Indo-Bangladesh Joint Power Transmission

• Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 5 October jointly inaugurated the India-Bangladesh Grid Inter-connection at Bheramara in Bangladesh.The joint venture was launched through video-conferencing.  
• Capacity: 500 MW of power from India to Bangladesh
• Both the Prime Ministers also jointly laid the foundation stone for 1320 megawatt Maitri Thermal Power Project, being developed by Bangladesh-India friendship power-company which is a joint venture of India’s NTPC and Bangladesh Power Development Board.

National Development Council (Rashtriya Vikas Parishad)

• It was set up on 6 August 1952.
• It is an extra-constitutional and non-statutory body. Its status is advisory to Planning Commission but not binding.
• The Council comprises the Prime Minister, the Union Cabinet Ministers, Chief Ministers of all States or their substitutes, representatives of the Union Territories and the members of the Commissions.
• Presided over by the Prime Minister.
• Approves *FYP in India.

FYP: 

Joseph Stalin implemented the first FYP in the Soviet Union in the late 1920s. Most communist states and several capitalist countries subsequently have adopted them.

Radha Burnier- President of Theosophical Society passed away

Who: Radha Burnier, President of Theosophical Society (5 times re-elected)
Alma Matter: Benares Hindu University (Sanskrit)

Indian River Bodies (Map)

 

• The Indian River system is classified as Himalayan, peninsular, coastal, and inland-drainage basin rivers.
• Most of the rivers pour their waters into the Bay of Bengal; however, some of the rivers whose courses take them through the western part of the country empty into the Arabian Sea.
• The largest river basin of India is the Ganga basin, which receives water from Himalayas in the north and the Vindhyas in the South. 
• The Ganga, the Yamuna, the Ghagra, Gandak and Kosi are the main constituents of this basin.
• The Brahmaputra has the greatest volume of water of all the rivers in India. It is the source of the Indus and the Satluj and flows through Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
• The Mahanadi is an important river in the state of Orissa. This river flows slowly for 900 kms and deposits more silt than any other river in the Indian subcontinent.
• Longest river flowing in India: The Ganges
• Longest tributary river: Yamuna
• The Godavari River System has second longest course within India. The banks of this river have many pilgrimage sites like Nasik, Triyambak and Bhadrachalam.
• The Krishna is the third longest river in India with a length of about 1300 kms. It rises in the Western Ghats and flows east into the Bay of Bengal.
• The Narmada and the Tapti are the only major rivers that flow into the Arabian Sea.

Currency Swap Agreement with Japan and Bhutan

• India is exploring possibilities of entering into currency swap agreements with trade partners aiming to shore up exports and bring down trade deficit, which is putting pressure on the rupee.

• India has signed currency swap agreements with Japan ($ 15 billion) and Bhutan ($ 100 million). China has shown active interest in entering into such an agreement with India but it is yet to be signed.

• Currency swap agreements involve exchange of one currency for another currency and are generally motivated by the comparative advantage.

Andhra Pradesh accounts for 20% of AIDS patients in India

Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of HIV patients in the country. According to official statistics, the state had 5 lakh of the 24 lakh HIV positive patients in the country during 2011-12. Andhra Pradesh is followed by Maharashtra (4.19 lakh), Karnataka (2.45 lakh), West Bengal (1.67 lakh), Tamil Nadu (1.54 lakh), Gujarat (1.36 lakh) and Uttar Pradesh (1.09 lakh).

Illiteracy, poor health, unemployment, migration, non-traditional sex practices and trafficking are some of the factors contributing to the spread of HIV in the state, according to experts. "The government has failed to prevent the occurrence and spread of HIV in the state. It has failed to create awareness in society on the risks and symptoms of AIDS,"

Hindus, Sikhs get Afghan parliament seat

• Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has issued a legislative decree that gives minority Hindus and Sikhs a seat in the country's next parliamentarian election.

