7-8 JUNE 2016
Delhi Government approves solar policy with 1 GW target by 2020
The Delhi Government on 6 June 2016 announced implementation of its solar policy.
The policy aims at making the national capital a solar city with installation of 1 GW solar power capacity by 2020. This target is proposed to double it to 2 GW during further next five years.
The policy has been prepared by the Delhi Government in consultation with the Dialogue and Development Commission after extensive consultations with local and international experts.
Key highlights of the policy include:
•Mandatory deployment of solar panels on the government or public institutions.
•Virtual net metering to give access to the solar net metering facility to the consumers who do not have a suitable roof for installing a solar system.
•Group net metering to encourage solar plants on rooftops of buildings that cannot consume all of the energy generated locally.
•Generation based incentive for three years.
•Amendment of the building bylaws for rooftop solar installations.
Guwahati declares Gangetic River Dolphin as its ‘city animal’
Guwahati on 6 June 2016 became first city in the country to have its own ‘city animal’ with Kamrup metropolitan district administration declaring Gangetic River Dolphin as its mascot.
Gangetic River Dolphin is locally known as ‘Sihu’ and fewer than 2000 such animals remain in the River Brahmaputra along Guwahati.
The district administration had organised online and off-line voting among three protected creatures to decide the ‘city animal’. These three creatures are Gangetic River Dolphin, Black Softshell Turtle (Bor Kaso) and Greater Adjutant Stork (Hargila) and are on the verge of extinction.
In the three-month long voting process Gangetic River dolphin received 24247 votes out of 60003 total votes.
On the other hand, the Greater Adjutant Stork got 18454 votes while the Black Softshell Turtle got 17302 votes.
The Kamrup metropolitan district administration organized the voting process along with other organisations such as the Assam forest department, Assam state biodiversity bard and an NGO, Help Earth.
About Gangetic River Dolpin
The Ganga Dolphins are also called as the ‘Tigers of Ganga’ as it enjoys the position in Ganga that is equivalent to that of the tiger in the forest.
Its scientific name is Platanista gangetica.
Ganges River Dolphins prefer deep waters, in and around the confluence of two or more rivers. They share their habitat with crocodiles, fresh water turtles and wetland birds.
The distribution range of the Ganges River Dolphins in India covers seven states namely, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Rivers where these dolphins are found: River Ganges, Chambal (Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh), Ghaghra, Gandak (Bihar and Uttar Pradesh), Sone and Kosi rivers (Bihar), River Brahmaputra from Sadia up to Dhubri and Kulsi River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra river,
The Ganges River Dolphin has a sturdy, yet flexible, body with large flippers and a low triangular dorsal fin. It weighs up to 150 kg. Females are larger than males.
The Gangetic Dolphins are generally blind and catch their prey by emitting an ultrasonic sound which reaches the prey.
A Ganges River Dolphin Conservation Programme was initiated in 1997 to build a scientific database of the population status of the species and study the habitat quality of the dolphins' distribution range.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar lays foundation stone for Jai Jawan Awas Yojna
Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar on 3 June 2016 laid foundation stone of Jai Jawan Awas Yojna (JJAY) at Bahadurgarh, Haryana.
Jai Jawan Awas Yojna is an initiative to provide affordable housing to serving and retired JCOs and Other Ranks.
Key highlights of the project
•The project is being executed by Army Welfare Housing Organization.
•It aims to provide low cost housing.
•This housing project has been named in the memory of Late Major Rajiv Joon, recipient of Ashok Chakra and Shaurya Chakra. Major Joon had attained martyrdom fighting militants in Anantnag district of Jammu & Kashmir.
•The residential project at Bahadurgarh will be pitched at a very low cost for the benefit of JCOs and Other Ranks.
•The Chief Minister had granted dispensation in construction which permitted construction of about 500 dwelling units instead of 400 planned earlier.
Gujarat Government unveiled IT and Electronics Start-up Policy 2016
Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on 5 June 2016 unveiled the Information Technology and Electronics Start-up Policy 2016.
This is the first-ever policy of the State government in this field with special focus on encouraging new ventures by providing them various incentives and subsidies.
Features of IT and Electronics Start-up Policy 2016
• The State government will develop 50 incubators to mentor and guide 2000 start-ups by 2020.
• The government will allot around 10 lakh sq feet of land for development of these incubators.
• These incubators will provide guidance to aspiring innovators in setting up their start-up units.
• The incubators will be entitled to get 5 lakh rupees per annum as mentoring assistance. Besides, the state government will provide 1 crore rupees as assistance for the procurement of software to these incubators. The incubators and new start-ups will get 100 per cent reimbursement of stamp duty and registration fees.
• Other incentives for start-ups include interest subsidy of 9 per cent per annum not exceeding 2 lakh rupees per year, marketing assistance of 1 lakh rupees per start-up, product development assistance of 1 lakh rupees and lease rental subsidy of 15 rupees per square feet per month.
• In order to encourage intellectual property, the government will provide 2 lakh rupees and 5 lakh rupees as assistance to start-ups for domestic and international patent registration respectively.
• Industries and higher educational education institutes will be involved in the implantation of the policy.
• By 2020, the Start-up segment in the IT and electronic field is expected to will attract an investment to the tune of 7000 crore rupees.
Ashok Ganapathy appointed as Director of Airtel Business
Ashok Ganapathy was on 6 June 2016 appointed as the Director of Bharti Airtel Ltd. He will take over the post with effect from 1 July 2016.
Ganapathy succeeds Manish Prakash as Director (Airtel Business). Prakash has been appointed as Director (strategic alliances). He will report to Gopal Vittal, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel.
In this new role, Ashok will be responsible for driving the growth of Airtel's B2B portfolio that serves top corporations, government entities and other corporates with end-to-end solutions.
About Ashok Ganapathy
• Ganapathy joined Airtel in 2013 as the Hub CEO for Mumbai, Maharashtra, Goa & Gujarat circles.
• Ganapathy has an experience of 26 years in FMCG, entertainment, retail and telecom sectors.
• He started his career with Hindustan Unilever in 1990 as a management trainee.
• He has a B. Tech degree from IIT, Madras and MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad.
Dia Mirza named Ambassador for Swachh Saathi programme
Bollywood actress Dia Mirza was on 6 June 2016 named as the ambassador for Swachh Saathi (student internship) programme. It is a youth-based programme of Swachh Bharat Mission.
Dia was selected because she is a youth icon and has been an active campaigner for Swachh Bharat. She would help the programme to reach out to more youngsters as it was aimed to make it a viral youth led movement.
As the ambassador, the actress would interact with school and college students from across the country through awareness sessions, community cleaning activities and motivational videos.
Swachh Saathi Programme
Under this Programme, more than 2000 interns would be enrolled to coordinate around 10000 schools across India.
