SURGEON RAGHU RAM AWARDED 2016 B C ROY AWARD

Raghu Ram Dr P Raghu Ram, President of Association of Breast Surgeons of India was awarded prestigious Dr B C Roy national award for outstanding service in the field of socio-medical relief for 2016.

The award will be conferred on him by President Pranab Mukherjee on the occasion of the Doctors day observed every year on 1st July.

He is claimed to be the youngest surgeon ever from the Telugu states (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) to receive this award.

The award recognises Dr Rams significant contribution towards improving the delivery of breast health care in India. Besides, it also recognises his efforts for creating the much needed awareness about importance of early detection of breast cancer in Telugu states through a number of initiatives.

• The BC Roy Award is the highest recognition for medical practitioners in India.

• It was instituted by the Medical Council of India (MCI) in 1976 in memory of renowned physician and former West Bengal Chief Minister Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy.
• The award is bestowed annually 6 categories viz. statesmanship of the Highest Order in India, eminent medical person, medical man-cum-statesman, eminent person in philosophy, eminent person in arts and eminent person in Science.

NAND KUMAR SAI TAKES CHARGE AS FIFTH CHAIRPERSON OF NCST

Nand Kumar Sai Senior tribal leader from Chhattisgarh and ex-parliamentarian Nand Kumar Sai (71) took charge as Chairperson of National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) in Delhi.

He succeeds Rameshwar Oraon, whose tenure had ended on October 31, 2016. He will have tenure of three years and has been given the rank of Union Cabinet Minister.

He was in the forefront of various movements to oppose atrocities and exploitation of tribals. He has served as member of parliamentary standing committee on coal and steel and parliamentary consultative committee of Ministry of Urban Development and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

• National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) is constitutional body set up under Article 338A added through Constitution (89th Amendment) Act, 2003.
• It was bifurcated from erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
• The First commission was constituted on 2004 with Kunwar singh as the chairperson.
• The second commission was constituted on 2007 with Urmila Singh as the Chairperson.
• The third Commission was constituted on 2010 with Rameshwar Oraon as the Chairperson.
• The fourth Commission was constituted in November 2013 with Rameshwar Oraon getting re-appointed as the Chairperson. Shri Ravi Thakur, MLA in Himachal Pradesh Assembly has been appointed as Vice-Chairperson of the fourth Commission. 
• Composition: Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and three full-time Members (including one lady Member). 
• All of them have tenure of three years from the date of assumption of charge.

Functions:

• Investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the STs under the Constitution or under any other law or under any order of the Government and evaluate the working of such safeguards Inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and safeguards of STs.
• Participate and advise in planning process of socio-economic development of the STs and to evaluate the progress of their development under the Centre and any State; Present President, annually reports upon the working of those safeguards.
• To make in such reports, recommendations as to measures to be taken by Governments for effective implementation of those safeguards and other measures for the protection, welfare and socio-economic development STs.

WORLD’S OLDEST AIRCRAFT CARRIER INS VIRAAT DECOMMISSIONED

The world’s longest serving warship INS Viraat was decommissioned by the Indian Navy at Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, Maharashtra after nearly six decades of service.

This marks the end of an era of Viraat being the flagship of the Indian Navy as it had provided utmost protection to the country during many tense situations.

The decision on the warship’s future has not been taken yet.

KEY FACTS

• INS Viraat holds Guinness Books of record of being the longest serving warship in the world.
• It was also the last British-built ship serving with the Indian Navy.
• It was built in 1943 during the Second World War and was first commissioned as the HMS Hermes into the British Royal Navy in November 1959.
• During the Falklands War in 1982, the aircraft carrier had served as the flagship of the Royal Navy’s task force.
• British navy had decommissioned in 1985 after 27 years of service.
• It had sailed nearly 11 lakh km, enough to cover the globe 27 times.
• It had spent 30 years in the Indian Navy and 27 years in the Royal Navy.
• It was commissioned into the Indian Navy on May 12, 1987.
• It had played a major role in Operation Jupiter in 1989 in the Sri Lankan peace keeping operation.
• It also had participated in the standoff Operation Parakram in 2001-20012 when India and Pakistan were engaged in a standoff post the Parliament terror attack.
• Its last operational deployment was for participation in International Fleet Review held at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh in February 2016.

NEW SOLAR SYSTEM FOUND TO HAVE 7 EARTH-SIZE PLANETS

Astronomers have discovered seven Earth-like exo- planets orbiting the same star, 40 light years away from Earth.

The findings were revealed through a study that was published on 22 February in a journal called Nature and through a news conference, held at the NASA headquarters in Washington.

KEY POINTS

• The seven planets have been found to be in a tight circle 
• around a star called TRAPPIST-1, which is almost one tenth the size of the sun and about a quarter as warm.
• The seven of them are distanced at a space five times smaller than the distance between Mercury and our sun.
• While the planet closest to the star takes about just one and half days to orbit around it, the farthest one is reported to take about 20 days.
• Despite such proximity to the sun-like star, these planets are not unbearably warm.
• Estimates of their mass indicate that they are all rocky planets.
• Three of the seven planets-TRAPPIST-1e, f and g fall in the habitable zone, leading to the possibility of them having water on their surface.
• While the first three planets according to the researchers would be too warm to support liquid water, the farthest one would be too cool.

According to researchers, TRAPPIST-1f looks to be the best candidate for supporting life. It is a bit cooler than Earth but it may have the right atmosphere and though TRAPPIST-1 is a dwarf star, it would appear three times as big as the sun when looked upon from TRAPPIST-1f.

About the discovery

• The discovery was made by a team led by Michaël Gillon of the Université de Liège.
• Generally, ultracool dwarf stars like TRAPPIST-1 are very common in the galaxy and so, are largely overlooked.
• Gillon however, decided to study the space around one of these dwarf stars.
• The researchers used a telescope called TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope) to observe its space.
• He noticed dimness at certain intervals in the star’s light.

Further observation helped them see shadows, little eclipses that interrupted the steady pattern of the starlight periodically. The shadows indicated planets, and further observation confirmed it.

Earlier they saw just three planets and slowly later they discovered all seven and were able to determine their orbital periods, distances from their star, masses and their radius.