Current Affaires 25-26 Dec 2014 Eng
President signed Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance to facilitate e-auction of coal blocks
26-DEC-2014
The President Pranab Mukherjee on 26 December 2014 signed Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance to facilitate e-auction of coal blocks. He signed the ordinance in accordance with the Article 123 of the Constitution.
Earlier, Union Cabinet had approved the re-promulgation of the Ordinance to facilitate e-auction of coal blocks for private companies for captive use and allot mines directly to state and central Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
The re-promulgation of ordinance on coal blocks was approved by the Union Cabinet after Union government was not able to get the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2014 passed in Rajya Sabha in the winter session of Parliament in 2014. Though, Lok Sabha had passed the bill.
The re-promulgation of the Ordinance will enable the Union coal ministry approve 101 mines, including 65 through auction, in the first phase. Among 101 blocks, 63 mines would be given to the power sector, while the rest would be for sectors like steel and cement. As many as 36 blocks will be directly allotted to state-owned companies.
Besides, President Pranab Mukherjee also signed ordinance on insurance allowing 100 percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in medical devices in the pharmaceutical sector and 49 percent FDI in Insurance Sector.
Amitabh Bachchan honoured with Yash Chopra Memorial Award
26-DEC-2014
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan was honoured with the Yash Chopra Memorial Award on 23 December 2014.
Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao honoured him with the award.
Amitabh Bachchan is the sceond recipient of the award. The award was first conferred to melody queen Lata Mangeshkar in 2013.
The Yash Chopra Memorial Award has been instituted by the TSR Foundation of T Subbarami Reddy in the memory of the late producer-director in 2013. Yash Chopra died in 2012.
Russia successfully test-launched Angara-A5 rocket
26-DEC-2014
Russia successfully test-launched Angara-A5 rocket from Plesetsk in northern Russia on 23 December 2014. The rocket was designed to succeed Proton and other Soviet-era launchers. The Angara is billed as the first rocket to have been completely built after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The rocket Angara was named after a Siberian river flowing out of Lake Baikal. It was expected to launch a payload of two tonnes into space. The rocket was developed with a view to launch manned spacecraft.
The test launch of the light version of the Angara rocket ended in embarrassment in June due to a sudden automatic launch abort.
The Angara-A5 is the first space-booster designed from scratch since the Soviet era. It took two decades of design work and scientific research. The test launch cost approximately 3 billion US dollar.
The clean engine eco-friendly Angara rocket family is capable of delivering up to 25 tonnes to a low orbit.
Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan finalised creation of Eurasian Economic Union
26-DEC-2014
Russia and four other ex-Soviet nations, viz., Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan on 23 December 2014 finalised the creation of Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
The decision to finalise the creation was taken during the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) meeting in Moscow, Russia.
The creation of this economic alliance is intended to bolster their integration among the ex-Soviet states and will come into existence on 1 January 2015.
The EEU will also help promote free trade among the member countries.
Besides, it will help coordinate the financial systems and regulate the industrial and agricultural policies along with labour markets and transportation networks among the member countries.
The new union will have a combined economic output of 4.5 trillion US dollars and bring together 170 million people.
Comment
The ambitious economic union though is intended to bolster the ties among ex-Soviet states but it immediately showed signs of fracture as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko sharply criticized Moscow for damaging Belarus' economic interests with moves to restrict its exports to Russia.
Belarus is sandwiched between Russia and European Union members Poland and Lithuania. It has profited handsomely from Moscow's ban on imports of EU food in retaliation to Western sanctions against Russia. It profited by boosting imports of food from the EU nations and reselling it to Russia.
However, the Russian authorities retaliated by halting imports of Belarus' own milk and meat, citing alleged sanitary reasons, and banning transit of Belarusian food bound for Kazakhstan through its territory on suspicion that much of it ended up in Russia.
About Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)
The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is an economic union of states located primarily in northern Eurasia. A treaty aiming for the establishment of the EEU was signed on 29 May 2014.
In 1994, President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, first suggested the idea of creating a regional trading bloc during a speech at Moscow State University.
Ukrainian Parliament adopted Bill to join NATO
26-DEC-2014
Ukrainian Parliament, Rada, on 24 December 2014 overwhelmingly adopted a bill that enables the country to join North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The bill was adopted by 303 to eight votes.
