KAMLA NAGAR, DELHI - 110007 ANIMATION | VFX tel. - CHANGE

DECEMBER 2011
PERSON IN NEWS
Ukraine's Yulia Tymoshenko Sentenced
to 7yrs in Jail
Ukraine’s former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko was sentenced
to 7 years in prison on 11 October 2011 on charges of abuse of
office in signing a gas deal with Russia in 2009. Tymoshenko
currently the nation’s top opposition leader, denounced the trial
as rigged by president Viktor Yanukovych in order to get rid of a
popular political opponent.
Judge Rodion Kireyev declared Tymoshenko guilty of exceeding
her authority as premier when she signed a natural gas imports
contract with Russia in 2009. He also banned her from occupying
government posts for three years after the completion of her
prison term and fined her 1.5 billion hryvna ($190 million) for the
damages her actions cost the state. As a convicted criminal, she
would be unable to participate in Ukraine’s next presidential
elections in 2012. In May 2010, Ukraine’s state prosecutor
launched a criminal case relating to misuse by Tymoshenko’s
govt of about $290 million in cash received for selling carbon
quotas. Prosecutors mentioned that the deal saddled Ukraine
with an exorbitant price for supplies of Russian gas.
Yulia Tymoshenko born in November 1960 and was trained as an
engineer. In the mid-1990s she formed United Energy Systems,
which helped supply gas to Ukraine’s huge industrial base. Her
early involvement in the gas industry in the 1990s, after Ukraine
had gained its independence with the break-up of the Soviet
Union, earned her the nickname gas princess.
She shot to prominence when she led the Orange Revolution
street protests in Kiev in 2004-05. She entered parliament in 1996
and was made a deputy PM in charge of the energy sector in
2000 by PM Viktor Yushchenko. she became PM and Yushchenko
the president in 2005. She was however sacked after 8 months in
office. She was reappointed PM in September 2007. As PM,
Tymoshenko brokered the 10-year gas deal with Russian PM
Putin in January 2009. In 2010 Tymoshenko lost the presidential
election to Viktor Yanukovych.
Indian-born 100 year Old Fauja Singh
entered Guinness Book by setting
Marathon Record
Indian-born Fauja Singh, 100, was officially recognised as the
oldest person to complete a full-distance marathon after crossing
the finish line at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in eight hours,
25 minutes and 16 seconds. Singh made his way up the last few
hundred metres of the race and finished in 3850th place - ahead
of five other runners. He attributed his success to ginger curry,
cups of tea and being happy. The 100-year-old runner of Indianorigin,
set a Guinness record of being the oldest person to
complete a full-distance marathon.
Singh began running regularly 11 years ago after the deaths of
his wife and son. According to his translator he runs 16km every
day. Born in India on 1 April 1911, Singh a farmer in the Punjab
took the sport seriously only when he moved to Britain. He carried
the torch during the relay for the 2004 Athens Games. Singh,
who completed the first of his eight marathons as an 89-year-old,
has a personal best of five hours, 40 minutes, set back in 2003.
The 2003 record made him the world record holder at the distance
for a man aged 90 or over. Singh also holds eight sprint bests in
his age category.
The Guinness Book Denied A 100-Year-Old Marathoner A
World Record Because He Didn’t Have A Birth Certificate: A
100-year-old British man who completed the Toronto Marathon
will not be recognized by the Guinness Book because he
cannot produce a valid birth certificate. Fauja Sign is Indianborn
British citizen and has a British passport that says his
birthday is April 1, 1911, as well as a letter from the Queen
congratulating him on being the oldest man to complete a
marathon. But that’s not enough for the Guinness Book.
Bobby Jindal wins 2nd term as
Louisiana Governor
Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, won re-election on 22 October
2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Jindal won 66% of
the vote with his nearest challenger, Tara Hollis of the Democratic
party, got 18%. On 20 October, 2007, Jindal was elected governor
of Louisiana for the first time. Bobby Jindal is the first Indian-
American to occupy the post of a governor. His real name was
Piyush Jindal. He started calling himself Bobby from an early age
and converted from Hinduism to Catholicism as a teenager. He
was born in Baton Rouge, the capital of the southern state of
Louisiana, to Indian parents who had immigrated from the Punjab.
He is 37 years old. Louisiana is a state located in the southern
region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge.
Niira Radia Moves Out of
Communication Business
Niira Radia,Corporate lobbyist and provider of public relations
services for the Tata group and Reliance Industries on 30 October
2011 announced her exit from the business of communication
consultancy. She cited her personal priorities of family and health
behind taking the decision after much consideration. Niira Radia
had been in news related to the 2G controversy in the recent past
when leaked tapes of her conversations appeared in the media.
The 2G spectrum controversy involved officials in the government
of India illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for
frequency allocation licenses, which they would use to create 2G
subscriptions for cell phones.
