India's Advanced Weather Satellite INSAT-3D Successfully Launched

India's Weather Satellite INSAT-3D, carrying advanced weather monitoring payloads, was launched successfully in the early hours of July 26, 2013 by Ariane-5 (VA214) launch vehicle from Kourou, French Guiana. 

After a smooth countdown lasting 11 hours and 30 minutes, the Ariane-5 launch vehicle lifted off right on schedule at the opening of the launch window at 01:24 hours IST today. After a flight of 32 minutes and 48 seconds, INSAT-3D was placed in an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), very close to the intended one. The orbital parameters of INSAT-3D, as recorded, are: 

Parameter (Unit)	Targeted	Acheived
Perigee (km)	249.9	249.9
Apogee (km)	35880	35923
Orbital Inclination with respect to Equatorial plane (deg)	3.501	3.495

Soon after the separation of INSAT-3D from the Ariane-5's upper cryogenic stage, the satellite's solar panel automatically got deployed. ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka took over the control of INSAT-3D immediately. Preliminary health checks of all the subsystems of INSAT-3D bus were performed and the satellite's health is satisfactory. 

In the coming days, orbit raising manoeuvres will be performed on INSAT-3D using the satellite's own propulsion system to place it in the 36,000 km high Geostationary Orbit. 

After placing the satellite at 82 deg East orbital slot, it is planned to turn on the meteorological payloads of INSAT-3D in the second week of August 2013 and to extensively test them. 

With a lift-off mass of 2060 kg, INSAT-3D carries four payloads - Imager, Sounder, Data Relay Transponder and Satellite Aided Search & Rescue payload. Among them, the six channel imager can take weather pictures of the Earth and has improved features compared to the payloads in KALPANA-1 and INSAT-3A, the two Indian Geostationary Satellites providing weather services for the past one decade. 

The 19 channel sounder payload of INSAT-3D adds a new dimension to weather monitoring through its atmospheric sounding system, and provides vertical profiles of temperature, humidity and integrated ozone. 

Data relay transponder, the third payload carried by INSAT-3D, receives the meteorological, hydrological, oceanographic parameters sent by Automatic Data Collection platforms located at remote uninhabited locations and relays them to a processing centre for generating accurate weather forecasts. 

INSAT-3D is also equipped with a search and rescue payload that picks up and relays alert signals originating from the distress beacons of maritime, aviation and land based users and relays them to the mission control centre to facilitate speedy search and rescue operations. 

ISRO has taken up the responsibility of end-to-end reception and processing of INSAT-3D data and the derivation of meteorological parameters with India Meteorological Department (IMD), New Delhi. An indigenously designed and developed INSAT-3D Meteorological Data Processing System (IMDPS) is installed and commissioned at IMD, New Delhi with a mirror site at Space Applications Centre, Bopal, Ahmedabad.

Habiba Sarabi, Afghanistan's First Female Governor Wins Ramon Magsaysay Award

Afghanistan's first and only female governor and a humanitarian worker from Myanmar's Kachin minority are among this year's recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards, often regarded as Asia's version of the Nobel Prize.

The Manila-based Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation announced Wednesday that it had selected three individuals and two organizations as this year's awardees, including a Filipino doctor, an independent commission eradicating corruption in Indonesia and a civil society organization in Nepal created and run by human trafficking victims.

The awards, named after a popular Philippine president who died in a 1957 plane crash, honor people and groups who change their societies for the better.

Habiba Sarabi, 57, was chosen for helping build a functioning local government and pushing for education and women's rights in Afghanistan's Bamyan province despite working in a violent and impoverished environment in which discrimination is pervasive, the foundation said. Public education and the ratio of female students have increased in her province, where more women are taking up careers that were forbidden under the 1996-2001 Taliban regime.

"In the face of widespread hostilities toward women assuming public roles, her courage and determination are outstanding," the foundation said of Sarabi, a member of an ethnic and religious minority in Afghanistan.

Lahpai Seng Raw, a 64-year-old widow, was selected for helping rehabilitate damaged communities in Myanmar amid ethnic and armed conflicts. The emergency relief, health care and sanitation projects of the civil society group that she helped found in 1997 in then-military-ruled Myanmar has today reached over 600,000 people across the country.

