25-26 feb 2015eng

25 feb

Rajendra K Pachauri resigned as Chairperson of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Dr Rajendra Kumar Pachauri on 24 February 2015 stepped down as Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Pachauri in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that he was unable to provide strong leadership to the organisation.

The organisation will now be led by acting chair Ismail El Gizouli until the election for a new chairperson is conducted. Pachauri had chaired the IPCC since April 2002 and his second term was due to end in October 2015.

At present, Pachauri is serving as the Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change.

Rajya Sabha passed Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2014

Rajya Sabha on 24 February 2015 unanimously passed the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders Amendment Bill, 2014 by a voice vote.

The bill seeks to modify the list of Scheduled Castes in three states- Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and one Union Territory- Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Provisions of the bill
• It amends the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the Constitution (Dadra and Nagar Haveli) Scheduled Castes Order, 1962.
• It adds new communities to the list of Scheduled Castes in Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
• It updates the name Uttaranchal to Uttarakhand in this list.
• It adds the following communities to the list of Scheduled Castes:

Haryana: Kabirpanthi Julaha
Karnataka: Od, Odde, Vaddar, Waddar, Voddar, Woddar, Bovi (Non Besta), Kalluvaddar, and Mannuvaddar
Odisha: Rajak, Rajaka, Adhuria Dom, Adhuria Domb, Khatia, Sapua Kela, Nalua Kela, Sabakhia Kela, Matia Kela, Gaudia Kela, Khadal, Khodal and Betra
Dadra and Nagar Haveli: Rohit

Background
The bill was first tabled on 11 February 2014 but lapsed after the 15th Lok Sabha was dissolved. It was again introduced by the NDA government to end all kinds of atrocities against the Scheduled Castes in these states.

The bill was again introduced in Parliament as per the provisions of Article 341 of the Indian Constitution which empowers the President to specify castes which will be deemed as Scheduled Castes through a notification.

Article 341 also empowers Parliament to include or exclude castes from the list of Scheduled Castes through the notification.

Kristen Stewart won the Best Supporting Actress Award at France's Cesar Awards

Kristen Stewart on 20 February 2015 won the Best Supporting Actress Award at France's Cesar Awards. She received the award for her performance in Clouds of Sils Maria.
With this, she became the first American actress ever to win a trophy at France's Cesar Awards.

Previously, Julia Migenes was nominated for her performance in the film Carmen, however, she could not win the award.

The last American actor to win an award at France’s Cesar Award was Adrien Brody who won for the film The Pianist.

Meanwhile, the film Timbuktu won the highest awards in Cesar Awards. It grabbed seven awards.

About Cesar Awards

The Cesar Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the Nuit des César ceremony and it was first awarded in 1976.

The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Ministry of Culture. It is an initiative from the academy for the science and technology of cinema in Paris.

The Cesar Award is considered as the highest film honour in France, the French film industry's equivalent to the Molière Award for theatre, and the Victoires de la Musique for music. In cinema, it is the French equivalent of the Academy Award in the United States.

DK Pandey appointed as Director General of Police of Jharkhand

DK Pandey was on 24 February 2015 appointed as the Director General of Police (DGP) of Jharkhand. He is a 1984 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.

He succeeded Rajeev Kumar who was posted as the DGP (Training). Kumar is an IPS officer of 1981 batch.

Meanwhile, Additional DGP (Railways) Ashok Kumar Sinha was promoted to the rank of DGP and appointed as the DGP (Railways). Sinha is an IPS officer of 1983 batch.

Prior to his posting as DGP of Jharkhand, D K Pandey was the Additional Director General (ADG) of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Pandey has also served as Inspector-General of Police of Bokaro and Ranchi and also as Additional Director General of Police (Operation) earlier.

Pandey also served in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) from 1996-2002.

PR Mohana Rao authored a book titled Flora of Guntur City Andhra Pradesh

Flora of Guntur City Andhra Pradesh: PR Mohana Rao

The book titled Flora of Guntur City Andhra Pradesh authored by PR Mohana Rao throws an exhaustive treatise on the wealth of flora in Guntur City. The book is the only available and authentic work that throws light in the numerous species of plant and trees in Guntur
The book carries information on 431 flowering plants, shrubs and trees belonging to 76 families of angiosperms. The families of the plants, shrubs and trees have been arranged systematically on the basis of Bentham and Hooker System of Classification.

Mohana Rao is a Professor Emeritus and former Head of the Department (HoD), Department of Botony of Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU). While writing the book, Rao was assisted by Assistant Professor of Botany, ANU, SK Khasim and former research student Bibi Aasiya, who are the co-authors of the book published by Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh from Dehra Dun.

World Bank report Building Resilience for Sustainable Development of the Sundarbans

World Bank in January 2014 released a strategy report titled Building Resilience for Sustainable Development of the Sundarbans. The report states that the environmental damage in the climate change-hit islands of Sundarbans is costing India a sum of 1290 crore rupees annually.

The report was jointly prepared by the World Bank in collaboration with the West Bengal government.

