13 MAY 2014

Ø  The Defence Ministry recommended that Lt. Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag be made the next chief of the Army, hours after the Election Commission ruled that the UPA government can begin the appointment process.

Ø  Human rights activist and lawyer Mukul Sinha (63), who fought for the cause of 2002 riot victims and victims of fake encounters in Gujarat, died in a private hospital. The body was donated to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital as per his wishes. An IIT Kanpur alumnus, he initially worked at the Physical Research Laboratory here. After getting his law degree in 1989, he started fighting cases for the underprivileged. His NGO, Jan Sangharsh Manch, took up labour issues such as low wages of drivers and conductors of the city and State transport corporations.

Ø  President Pranab Mukherjee presented the National Florence Nightingale Awards to nursing personnel on the occasion of International Nurses Day at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Ø  The world’s first (Airbus) airplane completely powered by electricity has successfully taken to the skies for its maiden flight, and could bring down air travel cost by more than a third. The small experimental aircraft called ‘E-Fan’ took off from an airport near Bordeaux in southwestern France. E-Fan measures little more than 19 feet from nose to tail and slightly more noise than a hairdryer. Powered by 120 lithium-ion polymer batteries, the plane’s first official flight last month lasted less than 10 minutes, though the plane has the capability to fly for around an hour before recharging. An hour long commercial flight with the E-Fan, according to Airbus, could cost only $16, compared to $55 for a flight in a petrol-powered plane of the same size, Inhabitat.com reported.