Legend Kannad Writer U R Anantha Murthy died at 82

U.R. Ananthamurthy

Jnanpith awardee and renowned Kannada writer UR Anantha Murthy on 22nd August died at a hospital in Bangalore, where he was undergoing treatment for kidney failure.

An educator, writer, and commentator second to none, Mr Anantha Murthy was a new voice in Kannada literature - part of the Navya movement. His novel Samskara questioned established caste conventions and caused controversy when it was published in the 1960s as it was strongly critical of Brahmin conventions.

Mr Anantha Murthy was never frightened about speaking his mind. His criticism of Narendra Modi saw him receive threatening calls and online abuse. When he said that he would not want to live in a country where Narendra Modi was prime minister, it resulted in a strong backlash.

Samskara was U.R. Ananthamurthy’s first novel which was a landmark. The novel looked at the caste system, religious codes, culture and traditions and the uncertain relationship between traditional and cultural values.

The novel, which sparked a raging controversy, was made into a film by Pattabhi Rama Reddy, which marked the dawn of parallel film movement in Kannada.

Aside from being a writer, Dr. Ananthamurthy wore many hats, including that of an English teacher, Vice-Chancellor, Sahitya Academy Chairman, National Book Trust president, and the head of Film and Television Institute of India.

Regarded as one of the prominent voices of the Navya (modernist) movement in Kannada literature, Dr. U.R. Ananthamurthy wrote six novels (Samskara, Bharatipura, Avasthe, Bhava, Divya and Preethi Mruthyu Mattu Bhaya) and one play (Avahane), apart from eight short story collections, three collections of poetry and eight compilations of essays in his literary career spanning six decades. His autobiography Suragi was published in 2012.

His landmark first novel Samskara looks at the caste system, religious codes, culture and traditions and the uncertain relationship between traditional and cultural values. The novel, which sparked a raging controversy, was made into a film.

Dr. Ananthamurthy was shortlisted for DSC Prize for South Asian literature in 2012 for his novel Bharatipura (1973), which mirrors his life-long preoccupation with moving beyond caste and class interests in modern society. He was nominated for the Man Booker International Prize in 2013 for his overall contribution to fiction, but lost to American Lydia Davis. He was among the 10 Indian writers to have made it to the finals of the prestigious award.

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Yoga legend BKS Iyengar died at 95 in Pune

Yoga Guru B.K.S. Iyengar passed away on 20th August at a private hospital in Pune. 

B.K.S. Iyengar 

Yoga legend B.K.S Iyengar died on 20th August at a private hospital in Pune following illness. He was 95. He was admitted to the ICU of the hospital for poor heart function and difficulties in breathing. President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime minister Narendra Modi condoled the passing away of Iyengar.

About B.K.S. Iyengar:

He was born in Kolar district of Karnataka in 1918.  Iyengar was one of the earliest students of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who is often referred to as "The Father of Modern Yoga" . He codified Patanjali's Yoga sutras in an innovatively style which came to be known as Iyengar Yoga. He was known as one of the foremost Yoga teachers of the world.  He credited with establishing and popularizing Yoga in India and thereafter in the World. He won millions of followers in more than 70 countries in the process.

He set fourth principles in light on Yoga in 1966 which has since been regarded as the Bible of Yoga. The book has been translated into 19 languages and has sold more than 3 million copies.

He was awarded  with  the Padma Shri in 1991,the Padma Bhushan in 2002 & the Padma Vibhushan award in 2014. . Iyengar was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by the Time Magazine in 2004.  

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K V Thomas became Public Account Committee Chief

KV Thomas

Senior Congress leader K V Thomas on 20th August took over as the new chairman of Parliament's public accounts committee. 

The key committee, which examines CAG reports after they are tabled in Parliament, will hold its first meeting next week. 

The post of the PAC chairman is held by a senior member of the opposition party. Murli Manohar Joshi (BJP) was the chairman of the PAC in last Lok Sabha. 

The PAC, constituted every year, consists of not more than 22 members — 15 members elected by Lok Sabha and not more than seven members from Rajya Sabha. 

The PAC's controversial 2011 draft report on the 2G scam, which had strongly indicted former telecom minister A Raja and come down heavily on the PMO and the cabinet secretariat for not taking "corrective action", continued to be on its 'unfinished agenda' for three years. 