Key findings of the report
The findings of the report have been categorized in the form of five lessons. These lessons are:
• Lesson 1: 10 percent of Sundarban’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009 was invested on the environmental damage and health effects in the region. Thus, the highest priority should not be given to address future uncertain impacts but impacts of past events and current conditions that traps people in poverty should be taken care of.
•Lesson 2: Flooding from past sea level rise and land subsidence as well as increasing cyclonic storm intensity call for enhancement of the resilience of the biophysical system, especially the resilience of the mangrove system, given its important protective and productive functions. Thus, role of future climate change adaptation is less urgent in comparison

to current challenges that cast a long shadow over ongoing degradation of the resource base.
• Lesson 3: Interventions in the region need to maintain a careful balance so that a lifeline is extended to those currently under threat while ensuring that others are not placed at risk by encouraging inmigration. Thus, blindly following a Business-As-Usual (BAU) development scenario will make matters worse and will harm the residents of Sundarbans.
• Lesson 4: The Sundarbans region is not homogenous, geographically or socioeconomically. Thus, efforts should focus on enabling or motivating those in the transition zone to take part in experiencing broader economic development away from the high-risk areas. The report highlights that nearly 250 kilometer square of productive land in the transition zone will be lost in coming five to ten years due to erosion, cyclone impacts and estuary changes.
• Lesson 5: Need of fundamental shift in how the government institutions and their various partners work together, the BAU scenario, with all of its many adverse effects, as there is a need to take on the programmes that take into account the specific characteristics of the Sundarbans. At present such schemes are not implemented in the region.

Policy Option
To address the uncertainty in the future, the report had provided a menu of policy that could contribute in improving overall social and ecosystem resilience. It does not propose any separable option arising from different development strategies but presents a menu of options that work well together as a comprehensive strategy. The organising framework includes time frame, spatial distinctions, sectoral dimensions.
Time Frame– It states that the near-term priorities should be addressed within 10 years so that broder long-term goals can be achieved over a period of 30 to 100 years.
Spatial distinctions– Zones were divided into three categories and they are stable, transition and core.
Sectoral dimensions – It suggests that several recommendations will rely on a sectoral approach where possible and in some instances the recommendations can be carried out in a single responsible sectoral organisation while some may require paired or cooperative initiatives between sectors.

Four pillars to Build Resilience and Adaptive Capacity
To build the resilience of the socioeconomic and biophysical systems and to respond to the challenges being faced by the Sundarbans, four pillars were suggested namely Vulnerability Reduction, Poverty Reduction, Biodiversity Conservation and Institutional change.

Sundarbans
The Sundarbans is a natural region in Bengal and the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world. The Sundarbans covers approximately 10000 square kilometres (3900 sq mi) in India and Bangladesh and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is an archipelago of 54 islands and is a home for about 44 lakh people.

Google acquired Facebook mobile marketing startup Toro

Google on 24 February 2015 acquired Facebook mobile marketing startup Toro. Toro Company is best known for its Facebook ad campaigns. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition will shift Toro’s focus away from Facebook. The company will continue to optimize campaigns and update dashboards for existing marketing customers. However, it won’t create new campaigns for the time being.

About Toro

Toro was originally known as Red Hot Labs. The company is based in San-Francisco, USA. Toro offers services and tools to help developers market their apps on social media platforms like Facebook.

The company is led by Amitt Mahajan and Joel Poloney -- they previously co-founded MyMiniLife, which played a key role in the creation of FarmVille.

Uttar Pradesh Budget 2015-16

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on 24 February 2015 presented the State Budget 2015-16 of 302687 crore rupees. In the budget, state government has given main thrust on agriculture, education, power, health, roads and infrastructure development.

The budget size of 2015-16 is 10.2 percent more than the budget of 2014-15.

Key facts of Uttar Pradesh Budget 2015-16
• Based on the 2013-14 projections, the growth rate of the state is expected to be 5 percent, which is more than the national growth of 4.7 percent.
• The budget targets to contain the fiscal deficit at 2.96 percent of the total State GDP and the state’s debt is targeted at around 27.5 percent of State GDP.
• 51516 crore rupees have been earmarked for roads, bridges, irrigation and development and strengthening schemes for power.
• There is a provision of 26231 crore rupees in the budget for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, OBC's, physically challenged and poor people of the general category.
• To assimilate 45 lakh beneficiary families 2727 crore rupees has been sanctioned, 2776 crore rupees has been sanctioned for minority welfare and 300 crore rupees for eight thousand homeless families.
• 25764 crore rupees have been allocated for power upgradation and line maintenance in the state. UP in its annual budget 2015-16 aims at generating 2100 megawatt electricity.
• Allocated 854 crores rupees to build state of the art cancer Institute at Lucknow and the medical teachers will now retire at the age of 65.
• It allocated a total of 17871 crore rupees for roads and bridges. 3000 crore rupees were allocated for the Lucknow-Agra Expressway and 425 crore rupees allocated for Lucknow Metro Rail project.
• Budget declared year 2015-16 as the Year of the Farmer. In this regard, Budget states to develop 1000 Agri Junctions to promote agriculture as a good mean of livelihood among young farmer entrepreneurs. Also, youth will be given subsidy at a loan of 5 percent interest.
• For payments of arrears to cane growers by sugar mills, 1152 crore rupees were allocated along with 442 crore rupees for reimbursement of society commission of Ganna Samiti's.
• Provision for 250 crore rupees has been made for a new sugar mill of 3500 TCD capacity at Azamgarh and Aswaani plant in place of the closed cooperative mill at Sathiaon.
• For farmer’s Accident Insurance Scheme, 600 crores rupees have been allocated.
• The budget has included new schemes of over 9388 crores rupees in the budget.
• For women empowerment, 100 crore rupees Mahila Samman Kosh has been created. 300 crore allocated for Kanya Vidya Dhan, 2727 crore for Samajwadi pension Scheme and 100 crore for free laptop for meritorious students scheme.
• Under the Lohia Grameen Parivahan Service, 100 crore rupees are proposed for linking villages to blocks, tehsil and district headquarters.

Delhi Government launched mLiquorSaleCheck Mobile App to put cap on sale of illicit liquor

The Delhi Government on 24 February 2015 launched a mobile application mLiquorSaleCheck for the benefit of the customers and to put a cap on sale of illicit liquor. The App will provide detailed information about the liquor being sold in the city.

