Highlights of New Foreign Trade Policy 2009 - 2014

Higher Support for Market and Product Diversification Technological Upgradation EPCG Scheme Relaxations Support for Green products and products from North East Status Holders Stability/ continuity of the Foreign Trade Policy Marine sector Gems & Jewellery Sector Agriculture Sector Leather Sector Tea Pharmaceutical Sector Handloom Sector EOUs Thrust to Value Added Manufacturing DEPB Flexibility provided to exporters Waiver of Incentives Recovery, On RBI Specific Write off Simplification of Procedures Reduction of Transaction Costs Directorate of Trade Remedy Measures DEPB Scheme upto December 2010. To encourage value addition in our manufactured exports and towards this end, have stipulated a minimum 15%. 100% export oriented units for one additional year till 31st March 2011. The Government seeks to promote Brand India through six or more Made in India sh ows to be organized across the world every year. Foreign Trade Policy is to help exporters for technological upgradation export sector infrastructure, Towns of Export Excellence and units located therein would be granted additional focused support and incentives. To encourage production and export of green products through measures such as phased manufacturing programme for green vehicles, zero duty EPCG scheme and incentives for exports. e-Trade project would be implemented in a time bound manner to bring all stake holders on a common platform. Additional ports/locations would be enabled on the Electronic Data Interchange over the next few years. Incentive available under Focus Market Scheme (FMS) has been raised from 2.5% to 3%. Incentive available under Focus Product Scheme(FPS) has been raised from 1.25% to 2%. 26 new markets have been added under Focus Market Scheme. These include 16 new markets in Latin America and 10 in Asia-Oceania. 153 ITC(HS) Codes at 4 digit level Product classified for Market Linked Focus Product Scheme (MLFPS) Focus Product Scheme benefit extended for export of green products; and for exports of some products originating from the North East. To accelerate exports and encourage technological upgradation, additional Duty Credit Scrips shall be given to Status Holders @ 1% of the FOB value of past exports.

Income Tax exemption to 100% EOUs and to STPI units under Section 10B and 10A of Income Tax Act, has been extended for the financial year 2010-11 in the Budget 2009-10. In Tea Sector Minimum value addition under advance authorisation scheme for export of tea has been reduced from the existing 100% to 50%. DTA sale limit of instant tea by EOU units has been increased from the existing 30% to 50%. EOUs will now be allowed CENVAT Credit facility for the component of SAD and Education Cess on DTA sale. Time limit of 60 days for re-import of exported gems and jewellery items, for participation in exhibitions has been extended to 90 days in case of USA. Duty Free Import of samples by exporters, number of samples/pieces has been increased from the existing 15 to 50. Exemption for up to two stages from payment of excise duty in lieu of refund, in case of supply to an advance authorisation holder (against invalidation letter) by the domestic intermediate manufacturer. Reduce transaction costs, dispatch of imported goods directly from the Port to the site has been allowed under Advance Authorisation scheme for deemed supplies. Free Sale Certificate has been simplified and the validity of the Certificate has been increased from 1 year to 2 years.

Higher Support for Market and Product Diversification 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Incentive schemes under Chapter 3 have been expanded by way of addition of new products and markets. 26 new markets have been added under Focus Market Scheme. These include 16 new markets in Latin America and 10 in Asia-Oceania. The incentive available under Focus Market Scheme (FMS) has been raised from 2.5% to 3%. The incentive available under Focus Product Scheme(FPS) has been raised from 1.25% to 2%. A large number of products from various sectors have been included for benefits under FPS. These include, Engineering products (agricultural machinery, parts of trailers, sewing machines, hand tools, garden tools, musical instruments, clocks and watches, railway locomotives etc.), Plastic (value added products), Jute and Sisal products, Technical Textiles, Green Technology products (wind mills, wind turbines, electric operated vehicles etc.), Project goods, vegetable textiles and certain Electronic items. Market Linked Focus Product Scheme (MLFPS) has been greatly expanded by inclusion of products classified under as many as 153 ITC(HS) Codes at 4 digit level. Some major products include; Pharmaceuticals, Synthetic textile fabrics, value added rubber products, value added plastic goods, textile madeups, knitted and crocheted fabrics, glass products, certain iron and steel products and certain articles of aluminum among others. Benefits to these products will be provided, if exports are made to 13 identified markets (Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Brazil, Mexico, Ukraine, Vietnam, Cambodia, Australia and New Zealand). MLFPS benefits also extended for export to additional new markets for certain products. These products include auto components, motor cars, bicycle and its parts, and apparels among others.

6.

7.

8. 9.

A common simplified application form has been introduced for taking benefits under FPS, FMS, MLFPS and VKGUY. Higher allocation for Market Development Assistance (MDA) and Market Access Initiative (MAI) schemes is being provided. Technological Upgradation

10. To aid technological upgradation of our export sector, EPCG Scheme at Zero Duty has been introduced. This Scheme will be available for engineering & electronic products, basic chemicals & pharmaceuticals, apparels & textiles, plastics, handicrafts, chemicals & allied products and leather & leather products (subject to exclusions of current beneficiaries under Technological Upgradation Fund Schemes (TUFS), administered by Ministry of Textiles and beneficiaries of Status Holder Incentive Scheme in that particular year). The scheme shall be in operation till 31.3.2011. 11. Jaipur, Srinagar and Anantnag have been recognised as Towns of Export Excellence for handicrafts; Kanpur, Dewas and Ambur have been recognised as Towns of Export Excellence for leather products; and Malihabad for horticultural products. EPCG Scheme Relaxations 12. To increase the life of existing plant and machinery, export obligation on import of spares, moulds etc. under EPCG Scheme has been reduced to 50% of the normal specific export obligation. 13. Taking into account the decline in exports, the facility of Re-fixation of Annual Average Export Obligation for a particular financial year in which there is decline in exports from the country, has been extended for the 5 year Policy period 2009-14. Support for Green products and products from North East 14. Focus Product Scheme benefit extended for export of green products; and for exports of some products originating from the North East. Status Holders 15. To accelerate exports and encourage technological upgradation, additional Duty Credit Scrips shall be given to Status Holders @ 1% of the FOB value of past exports. The duty credit scrips can be used for procurement of capital goods with Actual User condition. This facility shall be available for sectors of leather (excluding finished leather), textiles and jute, handicrafts, engineering (excluding Iron & steel & non-ferrous metals in primary and intermediate form, automobiles & two wheelers, nuclear reactors & parts, and ships, boats and floating structures), plastics and basic chemicals (excluding pharma products) [subject to exclusions of current beneficiaries under Technological Upgradation Fund Schemes (TUFS)]. This facility shall be available upto 31.3.2011. 16. Transferability for the Duty Credit scrips being issued to Status Holders under paragraph 3.8.6 of FTP under VKGUY Scheme has been permitted. This is subject to the condition that transfer would be only to Status Holders and Scrips would be utilized for the procurement of Cold Chain equipment(s) only. Stability/ continuity of the Foreign Trade Policy

17. To impart stability to the Policy regime, Duty Entitlement Passbook (DEPB) Scheme is extended beyond 31-12- 2009 till 31.12.2010. 18. Interest subvention of 2% for pre-shipment credit for 7 specified sectors has been extended till 31.3.2010 in the Budget 2009-10. 19. Income Tax exemption to 100% EOUs and to STPI units under Section 10B and 10A of Income Tax Act, has been extended for the financial year 2010-11 in the Budget 2009-10. 20. The adjustment assistance scheme initiated in December, 2008 to provide enhanced ECGC cover at 95%, to the adversely affected sectors, is continued till March, 2010. Marine sector 21. Fisheries have been included in the sectors which are exempted from maintenance of average EO under EPCG Scheme, subject to the condition that Fishing Trawlers, boats, ships and other similar items shall not be allowed to be imported under this provision. This would provide a fillip to the marine sector which has been affected by the present downturn in exports. 22. Additional flexibility under Target Plus Scheme (TPS) / Duty Free Certificate of Entitlement (DFCE) Scheme for Status Holders has been given to Marine sector. Gems & Jewellery Sector 23. To neutralize duty incidence on gold Jewellery exports, it has now been decided to allow Duty Drawback on such exports. 24. In an endeavour to make India a diamond international trading hub, it is planned to establish Diamond Bourse (s). 25. A new facility to allow import on consignment basis of cut & polished diamonds for the purpose of grading/ certification purposes has been introduced. 26. To promote export of Gems & Jewellery products, the value limits of personal carriage have been increased from US$ 2 million to US$ 5 million in case of participation in overseas exhibitions. The limit in case of personal carriage, as samples, for export promotion tours, has also been increased from US$ 0.1 million to US$ 1 million. Agriculture Sector 27. To reduce transaction and handling costs, a single window system to facilitate export of perishable agricultural produce has been introduced. The system will involve creation of multifunctional nodal agencies to be accredited by APEDA. Leather Sector 28. Leather sector shall be allowed re-export of unsold imported raw hides and skins and semifinished leather from public bonded ware houses, subject to payment of 50% of the applicable export duty. 29. Enhancement of FPS rate to 2%, would also significantly benefit the leather sector. Tea

30. Minimum value addition under advance authorisation scheme for export of tea has been reduced from the existing 100% to 50%. 31. DTA sale limit of instant tea by EOU units has been increased from the existing 30% to 50%. 32. Export of tea has been covered under VKGUY Scheme benefits.

Pharmaceutical Sector 33. Export Obligation Period for advance authorizations issued with 6-APA as input has been increased from the existing 6 months to 36 months, as is available for other products. 34. Pharma sector extensively covered under MLFPS for countries in Africa and Latin America; some countries in Oceania and Far East. Handloom Sector 35. To simplify claims under FPS, requirement of Handloom Mark for availing benefits under FPS has been removed. EOUs 36. EOUs have been allowed to sell products manufactured by them in DTA upto a limit of 90% instead of existing 75%, without changing the criteria of similar goods, within the overall entitlement of 50% for DTA sale. 37. To provide clarity to the customs field formations, DOR shall issue a clarification to enable procurement of spares beyond 5% by granite sector EOUs. 38. EOUs will now be allowed to procure finished goods for consolidation along with their manufactured goods, subject to certain safeguards. 39. During this period of downturn, Board of Approvals (BOA) to consider, extension of block period by one year for calculation of Net Foreign Exchange earning of EOUs. 40. EOUs will now be allowed CENVAT Credit facility for the component of SAD and Education Cess on DTA sale. Thrust to Value Added Manufacturing 41. To encourage Value Added Manufactured export, a minimum 15% value addition on imported inputs under Advance Authorization Scheme has now been prescribed. 42. Coverage of Project Exports and a large number of manufactured goods under FPS and MLFPS. DEPB 43. DEPB rate shall also include factoring of custom duty component on fuel where fuel is allowed as a consumable in Standard Input-Output Norms. Flexibility provided to exporters 44. Payment of customs duty for Export Obligation (EO) shortfall under Advance Authorisation / DFIA / EPCG Authorisation has been allowed by way of debit of Duty Credit scrips. Earlier the payment was allowed in cash only.

45. Import of restricted items, as replenishment, shall now be allowed against transferred DFIAs, in line with the erstwhile DFRC scheme. 46. Time limit of 60 days for re-import of exported gems and jewellery items, for participation in exhibitions has been extended to 90 days in case of USA. 47. Transit loss claims received from private approved insurance companies in India will now be allowed for the purpose of EO fulfillment under Export Promotion schemes. At present, the facility has been limited to public sector general insurance companies only. Waiver of Incentives Recovery, On RBI Specific Write off 48. In cases, where RBI specifically writes off the export proceeds realization, the incentives under the FTP shall now not be recovered from the exporters subject to certain conditions. Simplification of Procedures 49. To facilitate duty free import of samples by exporters, number of samples/pieces has been increased from the existing 15 to 50. Customs clearance of such samples shall be based on declarations given by the importers with regard to the limit of value and quantity of samples. 50. To allow exemption for up to two stages from payment of excise duty in lieu of refund, in case of supply to an advance authorisation holder (against invalidation letter) by the domestic intermediate manufacturer. It would allow exemption for supplies made to a manufacturer, if such manufacturer in turn supplies the products to an ultimate exporter. At present, exemption is allowed upto one stage only. 51. Greater flexibility has been permitted to allow conversion of Shipping Bills from one Export Promotion scheme to other scheme. Customs shall now permit this conversion within three months, instead of the present limited period of only one month. 52. To reduce transaction costs, dispatch of imported goods directly from the Port to the site has been allowed under Advance Authorisation scheme for deemed supplies. At present, the duty free imported goods could be taken only to the manufacturing unit of the authorisation holder or its supporting manufacturer. 53. Disposal of manufacturing wastes / scrap will now be allowed after payment of applicable excise duty, even before fulfillment of export obligation under Advance Authorisation and EPCG Scheme. 54. Regional Authorities have now been authorized to issue licenses for import of sports weapons by renowned shooters, on the basis of NOC from the Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs. Now there will be no need to approach DGFT(Hqrs.) in such cases. 55. The procedure for issue of Free Sale Certificate has been simplified and the validity of the Certificate has been increased from 1 year to 2 years. This will solve the problems faced by the medical devices industry. 56. Automobile industry, having their own R&D establishment, would be allowed free import of reference fuels (petrol and diesel), upto a maximum of 5 KL per annum, which are not manufactured in India. 57. Acceding to the demand of trade & industry, the application and redemption forms under EPCG scheme have been simplified.

Reduction of Transaction Costs 58. No fee shall now be charged for grant of incentives under the Schemes in Chapter 3 of FTP. Further, for all other Authorisations/ licence applications, maximum applicable fee is being reduced to Rs. 100,000 from the existing Rs 1,50,000 (for manual applications) and Rs. 50,000 from the existing Rs.75,000 (for EDI applications). 59. To further EDI initiatives, Export Promotion Councils/ Commodity Boards have been advised to issue RCMC through a web based online system. It is expected that issuance of RCMC would become EDI enabled before the end of 2009. 60. Electronic Message Exchange between Customs and DGFT in respect of incentive schemes under Chapter 3 will become operational by 31.12.2009. This will obviate the need for verification of scrips by Customs facilitating faster clearances. 61. For EDI ports, with effect from December 09, double verification of shipping bills by customs for any of the DGFT schemes shall be dispensed with. 62. In cases, where the earlier authorization has been cancelled and a new authorization has been issued in lieu of the earlier authorization, application fee paid already for the cancelled authorisation will now be adjusted against the application fee for the new authorisation subject to payment of minimum fee of Rs. 200. 63. An Inter-Ministerial Committee will be formed to redress/ resolve problems/issues of exporters. 64. An updated compilation of Standard Input Output Norms (SION) and ITC (HS) Classification of Export and Import Items has been published. Directorate of Trade Remedy Measures 65. To enable support to Indian industry and exporters, especially the MSMEs, in availing their rights through trade remedy instruments, a Directorate of Trade Remedy Measures shall be set up.

S.no

Portfolio Prime Minister and also in-charge of the Ministries/Departments not specifically allocated to the charge of any Minister viz.: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions

Name

Ministry of Planning Department of Atomic Energy Department of Space

Dr. Manmohan Singh

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Minister of Defence Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Food Processing Industries Minister of Finance Minister of Health and Family Welfare Minister of Home Affairs Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister of New and Renewable Energy Minister of Science and Technology

Shri A.K. Antony Shri Sharad Pawar Shri P. Chidambaram Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad Shri Sushilkumar Shinde Shri M. Veerappa Moily Dr. Farooq Abdullah Shri S. Jaipal Reddy

Minister of Earth Sciences 10 11 Minister of Parliamentary Affairs 12 13 14 15 16 Minister of Law and Justice 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Minister of Panchayati Raj 25 26 Minister of Steel Minister of Rural Development Minister of Commerce and Industry Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister of Shipping Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister of Coal Minister of External Affairs Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Anand Sharma Kumari Selja Dr. Girija Vyas Shri G.K. Vasan Shri Praful Patel Shri Shriprakash Jaiswal Shri Salman Khurshid Shri V. Kishore Chandra Deo Shri Beni Prasad Verma Shri Jairam Ramesh Minister of Civil Aviation Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Minister of Railways Minister of Road Transport and Highways Minister of Communications and Information Technology Shri Kapil Sibal Shri Ajit Singh Shri Vayalar Ravi Shri Mallikarjun Kharge Shri Oscar Fernandes Minister of Labour and Employment Minister of Urban Development Shri Kamal Nath Shri Sis Ram Ola

27 28 29 30 31

Minister of Minority Affairs Minister of Mines Minister of Human Resource Development Minister of Water Resources Minister of Culture

Shri K. Rahman Khan Shri Dinsha J. Patel Shri M.M. Pallam Raju Shri Harish Rawat Smt Chandresh Kumari

Kathoch Dr. Kavuru Samba Siva Rao Ministers of State with Independent Charge

32

Minister of Textiles

1 2 3

Ministry of Women and Child Development Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

Smt. Krishna Tirath Prof. K.V. Thomas Shri Srikant Jena

Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers 4 5 Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs 6 7 8 9 10 Ministry of Defence 11 12 Ministry of Information and Broadcasting . Ministry of Tourism Ministers of State 1 2 Ministry of External Affairs Ministry of Home Affairs Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions 3 Prime Minister's Office 4 5 Ministry of Textiles 6 7 Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry of Finance Shri Gavit Shri Namo Narain Meena Manikrao Hodlya Ministry of Commerce and Industry Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Smt. Panabaka Lakshmi Smt. D. Purandeswari Shri V. Narayanasamy Shri E. Ahamed Shri Mullappally Ramachandran Shri Manish Tewari Dr. K. Chiranjeevi Ministry of Power Ministry of Micro , Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation Ministry of Corporate Affairs Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Jitendra Singh Ministry of Environment and Forests Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan Shri Paban Ghatowar Singh

Shri Jyotiradiya Madhavrao Scindia Shri K.H. Muniyappa Shri Bharatsinh Solanki Shri Sachin Pilot

8 9 10 11

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Ministry of Human Resource Development Ministry of External Affairs Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

Smt. Santosh Chowdhary Shri Jitin Prasada Smt. Preneet Kaur Shri Chaudhary Shri Pratik Prakashbapu Patil Shri R.P.N. Singh Dr. Shashi Tharoor Shri Pradeep Jain Shri K.C. Venugopal Shri Charan Das Mahant Shri Milind Deora Tusharbhai

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Ministry of Coal Ministry of Home Affairs Ministry of Human Resource Development Ministry of Rural Development Ministry of Civil Aviation Ministry of Agriculture; Ministry of Food Processing Industries Ministry of Communications and Information Technology Ministry of Shipping Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs

19 Ministry of Planning 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Ministry of Labour and Employment Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Food Processing Industries Ministry of Railways Ministry of Tribal Affairs Ministry of Railways Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Ministry of Minority Affairs Ministry of Urban Development Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry of Communication and Information Technology Ministry of Rural Development Ministry of Commerce and Industry Ministry of Finance

Shri Rajeev Shukla Shri Kodikunnil Suresh Shri Tariq Anwar Shri K.J. Surya Prakash Reddy Smt Ranee Narah Shri Adhir Chowdhury Ranjan

Shri A.H. Khan Choudhury Shri Sathyanarayana Shri Ninong Ering Smt Deepa Dasmunsi Shri Porika Balram Naik Dr.(Smt) Kruparani Killi Shri Lalchand Kataria Dr. E.M. Natchiappan Sudarsana Sarvey

Shri Jesudasu Seelam

GK UPDATES: JANUARY 2013:

