LawGiK€¦ · 2 LawGiK –General Awareness Magazine | June 2017 Edition Cover Story: Former...

LawGiK – General Awareness Magazine | June 2017 Edition 1

LawGiK - The Monthly General Awareness Magazine from Team Lawgicians

Second Edition: August 2017

Editors: Ashish Agarwal, Manjuli Agarwal

Conceived, Owned & Published by:

CLAT Entrance Prep

Head Office & Study Center:

1

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-: Contents :-

Pranab Mukherjee Clears 4 Bills 2

List of Important Days (National & International)

3

Current Affairs: Sports 3

Current Affairs: Awards & Honours 6

Current Affairs: National 7

Current Affairs: International 13

Current Affairs: Appointments & Resignations

21

Current Affairs: Anniversaries & Deaths

23

Current Affairs: Books & Authors 27

All rights reserved with the publisher. Copying in part or full, reproducing by any other means will attract is prohibited.

Though the editors and publishers have made serious attempts in maintaining the accuracy of the information provided in this magazine, yet we do not take responsibility for any loss or damage that happens due to the information provided here.

All disputes are subject to Lucknow jurisdiction only.

2 LawGiK – General Awareness Magazine | June 2017 Edition

Cover Story:

Former President Pranab Mukherjee cleared four state bills at the end of his tenure

Towards the end of his tenure he cleared four key Bills

from the states of Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and

Puducherry.

Maharashtra’s Protection of People from Social

Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act,

2016

The law makes social boycott a crime and provides for

stern action for anybody indulging in it. It also disallows

social boycott of any individual or group by caste

panchayats or groups of individuals. Social boycott for

reasons like inter-caste marriage, rituals of worship or any

connection to lifestyle, dress or vocation will invite

stringent punishment, according to the Act. The new

legislation makes social boycott an offence that can invite

imprisonment of up to 7 years and fine of Rs 5 lakh or

both. The victim or any member of the victim’s family

can file a complaint either with the police or magistrate.

Gujarat’s Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products

(Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of

Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and

Distribution)(Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2017

This bill bans hookah bars in the state. Anyone found

violating the law will invite a jail term of up to three

years. Since hookah was not covered under the COTP

Act, there was a need to bring amendments in the 2003

Act to cover all kinds of activities associated with hookah

bars.

The Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement

Act, 1999

Which provides for 24 per cent reservation in public work

contracts for SC/STs. Granted reservation to contractors

from SC/ ST communities in all government tenders,

including tenders called by government-run institutions

and local self-governments.

Puducherry’s Civil Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2017:

The Bill proposes to amend “Sections 9 and 15 of the

Puducherry Civil Courts Act, 1966, to confer pecuniary

jurisdiction to the newly constituted subordinate judge

court at Karaikal.”

In the past five years, Mukherjee has given assent to

nearly 156 state Bills, including the controversial

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu

Amendment) Bill, 2017, Gujarat Lokayukta Bill, Delhi Netaji Subhas University of Technology Bill, 2015,

Maharashtra Acupuncture System of Therapy Bill, 2015,

Prohibition of Child Marriage (Karnataka Amendment)


Bill, 2016, and Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti Social

Activities Prevention Amendment Bill, 2015.

List Of Important Days In July

July 11: World Population Day

July 28: World Hepatitis Day

SPORTS

India Tops Medal Tally at Asian Athletics

India clinched 5 gold to top the medal tally for first time

in the history of Asian Athletics Championships. China is

at 2nd spot with 8 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze. India

bagged highest ever medal haul of 29 medals (12 gold, 5

silver and 12 bronze). India's best came way back in the

1985 Jakarta edition where they had won 22 medals (10

gold, 5 silver, 7 bronze).

Japan topped the medal tally in the first five editions of

the Asian championships from 1973 to 1981.

China's domination began from 1983 at Kuwait City and

continued till the previous edition at their home venue in

Wuhan two years ago.

The host country, however, suffered a huge setback after

800m runner Archana Yadav was disqualified, after being

initially declared as the gold medal winner, for pushing

Sri Lankan rival Nimali Waliwarsha Konda from behind near the finishing line. The gold medal was then awarded

to Konda and India thus lost a yellow metal in dramatic

circumstances.

Wimbledon 2017: Karolina Pliskova Becomes

World Number One Replacing Angelique

Kerber

Czech Karolina Pliskova rose to the top of the WTA

rankings without striking a ball at Wimbledon saw her

overhaul Germany’s Angelique Kerber.

She ranked No. 1 according to WTA rankings. This is a

points-based ranking system. The Monte-Carlo based

player becomes the first Czech to be number one since the

rankings were introduced in 1975.

Czech-born Martina Navratilova, who won 18 singles

majors, became number one in 1978 but was representing

the U.S. Pliskova has won three titles this year, in

Brisbane, Doha and the Wimbledon warm-up event at

Eastbourne.

Wimbledon 2017: Venus Williams Becomes

Oldest Semi-Finalist For 23 Years

She became the oldest Wimbledon semi-finalist for 23

years after fending off French Open winner Jelena

Ostapenko. It was her 100th singles match of Wimbledon

career. In the 100th singles match of her Wimbledon

career, Williams defeated Ostapenko 6-3, 7-5 in one hour

and 13 minutes, to become the oldest semi-finalist here

since Martina Navratilova.

Mithali Raj Breaks Record For Most Runs In

Women ODIs


Mithali Raj, the bedrock of India's batting line-up, broke

the record for most runs in Women One-Day

Internationals during the World Cup game against

Australia at Bristol surpassing England's Charlotte

Edwards (5992).

She also became the first woman to score 6000 ODI runs

in one-day international cricket. She made her

international debut at the age of just 16, against Ireland in

1999, immediately made an impact by scoring a hundred

in her first game in national colours. Since then, many a

time she has been deemed as the Sachin Tendulkar of

Women’s Cricket.

In 2005 she led the India team at the World Cup for the

first time but failed at the final hurdle. Noticeably, in her

last 15 innings before the World Cup, Raj scored 833 runs

at an average of 104.12.

A winner of the Arjuna and the Padma Shri, Mithali Raj is

also India’s highest female run scorer in all three formats

with a staggering 8399 runs.

The next Indian player behind her is Anjum Chopra with

2856 runs. Third on the list is Jaya Sharma with 2091

runs.

Among the international players, the top five run-getters

apart from Raj and Edwards include – Belinda Clark

(Aus) with 4844, Karen Rolton (Aus) with 4814 and

Claire Taylor with 4101 runs.

World Para Athletics: Silver For Sharad,

Bronze For Bhati

India’s Sharad Kumar and Varun Bhati won silver and

bronze respectively in the High Jump event at the World

Para Athletics Championship. Sharad and Bhati

participated in the T-42 category of Men’s High Jump

event.

Sharad cleared a personal best height of 1.84 m to win the

silver while Bhati leaped 1.77 m to earn a podium finish.

The gold medal was won by United States’ Sam Grewe,

who leaped a height 1.86 m.

Italy’s Federica Pellegrini Became The First

Swimmer To Win Seven Medals At The World

Championships

Federica Pellegrini won seven medals in a single event at

the world championships after a stunning, against-the-

odds victory in the women’s 200 metres freestyle final.

Gabriele Detti won his first world title in a close finish in

the men’s 800m freestyle.

Pellegrini last won a world title at the 2011

championships, but the determined Italian rolled back the

years to clock one minute 54.73 seconds.

She defeated Katie Ledecky of America, the world and

Olympic champion, and Australia’s Emma McKeon, who

had led until the 150m mark. Ledecky and McKeon were

both given silver.

Pellegrini, who won the 2009 world title in Rome. Chad le

Clos of South Africa took gold in the men’s 200m

butterfly. Britain’s Peaty again left the field trailing in the

50m as he secured a breaststroke double following 100m

gold. Peaty got 16 international gold medals.

Australia and Canada won silver and bronze respectively

to end another frenetic evening.

Jordanne Whiley: Briton Won Wimbledon

Wheelchair Doubles

Britain's Jordanne Whiley won her fourth straight

Wimbledon women's wheelchair doubles title. She and

Japanese partner Yui Kamiji beat Marjolein Buis and

Diede de Groot in the final at Wimbledon.


Roger Federer Wins Record Eighth Wimbledon

Title Against Marin Cilic

The Swiss maestro beat Marin Cilic in the Wimbledon

2017 men’s singles final to lift his 19th Grand Slam title,

his second of the year after beating Rafael Nadal in the

Australian Open final. Federer now has eight Wimbledon,

one French Open titles under his name. He renamed his

8th Wimbledon trophy as a tribute to Arthur Gore, who

won the tournament in 1908. He called it Arthur.

Sardar Singh, Devendra Jhajharia To Be

Awarded Khel Ratna Awards

Former India Hockey captain Sardar Singh and

Paralympian javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia have

been selected to be awarded the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi

Khel Ratna awards.

Jhajharia becomes the first Paralympian to be

recommended for the country’s highest sporting honour.

Jhajharia is also the first Indian to have won two

Paralympic gold medals in the javelin throw event. Sardar

lead India to two successive silver medal finishes in the

Commonwealth Games. He was also awarded the Arjuna

Award in 2012. The awards selection committee was

headed by Justice (Retd) C K Thakkar.

Meanwhile, 17 names have been given by the selection

committee for the Arjuna Award including cricketers

Cheteshwar Pujara and Harmanpreet Kaur, Paralympic

medallists Mariyappan Thangavelu and Varun Bhati,

golfer SSP Chawrasia and hockey player S V Sunil.

Ravi Shastri Appointed As India’s Head Coach,

Zaheer Khan Bowling Coach and Rahul Dravid

As Batting Consultant For Specific Overseas

Tours

Ravi Shastri was appointed as the head coach of the

Indian cricket team while former India cricketer Zaheer

Khan was appointed as the bowling coach for the team.

BCCI also handed former India skipper Rahul Dravid a

role as batting consultant for specific overseas tours.

The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising of

Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar had

interviewed five candidates – Richard Pybus,Tom Moody,

Ravi Shastri, Virender Sehwag and Lalchand Rajput for

the post and ultimately it was Shastri who secured the job.

The three appointments have been done till the 2019

World Cup which will be held in England.

India Ranks 96th In FIFA World Ranking, Its

Best In 21 Years

This is the country’s second best ranking. Its previous best

was the 94th position in February 1996. Germany tops the

rankings. While Brazil and Argentina fell to Nos. 2 and 3

respectively.

Portugal rose to No. 4, Switzerland climbed to No. 5,

Poland rose to No. 6, Colombia, France and Belgium

complete the top 10 though all fell three places.

Paris to Stage 2024 Summer Olympic Games

With Los Angeles Lined Up To Host 2028

Olympics

Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics after

reaching a deal with Olympic organizers.

The agreement paves the way for the 2024 Summer

Games to be awarded to Paris.


