Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Seaplane project set to get airborne - The Hindu

Seaplane project set to get airborne - The Hindu

Seaplane project set to get airborne - The Hindu

Seaplane project set to get airborne - The Hindu

RINL

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited(RINL) also called Vizag Steel, is a Navratan profit making company. its disinvestment may be taken up soon

Nelaturu plant may supply 800 MW from October - The Hindu

Nelaturu plant may supply 800 MW from October - The Hindu

sikh gurdwara act

The Punjab & Haryana HC had issued notices to the Centre and governments of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh on a petition challenging the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act, 2014.
The court asked the governments to let it know whether the Sikh Gurdwara Act, which came into force 90 years back, was enacted as a central or state subject.

the akali Movement

The Akali movement in 1920s led to the introduction of Sikh Gurdwara Bill in 1925, which placed all gurudwaras in India under the control of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). before this gurudwaras were under control of syncretic Udasi Mahant , who were of a different denomination. Udasis differed from mainline Sikhs

Monday, July 28, 2014

Revenue Budget

Revenue Budget. It consists of the revenue receipts of Govt (tax revenues and other revenues)
and the expenditure met from these revenues. Tax revenues comprise proceeds of taxes and other
duties levied by the Union.
The estimates of revenue receipts shown in the Annual Financial Statement take into account the effect of various taxation proposals made in the Finance Bill.
Other receipts of Government mainly consist of interest and dividend on investments made by Government, fees, and the receipts for services rendered by Government. Revenue expenditure is for the normal running of Government departments and various services, interest payments on debt, subsidies, etc.
Broadly, the expenditure which does not result in creation of assets for Government of India is treated as revenue expenditure.
All grants given to State Governments/Union Territories and other parties are also treated as revenue expenditure even though some of the grants may be used for creation of assets.

Public Account Fund

Provident Funds, Small Savings collections,income of Government set apart for expenditure on specific objects like road development, primary education, Reserve/Special Funds etc. are kept in the Public Account.
Public Account funds do not belong to Government and have to be finally paid back to the persons and authorities who deposited them.

Parliamentary authorisation for such payments is, therefore, not required, except where amounts are withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund with the approval of Parliament 

Contingency Fund of India

Contingency Fund of India( auth article 267)  which is an imprest placed at the disposal of the President of India to facilitate   Government to meet urgent unforeseen expenditure pending authorisation from Parliament. Parliamentary approval for such unforeseen expenditure is obtained, post-facto, and an   equivalent amount is drawn from the Consolidated Fund to recoup the  Contingency Fund. The corpus of the Contingency Fund as authorized by Parliament presently stands
at 500 crore.

Consolidated Fund of India

 Article 266 of the Constitution authorises Consolidated Fund of India (CFI)  which comprise of all revenues received by Government, loans raised by it, and also its receipts from recoveries of loans  granted by it form the Consolidated Fund. All expenditure of Government is incurred from the Consolidated Fund of India and no amount can be drawn from the Consolidated Fund without authorisation from Parliament.

Annual Financial Estimate

AFS,shows estimated receipts and expenditure of the Govt for 2014-15 in relation to estimates for 2013-14 as also exp for the year 2012-13.

AFS

Annual financial statement of every financial year is laid before both the Houses of Parliament as per Article 112 of the Constitution.

AFS

Annual financial statement is a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of India for that year.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

In divided neighbourhoods - The Hindu

In divided neighbourhoods - The Hindu

HAL to analyse black box of crashed ALH Dhruv

HAL to analyse black box of crashed ALH Dhruv

ALH Dhruv

Dhruv  developed and manufactured by I Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), designed with assistance from MBB in Germany. Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv is a military version, one of which crashed near Sitapur in UP. Dhruv has been  exported to Nepal and Israel and  several other countries have placed orders  for both military and commercial uses.

Boko haram kidnaps Cameroon.s vice PM Wife

Boko Haram, the Nigerian Islamist militant group, has kidnapped The wife of Cameroon's vice prime minister in the northern town of Kolofata.

Friday, July 25, 2014

Collegium System

Government has asked 25 parties for views on Judicial Appointments Commission, which will replace the present Collegium System.


Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa , surrounded by six countries: Mali ,Niger. Benin , Ghana and Ivory Coast .Its capital is Ouagadougou.

BOOT

Build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT). Himachal Govt has decided to invite global tenders on BOOT basis for 37 hydroelectric power plants

SEBI Bill

Govt has approved the SEBI Bill, which will empower the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to initiate action against ponzi schemes and other investment frauds.

Ponzi Scheme

Ponzi scheme,a fraudulent investment operation, where the operator pays returns to its investors from new capital invested by new investors, rather than from profit earned by the operator. They usually offer higher returns in a very short time.

