Jeywin Blog

56th Idea Fimfare Awards 2011

Sunday, January 30th, 2011

The 56th Idea Filmfare Awards ended on 29.01.2011 with ‘Udaan’ making a clean sweep taking home the 7 Filmfare Awards including Best Supporting Actor (Male), Best Film (Critics), Best Story, Cinematography, Screenplay, Best Background Music and Best Sound Design Award. While SRK starrer My Name is Khan snapped up the most popular awards-Best Director, Best Actor (Male), Best Actor (Female), Arbaz’s Dabangg won six awards as well.

Popular Awards

Best Actor: Rekha gives the Best Actor Award to Shah Rukh Khan for ‘My Name is Khan’. The charming actor says, “I want to take this award for my daughter. I wanted to make her wear a red gown and walk in with me on the red carpet. But she’s unwell”.

Best Actress: Kajol for ‘My Name is Khan’

Best Film: Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora Khan take the award for ‘Dabangg’

Best Director Award: Karan Johar for My Name is Khan. After ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ it took 12 yrs for Karan Johar to win another Filmfare trophy.

Best Debut Director: Manish Sharma for Band Baajaa Baaraat

Best Debut Actor (Male): Ranveer Singh for Band Baajaa Baaraat

Best Debut Actor (Female): Sonakshi Sinha for Dabangg

Best Supporting Actor (Male): Ronit Roy for ‘Udaan’

Best Supporting Actor (Female): Kareena Kapoor for ‘We Are Family’

Filmfare Critics Awards

Best Actor (Critics): Rishi Kapoor for ‘Do Dooni Chaar’

Best Actress (Critics): Vidya Balan for ‘Ishqiya’

Best Film (Critics): Vikramaditya Motwane and Sanjay Singh for ‘Udaan’

Special Awards

Shah Rukh Khan and Yash Chopra present Amitabh Bachchan an award for completing 40 years in the film industry. Yash Chopra also adds, “Amitabh Bachchan is the Best Actor in the world”.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan presents Madhuri Dixit Nene an award for completing 25 years in the film industry. Madhuri recalls her wonderful journey over the years in the film industry and thanks each and everyone from her directors, husband, kids, mom, dad and secretary Rikku Rakesh Nath who’s been with her for the last 25 years.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Prabodh Chandra Dey popularly known in Bollywood as Manna Dey was felicitated with one of the most prestigious award of the night – the Lifetime Achievement award. This is his second Filmfare trophy. He won his first Filmfare Award in 1970 for singing the song ‘Ae Bhai Zara Dekh Ke Chalo’ from Mera Naam Joker.

The 90 year old singer Manna Dey couldn’t attend the function and so Vidya Balan went to his house to present him the award. It can be recalled that Manna Dey has recorded more than 3500 songs over the course of his career. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 1971, the Padma Bhushan in 2005 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2009.

Best Scene of the Year Award: Golmaal 3

Filmfare Music Awards

Best Music Composer: Sajid Wajid won the Best Music Composer Award for Dabangg. Speaking about it Sajid says, “This is our first Filmfare trophy and we are on top of the world. We knew from before that we were bagging all the awards this year. We have only one song to dedicate to our black lady: Tere Mast Mast Do Nain”. Best Song Composer : Yet another award goes for Dabangg and this time the award goes to Lalit Pandit who composed the song Munni Badnam Hui… “It’s taken me twenty years to win this award. AR Rahman always won it from under our nose. A lot of effort has gone into this. It has inspired me to work harder”, said Lalit.

Best Lyrics: Gulzar won the Best Lyrics Award for the song ‘Ibn-e-Batuta’ (Ishqiya). The veteran lyricist says, “This award is special to me because it’s a Filmfare Award”. Regarding what inspired him while penning these lines Gulzar says, “Well, it’s in my hormones. Dil abhi bhi baccha hai. So I didn’t have to seek inspiration from anywhere else.”

Most Promising Talent in Music: Sneha Khanwalkar for ‘Love Sex aur Dhokha’

Best Playback Singer (Male): Rahat Fateh Ali Khan won Best Playback Singer (Male) for ‘Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji’ (Ishqiya)

Best Playback Singer (Female): Best Playback Singer (Female) Award was shared between Mamta Sharma for ‘Munni Badnaam Hui’ (Dabangg) and Sunidhi Chauhan for ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’ (Tees Maar Khan)

Filmfare Technical Awards

Best Choreography: Farah Khan for ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’ from Tees Maar Khan. Farah says, “Thank God that Udaan is not nominated in the Best Choreography section. I am sure I would have lost to them.” She dedicated the award to her triplets. “Today was their sports day,” she revealed.

Best Dialogue: Habib Faisal for Do Dooni Chaar

Best Screenplay: Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane for Udaan

Best Story: Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane for Udaan

Best Background Music: Amit Trivedi for Udaan. Amit says, “I am very happy that I won this award for Udaan. I didn’t even know that I was nominated. Then I realized I have not one but two – Udaan and Aisha. I am happy that I won it for Udaan as it is a small film and I wasn’t even expecting an award for it. There were big competitors in the same league so I am glad.”

Best Action Director: Vijayan Master for Dabbang

Best Cinematography: Mahendra Shetty for Udaan

Best Action Sequence: Vijayan Master for Dabbang

Best Editing Award: Namrata Rao for ‘Love Sex aur Dhoka’.

Best Production Design Award: Mukund Gupta for ‘Do Dooni Chaar’.

Best Sound Design Award: Best Sound Design Award is shared by Pritam Das for ‘Love Sex Aur Dhoka’ and Kunal Sharma for ‘Udaan’.

Best Costume Design Award: The first Award of the night has been declared. Varsha and Shilpa have won the Best Costume Design Award for the film Do Dooni Chaar.
Dream Dare Win

www.jeywin.com

*****

Mandela’s and his life times

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

Nelson Mandela is one of the world’s most revered statesmen, who led the struggle to replace the apartheid regime of South Africa with a multi-racial democracy.

Jailed for 27 years, he emerged to become the country’s first black president and to play a leading role in the drive for peace in other spheres of conflict. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

His charisma, self-deprecating sense of humour and lack of bitterness over his harsh treatment, as well as his amazing life story, partly explain his extraordinary global appeal.

Since stepping down as president in 1999, Mr Mandela has become South Africa’s highest-profile ambassador, campaigning against HIV/Aids and helping to secure his country’s right to host the 2010 football World Cup.

Mr Mandela – diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2001 – was also involved in peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and other countries in Africa and elsewhere.

In 2004, at the age of 85, Mr Mandela retired from public life to spend more time with his family and friends and engage in “quiet reflection”.

“Don’t call me, I’ll call you,” he warned anyone thinking of inviting him to future engagements.

The former president had made few public appearances since largely retiring from public life.

In November 2010, his office released photos of a meeting he had held with members of the US and South African football teams.

In late January 2011 he was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital for what were described as “specialised tests” with the South African presidency reminding a concerned nation that Mr Mandela has had “previous respiratory infections”.

Raised by royalty

He was born in 1918 into the Xhosa-speaking Thembu people in a small village in the eastern Cape of South Africa. In South Africa, he is often called by his clan name – “Madiba”.

Born Rolihlahla Dalibhunga, he was given his English name, Nelson, by a teacher at his school.

His father, a counsellor to the Thembu royal family, died when Nelson Mandela was nine, and he was placed in the care of the acting regent of the Thembu people, chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo.

He joined the African National Congress in 1943, first as an activist, then as the founder and president of the ANC Youth League.

Eventually, after years in prison, he also served as its president.

He married his first wife, Evelyn Mase, in 1944. They were divorced in 1957 after having three children.

Mr Mandela qualified as a lawyer and in 1952 opened a law practice in Johannesburg with his partner, Oliver Tambo.

Together, Mr Mandela and Mr Tambo campaigned against apartheid, the system devised by the all-white National Party which oppressed the black majority.

In 1956, Mr Mandela was charged with high treason, along with 155 other activists, but the charges against him were dropped after a four-year trial.

Resistance to apartheid grew, mainly against the new Pass Laws, which dictated where black people were allowed to live and work.

In 1958, Mr Mandela married Winnie Madikizela, who was later to take an active role in the campaign to free her husband from prison.

The ANC was outlawed in 1960 and Mr Mandela went underground.

Tension with the apartheid regime grew, and soared to new heights in 1960 when 69 black people were shot dead by police in the Sharpeville massacre.

Life sentence

This marked the end of peaceful resistance and Mr Mandela, already national vice-president of the ANC, launched a campaign of economic sabotage.

He was eventually arrested and charged with sabotage and attempting to violently overthrow the government.

Conducting his own defence in the Rivonia court room, Mr Mandela used the stand to convey his beliefs about democracy, freedom and equality.

“I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities,” he said.

“It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

In the winter of 1964 he was sentenced to life in prison.

In the space of 12 months between 1968 and 1969, Mr Mandela’s mother died and his eldest son was killed in a car crash but he was not allowed to attend the funerals.

He remained in prison on Robben Island for 18 years before being transferred to Pollsmoor Prison on the mainland in 1982.

As Mr Mandela and other ANC leaders languished in prison or lived in exile, the youths of South Africa’s black townships did their best to fight white minority rule.

Hundreds were killed and thousands were injured before the schoolchildren’s uprising was crushed.

In 1980, Mr Tambo, who was in exile, launched an international campaign to release Mr Mandela.

The world community tightened the sanctions first imposed on South Africa in 1967 against the apartheid regime.

The pressure produced results, and in 1990, President FW de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC, and Mr Mandela was released from prison and talks on forming a new multi-racial democracy for South Africa began.

Slum townships

In 1992, Mr Mandela divorced his wife, Winnie, after she was convicted on charges of kidnapping and accessory to assault.

In December 1993, Mr Mandela and Mr de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Five months later, for the first time in South Africa’s history, all races voted in democratic elections and Mr Mandela was overwhelmingly elected president.

Mr Mandela’s greatest problem as president was the housing shortage for the poor, and slum townships continued to blight major cities.

He entrusted his deputy, Thabo Mbeki, with the day-to-day business of the government, while he concentrated on the ceremonial duties of a leader, building a new international image of South Africa.

In that context, he succeeded in persuading the country’s multinational corporations to remain and invest in South Africa.

On his 80th birthday, Nelson Mandela married Graca Machel, the widow of the former president of Mozambique.

He continued travelling the world, meeting leaders, attending conferences and collecting awards after stepping down as president.

After his official retirement, his public appearances were mostly connected with the work of the Mandela Foundation, a charitable fund that he founded.

On his 89th birthday, he formed The Elders, a group of leading world figures, to offer their expertise and guidance “to tackle some of the world’s toughest problems”.

Possibly his most noteworthy intervention of recent years came early in 2005, following the death of his surviving son, Makgatho.

In a country where taboos still surround the Aids epidemic, Mr Mandela announced that his son had died of Aids, and urged South Africans to talk about Aids ” to make it appear like a normal illness”.

He also played a key role in the decision to let South Africa host the 2010 football World Cup and appeared at the closing ceremony.

Mandela’s Key Dates

1918 – Born in the Eastern Cape

1956 – Charged with high treason, but charges dropped

1962 – Arrested, convicted of sabotage, sentenced to five years in prison

1964 – Charged again, sentenced to life

1990 – Freed from prison

1993 – Wins Nobel Peace Prize

1994 – Elected first black president

1999 – Steps down as leader

2001 – Diagnosed with prostate cancer

2004 – Retires from public life

2005 – Announces his son has died of an HIV/Aids-related illness

2007 – Forms The Elders group

2010 – Appears at closing ceremony of World Cup

Dream Dare Win

www.jeywin.com

******

Why Egypt matters after Tunisian Revolution

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

Why Egypt matters after Tunisian Revolution

The unrest in Egypt follows an uprising in Tunisia two weeks ago, in which President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was toppled after 23 years in power.

The Tunisian upheaval began with anger over rising food prices, high unemployment and anger at official corruption – problems which also left many people Egypt feeling frustrated and resentful of their leadership.

If Egyptian unrest turns into an Egyptian revolution, the implications for the Arab world – and for Western policy in the Middle East – will be immense.

Egypt matters, in a way that tiny Tunisia – key catalyst that it has been in the current wave of protest – does not. It matters because its destiny affects, in a range of ways, not only Arab interests but Israeli, Iranian and Western interests, too.

Egypt, the most populous Arab state, can help determine the thrust of Arab policies – whether towards Israel or Iran or in the perennial quest for Arab consensus on issues that matter.

Above all, the Egyptian state has traditionally had a strength and solidity that made its collapse seem unthinkable. Even now, with so much that is uncertain, that state and its basic structures may survive – with or without Hosni Mubarak, the country’s president for the last three decades.

Islamist wild card

If there is a power vacuum, who is likely to fill it? Will the powerful military intervene to restore stability? If they did, would the protesters accept such a scenario – or would they, like their Tunisian counterparts, keep up the pressure for radical change?

And – the wild card that troubles Western policy-makers most – could the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s Islamist opposition movement, somehow exploit the protests to come to power?

Right now, that scenario seems far-fetched. The Brotherhood is trying to jump on the bandwagon of a youthful and largely leaderless protest movement.

They are not in front. They are trying to catch up. But the situation is volatile. New leaders – nationalist or Islamist, civilian or military – could emerge if the country is engulfed in chaos.

Regional consequences

If the Mubarak regime were to collapse – which is still a big “if” – the fall-out would affect virtually every key player in the region and every key issue.

For Arab autocrats, it would signify the writing on the wall in a far more dramatic way than the fall of the Ben Ali regime in Tunisia.

For Arab protesters, it would be a great boost, fuelling the idea that the region has entered a new era of “people power”.

It would deal a blow to an already enfeebled Middle East peace process. Egypt was the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel, back in the 1970s. A change of regime would alarm Israeli leaders and deepen the siege mentality among many Israelis.

It would affect business confidence, regionally and even globally, especially if oil prices shot up.

Finally, it would pose painful dilemmas for Western policy-makers who have long favoured gradual political reform in the region, fearful that the alternative could be the breakdown of stability and the rise of extremism.

Right now, Arab rulers and Arab citizens are glued to their TV screens, computers and mobile phones for news of how the drama is unfolding.

It will be some time before the smoke and tear gas settle, and the new face of this troubled region begins to come into focus.

Three decades of one-party rule

Political protests may be rocking Egypt with a new, non-ideological force, but President Hosni Mubarak and his allies have not veered from a playbook they have followed through nearly three decades of one-party rule.

As always, the government has responded to the unrest primarily as a security issue, largely ignoring, or dismissing, the core demands of those who have taken to the street.

“My analysis is, the government will leave them until they reach a level of exhaustion,” said Abdel Moneim Said, a member of the President’s ruling party and the director of the government-owned newspaper and publishing house, Al Ahram.

The Egyptian leadership, long accustomed to an apolitical and largely apathetic public, remains convinced that Egypt is going through the sort of convulsion it has experienced and survived before.

The leaders see in the protest an experience similar to the events of 1977, when Anwar el-Sadat, then the President, announced plans to end subsidies of basic food items, setting off 36 hours of rioting across the country. They see a repeat of the threat the government faced from Islamist militants in the 1990s, which it violently suppressed. And so the leaders have fallen back on a familiar strategy, deploying security forces, blaming the Islamists and defining their critics as driven by economic, not political, concerns.

“I can’t think of anybody that I know that has any concern about the stability of the regime,” Mr. Said added. But the Egyptian playbook is not just calling for a strategy that runs on the fumes of history. Like the protesters, Mr. Mubarak and his allies appear to have learned lessons from Tunisia’s popular revolt.

The main one appears to be not to give an inch.

While Tunisia’s ousted president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, went on television and offered his now frequently mocked concession “I understand you”, Mr. Mubarak has remained silent, leaving it to his proxies to try to calm the unrest. That may be because neither side in this fight has much room to manoeuvre.

The opposition does not have an available political path to change, other than protest. And Mr. Mubarak has little to offer because he has systematically eviscerated civil and political institutions, creating a system that allows change to come only through his party and his allies, said political analysts here.

The Mubarak administration is blind to this weakness, however, seeing itself as strong and having the support of the majority.

“Egypt’s system is not marginal or frail,” Interior Minister Habib al-Adli told a Kuwaiti newspaper. “We are a big state, with an administration with popular support. The millions will decide the future of this nation, not demonstrations, even if numbered in the thousands.”

Loyalists, like Mr. Said of Ahram, remain committed to a view that sees the nation’s different constituencies as divided by ideology and demands, and therefore easily picked off with simple offerings like a pay raise or a Cabinet shuffle. Change, the party line goes, will come slowly, and only from the inside.

So far, there is virtually no recognition, at least publicly, that Egypt has already changed. - New York Times News Service

Massive protests rock Egypt

A string of draconian measures enforced by authorities has fuelled the Egyptian uprising, which on Friday began to seriously question the future of the 30-year-old dictatorship of President Hosni Mubarak.

By nightfall, the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) in downtown Cairo was on fire, and protesters had stormed the Foreign Ministry building. As Egypt’s revolt flared uncontrollably, the Army was called out to reinforce a curfew that was imposed at 7 p.m. local time.

Several waves of protesters have overwhelmed police in Suez city, on the edge of the Suez canal, a key international waterway. The opposition Muslim Brotherhood claimed on its website in the evening that the port city of Alexandria is “completely under the People’s control (and) police forces (have been) surrounded in (a) football field.” But by night the Army, the bastion of Mr. Mubarak’s regime, was apparently moving in to re-establish control over Egypt’s second largest city.

Amid high drama, the approaches leading to Cairo’s Tahrir (liberation) Square, the focal point after nightfall of Tuesday’s clashes, had, by afternoon, emerged as a major battleground. Braving a barrage of teargas, at least 20,000 protesters packed the Qasr al-Nil Bridge that connects Giza, famous for its Pyramids to Tahrir Square.

Thousands of activists clashed with security forces outside of Al-Azhar Mosque, in Islamic Cairo after Friday prayers, AFP reported.

A Reuters report from Cairo said at least five protesters were killed during the clashes. It was not immediately clear how they died.

Reports of protests and heavy violence poured without a break from Alexandria, Suez, the Nile delta and the Sinai desert, illustrating the massive countrywide sweep of the irrepressible protests.

The spate of demonstrations witnessed have come in the face of an intense security crackdown. Mohammad ElBaradei, a future reformist presidential hopeful who returned to Cairo on Thursday night was put under house arrest following afternoon prayers at the Giza mosque. Prior to his detention, he said that the end of the regime was “imminent.”

“They [the regime] are completely desperate. I hope the pictures will be everywhere to show how barbaric, petrified, and dictatorial the regime is. Now it’s the people versus the thugs.”

Ibrahim Eissa, former Editor-in-Chief of the Arabic daily Al-Dostour, who was at Mr. ElBaradei’s side, said the regime “seems terrified that these protests are turning into a full-fledged revolution.

Mubarak sacks cabinet and defends security role

President Hosni Mubarak has defended the role of Egypt’s security forces in suppressing anti-government protests which have rocked the country.

Mr Mubarak also dismissed his government and said a new cabinet would be announced on 29.01.2011.

Mr Obama said he had told Mr Mubarak to respect the rights of the Egyptian people and refrain from using violence against peaceful protesters – but he said the protesters also had a responsibility to express themselves peacefully. He urged the Egyptian leader to take “concrete steps that advance the rights of the Egyptian people” and deliver on the promises of reform in his address. “Violence will not address the grievances of the Egyptian people. And suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away,” he said.

Egypt protesters increase pressure – 31.01.2011

Opposition movement calls for “march of millions” on 1.02.2011 in a bid to topple president Hosni Mubarak.

Egyptian protesters have called for a massive demonstration and a rolling general strike on Tuesday in a bid to force out president Hosni Mubarak from power.

The so-called April 6, 2010 Movement said it plans to have more than one million people on the streets of the capital Cairo, as anti-government sentiment reaches a fever pitch.

The call came as Mubarak swore in a new cabinet in an attempt to defuse ongoing demonstrations across the country.

But opposition groups say personnel changes will not placate them and have said they will continue until the president steps down

Courtesy: BBC

Dream Dare Win

www.jeywin.com

*****

The unrest in Egypt follows an uprising in Tunisia two weeks ago, in which President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was toppled after 23 years in power.

The Tunisian upheaval began with anger over rising food prices, high unemployment and anger at official corruption – problems which also left many people Egypt feeling frustrated and resentful of their leadership.

If Egyptian unrest turns into an Egyptian revolution, the implications for the Arab world – and for Western policy in the Middle East – will be immense.

Egypt matters, in a way that tiny Tunisia – key catalyst that it has been in the current wave of protest – does not. It matters because its destiny affects, in a range of ways, not only Arab interests but Israeli, Iranian and Western interests, too.

Egypt, the most populous Arab state, can help determine the thrust of Arab policies – whether towards Israel or Iran or in the perennial quest for Arab consensus on issues that matter.

Above all, the Egyptian state has traditionally had a strength and solidity that made its collapse seem unthinkable. Even now, with so much that is uncertain, that state and its basic structures may survive – with or without Hosni Mubarak, the country’s president for the last three decades.

Islamist wild card

If there is a power vacuum, who is likely to fill it? Will the powerful military intervene to restore stability? If they did, would the protesters accept such a scenario – or would they, like their Tunisian counterparts, keep up the pressure for radical change?

And – the wild card that troubles Western policy-makers most – could the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s Islamist opposition movement, somehow exploit the protests to come to power?

Right now, that scenario seems far-fetched. The Brotherhood is trying to jump on the bandwagon of a youthful and largely leaderless protest movement.

