Monday 30 September 2013

Today's GK(30-9-13)



Net NPA rises to 1.68% in 2012-13: RBI

Reflecting deterioration in economic activities, net non-performing assets (NPA) of all banks have increased to 1.68 per cent of the total loan at the end of 2012-13, according to the Reserve Bank of India.
The net NPA of all banks was 1.28 per cent at the end of 2011-12, RBI said in report titled ‘A Profile of Banks: 2012-13’.
Net NPA of the 26 public sector banks, including State Bank of India (SBI), rose to 2.02 during the year as compared to 1.53 in the previous fiscal. SBI and its five associates recorded a net NPA of 2.04 per cent against 1.76 per cent in the comparable period.
Net NPA of new private sector bank rose marginally to 0.45 per cent as compared to 0.42 per cent.
Tight liquidity situation resulted in increase in cost of funds of all commercial banks to 6.12 per cent as against 5.90 per cent in 2011-12.
As far as state-owned banks were concerned, the cost of funds rose to 6.27 per cent from 6.06 per cent in 2011-12.
Rise in cost of funds had its bearing on net interest margin (NIM) or interest spread of banks, which came down to 2.79 per cent from 2.90 per cent a year ago.
Public sector banks earned a NIM of 2.57 per cent as compared to 2.76 per cent in the previous fiscal.

Average wages in India could quadruple by 2030: PwC report

The wage gap between developed countries and emerging market economies like India, China, and the Philippines, are likely to shrink significantly by 2030, and the average Indian wage could more than quadruple over the said period, says a PwC report.
According to the report, emerging markets like India and Indonesia, which are at the lower end of wage projection in relative terms, are expected to witness spike in average wages levels, and this would in turn re-shape the global businesses.
“India and the Philippines remain at the lower end of wage projection in relative terms, but average wages in India could more than quadruple over the period (by 2030) in real dollar terms,” the PwC report said adding that real wages in the U.K. and U.S. are projected to rise by only around a third over the same period.
“India’s current average monthly wage is around 25 times smaller than that of the U.K. By 2030, it is likely to be only 7.5 times smaller,” the report stated.
Similarly, at present the average wage in U.S. is 7.5 times more than in Mexico, but the gap could be less than 4 times by 2030. Over the same period, the average monthly Chinese wages could rise to around half of that of Spain.
“As an increasing population moves into middle income brackets, aspirations and expectations from both governments and private enterprise will change, with greater demands for meritocracy, use of technology in all spheres, transparency and society building,” Padmaja Alaganandan, Leader - People and Change Practice, PwC India, said.
“With an increasing base of young workforce, India will continue to enjoy wage arbitrage. Coupled with relative high growth rate of incomes, companies will continue to reap the benefit of the demographic dividend fuelling the demand side growth over the next few decades,” she further said.
“Places like Turkey, Poland, China and Mexico will become more valuable as consumer markets, while low-cost production could shift to other locations such as the Philippines. India could also gain from this shift, but only if it improves its infrastructure and female education levels and cuts red tape,” PwC Chief Economist John Hawksworth said.

India Blue beats Delhi, clinches Salve Trophy

TRIUMPHANT:India Blue outplayed Delhi to win the title in the Challenger Series at Indore on Sunday.

Leaders of BRICS announced to Set up 100 Billion US Dollars Fund

Leaders of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group of nations on 5 September 2013 announced to set up a 100 billion US dollar fund to steady currency markets destablised by an expected pullback of US monetary stimulus. The announcement was made at the meeting of BRICS leaders. Brazil, India and Russia committed 18 billion dollars each while China announced 41 billion US dollars. South Africa announced 5 billion US dollars.
BRICS had earlier planned to set up 240 billion US dollars fund.
Earlier this year, Brics nations had discussed the formation of a new development bank to fund infrastructure and development projects throughout the developing nations

India Defeated Malaysia to Lift U-21 Sultan of Johor Cup Hockey Tournament 2013

India defeated Malaysia 3-0 to win 3rd Under-21 Sultan of Johor Cup hockey tournament in Johor Bahru on 29 September 2013. The goals from the Indian side were scored by Amon Mirash Tirkey (22nd), Affan Yousuf (52nd) and Manpreet Singh (64th). The match was played at the Taman Daya Syadium.