Public Accounts Commission (PAC)
• PAC was incepted in the year 1921 and till early 1950 the Finance-member was appointed as the Chairman of the Committee.
• The PAC is constituted every year and it consists of not more than 22 members — 15 members elected by Lok Sabha every year from amongst its members according to the principle of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote and not more than seven members from Rajya Sabha . 
• The Chairman of PAC is appointed by the Speaker from amongst the members of Lok Sabha elected to the Committee.
• As a convention since 1967-68, a senior member of the Committee belonging to the main opposition party/group in the House is appointed as the Chairman of the Committee.
• The chairmanship is for a year, but one person can hold the office for successive terms.
•  If a member after his election to the Committee is appointed a Minister, he ceases to be a member of the Committee from the date of such appointment.

Functions of PAC
• The Public Accounts Committee scrutinizes the accounts of the government and the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India after it is tabled in Parliament of India.
• The main duty of the Committee is to ascertain whether the money granted by Parliament has been spent by Government "within the scope of the Demand".
• The Appropriation Accounts of the Government of India and the Audit Reports presented by the Comptroller and Auditor General mainly form the basis for the examination of the Committee.
• The Committee is not concerned with questions of policy. It is concerned only with the execution of the policy laid down by Parliament and its results.
• It is one of the Parliamentary Committees which act as Parliament’s ‘Watch Dogs’ over the executive.

About KV Thomas
• Prof. Kuruppassery Varkey Thomas was born 10 May 1946 in Kumbalanghi, Distt. Kochi (Kerala).
• He has been elected as Member of Parliament for 5 times since 1984 for Indian National Congress Party. 
• He was a Union Minister of State, Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution from 2009 to 2011 and has Independent Charge since 2011 in the same portfolios in Congress led UPA Government.
• He was also a Minister for Tourism, Fisheries and Excise in State Government of Kerala during 2001-2004.
• He published many books in Books in Malayalam (i) Ente Kumbalangi; (ii) Ente Kumbalangiku Shesham; (iii) Kumbalangi Touch; (iv) Kumbalangi Flash; (v) Kumbalangi Varnamkal; (vi) Ammayum Makanum; (vii) Sonia Priyankari; (viii) Ente Leader; (ix) Order, Order, Order.

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Sri Lankan Cricketer Mahela Jayawardene ended his Test career

Jayawardene impact on cricket

The Sri Lankan cricketer and former captain of Sri Lankan team, Mahela Jayawardene retired from Test career on 18th August, 2014. He ended his seventeen year career in Test Cricket after Sri Lanka won the second and final test match against Pakistan by 105 runs at Colombo. Sri Lanka won the 2-0 series.
However, Jayawardene will play one-day cricket targeting next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. 

Mahela Jayawardene
• The 37-year-old Jayawardene made his debut in Test Cricket against India in 1997 as a 20-year old and scored half century in his first innings. 
• He received the first test cap in 2006 from captain Arjuna Ranatunga. 
• Jayawardene was named as the best international captain of the year by the International Cricket Council in 2006.
• Jayawardene led Sri Lanka to the final of the 2012 World Twenty-20 Cup against the West Indies, but resigned as Sri Lanka's T20 captain after disgraceful defeat in the match. 
• Jayawardene holds the record for the most number of catches in ODIs with 204 catches in 415 innings.
• He won the Spirit of Cricket Award 2013.
• In an Asia Cup match in February 2014 against Pakistan, Mahela Jayawardene became the 2nd cricketer to appear in 600 international matches after Sachin Tendulkar.
• Mahela Jayawardene announced his retirement from test cricket after the 2014 Pakistan series in July 2014.

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Fields Medal for the year 2014 awarded

The Fields Medal for the year 2014 was awarded on 13 August 2014 in Seoul, South Korea. The award recognized contributions of four medallists:
• Artur Avila of the Institute of Mathematics of Jussieu, for his contributions in Dynamical Systems Theory
• Manjul Bhargava of Princeton University, for developing new approach in the geometry of numbers
• Martin Hairer of the University of Warwick, for his contributions to the Theory of Stochastic Partial Differential Equations
• Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian born mathematician, awarded for her contributions to the field of geometry particularly in studying the symmetry of curved surfaces such as spheres.

