Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 06 January 2015

:: National ::

Only 10% of 22 lakh NGOs file returns, reports CBI

• Only about 10 per cent of the over 22 lakh non-governmental organisations scanned by the Central Bureau of Investigation, on the Supreme Court’s directions, file their annual income and expenditure statements with the authorities they are registered with.

• This was revealed in an analysis on NGOs functioning in 20 States and six Union Territories filed by the agency before the court.

• The CBI, represented by Additional Solicitor-General P.S. Patwalia, urged the court to impose a pre-condition on NGOs that they first submit their balance sheets, including income and expenditure statements, for the preceding three years before further grants were allowed.

• However, a Bench, led by Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu, said an order could be given only after an extensive hearing. The CBI should first complete compiling data on NGOs and argue its case in detail. “Then we will see why NGOs cannot be asked to maintain complete records,” he orally observed.

• The CBI was acting on the Supreme Court’s order of September 2, 2013 on a PIL petition, filed by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, alleging misuse of funds by Anna Hazare’s NGO Hind Swaraj Trust.

• The court had expanded the scope of the petition and directed the CBI to file the entire list of NGOs in the country registered under the Societies Registration Act.

Panagariya as NITI Aayog’s Vice-Chairman

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Columbia University Professor Arvind Panagariya as the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog Vice-Chairman.

• Mr. Modi also appointed economist Bibek Debroy and the former Secretary, Defence R&D, Dr. V.K. Saraswat, to the Aayog as full-time members. India’s Tryst with Destiny, a book Dr. Panagariya co-authored with economist Jagdish Bhagwati, praises Gujarat’s growth model.

• Before the Lok Sabha polls, he argued for scaling back the PDS and disapproved of the food security law. Dr. Debroy has worked at the Centre for Policy Research and National Council of Applied Economic Research.

• Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh were all appointed as ex-officio members to the Aayog, according to an official release.

• The release also said that Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Zubin Irani and Union Social, Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot were special invitees to the Aayog.

Union Cabinet clears 2G auction (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International ::

Not any change in Afghan draw-down plans

• The White House has ruled out any change in its draw-down plan from Afghanistan asserting that Afghans are now solely responsible for the security of their country.

• “What the President has been really clear about is what our strategy in Afghanistan is; that after the end of the year, we are now in a situation where the combat mission in Afghanistan for U.S. military personnel has ended.

• “The Afghans are now solely responsible for the security of their country,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

• Mr. Earnest was responding to questions on the statement made by the new Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani, in which he said that the United States should consider re-examining its timetable for taking U.S. coalition troops out of Afghanistan.

• There is an enduring U.S. military presence and NATO coalition military presence in Afghanistan to carry out two other missions, Mr. Earnest said. “The first is a counterterrorism mission. We continue to see remnants of al-Qaeda that do have designs on destabilizing the region and U.S. interests.

• “We also continue to see a need for U.S. military personnel to play an important role in training and equipping Afghan security forces to continue to take the fight to those terrorist elements and to preserve the security situation in the country of Afghanistan,” he said.

• Lauding the U.S. and coalition forces, Mr. Earnest said there are a lot of hard-won gains that have been made in Afghanistan as a result of the bravery of U.S. military personnel and our coalition partners.

• “Much of that work — many of those accomplishments are due to the effective coordination between United States military and Afghan security forces, and we want to see that kind of coordination continue, even as Afghans take sole responsibility for their security situation,” he said.

:: Business & Economy ::

Growth in tablet sales will be slow in 2015: Gartner

• After a troubled year in 2014, the demand for tablets will continue to be slow in 2015, according to research firm Gartner. The global tablet market will not see a return to the levels of growth seen in the last four years, the research company said in a release.

• According to Gartner estimates, tablet sales across the globe will increase by 8 per cent to 233 million units in 2015. “The steep drop can be explained by several factors.

• One is that the lifetime of tablets is being extended — they are shared out among family members and software upgrades, especially for iOS devices, keep the tablets current” said Ranjit Atwal, Research Director, Gartner.

