Monday, 7 October 2013

Today's GK(7-10-13)



Wigneswaran takes oath as Northern Province CM

Justice C.V. Wigneswaran, former Supreme Court judge, took oath before President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the chief minister of Sri Lanka's Northern Province after his party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), won the provincial council elections. File Photo: AP.

Former Supreme Court judge C.V. Wigneswaran was on Monday sworn in the first chief minister of Sri Lanka’s northern province, most of which was under LTTE's control for nearly 30 years.
Justice Wigneswaran took oath before President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the chief minister after his party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), won the provincial council elections held Sep 21, Xinhua reported.
At the northern provincial council elections, Justice Wigneswaran secured 132,255 votes in Jaffna to come first in the TNA list followed by the wife of a former rebel, Anandi Sasithran, who got 87,870 votes.
TNA leader R. Sampanthan said the decision for Justice Wigneswaran to take oath before the President was made in consonance with the commitment of the TNA to ensure that the Tamil people are able to live in security, safeguard their self respect and dignity.
He said the Tamils will look to fulfilling their legitimate, political, economic, social and cultural aspirations within the framework of a united and undivided country, as overwhelmingly demonstrated in their electoral verdict.
“The Tamil National Alliance expresses the wish that the Government of Sri Lanka would meaningfully reciprocate the positive step on the part of the Tamil National Alliance,” the Mr. Sampanthan said.
The TNA, which contested the elections as the Illangai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) under the house symbol, swept to victory securing 67.52 percent of the votes.

2 Americans, German win Nobel medicine prize

Karolinska Institute's Chairman of the Nobel committee for physiology or medicine Juleen Zierath talks, as images of the winners of the 2013 Nobel Prize in medicine — James Rothman and Randy Schekman, of the US, and German-born researcher Thomas Suedhof — are projected on a screen, in Stockholm, Sweden, Monday.

Americans James Rothman and Randy Schekman and German-born researcher Thomas Suedhof won the 2013 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries on how hormones, enzymes and other key substances are transported within cells.
The medicine prize kicked off this year’s Nobel announcements. The awards in physics, chemistry, literature, peace and economics will be announced by other prize juries this week and next. Each prize is worth 8 million Swedish kronor ($1.2 million).
Established by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, the Nobel Prizes have been handed out by award committees in Stockholm and Oslo since 1901. The winners always receive their awards on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death in 1896.
Last year’s medicine award went to Britain’s John Gurdon and Japan’s Shinya Yamanaka for their contributions to stem cell science

Ratan Tata inducted into National Academy of Engineering in US

Ratan Tata. File photo

Industrialist Ratan Tata has been inducted into the prestigious National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in the US for his contributions to industrial development in India and across the world.
Besides Mr. Tata, eight Indian-Americans have been inducted into the institute, considered among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.
Mr. Tata, the 75-year-old Chairman emeritus of the Tata Group, has been inducted as a Foreign Associate.

WTO chief raises concerns over India food security law

Asserting that India will soon be breaching their Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS) commitments to WTO due to its new food security programme, the newly elected Director General, Roberto Azevedo on Monday sought a positive solution to the issue before the Bali Ministerial to be held in December as some countries have expressed concern over the procurement and distribution of highly subsidised foodgrains.
Speaking separately at the events organised by CII and FICCI, Mr. Azevedo said India had asked the WTO to work out a solution as it was keen to win legitimacy for its ambitious food security law that promises highly subsidised foodgrain to rural and urban poor. “We have agreed in Geneva on a certain issue and are working on a “peace clause’’ to find a permanent solution to the issue. India would soon be breaching their AMS commitments in the WTO. So, they are asking for some kind of action in Geneva that could allow those programme to continue to work unaffected till a final solution is found,’’ the WTO Director General said.
He said Bali Ministerial meet will look at how this permanent solution will come. The Peace Clause in Article 13 of the agreement on agriculture (AOA) has been there for 9 years. India is open to accepting a Peace Clause as an interim mechanism till an acceptable final solution. India is also ready to commit that procured food grains would not be released for international trade and the management of public stocks would be done in a transparent manner, the official said.
The UPA II government is presently implementing the Food Security Act which entitles 82 crore people to 5 Kg of foodgrain per person per month at the rate of Rs. 1-3 per Kg. The country needs 62 million tonnes of foodgrain in a year to implement the law. “The initial proposal on food security, which was tabled by G-33 was immediately rejected by many countries for different reasons. However, we have made lot of progress since that point of time. From upfront rejection, we now are building an environment for very constructive engagement that will try to address this issue in a positive manner,’’ Mr. Azevedo said.

