Current Affaires 23-24 Dec 2014 Hindi

China and Nepal signed agreement to expand the use of local currencies for border trade

24-DEC-2014

China and Nepal on 23 December 2014 signed an agreement to expand the use of their currencies for border trade.

The agreement was signed between the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). The agreement will boost bilateral trade and investment ties between the China and Nepal.

According to the agreement, the two countries will use local currencies (Yuan and Nepal rupee) for settlement in both cross-border trade and ordinary trade activities.

Both the countries also signed memorandum of understanding on anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism cooperation.

Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to coordinate military operations across the borders

24-DEC-2014

The military chiefs of Afghanistan and Pakistan on 23 December 2014 agreed to co-ordinate on military operations along border of two countries.

Army chief General of Afghanistan Sher Mohammad Karimi and General of Pakistan Raheel Sharif agreed to co-operate in the presence of US General John Campbell, who heads NATO coalition forces in Afghanistan.

The two countries also agreed to jointly take effective actions against terrorism and extremism.

Both the countries agreed to meet subordinates immediately to discuss operations targeting Pakistani Taliban (TTP) bases along the border.

The decision came in the wake of Taliban militants burst into Army Public School in Peshawar shooted the children and staff members on 16 December 2014.

Nicaragua launched construction of an inter-oceanic canal

24-DEC-2014

Nicaragua on 22 December 2014 launched the construction of an inter-oceanic canal linking Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean.

The project aims to rival Panama's waterway and revitalize the economy of Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Americas after Haiti.  The 50 billion US dollar project is backed by China.

Canal will be 278-km long and will be operational by around 2020. It would raise annual economic growth to more than 10 percent.

Construction of the new waterway will be run by Hong Kong-based HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co Ltd (HKND Group), which is controlled by Wang Jing, a little-known Chinese telecom mogul well connected to China's political elite.

Comment

The canal could give China a major foothold in Central America, a region long dominated by the United States, which completed the Panama Canal a century ago.

S Bhattacharya appointed CMD of Coal India

24-DEC-2014

Senior IAS officer S Bhattacharya on 23 December 2014 was appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Coal India Ltd (CIL).

He succeeded Additional Secretary (Coal) A K Dubey.  Dubey was given the additional charge as CMD of CIL on 26 June 2014.

The CIL was without a full time chief from May 2014 when S Narsing Rao had resigned from the post.

Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) had recommended his name in November 2014. His appointment was confirmed by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

S Bhattacharya is a 1985 batch IAS officer. Currently, he is the CMD of Singareni Collieries Company (SCCL).

Union Government set up Mathur committee to examine constitution of SIT on 1984 anti-Sikh riots

24-DEC-2014

Union Ministry of Home Affairs on 23 December 2014 set up Mathur committee to examine the possibility of constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for reinvestigation of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases.

The Committee will be headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice (retired) G.P. Mathur. It will submit its report till April 2015.

The committee will also look into the issue of implementation of the payment of enhanced compensation of 5 lakh rupees per person killed during the riots. The compensation was approved by the Union Cabinet on 10 December 2014.

The committee will also look into various grievances relating to the anti-Sikh riots.

Home Ministry decided to set up the committee after it received huge number of complaints from individual entities and associations in the matter of anti-Sikh riots.

Earlier, the Justice Nanavati Commission had recommended reopening of only four of 241 cases closed by police but BJP wanted the reinvestigation of all the other 237 cases.

The move assumes significance as 2733 victims of the total 3325 victims of anti-Sikh riots belonged to the national capital Delhi.

Anti-Sikh riots of 1984 had broken out after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984 by her Sikh body guards.

Cipla Medpro won 173 million US dollars order to supply Anti-Retroviral Drugs to South Africa

24-DEC-2014

Cipla Medpro won 173 million US dollars (2 billion-rand) order to supply Anti-Retroviral Drugs (ARD) to government of South Africa for its anti-AIDS programme for the next three years.

The antiretroviral drugs will be produced in Kwazulu-Natal province Plant which will start on 1 April 2015. This is the third order that the Cipla Medpro has won from government of South Africa in 2014.

Earlier, Cipla Medpro had won from the government of South Africa 280 million rupees of state therapeutic drug tender in August 2014 and 345 million rupees of national respiratory tender in June 2014.

South Africa has the biggest antiretroviral treatment program of the world. It offers medication to more than 2.2 million people of South Africa. The government of South Africa has a target of halving the number of new HIV infections by 2016.

About Cipla Medpro 
Cipla is the world's largest manufacturer of antiretroviral drugs to fight HIV/AIDS. Cipla Medpro has been a unit of Mumbai-based Cipla Ltd which acquired Cipla Medpro for about 4.5 billion US dollars in 2013.

Global Arms Trade Treaty came into force

24-DEC-2014

The global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) that lays down international rules for the 85 billion US dollars global arms trade came into effect on 24 December 2014. The treaty is a new chapter in collective efforts to bring responsibility, accountability and transparency to the global arms trade.

It aims to regulate the industry and keep weapons out of the hands of human rights violators worldwide.


Features of Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) that was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 2 April 2013 are:
• It is the first legally-binding multilateral agreement that prohibits States from exporting conventional weapons to countries when they know those weapons will be used for genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. 
• The treaty established the highest possible common international standards for regulating the international trade in conventional arms.
• The ATT is a tool for States to prevent the violence and insecurity resulting from the flow of arms, and in so doing to fulfill their human rights obligations
• It will assist States in regulating non-State entities such as private military and security companies –which often carry and use arms in their line of work– and ensuring compliance with international law

ATT is the first major arms accord since the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1996.

The treaty was signed by 130 countries and ratified by 60 countries, including Israel who joined it in December 2014. Apart from this, other key exporters such as France Britain and Germany have ratified the carter and pledged to adhere to the strict criteria mentioned in it. 

The treaty has been signed by the United States, the world’s largest arms producer and exporter, but not ratified by it. 

India and ATT
India has not signed the treaty as it was among the 23 nations that had abstained from voting on the treaty in 2013. According to India, draft treaty annexed to the resolution is weak on terrorism and non-state actors and these concerns find no mention in the specific prohibitions of the Treaty.


Comment
ATT is a very important step to peace and security and is a welcome avenue to curb the provision of arms to illicit actors such as mercenaries.

However, more important than this treaty on regulation of the arms trade are efforts at reduction of weapon stockpiles worldwide. Also, numerous ambiguities in the text mean that treaty could end up supporting the arms industry.

29th National Consumers Right Day observed across India

24-DEC-2014

29th National Consumers Right Day was observed across India on 24 December 2014. The day provides an opportunity to highlight the importance of the consumer movement and the need to make every consumer more aware of their rights and responsibilities.

The Consumer Protection and Action Committee (CPAC) celebrated the day by distributing complaints forms, information brochures and other consumer rights literature freely to the public.

The CPAC rewarded the 5000 applicant with a sum of Ten rupees who with their names, addresses provide the names and addresses of the consumer courts in the particular region.

The CPAC also rewarded with 101 rupees to the aware citizen who raises voice against unfair trade practice and also fifty rupees cash reward will be for each of the LPG cylinder consumer who will point out malpractice rampant in cylinder under filling.

