Delhi’s Sulabh International Museum of Toilets Listed on Top 10 Weird Museums of the World

The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, Delhi: The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets in the Palam area of Delhi entered the list of top 10 Weird and Unusual museums of the world.

The list is compiled by a travel portal, Journeymart.com and it also includes the Salem’s Witch Museum and Washington DC’s International Spy Museum.

About the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets:-

Sulabh International Museum of Toilets was inaugurated in 1992. It has the collection of various toilet seats from different eras. The major highlight of this museum is facsimile of the King Louis the XIV’s throne. It is believed that the King used it to defecate when he used to conduct the court sessions.

Journeymart.com explained that there are other nine unique museums from all over the world. The list has been compiled by travelling across the museums of the world from past 13 years. Every museum on the list is very unique and different from one other.

Ironically, while the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets is housed in Delhi, it is also the state where ratio of one person to the toilet is extremely low.

Other museums on the list of Top 10 Weird and Unusual museums of the world are:-
• The International Spy Museum, Washington DC
• Celebrity Hair Museum, Missouri
• The Witch Museum, Salem
• The Chocolate Museum, Cologne, Germany
• Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame, Los Angeles

Nokia Launched the Cheapest Handset, Nokia 105 in Indian Markets

Nokia on 9 April 2013 launched the most affordable mobile Nokia 105 at the price of 1249 Rupees in order to rope in low income group customers and also the first-time buyers.

Nokia 105 is the colourful mobile in the Nokia family and is also the cheapest colour screen entry-level mobile in the Indian markets. This mobile is said to be the successor of Nokia 1280. Nokia 1280 sold over 100 million units during its life. Nokia 105, on the other hand, comes with all the essential features that are required by the user.

Features and Specifications of Nokia 105:-
• Dust-proof key may
• Splash-proof key mat
• Excellent battery life (Standby time of up to 35 days and talk time of up to 12.5 hours)
• Single SIM
• 1.45-inch true color screen
• User-friendly interface
• FM radio
• Up to five pre-loaded games
• Speaking clock
• Flashlight
• Multiple alarm clock capabilities

It is important to note that Nokia, which ones reigned over the Indian markets, has started losing its market hold in India.

World Book and Copyright Day was Celebrated on 23 April 2013

23 April 2013: World Book and Copyright Day

UN (The United Nations) highlighted the diversity of books and the protection of plots and protagonists and other content on the occasion of World Book and Copyright Day celebrations on 23 April 2013. As part of UNESCO’s effort to support literacy, for the year 2013, Bangkok was designated as a World Book Capital. The Paris-based agency UNESCO chose the Thai capital in recognition of its programme to promote reading among young people and underprivileged sections of the population. Bangkok’s theme is Bangkok, Read for Life.

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) emphasised the importance of bibliodiversity and declared it as common wealth. According to UNESCO press release, the diversity of books and editorial content is a source of enrichment that must be supported through appropriate public policies and protection from uniformity.

World Book and Copyright Day or World Book Day is marked annually on 23 April, a symbolic date for World Literature. World Book Day was celebrated for the first time on 23 April 1995, at Paris. In 1995, UNESCO decided that the World Book and Copyright Day would be celebrated on 23 April. On this day in 1611, Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, Haldor K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. The connection between 23 April and books was first made in 1923 by booksellers in Spain as a way to honour the author Miguel de Cervantes, who died on that day.

UNESCO has also marked this day for UNESCO Prize for Children's and Young People's Literature in the Service of Tolerance. This day was done by UNESCO in its General Conference, held in Paris in 1995 for paying world-wide tribute to authors and books on 23 April and to encourage everyone (particularly the young people) to discover the pleasure of reading to gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity.

Background of World Book Capital City:-

World Book Capital City is an initiative that is inspired from the World Book and Copyright Day and is being observed since 2000. This is an initiative of professional organizations that receives UNESCO assistance and is backed by the States. Under this initiative, every year a city is chosen to undertake the maintenance of the impetus of the Day’s Celebration until 23 April of the following year through its own initiatives.

New Wild Banana Species discovered by Researchers in Arunachal Pradesh

The researchers from University of Calicut in the fourth week of April 2013 reported that they have discovered a new subspecies of wild banana, named Musa velutina subsp. markkuana. This subspecies can be developed as an ornamental plant for tropical gardens.

