Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 03 December 2014

National

Telangana decided to move SC on power sharing

• The Telangana government has decided to move the Supreme Court over the refusal of Andhra Pradesh to share power generated according to the ratio specified in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said.
• “We have decided to knock on the doors of the court as Telangana is consistently being denied its just share,” Mr. Rao said.
• Mr. Rao shared his thoughts over the plans he envisaged for the development of the newly formed State, the hurdles it was facing and his efforts to accelerate development despite the constraints.
• Asked about a growing feeling that the gap between his intent (for development) and action was widening, Mr. Rao was forthcoming in saying that the new State had to cross many hurdles.
• “But one must also realise that the envisaged mega projects like water-grid or widening of 36,000-km rural roads or the restoration of minor irrigation tanks take a lot of time for execution.
• Our focus is on planning. The projects which are in consonance with nature will be long lasting. And that is our aim,” Mr. Rao said.
• The new State was facing another big problem in the indecision of the Centre in allocating AIS cadre officers. With the bureaucracy being unsure of their placement, development works were suffering, he said.
• Was the Centre deliberately doing this? The Chief Minister was careful not to throw the blame on the Centre, but asserted that he could not understand why it was taking so long.
• “We are feeling certainly bad about it. After all, formation of new States was not new and all it needed was a decision on the criterion, which should have taken just one hour.”

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International

UN tells Israel to renounce nuclear arms

• The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved an Arab-backed resolution calling on Israel to renounce possession of nuclear weapons and put its nuclear facilities under international oversight.
• The resolution, adopted in a 161-5 vote, noted that Israel is the only Middle Eastern country that is not party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
• It called on Israel to “accede to that treaty without further delay, not to develop, produce test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons, to renounce possession of nuclear weapons” and put its nuclear facilities under the safeguard of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
• The United States, Canada, Palau and Micronesia joined Israel in opposing the measure, while 18 countries abstained.
• The resolution, introduced by Egypt, echoed a similar Arab-backed effort that failed to gain approval in September at the IAEA.
• At the time, Israel criticised Arab countries for undermining dialogue by repeatedly singling out the Jewish state in international arenas.

Perception of corruption improving marginally in India

• India has marginally improved its ranking on the global Corruption Perception Index this year, on the back of prosecutions of high-level officials and hope that the new leadership will reduce corruption, Transparency International said.
• India’s two-point improvement (on a total possible score of 100) did not count as a “significant change” unlike that in countries like Egypt, Jordan and Afghanistan.
• With a score of 36, India now ranks 85 among 178 countries, with countries like Sri Lanka, Thailand and Burkina Faso for company.
• Denmark ranks first, as it did in 2013, while Somalia and North Korea share the bottom spot. India is ranked better than all its South Asian neighbours except Bhutan.
• The composite index is made up of a combination of surveys and assessments of public sector corruption by international agencies including the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.
• Of the nine surveys and assessments used for India, most relied on expert opinion on the extent of corruption and the rule of law and only one polled the general public.

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Science & Technology

Ability of HIV to cause AIDS slowing found study

• A research study has found that HIV – and as a consequence AIDS — is slowly becoming less aggressive in parts of Africa.
• These are the significant findings of a study conducted by Professor Philip Goulder and his team at the Nuffield Department of Medicine at Oxford University that have been published in the journal Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.
• Based on a study of about 2,000 pregnant women in Botswana and South Africa, the team has demonstrated that the weakening of the immunodeficiency virus is due to its rapid evolution and ability to mutate over time.
• In Botswana the epidemic took off in the 1980s, a decade before it hit South Africa. “Overall we are bringing down the ability of HIV to cause AIDS so quickly,” Prof. Goulder told Reuters.
• Scientists were aware that a gene known as HLA-B*57 in a person acted as a protection against the HIV virus. The new study finds that the virus has adapted to the gene, which therefore no longer offers protection.
• However, the unforeseen result of this is that the mutation of the virus also weakens it and reduces its ability to replicate. One reason for this could be because of the growing use of HIV drugs.
• “HIV adaptation to the most effective immune responses we can make against it comes at a significant cost to its ability to replicate,” Prof. Goulder told Reuters.

