| APARTHEID | Policy of racial segregation practiced by the South African Government. |
| ADJOURNMENT | A motion moved by a member of a legislature to adjourn consideration of the issues in hand for discussing a matter of urgent public importance. |
| AMNESTY | Grant of pardon or exemption from prosecution to political importance. |
| ARMISTICE | Temporary cessation of hostilities pending formal negotiations for peace. |
| APPEASEMENT | The policy of gratifying one's enemy with concession and special grants by sacrificing even principles. |
| AUTONOMY | Power to control internal affairs. |
| BILATERAL AGREEMENT | An agreement between two countries. |
| BLOCKADES | Imposing closure of ports and waterways to prevent ships from reaching or leaving it. |
| BOLSHEVISM | The doctrine of Proletarian Dictatorship as propounded by Lenin. |
| BOURGEOISE | Capitalist class in Marxian terminology. |
| BUFFER STATE | A small neutral state between two big states. |
| BY-ELECTION | A mid term election to fill a seat rendered vacant. |
| CASTING VOTE | A vote casting of which decides the tie. |
| CAUCUS | A powerful group of party. |
| CHARGED AFFAIRS | The senior most diplomat after the head of the mission, officiating in his absence. |
| COALITION | Combination of two or more parties with the purpose of forming a composite government. |
| CONFEDERATION | Alliance of nations for some specific purpose our retaining the respective individual nation sovereignty. |
| COLD WAR | The state of ideological or wordy warfare between two countries or blocks. |
| ENVOY | A diplomatic emissary accredited to the country and holding position below that of an ambassador. |
| FIFTH COLUMN | An anti-national clique of spies and saboteurs. |
| FLOOR CROSSING | The act of changing political loyalty by a person or a group. |
| FRANCHISE | Right to cast vote in the public elections. |
| GALLUP POLL | An opinion poll-may be with the help of interview. |
| GENOCIDE | Intention to destroy wholly or in part a religious, ethnic or political group. |
| GHERAO | Encircling a person and rending him incapable of doing anything till he/she concedes demands. |
| GLOSNOST | Means openness. Term used for reforms introduced in Russian society by M.Gorbachov. |
| HABEAS CORPUS | A type of a writ issued by a High Court or Supreme court against illegal detention of a person. |
| HOT LINE | A direct telephone link between the White House and Kremlin established in 1963. |
| IMPEACHMENT | Trial by the Parliament. |
| LOBBYING | Exercising influence or pressure on members of the legislative bodies in the lobby for supporting or opposing an issue in the House. |
| LOK PAL | An official appointed by the President to investigate public complaints against ministers and high officials. |
| MANIFESTO | A declaration of political party about its policies and programmes given at the time of elections. |
| NATIONALISATION | The act of taking business undertakings an institutions by the state and controlling them. |
| NAXALITE | A movement violent in character believing in Maoism: the term was first used for the peasants of Naxalbari (West Bengal) who rose against the landlords demanding land for the landless. |
| NEW DEAL | The name given to the policy of Franklin D.Roosevelt to revive and boost American economy . |
| ORDINANCE | An Act or decree promulgated by the Head of State in an emergency or when the legislative body is not in session. |
| PERESTROIKA | Used for Gorbachov's move to restructure political and economical structure of the Russian society. |
| PLEBISCITE | Voting on regional or national issue. |
| PERSONALITY CULT | Too much adulation for a ruler or a political figure. |
| PRIVY PURSE | Yearly allowances granted to the princes of Indian states after the merger of their states with the Indian Union. (New these purses are abolished). |
| PRIVILEGE MOTION | A motion moved by a legislator drawing attention of the House towards a matter involving breach of privilege of the House or any of its members. |
| REFERENDUM | People's verdict on some constitutional amendment and some other legislative issue of controversial nature. |
| SECULARISM | Affirmation in all the faiths, showing no official patronage to any religions or religions. |
| SANCTIONS | Penalty or reward imposed for disobedience or obedience attached to the law. |
| SOCIALISM | Control of production and means of distribution in the hands of the State. |
| STATUTE | Law made by the Parliament, enshrined in the statue book, which are binding on al subjects, of a particular country. |
| SUFFRAGE | Right of voting in political elections. |
| SELF-DETERMINATION | Right of a nation deciding its own form of government, its political destiny or independence. |
| TERRITORIAL WATERS | Areas of the sea up to 12 km measured from the low water mark of the coast and within the executive control of an adjacent State. |
| UNICAMERAL | A legislature having only one House. |
| VETO | Right to reject any resolution or enactment passed by the legislature. |
On Wednesday, December 29, 2010
On Sunday, December 26, 2010
Thangai VS AnnanThe 2010 Asian Games (XVI Asiad) are held from November 12 to November 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. Athletes are scheduled to come from about 45 countries all over Asia to compete in the Asian sports Olympics. They had competed in standard sports like track and field, gymnastics and soccer (football) and in Asian sports like several styles of Asian martial arts. All together, athletes will compete in about 42 different sports. Besides seeing Asian athletes in action, spectators can see the opening and closing ceremonies and see one of China’s relatively prosperous megacity regions.Guangzhou was awarded the right on July 1, 2004, as the sole bidding city. This came after the withdrawal of several cities, from Amman, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul.
Duration: November 12 to 27, 2010
Host City: Guangzhou, China
Co-Host Cities: Shanwei, Dongguan and Foshan.
Features:
History of Asian Games
XVI Asian Games (Asiad) in Guangzhou, China
Popular sports in China and East Asia include table tennis, soccer, badminton and martial arts. Along with these sports, there will be weightlifting, softball and rugby competitions. Basketball has become very popular among China’s children and young people due to watching American NBA games and Yao Ming.
