11-12 jan 2015 eng

Stanislas Wawrinka won Chennai Open title of Tennis

Stanislas Wawrinka on 11 January 2015 won the Chennai Open title of tennis.In the summit clash at Nungambakkam tennis stadium in Chennai, the Swiss world number four defeated the Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4.

This was second consecutive ATP Chennai Open title for Wawrinka and third time since 2011. With this win, Wawrinka pocketed 73400 US dollar and 250 ranking points.

In the 20-year history of the tournament, Bedene was the first qualifier to reach the final, winning seven matches en route to his maiden ATP Tour final. He pocketed 38650 US dollars and 150 points for winning three qualifying matches and four more in the main draw.

Sultanpur National Park shut down after migratory birds found dead
Forest and wild life department on 11 January 2015 shut down the Sultanpur National Park for one week. The park was shut down after 47 migratory birds were found dead in the park on 10 January 2015.

The dead birds included Eurasian coots (36) and common moorhen (9) and one each of spot-billed duck and jungle babbler.

Deaths of these birds had triggered fears of bird flu outbreak in the park but real cause of their death is not clear. The real cause is not known because the common feature of flu was not spotted in any of these birds. In case of bird flu, the legs of birds develop red spots.

To know the real cause, samples of the dead birds have been sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal to verify the real cause of deaths.

About Sultanpur National Park
Sultanpur National Park, a bird sanctuary on Gurgaon-Farrukh Nagar Road is a seasonal wetland that attracts around 200 species of migratory birds every year between October and March from Europe, Siberia and Central Asia. The park is also a home of several species of insects, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.

The park is located on the Sultanpur Jheel (an area of 1.21 sq. Km.) and the jheel was accorded Sanctuary status on 2 April 1971 under section 8 of the Punjab Wildlife Preservation Act of 1959. The decision of granting the Sanctuary status was taken after the 1969 Conference of the International Union of Conservation of nature and Natural resources (IUCN) in New Delhi.

The status of the park was upgraded to National Park under Section 35 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 on 5 July 1991. Simultaneously the area was increased to 1.42 sq. Km.

The National Park has been carved out of the land of Sadhrana, Chandu, Sultanpur and Saidpur villages.

National Youth Day observed across India on 12 January
12 January: National Youth Day
National Youth Day was observed across India on 12 January 2015. The day is observed annually to mark the birth anniversary of social reformer, philosopher and thinker Swami Vivekananda.

This is the 152nd birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda and his birth anniversary is being celebrated as National Youth Day in India since 1985.

The Union Government in 1984 had declared that 12 January, the birthday of Swami Vivekananda will be observed as the National Youth Day.

Swami Vivekananda's lectures and writings are a source of inspiration for youth and have motivated numerous youth organisation.

His writings derive their inspiration from Indian spiritual tradition and the broad outlook of his Master Sri Ramakrishna.

All his teachings can be found in The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, in nine volumes, published by Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata.

Swami Vivekananda was born on 12 January 1863 as Narendra Nath Datta and regarded as a patriotic saint of India.

He was the key figure who introduced the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India, and contributed to the concept of nationalism in colonial India.

He is best known for his inspiring speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893 in which he introduced Hinduism, his words began with words, Sisters and brothers of America.

Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission and died at an early age of 39 on 4 July 1902 at Belur Math in Bengal Presidency, British India.

US to host international Anti-terror Summit on 18 February 2015

The United States on 11 January 2015 announced that it will host an international Anti-terror Summit in Washington. The summit will be held on 18 February 2015 and will aim on preventing violent extremism that was seen in attack on Charlie Hebdo's Paris office.

The meeting will highlight best practices (domestic and international) and emerging efforts from several US communities carrying out pilot programs to address extremism.

The US Attorney General Eric Holder announced about the summit from Paris where he had joined an emergency conference on terrorism. The conference was held in the wake of a terror spree in France in first week of January 2014 in which 17 people (in attack and manhunt) were killed.

The conference was attended by Interior and Justice Ministers from Europe and the US, where they called for increased Internet surveillance and stricter border security to counter attacks like the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo weekly newspaper.