• A statement on Wednesday from the presidency said the seat would be in the parliament's lower house. 

• Karzai's decision comes after lawmakers declined to require a special seat for Hindus and Sikhs in the law. Under Afghan law, the president has the power to issue legislative decrees when the parliament is on vacation.

The New Pension Bill

The Rajya Sabha passed the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill, which will help extend pension cover to more citizens of the country through PFRDA's New Pension Scheme (NPS).

• The main objective of the bill is to help extend pension cover to more citizens of the country through PFRDA's New Pension Scheme (NPS). Currently just 12 percent of the workforce in the country has any formal pension or social security plan.

• The passage of the Pension Bill will make Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) a statutory authority. Earlier it had a non-statutory status.

• The Pension Bill would also provide subscribers a wide choice to invest their funds, depending on their capacity to take risk. A subscriber seeking minimum assured returns can opt for schemes providing minimum assured returns, as may be notified by the PFRDA.

• NPS is a defined contribution scheme and is based on the principle that 'you save while you earn'.

• The provisions of the Pension Bill will not apply to Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) subscribers. EPFO funds will be continued to be managed by the government.

• The Pension Bill allows foreign direct investment in the country's pension sector, the latest attempt by the government to attract more capital flows. Overseas investors can own stakes of up to 26% stake in domestic pension funds, or such percentage as may be approved for the insurance sector, whichever is higher etc.

• NPS was opened up for all citizens of the country including unorgnised sector workers, on voluntary basis, with effect from 1 May 2009.

• To encourage workers from the unorganised sector to voluntarily save for their retirement via NPS, the government launched the co-contributory pension scheme titled "Swavalamban Scheme" of NPS in the Budget of 2010-11. 

Worlds largest solar power project to be installed in Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Asia's largest single location solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant with a generation capacity of 55 MW was commissioned on Wednesday. The project was part of the first phase of the National Solar Mission.Solar Park would be established in 10 thousand hectare land and Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide 3000 crore rupees loan for development of transmission lines of this solar park.The technical assistance for the solar park will be provided by Clinton Foundation as per the agreement between State government of Rajasthan and Clinton foundation in 2010. Three more solar parks will come in Jaisalemer, Barmer and Bikner Districts with the help of Clinton Foundation.

India's first All Women Bank- Bhartiya Mahila Bank

Government plans to set up about 25 branches of the proposed public sector Bharatiya Mahila Bank, India's first all women bank, by the end of this fiscal. The government has already approved Rs 1,000 crore seed capital for the women focused public sector bank, announced by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in his budget speech. The bank will be headquartered at New Delhi.

India's tax-to-GDP ratio one of the lowest

At 15.5 per cent, India has one of the lowest tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratios. India has around 35 million taxpayers. Among G20 countries, India had the third-lowest tax base, before Mexico and Indonesia. The property tax-to-GDP ratio in India is only 0.48 per cent. France and the UK, it is 4.3 per cent and 4.21 per cent, respectively. For China, it is 1.7 per cent. Wealth tax in India is only 0.007 per cent of GDP, while it is 0.89 per cent in France.

In 2011-12, the tax-GDP ratio stood at 5.5 per cent for direct taxes and 4.4 per cent for indirect taxes.

Definition Tax-to-GDP ratio: 

This ratio is the total government tax collections divided by the country's GDP. Some countries, like Sweden, have a high tax-to-GDP ratio (as high as 54%). Other countries, like India, have a low ratio. When tax revenues grow at a slower rate than the GDP of a country, the tax-to-GDP ratio drops. Taxes paid by individuals and corporations often account for the majority of tax receipts, especially in developed countries.

