Pranab Mukherjee Records Huge Win, Gets Almost 70% of Votes Pranab
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Pranab Mukherjee records huge win, gets almost 70% of votes Pranab Mukherjee's big win in the presidential election which will make him the 13th occupant of the Rashtrapati Bhavan marks the return of an active politician at Raisina Hill after three successive Presidents who were either past their prime in politics or did not have a political background at all. Since July 1997, when K R Narayanan became President, the high office has been held by missile man A P J Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil whose careers had peaked, while Mukherjee was a hands-on politician playing a crucial role in UPA affairs. Mukherjee made the point, saying he would try and fulfill expectations to "defend, preserve and protect" the Constitution. Mukherjee polled a vote value of 7.14 lakh or about 69.3% of the valid votes in the electoral college aided by cross-voting from BJP legislators in Karnataka. The Opposition nominee, former Speaker P A Sangma, secured a vote value of 3.16 lakh, handing Mukherjee a handsome margin. Dravid adopts two cheetahs at Mysore zoo After Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, M.S. Dhoni and Zaheer Khan, it is now the turn of Rahul Dravid to adopt animals at the Mysore zoo. Mr. Dravid has adopted two African hunting cheetahs under the popular Animal Adoption Scheme. Mr. Dravid, who was at the zoo recently to inaugurate the activities of the Youth Club- 2012 , adopted two African hunting cheetahs for one year, from July 15, 2012 to July 14, 2013, paying the fee of Rs. 1 lakh (Rs. 50,000 each), Mr. Dravid adopted the animals in the name of his sons, Samit and Anvay Dravid. Aasare Foundation has adopted a Sarus crane paying Rs. 7,500 for one year. Awards presented to Indian doctor Kodali Siva Rama Krishna Prasad, a native of Tenali, Hyderabad and a Staff Grade Orthopaedic Surgeon in Prince Charles Hospital at Merthyr Tydfil, United Kingdom, has been bestowed with a Lifetime Achievement Award and International Goldstar Award, for individual excellence in recognition of his merit. The award is given by India International Friendship Society (IIFS) and it was presented to him recently at a function held in Thailand by Korn Dabbransi, former Deputy Prime Minister of that country. Earlier, on July 8, he was also honoured with Rajiv Gandhi Seva Ratna Puraskar and Mother Teresa Seva Ratna Gold Medal by All India Economy Survey Award Council. From teacher to President Named the “world’s best Finance Minister” of 1982 by Euromoney magazine and considered the Chanakya of Indian politics, President-elect Pranab Mukherjee. Son of Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee, a freedom fighter and later an MLC in Bengal Assembly, Mukherjee started his career as a school teacher in Howrah where he stayed as a tenant and also taught the children of the landlord. After getting school education at Kirnahar village in Birbhum district he went to Suri Vidya Sagar College. He holds a postgraduate degree in History and Political Science apart from a degree in Law from Calcutta University. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by Wolverhampton University in 2011 and an honorary D Litt by the Assam University in 2012. As a professional he worked as an upper division clerk with the Post and Telegraph Department before taking the plunge in politics in 1969 when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India. Among many accolades that he won he was chosen the “Finance Minister of the Year for Asia” by Emerging Markets a daily newspaper of record for the World Bank and the IMF. In 2008 he won India’s second highest honour Padma Vibhushan. Sangma second tribal from Meghalaya to lose presidential poll Former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A Sangma is the second tribal leader from Meghalaya who failed to win the presidential election after the late George Gilbert Swell. Backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and National Front in the 1992 presidential election, Swell lost to Congress' Shankar Dayal Sharma, securing only 346,485 votes against his opponent's 675,864 votes. Swell, a tribal Khasi from eastern Meghalaya, had been deputy speaker of Lok Sabha from Dec 9, 1969 to Dec 27, 1970 and again from March 27, 1971 to Jan 18, 1977. Sangma, a tribal Garo leader from western Meghalaya who was backed by the BJP, AIADMK, Biju Janata Dal and Akali Dal. Mukherjee bagged 713,763 votes, about 70 percent, leaving Sangma way behind with 315,887 votes. U.K. returns artefacts to Afghanistan More than 800 historic artefacts stolen from museums in Afghanistan some 20 years ago and smuggled abroad have been returned to Kabul with help from the British Museum. They include: a rare sculpture of