CURRENT AFFAIRS: 06 DECEMBER

1. South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela died aged 95 at his Johannesburg home on Thursday after a prolonged lung infection, plunging his nation and the world into mourning for a man hailed by global leaders as a moral giant.

2. World’s biggest-ever floating vessel and first ocean-based LNG plant ----"Prelude”

3. Indians seeking British visa will have to pay the visa fees online through debit or credit cards or via e-wallet. The other modes of payments including cash or demand draft will be discontinued from 16th of this month.

4. OPEC agreed on Wednesday to hold its crude production ceiling at 30 million barrels per day despite oversupply concerns and competition from cheaper shale oil.

5. In a landmark development for Indian football, the country was awarded the right to host the 2017 Under-17 FIFA World Cup on Thursday by the world governing body of the game in its executive committee meeting in Brazil.

6. Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived a Taliban assassination attempt last year, has been awarded the 2013 UN Human Rights Prize, an honour previously given to icons like late Nelson Mandela in recognition of outstanding achievement in human rights.

7. The Reserve Bank of India will soon introduce cash-settled interest rate futures on 10-year government bonds and has also permitted exchanges to launch these derivatives in other smaller tenure securities in the future.

8. The nation is paying homage to Dr. B R Ambedkar on his 58th Mahaparinirvan Diwas today. Floral tributes were paid to the father of the Indian Constitution at his portrait in Parliament House complex, New Delhi.

9. MS Dhoni becomes India's highest scoring ODI captain. The skipper reached 5278 runs in his 152nd ODI, leaving behind former captain Mohammad Azharuddin's tally of 5239 in 174 matches.

10. Astronomers have discovered the most distantly orbiting planet namely "Kepler-62e" and "-f" to date, weighing in at 11 times Jupiter’s mass and revolving its host star at 650 times the average Earth-Sun distance. 

Some Facts about Wildlife

1. Fastest animal in Land: Cheetahs can run between 112 and 120 km/hr (70 and 75 mph)
2. Fastest animal in Water: Sailfish can swim up to 68 miles per hour.
3. Fastest animal in Air: Peregrine falcons, they can fly 70 miles/hour and dive toward the earth at more than 200 miles per hour.
4. Fastest Bird in Land: Ostriches, running up to 40 miles per hour.
5. Fastest Swimming Bird: Gentoo Penguin can swim 40 km per hour.
6. Fastest Mammal in water: Dall Porpoises can swim up to 35 miles per hour.
7. Biggest Eyed Bird: Ostrich
8. Biggest Bird: North African ostrich
9. Deadliest Animal: Female Anopheles mosquitoes, which carry malaria, kill more than a million people each year.
10. Heaviest Flying Bird: The Dalmatian Pelican.
11. Heaviest cephalopod: Colossal squid.
12. Highest jumper: Kangaroo, can jump up to 10ft.
13. Longest arms: The Gibbon.
14. Longest Gestation: Asian elephants are born after a gestation period of 19 to 22 months.
15. Longest Lifespan: Tortoise, more than 150 years.

India's Only

• India’s only coal museum - Margherita, Assam
• India’s only glass mosque - Shillong, Meghalaya
• India’s only active volcano - Barren Island, Andaman and NicobarIsland
• India’s Only Floating National Park - Keibul Lamjao National Park, Manipur
• India’s Only Floating Lake - Loktak Lake, Manipur
• India’s Only Symphony Orchestra - SymphonyOrchestra of India, Mumbai
• India’s Only Female Wildlife Photographer - Vasudha Chakravathi
• India’s only two F1 Driver - Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok
• India’s Only Aircraft carries - INS Viraat
• India’s only overseas Military Base - Farkhor Air Base, Tajikistan
• India’s Only licenced production and supply Unit for National Flag - Karnataka Khadi GramodyogaSamyukta Sangha
• India's Only Satellite LaunchCenter - Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh
• India’s Only River Island - Majuli, Assam
• India’s Only Stadium with Student Gallery - Green Park Stadium, Kanpur, UP
• India’s Only Handwritten Newspaper - The Musalman
• India’s only district borders with four States - Sonbhadra District, UP
• India’s only tobacco free village - Shankarpura,Haryana
• India’s Only Cattle Fair - Sonepur Mela, Bihar

