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FEBRUARY, 2016

Vaid’s ICS Lucknow B-36, Sector –C, Aliganj, Lucknow

Ph: 0522-2326249/ Mob: 9415011892/93

website: www.vaidicslucknow.com

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Content

Pages

1. National Events 3

2. International Events 6

3. Science & Technology 11

4. Economy 14

5. Environment 23

6. Sports 27

7. Awards 31

8. Appointments 34

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NATIONAL EVENTS

Union Health Minister launched

National Framework for Elimination

of Malaria 2016-2030 Union Health and Family Welfare Minister

Jagat Prakash Nadda on 11 February 2016

released the National Framework for Malaria

Elimination (NFME) 2016-2030at New Delhi.

The framework outlines India’s strategy for

elimination of the disease by 2030.

NFME document defines goals, objectives,

strategies, targets and timelines to eliminate

malaria from the country. It will serve as a

roadmap for advocating and planning malaria

elimination from the country in a phased

manner.

The objectives of the NFME are to-

• Eliminate malaria from all low (Category 1)

and moderate (Category 2) endemic states/UTs

(26) by 2022

• Reduce incidence of malaria to less than 1 case

per 1000 population in all States/UTs and the

districts and malaria elimination in 31

states/UTs by 2024

• Interrupt indigenous transmission of malaria in

all States/ UTs (Category 3) by 2027

• Prevent re-establishment of local transmission

of malaria in areas where it has been eliminated

and to maintain malaria-free status of the

country by 2030

The milestones and targets are set for 2016,

2020, 2022, 2024, 2027 and 2030 by when the

entire country has sustained zero indigenous

cases and deaths due to malaria for 3 years and

initiated the processes for certification of

malaria elimination status to the country

The NFME 2016-2030 also defines key

strategic approaches such as-

• Programme phasing considering the varying

malaria endemicity in the country

• Classification of States/UTs based on API as

primary criterion (Category 0: Prevention of re-

introduction phase; Category 1: Elimination

phase; Category 2: Pre-elimination phase;

Category 3: Intensified control phase)

• District as the unit of planning and

implementation

• Focus on high endemic areas

• Special strategy for P. vivax elimination

An enabled environment and necessary

resources would remain critical to realize the

objectives in the pathway to malaria elimination.

Expectations from States/Union Territories-

• By the end of 2016, all states/UTs are expected

to include malaria elimination in their broader

health policies and planning framework

• By the end of 2017, all states are expected to

bring down API to less than 1 per thousand

population

• By the end of 2020, 15 states/UTs under

category 1 (elimination phase) are expected to

interrupt transmission of malaria and achieve

zero indigenous cases and deaths due to malaria

• It is also envisaged that in states with relatively

good capacity and health infrastructure, such as,

Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra, accelerated

efforts may usher malaria elimination sooner -

within two to three years

• As per the targets under the 12th Five Year

Plan, the country is to achieve API<1 at state

and district level by 2017 and pave way to

malaria elimination in subsequent years

Results of Swachh Survekshan 2016

announced; Mysuru declared cleanest

city in India Union Urban Development Miniser M

Venkaiah Naidu on 15 February 2016

announced the results of Swachh Survekshan

2016 survey.

Under the Swachh Survekshan 2016, 73 cities

were surveyed for cleanliness and categorized

based on the marks scored by each of them.

Out of the 73 cities, while Mysuru in

Karnataka was adjudged as the cleanest

city, Dhanbad in Jharkand was adjudged as

the least clean city.

The survey was conducted for total marks of

2000 and the cities were divided into the

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following four categories based on their

percentage of marks.

• Leaders (> 70 percent): 15 cities

• Aspiring Leaders (60 – 70 percent): 20 cities

• Acceleration required (50 – 60 percent): 18

cities

• Slow Movers (< 50 percent): 20 cities

Amendment to the Delimitation Act,

2002 and Representation of the People

Act, 1950 approved The Union Cabinet on 17 February 2016 gave

its approval to amend Section 11 of the

Delimitation Act, 2002 and Section 9 of the

Representation of the People Act, 1950.

This approval will enable the Election

Commission to carry out limited delimitation of

Assembly and Parliamentary Constituencies in

the Cooch Behar District of West Bengal. This

became necessary consequent upon the

exchange of 51 Bangladeshi enclaves and 111

Indian enclaves respectively between India and

Bangladesh with effect from 31 July 2015.

This is in pursuance of the Constitution (One

Hundredth Amendment) Act, 2015 and also

allows for introduction of a Bill, namely, the

Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in

Parliament.

Background- In a historic pact between India and

Bangladesh, 51 Bangladeshi enclaves

(Chhitmahals) in Indian Territory and 111

Indian enclaves in Bangladesh territory were

exchanged with effect from 31 July 2015.

The move altered the geography and

demography of the district of Cooch Behar in

West Bengal.

With a view to carry out consequential

geographic and demographic alterations vis-à-

vis the electoral mosaic of the affected areas, the

Election Commission requested to amend

Section 11 of the Delimitation Act, 2002 and

Section 9 of the Representation of the People

Act, 1950. This will enable them to carry out

limited delimitation of constituencies in the

affected areas before the ensuing State

Assembly elections in West Bengal.

What is Delimitation?

Delimitation means the act or process of fixing

limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies

in a country or a province having a legislative

body. The job of delimitation is assigned to a

high power body. Such a body is known as

Delimitation Commission or a Boundary

Commission.

In India, such Delimitation Commissions have

been constituted 4 times – in 1952 under the

Delimitation Commission Act, 1952, in 1963

under Delimitation Commission Act, 1962, in

1973 under Delimitation Act, 1972 and in 2002

under Delimitation Act, 2002.

The Delimitation Commission in India is a

high power body whose orders have the force of

law and cannot be called in question before any

court.

PM Modi released guidelines for

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana at

Kisan Mela in MP Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 18 February

2016 launched the guidelines for

operationalization of thePradhan Mantri Fasal

Bima Yojana (PMFBY). The guidelines were

issued at a farmers’ convention in Sherpur

village of Madhya Pradesh.

The PMFBY is a path breaking scheme for

crop insurance and was approved by the Union

Cabinet on 13 January 2016.

The Yojna will come into force from the 2016

Kharif season (from June to October in India). It

aims at boosting the agricultural sector of India

and envisages a uniform premium of only 2

percent to be paid by farmers for Kharif crops,

and 1.5 percent for Rabi crops. The premium for

annual commercial and horticultural crops will

be 5 percent.

On the occasion, the Prime Minister Modi also

presented a trophy of Krishi Karman Award to

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. On the

other hand, Modi was conferred with Kisan

Mitra and Kisan Hiteshi Samman on behalf of

Madhya Pradesh government for his historic

decisions in the interest of farmers’ community.

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Union Government nod for building of

82000 houses for poor in urban areas

of 163 cities The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban

Poverty Alleviation on 18 February 2016

sanctioned construction of around eighty two

thousand houses for Economically Weaker

Sections (EWS) in urban areas of 163 cities.

The cities are in West Bengal, Telangana,

Bihar, Mizoram, Rajashtan, Jharkhand and

Uttarakhand. State wise number of houses

sanctioned

• West Bengal - 27830 houses

• Telangana – 22817

• Bihar – 13315

• Mizoram – 8922

• Rajasthan – 6052

• Jharkhand—2337

• Uttarakhand – 484

According to the Ministry, the construction

will involve an investment of over four thousand

crore rupees, of which, the Union Government

will provide an assistance of 1226 crore rupees.

These 1226 crore rupees will be provided

under the Prime Minister's Awas Yojana

(Urban).

The proposals on sanctioning houses for EWS

in urban areas by seven states was approved by

an inter-ministerial Central Sanctioning and

Monitoring Committee, chaired by HUPA

Secretary Nandita Chatterjee.

How the constructions will be done?

• Of the total houses, 58456 houses will be built

under the ‘Beneficiary Led Construction’

component. Under this, beneficiaries will build

new houses on their own land with assistance

from the central and state governments.

• Rest of the houses will be built under the

Affordable Housing in Partnership’ component

under which state governments will provide land

and the central government will give an

assistance of 1.50 lakh rupees to each

beneficiary.

With this decision, the Government has so far

sanctioned over five lakh houses in different

states. Under the Prime Minister’s Awas

Yojana (Urban), the government has targeted

assisting construction of 2 crore houses for

urban poor in 4041 statutory urban local bodies

in the country.

PM Narendra Modi launched Rurban

Mission in Chhattisgarh Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 21 February

2016 launched Shyama Prasad Mukherjee

National Rurban Mission. The mission was

launched from Kurubhat village in Dongargarh

block of Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh.

The Rurban Mission seeks to develop smart

village on the line of smart cities and reduce the

burden of migration to the cities through

adopting ‘cluster approach’.

Under the Mission, Murmunda village cluster

in Rajnandgaon will cater 16 village panchayats

- Kurrubhat, Bhagwantola, Bhandarpur,

Haransinghi, Jamri, Jatkanhar, Khallari,

Matketa, Medha, Mudhpar, Murmunda,

Nagtarai, Pinkapar, Pipariya, Rajkatta and Raka.

In the first stage, four districts - Rajnandgaon,

Dhamtari, Kabirdham and Bastar of the state

will be covered under the scheme. These

clusters will be developed at an investment of

120 crore rupees.

Besides, the prime minster also launched Jan

Aushadhi Medical Store project under which

100 generic medicines stores will be opened at

government district hospitals and community

health centres. These stores will help people to

buy medicines at cheaper rates.

Further, he also laid down the foundation

stone of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana –

Housing for All (Urban) at the Naya Raipur,

the new capital of Chhattisgarh. The Yojana was

launched on 25 June 2015.

Modi also felicitated Kuwar Bai, 104-year-old

woman of island-like Barari village of Dhamtari

district, for building toilets. Bai sold off her

goats to build toilet at her home and inspired the

whole village to build toilets at Dhamtari

district.

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INTERNATIONAL

EVENTS

1st Ministerial Meeting of Arab-India

Cooperation Forum held in Manama The 1

st Ministerial Meeting of Arab-India

Cooperation Forum was held on 24 January

2016 in the Bahraini capital Manama.

The meeting, which was opened by Bahrain’s

Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa,

was attended by Minister of External Affairs

and Overseas Indian Affairs Sushma Swaraj,

foreign ministers of Arab States, and the

Secretary General of the League of Arab States

Nabil Elaraby.

The meeting reviewed the achievements of the

Arab-Indian cooperation since the establishment

of the Arab-Indian Co-operation Forum in New

Delhi in 2008 and adopted the Manama

Declaration.

The declaration called for enhanced

cooperation on bilateral, regional and global

issues including terrorism, Palestine, Syria,

Arab-Israeli conflict and reforms in the UNSC

by expanding its permanent and non-permanent

membership.

Highlights of the Manama Declaration- • Arab-Israeli conflict: A comprehensive and

permanent solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict

should be achieved on the basis of UN Security

Council resolutions 242 of 1976 and 338 of

1973, Madrid Peace conference of 1991 and the

2002 Arab Peace Initiative in Beirut.

• Palestine issue: It called on Israel to end its

occupation of the Palestinian Arab territories it

seized in 1967 and implementation of the two-

state principle on the establishment of an

independent and sovereign Palestine State with

East Jerusalem as its capital.

• Arab-Iran conflict: They further emphasized

the importance that cooperative relations

between Arab States and the Islamic Republic of

Iran be based on the principles of good

neighbourliness, non-interference in internal

affairs, and resolution of disputes through

peaceful means.

• Israel-Lebanon conflict: It called upon Israel

to withdraw from the remaining occupied

Lebanese territories and to immediately end all

its violations of the Lebanese sovereignty by

land, sea and air.

• UAE-Iran conflict: The sides expressed their

support to all peaceful efforts, including the

efforts of the United Arab Emirates, to reach a

peaceful solution to the issue of the Islands of

Greater Tunb, Smaller Tunb and Abu

Musa with Iran through bilateral negotiations

and in accordance with international law.

