For
UPSC Engineering Services Examination, GATE, State Engineering Services Examination & Public Sector Examination. (BHEL, NTPC, NHPC, DRDO, SAIL, HAL, BSNL, BPCL, NPCL, etc.)
CURRENT AFFAIRS - 1
(FROM APRIL 2012 TO DEC. 2012)
I.E.S MASTER
Institute for Engineers
IES/GATE/PSUs
Office: F-126, Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi - 110 016 Phone: 011-41013406, 7838813406, 9711853908 Website: www.iesmaster.org, E-mail: ies_master@yahoo.co.in
IES Master
Office: F-126, Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi - 110 016 Phone: 011-41013406, 7838813406, 9711853908 Website: www.iesmaster.org, E-mail: ies_master@yahoo.co.in
No part of this booklet may be reproduced, or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior permission of IES MASTER, New Delhi. Violaters are liable to be legally prosecuted.
Table of Contents
Chapters 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Page No. Master Articles ............................................................. 001 to 010 National Updates ......................................................... 011 to 040 International & Bilateral Updates ............................. Environment & Ecology Updates ................................ Science & Technology Updates .................................... Defence Updates ........................................................... Committee, Commission & Reports ........................... 041 to 063 064 to 075 076 to 098 099 to 111 112 to 120
Conferences & Summits ............................................... 121 to 129 Games & Sports ........................................................... 130 to 138
10. Awards & Recognition ................................................. 139 to 152 11. Persons & Places in News ........................................... 153 to 162 12. Books & Authors ........................................................... 163 to 167
National Updates
GENERAL ISSUES 13 ECONOMY AND ENERGY ISSUES 19
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2.1.
General Issues
Master Tips
Once the three courts are established, the number of High Courts in the country will go up from 21 to 24. The total approved strength of judges in the 21 High Courts was 895, and 260 post were vacant. This meant there was less than one judge for every one million people. The Madras High Court in Chennai, Bombay High Court in Mumbai, Calcutta High Court in Kolkatta are the first three High Courts in India, established in 1862 by High Courts Act, 1861 . Allahabad High Court was also established by High Courts Act, 1861 but in 1866.
Master Tips
The Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) is a territorial privilege established according to the Memorandum of Settlement of February 10, 2003. BTC came into existence immediately after surrender of BLTF (Bodoland Liberation Tiger Force) cadres. The BTC has 12 electorate members each looking after a specific area of control called somisthi. The area under the BTC jurisdiction is called the Bodo Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD) which is to consist of four contiguous districts Kokrajhar, Baksa, Udalguri and Chirang carved out of seven existing districts Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup, Darrang and Sonitpur. The BTAD is created under the sixth schedule of the Constitution of India.
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Kaveri River water dispute: The sharing of waters of the Kaveri has been the source of a serious conflict between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The genesis of this conflict rests in two controversial agreementsone signed in 1892 and another in 1924between the erstwhile Madras Presidency and Princely State of Mysore. The 802 km long Kaveri river has 34,273 sq km basin area in Karnataka (42%), 44,016 sq km basin area in Tamil Nadu(54%) and 2,866 sq km in Kerala(3.5%) and 148 sq km in Puducherry. Constitutional Provision and The Interstate River Water Disputes Act 1956 (IRWD Act): Under article 262, Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute with respect to the use, distribution or control of the water of Inter-State River or river valley. Parliament by law may exclude such jurisdiction of Supreme Court or any other court. The Interstate River Water Disputes Act,1956 (IRWD Act,1956) was first enacted on 28 August 1956 by the Indian parliament under Article 262 on the eve of reorganization of states on linguistic basis to resolve the water disputes that would arise in the use, control and distribution of an interstate river or river valley. IRWD Act, 1956 Provide for an ad hoc tribunal for adjudication of any dispute arising between two or more States with regard to the water of any Inter-State river or river Valley. The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal:
In its verdict, the tribunal allocated 419 billion ft (12 km) of water annually to Tamil Nadu and 270 billion ft (7.6 km) to Karnataka; 30 billion ft (0.8 km) of Kaveri river water to Kerala and 7 billion ft (0.2 km) to Puducherry. The dispute however, appears not to have concluded, as all four states deciding to file review petitions seeking clarifications and possible renegotiation of the order.
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The Government of India constituted a three man tribunal, headed by Justice Chittatosh Mookerjee in 1990 to look into the matter. After hearing arguments of all the parties involved for the next 16 years, the tribunal delivered its final verdict on 5 February 2007.
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CUSEC : Cusec is a measure of flow rate of water and is abbreviation for cubic feet per second (which is equivalent to a flow of 28.317 litres per second) and 11,000 cusecs flow for a day amounts to 1 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) water.
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Master Tips
As mentioned in Article 72 of Indian Constitution, the President is empowered with the powers to grant pardons in the following situations: Punishment is for offence against Union Law Punishment is by a Military Court Sentence is a death sentence
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon visited India in the last week of April 2012. He met the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and the then External Minister S.M. Krishna and discussed measures to counter terrorism. Mr. Ban Ki-Moon was conferred the degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) by the Chancellor, Lieutenant General (Retd.) M.A. Zaki of the Jamia Millia University.
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Ban Ki-Moon: The Korean diplomat is serving his 2nd term as the Secretary-General of UN, succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. His new five-year term as Secretary-General is from1 January 2012 to 31 December 2016.
Parliament approved amendments to the Copyright Act that entitles artistes to lifelong royalty. The Copyright Act (Amendment) Bill, 2012 was passed by the Lok Sabha unanimously, with members from all parties supporting the measure for creative artistes, whose benefits are cornered by producers under the existing law. The Bill, passed by the Rajya Sabha, declares authors owners of the copyright, which cannot be assigned to producers, as was the practice till now. Salient Features of the new Bill: Song writers, artistes and performer can now claim royalty for their works. The Bill made it mandatory for broadcasters both radio and television to pay royalty to the owners of the copyright each time a work of art was broadcast. It bans persons from bringing out cover versions of any literary, dramatic or musical work for five years from the first recording of the original creation. The Bill provides for exemption from copyright for any work prepared for the physically challenged in special formats such as Braille. It also permits compulsory license to be granted for a certain number of copies in non-special formats to non-profit organizations working to help disabled persons.
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Pardoning Power of President:Under Judicial Powers, the President has the right to grant pardon, to suspend, remit or commute the death sentence of any person.
Ban Ki-Moon
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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is a federal agency approved by the Indian Government to combat terror in India. NIA was created after the Nov 2008 Mumbai terror. The founding Director-General of NIA was Radha Vinod Raju. The current DirectorGeneral is S.C Sinha.
Master Tips
Ayur is a commonly used word derived from Ayush (life) and a derivative of the word Ayurveda, a 5,000-year-old system of medicine. Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) launched its line of Ayurvedic health and beauty care products under the trade mark Lever Ayush in 2002.
The bricks that were used for constructing walls were 48 cm long and 26 cm wide and 8 cm thick. The saddle querns were used to prepare saddle points for prayers and also for preparing spice powder and herbal medicine.
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A Paleo-channel or Paleo-river is an inactive river or water stream buried under sediment. Due to geological activities, the nearly 65 million year-old river might have got covered under basaltic lava. It flowed in the same direction East to West as the Narmada. The current course of the Narmada is about 10 km from the site of the Paleo-river, parallel to it. Further exploration may throw light on the origin of the Narmada.
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A Buddhist site was discovered at Porupaka of Routhulapudi mandal of East Godavari district in AP by a freelance archaeologist Kadiyala Venkateswara Rao, which is believed to be of third or fourth century A.D. The findings were endorsed by Bangarraju, Assistant Director, Archaeological Survey of India. The newly found Buddhist site, on the hilltop, is spread in 20 acres area from the foot hill to the lower level of the fields on the western side of the hill. The number of huge brickbats, red and black polished pot shreds, conical bowls, terracotta toys, white and red coloured beads, big-size circular ear lobes and number of saddle querns were found at the site.
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As per the West Bengal government announcement, the election for the GTA was held on July 29, 2012. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) contested the GTA polls. In the elections GJM candidates won from all the constituencies. The newly elected members of the GTA were sworn in on 4 August 2012 at Darjeeling in the presence of home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee. Bimal Gurung, president of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), was elected Chief Executive Officer of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) by the elected and nominated members of the new regional autonomous body. The members of the GTA, that replaces the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), was sworn in. Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) having administrative, executive and financial powers but no legislative powers, is a semi-autonomous administrative body for the Darjeeling hills in West Bengal, India. The GTA will replace the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), which was formed in 1988 and administered the Darjeeling hills for 23 years. GTA presently has three hill subdivisions Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Kurseong and some areas of Siliguri subdivision under its authority. After three years of agitation for a state of Gorkhaland led by GJM, the GJM reached an agreement with the state government to form a semi-autonomous body to administer the Darjeeling hills. A bill for the creation of GTA was passed in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly on 2 September 2011.
Justice Shyamal Sen Report : The report of the high-power committee headed by retired Justice Mr. Shyamal Sen on inclusion of additional areas from the Dooars and Terai in the GTA was submitted to the state government which recommended that five mouzas in the plains be added to the proposed new body in the Darjeeling hills. The Gorkha janmukti Morcha (GJM) expressed its anger at the report, saying that they had expected the figure to be more than 150.
What is GTA?
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The Eastern Nagaland Peoples Organisation (ENPO) has been demanding creation of Frontier Nagaland out of four border districts- Mon, Tuensang, Kiphire and Longleng districts. It submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister in 2010, saying only a separate State would result in socio-economic development in the border region. The then Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram reportedly assured Nagaland Chief Minister Nephiu Rio of assistance for the speedy development of Eastern Nagaland, but ruled out creation of a separate State Frontier Nagaland. The ENPO has rejected a Rs. 500-crore development package offered by the Nagaland government in lieu of a separate State sticking to its demand for creation of a Frontier Nagaland and all the six tribes passed a resolution on June 12 in Tuensang not to accept any development package or any autonomous or regional council in lieu of a separate State.
Master Tips
The ENPO, which is the apex organization of six Naga tribes including Konyak, Khiamniungan, Chang, Yimchunger, Sangtam and Phom inhabiting the four districts, namely Mon, Tuensang, Kiphire and Longleng.
Andhra Pradesh government estimated the loss of Rs. 1,710 crore caused by NILAM cyclone in agriculture and horticulture crops along with lives.
The three-day Australian Film Festival (AFF) got off to a magnificent start with enthusiasts queuing up to view the films. Dehra Dun is the only non-metro city where the screening of the Australian movies will take place apart from New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. This also happens to be the first international film festival in the city. Yes, Madam Sir is the most anticipated film of the festival. This award-winning documentary on the first woman IPS officer Kiran Bedi has been directed by Megan Doneman. On the threshold of the centenary of the award of Asias first Nobel Prize to Rabindranath Tagore in 1913, President Pranab Mukherjee said that Tagore had realised the special role of Asia in the pattern of vibrations between the self and the world. Mr. Mukherjee inaugurated the centenary celebrations of the award of the Nobel Prize to Tagore with an international seminar at Visva-Bharati University, which was jointly organised by the university and the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi. This seminar will not merely celebrate the award of a Nobel Prize to an individual; it will celebrate the potential of the idea of exchange, cooperation and multiculturalism, Mr. Mukherjee said.
Institute for Engineers
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Andhra Pradesh has so far spent Rs 1,600 crore on various packages of the project, which was designed by a group of Telangana expert-engineers to utilise 160 tmcft of Pranahita water and serve 16.4 lakh acres in the most drought-prone areas of Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Nizamabad, Medak, Naglonda and Ranga Reddy. This huge investment would have been a waste if Maharashtra had opposed it. Maharashtras consent is seen crucial because the mammoth barrage required for the project to divert Pranahita waters will have to be built in its territory. The water from this barrage will be transferred into the reservoir of the yellampalli project already constructed across the Godavari, before being released to the intended areas, including Hyderabad (30 tmcft) for drinking purpose. The agreement will provide for constitution of three committees, one of them with Chief Ministers of the two States to oversee the implementation of the project.
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2.2.
Govt. Clears Signing Of Pact For Buying Gas From Turkmenistan-TAPI Pipe Line
The Union Cabinet approved the signing of the Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA), for buying gas from Turkmenistan. The rate $0.50 per million metric British thermal unit for allowing passage of gas through their respective territories has been finalized resolving one of the major contentious issues. The delivered price of gas on the Indian border works out to $10-12 per mmBtu as compared to $4.20 per mmBtu price of domestic gas and $16 per mmBtu rate of gas imported in ships in its liquid form (LNG). The pipeline would carry 90 million metric standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) of gas. Of which, 14 mmscmd would be bought by Afghanistan and 38 mmscmd each would be for India and Pakistan.
Master Tips
The 1735 km long pipeline, which is likely to be operational by 2016, will run from Turkmenistans Dauletabad gas field to Herat and Kandhar province of Afghanistan, before entering Pakistan. In Pakistan, it will reach Multan via Quetta befroe ending at Fazilka Punjab in India. (See Map for clarity.)
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Proposed TAPI Pipe Line
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The expert committee on GAAR (General Anti Avoidance Rules), set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh under the chairmanship of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) chief Parthasarathi Shome , has begun the process of consultations with various stakeholders. Terms of Reference: To fine-tune the controversial provisions and bring in more clarity and transparency in the draft guidelines announced in Budget 2012 for the introduction of GAAR for the current fiscal, mainly with the objective of checking tax evasion. But, following stiff opposition by foreign and domestic investors and bitter criticism by global tax advisory firms, its implementation was deferred till the next fiscal beginning April 1, 2013 which is now further extended to 2016. GAAR Panel Terms of Reference Expanded: To have greater clarity on tax liability issues pertaining to portfolio investors and foreign institutional investors (FIIs). GAAR Shome Panels recommendations in brief: GAAR should be deferred by three yearsi.e GAAR should apply from assessment year 2016-17. Abolish Capital Gains tax on listed securities. Mauritius treaty to be upheld. Tax mitigation be distinguished from tax avoidance before invoking GAAR. GAAR not to be applicable on FIIs, capital market transactions, payment of dividends, buybacks, setting up branch/subsidiary, funding through debt/equity,intra-group transactions etc. GAAR applicable only in cases of abusive, contrived, artificial deal and a monetary threshold of Rs 3 crore of tax benefit (including tax only, and not interest etc) to a taxpayer in a year should be used for the applicability of GAAR provisions.
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In its present structure, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) does not capture the price movement of services. Also, it is a hybrid of consumer and producer price quotes. For example, the index captured the price of important commodities such as milk from the retail markets; not at the producer level. In contrast to Consumer Price Index (CPI), PPI measures price changes from the perspective of the seller. Sellers and purchasers prices differ due to government subsidies, sales and excise taxes, and distribution costs. For these reasons, move towards PPI is desirable.
AERB Approved The Loading Of Real Fuel In Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant
The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has given its nod for the removal of dummy fuel and loading of real fuel (enriched uranium) in the first unit (1000 MW capacity) of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu. The loading of real fuel would begin soon and thereafter, a trial run would go on for approximately 20 days before attaining criticality (commissioning). KNPP is constantly in the news because of ongoing protests by local people, rights groups and environmentalists regarding their concerns of nuclear safety and implications of nuclear radiation on health and environment. Location :Kudankulam, District : Tirunellveli-Kattabomman, Tamil Nadu State. Sri Lanka has also voiced opposition over the Kudankulam nuclear plant citing their concerns over threats to them in case of nuclear disaster such as Fukushima. But, this is largely seen as the repercussion of Indias vote against Sri Lanka in UNHRC.
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Expected Schedule Date of Date of Commercial Commercial Operation Operation
Physical Progress
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About Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP): Two reactors of theVVER1000model are being constructed by theNuclear Power corporation of India Limited(NPCIL) and Atomstroyexport. Atomstroyexportis theRussian Federationsnuclear powerequipment and service export monopoly. It belon gs to Atomenergopromholding with 49.8% of shares owned byGazprombank.
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Crops damaged in natural calamities such as drought, floods, cyclone, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslip, avalanche, cloud burst and pest attack were eligible for relief under the NDRF/SDRF. However, since the incidence of damage to crops in extreme cold or frost has gone up in recent years, the government set up the EGoM. The EGoM, earlier headed by Pranab Mukherjee, will now be chaired by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.
As announced in the Union budget, a new service tax regime, based on a negative list of exempted services, will come into effect in which all services except the 38 activities put on the negative list will come under the tax at the increased rate of 12 per cent, taking a major shift from the levying service tax on 119 services based on a positive list. The switch-over to a negative list-based approach is aimed at aligning the indirect taxation system to the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime , which is sought to be introduced to unify the levies of the Centre and the States into a composite system.
Master Tips
The services sector now accounts for 60 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).The Finance Ministry has set a target of Rs. 1.24 lakh crore for service tax collection
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during 2012-13 as against the Rs. 97,000 crore mopped up during the previous fiscal.
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The Union Cabinet, at a meeting, approved the recommendation of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Drought to consider the damage to crops due to extreme cold or frost as a natural calamity. With this the affected farmers will be eligible for financial relief from the National Disaster
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The total capital ratio, including Tier I and Tier II, must be at least 9 per cent, unchanged from the current requirement, compared with the Basel III minimum requirement of 8 percent. For the financial year ending March 31, 2013, banks will have to disclose the capital ratios computed under the existing guidelines (Basel II) on capital adequacy as well as those computed under the Basel III capital adequacy framework.
Master Tips
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has launched a new micro insurance product named Jeevan Deep. The plan provides for a sum assured (risk cover) ranging from minimum of Rs. 5,000 to maximum of Rs. 30,000 with an optional accident benefit rider, together providing for total death benefit equal to double the sum assured, on death due to accident.
Indias apex policy making body National Development Council (NDC) on 27th Dec 2012 approved the strategy to achieve average growth rate of 8% during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), generating 50 million new jobs and increasing investments in infrastructure sector, as finalized by Planning Commission of India.
Master Tips
The Planning Commission was established on 15 March 1950, with Prime Minister as the
chairman which formulates Indias Five-Year Plans, among other functions. The National Development Council (NDC), set up on August 6, 1952, is the apex body for decision making and deliberations on development matters in India, presided over by the Prime Minister. The Council comprises the Prime Minister, the Union Cabinet Ministers, Chief Ministers of all States or their substitutes, representatives of the union territories and the members of the Planning Commissions. Its status is advisory to planning commission but not binding but approves the 5 year Plans. Both Planning Commission and NDC are extra-constitutional and non-statutory bodies but executive bodies.
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The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) issued a comprehensive reform package entitled Basel III: A global regulatory framework for more resilient banks and banking systems in December 2010, with the objective to improve the banking sectors ability to absorb shocks arising from financial and economic stress. A revised version of this document (Basel III) was issued in June 2011. This will amend certain provisions of existing Basel II framework, in addition to introducing some new concepts and requirements. *To know more on BASEL and other banking norms, refer your economy booklet.
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Existing companies seeking registration as NBFC-Factor but do not fulfill the NOF criterion of Rs. 5 crore may approach the RBI for time to comply with the requirement. An existing NBFC registered with RBI and conducting factoring business that constitute less than 75 per cent of total assets/income shall have to submit to the RBI within six months from the date of this notification, a letter of its intention either to become a Factor or to unwind the business totally within two years from the date of this notification and a road map to this effect. CoR (Certificate of Registration) as NBFC-Factors will be granted only after they reached the required asset or income percentage. The Union Ministry for New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has constituted an Offshore Wind Energy Steering Committee (OWESC) under the chairmanship of Secretary, MNRE, to steer the offshore wind power development in a focused manner, especially in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat. The committee will work out a road map for offshore wind power development in the country tapping the vast potential.
After a massive grid failure, a 3-member panel headed by Central electricity Authority (CEA) Chairman A.S. Singh, has been set up by the Power Ministry to probe the grid collapse. To make up for the deficit due to the collapse of the northern grid, 8,000 MW was diverted from the eastern and western grids and power was also imported from Bhutan. A major collapse of the northern grid took place in 2001-02 also. Possible Cause of Failure: The normal frequency at which electricity is transmitted through the northern grid ranges from 48.5 to 50.2 Hz. At the time of the collapse around 2.35 a.m., it was 50.46 Hz, a few notches above normal. This could have tripped the supply. Impact of Failure: The grid collapse impacted public transport systems including, the Railways, water supply, train movement and Delhi Metro and halted the major economic and industrial activities.
Master Tips
4 out of 5 grids in the country, northern, eastern, northeastern and western are interconnected except the southern grid. All the grids are being run by the PGCIL, which operates more than 95,000 circuit km of transmission lines. One circuit km refers to one km of electrical transmission line.
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Northern grid: It caters for about 28 per cent of the countrys population, covers the regions of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, J&K and Chandigarh. The western region was under-drawing power whereas the northern region was overdrawing it.
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Most of its water requirements are drawn from Chitravathi River. It has been commissioned by the then Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman Srikumar Banerjee on April 20. The Rs. 1,106 crore uranium ore mine and processing plant has been set up by Uranium Corporation of India at Thummalapalle village in Vemula mandal in Kadapa distric (Andhra Pradesh). The Thummalapalle Project would give a fillip to power production from nuclear plants from 3% in 2011 to over 30% by 2050.
reactors. The uranium processing plant has a capacity to treat 3,000 tons of ore a day.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a notification for all the registered non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) intending to convert themselves into non-banking financial company-micro finance institutions (NBFC-MFIs) must seek registration with immediate effect, and, in any case, not later than October 31. Criteria to avail registration of NBFC-MFIs: The NBFCs have to maintain net-owned funds (NOF) at Rs. 3 crore by March 31, 2013, and at Rs. 5 crore by March 31, 2014, failing which they must ensure that lending to the micro finance sector, that is, individuals, SHGs or JLGs, which qualify for loans from MFIs, would be restricted to 10 percent of the total assets,. The RBI made some modifications in the directions issued on December 2, 2011 to NBFC-MFIs. In order to provide encouragement to NBFCs operating in the north-eastern region, the minimum NOF is to be maintained at Rs. 1 crore by March 31, 2012, and at Rs. 2 crore by March 31, 2014. However, all new companies desiring NBFC-MFI registration will need a minimum NOF of Rs. 5 crore except those in the north-eastern region Rs. 2 crore.
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About 1.10 million tons of ore can be mined annually at Thummalapalle. On processing, the ore can yield 250 tons of uranium oxide and, on further processing, can be used as fuel for nuclear
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Indian flagship explorer ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) on June 19, 2012 signed an agreement with China National Petroleum Company for jointly pursuing opportunities in third countries to explore gas.
84.27 million tons 94.11 million tons 40.21 million tons 17.29 million tons 30.25 million tons
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90.23 million tons 103.41 million tons 41.91 million tons 17.02 million tons (slight drop)
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Deep Sea Gas Pipeline Project of SAGE: IOC Seeks nod To Join
State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has written to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry seeking permission to join the crucial pipeline project with South Asia Gas Enterprise (SAGE) as the authorisation already given to GAIL (India) for pursuing the deep sea natural gas pipeline project from the Middle East to India, IOC had signed a principles of co-operation (POC) with SAGE, which is pursuing deep sea natural gas pipeline project from Oman to India, in a consortium with other international companies. IOC has been a prominent part of all government initiatives in gas pipeline projects.
Master Tips
SAGE is a project development vehicle set up for the proposed deep sea natural gas pipeline project from the Middle East to India. It is a consortium formed by Siddho Mai Group of India, Intec Engineering of the U.K., Heerema Marine Contractors Nederland, B.V. of Holland and Corus Tubes of the U.K. SAGE pipeline is expected to transport 30 million metric cubic metres of gas per day, the same volume as what Iran has earmarked for India in the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline. SAGE would charge a transport fee of around $1 per million
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The Union Cabinet approved the National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012. Salient Features of NTP 2012: Consumers who use national roaming can now expect to pay local call charges i.e free roaming will be initiated. The policy also allows national number portability, but with no visible timelines. It allows resale of services as a way to increase competition without duplicating infrastructure or fragmenting the spectrum by allowing mobile companies to set up resellers as such services resale is universally recognized. It mentions cloud computing, next generation networks, IPV6 and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) as thrust areas all of which are forward-looking and embrace future technologies. It expects to take Indias presently 39% rural teledensity to 70% in the next 5 years with the target that every single Indian will have a phone by 2020. The policy also gets a formal approval on the new unified licensing regime which allows companies to provide ISP, fixed line, international long distance, national long distance, and a few other services through a single license, whose cost has been proposed by the DoT at Rs. 10 crore.
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salient points of the National Electronics Policy 2012: To establish ESDM system at global level. To raise the domestic supply of raw material from existing level of 20-25% to 60% by 2020. To raise the exports of ESDM sector nearly 15 times from $ 5.5 billion to $ 80 billion by 2020. Special focus on increasing post graduate education, 2500 PhDs have been targeted to graduate on an annual basis by 2020. To make India a global leader in creating intellectual property in ESDM sector. To develop an appropriate technology to meet domestic demands, particularly of rural sector and also international demand at fair prices.
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The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), has launched BSE Carbonex, the first carbon-based thematic index in the country, which takes a strategic view of organisational commitment to climate change mitigation. This index has been launched with the aim of creating a benchmark and increasing awareness about the risks posed by climate change. The British High Commission in India through the British Foreign & Commonwealth Offices Prosperity Fund supported the development phase of the index. ENDS Carbon , a specialist in environment, social and governance (ESG) ratings and benchmark services provider, has provided its expertise in assessing the companies with data sourced from the carbon disclosure project (CDP).
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CDS : The Credit Default Swap (CDS) is a guarantee in which the buyer of a credit swap receives credit protection, whereas the seller of the swap guarantees the credit worthiness of the product. By doing this, the risk of default is transferred from the holder of the fixed income security to the seller of the swap.
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Ends Carbon : It is a not-for-profit organisation which holds the largest and most continuous set of climate change data in the world. BSE ltd : It is the 10th largest stock exchanges in the world by market capitalization, established as The Native Share & Stock Brokers Association in 1875.
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up a supervisory college for State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank. The move is aimed to deal with supervisory issues revolving around these banks, and establish a cooperation mechanism for cross-border supervision. Supervisory colleges have evolved the world over as an important component of effective supervisory oversight of an international banking group. This mechanism was developed with the aim of reducing supervisory overlap, and filling in supervisory gaps for better supervisory co-operation enunciated in Basel II framework, said the RBI. For SBI, there are nine host country supervisors, while ICICI Bank has seven.
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Adani Group, an integrated infrastructure player, announced the completion of the single largest and most comprehensive coal mining exploration programme undertaken in Australia. A record number of drill rigs were deployed to drastically reduce the exploration time frame at the Carmichael mine in the Galillee basin of Queensland to nine months.
Saral Money, an innovative payment product which ensures that everyone with an Aadhar number automatically has an Aadhar-linked instant account in a bank, was launched by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in Delhi. People would be able to purchase the Saral Money debit card across the counter from grocery shops and bank branches. It would facilitate instant account opening, simplified documentation and accessibility and reach. The project has been launched in collaboration by the UIDAI and five banks Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI, Indian Overseas Bank and the State Bank of India and Visa Card. Under the scheme, an Aadhar number holder can purchase a card for a nominal fee to operate the account. Non-banking financial companies (NBFC) would need RBIs prior approval before making changes in their ownership control, a draft guideline of the central bank said. The draft guidelines, based on the Usha Thorat Committee report, also seek to make mandatory for all deposit-taking NBFCs to obtain credit rating. Appointment of CEOs of NBFCs with asset size of Rs.1000 crore and above would require the RBI approval. Regarding non-performing assets (NPAs), the RBI has proposed that asset classification and provisioning norms should be made similar to that of banks for all registered NBFCs irrespective of the size. At present, the period for classifying loans into NPAs in case of NBFCs is higher at 180/360 days compared to 90 days for banks. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said core investment companies (CICs) would require prior approval from the RBI for investing in joint ventures/subsidiaries or offices overseas in the financial sector.
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CICs are those companies that invest primarily in group companies in different sectors of the economy.
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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) cut Indias growth forecast to 5.4 per cent in 2012-13, barely two months after it had made a projection of 5.6 per cent growth for the Asias third largest economy.
Wipro announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire the entire stake of the L.D. Waxsons Group, a Singapore-based fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, for a consideration of $144 million. Waxsons, which is expected to earn revenues of about $68 million in 2012, would account for about 9 per cent of Wipros Consumer Care and Lighting Business. The acquisition is to be consummated in 60 days.
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Besides, it will provide a quota in public employment through constitution of local cadres and reservation in education and vocational training institutions for those who belong to the region by birth or domicile. This great move has come 56 years after the Vidharbha and Marathwada regions got special status in 1956, and later Telangana got special status in 1974.
The countrys biggest forged wheel factory will be set up in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh. With the transition to high-speed trains in the pipeline, the required wheels will be produced at this specialised unit to be set up by Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) in three years at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,000 crore.
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The Centre has initiated the process to connect all tribal habitations and villages in border districts with roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). The Union Cabinet also approved a Rs. 8,500-crore special package for connecting 6,000 habitations in 75 left wing extremist-affected districts and entrusted the Union Ministry of Rural Development with the job of preparing the estimates for the two projects.
Centre Asks States to Adopt AP Fund Model for Mid-day Meals Scheme
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Mid Day Meal: The Centre spent approximately Rs. 10,000 crore on the programme in 2011-12, excluding the contribution of the States and subsidy on food grain. The Centre provides 75 per cent funds, while the States contribute the remaining 25 per cent to implement the scheme. This helps prevent classroom hunger and also promotes school participation and retention at the elementary level. It also fosters social and gender equity.
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With some States defaulting on payment of their share of funds for providing meals to children in government schools, adversely affecting the implementation of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the Centre has now asked all States to consider adopting Andhra Pradeshs model Green Channel Scheme. The A.P. model makes funds available throughout the year.
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The Bill provides for setting up a separate development board and equitable allocation of funds for development of the region.
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The move follows all-round criticism of the Planning Commissions estimates on poverty released in the March 2012 and the controversy it generated on capping the poverty line at a daily consumption of Rs. 28.65 per capita in cities and at Rs 22.42 in rural areas. Based on the Tendulkar panel norms of poverty estimation, the Commission had announced earlier this year that poverty in the country has come down from 37.2 percent in 2004-05 to 29.8 per cent in 2009-10 and the number of poor stood effectively reduced from 40.7 crore to 35.5 crore during the period.
Bihar and Maharashtra had poor population of 5.43 crore and 2.7 crore respectively in the year 2009-10 based on poverty line fixed using the Tendulakar Committee formula, as per data provided by the Planning Commission in a written reply to the Rajya Sabh.
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Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of poor population at 7.37 crore, followed by Bihar and Maharashtra in 2009-10.
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Measles is a highly contagious viral (virus- a paramyxovirus of the genusMorbillivirus) disease, which affects mostly children. It is transmitted via droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons. Initial symptoms, which usually appear 1012 days after infection, include high fever, runny nose, bloodshot eyes, and tiny white spots on the inside of the mouth. Several days later, a rash develops, starting on the face and upper neck and gradually spreading downwards. There is no specific treatment for measles and most people recover within 23 weeks. However, particularly in malnourished children and people with reduced immunity, measles can cause serious complications, including blindness, encephalitis, severe diarrhoea, ear infection and pneumonia. Measles can be prevented by immunization.
The Punjab Government has banned the manufacture, import and use of carcinogenic pesticides, which according to reports, caused cancer among the small farmers in the Malwa region that consists of Southern districts Bathinda, Faridkot, Moga, Muktsar, Ferozepur, Sangrur and Mansa following directions of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). On the direction of NHRC, the State government called for two reports to confirm the incidents. Besides banning the chemicals, the government has also decided to provide medical care, financial assistance, setting up of super-specialty hospitals for treatment and prevention of the deadly disease in the affected districts.
To create a stronger synergy between MGNREGS and agriculture, and allied rural livelihoods, the Centre has unveiled the expanded version of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, allowing over 30 different categories of work related to agriculture, rural sanitation, drinking water, watersheds, fisheries and livestock, as productivity-enhancing activity as recommended by the committee. The Gram Panchayats have been given right to decide on the priority of work to be taken up keeping the 60:40 ratio of spending on labour and material has been made mandatory at the Gram Panchayat level.
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The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is an Indian job guarantee scheme, enacted by legislation. The scheme provides a legal guarantee for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage.
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Scope Of Activities Under MGNREGS Enhanced And Work Priority To Be Decided By Gram Panchayats
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Panel Set Up To Examine NCERT Textbooks Submitted Report And NCERT To Hold Consultations On Thorat Report
A panel of prominent educationists and academicians headed by the former UGC chairman, S.K. Thorat, set up by the Centre to review the NCERTs Political Science textbooks for schools has submitted its report. It recommended the removal of 21 cartoons and words from the Social Science and Political Science textbooks for Classes IX-XII., which, as per report, are ambiguous, negative or showed politicians and bureaucrats in an incorrect way. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) decided to hold further consultations on the S.K. Thorat Committee report, though the NCERT has left it to the National Monitoring Committee (NMC) to take the final call on the fate of the review committees report. It is for the first time that the Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) has been developed jointly by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GOI and the WHO Country Office for India. Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad launched the World Health Organisations New country cooperation strategy with India (2012-17). The CCS has identified strategic priorities including promoting access to and utilisation of affordable, efficiently networked and sustainable quality services by the entire population, financial protection and helping to confront the new epidemiological reality of India to contribute meaningfully to the national health policy and governments health agenda. Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Prime Minister, along with Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit announced the launch of the first Food Bank as part of the India Food Banking Network (IFBN) with the goal of making India hunger-free by 2020 and by 2020 every district of India has access to a Food Bank. Master Tips
IFBN: IFBN is as an effort to bring the government, private sector, and NGOs together to fight hunger and malnutrition in the country and better hunger relief management. The idea for IFBN emerged from discussions with the Global Food Banking Network in Chicago. Food banks are operational in more than 30 countries globally.
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Union Govt Clears the Proposal to Replace Word Rape with Sexual Assault
A proposal to replace the word rape with the phrase sexual assault has been approved by the Union Cabinet paving the way for making it a gender-neutral offence and identified acid attacks as a separate offence punishable by a maximum of ten years. It has also been decided by the Cabinet that minors will be defined uniformly as a person below 18 years in both Cr. P.C. and IPC, which is now the legal age for minors.
Master Tips
After horrendous Delhi gang rape incident of 16th Dec 2012 involving one minor as accused, the age for minority is being debated. So keep a watch over it. Also the minors are treated under Juvenile Justice Act 2000 and Juvenile Justice Boards hear such cases involving Juveniles.
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The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been established under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which consolidates various acts & orders that have hitherto handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments which came up with the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011.
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As per the All-India Council for Technical Education (Establishment of Mechanism for Grievance Redressal) Regulations, 2002, issued by AICTE, each technical university shall appoint an ombudsman whose order would be mandatory, and failure of compliance could lead to withdrawal of AICTE approval and withdrawal of grants or financial assistance from the Council. The regulations have been issued even as two Bills related to curbing malpractices are pending in Parliament viz. Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical, Medical Educational charging capitation fee, and overpricing of prospectus a criminal offence and the Educational Tribunals Bill for dispute redressal.