About National Consumers Rights Day
The day is being observed annually on 24 December, since the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was enacted on 24 December1986.

About Consumer Protection Act
• The Consumer Protection Act was enacted with the objective of providing better protection of consumer’s interest.
• The act provides effective safeguards to the consumer, against various types of exploitations and unfair dealings, relying mainly on compensatory rather than a disciplinary or preventive approach. 
• The act applies to all goods and services unless specifically exempted, which covers the private, public and cooperative sectors. It also provides speedy and inexpensive adjudication
• The Act envisages the promotion and protection of rights of consumers such as Right to Safety, Right to be informed, Right to Choose and Right to be heard.
The World Consumer Rights Day is observed on 15 March annually.

Charan Singh's statue unveiled in Ghaziabad

24-DEC-2014

Former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh’s statue was unveiled at Kisan Chowk of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh on 23 December 2014. The statue was unveiled by activists of Rashtriya Lok Dal and Jat Sabha to mark Charan Singh’s 112nd birth anniversary. 

On this day, rich tributes were paid to Charan Singh by the Union government and different political parties.


Chaudhary Charan Singh
• Charan Singh was born on 23 December 1902 in a Jat family in village Noorpur of Hapur District in Uttar Pradesh
• He was the sixth Prime Minister of India. He served as the Prime Minister of India from 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980 
• Charan Singh holds the record of being the sole Prime Minister of India who did not faced the Lok Sabha even for a single day during his short tenure of just a month
• He entered politics as part of the Independence Movement of India 
• As a person, he was noticed in the 1950s for opposing and winning a battle against Jawaharlal Nehru's socialistic and collectivist land use policies, for the sake of the Indian Farmer
• He is considered as a leader of farmers (agrarian communities) throughout the nation
• He was a leader of the Bharatiya Lok Dal, a major constituent of the Janata coalition
• He served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1967, and later in 1970
• Charan Singh died on 29 May 1987
• His books include 
a) Joint Farming X-rayed: The problem and its solution (1959)
b) Economic Nightmares of India: Its Cause and Cure (1981)

Atal Bihari Vajpee and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya to receive Bharat Ratna

24-DEC-2014

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpee and freedom fighter Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya (posthumously) will receive the Bharat Ratna. The decision to confer the highest civilian award of the country was announced by the Union Government on 24 December 2014.

Till now 43 people have been honoured with the Bharat Ratna. In 2013, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and scientist C N R Rao were awarded Bharat Ratna for their contribution in their respective fields.

About Madan Mohan Malaviya
• He was a freedom fighter and educationist who was part of the Indian National Movement
• He was popularly known as Mahamana. 
• He was president of Indian National Congress (INC) for two terms in 1909 and1918.  He was one of the founders of the Hindu Mahasabha.
• He was one of the leading educationists of India before independence and he was founder of the Banaras Hindu University in 1916. 
• He was also the Chairman of Hindustan Times from 1924 to 1946. His efforts resulted in the launch of its Hindi edition in 1936
• Malviya was born in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, India on 25 December 1861

About Atal Bihari Vajpayee
• Vajpayee is a three time Prime Minister of India who served the first term in 1996 for just 13 days. During his second term in 1998-1999 he served for 13 months. 
• In his final and third term he completed the full five-year from 1999-2004. Thus, he became the first Prime Minister from outside the Indian National Congress party to serve a full five-year term.
• When Janata government collapsed, Vajpayee restarted the Jana Sangh as the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980.
• He began a push for a full-scale diplomatic peace process with Pakistan and initiated a new peace process aimed towards permanently resolving the Kashmir dispute and other conflicts with Pakistan. With this view he inaugurated Delhi-Lahore bus service in February 1999 and signed Lahore Declaration with Nawaz Sharif, the then PM of Pakistan.
• He was also the Minister of External Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Morarji Desai in 1978. As foreign minister, that year Vajpayee became the first person to deliver a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in Hindi.

About Bharat Ratna Awards
• Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of India that was instituted on 2 January 1954 by the order of Rajendra Prasad, the former President of India. Bharat Ratna recipients rank seventh in the Indian order of precedence, but constitution prohibits using the award name as title.
• The award is conferred in recognition of exceptional service or performance of the highest order, without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex.  
• The award was originally limited to achievements in the arts, literature, science and public services but the union government expanded the criteria to include any field of human endeavour in 2011.
• Recommendations for the Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister to the President, with a maximum of three nominees being awarded per year. Recipients receive a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a peepal-leaf–shaped medallion and award does not contain any monetary grant. 
• Original provisions of the Bharat Ratna did not allow any one to grant the posthumous awards. Later in January 1966, a provision posthumous was inserted.
• The former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was the first individual to be honoured posthumously in 1966.
• The first recipients of the Bharat Ratna were C Rajagopalachari, scientist C V Raman and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan were honoured in 1954.

Emmy-winning Director Joseph Sargent died

24-DEC-2014

American film director Joseph Sargent died on 22 December 2014 at his home in Malibu, California following chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 89.

Joseph Sargent
• Born as Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente in Jersey City, he served in the Army during World War II and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. 
• After the war, he studied at the Actors Studio before moving to California in the early 1950s. Sargent acted on television shows like Gunsmoke and The Twilight Zone in the 1950s.
• His best-known work was the 1974 thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, which presented the embattled New York City of the 1970s.
• He won four Primetime Emmy Awards for television movies. He won his first Emmy in 1973 for directing The Marcus-Nelson Murders, a TV movie written by Abby Mann. 
• Sargent also won Emmys for his works Love Is Never Silent (1985), Caroline? (1990) and Miss Rose White (1992).

Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Election 2014 results declared

24-DEC-2014

Election Commission of India on 23 December 2014 declared the results of Assembly elections of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (JKPDP) of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed with 28 seats emerged as the largest party in the house of 87 seats.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 25 seats (all seats came from the Jammu region) stood at the second position.


Position of different parties in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls

 

Party

Won

Vote Share in percent

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

25

23.0 percent

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

1

0.5 percent

Indian National Congress (INC)

12

18.0 percent

Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC)

15

20.8 percent

Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (JKPDP)

28

22.7 percent

Jammu & Kashmir People Conference (JPC)

2

1.9 percent

Jammu And Kashmir People Democratic Front (Secular) (JKPDF)

1

0.7 percent

Independent

3

  

Total

87

87

Jammu and Kashmir is going to witness a hung assembly, as no party was able to garner a full majority. BJP that fought the elections on its Mission 44 failed to attain it but was successful in garnering more than double of its seats. BJP in 2001 won only one seat in the state and 11 seats in 2008. 

National Conference (NC) leader and outgoing Chief Minister Omar Adbullah lost Sonawar but managed to win Beerwah after a tough fight against PDP's Nazir Ahmad Khan. 

In 2008 Jammu and Kashmir elections the NC had won 28 seats, Congress 17, PDP 21, BJP 11, Panthers' Party 3 and CPM had one. The independents had bagged six seats.