This new species of wild banana was discovered in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh, it is characterized by smooth skinned fruits, purple pseudostems, erect maroon-coloured inflorescence and pink fruit. This plant grows under the marshy areas of forests.

M Sahu, Head of Department of Botany of University of Claicut led the team of researchers that comprised Alfred Joe and P.E. Sreejith. The sub-species discovered is a part of the project that is funded by the Union Department of Science and Technology. The discovered subspecies can be used as an ornamental variety of plant and carries its commercial value for the cut flower industry. USP of this plant includes freshness that continues to be with it for more than a week’s time and the continuous inflorescence for more than a month. These plants also bear pink and maroon fruits during its fruiting stage.

Many fruiting plants from the Balukpong Area, West Kameng district as well as Tezu and Hayulyang region were found by the researchers.

Ahmedabad became the first City in South Asia to launch Heat Action Plan

The Indian city of Ahmedabad launched a first-of-its-kind Heat Action Plan on 16 April 2013. With this it became the first city in South Asia to launch a Heat Action Plan (HAP).
The launch of this Heat Action Plan is part of a broader collaboration dating back to early 2011 between AMC and public health and policy experts at the Indian Institute of Public Health.

The Heat Action plan is meant to inform citizens about extreme climates in the near future and with the necessary steps to tackle it.

The idea behind approaching towards Heat action plan came after seeing soaring of Temperatures in the city during summers in Gujarat which has risen up to as high as 47 degrees resulting in deaths due to intense heat wave conditions and strokes.

The Heat Action Plan was introduced in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and directly aims to provide a framework for the implementation, coordination, and evaluation of extreme heat response activities in the city to reduce the negative health impact of extreme heat.

The major objective of the plan is to make aware the population who are mostly at the risk of heat-related illness when extreme heat conditions either exist or are imminent.

The civic body has tied up with Georgia Institute of Technology in United States of America (USA), Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) and Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC), a US-based international advocacy group, for this project.

Ahmedabad’s Heat Action Plan depicts both immediate and longer-term actions to increase vigilance, information-sharing, and response coordination to reduce the health effects of heat on vulnerable populations.

The High points of the Heat Action plan are as under:-
• Preventative training and awareness building for medical professionals and slum community outreach workers.
• Heat-health protection trainings for school children, outdoor workers, and other vulnerable groups.
• Communications outreach, such as an early warning system that will immediately alert the public of impending heat waves, the distribution of multilingual pamphlets, and long-term awareness-building ad campaigns.
• Coordinated action by government agencies at the municipal, state, and national levels to ensure successful implementation of the preparedness plan and warning system.

Researchers Discovered Oldest Known European Medieval Cookbook

Researchers in the third week of April 2013 discovered the oldest known European cookbook which dates back to the 12th century. The European cookbook comprises of medical ointments as well as foods.

The recipes of the cookbook are written as well as compiled in Latin. These were penned down in the year 1140 at Durham Cathedral's monastery.

It is basically a health book and therefore the recipes of the meals were intended to improve the health of a person or to cure the afflictions. Other similar recipes dated back to 1290.

Giles Gasper from Durham University's Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies explained that one of the recipes mentioned in the cookbook come from Poitou region, which is now the modern central western France. This indicated towards the fact that international traveling and exchange of the ideas was apparent even in the medieval period.

Researchers have decided to compile the translation of this discovered cookbook under title Zinziber, which means ginger.

Mathematician Shakuntala Devi Died due to Heart Failure

Shakuntala Devi, the Indian Mathematician also known as mental calculator and human computer died on 21 April 2013.She was of 80 years.

Among her distinctions was her ability to mentally ascertain the day, when given a date in the last century. She was in the hospital from 3 April 2013 over a period of two weeks, due to respiratory problems and later she developed kidney and heart complications. She died due to heart failure and renal problem.

About Shakuntala Devi:- 

 
• Her name was recorded in Guinness Book of World Records for her ability of making calculations at lightning-speed. One of her major distinction was that when given a date in the last century, she could have mentally ascertained the day for it.
• In the year 1977, she calculated the 23rd root of digit number 201 in just 50 seconds
• In 1980, she successfully multiplied the two 13-digit numbers (7,686,369,774,870 x 2,465,099,745,779) given to her by the computer department of Imperial College London. She was successful in making this calculation within 28 seconds
• Some of her books were Puzzles to Puzzle You, Mathablit, Astrology for You, Fun with Numbers and Awaken the Genius in Your Child.
• Her father was a circus performer, who did trapeze, tightrope and cannonball shows

AirAsia Appointed the CEO for India Venture; Name yet to be Revealed

AirAsia, the low cost carrier on 21 April 2013 announced that AirAsia India approved and appointed the Chief Executive Officer, whose name will be a revelation. The AirAsia Group chief Tony Fernandes declared that the appointment of AirAsia CEO was done but his name would be revealed later.

