3-4 feb 2015 eng

3 feb

Nandita Chatterjee appointed as Secretary in the Union Ministry of HUPA

Nandita Chatterjee was on 2 February 2015 appointed as the Secretary in the Union Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA).

Nandita Chatterjee succeeded Anita Agnihotri. Chatterjee's last assignment was as a Member-Secretary in National Commission for Women (NCW).

Nandita Chatterjee
• Chatterjee is a 1980 batch IAS Officer of West Bengal Cadre. She also holds Doctoral Degree in Sociology and Anthropology.
• She served as Collector of 24 Parganas and Hughli districts and as Chief Executive Officer of Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority.
• Chatterjee also served in the Union Ministry of Rural Development and Union Ministry of Environment & Forests.
• She has served for over six years in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Health Organisation(WHO). Her last international assignment was as Capacity Development Advisor, UNDP in Afghanistan.

Become a "GK CHAMPION" with a click of your Smartphone

With JagranJosh.com, be a Smart Student

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Presently, this App is available for most popular Android mobile phones. This app can be downloaded for free by visiting the Google Play store or by giving a missed call on 02233598534

Former Delhi state footballer Peter Gomes died

Former Delhi state footballer Peter Gomes died on 30 January 2015 due to heart-attack in a hospital at New Delhi. He was 60. He is survived by his wife and two sons.

Born in 1955, Gomes started his playing career in 1980 with Delhi's famous Buddisht Blue Stars football club as a forward. Later, he switched to Shimla Youngs football club. In the 1990s, he represented Delhi state team in the Senior National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy.

During his playing career, Gomes regularly participated in Delhi league and tournaments like DCM, Durand Cup and others.

Andhra Pradesh Government approved reformed Solar, Wind Energy policy

Andhra Pradesh Government on 2 February 2015 approved reformed solar and wind energy policies during the state cabinet meeting.

Single window system, easy permissions and treatment like industries for according clearances are some of the salient features of the two policies unveiled.

Main highlights of the policies
• To place Andhra Pradesh in the leading position among the states producing solar energy by 2020.
• To generate 5000 Mega Watt (MW) from solar energy by 2020 from the present 127 MW
• To generate 40000 MW wind energy by 2020 from the present 897 MW
• Non-Conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Ltd (NEDCAP) will be the nodal agency for the implementation of the policies.
• Single widow method has been introduced for giving permissions for solar parks and wind power facilities and they will be treated on par with industries as far as clearances are concerned.
• Land-related permissions will now be given quickly for setting up ventures and no surcharge will be levied if they sell power within the state.
• The power to allocate land in case of wind power projects is given to the District Collectors.

Steps have already been initiated for producing 2500 MW solar energy in Kadapa, Kurnool and Anantapur districts.

Telangana government decided to organise Godavari Pushkaralu on the lines of Kumbh Mela

The State Government of Telangana on 2 February 2014 announced its decision to organise Godavari Pushkaralu on a large scale on the lines of Kumbh Mela. The event is scheduled to be held in July 2015.

The decision was taken during the Telangana government’s Cabinet Sub-Committee meeting in Hyderabad.

Main highlights of the Cabinet Sub-committee of Telangana government on Pushkaralu
• 452 crore rupees will be invested on the event
• 69 bathing ghats will be constructed and existing 27 ghats will be repaired
• Construction work of the new ghats will be monitored by the Vigilance Department
• The ghats would come up at Basar and Dharmapuri
• 266 crore rupees would be spent by the Roads and Building Department, 100 crore rupees by Panchayat Raj and Rural Water Supply and 86 crore rupees by the Irrigation Department for making the arrangements
• To oversee the arrangements in five districts namely Nizamabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Khammam senior officers would be debuted
• Police control rooms to be made available at bathing ghats

Besides, the State Government during the meet decided to invite President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the event.

About Godavari Pushkaralu
Pushkaram is a holy festival that is celebrated once in every 12 years at each of the 12 major rivers of India, the Godavari is one among them.

Godavari Pushkaralu, a 12-day festival of worshipping the river is held once in 12 years. Every 12th year Jupiter’s entry into the constellation Leo marks the Pushkaram for Godavari. The celebrations include reverence of ancestors, spiritual discourses, devotional music and cultural programmes.

