India confirms seven payloads for Chandrayaan-2

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that a national committee of experts has finalised seven payloads that will go on the second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, sometime in 2013. Three of the seven payloads are new.

Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft would have an orbiter (satellite), a lander and a rover, is planned to be launched onboard Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in 2013.

While the lander would be provided by Russia, the orbiter and rover are being built by Bangalore-headquartered ISRO. Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft weighs about 2,650 kg at lift-off of which the orbiter's weight is about 1,400 kg and lander about 1,250 kg.

After detailed deliberations and considering the mission needs, weight and power available for scientific payloads, the committee has recommended five payloads to be flown on the orbiter, of which three are new and two are improved versions of payloads flown earlier on Chandrayaan-1 orbiter.

The five recommended payloads of Chandrayaan-2 orbiter include:

- Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS) from ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore and Solar X-ray monitor (XSM) from Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad for mapping major elements present on the lunar surface.

- L and S band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) from Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad for probing the first few tens of metres of the lunar surface for the presence of different constituents, including water ice. SAR is expected to provide further evidence confirming the presence of water ice below the shadowed regions of the moon.

- Imaging IR Spectrometer (IIRS) from SAC, Ahmedabad for mapping of lunar surface over a wide wavelength range for the study of minerals, water molecules and hydroxyl present.

- Neutral Mass Spectrometer (ChACE-2) from Space Physics Laboratory (SPL), Thiruvananthapuram to carry out a detailed study of the lunar exosphere.
- Terrain Mapping Camera-2 (TMC-2) from SAC, Ahmedabad for preparing a 3D map essential for studying the lunar mineralogy and geology.

In addition, the committee recommended two scientific payloads on the rover of Chandrayaan-2. The two scientific payloads on Chandrayaan-2 rover are Laser induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) from Laboratory for Electro Optic Systems (LEOS), Bangalore and Alpha Particle Induced X-ray Spectroscope (APIXS) from PRL, Ahmedabad. Both instruments are expected to carry out elemental analysis of the lunar surface near the landing site.

Source: TOI

The Personal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2010

The President has assented to the Personal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2010 on 31st August, 2010 and it is published in the Gazette of India as Act 30 of 2010 on 1st September, 2010. The Act has amended the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956.

The Act is aimed at bringing gender equality in the matter of guardianship under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 and in the matter of giving in or taking in adoption a son or a daughter by father or mother under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. 

Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 & Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 were amended to include mother as Guardian along with father. 


Earlier these laws incapacitated a married woman from taking in adoption merely on the basis of her marital status or curtailed the right of mother to give in adoption if father is alive or is of sound mind or has not renounced the world completely and finally. This was discriminatory in nature.

National River Conservation Plan

  River conservation activities such as creation of civic infrastructure for sewage management and disposal are also being implemented under other central schemes, such as Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns, as well as under state schemes.

Conservation of rivers involves collective efforts of the Central and State Governments. The Central Government is supplementing the efforts of the State Governments in river conservation.


The Central Government , in February 2009, has set up the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) as an empowered planning, financial, monitoring and coordinating authority to ensure effective abatement of pollution and conservation of the river Ganga by adopting a holistic approach with the river basin as the unit of planning.

Discharge of untreated wastewater constitutes the major source of pollution load for the rivers. Drawing water for irrigation, drinking, industrial use, power etc. are other aspects which compounds the challenge to maintain flow in the rivers and cleaning the rivers. Interception and diversion of sewage and setting up of Sewage Treatment Plants have therefore been among the main components of pollution abatement schemes under the National River Conservation Plan

Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission & Portal

  Gandhi Heritage Sites (GHS) Panel was chaired by Shri Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the then Governor of West Bengal, with eminent Gandhians as Members like Ms. Nirmala Deshpande, Shri B.R. Nanda, Shri. Narain Desai, Shri Ranesh Ray and Shri Ramachandra Guha and Officers of the Government of India.
The major recommendations of the Panel were the setting up of the Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission with five Zonal Centers, and setting up of a Gandhi Heritage Sites Portal in Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust (SAPMT) at Ahmedabad.

The Panel recommended setting up of the Portal at Sabarmati Ashram.  All documents related to Gandhiji in India and abroad will be compiled in the Portal which will serve as an Electronic Library of Gandhiji’s life and achievements. The central objective of the Portal is to preserve and perpetuate his invaluable heritage with proper research, in an authentic manner.