AirAsia is said to be the largest low-cost carrier in Asia which created a joint venture with Telestra Tradeplace and Tata Sons. The venture was approved by Foreign Investment Promotion Board on 4 April 2013.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on 6 March 2013 cleared the investment proposal of AirAsia, the Malaysian budget carrier to launch the new airline along with Tata Group and Arun Bhatia's Telestra Tradeplace in India. AirAsia plans to start the operations from June 2013.

President of India, Pranab Mukherjee Gave Away Padma Awards 2013 in New Delhi

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee gave 54 Padma Awards at the function in Darbar hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on 20 April 2013.

Among those who were conferred with the awards were cricketer Rahul Dravid and actors Sridevi and Sharmila Tagore. While Rahul Dravid and Sharmila Tagore were conferred with the Padma Bhushan, Sridevi received Padma Shri, which is the fourth highest civilian award of India.

Prof Yashpal, the scientist and sculptor Raghunath Mohapatra received the second highest civilian award of India, Padma Vibhushan. Padma Bhushan, on the other hand was conferred upon Defence Research and Development Organisation chief V K Saraswat. Other Padma Bhushan awards recipients included S G Patil (public affairs), Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (literature and education) and Hemandra Singh Panwar (civil service).

No one received the Bharat Ratna for 2013. The last awardee for Bharat Ratna was late Bhimsen Joshi who had won in 2008.

Out of the total of 54 Padma award, 2 were the Padma Vibhushan awards, 10 were the Padma Bhushan awards and 42 were the Padma Shree awards.

The list of the winners was announced on 25 January 2013.

Aurobindo Pharma Received an Approval from USFDA for Generic Cefadroxil Oral Suspension

Aurobindo Pharma, the drug firm on 26 April 2013 announced that it received an approval from US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA), the US health regulator for manufacturing as well as marketing the generic Cefadroxil oral suspension. Generic Cefadroxil is used for the treatment of bacterial infections in US market.

Aurobindo Pharma got an approval from US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for manufacturing and marketing Cefadroxil in strengths of 250mg/5mL and 500mg/5mL. Cefadroxil is generic equivalent of Duricef of Warner Chilcott Company Inc. Duricef is also used for oral suspension in similar strength.

Cefadroxil oral suspension got approval out of cephalosporin formulations manufacturing facility of the company in Hyderabad.

With this, Aurobindo Pharma got a total of 187 abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) approvals from the US health regulator. This includes 4 from Aurolife Pharma LLC and 27 tentative approvals.

Indian Railways Reduced the Advanced Booking Period of the Tickets to 60 Days

The Indian Railways reduced the advanced booking period of the tickets from four months duration to two months, with effect from 1 May 2013. This has been done to prevent the enormous amount of cancellations after the booking process.

The Railway notification issued on 25 April 2013 declared that the advance reservation period (ARP) in order to book the reserved train tickets was being reduced from 120 days to 60 days from 1 May 2013. It was also declared that the bookings which were done up to 30 April 2013 under already-existing ARP of 120 days will not be changed.

Railway officials believed that this action would help the genuine travellers and reduced touts that booked bulk tickets in advance. No change was introduced to ARP limit of 360 days for foreign tourists.

Cancellation of booking which was made beyond the time duration of 60 days shall be permitted. At present, tatkal tickets are being issued when a person produces self-attested photocopy of a valid identity proof.

In order to monitor the tout, Railways conduct raids on the railway stations as well.

Facebook Bought Parse to Build Apps for the Mobile Platforms

Facebook on 26 April 2013 announced that it bought the San Francisco-based Parse, a startup which specialises in powering the mobile applications. This has been done in order to make this social networking site friendlier for tablet computers as well as the smartphones.

Though the amount for the deal was not announced, but it is estimated to be somewhere around 85 million US dollar. Buying Parse for Facebook would help the developers in building the apps rapidly for the span devices as well as mobile platforms.

