17-18 june 2015

17 june

Sunil Chhetri became first Indian footballer to score 50 international goals

Sunil Chhetri on 16 June 2015 became the first Indian footballer to score 50 international goals. He achieved the fete during India's second match of the second round of qualifiers for 2018 football World Cup qualifying group match against Guam at the Guam National Football Stadium.

In the match, Guam defeated India 2-1. Earlier, India lost their first match of the group 1-2 against Oman.

List of International goals scored by Indian footballer
• Sunil Chhetri: 50 goals in 87 matches
• Bhaichung Bhutia: 42 goals in 107 matches 
• IM Vijayan: 40 goals from 79 games

Guam is a US island territory in Micronesia, in the Western Pacific.

 

India and Poland set trade target of 5 billion US dollars by 2018

India and Poland set trade target of 5 billion US dollars by 2018. The decision was taken on 15 June 2015 at the fourth session of the bilateral Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation, held in Warsaw, capital city of Poland.

The commission also identified a series of actions to raise trade from the 2014 level of 2.3 billion US dollars to 5 billion US dollars by the year 2018.

The meeting of the commission was co-chaired by Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and Jerzy Pietreiwicz, Secretary of State, Ministry of Economy of Poland.

On the sidelines of the commission meeting, the three co-chairs of the newly created Joint Working Groups on Coal, Information Technology and Food Processing held their first meetings and presented the outcomes to the commission.

In the coal and steel sector, both sides have drawn a roadmap to strengthen cooperation in areas such as thick seam underground coal mining, exploitation of highly gassy seams, developing clean coal technologies and transfer of technologies in deep coal mining from Poland to India.

In the IT sector, both the countries have identified areas to strengthen cooperation in entrepreneurship development and support; research and development and innovation in cloud computing; big data analysis; cyber-security, data protection, smart cities projects and accreditation of each other's courses.

In the food processing sector, experts discussed market access, food processing technologies and research and development between scientific institutions. Poland showed interest in exporting the latest food processing machinery and technology to India.

 

Documentary on cricket titled Death of Gentleman screened at Sheffield

Documentary film titled, Death of a Gentleman directed by Sam Collins and Jarrod Kimber was premiered at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival on 8 June 2015. The film will also be screened in London in the fourth week of June 2015. 

The documentary made in four years came into news as it raised questions on existence of Tests Cricket in 21st century.

It shows the decline of five day game which is the purest form of the second most popular sport on earth, representative of tradition, history and identity.  It narrates a story about greed, power, the endless pursuit of more and the precious things that are lost along the way. 

Further, it raises the question whether the game is losing its identity due to a tough competition from commerce-driven Twenty20 cricket. 

Death of a Gentleman shows interviews of ICC chairman N. Srinivasan, ECB chief Giles Clarke, and former cricketers Kevin Pietersen, Rahul Dravid, Ravi Shastri, Tony Greig and Lord Woolf among others.

 

Beno Zephine became first 100% blind officer in IFS

Chennai’s NL Beno Zephine on 12 June 2015 became the first 100 percent visually-challenged person to be inducted into the Indian Foreign Services (IFS). 

The 25-year-old, Beno was informed about her induction into the Indian Foreign Services by the External Affairs Ministry. 

At the time of being named as IFS officer, Beno was serving the State Bank of India as a probationary officer. She is a postgraduate in English from Madras University.

Beno cleared her civil service examinations conducted in 2013. While preparing for the exam, she took help of software named Job Access with Speech (JAWS), which was a replacement of Brialle. The software allows visually challenged to read from a computer screen, and can scan Tamil and English books. 

This progressive development can be seen against the Supreme Court of India’s order of October 2014. In its order, it had directed the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) to calculate backlog vacancies for the differently-abled and then accommodate them under the Persons with Disabilities Act 1995. 

Earlier on 11 October 2013, Supreme Court also directed the Union Government to identify the posts for disabled persons within a period of three months and implement it without default.

 

Bengaluru based Ganit labs developed 5000 rupees test for tongue cancer patients

Genomics Applications and Information Technology (Ganit) Labs in the third week of June announced that it developed a medical test that could predict the survival chances of tongue cancer patients for as little as 5000 rupees.

The test is based on a detailed analysis of changing gene patterns in cancer patients and helps doctors in managing the disease better, understand the chances of recurrence and also help in the diagnosis of even other forms of oral cancer.

The low cost gene mapping based test assumes significance against the backdrop of growing instances of tongue cancer cases across India.Around 1.2 lakh new oral cancer casesare reported in India every year and most of them are caused by chewing tobacco or smoking.

Ganit Labs was set up as a Genome Sequencing and Analysis, Translational Genomics and Computational Biology Centre in 2011.

It was set up as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology of Government of Karnataka and Strand Life Sciences.

 

Narendra Kumar Yadav took charge as Chairman and Managing Director of MTNL

Narendra Kumar Yadav took charge as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the state-run telecom operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) with effect from 8 June 2015.

This was informed by MTNL on 16 June 2015 in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Yadav succeeded PK Purwar, who was given additional charge of the post after company’s CMD AK Garg retired on 30 May 2014. 

About Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL)
• Setup on 1 April 1986 by the Union Government, MTNL is the principal provider of fixed-line telecommunication service in the two Metropolitan Cities of Delhi and Mumbai. 
• It offers mobile services in the city of Delhi including four peripheral towns Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad and the Mumbai city along with the areas falling under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, New Mumbai Corporation and Thane Municipal Corporation.  
• MTNL has also been given Navratna status in 1997 and was listed in New York Stock Exchange in 2001.

 

Book titled Recasting India written by Hindol Sengupta released

Recasting India: How Entrepreneurship is changing the World's Largest Democracy: Hindol Sengupta

The book Recasting India: How Entrepreneurship is changing the world's Largest Democracy written by Hindol Sengupta was in news in June 2015.

In the book the author explains emergence of new class of entrepreneurs in India, in recent times, especially from geographically and socially disadvantage spaces.

He traces the implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP) of 1991 and subsequent economic reforms in last two and half decades as the reason for this phenomenon.

