News Summary : July 10

1. Public Health news : Government has continued with private players role in nutrient supplement program ICDS. This has continued in spite of Supreme court banning this ( 2009 ) .

2: NDB : New development bank in news . The bank to start working( lending ) with initial capital of 50 bn $ from next year.

3: IMF has come up with renewed global growth forecast . This has reduced growth numbers. Report name is called world economic outlook report.

4: Yugoslavia civil war massacre has now become 20 year old.

5: Xinxiang province in china faces terror activity led by ethnic group Uighur .

6: Sri-Lanka : Mahinda Rajpaksha is politician of SLFP ( sri Lanka freedom party ) . Mr. Rajpaksha is hoping to return to active politics after defeat in presidential

election held in January 2015.

7: BRICS summit : 7th Summit is being held in Russia. Mr. Modi has suggested 10 point agenda to be adopeted by BRICS . Example : Trade Fair , Research center for Railway , Agriculture .

8: FATCA : Foreign account tax compliance act can be used to control Black Money issue.

9: Urban Planning : Slum development has become important working area . Till now this was ignored in top down urban planning . Government response was seen in form of

target to make India Slum Free by 2020 ( World bank doubts this ). RAY envisioned to spend $20 bn ( Part of JNNURM ). Present government is working on Housing for all project by 2022.

10: Man V/s Wild issue : T-24 tiger of Ranthambhor. Wildlife protection is associated with tourism , resources , Bio-diversity. The debate is what method should be adopted for wildlife protection and how to integrate people in this.

11: Greece crisis : Austerity v/s Sovereign debt management of Greece has continued in news. Further proceedings will be mainly decided by Germany.

12: RTI : Political parties continue to refuse to come under RTI. CIC had observed that Political parties fall in category of public authority . Hence they should

being to light their expenditure and funding. Presently political parties are required to declare 20,000 rupee or more contributions . They circumvent this clause by declaring that they received funding as small contributions. This has led to persistent use of black money in elections and election malpractices.

Expert comment : BRICS summit is significant news . Outcome of the summit should be prepared as write up. How BRICS will feature in new world order is important in

international politics. On urban planning front problem of Slums is widespread . Government failure comes to fore with Slums and associated problem . Associated

problems are housing , poverty , lack of service delivery . In another significant topic , role of private players in Pubic health is debatable. Pros and Cons of the same should be written . In any case , Government should take up lead role in area of Public Health. Keywords like NDB , Xinxiang , IMF , Greece will continue to find place in news in coming days/months.

News Summary : July 02

1: Field medal : Highest honor given to mathematicians.

2: Physics aspect : Quantum mechanics to study materials made of atoms , molecules . EInsteins theory of relativity is used to study space , stars and universe.

Mathematics is the language in which physical laws are formulated .

3: Government is taking steps to reduce corporate tax from 30 percent to 25 percent level . Simultaneously exemptions and incentives will be removed. High tax rate end up making the products less competitive in international market.

4: Infrastructure : Eastern DFT from Ludhiana to Dhankuni . Funding to come mainly from world bank. This project will help in reducing GHG emission .

5: Greece issue : Referendum to decide future course of action

6: US-Cuba : Significant Geo-political development as diplomatic relations have been established between US and Cuba.

" We don't have to be imprisoned by the past " -- Barak Obama

7: ISRO has social-economic role to play in India's future. Main working area are communication satellites , remote sensing , navigation , regional co-operation , Indegenous satellites , launch vehicles . GSLV MKIII is long awaited project which uses cryogenic engines. Critical for sending larger weight satellites.

8: Government goes into action part of curbing black money issue. Statuary teeth has come in form of Black money ( undisclosed foreign income and assets ) and imposition of taxes act 2015 . This act has provision for jail term of 10 years. Implementation will be closely monitored in near future.

9: Maldives : India faces dilemma as it finds difficult to ignore handling of former president Md Naseed. Human rights issue have come up in this. India doesn't want to act against sovereign neighbor . This has Geo-political angle as well as China tries to get closer to Maldives. Mr. Abdulla yameed is the present President of Maldives.

10: Indo-UK : India has extradition treaty with UK since 1993 . For extradition process to initiate Interpol has to issue red corner notice against accused person of convict.

11: MQM funding by RAW : Allegation seem false as Indian policy has changed over the years. Currently India follows persuasive regional diplomacy to take into confidence the government of neighbors. Though this policy has limitation when the neighbor is persistently non-co operative like Pakistan.

