3-4 july 2015

3 july

Union Cabinet approved institutional framework for National Skill Development Mission 2015

The Union Cabinet on 2 July 2015 approved the institutional framework for the National Skill Development Mission 2015. The Mission will provide a strong institutional framework at the Centre and States for implementation of skilling activities in the country.

Highlights of the National Skill Development Mission
• The Mission will have a three-tiered, high powered decision making structure.
• The Mission’s Governing Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, will provide overall guidance and policy direction.
• The Steering Committee, chaired by Minister in Charge of Skill Development, will review the Mission’s activities in line with the direction set by the Governing Council.
• The Mission Directorate, with Secretary, Skill Development as Mission Director, will ensure implementation, coordination and convergence of skilling activities across Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments.
• The Mission will also run select sub-missions in high priority areas.

The National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and the Directorate of Training will function under the overall guidance of the Mission.

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) provides a natural home for the Mission, organically linking all three decisions making levels and facilitating linkages to all Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments.

India launched eMigrate system for Foreign Employers

India in June 2015 launched online registration system named eMigrate system (www.emigrate.gov.in) for foreign employers (FEs) who wants to recruit Indian workers, including nurses. Under the system, FEs will have to register in the eMigrate system.

The filled registration application will be vetted by the Indian mission.

The new system will be implemented in phases.

Features of eMigrate system
• It will allow FEs to raise their demand for Indian workers and seek a permit to recruit directly or select Recruiting Agents (RAs) in online manner.
• Such FEs will have to declare the terms and conditions of employment of each category of the job at the time of applying for the demand registration.
• The declared terms and conditions of employment will act as a specimen contract and will form the part of employment contract at the time of actual recruitment.

Conditions for Foreign Employers (FEs)
• FEs recruiting more than 150 Indian workers are required to register online with immediate effect in order to raise demand and seek a permit to recruit directly or select RAs.
• FEs recruiting between 50-150 Indian workers are required to register online before 30 June 2015.
• FEs recruiting between 20-50 Indian workers are required to register online before 31 July 2015.
• FEs recruiting less than Indian workers are required to register online before 31 August 2015.

In case of recruitment of nurses, the overseas employment will have to be through three state-run recruiting agencies, namely Non-Resident Keralites's Affairs Department (NORKA-ROOTS) Thiruvananthapuram, Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants (ODEPC) Thiruvananthapuram and Overseas Manpower Corporation Limited (OMCL) Chennai.

The emigration of nurses for overseas employment will also require prior emigration clearance from Protector of Emigrants' offices in India. The recruitment agencies which are authorized to recruit Indian nurses will not charge any fees towards recruitment expenses from Indian nurses.

Scientists discovered importance of Interleukin-21 protein in fight against HIV-1 infection

Scientists discovered that the Interleukin-21 (IL-21) protein plays an important role in limiting replication of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) in infected humans.

The discovery was published in an article titledIL-21 induces antiviral microRNA-29 in CD4 T cells to limit HIV-1 infection on 25 June 2015 in the Nature Communications journal. The study was spearhead by Stanley Adoro , a postdoctoral associate at the Cornell Medical Collegein New York, USA.

In the study, scientists discovered that the IL-21 protein, produced by the CD4+T cells, plays an important role by activating microRNA-29 in other CD4 T cells that specialise in killing HIV-1 virus and drive the production of antibodies that attack the virus.

Scientists arrived at this conclusion afterexperimenting with two models.

In Model 1, a culture from human tissues, primarily spleen and lymph node tissue, was created and exposed to IL-21. Later, HIV-1 was introduced to the culture. After 72 hours, it was found that cultures with IL-21 contained more than two-thirds less virus than those that didn't contain IL-21.

In Model 2, IL-21 was tested in mice that are transplanted with human stem cells in order to create a physiological environment as close as possible to that in human beings. After 14 days, it was found that more than half of the mice with IL-21 did not display a detectable level of HIV-1 as against the growth of virus in normal mice

Importance of the study

The study assumes significance due to the fact that curtailing the spread of the HIV-1 virus in its early stage of infection is the key to successful implementation of anti-HIV strategies.

Now, it is possible to find a new potential HIV therapy by increasing the IL-21 protein count that are naturally produced by the CD4+T cells as soon as they detect HIV-1 virus.

Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Ajay Ratra retired from all forms of Cricket

Former Indian cricketers Hrishikesh Kantikar and Ajay Ratra on 2 July 2015 retired from all forms of cricket.

Kanitkar, a left-handed batsman and a right-arm off break bowler, played his last Test match from 2 January to 4 January 2015 against Australia in Sydney. He played his last ODI on 30 January 2000 against Australia in Perth.

Ratra, a right-handed batsman and wicketkeeper, played his last Test match from 5 September to 9 September 2002 against England at the Oval. He played his last ODI on 9 July 2002 against England at the Oval.

