News for Oct 2012

• The Kelkar’s committee’s recommendations were made public by the government for an informal debate by the stakeholders.
• India’s heaviest satellite GSAT-10 was launched from the Kourou launch pad in French Guiana in South America. The satellite will boost telecommunications and DTH broadcasting and radio navigation.
• Country’s space based GPS augmentation system GAGAN will start serving air navigation by mid 2013 :
• It is GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) meant for the advancement of air navigation. The system was launched as a payload with GSAT-8 in 2011. It was also launched with recently launched GSAT-10.
• Advantages : 
•  It will modernize air traffic management and communication-navigation-surveillance system.
•  Aircrafts will get more accurate figures while landing, take-off and in-flight.
•  India would join the club of U.S., Europe and Japan who have the same level of space-based augmentation.
• Justice Altamas Kabir was sworn-in as the 39th chief justice of India by President Pranab Mukherjee. He took the position of Justice Sarosh Homi Kapadia, who retired after serving the Supreme Court.
• First National Security Advisor of India , Brajesh Mishra passed away. Mishra (84) was instrumental in making of the foreign policies during the NDA regime of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
• He was Indian permanent representative to United Nation
• He was Indian permanent representative to Geneva, Served Indian ambassador to Indonesia.
• Geographical Indications (GI) Registry: ‘No illegality in granting Darjeeling Tea tag’.
• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has come up with a fresh draft legislation that seeks to do away with the plenary guardianship system(Under this system, a guardian substitutes for the person with disability before the law and takes all legally binding decisions for him or her) and replace it with a limited guardianship system(Under the limited guardianship system, decisions will be made jointly on mutual understanding and trust b/w the guardian and the person with disability). 
• In case of a conflict of interest b/w a person providing support and a PwD in a particular financial, property or other economic transaction, then such supporting person shall desist from providing support to the PwD in that transaction.
• Set up of a National Commission for PwD to devise rules that lay down the criteria of availableness for the physical environment, transportation, information and communications, including appropriate technologies and systems. Like bodies will be set up at the State and district-levels. The Commission will take up issues that breach the requirements of the Act.
• Prof. Banwarilal lal sharma passed away recently in Chandigarh. 
• convenor of the movement named Azadi Bachao Andolan.(against nuclear energy)
• Prohibition in use of animals in Election Campaigns : EC
• India slips to 7th position in Coffee production.(after Brazil,Vietnam,Indonesia,Columbia)
• Arabica and Robusta : Species of coffee
• Scientist  from University of Illinois develop water soluble electronic device : 
• To design such a electro thermal device Magnesium or Mg as the electrical conductor, MgO and Silicon dioxide as dielectrics, specially fabricated nanomembrane silicon semiconductor etc. is usedThe entire device dissolves away when placed in de-ionized water. Researchers used a sheet of silk to pack this device to keep it intact for a set period of time, after which it dissolves in the body water, exposing the electronic device which too dissolves away.
• Implementation : e- waste disposal ,for removal pacemakers no need to have re-surgery.
• Britain Historian Eric Hobsbawm passed away 
• Coined the term long nineteenth century , which began with the French Revolution in 1789 and ended with the beginning of The Great War in 1914.
• Some of his eminent work: 
• The Age of Revolution (1962)
• The Age of Capital (1975) 
• The Age of Empire (1987)
• Age of Extremes (1914 to 1991)
• How to Change the World
• BN Srikrishna committee of Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission Recommendations.
• Ministry of rural development launched a campaign named Nirmal Bharat Yatra  which aims at making the country free from open defecation.
• The yatra began from Wardha District of Maharashtra and will go through Indore, Kota, Gwalior, and Gorakhpur and will conclude in Bettiah district of Bihar.
• As per World Health Organisation and UNICEF: with 626 million  people defecating in the open, India has largest population without access to toilets
• Poor sanitation and hygiene is the single biggest cause of malnutrition in India.
• Sikkim  is the state which has achieved the status of ODF (Open Defecation Free)
• Sanitation Ambassador : Mrs Vidya Balan
• Ministry of water resources and parliamentary affairs released Atlas for six states namely- Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Chattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.
• Atlas named Aquifer Sysytem of India , the Central Ground Water Board has compiled and integrated data on various aspect of ground water since its inception. The atlas gives a panorama and summary of the most important information available for each principal and major aquifer systems and provides aquifer wise ground water scenario. It also gives an account on major issues and challenges which need immediate attention for sustainable management of ground water resources.
• The Atlas will be immensely useful in Regional and National ground water resources planning by the policy makers and anyone who wants to comprehend ground water scenario in the country.
• Law Commission supports Passive Euthanasia :
• As per the Commission, Passive Euthanasia is not objectionable legally or constitutionally.    
• Suggestions were sought after the legalization of Passive Euthansia in Aruna Shanbaug case after SC verdict.
• Suggestions : 
• A “competent” adult patient, who can take an informed decision, has the right to insist that there should be no invasive medical treatment by way of artificial life sustaining measures.
• If patients cannot take a decision on their own, then the decision of the doctors or relatives to withhold or withdraw the medical treatment will not be final.
• Same rule for minor above 16 yrs
• Active euthanasia still remains a crime under Section 302(murder) or 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC, along with the physician who abetted suicide under section 306 IPC (abetment of suicide)
• Euthanasia: It is the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering.
• Passive euthanasia :  common treatments, such as antibiotics, necessary for the continuance of life are withheld.
•  Active euthanasia : lethal substances or forces, such as administering a lethal injection, are used to kill. 
• Union Cabinet approves XII plan
• Growth rate : 8.2%
• Agriculture Sector Growth : 4%
• Manufacturing Sector Growth : 10%
• Final Approval from National Development Council(NDC) is pending
• UN Women unveiled South Asia's 1 virtual knowledge hub in India.
• UN Women is a UN organization established in 2010 with the aim to promote for gender parity and women empowerment. 
• Objectives 
• Help inter governmental bodies in formulation of policies,global standards and norms
• Assist member UN nations to implement required standards,provide financial and technical help
• Facilitate member nations to have regular monitoring
• The Virtual center for women will work online that will provide a common platform to the women representatives living in rural areas to share their problems and experiences. It will be first of its kind in the world which will function in 9 different languages and empower women through audio visual applications. It will boost up their leadership quality. The centre will also have Interactive mobile technology and community radio.
• India successfully test-fired Prithvi-II ballistic missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur of Balasore district, off Odisha coast. 
• India, Austria ink pact on Technology Cooperation in the Shipping and Ports Infrastructure Sector
• Importance : Geographically, Austria can serve as a gateway to upcoming market economies in Central & East Europe. High-end technology is Austria`s bastion in several specialized areas of interest to us, particularly in infrastructure.  
• India can utilize Austria’s technology in the areas like implementation of International Ship & Port Security code, use of radio frequency identification in logistics and transport planning and optical character recognition in terminals to speed up the processing of containers in and out are the areas.  
• The recently approved Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF) will be based on a tripartite agreement b/w developer, lender (bank) and the IDF. The decision has been taken to infusing greater funds into infrastructure development in the country. Loans by the banks would be refinanced by IDF so that the lenders have free funds for more lending bcoz banks lend for 5-7 yrs so IDF will fund for remainder of the life of the project ,for projects that will take 20-25 yrs to complete.The fund would try to gather resources from domestic and off-shore institutional investors, especially insurance and pension funds.
• An IDF may be established either as a trust or company. A trust based IDF (Mutual Fund) would be regulated by SEBI, while an IDF created as a company (NBFC) would be regulated by the RBI.     