Theoretically, the festival lasts as long as Jupiter remains in the corresponding zodiac sign (generally, for one year).

However, it draws major crowds only during the first 12 days. The first twelve days are known as Adi Pushkaram, and the last twelve days are called Anthya Pushkaram.

The Godavari Pushkaram 2003

Last time the Godavari Pushkaram was organised in 2003 from 30 July to 10 August in Andhra Pradesh. The Mahotsavam was held at nine prominent temple tomes of the state namely Basara in Adilabad, Dharmapuri and Kaleswaram in Karimnagar, Bhadrachalam in Khammam, Kovvuru in West Godavari and Rajahmundry, Pattiseema, Drasksharamam and Antharvedi in East Godarvari districts.

Photo journalist Krishna Murari Kishan passed away

Renowned Photo journalist Krishna Murari Kishan passed away on 1 February 2015 after suffering multi-organ failure at a private hospital in New Delhi. He was 65.

Kishan is survived by two sons and three daughters. One of his son Amrit Jaikishan is also a photo journalist.

Kishan began his career as a simple photographer for local news media and later he worked as a freelance photojournalist.

Krishna Murari Kishan rose to prominence by earning national acclaim due to his many exposes. Krishna Murari Kishan had won praise for communal riots coverage in Jamshedpur in 1978 and in Bhagalpur in 1989.

Lupin got USFDA nod for marketing its diarrhea drug vancomycin hydrochloride in US

Mumbai-based drug major Lupin Limited on 2 February 2015 announced that it had received final approval from US Food and Drugs Administration (USFDA) for its vancomycin hydrochloride capsules used for treating diarrhea.

The approval was given for the marketing of 125 mg and 250 mg strength of capsules in the US market. Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc, Lupin’s US subsidiary, would market the generic version of Vancocin capsules of ANI Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Vancomycin is an antibiotic useful for the treatment of a number of bacterial infections. Lupin's vancomycin capsules are indicated for the treatment of C. difficile-associated diarrhoea and also for the treatment of enterocolitis caused by staphylococcus aureus (including methicillin-resistant strains).

Pakistan successfully test-fired Air Launched Cruise Missile Ra’ad

Pakistan on 2 February 2015 successfully test-fired indigenously developed Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) Ra’ad. The missile, also called Thunder in Arabic, has been developed by Pakistan's Air Weapons Complex and NESCOM.

The missile gave Pakistan Air Force a strategic standoff capability on land and at sea indicating that Ra'ad can be launched at sea-based targets such as ships as well as land-based targets.

Ra'ad was tested for the first time on 25 August 2007.

About Ra’ad missile
• The missile is designed to operate with Pakistan Air Force (PAF) aircraft’s like Dassault Mirage III ROSE and JF-17 combat aircraft.
• This low altitude missile is designed to attack fixed enemy installations such as radar posts, command nodes, surface to air missile launchers, etc.
• High maneuverability capabilities of missile enable it to deliver nuclear and conventional warheads with pin-point accuracy.
• It has a range of 350 km and comprises stealth capabilities due to its cruise technology.
• The missile can also be armed with a 10-35 kilo tonne nuclear warhead.

Madhya Pradesh won the 10th National Award for excellent work in MGNREGA

Madhya Pradesh on 2 February 2015 won the 10th National Award for excellent work in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA).

The award was presented to Madhya Pradesh Panchayats and Rural Development Minister Gopal Bhargava by the Union Rural Development Minister Virendra Singh at the MGNREGA summit held in New Delhi.

The award was given to Madhya Pradesh for convergence of MGNREGA and other schemes for construction of permanent assets and for excellent work in providing opportunities for earning permanent income.

Madhya Pradesh is leading in the construction of permanent assets through MGNREGA convergence in the country. 74 percent construction of permanent assets has been done through MGNREGA in the state.

As many as 179 crore 11 lakh man days of employment have been created. Out of these, 77 crore 36 lakh man days of employment have been provided to female labourers.

Electronic Fund Management System was also introduced in the State in April 2014 to ensure transparency in accountancy and immediate payment of wages to labourers.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA)

• MGNREGA aims to ensure livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
• It is social security program that aims to guarantee the right to work and create durable assets such as roads, canals, ponds, wells, etc.
• Initially on 2 February 2006, MGNREGA was implemented in 200 districts. It was extended to cover all the districts of India from 1 April 2008.

