10 medical miracles

1. MATTERS OF THE HEART
First coronary artery graft, 1975
The first successful coronary artery graft was done in 1975 at the Southern Railway Hospital, Perambur, in Chennai by Dr K.M. Cherian. Twenty years later in 1995, aided by the most advanced technology, cardiac care and surgical skills, he performed the first heart transplant at his International Centre for Cardio-thoracic and Vascular Diseases, Chennai. This was made possible only after the legislation for brain death and the law permitting transplantation of human organs was passed in the country. With phenomenal experience and far-sightedness, he also conducted the first bilateral lung transplant, the first paediatric heart transplant as well as the first heart and lung transplant.

2. PRODUCT OF LABOUR
First test tube baby
The first test tube baby in India was born in Kolkata on October 3, 1978. Dr Subhash Mukhopadhyay claimed the child was the first through vitrofertilisation.
Ridiculed by the scientific community, the physiologist is heading back to anonymity (India Today, January 1980).
Tragically, he hung himself on June 19, 1981, while his contribution was finally recognised in 2005.

3. SWEET MEDICINE
First genetically-engineered vaccine
In 1997, Shantha Biotechnics, Hyderabad, founded by electronics engineer K.I. Varaprasad Reddy, launched India's first genetically engineered vaccine for Hepatitis-B, at half the price charged by the MNCs in India.

10 space finds of 2009

An article by the National Geographic has listed the top ten space finds of the year 2009.

1. At number 10 is the finding that a new computer model has suggested that the outer crusts of so-called neutron stars are ten billion times stronger than steel, and are in fact, the strongest known material in the universe.
2. The number 9 top space discovery of the year is that Jupiter's moon Europa may harbor fish-sized life in its oceans. A provocative new research suggested that the amount of oxygen in the ocean would be enough to support more than just microscopic life-forms, with at least three million tons of fishlike creatures theoretically living and breathing on Europa.
3. At number 8 is the discovery of 32 new planets outside our solar system, bringing the massive haul of new worlds to more than 400.

10 smartest political moves

1. COALITION UNITES AGAINST MRS GANDHI, MARCH 1977
The people had said a resounding 'no' to the tyranny and oppression which had marked 19 months of Congress rule, said India Today.
The Janata Party-led coalition rode into power on a surge of anger.

2. MRS GANDHI REFUSES BAIL, OCTOBER 1977
Mrs Gandhi staged a political comeback when she refused to seek bail after being arrested on corruption charges by the CBI in October 3, 1977.
India Today stated, In the eyes of her nation's illiterate millions, the Janata Party had become the Big Bad Wolf and Mrs Gandhi had acquired the status of the Joan of Arc.

3. CONGRESS CHOOSES RAJIV GANDHI TO REPLACE INDIRA, DECEMBER 1984
They are quick to realise that their only banner is gone. This is the last chance to come back to power on the sympathy wave (India Today, December 1984). Congress won 401 out of the 508 contested seats the highest since Independence.

10 environment-friendly moves

Starting with the granddaddy of them all, Project Tiger in 1973, to the more recent vehicular pollution norms and the coming up of sustainable architecture, a green agenda has been part of governance much before it became a globally cool movement.
Whether it was creating biosphere reserves or establishing the Ministry of Environment and Forests as well as Environment Impact Assessment Reports, the Government had intent, even if it didn't always have effect, as was clear in the Ganga Action Plan of 1985. The people haven't been passive observers either, spontaneously stepping in when those wielding political power did not seem to care.
From the villagers of Garhwal hugging their trees to keep the axe away in the evocatively named Chipko movement to a 100-day long padayatra across the hills to save the Western Ghats to living for months in submerged homes in the Sardar Sarovar, people power stopped many disasters.There's a long way to go yet; the pressure of population on the environment is only growing, and there are newproblems like global warming, but the road is mapped out.

1. FIRM CLAW
Project Tiger, 1973
The Rs 230-lakh Project Tiger was a Union Government and the World Wildlife Fund joint endeavour in 1973, to check immediate threats to the national animal. It registered a marked increase in most animal populations in the first decade (India Today, December 1983). With 1,550 sq km under its canopy, including 15 sanctuaries and national parks, the project cordoned off a third of this land for conservation activities and demarcated the rest as a buffer area, relocating the villages around.

2. A CLEAN DOMAIN
Neeri, 1974
The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) brought to light the case of Hindustan Agro-Chemicals that had set up a chain of chemical units in Bichri, near Udaipur in the 1980s. NEERI put the total damage suffered by the village at Rs 342 crore with the damage to the environment at around Rs 37 crore (India Today, March 1996).

3. LAW OF THE LAND
Ministry of Environment and Forests, 1985
It was a milestone in the history of the Government of India, when in 1980, the Department of Environment was given an autonomous identity. By 1985, it grew into the full-fledged Ministry of Environment and Forests. Since then it has implemented the Coastal Zone Management Plan in Gujarat and defined the terms for environmental clearance for industries.

4. RIGHT RESERVATION
Biosphere Reserves, 1985
Anew concept in conservation made its hesitant debut in the country, in 1985 when the Union Department of Environment finalised the details of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, the first of 12 such reserves to be set up in the country, noted India Today in October 1985.Even though the concept was introduced 12 years after its conceptualisation in 1973 by UNESCO, today the number stands at a healthy 14 with reserves like the Sunderbans and Gulf of Mannar.

5. WATERED DOWN
Ganga Action Plan, 1985
It's a symbol of purity for many Hindus but the Ganga today is a foul receptacle of sewage and toxic waste (India Today, January 1997).
The authorities woke up, though belatedly, to its condition and it was in 1985 that the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) was launched the largest clean-up operation in India worth Rs 1,700 crore.
Today the plan is a telling example of how things can go terribly wrong. It had entailed setting up sewage treatment plants, electric crematoria and toilets. GAP has been criticised for misuse of funds, overspending and tardy progress, said India Today in 1997, All the stress points on the Ganga have today been found polluted because of ill-conceived schemes.

6. CHECK POST
Environment Impact Assessment Reports, 1982
It was in 1982 that the Government decided to put a stop to the indiscriminate concretisation by enforcing the Environment (Protection) Act. The enforcers constituted expert appraisal committees under the Environment Impact Assessment Project at the Centre as well as the state level. These were to look into matters concerning environmental flashpoints like the Sardar Sarovar Dam, the Posco steel plant in Paradip, Orissa, and the bauxite refinery project in Kalahandi.