The competitions will actually be held in four cities of the Guangzhou metropolitan region. These are Guangzhou itself, Foshan, Dongguan and Shanwei. Dongguan is a large and somewhat polluted industrial city that is one of China’s largest exporting areas. It is on the CHR bullet train between the Louhu border in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, so travel there is convenient and quick and takes only about 40 minutes.
As part of the games, there will be opening and closing festivities that can be watched at Haixinsha Island in the Pearl River. People expect a light show, a mysterious lightning show, and the usual choreographed marching and dancing, etc. The opening ceremonies are directed and organized by Chen Weiya who was the assistant director of the 2008 Summer Olympics. He said that the ceremony will “surprise the world.” The show will begin about 8pm and the”mysterious lightning” will be unveiled at 9:42.
This is the second time that China has hosted the games. The first time was in 1990 when Beijing hosted the 11th Asian Games. The Asian Games are the world’s second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games and are held every four years. Hosting the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou gives southern China a chance to showcase its new economic power and prosperity. Guangzhou is part of one of China’s major megacities. It is in Guangdong Province, which is a major electronics manufacturing area of the world. Tickets are already on sale.
Mascot and Emblem
The mascots of the Asian Games 2010 Guangzhou are five sporty goats, respectively named Xiang, He, Ru, Yi, Le Yangyang which mean harmony, blessings, success and happiness. The mascot design is based on the legend of the Five Goats in Guangzhou. Legend goes like this: in over 2000 years ago, Guangzhou was a barren countryside, and people of Guangzhou were suffering famine. One day, five immortals who took five goats which have an ear of corn in the mouth fly on Guangzhou. The immortals prayed for an end to famine, then flew into the sky as the five goats turned into fossils. Since then Guangzhou became a beautiful and affluent place. The five goats’ fossils become the sign of Guangzhou, and the 2010 Asian Games LOGO design is also based on the fossils. There is a complex historical myth and story associated with these names. But all together, these names actually form a catch phrase with a kaleidoscope of meanings and connotations including “joy” and “foreign.”
The emblem of the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games was announced in 2006. In this emblem, there is the Asiad sun symbol that is the emblem of the Asiads, four tracks and the Olympic flame. There is an unofficial emblem with the biggest goat at the top and the four little goats representing the four tracks.
Participating Countries and Regions
East Asia: China, Hong Kong China, Macao China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, South Korea, Mongolia
Southeast Asia: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, East Timor, Vietnam
South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
West Asia: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, United Arab Republic, Yemen
Sports
Aquatics
Archery
Athletics
Badminton
Baseball
Basketball
Boxing
Bowling
Cycling
Canoeing
Chess
Cue Sports
Cricket
Dance
Dragon Boat Racing
Equestrian
Fencing
Football
Golf
Gymnastics
Handball
Hockey
Judo
Kabaddi
Karate
Modern Pentathlon
Roller Sports
Rowing
Rugby Union
Sailing
Sepak Takraw
Softball
Shooting
Squash
Table Tennis
Taekwondo
Tennis
Triathlon
Volleyball
Weightlifting
Wrestling
Wushu
Guangzhou is ready to host 2010 Asian Games
Twelve new stadia have been built. Three new subway lines have opened, and six others extended. The athletes’ village has been polished and scrubbed — the bathrooms have already been fitted with shampoo and toilet paper.
There are few signs in this sprawling southern port city of the last-minute scramble to the finish-line that dominated headlines ahead of the Commonwealth Games in India. Several of the 70 stadia that have been readied for the Games — 58 existing venues have also been renovated — have already held test events.
Guangzhou, a city that is often in the shadows of Beijing and Shanghai, is using the Asian Games to undergo an expensive image makeover, transforming an old, crowded port city into a modern business hub.
The city has spent 123 billion yuan ($18.49 billion or Rs. 82,400 crore) for the Games on widening roads, building bridges, expanding the airport and cleaning its famously polluted waterways. Much of this amount — 109 billion yuan (Rs. 73,000 crore) — went towards urban development projects, dwarfing the reported Rs. 28,248 crore New Delhi spent on the Commonwealth Games.
The most ambitious project has been upgrading the metro rail system, which has been lengthened from just one 18 km-line eight years ago to over 236 km.
Eighty per cent of the venues will be connected by new subway lines, which have already opened ahead of the November 12, 2010 inauguration.
A much-publicised clean-up campaign has also had mixed results. Roads and parks are cleaner, and the government has spent millions on new sewage treatment plants, but many are yet to open. Statistics say the air quality during the Games will be markedly improved, but largely because of the vehicle ban and a government order temporarily closing down nearby factories.
The infrastructure overhaul has also seen one of China’s oldest cities lose much of its heritage. Many of Guangzhou’s 138 urban villages — neighbourhoods of narrow alleyways and homes which date back to the 12th century — are being demolished to make way for new apartment complexes as part of the modern makeover. The project, though unrelated to the Games, has been rushed through in recent months.
China to deploy massive 1454 member delegation for Asian Games
Hosts China will be deploying its biggest ever delegation comprising 1,454 members, including 977 athletes, in 2010’s Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou.
Chinese athletes will participate in 41 sports and 447 events to retain its top position in the Asian Games beginning from November 12. The Asian Games feature 28 Olympic sports and 280 Olympic events.
Thirty five former Olympic champions including Chen Yibing, Liu Xiang, Lin Dan, Zhou Suhong, Zhu Qinan and Wang Liqin will take part in the Games besides rising stars such as Feng Zhe, Zhang Chenglong, Liu Shiwen will be part of the Chinese delegation.
Since the ninth Asian Games in 1982, China has dominated the medal rankings. At the last Asiad, in Doha four years ago, China claimed 165 gold medals, 88 silver and 63 bronze.
The Asian Games is believed to be the largest-scale sporting event in the world. Besides the 28 Olympic sports, it also involves 14 non-Olympic sports, including wushu, cricket, rugby and chess.