Another awardee, Ernesto Domingo, a 76-year-old physician, has dedicated his career to pushing for the poor's access to health services and for groundbreaking and successful advocacy of neonatal hepatitis vaccination that has saved millions of lives in the Philippines, the foundation said.

Also being honored is Nepal's Shakti Samuha, or Power Group, the world's first NGO created and run by human trafficking victims. The group's founders are being recognized for working to root out human trafficking and transforming their lives to serve other trafficking survivors. The group has established a halfway home that provides shelter and assistance to survivors and emergency shelters for women and girls at risk of trafficking.

Indonesia's Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi, or Corruption Eradication Commission, won for its successful campaign to prosecute erring officials, recovering more than $80 million in assets, and undertaking civil service reforms and citizen anti-corruption education.

Edward Snowden awarded with German Whistleblower Prize

Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who exposed the widest US global surveillance operations, was on 25 July 2013 awarded German Whistleblower Prize 2013 worth 3900 Dollars in absentia.

Snowden has exposed the substantial and unsuspecting monitoring and storage of communication data by US and other western intelligence agencies, which cannot be accepted in democratic societies.

It was the top secret National Security Agency documents that were leaked by Snowden since the beginning of June 2013 which in turn made it possible and unavoidable intensive investigations to establish whether the operations of domestic and foreign intelligence services have violated the existing rules applicable to them.

Snowden has undertaken great personal risks in leaking the documents on the operations of the US and other western intelligence agencies, aware of the current criminal prosecution of whistleblowers in security areas.

Even after proving that the espionage operations partly or to a large extent were protected by the law, Snowden has helped in exposing such a dangerous situation, which cannot be accepted in democratic societies.

About Whistleblower Prize

The whistleblower prize which was instituted in year 1999 by German section of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) and the Association of German Scientists is awarded once in two years to honour persons, who “expose in public interest grave social injustices and dangerous developments for individuals and the society, democracy, peace and environment.

German chapter of the global anti-corruption organisation Transparency International joined the prize for the first time this year.

14th Meet of Home Secretaries of India and Bangladesh concluded at New Delhi

14th Meeting of the Home Secretaries of India and Bangladesh was held in New Delhi from July 19 to 22 July 2013. The meet of the home secretaries of the two nations was conducted with an aim of promoting and strengthening, the bilateral relations that exist between India and Bangladesh and to carry forward the relations further. 

The Indian delegation of Home Secretaries was headed by Anil Goswami, Union Home Secretary, Government of India and the Bangladeshi delegation was led by C. Q. K. Mustaq Ahmed, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs and Government of Bangladesh.

Earlier, on 18 July 2013 the 13th JWG meet on security issues was also held between the two nations, in which both the sides discussed upon the issues related to security, border management, incidents of deaths due to firing on the border, implementation of agreements, ratification of the land boundary agreement, visa and consular related matters, capacity building and others.

Puducherry Government listed wine as food item to attract tourists

The Puducherry government on 17 July 2013 delinked wine from the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) category and listed as a food item to attract more tourists to the state.

With the Government’s decision, wine will not flow freely into the town as the ban on sale of wine bottles in general stores will continue as usual and sale will be allowed only in licensed IMFL shops, and hotels.

The government also reduced excise duty on wine to increase the volume of sale.

The decision was taken in accordance with the expectation of tourists from neighbouring areas, who had stopped visiting the town in recent months because of increase in excise duty that took the prices of premium varieties almost equivalent to Tamil Nadu.

Solar Maximum of the Year 2013 was Weakest in 100 years: NASA

The Solar Maximum of the Year 2013 was reported to be the weakest in past 100 years. In the meanwhile, it was explained in the NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center’s report released on 11 July 2013 onSolar Weather Cycle that in the year 2014, the solar maximum could be even more quiescent.

During a Solar Maximum, the number of sunspots increases. These dark temporary regions on the surface of the sun are thought to be caused by interplay between the sun's plasma and its magnetic field. In about every 11 years, the sun goes through a cycle defined by an increasing and then decreasing number of sunspots. Solar Cycle 24 has been underway since 2011 and its peak was expected in 2013, but fewer sunspots were observed this year as compared with the maximums of the last several cycles. 

