Halimah Yacob Became First Woman Speaker of the Singapore Parliament

Halimah Yacob (58) became the first woman and the 9th Speaker of the Singapore Parliament on 14 January 2013. She replaced Michael Palmer, the former People's Action Party MP. Palmer got down from the post of Speaker of the Parliament and as an MP on 12 December 2012. Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong nominated her for the designation of speaker.

Halimah Yacob came down from her post of Minister of State (Social and Family Development) and was elected as the Speaker by Members of Parliament. In her role, she is expected to play an independent role during all the parliamentary debates, but she stressed the fact that she would remain ahead for the Singaporeans' concerns and would also share the views on various policies.

About Halimah Yacob:

Halimah Yacob, 58, is an Indian-origin woman born in Singapore. She belongs to the People's Action Party.

She has remained the Minister of State, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports from 21 May 2011 to 31 October 2012. She has also held office as the Minister of State, Ministry of Social and Family Development from 1 November 2012 to 13 January 2013.

Kamal Nath Appointed as New Ex officio Member of Plan Member

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s office on 26 December 2012 re-constituted the Planning Commission by appointing parliamentary affairs and urban development minister Kamal Nath as the new ex-officio member of the Plan panel.Kamal Nath will be replacing Jairam Naresh as New Ex officio Member of Plan MemberThe other ex-officio members of the Commission, are Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chemicals and fertilisers minister M K Alagiri, Communications ministerKapil Sibal & Law minister Ashwani Kumar.

Ratan Tata to be Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons

Ratan Tata was conferred with the honorary title of Chairman Emeritus-the holding company of the 100 billion dollar Tata Group on 18 December 2012. The decision of conferring him with the title was made by the board of Tata Sons. Ratan Tata is going to retire from his office on 28 December 2012 and Cyrus Mistry has been appointed as the Chairman of Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals. 

Ratan Tata as an honorary chairman will not attend any of the board meetings of Tata Group and would also not have any responsibility towards the company.

Malaria cases in India to go down by 50 to 75 per cent by 2015: World Health Organisation.

A report by World Health Organisation (WHO), says, India will see a decrease of 50-75 per cent in malaria cases by 2015. The WHO's World Malaria Report 2012 said, a concerted effort by endemic countries, donors and global malaria partners during the past decade has led to strengthened malaria control around the world.

It, however, warned that a significant slowdown in global funding of anti-malaria campaigns threatens to roll back the gains made against the preventable mosquito-borne disease over the last 10 years.

In the south-east Asia Region, Bhutan, Korea, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand have registered decreases of 75 per cent or more in the malaria incidence rates between 2000 and 2011.

The report said, India, Nepal and Thailand could also potentially move from the control to the pre-elimination phase by continuing their progress.

Sonepat among 43 districts selected under cash transfer system

Haryana's Sonepat district has been selected as one of the 43 districts identified by the Union Government as model districts under Direct Benefit Transfer (cash transfer) System.

The concerned departments would directly transfer cash in the accounts of concerned beneficiaries of 34 schemes of the Central Government, a Haryana Government spokesman said here today.

The benefits of these schemes would be given only to those beneficiaries who would have their own bank accounts or Aadhar cards.

Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar passes away at age 92

Legendary musician, Pandit Ravi Shankar passed in San Diego

on Tuesday. He was 92. The musician was admitted to the Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla last Thursday after he complained of breathing difficulties. 

He breathed his last at 4.30 p.m. 

The sitar exponent, perhaps could be called India`s musical ambassador and was responsible for making Indian classical music popular in the West. He had collaborated with several international artists including George Harrison of ‘The Beatles’ which had garnered him fame and adulation all over the world. 

IOC suspends IOA, Indian athletes can't compete in Olympics

In a decision made at the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) executive board meeting in Luassane, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has been suspended for holding elections under a controversial government sports code.
Suspension means the Indian body will stop receiving IOC funding and its officials will be banned from attending Olympic meetings and events. India's athletes will be barred from competing in Olympic events under their national flag, although the IOC could allow them to do so under the Olympic flag.
The IOC had repeatedly told the Indian body to adhere to its own constitution and the Olympic Charter and not follow the government's sports code for this week's elections. The IOC will not recognize the results if the elections are held under government rules.
The election, originally scheduled for last month, has been postponed to Wednesday following the resignation of election commission chairman SY Quraishi.

