AWARENESS : UPSC : August 2015

Monday 31 August 2015

Current Affairs. 30th August and 31st August 2015.

- Government orders inclusion of 13 central laws within purview of Land Acquisition Act 2013.
Exempted 13 central acts are
_Railways Act, 1989.
_Electricity Act, 2003.
_Atomic Energy Act 1962.
_Indian Tramways Act 1886.
_Land Acquisition (Mines) Act1885.
_National Highways Act 1956.
_Damodar Valley Corporation Act 1948.
_Petroleum and Minerals
_Pipelines Act 1962.
_Metro Railways (Construction of Works) 1978.
_Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition an
_Development Act 1957.
_Requisitioning and Acquisition of_Immovable Property Act, 1948.
_Ancient Monuments_Archaeologic Sites and Remains Act 1958.

- Pakistan banned the Islamic State militant group that has overrun vast stretches of Iraq and Syria after repeatedly denying the dreaded outfit's presence within its territor
_The Islamic State or Daesh has been banned in Pakistan.

- PM to release AIR All India Radio copy of 'Ramcharitmanas.

- Launch of SAHAJ - Online LPG Connections, For more Convenience to new LPG consumers on 30 Aug 2015.

- New Economic Affairs Secy. Shaktikanta Das.

- Andhra Shut down over special status.

- Five-time Grand Slam champion Russian Maria Sharapova withdrew from the U.S. Open on Sunday due to a leg injury.
_ Sharapova, the No. 2 seed, will be replaced in the draw by Daria Kasatkina of Russia, the United States Tennis Association (USTA)

- Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. would buy back the 19.9% stake it sold to Volkswagen AG after an international arbitration court ordered the German auto maker to sell its holding.

- Union Home Secretary LC Goyal quits, Mehrishi is new incumbent.
_The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has appointed Rajiv Mehrishi, a Rajasthan cadre IAS officer from the 1978 batch, as a replacement for Goyal to occupy the important post at North Block.

- NASA selects next flyby target.
for New Horizons pros.
After its historic July 14 flyby of the Pluto system that revealed interesting findings,NASA selected the next potential next destination for its New Horizons mission - a small Kuiper Belt object (KBO) known as 2014 MU69 that orbits nearly a billion miles beyond Pluto.

-Double black hole has been found by NASA's Hubble telescope. Located at around 600 million light years away, the binary black hole is named Markarian (Mrk) 231 and NASA believes the discovery shows that quasars may commonly host a double black hole.

-Economic growth slows to 7% in April-June quarter
_GDP growth slowed to 7 per cent in the April-June quarter, from 7.5 per cent in the previous quarter, amid deceleration in farm, services and manufacturing sectors.
_ The Gross Value Added (GVA), a new concept introduced by CSO to measure the economic activity, also slipped during the first quarter to 7.1 per cent, from 7.4 per cent a year ago.

- Law Commission recommended “swift” abolition of death penalty except in terror-related cases, noting it does not serve the penological goal of deterrence any more than life imprisonment.

- HUPA. Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) for beginning of construction of houses for the urban poor under the scheme.
_ Union Government identified 305 cities and towns across 9 states for implementation of its flagship ‘Housing for All’ scheme.
_Union Government had launched the scheme named as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in June 2015 under the aegis of Housing for All by 2022 Mission.

-*United States (US) extended the anti-dumping duty on Indian preserved mushrooms for another five years

- Indian Bank launched IndPay mobile app service to enables its
customers to operate bank accounts anytime from anywhere.

- India will host the 3rd India Africa Forum Summit in Delhi in October this year to further strengthen its political, economic and diplomatic links with the African continent. The five-day event will take place between October 26 to October 30.

- The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) have announced that they will title all future bilateral series between the two countries - “The Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela Series”. Going forward, the Test series between the respective countries will be played for the “Freedom Trophy” which is dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela

- Ethiopia's Mare Dibaba wins Women's marathon at World Athletics Championships.

- Kudos. Indian wrestler Anil clinched gold medal in Cadet
Wrestling World Championships in the 50 kg freestyle competitions .

Saturday 29 August 2015

Ramcharitmanas (श्रीरामचरितमानस) or Ramacharitamanasa or Ramayana

Ramcharitmanas (श्रीरामचरितमानस) or Ramacharitamanasa or Ramayana.

-It is an epic poem in Awadhi dialect of Hindi, composed by the
16th-century Indian bhakti poet Goswami Tulsi Das (c.1532–1623).

- Ramcharitmanas literally means "Lake of the deeds of Rama".

- Considered as one of the greatest works of Hindiliterature . The work has been acclaimed
as "the living sum of Indian culture", "the tallest tree in the magic garden of medieval Indian poetry", "the greatest book of all devotional literature" and "the
best and most trustworthy guide to the popular living faith of the Indian people".

Ramayana or Ramcharitmanas.

The core of the work is considered by some to be a poetic retelling of the events of the Sanskrit epic Ramayana , centered on the narrative of Rama, the scion of the
family tree of Raghu of the Sun Dynasty and the crown prince of Ayodhya who is also considered in Hindu tradition as one of the Avataras of Vishnu .
However, Tulsidas never alludes to Ramcharitmanas as being a retelling of Valmiki Ramayana.
He calls the epic Ramcharitmanas as the story of Rama was stored in the mind (Mānasa) of Shiva before he narrated the same to His consort Parvati. Tulsidas
claims to have received the story through his guru, Narharidas. Tulsidas was unconscious and the story was stored in his mind (Mānasa) for long before he wrote it down as Ramcharitmanas . The epic poem is, therefore, also referred to as Tulsikrit
Ramayana (literally, The Ramayana composed by Tulsidas ).

Different Parts.

The Ramcharitmanas consists of seven Kāndas (i.e. parts or books). Tulsi Das compared the seven Kāndas (literally "books" or "episodes", cognate with cantos) of the epic to seven steps leading
into the holy waters of Lake Manasarovar "which purifies the body and the soul at once".

UNIQUE Feature.

- A unique feature of Ramacharitmanas is that at least one of the four letters s, t, r,
m (symbolizing SitaRam) is present in every line of this epic.

Accessibility in Vernacular Language.

- Ramcharitmanas , for the first time in the history of North India , made available the story of Rama to the common man to sing, meditate and perform on. Tulsi Das was a great scholar of Sanskrit . However,he wanted the story of Rama to be accessible to the general masses and not just the Sanskrit-speaking elite. In order to make the story of Rama as accessible to the layman as to the scholar, Tulsi Das chose to write in Awadhi , a local dialect
of Hindi which was in vogue as the
language of general parlance in large parts of north India during the composition of the work. Tradition has it that Tulsidas had to face a lot of criticism from the sanskrit scholars of Varanasi for
being a bhasha(vernacular) poet.
However, Tulsidas remained steadfast in his resolve for simplifying the knowledge of the Vedas and Upanishads to the common people and was! subsequently accepted by all. The writing of Ramcharitmanas also heralded many a cultural tradition, most significantly that of the tradition of Ramlila , the dramatic enactment of the text.

- Related with Bhakti Movement.

The Ramcharitmanas is considered by many as a work to the Saguna school of the Bhakti movement in Hindi literature .

All you want to know about NASA Human Isolation Mars Mission

NASA's year long Human Isolation Mars Mission 2015.

