July 2013

Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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Table of Contents
Preface ......................................................................................................................................18 Pick of the Month......................................................................................................................19 Cambodian Election 2013: Ruling Party claimed Victory ....................................................19 Presidential Election in Pakistan ........................................................................................20 Telangana the 29th State of India announced .....................................................................23 Clinical Trials on Humans Require Mandatory Standards ...................................................27 New Prince of Britain, Named George Alexander Louis ......................................................28 Julian Assange launched Political Party in Australia ...........................................................29 India and China focussed on Confidence Building Measures ..............................................30 India, Belarus signed protocol to Enhance Trade Ties ........................................................30 Photo Identity Mandatory for Purchase of Acid .................................................................32 RBI Reduced Realisation Period for Exporters to Nine Months ..........................................33 INSAT-3D, the Advanced Meteorological Satellite of India .................................................34 NASA Released Images of Earth Taken by Distant Spacecraft.............................................35 Dolphins React When Called by Their Name: Research ......................................................36 US dropped Bombs on Great Barrier Reef Marine Park ......................................................37 Veteran actor Pran died due to prolonged Illness ..............................................................38 Andy Murray won Wimbledon Mens Single Trophy ..........................................................38 FIPB Cleared Jet-Etihad Deal; But With Certain Conditions ................................................41 Amar Gopal Bose, the Founder of Bose Corporation Died..................................................42 International | World ................................................................................................................46 President of Ireland signed the Abortion Bill into Law .......................................................46 India and Afghanistan signed MoUs under SDP Scheme ....................................................46 James Comey to be the Next Director of FBI ......................................................................46 www.jagranjosh.com
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Saudi Arabia to Develop Metro Line in Riyadh ...................................................................48 IMF approved 1.7 Billion Euros for Greece's Bailout ..........................................................49 India & Senegal Signed Program for Cultural Cooperation .................................................50 Israel agreed to release 104 Palestinian Prisoners .............................................................51 US decided to stop the Delivery of Four F-16 Fighters to Egypt ..........................................51 SC of Pakistan directed EC to hold Presidential Election ....................................................51 14th Meet of Home Secretaries of India and Bangladesh....................................................52 India and Nigeria signed agreement for Solar Power Plants ...............................................53 EU Listed Military Wing of Hezbollah as a Terrorist Org .....................................................54 Prince Philippe sworn in as the Seventh king of Belgium ...................................................54 Japan's Ruling Coalition won Majority in Upper House ......................................................55 Constitution Amendment Task of Egypt Started by Panel ..................................................56 China lifted Control on Banks ............................................................................................56 Religious Freedom Deteriorating in Pakistan: Report .........................................................56 Bangladesh approved a Labour Law to boost Worker Rights .............................................57 Iran agreed to take all Oil Payments from India in Rupees .................................................58 India became the biggest buyer of Nigerias Crude Oil .......................................................58 PDP won the National Assembly Elections in Bhutan .........................................................59 China cancelled construction of Nuclear processing Plant .................................................59 United Nations asked Myanmar to end attacks on Rohingyas ............................................60 India has Right to Pursue Exploration in South China Sea ..................................................60 France and Switzerland signed New Inheritance Tax Deal..................................................61 President of Portugal approved Reshuffled Government ...................................................62 U.S. Navy landed First Unmanned Aircraft Carrier in Atlantic .............................................62 India agreed to co-operate Mongolia in Renewable Energy ...............................................63 India and Tanzania Agreed on Bilateral Cooperation .........................................................64
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External Affairs Minister of India visited Nepal ..................................................................64 Japanese Royal Couple, the Emperor and Empress to visit India ........................................67 Hazem El-Beblawi named as new Prime Minister of Egypt .................................................67 Abdoulaye Bathily appointed Dep. Head of UN Mission to Mali.........................................69 India and Albania signed AGREEMENT on Double Taxation ...............................................71 India and Iraq signed Pact to enhance Co-Operation .........................................................72 Malaysia withdrew Bill on Unilateral Conversion of Child ..................................................73 UN released Millennium Development Goals Report 2013 ................................................73 Chinas Ex-Minister sentenced to death for Power Misuse ................................................78 North & South Korea held Talks to re-open Joint Indst. Zone .............................................79 Venezuela and Nicaragua offered Asylum to Edward Snowden .........................................80 IOR-ARC Nations agreed to Promote Trade .......................................................................80 India and Vietnam set up Joint Panel for ICT Sector ...........................................................82 Irish Lawmakers backed Bill Legalizing Abortion ................................................................82 Kosovo introduced Visa Regime for 87 Countries ..............................................................83 India and Nepal agreed on Cooperation in Tourism ...........................................................83 S.Arabia extended Amnesty Period for Illegal Foreign Workers .........................................83 India-China Trade Deficit Reached 12 Billion US Dollars .....................................................84 Croatia became the 28th Member of the European Union ................................................85 World Dairy ...............................................................................................................................86 National ....................................................................................................................................91 Government Launched Emergency Care Initiatives on NH-8 ..............................................91 Cyber Crime Offenders of Younger Age Group Rising: NCRB ..............................................92 Plan to set-up a New Marine Training Academy at Tuticorin .............................................93 176.98 crore Rupees sanctioned for Kole Land Development ............................................93 Railways to approach UP and Haryana for Recovery of Losses ...........................................94
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Poverty Ratio of India declined to 21.9 percent .................................................................94 Central Supervisory Board meet Held on PC & PNDT Act ...................................................96 SC Directed Government to Enforce Tobacco Ad Rules at Shops........................................97 REC extended CSR Support under Super 30 Initiative.........................................................97 Land Rights to Women National Land Reform Policy Draft 2013 ........................................98 Parliament to Ratify Indira-Mujib Pact of 1974 ..................................................................99 Cyber Security Initiative Put on Fast Track by NSA ........................................................... 100 SC: Notice to Uttarakhand for Failure to Implement DMA ............................................... 101 PSC on Finance finalised GST Report ................................................................................ 102 Govt Approved creation of Strike Corps along China Border ............................................ 102 SC refused to reduce the Age of Juvenile from 18 to 16 Years ......................................... 103 Union Cabinet approved amendments to Marriage Law .................................................. 104 Plan Scheme-Development Comm and Info Dissemination .............................................. 104 NTCC Campaign called Tears You Apart Launched ........................................................... 104 SC refused to reduce Juvenile Age from 18 to 16 years.................................................... 105 System for Electronic Transfer of Funds Launched ........................................................... 106 Pranab Mukherjee launched Kisaan Portal ......................................................................106 PMs Monitoring Group cleared 4 projects ......................................................................107 SC: Ownership of Minerals to be vested with Owner of Land........................................... 108 Union Cabinet of India approved setting up of a NAU ...................................................... 108 Cabinet gave its approval for Repeal of Rent Act in Delhi................................................. 109 Person in Jail or Police Custody cannot Contest Elections: SC .......................................... 110 Govt approved Proposal to replace DGCA with New Regulator........................................ 110 Govt announced disbanding of the three DRDA ............................................................... 111 Union Government hiked sugar import duty to 15 Percent.............................................. 112 Govt announced 20% cut in Haj Quota ............................................................................ 112
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Women officers to be inducted in BSF for First Time ....................................................... 113 Pranab Mukherjee signed Ordinance on Food Security.................................................... 114 Law Com Extended date for Suggestions on Electoral Reforms ........................................ 114 Govt to launch MGPSY Scheme for Blue-Collar Indian workers ........................................ 115 SC: VRS Benefit is not Matter of Right.............................................................................. 116 Ordinance to implement Food Security Approved by Cabinet .......................................... 116 Prime Minister Committee held its Second Meeting on NEGP ......................................... 117 SC ordered State Govts to Curb Sale of Adulterated Milk................................................. 119 Government launched National Cyber Security Policy 2013 ............................................. 120 The Madras High Court upheld the Ban on LTTE .............................................................. 121 Haryana Adopted 25 Flood Affected Villages of Uttarakhand .......................................... 122 I&B Ministry cancelled licenses of 61 TV Channels ........................................................... 122 India Dairy ............................................................................................................................... 123 Economy .................................................................................................................................130 First Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2013-14 ...................................................... 130 India and Saudi Arabia decided to set up SIBN .................................................................131 India achieved a Record Production of Pulses ..................................................................131 RBI imposed Restrictions on Imports of Gold ...................................................................131 Revived New Bhopal Textile Mills of NTC Inaugurated ..................................................... 132 Securities Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2013................................................................ 133 ICAR and the ICAT Signed more than 60 MoUs ................................................................ 134 Indias Foreign Exchange Reserves increased to 280.19 Billion $ .....................................134 India signed agreement with ADB on loan for NKUSIP ..................................................... 135 RBI opened 25000 Crore Rupee Special Liquidity Window for MFs ..................................136 Government approved Proposal to give SEBI more Powers ............................................. 137 Government raised FDI in Telecom Sector to 100 percent ............................................... 137
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Government allocated 1200 Crore as SCA to TSP in 2013-14 ........................................... 139 RBI announced slew of Measures to Curb Rupee Volatility .............................................. 142 RBI fined 22 Banks for violating KYC Norms .....................................................................142 FDI increased into India to 2.32 Billion US Dollars in April 2013 ....................................... 143 India's Exports in June 2013 valued at 23785.64 Million $ ............................................... 144 Visa on Arrival Scheme registered 22.9 % Growth in June 2013 ....................................... 145 Government approved MIIUS .......................................................................................... 145 Jewellers decided to suspend Sale of Gold Coins for 6 Months ........................................ 146 CCEA approved Disinvestment of Government Stake in STC ............................................ 147 Direct Tax Collection for June Quarter increased by 11.52% ............................................ 147 CAI estimated Lower Production of Cotton in 2012-13 .................................................... 148 Proposed Investments in India fell to 75% in FY12-13: Assocham ....................................148 Railway Revenue Earnings increased by 11.93% .............................................................. 149 Chinas Consumer Inflation rose to 2.7% in June 2013 ..................................................... 150 India-Israel Trade grew to 6 billion Dollars in 2012-13 ..................................................... 151 FIPB approved 7 Pharma FDI Proposals ........................................................................... 151 Government Released RTC Form for EPFO ....................................................................... 152 Telecom Commission approved hike in FDI cap to 100 percent ....................................... 153 FII pulled out 5.6 billion Dollars from Debt Market .......................................................... 153 Environment & Ecology ........................................................................................................... 155 Rare Egyptian Vultures Spotted in the Forest Range of Odisha ........................................ 155 Panel Recommended an Indefinite Suspension on GM Crops .......................................... 155 Polluter Pay Principle on the Yamuna River: NGT............................................................. 156 Stick-slip Movements caused Vibrations in Redoubt Volcano .......................................... 157 Deforestation Dropped in Congo Basin Rainforest of Africa ............................................. 158 Earthquake of Magnitude 6.9 struck New Zealand Coast ................................................. 158
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New Technology for Successful Greening of Deserts........................................................ 159 Clearance for an International Airport in Kannur ............................................................. 159 Number of Butterflies in UK at Historic Low: Conservationists ......................................... 160 Europe reached an agreement on Fisheries Reform ........................................................ 161 UN Forum to Boost Sustainable Development Efforts...................................................... 162 Bombay Natural History Society get grant of 63-lakh Rupees .......................................... 163 Graduate Course on Disasters, Environment & Risk Reduction ........................................ 164 Science & Technology ............................................................................................................. 166 Scientists decoded Human Brain's ability to Pay Attention .............................................. 166 Scientists created Worlds Fastest Electrical Switch ......................................................... 166 Variation in Structures of Brain Arteries causes Migraine ................................................ 167 Indias First Hydrogen-Powered Fuel Cell Bus Developed ................................................ 168 Software tool to curb Dengue and Malaria developed ..................................................... 169 Biosensor for Measuring Athletes Exhaustion Level ......................................................... 170 Diskagma Buttonii, 2.2 Billion Year Old Fossils, discovered .............................................. 170 Technique to Reverse Blindness in Humans Developed ................................................... 171 ISRO to improve Transponder Allocation Norms .............................................................. 172 Computer Program to Accurately Recognise Wolf Howl .................................................. 173 World's first trip to Moon's South Pole in 2016 ............................................................... 174 Curiosity confirmed that Mars is Composed Mostly of CO2 .............................................. 175 Singing Can Help Learn Foreign Language Better: Research ............................................. 176 New horned Dinosaur Species discovered in Utah Desert ................................................ 176 New Zealand launched Joint US-German Space Project ................................................... 177 Smartphone App to Detect Breast Cancer Early ............................................................... 177 Neptunes 14th moon discovered by Hubble Space Telescope ......................................... 178 Genomes of 201 Microbes Sequenced by the Scientists .................................................. 179
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Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant went Critical ............................................................. 179 Charon: largest Moon of Pluto spotted ............................................................................ 180 NASAs Hubble discovered Blue Planet 63 light-years Away............................................. 181 1st IVF baby born using New Embryo Screening Technique .............................................. 182 Scientists detected Mysterious Bursts of Radio Waves .................................................... 183 Corporate................................................................................................................................ 185 Yes Bank became the First Lender in India to hike Deposit Rates .....................................185 Prasar Bharti and Australian Network signed an Agreement............................................ 185 British Airways to launch Flights from Hyderabad to London ........................................... 186 Omnicom and Publicis Decided to Merge ........................................................................ 186 Educomp and HCL Infosystems partner for lifecycle services ........................................... 187 Free Wikipedia Access on Mobile .................................................................................... 188 SC slapped Contempt Notices on Two Sahara Firms ........................................................ 189 TRAI released Consultation Paper on Spectrum Sale ........................................................ 189 Ford is the First Automaker to Participate in GGR Programme ........................................ 189 Neil Mills, the CEO of SpiceJet Quit from his Post ............................................................ 190 Afcons to set Fabrication Facility in Gujarat .....................................................................191 Huawei Technologies to Work on 5G Mobile Technology ................................................ 191 NTPC Subsidiary entered into Agreement with KSEB ....................................................... 192 Sarovar Hotels & Resorts 3rd Hotel in Africa .....................................................................192 Penguin Books India Launched New Web Portal .............................................................. 193 Morgan Stanley Ultra Short-Term Fund Launched ........................................................... 193 Drugmakers tied up to Bring Pneumonia Vaccine to India ............................................... 194 NSE at Top among Worlds largest Bourse for Equity Trade ............................................. 194 Sula Vineyard, decided to Enter Market of Sikkim ........................................................... 196 Lanco Australia Got Approval to develop Coal Handling Berth ......................................... 196
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Satyam Formally merged with Tech Mahindra .................................................................196 LG to UNVEIL SLIMMEST Full HD LCD Panel for Smart phones ......................................... 197 SBI launched State Bank Xpress Money Card ...................................................................198 DLF sold Wind Mill in Gujarat for 325 Crore Rupees ........................................................ 198 Bharti Airtel bought Majority Stake in Qualcomm's India Unit ......................................... 198 World's 1st Smartphone with Firefox OS Launched .......................................................... 199 Nokia bought Siemens stake in Nokia Siemens Networks ................................................ 199 Sports......................................................................................................................................201 Aditya Mehta won Snooker Gold Medal in the World Games .......................................... 201 India defeated Nepal to lift Under-16 SAFF Football Title 2013 ........................................ 201 Schweinsteiger Won Journalists' Player of the Year Award .............................................. 201 India topped in the ICCs ODI Ranking .............................................................................. 202 Tour de France 2013: Chris Froome won 100th Edition of Race ........................................ 202 India's K Jennitha Anto won IPCA World Chess Championship ......................................... 204 Shane Warne, Retired from All Forms of Cricket .............................................................. 204 Devendra won Gold at IPC Athletics World Championships ............................................. 206 Martina Hingis inducted in Tennis Hall of Fame ............................................................... 207 India finished at 4th Position in the Archery World Cup Stage 3 ....................................... 207 Deepika Kumari and two others won Gold Medal in Archery ........................................... 208 India's K Jennitha Anto won IPCA World Chess Championship ......................................... 208 Serena Williams won Swedish Open title ......................................................................... 209 Divij Sharan and Purav Raja won maiden ATP title at Bogota ........................................... 209 Oussama Mellouli won Gold in 5 km Open Water Race ................................................... 210 Shane Warne inducted into ICC Hall of Fame at Lords ..................................................... 210 Santosh Lal the Inventor of Helicopter Shot Died............................................................. 211 Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell found Positive in Doping Test .............................................. 211
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Scottish Open 2013: Golfer Phil Mickelson won the title ................................................. 212 Abhijeet Gupta won Commonwealth Chess Championship.............................................. 213 India retained its Top Position in ICC ODI Ranking ........................................................... 214 India won West Indies Tri-Nation Series Final ..................................................................214 Shane Warne to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame ........................................ 215 Krishan Kaushik appointed coach of Indian Hockey Team ................................................ 216 Lajja Goswami won Silver in shooting World Cup ............................................................ 216 India moved to Second Spot in ICC Test Rankings ............................................................ 217 IOC extended Deadline for Indian Olympic Association ................................................... 217 New Zealand Fast Bowler Chris Martin announced Retirement ....................................... 218 FIFA barred Iraq from holding any Friendly Football Matches .......................................... 219 Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Torch to be sent in Space ..................................................... 219 Al Mana Sports Right Activist of Qatar honoured by IOC.................................................. 220 Brazil Won FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 ............................................................. 221 State ....................................................................................................................................... 223 IGL Suraksha Yojana Launched in Delhi ............................................................................ 223 Rail and Road Projects Launched in Haryana ...................................................................224 Food Security Scheme in Delhi ......................................................................................... 224 First Textile Park inaugurated at Bagru near Jaipur .......................................................... 225 Tax Exemption to Bhaag Milkha Bhaag in Maharashtra ................................................... 225 Maharashtra extended Ban on Gutkha and Paan Masala ................................................. 226 TDCCOL Opened Tribal World Outlet at Biju Patnaik Airport ............................................ 226 69200 crore plan for Uttar Pradesh for 2013-14 .............................................................. 227 Goa slashed Entry Toll for Vehicles from Maharashtra..................................................... 228 Kerela approved Tapping Unfermented Sap from Coconut .............................................. 229 Health Ministry launched WIFS Programme in Bangalore ................................................ 229
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MP Police Security Scheme to be implemented in State .................................................. 230 Permission to Dance Bars in Maharashtra ....................................................................... 230 Delhi: No Arrest under IT Act without Approval ............................................................... 231 Arab pledged to improve Welfare of Minorities in Karnataka .......................................... 231 Gujarat to introduce a Cruise Liner Service ......................................................................232 Punjab Government launched Night Policing Scheme ...................................................... 232 Hemant Soren sworn in as Ninth Chief Minister of Jharkhand ......................................... 233 Pranab Mukherjee revoked President's Rule from Jharkhand .......................................... 234 Committee to oversee reconstruction in Uttarakhand ..................................................... 235 J&K Plan for 2013-14 finalized by Planning Commission of India ......................................235 Allahabad High Court put a Ban on Caste-based Rallies in UP .......................................... 237 MNRE sanctioned 20000 Solar Lanterns to Uttarakhand ................................................. 237 Kerala to get Central assistance for Mid-day Meal Scheme .............................................. 238 Government approved 4130 Crore for Bihar under PMGSY ............................................. 239 Conceptual Plan to develop New Chandigarh Approved .................................................. 239 Amethi to be Created as a New District ........................................................................... 240 NDM approved 107 Crore Drought Relief Package for Kerala .......................................... 240 Team to assist in Reconstruction of Houses in Uttarakhand ............................................ 241 Tamil Nadu Govt planned to develop Road Infrastructure ............................................... 241 Delhi to relax Eligibility Criteria under the Annashree Scheme......................................... 241 Himachal is the first Smoke-Free State as per COTPA Act 2003 ........................................ 242 Now Bhiwani, Mahendragarh and Bharatpur are Part of NCR .......................................... 244 Karnataka launched Arogya Vani ..................................................................................... 244 One Liners ............................................................................................................................... 244 News Capsule .......................................................................................................................... 247 Appointments of the Month ................................................................................................ 247
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Suresh Chandra Mohanty Elected as the New President of ICAI ......................................247 Arvind Sharma Re-Elected as the President of AAAI......................................................... 248 A.R. Rather appointed Chairman of GST Panel .................................................................249 BS Bassi appointed as next Commissioner of Delhi Police ................................................ 249 AK Singh sworn in as Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar ............................................ 250 KK Paul took over as the New Governor of Meghalaya .................................................... 250 Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil appointed new Governor of Sikkim ........................................ 251 R. Chandrasekhar appointed President of Nasscom ......................................................... 251 Sunil Soni appointed Director General of BIS ...................................................................252 Najeeb Jung appointed as new Lieutenant Governor of Delhi .......................................... 253 Anil Chait Took over as Chairman of CISC ........................................................................ 254 Awards in the Month of July ................................................................................................ 254 Amjad Ali Khan to get Rajiv Gandhi Nat. Sadhbhavna Award ........................................... 254 Four Indian Americans won Simons Investigators Awards 2013 ....................................... 255 Ramon Magsaysay Awards 2013...................................................................................... 256 Paradip Port Conferred With Major Port of the Year Award ............................................ 257 OISD Safety Awards 2011-12 ........................................................................................... 258 Real VNC was presented with MacRobert Award............................................................. 260 Bono Honoured With the Commander of the Order ........................................................ 261 Britain placed Blue plaque on the 1st Home of Krishna Menon ........................................ 262 Zubin Mehta named for Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony .......................................... 263 Vidya Balan got the Best Actress Award at IIFA 2013 ....................................................... 264 President conferred National Youth Awards 2011-12 ...................................................... 265 Personality in News.............................................................................................................. 266 Batla House Encounter convict Shahzad got Life Sentence .............................................. 266 Edward Snowden awarded with German Whistleblower Prize ........................................ 266
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Salman framed for Culpable Homicide in Hit and Run Case ............................................. 267 Sunetra Guptas Portrait to be exhibited in Britain .......................................................... 268 Nisha Desai nominated Assistant Secretary of State of USA ............................................. 269 M.M. Raju was Conferred the Honorary Fellowship by IETE............................................. 269 Altamas Kabir Retired from the Office of Chief Justice of India ........................................ 271 Justice P. Sathasivam Sworn in as the Chief Justice of India ............................................. 271 ICT sentenced Ali Mohammed Mujaheed to Death.......................................................... 272 SC Stayed trial against Lalu Yadav in Fodder Scam ........................................................... 272 Mohamed ElBaradei named Caretaker PM of Egypt ........................................................ 273 78th Birthday of Dalai Lama celebrated across the World................................................. 273 Kumar Mangalam Birla Resigned from RBIs Central Board .............................................. 274 Adli Mansour Sworn in as the interim President of Egypt ................................................ 274 V Gandhi 1ST Indian Woman to Receive Emirates Woman Award ....................................275 Dahlan Jumaan Al-Hamad won AAA President's Election ................................................. 275 Sujata Singh designated as India's next Foreign Secretary ............................................... 276 Person Died ......................................................................................................................... 277 SN Hanumantha Rao, the Former Indian Test Umpire Died ............................................. 277 Jagdish Raj, the Most Type-Cast Actor of Bollywood Died at 85 ....................................... 277 Ilya Segalovich, the Co-Founder of Yandex Died .............................................................. 278 Obaid Siddiqi, Discoverer of Stop Codons in Genetic Code, died ......................................279 Arun Nehru, the Former Union Minister Died at 69 ......................................................... 279 IMO Secretary-General Emeritus C.P. Srivastava died in Italy .......................................... 280 Manjula Vijayakumar died at the Age of 59 .....................................................................281 L Brojeshori Devi, the Olympian Judo Player Passed Away at 32 ......................................282 Former Union Minister Khurshed Alam Khan died ........................................................... 282 Oommen Mathew, Former MLA form Kuttanad, Kerala died ........................................... 283
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Veteran Tamil Film lyricist Vaali Died at the Age of 82 ..................................................... 283 Samar Mukherjee, the CPI-M Veteran Leader Passed Away at 100 ..................................284 N Rangabashyam, the Gastroenterologist died ................................................................ 284 Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi died in Milan .................................................... 285 Dr. H.A.B. Parpia, the renowned Food Scientist died ....................................................... 286 Padma Shree Awardee artist Mahasundari Devi died ...................................................... 287 Douglas Engelbart, Father of the Mouse died at the Age of 88 ........................................ 288 Books/Author ...................................................................................................................... 288 An Agenda for Indias Growth: Essays in Honour, Released ............................................. 288 Jhumpa Lahiri featured for Man Booker Prize 2013 ......................................................... 289 An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions released ............................................... 290 Shahar Sone Chala a Collection of Poems Released ......................................................... 291 Book titled Smritiyan authored by Garima Sanjay Released ............................................. 292 Important Dates................................................................................................................... 292 World Hepatitis Day 2013 ................................................................................................ 292 Pi Approximation Day Celebrated on 22 July Worldwide ................................................. 293 Nelson Mandela International Day observed on 18 July .................................................. 294 Malala Day observed across the World on 12 July ........................................................... 295 World Population Day observed across the World on 11 July .......................................... 295 Statistics Day Celebrated Across India ............................................................................. 297 Reports and Surveys ............................................................................................................ 298 Odisha, Bihar showed biggest decline in Percentage of Poor ........................................... 298 Global cereal output to reach all time high in 2013: UNFAO ............................................ 299 ITU: 40 Percent of the Global Population is Online .......................................................... 300 Ghaziabad and Allahabad are the Most Air Polluted Cities............................................... 301 Taj Mahal ranked among the Top Three Landmarks ........................................................ 301
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Places in News ..................................................................................................................... 302 Incheon was named as World Book Capital for the Year 2015 ......................................... 302 Bengaluru Int. Airport Renamed as Kempegowda Int. Airport ......................................... 302 National Aviation University to be Set up in Rae Bareli, UP .............................................. 303 Chinese troops intruded in Chumar Sector of Ladakh ...................................................... 303 Terms and Abbreviation ....................................................................................................... 304 Typhoon Soulik stuck Taiwan, Killed one and injured 21 .................................................. 304 MERS, a New Respiratory Virus found in Saudi Arabia ..................................................... 304 Airtel Rising Stars, Indias u-16 soccer talent hunt ........................................................... 305 Miscellaneous ...................................................................................................................... 306 Union Government to launch Bharat Mobile Scheme ...................................................... 306 Complementary Feeding Should Begin at the Age of Six Months .....................................306 India topped in the Chart of Sri Lankas Foreign Visitors .................................................. 308 India Emerged as the 2nd Largest Investor in city of London ............................................. 308 DTAB recommended lifting Ban on Drug, Pioglitazone .................................................... 309 Puducherry Govt listed Wine as Food Item to Attract Tourists ......................................... 310 WHO asked India to Ban Pesticide that Killed Children in Bihar ....................................... 310 Sri Lanka banned film Flying Fish ..................................................................................... 311 Mass Canine Vaccination Drive in Goa from 1 September 2013 ....................................... 311 CSIR set to launch its Fastest Supercomputer ..................................................................312 Multiple blasts rocked Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya ................................................ 312 Aircraft de Havilland DHC3 crashed near Soldotna Airport .............................................. 313 A Strong Earthquake ripped through China's Gansu Province .......................................... 313 Union Govt constituted EGoM headed by P Chidambaram .............................................. 313 Urdu Ghazals written by Savarkar in Andaman Jail found ................................................ 314 Archeologists uncovered King David's Palace of Judea ..................................................... 315
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Scientists discovered New Treatment for Schizophrenic .................................................. 315 Pre-natal Health Care Facilities to Pregnant Women ....................................................... 316 Union Government approved a Free Trade LPG Scheme ................................................. 316 Judicial Commission on AFSPA highlighted misuse of the Act .......................................... 317 Standing Committee on Finance finalised GST Report ..................................................... 318 Clean India Campaign at world heritage site launched ..................................................... 318 ASI was entrusted with the Restoration of Kedarnath Temple ......................................... 319 Asian Countries sought Ban on Smokeless Forms of Tobacco .......................................... 319 Neurotrauma Conference 2013 to be held in Assam........................................................ 320 National Conference of State Tourism Ministers Held ..................................................... 320 Committee to go into the Quality Aspect of the Mid Day Meal ........................................ 323 IAF's C17s Maiden Flight to Andaman & Nicobar Islands ................................................. 323 Union Defence Ministry launched a website on NCC ....................................................... 324 US Lawmakers proposed National Park on Moon ............................................................ 324 Moons orbiting Pluto Christened as Kerberos and Styx.................................................... 325 India launched its first Navigational Satellite IRNSS-1A .................................................... 325 Legal Battle for Assets of Maharaja of Faridkot................................................................ 327 Angelina Jolie is the Highest Paid Actress of Hollywood ................................................... 328 Questions of the Month .......................................................................................................... 330
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PREFACE
The Current Affairs eBook July 2013 is designed to provide latest updates of events that occurred in the month of July 2013. The eBook contains each and every important happening of July that made news and carries any probability of being asked in different types of competitive exams like IAS|PCS, SSC, Banking, LIC, Railway and all other competitive exams. The happening in the sections like International (bilateral and India s relation with the world), National, Economy, Science and Technology, Environment and Ecology, Corporate, State, Sports, Important Personalities, Books and Authors, Awards and Honours, Important Dates, Reports and Surveys and more all are covered in complete detail. Representation of verified facts and figures along with fine-tuned analysis and comment makes the events easy to understand and perceive. The aspirants of competitive exams will definitely be benefitted by the content of the eBook.
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PICK OF THE MONTH

CAMBODIAN ELECTION 2013: RULING PARTY CLAIMED VICTORY
The Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which is led by Prime Minister Hun Sen won at least 68 seats in the Lower house comparing with the 55 seats for the main opposition. The National Election Committee (NEC) gave a list of results from each polling station but no tally for parliamentary seats. The election in Cambodia was held on 28 July 2013 and the results were also declared on the same day. It is important here to note that the Prime Minister Hun Sen has been in power in Cambodia for nearly three decades (28 years).
CAMBODIA NATIONAL RESCUE PARTY

The major opponent of CPP in the election was Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which is led by Sam Rainsy, who recently came back to the country from self-imposed exile. More than nine million people were found eligible to vote. Cambodia is a one party dominant state with the Cambodian Peoples Party in power. Opposition parties do exist, but are widely considered to have no real chance of gaining power.
CAMBODIA GENERAL ELECTION 2013

As per the National Election Committee (NEC) some 9.67 million Cambodians will be eligible to cast their ballots to elect the 123-seat National Assembly. Incumbent Prime Minister Hun Sen is eligible to seek a fourth term.
ELECTION IN CAMBODIA
Cambodia is one party dominant state which elects on national level legislature. Parliament has two chambers. The National Assembly of Cambodia has 123 members, elected for a five-year term by proportional representation. The Senate has 61 members, appointed by the king on recommendation of the parties in the National Assembly.
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Three main political parties have dominated Cambodian politics over the last decade: the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), the United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia (FUNCINPEC) and, more recently, the Sam Rainsy Party. As per article 76 paragraph 2 of Cambodian Constitution|: The deputies (i.e. of the National Assembly) shall be elected in a free, universal, equal, direct and secret ballot.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN PAKISTAN

Mamnoon Hussain, the India-born Pakistani businessman was on 30 July 2013 elected as the 12th President of Pakistan. 73-year old Mamnoon Hussain, who belonged to the PML-N Party, will be administered the oath of the office on 9 September 2013. Mamnoon Hussain succeeded Asif Ali Zardari, who did not go for re-election. The presidential office of Pakistan will be vacated on 9 September 2013 by the incumbent Asif Ali Zardari, as his term of 5 years ended. Mamnoon Hussain became a clear winner, in comparison to ex-judge Wajihuddin Ahmed of Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf party. Raza Rabbani of Pakistan Peoples Party was withdrawn.
LIFE SKETCH OF MAMNOON HUSSAIN
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Mamnoon Hussain was born on 2 March 1940 in Agra, India. He is the textile businessman as well as politician of Pakistan. In the year 1999, he briefly served as the Governor of Sindh. He migrated to Pakistan from India in 1954.
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He earned the degree from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in Karachi in 1960s. Mamnoon Hussain had, at some point of time, also remained the president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
BACKGROUND
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on 23 July 2013 ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to hold the Presidential election on 30 July 2013. The decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan was issued following the petition filed by, Raja Zafarul Haq, the PML(N) leader, who pleaded the court that a large number of Parliamentarians, who will cast vote in the election would precede for Umrah and observe Aitakaf, during the last ten days of Ramazan. Earlier, the Presidential election of Pakistan was scheduled to be held on 6 August 2013.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PROCESS OF PAKISTAN

The polling for the Presidential elections in Pakistan started amidst tight security on 30 July 2013. More than 1000 members of Majlis-e-Shoora (the Parliament of Pakistan), as well as four provincial assemblies cast their votes in the Presidential elections. The unofficial results declared that Mamnoon Hussain had secured 277 votes in all, from Senate and National Assembly. Mamnoon Hussain required a total of 263 votes for winning. His competitior, Wajihuddin Ahmed, on the other hand got merely 34 votes, while 3 votes were rejected by the polling staff. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly: 110 voted in all for the presidential poll. 69 MLAs voted in favour of Wajihuddin Ahmed and 41 voted for Mamnoon Hussain. Sindh Assembly: 69 in all, voted for the presidential poll. 64 votes went in favour of Mamnoon Hussain, while 5 votes were polled for Wajihuddin Ahmed. Balochistan Assembly: 56 voted in all. 55 voted in favour of Mamnoon Hussain and 1 was given to Wajihuddin Ahmed. Punjab Assembly: 337 voted in all. Mamnoon Hussain secured 313 votes, while Wajihuddin Ahmed won 24 votes.
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Overall, Mamnoon Hussain secured 432 votes, while Wajihuddin Ahmed secured just 77 votes. According to the Part III: Chapter 1: The President- [Article 41] of the Constitution of Pakistan, The President shall be elected in accordance with the provisions of the Second Schedule by the members of an electoral college consisting of: a) The members of both Houses; and b) The members of the Provincial Assemblies. Election to the office of President shall be held not earlier than sixty days and not later than thirty days before the expiration of the term of the President in office: Provided that, if the election cannot be held within the period aforesaid because the National Assembly is dissolved, it shall be held within thirty days of the general election to the Assembly. (5) An election to fill a vacancy in the office of President shall be held not later than thirty days from the occurrence of the vacancy: Provided that, if the election cannot be held within the period aforesaid because the National Assembly is dissolved, it shall be held within thirty days of the general election to the Assembly. (6) The validity of the election of the President shall not be called in question by or before any court or other authority.
SOME IMPORTANT FACTS

Mamnoon Hussain is an India-born resident of Pakistan and was elected as the 12th President of Pakistan. He was born in historic Agra city and belongs to Urdu-speaking ethnic group which migrated to Pakistan during partition in 1947. In Pakistan, the office of President is ceremonial. However, the President is still the Constitutional chief of the armed forces. He/she cannot order the deployments. The President of Pakistan appoints the services chiefs, but after recommendation from the Prime Minister. So far, Pakistan has had 11 Presidents. Out of these, five have been military generals. Four of these illegally received powers through the coups. The first President of Pakistan- Major Sikandar Mirza was elected in the year 1956 after adoption of the first constitution.
CONSTITUTION OF PAKISTAN: PART III: CHAPTER 1: THE PRESIDENT (ARTICLE 4149)

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There shall be a President of Pakistan who shall be the Head of State and shall represent the unity of the Republic. A person shall not be qualified for election as President unless he is a Muslim of not less than forty-five years of age and is qualified to be elected as member of the National Assembly. Article 42: Oath of President Before entering upon office, the President shall make before the Chief Justice of Pakistan oath in the form set out in the Third Schedule. Article 44: Term of office of President Subject to the Constitution, the President shall hold office for a term of five years from the day he enters upon his office: Provided that the President shall, notwithstanding the expiration of his term, continue to hold office until his successor enters upon his office. Subject to the Constitution, a person holding office as President shall be eligible for reelection to that office, but no person shall hold that office for more than two consecutive terms. The President may, by writing under his hand addressed to the Speaker of the National Assembly, resign his office.
TELANGANA THE 29 TH STATE OF INDIA ANNOUNCED

Congress and the UPA unanimously decided to create a separate Telangana State carving out of Andhra Pradesh on 30 July 2013. The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of Congress Party, on 30 July 2013 decided to recommend to the Central Government to form the 29th State which will comprise of 10 districts. The districts that will be a part of the new State are Hyderabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahaboobnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy and Warangal. Hyderabad, the central point of the Telangana, will be the common capital of the newly proposed State and the other regions, Rayalaseema and Andhra for a period of 10 years. A new capital for Andhra will be identified in Seemandhra region within this period.
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Telangana State will have a geographical area of 10 of the 23 districts of undivided Andhra Pradesh. Out of 42 Lok Sabha seats and 294 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana is likely to have 17 Lok Sabha seats and 119 Assembly seats.
ABOUT TELANGANA REGION

The population of Telangana is 35.19 million (2011 Census). It includes seven million population of Hyderabad, which emerged as a major IT hub during the past two decades. The region has geographical area of 1.14 lakh sq km. The districts which are a part of Telangana region are Hyderabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahaboobnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy and Warangal. Hyderabad and Warangal are the two largest cities in the Telangan region. Warangal city was declared as a World Heritage City by UNESCO in March 2013. The two major Rivers Krishna and Godavari flew through the region.
TELANGANA MOVEMENT- A BACKGROUND

1. The Telangana region was a part of erstwhile Hyderabad State which was merged into Indian Union on 17 September 1948. 2. The Hyderabad State was merged with Andhra State with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act 1956 and so the united Andhra Pradesh state came into being on 1 November 1956. 3. In 1956 Gentlemens Agreement was signed by Bezawada Gopal Reddy, CM of Andhra State and Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, CM of Hyderabad State for safeguarding Telangana people. 4. The Telangana agitation began in 1969 as people protested the failure of implementation of Gentlemens Agreement and other safeguards. 5. In 1969 Marri Chenna Reddy launched the Telangana Praja Samithi by demanding separate Telangana State. 6. The separate State movement came in to limelight again when a new political party Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was formed by K Chandra Shekhar Rao on 27 April 2001.
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7. The UPA Government on 9 December 2009 took the decision of formation of Telangana State, in the backdrop of indefinite fast by TRS leader K Chandrashekhar Rao. 8. This decision had ignited street protests in the non-Telangana regions and opposition from Ministers, MLAs and leaders from within the party that forced the Central Government and the Congress leadership to put the issue on hold. 9. The Centre held rounds of meetings with all the parties from the State and set up a Commission under the chairmanship of former Supreme Court Judge Justice Srikrishna.
SRI KRISHNA COMMISSION

The Government of India constituted a five member Committee headed by Justice Sri Krishna for consultations on the Situation in Andhra Pradesh (CCSAP) on 3 February 2010 to resolve the Telangana issue. The Sri Krishna Committee submitted its report to the Union Home Ministry on 30 December 2010 and suggested six options. The six options are 1. Maintain status quo 2. Bifurcation of the State into Seemandhra and Telangana; with Hyderabad as a Union Territory and the two states developing their own capitals in due course. 3. Bifurcation of State into Rayala-Telangana and coastal Andhra regions with Hyderabad being an integral part of RayalaTelangana. 4. Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into Seemandhra and Telangana with enlarged Hyderabad Metropolis as a separate Union Territory. 5. Bifurcation of the State into Telangana and Seemandhra as per existing boundaries with Hyderabad as the capital of Telangana and Seemandhra to have a new capital. 6. Keeping the State united by simultaneously providing certain definite Constitutional/Statutory measures for socio-economic development and political empowerment of Telangana region creation of a statutorily empowered Telangana Regional Council.
POLITICAL PARTIES STAND ON TELANGANA

In favour Indian National Congress Bharatiya Janata Party
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Telangana Rastra Samithi Telugu Desam Party Communist Party of India (CPI) Against All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) Neutral YSR Congress
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROCEDURE FOR CREATION OF NEW STATES

Article 3 of the Indian Constitution vests the power to form new States in Parliament Article 3 says; Parliament by Law, a) form a new State by separation of territory from any State or by uniting two or more States or parts of States or by uniting any territory to a part of any State; b) increase the area of any State; c) diminish the area of any State; d) alter the boundaries of any State; e) Alter name of any states. No Bill for the purpose shall be introduced in either House of Parliament except on the recommendation of the President. The President shall, before giving his recommendation, refer the Bill to the Legislature of the State which is going to be affected by the changes proposed in the Bill, for expressing its views on the changes within the period specified by the President. The President is not bound by the views of the State Legislature, so ascertained. By a simple majority and by the ordinary legislative process Parliament may form new States or alter the boundaries of existing States and there by changes in the political map of India.
HISTORY OF ANDHRA PRADESH STATE

Andhra State, the first state formed on linguistic basis, was created in 1953 from out of the erstwhile Madras Presidency with Kurnool as the capital.
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The Hyderabad State was merged with Andhra State with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act 1956, so that the united Andhra Pradesh state came into being on 1 November 1956. Hyderabad was also selected as the capital of the united state of Telugu-speaking people.
SPECIAL CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION FOR ANDHRA PRADESH STATE

Article 371 (D) and (E) were inserted by the Constitution (Thirty-Second Amendment) Act, 1973. This Act provided the necessary Constitutional authority for giving effect to the provision of equal opportunities to different areas of the State of Andhra Pradesh and for the Constitution of an Administrative Tribunal with jurisdiction to deal with grievances relating to public services. It also empowered Parliament to legislate for the establishment of a Central university in the State. Under this provision Direct recruitment to posts in any local cadre under the State Government for candidates of these regions Regarding admission to any university or other educational institutions, preference will be given to local candidates, who have resided or studied in those regions for a specific period.
ANALYSIS
The decision on Telangana is also to the fulfillment of the announcement made by the then Home Minister P Chidambaram on 9 December 2009 for creation of Telangana. This is the first decision of the UPA to form a new State in the last nine years. The Congress party however made it clear that no demand for creation of any other State would be considered as it emphasised that this case cannot be compared with any other. This assertion comes against the backdrop of demands for creation of separate States of Vidarbha and Gorkhaland. While Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS), which has been spearheading the demand for separate State, accepted the decision and supporters of united Andhra Pradesh stepped up protests against division.
CLINICAL TRIALS ON HUMANS REQUIRE MANDATORY STANDARDS

The Supreme Court of India on 27 July 2013 ruled that clinical trials of untested drugs on humans require certain mandatory standards to be followed. The directed the Union government to put in place a mechanism to monitor them.
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The apex court directed the Government to convene a meeting of Chief Secretaries or Health Secretaries of all the states to frame a law for regulation of clinical trials of drugs by multinational pharma companies. A division bench granted four weeks time to the Union government to convene the meeting and for framing rules. In an affidavit, the Union government had admitted that 2 thousand 6 hundred 44 people died during clinical trials of 475 new drugs between 2005 and 2012.
NEW PRINCE OF BRITAIN, NAMED GEORGE ALEXANDER LOUIS

The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton gave birth to a baby boy on 22 July 2013 at the London hospital. His Royal Highness, the new Prince of Britain, also called the Royal Baby was named George Alexander Louis on 24 July 2013. This is the first child of the royal couple - Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge. The birth of the baby boy was announced through a formal press release, which was issued by the Kensington Palace. It was declared that the thirdin-line successor to the throne will be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NAME GEORGE

The meaning of the name George is earth worker or farmer. It is important to note that the name George was highly speculated because this was also the name of six previous British kings. The queen's father, George VI rallied Britain during the World War II. George was also the 12th most popular name for boys in England as well as Wales in 2011. St. George, a 4th-century Christian martyr, is also the patron saint of England.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NAME- LOUIS

Louis is attributed to Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was the Duke of Edinburgh's uncle as well as the last British Viceroy of India before 1947. It is important to note that Prince Charles, the father of Prince Williams, was closely related with Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was then assassinated by Irish Republican Army in 1979. It is said that as per the royal standards, the announcement of the name of His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge was too quick. Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh had taken one month for naming Prince Charles.
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Prince William and Kate Middleton will soon choose a picture for the first official portrait of the baby.
SOME INTERESTING FACTS

The royal baby will be the third one in line to the throne, only after Prince Charles and Prince William. Even if it was a girl, the scenario would have been same for the throne because earlier in 2013, the law changed for giving the female royals same rights of succession like the males. Officially, the baby will be called His Royal Highness Prince [Name] of Cambridge. The baby might become the head of the armed forces, supreme governor of the Church of England, and the head of state of 16 countries apart from the head of the Commonwealth, in distant future. Earlier in 2013, the Queen had issued a royal decree which said, All the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales should have and enjoy the style, title and attribute of royal highness with the titular dignity of Prince or Princess prefixed to their Christian names or with such other titles of honour. It is important to note that the royal baby moved ahead in line of throne from Prince Harry, who now became fourth in the line of throne.
JULIAN ASSANGE LAUNCHED POLITICAL PARTY IN AUSTRALIA

42 Year old Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on 25 July 2013 officially launched his political party to contest Australian elections this year. As per Assange, his party which he named Wikileaks Party would be fielding seven candidates including Assange for upper house Senate seats in the states of New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. It is important here to note that the two Indian-origin persons are among the seven candidates who will contest elections on a Wikileaks Party ticket in Senate polls in Australia. Indian-origin academician Binoy Kampmark, who was born in Malaysia and has Bengali heritage, will stand for the Upper House election from Victori whereas Suresh Rajan, who is based out of Kerala, will stand for the party in Western Australia. The idea behind contesting election is to be an independent scrutineer of government activity. Julian Assange, will be contesting elections from Victoria. As per him major issue in the coming www.jagranjosh.com
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days would be the ruling Labour party's policy on asylum seekers. The foremost action of his party will be to demand full details of the government's asylum seeker arrangement with Papua New Guinea be made public. The core value of Wikileaks Party's is transparency; accountability and justice is the template against which we will examine any important issues for Australians: tax reform, asylum-seekers, climate change policy and more. Australia will be going into polls in November 2013, where the ruling Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's Labour party is up against Tony Abbott-led conservatives. Julian Assange is holed up at Ecuador's embassy in London since June 2012 where he demanded refuge during his legal battle for exile from Britain to Sweden.
INDIA AND CHINA FOCUSSED ON CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES

India and China focussed on additional confidence building measures in the two-day talks between the representatives of the two countries that ended in New Delhi on 24 July 2013. The two nations reviewed the recent developments in the border areas to enhance peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control. India and China discussed additional confidence building measures between them. They consulted on measures to improve the functioning of the working mechanism and to make it more efficient. Finally the two delegations further discussed the possibility of introducing an additional route for the Kailash Mansarovar yatra. The meeting on working mechanism for consultation and coordination on India-China border affairs was led by Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs Gautam Bambawale and senior officials of the Defence and Home Ministries from the Indian side. The Chinese side was represented by a composite delegation of its officials. The next meeting will be held in China at a mutually convenient date and time.
INDIA, BELARUS SIGNED PROTOCOL TO ENHANCE TRADE TIES

India and Belarus signed a protocol on 24 July 2013 to enhance trade ties during the sixth session of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation held in New Delhi.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MEETING
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The meeting was held in the direction for strengthening trade and economic relations between the two countries. The Belarusian side recommended India to determine an Indian counterpart deputed to negotiate on the long-term cooperation agreement, take decisions and signing of the agreement for the full volume of the deliveries. Belarus asked India to recognise Belarus as a market economy country. The Indian side responded that the matter is under active correspondence between the sides. India is considering the issue of grant of market economy status to Belarus within the framework of India's Antidumping Rules. The Belarusian side flagged the issue related to the introduction and long duration of action of antidumping duties on a number of products of the petrochemical complex: tire cord fabric manufactured by JSC Grodno Azot and acrylics fibers manufactured by the plant Polymir of the OJSC Naftan. Both the sides also agreed to create a Certification Centre of Belarusian companies and professionals in the field of software at the earliest possible time. The Belarusian Side will provide a draft concept of the Certification Centre of Belarusian companies and professionals in the field of software to initiate negotiations with the Indian Side. Belarus advocated for revocation of the antidumping duties on these goods and expressed the intension to maintain the export of the products to India, mostly of interest to Indian consumers. The Indian side stated that the matter is being examined positively and the official decision would be taken before the next session of the Commission. Both the Countries also signed a protocol after the Meeting as per which both the sides will take necessary steps to sign the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Textiles, India and the Belarusian State Concern for Manufacturing and Marketing of Light Industry Goods (concern Bellegprom) on Cooperation in the Field of Textiles, Clothing and Fashion Industries. The Belarusian delegation proposed to hold the 9th meeting of the Business Council "IndiaBelarus" in 2013 to promote the collaboration of business representatives, as well as agreed to define the dates of the National Exhibition (exposition) of the Republic of India during 20132014 in Minsk.
WHERE IS BELARUS?
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Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest.
PHOTO IDENTITY MANDATORY FOR PURCHASE OF ACID

The Union government of India on 16 July 2013 proposed to make production of Photo identity card mandatory for purchase of acid. The government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in which it listed a number of measures to curb the sale of acid in the open market. The shopkeepers will also require licence to sell the acid. The move comes after Supreme Court asked the government to submit guidelines to check open sale of acid, thereby checking acid attacks on women. It is estimated that one thousand acid attacks take place in India every year. The apex court order came on a PIL seeking framing of a new law or amendment in the existing laws to deal with acid attack effectively. Supreme Court Decision: Earlier, the Supreme Court of India on 9 July 2013 directed the Union Government of India to formulate a policy to regulate/ban Retail Sale of Acid across the country. The decision of the Court came in wake-up of the acid attacks in the different parts of the country. Earlier, on 16 April 2013, the Apex Court gave its orders to the Governments at Center, States and Union Territories to come up with an affidavit on the draft scheme, to restrict the retail sale of acid across the country. The Supreme Court Bench of Justice R.M. Lodha and Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya said to the Additional Solicitor General, Indira Jaising that despite of orders given by the Court to the Governments at Center, State and Union Territories, no affidavit on the scheme to restrict the retail sale of acid has been submitted in past 11 weeks, since 16 April 2013. The Supreme Court also said, that this court may consider the suggestion of counsel for the petitioner *Aparna Bhat] to ban retail sale completely at the next hearing on 16 July 2013. The Supreme Court identified easy availability of acid at counters across the country as one of the basic reasons behind the attacks (comment of Justice Lodha). For past seven years the issue is lying pending in the Supreme Courts. But none of the Governments from centre/state/UTs was successful in addressing to the issue. The Court cited the example of Preeti, the girl who recently died in Mumbai due to acid attack. The court has given a weeks time to the Government to come -up with a framework of rules to prevent acid from being sold in retail.
LAW IN EXISTENCE TO CURB ACID ATTACKS
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The Criminal Law (Amendment Ordinance 2013) that has received Presidential assent has mentioned acid attack a specific offence, providing a maximum punishment of life sentence, under Sections 326A and 326B of Indian Penal Code. After section 326 of the Penal Code, the following sections shall be inserted, namely: Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid, etc. Section 326A - Whoever causes permanent or partial damage or deformity to, or burns or maims or disfigures or disables, any part or parts of the body of a person or causes grievous hurt by throwing acid on or by administering acid to that person, or by using any other means with the intention of causing or with the knowledge that he is likely to cause such injury or hurt, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may extend to imprisonment for life and with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees: provided that any fine imposed under this section shall be given to the person on whom acid was thrown or to whom acid was administered. Section 326B - Whoever throws or attempts to throw acid on any person or attempts to administer acid to any person, or attempts to use any other means, with the intention of causing permanent or partial damage or deformity or burns or maiming or disfigurement or disability or grievous hurt to that person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than five years but which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine. Comment: Acid violence is the practice of throwing acid on somebody, with an intention of killing or disfiguring the target. The practice is prevalent in most of the countries across the world, but the countries that have been the centre of such attacks are India, Pakistan, Cambodia and Afghanistan. Acid violence - throwing acid with the intention to maim, disfigure or even kill the target occurs in many countries but is most common in Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India where male domination of social structures persists. Over 1000 acid attacks takes place every year across the world.
RBI REDUCED REALISATION PERIOD FOR EXPORTERS TO NINE MONTHS

The Reserve bank of India on 21 July 2013 brought down the period of realisation and repatriation for exporters of goods and software to nine months from earlier 12 months. The move to reduce the period of realization was directed towards increasing foreign exchange inflows. Earlier in November 2012 considering the global slowdown; RBI had increased the time limit so that they can bring in export earnings to 12 months, from six months at that time. But as per the industry experts, RBI brought down the realization period because of the deteriorating current account deficit of the country and the weakening of the rupee against the dollar. www.jagranjosh.com
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The Reduction of realisation period was taken after consulting with the Government of India to bring down the realisation period from 12 months to nine months from the date of export valid till 30 September 2013.India's exports contracted by 4.6 per cent, for the second consecutive month, to 23.79 billion dollars in June 2013 compared to that in the year-ago period.
INSAT-3D, THE ADVANCED METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE OF INDIA

INSAT-3D, the advanced meteorological satellite of India was launched successfully by the European rocket, Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket, from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana on 26 July 2013. The satellite will give a push to the weather forecasting as well as help in facilitating disaster warning services. Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket of European space consortium launched the Alphasat satellites as well as INSAT-3D. Alphasat is the largest-ever telecommunication satellite of Europe. This satellite is the result of large-scale public-private partnership between Inmarsat as well as European Space Agency.
FEATURES OF INSAT-3D
The new satellite, INSAT-3D will be operational for next seven years, i.e., up to 2020. The aim of the satellite is to make a crucial difference to the disaster warning systems as well as weather forecasting of India. INSAT-3D will also provide monitoring of the ocean as well as land areas, apart from providing meteorological observation. INSAT-3D will facilitate new dimension to the weather monitoring because of its atmospheric sounding system. The atmospheric sounding system provides the vertical profiles of integrated ozone, humidity as well as temperature, from top of the atmosphere. It is important to note that the imaging system and mechanism of INSAT-3D has a lot of improvement in comparison to INSAT-3A as well as KALPANA.
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The satellite has the lift-off mass of 2060 kg.
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It will facilitate continuity to the previous missions as well as also help in increasing the capability of providing meteorological and search and rescue services. INSAT-3D carries the newly developed 19 channel sounder, which is the first payload of this kind to be flown to the ISRO satellite mission. INSAT-3D has the facility of Search and Rescue payload which catches as well as relays the alert signals that originate from distress signal of maritime, aviation and land based users to the Indian Mission Control Centre located at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network in Bangalore. The primary users of the Satellite Aided Search and Rescue service in India include Directorate General of Shipping, Defence Services, fishermen, Indian Coast Guard as well as Airports Authority of India. The alert services include a wide area of Indian Ocean region, as well as covers Sri Lanka, Tanzania, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Seychelles, Bhutan and Maldives. The information of oceanographic, hydrological as well as meteorological data from the uninhabited locations over the coverage area from Data Collection Platforms (DCPs) such as Agro Met Stations, Automatic Rain Gauge and Automatic Weather Station, as well as remote locations will be collected by the Data Relay Transponder (DRT). The ISRO as well as India Meteorological Department have already established over 1800 DCPs.
NASA RELEASED IMAGES OF EARTH TAKEN BY DISTANT SPACECRAFT

NASA in month of July 2013 has released colour and black-and-white images of Earth and the Moon, as bright guiding light, taken from two interplanetary spacecraft millions of miles away in space. It was NASA's Cassini spacecraft which has captured the colour images of Earth and the Moon from its perch in the Saturn system nearly 1.5 billion kilometers away. It was also the first time Cassini's highest-resolution camera captured Earth and its Moon as two distinct objects. www.jagranjosh.com
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NASA's Cassini spacecraft which was named MESSENGER, the first probe to orbit Mercury, took a black-and-white image from a distance of 98 million kilometers as part of a campaign to search for natural satellites of the planet. In the MESSENGER image, Earth and the moon are less than a pixel, but appear very large because they are overexposed. As per the images taken by the Cassini, the Earth and the Moon appear as mere dots - Earth appeared as a pale blue and the Moon as a stark white, visible between Saturn's rings. The outstanding feature of the image taken was that it was the first time people on Earth had advance notice their planet's portrait was being taken from interplanetary distances which saw participation of more than 20000 people around the world. It is worth mentioning here that pictures of Earth from the outer solar system are rare because from that distance, Earth appears very close to our Sun. A camera's sensitive detectors can be damaged by looking directly at the Sun, just as human beings can damage his or her retina by doing the same.
DOLPHINS REACT WHEN CALLED BY THEIR NAME: RESEARCH

Team of researchers at the University of St Andrews in Scotland found evidence that dolphins call each other by names. Researchers found out that the marine mammals are capable of calling each other by the unique whistle for the purpose of identification. Dr Vincent Janik, the researcher from the Sea Mammal Research Unit of the University of St Andrews explained that the dolphins live in 3D environment, offshore, in the absence of any landmark. It is important for them to stay together with each other as a group. The dolphins live in such an environment that they need an efficient system in order to stay in touch. Since a long time, it was suspected that the dolphins make use of the distinct whistles in a similar way like the humans make use of the names. Earlier researches have also found that the calls like these were used frequently and that the dolphins in same group could learn as well as copy unusual sounds. But this is the first study in which the response of marine animals to being addressed by the name was studied. In order to investigate about it, the researchers recorded a pack of wild bottlenose dolphins and captured the signature sound (name) of each animal. These captured sounds were then played back with the help of underwater speakers. The researchers played signature whistles of animals in the pack. They also played the whistles in the collection and eventually the signature whistles of other animals. It was found that the dolphins only responded to their names by responding to their whistles.
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The team of researchers explained that dolphins behaved like humans, which means that they answered when they heard their name. It was this skill that allowed these the dolphins to remain together in the group amidst the underwater habitat. The researchers explained that it was the first time that an activity or skills like this was observed in the animals. However, certain studied have also found out that a few species of parrot make use of the sounds in order to label others in the group.
US DROPPED BOMBS ON GREAT BARRIER REEF MARINE PARK

Four unarmed bombs were dropped by two US Fighter Jets in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park of Australia, when a training exercise went wrong on 16 July 2013. The Marine Park is a World Heritage-listed marine park off the coast of Queensland state. The information of dropping the unarmed bombs was announced by the U.S. 7th Fleet. The inert bomb and the unarmed explosive bombs were jettisoned by the two AV-8B Harrier Jets launched from the USS Bonhomme Richard aircraft carrier. As per the official statement of the 7th Fleet of US, the bombs were dropped (none exploded) in more than 50 meter of water away from the coral to reduce the damage caused to the reefs. The jets from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit had an intention to drop the ordnances on the bombing range of Townshend Island. But the mission was aborted after it was confirmed that the area was not clear of hazards. Whereas, the emergency jettisons were carried on by the pilots because the fuel was less and it was impossible for them to land with the loaded bombs. The emergency situation occurred on the second day of the biennial Joint Training Exercise Talisman Saber. During this military exercise, 28000 US and Australian military personnel come together for a period of over three weeks.
ABOUT GREAT BARRIER REEF MARINE PARK

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is widely recognised as one of the best managed marine protected areas in the world. It is the worlds largest network of coral structures that is rich in marine life. The Marine Park stretches in an area of more than 3000 kilometers along the Australian northeast coast. The Great Barrier Reef has numerous different habitats and plants, all of which are vital to the ecosystem as a whole. It is a home for microscopic plankton as well as whales, which weighs more than 100 tonnes. The great biodiversity of species and habitats is represented by the World Heritage status of the Reef. Protection of the reefs biodiversity is just not essential for our future but also for the nature. As per the study conducted by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority titled Great Barrier Reef Biodiversity Conservation Strategy 2013, the habitats, which are considered to be at the risk (potentially), include mangroves, coral reefs, the lagoon floor, islands, open waters
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and seagrass meadows. Apart from this the species or its groups identified to be at potential risk are the dugong, dwarf minke whale, humpback whale, grey mackerel, seabirds, king and blue threadfin salmon, inshore dolphins, marine turtles, sea snakes, sharks and rays (including sawfish) and snapper.
VETERAN ACTOR PRAN DIED DUE TO PROLONGED ILLNESS

The winner of Dadasaheb Phalke Award and a veteran actor Pran died on 12 July 2013 in a Hospital at Mumbai. He died at the age of 93 due to multi-organ failure after prolonged illness and is now survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. Pran Kishan Sikand was admitted to Lilavati Hospital, Bandra, after being diagnosed with pneumonia.
ABOUT PRAN KISHAN SIKAND

Born in Old Delhi on 12 February 1920, Pran got his first break in a Punjabi Film, Yamla Jat in 1940, in the undivided India. But his debut in Bollywood happened with the film Ziddi, in which he acted along with the evergreen hero of bollywood Dev Anand in 1948. Pran served the Bollywood for a career span of more than six decades in more than 350 films and is known for his brilliant performances in films like Ram aur Shyam, Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool, Half-Ticket, Madhumati, Purab aur Paschim, Karz, Zanjeer and Amar Akbar Anthony and many more.
AWARDS RECEIVED BY PRAN

He was conferred with Dada Saheb Phalke Award on 12 April 2013, which was received by him on 10 May 2013 at his residence In 2001 he was awarded with Indias third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan In his career span, he received four Film Fare Awards He was awarded the title of Villain of the millennium by Stardust in 2000 In 2010 he was named among the Top 25 Asian Actors of All times by CNN
ANDY MURRAY WON WIMBLEDON MENS SING LE TROPHY

Andy Murray on 7 July 2013 defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 at Center Court of London to become the first Briton in 77 years to win the Mens Singles Title at Wimbledon 2013. Wimbledon was held from 24 June to 7 July 2013 in London.
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The 26-year-old became the Britains first male winner after almost eight deca des, to win the championship. Earlier he was Fred Perry, who won his last Championship in 1936. Women's Singles category of Wimbledon: In the Women's Singles category of Wimbledon, Marion Bartoli of France on 6 July 2013 won her maiden Grand Slam title. 23rd seed Sabine Lisicki of Germany failed to match Bartoli and lost in title clash in straight sets, 1-6, 4-6. Lisicki was the first German woman since 1999 to reach a Grand Slam final. The tournament was played in London. Earlier in the tournament, Rafael Nadal was knocked out in the first round at Wimbledon by Belgian Steve Darcis. Later Roger Federer, the record holder of 37 Grand Slams, faced a defeat from the hands of Sergiy Stakhovsky (116 ranked player) on day three of the championship. This is the first time, in nine years that Roger Federer failed to qualify even to the Quarter Finals. Swiss Tennis maestro Roger Federer was the winner of the 2012 edition of Wimbledon Mens Singles Title. He defeated Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to win the Wimbledon Open Championship Gentlemens Singles Final 2012 in London on 8 July 2012.
ANDY MURRAY RECORD CHART

Wimbledon is Andy Murrays second Grand Slam Title, earlier he captured the 2012 US open by defeating Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (12-10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 on 11 September 2012 With this win, Murray became the most successful Briton in terms of grand slams This is the 36th time, when any British Man has won a Wimbledon Singles Title (this is the maximum in the medal chart of any nation) With a hat-trick of wins in 1936 Fred Perry was the last man from Britain to win Wimbledon. He had three Wimbledon, one US Open and Australian Open each and three French Opens by his name.
ABOUT MARION BARTOLI

Marion Bartoli is a top-10 French professional tennis player and presently French no. 1. She has won one singles major; seven other Women's Tennis Association singles titles and three doubles titles. Marion Bartoli is 28 years old. She had played her previous Wimbledon final in 2007 which she had lost to Venus Williams. She is the fifth oldest woman to become a first time major winner in the Open Era.
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WIMBLEDON RESULT TALLY OF THE FINALS
Mens Singles Championship Final
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Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets with 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to capture the mens title. Women's Singles Championship Final Marion Bartoli of France won her maiden Grand Slam title after 23rd seed Sabine Lisicki of Germany failed to match Bartoli and lost in title clash in straight sets, 1-6, 4-6. Mixed Doubles - Final Daniel Nestor of Canada and Kristina Mladenovic of France defeated Bruno Soares of Brazil and Lisa Raymond of USA to win Mixed Doubles Final at Centre Court. Girls' Doubles - Championship Final No.1 seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic defeated No.8 duo Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine and Iryana Shymanovich of Belarus, 6-3, 6-1 Boys Singles Championship Final Gianluigi Quinzi of Italy captured the Boys Singles Championship at Wimbledon after defeating Hyeon Chung from the Republic of Korea, 7-5, 7-6(2). Boys Doubles Title Final Australians Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis captured the boys doubles title at Wimbledon with a dominant victory over Enzo Couacaud and Stefano Napolitano, 6-2, 6-3 Wheelchair Gentlemen's Doubles Title Final Top seeds Shingo Kunieda of Japan and Stephane Houdet of France defeated world No.2 seeds Frederic Cattaneo of France and Ronald Vink of Netherlands to win their first wheelchair gentlemen's doubles title together at Wimbledon, 6-4, 6-2 victory on Court 12. Wheelchair Ladies' Doubles Title Final J. Griffioen and A. Van Koot of Netherlands defeated Y. Kamijin of Japan and J. Whiley of United Kingdom to win the finals of Wheelchair Ladies' Doubles Sr. Gents Invitation Doubles Final
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Pat Cash and Mark Woodforde of Australia defeated M.J. Bates of United Kingdom and Anders Jarryd of Sweden to capture Sr. Gents Invitation Doubles. Ladies' Invitation Doubles Final L. Davenport of USA and Martina Hingis of Switzerland defeated Jana Novotna of Czech Republic Barbara Schett of Austria to win the Ladies Invitation Doubles. Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles Final Thomas Enqvist of Sweden and Mark Philippoussis of Australia defeated Greg Rusedski of United Kingdom and Fabrice Santoro of France in the Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles
FIPB CLEARED JET-ETIHAD DEAL; BUT WITH CERTAIN CONDITIONS

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on 29 July 2013 cleared the proposal of Jet Airways to sell 24 percent stake to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad. With this clearance, Jet-Etihad deal has become the first one after the Union Government of India relaxed the FDI rules for aviation sector in the year 2012. The deal will now have to cross the hurdle of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for final approval. The Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram announced that the Jet-Etihad deal was approved after the FIPB meeting, but with certain conditions.
CONDITIONS IMPOSED
According to the first condition, both Jet Airways as well as Etihad need to settle any dispute between them under the Indian law and not under the English common law as it was proposed, originally. Apart from this condition, both the companies also need to get the prior FIPB approval for the purpose of change in the shareholding structure. The approval for Jet-Etihad deal was stuck at FIPB on the grounds of various concerns such as whether Jet Airways would retain its effective control, including the retain of Indian owner or not. Also, it was a matter of concern whether Jet Airways would change the place of its business or not. According to the revised agreement, it was agreed upon that all the committees formed by these two airlines for the operational as well as administrative functions would remain advisory in nature. The agreement also made it clear that Etihad would only make recommendations of the Senior Executives for appointments at Jet Airways.
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Now, Etihad will have two directors on the Board which includes 12 members. Jet Airways would have four, which would in turn give more authority to the Indian promoters. The resolutions of the Board will be passed by a simple majority. The Veto power as well as the voting powers will vest in the Chairman, Naresh Goyal.
IMPACT OF THE JET-ETIHAD DEAL

The deal is said to be very important for Jet Airways, which at present, is facing significant challenges in terms of finance. The deal will enable the Indian civil aviation industry, because there will be an enhanced capacity, bringing down of airfares as well as increased competition. The deal, after the final approval, will instill more confidence on a global level in the airline industry of India. The deal will primarily benefit the partners, while at the same time, improving the prevailing investment climate of India. The deal is also very good for the civil aviation sector as well as passengers in India. There is a need of foreign investment in the infrastructure sector of India. The deal will therefore reaffirm the confidence of the investors in Indias growth. The Jet-Etihad deal would garner approximately 2058 crore Rupees or 379 million US dollar for the Jet Airways, which in turn, will be used by it for paying off the debts as well as providing better passenger connectivity. The deal will enable the passengers from 23 cities of India to get direct international flights. The deal will also enable the passengers in India to avail the frequent flyer programmes of Jet Airways and Etihad.
AMAR GOPAL BOSE, THE FOUNDER OF BOSE CORPORATION DIED

Amar Gopal Bose, the man behind Bose Corporation died on 12 July 2013 in Wayland, Massachusetts. He was 83 years of age. He was the Indian-American entrepreneur as well as academic. He founded Bose Corporation in 1964.
LIFE SKETCH OF AMAR GOPAL BOSE
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Amar Gopal Bose was an Indian-American entrepreneur as well as academic. He is the man behind sound systems of Bose Corporation. He was born on 2 November 1929 in Philadelphia. He earned his bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He then, also remained the professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for more than 45 years. He was the founder as well as chairman of Bose Corporation. Bose Corporation was found in the year 1964.
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Forbes 400 listed him as the 271st richest man in the world, in the year 2007. He had the net worth of 1.8 billion US dollar. In the year 2011, he had the net worth of 1.0 billion US dollar.
THE MAN BEHIND THE PSYCHO-ACOUSTICS TECHNOLOGY

Amar Gopal Bose was initially involved in audio experience as well as sound technology, which prompted him for revolution in acoustics. He found that hi-fi technology was not up to the mark, which compelled him towards the research of psycho-acoustics. He discovered that the music in concert hall sounded good because around 80 percent of the sound was indirect. It bounced off the walls as well as ceiling before reaching the ears. This was known as psycho-acoustics. Psycho-acoustics is the study of sound perception. He, in turn, incorporated the principles of psycho-acoustics into Bose Corporation. Among the first products to come out from Bose Corporation, based on the new principles of psycho-acoustics research, was the Bose 901 Direct/Reflecting speaker system, which came in the year 1968. Actually, he started researching on speaker technology in the year 1956 after completing the Ph.D. from MIT.
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HONORS AND AWARDS ACCREDITED TO HIM
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He received Fellow, IEEE in the year 1972 for his contribution to nonlinear systems, twostate amplifier-modulators as well as loudspeaker design. He remained the honorary member at the Audio Engineering Society in the year 1985. In the year 2010, he was awarded with the IEEE/RSE Wolfson James Clerk Maxwell Award for his contribution to engineering education, industrial leadership as well as consumer electronics in sound reproduction. In the year 2011, he was on the MIT150 list of the top 150 innovators and ideas from MIT. He ranked at number 9.
APPLICATIONS OF BOSE SYSTEMS

Bose Wave radio and the Bose noise-canceling headphones were among the later inventions of Bose Corporation. These were adopted by the commercial pilots as well as military pilots. The software program of Bose helped the acoustic engineers to reproduce the sound from any place in the large hall, even before the building of the site. This system was used for creation of sound systems for various places such as the Sistine Chapel, Staples Center in Los Angeles as well as the grand mosque in Mecca- Masjid al-Haram. In the year 1982, the top automakers of the world- Mercedes and Porsche, also started installing Bose audio systems in the vehicles. Bose speakers and music systems remain favourite for automobile sector in the world even today.
ABOUT THE BOSE CORPORATION