Details of Hrishikesh Kanitkar’s cricket career
• Test: Batted in 4 innings of 2 matches and scored 74 runs of which 45 was his highest score.
• ODI: Batted in 27 innings of 34 matches and scored 339 runs of which 57 was his highest score.
• T20: Batted in 2 innings of 2 matches and scored 3 runs of which 2 was his highest score.

Details of Ajay Ratra’s cricket career
• Test: Batted in 10 innings of 6 matches and scored 163 runs of which 115 was his highest score.
• ODI: Batted in 8 innings of 12 matches and scored 90 runs of which 30 was his highest score.
• T20: Batted in 14 innings of 17 matches and scored 191 runs of which 54 was his highest score.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal launched Punjab ePMS portal

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on 2 July 2015 launched the state Portal ePMS (Electronic Projects Management System) to fast track infrastructural development. The portal was launched during the Digital India week.

The project was started to enhance efficiency, bring transparency, boost the investor confidence, revive the investment cycle, eliminate the human interaction and improve the communication between industries to Government (B2G), State to Centre (G2G), or vice versa (G2B).

Features of the portal
• It will fast track infrastructure investment stalled projects, both in the public and private sectors, involving investment between 100 crore rupees and 1000 crore rupees.
• It will allow submission of a new project, editing/updating the projects, reviewing the projects, submission of details relating to bottlenecks.
• It will provide various Graphical Analysis, Reports and Investment Monitoring module.

The portal was developed and managed by the Cabinet Secretariat Informatics Division of National Informatics Centre (NIC), Cabinet Secretariat, Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.

Keltron founding chairman K P P Nambiar passed away

K P P Nambiar, founding Chairman of Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (Keltron) died on 1 July 2015 due to age-related illnesses. He was 86.

Nambiar is survived by wife Umadevi Nambiar, a son and a daughter.

About K P P Nambiar
• A native of Kannur in Kerala, Nambiar was credited with setting up India's first state-run electronics venture Keltron and India's first IT park Technopark.
• He started his career at Bharat Electronics and later worked with Texas Instruments in England and Tata in Mumbai.
• He also served as the chairman of the Indian Telephone Industries from 1986 to 1988.
• He was the president of the World Malayalee Council.
• Nambiar was honoured with Padma Bhushan award in 2006.

Cuba became first country in the World to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Syphilis

Cuba became the first country to eliminate mother-to-child (vertical) transmissionof human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and syphilis in the World.

A validation in this regard was issued on 30 June by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In the case of HIV, Cuba became eligible for validation as less than 2 percent of children, whose mothers have HIV, are born with the virus since 2012. It is the lowest rate possible to achieve in any given community with prevention methods available today.

In the case of syphilis, Cuba’s achievement consists of registering fewer than 0.5 syphilis cases per 1000 live births per year. Between 2012 and 2013, the country reported 3 cases of congenital syphilis (zero in 2012 and 3 in 2013, for infection rates of zero and 0.02, respectively).

Cuba could achieve this remarkable feet with the strong integration of its Public Health’s HIV program with the maternal and child health program in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) of the WHO.

While vertical transmission of HIV takes place during pregnancy or childbirth or lactation, congenital syphilis occurs during pregnancy or at birth.

In addition to Cuba, other countries that may also have achieved vertical transmission of these sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and that may be in a position to request WHO validation include Anguilla, Barbados, Canada, Montserrat, Moldova, Puerto Rico, Thailand, and the United States of America.

President Pranab Mukherjee received first copy of book titled Uniki by CH Vidyasagar Rao

Uniki: CH Vidyasagar Rao

The President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 3 July 2015 received the first copy of telugu book titled Uniki in Hyderabad.

It is a collection of essays written by CH Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra.

The President received the book from K Chandrashekar Rao, Chief Minister of Telangana, who formally released it.

The book is a compilation of writings and reflections on his life and experiences that were published in various news papers.

As per the author, the title, Uniki, which means existence, evokes a philosophical view of the issues and events that have been written about in this book.

NASA successfully flight tested Prandtl-d, prototype of first Mars airplane

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on 30 June 2015 announced that it successfully flight tested Prandtl-d aircraft.

Prandtl stands for the Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Land on Mars and it was developed by NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Centre.

It is a prototype of the Prandtl-m aircraft, touted as the first airplane to be launched on Mars between 2020 and 2024.

Key features of Prandtl-m aircraft

• It would be part of the ballast that would be ejected from the aeroshell that takes the Mars rover to the planet in the 2020s.
• It will be able to fly in the Martian atmosphere and glide down and land besides identifying some of the proposed landing sites for a future astronaut mission.
• It will send back to the Earth very detailed high resolution photographic map images that could tell scientists about the suitability of landing sites.
• It would have a flight time of around 10 minutes and would be gliding for the last 2000 feet to the surface of Mars and have a range of about 20 miles.
• Its wingspan, when it is deployed on the Mars, would measure 24 inches allowing it to fit in a 3U CubeSat. A CubeSat is a miniature satellite used for space research that is usually about four inches in each dimension and a 3U is three of those stacked together.
• In Martian atmosphere, it would weigh less than a pound (2.6 pounds on the earth as Mars gravity is 38 percent of what it is on Earth).
• It will be made of composite material, either fiberglass or carbon fiber in order to make it recover quickly from the unusual conditions of an ejection.