Background
The elections were held in five phases starting from 25 November to 20 December 2014. Of 87 seats 7 seats were reserved for SC candidates. J&K Assembly’s tenure is of 6 years, while of other 28 states the assembly tenure is 5 years only. 

The Election Commission of India held the elections in lieu of expiry of the Legislative Assemblies of Jammu and Kashmir, which was supposed to expire on 19 January 2015. The Election Commission of India conducted the elections in the state under the power, duties and functions assigned to it under Article 324 read with Article 172(1) of the Constitution of India and Section 15 of Representation of the People Act, 1951.

Filmmaker Kailasam Balachander passed away

24-DEC-2014

South Indian filmmaker Kailasam Balachander died on 23 December 2014 following a heart attack. He was 84.

Kailasam Balachander
• Born in Thanjavur in 1930, Balachander developed an interest for films when he was just nine years old.
• Though he took up a government job at Accountant General's Office, he continued his experiments in theatre and wrote dialogues for film Deivathai in 1965.
• Balachander debuted with his Tamil film Neerkumizhi in 1965. He has directed films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi and has produced more than 100 films.
• It was in his film Apoorva Ragangal, Balachander shaped superstar Rajinikanth out of a Bangalore bus conductor Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. 
• His  films like Bama Vijayam, Sindhubhairavi, Varumayin Niram Sivappu and Thanneer Thanneer are some of notable films in the history of Tamil cinema.
• He was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1987and is a recipient of the ANR National Award and Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema in 2010.

Veteran actor Booth Colman passed away

24-DEC-2014

Television, film and stage actor Booth Colman on 15 December 2014 died following a brief illness in Los Angeles. He was 91.

Booth Colman
• Born in Portland, Colman began working as a child actor in local theater performances. He later attended the University of Washington and the University of Michigan.
• Colman had a prolific television career with recurring roles in Planet of the Apes, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, Star Trek, The Waltons, Route 66 and many more.
• His famous films were World Without End, Julius Caesar, Mary Jane, The Errand Boy, Wild on the Beach and Norma Rae.
• Every year, he played the role of Scrooge in Charles Dickens play A Christmas Carol in the Meadow Brook Theatre of United States.

Jharkhand Assembly Election 2014 results declared

24-DEC-2014

Election Commission of India (ECI) on 23 December 2014 declared the results of Assembly elections of Jharkhand. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 37 seats emerged as the largest party in the house of 81 seats. 

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) with 19 seats stood at the second position.


Position of different parties in Jharkhand Assembly polls

Party

Won

Vote Share in percent

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)

1

1.8 percent

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

37

31.3 percent

Indian National Congress (INC)

6

10.5 percent

AJSU Party

5

3.7 percent

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)

19

20.4 percent

Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik)

8

10.0 percent

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) CPI(ML)(L)

1

1.5 percent

Jai Bharat Samanta Party

1

1

Jharkhand Party

1

1

Marxist Co-Ordination

1

1

Navjawan Sangharsh Morcha

1

1

Total

81

81

BJP fought the election in combination with All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), as a result garnering 42 seats out of 81 seats. It is all set to form the government in the state. In the election, BJP contested on 72 seats while its alliance partner AJSU contested on 8 seats (won 5 seats). 

The main part of the declared results was that several stalwarts including former Chief Ministers lost the elections.  
• Chief Minister Hemant Soren (leader of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha) who won the Barhait constituency lost in Dumka
• CM candidate Arjun Munda lost in Kharsawan
• BJP's alliance partner AJSU’s chief and former deputy chief minister Sudesh Mahto lost from his home turf Silli
• Jharkhand's first Chief Minister Babulal Marandi (Chief of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha) lost from Giridih as well as Dhanwar
• Former CM Madhu Koda (chief of Jai Bharat Samanta Party) lost the Majhgaon seat

Background
The elections were held in five phases starting from 25 November to 20 December 2014. Of 81 seats 37 seats were reserved for SC and ST candidates (28 seats for STs and 9 seats for SCs). 

The Election Commission of India held the elections in lieu of expiry of the Legislative Assemblies of Jharkhand, which was supposed to expire on 3 January 2015. The Election Commission of India conducted the elections in the state under the power, duties and functions assigned to it under Article 324 read with Article 172(1) of the Constitution of India and Section 15 of Representation of the People Act, 1951.

Snapdeal launched online Agri Store to aid farmers

24-DEC-2014

E-retailing firm Snapdeal.com on 23 December 2014 launched the online Agri store offering agricultural products to the farmers. The store was launched on the occasion of National Farmer's Day.

The Agri Store aims to offer wide variety of farm items from seeds to fertilisers, farming tools and irrigation tools. This online store is also accessible through mobile phones, making it convenient for farmers to shop.

In the coming weeks, merchants across the country will add more products and categories in the Agri Store to make it a destination of choice for farmers seeking quality products with reliable service.

A Hindi version of the store will also be launched soon to aid farmers in making an informed decision.

98 new species of beetle genus Trigonopterus discovered in Indonesia

24-DEC-2014

The researchers discovered 98 new species of beetle genus Trigonopterus in Java, Bali and other Indonesian islands.

The researchers from the Natural History Museum Karlsruhe, the Zoological State Collection Munich and the Indonesian Research Centre of Biology discovered and published the findings in the Journal ZooKeys in the third week of December 2014.

Among the 98 new beetle species found in Indonesia, one species is named after famed English naturalist Sir David Attenborough. It was named after the naturalist and broadcaster to recognise his documentary work over the last 50 years.

The species Trigonopterus attenboroughi is reddish-brown in colour and measures up to 2.63mm in length. These species were found in Bali forest areas which are regularly visited by package tours.

Many of these beetle species are restricted to small areas and sometimes they are found only in a single locality. These beetles are wingless and usually stay for millions of years where they are.

Already a grasshopper, a tree, a type of shrimp and a spider are among species already named after Attenborough.

Taiwan launched its largest Missile Warship Tuo Chiang

24-DEC-2014

Taiwan on 23 December 2014 launched its largest ever missile warship named Tuo Chiang. The 500-tonne corvette missile is the first of its kind ever produced by Taiwan.

The ship is scheduled to be deployed in Taiwan waters after further tests in March 2015. The Tuo Chiang’s first captain is Lt. Commander Wang Te-chien.

The ship will boost Taiwan's defence capabilities against China that considers Taiwan as a part of its territory. 

The Tuo Chiang’s launch came shortly after US Congress passed a bill authorizing the transfer and sale of up to four Perry-class frigates to Taiwan that were decommissioned by the US Navy.

Highlights of the warship
• Taiwan's Lung Teh Shipbuilding Company started construction of the warship in November 2012 and officially handed it over to the Taiwan Navy in December 2014.
• The warship costs about 66.2 million US dollars and measures about 198 feet long and 46 feet wide. It can carry a crew of 41.
• The ship is armed with 16 missiles including eight supersonic Hsiung-feng III (Brave Wind) anti-ship missiles. 
• The sleek twin-hulled ship uses stealth technology to reduce the reflection of radar waves, making it harder to detect.
• The ship has a maximum speed of 38 knots per hour and a range of 2000 nautical miles (3704 kilometres).

