Current affair 7th Jan 2014

PARAM Yuva II: India’s no.1 and ranked 44th among most power efficient supercomputer in the world

As per Green500 List announced at the Supercomputing Conference (SC 2013) in Denver, Colorado, in the US, India’s PARAM Yuva II supercomputer built by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), has been ranked no.1 in India, 9th in the Asia Pacific Region and 44th in the world among the most power efficient computer systems.

Why does ‘Green 500’ rank computer systems according to their power efficiency?

Generally, supercomputers eat up a lot of power and produce much heat that requires sophisticated cooling facilities to ensure proper functioning. This renders the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of operating supercomputer to increase. In a bid to draw attention towards development of energy efficient supercomputers, Green500 ranks computer systems in the world according to compute performance per watt, thus providing a world ranking based on energy efficiency.

India’s power network integrated into one grid with joining of Southern region

India’s power network has been integrated into one grid as South India has been linked with the national electricity grid. This completes the consolidation of the entire country into one network for distributing electricity to consumers. The integration was attained through the commissioning of the Raichur-Solapur 765 kilovolt (kV) single-circuit transmission line by state-owned Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd. With this, the Indian power system has become one of the largest operating synchronous grids in the world with about 232 GW (gigawatts) of installed power generation capacity. India has achieved its ‘ONE NATION’-'ONE GRID’-'ONE FREQUENCY’ objective.

How would linking the southern-region with the national grid help?

There is a problem of power shortage in the southern states of India. Power-starved states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were waiting for the line to be interconnected to enable them to transmit power purchased from surplus states in the north and eastern regions. As per the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), India’s highest power sector planning body, Puducherry, Karnataka and Kerala had a peak power shortage of 8.1%, 5.8% and 5.5% respectively in August 2013. However, with the linking of this region with the national grid this problem can be tackled more efficiently as the surplus power from East and West grids could be diverted to power-deficient south. Besides, it will also improve transmission and facilitate better management of demand, ensuring the stability of the electricity grid.

Where are the major grids in India?

There are five regional grids in the country:

1.     Northern

2.     Southern

3.     Eastern

4.     North-eastern

5.     Western

“One Nation-One Grid-One Frequency”:

The Indian Power system for planning and operational purposes is divided into above mentioned 5 regional grids. The integration of regional grids, and thereby establishment of National Grid, was ideated in early 90s. The integration of regional grids which started with asynchronous HVDC back-to-back inter-regional links facilitating limited exchange of regulated power was subsequently advanced to high capacity synchronous links between the regions.

The early inter-regional links were planned for exchange of operational surpluses amongst the regions. However, later on when the planning philosophy had graduated from Regional self-sufficiency to National basis, the Inter-regional links were planned associated with the generation projects that had beneficiaries across the regional boundaries.

By the end of XI plan the country has total inter-regional transmission capacity of about 28,000 MW which is likely to boost to about 65000 MW at the end of XII plan.

How would National Grid help?

The National Grid which enables synchronization of all regional grids will help in optimal utilization of scarce natural resources by transfer of Power from Resource centric regions to Load centric regions. Besides, this shall pave way for setting up a vibrant Electricity market facilitating trading of power across regions. One Nation One Grid shall synchronously connect all the regional grids and there will be one national frequency.

Furthermore, the integrated national grid will also help towards interconnecting countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) that consists of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and the Maldives. The SAARC grid ideates meeting electricity requirement in the region. India already has power grid links with Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, and plans to develop power transmission links with Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

How did the evolution of National Grid take place?

The chronological sequence of events that took place towards the evolution of National Grid is as follows:

Grid management on regional basis started in 60s.

Initially, State grids were inter-connected to form regional grid and India was demarcated into 5 regions namely Northern, Eastern, Western, North Eastern and Southern region.

In October 1991 North Eastern and Eastern grids were connected.

In March 2003 WR and ER-NER were interconnected .

August 2006 North and East grids were interconnected thereby 4 regional grids Northern, Eastern, Western and North Eastern grids are synchronously connected forming central grid operating at one frequency.

On December 31, 2013, Southern Region was connected to Central Grid in Synchronous mode with the commissioning of 765kV Raichur-Solapur Transmission line thereby achieving ‘ONE NATION’-'ONE GRID’-'ONE FREQUENCY’.

‘Mother of PIL’: Pushpa Kapila Hingorani passed away

Pushpa Kapila Hingorani (86), a lawyer who is known by the title ‘Mother of PIL’ for being the first women to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on behalf of voiceless under-trial prisoners in Bihar around more than three decades ago, has passed away.

