14 April Article (UPSC)

13 jan

Election Commission of India announced dates of Delhi Assembly Elections 2015

Election Commission of India on 12 January 2015 announced dates of Delhi Legislative Assembly elections 2015. Voting for Delhi Assembly Elections will be held in a single phase on 7 February 2015 and counting of the votes will be held on 10 February 2014.

The elections will be held a week ahead of the scheduled termination of President’s rule.

Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath announced the dates of election for 70 seats of Delhi Assembly at the Nirvachan Sadan. With this announcement the Model Code of Conduct has come into force.

The commission in its notification said that last date for nominations is 21 January 2015 while last date for withdrawal of nominations is 24 January 2015.

Background
Since 17 February 2014, Delhi, the national capital was under President Rule. The national capital fell under the President rule after the then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (leader of Aam Aadmi Party, AAP) resigned from the office on 14 February 2014. He served his resignation within 49 days of coming into power.

In 2013, the BJP had emerged as the single largest party with 31 MLAs, followed by AAP which got 28 MLAs. AAP formed the government with outside support of 8 congress MLAs and lone JDU MLA and an independent.

Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or Award

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo on 12 January 2015 won the 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or award for the best footballer of the year in the world. It is the third time that Ronaldo has won the Ballon d'Or award following the previous triumphs in the years 2008 and 2013.

Ronaldo defeated Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer by bagging 37.66 percent of votes.

Lionel Messi was at the second position with 15.76 votes and Manuel Neuer stood at the third place with 15.72 percent votes.

181 national team coaches, 182 national team captains and 181 media representatives submitted their votes for the FIFA Ballon d’Or award. The entire electoral procedure was overseen and monitored by PricewaterhouseCoopers Switzerland (PwC).

Other Awardees
1. Nadine Kessler won the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year award 2014.
2. Joachim Low won the FIFA World Coach of the Year 2014 for Men’s Football award.
3. Ralf Kellermann won the FIFA World Coach of the Year 2014 for Women’s Football award.
4. James Rodriguez won the FIFA Puskas Award for the best goal of the year.
5. FIFA Team of the Year 2014: FIFPro World XI includes Manuel Neuer, David Luiz, Philipp Lahm, Sergio Ramos and Thiago Silva in defence; Angel Di Maria, Andres Iniesta and Toni Kroos in midfield and Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Arjen Robben in attack.

FIFA Ballon d'Or Award
• The FIFA Ballon d'Or award is an annual association football award given by FIFA to the male player who has performed the best in the previous calendar year.
• It is awarded based on the votes from national team coaches and captains, as well as journalists from around the world.
• The award began in 2010 after France Football's Ballon d'Or and the men's FIFA World Player of the Year award were merged.
• The winner of the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or was Lionel Messi who then won the title for the following two years 2011 and 2012.

Alur Seelin Kiran Kumar appointed as Chairman of ISRO

Alur Seelin Kiran Kumar was on 12 January 2015 appointed as Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Kiran Kumar became eighth Chairman of ISRO after succeeding K Radhakrishnan who retired on 31 December 2014.

He was re-employed on contract basis for a tenure of three years from the date of assumption of the charge of post. Kiran Kumar will also be the Secretary of the Department of Space and also the Chairman of Space Commission.

His appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

Background
Former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan had retired on 31 December 2014. Following his retirement, Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences Shailesh Nayak was given the additional charge of ISRO till the appointment of a new head.

Kiran Kumar Alur Seelin
• A Physics graduate from the National College of Bangalore University, Kumar started his ISRO career with the Space Application Centre in 1975.
• He played a crucial role in developing image sensors for Bhaskara, India's first remote sensing satellite launched in 1979.
• He was appointed as the Director of Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad in 2012 for Space borne Electro-optical imaging systems.
• Credited with developing key components of India's Chandrayaan-1 and Mangalyaan missions, Kumar was awarded the Padma Shree in 2014.

Golfer Anirban Lahiri voted Asian Tour’s 2014 Players’ Player of the Year

Anirban Lahiri, an Indian professional golfer on 12 January 2015 was voted as the 2014 Players’ Player of the year in Asian Tour. He was voted for his successful exploits on the Asian Tour, wherein he won two titles and finished second on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

His exploits on Asian Tour in 2014 included
• Won first title outside India in the form of CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters
• His second win of 2014 came at the Venetian Macau Open
• Stood second in the Asian Tour Order of Merit, which was won by David Lipsky of the United States
• He helped Team Asia to secure a dramatic 10-10 tie against Team Europe at the inaugural EurAsia Cup

Apart from him, Australia’s Cameron Smith was also named as the Rookie of the Year for a commendable season where he finished fifth on the Asian Tour Order of Merit. He claimed seven top-10 finishes including a tied fifth result at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia which was sanctioned by the PGA TOUR and Asian Tour.

About the Asian Tour
The Asian Tour, through its membership of the International Federation of PGA Tours, is the only recognised pan-Asian professional golf tour in Asia. It leads the development of golf across the region and it enhances careers of its members.

Its features position it at the pinnacle of professional gold in Asia and provide Official World Ranking status to its events.

Dima Hasao District of Assam got its first broad gauge railway track

Dima Hasao District of Assam got its first broad gauge railway track on 12 January 2015. A goods train with 43 wagons reached the main railway station of the Dima Hasao district using this broad gauge track.

The train in its first ever journey covered 98 km from Patharkhula station to New-Haflong station while crossing 9 tunnels, 15 stations, 15 major bridges and 135 minor bridges.

The passenger trains will also be commissioned on the route from Pathakhula to New-Haflong on the track that is extended up to Silchar after the approval of Railway Safety Commission.

Australia launched Online Visa Pilot Programme for Indian business and tourism visitors

Australia on 12 January 2015 launched Online Visa Pilot Programme to make it easier for Indian business and tourism visitors to apply online visa for travelling Australia.

The pilot programme has been launched on a trial basis. It covers online lodgement of subclass 600 visas for Indian business and tourism visitors. It will be rolled out through selected travel agents across India.

As per the Tourism 2020 programme of Australian Government, India has the potential to contribute between 1.9 billion US dollars and 2.3 billion US dollars annually to tourism industry by 2020.

This is the reason that the Australian Government has rolled out a trial of online visa applications to capitalize this rapidly growing visitor market and create jobs.

Charlie Hebdo: a French satirical weekly magazine

Charlie Hebdo: a French satirical weekly magazine featuring cartoons, reports and jokes
Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes was in news in first week of January 2015.