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The Delhi government on September 10, 2012 decided to impose a blanket ban on the manufacture, sale, storage and use of plastic bags in the national capital.
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PISA : The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), introduced by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), tests the learning levels of 15-year-olds.
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The campaign is a global movement launched to stop violence against women. According to the data released by the United Nations showed that globally one out of every three women was beaten up or raped or both. Statistically, that meant more than a billion women were victims of violence, sexual or otherwise.
In a move to curb multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) cases caused mostly because of irregular medication, the government has decided that relevant medicines will be available for free at all chemist shops and corporate hospitals. The scheme will be rolled out across the country by March 2013. A patient, confirmed positive for TB by a qualified doctor, simply needs to register with the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP). The patient will then be issued a unique ID which will have all information on medicines prescribed and the dosage. The government presently spends about Rs 250 crore on providing free medicines to TB patients. The new scheme will cost about Rs 100 crore more.
United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi has launched the Delhi governments ambitious food security programme, Dilli Annshree Yojana, a direct benefit transfer system and described it as a first-of-its kind food security scheme integrated with the UID Aadhar in the country.
Delhi government had decided to provide assistance to 25 lakh people under the first phase. The purpose of this scheme is to make sure that the governments money being disbursed in pension, scholarship, MNREGA wage payment and social benefit schemes reached the beneficiaries directly, without any delay.
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The scheme, under which a monthly cash subsidy of Rs. 600 will be directly transferred to the bank account of the senior most female member of 2 lakh poor families, will help eradicate hunger from the country.
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The One Billion Rising campaign was launched in Rajasthan on December 10, the International Human Rights Day.
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3.0 International & Bilateral Updates New Non-Permanent UNSC Members ELECTED
The General Assembly elected Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan and Togo to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms from 1 January 2012 to 31 Dec 2013. P 5 France USA China The UK Russia UNSC Non-permanent member country 1 Jan 201231 Dec 2013 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Azerbaijan Guatemala Morocco Pakistan Togo UN Secretary-General The current Secretary-General is Ban Ki-moon of South Korea, who is serving his 2nd term The Presidency of the Security Council is held in turn by the members of the Security Council in the English alphabetical order of their names. Each President holds office for one calendar month. Indias term of non-permanent membership terminates from Jan 2013. The UN General Assembly on October 18, 2012 elected the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Luxembourg to a two-year term in the UN Security Council (UNSC) and two joined Argentina, Australia and Rwanda, which were elected earlier, to serve as new non-permanent members of the powerful UN body, UNSC for the duration from 1 Jan 2013 to 31 Dec 2014. 1 Jan 2013 31 Dec 2014 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Korea Luxembourg Argentina Australia Rwanda
Master Tips
The UN Security Council (UNSC) is composed of 5 permanent members (P-5) and 10 nonpermanent members elected for 2 years term by General Assembly and not eligible for immediate re-election. The number of non-permanent members was increased from six to ten by an amendment of the Charter which came into force in 1965. Currently, UN General Assembly has 193 member states. South Sudan became the 193rd member state. Palestine was recognized as a non-member state on 29 November 2012.
Veto Power : Each Council member has one vote. Decisions on procedural matters are made by an affirmative
vote of at least nine of the 15 members. D ecisions on substantive matters require nine votes, including the concurring votes of P-5. This is the rule of great Power unanimity, often referred to as the veto power.
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Most recently, the U.S. automobile industry has been caught in the crossfire. As per the U.S. Trade Representative, Washington would be challenging Chinas imposition of anti dumping and countervailing duties on more than $3 billion in exports of Americanproduced automobiles. Once it gains traction at the WTO, this dispute would represent the third instance of the U.S. formally complaining about alleged misuse of trade remedies by China during the Obama administrations time in office.
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The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) , which commenced in 1948. Most of the issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations, especially from the Uruguay Round (19861994). The organization is attempting to complete negotiations on the Doha Development Round, which was launched in 2001 with an explicit focus on addressing the needs of developing countries.
The headquarters of the International Sericultural Commission (ISC), an apex intergovernmental body of 13 silk producing countries is being shifted to Banglore, India. The ISC headquarters, which is presently located in Lyon, France, is being shifted to India for the first time as the Central Silk Board (CSB) Member-Secretary and bureaucrat Ishita Roy has been elected ISC Secretary-General.
With the ratification of agreement by The Federation Council , Russias Upper House of Parliament, Russia joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as its 156th member after 18 years of negotiations on August 22, 2012. The worlds ninth largest, $1.9 trillion Russian economy was the biggest still outside the WTO.
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Procedure to join WTO: Countries joining the body have to agree terms with all existing members and bring their laws into line with WTO rules. Once they have received the green light for membership, they must ratify their membership deal. They have to notify the WTO that they have done so and membership follows automatically 30 days later. Other countries that are not WTO members include Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Belarus, Algeria, Bosnia, Serbia, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
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Special drawing rights (SDRs) are supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets defined and maintained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Not a currency, SDRs instead represent a claim to currency held by IMF member countries for which they may be exchanged. It is worth noting that a members quota in the IMF determines in capital subscription, its voting power, its access to IMF financing, and its allocation of SDRs. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization that was created on July 22, 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference and came into existence on December 27, 1945. It is an organization of 188 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.
China has allowed imports of basmati rice from India. It had banned the import because of issues of pest control.
Myanmars opposition leader and Nobel peace Laureate Aung Suu Kyi made her historic parliamentary debut on July 9, 2012, marking a new phase in her nearly a quarter century struggle to bring democracy to her army-dominated homeland. Suu Kyi will join fellow members of her National League for Democracy (NLD). The NLD has 37 members in the lower house of parliament.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had visited Myanmarese capital Nay Pyi Taw, towards the end of May 2012 for 3 days which was aimed at improving economic ties with a country that is just beginning to emerge from decades of isolation and is seeking to normalise ties with the outside world. The visit is significant in order to strengthen Look East Policy of India. Pacts Signed Between India and Myanmar: MoU on the India-Myanmar Border Area Development.
MoU on Establishment of Rice Bio Park at the Department of Agricultural Research in Nay Pyi Taw. MoU towards setting up of Myanmar Institute of Information Technology. MoU on establishing of Border Haats across the border between Myanmar and India.
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African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki said the parties had until Sept 22 to resolve all their conflicts. The two sides, deeply mistrustful of each other, have often not implemented previous agreements and still need to mark their 1,800 km border and resolve charges both have made of supporting rebels in the others territory.
Sudan & South Sudan Row Over Oil Rich ABYEI Region
The 2012 South Sudan-Sudan border war was an armed conflict between the nations of Sudan and the South Sudan in 2012 over oil-rich regions between the both.
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South Sudan is newly formed country, UNs 193rd nation with capital at Juba after decades of civil war. Sudan has its capital at Khartoum where white and Blue Nile, two tributaries of river Nile meet.
Irans principal oil terminal on Kharg Island in the Gulf has been disconnected from the Internet along with facilities in other parts of the country after massive virus attack and a cyber crisis team has been set up. The Kharg terminal handles 90 per cent of Irans oil exports.
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Iran has already suffered a massive cyber assault in 2010 by a worm called Stuxnet that reportedly dealt a big blow to the countrys nuclear programme. Stuxnet, homed in on computers running uranium enrichment centrifuges at Irans nuclear facility in Natanz, destroying thousands of them and setting the atomic programme back months.
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The oil rich region Heglig is well under controlled of the Republic of Sudan. Certain areas involved, notably Abyei, are claimed by both sides as part of their sovereign territory.
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Exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is a seazone prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the states territorial sea out to 200nautical miles from its coast.
Japan summoned Chinese ambassador in Tokyo and lodged a formal protest with China after three Chinese patrol boats were spotted in waters of disputed islands in the East China Sea, over which both countries claim sovereignty. The strain emerged as their Foreign Ministers met in Phnom Penh, on the sidelines of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting, where Chinas territorial disputes with many of its neighbours are in focus. Separately, China has come under pressure from ASEAN countries to adopt a code of conduct to defuse tensions in the disputed South China Sea, in the wake of recent tensions with the Philippines and Vietnam.
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The disputed island is called as Senkaku Islands by Japanese and Diaoyu Islands by Chinese.
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Diaoyu (As per China)
Vietnam, which had earlier angered China by entering into joint exploration projects with India and Russia, described the offer from the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) as illegal. Vietnam said the blocks were located within Vietnams 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.
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If the proposed Railway line is transformed into reality than trade with Afghanistan may also be possible, since there is well established surface route from Chah Bahar port to Zarang Lake (Border of Afghanistan).
Zarang- Delaram Highway developed by Indi a in Afghanistan will be utilized for transportation in Afghanistan.
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) amended its rules on obtaining classified tax information by partner-countries which would ease the disclosure norms to help nab tax evaders and stub the black money menace across the world. Article 26 of the model tax convention, which stands for the international standard on exchange of information related to financial data, including instances of black money and money laundering, has been amended. The OECD has sought to allow the member countries to obtain information about a group of tax payers from another country, without verifying their identities separately.
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Institute for Engineers
OECD: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international economic organization of 34countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries.
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This Int ernat io nal Nort h- South Transport Corridor will have its starting point from JNPT Port in Mumbai, and sea route till Iran, then a railway link will be established between Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and it will finally reach Russia.
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UNESCO inscribed Ta Prohm on the World Heritage List in 1992. Today, it is one of the most visited complexes in Cambodiaa Angkor region. The sights at the Ta Prohm Buddhist monastic complex, built by Cambodian king Jayavarman VII around 1181 CE in Siem Reap province can leave visitors benumbed.
The Syrian civil war, also referred to as the Syrian uprising, is an ongoing internal armed political conflict in Syria. The conflict began on 15 March 2011 with public demonstrations as part of the wider Arab Spring and developed into a nationwide uprising and a civil war in 2012. Protesters have demanded the end to nearly five decades of Baath Party rule, as well as the resignation of President Bashar al - Assad. Arab League, United States, European Union, GCC states & other countries have condemned use of violence against the protesters. China & Russia have opposed attempts to agree to a UN resolution condemning Assads actions and advised against sanctions, saying that such methods could escalate into foreign intervention. The Arab League suspended Syrias membership over the governments response to the crisis, but sent an observer mission in December 2011, as part of its proposal for peaceful resolution of the crisis. A further attempt to resolve the crisis has been made through the appointment of former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a special envoy. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had repeatedly stated that the Syrian conflict could emerge into an all-out civil war. On 15 July 2012 the International Committee of the Red Cross assessed the Syrian conflict as a non-international armed conflict (the ICRCs legal term for civil war), thus applying the international humanitarian law under the Geneva Conventions in Syria.
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Nasheed was elected in 2008 with a sweeping majority, in the first multi-party elections in the countrys history. His election marked the end of 30 years of autocratic rule by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, during which Nasheed was arrested and detained several times and also forced to live abroad for several years.
Master Tips
The Maldives, with a mostly Sunni Muslim population of 330,000, is one of the poorest countries in the region. It depends mainly on tourism and exporting dried fish. Tourism generates two-thirds of the countys GDP of about $1 billion. Many daily needs including food, clothes and energy have to be imported.
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Coup in Guinea-Bissau
On 12 April 2012, following the first round of a presidential election, elements of the armed forces staged a coup in Guinea-Bissau, just over two weeks before the second round between Carlos Gomes Junior and Mohamed Iala Embalo. On 15 April, an agreement was reached to set up an interim National Transitional Council with a majority of opposition parties and the military.
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Tahrir Square is a major public town square in Downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square was originally called Ismailia Square but after the Egyptian Revolution of 1919 the square became widely known as Tahrir (liberation) Square.
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The Fiscal Compact (formally, the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union; also referred to as TSCG or more plainly the Fiscal Stability Treaty) is an intergovernmental treaty that was signed by all of the member states of the European Union (EU) except the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom on 2 March, 2012. The treaty will enter into force for all ratifiers, on the first day of the month following its ratification by the twelfth eurozone member; or provided that the twelfth eurozone member only complete its ratification after 1 January 2013 - it will on that time retrospectively enter into force by 1 January 2013. As per its provision, Fiscal Compact would require ratifying member states to enact laws requiring national budgets to be in balance or in surplus within the treatys definition. These laws must provide for a self-correcting mechanism to prevent their breach. The treaty defines a balanced budget as one which has a general budget deficit less than 3% of GDP and a structural deficit of less than either 0.5% or 1%, depending on a countries debt-to-GDP ratio. If the structural deficit for the annual account or budget is found to exceed those limits, the country will have to correct the issue within the timeline, nature and targeted size deemed as necessary by the European Commission. The treaty also places compliance with its budgetary and other requirements under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. This contrasts with the EU treaties Fiscal Autonomy which specifically exclude this jurisdiction. If ratified, a state found in breach of its obligations can ultimately be fined up to 0.1% of its GDP.
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The papers are expected to be prepared in six months and after consideration, the IONS will work towards evolving Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) that would be fine-tuned with table top exercises. In the backdrop of the Kochi-incident that led to the killing of two Indian fishermen, the then Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Verma underscored need to have an SOP in order to avoid recurrence of such tragic incident san clear guidelines for merchant veessels that transit through the Exclusive Economic Zones(EEZ). At the third edition of the IONS, initiative for which was taken by the Indian Navy in 2008, there has been a growth in participation, with 23 delegations from including four nations Brazil, France, Germany and Italy led by their Naval Chiefs taking part.
West African leaders have decided to send troops to coup-hit Mali and Guinea-Bissau to support their return to civilian rule and demanded coup leaders return to barracks in both countries. At an extraordinary summit in Ivory Coast, the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) also said the two countries must prepare for legislative and presidential elections within a year. Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, current head of ECOWAS, pledged a firm response to the instability to prevent sub-region from giving into terrorism and transnational criminality. The coup in Mali on March 22 allowed Tuareg separatist rebels and armed Islamist groups to take control of an area roughly the size of France in the remote desert north.
The U.N. Security Council has voted unanimously to maintain sanctions on Ivory Coast for another year, including an arms embargo and a ban on the import of rough diamonds from the West African nation. A resolution adopted by the council also renews financial sanctions and travel bans on political figures for violating human rights on blocking peace, including former President Laurent Gbagbo, who has been charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court.The resolution adopted extends sanctions until April 30, 2013.
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India has been made Chairman of the United Nations South Asian regional commission for tourism. This was announced at the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO, HQ: Madrid, Spain) Conference at Gyeongju, South Korea.
Elevations range from 2,814 metres (9,232 ft) in the north at Mount Hermon, to below sea level along the Sea of Galilee and the Yarmuk River in the south. The region attracts three million tourists a year and supplies Israel with one-third of its water. Approximately 10% of Syrian Golan Druze has accepted Israeli citizenship.
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political integration of the six Gulf monarchies as a hedge against the perceived threat from Iran and to counter any challenge posed by the possible intrusion of the Arab Spring into this energy rich zone.
Quake in Italy
The 5.8 magnitude quake added to the misery being felt in the Emilia Romagna region of towns north of Bologna, one of Italys most agriculturally and industrial protective areas. A powerful earthquake killed at least 15 people as it rocked a swath of northern Italy. Factories and churches collapsed, dealing another blow to a region where thousands are still homeless after a stronger quake just nine days ago.
Syrian opposition claims that 78 people, a majority of them women and children, were killed in cold blood by a pro-government militia after troops had shelled the village of Mazraat alQubeir. The Syrian government has denied the charges and attributed the killings to terrorists.
Afghan Quake
The 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck the Hindu Kush region, followed by a 5.7-quake. Both were felt as far away as the Afghan capital, Kabul, where buildings shook. Baghlan provinces Burka district, the site of the landslide, is a remote collection of mountain villages.
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Al-Qubeir, a small settlement of the Sunni Bedouin community, is surrounded by members of the Allawite sect, who have been mostly loyal to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
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India, and most other developing countries, strongly supports such a legally binding treaty currently being negotiated at World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) meeting in Geneva. The treaty would allow organisations working for the blind to import and export accessible works without seeking the copyright holders permission, since very little money is spent in developing countries on converting books into accessible formats, while they are much more readily available elsewhere.
Romanian President Traian Basescu escaped impeachment when a referendum on his removal from office fell short of the 50 per cent turnout threshold, despite a resounding vote for his dismissal. His arch rival, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta had led the efforts to push Mr. Basescu from office.
Somalias Constituent Assembly endorsed a draft constitution billed as a key step to ending decades of civil war. The Horn of Africa countrys outgoing government hailed the end of an eight-year interim period. The special assembly chosen by traditional elders in a U.N. - backed process took eight days to debate and votes on the new Constitution, as the graft-riddled government approaches the end of its mandate on August 20. Key steps in the fragile political process remain, including a new Parliament to be selected by traditional elders, with that Parliament to subsequently elect a new President.
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The Battle of Aleppo is an ongoing military confrontation in Aleppo, Syria between the Free Syrian Army a nd the Syrian military. The battle began on 19 July 2012 as a part of the Syrian civil war. The scale and importance of the battle has led to the battle being referred as the mother of all battles.
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Aleppo, located in northwestern Syria 310 kilometers from Damascus, is the largest city in Syria and holds great strategic and economic importance. For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Istanbul and Cairo.
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Tipaimukh Dam is a proposed embankment dam on the river Barak in Manipur state in India for the purpose of flood control and hydroelectric power generation. The project has led to controversy between India and Bangladesh over water rights as well as controversy with Manipuri people to be relocated by the reservoir. Bangladeshi experts have said the massive dam will disrupt the seasonal rhythm of the river and have an adverse effect on downstream agriculture and fisheries. The government of Bangladesh has decided to send an expert team to the Dam area to examine the features and likely impact of the dam on the flow of water into the Surma and the Kushiara.
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Under the treaty Russia and Norway will equally divide the long contested 176,000 sq. km. zone that lies off their Arctic coastlines and is believed to be rich in oil and gas thus paving the way for joint energy projects between the two countries. It is the 2nd most important border pact postSoviet Russia signed with its neighbours after the border delimitation treaty with China.
Hurricane Ernesto
Ernesto, the second hurricane of the Atlantic season, has made landfall along the southern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula near Mahahual, Mexico. The Categ ory 1 hurricane was located about 40 miles east nor theast of Chetu mal, Mexico, w ith maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour (140 km per hour).
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Eastern Barents Sea Shlokman gas field Murmanks Russias Preferred maritime border Russia
Naryan-Mar
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Cyclones with wind velocity less than 39 mph is not named but become named tropical storms when their winds reach more than 39 mph. They become hurricanes when winds exceed 74 mph.
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Organisation Of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is an international organisation consisting of 57 member states. It tries to be the collective voice of the Muslim world and to safeguard the interests and ensure the progress and well-being of its member countries in an atmosphere of international peace. The official languages of the OIC are Arabic, English and French.
The Chinese made CRH380 bullet train recorded a world record speed of 420 km per hour. Chinas high-speed rail network now stretches over 7,431 km. The government plans to expand the network to over 16,000 km by 2020. Investment in the high-speed rail network has gathered pace since the first line, connecting Beijing with the port city Tianjin, opened in 2008. China in 2010 unveiled the worlds fastest bullet train, which will connect two of the countrys industrial hubs travelling at an average speed of 350 km per hour. The high-speed rail link between Shanghai and Hangzhou, reduced the travelling time from 78 minutes to 45 minutes to cover the 200-km distance. China has also begun the 1,318-km high-speed rail line linking the countrys two most important cities - Beijing and Shanghai reducing the travel time between the capital and the financial centre half, to just 5 hours.
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China has successfully conducted a test run of the worlds longest high-speed railway between Beijing and Guangzhou, ahead of the launch of the 2,298-km- long line on December 26, 2012. Running at an average speed of 300 km per hour, it only took two-and-a-half hours for the train to cover the 693 km distance from Beijing to Zhengzhou that links the countrys capital and the southern economic hub. This is the longest high-speed network after China launched the Beijing-Shanghai bullet train in 2011 which brought down travel time to around five hours covering over 1,300 km distance between two of Chinas largest cities.
Fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese government forces has displaced nearly half a million people since April. Regional leaders last month brokered a deal for a neutral force to be set up to take on Congobased rebel groups. But the heads of state of east and central African nations meeting to discuss the eastern Congo crisis were divided over whether the troops for a mission to Congo would be drawn from regional countries alone, or would be an international force.
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Rwanda and Uganda, under pressure from the West to cut all links to the M23 insurgency, want a regional force to tackle the rebels. But Congo has in the past resisted such calls, favoring an expanded role for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo. Rwanda has denied accusations by U.N. experts that its military officials have provided equipment and recruits for the M23 rebellion. Uganda has also rejected similar accusations.
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Roma is a nomadic community of some 12 million living in Eastern Europe, particularly in Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary. An estimated 15-20,000 Roma live in France. While Roma make up a tiny percentage of Frances immigrant population, their nomadic lifestyle and some resorting to pick-pocketing and aggressive begging have made them the subject of controversy. Sarkozys government repatriated thousands of Roma to Romania but many took advantage of porous European Union borders to return to France, having pocketed aid for departure from the French state of 300 euros ($370) each.
The Cayman Islands is proposing the never before, a direct tax on expatriates to help fix the budget woes of the British territory. The proposed community enhancement fee is effectively a 10% payroll tax on all foreign workers earning income over US $24,000 in the Cayman Islands. The business community in the Cayman Islands raised voice, with some calling for a public protest against taxation without representation.
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Cayman Islands, a beach-lined group of islands south of Cuba is a British Overseas Territory located in the western Caribbean Sea. It has long relied on the no direct taxation model as a cornerstone of its lucrative financial industry and known as a tax haven for the mega rich around the world and home to most of the worlds hedge funds. It was in the news in India due to government of Indias efforts on curbing the black money and tax evasion and also due to the visit of then President of India, Ms. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil.
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International & Bilateral Updates Japan was the 3rd biggest user of atomic energy before the disaster.
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In abandoning atomic power Japan aims to triple the share of renewable power to 30 per cent of its energy mix but will remain a top importer of oil, coal and gas for the foreseeable future.
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Irans parliament has backed a draft law to block the Strait of Hormuz, threatening to close the Gulf to oil tankers in retaliation against European sanctions on Iranian crude. As per proposed law, if the sanctions continue, the countries that have imposed sanctions have no right to cross the Strait of Hormuz without harm.
Strait of Hormuz is a strategic geographic location in the Gulf region through which 40 percent of the world's seaborne oil exports passes. A heavy Western naval presence in the Gulf and surrounding area is a big impediment to any attempt to block the vital shipping route. (Refer Map)
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The United Nations General Assembly on November 29, 2012 has recognized Palestine as an Observer State, largely means a symbolic up gradation in status that drew criticism and Potential financial Penalties from the US and Israel. The most significant ramification is that the Palestinians will be able to speak at UN meetings and can join United Nations agencies.
UN General Assembly votes 138/9 to recognize Palestine as a non-member observer state. What does it mean? Gives international backing the Palestinian demand for sovereignty over lands Israel occupied in 1856. Palestinians will be able to join UN agencies, sign treaties, for going after Israel for alleged war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Limited Power: Wont grant independence to 4.3 m Palestinians who live in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza-Strip. Palestinian observers can speak as UNGA meets, take part in procedural votes, sponsor and sign resolutions. Cannot vote on resolutions and other substantive matters.
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Leaders of ASEAN signed a controversial Human Right Pact in their annual summit held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on November 18, 2012. They had also focused on territorial disputes among nations and Myanmars deadly unrest. Head of the 10-members Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced their declaration on human rights as a landmark agreement that would help to protect the 600 million people of ASEAN.
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The Malala Fund for Girls Right to Education aims at raising billions of dollars to ensure that all girls go to school by 2015 in line with UN Millennium goals.
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India and Japan on November 16, 2012 inked two agreements including one that will reduce Tokyos dependence on China for key material that is vital for producing a range of high tech products. The other dealSocial Security Agreement will benefit about 30,000 citizens of both countries. About 22,000 Indians are working in Japan and about 8,000 Japanese are working in India.
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Japan and India, has signed a Bilateral Swap Agreement (BSA) which enables both countries to swap their local currencies, that is, either Japanese yen or Indian rupee against the U.S. dollar for an amount up to $15 billion. The Bank of Japan (BOJ), acting as the agent for the Ministry of Finance of Japan, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) concluded a Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA) between Japan and India. The BSA would be effective for a three-year period. The BSA was signed by Governor Masaaki Shirakawa of the BOJ and Governor D. Subbarao of the RBI and become effective as of December 4, 2012. In the past, both countries had a similar arrangement for an amount up to $3 billion for three years from June 2008 to June 2011.
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Currency Swap : A currency swap is a foreign-exchange agreement between two institutes to exchange aspects (namely the principal and/or interest payments) of a loan in one currency for equivalent aspects of an equal in net present value loan in another currency.
Polaris India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based off-road vehicle maker Polaris Industries, has launched a new vehicle RANGER RZR XP 900. Polaris India has recently announced its tie up with HDFC Bank to provide easy financing solutions to its customers.
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Maldives President Mohamed Waheed has denied the suggestion in the media that China nudged his country to push out the Male airport operator, Indian multinational company GMR. Dr. Waheed said that Maldives was not looking for a foreign investor to develop the Ibrahim Nasir Airport in Male, rather Maldives was looking at developing a few domestic airports through Joint Ventures and partnerships. To drive home his point that no other Indian project had been affected, he said that Maldives had been discussing projects with other Indian firms, such as the Tatas.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced a new joint venture project in Bhutan which will give the State 1,500 to 2,000 MW of additional power within the next five years. He said Haryana is the first State in the country to have gone beyond national frontiers and signed a mutually collaborative understanding.
India and the United States have started an initiative to develop solar energy through photovoltaic (PV) projects and concentrated solar power
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The $50 million project, titled SERIIUS (Solar Energy Research Initiative of India and the United States), would be conducted by the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science and the Washingtonbased Na tiona l Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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Unlike traditional solar panels, CSP projects concentrate a large area of sunlight onto a small area of contained liquid. The liquid heats up, emits steam, and a generator converts the steam into electricity.
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The EU: The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 member states which are located primarily in Europe. Important institutions of the EU include the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the European Central Bank. The European Parliament is elected every five years by EU citizens. The EUs de facto capital is Brussels. With a combined population of over 500million inhabitants or 7.3% of the world population, the EU, in 2011, generated the largest nominal world GDP of 17.6 trillion US dollars, representing approximately 20% of the global GDP when measured in terms of purchasing power parity. Important Office Bearers of EU: President of the European Council: Herman Van Rompuy President of the European Commission: Jose Manuel Barroso President of Parliament: Martin Schulz
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Philippines Janine Tugonon was adjudged the first runner-up followed by Venezuelas Irene Esser. Ms. Culpo, has brought the title back to the U.S. after a decade. Brooke Lee was the last winner in 1997. Ms. Culpo was crowned by 2011 winner Leila Lopez of Angola. Indias Shilpa Singh made only to the top 16 spot.
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Asean Economic Minister Chair cum senior Commerce Minister of Cambodia Cham Prasidh has said the Association of South East Asian Nations and India are all set to elevate their ties to a strategic partnership. India became a sectoral dialogue partner of the grouping in 1992. The relationship was elevated to full dialogue partnership in 1996. Since 2002, the two sides have been holding annual summits. The framework of agreement on comprehensive economic cooperation (CECA) was signed in 2003 and the agreement on trade in goods in 2009. After the Commemorative Summit on Dec 20-21, 2012 in Delhi; India has become a strategic partner of ASEAN.
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ASEAN and six partners Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand will start first-round talks on the RCEP in 2013, which are expected to form the worlds economic bloc in 2015.
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Master Tips Currently, there are 42 tiger reserves in India which are governed by Project Tiger and administered by t he Na tiona l Tiger Conservation Authority.
Developed countries agreed to double the fund flow to developing countries by 2015 on the conclusion of the conference on October 20, 2012. Such funds will help the countries achieve the Aichi Targets, a set of 20 specific goals set two year ago in Nagoya, Japan, to half the rate of biodiversity loss and implement the strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 of the CBD.
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About the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): Opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and entering into force in December 1993, the CBD is an international treaty for the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of the components of biodiversity and the equitable sharing of the benefits derived from the use of genetic resources. With 193 Parties, the Convention has near universal participation among countries.
A new frog species with blue eyes has been discovered in the Eagle Nest Wildlife Sanctuary at Sessa in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh.
The frog, named Bompu after the locality in the sanctuary where it was found, is native to the forest streams at an altitude of 2,000 metres and lives under leaf litter and rotting logs.
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Dehradun-based naturalist Sanjay Sondhi, during a survey conducted as part of the Eagle Nest Biodiversity Project with the support of the State Forest Department, discovered the amphibian species early 2011.
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TamilNadu Odisha Rajasthan
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Himachal Pradesh Becomes 1st Smoke Free State in Country: Bags WHO SEAROS Award 2012
The World Health Organization (WHO) has conferred WHO-South East-Asia Regional Office (SEAROs) Award -2012 to Himachal Pradesh Government for its outstanding achievement in Anti Tobacco campaign.
The UN chief has announced an initiative to protect oceans from pollution and over-fishing and the combat rising sea levels which threaten hundreds of millions of the worlds people.
Project Wikiflora
The project Wikiflora aims to provide a platform to the research community such as scientists and teachers to share knowledge and findings on biological diversity by the model of citizen science, similar to Wikipedia. In order to digitalize information on Amazonian biodiversity, the Brazilian government signed a partnership agreement with the U.S. Company IBM.
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The US reclaimed the top spot in the world wide clean energy race in 2011. Because of policy uncertainty, however, its leadership is likely to be short-lived after a variety of clean energy programme expired at the end of 2011. Although, Chinas relatively flat year in 2011 cooled the rapid pace of growth in the Asian region, new opportunities are emerging in the flourishing markets of India, Indonesia, Australia and Japan. Clean Energy Investment in India: Clean energy investments in India increased 54% in 2011 to $ 10.2 billion. The wind sector in India led the way, attracting $ 4.6 billion and spurring deployment of 2.8 GW during the year. Indias pursuit of its National Solar Mission, which aims to deploy 20 GW of solar energy by 2020, is evident in the increase in investment to $ 4.2 billion.
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WGEA, once created, will have jurisdiction on the location of industry, and land-use planning. It will also be the final authority in declaring ecologically-sensitive areas, where facilities like storage dam wont be permitted.
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The Western Ghats have been identified as an extensive region, spanning over six states namely Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu which includes 44 districts, and 142 talukas.
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The commission has recommended that a panel of doctors may assess the extent of physical disability to classify the categories of victims. It has also called for a survey of other populations that may have been affected by the use of endosulfan, including in Palakkad, where there were reports of similar problems faced by villagers.
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Endosulfan is an off-patent organo-chlorine insecticide and acaricide that has been banned in some developed countries. Endosulfan became a highly controversial agro-chemical due to its acute toxicity, potential for bio-accumulation, and role as an endocrine disruptor. The Supreme Court has banned the manufacture, sale and use of toxic pesticide endosulfan in India.
The e-waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2011, notified in May 2011, will come into effect. Aim: To have reduction in the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment by specifying threshold for use of hazardous material including lead, mercury and cadmium. Applicability: These will apply to every producer, consumer or bulk consumer, collection centre, dismantler and recycler of e-waste involved in the manufacture, sale, and purchase and processing of electrical and electronic equipment or components. Sectors like information and telecommunications equipment and consumer electrical and electronics falling within the specified categories will have to ensure that the products do not contain lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, poly-brominated biphenyls or poly-brominated di-phenyl ethers above a specified threshold. The rules place the main responsibility of e-waste management on the producers of the electrical and electronic equipment by introducing the concept of extended producer responsibility (ERP). Note: These will not apply to lead acid batteries as covered under the Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011, micro and small enterprises as defined in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 (27 of 2006) and radio-active wastes as covered under the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 (33 of 1962).
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The spraying of endosulfan, which started in the late-1970s, had continued till 2001 rendering thousands of people disabled and diseased over the years. More than 4,000 people have already been identified as victims eligible for relief, and four-stage verification is on in case if 1,400 more applicants. The process includes medical examination by experts and confirmation of places of residence by the Revenue Department.
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The switch follows after intensive lobbying by the European gas industry, which is attempting to rebrand itself as a green alternative to nuclear and coal, and as lower cost than renewable forms of power such as wind and sun. But green groups warned that relying on gas would raise energy prices and fail to tackle climate change, and could fatally stunt the growth of the renewables industry.
Park, Assam, India, 2009-2011, says 118 tigers were recorded in the reserve over the three year-period. The figure includes six tigers which died during the monitoring period.
The study was a joint initiative of the Assam Forest Department and biodiversity conservation group Aaranyak. In 2011, it was carried out in collaboration with the wildlife Institute of India and WWF India.
The BioDIVA project to conserve traditional landraces, has been jointly undertaken by German and Indian researchers in Keralas Wayanad district. Aim: It seeks to promote agro-biodiversity, enabling small and marginal communities to preserve their traditional knowledge, make a living, and protect the environment. It is led by Martina Padmanabhan, a German agricultural sociologist based at the Institute for Environmental Planning of Leibniz University in Hannover. The team is one of 12 junior research groups funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research. The main partner in Wayanad district is the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) based in Chennai. Master Tips
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Keralss Wayanad district has large areas of paddy fields, with many rice landraces cultivated by indigenous tribes, who constitute a large part of the population.
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Kaziranga is one of the highest density tiger habitats in the country and has a healthy breeding source population. It has over 100 tigers, the estimate based on the annual monitoring carried out in 2009, 2010 and 2011 using the camera trap method. Master Tips The report, Tigers of the Kaziranga National
Kaziranga in Assam, famous for its onehorned rhinoceros, was declared a tiger reserve in 2008, covers over 1,000 square kilometers. The major prey for tiger there, according to the report, is hog deer, sambar, swamp deer, Asiatic wild buffalo and wild pigs.
Indigenous tribes of Wayanad district in Kerala are: Paniyas, Kurumas, Adiyars, Kurichyas, Ooralis, Kattunaikkans.
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The appellants argued the MoEF order was based on false information provided by the district collector, Khargone, who claimed there would be no submergence of lands and houses at 154 metres.
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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) was established under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, for speedy disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources. The 400 MW Maheshwar dam is Indias first privately financed hydro-electric project and is one of the 39 big dams being built across the Narmada River.
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Water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes), considered to be one of the worlds most destructive and unbeatable weeds, clogs up rivers, hydroelectric plants, waterways and entire lakes. Due to its ferocious biomass growth rate (up to 17 tonnes per hectare per day, doubling its biomass each week), water hyacinth colonises water bodies in a matter of days, laying dense carpets of flowers over the water. One flower produces up to 1,000 new plants in 50 days.
Indias National Solar Mission helps the country stimulate an impressive 62 per cent increase in investments to $12 billion during the year, the fastest investment expansion of any large renewables market in the world. According to report, Solar generation surged past wind power to become the renewable energy technology of choice for global investors in 2011. Solar attracted nearly twice as much investment as wind. Solar photovoltaic capacity moved rapidly into new regions and countries. India also finds place in the report at one among the seven countries of the world for renewable energy capacity, excluding large hydro, accounting for about 70 per cent of the total non-hydro renewable capacity worldwide. The other countries are China, the United States, Germany, Spain, Italy and Japan. By region, the European Union was home to nearly 37 per cent of the global non-hydro renewable capacity by the end of 2011. China, India and Brazil together accounted for roughly one-quarter.