FDI

 Opening up of FDI has also been announced by government in defence, railways and real estate

FIPB

Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is a Govt agency which provides a single window clearance for proposals on FDI in India, which does not come under the automatic route.

FDI cap raised for insurance sector

 Govt today liberalised foreign investments in insurance by hiking the FDI cap from 26 to 49 per cent, with full Indian management and control through the FIPB route

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Kanha-Krishna Corridor

 Kanha-Krishna corridor, beginning from Madhya Pradesh till Andhra Pradesh connecting highways and rail networks, and oil and gas pipelines.

Latitude Expressways

Akshansh Marg. Building coastal expressways on the east and west coasts , by connecting them through latitude expressways at  13, 15, 17 deg

Baltal

Baltal is one of the two routes to Amarnath,which is preferred being shortest(14 kilometers from the base camp).The other , the traditional Pahalgam route is longer.

Railway Line along LAC

Govt has agreed on constructing railway line upto border areas in Himalayas to facilitate quick build up of troops on Line of Actual Control

AWHR

India is developing a 300 MW prototype of a thorium-based Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR), which is designed to produce a large amount of energy from Thorium. It uses boiling light water as a coolant and heavy water as moderator.

Dhruva

Dhruva reactor,India's largest nuclear research reactor located in Mumbai (Trombayat the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi  visited the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)  and the Dhruva reactor,located in the BARC premises.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

thailand

Constitutional Court of Thailand ordered Yingluck Shinawatra , on 7 may 2014,to step down following months of political crisis. The Court had found her guilty of charges of abuse of power.

Yingluck

On 23 May 2014 ,Yingluck  Shinawatra, the youngest PM of Thailand, was arrested  in the wake of a military coup on 22 May 2014.

Encephalitis

Encephalitis ,acute inflammation of brain,causes brain inflammation and can result in brain damage. Symptoms include headaches and fever.  

Ankita Raina

Ankita Raina is a budding professional tennis player After Sania Mirza's retirement from singles, she is on top spot in India. 

Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza is appointed brand ambassador of Telangana.Mirza emained for a decade (2003 - 2013)  as India's highest ranked player in Tennis.

Coroners

Coroners -official who investigates violent, sudden, or suspicious deaths.Dutch coroners examined the bodies of MH-17 passengers in Ukraine.

Chandrashekhar Azad

Chandrashekhar Azad, a great Indian revolutionary, was born on 23 July 1906  in village Bhavra in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh. Azad  reorganised Hindustan Republican Association under the new name of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) after Bismil.

India's national Flag

Our national flag turns 67 today ! On 22 July, 1947, the Constitution Drafting Committee resolved to approve the tricolour as the Republic of India's national flag. Our national flag was designed by Shri. Pingali Venkayya.
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who later became India's first Vice President and second President, clarified the adopted flag and described its significance as follows:
"Bhagwa or the saffron colour denotes renunciation or disinterestedness. Our leaders must be indifferent to material gains and dedicate themselves to their work.
The white in the centre is light, the path of truth to guide our conduct.
The green shows our relation to (the) soil, our relation to the plant life here, on which all other life depends.
The "Ashoka Chakra" in the centre of the white is the wheel of the law of dharma. Truth or satya, dharma or virtue ought to be the controlling principle of those who work under this flag.
Again, the wheel denotes motion. There is death in stagnation. There is life in movement. India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward. The wheel represents the dynamism of a peaceful change."
Source : Flag Code of India (http://goo.gl/zawX0P).

Indian Telecom Sector

The Indian telecom sector is the second largest in the world after China . India had 910.16 million mobile subscribers May,2014

Glasgow

Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland, is the venue of  the 20th Commonwealth Games. About 4,500 sports men and women will compete in events across 17 sports from 24 July to 3 August, 2014.

UNSC

The 15-nation United Nations Security Council members, including Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, unanimously adopted a resolution calling for an international investigation and condemned in the strongest terms,  the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight (MH17) in eastern Ukraine. They also demanded that armed groups allow investigators unrestricted access to the crash site.

Monday, July 21, 2014

TRAI recommends sharing of all telecom spectrum - The Hindu

TRAI recommends sharing of all telecom spectrum - The Hindu

Judiciary

Markandey Katju, a former Supreme Court Judge made allegations against three former CJI for making compromises in in giving extension 

Thursday, July 17, 2014

New Moore Island

New Moore Island ( known as South Talpatti) in Bangladesh, off Haribhanga R, was a disputed area, over which India has retained its claim. 

ITLOS

International Tribunal for Law on Sea(ITLOS) awarded over 110,000 sq km area to Bangladesh in a dispute with Myanmar in Bay of Bengal.

Permanent Court of Arbitration

Permanent Court of Arbitration ( PAC) is at Hague, Netherlands. the award of the Tribunal is binding and there is no appeal against it.