Nelson Mandela, former South African president and global icon, dies at age 95

Nelson_Mandela

 South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela died aged 95 at his Johannesburg home on Thursday after a prolonged lung infection, plunging his nation and the world into mourning for a man hailed by global leaders as a moral giant.

Although Mandela had been frail and ailing for nearly a year, Zuma's announcement late on Thursday of the death of the former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate shook South Africa.

Tributes began flooding in almost immediately for a man who was an iconic global symbol of struggle against injustice and of racial reconciliation.

US President Barack Obama said the world had lost "one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this earth".

PM Manmohan Singh said, "A giant among men has passed away. This is as much India's loss as South Africa's. He was a true Gandhian. His life and work will remain a source of eternal inspiration for generations to come. I join all those who are praying for his soul."

British Prime Minister David Cameron called Mandela "a hero of our time" and said "a great light has gone out in the world".

Ordinary South Africans were in shock. "It feels like it's my father who has died. He was such a good man, who had good values the nation could look up to. He was a role model unlike our leaders of today," said Annah Khokhozela, 37, a nanny, speaking in Johannesburg

A somber Zuma made a national broadcast to announce the death of South Africa's first black president, who emerged from 27 years in apartheid prisons to help guide Africa's biggest economythrough bloodshed and turmoil to democracy.

"Fellow South Africans, our beloved Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the founding president of our democratic nation, has departed," Zuma said in the nationally televised address.

"Our people have lost a father. Although we knew this day was going to come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss. His tireless struggle for freedom earned him the respect of the world. His humility, passion and humanity, earned him their love," he added.

"Giant for justice"

Mandela would receive a full state funeral, Zuma said, ordering flags to be flown at half mast.

The UN Security Council was in session when the ambassadors received the news of Mandela's death. They stopped their meeting and stood for a minute's silence.

"Nelson Mandela was a giant for justice and a down-to-earth human inspiration," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters. "Nelson Mandela showed what is possible for our world and within each one of us if we believe, dream and work together for justice and humanity."

Obama, the first black American president, described Mandela as an inspiration: "Like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set, and so long as I live I will do what I can to learn from him," he said in a televised address at the White House shortly after the announcement of Mandela's death.

"A free South Africa at peace with itself - that's an example to the world, and that's Madiba's legacy to the nation he loved.

Mandela rose from rural obscurity to challenge the might of white minority apartheid government - a struggle that gave the 20th century one of its most respected and loved figures.

He was among the first to advocate armed resistance to apartheid in 1960, but was quick to preach reconciliation and forgiveness when the country's white minority began easing its grip on power 30 years later.

He was elected president in landmark all-race elections in 1994 and retired in 1999.

World's most famous political prisoner

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) party said the country and the world had lost "a colossus".

"His life gives us the courage to push forward for development and progress towards ending hunger and poverty," it said in a statement.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, an honor he shared with FW de Klerk, the white Afrikaner leader who released from jail arguably the world's most famous political prisoner.

As president, Mandela faced the monumental task of forging a new nation from the deep racial injustices left over from the apartheid era, making reconciliation the theme of his time in office.

The hallmark of Mandela's mission was the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

In 1999, Mandela handed over power to younger leaders better equipped to manage a modern economy - a rare voluntary departure from power cited as an example to African leaders.

In retirement, he shifted his energies to battling South Africa's AIDS crisis, a struggle that became personal when he lost his only surviving son to the disease in 2005.