They are not in front. They are trying to catch up. But the situation is volatile. New leaders – nationalist or Islamist, civilian or military – could emerge if the country is engulfed in chaos.

Regional consequences

If the Mubarak regime were to collapse – which is still a big “if” – the fall-out would affect virtually every key player in the region and every key issue.

  • For Arab autocrats, it would signify the writing on the wall in a far more dramatic way than the fall of the Ben Ali regime in Tunisia.
  • For Arab protesters, it would be a great boost, fuelling the idea that the region has entered a new era of “people power”.
  • It would deal a blow to an already enfeebled Middle East peace process. Egypt was the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel, back in the 1970s. A change of regime would alarm Israeli leaders and deepen the siege mentality among many Israelis.
  • It would affect business confidence, regionally and even globally, especially if oil prices shot up.
  • Finally, it would pose painful dilemmas for Western policy-makers who have long favoured gradual political reform in the region, fearful that the alternative could be the breakdown of stability and the rise of extremism.

Right now, Arab rulers and Arab citizens are glued to their TV screens, computers and mobile phones for news of how the drama is unfolding.

It will be some time before the smoke and tear gas settle, and the new face of this troubled region begins to come into focus.

Three decades of one-party rule

Political protests may be rocking Egypt with a new, non-ideological force, but President Hosni Mubarak and his allies have not veered from a playbook they have followed through nearly three decades of one-party rule.

As always, the government has responded to the unrest primarily as a security issue, largely ignoring, or dismissing, the core demands of those who have taken to the street.

“My analysis is, the government will leave them until they reach a level of exhaustion,” said Abdel Moneim Said, a member of the President’s ruling party and the director of the government-owned newspaper and publishing house, Al Ahram.

The Egyptian leadership, long accustomed to an apolitical and largely apathetic public, remains convinced that Egypt is going through the sort of convulsion it has experienced and survived before.

The leaders see in the protest an experience similar to the events of 1977, when Anwar el-Sadat, then the President, announced plans to end subsidies of basic food items, setting off 36 hours of rioting across the country. They see a repeat of the threat the government faced from Islamist militants in the 1990s, which it violently suppressed. And so the leaders have fallen back on a familiar strategy, deploying security forces, blaming the Islamists and defining their critics as driven by economic, not political, concerns.

“I can’t think of anybody that I know that has any concern about the stability of the regime,” Mr. Said added. But the Egyptian playbook is not just calling for a strategy that runs on the fumes of history. Like the protesters, Mr. Mubarak and his allies appear to have learned lessons from Tunisia’s popular revolt.

The main one appears to be not to give an inch.

While Tunisia’s ousted president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, went on television and offered his now frequently mocked concession “I understand you”, Mr. Mubarak has remained silent, leaving it to his proxies to try to calm the unrest. That may be because neither side in this fight has much room to manoeuvre.

The opposition does not have an available political path to change, other than protest. And Mr. Mubarak has little to offer because he has systematically eviscerated civil and political institutions, creating a system that allows change to come only through his party and his allies, said political analysts here.

The Mubarak administration is blind to this weakness, however, seeing itself as strong and having the support of the majority.

“Egypt’s system is not marginal or frail,” Interior Minister Habib al-Adli told a Kuwaiti newspaper. “We are a big state, with an administration with popular support. The millions will decide the future of this nation, not demonstrations, even if numbered in the thousands.”

Loyalists, like Mr. Said of Ahram, remain committed to a view that sees the nation’s different constituencies as divided by ideology and demands, and therefore easily picked off with simple offerings like a pay raise or a Cabinet shuffle. Change, the party line goes, will come slowly, and only from the inside.

So far, there is virtually no recognition, at least publicly, that Egypt has already changed. - New York Times News Service

Massive protests rock Egypt

A string of draconian measures enforced by authorities has fuelled the Egyptian uprising, which on Friday began to seriously question the future of the 30-year-old dictatorship of President Hosni Mubarak.

By nightfall, the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) in downtown Cairo was on fire, and protesters had stormed the Foreign Ministry building. As Egypt’s revolt flared uncontrollably, the Army was called out to reinforce a curfew that was imposed at 7 p.m. local time.

Several waves of protesters have overwhelmed police in Suez city, on the edge of the Suez canal, a key international waterway. The opposition Muslim Brotherhood claimed on its website in the evening that the port city of Alexandria is “completely under the People’s control (and) police forces (have been) surrounded in (a) football field.” But by night the Army, the bastion of Mr. Mubarak’s regime, was apparently moving in to re-establish control over Egypt’s second largest city.

Amid high drama, the approaches leading to Cairo’s Tahrir (liberation) Square, the focal point after nightfall of Tuesday’s clashes, had, by afternoon, emerged as a major battleground. Braving a barrage of teargas, at least 20,000 protesters packed the Qasr al-Nil Bridge that connects Giza, famous for its Pyramids to Tahrir Square.

Thousands of activists clashed with security forces outside of Al-Azhar Mosque, in Islamic Cairo after Friday prayers, AFP reported.

A Reuters report from Cairo said at least five protesters were killed during the clashes. It was not immediately clear how they died.

Reports of protests and heavy violence poured without a break from Alexandria, Suez, the Nile delta and the Sinai desert, illustrating the massive countrywide sweep of the irrepressible protests.

The spate of demonstrations witnessed have come in the face of an intense security crackdown. Mohammad ElBaradei, a future reformist presidential hopeful who returned to Cairo on Thursday night was put under house arrest following afternoon prayers at the Giza mosque. Prior to his detention, he said that the end of the regime was “imminent.”

“They [the regime] are completely desperate. I hope the pictures will be everywhere to show how barbaric, petrified, and dictatorial the regime is. Now it’s the people versus the thugs.”

Ibrahim Eissa, former Editor-in-Chief of the Arabic daily Al-Dostour, who was at Mr. ElBaradei’s side, said the regime “seems terrified that these protests are turning into a full-fledged revolution.

Mubarak sacks cabinet and defends security role

President Hosni Mubarak has defended the role of Egypt’s security forces in suppressing anti-government protests which have rocked the country.

Mr Mubarak also dismissed his government and said a new cabinet would be announced on 29.01.2011.

Mr Obama said he had told Mr Mubarak to respect the rights of the Egyptian people and refrain from using violence against peaceful protesters – but he said the protesters also had a responsibility to express themselves peacefully. He urged the Egyptian leader to take “concrete steps that advance the rights of the Egyptian people” and deliver on the promises of reform in his address. “Violence will not address the grievances of the Egyptian people. And suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away,” he said.

Courtesy: BBC

Dream Dare Win

www.jeywin.com

*****

Tunisian revolution and its fallout

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

Atul Aneja

Hours after a group of stone-throwing youth braved frantic police beatings and confronted grey fumes of teargas outside the Interior Ministry building in Tunis, the unthinkable happened. As darkness thickened on January 14, 2011 and agonising uncertainty gripped the Tunisian capital, word was out that Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, well entrenched dictator for 23 years, had fled. For hours, Mr. Ben Ali’s plane flew in the Mediterranean night sky, desperately seeking a place to land. France, the former colonial master, saw no benefit in obliging an ageing overused ex-dictator that it had once so assiduously feted. It refused landing permission. Finally, the harried former first family of Tunisia, known for its ostentatious ways, was rescued by the Saudis, who opened one of their numerous palaces in Jeddah to accommodate their uninvited and loveless guests.

But back in Tunisia, despite curfew and an Emergency, there was unbelievable relief and much joy on the streets. Mr. Ben Ali’s seemingly unassailable tyranny, reinforced by thousands of personally loyal troops, had suddenly collapsed. Many felt that a political revolution of great significance had been accomplished. Overnight, large sections of the media pronounced that not only an era of authoritarianism in Tunisia had ended but also a new powerful contagion of democracy was fast spreading to annihilate dictators, big and small, across West Asia. That still might be the case but not necessarily so — at least not immediately.

Built on solid organisational foundations and helped by the old and new media alike, the Tunisian rebellion has indeed aroused the masses across the region. As Abdul Bari Atwan, editor of the Palestinian daily, Al Quds Al Arabi, put it: “The Arab nation is patient, but its patience is similar to that of a camel. When it is furious, a camel does not stop until it wreaks revenge on its persecutors. It seems that such a camel has now broken free from its ties.”

But before the anticipation that the long-fossilised dominos in the Arab world will, at some stage, begin to fall is realised, Tunisia needs to consolidate its own fledgling political revolution. The Tunisians are already facing their first major challenge. Within hours of Mr. Ben Ali’s fall, the former Speaker Fuad Mebazza, elevated to the presidency, announced the formation of a stopgap national unity government, which was also meant to accommodate important Opposition figures. However, on the night of January 17, the new government, when it was unveiled, was found stuffed with the hated members of the old guard. The key Ministries of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Interior and Finance were once again bestowed on Mr. Ben Ali’s cronies.

The regime opponents have therefore their first task cut out — ensuring that the remnants of the old guard no longer occupy high places of influence and are firmly marginalised. Some success in isolating them has already been achieved. Four Opposition figures, co-opted by members of the old guard to occupy Cabinet berths, resigned in the space of 24 hours. However new and serious challenges, which any nascent revolution is bound to encounter, remain. Having accomplished the exit of a hated dictator, how does the Tunisian revolution gather steam and fill the vacuum left by the fast fading old guard? Unlike the Iranian revolution, which had Ayatollah Khomeini as its leader as well as a blaring emblem, how does the Tunisian revolution advance in the absence of a charismatic and popular leader?

The huge challenge notwithstanding, the chances are that the Tunisian people may yet succeed. Unlike many other countries experiencing political turmoil, Tunisia consists of mostly educated people and is institutionally well organised. This is a factor that goes hugely in the favour of Tunisians. Thus the anti-regime campaign that was triggered by the December 17 self-immolation of a university graduate, who was driven to sell vegetables and then denied permission to do so, had labour unions, professional syndicates, including well-entrenched unions of students, teachers, lawyers and journalists as its pillars.

These organisations, partly helped by new communication tools of Facebook and Twitter, could take advantage of the socio-economic deprivations that the Tunisians have experienced for years. As a result, a critical social mass of protesters grew, eventually bringing down the regime.

Despite Tunisia’s zooming growth rates, the growing army of the jobless fed significantly into the successful uprising. Many analysts are of the view that the official 14 per cent unemployment rate hardly reflects the true picture of desperation the youth have been experiencing. According to some estimates, nearly half the youth in the 15-24 age bracket are unemployed in some parts of the interior, the core of the Tunisian revolt. Wages are low in the job-creating euro-centric tourism and textile manufacturing hubs established in “free trade zones.” The hardships of ordinary people have become all the more acute for, under the diktat of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, government subsides have been either lowered or removed in the food and gasoline sectors.

With mass misery rising, heavy corruption centred round the President, the President’s wife, Leila Trabelsi and her family emerged as an emotive symbol to ignite the rebellion. According to a WikiLeaks cable from the U.S. embassy in Tunis, the Ben Ali and Trabelsi families had cornered nearly 50 per cent of the country’s wealth. It was, therefore, not surprising that when the crowds went on the rampage on January 15, they targeted business properties associated with the two nepotistic ruling clans. In the Tunis neighbourhood of Cite Habib, a villa belonging to Leila Trabelsi’s nephew was set afire. Dealership showrooms, owned by Mr. Ben Ali’s son-in-law Mohamed Sakher El Materi, of Kia, Fiat and Porsche vehicles were also burnt down. The next day, Imed Trabelsi — Ms. Trabelsi’s nephew who had been stabbed — died in a Tunis military hospital, accounting for the first fatality in the ruling family in the aftermath of the month-long uprising.

As the Tunisian revolt gathers its second wind, the role of the military could become crucial. It is widely believed that Mr. Ben Ali’s nearly 1,80,000-strong security police are at loggerheads with the regular army. In fact, unlike the police whom the protesters targeted, evident from the torching of a number of police stations, the military continues to remain a popular force. The army’s neutrality and thus its clean popular image came into focus when it declined to fire at the protesters, causing Mr. Ben Ali to sack his Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Rashid Ammar.

Deep imprint

The uprising in Tunisia is leaving behind a deep imprint on the impoverished youth in the neighbouring countries. But can it spread fast and strongly enough to challenge the deeply entrenched regimes that have been built on the foundations of patronage, pillage and ruthless force, perpetrated by the grossest human rights violations?

The psychological impact of the Tunisian example in the region is palpable. In Algeria, four persons set themselves ablaze to protest their dire economic and political situation. Egypt, demographically the largest nation in the region and cultural heartbeat of the Arab world, has also witnessed a case of self-immolation.

Panic is also setting in among the regimes, though it would be erroneous to assume that its feckless dictators are considering throwing in the towel anytime soon. Nevertheless, a nervous Egyptian establishment has decided to rein in the prices of essentials like rice and sugar, and end the breadlines by not withholding wheat flour to bakeries for previous violations. The Egyptian daily, Al-Mesryoon, has reported that on the security front, instructions have been passed to prevent Opposition forces and movements from holding demonstrations or protests.

The Libyan dictator, Muammar Qadhafi, also appeared shaken by the dramatic developments on his doorstep. Soon after Mr. Ben Ali fled, he strongly disapproved of the Tunisian revolt. In a televised address, he chided the Tunisian people for being impatient. “You have suffered a great loss,” he said. “There is none better than Zine to govern Tunisia.”

A stunned Arab League — which has largely degenerated into a cabal of dictators and plutocrats — scampered to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to collectively absorb the shock inflicted upon it by the commoners of Tunisia.

Despite the revulsion that it has generated, it would take much more than high-octane emotion to dislodge the odious dictatorships. Nevertheless, Egypt seems to echo loudest the radical voices of fundamental change that are resonating from the Tunisian street. Unlike many of the smaller countries, Egypt’s battle-hardened core of the poor and the dispossessed are also its best organised.

Besides, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is a highly potent force, which might come into its own as part of the larger Egyptian opposition, especially as the iron-fisted regime of President Hosni Mubarak is soon likely to witness a major transition.

Courtesy: The Hindu

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*****

68th Annual Golden Globe Awards, 2011

Monday, January 17th, 2011

A Golden Globe Award is an accolade presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) to recognize excellence in film, television (and probably music) both domestic and foreign. The annual formal ceremony and dinner at which the awards are presented is a major part of the film industry’s awards season, which culminates each year with the Academy Awards.

The 1st Golden Globe Awards were held in January 1944 at the 20th Century Fox studios in Los Angeles. The 68th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 2010, are presented on January 16, 2011, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, where they have been held annually since 1961

Comedian Ricky Gervais is hosting the 2011 and 68th Golden Globes Award ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, organised by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).

MOTION PICTURES

Drama: The Social Network

Musical or Comedy: The Kids Are All Right

Director: David Fincher, The Social Network

Actor, Drama: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

Actress, Drama: Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Actor, Musical or Comedy: Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version

Actress, Musical or Comedy: Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter

Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Original Score: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network

Original Song: “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” (written by Diane Warren), Burlesque

Foreign Language Film: In a Better World

Animated Film: Toy Story 3

Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

TELEVISION

Drama Series: Boardwalk Empire

Musical or Comedy Series: Glee

Actor, Drama: Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire

Actress, Drama: Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy

Actor, Musical or Comedy: Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Actress, Musical or Comedy: Laura Linney, The Big C

Miniseries or Movie: Carlos

Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Claire Danes, Temple Grandin

Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Al Pacino, You Don’t Know Jack

Supporting Actor, TV Series, Miniseries or Movie: Chris Colfer, Glee

Supporting Actress, TV Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jane Lynch, Glee

HONORARY

Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Robert De Niro

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*****

Teresa Scanlan of Nebraska is Miss America 2011

Monday, January 17th, 2011

Teresa Scanlan of Nebraska will spend the next year as Miss America after besting 52 other pageant hopefuls on 15.01.2011 in Las Vegas, United States of America.

The 17-year-old Gering resident and Scottsbluff High School student played the piano during the competition. Her platform issue was tackling eating disorders. She hopes to attend law school, become a judge and eventually a politician, according to the Miss America website.

Scanlan succeeds 2010 honoree, Caressa Cameron from Virginia. The 22-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University student is the National Goodwill Ambassador for the Children’s Miracle Network.

The other four finalists were Emoly West of Oklahoma, Jacquie Brown of Washington, Jalee Fuselier of Hawaii and Alyse Eady of Arkansas.

Scanlan is the youngest winner since the pageant instituted age requirements — between 18 and 28 starting in 1938. The age limit changed again in 1993 to 17 to 24. In 1933, for instance, when there was no upper or lower age limit, 15-year-old Marian Bergeron of Connecticut captured the title.

This year’s contest was the 90th anniversary of the Miss America pageant. Margaret Gorman became known as the first Miss America after winning a pair of contests in 1921 — one consisting of women deemed most popular based on photos shown in various East Coast newspapers and the other for the so-called Golden Mermaid trophy.

Today judges rate contestants on talent, appearance and demeanor based on performances, interviews and evening wear and swimsuit competitions.

The pageant, which is distinct from the Miss USA crown, aims “to provide personal and professional opportunities for young women to promote their voices in culture, politics and the community,” according to the Miss America website.

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*****

2010 – 2011 Tunisian Jasmine Revolution

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

Manjula Rajagopal

Tunisia is a Country in North Africa.

Area: 63,170 sq mi (163,610 sq km). Population: (2009 est.) 10,272,000. Capital: Tunis. The population is of Arab and Amazigh ancestry. Languages: Arabic (official), French. Religion: Islam (official; predominantly Sunni). Currency: Tunisian dinar.

Tunisia comprises a coastal region, mountains, an extensive hilly steppe, a marshy area with shallow salt lakes, and a tract of the Sahara. The Majardah is its longest (about 290 mi [460 km]) and only perennial river.

The Jasmine Revolution are protests taking place in numerous towns across Tunisia which led President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to step down from his presidency and leave Tunisia on 14 January 2011 after 23 years in power.  Protestors rioted over unemployment, food inflation, corruption, freedom of speech and poor living conditions. The protests, which began in December 2010 after a fruit and vegetable seller (with university degree) set himself on fire after police confiscated his produce (alleging he did not have the necessary permit) constitute the most dramatic wave of social and political unrest in Tunisia in three decades and have resulted in scores of deaths and injuries. Following Ben Ali’s departure, a new election was called within 60 days.

The protests have also been called the Jasmine Revolution in the western media in keeping with the geopolitical nomenclature of “colour revolutions”. Others have dubbed the protests and the ouster of President Ben Ali as a Twitter Revolution or Wikileaks Revolution due to the influence of these new media.

Background

Riots on 18 December, 2010 in Sidi Bouzid went largely unnoticed, although social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube featured images of police dispersing youths who attacked shop windows and damaged cars. One protester, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself alight in protest against the confiscation of his fruit and vegetable cart. He was subsequently transferred to a hospital in Tunis where he died on 4 January, 2011.

As pointed out by media networks, such as Al Jazeera and CBS News, riots in Tunisia were rare and noteworthy, especially since the country is generally considered to be wealthy and stable as compared to other countries in the region. Al Jazeera English also said that Tunisian activists are amongst the most outspoken in its part of the world with various messages of support being posted on Twitter for Bouazizi. An op-ed article in the same network said of the action that it was “suicidal protests of despair by Tunisia’s youth.” It pointed out that the state-controlled National Solidarity Fund and the National Employment Fund had traditionally subsidised many goods and services in the country but had started to shift the “burden of providence from state to society” to be funded by the “bidonvilles,” or shanty towns, around the richer towns and suburbs. It also cited the “marginalisation of the agrarian and arid central and southern areas [that] continue unabated.” The protests were also called an “uprising” because of “a lethal combination of poverty, unemployment and political repression: three characteristics of most Arab societies.”

The Tunisian government of Ben Ali, which had been criticised in the media and amongst NGO’s, was supported by the United States and France because of Ben Ali’s “persecution of the Islamists, his economic agenda was touted as a brilliant model that could be replicated in North Africa and he proved to be a staunch US ally actively involved in the controversial rendition programme.” As a result, the initial reactions by the US and France were muted.

Protests

There were reports of police obstructing demonstrators and using tear gas on hundreds of young protesters in Sidi Bouzid in mid-December 2010. The protesters had gathered outside regional government headquarters to demonstrate against the treatment of Mohamed Bouazizi who had set himself on fire to protest the police confiscation of fruit and vegetables he was trying to sell on the streets. Coverage of events was limited by Tunisian media. On 19 December 2010, extra police were present on the streets of the city.

On 22 December 2010, Lahseen Naji, a protestor, responded to “hunger and joblessness” by electrocuting himself after climbing an electricity pylon. Ramzi Al-Abboudi also killed himself because of financial difficulties arising from a business debt by the country’s micro-credit solidarity programme. On 24 December 2010, Mohamed Ammari was fatally shot in the chest by police in Bouziane. Other protesters were also injured, including Chawki Belhoussine El Hadri, who died later on 30 December 2010. Police claimed they shot the demonstrators in “self-defence.” A “quasi-curfew” was then imposed on the city by police.

Violence later increased as Tunisian authorities and residents of Sidi Bouzid Governorate encountered each other once again. The protests had reached the capital Tunis on 27 December 2010 with about 1,000 citizens expressing solidarity with residents of Sidi Bouzid and calling for jobs. The rally, which was called by independent trade union activists, was stopped by security forces. The protests also spread to Sousse, Sfax and Meknassy. The following day the Tunisian Federation of Labour Unions held another rally in Gafsa which was also blocked by security forces. At the same time about 300 lawyers held a rally near the government’s palace in Tunis. Protests continued again on the 29 December 2010.

