Smart City Task Forces set up
- Minister of Urban Development Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu has set up city-wise Task Forces for drawing up concrete Action Plans for development of Ajmer, Allahabad and Visakhapatnam as Smart Cities. These Committees have representatives of the Ministries of Urban Development and External Affairs, respective state governments and cities and the United States Trade Development Agency (USTDA).
Setting up of these Task Forces is in pursuance of the decision taken at a recent meeting between Shri Venkaiah Naidu and the US Secretary of Commerce Ms.Penny Pritzker in New Delhi. USTDA and the three respective state governments signed Memoranda of Understanding for cooperation in developing Ajmer, Allahabad and Visakhapatnam as Smart Cities on January 25, 2015.
During the last visit of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to the USA and the strategic and commercial dialogue with President Barack Obama, the US offered to assist in the development of these three cities as smart cities.
The Task Force on Ajmer comprises of : Divisional Commissioner, Ajmer(Chairman), Secretaries of Town and Country Planning and Municipal Affairs, Government of Rajasthan, District Collector of Ajmer, Administrator of Urban Improvement Trust, Ajmer, Municipal Commissioner of Ajmer, Mayor of Ajmer besides Joint Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India and representatives of Ministry of External Affairs and USTDA.
Allahabad Task Force consists of : Divisional Commissioner (Chairman), Secretaries of Town and Country Planning and Municipal Affairs, Government of UP, District Magistrate, Vice-Chairman, Allahabad Development Authority, Mayor of the city besides Additional Secretary(Urban Development), Government of India and representatives of Ministry of External Affairs and USTDA.
The Task Force for Visakhapatnam will be headed by Secretary (Town and Country Planning), Government of AP, Secretary(Municipal Affairs), District Collector, Municipal Commissioner, Vice-Chairman, Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority, Mayor of the city, Joint Secretary(Urban Development), Government of India and representatives of Ministry of External Affairs, Indian Navy and USTDA.
3 Buddhist Circuits identified by the Ministry of Tourism
- Three Buddhist Circuits have been identified by the Ministry of Tourism in the country to be developed with the help of Central Government/State Government/Private Stake Holders. These include the following:-
Circuit 1: The Dharmayatra or the Sacred Circuit
This will be a 5 to 7 days circuit and will include visits to Gaya (Bodhgaya), Varanasi (Sarnath), Kushinagar, Piparva (Kapilvastu) with a day trip to Lumbini in Nepal.
Circuit 2: Extended Dharmayatra or Extended Sacred Circuit or Retracing Buddha’s Footsteps
This will be a 10 to 15 day circuit and will include visits to Bodhgaya (Nalanda, Rajgir, Barabar caves, Pragbodhi Hill, Gaya), Patna (Vaishali, Lauriya Nandangarh, Lauriya Areraj, Kesariya, Patna Museum), Varanasi (Sarnath), Kushinagar, Piparva (Kapilvastu, Shravasti, Sankisa) with a day trip to Lumbini in Nepal
Circuit 3: Buddhist Heritage Trails (State Circuits)
i. Jammu and Kashmir - Ladakh, Srinagar (Harwan, Parihaspora) and Jammu (Ambaran).
ii. Himachal Pradesh - Dharamshala, Spiti, Kinnaur and Lahaul.
iii. Punjab - Sanghon.
iv. Haryana – Jind (Assan), Yamunanagar(Sugh).
v. Maharashtra -Aurangabad (Ajanta, Ellora, Pithalkora Caves), Pune (Karla Caves), Mumbai (Kanheri Caves), Pune (Bhaja Caves) and Nashik (Pandavleni Caves).
vi. Andhra Pradesh - Amravati, Nagarjunakonda, Vizag (Borra Caves, Salihundum Caves).
vii. Madhya Pradesh - Sanchi, Satdhara, Andher, Sonari, Murulkurd.
viii. Odisha (Dhauli, Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri, Udaygiri, Langudi, Khandagiri).
ix. Chhattisgarh – Sirpur.
x. West Bengal - Kolkata (Indian Museum)
xi. Sikkim - Rumtek, Enchay and other Monasteries.
xii. Arunachal Pradesh –Tawang and Bomdila.