ABOUT

Six people shut themselves
inside a dome for a year in Hawaii on Friday, in the longest US isolation experiment aimed at helping Nasa prepare for a pioneering journey to Mars.

The crew includes a French
astrobiologist, a German physicist
and four Americans—a pilot, an
architect, a doctor/journalist and a
soil scientist.

They are based on a barren, Northern slope of Mauna Loa, living inside a dome that is 36ft (11m) in diameter and 20ft tall.
In a place with no animals and little
vegetation around, they closed
themselves in at 3.00pm Hawaii time, marking the official start to the 12- month mission.

COHABITATION

The men and women have their own small rooms, with space for a
sleeping cot and desk, and will spend their days eating food like powdered cheese and canned tuna, only going outside if dressed in a spacesuit, and having limited access to the Internet.

So what kind of person wants to
spend a year this way?
Crew member Sheyna Gifford
described the team as “six people who want to change the world by making it possible for people to leave it at will”, she wrote on her blog, LivefromMars.life.
Architect Tristan Bassingthwaighte
said he will be “studying
architectural methods for creating a more habitable environment and
increasing our capability to live in the extreme environments of Earth and other worlds”, according to his LinkedIn page.
“Hoping to learn a lot!” he added.

Any astronauts that go to Mars are
facing a trip that would last far longer than the six months that humans typically spend at the orbiting International Space Station.

Nasa’s current technology can send a robotic mission to the Red Planet in eight months, and the US space agency estimates that a human mission would take between one and three years.
With all that time spent in a cramped space without access to fresh air, food or privacy, conflicts are certain to occur.

HI SEAS

Nasa is studying how these scenarios play out on Earth—in a programme called Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS)— before pressing on toward Mars, which the space agency hopes to reach sometime in the 2030s.

The first HI-SEAS experiment
involved studies about cooking on
Mars and was followed by a four-
month and an eight-month
cohabitation mission.

COST

Nasa is spending $1.2 million on
these simulations and has just
received funding of another $1
million for three more in the coming years, according to principal investigator Kim Binsted.That is very cheap for space
research..

Current Affairs. 29th August 2015.

- Sania Mirza conferred with India's highest sports award Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.

- Vodafone India Ltd, India's 2nd largest telco, will launch 4G services by the end of the year.

- Nasa launches online tools to let users explore Mars.
_Mars Trek simulates 3-D based actual data from Curiosity and NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, giving users first-hand experience in a day in the life of a Mars rover

- Pak set to have world's third largest nuclear arsenal in 10 years. Currently behind USA, Russia, France, UK and China, and marginally ahead of India.

- After LPG now Govt to transfer food and kerosene Subsidies directly into the bank accounts of beneficiaries under DBT Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme to eliminate fraud and eliminate Subsidies.

- Kudos, Indian women's hockey team qualifies for the Olympics after a long gap of 36 years as it qualified for next year's Rio Games, courtesy England making it to the final of the ongoing EuroHockey Championships in London.
_International Hockey Federation (FIH) confirmed that Indian women's team qualified for the Rio Games.

- Barcelona's Lionel Messi wins UEFA Best Player in Europe award.

- Mo Farah of Britain poses after winning the men's 5000 metres final at the 15th IAAF Championships at the National Stadium in Beijing, China.

- 7th pay commission is to be implemented from January 2016
_Targe audience- 50 lakh central government employees including railways nd defence
_Head- Retd SC judge Ashok kumar mathur
_Members- Vivek Rae, Rathin Roy, Meena aggarwal.

- NASA robot to build biggest rocket parts for Mars mission
_ giant robot is helping Nasa engineers to build the largest, lightweight composite rocket parts ever developed for future space vehicles to deeper manned missions including Mars exploration.
_The robot installed at Nasa's Marshall Space Flight Centre in Alabama, is one of the largest composites manufacturing robots
created in America.

- Nasa launches online tools to let users explore Mars
_Mars Trek simulates 3-D based actual data from Curiosity and NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, giving users first-hand experience in a day in the life of a Mars rover
_Mars Trek is a free, web-based application that provides high-quality, detailed visualisations of the planet using real data from 50 years of Nasa exploration and allowing astronomers, citizen scientists and students to study the red planet’s features.

- NASA year long Mars isolation Mission Started.
_NASA Mars Mission. Six people shut themselves inside a dome for a year in Hawaii, in the longest US isolation experiment aimed at helping Nasa prepare for a pioneering journey to Mars.

Friday 28 August 2015

Current Affairs. 28th August 2015.

-Exercise Ekuverin – 2015
_The Sixth Joint Military Training Exercise between the Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Forces (EXERCISE
EKUVRIN – VI), will be conducted at Pangode Military Station, Trivandrum, Kerala from 31 Aug to 13 Sep 2015.

- NTPC the largest power utility of the country recorded highest single day generation of 733.12 MUs, the highest so far in this
Financial Year from its 18 coal based, 7 gas based, 8 solar and Hydro power stations on August 27, 2015. The Declared Cumulative Capability of the stations was 91.10 % and Plant load factor ( PLF) of 86.34 % on the day.

- NITI Aayog launched the second version of the India Energy Security Scenarios 2047 calculator (IESS 2047), an open source Web based tool.
_The tool aims to explore a range of potential future energy scenarios for India, for diverse energy demand and supply sectors leading up to 2047.
_It explores India's possible energy scenarios across energy supply sectors such as solar, wind, bio fuels, oil, gas, coal and nuclear and energy demand sectors such as transport, industry, agriculture, cooking and lighting appliances.

- Germany to teach Indian! languages in its institutions.
_Germany will promote Indian languages including Sanskrit in its educational institutions.

- President to present National Sports Awards on 29th August 2015.

- Onam Celebrations Light Up
Kerala.

- Vassiliki Thanou sworn in as first female Prime Minister of Greece.

- World Health Oraganistion (WHO) officially declared India as Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus free country, i.e. mothers and newborns are free from tetanus at the time of birth.
_Second milestone achieved by India in public health sector after it was declared polio free country in 2014.

- Indian agricultural scientist Dr
Modadugu Vijay Gupta chosen for the inaugural Sunhak Peace Prize. _He will receive the first Sunhak Peace Prize in South Korean Capital city of Seoul along
with President of Kiribati Islands Anote Tong.

- Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY),Launched by the PM Shri Narendra Modi on 28th August, 2014, Celebrates its First Anniversary; With Close to 18 Crore (180 Million)Bank Accounts Opened Under the PMJDY and Nearly Every Household having a Bank Account, Wage Payments and Subsidies being Directly Routed to Bank Accounts.

- India has lost solar case against United States at the World Trade
Organisation (WTO).
_Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of WTO has ruled that, India's requirement of only domestic solar equipment’s for its ambitious Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) is inconsistent with the International trade norms.

-Indian Army has released a book on 1965 Indo Pak War. The book, '' 1965 :Stories from the Second Indo-Pak War'' by Rachna Bisht Rawat , is an authoritative narrative in collaboration with the Indian Army to mark fifty years of the historic Indo-Pak War of 1965

- Maharashtra government acquires Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's London House.

- Rajiv Mangla appointed as CTO of Snapdeal.

- Tripura decided to implement the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
_Tripura will be the first state to implement the NFSA in entire north-eastern region after the implementation of Act.
_25 lakh people from more than six lakh families of the state will be benefitted by its implementation.
_About National Food Security Act (NFSA) On 5 July 2013, The National Food Security Act (NFSA)
became functional. According to it, a legal entitlement to 5 kg of subsidised foodgrains per person per month at 1 rupee to 3 rupees per kilogram to two-thirds (67 percent)134 of the country's population will be provided.