The application is expected to confirm the authenticity of the liquor and bridge gaps in system adoption. The application will also prevent the circulation of counterfeit products and help the Excise Department with information on where spurious, illicit liquor sale is rampant.

How the App works?
• The application informs the customer whether the liquor bought by him is coming through the Excise-approved system or not.
• Every liquor bottle or case has a unique barcode pasted on its cap or case. Scanning this barcode through the mobile app, a user gets the information such as brand name and size.
• This information is provided on real time basis from the central core server.
• It allows the user to provide shop name from where the liquor has been purchased.
• The user provided shop name is then sent to the central server and is used for further analysis.

US announced to allow work permits to spouses of H-1B visa holders from May 2015

The United States (US) on 24 February 2015 announced that it would allow work permits to spouses of H-1B visa holders from 26 May 2015.

The move will benefit thousands of talented and professional Indian spouses who come to America but are unable to work.

Currently, spouses of H-1B visa-holders are not eligible to work. However, The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting applications for work visas from H-1B spouses from 26 May 2015.

The USCIS said the Department of Homeland Security was extending the eligibility for employment authorisation (EAD) to certain H4 dependent spouses of H-1B non-immigrants who are seeking employment-based Permanent Residency.

Eligible individuals include certain H4 dependent spouses of H-1B non-immigrants who are the beneficiaries of an approved Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, or satisfy at least one or more of the three conditions.

The conditions include that the principal H-1B worker must have an approved I-140 or be currently on an extended H-1B status beyond the six-year limitation based upon an I-140 petition application pending for at least 365 days.

Once USCIS approves the Form I-765 and the H4 dependent spouse receives an Employment Authorisation Card, he or she may begin working in the United States.

USCIS estimates the number of individuals eligible to apply for employment authorisation under this rule could be as high as 179600 in the first year and 55000 annually in subsequent years.

Ravi Chaudhary appointed as Executive Director for Regions and Centre Operations at FAA

Indian-American Ravi Chaudhary was on 24 February 2015 appointed as Executive Director for Regions and Centre Operations at Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Under this key position, Chaudhary will oversee aviation operations in nine different regions.

Chaudhary will be responsible for executing a 288 million US dollars operating budget of FAA and will lead over 2100 Federal Employees in nine nationwide regions.

He will also be responsible for providing Department of Transportation and FAA-wide services in the areas of operations, safety, policy, corporate outreach, emergency readiness, facilities management, besides centralised support for the National Aerospace System.

Earlier, Chaudhary completed 21 years of service at the Air Force District of Washington, Andrews Air Force Base.

Ravi Chaudhary
• Ravi Chaudhary is a C-17 Pilot and has done a variety of command, operational, engineering, and senior staff assignments in the Air Force.
• He has also served at the Pentagon as a Speechwriter and Strategic Planner in the Secretary of the Air Force Executive Action Group and Deputy Chief of Staff for Air Force Strategic Plans and Programs.
• In May 2014, Chaudhary was appointed by US President Barack Obama as a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
• Chaudhary holds a bachelor degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Air Force Academy, Masters in Operational Arts and Science from Air University and a post-graduation degree in Industrial Engineering from St Mary’s University as a NASA graduate fellow.

Abdul Jabbar sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes in Bangladesh

Former Jatiya Party lawmaker Abdul Jabbar was sentenced to life imprisonment on 24 February 2015 by the International Crimes Tribunal-1 in Bangladesh. He was also fined 10 lakh taka in absentia. Jabbar has been absconding since the trial started.

He was sentenced for crimes committed during the Liberation War in 1971. The tribunal chaired by Justice M Enayetur Rahim in its verdict said that if Jabbar fails to submit the fine then his jail term would be extended by two years.

Jabbar was sentenced for several charges apart from genocide. The tribunal sentenced him on charges of killing 36 people, forced conversion of 200 Hindus at Phuljhuri, looting 557 houses and arson during the 1971 Liberation War.

Jabbar was elected a law maker in 1964 and was the chairman of Mathbaria Peace Committee in Pirojpur in 1971.

House of Lords of UK passed a legislation allowing creation of babies using DNA of three people

House of Lords of the United Kingdom (UK) on 24 February 2015 passed a legislation allowing creation of babies using DNA of three people, which is also called mitochondria donation procedure. The House of Lords voted in favour of the Bill that amends the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (HFEA), 1990.

With this, United Kingdom became the first country to legalise the creation of three-parent IVF designer babies using Mitochondrial Donation Technique. The first baby may be born as early as in 2016.

Earlier on 3 February 2015, House of Commons voted in favour of the Bill. Now UK’s fertility regulator Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) will decide how to license the procedure to prevent babies inheriting deadly genetic diseases.

Significance of the Bill
The law is aimed at preventing serious inherited diseases being passed on from mother to child. This procedure will help in giving a permanent change to the hereditary problems that have passed on through the generations.

This change in IVF law can help 2500 women of reproductive age in Britain with hereditary mitochondrial diseases. Now in United Kingdom, women with hereditary mitochondrial diseases will be able to give birth to healthy babies without transferring their hereditary diseases.

Mitochondrial Donation Technique does not allow passage of defective mitochondria from mother to babies. Thus, preventing new born babies from dangerous diseases related brain damage, muscle wasting, heart failure and blindness due to defective mitochondria.

Union Government accepted 14th Finance Commission recommendations

Union Government in the third week of February 2015 accepted the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission. The commission headed by former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Dr. YV Reddy seeks to provide more power to the states for their progress.

This devolution of more share of revenue to states through tax revenue is an indicator of Union Government’s commitment to move away from One Size Fits All approach.

Recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission
• Tax devolution should be the primary route for transfer of resources to the states
• The increased devolution of the divisible pool of taxes is a compositional shift in transfers – from grants to tax devolution
• The panel recommended horizontal distribution by using broad parameters like population (1971) and changes in population since then, income distance, forest cover and area among others
• Distribution of grants to States and local body was recommended by using 2011 population data with weight of 90 percent and area with weight of 10 percent
• Grants to States should be divided into two and they are
a) Grant to duly constituted Gram Panchayats
b) Grant to duly constituted municipal bodies
• Grants should be divided into two parts and they include, basic grants – depending upon the performance of the gram panchayats and municipal bodies. The ration of basic to performance grant is 90:10 for Panchayats and 80:20 for municipalities
• It recommended a total grant of 287436 core rupees for a five-year period. Of this fund, 200292 crore rupees will go for panchayats while the remainder will go to the municipalities
• It views there is a need to change the sharing pattern in respect to various Centrally-sponsored schemes. It wants the stats to share a greater fiscal responsibility for the implementation of such schemes.

The 14th Finance Commission
The 14th Finance Commission (FFC) was constituted by the orders of President on 2 January 2013 in accordance to the Article 280 of the Constitution of India. The commission submitted its report with recommendations to the President Pranab Mukherjee on 15 December 2014.

The commission was formed to suggest recommendations for the period from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2020.

26 feb

Madhya Pradesh Budget 2015-16: Highlights

Madhya Pradesh Budget 2015-16 was presented by the Finance Minister Jayant Malaiya on 25 February 2015.

State Budget of 2015-16 is inspired by the aim to realise Make in Madhya Pradesh by increasing employment opportunities for youth of the state and by increasing production capacities.

The salient features of the budget estimates of 2015-16 are as follows:

Fiscal Deficit estimated at 2.99 percent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
Target to set up 9 seeds quality, 6 fertilisers’ quality laboratories for input quality control
Target to increase the area of horticulture crops by approximately 75 thousand hectare in 2015-16
100 fish markets proposed to be set up in 2015-16. 500 houses are proposed to be given free under the Fishermen Housing
Target to establish Polyclinics and Disease Research Laboratories in all districts for the purpose of providing veterinary treatment and remedies through modern techniques
Target of construction of 7575 roads of total length of 19386 km for linking 9109 villages under Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojana
Ambitious Narmada Gambhir Link Project sanctioned with estimated cost of 2000 crore rupees. Under this project, along with irrigation of 50 thousand hectare land of Malwa region in the basin of river Gambhir, availability of water for daily use will also be ascertained. Along with this, Lift Irrigation schemes for Sihada in Khandwa district and Dabri in Alirajpur are proposed.
Providing employment and livelihood under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme by providing work for 22 crore man days
Target to eradicate open defecation by the year 2018
Target of construction of 150000 houses in 2015-16 under Mukhya Mantri Gramin Awas Mission, considering the problem of housing in rural areas
Target to provide 5 lakh houses in city areas by year 2018
Provision of 300 crore rupees for Simhastha-2016 to be held in Ujjain
Resolution to construct toilets in all schools in the state under the Swachch Bharat Swachch Vidyalaya campaign
Proposal to make all Government Engineering Colleges and 10 Divisional Industrial Training Institutes as 'Centre of Excellence' in specific sectors
Projects worth 450 crore rupees are proposed for super speciality health services in Medical Colleges in Jabalpur, Gwalior and Rewa.
Provision of 1398 crore rupees for Laadli Lakshmi Yojana scheme
Second phase of Tejasvini Women Empowerment Scheme is proposed to be started from 2015-16 for entrepreneurship development and providing better opportunities of self-employment for rural women.
Kshamata Yojana is proposed to be started for developing skilled and competent community leadership capacity at rural level.
New Scheme initiative for providing free coaching in reputed coaching centres for national level entrance examination for medical and engineering courses with two years coaching to 100 students and one year coaching to 25 students
Child care leave for 730 days is proposed to be given to women government employees during their entire service period.
10 percent increase proposed in honorarium and diet allowance of Company Commander Major, Company Quarter Master, Self-Service Platoon Commander, Self Service Company Commander, Hawaldar, Naik, Lance Sainik, Sainik of Home Guards.
Sarva Seva Project with 300 crore rupees is proposed for extension of CM Helpline and linking it with other services. Single service delivery gateway, back end office automation in Collectorates, legacy data digitisation of certificates of different kinds of services etc. will be undertaken under the scheme.

Union Cabinet approved creation of two additional benches of the Authority for Advance Rulings

Union Cabinet on 25 February 2015 approved the creation of two additional benches of the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR). Two additional benches of the AAR will be established in New Delhi and Mumbai.

For these two benches, there will be a creation of two posts of Vice-Chairmen in the Apex scale and four posts of Members (two posts of Revenue Members and two posts of Law Members) in the Higher Administrative Grade (HAG+).

Moreover, two posts of Secretary at the level of Commissioner of Income Tax or Joint Secretary will also be created.

The cabinet also approved one time expenditure of 7.48 crore rupees for establishment of the two additional benches and additional annual recurring expenditure of 6.61 crore rupees for running these two additional benches.

This decision will enable resident taxpayers to obtain an advance ruling in respect of their income tax liability above a defined threshold.

Significance of two additional benches of the AAR
• The creation of two additional benches of the Authority will dispose of increased number of cases and pendency of cases will be reduced benefitting the tax payer and the Government.
• This will operationalise the facility of advance ruling for resident tax payers. The benches will facilitate the cause of the resident tax payers in obtaining tax clarity in certain situations.

About Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR)
In order to provide the facility of ascertaining the Income-tax liability of a non-resident, a scheme of Advance Rulings was introduced in the Chapter XIX-B of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 and the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) was constituted in 1996.

A non-resident or certain categories of resident can obtain binding rulings from the Authority on question of law or fact arising out of any transaction/proposed transactions which are relevant for the determination of his tax liability.

The AAR consists of a Chairman, who is a retired Judge of the Supreme court and two members of the rank of Additional Secretary to the Government of India, one each from the Indian Revenue Service and the Indian Legal Service.

Russia and Cyprus signed an agreement to allow Russian navy ships to use Cypriot ports

Russia and on 25 February 2015 signed an agreement to give Russian navy ships access to Cypriot ports in the Mediterranean Sea. Russian ships that will dock at Cypriot ports would mostly be used in counter-terrorism and anti-piracy efforts.

The agreement was signed in Moscow after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.

The military deal also included the possibility of Russia using an air base on Cyprus for humanitarian relief missions.

Why the deal is important for Russia?
It would end the search of Russia for building a base in Mediterranean Sea since it had lost a military base on Syria’s Coast during fighting between anti-government rebels and troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Further, in the wake of plummeting of ties between Russia and the West over Ukraine crisis, Russia has sought to strengthen ties with a number of individual EU members including Cyprus, Hungary and Greece.

The relations between Russia and Cyprus
Cyprus is heavily dependent on Russian investment and has been a destination for cash from Russia. Earlier in the last week of February 2015, Russia restructured a 2.5 billion euro (2.8 billion US dollars) loan to Cyprus it signed in 2011. The restructuring included cutting the annual interest rate to 2.5 percent from 4.5 percent and extending the redemption period to 2018-2021.

According to Global Financial Integrity, illicit money flows from Russia to Cyprus amounted to at least 211.5 billion US dollars during the period 1994 – 2011.

Scientists discovered quasar SDSS J0 100+2802 with central black hole mass of 12 billion solar mass

The international team of scientists led by astronomers from Peking University in China and from the University of Arizona discovered the brightest quasar SDSS J0 100+2802 with the most massive black hole of 12 billion solar-mass.

The findings were published in the journal Nature on 26 February 2015 and Prof. Xue-Bing Wu at Peking University is the lead author of the study.

Findings of the Study
• The quasar named SDSS J0100+2802 with the luminosity of 420 trillion suns is at a distance of 12.8 billion light-years from Earth.
• The quasar is seven times brighter than the most distant quasar known which is 13 billion years away
• The quasar dates back to the end of an important cosmic event that is referred as the epoch of reionization. Re-ionization epoch is the cosmic dawn when light from the earliest generations of galaxies and quasars is thought to have ended the cosmic dark ages and transformed the universe into how we see it today.

How it was discovered?
The quasar was first discovered by 2.4-meter Lijiang Telescope in Yunnan, China, making it the only quasar ever discovered by a 2-meter telescope at such distance.

Following the initial discovery, two telescopes 8.4-meter Large Binocular Telescope and 6.5-meter Multiple Mirror Telescope in southern Arizona did the heavy lifting in determining the distance and mass of the black hole.

Additional observations with the 6.5-meter Magellan Telescope in Las Campanas Observatory, Chile, and the 8.2-meter Gemini North Telescope in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, confirmed the results.

Importance of the discovery

The quasar with its super-massive black hole provides a unique laboratory to the study of the mass assembly and galaxy formation around the most massive black holes in the early universe.
Further, it will allow the scientists to make unprecedented measurements of the temperature, ionization state and metal content of the intergalactic medium at the epoch of reionization.
The discovery of this quasar marks an important step in understanding how quasars have evolved only 900 million years after the Big Bang which is thought to have happened 13.7 billion years ago.

About Quasars

Discovered in 1963, quasars are the most powerful objects beyond the Milky Way galaxy.
They beam vast amounts of energy across space as the super-massive black hole in their centre sucks in matter from its surroundings.
Till now, astronomers have discovered more than 200000 quasars, with ages ranging from 0.7 billion years after the Big Bang till today.

Union Cabinet approved the implementation of 15000 MW Grid-connected SPV Projects under NSM

The Union Cabinet on 25 February 2015 approved the implementation of the scheme for setting up of 15000 Mega Watt (MW) Grid-connected Solar Photo Voltaic (SPV) Power projects under the National Solar Mission (NSM).

The scheme will be implemented through National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (VVNL) in three tranches. The three tranches are:
•Tranche 1: 3000 MW of SPV plants will be completed under mechanism of Bundling of solar power (3000 MW) with Unallocated Coal based Thermal Power (1500 MW) in the ration of 2:1.
• Tranche 2: 5000 MW will be completed with some support from Government to be decided after getting some experience while implementing Tranche-l.
• Tranche 3: remaining 7000 MW will be completed without any financial support from the Government.

Other Highlights of the Scheme
• The bundled power will be allotted to various States that come forward to
(i)   Provide land for setting up the solar power projects and
(ii)   Purchase a major portion of the bundled solar power for consumption within the State
(iii)   Ensure connectivity to the solar power project.
• The capacity allotted to each such State will be set up through developers, to be selected through international competitive bidding by NTPC /NVVN. Both private and government companies would be free to bid for projects.
• 1000 MW capacity out of the 3000 MW under the bundling scheme will be set up on land already identified in Andhra Pradesh. The balance 2000 MW capacity under the Bundling Scheme will be allotted in other interested States that come forward.
• A Payment Security Mechanism / Working Capital Fund with an estimated corpus of 2300 crore rupees to cover 3 months payment for bundled capacity of 3000 MW of Solar Capacity with 1500 MW NTPC Coal Power, will be set up to ensure bankability of PPAs and timely payment to developers.
• Some capacity of the total procurement under the scheme will be fixed for domestically manufactured solar cells as well as modules. The quantity to be fixed with Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) in each tender will be prescribed by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) based on the prevailing market conditions from time to time.

