Retd Paramilitary staff gets ex-servicemen status

Government has given its approval for granting retired paramilitary personnel from forces like CRPF, CISF, BSF, ITBP and SSB the status of ex-servicemen which will enable them to avail welfare benefits.

What will be the benefits of this status?

Obama wins a second term as US President

Barack Obama has won a second 4-year Presidential term in the US. He defeated his main challenger Republican Mitt Romney. Mr. Obama, America’s first African-American President, bagged more than the 270 electoral votes required for victory.

China invites Dr APJ Abdul Kalam to teach at Peking University

China has invited Dr APJ Abdul Kalam to teach at the prestigious Peking University. The varsity also offered him a lab of his choice to work with the students. The invitation was made on Kalam’s first visit to China at the invitation of the reputed Beijing Forum, a Chinese government backed intellectual body. In reply to this invitation Dr Kalam expressed willingness to share his knowledge.

Persons in News: T. Samuel

Cartoonist T. Samuel passed away

The pioneer of pocket cartoons in India, T. Samuel (86) passed away. Samuel belonged to Kollam in Kerala. He began his career as a cartoonist with the Civil and Military Gazette published from Lahore before independence. He came to Delhi during partition as a refugee and joined the famous Shankar’s Weekly, contributing the Silent Strip Cartoon "Kalu and Meena".

Samuel became famous as a creator of the Pocket Cartoon "Babuji" and strip cartoon "Garib".

 

“1000 Genomes Project”: Global genomes decoded to trace disease roots

What is the “1000 Genomes Project”?

§  Scientists working for The 1,000 Genomes Project have decoded the genomes of more than 1,000 people from 14 ethnic global groups. It is the largest and most detailed compilation of human DNA variations, to track origin of rare and common diseases.

§  Launched in January 2008

§  An international research effort to establish by far the most detailed catalogue of human genetic variation.

§  The project has generated raw information to the tune of 180 terabytes. All of the information is freely available on internet.

§  The sequencing of 1092 genomes was announced in a Nature publication in October 2012.

How would this project help?

Free generic drugs via public hospitals; Three fold increase in the allocation to health sector in the 12th Plan

The allotment for the health sector during the 12^th Plan had been enhanced three times over the previous Plan allocation to handle complex challenges.

The outlay in the 12th Plan had been fixed at Rs. 3-lakh crore, which was 1.95 % of the GDP. During the last Plan period, the sector had got Rs. 89,265 crore.

Free generic drugs would be provided through public hospitals to help “reduce out-of-pocket expenditure of the poor” on health.

The plan will emphasize on nutrition, safe drinking water, sanitation, housing and education, particularly education of the girl child, as they were increasingly being underlined as social determinants of health.

What is a Generic Drug?

Need to establish South Asian power trading market: CERC

India’s power sector regulator Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has suggested establishing a South Asian power trading market to help alleviate acute electricity deficits faced by many nations in the region.
It recommended that a SAARC sub regional power trading market will be beneficial to member nations. It will enhance benefits of competition and efficiency through trading on power exchanges.
Such a market would assist in trading electricity b/w India and other countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, Pakistan.
Energy demand in the SAARC region is projected to grow at an annual rate of 5%.
India has power transmission links with Bhutan and Nepal while negotiations are on for similar lines with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. 

 

Apex court refuses to interfere with policy on FDI in retail

Asserting that Policy making is exclusive right of the executive, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the policy on FDI in retail.

The Centre informed the court that Reserve Bank of India had notified the amendments to the regulations permitting foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail.

U.K. to slash aid to India

Britain  is planning to slash its  £280 million a year aid to India from 2015 following increasing domestic pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron to halt funding emerging economies such as India, China and Brazil at a time when Britain itself faces a serious economic crisis.

The funds, however, will still be diverted to aid projects abroad, rather than helping to ease the deficit or fund public services in the country.

 

 

Persons in News: Ruchir Sharma

Ruchir Sharma bags Tata Literature First Book Award.

Author Ruchir Sharma was honored with the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award for his book Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles.

The book gives a clear picture of the shifting balance of global economic power and how it will play out for emerging nations and the West.