With this, Ukraine dropped the non-aligned status to join NATO. The non-aligned status was adopted by Ukraine in 2010 under Russian pressure. The status of non-aligned prevents states from joining any military alliances.
During his election campaign in early 2014, President Petro Poroshenko had vowed to put Ukraine under Western military protection.
Comment
Russia is strongly opposed to any eastward expansion of NATO. Earlier, in February 2008 Russian President Vladimir Putin had said Russia may target its missiles at Ukraine if its neighbour joins NATO and accepts the deployment of a US missile defence shield.
Russia has long complained about NATO expanding east, up to Russia's borders. Russia would view Ukraine's membership of the alliance as a direct threat to its national security.
But Moscow has been quick to denounce the Ukrainian parliament for renouncing the country's non-aligned status.
The move to join NATO would drive another wedge between Kiev and Moscow. The move may complicate efforts to resolve the current crisis.
About NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) also called the North Atlantic Alliance is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949.
The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.
NATO's headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, one of the 28 member states across North America and Europe. Albania and Croatia had joined NATO in April 2009.
GAIL, CIL, RCF and FCI signed JV to set up Coal gasification-cum-fertiliser complex in Odisha
26-DEC-2014
Four Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) on 23 December 2014 signed joint venture agreements to set up an integrated coal gasification-cum-fertiliser and ammonium nitrate complex in Talcher, Odisha.
GAIL (India) Ltd, Coal India Ltd (CIL), Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) and Fertilizer Corporation of India (FCI) singed joint venture agreements.
The integrated coal gasification-cum-fertiliser and ammonium nitrate complex will be set up with an estimated combined investment of 9000 crore rupees.
The execution of construction activities of the projects will start in 2015-16 and expected to complete by 2019.
Highlights of the Joint venture agreements
• First Joint Venture (JV) GAIL Coal Gas (India) led by GAIL will set up the Upstream Coal Gasification and Gas Purification section for production of Ammonia Syn Gas for downstream fertilizer unit. The JV will invest around 3000 crore rupees.
• Second JV Talcher Chemicals & Fertilizers led by Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (RCF) will set up Ammonia-Urea, Nitric Acid-Ammonium Nitrate plants. The JV will be initiated with an estimated investment of 6000 crore rupees and majority stake will be held by RCF & CIL.
• The overall project comprises of 3850 MTPD Urea plant, 2700 MTPD Ammonia plant, 850 MTPD Nitric Acid plant and 1000 MTPD Ammonium Nitrate plant.
• The entire project will produce 3850 tonne of urea, 2700 tonne of ammonia, 850 tonne of nitric acid and 1000 tonne of ammonium nitrate per day respectively.
Tenth anniversary of Indian Ocean Tsunami observed on 26 December
26-DEC-2014
Tenth anniversary of Indian Ocean Tsunami was observed on 26 December 2014. The tsunami was struck off the coastal countries of Indian Ocean triggered by a 9.1magnitude earthquake in 2004.
In Sri Lanka, the day was observed as the National Safety Day with a series of commemoration functions across the nation. Memorial ceremonies are held for the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami in Indonesia, India, Thailand and Sri Lanka.
In Banda Aceh of Indonesia, thousands of people gathered at the Great Mosque, a19th Century building and paid homage to the victims of tsunami. In India also paid homage to the victims of tsunami especially in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.
About Tsunami 2004
Tsunami or Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea mega thrust earthquake that occurred on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia.
Tsunami was triggered by a 9.1magnitude earthquake, which struck off the costal countries of Indian Ocean such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and others. This was among the deadliest natural disasters in human history with at least 290000 people killed or missing in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean.
Tsunami was also known as the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake and it has given various names, such as South Asian tsunami, Indonesian tsunami, the Christmas tsunami and the Boxing Day tsunami.
Union Ministry of Consumers Affairs announced to set up Grahak Suvidha Kendras
26-DEC-2014
Union Ministry of Consumers Affairs on 25 December 2014 announced to set up Grahak Suvidha Kendras in each zone of the country. The move is aimed to provide a number of services to the consumers.
The proposed zones where the Government decided to set up the Kendras are North, South, West, East, North East, Central and the National Capital.
