Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Sharath Charged
25 years of India-Israel ties:
What Next?
Film Censorship
in India
PREFACE
The Current Affairs April-2017 eBook covers the current events that happened in the
month of March. Current Affairs is a crucial component of any competitive exams including
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The Current Affairs play the bigger role in many competitive and government exams. It
holds the power of making or breaking your chance of success. Therefore, the candidates
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great sense of gratitude every month. We always strive for excellence and therefore, our
research team continuously endeavour to give you the best material.
The Current Affairs April-2017 eBook is divided into different section keeping in mind
the need of various exams. The sections covered namely are International, National,
Economy, Ecology and Environment, Science & Technology, Corporate, Sports, States News
Makers and few others.
Every news item in each section is arranged date wise with the most recent news
being covered first and so on. Highlights of the issue are- 25 years of India-Israel ties:
Whats next?, Drug price control, Film censorship in India, ISRO: What does the launch of
104 satellites signify for India.
Presentation of the given current affairs has been planned meticulously. It has been
planned in such a way that it remains in the minds of readers for a longer duration.
Wherever necessary each news item is presented along with a background and analysis so
as to help candidates contemplate all the important current events at the time of exam in
an effective way.
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www.jagranjosh.com | Preface 4
April, 2017 [Curren Affairs eBook]
INDEX
cover story ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8
Economy .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 68
International ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................175
Sports .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................248
States........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 302
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COVER STORY
Drug Price Control in India
The right to health is
not mentioned in Indian
Constitution but health
remains a very important
aspect of human life. The
supreme court of India
held in one of its decisions
on the scope of article 21
which states Right to life
covers the Right to good
health.
In recent years, the government has taken steps to control the prices of drugs and
medical tools in India so that the medical benefits could be provided to all at affordable
prices.
Here, we have briefed the history of drug price control in India, the recent steps taken
by the government for drug price reduction and its impacts on people and industry.
prices of formulations only and fixing the ceiling price of formulations through Market-
Based Pricing (MBP).
The new policy of DPCO was introduced in 2013. DPCO 2013 increased Indias National
List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) from 74 to 799 formulations. Since its introduction, no
new investments have been witnessed. There has been a shift towards non-controlled
products. As a consequence, new introductions of drugs and the average number of
incumbent brands and new introductions of drugs in the DPCO 2013 list has reduced
compared to the non-DPCO 2013 list. In 2015, the health ministry revised its National List
of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2011 to include 376 drugs in the new NLEM 2015 list. A total
of 106 medicines were added, and 70 medicines have been deleted to finalize the new list.
the Drug Prices Control Order, 2013. This inclusion effectively gave it the status of a
scheduled formulation as defined in the Drug Price Control Order 2013.
On 13 February 2017, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) issued an
order which capped the price of coronary stents up to 40 per cent lower than their existing
market prices. It has ended a long-winded saga that started with the inclusion of these
devices in the National List of Essential Medicines in July 2016.
The notification has categorized stents into two types. One is bare metal stents (BMS)
and second is drug-eluting stents. A stent is a tube-shaped device. It is inserted into a
blocked blood vessel, which helps in clearing the blockage, sometimes through physical
means but often through the drugs, it gives out at a slow rate.
The price cap for bare metal stents is Rs 7,260. And the price cap for a drug-eluting
stent is Rs 29,600. This price cap amounts to 40 percent lower than the existing prices with
the range currently at Rs 25,000-Rs 1,50,000. Industry sources say that 35 per cent of the
stent products are available at the lower end of the spectrum.
The notification does not give any provision on whether a stent is branded or
unbranded, manufactured locally or abroad. But the notification has made it clear that so
long as it is being sold in the country, no stent can cost more than Rs 29,600 though there is
room for the addition of VAT, local taxes etc.
The notification clearly states the fact that a stent will have to be put in by a hospital
set-up and the product is usually billed by institutions rather than the people selling them.
The notification also says that institutions such as nursing homes, hospitals, and clinics
performing cardiac procedures using coronary stents will have to comply with the price
ceilings.
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There are 25 members and 60 advisory panel members in the board from across India.
All these members are appointed by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry. The CEO is
mainly responsible for administrative functions, and regional officers are responsible for the
examining committees that certify films.
The relevant regional officer receives an application for certification, and then he
appoints an Examining Committee. In the case of short films, the examining committee
consists of a member of an examining officer and the advisory panel, one of whom must be
a woman. For general films, the committee consists of an examining officer and four
members of the advisory panel and. Two members of the committee must be women.
If the applicant isnt satisfied with the list of changes and the certification he or she
can apply to the Revising Committee for a review. The revising committee has the
chairperson, a mix of the Board and the Advisory, and up to nine committee members. Any
member who was part of the committee who viewed the film is not included in the revising
committee.
A similar process is adopted at this stage too, and the chairman has the final say on
the matter.
In case of further dissatisfaction with the certification, the matter goes to an independent
Appellate Tribunal. The members of Appellate Tribunal are appointed by Information and
Broadcast ministry for a term of three years. Any further dispute goes to court.
certifies them. These guidelines suggest cuts or certifying films. Here are some examples of
such guidelines which become a reason for controversy when it comes to censor and certify
the films.
certification and not censorship. And the numbers of members of the CBFC will be reduced
from 25 to 9.
It also increased the categories of certification by two i.e. one for adults and one for
minors. The combination of political appointments in committees and the politics of state
ensure that films are censored and not certified.
Way Forward
The Benegal Committee could look at recommendations made in the past for clues to
the future, Perhaps the Benegal Committee could recommend doing away with the
Information and Broadcasting Ministrys powers to appoint members to the censor board. It
may help in keeping political influence away from the process of certifying and censoring
the films.
The restrictive norms on creative freedom have loosened over the decade. And in a
democratic setup, the freedom of speech and expression symbolize the right of
individuality. Since creative freedom is not an unbridled right, the need of the hour is to
review the intent and the motive behind such norms. It is important that the ministry of
broadcasting and information provides a white paper with the detailed processes of a
voluntary rating system and its implementation written on it.
And, in case, the CBFC declines to clear films and advises cuts on the basis of section
5B(1), which filmmakers think are not just and appropriate, they can always challenge the
decision in the court.
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It is just four minutes longer than a regular PSLV that carries one or two satellites.
Before this, the highest number of satellites was 37 which were launched in a single mission
into space, in June 2014 by a Russian DNEPR rocket.
The PSLV became operational in 1993, and it was its 39th mission. PSLV-C37 was used
for this mission that delivered a payload of 1,378 kg into space in its 38th consecutive
successful flight. The greatest degree of difficulty in the mission has been attributed to the
synchronous release of the satellite payload from the final stage of the PSLV rocket.
The description of the satellites which were launched is given below:
Indian Satellites
Apart from 101 foreign satellites, there were three indigenous satellites which are
ISROs earth observation Cartosat-2 satellite (714 kg) and its two technology
demonstration nano- satellites (INS-1 and 2). All other satellites were commercial launches
for international customers, through agreements with ISROs commercial arm Antrix
Corporation.
Foreign Satellites
There were 101 foreign satellites launched by PSLV on this mission. Among them, 96
were from the USA. Out of these, 88 satellites are from the start-up, Planet Labs, a San
Francisco-based earth imaging company. And one satellite is from the Netherlands,
Switzerland, Israel, Kazakhstan and the UAE each.
Except eight of the satellites launched today were meant for commercial applications
and belonged to private companies. Among those companies, none of which are Indian. In
Indian laws, privately-operated satellites are still not allowed to offer commercial
applications in India. This mission is likely to change this situation now.
With this landmark launch, the PSLV has put 226 satellites in space, including 46
homegrown ones and 180 foreign satellites.
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Presidents Visits
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee visited Israel in October 2015 which was the first visit by an
Indian president to Israel. Normally, the Indian presidents foreign visits do not attract much attention.
But, Pranab Mukherjees visits of Palestine, Jordan, and Israel were seen as a precursor to the
much-expected visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel in June.
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj also made her visit to Israel in January 2016. Her visit was
part of the continuation of the effort by New Delhi not only to strengthen Indias relationship with Israel,
but also to make it more public.
Impacts
Indo-Israel strong relationship would directly impact the Indo-US relation which is
seen as a new formed axis between India, Israel and the U.S.
It would also impact Indias long fought war against terrorism. It will help India to
corner Pakistan in international State.
Strong bilateral relationship might boost Indias defence strategy.
India is also expecting to get a support from Israel in UNSE permanent
membership.
It would also give India a special recognition in other international front like NATO,
ASEAN, BRICS etc.
Farmers of India will benefit from Israeli expertise in drip irrigation. Many Start-ups
in Hyderabad and Bangalore see Israeli agricultural firms as role models.
Challenges
India has historically supported the independence cause of Palestinian state. Some experts have
argued that a solo visit could seriously jeopardize Indias traditional stance. Till now, India has managed
to preserve a pragmatic balancing act between regional players in the West Asian region. It would be
difficult for India to ignore its crucial energy ties with Iran and the Gulf states. And one could also wonder
that whether Indian Prime Ministers solo visit would be able to achieve new tangible results.
Another challenge in front of India is New Delhis bid for permanent membership in the UN
Security Council. India requires a firm endorsement of its candidature from the Arab countries. Those
Arab countries form a large group in the UN General Assembly and they might not like to see India
distancing itself from the Palestinian cause.
Conclusion
Israeli diplomats and politicians have been very candid about Israels close friendship with India.
This favourable public reference to Israel makes present Indian government different from its
predecessors in dealing with Israel. Positive signs appear with these developments between Israel and
India. It is also visible in Indias discernible shift in Israel policy. Given this, it can be anticipated that India
will succeed in delinking Indo-Israeli relations from domestic and international political concerns, and
Indias relations with the Arab world.
NATIONAL | INDIA
NPPA asks hospitals to display revised price list of cardiac stents
National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) on 22 February 2017 asked hospitals
to display revised price list of cardiac stents. In its notification, the authority said that the
state drug controllers have been sensitized on this issue.
The notification also said that it will inspect more hospitals in the coming days to
check the compliance with its price cap order issued on 14 February 2017.
Besides, the authority also warned the manufacturers and importers against shortage
and said the companies were under legal obligation to maintain smooth production and
supply of coronary stents.
The authority has said, if there is any non-availability or withdrawal of stents it should
inform to NPPA immediately.
Background
Earlier, the authority has slashed the prices of the life saving coronary stents by up to
85 per cent by capping them at Rs 7260 for Bare Metal Stents (BMS) and Rs 29600 for Drug
Eluting Stents (DES). These prices are exclusive of VAT and other local taxes. The average
MRP in the market for BMS was Rs 45 thousand and for DES Rs 1 lakh 21 thousand.
The prices were slashed in line of Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision of affordable,
quality healthcare for all.
As per the notification issued on 14 February 2017, NPPA is authorised to recover the
overcharged amount along with 15 per cent interest. In
For addressing the grievances of the common people, two mobile apps, Pharma Jan
Samadhan and Pharma Sahi Daam, were launched on which aggrieved person register
complaints and the Ministry can act swiftly to resolve it.
Coronary stent
A coronary stent is a tube-shaped device placed in the arteries that supply blood to
the heart. It keeps the arteries open in the treatment of coronary heart diseases. It is used
in a procedure called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
At present market size of India made stents is roughly 30 per cent and cardiovascular
diseases are major cause of death in India.
It collects and maintains data of import and export of drugs, market shares of
pharma companies and their profits.
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The announcement was made by the Union Women and Child Development Minister
Maneka Gandhi as as a response to a letter, which sought her attention to the plight of a
three-year-old from Ahmednagar who was raped in December 2016.
The establishment of the fund is in tune with the objectives of the Protection of
Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act, 2012. The money for this fund will be drawn
from the Nirbhaya Fund.
The primary objective of the fund is to improve safety and security of women in
the country.
As per the guidelines of the fund, the Ministry of Women and Children (WCD) can
be approached by various Ministries and Departments with the proposals and
schemes.
The POSCO Act identifies any person below the age of 18 years as a child.
The Act penalises any person who commits offences such as sexual harassment,
sexual assault, penetrative sexual assault and aggravated penetrative sexual
assault.
A person commits penetrative sexual assault if he penetrates his penis into the
vagina, mouth, urethra or anus of a child.
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Antyodaya Express is a long-distance, fully unreserved and super fast train service for
the common man. These trains, which will be operated only on dense routes, were
proposed for the first time by Suresh Prabhu in his 2016-17 Railway Budget speech.
These coaches are fully unreserved Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) second class
coaches with the following additional amenities:
Cushioned luggage racks which can serve as seats
On 13 February 2017, the Ministry of Railways announced that the first portion of
the Indian Railways Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) between Ateli and Phulera
will become operational by March 2018.
On 8 February 2017, the first phase of the Station Redevelopment Program (SRP)
was launched. The SRP is aimed at creating world-class amenities in selected
railway stations.
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The project will support adolescent girls and young women between the ages of
14 and 24 to complete their secondary level education.
It will also help girls in acquiring relevant skills for the job market.
The project has three main components- (i) Expanding social, educational and
economic opportunities (ii) Intensive service delivery (iii) State capacity-building
and implementation support.
About 680000 adolescent girls and young women are expected to benefit from the
program.
Other agreement
On the same occasion, a Project Agreement was also signed by Mukhmeet Singh
Bhatia, Principal Secretary in the Department of Women, Child Development, Jharkhand and
Junaid Kamal Ahmad, Country Director of World Bank.
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The workshop was held with the theme Transforming Cities Transforming Lives.
During the workshop, participating States and Union Territories (UTs) endorsed
the following five transformational urban reforms.
1. Moving to a trust and verify approach: Instead of the present practice of verifying
first and approving later, the States agreed to invert the model by reposing trust in citizens.
This Trust and Verify approach has been recommended in respect of permissions for
building construction, change of title in municipal records (mutation) and birth and death
registration.
2. Formulating land titling laws: This measure was approved as over 90 per cent of
the land records in the country are unclear. Land market distortions and unclear land titles
are costing the country 1.30 per cent of GDP per year.
4. Value capture financing: Noting that the total revenues of the municipal sector
accounts for only 0.75 per cent of the countrys GDP as against 6 per cent in South Africa, 5
per cent in Brazil and 4.50 per cent in Poland, the participating States agreed to leverage
value capture finance tools for meeting the capital expenditure needs of cities.
Besides, the participating States also supported six new policies and
schemes proposed by the Union Government. The new policies and schemes are-
The reforms are aimed at promoting resource mobilization required for meeting the
urban infrastructure demand.
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Key Highlights
The launch was done with release of balloons by ground level women leaders,
inauguration of a sanitation related exhibition and a series of folk cultural
presentation relating to women and Swachhta.
Over 1000 women swachhta champions from grassroots in Haryana attended the
event.
The launch marked the achievement of Swachh Bharat Milestone as over 100
districts in India were declared as ODF districts and over 1.7 lakh villages have
become ODF.
The Swachh Shakti Saptaah will culminate with a mega-event in Gujarat named
Swachh Shakti 2017 where the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address 6000
women sarpanches and honour them for their contribution to Swachh Bharat.
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Key highlights of the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017
Section 5 of the Act bars any person from knowingly or voluntarily, holding,
transferring or receiving any specified bank note after the expiry of grace period.
However, a person can hold not more than ten notes in total, irrespective of the
denomination. Up to twenty-five notes can be held, if it is for the purposes of
study, research or numismatics.
Section 7 of the Act states that whoever contravenes the provisions of Section 5
shall be punishable with fine, which may extend to ten thousand rupees or five
times the amount of the face value of the specified bank notes involved in the
contravention, whichever is higher.
The Act states that, whoever knowingly and wilfully makes any declaration or
statement specified under Sub-Section (1) of Section 4, which is false in material
particulars, or omits to make a material statement, or makes a statement which he
does not believe to be true, shall be punishable with fine, which may extend to
fifty thousand rupees or five times the amount of the face value of the specified
bank notes tendered, whichever is higher.
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On the occasion, the Minister appealed to the business community to turn digital
transaction into a national movement.
Its objective is to usher transparency in the system along with reducing corruption
with evolved participation of all sections of the society.
It aims to understand and adopt simplified digital payment mechanisms like UPI,
USSD, BBPS, AEPS etc. in a convenient manner.
It will contribute towards establishing digital economy and convey the benefits of
digital payments to traders through capacity building programs.
Around 13500 small and medium unorganized, self organized businesses and
traders are targeted through this training project.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) will mobilize the traders and trade
union leaders for training on digital payment initiatives.
Comment
Capacity building of SMEs and traders on digital payment by NIELIT will take forward
the Union Governments efforts for creation of a digitally vibrant society in line with the
Digital India mission.
NIELIT through its PAN India centres, accredited training partners and facilitation
centres has already been making efforts in promotion of digital payment initiatives.
At NIELIT, use of cash as a means for making payment to vendors and suppliers was
discontinued in 2014 itself.
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The scheme was launched by the government in the backdrop of declining the
Child Sex Ratio (CSR). As per the 2011 census, the CSR reduced from 927 in 2001 to
918 in 2011, which is an alarming trend.
This scheme was launched by the by the Union Ministry of Women and Child
Development on 1 April 2015.
Under the scheme, a financial support of 1600 rupees will be provided for each
LPG connection to the BPL households.
Incidentally, this is for the first time the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has
involved in implementing a welfare scheme benefitting crores of women belonging
to the poorest households.
The scheme will work upon providing basic amenities, such as shelter, food,
clothing and health along with economic and social security to women in distress.
Also, the scheme will make sure that the special needs of these women are taken
care of.
International Women's Day: Celebrating Indias women scientists
who made India proud
Mahila E-Haat
The Ministry of Women and Child Development launched Mahila E-Haat, a
bilingual portal on 7 March, 2016.
This helps women in showcasing the products and services which are made,
manufactured and undertaken by them.
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The MoU seeks to provide technical support to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj in
strengthening capacities of governance institutions including Panchayati Raj
Institutions(PRIs) to better leverage opportunities created for gender equality through
legislation, policies and programmes.
It is interesting to note that the decision has come just a couple of days before
the International Women's Day 2017.
The Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) and UN-Women have worked in collaboration
with each other to promote participation of women in PRIs. The collaborations seeks to
enhance building capacities of Elected Women Representatives.
Key highlights
The proposed MoU will facilitate the achievement of time-bound results in the
implementation of specific activities identified jointly by Ministry of Panchayati Raj
and UN Women within the broader framework for cooperation under the United
Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF).
As per the terms of the MoU, activities will be implemented at the district and sub-
district level in six States i.e. Telengana, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The MoPR and the UN-Women will work together towards participatory design of
governance processes and effective implementation of laws, policies and
programmes to promote gender responsive governance.
The parties are in agreement that engendering the initiatives of MoPR will be of
mutual benefit. Also, it will promote their shared mission of good governance,
gender equality and womens empowerment.
In the long run, it will also enable an improvement in the status of rural women in
India.
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Besides, the apex court also came up with an option of ordering a joint trial of cases
that arises out of the two FIRs, which were lodged in the wake of the demolition of the
disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri structure in Ayodhya in 1992.
Oldest litigant of Babri Masjid case Hashim Ansari decided to withdraw his plea
These observations were made during a brief hearing by the bench of Justice Pinaki
Chandra Ghose and Justice Rohinton F Nariman, who posted the matter for further hearing
on 22 March 2017.
Altogether, thirteen people were discharged of the conspiracy charge in the case, the
trial of which is being held at a special court in Raebareli. Few of them were LK Advani, Murli
Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Sadhvi Ritambhara, Vinay Katiyar, Giriraj Kishore and Vishnu
Hari Dalmia.
Crime No. 197/1992: It was registered in a police station of Ayodhya and deals
with the actual demolition of the masjid. The case was filed against lakhs of
unknown Kar Sevaks (volunteers). The karsevaks were accused of pulling down the
three domes of the Masjid.
Crime No. 198/1992: It was filed against 12 people for promoting enmity,
promoting imputations and assertions prejudicial to national integration and
statements conducing to public mischief. Some of the 12 accused in the case were
Giriraj Kishore, Ashok Singhal, LK Advani, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya, Murli Manohar
Joshi, Vinay Katiyar, Uma Bharti and Sadvi Ritambara. At the time of the incident,
i.e. demolition of the masjid, they were standing on the dais at Ram Katha Kunj.
These FIRs were filed shortly after the structure of the Babri Masjid was demolished
on 6 December 1992. The two cases are being tried in courts of Rae Bareilly and Lucknow.
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The bench comprising Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice RF Nariman perused the status
report on the progress made in the works relating to securing and fencing the border, which
was presented by the Union Government and said the task has to be completed soon. It also
said the Madhukar Gupta committee would "oversee and supervise" it.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) PS Patwalia, who appeared in the court on the
behalf of the Union Government, said some tenders have been finalised and work orders
issued to successful bidders to undertake the exercise of border fencing.
The court issued the direction to the center while hearing the pleas of Assam Sanmilita
Mahasangha, Assam Public Works and All Assam Ahom Association. The pleas were filed in
the aftermath of large-scale riots in 2012 and 2014 resulting in the death of many people.
ASG PS Patwalia said that the Expenditure and Finance Committee will meet on 9
March 2017 to decide on the issue of releasing funds. Later the court posted the matter for
further hearing on 19 April 2017.
Besides, the court also made clear that the work of updation of the National Register
of Citizens (NRC) to identify original residents of Assam would continue under state
coordinator Prateek Hajela. It said that, the court wants to make it clear, to the state, that
whatever manpower, Hajela committee want has to be given.
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The agreement will help in exploring the opportunity and developing a joint
cooperation mechanism in the field of Environment & Sustainability.
This joint co-operation will help Indian Railways in achieving its green objectives.
Railway is already taking several green initiatives and is going to produce 1000MW solar
energy.
Background
Indian Railways, that carries 23 million passengers every day, is the largest consumer
of water as well as electricity in the country. It is also the major contributor to green
environment due to reduced GHG emissions.
Indian Railways have been taking a number of steps towards Water Management,
Energy Conservation, Solid Waste Management and Green buildings.
On the other hand, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading
organization within the United Nations in the field of environment and majorly focuses on
the conservation, protection, enhancement and support of nature and natural resources
worldwide.
Hence, both the organisations collaborated to further these common goals and
objectives within their respective mandates and governing rules and regulations.
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The two-judge bench of the apex court comprising of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and
Justice UU Lalit said denial of speedy justice is a threat to public confidence in the
administration of justice. It said the fundamental right to speedy trial cannot be denied even
on the plea of non-availability of financial resources.
Issuing a slew of directions to all high courts, the apex court asked them to issue
directions to subordinate courts to decide bail pleas normally within one week. Besides, it
asked the high courts to ask magistrates to conclude trial in petty offences, where
undertrials are in jails, within six months.
It said efforts be made to dispose of all cases which are five years old by the end of
the year.
The bench also asked the high courts to prepare and issue as well as monitor
appropriate action plans for subordinate courts.
The apex court said appropriate monitoring mechanism on the administrative side
as well as on the judicial side be set up by high courts for speedy disposal of cases
of undertrials pending in subordinate courts and appeals pending in high courts.
The bill is aimed at establishing a legal framework to consolidate the existing laws
relating to admiralty jurisdiction of courts, admiralty proceedings on maritime claims, arrest
of vessels and related issues.
The intended legislation also repeals the following five obsolete British statues on
admiralty jurisdiction in civil matters.
The repealing of five admiralty statutes is in tune with the government's commitment
to do away with archaic laws, which are hindering efficient governance.
The provisions of the bill are applicable to every vessel irrespective of place of
residence or domicile of the owner.
Inland vessels and vessels under construction are excluded from the purview of
the bill. However, the bill empowers the Central Government to make it applicable
to these vessels also by a notification if necessary.
It does not apply to warships and naval auxiliary and vessels used for non-
commercial purposes.
The jurisdiction is for adjudicating on a set of maritime claims listed in the bill.
In respect of aspects on which provisions are not laid down in the bill, the Civil
Procedure Code, 1908 is applicable.
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It aims to facilitate and promote teaching, training and research in all disciplines
relating to design and development of Footwear and leather products.
The institute shall consist of a Governing Council having a Chairperson who shall
be an eminent academician, scientist or industrialist from the leather sector.
The Union Government shall have the power to remove the Chairperson or other
members or can reconstitute the Governing Council as well.
The FDDI will develop and conduct courses leading to graduate and post-graduate
degrees, doctoral and post-doctoral courses and research in the areas of footwear
and leather products.
The institute will conduct skill development programmes and provide technical
assistance to artisans, craftsmen, manufacturers, designers and exporters.
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During the mela, technical sessions on various themes are planned to educate
farmers on various agricultural technologies and government schemes for
agricultural development.
Some of the themes that will be taken up in the Krishi Unnati Mela 2017 are -
Digitization in agriculture
Organic farming
Agribusiness models
Precision farming
Display and sale of various products including farm equipments, quality planting
materials, bio-fertilisers, agro-chemicals, innovative farmers' products
Kisan Gosthi
It continues to be a highly important annual event for receiving feedback from the
farming community, which helps in deciding the institutes future research
strategy.
Thousands of farmers and visitors from across the country are participating in the
mela every year.
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Key Details
The bill proposes the creation of a Single Standing Tribunal with multiple benches
instead of the existing multiple tribunals.
While the term of office of the Chairperson will be five years or till the time he
reaches the age of 70, the term of office of the Vice-Chairperson and other
members of the tribunal will be linked to the adjudication of the water dispute.
Besides this, the bill proposes the appointment of Assessors to provide technical
support to the tribunal. The assessors would be appointed from among the
experts already serving in the Central Water engineering Service, above the rank of
Chief Engineer.
The bill also proposes the setting up of a transparent data collection system at the
national level for each river basin and the establishment of a centre authorised
agency for the same, which will be expected to maintain the databank and
information system.
The bill also fixed the total time period for adjudication of the dispute to a
maximum of four and half years.
It also determined that the decision of the tribunal would be final and binding with
no requirement of publication in the official Gazette.
The increase in water demands by states has led to a rise in inter-state river water
disputes and the Inter-State Water Dispute Act, 1956 that provides the legal framework to
address the disputes has many drawbacks.
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The policy proposes raising public health expenditure to 2.5 per cent of the GDP in a
time bound manner.
In order to provide access and financial protection, the policy proposes free drugs,
free diagnostics and free emergency and essential healthcare services in all public
hospitals.
It seeks to increase life expectancy at birth from 67.5 to 70 by 2025 and reduce
infant mortality rate to 28 by 2019.
It also seeks to achieve and maintain elimination status of Leprosy by 2018, Kala-
Azar by 2017 and Lymphatic Filariasis in endemic pockets by this year.
It also looks at reforms in the existing regulatory system both for easing
manufacturing of drugs and devices to promote Make in India and also for
reforming medical education.
It informs and prioritizes the role of the government in shaping health systems in
all its dimensions -investment in health, organisation and financing of healthcare
services and prevention of diseases.
It suggests that the government must amend laws to align them with the current
healthcare scenario.
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The MoU will be signed in the field of capacity building of public officials of Namibia and
other training activities for the benefit of both the institutes.
The MOU will help the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy to disseminate some of
its experience in running a training institution for higher civil services in the country to
NIPAM.
It will also help the two sides to engage in collaborative activities in the sphere of public
administration and capacity building.
Since its establishment, the Academy has gained global recognition and stature as
a world-class institution for training career civil servants.
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Key highlights
As per the policy, CBM contractors have been permitted to sell the CBM to its any
affiliate, in the event contractor cannot identify any buyer.
Royalty and other dues to the Government shall be payable on the basis of
Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC) notified prices or selling prices,
whichever is higher.
The policy is expected to incentivize the CBM operation in India to boost gas
production.
The policy also aims at generating economic activities, which in turn will be
beneficial for creating more employment opportunities in CBM operations and
related activities.
The term CBD refers to methane adsorbed into the solid matrix of the coal.
CBD is distinct from typical sandstone or other conventional gas reservoir, as the
methane is stored within the coal by a process called adsorption.
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Key Highlights
An empowered committee will be set up to periodically review the progress of the
approved projects in the scheme.
The committee will also take the required steps to ensure that the objectives of
the scheme are achieved.
The committee chaired by Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia would also look over
the proposals of the implementing agencies for funding.
Explaining the scheme further, Rita Teaotia stated that some of the biggest cost
incurred by the exporters is on account of the absence of proper dedicated infrastructure,
whether it is testing or handling facilities or cold storages at ports.
Hence she added that TIES, which would focus on projects like checkpoints, first and
last mile connectivity, border haats and integrated check posts, would help in ensuring
smoother movement in export cargo and better quality standards and certification.
Under this scheme, all central and state agencies including Commodities Boards,
SEZ authorities, Export Promotion Councils and Apex Trade Bodies recognised
under the EXIM policy of Government of India will be eligible for financial support.
The funding would be in form of grant-in-aid and in normal cases it would not be
more than the equity being funded by the implementing agency or 50% of the
total equity in the project.
Five per cent of the grant approved would be used for appraisal, review and
monitoring.
The scheme would be implemented from 1 April 2017 with a total budgetary
allocation of Rs 600 crore for three years and an annual outlay of Rs 200 crore.
The cost of projects under TIES would be equally shared by the Centre and the
states.
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Basically, Canon partnered FTII for its Skilling India in Film and Television (SKIFT),
an initiative designed to spread the art of cinematography and film making across
the country.
Under FTII's unique initiative SKIFT (Skilling India in Film and Television), several
short courses, mostly of skill-oriented nature have been proposed to be held in
collaboration with several State Governments, Universities and Educational
institutions.
As a technology partner for this initiative, Canon India will add value to the
program which is endeavoured to scale skill development in film and television to
greater heights.
This support by Canon will be a major contributing factor in keeping the course
fees affordable while offering an opportunity to course participants to use cutting-
edge equipment.
FTII is also in the process of aligning some of the short courses with Pradhan
Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) under National Skill Development Council.
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Besides promoting the well-being of people who are the residents of the remote
areas, these haats will help in promoting the traditional system of marketing the
local produce through local markets.
The trade in these haats is permitted in both Indian Rupees and Bangladeshi Taka
as well as on barter basis.
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The Bill will declare the existing IIITs in Public Private Partnership as Institutions of
National Importance with powers to award degrees.
The Bill will entitle the institutions to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of
Technology (BTech) or Master of Technology (MTech) or PhD degree as issued by a
University or Institution of National Importance.
The grant of a formal degree will also enable the institutes to draw enough
students required to develop a strong research base in the country in the field of
information technology.
Every institute shall be open to each and every student, irrespective of gender,
caste, creed, disability, and domicile, ethnicity, social or economic background.
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Key Highlights
The agreement establishes the rights and obligations of nationals belonging to
both the countries and provides for their equal treatment and unrestricted
payment of pensions even in the case of residence in the other contracting state.
India has, so far, signed such Social Security Agreements (SSAs) with 18 countries
including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,
Sweden, Switzerland, and South Korea.
The agreement will come into force in the first half of 2018. It will have a positive
impact on the profitability and competitive position of companies of both India
and Brazil that are operating in eithers territory.
The agreement will also help promote more investment flow between the two
countries.
Once the text comes into force, it will be the first such agreement between the
BRICS nations.
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Audit how much timber and money are generated from felling of
trees in Delhi: High Court to CAG
The Delhi High Court on 16 March 2017 asked
the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to audit
the forest department and other agencies on the
aspects of how much timber and money are
generated from the felling of trees in the city.
The direction was issued by a two-judge
bench of Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed and Justice
Ashutosh Kumar. The direction was issued by the
court while hearing a PIL initiated by the court on the issue of air pollution and its causes.
In its reply on the plea, the Delhi Government informed the court that some timber is
auctioned off and some are provided free of cost to crematoriums. In response to which,
the court said that it wants to know what happens to the funds that are received by
auctioning the timbers and the quantity of timber that is provided to the crematoriums. It
also observed that the bereaved families are made to pay for the wood at crematoriums.
The bench observed that the trail of timber and the trail of money has to be
checked.
In its observation, the court said that what concerns is that whether each and
every tree felled is accounted for in terms of money and timber and whether
compensatory afforestation is taking place.
Besides, the court also directed the Delhi government to increase the green cover in
the national capital to the desired objective of 25 per cent. It also said that not only the
existing forests should be preserved and maintained, but areas under encroachment should
be reclaimed. It said that the trees in non-forest areas should be replenished if cut and
further plantation of trees under compensatory afforestation scheme be undertaken.
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These SPV plants will alleviate the problem of power cuts and shortages faced by
decentralized powerloom units in the country.
Its primary objective is to empower powerloom industry and build their capacity to
meet the challenges of the market and global competition in a sustainable and
self-reliant manner.
A special purpose vehicle (SPV) was set up by the government to oversee the
implementation of the scheme.
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Climate smart crops, smart food and digitalization of breeding database are some
of the core areas of research covered under the agreement.
The partnership includes funding to research grain legumes and dryland cereals
and support for the smart food initiative to deliver sustainable and nutritionally
rich products to consumers.
On the crop improvement front, the agreement will also facilitate research
activities on transgenic pigeonpea and chickpea for insect resistance.
Other areas of focus over the next three years include the integration of systems
modelling tools to upscale climate resilient agriculture, development of genetic
and genomic resources of finger millet and enhancement of genetic gains for
priority traits.
The Council is the apex body for co-ordinating, guiding and managing research and
education in agriculture, including horticulture, fisheries and animal sciences in the
entire country.
With 101 Institutes and 71 agricultural universities spread across the country, ICAR
is one of the largest national agricultural systems in the world.
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Key Highlights
The twin-tube tunnel will be the first one in the country to get the world class
'integrated tunnel control system'.
The system would allow ventilation, fire control, signals, communication and
electrical systems to be automatically actuated.
The trial run of the tunnel was conducted successfully during both peak hours and
non-peak hours between 9 to 15 March 2017.
The tunnel would also have a well-equipped, fully computerised operation room
for surveillance of vehicles inside the twin tubes.
Around 124 CCTV cameras have also been installed at an equal distance of 75
meters to feed information to the operating room.
In fact, for better visibility the tunnel has been equipped with three-tier lighting
system that would ensure that it is well lit at all times.
Vehicles will have to pay toll charges to gain access to the tunnel.
Background
The tunnel is a part of the new 286-km-long four-lane Jammu-Srinagar National
Highway project.
Overall, the government has spent around 3,720 crore on just this part of the
new highway project.
The tunnel is located in the lower Himalayan mountain range and its completion is
expected to reduce the travel time between the two capital cities, Jammu &
Srinagar by two and a half hours.
It would bring down the distance between Chenani and Nashri towns from 41 km
to just 10.9 km, almost 30 km less than before.
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Key Highlights
Two Medha trains were on a trial since the last two years. Both the trains have
been designed and built at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. They will be
running on the Western Railway network.
The company has installed LED lighting inside the train, which will help save energy
by almost 30-35% in comparison to the existing trains.
The train also has a special indigenous 3 phase propulsion system unlike the earlier
electric multiple units of the Indian railways, which have systems from either
Bombardier or Siemens.
The in-built system will help minimise breakdowns during the travel.
In costing, the Indian-made train is cheaper than the earlier ones, as it cost about
43.23 crore, which is around 1 crore less than the German-made Bombardier
train, which costs about 44.36 crore.
The train will be able to run at a speed of 110kmph, much above the limit of local
trains, which dont run above 90 or 100 kmph.
Similar to the existing trains, the train has cushioned seats in the first class and
stainless steel seats in the general compartment.
The train is also equipped with a GPS-based information system with an audio-
visual indication of stations and a facility that would help motormen to
communicate with a guard in case of emergencies.
Furthermore, with over 1168 seats, the train has the capacity to hold around 6050
passengers.
Besides this, the Railway minister flagged off the inaugural run of Antyodaya Express,
which will be operating between Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Tatanagar and Miraj- Solapur
Express daily train through video conferencing.
The minister also laid the foundation stone for the construction of the fourth railway
line between Bhusaval-Jalgaon, a 24-km stretch which will be constructed at an approximate
cost of about 260 crores.
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The ruling was delivered by Justice Manmohan who specified that the house need not be
self-acquired or owned by the parents. This is a major shift from the 2007 law that left it
upon the state governments to frame rules to protect the life and property of senior
citizens.
Union Cabinet approved four GST related Bills
Key Details
The court delivered its verdict in relation to an appeal filed by an alcoholic former
policeman, whose service was terminated by the Delhi Police and his brother,
The brothers had challenged that the tribunal had exceeded its jurisdiction in
passing the eviction order and argued that even in cases of allegations of physical
assault, maltreatment and mental harassment of parents, no eviction order could
be passed under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act
2007.
While interpreting the provisions of the Act, the court stated that it was in the
jurisdiction of the senior citizen's maintenance tribunal to issue an eviction order
to ensure the safety and protection of senior citizens in their house without
forcibly having to accommodate a child who assaults and harasses them and
threatens to throw them out.
The court in its 52-page judgement noted that the direction to evict the adult
children from the property was necessary in some cases like the present one, to
ensure a normal life for senior citizens.
The court also noted that while the Delhi governments rules only allowed a senior
citizen to complain to district authorities to evict abusive children from a self-acquired
property, the Act, in fact, made no such discrimination and allowed parents to evict their
abusive children even from a rented accommodation.
Further, the court directed the Delhi government to amend its rules and create a new
action plan to protect the life and property of senior citizens.
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Key Highlights
The minister stated that a consumer can make a complaint against unfair trade
practice in Consumer Forums established under Consumer Protection Act.
From March 2015 till date, a total of 3220 complaints have been registered on the
portal, of which 1683 have been resolved and 715 have been rejected.
The portal was launched to enable consumers to register their complaints against
false and misleading advertisements.
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However, the apex court also ruled that it would intervene if the negotiations fail and
will appoint a mediator for resolution.
Background
The Supreme Court is also hearing the appeals challenging a 2010 Allahabad High
Court's decision fixing the exact birth place of Lord Ram at the disputed Ayodhya site.
A three-judge Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court in September 2010 had
given a unanimous decision that Lord Ram was born under the central dome of the
makeshift temple and Hindus have the right to worship there.
Subsequently, the Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the High Court's
decision soon after. The case has remained halfway ever since then.
1528: The Babri Masjid, a mosque in Ayodhya, was constructed by Mir Baki on the
orders of Mughal emperor Babar.
1949: Towards the end of December 1949, idols of Lord Ram appeared inside the
mosque, allegedly put there by Hindus. It led to widespread protests and both
communities filed cases.
The government declared the site as disputed and locked the gates to it.
1950: Mahant Paramhans Ramchandra Das, the chief of Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas,
and Gopal Singh Visharad filed case seeking permission to pray before the installed
idols, which was allowed though the inner courtyard gates remain locked.
1961: Sunni Central Board of Waqfs in Uttar Pradesh filed a case claiming the
mosque.