Completion of the projects under the Mission would accelerate the process of achieving grid tariff parity for solar power and will also help in reducing consumption of kerosene and diesel.

Other decisions of Union Cabinet
• The Cabinet also approved establishment of the New Development Bank for funding infrastructure and development projects in the BRICS countries.
• It also cleared the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) which is meant to provide short-term liquidity support to the members in case of a Balance of Payments Crisis.

Mumbai University signed MoU with Indian Railways to set up Rail Innovation and Technology Centre

Mumbai University on 23 February 2015 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Railways to set up a Rail Innovation and Technology Centre to train students for expertise in Railway Engineering.

Highlights of the MoU
• Indian Railways will allocate 142.89 crore rupees budget for the centre over the next five academic years.
• Mumbai University will provide education, distribution of facilities for higher education, effective administration and financial control.
• The university will impart practical training to candidates at university’s Kalina, Ratnagiri and Kalyan sub campus.
• The university will also start specialized courses at the Post Graduate level related to rail technology.
• This institute will help the Indian Railways in developing cutting-edge indigenous technologies and turn as a net exporter of such technologies.

The areas identified by the University to carry out innovation and research will include robust designing and construction of railway bridges and tunnels, modernization of signal and communication systems, developing glitch free high speed rail systems, wheel- rail interface related issues rail noise and vibration control and improved safety mechanisms.

TRAI issued 6th Amendment to Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Regulation, 2009

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 25 February 2015 issued 6th Amendment to the Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Regulation, 2009. This amendment will facilitate full MNP (Pan-India Portability) across India with effect from 3 May 2015.

With this, subscribers will be able to retain the same mobile number on relocating to anywhere in India although they can change their service provider.

At present, number portability within a telecom circle is only possible and the subscriber has to pay roaming charges plus applicable STD call rates when he carries the number outside the home circle.

Amendments to facilitate Pan-India Portability includes

In case a post-paid subscriber who has ported his number defaults in the payment of his previous bill which was due to the Donor Operator (previous service provider from whom the subscriber has ported out), the Donor Operator has to give a notice within a period of 30 days of due date of payment of its outstanding bill.
After a lapse of 60 days from the due date of payment of the outstanding bill, the Donor Operator will not be entitled to raise non-payment disconnection requests with the Recipient Operator.
For a post paid subscriber who has defaulted payment to the Donor Operator, the Donor operator will request the Recipient operator to disconnect the ported number.
The Recipient Operator in turn will give a notice of 15 days for making such payment, failing which the outgoing services of such subscriber will be debarred for a period of 15 days.
In case the subscriber fails to make payment within these 15 days, his mobile number will be disconnected permanently by the Recipient Operator.

Background

The Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Regulation, 2009 was amended following the recommendations of TRAI to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). TRAI had recommended DoT to implement Full MNP/National MNP and suggested amendments in the the licenses of MNP service providers and mobile service providers.

Further, the amendments were issued by the DoT on 3 November 2014 to the MNP License Agreement and now the Full MNP needs to be implemented across India within a period of 6 months from the date of amendment to the Licenses, that is 3 May 2015.

Railway Budget 2015-16: Highlights

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on 26 February 2015 presented the Railway Budget 2015-16 in the Lok Sabha. In his first Railway Budget, Prabhu outlined a plan to invest over 8 lakh crore rupees over 5 years.

The size of the Plan Budget has gone up by 52 percent from 65789 crore rupees in 2014-15 to 100011 crore rupees in 2015-16.

9 thrust areas of the Budget includes

•Indian Railway to become prime mover of economy once again
•Resource Mobilization for higher Investments
•Decongestion of heavy haul routes and speeding up of trains: emphasis on gauge conversion, doubling, tripling and electrification
•Project Delivery
•Passenger Amenities
•Safety
•Transparency & System Improvement
•Railways to continue to be the preferred mode of transport for the masses
•Sustainability

Four goals for Indian Railways to transform over next five years
• To deliver a sustained and measurable improvement in customer experience.
• To make Rail a safer means of travel.
• To expand Bhartiya Rail’s capacity substantially and modernise infrastructure: for this purpose daily passenger carrying capacity will be increased from 21 million to 30 million. Track length will also be increased by 20 percent from 114000 km to 138000 km. Annual freight carrying capacity will be grown from 1 billion to 1.5 billion tonnes.
• To make Bhartiya Rail financially self-sustainable.

PROPOSED INVESTMENT PLAN (2015-2019)

Item	Amount (Rs in crore)
Network Decongestion (including DFC, Electrification, Doubling including electrification and traffic facilities)	199320
Network Expansion (including electrification)	193000
National Projects (North Eastern & Kashmir connectivity projects)	39000
Safety (Track renewal, bridge works, ROB, RUB and Signalling & Telecom)	127000
Information Technology / Research	5000
Rolling Stock (Locomotives, coaches, wagons – production & maintenance)	102000
Passenger Amenities	12500
High Speed Rail & Elevated corridor	65000
Station redevelopment and logistic parks	100000
Others	13200
TOTAL	8,56,020

