15th January, 2010 to 15th February, 2010

15^th January, 2010 to 15^th February, 2010

1. National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan has been appointed Governor of West Bengal. The former Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patel, was appointed Governor of Punjab as well as Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

2. Supreme Court Judge Mr.V.S. Sirpurkar will head a three – member committee that will investigate the grounds for impeachment of Karnataka Chief Justice P.D. Dinakaran whose removal from office has been sought jointly by 75 opposition members in the Rajya Sabha on corruption and land-grabbing charges.

â Justice A.R. Dave, Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court and eminent jurist P.P. Rao are the other members of the panel constituted by Rajya Sabha Chairman.

â The last such inquiry panel set up was in March 2009 for the removal of Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court.

3. The USS Independence is the U.S. Navy’s first ‘Trimaran Warship’ and the latest in its ‘Littord Combat Ship (LCS)’ Class-fast, highly maneuverable vessels capable of tackling a variety of missions in coastal waters.

4. The millennium’s longest annular solar eclipse covered a swathe of 1000 km. The sun was eclipsed for 11 minutes and eight seconds.

â A similar event of a smaller duration is expected to occur in 2019 which will visible in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

â A similar eclipse of this intensity will next occur in only 3043.

5. The Government of Karnataka and Marg Limited signed an agreement to set up a special purpose vehicle for constructing the Greenfield Byapur airport under a Public-Private-Partnership at a cost of Rs. 260 crore.

6. India and Britain have signed Seven ‘Memoranda of Understanding’ as part of a £20 million UK–India Education Research Initiative ( UKIERI) launched in 2006 to strengthen educational links between the two countries by encouraging long-term research collaboration.

15^th January, 2010 to 15^th February, 2010

7. The Ministry of shipping has nominated the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), the Goa-based constituent laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( CSIR), to carry out the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for a new alignment of the Sethusamudram Channel between the Southern tip of India and the northern tip of Sri Lanka.

â The expert committee - chaired by Dr. R.K. Pachauri – established by the Supreme Court to advise on the alignment recommended the National Institute of Oceanography for this task.

8. Ian Rankin is the best – selling writer of Crime fiction in the United Kingdom, accounting for 10% of all its crime book sales. The Edinburgh- based Scottish writer is best known for his 17- novel series featuring Inspector Rebus which has been translated into 22 languages.

9. Mr. Rajapaksa was re-elected as Sri Lankan President for a second term. It was officially declared by the Election Commissioner, Dayananda Dissanayake.

10. APPLE CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the ‘ipad’, a tablet-style computer that resembles the ‘iphone’, but is larger.

11. The brightest and biggest full moon of 2010 was seen on the night of Jan 30, 2010. It was around 15% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons during the year.

12. In a move to contain rising inflation, the RBI hiked the Cash Reserve Ratio ( the portion of deposits that commercial banks are required to keep with the central bank) from 5% to 5.75%. As a result of this CRR increase, about Rs. 36,000 crore of excess liquidity will be absorbed from the system.

13. Serena Williams won the Australian Open title for the fifth time, overthrowing Justine Henin. This victory helped Serena (American) equal Billie Jean Kings mark of 12 Grand Slam singles titles.

14. Historian of America, Howard Zinn who helped inspire the civil rights movement is no more.

15. The Election Commission enters 60^th Year of its existence. It has overseen 15 General Elections and is now a three member body.

16. According to the 2010 ‘Environmental Performance Index’, India ranks 123^rd. Iceland leads the world in addressing pollution control and natural resource management challenges, (China ranks -121; India ranks -123; Brazil ranks -62 and Russia ranks-69). The EPI is produced by a team of environment experts at Yale University Columbia University.

17. The CCEA approved the National Tobacco Control Programme to facilitate the implementation of tobacco control laws and to bring about greater awareness of tobaccos harmful effects.

18. Legendary Cinematographer V.K. Murthy has been chosen for the 2008 Dada Saheb Phalke Award. The other important recipients were :

Devika Rani (1969 – First recipient ); B.N. Reddy (1974 ); L.B. Prasad (1982); Rajkapur (1987); Latamangeshkar (1989); Asha Bhonsle (2000); Manna Dey (2008).