AWARDS & HONOURS

Kathak Dancer Pandit Nandakishore Kapote

Was Recently Conferred with a Fellowship by

The Department Of Culture, Government Of

India

Internationally-acclaimed senior kathak dancer Pandit

Nandakishore Kapote was recently conferred with a

fellowship by the Department of Culture, Government of

India. Kapote is the only male senior kathak dancer in the

country to receive the honour.

He was earlier awarded with scholarships by the central

government, cultural department of Maharashtra, Dr

Ambedkar Dalit Mitra Award, Balgandharva Award by

PMC, Nehru Award, among others.

In 1976-77 Nandkishore received National Scholarship

from the Department of Culture to learn kathak under the

guidance of Pandit Birju Maharaj.

In 1998, on behalf of Nandkishore Cultural Society, Dr

Nandkishore Kapote launched Kathak University in

Pimpri-Chinchwad, which was inaugurated by Pandit

Birju Maharaj.

Indians In Gold And Bronze At First Global

Robotics Olympiad

A group of seven Indian students has bagged two awards

at the first global robotics Olympiad in the US where 157

countries participated.

The students, who hail from Mumbai, won gold for Zhang

Heng Engineering Design Award and bronze for Global

Challenge Match at the international robotics challenge

organised by FIRST Global in Washington.

The Indian team was led by 15-year-old Rahesh, the

youngest member of the group. Others were Aadiv Shah,

team spokesperson; Harsh Bhatt, alliance strategist; Vatsin, alliance analyst; Adhyyan, robot tactician; Tejas,

robot controller and Raghav, robot driver.

The team comprising of all-girls were from Afghanistan.

Mexico City would host the competition next year. The

Afghan team won the Rajaa Cherkaoui El Moursli award

for courageous achievement.

Arundhati Roy Among Man Booker Prize

Contenders

Arundhati Roy, won the prize in 1997 for The God of

Small Things, is in the running again with her long-

awaited second novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.

The 13 books have been announced and were chosen from

144 novels submitted by publishers.

Paul Auster, Colson Whitehead and past winner

Arundhati Roy are among contenders for this year’s Man

Booker Prize for fiction.

Auster’s intimate epic “4 3 2 1” and Whitehead’s fantasy-

tinged historical saga “The Underground Railroad” are

among four works by US authors on the list, alongside

Emily Fridlund’s coming-of-age story “History of

Wolves” and George Saunders’ magical, mournful

“Lincoln in the Bardo.”

Previous finalists on the 2017 list include Britain’s Zadie

Smith, for “Swing Time”; Ireland’s Sebastian Barry, for

“Days Without End”; and Pakistan’s Mohsin Hamid, for

“Exit West.”

Founded in 1969 and originally open only to writers from

Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth, the Booker

expanded in 2014 to include all English-language authors.

Its first American winner was Paul Beatty’s “The Sellout”

in 2016.


“James McCloughan” First Person To Receive

The Medal Of Honor From President Donald

Trump

He is an Army medic from Michigan who risked his life

multiple times to rescue Vietnam War comrades, is

becoming the first person to receive the Medal of Honor

from President Donald Trump. Trump is set to present

America’s highest military honor to James McCloughan.

He had been drafted into the Army when, in 1969, he

found himself in the middle of the raging, days long Battle

of Hui Yon Hill.

McCloughan voluntarily entered the “kill zone” to rescue

injured comrades, even as he was pelted with shrapnel

from a rocket-propelled grenade. He voluntarily risked his

life on nine separate occasions to rescue wounded and

disoriented comrades. He suffered wounds from shrapnel

and small arms fire on three separate occasions, but

refused medical evacuation to stay with his unit, and

continued to brave enemy fire to rescue, treat, and defend

wounded Americans.”

In all, the Pentagon credits McCloughan with saving the

lives of 10 members of his company.

Pune scientist “Pinaki Talukdar” Bags Bronze

For His Work In Chemistry

Pinaki Talukdar, associate professor of Chemistry of

Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research

(IISER), has bagged a bronze medal from the Chemical

Research Society of India (CRSI). Talukdar, who has

been associated with IISER since 2009, along with his

team has been working on intersections of organic

synthesis, supramolecular chemistry and biology.

CRSI is an umbrella body that works towards recognizing

and promoting quality of chemistry education in the

country. With over 1,800 members in the council, the

council organises programmes with sizeable international

participation to promote chemistry and research in all its

allied branches. VG Anand of the institute was awarded

this medal in 2016.

NATIONAL

India Ranked 116 of 157 Countries On 2017

Sustainable Development Goals Index

India is ranked 116 out of 157 nations on a global index

that assesses the performance of countries towards

achieving the ambitious sustainable development goals

(SDGs).

Sweden is at No. 1, followed by Denmark and Finland.

Among the G7 countries, only Germany and France can

be found among the top ten performers. India is ranked

116th on the index with a score of 58.1.

The SDG Index ranks countries based on their

performance across the 17 Sustainable Development

Goals.

Railways' New 'Give It Up' Campaign: Soon,

Forgo Train Ticket Subsidy

The Indian Railways is set to launch a 'Give-It-Up'

campaign that will give travellers the option to forego the

subsidy on their train tickets from August. The passengers

will have the option to forego either 100 per cent of the

subsidy or 50 per cent. This scheme will be available for

all the passengers, including army personnel, senior

citizens, journalists, and students.

Earlier the government has successfully launched and

implemented 'Give It Up' campaign for LPG consumers.

HAVE A LOOK

RBI Fixes Customer Liability For Unauthorised

Transactions

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said a customer will be

entitled to zero liability when unauthorised transaction

occurs as a result of contributory fraud, negligence or

deficiency on the part of the bank irrespective of whether

or not the transaction is reported by the customer.

In a notification to commercial banks, the RBI said there will be zero liability in the case of third-party breach

where the deficiency lies neither with the bank nor with

the customer but lies elsewhere in the system, and the


customer notifies the bank within three working days of

receiving the communication from the bank regarding the

unauthorised transaction. For cases reported within four to

seven days, the liability will be the transaction value or

the amount stipulated for various accounts, whichever is

lower and beyond seven working days, the liability will be

as per bank’s board approved policy.

However, a customer will have limited liability for the

loss in cases where the loss is due to negligence by a

customer, such as where he has shared the payment

credentials, the customer will bear the entire loss until he

reports the unauthorised transaction to the bank. “Any loss

occurring after the after the reporting of the unauthorised

transaction will be borne by the bank,” the RBI said in the

notification ‘Customer protection – limiting liability of

customers in unauthorised electronic banking

transactions’.

There will be a limited liability in cases where the

responsibility for the unauthorised electronic banking

transaction lies neither with the bank nor with the

customer, but lies elsewhere in the system and when there

is a delay — of four to seven working days after receiving

the communication from the bank — on the part of the

customer in notifying the bank of such a transaction. The

per transaction liability of the customer will be limited to

the transaction value or the amount mentioned by the RBI

, whichever is lower. The liability will be Rs 5,000 for

BSBD and SB accounts and pre-paid payment instruments

and gift cards and for current/ cash credit/ overdraft

accounts of MSMEs.

The liability will be Rs 10,000 for current accounts/ cash

credit/ overdraft accounts of individuals with annual

average balance (during 365 days preceding the incidence

of fraud)/ limit up to Rs 25 lakh and credit cards with

limit up to Rs 5 lakh. The liability will be Rs 25,000 for

all other current/ cash credit/ overdraft accounts and credit

cards with limit above Rs 5 lakh.

The customers must be advised to notify their bank of any

unauthorised electronic banking transaction at the earliest

after the occurrence of such transaction, and informed that

the longer the time taken to notify the bank, the higher

will be the risk of loss to the bank/ customer. To facilitate

this, banks must provide customers with 24×7 access

through multiple channels (at a minimum, via website,

phone banking, SMS, e-mail, IVR, a dedicated toll-free

helpline, reporting to home branch, etc.) for reporting

unauthorised transactions that have taken place and/ or

loss or theft of payment instrument such as card, etc.

Banks shall also enable customers to instantly respond by

“Reply” to the SMS and e-mail alerts and the customers

should not be required to search for a web page or an e-

mail address to notify the objection, if any, the RBI

notification said. Further, a direct link for lodging the

complaints, with specific option to report unauthorised

electronic transactions shall be provided by banks on

home page of their website.

The loss/ fraud reporting system should also ensure that

immediate response (including auto response) is sent to

the customers acknowledging the complaint along with

the registered complaint number. “The communication

systems used by banks to send alerts and receive their

responses thereto must record the time and date of

delivery of the message and receipt of customer’s

response, if any, to them.”

The banks may not offer facility of electronic transactions,

other than ATM cash withdrawals, to customers who do

not provide mobile numbers to the bank. The burden of

proving customer liability in case of unauthorised

electronic banking transactions will lie on the bank.

Govt To Push e-Education With 4 Digital

Initiatives

Government is going for the launch of four major digital

initiatives in higher education:

Swayam: an indigenously designed massive open online

course (MOOC).

Swayam Prabha: 32 Direct-to-Home channels for

transmitting high-quality educational content. Through

Swayam Prabha, the government would air new content of

four hours every day. It would be repeated six times a day.

The National Digital Library containing 6.5 million

books.

The National Academic Depository for authenticating

all certificates issued by institutions.

President Pranab Mukherjee will launch these

programmes.

Swayam programme would target those students who

could not complete their studies and professional who

wished to upgrade their knowledge. Swayam, however,

would not run courses such as engineering, medicine,

dental, pharmacy, nursing, architecture, and


physiotherapy. The content would be mainly for students

from Class IX to XII and those who are preparing for

admission into IITs.

New Anti-Hijacking Law With Tougher

Punishment Comes Into Force

A tough new anti-hijacking law that prescribes capital

punishment for perpetrators in the event of the death of

"any person" has come into force following a government

notification.

The 2016 Anti-Hijacking Act replaces a 1982-vintage

law, under which hijackers could be tried for the death

penalty only in the event of the death of hostages, such as

flight crew, passengers, and security personnel.

Under the new law, the perpetrators can be tried for the

death penalty for causing the death of "security personnel

on board" or "ground support staff" as well.

Enhanced punishment

Aside from prescribing the death penalty in the case of the

death of "any person", even if the perpetrator has not

killed anyone, the guilty will be punished with

imprisonment for life and fine, besides confiscation of

movable and immovable property held by him or her

under the new law.

An attack on an aircraft while it is being prepared for a

flight or even up to 24 hours after it has landed will come

under the ambit of this new law. The report adds that

attacks using biological agents, the impact of which could

be delayed, will also fall under the ambit of the new law.

Further, those who organise or direct others to commit

such offence will also be considered to have committed

the offence of hijacking.

The new law mandates the central government to confer

powers of investigation, arrest, and prosecution on any

officer of the central government or National Investigation

Agency (NIA).

The Bill to repeal the 1982 Anti-Hijacking Act was

introduced in the Rajya Sabha by Civil Aviation Minister

Ashok Gajapathi Raju on December 17, 2014.

After a few days, it was referred to a parliamentary panel,

which gave its report in March 2015. The Bill was passed

on May 4, 2016, in the Upper House and on May 9, 2016,

in the Lok Sabha.