Prandtl-d, a flying wing aircraft with a twist, will undergo further flight tests in 2015 and 2016, results of which will be used in developing the Prandtl-m aircraft.

ZSI monitoring climate change impact on Sundarban animals

The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) set up monitoring bases inside the mangrove forests of Sundarbans to measure the effect of climate change on flora and fauna of Sundarbans.

For this purpose, monitoring bases were established at 25 plots in the five islands of Bali, Gosaba, Basanti, Sagar and Satjelia.

These bases measure the diversity and population index of mangroves, crabs and snails. Apart from eight major mangrove species of the region, the bases also monitor pollination by insects like bees, beetles, butterflies and moths.

For collection of data about their population and species, a team of experts has been sent to the spot. Under the process for monitoring photographs of the flora and fauna will be taken and a GPS map of their habitat will be prepared, which will help in knowing the change in the region.

In the process, the impacts on animals are being monitored by ZSI, while Botanical Survey of India is monitoring the impact on flora.

Project in-charge scientist Bulganin Mitra said that any change in their population will reveal how climate change is affecting the islands. It will also reveal that to what extent the biodiversity is getting affected due to change in the water salinity level and other factors.

The three-year monitoring project is funded by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

About Sundarbans
The Sundarbans mangrove forest lies on the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers on the coast of Bay of Bengal. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is a home for several endangered species like the Royal Bengal Tiger, Ganges and Irawadi dolphins. The area is known for its wide range of fauna, including 260 bird species, the Bengal tiger and other threatened species such as the estuarine crocodile and the Indian python.

MobiKwik tied up with stationary retailer WHSmith India

Leading mobile wallet MobiKwik on 2 July 2015 tied up with books and stationary retailer WHSmith India to enable offline shopping at all its retail stores.

With this tie-up, WHSmith India stores will also serve as MobiKwik Nodes where users can load money on their MobiKwik wallet.

MobiKwik targets to create India's largest independent payments network with 100 million digitally paying users and two lakh retailers by the end of 2015.

About MobiKwik
MobiKwik offers shopping for stationary, magazines, entertainment and snacks at over 55 WHSmith India outlets across Mumbai and Delhi.

Currently, MobiKwik enables payment across 50000 retailers.

About WHSmith India
WHSmith is a British retailer which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers and entertainment products.

WHSmith India operates in high footfall locations such as metro stations in Delhi.

Adelaide Crows football coach Phil Walsh died

Phil Walsh, the coach of the Australian Football League’s Adelaide Crows found stabbed to death at his Adelaide home on 3 June 2015. He was 55.

South Australia Police said he died after being stabbed multiple.

Phil Walsh turned to coaching after a long playing career with Collingwood, Richmond and the Brisbane Bears in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1980s. Post retirement from football as a player, he held assistant coaching roles at Geelong, West Coast and Port Adelaide before being appointed as the head coach of the Adelaide Football Club from the 2015 AFL season.

National Green Tribunal banned use of Plastic in Haridwar & Rishikesh

National Green Tribunal (NGT) on 2 July 2015 imposed a complete ban on plastic bags in the pilgrimage towns of Haridwar and Rishikesh. It also fixed a penalty of 5000 rupees on anyone found violating the order.

The penalty will be charged as compensation for degradation of environment.

NGT bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar gave the direction on a complaint filed by environmentalist MC Mehta against pollution of the Ganga River.

NGT in its order said that there shall be complete prohibition on plastic in the two districts, particularly on the banks and flood plains of the river. Plastic will not be used for any purpose, like for serving food, commodities, packing items and others.

Besides, the tribunal ordered the Haridwar Nagar Nigam, police and state pollution control board officials posted in that area to take rounds of flood plains and Ghats of Ganga to ensure that no plastic is used in any manner. It also held that no commodity of any kind is sold by the shopkeepers in plastic bags and the Nigam would ensure that any kind of municipal solid waste or animal waste is not permitted to be thrown in the Ghats under any circumstances.

It also asked the nigam, pollution control board and police to place appropriate sized dustbins near the shops within a week. It would be mandatory for people to throw waste in dustbins only, which will be collected on daily basis and taken at appropriate site and dumped according to MSW Rules, 2000.

The bench also said that these state agencies would be further responsible for making an appropriate site and prepare it scientifically for storage of waste. It shall be treated, waste deposit shall be covered by soil and disinfectant sprayed regularly.

4 july

SBI launched Project Tatkal

The country’s largest public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) on 3 July 2015 launched Project Tatkal, an initiative to provide doorstep services and expedite Home Loan Application (HLA) process.

The project will help home loan applicants to get the loan within 10 days after receipt of application form and relevant supporting documents.

The project will be rolled out across all the Home Loan marketing and processing outfits in the Bank in a phased manner. The implementation will be done at large centres with sizeable Home Loan business.