- 160 Kamov choppers to be built in India, 40 in Russia. India to manufacture 160 out of the 200 Kamov Ka-226T Light Utility Helicopters to replace the vintage Cheetah and Chetak choppers -- while the rest will be made in Russia.
_State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd is a "front-runner" for partnering with Russia for
the manufacture of Kamov Ka-226T helicopters.
_Russian offer to build the Light Utility Helicopters (LUH) in India received clearance in May from the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC).

- For the first time in the history of Weightlifting India has got the hosting rights of an international tournament. India will host the Commonwealth Youth, Junior and Senior Weightlifting Championship from 11 to 15 October in Pune. From India 40 weightlifters, including 11 youth, 16 junior and 13 seniors will participate in this championship.

- Dr. Girish Sahni assumed charge as the Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Additionally, Sahni will also serve as Secretary, Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR), Union Ministry of Science & Technology.

- Largest private lender ICICI Bank launched the country's first mortgage guarantee-backed home loan product that will expand the credit amount and increase the tenure for an additional fee as well.

- Kenya's policeman Nicholas Bett made history in China becoming the first Kenyan to win a gold medal in a short distance race at world stage. Bett won the men's 400m hurdles race at the 15th IAAF World Championships in Beijing in 47.79 world leading time.

Thursday 27 August 2015

About Tamil Nadu. Part-2.

The Nilgiri (blue mountains)

- Range of mountains forming a part of the Western Ghats situated in the western part of Tamil Nadu state at the junction of Karnataka and Kerala states in Southern India.

There are at least 24 peaks above 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) which make the southwestern edge of the Deccan Plateau.

- Doddabetta is the highest peak (2,637 metres or 8,650 feet) in the Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu state.

Location.

The hills are separated from the Karnataka plateau to the north by the Moyar River and from the Anaimalai Hills and Palni Hills to the south by the Palghat Gap.

Conservation.

The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, which includes the Nilgiri Hills, forms a part of the protected bio reserves in India and is a part of UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

Waterfall.
-The highest waterfall, Kolakambai Fall, north of Kolakambai hill, has an unbroken fall of 400 feet (120 m).

- Udhagamandalam (sometimes Ootacamund), sometimes abbreviated Udhagai and better known as Ooty , is a town, a municipality, and the district capital of the Nilgiris district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Nilgiri Peaks.

1. Doddabetta: (Height: 2636 mts)

- Doddabetta is a highest peak at about 4 km east south east from Udhagamandalam.
Hecuba (2375 metres) Kattadadu (2418 metres) and Kulkudi (2439 metres) are the three closely linked heights in west of Doddabetta range and nearby Udhagamandalam.

2. Snowdon. (Height: 2,530 metres)
Snowdon, Club Hill and Elk Hill along with the Doddabetta, form among themselves the impressive UDHAGAMANDALAM (OOTY) VALLEY.

3. Coonoor Betta: (Height 2101 Mts) +

This is also called Teneriffe. Standing on the northern side of the gorge, accommodating the railway track to Coonoor.

Fauna.
Important Fauna : The Nilgiri tahr animal can be found in the hills.

RIVERS.

+

1. Bhavani

- Bhavani rises in the silent valley in Palghat ranges in the neighbouring state of Kerala, after receiving Siruvani, it flows into Coimbatore District where it gets reinforced by the Kundah River before entering Erode District in Gopichettipalaiyam.
- Bhavani is more or less a perennial river fed mostly by the South West monsoon.
- North East monsoon also supplements its water resources.

2. Kaveri

- Kaveri is among the most sacred rivers of India and is known as "the Dakshina Ganga" or "Ganga of the South".
- It flows through a length of 760-kms covering Karnataka And Tamil Nadu and its main tributaries are Bhavani, Noyil, Amaravati and Kollitam.
- In Coorg district of Karnataka, Kaveri has its origin in Talakaveri at the height of 1,341 meters.
- The first dam built on this river is " Krishnaraj Sagar " at 19-km from Mysore where it meets with Hemawati and Laxmantirth rivers.
- After 25-km from Srirangapatnam it meets Kabini and Suvarnawati rivers and near Shivsamundaram, it falls from the height of 90 metres and creates many beautiful waterfalls and springs.

3. Noyil

- Noyil River, a tributary of Kaveri is noted for its capricious nature.
- This is fed mostly by the Southwest monsoon but the Northeast monsoon brings rains and this very often results in floods.

4. Cheyyar

- Cheyyar, Thcnpennai, Ramandala Nagu, Thurinjalaru and Suganadhi are the important seasonal rivers flowing in Tiruvannamalai district.
- Cheyyar is a tributary of Palar, which originates in Kolar.
- River Cheyyar flows through Chengam Taluk of Tiruvannamalai district.
- It receives rain during the Northeast and Southwest monsoon periods.
- Cheyyar River passes through several villages of Chengam Taluk, and is the major source of irrigation. The Taluk has different types of soil, such as black, red loam and sandy loam.
- Major crops raised in the Taluk are paddy and groundnut. Magaral lies on the northern banks of Cheyyar River. -
- Across the river lies the Kadambarkoyil temple.

5. Palar

- Palar River rises in the Eastern Ghats near Coimbatore, runs through Vellore and Chingelput districts of Tamil Nadu and terminates into the Bay of Bengal near Caturangapattinam.

- Palar River used to supply good drinking water to 30 towns on its banks and 50 villages surrounding it.

6. Ponnaiyar

Ponnaiyar River flows across the boundary between Cuddalore and Villupuram Taluks and joins with the Bay of Bengal about 3 miles north of Cuddalore.

7. Vaigai River

Rising in the Varushanad Hills of western Tamil Nadu, Vaigai River initially flows northeast through the Kambam and Varushanad valleys. In its central it flows eastward into the Vaigai reservoir at Narasingapuram. Near Sholavandan it bends to the southeast, passing Madurai town on its course to its mouth on Palk Strait, which separates the southeast coast of India from Sri Lanka.

98 Shortlisted Cities to be built as Smart Cities.

98 Shortlisted Cities to be built as Smart Cities. Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu.

- Mr. Naidu unveiled a list of 98 cities with Uttar Pradesh taking the largest share of developing 13 smart cities followed by Tamil Nadu, which qualified to develop 12.

- With an aim to achieve “inclusive growth”, the Smart City Mission promotes integrated city planning, where the government’s policies such as Swachh Bharat Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation complement each other.

New Parameters.

- New parameters set by the Ministry have created a “perform or perish” situation where municipal councils “cannot afford to miss this opportunity of recasting the country’s urban landscape”.
- The Ministry will impose fines on States that violate the timeline of 60 days of finalizing the projects.

- Of the 98 cities and towns that five years down will graduate into smart cities,
24 are capital cities, another 24 are business and industrial centres, 18 are culture and tourism influenced areas, five are port cities and three are education and health care hubs.

The missed ones.

-Nine cities, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Shimla, Puducherry, Daman, Patna, Itanagar, Thiruvananthapuram and Gangtok did not qualify for being a smart city. “This non-inclusion goes to prove that the selection in the first stage of competition was not swayed by the status or importance of the cities and the selection was objective and as per the stipulated criteria,” Mr. Naidu.

