Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 11 November 2014

National

Final arguments in Dec. in 2G scam

• A special court fixed a new date for hearing the final arguments in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case in which former Telecom Minister A. Raja and DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi figure as accused.
• Special Judge O.P. Saini adjourned the hearing to December 19, saying that it would be proper to begin the final arguments on conclusion of evidence in the money laundering case, connected with the 2G case.
• The former Minister and Ms. Kanimozhi are also accused in this case. The recording of evidence in it has been scheduled for November 17.
• Earlier, the court issued a non-bailable warrant against Ms. Kanimozhi as she was not present when the case was taken up for hearing.
• However, it later cancelled it when her lawyer apologised for her absence. The court had in September concluded recording of evidence in the 2G case.

CBI cites proof in allocation of coal blocks

• Changing its stand, the CBI informed a special court that “there is prima facie enough material on record’’ to prosecute chairman of Aditya Birla Group Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Coal Secretary P.C. Parakh, in connection with the allocation of coal blocks to Hindalco in violation of the rules.
• Hindalco is the metals flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group.
• “Special Public Prosecutor states that from the overall facts and circumstances, there is prima facie enough material on record to take cognisance of various offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code against the private parties and some of the public servants involved in the process of allocation of impugned coal blocks.
• A compilation of the relevant documents has also been filed for a ready reference,’’ Special Judge Bharat Parashar said in his brief order.
• Among other persons, Mr. Birla and Mr. Parakh figure as accused in the investigation report filed by the CBI in the case. Later, the judge fixed November 25 as the date for consideration of the CBI’s investigation report in the case for further proceedings.

Job scheme grants likely to be cut for implementation of MGNREGA

• The Union government is said to have decided to make a cut in grants to be released to the State for the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). If it happens, the scheme would face a setback here, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj H.K. Patil has said.
• Speaking to presspersons on the sidelines of a function, Mr. Patil said that the State government has sent a Rs. 3,500-crore proposal to the Centre to take up work under MGNREGA. However, according to sources, the Union government was contemplating sanctioning only Rs. 2,100 crore during this fiscal.
• A cut in grants would hamper livelihood and development activities in rural areas. The Union government should reconsider its decision, he urged.
• The matter had been brought to the notice of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and very shortly, Mr. Siddaramaiah would take a delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added.
• To a query on fixing sugarcane price, Mr. Patil said that the State government has fixed Rs. 2,650 for per tonne of sugarcane and a direction has been issued to sugar factory owners to follow the guideline.

Gujarat becomes first to make voting compulsory in local body polls

• Gujarat has become the first State to make voting compulsory in local bodies after Governor O.P. Kohli recently gave his sanction by signing the controversial Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2009.
• “The Governor sent his assent to the Parliamentary Affairs Department last week. Now it is up to the government to publish [the rules] in the gazette.
• The implementation will begin after the official notification,” D.M. Patel, Secretary, Gujarat Legislative Assembly, told.
• Amid opposition from the Congress, the Bill was first passed in the Assembly in 2009 by the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

PM Modi to send tough messages to China (Register and Login to read Full News..) 

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Persons in news

Jnanpith conferred on Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh

• President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the 49th Jnanpith award upon eminent Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh for his outstanding contribution towards Indian literature.
• Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Mukherjee said Mr. Singh had offered, through his poetry, a rare assimilation of rhymes and lyrical prose, exploring both the realms of reality and fantasy with equal felicity.
• “A poet of unique stature, his approach is not only sensitive to modern aesthetics but also to traditional rural communities while at all times being committed to the celebration called life,” the President said.
• The Jnanpith award, institutionalised by philanthropist couple Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain and Late Rama Jain, commemorates Indian authors for their contribution to Indian literature.
International

Xi Jinping-Shinzo Abe meeting spells thaw in Sino-Japanese ties

• Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) — their ice-breaking dialogue confirming a thaw in ties, which at one time threatened to spin dangerously out of control.
• Talks between the two leaders skirted China’s earlier insistence that the Japanese Premier must stop visiting the Yasukini shrine. The shrine honours the Japanese war-dead, including “souls” of 14 Class-A war criminals, and Mr. Abe’s visits have been seen in China as moves re-legitimise Tokyo’s militaristic past.
• While there was no direct reference to Yasukuni visits, Japanese officials were quoted as saying that the Chinese President told Mr. Abe that Tokyo “must look at history squarely and move towards the future”.
• Ahead of the talks, China seemed to soften its earlier insistence that Tokyo must accept there was a “dispute” between the two countries over the status of Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea, which the Japanese call Senkaku.
• Tensions over the islands had escalated sharply, threatening the possibility of open conflict, and drawing into the fray the United States, which has a security alliance with Japan.
• For several decades, Japan and China had kept a lid on their dispute, but tensions spiralled once Japan changed the status quo by purchasing three of these islands, in 2012, from their private Japanese owners.

Russia signs another mega-energy agreement with China

• Russia pivoted decisively towards the East, after signing another mega-energy agreement with China, which could dwarf Europe as the largest consumer of Russian gas once the project is completed.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fifth meeting in a year with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC), yielded an agreement that seemed to rebuff Europe, which had imposed sanctions on Russia following the crisis in Ukraine.
• China would receive 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year along the so-called “western” or “Altay” route, according to the agreement. This would supplement the proposed 38 bcm Russian gas to China that would flow through the “Power of Siberia” pipeline, passing along the “eastern route”.
• The “eastern route” deal, worth $400 billion, was signed in May, and work on the project has already commenced.
• Sunday’s agreement is meant to lay the groundwork for a full-fledged contract later. “We have reached an understanding in principle concerning the opening of the western route,” said Mr. Putin, before he flew into Beijing for the APEC summit. “We have already agreed on many technical and commercial aspects of this project, laying a good basis for reaching final arrangements,” he observed.
• Aleksey Miller, a senior member of Mr. Putin’s inner circle and head of the energy giant Gazprom, announced that once it materialises, the deal would hedge Moscow’s dependence on the European energy markets.

