Union Budget Highlights 2015 :-
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28 February observed as National Science Day
- Every year February 28 is celebrated as the National Science Day i.e. Rashtriya Vigyan Diwas (राष्ट्रीय विज्ञान दिवस).
- In 2015, the theme of the day is “Science for Nation Building”. This year’s theme has been chosen for the purpose of raising public appreciation on scientific issues for the development of nation.
National Science Day is celebrated because:-
- This day marks the epoch-making discovery of Raman Effect by Indian physicist Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (CV Raman) on February 28, 1928.
- In 1930, for this discovery he was awarded with the Nobel Prize in Physics.
- In 1986, National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) demanded the Union Government to assign February 28 every year as the ‘National Science Day’ for India.
- In 2000, the first National Science Day was celebrated on February 28, 2000.
- In 2013, the American Chemical Society designated the ‘Raman Effect’ as an International Historic Chemical Landmark.
Haryana Government increases cash reward for inter-caste marriage
- Haryana government has decided to increase the cash reward under the inter-caste marriage scheme from 50,000 to 1 lakh rupees.
- This decision was taken by state level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee meeting held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at Chandigarh.
- The increased cash reward for inter-caste marriage will be provided through bank accounts opened under the Pradhanmantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY).
About Inter-caste marriage scheme
- The scheme was constituted under Rule 16 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
- It aims to remove caste discrimination from society by providing support to inter caste marriage scheme.
First Assamese dictionary for Science and Technology terms released
First Assamese dictionary for Science and Technology terms
was released recently. It was released by Dr Alok Kumar Buragohain, Vice Chancellor of Dibrugarh
University.
Important points
- This dictionary is prepared by Asomiya Jatiya Abhidhan (AJA) and consists of over 40,000 words compiled in total 160-pages.
- First of kind Science and Technology dictionary in Assamese language is considered as a milestone in development of this language.
- It also seeks to make scientific terminology simple and easily understandable by the people and particularly by students.
- This scientific terminology dictionary covers almost all streams of science, including Physics,Chemistry, Botany, Geography, Computer Science, Zoology, Mathematics, Geology, Statistics and Astronomy among others.
Farmers open to ‘Khet Heen Kisan’
- There was positive response from the farming community to the proposed ‘Khet Heen Kisan’ initiative, with a majority of farmers stating that it would do wonders if implemented successfully.
- This scheme is for the financial assistance to those farmers who do not own their lands.
- Organising farmers into groups and extending financial assistance to them through NABARD to take up farming will yield good results provided the government backs every group till results are achieved.
Annual exercise TROPEX 2015 of Indian Navy concludes
- Indian Navy’s Theatre Level Readiness and Operational Exercise (TROPEX) exercise concluded on 27 February 2015.
- TROPEX-2015 was a month long exercise aimed at validating the Indian Navy’s Concept of Operations and the area of operations spanned the Arabian Sea and Northern Indian Ocean.
- It also encompassed all dimensions of maritime warfare.
Key facts about TROPEX-2015
- In TROPEX-2015, around 50 ships and submarines, along with 70 aircrafts from the three Naval Commands participated.
- It also saw the participation of units from the India Air Force and the Indian Coast Guard.
- In the month long exercise, Indian Navy had deployed two Carrier Task Forces simultaneously at sea. It saw participation of both INS Viraat and INS Vikramaditya with their integral flights in an operational scenario.
- TROPEX 2015 also saw extensive deployment of the nuclear submarine INS Chakra, the recently inducted P8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft.
- Recently commissioned guided missile destroyer Kolkata and Anti-Submarine Warfare corvette Kamorta also took part in it.
- TROPEX-15 provided a reinforce platform for Indian Navy’s offensive capabilities across all dimensions. It also included Network Centric Operations (NCO) by using indigenous satellite Rukmani.
- It also provided, Navy platform for its Op Logistics capability to effectively sustain Fleet Operations for extended period’s at large distances.
Three-point action plan to realise ‘Make in India’ dream
- The non-controversial response lies in improving the business environment by making regulations and taxes less onerous, building infrastructure, reforming labour laws, and enabling connectivity.
- The next response could be in the form of ‘industrial policy’. This could focus on promoting manufacturing by providing subsidies, lowering the cost of capital, and creating special economic zones (SEZs) for manufacturing activity.
- This could focus on promoting manufacturing by providing subsidies, lowering the cost of capital, and creating special economic zones (SEZs) for manufacturing activity.
IRCTC partners with Amazon.in for online shopping
- Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has partnered with e-commerce giant Amazon.in to provide convenient online shopping experience and sell various products.
- With this tie-up, IRCTC is going to offer its customers (especially Indian railways passengers) with seamless online shopping opportunities in addition to booking travel tickets and hotel accommodations.
- In this regard IRCTC is going to provide Amazon.In a link on the IRCTC website (www.irctc.co.in).
- Thus IRCTC customers and Indian railways passengers who access the IRCTC portal now can buy wide range of products from Amazon’s wide distribution network. The products will be consumer electronics, apparel, bags to toys, exotic food products, books, shoes.
- It will also include pet supplies, musical instruments, personal hygiene products and many more products.
Justice Amitava Roy sworn in as Supreme Court judge
- Justice Amitava Roy was sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court (SC). Prior to this, he served as the Chief Justice of Odisha High Court.
- With his elevation, the strength of the SC judges has gone up to 29. SC has a sectioned strength of 31 judges. He will have tenure of three years.
- It should be noted that Amitava Roy was appointed as judge of SC through traditional collegium system rather than newly created National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).