Chief Ministers & Governors of Indian States

Vietnam’s Importance for India
This is the first visit by the Vietnamese President outside the Asean region and shows the importance attached by both sides to the relationship. Developing close relations with Vietnam is an important component of India’s Look East Policy. The Chinese claim on the South China Sea was rejected by both India and Vietnam, saying as per the UN, the blocks belong to Vietnam.

79

British novelist Julian Barnes was on 18 October 2011 declared the unanimous winner of the 2011 £50,000 Man Booker prize for his novella, The Sense of an Ending. The novel is about a 60-something man forced to confront buried truths about his past after the unexpected arrival of a letter.

The book was hailed by critics as an exquisitemeditation on growing old, the nature of memory and relationships. At 150 pages, The Sense of an Ending is his shortest novel. The judges  mentioned that the book was exquisitely written, subtly plotted and reveals new depths with each reading.

Barnes, one of Britain's most critically acclaimed novelists, was previously nominated for Flaubert's Parrot in 1984, England, England in 1998 and Arthur and George in 2005.

The record for the shortest book ever to win a Booker remains Penelope Fitzgerald's Offshore which won in 1979. 

The other contenders were : Carol Birch (Jamrach's Menagerie), Patrick deWitt (The Sisters Brothers), Esi Edugyan (Half Blood Blues), and debut authors Stephen Kelman (Pigeon English) and AD Miller (Snowdrops).

Julian Patrick Barnes born on 19 January 1946 in Leicester, England is a contemporary English writer. His first novel, Metroland (1980), is a short, semi-autobiographical story of Christopher, a young man from the London suburbs who travels to Paris as a student, finally returning to London.

Julian Barnes had earlier won the Austrial State prize for European literature in 2004 and the David Cohen prize for literature for his lifetime achievement in literature. In France he is the only writer to have won both the Prix Medicis (for Flaubert's Parrot) and the Prix Femina (for Talking It Over).

Former British spy chiefturned-thriller writer Stella Rimington chaired the judging panel.

Controversy

Inspite of being nominted thrice before for the prize, Julian Barnes never won it which had led him to famously describe the Booker Prize as posh bingo.

80

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted Indians who have non-resident accounts in the country to hold them in any currency which is fully convertible. The move is expected to help NRIs/Persons of Indian Origin as it will give them more options in the holding of accounts, and lessen the risk from fluctuations in major currencies.

In another relaxation, the RBI specified that any citizen who was earlier residing in a foreign country can own or transfer property or other assets in that nation if it was acquired during the time of his residence there.

Earlier, Foreign Currency (Non-Resident) Account (Banks) (FCNR(B)) account holders were allowed to hold accounts in only certain currencies such as the Pound Sterling, US dollar, Japanese yen, euro, Canadian dollar and Australian dollar.

The central bank mentioned that Authorised Dealer banks in India can accept FCNR (B) deposits in any permitted currency. Permitted currency implies a foreign currency which is freely convertible.

The Committee to Review the Facilities for Individuals under Foreign Exchange Management Act recommended that FCNR(B) accounts may be opened in any freely convertible currency.

81

Eminent Malayalam novelist George Varghese Kakkanadan who was one of the pioneers of modern Malyalam literature breathed his last on 19 October 2011 in Kollam. Known simply as Kakkanadan, he was one of the harbingers of modernism in the genres of Malayalam novel and short story.

Born on 23 April 1935 at Thiruvalla, Kakkanadan started his professional career as a school teacher but he quit that job later to join the Southern Railway.

His Style of Writing

Kakkanadan was a rebel, both in life and literature and his rebellion extended from his selection of themes and use of subversive language to his careful crafting of the philosophy of angst into the writing. His violent style of writing shook the very roots of the progressive literary sensibilities of the 1960s and 1970s and its innocent certainties. Each of his works was an act of rebellion against accepted elitist social mores and codes. Sex, like violence, was a leitmotif in many of his works.

George Varghese Kakkanadan’s works

He published his first work, Kachavadam, in 1963.