Earlier on 28 May 2015, the bank introduced an online customer acquisition solution (OCAS) for instant e-approval of home loan applications.

Union Cabinet approved National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015

The Union Cabinet on 2 July 2015 approved the India’s first integrated National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015. The Policy acknowledges the need for an effective roadmap for promotion of entrepreneurship as the key to a successful skills strategy.

Vision of the National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015

The Vision of the Policy is to create an ecosystem of empowerment by Skilling on a large Scale at Speed with high Standards.
It aims to promote a culture of innovation based entrepreneurship which can generate wealth and employment so as to ensure Sustainable livelihoods for all citizens in the country.

Thrust areas of the National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015

It addresses key obstacles to skilling, including low aspirational value, lack of integration with formal education, lack of focus on outcomes, low quality of training infrastructure and trainers, etc.
The Policy seeks to align supply and demand for skills by bridging existing skill gaps, promoting industry engagement, operationalising a quality assurance framework, leverage technology and promoting greater opportunities for apprenticeship training.
Equity is also a focus of the Policy, which targets skilling opportunities for socially/geographically marginalised and disadvantaged groups.
Skill development and entrepreneurship programmes for women are a specific focus of the Policy.
In the entrepreneurship domain, the Policy seeks to educate and equip potential entrepreneurs, both within and outside the formal education system.
It also seeks to connect entrepreneurs to mentors, incubators and credit markets, foster innovation and entrepreneurial culture, improve ease of doing business and promote a focus on social entrepreneurship.

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed of Bangladesh won 2015 World Food Prize

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed was in news in the first week of July 2015 as he was selected for the 2015 World Food Prize. The announcement was made in this regard on 1 July 2015 by the World Food Prize Foundation.

He was selected for the prestigious award for his contributions towards reducing hunger in Bangladesh and 10 other countries through his organisation BRAC.

Contributions of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed

• He established BRAC, formerly known as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, in 1972 as a relief operation to help the country recover from its war of independence with Pakistan and the destruction wrought by a tropical cyclone.
• At present, BRAC is the largest non-governmental organisation in the world employing over 150000 employees.
• BRAC covers a vast gamut of activities related to poverty alleviation and development in 11 countries including Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Haiti.

• His approach toward alleviation of poverty and hunger is multi dimensional that is evident from BARC’s activities towards increasing food availability and accessibility through modern agricultural practices, social and economic empowerment of women, child immunization, family planning, education, micro finance, legal services, etc.
• Due to BRAC’s work on tackling child mortality in Bangladesh in the 1980s, the number of deaths halved over a decade.
• In the areas where the BRAC works, the child immunisation rate is at 95 percent compared to that of 70 percent in other parts of the country.
• BARC relied on internal resources to fund its activities. Hence, a number of commercial enterprises were set up as part of the BRAC in order to generate resources for its developmental activities. These include printing presses, manufacturing industries, a hotel, conference facilities, retail outlets and the private BRAC University, among others.
• He was conferred with the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1980, the Maurice Pate Award by UNICEF in 1992. He was also honoured with the prestigious Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) or Sir Honour in 2010 by the Queen of England.

Union Government approved introduction of Common Norms for all the Skill Development Schemes

The Union Cabinet on 2 July 2015 approved the introduction of Common Norms across all skill development schemes being implemented by different Ministries or Departments of Union Government.

Common Norms seek to rationalise the whole spectrum of skill development processes and systems including inputs, outputs, funding/cost norms, third party certification and assessment, monitoring/tracking mechanisms and empanelment of training providers.

Common Norms define the activities constituting Skill Development in the country, skill development courses and their alignment with the National Skills Qualification Framework, broad input standards for training programmes and the outcomes expected from these programmes.

The outcomes of skill training programmes have been defined in terms of placement achieved in wage and self- employment, both for fresh trainees as well as existing workers who have undergone Recognition of Prior Learning.

As the common norms are aimed at being outcome focused, the cost norms and fund flow mechanism for skill development programmes have also been linked to specific outcomes achieved.

Cost norms include support for components like mobilisation of candidates, trainers’ training, placement expenses, post-placement tracking/monitoring and infrastructure costs.

The common norms would be applicable to the skill development schemes being implemented through various Ministries. The State Governments are also expected to align their skill development schemes with these common norms so as to bring in uniformity and standardization.

Creation of Common Norms Committee

It envisages the creation of a Common Norms Committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to bring about uniformity and standardisation among the skill development schemes of the Central Government.
The Committee will also consist of eight other representatives from relevant Central Ministries/Departments, State Governments, National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), with a provision for inviting experts and other significant stakeholders who may be necessary in the decision making process.
It will be empowered to amend the common norms, schedules of the notification, training costs and funding norms for skill development programmes.

Background
Currently, over 70-odd Skill Development Programmes (SDPs) are being implemented by the Union Government. Each programme has its own norms for eligibility criteria, duration of training, cost of training, outcomes, monitoring and tracking mechanism etc.

