Today's GK(8-9-13)

Wrestling back in Olympics after major reform

Wrestling was reinstated into the Olympic programme for the 2020 and 2024 Games on Sunday, beating baseball/softball and squash after the ancient sport underwent sweeping reforms since being provisionally dropped in February.

Wrestling obtained a majority of 49 votes in a secret ballot among 95 members of the International Olympic Committee after all three sports had made a 20-minute presentation.

Baseball/softball, not on the programme since 2008, got 24 votes. Squash, bidding to become a new Olympic sport, had to settle for 22.

Wrestling was dropped by the IOC executive board in February 2013, but got into a shortlist with the other two in order to get back into the Games through widespread reform and lobbying from many countries including an unlikely Russia-Iran-U.S. alliance.

The vote came after a proposal from Canadian member Dick Pound was rejected to postpone the decision for five months until the Session ahead of the Sochi Winter Games in order to allow a new sport into the programme.

Earlier, the IOC approved the 25 core sports at Summer Games with a 77-16 majority. Rugby sevens and golf will be added in 2016 and wrestling now brings the number of sports back to the maximum 28.

“Thank you for this opportunity of saving our sport. This is the most important day in our 3,000-year history. Remaining in the Olympics is crucial for wrestling’s survival,” new wrestling federation FILA president Nenad Lalovic told the IOC.

Former U.S. Olympic chief and 1988 Games wrestler Jim Scherr said that the ancient sport is practiced among 30 million people in 177 countries.

Scherr said that FILA has undergone “extraordinary progress” since being provisionally dropped by the IOC in February, changing its leadership, bringing athletes and women into executive positions and revising competition formats and scoring.

“We made mistakes and admitted to them,” Lalovic said as wrestling had to field many questions from IOC members.

Baseball/softball lobbied with being played by 65 million people around the world, and with black-and-white footage of legendary players Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig for a return after being dropped following the 2008 Games.

“Give young people a chance to play our game at your Games,” federation co-president Don Porter tearfully pleaded to the IOC, while the son of former Cuban president Fidel Castro, Antonio Castro, named it “not just a sport but a business and a culture.”

Squash federation president N. Ramachandran named his sport the only new one on the shortlist which “represents the future and not the past” and “is more than ready to join the Olympics.” Practiced in 185 countries and boasting world champions from all continents, the presentation included Egyptian world champion Ramy Ashour and highlighted the sport being played in glass cages at exciting locations such as the Pyramids.

But wrestling eventually won and will also benefit from large income through the IOC which distributes a large chunk of its earnings to the sports federations competing in summer and winter Games.

In his final report to a session, outgoing IOC president Jacques Rogge said that federations received 728 million dollars from the 2010 and 2012 Games, a huge increase to the 211 million for 1998 and 2000.

Income from sponsors in the so-called TOP programme was 1 billion dollars from so far nine partners for the 2013-2016 period, and already at 740 million from seven partners to date for 2017-2020.

TV income has also sky-rocketed from 2.2 billion dollars 2002-2004 to 4 billion 2014-2016, and already stands at 2.7 billion for 2018-2020 although only a few rights have been sold. But a U.S. deal with the NBC network alone is worth 4.38 billion dollars 2014-2020.

Rogge also said that 44 percent of the Olympic athletes are women and and 22.2 per cent of the IOC-members are women.

Rogge spoke of “excellent Games” between 2002 and 2012 during his 12-year tenure but also said that “The programme must remain dynamic to ensure success for future Olympic Games,” calling on events and formats to evolve constantly in order to “remain relevant.” Progress reports from upcoming Olympic Games were to be heard by the IOC later Sunday.

Vice President Hamid Ansari Presented Capital Foundation Award

The Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari presented the Capital Foundation Awards instituted by Capital Foundation Society to many distinguished persons at a function in New Delhi on 7 September 2013. These awards are given in different categories.
Hamid Ansari presented Capital Foundation Justice VR Krishna Iyer Award to S. Jaipal Reddy, the Union Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Science, Technology and Public Service.

He presented Capital Foundation Award to Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha in recognition of his contribution as an Outstanding Parliamentarian. He also presented Capital Foundation’s Justice P.N. Bhagwati Award to Dr. Lalit Bhasin in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Human Rights and Legal Education; and Capital Foundation’s Justice Kuldip Singh Award to Vijay Panjwani in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Environmental Protection.

