India launches largest rocket and unmanned capsule

The 630-tonne Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (MK III) blasted off from Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. The new rocket will be able to carry heavier satellites into space. India has successfully launched lighter satellites in recent years, but has faced problems sending up heavier payloads. The new rocket is capable of carrying communication satellites weighing 4,000kg, reports say, meaning India will not have to rely on foreign launchers to do so.  The rocket's main cargo was an Indian-made capsule capable of carrying two to three astronauts into space. #GSLVMKIII #ISRO #CurrentAffairs

New Cabinet Ministers & Minister of States

Shri Narendra Damodar Das Modi has been taken oath as 15th Prime Minister of India along with his cabinet minister & minister of state.

Cabinet Ministers

Minister's Name - Portfolio

Mr. Narendra Damodar Das Modi - Prime Minister of India, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy Department of Space, All important policy issues and all other portfolios not allocated to any Minister.

Mr. Rajnath Singh - Home Minister

Mr. Arun Jaitley - Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information and Broadcasting

Mr. Manohar Parrikar - Defence

Ms. Sushma Swaraj - External Affairs Minister

M Venkaiah Naidu - Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Parliamentary Affairs

Mr. Nitin Gatkari - Road Transport and Highways, Shipping

Mr. Suresh Prabhu - Railway Minister

Ms. Uma Bharti - Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation

Najma A. Heptulla - Minority Affairs

Ram Vilas Paswan - Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Kalraj Mishra - Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Ms. Maneka Gandhi - Women and Child Development

Mr. Anant Kumar - Chemicals and Fertilizers

Ravi Shankar Prasad - Communications and Information Technology

Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati - Civil Aviation

Anant Geete - Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

Harsimrat Kaur Badal - Food Processing Industries

Narendra Singh Tomar - Mines, Steel

Jual Oram - Tribal Affairs Minister

Radha Mohan Singh - Agriculture Minister

Thaawar Chand Gehlot - Social justice and Empowerment

Smriti Irani - Human Resource Development

Jagat Prakash Nadda - Health and Family Welfare

Dr. Harsh Vardhan - Science and Technology and Earth Sciences

Birender Singh - Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water and Sanitation

D V Sadananda Gowda - Law and Justice

Ministers of State (Independent Charge)

Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy - Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge), MOS Parliamentary Affairs

Bandaru Dattatreya - Labour and Employment (Independent Charge)

Dr. Mahesh Sharma - Culture (Independent Charge), Tourism (Independent Charge), MOS Civil Aviation

Gen (Retd) V K Singh - Statistics and Programme (Independent Charge), External Affairs, Overseas Indian Affairs

Inderjit Singh Rao - Planning (Independent Charge), MOS Defence

Santosh Gangwar - Textiles (Independent Charge)

Shripad Yesso Naik - AYUSH (Independent Charge), MOS Health & Family Welfare

Dharmendra Pradhan - Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge)

Sarbananda Sonowal - Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge)

Prakash Javadekar - Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge)

Piyush Goyal - Power (Independent Charge), Coal (Independent Charge), New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge)

Jitendra Singh - Prime Minister Office, Personnel, Public Grievances &Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (Independent Charge)

Nirmala Sitharaman - Commerce and Industry (Independent Charge)

Ministers of State

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi - MOS Minority Affairsation, MOS Parliamentary Affairs

Ram Kripal Yadav - Drinking Water & Sanitation

Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary - Home Affairs

Sanwar Lal Jat - Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation

Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya - Agriculture

Giriraj Singh - Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises

Hansraj Gangaram Ahir - Chemicals & Fertilizers

Manuskhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava - Tribal Affairs

Ram Shankar Katheria - Human Resource Development

Y S Chowdary - Science and Technology and Earth Science

Jayant Sinha - Finance

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore - Information & Broadcasting

Babul Supriyo - Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation

Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti - Food Processing Industries