• The 12th Plan (2012-17) has pegged the requirement of infrastructure fund at $1 trillion.
• Abdi Farah Shirdon Said has been chosen as the new Prime Minister of Somalia. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who was recently chosen by parliament in a UN-backed process, selected his close ally Shirdon.
• This event is one of the first major steps of the new administration, which brought to an end the eight years of transitional rule by the corruption imbued and Western supported government. After more than two decades of anarchy and war, Somalia's capital Mogadishu has been resurrecting since the Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents left frontline fighting positions. 
• 5+5 Summit calls for greater co-operation b/w member countries at the capital of Malta Auberge de Castille for two days. They discussed several issues including regional security, irregular migration, and ways of strengthening political and economic cooperation in the wake of Arab Spring.
• India successfully test fired naval version of Prithvi missile-Dhanush , from a naval ship off the coast of Balasore, Odisha. The missile is indigenously developed by DRDO.
• The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) rejected the proposal of the Parekh committee on the financing of infrastructure to increase the ceiling on FDI in this sector from current 74% to 100% due to security concerns.
• Recommendations : 
• Allow 100% FDI in Telecommunication.
• The 2G spectrum licencees be allowed external commercial borrowing (ECB).
• Rs 20,000 crore corpus collected for the Universal Service Obligation Fund be used for subsidizing telephone connections for the rural population still not uncovered.
• As per the panel, auction-based investment requires large investment of equity by companies desiring to establish pan-India operations. It reasoned that the current limit of 74% already permits foreign investors to exercise complete control over their telecom companies. In such condition, finding Indians willing to invest large sums to meet the remaining 26% and yet own a minority stake constitutes a major hindrance in getting competitive foreign investment at the right valuation. As per the panel, the move is needed to attract more competitive offers in the proposed auctions and also bolster FDI. Appropriate safeguards could be put in place to address security concerns.
• Sebastin Vettel won the F1 title race of the Japanese Grand Prix.Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for the Austrian racing team Red Bull Racing(Based in England but have a austrian licence) . He is the current World Champion. 
• Swift J1745-26 newly discovered black hole  toward the centre of MIlky way galaxy discovered by NASA's Swift satellite  which detected a rising tide of high-energy X-rays from a source toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy. It is named after the coordinates of its position in the sky. The nova is located a few degrees from the center of our galaxy toward the constellation Sagittarius
• An X-ray nova is a transitory X-ray source that appears suddenly, reaches its emission peak in a few days and then fades out over a period of months. 
• The outburst occurs when a torrent of stored gas suddenly rushes toward one of the most compact objects known, either a neutron star or Black Hole
• In a collaborative effort World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-India and the Uttar Pradesh forest department with the support of HSBC bank  will hold a 3-day programme "My Ganga, My Dolphin"  to count the number of Dolphins in the Ganges in and around UP.
• Ganges River Dolphin or Platanista gangetica : National Animal.
• Locally named : Susu
• Found in Ganges, Meghna and Brahmaputra rivers in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, and the Karnaphuli River in Bangladesh
• River dolphin is a critically endangered species in India and therefore, has been included in the Schedule I for the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• These dolphins are found in Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal (7 states ) and ideal habitats are in the Ganga, Chambal, Ghaghra, Gandak, Sone, Kosi, the Brahmaputra and Kulsi rivers.
• The Indian Navy successfully test-fired the Brahmos  missile from a warship off the Goa coast. It is a 290- km range, supersonic cruise missile, capable of carrying a conventional warhead of 300 kg. The missile is developed by Indo-Russian joint venture.  
• The missile was test-fired from guided missile frigate INS teg.It is a two-stage missile, the first one solid and the second one ramjet liquid propellant. It has already been inducted into the Army and Navy, and the Air Force version is in final stage of trial.
• Free higher education to students who bring honor for the country in Sports events.
• Ministry of HRD also announced launching of a national level university Cricket league and university level Hockey league to promote sports in a big way in the campuses. 
• Human Health issues to be integrated with Convention on Biodiversity: CoP 11(International conference on Biodiversity) held at Hyderabad.
• CoP11 will encourage Taxonomy scientists for identification and cataloging of living species.
• CoP also decided to establish a scientific body to discuss ways and means to integrate Traditional Knowledge to serve the objectives of the convention on biodiversity.
• Nobel Prizes
• India, France ink pact for Sustainable Urban Development.
• Poet-writer Chandrashekar Kambar has been conferred with the Jnanpith Award. The award was given to him in recognition to his contributions to Kannada literature.
• The Jnanpith Award is a literary award. It is one of the two most prestigious literary honours in the country, the other one is Sahitya Akademi Fellowship. The award was instituted in 1961. 
• Any Indian citizen who writes in any of the official languages of India is eligible for the award. The award is presented by the Bharatiya Jnanpith , a trust founded by the Sahu Jain family, the publishers of the The Times of India newspaper.
• World observes first International Day of Girl Child on Oct 11 2012.
• Theme for this year : Ending Child Marriage
• "Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986" amendments : 
• Broaden the scope of the law to cover the audio-visual media and material in electronic form. 
• Penalties to be enhanced to a maximum of 3 years of imprisonment and fine of b/w Rs.50,000 to Rs.1,00,000 for first conviction, and imprisonment of not less than 2 years, but which may extend to 7 years, and a fine b/w Rs.1,00,000 to Rs.5,00,000 for second conviction. 
• Police officers not below the rank of Inspectors authorized to carry out search and seizure, in addition to State and Central Government officers authorized by the State or Central Government. 
• Anil Kumble named Chairman of ICC Cricket Committee replacing West Indies captain Clive Lloyd
• ICC : it is a 16-member committee which meets twice a year to consult on playing matters and offer suggestions to the ICC on technical aspects and rules of the sport.
• “Boosted Board” : World’s Lightest Electric Vehicle by team of Stanford University
• · Travel a distance up to 9 kilometres with a speed of 20 mph
• Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek defeated the Indian duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna to win the ATP Shanghai Masters men's doubles tennis title at Shanghai, China. 
• India was ranked at 65th position out of 79 countries on the Global Hunger Index released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide. 
• The theme of the report was “The Challenge of Hunger: Ensuring Sustainable Food Security under Land, Water, and Energy Stresses”
• China placed at 2nd , Pak at 57th and Sri Lanka at 37th Position
• After Timor-Leste, India with 43.5% of its children less than 5 underweight, stands at 2nd  spot in the list of the 129 countries compared for underweight child.
• Gaganjeet Bhullar clinched the Venetian Macau Open title
• Rodents (member of the Muroidea rodent super family that includes hamsters, gerbils, mice and the common kitchen rat) that detect TB faster than human in Africa in 200th of a second by detecting a distinctive odor if trained properly.
• Rats are also used to detect mines
• GE Healthcare in a partnership with Fortis Healthcare launched eICU or electronic Intensive Care Unit facility –Critinext. 
• Critinext - The fusion of Critical Care Skills, Technology, and Imagination & Compassion is a solution to provide “Intensive Care beyond Boundaries".
• Launced to fill the gap between the number of ICU wards and specialist personnel
• eICU- Critinext equipment is wired to the devices in the local hospital’s ICU, ventilator pumps, patient monitors and the local health information system, if any. All the relevant data regarding the particular patient will be sent to the Central Command Centre, where specialists offer expert advice.
• a teleICU technology.
• Arabic included in the official languages at Vatican in the list of Languages at Pope Benedict's weekly general audiences.
• Monisha Kaltenborn  of Indian origin became the First Woman Team Principal in Formula one  after taking the hold of team Sauber , a swiss Formula one team.    
• took the place of Peter Sauber, the founder of the Sauber team after he stepped down 

