Booker Prize now open for all authors writing in English

• The Man Booker Prize, described as the “the most important and influential award for literary fiction in the English speaking world” might from now on actually qualify for that claim.

• According to an announcement by Jonathan Taylor, Chair of the Booker Prize, the prize will from 2014 be expanded to include writers in English from any part of the world provided their books have been published in the United Kingdom.

• Thus far the Booker Prize was for literary fiction by authors from the Commonwealth, the Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe.
• The enlargement of the Booker’s catchment is expected to put more pressure not just on writers who now have more competition, but on judges too, now that its doors have been open to competing fiction from the cross-Atlantic English-speaking nation that has its own distinct and vibrant literary tradition.
• The idea of instituting a separate Booker prize for English fiction for U.S. authors alone was considered but dismissed as it would end up diluting the prestige of the prize.

Mutation breeding of oil seeds, pulses and cereals

• Mutation breeding is a promising technology developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay.
• Since we import 40 per cent oilseeds and 20 per cent pulses, BARC focused its attention primarily on these crops.
• Heritable mutations of genes occur spontaneously in all living beings; but their rates are extremely low — of the order of one in a million.
• Isolating living organisms with beneficial characteristics from nature and multiplying them by selective breeding is a very slow process.
• Scientists speed up the mutation rate a thousand fold by exposing seeds or in some instances parts of the plant to ionising radiation.
• Breeders produce plants from these irradiated seeds.
• They combine plants with different desirable characteristics to develop high yielding, early maturing and disease resistant plants.
• Pigeon pea and mung bean suffer viral attacks; soya beans are hit by bacteria; drought and salinity affect pulses and oil seeds; some plants are sensitive to temperature.
• Pre-harvest sprouting and in situ germination are other worrying conditions. Scientists have overcome most of these adversities by genetic manipulation.

Improved quality

• Wheat plant can be made heat tolerant and resistant to stem rust. They have developed many varieties of rice. Some are early harvestable ; others salt tolerant; a few are disease resistant. Reduced height Basmati is another notable contribution.
• The development of better crop plants takes time. Scientists test the improved crops at least for three years in BARC fields before they are entered for evaluation trials conducted by the agricultural universities etc.
• BARC scientists set up linkages with farmers to produce quality breeder seeds and participate actively in Kisan Melas held in farmers’ fields to popularize the technology.
• They developed 41 new crop varieties (Trombay varieties) by radiation induced mutation and cross-breeding; these have been released and officially notified by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India for commercial cultivation.

S.O./Steno (Gd. B/Gd. I) Ltd. Deptt. Competitive Examination

Marks Query For Not Qualified in Written

Click Here Download Mark Sheet :

Tighter norms for NBFCs offering gold loans

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has tightened gold loan norms for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs).
• It has asked NBFCs accepting gold jewellery as collateral to value them at the average of the closing price of 22-carat gold for the preceding 30 days as quoted by The Bombay Bullion Association (BBA).
• If the gold is of purity less than 22 carats, “the NBFCs should translate the collateral into 22 carat, and state the exact grams of the collateral and value the gold proportionately
• The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for loans against jewellery would continue to be at 60 per cent,
• In case the gold jewellery pledged by a borrower at any one time or cumulatively on loan outstanding is more than 20 gram, NBFCs must keep a record of the verification of the ownership of the jewellery.
• “The method of establishing ownership should be laid down as a board approved policy.”
• It also stipulated that auction should be conducted in the same town or taluka in which the branch that has extended the loan is located.
• “The reserve price for the pledged ornaments should not be less than 85 per cent of the previous 30-day average closing price of 22-carat gold as declared by the BBA and value of the jewellery of lower purity in terms of carats should be proportionately reduced,”
• It would be mandatory on the part of the NBFCs to provide full details of the value fetched in the auction, and the outstanding dues adjusted. Any amount over and above the loan outstanding should be payable to the borrower.

Make medicines while the sun shines

• In June 2013, member states of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreed to extend the transition period for adherence to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) among least-developed countries (LDCs).
• What this meant was that LDCs need not comply with international rules of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection for pharmaceutical patents till up to July 1, 2021.
• This decision has major implications for public health. Access to essential medicines has been a pressing concern for several decades. Countries such as India — and others in its geography of south Asia as well as the 10 co-members of the World Health Organisation South-East Asia Region (WHO SEAR) — need to use this opportunity to productively and imaginatively promote access to medical products such as medicines, vaccines and diagnostics.

• The period since the adoption of WTO’s Doha Declaration in 2001 has seen dramatic growth in the quantum and diversity of participants in international policy debates concerning innovation and access to medical technologies.

