Michelle's Dancing!!!

What is Diwali to the US President Barack Obama?! This is year it is absolutely a occasion for fun to him and his better half. Because both are in India and that too in Diwali time. They celebrated Diwali in style with school children in Mumbai. What added to the joyfulness of the moment was US President joining his wife Michelle and school kids in dancing to the tunes of a Maharashtrian Koli song.

The US first couple started their day at 9.50 am, when they arrived at Holy Name High School, located very close to the Taj Mahal Hotel – where he stayed overnight – to meet school children and celebrate Diwali with them.
Want to see Michelle Dancing?!!!

As per the Indian tradition, he lit the lamp and shook hands with children and had some friendly talk and fun. Thereafter, students first performed a traditional dance for the VVIPs.
A visibly pleased Obama was seen smiling all through the dance performance. Michelle also could not hide her excitement and keenly watched the dance.
After the dance with lamps, students danced on the tunes of a traditional Maharashtrian Koli (Fishermen) Song. Midway, some of the kids requested the Obamas to join them. At first the President turned down the invite politely even as Michelle got out of her seat in flash and joined the kids in dancing to the peppy tune. Soon afterwards, the kids once again requested Obama to join in, he could not say no this time around and joined the kids on the dance floor amid applause from all those present in the small room where the function was being held. The students then showed Obama and his wife the traditional ‘rangoli’ made by them for the occasion.
Actually the US President had presided over a Diwali celebration at the White House last year.

Obama declares Rs. 44,000 crore worth deals with India!

What is the advantage of Obama’s visit to India? For some there are so many and for some others there are not any… But here is some good news for both! Obama announced that "several landmark" deals worth nearly Rs. 44,000 crore have been reached between the two countries for creating about 50,000 jobs in the US!!! Sound good…?

"There is no reason why India cannot be our top trading partner (from 12th position now)... I'm absolutely sure that the relationship between India and the US is going to be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century," President Obama said addressing the US India Business Council meet. "Boeing is going to sell dozens of planes to India and GE is going to sell hundreds of electric engines. The deals are worth USD 10 billion and will create more than 50,000 jobs in the US," he said.
Just before the address at US-India Business Council (USIBC) in Mumbai, Reliance Power announced a power equipment deal for 2,400 MW plants from GE and low-cost carrier Spicejet announced a deal to buy 33 new-generation 737 aircrafts from Boeing. India-US trade stood at US $36.5 billion in 2009-10 fiscal and the two countries aim to double trade in the next five years.

Describing India, which receives about 8 per cent of its total foreign direct investment from the US, as a defining and indispensable partner of the 21st century, President Obama asked India to reduce trade barriers, while committing to reciprocate. This may seems not so good for the Anti-Americans…so to say.
Above all this, the United States could back India's membership of the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group or NSG. This membership makes it easier for India to get dual-use technology from member countries though it's subject to rules of individual nations. It's also means India has a say in framing export control rules. Three Indian entities will be taken off embargoed list - Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Space Research (ISR0) and the Hyderabad-headquartered Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).

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Nikki Haley the second Indian-origin to be a Governor of an American state!

 Nikki Haley,South Carolina Gov.-elect, with her husband, Michael, daughter Rena and son Nalin

Indian-American Nikki Haley of Republican party scripted history in US politics by winning the governorship of South Carolina, becoming only the second person of Indian-origin to be a Governor of an American state.
In the  mid-term polls, Haley, 38, born of Sikh parents who migrated from Punjab, became only the second Indian-American to be a Governor of a US State after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana; and also the first Indian-origin woman governor.  The news was welcomed by Indian Americans.
Endorsed by US President Barack Obama, Indian-American Kamala Harris won the election for Attorney General of California. She will be the first woman to hold the office of Attorney General in California.
Six other Indian-origin candidates failed to enter the House of Representatives.
Haley received 52 per cent of votes as against her Democratic rival Vincent Sheehan who polled 46 per cent. A record number of six Indian-Americans were in the fray. Five of them were Democrats – Manan Trivedi from Pennsylvania, Ami Bera from California, Raj Goyle from Kansas, Ravi Sangisetty from Louisiana and Surya Yalamanchili from Ohio. Ashvin Lad from Illinois is the only Republican Indian American in fray.
Haley has served three-terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives where she represented Lexington County and was also the first Indian-American to hold office in that state.

Manmohan, Sonia and Ambani among Forbes’ List of Powerful People

Dr. Manmohan Singh

Sonia Gandhi

               

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Reliance chief Mukesh Ambani are among the five Indians named among the most powerful people in the world by Forbes in its latest list of 68 people "who matter". 

Sonia  Gandhi debuts on the 9th spot in this year's list of the world's most powerful people. She was not there in Forbes' list hitherto. India's business tycoons Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and steel giant ArcelorMittal chairman Lakshmi Mittal also make this year's list. 