It was in news after masked gunmen on 7 January 2015 attacked its Paris office killing at least 12 people. The killed ones included five of Charlie Hebdo's cartoonists, including the editor Charbonnier.

The magazine has been under threat since 2006, the year when it published cartoons on Prophet Mohammad under title Muhammad overwhelmed by fundamentalists (Mahomet débordé par les intégristes). Earlier, it was firebombed in 2011.

History of Charlie Hebdo
• Charlie Hebdo first appeared in 1970 as a successor to the Hara-Kiri magazine, which was banned for mocking the death of former French President Charles de Gaulle.
• Hara-Kiri magazine was launched as a monthly magazine in 1960 by Georges Professeur Choron Bernier and François Cavanna
• In February 1969, Hara-Kiri launched its weekly issue named Hara-Kiri Hebdo focusing current affairs. It was later in May 1969 renamed as L’Hebdo Hara-Kiri
• In 1970, the Hara-Kiri magazine was renamed as Charlie Hebdo deriving its name from a monthly comics magazine called Charlie which had been started by Bernier and Delfeil de Ton in 1969
• In 1981 publication ceased, but the magazine was resurrected in 1992
• The magazine's current editor is Gérard Biard who took over the role after Charbonnier, who had been editor since 2009, was killed on 7 January 2015

Deepak Parekh appointed as Chairman of BAE Systems India (Services) Private Limited

Deepak Parekh was on 12 January 2015 appointed as a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of BAE Systems India (Services) Private Limited with effect from 1 January 2015.

Presently, Deepak Parekh is the Chairman of Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC).

Deepak Parekh
• In 1978, Parekh joined HDFC Ltd as Deputy General Manager and then went on to become its Chairman in 1993.
• Deepak Parekh was the Non-Executive Chairman of Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd (IDFC), an Indian Government enterprise for infrastructure projects in 1997.
• He is also the Non-Executive Chairman of Glaxo India Ltd & Burroughs Wellcome (India) Ltd and on the Board of Castrol India Limited , Hindustan Unilever, Siemens Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra, Indian Hotels Company and SingTel.
• Parekh is also an advisory board member of AIESEC India and US Engineering consultancy giant, AECOM.
• Parekh was appointed as a member of the BAE Systems’s Independent Advisory Board for India association in 2010.
• Indian Government honoured Parekh’s performance with the Padma Bhushan in 2006.

CSO released Quick Estimates of Index for Industrial Production for November 2014

Central Statistics Office (CSO) under the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on 12 January 2015 released the Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for the month of November with base year 2004-05.

Main Highlights
• The IIP for November 2014 stood at 169.8, which is 3.8 percent higher than the level measured in November 2013.
• The cumulative growth for period April-November 2014 was 2.2 percent higher compared to the period April – November 2013
• The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for November 2014 stood at 127.9, 177.0 and 174.3 respectively
• IIP growth rates for Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors were 3.4 percent, 3.0 percent and 10.0 percent as compared to November 2013.
• The cumulative growth in these three sectors during the period April-November 2014 over the corresponding period April-November 2013 has been 2.5 percent, 1.1 percent and 10.7 percent respectively
• In terms of industries, sixteen (16) out of the twenty two (22) industry groups (as per 2-digit NIC-2004) in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth during the month of November 2014 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year
• As per Use-based classification, the growth rates in November 2014 over November 2013 were 7.0 percent in Basic goods, 6.5 percent in Capital goods and 4.3 percent in Intermediate goods.
• The Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables recorded growth of (-) 14.5 percent and 6.0 percent respectively, with the overall growth in Consumer goods being (-) 2.2 percent.
• Some important items that displayed high positive growth during November 2014 over the November 2013 include Conductor, Aluminium (115.0 percent), Air Conditioner (Room) (53.8 percent), Sugar (49.5 percent) and Three Wheelers (Including passenger & goods carrier) (42.5 percent) among others
• Some important items showing high negative growth are Telephone Instruments (incl. Mobile Phones & Accessories) (-) 67.3 percent, Ship Building & Repairs (-) 41.1 percent, Wood Furniture (-) 41.1 percent, Sugar Machinery (-) 40.9 percent among others.

Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
IIP is a composite indicator that measures the short-term changes in the volume of production of a basket of industrial products during a given period with respect to that in a chosen base period.

The current IIP is published by CSO with 2004-05 as base period.

The weightage of Manufacturing, Mining and Electricity production in overall Index IIP is 75.53 percent, 14.16 percent and 10.31 percent respectively.

Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is compiled by using data received from 16 source agencies.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan received Governor of the Year Award for 2015

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan received the Governor of the Year Award for 2015. The award recognises the Governor of a Central Bank who has demonstrated strong leadership during the period under review.

The Central Banking Awards for 2015 were announced by the Central Banking Publications on 12 January 2015.

Central Banking Awards for 2015
• Governor of the Year Award: Raghuram Rajan, RBI Governor
• Central Bank of the Year award: The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ)
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Jacques de Larosiere former Governor of the Banque de France (1987–1993)
• Economics in Central Banking (inaugural award): Claudio Borio, head of the monetary and economic department at the Bank for International Settlements

Why Raguram Rajan awarded?
He was awarded for his disciplined and focused approach to tackling macroeconomic instability. His insights combined with his strong leadership skills made Rajan an inspirational figure in the central banking community. Rajan took over as RBI governor in September 2013 for a three-year term.

In 2014, Rajan was conferred with the Central Bank Governor award for 2014 by the Euromoney magazine for his tough monetary stance to combat the ravaging deficit-ridden economy and battling vested interests to arouse a sleepy financial system of India.

RBI and ECB signed MoU on cooperation in Central Banking

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the European Central Bank (ECB) on 12 January 2015 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of central banking.

The MoU was signed by RBI Governor Dr. Raghuram Rajan and ECB President Dr. Mario Draghi.

Feature of the Memorandum of Understanding
• It provides a framework for regular exchange of information, policy dialogue and technical cooperation between the two institutions
• Technical cooperation may take the form of joint seminars and workshops in areas of mutual interest in the field of central banking

Zomato acquired US based food portal Urbanspoon

Zomato on 12 January 2015 acquired the US based food portal Urbanspoon for an undisclosed amount in an all-cash deal.
The acquisition of Urabanspoon establishes Zomato's presence in Australia and Canada, the UK and New Zealand. With this, Zomato will be present in 22 countries across the world.

This is the sixth acquisition of Zomato in six months. Earlier, Zomato acquired dominant restaurant search players in New Zealand, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Italy.

