Events of National & International Importance
Govt's media managers set to turn news makers
1.
If journalism is about breaking news, you could soon see the government
playing journalist.
2.
Lifting the veil of secrecy and making even sensitive information public.
3.
The media managers of the government will themselves post online the
agenda for Cabinet meetings, inter-ministerial discussions and other key
departmental work.
4.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB), the government wing for
dissemination of information to the media, is undergoing a massive revamp.
5.
The PIB website, pib.nic.in, which gets close to 30,000 hits a
day, will be made technically sound to handle more traffic and multimedia
content like photos, voice files, videos and live feeds.
6.
The idea is to make the site function like a news wire so that speculative
reporting can be curbed.
Sindhu bags Macau Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton Title
1.
Two-time World Badminton Championship bronze medallist P V Sindhu has
lifted her first title of the season.
2.
At Macau, the World Number Eleven successfully defended the 120,000 US
dollar Macau Grand Prix Gold trophy.
Baichung Bhutia conferred with AFC 'Hall of Fame' Award
1.
Former Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia has been conferred with
the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Hall of Fame Award.
2.
He received the award in Manila, Philippines yesterday on the occasion of
afc's 60th anniversary.
3.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter presented the award to Baichung, the only
Indian in the AFC's Hall of Fame.
World AIDS Day: J P Nadda launches Helpline to spread awareness about HIV
1.
Health Minister J P Nadda, said that with awareness about AIDS, it is
very important to ensure that the AIDS patient should not be discriminated on
any grounds.
2.
According to United Nations Report, almost 14 million people
worldwide are now accessing HIV treatment.
3.
The HIV infections have now reduced to 38 percent since 2001.
4.
Around 1.16 million infections among new born babies have been prevented
by providing anti retroviral medicines.
5.
But the other side of the coin is that there are 35 million people living
with HIV today around the world and around 19 million are not aware of the fact
that they have the virus.
6.
So there is a need to spread awareness about AIDS as only it can help
people in a positive way.
Nawaz Sharif kicks off China-Pakistan Eco Corridor with motorway project
1.
China and Pakistan have kicked off their multi-billion dollar Economic
Corridor project that passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
2.
By laying the foundation of a fenced four-lane motorway, setting in
motion a mammoth project connecting the two countries.
3.
The 60-km-long 4-lane fenced Hazara Motorway in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
province would cost $297 million and take two years to complete.
4.
India has expressed its reservations to China over the Corridor as it is
laid through the PoK. China defends the project saying it helps regional
development.
Dubai to invest $32-billion to build world’s largest airport
1.
To further secure its position as the world’s aviation hub, Dubai
Airports is building a whopping USD 32—billion greenfield airport at the
upcoming Dubai World Central.
2.
It is 30 km off the present international airport which already is the
second busiest in the world.
3.
The proposed new airport will become the world’s largest aviation
facility on completion and will have five runways which all will be
simultaneously operational.
4.
On completion, the new airport will be the world’s largest airport, with
each concourse the size of seven football fields and have five runways which
all will be simultaneously operational, all A380-compatible.
Economic Development
750,000 km of cable to connect all villages with broadband
1.
Minister for Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar
Prasad has said that 750,000 km of cable is proposed to be laid over next three
and a half years to provide broadband in every village of the country.
2.
This project aims at digital empowerment of people and will be a game
changer.
3.
MyGov is an internet-based
platform for
citizen engagement launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 26.
4.
India now has about 300 million internet users, which figure is crossing
the number of internet users in the US that is second on this count after China.
5.
He pointed out that while in urban India mobile connectivity is 146
percent, it is only about 46 percent in rural areas.
India China Bangladesh Myanmar economic corridor planned
1.
An India-China-Bangladesh-Myanmar economic corridor has been planned to
get significant gains through sub-regional economic cooperation.
2.
This was also discussed in the Saarc (South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation) summit in Kathmandu.
3.
India and Bangladesh would further come closer through mutual cooperation
in connectivity, energy, trade and business sectors.
4.
India has already announced it would supply 100 MW of power from the
Palatana power plant to Bangladesh as a hallmark of cooperation with Bangladesh.
5.