7. THE BENCH'S MARK
Supreme Court activism, 1993
The fate of the 350-year-old Taj Mahal hangs in a delicate balance in Delhi's Supreme Court where judges fight more passionately than the Union Government, observed India Today in February 1994.
The Supreme Court joined the battle against environmental degradation when it ordered the closure of 212 polluting industries in and around Agra, in 1993. Another incident where the judiciary was seen taking up the work of civic agencies was when it ordered the closure of the President's Estate Polo Club, saving the 86,40,000-sq m Central Ridge in the Capital that had a total encroachment of 72 per cent (India Today July 1995).

8. NO SMOKING
Checking vehicular pollution, 1996
For two-wheeler manufacturer Escorts Yamaha, the April 1-deadline for complying with the new autoemission norms was no joke. While the date was fixed three years ago, most companies had assumed that it would be extended by three to six months, said India Today in April 1996. But the Ministry of Surface Transport paid no heed and the norms were implemented to reduce pollution caused by two-and threewheelers that comprised 64 per cent of the pollution in the country.

9. FUEL FOR THOUGHT
CNG, 2001
Delhi could well have the world's cleanest transport system when the entire 10,000-strong CNG-driven fleet is pressed into operation. It will be a world's first too, observed India Today in April 2001.
The Supreme Court in 1998 had moved in favour of the less polluting compressed natural gas, marking a new green era.
But soon the Delhi Government found itself battling allegations of a CNG conversion kit deal .

10. GREEN FOUNDATION
Eco-friendly Buildings, 2004
Sustainable architecture is catching on as many organisations realise that environment-friendly architecture also makes eminent economic sense in the long run, said India Today in October 2004. It employs concepts of energy efficiency, water conservation and the use of eco-friendly materials. It has advantages like low cost of power, less waste and easy maintenance. It is due to these reasons that the Indian Green Building Council is targeting 1,000 Leadership in Energy and Environmentcertified buildings by 2010, said India Today in February 2008.

10 most memorable advertisements

1. SIMPLY DELICIOUS
Amul, 1967 to present
My favourite ad character is the Amul girl because she has been around for so many years and yet there is a freshness and topicality that is appealing. It is a simple ad, but something you look forward to seeing what the Amul girl would be up to next. The character too is very appealing, plus there is all that clever word-play on newsy issues. If Amul recognises you, you have made it.
Meenakshi Madhvani, Managing Partner, Spatial Access Solutions

2. BUTTERFLY EFFECT
Ek Titli on national unity, 1977
At that time, anything that was entertaining was such a bonus. The treatment was so new and it brought nostalgia, of our mythical India that we love so much, about grandmothers and mango trees. It was funny, cute and a superb film on national integration. You put it in the middle of the Mumbai carnage and it makes sense. The tune was hummable and people talk about it even today.
Anuja Chauhan, Executive Creative Director and VP, J Walter Thompson

3. RIGHTS IN YOUR FACE
Lalitaji of Surf, 1984
This came out at a time when I was in school and even then I took notice of it. I think it was the first time that I saw a typical portrayal of a middle class, value-conscious and slightly aggressive woman who insisted on getting the right thing. It was much like Doordarshan's crusading Rajni. The actor playing the role of Lalitaji also did a charming job.
Abhijit Avasthi,Executive Creative Director, South Asia, Ogilvy & Mather

10 top society trends

1. RISE OF THE PUPPIES 1988
What's an ideal puppy marriage? Marrying the video and asking for the bride in dowry.
An ideal puppy evening? One spent between guzzles of scotch and Ghulam Ali.
So said India Today when it wrote about PUPPIES, a new social class of prosperous urban Punjabi who is young. It also coined a new term for what they eventually become, WOOPIES, well-off older Punjabis.2. HEELS ON WHEELS 1989
While it needs a well-heeled woman to be four-wheeled, India Today said in 1989 that the two-wheeler had become the middle-class woman's key to all the opportunities that mobility brings her.
3. THE KITTEN BRIGADE 1990
The kitty party has now become a perfumed arena of one-upmanship, said India Today in 1990. Whose husband travels more?
Who has more tutors for her children?
It also noted, with prescience, that the sisterhood is becoming aninformal trade fair.

10 tech triumphs

The technology of the times was reflected in India Today as the best brains of the nation turned their knowledge into real applications. The Rs 45,000-car was a tad more expensive than planned, but went on to rule the roads. India got a grip on nuclear power, for both energy and diplomacy.
Hi-tech gadgets reached the masses as the communications revolution kicked off.Aspace programme took India to where it had never been before with an impactor carrying the tricolour landing on the moon. In medicine,new frontiers were breached with every passing year. India Today was there every time,as science showed the way to a better future as Indian hospitals attracted global patients, as ordinary citizens connected with each other and the world, and as the Internet reached handheld devices and back pockets.
1. SMALL IS BIG
Maruti to Tata Nano
In 1983, the Maruti 800 revolutionised the way India travelled. Two years later, it was the largestselling car in India, recalled India Today in 2003.
Almost 25 years later, when Tata drove the Nano on to the stage, it was clear that Indian innovation had shifted to a higher orbit, noted India Today in January 2008.
Clearly, good things continue to come in small packages.
2. THE RIGHT CALL
Telecommunications
The modernisation of telephone systems got underway in 1986 when Mahanagar Telephone Nigam was established to operate systems in Bombay and Delhi.
There's good news for subscribers: the waiting list of 3.7 lakh in the two cities could disappear by 1990, noted India Today in 1986.
The current situation is best described by this 2006 report: Telecommunication has gone from a total of five million telephone lines in 1991 to five million telephones every month.
3. BLAST FROM THE PAST
Nuclear Energy
India's first atomic explosion, at Pokharan,Rajasthan,on May 18, 1974, may be the last. It raised so much political dust that it has taken three years and a change of government in Delhi to bring it down to earth .
This was the mood of the nation in 1974, captured by India Today. In May 1998, India conducted five nuclear tests at the Pokhran test range demonstrating its tremendous capability in nuclear technology and science.

10 things that could happen only in India

1. FREE FALL
Skylab I falling in India
Aportion of the satellite may fall on the earth with a high impact speed (India Today, September 1978). Since it was speculated that the Skylab may fall in south India, it was not uncommon to see people wearing special helmets to protect themselves from the 2,310-kg airlock shroud. In the end, the spacecraft chose to crash into the Indian Ocean near Australia.