Zomato also announced to increase its restaurant coverage from about 300000 restaurants to more than 1 million restaurants.

With this, the traffic of Zomato is expected to more than double from about 35 million visits per months to more than 80 million visits per month. This will make it the largest restaurant search company in the world.
Chief Executive Officer of Zomato: Deepinder Goyal

ISRO Mars Orbiter Mission Team won the 2015 Space Pioneer Award

The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) Team of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on 12 January 2015 won the 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the Science and Engineering category.

The award will be presented to an ISRO representative during the National Space Society's 2015 International Space Development Conference (ISDC) that is scheduled to be held in Toronto, Canada from 20 May 2015 to 24 May 2015.

The Mars Orbiter Mission team is located in Bangalore and is headed by Mylswamy Annadurai.

Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)
India’s Mars Orbiter Mission was launched on 5 November 2013 and it reached the Mars orbit on 24 September 2014. The Indian spacecraft has gone into orbit around Mars on the very first attempt and no other country has been able to do this till now.

Moreover, very few full disk images of Mars have ever been taken in the past, mostly by approaching the planet as most imaging is done looking straight down in mapping mode.

But, with the placing of Indian spacecraft in an elliptical orbit with a high apoapsis, it has become possible to take full-disk colour imagery of Mars with the high resolution camera available on the spacecraft. These images will aid planetary scientists.

About the Space Pioneer Award
• The Space Pioneer Award was instituted in 1988 to recognize those individuals and teams whose accomplishments have helped to open the space frontier. The award is divided into thirteen categories.
• The 13 Space Pioneer Award categories include Corporate, Entrepreneur, Compelling Art, Education, Government Service (Non-legislative), Government Service (Legislative), Mass Media, Public Awareness, Scientist/Engineer, Service to the Space Community, Space Development, Special Merit, Wide Media.
• Every year, only three number of Space Pioneer awards are presented so not every category is awarded each year. The Space Pioneer awards consist of a cast globe of the Moon.

World Bank signed tripartite agreement for smart cities initiatives during Vibrant Gujarat Summit

World Bank on 12 January 2015 signed tripartite agreement with the Government of Gujarat and the Government of India for Gujarat’s smart cities initiatives and swachhta abhiyaan.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of Vibrant Gujarat Summit being held in Gandhinagar. On the occasion, the State government released a special Vibrant Gujarat postal cover.

The Summit saw signing of around 21000 Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) running into 25 lakh crore rupees.

Besides, 1225 strategic partnership agreements were signed at the Summit in the areas of skill development, defence, renewable energy and biodiversity.

The agreements will boost Gujarat’s inclusive development. They will restore confidence among investors about the investment climate in Gujarat and also help in furthering the Make in India campaign.

Gujarat Government would constitute high-level committees to monitor the progress of projects.

At the last Summit held in 2013, 17000 MoUs were signed with an investment of 12 lakh crore rupees.

SEBI proposed easier norms for domestic mutual fund managers

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 12 January 2015 proposed easier norms for domestic mutual fund managers. SEBI has sought comments from public till 2 February 2015 on these proposals.

The proposed norms aimed to make it easier for domestic mutual funds to manage offshore pooled assets.

The norms proposed by SEBI

20:25 Rule

It proposed to drop 20-25 rule requiring a minimum of 20 investors and a cap of 25 per cent investment by an individual investor in a particular scheme, for certain foreign entities.

Criteria of 20 investors with no single investor holding over 25 per cent may not be applicable to funds managed by local fund managers in regard to Category I and Category II FPIs (Foreign Portfolio Investors).

Category I FPIs includes government and government related entities and Category II FPIs includes both broad based entities such as mutual funds, investments trusts and persons such as portfolio managers, investment managers, asset management companies, banks among others.

Separate fund manager

It proposed to do away with the rule that requires appointment of separate fund manager for managing an offshore fund

Currently, for managing an offshore fund it is allowed to appoint the same fund manager who is managing domestic scheme, only if

• The investment objective and asset allocation of such scheme and offshore fund are same
• The portfolio is replicated (at least 70 percent) in both the funds managed by that fund manager
• Such offshore fund is broad based fund i.e. the fund has at least 20 investors and no single investor accounts for more than 25 percent of corpus of the fund.

Why the need for such norms?

• Challenges faced by the local fund managers in managing offshore pooled assets
• Introduction of FPI Regulations has rationalized the investment routes and monitoring of foreign portfolio investments and also streamlined categories of overseas investors.
Currently, there are 45 mutual fund houses, which together manage 11 lakh crore rupees investor assets.

Seventh Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015 held in Gandhinagar

The Seventh Vibrant Gujarat Summit was held from 11 January to 13 January 2015 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The summit was organised by the Government of Gujarat. The sixth Vibrant Gujarat summit was held in 2013.

During the summit, Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel announced that the MoUs singed includes as many as 1225 strategic partnerships. The companies that have disclosed their investment committments include Reliance Industries, Adani Group, Aditya Birla Group, Suzlon and Videocon, and also some foreign players like Rio Tinto, Suzuki and CLP Holdings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Chief Minister of Gujarat Anandiben Patel, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Union Finance Minister Arun Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was attended the summit.

Highlights of the Summit
• The various leaders and experts from across the world also called for greater reforms in India.
• Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel announced that Gujarat has become a global business hub.
• John Kerry was highly inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. He said that the US wants to promote co-operative federalism in India with a competitive element among the states.
• World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said that World Bank raised targeted growth of India to 6.4 percent. And also, he said that tax and subsidy reforms are essential for inclusive growth in India.
• Prime Minister Modi called for sustainable, inclusive growth and said that fluctuations in the global economy are the biggest concern. He also said that India wants to work with global leadership on issues ranging from poverty to ecology with various countries that are coming forward to work with India.
• Adani Group committed 20000 crore rupees investment in port sector in Gujarat and also another investment of 25000 crore rupees power sector plan.
• Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani had announced one lakh crore rupees investment and Birla Group has committed 20000 crore rupees in 12- 18 months across businesses.
• Among foreign companies, Mining giant of Australia Rio Tinto announced 30000 jobs in diamond cutting industry in Gujarat, and Australia is looking forward to Gujarat as a promising business destination.

Ministry of Railways inaugurated India’s first CNG powered train

Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu on 13 January 2015 inaugurated India’s first compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered train on the Rewari – Rohtak link of Northern Zone.

This is a milestone in adoption of green fuel in Indian Railways which will help reduce greenhouse gas emission and also the consumption of diesel.