They will also ensure that all students in the schools take the pledge for Clean India.
About Dia Mirza Sangha
• She was a second runner up at Femina Miss India 2000 and was subsequently sent to Miss Asia Pacific 2000, where she won. She became the first Indian to win this title in 29 years.
• She also won Miss Beautiful Smile, Miss Avon and Miss Close-Up Smile in Miss India.
• Besides being Bollywood actress, she was well-known in media for her social work.
• She won an IIFA 2012 Green Award for her contribution towards green environment.
• She conducted many awareness campaigns on prevention of female foeticide, HIV awareness, the Cancer Patients Aid Association, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), ADAPT, Child Rights and You (CRY).
• She supported the Naramada Bachao Andolan in Public.
• She made her bollywood debut with Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Meinopposite R. Madhavan.
• She is a member in the board of the Coca Cola foundation which works towards rural development in India.
• She is the Eco Ambassador for Panasonic.
Swachh Yug campaign to make gram panchayats along Ganga open defecation free
Swachh Yug: The campaign to make gram panchyats along the Ganga River open defecation free.
The abbreviation Swachh Yug was in news on 6 June 2016. The campaign, being a collaborative effort between the Swachh Bharat Mission, local youth leaders (युवा) and the Namami Gange project (गंगा) - is being called ‘Swachh यु-ग’, which translates into ‘the age of Swachh’.
Features of Swachh Yug campaign
• It is executed by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, in partnership with Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
• Its objective is to make all villages along the banks of the Ganga Open Defecation Free (ODF) in 5 States of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
• There are 5169 villages along the river Ganga that fall under 1651 Gram Panchayats (GPs), 52 districts, and 5 States.
• Youth agencies under the Union Ministry of Youth Affaris such as the Bharat Scouts and Guides, Nehru Yuva Kendras and National Service Scheme will be deployed for the campaign.
• These organizations will be called upon to provide a large number of local youth volunteers to support a behaviour change campaign in the 52 districts under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
• A nodal officer has been identified for each district to work on making their district Open Defecation Free (ODF) in mission mode.
• The focus will be on ‘Swachhta’ at the village through proper Solid and Liquid Waste Management and maintaining general cleanliness with the involvement of local bodies, NGOs, private sector organisations, etc.
• In addition to the monetary incentive offered by the government under the Swachh Bharat Mission, extensive interpersonal behaviour change communication training will be given to local trainers through a network of virtual classrooms across the 5 Ganga States.
US Army Reserve officer Deshauna Barber crowned as Miss USA 2016
Deshauna Barber, a serving Army Reserve officer of United States (US), was on 5 June 2016 crowned as the Miss USA 2016 at the Miss USA competition 2016 held at the T-Mobile Arena off the Las Vegas Strip.
She represented the US capital as Miss District of Columbia. Miss Hawaii Chelsea Hardin came in as the first runner-up and Miss Georgia Emanii Davis was the second runner-up.
With this, Barber became the first-ever military member to win Miss USA title. She will now represent the USA at Miss Universe Competition 2016.
Barber inherited the crown from 2015 winner Miss Oklahoma Olivia Jordan.
About Deshauna Barber
• Barber works as an IT analyst at the US Department of Commerce.
• Barber was commissioned as a Quartermaster Officer in 2011 in the Army Reserve of US.
• She is currently a Logistics Commander for the 988th Quartermaster Detachment Unit based at Fort Meade, Maryland.
• She is a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority.
• She was crowned as Miss District of Columbia USA 2016 in December 2015 by outgoing titleholder Lizzy Olsen.
Kulmeet Bawa appointed Adobe MD for South Asia
Adobe on 6 June 2016 announced the appointment of Kulmeet Bawa as Managing Director (MD) for South Asia. He will begin his new role on 24 June 2016.
Bawa will take over the position from Umang Bedi, who is leaving the company after five years of service.
Bawa will report to Paul Robson, President of Adobe Asia Pacific. Bawa will lead Adobe's customer-facing engagements in India.
Bawa currently serves as the Head of Sales for Adobe in India.
About Adobe
•Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American multinational computer software company.
•The company is headquartered in San Jose, California, United States.
•It has historically focused upon the creation of multimedia and creativity software products.
•It is best known for Photoshop, Adobe Reader, and Adobe Creative Suite.
•It was founded in February 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke.
Draft National Water Framework Bill, 2016 released
The Union Ministry of Water Resources on 16 May 2016 released the Draft National Water Framework Bill, 2016 to invite comments and suggestions from public.
The proposed Act provides an overarching national legal framework with principles for protection, conservation, regulation and management of water as a vital and stressed natural resource.
Since ‘water’ is in the State list of the Constitution, the Act will be applicable only after approval of the concerned State legislature.
Highlights of Draft National Water Framework Bill, 2016
•Right to Water for Life: Every person has a right to sufficient quantity of safe water for life within easy reach of the household.
• The right shall be provided regardless of, among others, caste, creed, religion, community, class, gender, age, disability, economic status, land ownership and place of residence.
• However, the precise quantity of safe water for life shall be determined by the appropriate government from time to time.
• Water as a Common heritage and Resource, held in public trust:The state at all levels holds water in public trust for the people and is obliged to protect water as a trustee for the benefit of all.
• Water in its primary aspect as a sustainer of human life shall take precedence over other uses of water, such as agricultural, industrial, commercial, and other uses.
• River rejuvenation:The appropriate government shall strive towards rejuvenating river systems with community participation, ensuringAviral Dhara - continuous flow in time and space including maintenance of connectivity of flow in eachriver system,Nirmal Dhara- unpolluted flow so that the quality of river waters is not adversely affected by human activities and Swachh Kinara– clean and aesthetic river banks.
• Sustaining ecosystems dependent on water: There shall be minimum interference in existing natural river flows; in the natural state of water bodies and wetlands and in floodplains and riverbeds, which shall be recognised as integral parts of the rivers themselves.
• The protection, conservation, regulation and management of water shall be carried out by the appropriate Government in a manner that is sustainable, equitable, transparent, accountable and participatory.
• People-centred water management: People-centred decentralised water management, for both surface and ground water, including local rainwater harvesting, watershed development and participatory irrigation management, shall be prioritised, while recognizing, encouraging and empowering local initiatives.
• Appropriate treatment and use of wastewater:The appropriate Government shall evolve and implement economic models that promote sustainability of recycle-reduce-and-reuse of water resources, while ensuring adherence to principles of equity.
• Standards for water quality and water footprints: There shall be binding national water quality standards for every kind of water use. And, there shall be binding national water footprint standards for every activity or product.
• Water use prioritisation: The first priority and charge on water shall be meeting the right to water for life, followed by allocation for achieving food security, supporting sustenance agriculture, sustainable livelihoods and eco-system needs.