 

US approves missile-defense system to UAE, Qatar

The US DSCA (Defense Security Cooperation Agency) has given approval to the possible sales of Lockheed Martin Corp missile-defense system to UAE and Qatar. The deal has come against the backdrop of heightened tensions with Iran. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have requested the sale of up to $7.6 billion in Lockheed Martin Corp missile-defense systems. UAE and some members in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) had shown interest in the Lockheed’s THAAD (Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense) weapon systems.

What is GCC?

Bhupathi, Bopanna clinch ATP World Tour Masters 1000

The duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna  lifted their first  ATP World Tour Masters 1000  title by vanquishing Pakistan’s Aisam- Ul- Haq Qureshi and Netherlands’ Jean- Julien Rojer in the final of the BNP Paribas Masters.

Limit for concessional SMS at 100 per day per SIM: TRAI

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has set the limit for concessional SMS at 100 per day per SIM. This will be implemented in 15 days.

As per the directives:

§  There is no maximum limit for SMS, but consumers will be charged not less than 50 paisa per SMS once it crosses 100 a day.

§  To curb unregistered telemarketers sending bulk promotional SMSs using machines, access providers have been asked to work out a solution within the next three months, which will ensure that no commercial SMSs are sent containing same or similar characters or strings or variants from any source or number.

§  Mobile operators will have to set-up a web-based complaint registering system and a dedicated e-mail address to receive such complaints  on spam messages and calls.

Frauds caused Rs 6,600 cr loss to Indian Economy

As per the first edition of Ernst & Young’s Fraud Indicators in India, different types of frauds may have caused Rs 6,600 crore loss to Indian economy in the last fiscal and banks were the most common victim in scamming cases.

BCCI awards 2011-12

BCCI will  honor Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli with Polly Umrigar Award at its Annual Awards ceremony to be held on November 21, 2013 in Mumbai.

Sachin will be honored for his 100^th century while Virat will awarded for being India’s top international cricketer of 2011-12.

Former India captain  Sunil  Gavaskar will be receiving the prestigious  Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award.

“Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters” French honor to Aishwarya Rai

the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans  l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres). The coveted honor was given in recognition of her invaluable contribution to the world of cinema and the development of Indo-French cooperation in cinema, art, and culture.

Earlier Indian recipients include Shahrukh Khan, Raghu Rai, Nandita Das, late Habib Tanvir, and Upamanyu Chatterjee.

Gulzar honored with Indira Gandhi National Integration award

Famous lyricist, poet and film director, Gulzar has been conferred with the Indira Gandhi National Integration Award. The award was given to mark the 28^th death anniversary of the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Apex court asks CMC to address issues raised by TN and Karnataka

The Supreme Court asked the Cauvery Monitoring Committee (CMC)to examine all the issues b/w Tamil Nadu and Karnataka regardingCauvery water sharing dispute b/w the two states. Karnataka has assured that it will comply with the CMC’s recommendations.

Indian Women Cricket Team lifts ACC T20 Asia Cup 2012

The Indian women’s cricket team is the winner of first Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) Twenty20 Asia Cup 2012.

§  They beat Pakistan in the final match held in Guangzhou city of People’s Republic of China.

§  Harmanpreet Kaur played the role of skipper in the absence of Mithali Raj. 

 

“European Golden Boot” to Lionel Messi

Star footballer of Barcelona, Lionel Messi, bagged  European Golden Boot Award. The award has been given to him in recognition to his record 50 goals scored in the Europe’s domestic football league.

§  It is the second Golden Boot award for Messi.

“Ocean-grabbing” a danger to world’s fisheries: UN

As per a UN expert on right to food, ‘Ocean-grabbing’ is as serious a threat as ‘land-grabbing’. 

What is “Ocean-grabbing”?

§  An aggressive industrial fishing by foreign fleets.

How and to whom is it threatening?

§  Ocean grabbing is mainly concerned with the interest of smaller fishermen, local communities and sustainable fishing.

§  It is a threat to food security in developing nations

§  Excessive and aggressive fishing threatens the fish ecosystem and makes this practice unsustainable.

§  It depletes the fishing zones at a faster rate.

Sistema issue: India hopes agreeable solution

In reply to Russia’s comment to take the cancellation of 2G license of Sistema for international arbitration if it is not resolved in Indian courts, India has said that the matter is commercial and all parties are free to take legal recourse that they deem appropriate to meet their commercial goal.