On 30 December 2010, police peacefully broke up a protest in Monastir while using force to disrupt further demonstrations in Sbikha and Chebba. Momentum appeared to continue with the protests on 31 December 2010 and further demonstrations and public gatherings by lawyers in Tunis and other cities following a call by the Tunisian National Lawyers Order. Mokhtar Trifi, president of the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH), said that lawyers across Tunisia had been “savagely beaten.” There were also unconfirmed reports of another man attempting to commit suicide in El Hamma.

On 3 January 2011, protests in Thala over unemployment and a high cost of living turned violent. At a demonstration of 250 people, mostly students, in support of the protesters in Sidi Bouzid, police fired tear gas; one canister landed in a local mosque. In response, the protesters were reported to have set fire to tyres and attacked the office of Constitutional Democratic Rally.

Some of the more general protests sought changes in the government’s online censorship, where a lot of the media images have been broadcast. Tunisian authorities also allegedly carried out phishing operations to take control of user passwords and check online criticism. Both state and non-state websites had been hacked.

On 6 January 2011, 95% of Tunisia’s 8,000 lawyers went on strike, according to the chairman of the national bar association. He said “The strike carries a clear message that we do not accept unjustified attacks on lawyers. We want to strongly protest against the beating of lawyers in the past few days.”

It was reported on the following day that teachers had also joined the strike.

In response to January 11, 2011 protests police used riot gear to disperse protesters ransacking buildings, burning tyres, setting fire to a bus and burning two cars in the working class suburb of Ettadhamen-Mnihla in Tunis. The protesters were said to have chanted “We are not afraid, we are not afraid, we are afraid only of God.” Military personnel were also deployed in many cities around the country.

On 12 January 2011, a reporter from the Italian state-owned television broadcaster RAI stated that he and his cameraman were beaten with batons by police during a riot in Tunis’ central district and that the officers then confiscated their camera. A night time curfew was also ordered in Tunis after protests and clashes with police.

Hizb ut-Tahrir also organised protests after Friday prayer on January 14 2010 to call for re-establishing the Islamic caliphate. A day later, it also organised other protests that went to the April 9 Prison to free political prisoners.

Following Ben Ali’s departure, violence and looting continued as the national army was reported to be omnipresent in Tunis. The identity of the perpetrators has not been determined. A high official of the Tunisian military, however, has stated that elements loyal to former President Ben Ali have deployed across the country.  The capital’s main train station was also torched.

Domestic political response

During a national television broadcast on 28 December, 2010, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali criticised people for their protests calling the perpetrators “extremists and mercenaries” and warned of “firm” punishment. He also accused “certain foreign television channels of broadcasting false allegations without verification, based on dramatisation, fermentation and deformation by media hostile to Tunisia.” His remarks were ignored and the protests continue.

On 29 December, 2010, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali shuffled his cabinet to remove his communications minister Oussama Romdhani, while also announcing changes to the trade and handicrafts, religious affairs, communication and youth portfolios. The next day he also announced the dismissal of the governors of Sidi Bouzid, Jendouba and Zaghouan.

In January 2011, Ben Ali said 300,000 new jobs would be created, though he did not clarify what that meant. However, he also described the protests “the work of masked gangs that attacked at night government buildings and even civilians inside their homes in a terrorist act that cannot be overlooked.” Ahmed Najib Chebbi, the leader of the Progressive Democratic Party, then said that despite official claims of police firing in self-defense “the demonstrations were non-violent and the youths were claiming their rights to jobs” and that “the funeral processions [for those killed on January 9] turned into demonstrations, and the police fired [at] the youths who were at these .. processions.” He then criticised Ben Ali’s comments as the protesters were “claiming their civil rights, and there is no terrorist act…no religious slogans,” while accusing Ben Ali of “looking for scapegoats.” He further criticised the additional jobs offered as mere “promises.”

On 10 January 2011, the government announced the indefinite closure of all schools and universities in order to quell the unrest.

Days before departing office, Ben Ali announced that he would not change the present constitution, which was read as, in effect, promising to step down in 2014 due to his age.

President Ben Ali’s resignation

On 14 January 2011, Ben Ali dissolved his government and declared a state of emergency. Officials said the reason for the emergency declaration was to protect Tunisians and their property. People were also barred from gathering in more than groups of three people otherwise courting arrest or being shot if they try to run away. He also called for an election within six months to defuse demonstrations aimed at forcing him out.

On the same day, Ben Ali fled the country and landed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after France rejected a request for the plane to land on its territory. Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi then briefly took over as acting president. On the morning of January 15 2011, Tunisian state TV announced that Ben Ali had officially resigned his position and Ghannouchi had handed power over to parliamentary speaker Fouad Mebazaa.  This was done after the head of Tunisia’s Constitutional Court, Fethi Abdennadher, declared that Ben Ali had left for good, Ghannouchi did not have right to power and Mebazaa would be given 60 days to organise new election.  Mebazaa said it was in the country’s best interest to form a National Unity government.

What is happening in Tunisia?

Following a month of largely leaderless popular protests against the government, Tunisia’s President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled the country on 14.01.2011. Fouad Mebazaa, the speaker of parliament, was sworn in the following day as interim president, and new elections are due within 60 days.

What were the protests about?

They were sparked by the suicide of an unemployed college graduate in December 2010. The man set himself on fire in front of a government building in the town of Sidi Bouzid after police confiscated his fruit cart, saying he was selling without a permit, according to Amnesty International. He died January 4 2011 from his injuries.

The event tore the lid off what appears to have been long-simmering fury at Ben Ali and his associates. Tunisians accuse the ruling circle of rampant corruption and nepotism. Recent diplomatic cables from the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia obtained by WikiLeaks revealed growing disquiet with the government — especially over nepotism.

How violent have the protests been?

At least 21 people died in protests before Ben Ali fled, according to the government. Local unions put the figure at more than 50.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, citing reports, said the protests had been peaceful and that security forces used excessive force.

Does this mean Tunisia is becoming a fully-fledged democracy?

It’s too soon to say. The protests have been dubbed the “Jasmine Revolution,” but CNN’s Ben Wedeman in Tunis, the capital, says the military has moved quickly to fill the power void. Curfews are in place and tanks and armored personnel carriers were on the streets of the capital’s main streets.

Are events like this unusual in Tunisia?

They’re very unusual, not only in Tunisia but across the Middle East. Ben Ali was only the second president of Tunisia since it gained independence from France in 1956. His predecessor, President Habib Bourguiba, ruled for more than 20 years until he was succeeded by Ben Ali — then the prime minister — in 1987. Ben Ali claimed victory in five successive presidential elections since then, most recently officially taking nearly 90% of the vote in November 2009.

Profile: Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali

Mr Ben Ali was born to a modest family near the city of Sousse in 1936.

He completed his education in France and the US before rising up the hierarchy in the Tunisian security establishment and serving as ambassador to Poland in the early 1980s.

He became Prime Minister in 1987, shortly before ousting Tunisia’s first post-independence ruler, Habib Bourguiba, in a bloodless palace coup. President Bourguiba was declared mentally unfit to rule.

Mr Ben Ali promised a gradual transition towards democracy, though in his first two presidential polls – in 1989 and 1994 – he was elected unopposed.

But even after multi-party presidential elections were introduced in 1999 they were still one-sided affairs, with Mr Ben Ali winning huge majorities.

The constitution was changed twice so he could continue to serve.

He won his final five-year term in 2009, with his share of the vote dropping just below 90%.

Tunisia seeks to form unity cabinet after Ben Ali fall

Interim leader Foued Mebazaa, who was sworn in on 11.1.2011 promised to form a unity government.

To Continue…..

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2010 Sports News in brief

Saturday, January 15th, 2011

Sports News in Brief: January 2010

BADMINTON
Senior National Badminton Championship, 74th
Chetan Anand claimed his fourth national title while Trupti Murgunde clinched her maiden one by winning the men’s and women’s singles finals. There was more joy for Chetan as his wife Jwala Gutta claimed a double by winning both the women’s and mixed doubles finals.

BASKETBALL
National Senior Championship, 60th
Indian Railways squeezed past hosts Punjab in men’s section to retain the men’s title. The women’s title was also won by Indian Railways who defeated Delhi in final to retain the title.

CHESS
World Team championship
Russia won the gold with 24 points. India trounced Brazil in the ninth and last round to earn a bronze. The championship was held at Bursa, Turkey.

CRICKET
Under-19 World Cup
Australia have become the first team to win the under-19 world cup thrice. They defeated Pakistan by 25 runs to win the 2010 edition. The tournament was hosted by New Zealand.

Defending champions India finished sixth after being humbled by South Africa in the fifth place play-off match.

Ranji Trophy, 2010
Defending champions Mumbai pulled off a thrilling six-run win over Karnataka to clinch the coveted trophy for the 39th time.

Polly Umrigar Trophy
Delhi’s Vidya Jain Public School has claimed the trophy, symbol of supremacy in school cricket, defeating Presidency School, Bangalore by 54 runs.

Bangladesh-Sri Lanka-India triangular series
Sri Lanka defeated India by four wickets to win the triangular one-day series final. India had made 245 batting first and Sri Lanka surpassed the target with nine balls to spare.

Bangladesh-India Test series
India clinched the first Test with an emphatic 113-run victory to take 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.

South Africa-England Test series
England’s last pair of Graeme Swann and Graham Onions survived 17 balls to salvage a thrilling draw in the third Test against South Africa and keep their side 1-0 ahead in the series.

South Africa won the fourth and final Test at Johannesburg by an innings and 74 runs to level the series 1-1.

Australia-Pakistan Test series
Australia completed a remarkable Test victory over Pakistan, coming from 206 runs behind in the first innings to win the second Test at SCG by 36 runs. Needing 176 for its first victory in Australia in 14 years, Pakistan was bundled out for 139 runs.

Australia defeated Pakistan by 231 runs in the third Test, to win the three-Test series 3-0. This was a record-equalling 12th successive win against Pakistan. The sequence, which began in November 1999, equals the longest victory string against a team in Test history. Shane Watson was declared the Mon of the series.

Australia-Pakistan One Day series
Australia completed a series whitewash after defeating Pakistan by two wickets in the fifth and final match, amid allegations of ball tampering by Shahid Afridi. Afridi was subsequently banned for two T20 matches after pleading guilty to the charges.

Catching record of Dravid
Rahul Dravid is the first player ever to take 100 catches overseas for India. His overall tally of 193 catches in 139 Tests is a world record.

FOOTBALL
Federation Cup
West Bengal clinched the title by over-coming giant-killer Lajong FC of Shillong. The final was held at Guwahati, Assam.

GOLF
Royal Trophy
Europe survived a dramatic fight-back to beat holders Asia and win the Royal trophy for the third time.

TENNIS
Australian Open, 2010
Serena Williams defeated Belgium’s Justine Henin to win the women’s singles title for the fifth time and her 12th Grand Slam title. With this win she drew level with Billie Jean King’s record of 12 Grand Slam wins.

Roger Federer beat Andy Murray to win his fourth Australian open men’s title, taking his own Grand Slam titles record to 16.

Leander Paes, with partner Cara Black, won the mixed doubles title. This was his 11th Grand Slam title, equalling Mahesh Bhupathi’s record of most wins by an Indian.

Mike and Bob Bryan won the men’s doubles title. The women’s doubles title was won by Serena and Venus Williams.

Chennai Open, 2010
Defending champion Marin Cilic of Croatia retained the title with a victory over Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka.

Sports News in Brief: February 2010

BOXING
Vijender wins silver in Champion of Champions tournament
Olympic hero Vijender Singh broke the bronze jinx and fetched one of India’s two silver medals at the two-day Champion of Champions invitational boxing tournament in Guangzhou, China. The 24-year-old Olympic and World Championship bronze medallist lost 0-6 to China’s Zhang Jin Ting in the in the middle weight (75kg) category final.

The other silver medal for India came through Olympian Dinesh Kumar, who settled for silver in 81kg after losing 2-10 to Chinese Meng Fan Long.

CRICKET
Cricket can now bid for 2020 Olympics
Cricket’s push to be a part of the Olympic Games received a major boost with International Olympic Council (IOC) granting recognition to International Cricket Council (ICC) on February 12, 2010. This could be seen as a first step towards cricket becoming Olympic sports. Its Twenty20 version can now bid to join the 2020 Olympic Games though ICC has not made it clear which format it will push for.

Cricket was granted the status of a recognised Olympic sport in 2007, for sports not in the Olympic programme but which conform to certain criteria, pending a decision for a permanent slot in the Games.

Cricket was part of the 1900 Olympics in Paris and has not appeared since then. The game was part of the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games and its Twenty20 version is set to feature at Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

Sachin becomes first batsman to hit a double hundred in an ODI
Sachin Tendulkar rewrote the record books on February 24, 2010, hammering the first double century in the history of one-day cricket to add another feather to his well-adorned cap. The capacity crowd at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior witnessed history as Tendulkar, statistically the greatest batsman the game has ever seen, pushed South African bowler Charl Langeveldt’s delivery through the off-side and ran a single to achieve a feat which no other cricketer has achieved.

One Day International cricket, since its 1971 inception, had to wait nearly four decades to see a batsman score 200. The previous best mark was shared by Zimbabwean Charles Coventry (194 not out) and Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar (194).

Top 10 highest individual knocks in the history of one day cricket are:
200*: Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) vs South Africa in Gwalior on February 24, 2010.
194*: Charles Coventry (Zim) vs Bangladesh in Bulawayo on August 16, 2009.
194: Saeed Anwar (Pak) vs India in Chennai on May 21, 1997.
189*: Viv Richards (WI) vs England in Manchester on May 31, 1984.
189: Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) vs India in Sharjah on October 29, 2000.
188*: Gary Kirsten (SA) vs United Arab Emirates at Rawalpindi on February 16, 1996.
186*: Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) vs New Zealand in Hyderabad on November 8, 1999.
183*: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind) vs Sri Lanka in Jaipur on October 31, 2005.
183: Sourav Ganguly (Ind) vs Sri Lanka at Taunton on May 26, 1999.
181*: Matthew Hayden (Aus) vs New Zealand in Hamilton on February 20, 2007.
181: Viv Richards (WI) vs Sri Lanka in Karachi on October 13, 1987.

India-South Africa Test Series
India crashed to a humiliating innings and six runs defeat in the first Test played in Nagpur. This was the first Test defeat under Mahinder Singh Dhoni’s captaincy.

India levelled the two-Test series after winning the second Test at Eden Gardens, Kolkata by an innings and 58 runs. With this win India managed to retain the number one Test team title it received when it first topped the ratings in December 2009, as also pocketed a cheque for Rs 78.75 lakh.

India-South Africa One-day series
India eked out one-run victory in the first match played at Jaipur. India, batting first, had set a target of 299 runs. South Africa was bowled out by India for 297. The second match at Gwalior by 153 runs. The highlight of the match was Sachin Tendulkar becoming the first batsman in the world to hit a double century in One-day format.

India lost the third and last match at Ahmedabad by 90 runs thus depriving itself a chance to register their first ever clean sweep against South Africa. India won the series 2-1. Sachin Tendulkar was declared the man-of-the-series.

Australia-West Indies One-day series
Australia defeated West Indies by 113 runs in the first match played at Melbourne.

GAMES
South Asian Games, 2010
The 11th edition of South Asian Games (SAG) opened at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, on January 29, 2010. The aquatic show was the main attraction of the opening ceremony, in which a concert hosted by Pt. Ravi Shankar and Beatles star George Harrison for Bangladesh’s Independence day and the March 7 address of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman were displayed on a water screen.

This was the third time that the Bangladeshi capital hosted the Games, thus becoming the first city to hold the games three times.

Athletes from eight countries— Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka—competed in 23 different sports. India continued its dominance with 175 medals, including 90 gold medals. Pakistan narrowly beat the host to occupy the second spot with 19 golds, while the host Bangladesh capture 18 golds, including the most popular and prestigious football and cricket titles. Sri Lanka’s Shehan Abeypitiya became the fastest man while Pakistan’s Naseem Hamid was crowned the fastest woman of the region.

The logo of the Games was ‘Kutumb’, a flying doel, known in English as the Oriental Magpie Robin. It is the National Bird of Bangladesh. The mascot also featured a Magpie Robin.

Delhi will host the next South Asian Games. India was picked to host the regional sporting event after Bhutan, whose turn it was to host the next SAG, expressed its inability to stage the meet. India has hosted the South Asian Games twice thus far—in 1987 (Kolkata) and in 1995 (Chennai).

Winter Olympics, 2010
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held on February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Approximately 2,600 athletes from 82 nations participated in 86 events in fifteen disciplines. Cayman Islands, Colombia, Ghana, Montenegro, Pakistan, Peru and Serbia made their winter Olympic debuts. Also Jamaica, Mexico and Morocco returned to the Games after missing the Turin Games.

The 2010 Winter Olympics were the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of British Columbia. Previously, Canada hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.

Canada topped the medals tally with 14 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze medals. Germany was second, followed by USA.

The 2014 Winter Olympics will be held from February 7 to February 23, 2014 in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia.

GOLF
Asian Tour International crown
Gaganjeet Bhullar scripted a sensational come-from-behind victory at Asian tour International crown, played at Bangkok. This was his second Asian tour title.

SHOOTING
Commonwealth Championships, 2010
With 23 gold medals, 17 silver and 9 bronze medals, India topped the medals tally of the championships held in Delhi in February 2010. England was second in the medals tally, followed by Australia.

Sports News in Brief: March 2010

ARCHERY
Asian Grand Prix
Recurve Men: India’s Rahul Banerjee won the gold. The team gold medal was also won by India.
Recurve Women: India’s Deepika Kumari won the gold. The teasm event was also won by India.
Compound Men: India’s Hansdah won the gold. The host nation Thailand won the gold medal in the team competition. India took the bronze.
Compound Women: Ngeain Aung of Myanmar won the gold. India took the team gold medal.
Mixed Teams: India won the gold medal in the recurve category. In compound, Myanmar won the gold over India, and the bronze went to Vietnam.

BOXING
Commonwealth Championship, 2010
India won six gold medals, which till date is the biggest haul in the Championships, as also the tournament, held at New Delhi. India bettered their record of four gold, two silver and three bronze medals they had achieved in Scotland in 2005.

Vijender Singh, the Olympic Games bronze-medallist, came out trumps, clinching his maiden gold in the Commonwealth Boxing Championships.

Asian bronze-medallist Paramjeet Samota (+91), Asian champion Suranjoy Singh (52kg), World Cup bronze-medallist Dinesh Kumar (81kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg) and Amandeep Singh (49kg) were the other gold-medallists.

CRICKET
Deodhar Trophy
North Zone beat West Zone by 49 runs to win the Deodhar Trophy cricket tournament. The final was played at Vadodara.

Bangladesh-England Test series
England crushed Bangladesh by nine wickets in the second and final Test to sweep the series.

India finish second in ICC ODI rankings
Indian cricket team finished the season as number two ranked, behind Australia, in One-Day cricket rankings of ICC.

Kapil inducted in ICC Hall of Fame
Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev, who led India to their only ODI World Cup triumph in 1983, has been inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame. A commemorative cap was presented to Kapil by ICC President David Morgan, in front of fellow Hall of Famer Clive Lloyd, as well as an audience of ICC officials and other invited guests at the governing body’s headquarters in Dubai. The Hall of Fame, run in association with the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA), recognises some of the legends of the game.

HOCKEY
World Cup, 2010
Australia defeated Germany 2-1 to deny Germany a historic hat-trick of titles. Germany had won the title in 2002 and 2006. The Netherlands came back strongly from a 1-3 first half deficit to prevail over England 4-3 and win the bronze medal. India could manage eight spot only.

Guus Vogls of The Netherlands was declared the player of the tournament.

NETBALL
National Championship, 29th
Punjab lifted the men’s title of the 29th National Netball championship by defeating Delhi. Chattisgarh defeated Andhra Pradesh to with the bronze medal. In the women’s section Delhi edged Kerala for the top honours. Chattisgarh eves won the bronze medal.

SHOOTING
ISSF World Cup
World champion marksman Manavjit Singh Sandhu lived up to his top billing and clinched the trap gold in the ISSF World Cup at Acapulco, Mexico. Another Indian, Anirudh Singh also impressed by entering his first ever World Cup final with a score of 122.

In the women’s trap event, none of the three Indian shooters could make it to the final round. Shagun Chowdhary finished 13th, Shreyasi Singh ended 16th and Seema Tomar 17th. Chinese shooter Yang Huan claimed the gold.

Sports news in brief: April 2010

BADMINTON
Asian Championship, 2010
Men’s Singles: Lin Dan (China).
Women’s Singles: Q-Li Xuerui (China)
Men’s Doubles: Gun Woo Cho and Yeon Seong Yoo (Korea).
Women’s Doubles: Pan Pan and Quing Tian (China)
Mixed Doubles: Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh (Malaysia)

The Championship was held in New Delhi.

CRICKET
Deodhar Trophy
North Zone beat West Zone by 49 runs to win the Deodhar Trophy cricket tournament. The final was played at Vadodara.

Indian Premier League-3
Chennai Super Kings beat Mumbai Indian by 22 runs to win the third edition of the tournament. Electing to bat first, Chennai posted 168 for 5 and then restricted Mumbai to 146 for 9 to win their maiden title. Suresh Raina was declared the man of the match.

Royal Challengers Bangalore routed Deccan Chargers by nine wickets in the third and fourth place play-off match. With this win Royal Challangers qualified for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament.

Sachin Tendulkar won the DLF Golden Player award and the Orange cap for hitting the maximum runs in the tournament. Pragyan Ojha won the Purple cap for taking maximum wickets in the tournament. The Kingfisher Fair-play award was won by Chennai Super Kings.