19. A.R. Rahman bags two Grammy awards for the song ‘Jai Ho’ and outstanding soundtrack for the film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

20. World No.1 Roger Federer won his fourth Australian Open Crown over Britain’s Andy Murray in Melbourne. This was his 16^th Grand Slam Title. Federer also became the fifth man to win four or more Australian Open titles, joining Roy Emerson and Jack Crawford, Ken Rosewall and Andre Agassi.

21. Leander Paes equaled the record for most number of Grand Slam triumphs by an Indian as the Veteran and his Zimbabwean partner Cara Black clinched the Australian Open mixed doubles Championship with a straight set win at Melbourne.

15^th January, 2010 to 15^th February, 2010

22. February 2^nd is ‘World Wetlands Day’. It marks the date of the signing of the convention on wetlands on Feb 2, 1971, in the Iranian City of Ramsar.

BACKGROUNDER
Wetlands are areas of marsh, Zen, Peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres.
TYPES OF WETLANDS
Marshes/ Swamps	Water is more or less permanently on the surface and or causing, saturation of the soil. ( e.g., payrus swamp, fen, peatlands )
Shallow lakes	Permanent or semi-permanent water with little flow ( e.g., ponds, salt lakes, volcanic crater lakes)
Coasts	Between land and open sea not influenced by rivers (e.g., shorelines, beaches, mangroves and coral reefs).
Estuaries	Rivers meet the sea and water changes from fresh to salt as it meets the sea ( e.g. deltas, tidal mudflats and salt marches).
Flood plains	Near permanent course of a river that extends to the edge of the valley.

THREATENED WETLANDS ¬ Tanoe Swamps Forests (in Ivory Coast ). ¬ The Ruoergai Marshes ( on the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau ) are one of the worlds largest high altitude peatlands. This regulates the flow of the Yellow River, the Yangtze and the Lancang River and in the livelihood. of millions downstream. ¬ Vembanad Kayal in Kerala is a brackish water system. The wetland system is within a large urban and industrial area in Kerala. ¬ The Jhelum is the lifeline of Kashmir. E.g., Dal lake. ¬ Wular lake : part of Jhelum basin, Kashmir ¬ Loktak lake : the largest wetland of northeastern region of India, was traditionally used for agriculture and fishing and the locals managed its rich biodiversity including highly endangered ungulate species, locally called Sangai. ¬ Chilka Lake : Less water is now flowing into the lagoon, causing saltwater to intrude and the lagoon mouth to choke.

23. Amnesty International has appointed Salil Shetty, an Indian who headed the U.N. Millennium Campaign as its next Secretary General.

24. Haiti, was hit by a fierce earthquake.

BACKGROUNDER â In December 1492, Columbus founded Haiti. â The eastern half of the island became a Spanish Colony ( Modern Dominican Republic ) and the western half became French. â Haiti is located where two tectonic plates ( Caribbean and North American ) meet. They slide along each other producing earthquakes every now and then, including the recent quake.

15^th January, 2010 to 15^th February, 2010

25. Volvo Auto India launched the new four Wheeler, ‘S80’. ‘Volvo is head quartered in Sweden’. Paul De Voijs, is the Managing Director of the Company.

26. Hannover Messe 2010 is a an annual event showcasing nine leading trade shows this year at a single venue in Germany from April 19 to 23. It is organized by Deutsche Messe.

27. Bharat Asmita award instituted by the Maharashtra Institute of Technology was given to P.Sainath.

28. Justice B.N. Sri Krishna heads five – member committee on Telangana issue. The other members are : a) Ranbir Singh : National Law University. b) Abu Saleh Shariff, International Food Policy Research Institute. c) Dr. (Ms.) Ravinder Kaur, IIT Delhi. d) Vinod K. Duggal, former Home Secretary will also function as its Member Secretary. Mr. Duggal is also a member of the Justice Punchhi Commission on Centre-State relations.

