WBCS Current Affairs 29/06/14 to 14/07/14

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1. Union Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2014-15. The highlights:

For individuals

No change in the Tax slab on personal income
Income tax exemption limit increased by Rs 50,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh and for senior citizens to Rs 3 lakh
Exemption limit for investment in financial instruments under 80C increased to Rs 1.5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh.
Investment limit in PPF increased to Rs 1.5 lakh from Rs 1 lak
Deduction limit on interest on loan for self-occupied house enhanced to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1.5 lakh.
Reintroduction of Kisan Vikas Patra, National Savings Certificate with insurance cover to be launched
Long term capial gain tax for mutual funds doubled to 20%; lock-in period increased to 3 years
Mandatory wage ceiling of subscription to EPS (Employee Pension Scheme) enhanced from Rs 6,500 to Rs 15,000
Minimum pension raised to Rs 1,000 per month
LCD, LED TV become less expensive
Cigarettes, pan masala, tobacco, aerated drinks become costlier


New projects and programmes

5 IIMs to be opened in HP, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha and Rajasthan
5 IITs in Jammu, Chattisgarh, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala
4 more AIIMS like institutions in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Vidarbha in Maharashtra and Poorvanchal in Uttar Pradesh
Kisan TV for farmers, Arun Prabha TV for northeast
National Rural Internet and Technology Mission for services in villages and schools, training in IT skills proposed
‘Digital India’ programme will be launched to ensure broad band connectivity at village level
Ultra Modern Super Critical Coal Based Thermal Power Technology has been proposed
‘Jal Marg Vikas’ a project on the river Ganga for inland waterways between Allahabad and Haldia; Rs 4,200 crore will be allocated for the same.
“Uniform Account Number” service will be launched by EPFO for contributing members.
Project “Neeranchal” will be launched to give fillip to watershed development in the country with an initial outlay of Rs. 2142 crores.
Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana to spread awareness and help in improving the efficiency of delivery of welfare services meant for women.
Achieving “Health For All” objective through Free Drug Service and Free Diagnosis Service
Two National Institutes of Ageing to be established at AIIMS, New Delhi and Madras Medical College, Chennai.


Key allocations

Rs 100 crore allocated to support about 600 new and existing Community Radio Stations
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to cover every household with sanitation facility by the year 2019
Rs 100 crore for metro projects in Lucknow and Ahmedabad
‘Namami Gange’ the Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission has been allocated Rs 2,037 crore
Rs 150 crore set aside for enhancing safety of women in large cities
Rs. 7,060 crore allocated for the project of developing 100 Smart Cities.
Rs 11,200 crore for PSU banks capitalization
Rs 500 crore allocated for rehabilitation of displaced Kashmiri migrants
“Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna” has been provided Rs 1000 crore.
Rs. 50,548 crore under the SC Plan and Rs. 32,387 crore under TSP


Economic Measures

Composite cap of foreign investment to be increased to 49% in Defence and Insurance sectors.
Requirement of the construction area and capital conditions for FDI decreased to 20,000 square metres and $5 million respectively for development of smart cities.
Manufacturing can sell its products through retail including e-commerce platforms.
Requirement to inject Rs.2,40,000 crore as equity by 2018 in our banks to be in consonance with Basel-III norms PSUs will invest through capital investment a total sum of Rs. 2,47,941 crores.
Rs 4,000 cr allocated to increase flow of cheaper credit for affordable housing to the urban poor/EWS/LIG segment.
Government supports consolidation of PSU banks
Providing greater autonomy to PSU banks while making them accountable is under consideration


Some key fiscal information

Government expects Rs 9.77 lakh crore revenue crore from taxes
Plan expenditure pegged at Rs 5.75 lakh crore and non-plan at Rs 12.19 lakh crore.
Fiscal deficit target maintained at 4.1% of GDP for current fiscal and 3.6% for FY 2016
Disinvestment target fixed at Rs 58,425 crore
Gross borrowings pegged at Rs 6 lakh crore
Configuration of GST to be finalized this fiscal
Government to examine DTC proposal.


Administrative reforms

Panel to examine all fresh tax demands for indirect transfer of assets in wake of retrospective tax amendments of 2012
Setting up of Expenditure Management Commission; will look into food and fertilizer subsides
Legislative and administrative amendments to clear up pending tax demands of more than Rs. 4 lakh crore under dispute and litigation.
Formulation of New Urea Policy
MGNREGA would provide more productive, asset creating wage employment with linkages to agriculture and allied activities
A panel will look into and recommend how unclaimed amounts with PPF, Post Office, saving schemes etc. can be utilized to protect and further financial interests of the senior citizens
Slum development to be included in the list of Corporate Social Responsibility
Panel to look into the financial architecture for MSME Sector, remove impediments and create new norms and structures regarding the same.
To provide support to mainstreaming PPPPs (People Public Private Partnership) called “4PIndia”, an institution will be established with a corpus of Rs. 500 crores.