2. DARK TALE
Wolves of Pavagada
The year 1983 saw a mystery that has remained unsolved till date. Girl children sleeping next to their parents began disappearing in Pavagada in Karnataka. It was alleged that man-eating wolves were behind it all. There were rumours of these being due to ritualistic sacrifices by a tantrik (India Today, August 1983).

3. FALSE AID
Magic cure for AIDS
Self-styled ayurvedic doctor T.A. Majeed shot into prominence when he claimed to have cured HIV-positive Chitra Soman and her daughter.
He alleged that his findings were being suppressed for ulterior motives (India Today, August 1993).
Soman later died due to full-blown TB as a result of AIDS, and Majeed was never heard of.

Top 10 global takeovers

The battle for control of Dhirubhai Ambani's hard-won empire was the stuff of 24x7 headline news channels, but divisions alone did not define Indian business in the post-liberalisation period.
As the government enabled a degree of progress with infrastructural changes, building roads,developing communication networks and facilitating travel, the corporate world flexed its unused business muscle picking up prestige brands like Tetley Tea and global behemoths like Corus.
But as India emerged victorious in the merger and acquisition game, there were hurdles on the way as well. In many cases,questions were raised about the capabilities of Indian companies. Sometimes, as in the case of Arcelor, it acquired a racist hue.
At other times, it was a question of the fit of an international luxury brand like Jaguar with an Indian company. The Indian economy grew, but not all Indian businesses made the transition from socialist isolation to economic connectedness. Some spilt amicably, others much less so.

1. FIRST AMONG EQUALS
Ram Prasad Goenka
The RPG Group led by 'takeover wizard'R.P. Goenka made a series of acquisitions, kicked off by the Duncan buy in 1959 to the offshore holdings of tyre-maker Dunlop India in 1980, Ceat Tyres in 1982, the Gramophone Co.of India (nowSaregama) in 1986, and Noida Power Company (NPCL) in 1992 among many others.The latest in the list was Canara Electric Controls in 2002. I gamble only in companies, Goenka told India Today in August 1984. Starting in the 1950s, the group patriarch and R.P.Goenka's father, K.P.Goenka, along with his three sons, made over 30 acquisitions in 25 years.

2. THE TREND-SETTER
Manohar 'Manu' Chhabria
Among the original corporate raiders of the country, Dubai-based Manohar 'Manu' Rajaram Chhabria picked up a large stake in Shaw Wallace in 1987 for Rs 35 crore, which remained mired in controversy and was finally sold to arch rival Vijay Mallya 20 years later.
Spending over Rs 300 crore on acquisitions, he bought stakes in companies such as Hindustan Dorr-Oliver, Mather and Platt and Dunlop India.
Hardly any other Indian businessman has climbed to the top 10 league so rapidly. (India Today, January 1989).
3. BLENDING SUCCESS
Ratan Tata
In 2000,Tata Tea took over Tetley Tea, the company which was twice Tata Tea's size and had introduced the world to tea bags, for £271 million via a leverage buyout. Themove turned the company into the world's second-largest tea marketer. While Tata was strong on the production front, Tetley's strengths lay in marketing.
At the time of acquisition,The two companies were merged a year later. The Tetley brand name would give Tata Tea access to markets in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and the CIS countries, said the company's vicechairman, R.K. Krishna Kumar,whose mandate for the acquisition was simple: to eliminate the competition, Unilever. Tata Tea's transformation is an eloquent example of the group becoming market-focused and consumercentric (India Today, February 2003).

The Sachin Experience

Some time in the future, neuroscientists will perhaps have the answer. But right now it is impossible to say why there are distinctly different kinds of emotional reactions among Indian cricket fans while watching

a) Sachin Tendulkar and, b) Other players.

The effect produced by a Sachin masterpiece - such as the against-all-odds 175 against Australia at Hyderabad recently - appears to be unique.

This is equally true of a Sachin failure. He doesn't just botch paddle-scoops, he plunges an entire nation of a billion-plus people into a prolonged spell of mourning. As Roger Federer said of himself, Sachin has "created a monster."

Moulding our moods

It is almost as if, as a people, we believe that we are as successful or unsuccessful as Sachin is. We owe him our ecstasy; equally, he is the cause of our despair. It is quite possible that the maestro activates a reward/punishment system in the cricket fan's brain that might be inaccessible to the lesser mortals of Indian cricket.

If you believe that this is a lot of mumbo jumbo, then take time off from watching Sachin and, instead, watch people watch him on television or in the stands. It won't take long for you to see the truth.

A well-mannered, focussed legend

Australian great Steve Waugh has referred to the Indian maestro as the `(Don) Bradman of our times'.

Some of the world’s greatest cricketers have heaped praise on Sachin Tendulkar as he reaches another milestone in his career with former Australian skipper Steve Waugh paying him the ultimate tribute by calling him the “Bradman of our times“.

A day before completing 20 years of international cricket, Tendulkar’s peers doffed their hats to the batting genius, recalling their association with him.

“The last time I watched Sachin was last week when he was on his way to a spectacular 175 and once again I felt that I was watching a player who comes but once in a century. It can be said that he is the Bradman of our times and I do feel privileged to have played a lot of cricket against him,” Waugh said in his tribute.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to be used against Maoists

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will be used for the first time to detect Naxal hideouts in dense forests and hilly terrains and monitor the movement of ultras to help ground forces carry out precision attacks.

The UAVs, with in-built camera, well-equipped data link and video link, will gather and record information which will be shared among the security forces engaged in anti-Naxal operations, specially in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

The trials of the UAVs, developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), have recently been conducted in Hissar and Delhi while more trials will be conducted in jungles of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand soon.

“We are satisfied with the UAV trials in Hissar and Delhi. If we are satisfied with next stage of trials, we will take the help of UAVs in our operations against Naxals,” a Home Ministry official said.

Security experts also want to see which of the UAV variants will be useful in forests and hills as most of the Maoist bases are located there only.

The UAVs also provide flexible surveillance and reconnaissance capability with external payload, including weapons capability.

“Since Maoists keep changing their movements, deployment of UAVs will certainly be an advantage for security forces,” the official said.

