current affairs 5 april 2014 Top news from india

It's another achievement for India. India has successfully launched its second navigational satellite IRNSS 1B on board PSLV-C24. 


Indian Space Research Organisation's workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C24 placed the IRNSS IB in precise orbit about 19 minutes after a perfect lift-off at 5.14 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, around 80 kms from Chennai. 

A happy ISRO Chairman, K Radhakrishnan, announced "PSLV, in its 25th successive successful flight, injected IRNSS-1B very precisely. I thank the entire ISRO team that made this major milestone for the country, thus proving again that India's PSLV has a place of pride".

Researchers have revealed that this month Mars is at its closest to Earth in the past six and a half years. 

In the middle two weeks of April, Mars will shine with a brightness of magnitude -1.5, matching the luster of Sirius, and in a telescope it will appear 15.1 arcseconds across.

April 8th is the planet's opposition date: when it's opposite the Sun in the sky. It passes closest to Earth on April 14th (the difference is due to the elliptical shape of Mars's orbit.) But it appears practically the same size and brightness all month.

According to space experts, this will be the best time when we can have a glance of the red planet very easily. They are of the opinion that it can be best viewed after midnight when it reaches the highest elevation. The adventure aficionados can see Mars rising in the east when the sun is setting in the west.

According to scientists, Mars will be closest to Earth (at about 54,400,000 miles) on April 14 again.

current affairs september 2012

Shome panel for postponement of GAAR for three years

The expert committee on GAAR (the General Anti-Avoidance Rules), headed by Parthasarathi Shome to address the concerns of foreign and domestic investors, has recommended postponement of the controversial tax provision by three years and abolition of capital gains tax on transfer of securities. The committee advocated that the GAAR provisions should not be invoked to examine the genuineness of the residency of investor entities in Mauritius. This single step by itself is expected to revive the flow of foreign capital from the island nation, which offers a liberal taxation regime, and where foreign institutional investors enjoy the benefits of a double taxation avoidance treaty it has with India. The committee has suggested that GAAR be applicable only if the threshold of tax benefit is Rs. 3 crore and above. It has sought comments from all stakeholders by September 15 to draw up the final guidelines. Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has expanded the scope of the terms of reference of the committee to include all non-resident taxpayers instead of only FIIs.

Haryana institutes nutrition awards

The Haryana Government has instituted nutrition awards at the district level to check malnourishment among children. Under the scheme, three best performing districts which checked malnutrition among children will get cash awards of Rs. two lakh, Rs. one lakh and Rs. 50,000 respectively. Under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme, the State Government had increased the rate of supplementary nutrition being provided to women and children. Now, self- help groups of women and mothers had been given the responsibility to prepare nutritious food for the beneficiaries of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme. These groups worked under the supervision of village level sub-committees. Under this programme, employment opportunities had been provided to 75,000 women.

Annshri Yojna to feed over two lakh

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has announced that her government will launch the “Delhi Annshri Yojana” on October 2 on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. The programme would benefit more than two lakh families. Under the programme, Rs.600 in cash would be transferred to the eldest female members of more than two lakh families which are not presently covered under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Antyodaya programmes. “With the launch of Annshri, more than 6 lakh families would come under the ambit of the food subsidy in the Capital and it would go a long way in making Delhi a hunger-free State,” said Ms. Dikshit. The Government is mulling to offer an option to the four lakh BPL and Antyodaya families to continue to avail of subsidised ration under the Public Distribution System or opt for Rs.1,000 cash assistance per month.

India's largest open cast mine in land row

Spread over nearly 20 sq km, the Gevra mines in Chhattisgarh's Korba district are the single largest source of power grade coal in India containing more than 10,000 million tonnes of reserves that alone can meet the country's coal needs more than a decade. Since production began in Gevra in 1981, more than 400 million tonnes of coal have been shoveled out of a gigantic pit, larger than any other open cast coal mine in Asia. But reserves in Gevra's existing mining area are low and fresh land needs to be acquired urgently for expansion. In an environment assessment report, South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), the government company that runs the mines, estimated an additional 1,400 acres or six sq km of farmland would be required to expand capacity to 35 million tonnes per annum. A notification for land acquisition was issued early in 2001 but over the next decade, compensation rates were not finalised, until the last shovels of coal began to be scrapped from the existing mine area, and the company rushed to announce compensation rates in accordance with Chhattisgarh's rehabilitation policy, which range from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per acre, depending on land fertility. But a sticking point remained: the question of jobs.

Agriculture University develops new wheat varieties

Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University at Hisar has developed two improved varieties of wheat suitable for cultivation in the north-western plains and peninsular zones of the country. Vice-Chancellor Dr. K. S. Khokhar said that these varieties also possess good quality high protein content and resistance against several diseases. University’s scientists had developed the WH 1105 variety of normal

wheat and WHD 948 of durum wheat for irrigated and timely sown conditions. Dr. Khokhar said that at the All-India Wheat and Barley Research Workers’ Meet held recently at Durgapur (Rajasthan), the Central Variety Identification Committee headed by Dr. S.K. Datta, Deputy Director-General (Crop Sciences), ICAR, had identified the WH 1105 variety for commercial cultivation in the north-western plain zone consisting of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu region and the foothills of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. WHD 948 has been identified for cultivation in Maharashtra and Karnataka, added Dr. R. P. Narwal, Director of Research.

