Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator

DISHA 2014 GRAND ISSUE

CONTENTS PREFACE 3 PICK OF THE MONTH 4 INTERNATIONAL 10 NATIONAL 16 ECONOMY 23 CORPORATE 33 ECOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT 41 SPORTS 42 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 51 NEWS CAPSULE 60 Persons in News 60 Person Appointed 63 Person Resigned 64 Person Died 65 Awards | Honours 66 Exhibition | Fare 70 Report | Survey 71 Books & Author 72 Day | Week | Year 72 Miscellaneous 73 General Knowledge Facts 74

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator DISHA GRAND ISSUE PREFACE

This grand edition of our monthly magazine “DISHA” has been designed to provide latest updates of events that occurred in the month of “JANUARY - MARCH 2014.” The GRAND ISSUE covers each and every important happening of the month that made news and carries any probability of being asked in different types of competitive exams like IAS, PCS, SSC, Banking, NDA, CDS, LIC, Railway and all other government jobs.

The events happening in the sections like International (bilateral and India’s relation with the world), National, Economy, Science and Technology, Environment and Ecology, Corporate, Sports, Important Personalities, Books and Authors, Awards and Honours, Important Dates, Reports and Surveys and more all are covered in detail.

Representation of verified facts and figures along with fine-tuned analysis makes the events easy to understand and perceive. The aspirants of competitive exams will definitely be benefitted by the content of the eBook.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator

MARCH 2014

Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 2 January 2014 gave its nod for the implementation of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project for Low Income States of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. The project will be implemented with the assistance of the World Bank over a period of six years (from 2013-14 to 2019-20). This project will benefit the rural population of about 78 lakh persons including 44 lakh scheduled castes and more than 8 lakh Scheduled tribes. The project will help the people with improved piped water supply which will cover approximately 17400 habitations in 2150 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the following 33 districts of the four States. The total Project cost of 6000 crore rupees will be financed through Government of India [from the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) allocation – 33 percent], State Government (fund sharing as per NRDWP guidelines – 16 percent), beneficiary contribution (1 percent) and external financing (World Bank-IDA funds – 50 percent). Government of India will repay the amount of US$ 500 million extended as credit by the World Bank over a period of 25 years with 1.25 percent interest rate. National Waterway-4 project in Tamil Nadu Union Government launched the project for the development of the stretch of 37 Kilometer of the National Waterway-four (NW-4) between Sholinganallur to Kalpakkam in South Buckingham Canal in Tamil Nadu. The project was launched on 24 January 2014. NW-4 covers a total length of 1078 Km consisting of Kakinada-Puducherry Canal systems integrated with Godavari and Krishna Rivers. Main components of the project include dredging and excavation to develop navigational channel, construction of three terminals and navigational locks, replacement of one existing bridge at Kelambakkam, and installation of navigational aids. The project is expected to be completed in two years with 123 crore rupees. The project will ease out the transportation problems in Chennai suburbs to a great extent besides promoting tourist movement to important tourist spots at Mahabalipuram and Puducherry. National Waterways of India National Waterway 1: will starts from Allahabad to Haldia with a distance of 1620 km. The NW 1 runs through the Ganges, Bhagirathi and Hooghly river system. It will be the longest National Waterway in India. National Waterway 2: a stretch on Brahmaputra River from Sadiya to Dhubri in Assam state. National Waterway 3: run from Kollam to Kottapuram. The 205 km long West Coast Canal is India‘s first waterway with all time navigation facility. National Waterway 4 : connect Kakinada to Pondicherry through Canals, Tank and River Godavari along with Krishna River. National Waterway 5: connects Orissa to West Bengal using the stretch on Brahmani River, East Coast Canal, Matai River and Mahanadi River Delta.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator National Waterway 6: It is the proposed waterway in Assam state and will connect Lakhipur to Bhanga in river Barak. National Urban Health Mission launched National Urban Health Mission was launched by the Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on 20 January 2014 in Bangalore. Cantilever Pamban Bridge completed 100 years First cantilever bridge of India, Pamban Railway Bridge, completed its 100 years. On this occasion former President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam inaugurated the centenary celebrations of the Pamban Bridge. The centenary celebrations will take place from 27 January 2014 to 29 Janaury 2014. To mark the occasion, Abdul Kalam unveiled the centenary plaque of the Pamban Bridge. He also released the book titled Marvels of South Indian Railway. The 65.23-metre-long rolling central lift span was given a fresh coat of paint and decorated with light. The central lift span was named after Scherzer, German engineer who designed and built the span. It opens up like a pair of scissors to allow vessels to pass through under the bridge. The 2.06 km long Pamban Railway Bridge connects the pilgrim island of Rameswaram with Tamil Nadu. The bridge was officially opened for the train traffic on 24 February 1914. The bridge was put to test for the first time in December 1964, when a severe cyclonic storm hit this part of the area. About Cantilever Bridge A cantilever bridge is built using cantilevers, structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end. Heinrich Gerber was one of the engineers to obtain a patent for a hinged girder in 1866 and is recognized as the first to build one.The Hassfurt Bridge over the Main River in Germany with a central span of 124 feet (38 meters) was completed in 1867 and is recognized as the first modern cantilever bridge. Policy Guidelines for Land Management by major ports approved The Union Cabinet on 2 January 2014 approved the Policy Guidelines for Land Management by Major Ports, 2014. Land Policy is one of the most significant policy frameworks guiding the overall functioning and development of the port sector.

FEBRUARY 2014

Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2013 Passed Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2013 was passed by the Lok Sabha on 18 December 2013. Earlier, the Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 17 December 2013 after some amendments. The Bill seeks to establish an anti-corruption watchdog that will have in its purview even the office of Prime Minister. The Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2013 was passed by voice vote amid the opposition from the members Seemandhra region who were protesting against division of Andhra Pradesh to create Telangana state. During the passage of the Bill, Samajwadi Party members staged a walk out from the Parliament while Shiv Sena Party members voted against the Bill. The passage of the Bill has been welcomed by anti-corruption crusader and social activist Anna Hazare. He sat on the fast for the Lokpal Bill passage for the fourth time on 10 December 2013. Among the amendments accepted by the government are delinking of the mandatory creation of lokayuktas by the state governments, one of the provisions which had stalled the passage of the bill in December 2011. A Brief History The term Lokpal is an Indian version of the Swedish term Ombudsman. The institution of Ombudsman was first established in Sweden in 1808. In India, the term Lokpal was first used by the then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1963 and in 1966 a Lokpal for the Centre and Lokayukta for each State were proposed. Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill was first introduced in the Fourth Lok Sabha in 1968 . The Bill was re-introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001 and 2011 but was never passed. Assembly Elections 2013 Results Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on 8 December 2013 won the state assembly election in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. In Delhi assembly elections BJP emerged as the largest party and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in its debut emerged as the second largest party pushing the ruling party Congress as the third party. In Chhattisgarh, BJP won 49 seats and the opposition party Congress won 39 seats. In Madhya Pradesh the party won 161 seats, whereas the main opposition party Congress was able to secure 58 seats. In Rajasthan, BJP won on 162 seats by reducing the ruling party Congress government to 21 seats only. Harsher punishment for milk adulterators favoured by SC The Supreme Court of India on 5 December 2013 favoured punishment of life imprisonment to people indulging in production and marketing of adulterated milk. The court has also asked the state governments to make amendment in laws as has been done by the Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha. The Supreme Court bench that comprised of Justice K S Radhakrishnan and Justice A K Sikri said that the punishment of six months jail term mentioned in Food Safety Act is grossly OM RANKER’S CREATOR, SCO 371-373, 4 TH FLOOR, SEC 34A, CHANDIGARH. CONTACT: 78140-11022, 78143-11022 Page 5

Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator inadequate. The decision of the Supreme Court came after hearing the Public-Interest Litigations (PIL) seeking its direction to state governments to stop practice of milk adulteration, which is rampant in various states. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was established under the Food Safety supervising cases pending trial, surveillance of the Court. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India is the Administrative Ministry for the implementation of FSSAI. Definition of Adulteration - Adulterant means any material which is or could be employed for making the food unsafe or sub-standard or mis-branded or containing extraneous matter.

JANUARY 2014 UNESCO released 11th EFA Global Monitoring Report 2013-14. UNESCO released the 11th Education for All Global monitoring Report 2013–14 on 28 January 2014. The theme of the report is Teaching and Learning: Achieving quality for all. 1. The EFA Global monitoring Report 2013 – 14 vividly underlines the factthat people in the most marginalized groups have continued to be denied opportunitiesfor education over decades. 2. The report has advocated putting in place a robust global post-2015 education framework to tackle unfinished business while addressing new challenges. Main Highlights of the Report 1. Pre-primary Education. Improve the number of people having access to pre- primary education. 2. Universal Primary Education. Decrease the number of people who give primary education a miss. 3. Lower Secondary Education. Build foundation skills in adolescents through lower secondary education. About the Global Monitoring Report The Education for All Global Monitoring Report was established in 2000 at Dakar in Senegal. The main objective of the report is to inform, influence and sustain commitment to achieving the Education for All goals by 2015. At the UNESCO Summit in April 2000, 1100 participants from 164 countries adopted the Dakar framework for Action, Education for All: Meeting Our Collective Commitments. Infrastructure Development in India Introduction India is the fourth largest economy in the world. However, one factor which is a drag on its development is the lack of world class infrastructure. In fact, estimates suggest that the lack of proper infrastructure pulls down India‘s GDP growth by 1-2 percent every year. The fast growth of the Indian economy in recent years has placed increasing stress on physical infrastructure, such as electricity, railways, roads, ports, airports, irrigation, urban and rural water supply, and sanitation, all of which already suffer from a substantial deficit. The goals of inclusive growth and a 9 percent growth in GDP can be achieved only if this infrastructure deficit is overcome. To develop infrastructure in the country, the government is expected to revisit issues of budgetary allocation, tariff policy, fiscal incentives, private sector participation, and public-private partnerships (PPPs) with resolve. There are many issues that need to be addressed in different infrastructural fields. To begin with, the gap between electricity production and demand is affecting both manufacturing and overall growth. Then though road transport is the backbone of the Indian transport infrastructure, it is inadequate in terms of quality, quantity, and connectivity. Also in the overall transport sector, civil aviation and ports desperately need modernization. It is expected that the public sector will continue to play an important role in building transport infrastructure. 12th Five Year Plan Inadequate infrastructure was recognized in the Eleventh Plan as a major constraint for rapid growth. The Plan had, therefore, emphasized on the need for massive expansion on investment in infrastructure based on a combination of public and private investment, the latter through various forms of PPPs. The total investment in infrastructure, which includes roads, railways, ports, electricity and telecommunication, oil gas pipelines, and irrigation, is estimated to have increased from 5.7 per

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator cent of GDP in the base year of the Eleventh Plan to around 8 per cent in the last year of the Plan. The pace of investment has been particularly buoyant in some sectors, notably telecommunication and oil and gas pipelines, while falling short of targets in electricity, railways, roads, and ports. Efforts to attract private investment in infrastructure through the PPP route have met with considerable success, not only at the level of the central government, but also at the level of individual states. A large number of PPPs have taken off, and many of them are currently operational at both the centre and in the states. The Twelfth Plan intends to continue its thrust on accelerating the pace of investment in infrastructure as this is critical for sustaining and accelerating growth. As per the 12th Plan Document, the Planning Commission targets to achieve 50% private and PPP funding in total infrastructure investments, compared to a little more than 30% in the 11th Plan. With 56 projects for a total consideration of US$ 12.6 billion, the sector accounts for 18% of the total value of PPP projects across sectors, though only 7% of the total number of PPP projects. India‘s total generating capacity is around 173,626.4 megawatts (MW), of which the private sector accounts for the lowest (21.2%). See figure 5 and 5A. India is expected to make great investments in the power sector due to rapid urbanization, rural electrification and industries across the country. Under the 12th Plan, the private sector is likely to account for a major share of the additional capacity (55.6%). PPP is likely to be the preferred route for such ventures. The National Development Council in PPPs suggests a number of core issues that public authorities must address when considering their use for procuring public infrastructure projects. These include: • Whether PPP arrangements will result in better value for money than conventional procurement methods; • Whether the project is affordable in the long term, given overall budgetary constraints; • How willing is the private sector to be involved in the provision of public services; and what type of PPP arrangement is most appropriate for a particular project. According to a 2011 survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, over 240 projects with a value of US$14.5 billion have been delivered over the last 15 years which show that this model has been operational in India, with a majority of $9.4 billion having been delivered during 2005-10 alone. The government has also been emphasizing the need to explore the scope of PPPs in the development of social sectors like health and education. Some of the major PPPs undertaken so far are: 1. Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru airports. 2. Ultra-mega power projects at Sasan (Madhya Pradesh), Mundhra (Gujarat), Krishnapatnam(Andhra Pradesh). 3. Container terminals at Mumbai, Chennai, and Tuticorin ports. 4. 15 concessions for operations of container trains. 5. Jhajjar power transmission project in Haryana. 6. 298 national and state highway projects. India‘s estimated overall infrastructure investment is pegged at US$ 1 trillion in the 12th Five Year Plan of which approximately 40 per cent is expected from the private sector. Approach to PPP‟ s in India PPPs are still a relatively new phenomenon in India and in a nascent stage compared to the advanced models of PPPs in other countries. Until 2004, there were only 85 PPPs, but between 2004 and 2005, this figure leapt to 500, and in 2011 the number of PPPs in the country had increased to 840 as per the PPP database of the Government of India. The leading state users of PPPs by number of projects are Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, followed by Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. Almost all contracts have been of the BOT/BOOT type or their close variants, which involve user payments. The Mar’s Orbiter Mission: Step towards Global Elite India‘s First Interplanetary Mission The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), informally called Mangalyaan is a Mars orbiter launched into Earth orbit on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The 1,337 Kilogram spacecraft carries a suite of five instruments to study Mars, its atmosphere and acquire photos of the Red Planet. The Mars Orbiter Mission probe lifted-off from the First Launch Pad at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh using a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket C25 at 09:08 UTC (2:38 PM IST) on 5 November 2013.The launch window was approximately 20 days long and started on 28 October 2013.The MOM probe spent about a month in Earth orbit, where it made a series of seven altitude-raising orbital maneuvers before trans-Mars injection. It is India‘s first interplanetary mission and, now ISRO has become the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after the Soviet space program, NASA, and European Space Agency. The spacecraft is being currently monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennae at Byalalu. Background The MOM mission concept began with a feasibility study in 2010, after the launch of lunar satellite Chandrayaan-1 in 2008. The government of India approved the project on 3 August 2012, after the Indian Space Research Organisation completed 125 crore (US$19 million) of required studies for the orbiter. The total project cost may be up to 454 crore (US$69 million). The satellite costs 153 crore (US$23 million) and the rest of the budget has been attributed to ground stations and relay

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator upgrades that will be used for other ISRO projects. P. Kunhikrishnan was the PSLV-XL spacecraft launch Mission Director. Mylswamy Annadurai is the Program Director and Subbiah Arunan is the Project Director. S. K. Shivkumar of ISAC was responsible for the orbiting payload and also oversaw design and development of the orbiter. Mission Design - Launch & Insertion The Mars Orbiter Mission is planned to launch on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle flying in its XL configuration. Mangalyaan does not use a direct injection in which the launch vehicle delivers the spacecraft to its Trans-Martian Trajectory. This design still requires the spacecraft to be launched within a narrow window that is only open for a few days every 26 months. The MOM launch window opens on October 28, 2013 and extends through November 19, 2013. Spacecraft Mass: The lift-off mass was 1,350 kg (3,000 lb), including 852 kg (1,880 lb) of propellant mass. Dimensions: Cuboid in shape of approximately 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) Bus: The spacecraft‘s bus is a modified I-1 K structure and propulsion hardware configurations similar to Chandrayaan 1, Power: Electricity is stored in a 36 Ah Li-ion battery. Propulsion: Liquid fuel engine of 440 N thrust is used for orbit raising and insertion in Martian orbit. The orbiter also has eight 22 N thrusters for attitude control or orientation. Communications: Two 230 W TWTAs and two coherent transponders. Payload : The 15 kg (33 lb) scientific payload consists of five instruments. Atmospheric Studies • Lyman-Alpha Photometer (LAP) • Methane Sensor For Mars (MSM) Particle environment studies • Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA) Surface imaging studies • Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS) • Mars Colour Camera (MCC) Telemetry and command NASA‘s Deep Space Network in Canberra, Madrid and Goldstone on the U.S. West The South African National Space Agency‘s (SANSA) Hartebeesthoek (HBK) ground station providing satellite tracking, telemetry and command services. Chilika lake named Destination Flyways by UNWTO Chilika lake in Odisha was named Destination Flyways by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) on 21 january 2014. The lagoon was named so for its sustainable and resilient destination for migratory birds. This season, around 7.19 lakh migratory birds have been sighted in the 1100-sq km lagoon. Last winter, around 8.77 lakh birds of 180 species had visited the lake and 8.83 lakh birds of 167 species had visited the blue lagoon in 2012. India ranked 155th in global Environment Performance Index The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2014 was released on 25 January 2014. As per the Index, India was ranked 155 out of 178 countries with an index score of 31.23 points in its efforts to address environmental challenges. Among BRICS countries, South Africa was placed at 72nd position, followed by Russia (73), Brazil (77) and China (118). The EPI is prepared by Yale University and Columbia University in collboration with the World Economic Forum (WEF) as well as with support from the Samuel Family Foundation and the McCall MacBain Foundation.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Iran halted Uranium Enrichment activities Iran started halting the Uranium enrichment and begun down-blending Uranium enriched to higher level. The steps were taken on 20 January 2014 by Iran to limit its nuclear programme as per an interim deal with the world powers.

The deal with the world powers has asked Tehran to power down the key nuclear equipment for six months, which will be followed by the easing of crippling sanctions imposed on it. The report of IAEA has also mentioned that Iran has started diluting its stockpile of uranium, which was enriched to the fissile concentration of 20 percent. IAEA has confirmed that Iran has ceased enrichment of uranium above 5 percent U-235 at the two cascades at the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP) and four cascades at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP). National Urban Health Mission launched National Urban Health Mission was launched by the Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on 20 January 2014 in Bangalore. NUHM aims to  Improve the health care status of the urban population particularly the poor and other disadvantaged sections.  Strengthen public health care system.  Involve the community and urban local bodies in healthcare delivery.  Supplement the National Rural Health Under a unified National Health Mission. Special Focus on  Urban Poor Population living in listed and unlisted slums.  All other vulnerable populations such as homeless, rag-pickers, street children, rickshaw pullers, construction site workers, sex workers and any other temporary migrants.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator INTERNATIONAL

MARCH 2014 Stolen Idols The US handed over to India three stolen antique sculptures which valued more than 1.5 million dollars, in a display of cooperation between the two countries following a month-long row over the arrest and indictment of an Indian diplomat here. US wants to maintain friendly ties with India. Polio-Free India WHO announced and certified South East Asia region as a polio-free after India‘s victory over polio disease on 27th March, 2014. Egypt Misrule On the 26th of March General Sedki Sobhi pledged as the Defence Minister and Army Chief of Egypt Air Pollution According to the reports from WHO, 7 million people died in 2012 due to Air pollution. Earth Hour Earth Hour was observed by the world on 29th March,2014 i.e. Saturday at 8:30 PM- 9:30 PM. Mid Air ATC Australia has decided to take the steps to deploy a modified Boeing 737 to act as a flying air traffic controller over the Indian Ocean, whose task is to prevent a mid-air collision among the aircraft searching for the Malaysia Airlines jet that went missing over three weeks ago, an official said on Tuesday. Fiji Elections Military Government of Fiji has announced that it is going to regulate the democratic elections on 17 September. Saudi Ruler Saudi King has announced that his half-brother Moqren will be appointed as next heir to throne.

FEBRUARY 2014

WTO BALI PACKAGE: The Bali Package is a trade agreement resulting from the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Bali, Indonesia on 3–7 December 2013. It is aimed at lowering global trade barriers and is the first agreement reached through the WTO that is approved by all its members. The package forms part of the Doha Development Round, which started in 2001. In just 84 days after assuming office Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo, the new director general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) managed to produce a successful outcome to a ministerial meeting, something that had eluded his predecessor for eight years. The WTO‘s ninth ministerial OM RANKER’S CREATOR, SCO 371-373, 4 TH FLOOR, SEC 34A, CHANDIGARH. CONTACT: 78140-11022, 78143-11022 Page 10

Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator meeting du-ing 3-7 December 2013 in Bali, Indonesia, was a ―personal triumph‖ for Azevêdo, who took office only three months before the ministerial. Given the pronounced descent of the organization towards irrelevance since 2005 under the leadership of the previous director general Pascal Lamy, the “Azevêdo effect” has dispelled the cycle of negative perceptions that the WTO cannot deliver. The Bali outcome has brought WTO back into the negotiating orbit. It has suddenly raised the prospect of a revival of the comatose 12-year-old Doha Round of Trade Negotiations or the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) as it is otherwise called. An Unequal Package The industrialised countries along with a group of advanced developing countries, including China, left no stone unturned in harvesting, at Bali, a WTO agreement on trade facilitation (TF), an agreement that is meant to simplify customs procedures and ease the flow of goods across borders. THAILAND IN CRISIS However, the demonstrations reflact a deep divide in Thai society according to class, region and ideology, a divide which has developed over the past half century as growth has centred on Bangkok while the rural north and east have been left behind. What started the protests? Demonstrations kicked off in November after Thailand‘s lower house passed a controversial amnesty bill, which critics said could allow former leader Thaksin Shinawatra to return without serving time in jail. Mr Thaksin, one of the most polarising characters in Thai politics, was ousted in a military coup in 2006. He now lives in self-imposed exile overseas, but remains popular with many rural voters. The amnesty bill, which was proposed by his sister Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra‘s Pheu Thai Party, was eventually rejected by the Senate. However, anti-government protests have continued. International Issues that made HeadLines in Februrary 2014  North and South Korea has now agreed to hold its first reunions since 2010. The reunion has been hold for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War -- the first such vent for above three years. The reunion will be held 20 to 25 February in the North Korea.  For infrastructure projects, India is offering buyer's credit of $100 mn to Namibia. Anand Sharma, Commerce and Industry Minister made this offer while he visited Namibia. A unique programme of Exim Bank, Buyer's Credit helps Indian exports by way of extending credit facility to the overseas buyers for financing their imports from India.  Shimon Peres, President of Israel has made a new Guinness World Record. He has delivered the largest online civics class in the world. With the use of Cisco‘s advanced technology, he delivered the classes. The classes will be run from Netanya, company‘s headquarters. The 90 year old Peres is also the oldest serving head of state in the world. More than 6500 students in above 200 classes across the country from Beersheva, Hadera, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ofakim, Kuseife, Dimona, Tiveria and other communities. Jewish and Arab students will also be including as a participants in the online class.  In order to commemorate former South African President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, South Africa's postal service has issued a stamp with a portrait of Mandela. The stamp was released on the 24th anniversary of his release from prison during white minority rule. Mandela is a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, philanthropist and politician who spent 27 years in prison. He died at the age of 95.Mandela‘s portrait stamp is available at all 1,591 post offices in South Africa and also stamp collectors can buy it online.  The longest underwater tunnel of the World will be built by China beneath the Bohai Sea. The port cities of Yantai in Shandong province and Dalian in Liaoning province will be connected by this 123-km long underwater tunnel. The project of this 123-km long underwater tunnel will cost 36 billion dollar. The project is expected to start from 2015 or 2016 and will be completed by 2026. After completion, the tunnel will cut down the current travel time between the two cities of around 40 minutes.  For the first time third World Congress on Agro-Forestry was organised in India. It recently concluded in New Delhi. ―Trees for Life‖ is the theme of the Congress. The World Agro-forestry Centre, the Indian Society of Agro-forestry, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Global Initiatives jointly organised the third World Congress on Agro-Forestry. The first two congresses were organised in USA and Nairobi, Kenya. It helps in shaping next steps to be undertaken in the field of integrative science.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator  Afghanistan and India did joint inauguration of Afghan National Agricultural Science & Technology University. Salman Khurshid, Indian Foreign Minister and Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan President opened it in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan. The University which has been established with the help of India, is the first Agricultural University in Afghanistan while Afghanistan exports fresh and dry fruits to many countries of the world including India.  India and Poland have agreed to form Joint Working Group for cooperation in films sector. This was decided in a meeting between Bimal Julka, Information and Broadcasting Secretary and Malgorzata Omilanowska, Secretary of State of Poland along with his visiting high-level Polish delegation. In order to prepare a futuristic road map to augment co-operation in student exchange programme, animation, films, digitization and such other areas of mutual benefit, both the countries has agreed to form a Joint Working Group.  India has inked two agreements with Kyrgyz Republic during the visit of Foreign Minister of Kyrgyz Abdyldaev Erlan Bekeshovich to India. Both sides exchanged documents to give mutual legal aid in criminal matters and to make simpler visa regime for official and diplomatic passport holders. The pact was signed in the presence of Kyrgyz Republic Foreign Minister Abdyldaev Erlan Bekeshovich and External Affairs Minister of India Salman Khurshid.  Soon famous social networking site Facebook is going to acquire mobile messaging company WhatsApp for 19 billion dollars. It‘s the largest acquisition by the Mark Zuckerberg-led firm Facebook so far that will give it a stronghold in the market for messaging. Jan Koum, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO will join Facebook Board of Directors under the agreement. This acquisition deal will give WhatsApp the flexibility to develop and swell and noted that users of the service will not experience any change in usage. One party rule in Cuba set for change Soon the one party rule in Cuba will face stiff challenge as works are underway to raise the need for the constitutional reform. Supporters of the new initiative must gather a minimum 10000 signatures in support of the change to recommend the National Assembly to consider the proposal. At present, the constitution of Cuba don't allow multi party system. Iceland prefers EEA than EU Iceland government will prefer to be apart of European Economic Area and plans to withdraw its application to join EU. Most of the people in Iceland don't want to join Iceland which is also supported by the centre -rightist government in power now. European Union is the economic and political union constituted by 28 member states located in Europe. European Economic Area will allow the participation of members of EFTA to participate in EU's internal market. Bhutan gets electric car Bhutan gets a compact electric car in its streets proving to the world that the country is technology friendly. The country has a unique Gross National Happiness index to measure the overall well being of its citizens. It is also decided by the government to carefully monitor the pollution levels in streets with the introduction of tech-friendly cars. International North-South Transport Corridor India is planning to conduct a dry run test for the proposed International North-South Corridor covering Nhava Sheva (Mumbai)- Bandar Abbas (Iran)- Tehran-Bandar Anzali (Iran)-Astrakhan(Russia). The International North– South Transport Corridor is (ship, rail, and road ways) the route for moving freight from South Asia to Europe through Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Russia. The route primarily involves moving freight from India to Iran by ship; from Iran to Armenia and Georgia by rail and road; and from Georgia to Russia and Europe. India-Azerbaijan bilateral relation Both the countries spoke about the steps initiated towards fulfilling the mission of International North-South Corridor.In the hydrocarbon sector , both the countries are mutually helpful as Azerbaijan Government has supported ONGC Videsh Limited‘s acquisition of Participating Interest (PI) owned by Hess Corporation‘s wholly owned subsidiaries in the upstream and midstream oil and gas assets in the Azerbaijani Chirag Guneshli (ACG) Contract area and in Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. India too expressed its interest to diversify the

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator bilateral trade and investment in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, tourism, culture, health, agriculture & animal products, information and communication technology, chemicals, science, education etc. Scotland in the making Scotland is a part of United Kingdom as if now but in 1990s, a system of devolution has emerged in the UK, whereby Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have each been granted some measure of self-government whilst remaining within the UK. Issues such as the constitution, foreign affairs, defence, social security, pensions, issues of medical ethics, and fiscal, economic and monetary policy are decided on at Westminster, London where UK parliament is located. At present, political parties are demanding a Independent Scotland without the UK interference in the affairs of the country. A referendum will conducted by September on this issue. As a result of the new political development, British financial group Standard Life is drawing contingency plans to move some of its operations out of Scotland in the event it votes for independence. Demand for zeroing export duty on Iron ore pellets Industry demands recall of export duty on iron ore pellets to the Union government. Iron ore pellets are spheres of typically 8–18 mm mostly used as raw material for blast furnaces. They typically contain 67%-72% Fe and various additional material adjusting the chemical composition and the metallurgic properties of the pellets.