Muralitharan wants to end his last tour abroad with win

Sri Lankan spin-legend Muttiah Muralitharan on Saturday said he would like to complete his possibly last assignment abroad by beating India in their den, which his team has never done before.

The three-Test series between India and Sri Lanka will start on Monday here.

“I have played enough cricket over the years. This could be my last tour overseas. Sri Lanka has not won a Test series in India, so it would be great if my team won the series this time,” Muralitharan, the highest wicket taker in the world told reporters here.

The legendary off-spinner’s comments indicate that sooner than later he would announce his retirement from international cricket.

Tendulkar's career has been saga of sacrifice

Maestro Sachin Tendulkar will complete 20 years in international cricket on Sunday. The 36-year-old batting legend will be the first Indian cricketer to achieve the feat.

Tendulkar made his debut as an immensely talented 16-year-old against Pakistan in Karachi on November 15, 1989.

"You only get to see one Tendulkar in a life-time. In the next 100 years, you will not witness another Tendulkar. He is once-in-century-player," said international cricket's most successful bowler Muttiah Muralitharan here on Saturday while interacting with the media.

India meets Sri Lanka in the first Test of the three-match series at Motera from Monday.

And Muralitharan will be up against a cricketer who is only 39 runs short of a mind-boggling 30,000 runs in international cricket.

Tendulkar has most runs in Tests (12773 runs in 159 matches at 54.58) and ODIs (17178 runs in 436 matches at 44.50). His 42 Test hundreds and 45 ODI centuries are more than anybody else in the game.

SACHIN TENDULKAR - MARATHON MAN

Sachin Tendulkar has been on the road for 20 years, but still loves to carry on. “There is nothing like playing cricket. I like to play matches all season,” he says in a chat with Vijay Lokapally.

  S.VELMURUGAN

(If I had not become a cricketer) maybe, I would have become a tennis player. Maybe, I would have won a Grand Slam.’
It was a journey that began on a humble note with an innings of 15 in his debut Test in Karachi in November 1989. And today, Sachin Tendulkar is ranked among the all-time greats of the game, having amassed 12,773 runs in 159 Tests and 17,178 runs from 436 ODIs (up to the India-Australia match in Guwahati on November 8, 2009). He continues to grow and promises much more. The legend gets up close with Sportstar.
Excerpts from the interview:
Question: Have you ever had the fear of losing your place in the Indian team?
Answer: Honestly, I have never had this fear. I have never had this feeling that I could lose my place in the team, not even when I was playing junior cricket.
Don’t you get tired of playing so much cricket?

Hungry on Children's Day

On Children's Day, India faces a grim fact that despite having 60 years of democracy and a high growth rate, almost half of the children under six years are malnourished.

The rate of childhood malnutrition in India is twice that of sub-Saharan Africa.

In Naxalite-infested Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, a memorial has been erected to remember those 18 children who died of malnutrition five years ago.

This in a district, which is fertile and produces tonnes of coal, limestone and dolomite.

The children belonged to the acutely poor Ghasia tribal community in Raup village who are victims of internal displacement. But the administration seems reluctant to settle them.

Memorial or no memorial, the children have been forgotten.

Sreesanth, Zaheer recalled for Sri Lanka series

Temperamental paceman S. Sreesanth, whose on-field antics have often landed him in trouble, was on Tuesday surprisingly included in India’s 15-member squad for the first two cricket Tests against Sri Lanka starting on November 16 in Ahmedabad.

Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan expectedly returned to the squad after recovering from a shoulder injury, which had kept him out of the tri-series in Sri Lanka and the ensuing Champions Trophy in September.

The team to be captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni also includes Tamil Nadu players opener Murali Vijay and middle-order batsman S. Badrinath, while pacers Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel were ignored.

Nehra who has done reasonably well in the ongoing one-day series against Australia, failed to find a place in the squad announced by BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan after a meeting of the selection panel here.

The selection of Sreesanth raised eyebrows as the Kerala pacer has not really done anything significant in the domestic circuit since recovering from a back injury.

The selection seems all the more baffling given the fact that the bowler, who has a history of disciplinary indiscretions, was only last month given a final warning by the BCCI to mend his ways.

The 26-year-old Sreesanth will return to the Test fold after more than a year having played his last Test in April 2008 against South Africa in Kanpur.

India last played a Test match in April this year against New Zealand and the players to miss out from that squad are pacer Laxmipathy Balaji, wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik and Dhawal Kulkarni.

Batsmen Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and pacer Praveen Kumar, who are playing in the ongoing series against Australia, were not considered for selection for the three-match Test series.

As expected, the veteran batting duo of Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman retained their places.

Barring Sreesanth’s comeback, there were no major surprises in the squad, which has eight specialist batsmen, three pacers, three spinners and one wicketkeeper in Dhoni.

Zaheer’s return will bolster the pace department which also has an off-colour Ishant Sharma, who has been retained despite his indifferent performance in last few months.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh will lead the spin attack with leg-spinner Amit Mishra and young left-armer Pragyan Ojha supporting him

 

Team: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Pragyan Ojha, S Sreesanth and S. Badrinath.

Efforts on to save child trapped in a borewell

Massive rescue operations are underway for 5-year-old Saahil, trapped in a borewell for over 24 hours. A team of doctors is monitoring the situation.

India will bounce back against Lanka: Laxman

India were "unlucky" to lose the One-day series against Australia and the team will bounce back to tame the Sri Lankans in the

upcoming Test and ODI series, feels senior batsman V V S Laxman.

"They were unlucky to lose the series against Australia," Laxman said.

"The players are hurt but the defeat is not going to affect the team's morale," he added.

The stylish right-hander said Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men would be striving to achieve the number one Test ranking by beating the Lankans in the three-Test series starting November 16.

"The team is targetting the number one spot in Test rankings and has a very good chance of reaching there if we win the series against Sri Lanka," he said.

'No proof of Himalayan ice melting due to climate change'

The environment ministry on Monday published a discussion paper stating that there was no conclusive evidence to prove that the

Himalayan glaciers are melting due to climate change.

The report, released by Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh, however, made it clear that the views expressed by the author, Dr V K Raina, retired deputy director-general of the Geological Survey of India, are not that of the Union government and that it is meant to "stimulate discussion".

While releasing the report, Ramesh said that the discussion paper presents evidence that most glaciers are in the process of retreat while some Himalayan glaciers, such as the Siachen glacier, are actually advancing and some others are retreating at a rate lower than before, such as the Gangotri glacier.

