Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 11 March 2015

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 11 March 2015

:: National ::

‘RTI Act applies to A-G’s office’

  • Stating that even under common parlance the office of the Attorney General of India has always been understood to mean a “constitutional authority,” the Delhi High Court refused to accept that this office was outside the ambit of the Right to Information Act and further directed it to reconsider the RTI application that it had rejected on these grounds.

  • The issue came into question when a petition challenging an order by the Central Information Commission was up for hearing before the single Bench of Justice Vibhu Bakhru.

  • The CIC had held that the office of the AGI was not a public authority under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act.

  • The petition was also challenging a letter by the AGI refusing all information to the petitioner under the RTI act.

  • “An office that is established under the Constitution would clearly fall within the definition of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act…,” said Justice Vibhu Bakhu while rejecting AGI’s arguments.

Land Bill clears Lok Sabha hurdle (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International ::

Pakistan lifts death penalty moratorium for all cases

  • Pakistan has lifted its moratorium on the death penalty in all capital cases, officials said , after restarting executions for terrorism offences in the wake of a school massacre by the Taliban.

  • The Interior Ministry has directed provincial governments to proceed with hangings for prisoners who had exhausted all avenues of appeal and clemency, a senior interior ministry official told .

  • Pakistan has hanged 24 convicts since resuming executions in December after Taliban militants gunned down more than 150 people, most of them children, at a school in the restive northwest.

  • The partial lifting of the moratorium only applied to those convicted of terrorism offences, but officials said it has now been extended.

  • Rights campaign group Amnesty International estimates that Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on death row, most of whom have exhausted the appeals process.

  • Amnesty International estimates that Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on death row.

:: Business & Economy ::

RIL heads the list of top 10 asset firms

  • At the end of 2014, India has 68 billionaires and occupies the seventh slot in that club globally.

  • The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has come out with the names of top ten corporates having assets ranging from Rs.89,000 crore to Rs.3.68 lakh crore, based on the balance sheets filed for March 2014.

  • Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, released the list containing eight public sector firms and two private sector firms (Reliance Industries and Housing Development Finance Corp).

  • RIL occupies the first slot among the corporates, in terms of assets, with over Rs.3.68 lakh crore for the year ended March 2014.

  • The second slot is taken by Indian Oil Corp with assets of Rs.2.52 lakh crore.

  • The latest list contains asset details of 4.16 lakh firms valued at Rs.117.08 lakh crore.

  • The share of top 10 firms, at Rs.17.89 lakh crore, accounts for 15.3 per cent of the overall value.

  • HDFC was in the third slot, followed by Power Finance Corp, NTPC, Rural Electrification Corp, Power Grid Corp, LIC Housing Finance, Steel Authority of India and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. PFC’s assets stand at Rs.1.94 lakh crore, NTPC at Rs.1.80 lakh crore, REC at Rs.1.53 lakh crore, Power Grid at Rs.1.40 lakh crore LIC Housing Finance at Rs.95,777 crore, SAIL at Rs.91,962 crore and BSNL at Rs.89,333 crore.

  • The list contains eight public sector firms and two private sector firms.

:: Science & Technology ::

Oldest primitive animal fossil found in China

  • Scientists have discovered the “earliest and most credible” primitive animal fossil in 600-million-year-old rocks in southwest China, media reports say.

  • The research led by Chinese scientists described a well-preserved, rice grain-sized primitive sponge fossil in the Guizhou Province, a Xinhua report said.

  • “It’s the world’s earliest and most credible fossil record of primitive animal bodies,” said the lead author of the research, Maoyan Zhu, of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology.

  • “The discovery will help remove doubts whether animals have emerged on earth 600 million years ago,” Mr. Maoyan said.

  • The fossilised animal, slightly more than 1.2-mm wide and 1.1-mm tall, displays many characteristics of modern adult sponges, an analysis based on advanced imaging techniques found.

  • The specimen is composed of hundreds of thousands of cells, and has a structure consisting of three adjacent hollow tubes sharing a common base, the researchers said.

Natco to launch Hepatitis C drug in India soon (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Sports ::

India thrashes Thailand

  • Indian women missed more than a dozen chances before finding their scoring touch to thrash Thailand 6-0 in their last league match of the Hero Hockey World League Round 2 at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

Selection criterion for multi-discipline events

  • In a move that may affect careers of several athletes, the Union Sports Ministry has formulated a selection criterion which states that for participation in a multi-discipline event an individual sportsperson must perform at par with the top-six finishers in the previous edition of the competition.

  • According to a statement issued, “The performance of sportspersons in the individual events during the last 12 months prior to commencement of the event should not be less than the performance achieved by the sixth position holder of the previous edition of the respective tournament in measurable sports.”

  • This will be applicable for events such as the Olympic Games, Winter Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Indoor Games, Asian Beach Games, Youth Olympics, Asian Youth Games, Commonwealth Youth Games, Paralympics and Para-Asian Games.

  • “For team events, only those teams which have achieved ranking up to eighth among participating countries of the tournaments concerned in the last one year should be considered for participation in the respective tournaments.”

  • In a communication sent to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) and the National Sports Federations (which are actually responsible for the selection of athletes and teams for international events), the Ministry said that the same criteria would be applicable in non-measurable sports as well.

  • The Ministry has also made it clear that no additional sportsperson and support staff would be cleared “even at no cost to government.”

  • However, Cycling Federation of India (CFI) Secretary Onkar Singh pointed out the flaw in the new guideline.

  • “The Government should not limit the participation in multi-sport events to the elite athletes. What about the younger athletes who are talented but do not have exposure? For example, one has to go through the qualification process to participate in the Olympics. But who will help an athlete to reach the qualification?”

  • Meanwhile, the Ministry has requested the IOA to formulate guidelines for inclusion of athlete support personnel in the contingent for multi-disciplinary events.

  • “IOA and Sports Authority of India (SAI) should ensure that only those support personnel are considered for Indian contingents who have worked with the sportspersons in camps or have the necessary credentials and experience and are eligible as per the rules and guidelines of the International Olympic Committee/Olympic Council of Asia/Organising Committees of the Games/respective International Federations.”

India sews up top spot in Pool B (Register and Login to read Full News..)

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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

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