IISc To Get Rs 3,000-Crore Foundry To

Produce ‘Wonder’ Nano Material ‘Gallium

Nitride’

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has received initial

approvals from the government to set up a Rs 3,000-crore

foundry to produce a “wonder” nano material, Gallium

Nitride, that is emerging as one of the most efficient

semiconductors for next-generation strategic technologies,

including radars and communication systems.

The nano material Gallium Nitride, or GaN, is a superior

alternative to silica-based semiconductors and is expected

to generate revenues in the range of $700 million by 2020,

from the current range of $300 million. The foundation

for the development of GaN technologies was laid by the

2014 Nobel Physics Prize-winning work on blue Lighting

Emitting Diodes using GaN, by Japanese-origin scientists

Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura. The

techonologies have also been used in blue ray information

storage systems and are being utilised increasingly now in

high-power and high-speed electronics.

GaN is described as a wide-gap semiconductor with

unique electronic properties. It is tough and can operate at

high temperatures at high switching speeds with power

flows much superior to silica.

India To Invite 10 Asean Leaders For Republic

Day In 2018


Taking an assertive step in its Act East Policy, India will

invite the ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations

(ASEAN), leaders for the Republic Day parade and

celebrations next year. Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,

Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore,

Thailand and Vietnam are the members of Asean.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj last week

highlighted the efforts of India to tighten its ties with

ASEAN, while maintaining that New Delhi's engagement

in South-East Asia is reflected by their 'Look East Policy'

becoming 'Act East Policy'.

The External Affairs Minister stressed on the future focus

areas of cooperation between India and ASEAN countries,

describing them in terms of three Cs.

Future focus areas of cooperation between ASEAN

member states and India can be described in term of 3Cs-

Commerce, Connectivity and Culture.

SC Stays Uttarakhand HC’s Order Declaring

Ganga And Yamuna Rivers As Living Legal

Entities

The Supreme Court stayed the Uttarakhand High Court

order declaring the rivers Ganga and Yamuna as having

the status of a legal person with all corresponding rights,

duties and liabilities of a living person.

The High Court had, in March this year, made the

declaration, observing that this was needed to be done in

order to “protect the recognition and the faith of society.”

The Bench comprised Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice

Alok Singh.

It had, therefore, declared the Director of NAMAMI

Gange, the Chief Secretary of the State of Uttarakhand

and the Advocate General of the State of Uttarakhand as

persons in loco parentis, as the human face to protect,

conserve and preserve the rivers and their tributaries.

India's First Solar-Powered 1,600 HP(Horse

Power) Train Coach Has Been Flagged-Off

India's first solar-powered Diesel Electric Multiple Unit

(DEMU) coach was flagged off by Railway Minister

Suresh Prabhu from the Safdarjung Railway Station in

New Delhi. The country's first country's first 1,600-

horsepower DEMU coach is equipped with solar-powered

hotel load system installed and commissioned by Jakson

Engineers Limited.

The installed solar rooftop system will generate 7,200

kilowatts (KW) of energy per year that will be used for

powering internal lights, fans and other electrical systems

of the coach. The project will help offset carbon emissions

by 9 tonnes per coach per year and also save about 21,000

litres of diesel for a solar-powered DEMU with six trailer

coaches, thereby, saving Rs 12 lakh every year.

Hotel load system is the electrical load caused by all

systems on a vehicle, especially a marine vessel or a

truck, other than propulsion.

The surplus power generated during peak hours will be

stored in a battery system. It will help in generating useful

data for research for adapting the system for a future

rollout on all trains operated by the Indian Railways. The

system has an anti-theft mechanism as well that can

operate in trains running at a speed of more than 100

km/hr.

Ram Nath Kovind To Be The 14th President Of

India

Former Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind was elected as

the 14th President of India. He is set to succeed incumbent

President Pranab Mukherjee.

He was the NDA’s presidential candidate and won with

over 7 lakh votes against Opposition candidate Meira

Kumar (former Lok Sabha speaker ).

A BJP leader who has served as a Rajya Sabha MP and

later was sworn-in as the 36th Governor of Bihar in


August 2015. He had replaced West Bengal Governor

Keshari Nath Tripathi who was holding the additional

charge of Bihar.

He will be the second Dalit President of the country after

KR Narayanan. He is also the first BJP leader to be

elected to the highest office of the land. He has also been

the national spokesperson of the BJP. A distinguished

statesman and orator, Kovind has addressed the United

Nations as India’s representative in 2002. He practised at

both the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court for 16

years.

He was born on October 1, 1945 in Uttar Pradesh’s

Kanpur Dehat district. He is a lawyer by training. He

attained his B.Com and LLB degrees from Kanpur

University and had a successful career as a practicing

lawyer. He served as the Central Government’s advocate

in Delhi High Court between 1977 and 1979. He was also

standing counsel in Supreme Court between 1980 and

1993. He was made Advocate-on-Record at the apex court

in 1978 and continued his legal practice at the Delhi High

Court and Supreme Court till 1993.

Besides serving as the Chairman of Rajya Sabha House

Committee, he was member of Parliamentary Committees

on Welfare of Scheduled Castes/Tribes; Home Affairs;

Petroleum and Natural Gas; Social Justice and

Empowerment; Law and Justice.

He is on the management board of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar

University, Lucknow. He is a member of Board of

Governors of the Indian Institute of Management,

Kolkata.

As MP, Kovind has done extensive work in providing

access to education in remotest areas of Uttar Pradesh and

Uttarakhand. He also used his legal acumen to help

provide free legal aid to backward or weaker sections of

the society. He focused especially on SC/ST women, poor

and elderly.

Govt Launches SHe-Box Portal For Sexual

Harassment Complaints

The Women and Child Development ministry launched an

online platform to enable women employees of the

Central government to file complaints related to sexual

harassment at the workplace.

Union minister Maneka Gandhi said the platform will

cater to Central government employees in the beginning

and thereafter, its ambit will be widened to include the

private sector as well.

The online complaint management system — SHe-box

(sexual harassment electronic box) — hosted on the

website of the Women and Child Development Ministry,

also seeks to ensure effective implementation of the

Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,

Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

Once a complaint is submitted to the SHe-Box, it will be

directly sent to the internal complaints committee (ICC)

of the ministry/department/PSU/autonomous body etc

concerned, having jurisdiction to inquire into the matter.

The ICC will take action as prescribed under the Act and

update the status of the complaint. The portal is also an

effort to provide speedier remedy to women facing sexual

harassment at the workplace, as envisaged under the

sexual harassment Act, a senior official of the ministry

said.

The sexual harassment Act mandates that all workplaces

with more than 10 workers constitute an internal

complaints committee for receiving complaints of sexual

harassment.

The minister also said the definition of what constitutes a

case of sexual harassment must be made available on the

portal.

PM Modi Inaugurates Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

Memorial In Tamil Nadu

On the second death anniversary of former president Dr

APJ Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi


inaugurated a national memorial in his honour in his home

town Rameshwaram.

At the inaugural ceremony, the prime minister hoisted the

national flag and unveiled a statue of Kalam. The Kalam

memorial was built by the Defence Research and

Development Organisation (DRDO) in Pei Karumbu. He

also flaged off Kalam Sandesh Vahini, an exhibition bus

that will travel across various states of the country and

reach Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 15, the birth

anniversary of the former President. The PM will be

flagging off a new express train from Ayodhya to

Rameswaram. The PM will be releasing a synopsis of the

‘Green Rameswaram’ project.

Three Engineering Internships Mandatory

During Course, Institutes To Be Held

Responsible Said HRD Minister

Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash

Javadekar said at the Lok Sabha that it will now be

mandatory for engineering students across the country to

be involved in at least three internships in the duration of

their course during the academic year.

Every student in technical institute should undergo three

internships each spanning four to eight weeks before

completion of his/her under-graduation course.

Teachers of engineering courses will also be required to

appear for an annual refresher course. “Every teacher in

each of the technical discipline shall mandatorily undergo

an annual refresher course through SWAYAM portal

(Massive open online course), encapsulating all advances

in their field of study.”

Online Sale Of Agri Produce Made Easy As

Government Launches e-RaKAM Portal

The government launched a portal, e-RaKAM, to provide

a platform to sell agricultural produce.

The portal is a joint initiative by state-run-auctioneer

MSTC and Central Warehousing Corporation arm

CRWC.

The effort should be to auction 20 lakh tonnes of pulses in the first phase through the platform. It is a first-of-its-kind

initiative that leverages technology to connect farmers of

the smallest villages to the biggest markets of the world

through internet and e-RaKAM centres.

E-RaKAM is a digital initiative bringing together the

farmers, FPOs, PSUs, civil supplies and buyers on a

single platform to ease the selling and buying process of

agricultural products. Under this initiative, e-RaKAM

centres are being developed in a phased manner

throughout the country to facilitate farmers for online sale

of their produce. The farmers would be paid through e-

Payment directly into their bank accounts.

E-RaKAM is a first-of-its-kind initiative that leverages

technology to connect farmers of the smallest villages to

the biggest markets of the world through internet and e-

RaKAM centres.

Ahmedabad Becomes India’s First World

Heritage City

The 606-year-old walled city of Ahmedabad, which was

founded by emperor Ahmed Shah, has become India’s

first World Heritage City. City was founded by emperor

Ahmed Shah.

Ahmedabad has stood for peace, as a landmark city where

Mahatma Gandhi began India’s freedom struggle. It has

stood for unity with its elegant carvings in its Hindu and

Jain temples as well as standing as one of the finest

examples of Indo-Islamic architecture and Hindu Muslim

art. And beyond this, it epitomizes the United Nation’s

objective of sustainable development as it accelerates in

its development.

Vande Mataram Must Be Sung In All

Educational Institutions Once A Week: Madras

High Court

Vande Mataram must be played and sung in all schools,

colleges and universities at least once a week and must be

played and sung in all government offices and institutions,

private companies, factories and industries at least once a

month. It further said a person who has difficulty in

singing the national song will not be compelled or forced

to sing it, provided there are valid reasons.


INTERNATIONAL

The Wall Street Journal Shuts India Real Time

Blog

The Wall Street Journal has shut its “India Real Time”

blog, becoming the second major US daily to retreat from

India-oriented offerings.

India Real Time started in 2010 as the first attempt by a

global newspaper to offer a news product for Indian

readers through the internet. The New York Times

followed it, launching India Ink with fanfare the next year,

but closed it down in 2014. “‘India Ink’s’ closure came

soon after the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,

who had been opposed strongly by many of its writers.”

Another New York-based newspaper, the Daily News,

which was one of the largest American newspapers,

launched Desi News in 2012. It closed down the next

year.

Since then at least two new media companies have

launched India specific operations, both in 2014: Quartz,

owned by Atlantic Media, and Huffington Post, owned by

the telecom giant, Verizon. The Huffington Post’s India

edition was started in association with The Times of India

group.

Yahoo was recently acquired by Verizon.