France

India and France 

• India, France ink pact for Sustainable Urban Development

Nobel Prize 2012

•  Literature : Chinese author Mo Yan(real name Guan Moye)
•  The Swedish Academy recognized the writer as a one "who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary".
• Works : 
• Red Sorghum
• The Republic of Wine
• Life and Death are Wearing Me Out
• In 2011, the prize was given to Swedish poet Tomas Transtroemer.
• Physics : Serge Haroche of France and David Wineland of America
•  for inventing methods to observe the bizarre properties of the quantum particles without disturbing them. This thing was previously thought unattainable.
• Their inventions are the methods by which quantum particles like atom, electron or photon can be observed while preserving their quantum properties. Earlier, the problem was that these particles after they are separated from surrounding lose their specific properties due to interaction with the environment. But using the novel methods it will now be feasible to separate and observe these particles without destroying their characteristics. 
• The ground-breaking research has already enabled scientists in construction of ultra precise clocks. Its major application can be in the development of new superfast computers based on quantum physics.
• Chemistry : Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka of US
• for studies of an important family of protein receptors, called G-protein-coupled receptors.
• It is an important family of receptors found in human body cells which allow the cell to sense and respond to outside chemical signals like adrenaline(hormone produced during stress Chemical name: aminohydroxyphenylpropionic acid; formula: C₉H₁₃NO₃ US name epinephrine ). The human body has about 1,000 kinds of such receptors, some receptors are in the nose, tongue and eyes, and help in sensing smells, tastes and vision.
• The study will be helpful in enhancing the understanding of modern pharmacology as well as how cells in different parts of living organisms can react differently to external stimulation, such as light and smell, or the internal systems which control our bodies such as hormones. The study could be particularly helpful in the development of new and better pharmaceuticals as about half of all medications achieve their effect through G-protein-coupled receptors.
• Economics : Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley of U.S. 
• for studies on the match-making that takes place when doctors are coupled up with hospitals; students with schools; and human organs with transplant recipients. 
• This Prize has been given to them “for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design”. The work is concerned with the best possible way to allocate resources, such as in school admissions or organs to patients who need transplants. It was a form of economic engineering, designing markets for situations where traditional market mechanisms based on price are not applicable or do not work well. Matching is a fundamental property of many markets and social institutions. For eg. matching jobs to workers, husbands to wives, doctors to hospitals, kidneys to patients etc. 
• Peace Prize : European Union
• for furthering peace in the continent after World War II.
• now EU is a union of 27 nations.During WW II it was torn apart.

International Organisations

5+5 Countries 

• It is a group of 10 nations, 5 from Europe and another 5 from North Africa. The 5+5 initiative was first proposed by France in the 1980s. Its members include France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Malta from Europe  and five countries from Maghreb in North Africa - Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania the forum in 1991. Among these, Portugal and Mauritania are the countries which do not actually border the Mediterranean, but they do have cultural links with their Mediterranean neighbors.

