Volume 4, Issue 15 >> Saturday, 14 January 2017 >> Subscribewww.childfriendlynews.com >> Email childfriendlynews@gmail.com

CAPTAIN COOL STEPS DOWN

PAGES 4 & 5

ELECTIONS IN THE STATES

Two years ago when he stepped down as captain of India’s test team,Mahendra Singh Dhoni caught everyone by surprise. Last week whenhe decided to hand over charge of the One Day International (ODI) teamto Virat Kohli, the change was equally sudden. Done with no fanfare,no noise-typical Dhoni style. And true to a man who keeps a low profile,Dhoni’s last match as captain was as head of the India ‘A’ team for awarm-up match against England.Unlikely heroAt every stage of his career, Dhoni has been the unlikely hero of the mo-ment. He comes from Jharkhand, a state that is not famous for pro-ducing cricket players. In 2007 his selection as captain of the Indianteam in the (then) brand new format of T20 cricket was surprising andso was India’s historic win over Pakistan in the final. He led the teamto a dream win at the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and along the way alsomade India a top test team.He has stepped down as captain but will continue to play for India aswicket keeper batsman under Virat Kohli. India’s best captain?The debate is open as to who is India’s best captain but there is nodoubt that Dhoni is one of the top choices. He taught the Indian teamhow to chase big totals without feeling the pressure. He also knew theart of making an unusual choice (such as opening the bowling with a

spinner, for instance). As India’s former coach Gary Kirsten (whocoached India during the 2011 World Cup win) said, “I would go to warwith Dhoni by my side.”

M S Dhoni plays for India ‘A’ in his last match as captain. He hit a typical 68 from 40 balls with 23 runs coming in the last over. However India lost the match.

A CAPTAIN’S INNINGS

2007

WOR

LD T2

0 TR

OPHY

2010

NO 1

TEST

TEAM

2011

ICC W

ORLD

CUP

2013

CHAM

PIONS

TR

OPHY

Dhoni captained India in 331 games, the most by any player across the three formats. Under him India won 53% of matches played which makes him one of our best. He is also the only captain to have won the above three major ODI/T20 trophies.

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2 FeaturesCHILD FRIENDLY NEWS14 January 2017www.childfriendlynews.com ‘

We're fascinated with robots because they are reflections of ourselves.

—Ken Goldberg

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Robots have been around forever so the idea itselfis not new. But what is different in the robots nowbeing made in labs from the United States (US) toJapan is how life-like they have become. Take for instance Jia Jia, a robot created by re-searchers at a university in China. Jia has pinkcheeks, flowing hair, moves her eyes in a life-likeway and her lip movement is in sync (co-ordi-nated) with her speech. Jia can also move inde-pendently and makes small movements whenshe speaks and listens, just like humans. She isn’t alone. At an important electronics showin the US in January, dozens of robots were wan-dering around the exhibition halls. And some ofthem were preparing to make an entrance in ourhomes.

One for the homeNot all look like humans. Take for instance ‘Pepper’,a robot developed by a company called SoftbankRobotics. Pepper, who looks toy-like, will soon beseen on trains in France helping travelers. Someof the new robots even have their own personal-ities. The Einstein robot, which will go on sale this

year, not only looks like the famous scientist, butit is also smart enough help kids with homework

and answer questions about math and science. Another robot called ‘Kuri’ meant for the homemarket can entertain children and inform a par-ent working at an office when a child returnsfrom school. Kuri can also keep an eye on thingsat home when you are not there and even orderthe dog to get off the sofa. Uses can control Kuri

through a smartphone.What makes these robots different?These robots go beyondmechanical, repeatedtasks. Many move inde-pendently and navigatelike humans. Like us, theycan also respond differ-ently to different situa-tions. They are alsocapable of learning whichmeans they can be taughtnew skills all the time.

With these qualities, these robots are meant to bemembers of the family rather than mechanicaltoys.

THE RETURN OF THE ROBOT

You all know that birds migrate according to the season. But newresearch has shown that birds don’t migrate in a straight line, anddo not head directly to their winter homes.Instead, birds may take a longer, more round-about route that isbased on food supply. Kasper Thorup, a bird migration expert atthe University of Copenhagen and his team tagged three dozenbirds with small devices that helped track their movements overthousands of miles. What they found was astonishing. Many birds, it appears don’t havelong term homes on the migratory route. Instead, they have a no-madic life where they move from one feeding location to another,spending days to weeks at a location as they gradually move southor north depending on the season. They eventually reach the finaldestination and turn back. Birds, it appears, are born with an in-built sense of direction that enables them to find such locationsand return year after year.

