The Competition Master

Jana Gana Mana’ turns 100!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> India’s national anthem – ‘Jana Gana Mana’ turned 100 years old. 
 
 </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was first performed on December 27, 1911, at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress which underscored a national movement. The Constituent Assembly adopted ‘Jana Gana Mana’ as the national anthem on January 24, 1950 
 
 </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody>
<tr> <td> Interestingly, Tagore’s ‘Jana Gana Mana’ overruled Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s ‘Vande Mataram’ in the face of Muslim opposition, thereby becoming the national anthem of India.  
 
 
</td> </tr>
</tbody> </table></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Written in Sanskritised Bengali, ‘Jana Gana Mana’ ran into controversy when in year 2005, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court demanding the inclusion of the word Kashmir and the deletion of Sindh, which became a part of independent Pakistan after the 1947 partition. However, the Supreme Court ruled against the petition stating that the national anthem is “a hymn or song expressing patriotic sentiments or feelings” and “not a chronicle which defines the territory of the nation”. 
</li>
</ul></div>

Jana Gana Mana’ turns 100!

India’s national anthem – ‘Jana Gana Mana’ turned 100 years old. Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was first performed on Decemb...

+ Read more »

Gawli retires from international football

Gawli retires from international football

Indian football team defender Mahesh Gawli, who represented the country in 82 matches brought the curtain down on his 12-year-old intern...

+ Read more »

Rafael Nadal secures fifth Davis Cup title for Spain

Rafael Nadal secures fifth Davis Cup title for Spain

Rafael Nadal got the winning point as Spain won a fifth Davis Cup title The world number two beat Argentina's Juan Martin del Potr...

+ Read more »

Ramanujan mathematics centre to be set up in Chennai

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> The Ramanujan Mathematical Society (RMS) will hold a series of activities in 2012 (National Mathematical Year) to mark the 125th birth anniversary of mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. 
 
 </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> A mathematics centre named after Ramanujan would be set up in Chennai. It would have a host of facilities, including a museum. 
 
 </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Efforts were on to bring out the biography of Ramanujan by Robert Kanigel in regional languages. A documentary, tracing the history of mathematics in India, would also be made. 
</li>
</ul></div>

Ramanujan mathematics centre to be set up in Chennai

The Ramanujan Mathematical Society (RMS) will hold a series of activities in 2012 (National Mathematical Year) to mark the 125th birth an...

+ Read more »

China's super-speed test train launched

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> China has launched its first test train that is said to be capable of reaching 500 kmph from the present 300 kmph, a feat if accomplished would be a big leap forward in high speed train technology. 
 
 </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> China's largest rail vehicle maker, CSR Corp Ltd, over the weekend launched the train. The six-car train with a fair shaped head is the newest in the CRH series.  
 
 </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> It has a maximum tractive power of 22,800 kilowatts, compared with 9,600 kilowatts for the CRH380 trains in service on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, which holds the world speed record of 300 kmph 
</li>
</ul></div>

China's super-speed test train launched

China has launched its first test train that is said to be capable of reaching 500 kmph from the present 300 kmph, a feat if accomplished...

+ Read more »

India wants Sri Lanka to probe rights abuse charges

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>India wants an “independent and credible mechanism…to investigate allegations of human rights violations” during the end stages of Eelam War IV. This needs to be done in a “time-bound manner,” India has told Sri Lanka.</li>
<li> </li>
<li> Belatedly commenting on the Sri Lankan Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee report, tabled in Parliament on December 16, the Indian External Affairs spokesperson said: “The present situation provides a great window of opportunity to forge a consensual way forward towards reconciliation through a political settlement based on devolution of power. 
 
 </li>
<li> “It recognises that a political solution is imperative to addressing the root cause of the conflict and notes that the government should provide leadership to a political process, which must be pursued for the purpose of establishing a framework for ensuring sustainable peace and security in the post-conflict environment.” 
</li>
</ul></div>

India wants Sri Lanka to probe rights abuse charges

India wants an “independent and credible mechanism…to investigate allegations of human rights violations” during the end stages of Eelam W...

+ Read more »

Kim Jong-un gets important title

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> North Korea on Monday added an important title to the fast-growing credentials of its untested new ruler, referring to the youngest son of late leader Kim Jong-Il as head of a key ruling party body. In a move that experts said shows the successor is on track to take full control of the secretive nation, the ruling party newspaper hailed him as head of its Central Committee. 
 
 </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Mr. Kim, in his late 20s, has already been touted as “great successor” and “supreme commander” of the military since his father died on December 17 of a heart attack at the age of 69. Usually the head of the Central Committee — a top decision-making body — is also its general secretary, a position previously held by Kim Jong-Il. 
</li>
</ul></div>

Kim Jong-un gets important title

North Korea on Monday added an important title to the fast-growing credentials of its untested new ruler, referring to the youngest son o...

+ Read more »

India not for legally binding pact’

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> India will not sign any legally binding global agreement for emissions reduction, as the country needs to eradicate poverty through economic growth 
 
 </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> There is no question of signing a legally binding agreement at this point of our development. We need to make sure that our development does not suffer. 
 
 </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> The Green Climate Fund, a decision was taken at the Conference to set up a USD 100 billion corpus which would start operations soon with an interim secretariat and a Board.  
 
 </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> "The fund will help a large number of vulnerable countries in taking effective mitigation and adaptation actions. India played a facilitating role in Durban in ensuring that the Fund is established, 
</li>
</ul></div>

India not for legally binding pact’

India will not sign any legally binding global agreement for emissions reduction, as the country needs to eradicate poverty through econo...

+ Read more »

India to become fifth-largest economy by 2020

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> Brazil now has a bigger economy than the United Kingdom, making the world's sixth-largest economic power, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research. 
 
</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> The London-based consultancy forecast the trend was set to continue, with Russia and India expected to overtake Europe's other major economies, France and Germany, by 2020. 
</li>
</ul> <h1>TOP 10 ECONOMIES OF THE WORLD</h1> <ol><li>    The United States 
</li>
<li>    China 
</li>
<li>    Japan 
</li>
<li>    Germany 
</li>
<li>    France 
</li>
<li>    Brazil 
</li>
<li>    The United Kingdom 
</li>
<li>    Italy 
</li>
<li>    Russia 
</li>
<li>    India 
</li>
</ol></div>

India to become fifth-largest economy by 2020

Brazil now has a bigger economy than the United Kingdom, making the world's sixth-largest economic power, according to the Centre for...

+ Read more »

RAPID GK SERIES 12

RAPID GK SERIES 12

1. The CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2009 is 2. Indiaâ€™s first Special Economic Zone (SEZ) dedicated to the aerospace industry has been launc...

+ Read more »