• Integrated River Basin Development and Management: A river basin, including associated aquifers, shall be considered as the basic hydrological unit for planning, development and management of water.
• Each State Government shall develop, manage and regulate basins of intra-State rivers through a River Basin Master Plan to be implemented by an appropriate institutional mechanism.
• The Central Government shall provide for establishment of a River Basin Authority for each inter-State river basin, or for a sub-basin of sub inter-sate river basin wherever appropriate, for optimum and sustainable development of the inter-State rivers and river valleys.
• Each River Basin Authority shall prepare a Master Plan for the River Basin, under its jurisdiction. The plan shall be reviewed and updated after every 5 years after due consultation with all other planning agencies and stakeholders.
•Preparation of water security plans: The appropriate Government shall prepare and oversee the implementation of a Water Security Plan for (a) attainment of sufficient quantity of safe water for life and sustainable livelihoods by every person; and (b) ensuring water security even in times of emergencies like droughts and floods.
• The plan shall be valid for a period of 5 years from the date on which it becomes binding. It shall be revalidated or amended after every 5 years.
• Groundwater Conservation, Protection, Regulation and Management: Groundwater shall be conserved, protected, regulated and managed through appropriate laws based on the Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection, Regulation and Management of Groundwater, 2016.
• Flood mitigation and management: The Central Government shall develop a Decision Support System (DSS) for flood forecasting and flood inundation under the National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC).
• Each State Government shall also develop their own DSS to address state-specific issues. The NWIC shall ensure that the central DSS and that of each State are provided adequate and effective linkage.
• Drought mitigation and management: Each State Government shall prepare a Drought Mitigation and Management Policy and Action Plan within 6 months of coming into force of this Act.
• The policy and action plan shall include a drought risk and vulnerability assessment for the State, identify programmes and measures for drought mitigation.
• Water pricing and water regulators: The pricing of water shall be based on a differential pricing system in recognition of the right to water for life and its multiple roles, being a part of history, culture and religion.
• Water, as a part of water for life, shall not be denied to anyone on the ground of inability to pay. Water used for commercial agriculture and for industry or commerce may be priced on the basis of full economic pricing, or higher if needed and appropriate in a given case.
•Sectoral use of water: Urban water supply shall be metered and priced on a volumetric basis. Water Users Associations (WUAs) shall be accorded statutory powers to collect and retain a portion of Irrigation Service Fees
• Water resources information system:The Central Government shall develop and maintain a publicly available web based Water Resources Information System (IndiaWRIS) on Geographical Information System Platform.
• The IndiaWRIS will be developed by integrating water resources and other related data with satellite imageries through use of state-of-the-art Information Technology.
• Inter-state river water disputes:Appropriate institutional arrangements shall be established at all levels within the State and beyond up to an inter-State river-basin, to obviate and/or resolve emerging inter-State river-water disputes.
• The disputes should be settled through negotiations, conciliation or mediation, or other such means, at the earliest stages before the disputes become acute, so as to avoid recourse to adjudication as far as possible.
• All basin States in a river system are equal in rights and status, and there is no hierarchy of rights among them.
• The upper basin State shall adopt a cautious and minimalist approach to major interventions in inter-State rivers.
• They provide advance information to the lower basin States about plans for intervention, consult them at all stages on possible impacts and take care to avoid significant harm or injury to them.
• Existing water-related conflicts or disputes shall be reviewed and appropriate action taken in the light of the provisions of this Act.
Astrophysicists discover Canarias Einstein Ring in space
An international team of astrophysicists discovered a new optical Einstein ring called Canarias Einstein Ring. Einstein Ring is a distorted image of a galaxy, the source, which is very distant from the Earth.
The results of the discovery were published in the international journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on 16 May 2016.
The discovery was made by a team comprising of doctoral student Margherita Bettinelli from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the University of La Laguna (ULL) of Spain.
Main findings of the Study
• The rare phenomenon was discovered in the Sculptor constellation, IAC J010127-334319, in the vicinity of the Sculptor Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy.
• The discovered new source of galaxy (Einstein Ring) is an almost complete ring with an angle of 300 degree having a diameter of 4.5 arcsec.
• The discovered optical Einstein Ring shows two perfectly aligned galaxy, namely source galaxy and lens galaxy.
• The source galaxy is 10000 million light years away from Earth and it appears as a blue galaxy populated by young stars began to evolve. The young stars were forming at a high rate.
• The lens galaxy is 6000 million light years away from Earth and is more evolved, however, its stars have almost stopped forming, and its population is old.
How the Einstein Ring presence was confirmed?
Confirmation of the object was obtained by deriving spectroscopic redshifts for lens and source from observations at the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC) with the spectrograph OSIRIS.
The chance discovery was made while inspecting the data taken through the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) of the 4m Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Observatory in Chile.
What is an Einstein Ring?
• The phenomena were predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of General Relativity.
• An Einstein ring is a distorted image of a very distant galaxy, which is termed the source.
• The ring is an illusion created by chance alignment of two galaxies.
• The distortion is produced by the bending of the light rays from the source due to a massive galaxy, termed the lens, lying between it and the observer.
• The strong gravitational field produced by the lens galaxy distorts the structure of space-time in its neighbourhood, and it not only attracts objects which have a mass, but also bends the paths of light.
• This change in alignment of two galaxies and the consequent bending of light rays create an illusion in the form of Einstein Ring.
Significance of the Einstein Ring
Studying Einstein Ring gives relevant information about the composition of the source galaxy, and also about the structure of the gravitational field and of the dark matter in the lens galaxy.
Exercise Desert Eagle-II concluded
Exercise Desert Eagle II, which was the second in the series of bilateral exercises between Indian Air Force (IAF) and United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAE AF), was concluded on 3 June 2016.
This was a ten-day air combat exercise in which the IAF and the UAE Air Force undertook air exercises from Al-Dhafra Air Base, Abu Dhabi starting from 22 May 2016.
About Exercise Desert Eagle II
• Exercise Desert Eagle-II saw the IAF Su 30 MKI participating along with Mirage 2000-9 and F-16 block 60 of the UAE Air Force.
• Mission commanders from both sides participated in the Exercise and availed this opportunity to the maximum to draw valuable operational lessons.
• Despite the predominantly hot and arid conditions with temperatures well beyond 40 deg Celsius, IAF maintenance support staff succeeded in maintaining high serviceability state of aircraft and equipment.
• The Indian Air Force had participated previously in Desert Eagle I in 2008.
India and United Arab Emirates Relations
• It is pertinent to note that India and United Arab Emirates have strong bilateral relations which date back to more than hundreds of years.
• Both the nations have demonstrated keen resolve to engage each other in multiple facets and take the relationship to the next level.
