Dahlan Jumaan Al-Hamad won AAA President's Election

Suresh Kalmadi on 1 July 2013 lost the Asian Athletics Association's President election to Qatar's Dahlan Jumaan Al-Hamad on the opening day of the continental body's two-day Congress in Pune. Kalmadi faced a tough fight from Qatar Athletics Federation President Al-Hamad, who is also senior vice-president of the Asian body. He is out on bail after spending 10 months in jail for his alleged involvement in the Commonwealth Games scam.

Kalmadi lost 18-20 while seeking re-election to a post he has held for 13 years. He has been at the helm of affairs of the AAA since 2000. He was seeking re-election for the top job of the continental body.

Kalmadi's candidature to the post had got the backing of the AFI (Athletics Federation of India) which said it did not want to lose a seat in AAA Council. Section 4(a) of Article VI of the AAA Constitution states that A council members loses his membership in the council if he loses his membership in his National Association, unless otherwise his national association formally recommends the continuation of his membership in the Council. The biennial Congress, before the July 3-7 Asian Athletics Championships, at a five-star hotel here is being attended by IAAF President Lamine Diack, besides some top officials from the AAA and the world body.
The Congress, which is the governing body of the association, consists of a Council and not more than two delegates from each member of the AAA. However, each member country has only one vote in the elections.

The Athletics Federation of India is being represented by its president Adille Sumariwala and Secretary C K Valson. The other members of the AAA Council -- a Senior Vice-President, Five Vice-Presidents and eight Executive Members – will also be elected.

Global warming will make Indian monsoon worse and unpredictable: Report

Scientists of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in the month of June 2013 have found that the pattern of the Indian monsoon is supposed to change under global warming in the future.

Research supported with Computer simulations and a comprehensive set of 20 state-of-the-art climate models shows that Indian monsoon daily variability might increase. The ongoing ups-and-downs of Indian monsoon rainfall are likely to increase under warming.

It is found by the Scientist that a 4% to 12% variability change of daily monsoon rainfall in India is to be expected with 1 degree Celsius of warming. There is also a chance of 13% to 50% change in variability will take place if greenhouse gases continue to be emitted unabated.

As per the analysis if global warming would be limited to the internationally acknowledged threshold of 2 degrees Celsius of global warming, this would bear the risk of additional day-to-day variability between 8% to 24%.

It is important here to note that about 80% of annual rainfall in India occurs during the monsoon season from June through September. Factors that could disturb rainfall regularity include the higher holding capacity of moisture of the warmer air, but also more complex phenomena like cooling in the higher atmosphere which changes current pressure and thereby rainfall patterns.

The researchers focused on the 10 models with the most realistic monsoon pattern - a conservative approach, as these 10 models yield generally lower rates of change. The other 10 models showed higher rates of change.

UNESCO increased Pressure on Australia to conserve Great Barrier Reef

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee on 18 June 2013 increased pressure on the Australian government so as to conserve the Great Barrier Reef.

The World Heritage Committee  gave Canberra one year time to present a plan on how to protect the reef, listed as a World Heritage site since 1981, from increasing coal and gas extraction and shipping.

As per the discussion in the 37th session in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, If Australia fails to come up with a satisfactory plan then World Heritage Committee will place it on the “in danger” list.  It was also stressed that by 2014, Australia has to improve water quality monitoring and limit port development to existing port areas.

It is worth mentioning here that among the 38 World Heritage sites currently listed as “in danger” is the Everglades National park in Florida and the Old City of Jerusalem.

P. Sathasivam appointed as the Next Chief Justice of India

P. Sathasivam on 29 June 2013 was appointed as the next Chief Justice of India after he justified the Collegiums System of appointment of Judges. The 64 year old Sathasivam will succeed the incumbent Chief Justice of India, Altamas Kabir, who will superannuate on 18 July 2013 from his office.

Sathasivam will be the 40th Chief Justice of India (CJI) and his appointment to the post has been approved by Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India.

About P. Sathasivam
• He was appointed as a Supreme Court judge on 21 August 2007
• As the 40th CJI, he will serve the nation till his 26 April 2014
• In January 1996, he joined Madras high court as a permanent judge
• In April 2007, he was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana high court
• He was born on 27 April 1949
• P. Sathasivam is a B.A., B.L.
• He was enrolled as an advocate on 25 July 1973 at Madras
• He has practiced in all types of Writ, Civil and Criminal matters, Company Petition, Insolvency Petitions, Habeas Corpus Petitions both on Original and Appellate sides of the Madras High Court
• He has served as Government Advocate, Additional Government Pleader, Special Government Pleader in the Madras High Court
• He has also worked as Legal Adviser for several State owned Transport Corporations, Municipalities, Nationalized Banks and more

Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Indian Constitution and Article 124 to 147 states about the composition of Supreme Court of India. Supreme Court of India consists of one Chief Justice and 31 judges. The bench that comprises 2 or 3 judges is termed as a Division Bench and the one that bench that consists of five or more judges is termed to be a Constitutional Bench.