Parse facilitates software developers’ tools in order to build the applications as well as handling the behind-the-scenes tasks like data storage as well as servers in order to handle the services for app users, respective of mobile devices involved.

This in turn would help in getting rid of the need for managing the servers as well as complex infrastructures, thereby allowing for greater concentration on building the excellent user experience.

Parse laid its foundation in June 2011. It was looking for new round of funding when Facebook approached it for the deal.

Facebook now has the priority of following over one billion members on smartphones as well as tablets, which are becoming much-used gadgets in today’s times.

Lucknow Zardozi Became a Brand after Being Accorded GI Registration

The world famous textile embroidery handicraft of Lucknow, Lucknow Zardozi became a full-fledged brand after being accorded with the Geographical Indication (GI) registration by Chennai-based Geographical Indication Registry.

Lucknow Zardozi is primarily a very intricate needle handicraft work. Lucknow Zardozi has now been registered under the brand of Lucknow Zardozi and its registration has been secured by Kalatmak Handicrafts Self Help Group Foundation, Lucknow.

This handicraft has remained traditionally important and prevalent in Lucknow and the six surrounding districts of Barabanki, Sitapur, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Hardoi and Amethi.

After the registration of the handicraft, individual stakeholders including the manufacturers, artisans, retailers, exporters etc. in these districts, can now become the authorised user of the brand after paying the requisite fee and getting themselves registered with the Registry.

With the GI Registration, the craft now is accredited with the official recognition. This would in turn help the stakeholders in checking imitation, product differentiation as well as derivation of more economic benefits from its trade.

What is Geographical Indication (GI)?

Geographical Indication of any good is defined as aspect of the industrial property that refers to geographical indication referring to any country or a particular place situated therein.

It is basically a sign or a name which is used on certain products which relate specifically to a geographical location or the origin, which can be a town, region or the country.

Using GI can act as the certification of the product and that it holds certain qualities and enjoys certain reputation because of its geographical origin.

India, which is also a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999 and it came into force from 15 September 2003.

Debris in Earth’s Orbit can be Hazardous; Urgent Need to Clear it: ESA

The European Space Agency (ESA) on 25 April 2013 during the 6th European Conference on Space Debris in Darmstadt, Germany announced that the Space Junk such as the debris of rockets should be removed from the orbit of the Earth. The announcement was made to avoid potential catastrophic collisions with operational spacecrafts and satellites that would cost a loss of millions of Euros for satellite operators as well as knock out GPS and Mobile network.

The Agency said that the quantity of debris in the space environment is close to a situation of collision, which will make space hazardous. The agency made it clear that there is an urgent need of pulling out the redundant objects out from the sky.

As per the present estimates from scientists, there exist nearly 30000 items of size more than 10 cm that circles the Earth at average speeds of 25000 kp0068. Many of the circling particles are complete rocket bodies and satellites and many are fragments. The debris in the orbit is the result of the explosion of the fuel tanks and batteries as well as from the impact of high-velocities between the objects. Debris with size 10 cm and above are traceable by the radars but the one smaller than it move unseen in the orbit, which would result in catastrophic collision among these materials.

The researchers agreed to the point that the debris-environment in the orbit would become unstable within few decades and this phenomenon is called Kessler Syndrome. Removal of five to ten large debris, every year can be the solution to reverse the process of debris growth in the orbit. European Space Agency in 2012 launched Clean Space initiative that aims at developing the technology to capture and remove space debris safely.

Prof Heiner Klinkrad was the chairman for the 6th European Conference on Space Debris in Darmstadt, Germany.

Federal Investigation Agency in Pakistan Arrested Pervez Musharraf in Bhutto-Murder Case

The Federal Investigation Agency in Pakistan arrested former President, Pervez Musharraf in relation to the Benazir Bhutto murder case. He was arrested formally by the FIA Deputy Director from his farmhouse in Chak Shahzad.

It is important to note that Chak Shahzad has been declared a sub-jail and he would remain there. On 26 April 2013, he would be produced in the Anti Terrorism court in Rawalpindi.

Musharraf is under the two-week house arrest because of his decision to sack the judges when in November 2007, he imposed emergency rule. The second case in which he has been facing allegations is in Bhutto murder case. Overall, there are three cases for which he is facing allegations, all of which date back to 1999-2008 rule of Musharraf as the Pakistani President.

On 26 April 2013, the FIA will seek physical remand of the former President in the Anti Terrorism court.

