Current Affairs : August 6, 2011

August 6, 2011

Lok Sabha passes grants of Rs. 25,707 Crore and Appropriation bill

Lok Sabha passed the Supplementary demands for Grants of Rs. 25,707 Crore and the relevant Appropriation bill by a voice vote
As per the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, supplementary grants needed because of the augmented expenditure on the various counts MPLAD schemes besides the hike in stipend for Anganwadi workers and Compensation paid to Bhopal Gas tragedy victims

CAG report on CWG-2010

The report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) – on Common Wealth Games tabled in the Lok Sabha
It posed allegations against Delhi Chief Minister condemning her of abnormalities and extravagance in the games
As per the report Delhi Government committed lapses and irregularities in the bidding process and held responsible numerous ministries and agencies including the DDA, MCD, NDMC and PWD for the complete mess
It observed numerous cases of wasteful expenditure by the Delhi government and civic agencies amounting to the tune of over 100 Crores rupees over street scrapping and an excess expenditure of over 31 Crores on street lighting by MCD, NDMC and PWD
The report, also points a finger of suspicion at Organizing Committee of the Games headed by Suresh Kalmadi, now in jail
It suspected that Kalmadi had preferred many companies
The report said the Prime Minister’s Office named Kalmadi for appointing as Committee’s chief despite objections from the then sports Minister Late Sunil Dutt

Oxygen Molecules in Orion Constellation found by NASA Scientists

Herschel Space Observatory’s large telescope and infrared detectors furnished the first definite finding of oxygen molecules in space
Molecules discovered in the Orion star-forming complex
Individual atoms of oxygen are widespread in space, mostly around massive stars
But molecular Oxygen, which makes up about 20% of the air we breathe, remains undetected
Astronomers looked for the subtle molecules in space for decades using balloons, as well as ground- and space-based telescopes
The Swedish Odin telescope spotted the molecule in 2007, but the sighting could not be confirmed
Oxygen gas was discovered in the 1770s
Oxygen is the 3^rd most common element in the universe
Herschel: European Space Agency cornerstone mission, with Science instruments provided by pool of European institutes
NASA’s Herschel Project Office is based at JPL, which contributed mission-enabling technology for two of Herschel’s three Science instruments

Indian Court of Arbitration for Sports set up to settle Sports Dispute

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) sets up a 8 member Indian Court of Arbitration for Sports (ICAS)
ICAS set up under the Chairmanship of Dr. AR. Lakshmanan, former Supreme Court Judge and former Law Commission chairman
Objective:
To resolve all sports related disputes in India
Other Members of ICAS: M.R. Culla and retired judges, Justices R.S. Sodhi, B.A. Khan, Usha Mehra, Lokeshwar Prasad and S.N. Sapra
All sports related disputes in the whole world are settled by the International Court of Arbitration for Sports situated at Lausanne, Switzerland through a panel of eminent experts in the field of law, medicine, sports and others
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had given directions to the IOA to constitute the Indian court of Arbitration for Sports in order to resolve all sports related disputes within the territory of India
All disputes in relation to sports under the Indian Olympic Association will therefore be decided by the Indian Court of Arbitration for Sports.

Software developed to prevent Stampede Deaths

German Scientists developed new software to prevent Stampede Deaths
S/w can precisely sense when crowds are starting to build up to unsafe levels
It could help prevent stampede deaths that often occur during festivals and mass celebrations
S/w to give security staff a chance to scatter crowds to safety by pre-empting the crisis
S/w observes the motion of the crowd by inspecting the movement of each pixel b/w different frames of crowd video footage
When there are extremely symmetrical pixel motions, it means there is something odd going on and the S/w puts the operator on qui vive by highlighting the area in red

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