The minister clarified that there was no doubt that the `health' of the glaciers was very poor and the situation was reaching alarming proportions but warned that there was little evidence to connect it to climate change or black carbon.

'India among the worst in man-woman equality'

India may be the world's second fastest growing economy, but it figures among the worst when it comes to man-woman equality - at 114th among 134 countries, on the World Economic Forum (WEF) rankings.

Worse, sharing Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's concern over female foeticide and 25 million 'missing women' in India, the WEF has placed the country at the bottom of the table on health and survival issues, reflecting the huge gender gap.

The India Gender Gap Review 2009, released at the India Economic Summit in New Delhi

on Monday, ranked the country behind Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal - showing that women in these countries share resources with men more equally than in India.

The Geneva-based international organisation, known for its global conferences and studies, has made strong remarks against the wide inequalities between the health facilities extended to males and females. "We find that there are still persistent gaps in health and survival, a fact that contributes to India's 'missing' women," it said.

Jessica killer returns to jail before parole ends

In the midst of a gigantic controversy over his parole, the man who killed Jessica Lall, has returned to Tihar Jail, two weeks before his parole expires.

Manu Sharma reportedly did not discuss his decision with his family in Chandigarh. He has allegedly left a letter for his mother behind at their home.

On Tuesday morning, the Delhi government had reportedly decided to look into whether his parole should be cancelled, because Sharma visited a Delhi nightclub over the weekend.

'Global recovery sees increased offshore activities in India'

The global outsourcing and offshoring industry continued to show signs of business recovery leading to increased momentum in the Indian offshore industry during Q3 2009, according to "Market Vista: Q3 2009" report by Everest Group, a global consulting and research firm. Everest's quarterly study on global outsourcing and offshoring activity reports that the new captive set ups increased to an 18-month high in Q3 2009 compared to Q2 2009.

Comparing Q3 to Q2 in 2009, the global demand for offshore services continued its momentum on the back of improving business sentiments:
* Key verticals such as banking, financial services, insurance (BFSI) services and manufacturing, distribution, retail (MDR) contributed towards 36% of deal signing and retained their dominant share in total transactions.
* The market activity also increased for some emerging verticals such as healthcare where the transaction volumes doubled compared to last quarter.
* North America also showed some signs of recovery with doubling of transactions in the BFSI vertical from the region.
* Twenty-eight new captives were established in Q3—an 18-month high.
* Offshore activity increased with 36 new supplier delivery centres established in Q3 compared to 30 during Q2.
* Although there was a marginal decline of 10% in the reported global transaction volumes (BPO volumes decreasing by 14% and ITO activity reducing by 8%), there were signs of improvement in key geographies and verticals.
The Indian offshore services industry witnessed growth amidst the signs of revival in demand:
* Eleven new captive centres were set up in India during this quarter, highest in any single geography. These included names such as Standard Chartered, Ingersoll Rand and Kontron.
* One-fourth of new supplier delivery centers were established in India.
* India-centric suppliers witnessed increased transactions activity in Q3 compared to Q2.
* The cost arbitrage opportunity for Indian cities improved with depreciation of the currency and reduction in operating costs. At the current momentum, the arbitrage is sustainable for about 20 years in both ITO and BPO services.
"The Indian offshore industry is growing on the back of improving demand and continued advantages of the country as an offshore destination. India-centric suppliers are investing in delivery capabilities and setting up new centres," said Gaurav Gupta, principal and country head-India, Everest Group.
"The increase in the number of captive set ups reflect signs of recovery in the overall market. We expect the industry in India to continue this momentum in the last quarter of 2009 as well as in 2010," said Amneet Singh, vice-president-Global Sourcing, Everest Group.
Everest Group is a global consulting and research firm that comprehensively serves the outsourcing and offshoring market. An industry leader since creating the sourcing consultancy practice in 1991, Everest has earned a worldwide reputation for ongoing innovation by helping clients capture optimum value through sourcing strategies and implementation.

Countdown begins for Commonwealth Games

New Delhi is under pressure to deliver in time for next year's Commonwealth Games amid doubts about its readiness.

A year-long countdown began Saturday for the 19th Commonwealth Games India is hosting, the country’s biggest sporting extravaganza that the government says will showcase its abilities even as critics say the preparations are not up to the mark and may fall short of international expectations.

The 12-day event will open Oct 3, 2010 at the 75,000-capacity Jawaharal Nehru Stadium in the heart of New Delhi.

Over 5,000 athletes from 53 countries that were once part of the British empire will compete in 17 disciplines. The event is the biggest India will host since the Asian Games in 1982 that saw 4,595 athletes from 33 nations take part in 21 events.

Amid hiccups and criticism, the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee of India is confident that the grand show will go like clockwork.

“Let me tell you that 80 percent of the work at all the venues will be completed before December 31, except cycling and rugby venues where work started a bit late. But those two will also be completed in time for the competition,” Committee Secretary General Lalit Bhanot said.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, for whom the games are a matter of personal prestige, admits to spending sleepless nights but is equally sure that the event will go off without a hitch. “We will be ready on time,” she has declared.

But the going hasn’t been exactly smooth.

Last month, Commonwealth Games Federation president Michael Fennel shot off an angry letter to Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chief Suresh Kalmadi demanding a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure that work on various projects was expedited.

“With only a year to run until the games, I feel I must personally brief the prime minister on the lack of preparations and to seek his input in developing an appropriate recovery plan,” Fennel said.

Fennel’s outburst has spurred the Indian authorities to pledge that all the

facilities will be ready on time.

Security is a major issue but the home ministry has ruled out any threat to the Games. “To the best of our knowledge, there is no specific threat to the Commonwealth Games,” Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said.

India has briefed security professionals and representatives from 26 Commonwealth countries including Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Kenya, Nigeria and Singapore about security and traffic related arrangements to be put in place during the games. The delegations were also shown around the venues of the games.

Pillai said the delegates were impressed with the professional nature of presentations. But some did make suggestions.

“There were 10 major issues. The most important was the management of public perception of threat to the games. Others included appointment of nodal officers for co-ordination. It was decided that all countries would share their threat perceptions with each other,” he said.

Delhi’s chaotic traffic, with some 900-1,000 vehicles being added every day, could prove to be a bugbear. But the police say a solution is at hand with an Intelligent Traffic System (ITS) being installed to cover 302 intersections and 87 corridors covering 204 km.