Vijay Sampla - Social Justice & Empowerment

GM Siddeshwara - Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

Manoj Sinha - Railways

Nihal Chand - Panchayati Raj

Upendra Kushwaha - HRD Ministry

P Radhakrishnan - Road Transport and Highways and Shipping

Kiren Rijiju - Home Affairs

Krishan Pal - Social Justice and Empowerment

Sanjeev Kumar Balyan - Agriculture

Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava - Tribal Affairs

Raosaheb Dadarao Danve - Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Vishnu Deo Sai - Mines, Steel, Labour and Employment

Sudarshan Bhagat - Social Justice and Empowerment

Kapil Dev honoured

Cricket legend Kapil Dev has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award at a ceremony in the House of Lords. The award, constituted by the Indo-European Business Forum, was presented to Dev on 24th September 2014 for his contribution to the sport and for his work to uplift poor.

Adil Zainulbhai to head Quality Council of India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appointed former McKinsey India Chairman Adil Zainulbhai as the Chairman of Quality Council of India (QCI). An autonomous body under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

UN Tribunal Fixes Maritime Border of India, Bangladesh

Ending years of dispute over the maritime boundary between India and Bangladesh, a UN tribunal on July 8, 2014 announced that Bangladesh will get 19,467 sq km of the total 25,602 sq km disputed area with India in the Bay of Bengal.

By a majority of four votes to one, the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Haque in the Netherlands determined the course of the maritime boundary line between Bangladesh and India in the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf within and beyond 200 nautical miles.

In its verdict, the tribunal nuanimousy decided that it has jurisdiction to identify the land boundary terminus and to delimit the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf between the parties within and beyond 200 nautical miles in the areas where the claims of the parties overlap.

Tata House and Temple win UNESCO Award

Mumbai’s Esplanade House, once the residence of Jamsetji Tata, founder of the Tata empire, and the Shri Sakhargad Nivasini Devi Temple Complex in Satara are among the 14 projects from 10 countries that bagged the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards that were announced in Bangkok on 2nd September. The awards recognise efforts of private individuals and organisations in restoring and conserving heritage structures and buildings.

Four new Govornor has been appointed

Four new Govornor has been appointed:

1. Shri Kalyan Singh as the Governor of Rajasthan
2. Shri Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala as the Governor of Karnataka
3. Shri Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao as the Governor of Maharashtra
4. Smt. Mridula Sinha as the Governor of Goa.

T.V. Goalakrishnan Selected for Sangita Kalanidhi Award 2014

Renowned vocalist and mridhangam exponent T.V. Gopalakrishnan popularly known as TVG has been selected for the 2014 Sangita Kalanidhi award of the Music Academy.

The Music Academy Committee on July 20, 2014 unanimously selected TVG for the honour and as the President of the 88^th annual Conference of the Academy scheduled to begin on Directors Ilayaraja and A.R. Rahman, drummer Sivamani and singer Deepan Chakravarthi are his students.

Eminent Bharatanatyam exponent Leela Samson has been chosen for the Music Academy’s Natya Kala Acharya Award. The Sangita Kala Acharya award will be given to vocalists Mangad Natesan and Alamelu Mani.

Bolivia Legalises Child Labour

While most of the world is trying to diminish child labour, Bolivia has become the first nation to legalise it from age 10. Congress approved the legislation earlier in July, and Vice-President Alvaro Garcia signed it into law on July 17, in the absence of President EVo Morales, who was travelling.

UN Tribunal Fixes Maritime Border of India, Bangladesh

Ending years of dispute over the maritime boundary between India and Bangladesh, a UN tribunal on July 8, 2014 announced that Bangladesh will get 19,467 sq km of the total 25,602 sq km disputed area with India in the Bay of Bengal.

By a majority of four votes to one, the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Haque in the Netherlands determined the course of the maritime boundary line between Bangladesh and India in the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf within and beyond 200 nautical miles.

In its verdict, the tribunal unanimously decided that it has jurisdiction to identify the land boundary terminus and to delimit the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf between the parties within and beyond 200 nautical miles in the areas where the claims of the parties overlap.