2. As per a notification released by Telecom Regulatory Authority India (TRAI),the minimum broadband speed has been raised to 512 kilo bytes per second (kbps). The earlier minimum broadband speed of 256 kbps was as per the Broadband Policy 2004.

The telecom regulator has made amendment to the Telecom Consumers Complaint Redressal Regulations, 2012 and the regulations will be called the Telecom Consumers Complaint Redressal (3rd Amendment) Regulations​.

The new definition of “broadband” is: “A data connection that is able to support interactive services including internet access and has the capability of minimum download speed of 512 kbps to an individual subscriber from the point of presence (POP) of the service provider intending to provide broadband service”.

The regulations will come into force after publication in the official gazette. The broadband speed has been revised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in consonance with the National Telecom Policy 2012 and TRAI suggestions​. As per the National Telecom Policy 2012, the government aims to enhance the broadband download speed of to 512 kbps from 256 kbps and subsequently to 2 Mbps by 2015. As per TRAI data, total broadband subscribers in the country increased by 5.82% to 65.33 million at the end of May 2014 from 61.74 million at the end of April 2014.

3.Famous British actress, Emma Watson, has been appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador of UN Women - the United Nation’s organization devoted to gender equality and the empowerment of women.

4.Union Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda presented his first Railway Budget in Parliament. Below are the highlights of this Budget:

No new hike in passenger fares and freight charges
Bullet train in Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector
Diamond quadrilateral for high speed trains
Proposal to enhance speed of trains to 160-200 km/hr in 9 sectors
Online booking to support 7,200 tickets/minute; to enable 1.2 lakh users log in simultaneously
Revamp of reservation system, ticket-booking through mobile phones, post offices to be promoted
Online platform for unreserved tickets
Stations to have Combo parking-platform tickets
Women RPF Constables to escort ladies coaches; 4,000 women constables to be inducted
Retiring room facility to be extended to all stations
Battery powered Cars for differently-abled and senior citizens at major stations
Feedback services through IVRS on quality of food
Food can be ordered through SMS, phone; Food courts at major stations
Cleanliness budget increased by 40% over last year
CCTVs to be used at stations for monitoring cleanliness
Forming a corpus fund for stations’ maintenance
RO drinking water at some stations and trains
Automatic door closing in mainline and sub-urban coaches
58 new trains and extension of 11; 864 additional EMUs to be started in Mumbai over 2 years
FDI in railway projects, except in operations
FDI, domestic investments in rail infrastructure
Office-on-Wheels: Internet & workstation amenities on select trains
WiFi in A1, A category stations and in select trains
Railways university for technical and non-technical subjects
Some stations to be built to international standards through PPP model
Parcel traffic to be segregated to separate terminals to make passenger traffic unhampered
Loss per passenger per kilometre up from 10% in 2000-01 to 23% in 2012-13
Use of Solar energy at major stations
Highest ever plan outlay of Rs. 65,455 crore for 2014-15
Expenditure in 2014-15 pegged at Rs. 149,176 crore.

5. The Ministry of Minority Affairs is implementing pre-matric, post-matric and merit-cum-means based scholarship schemes for the educational upliftment of the minority communities.
Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme:
Under this scheme, students are encouraged to pursue technical and vocational courses in Industrial Training Institutes/ Industrial Training Centres by granting higher amount of scholarships.
Merit-cum-means based Scholarship Scheme:
Under this scheme, students are encouraged to pursue professional and technical courses. Students qualifying for admissions in elite listed institutes are reimbursed full course fee. Fellowship is granted to minority scholars to pursue higher and professional courses at M Phil and Ph D levels through the Maulana Azad National Fellowship.
Multi-Sectoral Development Programme (MsDP)
Essential infrastructure for education and skill development is developed in the identified minority concentration areas. Thus far 117 ITIs, 44 polytechnics, 645 hostels, 1092 school buildings, and 20656 additional class rooms have been sanctioned under MsDP.
‘Seekho aur Kamao’ Scheme:
Under this scheme, minority youth are imparted training for upgrading the skills of minority youths in various modern/ traditional vocations to enable them to get suitable employment.
The ministry has also started ‘Nalanda’, a project for development of faculty in minority managed institutions for higher education.