The Portal will be regularly updated by the SAPMT to ensure that all relevant details on Gandhiji are incorporated in one site which will be unique in more senses one. It will be interactive and provide a virtual walk–through to an incomparably distinguished leader, whom the Nation and the entire International community looks up to with reverence, admiration and gratitude.

  The Mission will be assisted by the existing Zonal Cultural Centers – SZCC Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu), NCZCC, Allahabad (U.P), SEZCC Nagpur, EZCC Kolkata and WZCC, Udaipur which will be provided additional officers and a fixed budget outlay. The Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission will be headed by the Chairperson who will be the eminent Gandhian and the Director of the Mission will be an officer of the rank of Joint Secretary.

The Mission will initiate conservation/restoration and preservation of Gandhi Heritage Sites which will be an ongoing exercise.

The Panel has recommended 39 Core Sites which include Porbandar and Rajkot sites of the childhood period, Tilak Ghat, Chennai, Mani Bhavan, Mumbai, Beliaghata, Kolkata, the venue in Madurai where Gandhiji took to the loin-cloth, the prison cell in Yeravda Jail, Pune, and the prison room in Aga Khan Palace (Pune) etc.

“Gandhi Heritage sites” refers to two indivisible yet distinct forms of “heritage” - the tangible heritage in terms of structures and sites on the one hand, and the legacy and of texts and visuals on the other, consisting of published and unpublished documents, non-text photographs and audio-visual footage. 

The list of Gandhi Heritage Sites has covered almost every single place visited and associated with Gandhiji from 1869 to 1948, in India, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Mauritius, Burma (Myanmar), Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and venues in what now form parts of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The Comprehensive Master List is being published by the Publications Division (I&B Ministry) with support worth 21.55 Lakhs rupees from Ministry of Culture.

Handicrafts - a overview

Paintings & Murals

S.No.	Name of the Panel	State
1.	Mural Dhokra Panels	Chhattisgarh
2.	Gond Painting	Madhya Pradesh
3.	Warli Painting	Maharashtra
4.	Santhal Painting	West Bengal
5.	Mural Glazed Terracotta Tiles	West Bengal
6.	Patua Painting	West Bengal
7.	Pithora Painting	Gujarat
8.	Cherial scroll Painting	Andhra Pradesh
9.	Mural Terracotta tiles	Molella, Rajasthan
10.	Kalamkari	Tamilnadu
11.	Mata-Ne-Pachedi	Ahmadabad Gujarat
12.	Rogan work	Gujarat
13.	Mural Ceramic Tiles	Delhi
14.	Hase Chitra	Karnataka
15.	Mithila Painting	Madhubani, Bihar
16.	Godna Painting	Madhubani, Bihar
17.	Mural Terracotta tiles	Orissa
18.	Kali Ghat Painting	West Bengal
19.	Phat Painting	Rajasthan
20.	Patta Chitra	Orissa
21.	Mural Sanjhi Art	Rajasthan
22.	Stone Dust Painting	Delhi
23.	Kotah School Painting	Rajasthan
24.	Chamba School Painting	Chamba, Himachal Pradesh
25.	Mural Camel Bone	Delhi
26.	Kishan Garh School Painting	Rajasthan
27.	Thangka Style Painting	Rajasthan
28.	Mewar School Painting	Rajasthan
29.	Mural Brass Embossed	Delhi
30.	Tanjore Painting	Tamilnadu
31.	Straw Work	Kerala
32.	Tussar Painting	Orissa

Hand Crafted

S.No.	Name of the Panel	State
1.	Kani Weave	J&K
2.	Chain Stitch Embroidery	J&K
3.	Phulkari Embroidery	Punjab
4.	Chiken Embroidery	Lucknow(UP)
5.	Chamba Rumal Embroidery	H.P.
6.	Folk Embroidery	Kutch, Guj.
7.	Folk Embroidery	Barmer(Raj)
8.	Kasuti Embroidery	Karnataka
9.	Block Printing	Bagru(Raj)
10.	Tie & Dye	Rajasthan
11.	Applique work	Gujarat
12.	Bagh Print	Bagh(MP)
13.	Ajarakh Print	Kutch(Guj.)
14.	Parsi Embroidery	Delhi
15.	Kantha Embroidery	West Bengal
16.	Tie & Dye	Gujarat