Expenditure Management Commission

Expenditure Management Commission has been set up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It will be headed by former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan. This commission will suggest the ways to reduce food, fertiliser and oil subsidies and narrow the fiscal deficit. The other members of this commission is former finance secretary Sumit Bose and former RBI deputy governor Subir Gokarn. Additional Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, will be an ex-officio member and a senior officer with finance/expenditure experience will be member-secretary

New Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha elected

Dr. M. Thambidurai elected as the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha. He is belonging from the political party AIADMK.

Indian Medal Winners in 20th Commonwealth Games

Gold Medal Winners
Medal Winners	Events
Amit Kumar	Wrestling
Abhinav Bindra	Shooting
Apurvi Chandela	Shooting
Sukhen Dey	Weightlifting
Yogeshwar Dutt	Wrestling
Sanjita Khumukcham	Weightlifting
Sushil Kumar	Wrestling
Babita Kumari	Wrestling
Dipika Pallikal, Joshana Chinappa	Squash
Kashyap Parupalli	Badminton
Jitu Rai	Shooting
Rahi Sarnobat	Shooting
Vikas Shive Gowda	Athletics
Sathish Sivlingam	Weightlifting
Vinesh	Wrestling
Silver Medal Winners
Ayonika Paul	Shooting
Amalraj Anthony Arputharaj, Sharath Kamal Achanta	Table Tennis
Bajrang	Wrestling
Navjot Chana	Judo
Mirabai Chanu Saikhom	Weightlifting
Laishram Devi	Boxing
Malaika Goel	Shooting
Ashwini Ponnappa, Jwala Gutta	Badminton
Geetika Jakhar	Wrestling
Mandeep Jangra	Boxing
Satywart Kadian	Wrestling
Ravi Katulu	Weightlifting
Devendro Laishram	Boxing
Lalita	Wrestling
Shushila Likmabam	Judo
Sakshi Malik	Wrestling
Santoshi Matsa	Weightlifting
Prakash Nanjappa	Shooting
Gagan Narang	Shooting
Seema Punia	Athletics
Rajinder Rahelu	Powerlifting
Sanjeev Rajput	Shooting
Anisa Sayyed	Shooting
Gurpal Singh	Shooting
Shreyasi Singh	Shooting
Harpreet Singh	Shooting
Vikas Thakur	Weightlifting
Rajeev Tomar	Wrestling
Vijender	Boxing
Sadar Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Birendra Lakar, Chinglensana Kangujam, Chandana Nikkin Thimmaiah, Danish Mujtaba, Dharamvir Singh, Gurwinder Chandi, Gurbaj Singh, Kothajit Khadangbam, Manpreet Singh, Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran, Rupinder Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Sowmarpet Vitalacharya, Raghunath Vokkaliga Ramachandra	Mens Hockey
Bronze Medal Winners
Arpinder Singh	Athletics
Lajja Gauswami	Shooting
R. V. Gurusaidutta	Badminton
Dipa Karmakar	Gymnastics
Rajwinder Kaur	Judo
Sakina Khatun	Powerlifting
Pawan Kumar	Wrestling
Ganesh Mali	Weightlifting
Chandrakant Mali	Weightlifting
Asab Mohd	Shooting
Gagan Narang	Shooting
Navjot Kaur	Wrestling
Omkar Otari	Weightlifting
Pinki Rani	Boxing
Manavjit Sandhu	Shooting
P. V. Sindhu	Badminton
Swati Singh	Weightlifting
Kalpana Thoudam	Judo
Punam Yadav	Weightlifting

India to host next IBSA summit

India will host the 7th IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa) summit in 2015. The announcement was made following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Jacob Zuma in Brasília on Wednesday.

The two leaders met at the sidelines of the interaction between the BRICS leadership and leaders from Latin American countries.

This will be the third time New Delhi will be hosting the IBSA summit since it started in 2006. While the inaugural edition of the summit was held in Brazil, India played host to the third edition in 2008 and the sixth in 2013. IBSA is a trilateral initiative between India, Brazil and South Africa “to promote, inter-alia, South-South cooperation and exchange.” The platform was announced, following a meeting of Foreign Ministers of the three countries in Brasilia in 2003, through the adoption of the Brasilia Declaration.