China all set to floor the world
The stage is set, and China is ready to set the Pearl River on fire. Even as suspense builds up as to who would light the cauldron, and how it would be done, there is no mystery as to who would dominate the 16th edition of the Asian Games that is set to spring to life on Friday.
Once it floors the rest of the world with what promises to be a breathtaking opening ceremony, China will get to the business of scooping the gold medals, and possibly end up with a record haul.
Phenomenal growth
The growth of China in the world of sports has been phenomenal. Beijing Olympics showed the Chinese in fine light as the host collected 51 gold medals to top the table ahead of the super powers, the US and Russia. Japan managed to win 13 gold, and Korea, nine.
Yet, China has already set such an imposing record in the Asian Games that it would need some doing to better its own mark.
The team had won 164 of the 426 gold medals in the last edition in Doha, which pales in comparison to the 183 of 313 gold medals that it had won in Beijing, two decades ago, when it hosted the Games for the first time.
Though Korea and Japan were reduced to clutching 58 and 50 gold medals respectively in 2006, when the Chinese women alone had accounted for 91 gold, it may not be possible for China to crush the former leaders of the region any further and unrealistically set a target of 200 gold medals from a total of 476 that would be on offer.
Launching pad
Though the organisers trumpet that ‘Citizens before gold’ as the motto of the Games, so as to use the opportunity of hosting the mega event to improve the quality of life for its citizens in the region, there is no doubt that the event would serve as the launching pad to elevate China to greater heights two years hence, in the Olympics in London.
China has a string of World and Olympic champions, with the evergreen Liu Xiang looking for a hat-trick in the 110-metre hurdles in the Asian Games.
Badminton stars Lin Dan, Chen Jin, Lu Lan, Cai Yun, Fu Haifeng, divers He Chong, Qin Kai, Luo Yutong, Huo Liang, Wu Minxia, Chen Ruolin, swimmers Wu Peng, Chen Zuo, Chen Huijia, Jiao Liuyang, gymnasts Chen Yibing, Yan Mingyong, Yang Yilin, shooters Cao Yifei, Zhu Qinan, Pang Wei, Liu Yadong, Yi Siling, Guo Wenjun, Li Xueyan, Li Rui, table tennis exponents Ma Lin, Ma Long, Zhang Jike, Guo Yue, lifters Wu Jingbiao, Lu Yong, Wang Mingjuan, Li Ping, Li Xueying, Liu Chunhong, Cao Lei, wrestlers Zhao Shasha, Zhang Lan and Li Dan will be some of the familiar Chinese names, ready to share the responsibility in the gold hunt.
The Koreans will try to beat Japan in the total number of medals as well, apart from the gold tally, after having won 193 to Japan’s 198 in the last edition.
World and Olympic champion, Tae-Hwan Park who had launched his career with gold medals in the 200, 400 and 1500-metre freestyle swimming events in the last edition (apart from 100m silver and three bronze medals in relays) on way to the ‘most valuable player’ award, would once again attempt to spearhead Korea’s assault on the gold medals, with support from the archers, judokas and lifters among others.
Japan’s challenge
Japan with a contingent of 1,078 that includes coaches and officials, will look up to the two-time double Olympic and World champion, swimmer Kosuke Kitajima, apart from two-time Olympic and eight-time World champion, wrestler Saori Yoshida.
Japan was overtaken at the top of the medals table in the 1982 edition by China, and pushed to the third spot in the following edition in Seoul.
Kazakhstan (23 gold), Thailand (13), Iran (11) and Uzbekistan (11) had all finished ahead of India (10) in Doha. The equation may not change much though Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, Qatar and Singapore would attempt to overtake India.
Pakistan will try to show its prowess in cricket and hockey. In short, there will be something for most of the nations to prove, leading to a lively fortnight.
After having given a glimpse of its growing economy with the Beijing Olympics and the Shanghai Expo earlier this year, spending about $90 billion in all, China would take the opportunity to improve its stature, a shade better than the 610-metre tall Canton Tower.
Anti-doping measures
With 1,500 urine and blood tests planned as part of the anti-doping measures, 300 more than Doha, it could lead to the proclamation of another ‘clean Games’, expected to feature 9,704 athletes.
Little drops of water make the mighty ocean. China will start its campaign with a little drop of water, at the opening ceremony, and possibly wind up with a pot of gold at the end of the Games. China is bound to win the heart of the world in the bargain, yet again!
609 Athletes to represent India in Asiad
Indian Olympic Association said that as many as 609 athletes, including 249 women, will represent the country in 35 different disciplines in the 16th Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou, China, from November 12 to 28.
It will be India’s largest ever contingent to take part in the Games.
“We are delighted with the progress made by Indians in a number of Olympic sport in the past few years and are confident that our athletes will do well in the Asian Games as well to sustain the national sports fans’ interest,” said IOA president Suresh Kalmadi.
“Our contingent will draw confidence from India’s wonderful showing in the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games where our athletes won a record 101 medals including 38 gold.
They are aware of the different challenges presented in the Asian Games and are geared up to deliver their best efforts,” he said.
The Indian contingent will include 127 coaches, 44 managers, eight doctors, seven physiotherapists, six masseurs, nine technical officials, 12 contingent officials, six government observers (athletics, cycling, kabaddi, rowing, shooting and wrestling), five nominees of the Sports Authority of India and 10 other officials.
In the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, India sent 432 athletes to compete in 31 disciplines and finished with a total of 53 medals including 10 gold, 17 silver and 26 bronze.
Scintillating start to Asian Games – 12.11.2010
China painted a memorable canvas on the sky, as lithe girls danced on water and strong men jumped around high in the air, in front of four huge sail-boat screens that towered above the arena to mark the opening ceremony of the 16th Asian Games Guangzhou, China on 12.11.2010. The city was lit up beautifully — the Canton tower stood majestically on one side and the skyscrapers with colourful lighting formations provided a brilliant backdrop.