Misbah-ul-Haq announced to retire from ODIs after Cricket World Cup 2015

Captain of Pakistan's cricket team Misbah-ul-Haq announced to retire from One Day International (ODI) and T20 after the Cricket World Cup 2015. The decision was announced on 11 January 2015 so as to focus on Test Cricket only.

Misbah started his ODI career in 2002. He has played 153 ODIs and scored 4669 runs at an average of 42.83. He has played 29 Twenty20 internationals. He has been the captain of Pakistan in 78 games, out of which Pakistan won 41 games.

He has played 39 T20s for Pakistan and his last T20 for Pakistan was in 2012. Later he continued to play domestic T20 cricket and also had stints in the Indian Premier League, and the Caribbean Premier League.

At present, he holds the record for most ODI runs without a century.

Apart from him, Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi also announced to retire from ODIs after the World Cup to concentrate on T20 cricket.

Roger Federer won Brisbane International Tennis title

17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer of Switzerland on 11 January 2015 won the Brisbane International Tennis title. He won the Brisbane title for the first time.
In the finals played at Brisbane in Australia, he defeated third seeded Milos Raonic of Canada 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-4.

With this he became the third tennis player in open era to win 1000 ATP titles. The other two players are Jimmy Connors of the US (1253) and Ivan Lendl of the US (1071).
At the presentation, he was awarded the trophy by Roy Emerson of Australia and a special award for 1000 wins by Australian legend Rod Laver.

Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player and he is currently ranked world No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

Australia won 4-match Border-Gavaskar Test series, 2-0

Australia on 10 January 2015 won the 4-match Border-Gavaskar Test series played against India by 2-0. India, who lost the first two matches of the game, was successful in drawing the third and fourth matches of the series.

Series Report
• 1st Test Match - played at Adelaide Oval between 9 December and 13 December 2014, Australia won by 48 runs and Nathan Michael Lyon of Australia was declared as the Player of the match
• 2nd Test Match - played at Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane between 17 December and 20 December 2014, Australia won by 4 wickets and Steven Smith of Australia was declared as the Player of the match
• 3rd Test Match - played at Melbourne Cricket Ground between 26 December and 30 December 2014, the match was drawn and Ryan James Harris of Australia was declared as the Player of the match
• 4th Test Match - played at Sydney Cricket Ground between 6 January and 10 January 2015, the match was drawn and Steven Smith of Australia was declared as the Player of the match

Player of the series - Steven Smith (captain) of Australia

Some facts of the Border-Gavaskar Test series 2014-15
• The first test was considered as a tribute to Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes. As a tribute each player wore a black band with 408 written on it. 408 was the cap number of Hughes.
• Virat Kohli captained the Indian team in the first and last match of the series
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement from International Test Cricket on 30 December 2014 after the Third Test Match ended in a draw
• Karn Vinod Sharma of India made his Test debut during the 1st match of the series
• Josh Reginald Hazlewood of Australia made his Test debut during the 2nd match of the series
• Kannaur Lokesh Rahul of India and Joseph Anthony Burns of Australia made their Test debut in the 3rd match of the series

SDSC-SHAR director MYS Prasad chosen for Vikram Sarabhai Memorial Award 2015

The director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota Range (SHAR) MYS Prasad was on 10 January 2015 selected for the Vikram Sarabhai memorial award 2015. The award will be presented to MYS Prasad by the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA).

Prasad was selected for his outstanding contribution to Research and Development in the field of space science in his long career at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Generally, the ISCA awards are presented at the inaugural function of the Indian Science Congress but this award will be presented in a separate function that will be organised by ISCA.

MYS Prasad
• MYS Prasad did his Doctorate in Satellite Communications field from Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS).
• He is the Chairman of Launch Authorization Board including for MARS Orbiter Mission since January 2013.
• He established Satellite based 24 hour connectivity between Indian Research Station Maitry at Antarctica to NAOCR in Goa for Data transfer facilities.
• He was the Director of Master Control Facility (MCF) of ISRO which controls all GSO Satellites of India from 1998 to 2005.
• He was Vice-President of International Astronautical Federation (IAF) for four years from 2006 to 2010.

