National Events

1. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

• Members : 57 (50 founding members including India)

• Headquarters : Beijing

• Aim : To promote infrastructure development in Asia.

• Mission : Constructive cooperation among emerging economies to increase

space available for infrastructure development.

• Initial authorized capital stock : $100 billion

• India is the 2nd largest stakeholder (8.32%) and voting share (7.5%) behind

China.

• Voting share based on size of each member country’s economy and not on

contribution to bank’s authorized capital.

• Initiated by Xi Jinping in 2013.

• 1st G7 nation to join : UK (12 March 2015).

• 21 countries signed MoU in Beijing on 24 October 2014 to establish AIIB.

• No restriction on lending for political consideration unlike IMF and World

Bank.

• Japan is not a member.

• June 29, 2015 : Framework for AAIB signed by all 50 founding members.

2. Solar Impulse

• Solar Impulse is the name of a Swiss long-range experimental solar-powered

aircraft project, and also the name of the project's two operational aircraft..

• A second aircraft, completed in 2014 and named Solar Impulse 2, carries more

solar cells and more powerful engines, among other improvements.

• In March 2015, Piccard and Borschberg began a circumnavigation of the globe

with Solar Impulse 2, departing from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.[

• Landed in Ahmedabad on March 8, 2015.

3. Operation Maitri

• Operation Maitri (English: Operation Amity) was a rescue and relief operation in Nepal by the government of India and Indian armed forces in the aftermath of the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

• India's response was started within 15 minutes of the quake. • It started on 26 April 2015 and also involved Nepali ex-servicemen from India's Gurkha Regiments for interface for guidance, relief and rescue.

• The Indian Army sent a major-general to Nepal to oversee the rescue and relief efforts. The Indian Air Force mobilised its Ilyushin Il-76, C-130J Hercules (At least three deployed), C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft (At least four deployed), Advanced Light Helicopters (At least two deployed), Mi-17 helicopters for Operation Maitri.

• As Nepal's immediate neighbour, India was the first-responder to the crisis, by providing relief "within six to seven hours of the earthquake,

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed immediate dispatch of relief and rescue teams, including medical team, to Nepal.

• The Indian Foreign Secretary, S. Jaishankar announced that six more National Disaster Response Force teams would be sent to Nepal in the next 48 hours. He also announced that the aircraft sent to Nepal would not just rescue Indians, but citizens of other countries as well.

• Air India reduced fares on flights bound for Kathmandu from Delhi, Kolkata, Varanasi, and announced that it would also carry relief material on its flights.

4. FAME-India Scheme

• Aim : To promote eco-friendly vehicles. • By offering incentives on electric and hybrid vehicles of up to Rs 29,000 for bikes and Rs 1.38 lakh for cars.

• FAME India - Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles in India - is a part of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan.

• The scheme envisages Rs 795 crore support in the first two fiscals starting with the current year.

5. Goods and Services Tax (GST)

• The Goods and Service Tax Bill or GST Bill, officially known to be The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014, would be a Value added Tax (VAT) to be implemented in India, from April 2016.

• The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 5 May 2015.

• GST is a comprehensive value added tax on goods and services. It is levied and collected on value addition at each stage of sale or purchase of goods or supply of services based on input tax credit method but without State boundaries. There is no distinction between taxable goods and taxable services and they are taxed at a single rate in a supply chain of goods and services till the goods / services reach the consumer.

• A comprehensive indirect tax levy on manufacture, sale and consumption of goods as well as services at the national level. It will replace all indirect taxes levied on goods and services by the Indian Central and State governments.

• Benefits

� For the Centre and the States By implementing the GST, India will gain $15 billion a year. This is because, it will promote more exports, create more employment opportunities and boost growth. It will divide the burden of tax between manufacturing and services.

� For individuals and companies Taxes for both Centre and State will be collected at the point of sale. Both will be charged on the manufacturing cost. Individuals will be benefited by this as prices are likely to come down and lower prices mean more consumption, and more consumption means more production, thereby helping in the growth of the companies.

6. Debroy Panel Report on Railway Reforms

• The panel on restructuring of the Indian Railways, headed by Mr. Bibek Debroy, submitted its final report on June 12, 2015.

• Committee's recommendations based on three pillars: commercial accounting, changes in HR and an independent regulator.