1984: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad constituted a group with the leader L K Advani to
continue the campaign against the mosque.
1986: Faizabad district judge ordered the gates of the structure be opened for
Hindus to offer prayers.
1992: The disputed structure was brought down by followers and a makeshift
temple was placed in its place.
2003: The Allahabad High Court ordered the Archeological Survey of India to
excavate the disputed site in order to determine whether a temple existed where
the mosque stood. The ASI submitted its report saying that it had found features
of a 10th century temple beneath the site of the masjid.
2010: The Allahabad High Court pronounced its verdict on the long-standing
Ayodhya Ram janmabhumi-Babri Masjid issue and ruled for a three-way division of
the disputed area, between the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and the
party for Ram Lalla.
2016: The Supreme Court permitted BJP leader Subramanian Swamy to intervene
in the pending matters relating to the Ayodhya dispute with his plea seeking
construction of Ram temple at the site of the demolished disputed structure.
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It said that it had constituted a committee of senior apex court judges that will
suggest the ways of reducing the pendency of cases up to three years.
Earlier in March 2017, the MoP for the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary
was finalised by the Supreme Court collegium. This finalisation of MoP ended a year-long
face-off with the executive by agreeing to include the contentious clause of national security
in a selection of judges.
It had agreed to the national security clause, which the government had been insisting
be included as one of the necessary criteria for appointment of judges to the higher
judiciary.
SC declared National Judicial Appointments
Commission (NJAC) unconstitutional
The collegium after deliberations had also agreed on setting up secretariats in the
apex court and the high courts to collate data about judges and assist in the selection
procedure for their appointment to the higher judiciary.
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Key Highlights
Puducherry was sanctioned 3128 houses in four towns under Beneficiary Led
Construction (BLC) component of PMAY (Urban) at a total project cost of Rs 131
crore for which central assistance of Rs47 crore was approved. With this, total
number of houses sanctioned for Puducherry increased to 3848.
Till now, Puducherry city got 2093 houses followed by Karaikal-592, Yanam-358
and Mahe-85 houses.
Himachal Pradesh (HP) was sanctioned 2655 houses for 12 towns at a total project
cost of Rs 102 crore for which central assistance of Rs 40 crore was approved. With
this, total number of houses sanctioned for the HP under PMAY(Urban) increased
to 4569 so far.
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Background
The proposal was made through an amendment to the Finance Bill, 2017. The Union
Government introduced as many as 40 amendments to the Finance Bill in an
'unprecedented move'.
Until now, Aadhaar was mostly used for subsidy transfers. The Union Government also
claimed that the subsidy transfers linked to Aadhaar has led the exchequer to save Rs 49000
crore during the last two-and-half years.
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Key Highlights
The bill was introduced in the house by the Union Health Minister, J P Nadda. It
was originally introduced by the UPA government in February 2014 after
consultations with people in 29 ministries and 21 departments.
Explaining the provisions of the bill, Nadda stated that it will give legislative
backing to the people living with HIV and prohibit the feeling of hatred.
It will ensure that every HIV infected person below the age of 18 years has the
right to reside in a shared household and enjoy its facilities.
It also prohibits discrimination against HIV positive persons on grounds like denial,
termination, discontinuation or unfair treatment with regard to employment,
educational establishments, health care services and residing or renting property.
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Key Highlights
Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs) supported by FFS shall invest at least twice the
amount of contribution received from FFS in Start-ups.
If the amount committed for a Start-up in whole has not been released before a
Start-up ceases to be so, the balance funding can continue thereafter.
It was also decided that operating expenses will be met out of the FFS to the
extent of 0.50 per cent of the commitments made to AIFs and outstanding.
The operating expenses including carrying out due diligence, legal and technical
appraisal, convening meeting of Venture Capital Investment Committee, etc.
The operating expenses will be debited to the fund at the beginning of each half
year that is on 1 April and 1 October.
It was decided that the FFS shall contribute to the corpus of Alternative
Investment Funds (AIFs) for investing in equity and equity linked instruments.
The FFS is being managed and operated by Small Industries Development Bank of
India (SIDBI).
FFS contributes to SEBI registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) that may go
up to a maximum of 35 per cent of the corpus of the AIF concerned.
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The Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu on 22 March 2017 announced the
scaling up of VIKALP Scheme for waitlisted passengers at a progrmme held in New Delhi.
Besides, the minister released the Water Management Policy of Indian Railways to
mark the World Water Day and also presented GreenCo Certificates to three units of Indian
Railways.
While the Water Policy covers all aspects of water use, recycling, conservation and
recharge of groundwater, the certificates were presented to Diesel Locomotive Works
(Varanasi), Perambur Carriage Works (Chennai) and Lalaguda Carriage Workshop
(Hyderabad).
Railway Board Chairman A K Mital, members and senior officials were also present on
the occasion.
Thus, a passenger who booked a ticket in a normal mail or express train can be
shifted to an alternate mail, express, rajdhani, humsafar, duronto, shatabdi,
special train or suvidha train in the same class of accommodation or vice versa
subject to opting for this scheme.
The rationale behind allowing this facility is that the reserved accommodation is a
perishable commodity and once a train leaves a platform with a vacant berth, the
potential revenue is lost to railways.
The expanded VIKALP is expected to optimize berth utilization across all trains,
carry more passengers as well as increase earnings by reducing refunds of
waitlisted tickets.
Initially, the expanded Vikalp scheme will be available on e-tickets and will be
extended to PRS tickets at a later stage.
However, when an ATAS opted passenger opts to cancel, after he/she has been
given an alternate accommodation, he/she will be treated as a Confirmed
Passenger and the cancellation rules will apply accordingly.
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Key Highlights
Amendments to National Bank for
Agriculture and Rural Development Act,
1981 include provisions that enable Union Government to increase the authorized
capital of NABARD from Rs 5000 crore to Rs 30000 crore.
It also proposes the transfer of 0.4 per cent shareholding of RBI in NABARD to the
Union Government. The shareholding of RBI amounts to Rs 20 crore.
The proposed amendments also include changes in the long title and certain
Sections to bring Medium Enterprises and Handlooms in NABARDs mandate.
Comment
The proposed increase in the authorized capital of NABARD will allow the organisation
to respond to the commitments it has undertaken, particularly in respect of the Long Term
Irrigation Fund and the recent Cabinet decision regarding on-lending to cooperative banks.
It will also enable NABARD to augment its business and enhance its activities to
facilitate promotion of integrated rural development and securing prosperity of rural areas
including generation of more employment.
The transfer of entire shareholding in NABARD held by RBI to the Union Government
will remove the conflict in RBI's role as banking regulator and shareholder in NABARD.
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This is a progressive and creative policy under which field units will be motivated
to recycle and save water.
The objective of the policy is to improve water use efficiency by setting up water
recycling plants, rainwater harvesting plants, sewage treatment plants and
effluent treatment plants on railway land.
The policy allows the participation of private players for recycling water for non-
potable usage on build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis.
In this water policy, water audits, restoration of water bodies and recycling of
water were given a priority.
In fact, the GreenCo Rating System is the first of its kind framework in the world.
The GreenCo Rating System is aimed at catalyzing green practices in the Indian
industry.
The objective of the scheme is to define and assess How Green is a company?
and facilitate the way forward for further improvement and promote world class
competitiveness through green strategies.
The framework adopts a life-cycle approach and evaluates the activities of a unit
or a facility on the green front.
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It is a nodal agency that deals with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing.
In December 2013, the organisation had reported a rise in the cyber attacks on
Government organisations like banking and finance, oil and gas and emergency
services.
In March 2014, the organisation had also reported a critical flaw in Android Jelly
bean's VPN implementation.
Background
On 19 July 2011, the United States and India had signed an MoU to promote a closer
cooperation and timely exchange of information between the organizations of their
respective Governments responsible for Cyber Security.
Since July 2011, regular interactions between CERT-In and US CERT are taking place to
share the information and discuss cyber security related issues.
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ECONOMY
CBEC launched a mobile application for Goods and Services Tax
The Central Board of Excise and Customs
(CBEC) on 23 February 2017 launched a mobile
application for Goods and Services Tax (GST). The
app will inform the taxpayers of the latest updates
on GST among others.
The mobile application for GST was launched in-line to the Union Governments Digital
India Initiative. The application will provide latest updates on GST to the taxpayers.
Draft Law-Model GST Law, GST Compensation and Law IGST Law
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The proposed bill is being looked out by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council who
will decide the tax rate, cess and surcharges. The council being headed by Union Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley will comprise of state Finance Ministers. GST Council approved bill to
reimburse revenue loss to States
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In the current financial year, a total of 76 APAs (7 Bilateral APAs and 61 Unilateral
APAs) have already been signed by CBDT.
With this, the total number of APAs entered into by the CBDT reached 140 in number.
This includes 10 Bilateral APAs and 130 Unilateral APAs. The CBDT expects more APAs to be
signed before the end of the current fiscal.
Key Highlights
Two of these ten agreements are Bilateral APAs with the United Kingdom and
Japan. While, seven of these agreements have rollback provisions in them.
The APAs entered into over the last week pertain to various sectors of the
economy like Telecom, Pharmaceutical, Banking & Finance, Steel, Retail,
Information Technology, etc.
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The APAs also cover Clinical Research Services, Non-binding Investment Advisory
Services, Payment of Interest on ECB, etc.
Since its inception, the APA scheme has showcased a lot of interest from taxpayers
that has resulted in filing of over 700 applications in about five years.
The progress of the APA Scheme is seen as strengthening the Union Governments
resolve of fostering a non-adversarial tax regime.
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Trump stated that countries across the world like Australia and Canada have a merit-
based immigration system and its introduction in the US would help save millions of dollars
and raise the workers wages and in turn help many struggling families including the
immigrant ones to enter the middle class.
Key Highlights from Trumps address
According to Trump, the current system offers very less wage to the poorest
workers and puts immense pressure on the taxpayers.
Trump believes that a real and positive immigration reform is possible as long as it
focuses on improving job and wage prospects for the Americans to strengthen the
countrys security and restore the respect for laws.
The introduction of the system is expected to bring back millions of jobs, raise
wages and help the unemployed.
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April, 2017 [Curren Affairs eBook]
Besides this, Indians also account for a large number of foreign workers coming to
the US as doctors, scientists, engineers and other high-skilled professionals.
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Investment is still held back by the relatively high corporate income tax rates and a
slow land acquisition process.
The GST regime will help make India a common market and promote investment,
productivity and competitiveness.
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Raise more revenue, especially from property and personal income taxes.
Despite fiscal consolidation at the central government level and strong economic
growth, the government debt to GDP ratio has increased.
Increase public spending on physical and social infrastructure and gradually extend
the subsidy reform to other products, including fertilisers and food.
Job creation in the organised sector has been sluggish. Female participation is low
and many young people are out of work and not in education or training.
Poverty in rural areas is high, particularly among marginal farmers and landless
labourers.
Enable reforms in land ownership laws, improve the land registry and step up the
digitisation of land records.
Urban population will increase fast. Urban citizens suffer from poor urban
infrastructure, transport congestion and air pollution.
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The initiatives were launched by the Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar
Prabhu at the National Rail Museum in New Delhi.
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Roll-on-Roll-off is one such new delivery model which can provide multimodal
transport mix.
RORO services were started on Konkan Railway and then proliferated to ECR and
NFR successfully last year.
The agreements will benefit key industries such as cement, fertilizers and steel.
These contracts and agreements will result in multiple benefits such as stability
and certainty of long term freight rates to the customers, assured supply of
wagons and rakes to the customers through preferential traffic order (PTO) and
incremental guaranteed volume of traffic to the Indian Railways.
Double Stack Dwarf Containers are designed with 6 feet 4 inches height to run
under wire for maximum throughput with increased loadability.
This new delivery model is expected to attract additional traffic of around 3 million
tonnes in the initial year.
73 Economy | www.jagranjosh.com
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The plan seeks to revamp railways through partnerships with stakeholders, RORO,
dwarf containers, road-railers and new terminals.
Parcel business will be enhanced through new partnership with the Postal
Department.
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This Rs 70000 crore of black money includes more than Rs 16000 crore, which was
detected after a probe was launched into the global leaks about Indians stashing funds
abroad. It was unearthed through different schemes of the government.
SC reconstituted SIT headed by Justice MB Shah to probe into Black Money Cases
Justice Arijit Pashayat gave the information after a high-level meeting of SIT on black
money. The meet was held in Cuttack. In addition to this, he also said that the SIT is hopeful
that the amount will rise substantially in coming days.
Justice Pasayat also informed that the committee will submit its sixth report to the
Apex court in the first week of April 2017.
He said, that on the SITs recommendation, the Government has already declared
that cash transaction beyond Rs 3 lakh is to be treated as illegal and punishable.
The meeting assumes significance as it was held for the first time after demonetisation
undertaken by the Union government.
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Key highlights of the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017
Section 5 of the Act bars any person from knowingly or voluntarily, holding,
transferring or receiving any specified bank note after the expiry of grace period.
However, a person can hold not more than ten notes in total, irrespective of the
denomination. Up to twenty-five notes can be held, if it is for the purposes of
study, research or numismatics.
Section 7 of the Act states that whoever contravenes the provisions of Section 5
shall be punishable with fine, which may extend to ten thousand rupees or five
times the amount of the face value of the specified bank notes involved in the
contravention, whichever is higher.
The Act states that, whoever knowingly and wilfully makes any declaration or
statement specified under Sub-Section (1) of Section 4, which is false in material
particulars, or omits to make a material statement, or makes a statement which he
does not believe to be true, shall be punishable with fine, which may extend to
fifty thousand rupees or five times the amount of the face value of the specified
bank notes tendered, whichever is higher.
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75 Economy | www.jagranjosh.com
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With this, the Union Government can now take these two Bills to the Parliament for
their passage in the Budget Session.
A taxpayer needs to file one single return state-wise to report all his supplies,
whether made within or outside the State or exported out of the country and
pay the applicable taxes on them.
In order to prevent cascading of taxes, ITC would be admissible on all goods and
services used in the course or furtherance of business, except on a few items
listed in the Law.
In the Services sector, the existing mechanism of Input Service Distributor (ISD)
under the Service Tax law is retained to allow the flow of ITC in respect of input
services within a legal entity.
In order to provide certainty in tax matters, a provision has been made for an
Advance Ruling Authority.
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The approval was given at a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
Indian traders will have access to fast, easy, reliable and hassle free international
system for movement of goods by road or multi-modal means across the
territories of other contracting parties.
Customs clearance can take place at internal Customs locations, thereby avoiding
clearances at border crossing points and ports that may often be congested.
Movement under the TIR can be allowed by checking only the seals and the
external conditions of the load compartment or the container.
This procedure will reduce border delays, transport and transaction costs, thereby
leading to increased competitiveness and growth of the trade and transport
sectors.
Compliance with the Convention shall ensure enhanced security in the supply
chain as only approved transporters and vehicles are allowed to operate in terms
of the Convention.
As the TIR Carnet represents a guarantee for Customs duties and taxes and traffic
in transit, there is no need for payment of such taxes and duties en route.
The TIR carnet also serves as a Customs declaration, and hence it precludes the
need to file multiple declarations satisfying national laws of the different transiting
countries.
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77 Economy | www.jagranjosh.com
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These 50 airports and airstrips will be revived in three financial years starting from
2017-18. The total cost of the project is estimated to be 4500 crore rupees.
The approval was granted at the CCEA meet held in New Delhi under the chairmanship
of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Revival in the financial year 2018-19: 15 airports and airstrips each would be
revived
Revival in the financial year 2019-20: 20 airports and airstrips each would be
revived
The revival of airstrips and airports will be demand driven, depending upon the
firm commitment from airline operators as well as from the State Governments for
providing various concessions as Airports will be developed without insisting on
financial viability.
Background
The plan of the revival of the under-served and un-served airports from across the
nation was announced by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget 2016-17.
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Earlier in 2016, the Union Government unveiled its ambitious regional connectivity
scheme, UDAN ('Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik'). The scheme was announced to make flying
more affordable by capping the fares at Rs 2500 for one-hour flights.
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The best part of the revamped trade mark rules is that the number of Trade Mark
(TM) forms has been brought down to eight from existing 74. Commerce and Industry
Ministry said, the fee for online filing has been kept at 10 per cent lower than that for
physical filing, this will help the government to promote e-filing of trade mark applications.
79 Economy | www.jagranjosh.com
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The modalities for service of documents from applicants to the registry and vice-
versa through electronic means have been introduced; this will help in expediting
the process.
E-mail has been made an essential part of the address for service to be provided
by the applicant or any party to the proceedings so that the office communication
may be sent through email.
Earlier in January 2017, the examination time for the TM application was brought
down to 1 month from the previous time period of 13 months. TM filings went up by 35 per
cent in 2015-16 vis a vis the previous year.
It is expected that the new rules will give a boost to the Intellectual Property Regime
in India.
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The regulator mentioned that as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the
amount transferred from recognised provident or superannuation fund to NPS was not
treated as income for the current year and hence it is not taxable.
Key Highlights
As per the rules, funds transferred from Provident Fund to the National Pension
System will not be taxable.
The transferred recognised provident fund or the superannuation fund will not be
treated as contribution of the current year by employee or employer and
accordingly the subscriber cannot make income tax claim of contribution for this
transferred amount.
Any subscriber interested in such a transfer should have an active NPS Tier I
account.
The NPS Tier I account can be opened either through the employer (where NPS is
implemented) or through the points-of-presence (POPs) or online through eNPS on
the NPS Trust website.
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The recognised provident fund or the superannuation fund trust may then initiate
transfer of the fund as per the provisions of the trust deed read with the
provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
The return on NPS for central government employees for one year comes out to be
15.9 per cent while for five years it stands at 11 per cent.
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That lag was stimulated by an extraordinary increase in bank lending since 2008
when the Chinese government unleashed aggressive monetary and fiscal stimulus
to soften the impact of the global crisis.
Data show that Chinese bank assets hit USD 33 trillion at the end of 2016, versus
USD 31 trillion for the eurozone.
Also, the value of Chinas banking system is more than 3.1 times the size of the
countrys annual economic output, while it is 2.8 times for the eurozone and its
banks.
It was also noted that, unlike in developed markets, Chinese local governments
have relied heavily on bank loans to finance infrastructure.
81 Economy | www.jagranjosh.com
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Banking in China
China's banking system has
undergone significant changes
in the last 20 years.
The central bank of China is the People's Bank of China, which formulates and
implements monetary policy.
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The app can be download only by the link sent to the merchants mobile number after e-KYC
verification of merchants account number. To get the app, the merchants are required to
visit the nearest branch of IDFC bank.
Aadhar Pay App was developed by the IDFC Bank along with UIDAI and National
Payments Corporation of India.
While, a customer, who wants to make payment, just needs to enter his Aadhar
Number in the app of the merchant and select the bank from which the payment is
to be made and use the biometric scan as the password for the transaction.
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Upon entering the Aadhar Number, the app will automatically fetch the bank
accounts linked with your Aadhar number.
Customers will not require any app or password to pay to merchants against any
purchase.
However, only the bank account holders whose Aadhar number is linked with their
bank account will be eligible to make payments through Aadhar Pay Payment app.
The merchants will be required to connect their bank accounts and register
themselves on the app.
Comment
The IDFC Aadhar Pay App will help eliminate the long waiting period and hassle of
getting a new PoS (Point of Sale) machine. Presently, there are only 15 lakh PoS machines
deployed by the banks across the country. SBI alone has deployed over 3 lakh PoS followed
by HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.
Customers will not be required to carry debit or credit cards, download mobile
applications or even carry a mobile to make cashless transactions through this app. This
simply eliminates the hassles of remembering passwords, account numbers or setting up
virtual payment addresses to transfer money.
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Earlier the last date was 28th February 2017. An official release said, members and
pensioners of the EPS are required to furnish Aadhaar number by the end of March 2017.
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An official release said, members and pensioners of the EPS are required to furnish
Aadhaar number by the end of this month.
The Aadhaar-based digital life certificate named Jeevan Pramaan was launched for
pensioners in November 2014. This certificate was launched with an aim to help crore of
pensioners in getting the benefits of pension by producing life certificates each year in a
digital instead of the physical life certificate.
Before the launch of this digital life certificate, the pensioners were supposed to
present themselves before the Pension Disbursing Agency or used to submit a Life
Certificate issued by authorities specified by the Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO).
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Key Highlights
New KVs will be opened from classes I to V for which 650 regular posts shall be
created in all 50 Kendriya Vidyalayas.
When the school will grow up to class XII and becomes a full-fledged school with
two sections in each class, then about 4000 regular posts of various categories will
be created including 2900 teaching posts and about 1100 non-teaching posts.
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When fully functional, these new KVs will provide quality education to
approximately 50000 students in addition to the approximately 12 lakh students
that are already studying in present KVs.
The new KVs will address the educational needs of eligible students with high
quality standards and will play a role of pace-setting educational institutions in the
districts concerned.
Background
The Kendriya Vidyalayas are considered as model schools in the country in terms
of physical infrastructure, teaching resources, curriculum and academic
performance.
At present, there are over 1100 functional Kendriya Vidyalayas including three
international branches at Moscow, Kathmandu and Tehran.
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85 Economy | www.jagranjosh.com
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Its business interests involve the entire hydrocarbon value-chain including refining,
pipeline transportation, marketing of petroleum products, exploration and
production of crude oil and gas and marketing of natural gas and petrochemicals.
The company accounts for nearly half of India's petroleum products market share
and 35 per cent of the national refining capacity.
Having set up subsidiaries in Sri Lanka, Mauritius and the UAE, the corporation is
simultaneously scouting for new business opportunities in the energy markets of
Asia and Africa.
It has also formed about 20 joint ventures, including Lubrizol India Private Limited
(LIPL), with reputed business partners from India and abroad to pursue diverse
business interests.
The LIPL was formed a joint venture between the IndianOil and the Lubrizol
Corporation.
It manufactures products like additives for engine oils and other transportation-
related fluids, additives for industrial lubricants and additives for gasoline and
diesel fuel.
Lubrizol also makes ingredients and additives for personal care products,
pharmaceuticals and medical devices and specialty materials.
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This loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) of World
Bank will have a 6-year grace period and a maturity of 23 years.
The project is aimed at assisting the institutions in reducing the vulnerability to
recurring flood and droughts.
For the first time, under HP-I and HP-II, real-time flood forecast systems integrated
with weather forecast in Krishna and Satluj-Beas river systems will give reservoir
managers an accurate picture of the water situation in their region.
Apart from benefitting the states in further upgrading and completing their
monitoring networks, it will also help new states to better manage water flows
from the reservoirs.
National Flood Forecasting Systems with an advance warning system and reservoir
operation systems as well as water resources accounting in river basins will be
included under the project.
It will have the potential to help communities to build resilience against possible
uncertainties of climate change.
It will also help the states to monitor all the important aspects of the hydro-
meteorological cycle and adopt the procedures to measure how much rain or
snow has fallen right in the catchments of rivers, how much silt has built up, and
how much water will reach the reservoir.
Sensors in the field will instantly transmit this information to data centres through
satellite or mobile phone technology to form a clear picture of the water situation
unfolding in the region.
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87 Economy | www.jagranjosh.com
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On the other hand, IGST Bill makes provisions for levy and collection of tax on
inter-state supply of goods or services or both by the Union Government.
The UTGST Bill makes provisions for levy on collection of tax on intra-UT supply of
goods and services in the Union Territories without legislature.
Union Territory GST is akin to States Goods and Services Tax (SGST), which shall be
levied and collected by the States and Union Territories on intra-state supply of
goods or services or both.
The Compensation Bill provides for compensation to the states for loss of revenue
arising on account of implementation of the goods and services tax for a period of
five years as per section 18 of the Constitution (One Hundred and First
Amendment) Act, 2016.
All the above four bills were approved by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council
after thorough and clause by clause discussion in the last six months.
The Act, amended various provisions of the constitution in order to pave the way
for the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) across the country.
As per Article 279A (1) of the amended Constitution, the GST Council has to be
constituted by the President within 60 days of the commencement of Article 279A.
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The Council is the apex body that takes decisions on all important decisions related
to the GST, including items and rates.
The Union Minister of State, in-charge of the Revenue in the Finance Ministry, and
the Minister in-charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by
each State Government are the members of the council.
As per the previous decision of the council, the GST will be rolled out on 1 July
2017.
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Its asset base after the merger with its associate banks will be about Rs 37 lakh
crore (about Rs 37 trillion or USD 555 billion).
It will have 22500 branches and 58000 ATMs across India and the world.
This number of branches and ATMs will help the bank in handling its customer
base which will be more than 50 crores in numbers.
Post merger, the employees of all associate banks, with exceptions, will become
employees of SBI. Exceptions will be of the board of directors and executive
trustees of the associate banks.
At present, SBI has about 20000 branches of which 191 are foreign offices across 36
countries. Of the five subsidiary banks, only SBBJ, SBM and SBT are listed.
Besides, the union government on the day of RBIs notification announced that the
Bharatiya Mahila Bank will also be merged with SBI.
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91 Economy | www.jagranjosh.com
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REPORT | SURVEY
Digital payments industry to hit USD500
billion by 2020: Google-BCG study
The Digital Payments 2020 report said that digital
payment industry in India is expected to reach USD 500
billion by 2020. The USD 500 billion accounts for about 15
per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
The estimates say digital technology in India will influence up to 45 per cent of all
retail sales by 2025.
It says that the non-cash transactions will exceed cash transactions by 2023.
It says that the about 81 per cent of the existing users of the digital payments
prefer it over other methods of non-cash payments.
IT highlights that the 90 per cent Indian consumers will be using digital payment
mode for both online as well as offline points of sale in fields.
It says that over 60 per cent of digital payment value will be contributed by offline
points like unorganised eateries, transport and retail among others.
Besides, the report counts on union governments plan to develop 100 smart cities
across India as well as Digital India. Digital India aims at increasing the optical fibre network
to thousands of villages where two-third of the population lives. In addition, the report also
appreciates the country for the use of mobile and digital technologies for creating educated
as well as digitally literate user base.
Report Methodology
The report was prepared on the basis of a qualitative and quantitative research
executed by Nielsen. The insights of the research were combined with Google and BCGs
industry intelligence as well as BCGs proprietary sizing model.
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The survey is based on information collected from 6 lakh households, 1.3 lakh men
and 7 lakh women. This is the first time that the data is providing district level estimates.
The report suggests that there has been a decline in the infant mortality and
improvement was visible in the sex ratio with more institutional deliveries and wider
vaccine coverage. The survey also says Children within the age of 12-23 months have been
fully immunised (BCG, measles and 3 doses each of polio).
Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): It declined to 41 per 1000 from 51 per 1000 live births
between NFHS-3 which was conducted in 2005-06. The report says that the IMR declined by
more than 20 percentage points in West Bengal, Tripura, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan and
Arunachal Pradesh. IMR during the NFHS-1 (1992-93) was recorded as 79 per 1000 live
births.
Total Fertility Rate: Total Fertility Rate also declined to 2.2 children per woman from
2.7 in NFHS-3 with considerable decline in the TFR in each of the 30 states with the
maximum decline observed in Uttar Pradesh at 1.1 child followed by Nagaland at 1.0 child,
Bihar, however, failed to register substantial decline. Bihar, however, failed to register
substantial decline.
Besides, the supplementary nutrition and efforts at the health facilities have helped in
decreasing the cases of malnutrition. Mortality due to malnutrition has also seen the same
trend.
The ASICS 2016 evaluated 21 cities in 18 States across India and objectively assessed
their ability to provide citizens a high quality of life.
Pune came in at second, up two ranks over 2015 and Kolkata, third, same as 2015.
The biggest gainer is Bhubaneswar. It was up by eight ranks and stood at the 10th
position.
This was on the back of a slew of reforms such as instituting municipal cadres,
tiered spatial planning even at the ward level and a single window clearance
process for development projects in conformity with plans.
Jaipur benefited from the passage of the Rajasthan Urban Land (Certification of
Titles) Bill that enabled better urban land utilization.
As per the ASICS 2016, Chennai lost points as it turned back to the system of
having indirect mayoral elections.
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The state forest department of Himachal Pradesh was one of the participants of the
four-day long event. Himachal Forest Department has been participating in the eBird event
the since 2013.
These 564 species is nearly 45 per cent of the 1263 species found in whole
country.
Till date, 2833 bird check lists have been uploaded to e-Bird from all districts of
Himachal Pradesh with highest number of 453 bird species reported from the
Kangra district only.
The data was contributed by nearly 50 bird watchers including staff of the
Himachal Forest Department and volunteers.
GBBC 2017 engaged bird watchers from the general public in the counting of birds.
The event/initiative that ran from 17 February to 20 February 2017 was headed by SK
Sharma, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Wildlife.
The event was coordinated by the bird count India partnership, a coming-together of a
number of Indian groups and organisation that are interested in birds, nature and
conservation. A detailed report is in preparation and will be published shortly.
eBird is a website for recording and maintaining the bird sighting data and is based at
the Cornell University s Laboratory of Ornithology.
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Key highlights
Diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia are the most common causes of death among
children aged 1 month to 5 years. The reports state that these causes are
preventable access to safe water and clean cooking fuels.
Every year, 570000 children under 5 years die from respiratory infections
attributable to indoor and outdoor air pollution and second-hand smoke.
Each year, 270000 children die during their first month of life from conditions,
including prematurity. These conditions can be easily prevented through
sanitation, hygiene in health facilities, access to clean water and reducing air
pollution.
Malaria is responsible for 200000 deaths of children under 5 years annually. These
deaths could be prevented through environmental actions, like reducing breeding
sites of mosquitoes or covering drinking-water storage.
Every year, 361000 children under 5 years die due to diarrhoea, as a result of poor
access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene.
200000 children under 5 years die each year from unintentional injuries
attributable to the environment, such as poisoning, falls and drowning.
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The only non-European cities in the top ten are Auckland (New Zealand) and
Vancouver (Canada). They were placed at the 3rd and 5th position respectively.
The survey also includes a city infrastructure ranking that assesses each citys
supply of electricity, drinking water, telephone and mail services.
Singapore tops the city infrastructure ranking, followed by Frankfurt and Munich.
Baghdad (230) and Port au Prince (231) rank last for city infrastructure.
In the infrastructure rankings, Mumbai was ranked the highest at 141, which was
followed by Kolkata (149) and Pune (151).
About Mercer
Mercer is a global consulting leader in talent, health, retirement and investments.
Mercer helps clients around the world advance the health, wealth and careers of
their most vital asset their people.
Mercers more than 20,000 employees are based in 43 countries and the firm
operates in over 140 countries.
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The rankings showed that the number of women Heads of State or Heads of
Government fell from 19 to 17 since 2015, and progress in the number of women in
parliament continues to be slow.
The report was launched on the sidelines of the 61st Commission on the Status of
Women, known as the largest inter-governmental forum on women's rights and gender
equality. For 2017, the theme is on women's economic empowerment in the changing world
of work.
As per the report, women made up 11.8% of the Lok Sabha where 64 were elected
to the 542-member house and 11% of the Rajya Sabha with 27 of the 245
members.
India ranked 88 in the number of women Ministers with five or 18.5 per cent in the
cabinet. However, women hold important positions. For instance, Sumitra
Mahajan is the Speaker and Sushma Swaraj is the Union External Affairs Minister.
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International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 2017 observed globally
Key Highlights
Norway was ranked one in spite of
the weakening of oil prices.
All the countries in the top ten were found to have high values in all six key
variables used to define happiness differences among countries including income,
freedom, life expectancy, generosity, social support and the absence of corruption
in business and government.
Though money is not the only measure to define happiness, all the countries
featured in the top 10 are affluent and developed.
The differences in happiness levels in the wealthier countries, in fact, had a lot to
do with differences in physical and mental health and personal relationships.
The countries that ranked the lowest on the list include Rwanda at 151, Syria at
152, Tanzania at 153, Burundi at 154 and the Central African Republic at 155.
While Pakistan was ranked 80, Nepal stood at 99, Bhutan at 97, Bangladesh at 110
and Sri Lanka at 120.
Maldives didnt figure at all in the list and only the war-torn Afghanistan was
ranked lower than India at 141.
Another Indias neighbour, China, which has shown tremendous growth in its
economy lately, featured very low on the list at 79. The report reveals that people
in China are not any happier than they were 25 years ago.
The United States also slipped to number 14 due to factors like less social support
and increasing corruption rate.
The World Happiness report was released by the United Nations at an event on 20
March 2017, celebrating the International Day of Happiness. It is the fifth such report since
the release of the first one in 2012.
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The top three in the list are Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Jeff Bezos.
Warren Buffett had the second-best year. His USD 14.8 billion jump in 12 months
was enough for him to get him 2nd spot in the list.
Amazons Jeff Bezos had the best year as it added USD 27.6 billion to his fortune
making the total fortune of USD 72.8 billion. He was ranked at third position in the
list.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg moved up to number five position for the first
time, after his fortune rose to USD 56 billion.
Meanwhile, Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico, once the worlds richest man, fell to
number six. It was the first time that Carlos is out of the top five in a dozen years.
Mainland China had the most new ten-figure fortunes with 76 billionaires. The US
was the second with 25 billionaires.
John Collison, age 26, is now the worlds youngest self-made billionaire, just two
months younger than Snapchats Evan Spiegel.
US President Donald Trumps ranked at No 544 on the list, with a net worth of USD
3.5 billion.
There are 15 new self-made women, all but one of whom are from Asia Pacific.
That includes 10 from China and the first ever from Vietnam Nguyen Thi Phuong
Thao, who took her airline VietJet Air public in February 2017.
The sole American self-made woman newcomer is Thai Lee, who was born in
Thailand but moved to the US as a child and now runs tech reseller SHI, reportedly
the nations largest woman-owned business by sales.
The US continues to have more billionaires than any other nation with a record
565 billionaires. China is catching up with 319. Germany has the third spot most
billionaires with 114 number. India fetched fourth spot with 101 billionaires, the
first time it has had more than 100 billionaires.
Seventy-eight people fell off the list including 33 from China, 7 Americans and 9
who are still super wealthy but share their wealth among extended family
members.
Additionally, 20 billionaires died in the past year, including Enterprise car rental
founder Jack Taylor.
With a net worth of USD 23.2 billion, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance
Industries Ltd (RIL), is the highest-ranked Indian in the list at Number 33.
Mukesh is followed by Lakshmi Mittal at No 56 with USD 16.4 billion fortune; Azim
Premji at No 72 with USD 14.9 billion worth; Dilip Shanghvi at No 84 with USD 13.7
billion worth.
There are nearly 20 people of Indian-origin who have made fortunes in various
nations across the world led by UK-based Hinduja brothers who are ranked 64th
with USD 15.4 billion net worth.
The list includes only four women billionaires from India led by Savitri Jindal and
her family at the 303rd position with a net worth of USD 5.2 billion.
Smita Crishna-Godrej from the Godrej clan is ranked 814th followed by Biocon
founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw at 973rd position and Leena Tewari at No 1030.
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Among the 188 countries ranked in terms of human development, India stood at 131,
a rank below its previous 130. Indias human development index (HDI) value of 0.624 puts it
in the medium human development category alongside Pakistan and other countries such
as Congo and Namibia.
Only two SAARC nations rank above India in the list, Sri Lanka (73) and Maldives (105),
both of which figure in the high human development category.
Key Highlights
The top three countries in the list include Norway at rank 1 with an HDI of 0.949,
followed by Australia (0.939) and Switzerland (0.939).
Norway, which was recently adjudged to be the happiest nation in the world going
by the World happiness report, clinched the top spot in this report as well.
The HDI value is a measure for assessing the progress in the three basic
dimensions of human development, a long and healthy life, access to knowledge
and the access to a decent standard of living.
According to the HDR, 1.5 million people across the world still live in
multidimensional poverty and almost 54% among them are concentrated in South
Asia.
The report revealed that while there was a significant drop in poverty from 1990
to 2015, there has been a rise in inequalities in the region.
Though women were noted to have lower HDI than men all across the world,
South Asia was reported to have the largest gender disparity with female HDI
value 20% lower than the male HDI value.
South Asia also has been reported to have the highest levels of malnutrition in the
world and the lowest public health expenditure as a percentage of the GDP (1.6%
of GDP in 2014).
Indias public health expenditure was reported to be even lower, at 1.4 % of the
GDP.
However, life expectancy in the country has improved by 10.4 years between 1990
and 2015 and child malnutrition has also declined by 10 percentage points.
The study also revealed that there has been a slight decline in infant and under-
five mortality rates.
Besides this, the report praised Indias reservation policy saying that it had substantial
positive effects despite the fact that it had not resolved the caste-based exclusions. It also
called the national rural employment guarantee programme of India a prime example of
combining social protection with appropriate employment strategies.
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CORPORATE
Bharti Airtel, Millicom International sign agreement to combine
operations in Ghana
Bharti Airtel and Millicom International Cellular SA on 3 March 2017 signed an
agreement to combine operations in Ghana. The agreement was signed between Tigo
Ghana Limited, subsidiary of Millicom and Airtel Ghana Limited, subsidiary of Airtel.
Airtel Ghana contributes around 6-7 per cent to Bharti Airtels Africa revenue which
totaled close to USD 900 million for the July-September quarter in 2016.
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Apart from this, the largest lender of India also urged to farmers to contact their
branch for details and benefits.
The scheme will also cover other agricultural loans like Kisan credit cards and other
term loans for tractors and farm loans
Besides, Rajnish Kumar, the Managing director of the bank, told a news channel that
the scheme will help the bank in taking 40 per cent haircut on outstanding tractor loans as
of September 2016. He also informed that a circular in this regard was sent to branches on 2
February 2017.
At present, SBI's total farm loan portfolio is Rs 1.25 Lakh Crore and tractor loan book is
about Rs 6000 crore.
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The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Guenter Butschek, CEO &
MD of Tata Motors, Matthias Mueller, CEO of Volkswagen AG and Bernhard Maier, CEO of
Skoda Auto.
As part of the MoU, the Skoda Auto will take the lead on behalf of the Volkswagen
Group to drive forward work towards development of vehicle concepts in the
economy segment.
In the next few months, Tata Motors and SKODA Auto, representing the
Volkswagen Group, will detail out the guiding principles and terms of cooperation
under the agreement.
After the successful completion of definitive agreements, the two parties will start
joint development work and joint value-chain activities.
Based on this joint work, Tata Motors will launch products in the Indian market in
2019.
Tata Motors has operations in the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa and
Indonesia through its subsidiaries and associate companies. Among them is Jaguar
Land Rover, the business comprising the two iconic British brands.
At present, Tata Motors is the countrys market leader in commercial vehicles and
among the top in passenger vehicles.
Tata cars, buses and trucks are being marketed in several countries in Europe,
Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, South America, Australia, CIS
and Russia.