From an arena on the Pearl River that had speed boats whizzing past, spraying water all around and fountains rising into the sky, the stage turned into a platform. White horses galloped across it and eventually it turned into the stage for the athletes to march. And then the cauldron emerged. Gagan Narang carried the flag for India and the contingent was almost in strength to imbibe the energy of the electrifying atmosphere.
Novelty
In another novelty, the cauldron was lighted like a firecracker by Olympic diving champion He Chong. A flower pot threw sparks so high that it lit the cauldron that was 26-metres high. And then it was time for massive fireworks. The 600-metre tall Canton tower, the tallest TV tower in the world, had fireworks from the top to bottom.
The president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah aptly said, “we are proud of the opening ceremony.” It was a ceremony that surpassed everything that has been performed in all the Olympics including the Beijing Games. In taking the opening ceremony away from the limitations of a stadium, Guangzhou turned the whole area into an amphitheatre. It was art and craft at its best.
With 45 floats, depicting 45 Asian countries and regions in a fabulous spectacle on the river, it was time to set sail on the wings of imagination. A boy floated from the sky on a leaf, and poured water from a bottle, and that stretched into the venue.
Then it was time to set the Pearl River on fire at the Haixinsha island. The Chinese did it in great style, in a spell binding programme that did not lose momentum through two-and-a-half hours.
Beautifully painted
It was tough for the 100 television cameras to capture the huge mosaic that was so beautifully painted. Words fail, and one is not ashamed of it, for it was a spectacle that was beyond imagination, let alone description.
The Chinese told the story of the Maritime Silk Road, and a dozen others, with dance and energy. Their energy showed why they win so many gold medals at the Olympics or Asian Games. The dance of the red Kapok petals threw up a charming Canton girl who danced with water. That was followed by 180 girls in light-emitting skirts.
The ship from the ocean made a round in front of the audience with sailors at their robust best, and the fisherwomen bidding them adieu, providing a captivating picture. It set out on a voyage, carrying the red lanterns along with hope. Mermaids then lit up the water with their antics, and eight motorboats swept across the water, enacting difficult stunts to wow the audience into silence.
Another high
Another high point was when 180 performers presented a four-dimensional show on the huge sail-shaped screens, with 1320 operators on the ground moving them into various patterns by pulling the strings. The sight of the gymnast on roman rings, rising from the water and jumping from a height was indeed stunning.
The Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, declared the Games open. Badminton star Fu Haifeng took the oath of honour on behalf of the athletes while gymnastics referee Yan Ninan took the oath on behalf of the referees.
2006 Asian Games Top Ten Medals Winners
Country (Team) Position Number of Medals Gold Silver Bronze
China 1 316 166 87 63
South Korea 2 193 58 53 82
Japan 3 198 50 71 77
Kazakhstan 4 85 23 20 42
Thailand 5 54 13 15 26
Iran 6 48 11 15 22
Uzbekistan 7 40 11 14 15
India 8 53 10 17 26
Qatar 9 32 9 12 11
Chinese Taipei 10 46 9 10 27
A commendable effort by the Indian contingent
It was a commendable effort by the strong Indian contingent of 626 athletes to come up with a decent performance of 64 medals including 14 gold, to be ranked sixth in the Asian Games.
It may be unfair to compare the fare with the rich show in the Commonwealth Games last month when India won 101 medals including 38 gold, to finish second behind Australia.
It is a good sign that India’s performance did not slump after such a high, as it had more athletes who could rise to the occasion and deliver the results when the heroes struggled to find another peak so soon.
Somdev Devvarman was a glorious exception as he followed the Commonwealth Games individual tennis gold, with the singles and doubles gold medals in the Asian Games. He also became the only Indian athlete to win two gold medals along with A.C. Ashwini who won everyone’s heart with the 400m hurdles gold, apart from her role in the relay triumph.
In fact, the biggest Indian athletics squad also acquitted itself honourably with five gold, two silver and four bronze medals. Preeja Sreedharan, Sudha Singh and Joseph Abraham made the athletics buffs happy though many would not have been able to digest the fact that Tintu Luka only won the bronze.
Back to tennis, Sania Mirza played her part well despite ill health, as she and Vishnu Vardhan made the the mixed doubles final apart from playing her firebrand game in singles till she bowed out in the semifinals to take the bronze.
Pankaj Advani was one of the rare athletes to defend his gold medal won in billiards in Doha in 2006. In fact, he opened the gold count for India.
The hero of Indian sport for the last two years, the charming Vijender Singh, the World and Olympic medallist, helped India finish on a high by beating the two-time World champion Abbos Atoev of Uzbekistan. It was a breakthrough gold for him, after the bronze in Doha.
With Vijender’s admirer, the 18-year-old Vikas Krishan making another breakthrough with gold the previous day, 12 years after the last gold medal in boxing in Asiad by Dingko Singh for India, the future of the sport looked bright.
The 13 boxers returned with nine medals, though it was a disappointment that the five-time World champion Mary Kom had to settle for bronze.
The shooters, at the end of a long season, were unable to gather the energy for a final thrust.
Yet, Ronjan Sodhi was brilliant in silencing the Chinese in their backyard with a stupendous fare in double trap when he won by a four-point margin, after making the final four points behind the leader.
Obviously, a collection of one gold, three silver and four bronze medals was no reflection of the true strength of Indian shooting which has been shining consistently on the big stage.
Bajrang Lal Takhar was another classic case of four years of hard work paying dividends as he graduated from the silver in Doha to a memorable gold. The rowers won three other silver medals and a bronze.
Kabaddi continued to be the foundation for Indian performance, as it delivered a double gold, though the women’s team was given a scare by Iran in the semifinals.