JANUARY 2014

India-born Prof A J Paulraj won 2014 Marconi Prize Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj, the Indian born Scientist and Professor (Emeritus) at Stanford University on 21 January 2014 was awarded with prestigious 2014 Marconi Society Prize. He was awarded for developing the theory and application of MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) antennas. His discovery of use of multiple antennas at both the receiving and transmitting end has helped in revoltionizing the speed of wireless delivery in the world of multimedia services. The technology at present is being used in high speed WiFi and 4G mobile systems. Almost every Wifi router and 4G phone uses MIMO technology that was pioneered by Pulraj. Iran and P5+1 group of Nations clinched Nuclear Deal Iran and P5+1 group of Nations reached a breakthrough deal on 24 November 2013 to curb Iran‘s nuclear programme in exchange for limited sanctions relief. An agreement to this effect was signed at UN Headquarters in Geneva on 24 November 2013 between the Chief negotiator for the six nations, Catherine Marie Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarief. After four days of negotiations, representatives of P5+1 group of nations - the US, the UK, Russia, China, France and Germany - reached an agreement with Iran. The deal is intended as the first step in a six-month process aimed at a permanent resolution to the decade-old global impasse over Iran‘s nuclear programme, The Geneva deal also makes the way for releasing over 4 billion Dollars in Iranian oil sales revenue from frozen accounts, and suspends restrictions on the country‘s trade in gold, petrochemicals, and car and plane parts. In return, Iran undertakes to restrict its nuclear activities. Over the next six months Iran has agreed to: 1. Stop enriching uranium above 5 per cent 2. Not to increase its stockpile of low-enrichment uranium. 3. Freeze its enrichment capacity by not installing any more centrifuges 4. Not to fuel or to commission the heavy-water reactor it is building in 5. Iran will give greater access to inspectors Nepal Constituent Assembly elections Nepali Congress (NC) emerged as single largest Party in the second Constituent Assembly elections which are held on 19 November 2013. The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) stood a close second position and the UCPN (Maoist) party is in a distant third position. A total of 240 seats were allocated in the first category and 365 seats in the proportional representation category. The remaining 26 seats in the 601-member will be nominated by the Cabinet later. Shinawatra declared Emergency Law for Bangkok Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on 25 November 2013 declared a special emergency law for Bangkok after riot police and anti-government protesters scuffled in the capital city.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Indian Ocean Rim Association was held in Australia Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) held its 13th Council of Ministers meeting in Perth, Australia on 1 November 2013. On the occasion, India handed over the chair of the IORA to Australia. India chaired the IORA, since 2011. The thirteenth Council of Ministers‘ Meeting was visited by the member states Foreign Ministers namely Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. About the IORA The IOR-ARC was formally launched at the first Ministerial Meeting in Mauritius on 6 –7 March 1997. This meeting adopted the IOR-ARC Charter, and determined a number of administrative and procedural matters. The apex body of the IOR-ARC is the Council of (Foreign) Ministers (COM). The meeting of the COM is preceded by the meetings of the Indian Ocean Rim Academic Group (IORAG), Indian Ocean Rim Business Forum (IORBF), Working Group on Trade and Investment (WGTI), and the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO). The Coordinating Secretariat of IOR-ARC is located at Ebène, Mauritius. Typhoon Haiyan President of Philippines, Benigno Aquino on 11 November 2013 declared a state of national calamity to speed relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Haiyan. Leyte and Samar are the much suffered provinces of the country. About the Typhoon Haiyan Super Typhoon Haiyan is a category-5 super typhoon to hit Philippines on 8 November 2013 leaving behind many people dead. It also injured many people in the city of Tacloban on Leyte Island. This was one of the most powerful typhoons to hit Philippines. It pushed winds up to 300 kilometers an hour. The typhoon forced millions of people to flee to safe places. Russia Successfully Launched Proton-M Rocket Russia on 12 November 2013 successfully launched the Proton-M rocket carrying a defense satellite, Raduga-1M from its Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. What is a Proton-M rocket? Proton-M rocket is a Russian carrier rocket which is derived from Soviet-developed Proton. Proton is actually an expendable launch system which is used for commercial as well as Russian Government space launches. Proton-M rocket is built by Khrunichev and launched from sites 81 and 200 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The commercial launches of Proton-M rocket are marketed by International Launch Services (ILS). All the Protons are built at the Khrunichev plant in Moscow. These are then transported for the launch to Baikonur Cosmodrome from where they are raised into the vertical position for the purpose of launch. UN Court ruled for Cambodia The UN‟s International Court of Justice ruled on 11 November 2013 that the area around a flashpoint ancient temple on the Thai border belongs to Cambodia. The International Court of Justice interpreted a 1962 ruling saying that ―Cambodia had sovereignty over the whole territory of the promontory of Preah Vihear Temple‖. About Preah Vihear Temple The Preah Vihear Temple is a Khmer Hindu temple situated atop a 525-meter cliff in the Dângrêk Mountains of Cambodia. The temple complex runs 800m along a north-south axis. It was built mainly during the 11th and 12th centuries during the reigns of the kings Suryavarman I (and Suryavarman II). Ownership of the temple by Cambodia has been under dispute from neighbouring Thailand. In 1962 the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that it belonged to Cambodia. The Preah Vihear temple was made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008 NASA Launched MAVEN Mission to study Mars Atmosphere The US space agency NASA on 18 November 2013 launched its MAVEN orbiter Mission to Mars planet. The orbiter mission was launched on an Atlas V rocket from Florida‘s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 18:28 GMT. About MAVEN Mission The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission is part of NASA‘s Mars Scout program. The mission will explore the Red Planet‘s upper atmosphere, ionosphere and interactions with the sun and solar wind. The trip to Mars takes 10 months, and MAVEN will go into orbit around Mars in September 2014. The entire MAVEN mission cost 671 million US Dollars. Roadmap for destruction of Syria‟s Chemical Weapons adopted Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the UN Chemical weapons watchdog on 15 November 2013 started its work on the final roadmap for the destruction of chemical arsenals of Syria. About Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) that entered into force in 1997. As of today the OPCW has 190 Member States, who are working together to achieve a world free from chemical weapons. They share the collective goal of preveting chemistry from ever again being used for warfare, thereby strengthening international security.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator INDIA & THE WORLD INDIA AND RUSSIA India and Russia on 18 November 2013 agreed to expand the range of strategic partnership in a significant manner in Moscow. The two countries will also hold a Joint Air Force Level exercise for the first time in 2014. This decision was taken by the two countries within two days after commissioning of INS Vikramadatya into Indian Navy. INDIA & BELGIUM India and Australia on 18 November 2013 signed two agreements in New Delhi during the visit of Foreign Minister of Australia, Julie Bishop to India. She was on four days visit to India from 15 November to 18 November 2013 INDIA AND KUWAIT India and Kuwait on 8 November 2013 agreed to expand cooperation in key areas, which includes energy and investment. Five pacts were signed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in culture and education during the India visit of the Prime Minister of Kuwait, HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah INDIA & UKRAINE The fifth session of India-Ukraine Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological, Industrial and Cultural Cooperation held in New Delhi on 13 November 2013. The Commission was chaired by E. Ahamed, the Minister of State for External Affairs. The Ukrainian delegation was led by Ihor Mykolayovych Prasolov, the Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine. He was accompanied by a 15 member official and 12 member business delegations from Ukraine. INDIA & PHILIPPINES Government of India on 14 November 2013 dispatched relief package that includes medicines, hygiene and chemicals, tentage, blankets, tarpaulins and ready to eat meals to Hurricane ravaged Philippines by an Indian Air Force C-130J aircraft to Mactan. INDIA & SLOVENIA India‘s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati and Radio-Television of Slovenia (RTV-SLO) on 13 November 2013 signed an MoU to develop and strengthen mutual friendly relations through an increased cooperation in the field of broadcasting. The agreement was signed by head of international department of RTV SLO, Suzana Vidas Karoli and Member Personnel of Prasar Bharati, VAM Hussain. INDIA AND JAPAN India and Japan on 9 November 2013 decided to further strengthen their cooperation in the maritime sector as a part of the overall robust bilateral relations. The two countries agreed to enhance their interaction through the existing forums and through port-to-port exchanges. This was decided during the visit of Union Minister of Shipping G.K. Vasan, to Japan. Visa Waiver Agreements with Poland, Slovenia and Lithuania approved by India The Union Cabinet on 7 November 2013 approved the visa waiver agreements with Poland, Slovenia and Lithuania. This move will help the Indians with diplomatic passports to visit the three countries. BRICS Nations signed the Delhi Accord The Heads of the Competition Authorities of BRICS Nations signed a Joint Accord namely Delhi Accord on 22 November 2013 at 3rd BRICS International Competition Conference (ICC) at New Delhi. The Delhi Accord was signed to ensure effective enforcement of competition rules, among the BRICS nations and to strengthen the co-operation among their fair trade regulators by exchanging views and boosting communication. India won election to United Nations Board of Auditors India on 1 November 2013 won a crucial election to the UN Board of Auditors with its nominee Shashi Kant Sharma, the Comptroller and Auditor General- by 124 votes out of the total 186. About UN Board of Auditors The General Assembly in 1946 established the UN Board of Auditors to audit of the accounts of the United Nations organisation and its funds and programmes and to report its findings and recommendations to the Assembly through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions. The Auditors-Generals of UN member states are elected to the Board. The United Nations Board of Auditors comprised of the heads of the Supreme Audit Institutions from three Member States, provides independent external audit services to the General Assembly. Board has involved certifying the accounts of the UN and its funds and programmes, and providing reports covering a wide array of managerial and value for money issues. The overarching goal of the Board is to use the unique perspective of public external audit to both help the General Assembly to hold UN entities to account for the use of public resources, and add value by identifying ways to improve the delivery of international public services. The chairmanship of the Board is rotated every two years, and is currently held by Amyas Morse for the period 2013-2014. Amyas Morse is Comptroller and Auditor General, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator

NATIONAL

MARCH 2014

 100th Birthday of Field Marshal SHFJ Manekshaw will be celebrated on 03 April 14.  The feat of shrinking the ion source that requires very little voltage was achieved by a team led by Prof. T. Pradeep of the Department of Chemistry, IIT Madras. The results were published last week in the Angewandte Chemie International journal. Mass spectrometers that are as small as a smart phone and require as little as one volt — a 3,000-time reduction in potential — to create an electric field which would turn a sample into ions for identification of composition may soon become a reality.  The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has called its mission to send Indian astronauts to space under the Human Space Flight (HSF) programme. This mission is a really valuable asset for India as it holds the significance of the mission that it will be a forerunner to India sending its astronauts to space. For, the GSLV-Mk III in this flight will carry a crew capsule without astronauts. The capsule will return to earth with the help of parachutes. The mission will take place in June or first week of July.  According to our reports, sixth Indian national has been jailed for his role in the December 8 riots here in which mobs indulged in vandalism after a private bus ran over another Indian. Krishnan Saravanan, 31, was convicted of the amended charge of failing to disperse despite being lawfully commanded to do so. He has been jailed for 18 weeks, the Straits Times reported Tuesday.  With actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani who has entered the fray as a BJP candidate in Amethi, a war of words seems to have broken out between her and AAP contender Kumar Vishwas over his remark that any ―Irani or Pakistani‖ will not make any difference in the constituency.  Supreme Court on Tuesday demanded from the Centre to produce all the records relating to the notification to include Jaat community in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list for seven States to find out whether the government had applied its mind before such inclusion. Supreme Court has observed it as a serious issue.

FEBRUARY 2014

NATIONAL NEWS THAT GRABBED HEADLINES IN FEBRUARY 2014  Union Ministry of Rural Development has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Digital Green to exchange the appropriate livelihood practices among rural communities under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). It‘s worth mentioning here that Digital Green is an international, non-profit development organization which is supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Government of India and Ford Foundation while NRLM is the biggest programme for women empowerment in India.  The first monorail service of India was launched in Mumbai. Prithviraj Chavan, Maharashtra Chief Minister inaugurated the first phase of Monorail. The first phase of the fully air-conditioned monorail covers 8.9 km long Wadala-Chembur section while commercial operations have also commenced a day after its launch. Initially, the Monorail service will function between 7 am and 3 pm and its minimum fare will be five rupees while maximum fare will be twenty rupees. The Monorail is lass with CCTV cameras and has advanced passenger driver communication facility.  Asia‘s first Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) has been commissioned into Indian Navy at INS Hansa in Panaji, Goa. With this, India has joined the elite group of nations who has SBTF which is primarily used for flight testing of naval aircraft that operate from aircraft carriers. After the United States and Ukraine, this is the third such facility in the world.  An apex development bank in India, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned1,112 crore for creation of 1,336 warehouses in seven states. These seven states where warehouses will be created are Kerala, Tripura, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and West Bengal and it will create 7.5 lakh tonnes of extra storage space.  Indian central government has cut down the Natural Gas (CNG) prices by about Rs 15 per kg and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) by Rs 5 with an aim to connect with the ‗Aam Aadmi‘ chord. Last month, the Prices of CNG had been hiked by Rs 4.50 to Rs 50.10 a kg. For this, the newly-elected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi along with auto rickshaw operators had called a maha-panchayat to decide on a possible strike

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator  The Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) investment limit in the Power Grid Corporation has been raised to 30 % of its paid up capital by the Reserve Bank of India. Under the Portfolio Investment Scheme, FIIs through the primary market and stock exchanges can purchase up to 30 % of the paid up capital of Power Grid Corporation of India.  To utilize the benefits of cloud computing in India, GI Cloud has been launched by Kapil Sibal, Communications and Information Technology Minister. This facility will make sure best possible utilization of the infrastructure and increase the development and deployment of eGovernance applications. It will also assist the departments to obtain ICT services. Under the initiative MeghRaj, the National Informatics Centre (NIC) is providing Cloud services.  To head the 7th Central Pay Commission, Ashok Kumar Mathur a former Supreme Court Justice has been appointed as the Chairman. Vivek Rae, Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary will be the full time Member and Director while Dr Rathin Roy of National Institute of Public Finances and Policy will be its part-time Member. The newly appointed Commission will revise the salaries of about 50 lakh employees and about 30 lakh pensioners of Central government.  On a pilot basis, Plastic notes in the denomination of 10 Rs will be soon tried out in five cities. Around 1billion Rs 10 plastic notes will be introduced on a trial basis in five cities which includes Shimla, Mysore, Kochi, Jaipur and Bhubaneswar. Its field trial is expected to be launched in the mid of 2014.  The Union Government has increased the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane by 10 Rs per quintal for marketing season of 2014-15. This decision of sugar price hike was taken during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs held in New Delhi.  The Union Cabinet has finally cleared the Telangana Bill and it will be introduced in Parliament on Feb 12. The controversial bill will be presented in the Rajya Sabha in the present form and the government will move 32 amendments when it is taken up for consideration.  National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), an apex development bank has given financial assistance of Rs348.63 crore to Karnataka under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF). The sanction of 127 veterinary institution buildings will help in breed improvement, improving animal health, availability of milk, milk production, reduction in mortality, increased income to farmers etc.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India's central bank has scrapped 26% capital on the interest rate that can be charged by a microfinance company to its borrowers. The new method will allow the companies to decide their interest rates. The new rules also declares that the large MFI (Micro Finance Institutiton) which is registered as a non-banking finance company will be allowed to have a margin of 10 % while the remaining can have margin of 12 %.  Now waitlisted passengers will soon get automatic SMS in their mobile phones after confirmation of waitlisted tickets before journey. Presently, one has to either dial the enquiry number 139 or has to go for the Internet to know the waitlisted ticket status while others get to know the status of their tickets only after reaching stations. The technological arm of Railways, CRIS is making the software for the SMS-based service. Even though IRCTC has already launched a system for booking tickets using cell phones.  Sikkim has achieved more than 100 % sanitation in rural and urban households, sanitary complexes, schools and Aanganwadi centres. With this, it has become the only state in the country to 100 % sanitation. Sikkim was also declared as ―best performance panchayats‖ which is highest in the country. Sikkim has also topped the list of all states of the country in net performance indicators.  The 13th edition of Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) for Documentary, Short and Animation Films concluded in Mumbai recently. The world‘s largest and oldest international week-long festival international documentary film festival is a biennial festival that is organised with the collaboration of Government of Maharashtra and the Indian Documentary Producers Association, Mumbai. The festival displayed above 400 films from more than 35 countries which concluded with best of the work in short and animation films honoured with awards and documentary.  In the list of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index 2014, India has ranked 140th in the Index. China and Pakistan stood at 175 and 158 position respectively. Finland topped the rank while Netherlands and Norway were on second and third position. US ranking dropped to 46th position from 32nd.  India has ranked 8th in the list of countries in terms of digital governance. Accenture released the report on digital governance. Singapore has topped the list while Norway and UAE stood at second and third position respectively. As per report, India is observing the rise in demand for the digital governance and has emerged as economy which will enhance competence and production. The report is made out of survey of more than 5000 respondents in 10 countries including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Germany, UAE, Brazil, India, Singapore, Norway, South Korea, United States and United Kingdom.  A day after Arvind Kejriwal has resigned as Chief Minister of Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has cleared that they would contest the Lok Sabha polls under Kejriwal‘s leadership. It‘s worth mentioning here that Kejriwal has resigned as the Jan Lokpal Bill was opposed in Delhi Assembly united by outside supporter Congress and BJP. A day after Arvind Kejriwal has resigned as Chief Minister of Delhi, Kejriwal has become caretaker Chief Minister (CM) of Delhi. The CM will work as a care taker government until the President accepts the resignation. Najeeb

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Jung, Delhi Lt Governor has suggested for President's rule in his report submitted to the President after Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party Government has resigned. The Lt Governor has also rejected termination of Delhi Assembly.  India and Poland have agreed to form Joint Working Group for cooperation in films sector. This was decided in a meeting between Bimal Julka, Information and Broadcasting Secretary and Malgorzata Omilanowska, Secretary of State of Poland along with his visiting high-level Polish delegation. In order to prepare a futuristic road map to augment co-operation in student exchange programme, animation, films, digitization and such other areas of mutual benefit, both the countries has agreed to form a Joint Working Group.  By legally banning the consumption of all forms of smokeless tobacco including pan masala within state, Assam has become the first state to legally ban the consumption of tobacco. Janaki Ballav Patnaik, Assam‘s Governor has given his assent to the Assam Health to prohibit tobacco and nicotine.  The first train in India attached with a Braille-embedded AC coach for visually-challenged passengers will be Purushottam Express. The superfast train running between Delhi and Puri, Purushottam Express train will become the first train in India with Braille signage as part of its social assurance to make trains and stations more-friendly towards specially- abled passengers. The coach with Braille signages has been manufactured at Integrated Coach Factory in Chennai.  The central government has increased the import tariff value on silver and gold. The silver tariff has been raised to 663 US dollar per kilogram while gold is 421 US dollar per 10 grams considering the global prices. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has issued notification of the tariff value on imported silver and gold. Earlier, the tariff value on imported gold was 404 US dollar per 10 grams and on silver it was 635 per Kg. The gold imports reduced as government has taken several measures to control shipment of jewels/gold to reduce the high current account deficit.  India‘s first Minority Cyber Village has been inaugurated in Rajasthan. K Rehman Khan, Minister for Minority Affairs inaugurated Cyber Village in Chandoli in Alwar district of Rajasthan. The main focus of this Cyber village project is to facilitate computer education to the people aged between 15 to 59. For pilot project, Chandoli with over 80 % of minority population has been selected as the first village. Under this project the experts will give training of commuter skills to the people of chandoli.  The union government has decided to convert 7,200 kilometres of state roads into national highways. After this conversion, the total length of the state highways will reach about 17,000 kilometres. The decision was taken during a Cabinet Meeting held in New Delhi.  An all-new title „Do Bael – Munshi Premchand Ki Kahaaniyan‟ new title for Premchand stories was launched at the Delhi Book Fair. Children‘s favourite Amar Chitra Katha launched a comic on new title on the work of the legend Munshi Premchand. The famous Hindi author Munshi Premchand‘s two stories ―Budhi Kaki‖ and ―Do Bael‖ has been covered in 32 pages.  The Union Cabinet has approved classifying Odia as a classical language to give movement to scholarships in the language. Till now, Kannada, Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu and Malayalam have been declared as classical languages. Odia is one of oldest languages as there has been demand for declaring Odia as a classical language. It has no resemblance to Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali and Telugu.  The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has proposed to introduce unique identity number (UIN) as a component of hallmark to ensure traceability of such certified articles in a bid to guard consumers from being cheated. For this, BIS will introduce 9-digit alpha numeric unique identity number for hallmarked jewels. The concept is expected to be operational in 2015. It will also help the standards body take action against the crooked manufacturers misusing the ISI mark/hallmark. More young voters will vote in 2014 elections According to the revised estimate of electoral data with EC, the Lok Sabha election this year will have more voter turnout in the age group of 15-19 than previous elections. The proportion of young voters will be more in north India than south India. With respect to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs on World Population prospectus report, India's young population will start declining from 2015. Demographic dividend is a term used to denote the occurrence of abundant working age population in the age structure (15-59) due to declining fertility rates. Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI) West Bengal government has launched a innovative scheme to improve the productivity of the agricultural sector. The BGREI scheme will develop cultivable wasteland, sand-lade area into arable land and also land shaping , rising , converting uncultivable land into arable one. Field bunding, graded bunding and terracing are also utilised to increase the water retaining capacity. Horticultural varieties were grown in order to protect the other plants from soil erosion. Indian economy faces stiff internal issues The G20 leaders urged the the Indian government to strengthen the Indian economy by removing the internal problems which make the economy vulnerable to global phenomenon. Recently RBI Governor has expressed concerns about the US government's plan for cutting short the stimulus package which already have the currencies in emerging economy to hit the OM RANKER’S CREATOR, SCO 371-373, 4 TH FLOOR, SEC 34A, CHANDIGARH. CONTACT: 78140-11022, 78143-11022 Page 18

Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator bottom. Finance Minister of India too have asked the Reliance-supported think-tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) to draft strategy papers for India‘s position in the G20 on the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India China, South Africa) Development Bank to absorb any such unforeseen economic downturn in near future. President's rule likely in Andhra Pradesh President's rule can be imposed in the State or Union territory according to Article 356 and Article 365 of the Indian constitution. Article 356 states that, when the President feels that the particular State cannot function according to the provisions mentioned in the constitution, it is lawful for the President to declare 'President's rule' Article 365 states that, when the State cannot give effect to the directions of the Centre, then too President can declare 'President's rule'. Recently, with the Delhi CM resigning after anti-graft bill issue,, Centre decided to impose President's rule in Delhi. As the present Andhra Pradesh will take some time to split into two new States, Centre is considering the option for imposing President's rule in the State. Subsidy bill is more than the poverty gap Government's food subsidy stood at Rs 1,15,000 crores which is more than twice of the amount needed to bring all the population above poverty line. The enormous subsidy is allocated as it is needed to fund the procurement, storage and maintenance of food grains by the FCI. When FCI utilizes the funds effectively, the cost of subsidy will bear true fruits. Food Corporation of India is the nodal agency for providing effective market price for farmer's produce, distribution of food grains for PDS and maintaining buffer stocks for ensuring nation's food security. Challenge to Freedom of Speech Central Board of Film Certification has denied a censor certificate to the film No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka which deals with the last phase of the war between Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE in early 2009. Sri Lankan government was opposing the release of the film stating that it will create tensions in war ridden country once again. Freedom of Speech is guaranteed by Article 19 of the our constitution. Nalanda University is truly a international university The Nalanda University is proposed to be constructed in Rajgir, Bihar. The idea for the university was provided by former president of India Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam. Japan and Singapore are financing the construction work of the university. Government of India has passed the Nalanda University Act in 2010. In total nine countries were involved in the Nalanda University project making it a truly international university. RBI constitutes Committee to examine FSLRC Recommendations The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) made certain recommendations on enhancing skill building and capacity development in banks and non banks regulated by the Reserve Bank of India to ensure availability of skill sets at all levels for effective delivery on required roles and responsibilities. RBI has constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of Shri G. Gopalakrishna, Executive Director, RBI to look into the recommendations of the FSLRC report. The mandates of the committee include identifying skill sets, capacity building of staffs,evolve qualifications and methodology to certify the personnel and system along with procedures to certify board members of the bank. Inflation will be the focus of RBI RBI's focus for the forth coming year will be to contain inflation. In general inflation is a situation in which too many money chase too few goods. It is also caused by the following reasons: 1. The supply of money goes up. 2. The supply of other goods goes down. 3. Demand for money goes down. 4. Demand for other goods goes up. Indira Paryavaran Bhawan Indira Paryavaran Bhawan is the India‘s first on site Net Zero Building. It is built by adopting the solar passive design and energy efficient building material. The building has been designated as the highest green rated building. The requirements of GRIHA 5-Star and LEEDS Platinum ratings have been achieved by adopting various measures few of them are given below. Effective Ventilation by orientating the building in an East-West direction, separating different blocks with connecting corridors and having a large central court yard; 75% of natural daylight is utilised to reduce energy consumption; access friendly design for differently-abled persons; Green materials have been used like Fly ash bricks, regional building materials, materials with high recycled content, high reflectance terrace tiles and rock wool Insulation of outer walls. Know your mobile tower radiation level online A 13-member, high-level committee has recommended that a dedicated website be set up to let the public know how much emission occurs from every tower in the country. Indian government has set one tenth of the permissible level of radiation allowed by International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). ICNIRP's principal aim is to disseminate information and advice on the potential health hazards of exposure to non-ionizing radiation to everyone with an interest in the subject. The committee was formed by the Department of Telecom on the orders of the Allahabad High Court to look into issues of electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator National Monitoring Committee for Minorities (NMCM) National Monitoring Committee for Minorities (NMCM) held its first meeting since its conception under Minister of Minority Affairs. It includes seventy two experts in minority related issues. Its main objectives are to assess the initiatives for minority welfare under the ministry :to analyse the achievements and review the planning process, programmes, strategies and implementation process over a period of time. Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) IEO would provide a systematic feedback to the Planning Commission , the ministries concerned and to the broader community of stakeholders interested in improving the effectiveness of development programmes. Independent evaluations should go beyond assessing deliverables, focus on outcomes to make programmes more effective and accountable and also provide evidence based inputs for better policy making and to improve development outcomes. It must provide more flexibility at local levels and improve the evidence on which development programmes are based. State of Infant Mortality rate in India Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) is defined as the number of infant deaths during the year per number of live births during the year multiplied by 1000. Infant mortality rate comprises of two parts, viz. Neo-natal mortality rate (death in less than 29 days) and Post neo-natal mortality rate (death between 29 days and less than a year). The neo-natal mortality rate also comprises of two parts viz. Early neo-natal mortality rate (death less than 7 days) and late neo-natal mortality rate (death between 7 days and less than 29 days). According to „Save the Children‟ global report, the progress in reduction of neo-natal mortality rate (NMR) has been slower in India though the IMR was 25 per 1000 live births. RBI announces guidelines of revitalizing distressed assets RBI has introduced formation of Joint Lenders‟ Forum (JLF) and adoption of Corrective Action Plan (CAP) for implementing the Framework for Revitalising Distress Assets in the economy. The JLF will try to arrive at an early and feasible solution to preserve the economic value of the underlying assets as well as the lenders‘ loans. RBI will set up a Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) to collect, store, and disseminate credit data to lenders. In order to identify stressful accounts, RBI has asked the banks to categorise stressed accounts ( before declaring them into NPA) into three categories of Special Mention Account.They are as follows: 1. SMA 0-Principal or interest payment not overdue for more than 30 days but account showing signs of incipient stress 2. SMA 1-Principal or interest payment overdue between 31-60 days 3. SMA 2-Principal or interest payment overdue between 61-90 days Banks are advised that as soon as an account is reported by any of the lenders to CRILC as SMA-2, they should mandatorily form a committee to be called Joint Lenders‟ Forum (JLF) if the aggregate exposure (AE) of lenders in that account is Rs 1000 million and above. The borrower may request the lender/s, with substantiated grounds, for formation of a JLF on account of imminent stress. Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) is implemented by Ministry of Labour & Employment from the year 2007. It provides for smart card based cashless health insurance cover of Rs. 30000 per family per annum on a family floater basis to BPL families in the unorganised sector. RSBY coverage is now extended to auto / taxi drivers in addition to other categories of unorganized workers. According to the new announcement, auto/taxi drivers have to contribute 50% of premium for the RSBY, as applicable in that district, in addition to Rs. 30/- as registration fee. Remaining 50% of premium will be shared by the Central and State Government (25% each). Saksham Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Boys also known as “Saksham” is launched by the Union government. The main objective of the scheme is to make Adolescent boys gender sensitive, to make them ahimsa messengers to prevent violence against women,to enable self development and empowerment,to address their physical , mental and emotional health needs, nutrition and hygiene,to provide vocational skills through national skill development programme and help them participate in nation building. At present the scheme will utilise the Integrated Child Development Scheme platform for implementing the programme. The scheme will cover all adolescent boys (both school going and out of school) in the age-group of 11 to 18 years subdivided into two categories (11-14 & 14-18 years). In the first phase, Saksham scheme shall be implemented in 20 selected districts in seven States on a pilot basis. Polavarm Project Polavaram project is a multi purpose irrigation project proposed to be constructed across Godvari river, Andhra Pradesh . The main objective of the project is to transfer the surplus waters of Godavari river basin to the Krishna river basin. Government will implement the after creating a special purpose vehicle. The multi-purpose project will involve Central grants to the tune of 90 per cent of the cost. National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) (NMSHE) mission was launched under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). The key objective of the mission is to develop a sustainable national capacity to continuously assess the health status of the Himalayan Ecosystem;

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator enable policy bodies in their policy-formulation functions;assist States in the Indian Himalayan Region with implementation of actions selected for sustainable development. The mission will focus on the following issues such as: Himalayan glaciers and associated hydrological consequences; Prediction and management of natural hazards; Biodiversity conservation and protection; Wild life conservation and protection; Traditional knowledge societies and their livelihood; Capacity in regulation of science and critical peer evaluation to help governance issues related to sustenance of the Himalayan Ecosystem; Assist in restoration and rehabilitation process of Uttarakhand. The mission will cover 12 Himalayan States of India: Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam and West Bengal. National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) NAPCC was initiated in 2008. The plan comprises of eight national Missions: National Solar Mission; National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency; National Mission on Sustainable Habitat; National Water Mission;National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Eco-system; National Mission for a Green India; National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture; National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change.

JANUARY 2014

Amendment of Article 371(D) is needed for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh The Union Law Ministry on 14 November 2013 told to the Group of Ministers (GoM) about the necessity of amendment of Article 371 (D) of the Constitution of India for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh India declared itself free from Bird Flu India on 12 November 2013 declared itself free from Notifiable Avian Influenza (H5N1), commonly called bird flu and notified the same to World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). India notified the outbreak of the Avian Influenza (H5N1) at poultry production unit, College of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Anjora, Durg and Government Poultry Farm, Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh on 05th August, 2013. Union Government decided to fix two year tenure for IAS, IPS The Union Government decided to ammend the rules governing IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers to assure them at least two years in a given posting on 30 January 2014. The rules were amended following the Supreme Courts direction to check the unnecessary political interference. Free from Political Influence - A Fixed Tenure for Civil Servants: End of Nexus between Politics & Bureaucracy? In a path-breaking verdict, the Supreme Court directed that bureaucrats be given a fixed tenure and their promotions and transfers be decided by a board, in order to free the bureaucracy from the clutches of political bosses and put an end to civil servants being shunted out for not toeing their line. In India, the system of staffing through tenure was established by Viceroy George Curzon (1899-1905). A number of commissions and committees supported the system and also advocated stability of tenure. They included the Llewellyn Smith report (1919); the reports of the Simon Commission (1930); Wheeler Committee (1936); Maxwell Committee (1937); Rowlands Committee (1944-45); and the Bengal Administration Enquiry Committee (Avasthi and Avasthi 2004). After Independence, the ûrst Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC 1967) and the second ARC (2008) have dealt in detail with the need for administrative reforms and ûxed tenures. Current Situation The second ARC has given a detailed account of the current situation. One of its reports points out that frequent transfer of civil servants continues to be a problem in public administration in India, and goes on to list its ill effects. Recommendations We should note that the Supreme Court ‘s ruling to ensure ûxed minimum tenures comes against the backdrop of several other commissions and committees having made similar recommendations while looking into administrative reforms. The Fifth Pay Commission (1997) in its massive report observed that providing continuity in administration and stability in governance required fixing a minimum tenure for positions held by civil servants. The minimum tenure suggested for a bureaucratic post was three to ûve years, except in cases where a longer tenure was justiûed on functional grounds, such as ensuring the continued availability of certain specialized skills. As with the Supreme Court verdict now, it favoured constituting high-powered civil service boards at the levels of the union and state governments to regulate and look into cases of premature transfers of civil servants. Conclusion The Supreme Court verdict is only the tip of the iceberg. A number of reforms commissions have pointed out shortcomings in personnel management of the Indian executive and advised measures to introduce much-needed changes.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) was established by amending Article 338 and inserting a New Article 338A in the Constitution through the Constitutions (89th Amendment) Act, 2003. By this amendment, the erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes was replaced by two separate commissions with effect from 19 February 2004 namely The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) The term of office of chairperson, Vice-chairperson and each member is three years from the date of assumption of charge. The Chairperson has been given the rank of Union Cabinet Minister and the Vice-Chairperson that of a Minister of State and other Members have ranks of a Secretary to the Government of India. The National Commission for Scheduled tribes functions from its headquarters at New Delhi and from the State Offices of the Commission located in six States. First List of Probable Candidates for LS Polls released by AAP. Both Houses of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Rejected Telangana Bill Both Houses of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Rejected Telangana Bill (AP Reorganisation Bill 2013). New Head of Travancore Royal Family is Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma New Head of Travancore Royal Family is Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma. In the last month nephew of Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma passed away.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator ECONOMY

FEBRUARY 2014

MAIN HEADLINES  Samajwadi pension scheme has been launched by Uttar Pradesh government that will benefit about 40 lakh families. Through this scheme, pension from 500 rupees to 700 rupees will be given to beneficiaries. The government has also decided to make 1.70 Shiksha Mitra as teachers who are teaching in primary schools for a long time and demanding their regularization as teachers.  The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) will provide financial assistance a credit potential of Rs 12727 crore in the state focus paper (SFP) for Uttarakhand. The credit potential is for the year 2014-15 under the priority sector with the increase of 17.35%.  A Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) has been signed between India and Fiji. The agreement has been inked between countries to avoid double taxation and for the avoidance of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income. P. Chidambaram, Union Finance Minister and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Fiji's Minister of Justice, Public Enterprises, and Industry and Trade signed the pact in Delhi. The agreement will offer tax stability to the residents of both India and Fiji and will facilitate mutual economic cooperation.  Lagging behind Japan, India has now become the third largest crude oil importer in the World, according to the data released by Reuters. In 2013, India has imported 3.86 million barrels-per-day of crude oil. India's crude oil imports were near 6 % higher than Japan's customs-cleared imports. China, USA, India, Japan and Germany are World‘s top five oil-importing countries.  An apex development bank in India, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned 1,112 crore for creation of 1,336 warehouses in seven states. These seven states where warehouses will be created are Kerala, Tripura, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and West Bengal and it will create 7.5 lakh tonnes of extra storage space. Indian central government has cut down the Natural Gas (CNG) prices by about Rs 15 per kg and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) by Rs 5 with an aim to connect with the ‗Aam Aadmi‘ chord. Last month, the Prices of CNG had been hiked by Rs 4.50 to Rs 50.10 a kg. For this, the newly-elected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi along with auto rickshaw operators had called a maha-panchayat to decide on a possible strike.  The Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) investment limit in the Power Grid Corporation has been raised to 30 % of its paid up capital by the Reserve Bank of India. Under the Portfolio Investment Scheme, FIIs through the primary market and stock exchanges can purchase up to 30 % of the paid up capital of Power Grid Corporation of India.  To head the 7th Central Pay Commission, Ashok Kumar Mathur a former Supreme Court Justice has been appointed as the Chairman. Vivek Rae, Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary will be the full time Member and Director while Dr Rathin Roy of National Institute of Public Finances and Policy will be its part-time Member. The newly appointed Commission will revise the salaries of about 50 lakh employees and about 30 lakh pensioners of Central government.  On a pilot basis, Plastic notes in the denomination of 10 Rs will be soon tried out in five cities. Around 1billion Rs 10 plastic notes will be introduced on a trial basis in five cities which includes Shimla, Mysore, Kochi, Jaipur and Bhubaneswar. Its field trial is expected to be launched in the mid of 2014.  The Union Government has increased the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane by 10 Rs per quintal for marketing season of 2014-15. This decision of sugar price hike was taken during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs held in New Delhi.  Indian economy is likely to increase by 4.9% in current fiscal as compared to the growth rate of 4.5 % in 2012-13. The Central Statistics Office, CSO released the advanced estimates.  National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), an apex development bank has given financial assistance of Rs348.63 crore to Karnataka under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF). The sanction of 127 veterinary institution buildings will help in breed improvement, improving animal health, availability of milk, milk production, reduction in mortality, increased income to farmers etc.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India's central bank has scrapped 26% capital on the interest rate that can be charged by a microfinance company to its borrowers. The new method will allow the companies to decide their interest rates. The new rules also declares that the large MFI which is registered as a non-banking finance company will be allowed to have a

