India has become the first country to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty

India has become the first country to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind, visually-impaired or print disabled.

The reaty, which was ratified on 30th June, will facilitate import of accessible format copies from member states by authorised entities in India such as educational institutions, libraries, etc. serving the needs of visually-impaired persons, the statement added.

Once the treaty comes into effect, it will enable ease of access to published works for blind, visually-impaired and otherwise print disabled persons in India.

So far, 79 World Intellectual Property Organisation member states have signed the treaty, which will come into force once 20 countries have ratified it.

"The development will also facilitate translation of imported accessible format copies and export of accessible format copies in Indian languages," the statement.

The Indian Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012, is in harmony with the Marrakesh Treaty. 

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

Governemt hikes onion MEP to USD 500 per tonne

The Central government on 02-Jul-2014 hiked the minimum export price of onion to USD 500 per tonne to improve the domestic supply and curb prices.

Last month, the minimum export price (MEP) on onion was re-introduced at USD 300 per tonne barely three months after the previous government in March had abolished it.

MEP is the rate below which no exports are allowed.

US names mountain after an Indian-American scientist

United States has named a mountain in Antarctia in honour of an eminent Indian-American scientist whose pioneering biological research expedition has provided critical data about animal populations.

Akhouri Sinha, adjunct professor in the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development at the University of Minnesota, was recognised by the US Geological Survey, which named the mountain Mt Sinha, for his work he did as an explorer in 1971-72

Jennifer Lopez kicks off Brazil World Cup in opening ceremony

he 2014 FIFA World Cup finally kicked off in Brazil on 12th June 2014  night with pop superstar Jennifer Lopez and rapper Pitbull entertaining the crowds in a glittering opening ceremony at Sao Paulo in Brazil

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

Modi takes charge as 15th Prime Minister of India

Narendra Modi was sworn in Prime Minister of India at the head of a 45—member coalition government after the elections that saw the BJP gain absolute majority in 30 years on 27-May-2014.

Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, M Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Uma Bharti, Maneka Gandhi, Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Smriti Irani and Harsh Vardhan were among those who were sworn in as Cabinet ministers.