The Ministry Of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Proposed Launching NULM

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation proposed to launch the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) in its 12th Five-Year Plan. The NULM will replace the existing Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY).

Features of NULM:-

• NULM will focus on primary issues which relate to the urban poverty such as providing wage employment, self-employment opportunities to the urban poor, imparting skill training and enabling entrepreneurship development.
• Proposal of NULM is at the approval stage.
• The annual targets under NULM will be fixed after final approval.

Researchers Developed New Keyboard Called KALQ to Beat QWERTY

Researchers at St Andrews, the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Germany and Montana Tech in the US created a keyboard layout, said to be great for the touchscreen devices like smartphones and tablets. The new keyboard, researchers claimed, can make thumb-typing faster and easier.

Dr Per Ola Kristensson of the St Andrews University explained that the typical QWERTY keyboard trapped its users in suboptimal text entry interfaces. New design of the keyboard is called KALQ, in order of its keys on one line.

The creators of this keyboard made use of the computational optimisation techniques in order to identify the best performance. The virtual keyboard was created in alliance. This keyboard would be accessible to the users free of cost for the Android-based devices.

The research team explained that two-thumb typing becomes very different ergonomically in comparison to the typing on physical QWERTY keyboards. QWERTY keyboards in turn were developed in late 19th century by the typewriters.

The researchers claimed that any normal user making use of the QWERTY keyboard on any touchscreen device could type just 20 words per minute, which is way too low than the normal physical keyboards available with the computers.

Researchers explained that a process by which optimization of a keyboard for two thumbs could be done, was by minimizing the long typing sequences which involved the use of single thumb only.
It was additionally imperative that the letter keys which were used frequently should be placed alongside in order to reduce the typing time. Optimal layout involved reducing the moving time of thumbs as well as enabling the typing on alternating sides of touchscreen device.

In the new keyboard, all vowels were placed in area which was assigned to right thumb, while the left thumb had more keys. With error-correction algorithm, the users who were trained could reach 37 words in a minute.

KALQ provided better performance to users. The new keyword work of the researchers will now be presented at CHI 2013 conference (the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems) in Paris on 1 May 2013.

Google Inc Acquired Wavii, the News Summarization App for 30 Million US Dollar

Google Inc acquired Wavii, the news summarization app based in Seattle, for around 30 million US dollar cash. The successful bid of Google came after the Apple Inc expressed its interest to buy Wavii. Apple wanted to acquire the company for the Siri division.

It is important to note that Google’s acquisition came a few weeks after Yahoo Inc made an equal payment for acquiring Summly, the news reader. Summly is the competitor of Wavii.

The deals took place in order to enhance the customer experience for news. Both Google and Yahoo, maintain very high traffic news sites.

The semantic search knowledge of Wavii is a great addition to google Knowledge because this would further help in contextualizing the information which is used by Google to show on sidebar of most of the searches.

About Wavii:-

Wavii helps the users in getting instant news updates on almost all the topics. Wavii creates the updates for the users’ favourite gadgets, politicians, celebrities or more. It basically allows you to get personalised news feed. It allows you to follow the topics of your choice and thus facilitate you with the news feeds on those topics of interest.

Etihad Airways took over 24 pc Stake in Jet Airways for 379 Million Dollars

Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways on 24 April 2013 confirmed taking over of 24 per cent minority stake in Jet Airways for 379 million dollars (2058 Crore).

With the take over Etihad Airways will be subscribing to 27.3 million new shares at 754.74 rupees per share. It will be the first time that a foreign airline will be picking up a stake in an Indian airline.

Etihad Airways is on an aggressive expansion drive and is also going to make a 150 million Dollars equity investment in Jet's frequent flyer programme and spend 70 million  Dollars to buy Jet's three pairs of Heathrow slots through the sale and leaseback . Including the 379 million dollars equity investment, Etihad will drive in all around 600 million dollars into Jet Airways.

It is important here to note that Jet's majority ownership will remain with Indian nationals and Jet's founder and non-executive chairman Naresh Goyal will hold 51 per cent of the airline after the deal, which is subject to shareholder approval.

Also, as a part of the deal Jet will establish a hub in Abu Dhabi and expand its reach through Etihad Airways' global network.

The partnership is supposed to bring in significant benefits and opportunities for global growth to both airlines. The deal will allow Etihad Airways to compete more effectively in one of the largest and fastest-growing markets in the world.