In 1990, India had won a solitary gold medal through kabaddi, in the Asian Games in Beijing.
Virdhawal Khade won the first swimming medal since 1986, after missing another by 0.03 seconds. Ashish Kumar continued to excel in gymnastics though it was a bronze medal in the floor exercise.
Tarundeep Rai winning the individual silver was another breakthrough effort in archery, in which the Indian teams were stopped by the mighty Korea and had to settle for bronze.
Golf and sailing provided precious silver medals, but other sports, to name a few, such as badminton, basketball, table tennis, volleyball and weightlifting drew a blank.
It was disappointment for Indian hockey fans after winning just the bronze medal, but the team was vibrant in defeat and could develop into a strong unit.
The women’s team needs to focus on the game and train harder. World No.3 Saina Nehwal’s early exit in badminton was a blow, and it showed that she still had to put her game together so as to be able to tackle different situations and varied opponents.
Overall, it was a healthy improvement from the 53 medals won in the last edition, and it was the best collection for India, beating the 57 won in Delhi in 1982, when the team had won 13 gold medals. India had won 15 gold medals in 1951 in the inaugural edition that featured 489 athletes from 11 nations.
The Chinese won 199 gold medals in a total of 416 with a contingent of 960. India had many disciplines that were just making the numbers, as it fielded athletes in 37 disciplines but won medals in only 18 of them.
Wushu and roller sports also made the right impact with medals. But, the wrestlers managed only three bronze medals in the absence of world champion Sushil Kumar. Squash was as good as wrestling with three bronze medals. In Indian sports, the problem is not with the numbers but the lack of quality preparation.
Asian Games 2010 Medal Tally and Status (Nations Wise) – Final Day (27.11.2010)
Medals won by India in Asian Games, 2010Ranking Country Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 China 199 119 98 416 2 Korea 76 65 91 232 3 Japan 48 74 94 216 4 Iran 20 14 25 59 5 Kazakhstan 18 23 38 79 6 India 14 17 33 64 7 Chinese Taipei 13 16 38 67 8 Uzbekistan 11 22 23 56 9 Thailand 11 9 32 52 10 Malaysia 9 18 14 41 11 Hong Kong, China 8 15 17 40 12 DPR Korea 6 10 20 36 13 Saudi Arabia 5 3 5 13 14 Bahrain 5 0 4 9 15 Indonesia 4 9 13 26 16 Singapore 4 7 6 17 17 Athletes from Kuwait 4 6 1 11 18 Qatar 4 5 7 16 19 Philippines 3 4 9 16 20 Pakistan 3 2 3 8 21 Mongolia 2 5 9 16 22 Myanmar 2 5 3 10 23 Jordan 2 2 2 6 24 Viet Nam 1 17 15 33 25 Kyrgyzstan 1 2 2 5 26 Macao, China 1 1 4 6 27 Bangladesh 1 1 1 3 28 Tajikistan 1 0 3 4 29 Syria 1 0 1 2 30 United Arab Emirates 0 4 1 5 31 Afghanistan 0 2 1 3 32 Iraq 0 1 2 3 33 Lebanon 0 1 2 3 34 Lao PDR 0 0 2 2 35 Nepal 0 0 1 1 Oman 0 0 1 1 Total 477 479 621 1577
Gold Medals
1. Billiard Sports ADVANI Pankaj – Men’s English Billiards Singles Gold medal
2. Rowing TAKHAR Bajrang Lal – Men’s Single Sculls Gold medal
3. Athletics SINGH Sudha – Women’s 3000m Steeplechase Gold medal
4. Athletics SREEDHARAN Preeja – Women’s 10,000m Gold medal
5. Tennis Somdev Devvarman / SINGH – Men’s Doubles Gold Medal
6. Shooting SODHI Ronjan – Men’s Double Trap Gold medal
7. Somdev Devvarman won Gold medal in Tennis Men’s Singles for India
8. Ashwini Chidananda won Gold medal in women’s 400m hurdles event
9. Joseph Abraham won Gold medal in men’s 400m hurdles event
10. Krishan Vikas won Gold medal in Men’s 60kg Boxing
11. India Kabaddi India won the Men’s Gold medal
12. India Kabaddi India won the Women’s Gold medal
13. India Athletics India won the Women’s 4 x 400m Relay Gold medal
14. Vijender Singh Men’s 75kg Boxing Gold medal
Silver Medals
1. Billiard Sports India Men’s Snooker Team Silver medal
2. Shooting Shooting Gagan Narang Silver medal
3. Shooting Women’s 10m Air Pistol Team Silver medal
4. Shooting Men’s 10m Air Rifle Team Silver medal
5. India achieved Silver medal in the Rowing Men’s Four
6. India achieved Silver medal in the Rowing Lightweight Men’s Four
7. India Sandhyarani Wangkhem achieved Silver medal in the Wushu Women’s Sanshou 60kg
8. Golf – Men’s Team – Silver Medal
9. Indian Team won Silver medal in Rowing Men’s Eight
10. Sailing – Open Match Racing – Silver Medal
11. Kavita Raut – Athletics Women’s 10,000m – Silver Medal
12. Tennis Sania Mirza / VARDHAN Mixed Doubles Silver Medal
13. Tarundeep Rai won Silver medal in Archery Men’s Individual
14. Dinesh Kumar won Silver medal in Men’s 81kg Boxing
15. India Boxing VIROTHU Santhosh Kumar won the Men’s 64kg Silver medal
16. India Athletics SREEDHARAN Preeja won the Women’s 5000m Silver medal
17. India Boxing SINGH Manpreet won the Men’s 91kg Silver medal
Bronze Medals
1. Shooting KUMAR Vijay Men’s 10m Air Pistol Bronze medal
2. Billiard Sports KUMAR Alok Men’s 8-Ball Pool Singles Bronze medal
3. Artistic Gymnastics Ashish Kumar Men’s Floor event Bronze medal
4. Chess Dronavalli Harika Women’s Individual Bronze medal
5. Swimming Virdhawal Vikram Men’s 50m Butterfly event Bronze medal
6. Wushu Men’s Sanshou 60kg event Bimoljit Singh Mayanglambam Bronze medal
7. India KUMAR Vijay achieved Bronze medal in the Shooting Men’s 25m Center Fire Pistol
8. India KHADE Virdhawal Vk achieved Bronze medal in the Swimming Men’s 50m Butterfly
9. India Bimoljit Singh Mayanglambam achieved Bronze medal in the Wushu Men’s Sanshou 60kg
10. Billiard Sports – Aditya Snehal Mehta – Men’s Snooker Singles – Bronze Medal
11. Rowing Women’s Pair – Pratima Puhana , Pramila Prava Minz won Bronze medal
12. Shooting Men’s Trap Team – Bronze medal
13. Shooting Men’s Double Trap Team – Bronze medal
14. Squash Saurav Ghosal – Men’s Individual
15. Sania Mirza won Bronze Medal in Tennis Women’s Singles
16. Ravinder Singh won Bronze Medal in Wrestling Men’s Greco-Roman 60 kg
17. Sunilkumar Rana won Bronze Medal in Wrestling Men’s Greco-Roman 66 kg
18. Krishna Poonia won Bronze in Athletics Women’s Discus Throw
19. Pramila Ganapathy Gudandda won Bronze in Athletics Women’s Heptathlon