What is also causing concern is the multiplicity of agencies involved in putting the games infrastructure into place. Then, it took an outburst from IOA secretary general Randhir Singh, vice chair of the Commonwealth Games Organising committee, to get it to activate its sub-committees.

“Time is running out and there is all round scrambling, leading to grave doubts about the successful conduct of the games. Do you think the promise of organising the games will be fulfilled?” Randhir Singh, who took part in the shooting event at the 1982 Asiad, wondered while speaking to IANS.

“Criticism should be ... welcomed because sometimes you may think things are moving in the right direction, whereas it might not be so,” he added.

Thanks to him, the 23-odd sub-committees are up and running. This, however, cannot be said of the venues across the city where the games will be staged.

Be it the showcase Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the venue of the opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics competition, the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, the Yamuna Velodrome, the S.P. Mukherjee Aquatic Complex or the K.D. Singh Babu National Stadium, work is at best 40 percent complete.

In all this, the only bright spark seems to be the Commonwealth Games Village - largely because the athletes’ housing complex is being executed by a private builder.

The homes are sleek seven, eight and nine storied luxury apartment blocks laid out amid green landscaped parks, a mini golf course, a swimming pool and a club house that will have a food court and swanky shopping mall.

Shakib wins Wisden award

Shakib Al Hasan

 

Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has outshone Indian opener Gautam Gambhir and South African captain Graeme Smith to become Wisden Cricketer’s World Test Player of the Year.

The 22-year-old Shakib topped the performance table of all Test match players based on marks awarded by Wisden Cricketer correspondents, who reported on every Test played during the period.

Shakib averaged 7.94 out of 10 for each of the eight Tests he played between the beginning of September 2008 and the end of August 2009.

Shakib took 45 wickets at 23 with his left-arm spin, in addition to scoring 498 runs at an average of 35.57.

This performance placed him ahead of more-established Gambhir, Smith, Sachin Tendulkar, Jaques Kallis, Andrew Flintoff, Dale Steyn and Andrew Strauss.

“I guess I owe my performance to keeping things simple. I don’t lose sleep over disappointments and rather look ahead to seize the next opportunity. I have been a performer and I work hard at my game to become the best cricketer I can be. Getting recognised by the Wisden Cricketer is the pinnacle of individual recognition as far as I am concerned,” Shakib said.

Wisden editor John Stern said though a surprise choice, Shakib deserves for his consistency in the past 12 months.

“I’m sure this achievement will be a surprise to many followers of the game but it represents an outstanding 12-months for Shakib, especially in the context of him playing for an international side that is still finding its feet,” he said.

Shakib is bullish about Bangladesh’s future prospects and hopes to see it become a top side.

“One day we will be right up there at the top and it is a realistic prospect. Just look at the players we have. Tamim Iqbal, Ashraful, Mortaza can be match-winners and now we have Rubel (Hossain) who can bowl at 90mph. Give us a few years to grow together. Teams who face us in the coming months will be taking on a victorious unit and not the Bangladesh of old. There is a difference you will notice,” he said.

 

Wisden Cricketer World Test Player of the Year: 1. Shakib Al Hasan (7.94), 2. Gautam Gambhir (7.63), 3. Graeme Smith (7.21), 4. Sachin Tendulkar (7.00), Jacques Kallis (7.00), 6. Ben Hilfenhaus (6.94), 7. Andrew Flintoff (6.88), Dale Steyn (6.88), 9. Fidel Edwards (6.81), 10. Andrew Strauss (6.77).

Australia lifts Champions Trophy

Australia hold the Champions Trophy after defeating New Zealand at Centurion, South Africa on Monday, October 5, 2009.

No clear winner in India-Australia ODI series: Waugh

PTI Former Australian cricketer Steve Waugh giving tips to youngsters during a promotional event in New Delhi on Friday. 

 

Cricketer-turned-philanthropist Steve Waugh is so convinced of the evenness of India and Australia’s might that he has predicted a 4-3 scoreline for the winners in the forthcoming ODI series.

The former Australia captain had no doubts whatsoever that despite India’s recent poor show in the Champions Trophy, the team under Mahendra Singh Dhoni would match Ricky Ponting and his men blow for blow and both stood equal chance of winning the seven-match series.

“It will be a tough series,” Waugh told reporters on Friday.

“I saw the Australian squad and they have recruited some new faces. It’s going to be exciting. Australia is really in great form and though India disappointed in the Champions Trophy, I guess the result would be 4-3 in favour of, well, I don’t know which team,” he quipped.

The Australian is here in connection with the Steve Waugh Foundation, which is raising money, in association with 6UP, to help kids with rare diseases.

The Indian team under Dhoni has drawn flak after setbacks in the Twenty20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy but Waugh has not lost his trust in the side.

“The Indians are harsh judge. You cannot win every match.

India doesn’t become best when they win and don’t become worst when they lose. It’s probably somewhere in between (the extremes).

“The team is in good shape and a lot of youngsters have come up. IPL threw up a host of new players and they should remain among the top three teams,” Waugh said.

Waugh also threw his weight behind out-of-form Ishant Sharma, saying the beanpole pacer would serve Indian cricket for long.

“Ishant is a top class bowler who even though he is going through a bit down now. Any team would love to have him in their side.

“He reminds me a bit of both (Glenn) McGrath and (Jason) Gillespie. He will be there for a long time,” Waugh said.

Asked to comment on Matthew Hayden’s observation that Dhoni’s captaincy reminded him of Waugh’s leadership, the former skipped quipped, “Dhoni must be a great captain then.”

On a more serious note, Waugh said, “I have seen him from a far; have not played against his captaincy. But he is a good captain, has got a good temperament and looks in control of the team. He enjoys the respect of his teammates and has got a positive attitude.”

Waugh was the proponent of the ‘mental disintegration’ theory that saw the Australians bullies their opponents before crushing them to defeat.

In contrast, the current team seemed more relaxed in the Champions Trophy, smiling more and sledging less.

Asked if Australia had finally become the popular champions they never were before, Waugh did not sound amused.

My earlier exposure to Physics certainly helped me: Nobel laureate Ramakrishnan

Joint winner of the 2009 chemistry Nobel Prize Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, sits in his lab at the Medical Research Council in Cambridge, England.