SC sought response from Union Government on making Moral Science a compulsory subject in Schools

The Supreme Court (SC) of India on 2 February 2015 sought responses from the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) and the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) on a plea to make Moral Science a compulsory subject in the curricula of Classes I to XII across the country.

The bench comprising Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justice AK Sikri issued notices to the Ministry and the CBSE while hearing a PIL filed by lawyer Santosh Singh.

Singh in the PIL requested the court to include moral values and nurture national character in the national interest. She pleaded for a suitable alteration in the National Education Policy, 1986 too.

The petition further said that there is a rapid degradation of moral values in the society where making money anyhow is the sole motto of life.

It further stated that the society needs a value-based moral education system by humanizing education and making students global citizens with universal values.

A new school curriculum needs to be revamped to include spiritual knowledge to enable students not to succumb to the pressure of participating in rat race of life which would not reduce him to the level of a rat only.

Joint Communiqué of tri-nation meet of Foreign Ministers of India-Russia-China released

13th meet of the Foreign Ministers of India, Russia and China was held in Beijing, China on 2 February 2015.

The three foreign ministers namely Sushma Swaraj (India), Wang Yi (China) and Sergey Lavrov (Russia) after the meet released a Joint Communiqué.

The communiqué emphasised on cooperation between their countries which is conducive to maintain international and regional peace and stability and promoting global economic growth and prosperity.

Main highlights of the Joint Communiqué
• They agreed to build a more just, fair and stable international political and economic order in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-Existence (Panchsheel) and other basic norms of international law.
• They agreed to further strengthen coordination on global issues and practical cooperation, in the spirit of openness, solidarity, mutual understanding and trust.
• They agreed to enhance cooperation in think-tanks, business, agriculture, disaster mitigation and relief, medical services and public health.
• They explored potential for cooperation in oil and natural gas production and transportation, as well as in other fields of energy, high tech, environmental protection and connectivity
• They agreed to promote parliamentary, media, cultural and youth exchanges including visits of young diplomats.
• China and Russia welcomed India's application for full membership of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and supported India to join the SCO after completing all necessary negotiations and legal processes.
• Russia and India welcomed and supported the efforts of China to host the 2016 G20 Summit and reiterated their readiness to contribute to its successful results.
• They agreed to hold the next trilateral meeting in Russia in the second half of 2015.

Role of United Nations in International Relations
• They agreed to safeguard a fair and equitable international order based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, preventing war and conflict and promoting the progress and development of mankind.
• They welcomed the inclusion of the item of "Seventieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War" in the agenda of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly, and supported the United Nations and member states to initiate and organize commemorative events.
• They agreed that there is a need for all countries to join efforts in combating terrorism under the auspices of the United Nations, in accordance with the UN Charter and principles and norms of international law and for the robust implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

Asia-Pacific Affairs
• On Asia-Pacific Region, they agreed to strengthen coordination and cooperation in a joint effort to maintain lasting peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. To this end, they agreed to establish a trilateral Russia-India-China consultation mechanism on Asia-Pacific affairs, with the first meeting to be held at an early date.

Israel-Palestine conflict
• On Israel-Palestine conflict, the leaders of three nations supported the resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict based on the relevant United Nations resolutions, the principle of land for peace, the Arab Peace Initiative, with the purpose of establishing a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognized borders, side by side, at peace with Israel.

Syria
• On Syria, they reiterated that there is no military solution to the Syrian crisis and urged all parties to abjure violence and resume peace negotiations based on "Geneva Communiqué" of June 2012.
• Further, they called on all parties in Syria to implement relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, and fully cooperate with the United Nations and relevant international organizations in their humanitarian efforts.
• They called on the international community to abide by the guiding principles of the United Nations on humanitarian assistance.

Afghanistan
• They agreed to support broad and inclusive peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan that is Afghan-led and Afghan-owned, as well as to help Afghanistan’s integration into the region through its expanded trade and transport networks and regional connectivity.
• They also stressed their commitment to implementing the Beijing Declaration for security and prosperity in Afghanistan and the region.