Australian schools to teach Hindi

Announcing that Asia’s rise is“unstoppable”, Australia brought out a challenging plan aimed at fortifying its links with India and other booming economies of the Asian region. The Australian plan includes teaching languages like Hindi and Mandarin in its schools. All Australian schools will engage with at least one school in Asia to support the teaching of a priority Asian language — Mandarin, Hindi, Indonesian or Japanese. Australia also released ‘Asian Century White Paper’ with an aim to extend and strengthen it links with Asia.

    For know more about ‘Asian Century White Paper’  click here

Superstorm Sandy

Superstorm Sandy batters New Jersey coast of US

§  Hurricane Sandy (also referred to as Superstorm Sandy) a tropical cyclone that severely affected portions of the Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States in late October 2012.

Japan honors DMRC with 2012 JICA President Award

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)  President Award for 2012  was given to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for the outstanding role it played in the development of human resources, society and economy of India and also for encouraging mutual understanding b/w India and Japan.

Persons in News:Joshna Chinappa

Indian squash player Joshna Chinappa won the IJM Land Penang Open title 2012 after vanquishing top most squash player Siti Munirah Jusoh of Malaysia. In 2003, Joshna became the first Indian girl to win British Squash Championship title in the under 19 category.

Persons in News: Silvio Berlusconi

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to 4 years in jail and suspended him from public service for 3 years for tax fraud.

What are the charges against Berlusconi?

Berlusconi and other people involved in the case were accused of buying US film rights at inflated prices via two offshore companies under his control. As per the prosecutors, that part of the money declared for the purchase of film rights was skimmed off to make illegal slush funds, cutting down tax liabilities for Berlusconi’s  Mediaset  group. Now all the convicts in the case must deposit into a fund as appeals which could take many years in proceedings.

 

Rail Radar

Railways launched online application provides exact geographical location of trains.

Railways launched online application Rail Radar, which can provide exact geographical location of about 9,700 trains on a Google map on real time basis.

§  There is a colour code method which highlights a train in Blue if it is running on time and Red if it running late or behind schedule.

§  The map shows the exact route of a train including all the stoppages and the current location of the train on the real time basis.

Rail Radar is developed by the collaborative efforts of Indian Railways Centre for Railways Information System (CRIS) and RailYatri.in.

 

Planning Commission's Environmental Performance Index released

Planning Commission's Environmental Performance Index (EPI) has placed the Uttarakhand as a best-performing States and Union territory in terms of environmental well-being.

Uttarakhand is followed by Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Sikkim, and Andhra Pradesh. Environmental well-being is one of the considerations for devolution of funds to the States under the Gadgil formula.

[MyThought] Growth vs Growth

Before going to our main topic lets us look what growth means to us. The definition of growth is vary from person to person , situation to situation , nation to nation .what is growth for India may not be growth for USA. Thus, we find that growth is a dynamic phenomenon that is changing it looks according to its environmental factors. In simple term growth defined as to make our environment a better place to live. Well it is a too simple way to express growth but in reality defining growth is far more complicate phenomenon. There are many indicators for growth because growth can’t be sustained on single factor. Some of these indicators are likes – Education, Sex ratio, Poverty etc.

Sebastian Vettel wins Indian Grand Prix again

For the second successive year, Sebastian Vettel  of Red Bull wowed the spectators at the Buddh International Circuit here on Sunday afternoon as he registered a stupendous victory in the Indian Grand Prix. He finished nearly 10 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso, who pushed his Ferrari past the line in 1:31:20.181s. Mark Webber, Vettel’s  teammate, came in third (1:31:23.961s).

India topples Thailand as world's largest rice exporter: USDA (US Department of Agriculture0

India has the emerged as the world's largest rice exporter in 2012 beating its Asian counterpart Thailand with shipment of 9.75 million tonnes, according to USDA's latest report.

Thailand was the top rice exporter with exports of 10.65 million tonnes in 2011. However, its volume slipped to 6.5 million tonnes in 2012.

NSE tops bourse CEO salary chart

Chiefs of leading stock exchange NSE and the top commodity bourse MCX have topped the executive salary charts of their businesses, getting hike of nearly 6 per cent in last fiscal.