• A five-year timeline for implementation. • Responsibility for implementation of the recommendations should lie with the Minister alone.

• Beyond five years, the Railway Budget should phased, with general budget support to Railways mentioned as a paragraph in the Budget.

7. Net Neutrality

• Net neutrality (also network neutrality, Internet neutrality, or net equality) is the principle that Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging differentially by

user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication.

• The term was coined by Columbia University media law professor Tim Wu in 2003, as an extension of the longstanding concept of a common carrier.

• The debate on network neutrality in India gathered public attention after Airtel, a mobile telephony service provider in India, announced in December 2014 to levy additional charges for making voice calls (VoIP) from its network using apps like WhatsApp, Skype, etc.

• On 27 March 2015, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released a formal consultation paper on Regulatory Framework for Over-the-top (OTT) services, seeking comments from the public.

• The last date for submission of comments was 24 April 2015 and TRAI received over a million emails.

• As of April 2015, there were no laws governing net neutrality in India, which would require that all Internet users be treated equally, without discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication.

8. Land Acquisition Bill

• Land acquisition in India refers to the process by which the union or a state government in India acquires private land for the purpose of industrialisation, development of infrastructural facilities or urbanisation of the private land, for strategic purposes relating to naval, military, air force, and armed forces of the Union, including central paramilitary forces or any work vital to national security or defence of India or State police, safety of the people, welfare activites of people and provides compensation to the affected land owners and their rehabilitation and resettlement.

• Land acquisition in India is governed by the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 and which came into force from 1 January 2014.

• On 31 December 2014, the President of India promulgated an ordinance with an official mandate to "meet the twin objectives of farmer welfare; along with expeditiously meeting the strategic and developmental needs of the country".

• An amendment bill was then introduced in Parliament to endorse the Ordinance.

• Lok Sabha passed the bill but the same is still lying for passage by the Rajya Sabha.

• On 30 May 2015, President of India promulgated the amendment ordinance for third time.

The Ordinance

� The government has amended Section 10(A) of the Act to expand sectors where assessment and consent will not be required.

� For five sectors, the consent clause has been removed. So the government or private individuals/companies will no longer need mandatory 80% consent for land acquisition in those five sectors.

� The mandatory "consent" clause and Social Impact Assessment (SIA) will not be applicable if the land is acquired for national security, defence, rural infrastructure including electrification, industrial corridors and housing for the poor including PPP where ownership of land continues to be vested with the government.

� The new ordinance ensures that only land owners will be compensated leaving the others affected high and dry.

� Also whether the land is fertile or not will also not be taken into consideration while acquiring it for these five specific sectors.

� 'Pro-farmer step' The government has balanced out the ordinance by including 13 so far excluded Acts under the Land Acquisition Act.

� These Acts include the Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act 1957, the National Highways Act 1956, Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act 1962, the Indian Tramways Act 1886, the Railways Act 1989, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958, the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act 1962 and the Damodar Valley Corporation Act 1948. The Electricity Act 2003, Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act 1952, the Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act 1948 and the Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act 1978 are also brought under its purview to provide higher compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement benefits to farmers whose land is being acquired.

9. Efforts to Recover Black Money from Abroad. Committees

• Wanchoo Committee (1969) • Prakash Chandra Committee (2011) • M.C.Joshi Committee (2011) by Central Board for Direct Taxes

• M.B.Shah Committee (2014) – Special Invetigation Team Government Measures

• Introduction of Regressive Taxation system in India

• Demonetization • Special Bearer Bond Scheme (1981) • Voluntary disclosure of Income Scheme (1997)

� Bharat Development Bond � National Housing Bank � Gold Bank Scheme

Legislations

• FERA

• FEMA • Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 • Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 • Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2008

International Cooperation

• Multilateral Convention on Tax Matters (2012) • Financial Action Task Force (2010) • DTAA

• Tax Information Exchange Agreement National Organizations

• Financial Intelligence Unit • Enforcement Directorate • Central Board of Excise and Customs and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence

• Central Economic Intelligence Bureau • CBI and CVC

10. Gender Budgeting

• A method of planning, programming and budgeting that helps advance gender equality and women’s rights.

• India adopted ‘gender-responsive budgeting’ (GRB) in 2005.