Ukraine Crisis
• They called on all parties in the inter-Ukraine conflict to exercise restraint and fully implement the Minsk Protocol, engage in comprehensive dialogue and pursue a peaceful resolution of the crisis through political negotiations.
• They also called for an independent, objective, fair and transparent international investigation into the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, and parties concerned should engage in cooperation within the framework of Resolution 2166 of the UN Security Council.

International Financial System
• They called for immediate reform of the international financial system to increase the voice and representation of emerging markets and developing countries, with a focus on the implementation of the 2010 IMF Quota and Governance Reform by the end of 2015.
• They also reiterated their commitments to enhancing cooperation within the framework of G20, and called on all G20 members to strengthen macroeconomic policy coordination, reject protectionism.

Climate Change
• They reiterated the importance attached by the three countries to the issue of climate change, and expressed their readiness to work together to further strengthen international cooperation to address climate change and its adverse effect.
• The Ministers also welcomed the adoption of the Lima Call for Climate Action by the 20th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP20).

Sergio Mattarella sworn-in as the President of Italy

Sergio Mattarella was sworn-in as the President of Italy on 3 February 2015. He is the 12th President of Italy since the country became a Republic after World War II.

Sergio Mattarella, 73, a Constitutional Court Judge was elected as the President of Italy on 31 January 2015. He succeeded Giorgio Napolitano, 89, who stepped down from the post in January 2015 citing signs of fatigue.

He was elected after three inconclusive rounds of voting, in which no other candidate secured the two-thirds majority that is needed to win the election.

He won the election in the fourth round of voting conducted on 31 January 2015 that required merely a simple majority of 1009 eligible voters to produce result. His vote passed the threshold of 505-vote needed to get elected as the President.

President’s position is a ceremonial role in Italy but the President reserves the power to appoint a Prime Minister of the country. The president's term of office lasts for seven years.

He is the first judge of the Constitutional Court to become President of the country and also is the first President from Sicily in the history of Italy to become a President

Born on 23 July 1941, Mattarella entered politics in 1983 as a member of parliament from the now-defunct Christian Democrat party, after his elder brother Piersanti, the then island's governor was killed by Mafia.

4 feb

Saloni Dalal became youngest medal winner in National Games 2015

Saloni Dalal, a school girl of Karnataka became the youngest medal winner in the ongoing 35th National Games in Kerala on 3 February 2015. The 12-year-old, Saloni won a Bronze medal in the 200 meter breast stroke swimming event.

Kalyani Saxena of Gujarat and Rutuja Udeshi of Maharashtra won the gold and silver medals of the 200 meter breast stroke swimming event, respectively.
Beside her bronze in breast stroke swimming event, Dalal also won silver in women’s 4x100 meter Relay Medley by teaming up with Anisha Gaonkar, Malika A Honagekar and Rutuja Pawar.

NASA Launched its first earth satellite Soil Moisture Active Passive

NASA on 31 January 2015 successfully launched its first Earth satellite Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP). The satellite is designed to collect global observations of the vital soil moisture.

The satellite was lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket.

The satellite is built to measure moisture in the top 2 inches (5 centimeters) of soil from its spot in orbit about 426 miles (685 kilometers) above Earth's surface, completing an orbit once every 98.5 minutes.

The SMAP is equipped with a 20 feet (6 meters) mesh antenna which is the largest of its kind that NASA has ever flown in space. SMAP's antenna is designed to spin at about 14.6 revolutions per minute while mounted to the end of a long arm on the satellite's body.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California will manage SMAP for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, with instrument hardware and science contributions made by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Importance of SMAP

The satellite is designed to measure the moisture of Earth's dirt more accurately than ever before. The probe will make a global map of the planet's soil moisture levels every three days.

It can help scientists create more accurate weather models, learn more about drought conditions and even predict floods.

In addition, since plant growth depends on the amount of water in the soil, SMAP data will allow nations to better forecast crop yields and assist in global famine early-warning systems.

Bihar decided to provide free education to SC, ST and girl students till PG

The State Government of Bihar on 3 February 2015 decided to provide free education to the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and girl students till Post Graduation (PG) level in the State.

As per the decision, no fee would be taken from SC/ST and girl students at the time of admission in government universities and colleges in Bihar. The decision was made at a meeting of the State Cabinet.
Beside, the financial loss of such universities and colleges would be reimbursed by the state government after gathering the actual information about it. The move will cost 29 crore rupees annually to the state exchequer.