• Access to medical products in the context of intellectual property protection was initially examined within the WHO by the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health (CIPIH), set up in 2003.
• It contained a number of recommendations aimed at fostering innovation and improving access to medicines.
• In 2008, a World Health Assembly resolution referred to the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property.
• It aimed to promote new thinking on innovation and access to medicines, for needs-driven, essential health research and development, relevant to diseases that disproportionately affected developing countries.
• For India this places a dual challenge — as a user of medicines and a society committed to minimising health-access inequity and as an economy with a robust pharmaceutical industry, especially in the generics space.

If the profile of recruits being trained at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, is anything to go by, the purpose of Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT), introduced two years ago to make the civil services examination (CSE) a level playing field, appears to have been defeated.

Students with science background have gained an upper hand and the number of those with a rural background has dropped considerably.

Only 27 per cent of the 269 members of the 2012 batch at LBSNAA have a rural background. Their four-month foundation course began on September 3.

Centre rejects Pachauri panel report, wants Sethusamudram project implemented

• The UPA government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, saying it wanted to implement the Sethusamudram project through the original alignment, cutting across the Ram Sethu.
• The Centre said it did not accept the recommendations of the expert committee, headed by Dr. Pachauri, that it was unlikely that public interest would be served if the project was implemented as per Alignment No. 4 A (an alternative route suggested by the court against the original alignment No. 6 that will cut through Ram Sethu.)
• It rejected Tamil Nadu’s stand that the project be scrapped as it “is of questionable economic value and not in public interest.

• “The project has strategic, navigational and socio-economic benefits and judging the economic viability of the project merely by the internal rate of return — which reflects only the commercial viability — may not be appropriate.”

• Faulting the Pachauri Committee’s recommendations, the Centre said: “Though the data did not support blocking of the project… and the evidence showed benefits from the project, the committee arbitrarily and contrary to its own studies has concluded that the project is not viable.
• The recommendation of the committee is not tenable and is not supported by scientific data and by environmental studies commissioned by the committee itself.
• “The Environment Appraisal Committee had examined the project and suggested various safeguards which were stipulated in the environmental clearance issued for the project
• The Centre contended that it would be wrong to state that the project had the potential of affecting the livelihood of fishermen because the expert committee, while commenting on the impact from land environment, indicated that the project would stimulate a lot of ancillary developments, leading to use of barren land for commercial activities.

• Tamil Nadu had sought a directive to the Centre to accept the Pachauri Committee’s report; direct the Centre not to implement the project by adopting either Alignment No. 4 A or No. 6, considering the eco-fragility of the surrounding area and the Gulf of Mannar and also as the project is of questionable economic value and not in public interest; to direct the Centre to declare Ram Sethu a national monument; and to restrain the Centre from undertaking any activity that will adversely affect Ram Sethu.

A leap forward in ‘flow’ batteries

• The sources of power in the emerging renewable energy economy are intermittent.

• Wind energy is dependent on winds that are often capricious, and solar power is suboptimal on cloudy days. Such sources cannot be connected directly to the grid but instead to batteries which store power from them and then discharge continuously.

• To better make use of renewable sources of power, these batteries must have a higher power density than normal batteries and must be very efficient.
• Existing options are competent, and scientists are continuously innovating to make them even better.
• Conventional batteries include a porous membrane between the anode and the cathode to prevent short-circuits while facilitating charge-carrying ions to move between them.
• However, such membranes add to the battery’s weight, reduce its efficiency and, depending on their material, bring along their share of structural defects and life-cycle limitations.
• Through this channel, the group pumped liquid bromine over a graphite cathode and hydrobromic acid under a porous anode, while flowing hydrogen gas across the anode.
• Thus, a “natural” membrane is formed between the anode and cathode while still keeping the ion-transfer channel option.
• Hydrogen and bromine react with the electrodes to store energy or release it via an external circuit. The paper notes that a voltage transfer efficiency of 92 per cent was measured at 25 per cent of peak power.

UGC-NET

Raman Fellowship for Post Doctoral Research for Indian Scholars in United States of America (2013-14)

The objective of the Post Doctoral Fellowships for the year 2012 to be awarded by University Grants Commission, India for the young Indian scholars is to provide them an opportunity to have international collaborative research opportunities, training in advanced techniques and technologies in emerging fields, thereby furthering their research capacity and ability to contribute to higher education with global perspective and forging long-term relationships with distinguished experts in these fields in USA.

Navy commissions aviation simulators

• The Southern Naval Command commissioned two state-of-the-art simulators to train naval aircrew in enhanced safety measures.

• While the Flight and Tactical Simulator for the Seaking helicopter — Navy’s mainstay in commando airlift and anti-submarine warfare operations — is a full-flight simulator offering a handling experience close to real, the Water Survival Training Facility, which provides a virtual experience of escape from an aircraft that has crashed into the sea, is the first of its kind in Asia and the third in the world.