India Successfully Test-Fired Nuclear Capable Prithvi-II Missile from Odisha

India on 7 October 2013 successfully test-fired it’s indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile with a strike range of 350 km from Chandipur Integrated test range in Odisha. The surface-to-surface missile was test fired from a mobile launcher. The last user trial of Prithvi-II was successfully carried out from the same base on 12 August 2013.

Prithvi-II Missile Specifications

• Inducted into India's Strategic Forces Command in 2003, the Prithvi II missile is the first missile to be developed by DRDO under India's Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.
• It is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1000 kg of warheads and thrusted by liquid propulsion twine engines, uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory.
• The Prithvi-II missile is equipped with advanced high accuracy navigation system and guided by an innovative guidance scheme.
• The improved Circular Error Probability (CEP) achieved by the missile is a testimony to specify the efficacy of this missile system.
• Prithvi uses an advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring capabilities and comes within metres of its target.

Del Potro Defeated Raonic to Win Japan Open Tennis Championship 2013


Mumbai Indians Defeated Rajasthan Royals to Clinch Champions League Twenty-20

Mumbai Indians clinched the Champions League Twenty-20 title by defeating Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs in New Delhi on 6 October 2013. Mumbai Indians set the target of 203 runs and defeated Rajasthan Royals at 169 runs in 18.5 overs. This was Mumbai Indians’ highest total in the Champions League Twenty20.

Harbhajan Singh was adjudged Man of the Match by bagging 4 wickets and giving just 32 runs. Dwayne Smith, in the meanwhile, was declared Champion of the Series. It is also important to note that this was the last T-20 match of Sachin Tendulkar and Royals skipper Rahul Dravid after they both announced their retirement from T-20 format.

This was the second Champions League Twenty-20 title for Mumbai Indians, the team which also won the IPL-6 season.

About the Event- Champions League Twenty-20

• The Champions League Twenty20 is also called CLT20 and is the annual international Twenty20 cricket competition.
• It is played among the top domestic teams from major cricketing nations.
• The Champions League Twenty20 was launched in the year 2008. The first edition of this event was held in October 2009.
• The CLT20 is owned jointly by the BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa. It is chaired by N. Srinivasan.
• The tournament is always held between September and October in South Africa or India.
• The total prize of the event is 6 million US dollar. The winning team gets 2.5 million US dollar, the amount which is the highest for any club cricket tournament in the history of this game.

World Habitat Day Observed Across the World on 7 October 2013

First Monday of October every year: World Habitat Day

World Habitat day is observed across the world on 7 October 2013. The purpose of this day is creation of the global awareness regarding the State of the towns and cities and the basic human right to adequate shelter. First Monday of October every year is designated as the World Habitat Day by the United Nation.

Theme of World Habitat Day 2013

The theme of the World Habitat Day 2013 is Urban Mobility to encourage people to shift towards more sustainable modes of transportation. In the year 2012, the theme was Changing Cities, Building Opportunities.

About the World Habitat Day

• The World Habitat Day is observed every year on the first Monday of October, as designated by the United Nation.
• The first World Habitat Day was celebrated in the year 1986.
• The primary objective of observing and celebrating this day is to reflect the state of cities as well as towns along with the basic human right to adequate shelter.
• The World Habitat Day celebrations also aim to remind the global community about its collective responsibility for protection of the habitat for future generation.
• On this day, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme gives the Habitat Scroll of Honour awards. These awards have been into existence since the year 1989. The objective of the award is to acknowledge the initiatives of those who make contributions towards the fields associated with the human habitats.

Novak Djokovic Clinched his 4th China Open Title; Defeated Rafael Nadal


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