According to the latest government data, there are 4.05 lakh SC, ST and Girl students studying undergraduate courses in the state.

Maharashtra Netball player Mayuresh Pawar died during the 35th National Games

Mayuresh Pawar, 21-year old netball player of Maharashtra team, died on 2 February 2015 during the Day 2 of the 35th National Games. He died due to drowning while taking bath at Shanghumugham beach in Kerala.

He died when the Maharashtra team was returning to the Games village and made a stopover at the beach.

The team was returning after the match it played against Chandigarh at the Agriculture College Indoor Stadium of Vellayani, Trivandrum of Kerala. Chandigarh team won the match.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President N Ramachandran expressed shock and anguish over the development.

Taj Mahal Gardens perfectly align with Sun Solstices: Study

The Taj Mahal Gardens of India align perfectly with the rising and setting Sun during the summer and winter solstices, according to a study. The study is titled Observations on the Orientation of Some Mughal Gardens was published in the journal Philica on 13 January 2015.

Amelia Carolina Sparavigna, the author of the study, discovered several alignments between the Sun solstices and the waterways, pathways and pavilions of the Taj Mahal gardens.

Sparavigna used high resolution Google Earth satellite imagery, combined with a programme called Sun Calc to make the discoveries.

Findings of the Study

A striking alignment occurs on the north-central part of the gardens of the Taj Mahal during the summer solstice which usually occurs on 21 June every year.
If a person was able to stand in the waterway where two paths meet, they would see the Sun rise above a pavilion located to the northeast.
If they were to stay in that position throughout the day, they would see the Sun set in alignment with a pavilion to the northwest.
The Taj Mahal and its minarets are located between these two pavilions and the Sun would appear to frame them.
During the winter solstice which occurs on 21 December every year, the Sun rises in alignment with a pavilion to the southeast and sets in alignment with a pavilion to the southwest.
The enclosure of the garden is a symbolic horizon, where its axis is representing the axis mundi, the axis about which the world is rotating. On the solstices, from the centre of the rectangular enclosure, one can see the sun rising and setting at its four corners.
When an architectonic structure is aligned in this manner, it is aligned to the projection on the horizontal plane of the axis mundi. However, architects could also use some elements aligned in the directions of sunrise or sunset.
Although the alignments likely had symbolic meanings, the Sun solstices could also have served a practical medium in helping architects build the Taj Mahal and its gardens precisely.

The Taj Mahal is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. It was built in the 1600 by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial to his third wife Mumtaz Mahal.

The mausoleum is one of the components of a quite large complex of structures, composed of buildings and gardens, including subsidiary tombs, waterworks infrastructure, the small town of Taj Ganji and a Moonlight Garden, north of the River Yamuna.

Amelia Carolina Sparavigna's study on other Mughal gardens

The Mughal gardens are a typical form of landscape architecture developed during the Mughal Dynasty from 1526 - 1707. These gardens had a style heavily influenced by the Persian gardens of charbagh structure, with a use of rectilinear layouts within walled enclosures.

Aam Khas Bagh

Aam khas Bagh is one of the Babur’s gardens/serais which was extended and almost rebuilt by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. It lies between the Mughal military road between Delhi and Lahore. The complex was famous for a perfect air-conditioning system called Sarad Khana and the garden has a rectangular shape with a north-south axis.

Humayun’s Garden Tomb

Humayun’s Garden Tomb is located just south of the Din-Panah citadel built by the second Mughal emperor Humayun. The tomb was finished in 1571 after eight or nine years of work.

Its Timurid appearance must be credited to its Iranian architect Mirak Sayyid Ghiyas and Mirak Mirza Ghiyas

Towards the south-east corner within the Charbagh garden, lies a tomb known as Nai-ka-Gumbad, that is, the Barber's Tomb datable to 1590-91. On the summer solstice, the south gate of the garden and the Barber’s Tomb are aligned to the direction of sunrise.

The Dilkusha Charbagh

Placed at the centre of a walled garden named the Dilkusha Charbagh, the mausoleum was built ten years after the death of Jahangir. The whole mausoleum was surrounded by the garden. Today, only the western part exists.

Rambagh Garden and the Qibla

The Rambagh Garden has the distinction of being the very first garden of the Mughals that was built in India. The Rambagh Garden is in Agra, 3 km away from the Itimad-ud-Daulah's tomb.