The Fields Medal was first awarded in 1936 to Finnish mathematician Lars Ahlfors and American mathematician Jesse Douglas.

In 2010, the winners of the Fields Medal were:
• Elon Lindenstrauss of Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Princeton University
• Ngô Bảo Châu of Paris-Sud 11 University and Institute for Advanced Study
• Stanislav Smirnov of University of Geneva
• Cédric Villani of École Normale Supérieure de Lyon and Institut Henri Poincaré
Origin of the Fields Medal

The Field Medals were first anticipated at the 1924 International Congress of Mathematicians in Toronto, when a resolution was adopted that at each International Congress of Mathematicians, two gold medals should be awarded to distinguished mathematicians.

Professor John Charles Fields, a Canadian mathematician who was Secretary of the 1924 Toronto Congress, donated funds to establish the medals. It is after his contribution that medal was named in his honor.

In 1966, the great expansion of mathematical research led to an agreement that up to four medals could be awarded at each Congress meeting.

The Fields medal is officially known as International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics. It is considered as the greatest honor for a mathematician, it is described as the Nobel Prize of Mathematics.

Medal and Cash Value
• The Fields Medal is made of gold stamped with the head of Archimedes (287-212 BC) showing a quotation attributed to him Transire suum pectus mundoque potiri (Rise above oneself and grasp the world).
• The other side of the medal bears the inscription Congregati ex toto orbe mathematici ob scripta insignia tribuere (The mathematicians assembled here from all over the world pay tribute for outstanding work).
• The medal is given with a cash prize of 15000 Canadian dollars.

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Union Cabinet approved 4 highway projects in J&K to provide all-weather connectivity

The Union Cabinet on 13 August 2014 approved four highway projects in Jammu and Kashmir for all-weather connectivity in the Valley. Apart from this, the Cabinet also enhanced the fund allocation by over 8000 crore rupees to around 28324 crore rupees under the National Highways Development Project of Jammu and Kashmir.

The four highway projects of Jammu and Kashmir are 
• Srinagar-Banihal
• Qazigund-Banihal
• Chenani-Nashri
• Jammu-Udhampur

The highway project would help in reducing journey time from Jammu to Srinagar and strategic border areas of the state. Apart from this, these highways would help in boosting the economy and employment to the locals in the state.

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Maryam Mirzakhani became the first woman to bag Fields Medal

Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian born mathematician, became the first woman to win coveted Fields Medal on 13 August 2014 in Seoul, South Korea. The award recognized her contributions to the field of geometry particularly in studying the symmetry of curved surfaces such as spheres.

Mirzakhani’s work has implications for the study of cryptography and prime numbers as well as for physics and quantum field theory.

She was one of four mathematicians who were awarded the Fields Medal 2014. Three other awardees were:
• Artur Avila of the Institute of Mathematics of Jussieu, for his contributions in Dynamical Systems Theory
• Manjul Bhargava of Princeton University, for developing new approach in the geometry of numbers
• Martin Hairer of the University of Warwick, for his contributions to the Theory of Stochastic Partial Differential Equations

Maryam Mirzakhani
Maryam Mirzakhani was born in Tehran in 1977. Initially, she chose to be a writer, but her fluency in solving mathematical queries shifted her interests. She enjoyed pure mathematics thereafter.

Maryam Mirzakhani made a number of contributions to the theory of moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces. She even proved that the system Earthquake Flow of William Thurston on Teichmüller space is ergodic.

She won gold medals in 1994 and 1995 International Mathematical Olympiad. She was recipient of 2013 AMS Ruth Lyttle Satter Prize in Mathematics and AMS Blumenthal Award 2009.

Fields Medal
Established in 1936, Fields Medal is known as the Nobel Prize of mathematics.  The prize includes a medal which is stamped with the head of Archimedes and a cash component of 8000 British Pound. The Fields Medal 2014 was held in Seoul, South Korea and were announced by the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM).

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Himachal Pradesh selected to host First Para-gliding World Cup in India

Paragliding World Cup Association selected Himachal Pradesh as a venue to host the 2015 para-gliding World Cup. This will be the first para-gliding World Cup to be hosted in India. The tournament will be organised under the aegis of Para-gliding World Cup Association, France.

The information was disclosed by Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma, who is also Chairman of the Billing Paragliding Association on 13 August 2014.