• The WSTF, built at a cost of Rs. 20 crore by Survival Systems India, Mumbai, sports the entire range of survival training simulation theatre with several components.
• The helicopter underwater escape and cockpit underwater escape suits, forming part of the package, train aircrew in escaping from a submerged aircraft under various sea and environmental conditions.
• Its parachute disengagement and drag trainer provides a realistic experience in water entry while descending on a parachute to the sea, while the rescue hoist trainer provides the aircrew rescue procedures and techniques while being rescued.

Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination, 2013

Time-Table (Exam Start From 03.10.2013 To 12.10.2013)

Agni-V test-fired successfully again

• In a milestone in defence capability, the Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Agni-V was successfully test-fired for its full range of 5,000 .
• This is the second successful launch of the nuclear-weapons capable missile in 17 months
• India staked claim to a place in the elite group of nations that possesses the technology to develop ICBMs, launching Agni-V for the first time with a huge success.
• Tracking a near parabolic trajectory, the missile reached an altitude of more than 400 km and descended swiftly as its three stages got ignited on time and were jettisoned at altitudes of 40 km, 140 km and 260 km.

• The nose-cone, made up of composite materials and carrying a dummy warhead, re-entered the atmosphere, withstanding temperatures of more than 3,000 degrees Celsius, and hurtled at 6 km a second, splashing down near the target point in the Indian Ocean in just 20 minutes.

• Radars along the East Coast, including those at Sriharikota and telemetry stations, and electro-optical tracking systems monitored the trajectory of the system.
• Three ships, one in mid-range and two near the target point, tracked the missile.
• Soon after the launch, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and DRDO Director-General Avinash Chander said the success of the mission established the ICBM capability of the country.
• “Now, the missile is ready for production.” The next step would be to endow it with canister-launch capability, and the first trial would be carried out in a few months.

U.K wants ‘all necessary measures’ authorised at U.N.

• Prime Minister David Cameron on spelt out a series of measures to show that he is putting his money where his mouth is insofar as his stand on the Syria crisis is concerned.
• The Cameron government does not want to wait till the United Nations forensic inspectors, currently in Damascas, submit their report.

• The U.K. is submitting a resolution to the Security Council of the United Nations to give it the opportunity to “live up to its responsibilities on Syria”, the Prime Minister’s office said in a press statement, “while condemning the attack by the Assad regime, and authorising all necessary measures under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter to protect civilians from chemical weapons”.

• The website Iraq Body Count said that the conflict has seen between 1.14 lakh and 1.25 lakh civilians killed to date.

Buoyed by the success of students from the state cracking the prestigious all-India civil services exams, Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to bear the expenses of coaching of those who have cleared the preliminary stage of the exams.

The government will bear the expense for further coaching outside Jammu and Kashmir.

GSAT-7, first Navy satellite, launched

• GSAT-7, India’s first full-fledged military communications satellite launched from the Kourou spaceport of French Guiana in South America.
• The multiple-band spacecraft will be used exclusively by the Navy to shore up secure, real-time communications among its warships, submarines, aircraft and land systems.
• GSAT-7/ INSAT-4F is said to significantly improve the country’s maritime security and intelligence gathering in a wide swathe on the eastern and western flanks of the Indian Ocean region.
• Around 2014-15, ISRO is expected to launch the second naval satellite,
• The 2,650-kg GSAT-7 is the last of ISRO’s seven fourth-generation satellites. Its foreign launch cost has been put at Rs. 480 crore, with the satellite costing Rs. 185 crore.
• Part funded by the Navy, it is built to meet the Navy’s a long-term modernisation plan that includes use of satellites and information technology.
• According to satellite communication experts, the UHF band is being used for the first time in an INSAT and will boost communication and intelligence network across a wide region.
• The premium S band will enable communication from mobile platforms like ships. The Ku band allows high-density data transmission, including voice and video. A special ground infrastructure has also been created.
• For European launch company Arianespace, this was the 17th ISRO satellite since 1981.

Voyager 1 leaves Solar System

• Around August 25, 2012, over 19 billion km from the Sun, the Voyager 1 space probe became the first human-made object to cross out of the Solar System and into interstellar space.

• Voyager 1, a testament to durable engineering, was launched by NASA in 1977 alongside its identical sister probe Voyager 2 to study the outer Solar System and the interstellar medium – whatever occupies the gigantic chasms between stars in the universe.