The Kendras will provide counseling to consumers in redressal of their grievances and assist them in registering their complaints in the appropriate consumer forums. The government will also be authorized to take up complaints with private companies and service providers on behalf of the government.
The Ministry has invited applications from registered and eligible Voluntary Consumer Organizations for setting up the Kendras.
It has also drawn several other plans and programmes for empowerment of consumers and their welfare. Initiative has been taken on mainstreaming consumer advocacy in the policy decisions of other seven sectors of housing and health.
Union Cabinet approved promulgation of Ordinance hiking FDI in Insurance to 49 percent
26-DEC-2014
Union Cabinet on 23 December 2014 approved promulgation of an Ordinance to hike Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in the insurance sector to 49 percent from 26 percent. Now President will sign the ordinance as per Article 123 of the Constitution.
The ordinance route was taken after Insurance Laws Amendment Bill, 2008 could not be passed in the winter session of Parliament in December 2014.
The 49 percent of cap in insurance sector will include both FDI and foreign portfolio investments.
The hike in FDI of insurance sector has potential to attract up to 7-8 billion US dollars (about 50000 crore rupees) from overseas foreign investors.
At present, total capital deployed in the private life insurance sector is close to 35000 crore rupees and the foreign equity is close to 8700 crore rupees when FDI cap is at 26 percent.
There are 52 insurance companies operating in India, among them 24 are in the life insurance business and 28 in general insurance business.
The Insurance Laws Amendment Bill, 2008 has been pending in the Rajya Sabha since 2008. The bill seeks to increase the composite foreign investment limit in insurance companies to 49 percent from 26 percent.
Besides, Union cabinet also apporved the re-promulgation of Ordinance on coal blocks auction titled Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2014 after it also could not be passed in the winter session of the Parliament in December 2014 due to impasse in Rajya Sabha.
Raghubar Das elected as party leader of BJP in Jharkhand
26-DEC-2014
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Raghubar Das was elected as party leader by BJP Party of Jharkhand on 26 December 2014. He will assume the office of Chief Minister on 30 December 2014.
With this, he will became the first non-tribal Chief Minister of Jharkhand since it was carved out from Bihar on 15 November 2000. All previous Chief Ministers were tribal. They are Babulal Marandi, Arjun Munda, Shibu Soren, Madhu Koda, Hemant Soren.
He will be the tenth Chief Minister of Jharkhand and sixth Chief Minister as a person. He replaced Hemant Soren of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, who was appointed as CM in July 2013.
In the recently concluded elections on 23 December 2014, he won the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) seat from Jamshedpur (East) constituency by defeating a Congress candidate by more than 70000 vote margin.
On the other hand, BJP- AJSU (All Jharkhand Students Indian Union) alliance secured 42 seats out of 81 seats where BJP alone secured 37 seats.
About Raghubar Das
• At present, he is the National Vice-president of BJP.
• He served as the deputy chief minister in the BJP-led coalition government in Jharkhand from 30 December 2009 to 29 May 2010 where he handled the finance and urban development portfolios.
• He also served as the BJP’s state president for Jharkhand.
• He is a lawyer by qualification and has worked at the Tata Steel industries in Jharkhand.
• He has been getting elected from Jamshedpur (East) Assembly seat successively since 1995.
K Radhakrishnan, Chairman of ISRO, featured in Top 10 List of Journal Nature
26-DEC-2014
Koppillil Radhakrishnan, Chairman of ISRO, featured in the Top 10 List of Journal Nature. The edition of the top 10 people that mattered in science in 2014 was released on 17 December 2014.
This is the first time in the recent past that the Nature chose an Indian working in India.
Achievements of K Radhakrishnan
In January 2014, the space organisation achieved spectacular success with the spaceflight of an Indian cryogenic engine and stage. India has been striving hard for some years to indigenously develop a cryogenic engine to improve the reliability of GSLV rockets and to take the rocket to greater heights.
On 24 September 2014 when India’s Mangalyaan successfully settled into Mars orbit, the country became the first and only nation to have done so on its maiden attempt. India also became the first Asian country to reach Mars.
The recent launch of the heaviest and tallest GSLV Mark III and the successful re-entry of the unmanned crew module were the other landmark achievements.