This multiplicity of norms and parameters has created a diffusive effect of SDPs, which needs to be streamlined in order to achieve the final outcomes envisaged.

UP Government gave in-principle approval to give ownership rights to lease holder farmers

The Uttar Pradesh Government on 4 July 2015 agreed to give in-principle approval to give ownership rights to aasami pattedar or lease holders of agriculture lands. The decision is expected to benefit lakhs of landless small farmers.

The decision was taken on the basis of recommendations of the Revenue committee that was set up by the government in 2012.

However, the decision will benefit only those aasami pattedars who were given the lease before 2000. Further, the ownership rights will remain non-transferable for the next 10 years.

Asaami pattedars are those farmers who were given lease of agriculture land by the zamindars before the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1951.

They also include those farmers to whom some of the gram panchayats gave the land on lease basis for agricultural purposes without entailing any ownership rights.

World Food Prize 2015 to be conferred on Sir Fazle Hasan Abed of Bangladesh

The World Food Prize Foundation on 1 July 2015 announced to confer the 2015 World Food Prize on Sir Fazle Hasan Abed of Bangladesh. He will be awarded the prize in October 2015 during the Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium at Des Moines in Iowa, the USA.

He was selected for the coveted award by the Selection Committee for the World Food Prize headed by eminent Indian agricultural scientist Prof MS Swaminathan.

Sir Abed has been recognized for his decades of service to human development and through building Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) that operates in 10 countries around the world.

BRAC, set up by Sir Abed is the largest non-governmental organization in the world that employs over 150000 employees and covered a vast gamut of activities related to poverty alleviation and development.

About World Food Prize

• It is the foremost international award recognizing the accomplishments of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world.
• It is a 250000 dollars award formally presented at the Laureate Award Ceremony in mid-October, on or around World Food Day (October 16), in conjunction with the Borlaug Dialogue international symposium.
• An individual or individuals having demonstrated exceptional achievement in any field involved in enhancing food production and distribution and increasing food availability and accessibility to those most in need are considered for this award.
• It was created in 1987 by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Norman Borlaug. It was sponsored by businessman and philanthropist John Ruan who stepped forward to endow the Prize in 1990. Today John Ruan's son, John Ruan III has succeeded his father as chairman of the World Food Prize.
• M S Swaminathan was the first recipient of the award in 1987, who, incidentally, heads the present selection committee.
• The World Food Prize 2014 was awarded to Indian-born Mexican scientist Sanjaya Rajaram for his scientific research that led to a prodigious increase in world wheat production by more than 200 million tons building upon the successes of the Green Revolution.

C D Balaji took charge as Director of the Aeronautical Development Agency

Commodore C D Balaji (Retd) on 3 July 2015 took charge as the Director of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Programme Director of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). He succeeded P S Subramanyam, Distinguished Scientist, who superannuated on 30 June 2015.

Prior to this appointment, Balaji, an outsatnding scientists, was Project Director of the LCA’s naval version. He was commissioned into the Indian Navy's engineering branch in September 1978 and since then, he has specialised in the Naval Aviation Arm.

He served as an Air Engineer Officer of INAS 310 (Alize aircraft) for about 3 years embarking the Aircraft Carrier Vikrant. He joined ADA on deputation in 2002 to work on the development of a naval version of the light fighter. In December 2006, he left the Navy and fully moved to ADA.

Balaji holds a BE in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

Based in Bengaluru, ADA is the premier multi-agency body spearheading the development of combat aircraft for the Air Force and the Navy- among them is the LCA and the proposed Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft AMCA.

Indian-American Professor R. Paul Singh named for GCHERA World Agriculture Prize 2015

Indian American Professor Emeritus R. Paul Singh was named for the GCHERA World Agriculture Prize 2015. GCHERA stands for Global Confederation for Higher Education Associations for Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The award was announced at the annual GCHERA conference, held on 24 June 2015 at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Jounieh, Lebanon. The award will be officially presented on 20 September 2015 during the GCHERA World Agricultural Prize Award Ceremony that will take place at Nanjing Agricultural University, China.

The award will be given in recognition of Singh’s lifetime contributions to food engineering research, education, development, consulting, and technology transfer.

Paul, who holds dual positions in the departments of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and of Food Science and Technology at University of California Davis, is a world-renowned food scientist and agricultural engineer.

He was responsible for creating food-processing equipment for a manned mission to MARS under a NASA contract.

Some major points of his agricultural engineering includes
• Paul’s efforts helped to convert the substantial research results from laboratory to industrial practice. His studies on food freezing led to the development of computer software that is now used by operators of industrial freezers for improving energy efficiency. The software is distributed worldwide by the World Food Logistics Organization.
• His research on heat transfer during frying led to the improved design and operation of grills and fryers used by restaurants and food service operators.
• His fundamental studies on airflow in complex systems helped design innovative systems for rapid cooling of strawberries.
• His research studies for the Department of Defence on improved biosensors provided the much-needed data for improving food inventory management and shelf life of perishable foods.
• His food engineering education, helped to establish and evaluate food engineering programs at institutions in Brazil, Chile, China, and India among others.
• His joint authored textbook Introduction to Food Engineering, 5th Edition (Elsevier Publishers) is the standard for food science and technology curricula throughout the world and is now available in five languages (Spanish, Russian, Korean, Chinese and Turkish).