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The report on renewable energy trends in 2011 , launched, by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century took the note of Indias initiative in the renewable energy sector and praised it.
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The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has made an amendment to make labeling of every package containing genetically modified food (GM food) mandatory from January 1, 2013. The move will impact the imported GM foods that are flooding the markets.
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Countrys first ever river linking project the Ken-Betwa river link was expected to be launched in the Bundelkhand region. However, it was abandoned last year after the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests refused environmental clearance, citing the probable submergence of major portions of the Panna Tiger Reserve. *Ken and Betwa are tributaries of River Yamuna.
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It needs to be reclassified as Critically Endangered or Endangered following its rediscovery that had not happened in this case.
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The Rs. 4-crore facility would cater to the needs of the northern States. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre would coordinate with the laboratory to assess the presence of heavy metals and hazardous materials drinking water. It would analyse the causes, besides suggesting remedies and viable alternatives to deal with the situation.
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Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh laid the foundation for a laboratory in Mohali, for the testing of drinking water.
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The existence of gold deposits in Zamfara along the border of Niger had been long known. But when gold prices soared in recent years that villagers began heading into the bush to search for it. Soon the poor herdsmen and farmers could sell gold for more than $23 a gram a huge sum in a country where most people live on less than $2 a day.
The Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that croplands in Niger and Mali are at imminent risk from desert locust swarms that are moving southward from Algeria and Libya. Locust-control efforts in the region were being hindered by continued insecurity along both sides of the Algerian-Libyan border. Political insecurity and conflict in Mali could also hamper monitoring and control efforts if the locusts reach that country. Locust infestations were first reported in southwest Libya near Ghat in January 2012 and in southeast Algeria. Niger last faced desert locust swarms during the 2003-05 plague that affected farmers in two dozen countries.
A pair of endangered Amur leopards has been spotted in north-eastern China, an indication that population of the extremely rare cat is recovering in the country. In 2007, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) concluded that Amur leopards were extinct in China and only 19 to 26 survived in Russia. It is the first time that field cameras caught two Amur leopards at the same time in northeastern Chinese province of Jilin, home to a quarter of all the rarest cats in the world. Amur leopards, classified by the IUCN as critically endangered, are in the highest risk category in IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. One of the reasons for the sighting is an improved habitat for the animals.
Countries Unhappy With Proposals, Yet Continue With Doha Talks (COP-18)
The climate talks continued at Doha with Conference of Parties (COP)-18 president Abdullah Bin Hamid Al Hattiyah of Qatar pushing for a conclusion, while accepting that everyone was unhappy with the proposals, but at the same time wanting an outcome. Conference Outcome: The Conference produced a package of documents collectively titled The Doha Climate Gateway over objections from Russia and other countries at the session. The documents collectively contained: An eight year extension of the Kyoto Protocol until 2020 limited in scope to only 15% of the global carbon dioxide emissions due to the lack of participation of Canada, Japan, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, New Zealand and the United States and due to the fact that developing countries like China (the worlds largest emitter), India and Brazil are not subject to any emissions reductions under the Kyoto Protocol. Language on loss and damage, formalized for the first time in the conference documents. The conference made little progress towards the funding of the Green Climate Fund.
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State MadhyPradesh ArunachalPr adesh Chhattisgarh Maharashtra Odisha 77,700sqkms 67,410sqkms 55,674sqkms 50,646sqkms 48,903sq kms
The Forest Survey of India (FSI), headquartered at Dehradun, Uttarakhand has been publishing a series of biennial assessment report the forest cover in the country since 1987. The India State of Forest Report 2011 is the twelfth report in the series. It is based on interpretation of satellite data recorded during October 2008-March 2009 from the indigenous IRS-P6-LISS III sensor of Resourcesat-1 on a resolution of 23.5m with a minimum mappable area of one hectare.
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SPACE ODYSSEY BIOTECH AND MEDICINE NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY COMPUTER, ITES AND MISCELLANEOUS
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Venus is always visible from Earth it appears either before sunrise (the morning star) or right after sunset ( the evening star ). But during transits, Venus, Earth and the Sun line up in space, causing Venus to appear as a black dot against the disc of the sun. Transits of Venus are truly rare. A pair of such events occurs every 105.5 or 121.5 years. The last event occurred in June 2004, and the next will occur 105 years from now, in December 2117.
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The ISRO would launch GSLV-II, which has a cryogenic third stage developed by the ISRO, by the end of year 2012 or early 2013. GSLV-I had a Russian cryogenic engine. Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) where GSLV Mark-III is being developed is P.S. Veeraraghavan. The United States under MTCR raised objections which prevented the transfer of cryogenic technology from Russia to India which led to indigenous development of cryogenic engine by ISRO.
The Indian Space Research Organisation, which has planned to put 3 satellites into the orbit with its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle towards the end of year 2012 and early 2013. ISRO will send its GSAT-14 with its indigenously developed Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle D-5 during early 2013. GSAT-14 satellite would have C-band communication transponders. Towards achieving self-reliance in the development of the Mark III engine for GSLV, the S-200 solid propellant motor would be subjected to static test, which would be the repeat of the successful test that was conducted in January 2010. There was a successful launch of Meghatropique satellite, an Indo-French joint venture, in September 2011. ISRO has reputed Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendra Giri which is now equipped with one more ultra-modern facility Thrust Chamber Test Facility for testing the GSLV Mark III engines cryogenic stage. In a major step, ISRO on May 12, 2012 successfully tested the indigenous engine to be used to propel the countrys Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The test was conducted at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendra Giri in Tamil Nadus Tirunelveli district.
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Luna-Glob: It is a proposed Russian lunar mission which is likely to take place in 2014. The lander for this mission is similar to the one flying on the Chandrayaan-2 which is called as Luna-Resource by the Russians.
The then President of India Pratibha Patil dedicated the new Mission Control Centre to the nation at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC SHAR) at Sriharikota. The new centre has been developed with state-of-the-art facilities to meet the requirements for the launch of the Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III and future missions of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
A 3,400-kg GSAT 10, an Indian communication satellite, has been launched with 30 transponders aboard byAriane-5ECAcarrier rocket in September 2012. It had only C-band transponders, and included a navigation payload to augmentGAGANcapacity. It is to provide communication services in India. The commercial operations start from February 2013. Indias first indigenously built all-weather Radar Imaging Satellite, RISAT-1, with applications ranging from agriculture to natural disaster management, is now in polar orbit after its carrier, the PSLV-C19, was launched successfully from the Sriharikota spaceport of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). RISAT-1 weighing 1858 kg, the heaviest satellite launched yet by the PSLV, is a state-of-the-art Active Microwave Remote Sensing Satellite carrying a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) that will operate in the C-band. The RISAT-1 with magical roving eyes of SAR can beam back clearer imaging of the earth surface features at day and night and under all imagined weather conditions thus making it superior to the generation of optical remote sensing satellites.
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PSLV-C19 is the 21st flight in the PSLV series of satellite launches, the 20th consecutive successful launch and the third to involve the high-end version (PSLV-XL). The two earlier flights of the PSLV-XL were used to launch Chandrayaan-1 in October 2008 and the GSAT-12 communication satellite in July 2011. The rocket is called PSLV-XL ( XL stands for extra-large) because it used six more powerful strap-on motors than those used in the standard PSLV version. If the normal PSLV versions six strap-on motors each use 9 tonnes of solid propellants, each of them in the PSLV-XL use 12 tonnes of propellants.
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Vega, the brightest star in the constellation Lyra is a summer star in the Northern Hemisphere and is just visible toward the west at sunset at 25 light years away.
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The Nile, is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world of 6,650kms. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile meeting at Khartoum, capital of Sudan. The Nile ends in a large delta that empties into the Mediterranean Sea.(Refer Map for clarity.)
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Australia on October 5, 2012 unveiled a colossal radio telescope that will allow astronomers to detect distant galaxies and explore the depths of the universe with unprecedented precision. The Australian SKA Pathfinder telescope, at the remote Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in the Western Australian desert, is made up of 36 antennas, each 12 metres in diameter.
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SUMIs short-lived flight of 8 min is important for NASA because the instrument contained an ultraviolet light sensor, allowing scientists to catch a glimpse of th e Suns chromospheres an area of the suns lower atmosph ere that is difficu lt for other instruments as these can only detect visible or infrared light, giving them a more limited view of the solar activity taking place.
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Russias Federal Space Agency Roscosmos announced that the spacecraft departed successfully from the carrier rocket and reached intermediate orbit. The Soyuz TMA spacecraft docked with the ISSs Zvezda service module.
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China Set to Launch Manned Space MISSION: Female Astronaut Liu Yang in Space
China will launch a manned spacecraft, aimed at giving the country a permanent space station by 2020. The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and its carrier rocket have already been moved to the launch platform at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre Gobi desert in northwest China, Xinhua. The mission would involve three astronauts manually docking with the Tiangong-1 module currently orbiting the Earth. Chinas Shenzhou-9 spacecraft returned to Earth, ending a mission that put the countrys first woman in space and completed a manned docking test critical to its goal of building a space station by 2020. The spacecrafts gumdrop-shaped return capsule descended to Earth by parachute and touched down in Chinas northwestern inner Mongolia region with its three-member crew, including female astronaut Liu Yang.
China has also joined an elite group of nations in launching its own global navigation system, called Compass or Beidou, which will function similar to the American Global Positioning System (GPS), and will be used by both the Chinese military and to develop the telecommunications industry.
China successfully launched its first space laboratory module, a key first step in its objective of becoming only the third country, after Russia and the United States, to assemble its own space station by 2020. The 8.5-tonne Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace, laboratory module has a 15 cubic metre space where 2 or 3 astronauts can work and live. The unmanned module, launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in north-western China, will dock with a spacecraft, Shenzhou-8 after orbiting the earth for about a month. China has, in recent years, offered its Long March rockets to launch more than 20 satellites for a number of countries, according to reports in the official media. Chinas mission to achieve a first-ever docking exercise in space, part of plans to build its own space station, was a complete success, as the unmanned Shenzhou-8 aircraft returned to Earth following a more than month-long docking exercise. Shenzhou-8 rendezvoused and docked with the Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace, space laboratory module. China is now only the third nation, after the United States and Russia, to achieve a docking in space, though it trails both nations, which completed this feat more than 3 decades ago. Following Shenzhou-8s success, China will launch 3 more spacecraft next year, with at least one of them a manned mission. The successful docking, would pave the way for Chinas launching of its won manned space station by 2020. That is the same year the International Space Station (ISS) is brought down a coincidence of events seen by analysts as reflecting Chinas resurgence and the Wests decline in space programmes.
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Shuttle Columbia crashed in 2003 resulting into death of all 7 crew members on board including Indian Kalpana Chawala.
MACE (Major Atmospheric Cerenkov Experiment) Telescope, the 21-meter instrument, the worlds largest telescope at the highest altitude is being established at Hanle, Ladakh which would enable the study of high energy cosmic gamma-ray bursts from pulsars and stars to find out more about the secrets of universe. Hyderabad based Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) is executing the entire project and manufacturing the telescope for Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). The indigenously-built telescope would be remotely operated and powered by solar energy. Its mirrors have an accuracy of 50 nanometers. The telescope would be operational from next year. The telescope is coming up on the campus of Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) at Hanle. Close to the proposed MACE site, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore is operating Himalayan Chandra Optical Telescope (HCOT). A seven element wave front sampling gamma-ray telescope HAGAR (High Altitude Gamma Ray Telescope) was also jointly established by IIA and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). The close proximity of the telescopes would help in coordinated multi-wavelength studies of the cosmos.
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SpaceX, Space Exploration Technologies is the first of several U.S. competitors to try sending its own cargo-bearing spacecraft to the ISS with the goal of restoring U.S. access to space for human travelers by 2015. International Space Station (ISS) is a $100 billion project of 15 nations that flies some 240 miles above Earth.
The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) successfully launched on 13 June, 2012, is a space-based X-ray telescope that will use a Wolter telescope to focus high energy Xrays from astrophysical sources, especially for nuclear spectroscopy, and will operate in the range of 5 to 80 keV. It is the 11th mission of the NASA Small Explorer satellite Programme (SMEX-11) and the first space-based direct-imaging X-ray telescope at energies beyond those of the Chandra Xray Observatory and XMM-Newton. To conduct a deep survey for black holes a billion times more massive than the sun. To understand how particles are accelerated to within a fraction of a percent below the speed of light in active galaxies. To understand how the elements are created in the explosions of massive stars by imaging the remains, which are called supernova remnants.
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The launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida, carrying the unmanned Dragon and over half a tonne of cargo toward the orbiting lab, marked the first attempt to send a privately built spacecraft to the research outpost, where it plans to do a fly-under followed by a berthing.
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Dragons launch was the third successive flight of SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket, which debuted in June 2010. Flying three times successfully was among the criteria the company needed to meet to become eligible to compete for military business under a new program designed to draw competition into a field now monopolized by United Lunch Alliance, a partnership of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
The U.S. space agency launched a first-of-its kind satellite that will send back data on weather and climate to help forecasters predict major storms and other changes in the environment which will circle the Earth at a height of 820 km in a polar orbit. The $1.5-billion National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) took off aboard a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It is one of 14 Earth observation missions currently being managed by NASA which will study temperature and water in the atmosphere, how clouds and aerosols affect temperature, and how plants on land and in the ocean respond to environmental changes. The NPP will help fill in data gaps left by European weather observatories.
The 2 small spacecraft GRAIL A (Ebb) and GRAIL B (Flow) were launched on 10 September 2011 aboard a single launch vehicle, the most-powerful configuration of a Delta II, the 7920H-10. GRAIL A separated from the rocket about 9 minutes after launch, GRAIL B followed about 8 minutes later. They arrived at their orbits around the Moon 24 hours apart. The first probe entered orbit on 31 December 2011 and the second followed on 1 January 2012.
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The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) is an American lunar science mission in NASAs Discovery Program, which will use high-quality gravitational field mapping of the Moon to determine its interior structure.
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The European extremely large telescope (ELT) a, 1.1 billion-euro project to build the worlds largest optical telescope will go ahead after getting backing from most of its members of the European organization, European Southern Observatorys (ESO) which is overseeing it. The European extremely large telescope (ELT) hosted on top of the 3,060-metre Cerro Armazones Mountain in the Atacama Desert in Chile, will directly image planets outside the solar system and those orbiting other suns in so-called habitable zones to perhaps answer the question of whether there is life elsewhere in the universe. Key Features: It will use a mirror 39 meters in diameter that will give a more detailed and deeper view of the universe than ever before. Most large ground-based telescopes currently have mirrors eight to 10 meters across. The large mirror on the ELT, made up from nearly 800 hexagonal segments, will gather 12 times more light than the largest optical telescopes operating today. Participants and Partners: The European Southern Observatorys (ESO) council met at its headquarters in Garching, Germany, where 10 countries gave the project full or conditional support. Representatives from Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland voted to start the program while Belgium, Finaland, Italy, and the United Kingdom backed the project pending confirmation from their governments. The remaining four - Denmark, France, Portugal and Spain said they continue to work towards approval. Chile, which will play host to the telescope, is also involved. Brazil plans to join the ESO Council this year.
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Scientists have discovered that the most likely source of water on Moon is the constant stream of charged particles from the Sun known as the solar wind. The findings by researchers from the University of Michigan imply that ice inside permanently shadowed polar craters on the Moon, sometimes called cold traps, could contain hydrogen atoms ultimately derived from the solar wind.
5.2
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave its first ever nod for an anti-HIV drug, TRUVADA, to pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences. Truvada is tenofovir disoproxil fumarate. It has been marketed as a treatment for those already infected with HIV since 2004. Clinical studies demonstrated that the drug could prevent people from contracting the infection in the early 2010.
India joins the elite club of the countries to have developed a new drug SYNRIAM, indigenously for malaria on the occasion of World Malaria Day, 25th April. The drug, produced by Ranbaxy laboratories in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology and supported by the Indian Council for Medical Research, was formally introduced for marketing. New-age anti-malaria drug SYNRIAM will be used to treat uncomplicated plasmodium falciparum malarial in adults. It provides relief from most malaria-related symptoms, including fever and has a high cure rate of over 95 per cent. The dual-molecule combination drug conforms to the recommendations of World Health Organisation (WHO) and will be required to be taken only once a day for three days. Unlike artemisinin-based drugs, it has a synthetic source, the production of which can be scaled up whenever required and a consistent supply of the drug can be maintained at low cost.
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Malaria claims, half a million lives every year globally and India contributes to 77 per cent of the 2.5 million cases reported annually from South East Asia. Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium , which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells.
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In a major step forward in biotechnology research, a group of 300 scientists from across the world, including India, have sequenced the genome of tomato. The achievement is expected to lower the costs and speed up efforts to improve tomato production making it better equipped to combat pests and pathogens, and to tolerate droughts. The work is also expected to help in efforts to improve the productivity of other crops.
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Tomato belongs to a family of vegetables called Solanaceae, other members include potato, pepper and brinjal. The Tomato Genome Consortium was established after a scientific conference organised in 2003 in the U.S. Its members were drawn from the U.S., the U.K., China, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the Netherland, South Korea, Israel, Spain, Argentina, and Belgium.
An isolated outbreak of a deadly disease known as acute hemorrhagic fever, which killed two people and left one gravely ill in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the summer of 2009, was probably caused by a novel virus scientists have never seen before. The new microbe has been named Bas-Congo virus (BASV) after the province in the southwest corner of the Congo where the three people lived.
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The completion of the genome sequence was important for India, the worlds largest producer of bananas . However, most of the countrys production was consumed locally and exports amounted to only 0.5 per cent of the world trade in the fruit. So, enhanced productivity could boost the export.
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The ARCHON GENOMICS X prize will award $10 million to the first team that sequences the complete genomes of 100 people aged 100 or older in 30 days or less, for no more than $1,000 each, and with an error rate of no more than 0.0001 percent.
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New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) is an enzyme that makes bacteria resistant to a broad range of beta-lactum antibiotics. These include the antibiotics of the carbapenem family, which are a mainstay for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.
Kinesio Tape
Athletic tape made in every color under the sun seems to be the latest must-have sports injury treatment at London 2012. It is called KINESIO tape and developed by a Japanese doctor more than 30 years ago; the adhesive strapping is designed to provide muscle and joint support without restricting movement.
Glycated Haemoglobin or HbA1c, a common test in urban Indian pathological labs to detect diabetes, has finally been endorsed by the World Health Organisation. HbA1c, a type of the red blood cell protein haemoglobin, forms when red cells are exposed to glucose in the plasma. A WHO report recommends the acceptability of HbA1c as an additional test to diagnose this debilitating disease that affects 220 million people worldwide and kills more than one million people annually, almost 80% of which occur in low-and middle-income countries. Almost half of diabetes deaths occur in people aged less than 70 years; 55% of diabetes deaths are in women.
The new Aspirin was dubbed NOSH, which stands for Nitric Oxide and Hydrogen Sulphide. The new Aspirin reduces the harmful side effects . Aspirin is effective against Cancer. But it can also cause bleeding in the gut and ulcers. The gas-filled Aspirin protects the gut from damage by producing nitric oxide and hydrogen sulphide. NOSH-aspirin was 100000 times more effective than the original drug.
The Centre has suspended the manufacture, sale and distribution of Letrozole for induction of ovulation in an anovulatory infertility with immediate effect, Letrozole is likely to involve risk to human beings and safer alternatives to the drugs are available. The suspension has been ordered under Section 26A of the Drugs and Cosmetic Act, 1940 after the government decided that it was necessary and expedient to regulate distribution of the drug in public interest.
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A scientist from Iran developed a gas-filled aspirin that can enhance the cancer-fighting ability of the drug.
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The developers hope the new technology, which reduces the time it takes to detect a pollutant from weeks to seconds, will sell to port authorities, water companies, aquariums and anyone with an interest in monitoring water quality. It could also have spin-offs for cleaning up oil spills, underwater security, diver monitoring or search and rescue at sea.
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In a test at the northern Spanish port of Gijon, a pollution-hunting ROBOT FISH developed by European scientists to improve pollution monitoring moved from the lab to the sea.
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Pigeon pea is the first non-industrial crop and the second food legume (after soybean) with a completed genome sequence.
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Once referred to as an orphan crop mainly grown by poor farmers, pigeon pea is also known as the poor peoples meat because of its high protein content, it provides as well-balanced diet when accompanied with cereals. The crop, grown on about 5 million hectares in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and SouthCentral America, is a very important food legume for millions of the poor in the semiarid regions of the world.
Stephen Quake, a Stanford genome pioneer and prolific inventor whose creative application of physics to biology has lead to multiple developments in drug discovery and genome analysis, has won the prestigious $500,000 Lemelson-MIT prize for outstanding innovators. Quake, a professor of bioengineering and applied physics has applied the technological principles of the Integrated circuit - a chip made of semiconductor material found in almost every modern electrical device - to biology.
Honey bees self-medicate when their colony is infected with a harmful fungus, with the help of antifungal plant resins to ward off the invader.
Scientists have used genome sequencing technology to control an outbreak of the superbug MRSA in a study that could point to faster and more efficient treatment of a range of diseases. MRSA, or Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, is a drug-resistant bacterial infection, or superbug, and major public health problem. When outbreaks occur in hospitals it can lead to the closure of whole wards and lengthy investigations. The bug kills an estimated 19,000 people in the United States alone each year, and even when the infections is successfully treated it can double the average length of a hospital stay and thereby increases healthcare costs.
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It also reveals clues on how the genomic sequence can be useful to crop improvement for sustainable food production, particularly in the marginal environments of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
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Nuclear Technology
A 10-meter long periscope manufactured by Coimbatore-based Visual Education Aids (VEA) for Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor was dedicated to Bhartiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam, was developed at a cost of Rs. 3.9 crore in two-and-a-half years. The periscope has capabilities of resolution of 0.2 mm line at a spacing of 0.5 mm for a target distance of 4 meters and could scan the area of interest, zoom the image, relay the image, focus and rotate the image. The periscope has provisions for simultaneous viewing through one eye piece and video recording through another eye piece.
With the Kudankulam nuclear project commissioned, Russia has agreed to extend a $3.4-billion credit for setting up 2 more 1,000-MW atomic power plants at the same site in Tamil Nadu. The two nations signed a protocol in Moscow for financing units 3 and 4 of the Kudankulam project, under which the Russian Federation will extend export credit amounting up to $3.4 billion for 85 per cent of the value of works, supplies and services provided by the Russian organisations for the two units. The protocol also has provisions for state export credit amounting to $800 million, at 4 per cent interest, for financing up to 85 per cent nuclear fuel and control assemblies. The estimated cost of building units 3 and 4 at Kudarkulam will be Rs. 32,000 crore, out of which Rs. 17,000 crore is expected to be met through the Russian state credit.
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The GCNEP would consist of 4 schools studying advanced nuclear energy systems, nuclear security, radiological safety, and applications of radio-isotopes and radiation technologies.
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Aakash is first in a series of Android-based tablet computers produced by British company DataWind. It is manufactured by the India-based company Quad, at a new production centre in Hyderabad.
The Centre has approved establishment of an autonomous research centre on Cryptology and Security at the Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata. This was announced by Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman of the Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council. This Institute has emerged as the nerve centre of research on cryptology in the country.
Major internet service providers (ISPs) in the country met the December 2011 deadline set by the government for making their networks capable of handling traffic under the new Internet address protocol IPv6. As per the IPv6 Task Force(which officially oversees the countrys transition from the old IPv4 protocol to the new one), almost all major ISPs had started providing enterprise IPv6 services and were working towards rolling out retail broadband services. The task force revealed its findings in its newsletter released on the eve of the World IPv6 Day on June 8, when several organizations and service-providers around the globe tested the functioning of the new protocol. In an attempt to replicate its Smartphone success in a tablet market where it faces stiff competition from Apple Inc, Microsoft and Amazon; Google Inc has unveiled its first tablet PC.
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The tablet PC is a 7-inch touch screen device with ARM 11 Processor, 256 MB RAM & Android 2.2 OS.
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HDTV
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The founding father of UHDTV, the Japanese broadcaster NHK believes that the most important UHDTV level is 8k, and hopes to start 8k broadcasting trials before the end of the decade in Japan. But other like Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, JVC, Dolby are developing 4k level equipment.
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High-definition TV (HDTV), comes in two formats 1280 720 pixels and 1920 1080 pixels (full HD) delivers pictures that are about 1-2 mega pixels in size. The 1st level of the 2 new standards of UHDTV picture sizes will be of the order of 8 mega pixels (3840 2160 pixels) and at the 2nd level, the pictures will be 32 mega pixels in size (7680 4320 pixels), These are called 4k and 8k UHDTV systems.
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704X480 or 720X480 pixels Less than 1 MP 1-2 mega pixels 1280 720 & 1920 1080(Full HD) pixels 3840 2160 pixels 7680 4320 pixels 8 mega pixels 32 mega pixels
Within next three years, yearly global internet traffic will be measured in Zettabytes (one trillion Gigabytes), which is a four-fold increase from today.
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The Union Cabinet approved the Information and Broadcasting Ministrys proposal to promulgate the Digitalization of Analogue Cable Systems Ordinance which will pave the way for phasing out of Analogue cable television in 3 years time to make the digitalization of cable services mandatory by 2014. The government is following through on the recommendations made by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in August 2010. Features and Targets: All customers must have a set top box whether they want to receive free-to-air or pay channels. They will be able to watch high quality channels of their choice on an ala carte basis, and are likely to have access to internet and telephone through the same digital cable.
The ordinance aims at complete digitalization of cable television in the 4 metros be March 31, 2012, which has been extended till 1st Nov 2012. The next target will be cities with over 10 lakh population and by the end of 2014; the entire country is expected to have phased out analogue cable TV.
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Broadcasters may be able to generate more revenue directly from subscribers, and thus reduce their dependence on TRPs and advertisers.
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The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of an autonomous organisation named North East Centre for Technology Application and Research (NECTAR) at Shillong, under the Department Of Science And Technology. The total expenditure involved will be Rs 292 crore during the 12th Plan period (2012-17). NECTAR would promote deployment of carefully selected technologies, emanating from the public funded research institutions under the union and state governments, in consultation with the respective state governments after assessing their application potentials.
A Japanese deep-sea drilling probe THE CHIKYU, operated by the Japan Agency for MarineEarth Science and Technology has set a world record for depth, reaching 25,400 feet below the sea surface. It was digging the seabed off Japans northern coast to take fault samples and study last years devastating earthquake and tsunami. As per agency, the probes drilling pipe hit the fault zone at 6,883.5 metres (22,600 feet) undersea before reaching the target of 7,740 meters, nearly 8 km deep.
Master Tips
Scientists had been chasing the Higgs boson, nicknamed the God particle for more than four decades. In July 2012 the team from the European nuclear research facility at CERN in Geneva announced the detection of a particle that fitted the description of the elusive Higgs. The boson is believed to give matter mass via an associated Higgs field that permeates space. Without the property of mass, the universe we live in could not exist. Scientists used the worlds biggest atom smashing machine, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) on the Swiss-French border, to track down the missing particle. Finding the Higgs topped the list of most important discoveries of 2012 released by Science, a prestigious scientific journal.
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The capture of the most wanted sub-atomic particle in physics - Higgs boson - has topped the chart of the years ten biggest scientific breakthroughs.
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The U.S. vessel Glomar Challenger had set the previous record of 23,130 feet below sea surface in the Marina Trench in 1978 as p er t h e r ec or d s o f M ar it im e organizations.
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Indian Defence Other Countries Defence
Agni-V
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The Indian Navy is slated to take delivery of the remaining ships of the Teg Class Tarkash and Trikand by September 2012 and mid-2013.
The Bombay High Court granted the permission to Navy for the destruction of INS Vindhyagiri, after the Navy said the warship might explode due to the presence of ammunition which could not be removed from the vessel. The ship has been grounded for more than a year since it collided with a merchant vessel, M.V. NORDLAKE in January 2011.
Two surface-to-air Akash missiles were test fired in quick succession from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, off the Odisha coast with one of them failing to hit the target and falling into the sea. Both the post-production tests were carried out as part of regular user exercises by Indian Air Force personnel in which the missiles were fired from road mobile launchers.
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The 1.7-tonne reconfigurable platform, with an operational depth of 500 metres, can carry payloads of up to 500 kg to accomplish a plethora of operations such as surveillance, sensor deployment, and mine countermeasure, besides delivery of ammunition. It is slated to undergo a fresh set of sea trials in September.
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Soon after the hostile missile, a modified surface-to-surface Prtihvi, was launched from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Orissa, the interceptor, AAD-05, was fired from the Wheeler Island. Equipped for the first time with an omni-directional warhead and travelling at a speed of Mach 5-6, the interceptor homed in on the target and smashed it five minutes later. India plans to put in place a two-tiered BMD system in two phases for endo and exoatmospheric interception on incoming enemy missiles. The first phase seeks to intercept and kill ballistic missiles having a range of less than 2,000 km, the second phase envisages destroying those with ranges of more than 2,000 km. One of the largest military exercises in recent times Sudarshan Shakti, conducted in the deserts near Barmer in Rajasthan aimed at starting the transformation of the forces into a modern, lean, and agile fighting combination capable of leveraging new-age technologies. Sudarshan Shakti is the outcome of a study undertaken by the Army on how to initiate transformation and maintain continuous offensive capabilities with a networked headquarters supported by intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance acting as the nerve-centre of operations.
India on September 19, 2012 successfully test-fired the indigenously-developed 4000 km nuclear capable strategic ballistic missile Agni-IV, from Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast.
Agni-I, a surface to surface, nuclear capable missile was launched successfully from the Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Army with the missile travelling its full range of 700 km and high degree of accuracy. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) designed and developed Agni-I. The Army has already deployed this short-range missile which can carry nuclear warheads. The maiden launch of Indias Nirbhay, a sub-sonic cruise missile, would take place by 2013 which was envisaged to be launched in September 2012. DRDOs Bangalore based Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), has designed Nirbhay which has several technologies derived from Lakshya, a pilotless target aircraft. Nirbhay is Indias equivalent of Tomahawk, a long-range sub-sonic cruise missile in the arsenal of the USA.
Nirbhay to be Launched
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Cambell Bay
Master Tips Campbell Bay is located on the island of Great Nicobar, the largest of the Nicobar Islands in the eastern Indian Ocean some 190 km to the north of Sumatra .(Refer Map for clarity .)
Strait of Malacca
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INS Kamorta
INS Kamotra, 75-meter-long, 1,200-tonne vessel is the first in a series of 4 anti-submarine corvettes being built by the Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), a defence shipyard, will be delivered to the Navy in June 2012. The shipyard is also constructing 8 inshore patrol vessels for the Coast Guard. It has concluded negotiations with the Navy for construction of 8 Landing Craft Utility (LCU) for which contract will be signed shortly.
The Vessel is 109 metres long, 12.8 metres wide and can achieve a speed of 25 knots and can accommodate 17 officers and 106 sailors. This ships main role is to protect other ships in the convoy and sea ports against submarine attack and to neutralize the enemy submarines using her weapons like torpedoes, rocket launchers and helicopter. The approximate cost of building an Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette was Rs. 1,700 crore. The first in the series, INS Kamorta, which was launched last year, is expected to be delivered to the Navy in 2012 followed by INS Kadmatt in 2013.
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The second indigenous Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette INS Kadmatt, built by the Garden Reach Ship Builders Engineers Ltd. has been launched recently.
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A helicopter net was damaged when the Pakistani ship coming from behind moved close to INS Godavari. PNS Babur was escorting Egyptian merchant vessel m.v. Suez, which was released several months after having been held hostage by Somali pirates.
The ship has also infrared surveillance system which detects any oil spill even of minor nature and thereafter dissolves or disintegrates oil.
The 9 metre tall Prtihvi-II, the first ballistic missile developed under the countrys prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, was fired from a mobile launcher from Launch Complex-III at the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Orissa The nuclear weapons-capable missile was successfully flight-tested for its full range of 350 km by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) personnel of the army as a part of user trial. It has achieved a high degree of accuracy and zeroed-in on the pre-designated target in the Bay of Bengal with a CEP (Circular Error Probability) of less than 10 metres. The single-stage, liquid-fuelled Prithvi-II is capable of carrying payloads ranging from 500-1,000 kg of both nuclear and conventional warheads, had been inducted into the armed forces. It could be launched from anywhere with its mobile launcher having user-driven features.
With focus on the performance of a modified NAMICA (Nag Missile Carrier) in harsh desert conditions, a series of trials of anti-tank Nag missile, was conducted in the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan. The induction of the 3rd generation missile that has a top attack and fire-and-forget capability and 4-km range was delayed, with the Army seeking several clearances in the specially-designed NAMICA, which can hold 12 missiles, with eight of them in readyto-fire mode.
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Indian Navy has given a farewell to its oldest commissioned (January 1976 at Gdynia, Poland) ship Sharabh, (a landing ship tanker), with a guard of honour and the naval band playing the Last Post in the decommissioning ceremony held at the Naval Jetty.
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Samudra Paheredar, the indigenously built 2nd pollution control vessel, specially designed to mitigate any marine oil spill received a warm welcome from the Coast Guard fraternity on its arrival at Chennai Port on August 21, 2012.
Master Tips 'Samudra Prahari' (Ocean Guard) is the name of the first dedicated pollution control vessel built by ABG shipyard at Surat, launched by the Indian Coast Guard in 2007.
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Unlike the other UAVs, which used to have a free fall with parachutes after executing their tasks, Rustom will carry out copybook style landing.The aircraft has many auto features such as GPS controlled Way Point Navigation.
6.2
Pakistan on November 28, 2012 announced the successful launch of the Medium Range Ballistic Missile, Hatf-V (Ghauri) which can carry both conventional and Nuclear war heads to a distance of 1,300 km.
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The missile, capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads is considered as an improved version of Shaheen-1 (range-750 km) in terms of range and technical parameters.
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Advance notice was given to India on the test, in accordance with the May 2005 agreement regarding pre-notification of flight testing of ballistic missiles. India
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The commissioning of the Liaoning makes China the 10th nation to have an aircraft carrier. Currently, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Spain, Italy, India, Brazil and Thailand operate the 21 active-service aircraft carriers. The development comes amid rising strains between China and Japan over the disputed Diaoyu (China Calls) or Senkaku (Japan Calls) islands in East China Sea.
Iran on August 4, 2012 claimed it had successfully test-fired an upgraded version of shortrange ballistic missile with improved accuracy, increasing the Islamic Republics capability to strike both land and naval targets. The solids-fuelled FATEH-110 has a range of 300 km. SHAHAB-3 Variant with a range of 2,000 km that can reach Israel and southern Europe.
6.3
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After induction of INS Vikrmadiya, the Navy will start thinking about the decommissioning INS Viraat, its lone aircraft carrier since its internal hull is suffering wear and tear.
(IAI) has set the stages for joint development and indigenous production of a set of Long Range Surface-to-Air Missiles (LR-SAMs) to defend Indian warships from enemy attack. BEL will be the lead integrator of this set of missiles and produce some of the major subsystems.
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The ship Liaoning, formerly named Varyag, is an Admiral Kuznetsov Class aircraft carrier that is 304.5 metres long and 37 metres wide, with a displacement of 58,500 metric tonnes.
