Histroy of Goa

The Portuguese rule in Goa lasted for as long as 450 years. The history of the Portuguese in Goa was similar to the British in India. It is interesting to know that while the Portuguese ruled Goa, their country itself was ruled by Spain from the late 16th century for a period of 60 years. The period is known as the 1580 Portuguese succession crisis and is known to be a result of the death of a young king Sebastian of Portugal.

Although Goa is prevailing as a legacy of the Portuguese colonial era, in fact, its history dates back to as early as in the antiquity during which facts were mingled with mythology. However, the evident history of Goa is that it was part of the Mauryan Empire (the 3rd century B.C).

For the next 700 years, Goa was ruled by the succession of Hindu dynasties such as the Shillaharas, the Kadambas, and the Chalukyans. Until 1312, Goa was controlled by the Muslims, and it began to rise as an important landing place for ships carrying horses to Hampi.

By the late 15th century, upon the discovery of a new route to India by the bank of Portuguese adventurers, including Vasco de Gama, Goa became the ideal base for the seafaring Portuguese who determined to overcome the manipulation of the spice route from the East. In the meantime, the Portuguese also took the occasion to spread Christianity – the result the expansion, the consolidation of Portuguese cultures, languages and other legacies of values of the Christian world into Goa. Owing to the wealth gained from the spice trade during the Portuguese domination, Goa came into its golden age.

It became the largest city in the East, boasting of no less than 300 churches within town, and having a population of over 40,000 people. It was also the vice imperial seat of the Portuguese Empire of the East. Despite its decayed power due to the competition of the British, French, and Dutch as well as its inadequate ability to control all over its far-flung territory, the Portuguese continue to dominate Goa until the 20th Century.

There were a series of efforts from the Indian Government to discuss with the Portuguese on the withdrawal from Goa, but the issue seemed to be intractable due to the Portuguese's ignorance. On December 17, 1961, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru then decided to order the military invasion and liberation of Goa. The operation ended with the surrender of the Portuguese Governor General Vassalo da Silva.

History of Computer

The computer as we know it today had its beginning with a 19th century English mathematics professor name Charles Babbage.
He designed the Analytical Engine and it was this design that the basic framework of the computers of today are based on.
Generally speaking, computers can be classified into three generations. Each generation lasted for a certain period of
time,and each gave us either a new and improved computer or an improvement to the existing computer.
First generation: 1937 – 1946 - In 1937 the first electronic digital computer was built by Dr. John V. Atanasoff and Clifford Berry. It was called the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC). In 1943 an electronic computer name the Colossus was built for the military. Other developments continued until in 1946 the first general– purpose digital computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was built. It is said that this computer weighed 30 tons, and had 18,000 vacuum tubes which was used for processing. When this computer was turned on for the first time lights dim in sections of Philadelphia. Computers of this generation could only perform single task, and they had no operating system.
Second generation: 1947 – 1962 - This generation of computers used transistors instead of vacuum tubes which were more reliable. In 1951 the first computer for commercial use was introduced to the public; the Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC 1). In 1953 the International Business Machine (IBM) 650 and 700 series computers made their mark in the computer world. During this generation of computers over 100 computer programming languages were developed, computers had memory and operating systems. Storage media such as tape and disk were in use also were printers for output.
Third generation: 1963 - present - The invention of integrated circuit brought us the third generation of computers. With this invention computers became smaller, more powerful more reliable and they are able to run many different programs at the same time. In1980 Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-Dos) was born and in 1981 IBM introduced the personal computer (PC) for home and office use. Three years later Apple gave us the Macintosh computer with its icon driven interface and the 90s gave us Windows operating system.

India going all-out to enter NSG

As the clock is ticking towards the crucial plenary session of the Nuclear Supplier's Group in Seoul, India is making an all-out push to find a place in the elite 48-member group.