Fianance Allocations.
- Urban Development Ministry would provide Rs. 100 crore to each city over the next five years.
- Smart City Mission is largely dependent upon the finance generation at the State-level as well as private investments.
- The Centre has set aside Rs. 48,000 crore for the mission and the money will be released to urban local bodies at frequent intervals in the next five years.
- The Centre has asked the State governments to generate the rest of the Rs. 48,000 crore as the grand total of the mission is estimated at Rs. 96,000 crore.

Cancer detection and treatment in India

- In the govt sector, research activities for early detection and treatment of cancer are mostly carried out by Institutions/Departments such as the Indian Council of Medical Research, Department of Science and Technology and Department of Atomic Energy.

-The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has developed Bhabhatron and the Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research (SAMEER) has developed Linear Accelerators (LINAC).

- Medical Image Analyser for Cervical Cancer (CerviSCAN) has been developed by them for early detection of cervical cancer through image analysis of PAP smear.

- Department of Science & Technology, “National facility on community based cancer tissue bio bank for drug target” is sanctioned to study the genetics and genomics to understand cancer progression and pathology in Indian population.

- Institute of Cytology and Preventive Oncology under the Indian Council of Medical Research has developed a hand held device called Magnivisualizer with inbuilt source of light that can be used in field conditions for early detection of cervical cancer and oral cancer lesions.

- At present, National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) being implemented under National Health Mission(NHM) for interventions upto the district level includes awareness generation for Cancer prevention, screening, early detection and referral to an appropriate level institution for treatment.

- The focus is on three areas namely breast, cervical and oral Cancer. Screening guidelines have been provided to State Governments for implementation.

Setting up of 2nd campus of Chittranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata has also been approved

Pacts and Proposals India Germany during Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj.

- USD 1 billion commitment from Germany for an ambitious solar power venture rooftop project in India.

India will continue to teach German as an additional language in keeping with its three-language policy, while Germany will promote Indian languages including Sanskrit in their educational institutions.

-Germany agreed to participate in India's ambitious programme -- Global Initiative for Academic Networks (GIAN) under which German academician and faculties will be able to teach in educational institutions in India.

- Closer security and defence cooperation between India and Germany considering the threat of terrorism.

- Discussion on India-Pakistan relations and the situation in Afghanistan.

- Germany's Participation in projects like high speed rail corridors, raising speed of existing trains, Ganga rejuvenation plan, smart cities project and skill development schemes.

- To cooperate in cyber security and counter-terrorism measures besides underlining the need to go for co-production in the defence sector.

- Germany to teach Sanskrit in Germany Schools.

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/48694119.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cpps

- Merkel is scheduled to visit India in the first half of October for Inter-Governmental Consultations which will be a summit meeting between Prime Minister Modi and her.

Current Affairs. 27th August 2015.

-Serbian Novak Djokovic appointed as UNICEF goodwill ambassador.

-Rajendra Singh, Waterman of India, conferred Stockholm Water Prize 2015.

-Kazakhstan to host first IAEA-managed nuclear fuel bank.
_Kazakhstan is also world's number largest producer of Uranium.
_SYMBOLIC MEANING
The bank will be located at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in the northeastern industrial city of Ust-Kamenogorsk. The plant has handled and stored nuclear material, including LEU(Low enriched Uranium) , safely and securely for more than 60 years:IAEA.

-ISRO'S GSLV-D6 successfully launched GSLV-D6 from Sriharikota in coastal Andhra Pradesh.
_It is a satellite launcher ,powered by the indigenously developed upper cryogenic stage .
_Conceived as INSAT 4E in 2005 to provide entertainment and information services to consumers in a 1000 crore Antrix -Devas deal, but government later assigned the satellite for military use, prompting Devas to take Antrix to court.

-Champ is always Champ. Usain Bolt beats American Justin Gilatin in 200m Final at World Athletics Championships 2015, BEIJING, CHINA.
_Created history by finishes 200m in 19.55 seconds.
_Back to Back Gold medals for Jamaican Usain Bolt at World Athletics Championships 2015. 100m Final and Now 200m Final.

- Valarmathi The ISRO scientist, Ms. N. Valarmathi has conferred with the first Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award 2015.
_Ms. Valarmathi is the project director of India's first indigenously-developed Radar Imaging Satellite.
_The award is instituted by the Government of Tamil Nadu in honour of the former president Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2015

-South Korea and Taiwan India has imposed definitive anti-dumping duty for period of 5 years on Potassium Carbonate imports from Taiwan and South Korea.

-National Sports Day. 29th Aug.
_Celebrated in dedication of Dhyan Chand.
_Dyan Chand mentor Subhedar Major Bale Tiwari
_Pankaj Gupta was the first coach of Dhyan Chand whotaught him the game and this made Dhyan Chand a master in ball dribbling and goal scoring.
_Dhyan Chand Award (Initiated 2002)
_Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi.
_On August 29 the President of the country gives away honorable sports awards such as the Arjuna Award, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Dhronacharya Award at the President's house.

-Union Cabinet gave its nod to amend the Central List of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for Gujarat and Uttarakhand for inclusion of Sipai and Patni Jamat or Turk Jamat (all Muslims) from Gujarat and Kahar, Tanwar Singhariya from Uttarakhand in the list.

-Karnataka to get Rs. 800 crore under DDUGJY for the setting up of separate feeder line to provide 24 hours quality power supply.
_DDUGJY Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana.
_Karnataka has bigger plans for the new and renewable energy sector as the state is embarking on setting up of Asia's largest Solar Park of 2,000 MW, at Tumkur, with the help of Government of India .

-Government of India will replace all street lights of the country with LED bulbs in next 24 months.
_Under Union Ministry's Motto during first Foundation Day of the Association of Renewable Energy Agencies of the States (AREAS) in Bengaluru.

-DRDO collaborates with Patanjali Ayurved for marketing Seabuckthorn based products.
_One of the Life Science laboratories of DRDO,Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) successfully developed technologies based on Seabuckthorn that has found to be having high nutritional values.
_M/s Patanjali Ayurved Ltd.
has taken Transfer of Technologies (ToT) through a ''Non Exclusive'' license from DRDO for five of the Seabuckthorn based products namely:
Seabuckthorn Beverage, Seapricot Beverage, herbal Tea, Seabuckthorn Oil Soft Gel Capsules and Seabuckthorn Jam.

-Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus
has been eliminated from India-Call To Action Summit 2015, India.

Wednesday 26 August 2015

Current Affairs. 26th August 2015.

Current Affairs. 26th August 2015.

-Country's largest mobile operator Bharti Airtel acquired wireless broadband firm, Augere's India operations, a move that will help the firm to augment its 4G presence in the country.
_With this acquisition, Bharti Airtel's 4G services will now be available in over 300 cities and towns.
_Augere Wireless holds 20 MHz of spectrum in 2300 MHz band used for 4G services in the telecom circle of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (MPCG).

-2011 census on religion by Registrar General and Census Commissioner. The overall decadal population growth
rate was 17. 7 per cent. The growth rate of Muslims was 24.6 per cent, Hindus 16.8, Christians 15.5, Sikh 8.4, Buddhist 6.1 and Jain 5.4 per cent.

- Government to implement the Sendai framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 in letter and spirit.
_It was adopted during the third UN World Conference
on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai, Japan in March 2015.
Its adaptation involves adopting integrated and inclusive institutional measures in order to work towards preventing vulnerability to disaster.