Mandela's last major appearance on the global stage came in 2010 when he attended the championship match of the soccer World Cup, where he received a thunderous ovation from the 90,000 at the stadium in Soweto, the neighborhood in which he cut his teeth as a resistance leader.

Charged with capital offences in the infamous 1963 Rivonia Trial, his statement from the dock was his political testimony.

"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination."

 which probed apartheid crimes on both sides of the struggle and tried to heal the country's wounds. It also provided a model for other countries torn by civil strife.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : 3 December

1. Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia are seen as the world's most corrupt countries while Denmark and New Zealand are nearly squeaky-clean, graft watchdog Transparency International said in a survey on Tuesday. India 94th on corruption index.

2. The crucial 3-day WTO Ministerial Conference will begin today in Indonesia city of Bali, India firm on commitment to asert its stand on Food Security.

3. Directorate General of Foreign Trade’s e-BRC project has won the 2013 eASIA Award under Trade Facilitation category. Electronic Bank Realization Certificate (e-BRC) project was launched on 5 June 2012, to electronically transmit foreign exchange realization details on exports from the respective banks to Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

4. India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has won this year's LG People's Choice Award, thus becoming only the second Indian cricketer to win the coveted prize after just-retired Sachin Tendulkar.

5. Brahmaputra Cruises’ by Assam Bengal Navigation Company has been recognised by CNN International as one of the top 10 Most Adventurous Cruises in the World for 2013.

6. India today successfully test-fired indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile with a strike range of 350 km from a test range at Chandipur in Odisha as part of a user trial by defence forces.

7. India offered to give $1 million for a fund to be used for the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons and also the services of its experts to aid in the process scheduled to be completed by mid-2014.

8. Hong Kong confirmed its first human case of the deadly H7N9 bird flu, according to a report, in the latest sign of the virus spreading beyond mainland China.

9. The Nepali Congress (NC) has emerged as the largest party in the 601-member constituent assembly after it won 91 out of 335 seats under the proportional representation system, the country's Election Commission announced on Tuesday.

