Nobel Peace Prize goes to Venezuelan leader Maria Corina Machado |
- "Oh my God ... I have no words ... I certainly do not deserve it," Machado
told the Nobel committee secretary. She wrote on X in English: "I dedicate
the prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for
his decisive support of our cause!"
- Trump later called her and congratulated.
- But, White House communications director Steven Cheung said: "The Nobel
Committee proved they place politics over peace."
- Trump, who has been self-promoting for the award on the ground that he has
ended seven wars in his current term, has lost. Self-promotion and campaigns
are considered a disqualification for the award. It is not even known if someone
had nominated him before the deadline—Jan 31.
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OSLO (Norway), Oct 10: The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday announced the
award of Nobel Prize for Peace for 2025 will go to Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela,
"a brave and committed champion of peace, a woman who keeps the flame of democracy
burning amid a growing darkness."
US President Donald Trump, who has been self-promoting for the coveted award
on the ground that he has ended seven wars in his current term, has lost. He
has been going round telling everyone—even at the UN—he should get the prize.
Self-promotion and campaigns are considered a disqualification for the award.
He was nominated for the prize during his first term but it is not certain he
was nominated by someone for 2025 before the deadline, January 31, for contributions
made previously.
"She (the winner) (58) is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless
work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle
to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy," the
committee said.
"As the leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado
is one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America
in recent times," it said.
The democratic crusader's leadership during Venezuela’s disputed 2024 election
was pivotal in mobilizing grassroots efforts to monitor polling stations and
expose electoral fraud. She backed Opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia,
uniting the anti-Nicolas Maduro Moros forces. However, Maduro allegedly rigged
the polls and stayed in power.
Nominations are confidential
The Nobel committee awarding the peace prize is selected by Norway's parliament.
The other Nobel prizes are awarded in awarded in Stockholm, Sweden. Alfred Nobel,
who set up the prizes, had specified that the Peace Prize should be awarded
by a five-member committee appointed by the Norwegian Parliament (awarded in
Stockholm). At the time, Sweden and Norway were united under a single monarchy.
Winners of the peace prize receive a medal, diploma and monetary prize. The
6.6-cm gold medal shows a portrait of Nobel, with his name, birth year and year
of death engraved on the edge. The back of the medal shows three men embracing,
to symbolize international fraternity, and is engraved with the phrase "For
peace and fraternity among peoples" in Latin.
Persons or organisations are nominated by eligible nominators, who include
members of national assemblies, members of governments, members of bodies like
the International Court of Justice, college professors or directors and former
prize winners or members of the Nobel Committee. The nomination deadline is
January 31. Over 330 nominations were submitted for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
These are kept confidential.
Previous winners include Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai (2014), former
US President Barack Obama (2009) and another former US President Jimmy Carter
(2002). Winning organisations include United Nations' World Food Program and
the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will
of Swedish industrialist, inventor, armaments manufacturer and philanthropist
Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine,
and Literature. Established in 1895, it was first awarded on December 10, 1901.
Who is María Corina Machado:
A student of Yale University and an industrial engineer by profession, María
Corina Machado Parisca is now a prominent Opposition leader of Venezuela. She
was a member of the National Assembly from 2011 to 2014. Machado began her political
career in 2002 as a founder of the vote-monitoring organization Sumate. She
founded the Opposition party, Vente Venezuelai.
The story behind the prize:
Alfred Nobel is best known for creating dynamite—a powerful explosive that
revolutionized construction and mining, but also became widely used in warfare.
In 1888, a French newspaper mistakenly published an obituary for Alfred (instead
of his deceased brother Ludvig), titled “Le marchand de la mort est mort”—“The
merchant of death is dead.” It condemned Nobel for profiting from inventions
that killed people. This shocking headline deeply affected Nobel. It’s believed
to have sparked a moral reckoning that led him to rewrite his will in 1895.
He decided to dedicate the bulk of his fortune—31 million Swedish kronor—to
fund prizes for those who “have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”
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SELECTIONS FROM OUR ARCHIVES |
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Top Govt officer thrashed, kicked inside Bhubaneswar office: Incident sparks a debate
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The incident has triggered a debate on social media whether the officer refused to take orders from a party leader or he was accused of any corruption, some netizens justifying the handling in either case, that Ratnakar was blocking public welfare work! It is true the Govt machinery has been the enemy Number One of the people of this country, existing for itself and for these politicians, for well over seven decades. India will never make an inch of progress - real progress, not make-believe-progress - unless and until this machinery is eliminated.
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UK's House of Commons votes to legalise assisted dying: What it means | |
ANALYSIS: There have been cases of Britons going to Switzerland to get rid of a miserable life. Now once the House of Lords also passes the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, terminally ill Britons can call it quits with the help of a medical practitioner here itself. But the measure when comes into practice, will have very serious social consequences, it is feared. There won't be comparisons, even as tropes in Latin American folklores. The worst case scenario is of those who are not terminally ill also trying to misuse the provision to leave this world early when life with dignity is not available. But that is, in fact, a political question and not a moral imbroglio!
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What caused Air India Boeing 787 crash? Some questions, some answers | |
The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.
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Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line brings Kashmir Valley on India's rail map |
- The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line provides Kashmir with all-weather connectivity and integrates the Valley with the rest of India.
- The saying 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari' is now a dream come true.
- The Chenab bridge on the line, an engineering marvel, is the world's highest
railway bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower. (Video: File)
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Work done, Elon Musk steps down from DOGE, leaves White House | |
Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.
PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.
Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people.
(Today's headlines )
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Ailing Asiatic lion Pataudi too dies of bird flu at Kanpur zoo
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Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.
Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.
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48 tourist destinations closed in Kashmir following Pahalgam terror attack
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As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.
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Trump slaps ‘kind’, ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on trading partners; a 'lenient' 26% on India!
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ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!
What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America!
(Today's headlines )
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Trump signs order to shut Education Dept - And the contrast with India
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PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).
In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.
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Sunita, Wilmore's Dragon splashes down in Gulf: What delayed their return? |
THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.
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All 80k health workers in US offered $25,000 voluntary buyout: Administering wrong prescriptions!
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The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.
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