RECENT NOTEWORTHY DEVELOPMENTS

RECENT NOTEWORTHY DEVELOPMENTS

1. Ancient Indian language becomes extinct
   1. The last speaker of the ancient language Bo has died in the Andaman Islands
   2. As a result, the language Bo, one of the world’s oldest, is now extinct
   3. The Andaman islands are one of the most linguistically diverse areas in the world
   4. Languages in the Andamans are thought to originate from Africa, and some may as old as 70,000 years
2. World’s oldest Christian monastery restored
   1. The Saint Anthony’s monastery in Suez City has been restored by Egypt’s government
   2. The Saint Anthony’s monastery, built about 1600 years ago, is reputed to be the oldest Christian monastery in the world
   3. It is a popular pilgrimage site for Coptic Christians
3. Dinosaur had colourful feathers
   1. The study of a 150 million year old dinosaur fossil has revealed that it had multi-coloured feathers
   2. The Anchiornis huxleyi was a four-winged dinosaur that lived in the late Jurassic period in China
   3. It is believed that the dinosaur had a grey body, a reddish-brown Mohawk-like crest, and white feathers on its wings and legs
   

   Scientific reconstruction of the Anchiornis huxleyi
4. Australian Open 2010 results
   1. Men’s Singles: Winner – Roger Federer (Switzerland), Runner up – Andy Murray (Britain)
   2. Women’s Singles: Winner – Serena Willams (USA), Runner up – Justine Henin (Belgium)
   3. Men’s Doubles: Winner – Bob Bryan (USA)/Mike Bryan (USA), Runner up – Daniel Nestor (Canada)/Nenad Zimonjic (Serbia)
   4. Women’s Doubles: Winner – Serena Williams (USA)/Venus Williams (USA), Runner up – Cara Black (Zimbabwe)/Liezel Huber (USA)
   5. Mixed Doubles: Winner – Cara Black (Zimbabwe)/Leander Paes (India), Runner up – Ekaterina Makarova (Russia)/Jaroslav Levinsky (Czech R.)
5. London Conference on Afghanistan held
   1. The London Conference on Afghanistan was held in London on 28 Jan 2010.
   2. The 2010 London Conference was a follow up to the 2006 London Conference, both seeking to establish peace and accelerate development in Afghanistan
   3. Some 70 nations including those belonging to ISAF, NATO, Afghanistan’s neighbours and other regional powers participated in the conference
   4. The Conference was hosted by Britain in London. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon also attended
   5. Major outcomes of the Conference include
      1. USD 140 million raised in aid for the Afghan Government
      2. USD 1.6 billion in debt relief
      3. To develop a plan for phased transition to Afghan security forces late 2010/early 2011
      4. Significant increase in strength of Afghan Army and Afghan National Police
      5. Measures to tackle corruption, including establishment of oversight offices
      6. A civilian surge to match the military surge, including civilian leadership of the international community’s programmes
      7. Support for increased regional cooperation to combat terrorism and drug trafficking
      8. Support for the Afghan government’s Peace and Reintegration programme, which aims to bring Taliban fighters into mainstream government
      9. Establishment of a Peace and Reintegration Trust Fund, to offer economic incentives to renounce violence. About USD 300-500 million has been pledged informally for this purpose