Swaran Singh Virk Clinched Gold at the 15th Asian Senior Rowing Championship in China

Olympian Swaran Singh Virk led Indian rowers to win the Gold medal at 15th Asian Senior Rowing Championship at Luan, China on 29 September 2013.

Apart from one Gold medal, India also clinched two Silver and bronze medals in the 15th Asian Senior Rowing Championship. The 15th Asian Senior Rowing Championship concluded on 29 September 2013. Swaran Singh Virk moved ahead of Iran and China in 7:31.88 minutes to clinch the Gold.

In the meanwhile, the team of Anil Kumar, Robin P Ulahannan, Olympian Bajrang Lal Thakar, Ranjit Singh, Kapil Sharma, Mohammed Azad, Maninder Singh and Davinder Singh took 6:12.47 minutes to clinch the Silver medal at Men's Eights event. Also, Kapil Sharma, Mohammed Azad, Maninder Singh and Davinder Singh won the Men's Fours silver in 6:03.50 minutes.

Bronze came in the Lightweight Men's Double Sculls with Sonu Laxmi Narian and Shokindar Tomar victory in 6:57.13 minutes. Apart from this, Monalisha, Dittymol Varghese, Chaoba Devim and Amusana Devi also won the Bronze in Lightweight Women's Quadruple Sculls with 7:03.33 minutes.
In yet another category of Men's Quadruple Sculls, Rakesh Raliya, Deepak Rana, Dushyant and Olympian Manjeet Singh were at the fourth position with 6:01.03 minutes.

Swaran Singh Virk finished at the sixteenth position after completing his fourth in a minor placings race in the men's single sculls event at the London Olympics. He had secured his 2012 London Games berth by winning the major qualifying event at the FISA Olympic Continental Qualification Regatta for Asia in Chung Ju, Korea.

Ranjib Biswal Appointed as Indian Premier League Chairman

NCA Chairman Ranjib Biswal was on 29 September 2013 appointed as chairman of the IPL during the Annual General Meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at Chennai.

Prior to this appointment Ranjib Biswal was manager of the Indian Cricket team during the ICC World Cup 2011 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2013. He is also the head of Orissa Cricket Association.

Ranjib Biswal was replaced Rajeev Shukla as chairman of Indian Premier League (IPL). Rajiv Shukla, who resigned at the end of his tenure.

Sonia Gandhi Unveiled the Statue of R Sankar, the First Congress Chief Minister of Kerala

The Congress president Sonia Gandhi on 29 September 2013 unveiled the statue of R Sankar, the first Congress Chief Minister of Kerala. The statue was installed at Palayam (near War Memorial) in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. R Sankar was the third Chief Minister of the state.

The bronze statue was installed by the R Sankar Foundation of Kerala. R Sankar Foundation president R Sarathchandra Prasad explained that the statue was taken to Thiruvananthapuram in a procession from the premises of Gokarna temple at Kudroli in Karnataka. It is important to note that 26 September 2013, marked 51 years of Sankar becoming the Chief Minister of Kerala.

Apart from unveiling of the statue, other activities such as organisation of a seminar on R Sankar and Kerala politics at the Symphony Hall and a photo exhibition was also organised at the Press Club on 28 September 2013. The exhibition showcased memorable moments of the life of R Sankar.

Every Year on 29 September Celebrated as The World Heart Day

Every year on 29 September celebrated as the World Heart Day since 1999.

The theme of the 2013 World Heart Day

A life course approach to the prevention and control of cardiovascular disease (CVD) with a focus on women and children because healthy children lead to healthy adults and healthy adults lead to healthy families and communities.