29. Russian director Alexander Gutman’s - ‘17 August’ won the Golden Conch for the Best Documentary while ‘The Spell’, directed by Umesh Kulkarni was adjudged the best fiction film at the 11^th Mumbai International Film Festival of Documentary, Animation and short films.

30. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) on Chandrayan-1, which famously discovered the presence of water and hydroxyl molecules on the lunar surface material last year, has now identified a new lunar rock type on the far side of the moon. The M-3 IS A NASA instrument. The rock-type is dominated by a mineral termed as “magnesium spinel”. Spinel is a generic name given to a class of minerals having the chemical formula AB²0₄ and the usual spinel formations found in lunar rocks is an iron-magnesium admixture of the form (Mg, Fe) (Al, Cr)₂ O₄. These rocks are usually found along with magnesium – iron silicate ( olivine) and calcium – rich aluminium silicate ( pyroxene).

31. The Netherlands was the first country to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2002.

â Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland and Thailand joined this select group.

â Physician – assisted suicide, wherein a medical doctor provides patients with the means to kill themselves and enables patients to administer lethal injections themselves is legal only in the state of Oregon in the US., where the Death with Dignity Act 1997 was passed.

32. India’s ultimate ballistic missile – nuclear – capable Agni-5 that can hit an enemy target 5000 km away will be ready for its maiden flight next year.

â The strategic missile, which once developed could hit objects deep inside China. The three stage missile will be slightly longer and heavier than the 3500 km range Agni-3.

â Angi-5 would be India’s answer to China’s Dong Feng-31 and DF-41 which could strike at a distance of 6000 to 8000 km.

33. Dr. K.N. Raj, who was an Economic Adviser to many Prime Ministers of India, passed away. He had set the pace of India’s economic growth story from the first five year plan.

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP (PPP)

Public-Private Partnership (PPP) describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies. These schemes are sometimes referred to as PPP or P3.

In some types of PPP, the government uses tax revenue to provide capital for investment, with operations run jointly with the private sector or under contract (see contracting out). In other types (notably the Private Finance Initiative), capital investment is made by the private sector on the strength of a contract with government to provide agreed services. Government contributions to a PPP may also be in kind (notably the transfer of existing assets).

Typically, a private sector consortium forms a special company called a "Special Purpose Vehicle" (SPV) to build and maintain the asset. The consortium is usually made up of a building contractor, a maintenance company and a bank lender. It is the SPV that signs the contract with the government and with subcontractors to build the facility and then maintain it. A typical PPP example would be a hospital building financed and constructed by a private developer and then leased to the hospital authority. The private developer then acts as landlord, providing housekeeping and other non medical services while the hospital itself provides medical services.

My preparation

1^st January, 2010 to 15^th January, 2010

1. Mota Singh, U.K.’s first Sikh and Asian Judge, has been knighted by the Queen for his services to the administration of justice community relations, and the voluntary sector.

2. The Union Government is examining a proposal to seek Presidential reference to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution to find a legal solution to the demand for a Telangana State. Article 143 of the Constitution says “ If at any time, it appears to the President that a question of law or fact has arisen, or is likely to arise which is of such a nature and of such public importance that is expedient to obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court upon it, he / she, may refer the question to that court for consideration and the court may, after such hearings as it thinks fit, report to the President its opinion thereon.

3. A massive Telescope, with a diameter of 6.5 metres, will be deployed in the sky about 1.5 million km from the earth in 2014 to enable astronomers to study several subjects, including the formation of the first stars and galaxies after the Big Bang that created the Universe, according to John C. Mather joint winner of Nobel Prize for Physics in 2006.

â The Telescope, bigger than the Hubble Telescope, will be called the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST), is named after a former NASA Administrator.

â The JWST is a project of NASA in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency. Arianespace’s Ariane V vehicle will deploy the telescope. Its location is called the Sun-Earth Lagrange point L-2.

â Dr. Mather shared the Nobel Prize with George F. Smoot of the University of California for their work on the understanding of the Big Bang. Dr. Mather was one of the organizers of the Cosmic Background Explorer ( COBE) satellite of NASA, launched in 1989, to measure the cosmic background radiation of the universe.