NASA developing gecko grippers to grab space debris

24-DEC-2014

Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California are developing gecko grippers to grab space debris which includes the objects like orbital debris or defunct satellites. Gecko gripper is basically an adhesive gripping tool.

The news related to this was published on the website of Jet Propulsion Laboratory on 19 December 2014.

The gripping system has been developed by Aaron Parness who is a JPL robotics researcher and the principal investigator for the grippers.

The system is inspired by geckos, type of lizards belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, found in warm climates throughout the world.

How it works

The Gecko grippers being developed have synthetic hairs like tiny hairs in Geckos' feet. These synthetic hairs also called stalks are wedge-shaped and have a slanted, mushroom-shaped cap.

When the gripping pad lightly touches part of an object, only the very tips of the hairs make contact with that surface. The stickiness of the grippers can be turned on and off, by changing the direction in which you pull the hairs.

The non-permanent stickiness of the gecko gripper is achieved through use of van der Waals force. The force is named after Nobel Prize-winning physicist Johannes Diderik van der Waals.

When the van der Waals force is applied to the adhesive pad material, the synthetic hairs tend to bend. This increases the real area of contact between the hairs and the surface, which corresponds to greater adhesion. When the force is relaxed and the hairs go back to being upright, this process turns off the stickiness.

These temporary adhesive forces happen because electrons orbiting the nuclei of atoms are not evenly spaced, creating a slight electrical charge. Such forces persist even in extreme temperature, pressure and radiation conditions.

The successful experiments

More than 30 spacecraft surfaces tests have been conducted to check the accuracy of the grippers at JPL.

Earlier in August 2014, a test flight was conducted on the gecko gripper project through the Flight Opportunities Program of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. During the test researchers used the grippers in brief periods of weightlessness aboard NASA's C-9B parabolic flight aircraft.

During the test, the grippers were able to grapple a 20-pound cube as it floated. The grippers also were able to grapple a researcher wearing a vest made of spacecraft material panels, representing a 250-pound object.

Grippers have also been tested successfully in a JPL thermal vacuum chamber, with total vacuum conditions and temperatures of minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 60 degrees Celsius) to simulate the conditions of space.

Also, the grippers were tested separately in more than 30000 cycles of “on" and "off," with the adhesive staying strong. Several prototypes have since been designed.

Uses of Gecko gripper

Besides grappling orbital debris, the grippers could help inspect spacecraft or assist small satellites in docking to the International Space Station.

The system could also grapple objects in space that are spinning or tumbling, and would otherwise be hard to target.

Why there is need of such tool

There are more than 21000 pieces of orbital debris larger than 3.9 inches (10 centimeters) in Earth's orbit. The U.S. Space Surveillance Network routinely tracks these objects. In 2009, an accidental collision occurred between an operational communications satellite and a large piece of debris, destroying the satellite.

Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil appointed as LoP in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly

24-DEC-2014

Congressman Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil was on 23 December 2014 appointed as Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the lower house.

His appointment was announced by the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagde in the Lower House. 

Vikhe Patil's appointment came a day after the Nationalist Congress Party member Dhanjay Munde was appointed as Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra legislative council, the upper house.

Background
For over two weeks, the lower House of Maharashtra was functioning without the LoP, after Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde gave up the post when his party joined the Devendra Fadnavis government.

The LoP is the most important post in both houses and is much needed during the discussions on important issues in the houses and also on the budget.

As per the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act 1977, Leader of the Opposition is the Leader of that House of the Party in Opposition to the Government  having the greatest numerical strength and recognized by the Chairman of the upper house or the Speaker of the lower house

RBI extended deadline for withdrawal of pre-2005 currency notes to 30 June 2015

24-DEC-2014

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 23 December 2014 extended the deadline for exchanging pre-2005 of various denominations by another six months till 30 June 2015. 

RBI in a statement said that all such notes will continue to remain legal tender and can be exchanged for their full value. It has urged public to deposit the old design notes in their bank accounts or exchange them at a bank branch convenient to them.


Earlier, in March 2014, RBI had set the last date for public to exchange these notes was 1 January 2015.

How to identify the pre-2005 currency notes?
As per RBI, the currency notes which were issued before 2005 do not have the year of printing on the reverse side, whereas, notes issued post 2005 have the year of printing at the bottom of the reverse side. 

Why this exchange is essential?
According to RBI, the post-2005 notes have added security features and will help in curbing the menace of fake currency.

Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany agreed to hold new round of peace talks on Ukraine

23-DEC-2014

Leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany on 22 December 2014 reached an agreement to hold new round of peace talks on Ukraine. The peace talks are the latest attempt to negotiate a settlement to the conflict that has badly strained the ties between Russia and West.

The talks would involve negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, pro-Russian rebels and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The negotiations talks will be held in Belarusian capital, Minsk on 24 December and 26 December 2014.

The agreement to hold a new peace talks was reached during a conference call between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Previous peace talks of September 2014 led to a tenuous peace agreement, although fighting continued in eastern Ukraine. In this fight at least 1300 civilians have died. However, United Nations report suggests that since outbreak of the conflict in eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russia separatists in April 2014 more than 4700 people have been killed.

WTCIS signed agreement with NIESBUD to promote small businesses

23-DEC-2014

The World Trade Center India Services Council (WTCIS) and National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) on 22 December 2014 signed an agreement to promote and develop small businesses in the country.

The agreement will allow WTCIS to expand its services to the MSME sector in India, which will play a vital role in socio-economic development.

Under the agreement, WTCIS would assist NIESBUD to promote and develop an entrepreneurial environment through training, research and consultancy, and it will also assist organisations in developing and promoting entrepreneurship and self-employment.

NIESBUD is an organisation under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, and is engaged in training, consultancy as well as research, to promote entrepreneurship.

NIESBUD Director General - Arun Kumar Jha

WTCIS Director - Khair Ull Nissa

India exported first warship CGS Barracuda to Mauritius

23-DEC-2014

India on 20 December 2014 exported CGS Barracuda offshore patrol vessel (OPV) to Mauritius. This is the first warship ordered by a foreign country from shipyard of India.

The CGS Barracuda is a warship worth of 58-million US dollars (365 crore rupees). It measures 74.10 meter in length and is capable of moving at a maximum speed of 22 knots (37 kilometers an hour) with an approximate displacement of 1350 tonnes.

It has been designed for the usual OPV tasks - anti-piracy, anti-smuggling, anti-poaching and search and rescue. The additional capabilities include: pollution response, external fire fighting, and the movement by sea of troops.

The CGS Barracuda was built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE), Kolkata.

Earlier, India has gifted several warships to smaller Indian Ocean countries such as Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius. Sukanya-class OPV which is a used vessel was sold to Sri Lanka and now it serves as the flagship of Sri Lanka navy.

Other than this, GRSE has also bid to build two frigates for the Philippines Navy, for an estimated 1000 crore rupees each. If GRSE wins this order, for which major global shipyards are bidding, including Navantia of Spain, STX of France and Korean majors, Hyundai and Daewoo, then it would be the first time a warship designed and built in India is selected in an international tender.