• Defence Co-operation between the two nations gained momentum after signing of the Agreement of Defence Co-operation during the visit of the Chief of Staff of UAE Armed Forces to India in 2003.
World’s space agencies join hands to face climate challenge
Space agencies of more than 60 countries, under the impetus of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the French Space Agency (CNES), have agreed to come together to combat climate challenge. The announcement was made on 3 June 2016.
It is for the first time that the space agencies have agreed to engage their satellites to coordinate their methods and their data to monitor human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.
What made world’s space agencies come together?
•Without satellites, the reality of global warming would not have been recognised and the subsequent historic agreement at the United Nations headquarters in New York on 22 April 2016 would not have been signed.
•Out of the 50 essential climate variables being monitored in the present time, 26, including rising sea level, sea ice extent and greenhouse gas concentrations in all layers of the atmosphere, can be measured only from space.
•The key to effectively implementing the Paris Agreement lies in the ability to verify that nations are fulfilling their commitments to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
•The world’s space agencies decided to establish an independent, international system to centralise data from their Earth-observing satellites through the New Delhi Declaration that officially came into effect on 16 May 2016.
•The agencies will inter-calibrate these satellite data so that they can be combined and compared over time.
Rajiv Gauba Committee on Decongestion of Traffic in Delhi submitted report
The Rajiv Gauba Committee on Decongestion of Traffic in Delhi on 5 June 2016 submitted its report to the Union Ministry of Urban Development.
To ensure a safe, sustainable, affordable, equitable, comfortable, accessible and environmental friendly public transport system in the city, the Committee recommended a 4-pronged strategywith the components of -
i. Improving Public Transport and Disincentivising use of private vehicles
ii. Promoting Road Safety and efficient Traffic Management
iii. Setting up Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority and enhancing institutional capacity
iv. Promotion of Transit Oriented Development through integrated land use and transportation planning
Key recommendations of the committee
• It called for a paradigm shift in transport planning and policy interventions to check explosive growth in automobile population in the national capital.
• It recommended moving people more efficiently than cars through effective public transport system.
• The committee noted that that 21 percent of city’s area is already under roads with limited scope for road network expansion and 60 percent of passenger trips are below 4 km distances and 80 percent below 6 km lengths.
• Since these short distances are ideal for non-motorised transport, it strongly recommended development of necessary infrastructure for promoting walking and cycling in the national capital.
• It also opined that automobile centric planning with focus on road widening, construction of more and more flyovers, Foot Over Bridges, Under Passes etc., have only promoted increased use of private vehicles which are meeting only less than 20 percent of transport needs and should not be encouraged unless warranted by natural barriers like rivers.
• The Committee also expressed serious concern over mushrooming of gated communities in the city which are compelling local traffic to come onto main roads by preventing short cuts for movement of people.
• The Committee called for various interventions over the next five years to enable 80 percent share for public transport and non-motorised trips in total transportation in the city.
• The Committee concluded that the explosive growth in automobile population needs to be checked quickly by adopting a ‘carrot and stick’ policy of enabling increased use of public and non-motorised transport.
• It recommended for disincentivising use of private vehicles throughdeterrent parking pricing and Congestion Tax.
• A Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority should be set up for better coordination, quick decision making and execution. It will replace over 18 different Central and Delhi Government departments and agencies handling different aspects of transportation in the city region.
• To implement its recommendations, the committee suggested 20000 crore rupees interventions through Bus Rapid Transport Systems (BRTS), buses, walking and cycling infrastructure.
Background
• The High Powered Committee on Decongestion of Traffic in Delhi was set up by the Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu in October 2014 based on media reports on the havoc being caused by traffic congestion.
• The inter-ministerial Committee was headed by Rajiv Gauba, Secretary (Urban Development). It had representatives from 19 different ministries and agencies of Central and Delhi Governments, Delhi Police and all the Urban Local Bodies.
• It came out with a 126 page comprehensive report analyzing the causes and consequences of traffic congestion and suggesting a way forward.
India becomes co-chair of Working Group on Maritime Situational Awareness under CGPCS
India on 4 June 2016 became the co-chair of Working Group on Maritime Situational Awareness under Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS).
This decision was taken through a consensus during the 19th Plenary Session of the CGPCS that took place in Mahe, Seychelles during 31 May – 3 June 2016.
Steps taken by Indian Navy to ensure safety at Somalian Coast and in the Indian Ocean Region
• The Indian Navy and Coast Guard have played a very important role by enhanced patrolling in the high seas and providing armed naval escorts to ships moving in the area.
• To protect Indian ships and Indian citizens employed in sea-faring duties, Indian Navy commenced anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden from 23 October 2008.
• In addition to escorting Indian-flagged ships, ships of other countries have also been escorted by the Indian Navy.
• Merchant ships are currently being escorted along the entire length (490 nm long and 20 nm wide) of the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) which is heavily patrolled by Indian Navy.
• To maintain high degree of alertness in the region, around 19 coastal security operations and exercises have been undertaken over the past year.
About Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS)
• It is a coalition of states, international organisations, the private sector and civil society that came together to fight piracy together in a coordinated manner.
• It was established in response to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1851 (2008), later recalled and replaced with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1918 (2010).
• It works on the basis of Contact Group model that facilitates discussion and coordination of actions among states and organizations to suppress Somali piracy.
• Till now, more than 60 countries and international organizations, including India, have become part of this forum.
• Seychelles is the current Chairman of the CGPCS for the biennium 2016-17.
Scientists identified a process to remove DNA molecules from X-Files
Scientists of the University of Sheffield identified the process of removal of DNA molecules from the iconic double-helical structure. Scientists were trying to unlock the mystery for over 20 years.
The research was published on 6 June 2016 in a Journal,Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.
The new research has unlocked a crucial part of the mystery as to how the human DNA can replicate and repair itself. It is essential for all life forms.
Jon Sayers, the Professor of Functional Genomics at the University of Sheffield is the lead author of the study.
Main findings of the research
• The Branched DNA was identified in many episodes of the X-Files as Agent Scully suspects aliens inserted it in the blood. This branched DNA is formed every day in human bodies. It happens every time our cells divide.
• These branches are essential intermediates formed during the process of copying human DNA.
• The research team had captured snapshots of the molecular events in incredible detail and which were never seen before.
• They show how Flap EndoNuclease enzymes (FENs) trim branched DNA molecules after cells have divided.
• They found the FEN threads the free end of the branch through a hole in the enzyme before sliding along to the trunk. It acts like a pair of molecular secateurs, trimming the branch and restoring the iconic double-helix.
• The team used the Diamond Light Source called the UK's synchrotron which works like a giant microscope for their discovery.
• It harnesses the power of electrons to produce bright X-ray light which can used by the scientists to study to a vast range from fossils and jet engines to viruses and vaccines.