In February 2015, the book was shortlisted for one of the world's most renowned prizes in economic writing, the Hayek Book Prize, given by the USA based Manhattan Institute.

He became the youngest writer ever, at 34, to be nominated for the prize and the first ever from India.

Hindol Sengupta is an Indian journalist, writer and entrepreneur. At present, he is Editor-at-Large at Fortune India.

Nathu La pass in Sikkim reopened for Kailash-Manasarovar pilgrims after 53 years

Nathu La pass was in news on 16 June 2015 as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj flagged off the first batch of pilgrims for Kailash-Manasarovar yatra that will travel through the pass.

During the yatra, piligrims visit Mount Kailash, which Hindus believe as the abode of Lord Shiva, and the Manasarovar Lake located in the south-western corner of Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) of China.

The pass was reopened after China agreed to open the route following a bilateral agreement signed in September 2014 during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India.

Nathua La pass is located on the Sikkim-Tibet border. The pass was closed by Chinese authorities in 1962 following a war between the two countries.

The pass is located 54 km away from Sikkim’s capital Gangtok and was part of the ancient silk route.

After a decade of talks between both the countries the pass was reopened for trade purposes in 2006.

Nathu La Pass connects Sikkim to theChumbi Valley in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) of China.

The valley, hence the Nathu La pass, has geo strategic importance as it is located at the intersection of India (Sikkim), China (TAR) and Bhutan in the Himalayas.

 

BCG released Global Wealth 2015 report; India home to fourth largest ultra-high-net worth households

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) on 3 June 2015 released the Global Wealth 2015: Winning the Growth Game report.

The annual report listed out the status of generation and distribution of private wealth in 2014. It also estimated the future prospects of global private financial wealth.

Highlights of Global Wealth 2015 report

• Global private financial wealth grew by nearly 12 percent in 2014 to reach a total of 164 trillion US dollars. The rise was in line with 2013, when global wealth also grew by just over 12 percent.
• Over the next five years, total private wealth globally is projected to post a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6 percent to reach an estimated 222 trillion US dollars in 2019.
• North America with 51 trillion US dollars in private wealth remained the world’s wealthiest region in 2014 with the USA representing 28 percent of the global total. It has also remained the wealthiest individual country ahead of China and Japan.

• Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) remained the fastest-growing region in 2014 with private wealth expanding by 29 percent. Continued economic expansion in India along with China contributed to this performance.
• The region overtook Europe (Eastern and Western Europe combined) to become the world’s second wealthiest region in the world and projected to hold 34 percent of global wealth in 2019. At such a pace, the region is expected to overtake North America as the world’s richest region in 2016.
• Western Europe’s 7 percent growth rate brought private wealth to nearly 40 trillion US dollars in 2014 and is projected to reach an estimated 49 trillion US dollars in 2019. In the region Sweden recorded highest growth rate (13 percent).
• Private wealth in Eastern Europe grew by 19 percent to 3 trillion US dollars in 2014 driven mainly by Russia’s 25 percent growth to 2 trillion US dollars.
• Japan’s private wealth achieved comparatively low growth of about 2 percent in 2014 to reach 14 trillion US dollars.
• Private wealth in Latin America achieved double-digit growth in 2014, by rising more than 10 percent to nearly 4 trillion US dollars. Strong growth was observed in Mexico (15 percent) and Columbia (10 percent).
• Private wealth inMiddle East and Africa (MEA) region increased by more than 9 percent to reach nearly 6 trillion US dollars in 2014 in which Saudi Arabia occupied the major share.
• Private wealth held by ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) households(those with above 100 million US dollars) grew by 11 percent in 2014 possessing 6 percent of global private wealth.

• USA remained the country with the largest number of UHNW households with 5201, followed by China (1037) and the UK (1019).
• USA had the highest density of millionaire households in 2014 (7 million US dollars) followed by China (4 million US dollars) which showed highest number of new millionaires (1 million US dollars).
• The highest density of millionaires was in Switzerland, where 135 out of every 1000 households were millionaires.

India’s position in the report

Private wealth in India showed solid gain driven mainly by investments in local equities. In 2014, India’s equity market rose by 23 percent.

India had fourth largest UHNW households (928) after USA, China and the UK. India had only 284 UHNW households in 2013.

 

AIBA constituted Ad-hoc committee chaired by Kishan Narsi for boxing in India

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) on 16 June 2015 constituted a five-member ad-hoc committee to manage the process of finding a group to organise and run boxing in India. 

Kishan Narsi, an international referee who officiated in four Olympics was appointed as the Chairman of the committee. He has been the Vice-Chairman of Executive Committee of AIBA.

Other members of the committee include Jay Kowli, Manisha Malhotra and Injeti Srinivas. The fifth member of the committee will be appointed by AIBA on the recommendation of the ad hoc committee and would be a national coach.

Besides, AIBA also appointed senior IOC member and former IOA Secretary General, Randhir Singh as an advisor of the ad-hoc committee. He will assist the committee in the important task that would benefit the game of boxing in India.  

AIBA in its notification didn’t specified any time-frame for the ad-hoc committee but asked that preparation for the Rio Olympics 2016 has to start. 

AIBA President: Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu

 

India’s trade deficit in May 2015 narrowed to 10.4 billion US dollars

The data of India’s foreign trade (merchandise) for the month May 2015 was released on 16 June 2015 by the Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry. According to it, India’s trade deficit in May 2015 declined to 10.4 billion US dollars from 11.2 billion US dollars recorded in May 2014.

The trade deficit for April-May 2015 was estimated at 21.39 billion US dollars which was higher than the deficit of 21.32 billion US dollars during April-May 2014.

The decline in trade deficit came along with decline in exports and imports in May 2015 to 20.19 percent and 16.52 percent respectively.

Value of Exports
Exports during May 2015 were valued at 22.34 billion US dollars which was 20.19 percent lower than the level of 27.99 billion US dollars during May 2014.

In Rupee terms, export during May 2015 stood at 142572.92 crore rupees which was 14.14 percent lower than the level of 166045.09 crore rupees in May 2014.

Cumulative value of exports for the period April-May 2015 was 44.40 billion US dollars as against 53.63 billion US dollars in Apr-May 2014, thus registering a negative growth of 17.21 percent in Dollar terms.