Not in a straight lineA 2012 earthquake in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesiamay have created a new ‘fault’ line that may in turn cause newquakes, a study has found. The surface layer of the Earth calledthe crust is divided into smaller pieces called plates. When platesrub against each other, earthquakes may occur. The 2012 quakewas strong enough to cause some undersea plates to break, thuscreating a new plate boundary or fault that may in turn causequakes in the future. The new fault developing on the floor of theIndian Ocean is now being studied by scientists in order to predictfuture earthquakes.

A new fault in the Indian Ocean

Jia Jia is a very life-like lady!

The Einstein robot

Kuri therobot

The red-backedshrike, one ofthe Europeanbirds studiedby Kasper Tho-rup and team.

The 2012 Indonesian Earthquake measured over 8 on the Richter scale. It was apowerful quake that was felt across many countries ringing the Indian Oceanincluding India.

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3FeaturesCHILD FRIENDLY NEWS

14 January 2017www.childfriendlynews.com‘

Ships are expendable; the whales are not. —Paul Watson

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NATURE MATTERS

There is a swell in the sea that’s slightly differ-ent. Looking closer, you begin to notice the mas-sive shadow gliding under the water. Andsuddenly, there it is! A massive body in grey andslaty blue-almost the same colour as the sea-comes up out of the water, a fountain eruptslike a volcano and then you know you’ve seenthe Blue Whale, the largest animal on Earth!Watching the majestic animal which is as largeas an airplane as it cuts through the water, isone the most amazing wildlife encounters youcan have on this planet.

Whales and the island lifeThe amazing aspect of this encounter is that ithappens ever so frequently (often) very close toIndia, off the coast of Sri Lanka. Over the pastten years the southern tip of Sri Lanka has be-come one of the world’s top whale watchingspots. Blue whales and sperm whales can beseen between November and April fairly closeto the island’s coast. That makes the locationrather special as one typically has to travelmuch deeper out into the ocean to see thesemajestic creatures. Why makes Sri Lanka so special for whalewatching?Around 15 years ago, a marine biologist namedCharles Anderson who was studying whales inthe Maldives began developing an idea thatwhales should be passing by the southern coastof Sri Lanka during their migrations betweenthe Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. By 2010,whales were being regularly sighted off thesouthern coast of Sri Lanka close to a townnamed Mirissa.

The continental shelf (the piece of land that ex-tends into the sea along the coast line) is verynarrow near Mirissa. As a result, within 5-6 kilo-metres off the coast, one can reach fairly deepwater. Whales are creatures of the deep. Plusthe point where the shelf stops and the seadepth becomes great is a meeting point ofwarm coastal waters and the colder water ofthe deep ocean. This mixing causes hugeamounts of nutrients to rise from the oceanfloor. These nutrients attract krill (tiny oceancreatures) that in turn attract the whales thateat the krill in huge quantities. The availability of food and the depth of theocean so close to the island makes southern SriLanka one of the best whale watching spots inthe world.

A WHALE OF A TIME!

THE BOOK NOOK

Story of Life: Evolution by Katie ScottOne of the greatest stories on Earth is how lifedeveloped on our planet. From tiny micro-scopic organisms to the complex creatures wesee today (of which we humans are amongthe most complex), life on earth has rolled outlike a magic carpet.Evolution’s story is a gradual one-changeshave happened over millions of years and un-derstanding the big picture and grasping thedetails can be challenging. Katie Scott’s bookchanges this. The story unfolds, ( just like the

book which can be opened out into a longchart) through a series of brilliant imagesthat tell the story of life.A commentary on how life developed on ourplanet at the back of the chart tells the storyclearly in words, highlighting the majorchanges. A must for every library and school.

Price: Rs.1200Available: Online (may require wait time asthis is an imported book)

A Blue Whale divesoff the Sri Lankancoast. Look howmassive the tail is!

Whale species seen off Sri Lanka include the

Blue Whale, Sperm Whale and Bryde’s Whale.

In addition you can see Spinner Dolphins and

sea turtles too in the coastal waters.

The maps shows locations in Sri Lanka where you can findwhales

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4 Special ReportCHILD FRIENDLY NEWS14 January 2017www.childfriendlynews.com ‘

People never lie so much as after a hunt, during awar or before an election.

—Otto von Bismarck

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In a few weeks from now, five Indian states will vote to elect n India’s largest state. In this Special Report, let’s understand h

Both central and state elections are held every five years. But sometimes,elections may be held sooner if a government has lost its majority posi-tion and does not have the support of the required number of MPs orMLAs. This is why all states don’t have elections at the same time and wesee elections happening every 2-3 years for a group of states.