20. In Boxing Chungneijang Mary Kom Hmangte Women’s 48-51kg won the Bronze medal
21. In Boxing Suranjoy Singh Mayengbam Men’s 52kg Bronze medal
22. In Boxing Kavita Goyat Women’s 69-75kg Bronze medal
23. In Boxing Paramjeet Samota Men’s +91kg Bronze medal
24. In Squash Men’s Team won Bronze medal
25. In Squash Women’s Team won Bronze medal
26. In Women’s 800m event of Track and Field Tintu Luka won Bronze medal
27. Mausam Khatri won Bronze medal in Wrestling Men’s Freestyle 96 kg
28. India won Bronze medal in Men’s Hockey match
29. India Roller Sports PANCHAL Avani Bhar.. won the Pairs Skating Bronze medal
30. India Athletics RAUT Kavita won the Women’s 5000m Bronze medal
31. India Boxing GOYAT Kavita won the Women’s 69-75kg Bronze medal
32. India Chess India won the Men’s Team Bronze medal
33. India Roller Sports YAMA Anup Kumar won the Men’s Single Free Skating Bronze medal
On Monday, December 20, 2010
International Current Affairs 2010
- Pakistan’s Initiative against Terrorism
Pakistan has been the victim of international terrorism in the past few months. As a result of this, a top US official recently said that Islamabad should begin to crack down on terrorists and terrorist groups operational within the country immediately. Barrack Obama, President of the United States of America has also agreed to this statement and feels that Pakistan has been one of the major victims of international terrorism lately. President Obama also said that Pakistan needs to take strong and immediate steps against all terrorist groups operating on Pakistani soil. Furthermore, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said that a number of terrorist groups are operating in a syndicate and working together against American interests, not just in the US but in other nations such as Afghanistan and India as well. Mr. Blake also stated that the US has welcomed every step take by Pakistan so far and that it is in full support of Pakistan as always. - UN’s terrorism sanctions list
In a recent and sudden move, a US committee took down several names of al-Qaida and Taliban terrorists off its terrorism sanction lists. The committee said that the reason for such an action was that several of the names on the sanctions list were probably dead. The committee Chairman Thomas Mayr Harting said that following this step, the committee had started investigations into how many terrorists put on the list were actually dead. This committee was set up in 1999. - New Government in Iraq
Prolonged warring and quarrels between rival political factions in Iraq had caused over an eight month deadlock over the issue of forming the next government. Recently, the Iraqi Prime Minister appealed to these political factions to work together and unite following his acceptance of the President’s request to form the next government. Senior officials admitted that a Herculean task now lay before them, that of forming a government comprising of members of all possible political factions. The task has been made harder by the month long deadline to form the government which will preside over the country’s affair as US troops move out and power is handed back to the Iraqi people. The new government is expected to have members from all the political factions such as the Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis. Prime Minister Designate al-Maliki called upon al Iraqi citizens and politicians to help him in this difficult task. - Friendly neighbor China
Rising concerns over China’s assertive and aggressive attitude in the Asian continent has prompted China’s President Hu Jintao to assure all nations that China is committed to being a friendly and helpful neighbor. China has been in the news recently over its spats with neighboring nations over international borders and territories. The reason for this has been said to be China’s interests in a group of potentially resource rich islands in the Asian Pacific. Speaking to leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Japan, President Hu said that China was committed to the regional policy of building good neighborliness and friendship. - Rolls Royce sued by Qantas
Australian flight safety officials have recently warned that manufacturing defects have been found in the Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines. Officials further urged airlines using these engines to carry extensive checks before using them because defects present in them could lead to catastrophic failures. In the meanwhile, Qantas began court proceedings against Rolls Royce and was granted an injunction by the federal court of Australia which ensured that the airline could pursue legal action against the engine manufacturing giants. - Myanmar polls called fake
The first democratic polls in Myanmar after several years of military rule were held among complaints of threats, intimidation and accusations of the polls being a charade. In most constituencies, the poll was a competition between the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the National Unity Party (NUS). Several accusations were made by opposition parties against the USDP, claiming that they illegally collected advanced ballots. USA and UK officials also voiced their concerns about the transparency and fairness of these polls. - China’s slowest growth
China had its slowest rate of economic growth in a year during the September quarter. In addition to this, a World Bank report hinted at a further decrease in its economic growth. One of the reasons for this has been the long term inflation that China has faced for almost two years. China’s industrial growth has also fallen considerably in recent times. This slow growth in China’s economy has gotten many people to believe that India might be the next economic superpower to rise because of its high levels of industrial and economic growth in recent times. Though not immediately, but experts predicted India’s rate of growth to exceed that of China’s by a considerable margin in the next five years.