Thalidomide apology insufficient: victims

The German firm that made thalidomide has issued its first apology in over 50 years to the thousands born disabled as a result of the drug’s use, but a victims’ charity called for more tangible action. Grunenthal’s chief executive Harald Stock said his company was “very sorry” for its silence towards the victims of the drug, which was sold to pregnant women as a cure for morning sickness in the 1950s and early 1960s. An estimated 10,000 children worldwide were born with defects — including missing limbs — after their mothers took thalidomide, which was sold in nearly 50 countries before being pulled from the market in 1961.

Iran rejects IAEA charge over Parchin

Iran has rejected allegations contained in a new International Atomic Energy Agency report that it is frustrating U.N. inspection of a suspect military site by apparently scrubbing it clean. It repeated its suspicions that the base might have been used for experiments using conventional explosives to design a nuclear warhead, and stressed that Iran has repeatedly refused access to the site on the grounds it was a non-nuclear facility. Iran had doubled its uranium enrichment capacity at an underground nuclear facility in Fordo by installing more than 1,000 new centrifuges, though they have not been put into operation. The IAEA said it was still “unable to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities”.

Apple seeks to stop sale of Samsung Galaxy S III

Samsung, has accused Apple of resorting to litigation in an effort to limit consumer choice after the iPhone maker said it was seeking to stop the sale of Galaxy S III smartphones in the United States.

Ispat merges with JSW Steel

Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel, announced the merger of renamed JSW Ispat with itself, 20 months after acquiring a controlling stake in rival Ispat IndustriesThe boards of directors of both companies have approved the merger with a swap ratio of 1:72, that is, one equity share of JSW Steel for every 72 shares of JSW Ispat. In December, 2010, JSW Steel came in as a major investor in Mittal-owned debt laden Ispat Industries by investing Rs.2,157 crore and became the largest shareholder. The downstream units of both companies will be transferred to a wholly-owned subsidiary of JSW Steel and the appointed date of the merger will be July 1.

India Infoline Fin public offer to open on Sept. 5

India Infoline Finance Limited will open a public issue of un-secured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of Rs. 500 crore. The issue will open on September 5 and close on September 18, with the NCDs listed on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange. Mukesh Kumar Singh, President, India Infoline Limited said that the issue, comprised NCDs with a face value of Rs. 1,000, aggregating to Rs. 250 crore, had the option to retain over-subscription up to another Rs. 250 crore.

IndiGo registers least flight cancellations, AI comes last

No frill carrier IndiGo had the least number of flight cancellations while national carrier Air India fared the worst between July 2011 to June 2012. IndiGo cancelled just 0.3 per cent of its total flights between July 2011 and June 2012. The airline was to operate a total of 1,02,571 flights, of which only 303 were cancelled during this period. On the other hand, Air India, which faced a 58-day-long strike by its pilots, had

the most number of its flights cancelled (3.4 per cent). Air India was to operate a total of 1,06,334 flights, of which 3,604 flights were cancelled and interestingly, 462 flights were cancelled in April, when there was no internal problem in the airline. Kingfisher Airlines -- once was the second largest airline of the country -- had to cancel around 2.85 per cent of its total flights.

Sebi to ask cos, bankers for detailed basis of IPO price

Market regulator Sebi may soon ask companies and merchant bankers to limit any business transactions amongst them to bare minimum and to provide investors with a detailed analysis of how they discover the IPO price range. The proposed steps are aimed at safeguarding the investors’ interest and ring-fencing the Initial Public Offer (IPO) market from possible over-pricing of the public offers through a nexus between the company promoters and merchant bankers. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has already made it mandatory for the merchant bankers to provide a track-record of the offers managed by them, while it has also announced steps like stricter eligibility criteria for tapping the capital markets through IPOs.

Super Wi-Fi' to offer city-wide wireless internet

Move over Wi-Fi, there's a new wireless technology coming. So-called "Super Wi-Fi," which offers a bigger range than existing hotspots, is being deployed in the United States and generating interest in a number of countries, including Britain and Brazil. Super Wi-Fi is not really Wi-Fi because it uses a different frequency and requires specially designed equipment, but it offers some of Wi-Fi's advantages, and more. The name was coined by the US Federal Communications Commission in 2010, when it approved the deployment of unused broadcast television spectrum, or so-called "white spaces," for wireless broadband.

Nokia, Motorola to unveil new smartphones

Back when Apple was an underdog, it had an easier time shrouding its product announcements in mystery and perhaps catching its competitors off guard. But now tech companies are watching every one of Apple's moves - and scrambling to get out in front of them. Several major tech companies are cramming product announcements into this holiday-shortened workweek. Nokia and Motorola Mobility, former leaders in the mobile race who are now also-rans, have scheduled events for which they are likely to unveil new smartphones. And the next day, Amazon is expected to introduce new Kindle devices. Sony and Samsung, among others, got a jump on things with announcements of new tablets and phones at a consumer electronics conference in Berlin.

Ramsay triumphs at European Masters

Scotland's Richie Ramsay claimed the biggest win of his career at the European Masters in the Swiss Alps, a final-round 66 handing him victory by a four-shot margin. Ramsay finished at 16 under par, with Australia's Marcus Fraser, Romain Wattel of France, Fredrik Andersson Hed of Sweden and England's Danny Willett all on 12 under. It is the second tour title of Ramsay's career after his triumph at the South African Open in 2010, and the second win in as many weeks for a Scotsman, following Paul Lawrie's success at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.