Finance Terms and commitees

Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission 

• FSLRC was set up in March 2011, to recast the financial sector legislations in tune with the contemporary requirements of the sector.
• Headed by B N Srikrishna
• Recommendations :
•  Key regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) should be merged into a Unified Financial Agency (UFA). 
• Establish a Financial Redressal Agency  (FRA) to look into consumer complaints against companies across the financial sector.
• Set up independent Debt Management Office (DMO) and a Financial Sector Appellate Tribunal (FSAT) to hear appeals against regulators.
• Establish five new regulating agencies namely UFA, FSAT, FRA, DMO and Resolution Corporation.
• Need for separating the adjudication function from the mainstream activities of a regulator in order to achieve a greater separation of powers.

Apr 2013 : General Knowledge

• Union Minister of Culture :  Chandresh Kumari Katoch
• Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe  : Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Sri Lanka.
• Bharat Stores by P. Sheshadri :  Best regional film award in the 60th National Film Awards.
• Dr Aswani Kumar : Union minister of Law and Justice
• Treaties on Civil and Commercial Matters by India have already been signed with France, U.A.E., Russia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Mongolia, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan.
• Union Minister of Shipping : G K Vasan
• National Maritime Day : 5th April 
• Kerala CM : Oommen Chandy
• CBI Director  : Ranjit Sinha. 
• DP Kohli Award for the Best Detective Constable of CBI
• CBI came into being : Apr 1 1963 
• South Korean President  : Park Geun-hye
• Italian President : Giorgio Napolitano
• Kenya President : Uhuru Kenyatta
• Japan Prime Minister :  Shinzo Abe
• Nishat Majumder, who, on May 19, 2012 became the first Bangladeshi woman to reach the peak.
• First man to fly over Everest, Douglas Douglas-Hamilton in 1933.
• North Korean leader :  Kim Jong Un
• North Korea Capital : Pyongyong
• 2nd April : World Autism Day(by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior.)
• Nicolas Maduro : Venezuela President
• French Prime Minister :  Jean-Marc Ayrault
• Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) :  Hyderabad
• UP governor : B L Joshi
• Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar
• Governor Bihar : D.Y. Patil 
• Governor of Tripura : Devanand Konwar
• CM of Tripura : Manik Sarkar.
• Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy : CM of Andhra Pradesh
• Virbhadra Singh : CM of HP
• Chief Minister of Odisha : Biju Patnaik
• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
• Goolam Essaji Vahanvati is the Attorney General of India. He is the first Indian Muslim to hold the post of Attorney General
• Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff
• Fifth BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit March 2013 in Durban.
• Cyprus President :  Nikos Anastasiades
• World Bank President  : Jim Yong Kim
• IMF Managing Director : Christine Lagarde
• First GreenField Airport : Karaikal (Puduchery)
• Chief Election Commissioner : V S Sampath
• Enrico Letta : Pm of Italy (Apr 2013)
• State Duma : Lower House of Russia
• Federal Council of Russia : Upper House of Russia
• The largest desalination(Salt water is desalinated to produce fresh water suitable for human consumption or irrigation.) plant in South Asia is the Minjur Desalination Plant(use reverse osmosis process) near Chennai in India, which produces 36.5 million cubic meters of water per year on  the coast of Bay of Bengal.
• The world's largest desalination plant is the Jebel Ali Desalination Plant (Phase 2) in the United Arab Emirates.