The Group comprises twelve brands from seven European countries, namely,
Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Audi, SEAT, SKODA, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini,
Porsche, Ducati, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Scania and MAN.
The group operates 120 production plants in 20 European countries and a further
11 countries in the Americas, Asia and Africa.
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The pact was signed to provide the merchants with seamless access to the Point of
Sale (POS) and the payment gateway products.
The partnership will help merchants to have speedier and more direct access to POS
machines, payment gateways and competitive financing options.
The pact also asks the two parties to cooperate and benefit from each others
networks, customers, systems, techniques and expertise for the purpose of enhancing
customers experience.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley officially inaugurated the bank on 24 August
2015 in Kolkata.
Initially, it opened with 501 branches, 50 ATMs and 2022 Door step Service
Centres across the country.
At present, it has 3383 touch points pan India consisting of 744 bank branches,
2371 Doorstep Service Centres and 268 ATMs.
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This merger will lead to the creation of the country's largest telecom entity with about
400 million customers.
The merger will also help the company in holding 35 per cent market share as well as
41 per cent revenue market share.
Aditya Birla Group will have right to buy 9.5 per cent stake in the new entity.
Under the terms of the agreement, the merger should be completed within 24
months.
On the other hand, the appointment of CEO and COO will require an approval of
both the companies.
The entity or the combined entity will be jointly controlled by Aditya Birla Group
and Vodafone.
Idea Cellular in a statement said, "Upon the amalgamation of becoming effective, the
entire business of VIL and VMSL (excluding VIL's investment in Indus Towers) will vest in the
company.
The board of the combined entity will have 12 directors including 3 directors
appointed by each of Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone. Promoters of the two firms will have
the right to nominate 3 directors each.
Reports suggest that Vodafone and Idea began talks for a possible merger in late
January 2017.
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COMMITTEES | COMMISSIONS
Reserve Bank constituted Inter-disciplinary
Standing Committee on Cyber Security
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 28 February 2017 constituted an inter-disciplinary
standing committee on cyber security. The committee will review the threats inherent in the
existing and emerging technology.
R. Vittal Raj, Founder and Partner, M/s. Kumar & Raj, Chartered Accountants
The notification of RBI says that the committee is free to co-opt more experts in this
area. It can also operate through a framework of sub-committees, if required, to examine
specific issues.
Earlier on 2 June 2016, RBI issued guidelines to banks mandating cyber security
preparedness for addressing cyber risks. The guidelines were issued on the basis of the
recommendations of the Expert Panel on Cyber Security and Information Technology
Examination chaired by Meena Hemchandra.
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To promote rental housing and working Women Hostels for the benefit of
migrants, the panel has suggested the use of the underutilised construction
workers welfare cess fund.
It suggests that the state government should be asked to include migrant children
in the Annual Work Plans under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) to uphold their
Right to Education.
It suggests that banks should be enabled to adhere to the RBI guidelines regarding
the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms while opening the bank accounts of the
migrants. It should not ask for documents that are not required.
The working group also suggested that the vast network of post offices should be
made effective as it will help in reducing the cost of transfer of money to avoid
informal remittances.
According to the latest economic survey, the annual migration in the country has
increased to 90 lakh in 2016 from 33 lakh in 2011. The group said that as per data of
National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) and Census 2011 migrants constitute about 30
per cent of the countrys population and the total working force.
Urban development Minister Venkaiah Naidu has asked Ministry officials to send the
report to all concerned ministries and convene a meeting on further course of action.
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The conference was organised by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to
mark the International Womens Day to deliberate upon various issues for encouraging
more and more women to take up sports.
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Background
The Committee was appointed on 5 April 2016.
Recently in the first week of March 2017, the Supreme Court directed the
committee to oversee and monitor the progress of Indo-Bangladesh border
fencing carried out by the Union Government. The top court also asked the panel
to submit its report in four months.
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Now, these firms are taking steps to modernise their wireline and wireless
networks.
The panel was informed about phase 7 and 8 network expansion plan for BSNL.
In the case of MTNL, the DoT informed that due to financial crunch, the firm was
not able to upgrade its GSM and landline network for the last three-four years. But
at present, it is exploring Managed Service Model with BSNL for its mobile
services.
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DEFENCE | SECURITY
Indian Navy concluded Theatre Level Exercise Tropex 2017
The Indian Navys Annual
Theatre Level Readiness and
Operational Exercise (TROPEX
17) concluded on 23 February
2017. The Exercise, which
commenced on 24 January
2017, was conducted on the
Western Seaboard.
The aim of the exercise was to test the various facets of war-fighting and joint combat
capabilities of the armed forces to respond to given threat situations.
The exercise was conducted in phases. The Joint Work Up Phase saw several weapon
firings by ships, submarines and aircraft from the Indian Navy and the Air Force.
The 2017 edition of TROPEX also included the conduct of large scale Out of Area
Contingency in island territory, which saw participation of all three services and their
special forces.
The TROPEX 2017 concluded with Tactical Phase conducted over 10 days, and witnessed
intense action by both the opposing forces.
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With Prithvi in its armour, India has become the fourth country in the world to have a
ballistic missile defence program.
The other three countries which have developed a similar ballistic missile defence
system include the US, Russia and Israel.
It uses a single state, twin-engine liquid propulsion system and strap-down inertial
guidance with real-time software.
These features are incorporated in the on board computer to achieve the desired
accuracy during impact.
Compared to any equivalent class of missiles in the world, Prithvi has a higher
lethal effect.
Prithvi is a unique missile as it has a high manoeuverable trajectory and high level
capability with field interchangeable warheads.
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The High Nitrogen Steel (HNS) technology is a step forward towards Armys quest for
lighter and high-performance armouring material as compared to materials that are used at
present. Apart from its use in Armys armouring, HNS has the potential of being used in
numerous civilian applications.
Minister of State for Defence, Dr Subhash Bhamre who congratulated both DRDO and
DMRL for the achievement also called upon both public as well as private Industries and
Ordnance Factories to use this material extensively in their products.
About High Nitrogen Steel
HNS is tough material and has good strength.
This material has the potential for a number of defence and civil applications like
armouring, mine trawls, oil industries among others.
At present, the HNS technology is available with very few countries of the world.
Jindal Stainless Group has an annual crude steel capacity of 1.8 MTPA and the group
has an annual turnover of Rs 14500 crores.
required for modern sophisticated warfare weapons systems. Over the years, the
Laboratory has acquired a special status as a premier centre for R&D in metals, alloys,
ceramic and composites.
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While INS Kalvari is designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS,
they are being manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai.
All six Kalvari class submarines being built in India will be equipped with anti-ship
missiles.
These missiles will provide the submarines the ability to neutralise surface threats
at extended ranges and boost Indias maritime security.
The following are some of the recent measures undertaken by the Indian Navy and
the Government to boost coastal security.
On 21 February 2017, the Ministry of Defence gave its in-principle approval to set
up 38 radar stations to boost surveillance of the countrys 7,517 km long coastline.
On 3 February 2017, the Vice Admiral and Western Naval Command Chief Girish
Luthra inaugurated an Integrated Under Water Harbour Defence and Surveillance
System (IUHDSS) for the Indian Navy in Mumbai.
Indian Coast Guard Ship ICGS AYUSH was commissioned on 18 February 2017 in
Kochi, Kerala.
The fast patrol vessel (FPV) is fitted with state-of- the-art navigational and
communication equipment including Integrated Bridge System (IBS) and
Machinery Control System (MCS).
The Indian Navys second ocean going sailboat Tarini was inducted on 18 February
2017.
INSV Tarini is a sloop built by M/s Aquarius Shipyard Pvt Ltd at Divar, Goa.
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Indian Navy successfully test-fired Anti-Ship Missile from Kalvari Class Submarine
The radar provides fast, automatic and accurate location of all enemy weapons like
mortars, shells and rockets firing within in its effective zone of coverage.
The system is capable of adjusting the fire of our own artillery weapon also.
The weapon includes 81mm or higher calibre mortars, 105mm or higher calibre
shells and 120mm or higher calibre free flying rockets.
Thus WLR has two roles to perform - Weapon Location Mode for enemy artillery
and Direction of Own artillery Fire (DOOAF) Mode for our own artillery.
INMAS has carried out extensive research and laboratory trials in the past two
decades to develop formulations for use as antidotes and de-corporating agents
for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) emergencies.
Out of the several formulas developed by INMAS, 15 drugs have been identified
for induction.
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Key Highlights
INS Viraat is the longest serving
aircraft carrier in the Indian
naval fleet. It was
commissioned into the Indian
Navy on 12 May 1987.
It will be retiring after serving the country for nearly three decades.
The event would witness the lowering and wrap-up of the naval flag installed on
the warship at sunset.
It was commissioned as the Royal British Navys HMS Hermes in 1959 and
decommissioned in 1984.
It was sold to India in 1987 and served the navy for 27 years.
The ship sailed for the last time under its own power in July 2016 from Mumbai to
Kochi where it was dry-docked and prepared for decommissioning.
India's first aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant sold for 60 crore rupees
Though the historic ships ultimate fate is still undecided, there is a possibility that it
may be turned into a museum to preserve it as a relic of maritime history forever. The
Ministry of Defence is, however, yet to take a final decision, as converting the carrier into a
museum would require an investment of about 1000 Cr besides the daily running cost.
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North Korea on 6 March 2017 fired four banned ballistic missiles into the sea off
Japans northwest coast, alarming both Japan and South Korea. The move came days after
the nuclear-armed country promised retaliation over the large-scale military exercise
launched jointly by the United States and South Korea to test their defence alertness, which
it viewed as a preparation for war against it.
The launch hence has angered and alerted the entire international community,
especially the United States and Japan, both of whom requested UNSC to hold the
emergency meeting.
Key Highlights
The emergency meeting is scheduled to begin from 10 am on 8 March.
The launches were the latest among the series of tests that violate UNs ban on
North Korea from developing missile technology.
While condemning the missile test, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres
urged North Korea to refrain from further such provocations.
According to South Korea, four missiles were fired from Tongchang County in the
North Pyongan province of North Korea into the sea of Japan.
Though South Koreas military stated that the missiles were unlikely to have been
intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) that can reach the United States, they flew on an
average of 1000 km and are reported to have reached an altitude of 260 km.
According to Tomomi Inada, Japans Defence minister, some of the missiles landed as
close as 300 km from Japan's northwest coast.
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Surya Kiran XI is the eleventh such battalion level exercise between the two nations. It
is aimed at training of troops in counter insurgency operations in mountainous terrain.
The Surya Kiran series of exercises are conducted annually, alternatively in Nepal and
India. Notably in the series of military training exercises undertaken by India with various
countries, Surya Kiran series with Nepal is the largest in terms of troops participation.
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INS Tillanchang is the third ship of four follow-on WJFAC built by the Garden Reach
Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Kolkata. The ship has been indigenously designed and
built and is an upgrade from the Chetlat class of Fast Attack Craft that the Indian Navy
possesses.
The first two ships of the class, INS Tihayu and INS Tarmugli, were commissioned in
2016 and are based at Visakhapatnam. During the speed trail, INS Tillanchang was able to
achieve the fastest speeds among all WJFACs.
INS Tillanchang
INS Tillanchang is about 50m long.
It is powered by three water jet propulsion system, which gives it speeds of over
35 knots.
The ship is armed with 30-mm main gun and a number of light, medium and heavy
machine guns to undertake operations at sea.
Tillanchang is an ideal platform for a number of missions like Coastal and Off-shore
Surveillance, Law Enforcement, EEZ Control as well as non-military missions such
as Humanitarian, Search and Rescue Assistance and Disaster Relief.
INS Tillanchang will be based at Karwar under the operational control of the Flag
Officer Commanding, Karnataka Naval Area.
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The MoU was signed on 10 March 2017 in the presence of Union Minister of State for
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Union Minister of State for
Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju in New Delhi.
During the event, Kiren Rijiju launched an an android based and in-house developed
mobile application MySSB.
It will help the personnel in resettlement through the generation of second career
option.
The MoU will establish a framework under which the dependents of SSB personnel
as well as locals, school dropouts, victims and potential victims of human
trafficking will also be benefited directly in the area or the region where SSB is
deployed.
Sectors like apparel, food processing, beauty and wellness, automotive, security
and sports will be given emphasis for the said programme.
It was established with the sole objective of achieving total security preparedness
in the remote border areas for performing a stay-behind role in the event of a
war.
Presently, SSB has been deployed with its mandate to guard 1751 kilometers of
Indo-Nepal and 699 kilometers of Indo-Bhutan borders.
The force is also active in Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh for anti-Naxal
operations (ANO) duties.
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The BrahMos is a multi-stage missile having a solid propellant in the first stage and
the ramjet liquid propellant in the second stage.
It operates on Fire and Forget Principle by adopting varieties of flights on its way
to the target.
It approaches the enemy target with a top speed of Mach 2.8, which is about three
times faster than the US subsonic Tomahawk Cruise Missile System.
The missile has been developed by the BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited.
The missile derives its name from the names of two rivers, namely the
Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.
While the navy and army versions of the missile were inducted in 2005 and 2007
respectively, the air version is still in the testing stage.
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Key Details
The 82 mm mortar shelling was initiated by the Pakistani troops on 12 March 2017
in Krishnagati sector along LoC in Poonch district.
The shelling was resumed after a brief cease-fire, targeting Indian posts and
civilian areas near the Line of Control.
The damaged administrative block houses the offices of Custodian cross-LoC trade,
excise department and security officials among others.
Apart from causing damage to its walls, the shelling blew off its tin sheet roof and
left holes in the equipment and infrastructure installed inside it.
Speaking on the damage caused, the Custodian of cross LoC trade Tanveer Ahmed said
that they are still assessing the damage and will take some time to restore the block and its
infrastructure. He further added that the trade would be initiated depending upon the
situation as other TFC offices were intact.
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Key Highlights
The warship, which was commissioned two years ago, is an Izumo helicopter
carrier.
It will be stopping over in Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka before
joining the Indian and US naval vessels for a joint naval exercise in the Indian
Ocean in July 2017.
The water of the South China Sea is disputed with China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam,
the Philippines and Brunei all claiming parts of it. While China claims almost all of the
disputed water, the other countries claim parts that have rich fishing grounds, oil and gas
deposits and through which around $5 trillion of global sea-borne trade passes each year.
Though Japan does not have any claim to the waters of the South China Sea, it does
have a separate maritime dispute with China in the East China Sea.
About JS Izumo
Based in Yokosuka, near to Tokyo, the warships primary mission is anti-submarine
warfare.
The 249m long carrier is as large as Japans World War II-era carriers and can
operate up to 9 helicopters.
While it resembles the assault carriers used by US Marines, it lacks their well deck
for launching and landing craft and other vessels.
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The 14-day joint exercise began on 6 March 2017 with an opening ceremony.
The aim of the exercise was to acquaint both forces with each others operating
procedures, improve the interoperability in conducting joint operations in the
backdrop of counter-insurgency and counter- terrorism environment.
The training contingents comprised of platoon strength from both the armies.
The exercise also sought to enhance the existing military relationship between the
Indian Army and the Royal Army of Oman.
During the exercise, the troops of the two armies shared expertise in counter-
insurgency and other operations in various terrains like snow-bound areas and
dense woods.
The exercise also demonstrated the determination of the two armies in working
closely with each other to eradicate the menace of terrorism in all its forms.
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mock village.
The EKTA SHAKTI Battalion of the Punjab Regiment of Indian Army and the DURGA
BAHSH Battalion of Nepalese Army participated in the joint military exercise.
The aim of the exercise was to train troops in counter insurgency operations and
enhance defence cooperation and military relations between the two countries.
The Surya Kiran XI provided an ideal platform for the personnel of the two armies
to share their experiences.
The training was conducted in the hills adjoining Pithoragarh to give a realistic
environ to the contingents to practice and rehearse drills.
It seeks to enhance defense cooperation and military relations between both the
countries.
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ENVIRONMENT | ECOLOGY
Seven new miniature frog species discovered in Western Ghats
A group of Indian scientists recently
discovered seven new miniature frog species
in the Western Ghats.
The study is titled Seven new species of Night Frogs from the Western Ghats
Biodiversity Hotspot of India, with remarkably high diversity of diminutive forms.
The study was published on 21 February 2017 in PeerJ, a peer-reviewed open access
journal.
Night Frogs belong to the Nyctibatrachus genus endemic to the Western Ghats and
represent an ancient group of frogs that diversified on the Indian landmass approximately
70 to 80 million years ago.
Out of the seven new species that have been discovered, five are facing
considerable anthropogenic threats and require immediate conservation
prioritisation.
Four out of seven of the new species are just sized 12.2-15.4 mm.
These species of frogs is exclusive to Western Ghats. They are locally abundant and
fairly common; however, they have probably been overlooked because of their
extremely small size, secretive habitats and insect-like calls.
As per the study, they were found under damp forest leaf litter or marsh
vegetation.
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The announcement was made by P.K. Chakrabarty, Assistant Director General (plant
protection and biosafety) of the ICAR.
Chakrabarty also announced that among such pests, nematodes had recently emerged
as a major threat to crops in the country and they caused loss of 60 million tonnes of crops
annually. Moreover, such large-scale crop-loss was having an adverse effect on the
agricultural biosafety which was paramount to food security.
Chakrabarty made the revelations at the XIII Annual Group Meeting of All India Co-
ordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Nematodes in Cropping System.
They can be difficult to distinguish. However, more than 25000 of their species
have been described, of which more than half are parasitic. Total number of
nematode species has been estimated to be about 1 million.
Nematodes have successfully adapted to nearly every ecosystem from marine (salt
water) to fresh water, to soils, and from the Polar Regions to the tropics. They
have also adapted to the highest to the lowest of elevations.
ICAR is the largest network of agricultural research and education institutes in the
world.
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Issuing the ban on the network, NTCA directed all chief wildlife wardens of all tiger
range states of India as well as field directors of tiger reserves to disallow filming permission
to BBC for five years. NTCA that governs all tiger reserves of India.
The documentary shot by Justin Rowlatt came into criticism from the union
environment ministry for being wrong. Through the documentary, Rowlatt claimed that
forest guards in Kaziranga were given powers to shoot and kill anyone they think was a
threat to rhinos. Through the documentary, the maker of the documentary said, this shoot-
at-sight policy led to the killing of some 23 people by forest guards.
The documentary was aired on 11 February 2017. Later on 14 February 2017, the
NTCA issued a notice to BBC against airing the programme without any approval. It also
threatened the network to cancel all future permits to BBC, if it fails to remove the
documentary from different online portals with immediate effect.
NTCA via a memorandum issued on 27 February 2017 said BBC had failed to submit
the documentary to Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and
Ministry of External Affairs for mandatory previewing. It would have helped the ministries to
remove the deviations and achieve a balanced and accurate exposition of the theme.
one-horned rhinoceroses. At present, the national park is a house of around 2400 one-
horned rhinos.
Besides, Kaziranga is also a home to the highest density of tigers among protecting
areas in the world. It was declared as a Tiger Reserve in 2006. It also houses several species
like elephants, swamp deer and wild water buffalo among others. The park was established
in 1905 as a reserve forest.
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The decision was taken by a bench of justices headed by NGT Chairperson Swatanter
Kumar. The ban will be imposed from Kaudiyala to Rishikesh in Uttarakhand.
Key Details
There are 33 beaches along the riverside of Ganga.
The NGT order follows a complaint by activist Vikrant Tongad who had moved the
tribunal against camping along the river.
Vikrant had contended that camping and river rafting, when done without any
regulations, would disturb the environment.
He also pointed out that camping along the riverside leads to pollution of the
water and the river bank, as campers often dispose of the waste in the river and
leave behind glass and plastic bottles on the banks.
Polluting of the Ganga water is a cause of concern for the Union government as well
and in fact, the cabinet minister of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga
Rejuvenation, Uma Bharti had set 2018 as the deadline to clean Ganga fully.
However, it is unlikely for the work to be completed by 2018. Main reasons for the
delay include the delay in clearances by the state government to execute the projects as
well as the intrusive questioning process of the NGT about the operating capacity of sewage
treatment plants in Uttar Pradesh.
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The MoU was signed by Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga U P Singh
and Vice Chairman of Rotary India P T Prabhakar.
As part of the MoU, the Rotary India will undertake activities and campaigns to create
awareness in schools and communities about Ganga rejuvenation and thereby reducing the
pollution flowing into the river.
The MoU is part of the Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and
Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bhartis efforts to involve voluntary organizations and NGOs into
the Namami Gange programme to make it a mass movement.
The Rotary India will sensitize all the stakeholders, including school children,
teachers, school management and communities on practicing positive health
behaviors for improving awareness on sanitation.
According to the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), the survey will help create
a baseline scientific data for the Centre to take suitable measures to improve the quality of
the river water.
Key Highlights
The first part of the census was launched on 1 March 2017 from Narora to Bijnor
stretch in Uttar Pradesh, which covers a distance of about 165 km.
The second part, which would cover a distance of about 250 km from Allahabad to
Varanasi, is expected to be launched later this week.
Along with this, another study to determine fish species composition in the 2,525
km long river has been launched from Harshil village in Uttarakhand. The survey is
being conducted through Wildlife Institute of India (WII) under the Namami Gange
programme.
Besides dolphins, the study would also help determine the number of ghariyals
and turtles in the river.
Apart from the population count, the study would also help in understanding the
distribution pattern of aquatic life in the river, the extent of threat they are facing
and their habitat conditions.
This is the first time that such a comprehensive and scientific study is being
conducted in the river. All the studies conducted prior to this were done in bits
and pieces.
After the completion of the study in the rivers mainstream, a similar census will
be carried out in its tributaries as well.
He further stated that the study would hence, help determine the stretches where
dolphin habitates, the conditions in that particular area and also the level of threat the
species are facing in a particular belt.
The NMCG chose the ongoing period for the study in order to avoid the possibility of
repeat count of animals, as due to the current low water level the population of animals
would be concentrated in certain pockets.
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The conference was inaugurated by Uma Bharti, the Union Minister for Water
Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. Also in attendance were Sanjeev
Kumar Baliyan and Vijay Goel, the Union ministers of state for Water Resources, River
Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
It aims to bring together all relevant existing and planned schemes of the
Government of India on one platform to achieve the objectives.
- To strengthen grass root involvement of all stakeholders including local bodies and
Panchayati Raj institutions in the water security and development schemes like Participatory
Irrigation Management (PIM).
- To utilize sector level expertise from different levels in the government, NGOs and
citizens.
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The discovery was published in the first week of March 2017 in the journal
called Nature.
The researchers systematically looked at the ways the tubes and filaments, made
of haematite, could have been made through non-biological methods. The
methods could be temperature and pressure changes in the rock during burial of
the sediments.
During the examination of the rocks, it was found that the mineralised fossils are
associated with spheroidal structures that usually contain fossils in younger rocks.
It suggests that the haematite most likely formed when bacteria that oxidised iron
for energy were fossilised in the rock.
The scientists estimate that the filaments and tubes inside centimetre-sized
structures called concretions or nodules, as well as other tiny spheroidal
structures, called rosettes and granules, are the products of putrefaction.
The Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt contains some of the oldest sedimentary rocks
known on Earth. It is most likely that these rocks formed part of an iron-rich deep-
sea hydrothermal vent system that provided a habitat for Earth's first life forms
between 3770 and 4300 million years ago.
The discovery supports the idea that life emerged from hot, seafloor vents shortly
after planet Earth formed.
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The portal was launched as a part of Ease of Doing Business module of the Union
Government.
The system will enable the project proponents and the concerned State and Union
Territory bodies like the State Coastal Zone Management Authorities (SCZMAs)
and Municipal and Town Planning agencies in tracking the status of their
proposals.
The system is based on web architecture similar to the existing systems in place for
according environmental and forest clearances.
It allocates a unique identity for each proposal for all future references.
It has common and standardised procedures and processes across all the Central
and State levels.
Other Initiatives
Apart from this, the Environment Ministry is also planning to launch few other
initiatives like the notification of High Tide Line/Low Tide Line (HTL/LTL), ecologically
sensitive areas falling under CRZ-1, hazard line etc.
All these initiatives will be aimed at minimising the discretions and enhancing
accountability at all the levels.
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The evidence was founding during a DNA analysis of a fossilised eggshell fragment of
ostrich. In the study, the researchers found 92% genetic similarity between the fossil
eggshell samples and Struthio camelus, species of ostrich found in Africa.
Key Highlights
This is the first time that molecular evidence indicating the presence of ostrich in
India was found in the eggshell fragments. The fragments have been studied
previously as well using morphological features but no sufficient proof could be
obtained then that confirmed the existence of the birds in the country.
The analysed samples have close similarities with the African ostrich species,
which indicates the movement of these birds between the two regions before the
Indian landmass drifted away from Africa.
The DNA was isolated from five samples and a tiny portion of a highly conserved
mitochondrial region was enlarged and then sequenced from one of the samples.
The other four samples had less than 30 base pairs and so, were not included in
the study.
Commenting on the whole process, one of the authors of the paper -Kumarasamy
Thangara from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad stated
that they could only amplify a small portion of the DNA as the sample was highly degraded.
He further explained that it is very challenging to isolate DNA from ancient samples and it
was more so in this case as the samples were exposed to the hostile environment.
This is the first time that a long-term DNA preservation in fossil eggshell collected from
tropical environments has been studied in India.
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The plan was launched by the Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and
Climate Change (Independent Charge) Anil Madhav Dave in March 2017 in New Delhi.
Features of HPMP II
It seeks to phase out the use of Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and harmful
ozone-depleting substances (ODS).
It also promotes the usage of non-ozone depleting and low global warming
potential technologies.
Under the HPMP-II, India secured USD 44.1 million from the Multilateral Fund for
Implementation of Montreal Protocol of the United Nations for phasing out 8,190
MT of HCFC consumption from 2017 to 2023.
The plan will cover more than 400 enterprises, including micro, small and medium
enterprises (MSMEs) in the foam manufacturing sector.
The plan will promote energy efficiency, adoption of green building norms and
cold chain development with non-HCFC alternatives.
The plan gives adequate attention to synergize the Refrigeration and Servicing
(RAC) servicing sector trainings under the Skill India Mission. As per the plan,
nearly 16,000 service technicians will be trained under HPMP-II.
Background
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is an
international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the
production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion
including HCFCs.
At present, HCFCs are used in various sectors like refrigeration and air conditioning
(RAC) and polyurethane foam manufacturing.
As a signatory to the Montreal Protocol, The HPMP Stage-I has been already
implemented in the country, which has successfully met all the ODS phase-out
targets.
The plant was inaugurated by AK Jha, Director (Technical) of the NTPC Ltd.
This floating platform has been indigenously developed by the NETRA (NTPC
Energy Technology Research Alliance) in collaboration with Central Institute of
Plastic Engineering & Technology (CIPET), Chennai.
The system was installed by Swelect Energy Systems Ltd, Chennai with the support
from NETRA and NTPC Kayamkulam station in a short span of 22 days.
It has various benefits like conserving water through the reduction of evaporation,
increased generation due to cooling effect on the panels and reduced installation
time.
Installation potential of such type of systems in India is huge due to the abundance
of water bodies.
Within the NTPC, the potential is approximately 800 MWp in various reservoirs in
existing stations.
Due to availability of abundant water bodies, this type of system has a great
potential in Kerala.
NTPC has already started working on scaling up such type of system for MW scale
installation.
Since then, it has established itself as the dominant power major with the presence in
the entire value chain of the power generation business.
From fossil fuels, it has forayed into generating electricity via hydro, nuclear and
renewable energy sources.
This foray will play a major role in lowering its carbon footprint by reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.
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The main motive behind this programme is to enhance the fisheries production from
10.79 mmt (2014-15) to 15 mmt by 2020-21.
Key Highlights
In order to recognize the potential and possibilities in the fisheries sector, the
Union Government envisaged a program named Blue Revolution.
This program with a total expenditure of around Rs 52000 lakh will facilitate the
establishment of hatcheries and Fingerling rearing pond to ensure the fish
production of 426 crores fish fingerling, 25.50 crores Post Larvae of shrimp and
crab in the country.
This will converge in the production of 20 lakh tonnes of fish annually and will
benefit about 4 million families.
Background
Fish Fingerling production is the single most important critical input visualised to
achieve fish production targets under the Blue Revolution.
The Union Agricultural Ministry identified 20 States based on their potential and
other relevant factors to strengthen the Fish Seed infrastructure in the country.
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Natural swings partly responsible for Arctic sea ice loss: Study
A group of scientists in March 2017
stated in a study that rapid loss of Arctic
sea ice in recent decades is partly driven
by natural swings.
The research indicates that a shift in wind patterns is responsible for about 60% of
sea ice loss in the Arctic Ocean since 1979.
Some of this shift is related to climate change. However, the research showed that
30-50% of the observed sea ice loss since 1979 is due to natural variations in this
large-scale atmospheric pattern.
Natural variability has helped to accelerate the melting of the ice, especially over
the past two decades.
The study shows how much of the observed sea ice trend that has been seen in
recent decades in the Arctic is due to natural variability and how much is due to
greenhouse gases.
The scientists believe that teasing apart the natural and human-caused parts of
sea ice decline would help to foretell future sea ice conditions in Arctic summer.
The study could help narrow down huge uncertainties about when the Arctic ice
will vanish.
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The scheme would mainly focus on creating an environment that would enable
sustainable development of Ornamental Fisheries for the socio-economic development of
the people attached to the activity as well as for exports.
The pilot project would be implemented in eight states at first, which include Assam,
West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. It would be
implemented by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) through the Fisheries
departments of the states.
Though it does not directly contribute to Indias food and nutritional security, it helps
generate livelihood and income for the rural and peri-urban population, especially for
women and the unemployed youth who take it up as a part-time activity.
Besides this, the major attraction in the sector is the low production cost backed by
high returns within a short span of time and the ever-growing demand in both Indian and
International markets. Currently, there are about 400 species of marine ornamental fishes
and 375 freshwater ornamental varieties in India.
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The Great Barrier Reef is considered as one of the seven wonders of the natural
world.
It is larger than the Great Wall of China and the only living thing on earth visible
from space.
The reef, between 15 kilo metres and 150 kilo metres off shore and around 65 kilo
metres wide in some parts, is a gathering of brilliant and vivid coral species.
A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which
helps to limit the impact of human use, such as fishing and tourism.
Because of its natural beauty, both below and above the waters surface, the reef
has become one of the worlds most sought after tourist destinations.
In recognition of its significance, the UNESCO listed the Great Barrier Reef as a
World Heritage Site (WHS) in 1981.
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Key highlights
When the researchers trained an ultraviolet A flashlight on polka dot tree frogs,
they were surprised to find that the animals gave off an intense greenish-blue
glow instead of a faint red.
The researchers expected to find red fluorescence in these frogs from a pigment
called biliverdin.
Three molecules namely, hyloin-L1, hyloin-L2 and hyloin-G1, found in lymph tissue,
skin and glandular secretions of animals, are responsible for the green
fluorescence.
The molecules contain a ring structure and a chain of hydrocarbons. The closest
similar molecules are found in plants.
Fluorescence in animals
The ability to absorb light at short wavelengths and re-emit it at longer
wavelengths is called fluorescence, a quality that is rare in terrestrial animals. Until
now, fluorescence was unheard of in amphibians.
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Key Highlights
The bill recognised the river as an indivisible, living whole from the mountains to
the sea.
The river is the first in the world to be granted all the rights, duties, liabilities and
legal status of a person.
The bills passing brought an end to the longest running litigation in the history of
New Zealand. The people of Whanganui iwi have been fighting for the recognition
of their relationship with the river since the 1870s.
Besides this, the crown would also be contributing a sum of $30 million for further
betterment and well being of the river.
The move followed the example used in the Tuhoe Settlement Bill that saw Te
Urewera National Park gain the status of a legal entity in 2014.
Indian-American teen Indrani Das wins 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search
Mercer released 2017 Quality of Living Survey
Commenting on the century-long fight, Gerrard Albert , the lead negotiator in the
case, stated that the river is a sacred landmark for the Maori Iwi tribe, they treat it as an
ancestor and thus, they needed to find something that would help uphold its position.
Speaking on the case, Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson
stated that the approach of granting legal identity to a river was unique, as the legislation
recognised the deep spiritual connection between the locals and the ancestral river and
created a strong platform for the future of the river.
The new status means that from here on, any abuse or harm caused to the river will
be viewed in the same light as harm caused to a human being. Besides this, two guardians
will be appointed one from the crown and one from the Whanganui iwi to act on the
behalf of the river.
Background
All the Maori tribes regard themselves as part of the universe, at par with the
mountains, rivers and seas.
The local tribe of Whanganui has been fighting for the recognition of the river as
their ancestor for almost 140 years.
The river is New Zealand's longest navigable river and so, it has got a rich history of
human interactions.
There were once more than 100 Maori villages along the rivers banks.
The introduction of a riverboat service in 1891 made the river an ideal channel
for the flourishing of tourism and trade.
The trade and communication undertaken through the river reached as far as
Wellington, Waikato, Taranaki, Taupo and the Bay of Plenty.
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It is well known as being one of the most elusive and mysterious birds in the world.
There were no known sightings of the bird between 1912 and 1979, which led to a
speculation that it was extinct.
The first photographic and video evidence of the bird was publicly confirmed in
July 2013.
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SCIENCE | TECHNOLOGY
Seven Earth-like planets found orbiting the same star
Astronomers have discovered seven Earth-like exo- planets orbiting the same star, 40
light years away from Earth.
The findings were revealed through a study that was published on 22 February in a
journal called Nature and through a news conference, held at the NASA headquarters in
Washington.
Key Highlights
The seven planets have been found to be in a tight circle around a star called
TRAPPIST-1, which is almost one tenth the size of the sun and about a quarter as
warm.
The seven of them are distanced at a space five times smaller than the distance
between Mercury and our sun.
While the planet closest to the star takes about just one and half days to orbit
around it, the farthest one is reported to take about 20 days.
Despite such proximity to the sun-like star, these planets are not unbearably
warm.
Estimates of their mass indicate that they are all rocky planets.
Three of the seven planets-TRAPPIST-1e, f and g fall in the habitable zone, leading
to the possibility of them having water on their surface.
While the first three planets according to the researchers would be too warm to
support liquid water, the farthest one would be too cool.
Generally, ultracool dwarf stars like TRAPPIST-1 are very common in the galaxy and
so, are largely overlooked.
Gillon however, decided to study the space around one of these dwarf stars.
Further observation helped them see shadows, little eclipses that interrupted the
steady pattern of the starlight periodically. The shadows indicated planets, and
further observation confirmed it.
Earlier they saw just three planets and slowly later they discovered all seven and
were able to determine their orbital periods, distances from their star, masses and
their radius.
Future plan
The researchers are looking to define the atmosphere of each planet and search for
signs of liquid water and life.
The research would get a better edge with the launch of James Webb Space Telescope
in 2018, which would be positioned 1 million miles away from Earth, giving an unobstructed
view of the universe.
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The Solar Probe Plus mission, which is going to be NASAs first to the Sun, is
expected to get within six million kilometres of the Sun to probe its atmosphere.The Sun
is about 149 million kilometres from the Earth.
Why is the Suns surface, which is called photosphere, not as hot as its
atmosphere?
Why does the Sun occasionally emit high-energy particles that pose a danger to
unprotected astronauts and spacecraft?
Christian explained the queries by saying that according to the data collected by
NASA, the surface temperature of the Sun is only 5500 degrees Celsius but the
temperature of its atmosphere is about two million degrees Celsius and generally the
farther away you go from the heat source, the colder it gets but with the Sun, its the
opposite.
Further, he added that the Sun blows a stream of charged particles in all directions
at a million miles an hour however, it is not clear from where it gets that much speed.
The spacecraft will also have special heat tubes called thermal radiators, which will
radiate the heat that permeates the heat shield to open space so that it does not reach
the instruments that are sensitive to heat.
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The Japanese technology has been given the Guinness title for being able to play table
tennis way better than most humans.
About FORPHEUS
FORPHEUS is short for Future Omron Robotics Technology for Exploring Possibility
of Harmonised automation with Sinic Theoretics.
According to its lead developer, Taku Oya, the main aim behind the technology is
to harmonise humans and robots by teaching table tennis to human players.
The machine is enabled to act as a coach with assistance from cutting edge vision
and motion sensors that help it gage movement during a match.
It also features several cameras that are located above the ping pong table, which
monitor the position of the ball at a rate of 80 times per second.
The cameras help the robot to show its human student a projected image as to
where the ball will land when returned in order to help them improve their skills.
Sand Artist Sudarsans new sand castle creates Guinness World Record
Further, a speed sensing component in the robot helps it calculate the opponents
ball at 1000 times per second and as a result it is easily able to determine how
good its opponents are at playing the game.
The robot also encourages the human players to give their best shot by showing
supportive messages along the LED screen situated on the tables net.
Talking further about the advancement in technology, Taku stated that though at the
moment it is a human who teaches a robot how to behave or teach, but in the next 20 years
it may be possible that a robot is teaching a robot or a robot is developing a robot.
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The Solar Probe Plus mission, which is going to be NASAs first to the Sun, is expected
to get within six million kilometres of the Sun to probe its atmosphere.The Sun is about 149
million kilometres from the Earth.
According to Eric Christian, a NASA research scientist at the Goddard Space Flight
Centre, though the spacecraft would not be able to get to the surface of the Sun it would
definitely get close enough to answer three very important questions.
Why is the Suns surface, which is called photosphere, not as hot as its
atmosphere?
Why does the Sun occasionally emit high-energy particles that pose a danger to
unprotected astronauts and spacecraft?
Christian explained the queries by saying that according to the data collected by NASA,
the surface temperature of the Sun is only 5500 degrees Celsius but the temperature of its
atmosphere is about two million degrees Celsius and generally the farther away you go from
the heat source, the colder it gets but with the Sun, its the opposite.
Further, he added that the Sun blows a stream of charged particles in all directions at
a million miles an hour however, it is not clear from where it gets that much speed.
The spacecraft will also have special heat tubes called thermal radiators, which will
radiate the heat that permeates the heat shield to open space so that it does not reach the
instruments that are sensitive to heat.
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The High Nitrogen Steel (HNS) technology is a step forward towards Armys quest for
lighter and high-performance armouring material as compared to materials that are used at
present. Apart from its use in Armys armouring, HNS has the potential of being used in
numerous civilian applications.
Minister of State for Defence, Dr Subhash Bhamre who congratulated both DRDO and
DMRL for the achievement also called upon both public as well as private Industries and
Ordnance Factories to use this material extensively in their products.
This material has the potential for a number of defence and civil applications like
armouring, mine trawls, oil industries among others.
At present, the HNS technology is available with very few countries of the world.
