Events of National & International Importance
71% voter turnout in J&K, 65% polling in J'khand
1.
71 per cent voting was recorded in the second phase of Assembly elections
in Jammu and Kashmir while it was 65 per cent on the 20 Maoist-affected
constituencies in Jharkhand.
2.
The polling in both the states was by and large peaceful. Deputy Election
Commissioner Vinod Zutshi said.
3.
Total of 18 seats went to polls in the second of the five phases over
which Assembly elections are to be held in J-K.
Punjab to become first state to launch e-Sarkar
1.
Consolidating its plans to ensure absolute e-governance,Punjab would soon become the first state in the country
that has the status of e-Sarkar.
2.
Covering all the 47 departments and its 143 branches with Integrated
Workflow and Document Management System (IWDMS) to process common tasks online.
3.
Besides, 22 treasuries and 74 sub-treasuries across the state have been
connected with the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) to distribute
and sanction budget online.
4.
A three-tier governing mechanism has been institutionalised by Punjab
Infotech for effective implementation and review of this project.
Birds as suicide bombers
1.
Terrorists the world over are known to deploy suicide bombers, or “human
bombs”, to wreak death and devastation on their targets, but have you ever
heard of a bird being used as a suicide bomber.
2.
The Taliban seem to be using such a strategy and the Afghan police
reportedly shot dead a bird which had been equipped by the terrorists with an
explosive pouch, a GPS tracker and a detonator.
3.
The bird had several wires protruding from its feathers, a mobile phone
detonator and a specially designed ‘suicide vest’, the Daily Mail reported.
4.
Alert officers spotted the suspicious-looking bird in the Faryab province
in the north of the country, near the border with Turkmenistan and their
suspicions increased as the large bird is not known to be native to the area.
Economic Development
Lower oil prices will boost global economy: IMF chief
1.
With global crude oil prices tumbling to multi-year lows, IMF chief
Christine Lagarde has said that the fall in oil prices will help boost the
global economy.
2.
Low energy prices will help lift US economic growth to 3.5 per cent next
year, from the October forecast of 3.1 per cent.
3.
She called for political leaders to adopt more job-friendly labour market
reforms, aggressive and innovative monetary policy, and other structural
reforms.
President confers Niryat Shree, Niryat Bandhu Awards
1.
President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the Niryat Shree and Niryat Bandhu
Awards for the year 2010-11 in various categories.
2.
44 companies were given away Niryat Shree Awards and six others were
honoured with Niryat Bandhu for their outstanding performance in the field
of export.
3.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Mukherjee said that exports play an
important role in the country's economic growth.
4.
He said, exporters must ensure that their products are not only
reasonably priced but also score high in terms of quality and durability.
5.
The President said that India has done reasonably well in all parameters
of socio-economic activity and today it has become the third largest economy
in the world in terms of purchasing power.
6.
Appreciating the export sector, Mr Mukherjee said, the average growth rate
of exports during last decade has increased to 17.8 per cent, which was 9.4
.per cent during 1992 to 2002.
UP has 3rd highest employable population: Report
1.
Delhi, Odisha top the list, Chennai has the largest number of employable
people among cities.
2.
Uttar Pradesh has been ranked third among states having the highest employable
population in India.
3.
Other states with a significantly high number of employable people
include Kerala, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry and
Tamil Nadu.
4.
The percentage of employable candidates in UP stood at 48.6 percent.
5.
This has been revealed in the 'India Skills Report 2015' released
jointly by Wheebox, People Strong and Linkedin in association with Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII).
6.
Employability Skill Test (WEST) across 29 states and 7 Union Territories
between August and October 2014.
7.
UP ranked among the top 10 states in employability traits of
communication skills, logical ability, English and computer skills.
8.
The Report claimed more than 75 percent of the test takers in UP were
open for apprenticeship opportunities.
9.
Besides, UP stood amongst the top 5 states for the popular domains of
BTech, ITI, MCA, MBA, MSc, BA, BCA, BCom, BSc and BBA.
10.
The sectors for which UP featured amongst the leading states, included
BPO/KPO/ITeS, manufacturing, banking/financial services and insurance, consumer
goods/durables, engineering and automotive, hospitality, software/IT, and
telecom.
Handmade goods, imports to be under BIS ambit
1.
The central government has proposed to include handmade goods and
certain imports under
the ambit of the Bureau of Indian Standards.
2.
The amendments to the Act, which was first passed in 1986, also propose
to give legal sanctity to the hallmarking of gold jewellery.
3.
Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday said India
needed to set international quality standards to ensure the Make in India brand
sold.
India, Japan spar over higher intellectual property standards
1.
India and Japan locked horns over a higher standard in intellectual
property rights (IPR), with a special focus on the pharmaceutical sector,
at the negotiations for a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
(RCEP).
2.
Japan, also a key participant in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
agreement, is pushing for “extremely stringent standards” for IPR, which are
higher than the limit set under global trading rules, officials told.
3.
India is hosting the RCEP negotiations, which started Monday, for the
first time. The aim is to increase services exports in partner countries by
getting greater market access.
RBI retains growth estimate at 5.5% for 2014-15
1.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has retained its growth estimate for
2014-15 at 5.5 per cent.
2.
The reiteration of growth estimate is based on its expectation of a
normal monsoon. Also, the apex bank is hopeful that there will not be any
adverse supply or financial shocks.
3.
The RBI pointed to the softening of inflation, easing of commodity
prices/ input costs, comfortable liquidity conditions, and rising business
confidence as well as purchasing activity.
Public Health
New HIV cases down by 57 per cent
1.
The number of new HIV
infections in India has come down by 57 percent and related deaths by 25 per cent
in the last decade.
2.
On World AIDS Day, Union Health
Minister J.P. Nadda sought people’s involvement in achieving the ambitious
global goals of zero new infection and deaths.
3.
Launching the helpline number —
1097, a digital resource centre and a supply chain management system for HIV
patients.
4.
The first HIV positive person was reported in 1986 in India which
currently has 2.1
million affected people, the third
highest in the world even as the country’s efforts in restricting its
spread is considered a success by most.
Science & Technology
New Biotech Innovation Reduces Unpredictability in
Biological Circuits
Illustration:
Christine Daniloff/MIT (yeast cell images from National Institutes of Health)
1.
A new biotech device from MIT
reduces the unpredictability of biological components and could ultimately
allow such circuits to behave nearly as predictably as their electronic
counterparts.
2.
Researchers have made great
progress in recent years in the design and creation of biological circuits —
systems that, like electronic circuits.
3.
It can take a number of
different inputs and deliver a particular kind of output, but while individual
components of such biological circuits can have precise and predictable
responses.
4.
One example: cells that could
detect markers that indicate the presence of cancer cells, and then trigger the
release of molecules targeted to kill those cells.
5.
It is important for such
circuits to be able to discriminate accurately between cancerous and
noncancerous cells, so they don’t unleash their killing power in the wrong
places.
6.
To date, that kind of robust
predictability has not been feasible, in part because of feedback effects when
multiple stages of biological circuitry are introduced.
7.
The problem arises because
unlike in electronic circuits, where one component is physically connected to
the next by wires that ensure information is always flowing in a particular
direction.
8.
Biological circuits are made up
of components that are all floating around together in the complex fluid
environment of a cell’s interior.
Editorial
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