Kakkanadan's major novels include Sakshi (1967), Ezham Mudra (1968), Vasoori (1968), Ushnamekhala (1969), Kozhi (1971), Parankimala (1971), Ajnathayude Thaazhvara (1972), Innaleyude Nizhal (1974), Adiyaravu (1975), Orotha (1982), Ee Naaykkalute Lokam (1983) and Barsaathi (1986).

His most noted short story collections are Yuddhaavasaanam (1969), Purathekkulla Vazhi (1970), Aswathamaavinte Chiri (1979), Sreechakram (1981), Alwar Thirunagarile Pannikal (1989), Uchayillaatha Oru Divasam (1989) and Jaappaana Pukayila (2005).

Two of his works, Parankimala and Aniyara, had been made into films by (late) director Bharathan.

Awards won by Kakkanadan

The first notable award he received was Malayala Nadu Cherukatha Award in 1971. He was a recipient of several prestigious awards including Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award (2002), Kendra Sahitya Academy Award (2005), Balamaniamma Award (2008) and Muttathu Varkey Award.

He won the Central Sahitya Akademi Award, the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award and other awards. His work,Orodha won him the 1984 Kerala Sahithya Akademi award.

Ushnamekhala, Vasoori, Ajnathayude Thazhvara, Japana Pukayila, which won him Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and Saakshi are some of his famous works.

82

Page from the Past-A journalist looks back: K P Srivastava

 

The book Page from the Past-A journalist looks back, a book by veteran journalist K P Srivastava released on 19 October 2011. The book was released at a function in the Press Club of India by veteran journalist Inder Malhotra. The book was published by Daya Publications, Madurai.

In the book, Srivastava, who retired from PTI as Editor in the late 80s recalled his days as a journalist covering political developments from the time of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru till coalition era.

K.P. Srivastava, a veteran journalist and media adviser to former prime minister Chandrasekhar mentioned in his book the bygone era of Indian journalism, politics and social life.

The book captured the essence of political developments and the intricacies of manoeuvrings that took place in the corridors of power since the times of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, his successor Lal Bahadur Shastri to Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi.

The book is a collection of articles by Srivastava or K.P., as his colleagues and friends called him. Srivastava, 86, retired as editor of The Press Trust of India in 1987.

The book also offers anecdotes and experiences of the author with politicians and the dilemmas of governance they faced in a culturally, linguistically and politically complex India.

83

Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra won the air rifle silver behind Asian Games champion Zhu Qinan of China in the fourth Asian airgun shooting championship in Kuwait 19 October 2011. shot 594 in qualification and 103.6 in the final. He was 2.6 points behind the Chinese who shot 598 in qualification.

Bindra had outdone Zhu Qinan in the Beijing Olympic Games by grabbing the gold.

Satyendra Singh won the bronze, following 593 in qualification and the best score in the final (103.7), Gagan Narang took the seventh spot at 694.5 following a preliminary score of 592.

In women's air rifle, Indian shooters were below par, as none of them made the final. Anjali Bhagwat missed out on a berth in the final following a shoot-off for two places among three. She shot 50.4, while the other two from Chinese Taipei and Singapore came up with 51.0 and 51.3 respectively.

Iran’s Narjes Emamgholinejad Andvari defeated the reigning World champion Yi Siling of China by 0.1 point for the gold, despite a 2-point deficit before the final.

84

The Hindu's Chhattisgarh correspondent, Aman Sethi on 19 October 2011 was awarded the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) award for the best Indian print media article on humanitarian issues at the India Islamic Cultural Centre.

His article on three Chhattisgarh villages ruthlessly torched by police commandos in March 2011 was selected as the best of nearly 80 entries from across the country. About 300 homes and granaries were burnt in the five-day police operation which left three men dead, and three women sexually assaulted. Sethi's coverage initiated the local administration to probe the incident and send aid to the affected villages.

Tehelka's Umar Baba took the second place for his article Screams from the Valley, while the third prize went to Reji Joseph of Rashtra Deepika and the consolation prize to Anup Sharma of The Times of India. Delhi-based Kashmiri journalist Mohammad Umar Baba who writes under the byline Baba Umar bagged the best humanitarian Reporting Award 2011 award in the All India Journalist Competition for the best print media article on humanitarian issues. It is for the first time that a Kashmiri journalist has won this award.