• Terrorism: They supported the efforts of the

UN Counter-Terrorism Committee [CTC] and

adoption of the Comprehensive Convention

on International Terrorism [CCIT], at the

earliest.

• Syria: Both sides affirmed the need for the

establishment of a transitional governing body

in Syria in accordance with the Vienna

Statements of October and November 2015

issued by the International Syrian Support

Group and the UN Security Council Resolution

2254 (2015).

• Iraq: It strongly condemned crimes committed

by all terrorist organizations, especially those

committed by ISIS terrorist organization against

all Iraqi people.

• Libya: The leaders welcomed the Sokhirat

Agreement on political solution to the crisis in

Libya that was initiated by most Libyan political

forces in July 2015, and appreciated the efforts

of the Kingdom of Morocco in facilitating this

agreement.

• Yemen: The leaders supported the legitimate

Government in Yemen represented by the

President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and

condemned the unilateral procedures by the

Houthi group as it undermines the transitional

political process in Yemen.

• Sudan: They welcomed the National Dialogue

Conference which was launched in Khartoum

and called upon the armed movements to stop

fighting and engage in this National Dialogue, in

response to the initiative of Omar Hassan

Ahmed al-Bashir, the President of Sudan.

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• Somalia: Both sides supported the African

Union’s effort to assist Somali’s peace and

security through the African Union Mission in

Somalia (AMISON), as well as the Somali

National Army. They supported the State of

Kuwait's orientation to organize a Donors’

Conference for education in Somalia in 2016.

• They welcomed the granting of the

Foundation for Ethnic Understanding Award

to Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the king of

Bahrain, in recognition of his contributions in

promoting meaningful dialogue in the region.

Pacific Rim nations signed Trans-

Pacific Partnership agreement All twelve Pacific Rim countries on 4

February 2016 signed the US-led Trans-Pacific

Partnership (TPP) agreement in New Zealand.

This is one of the biggest trade deals in history.

The ceremonial signing event on the pact was

led by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key

and US Trade Representative Mike Froman at

Auckland's Sky City Convention Centre.

The trade deal looks to facilitate investment

between 12 countries across the Pacific Rim,

which together account for about 40 percent of

the global economy. The agreement was signed

by Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan,

Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru,

Singapore, the United States of America and

Vietnam.

The TPP was agreed in October 2015 after

five years of negotiations and multiple missed

deadlines. The signing of the pact ends the

process of negotiation but the member countries

have two years to get approval on the deal at

home.

The deal was signed even after the US is

struggling to get the pact ratified in Congress.

The US-led initiative is a key part of President

Barack Obama's so-called pivot to Asia but has

proved to be a controversial issue ahead of the

US elections in November 2016. Obama has

barely a year left on his term and his

administration warns that the US economy will

suffer if politicians don't ratify the TPP

agreement.

NATO, EU signed agreement on Cyber

Defense Cooperation The North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(NATO) and the European Union (EU) on 10

February 2016 signed an agreement to improve

cooperation in cyber defense.

The technical agreement signed at NATO

headquarters at Brussels, Belgium will help the

two in countering the modern forms of hybrid

warfare.

The deal establishes a framework for

emergency response teams from the NATO and

the EU to exchange information and share best

practices.

The new agreement will facilitate information-

sharing to improve cyber incident prevention,

detection and response at both the EU and

NATO.

Since Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea,

NATO and the EU, which have 22 member

countries in common, have accelerated

cooperation in a number of defense-related

fields.

India, UAE signed nine agreements including

renewable energy and finance

India and United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 11

February 2016 signed nine agreements. The

agreements covered a wide range of sectors like

the sphere of cyber security, infrastructure,

renewable energy and finance.

The pacts were inked after talks between

visiting Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh

Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Prime

Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in

New Delhi.

The signed agreements were • MoU on Technical Cooperation in Cyber-

Space and Combating Cyber Crime: The

agreement signed between the Ministry of

Interior of the United Arab Emirates and the

Ministry of Home Affairs of the Republic of

India MoU provides for technical cooperation in

Cyber Space and in the area of Combating

Cyber Crime.

• MoU on Establishing a Framework for

Facilitating the Participation of UAE

institutional investors in Infrastructure

Investments in India: The MoU aims at

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establishing a framework for facilitating the

participation of UAE institutional investors in

Infrastructure Investments in India.

• General Framework Agreement on

Renewable Energy Cooperation: The

framework agreement provides for bilateral

cooperation through extensive projects,

investments, cooperation in R & D in renewable

and clean energy. Knowledge sharing platforms

could also be enacted.

• MoU on Cooperation in the Exploration and

use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes: It

was inked between Indian Space Research

Organisation (ISRO) and the United Arab

Emirates Space Agency and establishes a

framework for cooperation in space science,

technology and applications including remote

sensing; satellite communication and satellite

based navigation.

• MoU for bilateral cooperation in the field of

insurance supervision: The MoU between

Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (IRDA)

and the Insurance Authority of UAE aims at

promoting cooperation between the concerned

authorities in the field of insurance supervision

through a framework for cooperation and by

increasing mutual understanding through the

exchange of regulatory and relevant supervisory

information to ensure compliance with their

respective laws and regulations.

• Executive Programme for Cultural

Cooperation (EPCC) between India and

UAE: The Cultural Exchange Programme 2016

– 2018 follows from the existing bilateral

cultural agreement (1975) and provides for a

range of cultural exchange activities under the

new EPCC.

• Letter of Intent on Cooperation for skill

development and recognition of

qualifications: It was inked between the

Ministry of Skill Development and

Entrepreneurship (MSDE), India and The

National Qualifications Authority (NQA), UAE

and provides collaboration on skill

developments and mutual recognition of

qualifications.

• MoU for exchange of information on trade

and business opportunities: The MoU was

signed between Dubai Economic Council (DEC)

and Export-Import bank of India. It provides for

both parties to exchange information on trade

and business opportunities and to further the

goal of facilitating procurement of Indian goods

and services by Dubai Government.

• MoU on Indian Rupee (INR)/UAE Dirham

(AED) Bilateral Currency Swap

Arrangement: The agreement between Reserve

Bank of India and Central Bank of the United

Arab Emirates promotes bilateral financial

relations through currency swap arrangement

between the RBI & Central Bank of UAE.

Syria approved humanitarian access to

besieged areas: UN United Nations on 16 February 2016 said that

the Syrian government has approved

humanitarian access to seven besieged areas.

According to the UN, almost half a million

people live in besieged areas.

The seven areas are those deemed by the 17-

member International Syria Support Group to be

most in need of relief. These seven areas are-

• Deir el-Zour, a city in the east under siege

from so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria

(ISIS)

• Foah and Kefraya, in northern Idlib province

that is besieged by rebels

• Madaya, Kafr Batna, Muadhamiya, and

Zabadani, all in rural Damascus area that is

under siege from government forces

The move comes following the agreement

reached between the world powers in second

week of February 2016 that sought a nationwide

cessation of hostilities and to accelerate and

expand aid deliveries.

India, Nepal signed agreements

including utilisation of Indian grant of

250 million US dollars India and Nepal on 20 February 2016 inked

and exchanged seven agreements and

Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) to

boost the bilateral cooperation.

The agreements covered utilisation of Indian

grant of 250 million US dollars to Nepal for

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post-earthquake reconstruction and another on

improving of roads in Terai region.

These agreements were signed during the state

visit of Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli

to India. Oli is on a five day visit to India (19-24

February 2016), which was his first foreign visit

after assuming office in October 2015.

The signed agreements/MoUs were • MoU on utilization of 250 US dollars million

Grant component of India’s Assistance

package for Post-earthquake reconstruction

assistance – the grant will be ustilised in four

identified sectors and they are housing, health,

education and cultural heritage.

i. In housing, 100 million US dollars would be

utilised for construction of 50000 houses in 14

severely earthquake affected districts.

ii. 50 million US dollars each would be utilised

in health, education and cultural heritage sectors

in 31 earthquake affected districts of Nepal.

• MoU on strengthening of road

infrastructure in the Terai area of Nepal –

This MoU will enable speedy implementation of

remaining work on 17 Roads in Package 2, 3, 4,

5 and 6 of the Terai Road Phase-I project,

totaling 518 kms. Two roads in Package 1

totaling 87 kms have already been completed.

• MoU between Nepal Academy of Music and

Drama and Sangeet Natak Academy - This

MoU aims to enhance relations between India

and Nepal in the field of performing arts through

exchanges of experts, exponents, dancers,

scholars and intellectuals.

• Letters of Exchange on Transit Routes - the

routes include

i. Transit between Nepal and Bangladesh

through Kakarbitta-Banglabandh corridor

ii. Operationalization of Vishakhapatnam Port

This Exchange of Letters between India and

Nepal would result in simplification of

modalities for traffic of goods between Nepal

and Bangladesh while transiting through India,

through the Kakarbhitta (Nepal) and

Banglabandha (Bangladesh) corridor. This

Exchange of Letters would provide for transit

facilities for Nepal through the Vishakhapatnam

port.

• Letters of Exchange on Rail Transport - the

areas include-

i. Rail transport to/from Vishakhapatnam

ii. Rail transit facility through Singhabad for

Nepal’s Trade with and through Bangladesh

This Exchange of Letters would allow for rail

transport to and from Vishakhapatnam to Nepal.

This Exchange of Letters would help

operationalise rail transit facility through

Singabad in India for Nepal’s trade with and

through Bangladesh.

• Inauguration of Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar

transmission line [Initial supply of 80 MW, to

be augmented to 200 MW by October 2016

and 600 MW by December 2017] - The Nepal

portion of the 400 KV Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar

transmission line is being implemented by

Government of Nepal, under an LoC of 13.5

million US dollar.

80 MW power would flow immediately

through this line, with an initial charge of 132

KV. Thereafter, it will be augmented to 200

MW in October 2016 at 220 KV, and then to

600 MW by December 2017 at 400 KV.

• Establishment of Eminent Persons Group -

At the third meeting of the India–Nepal Joint

Commission held at Kathmandu in July 2014, it

was decided to establish an Eminent Persons

Group (EPG).

The EPG comprises eight members with each

country nominating four members, preferably a

parliamentarian, a lawyer, an economist and a

civil society activist.

The EPG has now been constituted. Its

mandate would be to comprehensively review

bilateral relations and recommend measures

including institutional frameworks to further

enhance bilateral ties.

Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities

in Syria to come into effect on 27

February United States and Russia on 22 February 2016

announced to have reached an Agreement on

Cessation of Hostilities in Syria that will come

into effect on 27 February 2016.

The announcement was made by US Secretary

of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign

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Minister Sergey Lavrov as co-chairs of the

International Syria Support Group (ISSG)

Ceasefire Taskforce.

The agreement said that the group would work

to "develop procedures" to ensure those abiding

by the deal are not attacked by Russian armed

forces or a US-led coalition both of which are

carrying out air strikes in the country.

It also said that the truce did not include so-

called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and

the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. Thus, the air

strikes by Syria, Russia and the US-led coalition

against ISIS, Nusra and other terrorist

organisations designated by the UN would

continue.

The agreement was welcomed by UN

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who said that,

if respected, the agreement would constitute a

significant step forward in the implementation

of Security Council Resolution 2254 (2015).

The Resolution 2254 gave the UN an

enhanced role in shepherding the opposing sides

to talks for a political transition, endorsing a

timetable for a ceasefire, a new constitution and

elections.

So far more than 2 lakhs 50 thousands Syrians

have been killed in the conflict which began in

March 2011.

Meanwhile, Syria's government led by

President Bashar al-Assad has called for a

parliamentary election on 13 April 2016. Assad

issued a decree, which included seat allocations

for each of the provinces in Syria, which last

held parliamentary elections in May 2012.

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SCIENCE &

TECHNOLOGY

WHO declared Public Health

Emergency of International Concern

over Zika virus outbreak World Health Organisation (WHO) on 1

February 2016 declared Public Health

Emergency of International Concern over the

explosive spread of the mosquito-borne Zika

virus, which is linked to birth defects in the

Americas.