What were the key contributions of Kapila Hingorani?

During her 60-year long career as a lawer, Kapila Hingorani fought more than 100 cases in the Supreme Court voicing concern through PILs for the poor, downtrodden and help-less people before the judiciary. She took the initiative of filing a PIL in 1979 to fight a lawsuit regarding the condition of the prisoners detained in the Bihar jail, whose cases were pending in the court. The main thing about this petition was that it was not filed by any single prisoner, rather it was filed by various prisoners of the Bihar jail. The case was admitted in the Supreme Court before the bench headed by Justice P. N. Bhagwati. This petition was filed by the name of the prisoner, Husnara Khatoon, hence the petition came to be known as Husnara Khatoon Vs State of Bihar. In this suit, the Supreme Court upheld that the prisoners should get benefit of free legal aid and fast hearing. Because of this case 40,000 prisoners, whose suits were pending in the court, were released from the jail. Thereafter many cases like this were registered in the apex court.

Public Interest Litigation (PIL):

A PIL means litigation for the protection of the public interest.

Understanding the Right to Constitutional Remedies:

Article 32 of the Constitution of India is known as “Right to Constitutional Remedies”. Article 32 (1) says that “The right to move the Supreme Court by appropriate proceedings for the enforcement of the rights conferred by this Part is guaranteed”.

Why PIL?

In ordinary cases the aggrieved person/ party has the right to seek redress under Article 32. Prior 1980s only the aggrieved party could approach the courts for justice. The Indian legal system which was more or less with colonial nature saw the state of deprivation of civil and political rights particularly during the emergency era. After the emergency got ended in 1977, the 2 judges of the Supreme Court Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer and P. N. Bhagwati recognized the possibility of providing access to justice to the poor and to reach out to the people. Hence Public Interest Litigation was devised an innovative way wherein a person or a civil society group could approach the supreme court seeking legal remedies in cases where public interest is at stake. Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer and Justice P. N. Bhagwati were the first judges to accept PIL. In S. P. Gupta v. Union of India, 1981 case, Justice P. N. Bhagwati articulated the concept of PIL.

Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar was the first such PIL case filed by advocate Kapila Hingorani and focused on the inhuman conditions of the prisons. The case led to release of more than 40, 000 under trial prisoners.

Concept of PIL:

In S. P. Gupta v. Union of India, 1981 case, Justice P. N. Bhagwati provisioned that if an injury is caused to a person or class of person or a legal right of the person/class of person is violated, and such person or class of person by reasons of poverty, helplessness or disability or social/economical disadvantageous position cannot approach the court, then a member of the public can maintain an application for an appropriate direction / order/ writ in the High Court under article 226 and in case any breach of the fundamental rights the person or class of person can seek judicial redress in Supreme court under article 32.

Please note that Article 226 is Power of High Courts to issue certain writs.

Can PIL be filed for personal gains?

In Ashok Kumar Pandey v. State of West Bengal case it was maintained that one can approach the court to wipe out violation of fundamental rights and genuine infraction of statutory provisions, but not for personal gain or private profit or political motive or any oblique consideration.

Remedial nature of PIL:

The PIL has remedial nature and indirectly incorporates the principles enshrined in the part IV (Fundamental Duties) of the Constitution of India into part III (Fundamental Rights) of the Constitution.

National Legal Services Authority (NALSA)

In 1979, the apex court for the first time talked of the necessity of free legal aid to poor persons to make the justice system mount a meaningful protection of their rights. Eight years after the judgment of Hussainara Khatoon Vs State of Bihar case, the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) was constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 to provide free Legal Services to weaker sections of the society and to organize Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes.

Current affair 6th Jan 2014

Assam will follow “Chaibagaan time”

The state of Assam decided to follow the ‘chaibagaan’ time instead of the Indian Standard Time (IST). The bagaan time will be helpful to save energy, reduce power consumption and increase productivity. IST is calculated on the basis of solar time in Allahabad in the northern-central state of Uttar Pradesh. States located to the west of this longitude have more daylight hours as compared to those in the east. Assam lies in the extreme east of the country and borders Bangladesh and Bhutan. This means that the sun sets as early as 16:31 (4:31 p.m.) IST in November and December. 

Clocks in India are 5:30 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), making the country one of the few territories with a half-hour UTC offset. If the time zone change is implemented, Assam will be 6:30 hours ahead of UTC.