Jindal Stainless Group has an annual crude steel capacity of 1.8 MTPA and the group
has an annual turnover of Rs 14500 crores.
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movements, poaching activities and forest fires from the inaccessible areas of the forest.
The data provided could be used for management of habitats and species.
Key Highlights
The project, which would mark the beginning of significant technological
intervention in wildlife conservation, will be launched in 10 tiger reserves across
the country.
Each reserve would get five unmanned vehicles, each of which is expected to cost
around Rs 400000.
Though the project has been given clearance by the Union ministries of Defence
and Civil Aviation, strict conditions have been imposed for the usage of the drones.
Drone tests have been conducted previously in Kaziranga Tiger Reserve, Assam
and in Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.
45% of country's bird species in Himachal Pradesh: Great Backyard Bird Count
According to V.B. Mathur, Director of WII, the drones have programmable auto-pilot
and telemetry systems that are capable of recording information and doing its live
transmission. He further continued by saying that the use of drones could also make night
patrolling of forest terrains, radio-tracking of animals and habitat monitoring possible.
Mathur also added that while deployment and data collection would be carried out by
a team of trained professionals working with the Wildlife Institute of India and the State
Forest Departments, the research and development activities for further improvisation of
the technology for various purposes would be continued in collaboration with national and
international organisations.
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This fifth Sentinel satellite will cut the time of imaging the earth by half and will ensure
speedy provision of images of land, oceans and waterways. This will improve services for
farmers, fishermen and other users of land and sea maps.
Now, the globes image will take only five days. The acceleration of the building up of
the globes image will positively affect the activities of fishermen by allowing them to
monitor the emergence of toxic algal blooms in sea.
These two satellites will orbit 488 miles (786 km) above Earth on opposite sides of
the planet.
Together, they will cover all of Earth's land surfaces, large islands, inland and
coastal waterways every five days.
They will provide more up-to-date images and at higher resolution than the
available ones.
It will help track pollution of lakes and coastal waters, monitor land changes or
produce disaster maps by providing information on floods, volcanic eruptions and
landslide.
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The evidence was founding during a DNA analysis of a fossilised eggshell fragment of
ostrich. In the study, the researchers found 92% genetic similarity between the fossil
eggshell samples and Struthio camelus, species of ostrich found in Africa.
Key Highlights
This is the first time that molecular evidence indicating the presence of ostrich in
India was found in the eggshell fragments. The fragments have been studied
previously as well using morphological features but no sufficient proof could be
obtained then that confirmed the existence of the birds in the country.
The analysed samples have close similarities with the African ostrich species,
which indicates the movement of these birds between the two regions before the
Indian landmass drifted away from Africa.
The DNA was isolated from five samples and a tiny portion of a highly conserved
mitochondrial region was enlarged and then sequenced from one of the samples.
The other four samples had less than 30 base pairs and so, were not included in
the study.
Commenting on the whole process, one of the authors of the paper -Kumarasamy
Thangara from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad stated
that they could only amplify a small portion of the DNA as the sample was highly degraded.
He further explained that it is very challenging to isolate DNA from ancient samples and it
was more so in this case as the samples were exposed to the hostile environment.
This is the first time that a long-term DNA preservation in fossil eggshell collected from
tropical environments has been studied in India.
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This gives the doctors with a fertilised egg with a healthy donor mitochondria and
the mother's DNA in the nucleus.
This fertilised egg with the donors healthy mitochondria will be implanted in the
mothers uterus.
Mitochondrial diseases are passed through the mother to baby. These diseases
cause symptoms ranging from poor vision to diabetes and muscle wasting.
After years of research, the 3-parent baby technique proved to be the only viable
option to treat patients with rare genetic mutations to have healthy babies.
EU launched fifth satellite of Copernicus observation program
Controversies
The technique has attracted criticism due to the ethical dimensions involved in the
process.
The pro-life believers claim that the technique involves the destruction of life.
They maintain that the technique is not foolproof as it is sure that majority of the
fertilised eggs are unhealthy.
Majority of the scientific community argue that the technique may open the doors
for the creation of designer babies.
A designer baby is a genetically engineered baby with specially selected traits such
as gender, appearance, intelligence, etc.
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Key Highlights
The Radar 5 unit was launched into space on Japans H-2A rocket from
Tanegashima base, a site located towards the south-east of Japan.
The launch was initially scheduled for 15 March but it got delayed due to poor
weather conditions at the base.
The satellite will be replacing an existing satellite, which is coming to the end of its
mission.
Japan initiated the process of launching spy satellites into the orbit in 2003,
following North Koreas testing of a mid-range ballistic missile over the Japanese
mainland and into the western Pacific in 1998.
The threat of unprecedented missile firing by North Korea has only accelerated
after that, especially recently after three of the four ballistic missiles launched by N
Korea landed extremely close to Japan.
Currently, Tokyo has three optical satellites for daytime surveillance and three
radar satellites for night time. Two among those are kept as backups.
The newly launched satellite is meant to succeed one of the three night-time
surveillance radar satellites, which was launched in 2011.
Though the real objective of the satellites is to gather information regarding N Koreas
military movements, they are also used to survey and monitor the damage caused by
natural disasters.
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Key Highlights
The wireless network will be accessible through few central light antennas, which
when mounted on the ceiling, will precisely direct the rays of light supplied by an
optical fibre.
The composition of the antenna includes a pair of gratings that help radiate light
rays of different wavelengths at different angles.
Changing the wavelength of the light also results in a change in the direction of the
ray of light. For the same a safe infrared wavelength is used, which does not reach
the retina of the human eye.
The same light antenna assigns different devices different wavelengths so that
they do not have to share capacity.
In the case of a user, who is walking with a smartphone or a tablet, as soon the
device will move out of the zone of one light antennas direction, the other will
take over.
Besides this, the new network is capable of tracking the exact location of every
wireless device using its radio signal transmitted in the return direction.
According to the research team, even with the best Wi-Fi systems that are available
currently, users would not be able to get more speed than 300 Megabit/s in total, which is
almost a hundred times lesser than the speed per ray of light that can be achieved by the
new system.
The system has so far used the light rays only to download, uploads are still done using radio
signals, as in most applications much less capacity is needed for uploading.
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Key Highlights
This clock will be smaller, lighter and its magnitudes are expected to be more
precise than any atomic clock flown in space before.
The JPL engineers in February 2017 monitored the integration of the clock on to
the Surrey Orbital Test Bed spacecraft, which will take it into the orbit later in
2017.
Currently, most space crafts are tracked using the two-way method where a
ground-based antenna pings the spacecraft and then waits for the signal to
return.
The distance to the spacecraft is calculated on the basis of how long the signal
takes to travel. The navigation team then uses the same data to determine the
spacecrafts flight path and see if any changes are required in the course.
With the development of the clock, however, the spacecraft will not need to send
the signal back to earth. Scientists would be able to track the spaceships in real-
time.
The clock would also help improve the precision and quantity of radio data used by
scientists for determining a planets gravity field and probing its atmosphere.
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NASA to send its next-gen clock to Space to guide space crafts and astronauts
Key Highlights
Named after former ISRO Chairman Satish Dhawan, the two facilities have been
indigenously designed, developed and made fully in India with the support of
Indian Industries.
They are the third largest in terms of size and simulation capability in the world.
They have been indigenously designed, developed and made in India with the
support of Indian Industries.
Commissioning of such facilities will help provide sufficient data for the design and
development of current as well as future Space transportation systems in the
country.
The tunnels also have a wide spectrum of simulation capabilities in terms of Mach
number, Reynolds number and re-entry velocities.
Aerospace vehicles fly at high speed, often greater than the speed of sound.
Though similar facilities exist in the country, they are much smaller in size and
have limited simulation capabilities.
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Key highlights
One team is from Space Application Center and the second team is from National
Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC). The third and fourth team belongs to IRS
Dehradun and Space Physics Laboratory.
The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences organizes the Indian Scientific Mission to
Antarctica (ISEA) every year.
The mission aims to install stakes on the ice for DGPS measurements. These teams
will study and collect the data from the satellite.
Based on the data collected, the teams will validate the glacier surface velocity in
order to measure the thickness of snow over the land and sea using GPRs.
Further, the teams will also verify the situations of snow over the sea and land ice.
In addition, these four teams will study snow melt and freeze dynamics on
Antarctica. They will use space-based and ground-based facts and data to research
on this.
It gained global acceptance with India's signing of the Antarctic Treaty and
subsequent construction of the Dakshin Gangotri Antarctic research base in 1983.
The base was superseded by the Maitri base from 1990.
The newest Indian base at the continent, Bharati, was commissioned in 2015. It is
constructed out of 134 shipping containers.
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INTERNATIONAL
India, Uganda agreed to cooperate in space
programme and atomic energy
India and Uganda on 22 February 2017 agreed
to cooperate in various fields like the space
programme, vocational training and peaceful use of
atomic energy. The agreements were announced in
a joint press conference by the Vice President
Hamid Ansari and Ugandan President Yoweri Kauta
Museveni in State House at Entebbe, the official
residence of President.
VP Ansari was in Uganda during the second leg of 2-nation of his visit to East Africa,
namely Rwanda and Uganda. He was in Rwanda from 19 February to 21 February 2017 and
in Uganda from 21 February to 23 February 2017.
Besides these agreements, the Vice President held talks with President Yoweri
Museveni at the State House. During this meet, the two leaders reviewed the entire gamut
of bilateral cooperation. They also committed to work together in trade, investment,
agriculture, defence cooperation and IT among others.
Earlier in the day, Vice President Hamid Ansari met his counterpart Edward Ssekandi
at the Vice Presidents Secretariat.
As per reports, the two nations including East Africa have been sharing trade and
economic relations since the 17th century, when several Indians reached the shores of East
Africa in dhows laden with their wares. Eventually, a number of Indians settled in East
Africa, and many made Uganda their home. India's freedom struggle inspired the early
Ugandan activists to fight colonisation and Uganda eventually achieved Independence in
1962. India established its diplomatic presence in Uganda in 1965.
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The approval was given at a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on 22 February 2017 in New Delhi.
The MoU will also provide compliance of international obligation as well as enhance
promotion in the area of security cooperation between the two countries.
The relationship has grown in strength and importance since Indias economic
reforms in 1990s.
The present bilateral cooperation extends to all the vital areas such as trade,
energy, mining, science and technology, information technology, education and
defence.
India and Australia cooperate in various multilateral fora. Australia supports Indias
candidature in an expanded UN Security Council.
Both India and Australia are members of the G-20, Commonwealth, Indian-Ocean
Rim Association (IORA), ASEAN Regional Forum and Asia Pacific Partnership on
Climate and Clean Development.
India is Australias largest export market for gold and chickpeas, the second largest
market for coal and copper ores and the third largest market for lead and wool.
Four products coal, non-monetary gold, copper ores and petroleum account
for over 80 per cent of Indias imports from Australia.
Indias major exports to Australia are pearls and gems, jewellery, medicaments
and passenger motor vehicles.
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It was seen by the transgender community as a huge progress in their fight for
equal rights. However, Trumps administration revoked the protection arguing that the
state and public schools should have the authority to make their own decisions without
interference from federal authority.
Key Details
The decision to revoke the order was announced by the Department of Justice and
Department of Education.
The withdrawal was not well received by the opposition Democratic Party leaders.
The Trump administration backed the move by saying that there were too many
lawsuits and legal loopholes in Obamas regulation.
DeVos further stated that since then, the department had not enforced that part of
the instruction and so, the withdrawal has had no immediate effect on the students.
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions also commented on the issue by saying that
the previous instruction did not comprise enough legal analysis or explain how its
interpretation was in line with Title IX. He further added that the state legislatures and
local governments are in a position to adopt appropriate policies to address the issue.
Sessions also affirmed that the Department of Justice is committed to ensure the
proper interpretation and enforcement of Title IX and the protection of all its students
including the ones belonging to the LGBT community from discrimination, bullying and
harassment.
Backlash
This move has however, received a lot of criticism from the American public and
the leaders of opposition parties who view it as a regressive step and as a huge blow to
the already vulnerable LGBT community.
US Senator Ben Cardin also condemned the decision by saying that it is a tragic
step backward for the transgender children.
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The court determined that the decision to withdraw from the International court was
taken by South African President Jacob Zuma and Minister of Justice Michael Masutha
without appropriate approval from the parliament, which amounts to a breach of the
separation of powers.
Key Highlights
South Africa notified the United Nations of its intent to leave the ICC in October
2016, stating the courts intention of pursuing a regime change as one of its main
reasons to leave.
The decision was not approved by the leading opposition party in South Africa, the
Democratic Alliance (DA), which approached the Pretoria court arguing that the
ruling government had to first seek Parliamentary approval.
In the latest judgment, the court ruled in the favour of DA, calling the ruling
governments action as unconstitutional.
The court has also ordered the government to revoke its notice of withdrawal.
Responding on the matter, the Justice Minister, Michael Masutha said that the
government still intended to quit the ICC. He further stated that the government would
be considering all its options including a possible appeal after studying the full
judgement.
Background
South Africas decision to pull out from the ICC followed a dispute over the 2015
visit of the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to South Africa.
Bashir, who has an ICC arrest warrant over him for alleged war crimes, had come
to SA to attend an African Union summit in Johannesburg.
Despite ICCs request to arrest him, South African authorities refused to do so.
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The efforts follow the Canadian Parliaments resolution last year to take in the
Yazidis facing genocide in Iraq at the hands of the Islamic extremists.
Key Highlights
Canada began its operation of rescuing these vulnerable refugees on 25 October 2016.
Around 400 Yazidis have already been airlifted to the country in the last few
months.
The migrants have been brought over on commercial flights at a controlled pace to
avoid overwhelming Canada's refugee system.
While the majority of the refugees will come from Iraq, some will also be from
Lebanon and Turkey.
Ever since Justin Trudeau took over as the Prime Minister of Canada in 2015, his
government has helped resettle almost 40000 Syrian refugees.
They are neither Arabic nor Muslim and so, the Islamic State considers them
polytheistic heretics.
The rescue operation for the Yazidis differs slightly from the regular one, as these
are being conducted in a more closed manner in order to protect the identity of these
vulnerable groups. In addition to the resettlement of the 1200 refugees, the Canadian
government also intends to facilitate them with private sponsorships.
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Under the MoU three development projects will be taken up in Sylhet. These projects
will be developed at an expense of around Taka 240 million.
Projects for which financial aid will be provided under the tripartite agreement are
India will provide financial aid for construction of a five-storey Kinder Garten and
High School Building
Financial aid will be provided for some development work in Dhupa Dighirpar area
The tripartite agreement was signed in Sylhet by Indian High Commissioner Harsh
Vardhan Shringla and Bangladesh's Economic Relations Division Additional Secretary Shah
Md. Aminul Haque and Sylhet City Corporation CEO Enamul Habib.
The signing was the follow-up of an earlier MoU which was signed between India and
Bangladesh in April 2013 for the implementation of sustainable development projects in
socio-economic sectors of Bangladesh.
Sylhet
Sylhet also known as Jalalabad is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh.
It is the administrative seat of Sylhet Division and one of the most important
spiritual and cultural centers of Bangladesh.
The city is located on the right bank of the Surma River in northeastern Bengal.
After Dhaka and Chittagong, Sylhet is one of the most important cities of
Bangladesh.
The city's dargahs or burial sites of Muslim saints have helped the city to win a
status of tourist destination within and outside the country.
Earlier, Sylhet was a part of the former Assam province of India and was a focal point
for 1971 Liberation War. Besides, being an ancient city and a historically vibrant city, the city
has been a hub of commercial activities.
Besides, the Union Government will also carry out similar development projects for
Rajshahi. The project will be carried at an expense of Taka 210 million. A MoU was recently
signed in Rajshahi in this regard.
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The five-day exhibition, which will continue till 2 March 2017, is expected to
witness participation from over 90,000 food professionals from 150 countries across the
world.
Key Highlights
Among the exhibitors are 64 Indian exporters dealing in a range of Agriculture and
Processed Food products.
The exporters are participating under the banner of the Agricultural and Processed
Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).
The organisation falls under the Indian Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
APEDA is responsible for the promotion and development of the export of various
Agricultural products.
Hence, Gulfood 2017 is a significant event for the body, as UAE poses as a
potential market for several Indian food products including fresh fruits & vegetables,
basmati rice, buffalo meat, processed fruits, wheat, cereals and dairy products.
India is one of the largest food producers in the world. It exports agricultural
products to more than 80 countries across the globe. During the years 2015 and 2016,
the countrys exports stood at USD 16.19 billion.
About Gulfood
The event is the worlds largest annual food and beverage exhibition.
Launched as a biennial event in 1987, the exhibition has grown to encourage food
and beverage trade between more than 120 countries annually.
It enables over 5000 providers of raw ingredients and materials to showcase the
innovations, tastes and trends, which are shaping the future of food and beverage
consumption globally.
The business to business trade exhibition is managed and hosted by the Dubai
World Trade Centre.
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Trump stated that countries across the world like Australia and Canada have a merit-
based immigration system and its introduction in the US would help save millions of dollars
and raise the workers wages and in turn help many struggling families including the
immigrant ones to enter the middle class.
Trump believes that a real and positive immigration reform is possible as long as it
focuses on improving job and wage prospects for the Americans to strengthen the
countrys security and restore the respect for laws.
The introduction of the system is expected to bring back millions of jobs, raise
wages and help the unemployed.
Besides this, Indians also account for a large number of foreign workers coming to
the US as doctors, scientists, engineers and other high-skilled professionals.
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Top Indian celebrities arrived at the event such as Anoushka Shankar, Gurinder
Chadha and Shiamak Davar. Additionally, The Big Bang Theorys Kunal Nayyar, Ayesha
Dharker and Nina Wadia were also in attendance. Anil Kapoor also attended the event as a
special guest.
The UK India Year of Culture marked its launch as the BFI National Archives announce
a restoration of silent film Shiraz. Shiraz looks at the 17th century love story behind the
construction of the Taj Mahal.
A Year-Long Celebration
Throughout 2017, UK India Year of Culture will hold special events, exhibitions and
activities in both the UK and India. It will celebrate Indias heritage and culture
throughout the United Kingdom.
Year 2017 will see an incredible programme of cultural events and activities in
India organised by the British Council, and a similar programme in the UK
organised by the Government of India.
Major UK and Indian institutions will also participate in the events such as the BFI
National Archive and India@UK2017.
Much anticipated blockbuster 'Baahubali: The Conclusion' will get its UK premiere
on 27 April 2017 as part of the cultural celebrations held to mark the 70th
anniversary of Indias independence.
The BFI also plan to screen the India on Film Programme from April to December
2017. It will showcase a wide range of exciting Indian films including Bollywood
2.0.
Shows will be held in various cities, including London and Edinburgh. They will also
support other Indian productions, such as Ravi Shankars Sukanya and the London
Indian film festival.
India and the World: A History in Nine Stories, an exhibition, will be held at the
British Museum to coincide with the 70th Anniversary of Indias independence. It
will open in November 2017, in time with the Partitions anniversary.
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Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, presided a meeting of the federal cabinet,
which approved in principle the recommendations of the FATA Reforms Committee. The
Committee includes the merger of the tribal areas with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and repeal of
the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).
The recommendation to merge Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with the FATA was made by the
six-member committee headed by Sartaj Aziz, PM's Adviser on Foreign Affairs.
The Government, in addition, also approved a 10-year reform package to bring the
tribal region on a par with other developing areas of the country.
Key highlights
The development package, worth more than Pakistani Rupees 110 billion, has
been approved for the seven agencies of the tribal region.
Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the Peshawar High Court will be extended to
FATA.
The FATA consists of seven tribal agencies and six frontier regions. They are
directly governed by Pakistan's federal government through a special set of laws
called the FCR.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa shares borders with the FATA to the west; GilgitBaltistan to
the northeast; Azad Kashmir, Islamabad and Punjab to the east and southeast.
It is the third largest province of Pakistan by the size of both population and
economy. However, the province is geographically the smallest of four provinces.
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According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor,
the army and Iranian-backed militia advanced inside Palmyra on 2nd March. They
recaptured the historic city after ISIS withdrew from the city.
The observatory in its report said ISIS militants retreated to areas in the East and the
government forces conducted combining operations to clear mines on the day.
During Syria's six-year civil war, the oasis city has traded hands several times and
become a symbol of the meaningless destruction of cultural heritage in areas
under ISIS control.
Palmyra was first seized by the militant group in May 2015. After capturing the
city, UNESCO world heritage site was destroyed systematically. The city was listed
on UNESCOs world heritage site for hosting numerous ancient monuments and
temples.
Later in March 2016, the militant group was driven out from the city but was able
to recapture it in December 2016 when the Syrian government focused on
recapturing rebel-held East Aleppo.
Reports say the Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has informed President
Vladimir Putin of Palmyra's recapture.
Loss of Palmyra is being considered as the latest blow to the militant group, ISIS
because in recent past the group had suffered losses in its two main strongholds, namely
Raqa (Syria) and Mosul (Iraq). It lost these two areas after facing assaults by forces backed
by the US-led coalition. Early in 2014, the militant/jihadist group took over swathes of
territory in Syria and Iraq.
Site of Palmyra
The city of Palmyra, known as an oasis in the Syrian Desert, was a house of
monumental ruins of the Neolithic period, like the Temple of Ba'al, the Agora, Diocletian's
Camp, Theatre and other temples, before it was captured by ISIS. Their entrance to the city
led to the destruction of several structures and loot of the heritage site just for sale in the
black market.
Before the entrance of ISIS, the city was one of the most important cultural centres of the
ancient world.
The city was first mentioned in the archives of Mari in the 2nd millennium BC. It was
established as a caravan oasis under the Roman control in the mid-first century AD as part
of the Roman province of Syria. With time, the city became an important trade route of Asia
as it linked China, India and Persia with the Roman Empire.
Discovery of the ruined city by travellers in the 17th and 18th centuries resulted in its
subsequent influence on architectural styles.
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The announcement was made by the countrys deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid.
The visa-free entry for North Koreans will be cancelled from 6 March 2017.
Key highlights
Zahid announced that after 6 March, North Koreans would be required to obtain a
visa before entering Malaysia due to national security reasons.
Kim Jong Nam was murdered at the Kuala Lumpur airport with a toxic nerve
agent. Two women, one from Vietnam and other from Indonesia were charged
with his murder.
The incident led to the souring of diplomatic ties between the two nations.
Not only did North Korea deny the allegations set on it by the US and South Korea
for the murder of Kim, but it also attempted to convince Malaysia to not perform
an autopsy on Kims body and to release the North Korean suspect detained in
connection with the murder.
A high-level delegation arrived in Kuala Lumpur from North Korea to discuss the
same with the Malaysian cabinet on 28 February 2017.
Malaysia has however insisted on following its own laws and refused to release the
body to the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, opting to wait for a family member to
come forward. The country is also investigating the involvement of seven others in the case
including a senior official from the North Korean embassy.
Prior to this, both the countries shared a friendly relation. Their cordial ties go way
back to 1970s when former Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, embraced the
isolated state to snub the United States of America.
In fact, Malaysia is one of the few countries that offered North Koreans visa-free travel
and in reciprocation North Korea too allowed Malaysians to enter their super secretive
region without a visa, making them the only foreigners to be able to do so in the world.
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Key highlights
Saleh was sworn in on 2 March 2017. He is now faced with the task of forming his
new cabinet.
The opposition parties of Sudan during a national dialogue with the government
demanded for the creation of the new post with the aim of distributing some of
the Presidents powers.
Though Bashir agreed to the proposal and introduced the new post, he reserved
most executive authority for himself.
Sudans crises
The countrys government has been embroiled in a long war against various rebel
groups.
Sudan is also undergoing a severe economic crisis, especially since south Sudan
broke away from it in 2011 taking with it three-quarters of its oil output, which
was the main source of the countrys income.
The countrys budget this year foresees a growing deficit and slower growth.
Omar al-Bashir is the first sitting president to be wanted for war crimes by the
International Criminal Court in the Hague.
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Indian traders will have access to fast, easy, reliable and hassle free international
system for movement of goods by road or multi-modal means across the
territories of other contracting parties.
Customs clearance can take place at internal Customs locations, thereby avoiding
clearances at border crossing points and ports that may often be congested.
This procedure will reduce border delays, transport and transaction costs, thereby
leading to increased competitiveness and growth of the trade and transport
sectors.
Compliance with the Convention shall ensure enhanced security in the supply
chain as only approved transporters and vehicles are allowed to operate in terms
of the Convention.
As the TIR Carnet represents a guarantee for Customs duties and taxes and traffic
in transit, there is no need for payment of such taxes and duties en route.
The TIR carnet also serves as a Customs declaration, and hence it precludes the
need to file multiple declarations satisfying national laws of the different transiting
countries.
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The MoU envisages constitution of a Joint Working Group (JWG), which can
include members from scientific institutions, research centers, universities, or any
other entity, as and when considered essential.
The MoU will also help in strengthening overall bilateral cooperation between the
two countries.
However, following problems in negotiations over Goa, all diplomatic and consular
links were severed in 1 September 1955. Goa was liberated in 1961.
Having overcome the irritants of 1961, the two countries share an excellent
political relationship today. Portugal has consistently supported India at
multilateral fora, including for a permanent seat at the UNSC. It also supported
India in its bid for a non-permanent seat in 2011-12.
Cooperation between India and Portugal is also witnessed in the fact that Portugal
agreed to extradite Abu Salem in 2004.
With this, Portugal has become the first European Union nation to agree to
extradition to India.
Both the countries signed seven bilateral agreements in January 2017 during the
visit of the Prime Minister of Portugal Antonio Costa to India.
During the visit, both the countries released a Joint Declaration on Cooperation in
Third Countries. The declaration is in tune with Indias ambition to extend soft
power across the globe.
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The North Korean ministry also stated that it hoped that the Malaysian embassy in
North Korea and the foreign ministry of Malaysia would fairly and swiftly resolve the case in
order to develop bilateral ties between both the nations.
Key Highlights
The notification assured complete safety of the diplomats and citizens of Malaysia
in DPRK, stating that they could work and live normally under the same conditions
and circumstances as before.
The action was condemned by the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak who said
that it was in total disregard of all international law and diplomatic norms.
He further warned that Malaysia would not hesitate to take all necessary
measures to protect its citizens.
The Malaysian police have also sealed off the North Korean embassy in Kuala
Lumpur to find out the exact number of officials inside.
According to Reezal Marican, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Malaysia, there are 11
Malaysians in North Korea including three at the Malaysian Embassy, two United Nations
employees and six family members.
Background
The crisis was sparked following the lethal poisoning of North Korean leader Kim
Jong-uns estranged half-brother Kim Jong-Nam at the Kuala Lumpur airport in
February 2017.
Kim Jong Nam was reportedly killed by a toxic VX nerve agent that left him dead
within the time span of just two minutes.
Though two women, one from Vietnam and other from Indonesia were arrested
on the charge of murder, two North Koreans are also wanted for questioning by
the Malaysian police and they are suspected to be hiding in the North Korean
embassy.
South Korea and the United States believe that the murder was orchestrated by
North Korea.
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The approval was given at a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on 6 March 2017 in New Delhi.
Under the MoU, the NPC will provide the following services.
Meanwhile, Al Etihad ES will provide the following services to all the relevant
projects on a case by case basis.
ii) All local support for field auditing professionals in the UAE
iii)All local support for training and certification of energy auditors in UAE
iv) All support related to demand side management of industries based in UAE
The MoU will enable NPC avail high value opportunities such as energy building
and develop institutional mechanism in the field of energy efficiency in Dubai and
other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries.
It will provide recognition and exposure to further build NPC's capacities and
competencies in rapidly changing international business scenario.
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The countries featuring on the banned list include Libya, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Yemen and
Somalia. Iraq, which was included in the previous ban, was spared from the current one
after agreeing for additional visa vetting measures.
The decision to exclude Iraq from the list was welcomed by the Iraqi foreign ministry
and it said that this order will enhance US-Iraqi cooperation in the fight against Islamic State
terrorists.
Key Highlights
The new ban will come into effect on 16 March 2017.
The new order exempts permanent residents and current visa holders who had
initially been covered by the previous order.
This revised order was unveiled by the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson,
Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Homeland Security John Kelly.
The order also gives permission to refugees who had already received approval
from the State department to enter the United States.
Trumps previous executive order, his first immigration directive, was faced with
wide-scale protests, especially at the nations airports. It was ultimately blocked by
a federal appeals court.
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Speaking at the ceremony, Darren Chester stated that while the searchers have been
unsuccessful in solving the mystery surrounding the missing plane, they tried their best and
still hope remains for a possible breakthrough in the future that would result in the plane
being found.
Key Details
Several relatives of the 239 passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 777 live in or
near Brisbane.
Chester noted right before the service that he could understand the frustration
many family members of the victims felt about the fact that there was no longer
any search mission for the plane.
The active search for the crash site of the plane was officially called off by
Australia, Malaysia and China in January 2017, after the search crew failed to find
any further lead or trace.
The advanced search mission was suspended after sweeping almost 120000
square kilometers of the Indian Ocean southwest of Australia.
The airliner is suspected to have flown very far off course for some unknown
reason during its journey from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to Beijing in China on 8
March 2017.
There are suggestions by some relatives of raising funds to continue the search of
the ocean floor privately.
It had completed 53460 flight hours and 7525 take-offs and landings.
The pilot had a record of more than 18000 flying hours and had been employed
with the airlines since 1981.
The air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane almost an hour after its take
off.
The flight was last detected on the military radar near the island of Pulau Perak at
the northern end of the Strait of Malacca.
Though no distress signal or message was sent from the plane, reports suggest
that it attempted to turn back from its scheduled path.
Around 120000 sq km area of the seabed has been searched using advanced
underwater drones and sonar equipment.
A flaperon from the plane was discovered on Reunion Island more than 3700 km
away from the main search site in July 2015.
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This fifth Sentinel satellite will cut the time of imaging the earth by half and will ensure
speedy provision of images of land, oceans and waterways. This will improve services for
farmers, fishermen and other users of land and sea maps.
Now, the globes image will take only five days. The acceleration of the building up of
the globes image will positively affect the activities of fishermen by allowing them to
monitor the emergence of toxic algal blooms in sea.
These two satellites will orbit 488 miles (786 km) above Earth on opposite sides of
the planet.
Together, they will cover all of Earth's land surfaces, large islands, inland and
coastal waterways every five days.
They will provide more up-to-date images and at higher resolution than the
available ones.
It will help track pollution of lakes and coastal waters, monitor land changes or
produce disaster maps by providing information on floods, volcanic eruptions and
landslide.
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Key Highlights
The festival will continue till 27 April 2017 and will be held in Cairo as well as
several other cities.
It took off with a Crafts Mela, which will run from 8 to 14 March. The mela
showcases a joint handicraft exhibition of India and Egypt.
The craftsmen displayed their crafts at the Pyramids Light and Sound Theatre in
Giza on 8 March at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Helwan University, Zamalek and on 9
March at the Misr Public Library in Zawya
Overall, the festival is the largest foreign festival in Egypt, showcasing at least 70
events across the country.
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The signed protocol will help the Union Government in its fight against the black
money that is stashed in the offshore accounts. Fight against the black money has been a
key priority area of the Union Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It will help the government to curb tax evasion and tax avoidance between the two
nations.
Steps taken in the financial year 2016-17 by Government to support its fight against
Black Money stashed in offshore accounts include
During the financial year 2016-17, India has either signed or amended
international agreements, declarations or conventions for the Avoidance of Double
Taxation & Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and for
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At present, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn is serving as the acting President of the
country.
After the allegations, she was suspended from official duties in December 2016.
However, both Park and her friend denied the accusations.
By far the biggest corporate head on the block in the scandal is Samsung chief and
heir to its USD 316 billion empire, Jay Y Lee.
Up to USD 50 million from Samsung was allegedly paid into entities overseen by
Choi in return for help cementing Lees control of Samsung.
She was the first female president of a Northeast Asian nation and the first female
elected as head of state in East Asia.
Prior to her presidency, she served as the chairwoman of the conservative Grand
National Party (now Saenuri Party) from 2004 to 2006 and from 2011 to 2012.
In 2013 and 2014, she was ranked 11th on the Forbes list of the world's 100 most
powerful women and the most powerful woman in East Asia.
In 2014, she was ranked 46th on the Forbes list of the world's most powerful
people.
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The bill had faced opposition in the UKs House of Commons over its inability to
protect rights of EU citizens living in the UK after Brexit.
Key Highlights
The upper house in its final reading that voted in favour of a meaningful
parliamentary vote on the final terms of Brexit.
The objections of the Peers were completely overturned by the MPs in the House
of Lords, who voted 274 to 118 in favour of the bill being passed unaltered.
The bill is expected to receive Royal Assent and become a law on 14 March 2017.
The bills passing enables Theresa May to formally initiate the Brexit process this
week itself.
The process would involve almost two years of talks, which will end with Britain
becoming the first country to leave the European Union bloc.
This decision comes in the wake of protests from Scotland, whose First Minister has
demanded for a new independence reference between the second half of 2018 and the first
half of 2019.
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Explaining her decision, the First minister stated that she would take all the steps
necessary to make sure Scotland gets a choice at the end of the process, whether it is to
follow the UK in leaving the European Union or to become an independent country with a
partnership of equals with the rest of the UK as well as with Europe.
Key Highlights
Nicola Sturgeon stressed that the vote should be held between the second half of
2018 and first half of 2019 after the Brexit terms are known and before it was too
late.
The surprise announcement came hours before the House of Commons gave its
final approval to the passing of the Brexit pill, thereby allowing Theresa May to
trigger Article 50 in coming few weeks.
Sturgeon feels that Scotland is being dragged out of EU against its will, as in last
Junes Brexit referendum England and Wales had voted to leave the EU but
Scotland and Northern Ireland had voted to stay, with an overall 55 percent in
favour of leaving.
The final decision for the independence referendum lies in the hands of the UK
parliament in Westminster, where Theresa May commands a majority.
If the ministers plea gets parliamentary approval, then it would make the vote
Scotlands second independence referendum after 2014, when the Scottish citizens had
voted to remain a part of the United Kingdom.
Though in 2014, the Scottish people had rejected the independence vote by 55 to 45,
recent opinion polls show support for independence going up to almost 50 per cent.
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In October 2015, the UNHRC had given Sri Lanka 18 months to launch a proper probe
into the crimes committed during the war with LTTE. The foreign ministry of Sri Lanka
however, is seeking an extension in the timeline for the fulfilment of its commitment at the
International bodys 34th session.
Key Highlights
According to the data collected by the United Nations, around 40000 civilians were
killed by Sri Lankan security forces during former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's
regime, which brought an end to the long conflict after defeating LTTE in 2009.
Sri Lankas proposition for an extension follows UNHRCs criticism of the countrys
slow progress in addressing its wartime past.
In fact, earlier this month, the international body repeated its call for a hybrid
court of international and local judges to investigate the allegations of human
rights violations during the civil conflict.
The demand was rejected by Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe
who called it impractical.
While Sri Lankas main party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has demanded for
more time from the UN to meet all obligations, the partys rival groups oppose the demand
saying that the TNA has excluded the opinion of the majority of Tamils and even after one
and half years, the government has not made any progress in its investigation.
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The court, however, added that if a company does not have a policy barring their staff
from sporting the religious symbols then customers cannot demand workers to remove
their headscarves. This ruling was issued as a joint judgment in the cases of two women
from France and Belgium, who were dismissed from their workplace for refusing to remove
their headscarves.
Key Highlights
The court ruled that an internal rule of an undertaking that prohibits the visible
wearing of any political, philosophical or religious sign does not constitute to direct
discrimination.
It further stated that a company's wish to project a neutral image was legitimate.
The first case, which is of Samira Achbita, was referred to the ECJ by the Belgian
courts. Achbita was fired in June 2006 for refusing to take off her scarf and her
company had stated that she had broken their unwritten rule that prohibited
religious symbols.
The second case was of a design engineer- Asma Bougnaoui who was fired from
an IT consultancy firm after a customer complained that his staff had been
embarrassed by her headscarf while she was on their premises to give counselling.
The ruling has come as a blow to many religious groups. It also contradicts the
ruling from the European court of human rights (ECHR), which allowed crosses to
be worn at workplaces.
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Poe who introduced the bill in the house on 9 March 2017 is the Chairman of the
House Subcommittee on Terrorism.
After issuance of the report, the Secretary of State will be required to submit a
follow-up report that contains either a determination that Pakistan is a state
sponsor of terrorism or a detailed justification why it does not meet the legal
criteria for such a designation. This follow-up report should be presented in next
30 days.
Poe who presented the Bill in the House says that Islamabad is an untrustworthy ally
and has aided and abetted enemies of America for years. To defend his claim, he provided
certain examples like Osama bin Laden and its relationship with Haqqani network. Providing
certain examples, he claims that these examples are more than enough to determine whose
side Pakistan is on in the War on Terror.
The lawmaker of US says its time when we should stop paying Pakistan for its
betrayal and designate it for what it is: a state sponsor of terrorism.
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The process involves the participation of around 119,000 officials including 84,000
enumerators. Apart from this almost two lakh soldiers have been deployed to provide
security and to monitor the proceedings to ensure authenticity.
Key Highlights
The census would be conducted in phases. The first phase, which has already
begun, will continue till 15 April and then would be followed by a 10-day break.
Phase one will cover 63 districts of the country including 16 in Punjab, 13 in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, 15 in Balochistan, 8 in Sindh, 5 each in Pakistan occupied Kashmir
(PoK) and Gilgit-Baltistan and one in a tribal region.
The second phase is scheduled to begin from 25 April and will end on 25 May
2017. It would cover 21 districts each in both Punjab and Sindh, 18 in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, 17 in Balochistan and Islamabad and five each in PoK and Gilgit-
Baltistan.
According to the constitution, the population census should be held every 10 years to
determine the exact population and allocate the resources accordingly. However, it had
been delayed due to security concerns and political instability.
Concerns
The collection of the census has become a political issue lately and led to a rise in
security concerns in the country as Pakistans largest province Punjab fears that its share in
the national resources may decrease, as the population in other provinces may have
increased in these past two decades.
Besides this, the countrys smallest province Balochistan also fears that the local
Baloch people may become a minority due to the increasing presence of Afghan refugees in
the province who are believed to have acquired the citizenship of the country through
fraud.
The final outcome of the census will, however, be known only by July 2017. It may
lead to a further demarcation of constituencies ahead of 2018 general elections.
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The block came hours before the ban was supposed to come into effect.
Trumps directive, had it been effective, would have stopped travel to the US from six
Muslim-majority nations including Yemen, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia and Libya for 90 days
and imposed a 120-day ban on refugees. The new order that excludes Iraq from the banned
list unlike before has been criticised to be a thinly veiled version of the earlier order.