• DNA replication is essential for all life forms, so it is important to understand its performance at the level of molecule. It can provide the indepth information of the most basic cellular processes which are common to all life.
ADB and Union Government signed Loan Agreement to upgrade 176 Km of roads in Jharkhand
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Union Government on 3 June 2016 signed the Loan Agreement for 200 million US dollars to upgrade 176 Kilometres of State roads in Jharkhand.
The agreement was signed by Raj Kumar. Joint Secretary (Multilateral Institutions), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and by M. Teresa Kho, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission.
Highlights of the agreement
• It will upgrade existing sections of four State roads to two lane standard and will also support improvements in the design, safety and maintenance of the network.
• Besides upgrading 176 km of roads, the project will help the State develop an international standard road safety master plan for promoting road safety in Jharkhand.
• It will enhance the State’s ability to systematically identify, analyze, develop and prioritize critical road safety measures, which will benefit all road users.
Highlights of the Project to upgrade 176 Km of roads in Jharkhand
• Several safety features included in the project design include over 60 bus stop shelters; 50 km of raised sidewalks in urban areas; 4 km of dedicated bicycle lanes; and solar-powered street lights.
• The project will also generate employment opportunities for residents of the adjoining areas, including for women, who will get a share of a least 20% of jobs for afforestation.
• The total cost of the project, due to be completed by December 2019, is 306.25 million US dollars.
• In addition to ADB’s loan, the State Government of Jharkhand will provide counterpart assistance equivalent to 106.25 million US dollars.
Background
ADB has already been supporting the Jharkhand’s goals of improving its road connectivity by providing an initial loan for upgrading 311 km of State Roads in 2009. Together, the two projects are rehabilitating 487 km of state highways.
8 June
Chess Grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi dies
Viktor Korchnoi, regarded as one the greatest chess players, passed away on 6 June 2016 in Wohlen, Switzerland. He was 85.
Korchnoi played in three matches that produced the World Champion, but in each case lost to Anatoly Karpov. It made Korchnoi the strongest player never to have won the title.
About Viktor Korchnoi
•Viktor Korchnoi was a professional chess grandmaster and author.
•He was born in Leningrad, and learned chess from his father at the age of six.
•He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion.
•He defected to the Netherlands in 1976 and later resided in Switzerland for many years.
•He was a candidate for the World Championship on ten occasions.
•He was also a four-time USSR chess champion, a five-time member of Soviet teams that won the European championship, and a six-time member of Soviet teams that won the Chess Olympiad.
•In September 2006, he won the World Senior Chess Championship.
Amber Gurung, composer of Nepali National Anthem, passes away
Amber Gurung, the legendary Nepali musician and composer of the country's national anthem, died on 7 June 2016. He was 78.
He was suffering from diabetes and Parkinson's disease.
He was cremated in Kathmandu with full state honours, which was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Bhim Rawal. A contingent of the Nepal Army offered a final salute.
Amber Gurung
• Born and raised in Darjeeling, Gurung, composed more than 1000 songs including many era-defining numbers during his long career spanning four decades.
• Gurung composed the Nepali national anthem (in 2007) 'Sayau Thunga phoolkaa haamee', which was written by Byakul Maila.
• He served the musical sector for more than four decades after shifting to Nepal in 1969 at the invitation of King Mahendra.
• He was invited to Nepal to lead the music department at the Nepal Academy of Arts and Literature.
• Some of his composition along with the National Anthem of Nepal includes Nau Lakhe Tara and Rato Ra Chandra Surya.
• Gurung, who was also a lyricist and singer, also authored three books of lyrics and memoirs--Samaalera Raakha (1969), Akcharkaa Awajharu (2003), and an anthology of essays and memoirs, Kahaa Gae Ti Dinharu (2006).
Awards felicitated on him include
• Hon. Colonel of Nepal Army for composing "Rato ra chandra Surya" (2011)
• Uttam Shanti Shahitya Puraskar (2007)
• Kantipur FM Lifetime Achievement Award (2006)
• Hits FM Lifetime Achievement Award (2001)
• Madhurima Phulkumar Mahato Puraskar, Kathmandu (2000)
• Jagadamba Shree, Kathmandu (1998)
• Giri Puraskar, Darjeeling, India (1994)
• Golden Flute Award (CEDOS), Sikkim, India (1993)
• Indra Rajya Laxmi Pragya Puraskar, Kathmandu (1987)
• Chinalata Puraskar, Kathmandu (1983)
World Oceans Day observed across the world
8 June: World Oceans Day
The World Oceans Day was observed globally on 8 June 2016 with the theme Healthy oceans, healthy planet. The main focus of this year's theme is on curbing the plastic pollution.
Plastic pollution is a serious threat because it degrades very slowly, polluting waterways for a very long time. In addition, plastic pollution impacts the health of aquatic animals because animals including zooplankton mistake the microbeads for food. Scientists also fear health impacts for humans.
The United Nations celebrated World Oceans Day 2016 by recognizing the winners of the Annual World Oceans Day Oceanic Photo Competition at an event at the United Nations Headquarters.
Why is World Oceans Day celebrated?
• To remind everyone of the major role the oceans have in everyday life. They are the lungs of our planet, providing most of the oxygen we breathe.
• To inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean.
• To develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean.
• To mobilize and unite the world’s population on a project for the sustainable management of the world's oceans. They are a major source of food and medicines and a critical part of the biosphere.
• To celebrate together the beauty, the wealth and the promise of the ocean.
Background
In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly through its resolution 63/111decided that, as from 2009, 8 June would be designated by the United Nations as the World Oceans Day.
Many countries began celebrating World Oceans Day following the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, which was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
India, ADB sign $120 mn loan pact for irrigation in Odisha
India on 7 June 2016 signed loan agreement of 12 crore ($120 million) US dollars with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to improve irrigation and water management infrastructure in Odisha.
About the loan and how it will help Odisha
• The financing will be used for modernizing seven irrigation subprojects resulting in improved irrigation in over one lakh hectares.
• It will also help in strengthening of Water User Associations (WUAs) and the institutional capacity of Odisha’s Department of Water Resources.
• The project aims to improve existing irrigation infrastructure, operation and maintenance, and water use efficiency that will lead to higher agricultural productivity.
• The selected areas for the investment program are the Baitarani, Brahmani, Budhabalanga, and Subernarekha river basins and part of the Mahanadi delta.
The loan is the second tranche of a 157.5 million dollar financing facility under the Orissa Integrated Irrigated Agriculture and Water Management Investment Program.
The second tranche loan from ADB’s ordinary capital resources has a 20-year term. The State of Odisha, acting through its Department of Water Resources is responsible for implementing the tranche 2 activities and overall program, which are both due for completion by September 2018.