WHEN DO THESE ELECTIONS HAPPEN?

Elections in five states will be held between February 4 and March 8 andthe results will be declared in all the states by March 11. In Uttar Pradesh(UP), the elections or polls will be held on seven dates, each in a differentarea. This will help the Election Commission (the body which is in chargeof running elections in India) monitor each small area closely and ensurepolitical parties obey the rules.

Uttar Pradesh (UP)This is the most important state for politicalparties with over 400 MLAs to be elected. With

PunjabFor ten years the state has been ruledby the BJP and its partner called theShiromani Akali Dal. One of the India’sricher states, Punjab is struggling witha massive drug problem. Many peoplefrom the state are using harmfulchemicals (drugs) and they have be-come addicted to them (this means

WHO WILL GO TO VOTE NOW?

so many voters, the UP elections are expected to show which polit-ical parties are being favoured by the Indian voter. Players: The state is now being ruled by the Samajwadi Party. Thistime it is expected to face a tough fight from the Bahujan SamajParty (BSP) whose leader Mayawati hopes to become the Chief Min-ister of UP. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which runs the centralgovernment is the third main player in UP.

ELECTIONS IN THE STATES

WHAT ARE STATE ELECTIONS?

Living in India, we see two kinds of elections:� One is the national or general election where voters across the countrycast their votes to elect the central government which runs India fromDelhi. All those elected become part of the Indian Parliament as mem-bers of the Lok Sabha. They are called MPs (Members of Parliament).

� State elections are held to select governments that will manage states.Those elected will become part of the State Legislative Assemblies.They are called MLAs (Members of Legislative Assemblies).

In both cases, political parties with the majority of MLAs or MPs formthe government in the state/centre.

A voter holds outher inked index finger after voting

MPs work out of Parliament House in Delhi

Mayawati hopes to become Chief Minister of UttarPradesh

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5Special Report‘Leadership is not about the next election, it's about thenext generation.

—Simon Sinek

‘

CHILD FRIENDLY NEWS14 January 2017

www.childfriendlynews.com

In a few weeks from now, five Indian states will vote to elect new state governments. One of the five is Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state. In this Special Report, let’s understand how state elections work and why these are important.

Thumbs up or down for Narendra Modi?No matter what he says, Narendra Modi knows theBJP’s performance in the election will reflect whatthe people of India think of his demonetizationscheme. In November, Modi announced that theRs.500 and Rs.1000 notes were being withdrawn im-mediately, forcing people to stand in bank queues for hours to pick up cash in othernotes. Modi has been saying that his move was aimed at dishonest people who didn’twant to pay taxes but the fact is that a lot of honest people faced difficulties as banksstruggled to give them cash. Will they vote for his BJP? It remains to be seen.AAP steps out The state elections are very important for the AAP which rightnow runs just one government in Delhi. With power at Delhi beingshared with the central government run by the BJP (Delhi isunique among states in this way), the AAP is keen to take chargeof a state that it can run on its own steam.One hurrah for the Congress?The Indian National Congress, which once won freedom for Indiaand was the country’s largest party for years, is in quite a state. Ithasn’t had a big election victory in many years, and holding on toUttarakhand, Manipur and perhaps even winning Punjab is very,very important for the party.

WHAT’S MORE IMPORTANT: THE CENTRE OR THE STATES?India follows a federal form of government-this meansthat the central and state governments share respon-sibility in running the country. This isn’t a loosearrangement-the rights of each are laid out in the Con-stitution of India and cannot be changed easily. TheConstitution of India is the rule book according towhich the country has to be run. The Constitution divides responsibilities into threelists:The Union list, consisting of areas over which thecentre has control, such defence, foreign affairs, rail-ways, posts and telegraphs. The State list, over which the state government has responsibility, and in-cludes areas such as public health, education, agriculture.The Concurrent list has areas where both central and state share power andthis includes subjects such as education, forests and protection of wild ani-mals.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

GoaThis tiny state in western India willvote on the same day as Punjab. Players: The BJP rules the state nowbut it may be challenged by local par-ties who may take away some of itssupporters.

they cannot live without consumingdrugs). The people of Punjab may belooking for a government which canget rid of this problem when they go tovote on February 4. Players: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)which runs Delhi believes that it can beatthe current government. The Congresspolitical party may also have a chance.

ELECTIONS IN THE STATES

UttarakhandThe hill state of Uttarakhand is one of the fewstates controlled by the Congress party and the en-tire state will vote on February 15. Players: The BJP is expected to make a big playand take control from the Congress.