Among the stock exchanges, the net pay package of National Stock Exchange (NSE) MD and CEO Ravi Narain rose to Rs 4.1 crore in 2011-12, from Rs 3.85 crore in the previous fiscal, as per the bourse’s latest annual report.

Pankaj Advani wins seventh billiards world title

Ace Indian cueist Pankaj  Advani proved his class once again as he notched up his seventh World Billiards Championship title after comprehensively beating defending champion and seasoned Englishman Mike Russell in the final here.

Person in News :Bo Xilai

Bo Xilai expelled from China’s Parliament, stripped of legal immunity

China expelled disgraced Communist Party leader Bo Xilai’s from country’s Parliament and also stripped him of legal immunity to start legal proceedings into offences alleged on him.

Govt. approves setting up of Aircraft Acquisition Committee

The government gave its nod for setting up a new committee which will consider, examine and make recommendations on allowing import or acquisition of aircraft for various purposes by airlines. After analyzing the proposals, the panel would make suggestions for operation of scheduled air transport services, regional scheduled air transport services and non-scheduled air transport services.

Mali readmitted into African Union

African Union (A.U.) readmitted Mali after a meeting of the A.U. Peace and Security Council [AUPSC].

Why Mali’s membership was annulled? 

 Mali’s membership was suspended by the African Union after a coup in the country in March 2012 when a military junta seized power even as two thirds of Mali slipped into the control of a coalition of armed groups and organized gangs.

Person in News : Dr. C.L. Laxmipathi Gowda

International Crop Science award to ICRISAT scientist Dr. C.L. Laxmipathi Gowda

Person in News : Brahma Chellaney

Bernard Schwartz award to Brahma Chellaney

Brahma Chellaney has been awarded with 2012 Asia Society Bernard Schwartz Book Award for his book Water: Asia’s New Battleground.

[My Thought] “ Good Fences make good neighbors”

“Good fences make good neighbors “ it is a proverb means that it is better for people to mind their own business and to respect privacy of others. This well known saying applicable to every field of our life whether it is our family or our office or our Nation .Interference with others matter always ushered to a conflict. Every one of us like our privacy and don’t want that anyone interference in our personal matter. Now coming to problems, why we need fences? Off-course that is a psychological question, but I are not interested in that. Since the dawn of human civilization , people felt fundamental need to divide the world into territorial areas. In last century, hundred thousands of people died in ethnically violent clashes due to Territorial dispute. A Territorial dispute is disagreement of possession or control of land between two or more states. There are many countries in world which are indulging in some kind of territorial disputes. this list of disputes is to large so we can’t explain each and everyone but let try to understand some majors disputes in briefly.

India has territorial disputes with Pakistan, China, and Bangladesh. India had fought many war with these country on the matters of territorial possession. Recent, Kargil war between India and Pakistan was a good example. The cause of war was infiltration of Pakistan soldiers and Kashmiri militants into positions of Indian side of LOC, which served as de facto border between these two nation. Finally The Indian Army with the help of Indian Air force, recaptured the majority of Indian territory occupied by Pakistani militants. But in the whole process is there any gain for any country whether it is India or Pakistan but of course they looses live of many soldiers. They are fighting for Kargil sector, which is Iceland not suitable for habitation. There are many other cases also like Gaza strip dispute between Israeli and Palestinian , Arunachal Pradesh disagreements between India and China , territorial disputes in south china sea between China and Vietnam , etc.

This disagreement or disputes affect not only political, social and cultural conditions of these countries but also global economy. Recently, in news we heard about the dispute over East China Sea islands , called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, is such an emotionally charged issue in China that it has sparked widespread anti-Japanese riots across the country and a boycotting of Japanese products there. This will adversely affected some of companies like Toyota Motors whose sales depend on China to a considerable extent fall down gradually. Apart from these territorial disagreements also affect economic life of people of territory because extra cost burden of these conflict bear by people only. If government more indulge in these kind of conflicts it levy more tax to fulfill extra burden created due to these conflicts.

Now finally we conclude that wheather it is a individual life or a nation it is better to keep visible and acceptable fences between them because it not only make life peaceful but also help to grow economically, politically and socially.

 

SUN TV Network acquires Hyderabad IPL franchise

 Sun TV Network won the Hyderabad Franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a sum of Rs 85.05 crore per annum.