10. India's first President Dr.Rajendra Prasad was born on 3rd December, 1884 in Saran district of Bihar. 

Person in News

1. Yuichiro Miura, 80-Year-Old Japanese Mountaineer Became Oldest Man to Climb Mount Everest
2. Puneet Talwar appointed as the Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs
3. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and Three Other Indians Figured in Forbes Philanthropy List
4. Ang Dami Sherpa, Pregnant runner won women’s Everest Marathon
5. Oldest Person of the World, also the Last Living Male of the 19th Century
6. Ram Jethmalani expelled by BJP Party from Primary Membership for Six years
7. US Senate confirmed Srinivasan as top US Court Judge to the District of Columbia Circuit
8. Chief of IMF Questioned at Paris Court over Bernard Tapie Payout Amount
9. Arunima Sinha became the First Indian Amputee to Scale Mt Everest
10. Nunshi and Tashi Malik Became First Twins to Scale Mount Everest
11. Samina Baig Became the First Pakistani Woman to Scale Mount Everest
12. Anshu Jamshenpa scaled the Mount Everest for the Third Time
13. Investigation Team to Seek SC's Guidance on Kodnani Death Penalty Issue
14. Raha Moharrak, the First Arab Woman to reach Everest Summit
15. NRI Sunil Chopra elected as the Deputy Mayor of a London Borough
16. Guatemala Court Tribunal Sentenced Former Military Leader Montt 80 Years in Prison
17. Moska Najib Shortlisted for Australia's Best Job in the World Competition
18. Lok Sabha Speaker unveiled Statue of N T Rama Rao in Parliament
19. Lifetime ban on Pervez Musharraf for Contesting Elections
20. HRD Minister M.M. Pallam Raju was Conferred the Honorary Fellowship’ by IETE
21. Justice Altamas Kabir Retired from the Office of Chief Justice of India
22. Justice Palanisamy Sathasivam Sworn in as the Chief Justice of India
23. International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Ali Mohammed Mujaheed to Death
24. Supreme Court Stayed trial against Lalu Yadav in Fodder Scam
25. Mohamed ElBaradei named Caretaker PM of Egypt
26. 78th Birthday of Dalai Lama celebrated across the World
27. Adli Mansour Sworn in as the interim President of Egypt
28. Vandana Gandhi became First Indian Woman to Receive Prestigious Emirates Woman Award
29. India turned down the Snowden's Request for Asylum
30. Dahlan Jumaan Al-Hamad won AAA President's Election
31. Sujata Singh designated as India's next Foreign Secretary
32. P. Sathasivam appointed as the Next Chief Justice of India
33. Oprah Winfrey named most powerful celebrity by Forbes
34. Silvio Berlusconi sentenced to 7 years Jail in Sex Trial and banned from public office for life
35. .Nik Wallenda Became First Man to Successfully Walk Across Grand Canyon on Tightrope
36. .James Comey nominated as next FBI director by Barack Obama
37. Indian-Origin Amol Rajan Became First Non-White Editor of the Independent
38. PM takes oath as Rayja Sabha Member from Assam for 5th Consecutive Term
39. Hassan Rohani Won Presidential Elections of Iran; Defeated Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf
40. John Ashe elected as the President of UN General Assembly for its 68th Session
41. Kanji Ram became the Second Hindu to enter Pakistan's Punjab Province
42. Indian-American Girl appointed to United States Military Academy at West Point
43. Dua’s Layer: New cornea layer named after Indian Researcher Harminder Dua
44. Ancient Asian Giant Lizard named after Jim Morrison, frontman of band The Doors
45. Burundi's Lydia Nsekra became the First Woman to be Elected to FIFA
46. Raghav Joneja, became the Youngest Indian to climb Everest at the age of 15 Years
47. Endowed fellowship established at Caltech in honour of Satish Dhawan
48. PM Manmohan Singh re-elected to Rajya Sabha from Assam for the Fifth Time
49. 13 Year-old Indian-American Arvind Mahankali won National Spelling Bee
50. Campbell became the Youngest Pilot to fly across the World on Single Engine Aircraft

Carlos Juan Finlay's 180th birth anniversary celebrated by Google doodle

The Google doodle on Tuesday, December 3, 2013 pays tribute to Cuban physician and scientist Carlos Juan Finlay on his 180th birth anniversary.

Finlay was the man who first propounded the theory that yellow fever was spread by mosquitoes.

The scientist was of Of French and Scottish descent and was born in 1833 in Puerto Príncipe, which is now the Cuban city of Camagüey. He studied at Jefferson medical college in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

After he finished his studies in Havana and Paris Finlay settled in Cuba and opened a medical practice.

Appointed by the Cuban government in 1879 to work with a North American commission studying the causes of yellow fever, after two years Carlos Juan Finlay was sent as the Cuban delegate to the fifth International Sanitary Conference in Washington DC.

At the conference, th physician and scientist urged those present to study yellow fever vectors. Finlay would later theorise that the carrier of yellow fever was the mosquito Culex fasciatus, now known as Aedes aegypti.

When a US Army's Yellow Fever Board arrived in Cuba in 1900 the Cuban scientist Finlay sought to persuade it of his mosquito-vector theory.

Finlay's hypothesis were confirmed by the board's head, Dr Walter Reed of the US Army. This helped in starting the process to help the cause of eradication of yellow fever and saving many people especially those in South America, the Caribbean, Africa and the southern US who fell prey to the disease almost constantly.

In August 1915, Finlay passed away at the age of 81 at his home in Havana, Cuba from a seizure induced stroke.

Today's Google doodle has Carlos Juan Finlay's face amidst stagnant water, leaves in the water and mosquitoes breeding on them. The doodle credits the man and his hypothesis in via the art work on their home page as they salute the life saver - Carlos Juan Finlay whose theory and study continues to save many lives today almost 100 years after his death.