IndiGo Launched Seven New Flights to its Domestic System

IndiGo, the budget passenger carrier launched seven new flights to its domestic system on 30 May 2013. IndiGo announced to launch seven flights to Mumbai-Kochi, Mumbai- Jammu, Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai-Kochi, Jammu-Srinagar, Mumbai-Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai-Srinagar.

IndiGo, on the international sector will also connect Mumbai to Muscat from 15 June 2013. Also, there would be an increase in flight frequency between India and Oman. There would be an increase by seven flights everyday in a week from four flights everyday weekly.

Also, the budget flight carrier announced that it had further plans to expand the network of flights in order to meet requirements and demands of leisure as well as business travellers.

At present, IndiGo has a network of 422 flights which connects 33 destinations with fleet of 66 Airbus A320 aircraft.

Anti-Tobacco Day Observed across the World

31 May: World No-Tobacco Day

According to World Health Organisation, World No-Tobacco day is observed every year on 31 May 2013. The Theme this year is Ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. It is a global tragedy that diseases are allowed to be caused by tobacco consumption. WHO urged Governments (with its message free yourself) everywhere to address this needless threat to public health.

The day is meant to highlight the risks associated with tobacco usage and reduce its consumption. Tobacco is the single largest cause of preventable death globally and approximately 5.5 million people die around the world every year - with India accounting for nearly a fifth of this. The primary risk of tobacco usage includes many forms of cancers. The ultimate goal is to contribute to protect present and future generations not only from these devastating health consequences, but also against the social, environmental and economic scourges of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.

Hindi Journalism Day Celebrated In India to Mark 187 Years of Hindi Journalism

30 May: Hindi Journalism Day or Hindi Patrakarita Diwas

30 May is celebrated as the Hindi Journalism Day in India’s journalism every year. On 30 May 1826, the first Hindi newspaper of India called Udant Martand was edited and published. With this, the Hindi Journalism completed its 187 years in India.

First Hindi newspaper was initiated by Jugal Kishor Shukla. Hindi daily publishing took place in Braj and Khari languages. Jugal Kishor Shukla helped in creating journalism as the fourth pillar of the Indian democracy.

About Udant Martand- the first Hindi newspaper of India

• Udant Martand was the first Hindi newspaper in India.
• It was published from Calcutta.
• It was published on 30 May 1826, which is celebrated as the Hindi Journalism Day or Hindi Patrakarita Diwas.
• However, Udant Martand could not be published for long due to higher postal rates as well as distant readership.

UNESCO declared Nicobar Islands as World Biosphere Reserve

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in the Month of May 2013 had declared India's Nicobar Islands as a world biosphere reserve under its Man and the Biosphere Programme.

Such reserves are established by Member countries. The UNESCO basically recognizes them under the programme to promote sustainable development based on local community efforts and sound science.

The World Biosphere Reserves are considered as sites of excellence, where new and optimal practices to manage nature and human activities are tested and demonstrated.

About Nicobar Island

• The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain located in the eastern Indian Ocean.
• The island chain is home to 1800 animal species and some of the world's most endangered tribes.
• It is among 12 new sites added to the global network of biosphere reserves in Paris.
• The Nicobar Islands are recognized as a distinct terrestrial ecoregion, the Nicobar Islands rain forests, with many endemic species.
• The Nicobar Islands are part of a great island arc created by the collision of the Indo-Australian Plate with Eurasia.

About World Biosphere Reserve

Biosphere reserves are sites established by countries and recognized under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme to promote sustainable development based on local community efforts and sound science. It is a tool tools to help countries implement the results of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and, in particular, the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Ecosystem Approach.

• Such reserves are located in 117 countries and nine of them are now located in India.
• Other sites added to the list include Pakistan's Ziarat Juniper forest and China's Snake Island.
• There are currently 621 biosphere reserves including 12 transboundary sites.

CSO:Economic Growth declined to a low of 5 Percent for the 2012-13 Fiscal

According to data released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) on 31 May 2013, economic growth slowed to 4.8 per cent in the January-March quarter and fell to a decade's low of 5 per cent for the entire 2012-13 fiscal due to poor performance of farm, manufacturing and mining sectors.

The economic growth or gross domestic product (GDP) had expanded by 5.1 per cent in January-March quarter of 2012-13.The Indian economy had grown by 5.4 per cent, 5.2 per cent and 4.7 per cent in the first, second and third quarters, respectively, of 2012-13. The country had clocked 6.2 per cent growth in 2011-12 fiscal.

