GK and Current Affairs Updates

Civil Nuclear Deal which was initiated between India and Australia on the sidelines of G20 summit, has come into its final picture. Both counteries have completed the formalities of this deal finally. According to this deal Australia will supply Uranium to India for our energy needs.Australia has got 40% of the world's uranium. 

About of the deal: India is not a signatory of Non-Proliferation treaty.This treaty assures the safe use of Uranium by allowing the International agency for regular checks of the Nuclear power plant.Thus, Australia was hesitating to sign the deal with India.But after seeing the India's past record deal is cracked. India has also applied for its membership in Nuclear Suppliers Group for gaining assurance of the world.

Weighing 3,164 kg at lift-off, GSAT-15 is a high power satellite being inducted into the INSAT/GSAT system. According to ISRO - Indian Space Research Organisation  it carries a total of 24 communication transponders in Ku-band as well as a GPS-Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload operating in L1 and L5 bands.GSAT-15 is the 3rd satellite to carry GAGAN payload after GSAT-8 and GSAT-10, which are already providing navigation services from orbit. It also carries a Ku-band beacon as well to help in accurately pointing ground antennas towards the satellite.GSAT-15 will be the 19th payload launched by Arianespace for ISRO.

ISRO(Indian Reasearch Space Organization)
- The space research activities were initiated in our country during the early 1960’s.
- Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the founding father of Indian space programme.
- Bhaskara-I & II missions were pioneering steps in the remote sensing area.
- Vision: to harness space technology for national development, while pursuing space science research and planetary exploration.
- Mission:
a. Design and development of launch vehicles and related technologies for providing access to space.
b. Design and development of satellites and related technologies for earth observation, communication, navigation, meteorology and space science.
c. Indian National Satellite (INSAT) programme for meeting telecommunication, television broadcasting and developmental applications.
d. Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) programme for management of natural resources and monitoring of environment using space based imagery.
e. Space based Applications for Societal development and Disaster Management Support.
f. Research and Development in space science and planetary exploration. 
- Achievements during 90's:
a. Indian National Satellite system (INSAT)
b. Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) system. 
c. Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) 
d. Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board (TNUSRB) is to hire the country’s first transgender police officer.Bench led by Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, instructed TNUSRB to add transgenders as a “third category”.Government had to provide transgender people with quotas in jobs and education same as with other minorities also the key amenities.Yashini’s application for the post was initially rejected led her to move the High Court.Prithika Yashini was born as a boy named Pradeep Kumar but met with gender reassignment surgery to become a police sub-inspector.
Other achievements by Transgender in India
India’s first transgender principal
Manabi Bandyopadhyay is the professor(Krishnagar Women’s College) and first transgender person in India who has completed Doctor of Philosophy in West Bengal’s Nadia District.
Laws regarding Trans genders
- Adoption is permissible to transgender people.
- They have Right to change legal gender.
- No Equal age of consent.
- No Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services.
- Supreme Court recognized transgenders as 'third gender'.Now ,they will be allowed admission in educational institutions and given employment on the basis that they belonged to the third gender category.
- In April, Rajya Sabha passes historic private Bill to promote transgender rights. Still the bill has not cleared.

Kerala is hosting the country’s first  global conference on gender equality titled “International Conference on Gender Equality” (ICGE -1) from November 12-14 in Kovalam.
The motive behind this conference is to reduce gender inequality in India and increase female work participation rates.
Participants – Hundreds of scholars and policymakers from the country and around 40 from overseas.
Organisers – Green Park, an institution under the Kerala Government in association with UN Women.Green Park is responsible for the successful all-women cab service “She Taxi”.
Theme – Gender, Governance and Inclusion.The theme of the conference focuses on the urgent need for a transformative agenda to move towards greater inclusion and gender equality.
Important Issues to be discussed
Concerns on the status of women, issues relating to transgenders and other sexual minorities in the country.Issues like citizenship, globalisation, work, governance, health, education, disability and the role of media will be discussed during 3 days conference.Kerala’s draft policy on transgender rights will also be discussed.The conference aims to entail an informative and interactive program that will include plenary sessions, thematic paper presentations and panel discussions by gender experts from around the world and poster presentations by young scholars.

Recent Indian government steps to promote Gender Equality:
1. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
- also known as girl child prosperity scheme.
- to ensure a bright future for girl children in India.
- The Sukanya Samriddhi Account Yojana,is to facilitate them proper education and carefree marriage expenses.
- It offers a small deposit investment for the girl children as an initiative under ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ campaign. 

2. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
-  Nodal Ministry : Ministry of Women and Child Development.
- Objectives: 
a. Prevention of gender biased sex selective elimination
b. Ensuring survival & protection of the girl child
c. Ensuring education and participation of the girl child.

The Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi and the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh inaugurated the first of its kind Women of India Exhibition with the theme ‘Women and organic Products’ at ‘Dilli Haat, INA in New Delhi . For the first time in India, over 500 women artisans /entrepreneurs across the country have come together with their organic products, such as tribal and ethnic foods, pickles and preserves, rice, pulses, spices, vegetables and fruits, fabrics, dyes and dresses, cosmetics and household products, in the exhibition.
Organic Products:
Organic Products come from the organic farming.Organic farming is a form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost, and biological pest control.
Benefits:
a. Crops are of high nutritional value.
b. Free of contamination with health harming chemicals such as pesticides, fungicides and herbicides.
c. Better taste of fruits and vegetables. The tastiness of fruit and vegetables is directly related to its sugar content, which in turn is a function of the quality of nutrition that the plant itself has enjoyed.
d. These are nourished naturally, rendering the structural and metabolic integrity of their cellular structure superior to those conventionally grown, thus, can be kept longer without spoilage.
e. Disease and Pest Resistance
f. Weed Competitiveness
g. Lower Input Costs
h. Drought Resistance

Shri Narendra Modi spoke of the historical ties and complementarities between the two countries. He said economic ties are extremely important elements of the relationship between countries. He referred to the Union Government's initiatives such as "Make in India", emphasis on infrastructure, opening up of FDI in various sectors, and commitments towards 50 million new houses by 2022 and 175 GigaWatts of renewable energy. He said investment by British companies in India would be a win-win partnership for both countries. CEOs from both sides made brief observations. It was observed that the current time represents a " tidal wave of opportunity" in India for investors.
UK - India relationship(2015):
-   The 10th JETCO meeting was held on January 19, 2015 in London.The JETCO is a business driven institutional framework established on January 13, 2005 to develop a strategic economic relationship. 
- Bilateral Trade: UK’s share in India’s global trade has gone down from 2.07% in
2013-14 to 1.89% in 2014-15.
- The UK is the 3^rd largest inward investor in India,after Mauritius, and Singapore.
- India continues to be one of the largest investors in the UK. According to the
figures released by the UK Trade and Investment.
- The India diaspora in UK is one of the largest ethnic minority communities in the country.The 8th Regional Pravasiya Bharatiya Diwas (RPPBD) was organised in London from October 16-18, 2014.   

India and Britain on Thursday signed a Civil Nuclear agreement on day one of PM Narendra Modi’s three day visit to the U.K. After inked  U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said “We have signed Civil Nuclear agreement, which is a symbol of our mutual trust. Mr Modi also  thanked Cameron for strong British support for India's permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council. 

Indian institute of science is a public university for scientific research and higher education located in Bangalore established in 1909. List is released by times higher education ranking for engineering & technology after taking the 98th position. Stanford university ranked first and Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranked 2nd.

List of Institutes 

1    Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States of America)
2    Stanford University (United States of America)
3    California Institute of Technology (United States of America)
4    Princeton University (United States of America)
5    University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
6    Imperial College London (United Kingdom)
7    University of Oxford (United Kingdom)
8    ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (Switzerland)
9    University of California, Los Angeles(United States of America)
10    University of California, Berkeley(United States of America)
 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday became the first Indian lead to address the British Parliament. In speech he added that the world needs common but differentiated responsibilities to counter climate change besides,  Mr Narendra Modi also focused on increased cooperation between the two nations.

In  his address, the PM said he was once asked how Mahatma Gandhi's statue stood outside the UK parliament. "I replied, British are wise enough to recognize his (Mahatma Gandhi) greatness and Indians are generous enough to share him," he said. Modi arrived in the United Kingdom on Thursday on a three-day visit. This is Modi's first visit as Indian Prime Minister to the UK. The Prime Minister's visit to Britain will be a mix of bilateral engagements as well as programmes purely relating to Indian diaspora. 

Fortune magazine named parker its 2015 business person of the year, when they open the annual list of world’s most talented presidents and CEO’s includes a fair few names from the fashion industry. Facebook’s Mark Zukerberg, Electronic arts CEO Andrew Wilson, Apple’s Tim cook and Master card CEO Ajay Banga completed the Top five. Alphabet’s Larry Page (11th), Satya Nadella (47th) and Alibaba’s chairman Jack Ma (25th) also featured on the list.