Bose Corporation is the privately held American corporation, which is based in Framingham, Massachusetts. It was founded in the year 1964 by Amar Gopal Bose. Bose Corporation specialises in audio equipment. It has 8 plants, 153 retail stores as well as one automotive subsidiary in Stow, Massachusetts.
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It is also world-renowned for automotive sound systems, noise-cancelling headsets as well as the loudspeakers. Bose Corporation also manufactures headphones and amplifiers. Bose Corporation also conducted research in the cold fusion as well as automotive suspension technologies.
BOSE CORPORATION- LINE OF ITS SPECIALISED PRODUCTS

The specialised products of Bose Corporation are as follows: Car audio system Automotive suspension system Noise cancelling headphones Truck driver seat isolation system Commercial systems L1 Portable Systems Electroforce Military applications Multimedia systems Speaker systems Home entertainment systems
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INTERNATIONAL | WORLD
PRESIDENT OF IRELAND SIGNED THE ABORTION BILL INTO LAW
President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins on 31 July 2013 signed the bill (Governments Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill) into law. The bill, overwhelmingly passed by both houses of the Irish parliament in July 2013, permits abortions only in cases where doctors deem the woman's life at risk from continued pregnancy. The law comes in the wake of the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar, 31, on 28 October 2012 of blood poisoning as a result of a miscarriage. Savita was reportedly denied a potentially life-saving abortion. The new legislation, which replaces 146 years old British era law, also permits abortions to alleviate life-threatening conditions, including a woman's own threat to commit suicide if refused a termination. Till recently, Ireland's only legislation on abortion was a handed-down British law from 1867, outlawing the practice with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The new maximum sentence is 14 years. Higgins convened a meeting of the Council of State on 29 July 2013 to seek its advice on the bill, which he could have opted to send to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality. The meeting, chaired by the President, was attended by 21 members of the 24-strong council. The 21 persons who attended, including seven members of the judiciary, still made it the biggest council since the Constitution came into effect in 1937.
INDIA AND AFGHANISTAN SIGNED MoUs UNDER SDP SCHEME

India and Afghanistan on 30 July 2013 signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) in Kabul for implementing 60 projects in ten Afghan provinces under the Small Development Projects (SDP) scheme. The MoUs signed by Afghan Minister of Economy Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal and Indian Ambassador Amar Sinha in Kabul are related to the third phase of the SDP scheme and will be completed in the next four years. 100 million dollar SDP scheme was announced during Prime Ministers visit to Afghanistan in May 2011. The first two phases of the scheme with a total outlay of 20 million dollars are nearing completion. The scheme has been designed by Indian government to address the developmental needs of mainly rural communities in far-flung areas of Afghanistan.
JAMES COMEY TO BE TH E NEXT DIRECTOR OF FBI
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The Senate of US approved the decision of Barack Obama to choose James Comey as the next director of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). On 29 July 2013, James Comey was supported by the Senators with the vote of 93-1. He will be replacing Robert Mueller, who had remained the Director of FBI since 2001.
LIFE HISTORY OF JAMES COMEY

James Brien Comey was born on 14 December 1960. He is an American political figure. He had remained as the United States Deputy Attorney General during the administration of President George W. Bush, from December 2003 through August 2005. As the Deputy Attorney General, he was the second-highest ranking official in Department of Justice (DOJ) of America. He was also the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York before being the Deputy Attorney General. He became the General Counsel at Bridgewater Associates in the year 2010. Earlier in 2013, he became the Senior Research Scholar and Hertog Fellow on National Security Law at Columbia Law School. He had also remained a part of London-based board of directors of HSBC Holdings.
JAMES COMEYS FBI NO MINATION- A BACKGROUND

In May 2013, James Comey was reportedly nominated for the post of Director of FBI. In June 2013, it was declared officially that President Barack Obama will be nominating James Comey to lead FBI. He was chosen over Lisa Monaco, who in turn, had overseen the security issues of US at the Justice Department during the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya on 11 September 2012. Finally, on 29 July 2013, it was confirmed that the Senate gave approval for James Comey to be the Director of FBI for a complete 10-year term.
ABOUT THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the US Agency belonging to United States Department of Justice. FBI was formed in the year 1908 as the Bureau of Investigation (BOI). In 1935, it was renamed as Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The headquarters of FBI are located in Washington, D.C. www.jagranjosh.com
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It serves as the counterintelligence (internal intelligence agency) as well as federal criminal investigative body of the US. It also investigates the crimes on Native American reservations in the United States under the Major Crimes Act
SAUDI ARABIA TO DEVELOP METRO LINE IN RIYADH

The Government of Saudi Arabia, on 28 July 2013, announced that it awarded over 22 billion US dollar in contract for the development of metro line in the capital, Riyadh. This is said to be the largest public transport initiative of the world and will help in boosting the economy of Saudi Arabia considerably. The metro line will join Dubai as well as Qatar in the expansion of the public transport networks. The contracts were awarded to Bechtel Group Inc. (9.4 billion US dollar), Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (7.8 billion US dollar) and Ansaldo STS SpA (STS) (5.2 billion US dollar). Six driverless subway lines in all, will serve to the Riyadhs city centre, universities, government facilities, commercial areas, financial district as well as airport. This will be a 175kilometer (109-mile) network. The Vice-President of High Commission for the Development of Riyadh, Tarek alFares, announced that the project will take a total of five years to be completed. The project will be overseen by Arriyadh Development Authority, the government body. Various architects won for their designs of the metro stations. Among the winning designs of metro stations were also the ones from Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. It is important to note that the budget of Saudi Arabia for telecoms and transportation swelled 84 percent in 2013 to 17.3 billion US dollar, which is the fastest expansion since 2004.
THE LONGEST METRO OF THE WORLD

The planned project will be an 85-station network. It is said to be the longest metro of the world under construction. This will help in creating 15000 jobs over the time period of 5 years.
SCENARIO OF THE PERSIAN GULF NATIONS

It is very important to note that the Persian Gulf nations are incurring billions of dollars for building their rail networks, ports as well as airports.
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Qatar, which is the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, awarded four contracts of the value of around 30 billion riyals or 8.2 billion US dollar, for the first phase of Doha Metro in June 2013. Doha will also host 2022 soccer World Cup. Dubai, the second-biggest sheikhdom in the United Arab Emirates, also constructed the first metro network in the Gulf Cooperation Council in 2009. As far as Riyadh is concerned, the population is projected to increase to 8.5 million people by 2023 from 6 million in 2013. Saudi Arabia is said to be the biggest Arab economy and it is spending over 500 billion US dollar for upgrading infrastructure as well as creation of jobs, while at the same time reducing its dependence on the hydrocarbons. Also, the Gulf Cooperation Council member states are already spending a considerable expense on the infrastructure projects, which are aimed at improvement of living standards as well as smoothing of the social discontent. Riyadh Metro Project also signifies that there is a shift in the thinking in terms of public transport as a means for saving gasoline. In the meanwhile, the Jeddah metro tender is also lined up to be awarded in 2013 itself.
IMF APPROVED 1.7 BILLION EUROS FOR GREECE'S BAILOUT

The International Monetary Fund on 29 July 2013 approved a further 1.7 billion Euros (2.3 billion US dollars) in funds for Greece's bailout programme after it completed the fourth review of IMF. The total funds from the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank include 5.8 billion Euros. Greece's reform record has been dismal ever since its EU/IMF bailout began in mid-2010, resulting into frequent delays in the disbursement of rescue funds. Greece goes through its sixth year of recession and unemployment increases at a record rate of 27 percent. The IMF's board relinquished several requirements Greece had to fulfill by the end of June2013, since data was not yet available. This comprises targets for overall government debt, government domestic arrears and the general government balance. Although Greece cut budgets and external imbalances it has not done enough on broader reforms to its tax collection and public sector, which is necessary to ensure its economy returns to growth.
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Greece will receive another 1 billion euros from international lenders in October 2013. Greece's bailout package was approved in March 2012, will total 173 billion euros over four years. It was done to help Greece recover from a sovereign debt crisis and return to markets, and protect the country from a possible exit from the euro zone.
INDIA & SENEGAL SIGNED PROGRAM FOR CULTURAL COOPERATION

An Executive Programme for Cultural Cooperation was signed between India and Senegal for the period 2013-2015 on 29 July 2013 at New Delhi. This programme was signed to affirm the commitment of the two countries for sustaining the cultural exchanges. Executive Programme for Cultural Cooperation was signed by Chandresh Kumari Katoch, Minister of Culture on behalf of Government of India and by Adboul Aziz Mbaye, Minister of Culture, on behalf of Government of Senegal. The programme will remain valid for a period of three years. However, it will remain intact till the fresh Exchange Programme is signed.
OBJECTIVES OF THE EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME FOR CULTURAL COOPERATION

Executive Programme for Cultural Cooperation will seek to exchange the experts in the field of theatre. The programme will encourage training in certain spheres such as artistic heritage, creative activities, audio visual, music, dance, theatre and puppetry. The programme will seek to exchange the publications on cultural heritage. It will seek to exchange the canvas works and grounding mats for exhibition. This programme will exchange the experts in the field of prehistoric archaeology, while at the same time, providing laboratory training in the field of restoration of cultural properties and monuments. The programme will also exchange experts reciprocally in order to promote the library activities and expertise in the fields of publishing, printing and binding. The Executive Programme for Cultural Cooperation will also exchange programmes which depict various facets of life and culture in the two parties through their respective Radio and TV organizations. This programme will exchange experiences in the field of sports and explore the possibilities of exchanging sports teams or the coaches in diverse disciplines. Under the programme, there will be an organisation of the cultural week which features various aspects of its culture.
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The programme will also seek to exchange one or two experts in the field of performing arts and literature.
ISRAEL AGREED TO RELEASE 104 PALESTINIAN PRISONERS

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel on 27 July 2013 announced that Israel will release 104 Palestininan Prisoners. The decision was taken as a confidence building measure in phases, for the upcoming peace talks with the Palestinians. The matter of releasing the prisoners, now require approval from the Israeli Cabinet. The Israeli Cabinet is also set to endorse a draft bill that would submit a peace treaty with the Palestinians for a referendum. The treaty would be ratified only after being approved by the Government and the parliament. The peace talks between the two nations have been stalled since 2010 and to resume the talks, Mahmoud Abbas, the President of Palestine has demanded freedom of the Palestinian prisoners, who are in prisons of Israel for more than 20 years.
US DECIDED TO STOP THE DELIVERY OF FOUR F-16 FIGHTERS TO EGYPT

The United States decided to stop the delivery of four F-16 fighters to Egypt, which was scheduled this week. The move comes in the wake of the recent developments in Egypt. USA values its relationship with Egypt but the delay was necessary as Egypt remains divided over the ouster of Mohamed Mursi, the first democratically elected President in the country. The United States considered it inappropriate to move forward with the delivery. In another development, the US House of Representatives has also passed a resolution which forbids the US government to fund military operations in Egypt or to fund individuals, groups or organisations engaged in paramilitary activity.
SC OF PAKISTAN DIRECTED EC TO HOLD PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on 23 July 2013 ordered the Election Commission (EC) of Pakistan to hold the Presidential election on 30 July 2013. The decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan was issued following the petition filed by, Raja Zafarul Haq, the PML (N) leader, who pleaded the court that a large number of Parliamentarians, who will cast vote in the election would precede for Umrah and observe Aitakaf, during the last ten days of Ramazan. The Election Commission in its reply to the Supreme Court mentioned th at the Courts orders will be implemented. Earlier, the Presidential election of Pakistan was scheduled to be held on
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6 August 2013. The term of the incumbent President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari will end on 8 September 2013.
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AITAKAF
Aitakaf also pronounced as Itikf (means staying at a particular place) is an Islamic practice, which consists of the period of stay in the Mosque for a certain number of days for the worship of Allah, following the choice of the believer. This is commonly practiced during the last 10 days of Ramadan.
UMRAH
Umrah generally is a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia that can be performed by the Muslims at any time of the year (except the period of Hajj).
14 TH MEET OF HOME SECRETARIES OF INDIA AND BANGLADESH

14th Meeting of the Home Secretaries of India and Bangladesh was held in New Delhi from July 19 to 22 July 2013. The meet of the home secretaries of the two nations was conducted with an aim of promoting and strengthening, the bilateral relations that exist between India and Bangladesh and to carry forward the relations further. The Indian delegation of Home Secretaries was headed by Anil Goswami, Union Home Secretary, Government of India and the Bangladeshi delegation was led by C. Q. K. Mustaq Ahmed, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs and Government of Bangladesh. Earlier, on 18 July 2013 the 13th JWG meet on security issues was also held between the two nations, in which both the sides discussed upon the issues related to security, border management, incidents of deaths due to firing on the border, implementation of agreements, ratification of the land boundary agreement, visa and consular related matters, capacity building and others.
ISSUES AND POINTS NOTED AND DISCUSSED DURING THE MEET OF THE HOME SECRETARIES INCLUDES
Home secretaries of both India and Bangladesh reaffirmed their commitment not to allow the territory of either country to be used for any activity inimical to each others interests Satisfaction was expressed at the smooth operation of Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP) by both the sides, as CBMP has resulted in reducing the number of border incidents www.jagranjosh.com
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The two sides also agreed to increase the frequency of coordinated patrolling with a view to curbing criminal activities along the border Confidence was expressed between the two sides on coordinated patrolling for enhancement of cooperation between the border guarding forces of the two countries, and enable them to prevent the movement of criminals and manage the identified vulnerable areas with a view to prevent criminal activities, acts of violence and loss of lives along the border areas Secretaries of both the sides appreciated DC-DM conference between Brahmanbaria district of Bangladesh and West Tripura district of India Agreement was reached by both sides to sensitize the media about ground realities of border management Agreement was reached at intensifying, the activities of the nodal points in different areas of cooperation that includes INTERPOL, drugs and human trafficking Extension of cooperation for apprehension of wanted criminals and fugitives was agreed by both the sides Home Secretary of Bangladesh urged for immediate tracking, arresting and handing over the killers of Bangabandhu, the Father of the nation of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and was assured from his Indian counterpart that all possible assistance in this regard Bangladesh agreed to expand and strengthen further cooperation in sharing actionable intelligence in real time Measures taken to expedite the verification and repatriation of prisoners who have completed their sentences were reviewed Discussion on ratification of the LBA-1974 and the protocol signed in 2011 were made Agreement on increasing the number of goodwill visits and cooperation in training on subjects like Cyber Crime, ICT, Forensic Sciences Implementation of three agreements (Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons and Combating Terrorism, organized crime and illicit drug trafficking) which were signed during the visit of Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina to India in 2010 was also noted by the two sides The two sides also noted that the bilateral cooperation in the field of security and border management which was strengthened with by the signing-up of the four agreements pertaining to security cooperation including the Extradition Treaty.
INDIA AND NIGERIA SIGNED AGREEMENT FOR SOLAR POWER PLANTS

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India and Nigeria on 22 July 2013 signed an agreement in Abuja to locate sites for solar power plants in Niger state. The agreement will provide additional energy for Nigeria's national grid. It would be the first of a series of power plant deals. The agreement was signed between the secretary to the Government of India, Sutanu Behuria and Nigeria's permanent secretary in the Ministry of Power Godknows Igali. With this agreement in place, Bharat Heavy Electricals (BSE) will begin preliminary studies for setting up independent solar-powered plants in selected locations in Niger. India expressed interest in the provision of funds in various forms for the development of Nigeria's power sector.
EU LISTED MILITARY WING OF HEZBOLLAH AS A TERRORIST ORG

EU foreign ministers on 22 July 2013 agreed to list the military wing of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation. The agreement needed the agreement of all 28 of the EU's member states. It will now become illegal for European diplomats to meet its militant staff or for Hezbollah sympathisers in Europe to send the group money. Hezbollah has already been blacklisted by the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. Hezbollah has a powerful political organisation and, along with its allies, had dominance the last Lebanese cabinet, which resigned in March 2013.
WHAT IS HEZBOLLAH?
Hezbollah is a Shi'a Islamic militant group and political party based in Lebanon. Its paramilitary wing is regarded as a resistance movement throughout much of the Arab and Muslim worlds. It is considered more powerful than the Lebanese Army. Hezbollah was conceived by Muslim clerics and funded by Iran following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, It was primarily formed to offer resistance to the Israeli occupation. Its leaders were followers of Ayatollah Khomeini, and its forces were trained and organized by a contingent of 1,500 Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Hezbollah's 1985 manifesto listed its four main goals as Israel's final departure from Lebanon.
PRINCE PHILIPPE SWORN IN AS THE SEVENTH KING OF BELGIUM
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Prince Philippe was sworn-in as the new king of Belgium on 21 July 2013 after the abdication of his father Albert II due to his age and health. 53 Years old Philippe took his oath in Belgium's three official languages - Dutch, French and German. The sworn in ceremony came after two-and-a-half weeks of abdication of 79 years old King Albert after being 20 years on the throne. It is important here to note that Philippe is the seventh king of the 183-year-old country which is split across the middle. Belgium has a constitutional monarchy in which the king plays a mostly ceremonial role.
SOME FACTS ABOUT PHILIPPE

From year 1978 to 1981, King Philippe was educated at the Belgian Royal Military Academy in the 118th Promotion Toutes Armes. On 6 August 1993, by Government decision, Prince Philippe was appointed Honorary Chairman of the Belgian Foreign Trade Board (BFTB) succeeding his father, who had been Honorary Chairman of the BFTB since 1962. On 3 May 2003, Prince Philippe was appointed honorary Chairman of the board of the Foreign Trade Agency, replacing the BFTB. On 26 September 1980, he was appointed second lieutenant and took the officer's oath. He continued his education at Trinity College, Oxford and he attended graduate school at Stanford University, California, where he graduated in 1985 with an MA degree in Political Science.
JAPAN'S RULING COALITION WON MAJORITY IN UPPER HOUSE

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition (LDP-New Komeito coalition) won a comfortable majority in Upper House of Parliament. The elections were held on 21 July 2013. Abe's Liberal Democratic Party won 65 seats, while its partner, New Komeito, secured 11 seats. Combined with their 59 seats, the coalition now has 135 seats, six more than the 129 needed for a comfortable majority. This will give Abe control of both houses of parliament for the first time in six years. Abes win will help him form a stable cabinet, ending political volatility. The result is an endorsement of his more conservative economic and political reforms known as Abenomics programme. With majority in both houses of Parliament, it would be easy for Abe government to pass legislation.
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Shinzo Abe had lost upper house elections in 2007 during his previous stint as Prime Minister of Japan.
CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT TASK OF EGYPT STARTED BY PANEL

The 10-member panel of legal experts, which was appointed by the interim President Adly Mansour, started off the work on 21 July 2013 in order to amend the constitution of Egypt. The panel has the time duration of 30 days in order to draft the changes in the constitution, thereby clearing the route for the presidential as well as parliamentary elections. It is important to note that the previous constitution of Egypt which was framed by the government under Islamist President Mohammed Morsi has been suspended. In yet another development, it is important to note that Jordan's King Abdullah on 20 July 2013 became the first Arab leader to visit Egypt ever since its fall of government. Under the interim Presidents decree which was announced on 20 July 2013, a committee or panel which was composed of four university professors and six judges was asked to present the amendments to larger 50-member panel which comprised of politicians, religious officials, army officers as well as unionists.
BACKGROUND
The previous constitution of Egypt which was Morsi-backed was approved in the referendum in December 2012. However, this was said to be the most debatable measures by Morsi in his year in the office. The opponents of that constitution opined that the charter was highly Islamist in terms of content and that it did not protect freedom of expression and religion.
CHINA LIFTED CONTROL ON BANKS

China on 19 July 2013 lifted control on banks allowing them to set their own lending rates, a move to arrest slowdown and spur growth as well as to liberalise the economy. China decided to further ease lending interest rates for financial institutions so they can decide the rates themselves. The removal of control on lending rates is the first major economic reform launched under the government of President Xi Jinping. Lifting controls on lending interest rates will help cut costs for companies in raising funds. It can also maximise financial resources to strengthen the economy and economic restructuring of China. The move to liberalise the interest rates followed the decline in the second quarter GDP. There are speculations that Chinese economy can miss the official target of 7.5 per cent growth rate, set for 2013.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DETERIORATING IN PAKISTAN: REPORT
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The Report by independent American group called US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in the month of July 2013 revealed that the Hindus living in Pakistan were the worst victims of rape. It was revealed that in last 18 months, there were seven incidents of rape on Hindu girls in Pakistan. Apart from this, it was revealed by the report of USCIRF that two Hindus were murdered as well as four injured in overall 16 attacks that took place in Pakistan. In the targeted attacks in Pakistan, three Hindus were murdered. As far as the Sikhs were concerned, it was found that there were overall three cases of attacks on the Sikhs living in Pakistan. This eventually led to death of one Sikh person. The report also additionally revealed that in past 18 months, there were 203 incidents of sectarian violence which led to 1800 casualties, which also included 717 deaths. Out of these deaths, 635 dead were the Shia Muslims. From January 2012 to June 2013, there has been a considerable rise in the religious and sectarian violence in Pakistan and during this period, the worst affected community was Shia. The USCIRF report led to creation of the factsheet which was prepared under Pakistan Religious Violence Project. This project kept into consideration the attacks which took place publicly against the religious communities. The report declared that the religious freedom environment for a few sects such as Ahmadiyas, Christians and Hindus was already poor and it was deteriorating even more. There were overall 77 attacks on the Shia, which led to 635 deaths as well as serious injuries to 834. Shia community also suffered because of 18 bomb blasts as well as 46 targeted shootings. Christians are the second largest community in Pakistan and they were attacked 37 times, leaving 11 people killed and 36 injured. Five Christian girls were also raped.
BANGLADESH APPROVED A LABOUR LAW TO BOOST WORKER RIGHTS

Bangladesh approved a Labour Law on 15 July 2013 to boost worker rights, including the freedom to form trade unions, after a factory building collapse in April killed 1,132 garment workers and sparked debate over labour safety and rights.
THE LEGISLATION PUTS IN PLACE FOLLOWING PROVISIONS

Including a central fund to improve living standards of workers, A requirement for 5 percent of annual profits to be deposited in employee welfare funds An assurance that union members will not be transferred to another factory of the same owner after labour unrest
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The legislation is an important step towards curbing rising cases of exploitation in a country with 4 million garment factory workers. However, it failed to address several concerns and blamed the government for enacting the law in a hurry to please foreigners. Bangladesh was under pressure to adopt a better Labour Law after the European Union, which gives preferential access to the country's garment industry, threatened punitive measures if it did not improve worker safety standards. Tax concessions offered by Western countries and low wages have helped turn Bangladesh's garment sector into the country's largest employment generator with annual exports worth USD 21 billion. 60 percent of exports go to Europe. The collapse of the Rana Plaza complex on 24 April 2013, built on swampy ground outside Dhaka with several illegal floors, ranked among the world's worst industrial accidents. A fire at another garment factory in 2012 killed 112 people.
IRAN AGREED TO TAKE ALL OIL PAYMENTS FROM INDIA IN RUPEES

Iran on 15 July 2013 agreed to take payments for oil it sells to India entirely in rupees after US and western sanctions blocked all other payment routes. India has been, since July 2011, paying in euros to clear 55 percent of its purchases of Iranian oil through Ankara- based Halkbank. The remaining 45 percent due amount was remitted in rupees in accounts Iranian oil company opened in Kolkata-based UCO Bank. Iran explored taking 55 percent payments in Russian Ruble and other currencies but the payment routes could not be finalised due sanctions against the Persian Gulf nation. Iran has now agreed to take all of their payment in Indian rupees. As the euro route was blocked and Iran did not indicate an alternate mode of taking payment for 55 percent of the oil it sold to Indian refiners, over 1.5 billion US dollars in dues got accumulated. Iran agreed to take this overdue amount in rupees. India, which in June 2013 won another 180day waiver from the US sanctions after it cut crude oil imports from Iran by over 27 percent, has not bought a single barrel of oil from the Persian Gulf nation since April as insurance firms refused to provide cover to refiners processing Iranian oil. India had in 2012-13 imported 13.14 million tonnes of crude oil from Iran, down from 18.11 million tonnes of 2011-12. Iran was till 2010-11 India's second largest supplier after Saudi Arabia but has since slipped to the sixth place. In 2012-13, Saudi Arabia followed by Iraq at 25.05 million tonnes, Venezuela 21.80 million tonnes, Kuwait 19 million tonnes and UAE 14.71 million tonnes were major oil suppliers to India.
INDIA BECAME THE BIGGEST BUYER OF NIGERI AS CRUDE OIL

India in the month of July 2013 has surpassed the U.S. as the top buyer of Nigerian crude oil. As per the recent statistics it has been that India had been buying more of Nigerias crude than the U.S. over the last three months in year 2013. www.jagranjosh.com
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India will continue with its effort of cooperating with Nigeria to improve its economy and it is supposed to assist Nigeria in capacity building of workers in both the public and private sectors. India is set to tie up with the government of Kano state to establish a film city and will also going to collaborate with the Niger state government to establish health care facilities as well as improve agriculture. It also promised assistance in the state on the training of young people who wish to embark on vocational education.
SOME IMPORTANT POINTS TO REMEMBER

Talking on the front of bilateral trade, the present figure stands at 10 billion dollars, even as the total investment of India in Nigerian economy could be valued at 16.6 billion dollars. India in recent times has reduced its dependence on Iranian oil in the wake of the U.S. and European sanctions on the import of oil from the Islamic Republic.
PDP WON THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS IN BHUTAN

Bhutans Election Commission on 14 July 2013 formally announced that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the National Assembly elections by having secured a majority of thirty two seats. The Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) won fifteen seats and was elected as the opposition party. Over 66 per cent turnout was recorded in the elections. The foremost election issues were rising fuel prices and credit crunch. The second parliamentary elections saw a keen voter turnout. While nineteen international media personnel from India, Netherlands and South Korea covered the elections while 279 media personnel from Bhutan cover the Second Parliamentary Elections this year. In 2008, the DPT had won the election by a landslide and won the first round of this year's polls with 45 percent of the vote. Bhutan's king had given up the monarchy's centuries-old absolute power in 2008 and allowed the introduction of democracy to the Himalayan kingdom.
CHINA CANCELLED CONSTRUCTION OF NUCLEAR PROCESSING PLANT

China on 13 July 2013 cancelled the construction of a six billion dollar nuclear processing plant in Guangdong province apparently due to public concerns over its safety. The planned industrial park, with a designed capacity of 1000 tonnes of uranium in 2020, was to feature facilities for uranium conversion, enrichment and manufacturing of nuclear fuel equipment. This is the first nuclear project cancelled by China, which is embarking on a massive expansion of nuclear power projects. Chinese government also stopped the construction of a copper alloy plant in Sichuan province following violent protests by local residents. The public's opposition was mainly because of safety worries and environmental concerns.
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UNITED NATIONS ASKED MYANMAR TO END ATTACKS ON ROHINGYAS

The Secretary General of United Nations, Ban-ki-moon on 11 July 2013 warned Myanmar to end Buddhist attacks on Minority Muslims (Rohingyas). The Secretary General also asked Myanmar to take necessary steps to address legitimate grievances including citizenship. Ban-ki-moon feared that failing to do so, would bring in negative regional impacts in the country and weaken the reform process also. Myanmar passed its Citizenship Law in 1982 in which it recognized eight races and 130 minority groups but it excluded the minority Rohingya Muslims from citizenship. Later, it passed a second law that limited the Rohingya Muslim residence to two townships in the Western State of Rakhine, which borders Bangladesh. The second law for Rohingyas also restricts them to have only two children, a restriction that does not apply to majority Buddhist population. Numbering about 8 lakhs in a population of around 60 million, the Rohingyas are widely viewed as interlopers brought in by the British colonialists.
INDIA HAS RIGHT TO PURSUE EXPLORATION IN SOUTH CHINA SEA

Vietnam Foreign Minister, Pham Binh Minh on 11 July 2013 at New Delhi declared that India has the right to pursue exploration and exploitation work for hydrocarbons in South China Sea, in the Vietnamese Exclusive Economic Zone. The announcement was made by Minh after the Joint Commission meet with Salman Khurshid, the Union External Affairs Minister. He supported his declaration by stating that with this stand, Vietnam is in a position that there is a need of respecting the UN Convention on the Law (UNCLOS) of the sea to solve the issues in the South China Sea in a peaceful manner.
DECISIONS MADE AND POINTS DISCUSSED

Vietnam also supported Indias stand in the Look East Policy that puts an emphasis on more active role in the Asia Pacific region" and the world at large. During the 15th Meet of the India-Vietnam Joint Commission, the issue of the Maritime Rights in the South and East China Seas were also discussed and the two sides reached to the conclusion of respecting the UNCLOS needs.
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It was decided that the two sides will settle the maritime issue with each other in a peaceful manner, through dialogues, as India wants to keep the maritime lanes open in the South China Sea that acts as a gateway to the East Asia for shipping purposes To patrol the border areas, India will provide patrol vehicles to Vietnam For setting up Nam Trai-IV hydropower project and Binh Bo Pumping station, both the sides have also signed a 19.5 million US dollar line of credit An agreement was reached between the two sides to have direct flights between the two nations to boost ties and tourism between the two countries. A joint trade commission would also be formed to achieve a set trade target if 7 billion US dollar by 2015 Vietnam also said that it will support Indian bid for a permanent seat in the expanded UN Security Council
INDIA VIETNAM ECONOMIC RELATION

Vietnam has chosen, Tata Power for development of a 1.8 billion US dollar 2X660 MW Long Phu 2 Thermal Power Project in Soc Trang province of Southern Vietnam. Tata power won the bid from Russian and South Korean companies. India has also extended 164.5 million US dollar, 17 Lines of Credit that includes the Nam Trai-IV hydropower project and Binh Bo Pumping station already inked to Vietnam. India is also setting up a $2 million Vietnam-India Advanced Resource Centre in ICT (ARC-ICT) in Hanoi. Earlier, India provided the PARAM Supercomputer, as a grant, for use in multiple applications, PARAM costs 4.7 crore rupees.
ISSUES IN SOUTH CHINA SEA FOR INDIA

Although, Vietnam has maintained a firm stand of its right in the South China Sea off Vietnam's coast based in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982, but China in the past raised objections to OVLs participation in the oil blocks of area. OVL is the foreign arm of ONGC.
FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND SIGNED NEW INHERITANCE TAX DEAL

France and Switzerland on 11 July 2013 have signed an agreement on inheritance taxes as per which Paris will help it bringing in more money. As per the agreement, the inheritances will be taxed based on where the recipient resides, but not where the deceased lived, as it is used to be earlier. The agreement is supposed to allow
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France to ask Switzerland to investigate suspicious bank activity even if it does not have the suspects names. The new agreement will make it tuff for people living in France to escape taxes. It is worth mentioning here that France taxes inheritance progressively up to 45 per cent, compared to Switzerlands maximum of 7 percent. France is one of a growing number of cash impoverished country which is trying to find tax hiding away in Swiss accounts.
PRESIDENT OF PORTUGAL APPROVED RESHUFFLED GOVERNMENT

Portuguese President, Anibal Cavaco Silva on 10 July 2013 approved a reshuffled ruling coalition Government, ending a 10-day crisis over hated strict policies that nearly overthrown the government. The reshuffle was taken into consideration amid opposition calls for immediate elections. The current Reshuffled government has all the authority to exercise its functions. The crisis hit the roof on 1 July 2013 with shock resignation of then finance minister Vitor Gaspar, who was feeling the pressure of mounting popular opposition. The decision to reshuffle the government is an indication to the survival for now, of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho's centre-right government, after a political emergency that shook world markets fearing a new wave of instability in the euro zones debt-laden periphery. Portugal forecasts a 2.3-percent economic contraction in year 2013 and has a record unemployment rate of more than 18 percent.
U.S. NAVY LANDED FIRST UNMANNED AIRCRAFT CARRIER IN ATLANTIC

The U.S. Navy on 10 July 2013 successfully landed a drone the size of a fighter jet aboard an aircraft carrier for the first time. The X-47B experimental aircraft was landed to display militarys capability of US to have a computer program which can perform one of the most difficult tasks. With the landing of Aircraft the US Navy can move forward with its plans to develop another unmanned aircraft that will join the fleet alongside traditional airplanes to provide around-theclock surveillance while also possessing a strike capability. The X-47B will mainly would pave the way for the U.S. to launch unmanned aircraft without the need to obtain permission from other countries to use their bases.
SPECIFICATION OF THE X-47B EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT
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X-47B is far bigger than the Predator, and has three times the range and can be programmed to carry out missions with no human intervention. X-47B isnt a stealth aircraft, and is designed with the low profile of one which will help in the development of future stealth drones, which would be valuable as the military changes its focus from the Middle East to the Pacific, where a number of countries air defences are a lot stronger than Afghanistans. The X-47B has a wingspan of about 62 feet (19 metres) and weighs 14,000 pounds (6,350 kilograms), versus nearly 49 feet (15 metres) and about 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) for the Predator. The X-47B can reach an altitude of more than 40000 feet (12200 metres) and has a range of more than 2100 nautical miles (3380 kilometres), versus 675 miles (1080 kilometres) for the Predator. The X-47B is capable of carrying weapons and is designed to be the forerunner for a drone program that will provide around-the-clock intelligence, surveillance and targeting, according to the Navy.
INDIA AGREED TO CO-OPERATE MONGOLIA IN RENEWABLE ENERGY

India on 9 July 2013 agreed to co-operate with Mongolia in developing its renewable Energy Sector and Human Resource Development. The agreement between the two nations was reached during a meet between the Farooq Abdullah Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy and Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj at Ulaanbaatar during his visit to Mongolia. Farooq Abdullah was on a visit to Mongolia to represent India at the oath taking ceremony of Elbegdorj, who has been re-elected as the President for his second four-year term. During his visit, Abdullah also handed over the letter of felicitation to Elbegdorj from President of India, Pranab Mukherjee lauding his personal vision and commitment towards the comprehensive partnership between the two countries and to invite him to visit India. During his visit to Mongolia, Abdullah also met Foreign Minister of Mongolia Lu Bold and Minister of Environment and Green Development of Mongolia, Sanjaasuren Oyun.
INDIA-MONGOLIA RELATIONS
The bilateral relations between India and Mongolia has expanded in recent past and at present it covers cooperation in defence and strategic issues along with educational and cultural exchanges. To give a new boost to the bilateral relations, the President of Mongolia Elbegdorj selected India as the first destination for foreign visit after taking over as President of Mongolia for his first term, in 2009. The Union Governments decision to depute a senior Cabinet Minister to the
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Presidents inauguration is a signal of importance that India places Mongolia and towards further strengthening of bilateral relations with Mongolia. Keeping apart the political relations, the two nations share a close linkage with each other in terms of civilization and culture as Mongolia mainly is a Buddhist country. Several Mongolians travel to India for spiritual, educational and medical purposes.
INDIA AND TANZANIA AGREED ON BILATERAL COOPERATION

India and Tanzania on 9 July 2013 signed agreements on bilateral cooperation in different sectors that includes agriculture, health and education, mines and minerals. All the agreements were signed between the Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Preneet Kaur and the Tanzanian Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Bernard K. Membe at Dar es Salaam during the 3-day visit of Preneet Kaur to Tanzania. During the 3-day visit to Tanzania, Preneet Kaur co-chaired, the India - Tanzania Joint Commission Meeting. She also met with the President of Tanzania, Dr. Jakaya M Kikwete and reviewed the current level of development partnership between the two countries. President Kikwete assured that his country would support Indian aspiration for a permanent seat in a reformed United Nations Security Council. As per the latest reports, economic engagement of India with Tanzania has gone up to a cumulative of 1546.56 million dollars in 2011. India is the third biggest investor in Tanzania with 305 projects.
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER OF INDIA VISITED NEPAL

Indias External Affairs Minister, Salman Khurshid, visited Nepal on 9th July 2013 at the invitation of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal, Madhav Prasad Ghimire. Minister of both the nation held official talks covering all feature of bilateral relations and issues of mutual interests. Indian side asserted that they are strongly committed to the success of Nepals peace process and institutionalization of democracy in Nepal in a constitutional and multi-party framework. India is encouraging the successful conduct of free and fair election for the Constituent Assembly-cum-Parliament on 19th November 2013.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE MEETING IS AS FOLLOWS

Logistics for Constituent Assembly-cum-Parliamentary Election
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India has agreed to provide all the logistical support for the security agencies and Election Commission of Nepal as requested by the Government of Nepal. This comprises 764 different types of vehicles costing approximately NRs 800 million. The vehicles will be delivered to the Government of Nepal by October 2013. The two sides exchanged Letters to this effect.
WATER RESOURCES
The Ministers reviewed the joint efforts against flood-related disasters, including the repair and maintenance works at major border rivers, especially Kosi and Gandak. India has committed grant assistance of 181.37 million NRS under the bilateral Small Development Projects for flood protection works along Trijuga, Lkahndehi, Sunsari, Kankai, and Kaligandaki rivers and NRs 95.2 million along Gagan River. Besides activating all the existing bilateral consultative mechanisms and maintaining the embankments of Kosi and Gandak under the respective bilateral agreements, India has provided grant assistance of Nepali 2.543 billion Rupees during the past three years for protection works on the Kamala, Lalbakya, and Khando and Bagmati rivers. For the current year, Indian announced an amount of 256.94 NRS million for this purpose, and a further amount of 374.47 million NRs will be made available later in the year.
AUGMENTING ELECTRICITY SUPPLY

It is important to recall that to augment electricity supply from India to Nepal, particularly during the lean season, India has already implemented short-term grid connectivity projects (grant assistance of NRs 124.6 million), resulting in Nepal importing an additional 80 MWs of electricity through 14 different upgraded exchange points in the last lean season. A further medium-term grid upgradation project (amounting to grant assistance of NRs 464 million) has been tendered which will enable a further drawing of between 120 175 MWs of electricity from India, whenever required. To supplement financing of the long-term cross-border grid connectivity from Muzaffarpur to Dhalkebar, Indias Eximbank is contributing U.S. 13.2 million Dollars.
EXIMBANK LINE OF CREDIT

Specific approvals have been obtained in June 2013 for Phase II of the Rahughat Hydroelectric Project, 220 KV Kosi Corridor Transmission Line Project, 132 KV Solu Corridor Transmission Live Project, and the 132 KV Modi Leknath Transmission Line Project, for utilising 175 million Dollarsor NRs 15.8 billion out of the existing 250 million www.jagranjosh.com
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Dolars Exim banks Line of Credit for Nepal. Approvals for utilisation of the balance amount, for the construction of roads within Nepal, are in the pipeline.
TRADE AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION

It is worth mentioning here that India accounts for nearly two-thirds of Nepals foreign trade, 70% of Nepals exports, and almost half of its foreign direct investments. The Government felt the need to continue consultations on measures to promote trade bilaterally and with third countries to optimize opportunities for Nepals economic growth, including on finalising legal and administrative arrangements for additional transit routes, revision of the Rail Services Agreement to enable the implementation of the long-standing Nepalese request for the movement of open box wagons and transit of bulk cargo movement on flat wagons, finalisation of the Motor Vehicles Agreement, energy banking and power trading, currency conversion facilitation, new routes for increased air-connectivity, and strengthening Nepals capacity forcertification for food and agriculture products exports by establishing testing and lab facilities along the IndiaNepal border.
DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP
The Ministers reviewed progress of the bilateral development partnership programme, which includes large, cross-border connectivity and infrastructure projects, as well as community and grass-roots oriented Small Development Projects (SDPs) in the key areas of education, health and rural infrastructure. India partners Nepal in capacity building and human resource development. This year, the number of scholarships offered to Nepalese students has nearly doubled to 3,000. The number of training programmes under India Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) & Colombo Plan has also gone up to 230 from 100 last year. The infrastructure projects include construction of four Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) for trade promotion and facilitation, 1450 kms of Terai Roads, and cross-border rail links at five locations.In the first phase, works have been taken up in two of the four ICPs (grant assistance of NRs 4.32 billion for the segment falling in Nepal), six segments of Terai Roads Project (totalling 605 kms entailing grant assistance of NRs 11 billion) and two of the five rail connections (grant assistance of NRs 10.4 billion). Under SDPs, of the 425 projects undertaken, 218 have been completed. The current years outlay fo r these development projects is NRs 6.08 billion.
DEFENCE COOPERATION
India-Nepal defence ties include military educational exchanges, joint exercises, and supplies of military stores and equipment, as required by Nepal. www.jagranjosh.com
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Following the successful completion of integration of former Maoists combatants into the Nepal Army (NA) and the decision of the Government of Nepal to resume imports of stores and equipment for NA, these materials, identified in the Bilateral Consultative Group on Security Issues, will be supplied to Nepal over the coming months (the immediate supplies sought are valued at NRs 1.76 billion).
JAPANESE ROYAL COUPLE, THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS TO VISIT INDIA

The Imperial Household Agency of Japan on 9 July 2013 announced that the Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan will make their visit to India on 30 November to 6 December 2013. This visit of the Royal Couple of Japan will be their first visit to India since the Emperor took over the thrown in 1989. During their stay in India, they will visit Delhi and Chennai. Earlier, Japan and India marked the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties in 2012. The visit of the royal couple will be a follow-up of Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh visit to Japan from 27 to 30 May 2013 for a bilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. Comment: The visit of the Japanese royal couple can be taken as the message of the improving relations of the two countries and the strengthening ties.
HAZEM EL-BEBLAWI NAMED AS NEW PRIME MINISTER OF EGYPT

Hazem El-Beblawi on 9 July 2013 was named as the new Prime Minister of Egypt by the Interim President Adly Mansour. A leading economist, Beblawi will form a caretaker Government that comprises technocrats from different walks of life. The caretaker government would play a major role in steering away Egypt through the transitional period. The interim President Adly Mansour also named Mohammad ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate and former IAEA chief as the new Vice-President of the country. In a gesture of reconciliation, the new designated prime minister of Egypt declared that his government will offer cabinet posts to the leaders of Muslim Brotherhood of the ousted President Mohammed Morsis Government.
ABOUT HAZEM EL-BEBLAWI

He has served as the Finance Minister and deputy Prime Minister of Egypt from July to December 2011 in the cabinet of Essam Sharaf during the post-revolution transitional phase after Hosni Mubarak downfall
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He is a founding member of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, Al Ahram
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He has also served as the undersecretary-general at the United Nations between 1995 and 2000 He has also served as the Chairman of the Export Development Bank of Egypt from 1983 to 1995 In 1965, he completed his academics from University of Alexandria
ABOUT MOHAMMAD ELBARADEI

ElBaradei is the leader of the National Salvation front, which is the alliance of the liberal and left-wing parties Earlier, Mohammed Morsi, the first democratically elected President of Egypt was ousted from his office following a military coup conducted by the Army Chief Abdel Fateh Al Sissi. The coup was conducted following the mass protests by the nationals of the country against Morsi and his Government.
MOHAMED MORSI OUSTED IN A MILITARY COUP

Mohamed Morsi, Egypts first democratically elected President on 3 July 2013 was ousted from his office in a military coup. After the military coup the Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Ireland, Adli Mansour has sworn in as the interim President on 4 July 2013 to oversee early Presidential elections of the country. Adli Mansour will get the support of national unity government in running the country until the elections are held. The ousted President, Mohamed Morsi was moved to an undisclosed location and a travel ban has been imposed on him from going abroad. Earlier, the Egyptian Army Chief Abdel Fateh Al Sissi gave a 48 hour deadline to Morsi Government 1 July 2013 following the protests from the people of the country regarding resignation of the President. Constitution of the Egypt has been suspended. After the Military Coup, the new military rulers of Egypt have issued arrest warrants for up to 300 members of Muslim Brotherhood.
ROADMAP FOR THE TRANSITION OF THE COUNTRY, OUTLINED BY AL-SISSI
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Suspension of the constitution on a temporary basis
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The head of the Supreme Constitutional Court will take the oath in front of the full body of the court Early Presidential elections to be held in the country
ABOUT MOHAMED MORSI

Morsi is the successor of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and was elected as president of Egypt in June 2012. He is the first Islamist to lead an Arab country Morsi served as a Member of Parliament from 2000 to 2005 Mohamed Morsi became a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1977 Born in Sharqiya on the Nile River delta, in Northern Egypt, on 20 August 1951 He studied engineering at Cairo University and completed his master's degree in 1978. After Cairo University, he moved to the United States, where he received a Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Southern California in 1982. Muslim Brotherhood is a political, Islam-based organization that played a major role in the Egyptian nationalist movement.
2012 EGYPTIAN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

In the 2012 Presidential Election of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi leader of Muslim Brotherhood won the elections by defeating his opponent, former Prime Minister Ahmed Safik. Morsi won 51.73 percent votes. To fulfill the promise of his campaign, he resigned from his membership of Muslim Brotherhood after the election results were declared. He took onto the office of the President as the Fifth President of Egypt and as the first leader from who was not a part of Military. Morsis election as the first democratically elected President was a turning point in the political history of Egypt after the downfall of 30 years reign of Hosni Mubaraq.
ABDOULAYE BATHILY APPOINTED DEP. HEAD OF UN MISSION TO MALI

UN Secretary-General (UNSG) Ban Ki-moon on 9 July 2013 announced the appointment of Abdoulaye Bathily of Senegal as his new Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
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A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO ABDOULAYE BATHILYS CAREER
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Abdoulaye Bathily has been serving as Senior Minister in the office of the President of Senegal since 2012. Prior to his role as Senior Minister he has served as minister of the environment and as minister of energy. He also served as a Member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, member of the African Union Contact Group on the crisis in Madagascar, and participated in various conflict resolution missions to countries in West Africa, including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Niger, Guinea and Mali. In April 2013 the Security Council has given its approval for the 12600-strong MINUSMA to take over from the African-led force, authorizing the blue helmets to use all necessary means to carry out security-related stabilization tasks, protect civilians, UN staff and cultural artefacts and create the conditions for provision of humanitarian aid. With the appointment of Abdoulaye Bathily the UN Secretary-General also appointed David Gressly of the United States as Deputy Special Representative at MINUSMA.
ABOUT DAVID GRESSLY

David Gressly will serve as UN Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He has more than 20 years of experience with the UN system, He served with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in various capacities, including in Nigeria, Cte d'Ivoire, Guinea and Senegal. He served as Regional Coordinator in the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) from 2008 to 2011 and subsequently as Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel from 2012 to 2013, where he led the humanitarian response to the food security and nutrition crisis in the region last year. Recently, Gressly has served as Head of Mission for the UN Office in Mali (UNOM) and following the arrival of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Mali, Albert Gerard (Bert) Koenders, has served as Acting Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in MINUSMA.
ABOUT UNITED NATIONS STABILIZATION MISSION IN MALI (MINUSMA)

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) was established by Security Council resolution 2100 of 25 April 2013. As per the resolution, the mission is meant to support the political process and carry out a number of security-related
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stabilization tasks, with a focus on major population centres and lines of communication, protecting civilians, human rights monitoring, the creation of conditions for the provision of humanitarian assistance and the return of displaced persons, the extension of State authority and the preparation of free, inclusive and peaceful elections. MINUSMA's core task is to support the political process in Mali, in close coordination with the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
INDIA AND ALBANIA SIGNED AGREEMENT ON DOUBLE TAXATION

The Union Government of India and Government of Albania on 8 July 2013 signed an Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to the Taxes on Income and on Capital (DTAA). The agreement was signed to provide tax stability for the residents of both the nations. It would also facilitate mutual economic cooperation between the two countries. The signed agreement would also stimulate the flow of investment, technology and services between India and Albania. The agreement incorporates provisions for effective exchange of information between tax authorities of the two countries, which also includes exchange of banking information and supply of information without recourse to domestic interest.
MAJOR POINTS OF THE AGREEMENT SIGNED

Business profits would be taxable in the source state if the activities of the enterprise constitute a Permanent Establishment (PE) in that state. It provides fixed place PE, building Site, Service and Agency PE as well as Construction and Installation of PE. Para 2 of Article 9 of the agreement incorporates concerns related to Associated Enterprises and thus involves recourse to Mutual Agreement Procedures for relieving double taxation in cases that involves transfer pricing adjustments The signed agreement makes Dividends, Interest and Royalties & Fees for Technical Services income taxable in both the countries, the country of source and residence. The withholding rates of taxation for dividend, interests and royalties & fees for technical services of 10 percent each will help in promoting investment, technology and technical services flow between the two nations. The Agreement also has the provisions for effective exchange of information between tax authorities of the two counties in line with latest international standard. It includes exchange of banking information and supplying of information without recourse to domestic interest. An article on the Assistance in Collection of Taxes is also mentioned under the Article and includes provisions to take measures on conservancy. It includes anti-abuse
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(limitation of benefits) provisions to ensure that the benefits of the Agreement are availed of by the genuine residents of the two countries The agreement was signed by the Chairperson of Central Board of Direct Taxes, Dr. Sudha Sharma and the Ambassador of Republic of Albania, Fatos Kercikuon at New Delhi.
INDIA AND IRAQ SIGNED PACT TO ENHANCE CO-OPERATION

India and Iraq on 8 July 2013 signed a pact to enhance co-operation in energy security, bilateral trade & commerce, infrastructure and others. The agreement was signed between the Union Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily and his counterpart from Iraq, Abdul Karim Luaibi at the end of the India-Iraq Joint Commission on technical co-operation in Baghdad. As per the agreement, in energy sector, Iraq will supply more crude oil to India to meet the growing needs of energy in the country. Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily is leading a 28member delegation to Iraq to participate in the 17th India-Iraq Joint Commission meeting in Baghdad. The delegation reached Baghdad on 6 July 2013. Earlier, Salman Khurshid, the Union External Affairs Minister was on a two-day visit to Iraq from 19 to 20 June 2013, which was the first visit of an Indian Minister to Iraq after 1990 visit of Inder Kumar Gujral, during his tenure as Union External Affairs Minister.
INDIA IRAQ ECONOMIC COOPERATION COUNCIL

About the Council India Iraq Economic Cooperation Council was established under the patronage of the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Delhi as a non-profit organization in India. This council was established with the aim of helping businessmen on both sides to enhance and diversify economic and commercial relations between the two countries. The MoU to establish the Council, with its chapter in both Delhi and Baghdad, was signed on 22 March 2010 during visit of a six member delegation from Iraq to India from 22 to 24 March 2010.
WHY A COUNTRY SPECIFIC COUNCIL FOR IRAQ?

Indian companies were present in Iraq before the war broke out and now in the reconstruction phase, they are required to revive their old contacts. Security scene in Iraq is getting better day by day and there seems to be more international confidence in the stability of the country. There will remain continuous flow of revenues in Iraq as the country is sitting on the worlds third largest oil reserves of at least 115 billion barrels. The war ravaged country
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is trying to boost its revenues amid unstable oil prices by offering more oil and gas fields to international companies for development. Rebuilding Iraq is focusing on brand new horizon of business prospects that only unexplored market can offer, showcasing full range of infrastructure projects, products and services. Indian business is well placed to take advantage of the opportunities that exist in Iraq today. With normalcy fast returning, Iraq is keen to focus on rehabilitation of its economy. Interestingly, Iraq has sufficient financial resources to undertake its ambitious development plans. Iraq is expected to accord priority to rehabilitate oil refineries, power plants, telecommunications, hospitals, roads, railways, bridges etc. Besides these projects, Iraq is in need of food, medicine and other items of daily necessity. Indian companies are uniquely placed to participate in the projects/services under the reconstruction phase of Iraq.
MALAYSIA WITHDREW BILL ON UNILATERAL CONVERSION OF CHILD

Malaysia on 7 July 2013 has withdrawn a bill which allows one parent to give consent for the religious conversion of a child. The controversial bill was withdrawn following an objection that it discriminated against non-Muslim minorities in the country. All significant amendments from the Bill would also be withdrawn. The move comes after two minor ethnic Indian Hindu children in Malaysia had been converted to Islam without their mother's consent, triggering protests from the various groups. The Malaysian Cabinet made the decision to withdraw the Administration of the Religion of Islam Bill during its meeting on 6 July 2013 which stressed concerns from various quarters including from within the ruling coalition of Barisan Nasional party. The Bill was tabled for the first reading in Parliament on 26 June 2013. The proposed legislation must not be rushed and should be given time for in-depth debate.
PROVISIONS UNDER THE BILL

The bill allows a person below the age of 18 to convert to Islam if one parent or guardian consents to the conversion. Multi-ethnic Malaysia has a 60 per cent majority Malay population, who are all Muslims. It is worth mentioning here that the country's 27 million people also include 25 per cent ethnic Chinese who are Buddhists or Christians and Eight per cent ethnic Indians who are mostly Hindus.
UN RELEASED MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS REPORT 2013
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United Nations on 1 July 2013 released the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Report with more targets to be achieved by 2015. The report that seeks urgent address to several important challenges being faced by the world and its people was launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The 2013 MDG Report looks forward to areas that requires urgent attention such as, one of every eight people of world remain hungry, death of women during childbirth, although facilities to protect them are available, lack of improved sanitation facilities for more than 2.5 billion people, of which one billion continue to practice open defecation, a major health and environmental hazard. Our resource base is in serious decline, with continuing losses of forests, species and fish stocks, in a world already experiencing the impacts of climate change. The report highlights major eight goals to be worked upon. The eight major Goals set by United Nations under the Millennium Development Program were: Eradication of Extreme Poverty and Hunger, Achieve Universal Primary Education, Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women, Reduce Child Mortality, Improve Maternal Health, Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases, Ensure Environmental Sustainability, Develop Global Partnership for Development. These goals were set for the first time at the time of Project inception in July 2002.
PROGRESS REPORT OF THE MAJOR EIGHT GOALS

Goal 1: Eradication of Extreme Poverty and Hunger Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day. Some of the quick facts about improvement With about less than 700 million people, who live in extreme poverty conditions in 2010 than in 1990, the Poverty rates have been halved Widening of the global jobs gap by 67 million people due to the economic and financial crisis One in eight people still go to bed hungry, despite major progress Globally, nearly one in six children under age five are underweight; one in four are stunted
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An estimated 7 per cent of children under age five worldwide are now overweight, another aspect of malnutrition; one quarter of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education If current trends continue, the world will not meet the goal of universal primary education by 2015. The Quick Overview of the Facts By 2011, 57 million children of primary school age were out of school, down from 102 million in 2000 More than half of these out-of-school children live in sub-Saharan Africa Globally, 123 million youth (aged 15 to 24) lack basic reading and writing skills; 61 per cent of them are young women Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women Steady progress has been made towards equal access of girls and boys to education, but more targeted action is needed in many regions. The Quick Overview of the Facts Gender parity is closest to being achieved at the primary level; however, only 2 out of 130 countries have achieved that target at all levels of education Globally, 40 out of 100 wage-earning jobs in the non-agricultural sector are held by women As of 31 January 2013, the average share of women members in parliaments worldwide was just over 20 per cent Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate. The Quick Overview of the Facts Since 1990, the child mortality rate has dropped by 41 per cent; 14,000 fewer children are dying each day Still, 6.9 million children under age five died in 2011mostly from preventable diseases In sub-Saharan Africa, one in nine children die before age five, more than 16 times the average for developed regions Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health Maternal mortality has declined by nearly half since 1990, but falls far short of the MDG target. The Quick Overview of the Facts
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In Eastern Asia, Northern Africa and Southern Asia, maternal mortality has declined by around two thirds. Only half of pregnant women in developing regions receive the recommended minimum of four antenatal care visits. Some 140 million women worldwide who are married or in union say they would like to delay or avoid pregnancy, but are not using contraception Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases The incidence of HIV is declining steadily in most regions; still, 2.5 million people are newly infected each year. The Quick Overview of the Facts In 2011, 230,000 fewer children under age 15 were infected with HIV than in 2001. Eight million people were receiving antiretroviral therapy for HIV at the end of 2011. In the decade since 2000, 1.1 million deaths from malaria were averted. Treatment for tuberculosis has saved some 20 million lives between 1995 and 2011 Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability Forests are a safety net for the poor, but they continue to disappear at an alarming rate. The Quick Overview of the Facts Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) have increased by more than 46 per cent since 1990. Nearly one third of marine fish stocks have been overexploited. Many species are at risk of extinction, despite an increase in protected areas. More than 2.1 billion people and almost 1.9 billon people, respectively, have gained access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities since 1990. An estimated 863 million people reside in slums in the developing world Goal 8: Develop Global Partnership for Development The global financial crisis and euro zone turmoil continue to take a toll on official development assistance. The Overview of the Facts Official development assistance stood at $126 billion in 2012. Eighty-three per cent of least developed country exports enter developed countries duty free.
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The debt service of developing countries consumes only 3 per cent of their export revenues. In the developing world, 31 percent of the population uses the Internet, compared to 77 percent of the developed world. MDG targets have already been met or are within close reach The proportion of people living in extreme poverty has been halved at the global level Over 2 billion people gained access to improved sources of drinking water Remarkable gains have been made in the fight against malaria and tuberculosis The proportion of slum dwellers in the cities and metropolises of the developing world is declining A low debt burden and an improved climate for trade are levelling the playing field for developing countries The hunger reduction target is within reach MDG targets, for which accelerated Progress and bolder actions needs to be taken Environmental sustainability is under severe threat, demanding a new level of global cooperation Big gains have been made in child survival, but more must be done to meet our obligations to the youngest generation Most maternal deaths are preventable, but progress in this area is falling short Access to antiretroviral therapy and knowledge about HIV prevention must expand Too many children are still denied their right to primary education Gains in sanitation are impressivebut not good enough There is less aid money overall, with the poorest countries most adversely affected Areas with disparities, where attention needs to be focused as these often stand in the way of further improvements Rural-urban gaps persist: access to reproductive health services and to clean drinking water is only two examples: In 2011, only 53 per cent of deliveries in rural areas were attended by skilled health personnel, versus 84 per cent of them in urban areas. Eighty-three percent of the population without access to an improved drinking water source lives in rural communities. The poorest children are most likely to be out of School: Children and adolescents from the poorest households are at least three times more likely to be out of school than children from www.jagranjosh.com
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the richest households. Girls are more likely to be out of school than boys among both primary and lower secondary age groups, even for girls living in the richest households Gender-based inequalities in decision-making power persist: Whether in the public or private sphere, from the highest levels of government decision-making to households, women continue to be denied equal opportunity with men to participate in decisions that affect their lives Measuring progress towards the MDGs : Progress towards the eight Millennium Development Goals is measured through 21 targets and 60 official indicators. This report presents an accounting to date of how far the world has come in meeting the goals using data available as of June 2013. Most of the MDG targets have a deadline of 2015, using 1990 as the baseline against which progress is gauged. The basis for this Analysis: Regional and sub-regional figures presented in this report are compiled by members of the United Nations Inter-Agency and Expert Group on MDG Indicators (IAEG). In general, the figures are weighted averages of country data, using the population of reference as a weight. For each indicator, individual agencies were designated as official providers of data and as leaders in developing methodologies for data collection and analysis. The team that prepared the report was headed by the Department of Economic and Social affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, in response to the wishes of the General Assembly for periodic assessment of progress towards the MDGs. UN Millennium Project: The Millennium Project was commissioned by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2002 to develop a concrete action plan for the world to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and to reverse the grinding poverty, hunger and disease affecting billions of people. In 2005, the independent advisory body headed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, presented its final recommendations to the Secretary-General in a synthesis volume investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals. UN Millennium Campaign: The United Nations Millennium Campaign, started in 2002, supports and inspires people from around the world to take action in support of the Millennium Development Goals.
UN REPORT: POVERTY IN INDIA DECLINED BY 16 PERCENT

The overall poverty incidence in India declined by 16 per cent between 1994 and 2010 as per the report of the UN Millennium Development Goals for 2013 released on 5 July 2013 in New Delhi. According to report, the poverty rate in India declined to 33 per cent in 2010 from 49 per cent in 1994. The decline in the poverty was more perceptible during 2005 to 2010. The report has been compiled by an Inter Agency and Expert group led by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat.
CHINAS EX -MINISTER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR POWER MISUSE
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Chinas former Railways Minister Liu Zhijun on 7 July 2013 was given a suspended death sentence for corruption and abuse of power. 60 years old Liu Zhijun was given the death sentence by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Peoples Court, which is conducting the trial. The combined punishment for Lius crimes includes death penalty with a two-year reprieve, deprival of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal. Liu Zhiju was charged with accepting bribes of around 10.53 million dollars for over 25 years. Liu Zhijun has headed the railways from 2003 to 2011, at same point when China had embarked on the high speed network linking different parts of the country. The death sentence of Zhijun will be judicially reviewed after two years time. Lius crime of bribery involves especially huge amount of money with especially serious circumstances, and his crime of abuse of power had caused colossal losses in the public assets, violating rights and interests of the state and the people. The rigid sentence against him comes in the wake of promise by Chinas new leadership headed by President Xi Jinping to crack down hard on corruption which they said threatened the over 60-year-old hold of the ruling Communist Party on China. As per the court during the period from 1986 to 2011, Liu Zhijun took advantage of his positions as official of local railway bureaus as well as the former Ministry of Railways, and helped 11 people, Shao Liping and Ding Yuxin included; win promotions, project contracts, and cargo transportation contracts. It was also found by the court that Liu Zhijun has helped them in the acquisition of shares in a bullet train wheel set company, and with enterprise financing, by breaking regulations and applying favoritism, which allowed Ding and her family to reap huge profits and inflicted colossal losses in the public assets, violating rights and interests of the state and the people.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN CHINA

Capital punishment in the China is usually given to offenders of serious and violent crimes, such as forced murder, but China retains in law a number of nonviolent capital offenses such as drug trafficking. Capital punishment in China is considered under classical Five Punishments of China's dynastic period. As per Chinese Philosophy, capital punishment was supported by the Legalists but its application was tempered by the Confucianists, who preferred rehabilitation over punishment, let alone capital punishment.
NORTH & SOUTH KOREA HELD TALKS TO RE-OPEN JOINT INDST. ZONE
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North and South Korea held talks on 6 July 2013 over re-opening a joint industrial zone seen as the last remaining symbol of cross-border reconciliation. The talks followed months of friction and threats of war by North Korea after its February nuclear test attracted tougher UN sanctions, deteriorating its economic situation. Kaesong was the most high-profile casualty of the elevated tensions on the Korean peninsula but neither country has declared the complex officially closed, instead referring to a temporary shutdown. Both nations stated that they wanted to reopen the Seoul-funded industrial zone on the North Korean side of the border but blame each other for its suspension. North Korea, citing military tensions and the South's hostility toward the North, in April withdrew its 53000 workers from the 123 South Korea-owned factories at the Kaesong Park. North and South Korea discussed issues of checking on mothballed factory facilities and equipment, moving finished products and raw materials held up at Kaesong to the South and the reopening of the zone. Re-opening a joint industrial zone is seen as the last remaining symbol of cross-border reconciliation.
VENEZUELA AND NICARAGUA OFFERED ASYLUM TO EDWARD SNOWDEN

Venezuela government on 6 July 2013 offered to give humanitarian asylum to US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, who is waiting at a Moscow airport for some nation to offer him sanctuary. Moments earlier, Nicaragua government also expressed its willingness to give asylum to the US fugitive, offering a glimmer of hope to Snowden, who has been in limbo at Moscow's international airport since 23 June 2013. Snowden has applied for asylum in 27 countries as he tries to evade American justice for disclosing a vast US electronic surveillance program. But his bids have been rebuffed by several European nations as well as Brazil and India. Edward Joseph Snowden is an American former technical contractor for the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and a former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He leaked details of top-secret US and British government mass surveillance programs such as PRISM to the press. Snowden was born on 21 June 1983.
IOR-ARC NATIONS AGREED TO PROMOTE TRADE

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India, Mauritius and other countries of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) on 5 July 2013 agreed to encourage open regionalism to promote trade and minimise the barriers. The Communique issued after conclusion of the 2-day IOR-ARC Economic and Business Conference in Port Louis urged member states to harmonise trade practices in line with international norms and take steps to minimise barriers. The communique, issued by Member States and Dialogue Partners of the IOR-ARC, was released at a joint press conference by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and Mauritian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade Arvin Boolell. IOR-ARC members include Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and UAE.
BACKGROUND
The Indian Ocean Rim defines a distinctive area in international politics consisting of coastal states bordering the Indian Ocean. It is a region of much diversity, in culture, race, religion, economic development, and strategic interests. The countries vary in the size of their populations, economies, trade, and technological development and in the composition of their GDP. A number of sub-regions are evident, for example Southern and Eastern Africa, Gulf of Aden, Oman Sea, South-Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australasia. It also includes a number of regional organisations, such as ASEAN, GCC, SAARC, and SADCC. After the Second World War, the decolonisation process ended British hegemony in the Indian Ocean. Superpower rivalry in the region escalated, due to the strategic importance of the area. The common historical experience of European imperialism had left a lasting impression on the leaders of states in the Indian Ocean region - of a sense of shared identity. The rediscovery of the past littoral economic, social and cultural community, of an ocean-centric regional cooperative grouping serving as a bridgehead between Africa, Asia and Australasia, therefore seemed only natural. In 1995, during a visit to India, President Nelson Mandela stated that the natural urge of the facts of history and geography should broaden itself to include the concept of an Indian Ocean Rim for socio-economic co-operation and other peaceful endeavors. Recent changes in the international system demand that the countries of the Indian Ocean shall become a single platform.
THE MIGHTY INDIAN OCEAN

The Indian Ocean is the world's third largest Ocean. It carries half of the world's container ships, one third of the bulk cargo traffic, two-thirds of the world's oil shipments. It is a lifeline of international trade and economy. The region is woven together by trade routes and commands control of the major sea-lanes. The Indian Ocean Rim constitutes between a quarter and a third of the world's population (close to two billion) which makes it a massive market. It is rich in strategic and precious minerals and metals and other natural resources, valuable marine
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resources ranging from food fisheries to raw material and energy for industries. It has abundant agricultural wealth in terms of the variety and mass of arable land and has significant human resources and technological capabilities. Many countries of the Rim are becoming globally competitive and are developing new capacities, which can be jointly harnessed through regional co-operation efforts.
INDIA AND VIETNAM SET UP JOINT PANEL FOR ICT SECTOR

India and Vietnam on 4 July 2013 have set up a six member joint committee to outline a plan for collaboration in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The representatives are each from the Department of Telecommunications, Deity as well as other higher posts. Vietnam will nominate three people and within two months it will come up with a collaboration plan for future. The Indian side has also asked Vietnam to set up an electronics cluster in the country in the form of a city. India has welcomed the idea of the business community investing in India in the electronics cluster side but the roadmap for that will be set once the joint committee meets and they set out specific programmes through which this collaboration will take place. The countries also signed two MoUs for partnership in the field of communications. It is worth mentioning here that Vietnam has great strengths in hardware but to become a software superpower they need collaboration with India on the software side and they already have been invited by India to collaborate on the hardware front.
IRISH LAWMAKERS BACKED BILL LEGALIZING ABORTION

Irish Lawmakers on 2 July 2013 voted to support the proposed law to allow abortion to the women in life threatening cases. The Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill of Ireland won 138 to 24 votes in favour and cleared decades long confusion over right of women to undergo abortions in extreme circumstances. The bill will now come up for final passage next week. As per the 1986 Constitutional ban in Ireland on abortion commits the Government to defend the life of the unborn and mother equally. But the law has been mixed-up since 1992 after the Supreme Court of Ireland ruled that the ban only meant that terminations should be legal if doctors deem one essential to safeguard the life of the woman including, most controversially, from her own suicide threats. Before the government of Prime Minister Enda Kenny, six governments refused to pass any such law supporting the recommendation of the Supreme Court Judgment by citing it as suicide-threat rule as open to abuse. The Pregnant women from Ireland during medical or psychological crises went down to England, where the practice has been legal, since 1967.
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The debate-on nations anti-abortion laws came into light after the death of the 31-year old Savita Halappanavar from India, who died from septicaemia following a miscarriage in October 2013.
KOSOVO INTRODUCED VISA REGIME FOR 87 COUNTRIES

Kosovo on 1 July 2013 started a visa regime for citizens of 87 countries, for the first time since it declared independence from Serbia. The prominent countries include China and Russia. The visa regime is directed towards protecting Kosovo from human trafficking and illegal migration. The selection of countries for providing visa to its citizens will be based on security threats for Kosovo and for international peace and stability. The list of 87 countries includes the UN Security Council permanent members who do not recognise Kosovo as an independent state and have been blocking its bid to become a UN member. Apart from Russia; Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine are the only European countries whose citizens are required to obtain a visa, as well as a number of Asian and African states, including Egypt, India, Indonesia and Pakistan. There is also a provision that citizens of some countries would be able to obtain a visa on Kosovos borders, while others would have to apply in a consulate. It is important here to note that Kosovo is region in southeastern Europe which was declared independence from Serbia in 2008. More than 100 countries, including the United States and all but five EU member states, have recognised its independence.
INDIA AND NEPAL AGREED ON COOPERATION IN TOURISM

Ministry of Tourism of India on 2 July 2013 agreed to a proposal from the visiting Tourism and Travel delegation from Nepal for joint publicity of India and Nepal as Tourist destinations in other countries. The Ministry also agreed to a suggestion for joint offering of Tour packages in third countries by tour operators of India and Nepal. The Nepalese delegation sought Indias cooperation in the development of Hotel Infrastructure in Nepal. They also suggested joint promotion and development of Buddhist Tourism sites in both the countries. The Indian side suggested joint venture with Nepal in Himalayan and Adventure Tourism. The above agreement will help in improving the tourism infrastructure both in India and Nepal.
S.ARABIA EXTENDED AMNESTY PERIOD FOR ILLEGAL FOREIGN WORKERS

Saudi Arabia on 2 July 2013 extended the amnesty Period by four more months which enables illegal foreign workers to regularise their status or return home without prosecution.
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The amnesty or grace period has been extended on the order of King Abdullah till 4 November 2013 which was due to expire on 3 July 2013. Saudi Arabia had announced an amnesty on 3 April 2013 granting foreign workers a threemonth grace period to regularise their residency or leave Saudi Arabia to avoid being jailed, fined or placed on a blacklist. The extension was highly welcomed by the embassies of Asian countries as most of the Country hails from these countries. The grace granted will be enough for Indians working in Saudi Arabia to regularise their status or leave. It is important here to note that foreign workers must have a Saudi sponsor in order to obtain residency permits and as per the under the new rules workers can be employed only by their own sponsors. These Rules mainly had an impact on low-paid workers, most of who are from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia, but with some from Yemen and Egypt as well. As per the Saudi Arabian labour ministry more than 1.5 million illegal foreign workers have come forward so far. Of these, some 180000 have left the kingdom in addition to more than 200000 unregistered workers expelled at the start of the year under new regulations to stamp out illegal immigration.
WHAT IS AMNESTY PERIOD?