4. India is pushing for a single legally binding treaty for access to and benefit sharing of biological resources at the 10^th Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to be held at Nagoya, Japan, in October.

â The CBD was one of the key agreements adopted at the 1992 Earth summit in ‘Rio de Janeiro’.

â The convention, while reaffirming the sovereign rights of nations over their biological resources, established three main goals -

a) Conservation of biological diversity.

b) Sustainable use of its components.

c) Fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from the use of generic resources.

â India would also host the 11^th COP ( Conference of Parties ) to the CBD in October 2012 in New Delhi.

5. Delhi C.M. Sheila Dixit inaugurated ‘Twizy Z.E. Concept’, a new electric car from Renault, to be out in 2011 on Indian roads.

6. December 29, 2009 is celebrated as the Golden Jubilee of Nanotechnology. Richard P. Feynman ( Nobel Laureate, 1965) proposed a new kind of technology by assembling things ‘atom by atom’, in today’s terms, ‘molecular nanotechnology’. The terminology, nanotechnology itself came into being in 1974, due to professor Norio Taniguchi.

7. The government has decided to allow greater operational and financial freedom to the public sector companies that qualify as ‘Maharatnas’ – a new category that will have higher performance criteria than applicable to the existing ‘Navaratna’.

1^st January, 2010 to 15^th January, 2010

â The process of speeding up decision-making in government – owned enterprises began in 1997 when ‘nine’ companies were identified as eligible for the exalted status hence the appellation ‘Navratnas’.

â Subsequently, nine more joined. Now, the Maharatnas, to be picked from these companies according to more stringent norms, will get much greater freedom in making financial and managerial decisions such as top appointments and investments in joint ventures up to a ceiling of Rs. 5000 crore.

â The six point eligibility criteria are : a) an existing Navaratna status. b) listing on the stock exchanges with minimum public shareholding as prescribed by SEBI. c) Annual turnover of more than Rs. 25,000 crore for the last three years. d) Average annual net worth of atleast Rs. 15,000 crore. e) Average annual net profit of more than Rs. 5,000 crore for the last three years. f) A significant global / international presence.

â The boards of the ‘Maharatnas’ will have powers for equity investment to establish joint ventures ad wholly owned subsidiaries in India and abroad. They can undertake mergers and acquisitions in India or abroad.

â Government is keen on increased levels of delegated power for the Maharatnas. These PSEs can also fill up most managerial positions without government clearance.

â However, each company will have a ceiling of 15% of its net worth for investment in a project. There will also be a absolute ceiling of Rs. 5000 crore for each project.

â Of the 18 existing Navratnas, six are likely to be elevated to the Maharatna status. These are : a) Indian Oil b) Hindustan Petroleum c) Bharat Petroleum d) NTPC e) ONGC f) Steel Authority of India.

8. Center clears ‘Pepsicos’ $200 m additional investment for expanding its manufacturing capacity, market infrastructure, supply chain and R&D. At present, Pepsico has 43 soft drinks plants in India. It has three plants for ‘snacks business’. For the food, it already has three plants.

9. Two ballistic flights tests of Astra, Beyond-Visual-Range-Air-to-Air Missile ( BVRAAM) were successfully carried out from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), at Balasore, Orissa.

â The missile is envisaged to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft at supersonic speeds in the head-on mode at arrange of 80 km and in tail chase mode at 20 km.

â Astra uses a solid propellant, can carry a conventional warhead of 15 kg. It is the smallest of the missiles developed by DRDO in interms of size and weight ( 3.8 mtr. Long and diameter of 178 mm with an overall launch weight of 160 kg).

10. Bangladesh P.M., ‘Sheikh Hasina Wajed’ is on a visit to India. India and Bangladesh have signed five pacts in the presence of P.M. Manmohan Singh.

â The five agreements relate to mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, transfer of sentenced persons, fight against terror, organized crime and illegal drug trafficking, power cooperation and cultural exchange programmers.

â Ms. Hasina became the PM for the first time in 1996.