KABADDI
World Cup Kabbadi Punjab Championship, 2010
India outclassed Pakistan 58-24 to win the title. The championship was held in Ludhiana, Punjab.

SHOOTING
Narang shoots World Cup bronze
Ace Indian shooter Gagan Narang won a bronze in 10 meter air rifle event at the World Cup in Beijing. Russian Denis Sokolav won the gold.

Sports News in Brief: May 2010

BOXING
Asian Women’s Championship
The Asian Women’s Championships were held in Astana, Kazakhistan, in May 2010. Kazakhastan topped the medals tally with eight gold medals. China won the most medals in total—10, followed Korea and India amassing eight medals each.

CHESS
World Title, 2010
Viswanathan Anand held his nerve and focus better than his opponent, Veselin Topalov, to win the 12th and final game to retain his World Championships title.

The 40-year-old Indian beat the local man from Bulgaria in the closing game with black pieces, to emerge a 6.5-5.5 winner and seal his place as a dominant player of his era.

Anand first won the world title in 2000 and held it till 2002 when the chess world was still split. He became the undisputed World champion in 2007 and then retained the title in 2008 when he beat Vladimir Kramnik.

Commonwealth Championship
Grandmaster R.R. Laxman clinched his career best win and bagged the gold after beating GM Pablo Lafuente of Argentina at the Parsvnath Commonwealth Chess Championship.

In the open category, Grandmaster Maletin Pavel of Russia signed peace with International Master Lalith Babu on the top board to win the title. Both Pavel and Laxman had nine points after 11 rounds, but the former had the better tie-break record on Bucholz count. The Russian was not in contention in the Commonwealth category.

In the women’s category, D. Harika outwitted IM Tania Sachdev on account of superior tie-break.

CRICKET
T20 World Cup, 2010
Chasing a challenging target of 148 runs, England defeated Australia by seven wickets to win the T20 World Cup. The tournament was held in West Indies.

Australia’s women held their nerves in a low-scoring final as they beat New Zealand by three runs to lift the Women’s T20 World cup title.

West Indies-South Africa One-Day series
South Africa defeated West Indies by 67 runs in the third match to win the series. They went on to win the fourth match also. South Africa beat West Indies by seven wickets.

England-Bangladesh Test series
England beat Bangladesh by five wickets in the first Test of the series, played at Lords, to be one-up in the two-Test series.

FOOTBALL
Premier League
Chelsea has won the title by a single point. They have swept back the trophy after four years.

Champions League, 2010
A goal in each half by Argentina striker Diego Militi helped Inter Milan overcome Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Champions League final.

HOCKEY
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, 19th
India and South Korea were named joint champions after the final match was abandoned following heavy rains in Malaysia. For defending champions India it was their fifth win, matching Australia, while for Asian champions South Korea this was their second title win; they had last won the cup in 1996.

TABLE TENNIS
World Team Championship
Chinese fans were left in shock after their women paddlers failed to win the gold medal at the World Team Table Tennis Championships for the first time since 1991.

The Chinese trio of Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen and Guo Yan fell to their Singaporean counterparts 3-1 in the final in Moscow as Singapore claimed their first title in the event.

WRESTLING
Sushil, Narshing win gold in Asian Wrestling
Olympic bronze medallist Sushil Kumar lived up to his reputation as he bagged a gold in men’s 66kg freestyle in the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships held at New Delhi. Narshing Yadav won a gold in the 74kg freestyle category.

Sports News in Brief: June 2010

BADMINTON
Yonex-Sunrise India Open Grand Prix
Saina Nehwal of India beat Malaysia’s Mew Choo Wong to win the title. This was her second international title win at home. She had won the Lucknow Grand Prix in 2009.

Indonesia Open
Saina Nehwal notched up an incredible hat-trick of titles by successfully defending her Indonesian Open Super Series title with s hard-fought win over Japan’s Sayaka Sato. She had earlier won the Indian Open Grand Prix and the Singapore Open Super Series.

Singapore Open
Indian ace Saina Nehwal clinched the second Super Series title of her career by winning the Singapore Open with a straight-game triumph over Chinese Taipie’s Tzu Ying Tai.

CRICKET
Asia Cup
India defeated Sri Lanka by 81 runs to win the Asia Cup. India had set the Lankans a stiff target of 299 runs. Dinesh Karthik was declared man of the match.

West Indies-South Africa One Day Series
South Africa completed a 5-0 white-wash of the series with a thrilling one wicket win in the final match. Earlier, the South Africans had also won the Twenty20 two-match series.

England-Australia One Day series
England won the five-match series 3-0. This followed 2009’s Ashes triumph and 2010’s Twenty20 World Cup final win over their oldest rivals.

SHOOTING
ISSF Shotgun World Cup
Double-trap marksman Ronjan Sodhi clinched the gold in the tournament held at Lonato, Italy.

TENNIS
French Open, 2010
Men’s Singles title: Rafael Nadal won the title by defeating Robin Soderling. This was his fifth French Open win.

Women’s Singles title: Francesca Schiavone became the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title when she defeated Australian Samantha Stosur to win the women’s singles title.

Men’s Doubles title: Canada’s Daniel Nestor and Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic won by beating defending champions Leander Paes of India and Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic.

Women’s Doubles title: Serena and Venus Williams of USA. Serena Williams won her second French Open Women’s Doubles title, and the twelfth title in that discipline, which this was the fourth win in a row in the women’s doubles in the Slams. Venus Williams won her second French Open Women’s Doubles title, and the twelfth title in that discipline, which this was the fourth win in a row in the women’s doubles in the Slams.

Mixed Doubles: Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonji? were the winners. Srebotnik won her third French Open Mixed Doubles title, and the fourth Slam title in that discipline. Zimonji? won his second French Open Mixed Doubles title, and the fourth Slam title in that discipline.

Sports News in Brief: July 2010

BOXING
Senior National Championship
World Youth champion Vikas Krishan stole the show with his maiden gold medal and the ‘Best Boxer’ trophy, but the Railways Sports Promotion Board clinched the overall title for the fourth consecutive year in the 57th Senior Men’s National Boxing Championships, held in New Delhi. The RSPB swept the overall tally with four gold, two silver and three bronze medals.

Haryana finished a distant second with two gold and three bronze medals. The Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) was third in the overall list with two gold, two silver and an equal number of bronze medals.

SSCB’s Manpreet Singh (91kg), the defending champion who signed off with a bronze, was adjudged the ‘Best Loser’ of the event.

CRICKET
Sri Lanka-India Test Series
Sri Lanka defeated India by ten wickets in the first Test to take lead in the three-Test series. This Test will be known in cricket history as one in which Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan became the first bowler in the world to take 800 wickets. This Test was also the last Test match of Murali’s career.

The second Test meandered to a tame, high-scoring draw with a staggering 1,478 runs getting scored over five days. India scored 707 all out in the first innings, its second highest total ever. Suresh Raina became the 12th Indian to score a Test century on debut.

Pakistan-Australia Test Series
Australia completed a record 13th consecutive victory win over Pakistan when they beat them by 150 runs in the first Test at Lords.

Pakistan beat Australia in a Test for the first time since 1995 after winning by three wickets in the second Test, played at Leeds, to level the two-match series 1-1. The series was played in England as Pakistan is still not considered safe place for visiting teams.

England-Bangladesh One-Day series
England defeated Bangladesh by 144 runs in the third match, played at Birmingham, to clinch the series 2-1.

Muralitharan becomes first bowler to take 800 wickets
On July 22, 2010, Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan became the first bowler to take 800 Test wickets, reaching the milestone in the last Test of his illustrious cricket career. The 38-year-old spin wizard got Indian tail-ender Pragyan Ojha caught at slip by Mahela Jayawardene to reach the magical figure, which puts him several pedestals above his contemporaries.

FOOTBALL
World Cup, 2010
Spain, the European champions, defeated third-time finalists the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time, with Andrés Iniesta’s goal in the 116th minute giving Spain their first world title, the first time that a European nation has won the tournament outside its home continent. Host nation South Africa, 2006 world champions Italy and 2006 runners-up France were eliminated in the first round of the tournament.

In the semi-finals, Spain defeated Germany by 1-0 while Netherlands had defeated Uruguay.

Germany defeated Uruguay 3–2 to secure third place. Germany holds the record for most third place finishes in the World Cup (4), while Uruguay holds the record for most fourth place finishes (3).

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup. It took place in South Africa from June 11 to July 11, 2010. In 2004, the international football federation, FIFA, had selected South Africa to become the first African nation to host the tournament.

The matches were played in ten stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at the Soccer City stadium in South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg. Thirty-two teams were selected for participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in August 2007.

Golden Ball:  Diego Forlán (Uruguay)
Golden Boot:  Thomas Müller (Germany)
Golden Glove:  Iker Casillas (Spain)
Best Young Player:  Thomas Müller (Germany)
FIFA Fair Play Trophy:  Spain

The official mascot for the 2010 World Cup was Zakumi, an anthropomorphised leopard with green hair, presented on 22 September 2008. His name came from “ZA” (the international abbreviation for South Africa) and the term kumi, which means “ten” in various African languages. The mascot’s colours reflected those of the host nation’s playing strip–yellow and green.

The official song of the 2010 World Cup, “Waka Waka“, was performed by the Colombian singer Shakira and the band Freshlyground from South Africa. The song was sung in both English and Spanish. The song is based on a traditional African soldiers’ song, Zangalewa. Shakira and Freshlyground performed the song at the opening ceremony and at the closing ceremony.

HOCKEY
Asian Champions Trophy (Women)
Korea beat Japan 2-1 to win the inaugural Asian Women’s Hockey Championship, held  at Busan South Korea.

The first Asian Women Champions Trophy drew the four highest-ranking teams in the region—South Korea, China, Japan and India—which will also compete for the gold medal in the Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou, China, in November 2010.

India beat higher-ranked China 2-1 to win the bronze medal.

Rangaswamy Cup, 63rd
Mumbai overcame Haryana 3-2 to regain the senior national men’s hockey championship. The tournament was held in Bhopal.

TENNIS
Wimbledon Championship, 2010
The 124th Championships, a Royal tournament thanks to the first visit to the All England Club by Her Majesty the Queen for 33 years, was also a record-breaking occasion in many ways, most notably in that unforgettable first round men’s singles between John Isner of the United States and France’s Nicolas Mahut, which smashed every existing record in the sport.

The Isner-Mahut first round marathon, which stretched over three days, lasted 11 hours five minutes and totalled 183 games before Isner staggered away the winner 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68. The final set alone lasted just over eight hours. Both men shattered the record for aces in one match, previously held by Ivo Karlovic at 78. Isner delivered 112 and Mahut also cracked the century with 103. An exhausted Isner crashed out to Thiemo De Bakker of Holland in the next round, collecting just five games.

In the men’s singles final Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to win the title. This was the second Wimbledon title for the Spaniard. Berdych became the first Czech since Ivan Lendl in 1987 to reach the Wimbledon final.

The women’s singles title was won by defending champion Serena Williams who beat Russia’s Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2. The victory took her to 13 Grand Slam singles titles, past Billie Jean King, and sixth in the all-time list.

In the doubles, the men’s title went to an unseeded pair, Austria’s Jurgen Melzer and Germany’s Philipp Petzschner, playing only their seventh tournament as a team. The women’s doubles was won by an American-Kazakh combination, Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova. Also unseeded, they overcame the Russians, Elena Vesnina and Zvonareva, 7-6, 6-2. The mixed double’s championship fell to a seeded combination, Leander Paes and Cara Black, the second seeds, who beat Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Lisa Raymond (United States) 6-4. 7-6.

Sports News in Brief: August 2010

ATHLETICS
National Athletic Meet, 50th
Kerala, Punjab and Haryana stood overall first, second and third, respectively, in the National Athletic Senior Championship held at NIS Patiala.

CRICKET
Sri Lanka-New Zealand-India One-Day Tri-series
Sri Lanka rode on Tillakaratne Dilshan’s century to clinch the tri-series title with an emphatic 74-run win over India, ending M.S. Dhoni’s sequence of four consecutive series triumphs on Sri Lanka soil.

England-Pakistan Test series
England crushed Pakistan by an innings and 225 runs to win the fourth and final Test at Lord’s, London. England ended up winning the series 3-1.

Pakistan overcame a late batting collapse to beat England by four wickets in the third Test.

England batsmen Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad set a world record eighth wicket partnership when they extended their stand to 332 on the third day of fourth Test. The record was earlier held by Pakistan’s Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq.

Earlier, in the first Test, James Anderson took ten wickets in a Test for the first time to help England crush Pakistan by 354 runs. In their second innings, Pakistan were bundled out for just 80 runs, their lowest total against England, replacing the 87 they made at Lord’s in 1954.

Sri Lanka-India Test Series
Veteran V.V.S. Laxman cracked a fighting unbeaten 103 as India pulled off a five-wicket win in the third Test to level the three-Test series 1-1. Laxman was adjudged the man of the match while Virender Sehwag was adjudged man of the series.

Tendulkar becomes most-capped player
Iconic Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar has become the most-capped Test cricketer (169 Test matches). This feat was achieved in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka, played in August 2010. Steve Waugh (168 Test matches) of Australia had held the record earlier.

FOOTBALL
Santosh Trophy, 2010
Kerala lad Denson Devdas struck twice as Bengal made a spectacular comeback to beat Punjab 2-1, ending their 11 years title drought in the National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy.

GAMES
Youth Olympic Games
Singapore hosted the first Youth Olympics from August 14 to 26, 2010. A total of 3,531 athletes between 14 and 18 years of age from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 201 events in 26 sports.

The opening ceremony of the Games was held on 14 August at The Float@Marina Bay, a floating stage near downtown Singapore. Approximately 27,000 spectators attended the event, which took place against a backdrop of the city’s skyline.

Lyo and Merly were the official mascots. The duo ere made up of a red male lion and a blue female Merlion. A contest held to name the two mascots was won by two Singaporeans. It took designers from Cubix International about six months to complete designing the mascots.

China topped the medals tally with 30 gold medals, followed by Russia (18) and South Korea (11). India was ranked 58 with 6 silver medals and 2 bronze medals in its kitty.

It was during the 119th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Guatemala City on the July 5, 2007 when the IOC decided to create Youth Olympic Games (YOG). The vision of the innovative concept for the new sport event is to inspire young people all around the world to participate in sport and adopt and live by the Olympic values (excellence, friendship, respect).

Innsbruck and Seefeld will host the first Winter Youth Olympic Games from January 13-22, 2012.

GOLF
Atwal first Indian to win US PGA title
Arjun Atwal has become the first Indian ever to win a US PGA title when he won the Wyndham Golf Championship.

HOCKEY
Champions Trophy, 2010
Australia won their third successive Champions Trophy, and 11th in all, with a comprehensive 4-0 win over England. Netherlands secured the third place. The championship was held at Monchengladbach, Germany.

SHOOTING
Tejaswini becomes first Indian woman to win gold at World Championships
Tejaswani Sawant scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman shooter to clinch a gold medal at the World Championships, with a world-record equalling score in 50m Rifle Prone event in Munich, Germany.

Sports News in Brief: September 2010

ARCHERY
India wins gold in fourth leg of World Cup
The Indian men’s recurve team of Jayanta Talukdar, Tarundeep Rai and Rahul Banerjee won gold in the fourth leg of the World Cup archery in Shanghai. The trio whipped Japan, who had beaten the formidable Koreans in the semi-final.

Talukdar won bronze in the individual event defeating Athens Olympic champion Marco Galiazzo of Italy 7-3.

Deepika Kumari lost the women’s recurve final, but the silver medal ensured Deepika her maiden place in the grand final in Edinburgh.

BOXING
Mary Kom wins World Championship
India’s woman boxer MC Mary Kom claimed a historic fifth successive world championship title on September 18, 2010, beating Steluta Duta of Romania 16-6. This mother-of-two from Manipur remains the only boxer to have won a medal in each edition of the world championship.

CRICKET
T20 Champions League, 2010
IPL champions Chennai Super Kings, led ably by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, defeated the Warriors of South Africa by eight wickets to win the Airtel Champions League, played in South Africa.

J.P. Atray Trophy
ONGC posted a six-wicket victory over Air India to win the 17th J.P. Atray Memorial Cricket tournament.

England-Pakistan One-Day series
England defeated Pakistan by 121 runs in the fifth and final match to win the series3-2.

GOLF
DLF Masters
Ashok Kumar won the DLF Masters. Gaganjeet Bhullar won the second spot.

HOCKEY
Women’s World Cup
Argentina defeated reigning World and Olympic champions Netherlands 3-1 to win their second field hockey world title. They had earlier won the title in 2002 in Australia. The championship was held at Rosario, Argentina.

SHOOTING
Ronjon shoots gold at ISSF World Cup
India’s Ronjon Sodhi clinched a gold at the double trap in the ISSF World Cup finals in Izmir, Turkey with a stunning score of 195 out of 200.

TENNIS
US Open, 2010
Rafael Nadal of Spain defeated Novak Djokovic (Serbia) to win the men’s singles title. The win gave him his first US open title and was his ninth Grand Slam win.

Kim Clijsters of Belgium defeated Vera Zvonareva (Russia) to take the women’s singles title.

The men’s doubles title was won by Mike and Bob Bryan of USA who defeated Indo-Pak team of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq.

The women’s doubles title was won by Vania King (USA) and  Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhistan) while the mixed doubles title was won by  Liezel Huber (USA) and Bob Bryan (USA).

India enters Davis Cup World Group
In a stunning turnaround, Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna powered India to the elite Davis Cup World Group by scripting a sensational 3-2 win over Brazil. The matches were played in Chennai.

WRESTLING
Sushil becomes first Indian to win World Championship gold
Wrestler Sushil Kumar has become the first Indian to win a gold medal in the World Wrestling Championships, held in Moscow. He defeated Alan Gogaev in the 66-kg freestyle category.

Sports News in Brief: October 2010

GAMES
XIX Commonwealth Games, New Delhi
Conventional fervour, glitter, gaiety and a rich cultural bonanza climaxed into a magnificent ceremony that brought curtains down on the Commonwealth Games at the massive Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium on October 14, 2010. It was real Chak De India as music of universal love made the stadium reverberate to some of the best Bollywood beats and the theme song by A.R. Rahman. Unlike conventional ceremonies that leave many athletes and officials with moist eyes, Delhi bade a joyous farewell to all participants.

Athletes and officials departed to meet againin 2014 at Glasgow. Members of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, in a brief, but impressive flag handover ceremony, extended an open invitation to all to enjoy the next edition of the festival of the Commonwealth.

President of Sri Lanka was among the dignitaries who watched the nearly three-hour long ceremony, along with Vice-President Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the UPA President Sonia Gandhi.

The music of universal love ended with a pyro burst that lit up the sky in colour. Before the music blast, an amazing laser show held the audience spellbound. Singer Shaan came with Shera, the mascot of the games, to bid goodbye and touch an emotional chord with the audience. Vande Matram was sung by school children of Delhi and musical band display by pipe and brass bands of the defence forces gave an immaculate start to the ceremony.

Earlier, on October 3, 2010, Delhi gave full-throated vent to its pleasure to usher in the 19th Commonwealth Games, which were declared open by Britain’s Prince Charles, at a packed Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Immediately afterwards, President Pratibha Patil said: “Let the Games begin.”

A total of 6,081 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events. It was the largest international multi-sport event to be staged in Delhi and India, eclipsing the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982.

Australia topped the medals tally, with 74 gold, 55 silver and 48 bronze medals. India was second on the medals tally list with 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals. India was followed by England, Canada and South Africa.

Mascot
The official mascot for the 2010 Commonwealth Games was Shera, an anthropomorphised tiger.

Official song
The official song of the 2010 Commonwealth Games was Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto. It  was composed and performed by the  A. R. Rahman. The song’s title was based on the slogan of the games, “Come out and play”. The song was penned by Mehboob in Hindi with a sprinkling of English words.

India’s performance
Indian competitors came out with flying colours. A record medal haul of 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals, the best-ever harvest for the country in the Games history, helped India climb to the record-high second position and end the multi-discipline event on a thumping note. The main haul of these 101 medals came from the shooting range, wrestling mat, boxing ring, archery range and, to everyone’s surprise, the track and field events.

Rifle-shooting ace Gagan Narang scooped up four gold medals, but could not achieve the feat of overhauling five-gold hero of the 2006 Melbourne Games—Samresh Jung.

Teenage woman archer Deepika Kumari, daughter of an auto-rickshaw driver, who held her nerves even as the more seasoned Dola Banerjee wilted, to come up with a golden double in the women’s recurve event.

The track and field events witnessed India’s first gold medal in 52 years when Krishna Poonia led a clean sweep of the women’s discus throw, Harwant Kaur and Seema Antil won the silver and bronze.

The women’s 4×400m relay squad struck an unexpected gold with a superb display that pushed Nigeria and England to second and third places.

The women shuttlers, led by Saina Nehwal, brought two gold medals to bring down the curtains on the country’s competitive show with a bang. Those two gold medals in badminton were vital to help India push England to the third place by the skin of their teeth.

Saina Nehwal created history by becoming the first Indian woman to win the singles gold in badminton at the Commonwealth Games. Legendary Prakash Padukone (1978) and the late Syed Modi (1982) were the two men players to win the singles gold in the Games. Jwala Gutta and Ashiwni Ponnappa scripted history by becoming the first Indian pair to win the gold at Commonwealth Games.