It is period of grant extended by the government to a group or class of persons, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of persons who are subject to trial but have not yet been convicted. It usually includes more than grant in as much as it obscures all legal remembrance of the offense. The word Amnesty is more often used to express freedom and the time when prisoners can go free.
INDIA-CHINA TRADE DEFICIT REACHED 12 BILLION US DOLLARS

According to the data released by Chinese Customs, the India-China trade deficit increased by 34 percent to reach 12 billion US dollars in the first five months of the year, presenting a bleak picture for Indian exports as bilateral trade continued to decline, denting hopes of achieving a trade volume of 100 billion US dollars by 2015. The India-China bilateral trade touched 26.5 billion US dollars till May 2013. The trade deficit for India has widened year-on-year to 12 billion US dollars, up by 34 percent. The trade volume was lowered by over two billion US dollars compared to 2012. The trade deficit touched about 30 billion US dollars in 2012, causing concerns in India. While the Chinese exports registered marginal increase the bilateral trade numbers are falling.
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Exports have declined substantially while imports have risen marginally. Much to the disquiet of India, its main items of exports like cotton, iron ore and copper have continued their downward slide. Iron ore declined sharply by 76 percent to 595.42 million US dollars. Cotton and copper declined year-on-year by 40 percent to 1.39 billion US dollars and 24 percent to 688.53 million US dollars respectively. India's overall share in Chinese exports has dropped to under 1 percent from 1.33 percent, the data showed. Cotton yarn and diamonds are the other two exports that rounded off the top five. Cotton yarn is the sole bright spot showing a jump of 115 percent to reach a value of 740 million US dollars. Diamonds increased at a modest 14 percent to record 562.1 million US dollars. The Chinese exports to India maintained an even keel, rising by 2.7 percent year-on-year. The India-China trade deficit increased by 34 percent to reach 12 billion US dollars in the first five months of the year, presenting a bleak picture for Indian exports as bilateral trade continued to decline, denting hopes of achieving a trade volume of 100 billion US dollars by 2015.
CROATIA BECAME THE 28TH MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Croatia on 1 July 2013 became the 28th member of the European Union, with crowds joining celebrations in the capital Zagreb. It comes almost two decades after Croatia's brutal war of independence. Croatia's split from Yugoslavia caused a 1991-1995 war to secure its independence. Croatia had finished its accession negotiations on 30 June 2011 and it signed the Treaty of Accession in Brussels on 9 December 2011. It was followed by its approval through a national referendum on 22 January 2012. It completed its ratification process on 4 April 2012. Entry into force and accession of Croatia to the EU took place on 1 July 2013. It had applied for EU membership in 2003. Croatia is the first new EU member since Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007. After Slovenia, Croatia is the second former Yugoslav republic to join the EU.
EUROPEAN UNION (EU)

The European Union is an economic and political union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. The EU operates through a system of independent institutions and intergovernmental negotiated decisions by the member nations. 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, the European Central Bank, the Court of Auditors, and the
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European Parliament. The European Parliament is elected every five years by EU citizens. The EU's capital is Brussels. A monetary union, the eurozone, was set up in 1999 and it comprises 17 member states.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY A MEMBER STATE OF EU?

A member state of the European Union is a state or nation that is party to treaties of the European Union (EU) and thereby subject to the privileges and obligations of EU membership. Unlike the membership of an international organisation, EU membership places each member under binding laws in exchange for representation in the EU's legislative and judicial institutions. On the other hand, EU member nations exercise considerable autonomy compared to the constituent states of a federation, maintaining their national military and foreign policy.
WHAT IS COPENHAGEN CRITERIA?

According to the Copenhagen criteria, membership of the European Union is open to any European nation that is a stable, free market liberal democracy that respects the rule of law and human rights. The Copenhagen criteria are the rules that define whether a nation is eligible to join the European Union. These membership criteria were laid down at the June 1993 European Council in Copenhagen.
WORLD DAIRY
1 July 2013 The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Visually Impaired signed. Croatia became the 28th member of the European Union. Russia signed Anti-Gay Measures into law. Sydney Monorail came to an end after 25 years of service. 2 July 2013 Indian IPv6 Lab got approval from international body. India-China trade deficit reached 12 Billion US Dollars. 3 July 2013 www.jagranjosh.com
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Saudi Arabia extended amnesty period for illegal foreign workers. India and Nepal agreed on cooperation in tourism. Kosovo introduced visa regime for 87 countries. 4 July 2013 Irish lawmakers backed bill legalizing abortion in life-threatening cases. President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi ousted in a military coup. 5 July 2013 India and Vietnam set up joint panel for ICT sector. 6 July 2013 India, Mauritius and other nations of IOR-ARC agreed to promote trade. Venezuela and Nicaragua offered asylum to Edward Snowden. 7 July 2013
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North and South Korea held talks over re-opening joint industrial zone Kaesong. 8 July 2013 Chinas Ex-Minister sentenced to death for graft and power misuse. UN released Millennium Development Goals Report 2013. Malaysia withdraw bill allowing unilateral conversion of child. 9 July 2013 India and Iraq signed a pact to enhance co-operation in energy sector. India and Albania signed an Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon appointed Abdoulaye Bathily as Deputy Head of UN Mission in Mali. 10 July 2013 Hazem El-Beblawi named as new Prime Minister of Egypt. Japanese Royal Couple, the emperor and empress decided to visit India. Salman Khurshid visited Nepal, discussed key bilateral issues with top leaders.
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11 July 2013
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India and Tanzania signed Agreements on Bilateral Cooperation in several sectors. India agreed to co-operate Mongolia in renewable energy & HR development. U.S. Navy landed first unmanned aircraft carrier in Atlantic Ocean. President of Portugal approved reshuffled government. 12 July 2013 France and Switzerland signed New Inheritance Tax Deal. India has right to pursue exploration and exploitation work in South China Sea: Vietnam. United Nations Secretary General warned Myanmar to end Buddhist attacks on Rohingyas. 13 July 2013 Veteran actor Pran died due to prolonged illness. Typhoon Soulik stuck Taiwan, killed one and injured 21. 14 July 2013 China cancelled the nuclear processing plant in Guangdong Province. People's Democratic Party won the National Assembly Elections in Bhutan. 15 July 2013 Union Defence Ministry launched a website on NCC. India became the biggest buyer of Nigerias crude oil. Iran agreed to take all oil payments from India in Rupees. Bangladesh approved a Labour Law to boost worker rights. 16 July 2013 Sri Lanka banned film Flying Fish, claimed it insulted government and security forces. US Lawmakers proposed National Park on Moon. 17 July 2013 Britain honoured Krishna Menon by placing blue plaque on his first home in London.
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International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Ali Mohammed Mujaheed to death. 18 July 2013
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Bengaluru International Airport renamed as Kempegowda International Airport. Bono honoured with highest cultural award of France- the Commander of the Order. Nelson Mandela International Day observed on 18 July. 19 July 2013 India Emerged as the second largest investor in the city of London. 20 July 2013 Incheon was named as the World Book Capital for the Year 2015. Religious freedom for Hindus, Christians and Shia Muslims deteriorating in Pakistan: Report. China lifted control on banks and allowed them to set their own lending rates. 21 July 2013 India topped in the chart of Sri Lankas foreign visitors. Archeologists in Israel uncovered King David's Palace of Kingdom of Judea. 22 July 2013 Panel appointed by Interim President started Egypt Constitution amendment task. Japan's ruling coalition won majority in Upper House. Prince Philippe sworn in as the seventh king of Belgium. EU agreed to list the military wing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation. 23 July 2013 India and Nigeria signed agreement for solar power plants. 24 July 2013 14th Meet of Home Secretaries of India and Bangladesh concluded at New Delhi. Supreme Court of Pakistan directed election commission to hold presidential election. 25 July 2013
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India, Belarus signed protocol to enhance trade ties. USA decided to stop the delivery of Four F-16 Fighters to Egypt. India and China focussed on additional confidence building measures. 26 July 2013 Wikileaks founder Julian Assange launched political party in Australia. New Prince of Britain, the royal baby, named George Alexander Louis. 27 July 2013 Asian Countries sought Ban on Smokeless Forms of Tobacco 28 July 2013 Israel agreed to release 104 Palestinian prisoners. MERS, a New Respiratory Virus found in Saudi Arabia
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World Hepatitis Day 2013 observed with theme This is Hepatitis, Know it, confront it 29 July 2013 Cambodian Election 2013: Hun Sen's ruling Party claimed Victory Ilya Segalovich, the Co-Founder of Yandex Died at the Age of 48 Years 30 July 2013 Executive Programme for Cultural Cooperation Signed Between India and Senegal IMF approved 1.7 Billion Euros for Greece's Bailout Programme Saudi Arabia Awarded 22 Billion US Dollar Contracts for Development of Metro Line in Riyadh 31 July 2013 India and Afghanistan signed MoUs under SDP Scheme Mamnoon Hussain, the India-Born Pakistani Businessman, Elected as the President of Pakistan The US Senate Approved James Comey to be the Next Director of FBI Angelina Jolie Declared as the Highest Paid Actress of Hollywood by Forbes
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NATIONAL
GOVERNMENT LAUNCHED EMERGENCY CARE INITIATIVES ON NH-8
Oscar Farnandes, the Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways launched emergency care initiatives on 29 July 2013 on Gurgaon- Jaipur stretch of NH-8. For giving a boost to the emergency care of the accident victims, the Union Minister launched a pilot project for cashless treatment of accident victims on Gurgaon- Jaipur stretch of NH-8.
INITIATIVES LAUNCHED
Advance Life Support Ambulances: Oscar Farnandes flagged off six new Advance Life Support ambulances for the purpose of urgent and emergency transport of accident victims to the nearby hospitals. These Advance Life Support ambulances are supplied by the Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. Crash Investigation Vehicle: Apart from the ambulances, the Union minister also launched a Crash Investigation Vehicle. This is deployed by the National Automotive Testing research and Development Infrastructure Project (NATRIP) for scientific investigation of serious accidents on NH-8 by the team headed by Professor Anoop Chawla of IIT, Delhi. National Ambulance Code: Oscar Farnandes released the National Ambulance Code developed by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways by making use of the expertise of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, with the active participation of the automobile industry, the vehicle testing agencies and other stakeholders.
UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE PILOT PROJECT

A Toll free No.1033 to report accidents A 24X7X365 call centre to receive information about accidents and deploy the nearest ambulance by tracking through GPS device Local youth nominated by Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan as Road Safety Volunteers who were trained in First Aid by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways at All India Institute of Medical Sciences
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Cashless treatment of road accident victims at Gurgaon Jaipur stretch at 44 empanelled hospitals and 7 government hospitals located on the stretch Scientific investigation of serious accidents by a team headed by Prof. Anoop Chawla of IIT, Delhi, under a project sanctioned by Ministry of Heavy Industry & Public Enterprises in association with NATRIP
STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES FOR REQUIREMENTS OF AMBULANCES
CONSTRUCTIONAL
AND
FUNCTIONAL
In order to ensure the comfort as well as care of the patients, a few minimum standards as well as guidelines were also laid down for the purpose of constructional and functional requirements of ambulances. The category of First Responder, which also includes two wheeled ambulances, has been especially introduced for the first time in India in order to cater to the need for providing prompt medical care in congested by-lanes and high traffic areas. The construction of ambulances would take place according to the provisions of the Code mandatory under Central Motor Vehicles Rules.
CYBER CRIME OFFENDERS OF YOUNGER AGE GROUP RISING: NCRB

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Data between 2008 and 2011 depicted that around 60 percent of the people arrested for cyber crimes belonged to the age group of 18 to 30 years. The cyber crimes include activities such as forgery, obscene publications as well as hacking. The NCRB data revealed that from 2008 to 2011, 1184 people were arrested in context with the cyber crimes and that this number was on the rise. Additional Deputy Commissioner (Economic Offences Wing) SD Mishra explained that most of the offenders came from the younger generation age group and that these people were aware of various means and methods which can be used for exploiting the cyber space.
HACKING
The records, in the meanwhile, also revealed that the cases of hacking increased considerably from 2008 to 2011. There is an increase from 56 cases of hacking to 826 cases. Almost half of the people arrested in hacking cases belonged to the age group of 18 to 30 years. It is important to note that there is no special mention of hacking in the IT Act, 2000. But it is derived under the Section 66 of Computer Related offences, where there is a mention of maximum sentence of 3 years.
OBSCENE PUBLICATIONS
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The cases under the obscene publications reached to 496 in the year 2011 and 63.6 percent offenders came from 18-30 years of age group. The offence under obscene publication also has the sentence of three years imprisonment. It is important to mention here that the cases of obscene publications have increased tremendously, but still there hasnt been any case of child pornography.
FORGERY
The cases of forgery increased by more than 400 percent between 2008 and 2011. There was an increase in number of such reported cases over the time because of rising awareness. The number of reported cases in forgery increased, especially in case of financial losses. Most of such cases dealt with credit card frauds as well as Internet banking.
CYBER SECURITY ARMS

In those cases, where the involvement of unique data storage system as well as certain encryption code is required, the law enforcement agencies often make use of private security firms like Pyramid Cyber Security & Forensics. The Managing Director of Pyramid Cyber Security & Forensics Alok Gupta explained that in such cases there is a need of cooperation between the countries. He also referred to a cyber security agency known as IMPACT (International Multilateral Partnership against Cyber Crime). IMPACT is the Non-Profit organisation which has 195 countries as its members. IMPACT acts like the cyber security arm of UN and also helps in dealing with the cyber threats. Cyber Security can be under threat because of mobile devices, cloud adoption as well as malware without the signatures.
PLAN TO SET-UP A NEW MARINE TRAINING ACADEMY AT TUTICORIN

The Union Government of India on 27 July 2013 announced that it would set-up a Marine Training Academy at Tuticorin. The academy would be set-up through the Shipping Corporation of India in collaboration with the VO Chidambaram Port Trust. The announcement was made by Shipping Minister, GK Vasan at Chennai that the Ministry has already allocated 15 crore rupees for the development of the infrastructure for the academy. The first batch of the academy would commence from September or October 2013, with a batch of 40 students.
176.98 CRORE RUPEES SANCTIONED FOR KOLE LAND DEVELOPMENT

A sum of 176.98 crore Rupees has been sanctioned for development of Kole Land, announced by P. C. Chacko, MP and head of the Thrissur-Ponnani Kole Development Council.
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The first installment of Kole Development Package which comprises of 123.52 Crore that will be given from the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), sanctioned by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) on 19 July 2013.The Other installment is of 53.46 crore Rupees from the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). The total allocation for the kole package over three years will be 429 crore Rupees (300 crore from RIDF, 114 crore Ruees from RKVY and 15 crore Rupees from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research). The package is directed toward doubling rice production in Kole Land. It is important here to note that at present farmers are engage in oruppoo which is one harvest a year farming. This should be changed to Iruppoo (two harvests a year) cultivation. So in order to make Iruppoo farming possible new bunds will be constructed along a 126 km stretch. Thrissur-Ponnani Kole Development Council is working hard to eradicate the traditional irrigation systems in Kole land such as petti and para which had been found to be inefficient because of their high power consumption. Around 1000 such systems should be replaced by vertical flow pumps.
ABOUT KOLE WETLANDS

Kole wetlands cover an area of 13632 hectares in Thrissur and Malappuram districts. It is a Ramsar site, a wetland of international importance, designed under the Ramsar Convention. It accounts for about 40 per cent of the States rice production. They extend from the Chalakudy River in the south to the Bharathappuzha in the north.
RAILWAYS TO APPROACH UP AND HARYANA FOR RECOVERY OF LOSSES

The Supreme Court of India on 24 July 2013 directed the Railways to approach competent authorities in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for recovery of losses, suffered by it due to disruption of rail movements in the two states, in the wake of the Mirchpur violence in 2010. The court order came after it was told that, till now, no claim has been made for recovery of 40 crore rupees from Uttar Pradesh and 33 crore rupees from Haryana for the loss caused to Railways due to agitation in the two states. A bench comprising justices G S Singhvi and V Gopala Gowda directed the competent authority of Railways to lodge claim within two weeks to the concerned authorities.
POVERTY RATIO OF INDIA DECLINED TO 21.9 PERCENT

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Poverty Ratio in India declined to 21.9 percent in 2011-12 from 37.2 percent measured in 200405 on the basis of the increase in per capita consumption. The Planning Commission of India on 23 July 2013 released its report on the Poverty Estimates for 2011-12. The report was based on the Large Sample Surveys on Household Consumer Expenditure conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The National Poverty Line estimated for rural areas during 2011-12 was 816 rupees per capita per month, whereas, for urban areas it was recorded at 1000 rupees per capita per month. Thus, for a family of five, the all India poverty line in terms of consumption expenditure would amount to about 4080 rupees per month in rural areas and 5000 rupees per month in urban areas. These poverty lines would vary from State to State because of inter-state price differentials.
POVERTY ESTIMATES 2011-12

1. The all India poverty ratio is obtained as state-population weighted average poverty ratio, and the all India poverty line is the per capita per month expenditure that corresponds to the all India poverty ratio. 2. The NSSO tabulates expenditure of about 1.20 lakh households. Since these households have different number of members, the NSSO for purpose of comparison divided the household expenditure by the number of members to arrive at per capita consumption expenditure per month. This is called Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE) and is computed on the basis of three different concepts: a. Uniform Reference Period (URP) b. Mixed Reference Period (MRP)
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c. Modified Mixed Reference Period (MMRP).
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3. The national level poverty ratio based on comparable methodology (Tendulkar Method) for 1993-94, 2004-05 and 2011-12 estimated from Large Sample Survey of Household Consumer Expenditure data of 50th, 61st and 68th round respectively are given in the image. 4. The percentage of persons below the Poverty Line in 2011-12 has been estimated as 25.7 percent in rural areas, 13.7 percent in urban areas and 21.9 percent for the country as a whole. The respective ratios for the rural and urban areas were 41.8 percent and 25.7 percent and 37.2 percent for the country as a whole in 2004-05. It was 50.1 percent in rural areas, 31.8 percent in urban areas and 45.3 percent for the country as a whole in 1993-94. In 2011-12, India had 270 million persons below the Tendulkar Poverty Line as compared to 407 million in 2004-05, that is a reduction of 137 million persons over the seven year period. 5. The decline in poverty flows from the increase in real per capita consumption. The per annum increase in real MPCE for each of the ten deciles. The clear inferences are a. The real MPCE increased by much more in the second period (2004-05 to 201112) as compared to the first (1993-94 to 2004-05) b. That the increase was fairly well distributed across all deciles of the population c. The distribution was particularly equitable in rural areas The ratio is based on the methodology that was suggested by the Suresh Tendulkar Committee that suggests the factors in money spent on health and education besides calorie intake to fix a poverty line. As per Tendulkar Methodology, the poverty line has been expressed in terms of MPCE based on Mixed Reference Period. Since several representations were made suggesting that the Tendulkar Poverty Line was too low, the Planning Commission, in June 2012, constituted an Expert Group under the Chairmanship of Dr. C. Rangarajan to once again review the methodology for the measurement of poverty. The report on the recommendation on poverty line made by Tendulkar Committee from the Rangarajan committee is likely to be submitted by mid 2014.
CENTRAL SUPERVISORY BOARD MEET HELD ON PC & PNDT ACT

The 21st meeting of the Central Supervisory Board (CSB) was held on 23 July 2013 in New Delhi. The meeting was held on PC & PNDT Act, i.e., on Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act. The meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare. The Ministry, in the meanwhile, is also taking the initiatives for increasing engagement with States in order to address challenges for the implementation of PC & PNDT Act. According to
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the Annual Health Survey 2011, Sex Ratio at Birth in urban areas is lower than the rural areas except in the state of Rajasthan. In India, there is still the preference of a male child and discrimination against the girl child. In order to deal with the challenges of socio-cultural attitudes, a comprehensive and innovative and Information, Education and Communication (IEC) strategy has been started in order to promote the positive attitude for ensuring protection as well as survival of a girl child. Under the PC&PNDT Act, out of 288 cases filed in the year 2012, 116 convictions were secured. Also, the licenses of 53 doctors were suspended by the State Medical Councils. It is important to note that 30 crore Rupees have already been provided to States under the National Rural Health Mission for PNDT related activities during the 2013-14 financial year.
SC DIRECTED GOVERNMENT TO ENFORCE TOBACCO AD RULES AT SHOPS

The Supreme Court of India on 22 July 2013 directed the Union Government of India to enforce rules on the advertisement of tobacco products at all the sales outlet which prohibits the display of those ads which are larger than 60 cm x 45 cm. A Bench headed by Justice G. S. Singhvi nullified the interim order of the Bombay High Court, while staying the implementation of the Point of Sale Rules or Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Rules of 2004 in order to regulate the advertisements at those shops which sell the tobacco products. The Apex Court, in the meanwhile, also criticized the Union Government for being shrewd with the tobacco lobby, especially when thousands of people die of cancer every day. The Bench expressed its concern over the way the Union Government handled the case in High Court, which in 2005 stayed implementation of the rules. In an interim order passed in the year 2005, the High Court had stayed implementation of Point of Sale Rules of tobacco products. According to the Point of Sale Rules, every board in an Indian language shall contain the warnings saying tobacco causes cancer or tobacco kills. This should be prominently visible on the display that measures 20 cm x 15 cm. The Apex Court passed this order on the Public Interest Litigation filed by an NGO called Health for Millions, which challenged that the rules should be strictly implemented as a part of Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC), wherein, India should impose serious and comprehensive ban on all the promotion, advertisements as well as sponsorship of tobacco products in order to bring down the rate of tobacco consumption globally.
REC EXTENDED CSR SUPPORT UNDER SUPER 30 INITIATIVE

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Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), a Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Power, on 18 July 2013 promised financial assistance to provide free one year residential JEE/IIT coaching and mentoring 20 underprivileged meritorious students from Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi under the Abhayanand Super 30 initiative. REC did this as part of its CSR initiative. The Programme is expected to help the aspiring students to successfully compete and gain admission in prestigious engineering colleges of the country. This initiative, co-founded by Abhayanand, presently Director General of Police, Bihar, for providing free coaching to 30 students of Bihar, has achieved high success rates, and over the years, has expanded to become the National Super 100, by providing coaching to 100 students from underprivileged sections of society in seven centres across the country, with the vision of transforming the lives of deserving children with little or no means. The selection of the students is done through transparent procedure.
LAND RIGHTS TO WOMEN NATIONAL LAND REFORM POLICY DRAFT 2013

The Union Government of India proposed land reforms for acknowledging the women rights and giving the ownership to rural poor women, according to the National Land Reform Policy Draft 2013 formulated by Union Ministry of Rural Development released on 18 July 2013.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DRAFT

In all Government land transfers, womens claims should be directly recognized. According to the new policy, all new land distribution among landless poor families will be in the womens name. In all land distribution schemes (land related to surplus land, custodial land, or under the land ceiling act), the land should be distributed to rural landless women workers. The policy recommends 50 percent of land holdings given to forest communities should go to women. Under the policy, elderly women and widows too would gain title to land. The policy advises the states to consider the adoption of a group approach in land cultivation. Thus, group titles to womens group should be granted. The policy also asked the state to assess all uncultivated arable land with the Government, and give womens groups such land in the long term for group cultivation.
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WOMEN AND LAND
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Women constitute nearly 40 percent of the agricultural workforce in the country. More importantly, 75 percent of all female workforce and 85 percent of all rural female workforce in the country at present, was involved in agriculture. In recent days, rural households are increasingly becoming female headed households, due to widowhood, desertion, or male out-migration. The Eleventh Five Year Plan recognised that agricultural productivity was increasingly getting dependent on the ability of women to function effectively as farmers and strongly, and had also recommended to ensure effective and independent land rights for women. The Twelfth Five Year Plan emphasised on enhancing womens land access from all three sources- direct government transfers, purchase or lease from the market and inheritance. The land rights can serve multiple functions in rural womens lives and would empower them to challenge the socio-economic and political inequalities prevalent in the ruralsemi feudal society.
PARLIAMENT TO RATIFY INDIRA-MUJIB PACT OF 1974

The Government of India informed the Bangladesh regarding the ratification of 1974 IndiraMujib pact, during the home secretary-level talks on 19 July 2013. Indian Government informed that it wanted to ratify the 1974 Indira-Mujib pact for demarcation of boundaries and for exchange of 161 adversely held enclaves with a population of about 50000 people. For implementation of Indira-Mujib pact, Indian Government will have to introduce a Constitutional Amendment Bill in parliament according to Indian Constitution. The Government of India is planning to bring a constitutional amendment Bill during the forthcoming monsoon session, beginning August 5 2013, for implementation of the Indo-Bangla land boundary agreement. Bangladesh Parliament has already approved the land boundary deal, India needs to introduce a constitutional amendment bill because its implementation involves territory swap.
INDIRA-MUJIB PACT 1974
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In 1974, India and Bangladesh entered into an agreement on borders. Popularly known as Indira-Mujib Pact, the two signatories of the pact were the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the Bangladesh Prime Minister Mujib-ur-Rehman. This agreement sought to cover the demarcation of the land boundary between the two countries and other related issues. Article 5 of the Agreement stipulated that: This agreement shall be subject to ratification by the Governments of India and Bangladesh and Instruments of Ratification shall be exchanged as early as possible. The Agreement shall take effect from the date of the exchange of the Instruments of Ratification. On 28 November 1974 Bangladesh Parliament had passed the Constitution (Third Amendment) Act, 1974 ratifying the Indira Mujib Accord.
CYBER SECURITY INITIATIVE PUT ON FAST TRACK BY NSA

In a bid to counter cyber attacks in economic and social infrastructure development, the Government of India on 19 July 2013, released the Guidelines for Protection of National Critical Information Infrastructure. These guidelines were placed in public domain. The first version of the guidelines was released on 19 July 2013 by National Security Adviser, Shivshankar Menon. The detailed document was prepared by the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) that functions as a specialised unit under the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO). Indias new guidelines are an extension of a legislative recognition under the IT Act 2000.
GUIDELINES COVERAGE
In India, the guidelines would initially include information and communications, transportation, energy, finance, technology, law enforcement, security and law enforcement, Government, space and sensitive organizations. The guidelines present 40 controls for protection of critical information infrastructure across sectors. These are generic and guiding controls, with each individual sector being left to evolve their own sector-specific controls. Guidelines have been formulated through a multi-stakeholder Joint Working Group (JWG) consisting of representatives from the Government, academia and private sector. Joint Working Group was created under the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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The JWG held wide consultations with sector experts and regulators across the key sectors before finalising the guidelines. The cyber-security initiative is unique since given the vast ownership of the private sector of networks, infrastructure and consumers in telecom, Internet, banking, civil aviation, energy and transport sectors. All owners of different networks and users will need to actively collaborate with the NCIIPC, as well as participate to ensure effective implementation of the guidelines.
FACTS AND FIGURES

The Government figures revealed that India was the 10th most intensely cyber-attacked country in 2010-11. However in 2013 India stood second only to the U.S. In India internet users and mobile phones are rising dramatically -from 202 million users in March 2010 to 412 million in March 2011 and 485 million in March 2012. According to 2013 figures, India is second only to China in the number of devices connected to the Net.
SC: NOTICE TO UTTARAKHAND FOR FAILURE TO IMPLEMENT DMA

The Supreme Court of India on 19 July 2013 issued notice to Uttarakhand and six other states for their alleged failure in implementing Disaster Management Act (DMA) in order to handle natural catastrophe. A bench headed by Justice AK Patnaik sought response from the Union government, the states and the Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands on a PIL alleging that governments have failed to implement in true spirit the Act, which was passed in 2005. The six other states which have been issued notice are Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Gujarat.
WHAT IS DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACT?

It is an Act to provide for the effective management of disasters and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. It was enacted by Parliament of India in the Fifty-sixth Year of the Republic of India (2005). The major points related to Disaster Management Act are This Act is called the Disaster Management Act, 2005. It extends to the whole of India.
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It shall come into force on such date as the Union Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette appoint; and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act and for different States, and any reference to commencement in any provision of this Act in relation to any State shall be construed as a reference to the commencement of that provision in that State.
PSC ON FINANCE FINALISED GST REPORT

The Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Finance on 19 July 2013 finalised its report on Goods and Services Tax (GST) which will be tabled in Parliament in the monsoon session beginning 5 August 2013. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, was introduced in Parliament in 2010, and is being scrutinized by the Standing Committee on Finance. It is now decided that the states and the Centre would together going to finalise the draft and will bring it back to Parliament. The proposed GST is basically intended at bringing in a common tax regime for goods and services by subsuming most indirect taxes. GST will directed help in increasing the revenue collections. It is important here to note that the GST roll-out has missed several deadlines due to differences between the states and the Centre over contentious issue of central sales tax, compensation to states and design of GST structure. The Constitution Amendment Bill is being drafted. It is being placed before the Council of Ministers on 22 July 2013.
SUGGESTION OF THE GST PANEL

The panel has suggested that the government look into the issue of revenue loss due to implementation of GST regime in case of higher resource mobilising states. The panel has also suggested that the Centre should prepare a framework for the GST regime in which the revenue generating states should be adequately compensated. The panel will also look after the gas pricing issue.
GOVT APPROVED CREATION OF STRIKE CORPS ALONG CHINA BORDER

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on 17 July 2013 gave an approval to the proposal of Army to raise a Mountain Strike Corps along the entire Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. The committee also gave its go ahead to deployment of 50000 additional troops along the border with China at an expense of 65000 crore rupees. The Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cleared the proposal after a meet. The proposal got the clearance from CCS after the return of Defence Minister, A.K. Antony from Beijing. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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This would be the fourth Strike Corp of India and has been designed mainly for offensive operations into enemy land, whereas, the mountain corps is the first dedicated strike corps for offensive mountain warfare. The other three strike corps in existence is based close to border of Pakistan and is armed to fight land battle. The existing Strike Corps in the force include the 1, 2 and 21 Corps. As per the proposed plan, the Mountain Strike Corps will have its headquarters at Panagarh in West Bengal with two of its divisions in Bihar and Assam and other units from Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh. For the first time, this strike corps would provide India the capability to launch offensive action into the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). For rapid reaction, the corps will have two high-altitude divisions also. In 2009-10, two new infantry divisions at Lekhapani and Missamari were raised in Assam and are tasked for defending Arunachal Pradesh. To enhance the missile and fighter capabilities along the borders of China, India is looking forward for development of infrastructure to match-up with the military capabilities of China. Whereas, China by now has developed five fully-operational airbases, 58000 km of roads an extensive rail network along the Indian border and. Following the provisions of plan, Indian Air Force (IAF) would deploy assets of force multiplier mid-air refueling tankers, C-130J Super Hercules Special operations Aircraft at the headquarters of Strike Corps at Panagarh. The Army will also get a number of new armoured and artillery divisions along with it to be deployed along the Northeast region.
SC REFUSED TO REDUCE THE AGE OF JUVENILE FROM 18 TO 16 YEARS

The Supreme Court of India on 17 July 2013 refused to reduce the age of juvenile from 18 to 16 years and dismissed a plea that minors involved in heinous crimes should not be protected under the law. A bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir ruled that interference in the Juvenile Justice Act is not necessary and dismissed a batch of PILs which were filed in the aftermath of the 16 December 2012 brutal gang-rape and murder case in which a minor was also allegedly involved. In the wake of the huge hue and cry over the alleged involvement of the minor in the 16 December 2012 case, a batch of PILs was filed in the apex court pleading that the Act should be amended and a minor, involved in heinous crimes, should not be protected under the law. The plea in the apex court was opposed by various child activists, including former Chairman of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights Amod Kanth.
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On 16 December 2012, a 23-year-old girl was brutally gang-raped and assaulted in a moving bus allegedly by six persons, one of whom is a minor and is facing proceedings before a Juvenile Justice Board which is scheduled to pronounce its verdict on 25 July 2013.
UNION CABINET APPROVED AMENDMENTS TO MARRIAGE LAW

Union Cabinet on 17 July 2013 approved amendments to the marriage law enabling a married woman to get a share of her husband's ancestral property as reparation in case of a divorce. The Bill is now expected to come up for channel in the Monsoon Session of Parliament in August 2013. The decision was taken to make marriage law more women friendly and to decide how sufficient compensation can be given to a woman from her husband's ancestral property in case of divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. The Group of Ministers was asked to take a view on whether a judge can exercise discretion in granting divorce if one of the partners does not move a second joint application for divorce with mutual consent. The GoM also discussed the issue of allowing courts to decide on doing away with the mandatory six-month waiting period for couples seeking divorce through a joint petition by mutual consent. As per the bill the woman should get adequate compensation by calculating the husband's share in the event that ancestral property cannot be divided.
PLAN SCHEME-DEVELOPMENT COMM AND INFO DISSEMINATION

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 17 July 2013 approved the proposal of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to implement the Plan Scheme -Development Communication and Information Dissemination during the 12th Plan period with an outlay of 630 crore Rupees. The plan aims at making people aware of the benefits of different Government schemes to help them realize the benefits of the schemes to maximum possible extent. To implement the scheme, various media units of the I&B Ministry will use different routes like outdoor publicity, electronic and print media, Public Information Campaigns, press tours, conducted tours, people to people contact, special outreach programmes, live art and culture shows, the new media and others.
NTCC CAMPAIGN CALLED TEARS YOU APART LAUNCHED

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India launched the nation-wide National Tobacco Control Campaign (NTCC) known as - Tears You Apart. The aim of the campaign is to raise the public awareness regarding dangers of smokeless tobacco which is consumed by millions of Indians every day.
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WHAT IS SMOKELESS TOBACCO?
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Smokeless tobacco is the most commonly used kind of tobacco in India. This kind of tobacco is used mostly by the lower socioeconomic groups as well as women. Smokeless tobacco comprises of gutkha, zarda, paan masala, paan with tobacco, and khaini. The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) revealed that around 21 crore Indians make use of the smokeless tobacco. In India, 26 percent of adults consume smokeless tobacco. 33 percent of males as well as 18.4 percent of females consume smokeless tobacco.
ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN
NATIONAL
TOBACCO
CONTROL
National Tobacco Control Campaign has been developed with the technical assistance from World Lung Foundation. This campaign will provide support to the ongoing efforts of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare for Implementation of the Food Safety and Standard Authority (FSSAI) regulation that prohibits use of tobacco or nicotine in any food product. Around 33 states as well as union territories have already issued the instructions for the implementation of this regulation. According to this regulation, the production, sale as well as storage of the pan masala and gutkha which contain tobacco is strictly prohibited.
SC REFUSED TO REDUCE JUVENILE AGE FROM 18 TO 16 YEARS

The Supreme Court of India on 17 July 2013 refused to reduce the age of Juvenile from 18 years to 16 years and dismissed the plea that said minors involved in heinous crimes should not be protected under the law. The decision of the Apex Court came from the Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, Altamas Kabir. The bench dismissed all the PILs demanding reduction of Juveniles age filed after Delhi gang-rape in the moving bus and murder case that happened on 16 December 2012 (a minor was also allegedly involved in the case). The court in its decision said that interference in Juvenile Justice Act was not necessary. The minor involved in the gang-rape incident in the moving bus at present is facing proceedings before the Juvenile Justice Board. The board has scheduled to pronounce its decision on 25 July 2013. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000: was passed on 30 December 2000 as an act to consolidate and amend the law relating to juveniles in conflict with law and www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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children in need of care and protection, by providing for proper care, protection and treatment by catering to their development needs, and by adopting a child-friendly approach in the adjudication and disposition of matters in the best interest of children and for their ultimate rehabilitation through various institutions established under this enactment.
SYSTEM FOR ELECTRONIC TRANSFER OF FUNDS LAUNCHED

The Department of Food & Public Distribution on 16 July 2013 launched the system of electronic transfer of funds to ensure quick and direct transfer of funds to its beneficiaries. The electronic transfer would help in bringing in more efficiency in the financial working of the department. The Department of Food and Public Distribution has a major role to play in the payment of subsidies particularly Food and Sugar covering a substantial amount of Budget outflow. The Department of Food & Public Distribution and Reserve Bank of India have implemented the electronic payment system of the computerized accounting in partnership with the National Informatics Centre. The STQC Directorate of IT department has certified the electronic payment system as fully secured. This system will serve as the middleware between the COMPACT (the accounting application) for processing of bill and Core Banking Solutions (CBS) for the bank as well as the RBI. This secured mode of making the payments online, would be time saving and eliminate physical cheques and their manual processing. Sudhir Kumar, Secretary of the Department of Food & Public Distribution launched the Electronic Transfer of Funds.
PRANAB MUKHERJEE LAUNCHED KISAAN PORTAL

President Pranab Mukherjee on 16 July 2013 launched a Kisaan Portal for sending SMS through mobile phones to the farmers across the country. The SMS initiative is an instant and non-intruding medium communication enabling the farmers to take informed decision relating to different aspects of farming and weather forecasts. The Kisaan Portal directly aimed at spreading information, advisories and services through SMS to more than 12 crore farmers across the country. Farmers will need to register for this service by calling Kisaan Call Centre on the toll free number 1800-180-1551 or through the web portal. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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ADVANTAGES OF THE SMS ADVISORIES
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The SMS advisories and alerts is supposed to help farmers in taking informed decisions relating to different aspects of farming including crop production and marketing, animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries. The farmers can opt to receive SMS messages customized to their specific requirements. Weather forecast SMS and alerts will enable farmers in planning, farming operations effectively and taking the best suited action to deal with adverse weather conditions. Advisories on disease/pest outbreak will also help the farmers immensely to take immediate actions to secure their crops and animals. Advisories on best practices, such as selection of better suited crop variety/ animal breed, will lead to better farm productivity and higher income to the farmers. Timely market information will be provided through SMS ad will give the farmer better bargaining power which in turn assist farmers in taking better decisions about sale of his produce. SMS advisories will also include soil test results, selection of fertilizer and its dosage, and also information on various programmes so that farmers can make the best use of assistance and know-how being made available by the Government.
PMS MONITORING GROU P CLEARED 4 PROJECTS

The Prime Ministers Project Monitoring Group in second week of July 2013 has cleared four projects worth 8000 crore rupees. The two of project approved are from the power sector. Earlier in first week of July 201 11 power projects were cleared which involved an investment of 52300 crore Rupees. The Project Monitoring Group (PMG) was set up in the Cabinet Secretariat in June 2013 and is basically a facilitating body for slowed down projects serving as a platform to bring together all ministries involved with projects not taking off.
IMPORTANT POINTS WITH RESPECT TO THE CLEARANCE OF PROJECTS

Bank funds worth an approximate 7 lakh crore Rupees are locked in projects that are stuck due to various reasons. The power projects given clearance include Mejia TPP DBC with a generating capacity of 500 MW with investments worth 2500 crore Rupees and Raghunathpur TPP DBC with a generating capacity of 600 MW with investments worth 3000 crore Rupees. Both the projects were stucked due to un-availability of coal and have now signed coal supply agreements with Coal India Ltd. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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The two other projects that were cleared were stuck due to non-clearance by the Environment Ministry.
SC: OWNERSHIP OF MINERALS TO BE VESTED WITH OWNER OF LAND

The Supreme Court of India on 14 July 2013 ruled that the ownership of minerals should be vested with the owner of the land and not with the government. A three-judge (division) bench headed by Justice RM Lodha noted that there is no law in the country which declares that State is the owner of sub-soil or mineral wealth. Referring to various acts regulating extraction of underground natural resources, the bench said that the laws do not anywhere declare the proprietary right of the State. It ruled that the assertion of government to collect duty or tax is in the realm of the sovereign authority, but not a proprietary right. The court passed the order on a petition filed by a few land owners of Kerala challenging the verdict of the high court which had passed the order in favour of the state government. The court rejected the argument that individual owners cannot claim any proprietary right on the sub-soil resources because Section 425 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, does not allow carrying out of any mining activity in India except in accordance with a permit, licence or mining lease. The right of government to collect duty or tax comes under the sovereign authority; however it is not a proprietary right.
UNION CABINET OF IND IA APPROVED SETTING UP OF A NAU

The Union Cabinet of India on 11 July 2013 gave its approval to the proposal for setting up of a National Aviation University (NAU) in the name of Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University at the District of Rae Bareli in the State of U.P. as a Central University.The Cabinet also approved the proposal to introduce the Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University Bill, 2013 in the Parliament; to create a post of Vice Chancellor (with pay scales on the pattern of Central Universities) by selection through a Search and Selection Committee headed by Cabinet Secretary with members representing Ministries of Civil Aviation, Personnel & Training and Human Resource Development and for creation of a temporary post in the grade of Joint secretary to Government of India for the position of Project Director which would be filled up on deputation basis. The Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University will be established as a Central University and as an autonomous body under the administrative control of Ministry of Civil Aviation in Rae Bareli District of U.P. with an estimated Central Government`s funding of 202 crore rupees in Phase-l
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(2013-14 to 2018-19) on the land available with Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy (IGRUA), a Society set up as an autonomous body under Ministry of Civil Aviation) in Rae Bareli District of U.P. About 26.35 acres of land available with IGRUA has been identified for setting up of NAU in its first phase. A skilled and competent workforce is essential to create a safe and efficient aviation industry. Despite existence of a large number of private institutions in India that provide aviation education and training, there is general consensus amongst stakeholders that the number of programmes offered, depth of course content and infrastructure facilities available with them are not sufficient to meet the industry requirements. It is therefore, necessary to establish National Aviation University to cater to the growing educational and training requirements of the civil aviation sector. The National Aviation University aims to facilitate and promote aviation studies, teaching, training and research with focus on emerging areas of studies such as aviation management, aviation regulation and policy, aviation history, aviation science and engineering, aviation law, aviation safety and security, aviation medicine, search and rescue, transportation of dangerous goods, environmental studies and other related fields, and also to achieve excellence in these and connected fields in emerging areas and such areas as may emerge in future. The University will also be a knowledge partner to safety and security regulators by providing required academic inputs to help them execute their enforcement responsibility better.
BACKGROUND
In 2006, the Kaw Committee had recommended setting up of a National Aviation University in India. The 12th Five Year Plan Document has also made a similar recommendation to augment qualified and trained manpower for aviation sector in India. Based on a Detailed Project Report submitted by Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Planning Commission granted In Principle Approval for setting up of National Aviation University in India.
CABINET GAVE ITS APPROVAL FOR REPEAL OF RENT ACT IN DELHI

The Union Cabinet on 11 July 2013 gave in-principle approval to withdraw the controversial Rent Act of 1958 and to replace it with a new law under which rent in New Delhi will be linked to inflation. The Rent Act of 1958 was required to be replaced by legislation in 1995 but that was not notified even after enactment because of the huge controversy with tenants as they went angry over it. The Act of 1995 was to replace the ancient law of 1958 that protected the migrant population from uninformed rent hikes by landlords. It has been seen that the law, while giving protection to the tenants who pay trivial rent, was seen as serving as a mechanism for harassment of landlords who became helpless and could not increase rent despite enormous inflation.
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PERSON IN JAIL OR POLICE CUSTODY CANNOT CONTEST ELECTIONS: SC

The Supreme Court in its landmark Judgement on 11 July 2013 barred Persons in Jail or Police Custody from contesting election for legislative bodies. The Supreme Courts decision would help in bringing an end to the era of the under trial politicians, who contest elections from behind the bars. The Supreme Court ruled that only an elector can contest the polls and the elector ceases the right to cast vote due to confinement in prison or being in custody of Police. The court, however, made it clear that disqualification will not be applicable to person subjected to preventive detention, under any law. The Supreme Court Bench that comprised Justice AK Patnaik and Justice SJ Mukhopadhayay, while referring to the Representation of Peoples Act said that the Act (Section 4 & 5) lays down the qualifications for membership of the House of the People and Legislative Assembly and one of the qualifications laid down is that he must be an elector. The court passed the order on an appeal filed by the Chief Election Commissioner and others challenging the order of Patna High Court that barred people in Police custody from contesting polls. The Judgement of the Supreme Court has confirmed 2004 ruling of the Patna High Court that said if - a jailed person cant vote, than a jailed person cant contest election. The Apex Court supported the decision of Patna High Court by quoting We do not find any infirmity in the findings of the High Court in the impugned common order that a person, who has no right to vote by virtue of the provisions of sub-section (5) of section 62 of the 1951 Act is not an elector and is, therefore, not qualified to contest the election to the house of the people or the legislative assembly of a state,. The SC Bench in its Judgement cited Section 62(5) of the Representation of People Act, 1951 (Acts of Parliament) that no person shall vote in any election if he is confined in a prison, whether under a sentence of imprisonment or transportation or otherwise, or is in the lawful custody of the police. Reading sections 4, 5 and 62(5) together, the apex court came to the conclusion that a person in jail or police custody cannot contest election. Comment: This decision of the Supreme Court would bar the criminal elements from entering the Parliament and State Assemblies and keep the house clean. The judgement may change the future of Indian Politics in the coming time.
GOVT APPROVED PROPOSAL TO REPLACE DGCA WITH NEW REGULATOR

The Union government on 11 July 2013 approved a proposal to replace DGCA with a new aviation regulator with full operational and financial autonomy. The new regulatory body would be named the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and is meant to replace the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
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The CAA is being established to meet the standards set by UNs International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and in line with aviation regulators in other countries like the Federal Aviation Administration of the US and the UKs CAA. The decision to come with new aviation regulator was taken considering that that DGCA had some degree of limited delegation of financial powers and therefore was quite unable of making adequate structural changes to meet the demands of a dynamic civil aviation sector.
FUNCTION CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY WILL PERFORM

CAA would deal with matters relating to financial stress on safety of air operations, as witnessed in connection with the bankrupt Kingfisher Airlines in October 2012. They will also deal with Issues relating to consumer protection and environment regulations in civil aviation sector as per the draft legislation. The other major Function of Civil Aviation Authority will be to administer and regulate civil aviation safety and manage safety error over air transport operators, air service navigation operators and operators of other civil aviation facilities.
GOVT ANNOUNCED DISBANDING OF THE THREE DRDA

The Union government on 10 July 2013 announced disbanding of the Rural Development Agency (DRDA), the body which looks after implementation of anti-poverty programmes of Rural Development Ministry. The agency will now be given a new function to perform its role under zila parishads, the local elected bodies at the district level. The decision to disband the DRDA was taken on the recommendation of a committee represented under the chairmanship of V Ramchandran, Chairman-Emeritus and Centre for Management Development, Thiruvananthapuram with the purpose of strengthening and professionalising DRDA to meet the challenge of rural development in the present context. The District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) were set up as independent societies in 1980 and since then have been principal organs at the district level to oversee the implementation of the ministry's anti-poverty programmes. The DRDA is supposed to function now as professional units, professional cells, and professional divisions of the zila parishads and will not have a separate independent, autonomous existence through the Society's Act. The government in its announcement asserted that, as of 1 April 2014, the DRDAs as constituted under the Society's Act will not exist instead there would be state rural development agencies to deal with the issues like staffing and functioning of the district rural development planning units.
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UNION GOVERNMENT HIKED SUGAR IMPORT DUTY TO 15 PERCENT

The Union Government in July 2013 hiked the import duty on sugar to 15 per cent from the present 10 per cent to restrain cheaper inflow of the sweetener into the country. The hike in import duty is meant to stabilise sugar prices which in turn help the millers to make cane payments, which at present is estimated at 9000 crore Rupees. The hike on the duty of raw and refined sugar imports has come into effect from 8 July 2013. The decision was taken followed with the representations by sugar co-operatives and farmers to hike the import duty as a pessimistic trend in realisations has not only hurt the millers but also the cane payments to farmers. The sugar cooperatives on the other hand had demanded to make the hike to 30 percent and had urged government to check imports under open general license. The sugar co-operative think that the inflow of cheaper sugar from countries such as Brazil and Pakistan was influencing the domestic prices. The recent de-control of sugar sales announced by the Centre has not helped the millers to clear up the cane dues as ample supplies in the market have kept the prices of sweetener for quite some time now. The increase in imports is despite the domestic output estimated at around 24.5 million tonnes against the demand for 22.5 mt. According to industry estimates, the opening sugar balance for the next season starting October is estimated at around 8 million tonnes. The other major concern is that millers are unable to export the surplus sugar as international prices are ruling lower than domestic prices.
GOVT ANNOUNCED 20% CUT IN HAJ QUOTA

Government on 8 July 2013 announced a 20 per cent cut in Haj quota, putting the entire burden to be borne by private tour operators. With the cutting down of Haj Quota, the private tour operator will now observe their share going down to a meager 9995 from 45000. The cutting down of haj quota was taken into consideration after the India-Saudi Arabia Bilateral Agreement on Haj 2013 which was signed on 16 March 2013 in Jeddah. As per the agreement, the Haj 2013 quota for India was of 170025 seats, comprising 125025 seats for pilgrims facilitated by the Haj Committee of India (HCOI), Mumbai and 45000 for pilgrims through private tour operators (PTOs). In June 2013, the Saudi authorities informed Ministry of External Affairs that they had imposed a 50 per cent reduction in the Hajj 2013 quota on local (Saudi) applicants and 20 per cent on all foreign Haj pilgrims as to carry on the smooth progress of the infrastructure work which is
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being carried out around the Haram Sharif and to keep the area safe and secure for the pilgrims. So, keeping it into consideration it was decided 20 per cent reduction (34005 seats) for Hajj 2013 by the Saudi Government out of the existing quota (45000) of private tour operators. It is worth mentioning here that cancellations by Haj Committee of India (HCOI) pilgrims till date will be transferred to the eligible Hajj 2013 PTOs, to the extent possible as the most Haj HCOI pilgrims of around 123511 are first time pilgrims from this year. Haj through HCOI is restricted to only once in a life time against the previous once in five years. The eligible Hajj 2013 PTOs are yet to be announced.
WOMEN OFFICERS TO BE INDUCTED IN BSF FOR FIRST TIME

The government of India for the first time in Month of July 2013 has given its nod for recruitment and commissioning of women officers in BSF, the border guarding force. As per the BSF, Young women under and up to the age of 25 years will be recruited as direct entry officers in the rank of Assistant Commandants (ACs), and these officers are expected to be posted to lead their troops along the two most crucial borders the BSF guards at present-Pakistan and Bangladesh. To the present time women could only get into the combat uniform in the officer cadre in two other central security forces, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) which are tasked to carry out a variety of duties in the internal security domain and not along Indian frontiers as these forces are not mandated for border guarding duties. It is important to mention here that, at a time when India has so many women troops in these forces there were no women combat commanders. Though, having male officers was not a problem but deputing women as leaders surely sends the message that they are second to none and can do any task given to them. This first batch of women officers will be on ground by late 2014 and their recruitment will be completed by December 2013. Two other border guarding forces, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) also do not have women officers in combat roles although they have a good number of women personnel in their constabulary.
SOME FACTS TO REMEMBER

The Border Security Force had first inducted women constables for regular security duties in 2009 and at present it has about 700 such personnel.
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The force is also the second largest paramilitary of the country with two lakh personnel in its ranks. The government will recruit a total of 110 fresh officers in BSF this year while sanction has been given to induct 138 such ranks in the CRPF and 56 in CISF. There is no cap on the number of women taking up these posts as the selection is based on merit under the recruitment exam conducted by the UPSC. After being recruited and commissioned as ACs, these women officers can rise and get promotions to become Deputy Commandants and Commandants of an operational company (about 100 personnel) or a full battalion (approximately 1000 personnel) in the BSF.
PRANAB MUKHERJEE SIGNED ORDINANCE ON FOOD SECURITY

President Pranab Mukherjee signed the ordinance on food security on 5 July 2013 which seeks to give legal rights to 67 per cent of the population over subsidised grains every month. Now, with the presidential consent, the bill will be presented before the Parliament when it convenes for the Monsoon Session. The Government had issued the ordinance to give nation's two-third population the right to get 5 kgs of foodgrains every month at highly subsidised rates of 1-3 Rupees per kg amid political opposition. The food security arrangements will be the largest in the world after implementation, with the government spending estimated at one lakh 25 thousand crore rupees annually on supply of about 62 million tonnes of rice, wheat and coarse cereals to 67 per cent of the population. The Food Security Bill was tabled during the budget session of Parliament, but was not taken up for discussion because of opposition-led disturbances of proceedings arising out of scamrelated allegations.
LAW COM EXTENDED DATE FOR SUGGESTIONS ON ELECTORAL REFORMS

The Law Commission of India on 4 July 2013 extended the last date from 30 June 2013 to 31 July 2013 for sending comments/suggestions on its Consultation Paper on Electoral Reforms. The issue of Electoral Reforms has been referred by the Central Government to the Law Commission of India for consideration and for suggesting comprehensive measures for changes in laws relating to elections. Consequently the Commission prepared a Consultation Paper eliciting feedback from various stakeholders. The Commission, through the Consultation Paper,
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has solicited views/suggestions of political parties, states, civil society, and all other stakeholders, inter-alia, on the aforesaid issues. The election system comprises a complex web of different nuances: legal, political, economic, social, religious, ethical and moral and this complexity make the task of suggesting reforms quite challenging. No single aspect of election process can be looked at in isolation from others. Most, if not all areas of these aspects, are of the nature where law either interacts or need to interact more closely. The focus of the Consultation Paper is, therefore, to identify those areas and aspects where law should play more prominent and engaging role. The Commission proposes to focus largely on issues such as: qualifications/disqualifications of those seeking election, or disqualification of the persons already elected; modes, methods and quantum of funding of elections; transparency, accountability and sources of spending by political parties and their respective candidates during elections; regulations and ethical conduct of political parties or candidates participating in elections; filing of false affidavits A ground for disqualification; electronic and print Media impact of paid news; quantum of punishment for electoral offences; and adjudication of election disputes etc.
GOVT TO LAUNCH MGPSY SCHEME FOR BLUE-COLLAR INDIAN WORKERS

Union Government of India on 4 July 2013 announced to launch Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Surakhsa Yojna (MGPSY), a pension scheme for blue-collar Indian workers in the Gulf. The Yojna would be launched in August 2013. The Pension and Life Insurance fund scheme, is applicable for the Overseas Indian workers having Emigration Check Required, ECR passports. The announcement was made by the Rajiv Mehrishi, Secretary of Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in Riyadh. This pension and life insurance fund scheme would benefit a large number of oversees Indian Workers. The MGPSY is aimed towards helping the overseas Indian workers in saving money for their retirement, re-settlement in India after their return and a life insurance that will cover them against natural death during the period of coverage.
BENEFITS OF MAHATMA GANDHI PRAVASI SURAKHSA YOJNA (MGPSY)

Government contribution of 1000 rupees per annum in line with Swavalamban platform for all MGPSY subscriber who save between 1,000 rupees and 12000 rupees per year in NPS-Lite. An additional government contribution of 1000 rupees per annum by MOIA for the overseas Indian women workers who save between 1000 rupees to 12000 rupees per year in NPS-Lite. The Indian overseas workers, who save 4000 rupees or more per annum, will get an additional government contribution from the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs of 900 rupees towards their Return and Resettlement
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The objective of MGPSY is to encourage and enable the overseas Indian workers by giving government contribution to Save for their Return and Resettlement (R&R) Save for their old age Obtain a Life Insurance cover against natural death during the period of coverage The government contribution available under the MGPSY is for a period of five years or till the return of subscribed worker back to India, whichever is earlier.
SC: VRS BENEFIT IS NOT MATTER OF RIGHT

The Supreme Court of India on 4 July 2013 ruled that employees cant claim for the benefits of the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) as a matter of right. As per the ruling of Supreme Court, the decision taking power of VRS benefits lies only in the hands of the employer. The Supreme Court in its verdict also cleared that there will be exception in cases only where the scheme itself provides for retirement to take effect, when the notice period comes to an end. The decision came from the Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, Altamas Kabir. The observation came in a verdict relating to the termination of CV Francis, a resident of Kerala from Steel Authority of India at Bokaro in Jharkhand. The bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and comprised Justice Anil R Dave and Justice Ranjana P Desai, said "A voluntary retirement scheme introduced by a company, does not entitle an employee as a matter of right to the benefits of the scheme".
ORDINANCE TO IMPLEMENT FOOD SECURITY APPROVED BY CABINET

The Union Cabinet of India on 3 July 2013 approved the proposal to promulgate an ordinance to implement National Food Security Bill in the country. The bill seeks to give legal rights to get subsidized grains every month to 67 percent of overall population. As per the bill provisions, the responsibility to identify the beneficiaries and implement the program under the Targeted Public Distribution Scheme is the responsibility of the states. The food security programme when implemented will be the biggest in the world with the government spending estimated at one lakh 25 thousand crore rupees annually. The ordinance is being promulgated before the 2013 monsoon session of Parliament.
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The ordinance guarantees 5 kg of rice, wheat and coarse cereals per month per person at a highly subsidized rate of 1 to 3 rupees per kg. Rice will be made available at 3 rupees a kg, wheat at 2 rupees a kg and coarse cereals at 1 rupee a kg. The ordinance has been sent to the President for his assent. Rules would be framed to roll out the program as soon as the President signs the ordinance. The Ordinance is the Legislative Power of President of India covered in Article 123 of Constitution of India. Article 123-Power of President to promulgate Ordinances during recess of Parliament: 1. If at any time, except when both Houses of Parliament are in session, the President is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action, he may promulgate such Ordinances as the circumstances appear to him to require. 2. An Ordinance promulgated under this article shall have the same force and effect as an Act of Parliament, but every such Ordinancea) Shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament and shall cease to operate at the expiration of six weeks from the reassembly of Parliament, or, if before the expiration of that period resolutions disapproving it are passed by both Houses, upon the passing of the second of those resolutions b) May be withdrawn at any time by the President. Explanation. - Where the Houses of Parliament are summoned to reassemble on different dates, the period of six weeks shall be reckoned from the later of those dates for the purposes of this clause. c) If and so far as an Ordinance under this article makes any provision which Parliament would not under this Constitution be competent to enact, it shall be void.
PRIME MINISTER COMMITTEE HELD ITS SECOND MEETING ON NEGP

The second meeting of the Prime Ministers Committee on the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) was held on 1 July 2013. The idea behind conducting the meeting is to review the progress of implementation of NeGP. It is important here to note that the NeGP was approved by Government of India in May 2006 with an aim to make all Government services accessible to the common man in his locality, through common service delivery outlets and also to ensure efficiency, transparency & reliability of such services at an affordable cost. Two expert groups were constituted in the last meeting of the committee one headed by Nandan Nilekani on Preparation of HR Policy for e-governance and other headed by Sam Pitroda on Expert Group on NeGP.
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During the meeting the implementation of the recommendations of these committees was reviewed as the recommendations of both the committees is highly beneficial for fast tracking the implementation of all e-Governance initiatives in the country.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MEET

The committee reviewed the status of implementation of Mission Mode Projects (MMPs). They pointed out that out of the 31 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs), 14 MMPs are delivering the full range of services while 9 have started delivering some services to the citizens. Focus on Outcome Orientation e-TAAL: In order to develop an outcome orientation amongst the e-Governance initiatives in the country, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) has developed a web portal e-TAAL (e-Transactions Aggregation and Analysis Layer which aggregates and analyses the transaction statistics of central and state level e-governance projects including Mission Mode Projects, on a real time basis. e-TAAL is expected to enhance the outcome focus of e-Governance programs in the country. The portal is available at etaal.gov.in. DeitY has launched Mobile Seva, a unique countrywide initiative on mobile governance to provide public services to the citizens through mobile phones and handheld devices. The portal is available at mgov.gov.in. It has been highlighted in the meeting that as on date, 444 departments across the country have been integrated with MSDG. They are offering over 200 unique services to the citizens. Using this platform, over 15 crore transactional messages for various government services have been sent to the citizens. The Committee directed all the Government Departments/Ministries to leverage Mobile Seva for delivery of their services on mobile devices. The Committee directed that e-Procurement shall be adopted both for publication and processing of tenders by all Government Ministries/Departments so as to make the public procurement more transparent and efficient. To harness the benefits of cloud technology, DeitY has launched a new initiative named as MeghRaj for creating a Government of India cloud (GI Cloud) computing environment at the national level. This initiative will not only optimise utilisation of IT infrastructure, but also enable rapid deployment/replication of e-Gov services. Considering the requirement for an apex institution in the domain of capacity building, training and R&D for e-Governance, the Committee came to a conclusion that a National e-Governance Academy be established as a national institution.
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The Committee also discussed how the emergence of new technologies, concepts and platforms such as cloud computing, mobile platform and how the advent of Aadhaar can be leveraged to make the NeGP more effective and speed up its implementation. It has been concluded in the Meeting that the latest technological advancements and new service delivery mechanisms in NeGP would usher the country into a new era of egovernance. It will be possible to provide ICT infrastructure on demand for implementation of these projects. Integration of the Aadhaar platform in e-governance projects would help in interoperability, electronic authentication and faster delivery of services to the intended recipients.
SC ORDERED STATE GOVTS TO CURB SALE OF ADULTERATED MILK

The Supreme Court of India on 2 July 2013 expressing its concerns over the sale of adulterated milk in the country ordered State Governments to curb the practice of sale. A Bench of Justice KS Radhakrishnan and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose directed the State Governments of Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi to file their response stating what action they are taking to put an end to the menace of milk adulteration. The Court said that it would later expand the ambit of the PIL to include all the states in the country on the issue. The Supreme Court in its order cleared that it will not grant any further time to the states to file their submission after the next hearing date scheduled on 31 July 2013. The decision of the court came after it heard a PIL filed by a group of citizens led by Swami Achyutanand Tirth of Uttarakhand, who claimed use of urea, detergent, refined oil, caustic soda and white paint in preparation of synthetic and adulterated milk and milk products. The filed PIL has also demanded constitution of a comprehensive policy on production, supply and sale of hygienic, healthy and natural milk. As per the data provided to the Supreme Court in 2012 by the Union Government of India about 68 percent of milk in the country doesnt conform to the set standards of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The data was based upon the survey conducted by FSSAI in 2011 that claimed non-conformation on standards of over 68 percent of milk in urban area, with 66 percent available as loose milk. FSSAI in its survey claimed that the most common process of adulteration was addition of water in milk and addition of glucose, skimmed milk powder and detergent were noted as the basic reason for deviation from the standards. The affidavit filed by the Union Government claimed that more than 83 percent of milk in rural areas was found to be loose were of non-conforming standards. The Union Government filed this affidavit as a reply of the notice issued to the center on May 2012.
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GOVERNMENT LAUNCHED NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY POLICY 2013

The Union Government of India on 1 July 2013 launched the National Cyber Security Policy 2013 at New Delhi with an aim to protect information and build capabilities to prevent cyber attacks. The National Cyber Security Policy 2013 to safeguard both physical and business assets of the country. The Policy has outlined the roadmap for creation of a framework for comprehensive, collaborative and collective responsibility to deal with cyber security of the country. The policy has ambitious plans for rapid social transformation and inclusive growth and India's prominent role in the IT global market. It will cater to the cyber security requirements of government and non-government entities at the national and international levels. The policy will help in safeguarding the critical infrastructure like Air Defence system, nuclear plants, banking system, power infrastructure, telecommunication system and many more to secure country's economic stability. The National Cyber Policy in order to create a secure cyber ecosystem has planned to set-up a National Nodal Agency to coordinate all matters related to cyber security in the country. The nodal agency has clearly defined roles and responsibilities. The policy will also establish a mechanism for sharing information as well as identifying and responding to cyber security incidents and for cooperation in restoration efforts. The National Cyber Security Policy has been prepared in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, user entities and public. This policy aims at facilitating creation of secure computing environment and enabling adequate trust and confidence in electronic transactions and also guiding stak eholders actions for protection of cyber space. The National Cyber Security Policy document outlines a road-map to create a framework for comprehensive, collaborative and collective response to deal with the issue of cyber security at all levels within the country. The policy recognises the need for objectives and strategies that need to be adopted both at the national level as well as international level. The objectives and strategies outlined in the National Cyber Security Policy together serve Articulate concerns, understanding and priorities for action as well as directed efforts. To provide confidence and reasonable assurance to all stakeholders of the country (Government, business, industry and general public) and global community, about the safety, resiliency and security of cyber space. Adopt a suitable posturing that can signal to resolve and make determined efforts to effectively monitor, deter & deal with cyber crime and cyber attacks. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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SALIENT FEATURES OF THE POLICY
The National Cyber Security Policy covers the following aspects
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A vision and mission statement aimed at building a secure and resilience cyber space for citizens, businesses and Government Enabling goals aimed at reducing national vulnerability to cyber attacks, preventing cyber attacks & cyber crimes, minimising response & recover time and effective cyber crime investigation and prosecution Focused actions at the level of Govt., public-private partnership arrangements, cyber security related technology actions, protection of critical information infrastructure and national alerts and advice mechanism, awareness & capacity building and promoting information sharing and cooperation Enhancing cooperation and coordination between all the stakeholder entities within the country
OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES IN SUPPORT OF THE NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY VISION AND MISSION
Framework and initiatives that can be pursued at the Govt. level, sectoral levels as well as in public private partnership mode. Facilitating monitoring key trends at the national level such as trends in cyber security compliance, cyber attacks, cyber crime and cyber infrastructure growth. Earlier, the Government of India on 8 May 2013 approved the National Cyber Security Policy with an aim to create a secured computing environment across the country.
THE MADRAS HIGH COURT UPHELD THE BAN ON LTTE

The Madras High Court on 1 July 2013 upheld the ban imposed by the Union government of India on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2010. A Division Bench comprising Justices Elipe Dharma Rao and M Venugopal dismissed writ petitions filed by MDMK founder-leader Vaiko and Prisoners Rights Forum, who challenged the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal's order on 12 November 2010. The Tribunal had confirmed the notification issued by the Home Ministry banning the LTTE on 14 May 2010. Dismissing the petitions, the bench observed that the petitioners did not have
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any locus standi to challenge the notification as they were neither office bearers nor members of the LTTE.
HARYANA ADOPTED 25 FLOOD AFFECTED VILLAGES OF UTTARAKHAND

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on 30 June 2013 announced that the Government of Haryana adopted 25 villages of Uttarakhand that was drastically affected by landslides and heavy rains in June 2013. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced that the Haryana Government would provide financial assistance to the affected people in Uttarakhand. The Haryana government has also set up the support helpline, while also sending the relief supplies in trucks to the affected state. In the meanwhile, around 1000 people from Haryana were rescued from Uttarakhand. The Union Government had earlier allocated 150 crore rupees as interim relief for the flood affected people of Uttarakhand. Uttrakhand in the third week of June 2013 was stuck by flash floods and landslides. During this natural disaster in the state, thousands of people lost their life and various remained stranded. Rescue operations by Indian Army were carried out in the state. The worst affected region of Uttarakhand was Kedarnath, which is a popular Hindu shrine and receives lakhs of tourists every year during June and July.
I&B MINISTRY CANCELLED L ICENSES OF 61 TV CHANNELS