Hand Woven

S.No.	Name of the Panel	State
1.	Kanchipuram Saree	Tamilnadu
2.	Paithani Weave	Maharashtra
3.	Banaras Brocade	U.P.
4.	Jamdani Weave	West Bengal
5.	Baluchar Weave	West Bengal
6.	Patola Weave	Gujarat
7.	Viman Saree	Orissa
8.	Vichitrapuri Saree	Orissa
9.	Shawl	Manipur
10.	Shawl	Nagaland

Protocol for Avoidance of Double Taxation between India and Switzerland

Republic of India and the Swiss Federal Council have signed a Protocol which will amend the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between the two countries (DTAA). The amended DTAA shall come into operation after it enters into force on completion of internal process by Switzerland side.

Salient features of this Protocol are:

• Article on Exchange of Information has been amended to bring it in line with international standards
• · Under the current DTAA between India and Switzerland, India has not been able to obtain banking information from Switzerland. The protocol now seeks to amend the Article concerning Exchange of Information to enable exchange of such information.
• · Information which is foreseeable relevant for carrying out the provisions of this agreement or to the administration or enforcement of the domestic laws concerning taxes can be exchanged under the DTAA, whereas earlier information which was relevant only for carrying out the provisions of DTAA could be exchanged.
• · Information exchanged is to be used for tax purpose only. However, the new Article also provides for use of information by such other purposes which are allowed under the laws of both States and the competent authority of the supplying State authorizes such use.
• · There is a specific provision to ensure that information will be exchanged even if there is no domestic interest.
• · There is a specific provision for providing banking and ownership information.
• · The new provision will be applicable only for prospective information and not for past information.
• At present the income from international shipping are not covered under the DTAA. This is now sought to be included in the DTAA by providing for residence based taxation for shipping income from international traffic.
• Our earlier treaties used to cover tax sparing provisions where if the income is exempt in one country, the other country used to provide corresponding relief even if such taxes are not paid due to exemption. However, India no longer supports this method and is moving away from profit based exemption. Tax sparing (to the extent of 10% of interest income) is currently there in the existing DTAA. Therefore, it is sought to be deleted in the Article concerning elimination of double taxation.
• Article on Non-discrimination is sought to be amended to provide that difference in tax rate of resident taxpayer and Permanent Establishment of non-resident tax payer should not be more than 10%.
• Recognised pension fund or scheme is included in the definition of resident to enable them to get benefit of the DTAA.
• A provision for Limitation of Benefit is sought to be introduced to prevent misuse of treaty benefits on dividend, interest, royalty, fee for technical services and other income.

Flood Relief Aid for Pakistan

As a more concrete assessment of the damage inflicted by this natural disaster and the urgent needs of the people of Pakistan emerges, Government has decided to increase its assistance to Pakistan from 5 million US Dollars, announced earlier, to 25 million US Dollars. Out of this amount, 20 million US Dollars would be contributed to the ‘Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan’ launched by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The balance of 5 million US Dollars would be contributed to the World Food Programme for its relief efforts in Pakistan.

MOEF to Declare Elephant as National Heritage Animal

The Ministry of Environment and Forests will declare elephant as a National Heritage Animal. The Ministry will also set up National Elephant Conservation Authority to give same degree of visibility, importance and criticality as much as given to National Tiger Conservation Authority. 

 The Task Force has addressed the main concerns of the issue. They include elephant corridors in context of mining, power and irrigation projects, of protection of elephant corridors, elephant in captivity, institutional changes in order to put elephant conservation on high, sound footing and give same degree of visibility as Project Tiger gets.

The Minister also welcomes the suggestion to organize an International Elephant Conference in 2011. Referring to damage to crops and plantations in various states, he said the identification of high conflict areas between man and animal will help in early conflict management work. He added, “ Two agencies, Railways and Power Grid Corporation will play an important role in halting damage to elephants.”

The National Heritage Animal status would be a befitting thing to this because it unifies both culture and ecology. Survival of animal depends on partnership with people. An education and outreach programme called ‘Gaja to Praja’ is required to educate peopleto save elephants.”

