CA- 20th- 26th June

1.The CoRoT team has announced the discovery of six diverse new planets, from 'shrunken-Saturns' to 'bloated hot Jupiters' as well a very rare brown dwarf with 60 times the mass of Jupiter.

CoRoT (Convection, Rotation and Transits), a space telescope operated by the French space agency CNES, discovers exoplanets when they pass in front of their stars - the so-called 'transit method'.

2.Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) report on causes of muslim backwardness in India:

- lack of access to educational institutions,
- inadequate number of educational institutions,
- a low literacy rate among parents and poor implementation of the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS)
- poor participation of Muslims in the professional and managerial cadre

3.Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group of Companies, has been made an Honorary Doctor of Law by the University of Cambridge in recognition of his business achievements and philanthropic work

4. The proposed sale of nuclear reactors to Pakistan by China and objections by the international community:

The rules of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, of which China is a member, prohibit reactor sales to countries that do not have full-scope safeguards.

By claiming its proposed export of the Chashma-3 and 4 pressurised water reactors forms part of an earlier agreement with Pakistan that predates its membership of the NSG, Beijing denies the sale would violate the guidelines of the 46-nation cartel. Other NSG members dispute that, pointing to China's 2004 declaration limiting its ‘grandfathering' obligations to just the equipment and fuel for Chashma-1 and 2


The Chashma Nuclear Power Plant near Chashma, Punjab, Pakistan, consists of Chashma Nuclear Power Plant I (CHASNUPP-1) and Chashma Nuclear Power Plant II (CHASNUPP-2). Chashma Nuclear Power Plant's reactors and other facilities are being built and operated by the Pakistani government with Chinese support.

NSG:

Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a multinational body concerned with reducing nuclear proliferation by controlling the export and re-transfer of materials that may be applicable to nuclear weapon development and by improving safeguards and protection on existing materials.

Initially the NSG had seven members, Canada, West Germany, France, Japan, the USSR, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1976-77, membership was expanded to fifteen with the admittance of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland

China became a member in 2004. The European Commission participates as an observer. The 2009/2010 NSG Chair is Hungary

NSG members are meeting in New Zealand this year

5. Financial Inclusion:providing financial services to the vast sections of the population not covered by the formal banking system

Steps taken by RBI to ensure financial inclusion:

- Licensing laws have been tweaked to persuade banks to open branches in remote areas
- RBI has directed all banks to open “no-frills” accounts, characterised by low minimum balances and charges, but limited facilities
- Priority sector lending mandated by the central bank has financial inclusion as one of its objectives

6. 2011 census will, for the first time, include a counting of the diabled

7.India's share in U.S. imports of special purpose fabric (technical textiles) and non-woven fabrics was merely 2.6 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively in 2009 as compared to China's share of 15 per cent and 12 per cent

FICCI recommendations towards developing technology-intensive products in textile:

- formulate a comprehensive research and development (R&D) policy for the Indian textile industry which would provide a special focus on eco-friendly textiles that would help in reducing carbon footprint
- The chamber has also recommended setting up of a National Textiles Research Council with a seed-money of Rs. 30 crore and an annual grant of Rs. 10 crore.

8. The Indian Air Force (IAF) may grant the honorary rank of group captain to batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar in recognition of the laurels he has brought to the country

In the past, the IAF had accorded the honorary rank of air commodore to industrialist Vijaypath Singhania after he won the gold medal in the 24-day, 34,000 km Federation Aeronautique Internationale air race in 1994

9. Ratnam pens:

Maker of the famous Ratnam Pens based out of Rajahmundry

known as ‘swadeshi' pens during the freedom movement, brought fame to Rajahmundry and the pen-maker, K.V. Ratnam
Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, S. Kasturiranga Iyengar of The Hindu, Indira Gandhi, V.V. Giri, Ramnath Goenka of the Indian Express, and Archibald Nye, Governor of Madras, were known to have used them

K.V. Ramana Murthy of Ratnam and Sons has designed a pen which is of 3.5 cm long and 1.7 gm in weight, with a 14 carat gold nib with a pen point, a clip and ring band

he describes it as the world's smallest fountain pen


10.1000 Genomes Project

The 1000 Genomes Project, launched in January 2008, is an international research effort to establish by far the most detailed catalogue of human genetic variation. Scientists plan to sequence the genomes of at least one thousand anonymous participants from a number of different ethnic groups within the next three years, using newly developed technologies which are faster and less expensive.

The project unites multidisciplinary research teams from institutes around the world, including the United Kingdom, China, the United States and Germany

It has released first phase data

11. foreign direct investment (FDI) in the services sector drop by 33.5 per cent to $4.39 billion during 2009-10

During 2008-09, India received $6.61 billion FDI in the services sector.