The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry in Month of June 2013 cancelled licenses of 61 channels, as they were not under operational within one year of granting permission. The step to cancel license was taken after considering the non-compliance of uplinking and downlinking norms by TV Channels. Information and Broadcast Ministry has conducted a comprehensive monitoring exercise since October 2012. It is worth mentioning here that nearly 867 channels have been given permission for launch in the country so far. As per I&B ministry, earlier there were no roll-out rules and obligations and broadcasters used to seek extension once they got permission to launch channels. But with the introduction of amendments in the norms in December 2011, it is now made mandatory for channelsare now to be on air within a year of being granted permission. The monitoring exercise basically involved reviewing mandatory adherence to guidelines by these channels, and was the first such big exercise conducted by the Ministry. While non-news channels are required to submit a performance bank guarantee of 1 crore Rupees on the other hand, news and current affairs channels need to submit a performance bank guarantee of 2 crore Rupees and we have forfeited this guarantee for these 61 channels.
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Private television channels are also required to notify any change in shareholding pattern in the company within 15 days. They also need to take the Ministrys prior approval if any directors are changed in the company. The Ministry, after a comprehensive review, has issued letters to all broadcasters seeking disclosure of shareholding patterns and details of their board of directors. It is now set to take action against nearly 22 such companies, which failed to respond to the Ministrys letters.
INDIA DAIRY
1 July 2013 The Madras High Court on 1 July 2013 upheld the ban imposed by the government on LTTE in 2010. National Cyber Security Policy 2013 was launched by Government to protect information and build capabilities to prevent cyber attacks. I&B Ministry, cancelled licenses of 61 channels, as they were not under operation within one year of granting permission. 2 July 2013 SC ordered State Governments to curb the practice of sale of adulterated milk. The court directed them to share their steps to curb the practice of sale. The second meeting of the Prime Ministers Committee on the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) was held. Ordinance to implement Food Security Bill was approved by the union Cabinet and Sent for Presidents assent. Further, it was forwarded to President. 3 July 2013 Supreme Court ruled that benefits of the Voluntary Retirement Scheme cant be claimed by an employee. The right lies only in the hands of employer. Bharti Airtel Ltd. became the majority shareholder in the Indian broadband units of Qualcomm Inc. 4 July 2013 Pranab Mukherjee signed the ordinance on food security on 5 July 2013 which seeks to give legal rights to 67 per cent of the population for subsidised grains.
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Union Government of India announced to launch Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Surakhsa Yojna (MGPSY). Senior parliamentarian Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil was appointed as the new governor of Sikkim. 5 July 2013 Law Commission extended the last date from 30 June 2013 to 31 July 2013 for sending suggestion on Electoral reforms. The government for the first time has given its nod for recruitment and commissioning of women officers in BSF. 6 July 2013 Realty major DLF finalised the 325-crore rupees deal to sell 150 MW wind turbine project in Gujarat. State Bank of India launched a card which will enable the holder to receive the remittance directly on the card. 7 July 2013 Former Delhi police Chief, KK Paul took over as the new Governor of Meghalaya. Lt Gen (Retd) AK Singh on took over as the new Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 8 July 2013 Government announced a 20 per cent cut in Haj quota, putting the entire burden to be borne by private tour operators. The Union Government in July 2013 hiked the import duty on sugar to 15 per cent from the present 10 per cent to restrain cheaper inflow of the sweetener. 9 July 2013 The Supreme Court of India on 9 July 2013 directed the Union Government of India to formulate a policy to regulate/ban Retail Sale of Acid across the country. The Union government announced disbanding of DRDA the body which looks after implementation of anti-poverty programmes of Rural Development Ministry. 10 July 2013
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The Union government 2013 approved a proposal to replace DGCA with a new aviation regulator with full operational and financial autonomy. SC in its landmark Judgement barred people in Jail or Police Custody from contesting elections. This will help to clean the Parliament and State Assemblies. 11 July 2013 The Union Cabinet gave in-principle approval to withdraw the controversial Rent Act of 1958. The Union Cabinet of India gave its approval to the proposal for setting up of a NAU. The Union Cabinet of India on 11 July 2013 approved the proposal for setting up Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University. 12 July 2013 Indian Parsi conductor of western classical music Zubin Mehta to be honoured with Tagore Award 2013. Pran, the legendary actor died. He was a proud recipient of Dada Saheb Phalke Award and Padma Bhushan Award. 13 July 2013 Website on NCC launched by Defence Ministry. The website is designed to provide information about NCC and will acts as an information data bank of its Cadets. Government announced that the government would provide free pre-natal health care and ambulance facilities. 14 July 2013 Sula Vineyard, which is the largest wine producer of India, decided to make its mark in the wine market of Sikkim. National Stock Exchange (NSE) has regained its position as the worlds largest bourse in terms of volume in equity trade. 15 July 2013 The Prime Ministers Project Monitoring Group has cleared four projects worth 8000 crore rupees.
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President Pranab Mukherjee launched a Kisaan Portal for sending SMS through mobile phones to the farmers across the country. 16 July 2013 The Union government of India proposed to make production of Photo identity card mandatory. The Department of Food launched the system of electronic transfer of funds. This would help in ensuring quick & direct transfer of funds. 17 July 2013 SC refused to reduce age of Juveniles from 18 to 16. It also dismissed the plea that demanded non-protection of minors involved in heinous crime under the law. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India launched the nation-wide National Tobacco Control Campaign known as- Tears you apart. 18 July 2013 Plan Scheme Development Communication and Information Dissemination got an approval from CCEA for its implementation. Union Cabinet approved amendments to the marriage law enabling a woman to get a share of her husband's ancestral property. 19 July 2013 CCS approved the proposal of creation of Mountain Strike Corps along the entire LAC with China. This strike corps will be headquartered at Panagarh, WB. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance finalised its report on Goods and Services Tax (GST). SC issued notice to Uttarakhand and six other states for their alleged failure in implementing Disaster Management Act. 20 July 2013 Cyber Security Initiative Put on Fast Track by National Security Adviser The Government of India informed the Bangladesh regarding the ratification of 1974 Indira-Mujib pact
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The Union Government of India proposed land reforms for acknowledging the women rights through National Land Reform Policy 2013 Draft. 21 July 2013 REC promised financial assistance to 20 underprivileged meritorious students under the Abhayanand Super 30 initiative. Supreme Court directed the Union Government to enforce rules on the advertisement of tobacco products at all the sales outlet. 22 July 2013 Supreme Court the Union Government to enforce rules on the advertisement of tobacco products at all the sales outlet. The 21st meeting of the Central Supervisory Board (CSB) was held in New Delhi. The meeting was held on PC & PNDT Act. Poverty Ratio in India declined to 21.9 percent in 2011-12 from 37.2 percent measured in 2004-05 on the basis of the increase in per capita consumption. 23 July 2013 SC directed the Railways to approach competent authorities in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for recovery of losses. A sum of 176.98 crore Rupees has been sanctioned for development of kole land, announced by the Thrissur-Ponnani Kole Development Council. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India released consultation paper on valuation and reserve price of spectrum for the third auction. Odisha, Bihar showed biggest decline in Percentage of Poor 24 July 2013 The Supreme Court of India ruled that clinical trials of untested drugs on humans require certain mandatory standards. The Supreme Court of India slapped contempt notices on two Sahara firms. Aircel announced that it partnered with Wikimedia Foundation for offering the free mobile access of Wikipedia to its customers.
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The Union Minister of State for Tourism K. Chiranjeevi launched the Clean India campaign at world heritage site Taj Mahal, Agra. 25 July 2013 Educomp and HCL announced about their partnership to facilitate life cycle services for existing as well as new Educomp classrooms in India. Arun Nehru, the cousin of Rajiv Gandhi as well as the Minister for Internal Security during his government, died in Gurgaon. India's K Jennitha Anto won the 13th IPCA World Women's Individual Chess Championship title. 26 July 2013 Indias Weather Satellite INSAT-3D was launched successfully from Kourou, French Guiana. The notebook that contains two Urdu Ghazals written by Veer Sawarkar during his term in Andaman Jail was discovered. India continues to reign at the top of the table in Internat ional Cricket Councils latest ODI ranking released on 26 July 2013. 27 July 2013 Two rail as well as road projects which are worth 1500 crore Rupees were launched in Haryana. First Textile Park dedicated to hand block printing and craft inaugurated at Bagru near Jaipur. Dr. KS Rao inaugrated the park. 28 July 2013 Delhi government is all set to launch food security programme from 20 August 2013. India achieved a record production of 18.45 million tonnes of pulses in the 2012-13 crop year ended June 2013. 29 July 2013 Cyber Crime Offenders of Younger Age Group Rising: National Crime Records Bureau
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30 July 2013
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Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Launched Emergency Care Initiatives on NH-8 Batla House Encounter convict Shahzad Ahmed got Life Sentence Amjad Ali Khan to get 21st Rajiv Gandhi National Sadhbhavna Award Eldest Daughter of Maharaja of Faridkot Won Legal Battle for Assets Worth 20000 Crore Jagdish Raj, the Most Type-Cast Actor of Bollywood Died at 85 31 July 2013 Union Government to launch Bharat Mobile Scheme
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ECONOMY
FIRST QUARTER REVIEW OF MONETARY POLICY FOR 2013-14
RBI released the First Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2013-14 on 30 July 2013. The highlights are as following: The repo rate was kept unchanged at 7.25 percent. Reverse repo remains at 6.25 percent. Cash reserve ratio unchanged at 4.00 percent. Keeps Marginal Standing Facility rate at 10.25 percent. Bank rate stands at 10.25 percent. Considerations behind the Policy Move The policy stance in this review was informed by two considerations. First, the need for continuous vigil and preparedness to pro-actively respond to risks to the economy from external developments, especially those stemming from global financial markets. Second, managing the trade-off posed by increased downside risks to growth and continuing risks to inflation and inflation expectations.
MONETARY POLICY STANCE

Accordingly, the four broad contours of RBIs monetary policy stance are as following : First, to address the risks to macroeconomic stability from external shocks; Second, to continue to address the heightened risks to growth; Third, to guard against re-emergence of inflation pressures; and Fourth, to manage liquidity conditions to ensure adequate credit flow to the productive sectors of the economy. RBI Cut GDP growth forecast for 2013-14 to 5.5 percent from 5.7 percent earlier.
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Current Affairs eBook July 2013 INDIA AND SAUDI ARABIA DECIDED TO SET UP SIBN
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India and Saudi Arabia on 24 July 2013 have decided to set up a Saudi-India Business Network (SIBN) separately in Riyadh and Dammam. SIBN would act as a catalyst to promote India-Saudi bilateral commerce and trade relations, investment, Business-to-Business interactions and exchanges. The proposed network would comprise of both Indian and Saudi businessmen, entrepreneurs, industrialists and members of business Chambers. Membership of SIBN would be open to all Indian and Saudi businessmen and entrepreneurs. Indian and Saudi companies recruiting Indians were also invited to join the Saudi-India Business Network.
INDIA-SAUDI ARABIA TRADE RELATIONS

Saudi Arabia is the 4th largest trade partner of India and the bilateral trade stood at 43.19 billion dollars in 2012-13. Saudi Arabia is Indias largest supplier of crude oil, accounting for 17 percent of Indias requirements. It is also one of the major markets for Indian exports and the destination for more than 1.86 percent of Indias global exports. For Saudi Arabia, India is the 5th largest market for its exports, accounting for 7.55 percent of its global exports. Both the countries of India and Saudi Arabia have an established framework of cooperation which includes Joint Commission Meetings (JCM), India-Saudi Business Council. Several Indian companies are collaborating with the Saudi companies in the areas of designing, consultancy, financial services and software development. Saudi Arabia is also emerging as a big investor in India.
INDIA ACHIEVED A RECORD PRODUCTION OF PULSES

India achieved a record production of 18.45 million tonnes of pulses in the 2012-13 crop year ended June 2013. This augurs well for the country, which is dependent on imports to meet the shortfall of around 3 to 4 million tonnes. Higher support price prompted farmers to grow pulses. According to the 4th advance estimates released today, overall food grain production is projected at 255.36 million tonnes, which is lower than the record 259.29 million tonnes achieved in the previous crop year. In food grains category, rice production has been revised upward to 104.4 million tonnes from 104.22 million tonnes and coarse cereals to 40.06 million tonnes from 39.52 million tonnes in the third estimates. However, wheat output has been revised downward to 92.46 million tonnes from 93.62 million tonnes.
RBI IMPOSED RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTS OF GOLD
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The Reserve Bank of India on 22 July 2013 imposed certain restrictions on the import of various forms of gold by nominated banks, agencies, premier or star trading houses, SEZ units, EoUs which have been permitted to import gold for use in the domestic sector. In order to narrow down the Current Account Deficit - CAD and to arrest the fall of rupee, the Reserve Bank decided to rationalise the import of gold including import of gold coins into the country. In the revised scheme for gold imports, RBI asked nominated banks and agencies to ensure that at least one fifth of every lot of gold imported - in any form or purity - is exclusively made available for the purpose of export. They have been asked to sell gold for domestic use only to entities engaged in jewellery business or bullion dealers supplying gold to jewelers. Further, these banks and agencies will be required to retain 20 per cent of the imported quantity of gold in the customs bonded warehouses. Fresh imports will only be permitted only after the export of atleast 75 percent of the retained quantity that lies in the customs bonded warehouse. The Reserve Bank of India has brought down the period of realisation and repatriation for exporters of goods and software to nine months from earlier 12 months. This move could shore up foreign exchange inflows. Last November, RBI had increased the time limit to bring in export earnings to 12 months, from six months at that time, in view of global slowdown. Industry experts said this step has been taken by the Apex bank as the country is facing a worsening Current Account Deficit and the weakening of the rupee against the US dollar. The rupee has depreciated by over 12 per cent against the dollar since the beginning of this fiscal. The Reserve Bank of India has started scrutiny of nearly 3 thousand companies which could be carrying out non-banking finance operations without requisite registration. The step has been initiated by the Apex Bank in the wake of concerns about their actual business activities. The Reserve bank's move comes against the backdrop of the government efforts to crackdown on entities that are illegally raising large amounts of money from the public. The Reserve bank has sought details from the companies about their financials, including balance sheets, for the last three years, among others.
REVIVED NEW BHOPAL TEXTILE MILLS OF NTC INAUGURATED

The Union Minister of Textiles, K Sambasiva Rao on 22 July 2013 inaugurated the New Bhopal Textile Mills of National Textile Corporation (NTC) in Bhopal. The mill was taken for the purpose of revival as well as modernisation along with the BurhanpurTapti Mills in Burhanpur. It is important to note that textiles sector is the second biggest employment generator in India after agriculture. According to the approved scheme of Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), in the first phase, National Textile Corporation Limited replaced 16848 spindles and commissioned 25200 new spindles in the year 2008 at the cost of 26.42 Crores Rupees. This led to an increase in the monthly production from 1800 kilograms per day to 5000
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kilograms per day. This meant that despite providing Modified Voluntary Retirement Scheme (MVRS) to surplus workers, around 380 workers started getting wages every day. The National Textile Corporation Limited (New Delhi) also approved the second phase of modernisation for the New Bhopal Textile Mill. In its second phase, the Head Office approved sanction of 81 crore Rupees, which will help in modernisation of the machines. This would eventually help in increasing the production from 5000 kilograms per day to 14000 kilograms per day. This implies that from present sustenance of 380 workers, the mill will be able to sustain the 650 workers every day. The mill has also obtained ISO Certification.
BACKGROUND
Under Nationalisation Act 1974, National Textile Corporation Limited (Madhya Pradesh) took over seven mills which were making losses. The Bhopal Textile Mills was one of these. Because of high labour cost as well as old machinery, all these mills were running into losses continuously. The seven mills were registered under BIFR. Under approved scheme of BIFR, five of these seven mills were closed as unviable units and the remaining two mills i.e. New Bhopal Textile Mills in Bhopal and BurhanpurTapti Mills in Burhanpur were scheduled for modernisation as well as revival.
SECURITIES LAWS (AMENDMENT) ORDINANCE 2013

Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India on 18 July 2013 promulgated the Securities Law Amendment Ordinance 2013. The ordinance would grant Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the powers to regulate any pooling of funds under an investment contract involving a corpus of 100 crore rupees or more and attach assets in case of non-compliance. The ordinance was promulgated by the President following the powers granted to him by Clause 1 of Article 123 of Constitution The Chairman of SEBI would have powers to authorize the carrying out of search and seizure operations, as part of its efforts to crack down on ponzi schemes.With President's approval of the Ordinance, SEBI has received the power to seek information, such as telephone call data records, from any persons or entities in respect to any securities transaction being investigated by it. Establishment of Special Courts enabled by this Ordinance would fast-track the resolution of pending SEBI related cases. Article 123 of Constitution of India: Power of President to promulgate Ordinances during recess of Parliament 1. If at any time, except when both Houses of Parliament are in session, the President is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action, he may promulgate such Ordinances as the circumstances appear to him to require.
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2. An Ordinance promulgated under this article shall have the same force and effect as an Act of Parliament, but every such Ordinancea) Shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament and shall cease to operate at the expiration of six weeks from the reassembly of Parliament, or, if before the expiration of that period resolutions disapproving it are passed by both Houses, upon the passing of the second of those resolutions b) May be withdrawn at any time by the President. Explanation.- Where the Houses of Parliament are summoned to reassemble on different dates, the period of six weeks shall be reckoned from the later of those dates for the purposes of this clause. 3. If and so far as an Ordinance under this article makes any provision, which Parliament would not under this Constitution be competent to enact, it shall be void.
ICAR AND THE ICAT SIGNED MORE THAN 60 MOUS

ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) and the Industry to Commercialize AgriTechnologies (ICAT) on 20 July 2013 signed more than 60 MoUs on ready-to-commercialize agro-technologies from different agricultural sectors like crops, food technology, horticulture, veterinary, agri-engineering, agri-inputs and fisheries. The MoUs were signed as a part of the two day Agri-Tech Investors Meet 2013, from 19 July-20 July 2013. With the signing of the MoUs, the two bodies appealed promotion of entrepreneurship in agriculture and accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies and activities through an array of business support resources and services. During the Agri-Tech Investors Meet 2013, an expo that featured more than 60 ready-to-commercialize agrotechnologies from different agricultural sectors was also held.
INDIAS FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES INCREASED TO 280.19 BILLION $

Reserve Bank of India on 20 July 2013 stated that Indias Foreign Exchange Reserves (FER) increased by 21.1 million US dollars to 280.19 billion US dollars. The total forex reserves had decreased by 4.48 billion US dollars to 280.16 billion US dollars in the previous reporting week. Foreign currency assets, a major component of the forex reserves, increased by 33.5 million US dollars to 252.14 billion US dollars for the week ended 12 July 2013. Foreign currency assets expressed in US dollar terms comprise the effect of appreciation or depreciation of the non-US currencies, such as the euro, pound and yen, held in the reserves. The gold reserves were unchanged at 21.55 billion US dollars.
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For the week under review, the special drawing rights (SDRs) decreased by 1.5 million US dollars to 4.334 billion US dollars, while Indias reserve pos ition with the IMF was also down by 19.1 million US dollars to 2.162 billion US dollars.
INDIA SIGNED AGREEMENT WITH ADB ON LOAN FOR NKUSIP

The Government of India signed an agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 19 July 2013 for a 60 million dollars loan as to improve urban services and to strengthen municipal and project management capacity in several towns in North Karnataka. Basically the agreement is for the third project under the overall facility of 270 million dollars for the North Karnataka Urban Sector Investment Program (NKUSIP).
PROVISIONS UNDER NKUSIP

The third part of the loan under the North Karnataka Urban Sector Investment Program will develop sewerage networks in six towns, and help the rehabilitation and expansion of potable water systems in two more towns. More than 100000 households will benefit from the improvements. The project will support the State in its endeavor to improve quality of life in towns (Bidar, Davanagere, Dharwad, Gadag-Betegeri, Gulbarga, Jamkhandi, Sindhanur and Yadgir) in North Karnataka and promote economic growth. The project will improve access to better urban services in the eight targeted urban local bodies, he added. The project is going to assist implementing the States reform agenda through the execution of property and utility mapping subprojects using geographic information systems and the establishment of the Heritage Planning Cell. He said that it will also provide assistance to enhance billing and collection efficiencies in program towns. The loan taken from ADBs Ordinary Capital Resources has a 25-year term including a grace period of five years, commitment charges of 0.15 percent and an interest rate to be determined in accordance with ADBs LIBOR-based lending facility. The Government of Karnataka is dedicated to provide counterpart funds of 41.6 million dollars for a total project investment cost of 101.6 million dollars under this tranche. The Government of India signed an agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 19 July 2013 for a 60 million dollars loan as to improve urban services and to strengthen municipal and project management capacity in several towns in north Karnataka.
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Basically the agreement is for the third project under the overall facility of 270 million dollars for the North Karnataka Urban Sector Investment Program (NKUSIP).
ABOUT ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Asian Development Bank was established in 1966, and is owned by 67 members 48 from the region. In 2012, ADB assistance totaled 21.6 billion dollars including co-financing of 8.3 billion dollars. ADB, which is based in Manila, is dedicated for the reduction in poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional.
RBI OPENED 25000 CRORE RUPEE SPECIAL LIQUIDITY WINDOW FOR MFs
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 17 July 2013 opened a special liquidity window for commercial banks to meet the cash requirements of Mutual Funds (MFs). The special liquidity window was opened taken into concern the Mutual Funds which faced heavy redemption pressure in debt-oriented MF schemes following a series of steps taken by the RBI to shore up the faltering currency. Keeping all this into consideration the RBI opened a special three-day repo window that will allow banks to borrow a total of 25000 crore Rupees at a rate of 10.25%. Banks can borrow this money to lend onwards to MFs. RBI will conduct the first repo auction under the special facility on 19 July 2013.The second auction is scheduled for 23 July 2013 and the subsequent operations at an interval of three days. Individual banks will be allocated funds in proportion to their bids, subject to the overall ceiling of 25000 crore, Rupees. In addition, banks availing of the additional liquidity support can seek a waiver of penal interest for any shortfall in maintenance of the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) up to 0.5% of their deposits, in addition to the 2% waiver allowed under the marginal standing facility (MSF). SLR refers to the proportion of deposits that have to be invested in government securities. On 15 July 2013, RBI sought to curb liquidity in the debt markets by making it more expensive to borrow money in a bid to prevent speculation in the currency market. The rupee, which fell to a lifetime low of 61.21 against the dollar on 8 July, has recouped some losses following measures by RBI and the Securities and Exchange Board of India. After having lost as much as 7% since the beginning of the year, the rupee has recovered by about 3% against the dollar. RBI fixed the borrowing limit for banks at 1% of the systems net demand and time liabilities, or banks total deposit base. Effective 17 June 2013, the overnight borrowing limit was set at 75000 crore Rupees for the entire banking system. There was no limit earlier.
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Besides the borrowing limit, RBI also raised the interest rate on money that banks borrow from MSF to tide over liquidity shortages by two percentage points to 10.25%. The RBI is also planning to sell bonds worth 12000 crore Rupees in the secondary market on 18 July 2013 for another liquidity draining measure.
GOVERNMENT APPROVED PROPOSAL TO GIVE SEBI MORE POWER S

The Union government on 17 July 2013 approved a proposal to amend SEBI Act for providing more powers to the market regulator to crack down on Ponzi schemes. As per the approval, SEBI will be given powers to conduct search and seizure operations and access call data records. Amendments to the Sebi Act and other relevant regulations were finalised after detailed consultations with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
POWER TO BE GIVEN TO SEBI WITH THE APPROVAL

SEBI regulator will get direct powers to carry out search and seizure operations and for attachment of assets, as part of efforts to crackdown on ponzi schemes. The SEBI would have powers to seek information, such as telephone call data records, from any persons or entities in respect to any securities transaction being probed by it. SEBI since many years has been seeking a revamp of regulations as well as consent for a long time, given the changing nature of the securities market in general, and newer tools being used by manipulators to take gullible investors for a ride, in particular.
GOVERNMENT RAISED FDI IN TELECOM SECTOR TO 100 PERCENT

The Union Government of India on 16 July 2013 raised the FDI limit in Telecom Sector from 74 percent to 100 percent. Government also cleared that the FDI in the Insurance and Telecom sectors will be up to 49 per cent through automatic route. The Union Government also mentioned that FDI the single brand retail would be up to 49 percent through automatic route and remaining investments would be directed through Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) route. FDI in asset reconstruction companies will be up to 49 per cent through automatic route. FDI in Credit Information Companies has been raised to 74 per cent from 49 per cent. The Government also confirmed that the FDI in Defence Production will continue to be 26 percent. However, it will be directed through FIPB route for state of art technologies, and investment beyond that will go to Cabinet Committee on Security. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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The decision was taken in a meet chaired by Prime Minister and attended by the Cabinet Ministers. The decisions were made to boost the Foreign Direct Investment in the country.
THERE WAS AGREEMENT ON THE FOLLOWING PROPOSALS

Sector Cap Route
Petroleum Natural Gas Refining
and 49 percent and
Automatic
Commodity Exchanges
49 percent
Automatic
Power Exchanges
49 percent
Automatic
Stock Exchanges, 49 percent Depositories, Corporation
Automatic
Asset Reconstruction companies
Upto 49 percent 49 percent 100 percent
Automatic
to FIPB
Credit Information 74 percent companies
Automatic
Single Brand Retail Upto 49 percent Automatic trading 49 percent to FIPB 100 percent
Basic and Cellular Upto 49 percent
Automatic
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Services, etc. 49 percent 100 percent to FIPB
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Courier Services
100 percent
Automatic
Defence Production
CCS may approve proposals on case to case basis beyond 26percent which are likely to result in access to modern and state of the art technology in the country.
GOVERNMENT ALLOCATED 1200 CRORE AS SCA TO TSP IN 2013-14

The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs has allocated 1200 crore rupees as Special Central Assistance (SCA) to Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) for the year 2013-14 for being implemented in the states as the Special Area Programme. The amount allocated for the programme that is funded from the center has been increased by 11 percent as compared to 2012-13 allocation. The programme also have a provision of allocating 120 crore rupees more for the incentive projects, based upon the performance of the state in effective implementation of the Tribal Sub Plan. The fund would be segregated among 22 states and used for development of infrastructure and promotion of employment-cum income generation activities in tribal areas. If implemented successfully, the programme will help in raising the social and economic status of the tribals. The programme will give priority to development of key sectors like agriculture, horticulture, land reforms, animal husbandry, ecology & environment, watershed development, development of entrepreneurship in small scale industries and small scale trading as well as improving connectivity in tribal areas. The budget distribution of the allocated central fund would be done to the states based on the Yardstick Percentage of Tribal population in a state in the total tribal population of the Country.
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TOP THREE RECIPIENT STATES OF THE BUDGET ARE
Madhya Pradesh: 175.25 crore rupees Odisha: 133.21 crore rupees Jharkhand: 121.87 crore rupees
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DETAILS OF STATE-WISE ALLOCATION UNDER SCA TO TSP DURING 2013-14

S.N. States Allocation Lakhs) (in
Andhra Pradesh
5789.00
Assam
6233.00
Bihar
1306.00
Chhattisgarh
9478.00
Goa
237.00
Gujarat
8448.00
Himachal Pradesh
1768.00
J&K
2163.00
Jharkhand
12187.00
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10
Karnataka
2471.00
11
Kerala
549.00
12
Madhya Pradesh
17525.00
13
Maharashtra
7728.00
14
Manipur
1583.00
15
Odisha
13321.00
16
Rajasthan
8377.00
17
Sikkim
437.00
18
Tamil Nadu
651.00
19
Tripura
2145.00
20
Uttrakhand
198.00
21
Uttar Pradesh
894.00
22
West Bengal
4512.00
Total
108000.00
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For normal projects
108000.00
For Incentive Projects
12000.00
Total
120000.00
RBI ANNOUNCED SLEW OF MEASURES TO CURB RUPEE VOLATILITY

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 15 July 2013 announced measures to deal with rupee volatility which includes lifting of two interest rates by 200 basis points each and a planned sale of 120 billion rupees (2 billion dollars) of government bonds on July 2013. RBI has also adjusted the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) and the Bank Rate to 10.25% each which were 8.25% previously. The repo rate, was kept unchanged at 7.25%. It is worth mentioning here that the rupee in second week of July 2013 hit a record low of 61.21 to the dollars. The RBI also hiked the lending rates for banks and had absorbed 12000 crore Rupees in order to make the currency more high-priced.
WHAT IS MARGINAL STANDING FACILITY (MSF)?

The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) which was introduced during the 2011-12 period is the rate at which banks can borrow from the central bank at an increased rate against government securities during times of tight cash. The bank rate is a linked to the MSF. RBI in second week of July 2013 BI had asked over oil firms to source all of their 8-8.5 billion of dollar needs every month for import of oil, from a single public sector bank. It also banned banks from trading in currency futures and exchange-traded currency options market on their own.
RBI FINED 22 BANKS FOR VIOLATING KYC NORMS

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 15 July 2013 imposed fines of around 49.5 crore on 22 private and public sector banks including SBI, PNB and Yes Bank for violating KYC/anti-money laundering norms. The bank also had given cautionary letters to seven banks which includes Citibank and Stanchart, Barclays Bank, BNP Paribas, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and State Bank of Patiala following an expose made by an online portal. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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The penalty on 22 banks follows scrutiny carried out by RBI of books of accounts, internal control, compliance systems and processes of these banks at their corporate offices and some branches during April 2013. The scrutiny was conducted to probe allegations of contravention of Know Your Customer (KYC)/antimoney laundering guidelines against them following the expose.
IMPORTANT POINTS WITH RESPECT TO THE IMPOSITION OF FINE

SBI along with Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and Federal Bank has been imposed with a penalty of 3 Crore Rupees. The United Bank of India, Lakshmi Vilas Bank, Punjab National Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank and Andhra Bank were slapped a penalty of Rs. 2.5 crore each. While, a penalty of 2 crore Rupees each was imposed on Yes Bank, Vijaya Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Dhanlaxmi Bank. The other banks which were penalised by the RBI include Deutsche Bank, Development Credit Bank, ING Vysya Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Ratnakar Bank. It is worth mentioning here that following probe into charges levelled by an online portal Cobrapost, RBI has earlier imposed fines totalling 10.5 crore rupees on top three private lenders Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. RBI in its statement regarding the case asserted that any conclusive inference in this regard can be drawn only by an end-to-end investigation of the transactions by tax and enforcement agencies and it has conducted probe into allegations against seven other banks during April and May, 2013 and the follow up action were at different stages.
REASON BEHIND FINE BEING IMPOSED BY RBI ON BANKS

The bank not adhere to the KYC norms for walk in customers for sale of third party products and failed to file cash transaction reports in respect of some cash transactions and sale of gold coins for cash beyond 50000 Rupees. Non-adherence to instructions on import of gold on consignment basis, limits on remittances under Liberalised Remittance Scheme and repatriation of funds from nonresident ordinary (NRO) account.
FDI INCREASED INTO INDIA TO 2.32 BILLION US DOLLARS IN APRIL 2013
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As per the data released from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on 15 July 2013, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India increased 25 percent year-on-year to 2.32 billion US dollars in April 2013, the highest level in the past six months. In April 2012, the country had received FDI worth USD 1.85 billion US dollars, according to data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). In September, 2012, foreign inflows were 4.67 billion US dollars. The sectors that received large FDI inflows during the month include hotel and tourism (2.32 billion US dollars), pharmaceuticals (987 million US dollars), services (238 million US dollars), chemicals (51 million US dollars) and construction (32 million US dollars), according to the data.The most FDI in April came from Singapore (1.29 billion US dollars), followed by Mauritius (355 million US dollars), the Netherlands (173 million US dollars) and the US (149 million US dollars). The steps taken by the government are helping to boost FDI flows. Since September 2012, several reform initiatives have been taken, including liberalizing FDI norms in civil aviation, retail and power exchanges. FDI inflows in 2012-13 aggregated 22.42 billion US dollars, a decline from 36.50 billion US dollars in 2011-12. Following the decisions taken in September 2012, the government is also expected to further liberalise the FDI regime in sectors such as telecom and defence. The finance ministry has proposed changes in FDI caps for sectors, including tea, media, petroleum and natural gas. India needs about 1 trillion US dollars from 2012-13 to 2016-17 to fund infrastructure such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth. An increase in FDI will help support the rupee, which depreciated to a record low of 61.21 against the US dollar on 8 July 2013.
INDIA'S EXPORTS IN JUNE 2013 VALUED AT 23785.64 MILLION $

As per the data released by Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 12 July 2 013, Indias exports during June 2013 were valued at 23785.64 million US dollars (138901.73 crore rupees) which was 4.56 per cent lower in Dollar terms (0.53 per cent lower in Rupee terms) than the level of 24923.11 million US dollars (139644.68 crore rupees) during June 2012. Cumulative value of exports for the period April-June 2013 -14 was 72455.67 million US dollars (405104.78 crore rupees) as against 73491.77 million US dollars ( 397884.01 crore rupees) registering a negative growth of 1.41 per cent in Dollar terms and growth of 1.81 per cent in Rupee terms over the same period last year( April-June 2012-13). Imports during June 2013 were valued at 36034.74 million US dollars (210433.14 crore rupees) representing a negative growth of 0.37 per cent in Dollar terms and growth of 3.84 per cent in Rupee terms over the level of imports valued at 36167.56 million US dollars (202647.54 crore rupees) in June, 2012. Cumulative value of imports for the period April-June, 2013-14 was 122635.73 million US dollars (684167.73 crore rupees) as against 115708.50 million US dollars (625872.80 crore rupees) registering a growth of 5.99 per cent in Dollar terms and growth of 9.31 per cent in Rupee terms over the same period last year.
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CRUDE OIL AND NON-OIL IMPORTS
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Oil imports during June 2013 were valued at 12767.7 million US dollars which was 13.74 percent higher than oil imports valued at 11225.6 million US dollars in the corresponding period last year. Oil imports during April-June 2013-14 were valued at 41875.0 million US dollars which was 6.40 per cent higher than the oil imports of 39357.4 million US dollars in the corresponding period last year. Non-oil imports during June, 2013 were estimated at 23267.0 million US dollars which was 6.71 per cent lower than non-oil imports of 24942.0 million US dollars in June 2012. Non-oil imports during April - June 2013-14 were valued at 80760.7 million US dollars which was 5.78 per cent higher than the level of such imports valued at 76351.1 million US dollars in April-June, 201213.
TRADE BALANCE
The trade deficit for April-June, 2013-14 was estimated at 50180.06 million US dollars which was higher than the deficit of 42216.73 million US dollars during April-June 2012-13.
VISA ON ARRIVAL SCHEME REGISTERED 22.9 % GROWTH IN JUNE 2013

As per the latest data released by Union Tourism Ministry, Visa on Arrival Scheme registered a growth of 22.9 percent in June 2013 as compared to the same month data of June 2012. In June 2013 the number of foreign tourists, who availed the facilities of the scheme were 1062, whereas, in June 2012, the number was 864 passengers. The residents of Japan availed the maximum number of visa on arrival facility and were followed by Indonesia, the Philippines, New Zealand, and Singapore. But the scheme was able to pull just three tourists from Luxembourg, four from Cambodia and five from Laos. The Visa on Arrival Scheme was launched for citizens of five counties namely Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore in 2010 by Government of India. In January 2011, the scheme was extended for the citizens of six more countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos and Myanmar. The facility was launched for people from these counties visiting India with the purpose of Tourism.
GOVERNMENT APPROVED MIIUS

The Government on 12 July 2013 approved the Modified Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (MIIUS) with an outlay of 1030 crore Rupees during the 12th Five Year Plan period ending March 2017.
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As per the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Out of the total outlay, a sum of 450 crore rupees will be utililized on committed liability and the remainder for taking up 14 to 16 new infrastructure upgradation projects in existing or greenfield industrial clusters. The decision will help to develop better common infrastructure and common facilities, including skill development centres, at the selected industrial clusters. It will also certainly impact better employment generation in the selected clusters.
IMPORTANT FACTS RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADATION SCHEME

All states are covered under the scheme. However, projects are likely to be undertaken in only 14 to 16 states/districts due to limitation of outlay. At least 10 per cent of the outlay will be set aside for a minimum of two projects in the North East. Project proposals would be scrutinised with the help of the PMA and they would be placed before an apex committee for in-principle approval. The projects will be monitored after in-principle approval is given so that these achieve stipulated milestones to qualify for final approval. Earlier In 2003, an Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (IIUS) was launched to improve the industrys competitiveness by providing infrastructure through the public -private partnership model in selected functional clusters. Under the scheme, central assistance would be provided for as much as 75 per cent of the project cost, subject to a ceiling of 5 crore Rupees. In February 2009, the plan was remodeled based on the suggestion of an independent evaluation.
JEWELLERS DECIDED TO SUSPEND SALE OF GOLD COINS FOR 6 MONTHS

Prominent jewellery retailers and bullion traders across India on 10 July 2013 decided to suspend sale of gold coins and bars for six months. The decision will help the government in curbing gold imports and keep the current account deficit under control. Prominent players including TBZ, Gitanjali and Tanishq, will stop selling gold coins. Coins and bars account for more than a third of gold sales in India. India is the world's largest gold buyer, at 860 tonnes a year. The demand for coins and bars increased 150 percent in the last four years.
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Although the government had adopted several measures to control sales, the impact has been slow. Demand for gold jewellery in the last 10 years has remained constant. But investment demand has increased several times.
CCEA APPROVED DISINVESTMENT OF GOVERNMENT STAKE IN STC

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 11 July 2013 approved the disinvestment of government stake in State Trading Corporation (STC) and ITDC. The disinvestment is supposed to bring around 30 crore Rupees to the exchequer. The disinvestment is required through Cabinet nod to divest 5 per cent stake in India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) and 1.02 per cent in STC through the Offer for Sale (OFS) route. The government is expecting the sale of 5 per cent stake or 42.88 crore shares in ITDC to fetch 23.58 crore Rupees. The Government is also planning to acquire about 10 crore rupees through disinvestment of 1.02 per cent, or 6.13 crore shares, in STC. It is important here to note that the government currently holds 92.11 per cent stake in ITDC and 91.02 per cent stake in STC. The stake is meant to help both the companies meet the minimum 10 per cent public holding norm of market regulator SEBI. It is mandated for the government to bring down its stake in STC and ITDC to 90 per cent by 8 August2013. Shares of STC were trading 5.75 per cent lower at Rs 99.20 on the BSE in afternoon trade.
DIRECT TAX COLLECTION FOR JUNE QUARTER INCREASED BY 11.52%

The Union Ministry of Finance on 9 July 2013 released its report on Direct Tax Collection of June Quarter of Financial Year (FY) 2013-14. As per the released report, the Gross Direct Tax Collection during the April-June quarter of FY 2013-14 increased by 11.52 percent at 123993 crore rupees against 111183 crore rupees in the same period in FY 2012-13. As per the latest report released by the Finance Ministry, the Collection of Corporate Taxes has gone up by 7.82 percent at 76115 crore rupees in April-June quarter FY 2013-14 as against 70594 crore rupees in the same period in FY 2012-13. Gross Collection of Personal Income Tax went up by 18.53 percent at 46903 crore rupees in first quarter of FY 2013-14 against 39569 crore rupees in the same period in FY 2012-13. Net Direct Tax Collection is up by 6.44 percent and stands at 89705 crore rupees in the first quarter of FY 2013-14 as compared to 84274 crore rupees in the same period in the last fiscal. Registering a growth of 50.00 percent, the Wealth Tax went up to 48 crore rupees against the 32 crore rupees of first quarter of FY 2012-13. The collection of Securities Transaction Tax (STT) went up to 926 Crores rupees.
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Current Affairs eBook July 2013 CAI ESTIMATED LOWER PRODUCTION OF COTTON IN 2012-13
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Cotton Association of India (CAI) on 8 July 2013 released its June forecast on cotton production for the season ending September 2013. The released data estimated lower production at 355.25 lakh bales in the 2012-13, which would be lower than the 373.25 lakh bales, was produced in 2011-12. The estimated cotton supply during the season is estimated at 423.46 lakh bales that include opening stock balance of around 53 lakh bales. Following the details of the report released, domestic consumption is estimated at 283 lakh bales with exports at 95 lakh bales and it will leave the closing stock at 45.46 lakh bales.
DATA OF COTTON PRODUCED IN 2012-13 CROP SEASON

Gujarat 85.75 lakh bales (It was the largest producer of cotton) Andhra Pradesh The state produced 75 lakh bales Maharashtra 72 lakh bales Haryana 24 lakh bales Punjab 15.5 lakh bales Karnataka 13 lakh bales Madhya Pradesh 18 lakh bales Cotton Season of the country runs from October to September.
PROPOSED INVESTMENTS IN INDIA FELL TO 75% IN FY12-13: ASSOCHAM

As per the survey conducted by Assocham in July 2013 the proposed investments by domestic and foreign entrepreneurs declined by a whopping 75 per cent in FY 2012-13.
WHAT ARE PROPOSED INVESTMENT/INVESTMENT PROPOSAL?

Document prepared by the sponsor of a new investment project, or the management of an existing firm, for prospective investors and/or lenders. It details the nature of the project or business its history (if any), growth potential, objectives and the amount of finance required to realize them, promised collateral or security, and a plan for timely repayment of interest and principal.
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SOME IMPORTANT POINT TO REMEMBER
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India attracted 697 investment proposals through both domestic and foreign entrepreneurs to the tune of over 1.4 lakh crore Rupees as of March 2013. However, these have declined from a significant level of 2828 proposals worth 6 lakh crore Rupees during the corresponding period in year 2012. As per the state-wise analysis of investment intentions of foreign and domestic sources, Maharashtra topped the list attracting maximum share of investment proposals at 20 per cent while Kerala accounted for 10 per cent of the proposals. The governments both at the Centre and in states need to work in tandem to attract private investments which would boost economic growth and spur job creation. Maharashtra emerged as most preferred investment destination across India attracting 149 proposals worth over 28500 crore Rupees. Amid the top 20 states, Kerala is the only state which witnessed a surge in the proposed investments at 10 per cent with two projects worth over 14200 crore rupees. On the other hand, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh saw a dip in proposed investments. On the other hand, the naxal hit Chhattisgarh state ranked second with about 19 per cent share, attracting 21 proposals worth 2000 crore Rupees. Gujarat ranked third with a share of 14 per cent attracting 106 proposals worth 19800 crore Rupees. In addition, Rajasthan ranked fourth with a share of over 10 per cent with about 41 proposals worth 14929 crore Rupees.
RAILWAY REVENUE EARNINGS INCREASED BY 11.93%

The Union Ministry of Railways on 8 July 2013 released a report on revenue earnings of Indian Railways from 1 April to 30 June 2013. As per the released report, the total approximate earnings of Indian Railways on originating basis registered an increase of 11.93 percent from 1 April to 30 June 2013 as compared to the same period of 2012, which was 33497.09 crore rupees, when compared to Rs. 29926.67 crore rupees, respectively. During the same period, the total goods earnings of Railways registered a growth of 9.35 percent to 23193.98 crore rupees in 2013 from 21211.41 crore rupees. The Passenger Revenue earnings registered a growth of 16.92 percent with 8724.66 crore rupees in 2013 compared to 7462.17 crore rupees during the same period in 2012.
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The revenue earnings increased by 36.21 percent via other coaching that amounted to 1014.36 crore rupees during April - June 2013 when compared to 744.73 crore rupees, during April June 2012. The passenger booking witnessed a slight decline of 0.69 percent with total booking of 2100.20 million passengers during 1 April 30 June 2013 compared to 2114.69 million passengers during the same period in 2012. In the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the numbers of passengers booked during April-June 2013 were 1100.88 million and 999.32 million during April to June 2013, as compared to 1074.77 million and 1039.92 million during the same period in 2012. Thus the passenger booking in suburban area witnessed an increase of 2.43 per cent whereas the same decreased by 3.90 percent in non-suburban areas.
CHINAS CONSUMER INFLATION ROSE TO 2.7% IN JUNE 2013

Consumer price inflation/Index of China scaled to 2.7 per cent year-on-year in June 2013 pushed by a 4.9 per cent rise in food prices. As per the National Bureau of Statistics, subsequent to falling of Consumer price inflation to 2.1 per cent in May 2013 the CPI rose to 2.7 per cent in June led by 9.7 per cent year-on-year rise in fresh vegetable prices.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER

Consumer inflation had climbed to a 10-month high of 3.2 per cent year-on-year in February but fell to 2.1 per cent in March and 2.4 per cent in April 2013. On the other hand, the producer price index, which trails the wholesale inflation, dropped 2.7 per cent year-on-year in June 2013. The Government aims to keep the annual consumer inflation at about 3.5 per cent after reporting 2.6 per cent last year. China witnessed weaker-than-expected economic growth of 7.7 per cent in the first quarter of this year, and many analysts expect the second-quarter growth to slow further to about 7.5 per cent. The annual economic growth of China fell to 7.8 per cent in 2012, the slowest since 1999.
WHAT IS CONSUMER PRICE INDEX?

A consumer price index (CPI) measures changes in the price level of a market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. The CPI is basically a statistical estimate formulated using the prices of a sample of representative items whose prices are collected periodically. Sub-indexes and sub-sub-indexes are computed for different categories www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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and sub-categories of goods and services, being combined to produce the overall index with weights reflecting their shares in the total of the consumer expenditures covered by the index. It is one of several price indices calculated by most national statistical agencies.
INDIA-ISRAEL TRADE GREW TO 6 BILLION DOLLARS IN 2012-13

As per the report from the Israeli Embassy in July 2013, the trade between India and Israel touched the 6-billion dollars mark during 2012-13. The trade between India and Israel went up from 5.15 billion in 2011-12. In a meeting of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Indo-Israel Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the diplomat of Economic and Commercial Affairs to Embassy of Israel Jonathan Ben Zaken asserted the growth of trade volume from a modest 200 million dollars in 1992. The bilateral relations between India and Israel had strengthened significantly in recent years with both nations experiencing a convergence of interests in agriculture, farm research, science, public health, IT, telecommunications and cooperation in space. The Israeli agency is looking up for taking advantage of synergies with India in areas like water technologies, information technology and sectors that Israel is strong in. It is worth mentioning here that about 265 information technology companies are already doing significant business in Israel.
FIPB APPROVED 7 PHARMA FDI PROPOSALS

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on 5 July 2013 approved seven Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) proposals for investment in Indian pharmaceutical companies. The approval has ended the policy of uncertainty over Investments in the sector. The board also has deferred three other Pharma proposals as there were ownership issues and it will be taken up after the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) clarifies the policy. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the nodal body for framing FDI policy, will review the policy to make certain there are enough safeguards to ensure domestic healthcare concerns. The proposals which were discussed in the meeting include that of Singapore's GlaxoSmithKline Pte Ltd, US' Mylan Inc, Mauritius-based Castleton Investment Ltd, Mumbai-based Ferring Therapeutics and Hyderabad based Verdant Life Sciences. At present, 100% FDI in pharma sector is allowed through automatic approval route in the new projects but the foreign investment in the existing pharma companies requires FIPB approval.
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WHAT IS AUTOMATIC APPROVAL ROUTE?
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Most sectors are now open to 100% FDI, meaning thereby, that the foreign companies do not need a prior approval for investment either by the Government or the Reserve Bank of India. The investors are only required to intimate the Regional office concerned of the Reserve Bank within 30 days of receipt of inward remittance. The automatic route allows Indian companies engaged in various industries to issue shares to foreign investors up to 100% of their paid up capital in Indian companies. The investors are also required to file necessary documents within 30 days of issue of shares.
ABOUT FOREIGN INVESTMENT PROMOTION BOARD

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is a government body that offers a single window clearance for proposals on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India that is not allowed access through the automatic route. FIPB comprises of Secretaries drawn from different ministries with Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, MoF in the chair. It is an inter-ministerial body which basically examines and discusses proposals for foreign investments in the country for sectors with caps, sources and instruments that require approval under the extant FDI Policy (prescribed vide Circular 1 of 2012) on a regular basis. The Minister of Finance, considers the recommendations of the FIPB on proposals for foreign investment up to 1200 crore. Proposals involving foreign investment of more than 1200 crore require the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
GOVERNMENT RELEASED RTC FORM FOR EPFO

The Union Government of India on 4 July 2013 at New Delhi released Revised Transfer Claim (RTC) form for EPFO beneficiaries. This is the first step towards the launch of the online Transfer Claim Facilities in New Delhi. The revised transfer claim was released by the Union Labour & Employment Minister, Sis Ram Ola.
FEATURES OF THE REVISED FORM

The form will be called Transfer Claim Form instead of Form 13 for easy comprehension by the beneficiaries. The form can be presented after verification, either through the present employer or previous employer. Earlier the form could be submitted after verification only through the present employer.
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This form can be submitted online as well as in physical form. The facility of online submission of this form will be given shortly after process of collecting the digital signature of the employer is completed. The facility to file physical form shall continue to cater to the needs of working class who do not have internet access. Employee will be allowed to submit their applications online, if their employer is having registered digital signature. Online submission of form will introduce paperless process for claim settlement. Every beneficiary will be informed through SMS and e-mail about the stage of process of the claim to make the entire process transparent and accountable. After introduction of online claim settlement, endeavour will be made to substantially reduce the assured time of settlement of transfer claim which presently is 30 days. The plan is designed with an aim to develop a system of web based services to employers and employees for online submission of forms and settlement of claims.
TELECOM COMMISSION APPROVED HIKE IN FDI CAP TO 100 PERCENT

The Telecom Commission of India on 2 July 2013 approved the enhancement of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit in the telecom sector from 74 percent to 100 percent. The decision was taken to re-energize the telecom industry. At present, FDI limit in Telecom sector is at 74 per cent where 49 per cent is through automatic route and the rest with the approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. Now the detailed note would be sent to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion by the Department of Telecom, which will further take it forward for inter-ministerial consultations before moving it to the Cabinet.
FII PULLED OUT 5.6 BILLION DOLLARS FROM DEBT MARKET

Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) in the Month June 2013 jumped out of the debt market, withdrawing 5.6 billion dollars. The Withdrawal of this huge amount is being considered as the highest ever withdrawal in the markets history.
SOME IMPORTANT POINTS TO BE HIGHLIGHTED

In the first five months, FIIs had pumped in 3.9 billion dollars. The net inflow in calendar 2012 was 5.9 billion dollars.
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FIIs also pulled out 1.8 billion dollars from the equity market in June. Their net investment in equities, however, remained positive at 13.5 billion dollars. As of 1 July 2013, the Sensex was trading at the same level it was at on 1 January 2013. It is not the first time that Indias debt market is seeing FII money going out. A similar situation was seen in 2009, when foreign institutional investors pulled out 1.2 billion dollars in which the Sensex rallied 76 per cent, from around 9900 points to 17400. As of 28 June 2013 cumulative FII investment in Indias debt market stood at 31.7 billion dollars while the equity exposure was 139.5 billion Dollars. A total of 1753 FIIs are registered with market regulator SEBI for transacting in the countrys market, with the number of registered sub-accounts pegged at 6404.
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ENVIRONMENT & ECOLOGY

RARE EGYPTIAN VULTURES SPOTTED IN THE FOREST RANGE OF ODISHA
Rare Egyptian vultures were spotted near Laxmipur in Chikiti forest range of Odisha's Ganjam district in the month of July 2013. The forest department declared that it would carry out a survey of the birds in order to find out more about them. The survey would help in locating their nesting site. Thirteen Egyptian vultures were spotted by a bird-watcher, who in turn, informed about it to the divisional forest officer at Berhampur. It is important to note that this sighting of the rare Egyptian vultures indicate rich biodiversity as well as healthy trend. The Berhampur forest division also planned to submit the proposal to the wildlife wing of the forest department in order to undertake the projects for conservation of the endangered species. Action plan will be prepared after detailed survey has been performed. These vultures were sighted at different places in monsoon. It was found that these Egyptian vultures fed on small animals as well as fish. The number of vultures in south Asia, especially in Nepal and India, declined considerably over past few years. The major reason for this is residues of the poisonous veterinary drug in the animal carcasses.
PANEL RECOMMENDED AN INDEFINITE SUSPENSION ON GM CROPS

A Technical Expert Committee (TEC) appointed by the Supreme Court of India recommended an indefinite suspension on open field trials of geneticallymodified (GM) crops till the deficiencies in the regulatory and safety systems are effectively, addressed. In the final report submitted to the court on 3 July 2013, the panel did not mention 10-year suspension on field trials as suggested in the interim report in October 2012. Instead, it imposed four conditions for meaningful consideration for allowing trials.
THE PANEL SUGGESTIONS WERE

Setting up of a think tank to look into Bio-safety issues.
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Housing the new Bio-technology regulatory in either Union Environment or Health Ministry. Identification of specific sites for conducting tests and mandatory stakeholder participation as part of risk management strategy. On successful following of the recommended conditions, the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) suggested that the trials should be only allowed on land owned by GM crop application and not on leased land.
TEC INTERIM REPORT

In TEC interim report submitted to the Supreme Court on October 2012, the panel recommended a ban on field trials of GM crops until the regulatory system was completely overhauled. Panel also called for a 10-year suspension on field trials of Bt food crops (which are modified with the Bacillus thuringiensis gene, such as the proposed Bt Brinjal), and a complete ban on field trials of transgenics in crops which originate in India.
TEC MEMBERS
1. Imran Siddiqui, Plant Development Biology scientist, Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad. 2. P S Ramakrishnan, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Sciences and Biodiversity, Jawaharlal Nehru University Delhi. 3. P C Chauhan, an expert in Genetics Toxicology and Food Safety. 4. P C Kesavan, a former BARC Scientist and fellow in M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai. 5. B Sivakumar, former director, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad. 6. Rajendra Singh Paroda, former Director General of Indian Agriculture Research Institute, Delhi.
POLLUTER PAY PRINCIPLE ON THE YAMUNA RIVER: NGT

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) bench headed by Swatanter Kumar on 22 July 2013 invoked the Polluter Pays Principle to deal with the problem of pollution and dumping of debris on the Yamuna bank.
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THE NGT ORDERS
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Any person found dumping debris on the river bank at any site will have to pay 5 lakh Rupees for causing pollution. The offender will also have to remove the debris. The fine so imposed shall be recovered from the person who is responsible for dumping of debristruck owner as well as person to whom the debris belongs - by whose property demolition the debris have been created. Even the contractor who is carrying on the business of dumping of debris shall be equally responsible. The Tribunal directed all concerned authorities, including the Delhi Development Authority, East Delhi Municipal Corporation and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to ensure that all debris is removed by 15 August 2013. The Tribunal gave the time till August 2013 to the Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests to constitute an Expert Committee to finalise the Yamuna preservation and beautification plan. The Tribunal order came on the backdrop of a petition filed by Manoj Misra of the Yamuna Jiyo Abhiyan, which has opposed the dumping of debris and construction waste on the banks of The Yamuna River.
STICK-SLIP MOVEMENTS CAUSED VIBRATIONS IN REDOUBT VOLCANO

Researchers, who examined the data of 2009 Mt. Redoubt eruption explained that the vibrations that occurred during the eruption were caused by numerous so-called stick-slip movements on faults more than a mile, beneath the volcano. The Alaskas Mt. Redoubt volcano erupted in March 2009, with unusual screaming sounds. A volcano normally makes sounds above the range of human hearing, but this particular eruption produced something audible.
RESEARCH DETAILS
Researchers explained that it was beyond the scope of their study to determine the cause of the quake; they theorized that it was the result of pressure building in blocked magma conduits underground.
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Blockage of conduit flow increases magma pressure, driving increasingly rapid deformation until the obstruction is breached and an explosion commences. The study concluded that the high-frequency harmonic tremors were recorded before other volcanic eruptions, as well as in the collision of icebergs. Usually, these tremors cannot be heard by people. In the case of the Redoubt eruption, however, the shaking was just barely audible as a hum.
LOCATION OF MOUNT REDOUBT

Mount Redoubt is located in the Chigmit Mountains (part of the Aleutian Range) along the western shore of the Cook Inlet, an arm of the Gulf of Alaska, in Lake Clark National Park. Its elevation is 10,194 feet. The study was published in July 2013 edition of Nature Geoscience.
DEFORESTATION DROPPED IN CONGO BASIN RAINFOREST OF AFRICA

Satellite images of the Congo Basin of Africa revealed that deforestation has dropped down by around one-third since 2000 in the area. Researchers explained that this happened partly due to focus on mining activities as well as oil instead of commercial agriculture, where whole bandages of forests are cleared. The study of the state of deforestation was a part of series which is examining the state of forests of Africa. The primary focus was on Amazon and on South East Asian tropical rainforests. The missing part was completed through Congo Basin in Central Africa. It is important to note that Congo Basin is the second largest rainforest in the world after the Amazon, size-wise. The Congo Basin rainforest covers around 2 million sq km or 800000 sq miles area. The study revealed that this rainforest was in a much better condition than expected. The satellite images taken from the space enabled the researchers to monitor the change in dense foliage over the time. It was found that during the 1990s, around 3000 sq km or 1000 sq miles of forest was filled every year. But from 2000 to 2010, deforestation rate slowed down considerably. Less than 2000 sq km or 700 sq miles of rainforest were lost every year during that time. This happened because there was a network of the protected area. This however, also happened because of lack of expansion from agriculture. Losing the portions of crucial rainforests like these can have a huge impact on the climate change, biodiversity as well as the communities which are dependent on the environment. The rainforests of Africa have a very important role.
EARTHQUAKE OF MAGNITUDE 6.9 STRUCK NEW ZEALAND COAST
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Earthquake of magnitude 6.9 on Richter scale stuck Wellington, the Capital of New Zealand on 20 July 2013. As per the details of the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake struck under the Cook Strait 57 kilometres southwest of Wellington at a depth of 10 kilometres. New Zealand is part of the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire that receives regular seismic activity. Earlier in 2011, a severe earthquake occurred in the city of Christchurch in which 185 people were killed.
PACIFIC RING OF FIRE

Pacific Ring of Fire is the area in the basin of Pacific Ocean, where a large number of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. This ring is the house of 75 percent of world's active and dormant volcanoes. The Ring of Fire has been created as a result of plate tectonics and the movement and collisions of lithospheric plates.
EARTHQUAKE IN PAKISTAN
Apart from the quake in Wellington, an earthquake that measured 5.2 on the Richter scale also struck Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and some areas in northern region on 21 July 2013. The epicenter of this quake was 95 km northwest of province's Chitral district in the mountainous region of Hindu Kush, along Pakistan-Afghanistan border, as per the reports of Pakistan Meteorological Department.
NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR SUCCESSFUL GREENING OF DESERTS

Engineers at the Kyoto University of Japan, in cooperation with Panasonic Corporation developed a new technology which can be used effectively for successful greening of the desert areas. Experts of Japan proposed to mix the dry sand along with special reagents which have the capability of holding water and do not allow this water to get absorbed deeper into soil. The special reagents can help in forming the fertile layer below soil surface. This fertile layer can preserve up to 70 percent moisture. The new technology does not ban the circulation of air inside the soil and thus helps in promotion of growth of plants. It is important to note that producing one ton of the special reagent costs around 10 million yen or 100 US dollar. It is planned that the marketing of technology will commence from 2016. The technology will be high in demand in Middle East, Africa as well as Central Asia. In these particular areas, the problem of greening the landscape is more. The technology will thus help in fighting desertification in acute areas.
CLEARANCE FOR AN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN KANNUR
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The Ministry of Environment and Forests on 19 July 2013 gave green clearance for an international airport in north Kerala's Kannur district. Kannur airport would be the fourth international airport in the state after Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. The international airport will be constructed in a total land area of 525.50 hectares with a proposed built-up area of 50000 square metres. It will be constructed at Keezhallur and Pazhassi Panchayat in Thalassery. The proposed Airport was cleared by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in February 2008. The total cost for the execution of AIR project will be approximately 1000 crore rupees. The first phase of the airport is expected to be completed by 2014 and the first flight would land at Kannur airport in 2015. Prior to this, the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for building construction, coastal regulation zone, infrastructure development and miscellaneous projects had recommended the project. It was set up by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN
According to an estimate, 30421 trees will be cut to build the airport in a total land area of 525.50 hectares. The Ministry of Environment and Forest has directed the concerned department for compensatory tree plantation of at least 1:3 ratio and the department should carry the cost for its timely maintenance.
NUMBER OF BUTTERFLIES IN UK AT HISTORIC LOW: CONSERVATIONISTS

The conservationists at the Charity Butterfly Conservation of UK declared that the number of butterflies in UK was at a record and historic low. The Charity Butterfly Conservation issued the warning before the annual survey called the Big Butterfly Count. The experts explained that the critical weather conditions such as 2012s wet summer as well as 2013 cold spring were the reasons behind worsening population of the butterflies in UK. However, it was explained that hot start of July 2013 could help in reviving the population of these insects. It is important to note that butterflies are extremely crucial for the environment because they act as the barometer of health to the environment. The declining population of butterflies in UK explains that there was something wrong in the environment of UK.
ABOUT THE BIG BUTTERFLY COUNT SURVEY

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It is a citizen scientist survey where general public are invited for recording the number of butterflies flying in the local green areas. People are provided with the chart of 19 most commonly found butterflies as well as 2 day-flying moths. They are asked to record how many insects of each kind were spotted in just 15 minutes time. The Big Butterfly Count takes place from 20 July to 11 August every year. In the year 2012, over 220000 butterflies were counted. During that interview, it was observed that 15 out of 21 species declined in comparison to 2011 survey. The 2012 was said to be the worst year on record for UK butterflies due to wet as well as windy weather that caused disruption to their breeding. Due to this, thousands of delicate insects succumbed to various elements before reproduction. In many causes, their eggs were completely washed away. In 2013 cold spring, the butterflies started emerging three weeks late. However, the heatwave in the month of July 2013 could help in enhancing the number of butterflies. It was explained by the survey manager that summer heatwave of 2013 was perfect tonic for struggling population of butterflies in Britain.
EUROPE REACHED AN AGREEMENT ON FISHERIES REFORM

Europe in second week of July 2013 reached to a historic agreement to reform its Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The agreement promises to reverse decades of excessive overfishing by the European Fleets. The reform of the CFP is evidence that Europe is embracing a pathway towards a green economy.
THE COMMON FISHERIES POLICY COVERS

Rebuilding of fish stocks Setting-up of legally binding targets to end overfishing alongside reducing catches of non-target fish as well as wasteful discarding It can mark watershed in the European Union's resolve towards sustainable fisheries The need to eliminate harmful fisheries subsidies was recognized by the European Union and the International Community in 2002 and the same commitment was reaffirmed for being done in 2012 at the Rio+20 Summit. To support the objectives of the CFP from 2014 to 2020, the European policy makers (the parliament and ministers) would have to agree on the renewed fisheries subsidies regime the proposed European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
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To prohibit subsidies that lead to overcapacity and overfishing, the negotiations of the World Trade Organisation also produced real progress towards a binding agreement, which continued to be in existence till the crash of the Doha Rounds in 2009. The crash left, fisheries subsidies reform fall a prey to the global trade politics. Worldwide Fisheries employs 12 percent of world population directly or indirectly providing job and economic benefits to them. Fish is also a critical component of the global food security and a major source of Protein for more than a billion of people. According to the World Bank and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN, an end to overfishing could recoup an estimated 50 billion US dollar per year which is being lost due to the unsustainable practices involved in fishing. The EMFF legislation provides a unique opportunity for the EU to showcase its commitment to greening an important sector of its economy.
UN FORUM TO BOOST SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS

The United Nations General Assembly on 9 July 2013 established a new High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) to replace the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD). The decision was taken with an aim to boost efforts to tackle global economic, social and environmental challenge. The new resolution was adopted with consensus in the 193member Assembly with an emphasis towards development of an improved and more effective institutional framework for sustainable development. The assembly also decided that the Forum should provide a dynamic platform for regular dialogue and for stocktaking and agenda-setting to advance that process. The decision of the General Assembly is based on the key recommendation of the Rio+20s outcome document of 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, the Future We Want. The decision on Forum marks a major step forward in implementing 'The Future We Want'. This forum would play a major role in providing the political leadership and action-oriented recommendations that need to be followed based on the Rio Recommendation. This will help in meeting urgent global social, economic and environmental challenges. The Forum would assemble once in a year at the ministerial level under the sponsorship of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The heads of state will also be brought together every four year to add momentum for the sustainable development agenda by the Forum. For the first the High-Level Political Forum will meet in September 2013 at the time of General Assemblys 68th Session.
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TASKS ASSIGNED TO THE HIGH-LEVEL POLITICAL FORUM
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The forum will be responsible to provide political leadership, guidance and recommendations for sustainable development Reviewing progress in the implementation of related commitments Enhancing integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development - economic, social and environmental The Forum will replace the Commission on Sustainable Development, which was formed after the 1992 Earth Summit and helped to generate action on a range of issues that led to international agreements or treaties.
RIO+20 CONFERENCE: THE FUTURE WE WANT

The Rio+20 conference on sustainable development, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 2012 was the biggest UN conference ever and a major step forward in achieving a sustainable future the future we want.
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY GET GRANT OF 63-LAKH RUPEES

The UK-based Whitley Fund for Nature in month of June 2013 provided a grant of 63 lakh rupees in the support of Bombay Natural History Society, Indias marine biodiversity conservation programme in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The continuation funding grant for developing giant clam species recovery plan and identifying potential sites for marine conservation reserves in the Andaman and Nicobar islands has been awarded to the Chief Operating Officer. Bombay Natural History Society - The giant clam is an endangered species of clam found in the tropical coral reefs, including Indian waters. All the species of giant clam are protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act. The grant was awarded after rigorous review and discussion. On the other hand India's Ministry of Environment and Forests has also provided 27 lakh rupees to Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) for the giant clam studies in the Andaman.
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It is important here to note that earlier in 2008; Apte bagged the Whitley Conservation Award by the Shears Foundation for exceptional work in the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) of Lakshadweep, India. Besides, India has a two-year presidency for Convention on Biological Diversity, which took place in Hyderabad in October 2012, and considers marine and coastal biodiversity as one of its priority areas.
CONSERVATION PROGRAMME IN THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS

Under the Andaman-Nicobar Programme, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) aims to establish baseline data for both giant clam population ecology as well as establishment of profound understanding of the social fabric of these islands. This will be done by way of undertaking social and natural resource use mapping. BNHS also aims to arrange national legal consultation to identify gaps in existing conservation reserve policies. This data will form a strong scientific basis to be fed into the national species recovery plan for the giant clam. BNHS already has been conducting research and conservation activities regarding various aspects of marine life all along Indias coastline for over a decade. This includes study of the giant clam and coral reefs, Molluscan Taxonomy, other marine fauna, mangroves, tidal creeks and flora and fauna of inter-tidal habitats. Currently, regions covered by BNHS for this work include Gujarat, Maharashtra, Lakshadweep and Andaman-Nicobar.
GRADUATE COURSE ON DISASTERS, ENVIRONMENT & RISK REDUCTION

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Center for Natural Resources and Development (CNRD) introduced a new graduate course on Disasters, Environment and Risk Reduction at the 7th World Environmental Education Congress held in Marrakesh, Morocco. This course focuses to enhance awareness among the graduate about the environment and development and will target the causes of the environmental disaster. This course of Disasters, Environment and Risk Reduction is the latest concept to enhance awareness among the graduates, about environment and its development.
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The practitioners and researchers of 10 countries amass this 50-hour interactive course that combines climate change, adaptation through case studies and ecosystem studies with disaster risk management and ecosystem based tools for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of the Government of Germany and the European Union has funded the module and direct for testing at ten universities of CNRD whereas already being taught at different universities of Germany, Egypt and Indonesia. The course describes the different ways by which the environment interact with the disaster and the causes of the by which disaster provide massive damage to the environment whereas as exacerbate disaster impacts are climate change and degraded environments. Integrated Coastal Zone Management/Integrated Water Resource Management are some of the Ecosystem-based tools that counter the hazards from disasters, especially when DDR are incorporated with it. The Case studies from Brazil (the impacts of an April 2010 storm along the Rio de Janeiro coast), Nepal (flood hazards in Central Terai) and Egypt (the impacts of sea level rise) were included to demonstrate the importance of the course. The Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR) has also contributed in developing this course. Comment: In recent times, the speed with which the environmental changes have been witnessed, its mandatory to have a check on the disasters that are caused due to natures outburst. Incidents like, tsunami, earthquakes, tornadoes, landslides, flood and others have increased in past one decade. The course on Disasters, Environment and Risk Reduction by UNEP, would help people in having an understanding about the steps that need to be taken at times of disasters.
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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

SCIENTISTS DECODED HUMAN BRAIN'S ABILITY TO PAY ATTENTION
Scientists from Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine and the University of California, Davis studied communications between synaptically connected neurons under conditions where subjects shifted their attention toward or away from visual stimuli that activated the recorded neurons. The Scientists were able to demonstrate that attention operates at the level of the synapse to improve sensitivity to incoming signals, sharpen the precision of these signals and selectively boost the transmission of attention grabbing information while reducing the level of noisy or attention-disrupting information. They reached this conclusion using the highly sensitive measure of attentions on neuron-to-neuron communication. The scientific results point to a novel mechanism by which attention shapes perception by selectively altering presynaptic weights to highlight sensory features among all the noisy sensory input. While scientific findings are consistent with other reported changes in neuronal firing rates with attention, they go far beyond such descriptions, revealing never-before tested mechanisms at the synaptic level. In addition to expanding our understanding of brain, this scientific study could help people with attention deficits resulting from brain injury or disease, possibly leading to improved screening and new treatments.
SCIENTISTS CREATED WORLD S FASTEST ELECTRICA L SWITCH

US department of energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory invented the fastest electrical switching in magnetite- a naturally magnetic mineral. This scientific finding will enable faster, more powerful computing devices. Scientists used SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray laser to find that it takes only 1 trillionth of a second to flip the on-off electrical switch in samples of magnetite, which is thousands of times faster than the electrical switch used in transistors. This scientific finding will throw new light on the electronic properties of magnetite. We already know the basic magnetic properties of magnetite. In fact, for the first time the speed limit for electrical switching in magnetite was revealed by this scientific breakthrough. Scientists hit magnetite with a visiblelight laser, which resulted into the fragmentation of the material's electronic structure at an atomic scale, rearranging it to form the islands. The laser blast was followed by an ultra bright, ultra short X-ray pulse. It allowed researchers to study the timing and details of changes in the sample excited by the initial laser strike.
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After adjusting the interval of the X-ray pulses, the scientists measured the time duration of the material to shift from a non-conducting to an electrically conducting state and observed the structural changes during this switch. The magnetite was needed to be cooled to minus 190 degrees Celsius to lock its electrical charges in place.
VARIATION IN STRUCTURES OF BRAIN ARTERIES CAUSES MIGRAINE

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania discovered that variations in arterial anatomy of brain lead to the asymmetries in cerebral blood flow, which in turn contributes to process of triggering migraine. The study conducted by the researchers found out that the networks of arteries which supply the blood flow to brain are incomplete in people suffering from migraines. It is important to note that the arterial supply of blood to brain receives protection from series of the connections between major arteries called circle of Willis. The circle of Willis is the term named after English physician, who described this first in the 17th century. It was found by the researchers that people suffering from migraine and especially the migraine with aura, will mostly have missing circle of Willis. It was earlier believed that the root cause of migraine was dilation of blood vessels in head. In the study, it was found that blood vessels have a different role to play, than suspected earlier. It was suggested in the study that the structural alterations of the blood supply to brain can increase the vulnerability to alterations in the cerebral blood flow, which in turn contributes to the abnormal neuronal activity starting migraine. Lead author of the study, Brett Cucchiara, the Associate Professor of Neurology explained that people suffering from migraine have difference in the blood vessels structure. And, this is something that a person is born with. These differences attribute to changes in blood flow in brain. It is because of these changes that the migraine triggers. This also explains that some people also feel that dehydration is the cause of their severe headaches.
THE STUDY
In the study, 170 people were studied. There were three groups- a group that had no headaches, a group that had migraine with aura and the third group, that had migraine without any aura. The team of researchers found out that there were incomplete circle of Willis mostly in the people who had migraine with aura (73 percent), followed by the migraine without aura (67 percent), followed by headache-free group (51 percent). Magnetic Resonance Angiography was used by the team in order to examine the blood vessel structure. For measuring the changes in cerebral blood flow, noninvasive magnetic resonance www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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imaging method pioneered at the University of Pennsylvania, called Arterial spin labelling (ASL) was used. It was found that abnormalities in the blood flow as well as the circle of Willis were most commonly found at the rear of the brain, where visual cortex is situated. This explains why people suffering from migraines with aura have visual symptoms like seeing wavy lines, spots or distortions.
INDIAS FIRST HYDROGEN-POWERED FUEL CELL BUS DEVELOPED

Tata Motors Limited (TML) and Indian Space Research Organisation, in collaboration, developed the first Hydrogen-powered automobile bus of India, after various years of research. The first hydrogen fuel-fitted bus of India was put on demonstration at the ISRO facility- Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu on 28 July 2013.
PRIMARY FEATURES OF THE HYDROGEN-POWERED AUTOMOBILE BUS

The Hydrogen-powered automobile bus is the CNG kind of a bus. Atop the bus, the Hydrogen in bottles at high pressure is stored, which would lead to zero pollution. These hydrogen bottles or cells were a by-product of the cryogenic technology and ISRO had been working on the development of this since past few years. The technology used in Hydrogen-powered automobile bus is not exactly like the cryogenic technology. It is actually the liquid hydrogen handling, where ISRO has expertise. The bus would lead to zero pollution because the product of cold combustion would be just water. Since past 30 years, ISRO has had rich technology in production, storage as well as handling of the gaseous and liquid hydrogen. The team at ISRO generated technical specifications for various elements as well as general specifications of this bus. It is important to note that ISRO and TML had signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the year 2006 in order to design as well as develop the automobile bus which uses hydrogen as the fuel through the fuel cell route. The entire project is a team work of Tata Motors and ISRO specialists along with the contribution from PESO (Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation) and DSIR (Department of Scientific and Industrial Research)
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Current Affairs eBook July 2013 SOFTWARE TOOL TO CURB DENGUE AND MALARIA DEVELOPED
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A software tool that can control and reduce the outbreak of Mosquito-borne diseases by data mining (Knowledge Discovering) has been developed by scientists of the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) Hyderabad. This IT tool has been validated by the Central Government and taken up for implementation by health authorities in five States of States Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Assam and Mizoram in the initial phase which will be extended to all other States in a phased manner. This technology has been developed by Dr. U.S.N. Murthy, Chief Scientist, Biology Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) and his team by improvising and customising Self Organising Map (SOM), a cluster technique in data mining. SOM technology would enable health officials to prioritise control parameters in endemic zones at village level and initiate measures to minimise morbidity and mortality, caused by the onset of vector-borne diseases. SOM technology can help to alert health authorities to take up larval and adult spraying before the transmission of parasite by the mosquito. Mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, Japanese encephalitis and dengue are posing a serious public health problem in India and other South-East Asian Countries, with some of them were occurring in an epidemic form on a periodical basis. The North East of India parts account for about 10.5 per cent of malaria cases and 20 per cent of the deaths. The technology works on two ways -one relating to the names of the villages and the second focusing on mosquito density, infection, infectivity and parasitic load. Based on these parameters, a complete mapping of the villages could be done in terms of prioritising control parameters.
ANOTHER SOFTWARE FOR RAPID DIAGNOSIS OF DENGUE

A software tool that can rapidly diagnose dengue fever based on symptoms and clinical parameters has been developed by scientists of the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) Hyderabad. The Dengue Decision Support System (DDSS) has been developed by U.S N. Murty, Chief Scientist and Head of Biology Division of IICT. DDSS would help health authorities in finding out the disease within 10-15 minutes, which was vital in saving the life of the patient. Dengue is transmitted by the bite of an Aedes mosquito infected with any one of the four dengue viruses. It occurs in tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world. It is
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estimated that Dengue infects approximately 50-100 million people every year across the world.
BIOSENSOR FOR MEASUR ING ATHLETES EXHAUSTION LEVEL