The UN health agency convened an

emergency meeting of independent experts in

Geneva to assess the outbreak of the virus. The

meeting was convened after noting a suspicious

link between Zika's arrival in Brazil in 2015 and

a surge in the number of babies born with

abnormally small heads.

This was the first meeting of the Emergency

Committee (EC) convened by the Director-

General under the International Health

Regulations (2005) (IHR 2005).

Recommended Measures-

After the meeting a broad list of precautionary

measures were recommended and they are:

• Surveillance for Zika virus infection should be

enhanced, with the dissemination of standard

case definitions and diagnostics to at-risk areas.

• The development of new diagnostics for Zika

virus infection should be prioritized to facilitate

surveillance and control measures.

• Risk communications should be enhanced in

countries with Zika virus transmission to

address population concerns, enhance

community engagement, improve reporting, and

ensure application of vector control and personal

protective measures.

• Vector control measures and appropriate

personal protective measures should be

aggressively promoted and implemented to

reduce the risk of exposure to Zika virus.

• Attention should be given to ensuring women

of childbearing age and particularly pregnant

women have the necessary information and

materials to reduce risk of exposure.

• Pregnant women who have been exposed to

Zika virus should be counselled and followed

for birth outcomes based on the best available

information and national practice and policies.

Longer-term measures-

• It calls to intensify an appropriate research and

development efforts for Zika virus vaccines,

therapeutics and diagnostics.

• In areas of known Zika virus transmission

health services should be prepared for potential

increases in neurological syndromes and/or

congenital malformations.’

Zika Virus-

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of the virus

family Flaviviridae and the genus Flavivirus,

transmitted by daytime-active Aedes

mosquitoes, such as A. aegypti. In case of

humans, the virus cases mild illness known as

Zika fever (Zika or Zika disease). It has been

occurring since the 1950s within a narrow

equatorial belt from Africa to Asia.

In 2014, the virus spread eastward across the

Pacific Ocean to French Polynesia, then to

Easter Island and in 2015 to Mexico, Central

America, the Caribbean, and South America,

where the Zika outbreak has reached pandemic

levels.

Earlier in last week of January 2016, WHO

estimated that there could be up to 4 million

cases of Zika in Americas by 2017 but no

recommendations didn’t issued travel restriction

or trade.

India successfully test-fired

indigenously developed Prithvi II

missile from Chandipur India on 16 February 2016 successfully test

fired its indigenously developed Prithvi-II

missile from the Chandipur, off Odisha coast.

The medium range missile is capable of carrying

500 kg to 1000 kg of warheads and is thrusted

by liquid propulsion twin engines.

As part of a user trial, the missile with a strike

range of 350 km, test was carried out from a

mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the

Integrated Test Range (ITR). It uses advanced

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inertial guidance system with manoeuvring

trajectory to hit its target.

The first missile to be developed by DRDO

under India's Integrated Guided Missile

Development Program (IGMDP), Prithvi-II was

inducted into India's armed forces in 2003.

The last user trial of the surface-to-surface

Prithvi-II was successfully conducted on 26

November 2015 from the same test range in

Odisha.

NASA’s New Horizons mission spotted

floating hills on Pluto NASA’s New Horizons mission on 14 July

2015 spotted the nitrogen ice glaciers on Pluto

appeared to carry numerous isolated hills which

are likely to be the fragments of water ice, as per

the press release of NASA on 4 February 2016.

As the nitrogen-dominated ice is dense than

water ice, it is believed that newly found

water ice hills are floating in a sea of frozen

nitrogen and resembles icebergs in Earth’s

Arctic Ocean. These hills individually measure

one to several miles or kilometers across.

These hills are another example of Pluto’s

fascinating and abundant geological activity and

are likely to be fragments of the rugged uplands

and smaller versions of the large and jumbled

mountains on Sputnik Planum’s western

border.

Chains of the drifting hills are formed along

the flow paths of the glaciers.

When the hills enter the cellular terrain of

central Sputnik Planum, they become subject to

the convective motions of the nitrogen ice and

are pushed to the edges of the cells where the

hills cluster in groups reaching up to 12 miles

across.

At the northern end of the image, the feature

informally named Challenger Colles which are

honoring the crew of the lost space shuttle

Challenger appears to be an especially large

accumulation of these hills, measuring 37 by 22

miles or 60 by 35 kilometers.

This feature is located near the boundary with

the uplands which are away from the cellular

terrain and represent a location where hills are

beached due to the nitrogen ice being especially

shallow.

The image was obtained by New Horizons’

Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC)

instrument and it measures a little over 500

kilometers long and about 340 kilometers wide.

It was obtained at a range of approximately

16000 kilometers from Pluto and about 12

minutes before New Horizons’ closest approach

to Pluto on 14 July 2015.

Bharat Biotech unveiled first vaccine

candidate Zikavac for Zika Virus Indian biotechnology company Bharat Biotech

on 3 February 2016 claimed that it has achieved

a breakthrough in developing a vaccine to fight

the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

Bharat Biotech developed world’s first, two

promising candidates ZikaVac vaccines for

Zika infection.

The company is probably the first in the world

to file for global patent for the two vaccines.

One of the possible vaccines is recombinant,

which means it is created by genetic

engineering, while the other was inactivated,

and will enter pre-clinical trials in animals in

two weeks.

The company announced that it could make

available the inactivated vaccine in two years if

the Indian Government fast-tracked the

regulatory approvals once the pre-clinical trials

proved to be successful.

While the recombinant vaccine might take

time, the pre-clinical testing of the inactivated

vaccine in animals will be completed in five

months.

Key facts related to the breakthrough- • Bharat Biotech developed the vaccine and pro

vaccine candidates.

• It filed a patent in July 2015. The company is

probably the first in the world to file for global

patent for Zika Vaccine candidates.

• The company has been working on Zika

vaccine for more than 15 months.

• The company was able to develop the ZikaVac

vaccines because it had earlier successfully

developed vaccine on vector borne

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Chikungunya disease which is also transmitted

by Aedes mosquito similar to Zika virus.

India's first Ayurvedic anti-diabetic

drug, BGR-34, launched by CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

(CSIR) on 3 February 2016 launched the BGR-

34, the country's first anti-diabetic ayurvedic

drug for Diabetes. BGR is acronym for blood

glucose regulator.

The ayurvedic drug BGR-34 was launched at

Kozhikode, Kerala by CSIR's Senior Principal

Scientist Dr AKS Rawat as part of the Global

Ayurveda Festival in the city.

BGR-34 is designed for type 2 Diabetes

mellitus, has been scientifically validated for its

efficacy and safety. Priced at 5 rupees per tablet,

the medicine is now available at all major

chemist counters of Kerala.

The drug works by controlling blood sugar

level (anti-hyperglycaemic property) and

limiting the harmful effects of other drugs and is

not toxic in nature nor carries any side-effects.

The drug was developed by CSIR in

collaboration with National Botanical Research

Institute and Central Institute for Medicinal and

Aromatic Plant. It was developed as diabetes has

become a major threat in the health sector and

about 6 crore of adult Indian population has

been found to be diabetic and there is no

effective solution for the disease yet.

ISRO successfully tested high-thrust

Cryogenic Engine CE-20 The Indian Space Research Organisation

(ISRO) on 19 February 2016 successfully tested

high-thrust cryogenic engine CE-20 at its

Propulsion Research Centre in Mahendragiri,

Tamil Nadu.

The successful hotbed test lasted 640 seconds

and paved the way for the first developmental

flight of the GSLV Mark 3 in December 2016.

The GSLV Mark 3, the biggest rocket made in

India, will be capable of launching 4-tonne

satellites into geosynchronous orbit.

So far India's GSLVs were being powered by

cryogenic engines given by Russia. But this

development marks a milestone in the country's

effort to develop a big cryogenic engine to fly

satellites of up to five tonnes.

About Cryogenic Engine- • It uses Hydrogen as fuel, stored at minus 253

degrees Celsius and liquid oxygen as oxidizer at

minus 193 degrees Celsius.

• The CE-20 has been developed at the Liquid

Propulsion System centre (LPSC) in

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

• It can develop the thrust needed in the final

stage of the rocket to put satellites, weighing

two tonnes or more, into a geosynchronous

orbit.

• It will also give boost to India’s interplanetary

probes and manned space missions.

• It is essential to master this technology for any

space power as launching heavier satellites

requires cryogenic engines even in the lower

stages of the rocket.

Background- India has been on a long arduous journey to

develop an operational indigenous cryogenic

engine which began around 30 years ago.

The first success came in January 2014 when

India successfully launched GSLV-D5, marking

the first successful launch of a vehicle with an

indigenous cryogenic engine. But at present,

India can only launch satellites of up to two

tonnes.

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ECONOMY

Union Government granted Miniratna

Category-I Status to HSCC Union Health and Family Welfare Minister JP

Nadda on 1 February 2016 awarded the

certificate of Miniratna Category-I status to

Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation (I)

Ltd (HSCC). The honour was awarded to its

CMD Gyanesh Pandey at Nirman Bhawan in

New Delhi.

It got the status for its consistency in excellent

performance in top and bottom-line growth

along with its turnover, particularly for the last

five years. These status are granted by the

Department of Public Enterprises under Union

Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public

Enterprises.

HSSC is a Public Sector Enterprise under the

Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

since its inception it has been a profit making

organisation. As a result, it attained the

Miniratna-II status in 2002.

Criteria to award Miniratna Status- Those CPSEs that have shown profits in the

last continuous three years and have positive net

worth can be considered eligible for grant of

Miniratna status.

These are divided in two catergories – I and

II.

Miniratna Category-I CPSEs should have made profits continuously

for the last three years otherwise, it should have

earned a net profit of 30 crore rupees or more in

one of the three years.

The company boards are entitled to invest up

to 500 crore rupees or equal to their net worth,

whichever is lower without seeking government

permission.

Miniratna Category-II CPSEs should have made profits for the last

three years continuously and should have a

positive net worth.

The company boards are entitled to invest up

to 300 crore rupees or up to 50 percent of their

net worth, whichever is lower without seeking

government permission.

BHEL commissioned 270 MW unit of

GVK power plant in Punjab State-run equipment maker Bharat Heavy

Electricals Ltd (BHEL) on 18 February 2016

commissioned a 270 MW generation unit at the

Goindwal Sahib Thermal Power Project of

private producer GVK Power & Infra in Punjab.

Thermal sets of 270 MW rating are in-house

improvisations of the 210/250 MW sets supplied

by the company earlier, which currently form

the backbone of the Indian power sector and

have been performing much above the national

average as well as international benchmarks.

All the operational sets of 210-270 MW class

in Punjab have been supplied, erected and

commissioned by BHEL, i.e., six units of 210

MW at Ropar, 2 units of 210 MW and 2 units of

250 MW at Bhatinda, besides 270 MW Unit at

Goindwal Sahib.

BHEL has earlier commissioned four hydro

sets of 82.5 MW each at the Alaknanda Hydro

Power Project in Uttarakhand by the same

developer.

About Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd- • Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is a

power plant equipment manufacturer.

• It is owned by the Government of India.

• It was established in 1964.

• Heavy Electricals (India) Limited was merged

with BHEL in 1974.

• It is India's largest engineering and

manufacturing company of its kind.

Union Cabinet approved Trade

Facilitation Agreement Union Cabinet on 17 February 2016 approved

Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the

World Trade Organization (WTO). It approved

the Notification of Commitments, its ratification

and acceptance of the Instrument of Acceptance

of Protocol of TFA to the WTO Secretariat.

India is the 71st country to give nod to the

agreement that seeks to ease customs procedures

to boost commerce.

As per the Trade Facilitation

Agreement adopted by the WTO on 27

November 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland, the

TFA shall enter into force for the notified

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members (107 countries) upon acceptance by

two-third WTO Members.

The TFA contains provisions for expediting

the movement, release and clearance of goods,

including goods in transit.

India decided against signing WTO's Trade

Facilitation Agreement It also sets out measures for effective

cooperation between customs and other

appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and

customs compliance issues.

These objectives are in consonance with

India’s “Ease of Doing Business” initiative.