Pinjore Garden

The Pinjore Garden is located in Pinjore, Panchkula district in the Indian state of Haryana. It was built under the Patiala Dynasty Ruler, and created in the 17th century by architect Nawab Fidai Khan, during the early reign of his foster brother Aurangzeb from 1658 to 1707.

It has been renamed as Yadavindra Garden in the memory of Maharaja Yadavindra Singh. This garden is interesting because its axis is parallel to the direction of the sunrise on summer solstice.

NASA Launched its first earth satellite Soil Moisture Active Passive

NASA on 31 January 2015 successfully launched its first Earth satellite Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP). The satellite is designed to collect global observations of the vital soil moisture.

The satellite was lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket.

Importance of SMAP

The satellite is designed to measure the moisture of Earth's dirt more accurately than ever before. The probe will make a global map of the planet's soil moisture levels every three days.

It can help scientists create more accurate weather models, learn more about drought conditions and even predict floods.

In addition, since plant growth depends on the amount of water in the soil, SMAP data will allow nations to better forecast crop yields and assist in global famine early-warning systems.

Bihar decided to provide free education to SC, ST and girl students till PG

Maharashtra Netball player Mayuresh Pawar died during the 35th National Games

Taj Mahal Gardens perfectly align with Sun Solstices: Study

Amelia Carolina Sparavigna, the author of the study, discovered several alignments between the Sun solstices and the waterways, pathways and pavilions of the Taj Mahal gardens.

Sparavigna used high resolution Google Earth satellite imagery, combined with a programme called Sun Calc to make the discoveries.

Findings of the Study

A striking alignment occurs on the north-central part of the gardens of the Taj Mahal during the summer solstice which usually occurs on 21 June every year.
If a person was able to stand in the waterway where two paths meet, they would see the Sun rise above a pavilion located to the northeast.
If they were to stay in that position throughout the day, they would see the Sun set in alignment with a pavilion to the northwest.
The Taj Mahal and its minarets are located between these two pavilions and the Sun would appear to frame them.
During the winter solstice which occurs on 21 December every year, the Sun rises in alignment with a pavilion to the southeast and sets in alignment with a pavilion to the southwest.
The enclosure of the garden is a symbolic horizon, where its axis is representing the axis mundi, the axis about which the world is rotating. On the solstices, from the centre of the rectangular enclosure, one can see the sun rising and setting at its four corners.
When an architectonic structure is aligned in this manner, it is aligned to the projection on the horizontal plane of the axis mundi. However, architects could also use some elements aligned in the directions of sunrise or sunset.
Although the alignments likely had symbolic meanings, the Sun solstices could also have served a practical medium in helping architects build the Taj Mahal and its gardens precisely.

The Taj Mahal is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. It was built in the 1600 by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial to his third wife Mumtaz Mahal.

Amelia Carolina Sparavigna's study on other Mughal gardens

Aam Khas Bagh

Humayun’s Garden Tomb

Humayun’s Garden Tomb is located just south of the Din-Panah citadel built by the second Mughal emperor Humayun. The tomb was finished in 1571 after eight or nine years of work.

Its Timurid appearance must be credited to its Iranian architect Mirak Sayyid Ghiyas and Mirak Mirza Ghiyas

The Dilkusha Charbagh

Rambagh Garden and the Qibla

The Rambagh Garden has the distinction of being the very first garden of the Mughals that was built in India. The Rambagh Garden is in Agra, 3 km away from the Itimad-ud-Daulah's tomb.

Pinjore Garden

It has been renamed as Yadavindra Garden in the memory of Maharaja Yadavindra Singh. This garden is interesting because its axis is parallel to the direction of the sunrise on summer solstice.

Haryana Government launched e-registration of properties in all tehsils of the State

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on 3 February 2015 launched e-registration of properties in all the 130 tehsils and sub-tehsils of the State to mark the completion of 100 days of his government.

The e-stamping of property registration in the state will begin from 15 March 2015. The system will be implemented in all the tehsils by June 2015. The new system will make the process transparent and hassle-free and will help in bringing transparency in registration of deed documents.