In January-March quarter of 2012-13, manufacturing sector grew marginally by 2.6 per cent, against 0.1 per cent growth in the same period of the earlier fiscal. During 2012-13, the sector grew by a meagre one per cent compared to 2.7 per cent in the previous fiscal.

Mining and quarrying sector contracted by 3.1 per cent during the fourth quarter of last fiscal.

Farm sector output expanded by just 1.4 per cent in January-March this year, as against 2 per cent in the same quarter of 2011-12. The agriculture sector also grew at a slower rate of just 1.9 per cent in 2012-13 compared to 3.6 per cent in 2011-12.

PM Manmohan Singh re-elected to Rajya Sabha from Assam for the Fifth Time

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 30 May 2013 was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the fifth time from Assam.

Indian National Congress (INC) won both the seats to the Upper House from Assam. The Other candidate of Indian national Congress from Assam, Santius Kujur was also elected as he has secured 45 seats.  Manmohan Singh bagged 49 first preference votes in the 126-member Assembly. The other party, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF)'s Aminul Islam, was defeated as it was polled only18 votes.

It is worth mentioning here that the Congress has 78 members in the Assembly, while its ally, the Bodoland People’s Front, has 12 MLAs. The Opposition AGP and the BJP have not taken part in the voting. Manmohan Singh will be the only prime minister who was in the Rajya Sabha during his entire term of office.

Some Important facts Related to the Vote

• AIUDF is a partner of the UPA at the Centre and its 18 MLAs gave their second preference vote to the Prime Minister.
• The Prime Minister was the only contestant for the first preference vote seat as the other parties did not put up any candidate against him.
• The votes of all 78 Congress members and its ally Bodoland Peoples Front's 12 MLAs were found to be valid.
• The Congress now has five members out of seven in Assam to the Rajya Sabha.
• The election process has to be completed before 3 June 2013 as per the Election Commission's May 13 notification.

Procedure of Election of Members to Rajya Sabha

Article 84 of the Constitution lays down the qualifications for membership of Parliament.

Article 102 of the Constitution lays down that a person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament

The representatives of the States and of the Union Territories in the Rajya Sabha are elected by the method of indirect election.  The representatives of each State and two Union territories are elected by the elected members of the Legislative Assembly of that State and by the members of the Electoral College for that Union Territory, as the case may be, in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. The Electoral College for the National Capital Territory of Delhi consists of the elected members of the Legislative Assembly of Delhi, and that for Puducherry consists of the elected members of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly.

Cochin Shipyard Limited Launched Its Third Fast Patrol Vessel for Indian Coast Guard

Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) on 28 May 2013 launched its third Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) which is built for the Indian Coast Guard. The vessel was launched by Nina Paul Antony, the Chairman of Cochin Port Trust. This vessel was named Abhinav.

About the Fast Patrol Vessel

• The Fast Patrol Vessel was named Abhinav.
• The Fast Patrol Vessel weighs 120 tons and was placed on the specially designed cradles at the dock head which was hoisted by the gantry crane.
• This vessel is third in series of 20 numbers FPVs contracted by CSL.
• The primary objective of the vessel is monitoring, fisheries protection as well as patrolling within within exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Also, the objective of this vessel is coastal patrolling and involvement in patrolling for anti smuggling, search and rescue operations and for anti piracy operations.
• The secondary role of the vessel is to provide communication link as well as escort convoys during the war time as well as hostilities.
• The three Fast Patrol Vessels are small in size but they are technologically challenged and complex.
• These ships are propelled by water jets in order to achieve the speed of 33 knots.
• Cochin Shipyard developed certain special techniques in order to make sure of the high quality welding as well as fabrication of Aluminium structures.

At present, the Cochin Shipyard has 25 ships on the order which consists of 20 Fast Patrol Vessels, 3 Offshore Support ships for Indian and foreign owners, one Prestigious Aircraft Carrier for the Indian Navy as well as 1 Buoy Tender vessel for the Department of Lighthouses and Lightships.

BSNL Got Clearance to Roll out Mobile Network in the Naxal-Affected Areas

The Union Cabinet of India gave clearance to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to roll out its mobile network in the Naxal-affected areas. Decks were cleared for mobile network to be set up by BSNL, which in turn will be financed by Universal Services Obligation (USO) fund.

Earlier, the Department of Telecom had sent out note for Cabinet’s consideration, which was confirmed by all the major central ministries such as Finance Ministry and Home Ministry.

