National:

169-year-old book on Mahabharata The thrill of holding a 169-year-old book in ones hands is unparalleled, especially if it is the first edition of famous Telugu author Nannayas 'Mahabharata', printed in a modern press in India. While printing machines came to India during the British regime, only religious literature was printed by the missionaries and Sathakams and poems by local units. Nannayas Mahabharata in Telugu was first published in the then Madras city in the year 1843. This Royal edition was made of handmade paper and Indian ink, known for durability. The book containing the first part Adi Parva of the Andhra Mahabharata, saw the light of day in the Subhakruth Year 1765 of the Salivahana Saka, which is equivalent to 1842-43 AD of the modern calendar. New Act will provide food security to 90% of Chhattisgarh population The Chhattisgarh State governments Food Security Act passed goes further than the UPAs bill by extending food security to nearly 90% of the States population. Further, the Chhattisgarh Act clearly states that the entitlements shall be on household basis with a family size of 4.47 in rural and 4.79 in urban areas. This is opposed to the central government limiting provision of foodgrains for the Public Distribution System to per person rather than per household. Chhattisgarh government has declared as Antyodaya households all families of vulnerable social groups including tribal groups, widows or single women, terminally ill persons, physically challenged persons, elderly-headed households with no assured means of subsistence and persons freed from bonded labour. Pregnant women, lactating mothers, malnourished children, children between six months and 14 years and all students in hostels or ashrams will get mandatory subsidised foodgrains. The State has 78 per cent rural and 22 per cent urban population. India facing huge shortage of 63.59L paramedics There is an acute shortage of 63.59 lakh paramedics particularly in the States of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, one of the major reasons for crumbling health services. At present, the strength of parmedics or allied health workforce such as technician, rehabilitation workers is just 62.65 lakhs. According to a recent report of the Health Ministry and Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), the gap is not expected to fill in the next 10 years in view of inadequate policies. The report From Paramedics to Allied Health Sciences: landscaping the journey and way forward, notes that in all the States and the Union Territories, there is requirement of 20 lakhs surgical, 18 lakh rehabilitation and around 21 lakh dental related public health personnel.

International:
Top U.S. innovation award for Indian-American A renowned Indian-American inventor at IBM, Rangaswamy Srinivasan, has been nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama for the prestigious National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Along with Mr. Srinivasan, President Obama named 12 eminent researchers as recipients of the National Medal of Science and 10 extraordinary inventors for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honours bestowed by the U.S. government upon scientists, engineers, and inventors. The recipients will receive their awards at a White House ceremony in early 2013. In 1981, Mr. Srinivasan discovered that an ultraviolet excimer laser could etch living tissues in a precise manner with no thermal damage to the surrounding area. He named the phenomenon Ablative Photo Decomposition (APD).

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Obama picks Kerry to replace Hillary Barack Obama has nominated Senator John Kerry, the former Democratic Party presidential candidate, to replace Hillary Clinton as U.S. Secretary of State. Mr. Kerry (69), chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, is expected to have a relatively easy ride through the congressional approval process. U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice, who withdrew in the face of vehement opposition because of her role in the administrations initially misleading account of the attack that killed the ambassador to Libya.

Business & Economy:

Gulf Oil completes Houghton acquisition Hinduja Groups Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd. (GOCL), through a step-down subsidiary structure in the United Kingdom and the U.S., has completed the acquisition of 100 per cent stake in Houghton International Inc. for $1.045 billion after satisfactory conclusion of regulatory approvals. GOCL will operate Houghton, a strong player in industrial lubricants sector, as a separate company and the rest of Gulfs operations will leverage Houghton's extensive base of industrial customers to offer them complete range of lubricants. Sesa Goa buys remaining stake in Liberia project Vedanta Group firm Sesa Goa said it had acquired the remaining 49 per cent stake in Liberias Western Clusters project for $33.5 million (about Rs.185 crore).Sesa Goa has acquired the remaining 49 per cent of the outstanding common shares of Western Cluster Ltd (WCL) from Elenilto Minerals & Mining LLC Delaware, for a cash consideration of $33.5 million. With this new acquisition, Sesa Goas shareholding in WCL rose to 100 per cent. The company had acquired 51 per cent stake in WCL for about $90 million (about Rs.411 crore) in 2011. Makemytrip's Deep Kalra most most powerful digital influencer Makemytrip.com CEO Deep Kalra has emerged as the most powerful Digital influencer in India, followed by Naveen Tiwari of InMobi in the second place in a list of 100 most influential business leaders in the digital space. Sanjeev Bhikchandani and Hitesh Oberoi of InfoEdge were ranked in the third place in the list that was compiled by Impact, a publication on advertising and marketing in association with KPMG in India. Ecommerce players dominated the list, as travel portals such as makemytrip.com, Yatra.com, Cleartrip.com and TripAdvisor.com topped the chart, compared to some of the more established brands in IT/ ITES solutions space.

Sport:
Chain stuns Bindra, takes gold Chain Singh of the Army handled a tricky climax with competence as he beat World and Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra by 2.2 points for the gold in mens air rifle in the Sahara 56th National shooting championship. Nicol wins title Record-breaking Nicol David extended her haul of World Open titles to seven from eight finals when she overcame Laura Massaro 11-6, 11-8, 11-6 in a match of long and patient rallies. The Malaysian stars triumph over the third-seeded English woman silenced critics who suggested that younger rivals had closed the gap on the 29-year-old champion.

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