99% Of You Don't Know This ~ How Famous Companies Got Their Names?

99% Of You Dont Know This ~ How Famous Companies Got Their Names?

Nike: Named for the greek goddess of victory. The swoosh symbolises her flight.

Skype: The original concept was ‘Sky-Peer-to-Peerâ€, which morphed into Skyper, then Skype.

Mercedes: This was actually financier's daughter's name.

Adidas: The company name was taken from its founder Adolf (ADI) Dassler whose first name was shortened to the nickname Adi. 

Toegether with first three letters of his surname it formed ADIDAS.

Adobe: This came from the name of the river Adobe Creek that ran behind the house of founder John Warnock.

Apple Computers: It was the favourite fruit of founder Steve Jobs. He was three months late for filing a name for the business, and he threatened to call his company Apple Computers if the other colleagues didn't suggest a better name by 5 o'clock.

CISCO: It is not an acronym as popularly believed. It's short for San Francisco.

Compaq: This name was formed by using COMP, for computer and PAQ to denote a small integral object.

Corel: The name was derived from the founder's name Dr. Michael Cowpland. It stands for COwpland Research Laboratory.

Google: The name started as a joke boasting about the amount of information the search-engine would be able to search. It was originally named 'Googol', a word for the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros. After founders - Stanford graduate students Sergey Brin and Larry Page presented their project to an angel investor; they received a cheque made out to 'Google'. So, instead of returning the cheque for correction, they decided to change the name to Google.

Hotmail: Founder Jack Smith got the idea of accessing e-mail via the web from a computer anywhere in the world. When Sabeer Bhatia came up with the business plan for the mail service, he tried all kinds of names ending in 'mail' and finally settled for hotmail as it included the letters "html" - the programming language used to write web pages. It was initially referred to as HoTMaiL with selective uppercasing.

Hewlett Packard: Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett.

Intel: Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore wanted to name their new company 'Moore Noyce' but that was already trademarked by a hotel chain so they had to settle for an acronym of INTegrated ELectronics.

Lotus (Notes): Mitch Kapor got the name for his company from 'The Lotus Position' or 'Padmasana'. Kapor used to be a teacher of transcendental Meditation of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Microsoft: Coined by Bill Gates to represent the company that was devoted to MICROcomputer SOFTware. Originally christened Micro-Soft, the '-' was removed later on.

Motorola: Founder Paul Galvin came up with this name when his company started manufacturing radios for cars. The popular radio company at the time was called Victrola.

Sony: It originated from the Latin word 'sonus' meaning sound and 'sonny' as lang used by Americans to refer to a bright youngster.

SUN: Founded by 4 Stanford University buddies, SUN is the acronym for Stanford University Network. Andreas Bechtolsheim built a microcomputer; Vinod Khosla recruited him and Scott McNealy to manufacture computers based on it, and Bill Joy to develop a UNIX-based OS for the computer.

Apache: It got its name because its founders got started by applying patches to code written for NCSA's httpd daemon. The result was 'A PAtCHy' server - thus, the name Apache Jakarta (project from Apache): A project constituted by SUN and Apache to create a web server handling servlets and JSPs. Jakarta was name of the conference room at SUN where most of the meetings between SUN and Apache took place.

Tomcat: The servlet part of the Jakarta project. Tomcat was the code name for the JSDK 2.1 project inside SUN.

C: Dennis Ritchie improved on the B programming language and called it 'New B'. He later called it C. Earlier B was created by Ken Thompson as a revision of the Bon programming language (named after his wife Bonnie).

C++: Bjarne Stroustrup called his new language 'C with Classes' and then 'newC'. Because of which the original C began to be called 'old C' which was considered insulting to the C community. At this time Rick Mascitti suggested the name C++ as a successor to C.

GNU: A species of African antelope. Founder of the GNU project Richard Stallman liked the name because of the humour associated with its pronunciation and was also influenced by the children's song 'The Gnu Song' which is a song sung by a gnu. Also it fitted into the recursive acronym culture with 'GNU's Not Unix'.

Java: Originally called Oak by creator James Gosling, from the tree that stood outside his window, the programming team had to look for a substitute as there was no other language with the same name. Java was selected from a list of suggestions. It came from the name of the coffee that the programmers drank.

LG: Combination of two popular Korean brands Lucky and Goldstar.
Linux: Linus Torvalds originally used the Minix OS on his system which here placed by his OS. Hence the working name was Linux (Linus' Minix). He thought the name to be too egotistical and planned to name it Freax (free+freak+x). His friend Ari Lemmke encouraged Linus to upload it to a network so it could be easily downloaded. Ari gave Linus a directory called 'Linux' on his FTP server, as he did not like the name Freax. (Linus parents named him after two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling).

Mozilla: When Marc Andreessen, founder of Netscape, created a browser to replace Mosaic (also developed by him), it was named Mozilla (Mosaic-Killer, Godzilla). The marketing guys didn't like the name however and it was re-christened Netscape Navigator.

Red Hat: Company founder Marc Ewing was given the Cornell lacrosse team cap (with red and white stripes) while at college by his grandfather. He lost it and had to search for it desperately. The manual of the beta version of Red Hat Linux had an appeal to readers to return his Red Hat if found by anyone!