Vikram Sarabhai memorial award
• The Vikram Sarabhai memorial award was instituted by the Indian Science Congress Association in 1997-98. The award carries a Gold Medal and is given in every alternate years.
• The award is given to distinguished Scientist of the Country in recognition of their outstanding contributions.
• The award is presented at the inaugural function of the Annual Session of the Indian Science Congress Association.
• The previous awardees of Vikram Sarabhai memorial award are former ISRO chairmen Dr Satish Dhawan, K. Kasturi Rangan, G. Madhavan Nair and K. Radhakrishnan.

Tech Mahindra signed definitive agreement to acquire Swiss firm SOFGEN Holdings Limited

Tech Mahindra on 10 January 2015 signed definitive agreement to acquire the Swiss firm SOFGEN Holdings Limited. Company did not disclose the details of the deal.

The deal is aimed at boosting the financial services offering by Tech Mahindra so as reach the top line target of 5 billion US dollar by 2015.

With this acquisition, Tech Mahindra will have the capability to offer a unique combination of change the bank and run the bank services to retail banking, private banking and wealth management customers globally.

This is the third deal Tech Mahindra has struck since November 2014. In November 2014, it had announced the acquisition of Lightbridge Communications for 240 million US dollar. In first week of January 2015, it formed a joint venture with Avion Systems, in which it will hold a minority stake.

SOFGEN offers solutions related to core banking. It has the second largest pool of Avaloq consultants globally and is Temenos' most prolific partner. It has offices in Geneva, Chennai, Singapore, London and New York and it employs 450 people.

The Chairman of the SOFGEN is Alexander Dembitz.

CP Gurnani is Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tech Mahindra.

US House of Representative passed legislation approving construction of Keystone XL Oil Pipeline

House of Representatives of the United States on 9 January 2015 passed a legislation that approves construction of a controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline. The bill was passed by 153 votes in the 266-member House of Representatives. Now the bill will go to the Senate for approval.

The lower house of the US took the decision after Nebraska Supreme Court in its ruling removed a major obstacle that delayed project till now.

The obstacle was over the issue of constitutionality of Governor's decision to bypass regulatory procedures and approve the pipeline route himself. In 2012, former governor of Nebraska, Dave Heineman had granted TransCanada Corp a pipeline route to cross the State.

In its decision, four judges of the Nebraska court said that the Governors' decision was unconstitutional but state law required five judges to reach that conclusion. As a result, the deadlock over the issue in the court amounted to ruling in the company's favour.

With the court decision in the favour of the pipeline, it is now supposed that US President Barack Obama will have to sign the controversial bill who so far had refused to sign the bill on the grounds that the case was pending in Nebraska court.

Debate on the Keystone XL oil pipeline

Republicans and some Democrats

Environmentalists and other Democrats

Energy policy experts

They support the pipeline as they feel that the pipeline will create jobs and promote economic growth

They oppose the pipeline because they feel that the process of extracting the oil sands petroleum will create more planet-warming carbon emissions than the process for conventional oil

They say that the practical impact of the project, both on the environment and the economy, is limited

About Keystone XL oil pipeline
The 2000-kilometer Keystone XL oil pipeline would carry 830000 barrels of oil per day from the oil sands of western Canada to the ports and refineries of the Gulf Coast of Mexico. The pipeline will be built by TransCanada Corp. which had submitted its permit application in 2008 to the State Department, which has jurisdiction over Cross-Border Pipelines.

Andhra Pradesh constituted Fourth State Finance Commission

Andhra Pradesh government constituted the Fourth State Finance Commission under the Chairmanship of M L Kantha Rao, the Professor of Economics and Dean S K University.

The notification with respect to this was released on 4 January 2015 by Governor E S L Narasimhan.

The Commission will submit its report for the period of reference 2015-2020

Other members of the Commission

Kankala Munirathna Naidu
Rokkam Sudarshana Rao
Gudipadu Sandhya Rani
C Venkateswara Rao: Member Secretary
About State Finance Commission

Article 243I of the Constitution, inserted by Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992, prescribes for the appointment of a State Finance Commission by the Governor of a State.

