Monday, 16 September 2013

Today's GK(16-9-13)



Bill Gates stays atop Forbes list of America's richest

Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates is still America's richest man, taking the top spot in the Forbes 400 list for the 20th straight year with a net worth of 72 billion dollars.
Investor Warren Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., remains in second place with 58.5 billion dollars, while Oracle Corp co-founder Larry Ellison stays third with 41 billion dollars.
Brothers Charles and David Koch, co-owners of Koch Industries Inc., stay tied for fourth with 36 billion dollars each.
Forbes says America's super rich continued to increase their wealth over the past year, with the 400 people on the list posting a combined net worth of 2 trillion dollars, up from 1.7 trillion dollars a year ago.
That marks their highest combined value ever. Forbes attributed the growth to strong stock and real estate markets.

Union Government sanctioned 158 Eklavya Model Residential Schools for Tribal Students

Union Government on 16 September 2013 sanctioned a total of 158 Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs) for Tribal students out of grants under Article 275(1) of the Constitution of India in 23 states. out of these 111 schools have become fully functional with all facilities.

Highest number of 22 schools have been sanctioned for Gujarat followed by Madhya Pradesh (20) and Rajasthan (17). Chhattisgarh and Odisha have been sanctioned 16 schools each.

All the facilities for a proper study atmosphere like sufficient number of class rooms, computer and science laboratory, library, recreation room, hostels for students and housing facilities for the teaching and other supporting staff are made available in the EMRSs. Further, the school buildings have been made accessible to students with disabilities.

About Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS)

The objective of EMRS is to provide quality middle and high level education to Scheduled Tribe (ST) students in remote areas, not only to enable them to avail of reservation in high and professional educational courses and as jobs in government and public and private sectors but also to have access to the best opportunities in education at par with the non ST population.

Union Government slashed Import Tariff Value of Gold and Silver

The Union Government on 15 September 2013 slashed the import tariff value of gold to 432 dollars per 10 grams and silver to 736 dollars per kilogram. The notification in this regard has been issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).

The decision was taken in wake of falling global prices of precious metals. Tariff value is the base price at which the customs duty is determined to prevent under-invoicing. Earlier, the tariff value of gold was at 458 dollars per 10 grams and silver at 783 dollars per kg.

In the wake of falling global prices of precious metals, the Union Government has further slashed the import tariff value of gold and silver.

Besides bullion, the Union Government has cut the import tariff value of brass scrap to USD 3717 per tonne and crude palm oil to USD 827 per tonne, from USD 3748 per tonne and USD 833 per tonne, respectively.

However, the import tariff value of poppy seed has been raised to USD 2717 per tonne, crude soya bean oil to USD 963 per tonne and RBD palmolein to USD 883 per tonne. Earlier, the tariff for import of poppy seed stood was USD 2763 per tonne, crude soyabean oil at USD 951 per tonne and RBD palmolein at USD 882 per tonne.

The tariff for import of arecanut has been kept unchanged at USD 1870 per tonne.

Union Government has reduced the import tariff value of gold keeping weak global prices trend in precious metals

Balaji –Murugesan Pair Won ITF Men’s Doubles Title in Egypt

The Indian duo of N. Sriram Balaji and Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan won the ITF Men's Doubles Title at Sharam-Al-Sheikh, Egypt on 15 September 2013. In the title clash, the top seeded Indian duo defeated the fourth seeded Egyptian pair of Karim Hossam and Karim-Mohamed Maamoun, 6-4, 7-6.

The Indian pair Balaji –Murugesan won their doubles title in 10000 dollar prize money category.
About ITF Men’s Circuit

The ITF Men's Circuit is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for male professional Tennis players.

The ITF Men’s Circuit provides the entry level of Professional Tournaments enabling players to eventually reach the higher level tournaments on the ATP World Tour.

The ITF Men’s Circuit incorporates two prize money levels of Futures tournaments. Futures Tournaments are single week tournaments that offer either 10000 dollars or 15000 dollars each in prize money. They must be scheduled with a minimum total of 30000 dollars in prize money, so either three consecutive weeks of 10000 dollars each in prize money or two consecutive weeks of 15000 dollars each in prize money

China Launched First Ever Deep UV Laser Device

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on 10 September 2013 launched a Deep UltraViolet (DUV) solid-state laser device. The Deep UV Laser Device would help to detect the biological, chemical agents and explosives.

The device marks the world's first-ever output of 1064-nanometer's 6 harmonic frequency multiplication, shortening the diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPL)'s wavelength to 177.3 nm.

China is the first-ever country in the world to possess such technology.

