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Scotland gears up for 2014 breakaway vote
Pak teen activist sent to UK for treatment
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Life-saving kidney exchange programmes are just one of the practical applications of the market-matching theories for which American economists Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley won the 2012 Nobel Prize for economics on Monday. Alvin Roth (L) and Lloyd Shapley won the Economics Nobel for research on how to match different economic agents, such as students for schools or even organ donors with patients. — Reuters
As the US election race enters its final lap with President Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney almost tied in latest opinion polls, the two are pinning on the second presidential debate to gain a decisive edge. Barack Obama makes calls from a campaign office in Virginia with campaign volunteer Suzanne Stern. — Reuters
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Scotland gears up for 2014 breakaway vote
Edinburgh, October 15 Scotland's drive for sovereignty, led by its nationalist leader Alex Salmond, echoes separatist moves by other European regions such as Catalonia and Flanders which feel they could prosper as separate entities inside the European Union. Signed in the Scottish capital Edinburgh, the referendum agreement allows Scotland to ask its people in a 2014 vote whether their homeland should become an independent country or stay within the United Kingdom. "It's a historic day for Scotland," a visibly excited Salmond said after signing the deal with Prime Minister David Cameron. "Do I think we can win this campaign? Yes, I do." One of the most contentious issues at stake is the ownership of an estimated 20 billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas reserves beneath the UK-controlled part of the North Sea. Britain is also worried about the future of its nuclear submarine fleet based in Scotland as Salmond says there would be no place for nuclear arms on Scotland's soil after independence. Moving the fleet elsewhere would be costly and time-consuming. Cameron, who did not address reporters alongside Salmond, opposes Scotland's push for independence but agrees it is up to its people to determine their future in a vote. Many Scots themselves are unconvinced. Opinion polls show only between 30 and 40 percent of them are in favour - a range that has changed little as negotiations have intensified. To convince doubters, Salmond is banking on his skill as an orator to tap into a centuries-old rivalry with England and show that independence would allow his country to pursue a more distinct left-leaning agenda than its southern neighbour. He has also won a major concession from London to allow Scotland to lower the voting age to 16 from Britain's countrywide 18 — a coup for Salmond who believes that young people are more likely to vote in favour of independence. — Reuters
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Pak teen activist sent to UK for treatment Islamabad, October 15 "The evacuation was arranged by the Pakistani authorities after an assessment by the medical team treating Malala. It follows an offer by the UK government to assist Malala in any way that we could," said a statement issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Fourteen-year-old Malala will be provided specialist medical care at an NHS hospital. The details of the hospital were not being released for "reasons of patient confidentiality", the statement said. "The hospital chosen has the capacity for Malala to be treated without affecting the normal operations of the hospital. Full costs of the medical evacuation, NHS care and any ongoing rehabilitation will be met by the Pakistani government," the statement said. The transfer was kept "top secret" in view of threats to her life, including a warning from the Taliban that its fighters would target her again. — PTI
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US economists win Nobel for applying match-making Stockholm, October 15 Pairing up students with schools and employers with job seekers - for instance doctors and lawyers taking up their first appointments - are among other examples of how Roth, 60, and Shapley, 89, have separately applied game theory to daily life. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the 8 million crown ($1.2 million) prize, called their work an outstanding example of economic engineering. Tore Ellingsen, a Nobel committee member and a professor at the Stockholm School of Economics, said the central question when resources are scarce is who gets what. "Which worker gets which job? Which student gets to go to which school? Which patient gets access to which transplantable organ. Matching theory explains how outcomes depend on the chosen matching procedure," Ellingsen said. The award citation said Shapley, an emeritus professor at the University of California Los Angeles, had used game theory to compare various matching methods and make sure the matches were acceptable to all counterparts. Roth followed up on Shapley's results in a series of empirical studies. "I am sure when I go to class this morning, my students will pay more attention," Roth, who teaches at Stanford and Harvard, said. Roth described his work as studying "courtship" of many kinds: "Matching ... is about how you get all the things that you can't just choose but you also have to be chosen - so getting into university, getting married, getting jobs," he said. — Reuters
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Aggressive Obama looks to regain lost ground
Washington, October 15 After an uncharacteristically 'bad night' saw him squander his lead over his Republican rival in their last face off, Obama is prepared to put a more aggressive fight this time to regain his lost ground. "It is going great!" Obama said in Williamsburg, Virginia where he landed on Saturday for his three-day debate preparations. The next verbal dual between the incumbent and his challenger will be fought tomorrow in New York, with just three weeks to go for the polls. A normally eloquent Obama had a lacklustre outing against Romney during the first debate on October 3, following which the Republican eroded much of his national lead in all the latest opinion polls. In an interview later, Obama termed the debate as a 'bad night' as his aides said he would be more aggressive this time. "I think he's going to be aggressive in making the case for his view of where we should go as a country," David Axelrod, the Obama Campaign Senior Strategist, told Fox News in an interview. In the upcoming debate, Obama would be very forward looking, said Robert Gibbs, a senior adviser to the Obama Campaign. "I think the president will be very forward-looking, will be very conscious of making sure people understand the choice in this election," he told the CNN. "I think you'll see somebody who is very passionate about the choice that our country faces, and putting that choice in front of voters. Are we going to build this economy from the middle out? Are we going to give people opportunity and make the needed investments to give them that opportunity, or are we going to do this from the top down, the perspective that the Romney campaign brings?" Gibbs said. The Romney Campaign shot back by asserting the Republican candidate was ready to meet any challenge. Romney is in Boston preparing for the debate with Senator Rob Portman and longtime aide Peter Flaherty. "The President can change his style. He can change his tactics. He can't change his record," Ed Gillespie, senior adviser to the Romney Campaign, told the CNN. — PTI
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Zubin Mehta honoured with Israeli Presidential award Skydiver sets YouTube live view record ‘Prez Obama is now anti-India’ 5
NRIs honoured for promoting Hindi
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Edinburgh, October 15
Cambodia’s ex-king Sihanouk dead