Tenure and qualification of Judges in Supreme Court
President appoints the judges of the Supreme Court and the retirement age of these judges is 65. For being a judge or chief justice of a Supreme Court one must fulfill the following qualifications:
1. He must be an Indian Citizen
2. Should have served the High Court as its Judge for at least 5 years
3. He should have served the high court as its advocate for a period of 10 years
In case their occurs a vacancy in the CJI office due to any reason, the president appoints the acting Chief Justice as the Chief Justice of India from amongst the judges of the Supreme Court. The salaries and other allowances of the Judges in India are charged from the Consolidated Fund of India.

At present the salary structure
1. Chief Justice of Supreme Court - 1 Lakh rupees
2. Other Judges of SC: Rs 90000

Removal of Judges
The Judge can be removed from India on certain ground that includes incapacity to hold the office or proven misbehavior. They can be removed only after the resolution of both the houses of Indian Parliament that is supported by the majority of two-third of the members voting and present.

The two judges against whom the proceeding was initiated
1. V Ramaswami in 1993 was the first judge against whom the proceedings were initiated
2. Soumitra Sen in 2011 was the second judge against whom these proceedings were initiated

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) set to establish Navigation Satellite System

Indian Space Research Organisation’s scientists will establish a navigation satellite system for India like that of America’s Global Positioning System (GPS).

Very much similar to the GPS, the Indian satellite is supposed to transmit data continuously that will allow correctly equipped receivers to establish their location with considerable precision.

The project is set to establish the IRNSS at a cost about 1420 crores rupees and was approved by the Union Government in June 2006. The first of the IRNSS satellites is scheduled go into space aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on 1 July 2013.

The GPS requires a constellation of 24 orbiting satellites, which will be supported by a global network of ground stations, so that every part of the world is covered.  ISRO will create a system wholly in India's control for providing navigation signals over this country and surrounding areas.

After seeing many configurations, the finally chosen configuration was the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) which required just seven satellites.

All seven IRNSS satellites will be at a height of about 36000 km, which will take a whole day to circle the Earth. Three of the satellites will be placed over the equator, in what is known as the geostationary orbit, where they match the Earth's rotation and therefore appear from the ground to remain at a fixed position in the sky.

The remaining four satellites will be in pairs in two inclined geosynchronous orbits. From the ground, these satellites will appear to travel in figures of ‘8’ during the course of a day.

Satellites Launched to Bring Rural Areas Online

O3b Networks, whose name represents the other 3 billion in month of June 2013, launched a series of satellites which is supposed to provide fast, cheap Internet and phone service to remote areas in 180 countries.

The idea behind launching such satellite is to bring people from remote area online by the end of the year 2013. Google have already committed to invest about 1.2 billion dollars in support.

O3b Networks is planning to supply the bandwidth for voice and data traffic to mobile phone operators instead of being sold directly to customers and internet service providers who will be able to track the satellites with ground stations.

A group of four satellites was launched on 25 June 2013 in a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana and it is going to be followed with similar satellite launch of four more in September 2013 and another four next year.

 The Outstanding property of the satellite is that is every satellite will be able to transfer data at a rate of 12 gigabits per second. Other satellites may eventually be launched to increase the data capacity of the cohort.

Advantage of the Satellite launched

• The launch of satellite will provide cheap, fast data transfer to remote areas without Internet access or phone service.
• The satellite service accessible and affordable, even in poorer regions.

India to host 2016 World T20 and 2023 World Cup

BCCI (Board of Control of Cricket in India) on 29 June 2013 was awarded a chance to host two major events of International Cricket namely World Twenty20 for the first time in 2016 and its fourth 50-over World Cup in 2023 by ICC (International Cricket Council).

BCCI also got the chance to host the second edition of ICC World Test Championship scheduled in February-March 2021. The inaugural edition of the Test Championship will be hosted by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) June-July 2017.

Apart from this, the ECB was awarded a chance to host the 2019 World Cup and Cricket Australia (CA) got the hosting rights of the 2020 World Twenty20.
All the three events were awarded to India during the International Cricket Council (ICC) Annual Conference. Jagmohan Dalmiya the interim Chief of BCCI and a former ICC president represented India in the event.