Researchers from the UC San Diego developed a biosensor which can alert the athletes, marathoners, competitive bikers as well as extreme athletes when they are about to get exhausted. This biosensor should be applied to the human skin in order to receive alerts. The device can also be useful for the soldiers as well as other people engaged in intense kinds of exercises. This biosensor could also be used to monitor the fitness as well as stamina of the athletes. Researcher Joseph Wang as well as his colleagues from the UC San Diego explained sensor has the capability of monitoring lactate, which is a kind of lactic acid released in the sweat. Lactate is formed when the muscles require more energy than a human body can supply. In such a case, the human body shifts to anaerobic metabolism, thereby producing lactate as well as lactic acid. The researchers explained that this can help for a little while, but eventually when the lactate starts building up in the body; it causes a lot of fatigue as well as bonking out and compels the athlete to stop exercise. The team of Joseph Wang wanted to develop such an approach which is better than the present methods because measurement of lactate is very difficult and requires blood samples. Also, there is a disadvantage that it does not provide immediate results. The researchers explained that the first human test of a biosensor for measuring lactate, when applied to skin was like a temporary tattoo. It sticks on the skin and flexes together with the body movements. Therefore, it is capable of measuring the lactate levels absolutely accurately during the sweat exercise. The researchers, in the meanwhile, also explained that the skin-worn metabolite biosensors could also be useful in providing insights into the physical performance as well as the complete physiological status of a person, thereby offering a promise for the diverse sport, biomedical applications as well as military. Research in the future in context with this, will further help in correlating sweat lactate levels with blood lactate levels, performance as well as fitness.
DISKAGMA BUTTONII, 2.2 BILLION YEAR OLD FOSSILS, DISCOVERED

The latest study led by geologist Gregory Retallack of University of Oregon has presented the evidence for life on the earth, which dates back to 2.2 billion years, back. The team of Retallack in their study has mentioned about the 2.2 billion year old fossils of size of about the match stick head, which were connected in bunches by threads. The fossil was discovered from the
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ancient soil of South Africa and has been named Diskagma Buttonii, which means disc-shaped fragments of Andy Button. To verify and document and verify that the Diskagma buttonii was a fossil, X-ray imaging was performed. As a result of the X-ray imaging the researchers described the fossils as the strange, little hollow urn-shaped structures with a terminal cup and basal attachment tube. Diskagma Buttonii fossils bear resemblance with three living organisms of present time.
THE ORGANISMS ARE

Leocarpus fragilis found in Oregon's Three Sisters Wilderness Lichen Cladonia Ecmocyna gathered near Fishtrap Lake in Montana Fungus Geosiphon pyriformis from near Darmstadt, Germany It is also similar to the 2.8 billion year old Thucomyces lichenoides fossil in morphology and size. The Thucomyces lichenoides were also discovered in South Africa. The two fossils can be differentiated just with the chemical composition of each-other, which is completely different. The discovered fossil is four times as old as the previous fossilized evidence of land life, and nearly half as old as Earth itself. At present, it is unclear that what exactly the discovered fossils are as the ancient fossil resembles with the modern soil organism called Geosiphan. Geosiphan is a fungus with a central cavity filled with symbiotic Cyanobacteria. At present, a 0.3 to 1.8 mm long fossil represents the benchmark for the age of the land dwelling known fossil. Fossil soils that act as the host of the fossils are considered as evidence that marks for the rise of the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere at about 2.4 billion to 2.2 billion years ago. This is widely referred as the Great Oxidation Event. And at the time, when the latest discovered fossil, Diskagma Buttonii existed the air on earth rose about 5 percent oxygen, which is comparatively lower than the 21 percent oxygen content of present time. But, before the Great Oxidation Event, there hardly existed any oxygen on earth. The researchers believe that the fossils are the only promising candidate that supports the existence of the oldest known eukaryote. These were the organisms with cells that contained complex structures, and had a nucleus, within membranes. The research was published in a journal Precambrian Research.
TECHNIQUE TO REVERSE BLINDNESS IN HUMANS DEVELOPED

The team of scientists at Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College London revealed that the chances of reversing the blindness in humans made a significant leap. It was found in the animal study that it was possible to repair the portion of the eye that detects light, with the help of the stem cells. The scientists explained that the human trials were possible for the very first time.
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The experts in the healthcare sector described this as a huge leap as well as significant breakthrough. There are Photoreceptors in the eyes. The Photoreceptors are actually the cells present in retina that react to light and then transduce it into electrical signal, which in turn is sent to the brain. However, in certain cases such as Stargardt's disease or age-related macular degeneration these cells can die off. There are already ongoing trials in people in order to make use of the stem cells for replacing support cells in eye that can keep the photoreceptors alive.
THE TECHNIQUE USED

The scientists made use of the new technique in order to build the retinas in laboratory. This in turn was used for collecting various stem cells, which were prepared to transform into photoreceptors. Then, they were injected in the eyes of blind mice. In the study, it was found that these cells could join in with existing architecture of the eye and thereby start functioning properly. However, it was also found that the effectiveness was low. Merely 1000 cells out of transplant of 200000 cells actually joined in with the rest of the eye. Lead researcher of the study, Prof Robin Ali explained that this was the real proof that it was possible to transplant photoreceptors from the embryonic stem cells source. This study gave a lead in order to perform these experiments in humans as well. It is important to note that an eye is an advanced field for the purpose of stem cell research. This technique is said to be relatively simpler because the light sensing cells merely need to pass the electrical message on to another cell for delivering their message to brain. Because the immune system of the eye is very weak, therefore, there are lower chances of transplant being rejected. Just a few cells can make vital difference in eye. Various stem cells in an eye can also help in improvement of the vision.
ISRO TO IMPROVE TRANSPONDER ALLOCATION NORMS

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has planned to revisit the SatCom Policy 2000 to improve the guidelines related to allocation and pricing of satellite transponders for public and non-government users. A revisit to the allocation norms has been increasingly felt in recent years as ISROs user groups have far outgrown, bot h in public and private sector. By improving the guidelines of SatCom Policy 2000, ISRO will be able to allocate to different users by percentages and charge, for capacity on its INSAT/GSAT satellites in a much more rational way than present procedure. From the 2007 onwards, the space agency was surprised by the increased demand of commercial DTH, high-definition (HD) TV broadcasters and VSAT operators.
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ISRO is the sole provider of transponders for broadcasters and other public and private users of space applications in the country.
ABOUT INSAT COORDINATION COMMITTEE (ICC)

The ICC allocates satellite transponders to user groups depending on their availability and urgency of use INSAT Co-ordination Committee (ICC) chaired by Department of Space Secretary was constituted by Government of India on 2 November 1977 for the co-ordination and monitoring of the implementation of the INSAT-1 system and for planning future developments. The committee includes Secretaries of the departments of I&B, Telecom, IT, Science & Technology, Economic Affairs, Defence, Planning Commission and a representative of the Telecom Regulatory Authority
WHAT IS TRANSPONDER?
Transponders are wireless communications device usually attached to a satellite. A transponder receives and transmits radio signals at a prescribed frequency range. After receiving the signal a transponder will at the same time broadcast the signal at a different frequency. The term is a combination of the words transmitter and responder. Transponders are used in satellite communications and in location, identification and navigation systems.
COMPUTER PROGRAM TO ACCURATELY RECOGNISE WOLF HOWL

A team of researchers at the Nottingham Trent University, UK developed the computer program which is capable of analysing the local signatures or the howls of eastern grey wolves. The study conducted by the team revealed that it was possible to recognise the individual wild wolves by just the howls and that too with 100 percent accuracy. The wolves roam around in their home ranges, which makes it difficult for the conservationists to keep a track on them visually. However, the new technology developed by the team can help the experts in monitoring the individual wolves by just their sound. Holly Root-Gutteridge, the lead researcher of the study explained that wolves do a lot of howling in the wild. With the help of newly-developed technology, it was possible to know which wolf exactly howled. Holly Root-Gutteridge also explained that the wolves make use of their distinctive calls in order to protect their territory from the rivals. These distinctive calls are also used to call their pack members. This is called their group activity.
ABOUT THE NEW TECHNOLOGY
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The computer program of the team is very unique because it not just analyses the frequency or pitch of the howls of wolves but is also capable of analysing the amplitude or volume. Earlier, the researchers had only analysed the pitch of the animals with the use of technology. The new technology of the researchers was put on test by analysing as well as studying the archive recordings of wild eastern grey wolf howls, which dwell mostly in Algonquin Park, Canada. After the test it was found that the success rate of the technology was 100 percent when individual wolves were recognised from their solo howls. The accuracy rate was 97 percent in case of identifying wolves calling in the chorus. The computer program technology is in the last stage of its development. However, the lead researcher explained that this technology could soon be used in the forests in nearing future. Similar kind of a technology was tested on the captive wolf howls earlier, but in this study, it was for the first time that the accuracy level was absolutely 100 percent. Earlier, he researchers had achieved an accuracy rate of 76 percent by making use of audio sampling in order to identify the wild wolves. Earlier too, the experts had used acoustic sampling in order to monitor the wild animals like marine mammals and bats.
WORLD'S FIRST TRIP TO MOON'S SOUTH POLE IN 2016

The World's first mission to South Pole of the Moon for installation of a permanent telescope on the lunar surface was announced in July 2013. This installation of telescope would aid in the professional and amateur researchers. The announcement was made during the NASA Lunar Science Institute conference at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. This is a private mission and has been announced by the International Lunar Observatory Association and Moon Express, jointly. The mission would be both scientific and commercial and they have planned to deliver the International Lunar Observatory (ILO) aboard a Moon Express robotic lander. The mission will be utilised by the Moon Express to explore the South Pole of Moon for mineral resources and water. Earlier, evidences of mineral deposits in moon's southern polar region have been reported during the lunar probes. The International Lunar Observatory will set-up a 2 meter dish antenna and this would be the first instrument of the world that will conduct international astrophysical observations and communications from the surface of the moon. This will be helpful in providing commercial broadcasting and scientific research. It will also enable Galaxy 21st century education and citizen science in the moon. The ILO and its precursor will be the first private space telescope to operate from the lunar surface and will have an internet-based access and control system. As per the announcement,
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the Lunar South Pole mission is expected to start in 2016. Before it, the Moon Express would start sending a series of robotic missions to moon in 2015 to support science, commerce and exploration.
CURIOSITY CONFIRMED THAT MARS IS COMPOSED MOSTLY OF CO 2

The measurements by Curiosity rover of NASA, the most advanced spacecraft to land on Mars, the Red Planet, re-instated the fact, in the month of July 2013, that the planet was composed of mostly Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and a few other gases. These measurements match very closely with the findings of the Viking which had revealed about this in late 1970s. Apart from this, the scientists had also revealed the same earlier with clues from the Martian meteorites that fell on Earth. It was revealed lately that the atmosphere of Mars was mostly dominated by carbon dioxide. However, it was surprising that earlier Viking had found that nitrogen was the second most abundant gas to be found in Marss atmosphere. But, measurements from Curiosity found that nitrogen as well as argon was nearly equal in abundance on the Martian air. The differences in the findings could be because of the use of different tools to collect the samples from the atmosphere. NASAs Goddard Space Flight Centers Paul Mahaffy, the in-charge of Curiosity's air sampling experiments explained that despite the difference in findings of Viking and Curiosity, the notion that Mars had lost almost all the original atmosphere to space, is very much clear. This has what led to the change of this planet into the cold desert. The Curiosity Rover of NASA is the nuclear-powered, six-wheel rover which landed in ancient crater near the equator of Mars in 2012. The study however did not explain anything about the presence of Methane on Mars. In 2012, the team of Curiosity reported that there was no definitive aroma of Methane near its landing site. Since that time, a lot of air samples have been collected by the rover. In context with this, NASA has already decided to launch a Mars-orbiting spacecraft in order to solve the mystery of Methane on Mars. This new rover will be called Maven and it will target the Martian atmosphere. Scientists will explore whether Methane actually exists on Mars or not and will also find out about its abundance. Apart from this, Maven will also find out whether it varies year after year. The mission chief scientist of this is Bruce Jakosky of the University of Colorado.
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SINGING CAN HELP LEARN FOREIGN LANGUAGE BETTER: RESEARCH

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh's Reid School of Music found that singing in the foreign language can help a person significantly in improving their ability to learn a foreign language. It was found that the adults, who heard short Hungarian phrases and sang them, helped them perform better in comparison to people who just spoke those phrases. People who sang these phrases performed better than the ones who repeated the phrases by speaking rhythmically. Researchers performed the study by asking three randomly assigned groups of twenty adults to participate in a total of five tests. It was found that the singing group could perform better in four out of five tests. It was found that in one test, the participants who learnt a foreign language through singing could perform twice better than the others. It was also found out that the participants who learnt by singing could also recall the Hungarian phrases with more accuracy in a long term. The researchers opted for Hungarian language because it is unfamiliar to most of the English speakers and is also one of the most difficult languages to master. This language has a completely different structure as well as the sound system in comparison to the Germanic or Romance languages like French and Spanish. The lead researcher of the study, Dr Karen M Ludke, who conducted this research as a part of her PhD studies at University of Edinburgh's Institute for Music in Human and Social Development explained that the study was a proof of the first experimental evidence that listen-and-repeat singing method could assist in learning the foreign language in a much better way. The research also opened up new avenues of further research. It was discussed whether melody could help in providing extra cue in jogging the memory of people and helping them recall the foreign words as well as phrases in a much better way. The study was published in Springer's journal Memory & Cognition.
NEW HORNED DINOSAUR SPECIES DISCOVERED IN UTAH DESERT

U.S. palaeontologists in month of July 2013 discovered the fossil of a previously unknown dinosaur a bizarre horned beast that roamed on an island continent 76 million years ago. The new species has been named Nasutoceratops, which means big-nosed horned face. The giant creature discovered in the Utah desert was part of the ceratopsid group, which consists of plant-eating, rhinoceros-like dinos, including Triceratops. Nasutoceratops has the biggest nose and the longest horns of any of the ceratopsids. It has horns, which is roughly 2.5 feet long, curve forward and extend to the tip of its oversized, beaklike nose. Nasuceratops likely used its peculiar horns to frighten rivals and deflect predators
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similar to modern-day elk or deer. On the other hand, the main purpose of the ornamental headgear was probably sexual selection. Nasutoceratops is only the second horned dinosaur unearthed in southern Laramidia. Its closest relative is Avaceratops lammersi, a species that lived in the northwest about 2 million years earlier.
NEW ZEALAND LAUNCHED JOINT US-GERMAN SPACE PROJECT

The worlds largest airborne observatory got off the ground from the New Zealand city of Christchurch on 17 July 2013 on a mission to explore the southern hemisphere skies. The flight is the first in the series of southern explorations for SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, a joint project between NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
ABOUT AIRBORNE OBSERVATORY

The airborne observatory consists of a 2.5 metre diameter telescope mounted inside a modified Boeing 747SP, which flies at altitudes of up to 13700 metres. The telescope will have its sights trained on the Milky Way galaxy, with scientists taking a closer look at young stars, star-forming regions and supernova miscellany in the southern Milky Way. Scientists are hopeful that the flights will help them to understand more about the development of galaxies and the formation and evolution of stars and planetary systems from interstellar clouds of gas and dust. SOFIA will be based in Christchurch until 2 August 2013 with scientists hoping to make nine 10hour flights during that time. It is likely to be the first of many trips to New Zealand for the science mission, with SOFIA expected to continue to visit the country over the next 20 years.
SMARTPHONE APP TO DETECT BREAST CANCER EARLY

Sanjay Sreekumar, the Indian-origin student in Australia developed a smartphone application which helps in detecting the breast cancer early. Sanjay Sreekumar is the software engineering undergraduate from Australian National University. The application was designed by him for the Young Adults Programme (YAP), the breast cancer awareness organisation. The application known as YAP app allows the individuals to
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monitor the early signs of breast cancer on their own. The application helps by facilitating monthly inputs of the breast irregularities. The application allows identifying if a person requires further medical screening. Sanjay Sreekumar explained that the application has a huge potential because it provides proactive means for detecting illnesses. At present, Sanjay Sreekumar is working on the improvement of application by adding multiple languages as well as visual aids. The primary aim of YAP is to provide additional information on breast cancer in order to save lives. The application can also be used for other illnesses.
NEPTUNES 14 TH MOON DISCOVERED BY HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

The U.S. space agency in July 2013 announced the discovery of Neptunes 14 th moon. The Hubble Space Telescope captured the moon as a white dot in photos of the planet on the periphery of our solar system. The new moon, Neptunes tiniest at just 19.3 km across, and is designated as S/2004 N 1. The Neptune 14th moon was actually discovered by the SETI Institutes Mark Showalter while studying the segments of rings around Neptune when he spotted the white dot popping out, 105250 km from Neptune. He tracked its movement in more than 150 pictures taken from 2004 to 2009. The method involved tracking the movement of a white dot that appears over and over again in more than 150 archival Neptune photographs taken by Hubble from 2004 to 2009. The considerably bigger gas giant Jupiter has four times as many moons, with 67.
SOME FACTS ABOUT NEP TUNES 14TH MOON S/2004 N 1

The Neptunes 14th moon is very small and dim and is roughly 100 million times fainter than the faintest star that can be seen with the naked eye. The Neptunes 14 moon escaped detection by NASAs Voyager 2 spacecraft, which flew past Neptune in 1989 and surveyed the planets system of moons and rings The moon is estimated to be no more than 12 miles across and smallest known moon in the Neptunian system. The moons and arcs orbit very quickly, so there had to be a way to follow their motion in order to bring out the details of the syste m. Its the same reason a sports www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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photographer tracks a running athlete the athlete stays in focus, but the background blurs.
GENOMES OF 201 MICROBES SEQUENCED BY THE SCIENTISTS

The genetic secrets of some of the most abundant and diverse forms of life on Earth have been uncovered by scientists in the third week of July 2013. Scientists recently sequenced the genomes of 201 microbes so that they could know the role these tiny, single-celled organisms play in our environment. It will help the scientists in drawing up a more detailed version of the microbial family tree.
MICROBES
Microbes are found almost everywhere. They can survive in the most hostile places on Earth. They can be found in the deepest depths of the ocean and in the driest parts of the deserts, deep inside ocean and the polar rice. According to scientific estimate, there are many millions of species. The majority of microbes are difficult to grow. Therefore, studying them becomes difficult. Scientists took advantage of new genetic technology which allows a genome to be sequenced from a single cell and revealed the genetic code of 201 different microbes without growing them in the lab. The genomes will also help scientists in studying the biological features that allow microbes to survive in places where all other living beings survive.
KOODANKULAM NUCLEAR POWER PLANT WENT CRITICAL

The Koodankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu on 13 July 2013 went critical. The plant will start full-fledged power generation in a month. With the dilution of boric acid in primary coolant water, the neutron multiplication process is being done in reactor core. The nuclear reactor was loaded with 163 enriched fuel assemblies containing 80 tons of Uranium Oxide in October 2012. The nuclear reactor power will be increased in stages to attain full capacity of 1000 MW. At the first stage the nuclear plant will be synchronized to the southern grid with 400 MW in a month. The power generation will be increased to 50 per cent, 75 per cent 90 per cent and finally 100 per cent in phases. With the commissioning of Koodankulam Nuclear Power plant, the nuclear power generation will rise to 5780 MW in the country. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is located in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
WHAT IS A NUCLEAR REACTOR?

A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for generating electricity. A reactor consists of an assembly of nuclear fuel (a reactor core), surrounded by a neutron moderator such as regular water, heavy water, graphite, or zirconium hydride and control rods that control the rate of the reaction. Most nuclear reactors use a chain reaction to induce a controlled rate of nuclear fission in fissile material, releasing both energy and free neutrons.
WHEN IT IS SAID TO BE CRITICAL?

In a nuclear reactor, the neutron number at any instant is a function of the rate of neutron production (due to fission processes) and the rate of neutron losses (via non-fission absorption mechanisms and leakage from the system). When a reactors neutron population remains steady from one generation to the next (creating as many new neutrons as are lost), the fission chain reaction is self-sustaining and the reactor's condition is referred to as critical. When the reactors neutron production exceeds losses, characterized by increasing power level, it is considered supercritical, and when losses occur, it is considered subcritical and shows decreasing power.
CHARON: LARGEST MOON OF PLUTO SPOTTED

NASAs Pluto-bound New Horizons Spacecraft in first week of July 2013 spotted Charon the largest moon of Pluto that orbits at a distance of more than 19000 kilometer from the planet. Charon was captured in a cosmic snapshot by the spacecraft from a distance of about 885 million Kilometers. The New Horizon Aircraft of NASA spotted the icecovered moon of the dwarf planet using its highestresolution telescopic camera. The Pluto bound aircraft is orbiting Pluto for fast nine and a half year and Charon is among one of its greatest milestone, till date.
ABOUT CHARON
Charon orbits the dwarf planet Pluto at a distance of 19000 kilometers and when seen from the new horizon, it seems to be about 0.01 degree way. Charon was discovered by James Christy of the Naval Observatory in 1978. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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NASAS PLUTO MISSION
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In 2006, NASA dispatched an ambassador to the planetary frontier. The New Horizons spacecraft is now halfway between Earth and Pluto, on approach for a dramatic flight past the icy planet and its moons in July 2015. Hal Weaver, of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel is the Project Scientist of the New Horizons Project.
NASAS HUBBLE DISCOV ERED BLUE PLANET 63 LIGHT-YEARS AWAY

Scientists from NASA in July 2013 have discovered a blue planet that possibly rains glass, orbiting a star 63 light-years away. This is the first time an exoplanets true colour has been determined. Astronomers has used NASAs Hubble Space Telescope and made visible light observation spotting the planet HD 189733b which is one of the closest exoplanets that can be seen crossing the face of its star. Scientists continuously observed changes in the colour of light from the planet before, during and after a pass behind its star and observed that there was a small drop in light and a slight change in the colour of the light. The light was actually becoming less bright in the blue but not in the green or red. Light was missing in the blue but not in the red when it was hidden. Also, earlier observations by scientist reported evidence for scattering of blue light on the planet. The latest Hubble observation confirms the evidence.
SOME OF OBSERVATION OF PLANET AS RECORDED BY THE SCIENTIST

If seen directly, this planet would look like a deep blue dot, reminiscent of Earths colour as seen from space. On this turbulent alien world, the daytime temperature is nearly 1093 degrees Celsius, and it possibly rains glass sideways in howling, 7242kph winds. The cobalt blue colour comes not from the reflection of a tropical ocean as it does on Earth, but rather a hazy, blow-torched atmosphere containing high clouds laced with silicate particles. Silicates condensing in the heat could form very small drops of glass that scatter blue light more than red light.
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Hubble and other observatories have made intensive studies of HD 189733b and found its atmosphere to be changeable and exotic. HD 189733b is among a bizarre class of planets called hot Jupiters, which orbit precariously close to their parent stars. The observations yield new insights into the chemical composition and cloud structure of the entire class. HD 189733b was actually discovered in 2005. It is only 4.6 million kilometres from its parent star, so close that it is gravitationally locked. One side always faces the star and the other side is always dark. In 2007, NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope measured the infrared light, or heat, from the planet, leading to one of the first temperature maps for an exoplanet.
1 ST IVF BABY BORN USING NEW EMBRYO SCREENING TECHNIQUE

Worlds 1st IVF baby is born in US in June 2013 thus becoming the world's first test tube baby to be born using a new low cost "next-generation sequencing" IVF technique. The method, through which the baby was born, uses the latest DNA sequencing a technique which aims to increase in-vitro fertilisation success rates while being more reasonable for couples and lowering the risk of miscarriages. The birth of baby using IVF sets an example to show next-generation sequencing can be used to pick the embryos created by IVF that are most likely to lead to successful pregnancies.
USE OF NEW EMBRYO SCREENING TECHNIQUE

The approach can identify embryos with the correct number of chromosomes and may cut hundreds of pounds off the cost of embryo screening. The majority of embryos produced by IVF aren't able to lead to successful pregnancies, and through embryo screening techniques scientists have sought to find ways of identifying the embryos that should be implanted to give the greatest chance of success. Having an incorrect number of chromosomes usually prevents embryos from producing a pregnancy. Until recently, such abnormalities have been hard to detect as they do not affect the appearance of embryos under the microscope. But through IVF, the desired abnormalities rate is quite low. Many of the embryos produced during infertility treatments have no chance of becoming a baby because they carry lethal genetic abnormalities.
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Next-generation sequencing improves our ability to detect these abnormalities and helps us identify the embryos with the best chances of producing a viable pregnancy. Potentially, this should lead to improved IVF success rates and a lower risk of miscarriage. Recently, a number of trials of various chromosome screening methods have shown that they can improve IVF success rates by around 30 per cent. Results from randomised clinical trials carried out during the last year have suggested that most IVF patients would benefit from embryo chromosome screening. However, the costs of these genetic tests are relatively high, putting them beyond the reach of many patients. Next-generation sequencing could make chromosome testing more widely available, improving access by cutting the costs. The researchers' approach involves sequencing DNA from multiple embryos all at the same time. Short DNA tags or 'barcodes' added to the genetic material from each individual embryo mean that the results could be identified uniquely and mapped back to the right embryo. In the future, it should be possible to use the approach to check for chromosomal abnormalities and any serious inherited disorders at the same time.
ABOUT IN VITRO FERTILISATION

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process by which an egg is fertilised by sperm outside the body: in vitro. IVF is a major treatment for infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed. The process basically involves monitoring a woman's ovulatory process, removing ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from the woman's ovaries and letting sperm fertilise them in a fluid medium in a laboratory. When a woman's natural cycle is monitored to collect a naturally selected ovum (egg) for fertilisation, it is known as natural cycle IVF.
SCIENTISTS DETECTED MYSTERIOUS BURSTS OF RADIO WAVES

Mysterious bursts of radio waves originating from cosmological distances were detected by the scientists on 7 July 2013. These radio waves originated when the universe was just half its current age. Mysterious bursts of radio waves originated from billions of light years away. The international team of scientists is speculating about the origin of radio waves. The burst energetics suggested that they originated from an extreme astrophysical event which involves relativistic objects such as neutron stars or black holes. The scientific findings suggested some extreme events involving large amounts of mass or energy as the source of the radio bursts. The radio bursts last for just a few milliseconds and the furthest one was detected several billion light years away. The scientists reached their findings after observing a tiny fraction of the sky. The team of scientists included researchers from the U.K., Australia, Germany, Italy and the U.S. The team used the CSIRO Parkes 64 metre radio telescope in Australia to obtain their results. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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The scientists speculated that the origin of these explosive bursts may be from magnetic neutron stars, known as magnetars. They can give off more energy in a millisecond than our Sun does in 300000 years. The scientific finding will help in finding out the properties of space between the Earth and where the bursts occurred.
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CORPORATE
YES BANK BECAME THE FIRST LENDER IN INDIA TO HIKE DEPOSIT RATES
Yes Bank became the first lender to hike lending and deposit rates. Others may follow as the RBI move has tightened liquidity in the markets. Yes Bank said it would hike its deposit rates by 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent in select tenors effective from 1August 2013. Yes Bank took this step following the RBIs decision to keep key policy rates unchanged and cut growth forecast. This provides an opportunity for retail depositors to lock in higher rates on term deposits. The bank has also decided to hike its base rate by a quarter percent to 10.75 percent effective from Thursday. This will make lending by the bank costlier. In the first quarter review of the monetary policy, the RBI had left all key policy rates unchanged to support the Rupee to stay stable. The repurchase, or the repo rate, the interest that commercial banks pay to the RBI on short-term borrowings, has been left unchanged at 7.25 percent, and so has the reverse repo rate at 6.25 percent. The cash reserve ratio (CRR), or the share of deposits banks must keep with the central bank, is also maintained at 4 percent. Earlier this month, the central bank had taken a number of measures to squeeze liquidity out of the banking system, in order to ensure stability in the currency markets. Yes bank is Indias fourth largest private sector lender.
PRASAR BHARTI AND AUSTRALIAN NETWORK SIGNED AN AGREEMENT

Prasar Bharati and the Australian Network on 30 July 2013 signed an agreement to strengthen the partnership between the two public broadcasters. The accord was signed by Prasar Bharti CEO Jawahar Sircar and ABC International CEO Lynley Marshall in New Delhi. With the agreement, ABC International will be available on DD Direct plus from 1 November 2013. It will allow the channel to be shown along with 59 other channels on Doordarshan's DTH platform. The partnership between the two public broadcasters will help build better understanding between people of both the countries. The partnership between Prasar Bharati and the Australian broadcaster will cover other areas like co-production activities, exchange of TV programmes, exchange of radio programmes and aspects.
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BRITISH AIRWAYS TO LAUNCH FLIGHTS FROM HYDERABAD TO LONDON

British Airways on 30 July 2013 announced that it intends to increase its flight frequency from Hyderabad to London by having daily flights. The daily flights will be operated by a Boeing 777. British Airways is the UK-based premium airline. For British Airways, Hyderabad is truly a key market in their South Asian network. It has shown tremendous growth in the market since 2008, which resulted in concerted growth in the outbound business and leisure tourism. India as a nation is amongst the fastest growing markets for British Airways and is the second largest market for the airlines after USA. As per international tourism boards estimate, India emerged as the worlds fastest growing outbound market recently and in terms of numbers it is second only to China. The number of Indians travelling overseas is set to rise from around 15 million to 50 million by 2020. Indias middle class is likely to grow to 50 per cent by 2030 as against the curre nt 5 per cent. British Airways has been flying to India for the last 84 years. At present, it operates 46 flights a week from London Heathrow to five following cities namely Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
OMNICOM AND PUBLICIS DECIDED TO MERGE

Omnicom Group and Publicis Groupe declared on 28 July 2013 that they decided to merge in all-stock deal for creating the largest advertising company of the world. The new advertising company will be known as Publicis Omnicom Groupe.
MAJOR POINTS LINKED WITH THE MERGER

The new advertising company will be called Publicis Omnicom Groupe. After the merger, this would be the biggest advertising firm of the world. It was decided that the shareholders of New York-based Omnicom and Paris-based Publicis will hold 50 percent each in the new company. The Chief Executive Officer of Publicis- Maurice Levy and the Chief Executive Officer of Omnicom- John Wren will be the co-CEOs at the new company. Both Publicis and Omnicom will have the combined market value of 35 billion US dollar. With the merger, the advertising agencies such as Publicis's Leo Burnett and Saatchi & Saatchi as well as Omnicom's BBDO Worldwide, will come under one umbrella, thereby expanding the presence in each and every major market.
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The merger will enable the owners in getting better influence for negotiating deals for the clients for the purpose of better ad rates for placing the ads in various media vehicles. This merger is said to be the biggest in the whole advertising world. Earlier, Japan's Dentsu had agreed to acquire Aegis Group for around 4.9 billion US dollar. The proposed combination might attract regulatory scrutiny in US as well as Europe because these two companies overlap the market share. Together, the two companies spent 3.34 billion US dollar in media placement in the year 2012, as per the data revealed by Advertising Age. It is important to note that Publicis, Omnicom and London-based WPP have grown considerably through consolidation over past decades because they all compete with each other for the accounts.
ABOUT PUBLICIS GROUPE

Publicis Groupe is the third largest advertising firm of the world. It has large portfolios of the digital assets which include Razorfish, LBI International as well as Digitas. It also has the portfolio of agencies in the emerging markets too. The network of this group includes Leo Burnett Worldwide as well as Publicis Worldwide.
ABOUT OMNICOM GROUP

Omnicom Group is the leading global advertising and marketing communications Services Company. Omnicom Group Network includes DDB Worldwide Communications Group, TBWA Worldwide as well as BBDO Worldwide. The services provided by this firm include strategic media planning and buying, advertising, digital and interactive marketing, PR services, specialty communications services as well as direct and promotional marketing. It has more than 5000 clients who are spread across 100 countries of the world.
EDUCOMP AND HCL INFOSYSTEMS PARTNER FOR LIFECYCLE SERVICES
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Education Company, Educomp Solutions Ltd and HCL Infosystems Ltd on 25 July 2013 announced about their partnership, according to which HCL Infosystems Ltd will facilitate life cycle services for existing as well as new Educomp classrooms in India. The life cycle services include support services for the purpose of implementation. As a part of the partnership, HCL Infosystems Ltd will be providing field repair services as well as break-fix support, apart from offering the management services for new installation of the Educomp classrooms. All this will be done through the country-wide network of field engineers, centralised repair factory as well as regional repair centres. The education and learning division of HCL Infosystems Ltd, called the HCL Learning will also source the Educomps smartclass Digital Teaching Systems boards for the purpose of its IT solutions for the educational institutions. At present, Educomp Smartclass reaches around 15000 schools as well as 7 million students. The Lifecycle Services of HCL are backed by 720 support touch points as well as 10000 service engineers.
FREE WIKIPEDIA ACCESS ON MOBILE

Aircel, the telecom operator, on 25 July 2013 announced that it partnered with Wikimedia Foundation for offering the free mobile access of Wikipedia to its customers. The aim of the partnership is to make the Wikipedia knowledge accessible to the Aircel customers in not just urban areas, but also the rural areas. The initiative of Aircel is a part of the Wikipedia Zero programme which is aimed at reaching the mobile Internet users all over the world. The Aircel-Wikimedia partnership will provide access of Wikipedia to the 60 million users. The Aircel customers will have access to versions of Wikipedia in various languages such as English, Hindi, Tamil as well as 17 other Indic languages. The Wikimedia Foundation explained that through this partnership, they have extended the Wikipedia Zero programme to India, which has the potential of millions of people. It is important to note that Wikipedia is the fifth most-visited website across the world. All the pages of Wikipedia will be made accessible to 470 million users absolutely free of cost. With this partnership, India joined Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Russia as well as other countries in West Asia, Southeast Asia as well as Africa under the Wikipedia Zero programme, which aims at reducing the obstacles of accessing information. The Aircel-Wikipedia partnership will ensure free access of global online encyclopedia, which contains 25 million articles that are contributed by around 80000 volunteers around the world. These articles are available in English, Hindi as well as other 18 Indic languages.
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It is worth noticing that India is the market of second largest mobile user base in the entire world. India has more than 867 million subscribers, out of which 77 million subscribers have access to the Internet.
SC SLAPPED CONTEMPT NOTICES ON TWO SAHARA F IRMS

The Supreme Court of India on 24 July 2013 slapped contempt notices on two Sahara firms, Sahara India Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation, for not complying with its order of refunding around 19000 crore rupees to investors through SEBI. A bench of the Supreme Court asked Sahara firms to reply by 30 July 2012. The bench also told the Sahara group that no further time would be given to the companies and they must not seek any adjournment in the case. The bench passed the order on a contempt petition filed by SEBI. SEBI alleged that the firms failed to pay the amount within the time frame fixed by the Supreme Court on 5 December 2012.
TRAI RELEASED CONSULTATION PAPER ON SPECTRUM SALE

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on 23 July 2013 released consultation paper on valuation and reserve price of spectrum for the third auction. It was on 10 July 2013, the Department of Telecommunications asked for TRAI's recommendations on the applicable reserve price for the auction of spectrum in 800 Mhz (CDMA), 900 Mhz and 1800 Mhz (GSM) bands. So, in perspective of asked recommendation TRAI decided to issue consultation paper raising specific issues for consideration of stakeholders. Now, the government is seeking comments on these issues from the stakeholders by 14 August and counter-comments by 31 August 2013. The new consultation paper comes after seeing the failure of the first two rounds of spectrum auction. The telecom industry had accredited steep base price for this. The government had now put on auction 71.25 MHz of spectrum in the first round of auction held in November, 2012 which basically includes 60MHz of CDMA spectrum. The auction is expected to bring together only 9407.64 crore Rupees against the spectrum worth 28000 crore Rupees at reserve price.
FORD IS THE FIRST AUTOMAKER TO PARTICIPATE IN GGR PROGRAMME
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Ford Motor Company joined the Voluntary India Greenhouse Gas Reporting (GGR) Programme in India on 23 July 2013. Voluntary reporting enables a complete transparency in terms of the carbon dioxide emissions. It is important to note that Ford has the objective of bringing down the carbon dioxide emissions at all the global facilities, two of which are in Chennai. The objective is to bring down these emissions by 30 percent per vehicle by the year 2025. Ford Motor Company also participates in such kinds of programmes in other countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, China and US. With this, Ford has become the first automaker to participate in the Voluntary India Greenhouse Gas Reporting Programme.
ABOUT THE VOLUNTARY INDIA GREENHOUSE GAS REPORTING PROGRAMME

The Voluntary India Greenhouse Gas Reporting Programme is the joint effort between the World Resources Institute, the Energy and Resources Institute and the Confederation of Indian Industry. Because Ford Motor Company is the fsirst automaker to take part in the program, therefore, its role will be to provide assistance in establishing credible and verifiable greenhouse gas inventories. The India manufacturing plant of Ford produces Ford EcoSport, Ford Endeavour, Ford Classic, Ford Fiesta and Ford Figo. The engine plant of Ford produces 17 different variants of diesel engines as well as gasoline. The vehicle assembly as well as engine plant complex is still under the process of construction in Sanand, Gujarat. All these facilities of Ford are equipped to reuse the 100% of wastewater generated. The facilities have considerably reduced the water use 30 percent per vehicle produced since 2010. Ford also reduced the energy consumption 10 percent per vehicle.
NEIL MILLS, THE CEO OF SPICEJET QUIT FROM HIS POST

Neil Mills, the Chief Executive Officer of SpiceJet quit from his post, 18 months before the end of his contract. He is the third CEO for SpiceJet, the Chennai-based private carrier, since 2008. The resignation of Neil Mills came in the backdrop of the reports that SpiceJet was planning for raising the funds, which also include through the strategic investors. It is very important to note that in recent past, the Chief Commercial Officer of SpiceJet, Harish Moideen Kutty also resigned from the office. Kuttys resignation came just after SpiceJet reported the unexpected loss of 191 crore Rupees in 2013-14 financial year. He was the seconf CCO to quit the office.
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Since 2010, the promoters of SpiceJet pumped 350 crore Rupees into the airlines. SpiceJet began its operations in the year 2005. It has the market share of 20 percent, while IndiGo enjoys the market share of 30 percent. SpiceJet, in all, has 56 aircrafts.
ABOUT NEIL MILLS

Neil Mills is 42 years of age. He has a credible 17 years of experience in the aviation business and is an accountant by profession. He has won various awards while working with SpiceJet. His masterstroke was introducing SpiceJet to new routes such as to Guangzhou in Chinaand Kabul in Afghanistan. Neil Mills is also credited for acquiring Q-400s, the 80-seater narrow-bodied Bombardier planes. This enabled SpiceJet to fulfill the latent demand from small towns.
AFCONS TO SET FABRICATION FACILITY IN GUJARAT

Afcons Infrastructure signed a memorandum of understanding with the State Government of Gujarat for setting up 250-crore Rupees fabrication yard at Mahua, Gujarat for the oil as well as gas platforms. Afcons Infrastructure is the Shapoorji Pallonji Group Company. The MoU was signed for accepting the detailed project report of Afcons Infrastructure. The planned fabrication facility will be established on the area of 120 hectares. Afcons Infrastructure decided to build the offshore jackets in the facility. The Director, Oil & Gas, Afcons, Pramod Kumar Johri explained that ONGC would place the order of more than 10 billion US dollar over next five years. Afcons, in turn was planning to bag a huge amount of this share. The orders would be for onshore as well as offshore platform, apart from renovation of the installations in western as well as eastern region. At present, Afcons Infrastructure is executing the 1800-crore Rupees order for Mumbai. The order was given by ONGC. It is being carried out in partnership with Technip of France and a Malaysian company. Shapoorji Pallonji, the holding company of Afcons Infrastructure was focusing on oil and gas as well. Afcons is in the view to cash on the potential for gas and oil exploration in North Africa.
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES TO WORK ON 5G MOBILE TECHNOLOGY

Huawei Technologies, the Chinese equipment maker declared in July 2013 that it was working on the fifth generation (5G) mobile technology, which would possibly be available by 2020. The
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company explained that 200 people were working on this project. Also, a specific amount was allocated for the research and development of this technology. Huawei Technologies also explained that there will be billions of connections by 2020 and 5G can help by providing a lot of creativity. The new 5G technology will help the people having a user experience like fibre network on their wireless connection. 5G will help in facilitating the speed of 10 GBps that means 100 times faster than the technology used today in the mobiles. In the meanwhile, Samsung, the South-Korean giant also announced successfully testing the 5G technology. Samsung announced that the technology will be available for commercial roll out by 2020. All over the world, the mobile operators have started working towards the high-speed long term evolution (LTE), also called 4G networks. Huawei Technologies, in the meanwhile, provides equipment to 85 networks like these. The company has already started the trial run for testing the speed on 4G technology on high speed MagLev train in Shanghai. Huawei Technologies deployed the LTE network for supporting the wireless connectivity on the train that runs from centre of the Shanghai district to the International Airport. The overall length of this track is 31 km. The train has the speed of 431 km per hour. Huawei Technologies explained that on a speed like this, the 4G technology has the capability of providing the download speed of around 50 MBps.
NTPC SUBSIDIARY ENTERED INTO AGREEMENT WITH KSEB

NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN), a wholly owned subsidiary of NTPC Limited, on 19 July 2013 entered into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) for supply of 300 MW Round the Clock (RTC) power for a period of three years starting from 1 March 2014. The PPA was signed by N.K. Sharma, CEO, NVVN and D. Dinesh, CE, Commercial, KSEB in the presence of Aryadan Muhammed, Minister for Power and Transport, Government of Kerala in Thiruvanthapuram. The PPA envisages supply of over seven billion unit power sourced by NVVN from Chhattisgarh during this contract period. The Contract was bagged by NVVN, through a competitive bidding process conducted by KSEB.
SAROVAR HOTELS & RESORTS 3 RD HOTEL IN AFRICA

Sarovar Hotels and Resorts strengthened their presence in the African markets by deciding to commence The Premiere Hotel, Nairobi in Kenya. This is an upscale hotel chain and the Premiere, Nairobi in Kenya is scheduled to be opened in 2015. This is the third property of
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Sarovar Hotels in Africa after New Africa in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania and The Heron Portico in Nairobi. This is the 144-rooms property and is located in Airport complex of Embakasi. It will particularly cater to the business travellers arriving in Nairobi. The hotel will offer various facilities which also include conferencing venues as well as dining options apart from all other modern facilities. The Premiere Hotel will be the third one in Africa and second in Nairobi. It is important to note that Africa offers huge potential for the hospitality segment. Sarovar Hotels and Resorts is basically a hotel management company which manages as well as franchises 60 operational hotels in around 40 cities of India as well as overseas under the brand names of Sarovar Premiere, Sarovar Portico, Hometel, Park Plaza and Park Inn. The brands cover 3-star, 4-star as well as 5-star spectrum.
PENGUIN BOOKS INDIA LAUNCHED NEW WEB PORTAL

Penguin Books India in the month of July 2013 launched their new website that caters particularly to the young readers. The new portal for young readers is called youngreaders.penguinbooksindia.com. The new portal enables child-friendly navigation. It also has organised and interesting sections that can enable the readers to remain engaged throughout the website. The website has the section calledSurf. Under this section, there is a category calledRead What. This category offers various subjects of interests for the children. The subjects include non-fiction, classic, anthology, short stories, young adults, crime and many more. The new website includes includes works of some of the popular authors such as Asha Nehemiah, Rabindranath Tagore, Herge as well as Ruskin Bond. The website is the complete package or platform for children and enables them to inculcate reading habits in them. Penguin Books India explained that the endeavour of the website is to engage the young readers so that they develop love for reading and direct their minds in creative direction. Imprints of Penguin such as DK, Inked, Ladybird as well as Puffin are also available on the website.
MORGAN STANLEY ULTRA SHORT-TERM FUND LAUNCHED
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Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund on 18 July 2013 announced that it was launching the open-ended debt fund known as Morgan Stanley Ultra Shortterm Fund. The primary investment objective of this fund is basically to facilitate liquidity. The objective of the fund is also generation of the reasonable returns from short term debt instruments as well as the portfolio of the money market.
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The new fund offer was opened for the purpose of subscription from 17 July 2013 and will be closed on 24 July 2013. Also, it will open for repurchase from 29 July 2013. The Morgan Stanley Ultra Short-term Fund is said to be a benchmark against the Crisil Liquid Fund Index. It is important to note that this fund has been launched when there is high pressure of redemption on the short-term debt funds after the announcement of RBI in order to squeeze the liquidity from system in order to bring stability in national currency.
DRUGMAKERS TIED UP TO BRING PNEUMONIA VACCINE TO INDIA

Lupin, the drug maker decided to co-market the MSDs 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, which prevents pneumonia. The vaccine will be co-marketed as the part of Indiaspecific union between drug makers Lupin and MSD. Lupin will get a non-exclusive license in order to market this drug as well as promote and distribute the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, but with a different brand name in India. The price of the vaccine was not disclosed. However, it was estimated that the price of the vaccine could be somewhere around 1155 Rupees. Pneumococcal is the disease which is caused because of bacteria Streptococcus pneumonia. The vaccine is not a new one. It protects a person against the 23 kinds of infection-causing bacteria. The MSDs 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine was launched first in India in the year 2007. The size of the market for this vaccine is said to be somewhere around 13 crore Rupees. This is the second agreement of MSD with the Indian company. Earlier the alliance took place with the Sun Pharma for the diabetes drug sitagliptin. As far as Lupin is concerned, this is the fourth tie-up on its part in just three years. Earlier, it had tied up with Novartis for asthma drug Onbrez, Eli Lilly for insulin as well as Sanofi for two of the central nervous system brands in the Philippines market.
NSE AT TOP AMONG WORLDS LARGEST BOUR SE FOR EQUITY TRADE
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As per the latest data by World Federation of Exchanges, National Stock Exchange (NSE) has regained its position as the worlds largest bourse in terms of volume in equity trade in June 2013. NSE has maintains its lead in the first three months of 2013, but slipped to second Slot in April and May 2013.
SOME FACTS TO BE REMEMBERED

NSE registered 11.2 crore trades on its platform, making it the worlds top exchange among the 50 bourses listed with WFE. NSE witnessed a fall of 9.7 Percent in its equity trade in June 2013. NSE was also ranked first in the number of equity trades for the first half of 2013 with 71.18 crore trades. NSE was followed by NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX at the second and the third positions. NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq recorded 10.65 crore and 9.88 crore trades in June, respectively in their equity segments. BSE stands at the eighth place with 2.44 crore trades on its platform. While the total number of listed companies is much larger in the case of BSE, the exchange lags behind NSE significantly in terms of volume and value of trades. Among the top ten are Korea Exchange stands at 5th, Shanghai SE at 6th, Japan Exchange Group-Tokyo at 7th, Canadas TMX Group 9th and BM&FBOVESPA at 10th.
ABOUT NATIONAL STOCK EXCHANGE

National Stock Exchange (NSE) is located in Mumbai, India and is 11th largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalisation and largest in India by daily turnover and number of trades, for both equities and derivative trading. NSE has a market capitalisation of around US 1 trillion Dollars and over 1652 listings as of July 2012. Though a number of other exchanges exist, NSE and the Bombay Stock Exchange are the two most significant stock exchanges in India and between them are responsible for the vast majority of share transactions. The NSE's key index is the S&P CNX Nifty, known as the NSE NIFTY (National Stock Exchange Fifty), an index of fifty major stocks weighted by market capitalisation.
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Current Affairs eBook July 2013 SULA VINEYARD, DECIDED TO ENTER MARKET OF SIKKIM
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Sula Vineyard, which is the largest wine producer of India, decided to make its mark in the wine market of Sikkim. The wines by Sula Vineyard are distributed by Overall Traders, which is the largest distributer of Sikkim. The Sula wines will be available at the leading retail outlets, hotels as well as restaurants of India. The entry of Sula Vineyard with an assortment of wines will be present for the Indian audience in the North Eastern regions. It is important to note that a lot of people observe the benefits of wine for not just celebrations but also for the purpose of health. The Sikkim market has a lot of potential for the wines. Sula Vineyards as of now enjoys 70 percent share in the Indian market. Its wines are also exported to 20 countries in Canada, United States, Middle East, Europe as well as Asia. The Sula Vineyards also won a range of awards. The recent award that it received was a Silver Medal at the Decanter Asia Wine Awards.
LANCO AUSTRALIA GOT APPROVAL TO DEVELOP COAL HANDLING BERTH

Lanco Resources Australia got the conditional approval from the Environmental Protection Authority of Western Australia in order to develop the coal handling berth at the Bunbury port. This coal handling berth is the part of Griffin Coal mine project initiative of Lanco Resources Australia, which is a subsidiary of diversified Lanco Infratech Ltd. The project involves loading facility along with coal storage in order to export 15 million tonnes of coal per annum from the Bunbury Port. The source of coal will be proposed expansion of the Griffin Coal mine project in the Collie Basin. The activities in this section will involve development of the onshore coal storage, berth as well as other related infrastructure. It was also proposed that the storage of coal will take place in big sheds in order to control the dust. The coal will be transferred to ships through the enclosed conveyors. This proposal is dependent on the Bunbury Port Authority's Inner Harbour structure plan. The Bunbury Port Authority's Inner Harbour structure plan is assessed separately by authorities. The proposal for development of the infrastructure is still under assessment in order to study the impact on the various environmental factors. Lanco Resources Australia was asked to modify a few proposals in order to fulfill the objectives of the authorities in order to protect the environment. Lanco Resources Australia had acquired Griffin Coal in 2011. At present, it is in the process of enhancing production capacity from the mines. It is also waiting for the regulatory clearances in order to swell its operations.
SATYAM FORMALLY MERGED WITH TECH MAHINDRA
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Satyam on 15 July 2013 formally merged with Tech Mahindra. After debuting on the stock market in 1995, Satyam soon went on to become one of the country's top five IT companies and its share price was trading 250 rupees level in late 2008. It came to be known by January 2009 that Satyam was home to India's biggest ever corporate scam. Satyam is a Sanskrit word that means truth. A quick revival, however, followed with its takeover by Tech Mahindra through a governmentmonitored auction process and its name was changed to Mahindra Satyam. Tech Mahindra on 12 July 2013 announced the completion of allocation of its shares to the shareholders of Satyam Computer Services, raising the issued capital of the firm from 129 million shares to 232 million. Many changes have come through under Mahindras and the group finally decided to amalgamate the two IT companies under its fold. Shares of Mahindra Satyam are no longer traded on the bourses. They last traded at a level close to 120 rupees a piece and the value of each erstwhile Satyam share is now equivalent to about 130 rupees a piece, taking into account Tech Mahindra's current share price of 1120 rupees. As per the merger ratio, two Tech Mahindra shares have been given for every 17 shares held by Satyam investors. Experts say it made sense for the new owner to drop the Satyam brand name from the business, given its infamous past. Following the integration, Tech Mahindra is now amongst the top-5 IT companies of India with revenues of 2.7 billion US dollars and expects it to rise to 5 billion US dollars by 2015. The integration of two entities makes it a much larger software company and will also aid in cracking and winning larger outsourcing contracts.
LG TO UNVEIL SLIMMEST FULL HD LCD PANEL FOR SMART PHONES

LG Display on 11 July 2013 announced that it would unveil the world's slimmest Full HD LCD panel for smart phones. There is 5.2-inch full HD panel for smart phones, which is just 2.2 mm thick and has a 2.3mm bezel. The company has claimed that it is both slimmest and narrowest among existing full HD LCD panels designed for mobile devices. As per LG, the panel will make devices which will be lighter in weight and easy to grip. The panel has LG OGS (Display's One-Glass-Solution). The dual flexible printed circuits have been inserted between the panels and touch film to reduce the number of lines on the panel by more than 30 per cent. Since it has a brightness of 535 units, it can outperform all current mobile full HD LCD panels. It can perform even in strong outdoor sunlight conditions.
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Current Affairs eBook July 2013 SBI LAUNCHED STATE B ANK XPRESS MONEY CARD
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State Bank of India, in month of July 2013 partnered with a non-banking finance company, UAE Exchange and Financial Services, to launch a card which will enable the holder to receive the remittance directly on the card. The card is named State Bank Xpress Money Card and can be loaded with up to 50000 Rupees. There is a provision of loading a maximum of 30 remittances during a calendar year. As per the guidelines, a depositor is supposed to visit the UAE Exchange and Financial Services branch to deposit the money.
USE OF THE XPRESS MONEY CARD

The card can be used for cash withdrawals from any bank ATM, transactions at point of sale (PoS) and e-commerce transactions The card is highly beneficial to customers as there is no need to open a bank account For the time being, the card will be available free-of-cost in Kerala. Subsequently, it will be rolled out across the country
DLF SOLD WIND MILL IN GUJARAT FOR 325 CRORE RUPEES

Realty major DLF on 5 July 2013 finalised the 325-crore rupees deal to sell 150 MW wind turbine project in Gujarat to Bharat Light and Power. The company transferred the wind mills at Kutch in Gujarat to Bharat Light and Power's subsidiary BLP Vayu (Project 1). The transactions are in line with DLFs objective of divesting its non -core assets. DLF, the country's largest realty firm, had wind turbine projects in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu with a total capacity of 227 MW. Apart from Gujarat wind mills, the company had announced sale of wind turbine projects in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu in April for about 241 crore rupees. While the company has sold the 34.5 MW wind mill project in Tamil Nadu to Tulip Renewable Powertech for 188.7 crore rupees, the 33-MW wind mill project in Rajasthan has been divested to Violet Green Power for 52.2 crore rupees.
BHARTI AIRTEL BOUGHT MAJORITY STAKE IN QUALCOMM'S INDIA UNIT

Bharti Airtel Ltd. on 4 July 2013 became the majority shareholder in the Indian broadband units of Qualcomm Inc. Qualcomm in 2010 had won bandwidth to offer high speed wireless broadband services in Delhi and Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala. It had paid an amount of more than 1 billion US dollars to secure the spectrum and licenses.
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Qualcomm formed four separate joint ventures for each of those areas, and retained a 74 percent stake in each venture, whereas India's Global Holding Corporation Pvt. Ltd. and Tulip Telecom Ltd. took 13 percent each in them. With the new development in place, all four companies held by Qualcomm will now become the Bharti Airtels units. Bharti Airtel now owns 51percent in each of those four companies. In May 2012, Qualcomm had sold a 49 percent stake in the four companies to Bharti. Bharti Airtel already has licenses to offer broadband wireless in four service areas namely Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra and Kolkata and the company has launched services in some of those areas. Bharti Airtel is Indias largest company. It is based in New Delhi. Qaulcomm is based in San Diego, California. It is the world leader in next-generation mobile technologies. It was established in July 1985.
WORLD'S 1 ST SMARTPHONE WITH FIREFOX OS LAUNCHED

Spain's Telefonica launched the world's first smartphone with the Firefox Operating System (OS) to compete with devices running Google Android and Apple IOS. The ZTE Open smartphone goes on sale in Spain this week for 69 euros (90 US dollars) and will soon be available in several Latin American countries. The device is aimed at the youth market and at people who are new to smartphones. Equipped with a 3.5-inch 480x320-pixel touchscreen, the ZTE Open includes a 3.2MP camera, 256MB RAM and 512MB flash memory enhanced with a 4GB micro SD card that comes as part of the package. The purchase price includes 30 euros (39 US dollars) of pay-as-you-go credit. The ZTE Open is fully integrated with Facebook and the Spain-based social network Tuenti and talks are on about incorporating the WhatsApp instant-messaging service. The ZTE Open is already attracting interest from many other telecommunications companies.
NOKIA BOUGHT SIEMENS STAKE IN NOKIA SIEMENS NETWORKS

Nokia on 1 July 2013 stated that it entered into an agreement to buy Siemens AGs entire stake in their telecom equipment joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) for 1.7 billion euro (2.2 billion US dollars). The 50-50 joint venture was formed in 2007. The agreement lapsed in April 2013.
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Following this transaction, the Siemens name will no longer appear at Nokia Siemens Networks' company name and branding. The new name and brand will be confirmed at the closing of the transaction by Nokia and NSN. Nokia Siemens Networks was set up on 1 April 2007. It was a joint venture between Nokia's Networks Business Group and Siemens' carrier-related operations. Nokia is a Finnish mobile handset maker.
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SPORTS
ADITYA MEHTA WON SNOOKER GOLD MEDAL IN THE WORLD GAMES
India's number one snooker player, Aditya Mehta on 31 July 2013 clinched the gold medal in the World Games, beating China's Liang Wenbo, 3-0, in the final of the quadrennial event at Cali, Columbia. Aditya Mehta hails from Mumbai. Mehta had earlier defeated Thailand`s Dechawat Poomjaeng 3-1 in the semifinal. Poomjaeng defeated another Indian and eight-time world champion Pankaj Advani 3-1 in the quarterfinals. Poomjaeng won the bronze medal after securing a 3-2 win over Brazil`s Igor Figueiredo in his third-place play-off match.
INDIA DEFEATED NEPAL TO LIFT UNDER-16 SAFF FOOTBALL TITLE 2013

Indian boys defeated Nepal 1-0 in final to lift the South Asian Football Federation Under-16 Championship title in Kathmandu on 30 July 2013.The match was played at the Dashrath stadium. It was the second edition of the championship. The early and spectacular goal by defender Jerry Lalrinzuala through a long ranger turned out to be the match winner. India was represented by All India Football Federation's Regional Academy. India scored its first goal in the 18th minute. The early goal, which stunned the home crowd to silence, turned out to be the match-winner. India remained unbeaten in the biennial tournament. The Indian lads, who led 1-0 at halftime, maintained the pressure on the opposition team.Bangladesh won the third place, defeating Afghanistan 1-0 in the other match played for the third position.
SCHWEINSTEIGER WON JOURNALISTS' PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Bastian Schweinsteiger, the German midfielder defeated his teammates Thomas Mueller and Franck Ribery to grab the Journalists' Player of the Year Award announced by the Kicker magazine on 28 July 2013. Bastian Schweinsteiger won 92 out of 527 votes. Franck Ribery won 87 votes, while Thomas Mueller won 85 votes.
ABOUT BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER
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Bastian Schweinsteiger was born on 1 August 1984. He is a right-footed player.
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He is the German footballer playing as the midfielder for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the German national team. During his club career as well as in the International careers, he won various awards such as two League Cups, six Bundesliga titles, UEFA Champions League title as well as six German Cups. He was the Bayern Munich vice-captain to long-time teammate Philipp Lahm, as of January 2011.
INDIA TOPPED IN THE ICC s ODI RANKING

India continues to reign at the top of the table in International Cricket Councils latest ODI ranking released on 25 July 2013. With 122 rating points, India is the number one team followed by Australia with 114 and England with 112 points. The latest ODI rankings were released by the ICC in Dubai. Among the batsmen, South Africas Hashim Amla replaces countryman AB Devilliers at the top. Indias Virat Kohli has maintained his position at number three while skipper Dhoni is at number six. At the June ICC Board meeting, it was also decided that the annual update to the Test, ODI and T20I rankings should now take place on 1 May each year, rather than 1 August, since this better aligns with the current international calendar. This change has been incorporated in the latest update, and has been backdated to 1 May 2013.
TOUR DE FRANCE 2013: CHRIS FROOME WON 100 TH EDITION OF RACE

Chris Froome from Britain on 21 July 2013 has won the 100th edition of the Tour de France. It was Britain's second successive victory in the race. Earlier in year 2012 Sir Bradley Wiggin, Froome's Team Sky colleague became the first Briton to win Tour de France.
FACTS AND FIGURES OF THE RACE
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Marcel Kittel claimed the final stage in the twilight, with Manxman Mark Cavendish third in a hotly-contested sprint along the Champs Elysees. The second half of the race, heavy on climbing, with five mountain stages, took the riders to the top of Mont Ventoux and on two ascents of the legendary Alpe d'Huez. The final stage ended as the first, with German sprinter Marcel Kittel in front. Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider was third, as Germany's Kittel won a fourth stage in this year's race and Andre Greipel finished second, with more than 35000 spectators lining the streets in the French capital.
ABOUT TOUR DE FRANCE

The Tour de France is an annual multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries.
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The race was first organized in 1903 to increase paper sales for the magazine L'Auto; it is currently run by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1903 except for when it was stopped for the two World Wars. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI ProTeams, with the exception of the teams that the organizers invite. The modern editions of the Tour de France consist of 21 day-long segments (stages) over a 23day period and cover around 3200 kilometres (2,000 mi).[10] The race alternates between clockwise and anticlockwise circuits of France. The number of teams usually varies between 20 and 22, with nine riders in each.
INDIA'S K JENNITHA ANTO WON IPCA WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

India's K Jennitha Anto on 24 July 2013 won the 13th IPCA World Women's Individual Chess Championship title. In the event organised by the Interntional Physically Disabled Chess Association, at Velke Losiny in the Czech Republic, she competed in a combined group with men and became the highest scorer among the women players with four and a half points. For Jennitha, who hails from Tamil Nadu, the win came along with the Woman International Master title. The WIM title would allow her direct entry for many of the National events for women except the premier. The IPCA event attracted 49 physically challenged players of fifteen countries. Jennitha being a wheel chair player participated in Fide A category and almost all the players are international rated players.
SHANE WARNE, RETIRED FROM ALL FORMS OF CR ICKET

Shane Warne, the spin legend retired from all forms of cricket officially. He announced retiring from Twenty20 League, thereby ending the overall competitive cricket career. In the year 2007, the 43-year old Shane Warne quit the Test cricket with 708 wickets. He had remained active in the domestic Twenty20 leagues. He was also the captain of Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) title in 2008. After four seasons of IPL, Shane Warne signed up for the Melbourne Stars as a marquee player in the inaugural 2011-12 British Basketball League season.
ABOUT SHANE WARNE

Shane Warne was born on 13 September 1969.
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He was popularly also known as the King of Spin. He was the Right-handed, Lower order batsman. His bowling style was Right-arm leg break. He debuted on the first Test Match in the year 1992.
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He took over 1000 international wickets (in Tests and One-Day Internationals), which is a milestone just second to Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka. His 708 test wickets created the record for most wickets taken by any bowler in Test cricket. His record was broken in the year 2007 by Muttiah Muralitharan.
CAREER STATISTICS
His Career Statistics are as follows: Competition Matches Runs scored Batting average 100s/50s Top score Balls bowled Wickets Bowling average 5 wickets in innings 10 wickets in match Tests ODIs First Class Cricket List A Cricket 145 194 301 311 1879 11.81 0/1 55 16419 473 24.61 3 n/a
3154 1018 6919 17.32 13.05 19.43 0/12 99 0/1 55 2/26 107*
40704 10642 74830 708 293 1319
25.41 25.73 26.11 37 10 1 n/a 69 12
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Best bowling Catches/stumping 8/71 5/33 8/71 264/ 6/42 126/
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125/ 80/
DEVENDRA WON GOLD AT IPC ATHLETICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Devendra Jhajharia on 21 July 2013 became the first differently-abled Indian to win gold at the IPC Athletics World Championships (19 to 28 July 2013) in France. He bagged the gold medal in javelin throw event at Rhone Stadium in Lyon. He threw the javelin to 57.04 meters in F-46 category, which is meant for one-armed athletes. The silver medal was captured by Mirshekari Abdolrasoul of Iran and the bronze medal was won by Ismail Mahmoud of Egypt. The championships has been organised by the International Paralympics Committee. With this win, India now stands at 19th Position in the medal tally. A 10-member contingent represented India in the Championships. PCI has announced a cash reward of 5 lakh rupees for Jhajharia and the Sultan Ahmed, President of Paralympics Committee of India announced that he would be felicitated on his return to the country.
IPC ATHLETICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2013

About 1000 athletes from 100 countries have participated in the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships at Lyon, France. This is the largest gathering of the international differently-abled athlete, after 2012 London Paralympic Games.
ABOUT DEVENDRA JHAJHARIA

Devendra Jhajharia is a one-armed javelin thrower from Churu District of Rajasthan, who won a gold medal in the Javelin throw event at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens. He is the second gold medalist at the Paralympics after Murlikant Petkar At Athens he managed to create a new world record of 62.15 meter throw by eclipsing the previous record of 59.77 meter He won a Gold medal at the 8th FESPIC Games in Korea, 2002 In March 2012, he received the Padma Shree Award and became the first paralympian to win the award
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Current Affairs eBook July 2013 MARTINA HINGIS INDUCTED IN TENNIS HALL OF FAME
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32 Year old Swiss tennis legend Martina Hingis was inducted in Tennis Hall of Fame on 13 July 2013. With the induction she became the fourth youngest members to be included in the tennis hall of fame, followed by Tracy Austin (30), Bjorn Borg (31) and Hana Mandlikova (32). It is important here to note that Czechoslovakia born Martina Hingis was named after Martina Navratilova. She came into limelight after she won the 1993 Roland Garros junior title at just 12 year of age.
A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO MAR TINA HINGIS CAREER

She had won three Australian Open titles (1997, 1998, 1999), one Wimbledon (1997) and a US Open title (1997). She held the number one ranking for 209 weeks. She also won nine grand slam doubles titles and a mixed doubles title. In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by Time. In 1997, Hingis became the undisputed World No. 1 women's tennis player. In 1998, Hingis won all four of the Grand Slam women's doubles titles, only the fourth in women's tennis history to do so. In 2001, Switzerland, with Hingis and Roger Federer on its team, won the Hopman Cup. In February 2003, at the age of 22, Hingis announced her retirement from tennis, due to her injuries and being in pain. In February 2005, Martina Hingis made an unsuccessful return to competition at an event in Pattaya, Thailand, where she lost to Germany's Marlene Weingrtner in the first round. She is counted as the most successful player to play the Toray Pan-Pacific Tournament with 5 wins in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2007, and reached 8 finals in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007.
INDIA FINISHED AT 4 TH POSITION IN THE ARCH ERY WORLD CUP STAGE 3
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India finished at fourth Position in the Archery World Cup Stage 3 on 21 July 2013 with Deepika Kumari winning gold and bronze medal on the concluding day, of Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Medellin, Colombia. Deepika Kumari who is world number three recurve archer shot four perfect 10s in breezy conditions to lead India to a 201-186 beating of China for the team gold medal. It is important here to note that it was India's first World Cup team gold since Shanghai 2011. Deepika also teamed up with Atanu Das to win the mixed team bronze with an 18-point margin (150-132) against the Mexicans. Overall, India finished fourth with one gold and two bronze, while the US topped the standings with nine medals (2-5-2), while China (2-1-2) and Colombia (1-1-0) were second and third respectively. The other two Indian members Rimil Buriuly and Bombayla Devi Laishram managed 11 between them while Deepika had an 8 to open up a massive 46-33 lead after the first end.
DEEPIKA KUMARI AND TWO OTHERS WON GOLD MEDAL IN ARCHERY

India on 21 July 2013 bagged a Gold medal in the Women's Recurve Team event at the Archery World Cup Stage-3 in Medellin, Colombia. The second seeded Indian trio of Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Rimil Biruly defeated the top seeded Chinese team of Cheng Ming, Xu Jing and Cui Yuanyuan, 201-186, to reclaim the Women's Recurve Team Gold after a gap of 2 years. Besides, it was India's second medal in this World Cup. India had clinched a bronze medal in the Compound Men's Team event. The team of Rajat Chouhan, Sandeep Kumar and Ratan Singh Khuraijam overcame stiff resistance from hosts Colombia to win 215-210 en route to the bronze medal.
INDIA'S K JENNITHA ANTO WON IPCA WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

India's K Jennitha Anto on 24 July 2013 won the 13th IPCA World Women's Individual Chess Championship title. In the event organised by the Interntional Physically Disabled Chess Association, at Velke Losiny in the Czech Republic, she competed in a combined group with men and became the highest scorer among the women players with four and a half points. For Jennitha, who hails from Tamil Nadu, the win came along with the Woman International Master title. The WIM title would allow her direct entry to many of the National events for women except the premier. The IPCA event attracted 49 physically challenged players of fifteen countries. Jennitha being a wheel chair player participated in Fide A category and almost all the players are international rated players.
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Current Affairs eBook July 2013 SERENA WILLIAMS WON SWEDISH OPEN TITLE
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Serena Williams on 21 July 2013 won Swedish Open title by defeating Johanna Larsson in the final of the Swedish Open at Bastad in Sweden. The win is her 53rd WTA title and 51st match win of the year. She defeated Johanna Larsson with a 6-4, 61 success. The 24-year-old Johanna Larsson broke to lead 3-1 in the first set before Williams bounced back to 3-3. Larsson proceeded to 4-3 before losing to the American's strong serve and losing the next three games. Serena Williams is 16-time Grand Slam winner, and was knocked out in the fourth round of Wimbledon by Germanys Sabine Lisicki, who went on to lose to Marion Bartoli of France in the final. Williams dominated the second set, breaking Larsson's serve twice. It is important here to note that, Williams also defeated 76th-ranked Larsson in their only previous match in the Fed Cup earlier this year.
DIVIJ SHARAN AND PURAV RAJA WON MAIDEN ATP TITLE AT BOGOTA
Purav Raja and Divij Sharan of India on 20 July 2013 clinched their first ever ATP tour doubles title by defeating Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France and Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands in the final match of Claro Open in Bogota, Colombia. The tournament was played from 15 July to 21 July. The fourth seeded Indian pair defeated the second seeded French-Dutch pair by 7-6(4), 7-6(3) in the final of the 638085 US Dollars, hard court event. This was the first ever ATP tour level tournament for the duo Divij and Purav together. The victory bought them 250 ranking points.
DIVIJ SHARAN
Divij Sharan was born on 2 March 1986 at New Delhi, India and is a left hander. He started playing tennis, when he was of 7 years. He ranked No. 5 in Junior World Doubles Rankings in 2003 He reached to the semi finals of the 2004 Roland Garros He made his debut in the Davis Cup in 2012 versus New Zealand He reached semi finals at Newport in 2013
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PURAV RAJA
He was born on 7 December 1985 and is a right hander tennis player
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OUSSAMA MELLOULI WON GOLD IN 5 KM OPEN WATER RACE

Olympic Champion Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia and Haley Anderson of American won the 5 Kilometer open water race on 20 July 2013 at the World Championships, Barcelona. Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia became the first swimmer of the world to win Olympic and world titles in both the Pool and Open Water after he sprinted a victory in Barcelona in a 5 kilometer event. Mellouli (29) won Gold in the open water race by covering the set distance in 53 minutes, 30.4 seconds. Canadian, Eric Hedlin took silver by completing the race 1.2 seconds behind Mellouli and Thomas Lurz of Germany, the five-time world champion finished at third position. Haley Anderson won the Gold in the race by finishing the race in 56 minutes, 34.2 second. She defeated Poliana Okimoto of Brazil in a sprint finish in the Barcelona harbor by 0.02 seconds and Ana Marcela Cunha of Brazil finished at the third position.
ABOUT OUSSAMA MELLOULI