Himachal Pradesh becomes first state to launch green-concept based State Data Centre
Himachal Pradesh on 5 June 2016 became the first Indian state to have a State Data Centre (SDC). The centre was launched by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in Shimla.
The SDC is designed using green data centre concept. The centre will offer 101 people-oriented service online through an integrated data base.
CM Virbhadra Singh directed all government departments to make use of SDC for hosting e-Governance applications instead of creating their own infrastructure.
Now, departmental applications can be hosted centrally in SDC free of cost and HIMSWAN connectivity could be provided in field offices to access departmental applications.
Key highlights of the State Data Centre
•The SDC was launched at an expenditure of 58-crore rupees.
•The centre will integrate the websites of various departments.
•All services could be accessible through the integrated data base. It will save time and money spent on creation of infrastructure.
•The centre will help in reducing the burden on state exchequer and at the same time help in the integration of online databases of various departments.
•It will further help the departments to roll out more government-to-citizen-services and people can avail them from anywhere and anytime.
•It has been set up by IT Department using state-of-the-art technology.
•It is the first SDC in the country which has been designed using green data centre concept to minimise power requirement and increase power utilisation efficiency.
Union Government launched Surya Mitra Mobile App
Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal launched Surya Mitra mobile App at National Workshop on Rooftop Solar Power in New Delhi on 7 June 2016.
The App will be very useful in the field of Renewable energy to serve customers at their doorsteps with quality installation, repair, and Observations and Measurements (O&M) services.
About Surya Mitra Mobile App
• The Mobile App was developed by National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) which is an autonomous institution of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE).
• It is a high end technology platform that can handle thousands of calls simultaneously and can efficiently monitor all visits of Suryamitra’s.
• The trained Suryamitra’s who opts for entrepreneurship have joined in the Mobile App in several states.
• These Suryamitras are once again sensitized by NISE on soft skills Customer Relations Management, Punctuality and are now ready to deliver the services.
Uses of Surya Mitra App
• This innovative mobile approach shall enhance the employment of trained youth in solar PV technology.
• It also improve the businesses of solar entrepreneurs because of quality servicing, maintenance and repairing professionals are now available to customers at the click of a button on their mobiles.
• The App can be utilized to maintain off grid Solar PV system to keep it in good condition.
• It would come handy with respect to O & M, Repair and maintenance of solar pumps.
• It will be very useful to maintain the existing solar water heater systems that are already installed in various states and to install new systems properly.
Suryamitra initiative
• It is skill development program of the Union Government to create skilled manpower in installation, commissioning, and Operation & Maintenance of solar power plants and equipment.
• The objective is to provide employability and entrepreneurship to rural and urban youth & women.
• MNRE set a target of 50000 Suryamitras of skilled manpower in solar energy sector in next 3 years.
• It is funded completely by Union Government and is a residential program that is implemented by NISE across India.
National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE)
• It is an autonomous institution of Ministry of New and Renewable (MNRE).
• It is the apex National R&D institution in the field Solar Energy.
• The institute is involved in demonstration, standardization, interactive research, training and testing of solar energy technologies and systems.
Scientists discovered a gigantic exoplanet, HATS-18b
International team of astronomers found an alien world named HATS-18b. It is a giant hot Jupiter exoplanet tidally spinning up its parent star.
The team led by Kaloyan Penev of Princeton University carried out the observation campaign between April 2011 and July 2013. The new findings were published online on 2 June 2016 on arXiv.org.
About Exoplanet, HATS-18b
• The newly discovered planetary system could be a great laboratory for to test the theories of planet–star interactions.
• The research team used the Hungarian-made Automated Telescope Network-South (HATSouth) to obtain over 10000 images of this sun-like star while finding the exoplanets orbiting HATS-18.
• The astronomers also conducted a series of follow-up spectroscopic observations in 2015 using the 2.3 m telescope at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia and the 2.2 m MPG/ESO telescope at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile.
• The radial velocity signals collected by the researchers allowed them to distinguish a sinusoidal variation in phase with the transit ephemeris, confirming the presence of a massive planet around HATS-18.
• The research also reveled that the newly found exoplanet have the characteristics similar to that of Jupiter.
• It have radius that accounts of about 1.34 times and mass is of 2 times of Jupiter. Jupiter is the biggest planet of our solar system.
• The orbital period of HATS-18b equals 0.84 days which accounts to be very short.
• It was also found that the Planet HATS-18b with high mass and short orbital period implies the strong tidal coupling between the planetary orbit and the star which shows evidence of significant tidal spin up.
Facebook India appoints Umang Bedi as Managing Director
Facebook India on 7 June 2016 appointed Umang Bedi as its Managing Director (MD).
Bedi will take over from Kirthiga Reddy. Reddy will be returning to the US to take on a new role at the company’s Menlo Park headquarters.
Bedi will officially start at Facebook in July 2016 while Reddy will take up her new role in August 2016.
Who is Umang Bedi?
•Bedi has close to two decades of leadership experience covering sales, marketing and partnerships with multinational companies.
•Prior to joining Facebook, Umang Bedi worked as Managing Director for South Asia at Adobe Inc.
•He is an engineering graduate from the University of Pune. He is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School.
•He is the recipient of the prestigious 40 Under Forty: India’s Hottest Business Leaders Award 2014 given by The Economic Times and Chicago-based global executive search and leadership consulting firm Spencer Stuart.
No detention for Illegal Migrants under 2008 Return Directive: EU Court
European Court of Justice on 7 June 2016 ruled that non-EU (European Union) migrants who illegally entered an EU member state should not face detention. In its direction it said, under the Europe's 2008 Return Directive, the migrants staying illegally should be returned back to the country from which they came from.
It said that the ruling applies to migrants crossing borders within the Schengen passport-free zone and on leaving the zone.
The ruling came into effect in the case of a Ghanaian woman migrant, Selina Affum. On 22 March 2013, she was found using false Belgian travel documents by French police at the entrance to the Channel Tunnel. At that time, she was on a bus from Ghent, Belgium to London, United Kingdom.
Later, the French police placed her in police custody on grounds of illegal entry into French territory.
Affum argued that her detention was illegal, in light of the EU's Return Directive.
Affum’s case was referred to the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest court, by the French court of Cassation.
2008 Return Directive
• Under the policy, the migrant is asked to voluntarily leave the Union within 30 days. After which, the removal should not involve excessive force or place the person’s life in danger.
• Its calls on authorities to take into consideration the best interests of children, family life, and the state of health of the third-country national concerned of the illegal migrants.
• It prevents a national of a non-EU country who has not yet been subject to the return procedure being imprisoned solely because he or she has entered the territory of a Member State illegally across an internal border of the Schengen area.
• This was also the case when the migrant is intercepted when leaving the Schengen area.