Rahul Dravid named as Brand Ambassador for National Tobacco Control Campaign

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 5 September 2013 announced former Indian cricket team captain Rahul Dravid as brand ambassador for its National Tobacco Control Campaign. The national anti-tobacco control campaign has to continue till it achieves desired results.
 It shows that India is committed towards tobacco control. World Health Assembly aims a target of 30 per cent relative reduction in tobacco use by 2025.
With support from the MoHFW and World Health Organisation, Public Health Foundation of India and Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth organised the International Conference on Public Health Priorities in the 21st Century: The Endgame for Tobacco from 10 September to 12 September 2013.  Nearly 500 participants from over 50 nations participated in fighting the global tobacco epidemic.

afiq Kathwari, an Indian-American Poet Won Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award 2013

Sonia Gandhi Inaugurated Two Health Schemes in Kerala

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on 29 September 2013 inaugurated Kerala's two major health schemes Arogya Kiranam and Distribution of free generic medicines in all government hospitals.

Arogya Kiranam which ensures free medical care to all children for all ailments till they attain 18 years is the state's modified version of Central Government Scheme Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), a new national programme under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

Arogya Kiranam Scheme

Kerala is the first state in the country to introduce Arogya Kiranam. Both APL and BPL family could derive the benefits of these schemes through Government hospitals of Kerala. The schemes will come into effect on 2 October 2013.

Under Arogyakiranam Scheme, the Health Department intends to bring about a convergence of all these child health initiatives, which will be implemented utilising the Central funds which will come to the State under RBSK.

An amount of 21.6 crore rupees has been allocated for the scheme through NRHM. And early intervention centres have been planned in all districts under Arogyakiranam.

Distribution of Free Generic Medicines

Under the scheme to distribute generic drugs free of cost, all government hospitals, up till primary health centres, will provide 820 drugs to patients in out patient clinics.

Committees have been set up at the hospital, district, and State-levels for the implementation of the scheme. Expert committees, including doctors as members, have also been set up at every district to monitor the stocks in the godowns of Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited.

Nikhat Zareen Won Silver at AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship


Sports



BOXING

Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation
The Union Sports Ministry on 24 May 2013 gave its approval for a grant of 309.56 Lakhs rupees to Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation, Imphal for construction of gymnasium hall and procurement of gym equipments for the foundation. The grant will be disbursed from the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF). The grant will be released in installments on fulfillment of certain conditions that is required by NSDF Scheme. Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation is looking forward to create facilities at the new site allotted to it by the State Government of Manipur. Before this National Sports Development Fund released funds of 492 lakh rupees for Usha School of Athletics, Kozhikode, Kerala, for laying an 8 Lane Synthetic Track of international standard with supporting facilities.

Limassol Cup held in Cyprus

Indian boxers won the 2013 Invitational FXTM International Limassol Boxing Cup held in Limassol, Cyprus on 19 May 2013. They won 10 medals which included four gold medals, three silver medals and three bronze medals which ensured them the first rank. Indian boxers won the tournament on the European circuit for the first time.
Indian boxers performed in the following way:
·         Reigning national champion Madan Lal (52kg) beat Ayigah Dodsi from Belgium to bag the flyweight title.
·         Gold medallist at the 2009 Youth Olympic Games V Durga Rao (56kg) beat German Dieter Dier to bag his very first international medal on the senior tour.
·         Mandeep Jangra (69kg) beat Victor Vega Blanco of Spain in a completely one sided affair to bag the welterweight title.
·         Super heavyweight boxer Praveen Kumar (+91kg) won the fourth gold for Indiabeating Beguerni Hamza from Algeria.
·         Manoj Kumar (64kg), Olympian Dinesh Kumar (91kg) and Sukhdeep Singh (75kg) won a silver medeal each.
·         Earlier in the tournament, Anil Kumar (60kg), Jagroop Singh (81kg) and L Devendro Singh (49kg) reached the semi-finals and claimed a bronze medal each.

