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.