INS Vikramaditya
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Under the contract signed in 2008, Russia is to upgrade the IAFs fleet of 63 MiG-29s. The first six planes are to be overhauled in Russia and the rest in India.
A broad defence cooperation agreement was among five pacts signed following delegationlevel talks between the visiting Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Instead of dealing with a number of defence enterprises scattered over Ukraine, India will find it easier to conduct focussed negotiations, which could help it get a better deal.
Russian-built multirole stealth frigate INS TARKASH has been commissioned to Navy.
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S.No. 1. 2. 3. INS
As per the contract, the planes service life has been extended to 3,500 flight hours and 40 years.
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The first frigate of this batch, INS TEG, was delivered in April and the third one, INS TRIKAND is undergoing dock trials and is expected to be handed over next summer after completing sea trials in the Baltic Sea.
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Key Features of MI-17 V5: It is a glass cockpit variant, the first of its kind to get inducted into the IAF. It has autopilot that is compatible with the latest generation (Gen-III) night vision goggles.
In a much hyped and the countrys largest defence deal till date, India has chosen the French Fighter Rafale over the Eurofighter Typhoon in a multi-billion dollar contract for the supply of 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) The deal is estimated to be worth $10.2 billion (Rs. 54,000 crore). As per the plan of deal, it includes acquiring 126 aircraft, 18 of them in fly-away condition and the rest to be made in India at the Hindustan Aeronautics facility under transfer of technology. It is the 3rd biggest defence contract for France. In the current financial year, the Government of India cleared the $2.4 billion for upgrade of 51 Mirage-2000 aircraft and the $970 million for the supply of MICA fire-and-forget missile for the same aircraft.
India had funded the completion of the submarine at Amur Shipyard before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. 20 sailors died on the Nerpa in 2008 after the vessels fire-suppression systems were accidentally triggered during sea trials, releasing toxic gases. Its maximum speed is 30 knots, maximum operating depth, 600 m; its endurance is 100 days with a crew of 73 and is armed with four 533 mm torpedo tubes and four 650 mm torpedo tubes. The Indian version is reportedly expected to be armed with the 300-km Club nuclearcapable missiles. Although, the Akula-II class submarines are equipped with 28 nuclearcapable cruise missiles with a striking range of 3,000 km. The submarine is capable of remaining underwater for months and it would be for the first time in more than 2 decades that the Indian navy would have a nuclear attack submarine.
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India has become the 6th operator of nuclear submarines in the world, after the US, Russia, France, Britain and China, though it previously leased another Russian submarine which was then returned.
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Mi-17 V5, an upgrade of Mi-17, has state-of-the-art avionics and onboard navigation systems.
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6.4
Joint Exercises
It will be helpful for wider cooperation and mutual understanding between two navies. Both countries have over the past five years conducted five of the INDRA series ground and naval exercises. The joint exercise at the Buryatia military training base in southeast Russia, near the border with Mongolia was held in Aug 2012.
Indian and Bangladeshi forces have launched a joint exercise in the northeastern Sylhet as part of efforts to deepen military ties and cooperation in counter-terrorism and counterinsurgency operations. This is the second phase of Op Sampriti which is aimed at developing professional expertise of both the armies and strengthening military to military relationship. The first phase of Op Sampriti was held at Jorhat in Assam from November 1 to 4 last year.
The Indian Air Force completed its second joint exercise with its counterparts from Oman, whose northern tip is located at the Straits of Hormuz, entrance to the crucial Gulf. The exercise is part of Indias efforts to build strategic ties with Oman, whose ports have been utilized by Indian Navy frigates for anti-piracy duty off the Gulf of Aden. The previous exercise was held in 2009, the first such full-fledged endeavour with a Gulf State.
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Oman is the first Arab State to have formalized defence ties with India.
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The main objective of this exercise is to enhance interoperability, which will be useful if both the navies are working against the common threat like the pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
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Ex ercises S ahy og -K a ijin -XI Eku v erin-20 12 Ex ercise M aitr ay ee Ex ercise Va j ra Pra h ar S ha k ti 2 01 1 Bol d K ur uk sh etra 2 0 12 Va ru n Y ud h A b h ya s 20 11 -1 2 Ex ercise M ala b ar
H an d -in - Han d 2 00 9
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In d ia-J a pa n In d ia-M a ld iv e s In d ia-T h aila nd In d ia-U S In d ia-F r an ce In d ia-S in g ap o re In d ia-F r an ce In d ia-U S U S -In d ia-Ja p anAus tr alia - S in g apo re In d ia-C h in a
Jo in t Ar m y E xe rcis e N av a l E x erci se
Jo in t Ar m y E xe rcis e N av a l E x erci se
Jo in t Ar m y E xe rcis e
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7.2
INTERNATIONAL CCR
NATIONAL CCR
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International CCR
Master Tips
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI,Washington DC), NGOs Welthungerhilfe & Concern Worldwide released the report on Global Hunger Index for 7th year.
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India has done better on infant health, and is well within reaching the MDG of reducing IMR to 42 per 1000 live births. As per the latest estimates, Indias IMR stands at 47. Indias progress on the MDG of combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB is also satisfactory. India needs to focus on Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, where the MMR is still high.
Master Tips
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India has reduced MMR significantly from 437 per one lakh live births in 1999 to 212 now, but needs to hasten the pace under the National Rural Health Mission to achieve the related MDG.
Maternal deaths are defined as the number of women who die during pregnancy or within 42 days of the termination of pregnancy per one lakh live births. India's MMR is 212 per one lakh live births and IMR is 47 per 1000 live births.
The index has been prepared by Canadabased public policy think-tank, Fraser Institute, in cooperation with independent institutes in 90 nations and territories, and claims to measure the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries support economic freedom.
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State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012 Report: Hunger Declining World Wide
The United Nations says its 2009 announcement that 1 billion people in T h e R o me b a s ed U N F oo d a n d the world were hungry was off-target Agriculture Organization (FAO), a and that the number is actually 870 specialized UN Agency released State of million because of flawed methodology Food Insecurity in the World 2012 and poor data for the projection report. As per the FAOs State of Food FAO established on 16 October 1945 in Insecurity in the World 2012 Quebec city, Canada, work under parent report, the good news is that the body UN Economic and Social Council. number of hungry people has actually 16 October is Celebrated as world Food been declining steadily over the past two decades, althou gh Day. progress has slowed since 2007. The UN Body Says that the great recession of 2008-09 resulted in only a mild slowdown in GDP growth in many developing countries, and increases in domestic staple food prices were very small in China, India and Indonesia.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
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70.6 70.6 69.5 69.3 67.7 67.2 67.2 67.1 66.8 65.3
India holds the very last rank among 132 nations in terms of air quality with regard to its effect on human health revealed in a new study by Yale and Columbia Universities in its Environment Performance Index rankings which means India has the most toxic air in the world. Master Tips India scored a minuscule 3.73 out of a possible 100 points in the analysis, lagging far behind The Yale Center for Environmental the next worst performer, Bangladesh, which Law and Policy and Columbia's Center scored 13.66. for Internationa l Earth Science In fact, the South Asian region fares badly, with Nepal, Pakistan and China taking up the remaining spots in the bottom 5 of the rankings.
Information Network have brought out the Environment Performance Index rankings every 2 years since 2006.
At the other end of the scale, the European nations of Switzerland, Latvia and Norway captured the top slots in the index.
The CDI, launched in 2008 as a tool to monitor the progress in child wellbeing, calibrates the best and worst places for children and improvements in child wellbeing at the global level and within countries. It enumerates 3 indicators, the number of children in school, infant mortality rates and number of underweight children.
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The Child Development Index (CDI), report released by NGO Save the Children makes an aggregate analysis of the Child Development Index in three time periods 1995-1999, 20002004 and 2005-2010 of 141 countries across the globe. Indias CDI ranking fell by three notches (100 to 103) between 1995 and 1999 and by another nine ranks (103 to 112) between 2005 and 2010. India reports 1.25 million infant deaths annually; 42 per cent of its children are underweight; 58 per cent children are stunted by the age of two; and 8.1 million children are out of school with a huge chunk of them being from the rural areas. India has slipped by 12 ranks in the global grading on the child development index, which denotes health, education and nutrition, between 1995 and 2010. Japan is the best place in the world to be a child, while Somalia is the worst, a latest report has suggested. Master Tips
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Major allergens involved in allergic diseases, including pollens, were also mentioned.
7.2
National CCR
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The Union Public Service Commission has suggested changes in the prestigious Civil Services examination to make it more relevant in the present day, global as well as internal scenario. The UPSC have submitted a proposal to the central government, suggesting certain changes in the existing scheme of Civil Services (Main) Examination to make it more relevant with the on the basis of the report of a committee. The committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Prof Arun S Nigavekar, former chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC).
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As per report, in India, woods and cows dung are still used in rural areas as fuel which cause heavy smoke leading to triggers of allergy and asthma besides other pollutants such as SO2 and NO2 aggravating factors.
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The report of the Centres interlocutors on J&K eminent journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, academician Radha Kumar, and former information commissioner M. M. Ansari submitted the final report. The final report has ruled out a return to the pre-1953 position. They recommended the setting up of a Constitutional Committee (CC), to review all Central Acts and Articles of the Constitution of India, extended to the State after the signing of the 1952 Agreement. The interlocutors favoured creation of three Regional Councils , one each for Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. It suggested that Parliament should make no laws applicable to the State unless it relates to the countrys internal and external security and its vital economic interests, especially in the areas of energy and access to water resources.
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The Mullaperiyar Damis a masonrygravity dam on the Periyar Riverin the Kerala state ofIndia. It is located 881m (2,890ft) above mean sea level, on the Cardamom Hillsof theWestern GhatsinThekkady,Idukki DistrictofKerala. It was constructed between 1887 and 1895 by the British Government to divert water eastwards to the Madras Presidency area (present-day Tamil Nadu). It has a height of 53.6m (176ft) from the foundation, and a length of 365.7m (1,200ft).ThePeriyar National Parkin Thekkady is located around the dams reservoir. The dam is located in Kerala on the riverPeriyar,but is controlled and operated under a period lease by neighboringTamil Nadustate. Although the Periyar river has a total catchment area of 5398km2with 114km2in Tamil Nadu, the catchment area of the Mullaperiyar dam itself lies entirely in Kerala. The control and safety of the dam and the validity and fairness of the lease agreement have been points ofdispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu states.
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Disfavoring quantitative or movement restrictions on by-products, the committee said the prices of by-products should be market-determined with no earmarked end use allocations.
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The study, Elementary Education in India: Progress towards Universal Elementary Education, is based on the data received from 1.36 million schools in 637 district. At the bottom are Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
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The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a forum held annually by leaders of, initially, 16 countries (10 ASEAN countries plus six namely India, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea) in the East Asian region. Membership expanded to 18 countries including the United States and Russia at the Sixth EAS in 2011. EAS meetings are held after annual ASEAN leaders meetings. The first summit was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 14, 2005.
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Non-alignment Movement(NAM) Summit which represents around half the world, with 120 member countries (including Palestine) and 17 observers, was founded in the aftermath of cold war era by the 3rd world and developing countries formally not aligned to or against any power bloc. The organization was founded inBelgradein 1961. It was largely the brainchild ofYugoslaviaspresident,Josip Broz Tito; Indonesias first president,Sukarno; Egypts second president,Gamal Abdel Nasser; Ghanas first presidentpresidentKwame Nkrumah; and Indias first prime minister,Jawaharlal Nehru.
The G-20 Summit of developed and developing countries was held in the third week of June, 2012 at Los Cabos, Mexico in the backdrop of the eurozone crisis. Los Cabos Declaration G-20 nations concluded a much-awaited meeting at Los Cabos with a declaration which endorsed Indian stand that investment in infrastructure was critical for sustained growth, global economic recovery, poverty reduction and job creation. This was endorsed by the leaders that included US President Barak Obama, German President Angela Merkel, Chinese Prime Minster Wen Jiabao and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a document that is formally called the G-20 leaders declaration. 2011 G-20 Summit was held at Cannes, France and 2013 Summit will be held at Saint Petersburg, Russia in September 2013.
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G-20 is theGroup of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governorsfrom 20 major economies which include 19 countries plus theEuropean Union, which is represented by thePresidentof theEuropean Counciland by theEuropean Central Bank. The grouping G-20 economies account for more than 80 % of the gross world product(GWP),80% ofworld trade(including EU intra-trade), and two-thirds of theworld population.
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Last Summit (15th) was held at Sharm El Sheik, Egypt in 2009 and next Summit (17th ) will be held at Caracas, Veneuela in 2015.
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Leaders of G-8 countries, the group of developed countries of the world met at Camp David, Maryland, USA on May 19 in the backdrop of the euro zone crisis. 2011 (37th ) Summit was held at Deauville, France and 2013 (39th ) & 2014 (40th ) Summits will be held in UK and Russia respectively.
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G-8 is theGroup of eight governments of larger economies (developed) of the world. The forum originated with a 1975 summit hosted by France that brought together representatives of 6 governments:France,Germany,Italy,Japan, theUK and theUS, thus the name, Group of SixorG6. The summit became known as theGroup of SevenorG7 the following year with the addition ofCanada. In 1997,Russiawas added to the group which then became known as the G8.
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Aman ki Asha is a campaign jointly started by the two leading media houses The Jang GroupinPakistanandThe Times of India (Bennet & Coleman, the holding company of Times Group)inIndia. It started on 1 January 2010. The campaign aims for mutual peace and development of the diplomatic and cultural relations between the two nations inSouth Asia.
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9th E-9 Ministerial Review Meeting: India hosted GLOBAL MEET on teachers training
India chaired the Ninth E-9 Ministerial Review Meeting on Inclusive, relevant quality Education for All identified as the theme for the two coming years. The meeting assumes importance as shortage of teachers has been identified as a major challenge in the successful implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and universalisation of secondary education and the Right to Education act (RTE) that came into force in April 2010. The event started with the meeting of the International Task Force on Teachers for Education for All which was held for the first time in Indiafollowed by a two day conference on, Teachers for Education for All in India and the E-9 meeting.
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The E-9 Initiative, a consortium of the nine most populous countries of the South was put in place in 1993, following the World Conference on EFA in Jomtien, Thailand in 1990. E stands for education and 9 for those nine countries which are home to over half of the worlds population as well as to almost half of the worlds out of school children and two thirds of the worlds illiterates. These are Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan.
The 19th International Aids Conference was held in Washington, D.C. from 22 to 27 July 2012 at Washington. In addition, the conference included a number of programme activities, such as the Global Village and the Youth Programme, which are an integral aspect of the International AIDS Conference. Theme of the conference: Turning the Tide Together The AIDS 2012 Joint Programme Committee is an international committee of experts and professionals with exceptional experience in their respective fields. These individuals will work together to construct a balanced and representative conference programme. The Joint Programme Committee met for the first time in May 2011 to begin the programme building process. India to Host Alternative International Aids Conference: India will host a parallel event at Kolkata for those who cannot make it there at Washington to participate in the International AIDS Conference (IAC).
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B ru ss e ls (2 01 2 )
K a b ul M eet (2 01 2 )
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C h ica g o S um m it (2 01 2 )
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8 5 Sta tes , 1 5 Int ern a ti ona l O rg a ni zation s a n d th e U N Th e U .S. a n d its a llie s in NA TO 2 9 -n a ti on m in is teri a l-le ve l con feren ce in cl ud in g m aj or play ers like R u ss ia a nd C hi na H ea ds o f sta te a n d h e a ds of g ove rnm e n t of th e N orth At la n tic Tr ea ty O rg a ni zation (N A TO ) At te n de d by a b ou t 7 0 cou nt ries a nd org a ni zation s . At te n de d b y 4 0 cou n tri es, in cl ud in g I ra n , Ch in a an d Pa k is ta n
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C iv il aspec ts o f the tra n si ti on pr oces s, th e rol e o f in ter na ti on al com m u nity in A fgh a n ist a n a ft er the h a ndo ver , a n d lo n g -t erm poli ti ca l sta b ili zat io n of th e cou n try .
To i nc rea si ng ly m ov e t he a fg ha n s in to a le a d com b at rol e; To kee p som e in te r na ti on a l tr o ops i n Afg ha n is ta n b e yon d 2 0 1 4, the y ea r a ll U .S . for ces a r e su ppose d to b e h om e; a n d to pa y b ill ion s o f do lla r s a ye ar to su ppor t th e A fgh an s ecu rity for ces. Th ey t ook de cis ion to es ta b l ish w ork in g g rou ps for fig ht in g terr oris m a n d dru g tr affic kin g . T he g ro ups w ill in ter ac t w ith th e S ha n gh a i Coo pe ra ti on O r ga n is a ti on ( S C O ) a nd th e ru ss ia -led C oll ecti ve Se cur it y Tr ea ty O rg a ni sa ti on (C S T O ).
A s t ra n si ti on of se cur ity r espon si b ility i s com plete d a t t he en d of 2 0 14 , N A T O w ill h av e m a de t he s h ift from a c om b a t m is s ion to a n ew tra in i ng , ad vi sing a nd a s si st an ce m i ss ion , w h ich w il l b e of a di ffer en t na tur e to th e cu rre nt N A T O -l ed in te rn a tio na l sec urity a ss is ta n ce force (ISA F) m i ss ion . ISA F ren ew ed t hei r firm com m itm ent to a sov ere ig n, se cu re a nd de m ocr at ic A fgh an ista n. T he m a jor do n o rs con fer ence ple d ges $ 1 6 b ill ion to Afg ha n is tan a im ed a t set ti ng a id le v el s fo r t h e c ru cia l per iod th rou g h a n d b e yo nd 20 1 4 , w h en m o s t N AT O -le d fo r eig n tr o ops w il l lea v e a n d the w a r-tor n cou ntry w ill a s su m e r espo ns ib il it y fo r m os t o f i ts ow n sec ur ity .
O rg a ni sed b y C on fed era ti on of I nd ia n I ndu s try ( C II ) w i th th e s up port of the g o ver nm ent s of I nd ia an d A fg ha n is ta n an d in coop era ti on w ith re le va n t A fgh a n i n ves tm ent a nd b u si ne ss or ga n iza ti on s to m ob i lize flo w o f pri va te ca pita l to t h e w ar -t orn cou ntry .
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Kochi on January 8. About 1,500 delegates from various countries would attend the three-day programme. Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag would be the chief guest at the official inaugural session and will be conferred with Pravasi Bhartiya Samman.
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The International Labour Organization (ILO), founded in 1919, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, is a United Nations agency dealing with labour issues, particularly international labour standards and decent work for all. Almost all (185 out of 193) UN members are part of the ILO. In 1969, the organization received the Nobel Peace Prize for improving peace among classes, pursuing justice for workers, and providing technical assistance to developing nations. Juan Somava was the ILOs director-general since 1999 until October 2012, when Guy Ryder was elected as his replacement.
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Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) is a term collectively used for numerous schemes and policies aimed at enhancing the quality of life of differently disabled persons and their families by ensuring their participation in various social and economic practices.
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The 10th edition of Bio Asia 2013, the annual Biotechnology and Life Sciences Conference, will be held in Hyderabad on January 28-30, 2013. With the theme of Biologics and Biosimilars, discussions will be focused on drug discovery, monoclonal antibodies, regenerative medicine, intellectual property rights and financial ecosystem. A parallel event focusing on agricultural biotechnology and food technology with the support of Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) will also be held. Bio Asia 2013 will be hosted by the government of Andhra Pradesh with the support of the Federation of Asian Biotech Associations (FABA) and Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil).
To give a fillip to the cultural ties between India and Pakistan, the first edition of Delhi International Film Festival, to be held from December 21 to 27, 2012 which will screen Pakistani Films and give away awards in various fields.
Kashmiri film-maker Suresh Goswamis film Ziyarat on the displacement of Kashmiri Pandit families from the Valley will be screened at the festival. Interestingly, the festival to commemorate 100 years of Indian cinema will be presenting centenarian stage actor Zohra Sehgal, with the Minar e Dilli award. While Polish film 80 Million will be the opening film, Pakistani production Lamha will be screened as the closing film. In all, 178 films from 32 countries would be screened.
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Bollywood actor Sharmila Tagore will be honoured with the Life Time Achievement Award at the festival.
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Cricket
Mahendra Singh Dhoni Appointed as a Brand Ambasador of Nepal Cricket Association Jayawardene Named Captain of ICC World T20 Team Malinga Named World Twenty-20 Ambassador
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Tennis
Nadal clinches historic sixth tittle and Sharapova wins completing her career grand slam at the french open for the first time.
Serbias Novak Djokovic defeated Britains Andy Murrray in the final on October 14, 2012 in Shanghai to win Shanghai Masters Mens singles title. Indias Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek clinched the Shanghai Masters mens doubles title beating Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi in the final.
Americas Serena Williams defeated Russias Maria Sharapova in the final to win the seasonending WTA Championship in Istanbul (Turkey) on October 28, 2012.
Bhupathi-Bopanna Clinch 1st ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Team Crown
Fifth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna won their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title together in November 2012 as they defeated seventh seeds Aisam-Ul Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer in the final of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.
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Serbias Novak Djokovic and US player Serena Williams were announced as this years International Tennis Federation world champions, based on their performances in tournaments throughout 2012. The sports governing body also said that US brothers Bob and Mike Bryan were mens doubles world champions for the ninth time in 10 years, while Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy were the womens equivalent. Dutch wheelchair tennis legend Esther Stephane Houdet Esther Vergeer Vergeer won the title for the 13th year in succession after she won Paralympic singles gold for the fourth Paralympics in a row and Stephane Houdet of France won the mens award in the wheelchair category.
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Badminton
Olympic-bound Indian Badminton Ace Saina Nehwal displayed nerves of steel to clinch her third successive Indonesia Open Super Series title after beating Chinas Xuerui Li in a seesaw summit clash in Jakarta in June 2012.
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Hockey
Indias Chef-de-Mission for the London Olympics 2012 :AJIT PAL SINGH
Three-time Olympian and former Captain of the Indian hockey team Ajit Pal Singh became the first sportsperson to be named Indias Chef-de-Mission for London Olympic Games 2012 by Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Indian Hockey finished at bottom in London Olympics 2012 without winning a single game.
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P. Kashyap Sayali Gokhale Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy Aparna Balan and N. Sikki Reddy Aparna Balan and Arun Vishnu
Continuing with his impressive run this year Anad Pawar, the Mumbai shuttler won the Scottish International Challenge tournament at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland in November 2012.
Akshay Dewalkar and Pranav Chopra Varsha Belawadi and G.M. Nischitha Ashwini Ponappa and Tarun Kona
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Kabaddi
9.6
Chess
Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand retained the World Chess Championship title, his fifth crown and fourth in a row, after beating Israels Boris Gelfand in a tense rapid game tie-breaker in Moscow on May 30, 2012.
M. Mahalakshmi and R. Vaishali Win Gold at the World Youth Chess Championship Sahaj Becomes a Grand Master
9.7
Grand Prix
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Indias Sahaj Grover beat Jorge Cori of Peru in the ninth round of the World Junior Chess Championship in Athens and became Grand Master.
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The Indian womens team defeated Malaysia to win a one-sided final of the kabaddi World Cup held in Ludhiana (Punjab).
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Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel positioned himself as the main challenger to Fernando Alonsos Formula One title chances by earning his second straight Singapore Grand Prix win in September 2012, jumping up to second place in the drivers championship.
Red Bulls double defending Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel won the Japanese Grand Prix on October 7, 2012 in Suzuka (Japan).
Red Bulls Sebastain Vettel won Koreon Grand Prix by defeating Marks Webber.
Red Bulls Sebastain Vettel won the Indian Grand Prix on October 28, 2012 at the Buddha International Circuit in Greater Noida. Vettel finished the race in 1 hour, 31 minutes and 1.744 seconds and extended his lead by 13 points with his nearest rival Ferraris Fernando Alonso to win the Formula One Championship for a third year in a row. It was the fifth win of Vettel of the season and 26th of the career. By winning this race, Vettel came closer for a bid of Formulas One Championship2012 having 240 points, 13 more than Alonso. Ferraris Alonso secured second place in the race by finishing the race in 10 seconds more than Vettel. Red Bulls Mark Weber finished at third place with 1 : 31 : 23.961 seconds. Force Indias Nico Hulkenberg came on the eighth place.
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Miscellaneous
Squash ace Dipika Pallikal became the first Indian to break into the top 10 of the world rankings. Pallikal jumped three places to be ranked 10th by Womens International Squash Players Association (WISPA).
Billiards
Smriti Mehra, Indias most successful golfer on the domestic Womens Professional Golf Tour, has been adjudged the Player of the Year for 2011-12 season.
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9.9 Sport Related Other News IOC suspends Indian Olympic Association
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suspended the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) because of government interference, a development which puts a bar on the countrys Olympic participation. Suspension meant that the IOA will stop receiving IOC funding and its officials will be banned from attending Olympic meetings and events. Indias athletes will be barred from competing in Olympic events under their national flag, but they can participate under the IOC banner. The IOC had repeatedly told the IOA not follow the governments sports code for the elections on the ground that it would be a violation of the Olympic Charter and compromise autonomy but the IOA went ahead saying they were bound by the Delhi High Court order. The All India Football Federation appointed retired Supreme Court judge and chairperson of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission, A.K Ganguly, as the one-man committee to probe and decide the fate of the abandoned 10th round I-League match between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan.
Hockey India League (HIL) has signed legendary Dutchman and three-time FIH World Player of the Year Teun de Nooijer as its third Brand Ambassador for the tournament starting in January 2013.
Jeev honoured
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Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh won the Asia Pacific Lifetime Achievement award along with Jack Nicklaus and Colin Montgomerie.
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ART, CULTURE & LITERARY AWARDS SPORT AWARDS SCIENCE AWARD GENERAL AWARDS & HONOURS
Nobel Prize
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10.1 Art, Culture & Literary Awards Man Booker Prize 2012
British novelist Hilary Mantel made literary history by becoming the first woman and the first British author to be a two-time winner of the Man Booker Prize for fiction. Mantel picked up the prize, one of the highest profile awards in English-language literature, for Bring up the Bodies , part two of the Thomas Cromwell trilogy, at a ceremony at Londons Guildhall. The 60-year-old first won in 2009 with Wolf Hall, the first of the historical fiction saga with King Henry VIIIs Chief Minister as the protagonist. Indian writer Jeet Thayil was also in the running for his work Narcopolis, which explores heroin addiction in Mumbai.
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The Man Booker Prize:
The Man Booker Prize launched in 1969 aims to promote the finest in fiction by rewarding the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. The winner of the Man Booker Prize receives 50,000 and, like all the shortlisted authors, a cheque for 2,500 and a designer bound copy of their book. The winner of the Man Booker Prize 2011 wasJulian Barnes'sThe Sense of an Ending. The Man Booker International Prize: Launched in 2005, worth 60,000, the prize is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation in the English language. The winner is chosen solely at the discretion of the judging panel and there are no submissions from publishers. Why it is called Man Booker? The word Man comes from the name of title sponsor company named Man, founded in 1783, which is a world-leading alternative investment management business. In 2012, Man managed $60.0 billion .
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The Jnanpith Award, a literary award instituted in 1961, along with the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, is one of the two most prestigious literary honours in the country. Any Indian citizen who writes in any of the official languages of India is eligible for the honour. It is presented by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, a trust founded by the Sahu Jain family, the publishers of the The Times of India newspaper .The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 7 lakh, a citation and a public felicitation.
The K K Birla Foundation announced on 22 March 2012 its decision to honour Tamil writer A A Manavalan with the Saraswati Samman 2011 for his book on Ramayana. Retired professor and head of the department of Tamil in Madras University, Manavalan is be bestowed w ith the 21st Sar aswati Samman for his work Irama Katha iy um Iramayakalum (Ramakatha and Ramayanas) published in 2005. The award-winning book, Irama Kathaiyum Iramayakalum is a comparative study of 48 Ramayanas in the languages of Pali, Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tibetan, Tamil, Old Javenese, Japanese, Telugu, Assamese, Malayalam, Bengali, Kannada, Marathi, Hindi, Odissi, Persian, Malay, Burmese, Phillipines Language, Thai, Laotian and Kashmiri (all in chronological order).
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The Saraswati Samman is an annual award for outstanding prose or poetry literary works in any Indian language listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India. It is considered to be among the highest literary awards in India. The award consists of Rs 7.5 lakh, a citation and a plaque. The Saraswati Samman was instituted in 1991 by the K. K. Birla Foundation . Candidates are selected from literary works published in the previous ten years by a panel that included scholars and former award winners.
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The Vyas Samman is a literary award in India, first awarded in 1991 . It is awarded annually by the K.K. Birla Foundation and includes a cash payout of Rs 2.5 lakh. To be eligible for the award, the literary work must be in the Hindi language and have been published in the past 10 years.
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An Indian Foreign Service officer, Abhay Kumar, currently posted in Kathmandu has been nominated for the prestigious American Pushcart Prize 2013 by the Sahitya Akademi. Already having authored eight books, including four poetry collections, Abhay K has been nominated for his three poems Whats a Beach, Masseur and Everything has Secrets.
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The prize will be presented at the British Council Auditorium in New Delhi on December 20. Jamil Ahmad was winner of 2011 for ' The Wandering Falcon'. The other shortlisted books are: Tamasha in Bandargaon by Navneet Jagannathan, The Purple Line by Priyamvada Purushottam, The King in Exile by Sudha Shah, The Inexplicable Unhappiness of Ramu Hajjam by Taj Hassan and Calcutta Exile by Bunny Suraiya.
The Rajasthan Hindi Granth Akademi has selected the book Adhunik Chitrakala Ka Itihaas (History of modern art), authored by eminent litterateur and artist Ratnakar Vinayak Sakhalkar based in Ajmer, for its prestigious Pragya award .
Renowned scholar and critic M.K. Sanoo was presented with the prestigious Kendra Sahitya Akademi award for 2011
Shyam Bengal Honoured with South Asian Cinema Foundations Excellence in Cinema Award Pulitzer Prizes 2012
Sangeet Natak Akademi Announces Tagore Samman: Honours 100 Eminent Artists
To commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Gurdev Rabindranath Tagore, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, an autonomous body of the Union Minstry of Culture has instituted a onetime honour to 100 artists called the Tagore Samman (50 Tagore Ratna and 50 Tagore Puraskar) to persons of the age 75 years and above, who have made a significant contribution in the field of performing arts.
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The prestigious Pulitzer Prizes in the field of journalism were presented on April 16, 2012 in which Public Service category The philadphia inquirer for its exploration on pervasive violence in the citys school and Breaking News Reporting category The Tuscaloosa News staff for its enterprising coverage of a deadly tornado got the awards.
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Veteran actor of Bengali cinema Soumitra Chatterjee was honoured with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award by Vice-President Hamid Ansari at the 59th National Film Awards for 2011 at Vigyan Bhavan for his outstanding contribution to the growth of Indian cinema.
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Twelve of the 24 awards have gone to works of poets, who include K. Sachitandandan (Malayalam Marannu Vacha Vazhikal ), the late Bal Krishna Bhaura (Dogri Tim-Tim Karde Tare ) and Makhan Lal Kanwal (Kashmiri Yath Aangnaz Manz ). Thayil, has been selected for his poetry collection, These Errors are Correct, in the English category.
Internationally-acclaimed sand artist from odisha Sudarsan Pttnaik has been congratulated by the then President Pratibha Patil and a host of other dignitaries for winning the Copenhagen Sand Art Championship 2012.
Noted Tamil writer Ashokamitran, known for his novel Thanneer and other works, is the recipient of the 6th NTR National Literary Award.
Poet M.S. Rudreshwara Swamy has bagged Kadengodlu Kavya Prashasti (Kadengodlu poetry award) instituted by Rashtrakavi Govinda Pai Research Centre for his anthology of poems, Aa Teerada Moha, for 2012. His first anthology of poems. Preeti Mathu Neeru, was appreciated by readers and critics. He bagged an award for this work.
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The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously called Orange Prize for Fiction (2008-2012) and Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (1996-2008)) is one of the United Kingdom's most prestigious literary prizes, annually awarded to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English, and published in the United Kingdom in the preceding year . The prize was originally sponsored by Orange, a telecommunications company. In May 2012, it was announced Orange would be ending its sponsorship of the prize. As of October 2012, the award is formally known as the Women's Prize for Fiction, and is sponsored by "private benefactors" led by Cherie Blair and writers Joanna Trollope and Elizabeth Buchan.
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Booker-nominated Jeet Thayil and Bengali novelist Subrata Mukhopadhyaya were among the 24 authors selected for Sahitya Akademi Awards 2012.
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10.2
Sport Awards
ICC Annual Awards ceremony for the year 2012 was held in Colombo (Sri Lanka) on September 15, 2012 ahead of the ICC T-20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. Indias batting sensation Virat Kohli was honoured with the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year Award .
ICC Awards 2012: At a Glance Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) Virat Kohli (India) ICC Cricketer of the Year Award ICC Test Cricketer of the Year Award ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year Award
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Kumar Sangakkara is Wisdens Leading Cricketer of the Year 2011 who also figures in ICC Cricketers of the Year List 2012.
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Kabaddi (Women) Wrestling Hockey Athletics
Table Tennis
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Usain Bolt & Allyson Felix Named IAAF World Athletes of the Year 2012
Usain Bolt won the IAAF world Athlete of the Year Award 2012 for the fourth time and United States sprinter Allyson Felix won womens World Athlete of th e Y ear Aw ar d 2012 on November 24, 2012 during the IAAF s 100 th An n iv er s ar y Celebr ation . Th e Jamaic an spr in ter Bolt h ad w on for defending his gold medals in the 100 and 200 meter races of the summers Olympic Games 2012.
List of the Awardees IAAF male athlete of the year IAAF female athlete of the year IAAF male performance of the year IAAF female performance of the year IAAF male rising star Usain Bolt (Jamaica) Allyson Felix (USA) David Rudisha (Kenya) 4 100 m relay team (USA) Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad and Tobago)
10.3
Science Awards
Eleven scientists have been selected for Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize 2012, Indias premier awards in the field of science and technology. Shantanu Chowdhury of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology and Suman Kumar Dhar of the Special Centre for Molecular Medicine at the Jawaharlal Nehru University bagged the prize in the field of biological sciences. Sandip Basu of the Radiation Medicine Centre at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre bagged the prize in the medical sciences category. In physical sciences, Arindam Ghosh of IISc got the prize.
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Mahan Maharaj gets the award for his outstanding contribution in the area of mathematical sciences. The other winners are Palash Sarkar of the Indian Statistical Institute; Shiraz Minwalla of the Indian Institute of Science; Shirshendu De of IIT-Kharagpur; A.P. Sharma of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; R.Shankaranarayan of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology; G.N. Sastry of the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology and B. Sundaram of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research.
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IAAF female rising star
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Wineland, David J.
Physiology/ Medicine
Yamanaka, Shinya
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U.S. U.S. U.S. China (founded 1993) France U.S. U.K. Japan
Work on market design and matching theory Novelist, short-story writer Stellar role in restoring peace in WW-2 ravaged Europe Development of methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems Development of methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems
Discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent Discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent
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The Government of India has also named President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia as the recipient of the 2012 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peac e, D isa r mamen t an d Development.