6. Noted environmentalist and, Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) R K Pachauri termed shopping malls as “energy guzzlers” and said they are not suited to the Indian environment.

7. Union Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan, has set up a core group to sketch a detailed plan of action to wipe out the vector-borne disease Kala Azar by 2015.
In 2004, the government had set a target for eradicating the disease, by 2008. Since then, it has been revised twice to 2010 and finally to 2015. The new governments Health Minister has reviewed the resources at his command and expressed confidence in achieving the target.
Kala Azar, also known as Visceral Leishmaniasis, a zoonotic infection whose carrier is the sand fly found in the eastern UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, usually attacks during the monsoon season. It is the second deadliest vector borne disease after malaria. At present, the disease is prevalent in about 54 districts, with Bihar most affected. Around 90% of visceral leishmaniasis cases occur in 5 countries which include Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sudan and Brazil.

8.During a meeting between the India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her British counterpart Foreign Secretary of State William Hague, both sides decided to soon start negotiations for civil nuclear cooperation. Hague pushed for sale of its Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) despite its Eurofighter Typhoon losing out to France’s Rafale.
At present, the bilateral trade between the UK and India stands at $ 15 billion with the UK being the 3rd largest investor in India. Both nations also talked about ways to boost trade ties with India inviting British firms to invest in its Bangalore-Mumbai Economic Corridor infrastructure project. By November 2014, India is expected to give a “perspective plan” to the UK suggesting various “nodes” where they can invest.
Both countries agreed to soon begin negotiations for civil nuclear cooperation pact, almost one-and-a-half years after UK Prime Minister David Cameron and his then counterpart Manmohan Singh decided to have such an agreement.

9.July 7, 2014 No comments
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gave relief to diamantaires in Mumbai and Surat as it relaxed the rules of ‘suppliers’ and buyers’ credit for importing rough, cut and polished diamonds to up to 180 days from 90 days with immediate effect.

10.Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat Roger Federer (Switzerland) in the final of 2014 men’s Wimbledon championship in a challenging contest. It was the first time since 2007 that Federer and Djokovic had met for a Grand Slam title. Djokovic, who had 6 major titles before this match had last won Wimbledon in 2011. Djokovic was beaten in 2013 by Andy Murray. Roger Federer’s

11.As per the Supreme Court, Shariat courts, issuing fatwa and order against a person who has not submitted himself before it, has no sanction of law and has no legal status. The court held that no religion is permitted to violate anyone’s fundamental rights.

12.A super typhoon named Neoguri was advancing north for Japan on July 7, 2014, set to lash the southern Okinawa archipelagoes with heavy rain and powerful winds before making landfall on Kyushu, Japan’s westernmost main island. The typhoon was already heading at more than 250 km an hour (150 mph) and may become more powerful as it advances north. But it was not expected to be as intense as Typhoon Haiyan, which killed thousands in the Philippines in 2013. Typhoon Neoguri, is known as “Florita” in Philippines. It is the 8th named storm and the second typhoon of the yearly typhoon season and is a large and powerful tropical cyclone affecting Okinawa, Japan.

13.Brushing aside the Tendulkar Committee report on poverty estimation, a Committee headed by former RBI governor C Rangarajan has said that the number of poor in India was much higher in 2011-12 at 29.5% of the population, which means that 3 out of 10 persons are poor.

As per the report submitted by C Rangarajan Committee:

Persons spending below Rs. 47 a day in cities should be considered poor, much above the Rs. 33/day mark suggested by the Suresh Tendulkar Committee.
Poverty stood at 38.2% in 2009-10 and reduced to 29.5% in 2011-12. This is in contrast with the Tendulkar report as per which poverty was at 29.8% in 2009-10 and decreased to 21.9% in 2011-12.
A person spending less than Rs. 1,407 a month (Rs. 47/day) should be considered poor in cities, as against the Tendulkar panel’s suggestion of Rs. 1,000 a month (Rs.33/day).
A person spending less than Rs. 972 a month (Rs. 32/day) should be considered poor in villages which is again a variance with Tendulkar committee’s suggestion of Rs. 816 a month (Rs. 27/day).
The number of poor in India was estimated at 36.3 crore in 2011-12, down from 45.4 crore in 2009-10. However, as per Tendulkar panel, the number of poor was 35.4 crore in 2009-10 and 26.9 crore in 2011-12.
Background:

Government set up the Rangarajan Committee in 2013 to review the Tendulkar Committee methodology for estimating poverty and clear the ambiguity over the number of poor in the country. It was a done in a response to the severe criticism of Planning Commission estimates on poverty based on Tendulkar panel report in September 2011 when in an affidavit to the Supreme Court it was stated that households with per capita consumption of more than Rs. 33 in urban areas and Rs. 27 in rural areas would not be considered poor.

