Current Affairs March 2015

Former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar’s book released

Former Lok Sabha Meira Kumar’s book entitled“Indian Parliamentary Diplomacy – Speaker’s Perspective” was released on 19 March 2015.

The book was released by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and its first copy was presented to the President Pranab Mukherjee at a function held in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.

The book features an account of the parliamentary diplomacy and its role in furthering foreign policy and strengthening international relations.

It is also a collection of select speeches and reports by Kumar during her stint as Lok Sabha speaker and as leader of Indian parliamentary delegations at several international fora.

Nobel laureate Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan to head Royal Society

Nobel Laureate Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnanhas been confirmed as President Elect of the Royal Society.

His appointment was confirmed by the society’s council met on 19 March 2015 and will assume the charge on 1 December 2015.

He will succeed eminent geneticist Sir Paul Nurse who had taken on the role in 2010 and will step down after the customary 5-year term.

About Royal Society

• It is a self-governing fellowship society of the world’s most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of science, medicine and engineering.
• Established: 1660.
• Purpose: To support excellence in science, and to encourage its use for the benefit of humanity.

The position President of the Royal Society is most important in British science and existed since 1660. The President of society is a key advocate for science in the UK and the world.

Union Ministry of Railways constitutes Kaya Kulp council

nion Ministry of Railways has constituted ‘Kaya kulp’ Council, an innovation council for Indian Railways. The council was constituted by Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu in order to fulfill the promise made in the Railway Budget Speech.

The council also seeks to re-engineer business and introduce a spirit of innovation in Indian Railways

Eminent industrialist and former chairman of Tata Sons, Ratan Tata will head the KayaKalp council.

Key facts

• Purpose of the Council- To recommend innovative methods and processes for the improvement, betterment and transformation of the Indian Railways.
• The council will act as a standing body and will interact with all stakeholders and other interested parties.
• Members- The Council initially will have following members
• Shiv Gopal Mishra, General Secretary of All Indian Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF).
• M. Raghavaiah, General Secretary of  National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR).
• While the other members of the Council will be announced in due course.

Indigenously Developed Astra successfully test-fired from Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft

India’s indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile Astra was successfully tested on 18 March 2015 from a Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft.  The test was undertaken at the Integrated Test Range located at Chandipur in Odisha.

About Astra missile

• Indigenously developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• Single stage solid fuelled and has payload capacity of 15 kg conventional explosives.
• It is air-to-air missile BVR all-weather missile and can be launched from different altitudes.
• Capable of engaging and destroying highly maneuverable supersonic aerial targets and destroy enemy aircraft at supersonic speed of 1.2 Mach to 1.4 Mach.
• It can engage targets in head-on up to 80 km and tail-chase up to 20 km modes.
• The missile can reach up to 110 km when fired from an altitude of 15 km and 44 km when launched from an altitude of 8 km and 21 km when fired from sea level.
• The missile can be integrated with fighter aircraft including Sukhoi-30 MKI, Mirage-2000, MiG-29, Jaguar and the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

Kavinder Gupta elected as J&K assembly Speaker

Kavinder Gupta on 18 March 2015 was unanimously elected as Speaker of the 12th Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

The motion to elect the speaker of assembly was moved by State Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Basharat Bukari and seconded by Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Kumar Singh.

Gupta was elected with voice vote as there was no one from the Opposition going against the motion. He will replace the Protem Speaker Muhammad Shafi of National Conference.

Kavinder Gupta is Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Gandhinagar constituency in Jammu district.  He is the first time MLA to state assembly.

In December 2014, state assembly election Gupta had defeated senior Congress leader Raman Bhalla. Earlier he also had served as Mayor of Jammu city.

Union Environment Ministry revokes suspension of Goa mines

Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has revoked 3 year-old suspension of environmental clearances (ECs) of mines in Goa. It was announced by Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar.

This decision will pave the way for resumption of iron ore extraction in the state especially in 72 out of the total 89 approved mining leases.

MoEF decision to lift the ban on mining was taken as per the directives of the Supreme Court (SC).

With revocation of mining suspension, state government now will decide the ore extraction limits for individual miners so that mining output does not exceed the cap of 20 million tonnes (mt) set by SC.

Background

• In 2012, then Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan had suspended ECs for 93 mining leases in Goa.
• The ECs were suspended by her following the recommendations of report submitted by commission headed by former Supreme Court justice MB Shah.
• The commission in its report had highlighted rampant illegal extraction of the raw material in the state. The suspension had completely halted the iron ore mining in the state.
• In April 2014, SC had lifted this ban and had ruled that iron ore extraction in state will require clearances form MoEF and approval from the state government. The court also had set a cap of 20mt a year for all output in Goa.

Indian researcher Minoti Apate named as woman of the year 2015 in New South Wales

ian researcher Minoti Apate has been named as New South Wales (NSW) Woman of the year 2015.

Apate was named for the award for her contributions to the field of medical research, Indian community and the tertiary education.

About Minoti Apate

• At present she is Professor of Medicine at the South Western Sydney Clinical School of the University of New South Wales.
• Apate was the first researcher in the world to develop a method to isolate pancreatic stellate cells, a technique which provided a research tool for studying the path that pancreatic fibrosis (scarring of the pancreas) takes.
• At present, Apate is director of the Pancreatic Research Group based Based at Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, Australia.
• She is leading pre-clinical studies that are primed to suggest new treatments for pancreatic cancer.
• She is also an acknowledged world-leader in alcohol-induced pancreatic injury and pancreatic cancer.
• Apate was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 2014 for her services to medical research, Indian community and the tertiary education.
• Apart from scientific research work, she is also an active member of the Marathi Association of Sydney, an organisation that serves Sydney’s Indian population.

ISRO to collaborate with other space agencies for inter-planetary explorations

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to collaborate with other space agencies on inter-planetary explorations.

It was announced by Minister of State (MoS) in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh in the Lok Sabha.

Presently ISRO is having talks with space agencies of the United States of America, Russia and France to collaborate for inter-planetary explorations.

From this collaboration, India will acquire the knowledge to minimize the cost of launching complex missions and enhance the technological capabilities in spacecraft design. While, the expertise gained through such collaborations will help India improve its capabilities of earth observation and satellite communication.

Union Government launches BIRAC AcE Fund to accelerate growth of entrepreneurs in Biotechnology

Union Government on 19 March 2015 launched Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) AcE Fund to accelerate growth of entrepreneurs in Biotechnology.

It was announced by Minister of State (MoS) for Science and Technology (S&T) and Earth Sciences Y.S. Chowdary on the occasion of the third foundation day of BIRAC in New Delhi.

The BIRAC AcE Fund aims to address the pressing needs of accelerating the growth of entrepreneurs, in the field of Biotechnology.

This equity fund will be operated by BIRAC a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the aegis Department of Biotechnology (DBT) of Union Ministry of Science and Technology.

Apart from launching the fund, MoS for S&T and Earth Sciences also inaugurated a Two day Panel discussions focused at making biotechnology as one of the drivers of the ‘Make in India’ Programme.

About Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC)

• BIRAC operates as a PSU under the aegis of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Union Ministry of Science & Technology.
• Established: 2012.
• Purpose: It is mandated to foster and promote innovation research in biotech industries specially start-ups and SMEs.

The theme for this year’s foundation day of BIRAC was “Accelerating Innovations: India the Next Biotech Global Hub”