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator margin of 10 % while the remaining can have margin of 12 %.  Asian Development Bank (ADB) will give financial assistance of USD 275 million loan to improve rural road connectivity in 5 states in India. The five states include Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. The loan will help in constructing 3,693 km of all-weather rural roads in these states which will benefit nearly 1,800 rural habitations. The roads will improve access to health and education facilities, markets, district headquarters and other centres of economic activity.  The central government has increased the import tariff value on silver and gold. The silver tariff has been raised to 663 US dollar per kilogram while gold is 421 US dollar per 10 grams considering the global prices. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has issued notification of the tariff value on imported silver and gold. Earlier, the tariff value on imported gold was 404 US dollar per 10 grams and on silver it was 635 per Kg. The gold imports reduced as government has taken several measures to control shipment of jewels/gold to reduce the high current account deficit. INTERIM BUDGET 2014-15 Interim budget is submitted by the government during the transitional period where the rule of a government is going to be over because of forth coming elections. Mostly the interim budget is viewed as the report card of the governments achievements in the past few years. The government in power cannot present a full budget because in such a short session, there's no time to debate proposals in Parliament. The vote-on-account presents an estimate of expenditures to be sanctioned by the exchequer till the Budget is passed. Direct tax - Direct tax is a kind of charge, which is imposed directly on the taxpayer and paid directly to the government by the persons (juristic or natural) on whom it is imposed. Income tax, Corporation tax, Gift tax, Inheritance tax, Property tax falls under Direct tax. Indirect Tax - An indirect tax is a tax collected by an intermediary (such as a retail store) from the person who bears the ultimate economic burden of the tax (such as the customer). Customs duty, central excise duty, securities transaction tax, sales tax, service tax,Value added tax falls under Indirect tax. Customs duty - Duties of customs are levied on goods imported or exported from India at the rate specified under the customs Tariff Act, 1975 Central excise duty - Central excise duty is tax which is charged on such excisable goods that are manufactured in India and are meant for domestic consumption. Interim Budget highlights - For the financial year 2014-15 fiscal deficit is pegged at 4.1 % and revenue deficit is estimated at 3.0 %. Plan expenditure will be Rs 555,322 crore. Non-plan expenditure is estimated at Rs 12,07,892 crore. Budgetary support to railways is pegged at Rs 29,000 crore in 2014-15 Financial sector Banking - Government has proposed Rs 11,200 crore capital infusion in banks for the year 2014-15. A target of Rs 800,000 crores has been set for providing agriculture credit for this year. Interest subvention scheme (interest subvention of two percent and incentive of three percent for prompt payment) will continue in this year. Education loans - Government proposes to carry the interest liability of student loans prior to 2009 and provide them some grace period to repay the loans. Financial markets - The important steps taken to revive the financial markets are to revamp rupee denominated corporate bond market, strengthen currency derivatives market, single record of all financial assets of an individual and to install smoother clearing and settlement mechanism for foreign investors. Commodity Derivatives Market - Proposal for Amendment of the Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act was made to strengthen the regulatory framework of the commodity derivatives market. Revenue - No changes to the Tax law. Excise duty on goods such as Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances, Electrical machinery and equipment, sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers will be reduced to 10 %. Excise duty on Small cars, motor cycles, scooters and commercial vehicles is pegged at 8% from 12 %. Excise duty on SUVs and large & mid-segment cars, trailers have also been reduced. Excise duty on mobile handsets will be 6% with CENVAT credit or 1% without CENVAT credit. Customs duty on non-edible grade industrial oils, fatty acids, alcohols is pegged at 7.5%. Loading, unloading, packing, storage and warehousing of rice is exempted from service tax. Cord blood banks are considered as healthcare services and will be exempt from service tax. Research - Research Funding Organisation that will fund research projects selected through a competitive process will be set up.At present research projects receiving direct funding from government is eligible for tax deduction according to Income Tax Act. Elections will fuel the growth of Ad industry India was the second fastest growing market for Ad industry next to Russia. The Lok Sabha elections and elections in respective states will drive the growth of Ad industry in India according to the recent report Pitch Madison Media Advertising Outlook 2014 by the Madison group. According to their report, in 2013 the print advertising was the largest segment accounting for 41.3 per cent followed by TV at 39 per cent, digital at 10 per cent and outdoor, radio and cinema making up the balance 10 per cent.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Iceland prefers EEA than EU Iceland government will prefer to be apart of European Economic Area and plans to withdraw its application to join EU. Most of the people in Iceland don't want to join Iceland which is also supported by the centre -rightist government in power now. European Union is the economic and political union constituted by 28 member states located in Europe. European Economic Area will allow the participation of members of EFTA to participate in EU's internal market. Indian economy faces stiff internal issues The G20 leaders urged the the Indian government to strengthen the Indian economy by removing the internal problems which make the economy vulnerable to global phenomenon. Recently RBI Governor has expressed concerns about the US government's plan for cutting short the stimulus package which already have the currencies in emerging economy to hit the bottom. Finance Minister of India too have asked the Reliance-supported think-tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) to draft strategy papers for India‘s position in the G20 on the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India China, South Africa) Development Bank to absorb any such unforeseen economic downturn in near future. Subsidy bill is more than the poverty gap Government's food subsidy stood at Rs 1,15,000 crores which is more than twice of the amount needed to bring all the population above poverty line. The enormous subsidy is allocated as it is needed to fund the procurement, storage and maintenance of food grains by the FCI. When FCI utilizes the funds effectively, the cost of subsidy will bear true fruits. Food Corporation of India is the nodal agency for providing effective market price for farmer's produce, distribution of food grains for PDS and maintaining buffer stocks for ensuring nation's food security. RBI constitutes Committee to examine FSLRC Recommendations The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) made certain recommendations on enhancing skill building and capacity development in banks and non banks regulated by the Reserve Bank of India to ensure availability of skill sets at all levels for effective delivery on required roles and responsibilities. RBI has constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of Shri G. Gopalakrishna, Executive Director, RBI to look into the recommendations of the FSLRC report. The mandates of the committee include identifying skill sets, capacity building of staffs,evolve qualifications and methodology to certify the personnel and system along with procedures to certify board members of the bank. RBI announces guidelines of revitalizing distressed assets RBI has introduced formation of Joint Lenders‟ Forum (JLF) and adoption of Corrective Action Plan (CAP) for implementing the Framework for Revitalising Distress Assets in the economy. The JLF will try to arrive at an early and feasible solution to preserve the economic value of the underlying assets as well as the lenders‘ loans. RBI will set up a Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) to collect, store, and disseminate credit data to lenders. Banks are advised that they should mandatorily form a committee to be called Joint Lenders‘ Forum (JLF) if the aggregate exposure (AE) of lenders in that account is Rs 1000 million and above. The borrower may request the lender/s, with substantiated grounds, for formation of a JLF on account of imminent stress. Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) is implemented by Ministry of Labour & Employment from the year 2007. It provides for smart card based cashless health insurance cover of Rs. 30000 per family per annum on a family floater basis to BPL families in the unorganised sector. RSBY coverage is now extended to auto / taxi drivers in addition to other categories of unorganized workers. According to the new announcement, auto/taxi drivers have to contribute 50% of premium for the RSBY, as applicable in that district, in addition to Rs. 30/- as registration fee. Remaining 50% of premium will be shared by the Central and State Government ( 25% each). Demand for zeroing export duty on Iron ore pellets Industry demands recall of export duty on iron ore pellets to the Union government. Iron ore pellets are spheres of typically 8–18 mm mostly used as raw material for blast furnaces. They typically contain 67%-72% Fe and various additional material adjusting the chemical composition and the metallurgic properties of the pellets. Bitcoin faces tough times Bitcoin is the payment system using digital currency (virtual currency) generated via a open source software. Vietnam has banned the virtual currency bitcoin. It stated that bitcoin is highly anonymous so bitcoin can become a tool for crimes like money laundering, drug trafficking, tax evasion, illegal payment. Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange in Tokyo filed for bankruptcy protection, acknowledging that a significant amount of the virtual currency had gone missing. RBI in Mid-Quarter Monetary Policy Review Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its mid-quarter Monetary Policy Review, announced on 18 December 2013, has kept the policy rate unchanged at 7.75%. The move was unexpected in light of the recent spike in inflation, especially food inflation 1.8% growth in industrial output in November 2013. Thus, on the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation, the RBI decided to: • Keep the policy Repo Rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) unchanged at 7.75%, and • Keep the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks unchanged at 4.0% of the Net

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Demand and Time Liability (NDTL). As a result, the reverse repo rate under the LAF will remain unchanged at 6.75%, and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 8.75%. About Policy Rates Basis points: It is the increase in interest rates in percentage terms. For instance, if the interest rate increases by 50 basis points (bsp), then it means that interest rate has been increase by 50%. One percentage point is broken down into 100 basis points. Therefore, an increase from 2% to 3% is an increase of one percentage point or 100 basis points. Repo rate: Repo rate is the policy rate and is part of RBI‘s Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF). It is the rate at which commercial banks borrow from the RBI by selling their securities or financial assets to the RBI for a short-period of time. It comes with an agreement that the sold securities will be repurchased by the commercial banks from the RBI at a future date at predetermined price. The repo rate is used by the central bank to increase liquidity in the system. Reverse repo rate: Reverse Repo Rate is also a part of LAF. It is the rate of interest at which the central bank borrows funds from other banks for a short duration. The banks deposit their short term excess funds with the central bank and earn interest on it. This rate is used by the central bank to absorb liquidity from the economy. Generally it is one percentage less than the Repo rate. Bank rate: The only way the bank rate is different from the repo rate is that the bank rate is the rate at which banks borrow money from the central bank without any sale of securities. It is generally for a longer period of time. Cash reserve ratio: CRR is the minimum percentage of cash deposits that banks must keep with the central bank. The current rate is 4%, which means for a cash deposit of Rs. 100, the bank has to park 4 rupee with the central bank. Marginal Standing Facility : The Reserve Bank of India in its monetary policy for 2011-12 introduced the marginal standing facility under which banks could borrow funds from RBI when there is a considerable shortfall of liquidity. This measure has been introduced by RBI to regulate short-term asset liability mismatches more effectively. Under this facility, banks can borrow up to 1% of their net demand. Liquidity Adjustment Facility: Under this facility, banks borrow from the central bank by pledging government securities. Statutory Liquidity Ratio : This is the percentage of deposits that banks must mandatorily hold in the form of government bonds. SLR bonds are liquid assets that can be sold at a short notice to meet any unexpected demand from depositors. Mauritius-India agreement on revised Tax Treaty Mauritius and India agreed on 9 December 2013 to include Limitation of Benefit (LoB) clause in the revised tax treaty. This was revealed by the Mauritius Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Marc Hein. He was in Mumbai to participate in an international taxation conference. While details of this clause in the India-Mauritius tax treaty are being worked out, LoB clauses aim to prevent treaty shopping or inappropriate use of tax agreements by third-country investors. Treaty benefits are limited by this clause to those who meet certain conditions, including those concerned with business, residency and investment commitments of anyone seeking benefit of a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA). Financial Services Commission (FSC) The FSC is Mauritius‘ integrated regulator for global business companies and non-banking financial services sector. Marc Hein is its present chairman. Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) It is a tax agreement that India has with 65 nations. It means those Non-resident Indians (NRIs) who are the residents of the country in which they stay and pay income taxes in that country are eligible to pay a lower tax on their incomes earned in India in the same financial year. Indian companies having offices in Mauritius route their investments to India through that country because the general taxation rates are lower than compared to India. India gets to lose tax revenue as DTAA ensures that these investments are taxed at much lower rates than investments of the same quantity but not routed through Mauritius or any other nation with which India has a DTAA. This is called Round tripping. This also leads to conditions conducive to money laundering. Money laundering is when the sources of money are not known. So it may be money earned through corrupt means and money meant for funding terrorist activities. Such money is called dirty money. PPPAC appraised five Port Projects

The Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC-a high level committee of the Government of India) on 30 December 2013 appraised five proposals in the Port Sector. These projects will now be recommended for grant of final approval by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). For this purpose of approval of the CCEA, a Cabinet Note will be submitted by the Ministry of Shipping. The five projects are - • Development of 4th Container Terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) on DBFOT- Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer basis • Development of Container Terminal at Ennore Port Limited (EPL) on DBFOT • Development of Multipurpose Cargo at Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) on DBFOT • Development of Mega Container Terminal at Tuna Tekra at Kandla Port (KPT) on BOT • Development of Container Terminal at Diamond Harbour at Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) on BOT

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator The proposed projects to be implemented under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode will create an additional capacity of 150 MMTPA with an investment of about 17630 Crores rupees. In the year 2013, the Ministry of Shipping has so far conveyed approval for 16 projects against a target of 30 and the major ports have already awarded these projects. Of the 16 projects that has been granted an approval includes six under PPP and 10 projects are under non-PPP mode. It is expected that these projects will add a capacity of 89 MMTPA with an investment of 4200 crore rupees. PSB‟s to Act as Insurance Brokers The Union Finance Ministry on 23 December 2013 directed public sector banks (PSBs) to act as insurance brokers from 15 January 2014. In the Budget speech 2013-14, the Finance Ministry remarked that banks will be permitted to act as insurance brokers to increase insurance penetration and mis-selling of insurance products. About Bancassurance: • Bancassurance is the bank insurance model (BIM). • Banacassurance is the partnership between a bank and an insurance company. Financial sector regulators asked to implement FSLRC proposals Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram told the regulators must implement proposals of the Finance Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC).The Finance Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) report contains 12 key proposals and these do not require legislative changes. Cabinet approved FTA with ASEAN The Cabinet approved free trade agreement between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on 19 December 2013. The Agreement of Trade in Services and Agreement was signed under the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation (CECA) between and the SEAN. The CECA between India and ASEAN was signed in 2003. About ASEAN • The Association of South East Asian (ASEAN) was established in 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand. • The member of ASEAN countries are Brunei Darussalam, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Business Confidence Index Business Confidence Index (BCI) was released by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the period October- December 2013-14 on 29 December 2013. The Index indicated pick-up in the economic activity in the Quarter 4 of 2013-14. BCI rose sharply to 54.9 during the Q4 of 2013 -14 from 45.7 in the Q3 of 2013-14. HSBC Business Confidence Index HSBC Bank Middle East Limited has teamed up with Middle East Economic Digest and YouGov to create a unique index of business sentiment in the Middle East. The first edition of the HSBC - MEED Middle East Business Confidence Index was published in the Middle East Economic Digest magazine on 18 June. HSBC Trade Confidence Index for India stood at the highest — 142 points, followed by UAE (132 points) and Indonesia (127 points). Currency swap agreement between RBI and Bank of Japan Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Japan‘s Central bank, Bank of Japan, decided on 18 December 2013 to enhance the bilateral currency swap arrangement from 15 billion dollars to 50 billion dollars. What is Currency Swap? A currency swap is defined as the exchange of principal and interest in one currency for the same in another currency. It is considered to be a foreign exchange transaction and is not required by law to be shown on a company‘s balance sheet. Fiscal deficit to touch 5.2% Ratings agency CRISIL (Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited) on 24 December 2013 said government‘s fiscal deficit would touch 5.2% during current Fiscal, above the target by 0.40%. In the Union Budget 2013-14, government had set the target to curb the fiscal deficit by 4.8%.The Centre can reduce its fiscal deficit by as much as 20000 crore rupees this fiscal by using cash reserves of public sector units.The top 20 public sector undertakings will have a cash reserve of 160000 crore rupees by March 2014 and are comfortably placed to pay a special dividend. About Crisil CRISIL - Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited. CRISIL is a global analytical company providing ratings, research, and risk and policy advisory services. CRISIL‘s majority shareholder is Standard & Poor‘s, a division of McGraw- Hill Financial and provider of financial market intelligence. Its rating capabilities span the entire range of debt instruments and it has worked across the corporate strata, from large corporates in the country to the SMEs. What is fiscal deficit Fiscal deficit is the difference between the government‘s expenditures and its revenues (excluding the money it‘s borrowed). A country‘s fiscal deficit is usually communicated as a percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP).

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator The Ragarajan Panel Recommendation for Highway sector The C Rangarajan panel recommended the guidelines prescribing bailout packages for developers of highway projects and the task of implementation lie with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The panel recommended that 75% of the premium amount payable to the government will be restricted in the first three years of the contract. Further it recommended that the road developers should submit the entire premium amount three years before the completion of full contract. At present companies pay some amount of premium to the government in the first year of the project which keeps increasing in the subsequent years. The panel‘s recommendations, if accepted, will lead to huge reduction in the premium payment in the first years. As a result, it will provide relief to the developers like GMR Infrastructure Ltd and GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd and 23 other road developers. Sugar Industry got 6600 crore rupees free loan The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved 6600 crore rupees interest-free loans to cash starved sugar industry on 19 December 2013. The loans will be provided by banks to sugar mills exclusively for making payments to sugarcane farmers, including arrears. The loans are equivalent to the excise duty paid by the mills in the past three years. FDI Policy for unlisted Companies modified The Government of India on 6 December 2013 modified the FDI policy allowing unlisted companies to directly list on stock exchanges abroad. The move will facilitate raising of funds for acquisitions or clearing overseas debts. It may help India in containing its high Current Account Deficit (CAD). Direct transfer of Cash subsidy soon on kerosene The government of India puts a way ahead to launched Cash subsidy on kerosene after the successful implementation of cash subsidy on LPG for BPL (below poverty line) families. The scheme would be known as DTCK (direct transfer of cash subsidy on kerosene). This would be on the lines of DBTL( direct benefit transfer of subsidy on LPG (cooking gas). What is direct transfer of cash subsidy ? The price of the commodity remain same as that of the market price , government itself decide the subsidized price and pay the difference between market price and subsidized price directly to the family of the BPL in their account. Instead of paying subsidy to the manufacturer , government directly pay cash to the poor people. Bolsa Família Program (BFP): The largest and the most successful conditional cash transfer program is the Bolsa Família Program (BFP) in Brazil that covered close to 100 percent of Brazil‘s poor in 2007. Under the programme, the government transfers cash straight to a family subject to conditions such as school attendance, nutritional monitoring, pre-natal and post-natal tests. The entire system is managed through efficient targeting, disbursement and regular monitoring of the disbursed funds. Companies‟ Foreign Funding Norms for Infra Projects eased The Reserve Bank of India on 3 December 2013 eased norms for companies raising foreign funds for infrastructure projects. The new norms will help Companies to raise funds through the External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) route for their infrastructure projects through their holding firms or core investment firms. The RBI also stated that such funds should be used in special purpose vehicles (SPVs) for a specific project. What is External Commercial Borrowing? External Commercial Borrowing is an instrument used in India to facilitate the access to foreign money by Indian corporations and PSUs. External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) refers to commercial loans in the form of bank loans, buyers‘ credit, suppliers‘ credit, securitized instruments. CCEA noded to provide aid to sugar industry The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 26 December 2013 approved the guidelines for providing financial assistance to the sugar industry for payment of cane price arrears. The expenditure for the scheme will be met fully from the Sugar Development Fund (SDF). Sugar undertakings with loan classified Non Performing Assests (NPA) by the banks are also eligible for the loans only if the concerned state government will give a guarantee for their new loans.

JANUARY 2014

Norms relaxed for participation of NBFCs in Insurance JVs Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 28 November 2013 relaxed norms for participation of Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) in the insurance joint ventures by allowing them to hold more than 50 percent in such companies. RMS for Trade Facilitation in Export Sector Introduced Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram was on 13 November 2013 inaugurated the IT based Risk Management System (RMS) for the Customs clearance of export goods at New Delhi. Government has introduced RMS to enhance trade facilitation in export sector and to check smuggling of drugs, weapons and other illegal substances harmful to the country. Medium Manufacturing Enterprises to be included under Priority Sector The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 26 November 2013 allowed banks to treat loans given to medium manufacturing enterprises after 13 November 2013 as priority sector advance. Under priority sector advance, most banks have to lend 40

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator percent of their loans to micro and small enterprises, poor people for housing, students for education and other low income groups and weaker sectors. NIC got approval of 75 % Innovation Fund Corpus The National Innovation Council (NInC) on 20 November 2013 got approval of 75 percent of the 500 crore rupees initial corpus of the upcoming India Innovation Fund (IIIF), which is an Indian model of innovation. IIIF will have contributions from Ministry of Finance, public sector banks (PSBs) and multilateral agencies and is being mobilized by NInC. The main objective of IIIF is to finance Enterprises focusing on the bottom of the pyramid that is, firms delivering goods and services to the poorest of the country. The fund intends to partner with public R&D programmes and laboratories to support the commercialization and deployment of socially relevant technologies and solutions. The fund would be registered with Securities and Exchange of India (SEBI). The fund may increase eventual size of 5000 crore rupees in the long term. About National Innovation Council (NInC) The National Innovation Council (NInC) was set up by the Prime Minister under chairmanship of Sam Pitroda, an adviser to PM on public information infrastructure and innovations (PIII). NInC will provide mutually reinforcing policies, recommendations and methodologies to implement and boost innovation performance in the country. The task of the National Innovation Council include formulating Roadmap for innovation for 2010-2020 and creating framework for evolving an Indian model of innovation, with focus on inclusive growth, encouraging central and state governments, universities and R&D institutions to innovate and to encourage the multi-displinary and globally competitive approaches for innovations and others. The Council will also promote the setting up of State and Sector Innovation Councils to help implement strategies for innovation in Stated and Specified sectors. Provision for Higher Sugar Export announced The Union Government of India on 15 November 2013 announced the provision of higher sugar export with domestic production becoming surplus. The condition of export of sugar has been relaxed by doubling the limit of the overseas shipment that sellers can register. The export of sugar has been doubled to 50000 tonnes from 25000 tonnes per application for registration was announced by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade. The sugar production of India is projected at 25 million tonnes in 2013-14, which is two million tonnes more than the domestic demand. Third-party payment for Export and Import Transactions allowed The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 8 November 2013 has allowed third party payment for the export and import transactions. The procedure relating to payments for exports or imports was liberalized taking into account the evolving international trade procedure. Banks are allowed to receive the payments for export of goods/software from the third party. The order of RBI also permits the banks to make payments to the third party for imports of goods. The third party refers to an entity other than the buyer or the seller. The procedure was liberalised taking into account the evolving international trade practices. Sale of 5 kg LPG cylinders extended to petrol pumps The Government of India on 4 November 2013 decided to extend the sale of the non-subsidized 5 kg cooking gas (LPG) cylinders at petrol pumps across the country. The proposal to extend the scope of the scheme was approved by M. Veerappa Moily, the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The scheme was launched on 5 October 2013. Earlier, the scheme was in operation in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru. The cylinders will be sold at market rates. The scheme has allowed to sale the 5 kg LPG cylinders with just proof of Identity through Petrol Stations to students, IT professional, BPO employees and people with odd duty timings. As per the decision, the sale of the cylinders would be done with or without regulator for the first time. The cylinders will be charged 1000 rupees and the regulator will be available at 250 rupees whereas, the cost of refills of the LPG will be as per to the non-domestic rates applicable in the market. A 5 kg is sold at about 340 to 350 rupees. Refinance window for the MSME extended to 5000 crore The Reserve Bank of India on 18 November 2013 opened a 5000 crore rupees refinance window for MSME sector, for a period of one year to ease the liquidity. The view was taken by the RBI to provide refinance to the small Industrial Development Bank of India. Basically the Micro and Small Enterprises sector is employment intensive and contributes significantly to exports. At present, the slowdown in the economy has resulted in the liquidity tightness in the MSEs in the manufacturing and services sector raising the need of liquidity support. The availability of the refinance facility will be till 13 November 2014. Women SHGs to get Banks loans at 7 percent The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 19 November 2013 directed Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to provide loans to women self-help groups (SHGs) at 7 per cent per annum to avail the benefit of interest rate subvention scheme under the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana-Aajeevika (SGSY) scheme. Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana-Aajeevika (SGSY) is an initiative by the government to provide sustainable income to poor people living in rural areas of the country.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator About Interest Rate subvention concept Interest Rate subvention is a subsidy of interest given by Government to certain sectors like Textiles etc. If a textile company borrows from Bank at 10 percent and Government gives subvention of 2 percent. Hence net bank takes interest from textiles companies will be 8 percent. Other sectors have to pay 10 percent to the bank. Foreign banks subsidiaries permitted to acquire domestic PSBs The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 6 November 2013 permitted the Wholly Owned Subsidiaries (WOS) of the foreign banks to acquire the domestic private sector banks. RBI also permitted the banks to set up branches anywhere in the country. As per the permission given by RBI, the foreign banks will have to seek permission of RBI to open branches in certain sensitive locations. The foreign bank subsidiaries have also been allowed to list on the local stock exchanges. Although, they will not be allowed to hold more than 74 percent in the private banks they may acquire. The order of the RBI also stated that the foreign banks that commenced banking business in India before August 2010 will be given an opportunity to convert into a wholly owned subsidiary. Corporate Governance (i) Not less than two-third of the directors should be non-executive directors; (ii) A minimum of one-third of the directors should be independent of the management of the subsidiary in India, its parent or associates (iii) Not less than fifty percent of the directors should be Indian nationals /NRIs/PIOs subject to the condition that not less than 1/3rd of the directors are Indian nationals resident in India Definition of Infrastructure lending Sub Category widened Reserve Bank of India on 25 November 2013 widened the definition of infrastructure lending sub category in a bid to expedite Projects. In a notification issued by RBI, it has stated that new sub-sectors that have been added in the list will include hotels with project cost of more than 200 crore rupees bring built anywhere in India and of any star rating. The list will also include convention centres with project cost of more than 300 crore rupees. Economic Events (Januray – March 2014) 1) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 31 December 2013 dismissed rumours that it has stopped banks from accepting scribbled currency notes from 1 January 2014 and announced that banks will continue to accept currency notes with scribbling. 2) Ex-banker Meera Sanyal came to news after she quit her job as the chairperson of the Indian operations of an international bank to join Arvind Kejriwal‘s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) recently. She was associated with Royal Bank of Scotland (India). Meera is not new to politics and she hopes to contest the Lok Sabha election from Mumbai South. 3) According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), the average number of policies sold by an agent of LIC was almost 10 times that of his private sector counterpart. LIC‘s agents managed their outperformance last year too, when the life insurance business was on a slide. What was the average policy sale figure for an LIC agent as disclosed by the IRDA – 29 Policies (LIC has an agency force of 11.72 lakh while private companies have 9.49 lakh agents working for them). 4) CCIL - The Clearing Corporation of India Limited - was on 6 January 2014 selected by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to act as a local operating unit for issuing globally compatible Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) in India. The Clearing Corporation of India Limited – CCIL (CCIL will assign a unique code to participants in financial markets to facilitate over- the-counter derivative transactions. LEI is a 20-character unique identity code assigned to entities which are parties to a financial transactions) 5) Aditya Birla group's Gujarat-based Torrent Power was second largest donor to political parties. Among the national parties, BJP got the maximum corporate donations of Rs 192.47 crore from 1,334 entities, followed by Congress, which got Rs 172.25 crore from 418 corporate/business donors. In fact, business donations constituted 87% of the total contribution to political parties from known sources, establishing the growing link between corporate money and politics. 6) Axis Bank recently opened its branch in Shanghai after receiving permission from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC). The branch will engage in foreign currency businesses that includes all business approved by the banking supervision and regulatory authorities of the China. With opening of Shanghai branch, Axis Bank‘s overseas presence has grown to eight – one each in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Colombo, and Shanghai, two representative offices at Dubai and Abu Dhabi and an overseas subsidiary in London. 7) Deutsche Asset Management India – DAMI (DAMI‘s scheme,‗DWS Inflation—Indexed Bond Fund‘ is an open— ended debt fund and will open for subscription on 16 January 2014, and close on 27 January. Inflation indexed bonds (IIBs) are instruments where interest payment and principal are linked to whole sale price index (WPI) inflation and these bonds are currently available at an attractive yield of 3.6% above WPI. Government has been issuing IIBs on a monthly basis since June, 2013 and the current outstanding issuance stands at Rs 6,500 crore as of now. 8) The RBI on 9 January 2014 allowed the relatives of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to become joint account holders in the savings bank account in the country. Such an account will be treated as resident bank account for all purposes and all regulations applicable to a domestic account will be applicable. The joint account holder facility will be extended to all types of resident accounts, including savings bank account. However, what facilities will not be provided for NRI‘s relatives for this joint-account – The relative cannot credit cheques, remittances, cash, card or any other proceeds to this account.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator 9) SEBI on 10 January 2014 notified new norms empowering its Chairman to order search and seizure operations during investigations, while necessary safeguards have also been put in place to protect rights of affected persons. This would add extra power to SEBI‘s crackdown against fraudsters. 10) The name of world‘s first Bitcoin storage service that insures deposits of the digital currency against hackers and accidental loss, which was opened on London on 12 January 2013? – „Elliptic Vault‟. Bitcoin is a virtual currency that can be generated through complex computer software systems with solutions shared on a network. Although, the digital currency is gaining popularity, concerns about its security are on the rise. Online wallets used to store Bitcoins have been subject to a number of cyber-attacks and some users have also suffered from accidental loss. Unlike money stored in a conventional bank, Bitcoins are not insured and there is no way of retrieving them. Elliptic Vault‘s founders claim they are the ―first in the world‖ to offer insurance for Bitcoin owners Indian government will on 30 January 2014 revise upwards its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate estimate for 2011-12 to about 7% from 6.2%. 11) State Bank of India (SBI) called for a Request for Proposal (RFP) from vendors to manage about 7,843 cash dispensers (ATMs). Vendors will be expected to have all capabilities to remotely capture and initiate appropriate action in the event of any problems at these cash dispensers. They will be expected to ensure that the downtime of these ATMs in metro and urban areas is less than 3%, while it is less than 6% in rural areas. SBI had 32,777 ATMs as of 30 September 2013. It has expanded its network steadily in the past few years, adding about a third of its network (about 11,000 ATMs) in the past 18 months. ATM operations have however not been profitable. 12) Retirement fund-body the Employees‟ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on 13 January 2014 decided to increase the rate of interest on Provident Fund deposits to 8.75 per cent for 2013-14, a move that will benefit about 5 crore subscribers. The present rate of interest for EPFO subscribers is 8.5% (The Central Board of Trustees, which is the apex decision-making body of the Employees‘ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), met on 13 January and approved the interest rate. The EPFO‘s recommendation will now be vetted by the Finance Ministry. Once the ministry approves the decision, the interest would be credited to the accounts of subscribers. The EPFO is estimated to have an income of Rs 20,796.96 crore in the current financial year. 13) According to announcement made by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 12 January 2014 the Centre has revised its target upwards to opening 10,000 new bank branches a year. This has been part of Centre‘s initiative of taking banking services to rural areas. What was the earlier target? –7,000 branches (From the coming financial year, it has been revised to open 10,000 branches a year and through this, an additional 55,000 new jobs are expected to be created) 14) The Government on 12 January 2014 unveiled 46 oil and gas blocks, which are expected to be auctioned soon under the tenth round of the Government‘s New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP X). These blocks were unveiled at the 4-day biennial international oil and gas conference which started at New Delhi. The name of this conference is Petrotech 2014 (Petrotech 2014 has being jointly organised by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and the PETROTECH Society. Nearly 11 energy ministers from across the world are expected to fly down to the four-day event. Companies from more than 15 countries participated in the event. In this conference, all regulators, national oil companies, private operators, services and ancillary firms, form a combined platform to demonstrate India as an E&P (exploration and production) 15) SEBI(Securities and Exchange Board of India) Chairman UK Sinha‘s term was extended by 2 years during January 2014. Sinha will now head the regulatory body till 16 March 2016. Among the last four chairmen, Sinha is the only one whose term has been extended. D.R. Mehta served as SEBI Chairman for 7 years (1995-2002). Sinha‘s three predecessors – GN Bajpai (2002-2005), M Damodaran (2005-2008) and CB Bhave (2008-2011) – had only got a three-year terms. 16) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during January 2014 clarified that the provision of prior RBI nod applies for establishments from Hong Kong and Macau to set up business or related activities in India. As per the existing conditions this provision pertaining to RBI‘s approval applies on which 6 countries? – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Iran, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (As per the existing conditions under the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations, no entity or citizens of these 6 countries is allowed to set up any branch office or a liaison office or a project or any other such business activity without prior permission of the RBI) 17) A prominent Indian credit rating agency along with four other rating agencies from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America during January 2014 launched a new credit rating outfit ARC Ratings S.A. The network-based rating agency would provide credit rating services to cross-border corporates in terms of accessing global capital. Which Indian rating is involved in this initiative? – CARE – Credit Analysis and Research (ARC Ratings will be an equally held entity and have its operational headquarters in London. Each partner‘s shareholding is capped at a maximum of 25%. ARC will rate sovereign debt, financial institutions, non-financial Corporations as well as structured products) 18) India‘s National Stock Exchange (NSE) – NSE recorded almost 145 crore equity trades on its platform last year, a gain of 3% from 2012, making it the biggest among 51 global peers, according to data with the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). Rival exchange BSE slipped one place to eighth position. Although it has more than 4,000 listed companies, the BSE recorded 34.46 crore trades last year, a drop of 3% compared to 2012. China‘s Shenzhen Stock Exchange recorded 129 crore trades, climbing three places to become the second-largest bourse in the world. Trades on the Shenzhen SE, which pushed NYSE Euronext to third place, rose 38% from 2012.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator 19) The Reserve Bank of India recently constituted an 8-member expert committee to review the governance of bank boards in India, which includes examining the ownership and salary structure of banks headed by PJ Naik, former Chairman and CEO of Axis Bank (The committee will review the regulatory compliance requirements of the board of directors of banks, judge what can be rationalised and where requirements need enhancements, examine the working of the boards, including whether adequate time is being devoted to issues of strategy, growth, governance and risk management) 20) The proposal to accord minority status to Jain community was accepted by the Union Cabinet on 20 January 2014, which will enable it to avail of benefits in government schemes and programmes. The decision to grant minority status to the community of about 50 lakh was taken at a meeting of Union Cabinet. 21) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on 22 January 2014, warned that it would withdraw from circulation all old banknotes and announced that it will withdraw all old notes from 31 March 2014. From 1 July 2014 these old notes would be put out of circulation. Notes issued before which year will be withdrawn by the RBI? – 2005 (According to an RBI advisory, anybody who had such currency notes would have to approach a bank in order to exchange them. The RBI would start withdrawing the notes after 31 March 2014. 22) Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan will pay an official visit to New Delhi from January 25-27 and will be the chief guest at this year‘s Republic Day celebrations. 23) Vakrangee Ltd., which is engaged in providing e-governance solutions, recently came to news for banking related activities. It has received final authorization for operating White Label ATM (WLA) license from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) - Under, the RBI license, the company is entitled to set up and run minimum 15,000 ATMs across the country in next three years. White label ATMs are those which are not run by the Banks but by a non- banking entity in its own brand name (like Vakrangee ATM) 24) The new Repo Rate after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan on 28 January 2014 was increased by 0.25% under RBI‘s third quarter monetary policy review to 8%. This move is expected to translate into higher EMIs and push up the cost of borrowing for corporates. Consequently, the Reverse Repo Rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) will be revised to 7% and the marginal standing facility rate and bank rate to 9%. However, the RBI kept the cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4% as liquidity seems to be comfortable. 25) The RBI released the Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments Report along with the third quarter monetary policy review on 28 January 2014. RBI‘s broad expectation about economic growth rate (GDP Growth Rate) during 2013-14 is that GDP growth rate will remain below 5% (The RBI said the growth is expected to fall below 5% in 2013-14 in absence of pick-up in manufacturing sector, but likely to recover to 5.5% in the next financial year (2014-15). In the first half of 2013- 14, the GDP growth was at 4.6%. 26) International creditors on 29 January 2014 started the third bailout review of Cyprus to gauge whether the country is living up to the terms of its financial rescue program. The start of country‘s third bailout review comes after earlier assessments concluded that the country was on track, but warned that there was no room to slacken efforts. The amount of bailout package approved by the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Cyprus during March 2013 was 10 billion Euro or $13.6 billion Cyprus‘ banking sector is the hardest hit with this bail-out package. The deal saw authorities seize large portions of uninsured savings in the two largest banks and impose capital controls while the second-largest lender was shut down.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator

CORPORATE

FEBRUARY 2014 BUSINESS REPORT  The British start-up DeepMind Technologies – an artificial intelligence company has been purchased by the American tech giant Google. The deal was confirmed at Google‘s London office which represents Google‘s biggest ever single acquisition in Europe. The acquisition of DeepMind will prove to be helpful for Google in further developing its most recent Hummingbird search update which was created to make Google more human and searches which can now understand context like a human brain.  Union Ministry of Rural Development has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Digital Green to exchange the appropriate livelihood practices among rural communities under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). It‘s worth mentioning here that Digital Green is an international, non-profit development organization which is supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Government of India and Ford Foundation while NRLM is the biggest programme for women empowerment in India.  In terms of intellectual property (IP) environment, India has at the bottom of the list of 25 countries. India‘s percentage score has further degraded from 25% to 23% in the year 2014, as per a report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce‘s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC). In this list, US has ranked on the top while UK stood on second followed by France.  A Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) has been signed between India and Fiji. The agreement has been inked between countries to avoid double taxation and for the avoidance of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income. P. Chidambaram, Union Finance Minister and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Fiji's Minister of Justice, Public Enterprises, and Industry and Trade signed the pact in Delhi. The agreement will offer tax stability to the residents of both India and Fiji and will facilitate mutual economic cooperation.  According to Fortune Magazine, Google has been named as the best company to work for the fifth consecutive year. The internet search giant has topped the current list of ―100 Best American Companies to Work for‖. In this list SAS, a software developer stood on second while strategy consultants, the Boston Consulting Group remained on third position. Goldman Sachs Group, Intel, Ernst & Young, CISCO, Deloitte, American Express, Accenture, Discovery Communications and Hyatt Hotels were the noted names in this list. Above 252,000 employees were surveyed by the institute.  According to the 'Brand Trust Report 2014', Samsung a South Korean consumer electronics major is most trusted brand in India. While Sony of Japan remained on second position and the home-grown salt-to-steel multinational Tata stood on third place followed by LG, Nokia, Hewlett Packard, Hero, Honda, Reliance and Mahindra & Mahindra respectively. OM RANKER’S CREATOR, SCO 371-373, 4 TH FLOOR, SEC 34A, CHANDIGARH. CONTACT: 78140-11022, 78143-11022 Page 33

Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator  Famous social networking site Facebook has celebrated its 10th anniversary. Facebook has more than 1.2 billion users. Mark Zuckerberg from Harvard University launched the company on February 4, 2004. Initially this social networking site was conceived as a way to connect students and to let them build an online identity for themselves. As per Princeton University study, Facebook may lose around 80 % of its users over the next three years.  An apex development bank in India, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned1,112 crore for creation of 1,336 warehouses in seven states. These seven states where warehouses will be created are Kerala, Tripura, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and West Bengal and it will create 7.5 lakh tonnes of extra storage space.  Satya Nadella , the newly appointed CEO of Microsoft will earn $4.8 million this year while $18 m in financial year of 2015. He receives an annual salary of $1.2 million while he will get three times ($3.6 million) more as a cash award. This amount will go up to $18 million next year as he becomes eligible for stock awards.  Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) has stopped producing its iconic car brand Maruti 800. Maruti 800 had been carrier for millions of middle class Indian families. The company made an announcement and ensured that its production was stopped in 18 January 2014. While the spare parts of Maruti 800 will be available in the market for next 8 to 10 years even after the production has been stopped. In April 2010, Maruti 800 sale was stopped in 13-cities including Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kanpur. The model was launched in early 1980s in India with the price Rs 50000.  Indian-origin Mathew Martoma has faced up to 20 years in jail over insider trading scheme in US. 39 year old Martoma, the former portfolio manager of CR Intrinsic Investors was involved in $275 million. He is accused in one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two counts of securities fraud by a federal jury last week after a month-long trial.  For the first time third World Congress on Agro-Forestry was organised in India. It recently concluded in New Delhi. ―Trees for Life‖ is the theme of the Congress. The World Agro-forestry Centre, the Indian Society of Agro-forestry, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Global Initiatives jointly organised the third World Congress on Agro-Forestry. The first two congresses were organised in USA and Nairobi, Kenya. It helps in shaping next steps to be undertaken in the field of integrative science.  A Green Circle – RWITC, a green foundation was launched in Mumbai to promote clean and green living. The foundation will encourage its goal through cultural, social and public programmes. Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) along with the TATA Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has set up the foundation. TERI will work to create programmes of inspiration, information and awareness.

JANUARY 2014 HIGHLIGHTS  Software services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) during January 2014 announced plans to open world‘s largest training centre and learning campus which will have a built-up area of 6.1 million sq ft and provide accommodation for professionals and the faculty. In Technocity campus, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (The global learning centre to be set up by TCS on the Technocity campus will have facilities to train 50,000 professionals every year. The company claims that it will be the world‘s largest corporate learning and development centre. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone for the facility on 4 January 2014.  The Coal Ministry recently constituted a coordination panel comprising officials from the Centre and State governments to speed up clearances and ensure timely completion of coal mining projects headed by Coal Secretary S.K. Srivastava The move comes close on the heels of the State-run Coal India Limited (CIL) airing concerns on clearances and stating that nearly 241 projects were awaiting environmental or forest clearances at various levels.  Seeking to curb the practice of small aircraft and helicopters operating in the country without cockpit voice recorders, aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 6 January 2014 made it mandatory for all their operators to fit their machines with black boxes. The deadline given for this fitment guideline – 31 December 2014. During recent safety audits, DGCA had discovered that a large number of turbine-powered planes and helicopters, including turboprops turbine-powered propeller aircraft, were not fitted with CVRs.  According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), the average number of policies sold by an agent of LIC was almost 10 times that of his private sector counterpart. LIC‘s agents managed

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator their outperformance last year too, when the life insurance business was on a slide. The average policy sale figure for an LIC agent as disclosed by the IRDA – 29 Policies LIC has an agency force of 11.72 lakh while private companies have 9.49 lakh agents working for them.  State-run BHEL recently completed building a transmission sub-station in Karnataka, a link that has connected the southern and national electricity grids in Karnataka near Raichur. It is the southern end of the Raichur-Solapur transmission link of PowerGrid. With the commissioning of the Raichur-Solapur transmission line the southern grid has been linked with the national grid. The project will allow electricity to be carried to the southern region from other parts of the country during peak demand as well as transfer surplus power from the south during off- peak hours.  The committee constituted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI‘s) to promote financial inclusion headed by Nachiket Mor in its proposal has recommended universal electronic bank accounts to all Indian citizens above the age of 18 years. The deadline for opening these bank accounts as recommended by the committee – 1 January 2016. The committee has recommended that an instruction to open the bank account should be initiated by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) after the issue of an Aadhaar number to an individual over the age of 18. It also recommended that the RBI should issue a circular indicating that no bank can refuse to open an account for a customer who has adequate KYC proof which specifically includes Aadhaar.  The three day 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) started from 7 January 2014 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The theme of this year‘s PBD is "Engaging Diaspora: Connecting Across Generations." PBD is celebrated on 9th January every year to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India. January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi (non- resident citizen), returned to India from South Africa, led India‘s freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians forever.  The Government has introduced a programme for young persons of overseas Indians (POIs) with a view to provide them an exposure to the country of their origin so that they can understand it better and more intimately. This programme was launched on the occasion of the 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) organized in Delhi. The name given to this programme is ‗Know India Programme‘. Under the Programme, 20 young persons of Indian origin in the age group of 18 to 24 from different countries visit India extensively every year, which will provide them an opportunity to have a deeper insight into Indian people and society  Facebook Inc. on 7 January 2014 announced its first deal in India in which it will purchase an Indian startup that builds performance analysis and monitoring tools for mobile Android applications. With this deal Bangalore- based Little Eyes Labs will move to Facebook‘s headquarters in Menlo Park, California. It was founded around a year ago by 4 Bangalore-based technology professionals.  According to the Society of Indian Automobile Industry (SIAM), domestic car sales last year (2013) fell to 18,07,011 units from 19,98,703 units in the previous year (2012). This is the first time that annual car sales in India declined after 11 years. The last year when annual car sales displayed negative growth was in year 2002. High inflation, fuel prices and interest rates – which resulted in high cost of ownership, are generally as the reason for this negative trend.  India‘s rank in the 2014 Nuclear Threat Initiative‟s Nuclear Materials Security Index, which was released on 8 January 2014 was 23. India‘s 23 rank was among 25 countries included in this index, which basically throws light on the level of nuclear material security in the world. India has been ranked below its two nuclear-armed neighbours – Pakistan and China. India received 41 out of 100 points, which is improvement by one point from the 2012 score. China received 64 points and has been ranked at 20th spot, while Pakistan with 46 points stands at 22nd place. India and these countries are included in the list of 25 countries with one kilogram or more of these materials, which also includes all other nuclear-armed states.  The RBI on 9 January 2014 allowed the relatives of non-resident Indians (NRIs) to become joint account holders in the savings bank account in the country. Such an account will be treated as resident bank account for all purposes and all regulations applicable to a domestic account will be applicable. The joint account holder facility will be extended to all types of resident accounts, including savings bank account. However, facilities like credit cheques, remittances, cash, card or any other proceeds to this account will not be provided for NRI‘s relatives for this joint-account.  Prime Manmohan Singh on 10 January 2014 inaugurated the new swanky airport terminal of Chhatrapathi

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Sivaji International Airport (CSIA) Mumbai called Terminal 2 (T2). This terminal will now go into operations from 12 February 2014 which was built by a consortium led by GVK Airport Holdings. The new terminal will undergo a comprehensive security sweep in addition to operational readiness and airport transfer tests before the launch of operations. CSIA‘s T2 is a 4.4 million square feet project which has been inspired by India‘s national bird – the peacock.  The Union Cabinet on 9 January 2014 gave its approval for introduction of the National Youth Policy-2014 (NYP-2014). The vision of NYP-2014 is to empower youth to achieve their full potential, and through them enable India to find its rightful place in the community of nations. NYP-2014 would replace – National Youth Policy, 2013 (NYP-2014 will cover the entire country catering the needs of all youth in the age-group of 15-29 years, which constitutes 27.5% of the population according to Census-2011, about 33 crore youths.  The government Union on 10 January 2014 gave its approval to the plan to form an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) comprising scrips of 11 bluechip state-owned companies, which will be offered in the market with a view to garnering Rs 3,000 crore this fiscal. The 11 state-owned companies (PSUs) involved in this ETF plan – ONGC, Coal India Limited, GAIL, Power Grid, REC, Oil India Limited, Container Corporation of India, Power Finance Corporation, Indian Oil Limited, Engineers India Limited and Bharat Engineering Limited. ETF is a security that tracks an index, a commodity or a basket of assets like an index fund, but trades like a stock on an exchange. The PSU ETF would comprise shares of various profitable state-owned companies. The composition of ETF and weightage of the shares of individual PSU in the index has been decided by the EGoM.  SEBI on 10 January 2014 notified new norms empowering its Chairman to order search and seizure operations during investigations, while necessary safeguards have also been put in place to protect rights of affected persons. This would add extra power to SEBI‘s crackdown against fraudsters. The ordinance which promulgated by the Union government in September 2013, which had conferred explicit powers on SEBI Chairman to authorise investigating authority or any other officer of SEBI to conduct search and seizure under the SEBI Act is Securities Laws (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2013. The new norms providing SEBI with powers to conduct search and seizure have been finalised after taking into account suggestions from public and other stakeholders to draft regulations, which were issued in November 2013.  According to announcement made by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 12 January 2014 the Centre has revised its target upwards to opening 10,000 new bank branches a year. This has been part of Centre‘s initiative of taking banking services to rural areas.  The Government on 12 January 2014 unveiled 46 oil and gas blocks, which are expected to be auctioned soon under the tenth round of the Government‟s New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP X). These blocks were unveiled at the 4-day biennial international oil and gas conference which started at New Delhi at Petrotech 2014. Petrotech 2014 has being jointly organised by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and the PETROTECH Society. Nearly 11 energy ministers from across the world are expected to fly down to the four- day event. Companies from more than 15 countries participated in the event. In this conference, all regulators, national oil companies, private operators, services and ancillary firms, form a combined platform to demonstrate India as an E&P (exploration and production) destination.  The United Stock Exchange (USE) on 13 January 2014 announced a five-year contract with a leading IT services company, Tata Consultancy Services – TCS for deploying and managing a new online trading system as part of its quest to turn profitable next fiscal. Under the contract, TCS will replace the erstwhile technology platform at the currency derivatives exchange with a system that is more cost efficient but scalable enough to accommodate its future expansion plans, multiple sources close to the development. Once the solution is up and running, USE expects a reduction in its operating costs, thereby helping the exchange‘s balance sheet return to black in the next fiscal.  A 61,000 cubic meters balloon indigenously developed in India at the Balloon Facility, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Hyderabad penetrated into the mesosphere for the first time in India. The 61K cubic meter balloon weighing 31.0 kilograms was manufactured at Balloon Facility using the indigenously developed ultra-thin polyethylene film of thickness 3.8 micro meters. The balloon was launched at 0402 hours on 7 January 2014 from Balloon Facility campus and it reached the maximum altitude of 51.661 kilometers in around 2 hours and created the record. The flight was terminated at 0704 hours IST using Telecommand. This is for the first time that a regular stratospheric balloon has penetrated the mesosphere in India.  Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi on 13 January 2014 withdrew the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail segment. By doing this it became the First state in the country to withdraw FDI in this segment.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator  SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) Chairman UK Sinha‘s term was extended by 2 years during January 2014. Sinha will now head the regulatory body till 16 March 2016. Among the last four chairmen, Sinha is the only one whose term has been extended. The only SEBI chief to have held the post for a longer duration than Sinha is Mr. D.R. Mehta. Mehta served as SEBI Chairman for 7 years (1995-2002). Sinha‘s three predecessors – GN Bajpai (2002-2005), M Damodaran (2005-2008) and CB Bhave (2008-2011) – had only got a three-year terms.  In a significant development, the Gujarat High Court on 13 January 2014 ordered the suspension of all commercial and development activity inside the 21 units at the Adani Group‘s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) at Gujarat‘s Kutch district. This order was passed following a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the villagers of Navinal, located inside the SEZ, alleging serious violations of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, 2006 by the company and the units there. The Adani Group has pumped in around Rs. 20,000 crore in Mundra and about Rs. 7,000 crore for the SEZ, with a proposed area of some 18,000 hectares.  The Parliament of Europe on 14 January 2014 signed a new carbon dioxide restriction treaty which seeks to slash emissions for a segment of transport across the European Union (EU) by 28% from year 2020. All new light commercial vehicles sold across the EU come under these new rules, under which these vehicles are to emit a maximum 147 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre instead of 203 grammes as per the level set in 2007. The legislation would be reviewed in 2015. According to data released by the European Commission, 12% of emissions in the light-duty vehicle segment are done by vans. These emissions contribute for 1.5% of total European Union carbon dioxide emissions.  Rajeev Kher was appointed as new Commerce Secretary on 15 January 2014. He will take his charge on 31 January 2014 from SR Rao. Kher is a 1980-batch special secretary, Department of Commerce under IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre. He is currently Ministry of Commerce and Industry.  A prominent Indian credit rating agency along with four other rating agencies from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America during January 2014 launched a new credit rating outfit ARC Ratings S.A. The network-based rating agency would provide credit rating services to cross-border corporates in terms of accessing global capital. CARE – Credit Analysis and Research (ARC Ratings will be an equally held entity and have its operational headquarters in London. Each partner‘s shareholding is capped at a maximum of 25%. ARC will rate sovereign debt, financial institutions, non-financial corporations as well as structured products.  India‘s National Stock Exchange (NSE) – NSE recorded almost 145 crore equity trades on its platform last year, a gain of 3% from 2012, making it the biggest among 51 global peers, according to data with the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). Rival exchange BSE slipped one place to eighth position. Although it has more than 4,000 listed companies, the BSE recorded 34.46 crore trades last year, a drop of 3% compared to 2012. China‘s Shenzhen Stock Exchange recorded 129 crore trades, climbing three places to become the second-largest bourse in the world. Trades on the Shenzhen SE, which pushed NYSE Euronext to third place, rose 38% from 2012  To promote women entrepreneurship, the country‘s first women‘s bank – the Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) – has chosen to do away with collateral for loans availed by women. The BMB will provide collateral-free loans for amounts up to Rs 1 crore. Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises – CGTMSE would cover the risk under this initiative. The CGTMSE is a credit guarantee scheme, where a premium is paid either by the lender or the applicant, provides a guarantee cover for up to 80% of loans availed by women owned or operated micro and small enterprises. For loans availed for smaller amounts such as Rs 20,000, the bank will completely waive off the requirement for collateral.  Indian national airline Air India was recently invited to join Star Alliance. Star Alliance was created in 1997, to better meet the needs of frequent international travellers. It today serves over 1,300 airports globally with a combined fleet strength of the members being over 4,700 aircraft. The Alliance, through its member airlines has a presence in over 195 countries. In December 2007, Air India was inducted into Star Alliance after a meeting of the CEOs board in Beijing. But in August 2011, the airline‘s application for membership of the alliance was put on hold as it did not meet the minimum joining conditions that had been contractually agreed to in December 2007.  In a major overhaul of foreign investment regime, the government is considering splitting overseas inflows into two categories – Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) – with a minimum composite cap of 49%. The proposal envisages an aggregate automatic limit of 24% of FPI, which may be raised up to the extent of FDI permitted under the automatic route. Constituting two categories for foreign investments is considered by Mayaram Panel. The government had set up a four-member committee headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Mayaram to define FDI and FII and remove the ambiguity between them. The

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Committee is expected to finalise its report by end of January 2014.  The Union Government on 20 January 2014 allowed the establishment of an ad hoc authority to recommend the pricing of the passenger and cargo segments by Rail Tariff Authority. Rail Tariff Authority will have a Chairman and four members. The decision to have an ad hoc arrangement through a government resolution was taken because establishing it through an executive order, as had been desired by the Cabinet, was not feasible given that under the Railway Act only the Railway Board can decide on the prices of rail services. For constitution of the RTA, an amendment to the Railway Act, 1989, is also necessary.  The pilot project of Amul‘s first “Any Time Milk” (ATM) vending machine to dispense milk on 24X7 basis was on 19 January 2014 installed at – Anand, Gujarat. The pilot project of this 24×7 ATM began with the installation of a vending machine at the gate of Amul Dairy in Anand town of Gujarat. For a Rs 10-currency note, which this machine will read through a sensor, the ATM would dispense a 300 ml pouch of start with, Amul plans to set up these ATMs at each of Amul Taaza milk. The ATM, fitted with refrigeration the 1,100 ‗mandalis‘ village-level milk collection facility, has a capacity to hold 150 pouches at a time. To centres in Kheda and Anand districts of Gujarat.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on 22 January 2014, warned that it would withdraw from circulation all old banknotes and announced that it will withdraw all old notes from 31 March 2014. From 1 July 2014 these old notes would be put out of circulation. Notes issued before 2005 will be withdrawn by the RBI. According to an RBI advisory, anybody who had such currency notes would have to approach a bank in order to exchange them. The RBI would start withdrawing the notes after 31 March 2014. This step will apparently hit currency hoarders and counterfeiters. However, the currency notes issued before 2005 would remain legal tender. But from 1 July 2014 those wanting to exchange more than 10 pieces of 500 and 1000 rupee notes in a bank where they do not have an account will have to provide proof of residence and identity.  Tamilnadu Mercantile Bank – TMB came to highlight recently for declaring an interim dividend of 9000%, which is said to be the highest in India‘s banking industry. Tuticorin-based TMB took a decision to this effect at a meeting held on 18 January 2014. This dividend stands at Rs. 900 per share of Rs 10 each, for the fiscal ending March 2014. This is the second year in a row that the bank has declared such a high dividend. The bank‘s board had approved a dividend of Rs 750 per share for 2008-09 and Rs 1,000 per share the following year.  Tata Chemicals on 23 January 2014 celebrated its platinum jubilee (75th year) and on this occasion company‘s Managing Director R. Mukundan rang the opening bell on the Bombay Stock Exchange. At – Mithapur – Gujarat, 75 years back Tata Chemicals established its first centre of salt and soda ash production. Tata Group was associated with Mithapur in 1939 when it took over the Okha Salt Works at Mithapur near Okha. Mithapur, situated between Okha and Dwarka, is a small colony supported by Tata Chemicals Limited, which is one of the flagship companies of the Tata Group.  Leading Indian drug manufacturer Ranbaxy Laboratories‘ plant in Toansa (Punjab), which had recently received Form 483 from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), was put under import alert on 24 January 2014. With this, all products manufactured at Toansa would now remain banned from the US. This is Ranbaxy‘s fourth Indian plant to receive an import alert from the USFDA, which means that sale of all Ranbaxy drugs manufactured in India have been banned in the US. The three plants which were banned by the USFDA earlier – Ponta Sahib (Himachal Pradesh), Dewas (Madhya Pradesh) and Mohali (Punjab) – The USFDA‘s inspection of the Toansa facility, which concluded on 11 January 2014, identified significant CGMP violations. According to the USFDA findings, the staff at Toansa facility were retesting raw materials and intermediate drug products and also finishing API that had earlier failed analytical testing and specifications.  Bangalore on 25 January 2014 became the first in India to offer free Wi-Fi spots for the public. Karnataka Government‘s Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology, Science & Technology launched the ‗Namma Wi-Fi‘ hotspots across six spots in the city. Usage will be limited to three hours per day or up to 50 MB data. The total number of access points would be 23 in the coverage area which will accommodate 2,000 users at the same time. To use this service, users should have an authentication password which would be sent to their mobile after they register on the network.  Karl Slym, who passed away on 26 January 2014 in Bangkok, was the top executive associated with Tata Motors. He was the Managing Director of Tata Motors. He died in Bangkok on 26 January 2014 where he had gone to attend a board meeting of the company‘s Thailand arm. The UK-born Slym was brought to the company in 2012 to turn around the company‘s domestic business as Tata Motors was fully dependent on profits generated by the company‘s UK-based subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover till the end of the last quarter.  India‘s Civil Aviation Ministry on 27 January 2014 approved the operations of Airbus A-380s in India at four

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator airports currently equipped to handle these super jumbos. Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Lufthansa have been pressing the government for several years to allow them fly these super jumbos into India. The four airports were allowed to handle this huge aircraft – Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. An A-380 aircraft can seat 850 passengers in an all-economy configuration, but those having a three-class configuration can accommodate between 550-600 passengers.  The name of the high performance computing system of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which was unveiled on 28 January 2014 is Dhruva-3. Dhruva-3, which was developed by the Advanced Numerical Research & Analysis Wing (ANURAG), Hyderabad, will be useful for the design of advanced aircrafts like the AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft), where analysis of aerodynamics at high speeds under different conditions is required. It will be deployed to solving mission critical Defence R&D applications.  Raymond Weil, who passed away on 27 January 2013, was a renowned pioneer of Watch-making. He was the founder of the watch brand of the same name (Raymond Weil) and is considered one of the great innovators of the Swiss watch industry. Born in Geneva in 1926, Weil first made his foray into the watch industry at Camy Watch, of which he soon took company focused on putting into practice his vision the reins. In 1976, in the midst of an industry-wide that timepieces should be high-quality and with crisis, he decided to go it alone and created his own superior design, but at affordable prices.  A study conducted by Nielsen and commissioned by Oil Ministry‘s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), in its report has found that cheaper fuel is finding usage by unintended beneficiaries. According to this study 13.15% of diesel is being consumed by high-end cars and SUVs (sports utility vehicles). This study found that 70% of the diesel was being used in the transport sector. Private cars and SUVs consumed 13.15%. Commercial vehicles such as trucks however constituted the largest user base of diesel at 28.25%. Other commercial vehicles used another 8.94% and three-wheelers, a further 6.39%. Agriculture tractors and pumps used 13% of the diesel. Industries and electricity generators consumed almost 9% diesel, while mobile towers used 1.54%. The study found that 99.6% of petrol is consumed in the transport sector alone. Of this, majority consumption of 61.42% is accounted for by two-wheelers while cars use 34.33%, followed by 3-wheelers at 2.34%.  According to the recently released Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013-14, India has the largest population of illiterate adults in the world and it comprises of about 37% of the global total. The total number of illiterate adults in India according to this report is 287 million or 28.7 crore. The report mentions that India‘s literacy rate rose from 48% in 1991 to 63% in 2006, the latest year it has available data, but population growth cancelled the gains so there was no change in the number of illiterate adults.  In a first of its kind venture, six public sector undertakings (PSUs) including state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) on 29 January 2014 announced joining hands to set up world‘s largest 4,000 MW ultra mega solar power project in Sambhar, Rajasthan spread across 19,000 acres. It entails an investment of Rs. 7,500 crore in the first phase. The JV will have equity of 26% from BHEL, 23% from SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India), 16% from SSL (Sambhar Salt Ltd), 16% from PGCIL, 16% from SJVNL (Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam) and 3% from REIL (Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited).  Gorton Castle - the heritage building in Shimla which houses the office of the Accountant General of Himachal Pradesh and was gutted in a major fire on 28 January 2014. A major fire reduced two floors of this magnificent heritage building to ashes. Deriving its name from the former estate upon which it was built, this was the Government of India Secretariat Building from where the affairs of this vast country were administered during the summer months in the colonial times. Crores of rupees had been spent on renovation of this heritage building which was built in 1904. Renovation work was on when the fire broke out in the building.  The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) on 30 January 2014 raised the subsidised LPG cylinder quota from 9 to 12 per year per household. It also decided to put on hold the direct benefit transfer scheme for LPG which linked payment of subsidy directly into the bank accounts of the consumers under the Aadhaar platform. After increase in the cap on subsidized LPG cylinders around 97 percentage of LPG cylinders are now covered by subsidised cylinders. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily disclosed that 89.2% of the 15 crore LPG consumers use up to nine cylinders in a year and only 10% have to buy the additional requirement at the market price. After the quota is raised to 12, about 97% of the LPG consumers would be covered by subsidised

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator LPG.  With Union government‘s decision of increasing the cap on subsidised domestic LPG cylinders from 9 to 12, the subsidy burden on petroleum companies increased substantially (by around Rs. 5,000 crore annually). This decision also affected government‘s target of reducing fiscal deficit. In September 2012, the cap on subsidised domestic LPG cylinders was brought down to just 6, which was later increased to 9. Government had reduced the cap on subsidised domestic LPG cylinders to just 6 with an objective to reduce its subsidy load and reduce fiscal deficit. However due to severe criticism from several quarters this cap was increased to 9 during January 2013. Now the cap has been increased further to 12.  India Post (Indian postal department) recently announced an ambitious plan to install as many as 3,000 ATMs and 1.35 lakh micro-ATMs at its post offices across the country for savings account holders. This plan would be rolled-out by installing three ATMs in New Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore on 5 February 2014 and then ramp it up gradually by September 2015. Under this plan, 1,000 ATMs with the India Post branding will be put in within the first year, which will be ramped up massively to 3,000 in the next 18 months. To start with, the ATMs can be used only by 26 crore savings account-holders who save with the postal department but India Post hopes that within six months of the launch, it will get the interoperability permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Postal savings are worth around Rs 6.05 trillion, which is half the savings in the largest lender SBI and more than double that of the largest private sector lender ICICI Bank.  International creditors on 29 January 2014 started the third bailout review of Cyprus to gauge whether the country is living up to the terms of its financial rescue program. The start of country‘s third bailout review comes after earlier assessments concluded that the country was on track, but warned that there was no room to slacken efforts. The amount of bailout package approved by the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Cyprus during March 2013 was 10 billion Euro or $13.6 billion. Cyprus‘ banking sector is the hardest hit with this bail-out package. The deal saw authorities seize large portions of uninsured savings in the two largest banks and impose capital controls while the second-largest lender was shut down.  Google Inc. on 29 January 2014 announced selling Motorola‘s smartphone business (Motorola Mobility) to Chinese company Lenovo for $2.9 billion. The price of the sale makes Google‘s biggest acquisition of Motorola look like its most expensive mistake. For $12.4 billion price Google acquired Motorola Mobility in 2012. Motorola has lost nearly $2 billion since Google took over, while trimming its workforce from 20,000 to 3,800. Google had previously recovered some of the money that it spent on Motorola by selling the company‘s set-top operations last year to Arris Group Inc. for $2.35 billion. On the other hand Lenovo now appears determined to become a bigger player in smartphones as more people rely on them instead of laptop and desktop computers to go online.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator FEBRUARY ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE INDEX India was ranked 155 out of 178 countries as per the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2014. India has index score of 31.23 points in its efforts to address environmental challenges. India was behind its neighbouring countries Pakistan, China and Nepal. Amongst the BRICS countries, South Africa was at 72 position that was followed by Russia China and Brazil. For the first time third WORLD AGRO-FORESTRY CONGRESS World Congress on Agro-Forestry was organised in India. It recently concluded in New Delhi. ―Trees for Life‖ is the theme of the Congress. The World Agro-forestry Centre, the Indian Society of Agro-forestry, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Global Initiatives jointly organised the third World Congress on Agro-Forestry. The first two congresses were organised in USA and Nairobi, Kenya. It helps in shaping next steps to be undertaken in the field of integrative science. National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) (NMSHE) mission was launched under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). The key objective of the mission is to develop a sustainable national capacity to continuously assess the health status of the Himalayan Ecosystem ; enable policy bodies in their policy-formulation functions;assist States in the Indian Himalayan Region with implementation of actions selected for sustainable development. The mission will focus on the following issues such as :Himalayan glaciers and associated hydrological consequences;Prediction and management of natural hazards;Biodiversity conservation and protection;Wild life conservation and protection;Traditional knowledge societies and their livelihood;Capacity in regulation of science and critical peer evaluation to help governance issues related to sustenance of the Himalayan Ecosystem;Assist in restoration and rehabilitation process of Uttarakhand. The mission will cover 12 Himalayan States of India :Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam and West Bengal. National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) NAPCC was initiated in 2008. The plan comprises of eight national Missions:National Solar Mission;National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency; National Mission on Sustainable Habitat; National Water Mission;National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Eco-system; National Mission for a Green India; National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture ; National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change.