24-30 Apr 2013

• Reliance Jio Infocomm, the broadband subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), signed an indefeasible right to use (IRU) agreement with Bharti Airtel to use the latter’s i2i submarine cable for its 4G service for an unspecified amount.
• Legendary singer Shamshad Begum, one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry and voice behind hit songs like ‘Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon’, ’Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar’ and ‘Kajra Mohabbat Wala’, has died
• Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and State Agricultural Universities have developed several early maturing varieties of crops which perform well under moisture stress/drought conditions. In rice techniques like System Rice Intensification (SRI), direct seeded rice (DSR), aerobic rice, alternate wet and drying (AWD) conditions are being standardized which require less water than normal transplanted rice.
• Enrico Letta deputy leader of Central- left Democratic Party asked to form government in Italy.
• Hewlett-Packard on Wednesday launched for business in India its latest range of Officejet Pro X 500 series printers that are recognised as world's fastest desktop printer by Guinness Book of Records.It Prints 70 pages per minute
• The International Criminal Police Organisation, popularly known as Interpol, is in the advanced stages of developing I-Checkit, a product verification tool that is linked to a database of identifying information supplied by the manufacturer of the given product.
• China's top oil refiner, Sinopec, has successfully flown a plane using a newly developed variant of biofuel made from palm oil and recycled cooking oil. 
• China is now the fourth country in the world to have developed aviation biofuel, following the United States, France and Finland
• The use of liquid sodium as a coolant in fast breeder reactors has been made safer, due to — electrochemical hydrogen meter — developed by scientists at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam, off Chennai.
• Liquid sodium metal, not water, is used for extracting heat from the extremely hot core (where nuclear fission takes place) of a breeder reactor. Aside from other properties, liquid sodium has excellent heat transfer properties compared with water
• The liquid metal at about 550 degree C transfers the heat to water in the secondary circuit to generate steam; the steam eventually runs the turbine 
• The pressure on the sodium side is low (1 bar) as the liquid sodium is at an operating temperature of 550 degree C, well below the 883 degree C boiling point. However, at about 160 bar, the pressure on the steam side is very high. But all that separates sodium and steam is a thin (4-5 mm) ferretic steel tube through which steam flows. 
• There is a possibility, even if remote, of tube failure. Steam, which is at a higher pressure than sodium, tends to leak into the coolant when the tube develops a leak. On reaction with sodium, hydrogen and sodium hydroxide are formed. Sodium hydroxide, which is a caustic material, further aggravates the problem. Due to its low melting point, sodium hydroxide turns into a molten material at the site of the crack causing further corrosion of the tube.
• Hence the presence of dissolved hydrogen in sodium is continuously monitored to detect the initiation of a leak
• The sensor can measure hydrogen down to 70 parts per billion in sodium
•  Hydride ion-conducting solid electrolyte is needed for measuring dissolved hydrogen concentration in sodium at elevated temperatures.
• Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar” (RGGSP)) were conferred upon the best performing States and Panchayats.
• The Panchayat Strengthening Index Awards (PSI) were given to States this year. Under the Cumulative PSI Awards 1st Prize is won by Maharashtra, while 2nd Prize is bagged by Karnataka, 3rd Prize Kerala and 4th Prize Tripura.
• India and United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed an MoU on Air Services
• TechVIL established by CSIR under the scheme CSIR-800.
• The Railways have cut by half to 60 days, the maximum period for advanced reservation of tickets with effect from May 1.
• Foreign tourists would continue to enjoy the facility of booking ticket 360 days in advance.
• The Railways have retained the lower time limit for reservation for certain trains such as the Taj Express and the Gomti Express.
• BSB, a joint-venture between Bharti Enterprises and SoftBank Corporation, focused on the mobile-internet space, today announced USD 7 million fresh investment in hike, its free messaging app.
• WHO launches regional programme in SE asia to tackle malarian parasite (falciparum is a protozoan parasite) that has become resistant to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), the global standard treatment for the disease
• A collaborative effort between The World Bank, the Planning Commission, the Centre, including other CEM partner led to the launch of a South-South-North Knowledge Exchange (SSNKE) facility during the 4th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) held in the New Delhi recently.
• United Bank of India (UBI) would apply for licences to the Reserve Bank of India for opening overseas branches in South Africa, and BRIC countries.
• Disney India, on Thursday, tied up with realty firm Supertech for a Disney-themed housing project in Greater Noida
• Samsung to block access to app store in Iran.
• The U.S. blacklist has been compiled under the so-called Magnitsky Act passed last year. It was named after Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison after blowing the whistle on a multimillion tax scam organised by corrupt Russian officials. Russia retaliated by adopting an “anti-Magnitsky” law that mirrored U.S. sanctions and also banned American adoptions of Russian orphans.
• The International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) conferred its lifetime achievement award on Jai Chandiram( IAWRT’s first Asian president), former Deputy Director General of Doordarshan
• Indian Railways have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) for jointly developing bio-toilets.( Bio-Digester or Bio Toilet, the human wastage is decomposed in a pit using bacteria to convert them into bio gas and water.)
• After a gap of over 20 months, India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) -- three large democracies from three different continents – will meet at the summit level at India on June 6.  This will be the sixth IBSA Summit with the first one held in Brasilia in 2006
• Kisan Credit Card norms simplified : 
• As per the revised Scheme, the KCC is valid for five years subject to an annual review. The farmer is required to furnish one-time documentation at the time of first availment of loan and, thereafter, simple declaration about crops raised/proposed is required to be given from the second year onwards issued by RBI and NABARD.
• Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has informed that the insurance coverage to AYUSH treatments has been facilitated
• Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project now starting its first phase at Jhajjar in Haryana.
• Setup in 2007 by NTPC
• A Leaf turns Yellow” edited by Shri Muzaffar Ali 
• the book is a thoroughly researched account of Sufism in (erstwhile) Awadh, India and introduces to its history, traditions, sub-cultures, institutions and poetry

Short Terms : April 2013

Thuraya Satellite Phone 

• Thuraya from the Arabic name Thurayya meaning Star, is an international mobile satellite services provider based in the United Arab Emirates.
• Use of Thuraya Satphones was banned in India in 2010, after the company failed to convince the Indian government that its services could not be abused by terrorists targeting India.

Armed Forces ( Special Powers) Act 

• The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), was passed on September 11, 1958, by the Parliament of India. It grants special powers to the armed forces in what the act terms as "disturbed areas" in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. It was later extended to Jammu and Kashmir as The Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990 in July 1990.
• According to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), in an area that is proclaimed as "disturbed", an officer of the armed forces has powers to:
• After giving such due warning, Fire upon or use other kinds of force even if it causes death, against the person who is acting against law or order in the disturbed area for the maintenance of public order,

• Destroy any arms dump, hide-outs, prepared or fortified position or shelter or training camp from which armed attacks are made by the armed volunteers or armed gangs or absconders wanted for any offence.

• To arrest without a warrant anyone who has committed cognizable offences or is reasonably suspected of having done so and may use force if needed for the arrest.

• To enter and search any premise in order to make such arrests, or to recover any person wrongfully restrained or any arms, ammunition or explosive substances and seize it.

• Stop and search any vehicle or vessel reasonably suspected to be carrying such person or weapons.

• Any person arrested and taken into custody under this Act shall be made over to the officer in charge of the nearest police station with the least possible delay, together with a report of the circumstances occasioning the arrest.

• Army officers have legal immunity for their actions. There can be no prosecution, suit or any other legal proceeding against anyone acting under that law. Nor is the government's judgment on why an area is found to be disturbed subject to judicial review.

• Protection of persons acting in good faith under this Act from prosecution, suit or other legal proceedings, except with the sanction of the Central Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act.

United Nations Arms Trade Treaty

• U.N. passed (with 154 members voting ‘Yes’; three — Iran, Syria and North Korea — voting no; and 23, including India, abstaining )an unprecedented arms trade treaty (ATT) to better regulate the international sale in weapons.
• In addition to India, the nations that abstained included China, Egypt, Myanmar, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka. Pakistan voted in favour of the treaty.
• Restricting arms movement to and from areas where groups are suspected of violation of human rights. 
• India's Stance : 
• The adopted treaty text covers weapons such as tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large-calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, and small and light arms
• However it does not explicitly cover predator drones and grenades. 
• Ammunition exports are subject to the same criteria as the other included items, although its imports are not covered.  