SAP: "Systems, Applications, Products in Data Processing", formed by 4 ex-IBM employees who used to work in the 'Systems/Applications/Projects' group of IBM.

UNIX: When Bell Labs pulled out of MULTICS (MULTiplexed Information and Computing System), which was originally a joint Bell/GE/MIT project, Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie of Bell Labs wrote a simpler version of the OS. They needed the OS to run the game 'Space War' which was compiled under MULTICS. It was called UNICS - UNIplexed operating and Computing System by Brian Kernighan. It was later shortened to UNIX.

SCO (UNIX): From Santa Cruz Operation. The company's office was in Santa Cruz.

Xerox: The inventor, Chestor Carlson, named his product trying to say 'dry' (as it was dry copying, markedly different from the then prevailing wet copying). The Greek root 'xer' means dry.

Yahoo: The word was invented by Jonathan Swift and used in his book 'Gulliver's Travels'. It represents a person who is repulsive in appearance and action and is barely human. Yahoo! founders Jerry Yang and David Filo selected the name because they considered themselves yahoos.

3M: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company started off by mining the material corundum used to make sandpaper. It was changed to 3M when the company changed its focus to Innovative Products.

What is -Yahoo

Yahoo was first started by Jerry Yang and David Filo in February, 1994. It did not start as a search engine. In fact, they started it to keep track of their own interests online. Later it turned into a simple catalog which contained the site links in the Internet.

2. From there, it developed into a web directory, where only web page information are collated and divided into subcategories. In autumn 1994 the catalog contained more than 1 million of requests and about 100.000 thousand of users. Yahoo began as a project created by two individuals and has grown to employ estimated 13,000 full time individuals.

3. The project was initially named as Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web. In April the name of Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web was changed to Yahoo. Yahoo is actually an acronym for Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.

4. At that time "Yahoo" was already trademarked by a company that produced barbecue sauce, knives and human propelled watercraft. For this reason Yang and Filo added the exclamation point to the end of Yahoo!

5. Yahoo currently owns and operates over fifty different web properties, most of which are sites that gained popularity before being acquired by Yahoo. Some examples include Geocities, Yahoo! Games, Del.icio.us, Flickr, andUpcoming.org. Most of these acquired companies are from the United States.

6. Yahoo’s email service, which they purchased from Four11, is still considered to be the most popular email program in the world. The company also bought such projects as HotJobs and Flicker which were later integrated to their own portal.

7. On November 30, 2008, Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo!'s search business for $20 billion. However, on July 29, 2009, a 10 year deal with Microsoft was done which gave microsoft  full access to Yahoo!'s search for its search engine, Bing.

8. Yahoo used Google company technologies for the realization of their search system, but in February 2004 all the agreements with Google have been cancelled. However, after several years the company succeeded to become the leader in the sphere of the e-search.

9. The average Yahoo! Messenger chit-chat is 17 times longer than one on a cell phone. It would take 7,000 years for all the photos on Flickr to be developed. Yahoo! Groups has more members than the number of International Red Cross volunteers. And, it would take 50,000 planes to fly all of the Yahoo! Travel users on a group vacation.

10. Today, Yahoo takes the second place as for the popularity in the world among the search systems, and the first place as for the number of users registered on the Yahoo portal, which provides with a list of services, such as Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Games, Yahoo Music and so on.

Moree

10-20 Interesting Facts About Yahoo!

11. Stanford Student’s Jerry Yang and David Filo first started Yahoo! in February of 1994 to keep track of their own interests online. They named their project “Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web.”

12. In April the name of Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web was changed to Yahoo, which is an acronym for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.”

13. Yang and Filo added the exclamation point to the end of Yahoo! because “Yahoo” was already owned by a company that produced BBQ sauce.

14. The owners of Yahoo considered buying Google before went public. However, at the time Yahoo decided that a few billion dollars was too much to pay to buy out their competitor.

15. Yahoo’s email service, which they purchased from Four11 in 1997, is still considered to be the most popular email program in America.

16. In 2006 Yahoo’s image search gained criticism for displaying sexually explicit images in their results, even when the Safe search was on. Less than a year later the image search feature was shut down and replaced with Yahoo’s recently acquired Flickr photo sharing community.

17. Yahoo currently owns and operates over fifty different web properties, most of which are sites that gained popularity before being acquired by Yahoo. Some examples include Geocities, Yahoo! Games, Del.icio.us, Flickr, and Upcoming.org.

18. One of Yahoo’s highest priced acquisitions was Broadcast.com, which they paid a reported $5.7 billion for. On the other hand, their cheapest acquisition was their purchase of Net Controls for slightly over $1 million in 1997.

19. In March of 2005 Yahoo celebrated it’s 10 year anniversary by giving away free Baskin Robins ice cream coupons to all of their users.