Some important conditions mentioned under the ruling for detention of an illegal migrant include
• Any migrant can be jailed or detained for up to 18 months, when it is believed that the person has committed a separate crime and the return order issued by authorities is not executed.
• He/she can be detained if the person is subject to a deportation order and has refused to go, or if they have already been deported, and have attempted to re-enter the country illegally, in breach of an entry ban.
Schengen zone
• The Schengen Area is the area including 26 European countries that have abolished passport and any other type of border control at their mutual borders.
• It mostly functions as a single country for international travel purposes, with a common visa policy.
• The area is named after the Schengen Agreement.
• Countries in the Schengen Area have eliminated border controls with the other Schengen members and strengthened border controls with non-Schengen states.
• Twenty-two of the twenty-eight European Union (EU) member states participate in the Schengen Area.
• The six EU members that are not a part of the Schengen Area include Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Rajasthan Government launches Mobile App RajVayu on Air Quality Index
Rajasthan Government on 5 June 2016 launched mobile applicationRajVayu for sharing information about Air Quality Index of Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur. The app was launched by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on the eve of World Environment Day.
With this, Rajasthan became first state in country to launch such app for sharing information about air quality index of cities.
Highlights of RajVayu App
• Information provided on RajVayu app is based on the data collected by sophisticated air quality monitoring equipment and weather sensors.
• The app has been designed by Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB) jointly with Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM).
• It will share details about the air quality, such as levels of pollutants likes SOx, NOx, CO, Ozone particles and Particulate Matter (PM) with the city residents and tourists.
• It will also share temperature, wind speed, humidity, weather forecast and advisories.
• This app is based on the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting Research (SAFAR-India) which is presently connected in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune.
• By 2017, the services of this application would be expanded in other cities in the state including in Ajmer, Alwar, Bhiwadi, Kota and Pali.
Tintu Luka won silver at Josef Odlozil Memorial Athletics Meet in Prague
Tintu Luka, the Rio Olympics-bound Indian track and field athlete, on 7 June 2016 won a silver medal in 800 meters in the Josef Odlozil Memorial Athletics Meet in Prague, Czech Republic.
To win the medal, she covered the distance with her season's best timing of 2:00.61 (2 minutes point Six One seconds).
The reigning Asian champion was second behind 2013 World Youth Championship gold winner Anita Hinriksdottir of Iceland who ran the distance in 2:00.54 (2 minutes point five four seconds).
27-year-old Luka is still a long way to go as she is placed at 30th spot among the season's top list. Former world champion and London Olympics silver medallist Caster Semenya of South Africa is leading with 1:56.64 (1 minute, 56.six Four seconds). Semenya is followed by world indoor champion Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi with 1:56.92 (1 minute, 56.92 seconds) and Renelle Lamote of France with 1:58.01 (1 minute, 58.01 second).
The Kerala runner, Luka holds the national record of 1:59.17 (1 minute, 59.17 second) which she did way back in 2010 at Continental Cup, Croatia. She qualified for Rio Olympics during the World Championships in Beijing in 2015.
Lucknow to host Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup 2016
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) on 7 June 2016 announced that men’s Hockey Junior World Cup 2016 will be played in the Indian city of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
The men’s Hockey Junior World Cup 2016 will be played between 8 December and 18 December 2016.
The event will feature 16 of the world’s best junior men’s teams. The qualified teams are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, England, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and Spain.
The women’s Hockey Junior World Cup will take place inSantiago, Chile between 24 November 2016 and 4 December 2016.
About Hockey Junior World Cup
•The Hockey Junior World Cup is an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation.
•The tournament was started in 1979.
•Since 1985, it has been held every four years.
•Competitors must be under the age of 21 as of 31 December in the year before the tournament is held.
•Germany is the most successful team, having won the tournament six times.
•Argentina, Australia, India and Pakistan have each won the tournament once.
Shahid Rasool takes charge as Director of Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia
Shahid Rasool, a communication technology specialist, on 7 June 2016 took charge as the Director of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA).
Rasool will guide CEMCA in its mission to ensure effective utilisation of educational media resources for distance education.
He was earlier the Director of the Educational Multimedia Research Centre, University of Kashmir. He earned his MS Degree in Communication Technology from Syracuse University and has a doctorate in mass communication and journalism from the University of Kashmir.
About Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA)
• CEMCA is an arm of the Vancouver-based Commonwealth of Learning (COL).
• Headquartered in New Delhi, CEMCA was set up in 1994 in response to calls by Asian Commonwealth countries for a greater focus on distance education.
• CEMCA was established as a regional centre to promote meaningful, relevant and appropriate use of Media and Technology to serve the educational and training needs of the Commonwealth Member States of Asia.
• CEMCA works in eight Commonwealth Countries of Asia including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Singapore.
Mirza Imtiyaz Judicial Commission constituted to probe Mathura violence
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on 7 June 2016 appointed a judicial commission to probe into the recent Mathura violence hours.
The Judicial commission will be headed by retired Allahabad High Court judge Justice Mirza Imtiyaz Murtaza. It has been asked to submit its report in two months.
The commission was formed after the Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea seeking a CBI probe into the incident.
Course of Action for the Judicial Commission
• The commission has been mandated to conduct the inquiry on six points of reference.
• Among other aspects it will find out the reasons because of which such a big incident occurred, the lapses on the part of police and intelligence failure if any.
• It will look into the plan and preparedness of district administration and its effectiveness.
Meanwhile, the administrative inquiry by Aligarh commissioner has been disbanded.
Matura Violence of Uttar Pradesh
Mathura Violence or can be termed as an armed conflict at Jawahar Bagh public park, led to death of at least 24 people including a Superintendent of Police (City) Mukul Dwivedi and SHO Santosh Kumar, started on 2 June 2016.
Cause behind the violence
The violence started after the state police on Allahabad High Court’s order tried to evict the group, named as Swadhin Bharat Vidhik Satyagrah, from the Jawahar Bagh (a public park) which was captured by them Since April 2014.
The group led by Ram Vriksh Yadav, once a follower of Jai Gurudev, was running a parallel government, with complete administration, revenue and armed forces, within the 200-acre park.
Demands of Swadhin Bharat Vidhik Satyagrah
Swadhin Bharat arrived in Mathura from Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh in April 2014. Jawahar Park was a place of halt, when they were heading to Delhi to stage a protest at Jantar Mantar.
They stayed in the park after seeking permission to stay in it for a couple of day, but the halt never ended and continued over the time. They had several irrational demands like
• It was seeking a complete overhaul of the British-inspired political system
• It demanded annulling the election of the President and Prime Minister
• Replacement of the current Indian currency by Indian National Army currency (Azad Hind Bank currency)
• Sale of 40-60 litres of fuel for a rupee
Forbes released World’s 100 Most Powerful Women 2016 list
Forbes on 6 June 2016 released the list of World’s 100 Most Powerful Women of 2016 showing women who impacted businesses, media, philanthropy, politics and more.