Ricin

• From the castor oil plant Ricinus communis, is a highly toxic, naturally occurring protein.
•  A dose the size of a few grains of table salt can kill an adult human.
•  Oral exposure to ricin is far less toxic and a lethal dose can be up to 20–30 milligrams per kilogram. 
• Abrin is a toxin similar to ricin, but more toxic, that is found in the highly ornamental rosary pea.
•  Acting as a toxin by the inhibition of protein synthesis.
• Ricin is classified as a type 2 ribosome inactivating protein (RIP).
• Using ricins in the treatment of cancer, as a so-called "magic bullet" to destroy targeted cells

Proxy Voting

• Proxy voting is a form of voting whereby some members of a decision-making body may delegate their voting power to other members of the same body to vote in their absence, and/or to select additional representatives.
• In 2003, India's People's Representative Act was amended to allow armed forces personnel to appoint a proxy to vote on their behalf.

Mealy Bug

• Mealybugs are insects in the family Pseudococcidae, unarmored scale insects found in moist, warm climates. They are considered pests as they feed on plant juices of greenhouse plants, house plants and subtropical trees and also acts as a vector for several plant diseases.
• In April 2013 : Outbreak of these pests found in papaya, hibiscus, sorrel leaves, tomato, brinjal etc. in Tamil Nadu.

Farm Pond

• The farm ponds are constructed at the lower side of the fields and the runoff from the higher side of the fields are channelised into the pond.
• Farm ponds play big role in tiding over droughts. 

Green Field Project

• In many disciplines a greenfield is a project that lacks any constraints imposed by prior work. The analogy is to that of construction on greenfield land where there is no need to remodel or demolish an existing structure.
• A greenfield investment is the investment in a manufacturing, office, or other physical company-related structure or group of structures in an area where no previous facilities exist.
• In wireless engineering jargon, a greenfield is a project which lacks any constraints imposed by prior networks.

Capital Control 

• Any measure taken by a government, central bank or other regulatory body to limit the flow of foreign capital in and out of the domestic economy
• This includes taxes, tariffs, outright legislation and volume restrictions, as well as market-based forces. Capital controls can affect many asset classes such as equities, bonds and foreign exchange trades.

Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor 

• Ahmedabad-Dholera (Gujarat), Shendra-Bidkin (Maharashtra), Manesar-Bawal (Haryana), Khushkhera-Bhiwadi-Neemrana (Rajasthan), Pithampur-Dhar-Mhow (Madhya Pradesh), Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) and Dighi (Maharashtra). These are the first seven National Manufacturing Investment Zones (NMIZs), spanning the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). 

M-Wallet

• Mobile wallet which is also abbreviated as M-Wallet, is a an electronic account that is linked to a person’s mobile phone in which money can be electronically deposited and the same can be used as cash

Specific Absorption Rate 

• Specific absorption rate is the measure of the rate at which energy is absorbed by the body when exposed to a radio frequency (RF) in electromagnetic field.
• Power absorbed per mass of tissue and its unit is Watts per kilogram (W/kg).
• It has suggested SAR limit for mobile handsets of 1.6 watt/kg averaged over a 6 minutes period and taken over a volume containing a mass of 1 gram of human tissue.
• The electromagnetic radiation pervading the environment is now increasingly realized and this has added to the list of another pollutant in the environment i.e. electro Pollution.

Article 62 and 63 of Constitution of Pakistan

• As per Article 62(g) of Constitution of Pakistan: Qualifications for membership of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament): 62 (g): he has not, after the establishment of Pakistan, worked against the integrity of the country or opposed the ideology of Pakistan.
• As per Article 63 of Constitution of Pakistan:Disqualifications for membership of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament):
• (h)   he has been, on conviction for any offence involving moral turpitude, sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release; or       
• (i)    he has been dismissed from the service of Pakistan or service of a corporation or office set up or, controlled, by the Federal Government, Provincial Government or a Local Government on the grounds of misconduct, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his dismissal; or       
• (j)   he has been removed or compulsorily retired from the service of Pakistan or service of a corporation or office set up or controlled by the Federal Government, Provincial Government or a Local Government on the ground of misconduct, unless a period of three years has elapsed since his removal or compulsory retirement.

VOR - VHF Omni Directional Range

• Short range radio navigation system
• Utilizes radio frequencies in the VHF band from 108 – 117.95 MHz.
• Standard air navigational system in the world
• Used for both commercial and general aviation
• VOR stations are fairly short range: the signals have a range of about 200 miles.
• Relies on the ground based transmitters which emitted signals to VOR receiver.
• VOR is used to enhance the visibleness at the time of landing and takeoff by the airplanes at the airport.  Radio signals transmitted by a network of fixed ground radio signals and receiver unit in a plane receives them and in turn assists the pilot in determining the position of the airplane and thus stays on course.

DNA Profiling

• DNA profiling (also called DNA testing, DNA typing, or genetic fingerprinting) is a technique employed by forensic scientists to assist in the identification of individuals by their respective DNA profiles. DNA profiles are encrypted sets of numbers that reflect a person's DNA makeup, which can also be used as the person's identifier.
• DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, is found in every cell with a nucleus in all living things. DNA consists of a chain of four different chemical compounds (adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine) that appear in pairs known as base pairs. The unique order in which a person’s  base pair are arranged determines physical characteristic like sex and hair color, as well as other genetic traits such as predisposition to certain diseases.

Minimum Alternate Tax(MAT) And AMT

• Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) is levied on companies as per section 115JB of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1961. And Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) is levied on limited liability partnerships (LLPs) as per section 115JC.
• MAT : If the income-tax payable by a Company, on the total income as computed under this Act in respect of any previous year relevant to the assessment year commencing on or after the 1st day of April, 2011, is less than 18.5% of its book profit.

i2i

• i2i is a submarine telecommunications cable connecting India to Singapore. This cable is owned by Bharti Airtel Limited of India.
• The Cable consists of 8 fibre pairs using DWDM Multiplexing with full capacity of 8.4 Tbit/s when all 105 wavelengths are used. 

System of Rice Intensification

• The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a methodology aimed at increasing the yield of rice produced in farming
• Principles included applying a minimum quantity of water and the individual transplanting of very young seedlings in a square pattern

Direct Seeding of Rice

• In traditional rice cultivation, rice is sprouted in a nursery; sprouted seedlings are then transplanted into standing water. With direct seeding, rice seed is sown and sprouted directly into the field, eliminating the laborious process of planting seedlings by hand and greatly reducing the crop’s water requirements.

