Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 14 February 2015


Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 14 February 2015


:: National ::

Kejriwal to take oath

  • Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal and his six Cabinet colleagues will be administered the oath of office by Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung at the historic Ramlila Maidan. Mr. Kejriwal will take oath as Delhi’s 8th Chief Minister, exactly a year after he resigned over the Jan Lokpal issue.

  • The swearing in is expected to be witnessed by thousands of people after Mr. Kejriwal took to a radio channel to invite Delhi’s residents for the ceremony. This time though the AAP convener will commute by car instead of taking the Metro like he did in December 2013.

  • Interestingly, while taking oath in 2013, Mr. Kejriwal had told the massive gathering of over 50,000 people, according to police estimates, that his party was ready to face elections.

:: International ::

India improves press freedom rank

  • India was ranked 136 out of 180 nations worldwide in terms of press freedom in 2015, which marks an improvement from its rank of 140 in 2014, even though its absolute score declined from 40.34 to 40.49.

  • In the annual World Press Freedom Index (WPFI), produced by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), India’s “abuse score,” which reflects the intensity of violent harassment faced by journalists, was 59.58, higher than Sri Lanka’s score of 40.6, but below Pakistan’s score of 64.91 and China’s 89.64.

  • Regarding the country’s performance, the WPFI report said, “One journalist and no net citizens were killed.”

  • The WPFI ranks the performance of countries according to a range of criteria that include media pluralism and independence, respect for the safety and freedom of journalists, and the legislative, institutional and infrastructural environment in which the media operate, according to its producers.

  • While the top of the list this year and in previous years was dominated by Scandinavian nations such as Finland, Norway and Denmark, at the other end of the scale, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea were the worst performers. Russia, Iran and China also performed poorly, ranking at 152, 173 and 176, respectively.

  • The U.S. was down three places at 49 in 2015, which, according to reports, was due to the U.S. government’s “persecution of New York Times reporter Jim Risen, as well as the fact that the U.S. continues its war on information in others, such as WikiLeaks.”

  • Overall, the RSF said there was a “sharp decline in freedom of information [and] two-thirds of 180 countries performed less well … and press freedom declined in all continents in 2014.”

:: Business & Economy ::

India to be power surplus in 2019: Goyal (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Science & Technology ::

MoEF accepts some HLC recommendations

  • The controversial report of the High-Level Committee (HLC) led by the former Cabinet Secretary, T.S.R. Subramanian, seems to have been partially accepted by the Union Ministry of Environment and it is looking to appoint a technical consultant to draft two new laws.

  • Official sources said hiring a consultant was the best way to go about implementing some of the 55 recommendations.

  • Some of the administrative recommendations have been accepted even as the report is being considered by the Ministry. Sources said recommendations with legal implications were being examined by the Ministry.

  • The HLC report has suggested that some laws can be amalgamated, which would be done by the consultant while the Ministry is looking at laws that needed refinement.

  • The HLC has made important observations and 55 recommendations, according to an advertisement on the Ministry’s website.

:: Sports ::

Uttarakhand, Kerala win gold (Register and Login to read Full News..)

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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

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