14.Three judges, the Chief Justices of Calcutta and Orissa High Courts, Arun Mishra and Adarsh Kumar Goel respectively, and senior lawyer Rohinton Nariman have been elevated as judges of the Supreme Court.With the appointment of these judges, the strength of judges in the court will increase to 28, as against the sanctioned strength of 31.
Justice Goel, who belongs to Haryana, was a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel will be the first judge to represent Haryana in the court.

15.The arrival of the new government at Centre has also led to the removal and shuffling of Governors appointed by the previous UPA led government. In continuance of the same, the President of India Pranab Mukherjee has announced three major changes:

Dr. (Smt.) Kamla Beniwal, Governor of Gujarat has been transferred and appointed as Governor of Mizoram for the remainder of her term in place of Shri Vakkom Purushothaman.
Shri Vakkom Purushothaman, current Governor of Mizoram has been transferred and appointed as Governor of Nagaland for the remainder of his term. He will continue to hold the additional charge of the office of the Governor of Tripura.
Smt. Margaret Alva, Governor of Rajasthan will also discharge the functions of the Governor of Gujarat besides her own duties, until regular arrangements for the office of the Governor of Gujarat are made.

16.Czech tennis star Petra Kvitova clinched her second Wimbledon title as she defeated Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard in a very short match.
Kvitova, who first won Wimbledon in 2011, took just 55 minutes to bag a second Grand Slam title held at the Centre Court, London. The 24-year-old Czech needed only 55 minutes to win 6-3 6-0, making it the shortest women’s final at Wimbledon since Navratilova beat Andrea Jaeger by the same scoreline in 54 minutes in 1983.

17.As per the latest estimates by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), India will become the third largest economy in the world by 2030. According to the London-based accountancy giant, the rapid rise of the Indian economy with its young workforce would thrust it up from being the 10th largest economy in 2013 to the 3rd largest by 2030, pushing the UK back into 6th place.
By 2030, as per PwC, the world’s second largest economy- China is expected to reduce the gap with the US. Mexico is forecasted to be the 10th largest economy above Canada and Italy, both G7 nations. A few years back there were predictions that Britain would rapidly become a second-class economic power and would need to defer to the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries in the near future.

18. About a month long ordeal of 46 nurses, who were held captive by ISIS militants in Iraq​, ended as they returned home by a special Air India flight. The suffering for these nurses who were working at a hospital in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, began when ISIS (Islamic State for Iraq and Syria) militants launched an offensive in that region on June 9​, 2014.​​

19.In a bid to promote indigenous payment system RuPay, the government has asked state-owned banks to issue RuPay debit cards to customers. They have also been told to “encourage” merchant establishments to install Point of Sale (PoS) terminals for RuPay cards​.
Although banks have not been directed to refrain from issuing cards where transactions are processed by Visa or MasterCard, there is a clear direction to push RuPay. As a general rule, customers are issued a single debit card per account. Now, banks will have to pursue the unconventional practice and possibly adjust systems to issue two debit cards to a client who insists on a Visa or MasterCard that currently have wider acceptance than RuPay.

20.Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 25 km-long Katra-Udhampur railway line in Jammu. The rail link will connect the base camp town of Katra directly with the rest of the country and facilitate millions of devotees who visit the Vaishno Devi shrine every year.
On the other hand, with China is now preparing to spread out its railway into PoK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir), and occasional clashes along Indo-China border, Modi desires that the Ministries of Railways, Finance, Home and Defence to work together closely and get the strategic Indian Rail projects off ground as soon as possible. In the interest of country’s security, the National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Kumar Doval is pushing for building infrastructure and increasing connectivity with the far flung regions of the country, especially in the North East.
Chinese mainland-Lhasa railways had by now stretched to the Indian borders with grave tactical and military consequences. Expanding the infrasrtucture of Indian Railways to the Arunachal Pradesh border will augment nation’s combat competence and prove decisive in transporting hardware for military offensive.

