8/27/2009
1st August, 2009 to 15th August, 2009
1. Actor ‘Nandita Das’ has been appointed Chairperson of the Children’s Film Society of India. She will hold office for three years.
2. Due to the economic slowdown, ‘AIRINDIA’ ran into heavy losses and has sought a massive Rs. 80,000 crore bail out package from the centre over a 5 year period. The ‘National Aviation Company of India’ (NACIL) – born out of the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines has formally, sought assistance from the government. The Finance Ministry will be the nodal agency to formulate the Air India Relief Package.
3. Alongside the G-8 Summit, L’Aquila, Italy, India signed the declaration of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) on Energy and Climate. Since 2007, besides the G-8 (US, UK, Canada, Italy, France, Japan, Germany, Russia), the summit has included the five outreach countries (the G-5 comprising Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa). The 17 members constituting the MEF are the G-8, the G-5 and Australia, the EU, Indonesia and South Korea. The declaration includes the key statement limiting green house gases and a promise to identify a global goal for substantially reducing emissions by 2050 before the UN Framework Convention on climate change in December 2009 at Copenhagen.
4. Infosys Technologies Ltd. became the first private company to get protection from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). The force protects Public Sector Undertakings and government owned Industrial establishments.
5. The hard corals of Porites species, found in abundance in the blue water lagoons of the picturesque Lakshadweep Islands, are facing a threat to their existence. Global Warming caused by high Carbon-dioxide levels has retarded the growth of these corals. This could have happened due to climate change, as increased carbon-dioxide levels and a rise in temperature lead to acidification of the oceans.
6. Former Phillipino President ‘Corizona Aquino’ passed away. She had helped Philippines in the revolution to restore democracy and rule of law.
7. The apex body of the Dimasa tribe – the Jadhike Naisho Hashom (JHM) submitted a memorandum to Union Home Secretary G.K Pillai, pressing for a change of name for the troubled North Cachar Hills District to Dima Hasao Raji. On the other hand, the apex body of Zeme Naga tribe of the district – ‘Zeme Council’ (Assam), impressed upon Mr. Pillai the need to divide the N C Hills district into two districts – one comprising the Dimasa majority areas and the other comprising Non- Dimasa areas and retaining the present name, with its headquarters at Haflong.
8.
WOMEN IN THE NEWSl Ms. Meera Shankar : The second woman to become the US ambassador after Vijayalakshmi Pandit (1949 – 1951). Meera Shankar worked in Washington from 1991 to 1995 as Minister (commerce) in the Indian Embassy.
l Ms. Indira Jaisingh : Eminent Supreme Court Lawyer and Human Rights activist, ‘Indira Jaisingh’ is now the Additional Solicitor General of India. She is the first woman to be appointed to the post. From the beginning of her legal career Jaisingh has focused on Human Rights, especially ‘Rights of Women’.
l Ms. Binita Thakur : Forty- year old Binita Thakur is the first woman police officer to join the Special Protection Group (SPG), responsible for the security of the Prime Minister.
l Ms. Neela Satyanarayanan : She is Maharashtra’s first Election Commissioner.
9. In a first initiative of its kind in the country, scientists would start issuing forecasts for surface currents of the Indian Ocean from the next year. The government has identified the Hyderabad based Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), which runs the Tsunami warning system, for the purpose. A knowledge of surface ocean currents is essential for shipping, fishery and related sectors, and accurate information could help reduce fuel costs.
1st August, 2009 to 15th August, 2009
10. Panakkad Syed Mohammedali Shihab Thangal, Kerala’s most prominent symbol of secularism, peace and communal amity passed away. For 34 long years, he guided the destiny of the Indian Union Muslim League and the Muslim Community in Kerala.
11. AEC Chairman said, with natural uranium production going up in India, the capacity factor of its nuclear power reactors, which is around 55 % now, will go up to 65 % by the end of this financial year (2009-2010). The capacity of the reactors would go up because the capacity of the mill at Jaduguda in Jharkhand, which converted natural uranium into yellow cake, had been augmented. Another mill at Turamdih, also in Jharkand was commissioned and its production of yellow was going up. The uranium mine and the mill, which were under construction at Tummalapalle in Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh would go on stream in 2013. India has two pressurized Heavy Water Reactors – PHWRs – that use natural uranium as fuel, and heavy water as coolant and moderator.