Key Highlights of the Railway Budget 2015-16
• No increase in passenger fares
• Passengers can book tickets 120 days in advance instead of 60 days which was available till date
• Outlay for passenger amenities increased by 67 percent
• New train sets that can save 20 percent journey time will be introduced in future. These trains will be similar to bullet trains in design but can run on the existing tracks
• The speed passenger trains across nine corridors will be increased to 160-200 km from 110 km
• SMS alert will be introduced for train timings and under this passengers will be informed in advance the updated arrival or departure time of the trains at starting or destination stations
• Air-conditioned coaches for suburban trains will be introduced
• Wi-fi will be available at 400 railway stations
• Railways Intends to set up an Innovation Council called Kayakalp for Purpose of Business Re-Engineering
• Railways Proposes to set up Malaviya Chair for Railway Technology at IIT (BHU), Varanasi
• Bidding system will be used for redevelopment of stations
• 10 satellite railway stations will be developed in 2015-16
• 800 km of gauge conversion will be commissioned
• E-catering introduced in 108 trains can be accessed by ordering on IRCTC website
• Water vending machines will be expanded on more stations
• On–board entertainment facility will be extended on Shatabdi trains
• General class coaches will see introduction of mobile charging stations
• For benefit of the common man, more general class coaches will be added to select trains
• Pension funds, multi-lateral banks have evinced interest in Railways
• Proposed the best operating ratio in nine years, of 88.5 per cent for 2015-16
• Track capacity will be increased by 10 percent to 1.38 lakh kilometers
• Feasibility report of high speed train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is expected by mid-2015
• To ease private investment, wagon-making scheme will be reviewed
• All India 24x7 grievances helpline 138 will be started
• Bio-toilets will replace more than 7000 toilets, while 650 stations will get new toilets
• Passenger travelling unreserved can produce a ticket within 5 minutes and for this purpose Operation Five Minutes will be introduced
• To address complaints of people Mobile application is being developed
• Integrated tickets will be introduced
• Hand-held devices will be introduced for ticket checkers; it is move towards paperless ticketing
• In next 2 years, centrally managed railway display network will be introduced in over 2000 stations
• Rail-cum-road ticket to be extended in many stations
• Rail connectivity will be enhanced in North Eastern states
• To aid expanding freight handling capacity and provide end-to-end logistic solutions, Transport Logistic Corporation of India will be set up
• PPP model will be used to augment resources and generate more employment
• 6608 kilometer of track will be electrified
• 96182 crrore rupees will be spent to expand capacity of 9420 km rail lines
• For women safety, CCTVs will be introduced in selected trains and suburban trains
• Train Protection Warning System and Train Collision Avoidance System will be installed on select routes at the earliest
• Projects for rail connectivity to many ports and mines
• Foreign Rail Technology Cooperation Scheme will be launched in order to achieve the higher quality service
• Programme to improve design, quality and cleanliness of bed linen will be launched within the next six months

Union Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers declared 2015 as Year of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients

Union Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers on 25 February 2015 declared the year 2015 as the Year of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API). It was declared by the Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers Ananth Kumar.

The aim is to bring about self-sufficiency in the field of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) which is also consistent with the avowed objective of the Union Government Make in India initiative.

In this regard, the Department of Pharmaceuticals will

• take measures to facilitate the growth of the sector;

• interact with the industry on a more regular basis to improve G2B interactions;

• promote better and more coordinated efforts to achieve the objective of Make in India for the API sector

Apart from this, the Ministry also accepted the recommendations of the Katoch Committee. The Katoch Committee was set up by the Union Government to suggest ways to reduce the dependence on bulk drug imports from China and to look into various issues concerning the bulk drugs.

Recommendations of Katoch Committee

• Single window clearance for licensing of drugs in the country

• Providing land at concessional rates

• Setting up of mega pharma parks

• Providing power

• Removing cross subsidy charges

The recommendations will be implemented after taking the Union Cabinet’s approval.

Background

India is very much dependent on import from a single source for basic chemicals, intermediates and APIs for many commonly used medicines. This is detrimental to the country’s interest as it gives rise to sudden price and supply risks.

Thus, to avoid the price and supply risks and ensure assured and sustained availability of these basic inputs to formulation sector, the Ministry of Pharmaceuticals aims to focus the attention to promote the manufacturing of API in India.

Andhra Pradesh signed MoU with Wipro for building and implementing APSEA

Andhra Pradesh (AP) Government on 23 February 2015 signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Wipro for building and implementing the AP State Enterprise Architecture (APSEA).

The APSEA is aimed at bringing transformational change in the way government services are conceived, designed, delivered and consumed.

Characteristics features of APSEA

• It intends to make the state government future-ready by changing from departmental stovepipes to a citizen-centred approach to government services achieved through transformation of the front, middle and back office operation.

• It would prove to be an essential tool for the development of Andhra Pradesh. The vision of the state of Andhra Pradesh is to use e-governance as a tool to provide integrated services to its citizens through a free flow of information.

• It necessitates collaborative working and information sharing between departments, forming a virtual/digital network of departments organised around citizen services and their outcomes.

• It will follow a multi-level approach to account for different layers of government bodies. To ensure relevancy and pragmatism, government services will be taken up progressively, based on their priority.

• Service delivery would be supported by deep collaboration between departments in terms of information flow, application interaction and common infrastructures.

• Services would be evaluated for actual outcomes, rather than outputs.

US District Court ordered Apple to pay 533 million US dollar to Smartflash in iTunes patent case

A District Court of Texas in the United States ordered the tech giant Apple on 25 February 2015 to pay 532.9 million US dollar in damages for willful patent infringement.
The jury decided that Apple’s iTunes software infringed three patents belonging to licensing firm Smartflash.

Smartflash had filed its patent infringement complaint against Apple in May 2013. Smartflash had asked for 852 million US dollar in damages for Apple’s wilful infringement of the patents.

Smartflash had accused Apple for using the iTunes software patents and App store patents related to covering portable data carriers and computer networks for payment information storage, access, management and validation.