21.In a move that would empower the State governments to carry out de-hoarding operations, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the inclusion of onion and potato under the purview of stock holding limits under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

22.The Reserve Bank of India has eased norms for overseas investment by Indian corporates by enhancing their borrowing limit. The apex bank has decided to reinstate the limit of Overseas Direct Investments (ODI)/ Financial Commitment (FC) to be undertaken by an Indian Party under the automatic route to the limit prevailing, as per the extant FEMA provisions, prior to August 14, 2013. However, any financial commitment over $1 billion (or its equivalent) in a financial year would require prior nod of the RBI even when the total FC of the Indian Party is within the eligible limit under the automatic route (i.e., within 400% of the net worth as per the last audited balance sheet).

23.The Supreme Court has ruled that the police can no longer “automatically” arrest the accused under the anti-dowry law without sufficient reason and proof. The apex court expressed concern over the misuse of Section 498A of IPC by unhappy wives against in-laws and husbands. The court asked state governments to ensure that the police don’t follow the prevalent practice of arrest first and then proceed. The police would have to furnish reasons and proof to magistrate before making an arrest.

The court observed that Sec 498-A was introduced to curb harassment of women at the hands of husbands and his family. However, since it a cognizable and non-bailable offence, it is frequently used as a weapon rather than shield by disgruntled wives. The court quoting crime statistics, said nearly a quarter of those arrested under Sec 498A in 2012 were women, most of them mothers and sisters of the husbands.
Section 498-A was introduced in the Indian Penal Code in 1983. It provides for maximum imprisonment of 3 years and fine while the maximum sentence under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 is 2 years with a fine.

24.Ending a long wait, India, and its colossus Bollywood film industry, from July 1, 2014 became the 54th country to have an official Audio-Visual Co-production Treaty with Canada. The pact will allow film producers of both nations to exploit various incentives and tax breaks offered by both governments. This kind of government-approved and subsidized coordination treaty between the Canadian and Indian film industries is unprecedented.

25.The first trial run of the India’s fastest train on the New Delhi-Agra route was performed successfully by the Indian Railways. The train covered a distance of 200 kms in 100 minutes against the slated time of 90 minutes. Although the average speed of the train during the entire journey was 125-130 km/h, its speed reached a maximum speed of 160 kmph.
Currently, the Bhopal Shatabdi Express is India’s fastest train with a highest speed of 150 km/h. The recent exercise was just a trial and further maintenance and budget will be announced in the forthcoming Railway Budget. The New Delhi-Agra train will cut down travel time between the two cities from current 120 minutes to 90 minutes and will facilitate tourists from Delhi planning to visit the Taj Mahal.

26.As per an announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Government of India plans to introduce four new vaccines as part of India’s Universal Immunization Programme (UIP).
The vaccines will be against Rotavirus, Rubella and Polio (injectable) which will speed up India’s progress on meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) four targets to bring down child mortality by 2/3rd by the year 2015 and meet global polio eradication targets.
Besides this, an adult vaccine against Japanese encephalitis will be introduced in districts with high prevalence of the disease. The step will prevent at least one lakh infant deaths, deaths of adults in working age group and up to 10 lakhs hospitalizations each year. With the addition of new vaccines, India’s UIP will now provide free vaccines against 13 fatal diseases to 27 million children annually, the largest birth cohort in the world.

27. As per the notification of Environment Ministry, Maharashtra’s Bor Wildlife Sanctuary will become the country’s 47th Tiger Reserve with an aim to bolster the conservation efforts of the national animal.
Notified by the State in 1970, the Bor Wildlife Sanctuary, is rich in biodiversity with a great variety of flora and fauna, including tiger, co-predators, prey animals and birds.

28.amel has been declared as the state animal of Rajasthan. The State government is also in the process of drafting a new legislation to prevent slaughter, illegal trade and transportation. It has announced that it will introduce camel milk in its food security programme. Camels are source of livelihood to a huge number of people in rural Rajasthan.
The decision was taken by Vasundhara Raje, CM of Rajasthan, on the last day of the ‘Sarkar Aapke Dwar’ campaign.

29.In the honor of Akhouri Sinha, a distinguished Indian-American scientist whose ground-breaking biological research expedition has provided vital data about animal populations, the United States has named a mountain in Antarctica after him as Mt Sinha.

30.In a dramatic shift in policy, Japan changed its stance of its post-war pacifism by revoking a ban that has kept the military from fighting abroad since 1945. Although the move signifies victory countries for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, it has bothered China and many Japanese citizens. The policy change will extend Japan’s military options by ending the ban on exercising “collective self-defense“, or aiding an ally nation under attack.