During the International Cricket Council Annual Conference, ICC finalized its global events to be held from 2015 to 2023. In its decision, ICC decided that full members of International cricket will have to play a minimum of 16 tests over a period of four years to retain its test status.

During the same conference, Afghanistan was confirmed as the 37th Associate Member of the ICC and Romania was accepted as an Affiliate Member.

Stealth Frigate INS Trikand was commissioned into the Indian Navy

INS Trikand, the last of the three Follow on Talwar Class frigates built in the Russian Federation, was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 29 June 2013 at Kaliningrad, Russia by Vice Admiral R K Dhowan, the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy.
The commissioning of INS Trikand marks the culmination of a three ship contract for Follow On Talwar Class ships built in Russia. Her sister ships INS Teg and INS Tarkash were commissioned in 2012.

INS Trikand carries a state-of-the-art combat suite which includes the supersonic BRAHMOS missile system, advanced Surface to Air missiles Shtil, upgraded A190 medium range gun, Electro-optical 30 mm Close-in Weapon System, Anti-Submarine weapons such as torpedoes and rockets and an advanced Electronic Warfare system. The weapons and sensors are integrated through a Combat Management System Trebovanie-M, which enables the ship to simultaneously neutralise multiple surface, sub-surface and air threats.

The ship also incorporates innovative features to reduce radar, magnetic and acoustic signatures, which have earned this class of ships the sobriquet of ‘Stealth’ frigates. The ship is powered by four gas turbines and is capable of speeds in excess of 30 knots. The ship can carry an integrated Kamov 31 helicopter which is best suited for airborne early warning roles.

World Health Organisation Issued New HIV Treatment Guidelines

The World Health Organization on 30 June 2013 introduced new guidelines for the treatment of HIV could help prevent millions of people dying of AIDS. The WHO says these guidelines represent a major shift in treatment policy.

The idea is to give a single pill combining three drugs to people who are HIV positive much earlier while their immune systems are still strong. Algeria, Argentina and Brazil are already doing this.

Ultimately, it means the number of people in developing countries, who are deemed eligible for drug treatment, will rise from 16 to 26 million. The World Health Organization estimates the guidelines will add 10 per cent to the overall cost of treating HIV and AIDS.

The Cow-Sized Specimen named Bunostegos Discovered

The cow-sized specimen named Bunostegos, which means knobby roof roamed isolated desert about 260 million years ago. New fossils from northern Niger in Africa were described in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Bunostegos means knobby roof.
The distinctive creature belongs to a new genus of pareiasaur - plant-eating creatures that existed during the Permian period. During Permian times, a single supercontinent called Pangaea dominated the Earth.

Animal and plant life was distributed across the land. There was an isolated desert in the middle of Pangaea with distinctive animals according to a new research. Most pareiasaurs had bony knobs on their skulls, but Bunostegos had the largest.

India and Sri Lanka held talks on Trade and Investment

Sri Lanka and India on 24-25 June 2013 held discussion in Colombo on trade, investment and economic cooperation. It is aimed at doubling the bilateral trade volume to the tune of 10 billion US dollars in the next three years. India is Sri Lanka’s leading trade partner and that bilateral trade between the two countries has now reached 5 billion US dollars.

During the talks, India and Sri Lanka decided to expand the bilateral trade in a balanced way by utilising the opportunities available between the two neighbouring nations. The talks included economic, trade and development related issues between the two countries.

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Sri Lanka was the first ever bilateral trade agreement for both nations. It was signed in 1998 and enforced since 2000. India is considered as Sri Lanka’s foremost development partner in public investment strategy. India has provided the assistance and credit totaling 1.75 billion US dollars to Sri Lanka. India is responsible for construction of 50000 houses in the north-east area of Sri Lanka.  India is also assisting in public transport network infrastructure rebuilding.

India and UK to develop Bangalore-Mumbai Economic Corridor Project

India and United Kingdom in the third week of June 2013 decided to develop the Bangalore-Mumbai Economic Corridor project in close association with private companies from Britain. The decision on taking the project, which had been outlined both by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and British Prime Minister David Cameron in February this year, was taken at the meeting of Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma with UK’s Secretary of State for Business, Oliver Letwin during his recent visit to London.

The corridor project was outlined in February 2013 during the visit of British Prime Minister David Cameron to India. A Joint Study group would work out the details of execution of this prestigious project. Bangalore-Mumbai Economic Corridor project could be highly profitable given the importance of Mumbai as financial centre, Pune as automobile manufacturing centre and Bangalore as IT and Technology Hub.