ABBREVIATIONS CTS: Cheque Truncation System TMT: Thirty Metre Telescope. AWARDS Kirti Chakra, 2013 Major Anup Joseph Manjali of the Bihar Regiment is the sole awardee of the Kirti Chakra, Indias second highest peacetime gallantry award. The highest gallantry medal, Ashok Chakra, has not been awarded in 2013. Padma Awards, 2013 The President of India has approved 109 awards including one duo case (counted as one) and 14 in the category of Foreigners/NRIs/PIOs/ Posthumous. These comprise 5 Padma Vibhushan, 27 Padma Bhushan and 77 Padma Shri Awards. There are 19 ladies among the awardees. Padma Awards, the countrys highest civilian awards, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in all disciplines/fields of activities, viz. art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year. Padma Vibhushan: K.G Subramanyan (Art-Painting & Sculpture, West Bengal), Late Shri Mario De Miranda (Art-Cartoonist, Goa), Late (Dr.) Bhupen Hazarika (Art-Vocal Music, Assam), Dr. Kantilal Hastimal Sancheti (Medicine-Orthopedics, Maharashtra), T. V. Rajeswar (Civil Service, Delhi). Padma Bhushan: Prominent among the winners are: Sharmila Tagore (Art, Delhi ), Late Rajesh Khanna (Art, Maharashtra), Late Jaspal Singh Bhatti (Art, Punjab), Dr. Apathukatha Sivathanu Pillai (Science and Engineering, Delhi), Adi Burjor Godrej (Trade and Industry, Maharashtra), Rahul Dravid (Sports, Karnataka), Ms. H. Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom (Sports, Manipur). Padma Shri: Prominent among the winners are: Gajam Anjaiah (Art, Andhra Pradesh), Sridevi Kapoor (Art, Maharashtra), Vishwanath Dinkar Patekar alias Nana Patekar (Art, Maharashtra), Rekandar Nageswara Rao alias Surabhi Babji (Art, Andhra Pradesh), Ms Mahrukh Tarapor (Art, Maharashtra), Vandana Luthra (Trade and Industry, Delhi), Prof. (Capt.) Dr. Mohammad Sharaf-eAlam (Literature & Education, Bihar), Dr. Radhika Herzberger (Literature & Education, Andhra Pradesh), J. Malsawma (Literature & Education, Mizoram), Nida Fazli (Literature & Education, Madhya Pradesh), Premlata Agrawal (Sports, Jharkhand), Yogeshwar Dutt (Sports, Haryana), Hosanagara Nagarajegowda Girisha (Sports, Karnataka), Subedar Major Vijay Kumar (Sports, Himachal Pradesh), Ngangom Dingko Singh (Sports, Maharashtra), Ms. Ritu Kumar (Fashion Designing, Delhi), Dr. Ravindra Singh Bisht (Archaeology, Uttar Pradesh). DSC Prize for South Asian Literature Novelist Jeet Thayil has been given the award for his first novelNarcopolis, which depicts the Mumbai underground in the 70s. Golden Globe Awards, 2013 Best Supporting Actor - Film: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie: Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey

Best Mini-Series or TV Movie: Game Change Best Actress, Television Movie or Mini-Series: Julianne Moore, Game Change Best Actor, Television Drama: Damian Lewis, Homeland Best Television Series, Drama: Homeland Best Original Score: Mychael Danna, Life of Pi Best Original Song: Skyfall - Skyfall Best Actor, Television Movie or Mini-Series: Kevin Costner, Hatfields & McCoys Best Actress, Musical or Comedy: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook Best Supporting Actor, TV: Ed Harris, Game Change Best Supporting Actress - Film: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables Best Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained Best Actor, Television Comedy or Musical: Don Cheadle, House of Lies Foreign Language Film: Amour Best Actress, Television Drama: Claire Danes, Homeland Best Animated Feature Film: Brave Best Actress, Television Comedy or Musical: Lena Dunham, Girls Cecil B. Demille Award: Jodie Foster Best Director: Ben Affleck, Argo Best Television Series, Comedy or Musical: Girls Best Actor, Musical or Comedy: Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables Best Picture, Musical or Comedy: Les Misrables Best Actress, Drama - Film: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty Best Actor, Drama: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln Best Picture, Drama: Argo CYBER SPACE Internet turns 30 The computer network officially began functioning when it fully substituted previous networking systems Jan 1, 1983. On that day, it was the first time the US Department of Defence-commissioned Arpanet network fully switched to use of the Internet protocol suite (IPS) communications system. This new method of linking computers paved the way for the arrival of the World Wide Web (www). Based on designs by Welsh scientist Donald Davies, the Arpanet network began as a military project in the late 1960s. It was developed at many American universities, including the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Stanford Research Institute. In 1973, work on the IPS and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) technology began. The new systems were designed to replace the more vulnerable Network Control Program (NCP) used previously, and made sure the network was not exposed to a single point of failure. By January 1, 1983, the substitution of the older system for the new Internet protocol had been completed and the Internet was born. British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee later used it to host a system of interlinked hypertext documents in 1989, known as the World Wide Web DEFENCE K-15 underwater ballistic missile ready for integration On January 27, 2013, India successfully test-fired the underwater ballistic missile, K-15 (code-named B05), off the Visakhapatnam coast, marking an end to a series of developmental trials. In its twelfth flight trial, the 10-metre tall Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) lifted off from a pontoon, rose to an altitude of 20 km and reached a distance of about 700 km as it splashed down in the

waters of the Bay of Bengal near the pre-designated target point. The missile was tested for its full range of 700 km and the mission met all its objectives. The impact accuracy of the medium range strategic missile was in single digit. With the completion of developmental trials, the process of integrating K-15 missile with INS Arihant, the indigenously-built nuclear submarine, will begin soon. As many as 12 nuclear-tipped missiles, each weighing six tonnes will be integrated with Arihant, which will be powered by an 80 MWt (thermal) reactor that uses enriched uranium as fuel and light water as coolant and moderator. India is only the fifth country to have such a missilethe other four are the United States, Russia, France and China. Besides Arihant, three other nuclear-powered submarines are being constructedone at Visakhapatnam and two at Vadodara. India is also developing K-4 missile with a range of 3,000 km. RESEARCH Worlds most advance molecule maker A molecule is the smallest and most basic part of matter that can exist independently. For instance, a molecule of sugar will exhibit all the properties of sugar such as taste, colour, etc. The development of a machine which uses molecules to make molecules in a synthetic process is similar to the robotic assembly line in car plants. The machine is just a few nanometres long (few millionths of a millimetre) and can only be seen using special instruments. Its creation was inspired by natural complex molecular factories where information from DNA is used to programme the linking of molecular building blocks in the correct order. David Leigh, Professor at the University of Manchester School of Chemistry, led the team that developed this unique machine. The most extraordinary of these factories is the ribosome, a massive molecular machine found in all living cells, which has inspired Leighs machine. It features a functionalised nanometre-sized ring that moves along a molecular track, picking up building blocks located on the path and connecting them together in a specific order to synthesise the desired new molecule. Leigh says the current prototype is still far from being as efficient as the ribosome. The ribosome can put together 20 building blocks a second until up to 150 are linked. So far we have only used our machine to link together four blocks and it takes 12 hours to connect each block. Researchers turn DNA in to Digital Storage The next great digital storage medium may be usor our DNA, to be precise. Deoxyribonucleic acid stores the code that makes us humans and not, say, flatworms. Which is to say that DNA is remarkably evolved storage media that can pack in all the variety and complexity of organic life in just a small amount of biological matter? But, turning DNA into storage for digital and not biological information, using artificial means, is tough because its proven difficult to encode efficiently and reliably, say researchers at the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI). In the latest issue of Nature EMBL-EBI, researchers Nick Goldman and Ewan Birney explain that their breakthrough could make it possible to store at least 100 million hours of high-definition video in about a cup of DNA.

Goldman and Birney said they enlisted the help of bio-analytics instrument maker Agilent Technologies, a former lab of Hewlett-Packard, to help synthesize DNA from encoded digital informationin this case, an MP3 of Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech, a .txt file of Shakespeares sonnets, a .pdf file containing James Watson and Francis Cricks original paper describing the structure of DNA, and a final file describing the encoding itself. We knew we needed to make a code using only short strings of DNA, and to do it in such a way that creating a run of the same letter would be impossible, Goldman explained. So we figured, lets break up the code into lots of overlapping fragments going in both directions, with indexing information showing where each fragment belongs in the overall code, and make a coding scheme that doesnt allow repeats. That way, you would have to have the same error on four different fragments for it to failand that would be very rare. The result was hundreds of thousands of pieces of DNA that looked like a tiny piece of dust. Agilent sent the synthesized sample back to the researchers at EMBL-EBI, where they sequenced it and said they decoded the files without errors. SPACE RESEARCH Leaping hedgehog probes planned for Martian moon Phobos Researchers at Stanford University and NASA are designing spiky spherical probes to bounce across the Martian moon Phobos and prepare the way for possible astronaut colonization. The plan calls for an orbital control satellite, a coffee table-sized unit dubbed Phobos Surveyor, which would scan the moons surface using gamma ray or neutron detectors to get an idea of the surface composition. It would then fire the hedgehogs down onto the Phobian surface, where their prongs would sample the soil. Given the tiny amount of gravity on the moons surface, wheels would be useless to get around, so the probes are controlled by tri-directional flywheels. These could force the probe to either roll, hop, or bound longer distances across the surface, depending on the rotation speed of individual flywheels. While the technique would be suitable for other low-gravity environments like asteroids and comets, Phobos is the suggested first target. This is partially to work out what the moon actually is, and also to map it out for a possible manned base. Phobos is rather unusual as Solar System moons go it orbits closer to the surface of its host planet than any other moon and is so dark as to be difficult to spot at times. Its suspected the moon is a captured rubble-pile asteroid, with a third of its volume made up of hollow spaces. The final system could be ready in ten years, but if the team gets moving they might hitch a ride with Curiosity v2.0 at the end of the decade. 15 billion years ago a huge river flowed on Mars New astonishing pictures by the European Space Agency have revealed a 1,500 km long and 7 km wide river that once ran across Mars. The agency's Mars Express imaged the striking upper part of the remnants of Reull Vallis river on Mars with its high-resolution stereo camera. Reull Vallis is believed to have formed when running water flowed in the distant martian past, cutting a channel through the Promethei Terra Highlands before running on towards the floor of the vast Hellas basin. This structure, which stretches for almost 1,500 km, is flanked by numerous tributaries. The images show a region of Reull Vallis where the channel is 7 km wide and 300 m deep. The sides of Reull Vallis are sharp and steep. These structures are believed to be caused by the passage of loose debris and ice during the Amazonian perio,d due to glacial flow along the channel. They were formed after it was originally carved by liquid water during the Hesperian period, which may have ended 3.5bn to 1.8bn years

ago. NASA beams Mona Lisa to Moon with laser In a major advance in laser communication, NASA scientists have beamed a picture of Leonardo da Vincis masterpiece, Mona Lisa, to a powerful spacecraft orbiting the Moon. The first laser signal carrying the iconic image, fired from an installation in Maryland, beamed the Mona Lisa to the Moon, to be received 384,400 km away by NASAs Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which has been orbiting the Moon since 2009. The Mona Lisa transmission is a major advance in laser communication for interplanetary spacecraft. By transmitting the image piggyback on laser pulses, the team achieved simultaneous laser communication and tracking. The success of the laser transmission was verified by returning of the image to Earth using the spacecrafts radio telemetry system. This is the first time anyone achieved one-way laser communication at planetary distances. Worlds largest telescope to be built by a five-nation consortium A five-nation consortium including India would be constructing the worlds largest optical telescope, which would be the worlds most advanced ground based observatory. This telescope will be developed in Hawaii, at the summit of the Mauna Kea Volcano. Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) will be jointly built and operated by India, Japan, Canada, China and the USA. The work on this telescope is expected to start in 2014 and the project is planned at an investment of 1.2 billion US dollar. This Thirty Meter Telescope would be eighty one times more sensitive than all the telescopes of its kind available at present. Indian scientists would play a major role in the development of the key components of the telescope and 15 percent of the 492 mirror segments, each of 1.44 m in size, would be fabricated in India. Asteroid-prospecting spacecraft unveiled From 2015, a fleet of FireFly spacecraft, weighing just 25 kg each, will whizz into space to explore any passing asteroids for signs of useful materials such as industrial metals, platinum-like metals, water and silicon. Within a decade Deep Space Industries, the company behind the project, hopes to be able to harvest passing asteroids for metals and other building materials for use in space projects such as building communications platforms and solar power arrays. It will also seek out rarer and more valuable metals for sale on Earth, for example in pollution control technology, and water and fuel which could be used in interplanetary space flight. Initially, the fleet of FireFlies will be directed to examine suitable candidate asteroids as they fly past Earth, hitching a lift into orbit with communication satellites to save on energy and costs. From 2016, larger DragonFly craft weighing 32 kg will be tasked with collecting samples from suitable asteroids and returning them to Earth for analysis by scientists. The company believes materials harvested from asteroids can be used to build complex metal parts for use in space infrastructure and to fuel and equip space craft, bringing down the cost of missions to Mars. Using materials collected from asteroids in space projects and therefore eliminating the need to launch them from Earthis the only way to afford permanent space development, chief executive David Gump added. The company eventually hopes to find asteroids containing precious metals such as gold and platinum, which could be sold on Earth.

MISCELLANEOUS Marketing blitz flies into space Several consumers would have won laptops or a holiday tour through marketing contests, but heres one that will take people from across the world to travel into space. In what is being considered to be one of its biggest promotional events so far, Axe, a Unilever brand, has partnered with Space Expedition Corporation (SXC) to send 22 men and women from across the world into space. SXC is a private company, which is planning to kick-start its daily commercial flights into space in 2014. None other than Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, has been roped in as the ambassador to promote the Axe Apollo Space Academy, or AASA, to rhyme with NASA, which will shortlist men and women through an online competition. The winners will be sent into space on board the Lynx, a two-seater suborbital reusable launch vehicle, in 2014. Across 90 countries, about a hundred people would be selected to go to a three-day space camp. They would experience the training astronauts undergo. From this group, 22 people would be selected to go into space. SXC is the launch customer of the space vehicle XCOR Aerospaces Lynx vehicle that takes off and lands like a normal airplane from regular airports. Indias first space weather reading centre A centre of excellence specialising in reading space weather conditions to help air traffic on polar routes would come up in Kolkata by the middle of 2013, the first of its kind in the country. The centre would come up at the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) campus. Besides air traffic on polar routes, the centre would help in the functioning of GPS networks and mobile satellites placed in space. Several commercial flights from south Asia, Europe and north America now fly over the polar regions to cut short time and distance. Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) and solar flares are two kinds of storms originating from the sun which expose flights to immense amounts of radiation over polar regions. The centre would also work in field of gravitational physics in terms of analysing data and would also offer PhD programs to students interested in space sciences.

FEBRUARY 2013:
ABBREVIATIONS FAC: Fuel Adjustment Component. GOC: Global Ocean Commission. NOFHC: Non-Operative Financial Holding Company. SARAL: Satellite with ARgos and ALtika. AWARDS Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development , 2011 The award has been conferred to Ms Ela Bhatt, founder of Self-Employed Womens Association of India (SEWA), for her lifetime achievements in comprehensively empowering women in India and elsewhere through grassroots entrepreneurship. The Prize carries a citation and a cash award of Rs. 25 lakh. Life Sciences Breakthrough Prize The first 11 winners of the Prize and their fields of research are: Cornelia I. Bargmann, genetics of neural circuits and behaviour; David Botstein, linking disease in humans using changes in DNA; Lewis C. Cantley, the discovery of proteins involved in cancer metabolism; Hans Clevers, molecular signalling in stem cells and cancer; Napoleone Ferrara, angiogenesis that led to therapies for cancer and eye diseases; Titia de Lange, how telomeres protect chromosomes and their role in genome instability in cancer; Eric Lander, genetics in human disease and analysis of genetic, physical and sequence maps of the human genome; Charles L. Sawyers, cancer genes and targeted therapy; Bert Vogelstein, cancer genomics and tumor suppressor genes; Robert Weinberg, characterization of human cancer genes; Shinya Yamanaka, induced pluripotent stem cells. All prize winners will be added to the selection committee for future Breakthrough Prizes. Going forward, there will be five winners each year. The Breakthrough Prize promises a transparent selection process. Anyone can nominate a candidate online for consideration and the $3 million prize. A group of Bay Area tech and investment luminaries have announced the multimillion-dollar competition for researchers to develop cures for the worlds toughest diseases and solve the life sciences most complicated problems. At a gathering in San Francisco, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sat alongside Art Levinson, chairman of both Apple and Genentech, Anne Wojcicki, co-founder of genetic mapping startup23andMe, and investment guru Yuri Milner to announce the new $3 million Life Sciences Breakthrough Prize and name the first 11 winners. Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony Pandit Ravi Shankar is the first recipient of the award, which has been given to him in recognition of his outstanding contribution to cultural harmony and universal values. The Tagore award has been established by government of India, celebrating 150th birth anniversary of Rabindra Nath Tagore. It carries an amount of Rs. one crore, a citation in a scroll, a plaque, as well as an exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item. The award is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, language, cast, creed or sex. 85th Annual Academy Awards (Oscar Awards) Achievement in Directing: Ang Lee, Life of Pi. Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook. Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln. Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained.

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables. Best Motion Picture: Argo. Best Animated Short Film: Paperman. Best Animated Feature Film: Brave. Achievement in Cinematography: Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi. Achievement in Visual Effects: Life of Pi. Achievement in Costume Design: Jacqueline Durran, Anna Karenina. Achievement in Makeup & Hairstyling: Les Miserables. Best Live-Action Short Film: Curfew. Best Documentary Short Subject: Inocente. Best Documentary Feature: Searching for a Sugar Man. Best Foreign-Language Film: Amour (Austria). Achievement in Sound Mixing: Les Miserables. Achievement in Sound Editing: Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty Achievement in Film Editing: "Argo". Achievement in Production Direction: Lincoln. Original Score: Mychael Danna, Life of Pi. Original Song: Skyfall, Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth. Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio , Argo. Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained. COMMISSION Global Ocean Commission Global Ocean commission (GOC) is a new initiative to restore health and productivity to the ocean. It is an independent body of international leaders and aims to reverse degradation of the ocean and restoring it to full health and productivity. The objective of GOC is to formulate politically and technically feasible short-, medium- and long-term recommendations to address four key issues facing the high seas: overfishing, large-scale loss of habitat and biodiversity, the lack of effective management and enforcement, deficiencies in high seas governance. GOC work will examine key threats, challenges, and changes to the ocean in the 21st century, and identify priority issues. The Commission will begin by analysing threats to the global ocean, based on the latest and most rigorous evidence from science and economics. It will map out the implications of a business-as-usual approach. In this phase of its work, it will draw on the abundance of existing reports from world experts, but will also begin original research in partnership with other organisations. It will also review the effectiveness of the existing legal framework for the high seas in meeting the unique challenges and threats of the 21st century and beyond. GOC will engage with interested parties around the world, including groups of people with direct interests in ocean issues as well as the general public. It will also raise understanding among policymakers, economists and other groups, including the general public, of the implications should high seas issues not be reformed. The recommendations of GOC, regarding cost-effective, pragmatic and politically feasible reforms of high seas governance, management and enforcement, will be based on the evidence and testimonies before it, and present a reasonable prospect of resolving gaps and weaknesses that have been identified. DEFENCE Rudra helicopters to be inducted soon Paving the way for the Indian Army to get its first lot of armed helicopters, the indigenously produced armed helicopter Rudra has been accorded the initial operational clearance, marking an important milestone in military aviation history in the country.