Characteristic Feature of CNG-powered train
• The CNG Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) is based on dual-fuel that is diesel and CNG.
• The train has been manufactured by Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF) through fumigation technology.
• It will help in reducing the operating cost of locomotives by over 50 percent with an advantage of eco-friendly operations.
• It will also helps cut carbon monoxide emissions by 90 percent, carbon dioxide by 25 percent, nitrogen oxide by 35 percent and non-methane hydrocarbon emissions by 50 percent.

Union Railway Ministry also planned to run more such CNG trains in due course to reduce diesel consumption. Once India has substantial reserves of natural gas in the form of conventional natural gas, shale gas and gas hydrates then the new technology would come in handy in India.

Supreme Court issued notice to Union Government on voting rights for inter-state migrants

The Supreme Court on 12 January 2015 issued notice to the Union Government on voting rights for inter-state migrants.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India H L Dattu gave four weeks time to Union to respond on the application by V P Shamsheer, a native of Kerala, who is based in UAE.

The Shamsheer had filed an application to allow inter-State migrants the same voting privileges, like postal ballot, accorded to government servants.

Further, it sought the Supreme Court intervention to set up a method for in-country migrants – who leave their constituency for reasons of work or employment, business, education, marriage, etc., and to vote from their current place of residence.

The Representation of the People Act, 1950 of section 20 (d)-reading along with Section 60 (b) of the Representation of the People Act 1951 allows government servants and certain other class of persons to vote via postal ballot following the consent of Election Commission.

14 jan

Union government sacked DRDO Chairman Avinash Chander

Union Government on 13 January 2015 removed Avinash Chander, the Chairman of Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). He was removed 16 months before his contract was to end.

The appointments committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the termination of the contract of Chander with effect from 31 January 2015.

Chander who was the secretary, Defence Research and Development cum Director General, DRDO and scientific advisor to the defence minister had retired from the post on 30 November 2014 after attaining the age of 64 but he was given a contract for 18 months till 31 May 2016.

About Avinash Chander
• Chander is the chief architect of Agni series of ballistic missile systems
• He was behind the successful development of 5000-km range Agni-V, which enabled India to join the elite club of five advanced nations
• He pioneered research in innovative energy management guidance system that enabled utilisation of solid propulsion, the main thrust and the backbone of the long-range missile system
• DRDO developed critical technologies like composite rocket motors and advanced high accuracy navigation system, under his leadership
• He laid the technology road map for missile complex laboratories and led the R&D in the advanced navigation systems, onboard computers, servo valves and seekers
• He joined DRDO in 1972 after completing graduation in electrical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi
• He is a fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineers
• He is a recipient of Padma Shri

Google launched Flight Search Tool in India

Search Engine Google on 13 January 2015 launched its Flight Search Tool in India. The tool allows you to search directly for flights within Google to quickly find, compare and book flights from your mobile device, tablet or desktop.

The Google Flight Search Tool redirects users to the concerned airline’s booking page which cuts out the expense paid to the travel agents.

Google's venture into flight search dates back to 2010, when it acquired Massachusetts-based flight information software company ITA software for 700 million US dollars.

Flight search tool of Google was initially launched in the US and then in parts of Europe.

About the Google's Flight Search Tool
• The flight search gives options to search for round trip, one way and multi-city flights.
• It also allows users to use the lowest fares graph below the calendar to see how prices may fluctuate based on the season, holidays or other events.
• After selecting the departure and return dates, users get a list of Best flights which shortlists flights based on the best combination of convenience and price.
• The tool also lets users to view other flights by scrolling through the summary list or selecting Show longer or more expensive flights.
• Users can also save itineraries or share them with others.

Impact of Google's flight search tool on online travel agencies
Google's flight search tool competes with other top online travel agencies in India including Cleartrip.com, Makemytrip.com, Yatra.com, ezeego1.co.in and Goibibo.com. Google's presence in the travel space can reduce the traffic on their portals.

Moreover, airline websites are not optimised for mobile and this can lead to degradation of experience for people who book tickets on airline website.

Meanwhile, Goibibo has partnered with Google Flight Search to display results from its own portal along with options shown by Google search from airline websites.

Union Ministry of Health proposed COTPA (Amendment) Bill 2015

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 13 January 2015 proposed the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) (Amendment) Bill 2015 (COTPA).

The bill seeks to amend some provisions of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003.

The Draft Bill has been put out in the public domain by the Ministry for inviting suggestions from stakeholders by 15 February 2015.

Provisions of the COTPA (Amendment) Bill 2015
• The bill proposes to ban on-site advertising of tobacco products and shops selling cigarettes and other tobacco products will no longer be able to display the brand names.
• It proposed scrapping of designated smoking areas from hotels, restaurants and airports making an exception only for international airports to prevent exposure of non-smokers to harmful emissions.
• The penalty for smoking in restricted areas has been raised from 200 to 1000 rupees.
• Anyone found producing tobacco products without the specified warning will be liable for imprisonment for up to two years for the first offence or fine up to 50000 rupees or both.
• For the second and subsequent offences, the imprisonment can be up to five years with a fine of up to 1 lakh rupees.
• Selling products without warning will incur a fine of up to 10000 rupees or a jail term of up to one year or both and subsequent offence will draw a fine of up to 25000 rupees and a jail term of two years.
• Tobacco products and cigarettes in approved packaging will now be sold only to those above 21 years of age. The proposed age limit will be revised after evaluating the impact of raising the minimum age.
• The draft Bill also proposes a ban on spitting of tobacco products, pointing it out as the biggest cause of spread of diseases like Tuberculosis, Avian Flu and H1N1 virus.
• It has also been proposed to extend the ban on sale of cigarettes and tobacco products from 100 yards of an educational institution to 100 metres.
• The bill proposes to set up a National Tobacco Control Organisation (NTCO) that will implement and monitor the provisions of COTPA, 2003.

Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan’s chief Maulana Fazlullah designated as global terrorist by US

The United States (US) Department of State on 13 January 2015 designated Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) chief Maulana Fazlullah, also known as Mullah Fazlullah, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

He was designated as a global terrorist under Executive Order (EO) 13224 that targets terrorists and people who provide support to terrorists or acts of terrorism.

Reason for designating Fazlullah as a Global terrorist
He was designated as a global terrorist after Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) under Fazlullah’s leadership claimed the responsibility of 16 December 2014 attack on the army school of Peshawar, Pakistan. The attack claimed lives of about 148 individuals including 134 students.