The World Cup will be hosted in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh from 24 October 2015 and will see around 150 top ranked pilots of the world besides 500 free flying pilots as participants.

Himachal got the chance to organise and host the world cup event by the Paragliding World Cup Association after successfully hosting the para-gliding pre-World Cup in 2013.

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Former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan to head the Expenditure Management Commission

The Union Government decided to appoint former RBI governor Bimal Jalan as the head of the Expenditure Management Commission on 12 August 2014. He would be tasked to suggest ways for managing public finances by reducing food, fertiliser and oil subsidies to include fiscal deficit.

Expenditure Management Commission
Union Finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced the setting up of an Expenditure Management Commission in the Union Budget 2014-15 in July 2014. The purpose of setting up the commission is to cut-off the spending and review government expenditure to get maximum output.

The Commission will submit its interim report before the Budget of 2015-16 and its final report before the Budget of 2016-17.

Subsidies on Food, petroleum and fertilisers
In revised estimates for 2013-14, the subsidy bill on food, petroleum and fertilisers was 245451.50 crore rupees. For 2014-15, the subsidy bill is estimated to be 251397.25 crore rupees.

The increase in subsidy bill for 2014-15 is due to the increased allocation for fertiliser sector. The government estimated total fertiliser subsidy bill of 72970.30 crore rupees than the amount of 67970 crore rupees that was proposed in the interim budget.

The government allocated the total amount of 115000 crore rupees which includes a provision of 88500 crore rupees for the implementation of National Food Security Act.

Previous Expenditure Reforms Commission
During the year 1999-2000, Atal Bihari Vajpayee government initiated Expenditure Reforms Commission (ERC) headed by former finance secretary K P Geethakrishnan. This commission recommended for reducing the central government machinery and winding up of some government departments. Certain recommendations of the commission were implemented during the reign of finance minister Yashwant Sinha.

In 2002, UPA government appointed Vijay Kelkar Committee, former finance secretary, for fiscal consolidation plan which included reduction in subsidies. His panel suggested increasing diesel and cooking gas prices gradually. His recommendations are followed today.

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WHO approved the use of experimental drug ZMapp to fight Ebola Virus

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on 12 August 2014 sanctioned the use of experimental drug ZMapp to fight against Ebola as the death toll increased.

The declaration of WHO came after a US company Mapp Biopharmaceutical supplied ZMapp to two US doctors Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebo who got affected with the Ebola disease while treating Ebola affected patients in Liberia. It showed some positive effects in saving the lives of Ebola-affected people.

After considering all the aspects, the panel of WHO reached a consensus that the experimental drugs should be used with all transparency including  aspects of care, freedom of choice, confidentiality, respect for the person and preservation of dignity. Doctors would not use ZMapp without permission of the patients.

ZMapp
The current outbreak of Ebola is described as the worst since the discovery of Ebola Virus. There is no available cure for Ebola currently. Mapp Biopharmaceutical in the first week of August 2014, made available the drug ZMapp to two US doctors Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebo who got affected with the Ebola disease while treating Ebola affected patients in Liberia and then to Spain Government for treating Ebola-affected patient.

The drug uses a new method of passive immunization to treat Ebola infection by inserting genetically altered Ebola protein into tobacco leaves. However, ZMapp has been tested only on monkeys so far and it was to be tested on healthy human volunteers in 2015. The sudden outbreak of Ebola speeded up the process.

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No Nomination for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2014

The selection committee headed by Kapil Dev gave no nominations for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2014 on 12 August 2014. The committee did not find anyone suitable for the country’s highest sports award.

However, the committee recommended names of fifteen sportsmen for Arjuna Awards. The nominations include cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, golfer Anirban Lahiri and shooter Heena Sidhu, boxer Jai Bhagwan, athlete Tintu Luka.

The committee examined seven candidates for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, but found none of them deserving enough. These seven names were:
• Golfer Jeev Milkha Singh
• Tennis Player Somdev Dev Varman
• Badminton Star PV Sindhu
• Athlete Krishna Poonia
• Athlete  Vikas Gowda
• Para-Athlete Devendra Jhajaria
• Para-Athlete HN Girisha

Background
The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award is India’s highest sports award given by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. It includes a medal and cash component.
  