In Rupee terms, the value of cumulative exports for the period April – May 2015 stood at 280973.36 crore rupees as against 320763.69 crore rupees in April – May 2014, thus registering a 12.40 percent decline. 

The decline in exports continuously for sixth month was on account of slowdown in China adding fuel to already slowing global economy. This was further accelerated by fall in global crude oil prices that caused the exports of petroleum products to fall by 59.10 percent to 2.42 billion US dollars. 

Value of Imports
Imports during May 2015 were valued at 32.75 billion US dollars which was 16.52 percent lower than the level of 39.23 billion US dollars during May 2014.

In Rupee terms, imports during May 2015 stood at 208965.06 crore rupees which was 10.19 percent lower than the level of 232672.72 crore rupees in May 2014.

Cumulative value of imports for the period April-May 2015 was 65.80 billion US dollars as against 74.95 billion US dollars in Apr-May 2014, thus registering a negative growth of 12.21 percent in Dollar terms.

In Rupee terms, the value of cumulative imports for the period April – May 2015 stood at 416345.69 crore rupees as against 448266.65 crore rupees in April – May 2014, thus registering a 7.12 percent decline. 

The decline in imports was caused by decline in oil imports that fell by 40.97 percent to 8.93 billion US dollars in May 2015 from 14.4 billion US dollars in May 2014. However, the gold imports increased by 10.47 percent in May 2015 to 2.4 billion US dollars due to easing of import restrictions on it by the Union Government.

 

Previously unknown extreme star formation Eye of Medusa observed 100 million light years away

A team of astronomers on 16 June 2015 observed a previously unknown extreme star formation Eye of Medusa in Medusa merger, a luminous collision of two galaxies at more than 100 million light years away from Earth.

The observations were conducted by Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM) using the NOEMA (Northern Extended Millimeter Array), the most powerful millimeter radio telescope of the Northern Hemisphere. NOEMA unveiled the astronomical image showing a unique and spectacular view the Medusa merger. 

The observations reveal a giant region (about 500 light years across) of recently formed massive stars at the center of the Eye of Medusa, the central gas-rich region of the Medusa merger. The IRAM team, led by Sabine Koenig, tried a new way by tuning the NOEMA antennas to detect hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and formylium (HCO+) molecules. 

The discovery demonstrates that star development can be probed in stages of formation, which are currently undetectable by tracing carbon monoxide. The extreme star formation observed in the Eye demonstrates the existence of more complex chemical formulations than previously thought. 

Previous observatories have mapped the Medusa merger but none had detected the existence of this region of high-density gas in the Eye until now. This new discovery has not only proven its existence, but also has implications for our understanding of the origins of the Universe. 

TheMedusa (NGC 4194) is a well-studied nearby galaxy with the disturbed appearance of a merger and evidence for ongoing star formation. It is an ideal object to study the merger-induced star formation contribution from the small galaxy of a minor merger.

 

Commission on GSJG released the Confronting the Crisis of Global Governance report

The Commission on Global Security, Justice & Governance (GSJG) on 16 June 2015 released the Confronting the Crisis of Global Governancereport at the Peace Palace in The Hague. The report put forwards a series of proposals aimed at reforming the United Nations (UN).

The commission was co-chaired by former US Secretary of State and Ambassador to the United Nations Madeleine K. Albright and former Nigerian Foreign Minister and UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim A. Gambari. 

The report says that the United Nations and other global institutions aren't equipped to tackle today's global challenges ranging from massive violence in fragile states to runaway climate change and global economic shocks. Much more is needed from the UN and other global institutions. 

The UN requires more capable tools of global governance, with different kinds of public, private, and mixed institutions designed for twenty-first-century challenges. To address these challenges, the report provides reforms to transcend national borders. 

Recommendations of the Commission
Create next-generation conflict mediation and peace operations capacity: The commission calls for building responsive capacity to provide experienced mediators, including a greater proportion of women for crisis and conflict prevention and peace-building; building capacity to deploy civilian, police, and military personnel to meet urgent peacekeeping requirements. 

Strengthen the responsibility to prevent, protect, and rebuild:It suggests investing in capabilities and responsibility to protect action plans for an approach to atrocities prevention that involves all UN agencies and programs.

Innovate climate governance: There should be facilitation of new kinds of engagement between the UN and other international regimes, sub-national authorities, and civil society and business groups; establishing an international carbon monitoring entity, a global climate action clearinghouse; and define a global goal for climate adaption. 

Develop a green technology licensing facility within the green climate fund:The commission suggests harnessing of private-sector innovation for climate mitigation and adaptation, especially in support of vulnerable populations in developing countries. 

Create a G20+ for economic stability and sustainable development:Enhance G20-UN-Bretton Woods institutional coordination to prevent the spread of cross-border financial shocks, promote inclusive economic reform, and foster the equitable growth. 

Promote safe Internet access for everyone, everywhere:Bolster global capacity to fend off cyber attacks involves developing a global network of cybercrime centers through INTERPOL and national Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs). 

Build an inclusive UN Global Partnership: Give a greater voice to under-represented policy issues such as women’s rights, migration, and training a modern workforce through new social compacts and a new hub whereby the entire UN system can tap into the expertise of civil and business community. 

Expand UN Security Council engagement: Create more opportunities for countries, regional organizations, local authorities to contribute to peacemaking and peace-building, while increasing the council’s representative legitimacy. 

Establish UN peace-building council: Transform the peace-building commission into a council with new coordination authorities, new financial and knowledge resources and a new focus on prevention, including through peace-building audits. 

Make full use of the International Court of Justice: Expand acceptance of the International Court of Justice’s jurisdiction and more active use of its authoritative advisory opinions in innovative ways. 

Create a UN Parliamentary Network:The Commission recommends establishing a parliamentary advisory body for the UN General Assembly to raise greater awareness by strengthening voices in global institutions.

 

Election Commission of India (ECI) suspended recognition of National People's Party (NPP)

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on 16 June 2015 suspended the recognition of National People's Party (NPP) as a state party in Meghalaya. The NPP is headed by former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma.

The decision was taken in lieu of its failure in filing the election expenditure statement related to 2014 Lok Sabha general elections within the prescribed limit of 90 days.