Chairman and Managing Director of GRSE: Rear Admiral A K Verma

2014 Presidential Elections of Tunisia results declared; Beji Caid Essebsi won the elections

23-DEC-2014

The results of 2014 Presidential elections of Tunisia were declared on 22 December 2014. Beji Caid Essebsi of Nidaa Tounes party won the elections with 55.68 percent of the run-off vote.

On the other hand, his rival and incumbent Moncef Marzouki's won 44.32 percent of the votes.

In the first round of voting no candidate won a majority leading to a second round of voting on 21 December 2014 to decide between incumbent Moncef Marzouki and Essebsi.

Essebsi's victory will enable him to consolidate power, with his party already controlling Parliament after defeating the main Islamist party in legislative elections in October 2014.

88-year old Essebsi is a veteran of Tunisia’s political establishment. He was the Prime Minister of Tunisia from 27 February 2011 to 24 December 2011. Before that he was both Foreign and Interior Minister for his predecessor, Habib Bourguiba. He is the founder of the Nidaa Tounes party.

Comment

The Tunisian Presidential elections were held on 23 November 2014 and were the first regular Presidential elections of Tunisia held after the Arab revolution in 2011 and adoption of the Constitution in January 2014.

These elections were also the first free presidential elections of Tunisia since its independence from France in 1956.

The elections saw a voter turnout of 60.11 percent and were pronounced free and fair. However, the voter turnout was less than the nearly 70 percent in the legislative elections in October 2014.

The election of President marked the final step in the country's transition to full democracy, four years after the Arab Revolution of 2011 toppled long-time leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Suresh Prabhu Advisory Group on Integrated Development of Power submitted report to Union Government

23-DEC-2014

The Advisory Group for Integrated Development of Power, Coal and Renewable Energy headed by Suresh Prabhu submitted its report to the Union Ministry of Power and Coal on 22 December 2014.

The Group has suggested measures for enhancement of coal production in the short, medium and long term.

Highlights of the report
• There is a need for improvements in Coal India Limited (CIL) and its subsidiaries including Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited (CMPDI)
• It has recommended opening up of the coal sector and upgradation of Coal India Limited (CIL) and its subsidiaries. This will increase domestic production of the dry fuel.
• It also mentioned the issues of coal block auction Process, coal linkage rationalisation and swapping of coal linkages and stressed on the need for urgent action on coal linkages to power plants already commissioned and likely to be commissioned by March 2015.
• It also suggested that various options should be explored to develop Railway infrastructure from coal mines to main Railway system, including through a JV company on infrastructure by CIL.
• The report also called for expediting reforms in the distribution sector of coal with targeted actions, including public-private partnership in distribution of coal. 
• It called for separation of Carriage and Content in the Distribution license
• It also called for restricting the authority of the State Governments to issue directive to prevent Open Access
• To set up a mechanism for review of performance of Regulatory Commissions through Forum of Regulators
• It also suggested a need for enhanced role of and improvements in working of CEA (Central Electricity Authority), amendments to Electricity Act, tariff policy and standard bidding documents.
• It also recommended the measures in respect of Renewable Energy like Green Transmission Corridors, Incentivizing Renewable Capacity Addition, Coal-based Generating Companies to be obligated to also set up Renewable Power generation, Priority in purchase of Renewable Power by Distribution Utilities, Improving the functioning of Solar Corporation and IREDA.

About Suresh Prabhu Advisory Group
The Advisory Group was set up by the Union Government to on 25 June 2014. The Group was chaired by Suresh Prabhu, Union Railway Minister. Other members include RV Shahi, Former Power Secretary; Pratyush Sinha, Former Chief Vigilance Commissioner; Anil Baijal, Former Home Secretary; Anil Khandelwal, Former Chairman of Bank of Baroda; KK Nohria Former CEO of Crompton Greaves; Partho Bhattacharya ,Former CMD of Coal India and  Vallabh Bhansali, Former CEO of ENAM.

President of Egypt Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi ratified Electoral Constituencies Law

23-DEC-2014

President of Egypt Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi on 22 December 2014 ratified the Electoral Constituencies’ law. The ratification paved the way for parliamentary elections of 2015. He also announced to hold parliamentary elections before the end of March 2015.

Provisions of Electoral Constituencies Law
• Egypt is divided into 237 constituencies assigned for individual nominees, and into four constituencies for the party list system.
• It also defines the range and elements of each constituency and the number of seats assigned to them, taking into consideration fair representation of population, governorates and voters.
• It also guarantees a fair representation of vote from all governorates in the People’s Assembly (parliament) regardless of their population.
• It takes into account a number of regulations which includes a representative of any constituency have to represent the same number of voters that the rest of the representatives in other constituencies represent in order to apply fair representation of voters in the council of representatives.

Background
The parliamentary elections are the third pillar for the country’s road map, after the presidential elections and the constitutional referendum. The road map was announced by the then defence minister Al-Sisi on 3 July 2013 when Islamist president Mohamed Morsi was ousted by a popular uprising.

In lieu of this, an Election Law was approved by the Interim President Adly Mansour which provided that the Parliament will comprise of 567 seats out of which 27 will be elected by the President.

The remaining 540 will be distributed between 420 members, to be elected individually by voters, and 120 seats allocated to party lists.

Section 309 of IPC: Attempt to Suicide removed

23-DEC-2014

Section 309 Indian Penal Code (IPC) was in news recently as Union Home Ministry decided to remove this Section, thus decriminalizing attempt to suicide.

According to Section 309 of IPC, any person, who attempts to suicide will be treated as criminal offence and person who charged with section 309 of IPC will face up to one year in prison and a fine.

With the recent decision of Union Home Ministry decriminalizing attempt to suicide now suicide will not be taken as criminal offence. 20th Law Commission had recommended decriminalising attempt to suicide and removing the section 309 IPC.
France was the first country to decriminalise attempted suicide after the French Revolution.

STAP technique: A unique cellular reprogramming phenomenon

23-DEC-2014

Stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) technique is a unique cellular reprogramming phenomenon. The STAP technique was in news as stem cell scientist of Japan Haruko Obokata, who is at the heart of stem cell scandal, resigned from Riken Research Institute, Japan on 19 December 2014.

Stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) requires neither nuclear transfer nor the introduction of transcription factors. Rather in this, committed somatic cells give rise to STAP cells by reprogramming rather than selection.

STAP cells are produced from purified lymphocytes and as well as gene rearrangement analysis.

It is an alleged method of generating pluripotent stem cells by subjecting ordinary cells to certain types of stress, such as the application of a bacterial toxin, submersion in a weak acid, or physical squeezing.

In this technique, strong external stimuli such as a transient low-pH stressor reprogrammed mammalian somatic cells is given resulting in the generation of pluripotent cells.

Research on STAPs cells has shown a substantial decrease in DNA methylation in the regulatory regions of pluripotency marker genes. Blastocyst injection showed that STAP cells efficiently contribute to chimaeric embryos and to offspring via germline transmission.

The studies on STAP cells also show that robustly expandable pluripotent cell lines from STAP cells can also be derived. This means that epigenetic fate determination of mammalian cells can be markedly converted in a context-dependent manner by strong environmental cues.

GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation tied up funds for Philippines airport project

23-DEC-2014

GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) on 22 December 2014 tied up the finances of nearly 525 million US dollars for developing Macatan Cebu International Airport in Philippines. GMCAC is a joint venture of GMR Group and Manila-based Megawide Construction.

The tied up finances of 525 million US dollars is 70 percent of the total cost of 750 million US dollars (or 33 billion Philippines Pesos) that is required to develop the Cebu International airport.

Philippines-based BDO Capital & Investment Corporation acted as the lead arranger to the transaction and the loan is being provided by a consortium of six banks.

The financial closure was done under a 25-year concession agreement that GMCAC signed. Under the concession agreement

  • The GMR Group will hold 40 percent equity in the Joint Venture firm GMCAC and 60 percent equity will be held by Megawide Construction.
  • The total equity contribution of GMR to GMCAC will be around 90 million US dollar, out of which GMR has already invested 48 million US dollar and the balance will be paid over four years.
  • It will be responsible for construction, development, renovation, expansion and operation of the airport for a period of 25 years as provided in the concession agreement.
  • GMCAC will build a brand new terminal within three years to cater to the growing traffic.
  • At the same time, the immediate priority will be to upgrade the existing terminal and enhance operating systems and processes to improve service quality and efficiency.

Mactan Cebu is the first airport in Philippines to be privatised under the administration’s ambitious public-private partnership programme, aimed at modernising key infrastructure assets.

RBI issued Guidelines to define Non-cooperative Borrower

23-DEC-2014

Reserve Bank of India on 22 December 2014 issued guidelines to define non-cooperative borrowers. RBI also fixed the cut off limit for classifying borrowers as non-cooperative borrowers.

As per the guidelines, a non-cooperative borrower is one

Main Highlights

  • A non-cooperative borrower in case of a company will include its promoters and directors (excluding independent directors and directors nominated by the Government and the lending institutions).
  • In case of business enterprises (other than companies), non-cooperative borrowers would include persons, who are in-charge and responsible for the management of the affairs of the business enterprise.
  • Banks/FIs to report information on non-cooperative borrowers to the Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC)
  • The banks/FIs to put in place a transparent mechanism for classifying borrowers as non-cooperative.
  • The decision to classify the borrower as non-cooperative borrower should be entrusted to a committee headed by an Executive Director and consisting of two other senior officers of the rank of general managers/deputy general managers as decided by the board of the concerned bank/FI.
  • An opportunity should be given to the borrower for a personal hearing if the committee feels such an opportunity is necessary.
  • The order of the committee should be reviewed by another committee headed by the Chairman/CEO and MD and consisting of two independent directors of the bank/FI and the order shall become final only after it is confirmed by the Review Committee.
  • Boards of banks/FIs to review on a half-yearly basis the status of non-cooperative borrowers.

Andhra Pradesh Assembly passed Capital Region Development Authority Bill, 2014

23-DEC-2014

The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on 22 December 2014 passed the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) Bill, 2014 by voice vote. The Bill was presented in the Assembly by Dr. P Narayana, Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development.

The Bill seeks to establish the Capital Region Development Authority which will plan and enable building of the new state capital near Vijayawada.


The proposed legislation provides a legal sanctity to the government’s plan to procure land from farmers of the villages earmarked for construction of the new capital city by adopting land pooling system. 

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu during the debate on the Bill assured that the capital is being planned with world-class facilities and will serve the purpose even during the 22nd century.

British singer Joe Cocker passed away

23-DEC-2014

Legendary soul and rock singer Joe Cocker died on 22 December 2014 in the US state of Colorado following the lung cancer. He was 70.

Joe Cocker
• Born as John Robert Cocker on 20 May 1944 in Sheffield, he worked as a gas fitter while pursuing a singing career in pubs in northern England in the 1960s.
• During his prolific career, Cocker released nearly 23 studio albums and 40 albums.
• He was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) at Buckingham Palace in 2011.
• His 1974 song You Are So Beautiful was voted the fourth-most popular love song in a US online poll in 2013.
• In 1983, Cocker won the Grammy Award for his US number one song Up Where We Belong, a duet with Jennifer Warnes. The same song won the Academy Award in 1983 for its lyrics.
• His last studio album Fire It Up was released in 2012.

Gujarat to host 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in January 2015

23-DEC-2014

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on 22 December 2014 announced that Gujarat will host 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) from 7 January 2015 to 9 January 2015.

The 13th edition of PBD will mark the 100th year of Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India from South Africa.  PBD is an event which celebrates the achievements of Indians living abroad.

The chief guest of the 13th PBD would be Guyana President Donald Ramotar.

On 7 January 2015, the youth segment of PBD will be inaugurated with the theme Bharat ko jano and Bharat ko mano. The aim of the youth segment is to familiarising children of migrant Indians with the traditions and history of the country as well as its modern day achievements in different fields.

The main highlights of the 13th PBD will include a plenary session in which presentations will be made on the flagship programmes of the government such as Namami Ganga, Swachh Bharat, Skill Development and Urban Development and NRIs and People of Indian origin (PIO).

Besides, there would be separate sessions for Girmitya, Indian migrants taken to work in plantations, Gulf countries, French speaking countries and Diaspora organisations in various countries and the Ambassadors of these countries would be present to understand their problems.

PBD is the world's largest annual gathering of people of Indian origin. PBD is aimed at enhancing networking and reinforcing commercial linkages. There are 25 million people of Indian origin residing outside India.

Shyam Srinivasan appointed as Chairman of IBA committee on Member Private Sector Banks

23-DEC-2014

Federal Bank CEO Shyam Srinivasan was on 19 December 2014 appointed as the Chairman of the reconstituted Indian Banks’ Association committee on Member Private Sector Banks for 2014-15.

The committee consists of executives from 13 private banks. The committee is tasked to look after the specific needs of all the 23 private sector banks that are members of the IBA. The term of the committee is one year.

Shyam Srinivasan
• Shyam Srinivasan is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata and Regional Engineering College, Tiruchirapally.
• He has served on the Global Executive Forum (the top 100 executives) of Standard Chartered Bank from 2004 to 2010.
• In September 2010, Shyam Srinivasan took charge as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Bank Ltd, a major private commercial bank in India.
• He is a member of the committee on Financial Sector Legislative Reforms set up by the Reserve Bank of India.

RBI licensed Ford Credit India to operate as a NBFC

23-DEC-2014

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 22 December 2014 licensed Ford Credit India to operate as a non-banking financial company (NBFC). Ford Credit India is a subsidiary of Ford Motor Credit Company.

The company will start automotive financing in India by first quarter of 2015.

Ford Credit provides a range of automotive financial products and services to about 5200 Ford and Lincoln dealers and more than 3.8 million customers around the world.

The company plans to begin dealer wholesale inventory financing in the first quarter of 2015. Consumer retail financing will follow later in the year 2015.

Ford had identified India as a key market in its Asia Pacific strategy. It is on course to invest 2 billion US dollar, nearly half of which is being spent on a new manufacturing facility in Sanand, Gujarat.

The manufacturing facility in Sanand will nearly double the company’s installed production capacity in the country to 6.1 lakh engines and 4.4 lakh vehicles a year.