Four metrics: money (net worth, company revenues or GDP), media presence, spheres of influence, and impact, were analysed to prepare the list.
Highlights of the List
• The world’s most powerful woman in the list is German Chancellor Angela Merkel who fetched the first spot for the sixth consecutive year.
• The top three most powerful in the list are politicians: Germany’s Angela Merkel, U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
• Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, tops the list in the automotive section.
• Gwynne Shotwell, the President-COO of SpaceX, is the top woman in Construction & Engineering at 76th position.
• Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of International Monetary Fund, fetched the 6th spot.
• Diane von Furstenberg, Owner, Fashion Designer, Diane von Furstenberg Studio, L.P., stands at 71th position in the Fashion and Retail category.
• Oprah Winfrey stands at 21st position in the ranking.
• Newcomers joining this year’s list include seven world leaders, two philanthropists, five CEOs, two billionaires, one editor-in-chief, two company chairpersons, and three U.S. Supreme Court justices.
• 20 women are off the list from last year, among them Ellen Pullman, Renee James, Dilma Rousseff, Cristina Kirschner, and Elizabeth Holmes.
• A host of celebrities, including Ellen Degeneres, Taylor Swift, and Angelina Jolie, came off the list this year.
• Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung Sun Suu Kyi, and Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen are included in this year’s list.
• Wellcome Trust chair Eliza Manningham-Buller and UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova join a host of women who are dedicated to helping solve the world’s problems.
Top 10 powerful women in the List
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Angela Merkel |
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2 |
Hillary Clinton |
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3 |
Janet Yellen |
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4 |
Melinda Gates |
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5 |
Mary Barra |
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6 |
Christine Lagarde |
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7 |
Sheryl Sandberg |
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8 |
Susan Wojcicki |
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9 |
Meg Whitman |
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10 |
Ana Patricia Botín |
Indian Women in the list
• Four Indians have been named in Forbes list including Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chair-Managing Director of State Bank of India (SBI), who stood at 25th position.
• Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO of ICICI Bank, was placed at 40th position.
• Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Founder-chair of Biocon Limited, was placed at 77th position.
• Shobhana Bhartia, Chair, HT Media, was placed at 93rd position.
International Monetary Fund approved 1.5 billion US dollar loan to Sri Lanka
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 7 June 2016 approved 1.5 billion US dollar loan to Sri Lanka. IMF has already transferred 168 million US dollars as the first Instalment with immediate effect to support the country’s economy.
The Executive Board of the IMF accepted this 36-month extended arrangement under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with Sri Lanka under special drawing rights.
Highlights of the Funding
• An early disbursement of about 168.1 million US dollars will be made immediately.
• The remaining amount will be settled in six installments on quarterly reviews.
• There will be an additional 650 million US dollars support in other multilateral and bilateral loans, bringing total support to about 2.2 billion US dollars.
This funding is aimed at:
• Meeting balance of payments needs arising from external environment and pressures
• Raising revenue through new taxes
• Financing the additional budget spending
To achieve the above laid objectives, IMF will envisage implementation of a set of reforms under following six pillars:
• Fiscal consolidation
• Revenue mobilization
• Public financial management reform
• State enterprise reform
• Transition to flexible inflation targeting under a flexible exchange rate regime
• Reforms in the trade and investment regime
Background
Sri Lanka has an IMF quota of 578.8 million SDR. It became a member of the IMF on 29 August 1950.
LISA Pathfinder mission demonstrates ways to detect gravitational waves
LISA Pathfinder Mission successfully tested a key technology needed to build a space-based observatory for detecting gravitational waves. The Mission was led by the European Space Agency (ESA) scientists with the contribution of NASA.
This research was ublished in Physical Review Letters on 7 June 2016.
Key finding of the Research
• The Mission demonstrated that two test masses can be put in free fall with a relative acceleration sufficiently free of noise to meet the requirements needed for space-based gravitational-wave detection.
• These tiny ripples in the fabric of space were first seen in 2015 by the ground-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).
• These ripples were predicted by Albert Einstein a hundred years ago.
• The frequency of the Seismic, thermal and other noise sources limit LIGO to higher-frequency gravitational waves was around 100 cycles per second (hertz).
• But finding signals from mergers of supermassive black holes in colliding galaxies requires the ability to see frequencies at 1 hertz or less.
• A space-based observatory would work by tracking test masses that move only under the influence of gravity.
• Each spacecraft would gently fly around its test masses without disturbing them, a process called drag-free flight.
• The primary goal of ESA's LISA Pathfinder mission is to test current technology by flying around an identical pair of 1.8-inch (46 millimeter) cubes made of a gold-platinum alloy, a material chosen for its high density and insensitivity to magnetic fields.
About LISA Pathfinder mission
• LISA Pathfinder was launched on 3 December 2015, and began orbiting a point called Earth-sun L1, roughly 930000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth in the sun's direction since late January 2016.
• LISA stands for Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, a space-based gravitational wave observatory concept that has been studied in great detail by both NASA and ESA.
• The mission was always intended as a stepping stone to the level of performance needed for a full-scale gravitational wave observatory, but these results tell us we’ve nearly made the full jump
• The Mission reduced non-gravitational forces on the test masses to a level five times better than the mission requiredand within 25 percent of the requirement for a future space-based gravitational wave detector.
LISA Pathfinder also carries a NASA experiment called the ST-7 Disturbance Reduction System. Managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, the experiment combines novelelectrospray thrusters with drag-free control software provided by Goddard on a dedicated computer.
LISA Technology Package (LTP)
• The test masses are housed in an experiment called the LISA Technology Package (LTP).
• It was built by a consortium of European national space agencies and ESA.
• The LTP uses a high-resolution laser interferometer to determine the positions of the test masses and relays the information to the spacecraft's Drag-Free and Attitude Control System, which then applies minute bursts from microthrusters.
• In this way, the spacecraft flies in formation with the cubes and isolates them from external forces.
• The results show that LISA Pathfinder reduced non-gravitational forces on the test masses to a level about 10000 times smaller than drag-free control technologies used on previous science missions.
• At frequencies between 1 and 60 millihertz, control over the test masses is affected by a small number of gas molecules bouncing off the cubes.
• The effect became less prominent over time as molecules escaped into space, and it is expected to improve further in the following months.
List of Top 30 Programmes launched by Modi Government
The National Democratic Government (NDA) launched a slew of initiatives since it came into power on 26 May 2014. The initiatives were launched with a focus on financial inclusion, infrastructure development and empowerment of down-trodden.
Here, we present a list of 30 major programmes and schemes launched in the past 2 years.
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Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (22 January 2015) |
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Indradhanush for Public Sector Banks (August 2015) |
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