Senior National Women’s Boxing Championship 2013

Pugilist Preeti Beniwal on 22 May 2013 bagged the gold medal in Senior National Women’s Boxing Championship.
In the event held at Khatima, uttarakhand, Preeti out-punched Manipur’s Y Sandhya 22-9 in the final of the 60kg category.
Preeti Beniwal was born on 25 December 1987. She hails from Hisar. Her father Subey Singh is a boxing coach. Her elder sister is married to famous Indian Boxer Akhil Kumar. Preeti is employed with Haryana Police as sub inspector.
Preeti Beniwal’s Boxing Career
·         Gold in 58th All India Police Women Boxing Championship, Pune, Maharashtra from 2010-04-06 to 2010-04-10.
·         Gold in 4 N.C. Sharma Memorial Federation Cup Women Boxing Champioships 2008-09 at Nainital, Uttarakhand.
·         Gold in 9th Senior Women National Boxing Championships at St. John’s College,, Agra from 2008-11-02 to 2008-11-07
·         Gold in Trg.-cum-compet Canada, 2008
·         Gold in Women Open Boxing Tournament Hanoi, 2006

VARIOUS

Thanthi TV-Asia Pacific Championship

The men’s and women’s finals of the Thanthi TV-Asia Pacific under-21 beach volleyball championship were won by Indonesia and Australia respectively. The final matches were played on 19 May 2013 at Marina beach in Chennai. In women category, The Australian pair of Mariafe Artacho and Jessyka Ngauamo defeated Japan’s Chiyo Suzuki and Satono Ishitsubo 21-11, 21-12. Mariafe and Jessyka’s all-round performance enabled an easy victory for Australia. The pair was exceptional and brilliant with smashes and blocks. The Australian pair didn’t have any trouble in both sets. Japanese women were not upto the mark. They made far too many errors at the net. They seemed unable to give their best.
In the men’s final, Indonesia’s Mohammad Ashfiya and Rendy Verdan beat Vladislav Pustynnikov and Sergey Bogatu of Kazakhstan 21-16, 19-21, 15-10. Although Kazakhstan players were playing together for the last five years at the International level, Indonesians played very aggressively against them. India lost in the quarterfinals but three teams managed a berth for the World u-21 championship to be held in Umag, Croatia from June 20 to 23. India-1 (Rajkumar & Yogaraj) & India-2 (Shankar & Mahesh Kumar) in men, and the women’s India-1 (R. Deepika & S. Eshwari) team made the grade. The top six teams in men and women will go to Croatia.

FIBA Asia 3×3 Basketball Tournament 2013

Indian women basketball team won gold in inaugural FIBA Asia 3×3 basketball tournament 2013 in Doha on 17 May 2013. India defeated Mongolia 21-14 in the final play-off. Mongolia had defeated Turkmenistan in the semi-finals. In the 3×3 format, this is the third consecutive gold medal of India. It won gold at South Asian Beach Games in Sri Lanka as well as Asian Beach Games in China in 2012 in the same format. In the Indian team, Geethu Anna Jose, Anita Pal Durrai, Manisha Dange and Pratima Singh were the key players. Indian team won all six games in the tournament. India was placed in the Group B. Geethu Anna Jose won the title of Best Player of the Tournament. India defeated Qatar 21-5 in the quarterfinals and Hong Kong 21-8 in the Semi-finals.

Commonwealth Championship

India on 10 May 2013 finished their candidature in the tournament with a record haul of 2 Silver and 7 Bronze in the 19th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships that concluded in New Delhi. One silver medal on behalf of India was won by Soumyajit Ghosh and Mouma Das in the mixed doubles event, and the other one was won by the men’s team earlier in the tournament. Indians represented the country in atleast six of the eight tournaments that included doubles too, but didn’t turned up to be successful in securing a gold medal for the country. At the same time, Singapore delivered the best and claimed gold in every category except the women’s individual competition. Mo Zhang from Canada pulled off the gold from Singapore’s world no 27 Mengyu Mu by securing a 4-3 win in the finals.

Volleyball Champions

Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka emerged volleyball champions at the 18th National Games for the Deaf at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore on 28 April 2013. Andhra Pradesh defeated Tamil Nadu 25-22, 25-19, 25-19 in the men’s final while in women’s category Karnataka defeated Andhra Pradesh 25-10, 19-25, 15-7 to win the title.
The 18th National Games for the deaf took place after a 17-year gap. It was participated by 21 Indian states.