JANUARY POLAR VORTEX A massive blast of bitterly cold air plunged temperatures across much of the United States on 6 and 7 January 2014 to life- threatening lows not seen in nearly two decades. Which phenomenon has been seen responsible for this historic and life- threatening cold wave across the U.S.? – ‗Polar Vortex‘(A polar vortex is a persistent, large scale cyclone located near one or both of Earth‘s geographical poles. This polar vortex is named the 2014 North American polar vortex, which has resulted in extremely cold temperatures in parts of Canada and the U.S. MPEDA According to data provided by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and Seafood Exporters Association of India on 9 January 2014, The United States has recently overtaken South-East Asia as the largest market for Indian seafood exports. Shipments to the US in April-November 2013 in rupee terms jumped 91% to Rs 5,392.3 crore, while the comparative number for South-East Asia was Rs 4,887.7 crore.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator SPORTS

MARCH 2014

Rusi Dinshaw, Pakistan‘s only Parsi cricketer expired on 24th March,2014.

Novak Djokovic won his fourth career title at the Miami Masters on Sunday with a 6—3, 6—3 defeat of top seed Rafael Nadal.

Lewis Hamilton has emerged as the winner of the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Supreme Court on Friday appointed the former India skipper, Sunil Gavaskar, as the interim president of the board to discharge the functions of the Indian Premier League 2014 until its final order on the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal. Gavaskar is going to supervise the the IPL 2014.

The BCCI on Friday accepted the Supreme Court‘s without posing any resistance against the decision. BCCI accepted SC‘s decision of not to suspend the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from the IPL and said the order to make Sunil Gavaskar interim president was ―acceptable‖ to the Board.

FEBRUARY 2014

CRICKET 1. Indian cricket team got defeat by New Zealand in final ODI by 87 runs. New Zealand won the series by 4-0 in Wellington. With this victory, New Zealand has bagged the 5-match ODI series. After this defeat, New Zealand has dethroned Indian cricket team from the number one spot in the ODI rankings. 2. New Zealand won the 1st Test win against India by 40 runs since 2002 and took a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series at Eden Park in Auckland. Brendon McCullum, Captain of New Zealand due to his brilliant double century in 1st innings has been chosen as Man of the Match. 3. Indian skipper and Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni has become the fourth fastest batsman who scored 8000 runs in one-day cricket. He made this record during the final ODI against New Zealand in Wellington. The three men who made this record are Dhoni‘s compatriot Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and the West Indian legend Brian Lara. The 32-year- old Dhoni has taken 214 innings to touch the landmark. 4. Experienced Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene has made a record in his name as he has become the sixth-highest run-scorer in Test cricket with his unbeaten double-century. The double century was made on the first Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka. Sri Lanka declared their first innings at 6-730 on the third day of the first Test against Bangladesh with the help of Jayawardene's 203 and Kithuruwan Vithanage's maiden century (103) which was the highest score by any team against Bangladesh. 5. After thrashing Maharashtra by seven wickets in finals, Karnataka lifted Ranji Trophy for cricket in Hyderabad. Maharashtra batted first and gave the target of 157 runs which was easily chased by Maharashtra losing only three wickets in their second innings. Karnataka have won the trophy for seventh time. Lokesh Rahul of Karnataka has been adjudged as Man of the Match. 6. Master blaster cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and eminent scientist Prof C N R Rao was conferred Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour. The cricket icon batsman Tendulkar is the first sportsman who has been bestowed with the honour was retired from international cricket last year. 7. Retired cricket legend and batting icon Sachin Tendulkar will lead the MCC team against Shane Warne-led Rest of the World side at the Lord's to mark the bicentenary celebrations of the historic club. For the second time Tendulkar will appear at Lord's. Tendulkar is set to lead a side that will also have another Indian batting great Rahul Dravid in his side. 8. The Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh‘s cancer foundation called ―YouWeCan‖ has joined its hand with an NGO Navbharat Sewa Samiti to launch a campaign named ―Cancer Mukt Purvi Dilli‖. The focus of joining the hand is to bring awareness and the early detection of cancer and education. Yuvraj Singh launched the campaign and highlighted the need for an early detection of the lethal disease to save lives. 9. Former Indian cricketer and Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag has been nominated for the ―ESPNcricinfo@20 Cricketer of the Generation‖ award. Besides these two Indian cricket icon, Sri Lankan player Muttiah

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Muralitharan, Australian player Shane Warne, West Indian Brian Lara and South African Jacques Kallis will also be in this list. The former Indian captain Rahul Dravid will nominate the winner of the ―Contribution to Cricket‖ award. A Renault automobile will also be presented to the winner. 10. India has smashed Scotland by 5 wickets in the ICC under 19 cricket World Cup which was held in Dubai. India chased the target of 89 runs against Scotland and grabbed the victory. Deepak Hooda with his quick fire 24 runs and Sarfaraz Khan with a 45runs brought India to the victory. 11. New Zealand has get the victory over the second cricket Test Series against India 1-0 held in Wellington which concluded in a draw. Prior, Brendon McCullum New Zealand Skipper has created history by becoming the first player of New Zealand to score a triple hundred. In this match, Virat Kohli made his 6th century while McCullum was chosen man of the match. India - South Africa test Series South Africa on 30 December 2013 clinched the two match series with India in Durban 1-0. It defeated India by 10 wickets in the second cricket test to win the series. In the second inning of the match, India gave a 58 runs target to chase on the fifth day. It was all out on 223 runs in the second innings in which Ajinkya Rahane scored 96 runs. For South Africa, Robin Peterson claimed four wickets while Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander took three each. Jacques Kallis, who was playing his last Test hit a superb 115 runs in the first innings. With this knock he surpassed Rahul Dravid of India as the third highest run-getter 13289 runs in the longest format in his farewell match. Now, he is behind Sachin Tendulkar (15921) and Ricky Ponting (13378) in the all-time list. Retiring South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis was given a guard of honour by the Indian players as he walked out to bat in the second and final Test at Kingsmead on 29 December 2013. IRANI TROPHY Karnataka clinched Irani Trophy by smashing Rest of India by huge margin of 222 runs at M.Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. Last month, Karnataka has thrashed Maharashtra by winning Ranji Trophy. For the fifth time, Karnataka has won Irani Trophy. Zaheer 4th Indian bowler to claim 300 wickets in Test cricket Zaheer Khan on 22 December 2013 became the fourth Indian bowler to claim 300 wickets in Test Cricket. Jacques Kallis was his 300th wicket in international test cricket on the fifth day of the first cricket test match against South Africa in Johannesburg at the Wanderers Stadium. With the 300 wickets, Zaheer joined the club of bowlers of India, who has taken 300 wickets namely Kapil Dev (434 wickets), Anil Kumble (619 wickets) and Harbhajan Singh (413 wickets). ICC ODI rankings India on 12 December 2013 retained its top position in the latest ICC ODI rankings. India topped the rankings table with 120 points, which is followed by Australia with 114 rating points. ICC ONE DAY INTERNATIONAL TEAM RANKINGS Rank Team Matches Points Rating 1 India 58 6967 120 2 Australia 42 4808 114 3 England 42 4671 111 ICC T20 team Rankings Rank Team Matches Points Rating 1 Sri Lanka 20 2425 129 2 India 15 1918 123 3 South Africa 23 2928 123 Top 5 Batsmen in One Day International Cricket Rank Runs Name Rank Runs Name Rank Runs Name 1 872 A.B. de Villiers 2 859 V. Kohli 3 839 H.M. Amla Top 5 Bowlers in One Day International Cricket ID. Rat. Name ID. Rat. Name ID. Rat. Name 1. 763 Saeed Ajmal 2. 742 D.W. Steyn 3. 730 S.P. Narine Team Rankings : Rank Team Rating Rank Team Rating Rank Team Rating 1 . South Africa 131 2 . India 119 3 . England 116 Top 5 Batsmen in Test ID Rat. Name ID Rat. Name ID Rat. Name 1 909 A.B. de Villiers 2 898 H.M. Amla 3 868 M.J. Clarke Top 5 Bowlers in Test ID Rat. Name ID Rat. Name ID Rat. Name 1 912 V.D.Philander 2 890 D.W.Steyn 3 831 H.M.R.K.B.Herath

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Star India - New Official Sponsor of Indian Cricket Star India replaced Sahara India as the new Official Sponsor of Indian cricket team. This was declared by the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) at a meeting held in Chennai on 9 December 2013. Graeme Swann retired England spinner Graeme Swann announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket midway through the Ashes Series on 22 December 2013. Shane Shillingford suspended by ICC for illegal Bowling action The International Cricket Council (ICC) on 16 December 2013 suspended Shane Shillingford, the West Indies offspinner, from bowling in international cricket after his action was found illegal. ICC Test ranking South Africa fast bowler Vernon Philander declared on the No. 1 position in the latest ICC Test rankings in bowling and batting released on 24 December 2013. Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis, had moved in the right direction on rankings for Test batsmen. Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award 2013 Kapil Dev, the Former Captain and legendary All-rounder of Indian Cricket Team on 18 December 2013 selected for the BCCI‘s prestigious Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award for the year 2013. Kapil Dev had played 131 Tests for India taking 434 wickets. He was the first player to complete 5000 runs and 400 wickets in Tests. He played 225 ODIs, in which he took 253 wickets and scored 3783 runs. His most memorable contribution to Indian cricket was the victory in the 1983 World Cup. Sunil Gavaskar won this award for the year 2012. Other cricketers to have bagged the coveted award include, Mohinder Amarnath, Ajit Wadekar, Mohinder Amarnath, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Lala Amarnath, Syed Mushtaq Ali and Capt. Vijay Hazare. About Col. CK Nayudu and the Lifetime Achievement Award Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, comprises a trophy, a citation and a cheque of 25 lakh Rupees. This award, named after India‘s first Test captain, is given to individuals whose contribution to Indian cricket, on and off the field by BCCI. Col. CK Nayudu or Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu was the first captain of Indian Cricket Team in Test Matches, and he played the first class cricket for India till 1958. The ruler of Holkar in 1923 conferred him with the honour of Colonel in Holkar‘s Army at Indore. Nayudu was appointed as the first captain of Indian team for its first test tour of England in 1932 after the previously appointed captain and vice-captain of the team, Maharaja of Porbandar and Ghanshyamsinhji of Limbdi respectively were out of the series due to health problems.

TENNIS 1. India‘s Somdev Barman has thrashed Chinese Taipei in the Asia-Oceania Group-I Davis Cup Tennis tie with a 3-0 winning. India‘s Somdev Barman beat Ti Chen in 6-7, 7-6, 1-6, 6-2, 9-7. 2. A Spanish professional tennis player Rafael Nadal has retained his top position in the men‘s ATP tennis rankings which was released recently. He was followed by Serbian tennis ace Novak Djokavic, Australian Open winner Swiss Statislas Wawrinka, Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina and Spanish David Ferrer who made into top five respectively. 3. An American professional tennis player Serena Jameka Williams has retained her top position in WTA women‘s tennis rankings which was recently issued. Williams retains 13,000 points which was followed by Belarusian Victoria Azarenka with 6,581 points and Australian Open winner Li Na on 6,570 respectively. Polish Agnieszka Radwanska and Russian Maria Sharapova followed them and retained their position in top five of WTA women‘s tennis ranking list. 4. Indian professional tennis player Yuki Bhambri has entered final of the ATP Challenger Tennis event which is being held in Chennai. Bhambri has emerged as winner in the contest between country's top two tennis players where he thrashed India number one Somdev Devvarman and breezeed into the final of the ATP Challenger Tennis event. Yuki will now contest with Russian Alexander Kudryavtsev. 5. Chinese tennis ace Peng Shuai has been ranked World No. 1 in the latest Women‘s Tennis Association (WTA) Doubles ranking which was released recently. Shuai is the first Chinese player to reach the top of the WTA's doubles ranking. Chinese Taipei tennis ace Hsieh Su-Wei was ranked No.2 in WTA Doubles ranking. Wei‘s ranking is the highest ranking ever for a player from Chinese Taipei. This pair is also the first team from Asia to clinch the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships which was held in Istanbul in 2013. 6. Chinese tennis ace Li Na has been ranked World No. 2 in the latest Women‘s Tennis Association (WTA) Singles ranking which was released recently. She has now become the first Male or Female and Asian player to hold the WTA World No. 2 singles ranking. The 17-time Grand Slam title-winner with 12380 points topped the Women‘s Tennis Association (WTA) Singles ranking while Li Na reached the second spot with 6690 points. Earlier, she was ranked World No. 3 in WTA singles ranking in 2013. The tennis ace of China has grabbed the Australian Open 2014 by clinching her only Grand Slam title. Stefan Edberg to join Roger Federer‟s coaching team Roger Federer on 28 December 2013 announced that Stefan Edberg, the former Swedish tennis player will join his coaching

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator team in 2014. Stefan Edberg will join the long-time coach Severin Luthi as part of his team before the start of first grand slam (Australian Open) in 2014. Edberg will train to Federer for a short period of time across the year and Luthi the person who is training Federer for past 7 years will coach him for the most time. Edberg who will coach Rogar Federer in January 2014 has been his childhood hero. Federer, who is the 17 times major winner ranks at sixth position at present. Stefan Edberg • Stefan Bengt Edberg was born on 19 January 1966 • He is a former world no. 1 pro-fessional tennis player in both singles and doubles from Swe-den • From 1985 to 1996, Edberg had won six grand slam singles title and three grand slams in double titles, which includes Australian Open in 1985 and 1987, Wimbledon in 1988 and 1990 and US Opens in 1991 and 1992 • He was a part of the Swedish Davis Cup winning team for four times • He has won the Masters Grand Prix • He has won four Masters Series titles and four Championship Series titles

BADMINTON National Badminton Championship Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu won the men‘s and women‘s titles respectively at the 78th Senior National Badminton Championship in Siri Fort Sports Complex at New Delhi on 23 December 2013. Srikanth won the men‘s singles crown of the Senior National Badminton Championship by defeating M V Guru Sai Dutt 21-13, 22-20 in the finals. In the Women‘s singles, PV Sindhu defeated the Junior National Champion Rituparna Das 21-17, 21-11 in the finals to win the title. About Badminton Association of India (BAI) Badminton Association of India (BAI) is the governing body for Badminton in India. Based in Lucknow, BAI is an association registered under the societies act. It was formed in 1934 and has been holding national-level tournaments in India since 1936. BAI has 33 State Associations and 4 other organizations as its members that conduct Badminton tournaments and have a 2x voting power compared to the 8 affiliate members, who do not conduct tournaments and have a single vote each in the association. Macau Open Badminton Singles title Indian shuttler PV Sindhu on 1 December 2013 won the Women‘s Singles trophy at the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton Tournament. In the title clash, Sindhu, defeated seventh seed Li Michelle of Canada in straight games, 21-15, 21- 12. Joshna Chinappa, veteran Indian player has lifted her maiden WSA World Tour title with the Winnipeg Winter Club Open trophy. She smashed Egypt's Heba El Torky in a hard-fought final in Winnipeg, Canada. The fourth-seeded Indian Chinappa won 3-2 (11-13 11-8 11-5 3-11 12-10) in a see-saw battle. With this win, India marks the second consecutive year of an Indian winning the trophy with Dipika Pallikal. WINTER OLYMPICS The Sochi Winter Paralympic Games 2014 has commenced in Sochi, Russia with dazzling opening ceremony. The Olympic Stadium has 40,000 seat capacity. More than 88 nations along with participants are competing in Sochi. Yulia Lipnitskaya, a 15-yr-old Russian figure skater has become the youngest athlete in the world to win a Gold medal at the Winter Olympics. With her debut at the Sochi Winter Olympics, Lipnitskaya has recorded the best result ever in women‘s free skating with score 141.51 and earned a combined total of 214.41. 15-year-old Yulia Lipnitskaya has become the youngest Russian athlete to clinch a gold medal at the Winter Olympics. Yulia bagged this medal in Winter Olympics 2014 at Sochi, Russia in free skating in the team figure skating competition. She scored 141.51 points and has earned a combined total of 214.41 under the International Judging System. South Korean Kim Yuna is the current record holder with score 150.06 and combined total of 228.56 in women‘s single in Winter Olympics 2010. HOCKEY Men‟s Junior Hockey World Cup 2013 Germany on 15 December 2013 lifted the Men‘s Junior Hockey World Cup for a record sixth time. In the title clash at New Delhi, defending champions Germany defeated France, 5-2 to retain the title. Final Positions: 1. Germany, 2. France, 3. The Netherlands, 4. Malaysia, 5. Australia, 6. Belgium, 7. New Zealand, 8. Korea, 9. Pakistan, 10. India, 11. Argentina, 12. South Africa, 13. Spain, 14. England, 15. Egypt, 16. Canada. Individual Awards: Player of the final: Niklas Wellen (Germany). Player of the Tournament: Christopher Rühr (Germany) Goal-keeper of the Tournament: Edgar Reynaud (France) Top Scorer: Christopher Rühr (Germany), 9 goals Goal of the Tournament: Jean-Laurent Kieffer (France), Argentina vs . France, 3rd French goal (48th minute) The Junior Hockey world Cup 2013 was held in New Delhi, India from 6-15 December 2013. A total of 16 teams were participated

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator in this tournament. About Men‟s Junior Hockey World Cup The Men‘s Junior Hockey World Cup also known as the Roger Danet Trophy is an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The tournament was first held at France in 1979. Since 1985 it has been held every four years. Competitors must be under the age of 21 as of December 31 in the year before the tournament is held. FOOTBALL Under-17 FIFA World Cup 2017 in India India was chosen as the host country for Under-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017 by the FIFA executive committee in its meeting at Salvador de Bahia in Brazil on 5 December 2013. By virtue of being the host country, India will take part in the 24-nation tournament for the first time in its history. Soccer Club World Cup 2013 Bayern Munich defeated Raja Casablanca 2-0 in the finals of the third club World Cup 2013 and became the new world champions. About FIFA The FIFA Club World Cup, commonly referred to as the Club World Cup, is an international Association football competition organized by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport‘s global governing body. The championship was first contested as the FIFA Club World Championship in 2000. Since 2005, the competition has been held every year, hosted so far by Brazil, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco. BRAZUCA unveiled Brazuka, the official 2014 FIFA World Cup match ball was unveiled on 3 December 2013 by manufacturers Adidas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The ball is called the ‗Brazuca‘ which is an informal local term which means ―Brazilian‖, or relating to a Brazilian way of life. GOLF Bubba Watson has clinched the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, USA. Since 2012 Masters where he grabbed fifth US PGA Tour title, this is his first title. He has played the final 39 holes without a bogey and has shot a 7-under 64 to grab the Northern Trust Open. Asia-Pacific Junior Golf Team Titles India won the boy‘s and girl‘s team titles in the Asia-Pacific junior golf championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC). It was India‘s first ever victory in the Asia Pacific Junior Golf Championship. In the boy‘s category, the team of Viraj Madappa and Manu Gandas took India ‗A‘ to win the team title. On the other hand, in the girl‘s category, the team of Aditi and Ridhima Dilawari fashioned India ‗B‘ to win the team title. In the individual category, Aditi Ashok lifted the individual title in the girls‘ category after a thrilling play-off with second-placed Min-Jou Chen of Chinese Taipei. Results - Team Boys 1. India ‗A‘ (Manu Gandas, Viraj Madappa) 2. Thailand ‗B‘ (Ekthumrong Luanganuruk, Suradit Yongcharoenchai) 3. Chinese Taipei ‗A‘ (Sung I Yu, Chun An Yu) Team Girls 1. India ‗B‘ (Ridhima Dilawari, Aditi Ashok) 2. Chinese Taipei A‘ (Yu-Hsin Chang, Min-Jou Chen) 3. Chinese Taipei ‗B‘ (Hsin-En Tsai, Cih-Hui Chen) Indonesia Open Golf Tournament 2013 Indian Golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar on 1 December 2013 won the 2013 edition of the Indonesia open at Jakarta. FORMULA ONE F1/MOTOR RACING Sergio Perez joined Sahara Force India British-based Sahara Force India on 12 December 2013 signed Sergio Perez as race driver for the team in 2014. He has signed a multi-year contract with the Force India team. Earlier, he dropped England based McLaren at end of the 2013. About Sergio Perez • Perez was a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy until 2012 and took his first Formula One podium at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix • Perez joined McLaren for the 2013 season by replacing Lewis Hamilton VARIOUS 1. N Ramachandran, World Squash Federation (WSF) president has been chosen unopposed as the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Rajeev Mehta Kho-Kho Federation of India President has been elected unopposed as Secretary General and Anil Khanna All India Tennis Association (AITA) chief has been elected as Treasurer. He is a former secretary general of Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) and brother of N Srinivasan who is Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Supremo. Ramachandran was elected as treasurer of the Indian body in 2012.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator 2. An Indian shooter and a World and Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra has become the first person to clinch three gold medals in the Inter-Shoot Tri-series Shooting in the Air Pistol event. With this victory, he has become the first person to win three gold medals in this event which is being held at Hague, Netherlands. He shot 209.3 in the finals and finished ahead of the second-placed shooter by 2.4 points to grab the third gold medal. 3. For the first time, India will host World Bridge Championship for Bermuda Bowl (men) and Venice Cup (women). The World Bridge Federation (WBF) announced it on 17 February 2014. Panaji in Goa and Chennai in Tamil Nadu have been shortlisted to host the World Bridge Championship. Around 550 players from as many as 66 countries are expected to be seen in action in this world championship. The World Bridge Team is conducted by the World Bridge Federation (WBF) every two years. The premier tournament in international bridge observes the top teams from each geographic region competing against each another for the Bermuda Bowl trophy. Naypyitaw South East Asian Games The 27th edition of South East Asian Games are kicked off in Naypyitaw, the new state capital of Myanmar on 11 December 2013. This is the biggest sporting event in South East Asia. The games involve 34 events with participation from 11 Countries. 7th Asian Youth Judo Championships 2013 As per the schedule the 7th Asian Youth Judo Championships 2013 concluded on 11 December 2013 at Hainan, China. 17 Nations participated in this Youth Championships. The host country China won overall Championship by winning 5 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze, and South Korea placed runner-up by winning 3 Gold and 3 Bronze, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan placed third and fourth places. 14th Asian Junior Judo Championships 2013 The 14th Asian Junior Judo Championships 2013 concluded on 13 December 2013 at Hainan, China. 95 Men and 60 Women from 19 Nations participated in this Championship. Japan won overall Championship by winning 10 Gold and 1 Silver medal, however South Korea placed runner-up by winning 2 Gold, 2 Silver and 5 Bronze medals, and Mongolia won 2 Gold and silver placed third. About Judo Union of Asia Judo Union of Asia came into existence in the year 1956 with 7 National Judo Federations as its members. Chinese Taipei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Philippines and Thailand were the Founding Members of JUA. The 1st Asian Judo Championships (Men) was held in the year 1966 in Manila, Philippines, and teams from 8 Member National Judo Federations participated in the Championships. JUA Membership has been increasing year by year. By the end of the year 1970, National Judo Federations from Sri Lanka, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Vietnam, DPR Korea, Burma (Myammar, at present), Singapore, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Iran and Syria also joined JUA, thus expanding the membership to 23. 57th National Shooting Championship At the 57th National Shooting Championship being held at Tughlakabad on 14 December 2013, Malaika Goel of Punjab and Prakash Nanjappa of Karnataka won Gold in their respective categories. The Results: EVENTS POSITION 50-METER AIR PISTOL MEN 1. Prakash Nanjappa 2. Kapil Kumar 3. Gurpal Singh JUNIORS 1. Sukhwinder Singh 2. Kapil Kumar 3. Prashant Malik 10-METER AIR PISTOL 1. Malaika Goel 2. Harveen Srao 3. Shreya Gawande WOMEN JUNIORS 1. Malaika Goel 2. Nayani Bhardwaj 3. Shreya Gawande YOUTH 1. Malaika Goel 2. Nayani Bhardwaj 3. Gauri Sheoran

JANUARY 2014

CRICKET „Thank You Sachin‟ campaign by BCCI The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 6 November 2013 launched Thank you Sachin campaign on social networking site Twitter. This Campaign will allow fans worldwide to connect and say thank you to Sachin Tendulkar on his retirement. Rohit Sharma Scores a Double Hundred in ODI Rohit Sharma, the Indian batsman on 2 November 2013 became the third cricketer in the world to score a double 100. The second one to do so was Virendra Sehwag who scored 219 against West Indies in the year 2011 and the third one is Rohit Sharma to score 209 runs against Australia in 2013.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Fastest Batsman to Score 5000 Runs in ODIs Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli became the fastest batsman to score 5000 runs in one-day internationals when he scored 86 against the West Indies in the first ODI in Kochi on 21 November 2013. Virat Kohli achieved the feat in just 120 matches and 114 innings. He has so far scored 5005 runs, which included 17 centuries and 27 fifties in his short career. In terms of innings, Virat Kohli has equalled the record of Sir Viv Richards of West Indies, who also achieved the feat in 114 innings way back in 1987 but it was Viv‘s 126th match. Before Kohli, former captain Sourav Ganguly was the fastest to achieve the feat among Indian batsmen in 131 matches and 126 innings. From India, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (135 innings), Gautam Gambhir (135 innings) and Sachin Tendulkar (138 innings) are the next fastest batsmen to reach the 5000 runs in ODIs. Catches win Matches Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the first Indian wicketkeeper and the fourth overall to effect 300 dismissals in One Day Internationals (ODIs) when he caught a Ross Taylor nick in the opening ODI against New Zealand in Napier on 19 January 2014. Three players who have more catches against their names in ODIs – Australia‘s Adam Gilchrist (472), Sri Lankan‘s Kumar Sangakkara (443) and South Africa‘s Mark Boucher (425) Ashes Australia completed a 5-0 series whitewash over England with a 281-run victory inside three days of the fifth Ashes test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on 5 January 2014. English team was all out for 166 while chasing 448 for victory on the third day of the final test. Australia had last whitewashed England by identical margin in 2006-07. ICC Test Ranking In the latest ICC test ranking, India moved to the second position, following the 2-0 victory over West Indies on 16 November 2013. South Africa stood at the top position with 131 points, which is followed by India with 119 ratings point. England stands at third position with 116 points. Virat Kohli became Number 1 ranked ODI Batsman Virat Kohli on 3 November 2013 became the number 1 batsman in one day International cricket rankings after scoring 344 runs in the series against Australia, that India won by 3-2. In the series Kohli scored 61 in Pune, 100 in Naipur, 68 in Mohali, 115 in Nagpur and 0 in Bengaluru at an average of 114.66. South Africa Defeated Pakistan ODI Series South Africa defeated Pakistan 4-1 in the One-Day International series in UAE on 11 November 2013. INDIA vs. NEW ZEALAND New Zealand cricketer Corey Anderson came to limelight recently after he scored the fastest ever one-day international (ODI) century while scoring his unbeaten 131 against the West Indies. Anderson scored his century off just 36 deliveries. He broke the record of fastest century of Shahid Afridi of Pakistan (Afridi had scored his century off 37 deliveries against Sri Lanka in an ODI match played at Nairobi on 4 October 1996. Anderson broke his record by just one ball on 1 January 2014 at Queenstown, New Zealand)

The third one-day international (ODI) of the India-New Zealand series at Auckland on 25 January 2014 ended in a nail-biting tie with India scoring exactly 314 runs, the same scored by the Kiwis. It was India‘s 7th tie in an ODI match. MS Dhoni created history by becoming the first ODI captain to have participated in four tied matches (Richie Richardson (West Indies), Steve Waugh (Australia) and Shaun Pollock (South Africa) were involved in three ties each. The first tie for Dhoni was in the 2011 ICC World Cup against England in Bangalore. His second was also against England at Lord‘s on 11 September 2011. The third occasion was against Sri Lanka in Adelaide in February 2012. TENNIS Davis Cup The Czech Republic on 17 November 2013 defended the Davis Cup title 2013 after Redek Stepanek defeated the Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 in the fifth rubber of the final by BNP Paribas Final in Belgrade. Barclays ATP World Tour Final Novak Djokovic on 11 November 2013 retained the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals title after defeating the number one, Rafael Nadal. Traralgon Title Yuki Bhambri on 4 November 2013 won the ATP men‘s singles title of Traralgon event in Australia. He defeated Bradely Klahn of America in the summit clash that was hit by rain. HOCKEY India qualified for Hockey World Cup 2014 Indian men‘s hockey team on 3 November 2013 officially qualified for the Rabobank Hockey World Cup 2014. A total of 22 teams (11 men/11 women) have now qualified for the Rabobank Hockey World Cup, with just two more places left to fill. BNP Paribas Masters Tennis Tournament 2013 3rd Asian Champions Trophy 2013 Indian men‘s hockey team finished fifth at the 3rd Asian Champions Trophy at Kakamigahara, Japan on 10 November 2013. Asian Champions Trophy 2013 – The Medallists Men Women