National Committee on Trade Facilitation

(NCTF) Besides, Union Cabinet also approved the

constitution of the National Committee on Trade

Facilitation (NCTF). NCTF will facilitate both

domestic coordination and implementation of

the provisions of the Agreement and it will be

set up under the Joint Chair of Secretary,

Department of Revenue and Secretary,

Department of Commerce.

CSO released Advance Estimates of

National Income 2015-16 Central Statistics Office (CSO) under the

Ministry of Statistics and Programme

Implementation (MoSPI) on 8 February 2016

released the Advance Estimates (AE) of

National Income for the financial year (FY)

2015-16.

It also released the Quarterly Estimates (QE)

of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the

third quarter (Q3) of the FY 2015-16.

Main highlights of Advance Estimates-

• The growth in GDP during 2015-16 is

estimated at 7.6 % as compared to the growth

rate of 7.2 % in 2014- 15.

• Real GDP or Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

at constant (2011-12) prices in the year 2015- 16

is likely to attain a level of 113.51 lakh crore

rupees.

• Real Gross Value Added (GVA) or GVA at

basic constant prices (2011-12) is anticipated to

increase from 97.27 lakh crore rupees in 2014-

15 to 104.38 lakh crore rupees in 2015-16.

• Anticipated growth of real GVA at basic prices

in 2015-16 is 7.3 % against 7.1 % in 2014-15.

• The sectors which are likely to register growth

rate of over 7.0 % are financial, real estate and

professional services, trade, hotels, transport,

communication and services related to

broadcasting, and manufacturing.

• The growth in the agriculture, forestry and

fishing, mining and quarrying, electricity, gas,

water supply and other utility services,

construction and public administration, defence

and other services is estimated to be 1.1%,

6.9%, 5.9 %, 3.7 % and 6.9 % respectively.

• The per capita income in real terms (at 2011-

12 prices) during 2015-16 is likely to attain a

level of 77431 rupees as compared to 72889

rupees for the year 2014-15.

• The growth rate in per capita income is

estimated at 6.2 % during 2015-16, as against

5.8 % in the previous year.

• The wholesale price index (WPI), in respect of

the groups - food articles, manufactured

products, electricity and all commodities, has

risen by 3.0 %, (-)1.3 %, 4.4 % and (-)3.0 %,

respectively during April-December 2015-16.

• The consumer price index has shown a rise of

4.8 % during April-December, 2015-16

• GDP at current prices in the year 2015-16 is

likely to attain a level of 135.67 lakh crore

rupees, as against 124.88 lakh crore rupees in

2014-15 showing a growth rate of 8.6 %.

• The nominal Net National Income (NNI), also

known as national income (at current prices) is

likely to be 119.62 lakh crore rupees during

2015-16, as against 110.08 lakh crore rupees for

the year 2014- 15.

• In terms of growth rates, the national income

registered a growth rate of 8.7 % in 2015- 16 as

against the previous year’s growth rate of

10.8%.

• The per capita net national income during

2015-16 is estimated to be 93231 rupees

showing a rise of 7.3 % as compared to 86879

rupees during 2014-15 with the growth rate of

9.4 %.

• In terms of GDP, the rates of Private Final

Consumption Expenditure (PFCE) at current

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and constant (2011-12) prices during 2015-16

are estimated at 59.8 % and 55.6 %, respectively

• In terms of GDP, the rates of Government

Final Consumption Expenditure (GFCE) at

current and constant (2011-12) prices during

2015-16 are estimated at 10.7 % and 10.0 %,

respectively

• In terms of GDP, the rates of Gross Fixed

Capital Formation (GFCF) at current and

constant (2011-12) prices during 2015-16 are

estimated at 29.4 % and 31.6 %, respectively

• The GFCF is expected to register growth rate

of 3.6 % at current prices and 5.3 % at constant

prices.

Advance Estimates of GVA at Basic Price by

Economic Activity (At current prices)

Industry Percentage over

previous year

2014-15 2015-16

Agriculture, forestry & fishing 4.9 4.4

Mining & quarrying 2.8 3.7

Manufacturing 7.6 8.1

Electricity, gas, water supply&

other utility services

12.9 10.5

Construction 7.8 0.6

Trade, hotels, transport,

communication and services

related to broadcasting

13.3 6.4

Financial, real estate &

professional services

13.3 7.0

Public administration, defence

and Other Services

17.3 12.5

GVA at Basic Price 10.5 6.8

Quarterly GDP growth rates for 2015-16 at constant (2011-12) and current prices

Growth rates of GDP

Constant Price (2011-12)

Current Prices

Annual 2015-16 (Advance)

7.6 8.6

Q1 2015-16 (April – June)

7.6 8.7

Q2 2015-16 (July – Sep)

7.7 6.4

Q3 2015-16 (Oct- Dec) 7.3 9.2

Economic Survey of India 2015-16:

Highlights Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely on 26

February 2016 presented Economic Survey of

India 2015-16 in the Parliament.

The Economic Survey reviews the

developments in the Indian economy over the

previous 12 months, summarizes the

performance on major development programmes

and highlights the policy initiatives of the

government and the prospects of the economy in

the short to medium term.

Main Highlights-

GDP Growth: The growth rate of GDP at

constant market prices is projected to increase to

7.6% in 2015-16 from 7.2% in 2014-15.

Real GDP growth for 2015-16 is expected to

be in the 7% to 7.75% range.

Twin balance sheet problem: Resolving the

challenge of twin balance sheet problem – the

impaired financial positions of the Public Sector

Banks (PSBs) and some corporate houses would

require 4 Rs:Recognition, Recapitalization,

Resolution, and Reform.

Energy: 2014-15 witnessed the highest ever

increase in generation capacity of 26.5 GW

compared to the average annual addition of

around 19 GW over the past five years.

Horticulture: The percentage share of

horticulture output in agriculture is more than 33

per cent. The share of plan outlay for

horticulture, which was 3.9 per cent during

Ninth Plan, has increased to 4.6 per cent during

the Twelfth Plan.

Over the last decade, the area under

horticulture grew by about 2.7% per annum and

annual production increased by 7%

Milk Production: Production of horticulture

crops have outpaced the production of food

grain since 2012-13.

India ranks first in milk production,

accounting for 18.5% of world production

achieving an annual output of 146.3 million

tonnes during 2014-15 as compared to 137.69

million tonnes during 2013-14 recording a

growth of 6.26%.

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Per capita availability of milk in India

increased from 176 grams per day in 1990-91 to

322 grams per day by 2014-15.

Food Security: According to the data of the

66th round of the National Sample Survey

(2009-10), the average dietary energy intake per

person per day was 2147 Kcal for rural India

and 2123 Kcal for urban India. 57 % of

households had calorie intake below 2160

Kcal/Consumer unit/day.

India has the second highest number of

undernourished people at 194.6 million person

(FAO, State of Food Insecurity in the World,

2015) which warrants immediate attention.

Fiscal Management: Fiscal Deficit target of

3.9% for 2015-16 seems achievable.

The total expenditure for 2015-16 was

estimated at Rs.17.77 lakh crore which was 5.7

per cent higher than the revised estimates of

2014-15.

A growth of 25.5 per cent was envisaged in

capital expenditure, reiterating the focus on

quality of expenditure.

Direct taxes grew by 10.7% in the first 9

months of 2015-16 while indirect taxes were

also buoyant.

The aggregate capital expenditure of the

government increased by 0.6% in 2015-16. This

occurred both in the centre and states, with the

former contributing 54% and the latter 46%.

Services: Services Sector remained the key

driver of economic growth contributing almost

66.1 percent in 2015-16.

Services Sector continues to be the key driver

of India’s economic growth and it accelerated to

10.3 per cent in 2014-15 from 7.8 per cent in

2013-14 and it is expected to be 9.2 per cent

(constant prices) in 2015-16 as per the advanced

estimates. This is due to lower growth in Public

Administration, Defence and other Services.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): There has

been a rising trend in FDI equity inflows to the

services sector in the first seven months of

2015-16 with FDI inflows growing by 74.7 per

cent.

Trade: Overall exports declined by about 18%

in the first three quarters. Realizing India’s

medium term growth potential of 8-10 percent

will require rapid growth of export.

To achieve trajectory similar to China, India’s

competitiveness will have to improve so that its

services exports, currently about 3 percent of

world exports, capture nearly 15% of world

market share.

Trade deficit declined to 106.8 billion US

dollars in April-January 2015-16 from 119.6

billion US dollars in corresponding period 2014-

15.

Public Debt: At the end-September 2015,

India’s external debt has remained in safe limits

as shown by long term debt accounted for

82.2% of India’s total external debt, vis-à-vis

82.0% at end-March 2015.

The proportion of short term debt to total

external debt decreased from 18.0% at end-

March 2015 to 17.8% at end-September 2015.

External debt to GDP ratio of 23.7% and debt

service ratio of 7.5% in 2014-15 are at

comfortable levels, it adds.

Human Capital: Increasing investment in

human capital is a key requirement to improve

productivity of the population says the

Economic Survey. The total expenditure on

Social Services including Education, Health,

Social Security, Nutrition, Welfare of

SC/ST/OBC etc. during 2014-15 (RE) was 7%

of GDP while it was 6.5% during 2013-14.

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According to Annual Status of Education

Report (ASER) 2014, there is sharp decline

between 2007 and 2014 in the number of

children in Standard V who can read a textbook

of Standard II, in both government and private

schools.

The expenditure on health as a percentage of

total expenditure on social services increased

from 18.6% in 2013-14 to 19.3% in 2014-15

(RE) and 19.5% in 2015-16 (BE).

The ‘under five mortality’ has declined from

126 in 1990 to 49 in 2013.

Employment: The proportion of economically

active population (15-59 years) has increased

from 57.7% to 63.3% during 1991 to 2013, as

per Sample Registration System (SRS) data for

2013.

The employment growth in the organized

sector (Public and Private combined) increased

by 2% in 2012 over 2011, while it increased by

only 1% in 2011 over 2010.

The annual growth rate of employment for the

private sector was 4.5 % in 2012 over 2011

whereas the public sector registered a marginal

growth of 0.4 % in the same year.

According to the Labour Bureau during the

period January 2014 to July 2014 has shown that

the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is

52.5 % for all persons.

The LFPR for rural areas stands at 54.7%

which is much greater than that for rural areas

i.e. 47.2 %.

The LFPR for women is significantly lower

than that for males in both rural and urban areas.

The Unemployment Rate is 4.7 % in rural

areas and 5.5% in urban areas. The total

unemployment rate reported is 4.9% as per the

Labour Bureau Survey.

National Sample Survey Office (NSSO, 2012-

11) reported unemployment rate of 2.3% for

rural areas, 3.8% for Urban Areas and 2.7% for

India as a whole.

Railway Budget 2016-17: Statistical

Highlights Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on 25

February 2016 presented the Rail Budget 2016-

17 in the Lok Sabha. This was the third rail

budget of the Narendra Modi-led NDA

government and the second railway budget for

Suresh Prabhu.

Railway Budget 2016-17: Highlights The major statistical highlights of the Budget

encompassing Financial Performance 2015-16

and Budget Estimates 2016-17 are given below:

Financial Performance 2015-16 • Net reduction in Gross Traffic Receipts by

15744 crore (Revised Estimates) in 2015-16

compared to the Budget Estimate (BE) target of

183578 crore rupees. Passenger earnings scaled

down keeping in view the persistent negative

growth trend since 2013-14 both in the suburban

and non-suburban non-PRS segment of travel.

• Freight earnings impacted mainly on account

of low demand from the core sector resulting in

resetting the target in RE 2015-16 to 111853

crore rupees.

• Stringent economy and austerity measures

adopted to contain the Ordinary Working

Expenses (OWE) due to which budgeted

Ordinary Working Expenses of 119410 crore

rupees decreased in the Revised Estimates 2015-

16 to 110690 crore rupees that is by 8720 crore

rupees.

• BE provided for an appropriation of 34900

crore rupees to the Pension Fund. However,

based on trend, the pension outgo moderately

decreased to 34500 crore rupees in RE.