The Journal also announced that it was closing its China

Real Time blog.

Clean Drive: Volvo To Make Only Fully

Electric And Hybrid Cars From 2019

Swedish car maker Volvo says all its new cars from 2019

will have an electric motor, ending altogether the

manufacture of automobiles that have only a combustion

engine. it will have a range of models, including fully

electric vehicles and hybrid cars.

Volvo said that it will launch five fully electric cars

between 2019 and 2021. Three of them will be Volvo

models and two will be electrified cars from Polestar,

Volvo Cars' performance car arm.

CEO of Volvo: Hakan Samuelsson

India, Israel Ink 7 Key Strategic Pacts During

Modi Visit

Both the Countries signed 7 agreements to step-up

cooperation in key sectors like Space, Agriculture and

water conservation which are as follows:

A. MoU signed between Department of Science &

Technology and Israel’s National Technological

Innovation Authority for setting up of $40 million worth

India-Israel Industrial R&D & Technical Innovation Fund.

B. Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, and Israel’s

Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy & Water

Resources signed a pact on National Campaign for Water

Conservation in India.

C. The second one was signed between Uttar Pradesh Jal

Nigam and the Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy

& Water Resources on state water utility reform in India.

D. In the farm sector, the two countries have agreed upon

India-Israel development cooperation - a three-year work

programme in Agriculture from 2018 to 2020.

E. They also agreed for cooperation between the Isro and

the Israel Space Agency (ISA) regarding cooperation in

atomic clocks.

F. Besides, separate MoUs were signed between Isro and

ISA for cooperation in GEO-LEO optical link, and in

electric propulsion for small satellites.


12th Edition Of The G20 Summit Held In

Hamburg, Germany

The theme of the summit was Shaping an Inter-connected

World. German Chancellor Angela Merkel who hosted

this edition of the summit.

G20 members: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada,

China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan,

South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa,

Turkey, the UK, the US, and the European Union.

Salient features: A. PM Modi spoke of the geo-political

tensions with regard to Qatar in west Asia and North

Korea in northern Asia.

B. Ahead of the summit, the World Trade Organisation,

International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have

called for leaders to boost trade to support workers. In a

joint statement, the three institutions said: “The economic

wellbeing of billions of people depends on trade. Deeper

trade integration twinned with supportive domestic

policies can help boost incomes and accelerate global

growth. This calls for decisive actions by world leaders

gathered for the G-20 Summit.”

C. One of the talking points at G20 summits was

corruption, described as one of the biggest impediments to

global economic growth and its sustainable development

agenda.

D. The first working session was on ‘global growth and

trade’, and the second was on ‘sustainable development,

climate and energy’.

E. The topic of the third working session was ‘partnership

with Africa, migration and health’, and the fourth on

‘digitisation, women’s empowerment and employment’.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel added that world

leaders are determined to honour the Paris climate accord,

all except US President Donald Trump.

Tri-Nation (US, Japanese And Indian) Malabar

Naval Exercise-2017 In Bay Of Bengal

The US, Japanese and Indian navies taking part in the

trilateral naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal. The 21st edition of the Malabar exercise, conducted ashore and at-

sea, would include professional exchanges on carrier

strike group operations, maritime patrol and

reconnaissance operations, surface and anti-submarine

warfare.

Taking part in the trilateral naval exercise in the Bay of

Bengal: US Ship Nimitz (CVN68), guided missile cruise

USS Princeton (CG59), guided missile destroyers USS

Howard (DDG83), USS Shoup (DDG86) and USS Kidd

(DDG100), a Poseidon P-8A aircraft as well as a Los

Angeles fast-attack submarine. Besides, Japan Maritime

Self Defence Force ships JS Izumo (DDH 183), JS

Sazanami (DD1 13) along with Indian Naval Ship

Jalashwa and INS Vikramaditya participated in the joint

Naval exercise.

Dutch Pass Tapping Law, Intelligence Agencies

May Gather Data en masse

The Dutch Senate passed a law giving intelligence

agencies broad new surveillance and other powers,

including the ability to gather data from large groups of

people at once. The law, which was passed with broad

support, will go into effect this month after it is signed by

the country’s monarch and circulated in the official

legislative newspaper.

Online rights group Bits of Freedom warned the

Netherlands’ military and civil intelligence agencies will

now have the opportunity to tap large quantities of

internet data traffic, without needing to give clear reasons

and with limited oversight.

They also object to a three-year term for storage of data

that agencies deem relevant, and the possibility for them

to exchange information they cull with foreign

counterparts. The government argued that the powers are

needed to counter threats to national security in the

modern era, and their use can be tested by an oversight

panel.

Cabinet Approves India-Germany Pact On

Healthcare

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister

Narendra Modi has given ex-post facto approval for the

signing a Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) between India

and Germany on cooperation in the field of health. The

JDI was signed on June 1, 2017.


The Joint Declaration of Intent will cover the following

areas of cooperation:

1) Post-graduate education.

2) Training of medical personnel.

3) Pharmaceuticals and pharmacoeconomics.

4) Health economics.

Pocket Aces First Indian Digital Media Firm To

Enter China

Pocket Aces, which creates long- and short-format content

for digital consumption, will be the first Indian digital

media company to have a presence in China.

The company — co-founded by Aditi Srivastava, Ashwin

Suresh and Anirudh Pandita has entered into a partnership

with WebTV Asia, a multi-platform digital media

entertainment company. Its content will be available on

one of China’s biggest websites, Youku Tudou, which is

owned by e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Pocket Aces creates content across 3 channels: Dice

Media (premium web series), FilterCopy (snackable and

sharable content) and Gobble (all things food) and reaches

over 40 million people weekly on its own properties. The

content will have subtitles in English and Mandarin, and

in some instances, will be dubbed as well to localise it to

the Chinese market.

The content firewall refers to regulations that don’t allow

a lot of global digital media companies like YouTube and

Facebook to operate in China.

UN Selects Dubai As Data Hub For MENASA

(Middle East North Africa And South Asia)

Region

The UN has selected Dubai as the data hub for the Middle

East North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) region for

the city’s integrated initiatives to mine and manage its

data. The work is already under way to prepare Dubai as

the regional city data hub.

The designation will be part of a portfolio of local and regional data portals, analytics and reports to engage

stakeholders and help accelerate progress. It will also

serve as a dedicated platform for city-to-city learning and

‘solutions transfer’ across metropolitan, national and

global contexts.

Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba Expands

Cabinet

Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba expanded his

cabinet by inducting 19 new ministers.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari administered the oath of

office and secrecy to the newly appointed ministers.

Minister for Health: Giriraj Mani Pokharel

Minister for Agriculture Development: Ram Krishan

Yadav

Minister for Information and Communications: Mohan

Basnet

Minister for Defense: Bhimsen Das

Minister for Youth and Sports: Rajan KC

Minister for Law: Yagya Bahadur Thapa

Deuba has been elected as the 40th Prime Minister of

Nepal. He became Nepal’s Prime Minister for the fourth

time, succeeding Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal

Prachanda who had resigned after nine months to honour

a power-sharing deal and had proposed Deuba’s name.

Deuba was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Nepal by

President Bhandari.

Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif Names Brother As

Next Prime Minister


Pakistan’s ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has

nominated his brother Shahbaz Sharif as successor.

He also said he would like close ally Shahid Khaqan

Abbasi to be interim prime minister.

In order to become the prime minister, Shahbaz Sharif

needs to be emerge victorious in a general election in

Pakistan, which goes to polls next year. He is currently

the chief minister of the vast Punjab province. Abbasi, the

petroleum minister in the last cabinet, is regarded as

committed to Sharif.

The announcement charts a way forward for Pakistan after

the Supreme Court ousted Sharif on Friday following an

investigation into corruption allegations against him and

his family, bringing to an unceremonious end his historic

third term in power and briefly plunging the country into

political uncertainty.

Nawaz Sharif became the 15th prime minister in

Pakistan's 70-year history.

The publication of 11.5 million secret documents from

Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca documenting the

offshore dealings of many of the world's rich and

powerful implicated three of Sharif's four children -

daughter Maryam and sons Hasan and Hussein.

Sri Lanka, China Sign USD 1.1 Billion

Hambantota Port Deal

Sri Lanka signed a USD 1.1 billion deal to sell a 70-per

cent stake of the strategic Hambantota port to China, amid

concerns over the massive debt the island nation incurred

in building the port. Cash-rich China has invested millions

of dollars in Sri Lanka’s infrastructure since the end of a

brutal civil war in 2009. As part of the deal, the stake in

the loss-making port has been sold to China’s state-run

conglomerate China Merchant Port Holdings (CMPort).

Under the 99-year lease agreement, CMPort is to invest

up to USD 1.1 billion in the port and marine-related

activities.

According to the new deal, only Sri Lankan Navy will be

responsible for security of the deep-sea port, and the port

will not be allowed to become a base for any foreign

navy. The new provision is seen as an attempt to allay India’s concerns over Chinese navy’s possible presence in

Sri Lanka.

India And Somalia Sign Pact On Convicts

India and Somalia signed an agreement for transfer of sentenced convicts.

The entire gamut of India-Somalia bilateral relations,

including the issue of piracy and maritime security, were

discussed between the two sides during the meetings.

Further, discussions on regional issues pertaining to

developments in the Gulf region and India’s

neighbourhood were held. India has in recent years

extended development assistance to Somalia which has

included mini buses to the war-battered country.

Diplomatic contacts between India and Somalia have been

infrequent, however, Somalia had participated in the 2015

India-Africa Forum Summit.

Darshan Lal Becomes First Hindu To Become

Pakistan Cabinet Minister In 20 Years

Darshan Lal is a minority community member, appointed

as minister of state for inter-provincial coordination.

Lal reportedly used to practice as a doctor in Mirpur

Mathelo town in Ghotki district of Sindh province.

Lal was elected to the national assembly for the second

time in 2013 on a Pakistan Muslim League (N) ticket

under the minority quota.

Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain administered oath

to 47 cabinet ministers in a televised swearing-in

ceremony.

Ishaq Dar returned to take back his position as finance

minister.

Khawaja Asif, who had earlier controlled defense and

power ministries, was appointed as the Foreign Minister.

NEWS BUZZ

Modi In Israel: Netanyahu Gifts Indian

Soldiers' Photo To PM

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gifted

Prime Minister Narendra Modi a photo that depicts Indian

soldiers leading a British military column to liberate

Jerusalem.


PM Modi, presented the replicas of two sets of relics from

Kerala, regarded as key artifacts of the long Jewish

history in India. They comprise two different sets of

Copper plates that are believed to have been inscribed in

9-10th Century. The first set of Copper plates is a

cherished relic for the Cochin Jews in India. It is regarded

as a charter describing the grant of hereditary royal

privileges and prerogatives by the Hindu King, Cheraman

Perumal (often identified as Bhaskara Ravi Varma), to the

Jewish leader Joseph Rabban.

The second set of Copper plates is believed to be the

earliest documentation of the history of Jewish trade with

India.