Mark Constable is the Managing Director (MD) of Ford Credit India.

Book titled Why I Assassinated Gandhi written by Nathuram Godse and Gopal Godse

23-DEC-2014

The book titled Why I Assassinated Gandhi written by Nathuram Godse and Gopal Godse was in news in third week of December 2014. 

The first revised edition of book was published by Delhi-based Farsight Publishers and Distributors. The revised edition has been compiled and edited by Virender Mehra. The book was first published in 1993 by Surya Bharti Prakashan.


The 14-chapter, 208-page book includes a profile of Godse, and critical commentary on Gandhi’s politics. It also includes Nathuram Godse’s statement before the court at the Red Fort trial in its unabridged form. 

Besides, it contains the narrative of Justice G D Khosla who was the part of full bench of the then East Punjab High Court that heard the Nathuram Godse case on 23 May 1949.

Bombay High Court in 1968 had lifted the ban on Nathuram Godse’s statement to the special court.

Prakash Mishra appointed as Directorate General of CRPF

23-DEC-2014

Senior IPS officer Prakash Mishra was on 22 December 2014 appointed as the Directorate General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). He will serve the office till February 2016.

The post of CRPF Directorate General was vacant since 30 November 2014 after incumbent Dilip Trivedi retired.

His appointment was confirmed by the appointments committee of the Union Cabinet. Mishra was till now serving as the Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Union Home Ministry.

Prakash Mishra
• Prakash Mishra is a 1977 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from Orissa cadre. 
• Mishra was appointed the Director General of Police (DGP) in June 2012.
• In July 2012, he was appointed as the chairman-cum-managing director of the Orissa State Road Transport Corporation.

European space mission Rosetta named as Breakthrough of the Year 2014 by Science journal

23-DEC-2014

The European space mission Rosetta was on 19 December 2014 named as the most important scientific Breakthrough of the Year 2014 by Science journal.

Rosetta landed its three-legged Philae module on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 12 November 2014, 10 years after the spacecraft was launched. 

At the end of a seven-hour journey after being separated from Rosetta, Philae bounced twice off the speeding comet’s surface before making a soft landing, but it appeared to have rested on its side and in the shadows of a cliff. 

Rosetta’s collection of spectrometers, known as the Rosetta Orbiter spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA), has detected water, methane, and hydrogen as well as some rarer molecules, including formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide in the comet 67P’s halo.

About the Rosetta Mission
The mission began in March 2004. It was launched from Kourou in French Guiana aboard an Ariane 5 rocket. The spacecraft is an aluminium box weighing about 3000 kg and carries Philae, which is about 100 kg.

Rosetta reached the Comet named 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in August 2014. It has been orbiting it  and scrutinizing it from as close as 10 kilometers away. The mission will end in December 2015.

Runner-ups for the Breakthrough of the year 2014 as selected by Science journal
1. The birth of birds: In 2014, evolutionary biologists figured out the spectacular evolutionary transition from dinosaurs to birds. A series of papers that compared the fossils of early birds and dinosaurs with modern birds revealed from where the modern birds came.
2. Young blood fixes old: Researchers showed that blood or blood components from a young mouse can rejuvenate an old mouse's muscles and brain. The research strengthened the evidence that something in young blood can reverse multiple signs of aging.
3. Robots that cooperate: Researchers have come up with new software and interactive robots capable of cooperating on rudimentary tasks. The study has shown that robots can work as a team without human supervision.
4. Chips that mimic the brain: In 2014, computer engineers at IBM and other companies rolled out the first large-scale neuromorphic chips that are designed to process information in ways more similar to living brains. 
5. Europe's cave art has a rival: Researchers discovered that hand stencils and animal paintings in a cave in Indonesia was 35000 to 40000 years old. It was once thought to be only 10000 years old. These findings meant that humans in Asia were producing symbolic art as early as the first European cave painters.
6. Cells that might cure diabetes: Studied have sought to turn human embryonic stem cells into cells of the pancreas called β cells. β cells respond to rising blood sugar by making insulin, a hormone that allows cells to take up and use glucose. These cells might provide a cure for Diabetes.
7. Manipulating memories: Researchers discovered ways to manipulate specific memories in mice using optogenetics, a powerful technique that can trigger nerve cells in animals' brains. In a series of experiments, they showed that they could delete existing memories and incept false ones.
8. Rise of the CubeSat: Cheap satellites with sides that are just 10 centimetres squared are called CubeSats. They became popular in 2014 as these satellites have carried out important studies this year. 
9. Giving life a bigger genetic alphabet: Researchers engineered the E. coli bacteria to incorporate two additional nucleotides X and Y into their genetic alphabet that make up the standard building blocks of DNA. There are four natural nucleotides G, C, A and T.

Stem cell scientist of Japan Haruko Obokata resigned over stem cell scandal

23-DEC-2014

Stem cell scientist of Japan Haruko Obokata, who is at the heart of stem cell scandal, resigned on 19 December 2014. She resigned because she was not able to replicate her breakthrough discovery of STAP (stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency) technique for making stem cells quickly and cheaply.

In January 2014, she published her groundbreaking research in Journal Nature. Her research claimed that she reprogrammed cells from newborn mice into cells with embryo-like flexibility by simply dipping them into acid for a 30-minute shock period.

The method would have been a huge improvement over existing techniques that use genetic engineering.

Following this, in February 2014, Riken Research Institute started an investigation and found that some of the results shown by Obokata were fabricated. She was later found guilty of misconduct by the Institute where the research on STAP cells is being done.

Earlier, Scientist of Korea Hwang Woo-suk was also found for stem cell misconduct in early 2000s that he had cloned embryos from human adults and made stem-cell lines out of them.

HRIDAY scheme for conservation of heritage characters of cities

23-DEC-2014

The National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) was in news recently as Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu announced the plans to launch the scheme.


HRIDAY is a scheme for conserving and preserving the heritage characters of 12 cities. These are: Amritsar, Varanasi, Gaya, Puri, Ajmer, Mathura, Dwarka, Badami, Velankanni, Kanchipuram, Warangal (Telangana) and Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh).

The scheme aims at developing tourism and job creation because India’s rich cultural, historical, religious and natural heritages have a huge potential of tourism.

Earlier, in his maiden budget speech in July 2014, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had made the announcement of launching HRIDAY scheme. 

As per the announcement, the scheme will involve a partnership between the government, academic institutions and local communities, combining affordable technologies.

US President signed NDA Act 2015; provision for release of CSF of 1 billion US dollars to Pakistan

23-DEC-2014

The US President Barack Obama on 19 December 2014 signed the annual defence budget National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year 2015.

The 2015 NDAA sets overall defence spending at 578 billion US dollars and also provide for release of Coalition Support Fund (CSF) of 1 billion US dollars to Pakistan.

The annual defence budget for the fiscal year 2015 was sponsored by US Senator Carl Levin and Howard P. 'Buck' McKeon.

Main Aim of NDDA 2015
The NDDA 2015 intends to provide vital benefits for US military personnel and their families, as well as critical contingency authorities needed to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and to respond to emerging needs in the face of evolving terrorist threats and emergent crises worldwide.