Nita Ambani Joins EIH as Additional
Director
East India Hotels inducted Nita Ambani on its board on 31 October
2011. Nita Ambani is the wife of Reliance Industries chairman
Mukesh Ambani. RIL had bought a 14.9 percent stake in EIH in
August 2010. East India Hotels runs the Oberoi Hotels chain.
Nita Ambani is the founder chairperson of the Dhirubhai Ambani
International School and co-owner of the Mumbai Indians cricket
team.
NEWS DIGEST
PERSON APPOINTED /
ELECTED
Former Colombian Rebel Elected
Mayor of Bogota
Gustavo Petro was elected mayor of the Colombian capital, Bogota
as Colombians voted in local elections. The elections concluded
on 30 October 2011. Petro won 32 percent of the votes. His main
opponent Enrique Penalosa was the favoured candidate of former
President Alvaro Uribe. He could manage only 25 percent of the
votes. Petro was a former guerrilla with the defunct M-19
Movement.
Petro helped uncover a bid-rigging scandal in Bogota in 2010
that sent its previous elected mayor, Samuel Moreno, to jail for
corruption charges. The voting in the capital was part of
nationwide regional and municipal elections, with 32
governorships and more than 1,100 mayoral and municipal council
post being contested.
What is M-19 Movement
The 19th of April Movement or M-19,was a Colombian guerrilla
movement. After its demobilization it became a political party,
the M-19 Democratic Alliance (Alianza Democrática M-19), or
AD/M-19. The M-19 traced its origins to the allegedly fraudulent
presidential elections of 19 April 1970.
Former SC Judge Katju Is New Press
Council Chief
Former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju was appointed
as the new chairman of media regulator Press Council of India
(PCI) on 5 October 2011. The appointment of Justice Katju, who
retired from the apex court on 19 September 2011 was cleared by
a committee headed by Vice President Hamid Ansari and included
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. In exercise of the powers
conferred by the sub-section (2) of section 5 of the Press Council
Act, 1978 (37 of 1978), the Central Government notified his
appointment as the Chairman of the Press Council of India. He
succeeded Justice G N Ray.
Justice Katju was first appointed a judge of the Allahabad High
Court in 1981. He delivered landmark judgements that included
favouring passive euthanasia, death penalty for honour killings,
capital punishment for policemen involved in fake encounters
and wanted the corrupt to be hanged from the lamp post.
Before his stint in the Supreme Court, Justice Katju served as a
Judge of the Allahabad High Court in 1991 and as its acting Chief
Justice in August 2004. He was then appointed as the Chief
Justice of Madras High Court in November 2004 and went on to
become the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court in October 2005.
He was appointed as the Judge of the Supreme Court in April
2006 and he retired on 19 September 2011.
Katju has written several books which include publications such
as Law in the Scientific Era and Interpretation of Taxing Statutes,
among others.
The Press Council of India (PCI) is the apex media regulator of
the country. The Press Council of India is a statutory, quasi
judicial body which acts as a watchdog of the media. Its chairman
by convention is a retired judge of the Supreme Court.
Gurbachan Singh New Chairman for
Agricultural Scientists Recruitment
Board
Union Agriculture Commissioner Gurbachan Singh was in october
2011 appointed Chairman of the Agricultural Scientists
Recruitment Board for a seven-year term until further orders or till
he attains the age of 65, whichever is earlier. The Board is crucial
to recruitment of farm researchers and policy formulation.
During the tenure of Dr. Singh as Agriculture Commissioner, India
achieved its highest foodgrain production including a record as
pulses output, has assumed charge of his new post.
Born in Bhaini Maraj village in Sangrur district of Punjab, Dr.
Singh holds a Ph.D. in Agronomy. He specialises in developing
alternate approaches to a sustainable use of soil resources. He is
the reviewing referee for several peer-reviewed international
journals including the Journal of Professional Association of
Cactus Development, US, Acta Horticulture and Geoderma.
He is the alumnus of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and
the founder-President of the Indian Society of Soil Salinity and
Water Quality.
PERSON DIED
Former Bihar CM Bhagwat Jha Azad
Dead
Former Bihar Chief Minister Bhagwat Jha Azad died on 4 October
2011 at the age of 89. He was a six-time member of the Lok
Sabha from Bhagalpur, Bihar. He was a veteran Congressman
who served as the Chief Minister of Bihar from February 14, 1988
and March 10, 1989. However, a little before his death he joined
the BJP.
Azad superceded the boards of three apex cooperative
institutions namely Bihar State Co-operative Bank, Bihar State
Co-operative Marketing Union and Bihar State Co-operative Land
Development Bank.
He appointed three IAS officers, B K Sinha, P K Basu and R K
Singh respectively as the administrators of these three apex
cooperative institutions. This troika became popular as the group
of BK, PK and RK that went on to create terror in the minds of the
cooperative mafia.