• Internal resource generation diminished and

appropriation to DRF moderated to 5500 crore

rupees in RE from the BE 2015-16 provisioning

of 7900 crore rupees. Excess of receipts over

expenditure in RE 2015-16 stands at 11402.40

crore rupees.

• Plan size for 2015-16 is currently estimated

at 100000 crore rupees.

Railway Budget 2016-17: Major Initiatives

Budget Estimates 2016-17 • Gross Traffic Receipts kept at 184820 crore

rupees. Passenger earnings growth has been

pegged at 12.4 percent and earnings target

budgeted at 51012 crore rupees.

• The freight traffic is pegged at incremental

traffic of 50 million tonnes, anticipating a

healthier growth in the core sector of economy.

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Goods earnings is accordingly proposed at

117933 crore rupees.

• Other coaching and sundries projected at 6185

crore rupees and 9590.3 crore rupees

respectively.

• OWE provides for the implementation of the

7th Central Pay Commission.

• Pension outgo budgeted at 45500 crore rupees

in 2016-17.

• Higher staff cost and pension liability impacts

the internal resource position of the Railways.

• Appropriation to Depreciation Reserve Fund

(DRF) from revenue placed at 3200 crore rupees

and that from Production Units at 200 crore

rupees.

• A withdrawal of 3160 crore rupees from DRF

on net basis proposed though the gross

expenditure to be met from DRF in the Annual

Plan estimated at 7160 crore rupees.

• 5750 crore rupees proposed to be appropriated

to the Capital fund. With a draw-down of 1250

crore rupees from previous balances in the fund,

plan requirement of 7000 crore rupees for

repayment of principal component of lease

charges to IRFC met.

• Railways are preparing a Plan size of 121000

crore rupees in 2016-17.

Union Budget 2016-17: Highlights Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley on 29

February 2016 presented Union Budget 2016-17

in the Lok Sabha. This was the second full year

Budget of the NDA government and the third

budget of Jaitley.

The finance minster announced nine pillars of

the budget and they are Agriculture and farmers'

welfare, rural sector, social sector including

healthcare, education, skills and job creation,

infrastructure, financial sector reforms, ease of

doing business, fiscal discipline, tax reforms to

reduce compliance burden.

Highlights of the Union Budget 2015-16-

• Agricultural policy will be reorganised to

double farmer income in five years

• For gas connections, new scheme to be

launched for BPL families

• Law will be enacted to confer benefits on

deserving sections on Aadhar Platform

• Government to work for passage of insolvency

and bankruptcy laws

• Incentive for deepwater gas exploration will be

provided

• Government to enhance expenditure for social,

rural and agricultural sector

• 28.5 lakh hectares will be brought under

irrigation under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi

Sichai Yojana

• A dedicated long term irrigation fund will be

created in NABARD with a corpus of 20000

crore rupees

• 35984 crore rupees allocation done for the

farm sector

• Agricultural credit target of 9 lakh crore rupees

• Unified e-platform for farmers to be

inaugurated on Ambedkar's birthday

• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana to bring 5

lakh acres under organic farming

• 300 rurban clusters to be set up under Shyama

Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission

• 38500 crore rupees allocated to MNREGA

• Quantum jump of 228% in grants to gram

panchayats and urban local bodies in accordance

with FFC recommendations

• Allocation to PM Fasal Bima Yojana for

2016/17 is 5500 crores rupees

• 87765 crores rupees for rural development as a

whole have been allocated in the budget

• 100 % village electrification to be achieved by

1 May 2018

• Allocation of Pradhanmatri Gram Sadak Yojna

to be increased to 19000 Crore rupees

• 65 eligible habitats to be connected via 2.23

lakh kms of road

• 300 'rurban' clusters will be developed

• As per recommendation of 14th finance

commission, 2.87 lakh crore rupees will be

given as grants-in-aid to village panchyats and

municipalities to boost rural economy.

• Government to spend 850 crore rupees in a

few years on animal husbandry, cattle and

livestock breeding

• Four schemes for animal welfare announced

• States will be encouraged to take up

decentralised procurement of food grains

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• 5500 crore rupees allocated for crop insurance

scheme

• Hub to support SC/ST entrepreneurs

• National dialysis service programme under

PPP model to come up

• LPG connection for women members of rural

homes to be provided

• Health insurance of up to 1 lakh rupees per

family, top up of Rs 35,000 for people above 60

years

• 3000 generic drugs stores to be opened

• Two schemes for digital literacy for rural India

to cover 6 crore households in the next three

years

• 9000 crore rupees allocated for Swachch

Bharat Abhiyan

• 1700 crore rupees allocated for 1500 multi-

skill development centres

• 10 public and 10 private educational

institutions to be made world-class

• Digital repository for all school leaving

certificates and diplomas

• 1000 crore rupees provided for LPG

connection to rural households in name of

women; scheme to go on for 2 yrs to cover

5crore BPL households

• 500 crore rupees allocated for Stand Up India

scheme

• Certain parts of dialysis machines to be exempt

from all forms of customs duty; national dialysis

service programme to be launched in all districts

• At least one crore youth to be skilled over next

three years

• 62 new Navodaya Vidyalayas to be opened in

next two years

• 160 airports and airstrips to be revived at a cost

of 50-100 crore rupees each

• To enable entrepreneurship in the road

transport sector, Motor Vehicles Act to be

amended

• Total outlay for infrastructure is at 2.31 lakh

crore lakh rupees

• 97000 crore rupees sanctioned for all roads

• Total outlay on roads and rails will be 2.80

lakh crore rupees, under which 10000 km of

national highways in 2016-17 and 50000 km

state highways to be converted to NH roads.

• Small shops should be given the choice to

remain open on all 7 days a week

• In the power sector, the government is drawing

up a plan for 15-20 years to augment investment

in nuclear power. 3000 crore rupees per annum

for this.

• 1700 crore rupees to be spent for setting 1500

multi-skill training institutes

• 1500 multi-skill training institutes to be

opened to train youths under Skill Development

programme; for this 1.7 thousand crore

earmarked

• 8.33% will be paid towards employee pension

fund

• Shopping malls to be allowed to open on all

seven days of week; a model shops and

establishment bill to be circulated to states

• Abolition of permit law will be medium-term

goal in public transport

• RBI Act to be amended to set up monetary

policy committee

• 100% FDI through FAPB route in marketing

of food products produced and manufactured in

India

• 8000 crore rupees provided for Sagarmala

project

• Department of Disinvestment renamed as

Department of Investment and Public Asset

Management

• Direct Benefit Transfer for fertilizers

• 25000 crore rupees sanctioned for

recapitalisation of public sector banks

• General insurance companies owned by the

government to be listed in stock exchanges

• Amendments to boost Asset Reconstruction

Companies to manage NPAs of public sector

banks

• A bill on targeted delivery of financial services

using Aadhar to be introduced

• Amendment to the Companies Act to ensure

speedy registration and boost start-ups

• 900 crore rupees for buffer stock of pulses

• To boost stagnant domestic output,

government considering providing calibrated

market freedom to new gas production from

deep sea, ultra deep sea

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• A Public Utility Resolution of Disputes Bill to

be passed to solve problems in infrastructure

contracts, PPP and public utilities

• Duty drawback scheme widened and deepened

to include more products and countries

• A new credit rating system for infrastructure

will be developed

• More FDI reforms proposed in insurance,

pension, asset restructuring companies and stock

markets

• Relief will amount to 3000 rupees per annum;

1 crore tax payers to benefit

• Ceiling of tax rebate for tax payers with up to

Rs 5 lakh annual come to be raised to 5000

rupees from 2000 currently

• SEBI Act to be amended to provide for more

benches for Securities Appellate Tribunal

• SEBI to develop new derivatives products as

well as products for corporate bond market

• RBI Act to be amended to provide statutory

backing for monetary policy framework and

monetary policy committee (MPC)

• A comprehensive bankruptcy code to be

enacted as part of financial sector reforms

• 100 percent FDI will be allowed through FIPB

in marketing of food products produced and

manufactured in India

• Policy for strategic sale of CPSE assets to be

brought

• To benefit those living in rented houses,

deduction for rent paid will be raised from Rs

20000 rupees to 60000 rupees

• The Banking Boards Bureau will be

operationalised fiscal year 2016-17

• Presumptive income tax scheme to be

extended to all professionals with income of 50

lakh rupees with a presumption of 50 percent

profit

• Consolidation roadmap for public sector banks

to be spelt next year

• Government is open to reducing its stake in

PSBs below 50%

• Accelerated depreciation to be limited to 40%

w.e.f. from 1 April 2017 as part of phasing out

of exemptions to industry

• ATMs, micro-ATMs to be increased in post

offices in next three years

• In 2016-17, credit target of 180000 crore

rupees set up through Mudra bank

• Tax holiday for startups for three of five years

of setting up the company. Tax holiday for

startups for three of five years of setting up the

company. Start-ups to get 100% tax exemption

for 3 years except MAT which will apply from

April 2016-2019 for creation of jobs

• Lowering of Corporate IT rate for companies

not exceeding 5 crore rupees turnover to 25%

plus surcharge

• 100 crore rupees sanctioned for Deendayal

Upadhyay's birthday celebrations and Guru

Gobind Singh 300th birth anniversary

• Classification of expenditure as plan and non-

plan to be done away with

• Fiscal deficit at 3.5% of GDP in 2016-17

• Service Tax to be exempted on general

insurance schemes under NIRMAYA Scheme

• Target delivery of financial, other intermediary

services to be introduced using Aadhar

• 1% service charge on purchase of luxury cars

over 10 lakh rupees and in-cash purchase of

goods and services over 2 lakh rupees

• Additional exemption of 50000 rupees for

housing loans up to 35 lakh rupees, provided

cost of house is not above 50 lakh rupees

• 40% of withdrawal at the time of retirement

under

• Long term capital gains period for unlisted

companies to be reduced from 3 to 2 years

• DBT to be used to transfer subsidy on fertilizer

in select districts on pilot basis

• Service tax on single premium annuity to be

reduced to 1.5 percent from 3.5 percent

• For ease of doing business and enabling

registration of companies in a day, Bill to amend

Companies Act to be introduced

• Fiscal deficit target for 2015-16 and 2016-17

retained at 3.9%and 3.5% respectively.

• Plan to spend 19.78 lakh crore rupees in 2016-

17 - 5.5 lakh crore rupees under plan head,

14.28 lakh crore rupees under non-plan head

• Revenue deficit target improved from 2.8 %to

2.5% in current fiscal

• Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management

(FRBM) Act to be reviewed and for this purpose

a committee to be constituted

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• New manufacturing companies incorporated

after March 2016 will be given option of being

taxed at 25% plus cess plus surcharges

• Clean energy cess increased from 200

rupees/ton to 400 rupees/ton on coal, lignite and

peat

• High level committee headed by Revenue

Secretary to oversee creation of fresh liability

using retrospective tax legislation

• One-time dispute resolution scheme introduced

for retro tax cases, payment of tax arrears to lead

to waiving of penalty and interest

• Plan and non-Plan classification of Budget will

be done away with from Fiscal 2017-18

• Levying heavy penalty for non-payment of tax

has led to high litigation, thus Proposes to

modification in penalties scheme proposed

• 13 different cesses levied by various ministries

with collections less than 50 crore rupees a year

to be done away with.

• No Service Tax for houses built in less than 60

square metres

• Excise duty on tobacco increased by 10-15

percent.

• Committed to stable taxation regime and for

that reason no more retrospective amendments

to be introduced

• 4% high capacity tax for SUVs

• Limited period compliance window for

domestic taxpayers to declare undisclosed

income

• Declarations to have immunity from

prosecutions

• No changes have been made to existing

income tax slabs

• Infrastructure and agriculture cess to be levied

• GAAR (General anti-avoidance rule) to be

implemented from 1 April 2017

• Tax exemption given to Braille paper

• Service tax exempted for General Insurance

Schemes under Niramaya Swasthaya Bima

Yojana

• Dividend in excess of 10 lakh rupees per

annum to be taxed at additional 10%

• TDS provisions to be rationalised. Non

resident Indians providing alternate documents

will not be subject to higher tax rate.

