Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release 11 Volumes of Manu with commentaries by 21 scholars on slokas of Srimad Bhagavadgita today at Lok Kalyan Marg, New Delhi. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Dr. Karan Singh will also be present on the occasion.

In general the practice with Srimad Bhagavadgita is to present the text with a single commentary. For the first time, many of the key commentaries by celebrated Indian scholars are being brought together for achieving a comprehensive and comparative appreciation of Srimad Bhagavadgita. The Manu, published by Dharmarth Trust, is written with extraordinary variety and nuance of Indian calligraphy ranging from Shankar Bhashya to Bhasanuvada. Dr Karan Singh is the Chairman Trustee of Dharmarth Trust, Jammu and Kashmir.

The Budget session of Delhi Assembly began yesterday with the address of Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia who also holds the Finance portfolio presented the Economic Survey of Delhi and the status report of outcome Budget in the Assembly yesterday.

Today Mr Sisodia will present the Budget in the Assembly. The Budget Session of Delhi Assembly will be held till 16th of this month.

Both the Houses of Parliament adjourned till 12 Noon following opposition uproar over the issue of price rise of petrol, diesel and LPG. In the Lok Sabha, when the House met for the day, members from Congress, Left, DMK, NCP, Shiv Sena and others trooped into the well raising slogans against the government. Speaker Om Birla repeatedly urged the agitating members to go back to their seats and allow the House to take up question hour. He said, question hour is very important as members raise problems in their respective areas. Amid noisy scenes, he tried to run the question hour but in vain. As the pandemonium continued, he adjourned the House till 12 Noon.

In the Rajya Sabha also, opposition parties had given the adjournment notices over the issue which was rejected by the Chair. Following this, Congress members came into the well and raised slogans against the government. Deputy Chairman Harivansh said that the members can raise this issue during discussion on listed business. Amid uproar, Mr. Harivansh tried to run the Zero Hour. As the noisy scene continued, the House was adjourned till 12 Noon.

In poll bound Assam, today is the last day of filing nomination papers in the first phase.  So far 52 candidates have submitted nomination papers. Polling will be held in 47 seats in this phase on 27th of this month. Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Sarbananda Sonowal will submit his nomination today at Majuli.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will fight from Majuli seat again. Senior party leader and Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, Asom Gana Parishad President Atul Bora are to accompany him in nomination filing. Several senior  leaders are vying for the first phase in Assam. State Congress President Ripun Bora has submitted nomination at Gohpur . Asom Gana Parishad President Atul Bora and Executive President Keshab Mahanta submitted nomination papers. Jailed  leader  of Raijor Dal Akhil Gogoi also filed nomination at Gauhati  medical college and hospital. Senior BJP leader and Speaker of the state Assembly Hitendra Nath Goswami at Jorhat , senior Minister Ranjit Dutta at Behali and Naba Kumar Doley filed nomination at Dhakuakhana.  President of Assam Jatiya Parishad Lurinjyoti Gogoi and senior leader of the party Jagdish Bhuyan too  filed nomination. 

President Ramnath Kovind will be on a three day visit to Tamilnadu. Security has been tightened at the airport and the surrounding areas on account of the visit. The President will be arriving at Chennai this evening and will stay at RajBhavan. Tomorrow he will depart to Vellore by helicopter to attend the 16th Annual Convocation at Thiruvalluvar University.Later the President will visit the Sri Mahalakshmi Golden Temple at Sripuram. On Thursday he will attend the 41st Annual Convocation at Anna University Guindy. President will leave for Delhi on the same day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Maitri Setu between India and Bangladesh today through video conferencing. Mr Modi will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of multiple infrastructure projects in Tripura during the event.

The bridge Maitri Setu has been built over Feni river which flows between Indian boundary in Tripura State and Bangladesh. The name Maitri Setu symbolizes growing bilateral relations and friendly ties between India and Bangladesh. The construction was taken up by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited at a project cost of  133 Crore rupees. The 1.9 Kilometres long bridge joins Sabroom in India with Ramgarh in Bangladesh. It is poised to herald a new chapter for trade and people to people movement between India and Bangladesh. With this inauguration, Tripura is set to become the Gateway of North East with access to Chittagong Port of Bangladesh, which is just 80 Kilometres from Sabroom.