Aerobic Rice

• Aerobic rice is a production system in which 
  especially developed “aerobic rice” varieties are 
  grown in well-drained, non-puddled, and non-
  saturated soils
• Target Areas : 
• Favourable Uplands
• Fields on upper slopes rainfed lowlands
• Water short irrigated lowlands.

Magnitsky Act

• The Magnitsky Act, formally known as the Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, is a bipartisan bill which was passed by the U.S. Congress in November–December 2012
• In 2009, lawyer and auditor Sergei Magnitsky died in a Moscow prison after investigating fraud involving Russian tax officials
• Intention behind Law : prohibit their entrance to the United States and use of their banking system
• Bill was sponsored by Senator : Ben Cardin
• Russian Reaction : 
• proposal to similarly deny entrance to Americans guilty of gross human rights violations.
•  On December 19, 2012, the State Duma(lower house) voted 400 to 4 to ban the international adoption of Russian children into the United States. The bill was unofficially named after Dmitri Yakovlev(Chase Harrison), a Russian toddler who died in 2008 of heat stroke after neglect from his adoptive American father
• Both passed list of 18 nationals of each other country facing ban.

United Arab Emirates

India and UAE

• India and United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed an MoU on Air Services
• 
  

News for April 2013

• Harmanpreet kaur  : Captain of India's Women Cricekt Team
• J & K recommend to include Gojjri in 8th Schedule of constitution.
• For SHG KYC norms will be only verified for office bearers.
• NTPC : most efficient MahaRatna of 2012 by Dalal Street Investment Journal
• ILEAL interposition : potent weapon to fight Type 2 Diabetes(less insulin produced)
• As per the IRDA (General Insurance – Reinsurance) Regulations 2013, Foreign reinsurers who have a credit rating of at least BBB from Standard & Poor’s Corp. or an equivalent rating by any other international agency for the past five years, can reinsure(insurance to Insurance Companies) Indian insurers.
• In the reinsurance framework, multiple insurance companies share the risk by purchasing insurance policies from other insurers in order to limit the total loss the original insurer would face in the case of a disaster.
• India Ratings, formerly known as Fitch India, is a wholly owned subsidiary of global ratings major Fitch Group.
• UN Arms Trade Treaty  passed in UN : 
• 154 voted YES
• 3 said NO : Syria,Iran,N Korea
• 23 including India,China,Myanmar,Egypt,Russia,Sri Lanka etc abstain
• Pak voted in favour.
• Covers :
• Under its ambit, the ratifying nations are required to accept fixed international standards for conventional weapons sales, linked to the protection of human rights.
• The treaty covers weapons such as tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large-calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, and small and light arms.
•  However, the treaty doesn’t explicitly cover predator drones and grenades.
• Karatmeter (also spelt as caratometer): 
• A scientific and non-destructive method for testing the purity of Gold.
• Uses X-rays to give an exact reading of the purity of gold in about 3 minutes.
• Other ways to determine the gold content include – melting Gold down, the touchstone method or XRF (x-ray fluorescence) method.
• Novartis AG – The Swiss drug maker’s 7-year fight to win an Indian patent for its megahit  anti-cancer drug “Glivec ” finished with the Supreme court dismissing the company’s appeal.
• The Supreme Court ruled that the Novartis’s application for patent on the beta-crystalline salt was known prior to 1995 through an earlier patent Novartis held, and therefore the company can’t be given any patent for this drug for being novel
• Brand Trust Report , India study 2013 : 
• Nokia,Samsung,Sony
• Mapathon  2013 was a contest from Feb 12, 2013 – Mar 25, 2013  in which Google asked users to add information about their local areas for its online map services.
• Reliance Jio Infocomm (owned by Mukesh Ambani) and Reliance Communications (owned by Anil Ambani) inked a definitive agreement for Rs. 1,200 crore for sharing of Rcom’s nationwide optic fiber network. Rs. 1,200 crore as one time indefeasible right to use (IRU) fees for sharing RCOM’s nationwide inter-city fiber optic network infrastructure.
• Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJI), (formerly Infotel Broadband), won 4G spectrum for pan-India services in 2010, but the company is yet to launch its services. 
•  Uhuru Kenyatta sworn in as Kenya’s fourth Presiden. Uhuru won with 50.07% of the vote, but the win was challenged by outgoing PM Raila Odinga and civil society groups, who complained of myriad anomalies in the voting process, but the Supreme Court upheld Kenyatta’s win.
• NPHCE launched during 11th Plan period by The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare  keeping in view the recommendations made in the “National Policy on Older Persons”  as well as the State’s obligation under the “Maintenance & Welfare of Parents & Senior Citizens Act 2007”.
• Govt. announced that the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT)  subsidy scheme to be being extended to 78 more districts in July 2013.
• Rolled out in 43 districts in Phase I in January, 2013.
• LPG subsidy will be included in this as the scheme is expanded in a phased manner to cover 20 districts by May 15, 2013.
• The scheme will be expanded to include post offices from October, 1 2013.
• Former Pakistan President Gen. (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s nomination papers for upcoming general elections were rejected for the second time.
• Musharraf had twice violated and subverted the Constitution by violating Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan, which specify that candidates should have a "good character" and be "sagacious, righteous and non-profligate". 
• Musharraf is also an accused in 4 cases, including the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
• P J Kuriewn,Deputy Chairman of Rajya sabha is elected as the Chairman of Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development(AFPPD).He replaced Yasuo Fakuda ,former PM of Japan.
• VOR = VHF Omni Directional Range; VHF = Very High Frequency was commissioned recently by the Airport Authority of India at Ludhiana Airport, Punjab.
• Odisha Legislative Assembly adopted a Resolution for Special Category Status for second time.
• Religion, Law & Society- Across the Globe : , a book authored by Prof. Tahir Mahmood was released by The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari. The book provides insights into a range of complex and inter-linked matters of constitutional and socio-legal importance.
•  Pran Krishan Sikand, popularly known as Pran will be conferred with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
