3-4 April 2015
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Give it Up campaign
Give It Up: Campaign to exhort the better off sections of society to forego their cooking gas subsidy
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 27 March 2015 launched Give it Up campaign. The campaign was launched at the annual energy-focussed summit Urja Sangam 2015.
The campaign seeks to extort the better off sections of society to forego their liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidy, which would be utilised in providing subsidised LPG connections to the poor.
The Prime Minister asked companies and banks to encourage their employees to give up the subsidy on LPG. Gas cylinders surrendered by them would be transferred to the poor who use wood for cooking.
The Give it Up campaign should be taken up on the lines of Swacch Bharat and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao initiatives.
Gujarat leads in implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) during 2014-15
Union Ministry of Urban Development’s assessment of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) implementation released on 03 April 2015 placed Gujarat as the top performing state/Union Territory (UT) for 2014-15 financial year.
Gujarat constructed 60 percent of the household toilets built in the entire country.
Implementation of SBM during 2014-15
Under the mission, 900 crore rupees has been sanctioned by the ministry and an amount of about 700 crore rupees has been released to States/UTs based on proposals received during the period.
Household toilets: In the country 270069 household toilets were constructed during the period. Out of this, Gujarat alone accounted for 60 percent of them having built 165376. Madhya Pradesh has constructed 99151 household toilets and is followed by Karnataka with 4697.
Community toilets: A total of 1222 community toilet seats have been in the entire country. Odisha is ahead of others having constructed 740 seats during the period. Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported construction of 200 and Karnataka has built 100 community toilet seats.
Municipal Solid Waste Management: In the country 329 of the 4041 statutory towns have reported 100 percent collection and transportation of municipal solid waste. Gujarat leads in this segmentalso having reported 100 percent collection and transportation of municipal solid waste in 120 of the 195 towns. Odisha stood in the second position by doing so in respect of 107 towns followed by Karnataka in 40 towns.
About Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)
SBM was launched on 2 October 2014 with the objective of ensuring cleanliness in all the 4041 statutory cities and towns of the country by 2 October 2019 which marks the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Construction of toilets is accorded priority under the Mission to enable open defecation free urban areas.
The mission is to be implemented at a total cost of 62009 crore rupees with a targeted construction of 1.04 crore household toilets, 2.51 lakh community toilet seats and 2.55 lakh public toilet seats besides assisting 37 crore urban people in solid waste management.
California Court ruled Yoga taught in San Diego County schools does not violate religious freedom
A California Appeals Court of the US on 3 April 2015 ruled that Yoga taught in San Diego County schools does not violate religious freedom.
The 4th District Court of Appeal upheld a trial court ruling that rejected a lawsuit by parents who tried to block Encinitas schools from teaching Yoga. The court said that while yoga may be religious in some contexts, there is no evidence the programme at Encinitas Union School District has religious, mystical or spiritual trappings.
The lawsuit was filed by parents of two students who claimed that Yoga promoted Hinduism and inhibited Christianity. The school administration said that Yoga is being taught in a secular way to promote strength, flexibility and balance.
Mariyam Asif Siddiqui, Muslim girl won Bhagwad Gita contest
Mariyam Asif Siddiqui, a 12-year-old Muslim girl in March 2015 won the first position at the Shrimad Bhagwad Gita Champion League. She won the prize for explaining the teachings of the Bhagwad Gita.
Siddiqui who studies in Class 6 of Cosmopolitan High School at Mira Road near Mumbai won the contest from among 4500 students of 195 schools.
Mariyam said she learned from Bhagwad Gita that humanity is the biggest religion in this world.
Shrimad Bhagwad Gita Champion League
Shrimad Bhagwad Gita Champion League was an inter-school competition. It was organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in March 2015.
The English version of the holy book was given to students for a month for preparation purpose for explaining the teachings of the holy book. The competition included recitation of the Gita in English along with a written test.
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry unveiled Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry on 2 April 2015 unveiled Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-2020. The policy was unveiled by Minister of State for Ministry of Commerce & Industry Nirmala Sitharaman at Vigyan Bhawan, Delhi.
