1) The 34-year old Mr. Sahota’s novel shortlisted for Man Booker Prize.
- The British Indian author has won glowing reviews for his novel Year of the Runaways.
- A British author of Indian descent is one of the six novelists short-listed for the prestigious Man Booker Prize, 2015.
- The Year of the Runaways is Sunjeev Sahota’s second novel, and centres around the lives of three Indian men - one a Dalit - and a woman, all migrants from India.
About Sahota:
- The 34-year old Mr. Sahota, whose name figured in Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists in 2013, has received glowing reviews for the book.
- His first book Ours are the Streets is about the journey of a young British Pakistani from ordinary teenager to terrorist, and was written after the July 7, 2005 bombings on the London underground.
About Man Booker Prize:
- The Man Booker Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Booker-McConnell Prize and commonly known simply as the Booker Prize) is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original novel, written in the English language, and published in the UK.
- The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and success; therefore, the prize is of great significance for the book trade.
- From its inception, only Commonwealth, Irish, and Zimbabwean citizens were eligible to receive the prize; in 2013, however, this eligibility was widened to any English language novel.
2) The Vice President visited the world’s largest Hindu temple complex.
- Vice President Hamid Ansari visited Angkor Wat, the world’s largest Hindu temple complex, days after India allayed Cambodian concerns over reports of building of a replica of the world heritage site in Bihar.
- Mr. Ansari, who is in Cambodia for a three-day trip, travelled to Siem Reap province from the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh to visit Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm temples and the Mekong-Ganga Textile museum.
- It is a massive three-tiered pyramid crowned by the five lotus-like flowers rising 65 metres from the ground level.
About Cambodia:
- Prime Minister: Hun Sen
- Currency: Cambodian Riel
3) Mahesh Rangarajan resigned as Director of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.
- Mahesh Rangarajan resigned as the Director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML).
- He was appointed as the Director of NMML in June 2014 by the then UPA government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
- Rangarajan is a teacher, author and historian with a special interest in environmental history and colonial history of British and contemporary India.
4) Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla is set to be the next owner of Jatia House, Malabar Hill.
- He has emerged as the top bidder for the coveted mansion, quoting Rs. 425 crore, according to two persons privy to the development.
- This will be the second big transaction in the vicinity after the Godrejs took over Homi Bhabha`s bungalow for Rs. 372 crore last year.
- Built in the 1920s, Jatia House belongs to the Pudumjee group.
- The 2,900- sq-ft plot, with 25,000 sq ft of built-up area, was put on sale three months ago by its current owners.
5) Facebook provided fund to Samir hindujaku.
- Cyber bullying among youth in the United States, to conduct a study on dating violence for social connection to the company of Indian origin, Samir hindujaku Facebook Rs. 1,24,98,240 (1,88,000 dollars) provided funding.
6) Union Defence Ministry elevates Dr. P. Sivakumar as Distinguished Scientist.
- P. Sivakumar, Director of CVRDE (Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment) was elevated as a Distinguished Scientist by the Union Ministry of Defense. It is the highest honour conferred on a scientist in India.
- CVRDE is located at Avadi in Tamil Nadu. Sivakumar’s elevation was in recognition of his dedication and diligence in self-reliance effort for defence combat vehicle systems and sub-systems.
Achievements of P. Sivakumar:
- He was involved in development of various products including the Arjun MBT Mark-II, Carrier Command Post Tracked Vehicle, unmanned ground vehicles.
- He worked for more than two decades in Design and Development of Transmission systems for tracked and wheeled vehicles application.
- He was instrumental in comparative trials with T-90 to decide the deployment strategy for ARJUN MBT.
- He received the Scientist of the Year Award 2010 of DRDO for his active role in the Arjun MBT project management.