Buddha, pieces of the Begram Ivories dating back to the 1st century B.C., Bronze Age carvings and medieval Islamic coins. Prime Minister David Cameron and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai confirmed that the precious art cargo, weighing more than two tonnes and sent from Britain last week, had safely arrived in Kabul. While some of the items were looted from museums during Afghanistan’s civil war in the 1990s, some came from illegal excavations of archaeological sites. They were being smuggled through Britain to be sold on the international black-market when they were seized by custom officials. In 2011, the British Museum and the National Museum of Afghanistan signed a memorandum of understanding that efforts would continue to identify and return more artefacts to Kabul. It was the first time that the British military was involved in transporting art to Afghanistan. It is estimated that more than two thirds of the exhibits at the National Museum in Kabul were stolen or destroyed during the civil war. Gesture recognition App for PCs Raise your hand and pause the world. OK, we will just begin with music or movie. Flutter, a gesture- recognition software for PCs, uses the webcam in devices such as laptops to interpret gestures and perform actions on the device without the user touching the keyboard, mouse or touchpad. It hopes to do to daily computing what Kinect did to gaming, at very low cost. “Its first application allows users to play or pause music on Spotify and iTunes on Windows or Mac computers using a simple wave of hand,” says Flutter creator Navneet Dalal. “Most people play music in the background while browsing the Internet, coding or when they are away from computer. It is a hassle to play or pause music or change to next song. You need to bring the window into the foreground. Flutter allows users to control music in the background from one-six feet away from computer using simple gestures without taking the focus away from current window.” HTC sells 25% stake in audio firm Beats Electronics Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has sold 25 per cent of its holding in audio technology firm Beats Electronics back to Beats' founders, but said it will continue to work closely with the maker of high-end headphones and speakers. HTC bought 51 per cent of Beats Electronics, which was founded by US rapper and music producer Dr. Dre and Beats' current CEO Jimmy Iovine, for $309 million in August last year, a move to fend off rising competition and enhance its products and branding. HTC said it will remain Beats' largest shareholder with 25 per cent, with Beats' founders holding 75 per cent. It did not disclose the pricing of the deal. Award for Chuni Goswami Former Bengal captain Subimal ‘Chuni’ Goswami was given the Kartick Bose lifetime achievement award for his outstanding contribution to the game by the Cricket Association of Bengal at the Eden Gardens. Goswami, who also represented Bengal in the Santosh Trophy, was given a citation and a cheque for Rs. 1 lakh. Former India women’s team captain Jhulan Goswami was also felicitated for emerging as the first Indian women cricketer to bag 200 international wickets. She was given a cheque of Rs. 50,000. The Vijay Hazare Trophy winning Bengal team, five Bengal cricket players who figured in the Duleep Trophy winning East Zone side were all felicitated and given Rs. 1 lakh cash awards. Athletes boycotting Israelis will be punished: Rogge Any athlete found to have deliberately boycotted competing against an Israeli opponent at the London Olympics will be punished, said International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge. He was reacting after Egyptian athletes were called upon as have other Arab athletes to avoid competing against Israelis at the Games. At the 2004 Games in Athens, Iran’s world judo champion Arash Miresmaeil pulled out of a bout against Israeli fighter Ehud Vaks although he was later cleared of deliberately having boycotted the contest. Ernie Els wins British Open after late Scott collapse Ernie Els won the British Open and ended a 10-year major victory drought in shocking fashion at Royal Lytham as Adam Scott squandered a four-stroke lead with four holes to play. Els captured his fourth major title after the 1994 and 1997 US Opens and the 2002 British Open by navigating brisk winds and avoiding pesky pot bunkers down the stretch, going four-under par on the back nine to capture the Claret Jug. The 42- year-old South African, who had gone winless in 36 major starts since his 2002 Open playoff triumph at Muirfield, fired a two-under par 68 to finish 72 holes at seven-under 273 and edge Scott, who fired a 72, by one stroke. Tiger Woods, a 14-time major champion in the hunt with six holes remaining, settled for a share of third on 277 with US countryman Brandt Snedeker.