The Task Force recommends a new system of assessment at three tiers. Crisis of elephant is not a crisis of extinction but a crisis of attrition. The crisis has to be looked into the conservation of habitat. Rationalise the boundaries after proper biological assessment, prioritize corridors out of 88 cirridors, immidiate implementation in 26 corridors which has vital feasibility, 50 years Perspective Plans instead of five year management planasas this is a long lived species, inclusion of people who are knowledge bearers outside the government are few suggestions that the Task Force has made.

The task force stresses that the animal should be monitored on an age-sex classification. An age-sex classification is necessary as there is a low male-female sex ratio of elephants in the wild. It also adds that reserves and corridors should be protected from developmental projects, and special attention should be paid to the conflict between humans and elephants as almost 400 people are killed protecting the cops every year from human-elephant conflict in India.

About 400 human beings are killed per year by this animal and fifty-thousand people suffer due to them. India has some 3500 animals in captivity.

Railways’ New ‘R3i policy’

 New R3i policy (Railways’ Infrastructure for Industry Initiative) which was recently formulated by the Ministry of Railways is aimed at attracting private sector participation in rail connectivity projects so that additional rail transport capacity can be created. The primary objective of this policy is to retain and increase rail share in freight traffic. It also aims at making rail option more competitive for prospective customers by sharing their burden in getting rail connectivity and allowing them to get a share in the freight revenues generated through freight traffic moving via new line. This policy shall not be applicable to lines intending to provide connectivity to coal mines and iron ore mines directly or indirectly.

Only those new line proposals which are 20 kms or more in length excluding the length of siding which may take off from this line) shall be eligible under this policy. The policy allows for four models viz., (a) Cost sharing-freight rebate model, (b) Full contribution- Apportioned earning Model, (c) the SPV model and, (d) the Private Line Model.

With the Indian economy growing at a rate of 8 per cent over the past few years, new areas are opening for investment many of which do not have any rail connectivity. These have significant potential for freight traffic and therefore Indian railways has to be proactive in seizing these opportunities in order that the high rate of growth of freight traffic in the last few years can be sustained. However, with too many competing demands, resources are a constraint and alternative sources of funding through private sector participation must be explored and encouraged. This policy explores such alternative sources.

HM’s Statement on Inclusion of Bhojpuri & Rajasthani Languages in the Eighth Schedule

The Union Home Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram made a statement in the Parliament on the need to include Bhojpuri and Rajasthani languages in the Eighth schedule to the Constitution. Following is the text of the Minister’s statement:

“No criteria has been laid down in the Constitution for inclusion of languages in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India. At present, 22 languages have been included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India. Of these, 14 languages were initially included in the Constitution. Sindhi language was included in 1967. Thereafter, three more languages viz., Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were included in the year 1992. Subsequently, Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali languages were added in the year 2004. The basis for inclusion of these languages in the Eighth Schedule were the circumstances and demands of the people, existing at that point of time.

At present, demands for inclusion of 38 more languages including Bhojpuri and Rajasthani in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution are pending.

India and Switzerland Sign Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement

A protocol amending the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement was signed here today between Republic of India and Swiss Federal Council. The Signing ceremony was held at the Ministry of Finance, North Block, New Delhi. The protocol was signed for the Republic of India by Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister while the Swiss Federal Council Foreign Minister, Ms. Micheline Calmy-Rey signed for the other side. Shri Ashok Chawla, Finance Secretary, Shri Sunil Mitra, Revenue Secretary, Dr. Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Advisor from Indian side and Ambassador Philippe Welti, Ambassador George Marlin amonth others were present from Swiss side.

Nobel Medicine Prize - 2009

This year’s Nobel Prize is awarded to three scientists (Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak ) who have solved one of biology’s great mysteries: How are the chromosomes that carry our genes copied in their entirety during cell division and protected against breakdown? The Nobel Laureates have shown that the answer lies in the chromosomes’ ends – the telomeres – and in the enzyme that forms them – telomerase.

Telomerase and cancer

Most normal cells seldom divide. Their chromosomes do not become too short and their telomerase does not have to be particularly active. Cancer cells, on the other hand, have an unlimited capacity to divide. But how can they retain their telomeres and escape senescence?

