said Neil de Grasse Tyson, director of the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium in New York City. Krypton, which is cooler and smaller than our sun, orbits the red dwarf star LHS 2520. The planetary details will be given in a soon to be published Superman book -Star Light, Star Bright. According to the Superman mythos, the superhero was born on Krytpon but was launched toward Earth as an infant by his father, Jor-El, just before the planet's destruction. After touching down in Kansas, Superman was raised as Clark Kent by a farmer and his wife.

Sport:

Pakistan wins title as India walks out

Pakistan clinched the Asian kabbadi championship after India walked off the field in protest against the referee’s decision to penalise its coach in Lahore. The Pakistani team was leading 40-31 when the Indian team refused to carry on the contest. The Indians protested when their coach, Goormel Singh, was shown a green card by the referee for constantly disturbing the final by entering the ground frequently to protest decisions.

Radha is IHF vice-president

Radha Murthy, former President of the Karnataka Women’s Hockey Association, until its merger with the Karnataka State Hockey Association (KSHA), was elevated to the post of vice-president of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF). Radha Murthy was in the executive committee and fills in the vacancy in the women’s category.

Bolt heads awards list

The IAAF said Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica headed a shortlist also including Aries Merritt of the United States and Kenya’s David Rudisha for the accolade of World athlete of the year. The IAAF will unveil the winner at its centenary gala on November 24 in Barcelona. Bolt, Merritt and Rudisha gained the most votes in a three-week poll.