Oussama Mellouli is a Tunisian swimmer, who is a three-time Olympic medalist. He trains himself with the USC Trojans team based at the University of Southern California.
ABOUT HALLEY ANDERSON

Haley Danita Anderson is an American college and international swimmer. She won a silver medal in 2012 London Olympic in the open water race of 10 kilometer.
SHANE WARNE INDUCTED INTO ICC HALL OF FAME AT LORDS

Australian legend bowler Shane Warne on 19 July 2013 joined the list of cricket legends to be inducted into the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Hall of Fame at Lord's. Shane Warne is the 69th male member of the Hall of Fame and the 18th from Australia. Shane Warne received the honour during the tea interval of the second day of the second Ashes Test, and joined Australian greats Glenn McGrath and Steve Waugh in the institution. Warne is counted among the first bowler to take 700 Test wickets and represented Australia in 145 Tests between 1992 and 2007. Shane Warne also took 293 wickets in 194 one-day internationals at an average of 25.73 and was a member of the Australia side that beat Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup final at Lord's.
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ICC CRICKET HALL OF FAME
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The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises the achievements of the legends of the game. It was launched by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on 2 January 2009, in association with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA), as part of the ICC's centenary celebrations. Earlier, ICC on 11 July 2013 announced that Shane Warne, former Australian spinner would be inducted into the ICC cricket hall of fame on 19 July 2013 at Lords during the Ashes Test series between Australia and England.
SANTOSH LAL THE INVENTOR OF HELICOPTER SHOT DIED

Santosh Lal, the member of Jharkhand Ranji Sqad and the inventor of Mahendra Singh Dhonis (Captain Indian Cricket Team) signature shot, Helicopter Shot died on 17 July 2013 at a hospital in New Delhi. The 32 year old Santosh was being treated for pancreatitis. He is now survived by his parents, a wife and a 3-year old daughter. For his treatment, the Jharkhand State Cricket Association had donated 1 lakh rupees and 39500 rupees was contributed by the members of the association. Santosh Lal was the friend of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captain of Indian cricket team. He was the person, who taught Dhoni the process to play Helicopter Shot.
TYSON GAY AND ASAFA POWELL FOUND POSITIVE IN DOPING TEST

Two of the sports biggest names Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell had failed drugs tests and tested positive for an Unidentified Substance at an out-of-competition test on 16 May 2013. 30 years old Gay is the second fastest man of all time and has run the three quickest 100m times of 2013, but tested positive for an unnamed substance. The triple world champion will have his B sample tested in last week of July 2013, but has already backed of the USAs World Championships team and Diamond League meeting in Monaco. Asafa Powell on the other hand has clocked 9.88s but was not selected in Jamaica World Championships team to travel to Moscow in August 2013. Jamaican Asafa Powells name emerged as one of five Jamaican athletes two in field events and three sprinters who returned adverse findings following the tests conducted at their National Trials, staged in Kingston from June 20th-23rd.
ABOUT BANNED DRUG TAKEN BY ASAFA POWELL
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The banned drug is named oxilofrine and is a stimulant used to boost the body's ability to burn fat. It helps athletes to boost their power-to-weight ratio with more lean muscle and less fat, and so increase their speed. It may also increase the rate at which the heart reaches its maximum performance during exercise, meaning a greater supply of oxygen can get to the muscles earlier. Oxilofrine is an agent that stimulates part of the nervous system and was previously used to treat low blood pressure. More recently, oxilofrine is found in combination with caffeine in dietary supplements marketed as weight loss products.
SCOTTISH OPEN 2013: GOLFER PHIL MICKELSON WON THE TITLE

American golfer Phil Mickelson on 14 July 2013 won the Scottish Open title in a sudden-death play-off against South Africas Branden Grace at Castle Stuart in Inverness in Northern Scotland. The 43-year-old Mickelson finished on 17-under-par while Swedens Henrik Stenson tied with Denmarks J.B. Hansen for third place on 15-under-par, and Scotlands Martin Laird finish fifth tied with Northern Irishman Gareth Maybin and Englands John Parry, all on 14 under.
A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO PHIL MICKELSONS CAR EER

Philip Alfred Mickelson has won over 40 events on the PGA Tour, including four major championships: three Masters Titles (2004, 2006 and 2010) and one PGA Championship (2005). He has finished runner-up in the U.S. Open a record six times and has reached a career-high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. In year, 2010, Mickelson won the 2010 Masters Tournament with a 16-under-par performance, giving him a three-stroke win over Lee Westwood in Augusta, Georgia Phil Mickelsons in his Career span has won 41 PGA Tour wins comprising of 4 Major Championships, 1 World Golf Championships, 2 FedEx Cup Events and 34 other PGA Tours.
SCOTTISH OPEN 2013

The four-day event started on 11 July 2013 at the four-year-old Castle Stuart Golf Links at Balnaglack Farmhouse, which will host the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open within the next three years after the tournament moves to Royal Aberdeen in 2014. It was sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management, and is considered to be one of the richer golf tournaments on the European Tour. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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The Scottish Open was first held in 1972 at Downfield Golf Club near Dundee, but after the second event at St Andrews in 1973 there was a twelve-year break before its return to the European Tour calendar in 1986, replacing the Glasgow Open.
ABHIJEET GUPTA WON COMMONWEALTH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

Grandmaster and former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta on 14 July 2013 won the Commonwealth Chess Championship. Abhijeet Gupta settled for a draw with Indian national title holder G Akash in the 11th and final round that concluded at Boardwalk in Port Elizabeth. Abhijeet scored nine points out of a possible eleven and had the best tiebreak score to win the gold medal in the championship that also incorporated the South African International open. Gupta was tied for the top spot along with top seed Sergey Fedorchuk of Ukraine and Sergei Tiviakov of Holland and had the best Bucholz among the three toppers to not only win the Commonwealth but also the overall title.
A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO ABHIJEET GUPTAS CAR EER

He has won overall 19 medals in all in various World, Asian and Commonwealth Chess Championships in Sub Junior, Junior and Senior Category. He became National Junior (Under-19) Chess Champion at the age of 13 years and 10 days in 2002, a record unrivaled till 2011 where his name was included in the Limca Book of Records in 2001 as the permanent record holder. He became an International Master in 2005 and went on to become an International Grand Master in the year 2008. In the year 2012 won one gold and two silver medals in the recently concluded Asian Nations Chess Cup in China. In 2010, he won the Bronze medal in the Asian chess championship at Subic Bay in Philippines Among the women, WGM Soumya Swaminathan won the silver medal while national women's champion Mary Ann Gomes won the bronze. The gold in this category went to International Master Jovanka Housak of England. The junior section was also swept clean by Indians as G Akash wo the gold Sahaj Grover getting the silver and Rakesh Kulkarni ending with the bronze medal. Kulkarni also won the South African open blitz championship held during the course of the championship.
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Current Affairs eBook July 2013 INDIA RETAINED ITS TOP POSITION IN ICC ODI RANKING
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India's back-to-back title wins helped the world champion team retain its top position in the ICC ODI rankings. The latest update was announced on 12 July 2013. India is now atop the table with 122 rating points, ahead of Australia 114 and England 112. After a successful ICC Champions Trophy campaign in England, India also emerged victorious in the just-concluded triseries in the West Indies. India has been in the number one position since February 2013, when they beat England 3-2 in the Champions Trophy to regain the top place.
INDIA WON WEST INDIES TRI-NATION SERIES FINAL

India on 11 July 2013 won the West Indies Tri-Nation Series 2013 Final after defeating Sri Lanka with 1 wicket at Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain in Trinidad. Mahendra Singh Dhoni captained the Indian Side in the tri-nation series, whereas, AD Mathews was the captain of the Sri Lanka. Kohli captained the Indian side in the second, third and fourth match after Dhoni suffered from a hamstring injury in the first match against and was out from the series in second, third and fourth match.
MATCH REPORT FINAL

After winning the toss, India chose to field first. Sri Lanka batted first in the final match and scored 201 runs at the fall of 10 wickets in 48.5 overs India scored 202 with 1 wicket and two balls remaining to win the series Player of the match MS Dhoni (India) Player of the series B Kumar (India) Umpire in the final match were NJ Llong and PJ Nero Match referee DC Boon
SERIES REPORT
1st Match was played between West Indies and Sri Lanka at Kingston on 28 June 2013 Batting first Sri Lanka scored 208 in 48.3 overs
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West Indies chased the score in 37.5 overs at the loss of 4 wickets West Indies won by 6 wickets (with 73 balls remaining) 2nd Match was played between West Indies and India at Kingston on 30 June 2013
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India scored 229at the loss of 7 wickets in 50 overs, whereas, West Indies chased the score in 47.4 overs at the loss of 9 wickets. 3rd Match was played between India and Sri Lanka at Kingston on 2 July 2013 Sri Lanka batted first and scored 348 with 9 wickets remaining in 50 overs and India was bowled out at 187 in 44.5 overs. Sri Lanka won the match by 161 runs. 4th Match was played between West Indies and India at Port of Spain on 5 July 2013 India scored 311 at the loss of 7 wickets in 50 overs. West Indies lost the match as it was able to score 171 runs as the loss of all wickets in 34 overs. As per DuckworthLewis method a game of 39 overs was played and the target given to West Indies was 274. India won by 102 runs (DuckworthLewis method) 5th Match was played between West Indies v Sri Lanka at Port of Spain on 7-8 July 2013 Sri Lanka batting first scored 219 runs at a loss of 8 wickets in 41 overs, whereas, West Indies was able to score only 190 runs at a loss of 9 wickets in 41 overs. The match was played as per DuckworthLewis method and the target given to West Indies was 230 runs in 41 overs. Sri Lanka won by 39 runs (DuckworthLewis method) 6th Match was played between India v Sri Lanka at Port of Spain on 9 July 2013 India was able to score 119 runs at a loss of 3 wickets in 29 overs; Sri Lanka scored 96 with no wickets remaining at the end of 24.4 overs. A target of 178 runs was given to Sri Lanka to chase as per DuckworthLewis method. India won by 81 runs (DuckworthLewis method) Dwayne Bravo captained the West Indies Side in the Series.
SHANE WARNE TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE ICC CRICKET HALL OF FAME

ICC on 11 July 2013 announced that Shane Warne, former Australian spinner would be inducted into the ICC cricket hall of fame on 19 July 2013 at Lords during the Ashes Test series between Australia and England. He played for Australia in 145 tests between 1992 and 2007. He claimed 708 test wickets with a strike rate of 25.41. He was the first bowler to take 700 test wickets.
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Warne had also played in 194 ODIs and claimed 293 wickets at an average of 25.73 and he was the part of the Australian cricket team that won the World Cup in 1999 at Lord's against Pakistan.
ICC CRICKET HALL OF FAME

The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises the achievements of the legends of the game. It was launched by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on 2 January 2009, in association with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA), as part of the ICC's centenary celebrations.
KRISHAN KAUSHIK APPOINTED COACH OF INDIAN HOCKEY TEAM

Hockey India (HI) on 10 July 2013 appointed Olympic gold medallist Maharaj Kishan Kaushik as the men's hockey team coach. 58 years old MK has replaced Michael Nobbs who was sacked after the team's series of dismal performances over the last 12 months. Kaushik, who was working with the women's team from 1991, had to quit in 2010 after a female player charged allegations of sexual harassment against him. The player's letter to the Hockey India was signed by her 31 team mates but nothing was proved against Kaushik. MK Kaushik will be joining the training camp of the senior men's team which is going to start from 16 July 2013 at the SAI Centre in Bangalore for the preparations for the 9th Asia Cup to be held in Malaysia from August 24 to 1 September 2013.
A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO MK KAUSHIKS CAREER

Under the Coaching of MK Kaushik, India men's hockey team had won their last major international tournament, the 1998 Asian Games, Bangkok. In 1998, he received the Arjuna Award. The Indian women's team had won bronze medal at the Doha Asian Games in 2006 under his coaching. He was the member of the gold medal winning team at 1980 Olympics in Moscow, this was the last Indian team to win a gold in Olympics He had also written the book, The Golden Boot.
LAJJA GOSWAMI WON SILVER IN SHOOTING WORLD CUP
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Lajja Goswami on 9 July 2013 won silver medal in women's 50-metre Rifle 3 Position event at the ISSF World Cup in Granada, Spain. She shots 584 in the qualification round and 454 in the finals to bag the silver to lead Norway's Malin Westerheim, who shot 443.9 in the finals.Petra Zublasing of Italy won the gold after scoring 459.1 in the medal round.
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Goswami totalled 152.4 over three series in kneeling. She has scored 154.8 in prone and 146.8 while standing to win the country's first medal in the tournament.
ABOUT LAJJA GOSWAMI

24-year-old Lajja Goswami, hails from Anand district in Gujarat and is a silver medallist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Lajja Goswami had teamed up with Tejaswani Sawant to win silver in pairs 50 -m rifle 3 position at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010. She also had won gold in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions, ahead of Maharashtra's Sawant and veteran Anjali Bhagwat at the IX Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Memorial Masters shooting competition in year 2012. It is important to note that she was unable to get selection in the 11-member team for 2012 London Olympics after failing to lift her game during the trials.
INDIA MOVED TO SECOND SPOT IN ICC TEST RANKINGS

As per the latest ICC Test rankings issued on 8 July 2013, India moved to second spot while South Africa led the ranking. England was placed at third position. South Africa gained seven rating points making its tally to 135 points. India scored 116 points. Although England won its last two test series against India it was placed below India in ranking due to its less consistent performances in other recent series particularly against Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa. England needs to win by a margin of 3-0 in the upcoming Ashes series against Australia to get the second position. The annual ICC test ranking ensures that it continues to reflect recent form of all the Cricket teams, with past results being cast off. The recent ICC Board meeting decided that the annual update to the Test, ODI and T20I rankings would now be finalised on 1 May 1 each year instead of 1 August because it aligns better with the current international calendar.
IOC EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR INDIAN OLYMPIC ASSOCIATION
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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 6 July 2013 extended the deadline of the suspended Indian Olympic Association (IOA) by a month for amending its constitution and holding fresh elections. Earlier, the IOC had directed the IOA to amend its constitution in line with the Olympic charter by 15 July 2013 and elect new office bearers by 1 Sep 2013 for considering the revocation of the ban on India. The IOC now feels that IOA needs more time to comment on the proposed IOA constitution. The IOC had suspended the IOA in December 2012.
WHAT IS IOC?
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is a Swiss non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was created by Pierre, Baron de Coubertin, on 23 June 1894 with Greek Demetrios Vikelas as its first president. At present, its membership consists of 100 active members, 33 honorary members and 1 honour member. The IOC organises the modern Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games, held in summer and winter, every four years.
NEW ZEALAND FAST BOWLER CHRIS MARTIN ANNOUNCED RETIREMENT

Chris Martin, the fast Bowler of New Zealand has announced his retirement on 3 July 2013 from all forms of cricket. 38 years old Chris Martin is New Zealand's third-highest Test wicket taker only after Richard Hadlee and Daniel Vettori. He had taken 233 Test wickets with an average of 33.81. Chris Martin originally hails from Canterbury and played for the first class cricket team called the Canterbury Wizards before shifting to the Aces in 2005/06. He appeared periodically for the Black Caps in the shorter formats, but was used regularly in the five day version of the game.
A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO CHRIS MARTINS CRICK ET CAREER

Chris Martin played 71 Tests, 20 ODIs and six Twenty20s for his country in an international career He made his test Debut in November 2000 against South Africa in Bloemfontein. His best bowling was seen against South Africa in 2004 when he won the man of the match award for his haul of 11 wickets in an Auckland test. Chris Martin has missed 32 of the Tests New Zealand have played since his debut - he had picked up 23 wickets at 27.86 over the past 18 months.
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He was awarded Man of the Match in Tests twice, first with a tally of 11 for 180 in New Zealand's nine-wicket win over South Africa in Auckland in 2003-04, and then eight years later in Napier, where he collected match figures of 8 for 31 in a crushing innings victory over Zimbabwe. He had picked up five-wicket hauls on ten occasions in Tests and he saved his best work for South Africa, against whom he claimed 55 wickets at 26.72. However, as impressive as his bowling was over 13 years in international cricket, Martin became as well known for his comical batting exploits at No.11, which endeared him to cricket fans the world over. In 104 Test innings, Martin managed only 123 runs at an average of 2.36, and the only time he reached double-figures was with 12 not out against Bangladesh in Dunedin in 2007-08. It was also in South Africa that Martin played his final Test, at Newlands in January 2013 when he finished with 3 for 63, the best figures from the New Zealand attack in an innings defeat.
FIFA BARRED IRAQ FROM HOLDING ANY FRIENDLY FOOTBALL MATCHES

World soccer body FIFA on 3 July 2013 again barred Iraq from holding any friendly football matches due to soaring violence, just three months after the ban was lifted. The ban will be in force until further notice. FIFA has issued a resolution to prevent any friendly matches in Iraq after increasing attacks on playgrounds and an assault in which Mohamed Abbas, the coach of the Karbala football club, was killed. FIFA decided on 21 March 2013 to lift a ban that had been imposed on Iraq to prevent it from hosting any friendly matches. On 26 March 2013 Iraq hosted a friendly between Iraq and Syria and the home team won 2-1. On 27 May 2013, the Iraq lost 0-1 to visiting Liberia in another friendly in Iraq. Violent bomb attacks are still common in Iraq despite the dramatic decrease in violence since its peak in 2006 and 2007when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings. The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) stated 761 Iraqis were killed and another 1771 were wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in June 2013.
SOCHI 2014 WINTER OLYMPIC TORCH TO BE SENT IN SPACE

The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee on 26 June 2013 made a declaration to send Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Torch into the space in November 2013. The torch would be sent to the International Space Station (ISS) from where it will be sent for a space walk. This will be the first time in the history that Olympics Torch will be carried in the open space.
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The torch will arrive at the ISS on the Soyuz TMA-11M manned spaceship in November 2013. The historical assignment will be completed by the Russian cosmonauts, Sergei Ryazansky and Oleg Kotov, who has been tasked with the assignment. Mikhail Tyurin, Captain of the spacecraft, who received the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch in June 2013, will be responsible to pass it over to the cosmonauts who will take the torch on its unique walk. Following the mission, cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, who is currently based on the ISS, will deliver the special cargo safely back to Earth. To ensure safety, during the space journey, the torch will not be lit during the spacewalk. Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia.
AL MANA SPORTS RIGHT ACTIVIST OF QATAR HONOURED BY IOC

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 1 July 2013 honoured six women for their outstanding contributions to the development of womens participation in sport and its administration at Lausanne. Ahlam Salem Mubarak Al Mana was honoured with Annual World Trophy for her work as President of the Qatar Women's Sport Committee. Al Mana as the sports administrator helped Qatar to send its first female athletes to the Olympics with top award for women in sports. Ahlam was honoured as the pioneer for womens right in Qatar by the IOC as Ahlam has played a major role in popularizing sports among schoolgirls in the Gulf nation. Al Mana played an integral role in the participation of four Qatari female athletes at London Olympics 2012 first time participation of Qatar women in its history. This was the first time, when Qatar sent women athletes to the games. Women from five continents also received awards for promoting gender equality.
FIVE CONTINENTAL TROPHIES WERE AWARDED TO

Dj Saran Camara (Guniea, Africa) Marlene Bjornsrud (US, Americas) Boossaba Yodbangtoey (Thailand, Asia) Ona Baboniene (Lithuania, Europe) Catherine Alice Wong (Fiji, Oceania)
ABOUT ANNUAL WORLD TROPHY OF IOC
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The International Olymipic Committee (IOC) Annual trophy was established by the IOC in 1985 in order to promote the teaching of Olympism. Every year the IOC Executive Board selects a different theme. The selection of the recipient and the awarding of the trophy are entrusted to the National Olympic Committee to recognise a person or institution of their choice. Jacques Rogge is the President of International Olympics Committee.
BRAZIL WON FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP BRAZIL 2013

Brazil won the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 on 30 June 2013 against Spain in the final match. Brazil won 3-0 against FIFA World Cup holders Spain. On the Brazilian side, two goals were scored by Fred and one was scored by Neymar. Brazil grabbed the FIFA Confederations Cup for the third time. Earlier, it had won the Cup in the year 2005 in South Africa, 2009 in Germany and 1997 in Saudi Arabia. Fernando Jos Torres of Spain was awarded with the Golden Boot Award, while Fred of Brazil won the Silver Boot Award. The Bronze Boot Award was given away to Neymar. Italy defeated Uruguay on penalties and secured the third place.
FACTS ABOUT THE FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP BRAZIL 2013

The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth cup, held at Brazil from 15 June to 30 June 2013. It was the prelude to 2014 FIFA World Cup. The FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 was the first national team tournament which made use of the goal-line technology. This technology will also be used in 2014 World Cup. The final positions of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup were: Brazil (Champions), Spain (Runners-Up), Italy (3rd Position) and Uruguay (4th position). The top scorers of the tournament were Fred of Brazil and Fernando Jos Torres of Spain who scored 5 goals each during the tournament. Neymar of Brazil was declared as the Best Player of the Tournament. 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup participating teams were: Brazil, Spain, Italy, Uruguay, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria and Tahiti. Prize Money: Brazil won 4.1million US dollar, Spain won 3.6 million US dollar, Italy won 3 million US dollar, Uruguay won 2.5 million US dollar. The teams from Fifth to eighth place won 1.7 million US dollar.
ABOUT FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP
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The FIFA Confederations Cup is the international association football tournament for national teams. It is held after every 4 years by FIFA. The teams participating in the tournament belong to each of the six FIFA confederation championships, i.e., UEFA, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, CAF, AFC, OFC, apart from the FIFA World Cup holder and the host nation. Total of eight teams participate in the FIFA Confederations Cup.
AWARDS GIVEN DURING 2013 FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP

Name of the Award FIFA Fair Play Trophy Golden Ball Winner Golden Boot Winner Golden Glove Winner Silver Ball Winner Silver Boot Winner Bronze Ball Winner Bronze Boot Winner Name of the Country/Player Spain Neymar (Brazil) Fernando Torres (Spain) Jlio Csar (Brazil) Andrs Iniesta (Spain) Fred (Brazil) Paulinho (Brazil) Neymar (Brazil)
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STATE
IGL SURAKSHA YOJANA LAUNCHED IN DELHI
The Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas, M. Veerappa Moily as well as Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, on 31 July 2013 launched the IGL Suraksha Yojana in Delhi. IGL Suraksha Yojana is the group accident insurance scheme for around 2.5 lakh drivers of CNG-run public transport vehicles in Delhi. The function for the launch of the Scheme was organised jointly by Transport Department, Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) in Delhi Secretariat. Schemes like IGL Suraksha Yojana are required for benefit of the common man in India.
SALIENT FEATURES OF IGL SURAKSHA YOJANA

IGL would be paying the premium amounting to around 35 lakh Rupees for the insurance scheme, which at present, if offered through Oriental Insurance Company. The city gas distribution (CGD) network would be expanded to 330 cities. At present, this is available in 45 cities providing CNG to about 16.5 lakh vehicles. IGL, which is a joint venture of Petroleum Ministry PSUs GAIL, BPCL and Govt of NCT of Delhi has already undertaken a massive expansion programmed in NCT of Delhi as well as NCR for making CNG & PNG available across all the cities. The initiative was launched on behalf of transport fraternity. The IGL Suraksha Yojana is an initiative being undertaken by IGL under its CSR programme. Under this scheme, an amount of 1.5 lakh Rupees would be paid to the nominee in case of Death of a Driver in an accident while driving the CNG run Public Transport vehicles. Apart from this, an additional amount of 25000 Rupees towards childrens education allowance per child subject to a maximum of 50000 Rupees for two children would also be paid to the family in such cases. In case of an accident where there is a requirement of treatment for fracture, a maximum sum of 10000 Rupees would be paid to the driver.
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In case of the permanent disability, which leads to loss of employment, a lump sum equal to 100 percent shall be paid to such insured person. In case of the partial disability, a graded compensation from 1500 Rupees to 75000 Rupees would be paid to the driver. The insurance policy is being issued through Oriental Insurance Company in the first year and IGL would be paying premium for the policy to cover drivers of nearly 2.5 lakh CNG run public transport vehicles operating in the capital. IGL Suraksha Yojana would be absolutely free for the drivers. Also, the procedure for claim would be kept simple. The claim forms would be available at all CNG stations of IGL as office of Oriental Insurance Company in the capital. In case of the death claim, nominee will have to submit copies of FIR, postmortem report, viscera report, copy of driving license of the deceased and copy of RC of public transport vehicle being driven. In case of the disability, the claim would have to be supported by certificate from government approved panel. The acceptance of claim would be subject to the driver having a valid driving licence and the CNG mode being endorsed on RC at the time of accident.
RAIL AND ROAD PROJECTS LAUNCHED IN HARYANA

Two rail as well as road projects which are worth 1500 crore Rupees were launched on 28 July 2013 in Haryana. The foundation stone of 68 Kilometer rail line between Hansi-Meham and Rohtak at Hansi was laid down by Union Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge. The cost of this project is 500 crore Rupees. The rail route would include eight railway stations, four halt stations as well as four crossing stations. The projected rail line will connect the crucial parts of Haryana, i.e., Fatehabad and Sirsa direct with Delhi. The Union Transport Minister Oscar Fernandes, at Hansi laid the foundation of 99 Kilometer long Hisar-Rohtak four lane National Highway. The cost of this project would be 1000 crore Rupees. The road project would include two road-over bridges, under pass as well as 29bus bays at both the sides.
FOOD SECURITY SCHEME IN DELHI

Delhi government is all set to launch food security programme from 20 August 2013. Delhi will be the first state in India to launch Union governments food security programme. The state government has completed all preparations in this regard.
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Over 32 lakh identified families will start getting benefit under the scheme from the 1 September 2013.In the first phase, BPL and APL families, Jhugi Jhopadi ration card holders and those under Antodaya ration yojana will be covered. Rickshaw pullers, porters and rag-pickers would also be included in the scheme to make Delhi hunger free.
FIRST TEXTILE PARK INAUGURATED AT BAGRU NEAR JAIPUR

First Textile Park dedicated to hand block printing and craft was inaugurated on 24 July 2013 by the Union Minister of Textile, Dr. Kavuru Sambasiva Rao at Bagru near Jaipur. The textile park would bring in new opportunities for exporters and artisans, as the textile sector holds vast potential of employment. The park has been named Jaipur Integrated Texcraft Park Pvt. Ltd. (JITPPL) and is also known as is also known as Jaipur Bloc. Bagru the place where the park is located is known all over the world for its traditional textiles, various styles of hand block printing and related skills. This is the first park in India that will cater to the segment of hand block printing. The textile park is equipped with state-of-the-art technology to conserve and preserve water. This park will help in continuing and promoting the craft in a cleaner way and act as a role model for craft based industry. The park will provide employment to about 16000 people, directly and indirectly. It is expected that the park in its first year of operation will do a business of more than 100 crore rupees. During the inauguration ceremony, the Textile Minister, Dr. KS Rao also proposed that if the State Government will prepare housing schemes for artisans, the Central Government will provide 50 percent financial assistance to the plan.
TAX EXEMPTION TO BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG IN MAHARASHTRA

The Government of Maharashtra on 20 July 2013 granted tax exemption to Hindi film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, the Farhan Akhtar starrer movie in the state that was released on 12 July 2013. The film is based on the life of the legendary athlete, Milkha Singh. The film has been co-produced by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). The tax exemption on the film will be valid for next six months from 20 July 2013 onwards. The Revenue Ministry exempted the tax considering the nature of the film as it encourages sports among the youngsters.
ABOUT THE FILM
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The film is a biopic of the legendary athlete Milkha Singh, who was also known as the Flying Sikh The film has been directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and scripted by Prasoon Joshi The film stars Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor, Divya Dutta, Pavan Malhotra and Meesha Shafi
MAHARASHTRA EXTENDED BAN ON GUTKHA AND PAAN MASALA

Maharashtra state government on 19 July 2013 announced a ban extension on nicotine-laced gutkha and paan masala for another year considering health hazards of these products. In July 2012, the government had banned the sale, storage and consumption of nicotine-laced gutkha and paan masala in any form for a year, which was to end on 19 July 2013. The government move was prompted by the incidence of oral diseases, including cancer due to consumption of such gutkha and paan masala. Under the Food Safety & Standards Act, sale of items containing nicotine or tobacco (as in gutkha or paan masala) has been prohibited in the interest of public health. As many as 26 Indian states have so far banned gutkha and paan masala, besides five union territories.
WHAT IS FOOD SAFETY & STANDARDS ACT?

This Act is actually called the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. It extends to the whole of India. It shall come into force on such date as the Union Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act and any reference in any such provision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference to the coming into force of that provision.
TDCCOL OPENED TRIBAL WORLD OUTLET AT BIJU PATNAIK AIRPORT

The Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation of Odisha Ltd (TDCCOL) on 17 July 2013 opened the outlet called Tribal World at the Biju Patnaik Airport in Bhubaneswar, in order to put on the podium tribal art as well as heritage of Odisha. Tribal World outlet was inaugurated by the ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Minister Lal Bihari Himirika. The initiative by TDCCOL will enable the tourists to buy tribal handloom as well as handicraft products from the outlet. As the beginning, TDCCOL decided to portray as well as sell the deteriorating tribal art forms such as handicrafts of Gond tribe and paintings of Saura and Juang tribes. The specialty of these products is that they will be sold along with the write-ups that www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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explain and indicate about the importance of handicraft and contribution of tribal community behind it. All the products will be procured directly from tribal artisans. These will be sold under the brand name of Tribes Odisha. The primary aim of this initiative is promotion of the products that are made by tribal. This initiative will provide better livelihood as well as sustenance to the tribals. It is important to note that there is an extensive demand of authentic Odisha tribal products among various tourists. Airport is the best gateway for the promotion of these products. Apart from the Bhubaneswar airport, TDCCOL also decided to commence the Tribal World outlets at New Delhi and Kolkata airports on public-private partnership (PPP) mode in 2013-14 financial year. It has been decided that apart from these, eight other such outlets will be started at different places in Odisha in 2013 itself. One of these outlets is already next to completion at Puri. Apart from this, TDCCOL is also under negotiation with Director of Biju Patnaik Airport to include write-ups in context with the tribal art of Odisha in flight magazines. There are Tribal World showrooms at Unit-VIII in Bhubaneswar, Koraput and Rourkela already. All the products are also e-marketed through TDCCOL website. Apart from the Tribal World outlet, the Bhubaneswar Airport also has outlet of Textiles & Handloom Departments Utkalika, the sales outlet of Odisha State Cooperative Handicrafts Corporation.
69200 CRORE PLAN FOR UTTAR PRADESH FOR 2013-14

The Planning Commission of India on 18 July 2013 finalized the Annual Plan of 69200 crore rupees for the financial year 2013-14 for Uttar Pradesh. Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav together finalized the plan. The agreed plan size includes central assistance to the State Plan of about 11225 crore rupees and an amount of about 18000 crore rupees is likely to flow from the Centre to Uttar Pradesh through various Centrally Sponsored Schemes. Thus, Plan funding from the Central Government to the State of Uttar Pradesh, from all sources, is expected to be over Rs.30000 crore during 2013-14.
PERFORMANCE OF THE STATE DURING 11TH FIVE YEAR PLAN

During the financial year 2012-13, growth rate of Uttar Pradesh was better than the national growth. The national average was 5 percent, whereas, average growth rate of Uttar Pradesh was 5.4 percent
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Growth rate in agriculture achieved by the state was 2.6 percent
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Industry and Service sector achieved the growth rate of 2.8 and 7.6 percent respectively The social indicators of Uttar Pradesh during the 11th Five Year Plan were positive The state was successful in establishing the economic activity by focusing on the development of social and physical infrastructure During the 12th Five Year Plan, the state needs to look forward to initiate a comprehensive study for mapping the aquifer to get rid of its dependence on the ground water for irrigation purposes. The state needs to improve on the share of manufacturing sector or industry, which has witnessed a sharp decline in past some time, by doing away the unfavourable macroeconomic conditions prevalent in the state. The latest industrial policy is one of the steps to do away the unfavourable conditions.
PLANS OF THE STATES DURING 12TH FIVE YEAR PLAN

Time bound implementation of national flagship programmes and effective implementation of agriculture policy The infrastructure and industrial policy is being implemented to attract private investment and all district headquarters are being connected by 4 lane roads by the end of the plan while all 500 plus habitations will be connected with all-weather roads in two years. Focus on development of economic infrastructure and more than 20 percent of the outlay would be used for this sector State needs to encourage private participation by creating an atmosphere conducive to investment Education & Health should be given priority while working out development strategy The State Government needs to resort optimum utilization of limited water resources while planning for five per cent growth in agriculture To connect all district headquarters by four-lane roads and construct 300 bridges and 100 ROB in the State, the state government may look forward to PPP mode for these projects so that they could avail the benefits under Viability Gap Funding Scheme.
GOA SLASHED ENTRY TOLL FOR VEHICLES FROM MAHARASHTRA

The Goa Government on 17 July 2013 has decided to issue concession passes to incoming vehicles for the neighbouring districts, of Maharashtra and Karnataka. But the vehicles coming from other States other than Maharashtra and Karnataka will have to pay the full entry toll fee.
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The government has come up with a provision of issuing monthly and yearly passes to vehicles registered in the neighbouring districts of Maharashtra and Karnataka. The State Public Works Department is in the process of preparing the proposal after the State Government asked it to do so. The tariff with concession in the entry toll fee would be notified in the last week of July 2013. Vehicles which are carrying cargo from Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, (in Maharashtra) and Karwar and Belgaum (Karnataka) would be permitted for the concession depending on how regularly they visit the State. The imposition of entry toll fee had met with stringent opposition from transporters in the neighbouring States. The fee was levied in April 2013 by the State Government, which claimed that the money collected would be used to upgrade the road infrastructure in Goa. The revenue earned by the State Government would be utilised to make better roads, adding mainly the stretch between Anmodh Ghat (near the Karnataka border) to Ponda, a town in Goa, would be expanded for better traffic movement, at a cost of 15 crore Rupees. The State has planned to take up a 139km road upgradation under the Prime Ministers Sadak Yojna.
KERELA APPROVED TAPPING UNFERMENTED SAP FROM COCONUT

The Government of Kerala gave its nod for tapping unfermented sap or Neera from the coconut all over the state. Neera, which is also called sweet toddy, is the non-alcoholic drink which is extracted from immature inflorescence of coconut. The decision was taken by the Kerala Government at the meeting in Thiruvananthapuram. This decision would prove to be very beneficial for depressing coconut sector. Neera tapping will take place in units of 1500 coconut trees in each and every district all over Kerala, in the beginning as a part of the pilot project. Over one unit will have access of tapping Neera in three districts Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Thiruvananthapuram, where toddy tapping is not taking place. For the purpose of production of Neera, Abkari Laws will also be amended. It was decided that only the companies as well as federations that are affiliated to Coconut Development Board, will be allowed to produce Neera. For the purpose of tapping the coconut tree for neera, toddy tappers would receive preference. Apart from this, neera technicians will also be given membership in Toddy Tappers Welfare Fund Board. Since a long time, the Coconut Development Board was demanding for starting the neera production in order to revive the coconut sector. The technological advances that are used in the process as well as packaging of Neera make sure that it is absolutely free from the alcoholic content.
HEALTH MINISTRY LAUNCHED WIFS PROGRAMME IN BANGALORE
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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched the National Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) programme for adolescents in Bangalore on 17 July 2013. It is a unique initiative to protect the adolescent population from iron deficiency anemia. Around 13 crore children will benefit from this programme. According to the health ministry, 70 percent children below five years, 56 percent adolescent girls and 30 percent adolescent boys are anaemic in India. The programme envisages distribution of Iron and Folic Acid tablets once a week on every Monday in every Government, aided schools and Anganwadi centres to improve physical growth, academic performance and concentration among the growing children. The programme to be funded under the National Programme for the Control and Prevention of Anemia will have an additional benefit of providing de-worming tablets to these children biannually.
MP POLICE SECURITY SCHEME TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN STATE

In Madhya Pradesh, the state cabinet on 17 July 2013 decided to implement Madhya Pradesh Police Health Security Scheme for police officers and employees. The scheme will be applicable only to the police personnel working in the state. The scheme will not be applicable to Indian Police Service officers. It will be run by a registered trust, whose state-level management committee will be headed by the Director General of Police. Each member will have to deposit entry fee of 100 rupee and 50 rupees per month contribution. Members and their dependents will be entitled for treatment of up to 8 lakh rupees in a financial year. They can avail the treatment facility in hospitals recognised by the state government.
PERMISSION TO DANCE BARS IN MAHARASHTRA

The Supreme Court of India on 16 July 2013 upheld a Bombay High Court verdict which quashed the state governments order to ban dance bars in Maharashtra. The dance bars were banned in 2004. A bench comprising Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice S S Nijjar also vacated its stay order on implementation of the high court judgement. The Maharashtra government had in 2005 brought in an amendment in the Bombay Police Act which was challenged in the high court by an association representing restaurants and bars. The high court in 2006 had quashed the government's decision. The state government had moved the apex court against the high court's order that same year. The Supreme Court while admitting the government's plea had stayed the Bombay high court's verdict.
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Current Affairs eBook July 2013 DELHI: NO ARREST UNDER IT ACT WITHOUT APPROVAL
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Delhi Police on 15 July 2013 issued an order instructing its investigation officers to make no arrests on the basis of provisions available under Section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, without prior approval from a person of Deputy Commissioner of Police Rank. The orders were issued by KK Vyas, the DCP of Economic Offences Wing, following the Supreme Court directive in the Shreya Singhal vs. Union of India case. In this case the Supreme Court instructed the states to implement an advisory by the Central Government making sure that without prior permission from senior officers no person should be arrested for passing alleged derogatory remarks on social networking websites. The decision of the Supreme Court of India came following the application filed by Shreya Singhal in the year 2012 to the Court challenging the constitutional validity of the provision of the IT Act alleging of being misused and as a violation of Article 21 of Constitution of India (right to life and personal liberty). Shreya Singhal filed her petition following the arrest of two girls by Thane police, who critrisized the Mumbai Bandh that was organized to mourn for the death of Bal Thackeray, the then Chief of Shiv Sena. Section 66A of the IT Act states Punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service, etc a) Any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or a communication device, Any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character; or b) Any information, which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred or ill will, persistently by making use of such computer resource or a communication device, c) Any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages d) Shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.
ARAB PLEDGED TO IMPROVE WELFARE OF MINORITIES IN KARNATAKA

Nearly 20 Arab nations on 14 July 2013 pledged to improve the welfare of minorities in Karnataka with financial aid to young entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprises and for empowering women. About 20 Arab nations in West Asia and Africa have committed to grant 8
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million rupees in 2013 to fund minority entrepreneurs, help young women become self-reliant and educate the youth. Among the states that have pledged help are Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. A delegation of the chamber recently visited Karnataka and offered support to the government's various minority programmes. With offices in Dubai and Muscat, the chamber has about 330 members, including 130 from across the Arab states. The Arab states assured that the state government that we will facilitate more investment to Karnataka from the Arab world.
GUJARAT TO INTRODUCE A CRUISE LINER SERVICE

Gujarat government on 14 July 2013 planned to introduce a cruise liner service between Mumbai and Porbandar by the end of 2013 with the objective of promoting coastal tourism. The plan is to introduce a cruise ship, to be run by a private operator, which will take tourists from Mumbai to Porbandar and Kutch as part of a 3-day package. The government has identified 17 beaches along the coastline and its focus is to develop coastal tourism in these places and make Gujarat a coastal tourism destination. Gujarat has the longest coastline among all Indian states which is 1600 km. Planning Commission of India has sanctioned 120 crore rupees to develop coastal tourism in Gujarat and the funds will be utilised to create on-shore facilities and related activities. As part of the policy to promote cruise tourism, cruise vessels will be given berthing priority and no port fee will be collected from cruise liners for docking at the state's ports. Meanwhile, Gujarat government has begun the process of upgrading 12 airports for night flying operations, enabling private operators to start intra-state flights. Around 2.75 crore tourists visited Gujarat during 2012-13 and the state is expecting a total inflow of 3.25 crore tourists by March 2014.
PUNJAB GOVERNMENT LAUNCHED NIGHT POLICING SCHEME

Punjab state government on 14 July 2013 launched the Night Policing Scheme (NPS) comprising 4000 police personnel and an independent cadre and command structure. The NPS is aimed at augmenting and strengthening the deployment of police personnel, through the usage of modern technology during night hours in cities and towns of the state.
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The NPS will also focus on the national and state highways and major roads crisscrossing the state, mainly to instill a sense of security among the citizens. Coverage of NPS would extend to all entry and exit points, vulnerable points, sensitive institutions and outlying residential colonies of all cities and major towns. The prevention and control of street crime which directly affects citizens, especially women and senior citizens, was a major challenge in the recent past.
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Explaining key objectives of NPS it would give a fillip to night commerce and trade, provide a security umbrella to restaurants, roadside eateries, street-hawkers, industrial labourers and other night shift workers such as doctors, nurses, call-centre employees, toll-barrier and excise barrier employees and others.
HEMANT SOREN SWORN IN AS NINTH CHIEF MINISTER OF JHARKHAND

Hemant Soren, leader of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and son of party Chief Shibu Soren, on 13 July 2013 sworn in as the ninth Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Syed Ahmed, the Governor of Jharkhand administered the oath of the office to Hemant Soren in the premises of Raj Bhavan in a swearing-in ceremony. During the same swearing-in ceremony, Rajendra Prasad Singh from Congress and Annapurna Devi from RJD, were also sworn in as ministers. Hemant Soren on 9 July 2013 claimed for the formation of the Government in the State after making an alliance with the Congress, RJD and other independent MLAs. With Sorens swearing -in, the six month long President Rule of the state that was about to end on 18 July 2013, came to end, before six days. Earlier, on 13 July 2013, the President revoked his rule from the state following the provisions mentioned under Proclamation under Clause (2) of the Article 356 of the Constitution of India. The Presidents Rule was imposed on Jharkhand on 18 January 2013 after the failure of the Constitutional Machinery in the state after JMM withdrew support to the BJP-led government under Arjun Munda on 8 January 2013. In Part IV of the Constitution of India under States Chapter III (The State Legislature Conduct of Business), Article 188 Oath or affirmation by the Members is mentioned. Article 188 States: Every Member in the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council of a State shall, before taking his seat make or subscribe before the Governor or some person appointed in that behalf buy him, an oath of affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose of the Third Schedule.
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PRANAB MUKHERJEE REVOKED PRESIDENT'S RULE FROM JHARKHAND

President Rule in Jharkhand was revoked by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on 13 July 2013. The President on 13 July 2013 signed the Proclamation under clause (2) of the Article 356 of the Constitution of India and revoked the Proclamation that was issued for the state on 18 January 2013. The Presidents rule was revoked from Jharkhand, to pave a way from installation of a Government in the state that is led by Hemant Soren, JMM leader. President Rule was invoked in the state, after the former Chief Minister of Jharkhand; Arjun Munda resigned from the office after his government was concentrated to minority following the withdrawal of support of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
PRESIDENTS RULE IN JHARKHAND IMPOSED EARLIER

Jharkhand was created as a state in 2000 and since then, it has been kept under the Presidents Rule three times. 1st Presidents Rule: imposed on 19 January 2009 because of loss of majority following the resignation of CM Shibu Soren 2nd Presidents Rule: imposed on 1 June 2010, because of loss of majority following the resignation of CM Shibu Soren 3rd time President Rule: imposed on 18 January 2013, because BJP lost majority in the state after withdrawal of support from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Hemant Soren will take oath as the new Chief Minister of Jharkhand on 13 July 2013. Article 356 of Constitution of India: mentions Provisions in case of failure of constitutional machinery in States: Section 1 of Article 356 mentions: If the President, on receipt of a report from the Governor of a State or otherwise, is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the Government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution, the President may by Proclamationa) Assume to himself all or any of the functions of the Government of the State and all or any of the powers vested in or exercisable by the Governor anybody or authority in the State other than the Legislature of the State
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b) Declare that the powers of the Legislature of the State shall be exercisable by or under the authority of Parliament c) Make such incidental and consequential provisions as appear to the President to be necessary or desirable for giving effect to the objects of the Proclamation, including provisions for suspending in whole or in part the operation of any provisions of this Constitution relating to anybody or authority in the State Provided that nothing in this clause shall authorize, the President to assume to himself any of the powers vested in or exercisable by a High Court, or to suspend in whole or in part the operation of any provision of this Constitution relating to High Courts. Section 2 of Article 356 States: Any such Proclamation may be revoked or varied by a subsequent Proclamation.
COMMITTEE TO OVERSEE RECONSTRUCTION IN UTTARAKHAND

The Union government of India on 10 July 2013 constituted a Cabinet Committee to oversee reconstruction and rehabilitation work in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand. Union Ministers A K Antony, Sharad Pawar, P Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Oscar Fernandes, Kapil Sibal, Girija Vyas, Jairam Ramesh and Harish Rawat are the members of the committee. The Committee will be chaired by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and National Disaster Management Authority Vice Chairman M Shashidhar Reddy will be the permanent invitees. The committee will provide broad guidance to reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the state and take such decisions, as may be required. The government has already announced 1000 crore rupees for disaster relief measures in the flood-devastated parts of Uttarakhand.
J&K PLAN FOR 2013-14 FINALIZED BY PLANNING COMMISSION OF INDIA

The Annual Plan size of 7300 crore rupees for the year 2013-14 was finalized for the state of Jammu and Kashmir on 9 July 2013 by the Planning Commission of India (PCI). The plan size was agreed during a meet of the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah. The state would be considered for PMRP (State Sector) projects and can be offered 600 crore rupees, in addition to the annual plan. An amount of 3000 crore rupees is likely to flow from the Centre to Jammu & Kashmir through various Centrally Sponsored Schemes. Moreover, a special assistance of 710 crore rupees, would be made available to the state from the central plan for PMGSY projects. Compiling all the resources to be given to the state, the Plan assistance from the Central Government to the State of Jammu & Kashmir is expected to be over 11000 crore rupees, during 2013-14.
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The twelfth five year plan will focus on accelerated and sustained Growth, Growth-employment Linkage, Consolidation of Infrastructure, Empowerment of people, & building of human and institutional capacities. The State would target a modest and realistic growth rate of 7.5 percent with focus on productive sectors and promoting private and public investment in the infrastructure sectors. Making growth inclusive by putting in place special component plans.
STATE PERFORMANCE DURING 11TH FIVE YEAR PLAN PERIOD

Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) growth rate of J&K during the 12th Plan Period was only 6 percent which is lower than national average of 8 percent Service Sector growth rate of J&K was 9.5 percent which was almost at par with the national average of 9.7 percent during 11th Plan The state performed well in sectors like horticulture, education and health sector As a percentage of GSDP, States Own Tax Revenue is about 6.7 percent in 2011 -12 which needs to be further increased to balance the requirements for expenditure Efforts made by the State to augment the States own tax revenue was appreciable During the 12th Plan Period, the state also aims towards enhanced and inclusive development is a key component of the overall strategy to build on peace dividends Jammu and Kashmir needs to step-up growth to catch up with all India average. Agriculture is a primary and traditional occupation which is vitally important for the balanced and sustainable growth of economy. The State needs to take advantage of ongoing schemes like RKVY and NHM to nurture development of this sector. Jammu & Kashmir has great potential in terms of natural resources which should be harnessed to generate sustainable growth and income opportunities for the people. Tourism, obviously, holds good prospects for the State. The State Government needs to prepare a comprehensive plan to improve high value tourism as well as religious tourism.
DURING 12 TH FIVE YEAR PLAN (2012-17) THE STATE NEEDS TO LOOK FORWARD TO
Power Sector deficit which has been affecting the States Own non tax revenue adversely The National development Council (NDC) has identified 25 monitorable targets that reflect towards the vision of rapid, sustainable and more inclusive growth during this plan period.
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One of the monitorable targets is generation of 50 million new work opportunities in the non-farm sector and skill certification of equivalent numbers during the 12th Plan. The State needs to ensure better performance of ITIs/ITCs by effective utilization of their seating capacities and ensure proper coordination among various line departments engaged in skill training. The 30 habitations that suffers with the quality of water problem due to presence of Fluoride, Iron and Salinity, needs to be taken care of and bring a solution to the problem Further, 46 percent habitations are fully covered with drinking water facilities against the national average of 76 percent. The State Government should step up the efforts to cover 100 percent habitations with water supply facilities during 12th Plan under National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP). The state needs to focus on the development of the social and physical infrastructure to restore economic activity and encourage private participation to create atmosphere of conducive investment The state needs to prioritize education, health and tourism and develop a strategy to promote them Promotion of heritage, adventure, pilgrim and eco-tourism should also receive attention.
ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT PUT A BAN ON CASTE-BASED RALLIES IN UP

The Allahabad high court on 10 July 2013 put a stay on caste-based rallies throughout Uttar Pradesh. It also issued notices to central and state governments, the Election Commission and four major political parties. The Lucknow bench of the court including Justices Uma Nath Singh and Mahendra Dayal gave the ruling while responding to a PIL. The court gave the ruling in the backdrop of the BSP recently organising Brahman Bhaichara Sammelan in 40 districts of the state, SP also had organised a similar event in Lucknow. The court also issued notices to other political parties such as Congress and BJP. The PIL submitted that there was an increase of caste-based political rallies in the state. PIL stated that political parties were organising caste-based rallies in the name of different castes such as Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya etc. These rallies can cause damage to social unity and harmony. They are dividing the society which was against the spirit of the Constitution.
MNRE SANCTIONED 20000 SOLAR LANTERNS TO UTTARAKHAND

The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on 8 July 2013 sanctioned central financial assistance of 4.4 crore rupees for distribution of 20000 solar lanterns in the flood affected areas of Uttarakhand. The full cost of the lanterns, which would be distributed among the people in www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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the flood affected areas of the state will be met by the Ministry itself. Each lantern costs approximately 2200 rupees. The announcement came as a follow up of the relief and re-establishment plan after the Himalayan State was struck by the natural Calamity on 15 June 2013. The announcement on the distribution of the solar lanterns was made by the Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy; Dr. Farooq Abdullah after the Ministry received a request from the State Government of Uttarakhand to provide Solar Lanterns, in principle.
RECORD OF DISTRIBUTION OF SOLAR LANTERNS BY MINISTRY OF NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY, IN RECENT PAST
14000 lanterns in 2009-10 to West Bengal, for Cyclone Aila affected people of the state 1000 solar lanterns in Leh during 2010-11 to people of flash flood affected areas 14900 solar lanterns in Sikkim during 2011-12 to the earth quake affected people This project would be implemented by the Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency, Dehradun.
KERALA TO GET CENTRAL ASSISTANCE FOR MID-DAY MEAL SCHEME

Union Government of India on 7 July 2013 announced a grant of 97 crore rupees to Kerala for implementation of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in the schools of the state. The Union Government has also made a decision to hike the allowances for cooks, who prepare mid-day meal in schools by fifty rupees.
ABOUT MID-DAY MEAL

The Mid Day Meal is the worlds largest school feeding programme that reaches out to about 12 crore children in over 12.65 lakh schools/EGS centres across the country. Mid Day Meal in schools has had a long history in India. In 1925, a Mid Day Meal Programme was introduced for disadvantaged children in Madras Municipal Corporation. By the mid 1980s three States viz. Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the UT of Pondicherry had universalized a cooked Mid-Day Meal Programme with their own resources for children studying at the primary stage By 1990-91 the number of States implementing the mid day meal programme with their own resources on a universal or a large scale had increased to twelve states.
AIM OF THE SCHEME

To enhance enrollment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improve the nutritional levels among children, under the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary
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Education (NP-NSPE) that was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme on 15th August 1995, initially in 2408 blocks in the country.
GOVERNMENT APPROVED 4130 CRORE FOR BIHAR UNDER PMGSY

The Union Ministry of Rural Development on 6 July 2013 approved 4130 crore rupees for the construction of 5700 km of rural roads in Bihar. This is the highest allotment for the state in the past 12 years under PMGSY (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana). This is the highest allocation under the scheme to Bihar in the last 12 years. Out of the fund allocated in all 38 districts, 2400 rural roads and 190 bridges would be constructed. Out of the total fund, 80 percent would be spent on road construction in 10 districts. These are Araria, Aurangabad, Darbhanga, Jamui, Kaimur, Madhubani, Nawada Sitamarhi, Rohtas and West Champaran, majority of which are affected by naxalism.
CONCEPTUAL PLAN TO DEVELOP NEW CHANDIGARH APPROVED

Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal on 5 July 2013 approved the comprehensive conceptual plan to develop New Chandigarh in the Mullanpur area on the outskirts of the city. The Punjab government aimed to develop New Chandigarh as one of the best planned cities with ultra modern infrastructure to enable it to face the challenges of 21st century while making it an economic hub of South East Asia. The conceptual plan was prepared by Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).The new city is planned in an area of 15272.5 acres in the foothills of Shivaliks, and is supposed to have Eco-City, Medi-City, Education-City and mega projects that would drive the growth of the state to the next path. The Edu-City will have reputed international universities and institutes in areas of hospital administration, management courses, computer science and engineering branches, biotechnology, multimedia, pharmaceuticals, tourism and hospitality, industrial design, media and mass communication. 1278 crore rupees for the infrastructure was approved by the Punjab government of the proposed city, out of which 660 crore rupees has been sanctioned for Road Infrastructure to build a world class infrastructure technology in the building of road network. Around 12 crore Rupees was approved by the government for installation of 10-MGD (million gallons daily) capacity water treatment plants 262 Crore Rupees for water supply, sewerage and storm water and drainage water, 40 Crore Rupees for 62 MGD sewerage treatment plant and 300 crore Rupees for 220-kV and 66-kV sub-stations, electrification, street lighting and laying of 66 kV underground cable.
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The road is set to be completed by 31 March2014, and its two service lanes would be completed by May 2014.
AMETHI TO BE CREATED AS A NEW DISTRICT

The Uttar Pradesh government on 5 July 2013 issued a fresh notification for creation of Amethi as a new district which will include three tehsils of Sultanpur and one of Rae Bareli. The district headquarters of Amethi will be Gauriganj. Sultanpur's Amethi, Gauriganj and Musafirkhana tehsils and Rae Bareli's Tiloi will be part of Amethi district. Some revenue villages of Maharajganj tehsil of Rae Bareli were included in Tiloi tehsil of Amethi and in exchange some villages of Tiloi were included in Maharajganj. Amethi is Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's parliamentary constituency, whereas Rae Bareli is Congress President Sonia Gandhi's constituency. The Allahabad High Court had in April 2013 quashed the UP government notification of July 2010 that paved way for creation of Amethi (then ChhatrapatiShaujiMaharajNagar) as a separate district in response to a public interest litigation. The litigation had contested that Amethi cannot be given the status of a district because of the ongoing census operations.
BACKGROUND
In 2002, the then chief minister Mayawati had carved out a separate district of Amethi and it was named as Chhatrapati Shauji Maharaj Nagar (CSM Nagar). The creation of new district was announced in May 2003. However, in August 2003, BSP government led by Mayawati fell following withdrawal of support by the BJP and its coalition partners. The succeeding SP government led by Mulayam Singh Yadav scrapped Amethi district in September 2003. The CSM Nagar district was once again renamed Amethi in July 2012 by the SP government which came to power in March 2012. On 22 September 2012, a larger bench of the Allahabad high court ruled that the state government could not issue a notification for creating new district in view of the notification issued by the Government of India regarding Census operations. Finally, in April 2013, a Lucknow bench of Justice Devi Prasad Singh, Justice Sabibul Hasnain and Justice DK Arora quashed the state government's notification for creation of CSM Nagar district renamed as Amethi by the SP government.
NDM APPROVED 107 CRORE DROUGHT RELIEF PACKAGE FOR KERALA

National Disaster Management (NDM) headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar approved a central assistance of 107 Crore Rupees for Kerala. Basically the relief package will be sanctioned to Kerala for facing Rabi (winter) crop losses due to drought in 2012.
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It is worth mentioning here that, in year 2012 Kerala faced drought due to unexpected deficit in rainfall during the Southwest and Northeast monsoons which resulted in Lack of rains and had directly affected power generation and agriculture in the State.
TEAM TO ASSIST IN RECONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES IN UTTARAKHAND

The Union Government of India on 4 July 2013 decided to depute a technical team to assist in planning, designing and reconstruction of devastated houses in Uttarakhand. The panel from New Delhi would be sent to Uttarakhand on 6 to 7 July 2013 to access the damage caused by natural calamity. As per the announcement, the Union Government will offer full support to the State Government of Uttarakhand in re-construction of the houses under the Rajiv Awas Yojna. Earlier, Uttarakhand on 16 July 2013 faced a natural calamity in form of landslides and flash floods in which more than 10000 people died. Several houses and buildings were washed away in the devastation that was witnessed by the state.
TAMIL NADU GOVT PLANNED TO DEVELOP ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE

Tamil Nadu government on 2 July 2013 sanctioned over 250 crore Rupees for different roadrelated works in different districts of the state. Around 157.37 crore Rupees was allotted for repairing damaged roads to the coverage of 78.80 km in the Ariyalur and Perambalur districts which are spotted with limestone mines and cement factories. The amount will be used towards repairing the roads largely used by heavy vehicles catering to and fro the mines and factories. Also, a sum of 81 crore Rupees was granted for taking up various works on the ChennaiDindugul national highway connecting Tiruchirappally and her native constituency Srirangam, including construction of small bridges.
DELHI TO RELAX ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA UNDER THE ANNASHREE SCHEME

The Delhi Cabinet on 3 July 2013 decided to relax the eligibility criteria to cover two lakh vulnerable families under the Annashree Scheme. As per new criteria for Annashree scheme, any household, whose head has been a resident of Delhi for at least three years and the annual family income is not more than 1 lakh rupees is eligible for benefit under the scheme. Delhi has been fixed as 1 January 2010 was fixed as the cut-off date for residing in Delhi. The earlier cut-off date was 1 April 2008. The family, however, should not be getting benefits under the below poverty line (BPL) and Antodaya scheme. This is the basic criteria to be eligible under Annashree scheme. Moreover, the household should not be getting food at subsidized rate under any other scheme.
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Launched in 2012, the Delhi government provides a cash subsidy of 600 rupees a month to approximately one lakh households. The money is transferred to the bank account of the leading female member of the family. The Samajik Suvidha Sangam conducted a survey to identify the families.
HIMACHAL IS THE FIRST SMOKE-FREE STATE AS PER COTPA ACT 2003

Himachal Pradesh on 2 July 2013 was declared as the first Smoke-free state of the country. The declaration was made in compliance to Section 4 of the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) 2003. Himachal Pradesh achieved 85.42 percent compliance with the relevant parameters to be declared as the smoke-free state. To eliminate use of tobacco products in the state, taxes on bidis and cigarettes in the state was raised from 11 and 18 percent to 22 and 36 percent respectively, in the 2013-14 State Budget.
CIGARETTES AND OTHER TOBACCO PRODUCTS ACT (COTPA) 2003

The Union Government armed itself with a comprehensive Act named the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA, 2003) to control tobacco industry, which is responsible for the deaths of thousands annually in India and worldwide. The Act is applicable to all products containing tobacco in any form and it extends to whole of India. The act is comprehensive however there are a few loopholes that have been discussed below.
PROHIBITION ON SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES - SECTION 4 OF TOBACCO CONTROL ACT, 2003

Smoking in all Public Places is Prohibited - The term public place is vaguely defined and refers to any place, where public have access, whether as of right or not, and includes auditorium, hospital buildings, railway waiting room, amusement centers, restaurants, public offices, court buildings, educational institutions, libraries, public conveyances and like which are visited by general public but does not include any open space. Creation of Smoking Areas - In restaurants, hotels and airports smoking areas are to be physically segregated in such a manner that the air from these areas does not circulate to the non- smoking areas. Another very loosely implemented provision. Display of Prominent Non Smoking Signs e.g. "Smoking here is strictly prohibited" is mandatory at all public places.
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PROHIBITION OF ADVERTISEMENT, PROMOTION AND SPONSORSHIP OF ALL TOBACCO PRODUCTS- SECTION 5 OF TOBACCO CONTROL ACT, 2003
Both direct & indirect advertisement of tobacco products prohibited in all forms of Audio, Visual and Print Media Total ban on sponsoring of any sport and cultural events by cigarette and other tobacco product companies No trade mark or brand name of cigarettes or any tobacco product to be promoted in exchange for sponsorship, gift, prize or scholarship No person, under contract or otherwise, to promote or agree to promote any tobacco product.
PROHIBITION ON SALE TO MINORS - SECTION 6 (A) OF TOBACCO CONTROL ACT, 2003

Sale of tobacco products to persons under the age of 18 is prohibited. The seller (shopkeeper) should ensure that the person who is buying the tobacco product is not a minor. A display board to be put up at the point of sale declaring that "sale of tobacco products to minors is prohibited"
PROHIBITION ON SALE TO MINORS - SECTION 6 (B) OF TOBACCO CONTROL ACT, 2003

In order to restrict access of youth for tobacco products, the sale of the tobacco products is prohibited within a radius of 100 yards of any educational institution. A display board has to be put up outside the educational institutions declaring the same.
HEALTH WARNINGS ON TOBACCO PRODUCTS PACKS - SECTION 7 OF TOBACCO CONTROL ACT, 2003
All tobacco product packages need to carry prominent and legible health warnings. These warning shall also be pictorial in nature. The warnings will be given in the same language as given on the pack. All imported tobacco products should also carry the specified warnings. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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REGULATION OF CONTENTS OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS - SECTION 11 OF TOBACCO CONTROL ACT, 2003

The Nicotine and Tar contents of all tobacco products must be clearly displayed on the packs Producers of tobacco products must ensure that these harmful contents are within maximum permissible limits as prescribed by the rules The testing of tobacco products to measure nicotine and tar contents to be done only at Govt. recognized laboratories
NOW BHIWANI, MAHENDRAGARH AND BHARATPUR ARE PART OF NCR

The NCR Planning Board on 1 July 2013 approved inclusion of Bhiwani and Mahendragarh districts of Haryana and Bharatpur district of Rajasthan in the National Capital Region. The decision was taken in a meeting of the NCR Planning Board and chaired by Union Urban Development Minister, Kamal Nath. During the same meet, approval was also given to identify Jaipur as Counter Magnet Area following the request of the Rajasthan Government. The board has also recommended setting up of the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) for implementation of the Rapid Road Transit System which in Phase-I will connect Delhi-Panipat (111 km), Delhi-Alwar (180 km) and Delhi-Meerut (90 km). The targeted time for completion of the three corridors has been fixed to 2016. NCR Regional Plan 2021 has been reviewed and the Draft Revised Regional Plan 2021 prepared by the NCRPB has been approved for inviting objections and suggestions from the public.
KARNATAKA LAUNCHED AROGYA VANI

The Karnataka government on 30 June 2013 launched a health information help line service Arogya Vani. This helpline is first of its kind in the state. Infrastructure of this helpline service was set up by a Hyderabad-based NGO Health Management and Research Institute. The Call Centre has to provide information on the nearest Government Hospital, before providing a private-sector alternative. For immediate remedy related to any health problem, dial 104 to get health tips. The main objective of this facility is to assist people living in rural or remote areas who face difficulty in accessing the service of qualified doctors and to provide information on any health problem.
ONE LINERS
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The Person who succeeded Ranjan Mathai to be the next Foreign Secretary of India by Manmohan Singh- Sujata Singh The vice chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University who on 1 July 2013 appointed as the 20th Lt Governor of Delhi- Najeeb Jung The Person who on 2 July 2013 has been appointed as Director General of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)- Sunil Soni The first ever Indian woman to receive Dubai Government's coveted Emirates Woman Award for business excellence in June 2013- Vandana Gandhi The U.S. inventor who was known as the father of the computer mouse who died on 3 July 2013 at age of 88- Douglas Engelbart The Egyptian Leader who sworn in as interim president of Egypt till the next elections takes place succeeding Mohamed Morsi, who was removed after a military coup - Adli Mansour Renowned Madhubani painting artist who died at a private hospital in Ranti, near Madhubani on 4 July 2013- Mahasundari Devi The former Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), who was appointed as the President of NASSCOM on 5 July 2013- R. Chandrasekhar The Bollywood actress who on 6 July 2013 got the Best Actress award at 14th IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) awards 2013 held in Macau - Vidya Balan Leading liberal opposition leader who on 6 July 2013 was named as Egypt's new Prime Minister- Mohamed ElBaradei Senior parliamentarian who on 4 July 2013 was appointed as the new governor of Sikkim- Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil Former Delhi police Chief, who on 8 July 2013 took over as the new Governor of Meghalaya- KK Paul An acknowledged food scientist and the former Director of the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) who died on 9 July 2013- Dr. H.A.B. Parpia The Person who on 8 July 2013 took over as the new Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands- Lt Gen (Retd) AK Singh The Theme of world Population day observed across the World on 11 July 2013- Focus is on Adolescent Pregnancy
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Indian Parsi conductor of western classical music who was selected to be honoured with Tagore Award 2013- Zubin Mehta The legendary actor and the proud recipient of Dada Saheb Phalke Award and Padma Bhushan Award who died on 12 July 2013- Pran The Person who on 16 July 2013 was appointed as the next Commissioner of Delhi Police and will be succeeding Neeraj Kumar- Bhim Sain Bassi The Person who was administered the oath of the office of Chief Justice of India (CJI) by he President of India on 19 July 2013-Justice Palanisamy Sathasivam The Chief Justice of India who on 18 July 2013 retired from the office after a short term of just nine months- Justice Altamas Kabir The day which was observed as Nelson Mandela International Day to inspire people to be an agent of change- 18 July 2013 82 Years old Veteran Tamil film lyricist who died at a private hospital in Chennai on 18 July 2013- Vaali An Indian-American woman was nominated for the Post of Assistant Secretary of State of USA- Nisha Desai Biswal South Korean city which was named as the World Book Capital for the year 2015 as per UNESCO announcement- Incheon Former Kuttanad MLA and Chairman of the Kerala State Farming Corporation, who died at a hospital in Kochi- Prof. Oommen Mathew The Finance Minister of Jammu and Kashmir who on 21 July 2013 appointed as the new Chairman of GST Panel- Abdul Rahim Rather The Chairman and CEO of Leo Burnett, India who was re-elected as the President of Advertising Agencies Association of India-Arvind Sharma Renowned south India yesteryear actor, who died in Chennai at the age of 59 on 23 July 2013 followed a brief illness- Manjula Vijayakumar The Duchess of Cambridge, who gave birth to a baby boy on 22 July 2013 at the London hospital- Kate Middleton Indian American author who novel The Lowland has been listed among 13 novels longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013 - Jhumpa Lahiri
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The cousin of Rajiv Gandhi as well as the Minister for Internal Security during his government, who died in Gurgaon on 25 July 2013 - Arun Nehru The famous Indian Port which was conferred with the Major Port of the Year award for its excellent performance in the year 2012-13- Paradip Port The Bollywood actor who held the Guinness World Record for being the most type-cast actor, died on 28 July 2013 at the age of 85 years - Jagdish Raj Sarod maestro who was chosen for the 21st Rajiv Gandhi National Sadhbhavna Award Amjad Ali Khan The former Indian Test umpire who passed away on 29 July 2013 at a private hospital in Karnataka. He was 83 years of age- SN Hanumantha Rao
NEWS CAPSULE
APPOINTMENTS OF THE MONTH
SURESH CHANDRA MOHANTY ELECTED AS THE NEW PRESIDENT OF ICAI
The Institute of Cost Accountants of India on 23 July 2013 announced that Suresh Chandra Mohanty was elected as the new president of the body. Suresh Chandra Mohanty replaced Rakesh Singh. With this, he became the 56th President of the Institute. Mohanty was elected for the 2013-14 time period. In the meanwhile, AS Durga was elected as the new Vice-President of ICAI.
ABOUT SURESH CHANDRA MOHANTY

Suresh Chandra Mohanty is the Odisha-based renowned Cost Accountant having graduation degree in Economics and also a degree in Law. He is also the Fellow Member of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI) and Institute of Valuers (FIV) of India. Suresh Chandra Mohanty is the Registered Valuer under the Wealth Tax Act, 1957 and Licensed Surveyor and Loss Assessor. He also served as Chairman of the Eastern India Regional Council. He has a huge experience in issues associated with standards setting.
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He played a major role in keeping the liaison with crucial regulators, while at the same time, maintaining dialogues with the international standards setters. He also represented the Institute in the Accounting & Auditing Committee and Task Force for reviewing the Constitution of South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA). His major contributions have been towards Cost and Management Accounting (CMA) profession as the Chairman of Cost Audit & Assurance Standards Board (CAASB).
ABOUT THE INSTITUTE OF COST ACCOUNTANTS OF INDIA (ICAI)

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI) is the professional management accounting institute of India which was established on 28 May 1959 under the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959 enacted by the Parliament of India. The Institute was established for regulating the profession of Cost and Management Accountancy in India. The governance of the Institute is done by a council which consists of 20 members, out of which 15 are elected from among the members of the Institute and 5 people are nominated by the Government of India. The ICAI has over 500000 students as well as over 60000 qualified members, at present. ICAI is also the member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), The Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) and The South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA).
ARVIND SHARMA RE-ELECTED AS THE PRESIDENT OF AAAI

Arvind Sharma, the Chairman and CEO of Leo Burnett, India subcontinent was re-elected as the President of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), at the general body meeting held in Mumbai. M. G. Parameswaran, CEO, Mumbai, Draftfcb+Ulka Advertising, in the meanwhile, was re-elected as the Vice-President of the association. The elections for the President of AAAI took place on 19 July 2013. Other members of the executive committee of AAAI include Ashish Bhasin (Aegis Media India Pvt Ltd), Ganesh Baliga (Fifth Estate Communications Pvt Ltd), Kunal Lalani (Crayons Advertising Ltd), Nakul Chopra (Publicis Communications Pvt Ltd), Pranav Premnarayen (Prem Associates Advertising & Marketing), Rohit Ohri (Dentsu Marcom Pvt Ltd),
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Sam Balsara (Madison Communications Pvt Ltd) and Srinivasan K Swamy (R K SWAMY BBDO Pvt Ltd).
ABOUT THE ADVERTISING AGENCIES ASSOCIATION OF INDIA (AAAI)

AAAI is the official as well as national organisation of all the advertising agencies of India. This is the self-regulating body in the field of Advertising. It played a crucial role in formation of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). It also encouraged formation of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation. AAAI enjoys the strong bond with Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA). It provides training to the advertising professionals as well as recognises its creative work through the coveted Triple-A Awards. It also honours the advertising men through AAAI-Premnarayen Award.
A.R. RATHER APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF GST PANEL

Abdul Rahim Rather, the Finance Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on 21 July 2013 was appointed as the new Chairman of GST Panel by the Empowered Committee of States Finance Ministers on GST. Abdul Rahim Rather preceded Sushil Kumar Modi who had resigned from the post after a split in the JD (U)-BJP Government in Bihar, in which he was the Deputy Chief Minister and the Finance Minister. The name of Abdul Rahim Rathers was proposed by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit who herself holds the Finance portfolio. Now, Abdul Rahim with his appointment will perform the dreadful task of pursuing the proposed new indirect tax regime under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which will subsume excise, service tax and local levies. It is important here to note that the Standing Committee on Finance had finalised its views on the GST Bill, on 20 July 2013 which was introduced in Parliament in 2010. The report would be now tabled in the parliament during its Monsoon season that is scheduled to begin from 5 August 2013. The Bill is directed towards conferring simultaneous power on Parliament as well as the State Legislatures, including every Union territory with a legislature, for levying goods and services tax on every transaction of supply of goods or services or both.
BS BASSI APPOINTED AS NEXT COMMISSIONER OF DELHI POLICE
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Bhim Sain Bassi, a senior IPS officer of 1977 batch was appointed as the next Police Commissioner of Delhi on 16 July 2013. He would take charge of Delhi police as its commissioner on 1 August 2013. The 57 year old Bassi will succeed Neeraj Kumar, who is due to retire on 31 July 2013. Bassi will take the charge of his office as the 20th Commissioner of Delhi Police.
ABOUT BHIM SAIN BASSI

Bassi at present is serving as the special commissioner (Administration) Bassi have served in different capacities of Delhi Police that includes special commissioner (traffic), special commissioner (vigilance), joint commissioner (southern range) and additional commissioner (northern range). He has also served as the Director General of Goa police He is the IPS of Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram-Union Territories cadre He will retire from his office in February 2016 He is a commerce-cum-law graduate
AK SINGH SWORN IN AS LT GOVERNOR OF ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR

Lt Gen (Retd) AK Singh, on 8 July 2013 took over as the new Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. AK Singh was administered oath by the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Arun Mishra at a formal swearing-in-ceremony at Raj Niwas in Port Blair. Lt Gen Singh, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ex-general officer, Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, was commissioned into one of the oldest Regiments, the 7th Light Cavalry on the 17th June 1973. The prior task of AK Singh is to provide security and balanced development, while keeping ecological concerns to the fore, would be his focus area.
KK PAUL TOOK OVER AS THE NEW GOVERNOR OF MEGHALAYA

Former Delhi police Chief, KK Paul on 8 July 2013 took over as the new Governor of Meghalaya, after he was administered the oath of office and secrecy by the Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court, T Meena Kumari at a simple function held at the Durbal Hall of the Raj Bhavan in Shillong.
ABOUT KK PAUL
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He had also served in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). He joined the IPS in 1970 and was granted the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-GoaMizoram-Union Territories) cadre. He also served as the chief of Arunachal Pradesh police. He completed his MSc and PhD in chemistry from Punjab University. He is married to Omita Paul who at present is secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee. He was also involved in managing the events like the Asian Games in 1982 in New Delhi and the Non-Aligned Movement summit in New Delhi in 1983. KK Paul had cracked the cricket betting racket in which former South African skipper Hansie Cronje was indicted.
SHRINIWAS DADASAHEB PATIL APPOINTED NEW GOVERNOR OF SIKKIM

Senior parliamentarian Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil on 4 July 2013 was appointed as the new governor of Sikkim. Dadasaheb Patil has represented Maharashtra's Satara in the Lok Sabha as an MP. He is also a former IAS officer, and will replace presently serving governor of Sikkim BP Singh. 73 years old Dadasaheb Patil was elected to the 13th and 14th Lok Sabha from the Karad constituency in Maharashtra on the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP ticket).
ABOUT SHRINIWAS PATIL

Shriniwas Patil has completed his M.A. (Economics) and LL.B. degrees from Pune and Bombay Universitites. He is a retired officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) (1979 batch) He had served various portfolios in Maharashtra, which includes Collector of Beed and Pune districts, Deputy CEO of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.
R. CHANDRASEKHAR APPOINTED PRESIDENT OF NASSCOM

Nasscom, the IT software services industry body on 5 July 2013 appointed R. Chandrasekhar, the former Secretary Department of Telecommunications (DoT), as its president. 60 years old, R. Chandrashekhar will be succeeding current Nasscom President Som Mittal, whose tenure expires in January 2014. R. Chandrashekhar retired from DOT in March 2013 and
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had also declined an offer to head the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) which is India's premier technical intelligence agency. He is a 1975 batch IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh and as the Secretary of DoT, drove policies around licensing, spectrum management, National Broadband Plan and the National Telecom Policy 2012, among others. During his career with the Government, he held a variety of key assignments many of them relating to the information and communications technology sector, both in the Government of India and Andhra Pradesh Government. Chandrashekhar will take charge of Nasscom at a difficult time since growth for the100 billion dollars industry has slowed and will have the responsibility to take forward Nasscoms ambitious target of grossing 300 billion dollars (18 lakh crore Rupees) revenue for the IT sector by 2020. Protectionist regulations, such as the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 introduced in the United States in April 2013 are creating barriers for Indian companies to operate there and it will be a major challenge for R. Chandrasekhar.
SUNIL SONI APPOINTED DIRECTOR GENERAL OF BIS

Sunil Soni, on 2 July 2013 has been appointed as Director General of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Sunil Soni is a 1981 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre who at present is on compulsory wait in the Department of Financial Services under Ministry of Finance. The appointment of Sunil Soni as Director General came with the superannuation of Sharad Gupta who himself is a 1977 batch IAS officer of Assam cadre. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has also appointed Tapan Ray, a 1982 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre as Additional Secretary in Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
WHAT IS BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS?