Largest Biogas Plant of the World Inaugurated in Finland

The largest biogas plant of the world was inaugurated on 12 March 2013 in Finland. The biogas plant was inaugurated on the western coast of Finland.

The plant is built near the already-present coal-fired power plant in Vaasa in Central Finland. The 140 MW biomass gasification factory would help the country in cutting down the use of coal by up to 40 percent.

The largest biogas plant of the world is fuelled primarily with the help of wood residue from the large forestry sector of Finland. This plant, apart from reducing the use of coal, will also help in reducing the emission of carbon dioxide by 230000 tonnes per year. It will also help in facilitating electricity as well as heating for the Vaasa to approximately 61000 residents.

The operator of the plant is Vaskiluodon Voima. Vaskiluodon Voima declared that this plant will help in creating various jobs in this region.

Goa Tourism Department Banned Drinking on the Beaches to Prevent Littering and Eve Teasing

The Goa tourism department in April 2013 directed the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) to ban people from carrying glass bottles or alcohol on the beaches. In the fortnightly meeting that took place between IRB and tourism department, the decision was taken to ban the bottles and liquor on the Goa beaches.

Implementation of the decision can be seen in a way that IRB has already been deployed on beaches of Goa in order to facilitate the 24*7 security.

Reason for the ban:-
The ban is a result of the lobbying done by Calangute legislator Michael Lobo. Lobo had been campaigning against issues caused by glasses scattered on beaches of the state. The issue was taken by Michael Lobo to tourism department as well as the police. Tourists complained regarding injuries because of the broken glass pieces of liquor and beer bottles.

Goa officials also explained that rising crimes against women in India was another reason of the ban on carrying glass bottles or alcohol on the beaches of Goa. The decision was taken to prevent eve teasing on the beaches.

Repercussions of the ban:-
The decision would be a blow to local Goans who went on beaches for picnic and carried alcoholic drinks along with them. In case the tourists do not follow the orders, the alcoholic bottles would be confiscated.

However, the tourists would be allowed to drink only at the licensed shops that serve liquor.

Legendary Singer Shamshad Begum Died at 94

Legendary singer Shamshad Begum died on 23 April 2013 in Mumbai due to illness. She was 94 years of age. She was one of the first few playback singers of the Hindi film industry. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law.

About Shamshad Begum:-

• Shamshad Begum was born on 14 April 1919 in Amritsar, Punjab.
• Her debut was in Lahore on the Peshawar Radio on 16 December 1947.
• Some of her popular Hindi songs include Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar, Kajra Mohabbat Wala and Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon.
• Her hit tracks included Saiyan Dil Mein Aana Re, Chod Babul Ka Ghar, Leke Pehla Pehla Pyar, Kahin Pe Nigahen Kahin Pe Nishana and Boojh Mera Kya Naam Re.
• Shamshad Begum started her singing career in early thirties.
• She sang under the contract with Jenophone Record Company, for which she received 12.50 Rupees per song in 30s. She recorded around 200 songs for this company under baton of Ghulam Haider. Her songs were broadcasted on radio but not on gramophone.
• Before she made her debut in Hindi films, she sang in Punjabi film of Dalsukh Pancholi called Yamla Jat with the music given by Ghulam Haider.
• The first Hindi film of Dalsukh Pancholi was Khazanchi in which there were nine songs, all of which were recorded in Shamshad Begum’s voice.
• She was among the most sought-after female playback singers of 40s.
• She sang in various languages such as Tamil, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi and Bengali apart from Hindi in multi-lingual song Ye Duniya Roop Ki Chor.
• Shamshad Begum also sang for All India Radio (AIR) through the musical group called The Crown Imperial Theatrical Company of Performing Arts.
• She was conferred with the O P Nayyar award for contribution to Hindi film music, in the year 2009.
• In 2009 again, she was conferred with the third-highest civilian honour of India, Padma Bhushan.

Google celebrates India’s first passenger train with doodle

The doodle selection process aims to celebrate interesting events and anniversaries that reflect Google’s personality and love for innovation.

India’s first passenger train that chugged out of Bori Bunder in Bombay to Thane 160 years ago was relived by Internet search engine giant Google on its homepage on 16th April 2013.

In the doodle, the locomotive train replaces the first ’O’ of the word Google.