For the last few years, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been given for research related to Biology. This year was no exception. The Prize, shared by Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, was for mapping ribosomes at the atomic level.

Dr. Ramakrishnan, who trained as a physicist, made a successful transition to Biology, which has now earned him global recognition for Chemistry. This academic switchover was triggered by what he described to the Nobel Prize website as the “wonderful discoveries happening in Biology” and the number of physicists who had successfully moved over to Biology.

In an email interview to The Hindu Dr. Ramakrishnan says that studying 

biological phenomena is an exciting area of Chemistry. 

Excerpts:

The Hindu: Your work was to understand the precision of the pairing mechanism. How did you develop the crystal structure of the small subunits of the ribosome? Is it any different from the crystal structure developed by others?

Dr. Ramakrishnan: There were crystals that diffracted to low resolution that were reported originally by a Russian group headed by Marina Garber in which Marat Yusupov and Sergei Trakhanov played major roles. These crystals did not diffract much better for over a decade. We decided to try and improve those crystals.

Was the structure of small subunits attempted before? If yes, how different was yours?

Yes [the Russian group had attempted it earlier]. We made sure that the ribosomes were biochemically pure (homogeneous) and this was key to improving the crystals.

Was the choice of the bacterium (Thermus thermophilus) the secret behind your success, or the process of developing the subunit itself?

I think both are important. The choice of Thermus thermophilus was originally made by the Russian group, and we decided to try that first. When things worked we just stuck to that organism.

Is developing the structure of small subunits different/difficult compared with large subunits?

Well, it's hard to say. The small subunit is much more flexible and dynamic, and our crystals never diffracted quite as well as the large subunits used by the Yale group [Dr. Thomas Steitz’s group].

Could you, in simple terms, explain the molecular ruler that you identified?

What the ribosome does is to recognize the shape of the base pairs formed between the codon on messenger RNA (i.e. the genetic code specifying an amino acid) and the anticodon on the tRNA that brings the appropriate amino acid. So if the wrong tRNA binds, the base pairs won't be the normal base pairs and won't have the right shape.

If the pairing is according to the molecular ruler, then how is that errors do happen? What are implications of such errors?

Errors happen at a low rate because the free energy difference between the correct and incorrect base pairs is not infinite, so there is a finite probability that the wrong combination will be accepted.

How is your contribution helpful in developing better antibiotics?

Many antibiotics bind to ribosomes. Using these high resolution structures, we and the other laureates have been able to see how they bind to ribosomes precisely, and this in turn allows chemists to design new molecules that would bind to that site but perhaps more specifically or with fewer side effects.

If the atomic structure of ribosome was known only recently, on what basis were antibiotics developed earlier? Were they, unknown to us, targeting the ribosomes?

The antibiotics were discovered in a general screen. Only then was it determined that they bind to ribosomes, but only after the structures was it known exactly how.

How different has it become now? Will the understanding of the atomic structure lead to developing more effective antibiotics that attack only the bacteria and not cause any side effects to humans?

Yes, that is the hope.

Is the atomic structure of all bacteria that cause disease in humans 

mapped? And have any antibiotics developed based on this knowledge?

You cannot have atomic structures for "bacteria". If you mean ribosomes, then the point is that the important functional sites of bacterial ribosomes are highly conserved, which is why most ribosomal antibiotics are "broad spectrum", i.e. they will work against a large range of bacteria.

What made you shift your specialisation from Physics to Biology? Did your earlier exposure to physics, in any way, help your work now?

My earlier exposure to physics certainly helped me in the use of biophysical techniques like crystallography, the use of computing, calculations, etc.

The Nobel Prize for Chemistry is increasingly being given for work related to Biology. Your comments.

Ultimately biological phenomena involve molecules, and understanding them involves understanding the underlying Chemistry. In my opinion, this is a particularly exciting area of Chemistry.

Unlike the Prize for Physics given this year, where the industry was equally involved, the Prize for Chemistry has been for work with no contribution by the industry. Your comments.

Well, I think the industry aspect is usually an exception. More often, the prize in all of the sciences goes for basic research, generally conducted in academia. It's not Chemistry Vs. Physics difference.

Counting the costs of a vaunted deal

The Hindu Then U.S. President George W. Bush shakes hands with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after a round of talks related to the 'N' deal at Hyderabad house in New Delhi. 

 

On the first anniversary of its coming to fruition, the much-trumpeted Indo-U.S. nuclear deal stands out as an overrated initiative whose conclusion through patent political partisanship holds sobering lessons for India.

For United States President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the nuclear deal was a prized legacy-building issue. Mr. Bush ensured the deal wasn’t a divisive subject at home by forging an impressive bipartisan consensus. By contrast, Dr. Singh’s polarising single-mindedness on the ballyhooed deal and refusal to permit parliamentary scrutiny injected intense partisan rancour into the debate. Given that India may have to assume new international legal obligations on other fronts too — from climate change to the Doha Round of world-trade talks — the noxious precedent set by the deal must be corrected in national interest.

The deal indeed was a milestone, symbolising the deepening ties between the world’s oldest democracy and largest democracy. But on the first anniversary of its coming to fruition, the deal stands out as an overvalued venture whose larger benefits remain distant for India, including an end to dual-use technology controls and greater U.S. support in regional and global matters. The deal offers more tangible benefits to the U.S. While significantly advancing U.S. non-proliferation interests, the deal — embedded in a larger strategic framework — fashions an instrumentality to help co-opt India in a “soft alliance.” It also carries attractive commercial benefits for the U.S. in sectors extending from commercial nuclear power to arms trade.

To be sure, the deal-making was a tortuous, three-year process, involving multiple stages and difficult-to-achieve compromises. At its core, the deal-making centred on India’s resolve to safeguard its nuclear military autonomy and America’s insistence on imposing stringent non-proliferation conditions, including a quantifiable cap on Indian weapons-related capabilities. Eventually, a deal was sealed that gave India the semblance of autonomy and America some Indian commitments to flaunt, best epitomised by the decision to shut down Cirus — one of India’s two research reactors producing weapons-grade plutonium. No sooner had Congress ratified the deal package than the White House made clear the deal was predicated on India not testing again, with “serious consequences” to follow a breach of that understanding.