The men’s hockey team, whose fortunes are followed closely by the sports fans of the country, made history by making it to the final for the first time before coming a cropper against world and defending champions Australia in the summit clash. The 8-0 defeat was huge and one of the biggest suffered by the country.

Wrestling contingent also did very well, winning 19 medals in the 21 designated event. Among the 19 medals, there were 10 gold, five silver and four bronze medals. Sushil Kumar literally walked his way to gold, while the women wrestlers, participating in the Games for the first time, stole the show with a memorable performance. In the six events for women, India won three gold, two silver and a bronze medal to show their supremacy in the freestyle category.

The trio of Alka Tomar, Geeta and Anita won their final bouts with ease, while Babita Kumari and Nirmala Devi missed out on gold, losing their final rounds, but their performance drew praise from all. Geeta became the first Indian women wrestler to bag a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games.

India achieved unprecedented success in athletics by bagging 12 medals, including two gold. India’s 12 medals were two more than the number it won in all the earlier editions.

Krishna Poonia created history by breaking India’s 52-year-old Commonwealth Games gold medal jinx by winning the gold medal in women’s discus throw. Harwant Kaur and Seema Antil bagged silver and bronze, respectively.

Poonia also became the first Indian woman to bag a Commonwealth Games gold after ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh won the men’s 440 yards race in 1958 edition in Cardiff, Wales.

The women’s 4X400m relay team of Manjeet Kaur, Sini Jose, Ashwini Akkunji and Mandeep Kaur added another gold in a memorable race, beating strong teams like Nigeria and England.

Fancied fisticuff exponents Vijender Singh and Akhil Kumar were ousted early but Indian boxers still delivered a historic golden punch to come up with their best-ever campaign in the Games history. With a hat-trick of gold plus four bronze medals, the Indian ring stylists recorded their best medal haul at the quadrennial multi-discipline sports event, bettering the 2006 campaign at Melbourne by two.

Ashish Kumar of India created history by winning a bronze medal in Gymnastics, the first ever medal in gymnastics for India in the Commonwealth Games.

BODYBUILDING
World Championship
Bobby Singh of Imphal, a clerk at the North Frontier Railway, scripted history by becoming the world champion at the second WBPF World Bodybuilding Championship, held at Varanasi. India has won a world Bodybuilding Championship after 22 years.

CHESS
Anand regains Number One Spot
World Champion Viswanathan Anand played out a hard-fought draw with Magnus Carlsen of Norway to finish second in the Bilbao Final Masters chess tournament. The silver lining for the Indian ace was the fact that he dethroned Carlsen from the number one ranking in Live rating list for the first time since January 2010 and ended up as the top player in ratings too.

Vladimir Kramnik of Russia won the Final Masters after settling for an easy draw with Alexei Shirov of Spain.

CRICKET
India-Australia One Day Series
India won the three-match series 1-0 after the third and final ODI was abandoned because of rain. The first match also had to be abandoned because of rain. This was the first one-day series victory over Australia in over two decades.

India beat Australia by wickets in the second ODI. The highlight of the match was the match-winning 118 runs by Virat Kohli.

Bangladesh-New Zealand One Day Series
Rubel Hossain grabber four wickets as Bangladesh completed a sweep with a thrilling three-run victory in the fifth and final one day match. The 4-0 series win is Bangladesh’s first sweep against a major team.

India-Australia Test Series
Debutant Cheteshwar Pujara struck a sparkling 72 as India defeated Australia by seven wickets in the second and final Test, played at Bangalore, to sweep the series, win the Border-Gavaskar trophy and consolidate their world number one status. Man of the series Sachin Tendulkar followed up his first innings double century with an unbeaten 53 to help India chase down the 207-run target.

Earleir, India won the first Test at Mohali by one wicket. A 81-run ninth wicket stand between V.V.S. Laxman and Ishant Sharma set up the opening win. Laxman scripted an unbeaten 73 runs and Ishant Sharma chipped with a contribution of 31 runs.

Sachin first to make 14,000 runs in Tests
Sachin Tendulkar has become the only player to make 14,000 runs in Test cricket. At 12,178 runs, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting remains his nearest rival.

ICC Awards
Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar has bagged his maiden ICC Cricketer of the Year trophy along with the People’s Choice Award, while compatriot Virender Sehwag has been named the Test Cricketer of the Year.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named captain of the ICC’s World Test XI, while Australia was chosen as the best ODI team of the period between August 2009 and 2010.

South African AB de Villiers clinched the ICC ODI Player of the Year award.

England fast bowler Steven Finn, who played in six Test matches in the voting period and took 27 wickets at an average of 21.85, won the ICC Emerging Player of the Year Award.

New Zealand swashbuckler Brendon McCullum’s blistering 56-ball unbeaten 116 against Australia in Christchurch was adjudged the ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year.

Spirit of the Game Award went to New Zealand and Aleem Dar of Pakistan won the ICC Umpire of the Year trophy.

GOLF
Ryder Cup, 2010
The 38th Ryder Cup matches were held at the Celtic Manor Resort in the city of Newport, Wales. It was the first time the competition was staged in Wales. With the USA as the defending Cup holder the event was played on the newly-constructed Twenty 10 course, specifically designed for the Ryder Cup. Team Europe won the competition.

HOCKEY
Surjit Hockey Tournament
Indian Oil, Mumbai, have clinched the overall trophy in the 27th Indian Oil Surjit Hockey tournament. They defeated Air India, Mumbai via tie-breaker.

Sports News in Brief: November 2010

CRICKET
Australia-England (Ashes) Test Series
The Ashes opener in Brisbane ended in a draw after Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott shared in England’s highest partnership in Australia of 329 runs. Cook became only the fourth Englishman to score a Test double-century in Australia (235 not out). England managed to draw the match despite conceding a first innings lead of 221 runs.

Sri Lanka-West Indies Test series
The second Test, played in Colombo, ended in a draw.

India-New Zealand Test series
India won the three-Test series 1-0 after winning the third Test in Nagpur by an innings and 198 runs.

The first Test, played in Ahmedabad, ended in a draw after VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh put in a fight-back after India had been reduced to 15 for 5 at one time.

In the second Test played in Hyderabad, Brendon McCullum notched up his best-ever Test score of 225 to ensure a draw.

Harbhajan Singh made history by becoming the first number eight Test batsman to hit back-to-back centuries. In the first Test he hit 115 and followed this with 111 not out in the second Test. His 105-run 10th wicket stand with Sreesanth the was best for India.

Sri Lanka-West Indies Test Series
West Indies opener Chris Gayle made the joint 12th highest Test score with a magnificent 333 in the first Test. He became only the fourth man to achieve the feat twice in Test history, after Sir Donald Bradman, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag.

Australia-Sri Lanka ODI series
Australia snapped a run of seven straight losses in all forms of cricket when it beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the third and final match. Sri Lanka claimed the series 2-1, after winning the first match by one wicket and the second by 29 runs.

FOOTBALL
Durand Cup
Chirag United defeated JCT to win the Durand Cup, 2010.

GOLF
Hero Honda Women’s Indian Open Championship
England’s Laura Davies notched up a thrilling play-off win to lift the trophy. The tournament was held in Gurgaon.

TENNIS
ATP World Tour Finals
Roger Federer polished of Rafael Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to capture his fifth season-ending finale, the ATP World Tour final. It was for the first time in 24 years that top two players in ATP ranking reached the season finale.

GAMES
Asian Games, 2010
The 16th Asian Games were held in Guangzhou, China from November 12 to 27, 2010. 9,832 athletes from 44 countries participated in record 42 disciplines—including T20 cricket, dance-sport, women’s boxing and roller skating, which were introduced in this Asiad.

Two years after the spectacular success of Beijing Olympics, China dazzled the world once again by unveiling the 16th Asian Games with a spell-binding opening ceremony in which water was the overwhelming theme and athletes were ushered in a unique boat parade on Pearl River.

The theme was water and the main part of the ceremony was held at Hai Xinsha, an island located on China’s third longest river, which is the life-giver to the southern part of the world’s most populous nation.

The four-and-a-half-hour ceremony started with trademark fireworks and the 37,000 capacity crowd was up on its feet when 1320 artists from the city’s oldest kung fu school descended with giant LED screens in the backdrop.

China ended on top with 199 gold, 119 silver and 98 bronze (total 416), followed by South Korea (76-65-91) and Japan (48-74-94) at second and third, respectively.

For the closing ceremony, China, known for its grand planning and execution, ensured that there was joy and enthusiasm all over, with a ceremony no less than the opening in grandeur. Once again the Haixinsha Island, which welcomed more than 10,000 athletes from 42 countries on November 12, came alive and all the emptiness was forgotten as dusk fell.

Colourful fountains flashed out of nowhere, Roman candles and many more of those 38,003 innovative fireworks worked magic in the sky and ship-shaped fountains, with a few hundred fountain heads, sprayed water 40 metres into the sky. With more than 30 types of costumes and 11,000 props, it was a ceremony that paled even the grandest of shows on earth.

An art performance was also dedicated to India, with singers Tanya Gupta and Ravi Tripati especially flown from India, enthralling the audience as River Ganga appeared on the sail-shaped screen followed by Indian architecture, including the Taj Mahal.

India’s biggest medal haul
After producing their best ever show in the Commonwealth Games, India underlined its rising sporting prowess by bagging the biggest medal haul in the Asian Games.

India finished sixth with 14 gold, 17 silver and 33 bronze for a record 64-medal haul.

India’s best medal haul in the Asian Games till date was recorded in the 1982 Games in New Delhi when they had won 13 gold, 19 silver and 25 bronze for an overall tally of 57.

India had finished 10th in the last edition of the Games in Doha with a tally of 10-17-26.

A quarter century ago there was no Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the rest of the former Soviet bloc to make the competition as stiff as it was in Guangzhou.

Out of the 14 gold India won in Guangzhou, the highest number of five came from athletics and two each were won in boxing, kabbadi and tennis and one each from shooting, cue sports and rowing.

Just like in many earlier editions of the Asian Games, athletics contributed the lions share in India’s number of gold medals in this addition also. A.C. Ashwini (400m hurdles and women’s 4×400 relay) and tennis star Somdev Devvarman (men’s singles and doubles) won two gold medals while Preeja Sreedharan bagged a gold and a silver in women’s 10,000m and 5,000m, respectively.

India got its first gold medal of the 2010 Asiad in Billiards with Pankaj Advani winning the English Singles.

Joseph Abraham and Ashwini Chidananda grabbed gold medals in men’s and women’s 400m hurdles, respectively.

Teen sensation Vikas Krishan ended Indian Boxing’s 12-year-old gold medal drought in the Asian Games by winning the lightweight (60kg) title.

Tarundeep Rai re-wrote history in the archery championship by becoming the first Indian individual medal winner, finishing second behind South Korean world record holder Kim Woojin.

Somdev Devvarman became the first man in 24 years to win a gold in both single and doubles tennis category in Asian Games.

Ronjan Sodhi brought an end to the gold drought in shooting by winning gold in the double trap (shot gun) event.

Bajrang Lal Takhar created history by notching up the first rowing gold medal for India in the Asian Games.

India opened a new page in its Asian Games history with Ashish Kumar clinching the first-ever medal (bronze medal in men’s floor exercise) in gymnastics. Virdhawal Khade broke the swimming medal drought after 24 years by winning a bronze medal in men’s 50m butterfly event.

To continue ….

Dream Dare Win

www.jeywin.com

*******

2010 Sports News in brief

Sports News in Brief: January 2010

BADMINTON
Senior National Badminton Championship, 74th
Chetan Anand claimed his fourth national title while Trupti Murgunde clinched her maiden one by winning the men’s and women’s singles finals. There was more joy for Chetan as his wife Jwala Gutta claimed a double by winning both the women’s and mixed doubles finals.

BASKETBALL
National Senior Championship, 60th
Indian Railways squeezed past hosts Punjab in men’s section to retain the men’s title. The women’s title was also won by Indian Railways who defeated Delhi in final to retain the title.

CHESS
World Team championship
Russia won the gold with 24 points. India trounced Brazil in the ninth and last round to earn a bronze. The championship was held at Bursa, Turkey.

CRICKET
Under-19 World Cup
Australia have become the first team to win the under-19 world cup thrice. They defeated Pakistan by 25 runs to win the 2010 edition. The tournament was hosted by New Zealand.

Defending champions India finished sixth after being humbled by South Africa in the fifth place play-off match.

Ranji Trophy, 2010
Defending champions Mumbai pulled off a thrilling six-run win over Karnataka to clinch the coveted trophy for the 39th time.

Polly Umrigar Trophy
Delhi’s Vidya Jain Public School has claimed the trophy, symbol of supremacy in school cricket, defeating Presidency School, Bangalore by 54 runs.

Bangladesh-Sri Lanka-India triangular series
Sri Lanka defeated India by four wickets to win the triangular one-day series final. India had made 245 batting first and Sri Lanka surpassed the target with nine balls to spare.

Bangladesh-India Test series
India clinched the first Test with an emphatic 113-run victory to take 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.

South Africa-England Test series
England’s last pair of Graeme Swann and Graham Onions survived 17 balls to salvage a thrilling draw in the third Test against South Africa and keep their side 1-0 ahead in the series.

South Africa won the fourth and final Test at Johannesburg by an innings and 74 runs to level the series 1-1.

Australia-Pakistan Test series
Australia completed a remarkable Test victory over Pakistan, coming from 206 runs behind in the first innings to win the second Test at SCG by 36 runs. Needing 176 for its first victory in Australia in 14 years, Pakistan was bundled out for 139 runs.

Australia defeated Pakistan by 231 runs in the third Test, to win the three-Test series 3-0. This was a record-equalling 12th successive win against Pakistan. The sequence, which began in November 1999, equals the longest victory string against a team in Test history. Shane Watson was declared the Mon of the series.

Australia-Pakistan One Day series
Australia completed a series whitewash after defeating Pakistan by two wickets in the fifth and final match, amid allegations of ball tampering by Shahid Afridi. Afridi was subsequently banned for two T20 matches after pleading guilty to the charges.

Catching record of Dravid
Rahul Dravid is the first player ever to take 100 catches overseas for India. His overall tally of 193 catches in 139 Tests is a world record.

FOOTBALL
Federation Cup
West Bengal clinched the title by over-coming giant-killer Lajong FC of Shillong. The final was held at Guwahati, Assam.

GOLF
Royal Trophy
Europe survived a dramatic fight-back to beat holders Asia and win the Royal trophy for the third time.

TENNIS
Australian Open, 2010
Serena Williams defeated Belgium’s Justine Henin to win the women’s singles title for the fifth time and her 12th Grand Slam title. With this win she drew level with Billie Jean King’s record of 12 Grand Slam wins.

Roger Federer beat Andy Murray to win his fourth Australian open men’s title, taking his own Grand Slam titles record to 16.

Leander Paes, with partner Cara Black, won the mixed doubles title. This was his 11th Grand Slam title, equalling Mahesh Bhupathi’s record of most wins by an Indian.

Mike and Bob Bryan won the men’s doubles title. The women’s doubles title was won by Serena and Venus Williams.

Chennai Open, 2010
Defending champion Marin Cilic of Croatia retained the title with a victory over Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka.

Sports News in Brief: February 2010

BOXING
Vijender wins silver in Champion of Champions tournament
Olympic hero Vijender Singh broke the bronze jinx and fetched one of India’s two silver medals at the two-day Champion of Champions invitational boxing tournament in Guangzhou, China. The 24-year-old Olympic and World Championship bronze medallist lost 0-6 to China’s Zhang Jin Ting in the in the middle weight (75kg) category final.

The other silver medal for India came through Olympian Dinesh Kumar, who settled for silver in 81kg after losing 2-10 to Chinese Meng Fan Long.

CRICKET
Cricket can now bid for 2020 Olympics
Cricket’s push to be a part of the Olympic Games received a major boost with International Olympic Council (IOC) granting recognition to International Cricket Council (ICC) on February 12, 2010. This could be seen as a first step towards cricket becoming Olympic sports. Its Twenty20 version can now bid to join the 2020 Olympic Games though ICC has not made it clear which format it will push for.

Cricket was granted the status of a recognised Olympic sport in 2007, for sports not in the Olympic programme but which conform to certain criteria, pending a decision for a permanent slot in the Games.

Cricket was part of the 1900 Olympics in Paris and has not appeared since then. The game was part of the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games and its Twenty20 version is set to feature at Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

Sachin becomes first batsman to hit a double hundred in an ODI
Sachin Tendulkar rewrote the record books on February 24, 2010, hammering the first double century in the history of one-day cricket to add another feather to his well-adorned cap. The capacity crowd at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior witnessed history as Tendulkar, statistically the greatest batsman the game has ever seen, pushed South African bowler Charl Langeveldt’s delivery through the off-side and ran a single to achieve a feat which no other cricketer has achieved.

One Day International cricket, since its 1971 inception, had to wait nearly four decades to see a batsman score 200. The previous best mark was shared by Zimbabwean Charles Coventry (194 not out) and Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar (194).

Top 10 highest individual knocks in the history of one day cricket are:
200*: Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) vs South Africa in Gwalior on February 24, 2010.
194*: Charles Coventry (Zim) vs Bangladesh in Bulawayo on August 16, 2009.
194: Saeed Anwar (Pak) vs India in Chennai on May 21, 1997.
189*: Viv Richards (WI) vs England in Manchester on May 31, 1984.
189: Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) vs India in Sharjah on October 29, 2000.
188*: Gary Kirsten (SA) vs United Arab Emirates at Rawalpindi on February 16, 1996.
186*: Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) vs New Zealand in Hyderabad on November 8, 1999.
183*: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind) vs Sri Lanka in Jaipur on October 31, 2005.
183: Sourav Ganguly (Ind) vs Sri Lanka at Taunton on May 26, 1999.
181*: Matthew Hayden (Aus) vs New Zealand in Hamilton on February 20, 2007.
181: Viv Richards (WI) vs Sri Lanka in Karachi on October 13, 1987.

India-South Africa Test Series
India crashed to a humiliating innings and six runs defeat in the first Test played in Nagpur. This was the first Test defeat under Mahinder Singh Dhoni’s captaincy.

India levelled the two-Test series after winning the second Test at Eden Gardens, Kolkata by an innings and 58 runs. With this win India managed to retain the number one Test team title it received when it first topped the ratings in December 2009, as also pocketed a cheque for Rs 78.75 lakh.

India-South Africa One-day series
India eked out one-run victory in the first match played at Jaipur. India, batting first, had set a target of 299 runs. South Africa was bowled out by India for 297. The second match at Gwalior by 153 runs. The highlight of the match was Sachin Tendulkar becoming the first batsman in the world to hit a double century in One-day format.

India lost the third and last match at Ahmedabad by 90 runs thus depriving itself a chance to register their first ever clean sweep against South Africa. India won the series 2-1. Sachin Tendulkar was declared the man-of-the-series.

Australia-West Indies One-day series
Australia defeated West Indies by 113 runs in the first match played at Melbourne.

GAMES
South Asian Games, 2010
The 11th edition of South Asian Games (SAG) opened at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, on January 29, 2010. The aquatic show was the main attraction of the opening ceremony, in which a concert hosted by Pt. Ravi Shankar and Beatles star George Harrison for Bangladesh’s Independence day and the March 7 address of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman were displayed on a water screen.

This was the third time that the Bangladeshi capital hosted the Games, thus becoming the first city to hold the games three times.

Athletes from eight countries— Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka—competed in 23 different sports. India continued its dominance with 175 medals, including 90 gold medals. Pakistan narrowly beat the host to occupy the second spot with 19 golds, while the host Bangladesh capture 18 golds, including the most popular and prestigious football and cricket titles. Sri Lanka’s Shehan Abeypitiya became the fastest man while Pakistan’s Naseem Hamid was crowned the fastest woman of the region.

The logo of the Games was ‘Kutumb’, a flying doel, known in English as the Oriental Magpie Robin. It is the National Bird of Bangladesh. The mascot also featured a Magpie Robin.

Delhi will host the next South Asian Games. India was picked to host the regional sporting event after Bhutan, whose turn it was to host the next SAG, expressed its inability to stage the meet. India has hosted the South Asian Games twice thus far—in 1987 (Kolkata) and in 1995 (Chennai).

Winter Olympics, 2010
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held on February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Approximately 2,600 athletes from 82 nations participated in 86 events in fifteen disciplines. Cayman Islands, Colombia, Ghana, Montenegro, Pakistan, Peru and Serbia made their winter Olympic debuts. Also Jamaica, Mexico and Morocco returned to the Games after missing the Turin Games.

The 2010 Winter Olympics were the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of British Columbia. Previously, Canada hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.

Canada topped the medals tally with 14 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze medals. Germany was second, followed by USA.

The 2014 Winter Olympics will be held from February 7 to February 23, 2014 in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia.

GOLF
Asian Tour International crown
Gaganjeet Bhullar scripted a sensational come-from-behind victory at Asian tour International crown, played at Bangkok. This was his second Asian tour title.

SHOOTING
Commonwealth Championships, 2010
With 23 gold medals, 17 silver and 9 bronze medals, India topped the medals tally of the championships held in Delhi in February 2010. England was second in the medals tally, followed by Australia.

Sports News in Brief: March 2010

ARCHERY
Asian Grand Prix
Recurve Men: India’s Rahul Banerjee won the gold. The team gold medal was also won by India.
Recurve Women: India’s Deepika Kumari won the gold. The teasm event was also won by India.
Compound Men: India’s Hansdah won the gold. The host nation Thailand won the gold medal in the team competition. India took the bronze.
Compound Women: Ngeain Aung of Myanmar won the gold. India took the team gold medal.
Mixed Teams: India won the gold medal in the recurve category. In compound, Myanmar won the gold over India, and the bronze went to Vietnam.