The Rudra is based on the platform of the advanced light helicopter (ALH) that is already in service in India. It has been code named ALH Mark IV and is produced by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The helicopter derives its name from Rig Vedic god for wind, storm and hunt. This will be the first time that the armed forces will be equipped with armed helicopters capable of fighting in the higher reaches of the Himalayas along the borders with China and parts of Pakistan. The induction of the Rudra will be an important milestone as the Indian inventory of armed helicopters, the Mi-35, currently has a flying ceiling of 10,000-12,000 feet. The Rudra, powered by a new Shakti engine that has been co-developed by French company Turbomeca, will fly up to an altitude of 20,000 feet. The Himalayas rise above this altitude along large parts of the India-China frontier. The weapons on board the chopper will include a M6-21 20 mm gun and 70 mm rockets with a range of 8 km. The chopper will also carry anti-tank guided missiles and the air-to-air-missiles, the first lot has been imported but will be produced here latter. Rudra is equipped with integrated sensors, weapons and electronic warfare suite using an upgraded version of the glass cockpit used in the Mk-III of the ALH. The Electronic Warfare (EW) suite consists of missile approach warning system, laser and radar warning systems and automated sensors covering all envisaged threats. It also has automatic dispensation of countermeasures like chaff and fare dispensing systems. RESEARCH New 17-million-digit monster is largest known prime The largest known prime number has just shot up to 257,885,161 - 1, breaking a four-year dry spell in the search for new, ever-larger primes. Curtis Cooper at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg made the find as part of the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS), a distributed computing project designed to hunt for a particular kind of prime number first identified in the 17th century. All prime numbers can only be divided by themselves and 1. The rare Mersenne primes all have the form 2p - 1, where p is itself a prime number. The new prime, which has over 17 million digits, is only the 48th Mersenne prime ever found and the 14th discovered by GIMPS. The previous record holder, 243,112,609 - 1, which was also found by GIMPS in 2008, has just under 13 million digits. All of the top 10 largest known primes are Mersenne primes discovered by GIMPS. Until today, the most recent addition to the list was found in 2009, but it was smaller than the 2008 discovery. SPACE RESEARCH Curiosity Mars rovers takes first historic soil sample NASAs Curiosity Mars rover has finally drilled deep enough into a rock to acquire a powdered sample for analysis. The fine grey material from the 6cm-hole was sieved and inspected before being delivered to the robots onboard Chemin and Sam labs. This was a historic first in planetary explorationnever before has the interior of a rock on another world been probed in such a way. Drilling is absolutely central to the rovers mission in Gale Crater, a deep bowl sited on Mars equator. Curiosity is investigating whether past environments at this location could ever have supported life, and getting inside rocks to analyse their make-up will provide some of the most telling evidence. Curiosity has already seen plenty of evidence for past running water in Gale Crater and the results from the

drill-hole analysis are expected to reveal further information about that wet history. Astronomers discover Moon-sized exo-planet called Kepler-37b Scientists have discovered an odd little planet that has set a new record for the smallest alien world ever discovered. According to the scientists, the exo-planet is about the same size as the Earths moon. The planet has been dubbed Kepler-37b. The scientists involved in the discovery say that this is the first exo-planet ever discovered that is smaller than Mercury. The planet makes an orbit of its parent star every 13 days and has an insanely high surface temperature of about 800F. This planet was discovered along with two other larger planets orbiting the same parent star. The parent star is about 215 light years from Earth, it and its planets were discovered using the Kepler space telescope. The two larger planets have been called Kepler-37c and Kepler-37d. The scientists say that all three of the planets in orbit around the star are likely un-inhabitable, and are well inside the Earth-sun distance. PSLV-C20 puts SARAL and six other satellites into orbit On February 25, 2013, in a multiple launch mission, a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C20) put IndiaFrench satellite SARAL and six others into their precise orbits after its successful launch from the Sriharikota spaceport. This was the 22nd consecutive successful PSLV mission by the Indian Space Research organization (ISRO). The other satellites to go into orbit one after the other were SAPPHIRE, NEOSSAT, AAUSAT, BRITE, UniBRITE and STRand, all from abroad. SARAL stands for Satellite for Argos-3 and Altika. While these two payloads are from French space agency CNES, a third payload, a solid state C-band transponder, is from the ISRO. All the three payloads were integrated into a satellite at the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore. SARAL is a unique satellite that will cater to the research community and it has practical applications as well. It will help in oceanographic studies. It will study the ocean currents and sea surface heights. While ARGOS2 will collect the data, the Altikameter will measure the height of the sea surface. ARGOS provides scientists with a tool to increase their understanding of environment and helps industry comply with environmental protection regulations. SARAL will also help researchers to study the development of climate. It has practical applications in continental ice studies, coastal erosion, protection of biodiversity, study of marine animals migration and so on. The 148-kg SAPPHIRE and the 82-kg NEOSSAT are both from Canada. SAPPHIRE will look at space debris and other satellites in orbit. NEOSSA Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellitehas a telescope for detecting and tracking asteroids, satellites and space debris. The 3-kg AAUSAT has been built by the students of Aalborg University, Denmark to receive automatic identification system signals from ships in the Arctic region. STRaND-1, from the UK, is a unique yet simple contraption. It comprises a smart-phone loaded with specific apps, stuck to a 30 cm x 10 cm cubesat. The Google Nexus phone has four apps that were selected based on a Facebook contest. One of the apps, Postcards from space, will take pictures of the Earth based on unique public demands. Another app, 360, will provide photos on a map showing where they were taken. As the name suggests, Scream in space app will allow a chosen few to test how they would sound in the space. Based on the creativity of the videos, those chosen will be able to speak via phone and their voice

will be recorded through a microphone in orbit. The app, iTesa will record the magnetic field of the phone in orbit. This will test the possibility of making calls from outer space in the future. The last app, The Strand Data, will monitor the satellite telemetry of the smart-phone. The 3.5-kg Strand satellite also has a 3D printed partan apparent first in space. UniBRITE and BRITE are the other satellites onboard. These microsatellites, weighing 14 kg each, will study the brightest stars by observing their temperature variations. Strand-1First Phonesat in space India has become the worlds first country to launch a smartphone into space, loaded with a number of experimental Apps, some serious and some just for fun. The British-built Strand-1 spacecraft, developed by scientists in Surrey, was sent into orbit from Sriharikota, using PSLV launcher, the spacecraft is an innovative 3U CubeSat, weighs 4.3 kg and is the worlds first phonesat to go into orbit, as well as the first UK CubeSat to be launched. Developed by a team from the University of Surrey's Surrey Space Centre (SSC) and Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), STRaND-1 is a training and demonstration mission, designed to test commercial off-the-shelf technologies in space. During the first phase of the mission, STRaND-1 will be controlled by the satellites attitude control system and a new high-speed linux-based CubeSat computer. During phase two the STRaND-1 team plans to switch many of the satellites in-orbit operations to the smartphone, a Google Nexus One which uses the Android operating system, thereby testing the capabilities of many standard smartphone components for a space environment. MISCELLANEOUS Param Yuva IIIndias fastest supercomputer Precise weather forecasting, faster tapping of natural resources in the sea and designing of customised drugs for individuals will now be possible using Param Yuva II, India's fastest supercomputer. Developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Param Yuva II was inaugurated on February 8, 2013. The supercomputer has been upgraded to 524 teraflops, about 10 times faster than the present facility. With an investment of Rs 16 crore, it was developed in a record three months. Param Yuva II will also give a boost to research in space and bioinformatics, among others. Developing research-based applications will take lesser time than before and complex problems will be solved in a simpler way. For instance, if it takes about 18 to 20 years to discover a new drug nowfrom designing to testingParam Yuva II will help reduce this time to 15 years. The supercomputer would also help in reducing the time-frame in weather predictions. If researchers currently collect satellite data to predict the conditions for a six-km region, the supercomputer could help cover a wider region, may be up to 10 km. About 300 people from the C-DAC team were involved in the making of the supercomputer, which also promises to be energy efficient with 35% reduction in energy consumption as compared to the earlier facility.

MARCH 2013:
ABBREVIATIONS GOCE: Gravity Ocean Circulation Explorer. WWT: Worldwide Telescope, (The) AWARDS Stree Shakti Puruskar The December 16 Delhi gang-rape victim has been posthumously bestowed with Stree Shakti award as a tribute to her courage and strength. As a measure of recognition of achievements in individual women in the field of social development, the government had instituted of six national awards which are called Stree Shakti Puraskar are given on the Womens Day (March 8) every year. The awards are in the name of the eminent women personalities, namely, Devi Ahalya Bai Holkar, Kannagi, Mata Jajabai, Rani Gaidinliu Zeliang, Rani Lakshmi Bai and Rani Rudramma Devi (which is open to both men and women). The spirit of Nirbhaya, a name by which many remember the Delhi gang-rape victim, has been given Rani Laxmi Bai Award which has been instituted to recognise the spirit of courage and the personal achievement of a woman in difficult circumstances, who has established this spirit of courage in her individual or professional life. The other winners are: Mata Jijabai Award: Ms Sonika Agarwal (Delhi). Rani Gaidinliu Zeliang Award: Mrs Omana T.K. (Kerala). Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Award: Mrs Olga D Mello (Maharashtra). Kannagi Award: Mrs Guramma H. Sankina (Karnataka). Rani Rudramma Devi Award: Mrs Pranita Talukdar (Assam) Each of the six Stree Shakti Awards carries a cash award of Rs 3 lakh. Ayvaiyar Award, 2013 Dr. V. Shanta, chairperson of Adyar Cancer Institute, has been given the award in recognition of her contribution in the field cancer treatment. The award carries a citation, a medallion, a cheque for Rs 1 lakh along with a shawl. Every year, a woman who contributed in the fields of social reforms, women development, religious harmony, language, arts, tradition, culture, science, journalism and administration is presented with Avvaiyar award. National Film Awards, 60th Best Feature Film: Paan Singh Tomar Best Director: Shivaji Lotan Patil for Dhag (Marathi) Best Actor: Irrfan Khan, Paan Singh Tomar and Vikram Gokhale for Anumati(Marathi) Best Actress: Usha Jadhav, Dhag (Marathi) Best Supporting Actress: Dolly Alhuwalia, Vicky Donor and Kalpana, Thanichallanjan(Malyalam). Best Supporting Actor: Annu Kapoor, Vicky Donor Best Male Playback Singer: Shankar Mahadevan for "Bolo Nafrom" fromChittagong Best Female Playback Singer: Samhita for Palakein Naa Moon Don from Aarti Anklekartikekar (Marathi) Best Song: Bolo Na from Chittagong Best Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi for Bolo Na from Chittagong Best choreography: Birju Maharaj for the Tamil film Vishwaroopam. Best Screenplay Writer (adapted): Bhavesh Mandalia and Umesh Shukla for Oh My God! Best Dialogue: Anjali Menon for Ustad Hotel (Malayalam)

Indira Gandhi Award for the best debut film of a director: Hindi film Chittagongand Malayalam movie 101 Chodiyangal Best Telugu Film: Eega Best Hindi Film: Filmistan Best Investigative Film: Inshallah Kashmir Best Child Artist: Master Virendra Pratap for Dekh Indian Circus A special jury award has been conferred on Rituparno Ghosh for Bengali filmChitrangadha and to Nawazuddin Siddiqui for the films Kahaani, Gangs of Wasseypur, Dekh Indian Circus and Talaash. Parineeti Chopra won a special mention for her performance in Ishaqzaade for her convincing delineation of a daredevil girl, and so did Tannishtha Chatterjee for Dekh Indian Circus Queen Elizabeth Engineering Prize, 2013 Internet pioneers, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Robert Kahn, Vinton Cerf, Louis Pouzin and Marc Andreessen, will share the 1 million award. They are the first recipients of the prize. The citation panel said the five men had all contributed to the revolution in communications that has taken place in recent decades. The UK government initiated the QE Prize as a companion to the Nobel Prizes, to raise the profile of engineering. It is endowed by industry and administered by an independent trust chaired by Lord Browne, a former chief executive of BP. The award was announced at the Royal Academy of Engineering in central London. Saraswati Samman, 2012 Manalezhuthu, a collection of Malayalam poems, written by Ms Sugathakumari, has been selected for the award, for her anthology marking a variety of lyrical mode and complexity of metamorphical imagination. The Saraswati Samman is instituted by K.K. Birla Foundation and is given annually to an outstanding literary work in any of the Indian languages that are part of the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. The honour carried a citation and cash award of Rs 10 lakh. Abel Prize 2013 Belgian-born mathematician Pierre Deligne has been awarded the $1 million Abel Prize for mathematics by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Prof. Deligne was cited for seminal contributions to algebraic geometry and for their transformative impact on number theory, representation theory, and related fields. The 68-year-old has contributed to finding connections between various fields of mathematics and his research has resulted in key discoveries and concepts named after him, including the Deligne conjecture. Algebraic geometry concerns the study of the relationship between geometry and algebra. BOOKS Lean In Written by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, it challenges men in the upper echelons of corporate America to take more women under their wing. The book has been praised as an ambitious reboot of feminism and criticized as a manifesto directed to women from a privileged perch. CYBER SPACE The Worldwide Telescope The Worldwide Telescope (WWT) is a Web 2.0 visualization software environment that enables your computer to function as a virtual telescopebringing together imagery from the worlds best ground- and space-based telescopes for the exploration of the universe. Students of all ages will feel empowered to explore and understand the cosmos using WWTs simple and powerful user interface. Microsoft Research has assembled astronomical data from scientists all over the world to build a 3D model

that users can actually fly through. NASAs Hubble Images are used liberally, and Microsoft hopes to incorporate data from the James Webb Telescope when it launches in a few years. Users will be able to do flybys of any star, nebula or planet of which astronomers have gathered data on. There is real data backing this simulation that makes it useful from the elementary school level, all the way up to graduate studies. It has support for visible light, as also X-ray and infrared observations. Microsoft Research has also built WWT with touch interactions in mind. Desktop mouse controls arent forgotten, but pinch-zooming is being held up as the best way to use the maps. The product is currently limited to desktops, but a mobile version is expected soon. Microsoft has created an API that will allow developers and educators to build custom stellar tours entirely within The Worldwide Telescope. It can run in a web browser on PC or Mac, but Silverlight is required. There is also a Windows client that can be installed. WWT represents a major step toward the democratization of science, and it has turned the Internet into the worlds best telescopea veritable supercomputer at your desktop. Microsoft Research has dedicated WWT to the memory of Jim Gray, releasing it as a free resource to the astronomy and education communities with the hope that it will inspire and empower people to explore and understand the universe like never before. DEFENCE NirbhaySub-sonic Cruise Missile of India Taking an important step forward to make its missile arsenal more potent, India, on March 12, 2013, testfired first indigenously developed sub-sonic cruise missile Nirbhay(fearless). It was test-fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near here in Balasore district of Odisha. However, the missile failed to hit the target in its maiden test-firing as it had to be terminated midway after deviating from the flight course. DRDO said the missile successfully met the basic mission objectives and performed some of the manoeuvres satisfactorily before being terminated midway. The missile, under development since 2007, has a range of 1,000 kmsimilar to the US Tomahawk, which flies like an aircraft. It has good loitering capability, control and guidance, a high degree of accuracy in terms of impact and very good stealth features. The missile has been developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment, a Defence Research and Development Organization laboratory based at Bangalore. Successful Test of submarine-launched BrahMos On March 20, 2013, India successfully carried out the maiden test-firing of the over 290 km-range submarine-launched version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile in the Bay of Bengal, becoming the first country in the world to have this capability. The missile was successfully test-fired from an underwater pontoon. Ship and ground-launched versions of the missile have been successfully tested and put into service with the Indian Army and the Navy. The maiden test of the submarine-launched version of BrahMos came over a week after indigenously built long-range subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay failed to hit its target in its first test. The BrahMos missile is set be the primary weapon for the Navy in the coming years. While the induction of the first version of BrahMos missile system in the Navy started from 2005 with INS Rajput, it is now fully operational with two regiments of the Army. The Air Force version of the missile is also said to be ready and work is going on to modify two Russian Sukhoi (Su-30) fighter jets to make the aircraft BrahMos compatible.

PERSONS Pope Francis Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina has been elected as the 266th pontiff of the Catholic church. Both an insider and an outsider, he is the first pontiff from Latin America and the first Jesuit. He will be called Pope Francis. The Society of Jesus, as the Jesuits are called, is a teaching and missionary order, long associated with independence from secular authority and a passion for social justice. The new Pope is known for shunning the trappings of high religious office, preferring to travel by bus or subway and to live a humble life. He sent that message Wednesday by wearing a simple white robe for his first appearance as Pope Francis. His name harks back to the legacy of St. Francis of Assisi, the monk who devoted his life to the sick and the poor and who founded the Franciscan order. Known as a conciliator and a man with a strong pastoral vocationunlike Pope Benedict XVI, who was an acclaimed theologian and academicPope Francis faces huge issues: healing divisions in the church; stanching the exodus of parishioners and the dwindling number of vocations among priests; reforming the Curia, the clumsy and scandal-ridden Vatican bureaucracy; and imposing transparency and accountability in the Vatican bank. Born in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936, he is one of several children of working-class Italian immigrants. As a teenager he suffered from a serious chest infection and had a lung removed. He set his youthful aspirations on a career in chemistry, earning a masters degree at the University of Buenos Aires, before finding his vocation and entering the Jesuit seminary of Villa Devoto. After earning a degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of Buenos Aires in 1960, he taught literature and psychology to high-school students for several years before returning to his own theological studies. He was ordained on December 13, 1969. RESEARCH Higgs boson God particle found, confirm CERN scientists Scientists say they are confident that the subatomic particle discovered in 2012 by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is indeed a Higgs boson or the elusive God particle. It remains an open question, however, whether this is the Higgs boson of the Standard Model of particle physics, or possibly the lightest of several bosons predicted in some theories that go beyond the Standard Model. Having analyzed two and a half times more data than was available for the discovery announcement in July 2012, they found that the new particle is looking more and more like a Higgs boson, the particle linked to the mechanism that gives mass to elementary particles. Whether or not it is a Higgs boson is demonstrated by how it interacts with other particles, and its quantum properties. For example, a Higgs boson is postulated to have no spin, and in the Standard Model its paritya measure of how its mirror image behavesshould be positive. CMS and ATLAS have compared a number of options for the spin-parity of this particle, and these all prefer no spin and positive parity. This, coupled with the measured interactions of the new particle with other particles, strongly indicates that it is a Higgs boson. The detection of the boson is a very rare eventit takes around 1 trillion (1012) proton-proton collisions for each observed events. Coordinating Robots to serve humans in future Scientists are developing a team of coordinating robots that could eventually serve humans in future, relying

on networking to accomplish a range of tasks. Researchers in the Sheffield Centre for Robotics of the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, have been working to programme a group of 40 robots, and say the ability to control robot swarms could prove hugely beneficial in a range of contexts, from military to medical. They have demonstrated that the swarm can carry out simple fetching and carrying tasks, by grouping around an object and working together to push it across a surface. The robots can also group themselves together into a single cluster after being scattered across a room, and organize themselves by order of priority. Swarming robots could also have important roles to play in the future of micro-medicine, as nanobots are developed for non-invasive treatment of humans. On a larger scale, they could play a part in military, or search and rescue operations, acting together in areas where it would be too dangerous or impractical for humans to go. In industry too, robot swarms could be put to use, improving manufacturing processes and workplace safety. The programming that the team has developed to control the robots is deceptively simple. For example, if the robots are being asked to group together, each robot only needs to be able to work out if there is another robot in front of it. If there is, it turns on the spot, if there isn't, it moves in a wider circle until it finds one, researchers said. SPACE RESEARCH Astronomers accurately measure distance to nearest Galaxy Astronomers have for the first time accurately measured the distance to one of the Milky Ways neighbouring galaxyand it is just 163,000 light-years away. Scientists using telescopes at European Southern Observatorys La Silla Observatory in Chile as well as others around the globe and found the dwarf galaxy nearby, called the Large Magellanic Cloud, which lies 163,000 light-years away. The new measurement improves scientists knowledge of the rate of expansion of the Universethe Hubble Constantand is a crucial step towards understanding the nature of the mysterious dark energy that is causing the expansion to accelerate. The astronomers worked out the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud by observing rare close pairs of stars, known as eclipsing binaries. As these stars orbit each other they pass in front of each other. When this happens, as seen from Earth, the total brightness drops, both when one star passes in front of the other; and by a different amount when it passes behind. By tracking these changes in brightness very carefully, and also measuring the stars orbital speeds, it is possible to work out how big the stars are, their masses and other information about their orbits. When this is combined with careful measurements of the total brightness and colours of the stars, remarkably accurate distances can be found. This method has been used before, but with hot stars. However, certain assumptions have to be made in this case and such distances are not as accurate as is desirable. But now, for the first time, eight extremely rare eclipsing binaries where both stars are cooler red giant stars have been identified. Third-closest Star System to Sun Discovered

In a first-of-its-kind discovery in nearly a century, NASA scientists have found the third-closest star system to the Sun located only 6.5 light-years away. The pair of newly found stars is the closest star system discovered since 1916. Both stars in the new binary system discovered by NASAs Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) are brown dwarfs, which are stars that are too small in mass to ever become hot enough to ignite hydrogen fusion. As a result, they are very cool and dim, resembling a giant planet like Jupiter more than a bright star like the Sun. The star system is named WISE J104915.57-531906 because it was discovered in an infrared map of the entire sky obtained by WISE. It is only slightly farther away than the second-closest star, Barnards star, which was discovered 6 light-years from the Sun in 1916. The closest star system consists of: Alpha Centauri, found to be a neighbour of the Sun in 1839 at 4.4 lightyears away, and the fainter Proxima Centauri, discovered in 1917 at 4.2 light-years. Grey Mars could have supported life: NASA An analysis of rock samples collected by the Curiosity rover indicates that Mars could have supported living microbes, the American space agency NASA has said. Scientists identified sulphur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbonsome of the key chemical ingredients required to support life in the powder Curiosity drilled out of a sedimentary rock near an ancient stream bed in Gale Crater on the Red Planet in February 2013. The data indicates that the Yellowknife Bay area, which the rover is exploring, was the end of an ancient river system or an intermittently wet lake bed that could have provided chemical energy and other favorable conditions for microbes. The rock is made up of a fine grain mudstone containing clay minerals, sulphate minerals and other chemicals. This wet environment, unlike some others on Mars, was not harshly oxidising, acidic, or extremely salty, NASA said. Scientists were surprised to find a mixture of oxidised, less-oxidised, and even non-oxidised chemicals providing an energy gradient of the sort many microbes on Earth exploit to live. The $2.5 billion nuclear-powered Curiosity has been exploring the planets surface since its dramatic landing on August 6, 2012, for an anticipated two-year mission. Scientists do not expect Curiosity to find aliens or living creaturesthe rover does not have the capability to identify microbial life or fossils, even if they were present today. Japans earthquake heard in space The colossal earthquake that sent a devastating tsunami barrelling into Japan in 2011 was so big it could be heard from space, a study has said. A specially fitted satellite circling the Earth was able to detect the ultralow frequency sound waves generated by the massive shift in the planets crust, when the 9.0-magnitude quake struck. The Gravity Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) is a super-sensitive satellite run by the European Space Agency. Scientists say earthquakes not only create seismic waves that travel through the planets interior, but large tremors also cause the surface of the planet to vibrate like a drum. This produces sound waves that travel upwards through the atmosphere. GOCE is designed to capture and register these signals, acting like an orbital seismologist.