• Rate of securities transaction tax to be raised

from 0.017% to 0.05%

• 0.5% Krishi Kalyan Cess to be levied on all

services

• Excise 1% imposed on articles of jewellery

excluding silver

• Pollution cess of 1% on small petrol, LPG and

CNG cars; 2.5% on diesel cars of certain

specifications; 4% on higher

• 15% surcharge on income above 1 crore

rupees

• New grading system of imposing penalties to

be introduced for under-reporting or

concealment of income

• Tax on black money declared will be 30% plus

7.5% penalty and 7.5% surcharge

• One year limit provided for disposing of

income tax cases relating to waiver of interest

and penalty

• 11 new benches of Customs & Excise Services

Appellate Tribunal to be introduced

• Customs baggage rules for international

travellers to be simplified

• Government to pay interest of 9% if there is

delay in giving effect to an appellate order

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ENVIRONMENT

Storm Imogen lashed parts of Britain Storm Imogen on 8 February 2016 battered

parts of southern Britain with heavy rain and

winds up to 96 miles per hour (mph). It forced

the environment agency to issue multiple flood

warnings requiring immediate action for parts of

the south west, south east and Wales

Isles of Scilly (81mph), Pembrey Sands (84

mph), Carmarthenshire (84 mph) and The

Needles off the Isle of Wight (96 mph) were the

worst affected areas.

More than 5000 homes were without power in

south-West England, south and mid-Wales and

the Midlands. The storm also disrupted the Rail

services, some cross-Channel ferries were

cancelled and drivers urged to take extra care.

MET department issued a yellow warning

with an amber warning "be prepared" for Wales,

south-west England, London and south-east

England and says coastal areas could see giant

waves and localised flooding.

Storm Imogen is the ninth named storm to hit

the UK this season. In Britain, the 2016 storms

are being names by Met Office and Met

Eireann. This exercise is an effort to increase

public awareness and safety. They were named

by public ballot but there are no names for the

letters Q, U, X, Y and Z.

Snow Leopard spotted for the first

time in North Sikkim WWF-India on 27 January 2016 claimed that

they spotted the endangered snow leopards for

the first time in the North Sikkim Plateau. The

elusive snow leopard was found during its pilot

project in which they installed camera traps in

the region to understand the occurrence of snow

leopards in the region.

The camera traps helped them to yield results

with the first photos of the species at four

different locations in North Sikkim.

Earlier, presence of snow leopards in the high

altitudes of North Sikkim area were provided

only by the yak herders, known as ‘Dokpas’,

but these pictures have provided the first

tangible evidence of their existence.

Besides capturing the snow leopard, the pilot

project also helped in capturing other mountain

wildlife like rare pallas cat, blue sheep and the

Tibetan argali. It has also provided visual

documentation on free-ranging dogs and the

areas they move in.

WWF-India’s work on snow leopard-

To understand the snow leopard’s status and

distribution in India, WWF-India has been

working in Jammu & Kashmir, Arunachal

Pradesh and Sikkim since 2006. The work was

started to fill the vast gaps in knowledge on

snow leopards from this important snow leopard

habitat.

Its work of setting camera traps in Sikkim

began in 2015 under the project Conservation

and Adaptation in Asia's High Mountains.

The project aims at developing climate smart

snow leopard conservation plan. Large part of

the project is funded by USAID in six Asian

snow leopard range countries.

About Snow Leopard-

• Commonly referred as ‘Ghost of the

Mountains’, these species are the

undisputed monarch of the high altitudes.

• The snow leopard, a flagship species of the

high altitudes, is a Schedule I animal under

the Wildlife Protection Act of India.

• The animal is listed as endangered by

the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species.

• Information on its distribution is scanty

because its current range is poorly mapped

mainly due to the high and inhospitable terrain.

• Snow Leopard, scientific name Uncia uncia or

Panthera uncial, is the state animal of

Himachal Pradesh.

What’s making snow leopards scarce?

Habitat loss, poaching and increasing conflict

with communities have seen over a fifth of the

world’s snow leopards disappear in the last 16

years. And climate change is now putting the

future of their mountain home at even greater

risk.

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Marine Museum inaugrated at Marine

Aquarium and Regional Centre in

Digha The Marine Museum was inaugurated on 3

February 2016 at the Marine Aquarium and

Regional Centre (MARC) of Zoological Survey

of India (ZSI) in Digha, West Bengal.

It was inaugurated along with one day

National Seminar on Coastal Zone Management

and Marine Biodiversity at East Medinipur

district of West Bengal.

Features of the Marine Museum- • The newly constructed museum that is thrown

open to the public contains Fish gallery, Coral

gallery, and Molluscan gallery with more than

500 marine species display.

• The species include fishes, sea snakes,

molluscs, corals, crabs, prawns, lobsters,

echinoderms, horse-shoe crabs etc.

• It displays several awareness posters related to

marine life, marine biodiversity and

conservation.

• It would help the students and public for the

purpose of awareness on marine biodiversity

conservations as well as serve as a platform for

the students having interest on marine biology

from all over India.

About Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)- • It is a premier Indian organization in

zoological research and studies. It was

established on 1 July 1916 to promote the

survey, exploration and research of the fauna in

the region.

• The activities of the ZSI are coordinated by the

Conservation and Survey Division under the

Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and

Climate Change.

• It acquired the Zoological collections of more

than a century old from former Museum (1814 -

1875) of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and

Zoological Section of the Indian Museum

(1875-1916) in Calcutta.

• The expansion programme of the survey was

initiated with the increasing interest in the life

sciences and with the advent of country´s Five

Year Plans.

• It got around 17 regional centers across the

country and one among them is Marine

Aquarium and Regional Centre (MARC) in

Digha, West Bengal which completed 25th

years of service to the nation on faunal

inventory and research.

National Air Quality Indices for 24

cities released by Central Pollution

Control Board Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in

the first week of February 2016

published National Air Quality Indices

(NAQI) for 24 cities. The AQI published with a

colour code and a numerical value will help in

comparing pollution levels in each cities.

The NAQI is determined on the basis of

concentration of eight pollutants, including

Particulate Matter (PM2.5 fine, respirable

particles), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen

dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone

(O3), ammonia (NH3) and lead (Pb).

Main highlights-

• Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Muzzafarpur in

Bihar topped the list and were coded as ‘severe’

in terms of air pollution in January 2016 with an

AQI value of 409 points each.

• These two cities are followed by Faridabad

(399), Patna (388) and Agra (372) at 3rd, 4th

and 5th position respectively.

• The national capital Delhi stood at the sixth

position with 362 points and was coded as ‘very

poor’.

• Earlier in December 2015, Delhi was coded as

‘Poor’ in AQI with 293 points. Seven other

Indian cities were ahead of it and rated as ‘very

poor’ and they were Agra (342), Faridabad

(345), Kanpur (347), Lucknow (353),

Muzzaffarpur (400), Patna (373) and Varanasi

(366).

• In November 2015, Delhi was ranked at third

position with a score of 360 with Lucknow and

Patna at top two positions with 374 and 366

AQIs respectively.

• In the months of September 2015 and October

2015, Delhi was at the top of air pollution chart.

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Comment- As per the World Health Organization

(WHO), Delhi is the most polluted city in the

world in terms of air pollution. In fact, air

pollution in Delhi is 12 times higher than WHO

standards.

However, NAQI shows that other major cities

like Lucknow, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Kanpur,

Agra and Varanasi continue to show alarmingly

high air-pollutant levels – 10 times higher than

WHO standards making air pollution truly a

national emergency.

In 2014, the WHO released a list of world’s 20

most polluted cities, 13 of which were in India.

According to the Global Burden of Disease

report, air pollution is estimated to be the fifth

deadliest killer in the country. Each year, almost

six lakh Indians die prematurely due to air

pollution.

Although Delhi government launched Odd-

even scheme on 1 January 2016 for 15 days to

curb pollution levels and that showed some

improvements but this alone cannot be enough.

In the absence of strong measures, the problem

is not likely to go away anytime soon in Delhi

and other major Indian cities.

Bees can help boost food security of

two billion small farmers at no cost:

FAO The United Nations Food and Agriculture

Organization (FAO) on 19 February 2016

brought to light the publication of a new study

that quantifies how much crop yields depend on

the work of bees that unknowingly fertilize

plants as they move from flower to flower.

The FAO also stated that bees may have a

pivotal role to play in improving the production

of some two billion smallholder farmers

worldwide and ensuring the food security and

nutrition of the world’s growing population.

The paper, published in the magazine Science,

makes the case that ecological intensification, or

boosting farm outputs by tapping the power of

natural processes, is one of the sustainable

pathways toward greater food supplies.

Spotlight on developing nations- • In the field study coordinated by FAO,

scientists compared 344 plots across Africa,

Asia and Latin America and concluded that crop

yields were significantly lower in farming plots

that attracted fewer bees during the main

flowering season than in those plots that

received more visits.

• When comparing high-performing and low-

performing farms of less than two hectares, the

outcomes suggest that poorly performing farms

could increase their yields by a median of 24 per

cent by attracting more pollinators to their land.

• The research also looked at larger plots and

concluded that, while those fields also benefited

from more pollinator visits, the impact on yields

was less significant than in the smaller plots. It

was probably because many bees have a harder

time servicing large fields, far from their nesting

habitat. However, a diversity of bees, each with

different flight capacities, can make the

difference.

Unstudied facts- • Pollinators, such as bees, birds and various

types of insects that fly, hop or crawl from one

flower to another, have for centuries been the

invisible helpers of farmers worldwide.

• Different types of bees have distinct tastes and

roles to play in the food system. For example,

Bumble bees are one of the few types of bees

that can successfully pollinate tomatoes.

• Honey bees are important because they are the

least picky in their choice of flowers.

• The study shows that for smallholdings, crop

yield increased linearly with increased visits to

the flowers that were being tracked.

• Pollination was the agricultural input that

contributed the greatest to yields, beyond other

management practices.

Tricks to attract bees- • The report also found that attracting pollinators

to farms is not as easy as planting for the season

and waiting for them to arrive.

• Maintaining habitat and forage resources all

year long is the key to attracting pollinators and

keeping them on the land for longer periods of

time.

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• Maintaining flowering hedge rows around the

farm and mulch on the ground that bees can hide

under apart from reducing the use of pesticides.

• The key to getting the best yields probably lies

in a mix of managed pollination services. For

example, installing bee hives in plots at

flowering time and wild pollination.

Tropical Cyclone Winston lashed Fiji

killing scores of people The tropical cyclone Winston lashed Fiji with

winds up to 330 kilometers per hour on 20

February 2016. The cyclone that was

accompanied with torrential rain and strong

winds killed at least 29 people.

The cyclone did a considerable damage across

the main island Viti Levu and the island of

Koro, which were directly hit by strong winds.

The Winston, a category five storm, is thought

to be the biggest to ever hit the Southern

Hemisphere, leaving a trail of destruction in its

wake while moving west away from Fiji. The

cyclone left many cities without power and

running water. It also destroyed homes and

flooded the low-lying areas.

In the wake of Winston, the Fiji government

led by Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama

announced a 30-day state of natural disaster

giving extra powers to police to arrest people

without a warrant.

Meanwhile, officials have been working

urgently to assess and address the damage in

maritime regions amid a nation-wide curfew that

was lifted after 5:30am local time on 22

February 2016. The relief work was hampered

due to power outages, fallen phone lines and

blocked roads.

In lieu of damage caused by Winston, India

has extended a package of one million US

dollars as immediate assistance to Fiji.

Winston's estimated winds over Koro Island,

Fiji, were equal to the estimated winds at

landfall of the infamous Labor Day hurricane of

1935 in the Florida Keys and stronger than

Hurricane Camille's winds at landfall in 1969,

though Camille's eyewall destroyed wind

instruments along the Gulf Coast.