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Gold: Pakistan Gold: Japan Silver: Japan Silver: India Bronze: Malaysia Bronze: Malaysia India to host Men‟s Hockey World Cup in 2018 India was selected by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) on 7 November 2013 to host the Men‘s World Cup of Hockey in 2018. The finals will be played from 1 to 16 December 2018. Also, England will host the Women‘s World Cup of hockey from 7-21 July, 2018. This was announced by Leandro Negre, the President of FIH at Lausanne during the special ceremony. V. Baskaran Appointed as Coach Hockey India on 20 November 2013 appointed the former Olympic gold-medallist V Baskaran as Coach of the Senior Men Hockey Team. About V Baskaran Vasudevan Baskaran who was the captain of the team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow has 287 internationals caps and has represented India in the Olympic Games in 1976 Montreal, two World Cups in 1973 Amsterdam (Silver) and in 1978 Buenos Aires, two Asian Games in 1974 Tehran (Silver) and in 1978 Bangkok (Silver) and Champions Trophy in 1978 Pakistan (Bronze). Baskaran coached the senior men national team for ten years. Under his coaching India had played 187 matches including major tournaments such as the Olympic Games in 2000 (Sydney), two World Cups in 1998 in Utrecht and 2006 in Germany, Asian Games 2006 in Doha, Junior World Cup in 1997 in Milton Keynes (Silver) and Champions Trophy in 1997 in Chennai. In 1980, he received the Arjuna Award and in 1981 he received Padamshri Award. FOOTBALL Lionel Messi awarded third Golden Shoe Lionel Messi, the Barcelonan forward footballer on 20 November 2013 won the Golden Shoe award. Messi won the award in recognition of his 46 goals in 32 leagues appearances in the Europe‘s domestic football league in the 2012-13 season. This is the third Golden Shoe award of Messi and with this win he became the first footballer win the show three times. Earlier Messi won the award in 2009-10 for 34 goals and a Spanish record 50 in 2011-12. About Lionel Messi Lionel Andres Messi (26) is an Argentine Footballer and a captain to the national team of Argentina. At present he plays for FC Barcelona in Spain. He is the fourth footballer to win 3 Ballons d‘Or. He is the second player to win three Ballon‘s d‘Or consecutively after Michele Platini. SHOOTING 18th Asian Archery Competition India‘s men‘s compound Archery team on 31 October 2013 won a gold medal in the 18th Asian Archery competition held at Chinese Taipei. Abhishek Verma, Ratan Singh, Sandeep Kumar forming the compound team defeated the Korean trio of Lihong Min, Yong Hee Choi and Jongho Kim 233-231 to win the gold. Rifle/Pistol World Cup Finals Heena Sidhu became a part of the history by becoming the third Indian pistol shooter to win Gold at the World Cup Final on 10 November 2013 in Munich. GOLF Golf World Cup 2013 Jason Day, Australian Golfer won the Golf world cup at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne on 24 November 2013. Australia team (Jason Day and Adam Scott) also won the team Championships by beating the American team of Matt Kuchar and Kevin Streelman. With this victory Jason Day collected 1.2 million Dollars for sealing individual Title and will share another 600000 Dollars with Adam Scott for winning the team Brazilian Grand Prix 2013 trophy. Indian Golfer Anirban Lahiri finished with 25th place and picked up 56000 Dollars for his effort at the tournament. Indian Open Golf Tournament 2013 Mohammed Siddikur of Bangladesh won the 50th edition of Indian Open golf tournament on 10 November 2013 at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC), New Delhi. It was his second Asian Tour title after Brunei Open victory in 2010. F1/MOTOR RACING Vettel‘s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber was second in his final F1 race. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was third. The formula one season ending Brazilian GP is Vettel‘s second victory in Brazil, and 39th of his career. About Sebastian Vettel • Sebastian Vettel is a German formulae one racing driver and at present he is driving for the Red Bull a Austrian racing team. • At present he is the world champion as he won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2013 Formula 1 racing driver, Sebastian Vettel on 3 November 2013 won the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit, Abu Dhabi.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator CHESS Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the FIDE World Chess Championship 2013 at Chennai on 22 November 2013. Magnus Carlsen defeated the previous world champion Viswanathan Anand of India by 6.5-3.5 in the match that was held from 7th November in Chennai, India. About 2013 FIDE World Chess Championship The 2013 FIDE World Chess Championship match which took place from 7 to 22 November in Chennai, India. It is a match for the highest crown in chess between the Defending Champion Viswanathan Anand (India) and the Challenger Magnus Carlsen (Norway). WEIGHT LIFTING Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships Indian weightlifter, Deepak Lathore won Gold and two Silver medals in the Boys‘ 50 Kg category of the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships on 25 November at Penang, Malaysia. About Commonwealth Weightlifting Federation The Commonwealth Weightlifting Federation (CWF) was established in 1947. It is one of the oldest sporting federations of the Commonwealth and is unique in that it encompasses Commonwealth nations from the five continents and recognised by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). Powerlifting Asian Open Championships British Paralympic powerlifter Ali Jawad on 5 November 2013 won gold at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Asian Open Championships with a world-record lift. Ali lifted 185.5kg in the 59kg class VARIOUS World Athletes of 2013 The Jamaican sprinters, Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce were crowned the male and female World Athletes of the Year, 2013 on 16 November 2013. They were selected as the world athletes of the year by the sport‘s governing IAAF at a ceremony in Monaco. G V Mavalankar Shooting Championship West Bengal, the host of the 23rd All India G V Mavalankar Shooting Championship topped the medals tally on 16 November 2013. GS Sandhu reappointed as India Boxing Coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu was on 20 November 2013 reappointed as the national coach of the men‘s Indian boxing team till the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. OTHER EVENTS 1. Eusebio, who passed away on 5 January 2014, was a great footballer of Portugal. Eusebio was a top scorer at the 1966 Football World Cup. He earned 64 caps and scored 41 goals for Portugal, records that stood for almost two decades. The Portuguese government announced three days of national mourning as homage to this great footballer. 2. Stanislas Wawrinkaof Switzerland defeated Edouard Roger Vasselin of France by 7-5, 6-2 to win his second Chennai Open title. Wawrinka was top seeded player of the tournament and was ranked World No. 8 before the tournament. 3. The seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams of the United States became the first major casualty of Australian Open 2014, which started on 13 January 2014 at Melbourne. She was defeated by the Russian player Ekaterina Makarova. No. 22-seeded Makarova defeated Venus Williams by 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events of the year. 4. Indian woman long jumper Anju Bobby George became the first and the only Indian to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships after her silver medal position was promoted to gold medal position due to disqualification of the Gold Medalist Tatyana Kotova of Russia for doping. Anju had won this silver medal in World Athletics Championships 2005 held at Monte Carlo (At the World Athletics Final in 2005, Anju Bobby George won the Silver Medal with a long jump of 6.75 meter. The Gold Medal was won by Russia‘s Tatyana Kotova with a jump of 6.83 meter and the Bronze Medal was won by Grace Upshaw of the US. Following the disqualification of Tatyana Kotova by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) on 13 January 2014, Anju was declared winner of long jump event. Eunice Barber of France was awarded the bronze medal. 5. The inaugural Hero Hockey World League 2014, which was held at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, was won by – the Netherlands In the final played on 18 January 2014 the Netherlands thrashed New Zealand 7-2 to claim the title. Third place was claimed by England which defeated Australia by 2-1 in the bronze medal match. India earlier finished sixth in the tournament after losing 1-2 to Belgium. Robbert Kempermann of the Netherlands was declared Player of the Tournament 6. 3rd Lusofonia Games started on 18 January 2013 at Goa. These games are held for Portuguese-speaking countries. Athletes from 12 countries are participating in these games, which are – Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Goa (India), Macau (China), Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome & Principe and Sri Lanka. 7. Top-seeded Serena Williams was ousted from the Australian Open 2014 after she lost in the fourth round. With this loss Williams‘ winning streak since August 2013 was broken. Ana Ivanovic defeated her by 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to move into quarter- finals.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY MARCH 2014 MAIN HIGHLIGHTS  According to the latest researches done by the scientists, it was reported in UN panel that water issue may cause problems in the coming future. This report on Climate Change was released by the US panel on 30 March 2014 and it has warned that the climate change being faced in Asia has increased the risk of armed conflict among India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China. According to the report, there is a possibility that the war might occur due to the severe stress on water resources and food- grain production in future, due to climatic change.  Archaeologists have recently unearthed a 3300 year old tomb which was known to have a 7-metre-high pyramid at its entrance in an ancient cemetery in Egypt. The tomb is located at the site of Abydos and it contained disarticulated skeletal remains from three to four men, 10 to 12 women and at least two children. Potentially hazardous asteroid 2013 YP139 discovered NASA discovered a new potentially hazardous asteroid named 2013 YP139 on 29 December 2013. It was confirmed by the NASA on 15 January 2014. It was first discovered by NASA‘s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE). The Researchers at the University of Arizona used the Spacewatch telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory southwest of Tucson to confirm the discovery. The 2013 YP139 is about 43 million kilometers from Earth. First multi-coloured 3D Printer launched World‘s first 3D-printer Objet500 Connex3 was launched on 28 January 2014. The printer was manufactured by the USA based company Stratasys, the owner of the MarkBot range of printers. Object500 Connex3 is the world‘s first 3D printer that can produce multi-colour, multi-material objects at the same time. It will be commercially available in the second quarter of 2014 and will cost around 330000 dollars. It enables users to get exact intended colour, material properties and surface finish as conceptualized. What is it that determines the colour of anything? Colour is the visual perception of the physical signal, the light, that eye receives. The colour depends on the kind of light that falls on anything and also that bounces off or passes through it. Light travels in waveform and each colour has its own wavelength. So, in other terms, colour depends on the wavelengths of light that reaches the surface of an object and that reach eyes after being reflected or transmitted by the object. Surface of any object has, in general, three effects on light falling over it — absorption, reflection and transmission. If an object absorbs all wavelengths of light falling on it, then it appears ‗black‘ and if it reflects every wavelength of light falling on, it will appear ‗white‘. If an object reflects wavelengths of light partly, absorbing the rest, then the reflected wavelengths ‗decide‘ the colour of it. Thus the apparent colour of an object depends on the wavelength of the light that it reflects. For example, a ‗red object‘ observed in daylight appears red because it reflects only the waves producing red light. Dexter Dexter, a private information stealing virus, was detected by Computer Emergency Response Team – India (CERT-In) in online banking transaction space on 19 January 2014. The virus is particularly more threatening for the users of credit card while making payments at the shopping counters. When the credit card is swiped at the point of sale (POS), the virus Dexter steals the confidential data like card holder‘s name, account number, expiration date, CVV code and other discretionary information What is the powdery material that sticks to the fingers when a butterfly is caught by its wings? Both butterflies and moths belong to the order Lepidoptera meaning scaly wings. As the order name Lepidoptera implies, the powdery material found on butterfly wings that sticks to our fingers is a bunch of tiny scales, modified sensory structures called setae. Hubble discovered clouds on new planets Hubble discovered the two new planets, GJ 436b and GJ121 4b, providing the weather forecast for a planet outside our solar system. The Astronomers led by University of Chicago Laura Kreidberg and Jacob Bean W determined that both the planets covered with clouds and contains hydrogen. These clouds hide any information about the composition and behaviour of the

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator lower atmosphere and surface. GJ 121 4b is about 40 light years away from Earth in the constellation Ophiuchus. GJ436b is similar in mass to Neptune and GJ 121 4b is considered a Super Earth planet because of its mass is intermediate between those of Earth and Neptune. About Hubble The Hubble space Telescope‘s launched in 1990 that orbits Earth. Its gaze has helped determine the age of the universe and the existence of dark energy. Technology to turn Plastic into fuel developed National Institute of Technology, Odisha, developed a commercially viable technology for efficiently rendering common polymer, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) into a liquid fuel. This discovery may lead to re- using discarded plastic bags and other products to address growing demands for fuel globally. Study was published in International Journal of Environment and Waste Management. Water-jet printer created A team of scientists have created Water-Jet printer on 28 January 2014. The printer was created by the team of scientists at Jilin University of China. These new water-jet printer use water instead of ink. Supercomputer PARAM Yuva-II ranked 1 in India Supercomputer PARAM Yuva-II was rated 1st in India, 9th in the Asia Pacific Region and 44th in the world among the most power efficient computer systems as per the Green500 List. It was announced at the Super computer Conference (SC 2013) in Denver, Colorado, US. PARAM Yuva-II was developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C- DAC). C-DAC is the second organization worldwide to have carried out the Level 3 measurement of Power versus Performance for the Green500 List. PARAM Yuva – II uses hybrid technology, processor, co-processor and hardware accelerators. PARAM uses hybrid technology to provide the peak compute power of 520.4 Teraflop/s using 210 kilowatt power. The interconnect network comprises of homegrown PARAMNet-III and Infiniband FDR System Area Network. This system is designed to solve large and complex computational problems. The system has 200 Terabytes of high performance storage, and requisite system software and utilities for parallel applications development. About Supercomputers A Super computer is the fast-est type of computers that is typically used for scientific and engineering applications which handles very large databases or does a great amount of com-putation or both. In general Supercomputers consume a lot of electrical power and produce much heat. To reduce heat, it requires elaborate cooling facilities, which increases the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of a supercomputer. Green500 ranks computer sys-tems in the world according to compute performance per watt and providing a world ranking based on energy efficiency. Energy consumed by supercomputers is measured at various Levels L1, L2, and L3. GENETICALLY ENGINEERED BASIL Scientists at Western Kentucky University, US genetically engineered Tulasi or basil to enhance its pharmaceutical value. Scientists genetically engineered Tulsai to produce eugenol, a compound found in basil. Eugenol has a pharmaceutical value which controls the breast cancer. Tulasi is a medicinal plant and has anti-cancerous compounds called metabolites. About Tulasi or Basil Tulasi is scientifically called Ocimum tenuiflorum or Ocimum sanctum. Tulasi leaves are used in Ayurvedic medicine and it is known to promote the longev-ity of life. The herb Tulasi is used to cure the respiratory disorders and to combat cardiac disorders. Rosetta to reawaken for final mission When Rip Van Winkle awakened from his 20-year slumber atop the Catskill Mountains, he didn‘t know he had missed the American Revolution. other parts of the galaxy onto Earth, where their crashing billions of years ago could have seeded life. Yet, no comet has been studied as closely as Rosetta will attempt to in the next 12-13 months. The lander on-board Rosetta, titled Philae , carries 10 instruments to study these attributes. Indigenous Glucose Monitoring Device The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched two indigenous Glucose Monitoring Device, Suchek and QuickcheQ, on 13 January 2014. The launching of two kinds of glucometers and testing strips will make mass screening and detection feasible. Suchek is designed and developed by Nanobios Lab, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. Suchek is very useful for health camps as it has a mobile application, which helps save, trend and analyse blood glucose levels at an individual level. QuickcheQ is designed and developed by the Birla Institute of Technology, Hyderabad with funding from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). These will be manufactured by Biosense Technologies and will be available in the open market in the next six months.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator About Diabetes Diabetes, diabetes mellitus, describes a group of metabolic diseases in which the person has high blood glucose (blood sugar), either because insulin production is inadequate, or because the body‘s cells do not respond properly to insulin, or both. Patients with high blood sugar will typically experience polyuria (frequent urination), they will become increasingly polydipsia (frequent thirst) and polyphagia (frequent hunger). There are three types of diabetes: (1) Type 1 Diabetes The body does not produce insulin. People usually develop type 1 diabetes before their 40th year, often in early adulthood or teenage years. Patients with type 1 diabetes will need to take insulin injections for the rest of their life. They must also ensure proper blood-glucose levels by carrying out regular blood tests and following a special diet. Approximately 10% of all diabetes cases are type 1. (2) Type 2 Diabetes The body does not produce enough insulin for proper function, or the cells in the body do not react to insulin (insulin resistance). Some people may be able to control their type 2 diabetes symptoms by losing weight, following a healthy diet, doing plenty of exercise, and monitoring their blood glucose levels. Approximately 90% of all cases of diabetes worldwide are of this type. (3) Gestational Diabetes This type affects females during pregnancy. Some women have very high levels of glucose in their blood, and their bodies are unable to produce enough insulin to transport all of the glucose into their cells, resulting in progressively rising levels of glucose. A CeNSE of things to come Innovations at a centre in IISc are bringing the pathology lab closer to the individual. A moat isn‘t something you‘d typically expect to find around a research centre, but then the micron-scale operations at the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE) at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. NASA Mars Rover discovered doughnut rock Jelly doughnut rock discovered by NASA Mars rover was revealed on 21 January 2014 on the tenth anniversary of the Mars rover‘s landing on the planet. The researchers named the rock as Pinnacle Island, which is high in composition of three elements sulfur, magnesium and manganese. Researchers said the rock is the one of the oddest things on Mars that space experts have ever come across on Mars. The rock is examined and it can be seen as a whitish colour on the outer surface while bearing reddish colour toward its center and looks like sweet desert. About Opportunity Mars Rover One of the NASA‘s Mars Exploration Rovers, Opportunity reached the Red Planet on 24 January 2004. The Opportunity rover was built for a three-month mission on Mars, but continues to return valuable scientific data even after 10 years. NASA‘s Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover Search for and characterize a variety of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity. Anu Vidyut Pariyojana launched in Fatehabad, Haryana Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation of 2,800 Megawatt nuclear power plant in Fatehabad district of Haryana on 13 January 2014. The project named as Anu Vidyut Pariyojna, will have four units of 700 MWes each and it will be built at a cost 23502 crore rupees. They are Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) which will use natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as both coolant and moderator. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) will build these reactors. This is the first time Haryana will have a nuclear project. In the second stage, the NPCIL will build two more PHWRS of 700 MWe each at the Gorakhpur site of Haryana. Total installed capacity of nuclear reactors is 5780 MWe. India’s three-stage nuclear power programme Programme was formulated by Dr. Homi Bhabha in the 1950s. The objective of the plan is to secure the country‘s long term energy independence, through the use of uranium and thorium reserves found in the monazite sands of coastal regions of South India. Programme has three stage vision: The first stage consists of the pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR), the second stage consists of fast breeder reactors (FBR) and the third stage consists of advanced heavy water reactors (AHWR). Smart contact lens to measure glucose levels in tears Google X Lab unveiled a smart contact lens that can help diabetics to measure their glucose level in tears on 17 January 2014. The smart contact lens has been developed in collaboration with the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) by Brian Otis and Babak Parviz. The contact lens uses a tiny wireless chip and a minituarized glucose sensor. NASA rover Opportunity found Mars had life friendly fresh water NASA Mars rover Opportunity found that Mars had life friendly fresh water once. This was confirmed by the scientists at NASA on 23 January 2014. The discovery has reinforced the similar discoveries made by Curiosity on the other side of the planet Mars. Opportunity had been analyzing water-bearing rocks at the rim of an ancient impact crater called Endeavour. Rather than the chemical fingerprints of acidic, salty water found at previous sites, Opportunity discovered telltale clays called smectites that form in Ph-neutral water. NASA Mission on Mars Opportunity, along with its now-defunct twin, Spirit, landed on Mars in 2003 for concurrent 90-day missions to look for clues

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator of the past existence of water on planet Mars. NASA in 2012 another Mars rover named Curiosity equipped with an onboard chemistry lab for follow-up investigations to determine that Mars had other ingredients essential for supporting life. Curiosity is exploring an area known as Gale Crater. Saturn’s Ring 4.4 billion years old Saturn‘s iconic rings were formed about 4.4 billion years ago said the researchers at the University of Colorado. This was announced at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union on 3 January 2014. The new study was conducted using data gathered by the NASA‘s Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft. The main rings are believed to be extremely old, rather than hundreds of millions of years old said the researchers. Saturn‘s main ring system is huge but razor-thin, measuring about 280000 kilometres across but just 33 feet or so in the vertical direction. The rings are composed primarily of water ice, but they contain small amounts of rocky material contributed by micrometeoroid bombardment. The University of Colorado researchers used Cassini‘s Cosmic Dust Analyser instrument to measure how frequently such tiny particles cruise through the Saturn system. The researchers were able to reconstruct the orbits of many of these particles, finding that the lion‘s share come from the Kuiper Belt, the ring of icy bodies beyond Neptune‘s orbit. How some bacteria avoid antibiotics The naturally occurring HipA toxin disrupts the process needed to build proteins. This is interpreted by the bacteria as a ‗hunger signal‘ and sends them into an inactive state to survive until the anti bacterial treatment is over. ALMA telescope capture, for the first time, the remains of a recent supernova brimming with freshly formed dust. This could explain how many galaxies acquired their dusty, dusky appearance. Biosensors inspired by plants electric signal Plants use electric signals in an to retrieve ancient Neanderthal DNA molecules from fossils despite contamination by modern human DNA has been found. The method showed a fossil to be related to other Neanderthals in Europe. Mistimed sleep disturbs rhythm of sleep A study revealed which genes may be regulated by sleep-wake cycles and which are regulated by central body clocks. This finding provides new clues about sleep‘s function as separate from the circadian clock. Tropical carbon doubled in 50 years The tropical carbon cycle has become twice as sensitive to temperature variations over the past 50 years, new research has revealed. Harnessing Sun’s energy for use at night A system that converts the sun‘s energy not into electricity but hydrogen fuel and stores it for later use, allowing us to power our devices long after the sun goes down has been developed by American researchers. New light on grand canyon formation The world famous Grand Canyon took its present form just five to six million years ago — much more recently than previously thought, a new study suggests. Previous studies had claimed it was perhaps 70 million years old. Nitrous oxide from stream, rivers studied Scientists are trying to understand how populations of microorganisms regulate emissions of nitrous oxide from streams and rivers. Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas and contributor to climate change. Reef growth Marine ecologists in Sydney have successfully restored a once thriving seaweed species, which vanished along a stretch of the city‘s coastline during the 1970s and 80s when there were high levels of sewage. Satellite monitors pollution in China Plumes of several anthropogenic pollutants (especially particulate matter and carbon monoxide) near ground level over China have been detected from space — a first step towards improved monitoring of regional pollution. Plant compounds take on Alzheimers in mice Now, observations have confirmed that as the gas cloud around a young massive star collapses, it forms dense filamentary structures that absorb the star‘s UV radiation and the surrounding nebula flickers like a candle. New Method to extarct Neanderthal DNA A chemical that‘s found in fruits and vegetables from strawberries to cucumbers stops memory loss that accompanies Alzheimer‘s disease in mice. A daily dose prevented progressive memory and learning impairments. Childhood obesity starts in kinder garten A recent study suggests that development of new childhood obesity cases is established by kindergarten.Overweight kindergarteners were four times as likely as normal kids to become obese by the eighth grade. New light on origins of lions, tigers and bears Carnivorous mammals trace their ancestry to primitive carnivorous mammals dating back to 55 million years ago. Fossil finds shed light on origins of this group and one of the earliest of these primitive taxa, Dormaalocyon latouri. Queen wasps stays in dark unlike workers A queen in a wasp colony largely stays in the dark. The worker wasps that fly outside to seek food and building materials see

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator much more of the world. The brain regions for sensory perception grow differently in these two. Fish, fish oils cut type 2 diabetes High concentrations of serum long-chain omega -3 fatty acids may help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a study published recently in Diabetes Care . The sources of these fatty acids are fish and fish oils. How fibre prevents obesity, diabetes Mice fed a fat- and sugar-rich diet, but supplemented with fibres, became less fat than control mice and were also protected against the development of diabetes thanks to significantly increased sensitivity to insulin. Dietary fibres protect against asthma Developing asthma is related to the amount of fruit and vegetables consumed. The gut bacteria-fermented fibres create fatty acids which enter the blood and influence immune response in the lungs. FEBRUARY 2014 HIGHLIGHTS  The 101st edition of annual Session of Indian Science Congress (ISC) was recently held in the University of Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir. Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India inaugurated the event. Prof. R C Sobti was the President of the 101st ISC. ―Innovations in Science and Technology for Inclusive Development‖ is the theme of the 101st ISC. This is pursuance of the policy Science healing and innovative. More than 12,000 delegates including Senior Scientists, Noble Laureates, Teachers, Students and Young Scholars had participated and presented their research findings.  Afghanistan and India did joint inauguration of Afghan National Agricultural Science & Technology University. Salman Khurshid, Indian Foreign Minister and Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan President opened it in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan. The University which has been established with the help of India, is the first Agricultural University in Afghanistan while Afghanistan exports fresh and dry fruits to many countries of the world including India. A Green Circle RWITC, a green foundation was launched in Mumbai to promote clean and green living. The foundation will encourage its goal through cultural, social and public programmes. Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) along with the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has set up the foundation. TERI will work to create programmes of inspiration, information and awareness. 'Auto City' in Tamilnadu The Tamilnadu government will set up an Automotive Industrial Development Centre offering investment facilitation services to companies willing to invest in the automotive industry. At present Tamilnadu contributes to around 35% of the India's auto component production. The proposed 'Auto City' will have logistics hub to provide multi modal transport, a design and technological park ,effluent treatment ,waste management utilities and transport of goods to various ports on 24 hour basis for movement of consignment trucks. Down Syndrome Down Syndrome is a genetic disorder characterized by the presence of all or part of the third copy of Chromosome 21. Persons with this syndrome suffer from mental disability to some extent, distinct facial features and associated with delay in physical growth. The down's syndrome can be found out in pregnancy and proper diagnostic has to be followed for the entire life time of the person. World Congress on Down's Syndrome is going to conducted in Chennai next year .It is a triennial event. Aakash missile Aakash missile is a surface to air, medium range missile developed in collaboration with three entities including DRDO. At present it is inducted in Indian army and Indian Air force. The missile has a intercept ranege of 30 km and flies at supersonic speed, reaching around Mach 2.5. The missile can be launched to engage and destroy fighter aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters and other targets. It is supported by phased array Rajendra radar, which can track 64 targets. Malaria will face tough challenge A major break through achieved in the fight against Malaria.Scientists working with the project has dsicvered that AP2-G is necessary for switching on genes that control the development of precursor malaria cells to the male and female forms of the parasite. Malaria is a blood related disease in which the parasite is transmitted to humans by the Anopheles mosquito. First telecommunication Satellite of Bolivia launched Bolivia on 20 December 2013 launched the country‘s first telecommunication satellite Tupak Katari. The satellite has been named upon an indigenous national hero, who fought the 18th century Spanish colonial rule. The rocket carrying the satellite blast off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China. Bolivia is one of the last countries in South America to have its own satellite. Ivan Zambrana is the Director of the Bolivian Space Agency. He said that the satellite should be fully operational by March 2014 and help to bring down communication cost and improve television and Internet services for people living in rural areas. OM RANKER’S CREATOR, SCO 371-373, 4 TH FLOOR, SEC 34A, CHANDIGARH. CONTACT: 78140-11022, 78143-11022 Page 55

Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Telecommunications satellite Satellite telecommunication is the most mature of space applications. Starting 50 years ago with the launch of Telstar in 1962 and Syncom in 1963, satcom has continued to grow ever since. At first, satellite performance was very limited. The use of satellites was limited to long distance telephony and to the transport of television signals between studios. Use of Telecommunication satellites  Radio and T.V. signals we receive is distributed from the satellite.  Most news agencies use satellites to distribute text, audio and video to their affiliates.  Access to the Internet is possible only by satellite communication.  Satellites are being used for tele-education, telemedicine or videoconference systems.  Internet service providers of ten link their servers to the core of the Internet network by satellite.  Play a fundamental role in the infrastructure of telephone and other services. First human artificial heart implanted The first human artificial heart implantation performed in Georges Pompidou Hospital, Paris on 18 December 2013 was successful. The artificial heart designed by the French biomedical firm Carmat and developed by the Dutch based European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). The artificial heart can give patients up to five years of extra life, which replaces the real heart. The previous heart assistance devices are created mainly for temporary use. The artificial heart uses biomaterials including bovine tissue and an array of sensors to mimic the contractions of the heart. The patient has to wear a belt of lithium batteries to power the heart. Inside the heart, surfaces that come into contact with human blood are made partly from bovine tissue instead of synthetic materials which can cause blood clots. The artificial heart weighs as little as less than a kilogram (900grams), almost three times heavier than an average healthy human heart. Science journal’s top 10 breakthroughs of 2013 - 10 Science Breakthroughs of 2013 CRISPR: Akin to the discovery of the microscope in the 1920 that ―touched off a revolution in surgical procedures,‖ the discovery of a bacterial protein — Cas9 — gives ―researchers the equivalent of a molecular surgery kit for routinely disabling, activating, or changing genes,‖ the paper notes. Though CRISPR, the gene-editing technique was discovered in bacteria, researchers use it as a scalpel for surgery on individual genes. Its popularity soared this year — with over 50 publications in 10 months — as more than a dozen teams of researchers used it to manipulate the genomes of various plant, animal and human cells. Cloning human embryos: After years of failure, researchers were able to derive stem cells from cloned human embryos this year. Scientists were able to clone sheep, mice, pigs, dogs and other animals, but human cells proved really tricky. But in 2007, researchers at the Oregon National Primate Research Center in Beaverton succeeded in cloning monkey embryos and extract embryonic stem cells. In the process they realised that caffeine plays an important role in the process, stabilizing key molecules in delicate human egg cells. CLARITY: This imaging technique, which renders brain tissue transparent by ―by removing the fatty, light-scattering lipid molecules that form cellular membranes.‖ The lipids are replaced with molecules of ―clear gel‖ but all neurons (as well as other brain cells) are left intact and on full display. This has changed the way researchers look at this intricate organ in 2013. Mini-organs: Researchers made remarkable progress growing mini human-like ―organoids‖ in vitro this year. These included liver buds, mini-kidneys and tiny brains. miniaturized human organs may prove to be much better models of human disease than animals. If it is a challenge to ―coax stem cells to grow into specific tissues‖ prodding pluripotent stem cells to develop into organized structures has been nearly impossible. Cosmic rays traced to supernova remnants: Although originally detected 100 years ago, scientists have not been sure where the high-energy particles from outer space known as cosmic rays come from. This year, they finally tied the rays to debris clouds left by supernovae, or exploding stars. Perovskite solar cells: A new generation of solar-cell materials, cheaper and easier to produce than those in traditional silicon cells, garnered plenty of attention this past year. Perovskite cells are not as efficient as commercial solar cells yet, but they are improving very quickly. Structural biology guides vaccine design: This year, researchers used the structure of an antibody to design an immunogen — the main ingredient of a vaccine — for a childhood virus that hospitalizes millions each year. It was the first time that structural biology led to such a powerful tool for fighting disease. Our microbes, our health: Research on the trillions of bacterial cells that call the human body home made it clear how much these microbes do for us. ―Personalized‖ medicine will need to take these microbial tenants into account in order to be effective. Why we sleep: Studies with mice showed that the brain cleans itself — by expanding channels between neurons and allowing more cerebrospinal fluid to flow through — much more efficiently during sleep. The finding suggests that restoration and repair are among the primary purposes of catching Z‘s. Why do we dream when we sleep? There are various theories — medical as well as metaphysical — as to why we get dreams. Sleep has two parts, non REM sleep and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Dreams occur in the latter stage of sleep, that is, REM sleep also known as paradoxical sleep. It is paradoxical in the sense that although we are sleeping, still the metabolic activity of our brain is

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator comparable to that of the awake state and our eyes are moving as if following a scene. This scene is actually a dream. So that we do not enact our dreams, our skeletal muscles are paralyzed during dreaming. Dreams serve an important purpose. They allow us to confront situations that may/may not occur in our daily lives and we do not have to experience them in reality to learn them. Dreaming is actually a learning behaviour where we exercise our brain. Phosphorus found in supernova Cassiopeia A Scientists discovered Phosphorus for the first time in the cosmic leftovers from the supernova - Cassiopeia A – explosion. The study was published in a science journal on 13 December 2013. The discovery of Phosphorus confirmed that massive exploding stars are crucibles in which the element is created. Phosphorus is 100 times more abundant in the remains of a supernova than elsewhere in the galaxy. About Phosphorus: Phosphorus is an essential com-ponent of living systems and it is found in nervous tissue, bones and cell protoplasm. Phosphorus used in the manu-facture of safety matches, py-rotechnics, incendiary shells, smoke bombs. Phosphorus used in pesticides and also in the production of special glasses. Na3PO4 is important as a clean-ing agent, water softener and for preventing boiler scale and corrosion of pipes and boiler tubes Phosphorus found in food items are pumpkin, soya foods, cheese, nuts like badam and fish. Gaia satellite launched by Europe Europe on 19 December 2013 launched the Gaia satellite – one of the most ambitious space missions in the history. Gaia lifted on a Soyuz rocket from Europe‘s Spaceport from the Kourou in French Guiana at 6:12 local time. It will map the precise positions and distances to more than a billion stars. This will give the first realistic picture of how the Milky Galaxy has been constructed and will also detect thousands of unseen objects like asteroids and new planets. The satellite is carrying two telescopes that will throw light on to a huge, one billion-pixel camera detector connected to a trio of instruments. It has been developed to sample the ultra-stable and supersensitive optical equipment to pinpoint. If liver has the capacity to regenerate then why does one need to have liver transplantation? Liver regeneration is a misnomer because the removed liver will not grow back, not the same sort of regeneration as we see in echinoderms such as the Sea Star where the cut off arm grows into a new arm and also the regeneration of limbs in amphibian models. Liver regeneration is a complex, evolutionarily conserved process. During this process, the proliferation stops once the liver has attained its original size which is highly regulated and determined by the demands of the organism. Our body knows the size of the liver that it needs to carry out the normal metabolism. Though liver has the capacity to regenerate, in certain cases liver transplantation is the only way to prolong one‘s life. Novel evolution of Mexican tetra fish The Mexican tetra, Astyanax mexicanus, is a type of fish found in northeastern Mexico. It is also found in a blind form and is known as blind cavefish. Many thousands of years ago some of these fish found their way into caves that were nearly completely dark. Over the years, they adapted to this environment by totally losing their eyes and colouring. There are however eyed forms of this fish which did not get into caves. Oldest known human DNA decoded The scientists on 4 December 2013 decoded the oldest DNA from ever found 400000 year old thigh bone of human family. This research has expanded the knowledge of the human genetics by 300000 years and also suggests the journey of man evolution. The thigh bone was found at a burial site Sima de los Huesos (Bone Pit) that was preserved in Spain‘s northern Sierra de Atapuerca highlands. The researchers have found that the mitochondrial genome of Denisovans belongs to the extinct relatives of Neanderthals in Asia. The researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have determined an almost complete mitochondrial genome sequence of a 400000 year old representative of the genus Homo. The bone pit (Sima de los Huesos) is a cave site in Northern Spain that has given the largest assembly of Middle Pleistocene hominin fossils of the world, which consist of 28 skeletons. First indigenous Thalassaemia testing kit The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on 17 December 2013 unveiled the first indigenously developed thalassaemia and sickle cell anaemia testing kit. The testing kit was developed by the National Institute of Immuno Haematology (NIIH) in Mumbai. The testing kit is a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based test that screens for eight genetic mutations, six of which can cause thalassaemia and two sickle cell anaemia. About Thalassaemia Thalassaemia is a group of inherited blood disorders that affect the body‘s ability to create red blood cells. In case of thalassaemia bone marrow does not produce the haemoglobin causing anaemia and reducing the oxygen carrying capacity. There are two types of thalassaemia that is alpha thalassaemia and beta thalassaemia. Indian Scientists developed Insulin Pill for diabetics The Indian Scientists, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) developed insulin pill