The IBSA summit involves consultations at the heads of state-level while meetings between Ministers and officials are held at the Trilateral Joint Commission and Focal Point levels respectively.

Five new Governors has been appointed by the President of India

 

The President has been pleased to appoint the following as Governors:-

1. Shri Ram Naik as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh
2. Shri Balramji Dass Tandon as the Governor of Chhattisgarh
3. Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi as the Governor of West Bengal
4. Shri Om Prakash Kohli as the Governor of Gujarat
5. Shri Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya as the Governor of Nagaland

Rajya Sabha passes NID Bill

The government pushed through the ‘National Institute of Design Bill, 2013’ in the Rajya Sabha on the first day of the budget session of Parliament. The BJP-led NDA government, which is a minority in the Upper House, managed to pass the Bill with help from the Congress. The Bill originally drafted by the UPA government is not contentious and was introduced in the Rajya Sabha last year by former Commerce Minister Anand Sharma. Minister of State for Commerce & Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, who moved the Bill for consideration and passage, explained its provisions seeking to declare the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, as an institution of national importance. Currently, the NID is registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and as an autonomous institution under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950. Now, the NID can establish institute campuses anywhere within or outside India.

Srinivasan becomes first ICC chairman

N. Srinivasan was on Thursday formally appointed the first chairman of the ICC after its 52-member council approved a controversial revamp of the body’s administrative structure.

The full council approved the amendments to the ICC’s Memorandum and Articles of Association at the Annual Conference, in Melbourne.

As was widely known before the conference, Srinivasan was elected the chairman despite being barred by the Supreme Court of India from carrying out his duties as BCCI president due to ongoing investigations into the match-fixing allegations relating to the 2013 edition of the IPL.

Kedarnath Singh chosen for Jnanpith

Noted Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh has been chosen for the prestigious Jnanpith award for 2013. He is the 10th Hindi writer to receive the honour and joins the likes of Sumitra Nandan Pant, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar among others.

Eighty-year-old Singh, who has also written essays and stories, was born in Balia, Uttar Pradesh. ‘Abhi bilkul abhi’ and ‘Yahan se dekho’ are among his prominent works. The award includes. Rs 11 lakh and a citation, a release from the Jnanpith award committee said.

Sanjaya Rajaram chosen for World Food Prize

Sanjaya Rajaram, veteran plant scientist, has been chosen for this year’s World Food Prize for his "scientific research that led to a prodigious increase in world wheat production."

Announcing this, M.S. Swaminathan, founder of the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) and chairman, global jury for selection of the Food Prize Laureate, told reporters on Wednesday that Dr Rajaram, now settled in Mexico, was selected for his "outstanding work in the improvement of wheat crop and wheat production in the world."

Dr. Swaminathan, the first recipient of the Prize in 1987, said the selection of Dr. Rajaram was significant as this year marked the centenary year of Dr. Borlaug as well as the international year of family farming.

Regarded as the most prestigious award in the area of food and agriculture, the Prize, carrying a cash prize of $ 250,000, would be presented during the U.N. World Food Day on October 16.

#WorldFoodPrize
#WorldFoodDay

Kolkata Airport Bags Service Quality Award

Kolkata Airport has won the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Award by Airport Council International (ACI) in the category of the best improved airport in Asia Pacific Region. This category includes airports which have experienced the biggest improvement in ASQ rating between 2012 and 2013 in their region. The ASQ Awards are presented in four categories: best airport by region, best airport by size, best small airport and best improvement.

The award was received by Dr. B.P. Sharma, Airport Director, Kolkata at the 9th ACI Asia Pacific Regional Assembly meeting in Seoul, Korea. He handed over the award to Shri Alok Sinha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Chairman, Airports Authority of India (AAI) in the presence of Shri G.K. Chaukiyal, Member (Operations) in New Delhi.