FDI ranking in India country wise: Mauritius($10.37 bn) > Singapore > U.S.A

12.Two Indian women — Roshni Nadar and Nisa Godrej — have been listed among Forbes magazine’s list of “a breed of heiresses who choose to live a lower-key life ... and working to make a difference behind the scenes.”

13. The World Bank's total financial commitment towards India's development agenda is set to touch $9.3 billion by the end of the bank's fiscal year ending June

total expected lending this year (July-June 2010) would include $2.6 billion in the form of credits from the International Development Association (IDA) in addition to $6.7 billion as long-term, low-interest loans from the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

14. RBI revises norms for non-convertible debenture issue:

A corporate entity should have tangible net worth of not less than Rs4 crore, as per the latest audited balance sheet, and should have sanctioned working capital limit or term loan by banks or all-India financial institutions to be eligible to issue non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of original or initial maturity up to one year

An eligible corporate intending to issue NCDs should obtain credit rating for issuance of the NCDs from one of the rating agencies, viz., the Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd. (CRISIL) or the Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of India Ltd. (ICRA) or the Credit Analysis and Research Ltd. (CARE) or the FITCH Ratings India Pvt Ltd or such other agencies registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) or such other credit rating agencies as may be specified by the Reserve Bank of India from time to time,


The maturity of NCDs should not be less than 90 days from the date of issue and the exercise date of option (put/call), if any, attached to the NCDs should not fall within the period of 90 days from the date of issue


15. ISRO has announced that it will make a detailed study of green house gases and forest fires for with funds from the union ministry of environment and forests. The satellite for this purpose which is under designing stage will be implemented in two to three years

16. The union government has decided to lift price control on petrol and allow an increase of Rs3.50 per litre of petrol. The empowered group of ministers (EGoM) also approved a hike of Rs2 per litre of diesel and Rs35 per cylinder of LGP


The EGoM, headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, decided to opt for a market-driven increase in the prices of petrol and diesel as the pressure to cut budget deficit outweighed concerns of the political fallout the measures.

17.Japan - one of the staunchest supporters of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty - has decided to jettison its opposition to nuclear deals with non-signatories of the NPT and enter into negotiations with India for sale of nuclear technology. The move will allow technology companies, such as Toshiba Corp and Hitachi Ltd, to breathe easy and bid for the burgeoning nuclear market in India, which is the second-biggest after China.

According to the World Nuclear Association, India plans to construct 35 new reactors in the next decade - a number that is the second biggest after China

The decision is historic because it would be the first such agreement between Japan and a country that is a non-signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Japan, along with China and Australia and a few other nations had opposed the waiver granted to India by the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2008.

18. Beginning 1 July, the World Bank will offer access to its files under the Right to Information Act.

19. The longest professional tennis match, in terms of both time and total games played, was the Wimbledon 2010 first round match between Nicolas Mahut and John Isner on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th of June, 2010, lasting 11 hours and 5 minutes, with a total of 183 games. The fifth set of the match, lasting 138 games, played over 8 hours 11 minutes, was also the longest set in history by both time and games. In addition, this match set duration records for:

Longest play in a single day: The first 118 games of the fifth set, played on 23rd of June 2010, lasted 7 hours and 6 minutes. This time is longer than the entire Nelson-Hepner match (below) and any other match in tennis history.
Most games in a single day: 118, on the 23rd of June

The longest women's match (by time) took place in 1984, when Vicki Nelson took 6 hours, 31 minutes to defeat Jean Hepner 6–4, 7–6(11). The match featured a 29-minute, 643-shot rally, the longest in professional tennis history.This match is also the longest professional match completed in a single day; the Mahut-Isner match was twice suspended by darkness, lasting three days.

20.Renewable energy major Suzlon Energy Ltd will supply 48.3 MW wind turbines to a Chinese power producer

21.India has extended the ban on import of milk and milk products from China for another six months

The items prohibited for import into India from the neighbouring country would include chocolate and chocolate products, candies, confectioneries and food preparations with milk as an ingredient

Imports of milk and milk products from China have been prohibited since September 2008

Though the directorate general of foreign trade has not cited any reason for the ban, it is understood that it was over fears of Chinese milk containing melamine, a deadly chemical

22.Saina Nehwal - first-ever Indian shuttler to win three Super Series titles

23. Facts on the Kishenganga project and the reason for the controversy:

The Kishenganga is a tributary of the Jhelum. It originates in J&K, crosses the Line of Control, runs for some 150 km in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and joins the Jhelum (in PoK).

India proposes to build a dam on the Kishenganga shortly before it crosses the LoC, divert a substantial part of the waters of the river through a tunnel to the hydroelectric project (330 MW, that is, 110 MW x 3) located near Bonar Nala, another tributary of the Jhelum, and then return the diverted waters, after they have passed through the turbines, to the Jhelum via the Wular Lake.


Why is Pakistan opposing to this project?