The new five year Foreign Trade Policy, 2015-20 provides a framework for increasing exports of goods and services as well as generation of employment and increasing value addition in the country, in keeping with the Make in India vision of Prime Minister.
The focus of the new policy is to support both the manufacturing and services sectors, with a special emphasis on improving the ease of doing business.
The release of Foreign Trade Policy was also accompanied by a FTP Statement explaining the vision, goals and objectives underpinning India's Foreign Trade Policy, laying down a road map for India’s global trade engagement in the coming years.
The FTP Statement describes the market and product strategy and measures required for trade promotion, infrastructure development and overall enhancement of the trade eco system. It seeks to enable India to respond to the challenges of the external environment, keeping in step with a rapidly evolving international trading architecture and make trade a major contributor to the country’s economic growth and development.
Highlights of the FTP 2015-20
• In the new policy FTP2015-20, two new schemes Merchandise Exports From India Scheme (MEIS) and Services Exports From India Scheme (SEIS) were introduced.
• MEIS is for export of specified goods to specified markets and SEIS is for increasing exports of notified services. Duty credit scrips issued under MEIS and SEIS and the goods imported against these scrips are fully transferable. For grant of rewards under MEIS, the countries have been categorized into 3 Groups, whereas the rates of rewards under MEIS range from 2% to 5%. Under SEIS the selected Services would be rewarded at the rates of 3% and 5%.
• Measures have been adopted to nudge procurement of capital goods from indigenous manufacturers under the EPCG scheme by reducing specific export obligation to 75% of the normal export obligation. This will promote the domestic capital goods manufacturing industry.
• Such flexibilities will help exporters to develop their productive capacities for both local and global consumption. Measures have been taken to give a boost to exports of defense and hi-tech items.
• At the same time e-Commerce exports of handloom products, books/periodicals, leather footwear, toys and customized fashion garments through courier or foreign post office would also be able to get benefit of MEIS.
• These measures would not only capitalize on India's strength in these areas and increase exports but also provide employment.
• In order to give a boost to exports from Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Government has now decided to extend benefits of both the reward schemes (MEIS and SEIS) to units located in SEZs. It is hoped that this measure will give a new impetus to development and growth of SEZs in the country.
• Trade facilitation and enhancing the ease of doing business are the other major focus areas in this new FTP.
• One of the major objectives of new FTP is to move towards paperless working in 24x7 Environment.
• Recently, the government has reduced the number of mandatory documents required for exports and imports to three, which is comparable with international benchmarks. Now, a facility has been created to upload documents in exporter/importer profile and the exporters will not be required to submit documents repeatedly.
• Government has also simplified various Aayat Niryat Forms, bringing in clarity in different provisions, removing ambiguities and enhancing electronic governance.
• Manufacturers will now be enabled to self certify their manufactured goods in phases, as originating from India with a view to qualifying for preferential treatment under various forms of bilateral and regional trade agreements.
• This Approved Exporter System will help these manufacturer exporters considerably in getting fast access to international markets.
• A number of steps have been introduced for encouraging manufacturing and exports. The steps include a fast track clearance facility for these units, permitting them to share infrastructure facilities, permitting inter unit transfer of goods and services, permitting them to set up warehouses near the port of export and to use duty free equipment for training purposes.
Minor planet named after former Chess grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand
Michael Rudenko, a committee member of the Minor Planet Center on 1 April 2015 officially named a minor planet as 4538 Vishyanand, to honour India’s first chess grandmaster, Vishwanathan Anand.
The main-belt minor planet was discovered between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter by Kenzo Suzuki in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on 10 October 1988. Since its discovery, the planet remained unnamed.
With this, Anand joined former world chess champions Alexander Alekhine and Anatoly Karpov who have had a similar honour bestowed on them. Other sports personalities on whom such honours have been bestowed include Donald Bradman, Jesse Owens, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Process of naming celestial objects
The discoverer retains the privilege of suggesting a name for 10 years, while a committee chosen from the working group of the International Astronomical Union has the final authority to finally assign a name to a numbered minor planet.