Master Tips
The Indira Gandhi Prize or the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize or the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development is the prestigious award accorded annually by India to individuals or organizations in recognition of creative efforts toward promoting international peace, development and a new international economic order; ensuring that scientific discoveries are used for the larger good of humanity, and enlarging the scope of freedom. The prize carries a cash award of 25 lakh Indian rupees and a citation .
Master Tips
The Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration is a prestigious award accorded by the Indian National Congress , after its former President and Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. This Award is given annually starting from 1985 to distinguished persons/ institutions for promoting national integration and understanding and fellowship amongst religious groups, communities, ethnic groups, cultures, languages and traditions of India and the strengthening, through thought and action of the nation's sense of solidarity.
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awarded the 27th Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration. He has received this honour in recognition of his great contribution in promoting and preserving spirit of national integration.
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Year 2009 2010 2011 2012 Lula de Silva of Brazil
Recent Recipients: Indira Gandhi Prize For Peace, Disarmament And Development
Year Recent Recipients: Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration 2009 Balraj Puri 2010 A.R. Rahman & Ramakrishna Mission Ashram (jointly) 2011 Mohan Dharia 2012 Gulzar
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Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International U nde r s ta nd ing is a n in t erna tio na l aw ard present ed by th e G overn men t o f Ind ia. I t w as founded in 1965 and is administered by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) to people "for their outstanding contribution to the promotion of international understanding, goodwill and friendship among people of the world". The money constituent of this award is 1 crore rupees.
Year Recent Recipients: Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding . 2006 Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil 2007 Olafur Ragnar Grimsson of Iceland 2009 Angela Merkel of Germany
Chief Justice of Nepal Khil Raj Regmi and Justice V. S. Sirpurkar, Chairman of the Competition Appellate Tribunal, are among the winners of the prestigious International Jurists Awards and National Law Day Awards. The National Law Day Award-2012 was presented to J. Venkatesan. The other winners of awards are Ashok Aggarwal, Advocate-General of Punjab (Civil Law), Gourab Banerji, Addl Solicitor-General of India (Jurisprudence), Vijay Aggarwal (Criminal law), Anand Bhushan Kanade, Senior Advocate (Constitutional law), Janak Raj Jai (Legal writing), Irshad Wali, IPS (Law & order), C.D. Singh (Advocacy) and M. Antony Selvaraj (Legal aid).
Aung San SUU KYI Chosen for Bhagwan Mahavir World Peace Award
Aung San Suu Kyi, who claimed victory in Myanmars historic by-election for parliamentary seats, has been chosen for the first international Bhagwan Mahavir World Peace Award. Suu Kyi has been chosen for her devotion to promote non-violence and peace for the welfare of the people.
The Kaiga Generating Station (KGS) units 1 and 2 have been chosen for the Power Line Award 2012 in the best performing nuclear power station category.
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The Power Line Awards are given to power companies under various categories by Ministry of Power, based on judgment of a seven member jury consisting of distinguished and accomplished power sector personalities and supported by research conducted by Power Line magazine.
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The Power Line Award is based on the past three years performance of Kaiga Generating Station units 1 and 2.
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The Templeton Prize is an annual award presented by the Templeton Foundation. Established in 1972, it is awarded to a living person who, in the estimation of the judges, "has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works". The prize is named after Sir John Templeton (19122008) , an American-born British entrepreneur and businessman, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1987 for his philanthropic efforts. The inaugural winner of the prize, in 1973, was Mother Teresa , six years before she received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Dr. Binayak Sen & Bulu Imam Bestowed with Gandhi Peace Award 2011
The Gandhi Foundation International Peace Award 2011 was presented on 12the June, 2012 to Dr. Binayak Sen and Bulu Imam for their humanitarian work and their practice of non-violence.
Master Tips
Pratham: Pratham is the largest non-governmental organization in India. It works towards the provision of quality education to the underprivileged children in India. It was established in Mumbai in 1994 to provide pre-school education to children in slums, it now has activities in 21 states of India and has supporting chapters in the United States, UK, Germany and UAE. Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is released by Pratham annually since 2005.
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It was India shining at the fourth World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) organised by the Qatar Foundation in Doha, Qatar. Two prestigious prizes went to India. Madhav Chavan, co-founder and CEO of Pratham, was awarded the 2012 WISE Prize for Education which is known as the Nobel prize for Education on November 13, 2012 at the WISE Summit in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The award comprises U.S. $ 5,00,000 and a specially minted gold medal. Pratham is a non-governmental organisation providing basic literacy and numeracy for underprivileged children in India which works in 17 States. Prathams projects address pre-school education, learning support to both inschool and out-of-school children, computer literacy, vocational training and special programmes for vulnerable and working children.
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The director general of Indias The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), R.K Pachauri, has been conferred the Mexican order of the Aztec Eagle by Mexicos President Felipe Calderon on the margins of the G-20 Summit in June 2012 in Los Cabos (Mexico) The award is the highest decoration awarded by Mexico to foreigners for their contributions to humankind. An official communique said Pachauri, who is also President of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), helped Mexico ensure the link between economic growth and sustainable development.
Nileema Mishra, who works with the poorest in Maharashtra, and Harish Hande, who revolutionized the use of solar lights, are among six persons chosen for the Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2011.
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Kulandei Francis, 65, whose pioneering community initiatives in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, empowered thousands of rural women to from micro enterprises and break out of poverty, is among six winners of the Magsaysay Award 2012.
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R ecent Recipients
Shri Khamliana from Mizoram a nd Shri M d. Abd ul Bar i of Odisha Na garaja, Senior Technic al Assistant of the Bhar at Electronics Lim ited (BEL) N. Ram
SHR AM RAT NA AWARD, 20 08 (the country's highes t award given by the M inistry of La bour and Employment.) 200 9 M ohamm ed Abd ul Rahman Sa hib A wa rd (for the Best M ed ia P er sona lity, ins tituted by the Qa tar-based Thr issur Jilla Souhrida Vedi) Ind ira Gandhi P aryavaran P ura skar (instituted by the M inistry of Environm ent and F ores ts in 19 87 for individuals and orga nisation)
David
Journalism ( given annually b y the American Geophysical Union (AGU)) Pr id e Of India Award , 20 09 SAST RA R amanujan Prize
Perlman
Award
for
Excellence
Rab indranath Tagore P eace P rize b y the Indian Institute of Planning and M anagement (IIP M)
Lal Ba ha dur Shast ri Award for Excellence in P ublic Adm inistration, Academics and Management (given by GOI)
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Institute for Engineers
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H .K. Dua (201 1) Shra van Garg (201 2) P allav Bagla( first in Science
2008-Sad guru Jaggi Vasudev (of IS HA F OUNDATION) :P roject Greenhands 200 9- Neyveli L ignite C orpor ation L imited, Neyveli, Tam il N adu and Ca re Earth, Chennai, T amil Na du along with two individuals-V ijay Ja rdhari and Prof. C.R. Babu
Sir M ot a Singh (UKs first S ikh and Asian Jud ge) 2011-Roman H olowinsky (Ohio Stat e University) 2012-Zhiwei Yun (St anfor d Univers ity)
T ea Obreht for The Tigers Wife Anna Haz are(2011 ), Irom Sharmila(2012)
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PLACES IN NEWS
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11.1
A. General
Wen Xia Yu
Tereza Fajksova of the Czech Republic won the Miss Earth 2012 crown, followed by Stephany Stefanowitz (Miss Earth Air) of the Philippines and Venezuelas Osmariel Villalobo (Miss Earth Water) in second and third places, respectively, at the beauty pageant held in Philippines in November 2012. Camila Brant of Brazil came in fourth for the title of Miss Earth Fire.
Olivia Culpo
Liu Yang
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Indian-American record-setting astronaut Sunita Williams, along with her two colleagues, took off for her second space odyssey on a Russian Soyuz rocket, which blasted off successfully from a cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Microbiologist Khaleel Chisti, involved in a 1992 case of murder in Ajmer, was freed by the Supreme Court and allowed to go back to Pakistan. A Bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and Ranjan Gogoi, however, convicted him under Section 324 of the IPC (causing simple injuries). For this offence, the sentence of one year and four months, already served by Dr. Chisti, sufficed.
Shanti Gandhi
Great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi was elected to a State Assembly in the United States during the general elections held on November 6, 2012. Shanti Gandhi (72), contesting as Republican Party candidate, defeated his Democratic candidate Mr.Ensley.
Renowned Bollywood costume designer Bhanu Athaiya has returned her Oscar statuette, the first to be won by an Indian, to its original owner, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles, for safekeeping fearing it could meet the same fate as Rabindranath Tagores Nobel medal which was stolen. The statuettes were couriered in a special container and have been received by the Academy.
NKP Salve
Farmer Union Minister and former BCCI President NKP Salve died on April 1, 2012 in Delhi. He was 90. Born in Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh, Salve was associated with cricket administration for several years and had brought the cricket World Cup to the Indian subcontinent in 1987. The first time it was organised outside England. The Challenger Trophy was named after him.
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A.K. Hangal
Padma Bhushan awardee and popular character actor A.K. Hangal who played on screen fathers and uncles to leading Bollywood actors for more than decades, passed away at a Mumbai hospital on August 25, 2012. He was 95. The Rahim Chacha of Sholay worked in all genres of films, worked with debutants as well as superstars, and yet managed to make an impact on each of them.
Veteran Hindi filmmaker and King of Romance Yash Chopra passed away at a hospital in Mumbai on October 21, 2012. He was 80. Chopra was known for land-mark Bollywood films such as Trishul, Deewar, Silsila, Chandni, and Dil Toh Pagal Hail etc.
Popular Satirist and Filmmaker Jaspal Bhatti, the man behind hit comedy shows like Ulta Pulta and Flop Show was last breathed in a road accident on October 25, 2012. He bacame popular in his college days for his street plays.
Sunil Gangopadhyay
Noted litterateur and Sahitya Akademi President Sunil Gangopadhyay passed away in Kolkata on October 23,2012. Author of over 200 books, Mr. Gangopadhyay declared that poetry was his first love. He was the founder editor of Kritibus, a seminal poetry magazine that started publishing in 1953 and became a platform for a new generation of poets experimenting with new forms.
I.K. Gujral
Former Prime Minister of India Indra Kumar Gujral passed away in Dec. 2012. He was the architect of Indian Foreign Policy vis-a-vis our neighboring countries (called as Gujral Doctrine).
Dara Singh
Champion wrestler-turned-actor-politician Dara Singh passed away on July 12, 2012. He was 83.
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Abid Hussain, passed away after a massive heart attack. He was 85 years old. Dr. Hussain was one of the key persons who set the ball rolling for Indias economic liberalization. He chaired six committees of which the ones on trade and small scale industries are still important reference markers.
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Rajesh Khanna
Veteran actor Rajesh Khanna passed away on July 18 after prolonged illness. His very name spelt magic in the 1970s. Kaka, as he was popularly known, was one of the highest paid actors of his time. His record of consecutive solo super hits are still unbroken.
Neil Armstrong
Legendery American astronaut, who took One giant step for mankind as the first human to set foot on the moon in 1969 during the cold war space died on August 25, 2012. He was 82. A quiet, private man at heart and an engineer and crack test pilot, Armstrong made history on July 20, 1969, as the commander of the Apollo II spacecraft. It had taken Apollo II craft, carrying Armstrong and fellow astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, four days to complete the nearly 4,000,00 km journey.
Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak, the celebrated author of Where the Wild Things Are, widely considered the most important childrens book artist of the 20th Century died on May 8, 2012 in Connecticut, USA.
11.1
C. Appointment
Jim Yong Kim, the Korean- American physician has been selected a new President of the World Bank.
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Antonis Samaras
Pro-bail out conservative New Democracy (ND) leader Antonis Samaras was sworn in on June 20, 2012 as Prime Minster of debt-crippled Greece. He pledged to work hard to give people tangible hope.
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Ratan Kumar Sinha, Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay, took over as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), from Srikumar Banerjee, who retired after 45 years of distinguished service.
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South Korea elected its first woman President , handing a slim but historic victory to conservative ruling party candidate Park Geun-hye, daughter of the former military ruler.
Master Tips
WANO, World Association of Nuclear Operators, is an international nuclear organization of utilities/operators committed to work for enhancement of safety and reliability to next higher level. All the utilities which operate nuclear power plants are members of WANO.
Nancy Powell
Nancy Powell has been appointed new US ambassador to India.
Institute for Engineers
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Syed Asif Ibrahim
Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa, has been re-elected as the leader of the ruling African
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Tony Hall, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House, was appointed as BBCs Director-General succeeding George Entwistle who was forced to quit due to controversy of sexual abuse.
Gambian lawyer Fatou Bensouda was sworn in as the International Criminal Courts chief prosecutor, pledging she was ready to lead the fight against the worlds worst war criminals. The 51year-old Bensouda is the first woman and the first African to head the team of prosecutors at the Tribunal, which is investigating 15 cases in seven countries, all of them African.
Chandigarh-born Indian-American legal luminary Srikanth Sri Srinivasan has been nominated by United States President Barack Obama, to the U.S. court of Appeals for the American capital the nations second-highest court.
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The United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has appointed Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as its International Goodwill Ambassador. Her job will be to raise global awareness on protecting children from HIV infection and to increase access to antiretroviral treatment.
ISAC is an ISRO's centre for conceptualization, design, fabrication, testin g, integrat ion and in-orb it commissioning of satellite systems involving various cutting edge technologies.
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Marissa Mayer
Yahoo Inc has picked Google Incs Marissa Mayer to become its new CEO, turning to an engineer with established Silicon Valley credentials to turn around the struggling former internet power house. Mayer, Googles 20th employee and first female engineer, had led a number of its business, and was credited for envisioning the clean, simple Google search interface still in use today, a major selling point for Web surfers.
Jose Graziano da Silva of Brazil has been elected Director-General of the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the U.N. agency tasked with reducing world hunger at a time of record high food prices.
Egypts Muslim Brotherhood has claimed victory for its presidential candidate Mohamed Morsi who had been pitted against Ahmad Shafiq in a bitterly contested run off that took place in the midst of an assertion of political power by a military group, marked by the dissolution of an elected lower House of Parliament and an attack on civil liberties.
Raheja Developers Limited chairman and managing director Naveen Raheja has been appointed president of National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), a regulatory body under Union Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation.
Norov Altanhuyag of the Democratic Party (DP) was confirmed as Mongolias new prime minister, ending weeks of political uncertainty after the party failed to win enough seats in a June election to form a government on its own.
Algerias Brahimi
Veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi has agreed to replace Kofi Annan as the international mediator on Syria, as the conflict slips deeper into full-scale civil war.
Master Tips
NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies), established in 1988, a non-profit organization is a global trade body with over 1200 members, of which over 250 are global companies from the US, UK, EU, Japan and China and repr esentsInd ianInformation Tec hnology(IT) an dBus iness Proc ess Outsourcing(BPO) industry. Natarajan Chandrasekaran is current chairman of NASSCOM.
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Libyas national assembly picked former opposition leader Mohammed Magarief as its president as the North African countrys newly elected congress began its rule.
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Hamid Ansari was elected for a second term as the Vice-President of India.
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Raghuram G.Rajan
Raghuram G.Rajan, former IMF chief economist has been appointed as the Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) in the finance ministry of India.
11.2
PLACES IN NEWS
The worlds highest altitude civilian airport in China started operations recently after a successful landing test. The Daocheng Yading airport, built at an altitude of 4,411 metres above the sea level in Sichuan province, is just 130 km from the scenic Yading natural reserve. The Bangda airport in Tibet, located 4,334 metre above sea level, previously held the record as the worlds highest altitude airport.
Tongariro Volcano
The Tongariro Volcano in Mount Tongariro at Tongariro National Park, New Zealand erupted on November 2012
Rampura Bhatiyan
Rampura Bhatiyan village near Jodhpur came into news when Commerce and Industry Minster Anand Sharma and Rajasthan Chief Minster Ashok Gehlot in April 2012 dedicated the first spice park in this village, built at a cost Rs. 27 crore, to the nation. The spice park, which is the second such park in the country, has been constructed in Rampura Bhatiyan village in Mathania near Jodhpur.
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The Magama Ruhunupura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port in Hambantota built with Chinese assistance was opened on November 18, 2010. The inauguration function was graced by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Phase One of the new Hambantota port was constructed by the China.
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Books
A Soldiers General : An autobiography Between Clay and Dust Beyond the Lines : An Autobiography Fahrenheit 451 The Dream of the Celt When China Rules the World The Meadow The Presidents Club Tigers in Red Weather Maharani
Authors
Gen. (Retd.) J.J. Singh former Army Chief of India. Musharraf Ali Farooqi Kuldip Nayar Ray Bradbury Mario Vargas Llosa Martin Jacques K.R. Singh Nikita Sud Adrian Levy and Cathy ScottClark Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy Richard Miniter Liza Klaussmann Ruskin Bond Prem Kumar Dhumal, Former Chief Minister of HP Muchkund Dubey J.K. Rowling Khuswant Singh Akash Kapur Penguin Viking Hilary Mantel (2012 Man Booker Prize) Julian Barnes (2011 Man Booker Prize)
(Kuldip Nayars Beyond the Lines is an activist newsmans autobiography showcased as an inside view of India since 1947.)
Coastal Security : Maritime Dimensions of Indias Homeland Security Liberalization, Hindu Nationalism And the State : A Biography of Gujrarat. Pax Indica : India and the world of the 21st Century Shashi Tharoor
Leading from Behind : The Reluctant President and the Advisors to Decide for Him
Indias Foreign Policy : Coping with the changing World The Casual Vacancy The Free Thinkers Prayer Book India Becoming Bring up the Bodies The sense of an Ending
(Akash Kapur uses an immersive approach drawn from anthropology to present an astute picture of a changing India.)
Taj Mahal Foxtrot : The story of Bombays Jazz Age Naresh Fernandes (2012 Shakti Bhatt 1st Book Prize)
166 The Wandering Falcon Aam Ke Patte The song of Achilles The Tigers Wife River of Smoke Narcopolis
Study Material Jamil Ahmad (2011 Shakti Bhatt 1st Book Prize) Ramdarash Mishra (Vyas Samman 2011) Madeline Miller (Ora nge Prize 2012) Tea Obreht (Orange Prize 2011) Amitav Ghosh Jeet Tha yil (DSC So uth Asian Literature Prize 2013)
(Indian writer Jeet Thayils first novel Narcopolis, described as a compelling tale of Mumbais hazy world of opium addiction has made it to the six-author shortlist for the Man Booker Prize 2012.)
A tale of two revolts (India 1857 and the American Civil War) A World Without Islam
Amazon.com : Revolution 2020 : Love. Corruption. Ambition Chetan Bhagat An Inspirational Journey CBI and 2G Controversially Yours Pratibha Devisingh Patil Nasreen Munni Kabir Joginder Singh C.K. Prahalad, Gary Hamel Shoaib Akhtar Narendra Modi Nelson Mandela Andrew Reeves George Bush Arvind Subramanian C. Rangarajan and D.K. Srivastava M.S. Swaminathan Arvind Virmani Joseph Lelyveld Dr. C. Rangarajan AR Rahman : The spirit of music Competing for the Furture
Convenient Action : Gujrats Response to Challenges of Climate Change Conversations with Myself Counselling Suicidal Clients Decision Point
Eclipse : Living in the Shadow of Chinas Economic Dominance Federalism and Fiscal Transfers in India From Green to Evergreen Revolution From Unipolar to Tripolar World
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Uday Prakash
Pranab Mukherjee
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Study Material India for a Billion Reasons Indomitable Spirit Kashmir and Beyond 1966-84 Keeping The Faith : Memoirs of a Parliamentarian Makers of Modern India Matters of Discretion Milestone Mumbai Seas No Higher Honor Non-Stop India Amit Dasgupta A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Karan Singh Somnath Chatterjee Ram Chandra Guha I.K. Gujral Gen. Deepak Kapoor P.C. Dogra Condoleezza Rice Mark Tully Gopalkrishna Gandhi S.Y. Quraishi Arjun Vajpayee Andre Agassi Imran Khan
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On Top of the World : My Everest Adventure Open (An Autobiography) Pakistan a Personal History
Reintegrating India with the world economy Restoring Values Standing My Ground
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Turbaned Tornado
Understanding reforms : post 1991 India Wake Up Call for Indian Republic When Loss is Gain
Where China Meets India : Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia Thant Myint-U Anil Kumble Anjum Chopra, Sunil Yash Kalra Wide Angle Womens Cricket World
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T.N. Srinivasan, Suresh D. Tendulkar E. Sreedharan Mathew Hayden Suresh Menon M.S. Swaminathan Malcolm Speed Sinddhartha Mukherjee (Book on Cancer, 2011 Pulitzer Prize) Stephen Hawking Deepti Naval V.S. Naipaul Khushwant Singh Harsha Bhogle Khushwant Singh Suresh D. Tendulkar Justice V.R. Krishna Pavan K. Varma
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GENERAL STUDIES
For
UPSC Engineering Services Examination, GATE, State Engineering Services Examination & Public Sector Examination. (BHEL, NTPC, NHPC, DRDO, SAIL, HAL, BSNL, BPCL, NPCL, etc.)
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I.E.S MASTER
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IES/GATE/PSUs
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IES Master
Office: F-126, Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi - 110 016 Phone: 011-41013406, 7838813406, 9711853908 Website: www.iesmaster.org, E-mail: ies_master@yahoo.co.in
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Table of Contents
Chapters 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Master Highlights ....................................................... Page No. 001 to 010
National Updates ......................................................... 011 to 030 International & Bilateral Updates ............................. Environment & Ecology Updates ................................ Science & Technology Updates .................................... Defence Updates ........................................................... Committee, Commission & Reports ........................... 031 to 046 047 to 054 055 to 066 067 to 076 077 to 082
Conferences & Summits ............................................... 083 to 086 Games & Sports Updates ............................................. 087 to 096
10. Awards & Recognition ................................................. 097 to 108 11. Persons in News ........................................................... 109 to 116 12. Books & Authors ........................................................... 117 to 119
Master Highlights
Union Budget-2013 3 Rail Budget-2013 Economic Survey-2012-13 7 9
1.1
1.2 1.3
Master Highlights-1
Amid high expectations of reversing the sharp slowdown in the country's economic growth, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram presented India's 82nd budget in the Lok Sabha on 28th feb 2013. The Key Highlights are as follows:
Fiscal Deficit Fiscal deficit seen at 5.2% of GDP in 2012/13 Fiscal deficit seen at 4.8 pct of GDP in 2013/14 Borrowing Gross market borrowing seen at Rs 6.29 trillion in 2013/14 Net market borrowing seen at Rs 4.84 trillion in 2013/14 Short-term borrowing seen at Rs 198.44 trillion in 2013/14 To buy back Rs 50000 crore worth of bonds in 2013/14 Spending Total budget expenditure seen at Rs 16.65 trillion in 2013/14 Non-plan expenditure estimated at about Rs 11.1 trillion in 2013/14 India's 2013/14 plan expenditure seen at Rs 5.55 trillion Revised estimate for total expenditure is Rs 14.3 trillion in 2012/13, which is 96 pct of budget estimate
Revenue Expect 133 bln rupees through direct tax proposals in 2013/14 Expect 47 bln rupees through indirect tax proposals in 2013/14 Target 558.14 bln rupees from stake sales in state-run firms in 2013/14 Expect revenue of 408.5 bln rupees from airwave surcharges, auction of telecom spectrum, licence fees in 2013/14
Current Account Deficit India's greater worry is current account deficit Will need more than $75 bln this year and next year to fund current account deficit Inflation Food inflation worrying, will take all steps to augment supply side Corporate Sector and Markets To issue inflation-indexed bonds Propose capital allowance of 15 pct to companies on investments of more than 1 bln rupees Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) can use investments in corporate, government bonds as collateral to meet margin requirements Insurance, provident funds can trade directly in debt segments of stock exchanges FIIs can hedge forex exposure through exchange-traded derivatives Investor with less than 10 pct stake in a company will be regarded as FII, more than 10 pct stake as FDI (foreign direct investor) Stock exchange regulator will simplify knowyour-customer norms for foreign portfolio investors To implement quickly recommendations of financial sector legislative reforms commission To cut factory gate duty on trucks to 13 pct from 14 pct Power and Energy Sector Zero customs duty for electrical plants and machinery Move to revenue-sharing from profitsharing policy in oil and gas sector To equalise duties on steam and bituminous coal to 2 pct customs duty and 2 pct cvd (countervailing duty) Foreign Trade To cut duty on exports of precious and semiprecious stones to 2 pct from 10 pct Banking To provide Rs 14,000 crore capital infusion in state-run banks in 2013/14 Defence To allocate Rs 2.03 trillion to defence in 2013/14 Agriculture & Rural Development Rs 80,194 crore to rural development in 2013/14 Rs 27,049 crore for agriculture in 2013/14 Health and Education Health for all and education to all remains priority. Rs 37,330 crore allocated to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. New National Health Mission will get an allocation of Rs 21,239 crore.
Rs 4,727 crore for medical education, training and research. Rs 150 crore provided for National Programme for the Health Care of Elderly. Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy are being mainstreamed. Allocation of Rs 1,069 crore to Department of AYUSH. Rs 1,650 crore allocated for six AIIMS-like institutions. Allocation of Rs 65,867 crore to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, an increase of 17 perent over the RE of the current year. Rs 27,258 crore provided for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA). An increase of 25.6 per cent over RE of the current year for investments in Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). Rs 5,284 crore allocated to Ministries/Departments in 2013-14 for scholarships to students belonging to SC, ST, OBC, Minorities and girl children. Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDM) to be provided Rs 13,215 crore. Government committed to the creation of Nalanda University as a centre of educational excellence. Road Construction A regulatory authority for road sector. 3000 kms of road projects in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh will be awarded in the first six months of 2013-14. Industrial Corridors Plans for seven new cities have been finalised and work on two new smart industrial cities at Dholera, Gujarat and Shendra Bidkin, Maharashtra will start during 2013-14 Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) to be provided additional funds during 2013-14 within the share of the Government of India in the overall outlay, if required. Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor to be developed. Preparatory work has started for Bengaluru Mumbai Industrial Corridor. Oil and Gas A policy to encourage exploration and production of shale gas will be announced. The 5 MMTPA LNG terminal in Dabhol, Maharashtra will be fully operational in 201314. Coal In the medium to long term need to reduce our dependence on imported coal. One way forward is to devise a PPP policy framework with Coal India Limited as one of the partners. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Benefits or preferences enjoyed by MSME to continue up to three years after they grow out of this category. Refinancing capacity of SIDBI raised to Rs 10,000 crore. Another sum of Rs 100 crore provided to India Microfinance Equity Fund. A corpus of Rs 500 crore to SIDBI to set up a Credit Guarantee Fund for factoring. A sum of Rs 2,200 crore during the 12th Plan period to set up 15 additional Tool Rooms and Technology Development Centres with World Bank assistance. Ministry of Corporate Affairs to notify that funds provided to technology incubators located within academic Institutions and approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology or Ministry of MSME will qualify as CSR expenditure. Textiles Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) to continue in 12th Plan with an investment target of Rs 1,51,000 crore. Allocation of Rs 50 crore to Ministry of Textile to incentivise setting up Apparel Parks within the SITPs to house apparel manufacturing units. A new scheme called the Integrated Processing Development Scheme will be implemented in the 12th Plan to address the environmental concerns of the textile industry. Working capital and term loans at a concessional interest of 6 per cent to handloom sector. Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) extended to 800 clusters during the 12th Plan. Foreign Trade Support to measures to be taken to boost exports of goods and services. Insurance A multi-pronged approach to increase the penetration of insurance, both life and general, in the country. Number of proposals finalised, in consultation with IRDA such as empowering insurance companies to open branches in Tier-II cities and below without prior approval of IRDA, KYC of banks to be sufficient to acquire insurance policies, banks to be permitted to act as insurance brokers, banking correspondent allowed to sell micro-insurance products and achieving the goal of having an office of LIC and an office of at least one public sector general insurance company in towns with population of 10,000 or more. Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to be extended to other categories such as rickshaw, auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers,
sanitation workers, rag pickers and mine workers. A comprehensive social security package to be evolved for unorganised sector by facilitating convergence among different schemes. Capital Market Proposal to amend the SEBI Act, to strengthen the regulator, under consideration. Number of proposal finalised in consultation with SEBI. Designatged depository participants, authorised by SEBI, may register different classes of portfolio investors, subject to compliance with KYC guidelines. SEBI will simplify the procedures and prescribe uniform registration and other norms for entry for foreign portfolio investors. Rule that, where an investor has a stake of 10 per cent or less in a company, it will be treated as FII and, where an investor has a stake of more than 10 per cent, it will be treated as FDI will be laid. FIIs will be permitted to participate in the exchange traded currency derivative segment to the extent of their Indian rupee exposure in India. FIIs will also be permitted to use their investment in corporate bonds and Government securities as collateral to meet their margin requirements. SEBI to prescribed requirement for angel investor pools by which they can be recognised as Category I AIF venture capital funds. Small and medium enterprises, to be permitted to list on the SME exchange without being required to make an initial public offer (IPO). Stock exchanges to be allowed to introduce a dedicated debt segment on the exchange. Other proposals Backward Regions Grant Fund New criteria for determining backwardness to be evolved and reflect them in future planning and devolution of funds. Skill Development Target of skilling 50 million people in the 12th Plan period, including 9 million in 201314. Defence Allocation for Defence increased to ` 2,03,672 crore including Rs 86,741 crore for capital expenditure. Constraints not to come in the way of providing any addition requirement for the security of nation. Science and Technology Despite constraints substantial enhancements given to Science and Technology, Space and Atomic Energy.
Rs 200 crore to be set apart to fund organisations that will scale up S&T innovations and make these products available to the people. Institutions of Excellence A grant of Rs 100 crore each made to 4 institution of excellence. Sports National Institute of Sports Coaching to be set up at Patiala at a cost of Rs 250 crore over a period of three years. Broadcasting All cities having a population of more than 1,00,000 will be covered by private FM radio services. Panchayati Raj Augmentation in the Budget allocation of Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan (RGPSA) to Rs 455 crore in 2013-14. An additional Rs 200 crore proposed to be provided. Post Offices An ambitious IT driven project to modernise the postal network at a cost of Rs 4,909 crore. Post offices to become part of the core banking solution and offer real time banking services. Ghadar Memorial Government to fund the conversion of the Ghadar Memorial in San Francisco into a museum and library. Central Schemes Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and Additional Central Assistance (ACA) Schemes to be restructured into 70 schemes. Central fund for the schemes to be given to the States as part of central plan assistance. New Plans and Schemes rolled out in the Union Budget 2013-14: Nirbhaya Fund: The Finance Minister announced the setting up of a fund called the Nirbhaya Fund - with the Government contributing 1000 crore Rupees for safety and security of the women in India. The Finance Minister announced that various initiatives were underway as well as a lot more were undertaken by Government and NGOs for empowering women and providing them safety and security. 1000 crore Rupees scheme for training youth: A 1000 crore Rupees scheme for training youth for boosting up their employability and productivity was rolled out in the budget. The National Skill Development Corporation would be required to set up curriculum and standards for training different skills. The trained youth who will pass the test by the end of the training would get monetary reward of 10000 Rupees on an average. This initiative would motivate 10 lakh youth. Proposal to set up Indias first Womens Bank as a public 6 sector bank with 1000 crore Rupees as initial capital.
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Scheme to be rolled out throughout the country during the term of UPA Government. This scheme will help the poor. Under the scheme, a bank account will be opened for each beneficiary; and the bank account will be seeded with Aadhaar in due course. 10000 crore Rupees earmarked for National Food Security towards the incremental cost. Drinking water and sanitation will receive 15260 crore Rupees. 1400 crore Rupees is being provided for setting up water purification plants to cover arsenic and fluoride affected rural areas. Proposal to launch Inflation Indexed Bonds or Inflation Indexed National Security Certificates to protect savings from inflation. Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme launched for recovering service tax dues. 9000 crore Rupees earmarked as the first installment of balance of CST compensations to different States/UTs. The Interest Subvention Scheme: This scheme for shortterm crop loans is proposed to be continued for loans by public sector banks, RRBs and Cooperative banks, and expanded to private scheduled commercial banks. Under the scheme, a farmer who repays the loan on time is able to get credit at 4 cent per year. National Livestock Mission: 307 crore Rupees have been provided for setting up of the National Livestock Mission. This will attract investment and enhance livestock productivity. A sub-mission of this Mission seeks to increase the availability of feed and fodder. Assistance of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank will be sought to build roads in the North Eastern States and connect them to Myanmar. The body of Rural Infrastructure Development Funds (RIDF) is proposed to be raised to 20000 crore Rupees. Plans for seven new cities were finalized for industrial corridors and work on two new smart industrial cities at Dholera (Gujarat) and Shendra Bidkin (Maharashtra) will start during 2013-14. Two new ports will be established in Sagar (West Bengal) and in Andhra Pradesh. A power transmission system will be constructed from Srinagar to Leh and for this 226 crore Rupees were provided in 2013-14. Apparel Parks are proposed to be set up within the Integrated Textile Parks, to house apparel manufacturing units. Standing Council of Experts: Standing Council of Experts is proposed to be constituted in the Ministry of Finance to analyse the international competitiveness of the Indian financial sector. A number of proposals relating to capital market have been finalized in consultation with SEBI. These include simplification of procedure and uniforms norms for foreign portfolio investors, clarity relating to FDI investment, allowing FIIs to participate in new areas, etc.