IAAF World Challenge Meeting 2013

At the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Jamaica, Kingston, US-based discus thrower, Vikas Gowda clinched Gold on 5 May 2013 with the throw of 61.38 metres. He defeated Jamaicans Jason Morgan and Fedrick Dacres with throws of 60.96 and 59.30 metres respectively. Both these Jamaicans finished at the second and the third positions. In the 100 metres sprint, US’s Tyson Gay recorded 9.86 and secured the top most position. In women category, the best performance was that of US Gia Lewis-Smallwood with 62.41 metres. The IAAF World Challenge meeting in Jamaica was organised at the Kingston’s National Stadium.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2013

Somdev Devvarman, the winner of two gold medals at Asian Games in Guangzhou as well as singles gold medal in Commonwealth Games in India was recommended for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award 2013 by All India Tennis Association (AITA). Somdev Devvarman had formed Indian Tennis Players Association (ITPA) along with Mahesh Bhupati and Leander Peas.
Somdev Devvarman played a very important role in placing India at the World Group in Davis Cup. The Davis Cup coach Zeeshan Ali, on the other hand was recommended for Arjuna award, apart from Rushmi Chakravarthi, a women’s tennis player of India. Nandan Bal’s name was recommended for Dronacharya award. For the award of Dhyan Chand life time achievement, Vijay Amritraj was recommended.

Sunday 29 September 2013

Today's GK (29-9-13)



Marquez wins Aragon MotoGP 

Spain's Marc Marquez steers his Honda before winning the Aragon Moto GP grand prix at the Alcaniz circuit in Spain. Photo: AP

Marc Marquez extended his points lead by winning the Aragon MotoGP on Sunday, but his victory came only after he played a part in the crash of Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa.
Marquez grazed the back of Pedrosa’s bike when he was trying to pass him with 18 laps to go, causing Pedrosa to lose control and slide down the track with sparks flying.
“I touched him a little with the front of my bike, and they tell me I may have broken a cable and that’s why he fell,” said Marquez. “It was very unlucky. That doesn’t usually happen.”
The 20-year-old Marquez went on to overtake defending champion Jorge Lorenzo, who had jumped ahead with a great start on his Yamaha.
Marquez finished the race at the 5-kilometre (3.15-mile) MotorLand Aragon circuit in 42 minutes, 3.4 seconds. Lorenzo was 1.3 seconds behind.

Srinivasan re-elected BCCI president

N. Srinivasan arrives to attend the annual general body meeting in Chennai on Sunday. Photo: V. Ganesan

Plan panel likely to cut average GDP growth in 12th Plan to 6%

Planning Commission is likely to cut the annual average economic growth rate target of 8 per cent for the 12th Plan (2012-17) to around 6 to 6.5 per cent in its mid-term review of the five year policy document.

"It would be difficult to achieve the 8 per cent average economic growth in the 12th Plan period in view of slowdown. It is quite possible that the commission will cut the target substantially to around 6 per cent," an official said.

As per the practice, the commission comes out with a mid-term review of plans during the third financial year of the policy period.

Naval Science and Technological Laboratory Centre inaugurated in Visakhapatnam

In Andhra Pradesh, a state-of-the-art advanced integration centre for the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory under DRDO was inaugurated in Visakhapatnam on 29 September 2013.  With this facility torpedoes developed by this lab would be of world class in the days to come.
Named as Talvar, the Electrical Heavy Weight Torpedoes (EHWT) testing lab would also serve the needs of the prestigious heavy weight torpedo Varunastra project and the future such projects to be undertaken.
The centre was equipped with all the technical facilities required for carrying out sub-system level assembly, functional checks, system checks, preparation, balancing, pressure tests and full torpedo evaluation and would speed up the process of making of the torpedoes. The new facility was built to meet international standards at a cost of around 7.2 crore rupees in an area of 7500 sq. mts. for testing and integration of torpedoes.

