The Competition Master

Cyclonic storm 'Thane' likely to intensify

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li> <div style="text-align: justify;">The cyclonic storm 'Thane' over south-west and south-east Bay of Bengal is likely to move west-north-westwards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm on Thursday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The storm is likely to cross north Tamil Nadu and South Andhra Pradesh coasts between Cuddalore and Nellore  
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Fishermen along north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh coasts are advised not to venture into the sea. 
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Cyclonic storm 'Thane' likely to intensify

The cyclonic storm 'Thane' over south-west and south-east Bay of Bengal is likely to move west-north-westwards and intensify into...

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Russia supplies Mi-17V5 helicopters to Afghanistan

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">  Russia has supplied the firstnine Mi-17V5, transport helicopters to war-torn Afghanistan. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The air vehicles will be delivered to Afghanistan nextyear, a representative of the defence industry sector whichparticipates in the filling of the contract has toldArms-Tass. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The value of the Russian-US contract for the delivery ofMi-17V5 helicopters is $375.05 million.  
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The contract was signed by the Rosoboronexportorganization with the Command of the US Land Forces on May 26,2011.   
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The helicopters are supplied for the purposes ofenlarging the Afghan national security forces' alreadyavailable and operational fleet of Russian-made Mi-17helicopters.</li>
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Russia supplies Mi-17V5 helicopters to Afghanistan

Russia has supplied the firstnine Mi-17V5, transport helicopters to war-torn Afghanistan. The air vehicles will be delivered to Afgh...

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World's 2nd tallest building being made in China

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> Racing ahead with the construction of the second tallest building in the world, China has completed the foundation for 632-metre high Shanghai Tower,second only to 828-metre tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai.        
   
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Work crews have completed the foundation one month ahead of schedule and are now rushing to construct the ground structure of the building situated in China's financial hub of Shanghai. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> It  took three years to complete the foundation, and estimated that it will take another three to finish the ground structure.  </li>
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World's 2nd tallest building being made in China

Racing ahead with the construction of the second tallest building in the world, China has completed the foundation for 632-metre high Sha...

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Bengal to take over Indira Bhavan

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> The West Bengal Government will take over Indira Bhavan, which was the official residence of former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu at Salt Lake. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> It  would be turned into a museum and a research centre devoted to Kavi Nazrul Islam, “a contemporary of Rabindranath Tagore”. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> “The decision to convert Indira Bhavan into Nazrul Bhavan has been taken in public interest and to promote research work on the great rebel poet 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The Nazrul Bhavan would house a research centre and museum on the great rebel poet who made a memorable contribution to the country's freedom movement. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The bungalow was named Indira Bhavan during the Congress Session in 1972 when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi stayed there for the duration of the session. 
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Bengal to take over Indira Bhavan

The West Bengal Government will take over Indira Bhavan, which was the official residence of former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu at Salt Lak...

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Parliament passes Bill to protect cooperatives

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> The Parliament on Wednesday passed the crucial Constitution (111{+t}{+h}Amendment) Bill to insulate about six lakh cooperative societies from political and government interference and to strengthen the cooperative movement. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The amendment will grant citizens a fundamental right to form cooperative societies and allow for voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of cooperative societies. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The Bill, moved by Agriculture and Cooperation Minister Sharad Pawar, was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 154 members voting in favour and 43 opposing it. The Bill has already been approved by the Lok Sabha. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Members belonging to the CPI (M), the CPI, and the BJD opposed the Bill saying it was encroaching upon the rights of States. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The Bill provides for reservation of one seat for the Scheduled Caste or the Scheduled Tribe and two seats for women on the board of every society provided it had individuals as members from these categories. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> It also seeks to specify the number of directors of a society and provides a fixed term of five years from the date of election of members and office bearers. 
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Parliament passes Bill to protect cooperatives

The Parliament on Wednesday passed the crucial Constitution (111{+t}{+h}Amendment) Bill to insulate about six lakh cooperative societies...

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Free medicare for 50 lakh poor families

Free medicare for 50 lakh poor families

Maharashtra government will spend Rs. 800 crore on the first phase of a health scheme for the poor, which is slated to benefit nearly 50 ...