While on the one hand US has been leading the support for India's membership, China's has led the opposition against India's bid. Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, team India has launched a diplomatic blitzkrieg to win over the opposing countries and gain entry to the elite group that is crucial to fulfil its future energy requirements. Prime Minister Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tashkent on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.  This meeting of the two leaders coinciding with the crucial ongoing plenary session of the NSG in Seoul could hold the key to Chinese approval for the consensus at Seoul. Earlier, India's NSG bid got momentum with Prime Minister Modi's recent 5 nation tour where he brought Switzerland and Mexico on board. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj categorically saying that China is not opposed to India's NSG entry, it merely needs to be convinced in its favour. After a visit to Beijing, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar has left for Seoul, ahead of NSG Plenary from tomorrow, to shore up India's efforts for membership. China articulates its opposition to India on the basis of India's Non-NPT status. By pushing Pakistan's case upfront, China is preventing a consensus in India's favour.  The Chinese Foreign Ministry has asked the 48-member NSG to stay focussed on whether the criteria should be changed on entry of non-NPT countries into the elite group.  China has been opposed to India's entry into the club on the ground that it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT. In September 2008, the NSG granted India a "clean waiver" from its existing rules, which forbid nuclear trade with a country which is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Full membership will enable India to be in the mainstream of Global nuclear trade. It will give India complete access to state of the art technology, help India to greatly enhance nuclear electricity generation capacity well above the present 2% and also enable India to export nuclear energy. India has not signed the NPT or CTBT because both regimes are discriminatory leading to dominance of nuclear powers over non-nuclear nations.  India's imposition of a unilateral moratorium fulfils the objectives of both, and its track record in Non proliferation is well known and widely respected.  Also India's recent membership of the Missile Technology Control Regime strengthens India's case for membership to the NSG. Owing to growing support India's membership led by US, UK and Russia, China now says that the door is open for discussions on India's NSG membership bid and that the door for the admission of the non-NPT country was never closed.  Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday said NSG members had three rounds of unofficial discussions on India and Pakistan's membership in the grouping. In a exclusive conversation with DD news Mexican ambassador to India Melba Pria has said as a nuclear power and a growing economy India has the right to be part of the NSG.  The comments come as NSG meet is underway in South Korean capital Seoul. Mexico had already supported India's bid for NSG during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the country. The NSG is a group of 48-nations which effectively controls the supply of all nuclear material, equipment and technology worldwide.

India set to become a member of SCO

India is set to become a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) when the security grouping meets for its summit in Uzbekistan capital Tashkent.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Tashkent to attend the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit. During his meeting with Chinese President, he thanked China for supporting India's membership of SCO. Uzbekistan's capital, Tashkent, is hosting the important Shanghai Cooperation Organization annual meeting. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the two day meeting from June 23. Following his arrival in Tashkent in Uzbekistan, Prime Minister said that his talks at the SCO Summit will strengthen India's bilateral ties with the SCO nations.  During his bilateral meeting with Chinese President, Prime Minister thanked China for supporting India's membership to Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. India, which had earlier attended the SCO as an observer, will now do so as a full member of the organization. The meeting assumes greater significance for India. Since 2005 Indian has been an observer country at the SCO.  In December 2014 India applied for SCO membership. On May 24 this year the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers in Tashkent adopted the memorandum of obligations for India to gain full membership. The SCO started as the Shanghai Five in April 1996 in Shanghai when China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan signed a Treaty on Deepening Military Trust among them. In June 2001, the group was renamed as the SCO by including Uzbekistan. It aimed to increase trade and investment and also increase cooperation in combating terrorism.  India's investment in Iran's Chabahar port has opened the West Asian Market to Indian trade and commerce.  Now with the SCO membership India can also access via sea and road links a huge market extending to Central Asia and Europe.  The Central Asian countries have rich reserves of various minerals, oil, gas and coal.  The region can play a major role in meeting India's energy as well as strategic needs.

Anil Kumble appointed as Team India head coach

Former captain Anil Kumble was appointed as the Indian cricket team's head coach for one-year tenure on Thursday.