20. Yahoo began as a project created by two individuals and has grown to employ estimated 13,000 full time individuals.  Best Messages

EBOLA

 


The Ebola virus -Ebola, is a disease of humans and other primates caused by ebolaviruses.The Ebola virus disease, formerly called the Ebola hemorrhagic fever, was first identified in rural Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1976.The virus is named after the Ebola River, in the Congolese region where it was first identified.
 A worried world-The Ebola outbreak began in Guinea and spread to neighboring countries, with isolated cases in Spain and the US. Three of the top ten searches for 'ebola' were in Japanese, though the country had no reported contact with the virus. People around the world searched to know more as news gathered momentum.
 Tracing the epidemic-The early reports in March caused a surge, but it was when cases started to appear outside of Africa that searches hit a global scale.The Ebola virus is a zoonotic disease known to be deadly to humans and primates. It spreads through direct contact with body fluids. 'Ebola symptoms' was third in related searches to the virus.
A hazardous materials suit is a protective whole-body garment to allow the handling of hazardous or infected materials. 'Hazmat suit' spiked by 18x this year. WHO could help
In searches related to the virus, 'ebola spread' was the main concern, followed closely by 'ebola cure.' In October 'world health organization' peaked, as WHO battled to contain the outbreak
Transmission-It is widely believed that fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are natural hosts of Ebola


 

. 'Ebola bats' saw a huge increase after next to no searches in previous years.
Fact and fiction-In October searches for the 1995 movie Outbreak, in which the world attempts to control an Ebola-like virus epidemic, were 10x higher than at any point in the last decade.and their are many movie in which it is seen how badly it effect

FACT-AROUND-WORLD

 FACT AROUND THE WORLD
1.Christianity is the fastest growing religion in Iran.
2.The Gulf War cost each American US$306, while Vietnam was US$2,204 per person. The Korean War cost US$2,266 and WWII, US$20,388 per person.
3.A coyote crossed with a dog is called a "coydog".
4.30,000 dogs a day are slaughtered in China for meat and fur.
5.Americans and their allies typically cause 10 to 20 times more combat casualties than American forces suffer.
6.Google.com/Weddings is a little known free service to plan your wedding.
7.Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8% of recorded history.
8.Proportionally speaking, the most destructive war in modern history was the War of the Triple Alliance, which took the lives of over 60% of Paraguay's population, leaving a woman/man ratio of 4 to 1.
9.There's an organization that parachutes copies of the Bible into North Korea.
10.In Judaism, you don't need to be Jewish to get into the "next world" (Heaven).

CLAIMS-NO-MISSILE

North Korean ambassador claims country has nuclear missiles

North Korea has nuclear missiles and is prepared to use them at any time, an envoy for the country said in a recent interview.

North Korean Ambassador to Britain Hyun Hak Bong told Sky News that his government would use the missiles in response to a nuclear attack by the U.S.

Asked whether North Korea has the ability now to launch a nuclear missile, Hyun replied: "Any time. Any time. Yes."

"If the United States strike us, we should strike back," he said.

The ambassador reaffirmed that the country does not “want war, but we are not afraid of war.”

North Korea is thought to have a handful of crude nuclear bombs and has conducted tests since 2006. However, experts are divided on how advanced the country’s technology is and is unsure if they could miniaturize warheads so they can be placed on missiles.

The spokesman for South Korea's Defense Ministry, Kim Min-seok, said Saturday that while North Korea might have advanced its technologies for miniaturizing nuclear warheads so they can be installed on missiles, Seoul does not believe they have succeeded yet.

Kim pointed out that the North has conducted only three nuclear tests so far and it's unclear how successful they were.

The Institute for Science and International Security estimated that North Korea has between 10 and 16 nuclear weapons, some based on plutonium and others on uranium. The agency concluded that the country has weapons small enough to mound on medium-range intercontinental-range missiles.

The United Nations has imposed sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs.

Hyun's comments come as rival South Korea and the United States conduct annual springtime military drills that North Korea says are aimed at preparing to topple its government. Seoul and Washington say the exercises are purely defensive.

The U.S. stations about 28,500 soldiers in South Korea to deter possible aggression from North Korea.

RICHEST-TERROR-GROUP

 ISIS IS THE WORLD RICHEST TERROR GROUP BUT SPENDING MONEY SO FAST
New analysis by the U.S. intelligence community shows that ISIS is now the richest terror group in the world, thanks to a 2014 raid on an Iraqi bank that may have netted hundreds of millions of dollars. Officials who doubted initial reports of a $400 million theft have revised their estimates upward.

But the cost of running a caliphate and fighting a ground war is high, say analysts, so ISIS may be facing a cash crunch, even though the group is supplementing its windfall with oil revenues, donations and money extorted from Christians and hostages.

Michael Sheehan, executive chairman of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, says ISIS is all about holding territory, which is expensive, and that support for terror attacks in the West is a lower priority, even if they grab headlines.

"I am not sure they are really achieving anything by these very infrequent one-off attacks," he said. "They are in the news for a few days and life goes on."

A U.S. counterterrorism official said that encouraging attacks by "fan boys" in Paris and Tunis allows ISIS to reap cheap publicity without expending the precious revenues needed to protect its caliphate in Iraq and Syria. All the terror attacks require, said the official, "is an idea and a hashtag."
ISIS now pays its fighters -- and bureaucrats -- from money it stole from the Central Bank of Iraq when its fighters overran Mosul and took control of the local branch last June. Just after the raid, the governor of Nineveh Province told the New York Times that ISIS fighters emptied the vaults in all the other banks in town as well, and estimated the total take at $400 million.