The ECI took this decision under the powers vested in it as per the 16A of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. It states that the commission can suspend or withdraw recognition of a recognised political party, either national or state, for its failure to observe Model Code of Conduct or follow lawful directions and instructions of the commission.

It is the first case that recognition of a party has been suspended by the commission under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 for its failure to follow the lawful directions of the commission.

Earlier, the ECI issued two reminders and most recently it issued a show cause notice in March 2015 to NPP in pursuance of the Supreme Court of India’s judgment in the case of Common Cause Vs Union of India and others. The judgment directed all political parties, to file their election expenditure statement within 75 days of assembly elections and 90 days of Lok Sabha elections.

Since elections to 2014 Lok Sabha were completed on 28 May 2014, the political parties were required to submit their election expenditure statements for these polls by 26 August 2014.

NPP is a member of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and has one member (PA Sangma for Tura in Meghalaya) in the Lok Sabha, 4 members in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly and 2 members in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. It was founded in January 2013.

 

Las Vegas casino tycoon Kirk Kerkorian died

Las Vegas multibillionaire Kirk Kerkorian on 16 June 2015 passed away after a brief illness. He was 98. He was famously known as a casino tycoon, Hollywood mogul, airline owner and auto industry investor.

Kerkorian founded MGM Resorts International (MGM.N) and was its largest shareholder. He built the world's biggest hotel in Las Vegas, the desert gambling capital, where he first made his fortune in the 1950s and 1960s.

He was also a player in the automobile industry, losing a battle for control of Chrysler in the 1990s before taking stakes in General Motors and Ford in the 2000s.

In May 2015, Forbes magazine estimated Kerkorian's wealth at 4.2 billion US dollars after taking a hit on his investments during the financial crisis in 2008.

He was a skilled aviator who flew dangerous missions delivering warplanes from Canada to Britain during World War Two and later opened a charter flight business serving gamblers wanting to get from Los Angeles to Las Vegas more quickly than a 10-hour drive.

He was born as Kerkor Kerkorian in Fresno, California, on 6 June 1917.

 

Critically endangered Sangai deer found in Manipur’s Loktak Lake to be translocated

Manipur Forest Department in the third week of June 2015 decided to translocate a section of rare and critically endangered species of Brow Antlered deer known as Sangai. It will be shifted with an aim to save it from extinction.

The deer found only in Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP), a floating biomass in Manipur's Loktak Lake, will be shifted to Pumlen Pat, which is close to Loktak. KLNP is the only floating national park in the world.

Pumlen Pat was chosen for translocation as it is also a phumdi (floating biomass) and comprises of small hillocks which will act as shelter place for Sangai.

Sangai which is the state animal of Manipur was once found across the Manipur Valley. At present it is only found in Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP) situated inside the lake. 

The conservation efforts have helped in reviving the population of the deer from less than 100 in 2008 to 204 in 2013.

 

SunEdison Inc acquired Singapore-based Continuum Wind Energy Ltd

SunEdison Inc, world's largest renewable energy development company, on 16 June 2015 acquired Singapore-headquartered Continuum Wind Energy Limited for an undisclosed sum.

With the acquisition of Continuum, SunEdison added significant assets and a skilled wind development team to drive further growth in the renewable energy development platform.

SunEdison intends to place the power plants acquired from Continuum on the operational call rights list for TerraForm Global. Operation and maintenance of the wind power plants will be performed by SunEdison Services.

About Continuum Wind Energy Limited
• Started in 2009, Continuum Wind, majority owned by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, owns and operates 242 MW of wind power facilities in India’s Maharashtra and Gujarat states. 
• The company has over 1000 MW of wind projects under development across six Indian states.

About SunEdison Inc
• SunEdison is the world's largest renewable energy development company and is transforming the way energy is generated, distributed, and owned around the globe.
• The company develops, finances, installs, owns and operates renewable power plants, delivering predictably priced electricity to its residential, commercial, government and utility customers. 
• Its corporate headquarters are in the United States (US) with additional offices and technology manufacturing around the world.

 

One Rank, One Pension scheme for ex-servicemen

One Rank, One Pension (OROP): Ex-servicemen holding same rank and same length of service to get same pension

The One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme for ex-servicemen was recently in news on 16 June 2015 as the scheme is likely to be rolled out ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls 2015.

The One Rank, One Pension is a scheme that lays down that the retired soldiers of the same rank and length of service will receive the same pension, regardless of when they retire. The scheme was laid out in 2014, but has not been implemented yet due to some technical calculations and interpretations.

Under OROP, a soldier who retired in 1995 would get the same amount of pension as the one who retired in 1996. The scheme will benefit ex-servicemen drawing pensions from the OROP scheme, especially those who retired before 2006 as at present, pensioners who retired before 2006 draw less pension than their counterparts and even their juniors. 

The scheme will benefit all three services- Air Force, Navy and Army. The NDA Government in its 2015 Budget announcement allotted 1000 crore rupees for the scheme.

Reason behind delay in implementing OROP
Some of the officials within the Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) have been against the implementation of OROP citing financial, administrative and legal impediments.

In 2011, the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare of the MoD pointed out to a parliamentary committee that OROP was not feasible to be implemented since documents of military personnel are removed after 25 years, which is not true.

In reality, the Pension Payment Orders of pensioners, which contain all relevant details such as the rank last held and the length of service are retained during the lifetime of each pensioner. All these details are available in a document called Long Roll which is maintained in perpetuity in terms of Regulation 592 of the Regulations for the Army.

 

18 june

ASIC launched mobile app ASCIonline for consumer complaint

Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the self regulatory body for content in Indian advertising, on 17 June 2015 launched the country’s first consumer complaint mobile app named ASCIonline.

ASCI launched this consumer friendly app with an aim to address the issue of misleading advertisements.

Features of the app ASCIonline
• It will allow consumers to raise their voice against misleading advertisements and register their complaint in an easy manner by providing advertisement details and the objection.
• It will allow users to attach files like image or video or YouTube link of the advertisement. 
• It will allow a consumer to track the status of the complaints which he or she has registered on the portal with the help of the App. 