The sunspots occurring during a calm maximum have the same brightness and area as the ones observed during a more turbulent peak. The quiet maximum is allowing scientists to test their knowledge of how the sun works and hone their predictions of the strength of future solar cycles. 

North-South, or meridional, flows carry magnetic elements from sunspots to the sun's poles, building up the polar magnetic fields until they eventually flip around the time of the solar maximum. Scientists noticed that the strength of the polar fields when a new cycle begins influences the strength of the cycle. For example, weak polar fields observed in 2008 led to the current weak cycle, while strong polar fields in 1986 spawned a strong Cycle 22.

The polar fields have been slowly reversing at this maximum, suggesting that they are not going to get much stronger during Cycle 24. This also sets the stage for an even smaller maximum during Cycle 25. A small Cycle 24 also fits in with a 100-year pattern of building and waning solar cycles. Scientists are not aware about the causes of this trend yet, but it was explained that there were weak solar cycles in the beginning of the 19th and 20th centuries.

AP is top tourist destination in India

With Tirupati hill shrine attracting visitors in hordes, Andhra Pradesh has become the top tourist destination in the country, recording 206.8 million domestic tourists last year, the data available with Union ministry of tourism revealed on 23rd July.

Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh stood at second and third places respectively, with 184.1 million and 168.4 million domestic tourists.

Built in 10th century, the Lord Venkateswara temple, located in Tirumala, near Tirupati town, attracts more tourists than the domestic visitors to Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, which boast of Taj Mahal and Ajanta-Ellora caves respectively, a senior tourism ministry official said. The footfall at domestic tourist destinations across the country witnessed a surge touching 1,036 million compared to 865 million in 2011 -- an increase of 19.87 per cent.

It was 748 million in 2010. Meanwhile, the number of foreign tourist visits (FTVs) to states/UTs registered a growth of 6.33 per cent during the same year. These states accounted for 84.5 per cent of the total number of domestic tourists during 2012. The top 10 states in terms of FTVs in 2012, remained the same as those in 2011 with Maharashtra topping the list.

India's K Jennitha Anto won IPCA World Chess Championship

India's K Jennitha Anto on 24 July 2013 won the 13th IPCA World Women's Individual Chess Championship title. In the event organised by the Interntional Physically Disabled Chess Association, at Velke Losiny in the Czech Republic, she competed in a combined group with men and became the highest scorer among the women players with four and a half points.

For Jennitha, who hails from Tamil Nadu, the win came along with the Woman International Master title. The WIM title would allow her direct entry to many of the National events for women except the premier.

The IPCA event attracted 49 physically challenged players of fifteen countries. Jennitha being a wheel chair player participated in Fide A category and almost all the players are international rated players.

India achieved a record production of pulses

India achieved a record production of 18.45 million tones of pulses in the 2012-13 crop year ended June 2013. This augurs well for the country which is dependent on imports to meet the shortfall of around 3 to 4 million tones. Higher support price prompted farmers to grow pulses. According to the 4th advance estimates released, overall food grain production is projected at 255.36 million tones, which is lower than the record 259.29 million tones achieved in the previous crop year.

In food grains category, rice production has been revised upward to 104.4 million tones from 104.22 million tones and coarse cereals to 40.06 million tones from 39.52 million tones in the third estimates. However, wheat output has been revised downward to 92.46 million tones from 93.62 million tones.

Poverty Ratio of India declined to 21.9 percent in 2011-12: PCI Poverty Estimates Report

Poverty Ratio in India declined to 21.9 percent in 2011-12 from 37.2 percent measured in 2004-05 on the basis of the increase in per capita consumption. The Planning Commission of India on 23 July 2013 released its report on the Poverty Estimates for 2011-12. The report was based on the Large Sample Surveys on Household Consumer Expenditure conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

The National Poverty Line estimated for rural areas during 2011-12 was 816 rupees per capita per month, whereas, for urban areas it was recorded at 1000 rupees per capita per month. Thus, for a family of five, the all India poverty line in terms of consumption expenditure would amount to about 4080 rupees per month in rural areas and 5000 rupees per month in urban areas. These poverty lines would vary from State to State because of inter-state price differentials.