Key highlights
The US district judge in a 43-page ruling stated that a reasonable and objective
observer would view the new order as one issued with the purpose of disfavouring
a particular religion in spite of the stated religiously neutral purpose.
The judge ruled that the state of Hawaii and petitioner Ismail Elshikh had
reasonable grounds to challenge the order as religious discrimination and
concluded that allowing the travel restrictions to go into effect as scheduled could
have caused them irreparable harm.
Speaking only in respect to Elshikh, who is the imam of the Muslim Association of
Hawaii and an American citizen who has been struggling to get a visa for his Syrian
mother-in-law to enter the United States, the judge stated that the travel
regulations would harm him on the basis of his religion.
Besides this, several other cases challenging the constitutionality of Trumps order
were filed in the courts of Washington State and Maryland.
This is the second major setback for Trump, as his first attempt in implementing the
travel ban that he proposed critical for national security was halted by a federal court in
Seattle.
Trump decried the ruling as an unprecedented judicial overreach and pledged to take the
issue to the Supreme Court if necessary. He also stated that he might reissue the initial
version of the order.
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At the time of suspension of the H-1B premium processing, the petitioners will not be
able to file Form I-907, request for premium processing service, for a Form I-129, petition
for a nonimmigrant worker which requests the H-1B nonimmigrant classification. In the case
of such H-1B petition during the period will be rejected.
As per reports, Lori Scialabba, the acting Director of US Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS), told members of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on
Oversight and Management efficiency that US will start accepting applications for H-1B work
visas from 3 April 2017 for fiscal 2018.
A notification on the official website of the department of homeland security says, All
cap-subject H-1B petitions filed before April 3, 2017, for the FY 2018 cap will be rejected.
Scialabba informed that USCIS receives about two lakh or more H-1B applications for
processing in the first week of April. She also said, once the suspension is lifted, people will
be able to file for premium processing and their application will be processed within 15
days.
H-1B Program
The programme allows US companies to temporarily employ foreign workers in
occupations that require the application of a body of highly specialised knowledge and a
bachelors degree or higher in the specific speciality, or its equivalent. H-1B speciality
occupations may include fields such as science, engineering and information technology.
Under the H-1B programme, US issue an H-1B visa, which is a non-immigrant visa for
foreigners. These visas are provided to foreigners for being employed in US companies.
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As per the MoU, the NBCC (India) Limited of the Union Government will undertake
construction of 700 duplex type houses with 50 square meters net floor area.
Each house consists of two bedrooms, living and dining rooms, kitchen, bathrooms
and toilets.
The company has registered a substantial 32 per cent growth in top line during FY
2015-16 as compared to the previous year.
It has posted a profit of Rs 311 crore, white its total income has surged to Rs 5838
crore during FY 2015-16.
Certified with ISO 9001:2008 from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in respect
of Project Management and Consultancy, the companyspresent areas of
operations are categorized into three main segments.
The three segments are - Project Management Consultancy (PMC), Real Estate
Development and EPC Contracting.
It has executed projects of diverse nature in countries like Libya, Iraq, Yemen,
Nepal, Maldives, Mauritius, Turkey and Botswana.
In early March 2017, the NBCC was entrusted with the responsibility to execute
the construction project of new supreme court building in Port Louis, Mauritius.
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As per reports, the Bill was signed into an Act by the President on the advice of the
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The legitimacy of children born out of the void and voidable Hindu marriages has
also been protected under the bill.
Background
Earlier in February 2017, the National Assembly of Pakistan passed the Hindu Marriage
Bill 2016. The bill was passed after amendments which were made by the Senate. The law
will be applicable in the provinces of Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The bill was tabled before the house by Minister of Human Rights Kamran Michael.
While presenting the bill in the house, Michael said, the decision was taken by the ministry
of human rights to protect the rights of minorities of Pakistan.
Earlier, Sindh province had introduced its own version of the Hindu marriage law.
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According to the report, the average coastal sea levels in the country in 2016 were up
by 38 mm in comparison to the previous year and hit a record high in the months of April,
September, November and December.
Key Highlights
This rise in the level has been credited to climate change as well as El Nino and La
Nina events.
The administration has warned that high sea levels would lead to major problems
including coastal erosion and more frequent and severe typhoons.
It also added that regions falling in the vulnerable coastal lines need to push their
flood prevention efforts further by improving their drainage system and building
more dams.
The vulnerable areas would also need to avoid using underground water to reduce
the risk of caving in of land.
China's coastal waters have risen 3.2mm per year since 1980, which is much higher
than the global average increase over the period.
Besides this, the study also revealed a rise in the countrys coastal air and sea
temperature and a fall in its coastal air pressure.
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The order came after the community members filed a plea for not being counted
among the religions. The court ordered that the section of Sikhism be included in the
religion column in the census form.
The first phase of the 6th census had clubbed Sikhs with the Scheduled Castes of the
country while separately counting the Muslims, Hindus, Christians and some other groups.
The Sikhs community filed a petition in the high court, which ordered that the section of
Sikhism be included in the religion column in the census form.
The high court directed that the implementation of the ruling should be carried out in
the second phase of the population census, which would start from 25 April 2017.
In the ongoing census in the country, only nine of its estimated 70 languages will
be listed, which disappoints many communities. No regional languages from
sparsely populated Gilgit-Baltistan are included in the census form.
However, it is for the first time that around three million registered and
unregistered Afghan refugees in the country will also be counted in the census.
It is also for the first time that transgendered citizens will be counted.
The ongoing census will be concluded in two phases. The first phase, which already
started on 15 March 2017, will conclude on 15 April 2017. The second phase starts
from 25 April 2017 and will conclude on 25 May 2017.
Sikhs in Pakistan
Sikhs form a very small community in present-day Pakistan.
Most of the community members live in the province of Punjab and Peshawar in
the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, is located in Pakistans Punjab
province.
Before the partition, significant populations of Sikhs inhabited the largest cities in
the Punjab such as Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad. However, post-partition,
the minority Hindu and Sikh migrated to India.
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SUMMIT | CONFERENCE
Nepal Investment Summit 2017 concluded in Kathmandu
The Nepal Investment Summit
concluded in Kathmandu on 3 March 2017.
The two-day long summit was inaugurated
by the Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa
Kamal Dahal with an objective to project
Nepal as an attractive investment
destination.
The Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley and the President of the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB) Jin Liqun attended the summit.
In his speech, Arun Jaitley shared Indias experience in reforming its economy and
attracting foreign direct investment (FDI).
He also stated that India and Nepal share deep-rooted historical, cultural and religious
ties which have enabled extensive cooperation in trade and economic fields between the
two countries.
Around 250 delegates from more than 20 countries, including India, participated in
the summit.
The summit was organised by the Ministry of Industry in association with the
Investment Board of Nepal.
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In a historic first, the summit brought together the leaders of the 21 IORA Member
States, including India, and its 7 Dialogue Partners as well as other special invitees
including Myanmar.
Member States issued the Jakarta Concord, which sets out a vision for a revitalized
and sustainable regional architecture.
The convening of the summit is a strategic and progressive step by IORA leaders to
realise an IORA that is able to move faster and able to deal with future challenges.
The meeting released the first IORA Action Plan, which sets out IORA's short-,
medium- and long-term flagship initiatives for 2017-2021.
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Key Highlights
The conference will be inaugurated by Bandaru Dattatreya, the Minister of State
(Independent) for Labour and Employment in the presence of M. Sathiyavathy,
Secretary, Labour and Employment, Government of India.
Its main objective is to focus on the occupational safety and health issues and
challenges in the manufacturing, construction and mining sector.
It will provide a platform for promoting safety and health at work through the
exchange of knowledge, practice and experience.
The event would also host three plenary sessions spread across the three days,
which will be dedicated exclusively to the manufacturing, construction and mining
sector.
Besides this, the event would also host an exhibition on occupational safety and
health that will provide an efficient platform to support technological
communication and business trade.
Key Highlights
The inaugural session saw the release of Pali Tripitaka book by Dalai Lama and
other dignitaries, who were present at the event.
Over 1000 delegates from 35 countries including Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and
Singapore will be participating in the three-day event.
The main topic of the conference is Buddhism in the 21st century.
The event would witness scholars giving their deliberations on perspective and
responses to global challenges and crisis.
The concluding ceremony, which will be held on 19 March 2017, is expected to
see in attendance Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India.
The conference is an annual event. Last year, it was held in Kathmandu, Nepal.
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Key Highlights
The meeting will provide a preliminary discussion platform for the finance
ministers and central bank governors to discuss their points ahead of the G20
Summit of heads of state and government that will be held in Hamburg, Germany
from 7-8 July.
All the focus will be on whether they are able to agree to work together to
promote free trade between themselves despite the protectionist tendency of the
United States.
This meet will be the first such gathering of leaders to discuss global economic
challenges since Donald Trump took over as the President of United States in
January 2017.
While most of the G20 nations have been in agreement that encouraging free
trade is the way to foster the world economy, Trump administration has been seen
taking a protectionist stance on the same, saying it is a part of their effort to save
jobs in the US.
The results of the meeting will be shared by German Finance Minister Wolfgang
Schaeuble and Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann in a news conference, which
is to be held on 18 March 2017.
The G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs will be convening again at the
International Monetary Fund's spring and annual meetings in April and October
2017 in Washington DC.
About G20
It is an international forum comprising governments and central bank governors
from 20 major economies.
The group seeks to address issues that are beyond the responsibility of a particular
organisation.
Some of the member economies include the United States, the United Kingdom,
Brazil, India, China, Australia, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Russia.
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The bust of the Adiyogi was built in eight months by an NGO Isha Foundation. The
foundation said the iconic 112-ft face of the first yogi was consecrated in celebration of the
112 methods that Lord Shiva offered towards self-transformation.
Before inaugurating the metallic statue face of Lord Shiva, Modi visited the Isha yoga
centre and attended the Pancha Bhuta Aradhana function.
While addressing the gathering, PM Modi lauded the practice of yoga and said that
the practice has transcended from generations and is popularly known that the journey of
man from soul to Shiva is Yoga. He said, it is old, yet new. Though static, it is always
evolving. He called for to protect nature and mould our activities in sync with the ecological
surroundings.
Besides, before unveiling the Adiyogi bust, Modi released the book 'Adiyoga: The
source of Yoga', which deals with yogic sciences.
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The meeting was chaired by the Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs
(Independent Charge) Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
The meeting was attended by several renowned artists, musicians, writers. They
discussed strategies to promote Indias rich cultural diversity of minorities.
The decision was announced by Assams Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal himself.
The states government has invited Indias President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, Ambassadors of all the countries and all Chief Ministers and Chief
Secretaries to participate in the mega event.
The five-day festival aims to promote the states economy, culture, art, tourism, skill
industry, investment option, trade, commerce and heritage.
Key Highlights
Namami Brahmaputra, which means Obeisance to the Brahmaputra, will
showcase the grandeur of the river and the land it flows through.
It would also feature a film festival, comprising the screening of some of the best
Assamese films.
Other events include tea festival, river cruises, rafting, visits to tea gardens and
programmes related to history, tradition and legends of Assam.
A group of government officials will be visiting all the state capitals and major
cities as a part of the festival to create a positive image of the state beforehand:
- The officials would be coordinating with local tour operators, industry bodies and the
tourism departments of the respective states.
- They will also be organising road shows with students to generate awareness about
Assams culture and its immense potential.
Through the festival, the state government basically aims to expose the tourists from
both India and abroad to Assams rich legacy and splendour and represent it as a viable
tourist destination on the world map.
Besides this, the government also hopes to create an environment that would
reconnect the people with their roots and rejuvenate the Brahmaputra civilisation.
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Key Highlights
Destination North East 2017 would be inaugurated by Jitendra Singh, the Union
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region.
The main objective of the event is to showcase the North East region (NER) as a
great investment potential by highlighting its rich cultural heritage, customs and
traditions.
The main theme of this years festival is to highlight the use of appropriate
technologies in all sectors of development for NER.
According to S N Pradhan, Joint Secretary of DoNER, the main focus would be on
the 3 H mission, which includes Horticulture, Handicraft and Handloom.
Besides providing an opportunity to different sectors to deliberate upon their
achievements, issues and challenges, the event would provide a platform to
discuss and develop linkage strategies at B2B and people to people level.
The festival would also include cultural programmes and performances from
popular orchestra groups like Shillong Chamber Choir and Angaraag Mahanta
(Papon).
Some of the event participants include the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to
Government of India and Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).
Destination North East is an annual event and this is the first that it is being organised
outside Delhi.
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Key highlights
In west Bengal, the language is spoken by Oraon tribal community, who live in
Dooars. The Dooars are the alluvial floodplains in north-eastern India that lie south
of outer foothills of Himalayas and north of Brahmaputra River basin.
Most of the tribal languages in the West Bengal have their origins in the Austro-
Asiatic and Tibeto-Barman families; however, Kurukh is an exception. The origin of
the endangered language lies in the Malto, which hails from Dravidian family.
Malto is not spoken in West Bengal, but in the Rajmahal hills area in Jharkhand.
Jharkhand has already recognised Kurukh as a language, and students can write
their school final examination in its script.
According to the 2001 census report, the language is spoken by about 17 lakh
persons.
The language belongs to the Northern Dravidian group of the Dravidian family of
languages, and is closely related to Sauria Paharia and Kumarbhag Paharia, which
are often together referred to as Malto.
It is spoken by nearly two million Oraon and Kisan tribal peoples of Odisha,
Jharkhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It is also spoken in
Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
Narayan Oraon had invented the Tolong Siki script specifically for Kurukh.
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The word Yogoda was coined by Paramahansa Yogananda. The world is derived
from Yoga, union, harmony, equilibrium, and da, "that which imparts".
The HarperCollins featured the book in the 100 Most Important Spiritual Books of
the 20th Century.
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yoga gurus, masters, scholars, policy makers and representatives from over 15-18 countries
from across the world.
Key Highlights
The event inaugurated by Venkaiah Naidu, the Information and Broadcasting
Minister at the Talkatora stadium.
The mega event will include parallel yoga workshops, lectures, satsang, yoga
demos and various other cultural programmes.
It would also include an exhibition comprising more than 50 stalls with yoga
appliances, other yoga related products, dvds and books on display.
Apart from this, the event would comprise a half-day seminar on the life sketch
and contributions of two eminent yoga gurus- Swami Ved Bharati and T KV
Desikachar for the promotion and further development of yoga.
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The North East Zone Cultural Centre (NEZCC), Dimapur will be the nodal agency to
carry forward the execution of the National Cultural Festival.
Each Zonal Cultural Centre will present their arts during the festival which would
showcase an amalgamation of Ek Bharat, Srestha Bharat, HamaariSanskriti,
HamaariPanchaan and Swachh India.
The inaugural ceremony will exhibit varied art forms like Buddhist Chant and Gung,
Vedic Chanting, PuruliaChhou, Yoga, DholCholom and PungCholom, Ladakhi dance
and Godambaza.
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Key Highlights
The service would include two rides, a 10 minute one and a 20 minute one.
While the 10 minute one would cost around Rs 2499 per person, the 20 minute
one would be a slightly more expensive service with the cost being around Rs 4999
per person.
The rides would commence from the companys state of the art integrated
heliport at Rohini.
The service would undergo a trial run between 25 and 26 March.
It would be officially opened for regular service on 1 April.
In its latest statement, the company said that the visitors can take a helicopter ride to
experience the breathtaking beauty of the city through an aerial view of Majnu Ka Tila,
Pritam Pura Tower, Red Fort, Akshardham Temple, Rajghat and other surrounding areas.
Besides this, the Rohini facility will also be useful in cases of medical emergency and
public safety in the future.
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AWARDS | HONOURS
Sahitya Akademi awards 2016 presented to 24 authors
The awards were conferred on them at the annual Festival of Letters. The festival, which
began 21 February 2017, will continue till 26 February 2017. The distinguished physicist and
Marathi writer Jayant Vishnu Narlikar was the chief guest of the award ceremony.
Indian tabla player Sandeep Das wins 2017 Grammy Award for Best Global Music
The awards were conferred in different genres and they included poetry, essay, short
story, novel, criticism and play.
Shyam Darihare: Was awarded for book Barki Kaki at Hotmail Dot Com written in
Maithili.
Moirangthem Rajen: Was awarded for book Cheptharaba Eshingpun written in
Manipuri.
Asaram Lomate: Was awarded for book Aalok written in Marathi.
Paramita Satpathy: Was awarded for book Prapti written in Odia.
Bulaki Sharma: Was awarded for book Murdjat Ar Dujee Kahaniyan written in
Rajasthani.
Vannadhasan: Was awarded for book Oru Siru Isai written in Tamil.
Rajkummar Rao's 'Newton' wins Art Cinema honour at Berlinale
Genre Novel
Gita Upadhyay: Was awarded for book Janmabhumi Mero Swadesh written in
Nepali.
Jerry Pinto: Was awarded for book Em and the big Hoom written in English.
Nasira Sharma: Was awarded for book Paarijat written in Hindi.
Boluwaru Mohammad Kunhi: Was awarded for book Swatantryada Ota written in
Kannada.
Edwin J.F. Dsouza: Was awarded for book Kale Bhangar written in Konkani.
Genre Criticism
Aziz Hajini: Was awarded for book Aane Khane written in Kashmiri.
Nizam Siddiqui: Was awarded for book Mabad-e-Jadidiat Se Naye Ahed Ki
Takhliqiyat Tak written in Urdu.
Genre Essay
Nrisinghaprasad Badhuri: Was awarded for book Mahabharater Astadahi written
in Bengali.
Genre Play
Swarajbir: Was awarded for the play titled Masia Di Raat written in Punjabi.
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The Oscar Awards for the year 2017 were presented by the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 24 categories.
The nominees for the 89th Oscar Awards were announced on 24 January 2017, via
global live stream from the Academy. Movie La La Land received the most nominations with
a record-tying fourteen.
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The Japanese technology has been given the Guinness title for being able to play table
tennis way better than most humans.
About FORPHEUS
FORPHEUS is short for Future Omron Robotics Technology for Exploring Possibility
of Harmonised automation with Sinic Theoretics.
According to its lead developer, Taku Oya, the main aim behind the technology is
to harmonise humans and robots by teaching table tennis to human players.
The machine is enabled to act as a coach with assistance from cutting edge vision
and motion sensors that help it gage movement during a match.
It also features several cameras that are located above the ping pong table, which
monitor the position of the ball at a rate of 80 times per second.
The cameras help the robot to show its human student a projected image as to
where the ball will land when returned in order to help them improve their skills.
Sand Artist Sudarsans new sand castle creates Guinness World Record
Further, a speed sensing component in the robot helps it calculate the opponents
ball at 1000 times per second and as a result it is easily able to determine how
good its opponents are at playing the game.
The robot also encourages the human players to give their best shot by showing
supportive messages along the LED screen situated on the tables net.
Talking further about the advancement in technology, Taku stated that though at the
moment it is a human who teaches a robot how to behave or teach, but in the next 20 years
it may be possible that a robot is teaching a robot or a robot is developing a robot.
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List of Winners
Winner Category
Dr K Balasubramanian Innovation in Polymeric Materials
Reliance Industries Limited Innovation in Polymeric Materials
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati Innovation in Polymeric Materials
Dr Debdatta Ratna and Team Innovation in Polymeric Products
Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), Innovation in Polymeric Products
Hyderabad & Others
Dr S Sridhar and Team Innovation of Polymer Processing Machinery
& Equipment
Windsor Machines Limited, Kalol Innovation of Polymer Processing Machinery
& Equipment
E-Parisaraa Private Limited, Bengaluru Innovation in Polymer Waste Management &
Recycling Technology and Green Polymeric
Materials & Products
Visvesvaraya National Institute of Innovation in Polymer Waste Management &
Technology, Nagpur Recycling Technology and Green Polymeric
List of Runner-ups
Runner-up Category
Dr. S.Sridhar and Team, CSIR, Hyderabad Innovation in Polymeric Materials
Tezpur University, Assam Innovation in Polymeric Materials
Dr. Balasubramanian. K, DU, Pune Innovation of Polymer Processing Machinery
& Equipment
Rajoo Engineers Ltd., Rajkot Innovation of Polymer Processing Machinery
& Equipment
Digvijay Dhabriya, Dhabriya Polywood Ltd Innovation in Polymer Waste Management
& Recycling Technology and Green Polymeric
Materials & Products
Dr. Tarun K. Maji and Ms. Chinmayee Saikia Research in the field of Polymer Science &
Technology
Trimoorty Auto Deco Components Private Innovation in Petrochemicals and Newer
Limited, Pune Polymer Applications
These awards are also intended to enhance innovative capacities to the level of
international recognition.
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The program also supports the Global Partnership for Education and Global Citizen
Project to offer children with access to education in over 60 developing countries, giving
priority to girls, and those affected by lack of access to education in the world today.
Born in Barbados, singer, actress and songwriter Robyn Rihanna Fenty has sold more
than 200 million records, won eight Grammy Awards and scored 14 number-one hits till
date.
Hans Rosling, James Earl Jones, Ban Ki-moon, Kofi Annan, Boutros Boutros-Ghali,
Malala Yousafzai, Kailash Satyarthi, Arthur Ashe, Louis W. Sullivan and Dolores Huerta are
some previous years awardees.
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On the other hand, Deepak Pant from Central University of Himachal Pradesh won
the Visitors Award for Innovation. He won the award for development of a reactor for
direct conversion of waste plastic to LPG in small scale.
The Visitors Award for Research is jointly won by Dr Shyam Sunder from Banaras
Hindu University and Professor Niranjan Karak from Tezpur University. Dr Sunder won the
award for his work in the area of diagnosis and treatment of Indian Kala-azar while
Professor won it for development of renewable resource based bio-degradable hyper-
branched polymer nano-composites as self-cleaning, self-healing and bio-compatible smart
sustainable futuristic material.
About Jawaharlal Nehru University
Jawaharlal Nehru University is a public central university in New Delhi.
It was established in the year 1969 by an Act of parliament. G. Parthsarthi was the
first vice-chancellor of the university.
In 2012, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council gave the university a
grade of 3.9 out of 4, the highest grade awarded to any educational institution in
India.
The university is known for leading faculties and research emphasis on liberal arts
and applied sciences.
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Some of the awardees of this year are scientists Anatta Sonney, B Codanayaguy and
Subhu Varier, entrepreneurs Reema Sathe and Zuboni Humtsoe, trailblazer Mumtaz Kazi
and many more.
The Nari Shakti Puraskar carries a cash award of Rs 1 Lakh and a certificate for
individuals and institutions.
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Aishwarya grabbed the award for her role in 2016 film 'Sarbjit'.
directed by Omung Kumar. The film revolved around Sarabjit Singh, an Indian man, who was
sentenced to death by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1991. He consequently spent 22
years in prison for alleged terrorism and spying.
In 1997, she made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Iruvar.
Her first Hindi film release was Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, which released in 1997.
In 1998, she delivered her first commercial success movie named Jeans.
In 1999, she won Best Actress awards at Filmfare for her performance in Hum Dil
De Chuke Sanam. In 2002, she again won the award for Devdas.
In 2003, she became the first Indian actress to be a jury member at the Cannes
Film Festival.
In 2009, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
She is also a Goodwill Ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on
AIDS (UNAIDS).
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The actress not only won an Oscar recently but also won the Golden Globe, BAFTA and
the Screen Actors Guild Award for best supporting actress female for her performance as
Rose Maxson in the film adaptation of August Wilsons play Fences. Davis also acted in the
play's 2010 Broadway revival with Denzel Washington, for which she won her second Tony
award.
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Awardees
PM Modi honoured ten women with the Swachh Shakti Samman for their exemplary
work in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
Among the women awardees were Manju Maurya from UP, Uttara Thakur from
Chhattisgarh, Kumari Neelam from Haryana, Shivani Dakoy from West Bengal, Asha Putri
from Rajasthan, Sumitra Kumari from Assam, Ramila Ben Rai Singh Gavit from Gujarat,
Akamma Harval from Karnataka, M. Malika from Tamil Nadu, and Sushila Kurkute from
Maharashtra.
Background
Around 6000 women sarpanches from across the country participated in the Swachh
Shakti Sammelan. Among them were mostly those women sarpanches who played a key
role in making their villages open defecation free.
On the same occasion, a digital exposition was also displayed where one could see
how a clean village is transforming itself into being digital. These include those 25 villages
out of 33 in Gujarat which have become Open Defecation Free.
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The novel 'Hawthan' is a well-researched work of fiction. The book presents the
cultural map of the traditional potter community of Goa.
It is named after Goddess Saraswati, Indian goddess of learning. The award was
instituted in 1991 by the KK Birla Foundation.
The inaugural award was given to Harivanshrai Bachchan for his four volume
autobiography - Kya Bhooloon Kya Yaad Karoon, Needa Ka Nirman Phir, Basere Se
Door and Dashdwar Se Sopan Tak.
The Saraswati Samman for 2015 was given to Padma Sachdev for her
autobiography titled Chitt-Chete, which was written in Dogri language.
Its ability to tap rooftop solar power makes it the most energy efficient solution for
homes and offices.
At present, the system is functional in more than 11,000 homes in Rajasthan and
Assam.
It also has been installed in villages of 5 States, namely, Karnataka, Odisha, Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
As per the developers, the system can power a small home at lesser cost than a
conventional solar power system.
The system will power a few fans, lights, a television, mobile charging, mixer
grinder and computer that run on DC current.
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The total sum of this award is 50 lakh rupees in which there is a provision of one
award of 25 lakh rupees at the national level and 11 awards of Rs 2,25,000 lakh
each at the regional level.
The winners of this annual award are selected by the selection committee on the
basis of nominations received from all the Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) across the
country.
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For its first 57 years, the competition was known as the Westinghouse Science
Talent Search. From 1988 to 2015, it was known as the Intel Science Talent Search.
The competition has been referred to as "the nation's oldest and most prestigious"
science competition.
Former US President George H. W. Bush, in his speech at the dinner honouring the
1991 winners, called the competition as the "Super Bowl of science."
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Key Highlights
Maggie was among the 10
finalists, chosen from over 20,000 nominations and applications from 179
countries across the globe.
The winners name was announced through a video link by an astronaut on the
International Space Station.
The inuit village, where Maggie teaches, is known to have a high suicide rate.
Maggie herself has witnessed over 10 suicides and she described at the event how
it felt to be a teacher after the suicide of a student.
The region is also infamous for teenage pregnancies and high levels of sexual
abuse. To help curb the same, Maggie created life-skills programme specifically for
the young girls in the region.
Maggie has also been a temporary foster parent in the indigenous community.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Maggie on her win through a
video message and thanked her along with other teachers teaching in the village, which is
located in one of the worlds most remote regions, surrounded by snow and ice that has no
roads and is only accessible by air.
It aims to acknowledge the impacts of the very best teachers not only on their
students but on the communities around them.
The prize is paid in instalments and requires the winner to remain a teacher for at
least five years.
The Nobel-like award was set up three years ago by the Dubai-based Varkey
Foundation under the leadership of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum.
Last years award went to a Palestinian teacher, Hanan al-Hroub, for her work in
countering violent behaviour among her students through the means of play in the
West Bank.
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The print journalism has its own impact because journalists through their columns or stories
find a permanent place in the minds of readers.
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The President conferred 1 Kirti Chakra and 12 Shaurya Chakras to Armed Forces
Personnel for displaying exemplary leadership, an extreme presence of mind, conspicuous
gallantry and courage beyond the call of duty. From the total, Six Shaurya Chakras were
given posthumously.
He also conferred 15 Param Vishisht Seva medals, 3 Uttam Yuddh Seva medals, 1 Bar
to Ati Vishisht Seva medal and 22 Ati Vishisht Seva medals to senior officers of the Armed
forces to acknowledge their exceptional service.
Following are the names of some winners:
Kirti Chakra
Major Rohit Suri, the Parachute Regiment
Shaurya Chakra
Naik Bir Singh, 21st Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces)
Captain Gaurav Sharad Jadhav, Regiment of Artillery/ 36th Battalion, the Rashtriya
Rifles
Major Rahul Dev Singh, the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles/ 3rd Battalion, the Rashtriya
Rifles
Sepoy Hari Chettri, the Mechanized Infantry/ 9th Battalion, the Rashtriya Rifles
Nair Shinde Shankar Chandrabhan, the Maratha Light Infantry/ 41st Battalion, the
Rashtriya Rifles (Posthumous)
Captain Tushar Mahajan, 9th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces)
(Posthumous)
Captain Pawan Kumar, 10th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces)
(Posthumous)
Lance Naik Om Parkash, 9th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces)
(Posthumous)
Lieutenant Colonel Atul Gupta, the Mahar Regiment/ 30th Battalion, the Rashtriya
Rifles
Captain Ashik M B, First Battalion of the Fifth Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Forces)
Aside from being the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee is also the Supreme
Commander of the Indian Armed Forces.
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SPORTS
61 CAVALRY defeats Army Service Corps to
win Army Polo Championship
61 CAVALRY on 24
February 2017 bagged the
Army Polo Championship. In
the finals played in New Delhi,
61 CAVALRY defeated Army
Service Corps.
India defeats South Africa to win ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier 2017
Army has dominated Equestrian Sports for a long time producing a large number of
Asian Games medalists, World Cup players, Padam Shree and Arjuna awardees and is
pursuing it as part of its Mission Olympics programme. At the same time, the 61 CAVALRY
regiment has a polo playing tradition and has produced some of India's best polo players.
Lt Gen RV Kanitkar, Quarter Master General, presented the Army Polo Championship
Trophy to 61 CAVLARY in the presence of a big audience including many senior officers.
61 Cavalry Regiment
The 61 Cavalry Regiment of the Indian Army is the largest non-ceremonial horse-
mounted cavalry unit remaining in the world. As per reports, the regiment recruits Rajputs,
Marathas and Kaimkhanis in equal numbers. This ratio was established on the instructions
of the former Prime Minister Jawarharalal Nehru.
In recent times, the 62st Cavalry is among the limited unmechanised mounted cavalry
regiments in the world. Few other unmechanised mounted cavalry regiments across the
world include the 11th Cavalry Regiment of the Moscow Military District and the Household
Cavalry Mounted Regiment.
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The Olympic silver medallists Dohmen and Naomi were handed these awards at a
ceremony hosted in Chandigarh.
Hockey Stars 2016 male Goalkeeper of the Year: won by Ireland's David Harte. He
won the award for the second year in a row.
Male Rising Star of the Year (2016): Belgium's Arthur Van Doren
Indians in the fray for the award who returned empty-handed were
Harmanpreet Singh (Rising Star of the Year)
and captain and
goalkeeper PR Sreejesh
(for Goalkeeper of the
Year).
Hockey legend
Balbir Singh Senior, 92,
gave away the award to
David Harte, while the
Player of the Year, both in
mens and womens
category was given by the
FIH President Narinder
Batra.
Maddie Hinch: Her shoot-out against the Netherlands in the final at the Rio Olympics
helped the Great Britain to clinch the gold medal.
David Harte: He helped the hockey team of Ireland to make return to Olympic after
100 years. Earlier, he was judged as the 2015 Hockey Stars Goalkeeper of the Year.
Maria Granatto: She was named as the Best Junior player at that event for scoring
three times during Argentinas title success at the Hockey Champions Trophy in London.
Arthur Van Doren: Doren, the Olympic silver medallist from Belgium, has shown
throughout 2016 that he is a world-class defender with composure beyond his years.
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His career-high singles ranking is world No. 5, which he achieved in February 2012.
He won his first ATP Masters Series championship at the 2008 Paris Masters.
He also reached the final of the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals, where he lost to
Roger Federer.
He achieved his second Masters Series win at the 2014 Canadian Open.
He is also the first and one of only three players (the others being Tomas Berdych
and Stan Wawrinka) to have Grand Slam wins against each of the Big Four (namely
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray).
About Open 13
The Open 13 is an annual men's tennis tournament.
The tournament is an ATP World Tour 250 series event on the Association of
Tennis Professionals tour.
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The Japanese technology has been given the Guinness title for being able to play
table tennis way better than most humans.
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As the Secretary (West), Ghanashyam will be responsible for looking after the
country's diplomatic affairs with the United Kingdom and other European nations.
Prior to this, she worked as the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External
Affairs where she was heading the Europe West Division.
She served as the Minister in the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations
in New York from May 2004 to March 2008.
She served as the Director for Pakistan at headquarters in Delhi from August 2000
to March 2004.
She joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1982 after obtaining a Masters in
Psychology from the Bhopal University.
De Matos replaces Nicolai Adam, who was resigned under controversial circumstances
after a revolt from the players.
He played as a forward.
He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 210 games and 36 goals over the course of nine
seasons.
The FIFA U-17 World Cup is the biennial international men's youth football
championship contested by the U17 national teams of the member associations of
FIFA.
The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup will be hosted by India between 6 and 28 October
2017. It will be the first FIFA tournament hosted by India.
A clouded leopard named Kheleo is the mascot for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
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Ace cricketer Virat Kohli is set to receive the Polly Umrigar Award for the second year
in a row. While R Ashwin will receive the Dilip Sardesai Award for the second time.
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The bronze medal went to Vahid Golkhandan of Iran who shot a total score of 208
points. It was his first World Cup medal in international competition.
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The Dubai Tennis Championships was the second final for Bopanna in the year 2017.
He had started the season by winning the Chennai Open with compatriot Jeevan
Nedunchezhiyan.
It is owned and organized by Dubai Duty Free and held annually in Dubai, United
Arab Emirates.
It takes place under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai.
In 2016, the Dubai Tennis Championships Mens Doubles title was won by Simone
Bolelli and Andreas Seppi.
The 2017 Dubai Tennis Championships Mens Singles is won by Andy Murray.
The 2017 Dubai Tennis Championships Womens Singles is won by Elina Svitolina.
The 2017 Dubai Tennis Championships Womens Doubles title is won by Ekaterina
Makarova and Russia Elena Vesnina.
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Sam Querrey beats Rafael Nadal to win ATP Mexico Open title
USAs Sam Querrey on 4 March 2017
defeated second-seeded Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-6
to win the ATP Mexico Open Mens Singles
title. The match was held in Acapulco, Mexico.
In January 2011, he achieved his career-high singles ranking of world no. 17.
His best performance in a Grand Slam event was at the 2016 Wimbledon
Championships, where he reached the quarterfinal. In the third round of the
tournament, Querrey defeated world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in four sets.
It is played on outdoor hard courts. However, it was played on outdoor red clay
courts until 2013. The change to hard courts was introduced in the year 2014.
The tournament is a part of the ATP World Tour 500 series on the Association of
Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour, and of the WTA International tournaments
on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour.
In 2016, the Mens Singles title was won by Austrias Dominic Thiem.
The 2017 Men's Doubles title is won by Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares.
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With this title, Murray has become the first British champion in the 25 year history of
the tournament.
For Murray, it was his best win over the Spaniard since the Miami Championships
almost exactly eight years ago and comes after he finished as runner-up to Roger Federer in
Dubai in 2012.
Incredibly, it was his seventh final in his last eight tournaments and 14th in his last 16.
It is their 13th title together, which includes both Wimbledon and the ATP World
Tour Finals in 2015.
It is Rojer's 22nd doubles title and Tecau's 30th. Bopanna was seeking his fourth
Dubai title after winning in 2012, 2014 and 2015, all with different partners.
Worlds first robot table tennis tutor sets new Guinness World record
In 2005, two ATP World Tour champions, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer, scaled
the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah for a friendly practice session atop the helipad at the
iconic hotel.
The tournament has frequently been named the ATP World Tour 500 Tournament
of the Year at the ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moet & Chandon.
The championships is owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free and held under the
patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and
Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
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He won the 2008 French Open men's doubles title with Luis Horna.
In April 2009, he had achieved his career-high doubles ranking of World no. 14.
The tournament is one of the main events in the Brazilian tennis calendar.
Since 2004, the competition has been a part of the South American clay court
circuit. Before that, it was held on hard courts.
Spains Nicolas Almagro and Uruguays Pablo Cuevas hold the record for most
titles at the tournament.
The 2016 Brasil Open Mens Singles title was won by Pablo Cuevas.
The 2017 Brasil Open Mens Doubles title is won Rogerio Dutra Silva and Andra Sa.
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Ashwin and Jadeja jointly rank Number One in ICC Test rankings
Indias Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on 8 March
2017 became the first pair of spinners to be jointly top-ranked in the
MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers.
In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, Steve Smith, captain of
Australian cricket team, maintained his reign at the top for 77 Tests, going past Ricky
Pontings 76 matches.
In domestic cricket, he plays for Tamil Nadu. He plays for Rising Pune Supergiants
in the IPL.
He is the fastest Indian bowler to reach the 50-, 100-, 150-, 200-, and 250-wicket
mark in Test cricket.
In 2016, Ashwin became the only Indian after Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar
to win the ICC Cricketer of the Year award.
In his 45th test match, against Bangladesh in February 2017, he became the fastest
player to pick up 250 test wickets.
He plays for Saurashtra in first-class cricket and the Gujarat Lions in the IPL.
He was a part of the Indian U-19 cricket team that won the World Cup in Malaysia
in 2008.
On 22 January 2017, he became the first Indian left arm spinner to take 150 ODI
wickets.
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In the final match, Indias Vandana Katariya, Gurjit Kaur and Rani scored for the team
on 6th minute, 15th minute and 55th minute, respectively. On the other hand, Yuliya
Mikheichyk scored the solitary goal for Belarus on the 52nd minute.
The Indian team was captained by striker Rani, the Indian eves were quick to get off
the blocks as Vandana scored a field goal in the 6th minute of the match.
The first quarter of the match went on to be an eventful one for the Indian women, as
Gurjit Kaur successfully converted a Penalty Corner in the 15th minute to take her side 2-0
up against Belarus.
The opponent country found a breakthrough in the 52nd minute of the match when
Yuliya converted a Penalty Corner. However, the Indian team defended strongly thereafter,
and even converted a Penalty Corner through skipper Rani in the 55th minute to eventually
lock the match in Indias favour.
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While Randhawa won the titles in 2006 and 2007, Hosoishi won the titles in 1967 and
1968.
Defeated Rahil Gangjee and Mithun Perera with a birdie on the first play-off hole
to win the 2014 Panasonic Open India
Won the Avantha Masters on home soil, an event co-sanctioned with Europe in
2011
Came close to winning his second Asian Tour title at the SAIL Open in Delhi when
he finished fourth in 2010
Was denied victory at the Hero Indian Open when he lost on the first play-off hole
to Anirban Lahiri in 2015 but thanks to three other top-10 results, he finished
fourth on the Order of Merit and qualified for the 2016 EurAsia Cup presented by
DRB-HICOM
Challenged compatriot Jyoti Randhawa for the Hero Honda Indian Open title
before losing in a play-off that included Vijay Kumar in 2006
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Lee Chong Wei wins All England Open Men's Singles title
Top-ranked Lee Chong Wei of
Malaysia on 12 March 2017 won
his fourth All England Open crown.