Note:The chaibagaan time or bagaan time – Introduced by British people over 150 years ago, was set one hour ahead of the Indian Standard Time (IST) for tea estates, collieries and oil industry of Assam. This Baggan time is more suitable for tea plantations.

CCEA clears the Central Sector Scheme, ILDP for 12th plan

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the central sector scheme, Indian Leather Development Programme (ILDP) for overall development of the leather sector during the 12th Plan (2012-17).

Under this scheme, the six sub-schemes are also proposed with an outlay of Rs.990.36 crore.

These are – Integrated Development of Leather Sector (IDLS), Human Resource Development (HRD), Support to Artisan (STA), leather technology innovation and environmental issues, mega leather cluster and establishment of institutional institutes.

Implementation of the ILDP would provide trained manpower to the industry and assistance to overcome the constraints of infrastructure in the industry.

Moclic software – can predict weather

Researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) designed the software Monitoring Climate Change (Moclic) by which anyone is able to determine their community, state or country’s weather activity for the days and months ahead.

Characteristics of Monitoring Climate Change (Moclic) software

It is possible to organize, store and operate geo-referenced data from climate elements.

Can calculate bio and agro-climatic indicators, such as humidity, aridity, rain erosion and rainfall concentration.

The new software feeds on data from weather stations of any state or country, with which what happens in a small ranch regarding temperature, can be known more accurately. Presently, the software we are using till date uses global information.

Allows an agronomist to obtain annual rainfall records and relate them to the crops production figures for explanation of a possible event.

The software is very simple and can be used by decision making characters, as governors, breeders, physicians, farmers, students or anyone whose repercussions could have economic politic or social effects.

Current affair 30th December 2013

China offers its Beidou Navigation System free of cost to neighbours

In a strategic move, China is ready to offer its neighbouring nations use of its indigenously developed Beidou Satellite Navigation System (BDS) free of charge. The offer has generated interest from a number of nations including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Thailand.

As per the Chinese government, the country wants to expand the use of the BDS, which already has 16 satellites operating for the Asia-Pacific and is being promoted as an alternative to the US’ Global Positioning System (GPS). China intends to offer BDS to nations in the Asia-Pacific region, and particularly in South and Southeast Asia, where the satellites can provide the highest accuracy.

Countries interested in Beidou Navigation System:

China has already reached agreement with Pakistan and Thailand on use of the Beidou network. It is in talks with Sri Lanka, for which it has already launched a satellite, and Bangladesh, over cooperation on satellite use. In early2014, Thailand will become the first country to set up a satellite station based on Beidou, with both nations signing a $ 319 million deal.

What is Beidou Satellite Navigation System (BDS)?

Beidou Satellite Navigation System (BDS) is a Chinese satellite navigation system. It consists of two separate satellite constellations:

Beidou-1: A limited test system that has been operating since 2000

Beidou-2 : A full-scale global navigation system which is also known as COMPASS and is currently under construction as of January 2013 . Beidou-2 will have 35 satellites in its network.

Objective of Beidou Satellite Navigation System (BDS):

Initially, when the BDS was launched in 2011, it was serving only the government and military. However, over the past year the navigation system is being widely used for civilian purposes domestically. In China, around 80% of passenger buses and trucks use the BDS.  Now China intends to expand its satellite navigation services to Asia-Pacific and to South and South-East Asia regions.

US President signs budget bill into law to prevent government shutdown

US President Barack Obama has inked a two-party federal budget bill, preventing the risk of a government shutdown for two years in the country.

The legislation was passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives after a prolonged stand-off between the Democrats and the Republicans. The bill had been drafted by a cross-party budget panel set up after October’s 16-day government shutdown.

The Defence Bill, among others, provides $527 billion in base defence spending and $80 billion for the war in Afghanistan, in addition to a crackdown on assault* in military and relaxes restrictions on transferring detainees from the federal prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Why did the US government shutdown happen?

The US Congress failed to pass the government budget due to disagreement between the Republicans, who have majority in the lower house – the House of Representatives – and the Democrats, who control the upper house, the Senate.

Since President Barack Obama’s election, the parties have never come to a resolution on a US budget that extends further than a few months. They’ve just negotiated around the margins and come up with short-term fixes.

Now, the Republicans are using budget deadlines to gain political leverage over contentious policies.

This time the issue was Mr. Obama’s healthcare reform programme- the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) which continues to be very controversial for a range of reasons. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives though approved budgets but eliminated funding of this programme or wanted it delayed by one year. The Senate rejected these demands. It led to a deadlock situation and no budget bill could be agreed by both houses, resulting into the shut down.