• The worldwide combined shipments of devices, PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones are estimated to reach 2.5 billion units in 2015, an increase of 3.9 per cent over 2014, the release added.

• Further, Gartner said in the operating system (OS) market, Android surpassed one billion shipments of devices in 2014, and will continue to grow at a double-digit pace in 2015, with a 26 per cent increase year-on-year.

• “From 2015, we expect Windows to grow faster than iOS, as the PC market stabilises and the challenge for the next iPhone to find significant growth becomes greater, narrowing the gap between the two operating systems,” said Mr. Atwal.

Oil prices edge up after 5% plunge

• Oil edged up, recovering from a five per cent plunge in the previous session that saw prices touch fresh 5-1/2 year lows in an oversupplied market.

• Growth in oil supplies showed no sign of abating, with output in Russia hitting a record high in 2014 and exports from OPEC's second largest producer Iraq the highest since 1980. Jitters over political uncertainty in Greece drove investors out of risk assets globally to safe haven bonds.

• "It's building on the recent bearish supply demand output of oil, led originally by the OPEC meeting," said Mark Keenan who heads Asia commodities research at Societe Generale.

• Brent crude gained 13 cents and was at $53.24 a barrel by 0226 GMT, after dropping to a low of $52.66 on Monday, its lowest since May 2009. U.S. crude was up 7 cents at $50.11 after slipping below $50 for the first time since April 2009.

• A recent slew of factors combined to push prices lower still, Mr. Keenan said, pointing to concerns about Greece, high output from Russia, Iraq and the United States and a stronger dollar.

• In December, U.S. oil inventories posted a substantial rise only for the second time in history, he said, confirming a supply glut at the world's largest oil consumer. A rise in the dollar index for the sixth straight month in December has also made dollar-denominated oil more expensive, depressing prices.

• Some economists expect cheaper oil to boost consumers' purchasing power and buoy the global economy, but the 50 per cent plunge in oil prices since June has also raised deflationary fears.

• "This is great news for motorists, but it presents a headache for policy makers, with the Fed keen to get their policy settings back to something more normal, and Europe keen to avoid a deflationary spiral," ANZ analysts said in a note.

• A rebalancing of portfolios at major commodity indices which starts may widen the spread between Brent and West Texas Intermediate, according to Societe Generale.

Pardhan launches subsidised cooking gas scheme (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Public Sector Banks to accept solar rooftop cost as part of home loan proposals (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Sports ::

Saina to be nominated for Padma award as a ‘special case’

• In a move that could potentially have far-reaching consequences, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has recommended Saina Nehwal for the Padma Bhushan award as a ‘special case’.

• At a media briefing, Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal claimed that the decision was taken after considering the 24-year-old badminton player’s “commitment, contribution and achievement.”

• The minister asserted, however, that this move should not be treated as a precedent. The Sports Ministry claimed that the Badminton Association of India (BAI) had not sent the letter of recommendation.

• Since Minister Sonowal was away from the city and there was no working day, Saina’s case could not have been considered earlier. It was revealed at the media briefing that the letter dated August 9, 2014, was received at the Minister’s residence.

• The Ministry of Home Affairs had invited the nominations for the Padma awards from May 1 to September 15 last year. According to the Sports Ministry, a letter was circulated to all National Sports Federations and Sports Control Boards that set August 20 as the last date for receiving nominations.

• After considering all cases, wrestler Sushil Kumar’s name was recommended to the Home Ministry. Saina’s allegation that the Sports Ministry had intimated her that she could not be considered in 2014 since she had received the Padma Shri in 2010 was quashed too.

• Under normal circumstances, there’s a five-year period between two Padma awards. However, according to the ministry, her name had not been recommended by BAI for the 2014 list, and the discussion with Saina never took place.

• Acknowledging the debate around the nomination process, Minister Sonowal claimed the decision to nominate Saina was impacted by his clear intention to encourage sportspersons and promote sport.