Sethi took home a cash award of Rs. 50,000, the second and third prize winners were given Rs.30,000 and Rs.20,000 respectively.

About the Award

The awards are instituted by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Press Institute of India (PII) for articles published in an Indian national or regional newspaper or magazine in English or any of the Indian languages.

ICRC is a 150 year-old international organisation working in more than eighty countries to preserve a measure of humanity amidst violence while PII is about fifty years old organisation working in India for upholding the standards of journalism in India through research and training programmes.

In all, 100 entries were received by the ICRC of which 44 were shortlisted for further consideration.

85

The Indian Railways on 19 October 2011 launched a real-time train information system (RTIS) for 12 important trains through which passengers can access the accurate train running information. Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi launched the facility at the Economic Editors' Conference.

The GPS-based train tracking system was jointly developed by the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), Lucknow and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur to overcome the limitations of the existing Train Running Information System.

Passengers will be provided with the information about the location of the train, its running position — on time or late, next stop, nearest approaching/crossed station and the speed.

This facility has been provided for :12301 Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, 12302 New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express, 12305 Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, 12306 New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express, 12313 Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, 12314 New Delhi-Sealdah Rajdhani Express, 12951 Mumbai Central-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, 12952 New Delhi-Mumbai Central Rajdhani Express, 12953 Mumbai Central-Nizamuddin A K Rajdhani Express, 12954 Nizamuddin A.K.-Mumbai Central Rajdhani Express, 12003 Lucknow-Delhi Shatabdi Express and 12004 New Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi Express.

86The Sense of an Ending: Julian Barnes

British novelist Julian Barnes on 18 October 2011 won the Man Booker prize for his novella, The Sense of an Ending. Barnes' eleventh novel, The Sense of an Ending, published by Jonathan Cape, was released on 4 August 2011.

The novel is about a 60-something man forced to confront buried truths about his past after the unexpected arrival of a letter.

The book was hailed by critics as an exquisitemeditation on growing old, the nature of memory and relationships. At 150 pages, The Sense of an Ending is his shortest novel. The judges  mentioned that the book was exquisitely written, subtly plotted and reveals new depths with each reading.

Barnes, one of Britain's most critically acclaimed novelists, was previously nominated for Flaubert's Parrot in 1984, England, England in 1998 and Arthur and George in 2005.

The record for the shortest book ever to win a Booker remains Penelope Fitzgerald's Offshore which won in 1979.

87The Rajasthan Government launched a web based Social Security Pension System on 19 October 2011 at Jaipur. This is an e-Governance initiative for effective and timely disbursement of pension and it would accelerate the whole process from sanction to disbursal of the pension under various schemes. This online system is a web-based solution to facilitate and maintain information pertaining to application, verification, sanction and disbursement of pension under various social security pension schemes. The system would be used by all SDOs, BDOs, Tehsildars, Treasury Officers and Sub Treasury Officers.

The state government is providing Social Security Pension to aged people, widows and disabled persons of deprived and weaker sections of the society. Currently in the state, more than 12 lakh pensioners are getting benefit of the Social Security Pension scheme and 700 crore rupees are being disbursed to beneficiaries. The pensioners in the age group of 75 years and above are being provided 750 rupees while pensioner in the age group of below 75 years is being given 500 rupees per month.

88The USA  on 18 October 2011 issued a travel alert to its citizens in India, warning them of possible terror attacks in the country during the holiday season. The State department in its statement urged the US citizens to maintain a heightened situational awareness and a low profile and to be careful while visiting public places.

 The places, such as markets, trains, buses, religious sites, hotels and restaurants were defined as public places. The travel alert will expire on 20 January, 2012.

89Veteran Congress leader and former Karnataka minister K H Ranganath who was suffering from kidney disorder died in Bangalore on 18 october 2011.

