Current Affairs Chronicle: Dec 2010

December 2, 2010: Azim Premji donates $2 billion

Azim Premji, India’s third richest man and chairman of Wipro, India’s third largest software services company, has said he will transfer 213 million equity shares, or about 8.6 percent of his stake, valued at 88.46 billion rupees ($2 billion), to a private trust controlled by him.

The transfer of money to Azim Premji Trustee Co Pvt Ltd will be effective December 7 and used to fund educational initiatives carried out under the aegis of the Azim Premji Foundation, including setting up the Azim Premji University in Bangalore.

This share transfer represents the single-largest individual donation towards philanthropic activities.

December 16, 2010: Hero Honda splits; Hero group to buy Honda’s 26% stake

Breaking its 26-year old joint venture — Hero Honda, Munjals-promoted Hero Group today said it will buy the entire 26 per cent stake of its Japanese partner Honda in the company for an undisclosed amount.

The Hero group and Honda hold 26 per cent each in Hero Honda that started operations in 1984 to become the world’s largest two-wheeler maker today.

As part of a new licensing agreement with Honda, the Hero group will buy Honda’s 26 per cent stake in Hero Honda.

December 19, 2010: Sachin Tendulkar got to his 50th Test century

Sachin Tendulkar enthralled the whole world by scoring his 50th test century in Centuion, South Africa, with a drive off Dale Steyn, South Africa v India, 1st Test, Centurion, 4th day, December 19, 2010.

Sachin's current stats(as on 27th dec. 2010) is as given below.
Runs : 32124 (14536 T + 17598 ODI )
200s : 5(4 T + 1 ODI)
100s : 96(50 T + 46 ODI)
50s : 152(59 T + 93 ODI)

Sachin has also hit a double hundred in the limited over international against South Africa earlier this year, the moment which has found a place in the Times magazine's top 10 sports moments of the year.

December 25, 2010: GSLV fails, erupts into ball of flame

The launch of the Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06) from SriHarikota on Saturday ended in a failure, with the vehicle losing control 47 seconds after its flight, breaking up into pieces and erupting into a ball of flame.

To avoid the falling of the flaming debris on the residential area, Range Safety Officer (RSO) V.K. Srivastava pressed the “destruct” button and the explosives around the vehicle ignited and destroyed it.

The destruct command was given 63 seconds after the lift-off.

The GSLV-F06, carrying communication satellite GSAT-5P, had a flawless lift-off at the appointed time of 4.04 p.m. It climbed majestically into the sky as the four strap-on booster motors around the core first stage and the first stage itself ignited on time.

The previous GSLV flight in April 2010 also failed. Out of seven GSLV flights from 2001, four, including the latest one, have failed.