National Current Affairs 2010
- Sensex drops 458 points
The Bombay Stock Exchange recently fell by a total of 458 points. The reasons for the underperformance of the Indian Equity market have been said to be the series of scams that were unearthed from mid November. Just last month, CBI officials discovered a bribe for loan scandal that involved several officials from financial firms and a few state run banks. The 10.8% rise in industrial growth since last month could not help and several indices ended with huge losses. Major loses were mainly suffered by PSUs, realty, consumer durables and healthcare. - Satyam Trial Case
The examination of the first witness in the infamous multi crore Satyam Computer accounting scam would begin from the first of November Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court. CBI officials submitted a list of six witnesses to the courts who were officials of a number of different banks. All ten accused including company founder B Ramalinga Raju were present in court during the hearing of the case. The DIG of police who operates under the department of CBI said that the agency requested permission to set up LCD projectors and screens in the court so that both parties could observe and take notes on all the documents that would be brought up in court. Since cases in the Supreme Court need to be resolved at the earliest, CBI officials submitted close to a thousand documents to the court to speed up the prosecution. The bail of the owner of company and the other 5 individuals associated has been rejected. - Baba Ramdev Temple under threat
An anonymous letter was received at the Ramdev Baba temple in Jaisalmer that contained threats to blow up the temple on November 9th. District Collector G S Kushwaha received this letter by normal post. Following this letter security around the temple and the surrounding complex was tightened by posting additional number of policeman around the temple complex. Around 5 million devotees are said to visit the temple every year. - Ashok Chavan’s fate
Disgraced Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ashok Chauhan’s would be decided after the Diwali holiday season, i.e. after November 8th said the Congress party. Recently Chief Minister Ashok Chauhan’s name had come in the Adarsh Housing Society scam. Following this allegation, Mr. Ashok Chauhan immediately offered to resign from his post. No mention of either the Adarsh Housing Society scam or the commonwealth Games fiasco was made by the Congress in its AICC session. Also present at the meeting were Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, Common Wealth Games Organizing Committee Chaiperson Suresh Kalmadi, Heavy Industries Minister and former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Maharashtra PCC President Manikrao Thakre. - Adjournment of Ajmer Dargah blast case
The hearing of the Ajmer Gargah blast case was recently adjourned to November 8 by a sessions court due to leave taken by the presiding judge. Over an 800 page charge sheet was produced before the court of the Additional Chief Judge Magistrate on the 22nd of October by the Rajasthan ATS. The five accused in the case have alleged links with the radical Hindu group Abhinav Bharat. Only one accused was brought to the court while the other two are being questioned about the Hyderabad Mecca blast case. The accused have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code like conspiracy to murder, attempt to murder and murder. Over one hundred and thirty witnesses have been cited by the prosecution of the case. - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s concern
The finance minister of the country Pranab Mukherjee recently raised his fears over the rising of inflation in the country. Minister Mukherjee said that the Reserve Bank of India would take steps at its next monetary policy review to check rising prices because of increased inflation. He further added that rising food prices were solely the reason for this sudden inflation. Inflation for the month of September was estimated to be close to 8.6% much above the acceptable rate of 5%. As said by Finance Minister Mukherjee, food prices had the highest amount of inflation which in Mid October was estimated to be over 13%. Recently, Minister Pranab Mukherjee was in talks with the Reserve Bank of India Governor over the the possible rate hike action by the Central Bank. The global financial crisis, which was worsened by the total collapse of financial firm Lehman Brothers, is being said to be the reason behind the RBI’s recent reversal of its soft monetary policy that it started back in September 2008. Adding to these has been the sudden drop in industrial growth from 15.2% to 5.6%. To combat the aforementioned rise in inflation, the Reserve Bank of India has hiked its key short term lending and borrowing times several times this year. - Protest during Obama visit by Bhopal Gas tragedy victims
Victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy are said to be planning to stage a protest at Jantar Mantar on the 8th of November, during the time of US President Barrack Obama’s visit to the capital. Several tonnes of the poisonous gas methyl iso-cyanide, leaked from the Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal in 1984, killing over 3000 people the same night and causing the deaths of over 25000 people over the subsequent years. Five different voluntary organizations working for the gas tragedy victims recently held a press conference where they stated that they would be requesting to President Obama to use his Presidential powers to bring the Union Carbide Corporation to Indian Courts and be answerable to them. The verdict of this case many years back had found seven top officials of this corporation to be guilty but as these guilty persons were bailed out within minutes of the verdict, many people till date question the justice imparted in the case. The voluntary organizations further added that hundreds of people regularly fall sick and die every month due to the long term poisonous effects of the leaked gas on the soil and water. They further plan to ask President Obama for his help as the US government has been largely unhelpful these last few years. The sit in protest organized by the voluntary organizations is said to be comprised of over 5000 gas tragedy victims.
