Search This Blog

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

November 12th and 15th

· The omission of Jammu and Kashmir from the list of disputes under the observation of the Security Council

· Index of Industrial Production (IIP)

· Inclusive growth

§ Title of 11th five year Plan.

§ MDG

§ Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS)

§ The Food Security Act

§ The Bharat Nirman programme

§ The National Health Mission

§ The Integrated Child Development Services

§ UNICEF

· Parallel drawn with China on JK issue.

o Taiwan

o Tibet

o Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

o Asia Pacific Regional Economy

o Russia-India-China trilateral meeting

· Facebook- ‘Project Titan’ :unofficially referred to internally as its ‘Gmail killer.'

o ecosystem of communication

· ‘Athulyam'- A total primary education programme which has a series of linked schemes that aim to re-educate primary school dropouts.

o The programme would be run by LEAP (Lifelong Education and Awareness Programme) Mission, formerly the Literacy Mission.

· Integrated Turmeric Complex and Terminal Marketing Complex for agricultural produce @ Erode

· Dairy imports from US prohibited

o The Codex Alimentarius

o Islamic and Jewish dietary code

o The Codex Alimentarius is a collection of internationally recognised standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations relating to foods, food production and food safety

o Religious Sensitivity

o Bovine Growth Hormones (BGH)/Bovine Somatotropin Hormones (BST)

o India imports dairy products from New Zealand and Australia.

· Paid news syndrome

o Democracy and Role of Media

· National litigation policy- to reduce the pendency of cases in various courts.

o IT-enabled services

o fast track courts

o Gram nyayalayas

o Mobile Courts

o Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill- To make sure that the tainted were not occupying prime positions in the judiciary

· Cholera is caused by a water-borne bacterium called Vibrio cholerae.

· The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)

· 2010 Intel Environment Award

· The Right to Food Campaign

o Comprehensive Food Security Act.

o Public Distribution System

· NBFCs’ compliance with RBI Act not with Sharia

o Al Baraka Financial Service Limited (ABFSL), a financial service floated by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC)- RBI has not granted registration to operate on the principles of Sharia.

o Secular Issue

§ no legal impediment in operating a NBFC (Non Banking Financial Companies) without offering interests.

§ Article 27

· One Family, One Dog from next year @ Shanghai

· Bio-terrorism

o Ebola, Anthrax and Marburg Viruses

o The Nunn-Lugar programme

· Simhadri, Super Thermal Power Station, the first shore-based power plant

o NTPC will commission the first unit of Stage-II expansion project

o Two units of 500 MW each in the first phase were synchronised in 2002

o adding two more units each with 500 MW

o

November 14th and 16th

Tuesday, 16 November 2010

· The agenda of the 10th Russia-India-China (RIC) triangle meeting

o It calls on all countries in the Asia-Pacific region to observe basic principles of civilized behaviour, such as respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of other states; non-interference in internal affairs; equal and indivisible security; renunciation of the use or threat of force; peaceful settlement of disputes and military cooperation on a bilateral and multilateral basis that is “not directed against third countries.”

· Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory (DEBEL) in Bangalore

o integrated life support system (ILSS)

o Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification (CEMILAC) Bangalore

· Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010

o Defining the definition of “misbehaviour” under Section 2(j)

· Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment (INCCA)

· RIC- “open, transparent, inclusive and balanced security and cooperation architecture in the Asia-Pacific.”

o Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) to enable Afghanistan to defend its sovereignty and independence

o SCO

· China starts damming (Hydro Power Project) Brahmaputra for Tibet Development

o Treaty on this with India absent.

· ICMR to study the effects of Endosulfan

o Total Ban on Endosulfan sought.

· Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)

o PPP

· The Prohibition of Seditious Meeting Act, 1911

o Freedom of Speech.

· TechDemoSat programme

o ISAC

o TechDemoSat is an industry-led technology demonstration satellite that aims to provide a low-Earth-orbit test bed to help demonstrate the technical maturity and commercial viability of innovative new space technology. It is a low-cost satellite platform into which payloads will be packaged from a range of industrial and academic organisations.

o Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology

o The Indian Institute of Remote Sensing

o The Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific

· Armed Forces Grievances Redressal Commission

o Issues

§ Pay

§ Allowances

§ One rank, one pension

§ War Widows

§ Promotion matters

§ suitable benefits to be granted to war veterans

§ Rehabilitation of Soldiers who are discharged at young age

o The Commission to be headed by the former Supreme Court, Judge Kuldip Singh

· The 10,000 MW nuclear power plant at Jaitapur, Maharastra by Areva

o Union Environment Ministry need to look into the following issues before giving clearance.

§ Air and Water pollution

§ Biodiversity Conservation

§ Waste Disposal

§ Water use

§ Impact on Agricultural Activities

§ Impact on Fisheries in the area

§ Safety elements: Design Safe Guard issues

· Rajaraja Chola, built the Big Temple in Thanjavur of Lord Brihadisvara

· The United States government is set to announce a plan to end its combat mission in Afghanistan by 2014

o Gradual transfer of security operations

· The Fulbright Programme

o The premier U.S. international educational exchange programme with some 300,000 alumni among American and international scholars and students.

o On July 4, 2008, the U.S. and India signed a historic new Fulbright agreement making India a full partner with the United States in the governance and funding of the Fulbright Programme.

o Fulbright-Nehru Scholarship

· National happiness levels @ UK

o UK will start measuring national wellbeing in addition to gauging more traditional data like income levels and fear of crime.

o Beyond surveys based only on numerical economic data.

o Part of a “science of happiness” movement that has taken root in several countries

o Compare Burma’s Gross Domestic Happiness

· Regulatory Mechanism needed for MFIs

o Issues:

§ Strong arm loan recovery methods

§ Higher interest rates

o The bank self-help group linkage programme has an important role to play with the addition of the business correspondents model

o Repercussions

November 11th

· Impeachment of High Court / Supreme Court Judge (process)

o Privileges (extraordinary immunity granted to judges)

o Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 – “whether a Judge whose conduct is under investigation [pursuant to a motion admitted in one of the two Houses of Parliament] has the right to remain silent.”

o V. Ramaswami, former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court

o For Sen - Article 124(4) read with Article 217(1) (b) of the Constitution applied.

· CAG Powers

· JPC

· Satellite Manoeuvring (China)

· United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)

· United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

o G-20 Summit @ Seou

o Agenda: the need to consolidate the momentum of global economic recovery

o Challenge: Recovery from possible currency wars and protectionism in the developed countries

o Millennium Development Goals (MDG)

o reform of International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditionalities, creation of a global reserve currency based on special drawing rights

· China’s currency valuation Vs Dollar’s devaluation by Fed’s Bond-Buying move.

o Reaction of nations

· Android 2

· Cyber Security.

o Centralized surveillance and interception system

o Crypto analysis

· Border Talks between India and Bangladesh

o Feni river connecting Sabroom in India with Ramgarh in Bangladesh

o access to Ashuganj Port

o Palatana power project in Tripura

o Akhaura-Agartala railway link