Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI.

 Pope Benedict announced his  resignation voluntarly, effective 28 February 2013, because of "lack of strength of mind and body". He is going to  become the first pope to resign since Pope Gregory XII in 1415, and the first to do so voluntarily since Pope Celestine V in 1294.

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Nepal's constitutional crisis

Nepal's constitutional crisis.
Chief Justice of Nepal Supreme Court Khil Raj Regmi agreed on Monday to head the Govt.By heading  the election government to end the lingering political crisis plaguing the country, Chief Justice has brought hope for Nepal.Nepal had plunged into a political and constitutional crisis after the Constituent Assembly was dissolved by Maoist Prime Minister Bhattarai in May last year without drafting the constitution.The crisis further deepened as Bhattarai announced fresh elections in November last year but failed to conduct polls.
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PSLV-C20 launches 7 satellites

PSLV C-20 launched from Satish Dhwan launch pad, placed in orbit 7 satellites. This includes SARAL for oceanographic study and six other foreign  mini and micro satellites. The 410-kg SARAL with payloads -- Argos and Altika , are  from French space agency CNES and  is meant for study of ocean parameters towards enhancing the understanding of the ocean state conditions.

John Kerry

6 ft 4 inches tall, John Kerry is the new Secretary of State of US. He succeeds Hilary Clinton . A veteran of Vietnam, he received two purple heart medals of wounds in action.An ex senator and may be the new US President in making.

VVIP helicopter deal

The Rs. 3,546-crore contract for 12 Augusta Westland helicopters with the company was concluded in February 2010. After news of a big scam,the government ordered a CBI inquiry into the procurement of 12 VVIP helicopters from Finmeccanica, the Italian parent company of Augusta Westland, UK .Finmeccanica's head Giuseppe Orsi  has been arrested .

The helicopters were supposed to ferry the highest in the land like the President and the Prime Minister. The Indian Air Force (IAF) wanted these choppers to be part of its Communication Squadron.

David Cameron’s visit to India

                                             

The UK Prime Minister's three day trip to India was aimed at increasing trade between the two countries.The implications of boosting trade with India and other emerging economies are hugely important for British policy because they offer UK new  business partners with growing economies outside the EU.The  British economy risks a triple dip recession — because the Eurozone is locked into a deep crisis.

Cameron landed at Mumbai with ever largest business delgation and is eyeing India as the third largest economy by 2030. He announced same day visa for business persons and no cap on number of students going to UK.

BRICS Summit 2013

Fifth annual BRICS summit,  of the five member states Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa ,will be held in Durban, South Africa in 2013, on March 26-27.

The heads of state/heads of government of the five countries are expected to participate in the summit.

• 

   Jacob Zuma (host)
  President of South Africa
 
• 

   Dilma Rousseff
  President of Brazil
 
• 

   Vladimir Putin
  President of Russia
 
• 

   Hu Jintao
  President of China
 

China's new leader Xi Jinping , who would be attending the summit, as Hu Jintao would be succeeded by Xi by then

 

• 

   Manmohan Singh
  Prime Minister of India

  
  

Ellyse Perry

Australia won women world cup championship sixth time, defeating West Indies with 114 runs. Ellyse Perry contributed both in balling and batting. 

The Hindu : Columns / Chandrasekhar : The cost of food security

The Hindu : Columns / Chandrasekhar : The cost of food security

The Hindu : Columns / Chandrasekhar : India’s triumph in rice

The Hindu : Columns / Chandrasekhar : India’s triumph in rice

US troops withdrawl from Afghaistan

President Barack Obama announced in his State of the Union speech on that some 34,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan will have returned home by this time next year. Presently there are 66000 US Troops in Afghanistan. In April 2013, responsibility will be handed over to Afghanistan army. Afghanistan is going to talk to Taliban in which Pakistan will also be included.

North Korea conducts nuclear test

North Korea is believed to have conducted third test, a miniaturised version, small enough to fit in a long range missile on 12 Feb 2013, from site Punggye-re.Earlier two tests were conducted on Oct 2006 and May 2009.

                                    

                                      Kim Jong-un 

Chines dams on Brahmputra

                                                     

China has approved construction of three more dams in Tibet on Brahmputra in addition to one already being constructed.

Lifetime Grammy for Ravishankar

Lifetime Grammy

                           

Sitar legend Pandit Ravi Shankar was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy award, Pt Ravi Shankar has passed away on December 11, 2012, at the age of 92.

GDP lowest in decade

The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO)  has estimated the growth for the current fiscal  year to be 5 % and estimates are likely to be revised upwards as per Finance Minster ( upto 5.5 % )

ICC Women's Cricket World Cup

India has gone out of the tournament , being played at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, after losing to Sri Lanka. Mitali Roy and Jhulan Goswamy, one time world number, beig on the team, also could not help the loss.

Mars Rover Curiosity

The rover has been successful in drilling at Mars surface, which will give clue of any life existence on the planet.Launched on 26 Nov 2011, it landed on Mars on 06 August 2012, after travelling a distance of 24ooo Crore miles.The rover is propelled by nuclear fuel.

Ban on women soldiers in US removed

The decision reverses 1994 ban on deployment of women on front.U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Paneta has taken the decision. It opens deployment of approx two lac thirty thousand posts for women on front. US army has 14 lac soldiers, there are 14 % women.The women can be deployed even in commando force, but they will have to wait for Navy Seals and Delta Force

Cauvery water release for TN

Complying with supreme court orders, Karnataka has started release of 2.44 tmc ft of water to Tamil Nadu to save standing samba crop, from the Krishnaraja Sagar Reservoir.

Attack Helicopter Rudra

Attack Helicopter Rudra

An armed version of HAL Dhruv. Rudra is equipped with Forward Looking Infra Red and Thermal Imaging Sights Interface, a 20 mm turret gun, 70 mm rocket pods, Anti-tank guided missiles andAir-to-Air Missiles.Army has received the first Rudra helicopter from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.As per the initial orders, close to 70 Rudras are to be supplied to Indian armed forces. 

PARAM Yuva II

PARAM Yuva II

Supercomputer of Param series which  capable of performing at about 54000 GFlops (54 TFlops).This is the first supercomputer that has crossed 500 teraflops in computing power in the country.It is developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing.Areas like weather forecasting, seismic data analysis and scientific data processing will all be benefitted due to Param Yuva II.Main users of the supercomputer would be scientific institutes, research laboratories and universities and academia.Pharmaceutical companies can use it for drug discovery .The supercomputer, fastest in India and 62nd fastest in the world.

    Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan-India project 

• 1,680-km pipeline that originates in Turkmenistan and after travelling 735 km in Afghanistan and 800 km in Pakistan will terminate at Fazilka in Punjab.
• TAPI will carry gas from Galkynysh field ( south Yotan Osman), which holds 16 trillion cubic feet, about more than 4 % of the world's gas reserve.The pipeline will carry 90 million cubic metres aday , out of which India will get 38 million cubic meter per day.
• The union government has given a go ahead for a SPV, a Dubai based compnay Tapi Ltd to facilitate 9 billion project. GAIL( gas Authority of Inida Limited) has also been incorporated in the project.

Agni-VI

DRDO Chief V K Saraswat has revealed that India is developing new Agni-vi missile. though he did not reveal the range( but it is hoped that it would be in excess of 6000 km ) , but most importantly it would have MIRV, multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV) capability, which would enable us to deliver many payloads at the same time using only one missile. And we would be in an elite club of nations like US and Russia.