1.

Rajya Sabha passes the long awaited Food Security Bill

Rajya Sabha passed the most purposeful bill which was priory passed by Lok Sabha here on Tuesday i.e. 3rd September 2013. The food security bill aims to provide food grains at subsidized prices for almost 2/3rd of the countrys population. Also, this bill costs around Rs. 1, 30, 000 crores for the government, which is on such largest program in the world.

2. C-17 Globe master III heavy-lift transport aircraft enlisted by IAF

Indian Air-Force installed three Boeing C-17 Globe master III heavy-lift aircraft into the newly-composed 81 Skylord Squadron at the Hindan airbase, Delhi. C-17 has the ability to carry 75 tonnes of load which is double that of Russian IL-76 in the IAF inventory which can carry only up to 40 tonnes.

3. Gandhi heritage portal exposed by Prime Minister

Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh launched the Gandhi Heritage Portal which has been designed to view the message of non-violence to the world especially Indian youth. The portal also highlights the important aspects of the freedom struggle, Gandhis message and humanism.

4. Companies get a green signal from RBI to use ECB for general corporate purposes
To attract capital flows, RBI relaxed ECB (External Commercial Borrowing) norms by allowing the companies to make use of the funds raised from their foreign equity.

5. New version of Android software 4.4: Kit Kat

Google on its 15th birthday announced the launch of androids new software which is the successor of the present jelly beans version; Kit Kat 4.4. This smart phone OS would be launched shortly keeping its name as per the delicacies like the other versions.

6. Indian scientists take up to measure Deccan Trap, also undertake earthquake prediction research.
NGRI (National Geographical Research Institute) scientists based in Hyderabad have under-taken the deeply-rooted earths study in the regions of Koyna warna of Maharashtra to understand the seismic behaviour and improvise earthquake predictions.

7. PFRDA bill 2011, passed by Lok Sabha

The PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill) 2011, which marks to supervise the NPS (New Pension System) has been passed by Lok Sabha on September 5th 2013. This bill was initiated in 2011 and has been passed in 2013 by Lok Sabha with official amendments.

8. District-level advisory Committee set-up by Ministry of MSME to audit PMEGP

The Ministry of MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) has set-up an advisory committee for every district in the country for supervising the progress of PMEGP (Prime-Ministers Employment Generation Programme) with its active members of the Parliament from respective districts.

9. Rs. 200 crores penalty on Adani Group by MoE

Ministry of Environment and Forests established a committee under the chairmanship of Sunita Narain who is the director general of Centre for Science and Environment, has imposed a fine of Rs. 200 crores on the Adani group for the Mundra port and Special Economic zone for extorting harm on the mangroves. The penalty amount would go for restoration of the forests.

10. Key rate of ECB unchanged at 0.5%

A governing council of European Central Bank (ECB) comprising of 23 members has left its key rates interest at an unaltered record of 0.5%.

11. Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation Bill, 2013 passed by Lok Sabha
Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation Bill, 2013, whose purpose is to establish the first ever national Aviation University in India, under the name of Rajiv Gandhi was passed by Lok Sabha on September 6th 2013. The university is said to train the pilots, cabin crew members and air-craft engineers.

12. Fire and Smoke Detection system developed for Railway coaches by Indian Railways
Indian Railways developed and decided to fix fire and smoke detection systems in the railway coaches which brings out an alarm for the passengers when the train or a particular coach catches fire providing ample time for the passengers to relocate.

13. Lok Sabha passes the Bill to Manual scavenging and street vendors bill, 2012
Lok Sabha passed the Bill to Manual Scavenging, 2012 whose purpose is to prohibit employment of individuals as manual scavenger on September 6th 2013. The lower house of parliament also passed the Street Vendors Bill, 2012 which was proposed for the protection of vendors on September 6th 2013.

14. Third All-India survey on Higher Education launched by the HRD Ministry
The Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) has launched the AISHE (All India Survey on Higher Education) for the year 2013-2013. This survey is carried out to have a collection of robust data on higher education.

15. BRLF receives an approval from Union government of India

Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation (BRLF) receives an approval on September 3rd 2013 by the Union Government of India as an independent charitable trust under the Societies Regulation Act, 1860.

Weekly Current Affairs ( 25 31 August ) 1. Typhoid Conjugate vaccine launched by Bharat Bio-tech
Bharat Bio-tech launched a fourth-generation conjugate vaccine for vaccination of children and adults from typhoid fever on 26th August 2013. Typbar-TCV, the vaccine was launched by the Director General of IVI (International Vaccine Institute) Christian Locqu along with Bharat Bio-tech chairperson and Managing Director Krishna M.Ella. It is said that the vaccine would reach the market and made available to the common people in two-weeks.

2. A highly advanced, state-of-the-art digital tool for Indian studies

GIS (Geographical Information Systems) tool, developed by Tsukasa Mizushima, a professor of South Asian history at the graduate school of Humanities and Sociology at Tokyo University along with his colleagues. The building blocks of this tool include the Topographical sheets from 1860s to the present from the British library, the s urvey of India and other libraries around the world, census of India material and much more. Simply, it is a place finder, a detailed gateway to find place names with latitude and longitude and the census location code today in India. The URL is: http://india.csis.u-tokyo.ac.jp

3. New President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe takes oath

Veteran leader, Robert Mugabe takes oath as the new elected president of Zimbabwe for the next 5 years. He won this election against the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

4. NDF, Offshore markets affecting the rupee instability

The Rupee has nearly declined to 21% so far to this fiscal and RBI in its annual report states that the NDF (NonDeliverable Forwards) markets i.e. the offshore markets are putting forth more pressure on the onshore currency market, that too specially when the rupee value is declining.