-Amendments in the Central List of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in respect of the two States (Gujarat and Uttarakhand)
_ Gujarat:
1. Sipai Kahar
2. Patni Jamat orTurk Jamat (all Muslims)
Uttarakhand:
1. Tanwar
2. Singhariya.

-Girish Sahni assumes charge as next Director General of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).

-State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India, bought 86% of shares on offer, in state-run Indian Oil Corp this week, salvaging a $1.4 billion govt sale, as the Indian market took its biggest tumble in more than six
years.

-Tintu Luka crashed out in the first round heats of the women's 800m race in the World Athletics Championships with a disappointing seventh-place finish but qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games with a season-best effort on the fifth day of World Athletics competitions.

-International Hockey Federation has announced that Chhattisgarh capital Raipur will host the 2015 FIH Hockey World League (HWL) Final that is scheduled to be held between 27 November and 6 December 2015.
_ It is the first time when Raipur has been selected to host HWL.
_The competitions will be held at the Raipur International Hockey Stadium and teams of eight countries, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, Argentina, host India and Canada will participate in it.

- Chinese writer Liu Cixin's science fiction novel 'The Three-Body Problem' has won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

-DRDO has tied up with Patanjali Yogpeeth of yoga guru Baba Ramdev for manufacturing and marketing some of the herbal supplements and food products developed by DRDO.

In-Principle approved by RBI.

The RBI granted ‘in principle’ approval for payment banks to 11 entities, including big names like Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Nuvo and Tech Mahindra, as also Airtel and Vodafone.

What are they?
New stripped-down type of banks, which are expected to reach customers mainly through their mobile phones rather than traditional bank branches.

What they can and can’t do
-They can’t offer loans but can raise deposits of upto Rs. 1 lakh, and pay interest on these balances just like a savings bank account does.
-They can enable transfers and remittances through a mobile phone.
-They can offer services such as automatic payments of bills, and purchases in cashless, chequeless transactions through a phone.
-They can issue debit cards and ATM cards usable on ATM networks of all banks.
-They can transfer money directly to bank accounts at nearly no cost being a part of the gateway that connects banks.
-They can provide forex cards to travellers, usable again as a debit or ATM card all over India.
-They can offer forex services at charges lower than banks.
-They can also offer card acceptance mechanisms to third parties such as the ‘Apple Pay.’

Who has Reserve Bank granted in principle approval to be a payment bank?
-Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd
-Airtel M Commerce Services Ltd
-Cholamandalam Distribution Services Ltd
-Department of Posts
-Fino PayTech Ltd
-National Securities Depository Ltd
-Reliance Industries Ltd
-Dilip Shantilal Shanghvi
-Vijay Shekhar Sharma
-Tech Mahindra Ltd
-Vodafone m-pesa Ltd

Why are they going to be a game changer?
-This is for the first time in the history of India's banking sector that RBI is giving out differentiated licences for specific activities. RBI is expected to come out with a second set of such licences — for small finance banks —and the process for those is in its final stage. The move is
seen as a major step in pushing financial inclusion in the country.

-It’s a step to redefine banking in India. The Reserve Bank expects payment banks to target India’s migrant labourers,
low-income households and small businesses, offering savings accounts and remittance services with a low
transaction cost.
-It hopes payments banks will enable poorer citizens who transact only in cash to take their first step into formal banking.
- It could be uneconomical for traditional banks to open branches in every village but the mobile phones coverage is a promising low-cost platform for quickly taking basic banking services to every rural citizen.
- The innovation is also expected to accelerate India’s journey into a cashless economy.
-India’s domestic remittance market is estimated to be about Rs. 800-900 billion and growing.
-With money transfers made possible through mobile phones, a big chunk of it, especially that of the migrant labour, could shift to this new platform. Payment banks can also play a crucial role in implementing the government’s direct benefit transfer scheme, where subsidies on healthcare, education and gas are paid directly to beneficiaries’ accounts.

-Also, this is the first time since banks were nationalized, that private sector business groups have bagged the RBI’s
nod for banking services.

What has the experience been in other countries?
Payment technologies have proved hugely popular in other developing countries. In Kenya, the most cited success story, Vodafone’s M-Pesa is used by two in three of adults to store money, make purchases and transfer funds to friends and relatives.

About Tamil Nadu. Part 1

- Tamil Nadu, India's cultural capital was formerly known, as Madras State is located in southeast India.

- Tamil Nadu is 11th biggest, sixth most populous, and fourteenth most literate state among 29 Indian states.

- TN is fourth biggest contributor to the country's tax revenue and is the second largest contributor to India's GDP.
- It is the second most industrialised state next to Maharastra.

Location :Tamil Nadu is bounded on north by Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, on the west by Kerala, on the east by the Bay of Bengal, and on the south by the Indian Ocean.

- It is bounded by the Eastern Ghats on the north, by the Nilgiri, the Anamalai Hills, and Kerala on the west, by the Bay of Bengal in the east, by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait on the southeast, and by the Indian Ocean on the south.

- Kanyakumari, the southern most tip of the country and the voluminous confluence of the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea is a part of the state.

- Tamil Nadu was ranked as the third most developed state in India based on a "Multidimensional Development Index" in a 2013 report .

The State of Tamil Nadu has a hoary antiquity.

The southern states of India were under the hegemony of the Cholas, the Cheras and the Pandyas for centuries.

The Pallavas held supremacy from about the second quarter of the fourth century A.D. They were the originators of the famous Dravidian style of temple architecture. At the end of the 11^th century, Tamil Nadu was ruled by several dynasties like the Chalukyas, Cholas and Pandyas. In the two centuries that followed, the imperial Cholas gained paramountcy over South India.

The Portuguese, the Dutch, the French and the English came in quick succession and established trading centres known as 'Factories'.
- East India Company, which had established its factory at Masulipatnam (now in Andhra Pradesh) in 1611, gradually annexed territories by encouraging enmity among the native rulers.
- Tamil Nadu was one of the first of British settlements in India. The State is the successor to the old Madras Presidency, which covered the bulk of the southern peninsula in 1901.
- The composite Madras State was later reorganised, and the present Tamil Nadu was formed.

Language.

- TAMIL
- Tamil is the 15th most spoken language in the world. Tamil language speakers make approximately 1% of the world population.
- Tamil is spoken in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andaman Nicobar Islands.
- Countries with Tamil as official langauge : Singapore and Sri Lanka.
- ASEAN is also having Tamil as its official langauge.
- The month of January is celebrated as the Tamil Heritage Month by Canadians in Canada.

Agriculture

- Agriculture is the major occupation in Tamilnadu.

- Commercial crops include sugarcane, cotton, sunflower, coconut, cashew, chillies, gingelly and groundnut. Plantation crops are tea, coffee, cardamom and rubber.
- Major forest produces are timber, sandalwood, pulp wood and fuel wood.
-Tamilnadu occupies a premier position in the production and extensive application of bio-fertilizers.