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator for diabetics in third week of December 2013. The Scientists developed a long-sought insulin pill that could spare millions of diabetics and soughed a way the delivery of insulin therapy from a jab to a pill. Why are we advised not to breathe through our mouth? Two important functions of the nose are, as a respiratory passage and organ of smell. Receptors for smell are placed in the upper one-third of nasal cavity and this part is lined by olfactory (related to smell) mucosa. Rest of the nasal cavity is lined by respiratory mucosa. Filtering or cleaning functions of the nose are carried out by hair in the nostrils, mucous blanket covering the nasal cavity and the cilia present in the nasal epithelial covering. Hairs in the nostrils strain out many foreign particles greater than100 micrometres. ISRO’s SDSC to be shifted Satish Dhawan Space Centre(SDSC) , Sriharikota , the satellite launching centre of ISRO would be shift its northern boundary to make a way for the oil exploration. The consortium of Cairn India , Tata , ONGC (Oil & Natural Gas Corp ) had to explore oil and Gas in Bay of Bengal. ISRO would shift the boundary of the prohibited zone seven kilometers south to permit exploration drilling by operator Cairn. The consortium had put in $31 million in exploring block PR-0SN-2004/1 in Palar basin. As the consortium claims that a site in the zone has best chance of establishing petroleum system. It was held for huge potential to attract investors in the future. ISRO had stopped effective exploration in last two years as DoS(Department Of Space) refused to give drilling permission as the site was within 10-km radius of Satish Dhawan Space Centre — a strategic zone in terms of national security. The DoS had maintained for years that there was a vulnerability of radio frequency interference as well as the risk of space debris falling on any installations that come up for exploration. Satish Dhawan Space Centre The Satish Dhawan Space Centre is the launch centre for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is located in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, 80 km north of Chennai. Originally called Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR) and then Sriharikota Launching Range, the centre was renamed in 2002 after the death of ISRO‘s former chairman Satish Dhawan. Extreme adaptation of Burmese Python The Burmese python‘s ability to ramp up its metabolism and enlarge its organs to swallow and digest prey whole can be traced to unusually rapid evolution and specialized adaptations of its genes and the way they work. Recycled Plastic kills drug-resistant Fungi Researchers have converted polyethylene terephthalate (PET) — widely used to make plastic bottles — into a non-toxic biocompatible material with superior fungal killing properties, which is a potential life-saver. Studies to improve Cochlear Implants Researchers are investigating the implementation of signals in the auditory nerve and the subsequent neuronal processing in the brain. Using computer models, better cochlear implants may be manufactured. New Long-Lived Greenhouse Gas Found Perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA) — a novel chemical lurking in the atmosphere, is the most radiatively efficient chemical found to date, breaking all other chemical records for its potential to impact climate. Earth will lose its oceans in a billion years The natural increase in solar luminosity — a very slow process unrelated to current climate change — will cause temperatures to rise over the next few 100 million years, resulting in evaporation of the oceans. No Lion threat to cheetah cubs Cheetah cubs in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park were seven times more likely to survive than in Serengeti and lions were not the main threat. New means of growing intestinal stem cells Researchers have shown that they can grow unlimited quantities of intestinal stem cells, then stimulate them to develop into nearly pure populations of different types of mature intestinal cells. 2012 Solar Storm points up need for preparation A massive ejection of material from the sun that narrowly missed Earth last year is an event solar scientists hope will open the eyes of policymakers regarding the impacts and mitigation of severe space weather. Mouse inherits learned sensitivity to smell When a mouse learns to become afraid of a certain odor, his or her pups will be more sensitive to that odor, even though the pups have never encountered it. Uncertainity in Forests’ role as “Carbon Sink” The length of time carbon remains in vegetation during the global carbon cycle is the key ‗uncertainty‘ in predicting how Earth‘s terrestrial plant life — and consequently almost all life — will respond to higher CO{-2}levels. Kiwi probably originated in Autsralia New Zealand‘s iconic kiwi bird probably descended from an ancestor that flew in from Australia. It did not evolve from the extinct giant moabut was more closely related to emu. Kiwi and emu evolved from a common ancestor, which originated in

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Australia. JANUARY 2014

NASA discovered potentially hazardous asteroid 2013 YP139 NASA discovered a new potentially hazardous asteroid named 2013 YP139 on 29 December 2013. It was confirmed by the NASA on 15 January 2014. It was first discovered by NASA‘s Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE). The researchers at the University of Arizona used the spacewatch telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory southwest of Tuscon to confirm the discovery. The 2013 YP139 is about 43 million kilometers from earth. On the basis of infrared brightness, it is found to be 650 meters in diameter and extremely dark like a piece of coal. The asteroid circles the Sun in an elliptical orbit titled to the palne of solar system. IICT Received Samples from OPCW The Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, recently received over 50 samples for detection of chemical weapons from the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The samples in the form of soil, water and organic solvents were sent twice a year since 2008 when IICT attained the status of designated laboratory for off-site analysis of weapons. OPCW had been sending to IICT for analysis only blank samples collected from different parts of the world. About Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, (established in 1989) is a national-level research center located in Hyderabad, India under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India. IICT conducts research in basic and applied chemistry, biochemistry, bioinformatics, chemical engineering and provides science and technology inputs to the industrial and economic development of the country. Biosimilar Trastuzumab got Approval of DCGI Indian Biotech Company Biocon on 26 November 2013 announced that it had received market authorisation from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for its Breast cancer Drug- biosimilar Trastuzumab . New View of Saturn and Earth provided by Cassini Spacecraft NASA in November 2013 released a natural-color image of Saturn from space, the first in which Saturn, its moons and rings, and Earth, Venus and Mars, all are visible. The panoramic mosaic of the majestic Saturn system was taken by Cassini Spacecraft of the NASA. About the Cassini Spacecraft Cassini Spacecraft was launched in 1997 and explored the Saturn system for more than nine years. NASA has planned to continue the mission through 2017 with the anticipation of many more images of Saturn, its rings and moons, along with scientific data. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manage the mission for NASA‘s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado. Germany Tested World‟s First Green Helicopter Germany‘s aviation company e-Volo on 17 November 2013 successfully tested the first helicopter which is noiseless and emission-free named- Volocopter. The Volocopter is an environmentally friendly and emission-free private helicopter. About the Green Helicopter The helicopter, named Volocopter, developed by the German company e-volo, two seat prototype made it earlier voyage in kalsruhe, Germany. The volocopter uses eighteen electrically driven rotos propel instead of one combustion engine which is environmentally friendly and emission-free. The emission free Volocopter is a vertical take-off and landing manned aircraft, with rich features and incredibly quiet sound, absolutely no noticeable vibrations, new spring strut landing gear and extremely calm rotor plane that replace conventional aircraft Study says that Oceans acidifying at Unprecedented Rate A report released in second week of November 2013 claimed that the world‘s oceans are becoming more acidic at an unprecedented rate. The oceans of the world are becoming hot, sour and breathless due to the impact of the greenhouse gases

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator

NEWS CAPSULE

Person in News

MARCH 2014 Kailash Meghwal Kailash Meghwal was elected unanimously as the Speaker of Rajasthan Assembly on 22 January 2014. His name was proposed by the Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje and the leader of Opposition, Rameshwar Dudi seconded this proposal. MS Dhir MS Dhir an MLA of Aam Aadmi Party has been elected as the Speaker of the Delhi Assembly on 3 January 2014. His election as the speaker was announced by the Pro-tem Speaker, Mateen Ahmad in the House. He was elected as the Speaker of the House after his party won the trust vote on 2 January 2014. Catherline Samba-Panza Catherline Samba-Panza, the mayor of Bangui on 20 January 2014 was elected as the interim president of the Central African Republic (CAR). With this she became the first woman to hold the post after defeating her rival Desire Kolinba, in the second round of voting by the interim Parliament. Losar The festival of Losar is being celebrated across Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir with traditional and religious fervor. The 15 daylong celebration of Losar festival, mark the beginning of the New Year. The centuries-old tradition of celebrating Losar continued to strengthen the existing community bond and add joy to the lives of inhabitants of the landlocked Himalayan territory of Ladakh. Losar is a community-based socio-religious festival celebrated by the Buddhists of Ladakh, which has 19 major monasteries celebrating 18 monastic festivals every year. The Losar celebrations begin with prayers to the god and goddess common to a group of families, known as Faspun.They exchange wishes and greetings for the New Year. On the eve of Losar, family ancestors are remembered by offering delicious food and lighting the traditional lamp in front of the graveyard. Lardaak is responsible for offering prayers to the village god and goddess during Losar celebrations and carrying out rituals to purify the individual, who perform the traditional role of the three Lama Jogis and grandparents. Mukul Sangama Supreme Court (SC) of India on 20 January 2014 directed the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) to verify the authenticity of ST status of Mukul Sangma, the Chief Minister of Meghalaya. The direction of the Apex Court came following a challenge by political rivals. The bench of the Court headed by Chief Justice of India, P Sathasivam while hearing a PIL filed by the All North East Indigenous Garo Law Promoter Association that has challenged the ST status of Sangma refused to go into and said that the matter. Garuda Vasudha Minister of Mines, Dinsha Patel launched the Advanced Light Helicopter named Garuda Vasudha of Geological Survey of India from the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Bangalore on 23 January 2014. The Garuda Vasudha a Dhruv category built by HAL dedicated to the nation. The Ministry also laid the foundation stone of a Centre of Excellence Laboratory building of GSI at Bangalore, worth of 42 crore. Indian Treasures USA handed over the three stolen 10th century Indian artifacts to Indian consulate in New York on 14 January 2014. The stolen artifacts include a sandstone sculpture of Vishnu and Lakshmi, a sandstone sculpture of Vishnu and Parvati and a black stone figure of Bodhisattva. The artifacts are together valued between 1.5 to 2 million dollar. The artifacts were stolen in 2009. The 350-pound Vishnu and Lakshmi sandstone sculpture belong to the 11th to 12th century period. Lewis Clarke Lewis Clarke, 16 years old became the youngest person to trek to the South Pole on 18 January 2014. Clarke spent 48 days at temperature of -40 Celsius and winds of up to 193 km/h. Clarke from Bristol, UK aimed to enter the record books as the youngest person in the world to ski from the Antarctic coast to the Pole using 1100 kilometer Hercules Inlet route.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Gorakhpur Gorakhpur railway station‘s platform number one of Uttar Pradesh has entered into the Limca Book of Records as longest rail platform in the world. The certificate given by the Limca Book of Records was unveiled on 10 January 2014 by KK Atal, the General Manager North Eastern Railways (NER). The platform‘s length is 1355.40 meters and was inaugurated in 6 October 2013. Before the platform number one of Gorakhpur, the platform of Kharagpur railway station of West Bengal had the distinction of being world‘s largest platform with length of 1072.5 meters. India’s first gun for women Nirbheek was launched on 9 January 2014. It is a tribute to the gang rape victim of December 2012, Nirbhaya. Gun has been manufactured by the Indian Ordnance Factory, Kanpur. It is a 0.32 bore light weight revolver which has been developed to give more power to women to defend themselves. It only weighs 500 grams and is made of titanium alloy. Besides, being the lightest revolver, Nirbheek is also the smallest revolver made in India. For it simple mechanism and light frame it has been described by arms experts as an Indian hybrid of a Webley & Scott and Smith & Wesson. Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck The King and Queen of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Jetsun Pema Wangchuck respectively will pay an official Visit to India from 6-10 January 2014. During this visit, a delegation of the King of Bhutan includes the Foreign Minister, Home Minister and Economic Affairs Minister. FEBRUARY 2014

56th Grammy Awards 2014 Macklemore and Ryan Lewis grabbed Best New Artist at the 56th Grammy for the year 2014. The award ceremony commenced with dazzling Performance by Beyonce and Jay Z. The duo rapper won the first of the major awards beating the likes of Kanye West, Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar and Drake. The duo took the award home for their phenomenal success with hits like 'Can't Hold Us', 'Same Love' and 'Thrift Shop' at the 56th Grammy award which was held at LA‘s Staples Center. They also won awards for the best rap performance, best rap album and best rap song for 'Thrift Shop'. Ashok Chakra Late K Prasad Babu, a Sub-Inspector of the Andhra Pradesh‘s counter-Maoist force has been posthumously awarded with Ashok Chakra during 65th Republic Day celebration. Ashok Chakra is the highest peacetime gallantry award of India which has been given to Andhra‘s anti-Naxal unit cop who played a vital role in killing nine Maoists and injuring several others. Babu‘s father received the award from Pranab Mukherjee, President of India before the commencement of the Republic Day Parade Matrix Award 2014 Queen Latifah, a rapper-turned-actress has bagged the 2014 Matrix Award. Dana Elaine Owens known by her stage name Queen Latifah is an actress, rapper, American singer-songwriter, comedienne, model, television producer and talk show hostess. New York Women in Communications gives the award to honour females who change the world. Also, this award is recognized by the communications and entertainment communities and is considered as one of the most dazzling and celebrated events of the year. The award was given to seven extraordinary women who changed the world through their work in the communications industry. National Security Agency, USA Vice Admiral Michael Rogers, a senior U.S. Navy officer will be nominated as the Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) by U.S. President Barack Obama. 53 year old Rogers will take over awhen the spy agency is under unparalleled pressure due to leaks from ex-intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. President of Germany India Visit Joachim Guack, President of Germany has arrived New Delhi on a six day visit. He will hold talks with top dignitaries of India and discuss ways to further strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries. He has been accompanied by a 80- member delegation which includes 15 business leaders. Guack along with his dignitaries will meet Pranab Mukherjee his counterpart, Hamid Ansari Vice President, Dr Manmohan Singh Prime Minister, Sushma Swaraj Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Sonia Gandhi UPA Chairperson. He will also go v. He will also have a visit on Bengaluru where he will meet Karnataka Governor. Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) The 13th edition of Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) for Documentary, Short and Animation Films concluded in Mumbai recently. The world‘s largest and oldest international week-long festival international documentary film festival is a biennial festival that is organised with the collaboration of Government of Maharashtra and the Indian Documentary Producers Association, Mumbai. The festival displayed above 400 films from more than 35 countries which concluded with best of the work in short and animation films honoured with awards and documentary.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Golden Conch Awards ―Are You Listening‖ documentary of Bangladesh‘s Kamar Ahmad Simon‘s documentary bagged the Golden Conch Award at the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF).The documentary was awarded the Best Documentary Award. The award comes with the Golden Conch trophy and Rs 5,00,000 cash. Pranab Mukherjee, President of India has got Rotary's highest award for his leadership in victory over polio. The award is given to those heads of countries who has given exceptional service to the humanity and has served India and its people upholding values reflected in Rotary's objective ―Service Above Self‖. King of Bahrain India Visit Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain will visit India this week. He will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on regional, bilateral and global issues. President Pranab Mukherjee invited him to visit India. He will also meet Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to share mutual trust, interests and unique people-to-people contacts Najeeb Jung, Delhi Lt Governor has suggested for President's rule in his report submitted to the President after Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party Government has resigned. The Lt Governor has also rejected termination of Delhi Assembly. Lieutant General in Army (First from North-East) Konsam Himalaya Singh from North East States has become the first Lieutenant General in the army. The senior most serving officer in the army from Manipur, Singh is presently serving in the military secretary‘s branch. He was the second battalion Rajput Regiment in the year 1978. He has commanded 27 Rajput Regiment and was awarded Yudh Seva Medal for heading successful operations against Pakistan. He has been awarded once Army Commander‘s commendation card and thrice the COAS commendation card. INDIA AND KYRGYZ REPUBLIC India has inked two agreements with Kyrgyz Republic during the visit of Foreign Minister of Kyrgyz Abdyldaev Erlan Bekeshovich to India. Both sides exchanged documents to give mutual legal aid in criminal matters and to make simpler visa regime for official and diplomatic passport holders. The pact was signed in the presence of Kyrgyz Republic Foreign Minister Abdyldaev Erlan Bekeshovich and External Affairs Minister of India Salman Khurshid. GRAVITY-THE MOVIE Alfonso Cuaron‘s 3D space disaster movie ―Gravity‖ has dominated BAFTA 2014 awards by winning six of the 11 honours it was nominated for while British director Steve McQueen‘s ―12 Years A Slave‖ grabbed best film prize. Gravity, the space drama has won best British film, best original music, best sound, best cinematography and best special visual effects. 12 Years A Slave movie fame British-born actor Chiwetel Ejiofor has grabbed the best actor award for his film by beating shortlisted actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale and Tom Hanks. Snowden appointed as Rector The former National Security Agency contractor Snowden has been elected as Rector of University of Glasgow. He will succeed Charles Kennedy. He will hold the post for upcoming three years. A group of students at the University nominated Snowden. He overcame the author Alan Bissett, the former champion cyclist Graeme Obree and the Rev Kelvin Holdsworth who also stood for the post. The Rector post is meant to represent student issues to university officials. Berlin International Film Festival A Marathi film Killa has grabbed Crystal Bear award during 64th Berlin International Film Festival. The Marathi film directed by Avinash Arun has won the Crystal Bear (Glasernen Bar) for the best film award in Generation Kplus section by the Children‘s jury. Killa is the first Indian film to bag this award and the third Marathi film to be selected for this award in the entire history in Berlinale. Munshi PremChand An all-new title Do Bael – Munshi Premchand Ki Kahaaniyan‘ new title for Premchand stories was launched at the Delhi Book Fair. Children‘s favourite Amar Chitra Katha launched a comic on new title on the work of the legend Munshi Premchand. The famous Hindi author Munshi Premchand‘s two stories ―Budhi Kaki‖ and ―Do Bael‖ has been covered in 32 pages. JANUARY 2014

 Former Supreme Court judge, Justice A.K. Ganguly, resigned after continuous pressure on him to resign from the post as Chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC).  Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is all set to form the new government in the country after winning an absolute majority in the 5 January 2014 parliamentary elections boycotted by the Opposition. The political party of Sheikh Hasina is the Awami League. The Awami League won 104 of the 139 seats of the results declared.  Former Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa on 9 January 2014 formally rejoined the BJP, more than a year after he deserted the party and floated his own outfit. The name of the party founded by him, which has now been merged with the BJP is Karnataka Janata Paksha – KJP. Relegated to third position, the BJP had tasted the most humiliating defeat in the Assembly polls held on 8 May 2013 which saw the collapse of its first ever government in the south with KJP playing the spoiler garnering six seats with 10% vote share. OM RANKER’S CREATOR, SCO 371-373, 4 TH FLOOR, SEC 34A, CHANDIGARH. CONTACT: 78140-11022, 78143-11022 Page 62

Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Person Appointed

FEBRUARY 2014

H C Meena is the newly appointed Secretary Security in the Cabinet Secretariat. Meena who is a 1976 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer has served as the Director General (DG) in Rajasthan. Meena will serve the post till his superannuation which is till 30 September 2014. Janet Yellen has taken charge as chairman of the Federal Reserve. 67 year old Yellen is the first woman to chair the Federal Reserve in its 100-year history. Yellen will have full authority as the top central banker. She will succeed Ben Bernanke whose second four-year term has recently expired. Arun Kumar Gupta is the newly appointed Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI). The Union Government appointed him for this vacant post. He succeeded retired Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of SCI S Hajara. Prior, he was the director of offshore services in Mumbai. The director finance of SCI, BK Mandal was acting CMD since the retirement of Hajara. Teresa Kho is the newly appointed Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director for India. Earlier Kho was serving as the Director of Bangladesh Resident Mission of ADB. Kho succeeded Hun Kim while Kim is now Deputy Director General of ADB's South Asia Department in Manila. Harish Rawat has sworn in as the new and eighth Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. Congress leader Rawat has been elected leader of the state Congress Legislative Party during its meeting in Dehradun. The congress leader was administered the oath by Governor Aziz Qureshi along with a 11-member Cabinet. 65 year old Rawat succeeded Vijay Bahuguna. He is presently the Union Minister for Water Resources. To head the 7th Central Pay Commission, Ashok Kumar Mathur a former Supreme Court Justice has been appointed as the Chairman. Vivek Rae, Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary will be the full time Member and Director while Dr Rathin Roy of National Institute of Public Finances and Policy will be its part-time Member. The newly appointed Commission will revise the salaries of about 50 lakh employees and about 30 lakh pensioners of Central government. India born Satya Nadella has been appointed as new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Internet Giant Microsoft in Washington. Nadella succeeded Steve Ballmer while he takes over as the third CEO of the Microsoft firm. Nadella born in Hyderabad, joined Microsoft in 1992 and he is the first Indian to head the Microsoft in its 38-year history. He has served as the Executive Vice President of Cloud and Enterprise Group in 2012. It‘s worth mentioning here that Bill Gates is the founder and first CEO of Microsoft. Poonam Khetrapal Singh is the newly appointed Regional Director of World Health Organisation (WHO) South-East Asia Region. In 44 years, she is the first Indian to hold the post of Regional Director, South East Asian Regional Organistion (SEARO). India had occupied the post from 1948-1968. Singh has succeeded Samlee Plianbangchang of Thailand. Plianbangchang has served for ten years consecutively. John Thompson is the newly appointed Chairman of Microsoft. The decision was taken during the Board of Directors meeting which was held in Washington, US. He has succeeded Bill Gates who has now taken charge of Technology Advisor to the CEO of Microsoft. Thompson had joined the Board of Microsoft in 2012 and is the former chairman and CEO of Symantec Corp. Prior, he was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of privately held Virtual Instruments. 75-year-old Sushil Koirala, a veteran Nepali Congress leader has been elected as new Prime Minister of Nepal. With the support of the CPN-UML Koirala, the sole contestant in the premier race has been elected with 405 votes in the 601-member Constituent Assembly. 148 lawmakers from Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, UCPN-Maoist and some small parties in the Maoist-led alliance had voted against Koirala. N Ramachandran, World Squash Federation (WSF) president has been chosen unopposed as the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Rajeev Mehta Kho-Kho Federation of India President has been elected unopposed as Secretary General and Anil Khanna All India Tennis Association (AITA) chief has been elected as Treasurer. Earlier in the day All India Football Federation was barred from attending the special GBM as well as elections of Indian Olympic Association in New Delhi on the ground that it did not follow the ―proper procedure‖ while sending names of their delegates. He is a former secretary general of Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) and brother of N Srinivasan who is Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Supremo. Ramachandran was elected as treasurer of the Indian body in 2012.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator R.K.Tiwari is the newly appointed chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). His appointment has been approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) under the Union Government. Tiwari is an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of 1976-batch. He is presently working as the Member of Legislation and Computerisation Department in the CBDT. He will assume charge from March and will replace current Chairperson Sudha Sharma who will retire in this February. Matteo Renzi has been nominated to be the European Union's youngest prime minister and Italy's youngest PM. The 39-year-old mayor of Florence, Renzi has been asked by Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano to form a new government. Recently, Enrico Letta has resigned as prime minister of Italy. Saurabh Chandra is the newly appointed Oil Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion. Chandra is succeeding Vivek Rae who will be retiring on February 28. The Prime Minister appointed the new Petroleum & Natural Secretary. He is a 1978 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre. Anuja Prabhudessai will the first Goan woman to be elevated to the post of High Court Judge. At present she is serving as the North Goa Principal and District and Sessions Judge. K.T.Thomas has been appointed as the head of the eight-member search committee to select the names for various posts of Lokpal. The search committee will scrutinise the more than 300 applications received for the post of chairperson and eight members and forward the names to the selection committee.

JANUARY 2014

Indian American Prof. Rakesh Khurana, appointed as Dean of Havard College. Indian American Prof. Rakesh Khurana, appointed as Dean of Havard College. He will take charge from 1st July 2014. New CEO and MD of Indian Energy Exchange is SN Goel. New CEO and MD of Indian Energy Exchange is SN Goel. Earlier he acted as Director Marketing and operations at PTC India Limited. New Secretary of Telecom Regulator TRAI is Sudhir Gupta. New Secretary of Telecom Regulator TRAI is Sudhir Gupta. He, a principal adviser with TRAI, has been elevated to the post of Secretary. New Executive VP of SIB is VG Mathew. New Executive Vice President of SIB is VG Mathew. Earlier he acted as Chief General Manager of State Bank of India. New CEO of Uninor India is Marten Sorby. New Managing Director & CEO of Future Generali is Munish Sharda. New Chairman and Managing Director of SCI is Arun Kumar Gupta

Person Resigned

FEBRUARY 2014

V.P. Agrawal has been removed from his position by the Aviation ministry. He was chairman of the state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI). After him, Alok Sinha has been given additional charge as AAI chairman who is currently a joint secretary in the Aviation Ministry. Parveen Amanullah, First Woman Muslim Minister of Bihar has resigned in a setback to Nitish Kumar government. The Social Welfare minister Amanullah has sent her resignation letter to the Chief Minister stating that she was finding it difficult to work in the present scenario and has also announced to quit membership of the JD(U). A well-known ethnic Indian minister of Malaysia P Waythamoorthy has resigned from the cabinet due to failure of government to execute its promises to save the rights of minority groups in the Muslim-majority country. Currently Waythamoorthy is leader of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) and has resigned as a Deputy Minister. N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has resigned as CM. He submitted his resignation to E.S.L. Narasimhan, the Governor of Andhra Pradesh. Reddy has resigned in protest against the Central Government decision to divide the Telugus for votes and seats.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator

JANUARY 2014

Vijay Bahuguna, CM of Uttarakhand, Submitted Resignation letter. In Dehradun Vijay Bahuguna, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Submitted Resignation letter to the State Governor after conducting the meeting with senior party leaders on 29th January 2014 in New Delhi Yahoo CFO, Henrique de Castro, leaves the company.

Person Died

 American Oscar-winning actor and Director Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead at his apartment in New York. He died at the age of 86. He has done more than 60 films which include The Master, Magnolia, Boogie Nights, Mission Impossible, the Big Lebowski and many others. Hoffman grabbed the best actor Oscar award in 2005 for essaying the role of writer Truman Capote for Capote movie. In 2010, Hoffman made his debut as a film director with the New York-set Jack Goes Boating where he also starred.  The first Padma Shri awardee of Meghalaya, Silverine Swer has died at her residence at Riatsamthiah. She died at the age of 103. In 1990, she received the Padma Shri award and was also the oldest voter from Meghalaya. She had seen four wars namely the two world wars, India‘s involvement in the Liberation War of Bangladesh and Sino-India War. She has also served as Chairperson of the International Year for Women and the Chairperson of the State Social Welfare Advisory Board. Swer was also a member of the Good Will Movement of the Moral Rearmament (MRA).  Shirley Temple, the former Hollywood child has recently passed away. She died at the age of 85 in California. The Oscar winner actress found fame as a young girl in films like Stand Up and Cheer, Bright Eyes and Curly Top. Her dancing, singing and acting has won over fans worldwide.

JANUARY 2014

Karl Slym, Managing Director of TATA Motors, Passes Away Karl Slym, Managing Director of TATA Motors, Passes Away. Karl Slym, Managing Director of TATA Motors, Passes Away in Thailand. Death of Slym is a hugeshock to the industry. He was just 51 years old. Akkineni Nageshwara Rao, Bollywood Actor, is No More. Akkineni Nageshwara Rao, Bollywood Actor, Passes Away due to cancer in Hyderabad. He is well known as ANR. In 1988, he was awarded Padma Bhushan. ANR was 91 years. Suchitra Sen, Famous Bengali Actress, Passes Away. Suchitra Sen, Famous Bengali Actress, Passes Away in Kolkata. She was 82 years old. Suchitra worked for more than 60 movies. Her memorable movies were Deep Jwele Jai (Bengali) and Aandhi. Tollywood Actor Uday Kiran is no More. Tollywood Actor Uday Kiran passes away on 5th January 2014. He committed suicide at this residence in Hyderabad. He had born in 1980. Uday started his career with the movie Chitram. Namdeo Dhasal, Renowned Marathi Poet, is no more. Ariel Sharon, Former Israeli Prime Minister, Passes Away. Raymond, Pioneer of Swiss Watch, Passes Away.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator

Awards | Honours

MARCH 2014

Padma Awards for the Year 2014 The Union Government of India on the eve of the 65th Republic Day function announced the Padma Awards 2014. Pranab Mukherjee, the President of Union of India on 25 January 2013 approved 127 Padma Awards. Two people were conferred With Padma Vibhusan, twenty four were conferred with Padma Bhushan and 101 people were given Padma Shree. Out of 127 awardees, 27 were women and 10 people belonged to categories like NRIs, PIOs, Foreigners and Posthumous. Padma Awards Padma Awards are the highest Civilian Awards and are conferred to people in three different categories namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. These Awards are conferred on people for the work done by them in different categories including art, social work, public affairs, science and were also about making a statement in the same-sex marriage debate. Padma Vibhusan is conferred on the people for the exceptional and distinguished services done by them. • Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order • Padma Shri is given to a person These awards are announced on the eve of Republic Day celebration and are conferred by the President of India at a function organised at Rastrapati Bhawan sometime around March/April every year. 59th Idea Filmfare Awards 2013 59th Idea Filmfare Awards were given away on 24 January 2014. At the 59th Idea Filmfare Awards, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag grabbed seven Black Lady awards. The award for the Best Actor was given to Farhaan Akhtar for his performance in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. Deepika Padukone on the other hand was adjudged as the Best Actress for Ramleela. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was awarded with the Best Film award, and its director Omprakash Mehra won the Black Lady for the Best Director. The lifetime achievement award was given away to Tanuja. Amadelkufa in South Africa Ela Gandhi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi was honoured withAmadelkufa in South Africa on 26 January 2014. She was honoured for her lifetime contribution to the freedom struggle of South Africa. Amdelkufa in Zulu language means Sacrifice. She formed the trio of Indian-origin South Africans along with Sunny Singh and Mac Maharaj. These three played an active role in the Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). The Umkhonto we Sizwe was the armed struggle wing of the African National Congress. Umkhonto we Sizwe‘s former members were incorporated into the South African defence force after 1994, when multi-racial democracy came in existence in the country, followed by the release of Nelson Mandela. Mandela was the first democratically-elected president of South Africa.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Lokmanya Tilak National Award Mammen Mathew, the Chief Editor and Managing Director of Malayala Manorma has been chosen for prestigious journalism award instituted by a trust founded by Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak on 31 December 2013. The Lokmanya Tilak National Award instituted by the Kesari Mahratta Trust for excellence in journalism consist a memento and a cash of 1 lakh rupees. It will be given on the day of celebrations of the trust‘s 133rd foundation day at Tilakwada, Pune on 4 January 2013. Sunil Gangopadhyay Award 2012 & 2013 President of India, Pranab Mukherjee presented the Sunil Gangopadhyay Memorial Award of 2012 and 2013 on 11 January 2014 to two eminent Bengali poets, namely Nirendranath Chakraborty and Sankha Ghosh, respectively. Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India on 9 January 2014 Conferred the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman Awards to thirteen NRIs, PIOs and organisations for their outstanding contribution in the country of their residence as well as to India. The Pravasi Bhartiya Divas was organised in New Delhi from 7 to 9 January 2014. The theme for the year was Engaging Diaspora: Connecting Across Generations. The Legion of Honor Danielle Steel awarded France‘s highest honour, the Legion of Honor. It was revealed by the government‘s official newsletter on 1 January 2014. 20th Screen Awards Deepika Padukone and Farhan Akhtar won the Best Actress and Best Actor awards respectively on 15 January 2014 at the 20th Screen Awards. Padukone was awarded as the best actor Award (female) for Ram-leela and Farhan was awarded for his power packed performance in the Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. Apart from the award of the best actress, Padukone also bagged the most popular choice award (female) for Chennai Express. She had four blockbuster movies in 2013 namely Race 2, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Chennai Express and Ram Leela. All the four films were ranked in the 100- crore club in the box office. The Most Popular Choice Award (male) was given to Shah Rukh Khan for Chennai Express. Amitabh Bachan received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Ambedkar National Merit Awards The Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Kumari Selja on 7 January 2014 gave away the Dr. Ambedkar National Merit Awards to meritorious students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The awards were given to Students, who have appeared in Secondary and Senior Secondary School Examination - 2013 conducted by State/Central Education Boards/Councils. 517 meritorious students from 13 boards of 10th class and 17 boards of 12th class of the year 2013 were found eligible for the Awards. UNWTO Ulysses Awards Ulysses Award given by United Nation World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) was presented on 22 January 2014.The awards were given for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism. The winners were announced at the Awards Ceremony which took place at the International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR) in Madrid, Spain. National Communal Harmony Awards 2013 Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS), Mumbai on 25 January 2014 was selected for the National Communal Harmony Awards 2013 in the organisation category. In the individual category award, Mohinder Singh of Delhi and N Radhakrishnan of Kerala were selected. The award carries a citation in each category, the Award carries a cash award of Five Lakh Rupees for Individuals and Ten Lakh Rupees for Organizations. DSC prize 2014 Cyrus Mistry won the DSC prize 2014 for South Asian literature for his book Chronicles of a Corpse Bearer on 18 January 2014. Mistry was awarded with a cash price of 50000 dollars at Jaipur International Literature Festival 2014. Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer derives a true story of the son of a Parsi priest, who falls in love with the daughter of a corpse bearer, a community segregated and shunned by society. MATRIX AWARDS Jeet Thayil for his novel Narcopolis in 2013 Matrix Award. Rapper-turned-actress Queen Latifah won the 2014 Matrix Award on 25 January 2014. New York Women in Communications presented the 2014 Matrix Awards to honor seven remarkable women who have changed the world, through their work in the communications industry.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Marconi Prize Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj, the Indian born Scientist and Professor (Emeritus) at Stanford University on 21 January 2014 was Awarded with prestigious 2014 Marconi Society Prize. He was awarded for develop-ing the theory and application of MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Out-put) antennas. His discovery of use of multiple antennas at both the re-ceiving and transmitting end has helped in revolutionizing the speed of wireless delivery in the world of multimedia services. The technology at present is being used in high speed WiFi and 4G mobile systems. Almost every Wifi router and 4G phone uses MIMO technology that was pioneered by Pulraj.