The idea of a railway to connect Bombay with Thane, Kalyan and with the Thal and Bhore Ghats first struck George Clark, the then chief engineer of the Bombay government, during a visit to Bhandup in 1843.

The first railway ran over a stretch of 21 miles from Bombay to Thane. The formal inauguration ceremony on April 16, 1853 saw 14 railway carriages, carrying about 400 guests; leave Bori Bunder at 3.30 pm amid loud applause and to the salute of 21 guns.

Doodles are the fun, surprising, and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists.

On February 8, the Google doodle commemorative logo paid tribute to Ghazal king Jagjit Singh on his 72nd birthday. On the occasion of 64th Republic Day, Google doodled a Royal Bengal tiger on its India homepage.

A group of Googlers get together regularly to brainstorm and decide which events will be celebrated with a doodle. The ideas for the doodles come from numerous sources including Google users.

The doodle selection process aims to celebrate interesting events and anniversaries that reflect Google’s personality and love for innovation.

14 injured in blast near Bangalore BJP office

Forensic experts collect evidence from the blast site in Malleswaram.

An explosion near the BJP office in Malleswaram injured at least 14 people, including eight policemen, who were in a KSRP van stationed near the office for election security duty on 17th April 2013 morning.

Two cars and 2 two-wheelers were completely gutted, while the KSRP van was damaged in the explosion, which occurred around 10.20 am in the crowded residential locality.

Police Commissioner Raghavendra H. Auradkar confirmed that the blast was triggered by an explosive device on a bike parked between the two cars. Initial reports suggested that the explosion was caused by an LPG cylinder blast from a Maruti Omni van, owned by a BJP party worker.

The last blast reported in Bangalore was exactly three years ago, on the same date, ahead of an IPL match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Senior police sources said initial investigations have revealed that a "timer-based, IED (improvised explosive device) fitted on a blue Suzuki bike" caused the blast. The police suspect that the bike was parked there overnight. Police sources also said that CCTV footage from cameras installed outside the BJP office may aid the investigation.

Meanwhile, L.R. Pachau, Director-General and Inspector-General of Police, told reporters that currently only the blast could be confirmed. "The police are still investigating into the kind of explosive that was used."

Glass and smoke everywhere

The site of the blast is covered with glass pieces, from the shattered window panes of vehicles in the area. Venkateshaiah, a KSRP head constable, who was having breakfast inside the van when the blast occurred, told that the impact of the blast was huge.

"We heard a loud explosion, and before we knew it our window panes shattered and there was thick black smoke everywhere. We couldn't see anything initially but somehow made our way out of the van," he said. When the smoke cleared up a bit he saw people lying on the road, most of whom had either collapsed due to the smoke or had been injured by the glass pieces from the shattered window panes.

Among the injured was Nisha, a II PUC student, who was returning home after her tuition classes. The injured were rushed to KC General Hospital. Authorities at the hospital confirmed that none of those brought in were critical.

Mr. Venkateshaiah added that the police van had just been moved there - about 500 metres from the BJP party office - an hour back after the party workers complained that it was obstructing traffic there.

The entire street has been cordoned off. The bomb squad, the National Investigative Agency and IB officers are all present at the spot. Home Minister R. Ashok also visited the party office and inspected the blast site.

Taste of Beer Can Excite Male Brain despite the Affect of Beer on Body: Research

Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine, US found out that just a little bit of cocktail can excite brain and also enhance the urge of drinking, even if the alcohol’s effect is not shown. 

In the study, it was found that 49 men experienced such effect. Actually, the taste of a cocktail can trigger the reward chemical of the brain- called dopamine. 

In the study, it was also found out that people who had family history of alcoholism, showed greater effect. In the study, men were kept under the brain scanner. Smaller amounts of different drinks were sprayed in their mouths. The effects of sports drinks, water and favourite beer of the participant were studied. 

Every participant was given 15 ml of the fluid for over 15 minutes. The results depicted that there was a release of more dopamine in brain after beer. Eventually, men would demand for more alcoholic drink. 

Pronounced effects were observed in the men who had family history because this led to an increase in the risk factor of alcoholism. Taste, can therefore impact the functions of brain.

Researchers Successfully Transplanted a Bio-Engineered Kidney in Rat

The researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, United States on 14 April 2013 announced that they had bio-engineered a kidney that can be marked a step-ahead in the quest to help patients suffering from Kidney Failure. The researchers as an experiment transplanted the bio-engineered kidney into rats and discovered that the experiment was successful. 