• 57 government Ministries/departments in India have set up Gender Budgeting Cells

• Schemes : SAAHAS, Janani Suraksha Yojana, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, etc. • Allocations to the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), the nodal agency for women in the country, show a marginal increase over the last three years — from Rs. 18,584 crore in 2012-13 to Rs. 21,193 crore in 2014-15.

11. BBBP scheme : Selfie with Daughter.

INTERNATIONAL

1. Greece Economic Crisis

• The European debt crisis (often also referred to as the Eurozone crisis or

the European sovereign debt crisis) is a multi-year debt crisis that has been

taking place in several eurozone member states since the end of 2009.

• These states (Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, Cyprus) were unable to

repay or refinance their government debt or to bail out over-indebted banks

under their national supervision without the assistance of third parties like

the EFSF, the ECB, or the IMF.

• The European debt crisis erupted in the wake of the Great Recession around

late 2009, and was characterized by an environment of overly high

government structural deficits and accelerating debt levels. The states that

were adversely affected by the crisis faced a strong rise in interest rate

spreads for government bonds as a result of investor concerns about their

future debt sustainability.

Reasons

• In Greece, the debt increase was associated with high public sector wage

and pension commitments.

• Introduction of the euro as a common currency in 1999, which reduced

trade costs among the Eurozone countries, increasing overall trade volume.

• Labor costs increased more in peripheral countries such as Greece relative to

core countries such as Germany, making Greek exports less competitive. As

a result, Greece saw its trade deficit rise significantly.

• As the world economy was hit by the financial crisis of 2007–08, Greece was

hit especially hard because its main industries—shipping and tourism—

were especially sensitive to changes in the business cycle.

• The government spent heavily to keep the economy functioning and the

country's debt increased accordingly.

• uncollected tax receipts

Grexit : Exit of Greece from European Union.

The rising political uncertainty of what would follow, caused the Troika to suspend all

scheduled remaining aid Greek government either accepted the previously negotiated

conditional payment terms or alternately could reach a mutually accepted agreement of

some new updated terms with its public creditors. This rift caused a renewed and

increasingly growing liquidity crisis (both for the Greek government and Greek

financial system), resulting in plummeting stock prices at the Athens Stock Exchange,

while interest rates for the Greek government at the private lending market spiked,

making it once again inaccessible as an alternative funding source.

Bailout Agreement

The European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary

Fund — "the troika" — were giving Greece the money it needed to function and to,

well, pay the troika back.

The IMF, in particular, insisted that Greece cut its pensions by 1 percent of gross

domestic product, and Greece responded that it was willing to cut them only half as

much and make up the difference with higher taxes on businesses.

Referendum

Held on July 5, 2015 to vote on agreeing to the terms of Troika for receiving bailout

funds.

62.5% people voted “No”.

2. ISIS – Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

• Aka Islamic State of Iraq and Levante.

• Salafi jihadi extremist militant group and self-proclaimed caliphate and Islamic

state which is led by Sunni Arabs from Iraq and Syria.

• On 29 June 2014, the group proclaimed itself to be a worldwide caliphate, with

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi being named its caliph, and renamed itself "Islamic

State"

• The United Nations has held ISIL responsible for human rights abuses and war

crimes, and Amnesty International has reported ethnic cleansing by the group

on a "historic scale".

• The group has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations, the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, India, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Egypt, and Russia. Over 60 countries are directly or indirectly waging war against ISIL.

• The group originated as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999, which pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2004

• Administrative Center : Al-Raqqah, Syria

• Largest and first city captured : Mosul, Iraq

• Kurd fighters are currently waging war against ISIS.

3. Boko Haram

• Meaning : Western education is forbidden

• The Islamic State's West Africa Province (Iswap), is a jihadist group based

in northeastern Nigeria, also active in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon.

• The group is led by Abubakar Shekau. Mohammed Yusuf † (founder)

• In 2014 it expressed support for the Islamic State of Iraq and the

Levant before pledging formal allegiance to it in March 2015.

• Boko Haram killed more than 13,000 civiliansbetween 2009 and 2015,

including around 10,000 in 2014, in attacks occurring mainly in northeast

Nigeria.

• Since 2009 Boko Haram have abducted more than 500 men,[19][20]women and

children, including the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in April

2014.