First time Nobel Peace Prize chairman demoted
- The committee that awards the Nobel Peace Prize demoted its chairman on Tuesday, for the first time in the 114-year history of the award after his right-wing opponents won a majority on the prestigious panel.
Thorbjoern Jagland, a former Norwegian prime minister of the Labour Party who has chaired the five-member panel since 2009, will now be a mere member of the committee that has received a near-record 276 nominees for the 2015 prize.
Kaci Kullmann Five, a former leader of Norway's ruling Conservative Party, will take over after right-wing parties gained a new representative, giving them a 3-2 majority to make the unprecedented demotion at the first meeting of 2015.
"The committee chooses a leader every year. This year is a new committee," Kullmann Five said, declining to give reasons for ousting Jagland. "Jagland has been a good leader for six years." |
Right-wing parties, which won a parliamentary election in 2013 to oust a Labour-led government, have long disliked Jagland, who was prime minister from 1996-97.
Jagland has been a lightning rod for criticism of awards including to Barack Obama in 2009 - less than a year after the U.S. president took office - to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in 2010 and to the European Union in 2012.
Jagland is also head of the 47-nation Council of Europe, which promotes democracy in Europe, and some right-wing parliamentarians say that amounts to a conflict of interest in deciding the $1 million Nobel prize.
Jagland's demotion could make an award critical of President Vladimir Putin more likely, since Russia is a Council member.
No serving chair has ever been ousted since the awards were first made in 1901, even with shifting political majorities. The committee is appointed in line with the strength of parties in Norway's parliament.
"I don't like it," Asle Sveen, a historian and Nobel expert, said of Jagland's demotion, saying China might interpret Jagland's removal as a semi-apology for the prize to Liu.
Kullmann Five, who has been on the committee since 2003, denied any concession to Beijing, saying: "I wholeheartedly supported the award to Liu Xiaobo."
Still, Conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg, seeking to limit damage to relations with China, declined to meet Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama when he visited Norway last year.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she had seen the report about the committee and its chairman but did "not understand the situation". She did not comment further.
MOM views Mars albedo
- India’s Mars Orbiter Mission payload has viewed the albedo of Mars that will be useful to study it surface properties, Indian Space Research Organisation said today.
“The map presented here shows the surface reflectance of Mars as viewed at 1.65 micron from the reference channel of MSM (Methane Sensor for Mars payload) till December 16, 2014. In the map, the blue colour indicates low albedo features and the red shows high albedo features on the Martian surface,” ISRO said on its Facebook page.
Albedo is the fraction of solar energy reflected from planetary surface back into space.
It said, “The map resolution is 0.5°x0.5° in Latitude- Longitude. By correcting the data for CO2 absorption, a major part of atmospheric effects is taken care of.”
This data, along with the reflectance measured by Mars Colour Camera, will be useful to study the surface properties of Mars, a post by ISRO, along with a map representing the surface reflectance of Mars, added.
The Mars Orbiter launched on November 5 in 2013 onboard ISRO’s PSLV C25 from Sriharikota entered the Martian orbit on September 2014 after a nine-month long odyssey, making India the first country in the world to succeed in such an inter-planetary mission in the maiden attempt itself.
It is equipped with five instruments, including a sensor to track methane or marsh gas, a colour camera and a thermal imaging spectrometer to map the surface and mineral wealth of the red planet.
ISRO said Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM) payload on board MOM intends to detect the presence of methane and measure the column density of the same.
It said one of the secondary objectives of this payload is to measure the reflectance of Martian surface in 1.65 micron. MSM has two channels, Methane and reference to measure the radiance from the surface of Mars.
Stating that all planets in the solar system receive Sun’s radiation to varying degrees depending on their distance from the sun, ISRO in its post said, “Observing the surface of the planet depends on how this radiation is reflected back.”
It said, “Reflected solar radiation from Mars is a diagnostic signal of the planet which provides lot of information about the planet’s surface as well as its atmosphere.”
“When we measure the radiance in a specific wavelength of light (in this case, 1.65 micron), then we can generate a reflectance map,” it added.
