8 OCTOBER 2014: Nobel brings LED in limelight

Ø  Two Japanese scientists and a Japanese-born American won the Nobel Prize in physics for inventing blue light-emitting diodes, a breakthrough that has spurred the development of LED technology to light up homes, computer screens and smartphones worldwide. Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and naturalized U.S. citizen Shuji Nakamura revolutionized lighting technology two decades ago when they came up with a long-elusive component of the white LED lights that in countless applications today have replaced less efficient incandescent and fluorescent lights. “They succeeded where everyone else had failed,” the Nobel committee said. “Incandescent light bulbs lit the 20th century; the 21st century will be lit by LED lamps.”

Ø  Former New York Mayor and philanthropist billionaire Michael Bloomberg was granted an honorary knighthood from Britain.

Ø  President Pranab Mukherjee laid the foundation stone of a new Museum that will come up in the Rashtrapati Bhavan precincts, and showcase past and current presidencies. This museum will be in addition to the existing ones that are already open to public within the President’s Estate. The new museum, expected to be ready by October 2016 is being housed inside a heritage structure which previously was the ‘garages’ of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Spread over 10,000 sq. metres, it will compliment the architecture of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Mr. Mukherjee said “history comes alive through emotional involvement of visitors with the objects, personalities and events of importance.” He hoped that the museum would become an important landmark and destination for historians and researchers. It would preserve historic objects, paintings, photographs and documents related to the socio-economic-political events originating from Rashtrapati Bhavan. It would use techniques involving augmented reality, holographic projection and animatronics multi-screen panoramic projection.

Ø  Opening up another front in the battle against tobacco, Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan now wants farmers to be weaned off growing the tobacco crop and made to switch to alternatives. India is the second largest producer and consumer of tobacco in the world.