The success of the experiment has laid a way for building replacement structures of lungs, livers and hearts. The process of kidney transplant into the rat involved taking out a rat kidney and stripping out its living cells by using a solution made of detergent and leave behind a shell made of collagen. Further, the rats’ empty structure with living cells was repopulated that comprised human endothelial cells that lined the walls of kidney blood vessels and kidney cells taken from newborn rat. 

Then the cells were seeded in the correct part of the kidney with the help of a muscle duct that is called ureter as a tube and then transplanted the organ into the living rat from which the kidney was removed. The result of the experiment was that the new kidney started filtering the blood and produced urine as soon as the blood supply was restored. 

The results of the experiment had brought human being a step-closer to create lab grown organs for humans. The team of researchers was led by Harald Ott.

Mahatma Gandhi figured among the Top Three Leaders of the World

As per the 16th Annual Global CEO survey, Mahatma Gandhi figured among the top three most admired leaders of the world. An accountancy firm, PwC surveyed 1400 CEOs around the world.Winston Churchill topped the list of 10 most admired leaders, while Mahatma Gandhi figured in the third position after Steve Jobs.

Other leaders included: warriors; Napoleon and Alexander the Great, reformers; Jack Welch, leaders though adversity; Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln, leaders who caught the imagination of the masses; (Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela) and consensus builders like Bill Clinton.

Winston Churchill was the most popular choice of all CEOs while Steve Jobs admired in the most number of nations, 37. Churchill got wide appeal and popularity across Western Europe. He came top in France ahead of Charles de Gaulle and beat Niccolo Machiavelli to get the same position in Italy. Winston Churchill served as British Prime Minister twice; in 1940-45 and 1951-55.
As per the PwC survey, Nelson Mandela, Jack Welch and Abraham Lincoln, were at the 4th, 5th and 6th positions, respectively. Among women Margaret Thatcher was the only woman to make it to the top ten (7th position).

Former US Presidents Ronald Reagan, John F Kennedy and Bill Clinton were at 8th, 9th and 10th positions. French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte was at the 10th position along with Clinton.

The Orphan Master’s Son won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Adam Johnson’s novel The Orphan Master’s son won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2013. Last year, judges had failed to select a winner of the award for fiction for the first time in 35 years. The book carries the reader on an adventuresome journey into the depths of totalitarian North Korea and into the most intimate spaces of the human heart. Johnson teaches creative writing at Stanford University. He spent time in North Korea to research his book. Other books in contention were, What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, by Nathan Englander and The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey.

Other awardees are as following:-

• Sharon Old's Stag's Leap won the poetry award.
• Tom Reiss' biography of French aristocrat Alex Dumas, The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo, won the Pulitzer Prize for biography.
• The prize for general non-fiction was given to Gilbert King for Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys and the Dawn of a New America, which details racial injustice in Florida in 1949.
• Caroline Shaw, 30-year-old violinist and vocalist, won the Pulitzer Prize for music.

Earthquake of Magnitude 7.9 Jolted Iran and Pakistan

Earthquake that measured 7.8 on the Richter scale struck on 16 April 2013 in Iran killed more than 40 people leaving behind several injured. 

Epicenter of the quake was near Pakistan-Iran Border in the south-eastern city of Khash. The tremors of the quake were felt across India, Middle East and Pakistan. After the quake, the effects were felt with several aftershocks that followed the quake. 

The quake destroyed several houses in Pakistan and shook building in the Mashkel area. This is the strongest earthquake that struck Iran over a period of forty years.  As per the reports of the U.S. Geological Survey, the epicenter of the quake was 82 kilometers deep inside the ground in a desert area.

Reserve Bank of India to Start Plastic Money Project on Trial Basis

The Reserve Bank of India on 16 April 2013 announced that it would start the introduction of Plastic Notes in the market on trial basis. The announcement was made by the Deputy Governor of RBI, K.C. Chakrabarty in Magalore. 

The Deputy Governor in his announcement informed that the Central Bank would launch the plastic notes the denomination of 10 rupees and will continue with other small denominations depending upon the success of these notes. The introduction of the scheme would start on a trial basis following the mandate of the Union Government to introduce plastic/polymer currency notes of 10 rupees on a field trial in five cities of India. The date for launch of the Plastic Notes was not cleared by the Bank.