Ranganath, a six term MLA from Hiriyura assembly constituency in Chitradurga district, was also a Lok Sabha member from Chitradurga during 1984-89. He had served in the ministries of late D Devaraj Urs, Bangarappa and S M Krishna.

Ranganath was also the speaker of the Karnataka state assembly.

90The union government of India decided to ban the use of infertility drug Letrozole which is mainly recommended for treating Cancer patients. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a directive to ban the use of Letrozole completely with immediate effect.

While banning the drug, the Ministry stated that harmful effects were found in the use of Letrozole.  Letrozole is used worldwide for cancer patients but it was being used in India as an infertility drug for a long time.

91The 2011 Durand Cup, the 124th edition of the Durand Cup which is the third oldest association football competition in the world was won by the Churchill Brothers. Churchill Brothers won the 2011 Durand Cup at the Ambedkar Stadium with a 5-4 tie-break win over Prayag United on 15 October 2011 by defeating Prayag United.

Churchill Brothers won the Durand Cup 2011 defeating Prayag United in the finals 5-4 on Penalties after the both team failed to score after full time. In the tie-breaker, Churchill Brothers scored through Lalrindika Ralte, M.P. Zakeer, Bineesh Balan, Matthew Kouacic and Denzil Franco. Kayne Vincent, Mohammad Rafique, Belo Razaq and Maksawn Tluanga scored for Prayag.

The Durand Cup was palyed from 24 September to 15 October 2011. The tournament was conducted in two stages. Stage 1 was the Qualifying Knock Out Round and Stage 2 was the Quarter Final League round.

I-League clubs Mohun Bagan, Dempo, Mumbai, HAL and East Bengal skipped the tournament for various reasons like having to play in other tournaments, to prepare for the I-League.

COSCO Platina FIFA approved football was the official ball of the tournament.

The cash award for the Winner, Runners up and the 3rd positions was Rs. 20 Lakhs, 10 Lakhs and 5 Lakhs respectively.

92The 2011 Durand Cup, the 124th edition of the Durand Cup which is the third oldest association football competition in the world was won by the Churchill Brothers. Churchill Brothers won the 2011 Durand Cup at the Ambedkar Stadium with a 5-4 tie-break win over Prayag United on 15 October 2011 by defeating Prayag United.

Churchill Brothers won the Durand Cup 2011 defeating Prayag United in the finals 5-4 on Penalties after the both team failed to score after full time. In the tie-breaker, Churchill Brothers scored through Lalrindika Ralte, M.P. Zakeer, Bineesh Balan, Matthew Kouacic and Denzil Franco. Kayne Vincent, Mohammad Rafique, Belo Razaq and Maksawn Tluanga scored for Prayag.

The Durand Cup was palyed from 24 September to 15 October 2011. The tournament was conducted in two stages. Stage 1 was the Qualifying Knock Out Round and Stage 2 was the Quarter Final League round.

I-League clubs Mohun Bagan, Dempo, Mumbai, HAL and East Bengal skipped the tournament for various reasons like having to play in other tournaments, to prepare for the I-League.

COSCO Platina FIFA approved football was the official ball of the tournament.

The cash award for the Winner, Runners up and the 3rd positions was Rs. 20 Lakhs, 10 Lakhs and 5 Lakhs respectively.

93Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Krishna Poonia produced an impressive season’s best effort of 62.25m to win gold at Halloween Throws Meet at Portland, United States on 17 October 2011. In the process, she also crossed the A qualifying standard for the London Olympics (62m).

Poonia had already qualified for the 2012 Games by attaining the B qualification standard of 59.50m when she won gold at the Fling Throw Meet at Portland with a throw of 61.12m.

Poonia has been training at the Throws Centre at Concordia University at Oregon, Portland since July 2011 and went all out and crossed the magical mark of 62m in her last attempt. She had two fouls and two other 60 plus efforts in the process.

Her last effort was though below her personal best of 63.69m recorded in April in 2010 at Chula Vista in California, United States.

94The state government issued an order to raise the age limit from 35 years to 40 years to fill around 70000 posts of primary school teachers lying vacant.