The satellite first recorded the signal as it passed over the Pacific Ocean about 30 minutes after the quake and then again 25 minutes later as it moved across Europe. AlmaLargest Radio Telescopebecomes operational At a cost of US$1.4bn, the Atacama Large Millimeter/Sub millimeter Array, which opened on March 13, 2013, in Chile, promises to start a new era in science by offering insight into unexplored stars and galaxies. It comprises 66 giant radio telescopes destined to observe the sky in millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelengths. They are located more than 5,000m high in the Atacama Desert. That makes it the secondhighest construction in the world, after a train station in the Himalayas. The telescopes are scattered on a large field where rain is very rare; the dry atmosphere facilitates good observations. To achieve the same result of Alma with a traditional telescope, scientists would need to build one so big that it would take up 15 sq. km in surface space. Alma will observe galaxies millions of light-years distant. It will study the clouds of gas and dust that go into making stars and planets. The hope is that its pictures will enable scientists to watch planets actually in the process of construction. Other key objectives include trying to observe important new details about black holes, and attempting to study a galaxy that produces up to 100 suns a day. NASAs Swift satellite helps discover youngest-known supernova remnants NASAs Swift satellite has uncovered the previously unknown remains of a shattered star while performing an extensive X-ray survey of our galaxys central regions. Designated G306.30.9 after the coordinates of its sky position, the new object ranks among the youngest-known supernova remnants in our Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers estimate that a supernova explosion occurs once or twice a century in the Milky Way. The expanding blast wave and hot stellar debris slowly dissipate over hundreds of thousands of years, eventually mixing with and becoming indistinguishable from interstellar gas. Like fresh evidence at a crime scene, young supernova remnants give astronomers the best opportunity for understanding the nature of the original star and the details of its demise. Supernova remnants emit energy across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio to gamma rays, and important clues can be found in each energy band. Using an estimated distance of 26,000 light-years for G306.30.9, the scientists determined that the explosions shock wave is racing through space at about 2.4 million km/h). Express ride to Space Station On March 28, 2013, a crew of two Russians and an American blasted on a Russian rocket for the International Space Station (ISS), in a trip that was the fastest ever manned journey to the facility. The journey time was just six hours, compared with the previous time of over two days. The slash in travel time has been made possible because technological improvements resulting in the Soyuz needing to orbit the Earth four times before docking with the ISS, compared to some 30 orbits that had to be made earlier. The manned express flight came after Russia successfully sent three Progress supply capsules in August, October and February to the station via the short six hour route.

The shortened flight time has several advantages for the crew. Firstly, as the crew only start to experience the tough effects of weightlessness after 4-5 hours of flight they will be in better shape when they arrive at the station for the docking procedure. Also, the reduced time means that the Soyuz capsule will be able to deliver biological materials for experiments aboard the ISS in time before they spoil, something that would not have been possible with a two day trip. MISCELLANEOUS Times Higher Education ranks top-10 institutions in India In its latest World Reputation Rankings for 2013, Times Higher Education magazine, (THE) UK, for the first time, has released an India top-10 list. According to THE India Reputation Rankings, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, is in the first position, followed by IIT Bombay, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), IIT Kanpur and IIT Delhi, respectively. The University of Delhi takes the sixth placethe first full-fledged university on the list. IIT Madras (7), IIT Kharagpur (8), Aligarh Muslim University (9) and University of Hyderabad (10) are the other names, which feature in the list. The reputation rankings, a spin-off of the annual THE World University Rankings, are based on subjective, but expert judgement of senior, published academics. However, globally, not a single Indian institution has made it to the top 100 of the World Reputation Rankings 2013. While Harvard University tops the list, it is followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University. THE revealed that if the rankings were to list more than top-100, IISc Bangalore would be 130th, IIT Bombay in the 192nd place, with all other Indian institutions falling outside the global top-200. Facebook like may tell a lot about your personality Clicking those friendly blue like buttons strewn across the Web may be doing more than marking you as a fan of Coca-Cola or Lady Gaga. It could out you as gay. It might reveal how you vote. It might even suggest that youre an unmarried introvert with a high IQ and a weakness for nicotine. Thats the conclusion of a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers reported analysing the likes of more than 58,000 American Facebook users to make guesses about their personalities and behaviour, and even whether they drank, smoked, or did drugs. Cambridge University researcher David Stillwell, one of the studys authors, said the results may come as a surprise. Facebook launched its like button in 2009, and the small thumbs-up symbol has since become ubiquitous on the social network and common across the rest of the Web as well. According to Facebook, roughly 2.7 billion new likes pour out onto the Internet every day endorsing everything from pop stars to soda pop. That means an ever-expanding pool of data available to marketers, managers, and just about anyone else interested in users inner lives, especially those who arent careful about their privacy settings. When researchers crunched the like data and compared their results to answers given in the personality test, patterns emerged in nearly every direction. Since the study involved people who volunteered access to their data, its unclear if the trends would apply to all Facebook users. The study found that Facebook likes were linked to sexual orientation, gender, age, ethnicity, IQ, religion, politics and cigarette, drug, or alcohol use. The likes also mapped to relationship status, number of Facebook friends, as well as half a dozen different personality traits. Some likes were more revealing than others. Researchers could correctly distinguish between users who identified themselves as black or white 95 percent of the time. That success rate dropped to a still

impressive 88 percent when trying to guess whether a male user was homosexual, and to 85 percent when telling Democrats from Republicans. Identifying drug users was far trickier researchers got that right only 65 per cent of the time, a result scientists generally describe as poor. The linkages ranged from the self-evident to the surreal. Men who liked TV song-and-dance sensation Glee were more likely to be gay. Men who liked professional wrestling were more likely to be straight. Drinking game aficionados were generally more outgoing than, say, fans of fantasy novelist Terry Pratchett. People who preferred pop diva Jennifer Lopez usually gathered more Facebook friends than those who favoured the heavy metal sound of Iron Maiden. Among the more poignant insights was the apparent pre-occupation of children of divorce with relationship issues. For example, those who expressed support for statements such as Never Apologize For What You Feel Its Like Saying Sorry For Being Real or Im The Type Of Girl Who Can Be So Hurt But Still Look At You & Smile were slightly more likely to have seen their parents split before their 21st birthday. Jennifer Golbeck, a University of Maryland computer scientist who wasnt involved in the study but has done similar work, endorsed its methodology, calling it smart and straightforward and describing its results as awesome. Facebook users can change the privacy settings on their likes to put them beyond the reach of researchers, advertisers or nearly anyone else. For the unknown number of users whose preferences are public, the researchers had this advice: Look before you like.

APRIL 2013:
ABBREVIATIONS AAA: Appropriate Arrangement Agreement. ATT: Arms Trade Treaty. HFT: High Frequency Trading. VVPAT: Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (system). AWARDS Jnanpith Award, 2012 Eminent Telugu novelist, short story writer, poet and critic Ravuri Bharadwaja has been selected for the prestigious Jnanpith award for the year 2012, for his contribution to Telugu literature. Mr. Bharadwaja is the third Telugu to be chosen for the honour, after the late Viswanatha Satyanarayana for Ramayana Kalpavruksham (1970) and C. Narayana Reddy for Viswambara(1988). The 86-year-old writer has to his credit 37 collections of short stories, 17 novels, six short novels for children and eight plays. Topping the galaxy of writers of post-Gopichand era, he was first reckoned as a successor to Chalam. But Bharadwaja made a mark of his own by embellishing his writings with distinct characteristics in his inimitable style, diction, portrayal and narration. If Paakuduraallu is a masterpiece that presents a graphic account of life behind the screen in the film industry, and came to be known for its originality and craftsmanship, another novel, Kadambari, is equally acclaimed as an outstanding work. His other notable works are Jeevana Samaram, Inupu Tera Venuka and Koumudi. Kalidas Samman, 2013 Veteran actor Anupam Kher, for his contribution in the field of theater. The Kalidas Samman is a prestigious award presented annually by the government of Madhya Pradesh. It is named after Kalidasa renowned Classical Sanskrit writer of ancient Indiawidely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language with his Meghadutam and Abhigyan Shakuntalam. Dada Saheb Phalke Award, 2012 Veteran actor Pran Sikand, a Hindi cinema villain loved and feared in equal measure by moviegoers. The award, named after the father of Indian cinema, Dada Saheb Phalke, also marked the 100 years of Indian cinema. 93-year-old Pran, who acted in over 400 films in his six-decade-long career, retired from acting in 1998.Beginning his career as a hero in 1940 with Yamala Jat, Pran went on to achieve fame as a villain in numerous films, including classics like Milan,Madhumati and Kashmir Ki Kali. Such was the magic of his unique on-screen villainy, that people stopped naming their children Pran at the height of his fame as an actor. He was equally good when he stepped into character roles and won many hearts as loveable Mangal Chacha in Upkar, thoroughly entertained as street-smart fraud in Victoria No.203, and epitomized on-screen friendship in the role of a rough but kind Pathan in Zanjeer. Pulitzer Prizes, 2013 For Public Service: The Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for its investigation of off-duty police officers who were endangering the lives of citizen. For National Reporting: Reporters at Inside Climate News, an online site in Brooklyn, New York, for their rigorous reports on the flawed regulation of the nations oil pipelines. For International Reporting: David Barboza of The New York Times, for his exposure of corruption at high levels of the Chinese government, including secret wealth owned by relatives of the Prime Minister.

For Investigative reporting: Two reporters for The New York Times, David Barstow and Alejandra Xanic von Bertrab, for their reports on how Wal-Mart used widespread bribery to dominate the market in Mexico. For Explanatory Journalism: The staff of The New York Times, for its coverage of business practices by Apple and other technology companies that illustrates the darker side of a changing global economy for workers and consumers. For Feature Writing: John Branch of The New York Times, for his evocative narrative about skiers killed in an avalanche. For Breaking News Reporting: Denver Post, for its coverage of the deadly mass shooting at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado. For Local Reporting: Brad Schrade, Jeremy Olson and Glenn Howatt of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, for their reporting on a spike in infant deaths at poorly regulated day-care homes that resulted in legislative action. For Commentary: Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal, for his columns on US foreign policy and domestic politics. For Criticism: Philip Kennicott of The Washington Post, for his eloquent and passionate essays on art and social forces. For Editorial Writing: Tim Nickens and Daniel Ruth of the Tampa Bay Times of St. Petersburg, Florida, for work that helped reverse a decision to end fluoridation of the local water supply. For Editorial Cartooning: Steve Sack of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. For photography (Breaking News): Rodrigo Abd, Manu Brabo, Narciso Contreras, Khalil Hamra and Muhammed Muheisen of the Associated Press, for their coverage of the civil war in Syria. For Feature Photography: Javier Manzano, a freelance photographer for Agence France-Presse, for his picture of Syrian rebel soldiers. For Fiction: The Orphan Masters Son by Adam Johnson. For Drama: Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar, a play about a successful corporate lawyer coming to terms with his Pakistani Muslim heritage. For History: Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of Americas Vietnam by Fredrik Logevall, published by Random House, For Biography: The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss, published by Crown. For Poetry: Stags Leap by Sharon Olds, published by Alfred A. Knopf. For general nonfiction: Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America by Gilbert King, published by Harper. For Music: Caroline Shaw, for Partita for 8 Voices. The 97th annual Pulitzer Prizes were awarded by Columbia University and are the most prestigious prizes in US journalism. BOOKS Above All Things Written by Tanis Rideout, the novel tells the story of British climber George Mallorys wife Ruth as she waits for her husband and tends their children. Mallory may have been one of the first men to make it to the top of Mount Everest before perishing on its slopes. The book is based partly on the couples actual letters including some found on Mallorys body in 1999, 75 years after his death. Mallory is famed for saying because its there when asked why he wanted to climb Everest. CYBER SPACE Bitcoin It is an open source P2P digital currency, first described in 2009 by a pseudonymous developer (or developers) Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin is a digital currency, a protocol and a software that enables instant peer to peer transactions, allowing worldwide payments at low or zero processing fees. Bitcoin is one of the first implementations of a concept called crypto-currency. Based on this concept, bitcoin is designed around the idea of a new form of money that uses cryptography to control its

creation and transactions, rather than relying on central authorities. Managing transactions and issuing Bitcoins are carried out collectively by the network. More than $1 billion worth of the digital currency circulates on the web, and interest in the currency is skyrocketing. In many ways, bitcoins function like any other currency. You can buy anything from any company, both online and in the real world, that accepts bitcoins as currency. Rather than trusting in governments or central banks to secure the value of the currency and guarantee transactions, the founder ensured the bitcoin places its trust in mathematics. At the start 2013, a bitcoin was worth $13.51; the price of a singlebitcoin then blasted through the $100 barrier in April 2013, according to Mt Gox, a site where users can swap bitcoins for more traditional currencies. Virtually untraceable bitcoin currency can be swapped anonymously online for almost anything. It is in a sense the digital equivalent of using hard cash and so some have criticized it for facilitating online drug markets. A recent study estimates that $23 million of illicit items are sold for bitcoins every year. According to the Time magazine, the Internet will offer more access to a growing number of such currencies that are beyond national control, and these currencies will be no easier to control than Facebook. Password stealing virus A new virus has been found to be spreading widely in the Indian cyberspace which cleverly steals bank account details and passwords of the user once it is clicked. It is new and suspected variant of malware family called Win32/Ramnit. Ramnit worm spreads by infecting or modifying files existing on target systems such as (exe, dll or html) and creating a new section so as to modify the entry point to that section. The malware steals credentials like file transfer protocol passwords, bank account logins, infects removable media, changes browser settings and downloads and executes arbitrary files. The virus is so deadly and potent, cyber sleuths say, that it has ability to hide itself from anti-virus solutions and acquires various aliases to attack a genuine system or Internet-based connection which works to play emails and other user services. It infects the removable media by copying itself to its recycle bin and creates an autorun.inf file. Once the system is infected, the malware injects its code into windows executables, html files or dlls to communicate with its command and control server, thereby compromising the security of the online system. World Wide Web turns 20 Two decades back, on 30 April 1993, CERN, a European research organisation near Geneva, announced that the World Wide Web would be free, with no fees due. Here are certain interesting facts about the Web: British engineer and computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee, now Director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), wrote a proposal in March 1989 for what would finally become the World Wide Web. On 6 August 1991, the first websitehttp://info.cern.chwent online. A NeXT Computer was used by Sir Tim Berners-Lee as the worlds first web server and also to write the first web browserWorld Wide Webin 1990. It is believed that a turning point in the history of the World Wide Web began with the launch of the Mosaic web browser in 1993. It was a graphical browser developed by a team at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois. Mosaic is the web browser credited with popularizing the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the main international standards organisation for the World Wide Web, was founded by Tim Berners-Lee after he left CERN in October 1994.

Archie is considered to be the first Internet search engine. It was the first tool for indexing FTP archives, allowing people to find specific files. Most people tend to treat the Internet and the Web as synonymous. They, in fact while being related, are not. Internet refers to the vast networking infrastructure that connects millions of computers across the world and the World Wide Web is the worldwide collection of text pages, digital photographs, music files, videos, and animations, which users can access over the Internet. The Web uses the HTTP protocol to transmit data and is only a part of the Internet. The Internet includes a lot that is not necessarily the Web. DEFENCE National Defence University to be set-up near Gurgaon Decks have been cleared for setting up the Indian National Defence University (INDU). The Kargil Review Committee, under K. Subrahmanyam, had recommended setting up of such a university to build a strategic culture in the country. INDU will be a fully autonomous institution and will be located at Binola, near Gurgaon, Haryana. The university will have a mandate to provide knowledge-based higher education for management of defence of the country keeping its participants abreast of emerging security challenges through scholarly research and training. The university will be headed by a Lieutenant General rank or equivalent ranks in Navy and IAF officer. As many as 66 per cent of students would be from the armed forces, whereas 33 per cent of students would be drawn from other government agencies, police and civilians. The teaching faculty will comprise both military personnel and civilians in the ratio of 1:1. PLACES Barmer Vedanta group firm Cairn India announced on April 9, 2013, that it had made the 26th oil discovery in its RJ-ON-90/1 block in Rajasthans Barmer district. Technical evaluations indicate nearly 10 metres of gross oil column within Dharvi Dungar sands in Raageshwari-Tukaram area. Boston Boston was in news when, in a major terror strike on the United States of America, two explosions rocked the Boston Marathon, killing at least three people and injuring over 144 others. Boston Marathon is always held on Patriots Day, on the third Monday in April, which commemorates the earliest battles of the American war for independence. It was first held in 1897 with 18 participants, making it the worlds oldest annual marathon. Women were not officially allowed to participate until 1972. Bobbi Gibb was the first woman to unofficially complete the race in 1966. Bushehr Irans only nuclear power plant is located in this port city. On April 9, 2013, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, with epicentre lying 90 km south of the town, had killed more than 30 people. Chabahar Port India is working on an arrangement with Iran to develop this Port, which will provide India a vital link to transport its goods to war-ravaged Afghanistan. Hyderabad The UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Commissions conference on Sustainable Tourism Development was held here in April 2013. Mount Fuji