Ruchira Kamboj appointed the Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO

Ruchira Kamboj was appointed as the Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO, Paris with the rank of Ambassador. The government made this announcement on 25 September 2013. She will succeed VS Oberoi. At present, Ruchira is joint secretary in Ministry of External Affairs. She is expected to take up her assignment shortly.
Kamboj joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1987. She last served as the Deputy Head, in the office of the Commonwealth Secretary-General, London. Prior to that, she served as the Minister & Head, High Commission of India, Cape Town, South Africa.
In addition, she served as a Counsellor in the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York. She also served at the High Commission of India, Mauritius and at the Indian embassy in Paris. She held the positions of Director/Deputy Secretary (Foreign Service Personnel) and Under Secretary (Europe West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi.
Ruchira Kamboj is married to a businessman from India and has one daughter.

Sudha Singh of Railways won Gold in Women's 3000m Steeplechase

Sudha Singh of Railways won gold medal in women’s 3000m steeplechase on the third and penultimate day of the 53rd National Open Athletics Championship on 9 September 2013. She doubled her achievement by improving her own meet mark. Significantly, she is National record holder besides  being  a silver medallist at Asian Championship. Sudha, clocked 10 minutes 9.04 secs to better her own old meet record of 10:09.56 set in 2010.
Her Railways teammate Lalita Babar was second 10:33.40 whereas Kiran Tiwari of Haryana was third in 10:52.75. The championship was held at Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium, Ranchi.

IN THE NEWS



Surendra Tiwari

Hindi story writer and playwright Surendra Tiwari died due to brain haemorrhage on 7 May 2013. He was 64 years of age. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
About Surendra Tiwari
·         Surendra Tiwari wrote and edited 25 books in all.
·         He also edited 51 stories of Nobel Prize winners as well as 10 volumes of stories of 251 female storytellers.
·         He wrote various plays during his career, which included Deewarein, Ek Aur Raja and Chabutra.
·         In 1974, his first story collection called Doosra Footpath, was published.
·         In the year 1975, his play called Deewarein was published.
·         His renowned novels included Agniparv and Antatah.
·         He also served in the Indian Information Service.
·         He served in AIR Publications Department as well as Registrar’s Office of the newspapers.
·         He was born on 8 October 1948 in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh.

Sarabjit Singh

Sarabjit Singh, the Indian national and a death row prisoner in the Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail died on 2 May 2013 at the Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital in Pakistan. He was on the life-support system since 26 April 2013 after being attacked by the inmates in the jail.
49 years old Sarabjit Singh is an Indian national who was born in Bhikhiwind Province of Punjab and had spent 23 years in Pakistani jail, after being convicted of involvement in the serial bomb blasts of 1990 in Lahore and Faisalabad that killed 14 people. He was arrested from Kasur Border for illegal crossing the border in Pakistan in August 1990. In May 2012, his fifth mercy petition was dismissed.

Sanaullah Ranjay

Sanaullah Ranjay, the Pakistani prisoner who was attacked by a jail inmate in Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu died due to multi-organ failure at the PGI Hospital in Chandigarh on 9 May 2013.
Sanaullah was attacked by a fellow inmate on 3 May 2013 after the death of Sarabjit Singh an Indian Prisoner in Jinnah Hospital Lahore after he was assaulted and attacked by his jail inmates in Kot Lakhpat Jail in Pakistan. Sanaullah was in prison for the past 17 years on militancy related charges.

He was attacked by a former Indian army soldier. Sanuallah was a resident of Sialkot, Pakistan and was serving a life term in India after being convicted under the TADA provisions. He was arrested in 1999.