Sports Current Affairs 2010
- Chelsea lose third match out of fourth
Birmingham City defeated Chelsea by a score of 1-0 at Birmingham City making this the third defeat to be suffered by Chelsea in the four matches that it has played so far. This win helped Manchester United to move up in the English Premier League rankings. Birmingham gained three points in the rankings thanks to the one and only winning goal scored by its player Lee Bowyer. Newcastle lost 5-1 to Bolton while West Ham lost 3-0 to Liverpool alongside Blackpool and Stoke who claimed their respective victories. In their game against Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea let slip past their initial lead of 2-0, to finally lose the game at a score of 3-2. The game was at a score of 2-0 till half time with Chelsea winning but a combination of lack of concentration in players and simple bad luck cost Chelsea the match. - Cricket in 2014 Asian Games
Rumors recently originated that cricket had been removed from the list of proposed sports and events of the 2014 Asian games. The reason for these rumors has been said to be the decision of the Olympic Committee of Asia to limit the number of sporting events in the Asian games to a maximum of 35. However, these fears proved out to be false as the OCA recently confirmed the inclusion of cricket in the list of sporting events for the Asian games 2014. For the time being cricket and karate have been confirmed as two out of the seven non Olympic events in these games while the other five are still to be decided. However, South Korean organizers are said to not be in support of this decision. - Nadal and Clijsters
Rafael Nadal continues to hold the top spot in the ATP rankings with his score being close to 11900 points while Roger Federer holds the spot of number two. On the other hand Kim Clijsters fell to the third position in the WTA rankings released recently followed by Serena Williams on the fourth position. - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Following his win in the Korean Grand Prix, third position in Brazil and third position in the qualifiers of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso of Ferrari looked like the possible winner. However the title slipped out of his hands, much to his surprise and landed into the hands of Vettel making him the youngest Formula One champion in the history of F1 racing aged just 23 years.
Persons in News November 2010
- Leslie Nielson passes away
Beloved actor Leslie Nielson best remember as bumbling police detective Lt. Frank Drebin of the Naked Gun series of movies, passed away recently aged 84 from complications arising as a result of Pneumonia. He was surrounded on his death bed y his loving wife, friends and long time agent. Leslie Nielson had over a 60 year long career in motion pictures which started back in the 1950s. He was initially cast as a leading man in serious movies such as The Forbidden Planet and Poseidon Adventure. The former flopped while the latter was a big success in its time. However, Nielson soon found his forte in comedy movies when he first acted in the 1980 comedy motion picture, Airplane. The movie was a huge hit and Nielson’s popularity as a comedy actor soared. He then appeared in a number of comedy movies, the most famous of them being the Naked Gun series, all of which were big hits. Some of these were repossessed, Dracula- dead and loving it and Spy hard. Leslie was married thrice in his lifetime and has two daughters with his second wife. - I-phone versus Google Android
Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Inc. recently praised the operating system on Google’s smart phones. The operating system called Android was further praised by Mr. Wozniak who said that these phones had more features to offer as compared to the I-phone. He however, further added that while Google’s smart phones offer people more number of choices, Apple I-phones on the other hand were much better in terms of quality,
Note :
· India has become Israel's second largest export destination after the United States, as the Jewish state focusses on tapping potential in the Asian markets.
· Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan has been named the next Maharashtra Chief Minister. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, nephew of party chief Sharad Pawar and a minister named Maharashtra's next deputy chief minister after Chhagan Bhujbal.
· Iconic Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who is set to become only the second player(After Javed Miandad) in the history of cricket to play six ODI World Cups, named the official ambassador of the event to be held in the sub-continent next year.
· Rajkumar Hirani's "3 Idiots" continued with its award-winning spree bagging top honours at the Global Indian Music Awards (GIMA) which was held in Mumbai. The movie took home the best film album.
· As part of its administrative reforms process, Punjab aims to become the first state in the country to achieve complete computerisation of land records by March 31, 2011.
· India owns over 18,000 tonnes of above ground gold stocks worth approximately $ 800 billion and representing at least 11 per cent of global stock, according to estimates of World Gold Council. In 2009, total Indian gold demand reached $ 19 billion, or Rs 974 billion, which accounts for 15 per cent of the global gold market, according to WGC.
· Noted Telugu film producer D V S Raju passed away.
· India is set to become the fastest growing major economy in the world by 2012 and will be third largest by GDP-size in the next two decades, behind China and the USA, a global study by British banking giant Standard Chartered said.
· China has overtaken US in the global supercomputing race as it has been confirmed as the creator of the world's fastest supercomputer, according to a latest survey. The Tianhe-1A, which means meaning Milky Way is capable of 2.67 quadrillions of computing operations per second, earning it the number one spot in the Top 500 list of the world's most powerful supercomputers.
· Free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Canada will help push bilateral trade to USD 15 billion in 5 years. Bilateral trade was close to USD 4.2 billion last year.
Current Events - November 2010 Update 2
1. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as the country's largest trading partner in term of total trade exchange in the first half of 2010.
2. The Government has launched a special scheme for the health and well-being of adolescent girls as a pilot project in 200 most backward districts of the country. 'Sabla' or the 'Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Adolescent Girls' would be launched in 22 districts of Uttar Pradesh, 15 districts of Madhya Pradesh, 12 of Bihar, 12 of Sikkim, 11 districts of Maharashtra and 10 districts of Rajasthan.
3. Former Test captain Anil Kumble elected as the President of the Karnataka State Cricket Association while former pace duo of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad were elected as Secretary and Vice President respectively.
4. Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan honoured with Teacher's People Achiever Award.
5. India and Norway joined hands to set up a centre in Chennai to protect the bio-diversity to help tackle threats of climate change.
6. India has pledged to provide a grant assistance of Rs 16.19 million to Nepal for construction of 350 tube-wells in the southern region of the country.
7. State-run Coal India has become the third most powerful Indian company with a total market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 2,09,671.57 crore and is only lagging behind RIL and ONGC.
8. Punjab Government has brought Sain Samaj under Shagun scheme to provide financial assistance of Rs 15000 to the daughters of Sain Samaj at the time of their marriage.
9. Noted Malayalam film and stage actress Shanta Devi died.
10. Malaysia has emerged as one of the the most favourite destinations in the Asia Pacific for Indian travellers, according to a new survey.
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