Since the inception of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991-92, this is the second time that there has been no nomination after 1993-94. The reason behind such cautious move of the selection committee was to avoid the kind of controversy that happened in 2013 during nomination of trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

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Reshamlal Jangade, the member of First Lok Sabha, Died

Reshamlal Jangade, the veteran politician and a member of the country's first Lok Sabha from undivided Madhya Pradesh, died on 11 August 2014. He died at a private hospital in Raipur following a prolonged illness. He was 90.

He dedicated his entire life for betterment of farmers, labourers and the people belonging to the last row of the society.

About Reshmalal Jangade

• Reshamlal Jangade was born on 15 February 1925 in a dalit Satnami family in village Parsadeh of Bilaigarh Tehsil under the then Raipur district.
• Jangade got elected to the first Lok Sabha in 1952 from Bilaspur on a Congress ticket.
• Earlier, Jangade, a close associate of Lal Bahadur Shastri, was also a member of the Provisional Parliament that preceded the first Lok Sabha between 1950 and 1952.
• He was elected to Lok Sabha second time in 1957 and his third and last stint in Parliament was from 1989 to 1991, as a member of BJP.
• Jangade was also elected as an MLA in undivided Madhya Pradesh and served as a Deputy Minister and Leader of Opposition as well.
• Jangade had been felicitated, along with three members of first Lok Sabha, in the Central Hall of Parliament on 13 May 2012, to mark its 60th anniversary. Other members were Rishang Keishing (Manipur), Kandala Subramanyamand Kante and Mohan Rao (Andhra Pradesh).

About First Lok Sabha

• The First Lok Sabha was constituted on 15 April 1952 after India's first general election.
• The 1st Lok Sabha lasted its full tenure of five years and was dissolved on 4 April 1957.
• Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar popularly known as Dadasaheb was first Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
• Jawaharlal Nehru of Congress Party was the Leader of the House and was the first Prime Minister of India.
• A K Gopalan of Communist Party of India was the leader of Opposition.
• There were 543 Members in the House.

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TATA-SIA Airlines brand name to be called Vistara; to start operations from October 2014

Tata-Singapore Airlines (SIA) named its upcoming joint venture airline as Vistara and will start its operation from October 2014. SIA on 11 August 2014 disclosed the name of their airline.

Vistara is an inspiration from Sanskrit word, Vistaar that means limitless expanse. It has drawn inspiration from the brand’s domain – the limitless sky.

The Tata Group and Singapore International Airlines will be headquartered in Delhi and reports suggest that Vistara will give competition to Air India and Jet Airways. Vistara will start its operation with an Airbus 320 aircraft and would add 20 aircraft in next first five years of operations. This number may be changed if the government abolishes the five-year 20 aircraft minimum flying eligibility norm for international flying.

Apart from this, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had advised Tata-SIA to make sure that the staff of the airlines is present during all the regulatory meetings in order to avoid the delay in launching it.

CEO of Tata-SIA Vistara - Phee Teik Yeoh

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Union Government introduced Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014 in Lok Sabha

The Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on 11 August 2014 introduced The National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014, and the 121st Constitution Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha.

The two Bills were introduced after the Union Government withdrew the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2013 introduced by the previous UPA government in the Rajya Sabha.

The 121st Constitutional Amendment Bill was introduced to give constitutional status to the six-member body called Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC). The JAC will replace the existing Collegium system for appointing judges of higher judiciary. For this, the Bill amends Article 124 of the Constitution relating to Supreme Court and inserts new articles 124A, 124B and 124C.

The Judicial Appointment Commission Bill, 2014, on the other hand, lays down the procedure to be followed by the proposed six-member body for appointment and transfer of judges of higher judiciary.

Main provisions of the Judicial Appointment Commission Bill, 2014

• Establishment of a six-member Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), who will provide recommendations to the President on the appointment and transfer of judges
• It empowers Parliament to pass a law providing for the composition, functions and procedures of the JAC.
• The six members include the Chief Justice of India, Law and Justice Minister, two senior-most judges of the Supreme Court and two eminent persons.
• The choice of these 'eminent persons' will be left to the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and the Leader of Opposition Party or the leader of the largest party in Opposition.
• These two eminent persons should belong to the Schedule Caste, Schedule Tribe, women or minority community, preferably by rotation and will have tenure of three years.
• The functions of the JAC include making recommendations for appointments of the CJI, SC judges, Chief Justice and other High Court (HC) judges, and transfer of HC judges.