These plates describe the grant of land and tax privileges

by the local Hindu ruler to a church.

India Ranked 23rd On A List Of 165 Nations,

In A Cybersecurity Index

Global index measures the commitment of nations across

the world to cybersecurity.

India is ranked 23rd on the index with a score of 0.683

and has been listed in the maturing category, which refers

to 77 countries that have developed complex

commitments to cybersecurity and engage in

cybersecurity programmes and initiatives.

The index has been topped by Singapore with a 0.925

score.

Cybersecurity is an ecosystem where laws, organisations,

skills, cooperation and technical implementation need to

be in harmony to be most effective.

The top 10 most committed countries to cybersecurity are

Singapore, United States, Malaysia, Oman, Estonia,

Mauritius, Australia, Georgia, France and Canada.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II Appoints First

Black Household Staffer

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has appointed her first black

equerry, a senior staff member in charge of assisting the

royal household.

Ghanaian-born Major Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah from

the Household Cavalry will take charge of one of the most

important roles in the 91-year-old monarch’s household.

The Afghanistan war veteran, known as “TA” to his

friends, is thought to be the royal family’s first black

equerry, a role that requires immense discretion. The 38-

year-old moved to the UK from Ghana with his parents in

1982 and later studied at Queen Mary University of

London and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

He acted as an escort commander for the wedding of the

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and

Kate Middleton, in 2011 and in the same year commanded

the Blues and Royals taking part in Trooping the Colour,

the Queen’s birthday parade.

Argentinian Artist Marta Minujín Builds Greek

Parthenon Replica With 100,000 Banned Books

There are thousands of books that have been banned

around the world for some reason or the other. It is to

protest this banning of literature that this artist decided to

build a life-size monument with banned books.

Argentinian artist Marta Minujín erected a replica of the

Greek Parthenon with 100,000 copies of banned books as

a symbol of resistance.This has been built at historic Nazi

book-burning site.

The Parthenon of Books is being set up in Kassel,

Germany as part of the Documenta 14 art festival. And

it’s not only significant because of the scale of the project,

the venue is equally important.


The installation is being built on Friedrichsplatz in Kassel,

where some 2,000 books were burned by Nazis during the

Aktion wider den un-Deutschen Geist (Campaign against

the Un-German Spirit).

In 1941, the Fridericianum—which was still being used as

a library at the time—was engulfed in flames during an

Allied bombing attack, and another collection of some

350,000 books was lost.

The Greek Parthenon also has its own significance. It was

originally the temple of goddess Athena, on the Acropolis

in Athens, which symbolised the aesthetic and political

ideals of the world’s first democracy. Interestingly, it was

transformed into a Church and a Mosque, depending on

the Greek regime. The structure that is considered the

zenith of the Doric order has been a temple, church and

mosque in its lifetime that stands a ruin today.

She built her first piece in 1983 when she erected the

monument with 25,000 books banned by Argentina’s

military junta in a square in Buenos Aires, shortly after

the regime was toppled.

With the help of students from the University of Kassel, a

list of forbidden books from around the world has been

compiled and it contains over 70,000 book titles!

The banned books have been covered in plastic sheets and

fixed on huge pillars supporting the monumental

structure.

However, this not the first time 74-year-old Minujín has

built a Parthenon of Books to fight prohibition of books

and prosecutions of its writers. She built her first piece in

1983 when she erected the monument with 25,000 books

banned by Argentina’s military junta in a square in

Buenos Aires, shortly after the regime was toppled.

Former Brazilian President Lula Found Guilty

Of Corruption

Former Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was

convicted on corruption charges.

He was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison.

Brazil’s first working-class president who left office six

years ago with an 83-percent approval rating. The former

union leader won global admiration for transformative

social policies that helped reduce stinging inequality in

Latin America’s biggest country.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama once labeled him

the most popular politician on earth.

Judge Sergio Moro found Lula guilty.

World’s Tallest Ferris Wheel Is Coming Up In

Dubai And It’s 210 Metres Tall

The largest and tallest Ferris wheel in the world located in

Dubai when completed will be the tallest observation

wheel in the world standing 210 metres tall, towering

easily over the 167-metre high roller coaster in Las Vegas

and the planned 190 metre high Ferris wheel in Staten

Island, New York.

The wheel is being made by developers Meraas on their

Bluewaters project which is an artificial island just off the

Jumeirah Beach residence coastline near Dubai Marina. It

will give give a spectacular 360 degree bird’s eye view of

the Dubai city, coast line and the Persian Gulf’s blue

waters.

It is expected to have around 9,000 tonnes of steel. Eiffel

Tower wasn’t made with steel but with puddling iron.

which was a precursor to steel in construction technology.

Around 7,000 tonnes of puddling iron was used to build

the Eiffel Tower which is, by weight, 2,000 tonnes less

than the Ain Dubai.

The "world's First Robot Lawyer Can Handle

Credit Card Fraud, Your Work Harassment

Case

The "world's first robot lawyer" which has so far

overturned parking tickets worth $10 million in the UK


and the US - can now help people tackle legal disputes

regarding landlords, credit card fraud and harassment at

work free of cost.

The online tool, developed by 20-year-old British student

Joshua Browder at Stanford University in the US, has

been upgraded to fight legal disputes in 1,000 different

areas.

These include fighting landlords over security deposits

and house repairs, and helping people report fraud to their

credit card agency.

To get robot advice, users need to type their problem into

the 'DoNotPay' website, which directs them to a chat bot

that can solve their legal issue.

It can draft letters and offer advice on problems from

credit card fraud to airline compensation.

It can also understand complex disputes such as

employment rights and offer a range of suggestions.

With problems around parental leave and harassment at

work it provides options with different levels of formality.

It can send a casual letter, an official one, and file a

complaint to the regulator.

The tool can fight parking tickets in just 30 seconds.

DoNotPay had negated more than 375,000 tickets worth

around USD 10 million in the UK, New York and Seattle.

At present the robot lawyer can solve problems that

involve a single document, such as filling out a form or

writing a letter.

The Bank Of England Unveiled A New 10-

Pound Plastic Note Featuring British Literary

Great Jane Austen

The Bank of England unveiled a new 10-pound plastic

note featuring British literary great Jane Austen.

The note, which follows the polymer 5 pound. has a

portrait of Austen on the 200th anniversary of the author’s

death.

It is also the first Bank of England note to include a tactile

feature to help visually-impaired people.

The design of the note includes the quote I declare after

all there is no enjoyment like reading! from Austen’s

novel Pride and Prejudice and a portrait of the novelist

based on an original sketch drawn by her sister Cassandra.

The new note also has the same animal fat base that had

triggered protests from Hindu groups in the UK last year.

Former England Striker Gary Lineker Is The

Highest Earning Sports Presenter In BBC

Former England striker and sports presenter Gary Lineker

earns between 1.75 million pounds to 1.79 million

pounds.

Gary Lineker is the second highest paid BBC star, only

behind Radio talkshow and former TopGear host Chris

Evans.

Other top earners in the list include former Newcastle

United great and pundit Alan Shearer and former Tennis

player Sue Barker. Since retiring from the game in 1994,

has forged a successful career as a sports presenter and

hosts BBC’s football show Match of the Day.

While Evans is the highest male earner in the 2,200,000 –

2,249,999 pounds bracket, Vanessa Feltz in the 350,000 –

399,999 pounds bracket is the highest female earner.

Among sports presenters, Sue Barker is the highest female

earner in the 300,000 – 349,999 pounds.

NEWS BUZZ

Neil Armstrong's Bag Containing Traces Of

Moon Dust Sells For $1.8 mn

A bag Neil Armstrong used to collect the first ever

samples of the moon, which was once nearly thrown out

with the trash, sold at auction for $1.8 million. The outer

decontamination bag, which was flown to the moon on

Apollo 11 and still carries traces of moon dust and small

rock, was sold on the 48th anniversary of the first moon

landing in 1969.

Auctioneer Joe Dunning introduced the lot as "an

exceptionally rare artifact from mankind's greatest

achievement." It sold to an anonymous buyer on the

telephone following a sluggish five-minute bidding war.

Its previous owner was an Illinois lawyer, who bought it in 2015 for $995.


It was the only artifact from the Apollo 11 mission left in

private hands.

After Apollo 11 returned to Earth, nearly all the

equipment from the mission was sent to the Smithsonian,

the world's largest museum.

Microsoft Paint Will Be Removed From

Windows 10 After 32 Years

Microsoft Paint is on the chopping block, a recent

announcement from the company, which has put out list

of features that will be removed or deprecated in the

Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.

Microsoft’s next Windows 10 update, called the Autumn

(or Fall in the US) Creators Update, will bring a variety of

new features.

Paint, which was first launched in 1985. The software is

not in active development and it can be removed entirely

in future releases of Windows. Microsoft will have Paint

on the Windows Store, but its features will be integrated

in Paint 3D in the future. Paint 3D is nothing like good old

Paint, and as the name suggests it is geared towards

creating work in 3D. Paint 3D will let users turn parts of

photos, artwork into full-fledged 3D objects. Paint 3D lets

users create or modify 2D objects, and convert them into

3D as well. Users can change colour, texture on these 3D

objects. This 3D work can be shared on Remix3D app or

printed out via a 3D printer. All the 2D pens, pencils on

Paint work with 3D objects. Paint was never one of the

most capable apps, and was limited to the bitmap (BMP)

and PCX formats until 1998.

Adobe Flash Will Be Killed By 2020

Adobe has confirmed that 2020 will be year when Flash

finally gets killed.

Acc. to them open standards like HTML5, WebGL and

WebAssembly have matured,” and these are providing the

same features as Flash. Also with browsers directly

integrating open web standards, the need for plugins has

been eliminated in many cases. Thus, Adobe will

eventually end Flash and no longer provide security

patches or updates to this after 2020.

Paramjeet Kaur, Uber's First Woman Bike

Taxi Driver From Punjab

Punjab just got its bike taxis and Paramjeet Kaur is among

the 100 riders to offer such services as part of the Punjab

government’s Apni Gaddi, Apna Rozgar programme.

This bike taxi service is part of a new government scheme

called Apni Gaddi, Apna Rozgar, aimed at generating jobs

for the state’s unemployed youth.

Existing and new motorcycle owners will be able to get

commercial permits and licences to run two-wheelers as

pillion taxis. And this taxi service has paved the way for

India's first female bike driver Paramjeet Kaur.

The Apni Gaddi, Apna Rozgar scheme, as proposed in

the manifesto, envisages one lakh taxis, commercial LCVs

and other vehicles to be provided to unemployed youth

every year at subsidised rates, without collateral and with

the government standing guarantee.

Cambodian Temple Site Gets UNESCO World

Heritage Status

The UN cultural organisation added an ancient temple site

in Cambodia to its world heritage list, bringing the

number of heritage sites in the South-east Asian country

to three.

Sambor Prei Kuk, or “temple in the richness of the forest”

in the Khmer language, located 206 km (128 miles) north

of the capital Phnom Penh, is home to numerous temples,

ten of which are octagonal.