Besides these the Vice President also presented Capital Foundation Awards in different categories to Dr Justice K. Narayana Kurup, former Judge High Court of Kerala for Public Health and Anti Smoking Campaign; Shri Manjit Singh for Punjabi Language, Culture and Tradition; Lt. General Syed Ata Hasnain for Military Services and Leadership; Major General Dr. Naresh Chandra Arora for Orthopaedics ; and Shri M.G. Arora for Law Publications.

Tokyo won the Right to Host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games

Tokyo on 7 September 2013 won the right to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Buenos Aires chose the Japanese capital Tokyo, over Istanbul, after Madrid was dramatically eliminated following a first-round tie with the Turkish city.  Japan won the right to host Olympic Games for the second time. It had previously hosted the Games in 1964. Olympic is considered world’s biggest sporting event.

Concerns over Fukushima, seriously damaged in the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 18000 people, had dogged Japan’s bid in the final days. The final result was 60 votes for Tokyo against 36 for Istanbul.

The decision means it will be the fourth time that Japan plays host to the Olympics, having also organized hosted Olympic winter Games in Nagano (1998) and Sapporo (1972). Asia will also see successive Olympics, as the South Korean resort of Pyeongchang is hosting the 2018 winter edition

Indian American Kavita Shukla won INDEX Design Award

Indian American Kavita Shukla in the first week of September 2013 won INDEX design award for her innovative design, FreshPaper. It helps keep food fresh for a longer period. The award carries 500000 Euro award. It recognizes the best of innovations addressing problems facing the world.

The Award is given biennially in Copenhagen, Denmark. Kavita Shukla was among the five winners in categories such as Home, Body, Work, Play and Community. Kavita’s design won in the Home category. It succeeded the jury with its simplicity and cost-effectiveness.

FreshPaper is simple, low-tech and hyper affordable, with the potential to scale into new markets. The FreshPaper is compostable and infused only with organic spices.

Kavita founded a social enterprise, Fenugreen, in 2010 to provide her product to needy people across the globe. It is already available in the US.

International Literacy Day was celebrated Across the Globe

8 September 2013:International Literacy Day

International Literacy Day was held on 8 September 2013. International Literacy Day was designated by UNESCO on 17 November 1965. This day was first celebrated on 8 September 1966. International Literacy day is observed every year on 8 September to raise people's awareness and concern for literacy issues in the world. It aims to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities, societies and reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally.

According to UNESCO, about 774 million adults lack the minimum literacy skills. One in five adults is still not literate and two-thirds of them are women. About 75 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and its partners promote the day to underscore the significance of literacy for healthy societies, with a strong emphasis on epidemics and communicable diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.

Across the globe, including the USA and the United Kingdom, the day raises people's awareness of and concern for literacy problems within their own communities. The major activities include literacy day projects, particularly with regard to technology and literature, which are promoted by various organizations including reading associations.

Hindujas won Lifetime Achievement Award in Britain

British Indian billionaire brothers Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja won a Lifetime Achievement Award for their contributions to UK's Asian community. The award was given at the annual Asian Achievers Awards (AAA) in London on 6 September 2013 by American civil rights activist Jesse Jackson.

The Hindujas were nominated along with NRI businessman Vedanta Resources chairman Anil Agarwal as well as former England cricket captain Nasser Hussain and 102-year-old marathon runner Fauja Singh. The awards are organised by the ABPL Group, publishers of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar newspapers in the UK, with the purpose of celebrating the achievements of South Asians based in Britain.

2013's awards highlighted the achievements of Asian women and all the money raised from a charity auction was assigned for the Lily Foundation. It is a charity working against human trafficking in India and the UK.

The awardees in the other categories are as following:
• British Indian actress Seeta Indrani for achievement in media, arts and culture;
• Prof Naina Patel, the founder of Policy Research Institute on Community and Inter-faith Relations, for her contributions to community service and
• Nandita Parshad, director of the power and energy utilities team at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Wipro Tied up with Kana Software to Service Global Insurers

Indian IT Company Wipro Ltd on 7 September 2013 signed agreement with the US-based Kana Software to provide customer service solutions to its global insurers through a joint development centre. The agreement provides Kana with systems integration scalability, as Wipro has presence across 57 countries worldwide.

Kana Software is located at Silicon Valley in California. It provides customer service solutions using cloud computing (on-demand) network to about 900 large enterprises and mid-market organisations, which includes 250 government agencies all over the world.

Through its insurance practice division, Wipro works with 35 global insurers which include property and casualty carriers and health insurance providers and life, annuity and pension carriers.