Jagjit Singh Passes Away
Veteran ghazal singer Jagjit Singh passed away on 10 October
2011 in Mumbai. He was 70. He was admitted in Lilavati Hospital
for more than two weeks. The singer had undergone an
emergency surgery for brain hemorrhage at the Hospital on 23
September 2011. The veteran singer, popularly known as the
Ghazal King had gained acclaim together with his wife Chitra
Singh in 1970s and 1980s. He had sung in Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu,
Bengali, Gujarati, Sindhi and Nepali languages. Moreover, Jagjit
Singh is the only singer and composer to have composed and
recorded songs written by former Indian Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee, in two albums, Samvedna in the year 2002 and
Nayi Disha in the year 1999. His music became popular through
films such as Prem Geet, Arth and Saath Saath and TV serials
Kahkashan and Mirza Galib.
Jagjit Singh was awarded Padmabhushan, India’s third highest
civilian honour, in 2003. He was the voice behind Hazaron
Khwaishe aisi, Jhuki Jhuki si Nazar and Ye kaghaz ki kashti. Jagjit
Singh was born to Sikh parents in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan on
8 February, 1941. He sang the famous song tum jo intna muskura
Rahe Ho from Mahesh Bhatt’s film Arth in 1982.
Jagjeet Singh began his musical journey singing Shabads or
devotional songs in Gurudwaras. He studied in DAV college
Jalandar where his fee was waived off because of his voice. He
got a chance as a professional singer in Jalandar’s All India Radio.
He came to Mumbai in 1961 to try his hand in play back singing
but soon returned to Jalandar. He came again to Mumbai to fulfil
his dreams in 1965. His voice infused a new melody into Ghazals
and brought Ghazals into the mainstream. He also sang duets
with his wife Chitra Singh. He sang in Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and
Sindhi.
Apple Co-founder Steve Jobs Dead at 56
Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. died at age 56 from
pancreatic cancer on 6 October 2011. Steve Jobs had stepped
down as Apple’s chief executive on 24 August 2011. Steve Jobs
co-founded Apple in 1976 along with Ronald Wayne and Steve
Wozniak. Steve also co-founded and was the CEO of Pixar
Animation Studios, which created animated films. He became a
member of the board of directors of the Walt Disney Company in
2006, following the acquisition of Pixar by Disney. After leaving
Apple, Jobs founded NeXT Computer in 1985. Steve Jobs was
from California, USA.
Steve Jobs helped create the Macintosh, one of the world’s most
influential computers. He also reinvented the portable music
player with the iPod, launched the first successful legal method
of selling music online with iTunes and reordered the cellphone
market with the iPhone.
Apple is leading the consumer technology world with its
revolutionary iPhone and App Store, its family of iPod media
players and iTunes media store, and its Mac computers and iLife
and iWork application suites. Apple recently introduced the iPad,
a breakthrough internet and digital media device, in addition to
iBookstore, alongside iTunes and the App store.
Gadhafi: Libya's Leader for 42Yrs Killed
Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for over 40 years, was killed
on 20 October 2011 while trying to flee from his hometown, Sirte.
Muammar Gaddafi ruled Libya autocratically for 42 years after
coming to power in a coup.
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi was born to
nomadic parents in the desert region of Sirte in 1942. He went to
study history at the University of Libya in 1961 and then entered
the Benghazi Military Academy. He remained the autocratic ruler
of Libya from 1969, when he seized power in a bloodless military
coup that overthrew King Idris I until 2011 when his government
was overthrown in a civil war. His 42-year rule prior to the uprising
made him the fourth longest-ruling non-royal leader since 1900,
as well as the longest-ruling Arab leader.
He pinned several titles to himself- the Brother Leader and Guide
of the Revolution, in 2008 a meeting of traditional African rulers
bestowed on him the title King of Kings.
After seizing power in 1969, he abolished the Libyan Constitution
of 1951 and civil liberties enshrined in it. He imposed laws based
on the political ideology which he had formulated and called it
the Third International Theory. He also published The Green
Book.
The United Nations called Libya under Gaddafi a pariah state. In
the 1980s, countries around the world imposed sanctions against
Gaddafi. A leading advocate for a United States of Africa, he
served as Chairperson of the African Union (AU) from 2 February
2009 to 31 January 2010.
2011 Libyan Civil War
Following revolutions in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia,
protests against Gaddafi’s rule began in February 2011. Soon an
uprising that spread across the country, with the forces opposing
Gaddafi establishing a government based in Benghazi named
the National Transitional Council (NTC). This led to the 2011
Libyan Civil War, which included a military intervention by a
NATO-led coalition to enforce a UN Security Council Resolution
1973 calling for a no-fly zone and protection of civilians in Libya.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants on
27 June 2011 for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and his brotherin-law
Abdullah al-Senussi, head of state security for charges,
concerning crimes against humanity.
In August, rebel forces engaged in a coastal offensive and took
most of their lost territory, and captured the capital city of Tripoli.
Gaddafi evaded capture and loyalists engaged in a rearguard
campaign. He remained in hiding until 20 October 2011, when he
was captured and killed in Sirte.
CHANGE THE ONLY CONSTANT THING : We Bring You More Informative And Detailed Coverage Every Month 29