The more recent G-8 action barring the transfer of enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) equipment or technology to non-NPT signatories even under safeguards is a fresh reminder that while New Delhi is taking on legally irrevocable obligations that tie the hands of future Indian generations, America’s own obligations under the deal are unequivocally anchored in the primacy of its domestic law and thus mutable. If there were any doubts on that score, they were set at rest by the American ratification legislation that gave effect to the deal, the U.S.-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-Proliferation Enhancement Act of 2008, or NCANEA. This Hyde Act-plus legislation unabashedly declares that the bilateral 123 Agreement is subservient to existing U.S. law and “ any other applicable United States law” enacted henceforth.

That the U.S. has used the G-8 mechanism to deny India the “full” cooperation it bilaterally pledged shouldn’t come as a surprise because the NCANEA obligates Washington to spearhead a Nuclear Suppliers Group ban on ENR transfers. Having formally proposed such a ban in the NSG, Washington got the G-8 to act first — a move that puts pressure on the NSG to follow suit and, more importantly, brings on board in advance all potential ENR-technology suppliers to India. Even on the unrelated and unresolved issue of granting India an operational right to reprocess U.S.-origin spent fuel, the U.S. government has notified Congress that such permission, while subject to congressional approval, would be revocable.

For years to come, the deal will generate eclectic controversies because it is rife with unsettled issues, ambiguities and the avowed supremacy of one party’s variable domestic law. To help the beleaguered Indian government save face, some issues — ranging from a test prohibition to the political nature of fuel-supply assurances — were spelled out not in the bilateral 123 Agreement but in the subsequent U.S. presidential statements and NCANEA. As a result, the final deal gives America specific rights while saddling India with onerous obligations.

Politically, the deal was oversold as the centrepiece, if not the touchstone, of the new Indo-U.S. partnership to the extent that, a year later, New Delhi seems genuinely concerned about India’s declining profile in American policy. Clearly, New Delhi had over-expectations about what the deal would deliver.

Still, there are some key lessons New Delhi must draw from the way it handled the deal. The first is the importance of building political bipartisanship on critical national matters. Had the Prime Minister done what he repeatedly promised — “build a broad national consensus” — India would have strengthened its negotiating leverage and forestalled political acrimony. Dr. Singh’s approach was to play his cards close to his chest and rely on a few chosen bureaucrats. Not a single all-party meeting was called. Consequently, the government presented itself as deal-desperate on whom additional conditions could be thrust.

A second lesson relates to Parliament’s role. Even if there is a lacuna in the Indian Constitution that allows the executive branch to sign and ratify an international agreement without any legislative scrutiny, a forward-looking course would be to plug that gap by introducing a constitutional amendment in Parliament, rather than seek to exploit that weakness.

Sadly, the government chose not to place the final deal before Parliament even for a no-vote debate before it rushed to sign the 123 Agreement on September 10, 2008, just two days after Mr. Bush signed NCANEA into law. This extraordinary haste occurred despite Dr. Singh’s July 22, 2008 assurance in the Lok Sabha that after the entire process was complete, he would bring the final deal to Parliament and “abide” by its decision. But no sooner had the process been over than the government proceeded to sign the 123 Agreement without involving Parliament, although the deal imposes external inspections in perpetuity and leaves no leeway for succeeding governments. A year later, Dr. Singh has yet to make a single statement in Parliament on the terms of the concluded deal, lest he face questions on the promises he couldn’t keep, including the elaborate benchmarks he had defined on August 17, 2006.

In the future, Parliament must not be reduced to being a mere spectator on India’s accession to another international agreement, even as the same pact is subject to rigorous legislative examination elsewhere. In fact, when the government tables the nuclear-accident liability bill, Parliament ought to seize that opportunity to examine the nuclear deal and its subsidiary arrangements. The bill — intended to provide cover mainly to American firms, which, unlike France’s Areva and Russia’s Atomstroyexport, are in the private sector — seeks to cap foreign vendors’ maximum accident liability to a mere $62 million, although each nuclear power station is to cost several billion dollars.

Yet another lesson is to stem the creeping politicisation of top scientists. This trend has drawn encouragement from two successive governments’ short-sighted use of topmost scientists for political purpose. Such politicisation was on full display during the nuclear deal process. The top atomic leadership made scripted political statements in support of deal-related moves, only to be rewarded with special post-superannuation extensions beyond established norms. The current unsavoury controversy among scientists over India’s sole thermonuclear test in 1998 — and the atomic establishment’s frustration over the attention dissenting views are receiving — is a reflection of the damage to official scientific credibility wrought by the deal politics. All this only underscores the need to bring the cosseted nuclear programme under oversight.

If truth be told, national institutions have been the main losers from the partisan approach and divisive politics that the deal came to embody. The deal divided the country like no other strategic issue since Indian independence, with the deteriorating national discourse reaching a new low. Such divisiveness, in turn, seriously weakened India’s hand in the deal-related diplomacy. A new brand of post-partisan politics must define India’s approach

in Copenhagen and the Doha Round.

 

A final sobering lesson: Key national decisions must flow from professional inputs and institutional deliberations, not from gut opinions in which near-term considerations or personal feelings and predilections of those in office prevail over the long view of national interest. The lodestar to avoid disconnect between perception and reality is to ensure that any agreement bears the imprint of institutional thinking, not personal fancy.

Barack Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

US President Barack Obama during a press conference. 

“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the committee said. “His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.”

U.S. President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.

The stunning choice made Mr. Obama the third sitting U.S. President to win the Nobel Peace Prize and shocked Nobel observers because Mr. Obama took office less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline. Mr. Obama’s name had been mentioned in speculation before the award but many Nobel watchers believed it was too early to award the president.

“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the committee said. “His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.”

The committee said it attached special importance to Obama’s vision of, and work for, a world without nuclear weapons.

“Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play,” the committee said.

Theodore Roosevelt won the award in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson won in 1919. Former President Jimmy Carter won the award in 2002, while former Vice President Al Gore shared the 2007 prize with the U.N. panel on climate change.

The Nobel committee received a record 205 nominations for this year’s prize.

In his 1895 will, Alfred Nobel stipulated that the peace prize should go “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses.”

Unlike the other Nobel Prizes, which are awarded by Swedish institutions, he said the peace prize should be given out by a five-member committee elected by the Norwegian Parliament. Sweden and Norway were united under the same crown at the time of Nobel’s death.

The committee has taken a wide interpretation of Nobel’s guidelines, expanding the prize beyond peace mediation to include efforts to combat poverty, disease and climate change.