• “Bring back our girls” campaign against abduction of school girls.

4. MERS Virus

• Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), also known as camel flu, is a

viral respiratory infection caused by the MERS-coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

• Symptoms may range from mild to severe fever, cough, diarrhea,

and shortness of breath.

• MERS-CoV is a betacoronavirus derived from bats.

• Camels are believed to be involved in its spread to humans but it is unclear

how.

• Spread between humans typically requires close contact with an infected

person.

• An outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus has been

ongoing in South Korea since May 2015.

• The virus, which causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), is a

newly emerged betacoronavirus that was first identified in a patient from

Saudi Arabia in April 2012.

• Diagnosis : Positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

• Treatment : Interferons.

5. EBOLA

• Ebola, is a disease of humans and other primates caused by ebolaviruses.

• Signs and symptoms typically start between two days and three weeks

after contracting the virus with a fever, sore throat, muscular pain,

and headaches. Then, vomiting, diarrhea and rash usually follow, along

with decreased function of the liver and kidneys. At this time some people

begin to bleed both internally and externally.

• The disease has a high risk of death, killing between 25 and 90 percent of

those infected, with an average of about 50 percent.

• This is often due to low blood pressure from fluid loss, and typically

follows six to sixteen days after symptoms appear.

• The virus spreads by direct contact with body fluids, such as blood, of an

infected human or other animals.[1] This may also occur through contact

with an item recently contaminated with bodily fluids.

• Fruit bats are believed to be the normal carrier in nature, able to spread the

virus without being affected by it.

• The disease was first identified in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks, one

in Nzara, and the other in Yambuku, a village near the Ebola River from

which the disease takes its name.

• EVD outbreaks occur intermittently in tropical regions of sub-Saharan

Africa.

• Between 1976 and 2013, the World Health Organization reports a total of 24

outbreaks involving 1,716 cases.

• The largest outbreak is the ongoing epidemic in West Africa, still

affecting Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone(epicenter). As of 4 July 2015, this

outbreak has 27,600 reported cases resulting in 11,260 deaths.

• Diagnosis : Possible non-specific laboratory indicators of EVD include a low

platelet count; an initially decreased white blood cell count followed by

an increased white blood cell count; elevated levels of the liver

enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate

aminotransferase (AST); and abnormalities in blood clotting often consistent

with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) such as a

prolonged prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, and bleeding

time. The most common and sensitive diagnostic methods are real-time

PCR and ELISA.

6. Bobby Jindal

• Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (born June 10, 1971) is an American politician who is

the 55th and current governor of Louisiana and the former vice chairman of

the Republican Governors Association.

• On May 18, 2015, Jindal formed a presidential exploratory committee to

determine whether he would run as a candidate in the 2016 presidential

election, and he announced his candidacy on June 24.

• Asserting that he didn't believe in hyphenated identities, Louisiana

governor Bobby Jindal has said that his parents came to the US from India

four decades ago to become Americans and not Indian-Americans.

7. Ukraine Crisis

• A prolonged crisis in Ukraine began on 21 November 2013, when then-

president Viktor Yanukovych suspended preparations for the

implementation of an association agreement with the European Union.

• This decision resulted in mass protests by its opponents, known as the

"Euromaidan". After months of such protests, Yanukovych was ousted by the

protesters on 22 February 2014, when he fled the Ukrainian capital city

of Kiev.

• Following his ousting, unrest enveloped the

largely Russophone eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, from where he

had drawn most of his support.

• An ensuing political crisis in Ukrainian autonomous

region of Crimea resulted in the annexation of Crimea by Russia on 18

March.

• Subsequently, unrest in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine evolved

into a war between the post-revolutionary Ukrainian government and pro-

Russian insurgents.

• The first election held since the ousting of President Yanukovych was the 25

May presidential election, which resulted in the election of Petro

Poroshenko as president of Ukraine.

8. Iran Nuclear Talks

• The comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme ("Iran

nuclear talks") is a topic of the final phase of the negotiations

among Iran and the P5+1 — United States, Russia, China, France, United

Kingdom and Germany — plus the European Union regarding Iran's

nuclear program.