Effect of this designation
• It prohibits any US person from engaging in transactions with Fazlullah
• It freezes all property and interests of Fazlullah that are in the United States, or come within the United States or the possession or control of US persons

About Maulana Fazlullah
• In November 2014, he was elected as commander of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) after death of former TTP leader 1 November 2013
• Before becoming the leader of TTP, he was involved in several terrorism activities like
a) Killing of Pakistani Army Major General Sanaullah Niazi in September 2013
b) In 2012, he ordered shooting of schoolgirl and activist Malala Yousafzai, the winner of Nobel Peace Prize 2014
c) He was responsible for the beheading of 17 Pakistani soldiers after an attack in June 2012
d) He ordered the targeted killings of elders who led peace committees against the Taliban

Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) also known as Pakistani Taliban is an alliance of militant groups which was formed in 2007. It was formed to unify groups fighting against the Pakistani military in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. TTP maintains close ties to senior al-Qa‘ida leaders, including al-Qa‘ida’s former head of operations in Pakistan.

• TTP was designated as the Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on 1 September 2010 by the US Department of State
• TTP was also listed as terrorist organisation at the United Nations 1267/1989 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee on 29 July 2011.

Previous Chief’s of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan
• 1st Chief - Baitullah Mahsud who was killed in an explosion on 5 August 2009
• 2nd Chief - Hakimullah Mehsud who died on 1 November 2013 in a drone strike

Arvind Panagariya took charge as Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog

Arvind Panagariya took charge as Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog on 13 January 2015. He became the first vice-chairman of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, which replaced the Planning Commission on 1 January 2015.

NITI Aayog comprises of Prime Minister as chairperson, one vice-chairman, two full-time members, four ex-officio members (Union ministers) and three special invitees.

About Arvind Panagariya
• Panagariya, 62, is an Indian-American economist.
• He has been a professor of Economics at the Columbia University.
• He also served as the Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank.
• He served as a Professor of Economics and Co-director, Centre for International Economics, University of Marylan at College Park.
• He has also worked for the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in various capacities.

Madagascar Government led by Prime Minister Kolo Roger resigned

Madagascar Prime Minister Kolo Roger and his government on 12 January 2015 resigned from their position. The resignation was accepted by Madagascar President Hery Rajaonarimampianina on 13 January 2015.

However, the reason for the resignation was not disclosed by the government. This is the first change of government in Rajaonarimampianina's Presidency.

The resigning government members will continue to work as Caretaker Government until the creation of the new government. The government led by Kolo Roger consists of 30 ministers and one Secretary of State.

Kolo Roger was elected as Prime Minister of Madagascar in April 2014.

Background
Madagascar, a large Indian Ocean island famous for its wildlife and its minerals, has struggled hard to revive its economy since a coup in 2009 that plunged the nation into prolonged crisis.

The island country was undergoing severe electricity failures as only 15 percent of the island is on the electricity grid. Amidst the turmoil, Roger Kolo's government was not able to handle the electricity failures.

Moreover, Madagascar Energy Minister Richard Fihenena was fired in November 2014 for his inability to solve the problem.

First Border Haat of Tripura opened at Srinagar-Feni border

The first Border Haat (market) along Tripura-Bangladesh frontier was opened on 13 January 2015. This haat is located at Srinagar (Tripura, India) - Purba Madhugram (Feni, Bangladesh).

It was inaugurated by Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman and her Bangladeshi counterpart Tofaile Ahmed by opening the plaque of the border haat.

This is the third border haat on India-Bangladesh Border. The other two cross border haats with Bangladesh are located on the Meghalaya - Bangladesh border at Kalaichar (India) - Baliamari (Bangladesh) and Balat (India) - Dolora (Bangladesh).

Similar fourth border haat facility is being developed at Tripura's Kamlasagar, bordering Bangladesh's Tarapur Kashba in Brahmanbaria district.

Background
India and Bangladesh on 23 October 2010 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Border Haats and Border Trade along the India-Bangladesh border. The MoU permits traders of border communities of both India and Bangladesh to trade in local produce and transact business worth 100 US dollar per day.

Chinese scientists published first genetic map of Tibetan Highland Barley

Scientists from a genomics organisation in south China's Shenzhen City on 13 January 2015 published the first genetic map of Tibetan highland barley. Highland barley, known in Tibetan as Ne, is being grown on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for nearly 4000 years.

The draft genome was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The research by Chinese scientists assembled 3.89 billion of the estimated 4.5 billion base pairs of the chemicals that make up DNA in the barley genome, and included 39197 protein coding genes.

Earlier scientists have genetically mapped wheat genome and soybean genome. The wheat genome has about 17 billion base pairs and whereas soybean genome has about 1.1 billion.

Significance of gene mapping of Tibetan Barley

Highland Barley consists of up to 70 per cent of all cereal crops in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. It is the home to the world's leading barley production base and centre for barley diversity research.

Genetic map of Tibetan barley will help to cultivate better strains of the Himalayan region's staple food and increase yield. Also, it could help explain adaptation to extreme environmental conditions and increase yields.

What is a genome?

A genome is the full complement of an organism's DNA, complex molecules that direct the formation and function of all living organisms. The size of an organism's genome is measured by the number of bases it contains -- base pairs being the building blocks of DNA.

Idukki in Kerala became first District of India to have Complete Rural Broadband Coverage

Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology on 12 January 2015 linked Idukki district in Kerala to the National Optic Fiber Network (NOFN). The district was linked to the NOFN as part of the Digital India project of the Union government.

The district was commissioned with the first high speed rural broadband of India. With this, Idukki district became first district of India to have complete rural broadband coverage.

As part of it, 8 Block Offices & 52 Gram Panchayats of the Idukki district were connected on Optical Fiber and one Gram Panchayat, namely Edamalakudy, was connected through VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal).

The rural broadband connectivity to the Gram Panchayat of Idukki is being provided by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). For the first time the villages under this Panchayat would be connected through Mobile phones and internet.

Benefits

• The establishment of NOFN would open up new avenues for Access service providers such as Telecom Service Providers, Internet Service Providers, and Cable TV operators, Content Providers etc.

• The project would offer internet at a bandwidth of 100 Mpbs.

• This will also enable delivery of various services such as local planning, management, monitoring and payments under Government schemes at panchayat level.

About National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN)

The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is a project to provide broadband connectivity to over two lakh Gram panchayats of India at a cost of 20000 crore rupees.

A special purpose vehicle Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) was created as a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Companies Act of 1956 for the execution of the project.

The project provides internet access using existing optical fiber and extending it to the Gram panchayats. The project was intended to enable the government of India to provide e-services and e-applications nationally.

