12 November 2014
National:
Indian Film Personality of the Year award for Rajinikanth
The Centre has
named actor Rajinikanth as winner of the Centenary Award for Indian Film
Personality of the Year. This was announced by Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh
Rathore, Minister of State, Information and Broadcasting. The Chennai-based
actor would be receiving the honour at the 45th International Film Festival of
India to be held in Goa from November 20 to 30. Social media was agog with
excitement as fans posted messages congratulating their ‘Superstar’, as he is
fondly known. The 63-year-old actor is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, the
third highest civilian honour which he got in 2000. He has also won a number of
awards from the Tamil Nadu government.
Sumitra Charat Ram award for Jasraj
Pt Jasraj, among
the few remaining classical legends of his era, has been awarded this year's
Sumitra Charat Ram Award for Lifetime Achievement. Instituted three years ago
to honour the memory of Delhi's well-known art patron, Sumitra Charat Ram, the
award has been given in the previous years to leading artistes like Pt Birju
Maharaj, Kishori Amonkar and Mayadhar Raut.
Kerala becomes first state with bank accounts for all families
Kerala has become
the first state in the country with bank accounts for all families. A formal
declaration to this effect was made by Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani at a
function in Thiruvananthapuram. Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, which
was launched on Independence day this year, banks in Kerala opened around 13
lakh new accounts, Mani said. Rs 326 crore were mobilized, through intensive
financial literacy campaigns launched under the aegis of the State Level
Banker's Committee.
11 women die after sterilisation surgeries in Chhattisgarh
Eleven women died
and 34 were reported critical after undergoing “faulty” sterilisation surgeries
at a government-organised family planning camp in Bilaspur district of
Chhattisgarh. Eighty three women underwent the procedure in five hours at the
free sterilisation camp, organised by the Bilaspur district health department
on November 8, at the Nemichand Jain hospital.
Public Service Broadcasting Day to be observed
Public Service
Broadcasting Day will be observed on November 12. On this day in 1947, Father
of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi visited the studio of All India Radio, Delhi for
the first and last time to address the people who were temporarily settled in
Kurukshetra after partition. A function will be organized in the premise of All
India Radio, New Delhi to mark the day.
India’s first net zero energy building
It’s India’s first
net zero energy building that has been constructed with adoption of solar
passive design and energy-efficient building materials. Functional since a
year, a tour of the Indira Paryavaran Bhavan, a building under the Central
Government, was organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the
Association for Development and Research of Sustainable Habitats. It was aimed
at reinforcing the need for more such buildings across the country. The design
allows for 75 per cent of natural daylight to be utilised to reduce energy
consumption.The entire building has an access friendly design for
differently-abled persons. Green materials like fly ash bricks, regional building
materials, materials with high recyclable content, high reflectance terrace
tiles and rock wool insulation of outer walls have been used. Use of renewable
bamboo jute composite material for doorframes and shutters.
First jaw transplant carried out at AIIMS
Nineteen-year-old
Shivam Sharma could not open his mouth for the past eight years. He suffered
severe injuries in an accident which caused his jaw bones to fuse with his
skull base that led to him not being able to use his mouth properly. However,
after he underwent a two to three-hour-long operation last month at All India
Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Shivam can today lead a normal life.
Shivam could also probably be the first case in the country to have
successfully undergone a bilateral complex total jaw replacement surgery at
AIIMS. Total temporomandibular joint (TMJ) replacement is usually reserved for
patients with end-stage TMJ diseases who have undergone various treatment
modalities that have been unsuccessful. It is a beginning of a new era in India
for such a major problem. TMJ is the point of attachment of the lower jaw to
the skull and it is the most complex joint of the human body. In TMJ ankylosis,
lower jaw gets fused with the bone of skull, so the patient is not able to open
his mouth, which causes difficulty in chewing, swallowing and speech. Such
patients survive only on liquid and mashed foods that have to be pushed into
the mouth through the gap between teeth. The replacement in the patient has
improved his quality of life very much and he is enjoying food everyday now.
International:
Sri Lankan SC gives nod to President Rajapaksa for 3rd term
Sri Lanka’s Supreme
Court has given a green signal to President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s plan for
seeking a third term as President. Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva informed
Parliament today that Supreme Court’s response comes to a request made by
President last week to clarify the legal position in the light of the 18th
Constitutional Amendment. Before this Amendment, there was a limit of two terms
for a President. Many legal experts had opined that the provisions of 18th
Amendment will not apply in case of President Rajapaksa because he had taken
oath for the second term at a time when two term limit was in force. Minister
de Silva informed the Parliament that according to the determination of the
court, which had been communicated to the President, there is no legal barrier
preventing the President from holding an election after 4 years in office or
seeking a third term.
S. Korean ferry captain gets 36 years in prison
A South Korean
ferry captain was sentenced to 36 years in prison for negligence and abandoning
passengers when his ship sank earlier this year, but the court acquitted him of
homicide, concluding there was no proof he knew his actions would cause the
more than 300 deaths that shocked and outraged the country. The highly
anticipated verdict came on the same day searches were called off for the final
nine victims and amid continuing grief and finger-pointing over one of the
worst disasters in South Korean history. Most of the ferry passengers were
teenage students taking a school trip, and many student survivors have said
they were repeatedly ordered over a loudspeaker to stay on the sinking ship.
Google to rent historic airfield from NASA
Google has signed a
long-term lease for part of a historic Navy air base, where it plans to
renovate three massive hangars and use them for projects involving aviation,
space exploration and robotics. The giant Internet Company will pay $1.16
billion in rent over 60 years for the property, which also includes a working
air field, golf course and other buildings. The 1,000-acre site is part of the
former Moffett Field Naval Air Station on the San Francisco Peninsula. Google
plans to invest more than $200 million to refurbish the hangars and add other
improvements, including a museum or educational facility that will showcase the
history of Moffett and Silicon Valley. NASA said the deal will save it $6.3
million in annual maintenance and operation costs.
Business & Economy:
Govt. LPG subsidy capped at Rs.20/kg
The Union
government has frozen the Budget subsidy for cooking gas at Rs. 20 a kg,
raising the prospect of an increase in its price. If the market price of LPG
goes up, as it normally does in the winter months, the government has the
option of either passing on the increase to the consumer or making oil
companies bear a greater burden of the subsidy. The Centre will provide the
fixed Budget subsidy irrespective of the size of the cylinder that LPG is sold
in. The decision to go in for a fixed per-kg subsidy instead of per-cylinder is
aimed at ensuring that the benefit of the subsidy reaches users of cylinders
smaller than the standard 14.2 kg — typically migrants, students and labour and
so on.
Sports:
Badminton World no.1 Lee Chong Wei suspended for doping
violation
Badminton's
governing body confirmed today that World Number one Lee Chong Wei has been
suspended due to an apparent anti-doping regulation violation. The Badminton
body has identified him for the first time after weeks of reports naming the
Malaysian star. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) said Lee was barred from
competing until its panel determines whether he has committed a violation,
after he failed a drugs test at the BWF World Championships in August. No date
for the hearing has been given. Lee is Malaysia's most prominent male athlete.
If found guilty of doping, he faces a suspension of up to two years, spelling
the end of his career.