The mobile app can be downloaded on android and iOS phone for free.

Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), established in 1985, is committed to the cause of Self-Regulation in Advertising, ensuring the protection of the interests of consumers. ASCI was formed with the support of all four sectors connected with Advertising, viz. Advertisers, Advertising Agencies, Media (including Broadcasters and the Press) and others like PR Agencies, Market Research Companies etc.

 

Archana Ramasundaram appointed as Director of National Crime Records Bureau

Archana Ramasundaram was on 17 June 2015 appointed as the Director of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), New Delhi. Ramasundram is an IPS officer of 1980-batch of Tamil Nadu cadre.

Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet on 17 June 2015 approved her posting to NCRB by curtailing her tenure as Additional Director of the CBI, New Delhi.

Ramasundaram joined the CBI as its Additional Director in May 2014. Prior to her appointment in CBI, she was serving in Tamil Nadu as the DGP and Chairperson of Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board.

The Department of Personnel and Training has temporarily upgraded the post of Director of NCRB to that of Director-General of Police for a period of two years.

 

Hindi writers Babusha Kohli, Upasana won 10th Navlekhan Award of Bharatiya Jnanpith

10th Navlekhan Award of Bharatiya Jnanpith was awarded to Hindi writers Babusha Kohli and Upasana on 16 June 2015. They were awarded for poem Prem Gilhari Dil Akhrotand novel Ek Zindagi Ek Ek Script Bhar respectively.

The awards ceremony held at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi saw discussion on Contemporary Modern Poetry and Fiction Writing by writers Upasana & Jitendra Biseria and poetry recital by Babusha Kohli & Dilip Shakya.

Navlekhan Award was instituted with an objective to award young authors writing in Hindi.

 

Union Cabinet approved Housing for All by 2022 Mission

The Union Cabinet on 17 June 2015 gave its approval for Housing for All by 2022 Mission aimed at providing housing facilities to all eligible people in urban areas by 2022.

It will be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme and the States and Union Territories (UTs) are given greater autonomy in execution of the mission.

In order to avoid duplicity, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation issued an order on 19 May 2015 cancelling the existing Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), Rajiv Rinn Yojana (RRY) andAffordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) schemesand subsuming them under the new mission.

Broad Components of Housing for All by 2022 Mission

• It hasfour components viz., slum rehabilitation, credit linked interest subsidy, affordable housing and beneficiary-led individual house construction or enhancement.
• States and Union Territories (UTs) can choose best options amongst four components of the mission to meet the demand of housing in their states. The process of project formulation and approval in accordance with Mission Guidelines would be left to the States, so that projects can be formulated, approved and implemented faster.

• Under the Slum rehabilitation component Union Government will provide grant of one lakh rupees per house. A State Government would have flexibility in deploying this slum rehabilitation grant to any slum rehabilitation project taken for development using land as a resource for providing houses to slum dwellers. 
• Underthe Credit Linked Interest Subsidy component interest subsidy of 6.5 percent on housing loans availed up to a tenure of 15 years will be provided to Economically Weaker Sections/ Lower Income Group (EWS/LIG) categories, wherein the subsidy pay-out on Net Present Value (NPV) basis would be about 2.3 lakh rupees per house for both the categories.
• Central assistance at the rate of 1.5 lakh rupees per house for EWS category will be provided under Affordable housing component in partnership with public and private sectors and Beneficiary-led individual house construction or enhancement. State Government or their para statals like Housing Boards can take up project of affordable housing to avail the Central Government grant.

General Highlights of the Mission

• It will be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme except the credit linked subsidy component, which will be implemented as a Central Sector Scheme. 
• Houses constructed under the mission would be allotted in the name of the female headof the households or in the joint name of the male head of the household and his wife.

• It will cover the entire urban area consisting of 4041 statutory towns with initial focus on 500 Class I cities and it will be implemented in three phases Phase-I (April 2015 – March 2017) to cover 100 Cities to be selected from States/UTs as per their willingness, Phase – II (April 2017 – March 2019) to cover additional 200 Cities and Phase-III(April 2019 – March 2022) to cover all other remaining Cities. 
• There will be flexibility in covering number of cities in various phases and inclusion of additional cities may be considered by the Union Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation in case there is demand from States and cities and have capacity to include them in earlier phases. 
• Credit linked subsidy component of the scheme would be implemented across the country in all statutory towns from the very beginning.
• A Technology Sub-mission would be set up to facilitate adoption of modern, innovative and green technologies and building material for faster and quality construction of houses. 
• Best practices in terms of affordable housing policies of the States/UTs designs and technologies adopted by States and Cities are compiled with an objective to spread best practices across States and cities and foster cross learning. 
• A virtual platform will be developed to obtain suggestions and inputs on house design, materials, technologies and other elements of urban housing.

 

Anti-Malarial compound DDD107498 that inhibits protein synthesis discovered

A novel anti-malarial compound DDD107498 that inhibits protein synthesis was discovered by the scientists. The study related to the discovery was published on 18 June 2015 in the Journal Nature.

The compound was found to have all the attributes of an anti-malarial drug which extends to multiple lifecycle stages of the Plasmodium parasite with good pharmacokinetic properties and an acceptable safety profile.

The results gain prominence as the malaria parasite has developed resistance to many of the anti-malarial drugs currently being used including the potent artemisinin.

Main findings related to compound DDD107498

• It was found to target the translocation elongation factor 2 (eEF2) which is responsible for the GTP-dependent translocation of the ribosome along messenger RNA, and is essential for protein synthesis. This discovery of eEF2 as a viable anti-malarial drug target opens up new possibilities for drug discovery.
• The excellent drug-like properties makes the compound fight the parasite even when administered as a single-dose treatment. For instance, in the case of mice infected with Plasmodium berghei, a single dose of the compound was found to reduce the parasitaemia by 90 per cent.
• The compound was also found to have activity against both the sexual blood stages that cause the disease and the gametocytes that are responsible for malaria transmission.
• It also exhibited chemoprotection through action on the liver stage.
• It was found to have excellent activity against the P. falciparumparasite and against several other drug-resistant strains.
• It fared far better than the currently used artesunate drug against both P. falciparum and P. vivax.
• In the case of liver schizont stage, the compound was found to be effective even when the compound was introduced after infection with P. berghei liver stage was established. Liver schizont stage means the stage where malaria parasite in the sporozoite stage enters the bloodstream and goes straight into the liver where they infect the liver cells.
• No signs of parasitaemia even after 30 days were found when the mice were treated with the compound prior to being infected with P. berghei sporozites, thus establishing its ability to prevent infection.