12. Prominent Indian Social Activist, Deep Joshi who has done pioneering work for “development of rural communities”, was named along with five others for the prestigious Ramon Magsasay Award for 2009 which is considered Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. l Mr. Joshi is being recognized for “his vision and leadership in bringing professionalism to the NGO movement in India, by effectively combining ‘head’ and ‘heart’ in the transformative development of rural communities”, the Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsasay Award Foundation said, from its headquarters in Manila. l Joshi was the co-founder of ‘PRADHAN an NGO and now works as an independent consultant for it. l The other awardees are ‘Yu Xiagong’ and ‘Ma Jun’ of China; ‘Krisana Kaisintu’ of Thailand was recognized for her work in producing generic drugs for HIV/AIDS; ‘Ka Hsaw Wa’ of Myanmar, co-founder of Earth rights; ‘Antonio Oposa Jr.’ a Filipino environmental activist and Lawyer.
13. The Supreme Court has held that the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) cannot be construed as a civil court. Therefore, the Supreme Court or the High Court has no power to transfer a suit pending in a civil court situated in one state to a Debt Recovery Tribunal in another state.
14. ‘The All- Assam Students Union’ and The Mishing Student Body’ – Taken Mishing Porin Kebang (TMPK) – have announced a joint agitation to press, their demand for protection of people and property in the downstream of the mega hydel projects (103) in Arunachal Pradesh. They demanded that construction activities of the 2000 MW Lower Subnonsiri Hydel Power Project be put on hold until the final report of the expert committee on the proposed dam was completed and made public.
15. Non-Government Organisation Nirantar, which runs Khabar Lahariya, a fortnightly newspaper in Hindi in Uttar Pradesh, has bagged the prestigious UNESCO King Sejong Literary Prize 2009. Established in 1989 with support from the Government of South Korea, the annual award has also gone to Tin Tuas Literary and Education Programme in Eastern Burkina Faso, UNESCO. Award to be presented at UNESCO, HQ, Paris. The paper is entirely produced and marketed by Dalit Women. Launched in May 2002, it now has a readership of over 25000 in greater than 400 villages in the Chitrakoot and Banda districts of U.P., UNSECO said.
16. A new regional equation, ‘Dushanbe Four’ is formed by the Presidents of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Russia. Principally, Dushanbe Four allows them to discuss all major regional problems – from developing economic cooperation to countering drug trafficking to terrorism, which are irritants for both Russia and Tajikistan.
17. Agriculture Scientists have developed nine new varieties of heat resistant wheat to fight the impact of climate change in the country. Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh known as granary of the country will be the worst affected by the climate change. Ahead of the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit December this year, New Delhi has taken a series of measures to deal with the impact of climate change. An eight point national action plan is already in place to check the emission of Green House Gases apart from tapping the unconventional sources of energy and resorting to new conservation practices. New mechanisms are also being set upto effectively deal with those who contribute to ecological degradation and punish the offenders of environment law.
1st August, 2009 to 15th August, 2009
18. Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as the U.S. Supreme Court’s first Hispanic justice and third female member in the top U.S. courts 220 year history.
19. Typhoon Morakot Slammed into Chinese provinces on the Eastern Coast, causing casualties. Morakot made landfall in the coastal areas of Beibi, in Xiapu country in Fujian Province, packing winds up to
119 km/ hour.
20. India to host the World Tiger Summit next year, at Rajasthan. The Ranathambore Tiger Reserve, having over 44 royal cats, would be showcased as a role model to the delegates. The summit is being held for the first time in the country, home to 1400 endangered species.
21. The Prime Minister has reconstituted his Economic Advisory Council with ‘C. Rangarajan’ as head and Govinda Rao, Vs Vyas, Siman Bery and S. Chaudhuri as members.