Hope for cancer victims as scientists develop drug that sends cells to sleep to stop them spreading

Cancers can be put to sleep to stop them multiplying, scientists have discovered.  

A new drug called Aflibercept tricks tumours into becoming dormant by flipping molecular switches in the structure of the cancer so it cannot spread.

Positive results are being seen already in the UK, where trials have seen patients enjoy a 'significant' extension of life.

More than 1,400 patients were involved in trials, with some participants with advanced bowel cancer who had already had chemotherapy prolonged life by two years.  

Scientists think the drug could be used across a range of different cancers in future studies.

Psy's "Gangnam Style" Becomes Most-Watched YouTube Video

South Korean rap star Psy's music video 'Gangnam Style' on Saturday became the most watched item ever posted to YouTube with more than 800 million views, edging past Canadian teen star Justin Bieber's 2-year-old video for his song 'Baby.'

The milestone was the latest pop culture victory for Psy, 34, a portly rap singer known for his slicked-back hair and comic dance style who has become one of the most unlikely global stars of 2012.

Prez releases commemorative stamp on late Ramgopal Maheshwari

The President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 20 November 2012 released a Commemorative Postage Stamp on late Ramgopal Maheshwari. The stamp was released in the Rastrapati Bhavan on the occasion of Maheshwari’s birth centenary year celebration. 

Ramgopal Maheshwari

Ramgopal Maheshwari was a freedom fighter and a social worker is also regarded as a doyen of Journalism in India. He was a person who worked for promotion of Hindi Language. 

During the Indian freedom struggle, Ram Gopal Maheshwari took the responsibility to mobilize central India and started a Hindi daily newspaper named Nava Bharat in the year 1934 from Nagpur. He is also termed as the Bhishma Pitamah of Journalism in Central and Western India. Maheshwari also played a major role in eradication of conservative customs of Maheshwari Samaj and took it onto the progressive ways.

Diamond mined in Golconda auctioned for record $21.5m

A cushion-shaped internally 76.02-carat flawless Golconda diamond was auctioned for a record price of $21.47 million (£13.5 million) by Christie’s in Geneva on Tuesday evening.

The diamond, mined in India’s famous Golconda mines, is named after its first recorded owner, Archduke Joseph August of Austria (1872-1962). The diamond’s history before this is unknown.

The diamond was purchased by an anonymous bidder. The sale was a record for a colourless diamond, a colourless Golconda diamond and for price per carat of a colourless diamond ($280,000 per carat).

Golconda diamonds are still considered to be the finest and possess superb luminousness and transparency. Experts around the world widely agree that all diamonds which display this special luminousness are of Indian origin. The famous Golconda diamonds include the Koh-i-Noor, Darya-e-Nur and the Hope diamond.

McCain Foods appoints Karisma Kapoor as Brand Ambassador

McCain Foods India Pvt Ltd, makers of frozen French fries and potato specialty products, has appointed Karisma Kapoor as its first brand ambassador in India. Bollywood actor Karisma will endorse the entire range of McCain’s Indian and International product portfolio.

Finest Comedian Jaspal Bhatti no more; dies in a road accident in Punjab

Comedian Jaspal Bhatti died in a road accident near Shahkot in Punjab on Thursday morning.

He was on his way to Nakador from Bhatinda. Jaspal Bhatti's car hit a trolley while he was travelling for promotion of his next film 'Power Cut' which is going to be released on 26th Oct 2012, sources said.

Bhatti's son and actress of his upcoming film also got injured in the mishap.

Noteworthy, Jaspal Bhatti's son Jasraj is making his debut through 'Power Cut' scheduled to be released on Friday, 26th Oct. 