Hu Jintao

China's President Hu Jintao has topped the 2010 Forbes list of the 'World's Most Powerful People'. 
Dr. Manmohan Singh, "universally praised as India's best prime minister since Nehru," is ranked 18th on the list. He has moved up in the list from last year's 36th position. Forbes said the soft-spoken Oxford-trained economist is "ideally trained to lead the world's fourth-largest economy in terms of purchasing power into the next decade." Credited with transforming India's quasi-socialist economy into world's second-fastest growing, 78-year old Singh is now enjoying the fruits of free -market policies he implemented as India's finance minister in early 1990s. 

Mukeh Ambani

Ambani, who has a networth of $29 billion, comes in on the 34th spot. His ranking too improved from last year, when he was ranked 44^th. His one billion dollar 27-floor high-rise in Mumbai is the world's most expensive private residence. 
Occupying the 44th spot is Lakshmi Mittal, chairman of the world's largest steel company ArcelorMittal. The 60-year old steel magnate has a net worth of $28.7 billion. Mittal moved up 11 notches in this year's ranking from his 55th spot last year. 

Lakshmi Mittal

London's wealthiest resident, Mittal is sponsoring London's 2012 Olympic Games, paying for most of a 400-foot twisting steel tower to be named ArcelorMittal Orbit at the city's Olympic Park and helping groom Indian athletes through his foundation for the Olympics and other championship events. His company has operations in 60 countries and produces 73 million tons of steel, eight percentage of world's output. 

Ratan Tata

Tata dropped two notches from last year and comes in at the 61st position in the Forbes 2010 list of the world's most powerful people. Calling the 72-year old Tata head as "India's best brand ambassador," Forbes said Tata made "automotive history" last year with his 'People's Car' - the one lakh Tata Nano, the world's cheapest car. 

India's surprising economic miracle

The internationally regarded magazine, The Economist, says that India will soon start to outpace China on the shoulders of a young and growing workforce and the much-tested democracy. 

The cover story on "How India's growth will outpace China's" in its latest issue attributes "India's surprising economic miracle" largely to its private. "Its economy is expected to expand by 8.5 percent this year”, the magazine reports.
"It has a long way to go before it is as rich as China - the Chinese economy is four times bigger- but its growth rate could overtake China's by 2013, if not before. Some economists think India will grow faster than any other large country over the next 25 years. Rapid growth in a country of 1.2 billion people is exciting, to put it mildly," it said. 

Citing demography as one of the two reasons why India will soon start to outpace China, the magazine noted "China's workforce will shortly start ageing; in a few years' time, it will start shrinking. India is now blessed with a young and growing workforce. Its dependency ratio - the proportion of children and old people to working-age adults - is one of the best in the world and will remain so for a generation," it said. 
India's economy will benefit from this "demographic dividend", which has powered many of Asia's economic miracles. 
In noting the strength of Indian decocracy the Economist said, "Since the early 1990s, when India dismantled the "licence raj" and opened up to foreign trade, Indian business has boomed." 

"Ideas flow easily around India, since it lacks China's culture of secrecy and censorship. That, plus China's rampant piracy, is why knowledge-based industries such as software love India but shun the Middle Kingdom".

The Biggest Census, in China!

China is the world's most populous country. So the biggest census precess will naturally be Chinese. Yes now China has started its once-a-decade census that will see six million census takers go door-to-door to document the massive demographic changes happening there. The data collection will conclude on November 10, with the the main data to be released at the end of April. According to the 2000 estimate China's official population is 1.295 billion people.

It is the sixth time China has carried out a national census but the first time it will count people where they live and not where their resident certificate is legally registered. The change will better track the demographic changes and will find the true size of China's giant cities, the populations of which have up to now only been estimates. Citizens' privacy concerns could be one of the biggest challenges for the census takers.
After years of reforms that have reduced the government's once-pervasive involvement in most people's lives, some Chinese may be reluctant to divulge personal information, harbouring suspicions about what the government plans to do with their details. Another complicating issue are children born in violation of the country's one-child policy, many of whom are unregistered and therefore have no legal identity. They could number in the millions.

The government has said it would lower or waive the hefty penalty fees required for those children to obtain identity cards.

The Tallest Tower in Mecca

Now the tallest building in the world is, no doubt, Burj Khaliff. Which is the second? The new answer is The Royal Mecca Clock Tower! This is completed now in Saudi, that too in Muslim's holy place Mecca.
The Royal Mecca Clock Tower will have 76 storeys and has 577 metres height. This will feature a 40-metre clock that is more than five times larger than the Big Ben. It is at the heart of a vast complex funded by the Saudi government that will also house hotels, shopping malls and conference halls.