-Tamil Nadu was India's fifth biggest producer of rice.
- Tamil Nadu is also a leading state in the production of flowers with the total production of horticultural crops.
- The main flowers grown in Tamil Nadu are jasmine, chrysanthemum, marigold and rose.
- Tamil Nadu's sugarcane yield per hectare is the highest in India

- Dr M.S. Swaminathan, known as the "father of the Indian Green Revolution" was from Tamil Nadu
- Coimbatore is often referred to as the "Manchester of South India" due to its cotton production and textile industries
- Tirupur is the country's largest exporter of knitwear. for its cotton production.
- The region around Coimbatore, Tirupur, Karur and Erode is referred to as the "Textile Valley of India"
- Madurai is known for its Chungidi cotton sarees and Bhavani for its cotton carpets

-Kanchipuram and Arani are world famous for their pure silk sarees and hand loom silk weaving industries.
- TN accounts for 70 per cent of leather tanning capacity in India.

Automobiles.

- Chennai is known as the Detroit of India.

-Major global automobile companies including BMW, Ford, Robert Bosch, Renault-Nissan, Caterpillar, Hyundai, Mitsubishi Motors, and Michelin as well as Indian automobile majors like Mahindra & Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, Hindustan Motors, TVS Motors, Irizar-TVS, Royal Enfield, MRF, Apollo Tyres, TAFE Tractors, DaimlerChrysler AG Company also invested (₹) 4 billion for establishing new plant in Tamil Nadu.

- Karur is a hub for Bus body building industries.

Economy.

- Tamil Nadu is the second largest contributor to India's GDP.- Tamil Nadu is the most urbanised state in India (49 per cent), accounting for 9.6 per cent of the urban population while only comprising 6 per cent of India's total population.

- It ranks third in foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals (cumulative 1991–2002) of ₹ 225,826 million ($5,000 million), next only to Maharashtra and Delhi constituting 9.12 per cent of the total FDI in the country.

Heavy Industries.
- India's leading steel producer, the state-owned Steel Authority of India has a steel plant in Salem.
- Coimbatore is also referred to as the "the Pump City" as it supplies two thirds of India's requirements of motors and pumps.
- Bharat Heavy Electricals, one of India's largest electrical equipment manufacturing companies, has manufacturing plants at Tiruchirapalli and Ranipet.

Tourism.

- The Brihadishwara Temple in Thanjavur
- Gangaikonda Cholapuram built by the Cholas,
- Airavateswara temple in Darasuram and the Shore Temple, along with the collection of other monuments in Mahabalipuram (also called Mamallapuram) have been declared as UNESCO World Heritage Sites

- Rameshwaram temple walk-ways corridors are the longest 1.2 km (0.75 mi) of all Indian temples.

- Hills. The Nilgiri hills, Palani hills, Shevaroy hills, Kolli Hills and Cardamom hills are all abodes of thick forests and wildlife.

- Tamil Nadu has the largest numbers in medical tourism in India.
- Marina Beach in Chennai is one of the longest beaches in the world.

- Biosphere Reserves, National Parks, etc includes. Mudumalai National Park, The Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve, Anaimalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary and Arignar Anna Zoological Park.

TO BE CONTINUED ...In PART 2...

Tuesday 25 August 2015

Lesalgaon. Onion Hub of world.

Lesalgaon.

Lasalgaon is a census town in Nashik District in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

- Lasalgaon is Asia's No. 1 Onion Market.
- Lasalgaon, is also known as "Wine Manufacturing city"
- Lasalgaon is also famous for Ahilyadevi Holkar's fort located in the center of the city built in the 17th century.

Last Sumataran Rhino Left in Western Hemisphere.

The Sumatran rhinoceros, also known as hairy rhinoceros or Asian two-horned rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), is a rare member of the family
Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses. It is the only extant species of the genus Dicerorhinus.

IUCN Status : Critically Endangered.
Found in only six substantial populations in the wild: four on Sumatra, one on Borneo, and one in the Malay Peninsula.

Harapan, the last surviving Sumatran rhinoceros living outside of Southeast Asia, will leave his home at the Cincinnati Zoo and move to Indonesia.

The male is mature enough to mate, zoo officials said at a news conference, and the likelihood of him doing so successfully is much better at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in an Indonesian national park.

There are only about 100 Sumatran rhinos left in the world.
NEED OF THE HOUR.

"The tiger in India was saved from extinction due to the direct intervention of Mrs. Gandhi, the then prime minister, who set up Project Tiger,"
According to,
Christy Williams, co-author of the Malaysia study and coordinator of the WWF Asian and Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy, "A similar high level intervention by President Joko Widodo of Indonesia could help pull the Sumatran rhinos back from the brink."

Special Category Status In India.

Special Category States.

‘Special Category’ status had been granted in the past by the Union government to States having certain characteristics based on the recommendations of the National Development Council.

These included
i) hilly terrain;
ii) low population density and/or sizeable share of tribal population;
iii) strategic location along borders with neighbouring countries;
iv) economic and infrastructure backwardness; and
v) non-viable nature of State finances.

At present there are 11 States that enjoy Special Status and Special Category Status: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand.

Under the revised Gadgil-Mukherjee formula, which was in operation till 2014-15, 30 per cent of the normal central assistance was earmarked for ‘Special Category States’ and the remaining 70 per cent to General Category States.‘Special Category States’ were entitled to get such assistance in the grant-loan ratio of 90:10 as compared with 30:70 ratio for other States.

-In addition to their earmarked share in normal central assistance, special plan assistance for projects (90 per cent grant) and untied special central assistance (100 per cent grant) were being given only to ‘Special Category
States’.
-Other benefits to ‘Special Category States’ include assistance for externally-aided projects in the grants loan ratio of 90:10, whereas such assistance to other States is on back-to-back basis.

Under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP),‘Special Category States’ get 90 per cent of the project cost as grant as compared with 25 per cent grant for others. The matching contribution in respect of Centrally
Sponsored Schemes (CSS) is usually lower for ‘Special Category States’, more particularly, for those in the Northeastern region.

-Though all the ‘Special Category States’ are provided with central incentives for the promotion of industries, there is no explicit linkage between the incentives and the special status.

-The package of incentives is different for the States of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand and the States located in the Northeastern region.

- These packages have more to do with their backwardness than the status.

First in India (Females)

1. India's First woman president. Smt Pratibha Patil.

2. India's first woman Prime Minister. Smt Indira Gandhi.

3. India's first woman Governor. Sarojini Naidu.

4. India's first woman ruler (on Delhi''s throne). Razia Sultan.

5. First women IPS Officer. Kiran Bedi.

6. First Chief Minister of a state. Sucheta Kirpalani.

7. First woman Union Minister. Raj Kumari Amrita Kaur.

8. First Woman President of INC. Annie Basant.

9. First Woman Judge of Supreme Court. Meera Sahib Fatima Bibi.

10. First Woman to get Ashok Chakra. Nirja Bhanot.

11. First Indian Woman Ambassador at UN. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.

12. First Indian woman to swim across English Channel. Aarti Saha Gupta.

13. First Indian woman to get Nobel Prize. Mother Teresa.

14. First Indian woman to climb Mount Everest. Bachendra Pal.

15. First Indian to become Miss world. Miss Reita Faria.

16. First Indian to climb the Mount Everest twice. Santosh Yadav.

17. First Indian woman to become Miss Universe. Sushmita Sen.

18. First Indian Woman to get Bharat Ratna. Smt Indira Gandhi.

19. First Indian Woman to get Jananpith Award. Ashapurna Devi.

20. First Indian Woman to win WTA Title. Sania Mirza.

21. First Indian Woman airline pilot. Durga Banerjee.

22. First Indian Woman President of Indian National Congress. Sarojini Naidu.

23. First Indian Woman to win Booker Prize. Arundhati Roy.

24. First Woman to go into space. Kalpana Chawla.

25. First Woman Musician to get Bharat Ratna. MS Subbulakshmi.

Current Affairs. 25th August 2015.