UNCLOS

UN Convention of Law of the Sea(UNCLOS). arbitration was set up under Annexture VII of UNCLOS , under Permanent Court of Arbitration Hague

India-Bangladesh Maritime Delimitation

Arbitration Tribunal on India-Bangladesh Maritime Delimitation has awarded 19467 sq km out of 25000 sq km of disputed area in Bay of Bengal.

Nelson mandela

Nelson Mandela was born on 18 July 1918. He is recipient of Nobel Peace Prize and Bharata Ratna in 1990( 1 of 2 recipient ). He was popularly called Madiba ( his clan name) or Tata( father)

FIFA

The 2014 FIFA World Cup champion. Germany defeated Argentina 1-0 . Mario Götze scored the only goal in extra time.

Boron

Boron.It is known for making compounds with other elements, which t are used to make fibreglass, borax laundry powder and putty.it is also used in Pyrex glass which has greater strength and breakage resistance.

Buckyball

Boron 'buckyball'  is a hoolow football shaped structure. New molecule discovered, named borospherene, is of 40 boron atoms join together 

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

TRAI Amendment Bill

TRAI Amendment Bill is a bill to remove legal hurdles in the appointment of former TRAI chief Nripendra Misra as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The bill was was passed in both houses. 

Prelims

A three-member committee headed by Arvind Varma is looking into the issue of scrapping CSAT or not, till then Prelims  Exam may be postponed

Right to die with dignity

Right to die with dignity is also a part of the right to liberty," The Law on Patient Autonomy and Self-determination Act of the US, which allows living wills. Kamal Jaiswal of Common Cause has filed a writ petition asking for a law on similar lines 

NGO Common Cause

Prashant Bhushan, appeared for NGO Common Cause and  urged the court to authorise 'passive euthansia' for a terminally ill person .

Living Will or Euthansia

Supreme court has entrusted a five-judge Constitution bench to decide whether a "living will" or voluntary euthanasia can be allowed in case a person is terminally ill or may go into a vegetative state with no hope of recovery.

Euthansia

Euthanasia. It means intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering.

Sanghai

BRICS Bank. Sanghai would be the headquarters of the bank. There will be equal shareholding for all BRICS members. 

BRICS Bank

The BRICS bank will be named  the “New Development Bank” as per Indian suggestion.India would assume the first presidency of the bank

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

APEC

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).Established in 1989,is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies, cooperating  to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Chinese President Xi Jinping invited PM Modi on  to attend APEC summit of the APEC meeting in November  this year.
India has long sought to become a member of APEC. Modi is invited to attend the  meeting of the 21-nation APEC in Beijing, as well as take part in Chinese-led regional initiatives.

Women empowerment through banking

 A new financial inclusiveness programme.  Govt  is planning to launch a new programme from August 15, making 2 bank accounts per family mandatory.

One account will  be compulsorily opened in the name of a woman member of the family which will have a Rs 5,000 overdraft facility.

A new financial inclusion plan on the anvil | Business Standard News

A new financial inclusion plan on the anvil | Business Standard News

Polavaram Bill

Polavaram Bill. Parliament has passed the bill to facilitate transfer of 205 villages spread across seven mandals in the newly formed State of Telangana, to the residual state of Andhra Pradesh. This will facilitate  the multi-purpose Polavaram irrigation project.

Parliament passes bill on Polavaram project - The Hindu

Parliament passes bill on Polavaram project - The Hindu

Ram Naik, Tandon among five new Governors - The Hindu

Ram Naik, Tandon among five new Governors - The Hindu

Discover 534

Discoverer 534,  belongs to a US company . It  is one of the most modern state-of-the art drill ships which can be employed in the most adverse natural conditions.

Discover 534

US drill ship Discover 534, after drilling away at Reliance's KG basin, is now proposing to drill for ONGC's deep water explorations.

Krishna Godavari Basin

Krishna-Godavari Basin, in 50,000 square kilometres in the Krishna River and Godavari River basins in Andhra Pradesh. The D-6 block where Reliance Industries discovered the largest natural gas reserves in India in 2002, is in the news for for producing less than the targeted natural gas and Govt imposing a fine of Rs. 3,475 crore on Reliance Industries.

Gaza Hostilites

Gaza Hostilities. It was prompted by the murder of three Israeli teenagers in June in the West Bank and the revenge killing on July 2 of a Palestinian youth in Jerusalem, who was burnt alive.

Mahmoud Abbas

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who reached an agreement with Hamas in April, has welcomed the proposal and urged its acceptance

Egyptian Ceasefire Proposal

Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi  has proposed a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian Hmas militants in Gaza to start on Tuesday.

Gaza Ceasefire Proposal

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted the Egyptian  proposal of a cease-fire to begin within 12 hours .

Gaza Ceasefire Proposal

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted the Egyptian  proposal of a cease-fire to begin within 12 hours .