An executive with the Iraqi Central Bank gave a lower figure, $85 million, and U.S. intelligence officials also said privately the number was grossly inflated. But officials now think the number should be revised. According to one analyst, the total really is in the "hundreds of millions," even if $400 million is too high.

That would make ISIS the richest Islamist terror group in history, with a significantly higher bank balance than al Qaeda prior to 9-11.

Although the U.S. intelligence community initially believed Al Qaeda had $300 million, information gathered after 9-11 from captured al Qaeda operatives and Bin Laden relatives showed the group had no war chest and Bin Laden was broke. The group distributed money as quickly as it was raised.

ISIS is also spending money quickly, said the U.S. analyst, and is burning through its Mosul haul. "They are using it to pay the salaries of fighters and to some extent to administer the caliphate and pay civilian employees," he said. Money is also sent to the survivors of ISIS fighters killed in combat. ISIS has between 20,000 and 31,000 fighters, according to U.S intelligence estimates.

It's uncertain how much of the bank money is still available, said the analyst, or where it is being kept. Some reports have the funds still in bank vaults under heavy guard. However, the analyst said the Islamic State is facing a financial crisis as its costs rise and other sources of income start to dry up.

He noted that the money seized from the banks now tops ISIS funding sources, followed by, in order, the sales of oil products smuggled through Turkey, extortion and ransom, and to a lesser degree donations and "taxes."

When ISIS took control of large swaths of Syria and Iraq last summer, the International Energy Agency estimated it had access to 3 million barrels of oil and could ship up to 30,000 barrels a day.

Both those numbers have been reduced dramatically by air strikes from the U.S., Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, say U.S. and IEA sources. Recent strikes have targeted the terror group's oil storage depots and makeshift refineries. Turkish authorities have also begun stopping oil shipments across the border.

The dramatic drop in world oil prices has also undercut the ISIS strategy of selling oil at far below the going rate. Last year, ISIS was believed to be shipping around 25,000 barrels a day across the border, and was selling it on the black market for as little as $25 a barrel, which was then one-quarter of the market price. But with the price per barrel now less than $50, ISIS oil becomes less attractive to rogue traders.

"They have difficulty in moving product and the oil, mostly crude, is lousy," said one analyst.

There have been donations from rich Arabs, and the flow continues, though it's not on the scale of what al Qaeda received prior to 9-11. Two countries cited as failing to follow their own laws in thwarting donations, Qatar and Kuwait, have promised to tighten up controls, but one high-ranking Qatari official has been quoted as saying, "we can't guarantee it won't happen again."

Various "tax" payments, ranging from local trash fees to "road taxes" to insure safe passage, make up the smallest source of funds for the Islamic State. One particularly gruesome levy, according to the Iraqi government, is a $200 "tax" levied against Christians who want to avoid crucifixion.

Extortion and ransom are "mature industries," that there are fewer and fewer wealthy Syrians and Iraqis who they can kidnap and extract large sums. "And with their economy in shambles, the tax base is narrowing," noted one analyst. "Running caliphates ain't cheap."

Mounting terror attacks outside the caliphate, on the other hand, might not cost much. The 9-11 Commission published a little-known monograph on terrorist financing. It put the cost of 9-11, a two year operation, at $400,000 to $500,000; the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa at $10,000; and the 2002 Bali bombings at approximately $20,000. An NBC analysis of the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 showed it cost just $20,000.

Said one former treasury official, "Unfortunately, terrorism isn't necessarily a rich man's sport." 

EBOLA-RETURNED

 EBOLA RETURNED TO LIBERIA
A patient has tested positive for Ebola in Liberia's capital, officials said Friday, deflating hopes that the country had beaten the disease after weeks with no new cases.

Liberia has had the most deaths in the West African Ebola outbreak, which has killed more than 10,000 people and sickened more than 24,000. But since it discharged its last case on March 5, it was counting down to being declared Ebola-free. Countries must wait 42 days from when the last patient tests negative to be declared free of the virus.

Now a new patient has tested positive, Dr. Francis Kateh, the acting head of the country's Ebola Incident Management Team, said Friday. A second test is generally done to confirm the diagnosis.

In a worrying sign, it is not clear where the woman became infected. She doesn't seem to be linked to any of the people on a list of contacts of other Ebola patients, Kateh said.

"We have to investigate where the person came from," he said. "Did they travel out of the country?"

An emergency meeting will be held on Saturday to compile data on the case.

SCIENTISTS-DISCOVERED-QUASAR

Scientists discovered quasar SDSS J0 100+2802 with central black hole mass of 12 billion solar mass
The international team of scientists led by astronomers from Peking University in China and from the University of Arizona discovered the brightest quasar SDSS J0 100+2802 with the most massive black hole of 12 billion solar-mass.
The findings were published in the journal Nature on 26 February 2015 and Prof. Xue-Bing Wu at Peking University is the lead author of the study.