Poverty Estimates 2011-12
1.    The all India poverty ratio is obtained as state-population weighted average poverty ratio, and the all India poverty line is the per capita per month expenditure that corresponds to the all India poverty ratio.
2.    The NSSO tabulates expenditure of about 1.20 lakh households. Since these households have different number of members, the NSSO for purpose of comparison divided the household expenditure by the number of members to arrive at per capita consumption expenditure per month. This is called Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE) and is computed on the basis of three different concepts: 
a)    Uniform Reference Period (URP)
b)    Mixed Reference Period (MRP)
c)    Modified Mixed Reference Period (MMRP). 
3.    The national level poverty ratio based on comparable methodology (Tendulkar Method) for 1993-94, 2004-05 and 2011-12 estimated from Large Sample Survey of Household Consumer Expenditure data of 50th, 61st and 68th round respectively are given in the image.
4.    The percentage of persons below the Poverty Line in 2011-12 has been estimated as 25.7 percent in rural areas, 13.7 percent in urban areas and 21.9 percent for the country as a whole. The respective ratios for the rural and urban areas were 41.8 percent and 25.7 percent and 37.2 percent for the country as a whole in 2004-05. It was 50.1 percent in rural areas, 31.8 percent in urban areas and 45.3 percent for the country as a whole in 1993-94. In 2011-12, India had 270 million persons below the Tendulkar Poverty Line as compared to 407 million in 2004-05, that is a reduction of 137 million persons over the seven year period.
5.    The decline in poverty flows from the increase in real per capita consumption. The per annum increase in real MPCE for each of the ten deciles. The clear inferences are
a)    The real MPCE increased by much more in the second period (2004-05 to 2011-12) as compared to the first (1993-94 to 2004-05)
b)    That the increase was fairly well distributed across all deciles of the population
c)    The distribution was particularly equitable in rural areas

The ratio is based on the methodology that was suggested by the Suresh Tendulkar Committee that suggests the factors in money spent on health and education besides calorie intake to fix a poverty line. As per Tendulkar Methodology, the poverty line has been expressed in terms of MPCE based on Mixed Reference Period. 

Since several representations were made suggesting that the Tendulkar Poverty Line was too low, the Planning Commission, in June 2012, constituted an Expert Group under the Chairmanship of Dr. C. Rangarajan to once again review the methodology for the measurement of poverty. The report on the recommendation on poverty line made by Tendulkar Committee from the Rangarajan committee is likely to be submitted by mid 2014.

Ford Became First Automaker to Participate in Greenhouse Gas Reporting Programme in India

Ford Motor Company joined the Voluntary India Greenhouse Gas Reporting Programme in India on 23 July 2013. Voluntary reporting enables a complete transparency in terms of the carbon dioxide emissions. 

It is important to note that Ford has the objective of bringing down the carbon dioxide emissions at all the global facilities, two of which are in Chennai. The objective is to bring down these emissions by 30 percent per vehicle by the year 2025.

Ford Motor Company also participates in such kinds of programmes in other countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, China and US. With this, Ford has become the first automaker to participate in the Voluntary India Greenhouse Gas Reporting Programme. 

IETE Confers Highest Honour on HRD Minister Dr M.M. Pallam Raju

The Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) has conferred its highest honour ‘The Honorary Fellowship’ on HRD Minister Dr M.M. Pallam Raju for his scientific vision and invaluable contribution to the progress in the field of electronics and telecommunication. The IETE honoured the Minister at a function held in New Delhi yesterday. It earlier conferred on him a ‘Fellow of IETE’ in 2006 on his assumption of charge as Minister of State for Defence. Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad and Temple University, USA, conferred an honorary doctorate and Doctor of Humane Letters respectively in the years 2008 and 2013. On the occasion Dr Pallam Raju said “It is a privilege to be accorded this honour by a distinguished institution such as the IETE. I truly thank the IETE for having considered me worthy of this honour.” 