The Commission shall be constituted at the expiration of every fifth year to review the financial position of the Panchayats and to make recommendations to the Governor regarding

The distribution between the State and the Panchayats of the net proceeds of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees leviable by the State;
The determination of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees which may be assigned as, or appropriated by, the Panchayats;
The grants-in-aid to the Panchayats from the Consolidated Fund of the State;
The measures needed to improve the financial position of the Panchayats;
Any other matter referred to the Finance Commission by the Governor in the interests of sound finance of the Panchayats.
Article 243Y of the Constitution further provides that the Finance Commission constituted under Article 243 I shall make similar recommendation vis-a-vis municipalities.

Andhra Pradesh government constituted the Fourth State Finance Commission under the Chairmanship of M L Kantha Rao, the Professor of Economics and Dean S K University.

The notification with respect to this was released on 4 January 2015 by Governor E S L Narasimhan.

The Commission will submit its report for the period of reference 2015-2020

Other members of the Commission

Kankala Munirathna Naidu
Rokkam Sudarshana Rao
Gudipadu Sandhya Rani
C Venkateswara Rao: Member Secretary
About State Finance Commission

Article 243I of the Constitution, inserted by Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992, prescribes for the appointment of a State Finance Commission by the Governor of a State.

The Commission shall be constituted at the expiration of every fifth year to review the financial position of the Panchayats and to make recommendations to the Governor regarding

Swedish actress Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg died

Swedish-born actress Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg died on 11 January 2015 following a brief illness in Italy. She was 83.

Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg
• Born in Malmo, Sweden in 1931, Ekberg won the Miss Sweden title in 1951.
• Ekberg's first film was Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953) in which she played a role of guard on the planet Venus.
• Anita Ekberg was best known for her role as Sylvia in the 1960 Federico Fellini film La Dolce Vita that also won the Golden Palm at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival.
• Ekberg's famous movies were Paris Holiday (1957), Call Me Bwana (1963), Blood Alley (1955), Boccaccio 70 (1962) and Hollywood or Bust (1956).

Adani Enterprises & SunEdison signed JV to build solar park in Mundra

Adani Enterprises and US-based SunEdison on 11 January 2015 signed an agreement to form joint venture (JV) to build the solar park at Mundra, Gujarat in India. The agreement was signed by the both companies during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Gandhinagar.

The JV will build the largest vertically integrated solar photovoltaic manufacturing facility with an investment of around 4 billion US dollars (around 25000 crore rupees).

The facility will be set up in three years time to create ultra-low cost solar panels. It will create 20000 new jobs and make India into a solar production powerhouse.

This facility will vertically integrate all aspects of solar panel production in Mundra, including Polysilicon refining, ingots, wafers, cells and panels production with a broader ecosystem involving extended supply chain for raw materials and consumables.

SunEdison and Adani will complete a comprehensive analysis of the joint venture opportunity and business plan by mid-2015.

Besides, Adani Group also signed another agreement with Woodside, energy major of Australia -for sourcing of LNG as well as cooperation in oil and gas exploration and production.

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic won the 2015 Presidential elections of Croatia

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic on 11 January 2015 won the 2015 Presidential elections of Croatia. Kolinda belongs to the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party and is a former Assistant Secretary General at NATO and former Croatian ambassador to the United States.

She will take charge of the President office on 19 February 2015 thus becoming the first female President of Croatia.

In the presidential elections held on 28 December 2014, she bagged 50.4 percent of votes in the second round of voting. She defeated the incumbent President Ivo Josipovic of Social Democrat Party who got 49.6 percent votes.

Second round of voting was held after no candidate received 50 percent of the vote in the first round.

Capitalising on popular discontent

She won the elections by a slight margin of about 21000 votes which were fought in the backdrop of popular discontent over economic decline in Croatia.

After six years of recession, unemployment is running at 19 percent which joined the European Union July 2014. High taxes and poor administration have hampered business and the economy is not expected to grow in 2015.