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is a body under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution which basically looks after the formulation of standards for all segments of industry and business. It also certifies products, which is popularly known by ISI mark. It is also into certification of imported products and hallmarking of jewellery. Former Telecom Secretary R. Chandrasekhar appointed President of Nasscom. Nasscom, the IT software services industry body on 5 July 2013 appointed R. Chandrasekhar, the former Secretary Department of Telecommunications (DoT), as its president.
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60 years old, R. Chandrashekhar will be succeeding current Nasscom President Som Mittal, whose tenure expires in January 2014. R. Chandrashekhar retired from DOT in March 2013 and had also declined an offer to head the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) which is India's premier technical intelligence agency. He is a 1975 batch IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh and as the Secretary of DoT, drove policies around licensing, spectrum management, National Broadband Plan and the National Telecom Policy 2012, among others. During his career with the Government, he held a variety of key assignments many of them relating to the information and communications technology sector, both in the Government of India and Andhra Pradesh Government. Chandrashekhar will take charge of Nasscom at a difficult time since growth for the100 billion dollars industry has slowed and will have the responsibility to take forward Nasscoms ambitious target of grossing 300 billion dollars (18 lakh crore Rupees) revenue for the IT sector by 2020. Protectionist regulations, such as the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 introduced in the United States in April 2013 are creating barriers for Indian companies to operate there and it will be a major challenge for R. Chandrasekhar.
NAJEEB JUNG APPOINTED AS NEW LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF DELHI

Najeeb Jung, the vice chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University on 1 July 2013 appointed as the 20th Lt Governor of Delhi. Njaeeb Jung has replaced Tejendra Khanna, who was the 1961 batch Indian Administrative Service officer and the last Lt Governor of Delhi.
SOME FACTS ABOUT NAJEEB JUNG

Najeeb Jung is a former Indian Administrative Service officer who joined the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) in 1973 and worked in different capacities in Madhya Pradesh and with the Government of India. Najeeb jung is presently the Chairman of a Core Committee of Vice-Chancellors appointed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (India) to examine various aspects of higher education. He has reviewed the existing schemes for enhancing participation of minorities in higher education. He is also the Member of the Special Task Force setup by the Ministry of Home Affairs (India) to suggest developmental options for the Jammu region of the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
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He is the Member of the Senate of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, (IITK) and several other Committees at the national level.
ANIL CHAIT TOOK OVER AS CHAIRMAN OF CISC

Lieutenant General Anil Chait took over as Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) on 1 July 2013. The General Officer in his career spanning over 39 years held various coveted Command, Staff and Instructional appointments. The General Officer has a vast operational experience across the entire spectrum of conflict. Lieutenant General Anil Chait, in his formative years was associated with the Special Action Group (The Black Cats) of the National Security Guards and was awarded the VishishtSeva Medal. He served with an infantry division, as Colonel General Staff on the Line of Control during Operation Parakram. The General Officer has tenanted staff assignment in the Military Secretarys Branch in the Colonels rank and the Perspective Planning Directorate in the Brigadiers rank dealing with formulation of National and Military Security Strategy & Policy. Anil Chait commanded an Armoured Regiment, an Independent Amoured Brigade and an Infantry Division with distinction on the Western Borders. The General brought glory to the Indian Military and the Nation by organizing the 4th Edition of Military World Games successfully. He has the proud distinction of attending the US Army War College and being awarded the Medal of Excellence. Anil Chait has been responsible for the study on the Restructuring of the Strike Corps, making it into a transformational trailblazer for FORCE-2025. As Commandant Army War College the General Officer set up Study Centre for domain specialization and transformation of the College into a Centre of Excellence for training leaders to win the Nations Wars. Anil Chait has been the Commandant of the prestigious Army War College and prior to moving to Delhi, the General Officer has been GOC-in-C Central Command. He was conferred distinguished service award of Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2013. The General Officer has deep interest in strategic issues with great focus on the sub-continental milieu.
AWARDS IN THE MONTH OF JULY

AMJAD ALI KHAN TO GET RAJIV GANDHI NAT. SADHBHAVNA AWARD
Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan was chosen for the 21st Rajiv Gandhi National Sadhbhavna Award for his contribution towards promotion of communal harmony and peace. It will be conferred on Amjad Ali Khan on 20 August 2013, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
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Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award (Rajiv Gandhi National Communal Harmony Award) is an award given for outstanding contribution towards promotion of communal harmony, national integration and peace. The award was instituted by All India Congress Committee of the Indian National Congress Party (INC), in 1992 to commemorate the lasting contribution made by the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The award carries a citation and a cash award of five lakh rupees.
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The award is given on 20 August evry year, the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, which is celebrated as Sadbhavna Diwas (Harmony Day).The former recipients of the award comprise Mother Teresa, Bismillah Khan, Teesta Setalvad, Swami Agnivesh, Harsh Mander, Sunil Dutt, Dilip Kumar, Mohammed Yunus, Maulana Wahiuddin Khan and K R Narayanan.
FOUR INDIAN AMERICANS WON SIMONS INVESTIGATORS AWARDS 2013

Four Indian-American Professors Kannan Soundararajan, Rajeev Alur, Salil P Vadhan and Senthil Todadri in fourth week of July 2013 won Simons Investigators Awards 2013. Apart from these, 9 other mathematicians, theoretical physicists and theoretical computer scientists were also selected for the Simons Investigators Awards for their cutting edge research. The 2013 awards were announced by the New York-based Simons Foundation, which is a non profit organisation. Its mission is to advance the lines of research in mathematics and basic sciences. The Simons Investigators program provides a stable base of support for outstanding scientists, enabling them to undertake long-term study of fundamental questions. The foundation was incorporated in 1994 by Jim and Marilyn Simons.
NAME OF PEOPLE AWARDED WITH THEIR FIELD OF STUDY:

Field of Study Physics Name of People awarded in Selected Fields Victor Galitski from The University of Maryland Randall Kamien from University of Pennsylvania Joel Moore from California, Berkeley University of
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Chicago
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Senthil Todadri from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Xi Yin from Harvard University Computer science Rajeev Alur Pennsylvania from University of
Piotr Indyk from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Salil P. Vadhan from Harvard University Mathematics Ng Bao Chu from the University of Chicago Maryam Mirzakhani from Stanford University Kannan Soundararajan from Stanford University Daniel Tataru from University of California, Berkeley
ABOUT SIMONS INVESTIGATORS

Simons Investigators are outstanding theoretical scientists, who receive long-term research support from the Simons Foundation. Level and Duration of Funding : A Simons Investigator is appointed for an initial period of five years with possible renewal for a further five years. An Investigator will receive research support of $100,000 per year, with an additional $10,000 per year provided to the Investigators department. The Investigators institution will receive 20 percent for indirect costs.
RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARDS 2013

The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation on 24 July 2013 announced the Ramon Magsaysay Awards for the year 2013 to three individuals and two organizations for changing their societies for the better.
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Afghanistan's first woman governor Habiba Sarabi and a Myanmar civil society organiser Lahpai Seng Raw, who both helped families displaced by conflict in their home nations, are among five winners of Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize for the year 2013.
LIST OF THE AWARDEES

Habiba Sarabi of Afghanistan honoured for helping build a functioning local government and pushing for education and women's rights in Afghanistan's Bamyan Province despite discrimination and poverty. Lahpai Seng Raw of Myanmanr honoured for helping the rehabilitate work in damaged communities amid armed conflict. Ernesto Domingo, a 76-year-old Physician honored for dedicating his career to pushing for the poor's access to Health services and for groundbreaking and successful advocacy of neonatal Hepatitis vaccination that has saved millions of lives in the Philippines. The Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (Corruption Eradication Commission), Indonesia's independent anti-corruption Government body, was honored for a 100-percent conviction rate in the 169 cases it fought between 2004 and 2010, during which it recovered more than US 80 million dollars in stolen assets. The Nepalese group Shakti Samuha (Power Group), formed by survivors of human trafficking, has recognised for helping fellow victims by setting up halfway homes and emergency shelters.
ABOUT THE RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARDS

The Manila-based Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, named after a popular Philippines President who was killed in a plane crash, was established in 1957 to honor people or groups who change communities in Asia for the better. Every year the award is presented in a ceremony conducted on 31 August in Manila and the winners are honoured with US 50000 dollars prize money. More than 300 people and groups, including the US Peace Corps and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, have been recognized since 1958.
PARADIP PORT CONFERRED WITH MAJOR PORT OF THE YEAR AWARD

Paradip Port was conferred with the Major Port of the Year award for its excellent performance in the year 2012-13. The award was received by SS Mishra, Chairman, Paradip Port Trust, at the SCOPE International Conference & Exhibition 2013 held in Chennai. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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Paradip Port Trust (PPT) handled 56.55 million tonnes of traffic in the year 2012-13. There is an increase from 54.25 million tonnes of traffic in 2011-12. During 2012-13, the port also added 22 million tonnes of capacity, thus bringing the total to 102 million tonnes. It is important to note that the Paradip Port was also adjudged as the Major Port of the Year during 2009-10 at the Annual Indian Maritime Gateway Awards 2010 ceremony organised by Gateway Media Private Ltd.
ABOUT THE PARADIP PORT

Paradip Port is one of the major Indian ports that serve the Eastern and Central parts of the country. Its vicinity extends to the states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. The port primarily deals with the bulk cargos as well as clean cargos. From the past 10 years, there has been an exceptional growth in the traffic handled by the Paradip Port. The port carries out the operations 24x7x365. Paradip Port is equipped with latest equipments as well as technology.
OISD SAFETY AWARDS 2011-12

Oil Industry Safety Awards for the year 2011-12 were presented by Union Minister of Petroleum Minister Petroleum & Natural Gas, Veerappa Moily and , Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Panabaaka Lakshmi on 19 July 2013. The award was given to the Chief Executives of Winning Oil & Gas organizations in a ceremony organised by Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD) at New Delhi.
LIST OF THE WINNERS FOR THE PERFORMANCE YEAR 2011-12

Sl. Group No. 1. Oil & Gas Assets Onshore assets (Onshore) ONGC-Rajamundry Unit Basis Award winners
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2. Offshore Production Platforms Refineries Production Platform- BG-Panna Pvt/JV companies
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3. 4.
Refinery
IOCL-BGR GAIL-Lakwa
Other Processing Processing Plant Plants Cross Country Crude Oil Pipeline Pipelines Product Pipeline LPG & Gas Pipeline
5.
Cairn Salaya
Barmer-
6. 7. 8.
HPCL-Mundra-Delhi GAIL-HVJ
POL Marketing Oil Marketing HPCL Organizations Company-POL LPG Marketing Oil Marketing BPCL Organizations Company-LPG
9.
10. Most consistent Onshore Oil & Gas ONGCPerformer asset Rajahmundry 11. Best Near-Miss Refinery Incident 12 Marketing Operations Essar Oil Refinery Ltd. BPCL 1. H.G. Sayyad, LOCO Staff, BPCLMumbai Refinery 2. B.N. Malleswara Rao, Field Operator, HPCL-
13 Individual Contribution Towards safety
Individual; (Company/Contract Employee)
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Visakh Refinery. 3. Amar Singh and Baldev Raj, General Operators, BPCLMarketing Jammu Depot.
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ABOUT THE OIL INDUSTRY SAFETY AWARDS

Oil Industry Safety Awards were initiated by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in 1987. These awards are given to recognize the efforts of Oil & Gas Industry in enhancing safety performance of the oil installations thereby improved productivity, profitability and sustainability. Organisations that have achieved exceptional safety performance are presented with the Safety Award. The criteria for selection of these Awards is based on various parameters like Complexity of the facility, Volumes handled, Safety Management system, Accidents & losses. In totality 16 numbers of Oil Industry Safety Awards were presented for the year 2011-12to the oil industry organizations. OISD Safety Awards also include Individual Awards to the employees & contract workmen who have made significant contribution to enhance safety. For the first time OISD awards were given to the organization reporting highest number of near-miss incidents.
ABOUT OISD
MOP&NG (Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas) constituted Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD) in 1986 to enhance safety in Oil & Gas Industry. Oil Industry has immensely benefited from the standards and safety audits carried out by OISD who has been granted ISO 9002 certification recently.
REAL VNC WAS PRESENTED WITH MACROBERT AWARD

The British firm Real VNC was presented MacRobert Award by the Princess Royal for engineering innovation on 17 July 2013. The technology will enable IT workers to solve problems on other computers without leaving their desks and it will allow MRI scanners to be repaired remotely. The award carries a cash prize of 50000 ponds. Real VNC is a software company based in Cambridge. It was set up by some of the inventors of remote computer access software. It has collaborated with global technology giants such as Google, Apple, Intel and Sony and its technology is now said to be used in more than a billion devices across the globe.
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The MacRobert gold medal was presented at the Royal Academy of Engineering's awards dinner.
BONO HONOURED WITH THE COMMANDER OF THE ORDER

Paul Hewson, popularly known as Bono, the frontman of the rock band U2 as well as the antipoverty activist was awarded with the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, the highest cultural award of France on 17 July 2013 for the contribution to music. He was also praised for utilizing his popularity for the sake of humanitarian causes. The Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters was awarded to Bono by the French Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti in Paris. The Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters was earlier also awarded to Shakira, David Bowie, Roger Moore, Bruce Willis, Bob Dylan and Sean Connery. The Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters Award started for the first time in the year 1957.
ABOUT PAUL HEWSON (BONO)

It is important to note that Bono, 53, had also received the award earlier for the music as well as campaigning since the band U2 was formed around 37 years ago. Bono has also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize several times. The Times Magazine had awarded him with Time Magazine's Person of the Year award in the year 2005. In the year 2007, he was conferred with the honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth.
ABOUT THE COMMANDER OF THE ORDER OF ARTS AND LETTERS AWARD

The Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters is also known as Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. It is the Order of France, the highest cultural award of France. The award was established on 2 May 1957 by Minister of Culture. In the year 1963, it was made a part of the Ordre national du Mrite by President Charles de Gaulle. The award recognises people who make significant contributions to the fields of literature, arts or help in spreading the motives of these fields. The origin of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters award is found in Order of Saint-Michel. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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BRITAIN PLACED BLUE PLAQUE ON THE 1 ST HOME OF KRISHNA MENON

The British Government on 17 July 2013 honoured V.K. Krishna Menon, Indias first high commissioner in London and former Defence Minister by placing a Blue Plaque at the house, where he lived when he moved to the city for the first time. The blue plaque will be placed plaque at 30 Langdon Park Road in Highgate, North London, where Menon stayed from 1929 to 1931. Menon, during his stay in London, after Indian independence as independent Indias first High Commissioner to the U.K played an active role in the socio-political life of the city. The plaque was unveiled by Tony Benn, veteran leader of the Left-Wing Labour. Tony Benn is the son of William Wedgwood Benn, was secretary of state for India from 1929 to 1931, when Menon was campaigning for Indian independence in Britain. UK commemorates sites of historical and cultural importance in the country with blue plaques with a purpose of drawing attention of people.
V.K. KRISHNA MENON IN LONDON

He served as the Labour Councillor for the Borough of St. Pancras for 14 years after being elected in 1934. He introduced travelling libraries and Children corners here. He served as an air warden around the Camden Square, during Second World War. In 1955, he became the second freeman of St. Pancras. The only person before Menon to be honoured with freeman status was George Bernard Shaw. He was described as the embodiment of the movement within Britain for Indias freedom, by former Labour Prime Minister, James Callaghan
OTHER INDIANS TO BE HONOURED WITH THE BLUE PLAQUE WITH THEIR LOCATIONS
Other Indian leaders namely Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel have been honoured by this English Heritage, previously. London has two English Heritage Blue Plaques linked to Mahatma Gandhi at 20 Baron's Court Road in Hammersmith and Fulham and second one at Kingsley Hall, Powis Road in Tower Hamlets Jawahar Lal Nehru is honoured with a plaque at 60 Elgin Crescent in Londons Nott ing Hill Bal Gangadhar Tilak with a plaque at 10 Howley Place in Paddington
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Sardar Patel has a plaque at 23 Aldridge Road Villas, Ladbroke Grove, in West London
ABOUT THE BLUE PLAQUE SCHEME OF LONDON

The Blue Plaque Scheme of London was founded in 1866 is run by the William Ewart MP and the Royal Society of Arts to commemorates the link between the notable figures of past and Britain's famous residents. More than 760 plaques have been placed across London by now. It is a uniquely successful means of connecting people and place. The Royal Society launched the scheme in 1867 with the unveiling of a commemorative tablet for Lord Byron.
ZUBIN MEHTA NAMED FOR TAGORE AWARD FOR CULTURAL HARMONY

Zubin Mehta, an Indian-Parsi mestro of western classical music on 10 July 2013 was named for the second edition of Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for the year 2013 . He was named for the award because of his outstanding contribution to cultural harmony. His name was selected by a high level four-member Jury that was led by Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh and it comprised the Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj and Public Intellectual Gopalkrishna Gandhi. The first Tagore Award was conferred on Pt. Ravi Shankar, the Indian Sitar Maestro in 2012
ABOUT THE TAGORE AWARD FOR CULTURAL HARMONY

Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony was instituted by the Union Government of India in 2012 during the commemoration of 150th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. The award carries an amount of one crore rupees, a citation in a scroll, a plaque as well as an exquisite traditional handicraft or handloom item.
ABOUT ZUBIN MEHTA

Mehta was born into a Parsi family in Mumbai, the son of Mehli and Tehmina Mehta. His father was a violinist and founding conductor of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. He was appointed as the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) in 1981 Mehta was taught to play the piano by Joseph de Lima
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1958, Mehta made his conducting debut in Vienna and in the same year he won the International Conducting Competition in Liverpool
AWARDS AND HONORS CONFERRED ON HIM

In 2011, he received the 2434th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in the same year he received the Echo Klassik in Berlin, for his life's work In 2008, he received the Praemium Imperiale (World Culture Prize in Memory of His Imperial Highness Prince Takamatsu), Japan. He received Dan David Prize in 2007 and in the same year, he received Second Annual Bridgebuilder Award at Loyola Marymount University In 2006, he was honoured with year's Kennedy Center Honors by Kennedy Center In 2005, he was voted the 117th-greatest Israeli of all times He is a proud recipient of the Padma Bhushan (1966) and India's second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan (2001) He was awarded with Lifetime Achievement Peace and Tolerance Award by United Nations in 1999 In 1995, Laureate of the Wolf Prize in Arts In 1972, his name was mentioned in a song Billy the Mountain in an album Just another Band from L.A. by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention.
VIDYA BALAN GOT THE BEST ACTRESS AWARD AT IIFA 2013

Vidya Balan on 6 July 2013 got the Best Actress award at 14th IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) awards 2013 held in Macau for her portrayal of a pregnant woman in search of her husband inKahaani while Ranbir Kapoor was named Best Actor for Barfi. Barfi also bagged the award for best film. In fact, it won 9 awards in technical category- Best Cinematography (Ravi Varman I.S.C.), Best Background Score (Pritam), Best Screenplay (Anurag Basu and Tani Basu), Best Production Design (Rajat Poddar), Best Song Recording (Eric Pillai), Best Sound Design (Shajith Koyeri), Best Sound Mixing (Debajit Changmai), Best Costume Designing (Aki Narula and Shefalina) and Best Make-Up (Uday Serali). Barfi is a romantic comedy about a mute and deaf man and his relationship with two
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Ranbir, who played a deaf-mute boy in Barfi was not present at the ceremony and the award was accepted on his behalf by the film's director Anurag Basu.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF IIFA 2013

Gangs of Wasseypur won two awards, one for Best Action (Shyam Kaushal) and the other for Best Dialogue (Zeishan Quadri, Akhilesh, Sachin Ladia and Anurag Kashyap) was shared with Juhi Chaturvedi for Vicky Donor. The award for Best Editing was won by Kahaani (Namrata Rao) and Best Choreography went to Ganesh Acharya for Agneepath. Ek Tha Tiger won the award for Best Special Effects (Pankaj Khanopur, Sherry Bharda and Vishal Anand).
WHERE IS MACAU?
Macau is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the other being Hong Kong.
PRESIDENT CONFERRED NATIONAL YOUTH AWARDS 2011-12

National Youth Award 2011-12 was conferred by Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India on 4 July 2013 to 27 individuals and an organization at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhawan. It is for the first time that the National Youth awards were given by the President of India. The youth award carries a Silver Medal, a Certificate and a cash prize of 40000 rupees in cases of individual awardees and 2lakh case prize for voluntary organizations.
ABOUT NATIONAL YOUTH AWARD

National Youth Awards was instituted in the year 1985 and is conferred on youths every year, who have excelled in youth developmental activities and social service. The award is a source of encouragement to the awardees, as well as an example and catalyst to others. Selection of Awardees is first made at State level and then at National level. At the National level, a Screening Committee headed by the Joint Secretary scrutinizes the proposals recommended by the State Government/UT administration at first. These screened proposals are thereafter placed before the Central Selection Committee headed either by the Minister of
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Youth Affairs and Sports or Secretary, Youth Affairs that makes the final selection of youth awardees. The Central Selection Committee may, at its discretion, consider on merits, individuals or youth organizations not recommended by a State Government/UT, for the Award.
PERSONALITY IN NEWS
BATLA HOUSE ENCOUNTER CONVICT SHAHZAD GOT LIFE SENTENCE
A trial court on 30 July 2013 awarded life term to Batla House encounter convict Shahzad Ahmed for killing MC Sharma and injuring two others. Batla House encounter had taken place in 2008. Shahzad was also fined 95000 rupees of which 40000 rupees would be paid to family of slain inspector MC Sharma and 20000 rupees to injured cop Balwant. Additional sessions judge Rajender Kumar Shastri pronounced the judgment after listening to the arguments of the prosecution and the defence. Batla House encounter officially known as Operation Batla House, took place on 19 September 2008, against Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar, Delhi. Encounter specialist and Delhi Police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who led the police action was also killed during the incident.
EDWARD SNOWDEN AWARDED WITH GERMAN WHISTLEBLOWER PRIZE

Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who exposed the widest US global surveillance operations, was on 25 July 2013 awarded German Whistleblower Prize 2013 worth 3900 Dollars in absentia. Snowden has exposed the substantial and unsuspecting monitoring and storage of communication data by US and other western intelligence agencies, which cannot be accepted in democratic societies. It was the top secret National Security Agency documents that were leaked by Snowden since the beginning of June 2013 which in turn made it possible and unavoidable intensive investigations to establish whether the operations of domestic and foreign intelligence services have violated the existing rules applicable to them. Snowden has undertaken great personal risks in leaking the documents on the operations of the US and other western intelligence agencies, aware of the current criminal prosecution of whistleblowers in security areas.
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Even after proving that the espionage operations partly or to a large extent were protected by the law, Snowden has helped in exposing such a dangerous situation, which cannot be accepted in democratic societies.
ABOUT WHISTLEBLOWER PRIZE

The whistleblower prize which was instituted in year 1999 by German section of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) and the Association of German Scientists is awarded once in two years to honour persons, who expose in public interest grave social injustices and dangerous developments for individuals and the society, democracy, peace and environment. German chapter of the global anti-corruption organisation Transparency International joined the prize for the first time this year.
INDIA TURNED DOWN THE SNOWDEN'S REQUEST FOR ASYLUM

India including several other countries on 2 July 2013 turned down Edward Snowden's request for asylum. Snowden has cancelled his asylum bid in Russia and several European countries said such applications wouldn't be considered if they were made from abroad. Meanwhile, several other countries, where the WikiLeaks says Snowden has applied for asylum, have said he cannot apply from abroad. Officials in Germany, Norway, Austria, Poland, Finland and Switzerland all said he must make his request on their soil. These asylum requests were filed by Sarah Harrison, legal advisor of Wikileaks in the matter of Snowden, the whistle-blower website said on Tuesday. The requests were made to a number of countries including Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italian, Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Spain, Swiss Confederation, and Venezuela. The US Administration has warned countries not to give asylum to Snowden arguing that he is wanted in the US on charges of espionage and leaking classified information. Edward Snowden is an American intelligence leaker, who is currently sheltered in the transit zone of Moscow airport, has sought asylum in 20 countries, including India.
SALMAN FRAMED FOR CULPABLE HOMICIDE IN HIT AND RUN CASE

Salman Khan on 24 July 2013 was charged with Culpabale Homicide, not amounting to murder by the High Court of Mumbai in the hit-and-run case. Culpabale Homicide, not amounting to murder, offence carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail. Salman Khan on his part pleaded not guilty. The Court exempted, Salman Khan from appearance in the
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trial because he was away from the country for two months.
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Earlier, Salman Khan was charged with offence of causing death by rash and negligent driving, which carried a maximum punishment of two years in jail by the Metropolitan Magistrate. But his offence was enhanced to culpable homicide charge in June 2013 after the Metropolitan Magistrate examined the 17 witnesses in the case.
ABOUT THE CASE

Salman Khan on 28 September 2002 ran over his Toyota Land Cruiser, while driving on a group of people sleeping on the pavement outside a bakery in Bandra suburban area of Mumbai. In the accident, one person was killed leaving behind four others injured.
SUNETRA GUPTAS PORT RAIT TO BE EXHIBITED IN BRITAIN

Sunetra Gupta on 22 July 2013 became a part of the prestigious group of Women in Science Portrait Exhibition of the greatest women Fellows of the Royal Society together with newlycommissioned drawings, featuring Royal Society Research Fellows. Sunetra Gupta, the Indiaborn Chemist and Physicist joined the first-of-its-kind art exhibition at the prestigious Royal Society, as one of her portrait has been included in the show. With this achievement, she has achieved an honour of joining the big league of female scientists like Marie Curie.
ABOUT SUNETRA GUPTA

She was born in Kolkata in 1965, she wrote her first works of fiction in Bengali At the time of joining the group, she was a professor of theoretical epidemiology at Oxford University department of zoology and was working on infectious disease Her main area of interest is the evolution of diversity in pathogens She is an acclaimed novelist, essayist and scientist In October 2012 her fifth novel, So Good in Black, was long listed for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature In 2009, she was named as the winner of the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award for her scientific achievements
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She graduated in 1987 from Princeton University and received her PhD from the University of London in 1992 She is an accomplished translator of the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore
NISHA DESAI NOMINATED ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE OF USA

Nisha Desai Biswal, an Indian-American woman was nominated for the Post of Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia by US President Barack Obama on 18 July 2013. Nisha Desai Biswal, held the post of the Assistant Administrator for Asia at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) at the time her of nomination to the post of Assistant Secretary of state. Nisha Desai Biswal will oversee the US Foreign Policy and relations at the State Department for India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. This is the first time an Indian-American is heading the South Asia Bureau, a new milestone for the community.
ABOUT NISHA DESAI BISWAL

Nisha Desai Biswal worked at the American Red Cross from 1993 to 1995 in the Washington headquarters, and as an overseas delegate in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. From 1999 to 2002, she worked as a Hill staffer with the US House of Representatives International Relations Committee. From 2005 to 2010, Biswal was the Majority Clerk for the State Department and Foreign Operations Subcommittee on the Committee on Appropriations in the House of Representatives. Nisha Desai Biswal held the post of assistant administrator for Asia at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), since September 2010.
M.M. RAJU WAS CONFERRED THE HONORARY FELLOWSHIP BY IETE

The Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) on 19 July 2013 has conferred its highest honour The Honorary Fellowship on HRD Minister M.M. Pallam Raju for his scientific vision and valuable contribution to the progress in the field of electronics and telecommunication.
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M.M. Pallam Raju was earlier conferred with a Fellow of IETE in 2006 by Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) on his assumption of charge as Minister of State for Defence. Pallam Raju, as HRD Minister is a strong believer in the importance of strengthening the moral fibre of the children of the country, and also believes in leveraging on the complete potential of ICT towards meeting the educational objectives, both in school education and higher education. It is worth mentioning here that Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad and Temple University, USA, conferred an honorary doctorate and Doctor of Humane Letters respectively in the years 2008 and 2013. M.M. Pallam Raju with his outstanding leadership has professionally contributed towards strengthening the education system for children of the country, and for giving greater focus to industry-academia relationships, for advocating skill development and entrepreneurship amongst the youth and for promoting innovation and R&D amongst the countrys institutions of higher learning.
A BRIEF INSIGHT IN TO PALLAMS RAJU POL ITICAL CAREER

Pallam Raju is a very active member of the Indian National Congress (INC) and has held several important positions in the state unit and at the National level, the most recent one as the Chairman of the Department of Policy Planning and Coordination (DEPPCO) in the All India Congress Committee (AICC). In between August 2004 and January 2006, he served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology which comprises the Departments of Information Technology, Communications & Posts and Information & Broadcasting. He has served as a Director on the boards of Indian Airlines & Air India during 19941997.
ABOUT THE HONORARY FELLOWSHIP

The honorary Fellowship is given to persons of eminence who are achievers in the field of Electronics, Telecommunication and Information Technology or have made valuable contribution in the aforesaid fields for the betterment of the society.
ABOUT INSTITUTION OF ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATION ENGINEERS

IETE is Indias leading professional society devoted to the advancement of science and technology and of Electronics, Telecommunication and IT. I t was Founded in 1953, and since its inception it is serving more than 52000 members through its 52 centres all over India and abroad.
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ALTAMAS KABIR RETIRED FROM THE OFFICE OF CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA

Justice Altamas Kabir retired from the office of Chief Justice of India on 18 July 2013 after a short term of just nine months. He became the judge of the Supreme Court on 9 September 2005. He was the 39th Chief Justice of India. Altamas Kabir remained in the office for a period of nine months, i.e., from 29 September 2012 to 18 July 2013.
ABOUT JUSTICE ALTAMAS KABIR

Justice Altamas Kabir on 29 September 2012 was sworn-in as the Chief Justice of India by President Pranab Mukherjee. He took over the office from Justice Sarosh Homi Kapadia. He is known for his landmark judgments associated with human rights as well as election laws. He pursued his MA in LL.B from University of Calcutta and started his career as a practitioner in civil and criminal cases in the year 1973 at District court of Calcutta. Altamas Kabir was first time appointed as a permanent judge in the Calcutta high Court on 6 August 1990 and has served the Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court.
TENURE AND QUALIFICATION OF JUDGES IN SUPREME COURT

President appoints the judges of the Supreme Court and the retirement age of these judges is 65. For being a judge or chief justice of a Supreme Court one must fulfill the following qualifications: He must be a citizen of India. He should have served the High Court as the Judge for at least 5 years. He should have served the high court as the advocate for a period of 10 years.
JUSTICE P. SATHASIVAM SWORN IN AS THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on 19 July 2013 administered the oath of the office of Chief Justice of India (CJI) to Justice Palanisamy Sathasivam. Justice Sathasivam, 64, is first CJI from Tamil Nadu and the 40th CJI of India. The term of his office will be till 26 April 2014. Justice Palanisamy Sathasivam succeeded CJI Altamas Kabir who left the office on 18 July 2013. The oath taking ceremony of CJI Palanisamy Sathasivam was held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
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The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Indian Constitution and Article 124 to 147 states about the composition of Supreme Court of India. Supreme Court of India consists of one Chief Justice and 31 judges. It is important to note that P. Sathasivam on 29 June 2013 was appointed as the next Chief Justice of India after he justified the Collegiums System of appointment of Judges.
ICT SENTENCED ALI MOHAMMED MUJAHEED TO DEATH

The second International Crimes Tribunal on 17 July 2013 sentenced war crime indicted Ali Mohammed Mujaheed, General Secretary of Jamaat e Islami to death. Mujaheed who was a leader of Jamaat's student wing Islammi Chattra Sangha in 1971 Bangladesh war was indicted of 7 war crimes including murder, genocide and conspiracy to kill intellectuals during the Bangladesh War for Liberation. The Jamaat e Islami is enforcing a day-long country hartal protesting against the verdicts of the ICT on the third day in succession. The two war crimes tribunals have so far delivered 5 verdicts since their establishment.
WHO IS ALI AHSAN MOHAMMED MOJAHEED?

Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed is a Bangladeshi politician and presently the Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. He was accused of helping to form the militant groups Al-Badr (the moon) and the Al-Shams (the sun) and committing crimes against humanity during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He is currently held prisoner and standing trial at the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh. He was Minister of Social Welfare from 2001 to 2007 in the four-party alliance Bangladesh government.
WHAT IS ICT?
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is a war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh established in 2009 to investigate and prosecute suspects for the genocide committed in 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War by the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators, Razakars, Al-Badr and AlShams. During the 2008 general election, the Awami League (AL) promised to set up the tribunals in response to long-demanded popular calls for trying war criminals.
SC STAYED TRIAL AGAINST LALU YADAV IN FODDER SCAM

The Supreme Court of India on 9 July 2013 suspended all proceedings related to fodder scam (the alleged financial irregularities in the animal husbandry department) cases in the Jharkhand Court against Lalu Yadav. Lalu Yadav is the President of Rashtriya Janata Dal. The Supreme Court Bench that comprised Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice J. Chelameswar granted the stay to www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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the case following Lalu Yadavs special leave petition against the Judgement of the High Court of Jharkhand. The bench of Supreme Court also issued a notice to transfer the case against Lalu from CBI Court in the state to other Court with competent jurisdiction. The notice is returnable in two week on 23 July to the CBI.
ABOUT FODDER SCAM

The multi-million rupee scam surfaced in the then Bihar in 1996 is also known as Chara Ghotala. After formation of Jharkhand in November 2000, 54 cases were transferred to the Jurisdiction of Jharkhand of which judgments have been passed in more than 40 cases by now. The scandal, which was in process for about two decades involved financial irregularities of about 900 crore rupees in procurement of the livestock of fodder, medicine and animal husbandry equipment.
MOHAMED ELBARADEI NAMED CARETAKER PM OF EGYPT

Leading liberal opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei on 6 July 2013 was named as Egypt's new Prime Minister to head a caretaker government. ElBaradei leads an alliance of liberal and left-wing parties, the National Salvation Front. He was named Prime Minister after interim President Adly Mahmud Mansour held talks with the army chief and political leaders. 71-year-old ElBaradei Mohamed Mustafa ElBaradei is an Egyptian law scholar. He was the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organization under the auspices of the United Nations, from 1997 to 2009. He and the IAEA were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. ElBaradei also played an important role in recent politics in his country, particularly the 2011 revolution which deposed President Hosni Mubarak, and in the 2013 revolution that ousted President Mohamed Morsi.
78 TH BIRTHDAY OF DALAI LAMA CELEBRATED ACROSS THE WORLD

Thousands in India and across the world participated in the 78th birthday celebrations of His Holiness the Dalai Lama with special celebrations also being held in Dharamsala. Several monks and Tibetans-in-exile in India and abroad participated in prayers seeking long life for their spiritual leader who two years back relinquished his role as temporal and political head of Tibetans. In his brief address in Tibetan at Bylakuppe in Karnataka, the Dalai Lama expressed his gratitude for the government www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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and the people of India for the hospitality they have extended to the exiled Tibetans for over 50 years. The present Dalai Lama is actually 14th Dalai Lama. His religious name is Tenzin Gyatso. His birth name was Lhamo Dondrub.
KUMAR MANGALAM BIRLA RESIGNED FROM RBI s CENTRAL BOARD

The Chairman of Aditya Birla Nuvo, Kumar Mangalam Birla resigned from the Reserve Bank of Indias Central Board on 23 July 2013. The resignation is said to avoid the conflicts because Aditya Birla Nuvo applied for the bank license to RBI. Aditya Birla Nuvo is one of the 26 firms which have applied for bank licenses with RBI. Kumar Mangalam Birla has remained on the central board of RBI from past six years. It is important to note that Kumar Mangalam Birla was also nominated as the member of the Directors of the Central Board of the RBI in 2006. The Reserve Bank of India will be granting new bank licenses by March 2014. India, at present has 26 public sector banks, 22 private sector banks and 56 regional rural banks.
ADLI MANSOUR SWORN IN AS THE INTERIM PRESIDENT OF EGYPT

Adli Mansour, the Chief Justice of Egypt's Constitutional Court sworn in as interim president of Egypt on 4 July 2013. Mansour will serve as Egypt's head of state until a new president is elected. Earlier, the first democratically elected President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi was deposed from his office in a military coup.
ABOUT ADLI MANSOUR

Mansour helped in preparation of the draft of supervision law for the Egypts Presidential Elections of 2012 that brought Morsi to power. He was deputy head of the Supreme Constitutional Court from 1992 He served as a judge under former President Hosni Mubarak He graduated from Cairo University Law School in 1967 He received his postgraduate degree in law in 1969 and studied economics with Juan Felipe Aranguren and earned a postgraduate degree in management science from Cairo University in 1970 He won a scholarship to France's Ecole Nationale de l'Administration and graduated from there in 1977 www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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V GANDHI 1 ST INDIAN WOMAN TO RECEIVE EMIRATES WOMAN AWARD

Vandana Gandhi became the first ever Indian woman to receive Dubai Government's coveted Emirates Woman Award for business excellence in June 2013 She was awarded Emirates Woman Award in the Business Category for excelling and providing innovation in preschool education and was selected by the jury based on various criteria like leadership, strategy, community service and innovation. Vandana Gandhi is Founder & CEO of British Orchard Nursery - Middle East's only ISO-certified Nursery Chain.
ABOUT EMIRATES WOMAN AWARD

Emirates Woman Awards was started in 2003 and is basically an initiative by Dubai Quality Group (DQG) to encourage women, both UAE nationals and residents, to be actively involved in social and economic development initiatives in the country. Dubai Quality Group (DQG) is a non-profit organization that advances learning, promotes quality improvement and business excellence practices under the patronage of H.H Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum. It is directed towards inspiring and encouraging the future generation of women leaders to achieve their true potential and advance their status in the society. The winners are selected and verified by the EWA assessment jury after conforming to all criteria and conditions of the award. The award has two main categories-business owners and professionals. DQG's Emirates Woman Award honors local and expatriate business achievers from diverse fields.
ABOUT VANDANA GANDHI

Vandana Gandhi holds a Masters in Education with distinction, and is currently perusing Doctorate of Education from the University of Birmingham, U.K. She conceived and introduced GymJuniorz - a first of its kind children's Gym and Fitness center into the curriculum. She also had introduced the idea of Corporate Franchising for Road Transport Agency (Government of UAE) and Dubai Water and Electricity Authority, to successfully run and operate a work place nursery for children of their women employees.
DAHLAN JUMAAN AL-HAMAD WON AAA PRESIDENT'S ELECTION

Suresh Kalmadi on 1 July 2013 lost the Asian Athletics Association's President Election to Qatar's Dahlan Jumaan Al-Hamad on the opening day of the continental body's two-day www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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Congress in Pune. Kalmadi faced a tough fight from Qatar Athletics Federation President AlHamad, who is also senior vice-president of the Asian body. He is out on bail after spending 10 months in jail for his alleged involvement in the Commonwealth Games scam. Kalmadi lost 18-20 while seeking re-election to a post he has held for 13 years. He has been at the helm of affairs of the AAA since 2000. He was seeking re-election for the top job of the continental body. Kalmadi's candidature to the post had got the backing of the AFI (Athletics Federation of India) which said it did not want to lose a seat in AAA Council. Section 4(a) of Article VI of the AAA Constitution states that A council members loses his membership in the council if he loses his membership in his National Association, unless otherwise his national association formally recommends the continuation of his membership in the Council. The biennial Congress, before the July 3-7 Asian Athletics Championships, at a five-star hotel here is being attended by IAAF President Lamine Diack, besides some top officials from the AAA and the world body. The Congress, which is the governing body of the association, consists of a Council and not more than two delegates from each member of the AAA. However, each member country has only one vote in the elections. The Athletics Federation of India is being represented by its president Adille Sumariwala and Secretary C K Valson. The other members of the AAA Council -- a Senior Vice-President, Five Vice-Presidents and eight Executive Members will also be elected.
SUJATA SINGH DESIGNATED AS INDIA'S NEXT FOREIGN SECRETARY

Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh on 1 July 2013 approved the appointment of Sujata Singh as the Next Foreign Secretary of India. Sujata Singh of 59 years at present is serving as the envoy to Germany. She will succeed Ranjan Mathai as Foreign Secretary, who is due to retire on 31 July 2013. Due to retire in July 2014, Singh has got an extension of two year in her service period.
ABOUT SUJATA SINGH

Sujata Singh is the IFS officer of 1976 batch She is the third women to head the foreign services after Chokila Iyer and Nirupama Rao She has served as an under-secretary to Nepal from 1982-1985 and was later posted in Europe that includes Italy and France She is the daughter of T V Rajeshwar, the former Intelligence Bureau chief and wife of Sanjay Singh, former secretary (east), who retired in April 2013
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PERSON DIED
SN HANUMANTHA RAO, THE FORMER INDIAN TEST UMPIRE DIED
SN Hanumantha Rao, the former Indian Test umpire passed away on 29 July 2013 at a private hospital in Karnataka. He was 83 years of age. He is survived by his wife, two sons as well as a daughter.
LIFE SKETCH OF SN HANUMANTHA RAO

SN Hanumantha Rao was born on 4 September 1929. He was the umpire in nine Test matches from 1978 to 1983 against England, Pakistan and West Indies. He also umpired two ODIs against Sri Lanka and England. Apart from this, he remained an umpire in 16 first class matches. He had also remained the BCCI Match Referee. He debut as the Test umpire was from 1 December 1978 to 6 December 1978 in Mumbai, in a match between India and West Indies. His final umpiring in the Test match was also in the India-West Indies match, from 12 November 1983 to 16 November 1983 in Ahmedabad.
JAGDISH RAJ, THE MOST TYPE-CAST ACTOR OF BOLLYWOOD DIED AT 85

Jagdish Raj, the Bollywood actor who held the Guinness World Record for being the most typecast actor, died on 28 July 2013 at Mumbai. He was 85 years of age. He died because of respiratory arrest. He is survived by his daughters Roopa Malhotra and Anita Raj as well as a son.
LIFE-SKETCH OF JAGDISH RAJ

Jagdish Raj was born in the year 1928 in the town of Sargodha, British India (now in Pakistan). He is accredited with the Guinness World Record for being the most type-cast actor. Typecasting in acting is a term used wherein an actor is identified strongly for playing a specific role or character or trait. Jagdish Raj held the world record of playing the role
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of a policeman 144 times on the silver screen. He started off his filmy career in the year 1960. He retired from his acting career in the year 1992.
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He has a range of films credited to his career and some of these include Aaina, Besharam, Gopichand Jasoos, Deewar, Don, Shakti, Mazdoor, Imaan Dharam and Silsila. Despite playing the role of a villain as well as a judge in certain films, he was best known as the Bollywood Cop.
ILYA SEGALOVICH, THE CO-FOUNDER OF YANDEX DIED

Ilya Segalovich, the co-founder of Yandex, the largest search engine of Russia, died on 27 July 2013 at a London hospital due to brain cancer. He was 48 years of age. Ilya Segalovich was earlier diagnosed with stomach cancer and cured positively due to chemical therapy. Eventually he was diagnosed with brain cancer.
LIFE SKETCH OF ILYA SEGALOVICH

Ilya Segalovich was born on 13 September 1964. He was the co-founder of Russian search engine Yandex. Yandex was found in the year 1997. Yandex enjoys 62 percent of the search engine market in Russia, in comparison to 25.6 percent of Google. He remained the CTO as well as Director of Yandex since 2000 till his date of death. The name of Yandex was proposed by Ilya Segalovich. He derived the idea of the name from the phrase- Yet another Index. He started off his career in 1990 by working on the information retrieval technologies at Arkadia Company. He was the head of the software team there. From the year 1993 to 2000, he was the leader of the retrieval systems department at CompTek International. Finally, in the year 2000, he left CompTek International and established Yandex as the standalone company. He was also the co-founder as well as supporter of Maria's Children Art Rehabilitation Center for orphans and children with special needs. He had a degree in geophysics from S. Ordzhonikidze Moscow Geologic Exploration Institute.
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OBAID SIDDIQI, DISCOVERER OF STOP CODONS IN GENETIC CODE, DIED

Noted biologist, Prof. Obaid Siddiqi died on 26 July 2013 due to injuries that he sustained after meeting an accident. He was 81. He was known for his pioneer work of identifying the process that how taste and smell are detected and coded in Brain. He is now survived by his wife Asiya, two sons Imran and Kalim and daughters Yumna and Diba.
ABOUT OBAID SIDDIQUI

He was one of the most eminent scientists of India. Obaid Siddiqi was the National Research Professor at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, in Bangalore. He recieved his earky education at Aligarh Muslim University. He completed his Ph.D. from University of Glasgow, where he worked on microbial genetics with Harbor Pontecorvo. At the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory of University of Pennsylvania, he carried out his post-doctoral research with Alan Garen. This work helped him in discovering the stop codons in the genetic code and also the mechanism of chain termination during protein synthesis. He was born in 1932 in Uttar Pradesh He was responsible for setting-up of the Molecular Biology Unit at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai in 1962
ARUN NEHRU, THE FORMER UNION MINISTER DIED AT 69

Arun Nehru, the cousin of Rajiv Gandhi as well as the Minister for Internal Security during his government, died in Gurgaon on 25 July 2013. He was 69 years of age. Arun Nehru is survived by his wife Subhadra and two daughters.
ABOUT ARUN NEHRU

Arun Nehru was born in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on 24 April 1944. He is said to be an eminent Indian politician, columnist as well as psephologist. He was a close adviser as well as Minister of State for Internal Security, when Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister in 1984.
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He studied at the La Martinere Boys College in Lucknow.
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He began his corporate career at the age of 20 years. He was brought to the politics by Indira Gandhi. He was the then President of the Jenson and Nicholson group of companies. He was also the member of 9th Lok Sabha from Bilhaur as a Janata Dal leader. He had also been he member of 7th and 8th Lok Sabha from Rae Bareli on an Indian National Congress ticket.
IMO SECRETARY-GENERAL EMERITUS C.P. SRIVASTAVA DIED IN ITALY

C.P. Srivastava, who was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan in 2009 and the Padma Bhushan in 1972, died on 22 July 2013 in Genoa, Italy. He is survived by his wife Nirmala Devi and two daughters. C.P. Srivastava, was conferred the title Sir, and was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George by the Queen of the United Kingdom. C. P. Srivastava was the inspired major hauler in the development of the concept of World Maritime University and in the enormous job of planning, negotiating, fundraising, organizing and implementation that was required to take a vision and turn it into a reality.
A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO C.P SRIVASTAVA LIFE

He received the Padma Bhusan in 1972 in recognition of his contributions to establishing one of the most successful public sector undertakings in India. In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, Indias second highest civilian award, by the President of India. In 1991, he received the International Maritime prize from the IMO for his contribution to their work and objectives. In 2005 he was awarded the 2004 Lal bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration and Management Sciences by the then President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. C.P. Srivastava was a U.P. cadres officer of the Indian Administrative Service and was Joint Secretary to Lal Bahadur Shastri when he was the Prime Minister from 1964 to 1966. C.P. Srivastava was born on 8 July 1920 and was educated in Lucknow, India (BA, MA, LLB). He started his career as a civil servant in India, serving as the district administrator
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in Meerut and Lucknow, and then went on to the post of Joint Secretary to the Indian Prime Minister's office of the late Lal Bahadur Shastri from 1964-1966. He became the first chief executive of the Shipping Corporation of India and in 1974 was elected to serve as the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations agency based in London, serving successive four-year terms as Secretary-General from 1974 to 1989. He has played a pivotal role in the establishment of the International Maritime Academy in Italy, and the International Maritime Law Institute in Malta. He was also the Founding Father and the first Chancellor of World Maritime University which was founded in 1983 to address a pressing need for maritime professionals in the developing world. In 1987 he was named an honorary graduate by the University of Wales. In 1990, in recognition of his service and contribution to world shipping, he was conferred, by Queen Elizabeth II of the United kingdom, the title of Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.
MANJULA VIJAYAKUMAR DIED AT THE AGE OF 59

59 Years old Manjula Vijayakumar the south India yesteryear actor, died in Chennai on 23 July 2013 followed a brief illness. She was suffering from jaundice and also hurt her stomach after falling down from the cot. Manjula Vijayakumar made her first screen appearance as a child actor in Shanthi Nilayam. Manjula went on to play the lead role with MGR in his blockbuster Rickshawkaran in the early 1970s. She also starred in another popular MGR film Ulagam Suttrum Vaaliban. She is survived by her husband, actor Vijayakumar, daughters Preetha, Vanitha and Sridevi.
A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO MANJULA VIJAYAKUMAR S CAREER

Born on 9 September 1953, she has acted in more than 100 films in South Indian languages like Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. She first appeared in the film Shanthi Nilayam (1969) in a supporting role as the teenage girl of Gemini Ganesan's character. Her first lead role was in Rickshawkaran (1971). She acted in lead roles in many films till the late seventies.
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Many other lead roles came to her during the 1970s, not only in Tamil, but also Telugu and Kannada films. She has played together with the top heroes of the Tamil industry across generations: MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, NTR, Gemini Ganesan, Kamal Hassan, Rajnikanth, and Vishnuvardhan. During 1980s she was seen, appearing in supporting roles including mother, sister. Thereafter, in the 1990's the number of films came down to her but she still she has done a few roles.
L BROJESHORI DEVI, THE OLYMPIAN JUDO PLAYER PASSED AWAY AT 32

L Brojeshori Devi, the Olympian judo player passed away at Coimbatore on 22 July 2013. She was 32 years of age.
ABOUT L BROJESHORI DEVI

L Brojeshori Devi belonged to CRPF Training Centre in Coimbatore since May 2013 on Departmental Promotion Training Programme. She took part in 2000 Sydney Olympic Games apart from 2002 Asian and Commonwealth Games. She has remained a part of various international-level judo events. She secured gold medals in South Asian Games held in 2006 and 2010. She also won various medals at the national as well as international levels.
FORMER UNION MINISTER KHURSHED ALAM KHAN DIED

Former Union Minister Khurshed Alam Khan died at the age of 95 on 20 July 2013. He was the father of Union External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.
ABOUT KHURSHED ALAM KHAN

He served as the Minister if State in the Governments led by former Prime Ministers of India, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. As an Union Minister, he had held portfolios of education, textiles, tourism, transport besides external affairs He served as Governor of Goa and Karnataka in 1989 and 1991 respectively
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He served as the member of Parliament for 15 years of which, he served as the member of Rajya Sabha from 1974-1984 He was one among the people, who were responsible in creation of Jamia Milia Islamia University as an independent University, through a parliamentary law He served as a Chancellor at Jamia Milia Islamia University He represented from Farrukhabad in Lok Sabha between 1984 and 1989 He was born in Pitaura village in Farrukhabad district of Uttar Pradesh Khurshed Alam Khan, was the son-in-law of late President Zakir Hussain
OOMMEN MATHEW, FORMER MLA FORM KUTTANAD, KERALA DIED

Prof. Oommen Mathew, Former Kuttanad MLA and Chairperson of the Kerala State Farming Corporation died on 20 July 2013 at a hospital in Kochi. The 73 year old Mathew, was also the working Chairperson of the Kerala Congress-Jacob faction. As a member of the 6th Kerala Legislative Assembly, he represented the Kuttanad Assembly constituency during 1980-82. He also served as the Chairman of the Kerala State Housing Board from 1982 to 1986 and the State President of the Karshaka Union.
VETERAN TAMIL FILM LYRICIST VAALI DIED AT THE AGE OF 82

82 Years old Veteran Tamil film lyricist Vaali died at a private hospital in Chennai on 18 July 2013. Vaali was not well and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital for respiratory problems for a month and was on ventilator support.
A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO VAALIS CAREER

Vaali was born as T S Rangarajan in the temple town of Srirangam. Vaali penned lyrics for stars across generations, from the veteran M G Ramachandran (MGR), Kamal Haasan to present day heroes like Dhanush. He worked with star composers of Tamil cinema like M S Viswanthan and AR Rahman. He started his career in the mid-60s and had penned nearly 10000 songs in his 50 years long career. He had also acted in a few movies which includes veteran K Balachander-directed Poikal Kuthirai and Kamal Haasans Hey Ram
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He has written two songs in Bharat Bala directed film Mariyan, starring Dhanush, which is scheduled for release on 19 July 2013. He was honoured with the Padma Shri, India'a fourth highest civilian honour in year 2007. He has also written a number of books including Naanum Indha Nootrandum, his autobiography. He was also a theatre enthusiast, and had directed many plays in Tiruchi and Srirangam and worked for All India Radio as a part-time employee, before making a foray into the film world.
SAMAR MUKHERJEE, THE CPI-M VETERAN LEADER PASSED AWAY AT 100

Samar Mukherjee, the freedom fighter as well as the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader died on 18 July 2013 in Kolkata following a range of illnesses. He was 100 years of age and was a bachelor. He was the oldest living member of CPI-M.
ABOUT SAMAR MUKHERJEE

Samar Mukherjee was born at Amta in Howrah district on 7 November 1913. He joined the Communist Party of India-Marxist in 1964. He had joined CPI in the year 1940. He was the representative of Howrah in the Lok Sabha for three years in a row between 1971 and 1984. He was also elected to Rajya Sabha in 1986. He remained a member of the West Bengal assembly from 1957 to 1971. Samar Mukherjee participated in the freedom movement of India. He also protested against the Simon Commission as well as Civil Disobedience Movement. His biography titled 100 Years of Samar Mukherjee: A Tribute was released on his 100th Birthday in English as well as Bengali languages.
N RANGABASHYAM, THE GASTROENTEROLOGIST DIED

79 years old renowned surgical gastroenterologist N Rangabashyam died on 15 July 2013 at his residence in Chennai. Rangabashyam, who is a Padma Bhushan award recipient, is now survived by his wife and two children.
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Rangabashyam was considered as a leader in surgical gastroenterology and proctology in the India. Rangabashyam was credited with various efforts including starting the first M.Ch. (Surgical Gastroenterology) degree course in India, besides the Ostomy Department in the Madras General Hospital. He also established the first enterostomal therapy diploma for nursing professionals in the country. He was Member Advisory Panel for Gastro Intestinal Surgery, National Academy of Medical Sciences (India), New Delhi and Member, Permanent Committee for the Fixation of fee structure for Private Professional Educational Institutions in Tamil Nadu, Chennai.
A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO HIS CONTRIBUTIONS

He has mainly contributed on colitis, bowel cancer, other gastro-intestinal cancers, portal hypertension and bowel disease in the tropics. He has published various articles on liver surgery, pancreatitis, ileal and colonic problem and paprostomy. He was awarded with many honour and accolades, the major of which include his appointed as the Honorary Surgeon to the President of India by former President R Venkataraman. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2002 and won the prestigious Dr B C Roy National Award twice. He was also elected as a Fellow of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, Academy of Medical Sciences, India and Academy of Medical Sciences, Singapore.
ITALIAN BUSINESSMAN OTTAVIO QUATTROCCHI DIED IN MILAN

Controversial Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, who was a key figure in the Bofors payoffs scandal, on 13 July 2013 died in Milan, Italy following a stroke. He was 74 years old. Ottavio Quattrocchi was an Italian businessman who was being sought until early 2009 in India for criminal charges for acting as a conduit for bribes in the Bofors scandal. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had named Quattrocchi in a chargesheet as the conduit for the Bofors bribe. The case against him was strengthened in June 2003. On the basis of the Interpol warrant he was detained in Argentina on 6 February 2007. The CBI had come under attack for putting up a half-hearted effort towards his extradition. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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Quattrocchi was born in Mascali, province of Catania, Sicily. He had arrived in India in the mid 1960s as the representative of Italian oil and gas firm Eni and its engineering arm Snamprogetti. His family came close to the Gandhi family based on their connection with Rajiv Gandhi's Italian wife Sonia Gandhi, now the president of the ruling Indian National Congress party. In 1984, a tender was issued for Howitzer guns for the Indian Army. After evaluation, the French Sofma gun was found to be the best in terms of price and features. The Army required a range of 30 km. Army chief Krishnaswamy Sundarji had favoured the Sofma because during field trials it showed its range as 29.2 km against 21.5 for Bofors. Moreover, Bofors was permitted to alter its bid without re-tendering. As a result, inspite of the objections of the army and others, the order went to Bofors. The Bofors scandal hit limelight after a 1987 report on Swedish radio. It claimed that Bofors had paid bribes to secure the contract.
DR. H.A.B. PARPIA, THE RENOWNED FOOD SCIENTIST DIED

Dr. H.A.B. Parpia, an acknowledged food scientist and the former Director of the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) died on 9 July 2013 after a brief illness. Dr. Parpia is now survived by his wife Carolyn Wilkes, two sons and two daughters. After death, his body was donated to Mysore Medical College and Research Institute. There exist more than 2500 papers and documents published by the name of Dr. Parpia on food and technology and advanced education.
ABOUT DR. H.A.B. PARPIA

The 91 year old, Dr. Parpia served Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations at Rome and was Assistant Director in charge of Information, Statistics, Process Development and Food Plant Design at the CFTRI. He was the Assistant Director-General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1959 and was in charge of Industrial Liaison Office and Extension, Delhi He served as a Director of CFTRI. Mysore in 1963 He served as a Director of the International School of Milling Technology at the CFTRI Dr. Parpia served as the Principal Adviser, U.N. Conference on Science and Technology for Development, New York, from 1978-82
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In 1981, at the United Nations University headquarters in Tokyo he served as the Director of Planning and Evaluation He also served Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1967 to 1978 as a visiting lecturer He served as the Chairman of Protein-Calorie Advisory Group of the UN System He was born on 5 September 1922, Dr. Parpia obtained his degree in Microbiology (Industrial and Medical) and Chemistry from the University of Bombay He studied Food Technology at University of California He completed his PhD from Oregon State University
AWARDS RECEIVED BY DR. PARPIA

In 1968, Kashalkar Memorial Award for Outstanding Service to Indian Food Industry In 1971, he received Industrial Achievement Award from Institute of Food Technologists, USA In 1976, he received Distinguished Service Medal from the Prime Minister of India at 25th Anniversary of CFTRI, Mysore In 1984, he received V S Industrial Achievement Award from Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India), Mysore In 1987, he received Wattumull Foundation Award from Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
PADMA SHREE AWARDEE ARTIST MAHASUNDARI DEVI DIED

Madhubani painting artist Mahasundari Devi died at a private hospital in Ranti, near Madhubani on 4 July 2013. Mahasundari Devi is survived by three sons and two daughters.
SOME FACTS ABOUT MAHASUNDARI DEVI

Mahasundari Devi took to painting when she was a child and acquired proficiency in the art form under the guidance of her aunt, Devsundari Devi. She was renowned for her mastery over Sikki work, 'sujani' craft, clay work and paper mache apart from Mithila painting. She had won over two dozen national and state awards
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She won the prestigious Padmashri and Shilp Guru award in year 2010. She did her last painting in 2011.
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DOUGLAS ENGELBART, FATHER OF THE MOUSE D IED AT THE AGE OF 88

Douglas Engelbart, the U.S. inventor who was known as the father of the computer mouse died on 3 July 2013 at age of 88. Douglas Engelbart was a technologist who laid out a vision of an Internet decades before others brought those ideas to the mass market. He was a scientist and engineer who devoted himself to find ways to use computers to improve people's lives. He is survived by Karen O'Leary Engelbart, his second wife, and four children: Gerda, Diana, Christina and Norman. His wife Ballard died in 1997.
ABOUT DOUGLAS ENGELBART

Douglas Carl Engelbart was born on 30 January, 1925 in Portland to a radio repairman father and a homemaker mother. He enrolled at Oregon State University, but was drafted into the U.S. Navy and shipped to the Pacific before he could graduate. He resolved to change the world as a computer scientist after coming across a 1945 article by Vannevar Bush, the head of the US Office of Scientific Research, while scouring a Red Cross library in a native hut in the Philippines. Engelbart took a teaching position at the University of California, after returning from England. He took a job at SRI in 1957, and by the early-1960s Engelbart led a team had begun to seriously investigate tools for interactive computing.
BOOKS/AUTHOR
AN AGENDA FOR INDIAS G ROWTH: ESSAYS IN HONOUR, RELEASED
An Agenda for Indias Growth: Essays in Honour of P. Chidambaram The book entitled An Agenda for Indias Growth: Essays in Honour of P. Chidambaram, was released in New Delhi on 31 July 2013 by Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh.
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The book, which is edited by Sameer Kochhar of the Skoch Foundation, encompasses various excellent essays by well known distinguished experts. In the book, all the authors dated their association with P. Chidambaram from 1991, when he was the Minister of Commerce as well as a key reformer initiating trade policy reform. In one essay of this book, Montek Ahluwalia gave detailed account of P. Chidambarams role in trade policy reforms of 1991. During that time, he was the Commerce Secretary of Chidambaram.
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JHUMPA LAHIRI FEATURED FOR MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2013

The Lowland authored by Jhumpa Lahiri Indian American author Jhumpa Lahiris The Lowland has been listed among 13 novels longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013. The longlist for the prize, one of the English language's top fiction awards, names 13 writers from seven countries. The "Man Booker Dozen" 2013 comprises a diverse list of 13 novels that will astonish and intrigue in equal measure. There are 13 outstanding novels range from the traditional to the experimental, from the first century AD to the present day, from 100 pages to 1000 and from Shanghai to Hendon. The Lowland is story set in India and America, which is going to be published in September 2013 and is one of the highly anticipated books of the fall. It is being pitched as an easy frontrunner in Londons literary circles.
LONG LIST 2013 INCLUDE

Five Star Billionaire Tash Aw (Fourth Estate) We Need New Names NoViolet Bulawayo (Chatto & Windus) The Luminaries Eleanor Catton (Granta) Harvest Jim Crace (Picador) The Marrying of Chani Kaufman Eve Harris (Sandstone Press) The Kills Richard House (Picador)
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The Lowland Jhumpa Lahiri (Bloomsbury) Unexploded Alison MacLeod (Hamish Hamilton) Trans Atlantic Colum McCann (Bloomsbury) Almost English Charlotte Mendelson (Mantle) A Tale for the Time Being Ruth Ozeki (Canongate) The Spinning Heart Donal Ryan (Doubleday Ireland) The Testament of Mary Colm Tibn (Viking)
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ABOUT JHUMPA LAHIRI

Jhumpa Lahiri was born in 1967 in London and based in New York. She is the daughter of Indian immigrants from West Bengal. She had won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with her debut short story collection Interpreter of Maladies (1999). Her first novel The Namesake (2003) was adapted into a popular film of the same name by director.
ABOUT MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2013

The Man Booker Prize promotes the finest in fiction by rewarding the very best book of the year. The prize is the world's most important literary award and has the power to transform the fortunes of authors and publishers.
AN UNCERTAIN GLORY: INDIA AND ITS CONTRADICTIONS RELEASED

An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions authored by Amartya Sen & Jean Dreze An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions authored by Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen was released in the third week of July 2013. The book has been published by Penguin Books India. Jean Drze, the development economist and Amratya Sen, an economist, a philosopher and a Nobel Prize winner together have presented a far reaching analysis of the conditions of contemporary India with a compilation of the wealth of illuminating data. The book includes achievements of India since independence and the successful maintenance of the worlds largest democracy. The authors have also argued about the prevalent flaws in the development strategy of the nation. In particular, it overlooks the central role of human capabilities - both as an end in them and as a means of further progress.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
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Jean Drze Jean Drze became an Indian citizen in 2002 and has lived in India since
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Dreze has taught at the London School of Economics and the Delhi School of Economics At present he is a Visiting Professor at Allahabad University He has co-authored Amartya Sen in books named Hunger and Public Action and India: Development and Participation He has also been a co-author of the Public Report on Basic Education in India Amaryta Sen Amaryta Sen is an Indian economist and philosopher, who won Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences in 1998 for making contribution to welfare economics and social choice theory. He is a professor at Thomas W. Lamont University He also is a Professor of Philosophy and Economics, at Harvard University. Some of the books authored by Amartya Sen include - The Argumentative Indian - Inequality reexamined - The Idea of Justice - Poverty and Famines - Commodities and Capabilities - Hunger and Republic Action - Development as Freedom - Choice, Welfare and Measurement - Rationality and Freedom - Identity and Violence the illusion of Destiny
SHAHAR SONE CHALA A COLLECTION OF POEMS RELEASED

Shahar Sone Chala authored by Sat Pal
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Shahar Sone Chala, a collection of selected Hindi poems penned down by Sat Pal was released on 15 July 2013 by Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi. This is the third book written by him. The poems of the book reflect the realities of life and underline the importance of peace, brotherhood and harmony in life. It also highlights the different aspects of society. At present Sat Pal is the information officer of Sheila Dikshit. His previous two books are Hindi satire.
BOOK TITLED SMRITIYAN AUTHORED BY GARIMA SANJAY RELEASED

Smritiyan authored by Garima Sanjay The Vice President of India Hamid Ansari on 13 July 2013 released a book entitled Smritiyan authored by Garima Sanjay. Garima Sanjay is a professional author & documentary filmmaker by profession. Smritiyan, the book describes that Life in general throws challenges before, we can fulfill our aspirations. At times we beat those challenges, but sometimes, especially in case of our personal and emotional lives, were unable to face these challenges and we simply give up and compromise with the situation and accept our failure. In such a situation, we blame our luck; or someone, whom we perceive as a villain in our life for our failures.
IMPORTANT DATES
WORLD HEPATITIS DAY 2013
28 July: World Hepatitis Day World Hepatitis Day was observed across the world on 28 July 2013. The theme for the year 2013 is This is Hepatitis, Know it, Confront it. The theme has been set with an aim of creating a global awareness about the Hepatitis virus and to encourage its prevention, treatment and diagnosis. Of the five types of viruses, B and C are considered to be dangerous. Food and Water Borne infections causes Hepatitis A and E Virus because of which millions of cases of acute illness is reported every year. Worldwide, infections with hepatitis B and C viruses cause an estimated 57% of cases of liver cirrhosis and 78% of cases of primary liver cancer. The availability of a vaccine that confers lifelong protection against infection with the hepatitis B virus gives public health a rare opportunity to prevent a leading cause of cancer, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
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The significance of these challenges and opportunities was formally acknowledged in 2010, when the World Health Assembly adopted its first resolution on viral hepatitis.
ABOUT WORLD HEPATITIS DAY