-India, Nepal ink MoU on Raxaul-
Amlekhgunj oil pipeline.
_It will be constructed by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
_It will connect supply depot at Raxaul (Bihar) in India to Nepal Oil Corporation's Amlekhgunj receiving terminal.

-Justice M L Tahaliyani sworn in as Lokayukta of Maharashtra.

-UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC)
and Chennai based M.S.
Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) agreed to work together for the conservation and adaptation initiative of coastal resources in Andhra Pradesh.
_Objective to overcome the consequences of sea level rise and seawater inundation following cyclones.
_UNFCCC will release this adaptation fund through (NABARD).
_The main focus will be to restore the Sorlagondi mangrove forest cover in Krishna district.

-Tata Trusts ink MoU with Andhra Pradesh Govt to develop 264 Smart Villages.

-Australia agreed to include Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) in the BRIDGE programme run by Australian Schools in collaboration with Indian Schools.
_Australia India Building Regional Intercultural Dialogue and Growing Engagement (BRIDGE) school
partnerships project, which is currently confined to private schools, will connect Australian and Indian schools

-NITI Aayog to launch India Energy Security Scenario- An Interactive Energy Platform on 27th August.
_NITI Ayog developed an energy scenario building tool-India Energy Security Scenarios (IESS)
2047.
_The tool aims to explore a range of potential future energy scenarios for India, for diverse energy demand and supply sectors leading up to 2047.

-Vice Admiral AR Karve, AVSM assumes charge as Chief of Personnel at Naval Headquarters.

-First Training Program on Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) for All India Services Officers (IAS/IFS) , held at National Water Academy(NWA), Pune.
_Objective of PMKSY to achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level, expand cultivable area under assured irrigation (Har Khet Ko pani) ,improve on- farm water use efficiency to reduce wastage of water, enhance the adoption of precision-irrigation and other water saving technologies( more crop per drop), enhance recharge of aquifers and introduce sustainable water conservation practices.

-Dronacharya Awards 2015.
1 Shri Naval Singh Athletics-Para-sports
2 Shri Anoop Singh Wrestling
3 Shri Harbans Singh Athletics- Lifetime
4 Shri Swatantar Raj Singh Boxing- Lifetime
5 Shri Nihar Ameen Swimming-Lifeti.

-Dhyan Chand Award 2015
1 Mr. Romeo James Hockey
2 Mr. Shiv Prakash Mishra Tennis
3 Mr. T.P.P. Nair Volleyball

-'Sehat' Unique Initiative for Health Care Launched.
_Government launches a tele-medicine initiative 'Sehat' in collaboration with Apollo Hospitals to provide health care facilities in rural areas.
_Under the initiative people will be
able to consult doctors through video link and also order generic drugs.

-Jamaican Shelly Ann Fraser wins Women's 100m title World Athletics Championships, Beijing.

-Amol Palekar appointed as Chairman of India's Oscar jury.

-Syrian woman Journalist Zaina Erhard wins 2015 Peter Mackler Award for courageous and ethical Journalism.

-The airport in Kerala which has
become the first in the world to
be powered totally by solar energy Kochi (Cochin International Airport Ltd).

- A commemorative postal stamp of 5 rupees on emperor Ashoka during a Bharatiya Janta Party function to celebrate the birth anniversary of Ashoka.

-105-year-old Shri Ramcharitmanas (Urdu Copy) was found from a scrap market at Hauz Khas in New Delhi. In 1904, the book was written by Shiv Brat Lal who was a resident of Bhadohi district. In 1910, it was printed at Lahore's Half-Tone press. It was found in a pile of torn books three years ago.

-U Mumba won 2 nd season of Star Sports Pro-Kabaddi League (PKL) title for the year 2015 on 23 rd August 2015 after defeating Bengaluru Bulls.

-C-DOT (Centre for Development of Telematics) to celebrate Foundation Day

-C-DOT (Centre for Development of Telematics) to celebrate Foundation Day on completing 31 years.
_Having gained worldwide recognition for its outstanding works in the arenas of telecommunication and converged networks, Centre for Development of Telecommunications, popularly known as C-DOT, is organizing its Foundation day on 25th August, 2015.

-Russia removes ban on Russian language Wikipedia.

Monday 24 August 2015

ORGANOID

Organoid.

What??
Replica of Human brain grown in Laboratory.

Developed by.
Medical breakthrough research was undertaken team of researchers from Ohio State University led by Professor Rene Anand.

Created from??
The brain called 'Organoid' was created from reprogrammed skin cells.

Size.
It is about the size of a pencil eraser.

Development.
In order to build the replica human brain, the research team had transformed adult skin cells by
altering their genes into induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells.
This had resulted in artificial creation of stem cells which were then wheedled into developing different cell types and signalling circuitry of the brain including neurons and their signal-carrying
projections, axons and dendrites along with blood circulation.
This artificially grown brain also contains support and immune cells.

Potential Application.
This medical breakthrough can act as an essential tool in the testing of new drugs and research into brain disorders including Alzheimer.

Current Affairs. 21st to 24th August 2015.

-Bandhan Bank has become the first micro-finance company in India to start operation as full-fledged scheduled commercial bank.
_The bank was inaugurated by Union FM Arun Jaitley in KOLKATA.
_Prior to starting operation as
commercial bank, Bandhan was World's largest Non-Deposit-accepting Microfinance Institution (MFI) and India's u microfinance company.

-Overuse of Fertilizers causes Soil degradation in Punjab.
Alarming level of NPK (Nitrogen,Phosphorus Potassium)39:9:1 against an ideal combination 4:2:1 and National average 7:3:1 resulted in drastic crop yields.

-Six sites surveyed for Horticulture research centre in Amritsar - Indian Council of Agriculture and Research, Punjab Horticulture Department and PAU.
-World Punjabi Conference 2015.
SGPC to organisations World Punjabi conference on 23rd and 24th October in Fatehgarh Sahib. Aims to promote the Punjabi language, Culture and Tradition at global level.

-India's Biggest IT-Incubator - Hyderabad.
_To be inaugurated by TATA Group Chairman Emeritus and Ratan Tata on September 7.
_Aims at promoting start ups and innovators and providing an ideal platform to take up research in IT sector (Also to make Hyderabad as a start-up capital of India)"
_LOCATION: Gachi bowli city.
_Also to host World IT Congress in 2018.
_Developed by IIIT Hyderabad, Indian School of Business ISB And NALSAR University.

-Britain reopens embassy in Iran after four years.

-Bolt shows who's the boss.
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won the 100 meters final in 15th IAAF World Championships 2015 in Beijing China. He finishes 9.79 second ahead of Justin Gilatin 9.80 seconds.

-First Planned airfield in Arunachal Pradesh is ready and four more to come. Features includes Advanced Landing Ground. Planes such as Super Hercules C-130 J, Globe master C17 and AN32 can land.

-Gujarat first state to launch 'Agro-Solar Policy' to encourage the farmers to tap the solar energy.
_Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute
(GERMI) will be nodal implementing agency.
_Already State has Asia's largest solar power plant in Charanka village in Patan district.
_And earlier in Jan 2015, the first canal-top solar power plant (10 MW solar capacity) was inaugurated by UN
Secy. Ban-Ki Moon on Narmada canal in Vadodara.