The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), a consultative body to UNESCO, has found the almost perfectly conical Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776 metres, appropriate for registering as a World Heritage site. Mt. Fuji covers roughly 172,900 acres in Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures, including five major lakes and the Shiraito Falls, as well as eight Shinto shrines. It is being considered as a cultural heritage site, rather than a natural heritage site. The mountain has nurtured Japan's unique art and culture as it has been depicted in ukiyoe woodblock prints and represents the tradition of mountain worship in Japan. The volcano had last erupted around 300 years ago. Niyamgiri Hills In Odisha, the hills have been in news due to protest by locals on bauxite mining by Vedanta Aluminium and subsequent ban on mining by the Supreme Court of India. The hills are home to more than 8,000 of the Dongria Kondh people, whose lifestyle and religion have helped nurture the areas dense forests and unusually rich wildlife. At the centre of the struggle is the Dongrias sacred mountain, the mountain of law. The Dongrias worship the top of the mountain as the seat of their god and protect the forests there. Vedanta want to mine the bauxite from the top of the same mountain, that could result in the Dongria Kondh losing their livelihood, their identity and the sanctity of their most religious site, according to the people opposing mining in the area. Sichuan A province of China, this place was hit by a powerful earthquake on 20 April 2013 that killed more than 200 people. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake, which had a 6.6 magnitude, was centred 50km west of the town of Linqiong. In 2008 an earthquake in Sichuan had left five million people homeless. Siddheshwar Dhaam The four revered Dhaam of the HindusJagannaath Puri, Dwaraka Puri, Rameshawaram and Badrinath have been replicated in this complex, located at Solophok, Namchi, South Sikkim. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the complex on April 16, 2014. Siddheshwar Dhaam has a 33 m tall statue of Shiv, replicas of 12 Jyotirling, models of sacred chaar dhaam temples and a 5.5 m statue of Kirateshwarthe hunter incarnation of Shiv. It is believed that Lord Shiv, after losing satee in agni kund of Dakshs Yagya, had gone into seclusion and became a hunter in the forests of Sikkim. South Sudan Five Indian army personnel, including a Lieutenant Colonel, serving on a UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, were killed on April 9, 2013, when armed rebels launched an audacious attack on a convoy they were escorting. The 37-member convoy which was heading to Bor town, came under attack near Gumuruk. RESEARCH Worlds Lightest Material developed Chinese scientists at Zhejiang University have developed the worlds lightest substancecarbon aerogel with a density only one sixth of that of the air. The solid material has a density of only 0.16 mg/cubic centimeter, breaking the previous record of the worlds lightest material held by graphite aerogel. The graphite aerogel was developed by German scientists in 2012, with a density of 0.18 mg/cubic centimeter. Aerogel is a material produced with semi-solid gel dried and solvent removed. It appears in a solid state with many internal pores filled with air, and thus its of minimal density. Despite its fragile appearance, carbon aerogel is excellent in elasticity. It can bounce back when compressed. In addition, its one of the materials with biggest oil absorption capacity. Current oil absorbing products can usually absorb organic solvent of about 10 times of their own weight. The carbon aerogel can

absorb up to 900 times its own weight. Carbon aerogel is expected to play an important role in pollution control, in addition to becoming an ideal material for energy storage insulation, catalytic carrier and sound-absorption. New camera that can take 3-D pictures from a km away Researchers have developed a new laser powered camera system that creates high-resolution 3-D images of objects from up to a kilometre away. A standard camera takes flat, 2-D pictures. To get 3-D information, such as the distance to a far-away object, scientists can bounce a laser beam off the object and measure how long it takes the light to travel back to a detector. The technique is called time-of-flight (ToF) navigation systems for autonomous vehicles. The new system works by sweeping a low-power infrared laser beam rapidly over an object. It records, pixel-by-pixel, the round-trip flight time of the photons in the beam as they bounce off the object and arrive back at the source. The system can resolve depth on the millimeter scale over long distances, using a detector that can count individual photons. The ability of the new system to image objects like items of clothing that do not easily reflect laser pulses makes it useful in a wider variety of field situations. The primary use of the system is likely to be scanning static, human-made targets, such as vehicles. With some modifications to the image-processing software, it could also determine their speed and direction. Worlds Smallest Antenna Professor Srikanta Pal, who is with the Birla Institute of Technology in Mesra, and his research scholar Mrinmoy Chakraborty claim to have invented the worlds smallest super compact ultra-wideband (UWB) planar antenna that can find application in homes and the military among other domains. The antenna is just 14 mm X 11 mm, with much more than a 10:1 bandwidth. The antenna is cheap and the goal is to reduce the size so that it can be pasted on any curved surface. The UWB technology brings mobility of wireless communications with high data rates. See-through Brain to help clear mental mysteries Dr Karl Deisseroth has invented a technique to make brains transparent, a breakthrough that should give researchers a truer picture of the pathways underlying both normal mental function and neurological illnesses, from autism to Alzheimers. In fact, the first human brain the scientists clarified came from someone with autism. Deisseroth and his colleagues reported in the online edition of the journal Nature that they had developed a way to replace the opaque tissue in brains (harvested from lab mice or donated by people for research) with hydrogel, a substance similar to that used for contact lenses. The result is see-through brains, their innards revealed in a way no current technique can: Large structures such as the hippocampus show up with the clarity of organs in a transparent fish, and even neural circuits and individual cells are visible. Until now, the only way to trace neural connections was by cutting a brain into ultra-thin slices, examining each slide under a microscope to map the cells and then using a computer to virtually reassemble the slices to reveal the entire circuit. But, slicing deforms the tissue and makes it difficult to work out long-range connections, like those between such far-flung regions as the prefrontal cortex and the amygdale. Deisseroths process, dubbed CLARITY (an anagram for the technique), works by a delicate feat of biochemical engineering. It turns out that what makes the brain opaque are the fatty membranes that surround and support its cells. Removing these layers by brute force, however, would make the brain tissue collapse in a puddle of neuro-glop. Instead, Deisseroth and his colleagues immersed the brains of a three-

month-old mice in a vat of soft, jelly-like hydrogel. Molecules of the hydrogel seeped into the brain and took the place of the lipid bilayers, which were then removed through an electro-chemical process. Once the hydrogel was in place, the scientists heated it to just above body temperature, causing the molecules to connect to one another and form a sturdy mesh that acted like a shell holding in the contents of each brain. After eight days, the scientists had just what they had hoped for: an intact, see-through mouse brain. The hydrogel is not only transparent but also permeable. That allows scientists to infuse into the brain special fluorescent dyes and other molecules that attach to just one of the thousands of different kinds of brain cells, and even to individual proteins and other molecules, turning the circuitry a neuroscientist wants to study into cant-miss hues when viewed in special light. CLARITY has the potential to unmask fine details of brains from people with brain disorders, without losing larger-scale circuit perspective. Ants can sense earthquakes a day in advance Ants can sense earthquakes before they strike and the tiny insects suspend their normal activity till a day after the quake, according to a research by German scientists. Researchers have discovered that red wood ants prefer to build their colonies along active faults, fractures where the Earth ruptures during earthquakes. Gabriele Berberich of the University Duisburg-Essen in Germany has counted more than 15,000 red wood ant mounds lined up along Germanys faults. Berberich and her colleagues, for three years, tracked the ants round the clock with video cameras, using special software to catalogue their behavioural changes. During the study period, 2009 to 2012, there were 10 earthquakes between magnitude 2.0 and 3.2 and many smaller temblors. The ants changed their behaviour only for quakes larger than magnitude 2.0, which also happens to be the smallest quakes that humans can feel. While during the day, ants busily went about their daily activity, at night the colony rested inside the mound, mirroring human diurnal patterns. However, before an earthquake, the ants were awake throughout the night, outside their mound, vulnerable to predators, the researchers found. Normal ant behaviour did not resume until a day after the earthquake. Berberich suspects the insects pick up changing gas emissions or local shifts in the Earths magnetic field. Red wood ants have chemo-receptors for carbon dioxide gradients and magneto-receptors for electromagnetic fields, she said. The research was presented at the European Geosciences Union annual meeting in Vienna. Kolkata scientists achieve a breakthrough in developing hydrogen-based energy source Abhishek Dey and his team at the IACS Kolkatas department of inorganic chemistry have achieved a breakthrough in developing an efficient and bankable hydrogen-based energy source. The scientists hope hydrogen could be used as a source of clean and sustainable fuel to meet ever-increasing global energy needs. The scientists have shown in two different studies that hydrogen can be generated from water in a considerable amount, using two different metals, cobalt and iron, to speed up the reaction. Hydrogen can be produced from natural gas, alcohol, biomass and other non- renewable material. Splitting of water into oxygen and hydrogen currently remains the core method of hydrogen generation. Goodbye QWERTY, hello faster typing with KALQ

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, and their colleagues from the University of St Andrews and Montana Tech claim to have developed a new keyboard for touch-screens that allows superfast thumb-typing, enabling you to type 34 percent faster than on a QWERTY layout. Typing on todays mobile phones and tablets is needlessly slow. One limitation is that the QWERTY layout is ill-suited for tablets and other touch-screen devices when typing with the thumbs. Thumb typing is also ergonomically very different from typing on a physical keyboard. Researchers said it has been established that normal users using a QWERTY on a touch-screen device are limited to typing at a rate of around 20 words per minute, which is slow compared to the rates achieved on physical keyboards. The computational optimization process had two goals: To minimize the moving time of the thumbs and to approximate alternating sides as well as possible. In the new keyboard KALQ, all vowels, with the exception of the letter y are placed in the area for the right thumb, whereas the left thumb gets assigned more keys. To fully benefit from this layout, the users are trained to move their thumbs simultaneously. While one thumb is typing, the other one can move to its next target. Finally, researchers developed probabilistic error correction methods that took into account how thumbs move and also statistical knowledge about how the texts users type. KALQ is expected is to be made available as a free app for Android-based smart-phones. SPACE RESEARCH Breakthrough discovery to help locate neutron stars faster Scientists at National Center for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), Pune, through its Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT), have developed a novel technique of gated imaging to find the location of neutron stars or pulsars in the galaxy. This will help them to find accurate positions of neutron stars in the galaxy, which will go a long way in discovering the existence of gravitational waves, helpful in tracing the evolution of the universe and the existence of extreme events like merging of two super-massive black-holes. The breakthrough technique gives scientists immediate knowledge of the positions of these stars and is said to be a thousand times more accurate and faster than the traditional technique. Suns magnetic heartbeat discovered Scientists claim to have discovered a magnetic solar heartbeat in the Suns deep interior that generates energy which leads to solar flares and sunspots. Researchers developed a new supercomputer simulation to probe the Suns periodic magnetic field reversals. According to the model, every 40 years the Suns zonal magnetic field bands switch their polarity. That cycle is about four times longer than the 11-year sunspot cycle that governs the level of solar activity. Turbulence happens at both large and small scales. When energy from turbulence dissipates, the turbulence flows into smaller and smaller whirlpool shapes, called vortices. On the Sun, dissipation takes place at a scale of tens of yards. That is extremely minute, compared with the huge size of the Sun. NASA approves planet hunting project NASA has approved a $200 million mission to search for Earth-size planets orbiting the nearby stars, and the project will come into full swing within the next four years. The space observatory, called the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), is scheduled for a 2017 launch. The project, led by principal investigator George Ricker, a senior research scientist at MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research (MKI), will use an array of wide-field cameras to perform an all-sky survey

to discover transiting exoplanets, ranging from Earth-sized planets to gas giants, in orbit around the brightest stars in the Suns neighbourhood. TESS relies upon a number of innovations developed by the MIT team over the past seven years, among which is the special new Goldilocks orbit for the spacecraft one which is not too close, and not too far, from both the Earth and the moon. As a result, every two weeks TESS approaches close enough to the Earth for high data-downlink rates, while remaining above the planets harmful radiation belts. This special orbit will keep TESSs sensitive cameras in a very stable temperature range. With TESS, it will be possible to study the masses, sizes, densities, orbits and atmospheres of a large cohort of small planets, including a sample of rocky worlds in the habitable zones of their host stars. Proba-3 mission will call on satellites to fly in sub-millimeter precision The European Space Agency (ESA) wants to bring the sort of precision normally associated with Swiss watch making to satellite navigation. When it launches in 2017, ESAs Proba-3 mission will incorporate the first satellite pair capable of flying in formation to within a tolerance of a millimetre to one another. Its part of a demonstration technology that could one day be used to build space telescopes using formation-flying satellites as a rigid structure that would be impossibly large to achieve in a single spacecraft. Led by SENER of Spain, the Proba project stands for Project for OnBoard Autonomy a name that highlights the fact that the ground control team, based in Redu, Belgium, only need to monitor the spacecraft during working hours. The missions basic task is flying in formation to form a 150-meter long solar corona-graph to study the Sun, with the size of the instrument and the vacuum of space providing enough clarity and resolution to allow Proba-3 to see closer to the solar rim than ever before. To carry out such a task, the two Proba-3 craft must fly in tighter formation than satellites have managed until now to within a millimeter and one second of arc in precision over a distance of 150 meters. This sort of precision is needed because space-based instruments will need to be ever larger if they are to increase their ability to study the universe. Proba-3 will consist of two solar-powered spacecraft based on ESAs standard Proba platform. The larger of the two will be the Coronagraph. Weighing 340 kilograms and measuring 1.1 x 1.8 x 1.7 meters, it will be the active member of the pair that carries out most of the manoeuvres. As the name suggests, it contains the corona-graph for observing the Sun, and optical meteorology sensors. For maneuvering, there will be reaction motors using cold gas thrusters, three gyroscopes, a three-headed star tracker, six sun sensors and two GPS receivers. The other satellite will be the Occulter. This one will be smaller at 200 kilograms and a more compact 0.9 x 1.4 x 0.9 meters. Its job will be to block the Sun for the Corona-graph with a 1.4-meter disk. The planned Proba-3 mission is scheduled for launch in 2017 when the pair will be set in a highly elliptical orbit at a 60-degree inclination, where they will separate and fly in tandem, circling the earth every 19.7 hours. As they fly in formation, the pair will line up with the Sun, with the Occulter forming artificial eclipses. Because of the need to conserve fuel, the satellites wont fly in formation all the time. Instead, they will go into formation while approaching apogee (60,530 km), when theyre travelling slowest, to carry out coronagraph observations. They will then manoeuvre to avoid colliding with each other as they break formation, while approaching perigee (600 km). Using two spacecraft as a corona-graph isnt a first for Proba-3. That honour goes to the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975, when the Apollo spacecraft blocked the Sun for observation by the Soyuz capsule. What is new is the increase in precision from being able to observe the Solar corona out to three solar radii down to 1.04 radii.

Russian becomes oldest person in the world to spacewalk Pavel Vinogradov, 59-year-old Russian cosmonaut, became the worlds oldest spacewalker on 19 April 2013, when he emerged from the hatch for a little maintenance work outside the International Space Station. Previously, the record was held by retired NASA astronaut Story Musgrave, who was 58 when he helped fix the Hubble Space Telescope in 1993. SpaceShipTwo makes history with first rocket-powered flight On 29 April 2013, Virgin Galactics SpaceShipTwo, a private spaceship designed to carry space tourists, made its first rocket-powered test flight, reaching supersonic speeds as it paved the way toward commercial flights in the near future. The vehicle was carried aloft by the mothership WhiteKnightTwo, and then released in midair at an altitude of about 46,000 feet. At that point, SpaceShipTwo test fired its rocket engine, designed to propel the craft the rest of the way up to space. After a short 16-second burn, SpaceShipTwo reached a maximum altitude of 56,000 feet before it flew back to Earth. The trip marked the 26th test flight of the vehicle and the first powered flight, which propelled the ship to Mach 1.2, fast enough to beat the speed of sound, which is 761 miles an hour. Virgin Galactic is backed by British billionaire Richard Branson. If test flights continue to go well, SpaceShipTwo may carry passengers as soon as 2013-end or 2014. Already, more than 500 people have signed up for the flights, which will be run out of Spaceport America in New Mexico once testing is complete. Herschel space observatory stops working Europes Herschel space observatorythe largest infrared telescope ever launchedhas stopped working after exhausting its supply of liquid helium coolant, ending more than three years of pioneering observations of the cool Universe. Instruments on The European Space Agencys (ESA) billion-euro flagship observatory had warmed to levels resulting in the observatory closing its eyes on the Universe. The mission began with over 2300 litres of liquid helium, which had been slowly evaporating since the final top-up the day before Herschels launch on 14 May 2009. The liquid helium was essential to cool the observatorys instruments to close to absolute zero, allowing Herschel to make highly sensitive observations of the cold Universe. Herschel made over 35,000 scientific observations, amassing more than 25,000 hours worth of science data from about 600 observing programmes. A further 2000 hours of calibration observations also contributed to the rich dataset, which is based at ESAs European Space Astronomy Center, near Madrid in Spain. The archive will become the legacy of the mission. It is expected to provide even more discoveries than have been made during the lifetime of the Herschel mission. These unique far-infrared observations had given astronomers a new insight into how turbulence stirs up gas in the interstellar medium, giving rise to a filamentary, web-like structure within cold molecular clouds. MISCELLANEOUS UN World Tourism Organization The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UNWTO promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing

knowledge and tourism policies worldwide. UNWTO encourages the implementation of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, to maximize tourisms socio-economic contribution while minimizing its possible negative impacts, and is committed to promoting tourism as an instrument in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), geared towards reducing poverty and fostering sustainable development. The headquarters of UNWTO are located in Madrid, Spain. High Frequency Trading HFT is a program trading platform that uses powerful computers to transact a large number of orders at very fast speeds. High-frequency trading uses complex algorithms to analyze multiple markets and execute orders based on market conditions. Typically, the traders with the fastest execution speeds will be more profitable than traders with slower execution speeds. It is estimated more than 50% of exchange volume comes from high-frequency trading orders. Aiming to capture just a fraction of a cent per share or currency unit on every trade, high-frequency traders move in and out of such short-term positions several times each day. Fractions of a cent accumulate fast to produce significantly positive results at the end of every day. All portfolio-allocation decisions are made by computerized quantitative models. Specific algorithms are closely guarded by their owners and are known as algos. Many high-frequency traders provide liquidity and price discovery to the markets through market-making and arbitrage trading. Worlds Fastest Data Storage In November 2012, Crays Titan Supercomputer, which is being used at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, earned the crown of Worlds Fastest Supercomputer. Now Oak Ridge hopes to bolster the performance of that supercomputer by building the worlds fastest data storage system. After a competitive bid process, the Laboratory has selected DataDirect Networks to build the file system. The system, which will be named Spider II, will have a capacity of 40 petabytes. If you have a 1 terabyte hard-drive in your computer now, it would take 40,960 of them to have the same memory capacity. And it will transfer that data within Titan at a rate of about 1 terabyte per second. Those specs will give Titans new storage system six times the speed and three times the capacity of its current data storage system. The building blocks of the storage system will be 36 of DDNs SFA12K-40 systems. These systems have a pretty small footprinta rack apiece, which means that Titan will be able to store all that data on just 36 racks. Thats even though the total storage system will comprise over 20,000 hard drives.

