Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 14 July 2015

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 14 July 2015

:: National ::

Antrix site was outsourced

More than a day after the website re-routing went public, the home page of ISRO's Antrix Corporation was not yet up.
There was no official update or information on what action was being taken.
For those looking for information on antrix.gov.in, the message until 9 p.m. on Monday was, " This site is under construction. Come back soon ."
The “redirecting” of Antrix’s homepage to jdcentwine.org - or American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, a large Jewish humanitarian aid body — went public on Sunday afternoon.
According to a couple of sources who spoke about the incident, the Antrix site shows the latest date as 13 July 2015. Before that, it does not appear to have been updated after January 20, 2015 — almost seven months back. One source said he had visited it over five weeks back.
Although ISRO does not call it a hacking act, any unauthorised web entry and changing of its content amounts to it said Mirza Faizan, Co-Founder of the Global Cyber Security Response Team.
Sites related to sensitive agencies of the Departments of Space, Defence R&D and Atomic Energy are obvious targets.
The Antrix site was being hosted by an external contractor based in Bengaluru. Interestingly, this host’s site also showed that it was under construction, Mr. Faizan said. Did the compromise happen there?
The obvious question is: Should the hosting of the website of a strategic agency be outsourced?

:: International ::

Nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers

A landmark Iran nuclear agreement was reached on Tuesday after clearing final obstacles, and a senior diplomat said it included a compromise between Washington and Tehran that would allow UN inspectors to press for visits to Iranian military sites as part of their monitoring duties.
But access at will to any site would not necessarily be granted and even if so, could be delayed, a condition that critics of the deal are sure to seize on as possibly giving Tehran time to cover any sign of non-compliance with its commitments.
IUnder the deal, Tehran would have the right to challenge the UN request and an arbitration board composed of Iran and the six world powers that negotiated with it would have to decide on the issue.
Still, such an arrangement would be a notable departure from assertions by top Iranian officials that their country would never allow the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency into such sites.
Iran has argued that such visits by the IAEA would be a cover for spying on its military secrets.
On Tuesday morning, the European Union announced that the final plenary of Iran and the six countries negotiating with it will take place at 10:30 Vienna time, followed by a news conference.
A Western diplomat said they will endorse the deal, reached in the early morning hours. He demanded anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the confidential talks.
The wholesale food index rose 2.88 percent year-on-year, while fuel prices fell 10.03 percent from a year ago.

Curiosity Mars rover captures sunspots

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has captured the images of large sunspots on the face of the Sun that is turned away from Earth.
Large sunspots are evident in views from Curiosity’s Mast Camera (Mastcam). Scientists temporarily have no other resource providing views of the Sun from the opposite side of the solar system from Earth.
Information about sunspots that develop before they rotate into view of Earth and Earth-orbiting spacecraft is helpful in predicting space-weather effects of solar emissions related to sunspots.
NASA’s STEREO-A spacecraft, which monitors the Sun, is currently almost exactly behind the Sun from Earth’s perspective, but for precisely that reason it is temporarily out of communication.
The Sun disrupts radio transmissions that pass too close to it. Communication with Curiosity was also suspended last month when Mars passed nearly behind the Sun, but the rover resumed full communication and operations in late June.
The main purpose for imaging of the Sun by Curiosity and other Mars rovers has been to monitor how its apparent brightness is affected by dust in Mars’ atmosphere above the rovers.

Athens about to reach bailout worth €86 billion (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Warming 'worst case' must be considered say experts (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Business ::

wholesale prices fall 2.4 pct y/y in June

India's wholesale prices fell at a faster-than-expected annual rate of 2.4 percent in June, their eighth straight decline, mainly on the back of weak fuel prices, government data showed on Tuesday.
The data compared with a 2.2 percent year-on-year fall forecast by economists in a Reuters poll and a provisional 2.36 percent annual decline in May.

:: Sports ::

IPL verdict: csk,royals suspended

A Supreme Court-appointed committee suspended former champions Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from the Indian Premier League for two years on Tuesday as it presented its verdict on the spot-fixing and betting scandal that hit the T20 tournament in 2013.
ICC chief N Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra were suspended from any type of cricketing activity for life after they were found guilty of betting in the tournament. Srinivasan was earlier restricted by the court from running for another term as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India owing to a conflict of interest. His company India Cements held a stake in the Chennai franchise.
Lodha was appointed head of the sentencing panel in January after the Supreme Court had found Royals' co-owner Kundra and CSK's Meiyappan guilty of betting on the outcome of matches in 2013.
The committee also proposed to impose sanctions on India Cement's franchise by suspending it from the league for two years. "No action was taken by India Cements against Mr Meiyappan," he said.
The apex court had held that the allegation of betting against Meiyappan and Kundra stood proved and set up the three-member committee of its retired judges to determine the punishment for Meiyappan, who was the CSK team Principal and Kundra.
The 2013 IPL season was mired in controversy after police launched legal proceedings against several officials and cricketers, including former Test fast bowler S Sreesanth, for illegal betting and spot-fixing.
The hugely popular Chennai Super Kings are the most successful team in the IPL, having won the tournament in 2010 and 2011, and finished runners-up in 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2015.
Rajasthan Royals won the inaugural event in 2008 under the captaincy of Australian spin legend Shane Warne, but have failed to make the final since then.