The project is funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) and was estimated to be completed in 2 years.

Legendary Odia actor Hara Patnaik died

Veteran Odia actor and director Hara Patnaik passed away on 13 January 2015 following a brief illness in Bhubaneswar, Orissa. He was 56.

Hara Patnaik
• Hara Patnaik was born on 12 October 1958 in the city of Cuttack, Odisha.
• Patnaik started his acting career with the movie Sahari Bagha in 1985.
• He made his directorial debut in Daiba Daudi in the year 1990.
• As a director, he gave several upcoming actors their first break including Anubhav Mohanty, Sabyasachi Mishra and Babushaan.
• During his 20 years tenure, Patnaik did over 50 films and directed around 20 films.

Tamil Novel Madhorubhagan written by Perumal Murugan

Madhorubhagan: Perumal Murugan
Tamil Novel titled Madhorubhagan authored by Perumal Murugan was in news in the second week of January 2015. It was in news as some organisations have demanded to ban the book and jail the author.

The threat from organisations has led the author Murgan to give up writing.

The book, though written four years back, came into limelight after its English translated version One Part Woman was published by Penguin India on 1 December 2015. It has been translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan.

The book lays bare with unsparing clarity a relationship caught between the dictates of social convention and the tug of personal anxieties, vividly conjuring an intimate and unsettling portrait of marriage, love and sex.

The book unfolds the complexity of social convention by telling the love story of Kali and Ponna who faced problems in conceiving a child. To conceive child they did prayers, penance, potions and pilgrimages.

Their hopes and apprehension came to converge on the chariot festival in the temple of the half-female god Ardhanareeswara and the revelry surrounding it.

India and Australia signed MoU for skill and infrastructural development in sports

The Sport Education Development Australia (SEDA) and India's Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited (IL-FS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 13 January 2015. The agreement was signed by the Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb.

The MoU is aimed at developing the skills of Indian students in various sports and infrastructure as well.

Highlights of the MoU
• The partnership is expected to encourage the development of sports and fitness vocational courses in India.
• SEDA's experience in vocational education programs will help provide Indian students with the specialist skills and experience that they need to gain for employment in the sports.
• The partnership aims to impart training to youngsters in 350 centres across India in 25-26 states.

Bengaluru FC beat Dempo to lift Football Federation Cup

Bengaluru FC on 11 January 2015 lifted their maiden football Federation Cup. In the final clash for the title Bengaluru defeated Goa's Dempo Sports Club 2-1.

The final match was played at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda of Margao, Goa.

Scorer of the final game

Bengaluru FC	Dempo Sports Club
Sunil Chhetri and Robin Singh	Tolgay Ozbey

This is the second major title for Bengaluru FC in their two years of existence. They had won the I-League tournament in 2014.

Dempo Club was appearing in the final for the fifth time, has bagged the coveted title only once, in the Year 2004.

Supreme Court sought assistance of Premier institutes to find missing children

The Supreme Court on 13 January 2015 sought assistance of Premier institutes to find missing children every year and expressed deep concern over the failure of the Union Government to put in place a proper mechanism to trace missing children.

A bench of Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice U U Lalit sought assistance of premier institutes - Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) of Delhi University and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai to trace thousands of missing children every year.

The Court asked the Director of FMS of Delhi University, to appoint a competent faculty to study government website www.trackthemissingchild.gov.in and suggest ways by which it can be made effective in tracking missing children.

The court asked TISS director to set up a group which will study standard operating procedure (SOP) followed by different states and also the procedure suggested by National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). It also asked the TISS institute to frame comprehensive guidelines which will be uniformly followed by all states.

The apex court slammed the Union government for not appointing Chairperson and other members to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and asked the government to take a decision for appointments to the NCPCR by 12 February 2015.

The court also directed Secretary to the Union Ministry of Women & Child Development to coordinate with their state counterparts in evolving a mechanism for tracking missing children.

The court requested National Police Academy (NPA) director to consult police authorities across India and to evolve a training module for police officers who handle such cases to sensitize them towards child rights.

The court also said that officials including police personnel need to be given proper training to prevent cases of missing children and to trace and rehabilitate the children.

NGO Pratham released 10th Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2014)

NGO Pratham on 13 January 2015 released 10th Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2014). The report noted that overall situation with basic reading continues to be extremely disheartening in India.

The report is based on the survey in 577 districts and 16497 villages covering 341070 households and about 569229 children in the age group 3-16.

The report reveals that for six years in row school enrolment in India was 96 percent or above for the 6-14 age group and India is close to universal enrollment in this age group.

Nationally, the percentage of children out of school in the age group 6-14 remains at 3.3 percent. This is the same as was in 2013.

Highlights of the Report
• The 25 percent of Class 8 students cannot read a Class 2 level text.
• Only one-fourth of all children in Class 3 can read a Class 2 text fluently in 2014. This number rises to just under half in Class 5.
• Close to 75 percent of Class 8 children can read Class 2 level text, which implies still 25 percent children, cannot read.
• The proportion of Class 5 children who can at least read a Class 2 level text has raised from 46.8 percent in 2012 to 47 percent in 2013 and to 48.1 percent in 2014.
• 38.7 percent of Class 3 children can read at least a Class 1 level text in 2012, which is slightly higher at 40.2 percent in 2014.
• Tamil Nadu has shown major gains in reading over 2013 for Class 5.
• 30.8 percent of children of age group 6-14 in rural India were enrolled in private schools in 2014, which has increased in number slightly from 29 percent in 2013.
• However, Mathematics continued to be a serious and major source of concern.
• All India (rural) figures for basic arithmetic have remained virtually unchanged over the last few years.
• 26.3 percent of Class 3 children could do two digit subtractions in 2012 and this number is at 25.3 percent in 2014.
• For Class 5 children, the ability to do division has increased slightly from 24.8 percent in 2012 to 26.1 percent in 2014.
• The percentage of children in Class 2 who still cannot recognize numbers up to nine has increased from 11.3 percent in 2009 to 19.5 percent in 2014.

ABC of Swine Influenza

Swine Influenza has been in news in the month of December 2014 and January 2015. The national capital Delhi has so far witnessed 41 cases of swine flu with 4 deaths. The experts are of the opinion that the virus is weak this time and it is a seasonal flu.

The sudden increase in number of positive cases has been due to the presence of fog and will wash away when it gets warmer. In this let’s see what, why and how of Swine influenza.

What is Swine Influenza?

Swine Influenza is an infection which is caused by various type of swine influenza virus. Swine influenza virus, which is endemic in pigs, is any strain of influenza family of virus.