ManipurThis north-eastern state will vote on March 4 and 8. Players: The Congress is the strongest party here,though the BJP, which won the elections in neighbour-ing Assam last year, is expected to put up a very strongfight. Irom Sharmila’s decision to take part in the elec-tions may also provide some excitement. Sharmilawent on a record breaking fast to remove the statefrom the control of the army and recently announced

that she would take part in the elections.

Arvind Kejriwal (centre) of theAAP tries out a turban-will herule Punjab?

Congress leaderRahul Gandhihas yet to notchup a major elec-tion victory

India’s constitutionprovides a powersharing formula forthe centre and states

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The new year dawned cold for Eu-rope as temperatures fell sharplyin countries such as Poland,Greece, Turkey and Serbia. Riverslike the Danube have frozen overand cities are carpeted in a layer ofsnow. This is the coldest time ofthe year in Europe.While northern Europe is alwaysextremely cold in winter as it isclose to the Arctic Circle, the south-ern part of the continent (whichhas countries such as Greece) is ex-periencing colder than usualweather this year. The most af-fected are the poor, homeless andrefugees. Over 60 people have al-ready died due to the cold. Wars in West Asia have driventhousands of people out of theirhomes in countries like Syria.

These people have fled their country for Europe where they live incamps in Greece, Germany and other countries. Most do not have warmclothes and their temporary homes are not heated. They have suffereda lot from the cold. In Greece, government officials are shifting refugeesfrom camps into empty hotel rooms until the cold spell ends. Countries like Romania have halted traffic on the Danube river as theslippery ice is too dangerous for boats. In some parts of Europe, flightsalso couldn’t take off due to bad weather.

6 NewsCHILD FRIENDLY NEWS14 January 2017www.childfriendlynews.com ‘

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we'vebeen waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

—Barack Obama

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WORLD

Europe freezes over

Budget to be presented on February 1The Union Budget will be presented by the government in Parliamenton February 1, which is a change from the old practice of presenting iton February 28. The budget is the year’s plan for earning and spending money. The gov-ernment earns money from taxes we pay, fees collected from companiesand other charges. It spends it on building highways, hospitals, to paysalaries to government workers and to support the army, to name a fewuses. The financial year in India runs from April to March, unlike the cal-endar year which runs from January to February. Companies and organ-izations maintain accounts (a record of spending and earning) for a yearfrom April to March. The government decided to change the budget dateso that everyone would have time to implement (get started) on the newbudget’s plan by April 1. In another change, for the first time ever, a separate Railway Budget willnot be presented. Since Indian Railways is owned by the government, itwas decided to include railway accounts in the general budget.

Preparing the budget is atop secret exercise as detailsof new taxes or any otherplan should not be leakedbeforehand. As the finalbudget goes for printing, thebudget team is locked into abasement under the Fi-nance Ministry’s office. Noone can go home for tendays and phone calls backhome can only be made inthe presence of a policeman.They are “released” onlywhen the Finance Ministerhas made his speech in Par-

The last bowOn January 10, ten days before he stepped down as President of the UnitedStates (US), Barack Obama gave his last official speech. One that remindedAmericans how much they would miss the man who has been their head ofstate for eight years.It has been a busy eight years. In that time, the US and Cuba have gone frombeing enemies to cautious friends, Iran no longer looks like it is going to starta war with the US and Osama bin Laden, the terrorist behind a massive attackin the US in 2001, was killed by the US army. Obama will be succeeded by Donald Trump, the surprise winner in the Novem-ber 2016 elections.

Meanwhile, a cold spell cov-ered the northern-moststate of Jammu & Kashmirwith snow. Tourists and chil-dren took delight in playingin the snow. However, roadtraffic to the Kashmir valleyhad to be halted due to poorweather. Himachal Pradeshand its capital Shimla also re-ceived snow in January andmore is expected in the nextfew weeks.

Grey skies over the Danube river which has frozen over

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley arrives in Parlia-ment House to present the 2016 budget. He willalso present this year’s edition in a few weeks.

INDIA WORLD

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7NewsCHILD FRIENDLY NEWS

14 January 2017www.childfriendlynews.com‘

Talent without working hard is nothing. —Cristiano Ronaldo

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SPORTS

SPORTS INDIA

The Indian cricket team is playing very well but the same cannot besaid of the body that manages cricket in India, namely the Board ofControl for Cricket in India (BCCI). The BCCI is in trouble with theSupreme Court of India, which last week dismissed top officials of thecricket body.For several months now, the Court has been asking the BCCI to makeits functioning more fair and transparent. It set up a committeecalled the Lodha Committee which came up with suggestions onhow the BCCI could improve. Among the important ideas the Com-mittee put forth was that each state of India should get one vote inthe BCCI’s decision making council which takes all important deci-sions regarding Indian cricket. The Lodha Committee also said thatneither should politicians be BCCI officials nor should officials hold apost for more than a certain number of years.These ideas were opposed by powerful states like Maharashtrawhich have three votes in the BCCI. Also a lot of old officials who haveheld power for many years were also not keen to give up their posts.However, despite all they did, the old guard appears to have beenforced out of BCCI. Will this make the BCCI fairer and better managed?We will have to wait and see.

