16 AUGUST

                 Puducherry today observes De Jure Transfer Day

      Puducherry today observed De Jure Transfer Day with pomp and gaiety. It was on this day in 1962 French colonies of Puducherry, Karaikal, Yanam and Mahe were formally acceded to the Indian Union

      Lt. Governor KiranBedi unfurled the nation flag at the monument for freedom struggle at Keezhur opening the celebrations.

     It was in this village a referendum on whether to merge with India was held way back in 1954. Of the 178 representatives who participated in the voting, 170 voted in favour of merger.

     Chief Minister paid rich tributes to freedom fighters who toiled for the cause of freedom from colonial rule.

     Former FIFA President Joao Havelange passes away

           Joao Havelange, former president of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA),            the global governing body of football passed away in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

          He was 100. He had served as president of FIFA for two decades and had played pivotal role in           transforming football’s governing body into a multibillion-dollar business.

          Born as Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid de Havelange on 8 May 1916 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

         He was a Brazilian lawyer, businessman and former athlete. He had served as the 7th President            of the FIFA from 1974 to 1998.

         His tenure as President in FIFA is the second longest behind only that of Jules Rimet. He had               received the title of Honorary President when leaf office, but resigned in April 2013.

         Havelange had expanded the FIFA World Cup from 16 to 32 teams and made it one of sport’s              most important events. 

         He had organized six World Cups as FIFA president from 1974 to 1998, when Sepp Blatter                  replaced him. He is credited for creating the women’s World Cup.

        He was re-elected president of FIFA for six times, capitalising on his contact-building across               world football. Under his presidentship, FIFA’s membership had expanded by nearly one-third to          more than 200 nations and territories.

        He had served as member of International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 1963 until 2011. He           was the longest-serving active member of IOC upon his resignation.

                    Bihar becomes 2nd state to ratify GST

            Bihar State Legislature on Tuesday ratified the Constitution Amendment Bill on Goods and Services Tax (GST) in a special one-day session.

      With this, it has become the first non-BharatiyaJanata Party ruled state to ratify the GST.

      The GST Bill needs to be ratified by at least 15 state legislatures before the President can notify the GST Council, which will then decide the new tax rate and other issues.

      The government intends to reach the golden number of 15 states in the coming month.

      Last week, Assam became the first state to ratify the Bill.As reported earlier, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had called Finance Minister ArunJaitley last week and offered to have the Bill passed on August 16.

Goa hosting BRICS in October this year

     The coastal state of Goa has been given the opportunity to host the BRICS summit ahead of other states because of its high hospitality standards, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has said.

      The BRICS summit will be held in Goa in mid-October.

      Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in Goa last week to review preparations for the meet, which is expected to be attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

      Parsekar also said that Goa should capitalise on the state's tourism potential.

              August 2016 China launches World’s first Quantum  Communication Satellite

        

     China has successfully launched the world’s first quantum satellite dubbed as Quantum Experiments at Space Scaler         (QUESS) satellite. The satellite was launched on board of Long March-2D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite                           LauncCentre in the remote northwestern province of Gansu. 

      Key Features The QUESS satellite has been nicknamed as Micius after a 5th century BC Chinese philosopher.

      It will be located in sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500 km and will circle the Earth once every 90 minutes.

 

     The satellite will help China to establish hack-proof communications system by transmitting uncrackable keys from         space to the ground. Applications: Ranges from highly secured military and government communications to online           shopping.

    Significance Earlier, researchers around the world had successfully sent quantum messages on land. But this first of its       kind satellite-based quantum network would make it possible to send quickly encrypted (hack proof) messages around     the world.

    It also opens door to other possible uses of the technology. 

    The launch is also a major triumph for China in the field of quantum technology. 

    What is Quantum communication? Quantum communication boasts ultra-high security communication.

   It uses subatomic particles to securely communicate between two points. In case intruder (hacker) tries to crack the            message in Quantum communication, it will change its form in a way that would alert the sender and cause the message    to be altered or deleted.

   Note: Chinese philosopher Micius has been credited for conducting optical experiments.