About GCHERA
GCHERA is the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for the Agricultural and Life Sciences. The Confederation is a not for profit organisation registered in France at the office of AGREENIUM, Paris.

This Confederation was first conceived as the GCHERA in 1998 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of National Agrarian University, Ukraine (now – National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine) as a consortium of individual universities.

Four Indian-Americans honoured with 2015 Great Immigrants: The Pride of America award

Four Indian Americans were on 4 July 2015 honoured with the 2015 Great Immigrants: The Pride of America award by Carnegie Corporation of New York. These Indian-Americans are among 38 individuals that were honoured for having enlightened the society, culture, and economy.

This year marks the 10th annual immigrant recognition that was established by Andrew Carnegie, the man who came to this country as the son of impoverished immigrants and grew up to one of the greatest contributors to American industry and philanthropy.

Indian-American Winners
• Preet Bharara, United States Attorney, Southern District of New York
• Rakesh Khurana, Professor, Dean, Harvard College
• Madhulika Sikka, Vice President, Executive Editor, Mic
• Abraham Verghese, Physician and Writer

About Carnegie Corporation of New York
• Carnegie Corporation of New York was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding.
• Carnegie Corporation of New York salutes the legacy of Andrew Carnegie and other immigrants on every 4 July by presenting the award since 2006.
• The award honours women and men who have become Americans by Choice and have made, and continue to make the nation strong and vibrant.

Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water: 2015 Update and MDG Assessment released

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) on 30 June 2015 released the report titled Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water: 2015 Update and MDG Assessment. The report has been prepared by WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP).

The report presents the update and assessment of the Goal 7 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) since 1990. The Goal 7 targeted to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.

As per the report, 147 countries have met the MDG drinking water target, 77 countries have met both the drinking water and the sanitation target and 95 countries have met the MDG sanitation target.

Although, India has met the MDG target in drinking water but in sanitation it has only made a moderate progress.

Key messages of the report: Drinking Water
• The global MDG target for drinking water was met in 2010, well ahead of the MDG deadline of 2015 of providing access to drinking water to 88 percent of the population.
• With some 2.6 billion people having gained access since 1990, 91 percent of the global population now has improved drinking water – and the number is still growing.
• Five developing regions met the drinking water target, but the Caucasus and Central Asia, Northern Africa, Oceania and sub-Saharan Africa did not
• 96 percent of the global urban population uses improved drinking water sources, compared with 84 per cent of the rural population
• Eight out of ten people still without improved drinking water sources live in rural areas
• The least developed countries did not meet the target, but 42 percent of the current population has gained access to improved drinking water sources since 1990
• In 2015, 663 million people still lack improved drinking water sources
• The global MDG target for sanitation has been missed by almost 700 million people

Key messages of the report: Sanitation
• 68 percent of the global population now uses an improved sanitation facility as against the MDG target of providing access to sanitation to 77 percent of the population by 2015.
• In 2015, one in every three, or 2.4 billion people on the planet, is still without sanitation facilities, including 946 million people who defecate in the open
• The lack of progress on sanitation threatens to undermine the child survival and health benefits from gains in access to safe drinking water
• The only developing regions to meet the sanitation target were the Caucasus and Central Asia, Eastern Asia, Northern Africa and Western Asian
• 2.1 billion people have gained access to an improved sanitation facility since 1990
• 82 per cent of the global urban population, and 51 per cent of the rural population, uses improved sanitation facilities
• Seven out of ten people without improved sanitation facilities, and nine out of ten people still practising open defecation, live in rural areas
• The least developed countries did not meet the sanitation target, and only 27 per cent of their current population has gained access to improved sanitation since 1990
• In the Southern Asia region, where the number of open defecators is highest, has also made significant improvements. Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan have all achieved reductions of more than 30 percentage points since 1990.

Besides, the report also says that
• Access to adequate water, sanitation and hygiene is critical in the prevention and care of 16 of the 17 'Neglected Tropical Diseases' (NTDs), including trachoma, soil-transmitted helminths (intestinal worms) and schistosomiasis. NTDs affect more than 1.5 billion people in 149 countries, causing blindness, disfigurement, permanent disability and death.
• The practice of open defecation is linked to a higher risk of stunting – or chronic malnutrition – which affects 161 million children worldwide, leaving them with irreversible physical and cognitive damage
• In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, 427 million people have gained access – an average of 47000 people per day every day for 25 years.

The WHO and UNICEF said that the plans for the proposed new sustainable development goals (SDGs) to be set by the UN General Assembly in September 2015 include a target to eliminate open defecation by 2030.