Michael Rudenko who was invited to do the honours, proposed the name Vishyanand, following the rules. The rules require names to be 16 characters or fewer, and preferably without spaces, along with a brief citation explaining the reason for the name.
What is a minor planet?
A minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is neither a planet nor originally classified as a comet. Minor planets can be dwarf planets, asteroids, trojans, centaurs, Kuiper belt objects, and other trans-Neptunian objects.
The term minor planet has been used since the 19th century to describe astronomical objects.
The first minor planet discovered was Ceres in 1801. The orbits of 670000 minor planets were archived at the Minor Planet Center by 2015.
Bharti AXA General Insurance launched Smart Traveller
Bharti AXA General Insurance Company Limited on 3 April 2015 launched Smart Traveller that offers global coverage for students, individuals, families and frequent travellers.
The SmartTraveller Insurance policy offers a choice of two major plans catering to Individuals and Families and frequent travelers through a variant known as Annual Multi Trip International travel insurance plan.
Bharti AXA GI offers comprehensive and affordable international travel insurance solutions for different segments of travelers.
The Bharti AXA GI Advantage gives individual and family plans for several travel exigencies like medical emergencies, loss of travel documents (Passport, tickets etc.), loss of checked-in baggage, compassionate visit in case of medical emergency, financial emergency, daily allowance if hospitalization is needed, among others.
The partnership of the company with AXA Assistance ensures that they provide seamless end to end claims assistance globally, thereby leveraging on t he strengths of the parent company.
Bharti AXA General Insurance launched Smart Traveller
Bharti AXA General Insurance Company Limited on 3 April 2015 launched Smart Traveller that offers global coverage for students, individuals, families and frequent travellers.
The SmartTraveller Insurance policy offers a choice of two major plans catering to Individuals and Families and frequent travelers through a variant known as Annual Multi Trip International travel insurance plan.
Bharti AXA GI offers comprehensive and affordable international travel insurance solutions for different segments of travelers.
The Bharti AXA GI Advantage gives individual and family plans for several travel exigencies like medical emergencies, loss of travel documents (Passport, tickets etc.), loss of checked-in baggage, compassionate visit in case of medical emergency, financial emergency, daily allowance if hospitalization is needed, among others.
The partnership of the company with AXA Assistance ensures that they provide seamless end to end claims assistance globally, thereby leveraging on t he strengths of the parent company.
Kochi arachnologists discovered rare spiders in Western Ghats
Kochi arachnologists on 3 April 2015 discovered rare spiders in Western Ghats. Researchers at Division of Arachnology record the sighting of a huntsman and jumping spider in Western Ghats.
The spiders belong to the Sparassidae and Salticidae families. The research team included Dr. Mathew M.J., Fr. Jobi Malamel and Pradeep Kumar M.S. and were led by Dr. P.A. Sebastian, director of the Division of Arachnology.
The huntsman spider was sighted at Ponmudi, while the researchers found the jumping spider at the Malayattoor and Bhoothathankettu reserve forest.
Huntsman spiders are known for their speed and mode of hunting. Sometimes they hide in the ambush and surprise the prey. Some of these spiders have been found making a substrate-borne sound deliberately when they detect a chemical left by a nearby female of their species.
The males anchor themselves firmly to the surface to which they have crawled and use their legs to transmit vibrations from their bodies to the surface. The characteristic frequency of vibration and the pattern of bursts of sound alert the females, who will approach if they are interested in mating.
Jumping spiders prey like a grasshopper, as it jumps from one place to another.
The name Stenaelurillus albus has been given owing to the presence of a unique whitish area on the copulatory organ of the male spider. The discovery is unique as it has the presence of mating plugs that have been reported in only 17 species of the approximate 5800 jumping spiders recorded till now.
Arachnology is the scientific study of spiders and related animals such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, and harvestmen, collectively called arachnids.