§       On September 15, the BCCI floated tenders for a new IPL franchise after terminating Deccan Chargers’ contract following payment default by the team owners DCHL.

§        DCHL was unable to furnish bank guarantee of Rs 100 crore before October 12, 5 pm deadline.

 

Next-gen sequencing approach to identify diseases from bone samples

A new technology that uses a next-gen sequencing approach, including hybridization capture technology, to analyze gene sequences within seconds to identify diseases accurately. Scientists used the technique to identify tuberculosis (TB) genes in a 19th century female skeleton found in a crypt in Leeds.

[My Thought] does IT can help to reduce corruption?

I think yes, IT can surely help us to increase transparency and accountability in government. In western world countries corruption rate is much lower compare to Asian countries. One of the main reasons for that is these countries are technologically much advance. The use for Information and communication Technology ( ICT) in government in India still lagging behind developed country. Still, we believe in pen paper system for work although there is other way around. Through using pen-paper system we are not only harming our environment but also hiding loophole in various government policies. Its very difficult to keep accountability of government servants in pen paper system because their discrepancy in work hide somewhere in collections of huge piles of files. If we can use IT services then this kind discrepancy never come because there is no hiding of information. WE CAN MAKE HUMAN FOOL BUT WE CAN NOT MAKE MACHINE FOOL. So use of IT will enhance the efficiency as well as productivity of government. Well , our government has taken many step to promote IT-IT enabled services . there is one state owned enterprise called NIC (National Informatics centre) that help government to implement IT enabled services for government. 20 years back function of government is totally confidential and out of reach of common man. Of course there is provision to publish important bills in gazette for get people thought about that bills, but that is just a formality kind of thing, because for getting people thought meeting was organized or people have to send their thought via post. Well both of these processes are very slow and limited to some person only due to government time and money restriction they can’t make people more participative. But as the concept of New public management come in picture government realize that for a good governance it is better to make people more participative in policy making and implementation but that is very difficult with use of traditional Pen-Paper system. Our Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi created a remarkable history by making India front runner in IT Industries. From that period IT industry is booming in India. it help private sector to grow a lots but government sector lazy to use of this services , because if everything going to be transparent than how they can hide their discrepancy in duties. But due to pubic agitation as well as pressure from international forum make India to make government more transparent. Coming to present scenario of ITes in India , Well by late off course but government finally realize the importance of IT-ITes . Now we can find almost every department have their portal in internet . Anyone can access these portals and find about activity of department as well as register his/her grievances if any. Through the use of ITes many kind of time consuming activity people perform from home like applying for passport, filling Income tax return. It save time for both the government official as well public and it also don't give any opportunity to staff to do favor someone for their personal gain. CPGRAMSGrievance Redress Mechanism in Government developed by NIC is a fine IT enabled services in India. Recently prime minister announces National policy for direct case transfer in this policy with the help of ITES government can reach direct to beneficiary of various policies. This will reduce the role of minister in allocating fund because government directly transfer fund to beneficiary account. This policy help to reduce corruption to a large extent, because then minister have to just administer the policy and there is no scope for scam like thing.

So, finally we find that IT-ITes play a vital role to make our government more transparent, efficient, accountable, productive and corruption free India.

Mukesh Ambani richest Indian for fifth straight year: Forbes

Mukesh Ambani has retained his position as the world’s richest Indian for the fifth year in a row, although his net worth declined by $1.6 billion to $21 billion but remained well above that of the second-ranked Lakshmi Mittal.

Burma Rakhine violence

New clashes between Muslims and Buddhists have broken out in volatile western Myanmar, leaving people dead and more than a thousand homes burned to the ground.

Italian court convicts scientists who were not able to give earthquake warning

An Italian court sentenced six scientists and a government official 6-year imprisonment on the charges  of manslaughter. The scientists were accused of not being able to give adequate warning of an earthquake that killed more than 300 people in L’Aquila in 2009.

All the convicts who were member of National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks, were accused of negligence and malpractice in assessing the danger and informing the city about the risks.

France will provide car maker Peugeot Citroen, a €7 billion ($9.1 billion) bailout package.

Why this move?

The government in France wants to rein in rising unemployment. In return of this rescue package the government is expected to demand a reduction in layoffs. The car-making sector is also critical to the French economy.