Renowned historian Bipin Chandra passes away

A Padma Bhushan awardee, historian Bipin Chandra died at his residence after prolonged illness. He was 86.
He is considered as  a specialist in economic and political history of India, Chandra had authored several books including 'The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism', 'In the Name of Democracy: The JP Movement and the Emergency', 'Nationalism and Colonialism in Modern India' and 'The Making of Modern India: From Marx to Gandhi', among others.

The left leaning author had founded the journal 'Enquiry' and was a member of its editorial board for a long time.

Born in 1928 in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, Chandra studied at the Forman Christian College, Lahore, Stanford University, US and the University of Delhi.

He worked as the Reader at Hindu College of Delhi University and then became the professor of History at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Chandra's text books on History have been taught in schools and colleges in the country for a long time. Chandra served as sectional President and then the general president of the Indian History Congress in 1985, was also awarded 'Itihas Ratna' on his 86th birthday in December this year, by the Asiatic Society of Bihar.

India successfully launches PSLV C-23

PSLV C23 carrying French Earth Observation Satellite SPOT-7 and four co-passenger spacecrafts from Singapore, Canada and Germany was successfully launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, witnessed the historic moment and praised the Indian scientists


After a perfect lift off from the First Launch Pad in Satish Dhawan Space Centre here at 9.52 AM witnessed by Modi, Indian Space Research Organisation's workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C23 placed all five satellites into their intended orbits, one after the other between 17 and 19 minutes after liftoff, in textbook precision.

Though the Mission Readiness Review Committee and Launch Authorisation Board had on Friday cleared the launch, the launch time was rescheduled to 9.52 AM Monday, a delay of three minutes, attributed to "probable space debris" coming in the rocket's way.

Besides its primary payload of 714 kg French Earth Observation Satellite SPOT-7, PSLV C23 carried and placed in orbit 14 kg AISAT of Germany, NLS7.1 (CAN-X4) and NLS7.2 (CAN-X5) of Canada each weighing 15 kg and the 7 kg VELOX-1 of Singapore.

Information Courtesy : ddnews.gov.in

list of Ministers with portfolios

Narendra Modi -- Prime Minister; Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy Department of Space; All important policy issues and all other portfolios not allocated to any Minister.


Cabinet Ministers

Rajnath Singh: Home Minster

Sushma Swaraj: External Affairs & Overseas Indian Affairs

Arun Jaitley: Finance Corporate Affairs & Defence

M. Venkaiah Naidu: Urban Development Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation & Parliamentary Affairs

Nitin Jairam Gadkari: Road Transport and Highways Shipping

D.V. Sadananda Gowda: Railways

Uma Bharati: Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation

Dr. Najma A. Heptulla: Minority Affairs

Gopinathrao Munde: Rural Development, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water and Sanitation

Ramvilas Paswan: Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Kalraj Mishra: Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Maneka Gandhi: Women and Child Development

Ananthkumar: Chemicals and Fertilizers

Ravi Shankar Prasad: Communications and Information Technology & Law and Justice

Ashok Gajapathi Raju: Civil Aviation

Anant Geete: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

Harsimrat Kaur Badal: Food Processing Industries

Narendra Singh Tomar: Mines & Steel Labour and Employment

Jual Oram: Tribal Affairs

Radha Mohan Singh: Agriculture

Thaawar Chand Gehlot: Social Justice and Empowerment

Smriti Zubin Irani: Human Resource Development

Dr. Harsh Vardhan: Health and Family Welfare

Minister of States

General V.K. Singh: Development of North Eastern Region (Independent Charge) & External Affairs Overseas Indian Affairs

Inderjit Singh Rao: Planning (Independent Charge), Statistics and Programme Implementation (Independent Charge) & Defence

Santosh Kumar Gangwar: Textiles (Independent Charge), Parliamentary Affairs Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation

Shripad Yesso Naik: Culture (Independent Charge) & Tourism (Independent Charge)

Dharmendra Pradhan: Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge)

Sarbananda Sonowal: Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge)

Prakash Javadekar: Information and Broadcasting (Independent Charge), Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge) & Parliamentary Affairs

Piyush Goyal: Power (Independent Charge), Coal (Independent Charge) & New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge)

Dr. Jitendra Singh: Science and Technology (Independent Charge), Earth Sciences (Independent Charge), Prime Minister Office Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions Department of Atomic Energy Department of Space

Nirmala Sitharaman: Commerce and Industry (Independent Charge), Finance Corporate Affairs

G.M. Siddeshwara: Civil Aviation

Manoj Sinha: Railways

Nihalchand: Chemicals and Fertilizers

Upendra Kushwaha: Rural Development, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water and Sanitation

Radhakrishnan P: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

Kiren Rijiju: Home Affairs

Krishan Pal: Road Transport and Highways Shipping

Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan: Agriculture & Food Processing Industries

Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava: Tribal Affairs

Raosaheb Dadarao Danve: Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Vishnu Deo Sai: Mines, Steel & Labour and Employment

Sudarshan Bhagat: Social Justice and Empowerment

State Bank of India raises Rs 8,032 cr in country's biggest qualified institutional placement QIP issue

The State owned , largest bank of India, SBI has raised Rs 8,032 crore by selling shares through qualified institutional placement, making it the biggest ever equity sale by  this route.