22. A draft Direct Taxes Code was released which proposes to consolidate and amend the law relating to all direct taxes – income tax, dividend distribution tax, fringe benefit tax and wealth tax – and ultimately replace the Income Tax of 1961. The new code was designed to provide stability in the tax regime as it was based on well – accepted principles of taxation and best international practices. The underlying philosophy behind the code was the philosophy of the government which was wedded to a well regulated free market system.
23. India and the 10 nation Association of Southeast Asian countries signed a crucial trade pact that will break duty barriers in the 1.7 billion consumer market in the region. The FTA, relating only to goods, was signed by Union Commerce Industry Ministry, Anand Sharma and his ASEAN counterparts at a ceremony in Bangkok after the two sided held annual consultations. Vietnam would sign after its formal recognition by India as a “market economy”. Rest of the 9 nations with a trade bloc.
24. Influenza A (HINI), also known as ‘Swine Flu’, is a new virus causing illness in people. First defected in Mexico in April 2009, it has spread to many countries in the world. WHO raised the A (HINI) pandemic – alert to the highest level – phase 6 – on June 11, 2009.
SWINE FLU – A FEW FACTS
PANDEMIC INFLUENZA PHASES
PHASE / FEATURES1-3 / Predominantly animal infections; few human infections.
4 / Sustained human- to human transmission
5-6 Pandemic / Wide Spread human infection
Post Peak / Possibility of recurrent events
Post Pandemic / Disease activity at seasonal levels
l It is a highly contagious acute respiratory disorder. Human-to-Human transmission takes place like in normal flue, when particles of the virus released through coughs and sneezes are breathed in.
l In past pandemics, influenza viruses have needed more than six months to spread as widely as the new HINI virus has spread as in less than six weeks.
l Past Flu Pandemics: 1918 : Spanish Flu; 20-40 million deaths. 1957 : Asian flu; 1-4 million deaths. 1968 : Hong Kong Flu; 1-4 million deaths.
l Drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza are used to treat the infection.
1st August, 2009 to 15th August, 2009
25. Sri Lanka signed two key developmental projects with the Exim bank of China, worth $350 million. The signing of the two agreements will pave the way for infrastructure requirements which will have an immense impact on the future socio-economic development. The Hampantota Bunkering facility is a major component of the Hambantota Port Development Project, which is also being largely funded by China.
26. Pakistan conferred ‘Sitara-I-Imtiaz’, one of its highest Civilian honors, on Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande Posthumously.
27. The flute is a musical instrument, made of a single hollow piece of bamboo, closed at one end except for a single hole – the blowing hole. There are several other holes further down the length of the instrument – the playing holes. The hindustan’s flute has six playing holes, while the Carnatic flute has seven. Flautist, T.R. Mahalingam added an eighth hole to the flute, to enable the flautists to better produce the nuances of Carnatic music.
28. The World Trade Organisation released its World Trade Report 2009 recently in Singapore.
ANDHRA PRADESH
FOR GROUP-I AND GROUP-II EXAMINATIONS
29. The A.P State Government has sent proposals to sanction 15 marine police stations along these coast in the state to tighten security on and off the sea shore, said Home Minister, Sabitha Indra Reddy. Already six marine police stations were set up in the state and the government has appealed to sanction 15 more stations.
30. The Kinnera M.V. Narayana Rao Memorial Award was presented to Carnatic Vocalist M. Balamurali Krishna.
31. The State of A.P. government has taken possession of a bunch of ‘copperplates’ with tenth century inscriptions in Telugu from a farmer of Nalgonda District.
l The plates are attached to a ring through a hole and the ring contained royal seal on both sides. The round shaped seal contains faint images of lotus, sun, moon and boar and a royal title ‘Sri
Tribhuvanamkusa’.
l The inscription pointed to unrecorded history eastern Chalukya dynasty who ruled vengi kingdom
with Kurnool as capital between 999-1011 AD. The boar was the insignia of Eastern Chalukyas.
l The language used in the inscription was Sanskrit though the script was Chalukyan Telugu.
l The plates throws light on political unrest between 750-850 AD when the Chalukyan kingdom went into the hands of Rashtrakutas who were subsequently dethroned by the predecessors of Sakti Varma.
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