World's first trip to Moon's South Pole for installation of a Permanent Telescope in 2016

The World's first mission to south pole of the Moon for installation of a permanent telescope on the lunar surface was announced in July 2013. This installation of telescope would aid in the professional and amateur researchers.  The announcement was made during the NASA Lunar Science Institute conference at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. 

This is a private mission and has been announced by the International Lunar Observatory Association and Moon Express, jointly. The mission would be both scientific and commercial and they have planned to deliver the International Lunar Observatory (ILO) aboard a Moon Express robotic lander. 

The mission will be utilised by the Moon Express to explore the South Pole of Moon for mineral resources and water. Earlier, evidences of mineral deposits in moon's southern polar region have been reported during the lunar probes. 

The International Lunar Observatory will set-up a 2 meter dish antenna and this would be the first instrument of the world that will conduct international astrophysical observations and communications from the surface of the moon.  This will be helpful in providing commercial broadcasting and scientific research. It will also enable Galaxy 21st century education and citizen science in the moon. 

The ILO and its precursor will be the first private space telescope to operate from the lunar surface and will have an internet-based access and control system. As per the announcement, the Lunar South Pole mission is expected to start in 2016. Before it, the Moon Express would start sending a series of robotic missions to moon in 2015 to support science, commerce and exploration.

OISD Safety Awards 2011-12; Maximum number of Awards won by HPCL and BPCL

Oil Industry Safety Awards for the year 2011-12 were presented by Union Minister of Petroleum Minister Petroleum & Natural Gas, Veerappa Moily and , Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Panabaaka Lakshmi on 19 July 2013. The award was given to the Chief Executives of Winning Oil & Gas organizations in a ceremony organised by Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD) at New Delhi.

List of the winners for the performance year 2011-12

Sl. No.	Group	Unit Basis	Award winners
1.	Oil & Gas Assets (Onshore)	Onshore assets	ONGC-Rajamundry
2.	Offshore Production Platforms	Production Platform-Pvt/JV companies	BG-Panna
3.	Refineries	Refinery	IOCL-BGR
4.	Other Processing Plants	Processing Plant	GAIL-Lakwa
5.	Cross Country Pipelines	Crude Oil Pipeline	Cairn Barmer-Salaya
6.		Product Pipeline	HPCL-Mundra-Delhi
7.		LPG & Gas Pipeline	GAIL-HVJ
8.	POL Marketing Organizations	Oil Marketing Company-POL	HPCL
9.	LPG Marketing Organizations	Oil Marketing Company-LPG	BPCL
10.	Most consistent Performer	Onshore Oil & Gas asset	ONGC-Rajahmundry
11.	Best Near-Miss Incident	Refinery	Essar Oil Refinery Ltd.
12		Marketing Operations	BPCL
13	Individual Contribution Towards safety	Individual; (Company/Contract Employee)	1.    H.G. Sayyad, LOCO Staff, BPCL-Mumbai Refinery
			2.   B.N. Malleswara Rao, Field Operator, HPCL- Visakh Refinery.
			3.   Amar Singh and Baldev Raj, General   Operators, BPCL- Marketing Jammu Depot.

About the Oil Industry Safety Awards

Oil Industry Safety Awards were initiated by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in 1987. These awards are given to recognize the efforts of Oil & Gas Industry in enhancing safety performance of the oil installations thereby improved productivity, profitability and sustainability. Organisations that have achieved exceptional safety performance are presented with the Safety Award. The criteria for selection of these Awards is based on various parameters like Complexity of the facility, Volumes handled, Safety Management system, Accidents & losses. In totality 16 numbers of Oil Industry Safety Awards were presented for the year 2011-12to the oil industry organizations. OISD Safety Awards also include Individual Awards to the employees & contract workmen who have made significant contribution to enhance safety. For the first time OISD awards were given to the organization reporting highest number of near-miss incidents.

About OISD
MOP&NG (Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas) constituted Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD) in 1986 to enhance safety in Oil & Gas Industry. Oil Industry has immensely benefited from the standards and safety audits carried out by OISD who has been granted ISO 9002 certification recently.