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Twin NASA probes approach lunar orbit

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> Twin NASA spacecraft are set to blast into lunar orbit at the weekend on a mission to study the subterranean structure of the Moon in order to better understand the origins of planets. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The first Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL-A) will begin orbiting the Moon at 2121 GMT on December 31, followed by GRAIL-B on January 1 at around 2205 GMT, NASA said in a statement. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> "This mission will rewrite the textbooks on the evolution of the Moon, 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The $500 million pair of washing machine-sized satellites were launched on September 10 on a mission to map the Moon's inner core for the first time. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Beginning in March 2012, the two unmanned spacecraft will send radio signals that allow scientists to create a high-resolution map of the Moon's gravitational field, helping them to better understand its sub-surface features and the origins of other bodies in the solar system. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The mission should shed light on the unexplored far side of the Moon and test a hypothesis that there was once a second Moon that fused with Earth's Moon. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The two spacecraft have covered more than 2.5 million miles (4 million kilometers) since they were launched in September, according to NASA. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> GRAIL-A was 65,860 miles (106,000 kilometers) from the Moon. GRAIL-B was 79,540 miles (128,000 kilometers) away. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Scientists believe that the Moon was formed when a planet-sized object crashed into the Earth, throwing off material that eventually became Earth's airless, desolate satellite. 
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Twin NASA probes approach lunar orbit

Twin NASA spacecraft are set to blast into lunar orbit at the weekend on a mission to study the subterranean structure of the Moon in ord...

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Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> The year 2013 has been marked for various mathematical activities under a wide umbrella of initiatives called the Mathematics of the Planet Earth (MPE) 2013, which will focus on mathematical research in areas of relevance to the various processes that affect the earth. The dynamics of the oceans and the atmosphere and the changes in the climate are, of course, the obvious topics that are important for life on planet earth and make use of mathematics in an essential way. In addition, a multitude of other topics are of relevance, including the financial and economic systems, energy production and utilisation, spread of epidemics at the population level, ecology and genomics of species. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> To stimulate imagination on the many domains where mathematics plays a crucial role in planetary issues, the following four (non-exhaustive) themes are proposed as part of MPE-2013: 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> A planet to discover: oceans; meteorology and climate; mantle processes, natural resources, celestial mechanics. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> A planet supporting life: ecology, biodiversity, evolution. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> A planet organised by humans: political, economic, social and financial systems; organisation of transport and communications networks; management of resources; energy. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> A planet at risk: climate change, sustainable development, epidemics; invasive species, natural disasters. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Many international bodies are partners in MPE-2013. The International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS) of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is a partner-institute. The main goals of the ICTS are to foster research, be a resource for high-level education and training, and reach out to the larger society by being a node for scientific information and values. The ICTS would liaise with the Indian scientific community, possibly in collaboration with researchers around the world, to conduct workshops, thematic programmes, and conferences . 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Another major theme will be outreach to increase awareness of the importance and essential nature of mathematics in tackling these problems, and to bring out the relevance and usefulness of mathematics to a wider section of society . One activity that is being actively pursued at the international level is a “Competition for an open source exhibition of virtual modules.” 
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Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013

The year 2013 has been marked for various mathematical activities under a wide umbrella of initiatives called the Mathematics of the Plan...

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Top 10 breakthroughs of the year 2011