European Union lifts ban on import of mangoes from India
- The European Union (EU) has lifted the ban on import of Indian mangoes that it had imposed in April last year, Parliament was informed today.
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"The EU has notified lifting of the ban on mango through commission implementing number... of February 12, 2015," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
In April last year, the 28-member European Union had temporarily banned import of Alphonso mangoes. It also banned import of four vegetables -- taro, bitter gourd, snake gourd and eggplant -- from India from May 1, 2014.
Export of Indian mangoes to the EU during 2012 and 2013 were valued at USD 6.73 million and USD 10.09 million, respectively.
"Ban on import of vegetables from India has not been notified," she said.
"Standard operating procedure has been developed by the government for pest-free export of fresh vegetables to the EU, wherein the vegetables are processed in pack houses approved by Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), under the supervision of plant quarantine before export to the EU, she added.
In a separate question on basmati rice exports, the Minister said that exports of the commodity has declined by 3 per cent year-on-year to USD 3.37 billion during April-December 2014-15.
The decline in quantity terms is about 6 per cent. India exported 25.72 lakh tonnes of basmati rice during the period as against 27.41 lakh tonnes.
Sluggish demand from Iran is one of the main reason for dip in exports.
"In Iran, import of rice is monitored through a system of issue of import permits. Due to excessive carry-over stocks from imports in the previous year and domestic production in the current year, Iran has put a temporary ban on issue of permits for import of rice from all origins with effect from October 19, 2014," she added.
The other major export destinations for basmati rice include Saudi Arab, Iraq, UAE, Yemen, USA, UK, Jordan and Oman.
Replying to a separate question on tea, the Minister said tea exports too have declined in value and volume terms during January-November 2014 as compared to the corresponding period a year ago.
She said that the decline in exports is "attributable to the loss of Assam Orthodox tea production to the tune of almost 20 million kg during May-July 2014 caused by delayed rains, lower demand in high value markets such as the US, Iran and Russia and lower prices of tea from Africa at USD 2 per kg".
India ranks second in world production of tea and fourth in exports
Satellite DMSP-F13 explodes in space
- A 20-year-old U.S. military weather satellite exploded in orbit last month following a sudden temperature spike in its power system, producing at least 43 pieces of space debris, U.S. media reported on Tuesday.
The explosion of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Flight 13 (DMSP-F13) occurred on February 3, and investigators have ruled out a collision with a piece of space junk and other external factors as the cause.
“Basically, the spacecraft was 20 years old and experienced what appears to be a catastrophic event associated with a power system failure,” U.S. space news website Space.com quoted Andy Roake, chief of the Current Operations Division at Air Force Space Command Public Affairs in Colorado Springs, as saying.
It was reported that DMSP-F13’s power subsystem experienced “a sudden spike in temperature” followed by “an unrecoverable loss of attitude control”, according to Xinhua.
Launched in 1995, DMSP-F13 occupied a sun-synchronous polar orbit about 800 km above Earth. It was transitioned to a backup role in 2006, still collecting data but not involved in weather forecast modelling.
“Because this satellite was no longer used by the National Weather Service or the Air Force Weather Agency, the impact of the loss of this satellite is minimal,” Space.com quoted the U.S. air force as saying. The air force has six DMSP satellites in service. It was not the first DMSP satellite to explode after years of reliable service. In April 2004, a 13-year-old DMSP spacecraft dubbed DMSP-F11 experienced a similarly catastrophic breakup that produced 56 pieces of catalogued space debris. But the satellite was no longer operational when it exploded.
Largest ever spectrum auction begins
- The much awaited spectrum auction, which is touted as the largest ever, wherein 8 companies are bidding to acquire airwaves in four bands, started today. The auction is the biggest ever sale of 2G and 3G airwaves which may fetch the government over Rs 82,000 crore.
A total of 380.75 MHz of spectrum in three bands, the premium 900 MHz band, 1,800 MHz and 800 MHz, is put on sale besides 5 MHz in the 2,100 MHz band across 17 out of 22 telecom areas in the country.
Based on the reserve price, the government is estimated to garner over Rs 82,000 crore.
Most of the spectrum put up for auction is presently held by Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Telecom. Their licences are expiring in 2015-16.