It has been shown that 80 to 90 percent of all cancer cells have abnormally high telomerase activity. This prevents them from losing their telomeres despite going through many cell replication cycles. Scientists believe that successive telomere shortening in normal cells can be an important protective mechanism to counteract the uncontrolled cell division that characterizes cancer.

This has aroused hope that it will be possible to treat cancer by blocking telomerase, using either substances that inhibit telomerase activity, or vaccines that cause the immune system to to attack cells with excessive telomerase activity. Several such vaccines are currently being tested in clinical trials on humans.

But many problems remain to be overcome before telomerase can be an effective target for cancer therapy. Merely reducing telomerase activity may not be enough, because some cancer cells have found alternative means of producing telomeres, independent of telomerase. There is also a risk of damage to healthy cells in which high telomerase activity is normal, particularly stem cells.

The importance of functional telomeres in the body’s stem cells is illustrated by the fact that several congenital diseases arise because of defective telomerase. These include some severe forms of inherited anemia, where inadequate replication of stem cells in bone marrow leads to a lack of red blood cells. Certain inherited diseases of the skin and lung are also related to telomerase defects.

For more details: visit Nobel Prize website

Nobel Chemistry Prize - 2009

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2009 jointly to Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath, "for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome".

The Ribosome – a complex structure

The human body is built from approximately one hundred thousand billion cells. Each cell contains thousands of ribosomes, which are composed of a small and a large subunit. The subunits are built from rRNA-molecules, constructed from nucleotides, and proteins, made from amino acids. Nucleotides and amino acids, in turn, are built from atoms. In all, a ribosome is built from hundreds of thousands of atoms.

The ribosome connects about ten amino acids per second
Thomas Steitz has taken snapshots of different steps in the chemical reaction where amino acids are connected. The reaction is catalysed by the large subunit. Thanks to work of Thomas Steitz, scientists now know which atoms in the ribosome are involved in the various reaction steps.

Proteins control life

In the human body there are tens of thousands of proteins that build and control life at the chemical level. Examples of proteins are oxygen-transporting haemoglobin, hormones such as insulin and the antibodies of the immune system. Proteins are built from 20 different kinds of amino acids which are linked together in long chains. A protein chain can consist of anything from ten to tens of thousands of amino acids.



The ribosome – a target for new antibiotics
Today, humans have an arsenal of different antibiotics which can be used in the fight against disease-generating bacteria. Many of these antibiotics kill bacteria by blocking the functions of their ribosomes. However, bacteria have become resistant to most of these drugs at an
ominous rate. Therefore we need new ones.

This year’s three Nobel Laureates in chemistry have all produced structures that show how different antibiotics bind to the ribosome. Some of them block the tunnel through which the growing proteins leave the ribosome, others prevent the formation of the peptide bond between amino acids. Still others corrupt the translation from DNA/RNA-language into protein language.

Several companies now use the structures of the ribosome in order to develop new antibiotics. Some of these are currently undergoing clinical tests, in order to come to grips with the problem of multiresistant bacteria (e.g. MRSA).

Nobel Physics Prize - 2009

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2009 with one half to Charles K. Kao, "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibres for optical communication" and the other half jointly to Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith "for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor".

Half of the prize is awarded to Charles Kao who made a discovery that led to a breakthrough for fibre-optic communication. Today optical fibres make up the circulatory system that nourishes our information society. Light flows in threads of glass, as thin as a hair, which carries almost all of the telephony and data traffic in each and every direction. Without optical fibres there would be no internet nor broadband. A large share of the traffic is made up of digital images, which constitute the second part of the award. In 1969 Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith invented the first successful imaging technology using a digital sensor, a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device). The CCD revolutionized photography, as light could now be captured electronically instead of on film.

The image sensor, CCD, is the advanced digital camera's electronic eye. Incoming light releases electrons in the CCD's photocells, the pixels. The more light, the more electrons are collected in the pixels.

The CCD array is read out row by row. Electrons slide off the array onto an electronic conveyor belt and are subsequently translated into digital ones and zeros. This digital form makes it easy to manipulate and transfer the images.

Every pixel is a silicon mini-capacitor built in layers that collects the electrons. A variable electric voltage is used for reading out the pixels. In this simple but ingenious way, almost the entire area of the sensor is used to collect light, creating the high performance of the CCD.