UNESCO said the area had been identified as Ishanapura,

the capital of the ancient Chenla Empire, a Khmer

civilisation that flourished in the late 6th and 7th centuries

and preceded the Khmer Empire. Its remains cover an

area of 25 square kilometres.

Two other sites in Cambodia already have heritage status,

including the popular Angkor Wat in Siem Reap province

where parts of the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider film were

shot.

Angkor Wat and Preah Vihear, an 11th-century temple on

the border between Thailand and Cambodia, were listed as

World Heritage Sites in 2004 and 2008, respectively.

Sambor Prei Kuk was added to the list along with other

sites in China and India.

No Girls Allowed: Japan’s Men-Only Island

Has Been Declared A UNESCO World Heritage

Site

A men-only island in Japan where women are banned and

male visitors must bathe naked in the sea before visiting

its shrine, has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage

site.

The tiny landmass of Okinoshima is permanently manned

by a Shinto priest who prays to the island’s goddess, in a

tradition that has been kept up for centuries.

Limited numbers are permitted to land on the island in the

Sea of Japan (East Sea). Here women are banned and

male visitors must bathe naked in the sea before visiting

its shrine.

The island, which sits off the northwest coast of Kyushu,

the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands, was an

important window for foreign trade in Japan since ancient

times, forming part of a trade route that linked the

archipelago to the Korean peninsula and China.

Google Doodle Honours Eva Ekeblad —

Scientist Who Made Alcohol From Potatoes

Ekeblad, who was born on June 10, 1724, in Sweden, was

the first woman to gain admission to the Royal Swedish

Academy of Sciences after she found out how to extract

starch from potatoes and, subsequently, how to make flour

and alcohol out of potatoes. Her work resulted in gluten-

free baking and production of alcohols such as potato

wine and vodka.

Six-Foot Statue Found At Angkor Wat Site

The statue measuring six feet and three inches in height

and 23 inches in width. It is believed to be from the 12th

or 13th century, is thought to have been a symbolic

guardian of the entrance of the hospital. Angkor was the

capital of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from

approximately the 9th to the 15th centuries.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

T.R.Zeliang appointed as Nagaland CM.

Sarah Sanders Has Been Appointed As White

House Press Secretary

She will be the third female press secretary in history. She

replaced Sean Spicer. She’ll take over for Sean Spicer,

who abruptly announced that he’s resigning.

Justice Dipak Misra, Has Been Recommended

By J S Khehar (CJI) As The Next Chief Justice

Of India

Justice Dipak Misra is the second senior most Supreme

Court judge.

He will be the 45th CJI. Misra will have a 14-month

tenure and will retire in October 2018. He began his


career as a lawyer in February 1977 in his home state

Odisha. He was appointed Orissa high court additional

judge in January 1996. Misra was transferred to the MP

high court, where he became a permanent judge around

two years later. He was named Patna high court chief

justice in December 2009. He took over as Delhi high

court chief justice five months later. Misra was appointed

a Supreme Court judge in October 2011. He headed the

bench that rejected Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub

Memon’s plea for stay on his execution and that which

upheld death sentence awarded to Nirbhaya’s killers.

Misra had directed police to upload FIRs on its website

within 24 hours for accused to download them and seek

redressal of their grievances when he was the Delhi high

court chief justice. He was tough with frivolous litigation.

He dismissed one such PIL that challenged title of the

film Dhobi Ghat with costs and warning to the petitioner.

He explained modern economic theory of rent and its

nexus with demand and supply in the context of renting

out of premises for commercial purposes while deciding

validity of the provision introduced by the Finance Act of

2010.

He was part of the two-judge Supreme Court bench that

upheld the Allahabad high court verdict saying

reservations in promotions can be provided only if there is

sufficient data and evidence to justify the need.

He, who is National Legal Services Authority executive

chairman, was behind the idea of establishing Legal

Assistance Establishments in states to streamline activities

to provide free legal aid to the needy.

Former PM Manmohan's Media Advisor

Sanjaya Baru Becomes Ficci Secretary-General

Sanjaya Baru, who had earlier been media advisor to

former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has become the

new secretary-general of the Federation of Indian

Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci). He will

replace A Didar Singh who had served in the role for 5

years.

In April 2014, his book the The Accidental Prime

Minister, a detailed memoir about his time serving the

PM, was published by Penguin India.

After taking up the role of the PM's media advisor, Baru

was the Editor of Business Standard from January 2010 to

October 2011.

US Senate Confirms Christopher Wray As FBI

Director

The Senate has confirmed Christopher Wray to lead the

FBI, replacing James Comey, who was abruptly fired by

President Donald Trump amid the investigation into

Russia meddling in last year’s presidential election.

He is a former high-ranking official in President George

W Bush’s Justice Department who oversaw investigations

into corporate fraud.

Achal Kumar Joti Appointed As Next Chief

Election Commissioner

Achal Kumar Joti will succeed Nasim Zaidi as the next

Chief Election Commissioner.

He served as the chief secretary of Gujarat when Prime

Minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister. Has also

served as the Gujarat vigilance commissioner and worked

in various capacities in the state, including as the

chairman of the Kandla Port Trust between 1999 and 2004

and the managing director of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada

Nigam Ltd (SSNNL). In addition, he was the secretary in

the industry, revenue and water supply departments in the

state.

As per the law, a CEC or an Election Commissioner can

have a tenure of six years or hold office till the age of 65

years, whichever is earlier.

Om Prakash Rawat is the other election commissioner in

the poll panel.

India-Born Scientist Subra Suresh To Head

Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University

Subra Suresh will replace Bertil Andersson as the 4th

President of Singapore’s prestigious Nanyang

Technological University (NTU).

He is an educator, scientist, advisor, inventor,

entrepreneur and leader all rolled into one. Prof Suresh,

who was chosen by President Barack Obama as the

Director of US National Science Foundation between in

2010, is recognised as one of the world’s most renowned

scientists.


The 2011 Padma Shri award winner did his undergraduate

degree from IIT Madras.

He did his Phd in science from Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (MIT) and he became the first Asian-born

professor to serve as an engineering dean at MIT.

He has been elected to the National Academy of

Medicine, National Academy of Sciences and National

Academy of Engineering and is one of the only 19

American scientists who has been elected to all three

branches.

Former French Judge, Catherine Marchi-Uhel

To Head UN Body To Probe Syria Crimes

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed a French

legal expert and former judge on Monday to head the UN

investigative body that will help document and prosecute

the most serious violations of international law in Syria,

including possible war crimes and crimes against

humanity. She has been serving as the ombudsperson for

the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions

against the Islamic State extremist group and al-Qaida.

She was previously a judge in France and an international

judge with the UN mission in Kosovo and at the

Cambodia court prosecuting leaders of the Khmer Rouge.

She also served as senior legal officer at the International

Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and worked in legal

positions at the French foreign ministry.

The International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism,

established under UN auspices, is mandated to collect,

consolidate, preserve and analyze evidence of violations

of international humanitarian law and human rights

violations and abuses and prepare files in order to

facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal

proceedings in the future.

Indian-American Lawyer Neomi Rao To Head

White House Regulatory Affairs Office

Indian-American lawyer Neomi Rao has been confirmed by

the US Senate to lead the White House’s Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs. Director Rao will play

an instrumental role in helping the President fulfill his

promise to roll back unnecessary red tape and unleash the

full potential of the American economy,”. Her research and

teaching focuses on constitutional and administrative law.

Currently a public member of the Administrative Conference

of the US, Rao has previously served in all three branches of

the federal government.

She served as Associate Counsel to President George W

Bush; counsel for nominations and constitutional law to the

US Senate Committee on the Judiciary; and law clerk to

Justice Clarence Thomas of US Supreme Court.

She practiced public international law and arbitration at

Clifford Chance LLP in London. Rao received her JD with

high honours from the University of Chicago and her BA

from Yale University.

ANNIVERSARIES / DEATHS

Maryam Mirzakhani, First Woman To Win

Maths' Fields Medal, Dies

Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to receive the

prestigious Fields Medal for mathematics.

The 40-year-old Iranian, a professor at Stanford

University, had breast cancer which had spread to her

bones. Nicknamed the “Nobel Prize for Mathematics,” the

Fields Medal is only awarded every four years to between

two and four mathematicians under 40.

It was given to Prof Mirzakhani in 2014 for her work on complex geometry and dynamical systems. Manjul

Bhargava who won Fields Medal with her in 2014. She

broke new grounds in the study of complex curved or


closed surfaces, referred to as Riemann surfaces. She won

two gold medals in the International Mathematical

Olympiad as a teenager. She earned a PhD at Harvard

University in 2004, and later worked at Princeton before

securing a professorship at Stanford in 2008. Prof

Mirzakhani was also the first Iranian to receive it.

Fields Medal: Fields medal is the topmost international

prize in mathematics. Is a prize awarded to two, three, or

four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the

International Congress of the International Mathematical

Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place every four years.

The Fields Medal have often been described as the

mathematician's Nobel Prize. The colloquial name is in

honour of Canadian mathematician John Charles Fields.

The medal was first awarded in 1936 to Finnish

mathematician Lars Ahlfors and American mathematician

Jesse Douglas, and it has been awarded every four years

since 1950.

Other major awards in mathematics are the Abel Prize and

the Chern Medal. In 1954, Jean-Pierre Serre became the

youngest winner of the Fields Medal, at 27.

In 1990, Edward Witten became the first physicist to win

this award.

Manjul Bhargava the first person of Indian origins to win

the Fields Medal.

The medal was designed by Canadian sculptor R. Tait

McKenzie.

ISRO Scientist (Former ISRO Chairman) U R

Rao Passes Away

Udupi Ramachandra Rao, the 2017 Padma Vibhushan

award winning scientists served as the Chairman of ISRO

for 10 years between 1984-1994.

As ISRO Chairman, Professor Rao had accelerated the

development of rocket technology which led to the launch

of ASLV rocket and the operational PSLV launch vehicle.

He was also responsible for initiating the development of

Geo Stationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and the

development of cryogenic technology in 1991.

He received a Bachelor of Science from Madras

University in 1951, his masters degree from Banaras

Hindu University in 1953 and his PhD from Gujarat

University in 1960. He has been involved in all ISRO

missions till date, either directly or indirectly, including

the first Indian satellite Aryabhata. Under his leadership,

India successfully launched the ASLV rocket and the

operational PSLV launch vehicle. He was the Chairman of

the Governing Council of the Physical Research

Laboratory at Ahmedabad and the chancellor of the Indian

Institute of Science and Technology at

Thiruvananthapuram at the time of his death. He has

previously worked as a faculty member at MIT and an

Assistant Professor at the University of Texas, Dallas.

He was awarded the Padma Bhushan — the third highest

civilian award — by the Indian government in 1976 for

his contribution to Indian space technology. This year, he

was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest

civilian award. On March 19, 2013, he was also the first

Indian space scientist to be inducted into the Satellite Hall

of Fame at Washington. He was also the first to be

inducted into the IAF Hall of Fame at Guadalajara in

Mexico.