Moreover, UK India Business council and the Invest India signed a Memorandum of Understanding to increase investments in India as well as to collaborate for providing UK business information on investment opportunities. Invest India is a joint venture of the DIPP, State governments and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Mukesh Hariawala conferred Indian Healthcare Visionary of the Decade Award

Harvard trained and internationally acclaimed Indian American Cardiac Surgeon and Healthcare Economist Dr Mukesh Hariawala on 28 June 2013 was recently conferred the prestigious Indian Healthcare Visionary of the Decade award at a glittering ceremony of the 4th Annual Business Leadership Conclave at Hotel Leela in Mumbai.

Also felicitated with other prestigious awards were industrialists Ratan Tata , Transformational Leader of the Decade and Mukesh Ambani  who is the Millennium Business Leader of the Decade.

After the award ceremony,  Mukesh convincingly laid out a 100 Billion Dollar Medical Tourism opportunity for India as a byproduct of US President Barack Obama’s new  Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act  which unofficially is also termed  Obamacare.

ICC granted Associate Membership to Afghanistan

Afghanistan was granted the Associate membership of the ICC, making it the eighth Asian nation and the 38th overall to get the status. Looking at the immense progress shown by Afghanistan, the ACC (Asian Cricket Council) had last year sent the nomination request in 2012 and the decision to grant Afghanistan the status was taken by the ICC at its ongoing annual conference, which concluded in London on 29 June 2013.

Afghanistan now join Hong Kong (1969), Kuwait (2005), Malaysia (1967), Nepal (1996), Singapore (1974), Thailand (2005) and UAE (1990) as ICC Associates from the Asian region.

The new Associate membership will help Afghanistan get more funds from the ICC and also give much-needed exposure to the team. The ICC is now likely to pay Afghanistan 850000 US dollars based on the Associate status, instead of 700000 US dollars as the annual fund.

From a country torn by war to a rising cricket playing nation, it has been a remarkable journey for Afghanistan, who became an Affiliate member of the ICC in 2001 when they travelled to Pakistan for their first tour.

Scientists created the world's first ultra-high resolution 3D model of a HUMAN BRAIN

Scientists in the Month of June 2013 have created the world's first high-definition 3D model of a complete human brain which is named by Big Brain.

The 3D model of a HUMAN BRAIN was prepared by mounting thin sliced sections of the whole-brain on slides. The stained sections were then scanned and reconstituted by supercomputers into a 3D model of an entire brain.

The Scientist used a tool called a microtome by which they have sliced the postmoterm brain of a 65 year old woman preserved in paraffin wax into about 7400 sections each 20 microns thick and used it to create the most detailed map yet of a human brain.

It has taken several years for supercomputers in Germany and Canada to reconstruct images of the slide-mounted thin sections into a 3D volume image of the brain, taking into account tears and wrinkles in individual slices of thin and thus fragile tissue.

During the formation of Brain around 80 billions neurons were captured. It is conceived that Scientists from Canada and Germany spent 1000 years collecting the data and the total brain reconstruction has taken 10 years to complete.

Some Facts About Big Brain
• The BigBrain is 250000 times more detailed than a regular brain scan.
• The Big Brain was created using 7400 individual slices from the brain of a deceased 65-year-old woman.
• Each individual slice is half the width of a human hair.
• The brain can be seen in microscopic detail at a spatial resolution of 20 microns.
• The Brain shows the anatomy of a brain in microscopic detail for the first time ever - at a spatial resolution of 20 microns which is smaller than the size of one fine strand of hair and 250000 times more detailed than current MRI brain scans.
• The Big Brain presents the analytic details of organization of cerebral neurons at an unprecedented resolution of 20 micrometers, about 50 times higher than the resolution of previous atlases of the brain constructed from whole brain scans.

CCEA approved the continuation of National Mission on Food Processing

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 28 June 2013 approved the continuation of the National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP) for the remainder of 12th Five Year Plan (2013-17) based on detailed proposals submitted by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI).

The NMFP outlay for 2012-17 has been kept at 1600 crore rupees consisting of 1250 crore rupees provided by the Government of India (GOI) and corresponding State share of 350 crore rupees. This includes 320 crore rupees already approved for 2012-13, of which 250 crore rupees was the GOI share and 70 crore rupees was the State share.
The following schemes under the NMFP will be implemented by State Governments for the remainder of 12th Five Year Plan in pursuance of today`s approval:
• Scheme for technology up-gradation / establishment / modernisation of food processing industries.
• Scheme for cold chain, value addition and preservation infrastructure for non- horticulture products.
• Setting up/ modernization/ expansion of abattoirs.
• Scheme for Human Resource Development (HRD).
• Scheme for promotional activities.
• Creating primary processing centres / collection centres in rural areas.
• Modernization of meat shops.
• Reefer vehicles.
• Old Food Parks.