The best ball playerCristiano Ronaldo has been named the world’s best football player at the BestFifa Football awards given out last week. This is the first time this award hasbeen instituted (given). In December he won a similar prize called the Ballon d’Or.Ronaldo has had quite a year. He helped his club Real Madrid win the ChampionsLeague tournament and captained his country Portugal to victory in Euro 2016.The prize was given based on points awarded by national team captains andmanagers, some journalists and, for the first time, an online poll of fans. 31 yearold Ronaldo beat Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griez-mann to win the prize.

BCCI lands in trouble

One of the bird deaths at Mysore zoo was of a Greylag Goose. This is a migra-tory bird that visits India in winter.

Anurag Thakur has been removed from his job as President of the BCCI by the Supreme Court

The Delhi zoo re-opened this week after being shut for three months dueto a bird flu scare. However, there was not so good news from southernIndia with Mysore Zoo being shut due to the death of birds thanks to thesame flu.Avian flu or bird flu is a disease that affects birds. Migratory birds, especiallyducks that arrive in the cold season are often carriers, carrying the diseaseacross long distances. It does not pass to humans easily-only those whohandle infected birds and their droppings are at risk. When the Delhi zoo reported bird deaths in October, it was decided to shutthe park as a matter of precaution (careful action). In Mysore, a few migra-tory birds died in late December. Tests revealed the problem to be bird fluas a result of which the zoo has been closed for now.

Delhi zoo re-opens but Mysore zoo shuts

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8 Owlie’s Fun PageCHILD FRIENDLY NEWS14 January 2017www.childfriendlynews.com

Child Friendly News or CFN is an age appropriate newspaper for children in the age group 7-13. Thenewspaper comes out every fortnight. Every issue is written using language that young readers canunderstand on their own interspersed with pictures and imagery. Quick explanations of difficultwords and terms and boxed elements that explain concepts accompany every article — this is tohelp build vocabulary as well as context understanding. Special reports take up one topic in depth

while regular columns on everyday technology concepts keep children up-to-date with the worldaround them. A subscription costs Rs. 750 for the year.For more details and to subscribe, visit www.childfriendlynews.comChild Friendly News is published from E-24 (Front), Vasant Marg, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi 110057.Published, printed, edited and owned by Anita Mani. Printed by Printworks, W-11, Okhla IndustrialArea Ph II, New Delhi 110020RNI registration number: DELENG/2013/50870

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SUDOKU TIMETry your hand at thisSudoku. Remember thatnumbers 1 to 6 can appear only once ineach of the six rectan-gles. They can also appear only once ineach row and column ofthe overall square.

UNSCRAMBLE THE WORDSRe-arrange thealphabets to find the wordHint: All clues arelinked to the theme of the elections

1. LOTLAB

2. YMSLBO

3. NGMACIAP

4. SESMABYLAnswers

1.Ballot

2.Symbol

3.Campaign

4.Assembly

Answer

6

2 3 1

3 1

1 3

2 4 5

6

6

231

31

13

245

6

FIND THE HIDDEN PICTURES

Top Reads for Kids and Young Adults

To know more about these books and to buy them, check outwww.toptenbooksoftheweek.com

Can you find the objects given at the bottom of the picture?

1. Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan2. Double Down: Diary of a Wimpy Kid #11 by Jeff Kinney3. One Half from the East by Nadia Hashimi4. The Treasure of the Sea: A Geronimo Stilton Adventure by Thea Stilton5. National Geographic Kids Almanac 20176. The World’s Worst Children by David Walliams7. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts I & II by J.K. Rowling8. Geronimo Stilton and the Kingdom of Fantasy #8 -

The Hour of Magic by Geronimo Stilton9. The Hunt for the Secret Papyrus by Geronimo Stilton10. Wings of Fire #8 Escaping Peril by Tui T. Sutherland

Name it!

2

3

Answers: 1. Mantralaya, the Maharashtra legislative

assembly building2. Bangalore’s Vidhan Soudha3. The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly

works out of Lucknow’s Vidhan Sabha

Parliament House in Delhi is a very famous building. Butthere are some other well-known buildings that house state

legislative assemblies. Can you recognise these?

1

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