• The prospective agreement is to be achieved based on the 24 November

2013 Geneva agreement, officially titled the Joint Plan of Action (JPA).

• The Geneva agreement was an interim deal, in which Iran agreed to roll

back parts of its nuclear program in exchange for relief from some

sanctions and which went into effect on 20 January 2014.

• The parties agreed to extend their talks with a first extension deadline on 24

November 2014 and a second extension deadline set to 1 July 2015.

• Based on the March/April 2015 negotiations on Iran nuclear deal

framework, completed on 2 April 2015, Iran agreed tentatively to accept

significant restrictions on its nuclear program, all of which would last for at

least a decade and some longer, and to submit to an increased intensity

ofinternational inspections under a framework deal.

• On June 30 the negotiations on a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action were

extended under the Joint Plan of Action until 7 July 2015.

9. US Supreme Court ruling on Gay and Lesbian – Right to Marry

• Same-sex couples won the right to marry nationwide as a divided Supreme

Court handed a crowning victory to the gay rights movement, setting off a

jubilant cascade of long-delayed weddings in states where they had been

forbidden.

• Justice Anthony Kennedy.

• The court now holds that same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right

to marry.

• The ruling issued on June 26, 2015 will put an end to same-sex marriage bans

in the 14 states that still maintain them, and provide an exclamation point for

breathtaking changes in the USA’s social norms in recent years.

• The 14th Amendment to the Constitution requires states to allow same-sex

couples to marry on the same basis as heterosexuals.

• Rainbow Sash Movement.

• Rainbow flag : the pride flag representing gay pride.

10. Black Friday

• June 26, 2015

• The shootings in the Tunisian resort of Sousse happened at about the same

time as a bombing at a Shiite mosque in Kuwait and an attack on a US-

owned factory in France that included a beheading.

• ISIS responsible.

11. Nepal Earthquake

• The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha

earthquake) killed more than 9,000 people and injured more than 23,000. It

occurred at 11:56 NST on 25 April, with a magnitude of 7.8Mw or 8.1Ms and a

maximum Mercalli Intensity of IX (Violent).

• Its epicenter was east of the district of Lamjung, and its hypocenter was at a

depth of approximately 15 km (9.3 mi).

• It was the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since the 1934 Nepal–Bihar

earthquake.

• The earthquake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing at least 19,

making April 25, 2015 the deadliest day on the mountain in history.

• The earthquake triggered another huge avalanche in the Langtang valley,

where 250 people were reported missing.

• A major earthquake occurred in Nepal on 12 May 2015 at 12:50 pm local time

(7:05 am UTC) with a moment magnitude of 7.3, 18 km (11 mi) southeast

of Kodari.

• The epicenter was on the border of Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk, two districts

of Nepal. This earthquake occurred on the same fault as the larger magnitude

7.8 earthquake of 25 April, but further east than the original quake.

• “Operation Maitri” : Operation Maitri (English: Operation Amity) was a rescue

and relief operation in Nepal by the government of India and Indian armed

forcesin the aftermath of the 2015 Nepal earthquake. India's response was

started within 15 minutes of the quake. It started on 26 April 2015 and also

involved Nepali ex-servicemen from India's Gurkha Regiments for interface for

guidance, relief and rescue.

Digital India

July 1st week – Digital India Week

Digital India – A programme to transform India into digital empowered society and

knowledge economy

To realize IT (Indian Talent) + IT (Information Technology) = IT (India Tomorrow)

To remove corruption, Red tapism and to improve transparency, accountability

To improve E governance service delivery

Mobile applications for service delivery

9 pillars

1. Broadband Highways,

2. Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity,

3. Public Internet Access Programme,

4. e-Governance: Reforming Government through Technology,

5. e-Kranti - Electronic Delivery of Services,

6. Information for All,

7. Electronics Manufacturing,

8. IT for Jobs

9. Early Harvest Programmes.

Vision

(i) High speed internet as a core utility shall be made available in all Gram

Panchayats.

(ii) Cradle to grave digital identity - unique, lifelong, online and

authenticable.

(iii) Mobile phone and Bank account would enable participation in digital

and financial space at individual level.

(iv) Easy access to a Common Service Centre within their locality. All

Government documents/ certificates to be available on the Cloud.