â India announced a credit line of $ 1 billion to Bangladesh for strengthening its infrastructure. This is the highest – ever credit line extended to any country.

â It was also agreed that the construction of the proposed Akhaura-Agartala Railway link be financed by grant from India.

â India assured that it will not take steps on the Tipaimukh Hydro Electric Project that will adversely impact Bangladesh.

1^st January, 2010 to 15^th January, 2010

11. The Central government announced inclusion of ‘China and Japan’ in the Market Linked Focused Programme (MLFP) scheme and unleashed incentives worth Rs. 450-500 crore for exporters, especially those in the labour intensive sectors.

12. Russia is endeavouring to become the worlds first nation to build a nuclear powered spacecraft for interplanetary flights. The Russian Government has allocated 500 million rubbles ($ 17 million) in 2010 for designing a nuclear engine and a spacecraft for long space travels. Nuclear powered spacecraft are essential for space travels far from the sun, where getting power from solar energy becomes problematic, and to planets like Mars.

13. The Delhi High Court has held that the office of CJI is a “public authority” that comes within the ambit of the RTI Act and it is bound to provide information about the declaration of asset details by Supreme Court judges.

â The Delhi High Court rejected both the arguments put forth by Supreme Court and pointed out that the 1997 resolution passed unanimously by the judges themselves was considered binding. It also held that the CJI was not acting in a fiduciary capacity but was holding the information by reason of his office, and in any case the content of the declarations was not sought.

â The court also sought to place the RTI on a higher constitutional footing of the fundamental right to freedom of expression under Article 19(1) (a) and not just on the RTI Act.

14. THE MAKING OF THE INDIAN FLAG

The story of the Indian flag is about 150 years old, as old as India’s freedom struggle against the British. The subcontinent was divided into many kingdoms, each with its own flag. There was no flag that represented the emerging nation-India.

The flag of the First Mutiny: The first national flag was designed during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. It was olive green in colour with a pink lotus and a gold insignia. The design was weak and did not reflect the spirit of the Mutiny.

Sister Nivedita’s flag : The need for a flag was once again, very strongly in 1905. In this year life was miserable for the common man due to famine and plague on the one hand, and a highly unpopular viceroy Lord Curzon on other, who wanted Bengal to be partitioned.

Sister Nivedita, an Irish disciple of Swami Vivekananda, captured the feel of the times in a flag design. It was square in shape, and red in colour. It had 108 lamps along the edges and a symbol of a thunderbolt in the centre. The thunderbolt stood for strength and the number 108 is considered auspicious and powerful. The words “Bande mataram” were written on it in Bengali. It was a bold design.

The flag of the Swadeshi Andolan : To protest against the partition of Bengal, another Indian flag was hoisted on 17 August 1906 at a rally in Kolkata. It was rectangular in shape, with three bands of colour green, yellow and red. On the green band, there were eight lotus buds to represent the eight provinces. “Vande mataram” was written on the yellow band in Devanagiri. The red band had a symbol of the sun and a crescent moon. The lotus buds symbolized India, the sun represented the Hindus and the moon represented the Muslims. For years, the Swadeshi Andolan was carried forward under this flag, and the British started identifying the rebels with it.

Bhikaji Cama’s flag : With a national uprising back home, Indian students living abroad also felt that they must unite and raise their voice against the British. Madam Bhikaji Rustom Cama hoisted a flag similar to the Calcutta flag at a meet of the socialist congress in Germany in 1907.

1^st January, 2010 to 15^th January, 2010

Dr. Annie Besant’s flag : By 1917, the freedom struggle gained momentum. Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Dr. Annie Besant of the Home Rule League made a new, ‘in-between’ flag, with the Union Jack in the top left corner on a field of red and green stripes, which had the Saptarishi (Great Bear), the constellation of seven starts as well as a moon with a star on it. This flag did not become popular.