-World no. 2, Swish Roger Federer won the Cincinnati Masters title for record 7th time in men's singles defeated Serbian Novak Djokovic at Ohio,near Cincinnati, US.
-Women's Singles Title: Serena Williams (US) won by defeating Simona Halep (Romania)
_Cincinnati Masters titles: It is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States played in its original
city started in September 1899. It is the second largest summer tennis event in the after the US Open in US.

-Punjabi University of Partiala won the prestigious sports award Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad (MAKA) trophy for year 2014.
_It'll be awarded to PAU on National Sports Day 29th August.

-Union Finance Ministry appointed committee chaired by retired SC judge A P Shah has recommended that Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) should not be imposed on FIIs retrospectively for the period preceding 1st April'15.

-Ace Indian golfer Aditi Ashok
won the prestigious Ladies
British amateur stroke-play
Championship 2015 at Leeds, UK.
-Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has commissioned the first ever Hydro-power plant at Chilla.
_no fossil fuel is being used in the generation of the power, therefore this technology is termed as pollution free technology.

-Chengalikodan banana variety
from Thrissur district of
Kerala accorded with Geographical Indication (GI) status by the Chennai based LCentral GI registry.
_GI status confers legal protection to these products and prevents unauthorised use of it by others.
_Darjeeling tea was the first agricultural product in India to be accorded with GI tag. Presently, there are nearly 200 unique products registered as GIs in India

-YouTube announces partnership with Whistling Woods to set up '' YouTube Space'' in Mumbai.
_Whistling Woods International (WWI) is a film,communication and media arts Institute.

-Mumbai defeats Bangalore to win India's Pro Kabaddi League 2015.

-NASA spacecraft LADEE found presence of neon gas in Moon's atmosphere.

-Government launched education loan portal for students seeking loans

-Government launched a web-based portal www.vidyalakshmi.co.in for the students seeking educational loans.

-HP Government launches RISHTA project .
_Himachal Pradesh Government has launched Rajiv Gandhi Illuminating Scheme for Hill Town Advancement (RISHTA) project, which is an efficient smart LED based street lighting project.

-Scientists find way to take CO2 from Air and make Carbon nanofibres

-Scientists from United States have discovered a way to take carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and convert it into valuable manufacturing material carbon nanofibres (CNFs). Discovered by team of researchers led by Prof Stuart Licht of Washington DC based George Washington University.

-US scientists grow replica of human brain in a laboratory

-ORGANOID: Scientists from US successfully grown a replica of a human brain in a laboratory dish.
_Founded by team of researchers from Ohio State University led by Professor Rene Anand.
_The brain called Organoid was created from reprogrammed skin cells.
_It is about the size of a pencil eraser.

-India to set one Information technology laboratory in each Pacific island country

-Puducherry CM launches Free Laptop Scheme
_Scheme envisages to provide free laptops to all students who have passed Plus Two from Government Higher Secondary Schools in the last two academic years.
_Free laptops will be given to 11 thousand odd students incurring an expense of Rs. 20 Crore.
_GIVEN laptops to 180 students who topped in Plus TWO Examinations in their respective schools.

-Delhi government joins hands with FIFA for the Under-17 Football World Cup to be held in India.

-RAJIV GANDHI Committee, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) committee recommended conversion of Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) with business size of 20,000 crore rupees or more into regular banks.

Sci-TECH

1. World's largest Solar Power Station in India.
- World's largest solar power station 750MW will come up in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa District.
- Expected to be operational by 2017. Joint venture of Solar Energy Corporation of India and MP Urja Vikas Nigam, each 50% stakes.
- At present the world's largest solar power station - Ivanpah Solar Power Facility 392 MW in California, USA.

2. No LPG subsidy for mid day meals.

3. Red PANDA.
- Rare giant Panda gives birth to Cub at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington.Red Giant Panda 🐼 Called Mei Xiang
-Native to eastern Himalayas and western China.

4. Drug to protect from lethal Nuclear radiations.
US scientists discovered a drug that may protect against the deadly effects of nuclear radiation. Drug name - Peptide drug TP508.Injection of drug a day after exposure to nuclear radiation could increase the survival chances of victims.

5. HYPERSPECTRAL
- Novel way for decoding rare manuscripts.
- Whole pages can be scanned in a matter of minutes. Fragile documents are also protected from marks and rough handling
- Researchers from Norwegian University of Science and Technology developed HYPERSPECTRAL technique.Very handy for Studying art.

Onam. Kerala Festival.

ONAM

- It is a Hindu festival celebrated in Kerala, India.
- It is also the state festival of Kerala with State holidays on 4 days starting from Onam Eve (Uthradom) to the 3rd Onam Day.

Significance.

- It is in honour of King Mahabali that Onam is celebrated.
- Kerala's rice harvest festival and the Festival of Rain Flowers, which fall on the month of Chingam, celebrates the Asura King Mahabali's annual visit from Patala (the underworld)
- The beauty of the festival lies in its secular fabric. People of all religions, castes and communities celebrate the festival with equal joy and verve.
-Onam also helps to create an atmosphere of peace and brotherhood by way of various team sports organised on the day

Celebrations.

- Onam falls in the month of Chingam, which is the first month according to the Malayalam Calendar. The celebrations begin within a fortnight of the Malayalam New Year and go on for ten days. All over the state of Kerala, festive rituals, traditional cuisine, dance and music mark this harvest festival.

- The ten days of Onam are celebrated with great fanfare, by Malayalees.
- Of all these days, most important ones are the first day, Atham, and the tenth and final day, Thiru-Onam (Thiruvonam).

Onakkodi.
The tradition of buying and wearing new clothes for the occasion of Onam is called the Onakkodi.

Boat Race.

Vallamkali (the snake boat race) is another event that is synonymous with Onam.

-Well-known races include the Aranmula Uthrattadhi Boat Race and the Nehru Trophy Boat Race.
-About 100 oarsmen row huge and graceful snake boats and men and women come from far and near to watch the snake boats skim through the water.

Music and Dance.

Traditional dance forms including Thiruvathira, Kummattikali, Pulikali, Thumbi Thullal etc. are performed as part of celebrations all over Kerala at this time.

- Thiruvathirakali is a women's dance performed in a circle around a lamp.

- Kummattikali is a famous and colorful-mask dance.

- Thrissur, festivities includes a procession consisting of caparisoned elephants surrounded by Kummatikali dancers. The masked dancers go from house to house performing the colorful Kummattikali.

- Kathakali dance is also commonly performed during this time, with dancers enacting famous mythological legends.

Thiruvathira Kali during Onam.

Pulikali during Onam.

-Pilikali also known as Kaduvakali is a common sight during Onam season.
-This dance showcases performers painted like tigers in bright yellow, red and black, who dance to the beats of instruments like Chenda and thakil.

Onam Sadya.

Sadya.

- The Onam sadya (feast) is indispensable part of Thiruvonam (Last day of Onam),and almost every Keralite attempts to either make or attend one. The feast is served on plantain leaves and consists of about 26 dishes

Pookolam.

View of a pookalam

- The floral carpet, known as ‘Onapookkalam’, is made out of the gathered blossoms with several varieties of flowers