The jury agreed with Smartflash’s argument that Apple used software based on ideas patented by inventor and Smartflash executive Peter Racz, without permission.

Apple has lost two previous patent cases in the Eastern District of Texas and successfully appealed both of them.

Clemson University honoured Ratan Tata with Doctorate of Automotive Engineering

Ratan Tata was honoured on 26 February 2015 with an honorary Doctorate of Automotive Engineering by the Clemson University at the South Carolina Automotive Summit.
He was awarded for his contributions to the global automotive industry.

Ratan Tata is the ex-chairman of the Tata Group. He was named Chairman of Tata Industries In 1981, where he was responsible for transforming it into a group strategy think tank and a promoter of new ventures in high technology businesses.

Ratan Tata serves on the board of directors of Alcoa and Mondelez. He is also on the international advisory boards of Mitsubishi Corp., JP Morgan Chase, Rolls-Royce, Temasek Holdings and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Forbes released Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen 2015 list

Forbes on 26 February 2015 released Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen 2015 list. The list features six Indian women CEO and Managing Director (MD).

The Asia's 50 Power Businesswomen list showcases a year of accomplishments by the region's female entrepreneurs and executives.

The list includes following Women from India

• Arundhati Bhattacharya, CMD, State Bank of India

• Chanda Kochchar, CEO, ICICI Bank,

• Akhila Srinivasan, MD/Non-Executive Director, Shriram Life Insurance/Shriram Capital

• Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Founder, Chairman and MD, Biocon

• Shikha Sharma, CEO and MD, Axis Bank

• Usha Sangwan, MD, Life Insurance Corp. of India

The list is dominated by 27 newcomers. Some of them are

• Noni Purnomo, President Director of Indonesia’s Blue Bird Group Holding

• Lee Boo-jin, President and CEO of South Korea’s Hotel Shilla

• Sonia Cheng, CEO of Hong Kong’s Rosewood Hotel Group and Executive Director of New World Development

• Wandee Khunchornyakong, Chairman and CEO of Thailand’s SPCG

• Katie Page, CEO of Australia’s Harvey Norman

• Lucy Peng, co-founder of Alibaba and the energy behind its fast growing Ant financial-services unit

• Maggie Wu, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Alibaba and the driver of its blockbuster IPO

• Garamjav Tseden, Founder and Chairman of mining company Monpolymet

• Win Win Tint

The first time entrants to the list include Maggie Wu and Lucy Peng, Alibaba's top female decision-makers.

For the first time, two women Garamjav Tseden and Win Win Tint are included from developing nations Mongolia and Myanmar.

Railway Budget 2015-16: Quality of Life in Journeys

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on 26 February 2015 presented his maiden Rail Budget 2015-16 in the Lok Sabha. This was also the second rail budget of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government.

In the budget, Prabhu gave 11 thrust areas to improve quality of life in train journeys which also includes Swachh Rail - Swachh Bharat drive. The 11 thrust areas include

Cleanliness
•Swachh Rail - Swachh Bharat campaign
•New department for cleanliness
•Integrated cleaning by engaging professional agencies and training our staff
•Waste to energy conversion plants
•New toilets covering 650 additional stations compared to 120 stations in 2014
•Bio-toilets to be fitted in the coaches

Bed linen
•National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Delhi to design bed linen
•The facility of online booking of disposable bedrolls at select stations will be extended to all passengers through the IRCTC portal on payment basis

Help-line
•Start a 24X7 helpline number 138 and a toll-free number 182 for security related complaints

Ticketing
•Operation Five Minutes to ensure Speedy Purchase of Tickets for Unreserved Class Passengers.
•Provision of modified hot-buttons, coin vending machines and single destination teller windows will be launched to reduce the transaction time.
•For the differently-abled travellers, a special initiative will be launched whereby they can purchase concessional e-tickets after one-time registration.
•Proposal to work towards developing a multi-lingual e-ticketing portal
•Some other facilities include introduction of integrated ticketing system on the lines of rail-cum-road tickets on Jammu – Srinagar route will be expanded.

Catering
•Integrate Best Food Chains for E-Catering
•Railway passengers to order their food through IRCTC website at the time of booking tickets

Leveraging technology
•Introduce hand-held terminals to Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTEs) for verification of passengers and downloading charts.
•Extending facility of SMS on mobiles as a valid proof of travel for PRS tickets
•SMS Alert service to inform passengers in advance of the updated arrival/departure time of trains at starting or destination stations

Surveillance
•Surveillance cameras will be provided on a pilot basis in selected mainline coaches and ladies’ compartments of suburban coaches without intruding into privacy

Entertainment
•Project for introducing on-board entertainment on select Shatabdi trains on license fee basis
•Mobile phone charging facilities will be provided in general class coaches & its numbers will be increased in sleeper class coaches

Station facilities
•200 more stations to come under Adarsh Station scheme
•Wi-Fi will be provided at B category station
•Facility of self-operated lockers to be made available at stations
•Provision of concierge services will be introduced through IRCTC at major stations
•Online booking of wheel chair on payment basis for senior citizens, patients and the differently-abled passengers will be available through IRCTC on select stations

Train capacity
•Capacity in identified trains will be augmented to run with 26 coaches
•More General class coaches will be added in identified trains

Comfortable travel
•NID to design user friendly ladders for climbing to the upper berths
•Quota of lower berths for senior citizens will be increased
•Middle bay of coaches will be reserved for women and senior citizens
•NID will develop ergonomically designed seats
•Provision of 120 crore rupees for Lifts and escalator has been made
•The newly manufactured coaches will be Braille enabled
•Entrances will be widened to ease of differently-abled passengers
•Corporate houses & MPs requested to invest in improving passenger amenities at Railway stations through CSR & MPLAD funds