Arvind Kejriwal takes oath as Chief Minister of Delhi

The top-most leader of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Arvind Kejriwal, sworn-in as the new Chief Minister of Delhi. He was administered the oath by the Lieutenant Governor of the capital Najeeb Jung.

Along with Kejriwal, six others: Manish Sisodia, Girish Soni, Rakhi Birla, Satyendra Jain, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Somnath Bharti, took oath as ministers. The AAP has come to power after winning 28 seats out of 70 in the recently held assembly polls in Delhi. Although it didn’t have the majority, the Congress party extended its unconditional support to AAP for forming government. Now, Kejriwal government has the task to deliver on the promises they have made which include cutting down electricity tarriff and improve water supply to all parts of the national capital.

The new government has to prove majority in the assembly on January 2, 2014.

Arvind Kejriwal:

Born: August 16, 1968 in Siwani in Haryana

Education: Graduated in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur

Worked for the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) as a Joint Commissioner in the Income Tax Department.

Instrumental in drafting a proposed Jan Lokpal Bill and his efforts to bring and implement the Right to Information (RTI) Act at grassroots level.

2012: Launched Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which ousted the Shiela Dixit’s regime of Congress after winning 2013 Assembly polls.

In the assembly elections he defeated his rival Shiela Dixit by a huge margin of 25, 864 votes.

Became the second youngest Chief Minister of Delhi. Chaudhry Brahm Prakash was the youngest Chief Minsiter at 34 when he took over in 1952.

India, US sign $1billion contract for six “Super Hercules” aircrafts

India and the US have signed another mega defence deal worth $1.01 billion in which the US will supply six additional C-130J “Super Hercules” aircraft. The “letter of offer and acceptance” for the six new four-engine C-130Js, which will be delivered within 3 years, was inked under the US government’s “Foreign Military Sales” (FMS) programme. 

The Indian Air Force already has six C-130Js tactical airlift aircraft, which are based at the Hindon airbase on the outskirts of Delhi.  The upcoming six new C-130Js will be stationed at Panagarh in West Bengal.

India’s first Mountain Strike Force: XVII Corps

India’s new mountain strike corps which has been named XVII Corps will also have its headquarters in Panagarh. The XVII Corps with a total of over 80,000 soldiers, is being brought up by the Army in a project worth around Rs 90,000 crore. This new corps will fill operational voids along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) as well as add to the Indian Army’s ground offensive capabilities against China for the first time.

Factbox: C-130J ‘Super Hercules’

Manufactured by the United States.

World’s most advanced and tactical aircraft.

Primarily designed to support India’s special operations requirement.

Equipped with an Infrared Detection Set (IDS), the aircraft can perform precision low-level flying, airdrops and landing in blackout conditions.

Self-protection systems and other features are included to ensure aircraft survivability in hostile air defense environments. The aircraft also is equipped with air-to-air receiver refueling capability for extended range operations.

Ideally suited to India’s mission environment, which often involves operating out of austere, high-elevation airstrips in hot conditions.

Powered by four Rolls Royce AE2100 engines and Dowty six bladed props which provide the aircraft with tremendous power.

The aircraft has already demonstrated its responsiveness during the recent Uttarakhand flood disaster and 2012 Sikkim earthquake where it played a major role in relief operations.

The rugged aircraft demonstrated its agility when IAF landed it at the world’s highest airstrip in Daulat Beg Oldi, in J&K, the place where Indian and Chinese troops had a stand-off recently. The aircraft showed that it can even land at a small forward airbase on a semi-prepared runway.

Current affair 28th December 2013

Year 2014 to bring 8.5 lakh new jobs: Report

As per a survey by recruitment platform year 2014 MyHiringClub.com  augurs well for job seekers as more than 8.5 lakh new jobs are expected across various sectors, including FMCG and healthcare. According to the survey based on a study conducted among more than 5,600 firms across 12 industry sectors, the forecasted number of new jobs in 2014 is higher than the estimated 7.9 lakh employment opportunities created in 2013.

All the employments have been projected in for the organised sector. Apart from FMCG, more jobs are expected in healthcare, IT, retail and hospitality sectors.

Sectror-wise expected number of jobs:

FMCG: 1.5 lakh

Healthcare: 1.33 lakh

IT and ITeS: 1.21 lakh

Retail: 86,700

Hospitality:  83,400

Banking and Financial services: 61,400

Manufacturing and Engineering: 51,500

Education, Training and Consultancy: 42,900

Media and Entertainment: 42,800

Real estate: 38,700

Mr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar: Ambassador of USA

Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar became the Ambassador of United States of America (USA) in December 2013. He succeeded Ms. Nirupama Rao and his position in Beijing was taken by Ashok K. Kantha.