BOXING
Commonwealth Championship, 2010
India won six gold medals, which till date is the biggest haul in the Championships, as also the tournament, held at New Delhi. India bettered their record of four gold, two silver and three bronze medals they had achieved in Scotland in 2005.

Vijender Singh, the Olympic Games bronze-medallist, came out trumps, clinching his maiden gold in the Commonwealth Boxing Championships.

Asian bronze-medallist Paramjeet Samota (+91), Asian champion Suranjoy Singh (52kg), World Cup bronze-medallist Dinesh Kumar (81kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg) and Amandeep Singh (49kg) were the other gold-medallists.

CRICKET
Deodhar Trophy
North Zone beat West Zone by 49 runs to win the Deodhar Trophy cricket tournament. The final was played at Vadodara.

Bangladesh-England Test series
England crushed Bangladesh by nine wickets in the second and final Test to sweep the series.

India finish second in ICC ODI rankings
Indian cricket team finished the season as number two ranked, behind Australia, in One-Day cricket rankings of ICC.

Kapil inducted in ICC Hall of Fame
Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev, who led India to their only ODI World Cup triumph in 1983, has been inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame. A commemorative cap was presented to Kapil by ICC President David Morgan, in front of fellow Hall of Famer Clive Lloyd, as well as an audience of ICC officials and other invited guests at the governing body’s headquarters in Dubai. The Hall of Fame, run in association with the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA), recognises some of the legends of the game.

HOCKEY
World Cup, 2010
Australia defeated Germany 2-1 to deny Germany a historic hat-trick of titles. Germany had won the title in 2002 and 2006. The Netherlands came back strongly from a 1-3 first half deficit to prevail over England 4-3 and win the bronze medal. India could manage eight spot only.

Guus Vogls of The Netherlands was declared the player of the tournament.

NETBALL
National Championship, 29th
Punjab lifted the men’s title of the 29th National Netball championship by defeating Delhi. Chattisgarh defeated Andhra Pradesh to with the bronze medal. In the women’s section Delhi edged Kerala for the top honours. Chattisgarh eves won the bronze medal.

SHOOTING
ISSF World Cup
World champion marksman Manavjit Singh Sandhu lived up to his top billing and clinched the trap gold in the ISSF World Cup at Acapulco, Mexico. Another Indian, Anirudh Singh also impressed by entering his first ever World Cup final with a score of 122.

In the women’s trap event, none of the three Indian shooters could make it to the final round. Shagun Chowdhary finished 13th, Shreyasi Singh ended 16th and Seema Tomar 17th. Chinese shooter Yang Huan claimed the gold.

Sports News in Brief: April 2010

BADMINTON
Asian Championship, 2010
Men’s Singles: Lin Dan (China).
Women’s Singles: Q-Li Xuerui (China)
Men’s Doubles: Gun Woo Cho and Yeon Seong Yoo (Korea).
Women’s Doubles: Pan Pan and Quing Tian (China)
Mixed Doubles: Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh (Malaysia)

The Championship was held in New Delhi.

CRICKET
Deodhar Trophy
North Zone beat West Zone by 49 runs to win the Deodhar Trophy cricket tournament. The final was played at Vadodara.

Indian Premier League-3
Chennai Super Kings beat Mumbai Indian by 22 runs to win the third edition of the tournament. Electing to bat first, Chennai posted 168 for 5 and then restricted Mumbai to 146 for 9 to win their maiden title. Suresh Raina was declared the man of the match.

Royal Challengers Bangalore routed Deccan Chargers by nine wickets in the third and fourth place play-off match. With this win Royal Challangers qualified for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament.

Sachin Tendulkar won the DLF Golden Player award and the Orange cap for hitting the maximum runs in the tournament. Pragyan Ojha won the Purple cap for taking maximum wickets in the tournament. The Kingfisher Fair-play award was won by Chennai Super Kings.

KABADDI
World Cup Kabbadi Punjab Championship, 2010
India outclassed Pakistan 58-24 to win the title. The championship was held in Ludhiana, Punjab.

SHOOTING
Narang shoots World Cup bronze
Ace Indian shooter Gagan Narang won a bronze in 10 meter air rifle event at the World Cup in Beijing. Russian Denis Sokolav won the gold.

Sports News in Brief: May 2010

BOXING
Asian Women’s Championship
The Asian Women’s Championships were held in Astana, Kazakhistan, in May 2010. Kazakhastan topped the medals tally with eight gold medals. China won the most medals in total—10, followed Korea and India amassing eight medals each.

CHESS
World Title, 2010
Viswanathan Anand held his nerve and focus better than his opponent, Veselin Topalov, to win the 12th and final game to retain his World Championships title.

The 40-year-old Indian beat the local man from Bulgaria in the closing game with black pieces, to emerge a 6.5-5.5 winner and seal his place as a dominant player of his era.

Anand first won the world title in 2000 and held it till 2002 when the chess world was still split. He became the undisputed World champion in 2007 and then retained the title in 2008 when he beat Vladimir Kramnik.

Commonwealth Championship
Grandmaster R.R. Laxman clinched his career best win and bagged the gold after beating GM Pablo Lafuente of Argentina at the Parsvnath Commonwealth Chess Championship.

In the open category, Grandmaster Maletin Pavel of Russia signed peace with International Master Lalith Babu on the top board to win the title. Both Pavel and Laxman had nine points after 11 rounds, but the former had the better tie-break record on Bucholz count. The Russian was not in contention in the Commonwealth category.

In the women’s category, D. Harika outwitted IM Tania Sachdev on account of superior tie-break.

CRICKET
T20 World Cup, 2010
Chasing a challenging target of 148 runs, England defeated Australia by seven wickets to win the T20 World Cup. The tournament was held in West Indies.

Australia’s women held their nerves in a low-scoring final as they beat New Zealand by three runs to lift the Women’s T20 World cup title.

West Indies-South Africa One-Day series
South Africa defeated West Indies by 67 runs in the third match to win the series. They went on to win the fourth match also. South Africa beat West Indies by seven wickets.

England-Bangladesh Test series
England beat Bangladesh by five wickets in the first Test of the series, played at Lords, to be one-up in the two-Test series.

FOOTBALL
Premier League
Chelsea has won the title by a single point. They have swept back the trophy after four years.

Champions League, 2010
A goal in each half by Argentina striker Diego Militi helped Inter Milan overcome Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Champions League final.

HOCKEY
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, 19th
India and South Korea were named joint champions after the final match was abandoned following heavy rains in Malaysia. For defending champions India it was their fifth win, matching Australia, while for Asian champions South Korea this was their second title win; they had last won the cup in 1996.

TABLE TENNIS
World Team Championship
Chinese fans were left in shock after their women paddlers failed to win the gold medal at the World Team Table Tennis Championships for the first time since 1991.

The Chinese trio of Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen and Guo Yan fell to their Singaporean counterparts 3-1 in the final in Moscow as Singapore claimed their first title in the event.

WRESTLING
Sushil, Narshing win gold in Asian Wrestling
Olympic bronze medallist Sushil Kumar lived up to his reputation as he bagged a gold in men’s 66kg freestyle in the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships held at New Delhi. Narshing Yadav won a gold in the 74kg freestyle category.

Sports News in Brief: June 2010

BADMINTON
Yonex-Sunrise India Open Grand Prix
Saina Nehwal of India beat Malaysia’s Mew Choo Wong to win the title. This was her second international title win at home. She had won the Lucknow Grand Prix in 2009.

Indonesia Open
Saina Nehwal notched up an incredible hat-trick of titles by successfully defending her Indonesian Open Super Series title with s hard-fought win over Japan’s Sayaka Sato. She had earlier won the Indian Open Grand Prix and the Singapore Open Super Series.

Singapore Open
Indian ace Saina Nehwal clinched the second Super Series title of her career by winning the Singapore Open with a straight-game triumph over Chinese Taipie’s Tzu Ying Tai.

CRICKET
Asia Cup
India defeated Sri Lanka by 81 runs to win the Asia Cup. India had set the Lankans a stiff target of 299 runs. Dinesh Karthik was declared man of the match.

West Indies-South Africa One Day Series
South Africa completed a 5-0 white-wash of the series with a thrilling one wicket win in the final match. Earlier, the South Africans had also won the Twenty20 two-match series.

England-Australia One Day series
England won the five-match series 3-0. This followed 2009’s Ashes triumph and 2010’s Twenty20 World Cup final win over their oldest rivals.

SHOOTING
ISSF Shotgun World Cup
Double-trap marksman Ronjan Sodhi clinched the gold in the tournament held at Lonato, Italy.

TENNIS
French Open, 2010
Men’s Singles title: Rafael Nadal won the title by defeating Robin Soderling. This was his fifth French Open win.

Women’s Singles title: Francesca Schiavone became the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title when she defeated Australian Samantha Stosur to win the women’s singles title.

Men’s Doubles title: Canada’s Daniel Nestor and Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic won by beating defending champions Leander Paes of India and Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic.

Women’s Doubles title: Serena and Venus Williams of USA. Serena Williams won her second French Open Women’s Doubles title, and the twelfth title in that discipline, which this was the fourth win in a row in the women’s doubles in the Slams. Venus Williams won her second French Open Women’s Doubles title, and the twelfth title in that discipline, which this was the fourth win in a row in the women’s doubles in the Slams.

Mixed Doubles: Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonji? were the winners. Srebotnik won her third French Open Mixed Doubles title, and the fourth Slam title in that discipline. Zimonji? won his second French Open Mixed Doubles title, and the fourth Slam title in that discipline.

Sports News in Brief: July 2010

BOXING
Senior National Championship
World Youth champion Vikas Krishan stole the show with his maiden gold medal and the ‘Best Boxer’ trophy, but the Railways Sports Promotion Board clinched the overall title for the fourth consecutive year in the 57th Senior Men’s National Boxing Championships, held in New Delhi. The RSPB swept the overall tally with four gold, two silver and three bronze medals.

Haryana finished a distant second with two gold and three bronze medals. The Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) was third in the overall list with two gold, two silver and an equal number of bronze medals.

SSCB’s Manpreet Singh (91kg), the defending champion who signed off with a bronze, was adjudged the ‘Best Loser’ of the event.

CRICKET
Sri Lanka-India Test Series
Sri Lanka defeated India by ten wickets in the first Test to take lead in the three-Test series. This Test will be known in cricket history as one in which Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan became the first bowler in the world to take 800 wickets. This Test was also the last Test match of Murali’s career.

The second Test meandered to a tame, high-scoring draw with a staggering 1,478 runs getting scored over five days. India scored 707 all out in the first innings, its second highest total ever. Suresh Raina became the 12th Indian to score a Test century on debut.

Pakistan-Australia Test Series
Australia completed a record 13th consecutive victory win over Pakistan when they beat them by 150 runs in the first Test at Lords.

Pakistan beat Australia in a Test for the first time since 1995 after winning by three wickets in the second Test, played at Leeds, to level the two-match series 1-1. The series was played in England as Pakistan is still not considered safe place for visiting teams.

England-Bangladesh One-Day series
England defeated Bangladesh by 144 runs in the third match, played at Birmingham, to clinch the series 2-1.

Muralitharan becomes first bowler to take 800 wickets
On July 22, 2010, Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan became the first bowler to take 800 Test wickets, reaching the milestone in the last Test of his illustrious cricket career. The 38-year-old spin wizard got Indian tail-ender Pragyan Ojha caught at slip by Mahela Jayawardene to reach the magical figure, which puts him several pedestals above his contemporaries.

FOOTBALL
World Cup, 2010
Spain, the European champions, defeated third-time finalists the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time, with Andrés Iniesta’s goal in the 116th minute giving Spain their first world title, the first time that a European nation has won the tournament outside its home continent. Host nation South Africa, 2006 world champions Italy and 2006 runners-up France were eliminated in the first round of the tournament.

In the semi-finals, Spain defeated Germany by 1-0 while Netherlands had defeated Uruguay.

Germany defeated Uruguay 3–2 to secure third place. Germany holds the record for most third place finishes in the World Cup (4), while Uruguay holds the record for most fourth place finishes (3).

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup. It took place in South Africa from June 11 to July 11, 2010. In 2004, the international football federation, FIFA, had selected South Africa to become the first African nation to host the tournament.

The matches were played in ten stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at the Soccer City stadium in South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg. Thirty-two teams were selected for participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in August 2007.

Golden Ball: Diego Forlán (Uruguay)
Golden Boot: Thomas Müller (Germany)
Golden Glove: Iker Casillas (Spain)
Best Young Player: Thomas Müller (Germany)
FIFA Fair Play Trophy: Spain

The official mascot for the 2010 World Cup was Zakumi, an anthropomorphised leopard with green hair, presented on 22 September 2008. His name came from “ZA” (the international abbreviation for South Africa) and the term kumi, which means “ten” in various African languages. The mascot’s colours reflected those of the host nation’s playing strip–yellow and green.

The official song of the 2010 World Cup, “Waka Waka“, was performed by the Colombian singer Shakira and the band Freshlyground from South Africa. The song was sung in both English and Spanish. The song is based on a traditional African soldiers’ song, Zangalewa. Shakira and Freshlyground performed the song at the opening ceremony and at the closing ceremony.

HOCKEY
Asian Champions Trophy (Women)
Korea beat Japan 2-1 to win the inaugural Asian Women’s Hockey Championship, held  at Busan South Korea.

The first Asian Women Champions Trophy drew the four highest-ranking teams in the region—South Korea, China, Japan and India—which will also compete for the gold medal in the Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou, China, in November 2010.

India beat higher-ranked China 2-1 to win the bronze medal.

Rangaswamy Cup, 63rd
Mumbai overcame Haryana 3-2 to regain the senior national men’s hockey championship. The tournament was held in Bhopal.

TENNIS
Wimbledon Championship, 2010
The 124th Championships, a Royal tournament thanks to the first visit to the All England Club by Her Majesty the Queen for 33 years, was also a record-breaking occasion in many ways, most notably in that unforgettable first round men’s singles between John Isner of the United States and France’s Nicolas Mahut, which smashed every existing record in the sport.

The Isner-Mahut first round marathon, which stretched over three days, lasted 11 hours five minutes and totalled 183 games before Isner staggered away the winner 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68. The final set alone lasted just over eight hours. Both men shattered the record for aces in one match, previously held by Ivo Karlovic at 78. Isner delivered 112 and Mahut also cracked the century with 103. An exhausted Isner crashed out to Thiemo De Bakker of Holland in the next round, collecting just five games.

In the men’s singles final Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to win the title. This was the second Wimbledon title for the Spaniard. Berdych became the first Czech since Ivan Lendl in 1987 to reach the Wimbledon final.

The women’s singles title was won by defending champion Serena Williams who beat Russia’s Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2. The victory took her to 13 Grand Slam singles titles, past Billie Jean King, and sixth in the all-time list.

In the doubles, the men’s title went to an unseeded pair, Austria’s Jurgen Melzer and Germany’s Philipp Petzschner, playing only their seventh tournament as a team. The women’s doubles was won by an American-Kazakh combination, Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova. Also unseeded, they overcame the Russians, Elena Vesnina and Zvonareva, 7-6, 6-2. The mixed double’s championship fell to a seeded combination, Leander Paes and Cara Black, the second seeds, who beat Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Lisa Raymond (United States) 6-4. 7-6.

Sports News in Brief: August 2010

ATHLETICS
National Athletic Meet, 50th
Kerala, Punjab and Haryana stood overall first, second and third, respectively, in the National Athletic Senior Championship held at NIS Patiala.

CRICKET
Sri Lanka-New Zealand-India One-Day Tri-series
Sri Lanka rode on Tillakaratne Dilshan’s century to clinch the tri-series title with an emphatic 74-run win over India, ending M.S. Dhoni’s sequence of four consecutive series triumphs on Sri Lanka soil.

England-Pakistan Test series
England crushed Pakistan by an innings and 225 runs to win the fourth and final Test at Lord’s, London. England ended up winning the series 3-1.

Pakistan overcame a late batting collapse to beat England by four wickets in the third Test.

England batsmen Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad set a world record eighth wicket partnership when they extended their stand to 332 on the third day of fourth Test. The record was earlier held by Pakistan’s Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq.

Earlier, in the first Test, James Anderson took ten wickets in a Test for the first time to help England crush Pakistan by 354 runs. In their second innings, Pakistan were bundled out for just 80 runs, their lowest total against England, replacing the 87 they made at Lord’s in 1954.

Sri Lanka-India Test Series
Veteran V.V.S. Laxman cracked a fighting unbeaten 103 as India pulled off a five-wicket win in the third Test to level the three-Test series 1-1. Laxman was adjudged the man of the match while Virender Sehwag was adjudged man of the series.

Tendulkar becomes most-capped player
Iconic Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar has become the most-capped Test cricketer (169 Test matches). This feat was achieved in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka, played in August 2010. Steve Waugh (168 Test matches) of Australia had held the record earlier.

FOOTBALL
Santosh Trophy, 2010
Kerala lad Denson Devdas struck twice as Bengal made a spectacular comeback to beat Punjab 2-1, ending their 11 years title drought in the National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy.

GAMES
Youth Olympic Games
Singapore hosted the first Youth Olympics from August 14 to 26, 2010. A total of 3,531 athletes between 14 and 18 years of age from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 201 events in 26 sports.

The opening ceremony of the Games was held on 14 August at The Float@Marina Bay, a floating stage near downtown Singapore. Approximately 27,000 spectators attended the event, which took place against a backdrop of the city’s skyline.

Lyo and Merly were the official mascots. The duo ere made up of a red male lion and a blue female Merlion. A contest held to name the two mascots was won by two Singaporeans. It took designers from Cubix International about six months to complete designing the mascots.

China topped the medals tally with 30 gold medals, followed by Russia (18) and South Korea (11). India was ranked 58 with 6 silver medals and 2 bronze medals in its kitty.

It was during the 119th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Guatemala City on the July 5, 2007 when the IOC decided to create Youth Olympic Games (YOG). The vision of the innovative concept for the new sport event is to inspire young people all around the world to participate in sport and adopt and live by the Olympic values (excellence, friendship, respect).

Innsbruck and Seefeld will host the first Winter Youth Olympic Games from January 13-22, 2012.

GOLF
Atwal first Indian to win US PGA title
Arjun Atwal has become the first Indian ever to win a US PGA title when he won the Wyndham Golf Championship.

HOCKEY
Champions Trophy, 2010
Australia won their third successive Champions Trophy, and 11th in all, with a comprehensive 4-0 win over England. Netherlands secured the third place. The championship was held at Monchengladbach, Germany.

SHOOTING
Tejaswini becomes first Indian woman to win gold at World Championships
Tejaswani Sawant scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman shooter to clinch a gold medal at the World Championships, with a world-record equalling score in 50m Rifle Prone event in Munich, Germany.

Sports News in Brief: September 2010

ARCHERY
India wins gold in fourth leg of World Cup
The Indian men’s recurve team of Jayanta Talukdar, Tarundeep Rai and Rahul Banerjee won gold in the fourth leg of the World Cup archery in Shanghai. The trio whipped Japan, who had beaten the formidable Koreans in the semi-final.

Talukdar won bronze in the individual event defeating Athens Olympic champion Marco Galiazzo of Italy 7-3.

Deepika Kumari lost the women’s recurve final, but the silver medal ensured Deepika her maiden place in the grand final in Edinburgh.

BOXING
Mary Kom wins World Championship
India’s woman boxer MC Mary Kom claimed a historic fifth successive world championship title on September 18, 2010, beating Steluta Duta of Romania 16-6. This mother-of-two from Manipur remains the only boxer to have won a medal in each edition of the world championship.

CRICKET
T20 Champions League, 2010
IPL champions Chennai Super Kings, led ably by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, defeated the Warriors of South Africa by eight wickets to win the Airtel Champions League, played in South Africa.

J.P. Atray Trophy
ONGC posted a six-wicket victory over Air India to win the 17th J.P. Atray Memorial Cricket tournament.

England-Pakistan One-Day series
England defeated Pakistan by 121 runs in the fifth and final match to win the series3-2.

GOLF
DLF Masters
Ashok Kumar won the DLF Masters. Gaganjeet Bhullar won the second spot.

HOCKEY
Women’s World Cup
Argentina defeated reigning World and Olympic champions Netherlands 3-1 to win their second field hockey world title. They had earlier won the title in 2002 in Australia. The championship was held at Rosario, Argentina.

SHOOTING
Ronjon shoots gold at ISSF World Cup
India’s Ronjon Sodhi clinched a gold at the double trap in the ISSF World Cup finals in Izmir, Turkey with a stunning score of 195 out of 200.

TENNIS
US Open, 2010
Rafael Nadal of Spain defeated Novak Djokovic (Serbia) to win the men’s singles title. The win gave him his first US open title and was his ninth Grand Slam win.

Kim Clijsters of Belgium defeated Vera Zvonareva (Russia) to take the women’s singles title.

The men’s doubles title was won by Mike and Bob Bryan of USA who defeated Indo-Pak team of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq.

The women’s doubles title was won by Vania King (USA) and  Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhistan) while the mixed doubles title was won by  Liezel Huber (USA) and Bob Bryan (USA).

India enters Davis Cup World Group
In a stunning turnaround, Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna powered India to the elite Davis Cup World Group by scripting a sensational 3-2 win over Brazil. The matches were played in Chennai.

WRESTLING
Sushil becomes first Indian to win World Championship gold
Wrestler Sushil Kumar has become the first Indian to win a gold medal in the World Wrestling Championships, held in Moscow. He defeated Alan Gogaev in the 66-kg freestyle category.