According to the paper, the compound has already progressed into advanced non-clinical development, with aim of entering into human clinical trials.

In 2013, there were 200 million cases of malaria, and nearly 0.6 million deaths across the world. In India, there were about 61 million malaria cases and nearly 116000 malaria deaths happened in 2013. This was despite the fact that number of malaria deaths per 100000 during the period 1990-2013 was reduced to half in India.

 

Renowned architect Charles Correa passed away

India’s renowned contemporary architect Charles Correa on 16 June 2015 passed away following a brief illness in Mumbai. He was 84. He led the creation of architecture for post-Independence India.

He designed the famous monuments and buildings of the nation ranging from Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Museum in Ahmedabad; Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Bhopal; National Crafts Museum, New Delhi; Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal and British Council, Delhi.

He also designed McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, Boston and Champalimaud Centre for The Unknown in Lisbon, Portugal. He was the founder of Mumbai’s Urban Design Research Institute that works to protect the environment and improve lives of urban communities.

He was the Chief Architect behind the development of Navi Mumbai along with Shirish Patel and Pravina Mehta. He also had served as Chairman of the National Commission on Urbanization in 1985. 

Correa was bestowed with various awards in his lifetime for his works including the Padma Shri award (1972), Padma Vibhushan (2006), Royal Gold Medal for Architecture (1984) by the Royal Institute of British Architects, 7th Aga Khan Award for Architecture (1998) by Praemium Imperiale of Japan.

Correa was born on 1 September 1930 in Secunderabad, Telangana.

 

TCS launched Center of Excellence (CoE) for Next-Gen Technology Solutions in Hyderabad

India’s largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on 16 June 2015 launched a Next-Gen Technology Solutions Center of Excellence (CoE) at its campus in Hyderabad.

Key Features of Next-Gen Technology Solutions CoE

• It is dedicated to research and development of futuristic technologies and creation of next-generation products and solutions for its global customers in the Semiconductors, Devices and Networks space.
• Its primary focus is on emerging communication technologies such as Software Defined Networks (SDN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV), 5G and Wireless LAN (WLAN).

• It will create innovative technology solutions for the connected world in areas such as Man-Machine interface, Context-aware systems and resource constrained devices.
• It will participate in various industry forums and standards bodies in defining the future standards. 
• It will collaboratewith various partners such as leading Academic Institutes and open source communities to shape up the evolution and adoption of next-generation technologies.

 

Madras HC made wearing of helmets for two-wheelers compulsory from 1 July 2015

The Madras High Court (HC) on 17 June 2015 directed the Tamil Nadu Government to make wearing of helmets for two-wheelers compulsory from 1 July 2015 onwards. This direction was given with concern over the increasing number of people losing their lives in road accidents.

The order was passed by Justice N Kirubakaran who directed the State Home Secretary to make the public aware of the happening through media under Section 129 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

The high court also told officials to install CCTV cameras in all junctions and roads for monitoring the implementation of the respective order. If the rider fails to comply with the rule, then his/her documents like driving licence will be impounded by the concerned authorities. 

The Surface Transport Ministry was told to look into the design of helmets to provide adequate visibility on the front and on the sides as well. 

Background
Tamil Nadu has always been careless regarding the rule despite the various judgments given by the Supreme Court and various other High Courts regarding the same rule.

Over the last 10 years in Tamil Nadu, a total of 41330 people lost their lives in accidents as they were not wearing helmets and some 4253038 cases of non-compliance of the same were registered. Also, a total of 62413 cases pertaining to head injuries were filed in the last 10 years.

 

Union Cabinet approved Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015

The Union Cabinet on 17 June 2015 gave its approval to introduce Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 in the Parliament. It will repeal the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act, 1986.

The bill is intended to improve the quality of goods, services and systems in the country.

Objectives of Indian Standards Bill, 2015

• To establish the Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body of India. The BIS will perform its functions through a Governing Council, which will consist of its President and other members
• To include goods, services and systems, besides articles and processes under the standardization regime
• To enable the Government to bring under the mandatory certification regime such article, process or service which it considers necessary from the point of view of health, safety, environment, prevention of deceptive practices, security etc. This will help consumers receive ISI certified products and will also help in prevention of import of sub-standard products

• To allow multiple types of simplified conformity assessment schemesincluding Self Declaration of Conformity (SDOC) against any standard which will give multiple simplified options to manufacturers to adhere to standards and get a certificate of conformity, thus improving the ease of doing business
• To enable the Union Government to appoint any authority, in addition to the BIS, to verify the conformity of products and services to a standard and issue certificate of conformity
• To enable the Government to implement mandatory hallmarking of precious metal articles
• To strengthen penal provisions for better and effective compliance and enable compounding of offences for violations
• To provide recall, including product liability of products bearing the Standard Mark, but not conforming to relevant Indian Standards

Comment

The proposed Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 will empower the Union Government and the BIS to promote a culture of quality of products and services through mandatory or voluntary compliance with Indian standards through the process of product certification and Certificate of Conformity with a broad objective of consumer's welfare.

 

Union Cabinet revised target of solar power under JNNSM to 100000 MW by 2022

The Union Cabinet on 17 June 2015 gave its approval for stepping up of solar power capacity target under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) by five times to 100000 MW (100 GW).The target to be achieved by 2022.

The earlier target was producing solar power of 20000 MW by 2022.

With this target, India will become one of the largest green energy producers in the world, surpassing several developed countries.

The target will principally comprise of 40 GW rooftop and 60 GW through large and medium scale grid connected solar power projects.

The total investmentin setting up 100 GW will be around 6 lakh crore rupees.