The other nine persons in the list are
• Andrea Accomazzo: A former test pilot who was flight director of the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission, which has for the first time put a spacecraft in orbit around a comet and soft-landed Philae spacecraft on it.
• Suzanne Topalian: A clinician who helped pioneer PD-1 inhibitors, a new class of drug therapy for cancer. The drugs allow T cells in the immune system to freely attack tumours.
• Radhika Nagpal: An Indian-origin researcher who used biology-inspired robotics to get a swarm of 1024 robots to assemble and form various shapes.
• Sheik Humarr Khan: An infection disease expert from Sierra Leone, who became a part of a team of scientists who carried out the first genetic sequencing studies of the Ebola virus. He helped treat many Ebola patients as lead physician at Sierra Leone’s Kenema Government Hospital, but himself succumbed to the disease in July 2014.
• David Spergel: The astrophysicist who spotted an error in the evidence provided by a team of scientists that they had probably detected gravitational waves from space.
• Maryam Mirzakhani: the first female mathematician to win the Fields Medal, the equivalent of a Nobel in mathematics.
• Pete Frates: A former university baseball coach who started the Ice-Bucket challenge that gained worldwide attention in 2014 and raised 115 million US dollar for combating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neuro-degenerative disorder.
• Masayo Takahashi: An ophthalmologist, who successfully tested the safety and efficacy of using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which are adult cells genetically reprogrammed to an embryonic stem cell, to treat blindness.
• Sjors Scheres: A biologist who developed a software called RELION, which can produced extremely detailed 3D reconstructions of molecular machines which are components of molecules responsible for mechanical movement. This can help scientists visualize molecular machines more clearly than was possible before.
World’s smallest hearing aid named Nanoplug developed
26-DEC-2014
The world's smallest hearing aid named Nanoplug was developed by an international team of researchers. The development of Nanoplug was revealed in the fourth week of December 2014 in The Times of India.
The concept of Nanoplug was first conceived by Nevena Zivic and then brought to execution by industrial designer, Jongha Lee, audio engineer Mladen Stavri and electromechanical engineer Zoran Marinovi.
The Nanoplug is so tiny that it is almost undetectable. The designing of this hearing aid was funded through Indiegogo, a crowdfunding platform.
The development of device was made possible by advances in Nanotechnology, most notably by the US Photonics Endure nanobattery that is as about the size of a grain of sand and is able to work six days without recharge.
Highlights of the Nanoplug
• Nanoplug is comprised of micro-components and a nano-battery.
• The hearing aid is meant to be less intrusive, less noticeable and less expensive.
• The device is just 7.1mm x 5.7mm x 4.17mm, which is half the size of any other hearing aid.
• As claimed by the researchers, hearing aid battery has no toxic chemicals inside, nor heavy metals.
• Nanoplug can be programmed using software running on a computer, the results of which can be downloaded directly to the device via a cable.
• The Nanoplug is shaped roughly rectangular, it is placed inside a mushroom shaped sleeve which allows for comfort in keeping the hearing device securely in place.
• A tool is also provided for removal of the hearing aid.
• The Nanoplug does not entirely fill the ear canal which means it allows sound to be localized.
India won Gold in World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad
26-DEC-2014
India won Gold in World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad on 22 December 2014. India won against Turkey 3.0-1.0 in the final round at the FIDE (Federation Internationale des Echecs) tournament held at Gyor, Hungary.
Russia defeated Ukraine 3.5-0.5 in the final round to come at second place and win the Silver medal. The third place was clinched by Iran while Hungary finished at fourth place in the tournament.
In the final round, three Indians International Master (IM) Murali Karthikeyan, IM Aravindh Chithambaram and Kumaran Balaji won their respective matches to clinch the Gold. Only IM Diptayan Ghosh lost to Vahap Sanal of Turkey.
Karthikeyan won against Ali Marandi, Chithambaram against Volkan Sevgi and Balaji against Tuna Tuncer. Chithambaram was the best among the Indians in the 10-round tournament who scored eight points in the nine games (8 wins, 1 loss). Karthikeyan also scored eight points in the ten 10 games (6 wins, 4 draws).
Ghosh scored 5.5 points in the nine games and Balaji scored 4.5 points out of nine games. G K Monnisha was the fifth player in the team of India and scored 0.5 points from three games.