• The Sports Minister also emphasised that he only viewed the nomination from a “sporting angle” and did not wish to be involved in “petty politics.”

• Sonowal added that there was a provision that allows a person to apply directly for the Padma awards to the Home Ministry.

All eyes on Japan & China in ‘Asian football Cup’

• A simmering Australian summer will come to the boil this week as an anticipated 800 million fans are due to tune in to AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015, which kicks off with host Australia taking on minnows Kuwait in Melbourne.

• With Australia hosting the event for the first time, Asian football fans will enjoy a prime time television schedule bumping the global audience to record dimensions, reports Xinhua.

• That could play into the hands of Japan, who landed in Sydney well under the radar to take up position in Cessnock, a sleepy, wine-drenched corner of the Hunter Region of New South Wales, about 50 km outside the port city of Newcastle.

• The Samurai Blue squad that disassembled a strong Australian side in November have enjoyed a near perfect build up, sneaking a final fling before its Asian Cup title defence controlling possession in a 2-0 demolition of New Zealand club champions Auckland City in an almost private performance for Javier Aguirre.

• The former Mexican international - nicknamed El Vasco - has been embroiled in a match fixing scandal that has threatened to rubbish both the highly regarded Japanese coach and all of Spanish football.

• Aguirre’s unwanted Christmas present was to wake up among some 40 people named by Spain’s anti-corruption prosecutor in a probe into Spanish side Zaragoza’s 2-1 win at Levante on the final day of the 2010-11 campaign, which saved it from relegation and led to allegations that some Levante players were gifted almost one million euros to throw the match.

• Whether those allegations will impact the Samurai Blue in Australia is doubtful as the four-time champions - 1992, 2000, 2004, 2011 - have an almost indomitable midfield on display against Auckland led by Yashuhito Endo.

• Australian fans will be hoping that the fire-breathing China Dragons - second in 2004 - will waylay their Japanese arch rivals in the latter stages of a tournament that has all the makings of a classic.

• Former Australian captain and striker Robbie Slater, in a widely circulated cup preview, described the Chinese side as highly organised and rich with promise.

S. Shrikrishna wins maiden title (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Science & Technology ::

Mysuru based hospital goes organic soon

• In a bid to safeguard patients from consuming carcinogenic elements in chemical-laden foods, a city-based private hospital has opted to cultivate its own organic foods.

• Bharath Hospital and Institute of Oncology will cater to its inpatients’ nutritional requirements out of an organic farm set up on its Hebbal campus premises.

• The farming methods had been meticulously devised with focus on use of vermicompost, which involves the production of organic manure by using earth worms to decompose a mixture of natural manure and dry leaves, said K.P. Shivaprasad, general manager (patient relations).

• “We have 10 acres of land out of which we use 5 to 6 acres for cultivation at Hebbal campus and it is supplemented by food grown on our land near the Krishna Raja Sagara dam,” he said.

• The hospital grows a variety of chillies, brinjals, lady’s fingers, pigeon peas, beetroot, carrot, radish, field beans, capsicums, snake gourds, ridge gourds, bitter gourds, bottle gourds and coconut among other produce.

• Besides, the hospital campus has mango, jack fruit, papaya, gooseberry and chikoo trees while its teak, cherry and neem trees attract birds to shore up the campus ambience. But the key organic produce is staple foods such as ragi and paddy, according to Mr. Shivaprasad.

• Lunch, breakfast and dinner are prepared for the hospital patients under the directions of certified dieticians. The produce is enough to meet the meal requirements of about 120 to 150 people, including 60 to 80 patients and their attendants. Attention to diet helped patients to control diabetes and prevent heart ailments, hospital authorities said.

Use of security mobile apps on the rise (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Scientists says, Bt cotton not to blame for farm distress (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Click Here to Register for Full News

Click Here for Archive

Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

This is a Part of Online Coaching Programme for IAS Exam