MAY 2013:
ABBREVIATIONS IDSN: Indian Deep Space Network. INC: ISRO Navigation Centre. IRNSS: Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. MAVEN: Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (spacecraft). SAFAR: System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research. AVIATION Solar ImpulseSolar-powered plane Solar Impulse, a solar-powered airplane that developers hope to eventually pilot around the world took off on 3 May 2013, from San Francisco Bay on the first leg of an attempt to fly across the United States with no fuel but the suns energy. After stops in Dallas, St. Louis and Washington D.C., with pauses at each destination to wait for favourable weather, the flight team hopes to conclude the plane's cross-country voyage in about two months at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Swiss pilots and co-founders of the project, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, will take turns flying the plane, built with a single-seat cockpit. The project began in 2003 with a 10-year budget of 90 million euros and has involved engineers from Swiss escalator maker Schindler and research aid from Belgian chemicals group Solvay as backers who want to test new materials and technologies while also gaining brand recognition. With the wingspan of a jumbo jet and weighing the same as a small car, the Solar Impulse is a test model for a more advanced aircraft the team plans to build to circumnavigate the globe in 2015. The plane made its first intercontinental flight, from Spain to Morocco, in June 2012. The Solar Impulse can fly after dark on solar energy generated during daylight hours, and will become the first solar-powered aircraft capable of operating day and night without fuel to attempt a US coast-to-coast flight. But the plane is unlikely to set any speed or altitude records. It can climb gradually to 8,500 meters and flies at an average pace of just 69 km per hour. AWARDS Outstanding Parliamentarian Award The recipients of the award are: BJP leader Arun Jaitley for 2010, Congress MP Karan Singh for 2011 and JD(U) MP Sharad Yadav for 2012. The Indian Parliamentary Group had instituted the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in the year 1994. The award is conferred each year on an outstanding parliamentarian recommended by the award committee and approved by the executive committee of the Indian Parliamentary Group. ISRO Young Scientist Award, 2013 Jenita Mary Nongkynrih, a young woman scientist from Meghalaya, has been selected for the award, for her urban information system project in the North East. The award carries a citation and cash of Rs 50,000. Currently working as a scientist at the North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), Umiam, Nongkynrih holds a Masters degree in Geography from the North Eastern Hill University. Green Oscar (Whitley Award), 2013 Aparajit Datta, a young wildlife biologist who converted bird hunters into their saviours in remote forests of

Arunachal Pradesh, has been awarded the 2013 Whitley Award, also known as Green Oscar. She was among the eight conservationists from across the world to win the prestigious award and shared 295,000 pounds as the prize money. Datta leads a programme to conserve hornbills in the Indian Eastern Himalaya at the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), an NGO established in 1996 to promote science-based wildlife conservation in India. Hornbills are prominent birds of Asian tropical forests and Arunachal is home to five hornbill species. But their killing by locals for meat and habitat loss because of shifting cultivation had threatened their existence deep inside forests. World Press Freedom Prize, 2013 UNESCO has awarded Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu the 2013 World Press Freedom Prize for her exceptional courage, resistance and commitment to freedom of expression. She and Eskinder Nega are two of the best-known Ethiopian journalists who have been imprisoned by the Ethiopian government on false charges of terrorism. Templeton Prize, 2013 Desmond Tutu, the former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, has been awarded the Prize for his life-long work in advancing spiritual principles such as love and forgiveness which has helped to liberate people around the world. He rose to world prominence with his stalwartand successfulopposition to South Africas apartheid regime. He combines the theological concept that all human beings are shaped in the image of God, known in Latin as Imago Dei, with the traditional African belief of Ubuntu, which holds that only through others do people achieve humanity. The prize, valued at about $1.7 million, is the worlds largest annual monetary award for the past 40 years. It honours a living person who has made exceptional contributions to affirming lifes spiritual dimension. Man Booker International Prize, 2013 Lydia Davis, the shortest of all short story writers, whose works can be as brief as a single sentence, has won the fifth Man Booker International Prize. The 60,000 honour is presented every two years to a living, non-UK author for a body of work published in English The Massachusetts-born Davis is best known for her short stories, a number of them among the shortest ever published. She has been described as the master of a literary form largely of her own invention. Her work, closer to essayist poems and philosophical monologues than conventional short stories, includes the story collections Break It Down (1986), Samuel Johnson Is Indignant (2002) and Varieties of Disturbance (2007). Typically, her stories run for between three and four pages. But many are as brief as a paragraph, or a sentence. Currently professor of creative writing at the University at Albany, the capital of New York State, Davis is due to publish her next collection of short stories, Cant and Wont, in June 2014. The Booker International prize has previously been awarded to Ismail Kadar in 2005, Chinua Achebe in 2007, Alice Munro in 2009 and Philip Roth in 2011. Shaw Prize, 2013 For Astronomy: Steven A. Balbus and John F. Hawley for their discovery and study of the magneto rotational instability, and for demonstrating that this instability leads to turbulence and is a viable mechanism for angular momentum transport in astrophysical accretion disks. Dr Balbus is Savilian professor of astronomy at the University of Oxford in the UK. Dr Hawley is associate dean for the sciences, and a professor and chair of the astronomy department at the University of Virginia, USA. For Life Science & Medicine: Shared by Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their

discovery of molecular mechanisms underlying circadian rhythms, which are guided by biological clocks and drive the waking and sleeping cycle. Dr Hall is visiting Professor at the University of Maine. Dr Rosbash is Professor of Biology at Brandeis University. Dr. Young is Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor at the Rockefeller University. For Mathematical Sciences: David L. Donoho for his contributions to modern mathematical statistics and in particular the development of optimal algorithms for statistical estimation in the presence of noise and of efficient techniques for sparse representation and recovery in large data-sets. Dr Donoho is Professor of Statistics at Stanford University. Shaw Prize, named after the 105-year-old Hong Kong media titan and philanthropist Run Run Shaw, is often referred to informally as the Nobel Prize of Asia. The annual award marked its 10th anniversary for recognizing scientists and scholars in the fields of astronomy, life science and medicine, and mathematical sciences. Each prize receives US$1 million, and in the case of two or more winners for one prize, the award money is shared. BOOKS Gandhi's Outstanding Leadership Written by former Indian diplomat-turned-Gandhian Pascal Alan Nazareth, its first Chinese version was released at the Peking Universitys Centre for India Studies on 27 May 2013, marking the debut of Gandhian philosophy in a country intensely dominated by the ideology of Mao. Prof Shang Quanyu, a history professor with the South China Normal University, translated the book into Mandarin. DEFENCE MiG-29Ks inducted in to Indian Navy Union Defence Minister AK Antony commissioned MIG-29 K fighter planes into the Indian Navy on 11 May 2013, at INS Hansa naval base in Goa. The squadron has been named INAS 303 Black Panthers. The MIG-29K (K stands for Korabelny meaning Carrier Borne in Russian) is a potent carrier borne fighter, which, once integrated with INS Vikramaditya will bolster the Navys punch with its multi-role capability. The aircraft, armed with its arsenal of weapons, including advanced anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, precious bombs and sophisticated systems to support weapon delivery, will not only be able to dominate the air in all spectrum of conflict but simultaneously project power to meet the nations military objectives. ENVIRONMENT System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research The System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), which provides information about air quality, weather and the current UV index, was launched on 1 May 2013. Pollutants like PM10, PM2.5, CO, NO3, O3 have adverse effects on the respiratory system of humans. These pollutants can also affect blood circulation, cause allergies and cardiovascular diseases. Hence, monitoring these parameters is very essential. Under SAFAR, pollutants will be continuously monitored at ten air quality monitoring stations, established at Bhosari (Growth lab, PCMC), Nigdi Pradhikaran (Jal Shudhikaran Kendra, PCMC), Alandi (MIT), Pashan (IITM), Shivajinagar (Shimala Office), Dhankawadi (Bharati Vidyapeeth), Hadapsar (Lohiya Udyan, PMC), Manjari (VSI), Lohegaon (Pune Airport) and Girinagar (DIAT). The Index rates the pollutants on a scale of good, moderate, poor, very poor and critical. Information would be disseminated in a simple and user-friendly format for the public through digital display boards, SAFAR website, e-mail alerts, SMS alerts and interactive voice response service (IVRS).

UNESCO designates Nicobar Islands as a world biosphere UNESCO has designated Indias Nicobar Islands as a world biosphere reserve under its Man and the Biosphere Programme. Member countries establish such reserves and the world body recognizes them under the programme to promote sustainable development based on local community efforts and sound science. They are considered as sites of excellence, where new and optimal practices to manage nature and human activities are tested and demonstrated. The island chain, home to 1,800 animal species and some of the worlds most endangered tribes, was among 12 new sites added to the global network of biosphere reserves. Such reserves are located in 117 countries and nine of them are now located in India. Other sites added to the list include Pakistans Ziarat Juniper forest and Chinas Snake Island. PLACES Daulat Beg Oldi This area in Ladakh region of J&K was in news due to incursions across the LAC by Chinese troops, up to 19 km inside Indian territory, in end April 2013. Following the incidence, both countries exercised restraint and properly handled the incident through relevant mechanisms, diplomatic channels and border meetings. After prolonged efforts, the Chinese finally agreed to withdraw on 5 May 2013. Daulat Beg Oldi (also known as Oldie, DBO) is a historic camp site. It lies at the easternmost point of the Karakoram Range, just 8 km south of the Chinese border and 9 km northwest of the Aksai Chin Line of Actual Control between China and India. Other than Siachen Glacier military bases, it is Indias northernmost built-up area. The nearest inhabited town is Murgo, which has a small population of Baltis. The Indian Army maintains helipads and a gravel air strip here, the highest airstrip in the world. Routine sorties are carried out using An-32 aircraft to provide relief and supplies to the troops stationed nearby. Katchatheevu The 1974 Agreement signed between India and Sri Lanka had determined Katchatheevu islet as a part of Sri Lanka, and it was ceded by the Indian government. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha has called for India to retrieve the islet as it was ceded without obtaining the approval of both Houses of Parliament. The Tamil Nadu Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on 3 May 2013, stating that in view of the legal invalidity of the 1974 and 1976 Agreements, the Centre should take steps to retrieve Katchatheevu and surrounding areas. The Tamil Nadu government also feels that retrieving the islet will help put an end to the continuing threat to the livelihood of State fishermen by Lankan navy. Oklahoma On 20 May 2013, over 90 people, including 20 children, were killed after a monstrous tornado ripped through this US city, flattening entire neighbourhoods, crushing two elementary schools and turning the area into a war-zone. The tornado, over a km wide, ripped through the area with winds of up to 320 km/h. Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the US State of Oklahoma. The city ranks 30th among United States cities in population, and features one of the largest livestock markets in the world. Since the time weather records have been kept, Oklahoma City had been struck by nine strong tornadoes before the 20 May tornado. On 3 May 3 1999, parts of southern Oklahoma City and nearby communities had suffered one of the most powerful tornadoes on record, an F-5 on the Fujita scale, with wind speeds topping 510 km/h. Rashtriya Smriti The Union government has given approval for the construction of a Rashtriya Smriti at the Samadhis Complex near the Ekta Sthal in New Delhi, to establish a place to perform the last rites of departed national leaders which would include Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Prime Ministers, former Presidents, former VicePresidents, former Prime Ministers and other such leaders as decided from time to time.

Thanjavur To strengthen Indias presence over Indian Ocean region, a fighter aircraft base has been established here. It was inaugurated on 27 May 2013. IAF has stationed its most lethal Su-30MKI combat aircraft here. This is the first ever fighter base in southern peninsula area of India. The full Sukhoi squadron (16 to 18 jets) will be deployed at the base by 2017-18. So far India has inducted over 170 of the 272 Sukhoi-30MKIs contracted from Russia. Pune and Bareilly already have housed two Sukhoi squadrons each, while Tezpur, Chabua, Halwara and Jodhpur have a squadron each. Thanjavur, formerly Tanjore, is the headquarters of the Thanjavur District of Tamil Nadu. Scholars believe the name Thanjavur is derived from Tanjan, a legendary demon in Hindu mythology. The city first rose to prominence during the reign of medieval Cholas when it served as the capital of the empire. After the fall of Cholas, the city was ruled by various dynasties like Pandyas, Vijayanagar, Madurai Nayaks etc. It is an important centre of South Indian art and architecture. Most of the Chola temples, which are UNESCO World Heritage monuments, are located in and around Thanjavur. The foremost among these, the Brihadeeswara Temple, is located in the centre of the city. Thanjavur is also home to Tanjore painting, a painting style unique to the region. RESEARCH NASA Rover to explore Greenland Ice sheet On 3 May 2013, NASA sent a six feet-tall solar-powered rover prototype designed for ice exploration on highest part of Greenlands massive ice sheet. The robot, known as GROVER, which stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research, will roam the frigid landscape collecting measurements to help scientists better understand changes in the massive ice sheet. This autonomous, solar-powered robot carries a ground-penetrating radar to study how snow accumulates, adding layer upon layer to the ice sheet over time. Scientists at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, expect GROVER to detect the layer of the ice sheet that formed in the aftermath of that extreme melt event. Research with polar rovers costs less than aircraft or satellites, the usual platforms. GROVER will be joined on the ice sheet in June by another robot, named Cool Robot, developed at Dartmouth College, Hanover. This rover can tow a variety of instrument packages to conduct glaciological and atmospheric sampling studies. The robot is powered entirely by solar energy, so it can operate in pristine polar environments without adding to air pollution. The panels are mounted in an inverted V, allowing them to collect energy from the Sun and sunlight reflected off the ice sheet. A ground-penetrating radar powered by two rechargeable batteries rests on the back of the rover. The radar sends radio wave pulses into the ice sheet, and the waves bounce off buried features, informing researchers about the characteristics of the snow and ice layers. Because the Sun never dips below the horizon during the Arctic summer, GROVER can work at any time during the day. Samsung tests 5G wireless technology Samsung Electronics has successfully tested super-fast fifth-generation (5G) wireless technology that would eventually allow users to download an entire movie in one second. The South Korean giant said the test had

witnessed data transmission of more than one gigabyte per second over a distance of two kilometres. However, the new technology will not be ready for the commercial market before 2020 at the earliest. Samsung said it had found a way to harness millimeter-wave bands which have proved to be a sticking point for the mobile industry to date. The test used 64 antenna elements, which the tech titan said overcame the issue of unfavourable propagation characteristics that have prevented data travelling across long distances using the bands. One of the most wired countries on earth, South Korea already has around 20 million 4G users. SPACE RESEARCH Take poems to Mars NASA is giving the public an opportunity to send a message to Mars aboard the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft (MAVEN). The spacecraft will bring along with it a DVD containing three haikus, along with the name of their authors as part of the Going To Mars project to publicize the spacecrafts mission. The Going to Mars campaign offers people worldwide a way to make a personal connection to space, space exploration and science in general, and share in our excitement about the MAVEN mission, said Stephanie Renfrow, lead for the MAVEN Education and Public Outreach program at University of Colorado, Boulders Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. Along with ferrying the publics haikus to the Red Planet, the spacecraft is being sent to investigate what caused the loss of Mars atmosphere and water. The probe will gather data about the evolution of Mars climate to examine why the planet lost 99% of its atmosphere over millions of years. The submission deadline for poetry is July 1, and the public will be able to vote for their favorites starting July 15. Just three haikus will be selected to join MAVEN on its Martian journey. The contest is open to anyone on planet Earth over 18. The poem must be three lines: five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second, and five again in the third. Opportunity Mars rover breaks US off-planet driving record NASAs long-lived Opportunity Mars rover is the new US champion of off-planet driving, breaking a distance record set more than 40 years ago by an Apollo moon buggy. The six-wheeled Opportunity rover drove 80 meters on 15 May, bringing its total odometry on the Red Planet to 35.760 kilometres. The previous mark had been held by the Apollo 17 moon rover, which astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt drove for 35.744 km across the lunar surface in December 1972. Opportunity still trails another robot for the international distance record. The Soviet Unions remotecontrolled Lunokhod-2 rover had travelled 37 km on the moon in 1973. The golf-cart-size Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, landed on Mars in January 2004 on three-month missions to search for signs of past water activity on the Red Planet. They found plenty of such evidence and since then have been roving around the planet. Spirit stopped communicating with Earth in 2010 and was declared dead a year later. But Opportunity is still going strong, exploring the rim of Mars Endeavour Crater. ISRO Navigation Centre On 28 May 2013, ISRO opened a navigation centre near Bangalore for a proposed Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), a constellation of seven spacecraft that will enable users to know their location and time accurately. Located in the Deep Space Network (DSN) complex of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at Byalalu, about 40 km from Bangalore, the navigation centre will function as the main ground station for the

satellite system. The satellite system will be equipped with high precision atomic clocks and transmit navigation signals to multiple users round the clock. The navigation centre will also be responsible for the time reference, generation of navigation messages and monitoring and control of ground facilities, including ranging stations. A network of 21 ranging stations located across the country will provide data for the orbit determination of the satellites and monitoring of the navigation signal. The data from the ranging and monitoring stations is relayed to the data processing facility at the centre on real-time basis to generate navigation messages, which are in turn transmitted to the satellites through the spacecraft control facility of the space agency at Hassan in Karnataka (180 km from Bangalore) and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. The navigation satellite system will provide two types of servicesstandard positioning service for civilian use and restricted service, which is encrypted, for authorized users (military and security).

JUNE 2013:
ABBREVIATIONS OMO: Open Market Operation (OMO). CYBER SPACE Google launches worlds first tablet caf Among the washer women, carpenters, busy waiters and squabbling children sweltering under the midday sun on this dusty Dakar street an internet revolution is taking place in the worlds first tablet cafe. In this sub-Saharan Africa town, a grey concrete building stands out with a garish sign advertising the Tablette Cafe. The concept, introduced by the internet search giant, is a simple twist on the traditional cyber cafes which have been springing up across Africa as the internet boom takes hold, ditching PCs for tablet computers. When Medoune Seck, 33, opened his Equinoxe cyber cafe six years ago, he quickly discovered that frequent power cuts and exorbitant electricity bills were a major headache for him and his customers. Then along comes Google which offered funding to turn one cyber cafe in Africa into a pilot tablet cafe. Seck applied and his cyber cafe was picked. Tablet cafes could take hold in Africa because most people cannot afford to buy the devices, and tablets use batteries and mobile data connections which make them immune to power cuts. Although tablets cost more than PCs, they save on power bills as they consume 25 times less electricity. Google launches Internet-beaming balloons Wrinkled and skinny at first, the translucent, jellyfish-shaped balloons that Google released in second week of June 2013, from a frozen field in the heart of New Zealands South Island, hardened into shiny pumpkins as they rose into the blue winter skies above Lake Tekapo, passing the first big test of a lofty goal to get the entire planet online. It was the culmination of 18 months work on what Google calls Project Loon. Developed in the secretive X lab that came up with a driverless car and web-surfing eyeglasses, the flimsy helium-filled inflatables beam the Internet down to earth as they sail past on the wind. Still in their experimental stage, the balloons were the first of thousands that Googles leaders eventually hope to launch 20 kilometres into the stratosphere in order to bridge the gaping digital divide between the worlds 4.8 billion unwired people and their 2.2 billion plugged-in counterparts. If successful, the technology might allow countries to leapfrog the expense of laying fiber cable, dramatically increasing Internet usage in places such as Africa and Southeast Asia. The first person to get Google Balloon Internet access was Charles Nimmo, a farmer and entrepreneur in the small town of Leeston. Nimmo got the Internet for about 15 minutes before the balloon transmitting it sailed on past. Googles balloons fly free and out of eyesight, scavenging power from card table-sized solar panels that dangle below and gather enough charge in four hours to power them for a day as the balloons sail around the globe on the prevailing winds. Far below, ground stations with Internet capabilities about 100 kilometers apart bounce signals up to the balloons. The signals hop forward, from one balloon to the next, along a backbone of up to five balloons. Each balloon would provide Internet service for an area of around 1,250 square kilometers, and terrain is not a challenge. They could stream Internet into Afghanistans steep and winding Khyber Pass or Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, a country where the World Bank estimates four out of every 100 people are online.