NDDA 2015 and Pakistan
The main highlight of the NDAA for the year 2015 is the provision for release of Coalition Support Fund (CSF) amounting to 1 billion US dollars to Pakistan. The 1 billion US dollars is in the form of reimbursement for the expenses made by army of Pakistan in support of the US military operations in Afghanistan.

However, there are certain conditions attached to release of CSF to Pakistan. These are:
• Taking action against the Haqqani network terrorist organisation, however, as usual these can be waived off by the Defence Secretary of the US under national interest.
• US Defence Secretary will submit a report to the Congress on US-Pak bilateral security co-operation within the first 90 days of the passage of NDAA 2015 bill and every six months thereafter till December 2017.
• Out of 1 billion US dollar, 300 US dollars will not be released to Pakistan unless the US Defence Secretary certifies to the Congressional Defence Committees that Pakistan has undertaken military operations in the restive North Waziristan. 
• The US Congress seeks a report in a description and assessment of the effectiveness of efforts by Pakistan, unilaterally or jointly with the United States, to disrupt operations and eliminate safe havens of Al-Qaeda, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and other extremist groups such as the Haqqani Network and the Quetta Shura Taliban.
• The US Congress also seeks assessment of efforts by Pakistan to counter the threat of improvised explosive devices and the networks involved in the acquisition, production, and delivery of such devices and their precursors and components.

NDDA 2015 on Guantanamo Bay
The US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, remains open for the 13th consecutive year. Regarding this, the Act
• Renews the bar against using appropriated funds to construct or modify any facility in the United States, its territories, or possessions to house any Guantanamo detainee in the custody or under the control of the Department of Defense unless authorized by the Congress. 
• Renews the bar against using appropriated funds to transfer Guantanamo detainees into the United States for any purpose. The US and Pakistan may hold the talks on extending CSF even after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

IWAI signed MoU with Odisha government to develop stretches of National Waterway 5

23-DEC-2014

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) on 22 December 2014 signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Odisha government and 2 ports to develop commercially viable stretches of National Waterway 5.

These two ports are Paradip Port and Dhamra Port Company Limited that serve the Eastern and Central parts of the country. 

In the National Waterway-5, East Coast Canal has been integrated with Brahmini river and Mahanadi delta rivers (588 km).

National Waterways (NW)
The Inland Waterways Authority of India Act, 1985 established the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for the regulation and development of Inland Waterways as National Waterways (NWs). The development of National Waterways (NW) comes under the purview of central government.

So far, the following waterways have been declared as NWs:- 
•    Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system (Allahabad-Haldia-1620 km) in National Waterway-1. 
•    River Brahmaputra (Dhubri-Sadiya-891 km) in National Waterway-2. 
•    West Coast Canal (Kottapuram-Kollam) along with Udyogmandal and Champakara Canals-(205 km) in National Waterway-3. 
•    Kakinada-Puducherry canals along with Godavari and Krishna rivers (1078 km) in National Waterway-4. 
•    East Coast Canal integrated with Brahmani river and Mahanadi delta rivers (588 km) in National Waterway-5. 

Background
The National Waterways-1, 2 & 3 have already been made operational. For development of NW-4 & 5, Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) were completed in 2010. 

Initially, the government tried to explore possibility of developing stretches of the fairway on National Waterway-4 and 5 under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

However, it was not found to be feasible. It has been decided that fairways in the National Waterways will be developed through budgetary support and multilateral assistance.

NSSO released Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households

23-DEC-2014

National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) on 19 December 2014 released Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households for the Crop Year 2012-13. The survey was conducted between January 2013 and December 2013.

The survey focused on a common perception regarding agriculture — how it generates just 15 per cent of India’s GDP (2012-13 data) despite rural areas houses 68.8 per cent of the total population (2011 Census).

The survey aimed at capturing the condition of agricultural households in the rural areas of the country in the context of policies and programmes of Government of India.
A total number of 35200 households were surveyed in the first visit and 34907 of them were re-surveyed in second visit.

Highlights of the survey
• The survey found that hardly 58 per cent of rural households in India are engaged in farming activity, which, in turn, contributes not even 60 per cent to their average total monthly incomes.

• Only 9.02 crore (57.8 percent) out of the country’s estimated 15.61 crore rural households were agricultural. Agricultural was defined as those having at least one member self-employed in farming, either in principal or subsidiary status, during the last 365 days.

• Further, even within the 9.02 crore agricultural households, only 68.3 percent reported farming (i.e. cultivation, livestock rearing and other agricultural activity) as their principal source of income.

• A mere 39.5 percent of rural households today are dependent on agriculture as the source yielding the maximum share of income.

• Uttar Pradesh accounted for about 20 percent of all agricultural households in the country.

• Rajasthan had highest percentage of agricultural households (78.4 percent) among its rural households

• Kerala had the least percentage share of agricultural households (27.3 percent) in its rural households.

• Net receipts from cultivation and rearing of animals accounted for just 59.8 percent of the average Indian farming family’s monthly income.

• The remaining was from wage/salaried employment, non-farm business and other sources such as remittances, interest and dividends.

• Agricultural activities, comprising cultivation and livestock rearing, are reported to be the principal source of income for majority of agricultural households in all the major states.

• Kerala is the only state where about 61per cent of the agricultural households reported to have received maximum income from sources other than agricultural activities.

• More than half of marginal farmers (56 per cent), who possess less than 0.01 hectare plots, are not relying on agriculture as principal source of income. They rely on other sources like wages or employment salary as principal source of income.

• 13 per cent of the marginal farmers do not have ration cards.

• Out of total agri-households, 23 per cent of agricultural households depend on livestock as prime source of income.

• The households which possess 0.4 ha of land claimed that agriculture is the principal source of income for them.

• Forty-four per cent of total agricultural-households possess MGNREGA job cards.

Difference between 2003 Survey and 2012-13 Survey

Last survey on agricultural households was conducted in the 59th round in 2003. The only difference between the 2003 Survey and 2012-13 Survey is that there has been change in definition.

In 2003 Survey, agricultural households were defined as those possessing some land and the members were engaged in agricultural activities over a year. In 2012-13 Survey, agricultural households are defined as those whose value of agricultural produce is more than 3000 rupees and at least one member of a family is engaged in agricultural activities.

Former Union Minister G. Venkataswamy died

23-DEC-2014

Former Union Minister G. Venkataswamy died on 22 December 2014 in Hyderabad, Telangana. He was 85. 

He represented the Peddapalli constituency of Andhra Pradesh (present Telangana) and was a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) political party. 

He was a member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India.


About Gaddam Venkataswamy
• He was elected to the Assembly of the undivided Andhra Pradesh in 1950 and held several key positions in the government as well in the party
• During his political-career of more than five decades, he was elected to the State Assembly twice (1957- 62 and 1978-84) and seven times for Parliament (fourth, fifth, sixth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and fourteenth Lok Sabha)
• He served in the congress government led by former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao
• He held Pradesh Congress Chairman for Andhra Pradesh 
• Popularly known as Kaka was born on 5 October 1929 in erstwhile Hyderabad state (now in Telangana)

 

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