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> The journal Science has lauded an eye-opening HIV study, known as HPTN 052, as the most important scientific breakthrough of 2011. This clinical trial demonstrated that people infected with HIV are 96 per cent less likely to transmit the virus to their partners if they take antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> According to a release from Science, the findings end a long-standing debate over whether ARVs could provide a double benefit by treating the virus in individual patients while simultaneously cutting transmission rates. It's now clear that the drugs can provide treatment as well as prevention when it comes to HIV, researchers agree. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The Hayabusa Mission: After some near-disastrous technical difficulties and a stunningly successful recovery, Japan's Hayabusa spacecraft returned to Earth with dust from the surface of a large, S-type asteroid. This asteroid dust represented the first direct sampling of a planetary body in 35 years, and analysis of the grains confirmed that the most common meteorites found on Earth, known as ordinary chondrules, are born from these much larger, S-type asteroids. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Unraveling Human Origins: Studying the genetic code of both ancient and modern human beings, researchers discovered that many humans still carry DNA variants inherited from archaic humans, such as the mysterious Denisovans in Asia and still-unidentified ancestors in Africa. One study this year revealed how archaic humans likely shaped our modern immune systems, and an analysis of Australopithecus sediba fossils in South Africa showed that the ancient hominin possessed both primitive and Homo-like traits. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Capturing a Photosynthetic Protein: In vivid detail, researchers in Japan have mapped the structure of the Photosystem II, or PSII, protein that plants use to split water into hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The crystal-clear image shows off the protein's catalytic core and reveals the specific orientation of atoms within. Now, scientists have access to this catalytic structure that is essential for life on Earth — one that may also hold the key to a powerful source of clean energy. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Pristine Gas in Space: Astronomers using the Keck telescope in Hawaii to probe the faraway universe wound up discovering two clouds of hydrogen gas that seem to have maintained their original chemistry for two billion years after the big bang. Other researchers identified a star that is almost completely devoid of metals, just as the universe's earliest stars must have been, but that formed much later. The discoveries show that pockets of matter persisted unscathed amid eons of cosmic violence. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Getting to Know the Microbiome: Research into the countless microbes that dwell in the human gut demonstrated that everyone has a dominant bacterium leading the gang in their digestive tract: Bacteroides, Prevotella orRuminococcus. Follow-up studies revealed that one of these bacteria thrives on a high-protein diet while another prefers vegetarian fare. These findings and more helped to clarify the interplay between diet and microbes in nutrition and disease. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> A Promising Malaria Vaccine: Early results of the clinical trial of a malaria vaccine, known as RTS,S, provided a shot in the arm to malaria vaccine research. The ongoing trial, which has enrolled more than 15,000 children from seven African countries, reassured malaria researchers, who are used to bitter disappointment, that discovering a malaria vaccine remains possible. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Strange Solar Systems: This year, astronomers got their first good views of several distant planetary systems and discovered that things are pretty weird out there. First, NASA's Kepler observatory helped identify a star system with planets orbiting in ways that today's models cannot explain. Then, researchers discovered a gas giant caught in a rare "retrograde" orbit, a planet circling a binary star system and 10 planets that seem to be freely floating in space — all unlike anything found in our own solar system. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Designer Zeolites: Zeolites are porous minerals that are used as catalysts and molecular sieves to convert oil into gasoline, purify water, filter air and produce laundry detergents (to name a few uses). This year, chemists really showed off their creativity by designing a range of new zeolites that are cheaper, thinner and better equipped to process larger organic molecules. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Clearing Senescent Cells: Experiments have revealed that clearing senescent cells (those that have stopped dividing) from the bodies of mice can delay the onset of age-related symptoms. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Mice whose bodies were cleared of these loitering cells didn't live longer than their untreated cage-mates — but they did seem to live better, which provided researchers with some hope that banishing senescent cells might also prolong our golden years. 
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</ul></div>

Top 10 breakthroughs of the year 2011

The journal Science has lauded an eye-opening HIV study, known as HPTN 052, as the most important scientific breakthrough of 2011. This...

+ Read more »

Saudi women to vote without male approval

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> Women in Saudi Arabia will not need a male guardian's approval to run or vote in municipal elections in 2015, when women will also run for office for the first time. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Despite the historic decision by the king to allow women the right to participate in the country's only open elections, male guardian laws in Saudi Arabia remain largely unchanged. Women cannot travel, work, study abroad, marry, get divorced or gain admittance to a public hospital without permission from a male guardian. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The country is guided by an ultraconservative interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Saudi women cannot study abroad unless a male guardian approves and accompanies them throughout their studies. Government-run hospitals are allowed to perform surgery on women only with approval from a male guardian, except in emergencies. Male guardians in Saudi Arabia are allowed to remove their daughters or sisters from school at any time. In the case that a father, uncle or brother is not available, mothers turn to their sons for approval to work or travel 
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Saudi women to vote without male approval

Women in Saudi Arabia will not need a male guardian's approval to run or vote in municipal elections in 2015, when women will also ru...

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