Master Highlights-2
Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal presented the Union Railway Budget for 2013-14 in Lok Sabha on 26 February 2013. The thrust areas of the Rail Budget are: 1. Safety; 2. Consolidation; 3. Passenger Amenities; 4. Fiscal Discipline
Key Highlights are as follows: No hike in passenger fares Superfast and Tatkal charges to rise Annual plan for 2013-14 set at Rs 63,363 crore Losses up from Rs 22,500 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 24,600 crore in 2012-13 Accidents per million km down from .41 to .13 Raised four companies of women RPF personnel; another eight to be raised for women's safety 67 new Express and 26 new passenger trains to run; 8 DEMU services and 5 MEMU services to be introduced; run of 57 trains to be extended; frequency of 24 trains to increase 22 new rail lines to be taken up in 2013-14 New debt service fund to be set up Will close fiscal 2012-13 with fund balance against previous deficit; need to build fund balance to Rs.30,000 crore by end of 12th Plan Operating ratio of 88.8 percent achieved Dividend reduced from 5 to 4 percent Electrification of 1,200 km to be completed this year 72 additional suburban services in Mumbai and 18 in Kolkata Rs 6,600 crore increase in earnings from fare adjustment in January Rs 63,000 crore investment in 2013-14 1,047 million tonnes freight loading estimated during 2013-14 Passenger earnings of Rs 42,000 crore estimated in 2013-14 Indian Railways Institute of Financial Management to be set up at Secunderabad Chair at Delhi to promote research in reducing carbon footprint Winners of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Dhyan Chand awards to get free first class passes Complementary first class passes for parents of unmarried posthumous awardees of Maha Vir Chakra, Vir Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra
Some of the major Initiative proposed in Railway Budget 2013-14 are as under: Anubhuti Indian Railways will introduce one coach in select trains which will provide an excellent ambience and latest modern facilities and services responding to the Increased Popularity of Shatabdi and Rajdhani Trains. Such coaches will be named Anubhuti with commensurate fare structures. Amenities for Differently-abled Passengers To facilitate the boarding of trains and exit from the stations for the differently-abled and the elderly, there is a proposed provision of 179 escalators and 400 lifts at A- 1 and other major stations, affixing Braille stickers indicating the layout of coaches including toilets, provision of wheel chairs and battery operated vehicles at more stations and making coaches wheel-chair friendly. In order to provide an employment avenue to the disabled people, there is proposal to reserve a specified number of Jan Sadharan Ticket Booking Sewak (JTBS) for them, keeping in view the fact that the PCOs at stations have become largely redundant after the mobile revolution in India. IT Initiatives for passenger benefits There will be now Use of Aadhar scheme by Indian Railways. The database generated, can be extensively and efficiently used by railways not only to render more user friendly services such as booking of tickets, validation of genuine passengers with GPS enabled handheld gadgets in trains, but also to provide a better interface with its employees in regard to their salaries, pension, allowances etc. Some of the other measures proposed under IT Initiative of Railways are: Extending availability of the facility of internet ticketing from 0030 hours to 2330 hours Making e-ticketing possible through mobile phones as a follow up to overwhelming response to IR website and Integrated Train Enquiry Service under 139, a project of SMS Alerts to passengers providing updates on reservation status is being rolled out shortly. Covering larger number of trains under Real Time Information System (RTIS), whereby rail-users will be able to access information through nominated websites and mobile phones. Some measures taken to curb malpractices in reserved tickets including Tatkal are: Mandatory carrying of ID cards by passengers with reserved tickets Rigorous drive leading to prosecution of more than 1800 touts in the current year In case of tatkal, reduction of advance reservation period to one day, issue of tickets only on production of ID proof at PRS counters, issue of only one tatkal ticket per train per day to web service agents; Denial of access to agents to internet booking between 0800 to 1000 hrs. Other Major Initiatives A Centralised Catering Services Monitoring Cell with a Toll free number 1800 111 321 has started functioning w.e.f. 18th January, 2013 to facilitate redressal of complaints/suggestions on real-time basis. For effective quality control, arrangements are being tied up with food testing laboratories in addition to third party audit. State-of the- art base kitchens are proposed to be set up in railway premises for better monitoring of quality of meals. ISO certification will now be insisted upon for all base-kitchens. Green Energy Initiatives Some of the new steps that have been taken or are proposed to be taken include: Setting up of Railway Energy Management Company (REMC) to harness potential of solar and wind energy Setting up of 75 MW windmill plants and energizing 1000 level crossings with solar power Deployment of new generation energy efficient electric locomotives and electrical multiple units (EMUs) saving about 60 crore units in 2011-12. Railways have also won the National Energy Conservation Award Encourage more usage of agro-based and recycled paper and ban use of plastic in catering. Some of the New Plans and Schemes proposed in Railway Budget 2013-14 are as under: Proposal for setting up of Railway Tariff Regulatory Authority formulated and at inter-ministerial consultation stage. Fuel Adjustment Component (FAC) linked revision for freight tariff to be implemented from 1 st April 2013 and for passenger tariff later. To provide a memorable experience to the visitors especially the children, a revamp plan will be rolled out for National Railway Museum in 2013-14. To create a corpus for meeting IRs committed liabilities for debt servicing of JICA and World Bank loans taken for the DFC Project, it is proposed to set up a new Debt Service Fund. In order to meet the growing demand, 72 additional services in Mumbai and 18 in Kolkata are being introduced. Besides, rake length is being increased from 9 cars to 12 cars for 80 services in Kolkata and 30 services in Chennai. A target to complete 500 km of new lines has been set for 2013-14. There is target to convert 450 km of MG/NG lines to broad gauge during 2013-14. Announcement of resumption of work on new line projects of Chickmagalur - Sakleshpur and Bengaluru Satyamangalam, which were pending for want of resources and other mandatory clearances, after State Government of Karnataka agreed to give land free of cost and bear 50% of the cost.
Master Highlights-3
Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 27 February presented the Economic Survey 2012-13 in the Lok Sabha of the Parliament. India's Economic Survey for 2012-13 pegs the country's growth at 6.1-6.7% and inflation at 6.2-6.6% for the next fiscal 2013-14 and made a strong call for cutting subsidies. Economic Survey is presented every year, just before the Union Budget. It is a flagship annual document of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Economic Survey reviews the developments in the Indian economy over the previous 12 months. It summarizes the performance on major development programmes, and highlights the policy initiatives of the government and the prospects of the economy in the short to medium term. The economic survey 2012-13 was prepared by a team of economists led by Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram Rajan, and pitches for speeding up economic reforms to activate a sluggish economy. It serves as an indicator of what is likely to be contained in the General Budget proposals.
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Master Tips
Chief Justice of a high court is appointed by the President of India after consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the governor of the concerned state. Other judges of a high court are appointed by the President of India after consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the governor of the concerned state along with the Chief Justice of the concerned high court. The salaries and allowances of a high court are charged on the consolidated fund of state. *But, the pension of a high court judge is charged on the consolidated fund of India, not the state.
Asias largest Tulip garden on the banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar was thrown open to visitors, marking the beginning of the new tourism season in the Valley. The 15-hectare garden in the foothills of Zabarwan Range was officially opened to visitors. The state Floriculture department said a total of over 1.5 million tulips, of over 80 varieties are presently in bloom at the garden. Formerly known as Siraj Bagh, now called as the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip garden was opened in 2008.
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Floriculture or flower farming is a discipline of horticulture concerned with the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for gardens and for floristry, comprising the floral industry. Government of India has identified floriculture as a sunrise industry and accorded it 100% export oriented status. The country has exported 3,09,26,023 MT of floriculture products to the world for the worth of Rs.365.32 crores in 2011-12 Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), is responsible for export promotion and development of floriculture in India.
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1st Chief Justice Seat of HC Shillong Imphal Justice T Meena Kumari Justice Ahay Manohar Sapre Justice Deepak Gupta Agartala
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the Shopmen : restricted to the hinterland of Great Nicobar. the Karen tribe (over 2,000 people): in the Mayabunder tehsil of North Andaman district, almost all of whom are Christians. Despite their tribal origins, the Karen of Andamans has OBC status in the Andamans .
Different Indian states have undergone elections during 2012-13 and new governments have been formed as per the summary table given below: INC: Indian National Congress, BJP: Bharatiya Janata Party, CPI (M)/LF: Communist Party of India (Marxist)/Left Front, NPF: Naga Peoples Front.
Summary of Results: Assembly Elections in States held in 2012-13 State Total MLA Seat Election held in Chief Minister Ruling Party Himachal Pradesh 68 Nov-Dec 2012 Virbhadra Singh INC Gujrat 182 Dec 2012 Narendra Modi BJP Tripura Meghalaya Nagaland 60 60 60 Feb 2013 Feb 2013 Feb 2013 Manik Sarkar Mukul Sangma Neiphiu Rio CPI(M)/LF INC NPF
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Criteria for Classical Languages of India: As per Union Ministry of Culture: High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years; A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers; The literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community; The classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots. Indian Classical Languages declared so far: Tamil (in 2004), Sanskrit (in 2005), Kannada and Telugu (in 2008).
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National Updates
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The Cabinet has approved a Constitutional Amendment Bill that will facilitate the implementation of the India-Bangladesh boundary agreement signed in 2011. The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gave its nod to the draft of the Constitutional Bill to amend the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement, 1974.
The day-long rituals associated with bheting or admission of new women members into the clan marked the start of the famous Nagoba jatara, a five-day annual pilgrimage of the Mesram clan of Gonds at Keslapur village in Indervelli mandal, Adilabad District, Andhra Pradesh.
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The 2001 Parliament attack case convict Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged on 9th Feb 2013 and buried inside the Tihar jail complex. The President (Pranab Mukherjee) rejected the mercy petition on February 3. ( Refer Current Affairs 1 for pardoning power of the president ).
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It also proposes enhanced punishment for other crimes against women like stalking, voyeurism, acid attacks, indecent gestures like words and inappropriate touch.
Master Tips
Ordinance Making Powers of President: Our constitution under Article 123 gives special legislative powers to President of India by promulgating ordinance under certain circumstances. Thus if both the houses of parliament is not in session and it becomes necessary to make laws then president can make laws within the powers provided by the constitution of India. Following are the important provisions regarding ordinance making powers of the President: The President gets the powers only when the Parliament is not in session. Even if one house of Parliament is not in session, the President can pass on ordinance. The Councils of Ministers should suggest the passing of an ordinance on such matters.
The President himself should be satisfied about the need for the ordinance and he cannot be compelled. Once an ordinance is passed, it should be placed before both the Houses of Parliament and approved by them within six weeks of their respective dates of reassembly. The ordinance lapses if it is not approved within the aforesaid six weeks or if it is rejected earlier or if the President himself withdraws the ordinance.
Minister of Communications and Information Technology Kapil Sibal launched the website www.rekhta.org - an initiative by Rekhta Foundation in New Delhi. The website is a gateway to the world of Urdu poetry and features recitation, a dynamic dictionary, a search engine, rare e-books, etc for ardent Urdu lovers.
Private Mantra Airlines Launches the 1ST Civil Air Connectivity for Kargil
First ever civil aviation service between Kargil and Jammu has been launched as the landing of Mantra Airlines 17- seater at Kargil created history as never before has a civil passenger aircraft been spotted there. Kargil is one the worlds coldest towns, frozen under a minus 20 degree Celsius temperature. The Indian Air Force has been operating an AN-32 aircraft three times a week in the Jammu-Kargil sector and once a week between Srinagar and Kargil.
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The President has powers to pass ordinance on the matters on which the Parliament has powers.
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The Bhopal gas tragedy was a gas leak incident in India, considered the worlds worst industrial disaster. It occurred on the night of 23 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The leaked gas was methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas (IUPAC name), other names of the gas are isocyanatomethane or methyl carbylamine. Methyl isocyanate (MIC) is an organic compound with the molecular formula CH3NCO. MIC is an intermediate chemical in the production of carbamate pesticides (such as carbaryl, carbofuran, methomyl and aldicarb). It has also been used in the production of rubbers and adhesives. As a highly toxic and irritating material, it is extremely hazardous to human health. UCIL was the Indian subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC). Warren Anderson was the UCC CEO at the time of the disaster. Dow Chemical Company purchased UCC in 2001.
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The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has launched Jeevan Sugam, a new nonlinked single premium plan. The new plan, which is available for a limited period, is a conventional close-ended plan with guaranteed returns. The plan provides a risk cover of 10 times the single premium paid for a fixed term of ten years. The latest policy is available for those between 8 and 45 years. The minimum sum to be invested is Rs60000, while there is no upper limit for the investment.
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The Central Government, on March 22 2013, came out with sops for setting up of National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) doling out various benefits, including exemption from capital gains tax on sale of plant and machinery and eligibility for viability gap funding ( which cannot exceed 20 per cent of the project cost. ) as per the document notified by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). Developers of NIMZs will be allowed to raise funds through external commercial borrowings (ECBs) for developing the internal infrastructure. Soft loans from multilateral institutions will be explored for funding infrastructure development in NIMZ. The government has proposed to set up 11 NIMZs to enhance the share of manufacturing in gross domestic product (GDP) from 15 to 25 per cent within a decade and creating 100 million jobs.
India Ratings, WB Estimates Economy to Grow Over 6 % & Govt at 6.1 to 6.7%
India Ratings & Research Private Ltd. and World Bank estimate the economy to grow over 6 per cent in 2013-14 if the government continued with its recent policy initiatives aimed at attracting more investment and infrastructure development. Government in its budget proposal estimated growth rate in 2013-14 to be in the range of 6.1 to 6.7%.
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*Policy Rates Bank Rate Repo Rate Reverse Repo Rate Marginal standing Facility Rate (MSF) 8.50% 7.50% 6.50%
*Policy Ratios Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) 4.0% 23.0%
The Rajasthan Government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) for setting up a refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in the Barmer region. The 9-million tonne refinery, to come up in the Barmer-Sanchore basin, has been a long-pending demand of Rajasthan. The project is expected to be completed in four years. At Rs.37,230 crore, it is being hailed as the single largest investment in the history of the State.
Reliance Power has announced the successful synchronisation of the first 660 MW unit of its 3,960 MW Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) with the grid. The electricity generated from the project would be sold to 14 distribution companies across seven States. The Sasan UMPP and coal mining project attached to it has an estimated investment of over Rs.23, 000 crore. Coal production has already commenced from the Moher and Moher-Amlohri coal mines. Chhatrasal coal block has received forest clearance and is under development.
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from time to time, so keep updated.
8.75%
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Wipro Ltd has been recognised by the Ethisphere Institute , a leading business ethics thinktank, as one of the 2013 Worlds Most Ethical (WME) Companies, for the second year in a row. This recognition is for Wipros strong commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices, and corporate citizenship. The Ethisphere Institute is a leading international organisation dedicated to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics, governance, anti-corruption and sustainability.
State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) and Mumbai-based infrastructure major Shapoorji Pallonji plan to set up a terminal for import of liquid gas (LNG) on Gujarat coast at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore. HPCL and SP Ports Pvt Ltd, a unit of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, plan to set up the liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at Chhara in Gujarats Junagadh district through a 50:50 joint venture. Gujarat already has two functional ports at Dahej and Hazira. A third one is under planning by Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) at Mundra. The Chhara terminal would be the fourth in the state.
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Ennore Port Ltd. has launched a public issue of tax-free bonds to raise up to Rs.1000 crore from the market to meet its capital investment plans. The tax-free instruments are in the form of secured redeemable nonconvertible bonds of the face value of Rs.1000 each having tax benefits under Section 10(15) (iv) (h) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
Ennore Port, located on the Coromandel Coast about 24km north of Chennai Port, Chennai, it is the 12th major port of India, and the first port in India which is a public company. The Ennore Port is the only corporatised major port and is registered as a company. The Centre holds a stake of about 68 per cent in the Ennore Port and the remaining 32 per cent is held by the Chennai Port Trust.
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India is the 19th largest exporter with a share of 1.7 percent in the worldwide merchandise trade. On the other hand, the country is the 12th largest importer with a share of 2.5 percent in 2011. In commercial services, the country is the eighth largest exporter in the world with a share of 3.3 percent and the seventh largest importer with a share of 3.1 percent.
The government has said it will set up a port each at Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal in 2013-14, to effectively handle increased cargo traffic. Ministry of Shipping, in the Maritime Agenda 2010-20, had proposed setting up of two major ports which handle heavy cargo traffic in the country. It had envisaged developing two new major ports, one each on east and west coasts. At present there are 12 major ports in India Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Kolkata (with Haldia), Chennai, Cochin, Paradip, New Mangalore, Marmagao, Ennore, Tuticorin, Kandla and Visakhapatanam.
Air Asia and Tata Group Join Hands for Budget Airline
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The Tata Group is making yet another bid to enter the aviation space. Malaysias no-frills carrier AirAsia has sought the approval of the Indian Government to join hands with the Tata Group to enter the aviation sector. This would be the first investment in the sector by a foreign airline after the Government hiked the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit from 26 per cent to 49 per cent in 2012. Tata Sons will hold 30 per cent in the joint venture but will not have any operating role in the airline. AirAsia will hold 49 per cent stake in the JV, while Hindustan Aviation of the Bhatias will hold 21 per cent. AirAsia, through its operations based in Thailand and Malaysia, flies to Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi, Tiruchirappalli and Kolkata in addition to 20 countries across Asia.
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GAIL (India), the newest Maharatna PSU, commenced delivery of gas through its 1,000 km-long Dabhol-Bangalore pipeline. The first recipient of the gas was Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts, which will utilise the fuel for its captive 6.5 MW power plant. The company has installed a 73 km pipeline in Bangalore. GAIL also signed a gas transmission agreement with Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd. (KPCL) for the supply of 2.1 million metric standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) of natural gas for its 700 MW power plant at Bidadi in 30 months. The pipeline, built at a cost of Rs.4,500 crore, has a total capacity of 16 mmscmd. GAIL Chairman and Managing Director B. C. Tripathi pointed out that the pipeline traversed through about 700 km across Karnataka.
Master Tips
A company qualifying for the Maharatna status should have an average annual turnover of more than Rs 25,000 crore in the last three years
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the PSU must have a net worth of over Rs 15,000 crore and net profit of more than Rs 5,000 crore during the last three years already among Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)- listed on stocks Autonomy after becoming Maharatna CPSE: Including other operational and financial autonomy in decision-making, a Maharatna firm can take investment decision of up to Rs 5,000 crore without going to the government. For Navratna firms, this limit is Rs 1,000 crore. With the Maharatna Status granted to GAIL and BHEL in Feb 2013, there are now seven Maharatna companies- ONGC, Indian Oil, GAIL, BHEL, NTPC, SAIL & CIL. As of Feb 2013: There are 14 Navratna CPSEs, 52 Miniratna Category - I CPSEs &16 Miniratna Category - II CPSEs..
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The countrys first Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF) under the NBFC (non banking finance company) structure was formally launched with Finance Minister P. Chidambaram handing over the first IDF-NBFC licence to India Infra Debt Limited (Infradebt) in the presence of its four promoters ICICI Bank (31%), Bank of Baroda (30%), Citibank (29%) and Life Insurance Corporation of India (10%).
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to the southern and western parts of the country. The terminal is operated by RGPPL, a joint venture of GAIL (India) and NTPC. GAIL had taken this terminal for a 25-year lease and had announced plans to enhance its capacity to 10 million tonnes in four years in two phases. The Punjab Government has inked a memorandum of understanding with Monsanto Holdings Private Limited to jointly establish three centres of excellence for promotion of cotton, maize and vegetables in the State.
Master Tips
Monsanto Company is a publicly traded American multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. It is a leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed and of the herbicide glyphosate, which it markets under the Roundup brand. Monsanto has had a controversial history in India, starting with the accusation that Monsanto used terminator genes in its seeds, causing demonstrations against the company. Later, its GM cotton seed was the subject of NGO agitation because of its higher cost, sometimes lower than claimed yield and environmental concerns, sometimes leading to stress and suicide cases of farmers. It was in news in India due to controversy regarding field trial of Bt Brinjal & Bt Maize and its monopoly over genetically modified (GM) Bt Cotton. About Bt: Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a Gram-positive, soil-dwelling bacterium, commonly used as a biological pesticide; alternatively, the Cry toxin may be extracted and used as a pesticide. B. thuringiensis also occurs naturally in the gut of caterpillars of various types of moths and butterflies, as well on leaf surfaces, aquatic environments, animal feces, insect rich environments, flour mills and grain storage facilities. The bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) naturally produces a chemical harmful only to a small fraction of insects, most notably the larvae of moths and butterflies, beetles, and flies, and harmless to other forms of life.
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Bihars farmers have done it again. A farmer from Sohdih village of Bihars Nalanda district has set a new world record in potato production through organic farming. The potato farmer, Rakesh Kumar, has harvested 108.8 tonnes of potato per hectare and set a new world record in potato production. In 2012, a farmer of Darveshpura village in Nalanda had set a world record in potato production through organic farming. Bihar is the third-largest potato producing state, after Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Last year, five farmers here created a world record, producing 224 quintals of paddy per hectare.
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The government is considering a proposal to use the offer for sale (OFS) route for selling its residual stake in Hindustan Zinc (HZL) and BALCO. The move would enable not only Vedanta Resources, which is the majority stakeholder of the two companies , but also ordinary investors to bid for shares. The government currently holds 29.5 per cent stake in HZL and 49 per cent stake in BALCO, but is planning to exit from both companies. The government had sold controlling stake in them between 2001 and 2003.
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According to a paper written by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) chief Ashok Gulati along with Surbhi Jain and Anwarul Hoda, in 2011-12 agricultural exports by India were more than $37 billion against an import of commodities worth around $17 billion. India has emerged as the worlds largest exporter of rice, replacing Thailand and Vietnam and the country has also become the biggest exporter of buffalo meat beating traditionally strong countries such as Brazil, Australia and the US. CACP discussion paper titled Farm trade: Tapping the hidden potential has stated that agricultural exports have increased more than 10 fold from $3.5 billion in 1990-91 to $37.1 billion in 2011-12 and could cross $42 bn in 2013.
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The Agency for Non-conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT) expects to start work on a 2-MW solar power plant at Kuzhalmannam in Palakkad in 2013. ANERT was launching a State-wide project to equip 10,000 houses with rooftop solar power plants of 1 kW capacity. To be executed with financial assistance from the Union government, the programme would generate a total of 10 MW and produce about 1 crore units of power every year to bridge the demand-supply gap in the States power sector.
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The Union government has announced the postponement of the implementation of the controversial GAAR (General Anti Avoidance Rules) by two years to April 1, 2016. The postponement and other modifications in GAAR provisions marks the acceptance of the recommendations of the Parthasarathi Shome Committee, which was set up by Prime Minister following concerns expressed by investors on the Budget provision in this regard and the subsequent withdrawal of portfolio investment by foreign investors.
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A major fire broke out at state-owned Indian Oil Corporations fuel storage depot at Hazira in Gujarat. IndianOil chairman R S Butola told the fire broke out in one of the petrol storage tanks and destroyed about 50 lakh litres of petrol which was in stock at the time. The tank has a capacity to store about 90-100 lakh litres of fuel. This is the second major fire at an IOC storage depot since 2009. On October 29, 2009, a fire broke out at its Jaipur terminal and raged for 11 days. Some 11 lives were lost and property worth Rs 280 crore was destroyed.
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The government has decided on continuing the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) to sanction new projects till March 2014. The new projects and capacity building activities will be under Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) and Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) components of JNNURM. New Urban infrastructure projects and capacity building activities in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in states and Union Territories (UTs) would be approved till March 31, 2014. The proposal would enable making provisions for creation of urban infrastructure, particularly in small and medium towns in all states and UTs.
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The Union government has declared the highest relief package in recent years of over Rs. 2892 crore for seven States including drought-hit Maharashtra to deal with the impact of calamities. It also revised the guidelines for relief under crop loss and raised the assistance by 50 per cent in all categories including rain-fed and irrigated areas and for perennial crops. The expenditure for cattle at camps, including the cost of medicines and water supply, was also raised. The decisions were taken by the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Drought headed by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. The relief package, to be released from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF), will be implemented from March 1. The total relief package for Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Gujarat, Kerala and Uttarakhand is Rs. 2,892.61 crore, excluding the funds allocated for cattle camp in Maharashtra.
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Master Tips
Bihar was the 1st state to give 50% reservations to women in the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) which was then followed by various states like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tripura and Uttarakhand. Taking the note, later on, Central Government introduced the Constitution (110th Amendment) Bill, 2009 to amend Article 243D to enhance the reservation for women from existing 33% to 50% for members as well as chairpersons of PRIs.
Having banned smoking at public places, Manipur has prohibited the manufacture, display, stocking, sale and consumption of smokeless tobacco products, becoming the second State in the north-east to do so, after Mizoram. A notification, issued by the Commissioner of Food Safety, says those who violate the ban, imposed under the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Regulation on sales) Regulation, 2011, are liable to punishment, including a fine of up to Rs. 2 lakh. ( Refer Current Affairs-1 for FSSAI .)
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The State Cabinet has passed a proposal to give effect of 50 per cent reservation for women in cooperatives. As per the decision, 50 per cent of the seats in all cooperatives, primary agricultural cooperative societies (PACS) will be reserved for women. From the quota, two seats each will be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and Economically Backward Classes.
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Data put out by the central government in the Economic Survey shows that the Tamil Nadu ranks second in employing maximum number of women under the rural job scheme MGNREGS. In 2011-12, more than 73.3% of women in rural Tamil Nadu were employed under the MGNREGS, second only to Kerala where 92.7% women were employed.
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Delhi has become the first State in the country to ban manual scavenging and has barred the deployment of safai karamcharis (cleaning staff) for manual sewer cleaning . Delhi government is providing all amenities to the safai karamcharis as per service rules and is taking steps to modernise their working and provide them proper training. The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Bill, 2012 is still pending in the Parliament. As per this Bill, the district magistrates would be required to make sure that no one in their jurisdiction was engaged in manual scavenging. The Bill made it obligatory for the cantonment boards and municipalities along with the railway authorities to build adequate sanitary community bathrooms within 3 years after the Act comes into force.
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Sonia Gandhi has launched her Governments new child healthcare initiative, Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram in the predominantly tribal taluka of Palghar in Thane district of Maharashtra. A child health screening and early intervention service, the new programme is part of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). It aims at providing comprehensive healthcare for all children up to 18 years of age. The new programme which is a package of health services for children - will be extended to cover all districts of the country in a phased manner. When fully implemented, the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram is expected to benefit approximately 27 crore children across the country. A set of 30 common ailments and health conditions have been identified for screening and early intervention. The identified common ailments include: Birth defects like down syndrome, congenital cataract, deafness and heart defect, while deficiency conditions that have been listed are: Anaemia, malnutrition and goitre, developmental delays and disabilities like hearing impairment and vision impairment. The services will be provided through dedicated mobile health teams, comprising two AYUSH doctors (one male and one female), nurse and a pharmacist, located in every block.
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According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012, facilitated by NGO Pratham, almost half of the Class 5 students in rural schools cannot solve a two-digit subtraction problem. Less than half of them can read text meant for a Class 2 child. Rural school enrolment continues to be high and educational infrastructure may have improved in the two years since the Right to Education Act came into effect, but the village childrens ability to read and do basic arithmetic has been on a sharp decline since then. In 2010, 70.9 per cent of Class 5 children were able to solve subtraction problems. Last year, that fell to 61 per cent. This year, there has been a further drop to 53.5 per cent. In fact, almost 20 per cent cannot even recognise two-digit numbers. Apart from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, which have held steady or improved, every major State has seen a substantial drop in basic arithmetic levels, according to the survey.
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An evaluation has ranked Tamil Nadu at the top for implementation outcomes of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and described it as a benchmark for other States. Analysis of data also reveals that in physical infrastructure per 1 lakh population with respect to Primary Health Centres, Community Health Centres, and First Reference Units, Jammu and Kashmir is far ahead of Tamil Nadu and the other States. The seven States surveyed are: Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Jammu and Kashmir. For the utilisation of public health facilities for ante-natal care and post-natal care services, Tamil Nadu is the best performing State and Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Assam are the worst.
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The adopted treaty text covers weapons such as tanks, armoured combat vehicles, largecalibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, and small and light arms. However it does not explicitly cover predator drones and grenades. Ammunition exports are subject to the same criteria as the other included items, although its imports are not covered.
India entered into a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with Liechtenstein for facilitating exchange of information on banking and ownership data based on international standards of transparency. The agreement, signed in Bern (Switzerland) is aimed at tracking black money, checking tax evasion and routing of illicit funds.
Master Tips
Liechtenstein, officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (as it is a constitutional monarchy headed by a prince) is a doubly landlocked alpine country (only country to lie entirely within the Alps ) in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east and north. Its area is just over 160 sq km, and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan.
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Liechtenstein has the highest gross domestic product per person in the world when adjusted by purchasing power parity ( PPP), and has the worlds lowest external debt. It is a member of the European Free Trade Association and part of the European Economic Area and the Schengen Area, but not of the European Union. It has been identified as a tax haven that is why India entered into TIEA.
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The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is a multilateral treaty that regulates the international trade in conventional weapons which has been estimated to reach US$70 billion a year. The treaty was negotiated at a global conference under the auspices of the United Nations from 227 July 2012 in New York, where it was not possible to reach an agreement on a final text at that time. On 2 April 2013, the UN General Assembly adopted the ATT.
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Iran has awarded the development of an offshore oil field that state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) had abandoned as commercially unviable, to a domestic company. ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) and its partners Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) had in 2009 dropped plans to develop the Binaloud oil field in the Farsi offshore block as it found one billion barrels of reserves commercially unviable. Binaloud holds about 3.5 billion barrels of oil in place, more than three times ONGCs estimate of 1 billion barrels of heavy crude with 14-degree API gravity. OVL-IOC-OIL joint venture had in 2006 made an oil discovery in the Farsi offshore block, which was later named Binaloud. The discovery was found to be commercially unviable primarily due to high sulphur content in the oil.
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Zambian Vice-President Guy Scott, accompanied by a high-power delegation, arrived in Udaipur town of Rajasthan to visit the facilities of Hindustan Zinc Limited, the worlds largest integrated zinc producer and also the largest lead and silver producer in India. Vedanta Resources, which operates HZL in Udaipur, runs copper operations in Zambia through Konkola Copper Mine (KCM), which is one of the worlds largest copper producers. KCM operates two mines at Nchanga, comprising an underground mine and four open pits, the Nchanga smelter, Konkola mine, Nkana refinery and the Nampundwe pyrite mine. KCM is also Zambias largest private sector employer with nearly 22,000 permanent and contract employees. The Konkola Copper Mines head office is located at Chingola in Copperbelt province of Zambia. KCM has operations in Chililabombwe, Chingola, Nampundwe and Kitwe.
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India remains the biggest importer(70% of its armament needs met by import having failed to develop a domestic defence industrial base ), accounting for 12 per cent of the worlds imports and continuing to rely on countries such as Russia for its defence needs. China is the second biggest importer accounting for six per cent , even with its surging domestic industries supplies to the Peoples Liberation Army.
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Source Reserves: Distance upto Iran-Pak Border: Pakistan Segment Distance: Gas Volume: Optimum Pipeline Configuration: (Pakistan Segment) Targeted Gas Flow
Initially, India was also part of the negotiation of the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) Pipeline or Peace Pipeline but in 2009, India withdrew from the project over pricing and security issues, and after signing a civilian nuclear deal with the United States in 2008. But, even in future, India, looking into its energy needs, can consider the project. Iran has the worlds 2nd largest natural gas reserves after Russia . Iran is also planning to build a gas pipeline up to Iraq and Syria from its Assaluyeh (near the south pars gas field in southern Iran) to the Iran-Iraq border and from Baghdad to the Syrian border. Refer route Map for clarity.
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South Pars in Iran 1,150 km 781 km 750 MMcfd 42 inch 31st Dec 2014
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The 11th Panchen Lama, Gyaincain Norbu , was chosen as a member of the CPPCC in 2010, and has been seen by many Tibetans as a controversial figure. The 23-year-old was chosen as the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama the second most important figure for the Gelugpa or Yellow Hat sect of Buddhism after the Dalai Lama in place of Gendun Choekyi Nyima. Gendun Choekyi Nyima was first chosen as the reincarnation with the Dalai Lamas backing, but subsequently disappeared.
Tata Steel, through its subsidiary Tata Steel Minerals Canada (TMSC), has acquired majority stake in Canadian company Labrador Iron Mines (LIM) for Canadian $30 million (Rs.163 crore). This will enable Tata Steel to seamlessly transport raw material from its existing mines in Canada through rail and a port facility to the U.K. where it has major operations. This is possibly the first acquisition by the Tata Group after Cyrus Mistry took over as Chairman.
Falkland Islanders hold a referendum to send a message to the world that they want to stay British, although Argentina has already dismissed the vote as illegal.
Master Tips
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Fakland Islands Dispute: Sovereignty over the Falkland Islands or Islas Malvinas in Spanish is disputed between Argentina and the United Kingdom . The British claim to sovereignty dates from 1690, and the United Kingdom has exercised de facto sovereignty over the archipelago almost continuously since 1833. Argentina has long disputed this claim, having been in control of the islands for a brief period prior to 1833. The dispute escalated in 1982, when Argentina invaded the islands, precipitating the Falklands War . Contemporary Falkland Islanders prefer to remain British. They gained full British citizenship with the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983, after the Falklands War.
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China has overtaken the US as the worlds largest net importer of oil. The US has been the worlds largest net importer of oil since the mid-1970s. China has already taken a more assertive foreign oil policy in countries such as Sudan, Angola and Iraq, where state-owned Chinese companies have invested billions of dollars.
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Foreign tourist arrivals to India constitute only 0.64 per cent of the world tourist arrivals and foreign exchange earnings account for 1.61 per cent of the world tourism receipts. The VoA facility is now available for tourists from countries such as S in gapo re , New Zealan d, Japan , Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar and Philippines. India is also mulling to extend VoA to Pakistani elders aged 65 yrs. & above.
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India has made USD 250 million available to finance a power project in Maputo region in southern Mozambique. The project will kick off by June 2013 and end in 2016.
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China has taken control of Pakistans Gwadar Port located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf just outside the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. The official transfer of Concession Agreement from the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) to the China Overseas Port Holding Company was carried out recently. Gwadar Deep Sea Port is billed as Pakistans biggest infrastructure project, which has failed as a business venture till date because the security situation in Balochistan discouraged PSA from investing in the development of the port and off-shore infrastructure.
String of Pearls Policy of China: It is a strategic endeavor of China to encircle India and to have dominant position & multiple accesses in Indian Ocean , primarily for twin reasons of its energy supply security and advantageous position against India by having good relation with Indias neighbours and countries around. In furtherance of this policy, China built & controls ports in Marao, Maldives; Gwadar, Pakistan; Chittagong, Bangladesh; Sittwe, Burma; Lamu, Kenya; and Hambantota, Sri Lanka.
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Amid deepening dispute with Southeast Asian countries over South China Sea, Beijing has operationalised its 141-km long railway link connecting ASEAN countries to firm up the burgeoning trade links with the regional bloc. This 141-km long railway link between Yuxi and Mengzi, with a designed maximum speed of 120 km per hour, is part of the eastern line of the planned Pan-Asia Railway network. It passes through 35 tunnels and crosses 61 bridges, which together account for 54.95 per cent of the eastern lines total length. A railway that links Chinas southwestern Yunnan Province with the ASEAN countries became operational after seven years of construction. China, which has a free trade area arrangement with the bloc, continued to have robust trade that rose by 23.9 per cent year-on-year to USD 362.85 billion last year. This despite its deepening disputes with key ASEAN countries like Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei over Beijings claims to almost all of South China Sea, which they bitterly oppose. (Refer Current Affairs - 1 for disputed South China Sea Islands)
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Abu Dhabi firm makes oil discovery in new Darwin oil field
Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA) has discovered oil in the new Darwin oil field in the Northern North Sea area near the Shetland Islands in Scotland. In February 2012, TAQA acquired a 50 percent interest in the prospective exploration acreage known as Darwin, located south of the former NW Hutton Field. TAQA had started first oil production from the Cormorant East field development in the UK North Sea, which is expected to contain 10-30 million barrels of oil in place.
GAIL India Ltd said it has signed a preliminary agreement with French energy trader EDF Trading for jointly acquiring oil and gas assets in North America and trading of US gas/LNG. The MoU may lead to the two firms jointly acquiring shale gas assets in North America as well as the French firm investing in downstream trading and marketing venture in India. GAIL already has a 20 per cent stake in Carrizo Oils Eagle Shale gas assets in Texas, US and has also signed to import 3.5 million tons of liquid gas, called LNG, from Cheniere Energys Sabine Pass shale gas project in Louisiana.
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The worlds number two arms exporter Russia said it had sold a record $15.2 billion in weaponry in 2012 while expanding its list of clients to more African nations. Russia trails closely behind the United States in world arms exports and has expanded its sales by 46 per cent in the past two years. Its contracts reached $13.2 billion in 2011 and $10.4 billion in 2010 figures reliant heavily on military ties with India and China. Russias new list of 2012 clients included Ghana and Oman as well as Tanzania.
