South Korea hands high-level job to North Korean defector

South Korea has handed a high—level job to a North Korean defector.Wednesday’s appointment of Cho Myung—chul to the government—run Education Centre for Unification is part of Seoul’s efforts to put more resources into teaching South Koreans to prepare for the eventual reunification of North and South. Inter—Korean projects have been languishing and Seoul is trying to focus on the potential costs of a unified Korean peninsula.Mr. Cho’s new job is the most prominent South Korean government post that a North Korean refugee has ever taken. Media reports say he taught at Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung University and defected in 1994.

Courtesy : The Hindu

Cricket games in 3D

Nextwave Multimedia launches three cricket games in 3D, ‘World Cricket Championship', ‘Street Cricket' and ‘Beach Cricket'. With rich visuals, realistic animation and crisp camera movements, the game easily transports the gamer to the scene of action. It puts across the thrill, fun and high voltage drama of limited over cricket convincingly.

Ban Ki- moon announces official bid for a second term as UN chief

UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon has announced his official bid for a second term as the UN chief. The secretary general made the announcement at a press conference at the UN Headquarters in New York on Monday following his meeting with the Asian Group of nations at the United Nations. He said, if supported by the member- states, he would be deeply honored to serve once more. Diplomats said, Mr. Ban sent a letter to both the 192-member UN General Assembly and the president of the 15-nation UN Security Council, the UN ambassador of Gabon who holds the rotating Council presidency for June, formally asking for the support to his candidacy for a second five-year term as the UN Secretary General. Ban's current mandate ends on December 31, and he has no declared rival for the post. The 66-year-old former South Korean foreign minister succeeded Kofi Annan in January 2007.

Russia officially agrees on disposal of excess weapon-grade plutonium

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ratified the US-Russia agreement on the disposal of excess weapon-grade plutonium. The Kremlin press service today said that Russia intends to spend up to 3.5 billion U.S. dollars on the programme, which is seen as a continuation of the new Russian-U.S. Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that slashes arsenals of each country to 1,550 strategic warheads. The report also said the United States is expected to spend some 400 million dollars on the programme. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed in April 2010, a final agreement on eliminating excess weapon-grade plutonium from defense programs. Under the agreement, each side will dispose of 34 metric tons of excess plutonium, which is enough to create several thousand nuclear weapons. The programme is to be launched before 2018. The agreement was passed by the Russian State lower house of parliament on May 20 and upheld by the upper house on May 25, 2011. 

Courtesy : AIR

Boxing Tournament : India wins silver & bronze medals

In the 'Giraldo Córdova Cardin' Memorial Boxing Tournament at Havana, Cuba, the Indian team has settled for one silver and five bronze medals. The lone silver medal was won by Manpreet Singh in the 91kg category.The bronze medals winners were Nanao Singh (49kg), Suranjoy Singh (52kg), Santosh Harijan (52kg), Kuldeep Singh (75kg) and Paramjeet Samota in the 91kg division.

Courtesy : AIR

Rafael Nadal wins Men's Singles title of French Open

World number one Rafael Nadal won the Men's Singles title of the French Open Tennis Championships beating Roger Federer 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1 in Paris on Sunday. It was his 10th Grand Slam crown and he also equaled Bjorn Borg's record of six French Open titles. Top seed Nadal, who was also champion in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010, took his overall Paris record to 45 wins against just one defeat. The victory also meant he hangs on to his world number one spot. 

Courtesy : AIR

Foreign Secy level talks between India and B’desh begin

Foreign Secretary level talks between India and Bangladesh began in Dhaka on Tuesday, issues related to cooperation in counter terrorism, sharing of waters, transit facilities are high on agenda.Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao is leading the Indian delegation while Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes is leading his country's side.