In 2009 it was found out that the Swine Influenza Virus strains contains influenza A and influenza C, which are two of the six viruses known. Out of the three viruses which cause human influenza (attack of virus of influenza family on humans) two are common with the viruses which attack pigs. Influenza A is very common in pigs while Influenza C being rare. Sub groups of Influenza A have been found in strains of swine influenza virus, which are H1N1, H1N2 and H2N3 to mention some.

How it is transferred?

Swine Influenza is easily transferred amongst pigs but rarely to human beings. People in regular exposure with the pigs are at high risk of infection. Influenza is quite common in pigs, with about half of breeding pigs having been exposed to the virus in the US. People who work with poultry and swine are at increased risk of zoonotic infection, and constitute a population of human hosts in which zoonosis can co-occur.

Zoonosis is infectious diseases of animals which are transferred to humans. Ebola, Swine Influenza is examples of zoonosis.

The 2009 H1N1 virus was not zoonotic swine flu, as it was not transmitted from pigs to humans, but from a human to human. Vaccination of these workers against influenza and surveillance for new influenza strains among this population may therefore be an important public health measure.

Direct transfer of influenza from pigs to humans is rare because since 1958 only 50 such cases have been reported. The transmission from swine to humans occurs mainly in swine farms, where farmers are in close contact with pigs.

Influenza spreads between humans through coughing or sneezing, which results in fellow humans coming in contact with the virus. The virus is not transmitted through food.

Recent global incidences of Swine influenza

The United States was attacked by the influenza in 1976. The outbreak is remembered for its mass immunization process that resulted in only one death.
In 2009, India along with US and Mexico faced swine flu pandemic due to the outbreak of H1N1 virus. Over 1800 deaths were reported due to the flu. In 2010, World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that swine influenza pandemic was over.

How it can be prevented?

Prevention techniques usually recommended to prevent spread of the virus among humans include using standard infection control, which includes frequent washing of hands, especially after being out in public.

Experts agree hand-washing can help prevent viral infections, including ordinary and the swine flu infections. Public health and other responsible authorities have action plans which may request or require social distancing actions, depending on the severity of the outbreak.

Farmers and veterinarians are encouraged to use face masks when dealing with infected animals. The use of vaccines on swine to prevent their infection is a major method of limiting swine-to-human transmission.

Vaccines to treat Swine Influenza

Vaccines are available for different kinds of swine flu. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the use of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or zanamivir (Relenza) for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with swine influenza viruses.

However, the majority of people infected with the virus make a full recovery without requiring medical attention or antiviral drugs

Chinese archaeologists discovered Buddhist relics in Hubei Province of Central China

Chinese archaeologists on 13 January 2015 discovered Buddhist relics in Hubei province of Central China. These relics are believed to be from the cremated ashes of Buddhist masters.

The relics were discovered by a team of archaeologists led by Chen Qianwan, Head of the archaeology institute of Xiangyang City.

The rare Buddhist relics called sariras were discovered on the top of a tomb belonging to an official from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) at the foot of the Xianshan Mountain in Xiangyang.

The objects were found in late December 2014 and later identified by monks and researchers as sariras (relics). The researchers claimed that it is very rare to find sariras in a tomb, as they are usually unearthed at Buddhist temples. They believe the owner of the tomb was a Buddhist.

About Sarira

Sarira, meaning body or corpse, is a generic term used by Buddhists to refer to the remains of spiritual masters after their death. These holy relics are generally found in bead-shaped form.

The largest of the sariras has a diameter of about 3 centimetres. They vary in colour from red, purple, blue, cyan and orange in the light.

India - China trade deficit increased to 37.8 billion US dollars in 2014

India –China trade deficit increased to 37.8 billion US dollars in 2014 despite the increase in bilateral trade by 7.9 percent. The annual trade figures were released by General Administration of Customs (GAC) of China on 13 January 2015.

The total bilateral trade volume increased to 70.59 billion US dollars in 2014 from 65.57 billion US dollars in 2013 registering an increase of 5.02 billion US dollars amid increasing exports of China to India.

India-China trade increased all time high of 73.9 billion US dollars in 2011 but declined to 66.57 billion US dollars in 2012 and 65.49 billion US dollars in 2013.

China’s export to India surged to 54.2 billion US dollars, posting a 12 percent increase while India’s exports to China decelerated to 16.4 billion US dollars, posting a decline of 3.5 percent. Total export of India to China stood at 17.04 billion US dollars in 2013.

India and China had fixed a trade target of 100 billion US dollars for the year 2014.

Maharashtra Cabinet decided to disburse aid to drought-hit farmers by 26 January 2015

Maharashtra Cabinet on 13 January 2015 decided to disburse 2000 crore ruppes aid to drought-hit farmers by 26 January 2015. The aid is the compensation to the farmers affected by drought during the 2014 kharif season.

The decision to provide 2000 crore rupees as aid to drought-affected farmers was taken by the Maharashtra Cabinet on 7 January 2015.

Further, it was also decided that the amount shall be deposited in the farmers' bank accounts and no cash will be given to them. If the farmers do not have bank accounts, a zero balance account will be opened under the Jan Dhan Yojana and the money will be deposited in it.

Out of the 2000 crore rupees, 4500 rupees a hectare will be given for rainfed areas, 9000 rupees a hectare for irrigated areas and 12000 rupees a hectare for horticultural crops.
The aid will be distributed as 845.55 crore rupees for Aurangabad division, 386.62 crore rupees for Nasik division, 7.5 crore rupees for Pune division, 500.93 crore rupees for Amravati division and 259.40 crore rupees for Nagpur division.

The aid is applicable to all land-holding farmers. Those owning big plots will get a compensation for one hectare of affected land only. Farmers with non-irrigated land will get 4500 rupees, those with irrigated land will get 9000 rupees, and 12000 rupees for orchard farmers. Those affected who own less than one hectare will get 1000 rupees.

The natural calamities like drought, unseasonal rains and hailstorms have resulted in major crop loss during the rabi season in around 24000 villages. It affected crops of on 1.12 lakh hectares in October 2014. It has also led to suicides in parts of Vidarbha and Marathwada

Pope Francis cannonised Joseph Vaz, the first saint of Sri Lanka

Pope Francis on 14 January 2015 cannonised Joseph Vaz, the first saint of Sri Lanka. Joseph Vaz was beatified by Pope John Paul in 1995. Pope Francis cannonised Saint Joseph Vaz in presence of hundreds of thousands of people packed on a Colombo oceanfront during his visit to Sri Lanka.