Findings of the Study
• The quasar named SDSS J0100+2802 with the luminosity of 420 trillion suns is at a distance of 12.8 billion light-years from Earth.
• The quasar is seven times brighter than the most distant quasar known which is 13 billion years away
• The quasar dates back to the end of an important cosmic event that is referred as the epoch of reionization. Re-ionization epoch is the cosmic dawn when light from the earliest generations of galaxies and quasars is thought to have ended the cosmic dark ages and transformed the universe into how we see it today.

How it was discovered?
The quasar was first discovered by 2.4-meter Lijiang Telescope in Yunnan, China, making it the only quasar ever discovered by a 2-meter telescope at such distance.

Following the initial discovery, two telescopes 8.4-meter Large Binocular Telescope and 6.5-meter Multiple Mirror Telescope in southern Arizona did the heavy lifting in determining the distance and mass of the black hole.

Additional observations with the 6.5-meter Magellan Telescope in Las Campanas Observatory, Chile, and the 8.2-meter Gemini North Telescope in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, confirmed the results.

Importance of the discovery

    The quasar with its super-massive black hole provides a unique laboratory to the study of the mass assembly and galaxy formation around the most massive black holes in the early universe.
    Further, it will allow the scientists to make unprecedented measurements of the temperature, ionization state and metal content of the intergalactic medium at the epoch of reionization.
    The discovery of this quasar marks an important step in understanding how quasars have evolved only 900 million years after the Big Bang which is thought to have happened 13.7 billion years ago.

About Quasars

    Discovered in 1963, quasars are the most powerful objects beyond the Milky Way galaxy.
    They beam vast amounts of energy across space as the super-massive black hole in their centre sucks in matter from its surroundings.
    Till now, astronomers have discovered more than 200000 quasars, with ages ranging from 0.7 billion years after the Big Bang till today.

SOLAR-POWERED-PLANE

Solar powered plane Solar Impulse-2 took off to round-the-world odyssey from Abu Dhabi
The solar-powered plane named Solar Impulse-2 on 8 March 2015 took off to round-the-world odyssey from Abu Dhabi. This will be the first round-the-world flight powered by solar power.

The aim of this round-the-world voyage is to create awareness about replacing old polluting technologies with clean and efficient technologies.

Solar Impulse -2 during its 12-leg journey of round-the-world will cover 35000 kilometer and will stop at Muscat, Oman; Ahmedabad and Varanasi, India; Mandalay, Myanmar and Chongqing and Nanjing, China.

After crossing the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii, it will fly across the US stopping in three locations namely Phoenix, and New York City at John F Kennedy airport.
In the final leg, after crossing the Atlantic Ocean, it will make a stop-over in Southern Europe or North Africa before arriving back in Abu Dhabi.

Solar Impulse is expected to complete its journey of 350000 km in five months and it will be piloted by Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg.

Pilot Bertrand Piccard belongs to a family of adventure’s father Jacques Piccard was among the two people who for the first time reached the deepest place in the Ocean. Jacques achieved the feat with Don Walsh in the Trieste bathyscaphe in 1960. His grandfather, Auguste Piccard, in 1931 was the first person to take a balloon into Stratosphere.

About Solar Impulse-2
Solar Impulse is the only airplane of perpetual endurance, able to fly day and night on solar power, without a drop of fuel.

Solar Impulse-2 is a 2.3 tonne plane with top sped of 87 miles per hour (mph) and can carry just one passenger and emits precisely zero Carbon Dioxide (CO2).

Its wingspan is 72 meters and 3.5 meter wide. This length allows it to sport 17000 solar panels that help it to produce enough electricity to power the flight and to charge 633 Kilogram lithium batteries.

NYU-ANNOUNCED PRISION

NYU announced Prison Education Programme to Educate US Prisoners
New York University (NYU) on 19 March 2015 announced Prison Education Programme (PEP) to Educate US Prisoners.

 Indian-American New York University (NYU) Professor Nikhil Pal Singh will heads programme. The programme is a new initiative of New York University to bring college education to the inmates of a medium-security prison in New York State.

The programme offers credit-bearing, university courses that will enable students to earn an Associate of Arts (AA) degree from the university.

The programme was backed by a 500000 US dollar grant from the Ford Foundation. The NYU programme aims to help redress inequities that result from the fact that the United States incarcerates more people than any other nation in the world.

The course will begin in the spring 2015 semester. Classes will be taught by NYU faculty and offer both intensive liberal arts study and introductory courses from NYU's professional schools.

36 men will take one of two NYU classes taught at the Wallkill Correctional Facility in New York State's Ulster County, with up to three additional courses offered during the summer of 2015.

The programme will expand access to a university education to incarcerated students. This initiative will also include providing educational and employment counselling, community support for families, and other services such as legal assistance to address human rights, housing, and employment issues.

Once released from prison, students enrolled in programme may seek to continue their college education at NYU or by transferring credits to another institution.