31.As India ratified the Marrakesh Treaty, it became the first country in the world to have done so. The treaty seeks to facilitate access to published works for persons who are visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled. The Treaty was adopted by 79 member nations of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). India submitted the Instrument of Ratification to WIPO at the 28th session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights in Geneva.

32.President Pranab Mukherjee joined the social networking platform Twitter with his account @RashtrapatiBhvn. He has become the first serving president of India to join Twitter.
India’s former president Abdul Kalam is already on Twitter with the handle @apj_abdul_kalam. President Mukherjee already has a Facebook page with over 5 lakh followers on the world’s largest social network.

33.India’s ANTRIX (ISRO’s commercial arm) successfully launched 5 foreign satellites from four countries on board PSLV-C23 rocket which placed them in orbit.

The rocket was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota and was also witnessed by PM Narendra Modi.

ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C23 placed all five satellites into their respective orbits.

The rocket carried with it primary payload of 714 kg French Earth Observation Satellite SPOT-7, 14 kg AISAT of Germany, NLS7.1 (CAN-X4) and NLS7.2 (CAN-X5) of Canada each weighing 15 kg and the 7 kg VELOX-1 of Singapore.

PM Modi extolled the efforts Indian space scientists and asked the space community to develop a SAARC satellite.

He referred to pictures showing rocket components being transported on bicycles.

SPOT 7: French satellite, it will be part of the existing Earth observation satellite. It has been built by European space technology company Airbus Defence and Space.
AISAT: German nano-satellite, to focus on the global sea-traffic monitoring system with special emphasis on high traffic zones using AIS signals.
NLS 7.1 and NLS 7.2: Canadian satellite, they will perform Two-spacecraft precision formation flying using differential GPS with centimetre-level relative position and sub-metre level accurate position control system.
VELOX-1: Singaporean satellite, it is a technology demonstrator for in-house design of image sensor, MEMS-based attitude determination and control system and inter-satellite RF link.

34.Star Indian badminton player Saina Nehwal defeated Spain’s Carolina Marin to win the $750,000 Star Australian Super Series title.
The 6th seeded Indian, who had clinched the India Open Grand Prix Gold earlier this year, dominated the contest throughout.

35.Adhering to its earlier decision of a 3-month extension to States and Union Territories to implement the National Food Security Act, the Union government’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is firm that the deadline for implementing the scheme is July 4, 2014. So far only 11 States have implemented the Act. 20 States and 5 Union Territories are yet to implement it.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal has urged the Centre to extend the July 4 deadline.
As per law the National Food Security Act has to be implemented within a year of its coming into force. West Bengal subsidized food grains were distributed among beneficiaries under several categories. But after the National Food Security Act is implemented in a State no such categories would exist.
The Ministry has clarified that if West Bengal does not implement the Act by the deadline, the several schemes in West Bengal under which food grains are distributed at a subsidized rate will not be stopped.

36.The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to thwart any move to provide visa-free entry for Bangladesh nationals. The MHA has opposed the proposal of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to provide visa-on-arrival facility to Bangladeshi nationals and visa- free entry to citizens of that country under the age of 18 and over the age of 65.

37.UNESCO has inscribed the Okavango Delta in Botswana on its World Heritage Site List. It is the 1,000th site to be bestowed with this status.
Okavango Delta
Location: Northwest Botswana, Africa on Okavango River
The delta has rich biodiversity and is home to cheetah, white rhinoceros, black rhinoceros, African wild dog and lion – all of which are endangered. Around 24 species of globally-threatened birds can also be seen in the delta.

38.Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry upgraded the National Industrial Classification -1987 (NIC-1987) to NIC-2008.

39.As per a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report, India, Indonesia and Pakistan each have more than a million children out of school. According to the UNECO report:
Globally, around 58 million kids aged 6 to 11 are out of school. This shows little overall improvement since 2007.
India had 1.4 million unschooled children in 2011 but the country is among 17 other nations that have managed to decrease the number of unschooled children in the past decade.
The aid sanctioned to education has further reduced combined with the lack of progress in reducing out of school numbers.
With these disappointing figures, there is little chance of countries reaching the goal of Universal Primary Education by 2015.

40.Backed by most EU leaders, Jean-Claude Juncker has been nominated as the next president of the European Commission. The development is a severe impact on opponent David Cameron and threatens to amplify the chances of Britain leaving the European Union (EU).

41.South Korea has retained Chung Hung Won as its Premier. The President of South Korea, Park Geun-Hye announced the decision to retain the Chung Hung Won as country’s PM.