About e-registration of properties
• Under the new system, documents for land registration will be submitted at e-Disha centres.
• Internet facility will be made available at all these centres for effective implementation of this system.
• The online registration facility in the tehsils of Kaithal, Pundri, Kalayat and Guhla and four sub-tehsils of Rajound, Siwan and Dhand began from 4 February 2015.

Chief Minister also announced the launch of
• CM Dash Board to facilitate monitoring of all departments online.
• Swaprerit Adarsh Gram Yojana to ensure public participation in development of villages. Launched on the pattern of Adarsh Gram Yojana, the new scheme will make it possible for any group, trust, educational institute and university to adopt a village for development.
• A portal to allow for online registration of complaints for controlling the crime and promoting the concept of zero FIR.
Besides, he also announced an increase in ex-gratia for soldiers and those killed in blasts to 20 lakh rupees. Besides, 5 lakh rupees, 10 lakh rupees and 15 lakh rupees will be paid depending on level of disability.

Madhusudhan Prasad appointed as Secretary in the Union MoUD

Madhusudhan Prasad was on 3 February 2015 appointed as the Secretary in the Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD). Earlier, he served as Special Secretary in the Union Ministry of Commerce.

Madhusudhan Prasad is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer of 1981 batch belonging to Haryana cadre. Prasad held the posts of Collector of Sirsa district and Principal Secretary (Power) in the state of Haryana.

He was a Director and Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs and Additional Secretary in the Union Ministry of Commerce.

Moreover, Madhusudhan Prasad also served as Economic Counsellor in the Indian Embassy in Washington, USA.

Bangladesh Cabinet approved National ICT Draft Policy 2015

Bangladesh Cabinet on 2 February 2015 approved the draft of National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policy, 2015. The draft seeks establishment of a transparent and accountable government through ICT expansion to enhance the standards of citizen service.

The approval was given during the weekly meet of the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The meeting was held at Bangladesh Secretariat. Before finalisation and clearance, the draft proposal was consulted by the stakeholders.

The policy carries a specific vision of multifaceted use like ensuring skilled human resource development, rendering public service through public-private-partnership. It also envisions to Help Bangladesh to be into a mid-income country by 2021 and a developed country by 2041.

For that purpose the policy carries 10 specific objectives, 56 strategic themes, 306 items which will be covered under short, mid and long-term action plan. These three versions of plans will be implemented by various ministries by 2016, 2018 and 2021, respectively.

Vijay Kumar won the Gold of 25 metre Centre Fire Pistol event at the 35th National Games

Vijay Kumar on 3 February 2015 won the Gold in 25 metre centre fire pistol event under men’s category in shooting competitions of the 35th National Games in Kerala.

He won the Gold with a total score of 583 and finished with a clear seven-point lead over Silver medalist Samresh Jung (Himachal Pradesh) with a score of 576. Pemba Tamang won the Bronze with a score of 575.

Vijay Kumar is an army personnel and a silver medalist in the rapid pistol event at the 2012 London Olympics.

In the team event, Services team won the Gold with 1733 score while the Silver and Bronze was won by Madhya Pradesh and Haryana respectively.

50-metre Rifle Prone Event

Under the 50-metre rifle prone event, Chain Singh won the second Gold medal for the Services with a score of 205.8.

Shamsher Singh (Madhya Pradesh) took the Silver with a score of 204.6 while veteran Joydeep Karmakar (West Bengal) won the Bronze with 183.1 points.

In the team event, Services team won the Gold with a score of 1851.9 while the Silver and Bronze was won by Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal respectively.

In women’s category, Kerala girl Elizabeth Susan Koshy won the Gold with a score of 618.5 while the Silver and Bronze was won by Meena Kumari and Raj Choudhary respectively.

International Court of Justice ruled Neither Croatia nor Serbia committed genocide during Balkan War

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 3 February 2015 ruled that neither Croatia nor Serbia had committed genocide against each other's populations during the 1990s Balkan Wars sparked by the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.

The 17-judge panel headed by Judge Peter Tomka ruled that a 1995 Croat offensive to win back the territory from rebel Serbs featured serious crimes, but did not reach the level of genocide.

The Court further said that Serb forces committed widespread crimes in Croatia, but it also did not amount to genocide.

The crimes of Croatia and Serbia were not termed as genocide by the court because the intention of destruction was not present in the act of ethnic cleansing which though is an element of a genocidal plan.

