Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 02 November 2014

National

Government ties up with IIT, Bombay

• The State government has tied up with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, to help make polytechnics and engineering students across the State industry-ready by training them in the latest software skills.
• H.U. Talawar, Director, Department of Technical Education, said that IIT, Bombay, is offering software skills to over 23,000 students of the 274 polytechnics and 15 engineering colleges across the State. Karnataka is the second State, after Tamil Nadu, to tie up with IIT-Bombay.
• “It is an audio-video tool used to teach open source software. Students learn software in simple steps in an interactive manner,” Dr. Talawar said.
• IIT, Bombay, which has taken the lead in propagating software knowledge, is currently offering 15 varieties of software to students. The programme includes tutorials, interactive e-books and virtual labs.
• IIT conducts online examination for students and issues certificates to those who obtain pass marks, Dr. Talawar said. “The programme enhances broader understanding of the technologies and digital resources that can positively impact learning,” he said.

IGMRS seeks ‘heritage village’ status for Pedana village

• The India’s national Museum of Mankind, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGMRS), is all set to recommend the Ministry of Culture to announce Pedana as country’s ‘heritage village’. The IGMRS is an autonomous organisation of the Union Ministry of Culture.
• The status of the heritage village would help in conserving the Kalamkari art form in its traditional way, apart from promising recognition for the artisans involved in the rural industry.
• In his 2010 visit to Pedana, IGMRS’ Assistant Keeper P. Sankara Rao had already completed larger part of the research, establishing all necessary parameters that support the town to be named as heritage village.
• Presently, Raghurajpur in Odisha, a village inhabited by artisans producing sheer poetry on pieces of treated cloth, dried palm leaf or paper, was one of the most celebrated ‘heritage villages’ for tourists from across the globe
• “We will mostly try to complete our research on Kalamkari in our five-day ‘Kalamkari festival’, which is scheduled to be celebrated in Vijayawada from November 26. A documentary on the art will also help us to show the world the beauty of the art and artisans’ work”, Mr. Sankara Rao told.
• He said that a proposal would soon be submitted to the Ministry of Culture, recommending that the town should be included in the list of the heritage villages of the country. “The IGMRS will also seek support from Andhra Pradesh, if necessary. The status will attract tourists”, said Mr. Sankara Rao.

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International

IPCC calls for phasing out fossil fuels

• Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) R. K. Pachauri launching the Panel’s Synthesis Report in Copenhagen, said, “There is no room for complacency.”
• He suggested that India’s National action plan on climate change needs to be revisited in the light of this report. If the rise in global temperatures has to be kept under 2 degrees Celsius, fossil fuels would have to be phased out by the end of this century, he added.
• “The Report tells us that we need to tackle climate change with a combination of adaptation and mitigation,” he said.
• Navroz K Dubash, one of the lead authors of the Synthesis Report, said, “The IPCC Synthesis Report suggests a way of thinking about climate change that is deeply relevant to India. There is a complex two way relationship between sustainable development and climate change: climate policies should support, not undermine sustainable development; but limiting the effects of climate change is necessary to achieve sustainable development.
• This suggests India has to increasingly internalize climate considerations into development planning.”
• Dr Purnamita Dasgupta, coordinating lead author of the IPCC’s working group report two, said that there are observed impacts of climate change, for example in India there is decline in agricultural productivity. There is scientific consensus that warming is unprecedented and it will have irreversible impacts on lives across the globe.
• Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, which co-sponsors the IPCC along with the UN Environment Programme said in a statement, “Urgent action is needed to cut global greenhouse gas emissions. The longer we wait the more expensive and difficult it will be to adapt – to the point where some impacts will be irreversible and impossible to cope with,” he added.

Brisbane airport bans climate change billboard

• A bid by environmentalists to confront world leaders with a digital billboard highlighting climate change has been thwarted by Brisbane airport authorities who deemed the message too political.
• Brisbane Airport will be the Australian gateway for leaders of 20 economies when they gather in the Queensland state capital next week for the annual G20 summit.
• Dermot O’Gorman, chief executive of the World Wildlife Fund, said he was surprised that the Brisbane Airport Corp. had refused to allow the climate change message in the international arrivals hall as part of the #onmyagenda campaign.
• The campaign is supported by nine environment groups and encourages people to tweet G20 leaders asking them to include climate change as a stand-alone item on the G20 agenda, as it was on the previous eight G20 summits.
• “The reality is climate change is a global problem affecting economies, societies and environments all around the world, we can’t afford to sweep it under the carpet,” Mr. O’Gorman said in a statement.
Israel shuts its crossings with Gaza strip after rocket attacks
• Israel has shut its crossings with the Gaza Strip except for humanitarian aid after militants fired rockets into its territory.
• The military said it closed the crossings on Sunday after a rocket was launched into Israel from Gaza over the weekend. It said it was the second-such rocket fired at Israel since the end of the 50-day Gaza war this summer with Hamas. They military says the two rocket exploded in open fields and injured no one.
• The Egyptian Army recently forcibly evacuated hundreds of Egyptian families living along the border with the Gaza Strip in order to create a buffer zone, designed to stop the smuggling of militants and weapons through underground tunnels.

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Business & economy

ATM use over 5 times will attract fee now

• Using ATMs (automated teller machines) to withdraw money or for other purposes such as balance enquiry beyond five times in a month will attract a levy of Rs.20 a transaction from Saturday.
• According to the Reserve Bank of India’s new guidelines that come into force from Saturday, bank customers in six metros —Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore — are allowed to withdraw money and/or carry out non-financial transactions like mini-statements at ATMs of banks, where they hold saving/current accounts, free of charge only five times a month.
• Every transaction beyond this threshold will be charged Rs.20 per use. Besides, the number of free transactions at ATMs of non-home banks has been cut to three times a month from five times.
• The RBI, however, clarified that nothing precludes a bank from offering more than three free transactions at other bank ATMs to its account holders if it so desires.
• The cap in the number of free ATM transactions will not apply on small/no-frills or basic savings bank deposit account holders who will continue to enjoy five free transactions.
• At places other than the six metro centres, the facility of five free transactions for savings bank account customers will remain unchanged upon using other bank ATMs.

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Sports

Novak Djokovic retains Paris Masters title

• Top—ranked Novak Djokovic easily defended his Paris Masters title with a 6—2, 6—3 victory over.
• Djokovic, who did not drop a set during the whole week, won the indoor tournament for the third time and claimed the 20th Masters title of his career.
• The Serb also made a big step in his bid to finish the year at the No. 1 spot for a third time, extending his lead over Roger Federer before the ATP Finals in London.
• The 23—year—old Raonic, who has never beaten Djokovic in their four meetings, appeared apprehensive and could not convert his few openings.
• Djokovic’s only scare came in the first set when Raonic won eight straight points but failed to convert three consecutive break opportunities.