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Master Tips
EEZ: An exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is a seazone prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind. Generally, a states EEZ extends to a distance of 200 nautical miles (370km) out from its coastal baseline. The exception to this rule occurs when EEZs would overlap; that is, state coastal baselines are less than 400 nautical miles (740km) apart. When an overlap occurs, it is up to the states to delineate the actual maritime boundary. Generally, any point within an overlapping area defaults to the nearest state. Territorial Waters: As per UNCLOS, the territorial waters stretch till 12 NM (22km) from the coastal baseline. States also have rights to the seabed of what is called the continental shelf up to 350 nautical miles (648km) from the coastal baseline, beyond the EEZ, but such areas are not part of their EEZ. *Refer the schematic.(Important for Geography because of Killing of Indian Fishermen off the Kerala Coast by two Italian Marines (ENRICA LEXIE-Italian Oil Tanker 2012).)
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zones of National Jurisdiction 1982 Law of the sea Convention 12 nm 24 nm Exclusive Economic zone Continental shelf
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Mali, a French colony until 1960, has been in turmoil since a military coup in March 2012 with Islamists seizing a vast area of northern Mali and trying to impose strict Sharia law. The rebels have burnt ancient manuscripts and destroyed mausoleums and Sufi shrines in Timbuktu, calling them blasphemous.
Chinas first nuclear power reactor using US-based Westinghouse Electric AP 1000 technology is expected to begin operations in October 2014. The AP1000 is a two-loop pressurized water reactor sold by Westinghouse Electric Company. Construction on the reactor, the No. 1 reactor of the Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant in east Chinas Zhejiang Province, has been underway since 2009. The company had previously planned to bring the reactor online in 2013, but construction slowed after a devastating tsunami crippled a nuclear power plant in Japan in March 2011. China had 15 nuclear power-generating units in operation with a total installed capacity of 12.54 GW, and another 26 units currently under construction will add another 29.24 GW, according to a government white paper on energy policy released in October 2012.
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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved ONGC Videsh Ltds acquisition of stake in an Azerbaijan oilfield for USD 1.001 billion. The CCEA headed by PM approved OVL acquiring US energy major Hess Corps 2.7213 percent stake in the Azeri, Chirag and the deep water portion of Guneshli fields in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea and 2.36 percent interest in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. ACG, which is located in the south Caspian Sea, about 95 km off the coast of Azerbaijan, is the largest oil and gas field complex in Azerbaijan and one of the largest producing oil fields in the world. UKs BP plc is the operator of the ACG fields with 34.1 percent stake.
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Timbuktus three major mosques - Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahi - along with 16 mausoleums, were first inscribed on Unescos World Heritage List in 1988. The Askia Tomb in the city of Gao followed in 2004.
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ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), said the De-Kastri oil terminal of its Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project in Russia has bagged the best oil terminal award of Russia. OVL holds 20 per cent stake in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas fields in far East Russia. The terminal is used to storage and export the crude oil produced from the Sakhalin-1 fields. Oil is transported to the terminal from the Sakhalin-1 onshore production facilities at northeast of Sakhalin island via a 226-kilometer pipeline.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp, has discovered oil in the very first well it drilled on an onland block in Colombia. OVLs first well on the Block CPO-5 struck oil at two places and produced 120-300 barrels per day on testing. OVL is the operator of exploration block CPO-5 in Colombia with 70 percent stake. The CPO-5 block is located on land in llanos basin of Colombia and is presently under phase 1 of exploration.
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Regulators and airlines grounded all Boeing 787 Dreamliners until a fire risk is fixed, which could take weeks as problems with the high-tech plane threaten the American makers bold strategy. Authorities in Chile, Ethiopia, Europe, India, Japan and Qatar followed the lead of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) by halting all 787 flights after a Japanese Dreamliner was forced by a smoke alert to make an emergency landing.
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The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland and a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. States parties (signatories) to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 (Protocol I, Protocol II) and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect victims of international and internal armed conflicts. Such victims include war wounded, prisoners, refugees, civilians, and other non-combatants.
Thailand surrendered its crown as the worlds top rice exporter to INDIA
Thailand starts the new year having surrendered its crown as the worlds top rice exporter, and saddled with an ever-growing stockpile of the grain as the costs of its subsidy scheme mount. Thailand is estimated to have exported about 6.8 million tonnes of rice in 2012, down about 35 percent from the prior year, as the costs of the intervention scheme made Thai prices uncompetitive. India is the new number one rice exporter, taking the title for the first time since 1983, with exports likely to be about 8.5 million tonnes to the end of March 2013. In second spot is Vietnam with 2012 exports of about 7 .7 million tonnes. It is no surprise that Thailands rice exports slumped, since its prices are about 37 percent above those of Vietnam and India.
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TB: Tuberculosis (TB) (short for tubercle bacillus) is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually called as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Tuberculosis typically attacks the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. It is spread through the air when people who have an active TB infection cough, sneeze, or otherwise transmit respiratory fluids through the air. MDR-TB: Multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is defined as tuberculosis that is resistant to at least ionized (INH) and rifampicin (RMP) , the two most powerful first-line treatment anti-TB drugs. Isolates that are multiply resistant to any other combination of anti-TB drugs but not to INH and RMP are not classed as MDR-TB. MDR-TB develops during treatment of fully sensitive TB when the course of antibiotics is interrupted and the levels of drug in the body are insufficient to kill 100% of bacteria. Malaria: Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by protists (a type of microorganism) of the genus Plasmodium . It begins with a bite from an infected female Anopheles mosquito, which introduces the protists through saliva into the circulatory system. The disease is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions in a broad band around the equator, including much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
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China is to donate some $16 million to Belarus to support children in areas hit by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The money is to be spent on construction of recreational facilities equipped with swimming pools for children living in the districts contaminated by the worlds worst nuclear accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, located just over the border in neighbouring Ukraine. The radioactive fallout from the accident contaminated some 23 percent of Belarusian territory, an area of 45,000 km populated by 2.6 million. The radiation also affected an area of around 50,000 sq. km in Ukraine and 60,000 sq. km in Russia. The accident is estimated to have caused thousands of premature deaths in the contaminated areas.
About ECOSOC : The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) constitutes one of the principal organs of the United Nations. It is responsible for coordinating the economic, social and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, their functional commissions and five regional commissions. ECOSOC has 54 members . India is a member of ECOSOC.
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Earth Hour is a worldwide event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and held towards the end of March annually, encouraging households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change. The event, conceived by WWF and Leo Burnett, first took place in 2007 , when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated by turning off all non-essential lights.
Forty years of tiger conservation efforts in the country seem to have borne fruit with the number of big cats rising. The project tiger was launched from Corbetts Dhikala range on April 1, 1973 by the then Union Minister Karan Singh. (Refer Current Affairs - 1 for more information on Project Tiger, National Tiger Conservation Authority and 5 New Tiger Reserves recently approved in principle.)
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CITES was established as a response to growing concerns that over-exploitation of wildlife through international trade was contributing to the rapid decline of many species of plants and animals around the world. The Convention was signed by representatives from 80 countries in Washington, DC, on 3 March 1973, and entered into force on 1 July 1975 . There are currently 178 parties to the Convention. The CITES Secretary-General is John E. Scanlon .
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DRDOs bio-toilet is based on anaerobic biodegradation of organic waste by unique microbial consortium and works at a wide temperature range. The consortium has been made through acclimatisation, enrichment and bioaugumentation of coldactive bacteria collected from Antarctica and other low temperature areas . The innovation degrades and converts the human waste into usable water and gases in an eco-friendly manner . The generated gas can be utilized for energy/cooking and water for irrigation purposes. The process involves the bacteria, which feed upon the fecal matter inside the tank, through anaerobic process which finally degrades the matter and releases methane gas that can be used for cooking, along with the treated water . The Bio-digester technology has been developed by Gwalior based Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) and Tezpur based Defence Research Laboratory (DRL).
The U.S. space agency NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration jointly issued two reports on 2012 world temperatures. NASA ranked last year the ninthwarmest since record-keeping began in 1880 , while NOAA found year 2012 was the tenthwarmest. The 2012 global surface temperature, including land and water, was 1 degree F (.56 degree C) warmer than the 1951-1980 average. That was enough to increase extreme high temperatures last year.
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Under the auspices of UN, delegations from some 140 countries agreed to adopt a groundbreaking treaty limiting the use and emission of health-hazardous mercury . The treaty has been named the Minamata Convention on Mercury, in honour of the Japanese town where inhabitants for decades have suffered the consequences of serious mercury contamination. The worlds first legally binding treaty on mercury will aim to reduce global emission levels of the toxic heavy metal, also known as quicksilver , which poses risks to human health and the environment. Mercury is found in products ranging from electrical switches, thermometers and lightbulbs, to amalgam dental fillings and even facial creams. Large amounts of the heavy metal are released from small scale gold mining, coal-burning power plants, metal smelters and cement production.
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American white pelicans have large wings with huge bill. These pelicans weigh about 12 to 14 kg., which are double the grey pelicans. Several species of birds migrate to Kolleru from far off places every year during winter but, white pelicans have not visited Atapaka Bird Sanctuary in the last few years.
A hole in the Antarctic ozone layer has changed the way waters in the southern oceans mix, which scientists say could impact global climate change. The situation has the potential to alter the amount of CO 2 in the atmosphere.
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CFC-12 was first produced commercially in the 1930s and its concentration in the atmosphere increased rapidly until the 1990s when it was phased out by the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer.
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The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has launched the worlds first atlas on clean energy which will offer open-access information on countries renewable energy potential. The Global Atlas is the largest ever initiative to help countries assess their renewable energy potential, and companies bringing together data and maps from leading technical institutes and private companies worldwide. The Global Atlas provides a powerful new tool in international efforts to double the worlds share of renewable energy by 2030. Thirty-seven countries, including Israel which has no diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, have so far contributed information on their renewable energy potentials to the atlas.
Established in 2011, Abu Dhabi-based IRENA is mandated by 159 countries and the European Union to promote the sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy.
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Kolleru Lake is a 2nd largest freshwater lake located in Andhra Pradesh. Kolleru is located between Krishna and Godavari delta. Kolleru spans into two districts - Krishna and West Godavari. The lake serves as a natural flood-balancing reservoir for these two rivers.
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Snow leopards inhabit the nonforested zone above the tree line - around 3,200 metres in the western Himalayas and around 4,200 metres in the eastern Himalayas, going over the Greater Himalayan crest into the Trans Himalayan region. The snow leopard distribution and population in India is at 400-600 along the Himalayan region and about 4080 - 6590 across the world, found in 12 countries. Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, besides Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, are amongst the five States in the country that are believed to have snow leopards.
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The Project Snow Leopard launched in 2009 by MoEF, is an initiative for strengthening wildlife conservation in the Himalayan high altitudes, covering 5 states Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. It aims at promoting a knowledge-based and adaptive conservation framework that fully involves the local communities, who share the snow leopards range, in conservation efforts. Project Snow Leopard is at par with other flagship species programmes of the country such as Project Tiger and Project Elephant.
As per Frances National Centre for Scientific Research , a new lizard species has been discovered in Madagascar and named Moby Dick mermaid skink after the albino sperm whale imagined by Herman Melville for its flipper-like forelimbs and unpigmented skin,. Sirenoscincus mobydick presents a unique combination of anatomical features that can be found in amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds. The discovery was made by French, Malagasy, American and German researchers. The centre said the Moby Dick lizard was discovered in the dry north-western forests of Madagascar. Because of its life underground, the animals skin has lost pigmentation and its eyes have almost disappeared. Although the lizard has retained forelimbs, its hindlimbs have completely disappeared. The centre called it a morphological organisation reminiscent of cetaceans, the carnivorous marine mammals such as whales and dolphins.
Scientists have found that a gas released from the oceans on Earth may play a significant role in the destruction of ozone layer. Researchers at the Universities of York and Leeds found that the principal source of iodine oxide can be explained by emissions of hypoiodous acid (HOI) - a gas not yet considered as being released from the ocean - along with a contribution from molecular iodine (I2). Since the 1970s when methyl iodide (CH3I) was discovered as ubiquitous in the ocean, the presence of iodine in the atmosphere has been understood to arise mainly from emissions of organic compounds from phytoplankton - microscopic marine plants. The new research, published in Nature Geoscience, builds on an earlier study which showed that reactive iodine, along with bromine, in the atmosphere is responsible for the destruction of vast amounts of ozone around 50 per cent more than predicted by the worlds most advanced climate models in the lower atmosphere over the tropical Atlantic Ocean.
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The Mithapur plant would help in reducing an annual average of 37,696 tons of carbon dioxide, by producing 39,597 MWh per year (average) equivalent amount of clean energy. The countrys largest private power producer, Tata Power, has an installed generation capacity of about 7,700 MW.
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The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is one of the flexibility mechanisms defined in the Kyoto Protocol that provides for emissions reduction projects which generate Certified Emission Reduction (CER) units which may be traded in emissions trading schemes. Carbon Credit: A carbon credit is a generic term for any tradable certificate or permit representing the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide or the mass of another greenhouse gas with a carbon dioxide equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide. 1 Certified Emission Reduction (CER) Unit: For trading purposes, one allowance or CER is considered equivalent to one metric ton of CO 2 emissions.
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Renewable Energy Sources (RES) include SHP, BG, BP, U&I and Wind Energy SHP= Small Hydro Project, BG= Biomass Gasifier, BP= Biomass Power, U & I=Urban & Industrial Waste Power, RES=Renewable Energy Sources MNRE = Ministry of New & Renewable Energy.
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Reasons for melting of Glaciers: With thousands of vehicles passing through Rohtang, especially during peak tourist season, on a daily basis, the white snow cover turns black due to carbon emission from vehicles. Increased quantity of black carbon aerosols in the atmosphere is absorbing more heat, due to which incoming solar radiation is being absorbed more and not reflected accordingly, resulting into faster melting of glaciers.
On the southern side of this pass, the Beas River emerges from underground and flows southward and on its northern side, the Chandra River, a source stream of the river Chenab, flows westward.
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Established in 1969 and Headquartered in Bangalore, ISRO is the primary space agency of the Indian government. ISRO is amongst the six largest government space agencies in the world, along with Americas NASA, Russias RKA, Europes ESA, Chinas CNSA and Japans JAXA.The current ISRO Chairman is K. Radhakrishnan. S Ramakrishnan has assumed charge as Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Tiruvananthapuram.
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Rohtang Pass: Rohtang Pass is a high mountain pass on the eastern Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas around 51 km from Manali. It connects the Kullu Valley (in south having Hindu Culture) with the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys (in north having Buddhist Culture) of Himachal Pradesh. Manali-Leh Highway, the highest motarable road in India, a part of NH 21, transverses Rohtang Pass.
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Indias Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C20 rocket carrying seven satellites , including the Indo-French Satellite with ARgos and ALtika (SARAL), blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The successful launch of the satellites will take ISROs tally of launching foreign satellites to 35. ISRO started putting into space third-party satellites for a fee in 1999 on its PSLV-C2 rocket. The ISRO-built SARAL is a 410-kg satellite with payloads Argos and Altika from French space agency CNES for enhancing the understanding of the ocean. The six smaller payloads in the mission launched include two from Canada, two from Austria and one each from Denmark and UK. NEOSSat (Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellite) (74 kg) is built by Microsat Systems Canada Inc (MSCI). The Satellite has a space telescope dedicated for detecting and tracking asteroids and satellites in Geo-stationary orbit. Canadas NEOSSat will join global efforts to discover and track asteroids that might pose a threat to our planet. Sapphire (148 Kg), a satellite built by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Association (MDA), Canada, is a space based optical sensor system aimed at an operationally acceptable space based surveillance to contribute to the US Space Surveillance Network (SSN). NLS 8.1 (UniBRITE) (14 Kg) and NLS 8.2 (BRITE) (14 Kg) are two scientific satellites launched and operated by Austria. NLS 8.3 (AAUSAT3) (3Kg) is the third student cubesat from Aalborg University in Denmark, which has device for feasibility study of receiving AIS signals from ships in arctic regions and a Phoenix GPS receiver from DLR, Germany. The vehicle also carried STRaND-1, the first satellite in the series of Surrey Training, Research and Nanosatellite Development programme , built by SSTL (Surrey Training Technology Ltd), UK, to fly state-of-the art technologies and new developments in low Earth orbit.
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The mission follows the success of Cassini, a probe that closely explored Titan, a moon of Saturn. Clipper could be launched by 2021 and would take a further three-six years to reach Europa. Europa was first examined by the Voyager mission in 1979 and by Galileo in the 1990s. Scientists believe that Enceladus, the sixth largest moon of Saturn, could also be habitable.
Meteor hit Chelyabinsk: The largest celestial body to hit Earth in 100 yrs
The meteor, which closely missed the Russian city of Chelyabinsk and Russias Urals region, is likely to go down in history as the largest celestial body to have hit the Earth over the past hundred years. As per NASA scientists, the object was a tiny asteroid that released 300 to 500 kilotons of energy when it exploded, which is roughly equivalent to 20 atomic bombs of the type dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This would make the Chelyabinsk meteor the largest since 1908 when a meteor hit Tunguska in Siberia, a 60-metre cosmic body, levelling an estimated 80 million trees. The energy of the Tunguska blast is estimated to have been up to 50 megatons. Scientists believe the Chelyabinsk meteor was about 17 metres across and weighed 10,000 tons. Shock waves from its explosion over Chelyabinsk wounded 1,200. It was the biggest celestial body ever observed on its flight through the atmosphere and there was a good chance of finding its fragments before exposure to the elements contaminates them. Divers searched the bottom of frozen Lake Chebarkul about 80 km from Chelyabinsk where a chunk of the meteor is believed to have plunged, but found nothing.
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NASA scientists have spotted the youngest black hole yet in the Milky Way galaxy, which is just 1000-years old and only 26,000 light-years away from Earth. New data from NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory suggested a highly distorted supernova remnant may contain the most recent black hole formed in the Milky Way galaxy. The remnant, called W49B, appears to be the product of a rare explosion in which matter is ejected at high speeds along the poles of a rotating star.
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The Eliminate Dengue Research Programme is a not-for-profit international collaboration active in Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Singapore, Colombia and Brazil. Dengue fever, also known as breakbone fever, is an infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles. The disease can develop into the life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever, resulting in bleeding, low levels of blood platelets and blood plasma leakage, or into dengue shock syndrome, where dangerously low blood pressure occurs. Dengue is transmitted by several species of mosquito within the genus Aedes, principally A. aegypti.
A software tool that can rapidly diagnose dengue fever based on symptoms and clinical parameters has been developed and validated by scientists of the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) in Hyderabad. The Dengue Decision Support System (DDSS) has been developed by U.S N. Murty, Chief Scientist and Head of Biology Division and his group. The DDSS would help health authorities in finding out the disease within 10-15 minutes, which was vital in saving the life of the patient.
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A large number of people from different walks of life participated in an awareness walk organised on the occasion of World Kidney Day on 14th March at Visakhapatnam.
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Diclofenac is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) taken to reduce inflammation and as an analgesic reducing pain in certain conditions. The name is derived from its chemical name: 2-(2,6-dichloranilino) phenylacetic acid. Uses: Widely used as cheap painkiller for livestock in Indian Subcontinent. There is is ban on the veterinary use of diclofenac by the Central Government in 2008 under Section 18(a) (iv) of Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. Ecological Impact: Use of diclofenac in animals has been reported to have led to a sharp decline in the vulture population in the Indian Subcontinent. The mechanism is presumed to be renal failure, a known side effect of diclofenac. Vultures eat the carcasses of livestock that have been administered veterinary diclofenac, and are poisoned by the accumulated chemical, as vultures do not have a particular enzyme to break down diclofenac. At a meeting of the National Wildlife Board in March 2005, the Government of India announced it intended to phase out the veterinary use of diclofenac. Meloxicam is a safer candidate to replace use of diclofenac. It is more expensive than diclofenac, but the price is coming down as more drug companies begin to manufacture it.
Aromatic rice from Bangladeshs Sylhet region has a lower arsenic content than many other grains offering a safer alternative in a country with a huge poisoning burden from rice grown in contaminated water. The Sylheti rice also contained higher levels of the essential nutrients selenium and zinc, according to a study published in the journal Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging. Rice is the main staple in Bangladesh, Master Tips where a study published in The Lancet in Chronic exposure to arsenic is linked to 2010 found that as many as 77 million people out of a population of some 160 cancers of the liver, kidney, bladder million may have been exposed to toxic and skin, as well as heart disease. levels of arsenic in contaminated ground Rice is highly efficient at absorbing arsenic water. from soil and water, and is reported to be the The UNs World Health Organisation has highest arsenic-containing cereal. called the countrys arsenic crisis the largest mass poisoning of a population in history. Under a 1970s campaign to provide villagers with clean, germ-free water, millions of wells were dug unfortunately many of them into soil heavily laced with naturally occurring arsenic.
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Researchers have located a new malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium Knowlesi for the first time in humans in India. A team of researchers, consisting of Manoj Kumar Das of the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), Shiv S. Singh of G.B. Pant Hospital, Port Blair, Rupesh K. Tyagi and Yagya D. Sharma of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) located the plasmodium in tribal people in the Andaman and Nicobar islands. Mr. Das said monkeys, especially crab-eating ones found in the islands, served as hosts for this parasite. From the infected monkeys, this parasite gets transmitted to humans through the Leucosphyrus group of Anopheles mosquitoes that serve as vectors. The parasite may have migrated to the islands from the south-east Asian countries. Poachers from Thailand and Indonesia are said to secretly visit the islands. Mr. Das, who has 16 years of research at the malaria research centre in Car Nicobar, received the ICMR award for senior bio-medical scientists for the year 2012-13 for his research.
The US Food and Drug administration has approved a Johnson & Johnson tuberculosis drug that is the first new medicine to fight the deadly infection in more than four decades. The agency approved J&Js pill, Sirturo, for use with older drugs to fight a hard-to-treat strain of tuberculosis that has not responded to other medications. However, the agency cautioned that the drug carries risks of potentially deadly Master Tips heart problems and should be prescribed Roughly one-third of the worlds population is carefully by doctors. estimated to be infected with the bacteria Si rturo , kno wn chemi ca lly a s causing tuberculosis. The disease is rare in the US, but kills about 1.4 million people a year beda qu i li ne , is th e fir st medic in e worldwide. Of those, about 150,000 succumb to specifically designed for treating multi the increasingly common drug-resistant forms drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). of the disease. About 60% of all cases are concentrated in China, India, Russia and Thats a form of the disease that cannot Eastern Europe. be treated with at least two of the four (Refer International & bilateral updates primary antibiotics used for tuberculosis. to read more about MDR-TB.)
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Precise weather forecasting, faster tapping of natural resources in the sea and designing of customized drugs for individuals will now be possible using Param Yuva II, Indias fastest supercomputer. Developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Param Yuva II was inaugurated recently. The supercomputer has been upgraded to 524 teraflops, about 10 times faster than the present facility. With an investment of Rs 16 crore, it was developed in a record 3 months.
The worlds largest magnet, weighing 50,000 tonnes and slated to be several times bigger than the one at the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at CERN, Geneva, is being designed at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). The massive magnet will play a major role in the Rs 1,500-crore India based Neutrino Observatory coming up 4,300 feet below a cave in a mountain not far from Madurai in Tamil Nadu. It will be iron-based, weighing 50,000 tonnes while the weight of the one at CERN ranges between 4,000 and 5,000 tonnes. United Airlines has introduced onboard satellite-based Wi-Fi internet connectivity on selected overseas routes. This has made it the first US-based international carrier to offer passengers to stay connected with the Wi-Fi on long-haul overseas routes. The aircrafts of United Airlines are being outfitted with Panasonic Avionics Ku-band satellite technology , offering customer s faster in-flight internet service than air-to-ground technology (ATG).
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The Indian Antarctic Program is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional program under the control of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. It was initiated in 1981 with the first Indian expedition to Antarctica. The program gained global acceptance with Indias signing of the Antarctic Treaty. India has three research stations in Antarctica: 1. Indias first research station in Antarctica was Dakshin Gangotri (1983) , which had to be decommissioned after it got buried under ice, and has now been marked as an historic site. 2. The second permanent settlement, Maitri, was put up in 198889 on the Schirmacher Oasis and has been conducting experiments in geology, geography and medicine. India built a freshwater lake around Maitri known as Lake Priyadharshini . Maitri has been hosting summer team of about 70 members and winter team of 25 members every year since 1988-89, is the gateway for Indian scientists to venture into interior Antarctic mountains.
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3. Bharti: India has demarcated an area beside Larsmann Hill at 69S, 76E for its third settlement and second active research station.
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External Affairs minister Salman Khurshid has visited Antarctica during his visit to Chile, becoming the first Union minister to visit the planets southernmost continent after Pranab Mukherjee, who had travelled to the region as defence minister in 2005. Khurshids visit was facilitated by Chile during what is the first visit by an Indian foreign minister to Latin America in 13 years. He also visited Argentina. He travelled to Antarctica from Puenta Arenas in Chile.
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Indigenously developed Pinaka rockets were successfully test-fired from a multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) by an armament establishment from a base at Chandipur-on-sea. Pinaka , which has undergone several tough tests since 1995, has already been inducted into the armed forces.
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Pinaka is an area weapon system with a range of 40 km . The quick reaction time and high rate of fire of the system gives an edge to the army during a low-intensity conflict situation. The unguided rocket system is meant to neutralise large areas with rapid salvos. Pinaka system can fire a salvo of 12 rockets in 44 seconds and the battery of six launchers can neutralise at a time a target area of 3.9 sq km.
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India achieved a major milestone by establishing underwater missile launch capability when K-15 missile, code-named B05, was successfully test-fired off the Visakhapatnam coast. The 10-metre-high Submarine- Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM), lifted off from a pontoon as it was ejected by a gas generator, rose to an altitude of 20 km and reached its full range of 700 km before splashing down in the waters of the Bay of Bengal with singledigit accuracy. With the completion of developmental trials, the missile is now ready for integration with INS Arihant, the indigenously-built nuclear-powered submarine. In the coming years, India will have four nuclear-powered submarines. Besides Arihant, a nuclear-powered submarine is being built at the Visakhapatnam Naval Dock Yard and the hulls of two other submarines are under fabrication in Vadodara, Gujarat. India is the 5th country to have underwater missile capability. The other nations are the United States, France, Russia and China.
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The Army has ordered 20 Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL)-made Cheetal helicopters worth Rs. 418 crore. The Cheetal is the re-engined, fuel-efficient variant of the older, proven Cheetah helicopter which HAL has been making for over 40 years. It is powered by the Turbomeca TM 333-2M2 turboshaft engine. An important feature is the FADEC (full authority digital engine control) system for engine control; an electronic backup control box system automatically takes over engine control if the FADEC fails.
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The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is set to develop a new state-of-the art , anti-radiation missile that can target enemy radars and communication facilities. The government recently gave the go-ahead for the project, and the design work has already begun at one of the key DRDO laboratories. At present there is no such missile in Indias arsenal, while some advanced countries, including the US, Israel and Russia, have such a weapon. The new air-to-surface 100-km range tactical missile picks up radiation or signals emitted by radars and communication systems, homes on to the target and destroy the network. The missiles front-end comprises a sensor to pick up various radio frequencies. It will be a single-stage, liquid-propelled system. After a series of developmental trials, it will be integrated with fighter aircraft, including Sukhoi and Light Combat Aircraft.
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The flight trial of Indias first subsonic cruise missile, Nirbhay by February-end has been done successfully by DRDO. The canister-launch capability to strategic weapons, Agni-V, Agni-IV and integrating air-to-air Astra missile with Sukhoi fighter aircraft constitute the major plans of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) this year.
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V.K. Saraswat is the Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister and Director General of DRDO, has been awarded with 'Padma Bhushan 2013' by President of India.
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Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has launched the vessel, named Aadesh, the first in a series of 20 fast patrol vessels (FPV) being built by it for the Coast Guard. It is designed to have a maximum speed of 33 knots, the primary role of these ships would be fisheries protection and monitoring; patrol within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ); and coastal patrol, anti-smuggling, search, and rescue operations and anti-piracy operations. The vessels are being built under the dual classification requirements of the American Bureau of Shipping and the Indian Register of Shipping.
India has successfully test-fired a highly manoeuvrable version of the 290-km range supersonic cruise missile BrahMos from a naval warship off the coast of Vishakhapatnam in Bay of Bengal. This is the 34th launch of BrahMos after the successful launch in 2012 from INS Teg in the Arabian Sea. The BrahMos missile system was inducted into the Indian Navy in 2005 when it began arming the Rajput-class guided missile destroyers and inducted subsequently in many warships. BrahMos is capable of acquiring data not only from the American GPS but also from Russian GLONASS satellite systems, which ensures double redundancy.
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BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It is the worlds fastest cruise missile in operation. The missile travels at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0. I t is a j o in t vent ure b et ween Ind ia s D RDO a nd Rus s ia n F e d e r at io n s N PO Mashinostroeyenia who have together formed BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited. The name BrahMos is a formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. Currently, chief executive officer of BrahMos Aerospace is A. Sivathanu Pillai.
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China has successfully carried out its second interceptor missile test as part of its efforts to build a missile shield to intercept incoming warheads. A similar anti-missile interception test was successfully conducted on January 11, 2010.
Billed as the largest naval manoeuvres since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Navy has begun its biggest war games in the high seas in decades that will include manoeuvres off the shores of Syria with the purpose to improve coordination among different naval groups during missions in far-away sea zones. More than two dozen ships drawn from all four fleets as well as long range warplanes, will conduct nine-day exercises in the Mediterranean and Black seas. Experts suggested the exercises would serve to project Russias naval power to a highly explosive region and render moral support for the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia leases a naval base at the Syrian port of Tartous. The naval manoeuvres will involve training for landing operations on the Syrian shore.
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Russias prototype fifth-generation Sukhoi T-50 fighter jet has carried out its first longrange flight. The T-50, also known as project PAK-FA, first flew in January 2010 and was presented to the public at the Moscow Air Show in 2011. The T-50, which will be the core of Russias future fighter fleet, is a fifth-generation multirole fighter aircraft featuring elements of stealth technology, super-maneuverability, super-cruise capability (supersonic flight without use of afterburner), and an advanced avionics suite including an X-band active phased-array radar.
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Russia has placed orders worth Rs 65 crore for procuring 34 radar computers for Su30s of its air force. Irkut Corporation of Russia has confirmed purchase of 34 sets each of Radar Computer-I & Radar Computer-II for Russian Air force requirements from HAL with delivery schedule commencing from January 2014 onwards. Radar computers are integrated into Airborne Radar System in Su-30s and are very critical for mission operation of the aircraft. Under the Indian programme, more than 190 Su-30MKIs would be produced in Indian facilities in Nashik, which is the HAL hub for manufacturing Russian-origin aircraft.
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The first of the 75 Swiss Pilatus trainer aircraft procured by the IAF under a Rs 2,800 crore deal to train its rookie pilots landed at Jamnagar in Gujarat. The fleet of 75 aircraft will help in replacing the fleet of HPT-32 basic trainers which were grounded after a fatal crash in 2009. The Government of India had signed a contract with the Swiss firm in May 2012 after the approval by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). According to the contract, Pilatus will also do a transfer of technology to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for maintenance of the fleet for the next 30 years.
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Key Resolve & Foal Eagle: US-South Korea Joint Military Exercises
The United States and South Korea announced plans for major annual joint military exercises as regional tensions run high following North Koreas third nuclear test. A joint air, ground and naval field training exercise known as Foal Eagle will be held from March 1 to April 30. Separately, the US and South Korean troops will stage a computersimulated drill named Key Resolve from March 11-21. Foal Eagle will include about 10,000 US forces along with a far bigger number of South Korean troops. Key Resolve involves about 3,500 US and 10,000 South Korean soldiers. The United States has based troops in the South since the 1950-53 Korean War and the force currently numbers 28,500. Pyongyang is already under international sanctions for conducting two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, which both came after long-range rocket launches.
Cobra Gold 13
The 11-day military exercise Cobra Gold 2013, an annual, multi-national military training programme that incorporates jungle survival techniques, taking place in Thailands Chon Buri province, covers amphibious assault, humanitarian relief, and evacuation of friendly forces, as well as jungle survival techniques. The U.S. Marines were taking part in Cobra Gold 13 alongside Thai military personnel and soldiers from five other countries Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
The multi-national exercise, named Aman-13 in Pakistan , will begin on March 4 in the North Arabian Sea. The Peoples Liberation Army Navys (PLAN) 14th Chinese fleet that set sail for the Gulf of Aden on an anti-piracy escort mission will participate in naval exercises with Pakistan and other countries in the waters of the Arabian Sea. The fleet, which left the northeastern port of Qingdao, is comprised of missile destroyer Harbin, frigate Mianyang and a supply ship, in addition to two helicopters and 730 troops. The escort mission marked the first instance of the destroyer and frigate being deployed on an anti-piracy mission. China has organised 14 missions to the Gulf of Aden. The PLAN has, since 2012, also begun to coordinate schedules of escort mission with India and other countries.
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The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income indices to rank countries into four tiers of human development. It was created by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq and Indian economist Amartya Sen in 1990 and published by the United Nations Development Programme. In Human Development Report, the HDI combines three dimensions: A long and healthy life: Life expectancy at birth Education index: Mean years of schooling and Expected years of schooling A decent standard of living: GNI per capita (PPP US$)
Ev en on th e G en der I n eq u al it y I n de x , i n eq ua l i t i es i n r ep ro d uc ti v e hea lt h, empowerment and economic activity, India has been ranked 132nd among the 148 countries for which data is available even lower than Pakistan (123), according to the United Nations Development Programs Human Development Report 2013. In India, only 10.9 per cent of the parliamentary seats are held by women, and 26.6 per cent of adult women have reached a secondary or higher level of education, compared with 50.4 per cent of their male counterparts. For every 100,000 live births, 200 women die of causes related to pregnancy, and female participation in the labour market is 29 per cent, compared with 80.7 per cent for men. The report said all countries in South Asia, with the exception of Afghanistan, were a better place for women than India, with Sri Lanka (75) topping them all. Nepal ranked 102nd and Bangladesh 111th . In United States which ranks 42 nd on the list, 57.5% women and 70.1% men are a part of the labor force. China fared even better, landing 35 th .
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The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is a new index for measurement of gender disparity that was introduced in the 2010 Human Development Report 20th anniversary edition by the UNDP. The GII is a composite measure which captures the loss of countrys progress and human development because of gender inequality, and uses three dimensions: (i)Reproductive Health, (ii) Women Empowerment (ii) Labor Market Participation .
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The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) was developed in 2010 by Oxford Poverty & Human D evelopment Initiative (OPHI) and the Unite d Nations Deve lopment Programme and uses different factors to determine poverty beyond income-based lists. It replaced the previous Human Poverty Index.The index uses the same three dimensions as the Human Development Index: health, education, and standard of living. These are measured using ten indicators. Each dimension and each indicator within a dimension is equally weighted. (i) Education: Years of schooling and child enrollment, (ii) Health: Child mortality and nutrition and (iii) Standard of living: Electricity, flooring, drinking water, sanitation, cooking fuel and assets.
