1- HAL signs contract with IAF to supply 14 Dornier-228 aircrafts

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has signed a Rs. 1,090-crore

Dornier-228 aircrafts

contract for supplying 14 Dornier-228 (Do-228) aircraft’s to the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The contract also includes supplying six reserve engines, a flight simulator and associated equipment to IAF.

These 14 aircraft’s will be manufactured by the HAL’s Transport Aircraft Division at Kanpur.

Key facts about Dornier Do-228 aircraft

• The Dornier Do-228 was designed and developed by Dornier GmbH in the late 1970s.
• The aircraft cockpit allows for two-person operation and can carry 19 passengers in the commuter version.
• It is reliable, multipurpose and fuel efficient aircraft.
• It has special feature to operate from smaller airfields because of its light weight design and a retractable tricycle landing gear.

HAL Dornier-228 production background

• HAL holds the license to locally produce the Do-228 aircraft. Since 1983, HAL has produced more than 125 Do-228 aircraft.
• Earlier, HAL had supplied this aircraft to Indian Armed Forces and also exported them to Indian Ocean nations of Seychelles and Mauritius.
• In 2014, HAL had supplied one Do-228 aircraft to Bangalore-based Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE) for testing its new radars on flight.

2- Kolkata becomes India’s first Wi-Fi-enabled metro city

Kolkata has become India’s first Wi-Fi-enabled metro city as the

Wi-Fi-enabled metro city

service was launched from Park Street in city.

This 4th Generation (4G) free Wi-fi service was launched by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Free Wi-fi service will be will be rolled out in phased manner in all the wards under Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) as well as adjacent areas of Kolkata. The whole city is expected to come under Wi-Fi coverage by mid-April in 2015.

3- Private telecom operator, Reliance Jio is providing the 4G enabled service Wi-fi s in the city.

Eminent Marathi writer Bhalchandra Nemade selected for Jnanpith Award 2014

Eminent Marathi writer Bhalchandra Nemade has been selected

Bhalchandra Nemade

for Jnanpith Award 2014.

He is the 4th Marathi writer to receive the honour and is the 50th recipient of Jnanpith award.

With this award he joined the league of noted Marathi writers who have won Jnanpith award. They are

• Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar (1974) for his work Yayati.
• Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar (1987). He is famously known as Kusumagraj.
• Vinda Karandikar (2003).

 About Bhalchandra Nemade

• He was born in 1938 in the village of Jalgoan district of Maharashtra.
• He completed his bachelor’s degree from Fergusson College, Pune and received PhD and D.Lit. degrees from North Maharashtra University.
• He has taught English, Marathi, and comparative literature at various universities including the School of Oriental and African Studies at London and retired from Mumbai University’s Gurudeo Tagore Chair for comparative literature studies.
• In the 1960s, he had edited Marathi magazine Vacha.

His work

• Novel Collection-Kosla, Bidhar, Hool, Jarila, Jhool, Hindu- Jagnyachi Samruddha Adgal.
• Poem Collection-Melody, Dekhani.
• Criticism Collection-Teekaswayamvar, Sahityachi Bhasha, Tukaram, The Influence of English on Marathi : A Sociolinguistic and Stylistic Study, Indo-Anglian Writings: Two Lectures, Prasaranga Prakashan, Mysore, Nativism (Desivad).

Awards- He has received Sahitya Akademi Award (1990) for his critical work Teeka Svayanwar. He is also recipient of Padma Shri (2011).

About Jnanpith Award

• Jnanpith award is one of the prestigious literary awards in India. The name of award is taken from Sanskrit words Jnana and Pitha (knowledge-seat).
• It was instituted in 1961 and presented by Bharatiya Jnanpith, a trust founded by the Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain family.
• The award is given to any Indian citizen who writes in any 22 official languages of India mentioned in VIII Schedule of Constitution of India. The award includes 11 lakh rupees and a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Saraswati.
• Prior to 1982, the award was only given for a single work by a writer. But since 1982, the award is given for lifetime contribution to Indian literature.

4- Tunisia Parliament approves first coalition government after Arab Spring

Tunisia Parliament has approved the first historic coalition

Tunisia Parliament

government after the Arab spring.