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K.V. Chowdary appointed as new Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes

Senior IRS officer K V Chowdary appointed as new Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). He was apoointed on 1 August 2014.  CBDT is the apex authority of the Income Tax department.

He succeed R K Tewari. He retired on 31 July 2014.

Presently, he is working as the Member (Investigations) in the CBDT and is expected to take over the new charge from 1 August 2014. He will have tenure of three months.

The appointement was confirmed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The CBDT has six members apart from the Chairman and is the apex body for framing policy and administrative issues related to direct taxes and the Income Tax department.

Chowdary is one of the longest serving member in the CBDT as he has earlier officiated as the Member (Audit and Judicial) before taking over the investigations charge, a post he occupied after serving as the Director General (Investigations) in the national capital where he was heading a number of high-profile I-T probes.

He has earlier served as the Chief Commissioner of I-T in Vishakhapatnam and Director (Investigations) in Nagpur.

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Robert Frederick Panara, pioneer of Deaf Studies Died

Robert Frederick Panara, the poineer of deaf studies died in Rochester, US on 20 July 2104 due to heart ailments. He was 94.

Panara was a writer, a poet, a professor who later went on to become the first deaf teacher within the mainstream Higher Education in America.

As a Shakespearean scholar, he helped translate into sign language Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Hamlet and Othello.

His wife Shirley Fischer was also deaf and they communicated in sign, they used sign and speech to talk to their son, who could hear.

About Robert Frederick Panara

•    In 1965, he helped found America's first Technical college for the deaf, National Technical Institute for Deaf (NTID). NTID was created by an act of US Congress and is a part of the Rochester Institute of Technology.
•    In the 1960s, Panara helped found the Connecticut-based National Theatre of the Deaf, which remains a venerable company.
•    In 1948, Panara became the first deaf person to receive a Master's degree in English from New York University
•    He graduated from Gallaudet Institute in 1945
•    Robert Frederick Panara, the son of Italian immigrants, was born 8 July 1920 in the Bronx.

Some Books and Poetry written by Panara

Poem: On His Deafness (1946) and On His Deafness and Other Melodies Unheard (1997)
Books: The Silent Muse: An Anthology of Prose and Poetry by the Deaf (1960) and Great Deaf Americans

Teaching from the Heart and Soul is the biography on Panara written by Harry Lang in 2007.

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Construction Work of World’s tallest Railway Bridge began at Noney in Manipur

The construction work of the world’s tallest railway bridge began on 28 July 2014 near Noney in Manipur, India. Northeast Frontier Railway Construction Organisation (NFRCO) will be administering the whole project.

At 141 meters, the height of the tallest pillar of the bridge of Jiribaum – Tupul – Imphal railway line is slated to become the tallest bridge in the world from viewpoint of pillar’s height. The height of the other piers of this 700 metres bridge varies between 50-90 metres.

This bridge will surpass the existing tallest bridge of Mala-Rijeka viaduct in Europe on Belgrade-Bar railway line where the height of pillars is 139 meters.

The bridge with overall length of 700 metres, will be the part of 111 Km long broad gauge railway line connecting Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal. The purpose of building this network is to connect Imphal with the nation’s railway network.

The Jiribam – Tupul – Imphal rail line will see construction of about 46 tunnels with total 54.5 Km length.

The first phase of project to build 84 Kms railway line from Jiribam from Tupul, is scheduled for completion by March 2016.

Jiribam, a small town of Manipur, is located at 37 metres above Mean Sea Level while Imphal is situated at 780 meters above Mean Seal level.

The railway bridge on River Chenab on Jammu-Kashmir rail line which is under construction has a gorge of about 360 meter deep from rail level to river bed. It is considered the highest railway bridge of World.

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RBI issued drafted guidelines for implementation of Bharat Bill Payment System

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 7 August 2014 issued draft guidelines for implementation of Bharat Bill Payment System (BPPS), an anytime anywhere bill payment system. The proposed guidelines describe the basic requirements of operating the BBPS.

Bharat Bill Payment System is intended for the implementation of a unified bill payment system across the country. It would enable the customers to pay the bills with the help of agents and getting instant confirmation of the payment made. School fees, municipal taxes and utility bills payments would become easier now.