In 2008, the World Hepatitis Alliance launched the World Hepatitis Day to the concern that chronic viral hepatitis did not have the level of awareness, nor the political priority, seen with other communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Since 2008 World Hepatitis Day has been coordinated by the World Hepatitis Alliance. It is an annual event that provides international focus of the patient groups and living people to raise awareness about hepatitis B and C and influence real change in disease prevention and access to testing and treatment. In May 2010 the World Health Assembly passed resolution WHA63.18 on viral hepatitis, which provides official endorsement of World Hepatitis Day as the primary focus for national and international awareness-raising efforts. That resolution, which called for a comprehensive approach to prevention and control, opened a new era of awareness about the magnitude of disease caused by viral hepatitis and the need for urgent action on several fronts. The day is observed on 28 July to mark the birthday of Professor Baruch Blumberg, awarded the Nobel Prize for his work in discovering the hepatitis B virus.
HEPATITIS IN INDIA
India is a home of about 11 percent of people from the world population that suffers from the chronic disease Hepatitis B and about 1 to 2 lakh people die every year due to hepatocellular carcinoma or cirrhosis.
PI APPROXIMATION DAY CELEBRATED ON 22 JULY WORLDWIDE

22 July: Pi Approximation Day Pi Approximation Day is celebrated worldwide on 22 July every year. The reason why this day is celebrated on 22 July is because of the value of Pi- 22/7. The fraction 227 is said to be the common approximation of Pi ().
OBJECTIVE OF THE PI APPROXIMATION DAY

Pi Approximation Day is observed or celebrated in order to mark the Pi or approximation of EMBED Equation- twenty two over seven, where the denominator 7 represents the 7th month, i.e., July and numerator 22 represents the 22nd day of the month.
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STARTING OF THE PI DAY
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It is important to note that Pi Approximation Day is very closely related to the Pi Day which is celebrated on 14 March every year (representing the value 3.14). The Pi Day started in the year 1988. The first party for honouring this mathematical entity- Pi, was held in 1988 when Larry Shaw, a physicist at the Exploratorium, the San Francisco science museum revealed that the date was 14 March, i.e., number of the Pi (3.14). In the year 2009, the United States House of Representatives also supported the designation of Pi Day.
WHAT IS A PI ()?
Pi is the ratio of circumference of a circle divided by the distance across the circle, i.e., diameter of the circle. The value of Pi is 22/7 or 3.14. Pi is an irrational number, which means that it is not possible to calculate Pi by dividing an integer by any other integer. Pi is a never-ending and never-repeating number. The most accurate calculation of Pi is to ten trillion digits.
OBSERVANCE OF THE DAY

Pi Approximation Day is observed in a lot of ways, which include eating a pie and discussion of the significance of number . Various schools also hold competitions in order to find out which student recalls Pi to its highest number of decimal places. Apart from this, there are recitation contests as well as annual Einstein look-alike contests in certain schools and universities.
NELSON MANDELA INTERNATIONAL DAY OBSERVED ON 18 JULY

18 July: Nelson Mandela International Day Nelson Mandela International Day was observed across the world on 18 July 2013 to earmark freedom, justice and democracy. The overarching objective of Mandela Day is to inspire individuals to take action to help change the world for the better, and in doing so build a global movement for good. Ultimately it seeks to empower communities everywhere. Take Action; Inspire Change; Make Every Day a Mandela Day. In November 2009, the UN General Assembly declared 18 July as the Nelson Mandela International Day to recognize the former South African Presidents contribution to the culture of peace and freedom. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/64/13 recognizes Nelson Mandelas values and his dedication to the service of humanity, in the fields of conflict resolution, race relations, the promotion and protection of human rights, reconciliation, gender equality and the rights of children and other vulnerable groups, as well as the upliftment of poor and underdeveloped communities. It acknowledges his contribution to the struggle for democracy internationally and the promotion of a culture of peace throughout the world.
MALALA DAY OBSERVED ACROSS THE WORLD ON 12 JULY

12 July: Malala Day 12 July 2013 was observed as Malala Day across the World and by United Nations. The day is being observed by the United Nations to highlight the fight of education of the Pakistani child activist Malala Yousafzai. Seminars, conferences and other ceremonies were held across Pakistan wherein scholars, educationists and analysts participated to pay tribute to Malala, who fought for girl's education in Swat valley against the Taliban. 12 July, the day of Mala las Birth was declared as Malala Day by UN General Secretary Ban-Ki-Moon on her 16th Birthday.
ABOUT MALALA
Malala is the girl from Pakistan, who was shot in head and neck by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on 9 October 2012 for advocating girls for their right to education and speaking against Taliban.
AWARD TO AN INDIAN GIRL ON MALALA DAY

On Malala Day, UN awarded the United Nations' Special Envoy for Global Education's Youth Courage Award for Education to Razia Sulatana, a teenager from a Nanglakhumba village of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, India. Razia was opted for the award for her efforts to motivate 48 children to go school after freeing them, from child labour bondage.
WORLD POPULATION DAY OBSERVED ACROSS THE WORLD ON 11 JULY

11 July: World Population Day World Population Day was observed on 11 July 2013 across the world. The theme for the year 2013 is Focus is on Adolescent Pregnancy. In 1989, in its decision 89/46, the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) declared 11 July as the day that should be observed as World Population Day by the International Community.
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The UNDP recommended 11 July as world Population Day, in order to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues in the context of overall development plans and programmes and the need to find solutions for these issues. The 2013 World Population Day is being observed with an aim of raising awareness on the issue of adolescent pregnancy with the hope of delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted and every childbirth is safe, and every young persons potential is fulfilled. The 2013 aim has been proposed because as per reports about 16 million of girls under 18 years of age give birth to a child every year. Apart from this about 3.2 million undergoes an unsafe abortion and about 90 percent of the pregnant adolescents in the developing world are married. In case of India, pregnancy among adolescent is a serious challenge, as the latest National Family Health Survey data reports that about 3.5 percent girls in India gets married before attaining age of 18 years. This problem gives rise to early child bearing tendency among girls.
WORLD AND IMPACTS OF GROWING POPULATION

The world population went up to 7 billion people in 2011 from 2.5 billion as recorded in 1950. The population growth had profound implications on development, as this growth in population is an opportunity as well as a challenge with implications on sustainability, urbanization, access to health services and youth empowerment.
WORLD POPULATION DAY IN INDIA

Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh (JSK), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare observed the World Population Day by organising a Walk towards Population Stabilization from India Gate to Vijay Chowk. The walk was followed by a National Dialogue on Population Stabilization for a Better Tomorrow at Vigyan Bhavan. The Walk was flagged off by Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare and Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of NCT of Delhi.
ABOUT JANSANKHYA STHIRATA KOSH

The Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh (JSK) (National Population Stabilisation Fund) has been registered as an autonomous Society established under the Societies Registration Act of 1860. JSK has to promote and undertake activities aimed at achieving population stabilisation at a level consistent with the needs of sustainable economic growth, social development and environment protection, by 2045.
INDIA AND IMPACTS OF GROWING POPULATION
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As per the latest 2011 census, Indias population in India went up by 17.64 percent to 1.21 billion in a decades time during 2001--2011 in comparison to 21.15 per cent in 1991--2001. The 2001-2011 period is the first decade with exception of 1911-1921 which has actually added less population compared to the previous decade but states like UP, Bihar, MP, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh have witnessed high growth of population .
THEMES OF PAST WORLD POPULATION DAY

2012 - Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services 2011 - 7 Billion Actions 2010 - Be Counted: Say What You Need 2009 - Fight Poverty: Educate Girls 2008 - Plan Your Family, Plan Your Future 2007 - Men at Work 2006 - Being Young is Tough 2005 - Equality Empowers
STATISTICS DAY CELEBRATED ACROSS INDIA

29 June: Statistics Day The Statistics Day was celebrated across India on 29 June 2013. This day is celebrated on the occasion of Birth anniversary of Late Prof. PC Mahalanobis. The National Sample Survey Office under the Ministry of Statistics Programme Implementation celebrated this day. The Statistics Day was celebrated across the country by Offices of National Sample Survey, State Governments, Universities/Departments, Indian Statistical Institute and many more. On the occasion, lecture series, conferences, seminars, debates, quiz programmes as well as essay competitions were organised. At the national level, the primary function was held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
OBJECTIVE OF THE STATISTICS DAY

The Statistics Day is celebrated with an objective of creating public awareness among people, especially the younger generation. The idea is to prompt people to fetch inspiration from Late Prof P C Mahalanobis about role of statistics in socio-economic planning along with the policy formation.
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The day is celebrated across the country by participation of statisticians, State Directorate of Economics and Statistics personnel as well as people working in certain other departments, in the seminars. The Statistics Day is celebrated in recognition of the notable contributions made by Late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in the fields of economic planning and statistical development in India.
THEME OF STATISTICS DAY, 2013

The theme of the Statistics Day, 2013 was Labour and Employment Statistics. This was the seventh Statistics Day in a row since 2007.
MAIN ACTIVITIES THAT TOOK PLACE ON STATISTICS DAY 2013

On this occasion, National Award in Statistics which is constituted in the Honour of Prof. C.R. Rao was conferred upon Dr. Abhiman Das, who is an eminent statistician from the Central Bank of India- the Reserve Bank of India. On the occasion, he received citation, a shawl as well as a cash prize of 2 lakh Rupees. Apart from this, the India Statistics Community in the Data Portal India as well as the important Statistical Publications such as Women and Men in India 2012, Children in India 2012- A statistical appraisal, India in Figures- 2013 as well as SAARC Social Charter India Country Report 2012, were released.
REPORTS AND SURVEYS

ODISHA, BIHAR SHOWED BIGGEST DECLINE IN PERCENTAGE OF POOR
As per the latest data released by Government on 23 July 2013, Odisha and Bihar registered the sharpest decline in poverty levels between 2004-05 and 2011-12. The proportion of the poor in these states remains well above the national average. The government data reveals that in Odisha, the proportion of people below the poverty line (BPL) in total population came down from 57.2% in 2004-05 to 32.6% in 2011-12, marking decline of 24.6 percentage points. The state of Bihar witnessed a reduction of BPL by 20.7 percent. In year 2004-05 Bihar had a BPL share of 54.4% percent in its total population which drastically came down to 33.7% in year 2011-2012. So, keeping the statistics as parameter Bihar registered the fastest growth rate during the 11th five-year plan (2007-12). At national level, the share of the BPL population was estimated at 21.9%, which is almost 270 million in a population of 1.241 billion which means that every fifth Indian lives below the poverty line.
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On the other hand, the government has set the bar low and had defined that anyone who earns 27.20 rupees or less in rural areas as BPL, while one who earns up to 33.30 rupees a day in urban areas are classified as poor, though these standard vary from state to state.
SOME FACTS TO BE KNOWN

BIMARU, (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh) state still remain home to the maximum number of poor people in the country. Uttar Pradesh has just fewer than 30% of its population in the BPL group, the number adds up to almost 60 million. Bihar, ranks second in poverty level despite the improvement, and has 35.8 million poor, followed by Madhya Pradesh where 23.4 million or 31.6% of the population is BPL. Among the Bimaru states, only Rajasthan has managed to do better than the national average with the share of BPL in total population estimated at 14.7% in 2011-12, compared to 34.4% in 2004-05. Rajasthan is enhanced performer than Gujarat, popular for its rapid growth and good infrastructure. Gujarat had 16.6% people below the poverty line. On National level, there were 217 million poor in rural areas and 53 million in urban areas in 2011-12, as against 326 million and 81 million, respectively, in 2004-05.
GLOBAL CEREAL OUTPUT TO REACH ALL TIME HIGH IN 2013: UNFAO

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimated on 11 July 2013 that World cereal production is set to increase by 7 per cent in year 2013, to a record 2.479 million tonnes, predicting it would help stabilise prices in 2013-14. UNFAO closely monitored, food markets as price spikes can make worse the global hunger crisis. UNFAO has come up with report named Crop Prospects and Food Situation report.
SOME FACTS AS HIGHLIGHTED BY UNFAO

Around 868 million people in the world did not have enough to eat in the 2010-12 period. As per FAO food insecurity was on the rise in conflict-stricken countries like Syria, Egypt, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia, as well as in Madagascar, due to crop damage by locusts and a cyclone.
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FAO in its major indication came to a conclusion that the situation was said to be critical, but improving, in most parts of the Sahel region, thanks to a good cereal harvest last year, while in North Korea food insecurity is chronic. Sria's food security situation has significantly deteriorated over the past year and domestic agricultural production will further decline over the next 12 months if the present conflict continues. The FAO Mission forecasts wheat import requirement of about 1.5 million tonnes for the current 2013/2014 season. Current wheat production is 2.4 million tonnes, some 40 percent less than the annual average harvest of more than 4 million tonnes before the crisis and 15 percent lower than the reduced harvest of 2011/2012. Cereal imports of Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries for 2013/14 are estimated to rise by some 5 percent, compared to 2012/13, to meet growing demand. Egypt, Indonesia and Nigeria, in particular, are forecast to import larger volumes. As per UNFAO In total, there are 34 countries requiring external food assistance, of which 27 countries are in Africa.
ITU: 40 PERCENT OF THE GLOBAL POPULATION IS ONLINE

As per the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) survey released on 7 July 2013, approximately 40 percent of the Global population or 2.7 billion people are online in 2013. In India it is 13 percent. In the developing world, 31 per cent of the population is online in comparison to 77 per cent in the developed world. Most governments have given broadband penetration utmost importance. Mobile broadband is expected to dominate the choice of technology. As per the ITU survey, a U.N. agency, the highest Internet penetration rate was detected in Europe, where 75 per cent of the population has access to Internet. The United States, with 61 per cent penetration, stands was found the second highest amongst regions with 61 percent penetration. Africa has nearly 16 per cent of its citizens using the Net while in Asia-Pacific region one out of every three citizens has access to the Internet. ITU survey found that 37 per cent of all women are online at global level as compared with 41 per cent of all men. Approximately, 1.5 billion men and 1.3 billion women have access to the Internet. According to the ITU, 41 per cent or nearly 750 million households have access to the Internet by 2013 at Global level. In the developed world, 78 per cent of households have got the Internet. In 2013, approximately 1.1 billion homes across the world, of which 90 per cent are in the developing world dont have access to the Internet. According to a McKinsey & Co. report released in December 2012, Internet users will be doubled in India from 160 million to 330
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million by 2015. Indias National Telecom Policy envisages 175 million broadband subscribers by 2017 and 600 million by 2020.
GHAZIABAD AND ALLAHABAD ARE THE MOST AIR POLLUTED CITIES

Ghaziabad and Allahabad emerged as the two most air polluted cities in Uttar Pradesh according to a recent survey conducted by a research and advocacy organization called CSE. The report of the survey was released on 2 July 2013. The survey conducted by Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) found pollutants of the size of 10 micron in Ghaziabad, Allahabad, Kanpur and Bareilly, which was four times the acceptable size of particulates in urban areas. It also found air pollution levels three times more than the prescribed limits in Lucknow, Firozabad, Agra, Mathura, Khurja, Saharanpur, Moradabad and Gajraula. The air quality in Unnao, however, has come out as the cleanest despite a heavy presence of tanneries in the town. The amount of nitrogen-dioxide is found to be increasing dangerously in Meerut, Gorakhpur, Ghaziabad and Kanpur. It is highest in Meerut and lowest in Rae Bareilly, the survey said. Sulphur-dioxide has been found mixed in the air at dangerous levels in Khurja and Ghaziabad. The presence of multipollutants has been found in cities like Mathura, Khurja and Ghaziabad. The study also revealed that in most cities, the manifold increase in the number of vehicles emerged as the leading source of pollution. In the state capital Lucknow, Vikasnagar, Chowk, Amausi and Charbagh localities have been found to be pollution hot spots. CSE stated that serious and sustained efforts are needed to minimize the air pollution in these areas of the city. It added that the growing use of diesel was a major contributor to the growing air pollution levels. CSE also said that emissions were leading to serious ailments and diseases like cancer and besides all, poor traffic management and growing number of vehicles are also adding to the scourge.
TAJ MAHAL RANKED AMONG THE TOP THREE LANDMARKS

TripAdvisor's 2013 Travellers Choice Attractions Awards ranked India's Taj Mahal among the top three landmarks in the world. Taj Mahal was ranked third in the list of Top 25 landmarks. The top two places were taken by Machu Picchu in Peru and Angkor Wat in Cambodia respectively. The winners of Travelers' Choice Attractions awards were determined based on the quality and quantity of traveler reviews of attractions. Taj Mahal, listed among the new Seven Wonders of the World, is renowned the world over for its architecture and aesthetic beauty. Built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his
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late wife Mumtaz Mahal, the white marble mausoleum in the northern Indian city of Agra is also a symbol of enduring love.
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In 1983, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Taj Mahal attracts 2-4 million visitors annually, with more than 200000 from overseas. It shares the latest honour alongside Petra World Heritage Site in Jordan and Bayon Temple in Cambodia, which are ranked fourth and fifth respectively in the list of 25 top landmarks in the world.
PLACES IN NEWS
INCHEON WAS NAMED AS WORLD BOOK CAPITAL FOR THE YEAR 2015
Incheon: named as the World Book Capital for the year 2015. Incheon is in South Korea. UNESCO announced on 19 July 2013 that the committee in charge of international book industry named South Korean city of Incheon as the World Book Capital for the year 2015. The nomination was made by an international committee of experts representing the book industry and UNESCO, who met on 16 July 2013 at Paris headquarters of UNESCO. UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova endorsed the committee's decision and welcomed the number and quality of applications received by UNESCO for the title of World Book Capital 2015. The nomination does not imply any financial prize, but an exclusively symbolic acknowledgement of the best programme dedicated to books and reading. Incheon comes as the 15th city to be crowned with World Book Capital, after Bangkok in 2013 and Port Harcourt in 2014.
BENGALURU INT. AIRPORT RENAMED AS KEMPEGOWDA INT. AIRPORT

Bengaluru International Airport, Karnataka: The Union Cabinet of India on 17 July 2013 gave approval to rename the Bengaluru International Airport as Kempegowda International Airport. The demand to rename the airport was pending since a long time. The demand came from people of Karnataka along with the State Government of Karnataka.
ABOUT THE BENGALURU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (BIA)

Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) is the first and foremost Greenfield Airport in South India. It was commissioned as well as became operational on 24 May 2008.
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Bengaluru International Airport is owned as well operated by the Bengaluru International Airport Pvt. Limited (BIAL). The main shareholders in this group are KSSIDC (an entity of the Government of Karnataka), the Airports Authority of India, GVK Group, Siemens and Zurich Airport. Bengaluru International Airport is said to be the fifth busiest airport of India. It has been built over the area of 4000 acres.
BACKGROUND
The unanimous resolution was passed by the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on 10 December 2012. A similar resolution was passed by the Legislative Council in order to rename the Bengaluru International Airport as Kempegowda International Airport. Hiriya Kempegowda, who was popularly called Kempegowda was a ruler under the Vijayanagar Empire. He ruled almost all the parts of Karnataka during 16th century. He was also said to be the founder of the city of Bengaluru. Kempegowda built Bengaluru Fort. He also moved his capital from Yelahanka to the new Bengaluru.
NATIONAL AVIATION UNIVERSITY TO BE SET UP IN RAE BARELI, UP

The Union Cabinet of India on 11 July 2013 approved the proposal for setting up of a National Aviation University (NAU) in the name of Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University at the District of Rae Bareli in the State of UP as a Central University for providing aviation training. The Cabinet also approved the proposal to introduce the Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University Bill, 2013 in the Parliament; to create a post of Vice Chancellor (with pay scales on the pattern of Central Universities) by selection through a Search and Selection Committee headed by Cabinet Secretary with members representing Ministries of Civil Aviation, Personnel & Training and Human Resource Development and for creation of a temporary post in the grade of Joint secretary to Government of India for the position of Project Director which would be filled up on deputation basis.
CHINESE TROOPS INTRUDED IN CHUMAR SECTOR OF LADAKH

Chumar Sector in Ladakh: Intrusion of Chinese troops Chinese Troops on 17 June 2013 intruded into the Chumar Sector of Ladakh. This is the same area that sparked off tensions between the two sides in April 2013. The troops of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) intruded the Chumar sector and vandalized the observation bunkers and cut-down the wires of cameras, which were used to overlook the Chinese www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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Chumar that is located at a distance of 300 kilometers from Leh is the only area along the SinoIndian border, where the Chinese troop doesnt have a direct access to the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Thus this region has always been an area of discomfort for the Chinese troops. Earlier, in April 2013 a 21-day face-off between the troops of the both nations started on 15 April in the remote area of Daulat Beg Oldi Sector took place on construction of the observation tower in Chumar Division. To defuse the crisis situation, army dismantled the tower on 5 May 2013. Chumar is a remote village on Ladakh-Himachal Pradesh border. China has always claimed the village as its own territory. The area is almost inaccessible for the Chinese side, whereas, India has its road till the last point in the area.
TERMS AND ABBREVIATION

TYPHOON SOULIK STUCK TAIWAN, KILLED ONE AND INJURED 21
Typhoon Soulik: Struck Taiwan Typhoon Soulik struck Taiwan on 12 July 2013 and brought in heavy torrential rain and strong wind killing one person and leaving injured 21. Due to the extreme weather conditions, more than 8500 people were evacuated from the mountains and other dangerous areas. This is the first typhoon, to hit Taiwan in 2013. Typhoon Soulik is a medium-force typhoon with wind speeds of around 173 kilometres per hour. The strong winds and heavy rain caused electricity disruptions, a run on food and essential supplies in supermarkets, and uprooted trees and signs in some areas.
MERS, A NEW RESPIRATORY VIRUS FOUND IN SAUDI ARABIA

MERS: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome is a New Respiratory Virus related to SARS spread in Saudi Arabia A new respiratory virus related to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) has killed 39 people in Saudi Arabia. Scientists have named this respiratory virus as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The new virus is related to the respiratory virus SARS that killed more than 800 people across the world in 2003. It belongs to a family of viruses that most often cause the common cold. SARS emerged in China. As per the clinical analysis undertaken by the British and Saudi researchers, the MERS virus bears similarities to SARS virus, but there also exists important differences between the two.
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As per the data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) the MERS coronavirus that emerged in 2012 has killed 45 deaths across the world. WHO confirmed the data based on the reports of 90 laboratories. It also issued a travel guide for the pilgrims going on Haj in Saudi Arabia stating that the health risk caused by the virus was relatively low. The identified symptoms of MERS include fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath and muscle pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhoea and vomiting. The cases of MERS have been identified in the Middle East - with patients in Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Few cases related to it were also seen in France, Italy, Germany, Tunisia and the United Kingdom.
AIRTEL RISING STARS, I NDIAS U -16 SOCCER TALENT HUNT

ARS 2013: Airtel Rising Star 2013 Bharti Airtel on 9 July 2013 announced the commencement of the second edition of 'Airtel Rising Stars' (ARS). Airtel Rising Stars is Indias largest under-16 soccer talent hunt, which was started in association with Manchester United in year 2012. 'Airtel Rising Stars' is a thorough exploration program which will screen young footballers across India for capabilities and skill sets basis their performance in tests, real time match simulations etc.
SOME FACTS ABOUT AIRTEL RISING STARS

The ARS program is open to individual entries and evaluate students from over 450 schools spread across 7 cities in India, and will finally handpick the country' top 11 under-16 footballers who will get the chance-of-a-lifetime to attend a week-long training camp with Manchester United Soccer Schools and possibly kick-off a career in professional football. 'Airtel Rising Stars' is India's largest under-16 soccer talent hunt which will give 11 promising youngsters the chance-of-a-lifetime to train with Manchester United Soccer School and possibly kick-off a career in professional football. The Airtel rising Stars is going to start from August 2013, and will be a 3-month long InterSchools Tournament-cum-talent hunt involving participation from soccer players representing over 450 schools in seven cities, as well as individual players, before finally hand-picking the best performers who will get the chance of a lifetime to attend week-long coaching clinic with Manchester United Soccer School coaches. At the end, the 30 players in the final selection trials will be trained for five days under coaches of the Manchester United Soccer Schools (MUSS) in Goa and will be tested on all structure and composition (including physical attributes, individual skills, match situations and their
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performances in actual matches) before 11 of the best players are chosen to travel to Manchester for a week and will be trained along with the Manchester United - Under 21 team.
MISCELLANEOUS
UNION GOVERNMENT TO LAUNCH BHARAT MOBILE SCHEME
The Union government of India on 30 July 2013 planned to launch Bharat Mobile Scheme under, which one member of every rural household who has completed 100 days of work under MGNREGA can get free mobile device. The new scheme is aimed at empowerment. The mobile may be provided per household preferably to a woman and the handset will come with a threeyear warranty. The mobile device for The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act workers will be non-transferable as it will also be customized for transfer of benefits of different government programmes like direct cash transfers scheme. According to initial proposal, selected telecom operators will be asked to provide mobile devices. Distribution would be done by the service providers in coordination with district administration. The mobile numbers in the device is expected to work as first level authentication to identify and inform the beneficiary of scheme, sources said. Around 5 crore households have been provided work in year 2012-13. The proposal for Bharat Mobile Scheme was mooted by Planning Commission of India.
COMPLEMENTARY FEEDING SHOULD BEGIN AT THE AGE OF SIX MONTHS

Medical experts opined, in the month of July 2013, that complementary feeding for the infants should begin at the age of six months, apart from the mothers milk. The medical experts explained that by this time, the digestive system of the infants become mature enough to process the complementary foods. It is also important to note that beginning of the complementary feeding to infants can also lead to under-nutrition as well as under-developed immune system.
UNDERSTANDING COMPLEMENTARY FOOD

Complementary food should be very appropriate, which means that it needs to have sufficient nutrition as well as energy. The complementary food given to the infants should be very smooth in texture and it should be easy to digest. It is important to note that infants, in particular, have high energy requirement, but also their stomach is very small in size. Hence, the complementary food given to them
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should be high in energy content. Energy requirements of the infants are very high during first year of the life of infants. Another important factor to be considered is that the diet should have good fat content because it is an important determinant for the energy density. In case, the appetite is poor, there is a need of higher proportion. Foods that have high energy density are very rich in fat, but are also low on the water content. These kinds of foods include eggs, ghee, cheese and butter. On the other hand, the foods that have high water content have lower energy density. These foods include porridge made using water, boiled rice, low-fat yogurt, fruits and vegetables as well as soups and stews. Feeding the infants with low-energy foods on a regular basis can cause an adverse effect on their stamina as well as physical strength. The complementary foods should therefore contain higher amounts of fibre, minerals as well as vitamins.
SOURCE OF THE COMPLEMENTARY FEEDING

The medical experts explained that complementary feeding can be sourced from a range of food groups. This can enable a child to get vital nutrients, thereby ensuring optimum development and growth. The groups of food from which complementary feeding can be sourced include meat, fish and poultry products, eggs, fruits and vegetables, grains, roots and tubers, legumes and nuts, fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamin A and finally, the dairy products. Giving complementary foods to a child from at least four out of these groups, everyday can ensure a well-balanced nutrition and optimum growth of a child.
PREPARING THE COMPLEMENTARY FOODS FOR INFANTS

It is very important to note that the infants are highly vulnerable to infections. Therefore, their foods should be prepared while keeping in mind the vital parameters of hygiene and safety. Food-borne illness can take place in the infants in case the food is not properly cooked or is kept at a room temperature for a long time, or if the cooking equipment is contaminated. Also, illness related to food can occur in the infants in case the hands are not properly washed before the infant is fed.
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It is important to note that the best way to prepare the complementary food for the infants is to prepare it fresh. Or, it should be consumed in just one or two hours after cooking, especially during the hot climate. It is also important to ensure that the complementary foods are prepared thoroughly because high temperature during the cooking process is required to kill the bacteria. Lukewarm food should be fed to the infants. While introducing complementary foods to the infants for the first time, it is essential to note that the products which do not cause allergy to the babies should be chosen. The foods devoid of colours, artificial flavours, preservatives and harmful chemicals, should be chosen for complementary feeding.
AMOUNT OF COMPLEMENTARY FOOD REQUIRED BY THE INFANTS

According to the WHO report of complementary feeding called the Report of the global consultation convened jointly by the Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development and the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development at Geneva from 10 to 13 December 2001, it was recommended that for the beginning, complementary foods should start at six months of age with small amounts of food and the quantity should be increased as the child grows older. During this time, it is also important to maintain the frequent breastfeeding. The energy needs from complementary foods for infants with average breast milk intake in the developing countries are approximately 200 kcal per day at 68 months of age, 300 kcal per day at 911 months of age, and 550 kcal per day at 1223 months of age. In the industrialized countries, the estimates were different. These were 130, 310 and 580 kcal/d at 68, 911 and 1223 months, respectively. The difference occurred because of difference in the average breast milk intake.
INDIA TOPPED IN THE CHART OF SRI LANKAS FOREIGN VISITORS

Sri Lankan Tourism Development Authority released a data of tourists on 18 July 2013, which claimed that India topped the charts of foreign tourists to the island nation. As per the report, over 83 thousand Indians visited, the Sri Lanka in the first half of this year of which 13000 Indian visitors in June 2013 alone. India was followed by Britain and Germany with 55 thousand and 36 thousand visitors. Sri Lanka has set a target of attracting 1.25 million tourists to the country in 2013, of which more than half a million people visited the nation by June 2013.
INDIA EMERGED AS THE 2 ND LARGEST INVESTOR IN CITY OF LONDON
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India in the month of July 2013 has come into view as the second largest investor in the city of London with Indian companies led by software major Infosys encouraged by the investment fervour generated by the 2012 Olympic Games in the British capital. Software services firm Infosys leads the charge of inner Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) made by a total of 28 Indian companies, which has created 429 additional jobs for the British economy in the in year 2012 alone. India is a very important market for London and Olympics has provided the perfect opportunity for Indians to come and experience London and resulted in more Indian companies setting up in London. India has seen exceptional growth and there are a large number of areas of common interest, such as transport and city planning, where India and United Kingdom are planning to work together. India brought in a large amount of the 2.5 billion pounds additional foreign investment into the UK since the Games and Indian FDI projects in 2012-13 are estimated to generate 24 million Pounds in gross value added for Londons economy over the next three years. Information and communications technology (ICT) was the key sector in terms of Indian FDI into London, which is followed by financial services and retail. In the financial services sector, Axis Bank stood out for setting up its global operations in London as a direct consequence of discussions during the mayoral visit to India in November 2012.
DTAB RECOMMENDED LIFTING BAN ON DRUG, PIOGLITAZONE

The Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) on 19 July 2013 recommended for revoking the ban on Pioglitazone an oral anti-diabetic drug, which was banned on 18 June 2013. DTAB also recommended that the medicine should be sold with a boxed warning (that the drug carries a significant risk of serious or even life-threatening adverse effects). The recommendations were sent to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, which will in turn issue the formal orders. The Expert Committee meeting convened on 11 July 2013, took the decision of the lifting the ban on Piogltazone. The Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of Director General of Health Services Jagdish Prasad has constituted when the Government was severely criticised by diabetologists for acting in haste and without conducting any scientific study in the country. India approved Pioglitazone more than a decade ago and many people are using this drug. The Ministry banned Piogiltazone based on a letter sent in January 2013 to the Drug Control General of India (DCGI) by the Chennai-based diabetologist Dr. V. Mohan, chairman of Dr. Mohans Diabetes Specialities Centre.
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The market for Pioglitazone in India is estimated at 700 crore Rupees annually and major players, such as Ranbaxy, Cipla and Sun Pharma, manufacture the drug. The drug was banned in France in 2010, but it is still using in the US, the UK and other countries, with a warning label.
PUDUCHERRY GOVT LISTED WINE AS FOOD ITEM TO ATTRACT TOURISTS

The Puducherry government on 17 July 2013 delinked wine from the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) category and listed as a food item to attract more tourists to the state. With the Governments decision, wine will not flow freely into the town as the ban on sale of wine bottles in general stores will continue as usual and sale will be allowed only in licensed IMFL shops, and hotels. The government also reduced excise duty on wine to increase the volume of sale. The decision was taken in accordance with the expectation of tourists from neighbouring areas that had stopped visiting the town in recent months because of increase in excise duty that took the prices of premium varieties almost equivalent to Tamil Nadu.
WHO ASKED INDIA TO BAN PESTICIDE THAT KILLED CHILDREN IN BIHAR

The United Nations Health agency, the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggested India in 2009 to consider a ban on Monocrotophos, the pesticide blamed for the poisoning of mid day meal in Bihar on 16 July 2013. The pesticide that killed 23 schoolchildren in Bihar's Chhapra district was banned in many countries as per the directions from the WHO, because of its high acute toxicity. However in India, Monocrotophos is widely used and easily available pesticide. WHO had also warned that in India, against strong International health warnings, many pesticide containers are not thrown away after use but recycled and used for storing water, food and other consumables. In Bihar's case, the children fell ill within minutes of eating their mid-day meal in their one-room primary school. They started vomiting and convulsing with stomach pains - symptoms that experts say would be common in poisoning with such a toxic chemical. Forensic investigation found the meal had been prepared with cooking oil that contained Monocrotophos. According to WHO, swallowing just 120 milligrams of Monocrotophos can be fatal to humans. Initial symptoms of taking chemical are sweating, vomiting, blurred vision and foaming at the mouth.
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ABOUT MONOCROTOPHOS
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Monocrotophos a substance that belongs to a family of chemicals called organophosphates that share a common mechanism of toxic action. Monocrotophos affects the central nervous system by inhibiting cholinesterase, an enzyme essential for normal nerve impulse transmission. The countries and regions that have banned monocrotophos use include Australia, Cambodia, China, the European Union, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and the US. Importing Monocrotophos is illegal in 46 countries.
SRI LANKA BANNED FILM FLYING FISH

Flying Fish: Ban imposed on the film in Sri Lanka The Government of Sri Lanka on 15 July 2013 announced a ban on the movie, Flying Fish. The government claimed that the film, Flying Fish, insulted the Government as well as the Security Forces of the country. Lakshman Hulugalla, the Director General of the Government's Media Centre for National Security claimed that the Flying Fish was banned in Sri Lanka because, the creators of the film used images of the Sri Lankan military uniform, without permission from the Ministry of Defense. Earlier, the Government suspended the Film Festival organized by the French embassy in Colombo after the screening of the film, Flying Fish. The film was directed by the Sri Lankan filmmaker, Sanjeewa Pushpakumara. The film had its world premiere in 2011. It has also won international recognition in film festivals across the world.
MASS CANINE VACCINAT ION DRIVE IN GOA FROM 1 SEPTEMBER 2013

An all India Mass Canine Vaccination Drive called Norma Alvares is scheduled to begin in the coastal state of Goa from 1 September 2013. Norma Alvares, member of Animal Welfare Board of India, said the drive across India is being held by the Board in association with Worldwide Veterinary Service and Dogs Trust. The implementation of the programme in Goa will be in selected municipalities and panchayats of North Goa district in the first week of September and in South Goa district in the third week of September 2013. The target is to vaccinate 50000 dogs in 30 days in the states of Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Assam. The programme will culminate in Assam on World Rabies Day that is celebrated on 28 September 2013. Over a third of human cases of rabies in the world are reported from India. Dog bites are most often the cause of
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rabies. The majority of the people who die of rabies are from the poor and marginal communities. Due to fear of the disease, thousands of dogs have been indiscriminately and inhumanely killed every year across India, without bringing any solution to the problem of rabies.
ABOUT NORMA ALVARES

Norma Alvares, the environment and animal welfare activist in Goa, is a recipient of the Padma Shri Award.
CSIR SET TO LAUNCH ITS FASTEST SUPERCOMPUTER

CSIR in month of July 2013 declared that, it is all set to launch its fastest supercomputer at Indias first ever big data science institute in Bangalore. The launch of Super Computer by CSIR will mark its entry into the new field of data intensive scientific discovery. The supercomputer is supposed to have a speed of 360 tera flops, which will make it the fourth fastest country in the country and will be housed in by the CSIR Fourth Paradigm Institute (CSIR-4PI). With the launch of Supercomputer, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is deciding to re-position its Bangalore-based Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation to deal with data intensive scientific discovery, which has came out as the fourth paradigm of science. The supercomputer situated in the Bangalore-based 4PI will form the backbone of the new venture which will connect CSIR laboratories located in Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Srinagar, Chennai, Chandigarh, and Nagpur. The laboratories based at these centers will have computing facilities between 10 and 50 tera flop capacity and is going to be linked to the supercomputer using the National Knowledge Network thus connecting 200 scientists and over 1000 students in the identified domain areas.
MULTIPLE BLASTS ROCKED MAHABODHI TEMPLE AT BODH GAYA

Multiple blasts rocked the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar on 7 July 2013 one of the holiest Buddhist shrines. Nine, low intensity bombs rocked the temple premises leaving injured two monks (one from Tibet and the other was a Myanmar National) at 5 am. The sanctum sanctorum and the Bodhi Tree of the temple that is believed to be the place, where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment didnt, suffered any damage. To invest into the terror attacks, a five-member NIA team that comprises a DIG and two SPs reached was sent to Bodh Gaya by a special plane from New Delhi. Of the nine blasts that rocked Mahabodhi temple, four took place inside the temple complex, three in Karmapa Monastery and one near the 80 feet Buddha statue and the bus stand each. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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ABOUT MAHABODHI TEMPLE AND ITS IMPORTANCE
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The history of Bodhgaya is about 2500 years old. In the sixth century B.C., Prince Siddhartha Gautama attained supreme enlightenment at this holy place and became the Buddha. In tribute of this event Emperor Ashoka set-up the Vajrasana (Diamond Throne) of polished sandstone representing the seat of enlightenment in 3rd century B.C. Further a Thereafter, he built a stupa in veneration of the Buddha, which remained there up to the second century A.D. The original structure of Mahabodhi Mahavihara temple was completed in seventh century A.D. during the reign of Gupta kings. The gold painted statue of Buddha in the sanctum shrine of the Temple is made of Black stone built by the Pala kings of Bengal. The Buddha is seen seated in the Bhumisparsa Mudra or the Earth touching posture. The Mahabodhi Mahavihara has now been declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO on the 27th June 2002.
AIRCRAFT DE HAVILLAND DHC3 CRASHED NEAR SOLDOTNA AIRPORT

Ten people died in an air-taxi plane crash on 8 July 2013 at the Soldotna Airport in Alaska. A team of National Transportation Safety Board was sent to investigate into the reasons of crash. The single-engine aircraft de Havilland DHC3 Otter burst into flames at 11 am local time of Soldotna that is located about 75 miles southwest of Anchorage. This is the second air accident within two days, earlier a Boeing jetliner crashed on 7 July 2013 and burned at San Francisco International Airport. Two people were killed and leaving behind more than 100 people injured.
A STRONG EARTHQUAKE RIPPED THROUGH CHINA'S GANSU PROVINCE

A strong earthquake ripped through China's northwestern Gansu Province. The quake, measuring 6.6 on Richter scale, shook the area at the junction of the Minxian County and Zhangxian County. The epicenter, with a depth of 20 km, was 170 km away from the provincial capital Lanzhou. A 5.6-magnitude quake jolted the same area later in the morning. Communication was cut off in 13 towns of Zhangxian County. The Minxian County government stated that most of the townships in the county have been affected by the quake. The townships of Meichuan and Puma were seriously hit. Many homes in the quake-hit region collapsed. The earthquake was also felt in Tianshui city and the provincial capital city of Lanzhou besides in the cities of Xi'an, Baoji and Xianyang in neighboring Shaanxi Province.
UNION GOVT CONSTITUTED EGOM HEADED BY P CHIDAMBARAM

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The Union government of India on 17 July 2013 constituted an empowered Group of Ministers, EGoM, under the Chairmanship of Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, for timely implementation of major projects related to the North-Eastern region. The EGoM will include Home Minister, Power Minister and Minister of DoNER (Development of North Eastern Region). The matters pertaining to the various projects, which cannot be resolved during the meeting of Committee of Secretaries headed by the Cabinet Secretary, will be referred to the EGoM for further action.
URDU GHAZALS WRITTEN BY SAVARKAR IN ANDAMAN JAIL FOUND

Two Ghazals in Urdu written by freedom fighter, Veer Savarkar during the days of his 11-year imprisonment, in the Andaman Cellular Jail has been discovered by a Dadar based Institute. The ghazals are a part of the notebook kept by Savarkar in the prison and are patriotic in nature. The Ghazals are written in the sublime form of the Urdu Poetry and are written in fluent Urdu. The notebook was discovered by Manjiri Marathe, from the collection of books handed over to her by late S P Gokhale, an associate of Savarkar. Manjiti is a trustee of the Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak and daughter of S P Gokhale. The two ghazals portrays, that runs into five pages states about Savarkar's hope for the freedom of India. Savarkar was imprisoned from 1910 to 1921, in the Andamans. The notebook that contains, the Urdu Ghazal also includes two Hindi poems The notebook is a handmade and its cover has been designed by sticking the jail records together. As first part, the notebook includes the pictures of Rama, Krishna, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Shivaji, Lokmanya Tilak, Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi, which is just like a scrapbook and the cover used is taken from cover-page of Marathi magazine Chitramay Jagat. The notebook was placed on display at the Smarak opposite Shivaji Park maidan in fourth week of July 2013 and then would be shifted to a museum of Indian revolutionaries being developed by the Smarak.
ABOUT VEER SAVARKAR

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar born on 28 May 1883 in village Bhagur, near Nashik, Maharashtra was a freedom fighter. He was commonly known as Swatantryaveer Savarkar He also was an eminent social reformer, writer, dramatist, poet, historian, political leader and philosopher. He was a pioneer of the movement for religious reform in Hindu culture by doing away the caste system prevalent within it. He coined the term Hindutva.
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He was the founder of the student societies that included Abhinav Bharat Society and the Free India Society. His published work the Indian War of Independence about the Indian rebellion of 1857 was banned by British authorities. Due to his connection with the revolutionary group India House, he was arrested in 1910, after which he was sentenced with two life terms of imprisonment that totaled to fifty years, and was moved to the Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In 1921 after renouncing the revolutionary activities he was released under restrictions after signing a plea for clemency. The airport at Port Blair the capital of Andaman and Nicobar's has been named as Veer Savarkar International Airport. Commemorative blue plaque on India House that is fixed by the Historic Building and Monuments Commission for England reads Vinayak Damodar Savarkar 1883-1966, Indian patriot and philosopher lived here.
ARCHEOLOGISTS UNCOVERED KING DAVID'S PALACE OF JUDEA

The Israel Antiquities Authorities on 18 July 2013 announced that during a joint excavation programme led by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, two of the largest structures from the Kingdom of Judea were uncovered. Kingdom of Judah was a state established during the Iron Age in the Southern Levant. The two structures have been identified as the Palace of the King David and the large storage structure of the Kingdom, by the researchers namely Prof. Yossi Garfinkel and Saar Ganor. The uncovered structures presents the evidence of the state of the building and administrative organisation, during the reign of King David and his central authority in Judah. The results of seven year long, excavation will also help the researchers in developing an understanding of the origins of the Kingdom of Judah. As per the archeologists, there exists the probability that the site (named Khirbet Qeiyafa) was destroyed in the battle against the Philistines in 980 BC.
SCIENTISTS DISCOVERED NEW TREATMENT FOR SCHIZOPHRENIC

Researchers in Finland, in the first week of July 2013 discovered that by giving a very large dose of famotidine (200 mg daily), it is possible to affect the Histamine System in the Brain. Famotidine was used for the treatment of heartburn since the 1980s, but at regular dosing, famotidine almost does not enter the brain at all, since the brain is protected by the bloodbrain barrier. By increasing the dosage five-fold the drug is able to enter the brain and affect the histamine system.
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The team of researchers led by Professor Jesper Jesper Ekelund observed that after one week the symptoms of people having schizophrenia started to decrease and after four weeks of treatment the symptoms decreased significantly. Thirty people having schizophrenia participated in the study. The patients had been on sickness pension for at least five years. They were randomly divided into two groups, one which received famotidine and one which received placebo.
PRE-NATAL HEALTH CARE FACILITIES TO PREGNANT WOMEN

Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on 16 July 2013 announced that the government would provide free pre-natal health care and ambulance facilities to pregnant women across the country. Under the Janani Suraksha Yojna (JSY) scheme pregnant women are provided free medical treatment during the delivery and post natal care. The Pregnant women will be given free medical and ambulance facilities from conception to delivery. Earlier, all the benefits were provided after the woman delivered baby in the Government hospital but now free treatment and transport facility would be provided during the entire pregnancy period as well. And the baby born would be given free treatment for 1 year. This is the first scheme of its kind. These women will also be able to avail free consultation from doctors at government hospitals for 45 days from delivery and infants will be given free treatment at the hospitals for one year. The adolescent children will be provided weekly supplements of iron and Folic Acid to prevent anaemic diseases in the children.
UNION GOVERNMENT APPROVED A FREE TRADE LPG SCHEME

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on 24 July 2013 approved a Free Trade LPG (FTL) Scheme for selling five Kg LPG cylinders through Company Owned Retail Outlets (COCO) of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). Under the scheme, COCO Retail Outlets will sell 5 kg LPG cylinders at Non-domestic (commercial) prices. The LPG sold under the scheme will be called as Free Trade LPG (FTL). A five-kg cylinder will cost between 362 rupees and 375 rupees. The scheme will be launched on a pilot basis in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore where these cylinders will be sold with or without domestic pressure regulator (DPR). The decision was taken in view of the fact that over the years, a new category of consumers have emerged especially in big cities, who are mobile and do not want a permanent LPG connection but still require LPG for their needs. Such customers need flexibility for getting the LPG cylinders as per their convenience and their needs can also be fulfilled by smaller quantities of LPG. The prospective customer at the time of first sale would only be required to give a copy of Voter I-Card, Driving license, Pan Card, Aadhaar Card, Bank Pass book, Employees ID, Passport,
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Student ID or any other such document that can act as a proof of identity. At the time of first sale cost of equipment (DPR plus cylinder), cost of product at prevailing Non- domestic 5kg cylinders price and administrative charges will be payable. At the time of subsequent refill only the cost of product will be payable. The government scheme would make LPG available for those citizens who are always on the move because of their professional needs.
JUDICIAL COMMISSION ON AFSPA HIGHLIGHTED MISUSE OF THE ACT

The Judicial Commission on Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) appointed by the Supreme Court of India submitted a 100 page report to the Court in the third week of July 2013. The report has highlighted the rampant misuse of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Manipur. The judicial commission also noted that the Act has failed in tackling the insurgencies and the armed forces were indulged in gross violation of Human Rights. The Commission in its findings has also noted that the Act was abused widely and several encounters under the blanket of the Act, carried out in the North-Eastern states, were fake. The report submitted by the commission also mentioned that the activities of the forces appear as if they believed a priori that the suspects involved in the encounters had to be eliminated and the forces acted accordingly. The Commission investigated on six sample cases of encounters and didnt found them genuine and maximum force was used to kill people. The commission in its findings stated that the Act provided sweeping powers to the security forces even to the extent of killing the suspected person with protection against prosecution but the Act failed to provide protection to the citizens against the possible misuse. The commission also noted that in general cases, the greater the power, the greater the restraint and stricter the mechanism to prevent its misuse or abuse. But in case of the AFSPA in Manipur this principle appears to have been reversed. The Judicial Commission on AFSPA was headed by Santosh Hegde the former Judge of Supreme Court and included J.M. Lyngdoh former Chief of Election Commission and A.K. Singh, retired IPS officer as its members. The commission was formed by the Supreme Court to probe into the alleged cases of extra judicial killings in Manipur after receiving complaints related to 1500 fake encounter deaths that occurred in Manipur in last 10 years in September 2012. The Extra Judicial Execution Victim Families Association (EEVFAM) along with Human Rights Alert (HRA) demanded investigations into the deaths. Earlier, the Justice Verma Committee that filed its report with the measures to curb sexual violence also highlighted the misuse of AFSPA by army personnel. The Verma committee suggested bringing in the sexual violence against women by armed forces or uniformed personnel into the range of Ordinary Criminal Law.
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Comment: The report from the Judicial Commission headed by Santosh Hegde has been submitted at the time, when the demand for removal of AFSPA is at its height across all the states (Jammu and Kashmir and North-eastern States), where the law is in existence.
STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE FINALISED GST REPORT

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on 20 July 2013 finalised its GST (Goods and Services Tax) report. The report would be tabled in the parliament during its Monsoon season that is scheduled to begin from 5 August 2013. The GST Bill was introduced in the Parliament in 2010 and since then was being examined by the Standing Committee on Finance. The proposed GST aims towards bringing in a common tax regime for goods and services by including most of the indirect taxes and would be beneficial in increasing the revenue collection. Earlier, several deadlines were missed-out by the standing committee in submission of the report due to the differences between the central and the state governments. The governments at the two levels had issues of central sales tax, compensation to states and design of GST structure.
ABOUT PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE AND ITS TYPES

Parliamentary Committee means a Committee, which is appointed or elected by the House or nominated by the Speaker and which works under the direction of the Speaker and presents its report to the House or to the Speaker and the Secretariat for which is provided by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. By their nature, Parliamentary Committees are of two kinds: Standing Committees and Ad hoc Committees. Standing Committees are permanent and regular committees which are constituted from time to time in pursuance of the provisions of an Act of Parliament or Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. The work of these Committees is of continuous nature. The Financial Committees, DRSCs and some other Committees come under the category of Standing Committees. Ad hoc Committees are appointed for a specific purpose and they cease to exist when they finish the task assigned to them and submit a report. The principal Ad hoc Committees are the Select and Joint Committees on Bills. Railway Convention Committee, Joint Committee on Food Management in Parliament House Complex etc also comes under the category of ad hoc Committees.
CLEAN INDIA CAMPAIGN AT WORLD HERITAGE SITE LAUNCHED

The Union Minister of State for Tourism K. Chiranjeevi on 24 July 2013 launched the Clean India campaign at world heritage site Taj Mahal, Agra.
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The Clean India Campaign is an initiative of Union Ministry of Tourism under the 12th Five Year Plan with the objective to increase tourist arrivals to the country and to improve the quality of services and provide a hygienic environment in and around tourist destinations across the country. At this launching ceremony as a part of Corporate Social Responsibility, ONGC has taken up the maintenance of the Taj Mahal complex.
ONGC ADOPTED TAJ MAHAL

Taj Mahal, the 17th Century marble tomb, has adopted by ONGC under Clean India Campaign on 24 July 2013. Taj Mahal is the second site to adopt under this project. The first one was Qutub Minar in the Delhi which was adopted by the India Tourism Development Corporation in June 2012. ONGC will take care of providing drinking water facilities, cleaning, providing uniform signage in and around the premises, placing of garbage bins, various repair and replacement work, management and garbage clearance, landscaping, tourist help-desks and deployment of volunteers for better management. In addition to Taj Mahal, ONGC would adopt five other monuments the Ellora and Elephanta Caves in Maharashtra, Red Fort in Delhi, Golkonda Fort in Hyderabad, and Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu.
ASI WAS ENTRUSTED WITH THE RESTORATION OF KEDARNATH TEMPLE

Culture Ministry of India on 2 July 2013 entrusted ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) with the restoration of the Kedarnath Temple in Uttarakhand which was damaged due to the recent floods. Kedarnath Mandir (Kedarnath Temple) is one of the holiest Hindu temples dedicated to the God Shiva and is located on the Garhwal Himalayan range near the Mandakini River in Kedarnath, Uttarakhand in India. Due to extreme weather conditions, the temple is open only between the end of April (Akshay trutya) to Kartik Purnima (usually November, the autumn full moon) every year. Kedarnath was the worst affected area during the 2013 flash floods in North India.
ASIAN COUNTRIES SOUGHT BAN ON SMOKELESS FORMS OF TOBACCO

Representatives of 10 south and Southeast Asian countries, including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, at the regional meeting of the World Health Organizations
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Framework Convention on Tobacco Control sought ban on smokeless forms of tobacco. The meeting was organized in New Delhi on 26 July 2013 by India's health ministry in collaboration with WHO SEAR (southeast Asian region) which reviewed implementation of the WHO convention and major developments related to the treaty in the region and internationally. The participants also included representatives from Bhutan, Myanmar, the Maldives, and Timor Leste. Smokeless forms of tobacco, including use of areca nuts, pose serious public health problems in most countries of the region. The meeting also facilitated inter-country exchanges on implementation achievements and challenges, including identification of the best practices and the ways of further promoting their dissemination and use. It reviewed instruments available for implementation of the convention, particularly the guidelines and the reporting system. It also decided to raise awareness of the newly adopted protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products and to promote its signature and ratification.
NEUROTRAUMA CONFERENCE 2013 TO BE HELD IN ASSAM

The 22nd Annual Conference of the Neurotrauma Society of India is to be held in Guwahati, Assam from 23 to 25 August 2013. About twelve International neuroscientists and twenty national faculties would be participating in this event. This is the first conference being organized in the North Eastern states of the country. The conference will help to create awareness about the Neurotrauma.
WHAT IS NEUROTRAUMA?
Neurotrauma refers to injury to a nerve, especially part of the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). Neurotrauma describes two complex conditions: a) Acquired brain injury: Acquired brain injury can lead to problems related to communication with others b) Spinal cord injury: Spinal cord injury can lead to permanent paralysis and the inability to work
NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE TOURISM MINISTERS HELD

The National Tourism Ministers Conference was held in New Delhi on 18 July 2013. The objective of the conference was discussion of the future strategies for realising the complete tourism potential of India. The Union Tourism Minister, K. Chiranjeevi chaired the conference. www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NATIONAL TOURISM MINIS TERS CONFERENCE
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The conference was of extreme importance because of the fact that Indian tourism was adversely hit due to natural calamities in Uttarakhand. Because tourism plays a significant role in economic development of a country, therefore the need of working together towards reviving the tourism in India was felt during the conference. During the conference, exchange of ideas also took place between the State and Union Territory Tourism Authorities as well as the Ministry of Tourism. The conference was also attended by 22 National Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Industry Associations. The safety as well as security of tourists, especially women, was given stress. During the conference, a new campaign known as I Respect Women was also launched. The campaign was launched with Ministry of Tourism issuing badges in Hindi and ten international languages. During the conference, various agenda items such as- safety and security of tourists, Campaign Clean India to improve cleanliness at important tourist destinations, bringing uniformity in the structure of Road Taxes and promote seamless travel, rationalisation of Taxes to make Indian tourism products competitive, no objection certificates for various tourism related services, the timely implementation of tourism infrastructure projects, the time bound issue of licences and the provision of single window clearance for film shootings and MICE(Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) activities, promoting accessible and sustainable tourism as well as improving coordination between various State Governments and Union Territory Administrations for promoting Intra-regional Tourism, were also deliberated.
RESOLUTIONS CONFERENCE
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It was decided that the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will work towards safety as well as security of the tourists, primarily women. It was also decided that the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will consider establishing special force such as a Tourist Police, by taking certain companies on deputation from Police Department or by engaging Ex-Servicemen or Home Guards. It was decided that during unwanted incidents where tourists were involved, the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will ensure that immediate action is taken to investigate the crime and undertake speedy trials to catch the culprits.
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It was decided that in case of assault of any tourist, the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will ensure immediate post-traumatic help to the victim, while at the same time respecting his/her privacy. The highest order shall be given to the service recovery. It was decided that the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will sensitise all stakeholders, which also include community through various electronic and print campaigns towards the need of being sensitive to the needs of tourists. It was decided that Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will take action to inculcate proper values in children by arranging at least one lecture each every year in every class on the importance of sensitivity to tourists and the cleanliness of public areas. It was decided that the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will run a mass awareness campaign known as I respect women. It was decided that the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will work towards cleanliness at various tourism destinations by making sure that garbage is removed from time to time. It was also declared that garbage free zones and polythene free zones will be made and toilets shall be provided in order to stop public area defecation. It was also decided that the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will try to establish proper toilet facilities apart from roads leading to important tourist destinations by making use of the infrastructure facilities such as panchayats, dhabas as well as petrol pumps. It was decided that the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will set up a coordination mechanism with their concerned local body or municipality in order to monitor the cleanliness at different tourist destinations on an ongoing basis. It was decided that the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will work towards making tourism destinations and traffic crossings beggar free, by making help zones nearby. It was decided that the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will work towards keeping their States and UTs clean, with the help of different corporate houses, PSUs as well as NGOs as the partners. It was decided that the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will work towards imparting working spoken knowledge of a foreign language to every member of their staff that deals with the foreign tourists. It was decided that the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will work towards rationalising tax structure in order to make various tourism destinations competitive as well as making the travel seamless.
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It was decided that the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will work towards the provision of necessary licenses or the NOCs for various tourism services in a time bound manner. It was decided that the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will work towards making various tourism destinations accessible to differently-abled tourists. It was also decided that the Departments of Tourism of all States and UTs will assess the carrying capacity of various tourism destinations, especially religious places, on the basis of the principles of environmental sustainability and take immediate remedial measures to avoid any unwanted incident.
COMMITTEE TO GO INTO THE QUALITY ASPECT OF THE MID DAY MEAL

The HRD Ministry on 18 July 2013 announced setting up a new committee to look into the quality aspect of the Mid Day Meal Scheme nationwide. The decision was taken by the Ministry while responding to the queries of the media on death of children in Bihar after taking Mid Day Meal in schools. The Mid Day Meal Scheme is important for promoting primary education in the country. Bihar was alerted about unsatisfactory quality of food served in government schools in 12 districts and the worst affected Saran district was one of them.
WHAT IS MID DAY MEAL SCHEME?

The Mid Day Meal is the worlds largest school feed ing programme reaching out to about 12 crore children in over 12.65 lakh schools/EGS centres across the country. In 1925, a Mid Day Meal Programme was first introduced for disadvantaged children in Madras Municipal Corporation. By the mid 1980s three States viz. Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the UT of Pondicherry had universalized a cooked Mid Day Meal Programme with their own resources for children studying at the primary stage By 1990-91 the number of States implementing the mid day meal programme with their own resources on a universal or a large scale had increased to twelve states. With a view to enhancing enrollment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improving nutritional levels among children, the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme on 15 August 1995, initially in 2408 blocks in the country.
IAF'S C17S MAIDEN FLIGHT TO ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS

The IAFs latest acquisition C-17 Globemaster-III made its maiden flight to the Andaman & Nicobar Islands on 30 Jun 2013. Climbing an altitude of 28000 feet with an unrefueled range of www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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2400 nautical miles, the aircraft landed at Port Blair to induct the rotational Infantry Battalion into the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Manufactured by Messrs Boeing of the United States, the C-17 Globemaster-III is a heavy-lift transport military aircraft, developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). India has become the largest customer, of this sophisticated aircraft, after the United States. C-17 Globemaster-III is 174 feet in length, with a wing span of 170 feet. The maximum all up weight is 265350 kg, with an ultra modernized palletized cargo handling capability.
UNION DEFENCE MINISTRY LAUNCHED A WEBSITE ON NCC

Union Ministry of Defence on 15 July 2013 launched website of NCC (www.nccindia.nic.in). The website has been launched with an aim to provide an insight into the activities of NCC. It will also provide information to motivate students to join NCC from the online platform too. The website would also act as the detailed data bank of the 15 lakh Cadets of NCC, its logistics management and budget. It would also monitor the training activities of NCC. The website was launched by Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Defence.
US LAWMAKERS PROPOSED NATIONAL PARK ON MOON

Lawmakers of US on 12 July 2013 proposed a Bill in the US Congress for establishing a national park on the Moon. The new Bill seeks creation of the Apollo Lunar Landing Sites as National Historical Park on the Moon. The bill has been named as the Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act, the Bill (House Resolution 2617) and was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology in addition to the House Committee on Natural Resources. The Bill seeks protection of artifacts that was left on the moon's surface during the Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972. Once the bill is passed and turns up to be an Act, it will ensure that the scientific data and cultural significance of the Apollo artifacts are not harmed during the future moon landings of different countries as well as tourism activity of people to moon by commercial enterprises (Golden Spike Company has proposed to take space tourists on a trip to moon by 2020). The Bill was introduced in the US Congress by Donna Edwards, a Maryland Congresswoman and Eddie Bernice Johnson, Texas Congresswoman. As per the Bill, Apollo Lunar Landing Sites has been defined as the areas of the moon, where instruments and astronauts touched the lunar surface during the Apollo Programme. It also has highlighted the artifacts on Moons surface that is associated with Apollo 13 mission, that crash landed on the lunar surface on 14 April 1970.
ABOUT APOLLO LUNAR MISSION PROGARMME
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The Apollo programme was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. Six of the missions (Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17) achieved this goal. Apollos 7 and 9 were Earth orbiting missions to test the Command and Lunar Modules, and did not return lunar data. Apollos 8 and 10 tested various components while orbiting the Moon, and returned photography of the lunar surface. Apollo 13 did not land on the Moon due to a malfunction, but also returned photographs. The six missions that landed on the Moon returned a wealth of scientific data and almost 400 kilograms of lunar samples. Experiments included lunar ranging, soil mechanics, seismic, meteoroids, magnetic fields, heat flow and solar wind experiments.
MOONS ORBITING PLUTO CHRISTENED AS KERBEROS AND STYX

The two smallest known moons orbiting Pluto were officially christened by the International Astronomical Union on 2 July 2013. The moon earlier known as P4, which was discovered in the summer of 2011, has been named Kerberos, after the three-headed dog of Greek mythology. The second one called P5, which was discovered in the summer of 2012, was named Styx, after the mythological river that separates the world of the living from the realm of the dead. The moons join Pluto's previously known moons Charon, Nix and Hydra. International Astronomical Union is in charge of approving celestial names. Pluto's moons are all named for characters associated with the underworld of Greek and Roman mythology, according to the International Astronomical Union rules. The two names were selected based on the results of an unprecedented internet vote that was held during February 2013, with the ballot receiving almost 500000 votes, including 30000 write-in suggestions.
INDIA LAUNCHED ITS FIRST NAVIGATIONAL SATELLITE IRNSS-1A

India on 1 July 2013 successfully launched its first dedicated navigation satellite, IRNSS-1A using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C22. IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System)1A was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Research Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. After a flight of 20 minutes 17 seconds, the IRNSS-1A Satellite, weighing 1425 kg, was injected to the intended elliptical orbit of 282.46 km X 20,625.37 km at 00:01 hours. This was the first launch operation conducted by ISRO in night. IRNSS-1A was launched on 1 July 2013 at 23:41 pm IST and was placed in the orbit on 2 July 2013 at 00:01 minutes and 17 seconds after a flight of 20 minutes 17 seconds. The important flight events are stage and strap-on ignitions, heat-shield separation, stage and strap-on separations and satellite injection took place exactly as planned. The XL configuration of PSLV was used for the mission. Previously, the same configuration of the vehicle was used thrice to launch Chandrayaan-1, GSAT-12 and RISAT-1 satellites. This was the 23rd Successive flight of PSLV.
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With this launch, India has stepped into the new era of its space applications. The data collected by the satellite would help the country in a series of fields like disaster management, fleet management, vehicle tracking and marine navigation.
ABOUT THE SATELLITE

IRNSS-1A is the first of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed by 2015-16. IRNSS-1A is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in the country as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area. IRNSS-IA is among the first seven satellites that constitutes the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) Space Segment. The mission has a life of 10 years. The satellite was launched into the satellite was placed satellite in its Geosynchronous Circular Orbit at 55 deg East longitude. The navigational payload of the IRNSS-1A will transmit the service signals of navigation to users with its operations in L5 of 1176.45 MHz and S Band of 2492.028 MHz. The Rubidium atomic clock and the ranging payload of the C Band transponder would facilitate accurate determination of the range of IRNSS IRNSS satellites are designed on the lines of Global Positioning System (GPS) of United States', Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) of Russia, BeiDou satellite navigation system of China, Galileo (GNSS) of European Union's and the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System.
FEATURES OF NAVIGATION SYSTEM

The navigation system would provide two types of services to India and they are Standard Positioning Service and Restricted Service. Standard positioning services will be available to all users, whereas the restricted version is an encrypted service that would be made available to authorized users only.
IRNSS APPLICATIONS
Mapping and geodetic data capture with precise timing Visual and voice navigation for drivers, Integration with mobile phones and terrestrial Aerial and marine navigation, www.jagranjosh.com Current Affairs eBook July 2013
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Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travelers
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India aims to place the seven-satellites of the IRNSS space segment in orbit by end of 2014 with a position accuracy of 20 meters in the primary service area at an investment of 1420 crore rupees. Apart from this, Dr. Radhakrishnan, the Chairman of ISRO on the day of launch of IRNSS-1A announced that India will step into the its first Mars mission by November 2013.
HISTORY OF SPACE JOURNEY OF INDIA

The Space Journey of India was started with the launch of Aryabhatta in 1975 using a Russian rocket. Till date, India has successfully completed its 100 space missions. The PSLV C 25 that will carry the mars orbiter would be launched any day after 21 October 2013.
LEGAL BATTLE FOR ASSETS OF MAHARAJA OF FARIDKOT

The Chandigarh Court on 25 July 2013 passed the verdict in favour of Amrit Kaur, the eldest daughter of erstwhile Maharaja of Faridkot- Sir Harinder Singh Brar. Chief Judicial Magistrate Rajnish Kumar Sharma passed the judgement in favour of Amrit Kaur. Amrit Kaur had challenged in a local court, the will which entitled Meharwal Khewaji Trust as caretaker of the assets as well as estates, which include the Faridkot House, a fort in Punjab, a palace as well as the jewellery and bank deposits. The suit was filed by Amrit Kaur in the year 1992. After the verdict, the daughters of Sir Harinder Singh Brar would inherit the estates as well as assets, which are worth 20000 crore Rupees. This was the 23-year old legal battle. Maharaja of Faridkot- Sir Harinder Singh Brar had three daughters- Amrit Kaur, Deepinder Kaur and Maheepinder Kaur. Amrit Kaur lives in Chandigarh, Deepinder Kaur lives in Kolkata, while Maheepinder Kaur passed away in the recent past in Shimla.
WHAT DO THE ASSETS AND ESTATE INCLUDE?

All the assets as well as estate worth 20000 crore Rupees include huge properties in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh as well as Chandigarh. The court declared that Amrit Kaur and her sister Deepinder Kaur will be the heir to assets as well as estate, as per the Hindu Succession Act.
VERDICT OF THE LOCAL COURT

The court, in its verdict, declared that the will was fabricated and forged on 1 July 1982. Therefore, it was void and illegal. Also, the Meharwal Khewaji Trust has become illegal. It was found that when the will was forged, Sir Harinder Singh Brar was in depression because of the death of his only son Tikka Harmohinder Singh Brar.
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Amrit Kaur, in the meanwhile, was divested of all heiress powers on the basis that she married against wishes of late Maharaja. Deepinder Kaur was in turn, appointed as the Chairman of the trust and Maheepinder Kaur was paid the salary of 1000 Rupees per month.
WHO WAS THE MAHARAJA OF FARIDKOT- SIR HARINDER SINGH BRAR?

Maharaja of Faridkot- Sir Harinder Singh Brar was the last king or Maharaja of Faridkot Riyast before 1947, i.e., before the independence of India. He had four children- one son and three daughters. His son was named Tikka Harmohinder Singh Brar. His daughters were named- Rajkumari Bibiji Amrit Kaur Sahiba, Rajkumari Bibiji Deepinder Kaur Sahiba and Rajkumari Bibiji Maheepinder Kaur Sahiba.
ANGELINA JOLIE IS THE HIGHEST PAID ACTRESS OF HOLLYWOOD

The Forbes, which released its list on 30 July 2013, declared that Angelina Jolie was the Hollywoods highest paid actress. She had the estimated earnings of 33 million US dollar. She defeated Jennifer Lawrence, the 2013 Best Actress Oscar winner, who had the estimated earnings of 26 million US dollar. Angelina Jolie also defeated Kristen Stewart in the list. Kristen Stewart had the earnings of 22 million US dollar. Angelina Jolie rose from the third place on the list of Hollywoods highest paid actresses. At the fourth position was Jennifer Aniston who had the earnings of 20 million US dollar. At the fifth position was Emma Stone with the earnings of 16 million US dollar. In order to compile the rankings for the Hollywoods highest paid actress, Forbes held talks with managers, agents as well as professionals associated with the film industry. The rankings were based on the earnings from June 2012 to June 2013.
TOP 10 H OLLYWOODS HIGHEST P AID ACTRESS

Name of the Actress Angelina Jolie Jennifer Lawrence Kristen Stewart Estimated Earnings $33m $26m $22m
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Jennifer Aniston Emma Stone Charlize Theron Sandra Bullock Natalie Portman Mila Kunis Julia Roberts $20m $16m $15m $14m $14m $11m $11m
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QUESTIONS OF THE MONTH

Q.1) Discuss in brief impacts of formation of a new state Telangana on the economy and politics of India? Make comparisons related to setting the examples of the states those were created in 2001. What was the reason behind the demand of a new state? Q.2) Recently, Britain got its new Prince, named George Alexander Louis on 22 July 2013. Discuss the role of a King in a country like Europe? Q.3) Pranab Mukherjee signed the ordinance on food security on 5 July 2013, which seeks to give legal rights to 67 per cent of the population for subsidised grains. Discuss the impact of the ordinance and how can it be beneficial for India. Will it affect India positively or Nigatively? Q.4) Poverty Ratio of India declined to 21.9 percent in 2011-12: PCI Poverty Estimates Report. Do you agree with the highlighted report of PCI or Not. Support with reason. Q.5) The Supreme Court of India on 9 July 2013 directed the Union Government of India to formulate a policy to regulate/ban Retail Sale of Acid across the country. Do you think that the policy will be of some use and help in curbing the practice of acid attack, if yes then support your answer? Q.6) President of Ireland signed the Abortion Bill into Law. Compare and contrast it with the abortion law in India? Q.7) Write short notes on the following: Anjelena jolie Edward Snowden Nisha Desai Biswal Justice Palanisamy Sathasivam Ali Muhammed Mujahid Write brief notes on Insat 3-D Diskagma Buttonii Joint US-German US project
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PICK OF THE MONTH

CAMBODIA NATIONAL RESCUE PARTY

CAMBODIA GENERAL ELECTION 2013

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PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN PAKISTAN

LIFE SKETCH OF MAMNOON HUSSAIN

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PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PROCESS OF PAKISTAN

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SOME IMPORTANT FACTS

CONSTITUTION OF PAKISTAN: PART III: CHAPTER 1: THE PRESIDENT (ARTICLE 4149)

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TELANGANA THE 29 TH STATE OF INDIA ANNOUNCED

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ABOUT TELANGANA REGION

TELANGANA MOVEMENT- A BACKGROUND

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SRI KRISHNA COMMISSION

POLITICAL PARTIES STAND ON TELANGANA

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