Miscellaneous

Places in News Taj Mahal With an aim of attracting more tourists in the country by improving cleanliness and hygiene conditions at tourist destinations Clean India Campaign has been launched recently at world heritage site namely Taj Mahal. The 17th Century marble mausoleum1, which has been adopted by State public sector undertaking ONGC, is the second site to be covered under this project. The first site was Qutub Minar in New Delhi, which was adopted by the India Tourism Development Corporation in June 2012.

Person/s in news
Madonna
Pop diva Madonna has topped Forbes magazines highest earning celebrities list for 2013.

Justice K.N.Basha
Justice K.N.Basha recently assumed charge as chairman of the Intellectual Property Appellate Tribunal (IPAB).

Global Perspective
International Relations

Indo-Myanmar
A border dispute has erupted between India and Myanmar after the latter tried to create a new defence post near Moreh in Manipur. India has asked Myanmar to set up a joint working group to address the demarcation of the boundary that extends to over 1,600 km. India and its neighbourhood The Myanmarese tried to erect the post near pillar number 76 on the border in a bid to ward off Indian farmers who were allegedly trying to harvest land claimed by Myanmar. Myanmars Intrusion into Indian side As the post was coming up, the Indian side conveyed that construction should be inhibited and suggested the construction of a border fence to redress the problem of farmers trying to cross over. The Myanmarese side has seen it eye to eye2.

Socio-Economic Development
Land Acquisition Bill Lok Sabha passed the amended version of the legislation, which seeks to provide fair and just compensation to farmers and to those who lose livelihood on account of acquisition. The bill, which was earlier passed by Lok Sabha in the recent past, went through some amendments during its passage in the Rajya Sabha. Government also moved the amendment to specify that either compensation or rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) will be given to farmers whose land is acquired for irrigation projects. However, farmers, whose land is acquired for other projects, will get the benefits of both compensation and rehabilitation and resettlement.

Mausoleum : a special building made to hold the dead body of an important person or the dead bodies of a family: 2 To see sth eye to eye (idiom): To agree with something or somebody.

DEFENCE
GSAT-7, first Navy satellite, launched India's first exclusive defence satellite GSAT-7 was successfully launched by European space consortium Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana giving a major push to the country's maritime security. Indian Navy would be the user of the multi-band home-built communication spacecraft, expected to be operational by September end. The satellite was injected into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) of 249 km perigee (nearest point to earth), 35,929 km apogee (farthest point to earth) and an inclination of 3.5 degree with respect to the equator. By September 14, GSAT-7 is planned to be positioned in its orbital slot of 74 East longitude and subsequently the satellite's communication transponders will be switched on. The frequency bands of GSAT-7 will help space-based marine communications. It has coverage over India landmass as well as surrounding seas. It's important from security and surveillance points of view. So far the Navy had limitation from line of sight and ionospheric effects, among others, as far as space-based communications were concerned. It was thought essential to have an integrated platform for the Navy's exclusive use. Earlier, satellite communication in ships was through Inmarsat, a major provider of global mobile satellite communications services. The state-of-the-art satellite carrying payloads operating in UHF, S, C and Ku bands, had a lift-off mass of 2625 kg and is based on ISRO's 2500 kg satellite bus with some new technological elements, including the antennae. According to ISRO, GSAT-7 is an advanced communication satellite to provide wide range of service spectrum from low bit rate voice to high bit rate data communication. Its payload is designed to provide communication capabilities to users over a wide oceanic region including the Indian land-mass. ISRO cannot launch heavy satellites like GSAT-7 as its home-grown GSLV rocket, with indigenous cryogenic stage, is still at works and needs two successful flights before it is declared operational.

Judiciary
A recent verdict by Apex Court With regard to the Right to Information Act
As per the recent verdict of Apex Court with regard to Right to Information Act only retired judges or those having law qualification could be appointed as Information Commissioners at the Central Information Commission and at the State level commissions. It is now for Parliament to consider whether appointment of judicial members in the Information Commissions will improve their functioning. Eliciting information from a public authority is not judicial but administrative function.

National/International Reports
New IPCC report says that Global warming rate is less than predicted
The report tells that the rate of warming over the past 15 years (from 1998-2012) at 0.05 degree Celsius per decade is smaller than the trend over the longer period 1951-2012 which stands at 0.12 degree Celsius per decade. This means that in the last 15 years, the rate of warming has been 40% slower than in the period 1951-2012. As per Reports acceptance, carbon dioxide gas concentration in atmosphere may not be as potent in causing global temperature increases as was believed earlier.

The IPCC (IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is the apex body of the U.N., providing guidance to the countries on what is the best, the latest and the most authentic science available on climate change.