Renowned Scientist & Educator Prof Yash Pal

Passes Away

Professor Yash Pal was known for his contributions to the

study of cosmic rays, as well as for being an institution-

builder.

He introduced the first cable and satellite television

broadcast for the world in the 1970’s. He was awarded the

Padma Bhushan in 1976 and the Padma Vibhushan in

2013. He was the founder director of ISRO’s Space

Applications Centre in Ahmedabad. He started his career

at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), later

remained chairman of the University Grants Commission

from 1986 to 1991.

Apart from his great achievement in the field of Science,

he wrote a major report which strongly favoured reducing


the burden of books in children’s school bags. Pal was

also the recipient of several awards including the Indira

Gandhi Prize for Popularization of Science in 2000 and

The Meghnad Saha Medal in 2006.

Pal also served as the Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru

University, New Delhi from 2007 to 2012.

Pal completed his his PhD in 1958 from Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, where he specialised in high-

energy physics, astrophysics, communication, science

policy and space technology.

He also served as president of the Indian Physics

Association among several other key positions.

Prof Yash Pal is also known for regular appearances on

the science programme Turning Point telecast on

Doordarshan and for explaining scientific concepts in

layman’s language, along with participation in advisory

boards for televised science programmes such as Bharat ki

Chaap.

In the international arena, he served as a member of UN

Advisory Committee on Science and Technology for

Development.

He was also a member of Scientific Council, International

Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste and Executive

Committee and United Nations University.

Owing of his achievements in the fields of science and

academics, Professor Yash Pal was awarded the Macroni

International Fellowship Award in 1980.

Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) bestowed on

him the prestigious GP Chatterjee Memorial Award in

1987.

He was also honoured with the Association of Space

Explorers Award in 1989.

Poet, Critic, Teacher Eunice De Souza Passes

Away

De Souza’s first collection of poetry Fix appeared in

1979, published by the poets’ collective Newground and

established her reputation for a keen eye and a rare

combination of irony and sympathy.

In poems like Autobiographical, One Man’s Poetry and

Forgive Me, Mother, De Souza wove in details from her

own life and that of her family, such as the death of her

father when she was a child — a trauma that scarred her

for much of her life.

The poet published her second poetry collection Women

in Dutch Painting in 1988, followed by Ways of

Belonging in 1990 and Selected and New Poems in 1994.

All her poetry, including some previously unpublished

works appear in A Necklace of Skulls, published in 2009.

De Souza also wrote two works of fiction, Dangerlok

(2001) and Dev & Simran: A Novel (2003), besides

editing anthologies such as Nine Indian Women Poets: An

Anthology (2001) and These My Words: The Penguin

Book of Indian Poetry (2012). Her last collection of

poetry, Learn from the Almond Leaf was published in

2016.

Bollywood Actor Inder Kumar Passes Away

Inder Kumar made his Bollywood debut with 1996 film

Masoom.

He was best known for playing supporting roles in

Bollywood films such as Tirchhi Topiwale (1998), Kahi

Pyar Na Ho Jaaye (2000), Paying Guest (2009) and

Wanted (2009).

Inder, last seen in the 2011 film Yeh Dooriyan, was

currently shooting for his next film Phati Padi Hai Yaar.

Inder also briefly played Mihir Virani in the popular TV

show Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.

Indira Bayi, Scion Of Travancore Royal

Family, Dead

Indira Bayi, was the daughter of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi,

who was Queen Regent of erstwhile Travancore. She

became the first woman from the royal family to enrol for

college education.

Freedom Fighter Vidyadhar Guruji Passed

Away

The centenarian had always followed Gandhian principles

and became active in the freedom movement as a college

student. He also won assembly elections from Swatantra

party against Mallappa Lingappa Kollur from Gurumitkal


constituency. In 1984, Mr Guruji had contested the

Parliament elections from Gulbarga constituency as a

candidate of Janata Party and lost with a huge margin of

95,490 votes against the former Chief Minister Veerendra

Patil of the Congress party.

Mr Guruji had donated his collection of books worth Rs 3

lakh to Hindi Prachar Sabha, for which he was Chairman

for a period.

Sam Shepard, Pulitzer-Winning Playwright

And Actor, Dies At 73

Sam Shepard, the Pulitzer Prize- winning playwright,

Oscar-nominated actor and celebrated author whose plays

chronicled the explosive fault lines of family and

masculinity in the American West, has died. He died due

to the complications related to Lou Gehrig's disease, or

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Shepard wrote more than 40 plays and won the Pulitzer

Prize for drama for Buried Child in 1979.

He went on to be nominated for the best supporting actor

Oscar for 1983's The Right Stuff and starred in films like

Black Hawk Down as well as co-writing 1984's Paris,

Texas.

His first major acting role was in Terrence Malik's -Days

of Heaven in 1978, in which he starred alongside Richard

Gere.

Other film credits include Steel Magnolias, The Pelican

Brief and The Accidental Husband. Shepard recently

starred in the first season of the Netflix series Bloodline as

the patriarch of a prominent FloridaKeys family who try

to keep a web of secrets from destroying their lives.

Shepard also appears in psychological thriller Never Here,

which had its premiere last month.

He was nominated for two other Pulitzers, for Broadway

plays Fool for Love and True West.

He was also nominated for two Tony Awards. His final

play was A Particle of Dread, which was first performed

in Derry/Londonderry in 2013 as part of its year as UK

City of Culture. And he wrote the screenplay for Robert

Altman's big screen adaptation of his play Fool for Love.

His novel, The One Inside, was published earlier this year.

Mexican Painter Jose Luis Cuevas Dies

Mexican painter Jose Luis Cuevas, who made his mark by

breaking with the hyper-nationalist tradition of the

country’s muralists of the 1930s and 1940s, died. He was

best known for his 1950s manifesto “The Nopal Curtain”

and a “temporary” mural he erected on a billboard in

1967, and took down a month later. Both were a reaction

to the somewhat ponderous, stereotyped images that

prevailed in Mexico’s school of mural painting.

Sheila Michaels, Who Brought 'Ms.' To

Prominence, Dies

Sheila Michaels, who half a century ago, wielding two

consonants and a period, changed the way modern women

are addressed, died. She introduced the honorific Ms. into

common parlance.

She over the years worked as a civil-rights organizer, New

York cabdriver, technical editor, oral historian and

Japanese restaurateur, did not coin Ms. nor did she ever

claim to have done so.

In his 1949 book, The Story of Language, the linguist

Mario Pei wrote, “Feminists … have often proposed that

the two present-day titles be merged into …‘Miss’ (to be

written ‘Ms.’), with a plural ‘Misses’ (written ‘Mss.’).”

dormant.

Ms. Michaels first encountered the term in the early

1960s.

Bradley Lowery, Six-Year-Old English Football

Mascot Dies Of Cancer

Bradley Lowery, a football mascot who struck up a close

friendship with England striker Jermain Defoe after being

diagnosed with a rare cancer and gained fans across the

sport, has died. He was a mascot for then-English Premier

League team Sunderland several times last season.

He was also a mascot for an England game at Wembley

Stadium in March.

Naresh Chandra, India's Former Ambassador

To US, Dies


Former Indian Ambassador to the US Naresh Chandra

died at a private hospital in Goa due to multiple organ

failure. He had served as the Cabinet Secretary from

1990-92 and was the Indian Ambassador to the US from

1996 to 2001. He was conferred with the Padma

Vibhushan - India's second highest civil honour - in 2007.

Renowned Cartoonist Mangesh Tendulkar

Passes Away

Renowned cartoonist Mangesh Tendulkar passed away.

He was suffering from bladder cancer. He was one of the

most decorated cartoonists in India. He was conferred

with the president’s medal in 1980, Marathi Natya

Parishad Award in 1993 and Pulotsav award in 2003.

His cartoons were displayed at traffic signals and targeted,

among others, two-wheeler riders.

He is the brother of acclaimed playwright and

screenwriter Padma Bhushan Vijay Tendulkar.

Chinese Rights Activist, Nobel Laureate Liu

Dies

NOBEL PEACE prize laureate and Chinese rights activist

Liu Xiaobo, died.

Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, almost a

year after he was handed an 11-year jail sentence for

inciting subversion of state power, after he helped draft

‘Charter 08’ — a petition that called for a slew of political

reforms in China.

Liu was sentenced on December 25, 2009, after a Beijing

court convicted him of trying to overthrow the

government.

Born in Jilin Province, in northeast China, on December

28, 1955, Liu followed in his father’s footsteps and

became a university professor.

He turned a rights campaigner after the Tiananmen

protests of 1989, when he was arrested and lost his

teaching job.

Liu was represented at the 2010 Nobel ceremony by an

empty chair, and his acceptance speech was read out by

Swedish actress Liv Ullmann.

Voyager Spacecraft Marks 40th Anniversary

Voyagers 1 and 2 were launched in 1977 to take

advantage of a favourable alignment of Jupiter, Saturn,

Uranus and Neptune, and are now exploring interstellar

space.

Voyager 1 and 2 have explored all the giant planets of our

outer solar system, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune;

48 of their moons; and the unique system of rings and

magnetic fields those planets possess. By the anniversary

Voyager 1 will have traveled more than 12 billion miles

and Voyager 2 more than 10 billion, with both nuclear-

powered spacecraft continuing to send back data.

They have been breaking records for almost two decades,

the first on Feb 17, 1998, when Voyager 1 passed

NASA’s Pioneer 10 probe to become the farthest man-

made object. According to NASA, the Voyagers are the

first to pass through the heliosheath, which is thought to

exist somewhere from eight to 14 billion miles from the

Sun. Voyager 1 entered interstellar space on Aug 25,

2012, a first for a spacecraft, and Voyager 2 is en route to

do so too.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Science Express, An Exhibition Special Train,

To Hit The Tracks

The Railway ministry has decided to run ‘Science

Express,’ an exhibition special train managed by the

Union government’s Department of Science and

Technology (DST).


The Science Express is an innovative science exhibition

of DST, mounted on a 16-coach air conditioned train, with

the objective of arousing interest of young people in the

field of science and technology. The exhibition on wheels,

a mega outreach programme of the DST, was launched on

October 30, 2007. The programme is maintained by

Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre

(VASCSC).

Lung Transplant: PGIMER Creates History,

Performs India's First Surgery

The Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and

Research here said that it has performed its first lung

transplant surgery successfully on a 35- year-old woman

from Punjab.

The complex operation took over 12 hours and was

successfully completed by a team of 20 doctors and

support staff. The surgery was done under the supervision

of cardiovascular and thoracic surgeons Rana Sandip

Singh and Harkant Singh Baryah, and anesthetists G D

Puri and Virendra K. Arya.

The lung transplant was done on a 35-year-old woman

from Sangrur district. She received the organ from the

donor family of Bhola Singh (22) from Moga district, who

was declared brain dead and the woman was suffering

from interstitial lung disease.