• Pran is the 60th film personality to receive this honour.  In 2011, Soumitra Chatterjee was honored with this award and then in the year 2012, no one was conferred this award.
• Conferred yearly by the Government of India  for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.
• President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the status of ‘Miniratna – Category 1′ on the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (Neepco).
• Miniratna - Category I
• Criteria : : PSEs (Pubic Sector Enterprises) which have been making profits continuously for the last 3 years or earned a net profit of Rs. 30 crore or more in one of the 3 years.
• Benefits granted : : Granted certain autonomy viz. incurring capital expenditure without government approval up to Rs. 500 crore or equal to their net worth, whichever is lower
• Category II
• Criteria : : PSEs which have been making profits for the last 3 years continuously and having a positive net worth.
• Benefits granted : :  Autonomy of incurring the capital expenditure without government approval up to Rs. 300 crore or up to 50% of their net worth whichever is lower.
•  Legendary anti-British revolutionary and Chittagong Armory raid famed Binod Bihari Chowdhury (102) passed away.
• Citizenship:  Bangladeshi
• Titles: Biplobi , Agnipurush
• Recipient of Independence Day Award  the highest civilian award in Bangladesh.
• Early 1930: Binod Bihari Chowdhury joined the anti-British revolutionary group “Jugantar”  
• PM visited Germany and many documents Inked.
• Andhra Pradesh: ‘Amma Hastham’ scheme for white cardholders 
• 9 essential item mentioned in the scheme includes a kilo of :
• 1 kg toor dal, 1 litre palm oil, 1 kg whole meal atta, 1 kg wheat, half kg sugar, 1 kg salt, quarter kg chilli powder, half kg tamarind and 100 grams turmeric powder.
• Manipur bags overall team Champion for 22nd time in North East Game 2013
• World Bank would lend b/w $3 to 5 billion every year to India under a new 4-year plan that focuses on poverty alleviation in 7 low-income Indian states: Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
• Sir Robert Edwards (87), who eveloped the technique of in vitro fertilisation with Dr Patrick Steptoe passed away. He pioneered In vitro fertilisation (IVF) technique helped in the birth of Louise Brown in 1978, the first test tube baby and then bring more than 4 million children into the world.
• Robert G. Edwards was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2010 for the development of IVF.
• The process requires supervising a woman’s ovulatory procedure, taking out ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from the woman’s ovaries and allowing sperm fertilize them in a fluid medium in a laboratory.
• WTO Global Trade Growth Forecast for 2013 Lowered to 3.3%
• Sania joins as 4th Vice President of of ITPA(Indian Tennis Player Association) along with 
• Leander Paes
• Mahesh Bhupathi
• Somdev Devvarman
• President of ITPA: Jaideep Mukherjea
• The existing structure of tennis administration in India i.e. All India Tennis Association (AITA governing body of Tennis in India), is unable to represent or adequately address contemporary issues faced by the players in the India. Thus, there was a need for a separate body like ITPA which is modelled on the  functioning of the ATP, which encourages players to make decisions for the benefit of the sport.
• Pioneering Polio Vaccine Developer Hilary Koprowski passes away
• Union Government approved a project for creation of NOFN (National Optical Fibre Network) that will help in connecting all the 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in India via Optical Fibre Cable (OFC).
• Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) is the SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) for the implementation of NOFN.
• Contribution of Union Govts via furnishing of free Right of Way (RoW) for setting OFC. 
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recognized Somalia’s new government after a 22 year break in relations with the once disorderly nation. 
• The U.S. officially acknowledged the African nation’s new government in January 2013, the first time the U.S. had acknowledged a Somali government since 1991, when warlords overturned longtime authoritarian Siad Barre and then turned on one another.
• The IMF declared it was acknowledging the Somali government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who took office in September 2012.
• The piglet, known as ’Pig 26′ created via a process called ‘gene editing’ at Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute which is immune to disease
• It is immune to African swine fever which can kill within 24 hours of infection.
• It is conceived that the development of piglet ‘pig 26’ , could pave the way for future development of GM meat.
• India’s first and ONLY Women Chief Election Commissioner (from Nov 26 1990 to Dec 11 1990)V S Ramadevi passed away.
• ‘Baby Nobel’ or Won John Bates Clark Medal for Delhi-born US economist Raj Chetty Prof in Harvard University
• Supreme Court orders transfer of some Asiatic Lions from Gujarat’s Gir to MP’s Kuno
• Sahara Q Shop: The retail business of Sahara India Pariwar, recently entered into the Guinness World Records as it opened record 315 outlets in 10 states of India, just at one time on April 1, 2013.
• Sher-i-Kashmir Award: Navjot becomes youngest recipient athlete of Jammu and Kashmir to be conferred
• International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest release of the  World Economic Outlook (WEO)  slashed the economic growth projection of India to 5.7% for the calendar year 2013, from its earlier prediction of 5.9%.
• Indian Govt. has projected India’s economic growth at 6.2-6.7% in 2013-14, while the ADB (Asian Development Bank) recently projected Indian economic growth at 6% during 2013-14.
• IMF slashed the global outlook to 3.3% from 3.5% predicted in January 2013
• Google Glass : 
• Developed under the Project Glassresearch and development project
• Developed by Google X Lab
• An embedded screen in the upper-right-hand corner of the right-hand lens provides resolution which is equivalent of a 25in HD (High Definition) screen from 8 feet away.
• New hard plastic voter identity cards to be issued by EC
• Indian Coast Guard Ship C-402, the second of the series of 36 Interceptor boats designed and built by L&T, Surat was commissioned at Naval Dockyard in Mumbai
• Aruna Bahuguna – First women special DG CRPF
• S. Gopalakrishnan new head of CII
• India and Singapore ink MoU on Air Services
• GAIL was given status of Maharatna in feb 2013
• Montek Singh Ahluwalia (The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission) recently launched the  IBIN – ‘India Backbone Implementation Network’ with India@75.
• Top recipients of global remittances in the world by World Bank :
• India (USD 69 billion)
• China (USD60 billion)
• The Philippines (USD24 billion)
• Mexico (USD23 billion)
• Nigeria and Egypt (USD21 billion each).