B ank sold 5.13 crore shares at an average price Rs 1,565 per share.

 Price band, determined by the pricing formula of market regulator Sebi, was fixed at the upper band of Rs 1,629.35 -- around 2 percent premium on Tuesday's closing price of Rs 1,595.95 a apiece.

Delhi Government to probe 1984 anti- Sikh riots

Delhi Government decided to  probe by a Special Investigation Team into the 1984 anti- Sikh riots in New Delhi.

 

Two  days before  Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said some of the partymen were probably involved in the violence but were punished.

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), relaxed the criteria for power generation projects to qualify as mega power projects. This will qualify 15 additional projects for the benefits under the mega power project policy. 

“To avail of the benefits under the (Mega Power) policy, the developer must tie up at least 65 per cent of the installed capacity through competitive bidding,’’ Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters after announcing that the CCEA had cleared the Power Ministry’s proposal of changes to the Mega Power Policy. “The balance 35 per cent of the installed capacity should be through the regulated tariff according to the host State’s policy.” 

 Current Affairs tests

India scraps VVIP chopper deal with AgustaWestland

India  terminated the Rs. 3,726-crore, scam-ridden VVIP chopper deal with AgustaWestland International Limited (AWIL) on the grounds of breach of pre-contract integrity pact (PCIP). The deal for supply of 12 choppers, of which three have already been delivered, came under the scanner following allegations of kickbacks to senior Indian Air Force officers and others to the tune of nearly Rs. 360 crore.

Current Affairs test

Shame again.. Photojournalist gangraped in Mumbai

Five men gangraped a 22-year-old photojournalist from a city magazine in the Shakti Mills Compound at Mahalaxmi here on 22-Aug-2013 evening.
 She was accompanied by a man who was allegedly tied in a corner and assaulted.

 The incident occurred around 6 p.m. when she was on an assignment. The girl reached Jaslok Hospital on Pedder Road around 10 p.m. Hospital authorities informed the NM Joshi Marg Police Station.

Anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar shot dead

Narendra  Dhabholkar, founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, was shot dead  while he was on his daily morning walk near Omkareshwar temple in Pune. 

Coal Ministry is making all efforts to Locate missing Coal Blocks Allocation Documents

 The Union Coal Minister, Shri Sriprakash Jaiswal has said that the Government will make every effort to locate and supply the additional documents required by CBI regarding allocation of coal blocks. 

Launch of the GSLV-D5 Called off

The Launch of the GSLV-D5 scheduled for 1650 hrs today (August 19, 2013) is called off, as a leak is observed in the UH 25 fuel system of the liquid second stage during the pre-launch pressurization phase on the vehicle just two hours before the scheduled lift-off.

RBI approves Sharia-compliant NBFC financial services

Cheraman Financial Services Ltd (CFSL), a Kerala based , company has received certificate of registration from the Reserve Bank of India to function as a non-deposit-taking Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC). 

Constitution of a High Level Committee to prepare a report on the socioeconomic, health and educational status of the tribal communities of India

The Government of India for the development of tribal communities, has decided to constitute a High Level Committee (HLC) to prepare a position paper on the present socioeconomic, health and educational status of STs and suggest a way forward. 

Indian Stock Market witnessed biggest fall in 4 years

The Indian stock market moved out of the trillion-dollar league on 16-Aug-2013 as equities crashed, pulling down the total valuation of all listed companies to $985 billion on fresh concerns about the US stimulus withdrawal, and the rupee plunging to a historic record low of 62.
 

Railways to Provide Braille Signage in Passenger Coaches for Visually Impaired Passengers

As a part of its social commitment to make Railways more friendly towards specially abled passengers, 

RUSA Proposes to put a Ceiling of Maximum Number of Colleges to be Affiliated at Two Hundred

The Rashtriya Uchattar Shiksha Abhiyan proposes to put a ceiling of maximum number of colleges to be affiliated to any university at two hundred.

National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme launched

Union Finance Minister Shri P Chidambaram unveiled the National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme that will be implemented on pan-India basis.

Submarine INS Sindhurakshak sinks after blasts

A massive fire accident sank the Navy’s kilo-class submarine INS Sindhurakshak sank on 14-08-2013 at Mumbai Naval Docks in Colaba.

Import Duty on gold, silver hiked to 10%

The Union Government increased  the import duty on gold and platinum from eight per cent to 10 per cent, that on silver was raised by four percentage points to 10 per cent.

Opposition LDF lays siege to Kerala Secretariat

Left Democratic Front workers laid indefinite siege to the Secretariat of Kerala demanding Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s resignation in the solar scam.