• The event was confirmed to have happened by a report published in the journal Science on September 12. It included an analysis, of the data beamed back by the probe, by scientists from the University of Iowa among others.
• Voyager 1 flew by Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980, concluding its primary mission.
• It was the first probe to provide detailed images of the two planets and their moons.
• In 1990, 9.6 billion km from Earth, it turned around and photographed the entire Solar System.
• Measles to be eliminated from South East Asian countries by 2020: WHO
• South East Asian countries have decided to eliminate measles and control rubella and congenital syndrome by the year 2020. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that $ 800 million is needed to achieve this goal.
• “An estimated 8 million children are not protected against measles in WHO’s South East Asia region. Measles and rubella vaccines are safe, effective and inexpensive. The administration of a combined measles-rubella vaccine can eliminate both diseases cost-effectively,”
• Over 70,700 children died of measles in the region in 2011, which was about 45 per cent of global measles deaths.
• Measles is a highly infectious disease contracted by children with low immunity and can cause acute respiratory problems, diarrhoea and pneumonia.
• It can also result in disabilities such as visual impairment.
• While India has made significant improvement in reducing child mortality due to immunisation coverage, measles continues to remain a major cause of death among children, claiming between 50,000 to 100,000 lives every year.
• It can be prevented by a single dose of vaccine if given when the child is between nine and 12 months, but only 70% of children in the country are protected against it.

India officially undercounts all crimes including rape

• The National Crime Records Bureau, India’s official source of crime data, is systematically under-counting virtually every crime in India on account of a statistical shortcoming
• The NCRB, under the union Home ministry, compiles its annual ‘Crime in India’ publication based on data that comes to it from state crime records bureaus, which in turn get their data from the First Information Reports (FIRs) filed with every police station in that State.
• What few know, however, is that the data published by the NCRB only takes into account the ‘principal offence’ in every FIR, that is, the charge that attracts the maximum penalty,
• “Some 60 lakh cases are filed in India every year.“

Space ‘Ferrari’ set to fall

• A science satellite dubbed the “Ferrari of space” for its sleek, finned looks will shortly run out of fuel and fall to Earth after a successful mission, the European Space Agency (ESA) Launched in 2009, the satellite — a hi-tech craft designed to monitor gravity and ocean circulation — is likely to break up in mid-October,
• The Gravity Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) orbits at an extremely low altitude of just 260 km, where there are lingering molecules of atmosphere.
• To reduce drag, it has an arrow-like octagonal shape and two fins to provide extra aerodynamic stability, a departure from the box-like form of satellites that operate in the complete vacuum of space.
• Royal Mail to be privatised
• The British government is pressing ahead with its controversial plans to privatise Royal Mail, a decision described by the Financial Times as the “most ambitious privatisation since John Major sold the railways in the 1990’s.”
• Royal Mail is an iconic institution, dating back to 1512 under Henry VIII’s reign, and its privatisation is being met with stiff resistance from labour unions.
• Business Secretary Vince Cable announced the plans to the Cabinet on Tuesday.
• It will entail a stock market flotation of the company, a process which will take four to six weeks that according to industry watchers could value the company at up to 3 billion GBP.
• The announcement comes at a time when the 125,000 postal workers are being balloted for a strike, the results of which will be announced on October 3.
• In a statement, the Communications Workers Union said the plans to sell are a “betrayal of the British public — 70 per cent of whom are against privatisation according to a Sunday Times poll at the weekend.”
• In a letter to a postal employee on the government website, Michael Fallon, the Minister for Business and Enterprise, had justified the sale on the grounds that it would give Royal Mail “future access to private capital” to “modernise and take advantage of opportunities to grow.”
• It should not have to compete with hospitals and schools for “scarce public resources,”

On the basis of result of the written part of the Combined Medical Services Examination, 2013 held by the Union Public Service Commission in June, 2013, the candidates with the under  mentioned Roll Numbers have qualified for Interview/Personality Test:-

The candidature of these candidates is PROVISIONAL subject to their being found eligible in all respects.  The number of vacancies to be filled up on the basis of this examination is 1492. The candidates would be required to produce the original certificates in support of their claims relating to age, educational qualifications, community, physical disability etc. at the time of the Personality Test.   They are, therefore, advised to keep the said certificates ready.

Environment &development:

• The Supreme Court in July 2011 while delivering the Lafarge Judgment laid down guidelines on forest clearance procedures.
• These were to operate till a new regulatory mechanism was put in place.
• Two years after the judgment, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) put up a “Draft Policy on Inspection, Verification, Monitoring and the Overall Procedure relating to grant of Forest Clearances and Identification of Forests” for public comments.
• The judgment presented an important opportunity to the MoEF to revamp procedures and plug loopholes, being exploited by development project promoters from both government and the corporate sectors.
• However, the draft policy fails to infuse new conservation ideas based on sound science and misses out on tightening forest clearance/monitoring procedures.
• Even the only clause in the current policy that could have had some positive impact in reducing forest fragmentation is being cleverly bypassed.
• Most State governments are routinely relaxing an important condition — the identification and transfer of an equivalent area of non-forest land contiguous with existing forests in favour of the forest department before grant of Stage II forest clearance.
• Proposals are being cleared by imposing the simpler condition of compensatory afforestation over twice the area diverted.
• Thus, an excellent opportunity to plug this procedural loophole, which would enable the creation of viable