KG basin gas: Govt. slaps further $579 mn fine on RIL - The Hindu

KG basin gas: Govt. slaps further $579 mn fine on RIL - The Hindu

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Iron Dome

I

Israel's missile defence system has an almost 90% success rate in facing rockets fired by Hamas


Punjab Kesari

Punjab Kesari

India’s food subsidies from WTO caps

Food Security Act, India’s administered MSP for foodgrains run the risk of breaching the permissible subsidy levels under the WTO’s . 

deminimis

deminimis Minimal amounts of domestic support that are allowed upto 5% of the value of production for developed countries,10% for developing

Air India One

Air India One ( Boeing Business Jet) operated as VIP flights by the Indian Air Force  will be carrying PM Modi to Brazil for BRICS Summit.

Modi to head to Brazil for BRICS summit after budget - The Hindu

Modi to head to Brazil for BRICS summit after budget - The Hindu

Modi to head to Brazil for BRICS summit after budget - The Hindu

Modi to head to Brazil for BRICS summit after budget - The Hindu

Fortaleza

Announcement for The BRICS Development Bank with a  corpus at $100 billion is likely to be announced. 

Friday, July 11, 2014

Chenab River

Chenab is 960 Km long river, originating at Bara Lacha, 4890 m ,a high mountain pass in Zanskar range, Himachal Pradesh.Chandra river (shown) is an upper tributary of Chenab.


tallest Railway Bridge

The world's current tallest railway bridge is over the Beipanjiang River in China's Guizhou province. It is 275 metres high.

Bezbaruah Committee

Bezbaruah Committee has submitted its report, recommending measures to handle violence against persons hailing from North eastern States.

Air Strikes on Gaza

Israel is carrying out air strikes on Gaza to halt indiscriminate rocket fire by Hamas fighters. 101 people have been killed ,700 injured.

Gaza

 Navi Pillay, the UN's human rights chief, expressed alarm at Israel's military operations and the mounting civilian toll in Gaza, as well as the indiscriminate firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel. 

Balance of Payment: India

India’s BOP  improved in 2013-14 with CAD at 32.4 billion (1.7 per cent of GDP) as against $88.2 billion (4.7 per cent of GDP) in 2012-13.

Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act

FRBM( Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) is an Act aimed to eliminate revenue deficit and  to institutionalise financial discipline, improve macroeconomic management and the overall management of the public funds. The Economic  Survey has  called providing (FRBM) Act with teeth

The Economic Survey 2013-14

The Economic Survey 2013-14, has forecasted GDP growth for the year 2014-15 in the range of 5.4-5.9 per cent.

Delhi has become World's Second Most Populous City

Delhi has become World's Second Most Populous City. Tokyo, Delhi  followed by Shanghai with 23 million, and Mexico City, Mumbai and Sao Paulo with 21 million each.
Delhi has  more than doubled its population since 1990 to 25 million.

Polavaram Bill

Polavaram  Bill. paves the way for the Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh by merging some villages and mandals of Telangana with Seemandhra.
205 villages under seven mandals of Khammam district of Telangana  will be merged with Andhra Pradesh. which will  prevent any inter-state dispute.
These villages are likely to be submerged by Polavaram project being built across Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh. 

BIPA

Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPA).India has signed 83 BIPA of which 72 are in force currently.promote FDI

Invitation to Modi

Deputy Secretary of State William Burns met Modi and handed him over Obama's invitation for visit in September with “concrete outcomes”

Smart Cities in India

Smart Cities. Govt has allocated Rs.7,060 crore to develop 100 smart cities and satellite towns. A smart city like Singapore, will  run  on technology for electricity, water, sanitation and recycling, traffic and transport systems, automated building security and surveillance systems and 24x7 high-speed connectivity of Wi-Fi-powered open spaces and houses.
Palava city,in Mumbai,is going  to become the first-of-its-kind partially completed smart city , by 2025.

Chakravarthi Rangarajan's  recommendation.A committee headed by   Chakravarthi Rangarajan, a former chairman of the prime minister’s Economic Advisory Council, and  former RBI governor  , has set up a bench mark for poverty line in rural and urban area.  Under the recommendation, a rural family of five spending less than 4,860 rupees or an urban family spending less than 7,035 rupees,(or Those spending over Rs 32 a day in rural areas and Rs 47 in towns and cities) should be deemed poor. This makes 36 Crore Indians, or 29.5 percent, as poor in 2011-12.

The committee has duly studied government's statistics to ascertain the ability of households to pay for food that provides the minimum nutrition a human needs to function normally. it  includes 48 to 50 grams of protein per person per day, and on education, health care, housing and a range of products including electricity, transport and clothing.

Suresh Tendulkar  committee, in 2011-12, had fixed the poverty line  at Rs 27 in rural areas and Rs 33 in urban areas.

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