DEFENCE IAF inducts its first heavy-lift C-17 Globemaster III The first of the 10 US-made Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft landed at the Hindon airbase on 18 June 2013. The aircraft will enhance the operational potential of the IAF with its payload carriage and performance capability. It would also augment the strategic reach during disaster relief and similar missions. The induction of C-17 (ordered for $4.1 billion) is a major milestone in the modernization of the IAF. Five C17 aircraft will be delivered in 2013, while the remaining five will come in 2014. With the completion of the order, India will become the largest C-17 operator outside the US. Each plane has a carrying capacity of 74 tonne, which is more than double the capacity of the IAFs existing heavy-lift aircraft-Soviet-origin IL-76. The new acquisition will play a crucial role in any force projection along the 4,057-km-long frontier with China. The plane can land at small forward airbases on semi-prepared runways, termed as advanced landing grounds (ALGs) in the Indian Defence Ministrys parlance. Such ALGs exist in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. The aircraft can also land on unprepared sand runways with a clearance of 3,000 feet even while carrying its full load of 74 tonne. The aircrafts real use will be for carrying heavy equipment such as tanks or helicopters. It has an endurance of 4,500 km, hence allowing India to dominate its area of interest from the straits of Malacca in east to the Persian Gulf in west. INS Trikand commissioned On 29 June 2013, in a boost to its naval prowess, India inducted a Russian-built guided missile warship, INS Trikand, into the Navy at a shipyard in Kaliningrad, Russia. The commissioning of INS Trikand marked 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 and are now undertaking operations as part of the Western Fleet. 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 ship is powered by four gas turbines and is capable of speeds in excess of 30 knots. DISASTER MANAGEMENT Network of laboratories for managing epidemics and natural calamities The Union government has approved two Health Ministry proposals for setting up a network of laboratories for managing epidemics and natural calamities in India, and research units in 80 government medical colleges. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has cleared the proposal to establish 10 regional labs, 30 State level labs and another 120 labs in medical colleges in the country to manage epidemics and natural calamities. The initiative will greatly help in building capacity for handling viral diseases in the country in terms of early and timely diagnosis, development of tools to predict viral disease outbreaks beforehand, continuous monitoring and surveillance of existing as well as new viral strains and handling viruses with a potential to be used as agents of bio-terrorism. The move will also enable smooth data flow from epidemic sites, and create an efficient knowledge

management network for policy interventions through quick deployment of resources, introduction of preventive strategies and new vaccines, among others. The proposal involves a total expenditure of Rs 646.83 crore, of which the Centre will spend Rs 485 crore, the remaining amount being the States contribution to set up the laboratories. DISCOVERY Archicebus achilles could be humanitys earliest primate cousin A tiny primate that lived 55 million years ago has provided new clues about the origins of the primate ancestors of humans. The mouse-sized fossil, which was discovered in China, is the earliest known cousin of humans yet to be found. Scientists believe the creature, which has been named Archicebus achilles, provides new insights into where our ancestors first evolved. Rather than evolving in Africa as was believed in the past, the discovery supports theories that monkeys, apes and humans first appeared in Asia. Researchers say Archicebus belongs on a branch of the primate evolutionary tree that eventually evolved into tarsiers, small mammals with big round eyes that live in Asia. The fossilized skeleton has some featureslike a characteristic heel bonethat are still found in our closest animal relatives today. This suggests that the animal probably appeared on Earth very shortly after diverging from the group of animals that includes monkeys and humans. The fossil, which is named after the Greek God Achilles due to an odd heel bone it has, was discovered in a slab of slate in the Jingzhou area of eastern China, just south of the Yangtze river, by a local farmer around 10 years ago. The scientists then spent 10 years analysing the fossil using advanced imaging facilities at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France. This allowed them to peer inside the rock to look at details of the skeleton that were hidden and produce a three dimensional image of the remains. They believe Archicebus, which was less than three inches long and would have weighed between 20 to 30 grams, had feet like a small monkey, beady little eyes and sharp molar teeth. It probably ate insects and lived in the branches of the tropical forests that would have covered the area at the start of the Eocene, when mammals started to dominate the Earth. PLACES Enniskillen The 2013 G-8 Summit was held here. Enniskillen is a town and civil parish in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. Rancho Mirage Rancho Mirage is a resort city in Riverside County, California, United States. US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping secluded themselves here on 7 June 2013 for a two-day Summit meeting. Xi made his first trip to the United States as President, months after taking control of the full machinery of the Chinese State, and US-based China watchers saw the talks as the most significant Sino-US summit in years. PROJECTS ONGCs Gas-based power plant in Tripura dedicated to the nation On 21 June 2013, President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the Rs 3,429-crore power project of Stateowned Oil and Natural Gas Corp's (ONGC) in Tripura. The first unit of the 726.6 MW gas-based power plant, located at Palatana in Tripura, had started generating electricity in October 2012. The Rs 3,429 crore project has been built by through a special purpose vehicle, ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC). ONGC holds 50 per cent stake in the company while Infrastructure Leasing and Financial

Service Ltd (IL&FS) has 26 per cent. Government of Tripura has 0.5 per cent equity. Sources said ONGC has built the project to monetise natural gas reserves it has discovered in Tripura. These reserves are yet to be commercially developed due to low industrial demand in the North-Eastern region. The complexities of logistics and attendant costs limit the economic viability of transportation of gas to other parts of the country where gas is in deficit. Power generated at the plant will be evacuated through a 400 kV Transmission system connecting Palatana (generation project site) in Tripura to Bongaigaon in Assam over a distance of around 650 km. The power project, whose foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in October 2005, will help solve the power crisis of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura. The project was also a hallmark of cooperation between India and Bangladesh, which ensured smooth passage of heavy project equipment and turbines to Palatana through its territory by road and waterways, from Haldia port in West Bengal. Indias longest rail tunnel A 11-km railway tunnel across the Pir Panjal mountain range, inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 26 July 2013, is not only the longest such in India but an engineering marvel and a dream come true for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. It took seven years for thousands of men, most of them highly-trained and skilled in tunnel building, who braved geographical constraints and inclement weather to build the all-weather tunnel. Some of the tunnel boring machineryan improved Austrian versionwas used for the first time on such a large scale in the country during the laying of the tunnel. A three-metre-wide road has also been provided inside the tunnel for maintenance and relief and rescue operations in the event of any eventuality. The tunnel has been made water-proof by providing a continuous PVC membrane between the primary and secondary lining. It is also equipped with state-of-the-art air quality monitoring, communications, firefighting and emergency rescue systems. Built at a cost of Rs.1,300 crores, the tunnel has reduced the surface distance between the Qazigund town in the Valley and Banihal town in the Jammu region by 18 km, besides providing an all-weather surface link between the two regions. SPACE RESEARCH Albert Einstein, Europes largest spaceship European Space Agencys (ESA) fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle, Albert Einsteinthe heaviest spacecraft ever launched by Europe, completed a flawless rendezvous with the International Space Station on 15 June 2013. The 20-tonne ferry flew autonomously and docked with the 420-tonne complex with a precision of a few cm as both circled Earth at 28 000 km/h. The rendezvous and docking were performed autonomously by ATVs own computers, closely monitored by flight controllers from ESA and Frances CNES space agency at the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France, and by Luca Parmitano and his crew-mates on the Station. Like its predecessors, ATV-4 is much more than a simple supply vessel: it is a space tug, a tanker, a freighter and a temporary habitation module.

To compensate for the natural decay in altitude of the Stations orbit caused by atmospheric drag, it is loaded with 2580 kg of propellant to perform regular re-boosts. It can even move the entire space complex out of the path of hazardous space debris. ATV also provides attitude control when other spacecraft are approaching the Station. In its tanks, it carried 860 kg of propellant, 100 kg of oxygen and air, and 570 kg of drinking water, all to be pumped into the Stations tanks. In its pressurised cargo module, it carried more than 1400 items packed into 141 bags, including 2480 kg of dry cargo such as scientific equipment, spare parts, food and clothes for the astronauts. Chinese astronauts give physics lessons from space Three astronauts gave Chinas first physics lesson from space in a live broadcast from the Tiangong-1 orbital capsule some 340 kilometres above Earth on 20 June 2013. Wang Yaping, Chinas second woman in space, led the one-hour lesson, which was broadcast live on national television and to several hundred schoolchildren in a Beijing theatre. She demonstrated gravity, pendulum movement, gyroscopic motion and the surface tension of water in space. She was aided by her two crew members on the Shenzhou-10 mission, Nie Haisheng and Zhang Xiaoguang. Launched on 11 June 2013, on a 15-day mission, the Shenzhou-10 spacecraft docked with Tiangong-1 on 13 June to form a small space laboratory. It was Chinas fifth and longest scheduled manned space mission and marked a key step towards Chinas goal of assembling a permanent space station by 2020. In 2003, China had become the third nation to launch an astronaut into space, after Russia and the United States. MISCELLANEOUS Curtains on Telegram Smartphones, email and SMS seem to have pushed the humble telegram service to a quiet corner, with the BSNL deciding to discontinue the 160-year-old telegraph service from 15 July 2013. Once the main source of quick and urgent communication, the service delivered much happy and sad news to people across the country, but with the advent of technology and newer means of communication, the telegram found itself edged out. Rupee weakening against dollar The recent bout of weakness in rupee vis-a-vis the dollar was fuelled by the prospect of the unwinding of the bond purchase programme of the US Federal Reserve. The US Fed had been printing money to bolster its economy. Once there are signs of some strength in the US economy, it will start winding down the programme of adding more money into the system. A possible winding down of the asset purchase programme of the US Fed and improvement in the health of the US economy strengthen the US dollar. Investors started withdrawing investments from emerging markets such as India and chasing assets in the US, since assets in a strengthening US economy are seen as attractive. The outflow of money from emerging markets, including India, lead to currency weakness. Concerns over the pace of economic reforms, the health of the domestic economy and a yawning trade deficit also impacted the rupee.

Financial, Economic or Banking Terms

What is corporate governance? (For more click here) The way in which a company is governed and how it deals with the various interests of its customers, shareholders, employees and society at large. Corporate governance is the set of processes, customs, policies, laws, and institutions affecting the way a corporation (or company) is directed, administered or controlled. Is defined as the general set of customs, regulations, habits, and laws that determine to what end a firm should be run.

Functions of RBI? The Reserve Bank of India is the central bank of India, was established on April 1, 1935 in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. The Reserve Bank of India was set up on the recommendations of the Hilton Young Commission. The commission submitted its report in the year 1926, though the bank was not set up for nine years.To regulate the issue of Bank Notes and keeping of reserves with a view to securing monetary stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage." Banker to the Government: performs merchant banking function for the central and the state governments; also acts as their banker. Banker to banks: maintains banking accounts of all scheduled banks.

What is monetary policy? A Monetary policy is the process by which the government, central bank, of a country controls (i) the supply of money, (ii) availability of money, and (iii) cost of money or rate of interest, in order to attain a set of objectives oriented towards the growth and stability of the economy.

What is Fiscal Policy? Fiscal policy is the use of government spending and revenue collection to influence the economy. These policies affect tax rates, interest rates and government spending, in an effort to control the economy. Fiscal policy is an additional method to determine public revenue and public expenditure.

What is Core Banking Solutions?

Core banking is a general term used to describe the services provided by a group of networked bank branches. Bank customers may access their funds and other simple transactions from any of the member branch offices. It will cut down time, working simultaneously on different issues and increasing efficiency. The platform where communication technology and information technology are merged to suit core needs of banking is known as Core Banking Solutions.

What is bank and its features and types? A bank is a financial organization where people deposit their money to keep it safe. Banks play an important role in the financial system and the economy. As a key component of the financial system, banks allocate funds from savers to borrowers in an efficient manner. Regional Rural Banks were established with an objective to ensure sufficient institutional credit for agriculture and other rural sectors. The RRBs mobilize financial resources from rural / semi-urban areas and grant loans and advances mostly to small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers and rural artisans. The area of operation of RRBs is limited to the area as notified by GoI covering one or more districts in the State. ii. Banking services for individual customers is known as retail banking. iii. A bank that deals mostly in but international finance, long-term loans for companies and underwriting. Merchant banks do not provide regular banking services to the general public iv. Online banking (or Internet banking) allows customers to conduct financial transactions on a secure website operated by their retail or virtual bank. v. Mobile Banking is a service that allows you to do banking transactions on your mobile phone without making a call , using the SMS facility. Is a term used for performing balance checks, account transactions, payments etc. via a mobile device such as a mobile phone. vi. Traditional banking is the normal bank accounts we have. Like, put your money in the bank and they act as a security and you will get only the normal interests (decided by RBI in our case, FED bank in US).

vii. Investment banking is entirely different. Here, people who are having so much money (money in excess which will yield only less interest if in Banks) will invest their money and get higher returns. For example, If i have more money instead of taking the pain of investing in share market, buying properties etc. I will give to investment banks and they will do the money management and give me higher returns when compared to traditional banks.

What is E-Governance? E-Governance is the public sectors use of information and co mmunication technologies with the aim of improving information and service delivery, encouraging citizen participation in the decision-making process and making government more accountable, transparent and effective.

What is Right to information Act? The Right to Information act is a law enacted by the Parliament of India giving citizens of India access to records of the Central Government and State Governments. The Act applies to all States and Union Territories of India, except the State of Jammu and Kashmir - which is covered under a State-level law. This law was passed by Parliament on 15 June 2005 and came fully into force on 13 October 2005.

Credit Rating Agencies in India? The credit rating agencies in India mainly include ICRA and CRISIL. ICRA was formerly referred to the Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of India Limited. Their main function is to grade the different sector and companies in terms of performance and offer solutions for up gradation. The credit rating agencies in India mainly include ICRA and CRISIL(Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited)

What is Cheque? Cheque is a negotiable instrument instructing a Bank to pay a specific amount from a specified account held in the maker/depositor's name with that Bank. A bill of exchange drawn on a specified banker and payable on demand. Written order directing a bank to pay money.

What is demand Draft?

A demand draft is an instrument used for effecting transfer of money. It is a Negotiable Instrument. Cheque and Demand-Draft both are used for Transfer of money. You can 100% trust a DD. It is a banker's check. A check may be dishonored for lack of funds a DD cannot. Cheque is written by an individual and Demand draft is issued by a bank. People believe banks more than individuals.

What is a NBFC? A non-banking financial company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 and is engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares/stock/bonds/debentures/securities issued by government, but does not include any institution whose principal business is that of agriculture activity, industrial activity, sale/purchase/construction of immovable property. NBFCs are doing functions akin to that of banks; however there are a few differences: (i)A NBFC cannot accept demand deposits (demand deposits are funds deposited at a depository institution that are payable on demand -- immediately or within a very short period -- like your current or savings accounts.) (ii) it is not a part of the payment and settlement system and as such cannot issue cheques to its customers; and (iii) Deposit insurance facility of DICGC is not available for NBFC depositors unlike in case of banks.

Diff between banking & Finance? Finance is generally related to all types of financial, this could be accounting, insurances and policies. Whereas banking is everything that happens in a bank only. The term Banking and Finance are two very different terms but are often associated together. These two terms are often used to denote services that a bank and other financial institutions provide to its customers.

What is NASSCOM ? The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the Indian chamber of commerce is a consortium that serves as an interface to the Indian software industry and Indian BPO industry. Maintaining close interaction with the Government of India in formulating National IT policies with specific focus on IT software and services

maintaining a state of the art information database of IT software and services related activities for use of both the software developers as well as interested companies overseas. Mr. Som Mittal President. Chairman-Pramod Bhasin

What is ASSOCHAM? The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), India's premier apex chamber covers a membership of over 2 lakh companies and professionals across the country. It was established in 1920 by promoter chambers, representing all regions of India. As an apex industry body, ASSOCHAM represents the interests of industry and trade, interfaces with Government on policy issues and interacts with counterpart international organizations to promote bilateral economic issues. PresidentSwati Piramal

What is NABARD? NABARD was established by an act of Parliament on 12 July 1982 to implement the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act 1981. It replaced the Agricultural Credit Department (ACD) and Rural Planning and Credit Cell (RPCC) of Reserve Bank of India, and Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC). It is one of the premiere agency to provide credit in rural areas. NABARD is set up as an apex Development Bank with a mandate for facilitating credit flow for promotion and development of agriculture, small-scale industries, cottage and village industries, handicrafts and other rural crafts.

What is SIDBI? The Small Industries Development Bank of India is a state-run bank aimed to aid the growth and development of micro, small and medium scale industries in India. Set up in 1990 through an act of parliament, it was incorporated initially as a wholly owned subsidiary of Industrial Development Bank of India.

What is SENSEX and NIFTY? SENSEX is the short term for the words "Sensitive Index" and is associated with the Bombay (Mumbai) Stock Exchange (BSE). The SENSEX was first formed on 1-1-1986 and used the market capitalization of the 30 most traded stocks of BSE. Whereas NSE has 50 most traded stocks of NSE.SENSEX IS THE INDEX OF BSE. AND NIFTY IS THE INDEX OF

NSE.BOTH WILL SHOW DAILY TRADING MARKS. Sensex and Nifty both are an "index. An index is basically an indicator it indicates whether most of the stocks have gone up or most of the stocks have gone down.

What is SEBI? SEBI is the regulator for the Securities Market in India. Originally set up by the Government of India in 1988, it acquired statutory form in 1992 with SEBI Act 1992 being passed by the Indian Parliament. Chaired by C B Bhave.

What is Mutual funds? Mutual funds are investment companies that pool money from investors at large and offer to sell and buy back its shares on a continuous basis and use the capital thus raised to invest in securities of different companies. The mutual fund will have a fund manager that trades the pooled money on a regular basis. The net proceeds or losses are then typically distributed to the investors annually.

What is Asset Management Companies? A company that invests its clients' pooled fund into securities that match its declared financial objectives. Asset management companies provide investors with more diversification and investing options than they would have by themselves. Mutual funds, hedge funds and pension plans are all run by asset management companies. These companies earn income by charging service fees to their clients.

What are non-performing assets? Non-performing assets, also called non-performing loans, are loans, made by a bank or finance company, on which repayments or interest payments are not being made on time. A debt obligation where the borrower has not paid any previously agreed upon interest and principal repayments to the designated lender for an extended period of time. The nonperforming asset is therefore not yielding any income to the lender in the form of principal and interest payments.

What is Recession? A true economic recession can only be confirmed if GDP (Gross Domestic Product)growth is negative for a period of two or more consecutive quarters.

What is foreign exchange reserves?

Foreign exchange reserves (also called Forex reserves) in a strict sense are only the foreign currency deposits and bonds held by central banks and monetary authorities. However, the term in popular usage commonly includes foreign exchange and gold, SDRs and IMF reserve positions.

Banking and Finance terms in India - 2010

What is Open Market operations(OMO)? The buying and selling of government securities in the open market in order to expand or contract the amount of money in the banking system by RBI. Open market operations are the principal tools of monetary policy. What is Micro Credit? It is a term used to extend small loans to very poor people for self-employment projects that generate income, allowing them to care for themselves and their families. What is Liquidity Adjustment Facility(LAF)? A tool used in monetary policy that allows banks to borrow money through repurchase agreements. This arrangement allows banks to respond to liquidity pressures and is used by governments to assure basic stability in the financial markets.

What is RTGS System? The acronym 'RTGS' stands for Real Time Gross Settlement. RTGS system is a funds transfer mechanism where transfer of money takes place from one bank to another on a 'real time' and on 'gross' basis. This is the fastest possible money transfer system through the banking channel. Settlement in 'real time' means payment transaction is not subjected to any waiting period. The transactions are settled as soon as they are processed. 'Gross settlement' means the transaction is settled on one to one basis without bunching with any other transaction.

 What is Banc assurance? It is the term used to describe the partnership or relationship between a bank and an insurance company whereby the insurance company uses the bank sales channel in order to sell insurance products. What is Wholesale Price Index(WPI)? The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is the index used to measure the changes in the average price level of goods traded in wholesale market. A total of 435 commodity prices make up the index. It is available on a weekly basis. It is generally taken as an indicator of the inflation rate in the Indian economy. The Indian Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was first published in 1902, and was used by policy makers until it was replaced by the Producer Price Index (PPI) in 1978. What is Consumer price Index(CPI)? It is a measure estimating the average price of consumer goods and services purchased by households. What is Venture Capital? Venture capital is money provided by an outside investor to finance a new, growing, or troubled business. The venture capitalist provides the funding knowing that theres a significant risk associated with the companys future profits and cash flow. Capital is invested in exchange for an equity stake in the business rather than given as a loan, and the investor hopes the investment will yield a better-than-average return. What is a Treasury Bills? Treasury Bills (T-Bills) are short term, Rupee denominated obligations issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on behalf of the Government of India. They are thus useful in managing short-term liquidity. At present, the Government of India issues three types of treasury bills through auctions, namely, 91-day, 182-day and 364-day. There are no treasury bills issued by State Governments.

 What is Banking Ombudsmen Scheme? The Banking Ombudsman Scheme enables an expeditious and inexpensive forum to bank customers for resolution of complaints relating to certain services rendered by banks. The Banking Ombudsman is a senior official appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to redress customer complaints against deficiency in certain banking services. The Banking Ombudsman Scheme was first introduced in India in 1995, and was revised in 2002. The current scheme became operative from the 1 January 2006, and replaced and superseded the banking Ombudsman Scheme 2002. What is Subsidy? A subsidy is a form of financial assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or to encourage it to hire more labor. What is a Debenture? How many types of debentures are there? What are they? A debenture is basically an unsecured loan to a corporation. A type of debt instrument that is not secured by physical asset. Debentures are backed only by the general creditworthiness and reputation of the issuer. i)Convertible Debentures: Any type of debenture that can be converted into some other security or it can be converted into stock.. ii)Non-Convertibility Debentures(NCB): Non-Convertible Debentures are those that cannot be converted into equity shares of the issuing company, as opposed to Convertible debentures. Non-convertible debentures normally earn a higher interest rate than convertible debentures do. What is a hedge fund?

Hedge means to reduce financial risk. A hedge fund is an investment fund open to a limited range of investors and requires a very large initial minimum investment. It is important to note that hedging is actually the practice of attempting to reduce risk, but the goal of most hedge funds is to maximize return on investment. What is FCCB? A Foreign Currency Convertible Bond (FCCB) is a type of convertible bond issued in a currency different than the issuers domestic currency. In other words, the money being raised by the issuing company is in the form of a foreign currency. A company may issue an FCCB if it intends to make a large investment in a country using that foreign currency. What is Capital Account Convertibility(CAC)? It is the freedom to convert local financial assets into foreign financial assets and vice versa at market determined rates of exchange. This means that capital account convertibility allows anyone to freely move from local currency into foreign currency and back. The Reserve Bank of India has appointed a committee to set out the framework for fuller Capital Account Convertibility. Capital account convertibility is considered to be one of the major features of a developed economy. It helps attract foreign investment. capital account convertibility makes it easier for domestic companies to tap foreign markets. What is Current Account Convertibility? It defines at one can import and export goods or receive or make payments for services rendered. However, investments and borrowings are restricted.