Tamil nadu

E serve centre in every taluk

Cable TV providing common service centre facilities(css)

People can apply for certificates in

Ban on Maggi Noodles

Samples showed the instant noodles contained dangerously high levels of lead and the

chemical flavour enhancer, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).

Tamil nadu also banned magi along with other states including gujarath, assam etc

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been established under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which consolidates various acts & orders that have hitherto handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments. FSSAI has been created for laying down science based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption. Smart city Smart city- Transforming life- transforming india The key features of a Smart City is in the intersect between competitiveness, Capital and Sustainability. The smart cities should be able to provide good infrastructure such as water, sanitation, reliable utility services, health care; attract investments; transparent processes that make

it easy to run a commercial activities; simple and on line processes for obtaining approvals, and various citizen centric services to make citizens feel safe and happy. Smart heritage cities: The government has introduced a project to develop 12 heritage cities across the country. Called HRIDAY Scheme or National Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana, the cities included are Ajmer, Amaravati, Amritsar, Badami, Dwaraka, Gaya, Kanchipuram, Mathura, Puri, Varanasi, Velankanni and Warangal. AMRUT scheme

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation

A total of Rs 98,000 crore has been approved by the Cabinet for 100 smart cities and

rejuvenation of 500 others. The two schemes, Rs 48,000 crore for Smart City Mission and

Rs 50,000 crore for Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, may

merge at some point

Tamil nadu

Tamil Nadu comes second with the allocation of 12 smart cities and 33 AMRUT cities.

Indian Government has announced three mega schemes Smart Cities Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) Housing- for- All. According to official report, Tamil Nadu has been given the opportunity to nominate 12 cities to be developed as smart cities. Tamil Nadu comes second with the allocation of 12 Smart Cities and 33 AMRUT Cities.

The smart cities list include Tuticorin, Cuddalore, Salem, Tiruchi, Erode, Chennai, Coimbatore, Pondicherry, Tiruchirappali, Tiruchi, Dindigul and Madurai which is planned among 100 top smart cities in India. About 12 cities are qualified as top 12 cities in Tamil Nadu.

Net Neutrality

Tim wu coined the term net neutrality

Providing equal access to all legal websites without any discrimination

Treating network traffic equally

Issue came out when app providers like whatsapp intended to charge separately for

using their service

TRAI received people opinion on the issue

E governance

B2B,G2G,G2C

SMART governance

For increasing Transparency, accountability, removing red tapism

NeGP2006 provides with 31 Mission mode projects

E district project implemented in Tamil nadu. Providing scholarship to students, social

welfare schemes and certificates of revenue department

E serve programme through cable TV in villages through e signature of VAO, RI,

Tahsildar and intimated to the applicant through text message in mobiles

40th year of Emergency

Emergency declared on june 25th 1975 by then PM Indira Gandhi. Based on Allahabad

court judgement by J L sinha on electoral malpractices case filed by Rajnarain

JP expected people would revolt against emergency but neither happened

L K Advani recently in a speech said that possibility of emergency rule is not ruled out

now due to political leadership.

Social schemes

BBBP scheme

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

To improve the Sex ratio in the country and educate the girl children

Initially inaugurated in Haryana by PM which has lowest sex ration in the country

In tamil nadu cuddalore district is selected

Mission Indradanush

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) has launched Mission Indradhanush

on 25th December 2014 with the aim of expanding immunization coverage to all

children across India by year 2020. The Mission Indradhanush, depicting seven colours

of the rainbow, targets to immunize all children against seven vaccine preventable

diseases namely Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Childhood Tuberculosis, Polio,

Hepatitis B and Measles. In addition to this, vaccines for JE (Japanese Encephalitis) and

Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type B) are also being provided in selected

states. Immunization is the key to protect children from life threatening conditions that

are preventable.

The government has planned to conduct four special vaccination campaigns between

January and June 2015. All vaccines are already available free of cost under universal

immunisation programme in India. Under this mission, government plans to intensify

its efforts and thus increase accessibility of these vaccines to all the children of India.

In tamil nadu mission launched on april 7th on World health day

GST

122 amendment bill (goods and services tax)

• The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution to introduce the goods and services tax (GST). Consequently, the GST subsumes various central indirect taxes including the Central Excise Duty, Countervailing Duty, Service Tax, etc. It also subsumes state value added tax, octroi and entry tax, luxury tax, etc.