Jaspal Bhatti was one of the pioneers of Indian comedy, and his shows 'Flop Show' and 'Ulta Pulta' were one of the earliest socio-political satire works on Indian Television.

The King of Romance and the Famous Filmmaker, Yash Chopra Died

The Indian Filmmaker Yash Chopra died on 21 October 2012, nine days after being diagnosed with Dengue. He passed away at the age of 80 at Lilavati Hospital at Bandra due to dengue and multiple organ failure. Also termed as the King of Romance, Yash Chopra had by his name Six National Film Awards, Eleven Filmfare Awards out of which four was Filmfare Award for Best Director.

Yash Chopra, in his last interview with Shah Rukh Khan on television stated about his latest upcoming film named Jab Tak Hai Jaan and his retirement along with the plans of spending his time with family members.

The Titan of Indian Cinema, Yash Chopra was born on 27 September 1932 Yash Chopra by profession was an Indian Film Director, Screenwriter and Film Producer in Indian Cinema, Bollywood. Working as an assistant director to I.S. Johar and B.R. Chopra his elder brother, he started his career and made his debut as a director with Dhool ka Phool in the year 1959 proceeded by films like Dharmputra in 1961. He turned up to set his stage as one of the most successful director with the commercial and critically successful drama Waqt in 1965, the film that set the stage for multi-starrers in the industry.

Yash Raj Films, yash chopra’s own production company stated with the launch of DAAG: A poem of love in 1973. Few of his most acclaimed films, were Deewar in 1975 that set the angry young man image of Amitabh Bachchan, Kabhi Kabhi (a romantic drama) in 1976, Trishul, Silsila in 1981, Mashaal in 1984 and Vijay in 1988 and Chandni in 1989.

Some more movies of Yash Chopra were Lamhe in 1991, Darr in 1993 the debut movie of Shah Rukh Khan, Dil To Pagal Hai in 1997, Veer-Zaara in 2004. His latest movie Jab Tak Hai Jaan is scheduled to be launched during the week of Diwali in 2012 about a month after his death.

Awards and honours attached to his name were: 

•    He received Legion of Honour, France's highest civilian honour
•    Remained a Vice President for 10 years with Film Producers’ Guild of India
•    Received Padma Bhushan in 2005
•    Asian Filmmaker of the Year, 2009 at Pusan International Film Festival
•    On behalf of Swiss Government he received a Special Award by Ursula Andress and was honoured for rediscovering Switzerland
•    He received the BBC Asia Awards two times in the year 1998 and 2001 for the kind of contribution he made to the films
•    In the year 2001 he received Dr. Dadabhai Naoroji Millennium Lifetime Achievement award
•    For promoting tourism in UK via his films, he was conferred with a Certificate of Recognition from the British Tourist Authority and British Film Commission
•    For his contribution to Indian Cinema he was conferred with Priyadarshini Award
•    The Leeds Metropolitan University in Yorkshire awarded him with Honorary Doctorate in Art
•    At the 2008 Asia Pacific Screen Awards, for his outstanding achievements to the films he received FIAPF Award
•    In the year 2010 he was honoured with the Honorary Doctorate from the School of Oriental and African Studies
•    The Government of Madhya Pradesh awarded him with National Kishore Kumar Award
•    For his contribution via his films to 'Brand Switzerland' he received Swiss Ambassador's Award 2010
•    The Asian Awards in October 2010 he was given the Outstanding Achievement in Cinema award
•    The Rotary Club awarded him with Vocational Excellence Award
•    In the year 2001 was awarded Dadasaheb Phalke the topmost and the highest honour of Indian Film Industry
•    Maharashtra state government’s Raj Kapoor and V. Shantaram’ Awards was given to him for his contributions to Indian Cinema
•    In the year 2006 he received 4th Pune International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award

Some more associations of his life:

•    Before his death he was on the Advisory Board of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry of Government of India
•    Founder Trustee of Film Industry Welfare Trust established in the year 1996
•    BAFTA gave him a lifetime membership for the his contributions to Indian Cinema, in 59 years history of the academy he was the first Indian to be honoured with the membership.