The panel of judges rejected Croatia's claim by fifteen votes to two. Croatia was claiming reparations against Serbia for backing a rebel Serb minority in carrying out ethnic cleansing particularly in the eastern town of Vukovar.

Serbia's counterclaim was also rejected unanimously. Serbia counterclaimed over the expulsion of more than 200000 ethnic Serbs from Croatia in 1995 under Operation Storm in Krajina.

The court gave the ruling based on cases of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) which proved that there was evidence to show operations had the effect of making people flee, but could not establish intent for genocide as per the 1948 Genocide Convention.

The breakup of Yugoslavia

The cases were part of the long legal fall-out from the break-up of Yugoslavia into seven states in Balkan Wars that lasted for much of the 1990s and left more than 130000 dead in Europe's worst conflagration since World War-II.

Yugoslavia became a Socialist state after World War-II. It comprised of six republics Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. The federation began falling apart in the early 1990s.

Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia declared independence, sparking conflicts with the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army. In 2006, Montenegro also emerged as a sovereign state ending the former Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

The 1948 Genocide Convention

The convention entered into force in 1951 and defined genocide as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group:

• Killing members of the group
• Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
• Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part
• Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
• Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

Microsoft launched Outlook app for iOS, Android users

Microsoft on 3 February 2015 launched Outlook app for iOS, Android users. The new app is a replacement for email startup Acompli. The app is available for download on iPhone and iPads for free.

The Outlook app will support Office 365, Exchange, Outlook.com, Yahoo Mail, Gmail, iCloud and other key email services. The app will also help users manage calendar and fetch attachments within the same app.

Users will be able to attach files from Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or the user's mailbox right from the app.

In the new app, Microsoft has announced to remove the preview tag from its Office for Android apps.

The app will enable the users to customized Outlook work.

Acompli was acquired by Microsoft for 200 million US dollar in December 2014. It is a San Francisco-based email startup.

British House of Commons voted to allow creation of babies with DNA from three people

The House of Commons of Britain on 3 February 2015 voted in favour of the Bill that amends the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (HFEA), 1990 to allow creation of babies with DNA from three people.

The controversial mitochondria donation procedure saw 382 to 128 votes in favour. The procedure includes receiving of a small amount of healthy so-called Mitochondrial DNA (mDNA) from woman donor into the usual nuclear DNA from its mother and father.

Now the bill needs to be passed by the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the Parliament, so as to implement the mitochondria donation procedure.
If the bill is passed, then the Britain will become the first country in the world to allow the procedure.

Significance of the Bill

The move is aimed at preventing serious inherited diseases being passed on from mother to child. This procedure will help to give a permanent change to the hereditary problems that has passed down through the generations.

This change in IVF law could help 2500 women of reproductive age in Britain with hereditary mitochondrial diseases.

Procedure of donating the mitochondria

The procedure of donating the mitochondria includes two different processes.

Procedure 1:

Firstly, an embryo is created from the two eggs fertilised with sperm from intended parents and the other from the donors.
Then the pronuclei that contains genetic information is removed from both embryos but only the parents are kept.
Lastly, a healthy embryo is created by adding the parents' pronuclei to the donor embryo, which is finally implanted into the womb.

Procedure 2:

First, eggs are collected from both the mothers, namely the mother with damaged mitochondria and a donor with healthy mitochondria.
Then, the majority of the genetic material is removed from both the eggs.
Lastly, the mother’s genetic material is inserted into the donor egg, which can be fertilised by sperm.

Which kind of defects can be treated through the procedure?

Generally, defects in the mitochondria results in diseases like muscular dystrophy, heart, kidney and liver failure and several muscle weaknesses. But the technique would prevent children from carrying on the hereditary problems as the human egg or embryo would be altered before being transferred into the mother.

Why the procedure is opposed?

Critics claim that the technique crosses a fundamental scientific boundary and the changes made to the embryos will be passed on the future generations and would lead to the creation of designer babies.

Further, the Catholic and Anglican Churches in England, claim that the idea of procedure is not safe or ethical as it involved the destruction of human embryos.

Comment

If the Bill succeeds in converting itself into a law leading to births of baby with the procedure than undisputedly, it will be a success for Britain that since a long time has been a leader in reproductive technology. The world’s first baby from In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), Louise Brown was born in the United Kingdom on 25 July 1978.