• Concurrent powers for GST: The Bill inserts a new Article in the Constitution to give the central and state governments the concurrent power to make laws on the taxation of goods and services.

• Compensation to states: Parliament may, by law, provide for compensation to states for revenue losses arising out of the implementation of the GST, on the GST Council’s recommendations. This would be up to a five year period

Goods exempt: Alcoholic liquor for human consumption is exempted from the purview of the GST.

Revocation of section 66 A of IT act 2008

Section 66 A Section 66A of IT act 2008 prescribes the punishment for sending "offensive' messages through computers or any other communication device such as a mobile phone or a tablet, and a conviction can fetch a maximum of three years in jail.

The Supreme Court struck down Section 66A of the IT Act which allowed arrests for posting offensive content on social media sites

This act was against freedom of speech

Land acquisition bill

Until 2013, the land acquisition in India was governed by The Land Acquisition Act 1984. In 2013, the UPA government passed the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act to repeal the 19th century act. The UPA Act was aimed at ensuring the land is acquired strictly for public welfare projects and land owners are adequately compensated and rehabilitated. The protests and outrage began after the Modi government decided to brought in following amendments to the RFCTLARR Act . 1. Removal of ‘consent’ clause: As per the UPA law, land could be acquired only with approval of 70% of land owners for PPP projects and 80% for private entities. However, the amendment, brought in by the NDA removed this provision of ‘consent’ for acquiring lands for five purposes – Industrial corridors, Public Private Partnership projects, Rural Infrastructure, Affordable housing and Defence. This has drawn much of

the criticism not only from political circle but also from activists like Anna Hazare who has launched a mass protest against the bill.

2. Return of unutilized land: According to the Act 2013, if the land remains unutilised for five years, then it needs to be returned to the owner. But according to the ordinance promulgated by the NDA government, the period after which unutilised land needs to be returned will be five years, or any period specified at the time of setting up the project.

3. According to the 2013 Act, land can be acquired by any private company. But according the recent ordinance, land can be acquired by any private entity.

4. As per the new law, if any government official commits an offence during the process of acquisition, he/she cannot be prosecuted without prior sanction from the government.

5. The amendments propose to include 13 legislations that are currently exempted under the purview of the Act in the compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement provisions. This is, however, seen as a pro-farmer move as there was no uniform central policy of rehabilitation and resettlement.

INO

Place : Meghamalai, Bodi west hills, Theni

The India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) Project is a multi-institutional effort aimed at building a world-class underground laboratory with a rock cover of approx.1200 m for non-accelerator based high energy and nuclear physics research in India.

The project includes (a) construction of an underground laboratory and associated surface facilities at Pottipuram in Bodi West hills of Theni District of Tamil Nadu, (b) construction of a Iron Calorimeter (ICAL) detector for studying neutrinos, consisting of 50000 tons of magnetized iron plates arranged in stacks with gaps in between where Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) would be inserted as active detectors, the total number

of 2m X 2m RPCs being around 29000, and (c) setting up of National Centre for High Energy Physics at Madurai, for the operation and maintenance of the underground laboratory, human resource development and detector R&D along with its applications. The underground laboratory, consisting of a large cavern of size 132m X 26m X 20m and several smaller caverns, will be accessed by a 2100 m long and 7.5 m wide tunnel.

Advantage

1. Fundamental Science laboratory set up, and the scientists and students working in the lab, will inevitably mean a township will be created around the lab. This, as in any township (say, Powergrid, SAIL), will mean more employment for the people living nearby (labour, people who manage the day-to-day upkeep of the area), and more 'demand' in the market for goods and services (for example, the vegetable market, taxi services, ticket booking services etc).

2. Setting up the laboratory itself means heavy employment opportunity in constructing it.

3. The floating population of scientists in the lab will bring in a richer demand to the market around; maybe even tourism.

4. The prospects of setting up research institutes around the lab are immense.

5. Bodi West Hills just got put into the scientific community's map. Should the lab yield substantive results..

Demerits

1. Radiation from the Lab could pose a threat to the biodiversity around.There will be no radiation emitting from the lab; the lab is that deep in the earth to keep out radiation (to study environmental neutrinos without the interference of cosmic radiation).