It is also the first in public sector hospitals in lung

transplant surgery in India.

AIIMS To Set Up A Skin Bank For Patients

With Severe Burns

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here

will soon set up a skin bank for patients with severe burns

and those who suffer damage during accident or surgery.

For The First Time, A Chinese Team Teleports

Photon Into Space

Researchers have successfully teleported a photon from

Gobi desert in Asia to a satellite orbiting five hundred

kilometres above the earth. Achieved through quantum

entanglement, this could pave the way for a global

quantum internet.

The Chinese team had launched a satellite called Micius

last year. Named after an ancient Chinese philosopher, the

highly sensitive photon receiver satellite was placed in a

Sun-synchronous orbit so that it passes over the same

point on Earth at the same time each day.

The team created the first satellite-to-ground quantum

network, in the process smashing the record for the

longest distance over which entanglement has been

measured. And they’ve used this quantum network to

teleport the first object from the ground to orbit.

This is the first time that any object has been teleported

from Earth to orbit, and it smashes the record for the

longest distance for entanglement.

The researchers in China will conduct a Bell test to prove

the existence of entanglement at such a great distance.

And, they will attempt to teleport quantum states

meaning the quantum state of the photon will be rebuilt in

a new location. This experiment would attempt to create a

reliable and efficient means for teleportation. By

achieving quantum teleportation, the researchers say they

could create a telescope with an enormous resolution.

Colour Changing Electronic Skin Developed By

Scientists In China

Researchers from Tsinghua University in China have

developed a new type of user-interactive electronic skin,

with a colour change perceptible to the human eye, and

achieved it with a much-reduced level of strain.

The team employed flexible electronics made from

graphene, in the form of a highly-sensitive resistive strain

sensor, combined with a stretchable organic

electrochromic device. “Graphene, with its high

transparency, rapid carrier transport, flexibility and large


specific surface area, shows application potential for

flexible electronics, including stretchable electrodes, super

capacitor, sensors, and optical devices.” This user-

interactive e-skin should be promising for applications in

wearable devices, robots and prosthetics in the future.

World’s First Floating Wind Farm Being Built

Off Scotland Coast

The world’s first full-scale floating wind farm – with

turbines taller than the Britain’s Big Ben is being built off

the coast of Scotland. The technology will allow wind

power to be harvested in waters that are too deep for the

existing bottom-standing turbines. The wind farm, known

as Hywind, is a trial project which will bring power to

20,000 homes.

India's First Successful Transplant Of Liver

From Donor After Cardiac Death

A 45 year old patient undergoes successful liver transplant

at BLK Super Speciality Hospital, after receiving liver

from a donor after his cardiac death - what is called as

'Donation After Cardiac Death' or DCD.

As per the available data, there are reported cases of DCD

of kidney in India but none for liver. The degree of

complexities involved in this case as against kidney

transplant, makes it more challenging and special. The

success of this case also demonstrates the growing

capabilities and expertise of our Indian surgeons.

China Just Built A Cute Solar Plant Shaped

Like A Panda

China has built a solar power farm in Datong in the shape

of a giant panda. The 248-acre solar farm will have a

capacity of 100MW, providing 3.2 billion kWh of green

electricity in 25 years. While most solar farms are just

rows and rows of glistening panels, this one in Datong has

been structured in the shape of a sitting panda whose eyes

look in different directions. While monocrystalline

silicone solar cells form the black parts of the panda, the

white and gray parts are filled with thin film solar cells.

The project is backed by United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP) and will play a crucial role to engage young people in sustainable development.

A 100MW Panda Power Plant can provide 3.2 billion

[kilowatt-hours] of green electricity in 25 years,

equivalent to saving 1.056 million tons of coal, or

reducing 2.74 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

ISRO Designs Ship Borne Transportable

Antenna Terminal

Space agency ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command

Network'ISTRAC' has designed and developed a Ship

Borne Transportable (SBT) Antenna Terminal to meet the

launch vehicle telemetrytracking and command

requirements.

The 4.6 meter Ship Borne Antenna System has been built

indigenously, fulfilling all specifications and has

established in-house capability for meeting future

requirements

It has also improved the operational reliability dueto in-

house know-how of the system engineering,

besidesreducing the cost considerably.

The city-based ISTRAC provides tracking support for all

satellite and launch vehicle missions of ISRO and

alsoprovides space operations support for Deep Space

Missions.

Indian Scientists Discover Saraswati, A

Supercluster Of Galaxies

A team of Indian scientists has reported the discovery of a

previously unknown supercluster of galaxies, some four

billion light years away from Earth, and named it

Saraswati.

Superclusters, a group of clusters of galaxies, are the

largest structures of stars, planets and other heavenly

bodies in the universe, and very few of them are known.

The team had Shishir Sankhyayan and was led by Joydeep

Bagchi.

Galaxies are themselves made of billions of stars and

planets, and a cluster typically contains several hundreds

of these galaxies. Superclusters are relatively recent finds,

having been identified for the first time only in the 1980s.

Somak Raychaudhury, director of IUCAA and a member

of this team, is credited with finding one supercluster in 1989 when he was a PhD student in the UK.


The Milky Way galaxy, of which Earth is a very small

member, is part of the Laniakea supercluster, that was

identified only in 2014.

Saraswati supercluster was estimated to have a mass of 2

x 1016 (twenty thousand trillion) suns. Saraswati is

estimated to be stretched over 650 million light years in

distance.

Canadian Scientists Have Identified A New

Bird-Like Species Of Dinosaur

Canadian scientists have identified a new bird-like species of

dinosaur that lived nearly 71 million years ago and was about

the size of a person.

The species, Albertavenator curriei which means Currie’s

Alberta hunter, has been named in honour of famous

Canadian palaeontologist Philip J. Currie and was found in

Alberta, in what is now the Red Deer River valley in the

country.

Albertavenator was found to share a great resemblance with

its close relative Troodon. Troodon lived around 76 million

years ago five million years before Albertavenator. Both

dinosaurs walked on two legs, were covered in feathers and

were about the size of a person. Paleontologists initially

thought that the bones of Albertavenator belonged to

Troodon.

However, in the new study comparing the skull bones of the

two dinosaurs, the researchers found that Albertavenator had

a distinctively shorter and more robust skull than Troodon,

its famously brainy relative.

Teeth from a jaw that likely pertains to Albertavenator

appears very similar to the teeth of Troodon, making them

unusable for distinguishing between the two species.

New Wearable e-Skin Sensor To Boost Health

Monitoring

Japanese scientists have developed a hypoallergenic

electronic sensor that can be worn on the skin to monitor a

person’s health continuously over a long period. This

device has elastic electrodes, made up of breathable

nanoscale meshes, that lets the skin breathe, preventing

inflammation. The electrodes contains a water-soluble

polymer, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and a gold layer

materials considered safe and biologically compatible

with the body. The device can be applied by spraying a

tiny amount of water, which dissolves the PVA nanofibers

and allows it to stick easily to the skin. It gets conformed

seamlessly to curvilinear surfaces of human skin, such as

sweat pores and the ridges of an index finger’s fingerprint

pattern.

In addition to nursing care and medical application the

new device promises to enable continuous, precise

monitoring of athletes’ physiological signals and bodily

motion without impeding their training or performance.

IISER Kolkata Develops Fire-Retardant, Rust-

Resistant Material

Paper or other materials coated with a hydrophobic (water

hating) hybrid molecular material synthesized by

researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education

and Research, Kolkata can behave like a lotus leaf and

keep the surface clean and water-proof. Besides

increasing the mechanical strength of the coated paper 1.5

times, the molecular material can inhibit bacterial growth

and even render the coated material such as paper or wood

fire-proof.

The organic-inorganic hybrid material was synthesized by

combining Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (POSS)

and Diphenylalanine. The POSS molecule by itself has

unique properties such as high thermal stability and fire

retarding ability. While both POSS and Diphenylalanine

are naturally water repelling, the hydrophobic nature gets

enhanced when they are combined.

Super-Flexible And Strong Artificial Silk

Developed By The Scientists From The

University Of Cambridge


Scientists from the University of Cambridge have

developed super-stretchy and strong artificial silk,

composed almost entirely of water, which may be used to

make eco-friendly textiles and sensors.

The fibres are spun from a soupy material called a

hydrogel, which is 98% water. The remaining 2% of the

hydrogel is made of Silica and Cellulose, both naturally

available materials, held together in a network by barrel-

shaped molecular handcuffs known as Cucurbiturils. The

chemical interactions between the different components

enable long fibres to be pulled from the gel.

The extremely thin threads are a few millionths of a metre

in diameter. After the hydrogel is stretched for roughly 30

seconds, the water evaporates, leaving a strong fibre.

The Newly Discovered Sunfish Species Named

The Hoodwinker Sunfish Discovered By

Scientists

Scientists have discovered a new species of gigantic ocean

sunfish – that could weigh up to two tonnes – after it

remained hidden for three centuries. Iconic ocean

sunfishes are the heaviest and most distinctive of all bony

fishes, with some species weighing in excess of two

tonnes and growing to three metres in length.

Marianne Nyegaard from Murdoch University in

Australia uncovered the new species.

Angel Particle Discovered After 80-Year-Long

Hunt

Scientists have discovered the angel particle – which is

the antiparticle of itself – 80 years after it was predicted to

exist, a finding that could one day help make quantum

computers more robust.

In 1928, physicist Paul Dirac predicted that every

fundamental particle in the universe has an antiparticle –

its identical twin but with opposite charge. When particle

and antiparticle met they would be annihilated, releasing

energy. Few years later the first antimatter particle -

electron’s opposite, the positron – was discovered.

However in 1937, physicist Ettore Majorana predicted

that in the class of particles known as fermions, which

includes the proton, neutron, electron, neutrino and quark,

there should be particles that are their own antiparticles.

Scientists from the Stanford University and University of

California in the US have found the first firm evidence of

such a Majorana fermion. The particular type of Majorana

fermion the research team observed is known as a chiral

fermion because it moves along a one-dimensional path in

just one direction. Majorana fermions could be used to

construct robust quantum computers that are not thrown

off by environmental noise, which has been a big obstacle

to their development.

IBM Scientists Sets New World Record, Store

330TB Of Uncompressed Data In One Tape

Research scientists at IBM have set a new world record

for storing data on tape. The researchers managed to store

over 330TB of uncompressed data on a single tape

cartridge. The cartridge itself is so small that it would

easily fit in someone’s hands. For IBM’s scientists, this is

the fifth time they have set a world record when it comes

to tape storage; the first was set in 2006. IBM worked

with Sony on this. Sony developed the magnetic tape,

which was used by the researchers to ultimate to store

such large amounts of data. The current commercial tape

that uses Barium ferrite (BaFe).

Information sources:

www.thehindu.com

www.business-standard.com

www.indianexpress.com

www.gktoday.in

www.ndtv.com

www.scroll.in

www.business-standard.com

www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

www.firstpost.com

The copyright of the images used in this magazine rests with the

respective sources.

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