The existing regulations demand that funding from USO can be done only via tendering process. The Department of Telecom, however wanted BSNL to have this project because of security issues in the Naxal-affected areas.

The project involves establishing telecom towers in 2199 locations which are spread across nine states. The overall cost of this project is 3000 crore Rupees.

Though all major ministries of the Union Government supported the project, but certain conditions were levied by some of the ministries. The Ministry of Finance suggested that the mechanism for monitoring the plans of BSNL should be set up by the Department of Telecom in order to make sure that the cost of the project does not exceed the amount which is already earmarked.

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs declared that apart from the Naxal-affected areas, BSNL should provide mobile network coverage in the tribal areas as well. The Ministry of Rural Development suggested similar plan for BSNL for mountainous regions.

The project is undertaken for improvement of communication services in these areas for the security agencies.

Fossilised Skeleton of Flying Dinosaur that Resembled Chicken, Discovered in China

Researchers at Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels discovered new fossilised skeleton of flying dinosaur called Aurornis xui in China. This new species is approximately the size of a chicken. It lived around 150 million years ago.

The flying dinosaur from the Middle-Late Jurassic period was 20 inches in length and also had teeth. Its diet could be insects. The discovery provides an insight into understanding of evolution of birds.

Aurornis xui was discovered from Tiaojishan Formation of Liaoning Province, China. The lead author and researcher, Pascal Godefroit explained that the dinosaur might have had four wings, two alongside the arms and two alongside the legs.

The specimen, which is preserved in the clay sediment is an adult. Earlier, another fossil from around 150 million years ago, known as Archaeopteryx was considered as most primitive bird, but with this discovery, it is expected that Aurornis xui is even more primitive bird that Archaeopteryx.

The discovery hints towards the relationships between early species of the birds as well as the dinosaur relatives of these birds. This means that the species which were called birds could be considered as the troodontids or vice-versa.

Integrated Action Plan (IAP) extended for Four More Years

The Union government of India on 30 May 2013 decided to extend the Integrated Action Plan (IAP), a specially conceived development programme for the worst Naxal-affected districts, for four more years with annual allocation of one thousand crore rupees. The aim of this initiative is to provide public infrastructure and services in Maoist-affected districts.

Each of the 82 IAP districts will be given 5 crore rupees annually while remaining 590 crore rupees will be distributed among the districts on the basis of their population and area. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are the nine states covered under the plan.

The IAP is implemented under direct supervision of the Planning Commission of India. IAP was formulated as an additional central assistance scheme on 100 percent grant basis in November 2010.

TVS Logistics Services Ltd. Acquired US-Based Wainwright Industries

TVS Logistics Services Ltd. acquired second company in US called Wainwright Industries, the end-to-end supply chain provider. Wainwright Industries is headquartered in Missouri. The total amount of acquisition is 50 crore Rupees.

Wainwright Industries is the 65 year old company with the sales turnover of 20 million US dollar. It has two plants, both of which are based in the US. The company employs 300 people in all. Wainwright Industries has 13 crucial clients which also include General Motors.

The first company acquired by TVS Logistics Services Ltd. in US was Manufacturers Equipment and Supply Company (MESCO) in 2011.

TVS Logistics Services Ltd. decided to keep the present management as it is, which means that the current President of Wainwright Industries, David Robbins will play his role.

The acquisition will facilitate TVS Logistics Services Ltd. in adding unique service capabilities like moving ahead in value chain system, sub-assembly for manufacturers as well as cross-docking.

TVS Logistics Services Ltd. is the 2200 crore Rupees turnover company. Both UK and India contribute 1000 crore Rupees to the turnover of TVS Logistics. Remaining turnover is contributed by Thailand and US.

India,Thailand signed Extradition Treaty nearly after Two Decades of Negotiations

India and Thailand on 30 May 2013 signed a treaty for the extradition of runaways wanted for terrorism, transnational crimes, economic offences and other serious crimes which will shortly eliminate a safe refuge for criminals wanted in India and Thailand.

The extradition treaty between India and Thailand was signed during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's first bilateral visit to Thailand.

With the signing of extradition treaty, India is supposed to put forward its requests to Thailand for the extradition of criminals like fugitive Syed Musakir Mudassar Hussain alias Munna Zingada who is wanted in India for underworld activities. Actually Munna Zingada is presently in a Thai prison for his involvement in the attack on underworld don Chhota Rajan here in 2001.