Fiji is an island country in Melanesia in the

South Pacific Ocean about 1100 nautical miles

(2000 km; 1300 mi) northeast of New Zealand's

North Island.

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SPORTS

Kidambi Srikanth won Men's Singles

title of Syed Modi International

Badminton Championships 2016 Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth on 31

January 2016 won the Men's Singles title of the

Syed Modi International Badminton

Championships 2016. In the final played at

Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium in Lucknow,

Srikanth defeated China's Huang Yuxiang, 21-

13, 14-21, 21-14.

This was Srikanth’s fifth title overall, the

other four titles include Thailand Grand Prix

Gold, China Super Series premier, Swiss Open

Grand Prix Gold and India Super Series.

Other results of the Championships are Women’s Singles: Korean Sung Ji Hyun

defeated Sayako Sato of Japan, 12-21, 21-18,

21-18.

Men's Doubles: Malaysian pair of Goh V Shem

and Tan Wee Kiong defeated Pranaav Jerry

Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar of India, 14-21,

24-22, 21-8.

Women’s Doubles: Korean duo of Jung Kyung

Eun and Shin Seung Chan defeated Eefje

Muskens and Selena Piek of Netherlands, 21-15,

21-13.

Mixed doubles: Indonesian pair of Praveen

Jordan and Debby Susanto defeated

Puavaranukroh Dechapol and Sapsiree

Taerattanchai of Thailand, 23-25, 21-9, 21-16.

Aditya Mehta won 83rd Senior

National Snooker Championship Aditya Mehta on 31 January 2016 won the

83rd Senior National Snooker Championship in

Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

To win the title, he defeated Manan Chandra

6-3 in the final that was held as part of the

National Billiards & Snooker Championship

2016.

In another event, Vidya Pillai won the

National Snooker Championship in the women’s

category by defeating Amee Kamani 4-2. For

38-year-old Vidya, it was her ninth national

title.

The women’s billiards title was won by 19-

year old Keerath Bhandaal by defeating Arantxa

Sanchis of Maharashtra 3-1. Keerath is a student

of Economics at the Jesus and Mary College in

Delhi.

2016 South Asian Games concluded;

India finished at top with 308 medals 12

th South Asian Games (SAG) 2016

concluded on 16 February 2016 at the Indira

Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Sarusajai of

Guwahati, Assam. The game that saw 228

events in 23 sports disciplines was held from 5

February to 16 February 2016.

Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs

Sarbananda Sonowal declared the Games closed

at a colourful closing ceremony. The main

attraction of the closing ceremony was different

bands played from the north eastern region,

namely Still Waters (Sikkim), The Soul Rebels

(Arunachal Pradesh), Salvator (Manipur),

Boomarang (Mizoram) and Purple Fusion

(Nagaland).

12th

South Asian Games inaugurated in

Guwahati The event saw participation of about 2600

athletes from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,

Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan and

Maldives. It was co-hosted by Guwahati, Assam

and Meghalaya capital, Shillong. The games

were conducted in 26 venues across the cities of

Guwahati and Shillong. 17 venues were in

Guwahati and 9 venues were in Shillong.

India finished at the top with a record 308

medals - 188 Gold, 90 Silver and 30 Bronze,

which put to shade its previous best of 214

medals at the 2006 Games in Colombo.

Athletics, Shooting, Archery, Wrestling,

Boxing, Weightlifting and Swimming were the

events that witnessed the Indian master-class.

Medals Tally

Countries Gold Medal

Silver Medal

Bronze Medal

Total

India 188 90 30 308

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Sri Lanka 25 63 98 186

Pakistan 12 37 57 106

Afghanistan 7 9 19 35

Bangladesh 4 15 56 75

Nepal 3 23 34 60

Maldives 0 2 1 3

Bhutan 0 1 15 16

India made clean sweep in Boxing (won 10

Gold medals at stake), tennis and kabaddi (won

both men and women gold). Besides, Shooter

Chain Singh’s 6 Gold, new Games records by

swimmers Sandeep Sejwal and Sayani Ghosh,

and magical performances in track and field are

some of the moments that Guwahati and

Shillong will remember for many days to come.

And, not to mention, Sri Lanka, the one

country that made India toil hard, and even beat

them on several occasions. Its swimmers,

notably Mathew Abheysinghe, and track athletes

made the headlines with some flawless

performances. In a nutshell, it was all India at

the Games, and, it was the country’s flag, at the

end, on which the closing credits rolled.

Ei Prithibi Ek Krirangan was the theme song

of the 12th South Asian Games, which literally

translates to "The world is a playground". It was

written by Dr. Bhupen Hazarika, an Indian

lyricist, musician, singer, poet and film-maker

from Assam. Games slogan was ‘Play for Peace,

Progress and Prosperity’.

Tikhor, a one-horned rhino that represents

endangered fauna of Assam found in Kaziranga

National Park, was the official mascot of the

event.

13th

South Asian Games will be held in

Kathmandu, Nepal in 2019.

Indian Railways won 36th

National

Chess Team Championship Indian Railways on 14 February 2016 won the

36th National Chess team Championship in

Bhubaneswar, Odisha. For the Indian Railways

team it was the first ever title.

To win the championship the team defeated Life

Insurance Corporation (LIC) team in the final.

Earlier, to reach the final, the Railways team

beat its counterparts - Odisha, Gujrat, Air-India,

Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, Airport

Authority of India, Tamil Nadu and Delhi - in

the championship that began on 8 February

2016.

Indian Railway team was represented by the

following chess playersfrom different Zonal

Railways

1. Karthikayan

2. Deepan Chakkravarthy

3. Rathnakaran

4. Arghyadip Das

5. Swapni Dhopade

India won three-match T-20 series

against Sri Lanka, 2-1 India on 14 February 2016 won the three-match

T-20 series against Sri Lanka, 2-1. In the third

and final Twenty20 match played in at

Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India defeated

Sri Lanka by nine wickets.

Winning the toss and electing to bowl, India

bundled out the visitors for 82 runs in 18 overs

in the series deciding encounter. In the second

innings of the match, India chased the paltry

target of 83 runs in 13.5 over at the loss of ne

wicket.

The series win also helped India retain its

numero uno position in the ICC T20 rankings.

Series Report-

1st Match: The match was played at

Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune

on 9 February 2016. Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets

(with 12 balls remaining). Kasun Rajitha (Sri

Lanka) was declared the Man of the Match. The

match saw debut of two players of Sri Lanka,

namely Kasun Rajitha and Niroshan Dickwella.

2nd

Match: The match was played JSCA

International Stadium Complex, Ranchi on 12

February 2016. India won by 69 runs. Shikhar

Dhawan (India) was declared the Man of the

Match.

3rd

Match: The match was played at Dr YS

Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket

Stadium, Visakhapatnam on 14 February 2016.

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India won by 9 wickets (with 37 balls

remaining). Ravichandran Ashwin (India) who

claimed four wickets for eight runs was declared

the Man of the Match. The match saw debut of

Asela Gunaratne from Sri Lanka.

West Indies won maiden ICC U19

Cricket World Cup The West Indies on 14 February 2016 lifted

their maiden ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup

title. In the final played at Mirpur, West Indies

defeated three time champions India by five

wickets.

It was the first major title for the West Indies

at any level since Darren Sammy’s senior team

won the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in

2012.

Earlier put in to bat, India team was bowled

out for 145 in 45.1 overs. The Caribbeans

achieved the target in 49.3 overs.

West Indies’ Keacy Carty grabbed the Man

of the Match title whileMehidy Hasan

Miraz from Bangladesh was declared

the Player of the Tournament.

About 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup- • The 2016 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup

was an international limited-overs cricket

tournament held in Bangladesh from 22 January

to 14 February 2016.

• It was the eleventh edition of the Under-19

Cricket World Cup, and the second to be held in

Bangladesh, after the 2004 event.

• The World Cup was contested by the national

under-19 teams of sixteen ICC members, and all

matches played held under-19 One Day

International (ODI) status.

• On 5 January 2016, Cricket Australia

announced that the Australian squad had pulled

out of the tournament, citing security concerns.

Ireland was invited as a replacement for

Australia.

Punjab Warriors defeated Kalinga

Lancers to win 2016 Hockey India

League The Jaypee Punjab Warriors on 21 February

2016 defeated Kalinga Lancers 6-1 to clinch

Hockey India League (HIL) title in the fourth

edition of the six-team tournament at the Birsa

Munda Hockey Stadium in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

The Punjab Warriors were third time lucky as

they had finished runners-up in the last two

editions. They lost to Delhi Waveriders in 2014

and to Ranchi Rays in 2015.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das

presented the winner's trophy to Jaypee Punjab

Warriors captain Sardar Singh and Mark

Knowles.

The Player of the Tournament Award of 50

lakh rupees was awarded to Rupinder Pal

Singh of Delhi Waveriders.

Mark Knowles of the Punjab Warriors was

awarded with the Man of the Match Award,

which carried 50000 rupees. The Goal of the

Match award of 50000 rupees was awarded

to Armaan Qureshi of the Punjab Warriors.

The Emerging Player of the Match award of

25000 rupees was awarded to Armaan

Qureshi.

The Dhruv Batra Maximum Goals award of

20 lakh rupees was awarded to Kalinga

Lancers' Glenn Turner. The Ponty Chadha

Upcoming Player of the Tournament award of

20 lakh rupees went toSumit of Ranchi Rays.

About Hockey India League- • Hockey India League (HIL), known as the

Coal India Hockey India League for sponsorship

reasons, is a professional field hockey league in

India.

• The league is organized by Hockey India, the

governing body for the sport in India.

• Hockey India League was founded in 2013 as

part of Hockey India's attempt to get an

International Hockey Federation sanctioned

league after the un-sanctioned and non-Hockey

India tournament, World Series Hockey, began

in 2012.

Mumbai won Ranji Trophy for the

41st time Mumbai on 26 February 2016 won the Ranji

Trophy with an innings and 21 run victory over

Saurashtra. It won the trophy for the first time in

three seasons.

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With this, they have 41 titles in 45 finals with 10

of them being an innings victory. Karnataka

stands second in the overall Ranji standings with

eight titles.

It was a repeat of the 2012-13 final where

Mumbai had made short work of Saurashtra

with an innings and 125-run victory.

Mumbai made 371 runs in 82.2 overs in their

first innings and in reply Saurashtra managed

235 and 115 runs in first and second innings

respectively.

Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur shackled

opposition batting in the second innings and

claimed five wickets for 26 runs in 13.2 overs to

took his match tally to eight.

Shreyas Iyer was named man of the match for

his 117 runs in Mumbai's only innings of the

match. He ended the season as the leading run-

getter with 1321 runs at 73.38 including four

centuries and seven fifties.

In 2015, the trophy was Karnataka which was

their eighth title. In the final, Karnataka defeated

Tamil Nadu.

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AWARDS

Prime Minister Shram Awards 2014

announced Union Ministry of Labour and Employment

announced the Prime Minister Shram Awards

for the year 2014 on 9 February 2016.

There are nine nominations for the Shram

Bhushan Award, Nineteen nominations for

Shram Vir or Shram Veerangana and twenty six

nominations for Shram Shree or Shram Devi

Awards.

Even though, the total number of Shram

Awards is 32, the number of workers receiving

the awards is 54 which Included 3 women, as

some of the awards have been shared by

workers and/or teams of workers consisting of

more than one worker. These include 36

workers from the public sector and 18 workers

from the private sector.

Shram awards were set up by the Union

Government in 1985 to recognize the

outstanding contributions of workers in both

public and private sectors.

SHRAM RATNA- This is the highest award (one in number)

among the Shram Awards and carries a cash

award of 2 lakh rupees with a Sanad. For the

year 2014, this prestigious award was not

awarded to any one as screening committee did

not consider any nominee eligible for the award.

SHRAM BHUSHAN- Total number of these awardees is nine. It

carries a cash award of one lakh rupees and

a Sanad. Nine nominations were found suitable

for the award for the year 2014 in respect of

Public Sector Undertaking and Private Sector.