 For BTC selection in 2007 and 2008 the age limit of 40 years was made mandatory. The B.Ed degree holders demanded to increase the maximum age limit for the appointment of primary school teachers on the basis of that.

95Overnite Express launched a new premium service, Overnite Priority on 17 October 2011 with an assured next business-day delivery feature besides a money back guarantee attached to it.

The new service was launched in response to the market's desire for such an assured service platform. The latest service offering is being considered to be a significant step in the direction of customer satisfaction and innovation-leadership.

Overnite Express put in place a team of dedicated trained executives who would be specially looking after this service segment and would be tracking the movement of consignment from receiving till final delivery. The client would be apprised of the delivery by an SMS.

Overnite, over the years evolved from being a basic courier service provider delivering documents and parcels to an integrated door-to-door time-bound service provider.

The express delivery service (EDS) industry was valued at Rs.10,000 crore and was growing at around 25 per cent annually.

96GVK Airport Holdings Private Limited, a subsidiary of GVK Power & Infrastructure Limited (GVKPIL) on 18 October 2011 acquired 108000000 equity shares worth Rs10 each (amounting to a 13.5% equity stake) in Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL). The stakes were acquired from Bid Services Division (Mauritius) Limited for a sum of US$231 million.

GVK bought the stake for $231 million (Rs 1,140 crore), valuing MIAL at around Rs 8500 crore. After the acquisition, GVK’s stake in MIAL stood at 50.5 per cent.

While the Airports Authority of India owns 26 per centin MIAL, Bid Services Division (Mauritius) and the Airports Company of South Africa hold 13.5 and 10 per cent, respectively.

The acquisition is the second-biggest by the GVK group to consolidate its position in the airport business. In August 2011 the group had increased its stake in Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) to 43 per cent, by acquiring 14 per cent stake from Siemens for Rs 614 crore. The deal valued BIAL at Rs 4300 crore.

About MIAL

MIAL is executing an airport modernisation project worth Rs 9800 crore. The construction of the integrated passenger terminal is underway and will be complete in mid-2013.

In the first quarter of 2011-12, MIAL made a net profit of Rs 57.8 crore, against Rs 40.1 crore in the same period in 2010. The airport handled 29 million passengers last year and sees around 700 flight movements daily.

97Magsaysay awardee Sandeep Pandey decided to observe a five-day fast from 22 October 2011 and observe a black Diwali in protest against the Planning Commission’s definition of poverty and setting a BPL benchmark of Rs 32 per person expenditure per day in urban areas and Rs 26 per person in rural areas. Pandey is to observe the fast at his ashram in Lalpur village of Hardoi district.

Pandey decided to demand universalisation of the public distribution system (PDS), withdrawal of the cash transfer scheme as a substitute for PDS, Rs 250 as minimum wages under NREGS with scope for upgradation with price rise and with every hike in salaries of government employees.

Pandey’s NGO Asha Pariwar mentioned that demand that BPL lists to be decided by Gram Sabhas and Ward Sabhas, and common school system concept be included in the Right to Education Act would also be placed.

It alleged that the government had not been able to check farmer suicides, hunger deaths and malnourishment of children. Also, the economic policy of the government is benefiting the well-off sections of society at the cost of the poor.

98Bharti Airtel on 12 October 2011 announced the launch of its special Formula One Race Pack for F1 fans in Bangalore. Bharti Airtel is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa.

Bharti Airtel which is the title sponsor for the 2011 Formula One Airtel Grand Prix of India introduced this pack as a prelude to the forthcoming Grand Prix slated to be held in Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh) on 30 October 2011.

Any new Airtel pre-paid customer in Bangalore would receive a 30 days trial offer on F1 value-added services like watching free Formula One race clips on mobile TV and playing exciting racing games.

Local Airtel calls are priced at 30 paise per minute and the pack would be valid for 60 days from the date of activation. Airtel pre-paid mobile customers subscribing to the pack would also get a chance to win A-Ticket, an ultimate F1 experience for two. The pack would also be inclusive of air travel and five-star hotel stay to the Grand Prix on 28 October 2011.