The Prime Minister will also lay foundation stone for setting up an Integrated Check Post at Sabroom. It will help ease the movement of goods and passengers between the two countries, provide new market opportunities for products of North East states and assist seamless movement of passengers to and from India and Bangladesh. The project is being taken up by the Land Ports Authority of India at an estimated cost of about 232 Crore rupees.

The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of NH 208 connecting the Unakoti district headquarters at Kailashahar with the Khowai district headquarters. It will provide an alternative route to the NH 44. The 80 Kilometres NH 208 project has been taken up by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited with a project cost of one thousand 78 Crore rupees.

The Prime Minister will also inaugurate State Highways and other district roads, developed by the State government with a financial outlay of 63.75 Crore rupees. They will provide all weather connectivity to the people of Tripura.

The Prime Minister will inaugurate 40 thousand 9 hundred 78 houses constructed under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), completed with the financial outlay of 813 Crore rupees. He will also inaugurate the Integrated Command and Control Centre built under Agartala Smart City Mission.

The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for the development of Multi Level Car Parking and Commercial Complex at Old Motor Stand. It will be developed at a cost of about 200 crore rupees. He will also lay foundation stone for widening of the existing road from Lichubagan to the airport from two lanes to four lanes. The work is being implemented by Agartala Smart City Mission at a project cost of about 96 crore rupees.

Ozone is a reactive gas mostly found in the so-called ozone layer in the lower stratosphere. The highest ozone concentrations are usually seen at altitudes between 20 and 40 km (at the poles between 15 and 20 km). But it is a very thin layer of about 1-10 ppm (parts per million) ozone. In both the formation and the destruction of ozone, UV radiation is absorbed. Under the influence of UV radiation, oxygen molecules are split into oxygen atoms. The adsorption of UV radiation by the ozone layer is crucial, for without it, life on land would be impossible. 

However, over-exposure to UV radiation will have a variety of damaging effects: Genetic mutation and subsequent effects on health, damage to living tissues, Cataract formation in eyes, skin cancers, suppression of the immune system, Damage to photosynthetic organisms, especially phytoplankton, damage to consumers of photosynthetic organisms, especially zooplankton. 

UV radiation can cause mutations — changes in a species’ DNA. This risk is especially high in Australia and New Zealand where the number of cases of skin cancer in humans has increased dramatically. People arc advised to wear clothes on the beach and to use sun blocks to protect their skin. In New Zealand the daily weather report in summer includes isolines to show burn times. 

It also causes cataracts in the lenses of eyes when the protein of the lens denatures and turns cloudy instead of dear, causing blindness if untreated. 

Since the 1950s, scientists have been measuring the amount of ozone in the stratosphere above Antarctica. They discovered what later would be called the ozone hole: the amount of ozone decreased significantly during the spring (September and October) and increased again in November. Apart from this annual ozone cycle, the scientists discovered that the ozone hole was growing. During the last 30 years, the minimum thickness of the ozone layer has reduced drastically and recovery has been taking longer. These results were later confirmed by NASA satellite data. Reductions in the amount of stratospheric ozone have been observed in other areas including the arctic region.

Ozone is depleted because of human-made substances called Ozone-depleting substances (ODS), like chlorofluorocarbons and methyl bromide in pesticides. While replacing CFCs in spray cans and as blowing agents for plastic foam is relatively easy, it is much more difficult to find a suitable refrigerant. The refrigerants used before the introduction of CFCs are not an option because of their dangerous properties. The most suitable CPC replacements are the so-called hydrochlorofluorocarbons (IICFCs). These substances are nearly as good as refrigerants as CFCs and are also non-toxic and inflammable. However, HCFCs also destroy ozone and they contribute to the greenhouse effect. Only their shorter lifetime in the atmosphere makes them less harmful to the ozone layer than CFCs. 

The Montreal Protocol was an international agreement at the UNEP deciding to regulate the use of CFCs, and it succeeded to a great degree as their usage has decreased since the late 80s, partly because it was the first universally ratified international agreement. More international cooperation to battle threats like the thinning of the ozone layer is the need of the hour.