Asghar Ali Engineer

Asghar Ali Engineer, a noted Islamic scholar died on 14 May 2013 after a prolonged illness in Suburban Santa Cruz, Mumbai. The 73 year old Asghar is survived by his son and a daughter.
About Asghar Ali Engineer
·         For communal harmony, he received Dalmia Award in 1990
·         He was honoured with three doctorate degrees
·         He was the Chairman of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) founded in 1993 after the 1992 Babri Mosque destruction
·         He edited Indian Journal of Secularism
·         He also edited a monthly paper named Islam and Modern Age and published Secular Perspective, a fortnight paper
·         He received the National Communal Harmony Award in 1997
·         `He won the USA Award from the Association for Communal Harmony in Asia in 2003

ACCUSED/RESIGNED/CONTROVERSY

Steve Miller

Steven Miller, the acting director of the Internal Revenue Service on 15 May 2013 had resigned amid the criticism over the tax agency’s handling of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. The Scandal came into highlight when it was found that officials studying tax exempt status applications singled out groups with names including phrases like Tea Party or Patriots, which could thus be expected to be fiercely opposed to US President Barack Obama. Steven Miller, said in a message to colleagues there was a strong and immediate need to restore public trust in the nation’s tax agency. The scandal has been one of several to enervate the White House in recent days. Analysing the situation President Barack Obama asserted that had reviewed the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) report on the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups and found the misconduct uncovered was inexcusable.

Queen Beatrix

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicated the throne in favour of her son Prince Willem-Alexander. She was the queen for the last 33 years. At present, she is 75 years old. Willem-Alexander has now become Netherland’s first king since 1890. Queen Beatrix had announced her decision in January 2013 to step down stating that her son was ready to reign.

Pervez Musharraf

The High Court in the northwestern city of Peshawar on 30 April 2013 imposed a lifetime ban on former President Pervez Musharraf from contesting elections. It was the first time a court in Pakistan had declared a citizen ineligible from contesting elections for life. Musharraf returned in March 2013 after nearly four years of self-imposed exile to contest May 11 general election. The court observed that Musharraf abrogated the Constitution twice.
The first was when he carried out a coup to oust a democratically elected government.The second time when he declared emergency in 2007 and detained 60 judges. Musharraf had filed nominations from four constituencies namely Chitral, Karachi, Kasur and Islamabad.

PK Bansal and Ashwani Kumar

Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Union Law Minister of India Ashwani Kumar submitted their resignation to the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh on 10 May 2013. Railway Minister PK Bansal resigned from his office after a week’s time since his nephew Vijay Singla was arrested for his alleged involvement of bribery of 90 lakh rupees from the Railway Board Member, with a promise of promotion.
Ashwani Kumar the Union Law Minister submitted his resignation after being into attack by the opposition and the CBI affidavit submitted to Supreme Court for vetting up the CBI report in the Coal Block allocation scam.

Raja parvez Ashraf

The former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Raja Pervez Ashraf on 13 May 2013 was barred from Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), of Pakistan from leaving the country over allegation of corruption in setting up the Rental Power Projects. His name has been placed on the Exit Control List.
The immigration authorities and airports of the country were ordered by FIA to ensure that none of the accused in the Power Project Scam case including Raja Parvez Ashraf leaves Pakistan. Earlier, the National Accountability Bureau of Pakistan (anti-corruption agency) has decided to file a case over the Rental Power Projects after the 11 May 2013 polls. The charges against Ashraf dates back to his tenure as the Power Minister of Pakistan.

BOOKS

Understanding Bhagat Singh

Understanding Bhagat Singh a book by Prof. Chamanlal was released in the on 3 May 2013. Professor Randhir Singh, Eminent Thinker released the book at School of Social Sciences (SSS- I) Auditorium, JNU in New Delhi. There exist more than 400 votes on the martyr, Bhagat Singh who lived for just 23 years on this earth. The book Understanding Bhagat Singh has tried to explain the soul or spirit of Bhagat Singh like his principle of achieving objectives with dignity, honesty and fearlessness. Chamanlal is an Indian author and scholar, who is a professor in Hindi translation at centre of Indian languages of Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Prof. S. K. Sopory and Sheila Bhallan, JNU economics professor were the Guest of honor on the occasion of the book release.