Report in context of India
• In context of India, the report says that the country has made moderate progress in reducing open defecation rates among its population and has succeeded in providing access to improved drinking water to more people in urban and rural areas.
• India is among the 16 countries that have reduced open defecation rates by at least 25 percentage points.
• The 31 per cent reduction in open defecation in India alone represents 394 million people, and significantly influences regional and global estimates.
• Progress among the poorest has been slower, and in India there has been very little change over the last 20 years.
• In India, in terms of providing access to sanitation, there exists a large gap between the richest and poorest quintiles, highlighting the inequality in access to sanitation.
• Among the South Asia region, India has witnessed a very little progress in eliminating open defecation among the poorest over the last 20 years. In 1995 some 42 percent were defecating in the open which in 2015 stands at 72 percent.

What has changed in terms of Goal 7 of MDG between 1990 and 2015: A Comparison

1990	2015
Global population was 5.3 billion	Global population is 7.3 billion
57 percent of the global population was rural	54 percent of the global population was rural
76 percent of the population used improved drinking water sources	91 percent of the population used improved drinking water sources
1.3 billion people lacked improved drinking water sources	663 billion people lacked improved drinking water sources
346 million people used surface water	159 million people used surface water
54 percent of the population used improved sanitation facilities	68 percent of the population used improved sanitation facilities
Nearly half the global population lacked improved sanitation	1 in 3 people lack improved sanitation
1 in 4 people worldwide practiced open defecation (1.3 billion)	1 in 8 people worldwide practice open defecation (946 million)
In 87 countries, more than 90 percent of the population used improved drinking water sources	In 139 countries, more than 90 percent of the population use improved drinking water sources
In 23 countries, less than 50 percent of the population used improved drinking water sources	In 3 countries, less than 50 percent of the population use improved drinking water sources
In 61 countries, more than 90 percent of the population used improved sanitation facilities	In 97 countries, more than 90 percent of the population use improved sanitation facilities
In 54 countries, less than 50 percent of the population used improved sanitation facilities	In 47 countries, less than 50 percent of the population use improved sanitation facilities

Army launched Operation Shiva to secure Amarnath Yatra

Operation Shiva: For smooth conduct of the Amarnath Yatra
To provide security to those devotees taking part in the 59-day-long annual Amarnath Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Army in first week of July 2015 launched Operation Shiva. The Yatra started on 2 July 2015.

The operation was launched on the basis of intelligence report suggesting that a group of 15 terrorists are likely to attempt a strike.

The operation will include Rashtriya Rifles unit, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance of Yatra route and cave shrine, combing of forests located along the Yatra track, Infantry Unit of Army, companies of Paramilitary Forces, CRPF and BSF.

Rajasthan to replicate Maharashtra's Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan

Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan: Maharahstra’s programme to make state drought-free by 2019

Maharashtra Government’s programme Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan that was launched with an aim to make Maharashtra a drought-free state by 2019 was in news in first week of July 2015. The Abhiyan came in news as Rajasthan government is planning to replicate the programme in the state.

To learn more about the programme, Rajasthan government has sent a delegation comprised of a minister and senior bureaucrats to Maharashtra. During the visit, the delegation will visit few sites where the project is underway, like villages in Latur and Osmanabad.

Jalyukta Abhiyan is an ambitious program of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis that was launched in March 2015. It aims to make 5000 villages free of water scarcity every year and make Maharashtra a drought-free state by 2019. It involves active participation of the peoples from the villages.

Under the programme, rainwater will be harvested within the village boundaries, which may help in increasing ground water levels. It will also encourage micro-irrigation systems encouraged for proficient use of water.

Mahindra Defence tied-up with Airbus Helicopters to form a Joint Venture

Mahindra Group subsidiary Mahindra Defence on 3 July 2015 tied-up with European aerospace giant Airbus Helicopters to form a Joint Venture to manufacture defence choppers jointly under the Make in India initiative.

This Joint Venture will act as the prime contractor for India’s military helicopter tenders including the Reconnaissance and Surveillance Helicopter, the Naval Utility Helicopter and the Naval Multirole Helicopter procurement programmes.

It will supply the Indian Armed Forces with Made-in-India, state-of-the-art helicopters of high reliability, quality and safety standard based on combat-proven platforms.

This project comes with a condition that the Airbus will transfer related technology only if it is allowed a 51 percent stake, leading to full ownership and control of the joint venture.

Currently, the defence procurement procedure (DPP) 2013 has a foreign investment ceiling of 49 percent for the original equipment manufacturers in the defence sector. Also, the Cabinet Committee on Security’s approval is needed for investments above 49 percent by the foreign firms in addition to the approval by Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

Microsoft agreed to set up Digital Village in Maharashtra

Software major Microsoft in first week of July 2015 agreed to develop Smart MIDC (industrial colony) and support Digital Village in Maharashtra.

The information was given by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis after his meet with India-born Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in Miscrosoft’s office in Seattle. Fadnavis is on a week-long visit to the US.