This ensured the smooth passage of heavy project equipment and turbines
to Palatana through its territory by road and waterways from Haldia port in
West Bengal.
6.
Cooperation is a two-way traffic. If India and Bangladesh help each other
and gradually widen their collaboration, the friendship and relations between
the two neighbours would further become stronger.
Environment & Ecology
High-level
panel counsels caution on GM food crops
1.
The government-appointed High
Level Committee (HLC) to review environmental laws, while proposing a near complete
overhaul of the regulatory system, has sounded a note of caution on genetically
modified (GM) food crops.
2.
Potential consequences of
mindless use of science and technology could possibly be illustrated by
referring to the potential for medium/ long-term adverse affects through
unprepared introduction of GM food crops.
3.
While other Ministries
naturally would aggressively push for early field trials and induction, the HLC
said the role of the Environment Ministry may have to be one of being a Devil’s
Advocate to advise due caution.
4.
It also noted that there are no
independent expert agencies in the country, and perhaps the Ministry of
Environment may ask for greater assurance in respect of potential adverse
effects in the medium and long run.
5.
The HLC takes this aspect of
assurance and good faith further in its new proposed law, the Environment Laws
(Management) Act (ELMA).
6.
It called for the setting up of
a new All India Service called the Indian Environment Service.
7.
The present monitoring regime
is heavily dependent on field verification through ‘inspectors’. It also noted
that the cause of environment preservation is not adequately met by the present
monitoring methods.
8.
The HLC has said forest areas
with 70 per cent or more canopy cover and protected areas should be notified as
‘no go’ areas and suggested a slew of other measures for forest protection.
First
bio-waste powered bus hits the roads in UK
1.
The United Kingdom’s first bus
powered entirely by human and food waste has gone into service between Bristol
and Bath.
2.
Engineers believe the bus could
provide a sustainable way of fuelling public transport — cutting emissions in
polluted towns and cities.
3.
The 40-seater Bio-Bus, which runs
on gas generated through the treatment of sewage and food waste that’s unfit
for human consumption, helps to improve urban air quality as it produces fewer
emissions than traditional diesel engines.
4.
GENeco claim to be the first company in
the UK to start injecting gas generated from food waste and sewage into the
national gas grid network and at the same time installing a gas refuelling
plant for the bus.
Environment & Climate Change
UN
climate summit begins in Peru
1.
Officials from over 190
nations, including India, converged here at the UN climate summit to negotiate
on a new ambitious and binding deal to
cut global carbon emissions.
2.
In the last chance to reach on
a historic deal to be signed next year in Paris.
3.
Negotiations have been ongoing
for 20 years, as the UN continues to bring its member countries together to
help curb the damaging effects of coal burning and petroleum use, among other
sources of pollution.
4.
During the 12—day summit in the
Peruvian capital, countries will put forward what they plan to contribute to
the 2015 pact in the form of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions
(INDCs) by the first quarter of 2015.
5.
The Lima conference needs to
provide final clarity on what the INDCs need to contain, including for
developing countries that are likely to have a range of options from, for
example, sector—wide emission curbs to energy intensity goals.
Science & technology
Star Cluster NGC 3532 – A Colorful Gathering of
Middle-Aged Stars
1.
NGC 3532 is a bright open
cluster located some 1,300 light-years away in the constellation of Carina (The
Keel of the ship Argo).
2.
It is informally known as the Wishing Well Cluster, as it resembles
scattered silver coins which have been dropped into a well.
3.
This very bright star cluster
is easily seen with the naked eye from the southern hemisphere.
4.
It was discovered by French astronomer
Nicolas Louis de Lacaille whilst observing from South Africa in 1752 and was
cataloged three years later in 1755.
5.
It is one of the most
spectacular open star clusters in the whole sky.
6.
NGC 3532 covers an area of the
sky that is almost twice the size of the full Moon.
7.
This grouping of stars is about
300 million years old. This makes it middle-aged by open star cluster standards.
8.
The cluster stars that started
off with moderate masses are still shining brightly with blue-white colors, but
the more massive ones have already exhausted their supplies of hydrogen fuel
and have become red giant stars.
9.
Stars with masses many times
greater than the Sun have lives of just a few million years; the Sun is expected to live for about ten
billion years.
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