CII-SIGNED -AGREEMENT

CII signed agreement with NUS to improve India’s rating on ease of doing business 

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (NUS) on 19 March 2015 to improve India’s rating on ease of doing business
The MoU aimed to enhance the ease of doing business and bring the rating of India amongst the top 50 countries from the present 142nd slot as per World Bank Report.

The MoU was signed during the CII Conference on Make in India: Focus North oragnised by CII as part of CII Northern Region’s Annual Regional Meeting.

CII and NUS will conduct joint state level research across 11 parameters including starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, land acquisition and registration of property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labour market regulations.

Subsequently, this MoU would be followed by individual tripartite MoUs between the CII, NUS and respective state governments to in turn create state-wise Master plan for ease of doing business and then prepare a comprehensive state-level action plan.

The NUS would study where the states stand presently on various parameters, guide on the specific best practices to be adopted by different states, handhold them and would also analyze their improvement on year on year basis.

Addressing the issue of ease of doing business is crucial for accelerating growth and job creation as the Make in India campaign aims to position India as a world class manufacturing destination.

However, in order to realise this potential, the major thrust needs to be placed on improving the investment climate in states ranging from ease of doing business, structural & regulatory reforms to enabling infrastructure.

Singapore is ranked at no.1 country in ease of doing business.

AIR -- AIR -MISSILE

Air-to-Air missile Astra successfully test fired from ITR Chandipur in Odisha by india

Indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile, Astra, was successfully test fired at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur in Odisha on 18 March 2015. It was test-fired aboard a Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft.

The present test was a part of the series of tests planned to test the missile’s subsystems like propulsion, navigation and guidance and the smooth separation of the missile from the aircraft, etc. 

Further, the test was intended to prove the missile’s manoeuvring capability against a simulated target and also to validate various subsystems.

The previous test was conducted on 04 May 2014 from a Naval Range in the Western Sector.

Astra is a beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) that is capable of engaging its target at ranges of 37 km or beyond. Astra missile has operational range of 60km.

About the Astra missile
It is India’s first BVR air-to-air missile. The all-weather missile was indigeniously designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
It is a state-of-the-art missile in the sense that it travels at supersonic speed (4780 km/h), possesses Single Shot Kill Probability (SSKP) with active radar terminal guidance, uses smokeless propulsion system to evade enemy radars and has the capacity to engage in multi-target scenario.
The 3.8 metre long missile is the smallest of the DRDO-developed missiles and can be launched from different altitudes.
It can reach up to 110 km when fired from an altitude of 15 km, 44 km when launched from an altitude of eight km and 21 km when fired from sea level.

BIHAR- BUDGET- HIGHLIGHTS

Bihar Budget 2015-16: Highlights
State Government of Bihar led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on 12 March 2015 presented the state budget for the financial year 2015-16.

The overall size of the budget is 120685.32 crore rupees that includes plan expenditure of 57437 crore rupees and non-plan expenditure of 63259 crore rupees.

Key Highlights of the Budget 2015-16
• After registering double-digit growth rate in the past few years, the growth rate of Bihar declined to 9.92 percent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2014-15. GSDP estimate is 455451 crore rupees for the year 2015 -16.
• The State has Revenue Surplus of 11980.95 crore rupees during 2015 - 16 which is 2.63% of GSDP.
• The Fiscal Deficit has been estimated at 13584.46 crore rupees which is 2.98% of GSDP for the year 2015-16.
• The Outstanding Public Debt is estimated at 89239.87 crore rupees in 2015-16 which is 19.58% of GSDP. 
• The percentage of Development expenditure and Non-Development expenditure in total expenditure is 68.28 and 31.72 respectively
• The percentage of Revenue and Capital expenditure in total expenditure is 75.58 and 24.42 respectively.
• The percentage of Non-Plan and Plan Expenditure in total expenditure for 2015-16 is 52.42 and 47.58 respectively
• A Consolidated Sinking Fund making provisions for repayment of loans has been created since 2008-09. It shall help the State in times of crisis to meet the debt obligations.  In the year 2015-16, 491.84 crore rupees is proposed to be invested in the Fund.

Department wise allocation for State Plan in Budget 2015-16

Name of Department   Plan Outlay (rupees in crore) Percentage total outlat
 Education                   10950.14                             19.16