Customs and duties paid by users of goods and services also make up a portion of tax receipts. (Investopedia)

SEZ land norms relaxed

**Minimum land requirement for SEZs**

For Single Product Industry:
Before:    100 hectares
Now:       50 hectares

For Multi Product Industry:
Before:     1000 hectares
Now:        500 hectares

Benefit of this change:        Easy for investors

Benefit of SEZ in general:
A- 100% income tax exemption on export income for SEZ units for the first five years.
B- SEZs allow duty-free imports or domestic procurement of goods

"Durga" - Largest Blast furnace of the country starts operating

Where:           Rourkela
Organization: SAIL
What:             Blast Furnace (named Durga)
Why:              To increase hot metal Capacity of SAIL
Whats new:   Closed-loop cooling system => zero water dischage

Zafar Futehally (Indian Naturalist) passes away

Who:   Zafar Futehally

What: Ornithology and Conservation

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards- 2013

Who:   Ronjan Sodhi (Trap shooter)
What:  Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
Why:   Indian to win two back-to-back World Cup gold medals
Other Facts: Interestingly, it is for the third consecutive year that a Khel Ratna award has gone to a shooter.

Who:   Virat Kohli
Why:   Arjuna award for Cricket

Who:   PV Sindhu
What:  Arjuna Award
Why:   first Indian woman shuttler to clinch a bronze medal at the recent World Championships

Note:  14 sportspersons picked for the Arjuna award

Tripura High Court Launches India's first Cyber Forensic Lab

Why:            1- Need of Decentralized System

                      2- Difficult to control everything from Delhi

What:            SMS facility to inform both litigant and the Lawyer (e governance)

Objective:     Modernization of Legal Service

Visa on arrival in four more cities

• Visa-on-Arrival facility for tourists will now be available at four more international airports across the country, besides the four existing metropolitan cities.
• Initiated at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Hyderabad and Bangalore airports with effect from August 15.
• Visitors from 11 countries, including Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines and Myanmar, are eligible to avail the VoA facility.
• The scheme has contributed to an increase in the number of tourists from these countries, and the government is in the final stages of consultations on allowing the facility to citizens of another 10 countries, including Germany, France and Russia.

Biocon launches drug for Psoriasis cure

Chairperson and MD, Biocon, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

• Indian biotechnology firm announced launch of first drug for Psoriosis (a skin disease). 
• The drug is called ALZUMAb, which took 10 years of R&D before it was released.
• It is supposed to affect 1-2% of Indian population. 

Genetically Modified Crops and Monsanto in India

About Monsanto: Monsanto is the largest company that manufactures genetically modified seeds. In last quarter alone they reported a net sales of $4.2 billions and profit of around $1000 million. Corn, soybeans and cotton are the most common GE crops in US. around 90% of these crops are produces by GM seeds in US.

BRAI Bill: Biotechnology Regulatory Authority Bill

• There are growing protests to ban Monsanto from India, since it is hurting commercial interest of the farmers at the same time fiddling with the environment.
• Earlier Monsanto has been banned from Europe on the same lines.
• Prior to this there was a lot of debate on introduction of GM Bt Brinjal in Indian fields. The concern was that the genetically engineered Bt Brinjal would soon become a weed, hence would pose threat to biodiversity.
• Philippines Supreme Court has recently banned open field trials of Bt Brinjal.
• Supreme Court of India appointed a Technical Expert Committee (TEC)
• Then, TEC recommended 10 years suspension of on field trails of GE food crops.
• While people supporting GM crops believe that conventional agricultural methodology is not sufficient to meet the growing demands of our population.

Note:We must note that our food insecurity is not majorly because of production shortfall but is due to a poorly managed supply chain system where a big chunk of foodgrains rot in our godowns.

Ex-IMF heavyweight Raghuram Rajan named new RBI chief

• Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram Rajan will be the next Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor after incumbent D Subbarao retires in September.
• 50-year old Dr Rajan, a former International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Economist was appointed as the Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry in August last year. He is acclaimed for predicting the 2008 global financial crisis.
• The Indian rupee recovered dramatically on news of Dr. Rajan's appointment after it hit an all-time low of 61.80 and ended in the green at 60.77, wiping off all losses.