5. Bill to change Collegium system approved by Government

Government of India has passed the bill to change the Collegium system of appointing the judges for the Supreme Court and the High court by replacing this method with a Judicial Appointments Commission where in the government will have a word in appointing the judges of Supreme Court and the 24 high courts. A panel would be set-up headed by the Chief-Justice to appoint and also to transfer the senior judges.

6. Cabinet nods to neutralize the apex courts judgement on lawmakers

The Union Cabinet said yes to two proposals on 27th August 2013, which will allow those in Jail to contest elections and also allow the convicted MLAs and MPs to retain their membership so that they can vote or draw their salaries.

7. Afghanistan Government allows SAIL to develop Hajigak mine assets in phases

Hajigak mine, best known for its largest iron-oxide deposit and the biggest untapped iron-ore deposits, located at Afghanistan, Hajigak, was permitted by its government to organize and develop a $10.8 billion iron-ore and steel plant project lead by the SAIL team.

8. CCEA acquitted 3.1 million tonnes of extra food grain for states under Food Security Scheme
The Union Government of India announced that it will provide 3.1 million tonnes of extra food grains to the states under the food security scheme at APL rate (Above Poverty Line). This was decided at the meeting of CCEA (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs).

9. Marriage Laws Bill proposed in 2010, passed by Rajya Sabha in 2013

Rajya Sabha passed the Marriage Law Bill, 2010 to amend the Hindu Marriage Act (1955) and the Special Marriage Act (1954) that allows irrevocable breakdown on marriage which is a base for divorce and allows women to share their right in the properties of their husbands. This bill although passed by Rajya Sabha is yet to be passed by Lok Sabha.

10. Malala Yousafzai awarded the International Childrens Peace Prize 2013
Pakistani brave girl and famous activist, Malala Yousafzai, who was recently shot on her head by Taliban during her campaign for girls right to education, is awarded the most prestigious International Childrens Peace Prize for 2013. She currently resides in Great Britain where she was given life-surviving treatment.

11. TARC appoints Parthasarathy Shome as its new chairman

7-membered team of TARC (Tax Administration Reform Commission) was set up by government which would be lead by the new chairman, Parthasarathy Shome.

12. Former head of South Africas Election Body honoured with Gandhi Peace Prize

Brigalia Bam, ex-head of South Africas Election Body is honoured with Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Reconcilliation for 2013. She was honoured with this award recognizing her commitment to democracy and ensuring free and impartial elections.

13. Ashes 2013, title won by England

England concluded a win in the Ashes series 2013, by winning a 3-0 against its rivals Australia.

14. India surpasses Japan to become worlds 3rd largest Internet user
Comscore, a global digital measurement and analytics firm delivered a report, in which India has overtaken Japan to become worlds 3rd largest Internet user country after China. India has 74 million Internet users which show a 31% increase to reports dated on March 2012.

15. Government establishes task force for currency swap arrangement

The Commerce and industry Ministry, has set-up a task force which consistes of representatives from Ministry, Department of economical affairs, RBI, SBI, industry bodies FICCI, CII and FIEO (Federation of Indian Exporters organization) to organize currency swap arrangements with major trading partners of India. This action is a follow-up of the heat of falling value of rupee.

16. Chandrayans data to be used by NASA to detect water on Moon

Scientists belonging to NASA have detected mimetic water traces on moon, under its surface. This data was collected by using a tool called Moon Minerology Mapper (M3) embarked the ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) Chandrayan-1 space-craft.

17. All set to launch Indias first defence satellite

GSAT-7, Indias first defence satellite all dedicated to Indian Navy for marine security purposes are all-set to be launched. The satellite will be launched in GTO (Geo-Transfer Orbit) by Ariane-5 VA 215 by European Space Consortium in French Guinea.

18. Lok Sabha passes the national Food Security Bill

The long awaited bill, National food Security Bill was passed by Lok Sabha on August 27th 2013. The Bill now needs to pass Rajya Sabahs approval along with presidents affirmation to become a law.

19. TUFS gets a nod from CCEA for its 12th plan
Technology Up gradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) in its 12th year of planning period receives a nod from CCEA (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs). The scheme is all about focus on power looms with an investment of Rs. 11,900 crores.

20. Delhi heads other states in per-capita income in India

According to Delhi Development Reports, 2013, Delhis average per -capita income is more than Rs. 2lakhs per year for 2012-2013. It is 3 times more than the national average per-capita income making it the highest in India.

21. President of India confessed Khel Ratna on Ronjan Sodhi and Arjuna Award on Virat kohli
President Pranab Mukherjee conferred countrys highest sports honour Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on the finest shooter Ronjan Sodhi. Also, Virat kohli, cricketer is one among the 15 sports persons who were honoured with Arjuna Award. Others include: Kavita Chahal for boxing, Gaganjit Bhullar for golf, Saba Anjum for hockey, Rajkumari rathore for shooting, PV Sindhu for badminton and Neha rathi for wrestling.

22. President, Pranab Mukherjee affirms to companies bill

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee affirms to the companies bill on August 29th 2013. This bill will be replacing the Companies Act 1956.