- Any diversion of waters from a river is bound to reduce the flows downstream of the diversion point. It is true that the diverted waters will be returned to the Jhelum, but there will certainly be a reduction of flows in the stretch of the Kishenganga (some 150 km) before it joins the Jhelum
- the existing agricultural use and use for hydro-electric power generation on the Kishenganga in Pakistan will be affected

What does the treaty say about this?

Two articles of the treaty contradict each other. While One says against the project the other says in favour of it.

Art. III (2) of the Treaty requires India to let flow all the western rivers to Pakistan and not permit any interference with those waters, and Art. IV (6) calls for the maintenance of natural channels

On the other hand, there is another provision (Ann. D, paragraph 15 (iii)) which specifically envisages water released from a hydroelectric plant located on one tributary of the Jhelum being delivered to another tributary; this seems to permit inter-tributary diversion


24.India has joined the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) project, the next generation astronomical observatory that will be located on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

- India has been granted observer status on the TMT Board. This is the first step to becoming a full partner in TMT, which will mean participating in the development and scientific use of what will be the world's most advanced and capable astronomical observatory

- The TMT project is an international partnership among Caltech, the University of California and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy.

The National Astronomical Observatory (NAO) of Japan joined TMT as a collaborating institution in 2008. The National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences joined TMT with the observer status in November 2009.

The TMT was proposed by American scientists after the enormous success of the first new technology telescope, the twin 10 m Keck Telescope, on Mauna Kea. The TMT's primary mirror builds on the technological and operational heritage of Keck.

25. World Refugee Day, observed June 20 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the situation of refugees throughout the world

- On 4 December 2000, the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 55/76 decided that, from 2001, 20 June would be celebrated as World Refugee Day. In this resolution, the General Assembly noted that 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees

26. University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) Baskakov study on possible use of Blue green bacteria to generate 'green' electricity:

cyanobacteria possess a natural light-dependent electrogenic activity. The bacteria can generate and transfer high-energy electrons -- generate electricity -- to the external environment under illumination. Cyanobacteria fix within themselves an estimated 25 Giga tons of carbon, in the form of CO2 per year and account for 20-30 per cent of Earth’s total photosynthetic productivity

27. A.K. Antony on Tuesday became the first Defence Minister to land at the Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) of Nyoma in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.

28. Ahakista in Ireland:

- Ahakista (Atha Ciste) is located approximately half way along the Sheep's Head peninsula between Durrus and Kilcrohane in west Cork, Ireland. It is a wooded coastal village with a deep and sheltered harbour

- The Air India Memorial Garden is located here and each June the local community remembers the terrorist attack of 1985 that resulted in the deaths of over 300 people. Just after 08:00 on Sunday 23 June 1985 an Air India Jumbo jet flying from Canada to India and carrying 329 people - most of them Canadian citizens of Indian origin - was approaching the southwest coast of Ireland when it was blown apart by a bomb, killing everybody on board - men, women and children. In the days that followed, a huge search was carried out by ships, planes and helicopters

- The memorial includes a sundial with its shadow designed to touch a precise spot at 8.13 a.m. on June 23 every year. “Time flies, suns rise, shadows fall, let it pass by, love reigns forever overall,” reads the inscription on the sundial

29. The People's Bank of China pledged to make its currency more flexible, ending the yuan's peg to the U.S. dollar since August 2008 +>The yuan is expected to begin appreciating against the U.S. dollar and other currencies => Chinese items will be costlier for other coutries to buy => demand for chinese goods will decrease and demand for imports from other countries would increase since Yuan has appreciated

Why such a move?

This is to diffuse growing pressure on China to move its exchange rate and to diminish the risk that the United States and other countries might retaliate against China's exports if the peg of the yuan to the U.S. dollar persisted.

How is this going to impact the Forex reserves of China?

It will reduce the value of these reserves

For the United States and the rest of the world, appreciation of China's currency will improve the competitiveness of these countries, increasing their exports and helping to deal with global imbalances in saving and investment

How is it going to impact India?

The impact of such a move on India is not very different from the impact it is gooing to have on other countries. Competitiveness of Indian exports will increase because they can compete with Chinese goods on price points


30. Julia Gillard was sworn in as Australia's first woman Prime Minister on Thursday, after she toppled Kevin Rudd as leader of the ruling Labour party

31. New developments in Quantum Computing:

- The remarkable ability of an electron to exist in two places at once has been controlled in the most common electronic material - silicon - for the first time.

- scientists at University of Surrey, have created a simple version of Schrodinger's cat - which is paradoxically simultaneously both dead and alive - in the cheap and simple material out of which ordinary computer chips are made.

What are the advantages of Quantum Computing?

Quantum computers can solve some problems much more efficiently than conventional computers - and they will be particularly useful for security because they can quickly crack existing codes and create un-crackable codes