 About Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar

An Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the1977 batch.

Apart from serving as India’s Ambassador to China, he also had postings in Singapore and CzechRepublic.

Played a key role in negotiation of US-India nuclear agreement.

SEBI made fund-raising easier for corporate India and tightened noose on fraudsters

In order to raise funds easier for companies through genuine equity or debt offers, the market regulator SEBI approved new norms for its search and seizure operations, settlement proceedings, refund to investors and crackdown on illicit money-pooling schemes.

The measures of new norms:-

To consider the Financial Portfolio Investors (FPIs) similar to Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) on tax purposes.

To raise funds through Initial Public Offer (IPO) of equity shares and allowed companies to file shelf prospectus for debt offers that would be valid for multiple offers within a year.

To ensure faster refund of money to investors, essential checks are put in place to avoid any misuse of its newly granted powers with regard to conduct of search and seizure of fraudsters and market manipulators.

And detailed regulations have also been put in place for settlement of administrative and civil proceedings in a transparent manner, while ensuring that serious offences like insider trading are kept out of settlement window. 

These decisions are related to the promulgation of an ordinance by the government for grant of greater powers to SEBI to check mushrooming of illegal money-pooling schemes across the country and to take strict actions against fraudsters and market manipulators.

SEBI: Foreign portfolio investors will be treated on par with FIIs on tax issues

In consultation with the Finance Ministry, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) decided to treat the three categories of Financial Portfolio Investors (FPIs) uniformly for tax purposes. In other words, the new rule aims to bring all foreign investors under a common framework called the SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations, 2013.

The Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), their sub-accounts and Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs) will soon be merged into a single and new investor class, called FPIs. As per their risk profiles, FPIs are divided into three categories.

These are as follows:-

Category I- the lowest risk entities comprises foreign government and government-related foreign investors.

Category II – regulated entities such as university funds, university-related endowments and pension funds, etc.

Category III – other entities viz. Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs), etc.

Stock market regulator SEBI received a clear note from the Department of Economic Affairs in the Finance Ministry to consider the FPIs similar to Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) on tax purposes. The proposal was made by the K M Chandrashekhar panel that reviewed various classes of foreign investors and suggested to unify foreign investment norms met for the first time.

The clarity on tax treatment of FPIs is aimed at encouraging inflows into the domestic equity and debt markets.

Other than uniform tax zone for FPIs, the SEBI

Made grading of Initial Public Offering( IPO) voluntary to boost the dormant primary market.

Allowed companies to issue debt through a shelf filing, along with regulations empowered it to monitor investors’ call records and conduct searches at companies suspected of wrongdoing.

Note: Under the former system, tax treatment for FIIs was different from that for sub-accounts and QFIs. Beneath the new FPI norms, all categories of FPIs would be given similar tax treatment as currently available to FIIs.

Government sanctioned Quadricycle as a new vehicle

The road transport and highways ministry sanctioned “Quadricycle” as a new category of vehicle on Indian roads. These vehicles are safer than three-wheelers as they have four wheels with fully enclosed body structure with hard top and doors. After integrating suggestions and objections, transport minister Oscar Fernandes approved the proposal that under this category, battery-powered or electric four-wheelers will also be considered.

About Quadricycle Vehicle

It is a four-wheel vehicle with a small engine to be positioned between a three-wheeler and a passenger car which does not meet the same safety and emission norms of regular passenger cars and have their own set of regulations.

The vehicle will be of two types – passenger carriers and goods carriers – with different maximum kerb weights and length.

It will be allowed to ply only on city roads as transport vehicles and not as personal vehicles.

Passenger carriers will have a maximum weight of 450kg and a max length of 3 metres, while goods carriers will have a maximum weight of 500kg and a length of 3.7 metres.

It will be permitted to carry a maximum of four passengers or a maximum weight of up to 500kg.

Note: Kerb (Curb) weight is the total weight of an automobile with standard equipment, all necessary operating consumables (e.g., motor oil and coolant), and a full tank of fuel, while not loaded with either passengers or cargo.

Andhra Pradesh High Court directs 2 Telugu actors to return Padma Shri

The Andhra Pradesh High Court directed to Telugu actors Mohan Babu and Brahmanandam Kanneganti to surrender Padam Shri to the President of India, as they allegedly misused it.  The HC gave its decision on the petition filed by the BJP senior leader N Indraseena Reddy.