The clock’s four faces are 151ft in diameter and will be illuminated by 2million LED lights along with huge Arabic script reading: “In the name of Allah”. The clock will run on Arabia Standard Time which is three hours ahead of GMT. When a glittering spire is added, the edifice will stand at nearly 2,000 ft, making it the world's second tallest building.



Big Ben(left) and The Royal Mecca  Tower clock

 The famous clock of Big Ben, by comparison, is just 23ft in diameter, while its tower stands at a mere 316ft. Bearing a striking resemblance to both St Stephen’s Tower, which houses the bell of Big Ben, and the Empire State Building, Saudi aims to outdo its revered British rival in every way.

Watch The Mecca Royal Tower

Dilma Vana Rousseff, The First Female President of Brazil

The ruling Workers Party's candidate Dilma Rousseff has been elected Brazil's president. Rousseff, who enjoys full support of the current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, gained the backing of 55.49% of voters and became the country's first female president.

Silva was first elected as Brazil's president in 2002 and was re-elected in 2006. Under the Brazilian Constitution, the country's president is elected to a four-year term, with a limit of two terms.
Dilma Rousseff was born on December 14, 1947, is an economist, politician and now the President of Brazil. She was appointed Chief of Staff by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in June 2005, becoming the first woman to assume the position. Rousseff was Lula's designated successor and the winning candidate in the 2010 presidential election.
The daughter of a Bulgarian immigrant and a schoolteacher, Rousseff was raised in an upper middle class household in Belo Horizonte. She became a socialist during her youth, and following the 1964 coup joined left-wing urban guerrilla groups that fought against the military dictatorship. Rousseff was captured and jailed between 1970 and 1972 and reportedly tortured.
After her release, Rousseff rebuilt her life in Porto Alegre with Carlos Araújo, who would be her partner for 30 years. Both helped found the Democratic Labour Party (PDT) in Rio Grande do Sul state, participating in several of the party's electoral campaigns. She became the Secretary of the Treasury of Porto Alegre during the Alceu Collares administration, and later the Secretary of Energy of Rio Grande do Sul under both Collares and Olívio Dutra administrations. In 2000, after an internal dispute in the Dutra cabinet, she left PDT and joined the Workers' Party (PT).
In 2002, Rousseff joined the committee responsible for the energy policy of presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who after winning the election invited her to become Minister of Energy. In 2005, a political crisis triggered by a corruption scandal led to the resignation of Chief of Staff José Dirceu. Rousseff took over the post, remaining in office until March 31, 2010, when she left in order to run for President. She was the first female elected President of Brazil in a run-off on 31 October 2010, in addition to being the first economist elected for the office.

Sachin's Bat brought 42 Lakhs!!!

Sachin Tendulkar is the most loved and trusted sportsperson India has ever produced, so to say. He is about get a half century in the number of centuries as well. Most of the existing batting records are in his account. Now the latest about him is that his willow fetched the highest bid of Rs 42 lakh at a glittering sports auction. There were many personal items donated by 25 top sportspersons from the country and overseas. The champion batsman had scored an unbeaten 163 against New Zealand with this bat at Christchurch last year, his fourth highest one day score.

The rifle used by India's only individual Olympic gold medallist, shooter Abhinav Bindra, when creating history at the Beijing Games and the bat of Rahul Dravid, with which he had scored a century in each innings in the Kolkata Test of 2005 against Pakistan stood at second position. Both were successfully bid for Rs 20 lakh.

The bat signed by all team members of the 1983 World Cup winning team and donated by former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar went for Rs 17.5 lakh. Anil Kumble's jersey which he wore when he equalled Jim Laker's ten-wicket in a Test innings record against Pakistan in New Delhi in 1999, and his Test cap that he wore between 2004 and 2006 went for Rs 11.5 lakh.

                                       
 Among the other items auctioned off were Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer's shoes, a bat donated by 1983 World Cup winning skipper Kapil Dev with the autographs of all the team members and sports gear donated by the super star shuttler Saina Nehwal and tennis player Sania Mirza. Doners Dravid, Kumble, tennis ace Leander Paes, national football captain Bhaichung Bhutia, 1974 hockey World Cup winning skipper Ajit Pal Singh, former hockey captain Viren Rasquinha and Bindra were present at the auction.

Ezhuthachan Award to Dr. M. Leelavathi

This year's Ezhuthachan Award to Dr. M. Leelavathi, the beloved writer of Malayalam.
M. Leelavathy was born 16 September 1927. She is a  literary critic, and educationist. She taught at various colleges in Kerala before retiring as a Professor of Malayalam from Government Brennen College, Thalassery. During her long literary career, she won several awards including Kendra Sahithya Academy Award and Kerala Sahithya Academy Award. She is a contemporary of such noted critics in Malayalam including K. M. George, S. Guptan Nair, N. Krishna Pillai, P. K. Balakrishnan, and Sukumar Azhikode.Leelavathy is a recipient of Padma Shri Award.
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