About Deep UV laser device

A DUV wave refers to the light wave whose wavelength is shorter than 200nm. Synchrotron radiation and gas discharge are among the main non-coherent light sources to produce DUV lasers. A KBBF prism coupling device-based DPL source features a smaller size, higher energy resolution and higher photon influx density.

Potassium beryllium fluoro borate (KBBF) is a non-linear optical crystal that can transform laser light into DUV for use in solid state lasers.

Applications of Deep UV Laser Device

• Improved detection of airborne chemical and biological agents.
• Enhanced detection of explosives and explosive residuals.
• Significant improvement in the ability to inspect microchips with solid state metrology.
• Advanced research and development of new semiconductor materials and applications.
• Deep ultraviolet (UV) light can be used to sterilise bacteria and viruses, decontaminate drinking water and in fluorescence sensors to detect chemicals.

Kanoon Lugat, the First Urdu Law Dictionary Released

Kanoon Lugat, an Urdu law dictionary, a first of its kind in the country was released on 15 September 2013 in Mumbai.

The dictionary, encompassing 52000 legal terms, has been translated in Urdu for the first time. Supreme Court advocate Muhammad Irshad Hanif authored the translation of this dictionary. The Urdu legal dictionary has a foreword written by former Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir.

Advocate Hanif has also translated Indian Penal Code and Indian Evidence Act in Urdu, besides publishing two books Taziraat-e-Hind and Qanoon Shahadat-e-Hind.

With these books, the litigants would be more empowered with correct knowledge of the laws and would be in a better position to understand their lawyers, rights and liabilities, as well as the legal proceedings in the courts

India and Japan signed MoU to launch Joint Research Initiatives

The Union Ministry of Science and Technology, and RIKEN, Japan’s largest research organization have signed Ministry of Understanding (MOU) on 14 September 2013 for Launching joint Research programs in applied science.

The Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) were signed by Prof. NOYORI, President of RIKEN and Dr. T. Ramasami, Secretary, Department of Science& Technology (DST) and Dr. K. VijayRaghavan, Secretary, Department of Bio-Technology (DBT).

MoU Signed for Joint Research programs in the fields of

1.Biology, Life sciences and Material sciences.
2.Genome related research including systems Biology.
3.Computational science including development of bioinformatics tools, Detection tools for security and other areas of mutual interest.

The cooperation will facilitate exchange and foster collaborations between Japan and India, in the field of applied science. The RIKEN-DBT&DST Joint Research program will also focus on supporting the exchange of researchers, postdoctoral fellow and doctoral students besides doing joint research programs.

About RIKEN


RIKEN is Japan's largest comprehensive research institution renowned for high-quality research in a diverse range of scientific disciplines. Founded in 1917 as a private research foundation in Tokyo, RIKEN has grown rapidly in size and scope, today encompassing a network of world-class research centers and institutes across Japan.

About the Department of Biotechnology (DBT)

Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is a part of the Union Ministry of Science and Technology of Government of India. DBT emphasizes in the fields of modern biology and biotechnology in India. The department has made significant achievements in the growth and application of biotechnology in the broad areas of agriculture, health care, animal sciences, environment, and industry


About the Department of Science and technology (DST)

Department of Science and Technology (DST) is a part of the Union Ministry of Science and Technology of Government of India. It was established in May 1971, with the objective of promoting new areas of science and technology. It will also act as nodal department for organizing , coordinating and promoting S&T activities in India.

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer observed on 16 September

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer was observed on 16 September 2013 across the world to bring awareness about the depletion of Ozone layer in the atmosphere. This event commemorates the date of the signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1987.

The day was designated by the United Nations General Assembly in 1994 since then International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer is celebrated on September 16 every year.

The theme for the year 2013 is A healthy atmosphere, the Future We Want.

About Ozone

Ozone is a special form of oxygen with the chemical formula O3. Ozone constitutes a very small part of our atmosphere, but its presence is nevertheless vital to human well-being. Most ozone resides high up in the atmosphere, between 10 and 40km above Earth's surface. This region is called the stratosphere and it contains about 90 percent of all the ozone in the atmosphere. Ozone in the stratosphere absorbs some of the Sun’s biologically harmful UltraViolet radiation (UV).

About The Montreal Protocol

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was designed to reduce the production and consumption of ozone depleting substances like Chloro Floro Carbons(CFCs) in order to reduce their abundance in the atmosphere, and thereby protect the earth’s fragile ozone Layer. The original Montreal Protocol was agreed on 16 September 1987 and entered into force on 1 January 1989. The Montreal Protocol has been hailed as a prime example of successful international cooperation to protect the global commons. In addition to protecting the ozone layer, the Montreal Protocol is also contributing to protect the global climate.

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