 What is Arbitrage? The opportunity to buy an asset at a low price then immediately selling it on a different market for a higher price. What is Capitalism? Capitalism as an economy is based on a democratic political ideology and produces a free market economy, where businesses are privately owned and operated for profit; in capitalism, all of the capital investments and decisions about production, distribution, and the prices of goods, services, and labor, are determined in the free market and affected by the forces of supply and demand. What is Socialism? Socialism as an economy is based on a collectivist type of political ideology and involves the running of businesses to benefit the common good of a vast majority of people rather than of a small upper class segment of society.

Financial Terms:
Anytime Banking : With introduction of ATMs, Tele-Banking and internet banking, customers can conduct their business anytime of the day and night. The 'Banking Hours' is not a constraint for transacting banking business. Anywhere Banking : Refers to banking not only by ATMs, Tele-Banking and internet banking, but also to core banking solutions brought in by banks where customer can deposit his money, cheques and also withdraw money from any branch connected with the system. All major banks in India have brought in core banking in their operations to make banking truly anywhere banking. ATM : ATMs are Automatic Teller Machines, which do the job of a teller in a bank through Computer Network. ATMs are located on the branch premises or off branch premises. ATMs are useful to dispense cash, receive cash, accept cheques, give balances in the accounts and also give mini-statements to the customers. Bank Ombudsman : Bank Ombudsman is the authority to look into complaints against Banks in the main areas of collection of cheque / bills, issue of demand drafts, non-adherence to prescribed hours of working, failure to honour guarantee / letter of credit commitments, operations in deposit accounts and also in the areas of loans and advances where banks flout directions / instructions of RBI. This Scheme was announced in 1995 and is functioning with new guidelines from 2007. This scheme covers all scheduled banks, the RRBs and co-operative banks. Bancassurance : Bancassurance refers to the distribution of insurance products and the insurance policies of insurance companies which may be life policies or non-life policies like home insurance - car insurance, medi-policies and others, by banks as corporate agents through their branches located in different parts of the country by charging a fee. Banker's Lien : Bankers lien is a special right of lien exercised by the bankers, who can retain goods bailed to them as a security for general balance of account. Bankers can have this right in the absence of a contract to the contrary. Banking : Accepting for the purpose of lending or investment of deposits of money from Public, Repayable on demand or otherwise and withdrawable by cheques, drafts, order, etc. Basel-II : The Committee on Banking Regulations and Supervisory Practices, popularity known as Basel Committee, submitted its revised version of norms in June, 2004. Under the revised accord the capital requirement is to be calculated for credit, market and operational risks. The minimum requirement continues to be 8% of capital fund (Tier I & II Capital) Tier II shall continue to be not more than 100% of Tier I Capital. Brick & Mortar Banking : Brick and Mortar Banking refers to traditional system of banking done only in a fixed branch premises made of brick and mortar. Now there are banking channels like ATM, Internet Banking, tele-banking etc. Business of Banking : Accepting deposits, borrowing money, lending money, investing, dealing in bills, dealing in Foreign Exchange, Hiring Lockers, Opening Safe Custody Accounts, Issuing Letters of Credit, Traveller's Cheques, doing Mutual Fund business, Insurance Business, acting as Trustee or doing any other business which Central Government may notify in the official Gazette. Bouncing of a cheque : Where an account does not have sufficient balance to honour the cheque issued by the customer , the cheque is returned by the bank with the reason "funds insufficient" or "Exceeds arrangement". This is known as 'Bouncing of a cheque' . Certificate of Deposit :. Certificate of Deposits are negotiable receipts in bearer form which can be freely traded among investors. This is also a money market instrument, issued for a period ranging from 7 days to f one year .The minimum deposit amount is Rs. 1 lakh and they are transferable by endorsement and delivery. Cheque : Cheque is a Bill of Exchange drawn on a specified banker ordering the banker to pay a certain sum of

money to the drawer of cheque or another person. Money is generally withdrawn by clients by cheques. Cheque is always payable on demand. Cheque Truncation : Cheque truncation, truncates or stops the flow of cheques through the banking system. Generally truncation takes place at the collecting branch, which sends the electronic image of the cheques to the paying branch through the clearing house and stores the paper cheques with it. Collecting Banker : Also called receiving banker, who collects on instruments like a cheque, draft or bill of exchange, lodged with himself for the credit of his customer's account. Consumer Protection Act : It is implemented from 1987 to enforce consumer rights through a simple legal procedure. Banks also are covered under the Act. A consumer can file complaint for deficiency of service with Consumer District Forum for amounts upto Rs.20 Lacs in District Court, and for amounts above Rs.20 Lacs to Rs.1 Crore in State Commission and for amounts above Rs.1 Crore in National Commission. Co-operative Bank : An association of persons who collectively own and operate a bank for the benefit of consumers / customers, like Saraswat Co-operative Bank or Abhyudaya Co-operative Bank and other such banks. Co-operative Society : When an association of persons collectively own and operate a unit for the benefit of those using its services like Apna Bazar Co-operative Society or Sahakar Bhandar or a Co-operative Housing Society. Core Banking Solutions (CBS) : Core Banking Solutions is a buzz word in Indian banking at present, where branches of the bank are connected to a central host and the customers of connected branches can do banking at any breach with core banking facility. Creditworthiness : It is the capacity of a borrower to repay the loan / advance in time along with interest as per agreed terms. Crossing of Cheques : Crossing refers to drawing two parallel lines across the face of the cheque. A crossed cheque cannot be paid in cash across the counter, and is to be paid through a bank either by transfer, collection or clearing. A general crossing means that cheque can be paid through any bank and a special crossing, where the name of a bank is indicated on the cheque, can be paid only through the named bank. Current Account : Current account with a bank can be opened generally for business purpose. There are no restrictions on withdrawals in this type of account. No interest is paid in this type of account. Customer : A person who maintains any type of account with a bank is a bank customer. Consumer Protection Act has a wider definition for consumer as the one who purchases any service for a fee like purchasing a demand draft or a pay order. The term customer is defined differently by Laws, softwares and countries. Debit Card : A plastic card issued by banks to customers to withdraw money electronically from their accounts. When you purchase things on the basis of Debit Card the amount due is debited immediately to the account . Many banks issue Debit-Cum-ATM Cards. Debtor : A person who takes some money on loan from another person. Demand Deposits : Deposits which are withdrawn on demand by customers. E.g. savings bank and current account deposits. Demat Account : Demat Account concept has revolutionized the capital market of India. When a depository company takes paper shares from an investor and converts them in electronic form through the concerned company, it is called Dematerialization of Shares. These converted Share Certificates in Electronic form are kept in a Demat Account by the Depository Company, like a bank keeps money in a deposit account. Investor can withdraw the shares or purchase more shares through this demat Account.

Dishonour of Cheque : Non-payment of a cheque by the paying banker with a return memo giving reasons for the non-payment. Debit Card : A plastic card issued by banks to customers to withdraw money electronically from their accounts. When you purchase things on the basis of Debit Card the amount due is debited immediately to the account . Many banks issue Debit-Cum-ATM Cards. Debtor : A person who takes some money on loan from another person. Demand Deposits : Deposits which are withdrawn on demand by customers.E.g. savings bank and current account deposits. Demat Account : Demat Account concept has revolutionized the capital market of India. When a depository company takes paper shares from an investor and converts them in electronic form through the concerned company, it is called Dematerialization of Shares. These converted Share Certificates in Electronic form are kept in a Demat Account by the Depository Company, like a bank keeps money in a deposit account. Investor can withdraw the shares or purchase more shares through this demat Account. Dishonour of Cheque : Non-payment of a cheque by the paying banker with a return memo giving reasons for the non-payment. E-Banking : E-Banking or electronic banking is a form of banking where funds are transferred through exchange of electronic signals between banks and financial institution and customers ATMs, Credit Cards, Debit Cards, International Cards, Internet Banking and new fund transfer devices like SWIFT, RTGS belong to this category. EFT - (Electronic Fund Transfer) : EFT is a device to facilitate automatic transmission and processing of messages as well as funds from one bank branch to another bank branch and even from one branch of a bank to a branch of another bank. EFT allows transfer of funds electronically with debit and credit to relative accounts. Either or Survivor : Refers to operation of the account opened in two names with a bank. It means that any one of the account holders have powers to withdraw money from the account, issue cheques, give stop payment instructions etc. In the event of death of one of the account holder, the surviving account holder gets all the powers of operation. Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce): E-Commerce is the paperless commerce where the exchange of business takes place by Electronic means. Endorsement : When a Negotiable Instrument contains, on the back of the instrument an endorsement, signed by the holder or payee of an order instrument, transferring the title to the other person, it is called endorsement. Endorsement in Blank : Where the name of the endorsee or transferee is not mentioned on the instrument. Endorsement in Full : Where the name of the endorsee or transferee appears on the instrument while making endorsement. Execution of Documents : Execution of documents is done by putting signature of the person, or affixing his thumb impression or putting signature with stamp or affixing common seal of the company on the documents with or without signatures of directors as per articles of association of the company. Factoring : Business of buying trade debts at a discount and making a profit when debt is realized and also taking over collection of trade debts at agreed prices. Foreign Banks : Banks incorporated outside India but operating in India and regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI),. e..g., Barclays Bank, HSBC, Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, etc.

Forfaiting : In International Trade when an exporter finds it difficult to realize money from the importer, he sells the right to receive money at a discount to a forfaiter, who undertakes inherent political and commercial risks to finance the exporter, of course with assumption of a profit in the venture. Forgery : when a material alteration is made on a document or a Negotiable Instrument like a cheque, to change the mandate of the drawer, with intention to defraud. Garnishee Order : When a Court directs a bank to attach the funds to the credit of customer's account under provisions of Section 60 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. General Lien : A right of the creditors to retain possession of all goods given in security to him by the debtor for any outstanding debt. Guarantee : A contract between guarantor and beneficiary to ensure performance of a promise or discharge the liability of a third person. If promise is broken or not performed, the guarantor pays contracted amount to the beneficiary. Holder : Holder means any person entitled in his own name to the possession of the cheque, bill of exchange or promissory note and who is entitled to receive or recover the amount due on it from the parties. For example, if I give a cheque to my friend to withdraw money from my bank, he becomes holder of that cheque. Even if he loses the cheque, he continues to be holder. Finder cannot become the holder. Holder in due course : A person who receives a Negotiable Instrument for value, before it was due and in good faith, without notice of any defect in it, he is called holder in due course as per Negotiable Instrument Act. In the earlier example if my friend lends some money to me on the basis of the cheque, which I have given to him for encashment, he becomes holder-in-due course. Hypothecation : Charge against property for an amount of debt where neither ownership nor possession is passed to the creditor. In pledge, possession of property is passed on to the lender but in hypothecation, the property remains with the borrower in trust for the lender. Identification : When a person provides a document to a bank or is being identified by a person, who is known to the bank, it is called identification. Banks ask for identification before paying an order cheque or a demand draft across the counter. Indemnifier : When a person indemnifies or guarantees to make good any loss caused to the lender from his actions or others' actions. Indemnity : Indemnity is a bond where the indemnifier undertakes to reimburse the beneficiary from any loss arising due to his actions or third party actions. Insolvent : Insolvent is a person who is unable to pay his debts as they mature, as his liabilities are more than the assets . Civil Courts declare such persons insolvent. Banks do not open accounts of insolvent persons as they cannot enter into contract as per law. Interest Warrant : When cheque is given by a company or an organization in payment of interest on deposit , it is called interest warrant. Interest warrant has all the characteristics of a cheque. International Banking : involves more than two nations or countries. If an Indian Bank has branches in different countries like State Bank of India, it is said to do International Banking. Introduction : Banks are careful in opening any account for a customer as the prospective customer has to be introduced by an existing account holder or a staff member or by any other person known to the bank for opening of account. If bank does not take introduction, it will amount to negligence and will not get protection under law.

JHF Account : Joint Hindu Family Account is account of a firm whose business is carried out by Karta of the Joint family, acting for all the family members.. The family members have common ancestor and generally maintain a common residence and are subject to common social, economic and religious regulations. Joint Account : When two or more individuals jointly open an account with a bank. Karta : Manager of a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) who handles the family business. He is usually the eldest male member of the undivided family. Kiosk Banking : Doing banking from a cubicle from which food, newspapers, tickets etc. are also sold. KYC Norms : Know your customer norms are imposed by R.B.I. on banks and other financial institutions to ensure that they know their customers and to ensure that customers deal only in legitimate banking operations and not in money laundering or frauds. Law of Limitation : Limitation Act of 1963 fixes the limitation period of debts and obligations including banks loans and advances. If the period fixed for particular debt or loan expires, one cannot file a suit for is recovery, but the fact of the debt or loan is not denied. It is said that law of limitation bars the remedy but does not extinguish the right. Lease Financing : Financing for the business of renting houses or lands for a specified period of time and also hiring out of an asset for the duration of its economic life. Leasing of a car or heavy machinery for a specific period at specific price is an example. Letter of Credit : A document issued by importers bank to its branch or agent abroad authorizing the payment of a specified sum to a person named in Letter of Credit (usually exporter from abroad). Letters of Credit are covered by rules framed under Uniform Customs and Practices of Documentary Credits framed by International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. Limited Companies Accounts : Accounts of companies incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 . A company may be private or public. Liability of the shareholders of a company is generally limited to the face value of shares held by them. Mandate : Written authority issued by a customer to another person to act on his behalf, to sign cheques or to operate a bank account. Material Alteration : Alteration in an instrument so as to alter the character of an instrument for example when date, amount, name of the payee are altered or making a cheque payable to bearer from an order one or opening the crossing on a cheque. Merchant Banking : When a bank provides to a customer various types of financial services like accepting bills arising out of trade, arranging and providing underwriting, new issues, providing advice, information or assistance on starting new business, acquisitions, mergers and foreign exchange. Micro Finance: Micro Finance aims at alleviation of poverty and empowerment of weaker sections in India. In micro finance, very small amounts are given as credit to poor in rural, semi-urban and urban areas to enable them to raise their income levels and improve living standards. Minor Accounts : A minor is a person who has not attained legal age of 18 years. As per Contract Act a minor cannot enter into a contract but as per Negotiable Instrument Act, a minor can draw, negotiate, endorse, receive payment on a Negotiable Instrument so as to bind all the persons, except himself. In order to boost their deposits many banks open minor accounts with some restrictions. Mobile Banking : With the help of M-Banking or mobile banking customer can check his bank balance, order a demand draft, stop payment of a cheque, request for a cheque book and have information about latest interest rates.

Money Laundering : When a customer uses banking channels to cover up his suspicious and unlawful financial activities, it is called money laundering. Money Market : Money market is not an organized market like Bombay Stock Exchange but is an informal network of banks, financial institutions who deal in money market instruments of short term like CP, CD and Treasury bills of Government. Moratorium : R.B.I. imposes moratorium on operations of a bank; if the affairs of the bank are not conducted as per banking norms. After moratorium R.B.I. and Government explore the options of safeguarding the interests of depositors by way of change in management, amalgamation or take over or by other means. Mortgage : Transfer of an interest in specific immovable property for the purpose of offering a security for taking a loan or advance from another. It may be existing or future debt or performance of an agreement which may create monetary obligation for the transferor (mortgagor). NABARD : National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development was setup in 1982 under the Act of 1981. NABARD finances and regulates rural financing and also is responsible for development agriculture and rural industries. Negotiation : In the context of banking, negotiation means an act of transferring or assigning a money instrument from one person to another person in the course of business. Non-Fund Based Limits : Non-Fund Based Limits are those type of limits where banker does not part with the funds but may have to part with funds in case of default by the borrowers, like guarantees, letter of credit and acceptance facility. Non-Resident : A person who is not a resident of India is a non-resident. Non-Resident Accounts : Accounts of non-resident Indian citizens opened and maintained as per R.B.I. Rules. Notary Public : A Lawyer who is authorized by Government to certify copies of documents . NPA Account : If interest and installments and other bank dues are not paid in any loan account within a specified time limit, it is being treated as non-performing assets of a bank. Off Balance Sheet Items : Those items which affect the financial position of a business concern, but do not appear in the Balance Sheet E,g guarantees, letters of credit . The mention "off Balance Sheet items" is often found in Auditors Reports or Directors Reports. Online Banking : Banking through internet site of the bank which is made interactive. Pass Book : A record of all debit and credit entries in a customer's account. Generally all banks issue pass books to Savings Bank/Current Account Holders. Personal Identification Number (PIN) : Personal Identification Number is a number which an ATM card holder has to key in before he is authorized to do any banking transaction in a ATM . Plastic Money : Credit Cards, Debit Cards, ATM Cards and International Cards are considered plastic money as like money they can enable us to get goods and services. Pledge : A bailment of goods as security for payment of a debt or performance of a promise, e.g pledge of stock by a borrower to a banker for a credit limit. Pledge can be made in movable goods only. Post-Dated Cheque : A Cheque which bears the date which is subsequent to the date when it is drawn. For example, a cheque drawn on 8th of February, 2007 bears the date of 12th February, 2007.

Power of Attorney : It is a document executed by one person - Donor or Principal, in favour of another person , Donee or Agent - to act on behalf of the former, strictly as per authority given in the document. Premature Withdrawals : Term deposits like Fixed Deposits, Call Deposits, Short Deposits and Recurring Deposits have to mature on a particular day. When these deposits are sought to be withdrawn before maturity , it is premature withdrawal. Prime Lending Rate (PLR) : The rate at which banks lend to their best (prime) customers. Priority Sector Advances : consist of loans and advances to Agriculture, Small Scale Industry, Small Road and Water Transport Operators, Retail Trade, Small Business with limits on investment in equipments, professional and self-employed persons, state sponsored organizations for lending to SC/ST, Educational Loans, Housing Finance up to certain limits, self-help groups and consumption loans. Promissory Note: Promissory Note is a promise / undertaking given by one person in writing to another person, to pay to that person, a certain sum of money on demand or on a future day. Provisioning: Provisioning is made for the likely loss in the profit and loss account while finalizing accounts of banks. All banks are supposed to make assets classification and make appropriate provisions for likely losses in their balance sheets. Public Sector Bank: A bank fully or partly owned by the Government. Rescheduling of Payment: Rearranging the repayment of a debt over a longer period than originally agreed upon due to financial difficulties of the borrower. Restrictive Endorsement: Where endorser desires that instrument is to be paid to particular person only, he restricts further negotiation or transfer by such words as "Pay to Ashok only". Now Ashok cannot negotiate the instrument further. Right of Appropriation: As per Section 59 of the Indian Contract Act, 1972 while making the payment, a debtor has the right to direct his creditor to appropriate such amount against discharge of some particular debt. If the debtor does not do so, the banker can appropriate the payment to any debt of his customer. Right of Set-Off : When a banker combines two accounts in the name of the same customer and adjusts the debit balance in one account with the credit balance in other account, it is called right of set-off. For example, debit balance of Rs.50,000/- in overdraft account can be set off against credit balance of Rs.75,000/- in the Savings Bank Account of the same customer, leaving a balance of Rs.25,000/- credit in the savings account. Safe Custody : When articles of value like jewellery, boxes, shares, debentures, Government bonds, Wills or other documents or articles are given to a bank for safe keeping in its safe vault, it is called safe custody.. Bank charges a fee from its clients for such safe custody. Savings Bank Account : All banks in India are having the facility of opening savings bank account with a nominal balance. This account is used for personal purposes and not for business purpose and there are certain restrictions on withdrawals from this type of account. Account holder gets nominal interest in this account. Teller : Teller is a staff member of a bank who accepts deposits, cashes cheques and performs other banking services for the public. Underwriting : is an agreement by the underwriter to buy on a fixed date and at a fixed rate, the unsubscribed portion of shares or debentures or other issues. Underwriter gets commission for this agreement. Universal Banking : When Banks and Financial Institutions are allowed to undertake all types of activities related to

banking like acceptance of deposits, granting of advances, investment, issue of credit cards, project finance, venture capital finance, foreign exchange business, insurance etc. it is called Universal Banking. Virtual Banking : Virtual banking is also called internet banking, through which financial and banking services are accessed via internet's World Wide Web. It is called virtual banking because an internet bank has no boundaries of brick and mortar and it exists only on the internet. Wholesale Banking : Wholesale banking is different from Retail Banking as its focus is on providing for financial needs of industry and institutional clients.