Why High Court directed Telgu actors to return Padam Shri?

Tollywood actor-producer Mohan Babu bestowed the award in 2007 and comedian Brahmanandam in 2009, in acknowledgment of their services to the Telugu film industry.

They both used the title ‘Padma Shri’ before their names for promoting the Telugu feature film “Denikaina Ready” (‘Ready for Anything’, produced by Mr. Mohan Babu and starring his son Vishnu).

The petitioner argued that as per the Article 18(1) of the Constitution, the national awards does not amount to a title and cannot be used as suffixes or prefixes.

Aftermath, the Court took the serious note of the actors for prefixing the name of the award to their names in the credits of the Telugu movie that was released in 2012.

And raised objection for using ‘Padma Shri’ in title cards in a wrong way (as if it was their surname) and delivered judgment in the petitioner’s favour. This will be a lesson for the actors who misuse the honorary award.

About Padma Awards

Padma Awards, the country’s highest civilian awards, are conferred in three Categories viz. Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in all disciplines/ fields of activities, viz. art, social work, Public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature And education, sports, civil service, etc.

‘Padma  Vibhushan’  is  awarded  for  exceptional  and distinguished service;

‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and

‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. 

The  awards  are  announced  on  the  occasion  of  Republic  Day  every  year. The Awards are conferred by the President of India at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhawan sometime around March/ April.

Current affair 26th December 2013

Mr. Mikhail Kalashnikov: Designer of AK-47 ( ”Avtomat Kalashnikova 1947″) passed away

Mikhail Kalashnikov (94), the Russian gun designer whose AK-47 rifle became the weapon of choice for many national armies and guerrillas around the world, passed away.

About AK- 47 ( ”Avtomat Kalashnikova 1947″)

Officially known as “Avtomat Kalashnikova 1947″.

’47′ from the year (1947) it went into production.

Screenshot_7

It is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle and has a rate of fire of 600 rounds-a-minute. The AK-47 has only eight moving parts can be broken down and reassembled in 30 seconds and will work in conditions that would render many other small arms inoperable. Invented by Mikhail Kalashnikov, who received numerous honors including the Hero of Socialist Labor and Order of Lenin and Stalin Prize.

e-Pramaan would make SMSs a valid documentary proof

Soon, SMSs will be acceptable as “documentary proof” for a variety of citizen-services ranging from making payments to registrations.

The Department of electronics and information technologY (DeitY), a part of the ministry of Communication and Information Technology, is all set to flag off a new online authentication project.

The Central Government launched a platform with about 241 applications for the public after completing pilot project of mobile governance with about 100 departments and testing proof of concepts.

SMS authentication is part of the e-Pramaan project which has an overall outlay of Rs 23 crore; it will become reality by June 2014.

The online authentication project of the Union government would enable SMSs to be used as documentary proof for various registrations and payments.

The applications relate to services will cover areas viz. Right to Information (RTI), health, Aadhaar, education, directory services, etc.

Current Affairs - November 1 and 2, 2013

1. India, Vietnam sign pact on transfer of sentenced prisoners : India and Vietnam signed a treaty for transfer of prisoners between two countries. The agreement was signed between Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Vietnam Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang.

2. Wholly owned subsidiaries of foreign banks to get near-national treatment : RBI plans to release guidelines for foreign banks to set up wholly owned subsidiaries in India by mid-November, the central bank said on Tuesday.

3. Six Major Central Banks Permanently Made Currency Swap Accords: Six major central banks in the world made currency swap arrangements permanent on 31 October 2013 as a prudent liquidity backstop  in case of future global financial strains.

1. The Bank of Japan
2. U.S. Federal Reserve
3. European Central Bank
4. Bank of England
5. central bank of Canada
6. central bank of Switzerland

4. Google announces winners of its Global Impact Challenge in India : Google had awarded Rs 3 crore to four social organisations that are using technology to solve problems of the world. 

The four civic startups chosen each receive a Rs 3 crore ($500,000) Global Impact Award as well as Google mentoring to help get their projects off the ground. Here are the winners. Agastya, Digital Green,Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship &Democracy and Social Awareness, Newer Alternatives (SANA)

5. India won Gold in 18th Asian Archery Competition

6. Gopal Krishna Pillai is MCX-SX new Chairman

7. Gurdeep Singh Pall has been appointed as the Corporate VP of Skype

8.  India developed a new tactical surface-to-surface missile Pragati which has a range between 60-170 km.