Snapdeal acquired RupeePower to launch financial service
India’s largest online marketplace Snapdeal on 1 April 2015 announced to acquire RupeePower, a leading digital financial products distribution platform. The acquisition aimed to launch financial service.
Snapdeal will now offer consumers a financial services marketplace, a first of its kind initiative in the e-commerce industry. Through this marketplace, Snapdeal and RupeePower will endeavor to digitally organize the fragmented financial services market by integrating these services onto the Snapdeal platform.
RupeePower will now join forces with Snapdeal in building a collaborative ecosystem to provide customers with a host of financial products. Snapdeal’ s nationwide reach to consumers, robust technology platform and deep consumer insights, with RupeePower’s deep technical integrations in information systems of the financial services industry will create a powerful combination.
RupeePower is a digital distribution platform for loans, credit cards and other personal finance products. With its credit comparison, matching and processing infrastructure and strong affiliation with banks and NBFCs.
RupeePower was founded in 2011. RupeePower is a pure digital financial distribution platform and marketplace, matching borrowers and lenders in the retail loans space for loan products. Customers are shown the best loan and card offers for comparison and further matched with the bank’s criteria. The service is free for customers and the company gets paid by the financial institution, upon loan disbursal.
The company is not a lender in itself and does not complete with its partner banks and NBFCs in the lending space.
Union Government extended National Food Security Act deadline by 6 months
The Union Government on 3 April 2015 extended the deadline for implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) deadline by six months in the states
The deadline has already been extended twice for implementing the food law, was ending on April 4. The deadline was extended for the third time so that the remaining states adopt and implement the law within six months.
Since passage by Parliament in September 2013, the NFSA has been implemented in 11 states and Union Territories (UTs). The rest 25 states/UTs have not implemented it yet.
At present, the Union Government allocates foograins to 11 states/UTs as per the new food law, while the rest are getting foodgrains quota as per earlier PDS norms.
11 states/UTs where the NFSA has been implemented includes Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi and Chandigarh, some of them fully and others partially.
National Food Security Act (NFSA)
The National Food Security Act (NFSA) was launched with an objective to provide food and nutritional security to people of the country. It aims at providing legal entitlement to 5 kg of subsidised foodgrains per person per month at 1 rupee to 3 rupees per kilogram to two-thirds (67 percent) of the country’s population.
Iran and P5+1 gave nod for nuclear agreement Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
• Iran will use only the facility at Natanz to enrich uranium.
• Iran will reduce about two-thirds of its installed centrifuges (equipment used to enrich uranium) from 19000 to 6104, with only 5060 of these will be used for enriching uranium for 10 years.
• Iran will not use its advanced centrifuges, such as the IR-2, IR-4, IR-5, IR-6, or IR-8 models, to produce enriched uranium for at least 10 years. Iran will only engage in limited research and development with these advanced centrifuges.
• The centrifuges that are no longer in use will be placed in IAEA-monitored storage and be used only as replacements.
• Iran will not enrich uranium over 3.67 percent for at least 15 years.
• Iran would reduce its current stockpile of 10000 kg of Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) to 300 kg of 3.67 pecent LEU for 15 years.
• Iran will not use the nuclear facility at Fordow, near the city of Qom, for the purpose of uranium enrichment for at least 15 years. It will be converted as a research centre meant for peaceful purposes. In addition, no fissile material will be allowed at the facility.
• Iran will redesign and rebuild a heavy water research reactor in Arak, based on a design that is agreed to by the western powers, so that it will not be used to produce weapons-grade plutonium and support only peaceful research.
• Iran will provide regular access to the International Automic Energy Agency (IAEA) to its nuclear programme supply chain including uranium mines and mills and the enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow to prevent diversion to a secret programme.
• Iran will also implement the Additional Protocol of the IAEA, providing the IAEA greater access and information regarding its nuclear programme, including both declared and undeclared facilities.
• A dedicated procurement channel for Iran’s nuclear programme will be established to monitor and approve, on a case by case basis, the supply, sale, or transfer to Iran of nuclear-related and dual use materials and technology.