Sports News in Brief: October 2010

GAMES
XIX Commonwealth Games, New Delhi
Conventional fervour, glitter, gaiety and a rich cultural bonanza climaxed into a magnificent ceremony that brought curtains down on the Commonwealth Games at the massive Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium on October 14, 2010. It was real Chak De India as music of universal love made the stadium reverberate to some of the best Bollywood beats and the theme song by A.R. Rahman. Unlike conventional ceremonies that leave many athletes and officials with moist eyes, Delhi bade a joyous farewell to all participants.

Athletes and officials departed to meet againin 2014 at Glasgow. Members of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, in a brief, but impressive flag handover ceremony, extended an open invitation to all to enjoy the next edition of the festival of the Commonwealth.

President of Sri Lanka was among the dignitaries who watched the nearly three-hour long ceremony, along with Vice-President Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the UPA President Sonia Gandhi.

The music of universal love ended with a pyro burst that lit up the sky in colour. Before the music blast, an amazing laser show held the audience spellbound. Singer Shaan came with Shera, the mascot of the games, to bid goodbye and touch an emotional chord with the audience. Vande Matram was sung by school children of Delhi and musical band display by pipe and brass bands of the defence forces gave an immaculate start to the ceremony.

Earlier, on October 3, 2010, Delhi gave full-throated vent to its pleasure to usher in the 19th Commonwealth Games, which were declared open by Britain’s Prince Charles, at a packed Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Immediately afterwards, President Pratibha Patil said: “Let the Games begin.”

A total of 6,081 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events. It was the largest international multi-sport event to be staged in Delhi and India, eclipsing the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982.

Australia topped the medals tally, with 74 gold, 55 silver and 48 bronze medals. India was second on the medals tally list with 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals. India was followed by England, Canada and South Africa.

Mascot
The official mascot for the 2010 Commonwealth Games was Shera, an anthropomorphised tiger.

Official song
The official song of the 2010 Commonwealth Games was Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto. It  was composed and performed by the  A. R. Rahman. The song’s title was based on the slogan of the games, “Come out and play”. The song was penned by Mehboob in Hindi with a sprinkling of English words.

India’s performance
Indian competitors came out with flying colours. A record medal haul of 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals, the best-ever harvest for the country in the Games history, helped India climb to the record-high second position and end the multi-discipline event on a thumping note. The main haul of these 101 medals came from the shooting range, wrestling mat, boxing ring, archery range and, to everyone’s surprise, the track and field events.

Rifle-shooting ace Gagan Narang scooped up four gold medals, but could not achieve the feat of overhauling five-gold hero of the 2006 Melbourne Games—Samresh Jung.

Teenage woman archer Deepika Kumari, daughter of an auto-rickshaw driver, who held her nerves even as the more seasoned Dola Banerjee wilted, to come up with a golden double in the women’s recurve event.

The track and field events witnessed India’s first gold medal in 52 years when Krishna Poonia led a clean sweep of the women’s discus throw, Harwant Kaur and Seema Antil won the silver and bronze.

The women’s 4×400m relay squad struck an unexpected gold with a superb display that pushed Nigeria and England to second and third places.

The women shuttlers, led by Saina Nehwal, brought two gold medals to bring down the curtains on the country’s competitive show with a bang. Those two gold medals in badminton were vital to help India push England to the third place by the skin of their teeth.

Saina Nehwal created history by becoming the first Indian woman to win the singles gold in badminton at the Commonwealth Games. Legendary Prakash Padukone (1978) and the late Syed Modi (1982) were the two men players to win the singles gold in the Games. Jwala Gutta and Ashiwni Ponnappa scripted history by becoming the first Indian pair to win the gold at Commonwealth Games.

The men’s hockey team, whose fortunes are followed closely by the sports fans of the country, made history by making it to the final for the first time before coming a cropper against world and defending champions Australia in the summit clash. The 8-0 defeat was huge and one of the biggest suffered by the country.

Wrestling contingent also did very well, winning 19 medals in the 21 designated event. Among the 19 medals, there were 10 gold, five silver and four bronze medals. Sushil Kumar literally walked his way to gold, while the women wrestlers, participating in the Games for the first time, stole the show with a memorable performance. In the six events for women, India won three gold, two silver and a bronze medal to show their supremacy in the freestyle category.

The trio of Alka Tomar, Geeta and Anita won their final bouts with ease, while Babita Kumari and Nirmala Devi missed out on gold, losing their final rounds, but their performance drew praise from all. Geeta became the first Indian women wrestler to bag a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games.

India achieved unprecedented success in athletics by bagging 12 medals, including two gold. India’s 12 medals were two more than the number it won in all the earlier editions.

Krishna Poonia created history by breaking India’s 52-year-old Commonwealth Games gold medal jinx by winning the gold medal in women’s discus throw. Harwant Kaur and Seema Antil bagged silver and bronze, respectively.

Poonia also became the first Indian woman to bag a Commonwealth Games gold after ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh won the men’s 440 yards race in 1958 edition in Cardiff, Wales.

The women’s 4X400m relay team of Manjeet Kaur, Sini Jose, Ashwini Akkunji and Mandeep Kaur added another gold in a memorable race, beating strong teams like Nigeria and England.

Fancied fisticuff exponents Vijender Singh and Akhil Kumar were ousted early but Indian boxers still delivered a historic golden punch to come up with their best-ever campaign in the Games history. With a hat-trick of gold plus four bronze medals, the Indian ring stylists recorded their best medal haul at the quadrennial multi-discipline sports event, bettering the 2006 campaign at Melbourne by two.

Ashish Kumar of India created history by winning a bronze medal in Gymnastics, the first ever medal in gymnastics for India in the Commonwealth Games.

BODYBUILDING
World Championship
Bobby Singh of Imphal, a clerk at the North Frontier Railway, scripted history by becoming the world champion at the second WBPF World Bodybuilding Championship, held at Varanasi. India has won a world Bodybuilding Championship after 22 years.

CHESS
Anand regains Number One Spot
World Champion Viswanathan Anand played out a hard-fought draw with Magnus Carlsen of Norway to finish second in the Bilbao Final Masters chess tournament. The silver lining for the Indian ace was the fact that he dethroned Carlsen from the number one ranking in Live rating list for the first time since January 2010 and ended up as the top player in ratings too.

Vladimir Kramnik of Russia won the Final Masters after settling for an easy draw with Alexei Shirov of Spain.

CRICKET
India-Australia One Day Series
India won the three-match series 1-0 after the third and final ODI was abandoned because of rain. The first match also had to be abandoned because of rain. This was the first one-day series victory over Australia in over two decades.

India beat Australia by wickets in the second ODI. The highlight of the match was the match-winning 118 runs by Virat Kohli.

Bangladesh-New Zealand One Day Series
Rubel Hossain grabber four wickets as Bangladesh completed a sweep with a thrilling three-run victory in the fifth and final one day match. The 4-0 series win is Bangladesh’s first sweep against a major team.

India-Australia Test Series
Debutant Cheteshwar Pujara struck a sparkling 72 as India defeated Australia by seven wickets in the second and final Test, played at Bangalore, to sweep the series, win the Border-Gavaskar trophy and consolidate their world number one status. Man of the series Sachin Tendulkar followed up his first innings double century with an unbeaten 53 to help India chase down the 207-run target.

Earleir, India won the first Test at Mohali by one wicket. A 81-run ninth wicket stand between V.V.S. Laxman and Ishant Sharma set up the opening win. Laxman scripted an unbeaten 73 runs and Ishant Sharma chipped with a contribution of 31 runs.

Sachin first to make 14,000 runs in Tests
Sachin Tendulkar has become the only player to make 14,000 runs in Test cricket. At 12,178 runs, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting remains his nearest rival.

ICC Awards
Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar has bagged his maiden ICC Cricketer of the Year trophy along with the People’s Choice Award, while compatriot Virender Sehwag has been named the Test Cricketer of the Year.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named captain of the ICC’s World Test XI, while Australia was chosen as the best ODI team of the period between August 2009 and 2010.

South African AB de Villiers clinched the ICC ODI Player of the Year award.

England fast bowler Steven Finn, who played in six Test matches in the voting period and took 27 wickets at an average of 21.85, won the ICC Emerging Player of the Year Award.

New Zealand swashbuckler Brendon McCullum’s blistering 56-ball unbeaten 116 against Australia in Christchurch was adjudged the ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year.

Spirit of the Game Award went to New Zealand and Aleem Dar of Pakistan won the ICC Umpire of the Year trophy.

GOLF
Ryder Cup, 2010
The 38th Ryder Cup matches were held at the Celtic Manor Resort in the city of Newport, Wales. It was the first time the competition was staged in Wales. With the USA as the defending Cup holder the event was played on the newly-constructed Twenty 10 course, specifically designed for the Ryder Cup. Team Europe won the competition.

HOCKEY
Surjit Hockey Tournament
Indian Oil, Mumbai, have clinched the overall trophy in the 27th Indian Oil Surjit Hockey tournament. They defeated Air India, Mumbai via tie-breaker.

Sports News in Brief: November 2010

CRICKET
Australia-England (Ashes) Test Series
The Ashes opener in Brisbane ended in a draw after Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott shared in England’s highest partnership in Australia of 329 runs. Cook became only the fourth Englishman to score a Test double-century in Australia (235 not out). England managed to draw the match despite conceding a first innings lead of 221 runs.

Sri Lanka-West Indies Test series
The second Test, played in Colombo, ended in a draw.

India-New Zealand Test series
India won the three-Test series 1-0 after winning the third Test in Nagpur by an innings and 198 runs.

The first Test, played in Ahmedabad, ended in a draw after VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh put in a fight-back after India had been reduced to 15 for 5 at one time.

In the second Test played in Hyderabad, Brendon McCullum notched up his best-ever Test score of 225 to ensure a draw.

Harbhajan Singh made history by becoming the first number eight Test batsman to hit back-to-back centuries. In the first Test he hit 115 and followed this with 111 not out in the second Test. His 105-run 10th wicket stand with Sreesanth the was best for India.

Sri Lanka-West Indies Test Series
West Indies opener Chris Gayle made the joint 12th highest Test score with a magnificent 333 in the first Test. He became only the fourth man to achieve the feat twice in Test history, after Sir Donald Bradman, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag.

Australia-Sri Lanka ODI series
Australia snapped a run of seven straight losses in all forms of cricket when it beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the third and final match. Sri Lanka claimed the series 2-1, after winning the first match by one wicket and the second by 29 runs.

FOOTBALL
Durand Cup
Chirag United defeated JCT to win the Durand Cup, 2010.

GOLF
Hero Honda Women’s Indian Open Championship
England’s Laura Davies notched up a thrilling play-off win to lift the trophy. The tournament was held in Gurgaon.

TENNIS
ATP World Tour Finals
Roger Federer polished of Rafael Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to capture his fifth season-ending finale, the ATP World Tour final. It was for the first time in 24 years that top two players in ATP ranking reached the season finale.

GAMES
Asian Games, 2010
The 16th Asian Games were held in Guangzhou, China from November 12 to 27, 2010. 9,832 athletes from 44 countries participated in record 42 disciplines—including T20 cricket, dance-sport, women’s boxing and roller skating, which were introduced in this Asiad.

Two years after the spectacular success of Beijing Olympics, China dazzled the world once again by unveiling the 16th Asian Games with a spell-binding opening ceremony in which water was the overwhelming theme and athletes were ushered in a unique boat parade on Pearl River.

The theme was water and the main part of the ceremony was held at Hai Xinsha, an island located on China’s third longest river, which is the life-giver to the southern part of the world’s most populous nation.

The four-and-a-half-hour ceremony started with trademark fireworks and the 37,000 capacity crowd was up on its feet when 1320 artists from the city’s oldest kung fu school descended with giant LED screens in the backdrop.

China ended on top with 199 gold, 119 silver and 98 bronze (total 416), followed by South Korea (76-65-91) and Japan (48-74-94) at second and third, respectively.

For the closing ceremony, China, known for its grand planning and execution, ensured that there was joy and enthusiasm all over, with a ceremony no less than the opening in grandeur. Once again the Haixinsha Island, which welcomed more than 10,000 athletes from 42 countries on November 12, came alive and all the emptiness was forgotten as dusk fell.

Colourful fountains flashed out of nowhere, Roman candles and many more of those 38,003 innovative fireworks worked magic in the sky and ship-shaped fountains, with a few hundred fountain heads, sprayed water 40 metres into the sky. With more than 30 types of costumes and 11,000 props, it was a ceremony that paled even the grandest of shows on earth.

An art performance was also dedicated to India, with singers Tanya Gupta and Ravi Tripati especially flown from India, enthralling the audience as River Ganga appeared on the sail-shaped screen followed by Indian architecture, including the Taj Mahal.

India’s biggest medal haul
After producing their best ever show in the Commonwealth Games, India underlined its rising sporting prowess by bagging the biggest medal haul in the Asian Games.

India finished sixth with 14 gold, 17 silver and 33 bronze for a record 64-medal haul.

India’s best medal haul in the Asian Games till date was recorded in the 1982 Games in New Delhi when they had won 13 gold, 19 silver and 25 bronze for an overall tally of 57.

India had finished 10th in the last edition of the Games in Doha with a tally of 10-17-26.

A quarter century ago there was no Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the rest of the former Soviet bloc to make the competition as stiff as it was in Guangzhou.

Out of the 14 gold India won in Guangzhou, the highest number of five came from athletics and two each were won in boxing, kabbadi and tennis and one each from shooting, cue sports and rowing.

Just like in many earlier editions of the Asian Games, athletics contributed the lions share in India’s number of gold medals in this addition also. A.C. Ashwini (400m hurdles and women’s 4×400 relay) and tennis star Somdev Devvarman (men’s singles and doubles) won two gold medals while Preeja Sreedharan bagged a gold and a silver in women’s 10,000m and 5,000m, respectively.

India got its first gold medal of the 2010 Asiad in Billiards with Pankaj Advani winning the English Singles.

Joseph Abraham and Ashwini Chidananda grabbed gold medals in men’s and women’s 400m hurdles, respectively.

Teen sensation Vikas Krishan ended Indian Boxing’s 12-year-old gold medal drought in the Asian Games by winning the lightweight (60kg) title.

Tarundeep Rai re-wrote history in the archery championship by becoming the first Indian individual medal winner, finishing second behind South Korean world record holder Kim Woojin.

Somdev Devvarman became the first man in 24 years to win a gold in both single and doubles tennis category in Asian Games.

Ronjan Sodhi brought an end to the gold drought in shooting by winning gold in the double trap (shot gun) event.

Bajrang Lal Takhar created history by notching up the first rowing gold medal for India in the Asian Games.

India opened a new page in its Asian Games history with Ashish Kumar clinching the first-ever medal (bronze medal in men’s floor exercise) in gymnastics. Virdhawal Khade broke the swimming medal drought after 24 years by winning a bronze medal in men’s 50m butterfly event.

To continue ….

Dream Dare Win

www.jeywin.com

*******

Top 10 global weather events in 2010

Saturday, January 15th, 2011

A panel of experts has ranked the top 10 global weather and climate events of 2010 as follows.

According to Christian Science Monitor, voters considered the scope and unusualness of the event, its immediate human and economic impact, and whether it is emblematic of climate trends or variability:

1. Russian-European-Asian heat waves

The heat waves of summer 2010 spawned drought, wildfires, and crop failures across western Russia, where over 15,000 people died. All-time high temperatures occurred in many cities and nations across the Northern Hemisphere. China faced locust swarms during July.

Temperatures hovered from four to eight degrees Celsius above average in Russia during June and July. On July 30th, Moscow recorded its highest temperature ever ? 39 degrees Celsius ? breaking the previous record of 37 degrees Celsius set just four days earlier. Prior to July 2010, the record hadn?t been broken for 90 years.

2. Warmest year on record (probably)

According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the globally averaged temperature for 2010 will finish among the two warmest, and likely the warmest, in the 130-year-climate record.

(The current record was set in 2005, and so far the two years are in a statistical tie, which may be resolved as data compilation continues.)

2001-2010 is the warmest 10-year period since the start of weather records in 1850, the UN weather agency said Dec 2.

3. Flooding in Pakistan

Monsoon rains fall in Pakistan every summer, but the rains in June and July 2010 were unusually heavy, bringing over a foot of rain.

By Aug 1, whole villages had washed away, over 1,600 people had died, six million had lost their homes, and about 20 million people were affected. The flooding in northwestern Pakistan was the worst since 1929, officials said.

4. El Nino to La Nina transition

Spring 2010 saw an enormous swing from El Nino to La Nina. Flooding in Indonesia, Colombia and Australia has all been tied to this phenomenon.

They are associated with opposite extremes in sea-surface temperature across the Pacific, and with opposite extremes in rainfall, surface air pressure, and atmospheric circulation from Indonesia to South America (approximately half the distance around the globe).

5. Negative Arctic Oscillation

The Arctic Oscillation influences winter weather in the Northern Hemisphere: when it is negative, arctic air slides south. In February, the index reached -4.27, the lowest value since records began in 1950.

6. Brazilian drought

A severe drought parching northern Brazil shrunk the Rio Negro (Black river) ? one of the most important tributaries of the Amazon River ? to its lowest level in over a century. At their point of confluence, the Amazon?s depth fell more than 12 feet below its average.

Nearly half of Amazonia?s 62 municipalities declared a state of emergency. The drought affected over 60,000 families.

7. (tie) Northeast Pacific hurricane (non-)season

The Northeast Pacific Hurricane Season was one of the least active on record. This dud of a hurricane season produced the fewest named storms and hurricanes of the modern era and had the earliest cessation of tropical activity ? Sep 23 ? on record.

7. (tie) Historic snow retreat

December 2009 had the second-largest snow cover of the satellite record (since the mid-1960s), followed by a ferocious spring snowmelt season. The rapidly melting snow contributed to spring floods across the Northern US and Canada.

Following the early and pronounced snow melt, the North American, Eurasian, and Hemispheric snow cover was the smallest on record for May and June 2010.

9. Shrinking Arctic sea ice

Arctic sea ice, the floating ice sheet that covers most of the Arctic ocean, shrunk to its third?smallest extent ever, measuring only 4.9 million sq. km. The last four years (2007?2010) are the four smallest on record.

For the first time in modern history, the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route were simultaneously ice-free in September.

10. China drought

A persistent drought, described as the worst in a century, covered parts of southern, southwestern and central China from January through April.

Centered in Yunnan province, the drought destroyed several million hectares of crops and dried up drinking water sources, affecting over 50 million people.

Dream Dare Win

www.jeywin.com

*****

PIO and OCI Cards – An overview on merger

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

Aqueenas Annlin

The announcement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 8, 2011 pertaining to the merging of the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and the People of Indian Origin (PIO) cards is likely to facilitate visa-free travel to India, rights of residency and participation in business and educational activities in the country. The announcement was made on the occasion of the ninth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention held in New Delhi, from 7-9 January 2011.

The government has recently reviewed the functioning of these schemes and has decided to merge the OCI and PIO cards into a single facility. It hopes to iron out some of the problems that have arisen in the implementation of these schemes.

Existing advantages of OCI when compared to PIO Cardholders

(i) An OCI is entitled to lifelong visa with free travel to India whereas for a PIO card holder, it is only valid for 15 years.

(ii) A PIO cardholder is required to register with local Police authority for any stay exceeding 180 days in India on any single visit whereas an OCI is exempted from registration with Police authority for any length of stay in India.

(iii) An OCI gets a specific right to become an Indian Citizen whereas the PIO card holder does not have this. As per the provisions of section 5(1) (g) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, a person who is registered as an OCI for 5 years and is residing in India for one year out of the above 5 years, is eligible to apply for Indian Citizenship.

The ninth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was organised by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), in partnership with the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region along with eight North Eastern States and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). This flagship event of MOIA has been held in New Delhi, for the sixth time.

The special feature of PBD-2011 is the participation of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region and eight North Eastern States as partner. This provided the Diaspora with an opportunity to understand the tremendous potential of this beautiful part of India.

The focus of PBD 2011 was on the young overseas Indian. In an endeavour to connect with and engage the younger generation of the overseas Indians with emerging India, a plenary session on “Engaging with the young overseas Indian” was organized.

Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) Scheme

The Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) Scheme was introduced by amending the Citizenship Act, 1955 in August 2005, in response to persistent demands for ‘dual citizenship’ particularly from the Diaspora in North America and other developed countries and keeping in view the Government’s deep commitment towards fulfilling the aspirations and expectations of Overseas Indians. The Scheme was launched during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention 2006 at Hyderabad. The Scheme provides for registration as Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) of all Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) who were citizens of India on 26th January, 1950 or thereafter or were eligible to become citizens of India on 26th January, 1950 except who is or had been a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh or such other country as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify.

OCI is not dual citizenship

OCI is not to be misconstrued as ‘dual citizenship’. OCI does not confer political rights. The registered Overseas Citizens of India shall not be entitled to the rights conferred on a citizen of India under article 16 of the Constitution with regard to equality of opportunity in matters of public employment.

The OCI documents consist of OCI Registration Booklet and a Universal visa sticker. It is mandatory for registered OCIs to carry their passports which carry the Universal visa sticker for entry into / exit from India.

A registered Overseas Citizen of India is granted multiple entry, multipurpose, life-long visa for visiting India, he/she is exempted from registration with Foreign Regional Registration Officer or Foreign Registration Officer for any length of stay in India, and is entitled to general ‘parity with Non-Resident Indians in respect of all facilities available to them in economic, financial and educational fields except in matters relating to the acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties’. Specific benefits/parity is notified by the Ministry from time to time.

