Dear UPSC Friends & Aspirants: (12/02/14)wednesday Indian IAS Academy(iiA)’s Weekly Magazine current tit bits: 1.National News: Indias first Mars orbiter Spacecraft which was launched by ISROs PSLV-C25 on the 5th of November last year will complete 100 days in space today. In a press release, ISRO said the health of the spacecraft is normal and is continuously monitored by the ground station of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), located at Byalalu, near Bangalore. Except for a 40 minute break in the Telemetry data received from the spacecraft to the ground station, data has been continuously available for all the 100 days. Presently, the spacecraft is at a radio distance of 16 million km causing a one way communication delay of approximately 55 seconds. After travelling the remaining distance of about 490 million km over the next 210 days, the spacecraft would be inserted into the Martian Orbit on September 24, 2014. Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, Indias first interplanetary probe, was launched by PSLV-C25 at 1438 hours on November 5, 2013 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. 2.International News Syrian crisis has had dramatic repercussions for press freedom across the region, a study by Reporters Without Borders (RWB) reports. Syria is now one of the countries where journalists are most in danger, journalists have become targets for groups attempting to control news in Syria and its neighbours, says the report. The only nations faring worse than Syria in RWBs annual report on press freedom are Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea. Finland tops the World Press Freedom Index for the fourth consecutive year, it is closely followed by the Netherlands and Norway 3.Business News: Reconciliation talks between the government and telecom giant Vodafone have failed. The Finance Ministry has decided to withdraw its reconciliation proposal to sort out the 20,000 crore rupees tax dispute with the telecom operator and move ahead with the collection of dues. The Union Cabinet had in June last year approved a Finance Ministry proposal to go in for a conciliation process with the UK based Vodafone International Holdings BV to resolve the capital gains tax dispute. Sources said, although the Finance Ministry was keen on an amicable solution to the long pending dispute, dilly-dallying by the company led to the collapse of the talks.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Feb 2014 06:27:50 +0000
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