From 21 August 2008 to 14 June 2012, he was ranked first worldwide for 199
consecutive weeks as a singles player.
He is the fourth Malaysian player after Rashid Sidek, Roslin Hashim and Wong
Choong Hann to achieve such a ranking.
He is the only Malaysian badminton player to hold the number one ranking for
more than a year.
He is triple silver medallist at the Olympic Games. He is also the sixth Malaysian to
win an Olympic medal.
The world's first open tournament was held in the English town of Guildford in
1898.
The tournament halted for two instances: from 1915 to 1919 (due to World War I)
and from 1940 to 1946 (due to World War II).
The 2017 All England Open Badminton Championships had a total purse of USD
600000.
In 2016, the Mens Singles title was won by Chinas Lin Dan.
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Scott Conway of Australia took charge as the new Scientific Advisor for the Senior
mens team at the national camp starting in SAI Bengaluru.
South Africas Robin Anthony Webster Arkell will soon assume duties as the Scientific
Advisor for the junior mens team. Before joining Hockey India, he worked as the lead
strength and conditioning coach for the Pumas Rugby, Senior Currie Cup Squad. He has also
worked with the Western Province U21 Currie Cup as Assistant Strength and Conditioning
Coach. In his capacity as Strength and Conditioning Coach, he also worked with the Western
Province Cricket Club, UCT Rugby U20 as well as the South African U16 rugby training camp.
South African Wayne Patrick Lombard will take charge as Scientific Advisor at the
senior womens camp in Bhopal. Earlier, he worked as Head of Athletic Performance,
Liaoning Province, China Hockey. He was the Senior Biokineticist, Discovery High
performance Centre (HPC), Sports Science Institute of South Africa (SSISA) and was also the
Medical Manager and Head Strength and Conditioning Specialist, University of Cape Town
Cricket Club.
On the other hand, Daniel Barry from Australia was roped in as Scientific Advisor for
the junior womens team. Previously, he worked as Assistant Strength and Conditioning
Coach with Western Australian Cricket Association at Perth, Head Strength and Conditioning
Coach Shanghai Women Basketball Shanghai Sports Institute, China and Strength and
Conditioning Consultant at Indonesian Olympic Committee.
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Football I M Vijayan
Their functions include all aspects of the sports including selection policy, quality
specifications for national camps, long term athlete development plan, coaching
development, development of technical officials and monitoring and evaluation of
athlete performance.
Apart from providing inputs for their respective disciplines, the National Observers
would also to be consulted as a group on cross cutting issues impacting sports
development in the country.
Following are some of the recent initiatives of the Union Government to promote
sports in the country.
On 5 February 2017, the foundation stone of the boundary wall of the first-ever
Centre of Excellence for differently-abled sportsmen was laid at Sector-25 in
Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
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Key Highlights
The portal will have an interactive window that will allow any person to upload a
video or a biodata of any young talented girl or a boy who has exceptional sporting
ability but lacks proper exposure.
The ministry will work on identifying and grooming deserving young talents and
then provide them with a platform to showcase their sporting abilities irrespective
of their social or economic status.
The Ministry will also be providing the selected youths with proper training
facilities.
Besides this, Vijay Goel announced that the Ministry of Sports would be setting up a
task force to conduct a feasible study on whether India will be able to host the Olympics in
2024 and 2028.
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The fete also helped Pujara to join the elite list of players like Rahul Dravid, Navjot
Sidhu, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and VVS Laxman. In short, he is the sixth Indian batsman
to face 450 balls in an innings.
The previous record of facing maximum balls in Test inning was held by Rahul Dravid
(270 off 495 balls). Dravids record was created in 2004 during a match against Pakistan in
Rawalpindi. 270 during the inning at Rawalpindi was Dravids career-best score.
Apart from this, Pujara is also the fourth batsman (overall) to face 500+ balls against
Australia. Ken Barrington (England) was the last batsman to play 500 balls against Australia.
He in 1964 faced 624 deliveries in his innings of 256 at Old Trafford.
Wally Hammond (England) did it three times. Hammond is also the player who holds
the record of scoring four double-tons against Australia. He is followed by Brian Lara (three
double-tons). Sachin Tendulkar, Graeme Pollock and VVS Laxman are the players who have
scored two double-tons against Australia.
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The new rules of Memorandum of Associations (MOA) and Rules & Regulations of
BCCI clearly states, there could be only one full member from a state.
In addition to it, the new constitution of the Indian cricket board also grants full
membership with voting rights to all the North Eastern states, namely Arunachal Pradesh,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Sikkim. The full membership with voting
rights was given to the North Eastern states as recommended in Lodha Panel reforms.
Other states to receive the full membership include Telangana and Uttarakhand. On
the other hand, Bihar gets back its voting right but it will start functioning only after the
pending cases are over.
Ranji champions along with Baroda and Saurashtra are associate members and will
take turns to rotate annually to vote. The new Memorandum of Association has also taken
away the proxy system.
The Committee of Administrators has strictly adhered to the reforms that have been
passed by the Supreme Court.
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Jharkhand won the trophy in 2011, beating Gujarat in the finals at Holkar Cricket
Stadium, Indore. Bengal won it on 2011-12.
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At 35, Federer is the oldest ATP player to win one of the elite Master's titles,
supplanting Andre Agassi who was 34 when he won in Cincinnati in 2004.
Earlier in January 2016, Federer won the Australian Open title. This was his first title
after returning back from the knee surgery that kept him out of the game for some six
months. The Australian Open was his 18th Grand Slam title.
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Six special athletes for Alpine skiing and snowboarding fetched the gold for India on
the third day of the competition.
On the other hand, Shamsher Singh won a silver for the country on the first day of the
competition. He bagged a silver medal at snow shoeing- form of hiking in the snow with
special foot wear-100m race. Jyoti Bala clinched bronze medal for the same sport.
Special Olympics World Games take place every two years and alternate between
Summer and Winter Games, a schedule similar to the Olympics and Paralympics.
The first International Special Olympics Summer Games were held in Chicago, US,
in 1968.
The first International Special Olympics Winter Games were held in February 1977
in Steamboat Springs, US.
With 3 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze medals till the second day of competition, India
ranks at the seventh spot out of 48 participating countries.
Sundar Singh Gurjar clinched a gold each in the mens Javelin Throw F-46 and Discus
Throw F-46 competitions.
Gurjar, who lost his left hand in an accident two years ago, threw 60.33m in Javelin
Throw F-46. He threw 44.56m in Discus Throw F-46, over five meters clear of the rest of the
field.
The third gold for India was grabbed by Narender Ranbir in mens Javelin Throw F-
44 with an effort of 47.75m.
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PERSON APPOINTED
Former Nagaland CM Zeliang appointed as
Finance Advisor to state government
TR Zeliang, the former Chief Minister of Nagaland, was
appointed as the finance advisor to the state government on
25 February 2017. He was appointed as the finance advisor
in the rank of a Cabinet Minister.
Zeliang has resigned from the chief ministership on 19 February 2017. He resigned
from the post on the protest and demand of the Joint Coordination Committee and
Nagaland Tribal Action Committee. His resignation was demanded his decision to hold
elections to urban bodies with 33 per cent reservation for women.
TR Zeliang
From 2014 to February 2017, he had served Nagaland as its Chief Minister.
He resigned from the office of chief minister of the state in the backdrop of
protests in the state.
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Constitution through the 89th Amendment Act, 2003. The amendment replaced erstwhile
National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes by two separate
Commissions namely, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, and the National
Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
The Chairperson of NCST has been given the rank of Union Cabinet Minister and the
Vice-Chairperson that of a Minister of State.
The term of office of Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and each member is three years
from the date of assumption of charge.
He was elected to Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1977, 1985 and 1998.
He was elected to Lok Sabha in 1989, 1996 and 2004. He was elected to Rajya
Sabha in 2009 and 2010.
Sai has served as member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Coal and Steel.
He also served as a member of the Parliamentary consultative committee of
Ministry of Urban Development and Ministry of Social Justice and empowerment.
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His appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)
for the duration of five years.
Purwar is currently working as Director (Finance) in MTNL. Purwar held the additional
charge of the post of MTNL CMD between June 2014 and June 2015. In June 2016, he was
again given this additional charge.
Background
MTNL had been without a full-time Chairman and Managing Director since the
superannuation of A K Garg in May 2014.
Narendra Kumar Yadav, Member (Services) in the Department of Telecom (DoT), was
given the additional charge of CMD of MTNL on 8 June 2015, however, as per the rules, he
relinquished the post after serving for a year.
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RTS, formed through a Maharashtra state legislation, is entrusted with the task of
overseeing delivery of various government services to the people.
He had served as the Principal Secretary in Chief Minister's office during late
Vilasrao Deshmukh's tenure.
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Who is J S Deepak?
J S Deepak is a 1982 batch IAS officer from Uttar Pradesh.
During his stint in the Union Commerce Ministry, he served as India's chief
negotiator at the WTO and for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
(RCEP) agreement.
Previously, he also worked as consultant with The Policy Project, Washington DC, a
consortium of US-based Research Triangle Institute and Johns Hopkins University.
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bond markets and shoring up corporate governance. He will be required to balance multiple
constituencies such as traders, fund managers and the Reserve Bank of India.
Under his stewardship, SEBI has been fighting a prolonged battle with the Sahara
Group over illegal money pooling activities.
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He is one of the states most senior bureaucrats and is due to retire in April 2018.
He was till recently serving as the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) and as the Chief
Protocol Officer in the general administration department.
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Reddy has been roped in to advise the state government on proper implementation
and smooth delivery of the states ongoing health service programmes.
A communiqu from the chief ministers office stated that Reddy would be accorded
with the rank of a Cabinet minister along with other facilities.
He also serves as the President of the National Board of Examinations that deals
with post-graduate medical education in India.
Previously, Reddy served as the head of the cardiology department at the All India
Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
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He has been serving as the President of the European Council since 1 December
2014.
Before that, he served as the Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014. He was
the first Prime Minister to be re-elected since the fall of Communism in Poland.
It is charged with defining the EU's overall political direction and priorities.
The Council comprises the heads of state or government of the member states,
along with the President of the European Council and the President of the
European Commission.
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Hemant Gupta was appointed as the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Before this appointment, he was serving as the Acting Chief Justice of Patna High Court .
Acting Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court P K Mohanty was appointed as the Chief Justice
of Jharkhand itself.
Justice Navniti Prasad, a judge in Patna High Court, was appointed as the Chief Justice
of Kerala High Court. Justice T B Radhakrishnan, Acting Chief Justice of Kerala High Court,
was named as the Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court.
Background
The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar recommended nine
names to the government for taking over as regular High Court Chief Justices. This was a
much-anticipated move to appoint regular chief justices for High Courts instead of having
acting chief justices for months.
Around 201 proposals by the Supreme Court collegium for appointment of judges in
the high courts are at various stages of processing.
As on 1 March 2017, the 24 high courts were working with 642 judges, while the
approved strength is 1079, a shortfall of 437.
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He also had served as the senior joint commissioner in the Union Ministry of
Water Resources between 2002 and 2005.
The work of the commission is divided among 3 wings, namely, Designs and
Research (D&R) Wing, River Management (RM) Wing and Water Planning and
Projects (WP&P) Wing.
Each wing is placed under the charge of a full-time member with the status of Ex-
Officio Additional Secretary to the Government of India and comprising of a
number of organizations responsible for the disposal of tasks and duties falling
within their assigned scope of functions.
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The CMS is an agency that oversees health insurance programmes that cover more
than 130 million Americans.
Seema Verma
Verma is the owner of SVC Inc, a healthcare consulting firm
She has helped redesign Medicaid programs in several States, including Indiana
when Vice President Mike Pence was Governor.
Verma will report to US Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.
In 1993, she received her bachelors degree in life sciences from the University of
Maryland, College Park.
She was nominated to serve as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services on 29 November 2016, by Donald Trump, who was the President-elect at
that time.
Earlier, the House Republicans released the text of a bill to repeal and replace the
Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The health care bill backed by Trump will
roll back the key elements of Obamas health care law and will limit the overall federal
financing for Medicaid in the future.
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Justice R. Sudhakar, practised in all branches of law and specialized in the field of
Customs, Central Excise and Sales Tax Law.
He was elevated to the Bench as an Additional Judge of the High Court of Madras
in 2005 and as a Permanent Judge in 2007.
He became the Judge of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir in April 2016.
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He also served as the Banking Intermediary for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
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The 21-day tournament having 28 matches will be played at five different venues
with the final at Lord's.
The first match of the eight-nation tournament between the hosts England and
India will take place at County Ground in Derby.
India will join the World Cup against the host nation on the opening day itself at
Derby.
For the same purpose, both the institutions will also develop and implement
various community outreach programs and initiatives in collaboration with
coaches, cricketers and cricketing personalities.
During the events, there will be coaching clinics with participating teams.
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She has won numerous medals for Indian badminton including the bronze medal
BWF World Championships in 2011 and a gold and silver at 2010 and 2014
Commonwealth Games respectively in women's doubles.
In 2011, she was awarded the Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting
award, for her achievements.
It was set up in 1984 by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports,
Government of India.
It was instituted for broad basing and bringing excellence in sports across India.
It has two Academic institutions, which are Netaji Subhash National Institute of
Sports (NS NIS), Patiala and Laxmibai National College of Physical Education
(LNCPE), Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala).
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Rawat joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1979 before becoming its
pracharak for the Dehradun region in 1985.
He was the organizing secretary of the RSS in the Uttarakhand region and later of
the State after its formation in 2000.
For the first time, he was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA)
of the Uttarakhand from Doiwala constituency in 2002.
The recent victory in the 2017 elections is his third win from the Doiwala
constituency.
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His private corporate clients include State Bank of India, Lalit Narain Mithila
University and other statutory authorities.
Article 216 (Constitution of High Courts): Every High Court shall consist of a Chief
Justice and such other Judges as the President may from time to time deem it
necessary to appoint.
Article 217 (Appointment and conditions of the office of a Judge of a High Court):
The Chief Justice of a High Court shall be appointed by the President by warrant
under his hand and seal after consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the
Governor of the State.
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So far he was elected to the Lok Sabha for 5 times. He got elected for the first time
in 1998 and his recent electoral victory was in the 2014 general elections.
Adityanath became the Mahant of the Gorakhnath Mutt following the death of
Mahant Avaidyanath in September 2014.
Besides his political activities, he is known in Uttar Pradesh for his active
involvement in social and cultural activities that include providing hostel for
socially and economically weaker and backward children and working for mass-
awakening against religious and social conventions.
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Mr. Upendra Tripathy, as the Interim Director General (IDG) of the International Solar
Alliance (ISA) on a full-time basis.
He served the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy as its secretary from 1 April
2014 to 31 October 2016.
He has worked with local, provincial and union governments in India for the last 36
years.
In April 2009, he was awarded the Prime Ministers Award for Excellence in Public
Administration.
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Representing 105 members, the ICC governs and administrates the game and is
responsible for the staging of major international tournaments including the ICC
World Cup and Womens World Cup.
The ICC also appoints the umpires and referees that officiate at all sanctioned Test
matches, One Day International and Twenty20 Internationals.
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In addition, he worked in various other important posts at Railway Board level and
all over Indian Railways.
He is credited to have designed the high voltage distribution system for rural
electrification in Uttarakhand.
He was awarded twice by the Union Railway Minister for his outstanding service.
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PERSON DIED
Noted Gujarati Writer Tarak Mehta died
Popular Gujarati writer and noted play writer Tarak Mehta
passed away on 1 March 2017 at his Ahmedabad residence. Mehta
passed away at 87. Tarak Mehta suffered from age related illness
for a long time.
He was best known for his column Duniya Ne Undha Chasma in Mumbai-based
Gujarati news weekly Chitralekha. His weekly column first featured in
Chitralekha news weekly in March 1971.
Three books are based on the columns he wrote in Gujarati newspaper Divya
Bhaskar. The remaining books were compiled from the stories in Taarak Mehta Ka
Ooltah Chashmah.
He had translated and adapted several comedies into Gujarati. Tarak Mehta had
also served in Films Division-Mumbai as a script writer.
Gujarat Sahitya Akademi awarded him Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar in 2011 and
Ramanlal Nilkanth Hasya Paritoshik in 2017.
For his contribution to the literature, he was honoured with the prestigious Padma
Shri award in 2015. Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian honour of the Union
Government.
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He represented Manipur State in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of India's
Parliament) for the second term of 2014 until his demise.
He had been representing the state in the upper house since 2014.
He was elected to the 3rd, 6th and 8th Manipur Legislative Assembly from
Wabagai assembly constituency.
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After obtaining his medical degree, he trained in surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital
in Baltimore and Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
He performed the first human liver transplant in 1963. He performed the first
successful human liver transplant in 1967. He performed both the transplants at
the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
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During 1953-54, he held the post of the Joint Secretary of the All India Samajwadi
Yuvak Sabha.
Under the leadership of Rammanohar Lohia, Ray founded the Socialist Party in
Orissa in 1956.
In 1967, he was elected to the 4th Lok Sabha from Puri constituency in Orissa.
He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Orissa in 1974. He completed his term in
Rajya Sabha in 1980.
From January 1979 to January 1980, he served as the Union minister of Health and
Family Welfare in Morarji Desai Ministry.
In 1989, he was re-elected to the 9th Lok Sabha from the Kendrapara constituency
in Orissa as a Janata Dal candidate.
On 19 December 1989, he was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the 9th Lok
Sabha.
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In 1999, he co-founded the band Dohar and was the lead singer of this Bangla band.
He had also lent his voice in films like Jaatishwar (2014), Moner Manush (2010)
and Bhuban Majhi (2017).
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His father was G. Padmanabhan, who worked for many years with the Press
Institute of India and the Indian & Eastern Newspapers Society (IENS, now INS).
Arvind was widely admired in the journalistic community for the thoroughness he
displayed in reporting, writing and editing.
Before joining the IANS, he worked with the PTI, The Times of India and TV18.
He joined the India Abroad Newspaper as in-charge of its Business Section in 1999.
With the news agency, he first assumed charge of the Business Bureau of the wire
service and subsequently became the Business Editor of IANS and then the Bureau
Chief.
Soon, he was elevated as the Executive Editor. He headed the business and
economy team.
About IANS
Indo-Asian News Service is a private Indian news agency.
It was founded by Indian-American publisher Gopal Raju as the India Abroad News
Service.
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About Diphan
A native of Thiruvananthapuram, Diphan was the son of dubbing artist
Anandavally.
Diphan worked as an assistant director for several years in the Malayalam film
industry before venturing out on his own.
Diphan, in his brief career, directed six films after turning an independent director
in 2003 when he directed the political thriller The King Maker: Leader.
After a gap of six years in 2009, he returned with Puthiya Mukham movie starring
Prithviraj.
His last directorial venture was Dolphin Bar in 2014 which featured actor and BJP
Rajya Sabha member Suresh Gopi.
His upcoming movie Sathya, which has Jayaram in the lead, was in the post
production stage.
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He was the Chairman of the Monsoon Mission of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, a
programme that aimed at setting up the infrastructure and manpower to improve
monsoon-related forecasts.
He was also the chairman of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
committee on Climate Change and the chairperson of the Research and Advisory
Council of National Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast.
He also received the Sir Gilbert Walker Gold Medal in 2010 for his contribution in
the field of Monsoon meteorology.
Besides this, he has developed more than 200 research papers that have helped
immensely in the shaping of the modern day Indian meteorology.
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About Ashokamitran
Born in Secunderabad in 1931, Ashokamitran moved to
Chennai in 1952.
He worked in the Tamil film production house Gemini Studios for close to a decade
before taking up full time writing in 1966.
Ashokamitran began his career with the award-winning play Anbin Parisu.
He quickly became one of the most influential figures in Tamil literature and
published over 200 short stories and around two dozen novels.
Manasarovar, Thanneer and 18-vadhu Atcha Kodu are some of his famed works.
Many of his works have been translated into a number of languages such as
English, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu and some European languages.
Besides many Tamil Nadu state awards, Ashokamitran also won the Sahitya
Akademi Prize in 1996 for his collection of short stories Appavin Snegidar.
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STATES
Bet Dwarka Darshan Circuit to be developed under HRIDAY
Union Ministry of Urban
Development on 23 February 2017
approved the development of 6-
kilometer-long Bet Dwarka Darshan
Circuit in Gujarat. The circuit will be
developed at an expense of Rs 16.27 crore
under the Central Scheme Heritage City
Development and Augmentation Yojana
(HRIDAY).
Ranchod Talav and Shankhudhar Lake are the two important water bodies along the
circuit.
Laying of cycle tracks along beach side and plantation, LED lighting and plazas for
vending spaces
Other facilities includes the provision of benches, changing rooms, resting spaces,
drinking water and toilet facilities
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The telemedicines platform will help capture and transmit patient's EKG along with
clinical history from remote geographical locations to the heart command center (HCC) hub,
where a team of expert cardiologists will provide an immediate interpretation of the EKG
and real time STEMI guidance and management through tele-consultation after instantly
recognising the EKG abnormalities.
About RAHAT
The programme aims to provide timely treatment to those who undergo heart
attack in rural and remote areas.
Under it, the patients suffering a stroke would be provided with immediate
ambulance service and telemedicine service.
While basic treatment would be provided to the patient in the ambulance on the
way to the nearest hospital, the details of the same would be shared with the
experts at the HCC through tele-consultation.
Besides this project, Raje also inaugurated an ambulance fitted with equipment and
trained paramedical staff required for treatment of heart disease.
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With this, Panipat also became the first district in the country to have an online sex
ratio monitoring dashboard. The system was disclosed duringin a brainstorming session
between the Chief Minister Manohar Lal and his Good Governance Associates and
Administrative Secretaries.
The system will have the data on child sex-ratio, which will be collected from all
villages by the Health and Women and Child Welfare Departments every month.
The dashboard developed in association with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) as
a pilot project will help the state government to generate data on critical villages with
towards twisted child-sex-ratio. This information/data will help the government to take
needed steps towards managing the ratio in those villages.
Creation of the permanent cattle market: The chief minister called establishment
of permanent cattle markets on public-private partnership (PPP) mode. As per
reports, a Bill that will amend the provisions of the Haryana Cattle Fair Act, 1970
would be introduced in the upcoming session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha.
Plan to promote Aadhaar-enabled payment system: The Chief Minister has asked
officials to prepare a plan for promoting Aadhaar-enabled payment system in the
state. He also directed the Information, Public Relations and Languages
Department to implement state-wide mass awareness campaign for promoting
cashless transactions.
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On behalf of the Odisha government, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME)
secretary LN Gupta and managing director of Invest India Deepak Bagla signed the deal to
take forward the Odisha Startup and MSME initiatives.
Speaking on the occasion, Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Odisha, said Startup
Odisha Initiative and Startup India Hub run by the Invest India will help in achieving the
Mission-1000 startups by the year 2020. The mission will help the youth in realising their
dreams.
On this occasion of the signing of the agreement, a toll-free start-up helpline, 1800-
345-7100, was also launched.
Notably, Prime Ministers initiative Start-up India has the objective of making India a
country of job creators. The vision is to make India the No. 1 start-up nation in the world.
Invest India
Invest India, which is the official investment promotion and facilitation agency of
India, is mandated to facilitate investments into India. In short, the agency is the first point
of reference for potential investors. They provide sector and state-specific inputs and other
supports to investors through entire investment cycle. Support offered by Invest India team
to the investor includes
Location identification
IT also facilitates the investors in other services like the initiation of remedial
actions to the problems that are faced by the investors.
All efforts like hand-holding and facilitation support are made by Invest India under
the Make in India programme.
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The decision was announced by Assams Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal himself.
The states government has invited Indias President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, Ambassadors of all the countries and all Chief Ministers and Chief
Secretaries to participate in the mega event.
The five-day festival aims to promote the states economy, culture, art, tourism, skill
industry, investment option, trade, commerce and heritage.
Key Highlights
Namami Brahmaputra, which means Obeisance to the Brahmaputra, will
showcase the grandeur of the river and the land it flows through.
It would also feature a film festival, comprising the screening of some of the best
Assamese films.
Other events include tea festival, river cruises, rafting, visits to tea gardens and
programmes related to history, tradition and legends of Assam.
A group of government officials will be visiting all the state capitals and major
cities as a part of the festival to create a positive image of the state beforehand:
- The officials would be coordinating with local tour operators, industry bodies and the
tourism departments of the respective states.
- They will also be organising road shows with students to generate awareness about
Assams culture and its immense potential.
Through the festival, the state government basically aims to expose the tourists from
both India and abroad to Assams rich legacy and splendour and represent it as a viable
tourist destination on the world map.
Besides this, the government also hopes to create an environment that would
reconnect the people with their roots and rejuvenate the Brahmaputra civilisation.
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The decision was taken during a cabinet meeting, held in Guwahati on 28 February
2017. The meeting was chaired by the states Chief Minister, Sarbanand Sonowal.
According to the states Transport minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, the teachers
will be appointed in the high schools in accordance with the union governments Swachh
Bharat Mission. He further stated that they would be responsible for maintaining cleanliness
within the school premises.
This is not, however, the first effort in the state towards achieving Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan. The residents of Shikdamakha, a small village in Assam have taken it upon
themselves to make their village the cleanest village in Asia, beating Mawlynnong, a village
in Meghalaya that won the title previously.
The residents are making it possible by completely boycotting the use of plastic and
instead using baskets made from bamboo to store garbage in front of each of the 89
households and every corner of the village. The garbage collected is then disposed of at
regular intervals.
Besides this, all the households in the village are equipped with proper toilets and
every week residents come out in groups to sweep the streets to ensure that there is no
stagnant water in the drains. The village also has a committee to ensure everyone, from
young to old is made aware of cleanliness and hygiene.
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The directive was given by a bench consisting of Justices, A Selvam and P Kaliarasan,
who observed that only 15 per cent of the trees had been removed up until now. Along with
asking the state government to pass a law with prohibitory and penal clauses, the bench
also directed it to release perennial funds to the states district collectors for the complete
removal of the trees.
It disrupts the ecosystem by soaking in all the ground water near it.
It has infiltrated the water bodies and dry lands of Tamil Nadu.
Earlier this month, the high court bench had ordered for the removal of the trees from
thirteen districts that fall under its jurisdiction following the filing of batches of complaints.
Some of the districts included Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Thanjavur and Sivagangai Theni.
The complaints were filed after the adverse effect of the tree on agricultural activities.
The bench has now extended the order to the entire state and said that it would be
conducting surprise inspections and any lapse in the progress of the action would be viewed
seriously.
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The decision was taken by the State Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, in Amaravati.
A proposal for renaming the airports would now be sent to the Union Government for
approval.
In addition, the State Cabinet also accepted the Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board Draft
Bill. The board works in the place of Andhra Pradesh Port department.
The Cabinet also decided to float new liquor policy by introducing amendments in the
Assembly, which would be meeting from 6 March 2017 at the newly inaugurated Assembly
building.
The State Cabinet also gave green signal to 600 acre land allocation for Bhogapuram
Airport and 75 acres for Savita University in Amaravati.
P. V. Narasimha Rao had laid the foundation stone for a new terminal building, run
way expansion and a radio tower in 1993.
The upgraded airport was inaugurated for passenger traffic in 1999 by Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister of India.
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This year's theme draws attention to the economic impact of hearing loss. Hearing loss
poses a high cost for the economy globally and has a significant impact on the lives of those
affected. World Hearing Day 2017 highlights actions which can be undertaken by decision-
makers to address hearing loss.
Hearing loss and its consequences can be mitigated through prevention, screening for
early identification, rehabilitation through hearing devices, captioning and sign language
education.
Half of all hearing loss can be avoided through prevention. Primary health care
interventions including immunizing children against diseases such as measles, meningitis,
rubella and immunizing adolescent girls of reproductive age against rubella will greatly
reduce risk of congenital hearing loss among babies.
Identifying hearing loss through screening of newborns, school children and adults
above 50 years at an early stage and then carrying out their treatment at the beginning
stage itself comes out to be little cost effective.
The day aims to raise awareness and promote ear and hearing care across the world.
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However, the notification for its implementation will be issued on 6 March 2017. Once
implemented, this hike will be the historic and the highest in the independent India.
As per this Delhi Cabinets decision, for an unskilled worker the minimum wages will
be Rs 13350 per month against the existing Rs 9724 per month.
On the other hand, for the semi-skilled and skilled workers, the wages will increase
from Rs 10764 to Rs 14698 and from Rs 11830 to Rs 16182 per month, respectively.
Key Highlights
The hike in minimum wages will benefit around 50 lakh people in Delhi.
State and district level monitoring committees will also be formed to ensure that
employers pay the new minimum wages to the workers.
The Minimum Wages Bill, which is awaiting the Centres approval, proposes a
penalty of Rs 50000 and jail term up to three years for violation of the provisions
of minimum wages. At present, the penalty is Rs 500, while the jail term is six
months.
Background
In August 2016, Delhi government proposed a hike of 50 per cent minimum wages.
However, the decision was struck down by the then Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal defended the difference between the last years hike and the
present 37 per cent by quoting the seasonal variations in the prices of food and other items.
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Once approved, the system will be the first-of-its-kind project in the country.
Initially, the system will be deployed in three urban local bodies of the State
Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam and Tirupati.
Optical sensors will be fixed to electricity poles to capture density, species and
gender of mosquitoes before moving in to exterminate them.
As per the initial proposal, around 10 sensors will be deployed per a square
kilometer area. On this basis, a total of 1,850 sensors will be deployed across 185
square kilometers of three cities.
The devices will analyse and transfer mosquito density data along with location to
a central database.
The Phase I of the project is expected to cost Rs 4 crore. The project will be
executed by utilizing the final assistance from the Union Government.
The system will help the authorities in identifying breeding at exact location and
that too with the right sprays for a particular species.
Smart phones and web applications will be used to report sprays by location. And,
there will be analytics to monitor the effectiveness of sprays.
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The official language status was given to the endangered language by the state
government in February 2017. However, the announcement was recently made by Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Key highlights
In west Bengal, the language is spoken by Oraon tribal community, who live in
Dooars. The Dooars are the alluvial floodplains in north-eastern India that lie south
of outer foothills of Himalayas and north of Brahmaputra River basin.
Most of the tribal languages in the West Bengal have their origins in the Austro-
Asiatic and Tibeto-Barman families; however, Kurukh is an exception. The origin of
the endangered language lies in the Malto, which hails from Dravidian family.
Malto is not spoken in West Bengal, but in the Rajmahal hills area in Jharkhand.
Jharkhand has already recognised Kurukh as a language, and students can write
their school final examination in its script.
According to the 2001 census report, the language is spoken by about 17 lakh
persons.
The language belongs to the Northern Dravidian group of the Dravidian family of
languages, and is closely related to Sauria Paharia and Kumarbhag Paharia, which
are often together referred to as Malto.
It is spoken by nearly two million Oraon and Kisan tribal peoples of Odisha,
Jharkhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It is also spoken in
Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
Narayan Oraon had invented the Tolong Siki script specifically for Kurukh.
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Width - 24 metres
Height - 360-foot
Weight - 55 tonnes
Due to the election Code of Conduct is in place in the state, the minister has availed
special permission from the Election Commission for the inauguration.
The flag post became attraction for thousands of tourists who were present at Wagha
border to watch the Beating Retreat Ceremony during the sunset. Even visitors from
Pakistans gallery were also watching the Indian flag with keen interest touching the sky.
Due to its size, it is visible from all sides even from Pakistans Lahore city too. The
flagpole was set up near the tourism building just at 150 meters distance from border.
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Couples belonging to the BPL category are also covered under the scheme.
In case of senior citizens of non-BPL families, the State government would bear
only 70 per cent of the total cost.
The beneficiaries of the scheme will be selected on the basis of a lottery system.
Under the scheme, over 400 destinations can be visited. However, the maximum
number of pilgrims is capped at 250 per year.
The tour packages include journey in sleeper class by chartered train and night
accommodation on multi-sharing basis.
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This toll free helpline number will be available for 24 hours in all the 30 districts of the
state.The helpline will extend prompt response to women affected by violence.
Women of Odisha
Around 50 lakh women have been able to raise their socio-economic condition by
becoming part of the women self help groups in Odisha.
More than 25 lakh women have also been benefited by about Rs 1100 crore by
availing incentive through Mamata Yojana, a pregnancy related welfare scheme of
the state government.
Odisha's Biju Kanya Ratna and Mission Shakti have also been instrumental for
welfare of women and girls in the state.
Background
The Union Government launched the 181 helpline number in 2013 after the brutal
gang-rape of Nirbhaya in December 2012 and asked all states to start the helpline.
Besides, 1091 helpline number by the police and 10920 helpline number by the State
Commission for Women were also launched.
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This will be the third time that Parrikar will serve Goa as the Chief Minister. Earlier, on
13 March 2017, Parrikar resigned as the Union Defence Minister to take up this new post.
Meanwhile, Arun Jaitley assumed the charge of Defence Minister.
In February 2017 elections, after winning 13 seats, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)
cobbled together a coalition of 21 legislators in the 40-member House. Parrikar succeeds
incumbent Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar.
Background
After the declaration of the results of Goa Elections 2017, Goa Governor Mridula Sinha
appointed Manohar Parrikar, the BJP Legislature, as the Chief Minister and asked him to
prove majority on floor of House within 15 days of taking oath.
The petition also asks for staying the oath-taking ceremony of Manohar Parrikar
To the contrary, the Supreme Court on 14 March 2017 refused to stay the oath-taking
of Manohar Parrikar and asked Governor Mridula Sinha to hold a floor test in the Goa
Legislative Assembly on 16 March 2017 for parties to prove a majority.
He served as the Chief Minister of Goa twice in his political career- first from 2000
to 2005 and later from March 2012 to November 2014.
In November 2014, he took up the post of the Defence Minister in the Union
Cabinet following the victory of BJP in 2014 General Elections.
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Background
Since the day of the results of Manipur Elections 2017, both the Congress and the BJP
have claimed support in order to form the next government in the state.
Although, the Congress emerged as the single largest party with 28 MLAs, but the BJP
with 21 MLAs, claims to have the support of other parties on the state including NPP (4),
NPF (4), LJP (1), and three others. In all, BJP claims to have the support of 32 MLAs in the 60-
member assembly of Manipur.
Manohar Parrikar sworn in as Chief Minister of Goa
Comment
Once Biren Singh takes charge as the CM, he will have to deliver on the BJPs promise
of ending the ongoing blockade of highways by United Naga Council within 24 hours of
coming to power.
Moreover, he will have to work to improve the road connectivity in the state along
with advancing the health and education sectors as well.
However, he had left the Congress in 2016 to join the rival BJP camp.
In the early 1990s, Biren Singh was a footballer, playing for the Border Security
Forces Jalandhar team.
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Background
This comes following the landslide victory of Congress in the Punjab Elections 2017.
Congress won 77 seats in the 117-seat Assembly. However, other parties AAP and the SAD-
BJP alliance could only manage 20 and 18 seats respectively.
He joined the Indian Army in June 1963 after graduating from the National
Defence Academy and Indian Military Academy.
He was inducted into the Congress by Rajiv Gandhi and was first elected to the Lok
Sabha in 1980.
He was also the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the 16th Lok Sabha till 2016.
This is the second time that Amarinder has become Chief Minister of the state. He
was earlier in office from 2002 to 2007.
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In addition to this, the special assistance will be provided by way of repayment of loan
and interest for the Externally Aided Projects (EAPs) signed and disbursed during 2015-2016
to 2019-20 by the State.
This support in repayment of the EAP loans will help Andhra Pradesh to put its
finances on a firmer footing and promote economic growth.
Polavaram project: The Union Government will also fund 100 per cent of the irrigation
component of the Polavaram project starting from 1 April 2014. Completion of the
Polavaram project will help in increasing irrigation prospects in the state.
As per an official release, the work on the project will be executed by the Andhra
Pradesh government on behalf of the Union Government. However, other works like overall
coordination, design issues, monitoring, quality controls, clearances and other related issues
will be dealt by the Polavaram Project Authority of Ministry of Water Resources, River
Development & Ganga Rejuvenation.
The Polavaram Project Authority will also assess out the cost of the irrigation
component as on 01 April 2014 in consultation with the Department of Expenditure,
Ministry of Finance.
Background
The above mentioned special financial assistance is being provided to Andhra Pradesh
in accordance with the union governments commitment to the state under the Andhra
Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014. During the financial year 2016-17, the centre has provided
the special assistance of Rs 1976.50 crore to the state. This allocation includes
Rs 350 crore for the development of 7 backward districts covering Rayalaseema &
North Coastal region
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Background
The United Naga Council imposed a blockade on NH-2 and NH-37 on 1 November
2016 to protest against the creation of seven new districts by the erstwhile Okram Ibobi
Singh-led Congress government in the state.
Trivendra Singh Rawat sworn-in as Uttarakhand Chief Minister
The blockade led to a steep rise in prices of essential commodities and severely affected
the normal life and it became a major issue in the recent Assembly polls in the state.
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To mark the occasion, the Central Excise officers all over the
country organized seminars, workshops, trade interactions and cultural
events.
The Central Excise Day is celebrated every year to commemorate the Central Excise
and Salt Act, which was enacted on 24 February 1944.
The CBEC deals with policy formulation concerning levy and collection of Customs
and central excise duties and service tax.
The Board also deals with matters related to smuggling and administration of
matters relating to Customs, central excise, service tax and narcotics to the extent
under the CBEC's purview.
The board primarily deals with the Customs Act, 1962, Customs Tarriff Act, 1975,
Central Excise Act, 1944 and Service Tax Act.
However, after the roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 1 July 2017,
the activities of the board will be guided by the GST-related Acts.
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Zero Discrimination Day calls for fair and just societies and urges people to value,
embrace diversity and recognize the diverse set of talents and skills that each person brings.
It was observed after UNAIDS launched its Zero Discrimination Campaign on World
AIDS Day in December 2013. The UNAIDS is a UN program on human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
Organizations like the United Nations actively promote the day with various
activities to celebrate everyones right to live a full life with dignity regardless of
age, gender, sexuality, nationality, ethnicity, skin colour, height, weight,
profession, education, and beliefs.
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With 183 Member States, CITES remains one of the world's most powerful tools for
biodiversity conservation through the regulation of trade in wild fauna and flora.
Background
Wildlife has an intrinsic value and contributes to the ecological, genetic, social,
educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic aspects of sustainable
development.
Habitat loss, climate change and poaching are among the most alarming
challenges faced by wildlife today.
In such scenario, the World Wildlife Day reminds the general public about the
urgent need to step up the fight against wildlife crime, which has wide-ranging
economic, environmental and social impacts.
It also raises awareness of the multitude of benefits that fauna and flora
conservation provides to people.