In the first phase, the Union Government will be providing 15050 crore rupees as capital subsidy to promote solar capacity addition in the country. This capital subsidy will be provided for rooftop solar projects in various cities and towns, for Viability Gap Funding (VGF) based projects to be developed through the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and for decentralized generation through small solar projects.

Apart from this, solar power projects with investment of about 90000 crore rupees would be developed using Bundling mechanism with thermal power.

Significance of the revised target to 100000 MW

• It will contribute to the long term energy security of India, and reduce dependence on fossil fuels that put a strain on foreign reserves and the ecology as well. 
• The solar manufacturing sector will get a boost as the revised target will help in creation of technology hubs for manufacturing. 
• The increased manufacturing capacity and installation are expected to pave way for direct and indirect employment opportunities in both the skilled and unskilled sector. 
• It is expected to abate over 170 million tonnes of CO2 over its life cycle.

 

Union Government decided to increase number of work days under MGNREGA in drought hit areas

The Union Government on 17 June 2015 decided to increase the number of workdays under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) from 100 days to 150 days in drought-affected areas of the country. 

MGNREGA launched in 2009 annually provides 100 days work to rural household of India.

The cost of providing 50 more days of work to the rural households will be borne by the Union Government and it will be applicable to those households only that complete its 100 days work. 

The decision to increase the wage days in drought-affected areas was taken as Government is expecting an increase in demand for wage-based employment due to drought affecting regular agricultural activities in some places.

Earlier in February 2014, previous government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the number of workdays under MNREGA was increased from 100 days to 150 days for tribal areas who have received land rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

 

Japan's Parliament passed a Bill to lower voting age from 20 to 18

Parliament of Japan (Diet) on 17 June 2015 passed a bill to lower the voting age from 20 to 18. The bill that seeks revision of the public office election law was passed by the House of Councilors (upper house) after being approved in the House of Representatives (lower house).

The legislation will come into effect during the 2016 Upper House Election and will add about 2.4 million new potential voters to Japan’s current voting population of 104 million.

The passage of the bill follows a law passed in 2014 that sought to lower the voting age to 18 years in 2018 for national referendums on the Constitution.

Last time, Japan lowered the age of voting from 25 to 20 and gave voting rights to women in 1945 after the World War II.

 

Union Government launched Cluster Development Programme for Pharma Sector

The Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers Ananth Kumar on 17 June 2015 launched the Cluster Development Programme for Pharma Sector (CDP-PS) in New Delhi.

The scheme is intended to enhance quality, productivity and innovative capabilities of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the pharmacy sector.

Objectives of the programme

• Increase the competitiveness, easy access to standard testing facilities and value addition in the domestic pharma industry especially to SMEs through creation of common world class facilities.
• Strengthening the existing infrastructure facilities in order to make Indian pharmaceutical industry a global leader in pharmaceutical exports
• Reducing the cost of production by 20 percent in the clusters leading to better availability and affordability medicines in domestic market and thereby ensuring health security of the country
• To help industry meet the requirements of standards of environment at a reduced cost through innovative methods of common waste management system

Features of CDP-PS

• It is intended for setting up of new cluster as well as up gradation of existing clusters. At present such clusters already exist in Baddi of Himachal Pradesh, Hardwar of Uttarkhand, Gurgaon in Haryana, Pattancheru of Telangana, Nashik of Maharashtra among others.
• It is a Central Sector Scheme and will be implemented with an investment of 125 crore rupees.
• It will be operational till March 2017 (end of the 12th five year plan period) and 6 clusters will be developed by March 2016 of which 3 will be green fields.  
• It will be implemented on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) format, including state governments, through a Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) formed for this purpose at the cluster level. 
• The government will provide one time grant-in-aid to SPVs for creation of identified infrastructure and common facilities.
• Common Facilities under the scheme will consist of creation of tangible assets like Common Testing Facilities (CFCs), training centre, effluent treatment Plant, etc.
• While the maximum limit for the grant-in-aid would be 20 crore rupees per cluster or 70 percent of the cost of project whichever is less, 90 percent of the cost will provided as grant for difficult and backward regions like North East. The balance amount would be mobilised through equities in SPVs.
• State Governments are envisaged to play a pro-active role in the implementation of the scheme by providing requisite land, roads, power and other infrastructure facilities.

Comment

The scheme is in tune with the Make in India campaign of the Union Government that is intended to augment production and productivity of the Indian pharmaceutical industry. 
At present, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is the world's third-largest in terms of volume. It is growing at 14 to 15 percent per annum and is likely to touch the figure of 4 lakh crore rupees by 2020.

 

Union Cabinet approved transfer of NIL’s land to DRDO for establishing a defence research centre

Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 17 June 2015 approved the transfer of a portion of land of erstwhile National Instruments Limited (NIL) to Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The land will be transferred by Jadavpur University in West Bengal to DRDO on long-term lease for establishing a defence research centre namely the Jagadish Chandra Bose Centre for Advanced Technology (JCBCAT).

This will be beneficial for India as Research and Development efforts will result in reduction in import dependence in the strategic sector.

The National Instruments Limited (NIL) was a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the administrative control of the Department of Heavy Industry. As it became sick, its assets, liabilities and manpower were transferred to Jadavpur University with effect from 1 January 2009 under the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) sanctioned revival scheme (SRS).

 

Sharad Pawar re-elected as President of Mumbai Cricket Association

Veteran leader of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sharad Pawar was on 17 June 2015 re-elected as the President of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).

In the biennial polls held for the post, Pawar defeated Vijay Patil by 34 votes to retain the president's post.

Former Indian cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar along with Ashish Shelar was elected as Vice-President of the MCA. He defeated Pratap Sarnaik who got 124 votes compared to 195 seats secured by Vengsarkar.

Nitin Dalal was elected as Treasurer who defeated Mayank Khandwala for the post.

The polls saw the Pawar-Mahaddalkar panel winning 15 of the 17 managing committee posts whereas Patil's Cricket First panel, which was formed in 2013, suffered as severe blow by winning just two seats.

 

CCEA approved setting up of 2000 MW of Grid connected Solar PV Power Projects under JNNSM

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 17 June 2015 approved setting up of over 2000 MW of Grid-Connected Solar PV Power Projects under Batch-III of Phase-II of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM).