Artificial intelligence could eliminate human race: Hawking

• Efforts to develop artificial intelligence to create thinking machines pose a threat to the very existence of human race, famed British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking warned.
• “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race,” the 72-year-old cosmologist and author said when asked about a revamp of the technology he uses to communicate, which involves a basic form of artificial intelligence (AI).
• Hawking, who has a motor neuron disease, is using a new system developed by Intel to speak.
• Machine learning experts from the British company Swiftkey were also involved in its creation. Their technology learns how the professor thinks and suggests the words he might want to use next.
• Hawking says the primitive forms of artificial intelligence developed so far have already proved very useful, but he fears the consequences of creating something that can match or surpass humans.

Delhi students to study about organ donation

• If all goes as planned, Delhi students will soon study about organ donation as part of their curriculum. This, according to Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung, is a “foolproof mechanism for creating awareness about organ donation, and keeping track and proper upkeep of the organs”.
• Mr. Jung also appealed to the residents to opt for organ donation. He was speaking at the one-day Organ Transplant Stakeholder’s Conference organised by the Delhi Government’s Department of Health and Family Welfare.
• Mr. Jung also launched an e-reporting portal and released a compendium on organ transplant, complete with details about organ transplant, their proper upkeep, and details of hospitals and experts entrusted with ensuring the same.
• Mr. Jung stressed that an organ donated is better than an organ consigned to flames or buried after death.
• The function was presided over by Chief Secretary D. M. Spolia. Also present at the event was All-India Institute of Medical Sciences director M. C. Misra. Mr. Spolia highlighted the need for continuous awareness campaigns on the issue.
• He announced that instructions will be issued to all Head of Departments, that while issuing advertisements a line at the bottom should read prominently — “Donate your organs generously to save human lives”.
• Dr. Mishra noted that there was need to issue proper guidelines to all the hospitals and medical intuitions to give daily report of brain dead patients.

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Business & Economy

Shome panel: Tax cash withdrawal beyond limit in a day

• A high-level official panel proposed levying of banking transaction tax on withdrawal of cash beyond a specified limit in a day to check black money, and was not in favour of the tax amnesty scheme.
• A report by the Parthasarathi Shome Committee, appointed by the previous UPA government, suggested taxing farmers with large land holdings in addition to a host of measures to widen the net.
• “Taxpayers keep waiting for amnesty schemes to be announced and take advantage of these schemes to build their capital.
• “Amnesty schemes also cause inequity among taxpayers, and there is no proof that they improve taxpayer behaviour among evaders.
• They, therefore, should not be encouraged through amnesties,” said the report of the Tax Administration and Reform Commission (TARC). It was the third report in the series.
• Highlighting that there is no instrument at present that captures details of cash withdrawals from bank accounts, it said such information would help the Income Tax department widen its information base on the use of black money.
• Making a case for banking cash transaction tax (BCTT), it said: “...IT Act should be suitably revised to include in its ambit cash withdrawals exceeding specified amounts in a day from bank accounts other than savings accounts.
• “Alternatively, BCTT should be reinstated as an effective administrative measure.’’
• BCTT was introduced in June, 2005, to track unaccounted money and trace its source and destination, but was withdrawn in April, 2009. BCTT was levied in respect of cash withdrawals in a day exceeding Rs.50,000 in the case of an individual and Rs.1 lakh in the case of other persons.

Lower oil prices will boost global economy: Christine Lagarde

• The recent decline in oil prices will help boost global economy, IMF chief Christine Lagarde has said, as global oil prices have tumbled to multi-year low.
• “It is good news for the global economy,” Ms. Lagarde said at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council annual meeting.
• For the United States, low energy prices would help accelerate the economic growth to a 3.5 per cent next year from the October forecast of 3. 1 per cent, she said, adding that Europe is also expected to benefit from lower oil prices.
• Ms. Lagarde, however, noted that the Eurozone also faces a risk of the “new mediocre,” and described it as an economy marked by slow growth, low inflation and high unemployment.
• But at the same time, she asserted that reluctant political leaders need to adopt more job-friendly labour market reforms, aggressive and innovative monetary policy and other structural reforms.
• “Where they are at the moment they need to use all available tools. They have to get on with it and do it,” Ms. Lagarde said.
• During the meeting, the International Monetary Fund Managing Director was highly critical of Japan for being slow on implementation of fiscal and labour market reforms.
• On Russia, Ms. Lagarde said lower prices are adding to their fragility and their vulnerability.
• Oil prices tumbled to multi year lows last week after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to maintain its production quotas, rather than lowering its output target.
• Crude oil has fallen about 40 per cent since mid June and the price yesterday touched its lowest level since mid 2009 before U.S. oil prices posted their biggest one-day gain in two years overnight.

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