In this regard, 166 out of 204 Members of Parliament (MPs) voted in favor of the new cabinet proposed by the Prime Minister Habib Essid. The new coalition Government comprised of liberal Nida Tounes party, moderate Islamist Ennahda party and the Free Patriotic party.

In the coalition government, Nidaa Tounes party holds 6 portfolios, including the foreign ministry. While, the interior, defence and justice portfolios have been given to independents. Ennahda party holds labour ministry and three secretary of state posts.

Background

In October election 2014, Nidaa Tounes party had won the most seats in country’s first free presidential and Parliamentary elections in the wake of 2011 Arab Spring. They had formed a coalition government after the election. While, Beji Caid Essebsi was elected as President.

Arab Spring– Tunisia was birth place of Arab Spring which started in 2011 to overthrow country’s longtime dictator Ben Ali. Later it spread to many parts of the Arab countries like Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen.

In every country except Tunisia the revolution had turned violent. In case of Syria it turned into civil war.

5- US President appoints Ajay Banga as member of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations

United States (US) President Barack Obama has appointed

Ajay Banga

Indian CEO Ajay Banga as member of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN).

ACTPN is the US president’s private-sector advisory panel on international trade and helps him to coordinate trade  related policies and resolve disagreements.

This appointment came along with several other appointments to key US administration posts.

About Ajay Banga

• At present, Ajay Banga is chairman of the US India Business Council.
• Since 2009, he is president and CEO of MasterCard. Prior to joining MasterCard, he had held various senior management roles in Citigroup from 1996 to 2009 and has served as CEO of Citigroup Asia Pacific.
• Ajay Banga also served as Director for Marketing and Business Development at PepsiCo Restaurants International India from 1994 to 1996.
• He had started his career at Nestle India, where he served in various sales and management roles from 1981 to 1994.
• At present he is a member of the Board of Directors of MasterCard and The Dow Chemical Company.
• He holds a postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM) from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A). He also has received a BA degree from St Stephen’s College of Delhi University.

6- Micromax appoints Shubhajit Sen as new chief marketing officer

India’s largest mobile vendor, Micromax has appointed Shubhajit

Sen as its chief marketing officer (CMO).

His appointment seeks to boost its marketing efforts as it looks to further improve its position in the surging smartphone market in the country.

As the CMO, Sen will be leading all marketing efforts for the company across markets while strengthening the overall brand communication.

About Shubhajit Sen

He is an economics graduate from Delhi University and holds a postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM) from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

He had started his career in 1992 with Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) as a management trainee and advanced through the organization. He has rich experience of 21 years with GSK in both national and global operations.

Prior to this appointment, he was the executive vice president- marketing of GSK.

7- Symposium: Towards Zero Poaching in Asia concludes in Nepal

A symposium, Towards Zero Poaching in Asia concluded in Kathmandu, Nepal on 6th February 2015.

Symposium: Towards Zero Poaching in Asia

Symposium: Towards

• This five-day anti-poaching symposium started on 2 February 2015, was hosted by the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation of Nepal.
• It was co-hosted by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Global Tiger Forum (GTF), National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) and South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN)
• This event had brought together global anti-poaching experts and delegates from countries like Bangaladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.
• In this event, experts shared best anti-poaching practices, tools and technologies with the aim of launching a coordinated Asia-wide push to stop poaching.
• Among the Tiger Range Countries that participated in this Zero Poaching in Asia symposium, Nepal is the only country to achieve zero poaching.

Nepal’s achievement of Zero-poaching

• Nepal had celebrated two zero poaching years i.e. in 2011 and 2014.
• In both years no single critically endangered rhino was killed and for past three years not a single tiger was killed.
• Nepal was able to achieve remarkable success in wildlife conservation mainly due to its three C policies, commitment, collaboration and coordination of conservation efforts undertaken by local communities and the security forces.

Nepal’s wildlife

• Nepal, which shares the Terai Arc landscape with India, has rich bio-diversity and rare flora and fauna. It is home to endangered animals like tigers, rhinos, elephants and gangetic dolphins.
• It has 10 national parks, three wildlife reserves and six conservation areas that cover more than 13,000 square miles in total.  As per the previous animal census there are 534 endangered rhinos and 198 tigers in Nepal.
• Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) is Nepal’s nodal agency to monitor its rich biodiversity.

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