School body in Pakistan observes ‘anti-Malala’ day (Register and Login to read Full News..) 

Cairn energy makes second oil discovery offshore Senegal (Register and Login to read Full News..) 

Business & economy

Google signs long term lease, will pay $ 1.16 billion

• Google has signed a long-term lease for part of a historic Navy air base, where it plans to renovate three massive hangars and use them for projects involving aviation, space exploration and robotics.
• The giant Internet company will pay $ 1.16 billion in rent over 60 years for the property, which also includes a working air field, golf course and other buildings. The 1,000-acre (400-hectare) site is part of the former Moffett Field Naval Air Station on the San Francisco Peninsula.
• Google plans to invest more than $200 million to refurbish the hangars and add other improvements, including a museum or educational facility that will showcase the history of Moffett and Silicon Valley, according to a NASA statement.
• The agency said a Google subsidiary called Planetary Ventures LLC will use the hangars for “research, development, assembly and testing in the areas of space exploration, aviation, rover/robotics and other emerging technologies.”
• Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have a well-known interest in aviation and space. The company has recently acquired several smaller firms that are working on satellite technology and robotics.
• But a Google spokesperson declined to discuss specific plans for the property, which is located just a few miles (kilometers) from the company’s main campus in Mountain View.
• NASA plans to continue operating its Ames Research Center on the former Navy site. Google will take over operations at the runways and hangars, including a massive structure that was built to house dirigible—style Navy airships in the 1930s.
• NASA said the deal will save it USD 6.3 million in annual maintenance and operation costs.

More airports will be developed in PPP mode

• The Modi government, with a strong focus on infrastructure development, will be developing more airports in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The airports in Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Jaipur are to be developed in the first phase.
• Currently, the Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad airports are being operated in the PPP mode as joint ventures with private companies.
• Noting that high tax rates have pushed Aviation Turbine Fuel costs 40 to 45 percent higher than international levels, the draft civil aviation policy says the Ministry will be undertaking rationalisation of ATF costs, in consultation with the Finance Ministry and State governments.
• India currently has 132 airports, of which 46 domestic and 15 international airports are run by the AAI; 31 are not operational while the remaining are civil enclaves in defence or customs airports.
• The policy hints at a special package to boost air connectivity in the North-Eastern region, along with enhancing regional air connectivity across the country in general.
• Another significant area the policy aims to address is attracting investment to the $700 million Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) industry by providing land and other incentives.
• According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), every 100 rupees spent on air travel results in benefits worth Rs. 325 while a 100 jobs in the aviation sector create 610 jobs in the economy overall.

RBI tightens norms for NBF Companies (Register and Login to read Full News..) 

IT & communications minister to meet e-commerce heads (Register and Login to read Full News..) 

Sports

AITA reconstituted its selection committee

• The All India Tennis Association (AITA) reconstituted its selection committee with players who have represented the country, at its executive committee meeting held in Mumbai.
• In a release issued here, the AITA stated that former Davis Cup captain S.P. Misra would be the chairman of the selection committee, with Rohit Rajpal, Balram Singh, Zeeshan Ali and Nandan Bal as other members.
• It was decided that, in future, only players who have represented the country in Davis Cup or Fed Cup would be eligible to be part of the selection committee.
• More importantly, it was also decided to draft S.P. Misra and Rohit Rajpal as members of the executive committee, in accordance with the international guidelines to involve sportspersons in the management of sports federations.

David Ferrer pulls of CTL owing to health issue (Register and Login to read Full News..) 

Science & technology

US President Obama seeks ban on Internet ‘fast lane’ deals

• Seeking an “explicit ban” on paid prioritisation on the web, US President Barack Obama has said that Internet service providers should not be allowed to cut deals with online services, so that no service is stuck in a “slow lane” without paying a fee.
• The move, experts said, would ban companies from cutting deals for faster service. “No service should be stuck in a ‘slow lane’ because it does not pay a fee,” Mr. Obama, who is travelling to China now, said in a Web video released by the White House.
• “That kind of gatekeeping would undermine the level playing field essential to the Internet’s growth. So, as I have before, I am asking for an explicit ban on paid prioritisation and any other restriction that has a similar effect,” Mr. Obama said.
• Asserting that Internet service providers (ISPs) should treat all web traffic equally, Mr. Obama asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to implement the strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality.
• Mr. Obama said an “open Internet” is essential to the American economy, and increasingly to our very way of life. By lowering the cost of launching a new idea, igniting new political movements, and bringing communities closer together, it has been one of the most significant democratising influences the world has ever known, he argued.
• “Net neutrality has been built into the fabric of the Internet since its creation — but it is also a principle that we cannot take for granted. We cannot allow Internet service providers (ISPs) to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas.
• “That is why today, I am asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to answer the call of almost 4 million public comments, and implement the strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality,” Mr. Obama said.

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12 million dementia patients in India by 2050 says Report (Register and Login to read Full News..) 

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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

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