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By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality
primary and secondary education leading to relevant and Goal-4 effective learning
outcomes.
By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood
development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary
education.
End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private
spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female
genital mutilation.
In its doodle, Google presents creative photo slideshow of sorts, invoking those
women who have broken new ground in their field of expertise.
The 13 women who have been showcased in the doodle through art are Lotfia ElNadi,
Ida B Wells, Ada Lovelace, Sally Ride, Lina Bo Bardi, Cecilia Grierson, Frida Kahlo, Miriam
Makeba, Olga Skorokhodova, Halet Cambel, Lee Tai-young, Rukmini Devi Arundale and
Suzanne Lenglen. Arundale is the only Indian in the list of these 13 women. She was a
Bharatanatyam dancer and a choreographer and was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956.
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The WKD 2017 sought to promote education about the harmful consequences of
obesity and its association with kidney diseases.
The day is a global health awareness campaign with a focus on the importance of
the kidneys.
The day was launched to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and
its associated health problems worldwide.
The themes of the World Kidney Day since its beginning in 2006 are
2017: Kidney Disease and Obesity: Healthy Lifestyle for Healthy Kidneys.
The society, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010, is active in over 126
countries across the world.
The foundation seeks to improve the health, well-being and quality of life of
individuals with kidney disease.
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This year observation of the day marks 40 years of the Commonwealth Day that
became a global celebration in 1977.
It began back when some countries were ruled by Britain under the British Empire
and was founded in December 1931.
The Commonwealth came into existence in 1949 and since then independent
countries from Africa, America, Asia, Europe and the Pacific have joined the group.
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The first World Consumer Rights Day was observed on 1983 and since then it became
an important occasion for mobilising citizen action.
World Sparrow Day is an international initiative of the Nature Forever Society of India
in collaboration with several national international organisations including the Eco-Sys
Action Foundation (France). The first World Sparrow Day was celebrated in 2010 across the
world.
House Sparrow
Scientifically known as Passer domesticus, the house sparrow is a bird of the
sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world.
One of about 25 species in the genus Passer, the house sparrow is native to most
of Europe, the Mediterranean region, and much of Asia. Its distribution in many
regions makes it as the most widely distributed wild bird.
The birds are directly associated with human habitations and thus can live in both
rural and urban settings.
Though found in widely varied habitats and climates, it typically avoids extensive
woodlands, grasslands, and deserts away from human development.
It feeds mostly on the seeds of grains and weeds, but at times it also eats insects.
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The day also provides an occasion to honour poets, revive oral traditions of poetry
recitals, promote the reading, writing and teaching of poetry.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) first
adopted 21 March as World Poetry Day during its 30th General Conference in Paris in 1999.
For its part, UNESCO will endeavour to encourage and support national initiatives
designed, inter alia, to -
ii. Raise awareness in schools so that World Poetry Day will be celebrated in the most
interdisciplinary way possible by and in schools
iv. Mobilize municipal authorities so that they will contribute actively to the
preparation and celebration of World Poetry Day
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It accounts for roughly 45 per cent of current global renewable energy supply
including 27 per cent of energy supply in Africa, 13 per cent in Latin America and
Caribbean and 5 per cent in Asia and Oceania.
Wood energy powers economic development as almost 900 million people, mostly
in developing countries, are engaged in the wood-energy sector on a part or full-
time basis.
It was when the country for the first time replaced the Gross National Product
(GNP) with the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) to measure the living
standards of its population.
On this day, the United Nations invites Member States, international and regional
organizations, as well as civil society, including non-governmental organizations
and individuals, to observe the day in an appropriate manner.
The day also provides an occasion for the policy makers to organize public
awareness-raising activities about the importance of happiness in our lives.
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The International
Day for the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination was
observed globally on 21
March 2017 with the
theme 'Racial profiling
and incitement to hatred,
including in the context
of migration'.
Racial and ethnic profiling is defined as a reliance by security and border control
personnel on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin as a basis for subjecting
persons to detailed searches, identity checks and investigations.
Refugees and migrants are in particular the targets of racial profiling and incitement to
hatred. In September 2016, the United Nations launched an initiative titled 'Together' to
promote respect, safety and dignity for refugees and migrants.
For the same purpose, UN launched other initiatives as well including Let's Fight
Racism! and the International Decade for People of African Descent.
Moreover, the UN Human Rights Office also launched a campaign 'Stand up for
Someone's Rights Today' to encourage and support actions in our daily lives to defend the
human rights of others.
Background
The Day was proclaimed based on the events of 21 March 1960 when police opened
fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against the apartheid pass laws in
Sharpeville, South Africa.
Following this, the United Nations General Assembly called on the international
community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination and
proclaimed the day in 1966.
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The theme highlights that wastewater flows from homes, cities, industry and
agriculture to nature. This free or untreated flow helps in polluting the environment leading
to loss of valuable nutrients and other recoverable materials.
Motto behind the theme Why Wastewater?: The theme seeks to improve the
collection and treatment of wastewater and safe usability of the same. At the same time, it
wants to make us (people) learn the art of reducing the quantity and pollution load of
wastewater that we produce. The effort will help us in protecting the environment and
water resources that are available to us.
Save water is also a goal enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goal. The
Sustainable Development Goal 6 ensuring availability and sustainable management of
water and sanitation for all by 2030 - includes a target to halve the proportion of untreated
wastewater and increase water recycling and safe reuse.
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countless hours queuing or trekking to distant sources, and coping with the health impacts
of using contaminated water.
1.8 billion people use a source of drinking water that is contaminated with faeces.
This contamination put them at risk of contracting cholera, typhoid, dysentery and
polio. Unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene cause around 842000 deaths
each year. (WHO/UNICEF 2014/WHO 2014)
Opportunities
The opportunities for exploiting wastewater as a resource are enormous. Safely
managed wastewater is an affordable and sustainable source of water, energy, nutrients
and other recoverable materials.
Background
The World Water Day came into existence to focus on the importance of freshwater.
The day which is annually celebrated on 22 March also advocates for the sustainable
management of freshwater resources.
The first World Water Day was observed on 232 March 1993. Earlier, an international
day to celebrate a day of freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. The
recommendation was responded by designation 22 March as a World Water Day by
adopting a resolution A/RES/47/193 of 22 December 1992 by United Nations General
Assembly (UNGA).
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#MyVoiceMyCommunity - Enabling people with Down syndrome to speak up, be heard and
influence government policy and action, to be fully included in the community.
Down syndrome
Down syndrome is a naturally occurring chromosomal arrangement that has always
been a part of the human condition, exists in all regions across the globe and commonly
results in variable effects on learning styles, physical characteristics or health.
People suffering from the syndrome require adequate access to health care, inclusive
education and early intervention programmes for their growth and development.
The World Down Syndrome Day came into existence in December 2011, when the
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared 21 March as a day via its resolution
(A/RES/66/149). The General Assembly decided, with effect from 2012, to observe World
Down Syndrome Day annually on 21 March.
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The new Atlas combines 19th century traditions with 21st century technology.
It includes new classifications including volutus, a roll cloud; clouds from human
activities such as the contrail, a vapour trail sometimes produced by airplanes and
asperitas, a dramatic undulated cloud which captured the public imagination.
The International Cloud Atlas was first published in the late 19th century.
It celebrates the inherent beauty and aesthetic appeal of clouds, which has
inspired artists, poets, musicians, photographers and countless other enthusiasts
throughout history.
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This year, WHO places a special focus on uniting efforts to Leave no one behind,
including actions to address stigma, discrimination, marginalization and overcome barriers
to access care.
This year marks the second year of the End TB Strategy of the World Health
Organisation (WHO). The strategy aims to help ensure that countries implementing it
adhere to sound ethical standards to protect the rights of all those affected.
In 2016, WHO reported that 10.4 million people fell ill with TB and there were 1.8
million TB deaths in 2015, making it the top infectious killer worldwide.
Background
The day commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch astounded the
scientific community by announcing that he had discovered the cause of
tuberculosis, the TB bacillus.
It is aimed at building the public awareness about the tuberculosis that remains an
epidemic in much of the world, causing the deaths of nearly one-and-a-half million
people each year.
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As per a report, the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission will benefit about
eight lakh government employees including four lakh regular employees.
Rs 33564 crore was allocated for the year 2017-18 for 'Krishi' Budget.
Rs 2000 crore was allocated for "Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme"
Rs 14 crore was allocated grant for the establishment of Custom Hiring Centre.
Horticulture
Rs 140 crore was allocated for micro-irrigation.
Forestry
Rs 2704 crore was allocated for various schemes of Forest Department.
Rs 102 crore was allocated for plantation of fruit and non-fruit trees on Narmada
river bank.
Rural Development
Rs 3500 crore was allocated for Housing for All scheme in rural areas
under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana.
Rs 2642 crore was allocated under the recommendation of the 14th Finance
Commission.
Rs 2000 crore was allocated under Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme.
Rs 1750 crore was allocated for the disposal/management of liquid and solid waste
in 3000 Gram Panchayats under Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan.
Urban Development
Rs 1000 crore was allocated for 'Housing for All' scheme in urban areas.
Rs 700 crore was allocated under SMART City Scheme. It proposes to include
Sagar and Satna City in the second phase.
Rs 400 crore was allocated for 'Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak evam Adhosanrachana
Yojana'.
Rs 186 crore was allocated for State Rural Road connectivity scheme.
Irrigation facilities
Rs 9850 crore was allocated under the capital head for irrigation schemes.
Drinking Water
Program to facilitate water supply through pipelines in habitations with population
of more than 1000.
Rs 900 crore was allocated for State rural drinking water program.
90 per cent increase in the budget of PHE department for the year 2017-18 as
compared to 2016-17(RE).
School Education
Recruitment of 36000 teachers.
Provision for scholarship/Stipend - Rs 703 crore for ST students Rs 740 crore for SC
students and Rs 850 crore for OBC students was made.
Rs 214 crore and Rs 189 crore were allocated in School Education and Tribal
Department respectively for construction of buildings.
Rs 101 crore was allocated for hostel, Ashrams and Buildings for SC Students.
Rs 52 crore was allocated for the hostel in district level Excellence Schools.
To encourage girls education, bicycles will be provided to girl students who take
admission in class 11.
Higher Education
Rs 215 crore was allocated for Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan.
Rs 200 crore was allocated for construction of college buildings and hostels under
World Bank Project.
Technical Education
Rs 100 crore was allocated for development of 10 Excellence ITIs.
Rs 100 crore was allocated for 2.5 lakh youngsters and 2 lakh women to train them
under 'Mukhyamantri Kaushal Samwardhan and Kaushlya Scheme.
Provision of Rs 1000 crore was made for creation of fund for meritorious students
under 'Mukhyamantri Medhavi Vidyarthi Yojana'.
Reimbursement of tuition fees as a grant to students who score more than 85per
cent in 12th and join prestigious National level institutions.
Minorities Welfare
Rs 4.5 crore was allocated under other grants.
Rs 4 crore was allocated for training.
Rs 48 crore was allocated under various schemes.
Energy
Assistance of Rs 7361 crore was made to Power Distribution Companies under
UDAY Scheme in 2016-17
Rs 4622 crore was made under UDAY Scheme for the year 2017-18
Scheme of Rs 4000 crore was allocated for converting temporary connections into
permanent connections.
Tourism
Decision to establish/operationalize professional courses to encourage tourism
activities.
Culture
Establishment of Vedanta Peeth in Omkareshwer
Social Justice
Increase in Samajik Suraksha Pension from 150 to 300 per month.
Rs 35 crore was allocated for Janshree Bima Yojana
Rs 18 crore was allocated for Aam Admi Bima Yojana.
Law Administration
Rs 21 crore was allocated for computerisation of High Court, Subordinate Courts
and Advocate General Office.
Rs 150 crore was allocated for development of judicial infrastructure.
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This is for the first time that the State budget has crossed the figure of one lakh
crore rupees excluding food grain procurement operations.
Rs 5000 crore rupees allocated for the development of 1500 villages under the
Deen Bandhu Haryana Gram Uday Yojana.
Mangal Nagar Vikas Yojana was proposed in the name of former Deputy Chief
Minister Late Dr Mangal Sain to create modern infrastructure and for maintenance
of existing infrastructure in urban areas.
Biodiesel B100, solar devices and parts used in solar power projects have been
made tax free by exempting them from VAT.
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Rs 100 crore was sanctioned to those local self government institutions that have
submitted project proposals for establishing modern electrical crematoriums.
Rs 102 crore allocated for soil-water conservation activities and Rs 208 crore for
minor irrigation. These will be integrated on a regional basis for implementation.
A plan allocation of Rs 974 crore has been set apart for rural development and Rs
75 crore for urban development.
Rs 188 crore and Rs 366 crore allocated for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
respectively. This allocation is higher than that of any other State in India.
An amount of Rs 130 crore, including central share, was earmarked for the welfare
of backward castes. Out of this allocation, Rs 14 crore is for Backward Caste
Development Corporation and Rs 7 crore is for Converted Christians Development
Corporation.
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The Arvind Kejriwal government also brought out another unique initiative this year in
the form of a comprehensive Outcome Budget that would monitor the outcome of the
projects initiated under the new budget. The Outcome Budget will be put up on the Delhi
governments website by 31 March 2017.
Economic Scenario
Despite the negative impact of demonetisation on the economic activities of the
state, the Gross State Domestic Product of Delhi at current prices is likely to
increase to 6,22,385 crore in 2016-17 from 5,51,963 crore in 2015-16, indicating
a growth of 12.76 percent.
The per capita income of Delhi at current prices is likely to increase to 3,03,073
in 2016- 17 which is 10.77% higher than the per capita income of 2,73,618 in
2015-16.
The per capita income of Delhi is about three times higher than the per capita
income of 1,03,818 in 2016 at the national level.
Good Governance
The minimum wages for unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled workers have been
increased by around 37 per cent. The increased rates of the wages are as follows:
The government has also launched skill development courses in 10 night shelters
for the homeless that include sewing, cooking, beautician services and plumbing.
In each night shelter, 25 homeless per batch will be trained and given certificates
on the completion of 120 hours of training.
The government has also provided health care facility in the night shelters through
Mohalla Clinics.
The government has also reduced the tax on sanitary napkins costing above Rs 20
from 12.5% to 5%.
Apart from this, the government has decided to integrate existing database of
Aadhar, Permanent Account Number, Election Photo Identity Cards to reduce cost
and duplication for better delivery of public services.
Education
Total budget: 11300 crore
The allocation is 24 per cent of the total budget estimate, which is the highest
education budget among all the states.
24 new schools will start in this year. The construction work of 8000 new
classrooms is almost complete and 10000 more new classrooms will be built in the
next financial year.
Pre-primary classes will be introduced in 156 government schools in 2017-18, with
upgraded infrastructure facilities.
Early childhood education centres will be set up all over Delhi for children between
the age group of 2-6 years.
A special library would be set up within the classroom for students of nursery to
5th class and 400 new libraries will be opened in the government schools for Class
6-10.
Besides this, five English-medium schools of Excellence will be set up in the state
during the fiscal year and commerce stream will be introduced in all government
schools.
Extra Curriculum Activity Departments will also be started under the Education
Department to promote Indian art, dance and music.
The government has also planned the expansion of NSIT, DTU and IIIT in order to
accommodate more students in these institutes.
The Delhi Pharmaceutical Science and Research University (DPSRU) will be
initiating a sports medicine course at both undergraduate and postgraduate level
from academic session 2017-18.
Two multi- storey hostels with modern facilities will also be constructed to
accommodate 2350 players
To impart specialised coaching to the players, 110 additional posts of Physical
Education Teachers and Sports Coaches will be created.
The government has also proposed to expand the coverage of Mid Day Meal
scheme to all students of class IX to XII of girl schools.
Health
Total budget: 5736 crore.
110 Mohalla Clinics are already functional in Delhi and the number is expected to
be increased to 150 by the end of the current financial year. The government aims
to set up 1000 more Mohalla Clinics in the next financial year.
Medicines and diagnostics will be made free in Poly Clinics, where a specialist will
be available for all diseases. While 23 of such clinics are already working in the
capital, their number will be increased to 150 by the end of next financial year.
The total number of hospital beds in all government hospitals will be increased
from 10,000 to 20,000 in the next 18 months.
The government is also working on schemes of issuing Health Card and to provide
Health Insurance to all citizens of Delhi.
The government has also initiated a Public Private Partnership model in
collaboration with private clinics, test centres and hospitals to deliver quality
treatment in 30 critical and life-saving surgeries.
The government has also decided to honour those who help rush road accident
victims to hospitals by giving a cash award of 2000 along with an appreciation
letter from the government.
Public Transport
The total budget for Public Transport & Road Infrastructure: 5506 crore.
The government has proposed to add 736 more buses under cluster scheme
during 2017-18.
To provide last mile connectivity to commuters, Government has approved the
Letter of Intent scheme and 10,000 new auto permits will be issued.
The Government has also approved Metro phase-IV comprising six 104 km long
corridors. The construction for the same is expected to commence soon.
Road Infrastructure
All elevated corridors and flyovers at outer ring road from Vikaspuri to Wazirabad
stretch have been opened for the public to decongest the outer ring road.
Construction of underpass at Ashram Chowk along with Mathura road will be
initiated in 2017-18.
The construction work of new flyover /underpass between Mahipalpur to airport
road will be started in the year 2017-18.
The construction of elevated road over Barapullah Nallah Phase-III from Sarai Kale
Khan to Mayur Vihar is in the final stage of completion.
Energy
The government has decided to enhance the scope of Delhi Rural Development
Board by including both rural and urban villages of Delhi.
The government has also decided to develop a Modern Flower Market cum
Exhibition Centre at Gazipur to encourage the place as State of the Art Centre of
international standards.
To respect the culture and religious customs of all communities, the government has
decided to construct Chhat Ghat all over Delhi.
Tourism
Total budget: 119 crore
The government is preparing tourism policy and master plan for the promotion of
tourism and tourism infrastructure.
The government has also planned to develop the Riverfront of River Yamuna to
create a place that allows people to connect with nature as well as the river.
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In terms of fiscal indicators, the Chief Minister Raje pegged the fiscal deficit of Rs
24753.53 crore, which is 2.99 per cent of the GSDP.
Delhi Budget 2017-18
Fiscal Indicators
Estimated Revenue Deficit for 2017-18
Estimated Fiscal Deficit for 2017-18 Rs 24753.53 crore which is 2.99% of GSDP.
Estimated own tax revenue for the year 2017-18 Rs. 59455 crore against Rs 69062
crore in the 2016-17, which is higher by 16.16%.
Some schemes were announced for the management of drinking water in the
state and they are
a) Scheme from Jakham dam: For the development of the dam Rs 912.55 crore was
allocated. The dam will cover 554 villages in blocks of Pratapgarh, Pipalkhoont and Arnod.
b) Bundi cluster distribution scheme: Rs 80.80 crore was allocated under the scheme
which will benefit 97000 people of the cluster.
c) Chakhan dam scheme: Rs 73.93 crore was allocated under the scheme that will
benefit Indragarh and Sumerganj mandi towns plus 45 villages and 6 dhanies to be
benefited.
Plans for energy sector: To revamp the organisational structure of state discoms,
the government has proposed to establish four grid sub-stations (GSS) in the
financial year 2017-18, and they will be
a) 2 GSS of 400 KV
b) 6 GSS of 220 KV
c) 15 GSS of 132 KV
d) 200 GSS of 33 KV
Plans Art and Culture sector: For protection and development of the Art and
Culture sector of the state, the 2017-18 budget includes (few of them)
b) Conservation works of archaeological sites- at Ajmer (2), Bharatpur (2), Kota (1) and
Nagaur (1) at an expense of Rs 6.46 crore
c) Completion of restoration and conservation works of Fateh Vilas Mahal Khetri and
development of infrastructure facilities.
d) Digitisation of rare manuscripts and ancient records of Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad
Arbi Farsi Research Institute, Tonk.
e) For conservation and systematic development for Chittorgarh Fort with the
partnership of ASI, Chittorgarh Fort Development Authority will be constituted.
For the Industries segment, the budget proposes for the establishment of High
Learning Centre at CIPET Jaipur at an expense of Rs 51.32 crore. Some other important
decisions for industrial sector includes
b) Besides, for interest subsidy under the scheme of young entrepreneur promotion
by RFC, the loan limit was increased to Rs 1.50 crore from existing Rs 90 lakh
d) In the mines sector, Rs 500 crore was allocated for public utility works for citizens of
mines affected areas. Besides, the state has decided to go for e-auction system for
allotments of mines, ERCC and RCC.
Human Resource and Social Development: Things that were included for Human
Resource and Social Development in the name of Social Justice and Empowerment in the
budget 2017-18 includes (few of them)
a) Sahyog and Uphar Yojana: Under the yojna, the Subsidy and incentive amount
would be doubled for the marriage of the daughter.
b) Mukhyamantri specially abled Samman Pension Scheme: The pension under the
scheme would be given to all eligible specially abled at Rs750 per month without the criteria
of age.
c) Mukhyamantri Ekal Nari Samman Pension Yojana: Widow Pensioners elder than 60
years will get Rs 1000 per month and widow pensioners of more than 75 years will get Rs
1500 per month.
d) Sukhad Dampatya Jeevan Yojana: under the scheme, the financial support to the
specially abled bride and groom has been increased to Rs 50000 per couple.
e) Samyukta Sahayta Assistance: under this assistance scheme, the assistance for
specially abled for artificial limb/equipment would be increased to Rs 10000
g) Social justice and empowerment department: to carry out its duties, the
department was allocated with Rs 5596.80 crore
a) Top 100 students who get admission in IIT, IIM, AIIMS, NLU, IISc will get lump sum
Rs 25000.
b) Top 100 candidates of RAS exam conducted by RPSC will get Rs 30000.
c) Top 50 candidates who get into All India Services will get Rs 50000.
d) RBSE students who get top 100 positions in class-10 and in class-12 (all streams) will
get lump sum Rs 15000.
e) Top 100 girls of RBSE who score 90 per cent plus marks in class-10 Board Exam and
top 100 girls of RBSE each who score 90% plus marks in Science, Arts and Commerce
streams in class-12 Board Exam (i.e. 300 in all) will get a Scooty along with Certificate of
appreciations.
At the same time, allocations and plans were made for other sectors that fall under
the bracket of the Human Resource and Social Development. The sectors that fall into this
bracket are women & child development, minorities, youth & sports, medical & health and
education among others.
In addition to all these, CM Vasundhara Raje proposed to slash the stamp duty from 5
to 3 per cent in the state budget for 2017-18. The registration fee on the partition deeds of
properties other than the ancestral ones was slashed from 1 to 0.25 per cent.
-x-x-x-x-
Javvadu hills will have a modern residential school with hostel facilities for
teachers. The school will be developed at an expense of Rs 24 crore. The school
would benefit the tribal communities of the region.
Anna Daanam scheme: The scheme started by Jayalalithaa will be continued in 265
temples in Tamil Nadu.
School infrastructure: Rs 352 crore was allocated for improving the infrastructure
of the state.
Green housing project: Rs 420 crore allocated for building 20000 houses.
Chennai Mega City development mission: Rs 400 crore allocated for finishing infra
projects, which was undertaken by the Greater Chennai Corporation.
Rural area temples: Rs 1 lakh per temple will be spent to renovate 1000 rural area
temples.
Crop loan: the state will disburse Rs 7000 crore as crop loan through cooperative
banks.
Aavin milk production unit: A new milk production unit will be developed in
Madurai at an expense of Rs 40 crore. This unit will be involved in the production
of the flavoured milk under brand Aavin.
Refugee welfare fund (Sri Lankan refugees): Rs 116 crore was allocated.
Eradication of poverty in rural and urban areas: Rs 469 crore and Rs 272 crore was
allotted respectively.
Rs 160 crore allotted to widen state Highways and Rs 3156 crore was allocated for
maintenance of the road infrastructure. On the other hand, Rs 100 crore was
allocated under the Highways safety fund.
-x-x-x-x-
Krishi Bhagya scheme will be extended to costal and malnad areas (excluding
command areas) covering all the taluks in the year 2017-18. For this purpose, a
grant of Rs 600 crore will be provided.
For the year 2017-18, an amount of Rs 845 crore has been provided for the
Karnataka Raitha Suraksha Pradhana Manthri Fasal Bima Yojana to make the State
drought-proof.
In order to emphasize the judicious and efficient use of water, drip and sprinkler
irrigation units will be distributed at 90 per cent subsidy for up to 2 hectares.
During 2017-18, Rs 6,000 crore will be spent on various irrigation projects across
the State.
For improving school management and sector governance, the use of technology
initiated under Shikshana Kirana will be strengthened including biometric
attendance of teachers.
-x-x-x-x-
Rs 9,091 crore, which constitutes 5.79 per cent of the total budgetary spending,
was allocated for the development of agriculture and allied sectors.
To revitalize the rural economy, Rs 19,565 crore was allocated to develop social
and economic infrastructure in rural areas.
The finance minister has proposed Rs. 3,600 crore for the payment towards the
next instalment of debt redemption for farmers.
Micro Irrigation was given top priority with a proposed outlay of Rs 200 crore for
the year 2017-18.
Under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, it was proposed to encourage farmer groups
in vegetable growing areas in value addition activities such as grading and packing,
establishment of market linkages and pack houses.
Oil palm area expansion will be encouraged with the proposed allocation of 55
crore rupees.
An allocation of Rs. 125 crore is proposed in the financial year 2017-18 for
rejuvenation of MSMEs.
A provision of Rs. 364 crore was proposed for IT, E&C department in the financial
year 2017-18.
In the financial year 2017-18, an allocation of Rs 285 crore was proposed for
tourism development and Rs 72 crore to the cultural affairs department.
-x-x-x-x-
PERSON RESIGNED
Shashank Manohar steps down as ICC Chairman
Shashank Manohar resigned as the Chairman
of the International Cricket Council on 15 March
2017 stating personal reasons. His resignation would
be effective immediately.
He broke the news of his resignation through an email addressed to the CEO of ICC,
David Richardson in which he wrote that he had tried to do his best in being fair and
impartial in deciding matters in the functioning of the Board as well as in matters related to
Member Boards with the able support of all Directors.
He further stated that due to personal reasons it would not be possible for him to hold
the august office of ICC Chairman and hence he was putting forth his resignation from the
position with immediate effect.
In response, the ICC released an official statement confirming his resignation and
stated that the board will assess the situation and its next step before making any further
announcement.
During his Presidency India became the No 1 Test side and won the 2011 ICC
Cricket World Cup defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final.
In June 2010, he took the much-praised decision of suspending Lalit Modi, the
then chairman of Indian Premier League and Vice-President of BCCI, after giving
him a fair hearing on his misdemeanours.
Since his appointment, Manohar had become a driving force behind decentralising the
power held by The Big Three - Cricket Australia (CA), England and Wales Cricket Board
(ECB) and BCCI in the decision making processes of the ICC.
In fact, in February 2017, the ICC had passed in principle a new constitution that undid
most of the imbalance in power and finances that the BCCI, CA and ECB had wished to
create in 2014. However, a final decision on the same was supposed to be taken at the ICC
Boards next round of meetings, which are scheduled to be held in April. Now since
Manohar would not be heading the meetings, the future of the proposals remains
uncertain.
-x-x-x-x-
EXAM BOOSTERS
The term USHUS-II that was in the news recently refers to a - Submarine
Sonar System
This missile system was successfully test-fired by the Indian Navy recently -
Barak
The Rajya Sabha passed the Employees Compensation (Amendment) Bill, 2016
to replace - The Employees Compensation Act, 1923
The Global Energy Architecture Performance Index Report 2017 was released by
- World Economic Forum
Central sector scheme Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY) will be launched from -
Andhra Pradesh
The Union Cabinet gave its approval to amend these acts to facilitate the
implementation of the GST regime - The Customs Act, 1962, The Customs
Tariff Act, 1975 and TheCentral Excise Act, 1944
The CCEA gave its approval to the execution of the Phase I of the North East
Road Network Connectivity Project at an estimated cost of Rs 6,721 crore
This State Government launched the Sustainable Action for Climate Resilient
Development (SaCReD) for protection of the environment in Majuli Assam
The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the creation of National Commission for
Socially and Educationally backward classes by inserting this new Article in the
Constitution 338B
The National Helicopter operator Pawan Hans is going to launch this new service
from 1 April 2017 - Delhi Darshan rides
The National Commission for Schedule Tribes (NCST) has approved the proposal
for five additional seats for tribals in Sikkim Assembly
The Bakshi stadium in this state is all set to be developed into a world-class
facility as per the FIFA norms Jammu & Kashmir
The United Nations Human Rights Council has granted this country a two-year
extension to probe into the alleged war crimes committed during civil war Sri
Lanka
The veteran photographer who was recently conferred with the Lifetime
Achievement Award at the 6th National Photography Awards is - Raghu Rai
The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare launched a Coffee Table
Book titled 50 Years The Great Indian Milk Revolution. The ministry is
handled by - Radha Mohan Singh
The International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members is
observed each year in March. The day commemorates the anniversary of the
abduction of - Alec Collett
The country that is hosting the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games is -
Austria
The Union Cabinet recently approved an MoU signed in the field of Cyber
Security. The MoU was signed with - The United States of America
The amount authorised by NASA Transition Authorization Bill for NASA's mission
for the financial year 2018 is - USD 19.5 billion
The player who was recently ranked No. 1 in the ICC Test Bowling
Rankings is - Ravindra Jadeja
Majuli is soon to become Indias first carbon neutral district and
biodiversity heritage site. The place is located in Assam
The BJPs MLA from Goa elected as the Speaker of Goa Assembly is -
Pramod Sawant
Theme of 2017 International Day of Forests - Forests and Energy
Worlds youngest self-made billionaire as per Forbes 2017 World
Billionaire Report - John Collison
First woman from private sector to be appointed as the Full-Time Member
of Securities and Exchange Board of India - Madhabi Puri Buch
Person ranked as wealthiest Indian by Forbes World Billionaire Report
2017 - Mukesh Ambani
The supreme court of this country limited the President's power to
temporarily fill vacant government posts while nominations are tied up in
partisan political fights - The United States
He was appointed as Full Time Interim Director General of International
Solar Alliance (ISA) - Upendra Tripathy
The 2017 World Down Syndrome Day that was observed on 21 March
focuses on - #MyVoiceMyCommunity
The Supreme Court warned the Sahara Group that its Aamby Valley
property worth Rs 39000 crore in Pune will be auctioned if the company
fails to deposit Rs 5092 crore rupees with - the Securities and Exchange
Board of India (Sebi) by 17 April 2017
Indias rank in the recently released World Happiness Report 2017
was 122
This country topped the World Happiness report 2017 - Norway
He was appointed as the Managing Director & CEO of Indian Bank -
Kishore Piraji Kharat
The World Poetry Day 2017 celebrated on - 21 March 2017
He was appointed as the Managing Director & CEO of IDBI Bank -
Mahesh Kumar Jain
The International Day of Happiness was celebrated on - 20 March 2017
Person who topped the Forbes World's Billionaires List 2017 - Bill Gates
India and Pakistan will hold a two-day meet to discuss Indus Water
Treaty
It is with this country, the India Army concluded the joint army exercise Al
Nagah-II recently Oman
It is with this country, India signed two agreements related to Su-30 MKI
aircraft Russia
Chuck Berry, the guitarist and songwriter recognised as one of the fathers
of rock 'n' roll, has died recently. He belonged to The USA
He was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh - Yogi Adityanath
National record holder who clocked an impressive timing to win a bronze
in the 20 kilometer men's event in the Asian Race Walk Championships in
Japan is - KT Irfan
World Sparrow Day 2017 was observed globally on 20 March
This telecom giant announced that its board has approved the merger of
Vodafone India and its wholly-owned subsidiary Vodafone Mobile
Services Limited with itself is - Idea Cellular
The Indian cricketer who in March 2017 came in news for facing most
number of balls in a test-match is - Cheteshwar Pujara
That state whose about five-month-long economic blockade came to an
end in third week of March 2017 is Manipur
This state/city lost its permanent voting status in the Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI) Mumbai
The former bureaucrat turned politician, once considered the most
influential force behind Chief Minister Naveen Patnaiks BJD government,
who died in March 2017 is - Pyari Mohan Mohapatra
World Bank has announced 57 billion US dollar financing for this region
over the next three fiscal years - sub-Saharan Africa
The noted Gujarati poet and ghazal writer who passed away in
Ahmedabadin March 2017 is - Chinu Modi
2017 Abel Prize was awarded to - Yves Meyer
Theme of 2017 World Tuberculosis Day - Unite to End TB
Central sector scheme Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY) will be launched
from - Andhra Pradesh
The Union Cabinet gave its approval to amend these acts to facilitate the
implementation of the GST regime - The Customs Act, 1962, The
Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and TheCentral Excise Act, 1944
The CCEA gave its approval to the execution of the Phase I of the North
East Road Network Connectivity Project at an estimated cost of Rs
6,721 crore
This State Government launched the Sustainable Action for Climate
Resilient Development (SaCReD) for protection of the environment in
Majuli Assam
The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the creation of National
Commission for Socially and Educationally backward classes by inserting
this new Article in the Constitution 338B
The National Helicopter operator Pawan Hans is going to launch this new
service from 1 April 2017 - Delhi Darshan rides
The National Commission for Schedule Tribes (NCST) has approved the
proposal for five additional seats for tribals in Sikkim Assembly
The Bakshi stadium in this state is all set to be developed into a world-
class facility as per the FIFA norms Jammu & Kashmir
The United Nations Human Rights Council has granted this country a two-
year extension to probe into the alleged war crimes committed during civil
war Sri Lanka
The veteran photographer who was recently conferred with the Lifetime
Achievement Award at the 6th National Photography Awards is - Raghu
Rai
The naturalist on whose name a tiny shrimp-like fossil, which is thought to
be around 430 million-years-old, is named - David Attenborough
The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare launched a Coffee
Table Book titled 50 Years The Great Indian Milk Revolution. The
ministry is handled by - Radha Mohan Singh
The International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff
Members is observed each year in March. The day commemorates the
anniversary of the abduction of - Alec Collett
This city has retained its number one position in the annual city
governance ranking ASCIS 2016 - Thiruvananthapuram
The term SWATHI that was in news referred to a - Weapon Locating
Radar
The former President of the USA, who authored the book Portraits of
Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors is
George W Bush
2017 International Yoga festival started in - Uttarakhand
Person conferred with the 2017 Harvard Humanitarian of the Year award -
Robyn Rihanna Fenty
The week long Swachh Shakti Saptah was inaugurated in - Haryana
Movie that won the Audience Award at the Glasgow Film Festival 2017 -
Lipstick Under My Burkha
The university that won the annual Visitor's Award for the Best University
2017 is - Jawaharlal Nehru University
The Union Government recently notified the Specified Bank Notes
(Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017, which is introduced in the public
interest for - the cessation of liabilities on the specified bank notes
The Pakistani diplomat appointed as the Secretary-General of the South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is - Amjad Hussain B Sial
The country that recently won the Most Popular Tourism Destination
Award at the Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) in China is - Sri
Lanka
The High Court of this state has directed the state government not to
allow any NGO to operate bird care centres in residential areas of the city
- Gujarat
This states government has sent a proposal to the Centre to set up the All
India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in the State - Tripura
The United Nations envoy on human rights of this country called for the
creation of a Commission of Inquiry (COI), the UN's highest-level probe, to
investigate abuses in the country - Myanmar
In another blow to the ISIS, Syrian troops backed by Russian jets
completed the recapture of the historic city of - Palmyra
The Apex Court said its verdict allowing construction of this project in
Haryana and Punjab has to be implemented - the Sutlej-Yamuna Link
(SYL) canal
Union Government approved over these many Post Graduate seats in
medical colleges and hospitals across the country for the academic
session 2017-18 - 4000
The historic Cotton College will cease to exist with the Assam government
today proposing to convert it into a university to sort out several conflicting
issues with the existing - Cotton College State University
Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has clarified that
Aadhaar is mandatory for the time being only for final settlement of -
Pension and not in withdrawal cases
The Indian shooter who won the gold medal in the 50m mens air
pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi is - Jitu Rai
The person named as India's next Ambassador to the World Trade
Organisation is - J S Deepak
The cricketer who won the BCCI Polly Umrigar Award 2015-2016 is -
Virat Kohli
The person recently appointed as the Head Coach of the India U-17 team
for the FIFA U-17 World Cup is - Luis Norton de Matos
Person appointed as Chief Commissioner of Right to Services (RTS) of
Maharashtra - Swadheen Kshatriya
Theme of 2017 International Rare Disease Day - Research
Loan amount sanctioned by the World Bank (WB) for the Tejaswini project
- USD 63 million
Country that was granted the approval for visa-free travel to the European
Union by the member states recently - Georgia
It is from a submarine of this class, the Indian Navy successfully test-fired
an anti-ship missile - INS Kalvari
This company won the 7th National Award for Technology Innovation in
Petrochemicals and Downstream Plastics Processing Industry in the
category of Innovation in Polymeric Materials - Reliance Industries
This State Government presented the Budget 2017-18 recently with an
outlay of Rs 1,06,911 crore Odisha
This country is planning to cancel visa-free entry for North Koreans
Malaysia
He has been elected as Sudans first Prime Minister ever since Bashir
took over as the President of the country in 1989 through a military coup-
Hassan Saleh
UKs House of Lords voted to amend the Brexit Bill to protect the rights of
EU citizens living in UK
State that launched Indias first post office passport service centre -
Madhya Pradesh
Person appointed as the Brand Ambassador of Sightsavers recently -
Kabir Bedi
The football club that won the 201617 EFL Cup is - Manchester United
Former Union Minister P. Shiv Shankar recently passed away. He was
first elected to the Lok Sabha from Secunderabad
A Mayan Jade pendant with unique inscription was recently found in -
Belize
The author of the book titled The Ocean at the End of the Lane who was
recently appointed as UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador is - Neil Gaiman
National Science Day was observed across India on 28 February with the
years theme - "Science and Technology for Specially Abled Persons
National Science Day is annually observed across India on 28 February to
mark the discovery of - the Raman Effect by Indian physicist Sir
Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman
The UK-India Year of Culture 2017 recently kicked off in London. The
purpose of the celebration is to celebrate the deep cultural ties
between the two nations and the 70th year of Indian Independence
The Indian Navys month-long annual theatre level exercise that recently
concluded on the Western Seaboard is TROPEX 2017
The movie that won the 89th Academy Awards for the Best Picture is
Moonlight
The winner of the 89th Academy Awards for the Best Actor is - Casey
Affleck
Indias first hill station bicycle path was inaugurated in - Darjeeling
Purpose of Saathiya Resource Kit that was launched by Union
Government recently - To provide information on adolescent related
issues
Bollywood actress appointed as the new Brand Ambassador for Swachh
Bharat Mission - Shilpa Shetty
The Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje inaugurated this new
medical project at a private hospital in Jaipur - Rajasthan Heart Attack
Treatment programme (RAHAT)
This Indian state has announced that it would soon be banning the use of
polythene bags Jharkhand
The 22nd edition of this event, which is known as the worlds largest
annual food and beverage exhibition, was inaugurated on 26 March 2017
Gulfood 2017
This robot table tennis tutor, worlds first, sets a new Guinness record -
FORPHEUS
Kalinga Lancers lifted the fifth edition Hockey India League title by
defeating - Dabang Mumbai, 4-1
She won the womens title in the second edition of the IDBI Federal Life
Insurance New Delhi Marathon - Monika Athare
He won the mens title in the second edition of the IDBI Federal Life
Insurance New Delhi Marathon - Thanackal Gopi
Haryana has established an online system for monitoring the sex-ratio for
the district Panipat
The freedom fighter whose 86th martyrdom day was observed on 27
February 2017 is - Chandra Shekhar Azad
The amount that will spend by the Union Government for providing high-
quality facilities to sports persons and 200 trainers that will be recruited
soon in the Sports Authority of India is Rs 350 crore
The state whose number of workdays under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural
Employment Guarantee scheme was increased by the UnioN Government
in February 2017 from the existing 100 days to 150 days is - Tamil Nadu
France will send a contingent of counter-terror forces within three days to
help the army in this country after militants ambushed a military patrol
killing 16 - Niger
Indias First Post Office Passport Seva Kendra has started functioning in
Vidisha district headquarters of Madhya Pradesh
-x-x-x-x-
QUIZZES
d) Khursheed A Ganai
1. Who has been appointed as the new
spokesperson of Indias Ministry of External 7. Name the city that hosted the 2017 Mobile
Affairs? World Congress (MWC)?
a) Gopal Baglay a) Barcelona
b) Vikas Swarup b) London
c) Deepak Mittal c) Tokyo
d) Gautam Bambawale d) Berlin
2. Who was named captain of the year at the 8. Which Indian city was named as the Richest
10th annual ESPN cricinfo awards? Indian city as per the New World Wealth report
a) Faf du Plessis 2017?
b) Misbah-ul-Haq a) Delhi
c) Steve Smith b) Mumbai
d) Virat Kohli c) Bengaluru
d) Chennai
3. Who was named the Test batting winner at
the ESPN cricinfo awards? 9. Which state launched Indias first post office
a) Virat Kohli passport service centre?
b) Ben Stokes a) Rajasthan
c) Kusal Mendis b) Sikkim
d) Karun Nair c) Madhya Pradesh
d) Tamil Nadu
4. Neil Fingleton, the 7 foot 7 inch tall Game of
Thrones actor passed away at the age of 36. 10. Who was appointed as the Brand
Which character did he essay in the popular TV Ambassador of Sightsavers recently?
series? a) Priyanka Chopra
a) Wun Wun b) Kabir Bedi
b) Mag the Mighty c) Rishi Kapoor
c) The Mountain d) Shilpa Shetty
d) Dongo
11. Name the author of the book titled The
5. Name the Indian beach that was ranked Ocean at the End of the Lane who was recently
among top 10 best beaches of the world in appointed as UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.