Other agreements include
• Microsoft agreed to provide technology support for health care services in remote tribal areas; it will setup a pilot project at Melghat in Amravati district in this regard. Microsoft has adopted Melghat village.
• Microsoft agreed to set up a cyber-security centre at Pune.

The two also discussed cloud services, technological help for MSMEs and technological solutions for implementing Right to Service Act. Microsoft is also looking to develop 'Safe Maharashtra' mobile application which would track vulnerable people so as to provide security.

Besides, the Chief Minister also met Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Raymond Conner and discussed expansion of MRO operations at its plant in Mihan, Nagpur. He also met Joe Minarik, GM (Strategic) of Amazon Web Services.

Former Chief Justice of India Y K Sabharwal passed away

Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Y K Sabharwal on 3 July 2015 passed away following a prolonged illness. He was 73. He is survived by two sons Chetan and Nitin.

Born on 14 January 1942, Justice Sabharwal mainly practised in civil and constitutional cases. He was elevated as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court in 1986 and became its permanent judge in April 1987.

He later went on to become the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court in 1999, from where he was elevated as a judge of the apex court in 2000.

He was appointed as the CJI in 2005 and retired after a term of 14 months. As a judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Sabharwal delivered several important judgments dealing with constitutional matters, including the verdict in January 2006, that held the dissolution of Bihar Assembly as illegal and unconstitutional.

He also headed a bench monitoring river inter-linking projects in the country. He was also part of the bench that had cancelled petrol pump licences granted under the discretionary quota of ministers. He dealt with many bribery cases and cases concerning unauthorised construction in Delhi.

58 percent school kids in Maharashtra suffer from orthopaedic ailment due to heavy bags: Report

Maharashtra-government-appointed committee submitted its 12-page report to the Bombay High Court on 3 July 2015. The report says that over 58 percent of students below 10 years of age who carries heavy school bags are suffering from orthopaedic ailments in Maharashtra.

The division bench of Justice VM Kanade and Justice Colabawala was informed that the report has been accepted by the Maharashtra Government.

After perusing the report, the court observed that children will have to carry trolley bags soon as the backpacks they carry at present are not enough.

The court asked government to inform that by when it is likely to implement the suggestions made by the committee in its report. The state government has been asked to file its reply by 23 July 2015.

It also suggested the government to consider directing schools to set up lockers where children can keep their textbooks instead of carrying it daily.

Recommendations of the committee
• One book should be used for three months for each subject.
• The textbook weight can be reduced by using less weight paper and no hardcover.
• It suggested use of e-classroom, audio- visual technology and other technological means for teaching.

The committee was appointed following a public interest litigation filed by activist Swati Patil on the issue.

Union Government released the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 for Rural India

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Union Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Chaudhary Birendra Singh on 3 July 2015 released the provisional data from the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 for Rural India.

The survey was completed in all the 640 districts. It provides very useful data on households regarding various aspects of their socio-economic status– housing, land-holding, educational status, status of women, the differently able, occupation, possession of assets, SC/ST households, incomes, etc.

The data addresses the multi dimensionality of poverty and provides a unique opportunity for a convergent, evidence based planning with a Gram Panchayat as a unit. The data is an opportunity to make evidence based selection, prioritization and targeting of beneficiaries in different programmes.

Key Findings from Rural India

1.	Total Households in the Country (Rural plus Urban)	24.39 Crore
2.	Total Rural Households	17.91 Crore
3.	Total Excluded Households	7.05 Crore
4.	Automatically included Households	16.50 lakh
5.	Households considered for deprivation	10.69 Crore
6.	Households not reporting deprivation	2.00 crore
7.	Households with any one of the 7 deprivation	8.69 Crore

Deprivation Data

D1.	Households with only one room, kuccha walls and kuccha roof	2.37 Crore
D2.	No adult member in household between age 18 and 59	65.15 lakh
D3.	Female headed household with no adult male member between 16 and 59	68.96 Lakh
D4.	Households with differently able member with no other able bodied adult member	7.16 lakh
D5.	SC/ST Households	3.86 Crore
D6.	Households with no literate adult above age 25 years	4.21 Crore
D7	Landless households deriving a major part of their income from manual labour	5.37 Crore

Sources of Household income

1.	Total Rural Households	17.91Crore
2.	Cultivation	5.39 Crore
3.	Manual Casual labour	9.16 Crore
4.	Part time or full time domestic service	44.84 lakh
5.	Rag picking, etc.	4.08 lakh
6.	Non Agricultural own account enterprise	28.87 lakh
7.	Begging/charity/alms	6.68 lakh
8.	Others ( including government service, private service, PSU employment, etc.	2.50 Crore

Background
SECC 2011 is a unique paperless Census. The enumeration of the data was done using over 6.4 lakh electronic handheld device. Household data was taken from the National Population Register along with the Temporary Identification Number (TIN).

The districts and State Governments have carried out the SECC with the Union Ministry of Rural Development as the nodal Ministry. Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation carried out the survey in urban areas and the Registrar General, Census of India carried out the caste census.