And Shram Veer/Veerangana awards carry a

cash prize of 60000 rupees and a Sanad. Shram

Shree/Devi Awards comprise of a cash prize of

40000 rupees and a Sanad.

President Pranab Mukherjee

conferred Infosys Prize 2015 President Pranab Mukherjee on 13 February

2016 conferred Infosys Prize 2015 on six

winners in New Delhi.

About Infosys Prize 2015 Winners- Engineering and Computer Science: Won

by Prof. Umesh Waghmareof Theoretical

Sciences Unit, of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for

Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR),

Bangalore.

Humanities: Won by Prof. Jonardon

Ganeri, Global Network Professor of

Philosophy, New York University and Recurrent

Visiting Professor, Department of Philosophy,

King’s College London, UK.

Life Sciences: Won by Dr. Amit Sharma,

Group Leader, Structural and Computational

Biology Group, International Centre for Genetic

Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New

Delhi.

Mathematical Sciences: Won by Prof Mahan

Mj, Professor of Mathematics, Tata Institute of

Fundamental Research, Mumbai.

Physical Sciences: Won by Prof. G Ravindra

Kumar, Professor in the Department of Nuclear

and Atomic Physics (DNAP), Tata Institute of

Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai.

Social Sciences: Won by Dr. Srinath

Raghavan, Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy

Research, New Delhi.

About the Infosys Prize- • The prize was established in 2009 and is given

in six categories.

• The six categories are - Engineering and

Computer Science, Humanities, Life Sciences,

Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and

Social Sciences

• The Infosys Prize is awarded under the aegis

of the Infosys Science Foundation, a not-for-

profit trust instituted in February 2009.

• The prize for each category consists of a purse

of 65 lakh rupees, a 22 karat gold medallion and

a citation certificate.

69th

British Academy Film Awards

announced The 69

th British Academy Films Awards

(BAFTAs) were announced on 14 February

2016. The award ceremony was held at the

Royal Opera House in London.

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The awards were announced to honour the

best British and international contributions to

film in 2015. Presented by the British Academy

of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA),

accolades were handed out for the best in

feature-length film and documentaries of any

nationality, that were screened at British

cinemas during 2015.

The nominees were announced on 8 January

2016 by Stephen Fry and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Wilderness drama The Revenant, starring

Leonardo DiCaprio, won the Best Film

Award. Brooklyn was named the Outstanding

British Film while Inside Out won the Best

Animated Film. Amy won the award in Best

Documentary category.

Complete list of winners:

Award Winner

Best Film The Revenant

Outstanding British Film Brooklyn

Adapted Screenplay The Big Short

Original Screenplay Spotlight

Leading Actor Leonardo DiCaprio for The

Revenant

Leading Actress Brie Larson for Room

Supporting Actor Mark Rylance for Bridge of

Spies

Supporting Actress Kate Winslet for Steve Jobs

Best Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu for The

Revenant

Outstanding Debut Naji Abu Nowar

(Writer/Director) Rupert

Lloyd (Producer)

Animated Film Inside Out

British Short Animation Edmond

British Short Film Operator

Cinematography The Revenant

Costume Design Mad Max: Fury Road

Documentary Amy

EE Rising Star John Boyega

Editing Mad Max: Fury Road

Film Not In The English Wild Tales

Language

Make Up and Hair Mad Max: Fury Road

Original Music The Hateful Eight

Production Design Mad Max: Fury Road

Sound The Revenant

Special Visual Effects Star Wars: The Force

Awakens

Indo-British Asif Kapadia won 2016

Grammy Award for Best Music Film Indo-British filmmaker Asif Kapadia on 15

February 2016 won Grammy Award for Best

Music Film for his documentary Amy. The

award was presented at the 58th annual awards

ceremony that was held at the Staples Center in

Los Angeles, the USA

Amy is a 2015 British documentary film that

depicts the life and death of British singer-

songwriter Amy Winehouse. It was directed by

Asif Kapadia.

Earlier, on 14 February 2016, Amy won the

award in Best Documentary category at the 69th

British Academy Films Awards (BAFTAs) in

London.

The film is also nominated for an Oscar in the

Best Documentary Feature category which will

be announced on 28 February 2016.

Fashion designer Manish Arora

conferred Knight of the Legion of

Honour, France’s highest honour Fashion designer Manish Arora on 16

February 2016 was awarded with theChevalier

de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the

Legion of Honour), France's highest civilian

honour.

French Ambassador Francois Richier

presented the award to Arora for his renowned

and critically-acclaimed contribution to the

fashion world.

About Manish Arora- • Manish Arora is an Indian fashion designer

based in New Delhi.

• In early 2011, he was appointed creative

director of the womens wear collection of the

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French fashion house Paco Rabanne. However,

he left the company in May 2012.

• In 2000, he participated in the first-ever India

Fashion Week held in New Delhi and

represented India at the Hong Kong Fashion

Week.

• In 2004, he was awarded the Best Women's

Prêt Designer at the first ever Indian Fashion

Awards.

• In May 2005, he participated in the Miami

Fashion Week where he was presented with the

designer's choice for Best Collection Award.

About National Order of the Legion of

Honour • The National Order of the Legion of Honour

(Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur) is a

French order established by Napoleon

Bonaparte on 19 May 1802.

• The Order is the highest decoration in France

and is divided into five degrees of increasing

distinction: Chevalier (Knight), Officier

(Officer),Commandeur (Commander), Grand

Officier (Grand Officer) andGrand'Croix

(Grand Cross).

• The order's motto is Honour and Fatherland.

Indian-origin playwright Ismail

Mahomed conferred Knighthood by

French Government Ismail Mahomed, an Indian-origin art lover

and playwright in South Africa, on 22 February

2016 was conferred Knighthood by the French

government for his lifelong devotion to the

promotion of arts.

Mahomed was bestowed with The Chevalier

de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres (Knight of the

Order of Arts and Literature) by French

Ambassador Elisabet Barbier in Johannesburg.

About Ismail Mahomed- • Currently the Artistic Director of the National

Arts Festival in Grahamstown, Mahomed has

received numerous other awards in his 30-year

career.

• He has also been honoured with Merit Honour

Award from the US State Department's Africa

Bureau for consistent high cultural

programming.

• In 1999, he received the Premier's Award for

developing and promoting the arts and culture

sector as an economic enterprise in the South

African province of Mpumalanga.

About Knight of the Order of Arts and

Literature- • The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of

Arts and Letters) is an Order of France,

established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of

Culture, and its supplementary status to the

Ordre national du Mérite was confirmed by

President Charles de Gaulle in 1963.

• Its purpose is the recognition of significant

contributions to the arts, literature, or the

propagation of these fields.

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APPOINTMENTS

Archana Ramasundram became 1st

woman to head paramilitary force Tamil Nadu Cadre IPS officer Archana

Ramasundram on 1 February 2016 was

appointed as the Director General of the

Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) that guards India's

frontiers with Nepal and Bhutan.

With this appointment, Ramasundram became

the first woman to head a paramilitary force. 58-

year-old Ramasundram is currently the Director

of National Crime Records Bureau.

An order issued by Department of Personnel

and Training (DoPT) said that she has been

appointed to the post till the date of her

superannuation, that is, 30 September 2017.

Besides, IPS officer K Durga Prasad was

appointed as Director Generals of Central

Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Another IPS

officer K K Sharma will be new Chief of the

Border Security Force (BSF). They will take

over after the incumbent chiefs of these forces

retire on 29 February 2016.

Paramilitary forces in India are Sashastra

Seema Bal (SSB), Central Reserve Police Force

(CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Central

Industrial Security Force and Indo Tibetan

Border Police.

US General John Nicholson named

NATO commander in Afghanistan Army Lieutenant General John Nicholson

was appointed as the commander of the NATO

forces in Afghanistan. His nomination to the

post was confirmed by US Senate committee on

4 February 2016.

He succeeded US General John Campbell who

has been leading the Afghan operations for

nearly 18 months.

The powerful Senate Armed Services

Committee confirmed Nicholson's nomination

during a Congressional hearing on Afghanistan

where the outgoing commander US General

John Campbell testified before the Senators. At

present, Nicholas was US Army commander of

NATO land forces.

Earlier, he had served in multiple capacities

like chief of staff of operations for the

International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)

and US Forces - Afghanistan, director of

Pakistan/Afghanistan Coordination Cell for the

Joint Staff, and deputy commander - Stability of

ISAF Regional Command - South.

Rajendra Singh became first non-navy officer

to head Indian Coast Guard

The Union Government on 25 February 2016

appointed Rajendra Singh as the Director

General (DG) of Indian Coast Guard, the

country’s coastal protection force. This is the

first time an officer who is not from the Indian

Navy has been elevated to the position.

The director general's post has so far only

been held by officers who were commissioned

in the Indian Navy.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet had

cleared the name of Singh as the next DG, with

the Department of Personnel and Training

issuing an order.

Singh will replace Vice Admiral HCS Bisht

who has been promoted as the Flag Officer

Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval

Command.

About Rajendra Singh-

• Rajendra Singh had joined the Coast Guard in

1980.

• He is currently the Additional Director

General.

About Indian Coast Guard-

• The Indian Coast Guard protects India's

maritime interests and enforces maritime law,

with jurisdiction over the territorial waters of

India, including its contiguous zone and

exclusive economic zone.

• It was formally established on 18 August 1978

by the Coast Guard Act, 1978 of the Parliament

of India as an independent Armed force of India.

• It operates under the Ministry of Defence.

• The Coast Guard works in close cooperation

with the Indian Navy, the Department of

Fisheries, the Department of Revenue (Customs)

and the Central and State police forces.

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KN Vyas took charge as Director of

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Distinguished Scientist KN Vyas on 23

February 2016 took charge as Director of the

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

He took it over from Dr Sekhar Basu, who is

the Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission

and Secretary to the Union Government,

Department of Atomic Energy.

Before taking the charge, he was an Associate

Director for Reactor Projects Group in BARC.

About KN Vyas-

• He joined Fuel Design and Development

Section of Reactor Engineering Division of

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre after getting

graduated from the BARC Training School.

• He had a vast experience of 36 years in design

and analysis of nuclear reactor fuels.

• He has worked extensively in thermal

hydraulics and stress analysis of critical reactor

core components. He has also participated in

design and analysis of the Test Blanket Module

planned to be installed in ITER, France.

Former CJI HL Dattu selected as

Chairperson of National Human

Rights Commission Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Handyala

Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu was selected as

the next Chairperson of National Human Rights

Commission (NHRC) on 23 February 2016. 65-

year-old Justice Dattu will have tenure of five

years.

The post was lying vacant since 11 May 2015,

when KG Balakrishnan demitted office after

five-year term. Justice Cyriac Joseph had been

functioning as the acting chairperson since then.

In accordance to Protection of Human Rights

Act, 1993, President appoints the chairperson

and members of the NHRC. The chairperson is

appointed on the recommendation of the high-

powered committee headed by the Prime

Minister.

Justice HL Dattu retired from the post of Chief

Justice of Supreme Court on 2 December 2016.

He was Chief Justice of India from 28

September 2014.

Christine Lagarde appointed as MD of

IMF for second term The Executive Board of the International

Monetary Fund (IMF) on 19 February 2016

selected Christine Lagarde to serve as IMF

Managing Director for a second five-year term

starting on 5 July 2016.

Lagarde, the only candidate nominated for the

post, was backed by the UK, Germany, China,

and her home country, France, to stay on for

another five years.

In her first term as MD of IMF, Lagarde has

overseen an easing of Europe's sovereign debt

crisis and has implemented changes to give

greater influence in the Fund to emerging

markets including China and Brazil.

About Christine Lagarde-

• Christine Lagarde is a French lawyer and

Union for a Popular Movement politician who

has been the MD of the IMF since 5 July 2011.

• Previously, she held various ministerial posts

in the French government. She was Minister of

Economic Affairs, Finance and Employment

and before that Minister of Agriculture and

Fishing and Minister of Trade in the government

of Dominique de Villepin.

• She was the first woman to become finance

minister of a G8 economy, and is the first

woman to head the IMF.

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