Women account for nearly 40 percent of the total workforce of India Inc, but their presence is less than 7% when it comes to board-level positions. India is ranked at 28th in terms of the presence of women directors, a slight improvement from 30th position of 2013, according to Women On Board 2013. The ranking is better than that of a few major countries like Japan. The survey was conducted on more than 1,400 companies in India and it found that the women constituted just 6.81 percent of the total number of board members in 2013. The female presence on company boards is highest in Norway (37.23 %), followed by Sweden (27 %), Finland (24 %), South Africa (17.31 %) and the US (16.67 %). The countries having lower women representation on company boards include Italy (4.23 %) & Japan (1.26 %).
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Switzerland is the best place to be born in 2013 with the best quality of life, as per a study by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of The Economist. India occupies a 66th spot in the last 15, while Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh are at numbers 63, 75 and 77. The violence hit oil-rich African nation of Nigeria was rated as the worst place to be born-in in the survey of 80 states that saw Nordic countries(Scandinavian countries) like Norway (3), Sweden (4) and Denmark (5) notch the top slots, along with Australia(2). The survey used 11 statistically significant indicators, including geography, demography, social and cultural characteristics, public policy, the state of the world economy and future income per head to arrive at its rankings.
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Justice D K Jain, a Supreme Court judge has become the chairman of the Law Commission. The 20 th Law Commission was constituted through a Government Order with effect from 1 st September, 2012. It has a three-year term, ending on 31 st August, 2015. It will have four full-time members, besides the chairman. The law secretary and the legislative department secretary are the Commissions ex-officio members. It was asked to identify obsolete laws for their repeal and also suggest suitable measures for quick grievance redressal of citizens grievances in the field of law. Master Tips
Law Commission of India: Law Commission of India is an executive body established by an order of the Government of India. Its major function is to work for legal reform. It membership primarily comprises legal experts, who are entrusted a mandate by the Government. The Commission is established for a fixed tenure and works as an advisory body to the Ministry of Law and Justice. The 19 th Law Commission of Indias Chairman was Mr. Justice P. V. Reddi.
Vijay Kelkar Committee report on cutting fiscal deficit The Kelkar Committee, appointed by Finance Ministry to suggest a roadmap for fiscal consolidation, has suggested immediate hike in fuel prices and complete deregulation of diesel prices by start of 2014-15 fiscal and to raise kerosene and LPG rates. State-owned oil companies currently sell diesel at a loss of Rs 10.16 per litre, kerosene at Rs 32.17 a litre and LPG at Rs 490.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder. ICMR report found Indians deficient in Vitamin D The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has reported that surveys carried out in India indicate that despite ample sunlight, people are deficient in Vitamin D, leading to problems like low bone mineral density, leading to weaker bones and fracture risk among the population. The synthesis of Vitamin D in the body is dependent on multiple factors like duration and time of exposure to sunlight, latitude, atmospheric pollution and skin pigmentation.
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The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC), headed by Justice B. N. Srikrishna , in its final report, suggested an Indian Financial Code Bill to enable creation of a super regulator, merging oversight functions of market, commodity, insurance and pension regulators, while leaving the banking business regulation under the Reserve Bank of India. The Unified Financial Agency (UFA), as suggested by the FSLRC, would subsume the functions of key agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) , the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) , the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority ( PFRDA ) and the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) .
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BRICS is an acronym for the powerful grouping of the worlds leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The first BRIC Summit took place in Yekateringburg, Russia in 2009, where the elected leaders of the four countries formally declared the membership of the BRIC economic bloc. South Africa joined the bloc in 2010, resulting in BRICS.The acronym BRIC was coined by Jim ONeill of Goldman Sachs in a 2001 paper entitled Building Better Global Economic BRICs. BRICS collectively represent 40% of world population, 30 % of worlds land mass & 25% of world GDP.
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The 100th edition was hosted by the University of Calcutta in the city of Kolkata from 3 to 7 January 2013. It was inaugurated by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee in the presence of the Prime Minister of India Dr.Manmohan Singh and the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee. The theme of the Centenary Congress was: Science for shaping the future of India The General President of the 100 th Congress: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh The five-day, 99th edition of the ISCA, from 3 to 7 January 2012 was hosted by KIIT University and National Institute of Science Education and Research(NISER) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) is a premier scientific organization of India, started in the year 1914 in Kolkata, with Headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It meets annually in the first week of January every year. Today, it has membership strength of more than 30,000 scientists. ISCA owes its origin to the foresight and initiative of two British Chemists, namely, Professor J. L. Simonsen and Professor P.S. MacMahon. The first meeting of the congress was held from 1517 January 1914 at the premises of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta. Honorable justice Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, the then Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta presided over the Congress. One hundred and five scientists from different parts of India and abroad attended it.
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Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated on 9th January every year to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India. January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in 1 915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi, returned to India from South Africa, led Indias freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians forever. Established in 2003, it is sponsored by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs of the government of India and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region of India. During the event, individuals of exceptional merit are honoured with the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award to appreciate their role in Indias growth.
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South Asian countries including India, adopted an official charter of the South Asian Autism Network (SAAN) at a conference organised on 11th Feb, 2013, at New Delhi. SAAN was conceptualised in Dhaka in 2011 to combat autism, which is now emerging as a public health crisis. It will identify common challenges each country is facing and form a partnership to develop a solution in a collaborative and coordinated fashion.
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9.1 Cricket 9.2 Tennis 9.3 Badminaton 9.4 Football 9.5 Athletics 9.6 Grand Prix 9.7 Miscellaneous 9.8 Sport Related Other News
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9.1 CRICKET
South Africa receives ICC MACE
South Africa captain Graeme Smith received the ICC Test championship mace and prize money of $450,000 for leading the team to the top spot in ICC Test rankings on the annual cut-off date of April 1.
Australian captain Michael Clarke won his fourth Allan Border Medal as the nations Cricketer of the Year at a gala ceremony at Melbourne. Clarke and his predecessor as captain, Ricky Ponting, are the only players to win the medal, considered Australian crickets most prestigious individual prize, four times.
India had sealed a 4-0 series whitewash against Australia in an unprecedented feat for India. With this India captured the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become the most successful Indian Test captain, surpassing Gangulys record of 21 test wins. The 31-year-old Dhoni has also recorded two World Cup wins (2007T20, 2011-ODI).
Delhi ended Assams dream run with a 75-run win in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
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Australia wrapped its hands around the World Cup for the sixth time after defeating first time finalist West Indies played at the Brabourne stadium Mumbai. India hosted the event.
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Team India maintained their top position in the latest ICC ODI ranking list followed by England and Australia. Since India top the table as per cut-off date, they will receive the shield and will collect a cheque of USD 175,000, while England will receive USD 75,000 for finishing second.
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9.2 TENNIS
Australian Open 2013
The 2013 Australian Open tennis tournament was held in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 to 27 January 2013. It was the 101st edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. Winners were Novak Djokovic (Serbia) in mens singles, Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) in womens singles, Bob and Mike Bryan (USA) in mens doubles, and Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci (Italy) in womens doubles. Australian Jarmila Gajdoov and Matthew Ebden won their first mixed doubles title.
Sharapova defeated Wozniacki to win Indian Wells title Nadal beats Ferrer to win Mexican Open
Maria Sharapova beat Caroline Wozniacki to win her second Indian Wells WTA title in emphatic style. Rafael Nadal beats David Ferrer to win the Mexican Open as he claimed his second title in three events since returning from a lengthy injury lay-off to win his 38th clay court title. Nadal has won 12 of his 13 matches, finishing as runner-up in Vina del Mar, Chile, before triumphing in Sao Paulo in January 2013. In the womens final, Italian top seed Sara Errani breezed past second seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain .
World No.1 Novak Djokovic claimed the Dubai Open title for the fourth time, beating the Czech Republics Tomas Berdych. It was the top seed Djokovics 18th win in a row and followed the successful defence of his Australian Open title. Mahesh Bhupathi with Frenchman Michael Llodra won the first title of the 2013 season by defeating Robert Lindstedt and Nenand Zimonjic in the summit.
Sania & Mattek-Sands duo claims Dubai Duty Free tennis championships
Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands clinched their second doubles title, beating Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik in the title clash of the Dubai Duty Free tennis championships in Dubai. The unseeded Indo-American duo prevailed over the RussianSlovenia combination in a tightly-contested final of the hard court event. The pair had won the Brisbane International in January 2013 to make a superb start to the 2013 season.
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The cream of Indian tennis, spanning about 60 years, will be presented Davis Cup Commitment awards instituted by the International Tennis Federation (ITF ) as part of the centenary celebrations. Ramanathan Krishnan, Jaidip Mukerjea, Premjit Lall, Vijay Amritraj, Anand Amritraj, Ramesh Krishnan, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi figure in the ITF honours list among Indians in an overall compilation of 299 players from 80 countries.
The WTA has said total prize money for the 54 events in 2013, not including Grand Slams, will rise from $53.3 million to $58.7 million.
Sania and Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US started off with a doubles victory in the Brisbane International, is now ranked World No. 1 in the doubles team rankings.
World number nine Serb Janko Tipsarevic won the ATP Chennai Open with a masterful fightback to defeat young Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in the final.
9.3 BADMINTON
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Among other Indians in the fray, the promising P.V. Sindhu also remained static at a career-best 16th spot . In the rankings for men, Olympic quarterfinalist P. Kashyap also retained his careerbest World No. 9 position.
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The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton. Founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation with nine member nations, the BWF has since expanded to 169 member nations around the world. On September 24, 2006, it was decided to adopt the new name Badminton World Federation (BWF) . Its head office was located in Cheltenham, UK since its founding, but on October 1, 2005, was relocated to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Its current president is Kang Young-Joong.
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Badminton Association of India (BAI) is the governing body for Badminton in India. Based in Lucknow , BAI is an association registered under the Societies Registration Act1860. It was formed in 1934 and has been holding national-level tournaments in India since 1936.Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta is the current President of BAI.
9.4 FOOTBALL
The 2013 Santosh Trophy was held from 1 February to 3 March 2013 in Uttar Pradesh and Kerala . Services won the Santhosh Trophy 2013 after defeating Kerala in the final at Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kaloor, Kochi.
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The 2013 Santosh Trophy is the 67th edition of the Santosh Trophy, the main state competition in Indian football. The tournament first began in 1941, and was the premier football competition in the country before the National Football League started in the year 1996. The trophy as named after the late Maharaja Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh, which is now in Bangladesh, who had been the President of the Indian Football Association, the football organisation of Bengal and the donators of the trophy. The first winners were Bengal, who also leads the all-time winners list with 31 titles till date.
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Lionel Messi wins Player of the Year award for fourth time
Argentinas Lionel Messi was named the worlds best player for an unprecedented fourth year. The award, officially known as the FIFA Ballon dOr, came after the Barcelona player scored a remarkable 91 goals in 2012. Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo was second, the third time the 2008 winner has finished runner-up. Barcelona and Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta was third. Spains Vicente del Bosque was voted as coach of the year for the first time after his team won Euro 2012.
9.5 ATHLETICS
Kenyas Vincent Kipruto emerged victorious in a shoulder-to-shoulder battle against Tariku Jufar of Ethiopia in the last 200 metres to win the Lake Biwa marathon in Otsu (Japan).
9.7 MISCELLANEOUS
Archery India wins a gold and bronze in Asian archery Grand Prix
The Indian mens compound team clinched gold while the recurve trio bagged a bronze medal in the Asian archery Grand Prix in Bangkok.
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The compound team, comprising Sandeep Kumar, Abhishek Verma and Jignas Chittibomma emerged a winner over the Vietnam team to clinch the gold. The recurve mens team of Atanu Das, Rahul Banerjee and Binod Swansi defeated Russia in the bronze medal contest in four sets. The Indian womens recurve team of Dola Banerjee, Rimil Buriuly and L. Bombayla Devi missed the bronze as it lost to Indonesia.
Squash Indian girls team wins Asian Gold and boys team Silver
The Indian squash team returned with a gold and silver medal from the 16th Asian junior team squash championships in Seoul, Korea. India clinched gold in the girls section, where it beat Hong Kong 2-1 in the final, while settling for silver in the boys section after Pakistan won 2-0.
Woods is No.1
Tiger Woods regained golfs world No. 1 spot as he captured the PGA Tours Arnold Palmer Invitational with a two-shot victory.
Dustin Johnson ended a windy week with a wild ride that carried him to the first win of the PGA Tour season. Johnson, who finished at 16-under 203, won for the sixth straight season. Only Phil Mickelson with nine straight years has a longer active streak of most consecutive seasons with a PGA Tour victory.
Handball
Cycling
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Chinese Taipeis Mei Yu Hsiao became the womens road race champion for the third consecutive time as she won the event in two hours, 38 minutes and six seconds at the Hero Cycles Asian cycling championship. Hsiao faced intense competition from the Chinese duo of Liu Xiaohui and Zhao Na before posting victory in a close finish.
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With the Tamil Nadu Government refusing to host Sri Lankan athletes on political grounds, the third leg of the Asian Grand Prix scheduled to be held in Chennai on May 16 has now been shifted to Colombo. After the Tamil Nadu Government cancelled the prestigious Asian athletics championship scheduled to be held in Chennai from July 3 to 7, the Asian Athletics Association has decided to hold the third leg of the Asian GP in Colombo on May 12.
The Indian boxers have been allowed to participate in international competitions after being kept out following the suspension of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The president of the International Boxing Federation (AIBA), Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu, communicated the good news to the IOC member in India, Randhir Singh(a six-time Olympian and Asian Games gold medallist).
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Disgraced US cyclist Lance Armstrong has topped a new list by Forbes magazine of the most disliked athletes after confessing of doping to win all seven of his Tour de France titles . Manti, who got second place in Heisman Trophy voting as last seasons top player which made him a top National Football League prospect, reportedly faked the death of a fictitious girlfriend to gain sympathy. Third on the list, at 19 percent appeal, is 14-time major golf champion Tiger Woods, following an epic sex scandal that destroyed his marriage and damaged his marketing image and sponsorship deals.
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The All India Sports Council of the Deaf has announced the 18th National Games for the Deaf 2013. The competition will be held at the Sri Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore, from April 25-29. The event will also be used to select the Indian team for the 22nd Summer Deaflympics to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, in July-August 2013.
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The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature given at Jaipur Literary Festival, is sponsored by construction company DSC Limited , which is the principal sponsor of the lit fest. The prize, carrying a cash award of $ 50,000, is given every year to an international author or shared with the translator for a work of fiction thematically linked to the South Asian region.
Indian author Jeet Thayils debut novel Narcopolis is among five other works shortlisted for the USD 30,000 Man Asian Literary Prize.
Sahitya Akademi president Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari has presented the Sahitya Akademi Award-2012 to Jeet Thayil in New Delhi. His poetry collection, These errors are correct, was given the Sahitya Akademi award for English in 2012.
Malayalam poetess Sugathakumari has been selected for the Saraswati Samman 2013 for her poetry collection Manalezhuthu (Writing on the Sand). For 2012, it was conferred on Rohit Gautam for Bang Bhoomi.
Eminent Hindi litterateur Narendra Kohli has been selected for the prestigious Vyas Samman for 2012 for his historical novel Na Bhooto Na Bhavishyati, published in 2004, based on Swami Vivekananda and the era he belonged to. Instituted by the K. K. Birla Foundation in 1991, the award is given annually for an outstanding literary work in Hindi published during the past ten years. The award carries a cash purse of Rs 2.5 lakh.
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Sri Lankan debut novelist Shehan Karunatilaka for his book Chinaman had won the prize in 2012 and Karachi-based author H.M. Naqvi for his book Home Boy got it in 2011.
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Iran hostage drama Argo continued its journey from awards season outsider to favourite, winning three prizes, including best picture, at the British Academy Film Awards. Ben Affleck was named best director for the based-on-reality story of a long shot plan to rescue a group of American diplomats from Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and the film also took the editing trophy. Daniel Day-Lewis won his universally expected best actor trophy for Lincoln the only prize out of 10 nominations for Steven Spielbergs historical biopic. Emmanuelle Riva was named best actress for Michael Hanekes poignant old-age portrait Amour. French revolutionary musical Les Miserables won four prizes, including best supporting actress for Anne Hathaway. James Bond adventure Skyfall spied some elusive awards recognition, winning trophies for music and best British film. Kathryn Bigelows Osama bin Laden thriller Zero Dark Thirty was shut out of the prizes, despite five nominations.
Indian & Pakistani in the Man Booker International Prize 2013 shortlist
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Two of the biggest names in literature from India and Pakistan Kannada writer U.R. Ananthamurthy and Urdu novelist Intizar Husain are among the 10 writers from around the world shortlisted for 60,000 Man Booker International Prize 2013. It is awarded every two years to a living author in recognition of his or her achievement in fiction.
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Belgian mathematician Pierre Deligne, who is regarded as one of the most celebrated mathematicians of the 20th century, has been chosen for this years prestigious Abel Prize in Mathematics. The 69-year-old professor emeritus of the Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton, is being awarded for his seminal contributions to algebraic geometry and for their transformative impact on number theory, representation theory and related fields.
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The Abel Prize is considered equivalent to the Nobel Prize , which is not awarded in the field of mathematics . It carries a cash award of 6 million Norwegian krone (about 800,000 or $1 million). Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters has instituted this award in 2002.
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Japanese architect Toyo Ito has won the 2013 Pritzker Prize, often called the Nobel Prize of architecture. Itos buildings, which include libraries, theaters and homes, have been praised for their fluid beauty and balance between the physical and virtual world.
Founded in 1979 by Jay A. Pritzker and his wife Cindy, the award is funded by the Pritzker family and sponsored by the Hyatt Foundation and is considered one of the worlds premier architecture prizes and is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture. The recipients receive US$100,000, a citation certificate, and since 1987, a bronze medallion.
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Well-known filmmaker Shyam Benegal will receive the 8th Akkineni Nageswara Rao National Award. Instituted by Mr. Nageswara Rao in 2005, the first awardee was Dev Anand in 2005 and followed annually from then on by Shabana Azmi, Anjali Devi, Vyjayantimala Bali, Lata Mangeshkar, K. Balachander and Hema Malini in 2011. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh and a citation.
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The G. D. Birla Award for Scientific Research set up in 1991 by the K. K. Birla Foundation for scientists below the age of 50, carries a cash prize of Rs.1.5 lakh. G.D.Birla Award for Scientific Research is given every year and is available in any branch of science including medical science, basic as well as applied. The emphasis is particularly on the work done by the scientist during the last five years. K. K. Birla Foundation: The noted industrialist, educationist, philanthropist and parliamentarian Dr. Krishna Kumar Birla had created the K.K. Birla Foundation during his lifetime in 1991. Passionate about Indian art, education, culture and literature, K.K. Birla felt the need to recognize contributions made by authors and scholars in advancing the literary and cultural traditions of India. Over the years, the K.K. Birla Foundation has instituted six Awards, four of which are given in recognition of literary excellence in all the major Indian languages while one for scientific research and one for philosophical writing as mentioned below: the Saraswati Samman- 7.5lakh for prose/poetry work in any Indian language the Vyas Samman- 2.5lakh for prose/poetry work in Hindi the Bihari Puraskar- 1lakh for prose/poetry work in Hindi/Rajasthani, only authors from Rajasthan are eligible the Shankar Puraskar- 1.5 lakh culture and/or art for a work in Hindi concerning Indian philosophy,
the Vachaspati Puraskar- 1lakh for any work in Sanskrit the G.D. Birla Award for scientific research- 1.5lakh
Senior scientist at the Bioengineering and Environmental Centre (BEEC) of Indian Institute of Chemical Technology Hyderabad, Dr. S. Venkat Mohan , has been selected for the National Bioscience Award for 2012.
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The Chief Scientist and Head of Crop Protection Division, Dr. V. Jayathirtha Rao at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, has been awarded the lifetime achievement award by the Indian Institute of Oriental Heritage, Kolkata.
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Infosys Prize-2012
Infosys Prize 2012 to seven recipients in six categories, were given away on January 3 by former Prime Minister of Norway and former Director General of the World Health Organization, Gro Harlem Brundtland. The award comprises a gold medallion, a citation expounding the laureates work and Rs 50 lakh as prize money. Engineering & Computer Science-Dr. Asish Lele , of National Chemical Laboratories, Pune Humanities (History)- Prof. Sanjay Subrahmanyam, of University of California Humanities (Literary Studies)- Prof. Amit Chaudhuri of University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK Life Sciences- Prof. Satyajit Mayor, of National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore Mathematical Sciences- Prof. Manjul Bhargava, of Princeton University Phy si ca l Sci ences- D r. Ay yappanpillai Ajay ag osh , of National In stitu te for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Social Sciences- Prof. Arunava Sen, of Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi
The former secretary of the Department of Ocean Development, A.E. Muthunayagam, will receive the prestigious Aryabhatta award, instituted by the Astronautical Society of India (ASI), for 2010 and V.K. Saraswat , Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, will receive the award for 2011. They have been selected for their achievements in rocketry.
Marimuthu Bharathan, a Dalit activist who was selected for the Dutch Human Rights Tulip 2012 award from among 66 contenders across the globe, could not attend the function held on January 9 after being denied a passport. Bharathans message was read out before the award, which carries a cash prize of 1 lakh Euros, was handed over in absentia.
Dravid, who served India with distinction both as batsman and captain, retired in 2012, has been honoured by Padma Bhushan 2013 alongwith yesteryear film actors late Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore.
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Mr. Himangshu Mohan Chowdhury is now being felicitated by the Government of Bangladesh in helping with relief operations that were carried for migrants from Dhaka who had sought refuge in Sonamura during the 1971 Bangladesh liberation struggle. Mr. Chowdhury, who has been invited by Dhaka, will be felicitated at a ceremony being held to honour friends of Bangladesh.
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Bharat Ratna: Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian Award of the country, which was instituted in the year 1954. It is awarded in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour. The actual award is designed in the shape of a peepul leaf and carries with the words Bharat Ratna, inscribed in Devanagari script along with an image of the Sun. The reverse side of the medal carries the state emblem and motto. 1st Bharat Ratna awardees were Chakravarti Rajgopalachari, Sir C. V. Raman, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in 1954. Last Bharat Ratna awardee was Hindustani classical singer Bhimsen Joshi in 2008. Of the 41 awards so far, there has been two non-Indians, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) and Nelson Mandela (1990). Padma Awards: Padma Awards were instituted in the year 1954. Except for brief interruption(s) during the years 1978 and 1979 and 1993 to 1997, these awards have been announced every year on Republic Day. The award is given in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. Padma Shri (4th highest civilian award) is awarded for distinguished service; Padma Bhushan (3rd highest civilian award) for distinguished service of a high order; and Padma Vibhushan (2nd highest civilian award) for exceptional and distinguished service. National Sports Awards: Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna- Indias highest honour given for achievement in sports. Arjuna Award- Recognizes outstanding achievement in National sports. Dronacharya award- an award presented by the government of India for excellence in sports coaching. Dhyan Chand Award- Indias highest award for lifetime achievement in sports and games. The award is named after the legendary Indian hockey player Dhyan Chand. Vir Chakra Valour awards: Param Vir Chakra- Highest military award for valour. Maha Vir Chakra- the 2 nd highest military decoration in India and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. Vir Chakra- It is third in precedence in the war time gallantry. Peacetime gallantry awards: Ashok Chakra Award- an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It is the peace time equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra. Kirti Chakra- It is second in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards. Shaurya Chakra- It happens to be third in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards and comes after the Ashoka Chakra and the Kirti Chakra.
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The annual National Stree Shakti Puruskars are given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to recognise and honour women for outstanding contributions to society and thereby helped in improving the lives of numerous Indian women.The awards are in the name of the eminent women personalities namely Devi Ahalya Bai Holkar, Kannagi, Mata Jajabai, Rani Gaidinliu Zeliang, Rani Lakshmi Bai and Rani Rudramma Devi (which is open to both men and women). The awards, other than the Rani Rudramma Devi award (which was instituted in 2007), were instituted in 1999.The award carries a citation and a cheque of Rs.3 lakh.
The parliamentary award committee has selected BJP leader Arun Jaitley, Congress MP Karan Singh and JD (U) MP Sharad Yadav for the outstanding parliamentarian award for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively.
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T he O ut st a nd ing Pa r liam e nta r ia n Aw ar d is a n a wa rd given b y t he India n Parliamentary Group to an outstanding sitting Member of the Indian Parliament. It was instituted in 1992 by Shivraj Patil who was then the Speaker of Lok Sabha from 1991-96. Indrajit Gupta was honored with the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 1992.
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British Safety Council is one of the largest independent occupational health, safety and environmental organisations in the world. The International Safety Awards are open to all companies across industries globally and the applicants are adjudged across 12 parameters related to health and safety management. The award benchmarks health and safety performance of an organisation on an international level to recognise the leaders in this field.
Dr Sugata Mitra, a Professor of Educational Technology at the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University, UK, known for his innovative hole-in-the-wall experiment to give computer education to slum children, has been awarded with the prestigious USD 1 million TED prize. Mitra developed the concept of the Cloud from his 1999 hole in the wall experiment, in which he carved a hole from his research center into an adjoining Delhi slum. After receiving the award, Mitra said he will use prize to launch global initiative for selfdirected learning releases toolkit for schools and families to create self-organised learning environments. TEDs annual prize of USD one million gives an exceptional individual the chance to conceive and launch a high-impact project.
Samuel Yin, one of Taiwans richest men has launched the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize the Tang Prize by donating Tw$3 billion (about $101 million) for it. The prize is named after Chinas Tang Dynasty (618-907) which inspired generation after generation with admiration for its vibrant characteristics of self confidence and cosmopolitan inclusiveness the qualities that the Tang Prize seeks to promote. Beginning in 2014, prizes will be awarded every two years in four categories: sustainable development; biopharmaceutical science; sinology; and the rule of law to individuals, regardless of nationality. The winner in each category will receive Tw$50 million ($1.7 million), compared to the eight million Swedish kronor ($1.2 million) that comes with a Nobel Prize.
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Award for Contribution Award for Contribution Award for Contribution Award for Contribution
President Pranab Mukherjee has conferred the honorary rank of Suprabal Jana Sewa Shree of the Indian Army on General Gaurav Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, Chief of the Army Staff of Nepal, for his commendable military prowess and immeasurable contribution to further fostering the long and friendly association with India.
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Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani schoolgirl shot by a Taliban gunman in 2012, is to be given Irelands prestigious Tipperary International Peace Prize for 2012 for her courage and determination to speak out in support of equal access to education for every child. She was one of the five nominees, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Malala is the second Pakistani to get the award. In 2007, it was given to Benazir Bhutto. Malalas father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, has been appointed education attach at the Pakistani consulate in Birmingham, paving the way for her to continue to stay on in Britain after her medical treatment.
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and Productivity and Productivity and Productivity and Productivity
Sates Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland of Rice Bihar of Wheat Haryana of Pulses Jharkhand of Coarse Cereals Uttar Pradesh
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11.1 GENERAL
Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim: Worlds richest by Forbes
As per the annual ranking published by Forbes on March 4, Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim was the wealthiest in the world with a networth of USD 73 billion, followed by Bill Gates (USD 67 billion), Amancio Ortega (USD 57 billion), Warren Buffett (USD 53.5 billion). Mukesh Ambani was ranked 22nd, while the second-richest Indian Lakshmi Mittal is at 41st position with a networth of USD 16.5 billion.
Bhutan King Wangchuck: The chief guest at Indias Republic Day parade
Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck was the chief guest at Indias Republic Day parade 2013. The King and Queen of Bhutan have paid a state visit to India from January 23 to 30.
The UK government has granted permission to install the statue of 12 century social reformer from Karnataka, Basaveshwara, at the Albert embankment in London.
The former ISRO chairman, U.R. Rao, is all set to join the prestigious international Satellite Hall of Fame on March 19. Prof. Rao, who presided over the countrys space programme as Secretary, Department of Space, and Chairman of the Space Commission for 10 years from 1984, will join some 40 space celebrities who include Arthur Clarke. Late visionary Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has topped a list of the worlds best chief executives. The global list, compiled by French business school Insead for Harvard Business Review, ranked the former Apple head first. Jobs was followed by Amazons Jeff Bezos in second and Samsungs retired boss Yun Jong-Yong in third.
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Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata along with eight Indian Americans has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering, which is the highest professional distinction accorded to an engineer in the US.
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11.2 OBITUARIES
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dies of cancer at 58
A living legend for millions of poor in his country and a divisive figure in global politics, the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez died. He was 58. After battling cancer for two years during which he underwent multiple rounds of surgeries and chemotherapy in Cuba and at home, the Venezuelan president breathed his last at a military hospital in the capital Caracas. With his death, the socialist leaders 14-year rule of the South American country with the largest reserves of oil in the world has come to an end.
Veteran South Indian actor and Padma Shri recipient S. Sukumari passed away in Chennai after battling burns suffered following an accident at her residence. She was 74. Born in 1940 in then Travancore, Sukumari began her career at the age of 10 with a cameo in Tamil movie Oru Iravu in 1951. She acted in over 2,500 films, including in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Oriya and Bengali. Wife of famous film director-producer late Bhim Singh, Sukumari received numerous accolades, including the Tamil Nadu States Kalaimani Award in 1991-92, the Kerala State Award on four occasions, Padma Shri in 2003 and the National Award for the best supporting actress in 2011.
Bangladesh President Zillur Rahman, a veteran ruling party politician and a close aid of the nations founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, died in a Singapore hospital. He was 84. Mr. Rahman, who had made his name as an activist who pushed for Bangladesh to break free from Pakistani rule, was named to the largely ceremonial post in 2009.
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Ieng Sary , who co-founded Cambodias brutal Khmer Rouge movement in 1970s , was its public face abroad and decades later became one of its few leaders to be put on trial by a joint Cambodian-international tribunal along with two other former Khmer Rouge leaders for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people, died.
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April 16, 1924, he was passionate in his commitment to South Asian regional cooperation and solidarity on a secular, democratic, and progressive basis. This commitment was backed by an extraordinary financial contribution to the South Asia Foundation (SAF).
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South Asia Foundation (SAF) is a regional youth movement that now has chapters in eight countries. SAF offers scholarships to South Asian students under various disciplines in its 12 UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Institutions of Excellence . These institutions are located in all eight countries of South Asia. Madanjeet Singh sponsored the bi-annual UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Award for the promotion of tolerance and nonviolence.
11.3 APPOINTMENTS
Xi Jinping appointed Chinese President
Xi Jinping (59) was named as Chinas new President and head of the military succeeding Hu Jintao, completing a generational transition of power in the worlds most populous country. Chinas Parliament formally elected Xi, as President, four months after he took charge of the Communist Party. Xi has been appointed as the Chairman of the Powerful Military Commission, when he was elected as the new leader of the party in November 2012. The Military Commission supervises 2.3 millionstrong and the worlds largest standing Army called Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), incorporating Army, Navy and Air Force. His elec tion w as a for mality as th e NPC, dominated by the CPC functionaries, completed the once-in-a-decade power transfer from the administration headed by Hu, who along with Xi Jinping team of leaders including Premier Wen Jiabao formally retires. Li Keqiang (57), Communist Party of Chinas second ranking leader, wa s elected a s Pri me Minister by the Parli ament succeeding Wen Jiabao who retired after a generational transition of power in the worlds most populous country.
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Google appointed Chennai-born Sundar Pichai, an IIT-Kharagpur alumnus , as head of its Android Division in place of Andy Rubin who has stepped down from the top post to take on a new role. Sundar Pichai will lead Android, in addition to his existing work with Chrome and Apps.
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Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while Ph.D. students at Stanford University in January 1996 as a research project. Together they own about 16percent of its stake. They incorporated Google as a privately held company on September4, 1998. An initial public offering followed on August19, 2004. Eric Schmidt is the Executive Chairman and Larry Page is the CEO of the company.
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Former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Ashwani Kumar and senior Congress leader S.C. Jamir were appointed as Governors of Nagaland and Odisha respectively. The President also transferred Governor of Tripura D.Y. Patil to Bihar and shifted Bihar Governor Devanand Konwar to Tripura. Similarly, former Delhi Police Commissioner Nikhil Kumar, who was serving as Nagaland Governor, has been shifted to Kerala.
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Pope Francis I
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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957. Though established independently of the United Nations through its own international treaty, the IAEA Statute, the IAEA reports to both the UN General Assembly and Security Council. The IAEA has its headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
Dr Rajiv Shah, the Administrator of US Agency for International Development (USAID) would travel to India and Myanmar, adding in Mumbai he would announce a major programme to reduce preventable child deaths. 39-year-old Shah is the highest ranking IndianAmerican in the Obama Administration.
Former LIC chief T.S. Vijayan, has took over as the Chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). Mr. Vijayan succeeds J. Hari Narayan who completed his five-year term on Feb. 21. IRDA chairpersons tenure is for five years or till the age of 65 years.
Incumbent Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has won Armenias presidential election with over 58 percent of the vote. Mohan Parasaran, the most senior Additional Solicitor- General, has been appointed SolicitorGeneral to succeed Rohinton Nariman.
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US Vice President Joe Biden was sworn for his second term, hours before President Barack Obama takes his second oath of office at the White House. Obama and Biden are being sworn, January 20, the Constitutionally-mandated date for the president to be sworn in to office.
R.K. Dubey has assumed charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of Canara Bank. Mr. Dubey joined Punjab National Bank in 1977 as a management trainee and moved up to the ranks of a General Manager in 2008 and was appointed as Executive Director of Central Bank of India in 2010.
Ved Prakash, serving as acting chairman of the UGC, has been appointed as its chairman; almost two years after the post fell vacant.
Suu Kyi re-elected party chief amid calls for new blood
Aung San Suu Kyi was re-elected Myanmar opposition (National League for Democracy (NLD)) chief at a landmark congress that disappointed some members hoping for new blood in the wider leadership ahead of a key 2015 election.
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Indian-American Srikanth Srinivasan is among the 33 federal judges re-nominated by the US President Barack Obama for the US Court of Appeals. Srinivasan is the only Indian American re-nominated by Obama for the District of Columbia Circuit. Srinivasan was born in Chandigarh, and grew up in Lawrence, Kansas.
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Books
Walking with Lions: Tales from a Diplomatic Past My Beloved World Er Ist Wieder Da (Hes Back) Between Clay and Dust The Briefcase Silent House
Authors
- Natwar Singh
- Sonia Sotomayor (USA) - Timur Vermes (Germany) - Musharraf Ali Farooqi (Pakistan) - Hiromi Kawakami (Japan) - Orhan Pamuk (Nobel laureate,Turkey)
The Garden of Evening Mists Please Look After Mom The Extras Difficult Pleasures Bitter Wormwood
Our Lady of Alice Bhatti The Walls of Delhi *Home Boy *Chinaman
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- Kiran Nagarkar - Anjum Hasan - Easterine Kire - Jerry Pinto - Tahmima Anam - Mohammed Hanif - Uday Prakash - H.M. Naqvi - Shehan Karunatilaka - Jeet Thayil - Meghna Pant - Rahul Bhattacharya - Julia Blackburn - Teju Cole - Olivia Laing - Tim Robinson
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