This integrated bill payment system will comprise of two entities:

• Entity operating at Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) will be setting up the standards related to payments, clearance and settlement process
• Second entity would be Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs). It will be carrying out the operations in adherence to the standards fixed by BBPS.

Authorised entities such as agents, banks, service providers, payment gateways would be the participants at the Bharat Bill Payment System.

Bill Payment in India

Generally, most of the retail transactions are carried out through bill payments. The G. Padmanabhan Committee was formed by RBI to study the Feasibility of Implementation of GIRO-based Payment Systems anticipated that around 30800 million bills amounting to more than 600000 crore rupees are paid each year in 20 Indian cities.

These payments are accepted in both cash and cheque. The existing bill payment systems are secure enough, but they do not address the concerns of the customers completely. The centralized Bharat Bill Payment System would be a appropriate solution for the same.

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WHO declared Ebola as Global Health Emergency

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Ebola as Global Health Emergency. The decision was taken after a two-day emergency session held in Geneva. During the two-day session, WHO appealed for global aid to help afflicted countries.

Ebola has claimed at least 932 lives and infected more than 1700 people since outbreak of the virus in Guinea in early 2014.

States of emergency has been declared across Ebola affected West African nations, including Libera, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

About Ebola disease

• Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a severe human disease.

• Ebola Virus was formerly known by the name Ebola haemorrhagic fever.

• EVD outbreak is generally witnessed in villages of Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests.

• The virus spreads through contact with an infected animal mainly Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family.

• Person suffering from Ebola Virus develops symptoms after two to three days of contracting with virus. These symptoms can be fever, sore throat, headache, nausea, muscle pain. In worst of cases, person may get affected with Diarrhoea along with poor functioning of liver and kidneys.

• Ebola-infected patients require thorough care. No specific treatment or medications are available to cure such patients.

• Ebola Virus was first witnessed in 1976 when it infected people of Nzara, Sudan, and Yambuku in Democratic Republic of Congo. Yambuku is a village near the Ebola River. The disease Ebola Virus took its name from that river.

• Professor Peter Piot of London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine discovered the Ebola virus in 1976 from a blood sample of a dying Catholic nun in Congo.

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Kapil Dev to head Arjuna Awards Selection Committee

Former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev Nikhanj was selected as the Chairperson of the Arjuna Awards Selection Committee on 7 August 2014. This Committee will choose outstanding sportspersons for 2014 of the Country. This Committees will have 15 members which includes12 sportspersons and 3 officials.

Apart from this, the three-time Olympian and former Hockey Captain Ajitpal Singh was selected as the Chairman for Dronacharya Committee.

The awards are scheduled to be presented on 29 August 2014 (National Sports Day). The Committee will recommend the deserving sportspersons for the prestigious awards and a final decision vests with Union Sports Minister Sarbanand Sonowal.

In 2013, the Arjuna Awards Selection Committee was headed by four-time world billiards champion Michael Ferreira.

The Arjuna Award instituted in 1961 by Government of India recognises outstanding achievements of sportspersons in the field of sports at international level. The award carries a cash prize of 500000 rupees a bronze statuette of Arjuna and a scroll.

About Arjuna Award Selection Process

• A sportsperson should have had not only good performance over the previous four years at the International level but also should have shown qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline are eligible for the Award.
• Sportspersons who have been penalized or against whom enquiry is pending/ongoing for use of drugs/substances banned by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) will not be eligible for the Award.
• The Government will only consider conferring Arjuna Award in the disciplines falling under following categories:-Olympic Games/Asian Games/Commonwealth Games/World Cup/World Championship disciplines and Cricket or any equivalent recognized international Tournament, Indigenous Games and Sports for physically challenged

About Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev was a right-arm fast medium bowler and all-rounder who captained Indian cricket team when India won Prudential World Cup (ICC World Cup) in 1983. He bagged 434 Wickets in 131 Tests in his 16-year long Career and got Arjuna Award in 1980.

For his excellence in Cricket he has been awarded with several awards like:
1979–80 – Arjuna Award
1982 – Padma Shri
1983 – Wisden Cricketer of the Year
1991 – Padma Bhushan
2002 – Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century
2010 – ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
2013 - The 25 Greatest Global Living Legends in India by NDTV
2013 - CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award (announced)

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