Mobile licences for Idea Cellular’s 9 circles, 6 circles of Airtel and 7 circles each of Vodafone and Reliance Telecom are coming up for renewal.
Overall, there are 29 licences in 18 service areas which will expire in 2015-16. These licences hold 184 MHz spectrum in the 900 MHz band and 34.2 MHz in 1,800 MHz band.
It is mandatory for these companies to bid for spectrum if they have to continue offering mobile and other telecom services as their permit is expiring.
The government had raked in Rs 62,162 crore from the last spectrum auction held in February 2014.
First-ever human population adaptation to toxic chemical, arsenic identified
- High up in the high Andes mountains of Argentina, researchers have identified the first-ever evidence of a population uniquely adapted to tolerate the toxic chemical arsenic.
For thousands of years, in some regions of the Andes, people have been exposed to high levels of arsenic, a naturally occurring phenomenon that happens when arsenic in the volcanic bedrock is released into the groundwater. How could this population adapt to tolerate arsenic, a potent killer of such ill repute that it's often the overused plot-driver of many murder mysteries?
In a new study published in the advanced online edition of Molecular Biology and Evolution, a Swedish research team led by Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University professor Karin Broberg, performed a genome wide survey from a group of 124 Andean women screened for the ability to metabolize arsenic (measured by levels in the urine). The study pinpointed a key set of nucleotide variants in a gene, AS3MT, which were at much lower frequencies in control populations from Columbia and Peru. The researchers estimate that the increase in frequency of these variants occurred recently, between 10,000-7,000 years ago, based on the age of a recently excavated mummy that was found to have high arsenic levels in its hair.
Thus, this Andean population has adapted to their environment through increased frequencies in protective variants against a toxicant. The set of AS3MT nucleotide variants, harbored on chromosome 10, were distributed worldwide, with the highest frequencies in Peruvians, Native Americans, Eastern Asia and Vietnam. The authors speculate that the forces driving the local adaptation may have occurred as a result of the severe health effects of arsenic, which is most toxic to young children and those in their reproductive prime, and the need for faster metabolizers of arsenic, which may have been a matter of life or death in ancient times.
eLitmus Sample Model Question Paper with answers
- 1. What should come in the place of (?) in the given series?
ACE, FGH, ?, PON
(A) KKK
(B) JKI
(C) HJH
(D) IKL
Ans. (A) - 2. Typist : Typewriter : : Writer: ?
(A) Script
(B) Pen
(C) Paper
(D) Book
Ans. (B) - 3. Paint: Artist : : Wood: ?
- (A) Furniture
(B) Forest
(C) Fire
(D) Carpenter
Ans. (D) - 4. acme : mace :: alga: ?
(A) glaa
(B) gaal
(C) laga
(D) gala
Ans. (D) - 5. EIGHTY : GIEYTH : : OUTPUT:?
(A) UTOPTU
(B) UOTUPT
(C) TUOUTP
(D) TUOTUP
Ans. (D) - 6. ‘Medicine’ is related to ‘Patient’ in the same way as ‘Education’ is related to—
(A) Teacher
(B) School
(C) Student
(D) Tuition
Ans. (C) - 7. Fill in the missing letter in the following series—
S, V, Y, B, ?
(A) C
(B) D
(C) E
(D)G
Ans. (C) - 8. What should come in the place of question mark in the following series?
3, 8, 6, 14, ?, 20
3
(A) 11
(B) 10
(C) 8
(D) 9
Ans. (D) - 9. Select the correct option in place of the question mark.
AOP, CQR, EST, GUV, ?
(A) IYZ
(B) HWX
(C) IWX
(D) JWX
Ans. (C) - 10. What should come in the place of question mark in the following series?
1, 4, 9, 25, 36, ?
(A) 48
(C) 52
(B) 49
(D) 56
Ans. (B) - 11. If the sequence of the alphabets is reversed which of the following would be the 14th letter from your left?
(A) N
(B) L
(C) O
(D) None of these
Ans. (D) - 12. Which letter is the 8th letter to the right of the letter, which is 12th from the left?(A) V
(B) T
(C) W
(D) Y
Ans. (B)
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