A foreign national, who was eligible to become a citizen of India on 26.01.1950 or was a citizen of India on or at any time after 26.01.1950 or belonged to a territory that became part of India after 15.08.1947 and his/her children and grand children, provided his/her country of citizenship allows dual citizenship in some form or other under the local laws, is eligible for registration as an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI). Minor children of such person are also eligible for OCI. However, if the applicant had ever been a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh, he/she will not be eligible for OCI.

Person of India Origin (PIO) Scheme

The Government of India revised the PIO Card Scheme, which was launched in 1999, aimed at making the journey back to the person’s roots, simpler, easier, flexible and absolutely hassle free. The PIO Card will entitle the person to a set of privileges. No visa required for visiting India.

  • No separate “Student Visa” or “Employment Visa” required for admissions in colleges/Institutions or for taking up employment respectively.
  • A PIO Card holder will be exempt from the requirement of registration if his stay on any single visit in India does not exceed 180 days.
  • A person who at any time held an Indian Passport is eligible

Other initiatives

The Prime Minister also announced the extension of the Indian Community Welfare Fund to all Indian Missions from the present 42.

The government would soon give effect to a law that allowed Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to register themselves as voters. On the welfare of workers emigrating from India, besides the signing of Social Security Agreements with 12 countries and finalisation of Labour Mobility Partnerships with two others, the government was negotiating a generic arrangement with the European Union.

New Zealand Governor General Anand Satyanand was the Chief Guest of this year’s PBD

New cultural centres are likely to be opened in the U.S., Canada, Saudi Arabia, France and Australia.

New opportunities to the Diaspora to participate in health and education sectors have been identified in India.

PBD Conventions provide a platform for exchange of views and networking to overseas Indians on matters of common interest and concern to them. They also help the Government of India to better understand and appreciate the expectations of the overseas Indian community from the land of their ancestors and more importantly, acknowledge the important role played by them in India’s efforts to acquire its rightful place in the comity of nations.

Consultations at earlier PBDs have led to the formulation of the Overseas Citizenship of India scheme, establishment of Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre, conceptualisation of Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra, formation of Prime Minister’s Global Advisory Council of people of Indian Origin, setting up of the India Development Foundation, and the launching of the Global Indian Network of Knowledge (Global-INK).

The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA)

The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) is the highest honour conferred on overseas Indians.
PBSA is conferred by the President of India as a part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Conventions organized annually since 2003 on a Non-Resident Indian, Person of Indian Origin or an organization or institution established and run by the Non-Resident Indians or Persons of Indian Origin, who has made significant contribution in any one of the following fields:

  1. Better understanding abroad of India;
  2. Support to India’s causes and concerns in a tangible way;
  3. Building closer links between India, the overseas Indian community and their country of residence;
  4. Social and humanitarian causes in India or abroad;
  5. Welfare of the local Indian community;
  6. Philanthropic and charitable work;
  7. Eminence in one’s field or outstanding work, which has enhanced India’s prestige in the country of residence; or
  8. Eminence in skills which has enhanced India’s prestige in that country (for non-professional workers).

Thirteen overseas Indians including New Zealand Governor General Anand Satyanand were named recipients of this year’s Pravasi Bharatiya Samman for contributions to their countries of domicile and enhancing India’s image globally.

Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi announced the names of the winners at the concluding day of India’s annual convention to connect with its 27 million diaspora in 150 countries.

The other awardees are:

1)      Prof. Veena Harbhagwan Sahajwalla (Australia)

2)      Lata Pada (Canada)

3)      Harindrapal Singh Banga (Hong Kong-China)

4)      Mohammad Munir Nazir Hassan Ansari (Israel)

5)      Upjit Singh Sachdeva (Liberia)

6)      Tan Sri Dato Ajit Singh (Malaysia)

7)      Saleh Wahid from (Netherlands)

8)      Mohiaddin Syed Karimuddin (Saudi Arabia)

9)      Mano Selvanathan (Sri Lanka)

10)  Mohan Jashanmal (United Arab Emirates)

11)  Baroness Sandip Verma (United Kingdom)

12)  Ashook Kumar Ramsaran and Rajiv Shah (United States)

They names were chosen by a panel headed by Vice President Hamid Ansari and announced by President Pratibha Patil.

Dream Dare Win

www.jeywin.com

*****

Manmohan Singh’s address at the 98th Indian Science Congress

Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh addressed the 98th Indian Science Congress in Chennai on January 3, 2011. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s address on the occasion:-

“I am delighted to be here in Chennai. I wish the people of Tamil Nadu a peaceful, prosperous and fulfilling New Year. I am very happy that every New Year begins with an opportunity for me to meet some of our most distinguished scientists.

Tamil Nadu has a unique place in the world of Indian science. India’s first Nobel Laureate in the sciences, Dr C.V. Raman, was a proud student of Presidency College, Chennai. So was Professor S. Chandrasekhar. The State has also produced one of India’s greatest mathematicians, Srinivasa Ramanujan.

The time has come for Indian science to once again think big; think out of the box; and think ahead of the times. The time has come for India to produce the Ramans and Ramanujans of the 21st Century.

This year, as we usher in the New Year, we also usher in the “Decade of Innovation”. There is no better way to do that than to salute the creativity and the genius of our scientists and engineers, our professionals, our workers, our scholars and students, gathered here today. I sincerely hope each one of you will go forth from here, dedicating your life and your work to the development of modern science and to the application of science to the betterment of the lives of the Indian people.

I am delighted that the theme of the 98th Science Congress is “Quality Education and Excellence in Science Research in Indian Universities.” I have always believed that a university is the vital link in the chain of science teaching and research. We must never forget that. Unless we strengthen the base of our educational system, we can never hope to extend the height of the pyramid of excellence. We also need to create an innovation eco-system so that innovation becomes a way of life in our knowledge institutions.

As a former university teacher, I am happy that our government in the last six years has tried to pay special attention to the growth and development of our university system. We have sanctioned funds for the creation of new universities and increased the capacity of existing ones. In the past 5 years, the Government has established eight new IITs and five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research to provide high quality education and carry out research in frontier areas of science and technology. An Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research which seeks to produce more than 1,000 doctoral and post graduate fellows every year is being established. I urge our teaching community to strengthen both the teaching and research sides of our University system.

In the early dawn after Independence, Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister told a gathering at the Allahabad University in 1947:

“A University stands for humanism, for tolerance, for reason, for progress, for the adventure of ideas and for the search for truth. It stands for the onward march of the human race towards even higher objectives. If the universities discharge their duty adequately, then it is well with the nation and the people.”

Jawaharlal Nehru was thoughtful and precise when he drew a link between humanism, tolerance, reason, and progress. The practice of science is based on both the search for truth and on the adventure of new ideas.

What better place than a University for pursuits of both these goals? But our Universities have to be more hospitable to creativity and genius, and less captive to bureaucracy and procedure. They should be more open to talent and to the challenge of new ideas.

The growth of our economy, the health of our people and the security of our country depends on the scientific and technological competence. This is well understood and is reflected in the substantial support that all governments give to the pursuit of scientific research. This support is often swayed by the immediate needs as perceived at that time. In this way the direction of scientific effort is shaped by society at large.

But scientists are not just servants who do the bidding of their paymasters. They are driven by curiosity and seek knowledge often for its own sake. The fundamental discoveries of physics, chemistry and biology have come from this thirst for understanding rather than from any social compulsion.

But big discoveries have influenced society through new technological options which have offered generally benefits to humankind but sometimes have been used for more harmful purposes as well.

In fact, Bertrand Russell once said: “I am compelled to fear that science will be used to promote the power of dominant groups rather than to make men happy.”

Are such concepts of good and bad relevant for directing scientific effort? Science is value free in the sense that scientific hypotheses have to be accepted or rejected on the basis of facts and not on the basis of their consistency with any ethical or religious belief.

We universally now accept that the Earth revolves around the Sun on the basis of the consistency of the hypothesis with observed positions of stars, even though the belief was inconsistent with the cosmological view of some religions. That is the fundamental achievement of the scientific revolution that has separated the realm of religion and the realm of science.

But how science is used depends also on the values and priorities of the time in society. Thus the splitting of the atom led on the one hand to the atomic bomb and on the other to nuclear energy. One kills; the other has extended the bounds of developmental possibilities on a planet worried about carbon emissions and climate change.

The development of synthetic chemistry was the basis of poison gas used in wars and of agro chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Mendelian genetics provided the knowledge for the breeding of new crop varieties and also for perverse experiments in eugenics in Nazi Germany.

These examples illustrate why the application of scientific knowledge to human and social development must be value based even though science itself be value neutral.

Take modern developments in the bio-sciences for instance. We are now acquiring the capacity to manipulate the human genome. But we have yet not developed an ethical framework that defines red lines that we must not cross as we do this.

It was Isaac Asimov who said, “Science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”

The question is whether scientists should step beyond their discipline and at least guide the social discourse on the use of scientific knowledge. Should they develop a code of conduct that defines the limits within which they will work on the application of their discoveries? Should there be a collegial process for deciding difficult cases? I leave these as questions because the very idea of ethics for science needs further discussion.

I belong to a generation that worried about the links between science and society. Scientific temper, we believed, would help India make the transition from a traditional to a modern society. We saw the development of science as intrinsic to the advancement of modernism, pluralism and liberalism.

But, it is true that science has made strides even in societies that were neither modern nor liberal. It is true that the products of science have been put sometimes to illiberal uses. I sincerely believe we must guard against such tendencies, especially in our own blessed country.

In August 2010 the Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister prepared a report setting out a vision and a roadmap for India to become a global leader in science. The Council has inter alia recommended measures to attract the best of talent for science. I would urge our Ministries of Human Resource Development and of Science & Technology to jointly mount efforts to attract more young people to the study of science.

The report also pointed out that while C. V. Raman won the Nobel Prize eighty years ago for the Raman Effect, most of the instruments available in India today using this principle are imported. This is not an isolated example. Many of our outstanding scientific discoveries have been converted into marketable products by technologists and firms based abroad.

Why is the translation of good science and research into products so weak in our country? How do we strengthen the link between Universities, research laboratories and industry? I would like the Science Congress to discuss these issues and come out with actionable recommendations. I believe that the scientific community should give due recognition to scientists who build advanced instruments.

I have asked our the Ministry of Science and Technology to undertake a national celebration of the birth centenary of Professor S. Chandrasekhar, one of the outstanding scientists of the 20th century.

The year 2012-13 will be the centenary year of the Indian Science Congress. I would like the Ministry of Science and Technology in collaboration with the Indian Science Congress to designate 2012-13 as the ‘Year of Science in India’.

We have to make a concerted effort at building and motivating a new generation of scientific talent. To this end we had launched the INSPIRE or Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research programme and I am very happy that this programme is doing very well. More than 3.5 lakh students in the age group 10-27 years have received awards and scholarships under this innovative scheme.

Whenever I travel abroad I meet bright young people from India doing good science who tell me they look forward to the day they can continue their work back home in India. How do we draw on this talent pool? How do we make our Universities more open to such talent, including for those who seek temporary affiliation? I hope you will deliberate on these issues.

Modern cyber technology now allows trans-continental collaborative research. I would like to see more joint research projects between Indians in India and those abroad so that we can draw on this global talent pool and strengthen our own teaching and research base in our country. The high speed National Knowledge Network will greatly facilitate such collaborations.

I sincerely hope the “Year of Science in India” will unleash the energies of our young scientists and inspire a new generation of Indians to enter the world of science, cross new horizons and explore new possibilities.

I sincerely hope more young people increasingly participate in the deliberations of the Indian Science Congress in years to come. Science is ageless, but our scientists must be younger!

With these words, I wish you all well in your deliberations. May your paths be blessed!”

Dream Dare Win

www.jeywin.com

*****

Health Ministry declares common entrance test notifications “invalid”

Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

Taken aback by the Medical Council of India’s notifications for holding common entrance tests to graduate and post- graduate courses, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on 3.1.2011 declared the two notifications “invalid” and directed the MCI to withdraw these with immediate effect.

The Ministry, in a letter to S.K. Sarin, chairman of the Board of Governors of the MCI, said the notifications were issued without prior approval as required under Section 33 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 2010.

The notifications were issued ahead of a meeting of State Health Ministers and secretaries, which was to discuss the matter for arriving at a consensus before taking the final call. The meeting, to be chaired by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, was to take on board all shades of opinions on the matter of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for MBBS. However, no discussion on a common entrance test for PG courses was on the agenda for the meeting, scheduled from January 11 to 13, that would also take up the introduction of Bachelor in Rural Health Care course, among other things.

The common entrance test for MBBS had been opposed by many States, and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Karunanidhi had even spoken to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on it, following which the notification was put on the hold by the Health Ministry. Some private medical colleges and even the Tamil Nadu government had moved the Supreme Court. The court, in its last order, said it would not come in the way of notifying the common entrance test or anyone moving the court against it. Soon after, the Ministry decided to hold the meeting with the States and other stakeholders for a wider consensus. These instructions were passed to the MCI also to ensure that the notification on the MBBS entrance examination was put on hold.

Sources in the Ministry told The Hindu that while it was in favour of a common entrance test and had “in principle” approved it, it was a sensitive issue and could not be decided without taking the States on board. Also, there was no agency which would hold an all-India test of such a magnitude.

The MCI issued the two notifications on December 21 saying the Ministry had approved both. One that amended the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education said the NEET would be the criterion for selection to the MBBS and the marks obtained in mathematics in Class XII would also be considered for admission.

“In order to be eligible for admission to MBBS course for a particular academic year, it shall be necessary for a candidate to obtain a minimum 50 per cent marks in each paper of NEET. However, in respect of candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes, the minimum percentage marks shall be 40 and in respect of candidates with locomotory disability of lower limbs, the percentage shall be 45.”

According to the second notification that amends Postgraduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000, there shall be a single NEET for admission to post-graduate courses, the overall superintendence, direction and control of which will vest with the MCI.

Three per cent seats of the annual sanctioned intake capacity will be reserved for candidates with locomotory disability of lower limbs.

For private institutions, the notification says 50 per cent of the total seats shall be filled by the State government and the remaining by the institutions or medical colleges concerned on the basis of a merit list.

Dream Dare Win

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Top ten Science breakthroughs, 2010

Sunday, January 2nd, 2011

A mechanical device that operates in the quantum realm tops the Science journal’s list of advances in 2010.

Until 2010, all human-made objects have moved according to the laws of classical mechanics. Back in March, however, a group of researchers designed a gadget that moves in ways that can only be described by quantum mechanics — the set of rules that governs the behaviour of tiny things like molecules, atoms, and subatomic particles. In recognition of the conceptual ground their experiment breaks, the ingenuity behind it and its many potential applications, Science has called this discovery the most significant scientific advance of 2010.

Physicists Andrew Cleland and John Martinis from the University of California at Santa Barbara and their colleagues designed the machine—a tiny metal paddle of semiconductor, visible to the naked eye — and coaxed it into dancing with a quantum groove.

First, they cooled the paddle until it reached its “ground state,” or the lowest energy state permitted by the laws of quantum mechanics (a goal long-sought by physicists).

Then they raised the widget’s energy by a single quantum to produce a purely quantum-mechanical state of motion. They even managed to put the gadget in both states at once, so that it literally vibrated a little and a lot at the same time — a bizarre phenomenon allowed by the weird rules of quantum mechanics.

Science has recognized this first quantum machine as the 2010 Breakthrough of the Year.

They have also compiled nine other important scientific accomplishments from this past year into a top ten list, appearing in a special news feature in the journal’s 17 December 2010 issue. “This year’s Breakthrough of the Year represents the first time that scientists have demonstrated quantum effects in the motion of a human-made object,” said Adrian Cho, a news writer for Science. “On a conceptual level that’s cool because it extends quantum mechanics into a whole new realm. On a practical level, it opens up a variety of possibilities ranging from new experiments that meld quantum control over light, electrical currents and motion to, perhaps someday, tests of the bounds of quantum mechanics and our sense of reality.”

The quantum machine proves that the principles of quantum mechanics can apply to the motion of macroscopic objects, as well as atomic and subatomic particles. It provides the key first step toward gaining complete control over an object’s vibrations at the quantum level. Such control over the motion of an engineered device should allow scientists to manipulate those minuscule movements, much as they now control electrical currents and particles of light. In turn, that capability may lead to new devices to control the quantum states of light, ultra-sensitive force detectors and, ultimately, investigations into the bounds of quantum mechanics and our sense of reality. (This last grand goal might be achieved by trying to put a macroscopic object in a state in which it’s literally in two slightly different places at the same time — an experiment that might reveal precisely why something as big as a human can’t be in two places at the same time.)

“Mind you, physicists still haven’t achieved a two-places-at-once state with a tiny object like this one,” said Cho. “But now that they have reached the simplest state of quantum motion, it seems a whole lot more obtainable—more like a matter of ‘when’ than ‘if.’”

The other nine

Science’s list of the nine other groundbreaking achievements from 2010 follows.

Synthetic Biology: In a defining moment for biology and biotechnology, researchers built a synthetic genome and used it to transform the identity of a bacterium. The genome replaced the bacterium’s DNA so that it produced a new set of proteins—an achievement that prompted a Congressional hearing on synthetic biology. In the future, researchers envision synthetic genomes that are custom-built to generate biofuels, pharmaceuticals or other useful chemicals.

Neandertal Genome: Researchers sequenced the Neandertal genome from the bones of three female Neandertals who lived in Croatia sometime between 38,000 and 44,000 years ago. New methods of sequencing degraded fragments of DNA allowed scientists to make the first direct comparisons between the modern human genome and that of our Neandertal ancestors.

HIV Prophylaxis: Two HIV prevention trials of different, novel strategies reported unequivocal success: A vaginal gel that contains the anti-HIV drug tenofovir reduced HIV infections in women by 39 percent and an oral pre-exposure prophylaxis led to 43.8 fewer HIV infections in a group of men and transgender women who have sex with men.

Exome Sequencing/Rare Disease Genes: By sequencing just the exons of a genome, or the tiny portion that actually codes for proteins, researchers who study rare inherited diseases caused by a single, flawed gene were able to identify specific mutations underlying at least a dozen diseases.

Molecular Dynamics Simulations: Simulating the gyrations that proteins make as they fold has been a combinatorial nightmare. Now, researchers have harnessed the power of one of the world’s most powerful computers to track the motions of atoms in a small, folding protein for a length of time 100 times longer than any previous efforts.

Quantum Simulator: To describe what they see in the lab, physicists cook up theories based on equations. Those equations can be fiendishly hard to solve. This year, though, researchers found a short-cut by making quantum simulators—artificial crystals in which spots of laser light play the role of ions and atoms trapped in the light stand in for electrons. The devices provide quick answers to theoretical problems in condensed matter physics and they might eventually help solve mysteries such as superconductivity.

Next-Generation Genomics: Faster and cheaper sequencing technologies are enabling very large-scale studies of both ancient and modern DNA. The 1,000 Genomes Project, for example, has already identified much of the genome variation that makes us uniquely human—and other projects in the works are set to reveal much more of the genome’s function.

RNA Reprogramming: Reprogramming cells—turning back their developmental clocks to make them behave like unspecialized “stem cells” in an embryo—has become a standard lab technique for studying diseases and development.

This year, researchers found a way to do it using synthetic RNA. Compared with previous methods, the new technique is twice as fast, 100 times as efficient and potentially safer for therapeutic use.

The Return of the Rat: Mice rule the world of laboratory animals, but for many purposes researchers would rather use rats. Rats are easier to work with and anatomically more similar to human beings; their big drawback is that methods used to make “knockout mice”— animals tailored for research by having specific genes precisely disabled—don’t work for rats. A flurry of research this year, however, promises to bring “knockout rats” to labs in a big way.

Courtesy: The Hindu

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MCI to conduct Common Exam for admissions – 2.1.2011

Sunday, January 2nd, 2011

Ignoring protests by political parties in Tamil Nadu, the Medical Council of India has decided to conduct a nationwide common entrance examination for admissions to medical colleges in the country. Announcing the decision, MCI Additional Secretary Dr P Prasannraj, in a notification published in the central gazette on December 27, 2010 said a national eligibility-cum-entrance test for admission to MBBS courses will be held every academic year and a student should get 50 per cent marks in each of the papers of the test.

“All admissions to MBBS course within the respective categories should be based solely on marks obtained in the national eligibility-cum-entrance test,” the notification said

However, minimum marks prescribed for students from SC, ST and OBCs shall be 40 per cent and for students with locomotor disability of lower level, it would be 45 per cent, it said.

Reservation of seats in medical colleges for many categories should be as per applicable laws prevailing in the concerned states and an All India merit list would be prepared on the basis of marks obtained in the entrance test and admissions should be conducted on the basis of that list only, it said.

MCI also proposed to conduct similar test for PG admissions in the Medical colleges.

The ruling DMK, its bitter rival AIADMK, PMK and Congress had opposed the move even before the notification. Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had recently written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad not to go ahead with the move.

AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa and PMK founder S Ramadoss had opposed the move on the plea that it was against social justice and students from rural areas could not make it if an entrance test was conducted.

Tamil Nadu government had abolished entrance tests for professional courses a decade back and marks obtained by students in the plus two exams were taken for the admissions.

Meanwhile, All India Medical Association, an umbrella organisation for private medical colleges, described the move as “arbitrary and unilateral.”

Association President TD Naidu, in a statement, said the MCI had no role to play in the admissions as its job was only to give permission to start medical colleges. The association was of the view that admissions under management quota should not be affected by the recent notification.

The association would be challenging the notification, as it was against the fundamental rights of private medical colleges, the statement said.

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