Union Government observed 25 December 2014 as Good Governance Day
26-DEC-2014
Union Government observed 25 December 2014 as Good Governance Day. The day was observed to celebrate the 90th birth anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The ministry also organised Multimedia Exhibition on former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee to mark Good Governance Day at the IGNCA complex.
Union Ministry of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting organised the rich repository of archival footage on eminent personalities . The footage will be available with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to the public through Doordarshan, All India Radio and Social Media platforms of the New Media Wing.
The Exhibition also witnessed screening of three films based on the life of Shri Vajpayee provided by the Film Division of the Ministry. Photo Division provided the photos being mounted at the Exhibition. The Song and Drama Division of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting gave cultural performances during the Exhibition. Publication Division organized a Book Exhibition at the venue. Doordarshan provided short-films to highlight the achievements of the former Prime Minister Shri Vajpayee.
The Multimedia Exhibition on former Prime Minister Shri Vajpayee was an example of the innovative approaches being adopted towards information dissemination by different Media Units of the Ministry. The Exhibition reiterated the integrated communication approach being practiced for effective outreach and impact.
At the closing ceremony, prizes were awarded to children who participated in painting competition organized at the venue during the Exhibition. The theme of the painting competition was Swachhta and National unity.
Sushaasan Express flagged off by the Union Ministry of Mines and Steel
26-DEC-2014
The Sushaasan Express was on 25 December 2014 flagged off by the Union Ministry of Mines and Steel. The Sushaasan (good governance) Express was launched from Gwalior, the birth place of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The train will run between Gwalior and Gonda via Hazrat Nizamuddin and Lucknow. The train was launched on the occasion of Good Governance Day that marks the birthday of Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee and birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Madan Mohan Malaviya.
Other announcements made during the function
• On the same occasion, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu sanctioned 29 crore rupees for the development of railways in Gwalior.
• Besides, another announcement was that the Union tourism ministry has approved a plan worth 24.93 crore rupees proposed by the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation to develop Gwalior as a mega tourist centre.
Union Ministry of Science and Technology launched SMS-based cyclone warning system
26-DEC-2014
Union Ministry of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences on 25 December 2014 launched an SMS-based warning system which will provide alerts on cyclones, tsunami and other weather-related natural calamities.
The system was launched on the occasion of Good Governance Day as part of Prime Minister's Digital India Programme.
Highlights of the SMS-based cyclone warning system
• Under this web-based operational system, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) will send SMS to individuals who register themselves at the weather forecaster's official website www.imd.gov.in.
• The meteorological department will utilize Mobile Seva of Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) for SMS based cyclone warnings.
• The information on warnings will be disseminated to officials involved in administration, district magistrates/collectors besides fishermen, farmers and general public.
• This system is part of the IMD's initiatives for improvement in weather forecast and warning services based on latest tools and technologies including information and communication technology.
Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched Mission Indradhanush
26-DEC-2014
Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 25 December 2014 launched Mission Indradhanush to achieve full immunization coverage for all children by 2020.
The Mission Indradhanush aims to cover all those children who are either unvaccinated or are partially vaccinated against seven vaccine preventable diseases including diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B.
The Mission was launched on Good Governance Day that marks the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Madan Mohan Malaviya and birthday of Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Highlights of the Mission Indradhanush
• Under Mission Indradhanush, four special vaccination campaigns will be conducted between January and June 2015 with intensive planning and monitoring of these campaigns.
• The ministry has identified 201 high focus districts that have nearly 50 percent of all unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children. These districts will be targeted by intensive efforts to improve the routine immunization coverage.
• Out of the 201 districts, 82 districts are in just four states of UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and nearly 25 percent of the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children of India are in these 82 districts of 4 states.
• 201 districts will be covered in the first phase of the mission, 297 districts will be targeted for the second phase in the year 2015.
• The Ministry will be technically supported by WHO, UNICEF, Rotary International and other donor partners.
• Mass media, interpersonal communication, and sturdy mechanisms of monitoring and evaluating the scheme are crucial components of Mission.
Background
Between 2009-2013, immunization coverage has increased from 61 to 65 percent, indicating only 1 percent increase in coverage every year.
To accelerate the process of immunization by covering 5 percent and more children every year, the Mission Mode has been adopted to achieve target of full coverage by 2020.