Rajinder Singh of a village in Faridkot has just cleared the PCS judiciary examination and is now the hero of his village.

Singh gave the credit for his success to his father who was a labourer but always inspired his family to get educated. After his primary education in a village he moved to a High School in Faridkot, then a government college from where he was admitted in an LLB course in the Punjabi University, Patiala. He worked hard and always dreamed of becoming a judge.

After his father died in 2006 his mother and uncle continued to keep him motivated. He initially failed but persevered and realised his dream on his fourth attempt.

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The first-ever study on India's cancer deaths entitled the "Million Death Study', shows that the area one lives in, one's economic and education status and religion contribute to how cancer behaves and kills in India. Main collaborators in the study were Mumbai's Tata Memorial Hospital and the Centre for Global Health Research.

An Indian living in rural areas has a lower risk of developing cancer but a higher chance of succumbing to it once afflicted. Seven of every 10 deaths occurs among the 30-69 age group. In comparison to the West, deaths among Indian men is lower by 40% and among Indian women by 30%. Uneducated adults are two times more likely to die from cancer than the most educated. Tobacco is the single biggest common cause for cancer deaths.

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Hridayeshwar Singh Bhati who suffers from duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare genetic disease that affects only males, is 9 years old and a grade IV student of the Delhi Public School.

He developed a love for the game of chess and wanted to play with all his friends at one time. When he asked his father to buy him a chessboard for the purpose and learned that no such board existed, he decided to develop one.

With the help of his father a math teacher, he developed the idea and design and invented six-player circular chess, for which he has received a patent. Thus far, four-player circular chess was available.

He and his father are now working on a chess board on which 60 players can play together. The invention is aimed at inspiring others who may be disabled and physically challenged, but have hidden talents.

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A B.Tech student from the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) who asked to withhold his name, has received a letter from Facebook, the social networking giant, confirming his appointment at an annual pay package of $262,500

P Chakravarti the Director of MNNIT said this is one of the biggest offers ever made to an alumnus of any technical institution in the country. He said the recruitment process began last October and was followed by nine rounds of telephonic interviews before the student was finally selected for the job which will require the Kanpur student to move to Menlo Park, California after he finishes his software engineering course at the institute.

At least 30 students from the institute have bagged lucrative jobs of over Rs.10 lakhs from Microsoft, Amazon, Adobe, etc.

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Since assuming office as India's first woman President in 2007, Pratibha Patil has made 12 foreign trips covering 22 countries across four continents, costing the public exchequer Rs.2.05 billion.

The frequent flier President has thus far visited Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Bhutan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Spain, Poland, Russia, Tajikistan, the UK, Cyprus, China, Laos, Cambodia, the UAE, Syria, Mauritius, South Korea, Switzerland and Austria, spending a total of 79 days abroad. A trip to South Africa is also on the cards

Air India has billed the Defence Ministry over Rs.1.69 billion for the chartered aircraft used for the President's foreign visits, mostly accompanied by her family members.

A further sum of almost Rs.360 million has been incurred by the Ministry of External Affairs on accommodations, local travel and miscellaneous expenses.

Surpassing the volume of travel of all her predecessors, President Patil has four more months of her five-year tenure to go.

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