current affairs september
IMD to launch mobile apps
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)
will soon launch mobile applications to allow people access weather related
information on their Android mobile phones. The application would help
disseminate locale specific observation data and weather forecast to people.
Plan panel sanctions Rs.300 crore for CoP-11
The Planning Commission has sanctioned Rs.300
crore for the upcoming conference on bio-diversity (Conference of Parties) to
be held at Hyderabad, from October 1 to 19. The State government of Andhra
Pradesh is spending Rs.450 crore for the prestigious conference. More than
8,000 delegates from 190 countries and heads of governments are expected to
participate in the event. According to an official release a Biodiversity,
Museum & Park will be established on a 15-acre site. About 300 to 400 rare
and endangered plant species would be procured for getting planted by VVIPs in
the proposed Biodiversity Park.
Now Lieutenant Sachin Pilot
Union Minister of State for Telecommunication
& Information Technology Sachin Pilot is going to be commissioned in the
rank of lieutenant in the Territorial Army (TA). The commissioning ceremony is
to be held at Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence (Army) in
South Block. The young MP from Ajmer in Rajasthan has to be “pipped” by Army
Chief Bikram Singh.
HC asks Centre to list steps taken for
regulating television content
The Madras High Court Bench directed the
Secretary, Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, to file a report by
September 21 detailing steps taken by the Centre to formulate a mechanism for
regulating the contents of programmes telecast by television channels, and
keeping a watch over them on the lines of the Censor Board of Film
Certification. Expressing concern over absence of any kind of mechanism to control
contents of television programmes, the judge rued that it had had an adverse
effect on the youth. He wanted to know from the Centre if some kind of system
could be put in place to regulate the programmes telecast by various channels
in public interest.
General Liang hands over cash to IAF pilots
The Visiting Chinese Defence Minister General
Liang Guanglie’s expression of appreciation and goodwill gesture to the Indian
Air Force (IAF) pilots who ferried him from Mumbai to New Delhi bordered on
violation of protocol norms in India. The visiting dignitary handed over two
envelopes containing Rs. 50,000 each to the two IAF pilots who had flown him
and his delegation to the capital for the delegation-level talks with Defence
Minister A.K. Antony. Two Embraer and an Avro aircraft were sent to Mumbai to
ferry the delegation. These aircraft, belonging to the communication squadron
of the IAF, are used for top dignitaries such as the Prime Minister and the
President for travel.
Indian parents visiting children settled in
Australia can stay longer
Canberra has decided to allow parents of
Australian citizens and permanent residents to stay longer. The Australian
Government has listened to requests and responded. These new arrangements, once
in place, will provide Indian parents wishing to visit their children settled
in Australia with greater options. By the end of the year, Australia will
grant, on a case-by-case basis, five-year tourist visas with a 12-month stay on
each entry to those who have applied for a parent visa outside Australia. The
government will also consider tourist visas of up to three years with a
12-month stay on each entry for people not in the parent visa queue. All other
requirements such as access to adequate funds and health insurance remain the
same. Each year over 35,000 Indian parents submit visa applications to visit
their children who are now Australian citizens or permanent residents.
Cyber security, IM to top agenda of police
chiefs’ meet
Cyber security and Pakistan-based terror groups,
particularly the Indian Mujahideen (IM), would top the agenda of the three-day
State police chiefs’ conference that begins at New Delhi. At the 47th annual
DGPs/IGPs Conference, organised by the Intelligence Bureau, cyber security
experts would brief participants about the changing Internet scenario and how
terror organisations and antinational elements were using it to target India,
be it by hacking crucial government websites or by using web and mobile
communication tools to create social and communal tensions.
It is for the first time that an entire
session on cyber security would be held at the conference.
A road map to peace:
Colombia
Colombia and its main leftist rebel group
have said they have signed an accord to launch peace talks in October aimed at
ending a stubborn, half-a-century-old conflict that has claimed tens of
thousands of lives. In a nationally televised speech, President Juan Manuel
Santos called the pact a road map to “a definitive peace”. It was reached after
six months of direct talks in Cuba, with Havana and Norway serving as brokers
following a year and a half of preparatory work. The agreement, signed on
August 27, does not include a cease-fire. It also doesn’t grant a safe haven to
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, as the last peace talks
did.
Safety concerns in French n-plants
A fire broke out in the nuclear plant in
Fessenheim, north eastern France. This is the country’s oldest plant,
commissioned 40 years ago and President Hollande had promised to close it down
as one of his campaign pledges. The fire was caused by cooling material. It was
quickly detected and put out. The fire had no consequence on the safety, the
environment or on production at the plant which remained at 100 per cent. Local
officials said “oxygenated steam” was produced when hydrogen peroxide reacted
with water in a reservoir. Though there was no radioactive leak, the accidental
spillage of highly corrosive and flammable chemicals which burned through the
protective gloves of two workers in the plant causing severe injuries, has
again raised the question of safety in French nuclear plants. This fire comes
just three weeks after an incident at the nuclear installation at Penly (on the
west coast of France) when the reactor went into automatic shutdown mode
following the outbreak of two fires in the building housing reactor No 2. A
radioactive leak in a cooling pump was also detected at the time. India is
planning to buy six of these reactors whose price tag has shot up from €3
billions apiece to almost €7 billions each.
Mercedes-Benz to scale up investment in India
German luxury car manufacturer Mercedes Benz
will increase its investment to Rs.850 crore in the domestic operations by 2014
as it is preparing to start assemble more of its models in India. Mercedes-Benz
India, the Indian subsidiary, has an assembly plant in Chakan near Pune, where
it is investing more than Rs.600 crore to scale up operations. The Chakan plant
started operations in 2009 and scaled up the initial investment of Rs.250 crore
to over Rs.600 crore with the setting up of a paint shop. The investment of
Rs.850 crore will enable Mercedes-Benz India to be future-ready.
JSPL acquires Canadian firm for $115 m
Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL), recently
announced the acquisition of Canadian firm CIC Energy, and plans to pump $700
million over the next three years to set up facilities at the acquired firm’s
properties in Botswana. On July 23, 2012, the JSPL had entered into an all-cash
deal to acquire a 100 per cent stake in CIC Energy for about $115 million (over
Rs. 600 crore). The deal would give JSPL access to 2.4 billion tonnes of high
thermal coal reserves, located at CIC’s Mmamabula mine in Botswana.
World Bank names Kaushik Basu as chief
economist
The World Bank named Kaushik Basu, a Cornell
University professor and former Indian official, as the institution's new chief
economist and Senior Vice-President. Dr. Basu, most recently served as chief
economic adviser of the India's Ministry of Finance while on leave from
Cornell, where he was an economics professor and the C. Marks Professor of
International Studies.
Aaron D’Souza corners glory
Aaron D’Souza set two meet records as BAC retained the
overall championship on the final day of the State senior aquatics
championships at the Basavanagudi swimming pool at Bangalore. D’Souza clocked
51.67 in the men’s 100m freestyle, rewriting his own mark of 51.71 from 2009.
He set another record in the 50m backstroke, before claiming a third gold in
the 200m butterfly. D’Souza was declared the men’s individual champion while
Pooja Alva secured the honours in the women’s section.
No comments:
Post a Comment