Continuation of NMFP shall help in the decentralization of the implementation of the Ministry`s schemes, which will lead to substantial participation of State Governments / Union Territories (UTs). Beneficiaries of MOFPI schemes will also find it easier to deal with State Governments.

The continuation of NMFP will also help States / UTs in maintaining requisite synergy between agriculture plans of States and the development of the food processing sector. This in turn would help in the increase in farm productivity, thereby leading to an increase in farmers` incomes. It would also help in ensuring an efficient supply chain by bridging infrastructural / institutional gaps.

A National Food Processing Development Council (NFPDC) has been provided for under the chairmanship of the Minister for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries. The NFPDC will have representatives of State Governments, industry associations and related GOI departments. The council will provide guidance to MOFPI relating to the food processing sector, including the NMFP.

India and Oman Bilateral Trade registered a 129 Percent Growth

During the five-year period from 2008-09 to 2012-13, India-Oman bilateral trade increased by 129 percent as per the data released by Ministry of External affairs of India. India has been a major exporter to Oman and emerged as the fourth largest source of imports into Oman after Japan, USA and Saudi Arabia in 2012.The balance of trade is in India’s favour due to increase in export of mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation.

Besides traditional items from India like tea, coffee, spices, rice and meat products and seafood are among other commodities in great demand in Oman. India imports urea, Liquefied Natural Gas through spot purchase, polypropylene, lubricating oil, dates and chromites ore from Oman.

In terms of FDI inflows from the GCC Countries, Oman is the second biggest investor in India having put in investments worth 340 million US dollars in the country.

More than 7.18 lakh expatriate Indians are living in Oman in various sectors contributing a lot towards strong India-Oman ties.

Government banned Testing of Cosmetic Products on Animals

Indian Government in the Month of June 2013 has banned the testing of Cosmetic product on animals and thus became the first country in South Asia to end such tests.

Now, with the ban on testing and as per the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) any cosmetic product made in India will be free of animal testing.

 

The decision of banning the testing was taken in order to prevent cruelty to animals, especially after seeing the available simulation alternatives.

The Final norms on the decision will be coming out shortly which is being chaired Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) sectoral-committee.

It has been decided that the last two animal-related tests will be dropped from the regulatory standards and any new cosmetic ingredient or product will have to comply with the non-animal standards of BIS.

It is worth mentioning here that Israel and the 27 countries of the European Union have implemented both testing and sales ban to bring an end to cosmetics animal suffering in their respective jurisdictions.

Now the government will examine the Import of animal-testing free products and labelling of local products to indicate that they are free of these tests.

Government to set-up 51 new low-cost Airports to Increase Air Connectivity

The Union Government of India on 28 June 2013 decided to set up 51 new low-cost airports in Tier-II and Tier-III cities of the nation. The decision was taken with an aim to the give a boost to civil aviation sector and increase air connectivity to Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

Airport Authority of India (AAI) will be responsible for setting-up the airports in 51 different cities across different states like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

The Union Government also made a decision to grant international airport status to the airports of Imphal and Bhubaneswar at a cost of 20000 crore rupees.

The decisions were taken at a meeting that was headed by the Prime Minister to finalise infrastructure projects for 2013-14.

During the same meet, the Union Government also decided to award construction of eight Greenfield Airports in 2013 under public-private-participation (PPP) mode that includes Navi Mumbai, Juhu in Mumbai, Goa, Kannur, Rajguru Nagar Chakan at Pune, Sriperumbudur, Bellary and Raigarh.

To encourage investors, the Union Government declared an investment target of 1.15 lakh crore rupees under the PPP project in different sectors of infrastructure like civil aviation, rail, port and power in the next six months.

European Union leaders reached an Agreement on 1.3 trillion Dollar Budget for 2014 to 2020

European Union leaders on 28 June 2013 have signed a deal of a 1.3 trillion dollar for seven-year budget from 2014-2020.

 All 27 member states of European Union collectively approved the deal in Brussels after providing a solution to British concerns about a rebate that remains intact.

It is expected that the plan for 2014-2020 period is going to be approved by the European Parliament in July 2013. EU leaders also resolved to spend 8 billion dollar over the next two years to support job creation, training and apprenticeships for young people.

The EU budget deal came in line with the landmark bank rescue agreement. It is worth mentioning here that the European Union has sent hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts to debt-ridden countries over the last three years.