12: PIO and OCI were merged in 2014 : Person holding the card is eligible to work in India for lifetime. However there is one restriction . For missionary , research , mountaineering activities prior permission of government oof India is required.

13: EU : It lacked features of Union as democratic mandate lacked. Whims of powerful economies play major role e.g. wish and wants of Germany .The Greek crisis is also about future of Europe. A country should carefully manage its relations to be able to get out of difficult situations which may arise.

14: AIIB : 100 bn $ fund with 57 member nations. Asian countries are is need of fund to fill gap of their Infrastructure financing. This has Geo-political limitations as Japan and Philippines have kept away from this. This bank will complement the belt and road initiative of china. Currently China has money to finance infrastructure projects.

UPSC( CS-Mains ) angle to see it : Some overview comment 

Not much on science page of the day. On economy front the news about Infrastructure , Degital India , Government taxation , Black money finds mention in the news. On international relations there is continuity of past news . US-Cuba relation is significant development . Greece issue will remain in news for time to come so comprehensive answer should be prepared on the topic. AIIB question was asked last year , this year too this will remain hot topic till exam date ; this demands well written article on China's AIIB project and its usefulness with implications. Agenda of Degital India will need to be prepared as a topic . It has wide scope and usefulness and is high on priority of the government of India.

New Summary : July 01

1: There are eight core industries for measuring IIP in India.
Eight core industries are cement , steel , electricity , coal , fertilizer , natural gas , refinery products , crude oil.

Good news: Electricity , coal showing signs of robust recovery.

2: Centre working to use technology to monitor pollution created by industries. Some parameters are Chemical oxygen demand( CoD ) and bio oxygen demand ( BoD ) . To monitor this water released by industries is being monitored and reported for unacceptable levels.

3: Green climate fund ( 100 bn $ ) will be one of key instrument to prepare for climate change. This is initiative on international platform. This is particularly critical for developing countries who need technological and monetary help to contribute towards fight against climate change.

4: PM visit to central asian countries. More articles will be expected in next few days. Broad way to see this is in terms of economic and security aspect. On economic front central asia has petroleum , natural gas , uranium reserves. India can use the market reach as well to augment exports. On security from countering terrorism , drug trafficking . PM will attend SCO meet , so this has Geo-political angle as well.

Countries : Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan , Tajikistan
Progress on TAPI pipeline is long awaited agenda.

5: IIM bill : Issue of curbing autonomy . Another line of thinking is the bill should be seen in terms of ensuring
accountability .

6: Chinese assertiveness on international front will be a reality in near future. Signs are issue of South China Sea , East china sea , Conflict with ASEAN .India need to quickly resolve the boundary dispute to strengthen partnership with china in growth path.

China policy in recent times : Silk road economic corridor , MSR , AIIB

Quotes of Deng Xiaoping :

a) " be good at maintaining low profile ; and never claim leadership "
b) " Observe calmly ; secure our position ; cope with affairs calmly "

7: Financial affairs crimes : Handled through FEMA , PMLA

8 : Greece main financiers : ECB , EU , IMF
Situation of defaulting over austerity clauses and rising unemployment.

9: Legal reforms in India : Approval of foreign firms to open operations in India. Presently legal space is mainly administered by Bar council of India. This is long awaited reforms specially seen in terms of International commercial arbitration in Indian courts. In era of globalization this is desirable scenario e.g. WTO , GATT agreement.

Info Bit : Oct 30 2012

Nano tubes

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure.Nanotubes are categorized as single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) and multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs).

Usage scope :

1:One of the promising applications of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) is their use in solar panels, due to their strong UV/Vis-NIR absorption characteristics.

2: In addition to being able to store electrical energy, there has been some research in using carbon nanotubes to store hydrogen to be used as a fuel source.

3: Radars work in the microwave frequency range, which can be absorbed by MWNTs

Info Bit : Oct 09

The eight classical forms accorded classical dance status by India's National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama are: bharatanatyam of the state of Tamil Nadu, kathak of Uttar Pradesh, kathakali and mohiniattam of Kerala, kuchipudi of Andhra Pradesh, yakshagana of Karnataka, manipuri of Manipur, odissi (orissi) of the state of Orissa and the sattriya of Assam

Info Bit : Sept 13

OECD is an international economic organisation of 34 countries founded in 1961 Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries.Headquarters : Paris, France

Info bit : Sept 11

IAEA is the world's center of cooperation in the nuclear field. It was set up as the world´s "Atoms for Peace" organization in 1957 within the United Nations family. The Agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies. Headquartered at the Vienna International Centre in Vienna.