Rural Works                5612.30                               9.82

Rural Development      5420.13                              9.49

Rural Construction      4856.22                               8.50

Social Welfare            4132.77                                7.23

Energy                        4058.60                               7.10

Health                         2372.00                              4.15

Agriculture                  2342.35                               4.10

Food and Consumer Protection  2121.63                     3.71

BC & MBC Welfare         1970.03                              3.45

Others                              13301.45                             23.28

Total                                57137.62                             100.00

Budget Estimates of 2015-16 in Brief:
• Total Expenditure: 120685.32 crore rupees
• Total Plan Size: 57425.73 crore rupees
• Total Non-Plan size: 63259.59 crore rupees
• Revenue Surplus: 11980.95 crore rupees (2.63% of GSDP)
• Fiscal Deficit: 13584.46 crore rupees (2. 98% of GSDP)
• State Own Tax Revenue:
a) Commercial Tax: 21375.00 crore rupees
b) Excise Duty: 4000.00 crore rupees
c) Stamp and Registration: 4000.00 crore rupees
d) Transport: 1200.00 crore rupees
e) Land Revenue: 300.00 crore rupees
• State's main Non-Tax Revenue
a) Receivable from Jharkhand State due for pension share's liabilities: 1600.00 crore rupees
b) Mines: 1000.00 crore rupees
c) Interest receipts: 312.13 crore rupees
d) Irrigation: 34.00 crore rupees
e) Other Non Taxes: 449.73 crore rupees
• Committed Expenditure
a) Salary - (i) Non-Plan: 17757.90 crore rupees (ii) Plan: 776.85 crore rupees
b) Pension: 12979.67 crore rupees
c) Interest: 7220.77 crore rupees
d) Repayment of Public Debt: 3895.28 crore rupees

UNSC -ADOPTED -RESOLUTION 2201

UNSC adopted Resolution 2201 demanding Houthis withdrawal from Yemen’s government institutions

United Nation Security Council (UNSC) on 15 February 2015 adopted the Resolution 2201 demanding immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Houthis from the government institutions of Yemen.

The resolution was brought after the UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon had warned the 15-member UNSC that Yemen was collapsing under the weight of a protracted political crisis, widespread attacks by Al-Qaida, increasing secessionist tendencies in the south and an acute humanitarian crisis.
Main Highlights of the Resolution

    The resolution demanded Houthis to safely release President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and all others from house arrest, and engage in good faith in UN-brokered negotiations designed to keep the fracturing Middle Eastern country on a steady path towards democratic transition.
    The Council strongly deplored actions by the Houthis, who had gained control of the capital Sana’a in September 2014, to dissolve parliament and take over Government institutions.
    The resolution urged all parties to agree upon and publicly announce dates for completing the constitutional consultation process, hold a referendum on the text and conduct elections under the new electoral law.
    It strongly called on all parties, in particular the Houthis, to abide by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Initiative and its Implementation Mechanism, as well as the outcomes of the comprehensive National Dialogue Conference, and the Peace and National Partnership Agreement, which provided for a Yemeni-led democratic transition.
    The Council also demanded that all parties cease armed hostilities against the people and legitimate authorities of Yemen, and relinquish arms seized from military and security institutions. 
    Stressing the importance of the United Nations’ cooperation with international partners, the Council requested the Secretary-General to propose options for strengthening the office of the Special Adviser.
    It also called on Secretary-General to propose options on UN assistance for finalizing and adopting the Constitution in Yemen, carrying out electoral reform and holding general elections. 

Background

Yemen has been beset by unrest for months. The country has been marred by fights between Houthis militias and Yemen government.

The Houthis, who adhere to a branch of Shia Islam known as Zaidism, have staged periodic uprisings since 2004 in an effort to win greater autonomy for their northern heartland of Saada province.

They consolidated their control over Saada during the 2011 uprising that forced long-time President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.

In September 2014, they gained control of Sana'a, the capital of Yemen.

Houthis accuse President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and other leaders of putting their interests ahead of the Yemeni people. However, the opponents allege that the rebels ultimately hope to reinstall the Zaidi imamate, which ruled North Yemen for almost 1000 years until 1962.

RUSSIA -CYPRUS- SIGNED -AGREEMENT

Russia and Cyprus signed an agreement to allow Russian navy ships to use Cypriot ports

Russia and on 25 February 2015 signed an agreement to give Russian navy ships access to Cypriot ports in the Mediterranean Sea. Russian ships that will dock at Cypriot ports would mostly be used in counter-terrorism and anti-piracy efforts.

The agreement was signed in Moscow after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.

The military deal also included the possibility of Russia using an air base on Cyprus for humanitarian relief missions.
Why the deal is important for Russia?
It would end the search of Russia for building a base in Mediterranean Sea since it had lost a military base on Syria’s Coast during fighting between anti-government rebels and troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Further, in the wake of plummeting of ties between Russia and the West over Ukraine crisis, Russia has sought to strengthen ties with a number of individual EU members including Cyprus, Hungary and Greece.

The relations between Russia and Cyprus
Cyprus is heavily dependent on Russian investment and has been a destination for cash from Russia. Earlier in the last week of February 2015, Russia restructured a 2.5 billion euro (2.8 billion US dollars) loan to Cyprus it signed in 2011. The restructuring included cutting the annual interest rate to 2.5 percent from 4.5 percent and extending the redemptionperiod to 2018-2021.

According to Global Financial Integrity, illicit money flows from Russia to Cyprus amounted to at least 211.5 billion US dollars during the period 1994 – 2011.

SIPRI -RELEASED -ARMS-REPORT

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on 16 March 2015 released Trends in International Arms Transfers 2014 report.
According to it, India is the world's largest importer of weapons and military equipment, accounting for 15 percent of global imports, with Russia being its majority supplier.

Highlights of the Report

• The volume of transfers of major weapons in 2010–14 was 16 percent higher than in 2005– 2009.

• The five biggest exporters in 2010–14 were the USA, Russia, China, Germany and France. Together, they accounted for 74 percent of the volume of arms exports. Combined, the USA and Russia supplied 58 percent of all exports.