The results are a sign that Croatia may be shifting to the right after the centre-left coalition's failure to end six years of downturn.

Political Implications

Even though the presidency in Croatia is a largely ceremonial position, but the results are considered an important test for the main political parties before the parliamentary elections expected late 2015.

Further the victory for Grabar – Kitarovic greatly boosts the chances of her centre-right Croatian Democratic Union to win back power.

The HDZ ruled Croatia from its first democratic election in 1990 until its founder, President Franjo Tudjman, died in December 1999. Since then it has alternated in power with the Social Democrats, but has never regained the presidential post.

About the Croatian President

Croatia's presidency is largely ceremonial. The President of the Croatia is the head of state and the commander in chief of the armed forces.

The Croatian president also has a say in foreign policy but running the country is primarily left to the government.

It is the president who has the procedural duty of appointing the prime minister of country with the consent of the parliament.

Actor and comedian Taylor Negron died

Actor and comedian Taylor Negron died on 10 January 2015 after battling with the cancer for long time. He was 57.

Taylor Negron
• Negron got his first role in 1982 in the Young Doctors in Love Television show.
• Negron did a series of films including Angels in the Outfield, Punchline, and Stuart Little.
• He also made cameo appearances in shows like Hill Street Blues, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Ben Stiller Show, Seinfeld, ER, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
• In 2008, Negron wrote the play The Unbearable Lightness of Being Taylor Negron- A Fusion of Story and Song.

Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha appointed as 21st chief justice of Bangladesh

Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha was on 12 January 2015 appointed as the 21st chief justice of Bangladesh. His appointment was confirmed by the Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid as per Article 95(1) of the Bangladesh Constitution.

Surendra Kumar Sinha will succeed incumbent Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain who will retire on 16 January 2015.

The swearing-in ceremony of Justice Sinha will take place on 17 January 2015 at the Bangabhaban presidential palace, Bangladesh. Justice Sinha will be the first non-Muslim to take charge of the office of Chief Justice of Bangladesh.

Surendra Kumar Sinha
• Born in 1951, Justice Sinha was enrolled as an advocate of the High Court Division in 1978.
• He became an advocate of the Appellate Division of Bangladesh Supreme Court in 1990.
• He was elevated as judge of the High Court Division in 1999 and as judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in 2009.
• Justice Sinha is known for a number of landmark judgments including the killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the 5th and 13th amendments to the Bangladesh constitution.

13th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas 2015 concluded in Gujarat

13th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) 2015 concluded on 9 January 2015 in Gujarat. PBD is the flagship event of Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA).

The event concluded with giving away Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards to 15 members of the Indian Diaspora by the Vice-President Hamid Ansari.

The chief guest of the 13th PBD was Guyana President Donald Ramotar. The theme of 2015 PBD was Bharat ko jano and Bharat ko mano.

PBD conventions are being held every year since 2003 and are celebrated on 9th January every year to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India.

The 13th edition of PBD marked the 100th year of Mahatma Gandhi's return to India from South Africa.

So far, twelve PBDs have been held in various places of India as follows:

Year Venue Chief Guest
2014 New Delhi Datuk Seri. G. Palanivel, President of the Malaysian Indian Congress
2013 Kochi Rajkeswur Purryag, President, Mauritius
2012 Jaipur H.E. Ms. Kamla Persad Bissessar, Trinidad and Tobago
2011 New Delhi Sir Anand Satyanand, Governor General, New Zealand
2010 New Delhi Dr. Khalid Hameed, Chairman, Alpha Hospital Group, UK
2009 Chennai Dr. Ramdien Sardjoe, Vice President, Suriname
2008 New Delhi Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam, Prime Minister, Mauritius
2007 New Delhi Prof. S. Jayakumar, Dy. Prime Minister, Singapore
2006 Hyderabad Ahmed Kathrada, Political Activist and a Contemporary of Nelson Mandela
2005 Mumbai J.R. Ajodhia, Vice President, Suriname
2004 New Delhi Bharrat Jagdeo, President, Guyana
2003 New Delhi Sir Anerood Jugnauth, Prime Minister, Mauritius