The project will be developed on Build, Own and Operate basis by Solar Power Developers (SPDs) with Viability Gap Funding (VGF). The total investments expected under this scheme is about 12000 crore rupees and the VGF is estimated at 2100 crore rupees. 

The requisite funds for provision of the VGF support will be made available to MNRE from the National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF).

The VGF scheme will be implemented by solar power developers through transparent competitive bidding to provide solar power at a pre-defined tariff of 5.43 rupees per kWh for the first year, with escalation of 5 paisa per kWh each year till the tariff reaches the level of 6.43 rupees per kWh. 

The VGF is to be disbursed in six trenches; 50 percent after commissioning and balance 50 percent at the rate of 10 percent at the end of each year subsequently for the next 5 years

The overall effort is to continuously reduce Government financial support for grid connected solar power as the prices of solar power comes down. 

This project will result in:
• Creation of additional 2000 MW capacity of Grid-connected solar PV power generation projects
• Generation of about 3320 million units per year, which will cater power to almost one million Households
• Employment generation of about 12000 people in rural and urban areas
• Reduction of about 3.41 Million tonnes of CO2 emissions into the environment every year
Implementation of Scheme
• The Scheme will be implemented by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) as per the guidelines of Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). 
• SECI will prepare necessary bidding documents for inviting the proposals for setting up of projects on a competitive bidding through e-bidding and will enter into Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the selected developers and the Power Sale Agreement (PSA) with the buying entities. 

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) was launched in January 2010 by the Union Government with a target to setup 20000 MW of grid connected solar power by 2022, which was revised to 100000 MW on 17 June 2015.

 

Book titled Bikhare Khyalat written by Abdul Haq presented to Vice-President

Bikhare Khyalat: Abdul Haq

Book titled Bikhare Khyalat written by Prof Abdul Haq was presented to the Vice-President M Hamid Ansari on 18 June 2015. The book is an Urdu translation of Mohammed Iqbal’s writing in English tilted Stray Reflections.

The book contains old jottings based on Iqbal’s impressions of the books he was reading at that time, his thoughts and feelings about the environment in which he lived, and reminiscences of his student days.

According to this book, Iqbal started writing it on 27 April 1910 but stopped writing after several months for some unknown reason.

Prof Abdul Haq is the former head of the Department of Urdu at Delhi University.

 

G Gurucharan given additional charge as Director General of Bureau of Indian Standards

Senior IAS officer G Gurucharan was on 17 June 2015 given additional charge as Director General, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for three months. He will hold the additional charge till the appointment of a regular incumbent or until further orders.

Gurucharan is a 1982-batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre. Presently, he is serving as an Additional Secretary in Department of Food and Public Distribution. 

The post of Director General has been lying vacant since MJ Joseph resigned and assumed the charge of Director of Controller General of Accounts on 15 May 2015. Joseph was appointed as DG of BIS on 6 January 2015. 

On the other hand, Anoop Kumar Srivastava was given additional charge of Secretary, Inter State Council Secretariat under Union Home Ministry for three months. Srivastava, a 1981-batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, is working as Secretary (Border Management).

 

Union Cabinet approved agreement with Spain on abolishing visa requirements for diplomatic passports

Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 17 June 2015 approved the agreement between India and Spain on abolishing visa requirements for the holders of diplomatic passports.

The Agreement will facilitate visa-free travel for holders of diplomatic passport of one country while entering into, transiting through, exiting from or staying for up to 90 days in the territory of the other country with additional safeguards.

In order to prevent the misuse of this facility certain safeguards have also been proposed.

Similar agreements on abolishing visa requirements for diplomatic passports holders have been signed by India with 40 countries.

 

India, China can protect 1.4 million premature deaths by improving quality of Air: Study

A study titled Addressing Global Mortality from Ambient PM2.5published on 16 June 2015 says that 1.4 million premature deaths per year in polluted countries such as India and China can be prevented by improving air quality.

The study was led by Joshua S Apte of the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas Austin and was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

The study assesses how regional and global improvements in ambient air quality could reduce attributable mortality from Particulate Matter (PM2.5).

Main findings of the study

• An aggressive global program of PM2.5 mitigation in line with WHO interim guidelines could avoid 750000 (23%) of the 3.2 million deaths per year currently attributable to ambient PM2.5
• Modest improvements in PM2.5 in relatively clean regions, viz., North America and Europe would result in surprisingly large avoided mortality
• Major improvements in air quality would be required to substantially reduce mortality from PM2.5 in more polluted regions, such as China and India
• In India and China, to keep PM2.5-attributable mortality rates, that is, deaths per 100000 people per year constant, average PM2.5 levels would need to decline by 20–30% over the next 15 years merely to offset increases in PM2.5-attributable mortality from aging populations.
• An effective program to deliver clean air to the world’s most polluted regions could avoid several hundred thousand premature deaths each year.

PM2.5 particles can enter deep into the lungs leading to increase in the risk of heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular disease, respiratory illnesses such as emphysema; and cancer.

 

CCEA approved inclusion of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in National Dairy Plan- I

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 17 June 2015 approved inclusion of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in the list of States to be covered under the National Dairy Plan- I (NDP-I).

It also extended the implementation period for two years up to 2018-19 to achieve key outputs of National Dairy Plan- I.

Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are newly formed States which are inhabited by tribal population having substantial milch animal population and have the potential for coverage under NDP-I.

Although Uttarakhand was not included for all the approved components under the NDP-I, but the Project Implementation Plan document included sub projects of Animal Breeding and Strengthening of Semen Stations for implementation in Uttarakhand.

Considering the potential for implementation of Ration Balancing Programme, Fodder Development and Village Based Milk Procurement System, Uttarakhand has also been included under NDP-I.

About National Dairy Plan- I

NDP-I was approved for implementation in 14 milk potential States by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) with a total outlay of 2242 crore rupees for a period of six years from 2011-12 to 2016-17.

NDP I is now being implemented in 15 States (after Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana). These 15 states are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

These states account for more than 90 percent of the country’s milk production, for over 87 percent of the breedable cattle and buffalo population and 98 percent of the country’s fodder resources. However, coverage of NDP I is across the country in terms of benefits accruing from the project.