FEBRUARY 2014

Sahitya Academy Awards Announced for the year 2013 The Sahitya Akademi Awards 2013 was announced on 18 December 2013 by Sahitya Akademi. Poetry writers have dominated the awards announced in 2013. Eight books of poetry, four of essays, three of novels, two each of short stories and travelogues, one each of autobiography, memoirs and play have won the Sahitya Akademi Award 2013. The awards were recommended by jury members, who represent 22 Indian languages and approved by the Executive Board of the Sahitya Akademi that met under the Chairmanship of Dr. Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari, President of the Sahitya Akademi. eASIA Award 2013 Directorate General of Foreign Trade‘s e-BRC project has won the 2013 eASIA Award under Trade Facilitation category. The award was announced by Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on 29 November 2013. US Presidential Early Career Award Two Indian Americans are among 102 scientists who received the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers. The awards were given by President Barack Obama on 23 December 2013. The Indian – American who received the award are Dr. Karunesh Ganguly of San Francisco and Dr. Hardeep Singh of Houston. They will receive their awards at a Washington, DC, ceremony in the coming year. The award is categorized as the highest US honour for young professionals in these fields. Dr. Karunesh Ganguly‘s research was aimed towards the development of novel therapies for patients with chronic neurological deficits following stroke or other forms of brain injury. ET Lifetime Achievement Award 2013 Wipro Chairman Azim Premji, 68, won the Economic Times Lifetime Achievement Award 2013 for his role in creating India‘s third-largest software exporter and also for the impressive scale of his philanthropy. The 2013 ET Awards for Corporate Ex-cellence were given in Mumbai on 9 December 2013. PRS Oberoi Itihas Ratna award Eminent historian Bipan Chandra on 17 December 2013 was awarded Itihas Ratna from Asiatic Society Bihar. The award was given to Bipan Chandra on his 86th birthday. He was honoured by O.P. Jaiswal, the Secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bihar in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Campus, New Delhi. Bipan Chandra is the fourth historian to be honoured with the Itihas Ratna by the society. Valley of Himachal Pradesh IFFI Award 2013 East Timor film ‗Beatriz‘s War‘ bagged Golden Peacock award for Best Film at the 44th International Film Festival of India at Panaji, Goa on 30 November 2013. The film, directed by Bety Reis and Luigi Acquisto, is a passionate story of one woman‘s conviction to remain true to the man she loves. The award carries a Golden Peacock, a certificate and a Cash Prize of 40 lakh Rupees. Indian Director Kaushik Ganguli bags the award for Best Director for his Bengali film ‗Apur Panchali‘. The award carries a Silver Peacock, a certificate and a cash prize of 15 lakh Rupees. Special Jury Award went to Turkish film ‗Thou Gild‘st The Even‘, directed by Onur Unlu. The award carries a Silver Peacock, a certificate and a cash prize of 15 lakh rupees. Best Actor (Male) award went to Alon Moni for his performance in Israeli movie ‗A Place in Heaven‘. Sword of Honour Award Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Hyderabad awarded the Sword of Honour for safety management in London in the second week of December 2013. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Ltd is operated by GMR

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) and it is first airport in India to receive this award. Dubai International Film Festival Award Irrfan Khan on 13 December 2013 won the best actor award for his brilliant performance in his film The Lunchbox at the 10th edition of Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF). Ritesh Batra, the Writer-Director of the film The Lunchbox, got a special mention for screenplay for the film in the same category. Irrfan won the award in the Muhr Asia Africa Feature Category. Dubai International Film Festival was held from 6 December to 14 December 2013. The jury at the DIFF was headed by renowned filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. India Pride Award IRCON International Limited on 20 December 2013 has been awarded the prestigious India Pride Awards for Excellence in Central PSUs in India Image Enhancement. The award was received by Mohan Tiwari, the CMD of IRCON from M.M. Pallam Raju, the Union Minister for Human Resources Development. KMC-INTACH Heritage Award 2013 The 103-year-old Park Mansions on Kolkata‘s upscale Park Street was given the prestigious heritage award for the restoration of its colonial era structure. The KMC-INTACH Heritage Award 2013 was given to the Park Mansions by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. The heritage property was restored at a cost of more than 10 crore rupees to its original glory in 2010, the centen-nial year of the building. It is owned by the Karan Paul led Apeejay Surendra Group. The building was constructed in 1910 for both residential and commercial use and it is spread over more than 5 bighas.

JANUARY 2014

Edward Snowden, Former Norwegian Minister, Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize. In the letter of Norwegian Nobel Committee, it was mentioned that Edward Snowden, Former Norwegian Minister, Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize. Best CFO Award achieved by PK Goyal. He is the Director of IOC (Indian Oil Corporation). Best CFO awards would be given to those candidates who has shown excellence and have created value. Khaleel Rezak, Indian American Neuroscientist, receives $ 867,000 grant. Khaleel Rezak, Indian American Neuroscientist, receives $ 867,000 grant. This grant has been awarded by US Research Agency. It is 5 year Faculty Early Career Development Program. Deepika Padukone won Best Actress Award at 20th Screen Awards Best Bank Award achieved by Bank of Baroda Best CFO Award achieved by PK Goyal Padma Awards for the Year 2014 announced Two people were conferred with Padma Vibhusan, twenty four conferred with Padma Bhushan and 101 people were given Padma Shree. Out of 127 awardees, 27 were women and 10 people belonged to categories like NRIs, PIOs, Foreigners and Posthumous. Bharat Ratna Award The Government of India on 16 November 2013 decided to confer, t h e Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award on eminent scientist Prof CNR Rao and cricket player Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin Tendulkar is the first sports person to win the Bharat Ratna Award. The Bharat Ratna award so far, given only to eminent personalities from the field of dance, music, art, literature and the social sector. In the year 2011, the Government of India modified the eligibility criteria for Bharat Ratna Award - to enable eminent Sports-persons to receive the Nation‘s highest civilian award. About Prof. CNR Rao Prof. Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao (CNR Rao) was born on 30 June 1934, Bangalore, India. He is an eminent scientist and a well recognized international authority on solid state and materials chemistry. He has published over 1400 research papers and 45 books. Prof. CNR Rao‘s contributions have been recognized by most major scientific academies around the world through conferment of memberships and fellowships. He has been honoured with several national and international awards, including Padma Vibhushan. Prof. CNR Rao is Honorary President of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India. Prof, CNR Rao is presently serving as the head of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India .The Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister is the uppermost body that deliberates on various policy issues, pertaining to Science & Technology and also on the role it can play in the upliftment of the Indian economy. LIST OF RECIPIENTS OF BHARAT RATNA S.No. Name Awarded In 1. Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1878-1972) 1954 2. Dr. Sarvapali Radhakrishnan (1888-1975) 1954 3. Dr. Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1888-1970) 1954

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator 4. Dr. Bhagwan Das (1869-1958) 1955 5. Dr. Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (1861-1962) 1955 6. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 -1964) 1955 7. Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant (1887-1961) 1957 8. Dr. Dhondo Keshave Karve (1858-1962) 1958 9. Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy (1882-1962) 1961 10. Shri Purushottam Das Tandon (1882-1962) 1961 11. Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963) 1962 12. Dr. Zakir Hussain (1897-1969) 1963 13. Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane (1880-1972) 1963 14. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri (Posthumous) (1904-1966) 1966 15. Smt. Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) 1971 16. Shri Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1894-1980) 1975 17. Shri Kumaraswami Kamraj (Posthumous) (1903-1975) 1976 18. Mother Mary Taresa Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa) (1910-1997) 1980 19. Shri Acharya Vinobha Bhave (Posthumous) (1895-1982) 1983 20. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890-1988) 1987 21. Shri Marudu Gopalan Ramachandran (Posthumous) (1917-1987) 1988 22. Dr. Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar (Posthumous) (1891-1956) 1990 23. Dr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (b-1918) 1990 24. Shri Rajiv Gandhi (Posthumous) (1944-1991) 1991 25. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Posthumous) (1875-1950) 1991 26. Shri Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (1896-1995) 1991 27. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (Posthumous) (1888-1958) 1992 28. Shri Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata (1904-1993) 1992 29. Shri Satyajit Ray (1922-1992) 1992 30. Shri Gulzarilal Nanda (1898-1998) 1997 31. Smt. Aruna Asaf Ali (Posthumous) (1909-1996) 1997 32. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (b-1931) 1997 33. Smt. Madurai Sanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (1916-2005) 1998 34. Shri Chidambaram Subramniam (1910-2000) 1998 35. Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan (Posthumous) (1902-1979) 1999 36. Professor Amartya Sen (b-1933) 1999 37. Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi (Posthumous) (1890-1950) 1999 38. Pandit Ravi Shankar (b-1920) 1999 39. Sushri Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar (b-1929) 2001 40. Ustad Bismillah Khan (1916-2006) 2001 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace 2013 Dr. Angela Merkel, German Chancellor on 19 November 2013 selected for Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for the year 2013. The International Jury for the Prize was chaired by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, which made this announcement on 19 November 2013 on the birth anniversary of Indira Gandhi. Dr. Angela Merkel is nominated for her exemplary leadership in Europe and the world during the financial crises and her commitment to universal peace.

Exhibition | Fare

World Trade Fair or EXPO 2020 Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) on 27 November 2013 voted in favour of Dubai to be the host city for the World Trade Fair or EXPO 2020. The theme of Dubai for the EXPO 2020 is Connecting Minds, Creating the Future. A World Expo in Dubai in 2020 would be the first to be held in the MENASA (Middle East, North Africa and South Asia) region, which takes place every five years. The yearlong event is considered a major event since the award of the EXPO brings home more number of visitors and adds to the trade, economy, tourism and hospitality sectors in the host city. The focus is on attracting 25 million people and through word of mouth may be 100 million over three to four years. This will give a boost to the local economy, trade, realty, tourism and retail sectors in the long run.

About Bureau Inter national des Expositions The Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) is the international body responsible for overseeing the calendar, bidding, selection and organisation of World Expos. It has a total of 167 member countries.

 A national festival for showcasing the abilities of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) was organized by the Department of Disability Affairs under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 15 – 16 January 2014 at New Delhi. The name of this festival was Samarth 2014 : Celebrating Diversity. The objectives of organizing Samarth were to showcase the abilities and potential of PwDs, create awareness about their rights and entitlements and provide PwDs and those working for them an opportunity for an interface with each other.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator  "Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo―, the patriotic song sung by Lata Mangeshkar to commemorate the martyrdom of Indian soldiers in the Sino-Indian War of 1962, completed 51 years of its public performance on 27 January 2014. The song written by Kavi Pradeep was performed live at Delhi‘s historic Ramleela Maidan on 27 January 1963 by Lata Mangeshkar, just two months after the end of the war. C. Ramchandra composed this legendary this song.  The 8th edition of Defence Expo organized at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi concluded recently. The Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence has organised the DefExpo 2014. The event manager of the four-day DefExpo was the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). As many as 624 companies from above 30 countries showcased weapon systems for the Navy, Army and Internal Security. Major participants of this event were from Russia, USA, UK, UAE, South Africa, Spain, South Africa, France, Australia, Canada, India, Japan, Poland, South Korea, Switzerland, Japan, Singapore and many others. DefExpo is the largest display for the world level defence companies to showcase their sea, land and air capabilities in a single event.  The 13th edition of Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) for Documentary, Short and Animation Films concluded in Mumbai recently. The world‘s largest and oldest international week-long festival international documentary film festival is a biennial festival that is organised with the collaboration of Government of Maharashtra and the Indian Documentary Producers Association, Mumbai. The festival displayed above 400 films from more than 35 countries which concluded with best of the work in short and animation films honoured with awards and documentary.  India has completed three years without any polio so India has a reason to celebrate victory over polio. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare organised celebration to commemorate this great accomplishment as well as to thank the efforts of all those who contributed to it. The polio virus surveillance system in India is among the best in the world which has tested negative for polio. It paves for polio-free certification of the South East Asia region of WHO. Report | Survey

 According to the recently released report of the World Health Organisation (WHO); Pakistan is the only polio- endemic country in the world where polio cases rose from 2012 to 2013. Peshawar is the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the latest genomic sequencing results of the Regional Reference Laboratory for Poliovirus, 83 out of 91 polio cases in the country during the last year are genetically linked to the polio virus circulating actively in Peshawar. Moreover, 12 out of the total 13 cases reported during the previous year from Afghanistan are also directly linked to Peshawar.  A study conducted by Nielsen and commissioned by Oil Ministry‘s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), in its report has found that cheaper fuel is finding usage by unintended beneficiaries. According to this study Proportion of diesel being consumed by high-end cars and SUVs (sports utility vehicles) is 13.15%. This study found that 70% of the diesel was being used in the transport sector. Private cars and SUVs consumed 13.15% of the 69.08 million tonne diesel consumed in the country in 2012-13. Commercial vehicles such as trucks however constituted the largest user base of diesel at 28.25%. Other commercial vehicles used another 8.94% and three-wheelers, a further 6.39%. Agriculture tractors and pumps used 13% of the diesel. Industries and electricity generators consumed almost 9% diesel, while mobile towers used 1.54%. The study found that 99.6% of petrol is consumed in the transport sector alone. Of this, majority consumption of 61.42% is accounted for by two-wheelers while cars use 34.33%, followed by 3-wheelers at 2.34%.  According to Fortune Magazine, Google has been named as the best company to work for the fifth consecutive year. The internet search giant has topped the current list of ―100 Best American Companies to Work for‖. In this list SAS, a software developer stood on second while strategy consultants, the Boston Consulting Group remained on third position. Goldman Sachs Group, Intel, Ernst & Young, CISCO, Deloitte, American Express, Accenture, Discovery Communications and Hyatt Hotels were the noted names in this list. Above 252,000 employees were surveyed by the institute.  Lagging behind Japan, India has now become the third largest crude oil importer in the World, according to the data released by Reuters. In 2013, India has imported 3.86 million barrels-per-day of crude oil. India's crude oil imports were near 6 % higher than Japan's customs-cleared imports. China, USA, India, Japan and Germany are World‘s top five oil-importing countries.

 According to the 'Brand Trust Report 2014', Samsung a South Korean consumer electronics major is most trusted brand in India. While Sony of Japan remained on second position and the home-grown salt-to-steel multinational Tata stood on third place followed by LG, Nokia, Hewlett Packard, Hero, Honda, Reliance and Mahindra & Mahindra respectively. Egypt Panel approved New Draft Constitution An Egyptian constitutional panel on 1 December 2013 approved a new draft constitution for Egypt Government.50-member constitution drafting panel headed by Amre Moussa approved draft-constitution, which contains 247 Articles. According to the country‘s officials, the referendum on the draft constitution is to be held in January 2014. Key provision in the new draft Constitution Presidential powers • President to only serve two four-year terms.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator • Candidates must be at least 40 years old. • President appoints prime minister. • President can dismiss the government with the approval of the majority of parliament. Military Powers • It gives more power to military, including an article that allows trial of civilians in martial courts. • Military budget to be discussed by a national defence council. • The defense minister must be appointed in agreement with the military. Religion • Islamic law, or sharia, the main source of legislation. • Political parties may not be formed on the basis of religion. Books & Author

 „Driven‟, a book released recently, has been written by a former a Civil Servant Turned Entrepreneur – Jagdish Khattar. Jagdish Khattar is a former IAS officer who became an entrepreneur after his successful career as Managing Director (MD) of Maruti Suzuki, India‘s largest automaker. After leaving Maruti Suzuki Khattar founded his enterprise ‗Carnation‘, which deals with selling of used cars.  Maitreyi Pushpa - A Hindi women novelist‘s name was suggested by the Delhi Government as the new chief of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung on 29 January 2014 amidst speculations of removing Barkha Singh. Pushpa is renowned for her feminist writings and strong feminist leanings. The suggestion has come in the backdrop of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government accusing the present DCW chairperson Barkha Singh of politicising the role of her office while dealing with the midnight raid episode allegedly involving Law Minister Somnath Bharti.  Famous Hindi writer Vishwanath Tripathi has been chosen for the esteemed Vyas Samman for the year 2013. He has been selected for the coveted annual literary award that was instituted by the K K Birla Foundation in 1991. The 82-year-old Tripathi has been chosen for his memoir 'Vyomkesh Darvesh', which is a biolgraphy of noted Hindi scholar Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi. With this prize, he will receive Rs 2.5 lakh. The award is given to an exceptional literary work in Hindi which has been published during the last 10 years. Around 20 publications including novels, memoirs and poetry collection are to his credit.

Day | Week | Year  The Meteorological Data Processing System was dedicated to the nation on 15 January 2014 on the occasion of 139th Foundation Day of India Meteorological Department (IMD). INSAT 3D Meteorological Data Processing System (IMDPS) has been set up at National Satellite Meteorological Centre (NSMC), IMD, New Delhi to receive and process the satellite data on a real time basis. The system is capable to process and generate images and products on 24X7 basis.  India and China on 24 January 2014 launched a special year to mark the coming year of exchanges in the field of economy, culture and people-to-people cooperation between the two countries. The name given to this year – ‗Year of Friendly Exchanges‘.  On 4 February, World Cancer Day was observed worldwide to increase the information about cancer and dismiss the myths about the disease. According to UN Agency report, cancer is the world‘s biggest killer disease and is expected to increase in the coming years. As per the World Cancer Report 2014, it has confirmed existing inequality in the cancer control and care globally. By 2025 almost 80 % of the increase in the number of cancer deaths will occur in less developed regions.  In order to raise awareness about the importance of radio World Radio Day was observed on February 13 to celebrate radio as a medium. ―Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in Radio‖ is the theme for this year 2014. Two years ago, the United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) approved a proposal to celebrate this day on February 13 worldwide. International, national and regional broadcasters have organised numerous events to celebrate this day.  'National Women's Day‟ is celebrated on 13th February every year in India on the birthday of Sarojini Naidu. Sarojini Naidu is popularly called as the ―Nightingale of India‖. Naidu was the first Indian woman President of the Indian National Congress and also the first Indian woman to become Governor of any State (Uttar Pradesh) in India. The day is observed as general celebration of appreciation, respect and love towards women. Women‘s groups around the country organised various events on this day. New Delhi to host 12th Edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2014 The 12th edition of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas will be held in New Delhi from 7th to 9th of January 2014. This was announced by Vayalar Ravi, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs on 5 Novemeber 2013 in New Delhi. The theme of the convention is - Engaging Diaspora - Connecting across Generations-with a special focus on the younger generation. Prime Minister Dr OM RANKER’S CREATOR, SCO 371-373, 4 TH FLOOR, SEC 34A, CHANDIGARH. CONTACT: 78140-11022, 78143-11022 Page 72

Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the convention and President Pranab Mukherjee will give his valedictory address. About Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated on 9th January every year to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India. January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi the greatest Pravasi, returned to India from South Africa. PBD conventions are being held since 2003. These conventions provide a platform to the overseas Indian community to engage with the government and people of the land of their ancestors for mutually beneficial activities. These conventions are very useful in networking among Indian community residing in various parts of the world and enable them to share their experiences in various fields. During the event, individuals of exceptional merit are honoured with the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award to appreciate their role in India‘s growth. The event provides a forum for discussing key issues concerning the Indian Diaspora. Miscellaneous

 Latvia became the 18th member of Eurozone on 1 January 2014. The former Soviet republic on the Baltic Sea recently emerged from the financial crisis to become the EU‘s fastest-growing economy. Latvia was given final clearance to join Eurozone on 9 July 2013 by finance ministers of the 28-nation European Union. It should be noted that 28-member EU is a political entity and represents the interest of all of Europe whereas Eurozone is a currency block of 18 nations that have accepted Euro as a common currency. Not all countries of EU use Euro as currency; Britain still uses Pound as its currency.  Seeking to curb the practice of small aircraft and helicopters operating in the country without cockpit voice recorders, aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 6 January 2014 made it mandatory for all their operators to fit their machines with black boxes by 31 December 2014. During recent safety audits, DGCA had discovered that a large number of turbine-powered planes and helicopters, including turboprops (turbine-powered propeller aircraft), were not fitted with CVRs.  A two-day voting was held in Egypt on 14 and 15 January 2014 on a draft for country‘s next constitution. This voting was also seen as a referendum on a likely presidential run by Egypt‘s top general. The results of this voting were released on 16 January 2014 in which Egypt‘s new constitution was approved by an overwhelmingly majority of around 90% votes. General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt‘s Army Chief, who nudged closer to a bid for the presidency with these results. The vote advances a transition plan the army unveiled after deposing Islamist president Mohammed Morsi during July 2013.  The 108 National Ambulance service was launched in the state of Uttar Pradesh on 17 January 2014 by GVK EMRI. GVK EMRI is currently operating 988 Ambulances under 108 Scheme in Uttar Pradesh. They have also bagged the project of operating 2,000 more ambulances under 102 Scheme which is meant for the transportation of pregnant women and neonates to the hospital and also back to home after delivery. Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) was set up in 2005 with the objective of delivering comprehensive, speedy, reliable and quality Emergency Care Services.  Minukumanna Minugurulu - A Telugu film became the first to be released on DTH along with its theatrical release on 24 January 2014. This film was released on Airtel Digital TV at 00.30 hours on 24 January (the day of its release) and would be available on this DTH platform for 5 days. Directed by Ayodhyakumar Krishnamsetty, the film‘s cast includes national award winning actors Ashish Vidyarthi and Suhasini Maniratnam along with internationally acclaimed actor Raghubir Yadav.  According to the recently released Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013-14, India has the largest population of illiterate adults in the world and it comprises of about 37% of the global total. The total number of illiterate adults in India according to this report – 287 million or 28.7 crore (The report mentions that India‘s literacy rate rose from 48% in 1991 to 63% in 2006, the latest year it has available data, but population growth cancelled the gains so there was no change in the number of illiterate adults. National Portal on Maulana Abul Kalam Azad launched Union Minister of Minority Affairs K Rahman Khan on 11 November 2013 launched a National Portal on Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The portal was inaugurated to mark 125th birth anniversary of the great national leader- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, (11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was a scholar and a great Indian freedom fighter, an eminent educationist and the first Education Minister of India. About the National Portal This portal is an initiative to digitise the heritage of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and make his life and legacy available online. Along with a biographical account on Maulana Azad, the portal contains titles and information on over 20 books written by Maulana Azad, in Urdu and English, as well as information on over 45 books written on Maulana Azad in Urdu, Hindi and English. Portal also contains over 60 photographs – some of which are with contemporaries like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, C Rajagopalachari amongst others. The portal also has excerpts of rare writings by Maulana Azad – his address on the Mahatma‘s Birthday on All India Radio, his message on the day that marked the anniversary of the JallianwalaBagh massacre, his insights on the history of philosophy – to name a few. Additionally, the portal enlists the institutions, scholarships and other initiatives named after the leader. The portal is a collaborative effort by the Union ministry of minority affairs, the Office of Advisor to the Prime Minister, the National Commission for Minorities, the Ministry of Culture). The national portal www.maulanaazadheritage.org a one stop point collating all knowledge and resources available on Maulana Azad, is now available to the public

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator GENERAL KNOWLEDGE FACTS

The first Prime minister of Bangladesh was Mujibur Rehman. The longest river in the world is the Nile. The longest highway in the world is the Trans-Canada. The longest highway in the world has a length of about 8000 km. The highest mountain in the world is the Everest. The biggest desert in the world is the Sahara desert. The largest coffee growing country in the world is Brazil. The country also known as "country of Copper"is Zambia. The name given to the border which seperates Pakistan and Afghanistan is Durand line. The river Volga flows out into the Capsian sea. The coldest place on the earth is Verkoyansk in Siberia. The country which ranks second in terms of land area is Canada. The largest Island in the Mediterranean sea is Sicily. The river Jordan flows out into the Dead sea. The biggest delta in the world is the Sunderbans. The capital city that stands on the river Danube is Belgrade. The Japanese call their country as Nippon. The length of the English channel is 564 kilometres. The world's oldest known city is Damascus. The city which is also known as the City of Canals is Venice. UNIDO stands for United Nations Industrial Development Organisation. UNIDO is located at Vienna. WMO stands for World Meteorological Organisation. WMO is located at Geneva. International Civil Aviation Organisation is located at Montreal. The Angel Falls is located in Venezuela. The Victoria Falls is located in Rhodesia. Ice Cream was discovered by Gerald Tisyum. The number regarded as lucky number in Italy is Thirteen. Napoleon suffered from alurophobia which means Fear of cats. The aeroplanes were used in war for the first time by Italians (14 Oct.1911). Slavery in America was abolished by Abraham Lincoln. The Headquarters of textile manufacturing in England is Manchester. The founder of plastic industry was Leo Hendrik Bakeland. The country where military service is compulsory for women is Israel. The country which has more than 10,000 golf courses is USA. The famous painting „Mona Lisa‟ is displayed at Louvre museum, Paris. The earlier name for tomato was „Love apple‟. The first President of USA was George Washington. The famous words `Veni Vidi Vici'were said by Julius Caesar. The practice of sterilization of surgical instruments was introduced by Joseph Lister. The number of countries which participated in the first Olympic Games held at Athens was Nine. Mercury is also known as Quick Silver. Disneyland is located in California, USA. The country which built the first powerful long range rockets is Germany. Sewing Machine was invented by Isaac M.Singer. Adding Machine was invented by Aldrin. The national emblem of Spain is Eagle. Archimedes was born in Sicily. The total area of Vatican city is 0.272 Sq.kms. The largest temple in the world is Angkorwat in Kampuchea. The largest dome in the world is Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans,USA . The largest strait in the world is Tartar Strait. The largest city of Africa is Cairo. The founder of KODAK Company was Eastman. The Cape of Good Hope is located in South Africa. The Heathrow Airport is located in London.

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Disha Grand Issue January – March’ 2014 – Om Ranker’s Creator The author of the book „The Canterbury Tales‟ is Geoffrey Chaucer. The author of the book „Anna Karenina‟ is Leo Tolstoy. The author of the book‟ The Adventures of Tom Sawyer‟ is Mark Twain. The author of the book „The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes‟ is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The author of the book „The Comedy of Errors‟ is William Shakespeare The author of the book „Animal Farm‟ is George Orwell The author of the book „The Rime of the Ancient Mariner‟ is Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The author of the book „Through the Looking Glass‟ is Lewis Carroll. The author of the book „Alls Well That Ends Well‟ is William Shakespeare. The author of the book „Akbar-nama‟ is Abul Fazl. The author of the book „The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn‟ is Mark Twain. The author of the book „Antony and Cleopatra‟ is William is Shakespeare. The author of the book „Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, 1687)‟ is Sir Isaac Newton. Writer of the novel „A Passage to India in 1924‟ is E.M. Forster (English novelist). Writer of „Meghdoot‟ is Kalidas. The author of the book „The Guide‟ is R.K. Narayan. Author of the famous book „On the Origin of Species‟ is Charles Darwin. The Griha Sutra deals with „Family‟. The Tamil epic Tholkappiyam deals with „Grammar‟. Mark Twain is the sir name of „Samuel Clemens‟. One Life was written by „Dr. Christiaan Barnard‟. The detective characters Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple was created by the author „Agatha Christie‟. Writer of the book „A House for Mr. Biswas‟ is V.S. Naipal. Writer of the book „The Golden Threshold‟ is Sarojini Naidu. The Last Supper is a painting by „Leonardo da Vinci‟. The author of Sur Sagar „Sur Das‟. Author of „The God of Small Things‟ is is Arundhati Roy. The author of „Das Capital‟ is is Karl Marx. The book „As You like It‟ was written by is Shakespeare. Writer 'William Sydney Porter' popularly known as is O. Henry. „The Brave new World‟ is the book by is Aldous Huxley. The publisher of first Harry Potter series novel „Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone‟ in 1997 is Bloomsbury Publishing. Pleasure Builder was developed by Revoluza. The Gurkhas are the original inhabitants of Nepal. The largest ocean of the world is the Pacific Ocean. The largest bell in the world is Tsar Kolkol at Kremlin, Moscow. The biggest stadium in the world is the Strahov Stadium, Prague. The world's largest diamond producing country South Africa. Australia was discovered by James Cook. The first Governor General of Pakistan Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Dublin is situated at the mouth of river Liffey. The earlier name of New York city was New Amsterdam. The Eifel tower was built by Alexander Eiffel. The Red Cross was founded by Jean Henri Durant. The river Volga flows out into the Capsian Sea. The coldest place on the earth is Verkoyak in Siberia. The country which ranks second in terms of land area Canada. The largest Island in the Mediterranean Sea is Sicily. The river Jordan flows out into the Dead Sea. The biggest delta in the world is the Sunderbans. The capital city that stands on the river Danube is Belgrade. The Japanese call their country as Nippon. The length of the English Channel is 564 kilometres. The world's oldest known city is Damascus. The city which is also known as the City of Canals Venice. The country in which river Wangchu flows is Myanmar. The biggest island of the world is Greenland. The city which is the biggest centre for manufacture of automobiles in the world is Detroit, USA.

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