TripAdvisor's 'World's Travellers' Choice a) Salman Rushdie
Award-Winning Beaches' 2017. b) Douglas Adams
a) Palolem Beach c) Julian Barnes
b) Radhanagar beach d) Neil Gaiman
c) Arambol Beach
d) Mandrem Beach 12. A Mayan Jade pendant with unique
inscription was recently found in which of the
6. Who of the following was appointed as the following countries?
Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of a) Costa Rica
Jammu and Kashmir in recent past? b) Guatemala
a) Nazir Ahmed c) Belize
b) Dr SK Sharma d) Honduras
c) GR Sufi
13. Former Union Minister P. Shiv Shankar and Downstream Plastics Processing Industry in
recently passed away. He was first elected to the category of Innovation in Polymeric
the Lok Sabha from which of the following Materials.
constituencies? a) Bharat Petroleum
a) Sirpur b) Reliance Industries
b) Secunderabad c) Hindustan Petroleum
c) Malakpet d) Oil India Limited
d) Karimnagar
19. This State Government presented the
14. Which of the following football clubs won Budget 2017-18 recently with an outlay of Rs
the 201617 EFL Cup? 1,06,911 crore.
a) Manchester United a) Telangana
b) Southampton b) Andhra Pradesh
c) Manchester City c) Odisha
d) Arsenal d) Tamil Nadu
15. Bihars annual state budget 2017-18 was 20. Who was appointed as Chief Commissioner
presented in the legislative assembly on 27 of Right to Services (RTS) of Maharashtra?
February 2017. Consider the following a) Sumit Mullick
statements in context to the same. b) Kashish Nandan
I. The budget was presented by Deputy Chief c) Nirmal Gupta
Minister Tejashwi Yadav. d) Swadheen Kshatriya
II. The size of the budget for the fiscal year
2017-18 is Rs 160085 lakh crore. 21. What was the theme of 2017 International
III. The state government has introduced three Rare Disease Day (IRDD)?
types of new taxes including tax on sand a) Research
mining. b) Solidarity
c) Mystery Diagnosis
Which is/are correct? d) Rehabilitation
a) Only I
b) Only II 22. How much loan amount was sanctioned by
c) Only II and III the World Bank (WB) for the Tejaswini
d) I, II and III project?
a) USD 50 million
16. Who was recently appointed as the Head b) USD 63 million
Coach of the Indias U-17 team for the FIFA U- c) USD 76 million
17 World Cup? d) USD 84 million
a) Nicolai Adam
b) Bhaichung Bhutia 23. Which country was granted the approval
c) Stephen Constantine for visa-free travel to the European Union by
d) Luis Norton de Matos the member states recently?
a) Russia
17. It is from a submarine of this class, the b) Azerbaijan
Indian Navy successfully test-fired an anti-ship c) Turkey
missile recently. d) Georgia
a) INS Kalvari
b) INS Arihant 24. Who won the BCCI Polly Umrigar Award
c) INS Chakra 2015-2016?
d) INS Vela a) R Ashwin
b) M S Dhoni
18. This company won the 7th National Award c) Virat Kohli
for Technology Innovation in Petrochemicals
27. Name the state that signed an agreement Which is/are correct?
with Invest India to promote start-ups and
MSME sector of the state. a) Only I and II
a) Madhya Pradesh b) Only I and III
b) Bihar c) Only II and III
c) Uttar Pradesh d) I, II and III
d) Odisha
31. The newly appointed adviser to Odisha
28. Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory government on public health programmes, K
(DMRL) has signed a Licensing Agreement for Srinath Reddy is the receiver of which
Transfer of Technology of High Nitrogen Steel prestigious civilian award?
(HNS) for armour applications with an a) Bharat Ratna
organisation. Name it. b) Padma Vibushan
a) Jindal Stainless Limited c) Padma Bhushan
b) Tata Steels d) Padma Shri
c) Nippon Steel
d) POSCO 32. Citizens of which Asian country have been
temporarily banned from leaving North Korea?
29. The Working Group on Migration on 1 a) South Korea
March 2017 submitted its report to the union b) Malaysia
government. Consider the following statement c) China
in context to the budget. d) Japan
I. The 18-member working group/panel was
headed by Partha Mukhopadhay of the Centre 33. Which country has violated UNs ban on
for Policy Research. developing missile technology, prompting UN
II. It proposes amendments to the protocols of Security Council to call for an emergency
the registrar general of India. meeting?
III. It talks about interstate operability of public a) Iran
distribution system (PDS). b) Russia
c) China
Which is/are correct? d) North Korea
a) Only I and II
37. The Union Cabinet recently approved the 43. The Union Cabinet approved the signing of
signing of Memorandum of Understanding a MoU on renewable energy with this country.
between India and the United Nations Entity of a) Portugal
Gender Equality and the Empowerment of b) China
Women (UN-Women). The headquarters of the c) Mexico
UN-Women are located in which of the d) Canada
following cities?
a) Geneva 44. The Dahej Petrochemicals Complex that
b) New York City was dedicated to the nation located in
c) Zurich a) Odisha
d) Washington DC b) Gujarat
c) Maharashtra
38. Name the socialist politician and former Lok d) Karnataka
Sabha speaker who passed away recently.
a) Rabi Ray 45. The Union Cabinet gave its approval for
b) Balram Jakhar Indias accession to the TIR Convention, which
c) Shivraj Patil is related to
d) GMC Balayogi a) International transportation of goods
b) Emission of greenhouses gases
39. The West Bengal Clinical Establishments c) Eradication of Polio
Bill, 2017 passed by state assembly will replace d) Nuclear arms proliferation
which bill?
a) West Bengal Clinical Establishments Bill, 2010 46. The first-ever fully made-in-India train
b) Clinical Establishments (Registration and was launched in which state?
Regulation) Bill, 2001 a) Gujarat
c) West Bengal Clinical Care Commission Bill, b) Maharashtra
c) Uttar Pradesh
41652
Answer (a) Explanation:? = =6
8978
Directions (11 15) In the following given number series, what will come in place of question mark?
6. 402, 1115, 2541, 4680,?
a) 6666
b) 7532
c) 7436
d) 7246
e) None of these
y = -5
Hence, x > y
Ans: (1)
5 5
12. I. - =
7 21 42
250
II. + =
4 16
5 5
Solution: I. - =
7 21 42
155
21 = 42
10
= 21 42 = 20
= 20 20 = 400
250
II. + =
4 16
4 + 250
16 =
5 = 250 16
y = 250 5 16 = 800
Hence, y > x
Ans: (3)
1/4
13. I. (625) x + 1225 = 155
II. 196 y + 13 = 279
1
Solution: I. (625)4 x + 1225 = 155
1
(54 )4 x + 35 = 155
5x = 155 - 35
5x = 120
x = 120
5
= 24
II. 196 + 13 = 279
14y = 279 13 = 266
y = 266144
= 19
Hence, x > y
Ans: (1)
2
14. I. 5x 18x + 9= 0
2
II. 3y + 5y 2= 0
2
Solution: I. 5x -18x + 9 = 0
5x -15x 3x + 9 = 0
2
5x (x-3) -3 (x-3) = 0
(5x 3) (x - 3)
x = 35 or 3
2
II. 3y + 5y -2 = 0
3y2 + 6y y 2 = 0
3y (y+2) (y+2) = 0
(3y-1) (y+2) = 0
y =13 or -2
Ans: (1)
13 9
15. II. + =
4 (132)1/2
II. y =0
13 9
Solution: II. + =
13 + 9 = = x
x = 22
9
4 (132)2
II. y - =0
9 9
= (26)
2 2
y = 26
Hence, x < y
Ans: (3)
16. The ratio between the speed of a bus and train is 15 : 27 respectively. Also, a car covered a distance of 720
km in 9 hours. The speed of the bus is three- fourth the speed of the car. How much distance will the train
cover in 7 hours?
1) 760 km
2) 756 km
3) 740 km
4) Cannot be determined
5) None of these
720
Solution: Speed of the car = = = 80hm/hr
9
3
Speed of the bus = 80 = 60km/hr
4
27
Speed of the train = 60 = 108km/hr
15
Distance covered by train in 7 hours = (7 x 108 =) 756 km
Ans: (2)
17. Raman's present age is three times his daughter's present age and nine-thirteenth of his mother's present
age. The sum of the present ages of all of them is 125 years. What is the difference between the Raman's
daughter's present age and Raman's mother's present age?
1) 45 years
2) 40 years
3) 50 years
4) Cannot be determined
5) None of these
Solution: Let Raman's present age be x years,
his daughter's present age = years
3
13
His mother's present age = years
9
Now, according to the question"
13
x+ + = 125
3 9
9+3+13
9
= 125
25x = 125 9
x = 125259 = 45
13 133 10
required difference = - = =
9 3 9 9
10
= 45 = 50 years.
9
Ans: (3)
18. What is the value of twenty four per cent of four-ninths of five times square of twenty-seven?
1) 388.8
2) 376.8
2) 378.6
4) 346.6
5) None of these
2 4 24
Solution: Required value = (27) x 5 x = 388.8
9 100
Ans: (1)
19. The sum of the circumference of a circle and the perimeter a square is equal to 272 cm. The diameter of
the circle is 56 cm. What is the sum of the area of the circle and the area of the square?
1) 2464 sq cm
2) 2644 sq cm
3) 3040 sq cm
4) Cannot be determined
5) None of these
Solution: Circumference of the circle = x diameter
22
= 56 = 176 cm
7
Perimeter of the square = (272 - 176 =) 96 cm
96
Side of the square = ( =) 24 cm
4
Area of the square = (24 x 24 =) 576 sq cm
2 22
Area of the circle = r = x 28 x 28 = 2464 sq cm
7
required sum = (576 + 264) sq cm = 3040 sq cm
Ans: (3)
20. The largest and the second largest angles of a triangle are in the ratio of 4: 3 respectively. The smallest
angle is half the largest angle. What is the difference between the smallest and the largest angles of the
triangle?
1) 30
2) 60
3) 40
4) 20
5) None of these
Solution: The smallest angle of the triangle is half of the largest angle.
ratio of the three angle = 4: 3: 2
4x + 3x + 2x = 180'
9x = 180
x = 20
required difference = 4x - 2x = 2x = 2 x 20 = 40
Ans: (3)
21. Kamya purchased an item of Rs. 46,000 and sold it at loss of 12 per cent. With that amount she purchased
another item and sold it at a gain of 12 per cent. What was her overall gain/loss?
1) Loss of Rs 662.40
2) Profit of Rs 662.40
3) Loss of Rs 642.80
4) Profit Rs 642.80
5) None of these
46000 88
Solution: First S.P. = = Rs 40480
100
46000 112
Second S.P = = Rs 45337.6
100
Loss = Rs (46000-45337.6) = RS 662.4
Ans: (1)
22. The sum of six consecutive even numbers of Set-A is 402. What is the sum of another Set-B of four
consecutive numbers whose lowest number is 15 less than double the lowest number of set- A?
1) 444
2) 442
3) 440
4) 446
5) None of these
402
Solution: Third even number = = 67 - 1 = 66
6
smallest even number = 62
smallest number of set B = 2 x 62 - 15 = 109
required sum = 109 + 110 + 111+ 112 = 442
Ans: (2)
23. The call rate of a SIM of Company A is one paisa for every three seconds. Another sim company-B charges
45 paisa per minute. A man talked 591 seconds from Sim Company-A and 780 seconds from sim company-B.
What would be the total amount he spent?
1) Rs 780
2) Rs 740
3) Rs 746
4) Rs 782
5) Rs 846
591 45
Solution: Total amount spent = ( + 780) paise
3 60
= (197 + 585) paise
= 782 paise = Rs 7.82
Ans: (4)
24. A 280 metre long train moving with an average speed of 108 km/hr crosses a platform in 12
seconds. A man crosses the same platform in 10 seconds. What is the speed of the man?
1) 5 m/s
2) 8 m/s
3) 12 m/s
4) Cannot be determined
5) None of these
5
Solution: Speed of the train = 108 km/hr = 108 m/sec
18
If the length of the platform be x metres, then
+280
= 30
12
x + 280 = 360
x = (360-280 =) = 80 metres
80
mans speed = = = 8 m/sec
10
Ans: (2)
25. The ratio of the three angles of a quadrilateral is 13: 9: 5 respectively. The value of the fourth angle of the
quadrilateral is 36. What is the difference between the largest and the second smallest angles of the
quadrilateral?
1) 104
2) 108
3) 72
4) 96
5) None of these
o o o
Solution: Let the three angles of the quadrilateral be13x , 19x and 5x respectively.
Now, according to the question;
13x + 9x + 5x = 360 - 36 = 324
27x = 324
324
x= = 12
27
required difference = 13x - 5x = 8x = 8 x 12 = 96
Ans: (4)
Directions-(Q. 26-30) Study the table carefully to answer the questions that follow:
Number of Athletes (in hundreds) who participated in a Sports Event from Five Different Countries over the
years
Countries A B C D E
Year Male Fem Male Fem Male Fem Male Fem Male Fem
2005 4.4 3.3 6.3 4.2 4.5 3.1 5.6 4.1 4.7 2.1
2006
66 42 84 62 69 33 84 63 78 52
2007
46 18 74 48 48 28 93 73 87 65
2008
9.6 49 11.4 84 66 42 126 94 89 58
2009
11.8 64 106 52 79 63 14.4 102 118 92
2010
82 52 64 72 108 69 156 121 136 98
26. In which of the following years was the total number of participants (athletes) second
highest from Country C?
1) 2005
2) 2006
3) 2007
4) 2008
5) None of these
Solution: Number of participants (athletes) from Country C
In the year 2006 (6.9 + 3.3) 100 = 1020
In the year 2008 (6.6 + 4.2) 100 = 1080
In the year 2009 (7.9 + 6.3) 100 = 1420
In the year 2010 (10.8 + 6.9) 100 = 1770
Ans: (5)
27. What was the average number of female athletes who participated from Country B over
all the years together?
1) 1200
2) 400
3) 600
4) 1800
5) 3600
Solution: Required average number of female atheists
4.2+6.2+4.8+8.4+5.2+7.2
= 100
6
36 100
= = 600
6
Ans: (3)
28. What was the approximate percentage decrease in the number of male athletes who
participated from Country C in the year 2007 as compared to the previous year?
1) 21
2) 30
3) 35
4) 39
5) 25
6.94.8
Solution: Required decrease = 100 30
6.9
Ans: (2)
29. The Number of female athletes who participated from Country E in the year 2009
was approximately what percentage of the 42 total number of athletes who participated from
Country-B in the year 2008?
1) 40
2) 46
3) 50
4) 56
5) 60
9.2 9.2100
Solution: Required percentage = 100 = 46%
11.4+8.4 9.8
Ans: (2)
30. In which of the following country is the difference between the number of male and female participants
second highest in the year 2006?
1) A
2) B
3) C
4) D
5) E
Solution: Difference between the number of male and female participants:
Country A: (6.6 4.2) 100 = 240
Country B: (8.4-6.2) 100 = 220
Country C: (6.9-3.3) 100 = 360
Country D: (8.4-6.3) 100 = 210
Country E: (7.8-5.2) 100 = 260
Ans: (5)
Directions-(Q. 46-50): Study the information carefully to answer the questions that follows:
In a ship there are 1200 passengers. 18 per cent of the total number of passengers is from Britain. Two- fifth of
the total number of passengers is from South Africa 6 per cent of the total number of passengers is from
Madagascar. Remaining number of passengers is from India. 25
per cent of the number of passengers from Britain is females. Half the numbers of passengers from South
Africa are male. There is no female passenger from Madagascar. Two- third of the number of passengers from
India are females.
31. What is the ratio of the number of passengers from Madagascar, number
of female passengers from South Africa and the total number of passengers from India?
1) 2: 5 : 18
2) 3: 10 : 18
3) 3: 11 : 18
4) 2: 18 : 5
5) None of these
1200 18
Solution: Directions: British passengers: = 216
100
216
Females: = 54
4
Males: 216 54 = 162
1200 6
Passengers from Madagascar: = 72 = Males
100
2
Passengers from South Africa: 1200 = 480
5
Males = 240 and Females = 240
India passengers: 1200 216 72 480 = 432
2
Females = 432 = 288
3
Males = 432 - 288 = 144
Required ratio= 72: 240: 432 = 3 : 10 : 18
Ans: (2)
32. The number of male passengers from South Africa is approximately what percentage of the total number
of passengers from Britain?
1) 111
2) 115
3) 120
4) 125
5) 131
1200 18
Solution: Directions: British passengers: = 216
100
216
Females: = 54
4
Males: 216 54 = 162
1200 6
Passengers from Madagascar: = 72 = Males
100
2
Passengers from South Africa: 1200 = 480
5
Males = 240 and Females = 240
India passengers: 1200 216 72 480 = 432
2
Females = 432 = 288
3
Males = 432 - 288 = 144
240
Required percentage = 100 111
216
Ans: (1)
33. What is the average number of male passengers from all the four countries?
1) 154.5
2) 164.5
3) 145
4) 164
5) None of these
1200 18
Solution: Directions: British passengers: = 216
100
216
Females: = 54
4
Males: 216 54 = 162
1200 6
Passengers from Madagascar: = 72 = Males
100
2
Passengers from South Africa: 1200 = 480
5
Males = 240 and Females = 240
India passengers: 1200 216 72 480 = 432
2
Females = 432 = 288
3
Males = 432 - 288 = 144
Average number of male passengers
162 +72+240 +144 618
= = = 154.4
4 4
Ans: (1)
34. What is the difference between the number of male passengers from Madagascar and the number of male
passengers from India?
1) 64
2) 82
3) 74
4) 72
5) None of these
1200 18
Solution: Directions: British passengers: = 216
100
216
Females: = 54
4
Males: 216 54 = 162
1200 6
Passengers from Madagascar: = 72 = Males
100
2
Passengers from South Africa: 1200 = 480
5
Males = 240 and Females = 240
India passengers: 1200 216 72 480 = 432
2
Females = 432 = 288
3
Males = 432 - 288 = 144
Required difference= 144 - 72 = 72
Ans: (4)
35. What is the total number of male from Britain passengers female passengers from India together?
1) 340
2) 420
3) 350
4) 460
5) None of these
1200 18
Solution: Directions: British passengers: = 216
100
216
Females: = 54
4
Males: 216 54 = 162
1200 6
Passengers from Madagascar: = 72 = Males
100
2
Passengers from South Africa: 1200 = 480
5
Males = 240 and Females = 240
India passengers: 1200 216 72 480 = 432
2
Females = 432 = 288
3
Males = 432 - 288 = 144
Total number of male passengers from Britain and female passengers from India together = 162 + 288 = 450
Ans: (5)
Reasoning Ability
Direction (1 - 5): Study the following information to answer the given questions:
In a certain code good method to process' is written as 'ad mi ja no', ' the method to purchase' is written
as 'ku ja ig ad'. 'star of the night' is written as 'be ku zo mi' and 'to liquid of summer' is written as 'be Ii ya ja'.
1. What is the code for 'liquid'?
a) be
b) Ii
c) ya
d) ja
e) Cannot be determined
Answer (e)
Answer (e)
Answer (b)
a) ad
b) mi
c) no
d) ja
e) Cannot be determined
Answer (c)
Directions (6 - 10): Study the following information and answer the questions given below:
Eight friends-A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H-are sitting around a circular table not necessarily in the same
order. Three of them are facing outward while five are facing towards the centre. There are equal
number of males and females in the group. C is facing the centre. E is sitting third to the right of C.
F is sitting third to the left of E. Three persons are sitting between F and B. The immediate neighbours
of B are females. G is sitting third to the right of F. D is sitting third to the right of A. A is not an
immediate neighbour of E. The immediate neighbours of E are males and are facing the centre. The
immediate neighbours of D are females and face outside. The one sitting third to the left of B is a
male. No female is an immediate neighbour of G.
6. Who is sitting second to the right of E?
a) C
b) B
c) G
d) H
e) None of these
Answer (c)
7. How many persons are sitting between H and C when counted from the left side of H?
a) One
b) Two
c) Three
d) Four
e) More than four
Answer (b)
8. Which of the following statements is true regarding H?
a) The one who is second to the right of H is a female.
b) H is facing the centre.
c) H is a male.
d) The immediate neighbours of H are facing outside.
e) None is true
Answer (a)
9. What is Ds position with respect to G?
a) Third to the left
b) Third to the right
10. Four of the following five are alike in a certain way based on their seating positions in the above
arrangement and hence form a group. Which of the following does not belong to the group?
a) BE
b) C G
c) G A
d) DH
e) AF
Answer (c) Explanation:
Direction (11 - 13): In each question below there are three statements followed by four conclusions
numbered, I, II, III and IV. You have to take the given statements to be true even if they seem to be at variance
with commonly known facts. Read all the conclusions and then decide which of the given conclusions logically
follows from the given statements, disregarding commonly known facts.
11. Statements: Some Bags are Books. All Books are Boxes. No Box is Board.
Conclusions:
I. Some Bags are not Boards.
II. Some Bags are not Boxes.
III. All Bags are Boxes.
IV. No Bag is Board.
a) Only I follows
b) I & either II or III follow
c) Only IV follows
d) Only II follows
e) None of these
Answer (b) Explanation:
12. Statements: All birds are animals. Some animals are humans. All humans are mammals.
Conclusions:
I. Some humans are not birds.
II. Some birds are humans.
13. Statements: All shirts are trousers. Some socks are shoes. All shoes are shirts.
Conclusions:
I. Some socks are shirts.
II. Some socks are trousers.
III. All shoes are trousers.
IV. All shoes are socks.
a) Only I and II follow
b) Only I or II or III follows
c) Only II and IV follow
d) Only III and IV follow
e) None of these
Answer (e) Explanation:
14. Statements: Some books are papers. All plates are records. Some records are books.
Conclusions:
I. Some plates are books.
II. Some records are papers.
III. Some papers are plates.
IV. Some books are records.
a) Only I follow
b) Only II and III follow
c) Only I and III follow
d) Only IV follow
e) None of these
Answer (d) Explanation:
15. Direction: Each question has two statements and some conclusions. Choose the conclusion that logically
follows:
Statements: Some pigeons are eagles. All eagles are sparrows. Some sparrows are not pigeons.
Conclusions:
I. Some sparrows are pigeons.
II. All pigeons are sparrows.
III. All eagles are pigeons.
Sparrows
a) Only I follows
b) Only II follows Eagles
c) Only III follows
d) Both I and III follows
e) None of these
Pigeons
Answer (a)
Explanation:
121 9
130 km towards South-East
17. A thief was running away from the police. He ran 70 m towards north before turning to his right. He
again ran for 35 m before taking a right turn. Further, he ran for 40 m and got nabbed. In which
direction is the starting point with reference to the point where he got nabbed?
a) North-East
b) North-West
c) South East
d) South West
e) None of these
Answer (a) Explanation:
Directions (18 - 22): Study the following information carefully and answer the questions given below:
Eight persons P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6, P7 and P8 are living in an 8-floor building. Only one student stays on one
floor. All students study specialisations for different cities. The specialisations are Finance, Marketing,
Operations, Logistics, HR, IT, Retail and Tourism. The eight different cities are Raipur, Ajmer, Bombay, Munnar,
Dalhousie, Jaipur, Gurugram and Chennai.
P6 has specialisation Logistics and lives on the sixth floor. The person who studies Operations is from Munnar
and lives on the third floor. The person who specialisation is in IT lives on the first floor.
The person who is from Chennai lives on the top floor. The person who specialisation is Retail lives between
P3 and P5. P7 specialisation is in HR and P8 specialisation is in Finance.
The person who specialisation is in Tourism is from Dalhousie and does not stay on the fifth floor. The person
who is from Gurugram lives on the seventh floor.
P7 does not live on the 8th or first floor. The person whose specialisation is in Marketing lives on the fifth
floor.
The person who studies Marketing does not from Jaipur.
19. The student whose specialisation is in Retail lives on which floor and belongs to which city?
a) Floor no. 5 Raipur
b) Floor no. 4 Munnar
c) Floor no. 4 Bombay
d) Floor no. 6 Ajmer
e) None of the above
Answer (c)
21. Which combination of student and the name of the specialisation by him are correctly matched?
a) P5 HR
b) P7 HR
c) P7 - IT
d) P6 Marketing
e) None of the above
Answer (b)
22. Which of the following combinations is true for the one who studies for Jaipur?
a) P1 6th floor
b) P4 1st floor
c) P1 1st floor
d) P5 5th floor
e) None of the above
Answer (c)
Explanation (18 - 22):
Place Floor Student Name Specialisation
Chennai 8 P8 Finance
Gurugram 7 P7 HR
Ajmer 6 P6 Logistics
Raipur 5 P5 Marketing
Bombay 4 P4 Retail
Munnar 3 P3 Operations
Dalhousie 2 P2 Tourism
Jaipur 1 P1 IT
Directions (23 27): In the given questions, assuming the given statements to be true, find which of the given
two conclusions numbered I and II is/are definitely true and give your answer accordingly.
a) if only I is true.
b) if only II is true.
c) if either I or II is true.
d) if neither I nor II is true
e) if both I and II are true
23. Statements:
A B,
C D,
E D F G A H
Conclusions:
I. E G
II. B<D
Answer (d) Explanation:
Combining
25. Statements:
C < U < M, P > C H, T = C > F Z
Conclusions:
I. U < H
II. P > Z
Answer (b) Explanation:
Combining
N < A is true
27. Statements:
P > U > C, H C < T, W = C > L Z
Conclusions:
I. H = U
II. P > L
Answer (b) Explanation:
Combining
P > L is true
e) None of these
Answer (a) Explanation: Dalam is son of Bittu who is son of Fawad and son-in-law of Hamman.
Explanation (28 - 30): By the information given we can have the following arrangement.
Directions (31 - 35): Study the following information carefully and answer the questions below.
There are five race horses Abrussi, Abnaki, Absinthe, Aachen and AJ Cook that finished a race not necessarily in
this sequence.
i. Abruzzi finished two positions before Abnaki.
ii. AJ Cook finished after Aachen but not immediately before Absinthe.
iii. Absinthe followed Abrussi and finished fourth.
32. If the positions of the first and last positions in the race are interchanged, who finishes last?
a) AJ Cook
b) Abrussi
c) Absinthe
d) Aachen
e) None of these
Answer (d) Explanation:
Abnaki
AJ Cook
Abrussi
Absinthe
Aachen
33. If there is another horse Aron, that finishes second in the race, what will be the position of Aachen?
a) Third
b) Fourth
c) Sixth
d) First
e) None of these
Answer (d) Explanation:
Aachen
Aron
AJ Cook
Abrussi
Absinthe
Abnaki
34. If the positions are reversed after another horse Ambal finishing fifth in the race, which of the following
horse finishes fourth?
a) Absinthe
b) Abrussi
c) AJ Cook
d) Achen
e) None of these
Answer (b) Explanation:
Abnaki
Ambal
Absinthe
Abrussi
AJ Cook
Aachen
35. If the position of the middle horse remains unchanged and the top and bottom pair of horses interchange
their position, which of the horses finish fourth in the race?
a) Abnaki
b) Absinthe
c) Aachen
d) AJ Cook
e) None of these
Answer (a) Explanation:
AJ Cook
Aachen
Abrussi
Abnaki
Absinthe
English Language
Directions (1 - 10): Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
It makes less sense to complain that over the years, there is a lot of pressure for higher
earnings for industry workers and increased productivity. There are many ways that can
increase employees earnings. It can be increased by inflating the selling prices of the firms
products or services, lowering profits or raw material costs or augmenting labour
productivity. But this can jeopardize the firms competitive strength in the market if
employees earnings are raised by methods other than increased labor productivity. Each
method has its own drawback. Higher prices may cause fewer customers, reduced profit
may effect in lesser capital investment and low cost materials may compromise product
quality. But by improving labour productivity by motivation to enhance skills may create an
almost unlimited resource. Both human and non-human economic sources are developed
by human effort and human motivation can drastically improve the quality of human effort.
1. According to the author of the passage, what factor does not makes sense in an
organization?
a) To not claim that there is a demand for high earning employees and lessened
productivity.
b) To claim that the demand for raised earnings and productivity is not mandatory.
c) To claim that there is a need for both raised employee remuneration and
productivity.
d) To claim that low earning employees are more productive.
e) None of the above
Answer: c)
Explanation: The first line of the passage clearly states that there is a lot of pressure for
higher earnings for industry workers and increased productivity.
3. What is the main purpose of the author for writing this passage?
a) Explain expectancy theory.
b) Explain the importance of motivation in an organization to increase productivity and
employee well being.
c) Explain how anti-labor policies cost productivity.
d) Explain the importance of time management in an organization.
e) None of the above
Answer: b)
Explanation: The author of the passage clearly talks about the importance of motivation
in an organization to increase productivity and employee well being.
4. What can be implied from the expectancy theory mentioned in the passage?
a) It is important to give financial incentives to every employee.
b) It is necessary to motivate employees through non financial rewards.
c) It is necessary to make employees realize their value in the organization.
d) Productivity and employee motivation are not strongly connected.
e) None of the above
Answer: c)
Explanation: The last sentence of the third paragraph clearly mentions that the
motivation of an employee increases when he feels his performance is instrumental to
obtain the expected result.
5. According to the author of the passage, why is it difficult to motivate employees through
financial incentives?
a) Because the motivation gets degraded than when an employee joins an organization.
b) Economically secure employee is not more dependent on the financial incentives.
c) Increased productivity is not dependent on individual performance of employees.
d) Employees are fed up with union activities and government regulations.
e) None of the above.
Answer: b)
Explanation: The second paragraph clearly states that as employees become
economically secure and their dependency on a particular organization has decreased, it
is difficult to enthuse employees through traditional authority and financial incentives.
Directions (6 - 8): The following questions have a word highlighted from the passage with
four words following it. Choose the best word that matches the meaning of the highlighted
word as your answer.
6. Inflate
a) Debase
b) Distend
c) Abridge
d) Abate
e) None of the above
Answer: b)
7. Augment
a) Reinforce
b) Demolish
c) Raze
d) Prod
e) None of the above
Answer: a)
8. Jeopardize
a) Design
b) Devolve
c) Intrinsic
d) Stake
e) Evade
Answer: d)
Directions (9 - 10): The following questions have a word highlighted from the passage with
four words following it. Choose the best word that is opposite in meaning to the highlighted
word as your answer.
9. Exert
a) Push
b) Gush
c) Conceal
d) Work
e) None of the above
Answer: c)
10. Drastic
a) Collected
b) Harsh
c) Mend
d) Mere
e) None of the above
Answer: a)
Directions (11 - 20): In the following passage, there are blanks each of which has been
numbered. For each number some words are suggested below the passage, one of which
fits the blank appropriately. Find the appropriate words.
According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the banking sector in India is sound,
adequately __11__ and well-regulated. Indian financial and __12__ conditions are much
better than in many other countries of the world. Credit, market and __13__ risk studies
show that Indian banks are generally __14__ and have withstood the global downturn well.
With a sense of optimism slowly__15__in, the banking industry expects that 2015 will bring
better growth prospects. This optimism stems from factors such as the Government working
hard to __16__ the industrial growth in the country and the RBI initiating a number of
measures that would go a long way in helping the banks to __17__. The recent
announcements of RBI, it is felt, are a clear pointer to the future of the restructured
domestic banking industry. The Indian banking sector is __18_ , with 46 commercial banks
jostling for business with dozens of foreign banks as well as rural and co-operative lenders.
State banks control 80 percent of the market, leaving relatively small shares for private
rivals. At the end of February, 13.7 crore accounts had been opened under Pradhanmantri
Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) and 12.2 crore RuPay debit cards were __19__ . These new
accounts have __20__ deposits of Rs 12,694 crore (US$ 2.01 billion).
11.
a) Realised
b) Subsidised
c) Defunded
d) Capitalised
e) None of the above
Answer: d)
Explanation: The appropriate word should be Capitalised which means to provide
money for the ventures.
12.
a) Climatic
b) Political
c) Economic
d) Environmental
e) None of the above
Answer: c)
Explanation: The appropriate word should be Economic which means something
business or financial related.
13.
a) Personal
b) Liquidity
c) Systematic
d) Security
e) None of the above
Answer: b)
Explanation: The appropriate word should be Liquidity which means the ability to
convert an asset into cash quickly.
14.
a) Resilient
b) Delicate
c) Weak
d) Rigid
e) None of the above
Answer: a)
Explanation: The appropriate word should be Resilient which means being able to
withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions.
15.
a) Retreating
b) Missing
c) Decreasing
d) Leaving
e) Creeping
Answer: e)
Explanation: The appropriate word should be Creeping which means something
occurring or developing gradually and almost imperceptibly.
16.
a) Absorb
b) Cripple
c) Anticipate
d) Revitalise
e) Impede
Answer: d)
Explanation: The appropriate word should be Revitalise which means to instill
something with new life and vitality.
17.
a) Subsist
b) Prevail
c) Restructure
d) Survive
e) None of the above
Answer: c)
Explanation: The appropriate word should be Restructure which means to organize
differently.
18.
a) Collaborated
b) Fragmented
c) Aligned
d) Combined
e) None of the above
Answer: b)
Explanation: The appropriate word should be Fragmented which means to divide
something in segments.
19.
a) Issued
b) Released
c) Furnished
d) Equipped
e) None of the above
Answer: a)
Explanation: The appropriate word should be Issued which means to supply or
distribute something for use or sale.
20.
a) Divided
b) Dissuaded
c) Mobilised
d) Dispersed
e) Separated
Answer: c)
Explanation: The appropriate word should be Mobilised which means to organize and
make something ready for action.
Directions (21 - 30): In each of the following questions there are four parts a, b, c and d,
among which one part is erroneous. Find out which part of the sentence has an error and
mark e if no error is found. Ignore punctuation errors.
21. The road (a)/ to famous pilgrimage (b)/ passes through (c)/ a mountain (d).
Answer: b)
Explanation: Add the before the word famous pilgrimage because the has to be used
for particular objects.
22. His colony comprises (a)/ of seven blocks and (b)/ thirty flats in an (c)/ area of about
hundred yards (d).
Answer: d)
Explanation: Add a before hundred yards.
23. The Indian Armed Force (a)/ consists of (b)/ the Indian Army, Indian Navy,(c)/ Indian Air
Force and Indian Coast Guard (d).
Answer: a)
Explanation: Instead of Indian Armed Force, it should be Indian Armed Forces.
24. She is amongst (a)/ those people (b)/ who never (c)/ accepts their mistake (d).
Answer: d)
Explanation: Instead of accepts, the word should be accept.
25. What is needed is (a)/ proper guidelines (b)/ to build a (c)/ framework for development
(d).
Answer: a)
Explanation: Instead of What is needed is, it should be what is needed are.
26. The symptoms of nerve-poisoning (a)/ are due to the (b)/ carbolic acid which (c)/
circulate around the blood (d).
Answer: d)
Explanation: Instead of around the blood, it should be in the blood.
27. One can play (a)/ as much games (b)/ as one wants (c)/ to play (d).
Answer: b)
Explanation: Instead of as much games, it should be as many games.
28. As soon as the (a)/ principal entered (b)/ everyone stood (c)/ in respect (d).
Answer: e)
Explanation: There is no mistake or error in the sentence.
29. The manager (a)/ tested his workers (b)/ to see if they can (c)/ understand the latest
technology (d).
Answer: c)
Explanation: To see can be removed as it is redundant after tested.
30. The passengers (a)/ are requested (b)/ to be in (c)/ its seats (d).
Answer: d)
Explanation: Its has to be replaced with their.
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