Airport Service Quality survey is conducted at 11 major airports of AAI by Airport Council International including Ahmedabad, Calicut, Chennai, Goa, Guwahati, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Pune, Srinagar, Trivandrum. In respect of customer satisfaction airports managed by AAI scored an average ASQ rating of 4.14 which is above world average of 4.04 between 1st January and 31st March, this year.

Prithviraj Chavan launches Mumbai metro services

Mumbai’s very first metro line was declared open at 10.16 am when Maharashtra Chief Minister took the first ride from Versova station to Ghatkopar.

The inauguration took place with much uncertainty as Mr Chavan had threatened to boycott it the day before, protesting against Reliance Infrastructure’s decision to unilaterally increase fares. However, he ended up taking the very first metro – decorated with flowers – with much fanfare along with Reliance Chairman Anil Ambani and Tina Ambani.

India Signs Credit Agreement Worth US $ 165 Million with World Bank for Maharashtra

An agreement for credit of US $ 165 million (equivalent) from World Bank for Maharashtra Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program was signed here today by Shri Nilaya Mitash, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India and Mr. Micheal Haney, Acting Director, New Delhi Office, World Bank on behalf of World Bank.

Similarly, the Program Agreement was signed by Mr. Kiran Kumar Dinkarrao Gitte, Deputy Secretary, Water Supply and Sanitation Department on behalf of Government of Maharashtra. The Objective of the program is to improve the performance of Maharashtra`s sector institutions in planning, implementation and monitoring of its Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program and to improve access to quality and sustainable services in peri-urban villages, and in water-stressed and water quality-affected areas.

Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar will be the next Solicitor-General

Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar will be the next Solicitor-General as Mohan Parasaran resigned following the change of government at the Centre.

Mr. Kumar had been counsel for the Gujarat government and amicus curiae in several cases in the Supreme Court. He had represented Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case pending in a Bangalore court.

Top contenders for Additional Solicitors-General are the outgoing Additional Solicitor-General L. Nageswara Rao, senior advocates Maninder Singh, P.S. Narasimha, Neeraj Kishan Kaul and P.S. Patwalia, and Additional Advocate-General of Gujarat Tushar Mehta.

IAA Receives International Arch of Europe Award

 

Indian Aviation Academy (IAA) has been selected this year by the Business Initiative Directives Group (BIDG), Madrid (Spain) for the International Arch of Europe Award for quality and technology in Gold Category. The award was received by Mr. Rajiv Goel, Director, IAA from Mr. Jose E. Prieto, President & CEO, BID Group at a function held in Frankfurt, Germany Later, the award was presented to Mr. Alok Sinha, Chairman, Airports Authority of India .

The Academy has been set up for training and development by pooling resources of the three mainstay organizations of civil aviation namely, Airports Authority of India, Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. It conducts training in airport management, maintenance, airport safety and regulations, HR discipline, etc. The Academy has collaboration with several international agencies such as ICAO, IATA, ACI, FAA, European Union and CATC, Thailand.

President Confers Stree Shakti Puruskar on International Women’s Day

• Smt. Manasi Pradhan from Odisha has been honoured with Rani Lakshmibai Award for the year 2013 for her work in the field of women’s empowerment.
• Dr. M. Venkaiah from Andhra Pradesh has been honoured with Rani Rudramma Devi Award for the year 2013 for his contribution in the field of women’s health.
• Mrs. Bina Sheth Lashkari from Maharashtra has been honoured with Mata Jijabai Award for the year 2013 for her achievement in the field of education and training.
• Mrs. T. Radha K. Prashanti from Andhra Pradesh has been honoured with Kannagi Award for the year 2013 for her achievement in the field of providing support to orphans, visually impaired, handicapped and destitute women.
• Dr. Vartika Nanda from Delhi has been honoured with Rani Gaidinliu Zeliang Award for the year 2013 for her creating awareness on women’s issues through media.
• Dr. Seema Sakhare form Maharashtra has been honoured with Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Award for the year 2013 for her contribution in the field of women’s rights, gender issues, legal counselling and institutional support to women and girls.