Highlights of the Extradition Treaty
• The Treaty provides the legal framework for seeking extradition of fugitive offenders, including those involved in terrorism, transnational crimes, economic offences etc.
• Treaty provides for the extradition of any person who is wanted for trial or for the imposition or enforcement of a sentence by one Contracting State and is found in the territory of the other Contracting State.
• The treaty will help both the countries in expedited extradition of fugitives. This Treaty would further strengthen the relationship between two law enforcement agencies by providing a firm legal basis for their bilateral cooperation.

The extradition treaty concluded after two decades of negotiations, and a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in anti-money laundering, gives a major signal of India’s shared commitment in combating terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking and counterfeiting.

HRD Ministry Constituted National Testing Agency (NTA)

The HRD Ministry on 31 May 2013 decided to set up a seven member Task Force under the Chairmanship of Sanjay Dhande. It will have the representatives from CBSE, UGC, NCERT, AICTE and from the Ministry. It will prepare a blue print for creating a special purpose vehicle to take the concept of National Testing Agency (NTA) forward.

The rationale for setting up the NTA lies in ensuring that multiplicity of entrance examination leading to stress on the students is addressed in a comprehensive manner by formulating a uniform entrance examination for admissions in different branches of higher learning.

The decision for setting up the National Testing Agency was taken in the meeting of Central Advisory Board for Education (CABE) which was held on 2nd April 2013. In the meeting it was decided that the proposal to set up National Testing Agency shall be taken forward in consultation with all stakeholders.

IAF Inducted Basic Trainer Aircraft Pilatus PC 7 MKII

The IAF’s premier Academy located at Dundigal, Hyderabad on 31 May 2013 inducted basic trainer aircraft Pilatus PC 7 MKII. The PC 7 MK II aircraft would be used for Basic Training of all pilots of the Indian Air Force, in addition to the pilots of the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard. Till now this role was performed by the reliable but ageing workhorse, the HJT-16 Kiran aircraft.

A total of 75 aircraft have been contracted from Pilatus, Switzerland. The procurement of PC 7 MkII was approved by the government in May 2012 and the first batch of PC-7 Mk II arrived at the Academy in February this year as a part of accelerated induction plan. The first batch of Flight Cadets would start their training on PC-7 MK II from July onwards.

Oldest Person of the World, also the Last Living Male of the 19th Century

The oldest person of the world, Jiroemon Kimura, 116 years Japanese man became the last male of the 19th century in the world. Jiroemon Kimura was given the title of last male alive to be born in the 19th century after the death of Barbados in the third week of May 2013 at the age of 113 years and 90 days.

Gerontolgy Research Group at University of California, Los Angeles found out that as far as female were concerned, there are in all 21 women born before 1 January 1901 and they are still alive. Most of these 19th century women are in Japan and US, while others are in Canada and Europe. But amongst the male, Jiroemon Kimura is the only alive person of 19th century.

Jiroemon Kimura was born on 19 April 1897. He has lived to witness the reigns of four kings as well as 61 Japanese prime ministers. In the year 1962, i.e., at the age of 65 years, he retired from the Japanese post office after serving 45 years in the office.

At present, he lives in Kyotango. The oldest living woman of the world, Misao Okawa, 115 years old is also from Japan.

Union Government notified Cauvery Water Scheme, 2013

The Union government notified Cauvery Water (Implementation of the Order of 2007) Scheme, 2013 to implement the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT), 2007. Under the scheme, a supervisory committee will be formed as notified by the ministry of Water Resources. The committee will be headed by the Water Resources Secretary, while Chief Secretaries of the Cauvery basin States/Union Territory (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala) will be the members. The Central Water Commission (CWC) chairman will also be a member and the CWC's chief engineer will be the Member-Secretary. The headquarters of the committee will be in New Delhi.

The scheme will be in place till the Cauvery Management Board is constituted as mentioned in the award. The chairman of the Committee may apply to the Supreme Court for appropriate directions with notices to other States if he thinks it is necessary. As per the notification of the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT), 2007 in February 2013, the Cauvery River Authority (CRA), chaired by the Prime Minister, and the Cauvery Monitoring Committee (CMC), headed by the Water Resources Secretary are no longer functioning.

Both committees were formed as per the directives of the Supreme Court to monitor the implementation of the interim orders of the tribunal.

Supreme Court of India in its interim order on 10 May 2013 had directed the union government to constitute a supervisory committee for implementation of the final order of the CWDT dated 5 February 5, 2007 as notified on 19 February 2013.