The Pope told the hushed crowd that Vaz was an example of religious tolerance relevant to Sri Lanka.

About Saint Joseph Vaz

He was born in 1651 in Goa. He was captured as a suspected spy after he crept into the tropical island in disguise.

Vaz spent five years secretly preaching in the lush lowlands before making his way to the Kingdom of Kandy in the highland rainforests.

He was detained for nearly a year until he convinced the powerful Buddhist king that he was a priest.

King Vimaladharmasuriya II protected him from the Dutch and Vaz's reputation was further bolstered when he was said to have made rain during a drought.

Vaz remained in Kandy until his death aged 60 in 1711, by which time the Church says he had converted 30000 people and created a network of priests, almost single-handedly re-establishing Catholicism in Ceylon.

Process of Cannonisation

Cannonisation is the act by which the Catholic Church or Eastern Orthodox Church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints.

Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process. Later, different processes, such as those used by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church were developed.

There are four steps to canonization that the saints have to go through:

Servant of God → Venerable → Blessed → Saint

Five years after a person dies, a bishop can request that he or she be considered for canonization. The first step is to collect the testimony of witnesses who can recount facts about the person's exercise of Christian virtues. At that point the person can be given the title of Servant of God, or Venerable.

After more investigation the Congregation for the Cause of Saints can recommend to the pope that the person be beatified. This means that the person can be honored in public worship limited to a specific diocese or area. After beatification the person receives the title Blessed.

Finally the Congregation can recommend canonization. When the pope canonizes a person, he declares that the person can be looked on as a model of Christian virtue and can be honored in the public worship of the universal church. After canonization the person who was named Blessed acquires the title of Saint.

NGT gave directions to clean Yamuna under Maily se Nirmal Yamuna Revitalization Plan 2017

National Green Tribunal (NGT) on 13 January 2015 gave directions to clean River Yamuna under Maily se Nirmal Yamuna Revitalization Plan 2017.

The directions were given by the principal bench of NGT presided over by Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar. The tribunal's judgment came on a petition by Manoj Misra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan against pollution in the Yamuna and covering of drains in Delhi.

Directions given by bench are

•   Impose a fine of 5000 rupees on individuals for throwing waste or religious items into the river
•   Banned the dumping of construction material into the Yamuna while imposing a fine of 50000 rupees on the violators
•   Restrained real estate developers from carrying out any construction work on the floodplains
•   It also directed states where Yamuna and its tributaries flow to come up with an action plan to ensure environmental flow to revive the Yamuna stretch in Delhi.
•   The bench directed that 4000 crore rupees, as estimated by the expert committee be made available from the 20000 crore rupees Budget of Delhi Government.

Constitution of a committee to implement the directions

The bench decided to constitute a principal committee which will be responsible for implementation of the judgment.

The committee will consist of the Special Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), joint secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources, chief secretary of Delhi, vice-chairman DDA, commissioners of all corporations and the state secretaries of Haryana, UP, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Members of the expert committees earlier constituted by NGT — including professor emeritus of DU C R Babu, former professor of JNU Brij Gopal and IIT Delhi professor A K Gosain — were also made members of the principal committee.

The Union government has been implementing Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) for cleaning of Yamuna River with assistance from Japan International Cooperation Agency, without much success.

Union Government reconstituted Pollution Control Board Working Group

Union government reconstituted Pollution Control Board Working Group to simplify procedures to get consent certificates and categorisation of industries. The working group was reconstituted on 13 January 2015.

The Working Group comprising of 11 members will be headed by the Chairman of the Karnataka SPCB Dr. Ayi Vaman N Acharya.

Terms and References of Working Group
• The group has been asked to submit a report by February 2015, prior to the 59th conference of SPCBs and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs).
• The working group will look into self-declaration or self-regulation of green compliances by industries, increase penalty in case of violation, among other issues.
• The group will develop standard operating procedure and inspection process relating to granting of consent to establish and consent to operate including validity of consents and implementing common consent application forms.
• The group has also been asked to its views on whether to supplement inspection activities of SPCBs or PCCs with third party audit inspection and synchronise multiple inspection under various regulations.
• Besides, it will look into inspection frequency, granting of consents and harmonisation of red, orange and green categories of industries.

The original working group had dealt with same issues but could not submit the report.

The Working Group comprising of 11 members will be headed by the Chairman of the Karnataka SPCB Dr. Ayi Vaman N Acharya.

The original working group had dealt with same issues but could not submit the report.

Japan approved its largest ever Defence Budget for 2015

The Cabinet of Japan headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved its largest ever defence budget for 2015 on 14 January 2015. The defence budget includes plan to buy surveillance aircraft, drones and F-35 fighter jets to help counter rising assertiveness of China.

The main aim of increasing the defence spending is to boost capacity of Japan to defend uninhabited islands in the East China Sea where Japan controls it and China also has been claiming the island.

Highlights of Defence Budget
• Japan endorsed a nearly 5 trillion yen (42 billion US dollars) defence budget for the year beginning in April 2015 as part of a record 96.3 trillion yen (814 billion US dollars) total budget.
• The defence budget is designed to achieve seamless and mobile defence capability that can respond to various contingencies.
• The budget will provide effective deterrence and contribute to stability in the Asia-Pacific region and improvement of the global security environment.
• The increase of defence budget mainly includes new equipment, including P-1 surveillance aircraft, F-35 fighter jets and amphibious vehicles for a new unit similar to the US Marine Corps.
• The budget also covers the cost of purchasing parts of Global Hawk drones, planned for deployment in 2019, two Aegis radar-equipped destroyers and missile defence system development with the US.

Why Defence Budget raised?
Chinese patrol boats often visit waters near the islands, which are known as the Senkakus in Japan and as the Diaoyu islands in China. To counter china, Japan revised the defence guidelines in 2013 and increased the defence budget.
Prime Minister favoured a stronger role of Japan military despite a commitment to pacifism enshrined in the US- inspired constitution drawn up after the Japan’s defeat in World War II.

Comment
The increase in Japan’s defence budget comes at a time when the economy of Japan is in recession. However, the Shinzo Abe government has forecasted growth at 1.5 percent for the financial year 2015, after an estimated 0.5 percent contraction in 2014.

Further, the population of Japan also is ageing quickly raising the welfare cost and social security spending.
Also, the debt of Japan is the highest, proportionately, among industrialized countries.
Thus, Japan must tread a fine line between spending enough to support economic growth and defence and slowing the rise in debt of Japan.