The 45-year-old Kumble pipped former Team Director Ravi Shastri, Australians Tom Moody and Stuart Law and a host of others to clinch the high-profile position following an elaborate selection process headed by a three-member Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC). The committee comprising greats Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly had interviewed 10 candidates for the job in Kolkata on Tuesday in a marathon session which lasted close to 10 hours. "BCCI has been very transparent. We fixed a criteria. There was the CAC as well. They have gone through the process, interviewed and recommended few names. After discussions with various stakeholders, we have decided that Anil Kumble will be the head coach of the Indian cricket team for the next one year," BCCI President Anurag Thakur said in a press conference in Dharamsala. "It is not about Indian or foreign, it is about who is best for the job. I think we have used the services of best players who have served Indian cricket. There was no such limitation that we have to have only an Indian coach. We wanted the best for the Indian team," he added. Kumble, the highest wicket-taker for India till date and third in the international list behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne, emerged as a front-runner in the last few days even though he has no experience in coaching in the international arena. Kumble's stint as a mentor with IPL teams such as Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians as well as his vast experience as an international cricketer might have tilted the scale in his favour. The former leg-spinner played 132 Test matches and 271 ODIs in a career spanning close to two decades. Kumble finished his Test career with 619 scalps and accumulated 337 ODI wickets which put his combined tally at 956 in two formats. The leg-spinner was the only bowler after England's Jim Laker to have taken all 10 wickets in a Test innings. Thakur said the names of the other support staff will be announced later. Explaining the decision to appoint Kumble despite his lack of experience as an international coach, Thakur said the former spinner's record itself is a testimony to his worthiness for the job. The BCCI chief said nonetheless, Kumble's performance would be up for a review after one year. "He has been a match-winner for India. He has a great record and that speaks for Anil Kumble as far as winning matches for India is concerned. His performance will be reviewed after one year," he said. Thakur said the decision to appoint Kumble was taken after discussion with all the stakeholders. “Kumble is a great cricketer. The CAC looked into all applications, they shortlisted a few names. When the names came to us, we discussed with other stakeholders. We take feedback from all stakeholders. We wanted to be more transparent," he said. BCCI Secretary Ajay Shirke said the decision to keep Kumble's tenure at one year for the time being has been taken to ensure professionalism. "This is the first time that we have gone through a process starting with advertisements. It has been a large amount of cricketing process. It has been very elaborate. There were marathon meetings. This is a professional appointment and that is the reason we want to be in a position to review our decision. But I hope that we won't need to do that," he explained. Shirke also dismissed the charge that since Kumble was running a player management firm, his appointment was open to conflict of interest. "Conflict of interest has become a fashionable word to use. That has been addressed prior to taking this decision," he said. Kumble will take charge from the upcoming of tour of West Indies which starts July 9. "We took feedbacks from various sectors since cricket is followed by millions in India. He will take over from the West Indies tour," Thakur said. On why Shastri was not picked given that he has been with the team for a long time, Thakur merely said, "Our Indian coaches are good. The team's performance improved after the appointment of Ravi Shastri as team director." Shirke said there were 11 names in the final list including four foreigners. The BCCI received 57 applications for the post and trimmed it down to 21 before handing over the list to CAC that interviewed the candidates shortlisted by them. Among them were Ravi Shastri, Lalchand Rajput, Pravin Amre, Kumble, Tom Moody, Stuart Law and Andy Moles.

Britan votes to exit EU in historic referendum

Britan votes to exit EU in historic referendum

In a historic development, the UK has voted to leave the European Union after 43 years as the 'Brexit' camp on Friday took a seemingly unassailable lead over the 'Remain' camp in a down-to-wire referendum with far reaching implications for the world.

52 per cent of the Britons in Thursday's vote favoured leaving the 28-member EU, while 48 per cent supported staying in the bloc. The final national result is to be officially declared by the UK Electoral Commission's chief counting officer.  London and Scotland voted strongly to stay in the EU but the remain vote has been undermined by poor results in the north of England. Voters in Wales and the English shires have backed Brexit in large numbers. The vote - which saw an extremely high turnout of around 72 per cent with over 30 million people voting- reverses the public verdict back in 1975, when the UK voted to remain a member of then European Economic Community, which later became the EU. The UK will be the first country to leave the bloc. The argument has swiftly moved to the future and what happens next after the Brexit vote. While the result of a referendum is not legally binding on the UK government, Cameron has repeatedly promised that the will of the people will be accepted. In the immediate aftermath, Britain will remain a member of the EU and nothing will change instantly.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched a record 20 satellites

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched a record 20 satellites in a single mission from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. These satellites including India’s latest earth observation satellite Cartosat-2 were launched using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-34. With this successful launch, ISRO surpassed its previous record of placing 10 satellites into orbit in a single mission in 2008. Key facts The primary satellite in this mission was India’s latest earth observation satellite Cartosat-2. It was PSLV’s 35th continuous successful launch of its total 36th flight. Other 19 satellites were from countries US (13), Canada (2), Germany (1) and Indonesia (1). It also had two satellites from Chennai’s Sathyabama University and College of Engineering, Pune (COEP). Cartosat-2 Cartosat-2 satellite is similar to the earlier Cartosat-2, 2A and 2B. It will be placed a 505 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO) It will be used for detailed mapping and other cartographic applications as well as applications in Land Information System (LIS) and Geographical Information System (GIS). The images sent by Cartosat-2 will be used for drawing maps, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring and water distribution. Other satellites launched LAPAN A3: It is Indonesian micro-satellite which will be used for earth’s magnetic field monitoring and surveillance purpose. BIROS: It is German satellite to be used for remote sensing of high temperature events. SKYSAT GEN 2-1: The micro-satellite developed by Google’s subsidiary company Terra Bella’s. It will be used for earth imaging. 12 Flock-2P Earth imaging satellites: These are earth imaging satellites from United States. M3MSAT (Maritime Monitoring and Messaging Microsatellite): It is Canadian micro-satellite that will be used for study and collection of automatic identification system signals from low earth orbit. GHGSat-D: It is Canadian earth observation satellite. It will be used for measuring the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) especially Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Methane (CH4). Sathyabamasat: The satellite has been designed and built by Chennai based Sathyabama University. The satellite aims to collect data on greenhouse gases (GHGs). Swayam: It has been designed and built by College of Engineering, Pune (COEP). It will be used to provide point to point messaging services to the HAM (amateur radio) community.