• China replaced Germany as the third largest arms exporter in 2010–14, in 2005–2009 China was ranked ninth.

• Total exports from all EU member states in 2010–14 were 16 percent lower than in 2005–2009; in 2005–2009 EU export volumes were higher than those for the USA or Russia, while in 2010–14 they were below US and Russian export totals.

• The five biggest importers in 2010–14 were India, Saudi Arabia, China, the UAE and Pakistan. Together, they received 33 percent of all arms imports.

• The main recipient region in 2010–14 was Asia and Oceania (accounting for 48 percent of imports), followed by the Middle East (22 percent), Europe (12 percent), the Americas (10 percent) and Africa (9 percent).

• Between 2005–2009 and 2010–14, arms imports by states in Africa increased by 45 percent, Asia and Oceania by 37 percent, the Middle East by 25 percent and the Americas by 7 percent. Imports by states in Europe decreased by 36 percent.

India: The largest importer of arms

• India was the largest importer of major arms in 2010–14, accounting for 15 percent of the global total. Between 2005–2009 and 2010–14 imports increased by 140 percent.

• In 2010–14 India’s imports were three times larger than those of its regional rivals China and Pakistan.

• This contrasts with 2005–2009 when India’s imports were 23 percent below China’s and just over double those of Pakistan.

• India has so far failed to produce competitive indigenous-designed weapons and remains dependent on imports.

• In 2010–14 Russia supplied 70 percent of India’s arms imports, the USA 12 percent and Israel 7 percent. The acquisitions from the USA are a break with the recent past.

• Prior to 2005–2009 India barely received any major weapons from the USA. However, there now appears to be an upward trend in arms imports from the USA. Imports in 2010–14 were 15 times higher than in 2005–2009 and included advanced weapons such as anti-submarine warfare aircraft. In 2014 additional deals with the USA were agreed, including for 22 combat helicopters.

About SIPRI

SIPRI is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. Established in 1966, SIPRI provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public.

ECO -RESTORATION

Eco-restoration project for Kinnersani Sanctuary in Telangana announced

When: 18 March 2014
Wildlife Management of Palvancha on 18 March 2014 announced eco-restoration project for Kinnersani Sanctuary in Telangana.
The project will be implemented in 716 hectares of land under the Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary limits in Kothagudem Mandal with an estimated cost of 60 lakh rupees.

The objective of the project is to reverse the damage caused to ecology due to human intervention and restore the degraded ecosystem in the sanctuary.

In order to restore the ecology of Kinnersani Sanctuary, a total of 26 deer had been shifted from three different deer parks to the eco-restoration project site and are being released into the wild in a phased manner in strict adherence to the safety precautions and rules in force.

Also, a plan is on the anvil to shift a few more deer from Kinnerasani Deer Park to the project site at Chintonichelka in view of the excess population of deer in the park beyond its stipulated capacity.

About Kinnersani Sanctuary

Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Khammam district, Telangana. The wildlife sanctuary is spread over an area of 635.40 km2 (157,010 acres) with the picturesque Kinnerasani Lake with densely forested islands in the middle of the sanctuary.

The sanctuary is the homeland for animals like Cheetal, Chinkara, Chousinghas, Sambar, Wild Boars, Gaurs, Hyena, Jackals, Panthers, Sloth Bear, Tigers and Black Bucks. The varieties of birds like Peafowl, Jungle Fowl, Quails, Partridges, Teals, Nuktas, Spoonbills and Doves are the common birds in the sanctuary.

CHINA -LAUNCHED -SILKPROJECT

China launched Infrastructure project in Northwest Province of Gansu

 

China on 28 February 2015 launched a massive Silk Road Infrastructure project worth 79.8 billion US dollars in the northwest province of Gansu. The project was launched as a part of China’s ambitious Silk Route plan.

This project will facilitate exchange of trade and tourism between China and central Asian Countries. Gansu province does not share its borders with any central Asian countries but it will be an important part of the Silk Road Economic Belt.

On its completion, the project will add more than 60000 kilometres of road network including 4070 km expressways. It will be a six-year Silk Road development project.

This project will also build 12 civilian airports in the next six years. Thus, expanding the air service reach to 82 percent of the province’s population.

The project aims to revive China’s trade links, its declining exports and will globally enhance its sphere of influence.

The Silk Road Infrastructure projects are part of China’s ambitious Silk Route plan, which involves maze of roads and ports connecting Asia, Europe and Africa.

INDIA -SPAIN -SIGNED - AGREEMENT

India and Spain signed an agreement on Mutual Protection of Classified Information

India and Spain on 5 March 2015 signed an agreement on Mutual Protection of Classified Information to provide the framework for enhanced bilateral cooperation in areas of defence research, development and technology cooperation.

The agreement was signed by the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Defence Minister of Spain Pedro Morenes Eulate. It was signed during the official visit of Defence Minister of Pedro Moremes to India.
The agreement was signed to provide the framework for an enhanced cooperation in the defence sector. This is the primary pact that India agreed before embarking on deeper talks on Defence cooperation.