Pingala Venkayya’s flag : In 1921, Mahatma Gandhi approached Pingala Venkayya’s flag mission for a design. He came up with a flag with two stripes, one red and one green with the spinning wheel in the middle. The red colour was for the Hindus and green for the Muslims in India. Gandhi wanted to convey the message of religious oneness through this flag. So a white stripe was added to represent Indians of other religions. White also stood for peace and purity. The charkha stood for self-reliance. The red colour was replaced with saffron as it stood for sacrifice. It was also decided that the national flag should be made of Khadi, the homespun cloth. This flag was used right up to the Salt Satyagraha in 1930.

The Flag Committee Design: In April 1931, a Flag Commission was constituted under Pattabhi Seetaramaiah with Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Abul Kalam Azad and others as members. This Commission recommended that a saffron coloured flag with a spinning wheel in the corner be adopted. But Pingala Venkayya’s flag had become popular during the Quit India Movement. The commission decided not to make too many changes in it. They felt, though that the colours in the flag should stand for ‘values’ rather than ‘religions’. Thus, saffron came to stand for courage and sacrifice, and white for peace and truth, with a deep blue spinning wheel for self-reliance. The green stood for agricultural abundance.

Ashoka’s Chakra incorporated : In June 1947, the Flag Committee suggested that the spinning wheel be replaced with the chakra or wheel from the Sarnath pillar of King Ashoka as it was symbolic of progress, equality, fraternity and justice. This suggestion was accepted on 22 July 1947 and the tricolor in its present form took shape. This was the flag hoisted on 15^th August, 1947 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan – a flag spun by the women of the country.

15. A FEW SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS OF THE YEAR, 2009

â Gene Therapy Comeback : European and U.S. Researchers made progress in treating a fatal brain disease, inherited blindness, and a severe immune disorder by new strategies from gene therapy.

â Monopoles : Physicists working with strange crystalline materials called spin ices created magnetic ripples that model the predicted behaviour of ‘magnetic monopoles’ or fundamental particles with only one magnetic pole.

â LCROSS finds water on moon : Sensors aboard a NASA spacecraft detected water vapour and ice in the debris from a spent rocket stage that researches deliberately crashed on the Moon.

â Hubble Repair : A nearly flawless final repair mission by space – shuttle astronauts gave the

Hubble Space Telescope sharper vision and a new lease of life.

1^st January, 2010 to 15^th January, 2010

TOP TEN SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS OF THE YEAR, 2009 ACCORDING TO THE MAGAZINE SCIENCE. â The research of Ardi, the female fossil, that brought to light Ardipithecus ranidus, a hominid species that lived 4.4 million years ago in Ethiopia. It belongs to an era more primitive to ‘Lucy’. â NASA’s Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope helped to identify previously unknown pulsars –highly magnetized and rapidly rotating neutron starts and shed light onto their unique gamma –ray emissions. â ‘Rapamycin’ – Researchers found that tinkering with a key signaling pathway produces life-extending benefits in nice- the first such result ever achieved in mammals. â ‘Graphene’ – in a string of rapid – fire advances, material scientists probed the properties of graphene –highly conductive sheets of carbon atoms and started fashioning the material into experimental electronic devices. â Plant ABA receptors: solving the structure of a critical molecule that helps plant survive during droughts may help scientists design new ways to protect crops against prolonged dry periods. â LCLS at SLAC : SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory unveiled the world’s first x-ray laser, a powerful research tool capable of taking snapshots of chemical reactions in progress, altering the electronic structures of materials, and myriad other experiments spanning a wide range of scientific fields. â Gene Therapy Comeback : European and U.S. Researchers made progress in treating a fatal brain disease, inherited blindness, and a severe immune disorder by new strategies from gene therapy. â Monopoles : Physicists working with strange crystalline materials called spin ices created magnetic ripples that model the predicted behaviour of ‘magnetic monopoles’ or fundamental particles with only one magnetic pole. â LCROSS finds water on moon : Sensors aboard a NASA spacecraft detected water vapour and ice in the debris from a spent rocket stage that researches deliberately crashed on the Moon. â Hubble Repair : A nearly flawless final repair mission by space – shuttle astronauts gave the Hubble Space Telescope sharper vision and a new lease of life.