How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia

How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia was released in April 2013. The book is written by a Pakistani writer, Mohsin Hamid. His other books include Moth Smoke (2000) and The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007). The book is a tale of the man who takes his journey from a poor rural boy to the corporate magnate. The book takes the outline from the self-help business books which are read by youth all across the rising Asia. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia is a tale of contemporary life amidst crushing upheaval. The book brings out characters that develop a sense of intimacy amidst shattering changes. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia in published in various languages in different countries. These languages include Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Malayalam, Marathi, Russian, Spanish and many more. Mohsin Hamid’s first novel, Moth Smoke reached to the final stage of PEN/Hemingway Award, which is given to best first novel in the US. His second novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, became an international bestseller and was shortlisted for Man Booker Prize. This book won various awards which included Anisfield-Wolf Book Award as well as the Asian American Literary Award.

An Ardent Patriot

Hamid Ansari, the Vice President of India on 30 April 2013 released a book titled An Ardent Patriot – Dinesh Goswami, compiled and edited by Kumar Deepak Das, Member of Parliament. The book is compilation of Parliamentary Speeches of veteran parliamentarian from Assam- Dinesh Goswami. The book comprises of the Parliamentary speeches made by him in the Parliament during his tenure of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha from 1971 to 1990. Dinesh Goswami was an eminent political leader from Assam who was a distinguished parliamentarian. Apart from this, he was also a reputed legal luminary, a skilled orator and an ardent champion of public service. His work includes that as the Chairman of the Committee on Electoral reforms in 1990, popularly called the Dinesh Goswami Committee. The Dinesh Goswami Committee played a key role in relevant recommendations on reforms of our electoral system which remain valid even today.

Inferno

Inferno a novel written by Dan Brown in the third week of May 2013 came into attack by the Philippines authorities for its portrayal of Manila as - the gates of hell. In the novel Inferno, Brown has included a character a doctor, who describes Manila as a city of horrible traffic jams, poverty, child sex-trade and crime.
In Inferno, the character described by Dan Brown states I’ve run through the gates of hell about her experiences in Manila. Francis Tolentino, the Chairperson of the metropolitan Manila wrote a letter to Dan Brown and its publishers showcasing his disappointment regarding the inaccurate portrayal of the capital city and defining it for the terrible description of poverty and pollution. Dan Brown is the writer of the famous novel, Da Vinci Code, the book, whose film adaptation was banned from screening in Manila City in 2006 by stating it as an offensive act against Catholic Church.

About Dan Brown

Dan Brown is the author of number one bestselling novels like Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, Angels & Demons, Deception Point and Digital Fortress. Da vinci Code was a novel that created a huge debate among the readers and scholars and renewed the interest of people in Leonardo da Vinci and the early history of Christianity. His novels are published in 52 languages around the world with 200 million copies in print. In 2005, Time Magazine named him among one of the top 100 most influential people in the world.

Fida-e-Lucknow

The Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari released a book entitled Fida-e-Lucknow -Tales of the city and its people on 1 May 2013. The book is authored by Parveen Talha, former Member UPSC. It is important to note that a lot of authors as well as poets have also penned down about Lucknow and its culture. Cultural civilization grew in the city because of its rich tradition and specialty.
Fida-e-Lucknow -Tales of the city and its people is the collection of 22 short stories. It peeps into the flavours and textures of life in Lucknow. The book takes its readers through the history of its Ganga-Jamuni culture and the changes which came over the city and its people in the post-Independence period. The book also describes about the story of Lucknow’s women.

A Leaf Turns Yellow: the Sufis of Awadh

Hamid Ansari, the Vice-President of India on 26 April 2013 released a book entitled A Leaf turns Yellow: the Sufis of Awadh edited by filmmaker and social worker Muzaffar Ali in New Delhi. The book depicts the cultural history of the Awadh in totality and highlights the rural culture of Noth India especially the Awadh in its composite form. The book is researched well and is a thorough account of the Sufism in (erstwhile) Awadh. It has introduced the history, traditions, sub-cultures, poetry and institutions of Awadh. Every Chapter of the Book is in the form of essay and revolves round the expressive traditions and socials backgrounds that are responsible for the way of living and unique thinking in the people of the region.