2. The mountain may become unstable. As INO scientists have said, the lab will not affect the structural stability of the mountain. The tunnel will be tiny, when compared to the underground mines (with its numerous shafts) that was operational in KGF for more than a 100 years. While making the tunnel, the technological advancement will ensure that the environment is left untouched; at the most, the rock blasting will cause flutters, but that won't last long, and normalcy will be restored in no time.

3. There will be hazardous chemicals and gases. To ensure safety of the experiment and the people working in the lab (needless to mention, the environment and the people living nearby), the gases (which are not hazardous in their quantity and which comply with international standards) will be recycled many times and only then let

off in controlled amounts. The equipment and the gases used for the experiment will be hermetically sealed, so there's no chance of any pollution/contamination from there.

Jeyakanthan

Tamil novelist, short-story writer and essayist Jayakanthan significantly enriched modern Tamil literature by portraying the lives of those on the fringes society. And he shocked the same society with his nonconformist views, often questioning long-held views on women and chastity

He went on to become a prolific writer, authoring over 35 novels and novellas, innumerable short stories and two autobiographies—

Oru Ilakkiyavathiyin Arasiyal Anubavangal

Oru Arasiyalvathiyin Ilakkiya Anubavangal—

His novels

Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal,

Oru Nadigai Nadagam Paarkiral,

Yaarukkaga Azhudhaan

Unnai Pol Oruvan

Paathai Theiryuthu Paar.

were adapted as films. Jayakanthan himself experimented with film-making and directed

He won both the Jnanpith and Sahitya Akademi Awards

Kodaikanal mercury pollution

A study conducted by the Department of Atomic Energy confirmed that Kodaikanal Lake has been contaminated by mercury emissions.

Its contamination polluted Pambar Sholas, Kookal Lake and Berijam Lake also. Mercury contamination might even affect the people in plains, as those in Periakulam and Palani have consumed water originated on the hill. The issue of alleged mercury contamination by the HLL factory (originally set up by Cheesborough Ponds in 1983 and acquired by HLL in 1997) has been the focus of an ongoing agitation by environmental groups, principally the Palani Hills Conservation Council and Greenpeace. The suspected contamination was brought to the public's notice when these groups discovered a substantial quantity of glass from the factory that contained traces of mercury with a local scrap dealer. The expose led to an intervention by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and eventual suspension of production by the factory in 2001. Mercury is an extremely toxic substance and is the only metal that can exist as both liquid and vapour. In a report submitted to the Hazardous Waste Monitoring Committee set up by the TNPCB, HLL admitted that 5.3 tons of mercury-bearing waste had been "inadvertently" sold to a local scrap dealer. But when the contaminated glass was recovered and weighed, it turned out to be 7.4 tons of glass. The IPTEHR report cites this as one of several inconsistencies in HLL's reports on mercury levels within and outside the factory, the extent of waste, what was done with it and the impact on the health of workers. However, following the agitation by local people and directions from its parent company, Unilever, HLL shipped out a large quantity of mercury-laden glass from the closed factory site to the U.S. from where the mercury was bought. This is an unprecedented step and confirms the allegations that there was mercury contamination on site. Two issues that the Tribunal's report emphasises, and that have not been adequately addressed by HLL, are the long-term environmental impact on the Kodaikanal region and the health effects on the workers. The factory got permission to operate in an environmentally fragile area on the understanding that it was non-polluting. It is located on the edge of a highly eco-sensitive Pambar Shola that forms part of the watershed that eventually drains into the Pambar River. This joins a network of canals that runs past Madurai and eventually

drains into the Bay of Bengal. According to the report, the core of this Pambar Shola was the dumping ground for waste from the factory including mercury-contaminated glass.

The long-term impact of mercury traces making their way through this eco-system have not yet been assessed.

The second issue is the impact on the health of workers. HLL's survey of 250 workers states that there are no serious impacts on the health of the majority through exposure to mercury.

Ex-workers affected due to mercury pollution by the Hindustan Unilever’s now-defunct thermometer factory in Kodaikanal, on Monday staged a protest at the company’s headquarters in Andheri, Mumbai, when the Annual General Meeting with shareholders was held.

Supported by 30 volunteers from Mumbai, 11 families from Kodaikanal took part in the protest, holding placards and photographs of deceased workers and children.