The Tribunal which included Chairman Justice N.P. Singh and members N.S. Rao and Sudhir Narain was set up in 1990. It had determined the total availability of water in the Cauvery basin at 740 thousand million cubic (TMC) feet at the Lower Coleroon Anicut site in a Unanimous award in February 2007. In the final order the Tribunal gave Tamil Nadu 419 TMC of water (as against the demand of 562 TMC); Karnataka 270 TMC (as against its demand of 465 TMC); Kerala 30 TMC and Puducherry 7 TMC.  It had reserved 10 TMC for environmental protection.

India, USA and Australia joined Hands to develop Climate-resilient Crops

India, the United States and Australia in the third week of May 2013 came together to develop new climate-resilient varieties of rice and wheat, two of the major crops in the world.The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will work in collaboration with the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) and India's Vibha Agrotech.This collaboration will seek to develop new rice and wheat varieties having greater tolerance to drought and salinity. Now, farmers can have more stable production in wake of sudden drought and salt water intrusion.

The new technology will be first developed in Australia and India, but it will be made available to developing countries in South Asia and at world level where adverse climate conditions impact cereal yields, so that farmers could have a good harvest, even as climate change creates more unpredictable growing environments.

The ambitious program is part of Feed the Future, the US Government's global hunger and food security initiative.

Transgenic Atlantic salmon Can Breed with Wild Brown Trout and Pass the Genes: Research

Scientists from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada in their new study highlighted the potential risks that the genetically modified fish could escape in the wild. It was discovered that it was possible for the transgenic Atlantic salmon to cross-breed with the brown trout, which is its related species.

The transgenic Atlantic salmon fish have been created with extra genes that allow them to grow more rapidly and the fish can pass on the trait of growing faster to its hybrid offspring as well. The transgenic Atlantic salmon fish is created by biotech company AquaBounty. AquaBounty declared that the risks of all kinds were absolutely negligible and that all these fishes were female as well as sterile. Also, the company announced that the habitat of these fishes would be tanks on the land.

The transgenic Atlantic salmon fish at present are being assessed by US authorities. These fishes are the first GM animals in the world that are approved for the purpose of human consumption.
In wild, the transgenic Atlantic salmon fish occasionally start mating with the brown trout and successfully produce the offspring. However, the researchers discovered that in the laboratory these genetically modified salmon were able to do the same.  Out of 363 fishes analysed in the beginning of the experiment, around 40 percent of hybrids were found carrying modified genes. It was also discovered that just like the transgenic Atlantic salmon fish, the young fish were also able to develop very rapidly.

Dr Darek Moreau of the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada declared that under the hatchery conditions, these transgenic hybrids were able to grow at a faster pace than the wild salmon, wild-type hybrids as well as the wild trout.

When these fishes were placed in mocked-up stream in laboratory, it was found that hybrids out-competed the wild salmon as well as genetically modified salmon.

The study highlighted ecological consequences in case the genetically modified fish got into the wild. The US Food and Drug Administration at present, is at its final stage of considering whether this transgenic salmon should go in the market on sale or not.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid visited Saudi Arabia

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on 27 may 2013 ended his four-day visit to Saudi Arabia. During this visit, he discussed a number of issues including the controversial Nitaqat law, counter-terrorism measures and energy security with top Saudi leaders.
Significantly, India and Saudi Arabia decided to further strengthen and deepen their counter-terrorism cooperation. Saudi Arabia had deported Abu Jundal, wanted in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack in 2012. It also tried to mitigate India’s fears over the Nitaqat law.

Salman Khurshid’s visit is the first by an Indian External Affairs Minister in the last five years to Saudi Arabia. In 2008, then Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee had visited Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is India’s biggest supplier of oil.

MP Government announced Special Relief Package for Omkareshwar Project

Madhya Pradesh government Shivraj Singh Chouhan on 29 May 2013 announced a 212 crore rupees special relief package for Omkareshwar irrigation project’s submergence-affected people. The benefits of this package will also be given to the families who have already relocated from the submergence area. He urged families affected by Omkareshwar project submergence to avail benefit of the special package within the prescribed time-limit and vacate the reservoir area in the larger interests of the state.

The Omkareshwar Multipurpose Project is proposed across river Narmada near village Mandhata of district Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh. The dam site is located just up-stream of famous Omkareshwar Jyotirling Temple. Project is envisages construction of concrete dam with gated spillway to irrigate 146800 Hectares of land and to generate power of 520 Mw.