What Iran will get under the Agreement?
The sanctions imposed by the US, the EU and the UN will be lifted in phases depending upon the progress made by Iran in implementing its commitments under the agreement.
• In case of the US the nuclear related sanctions will be lifted once the IAEA verified that Iran has taken all the key nuclear-related steps provided by the agreement. However, sanctions related to terrorism, rights abuses and ballistic missiles will remain in place.
Al-shabab attacked Garissa University College in Kenya
Al-Shabaab on 2 April 2015 carried out a massacre killing 147 people in the Garissa University College situated in Garissa County in northeastern Kenya.
In all, 151 people were killed including 142 students, three security officers, two university security personnel and four militants who were killed by the security forces. The attack left 104 people injured, including 19 who are in critical condition.
The college campus is situated 145 km away from the porous Somalia-Kenya border.
Al-Shabaab is a Somalia-based militant organization and an al Qaeda affiliate.
The group has been blamed for a series of attacks in Kenya, including the siege at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in 2013 in which 67 people were killed.
The group has vowed to retaliate against Kenya for sending troops to Somalia under Operation Linda Nchi in 2011 to fight the Al-Shabaab militants who had kidnapped foreigners and aid workers inside Kenya.
According to an estimate by the Kenyan Government 312 people have been killed in Al-Shabaab attacks in Kenya from 2012 to 2014.
The terror attack is the second-worst in the country's history next to the bombings carried out by Al-Qaeda on the US Embassy in Nairobi in which 213 people were killed.
FM Global released Global Resilience Index 2015 Report
FM Global in the first week of April released Global Resilience Index 2015.
The Index offers powerful insights to help business executives target their investments towards more reliable returns and to protect their customers from unforeseen disruption.
Out of the 130 countries and regions assessed Norway topped the list in terms of business resilience.
The top ten countries in the Index are
Norway (1)
Switzerland (2)
Netherlands (3)
Ireland (4)
Luxembourg (5)
Germany (6)
Qatar (7)
Canada (8)
Finland (9)
the United States region (10)
The bottom five countries in the Index are
Dominican Republic (126)
Nicaragua (127)
Mauritania (128)
Kyrgyz Republic (129)
Venezuela (130)
The Index used nine core drivers that are categorized into three factors namely Economic Productivity, Risk Quality, and Supply Chain to assess business resilience of the countries or regions surveyed.
India’s position in the Index
India has been placed at the 119th position in the 2015 Index compared to 112th rank it secured in the 2014 Index.
• India is ranked at the 115th position in the Economic Productivity category that takes into account GDP per capita, political risk and oil intensity. This rank is same as in the Index 2014.
• In the Risk Quality factor, India is placed at the 109th position from 113th rank in 2014 which took into account exposure to natural hazard, Quality of natural hazard risk management and Quality of fire risk management.
• In the Supply Chain category, which takes into account control of corruption, Infrastructure and local supplier quality, India has improved its rank from 100th position in the year 2014 to 89th position.
• According to the report, despite India’s huge economic potential it is placed at the 119th position because one third of its population is still living below the poverty line-–one of the highest incidences outside sub-Saharan Africa.
21 weightlifters test positive, provisionally suspended by IWF
Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) on 4 April 2015 provisionally suspended 21 weightlifters after they were tested positive for banned substances. This could be termed as one of the biggest doping scandals in recent years.
The lifters tested positive across different championships, both out-of-competition and in-competition. Maximum of these offenders were caught at the National Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships, which was held in Yamunangar in January 2015.
IWF has sent sample B of these 21 lifters for test. In case, the sample tests positive then the first-time offenders could face a ban for four years.Earlier on 1 January 2015, the National Anti-Doping Agency has increased the ban period of first time dope offenders to maximum of four years from two.
Beside this, the IWF rules says that in case of two or more doping violations in a 12-month period in tests conducted by the IWF or NADA, a state federation could be suspended from participating in any activities of the IWF for a period of up to two years.