Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 15 August 2014

Crowd-sourced ad for I&B Ministry

The idea behind this exercise is to involve people in governance and bridge the divide between the rulers and the ruled.
With this same end in view, the Human Resource Development Ministry has recently launched an internship programme where college and research students can work in various education departments and help in policy formulation.
According to the Ministry, it got 1,000 entries of which 10 were shortlisted by a panel of field experts, artists and academics.
This is the second time that a Ministry has crowd-sourced an advertisement for an occasion, the first instance was on World Day to Combat Desertification on the request of Environment and Forests Ministry.

Charging the UPA regime of failing to scrap antiquated and irrelevant laws, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said he has assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that up to 300 outdated laws will be repealed in the winter session of the parliament.
He said the Repealing and Amending Act Bill, 2014 to do away with 36 antiquated laws was one of his first tasks.

In an Independence Day gift to ex-servicemen, the Union Government has decided that those applying for vacancies before undertaking any government job on the civil side would continue to be entitled to Armed Forces’ reservation benefits for any subsequent employment.
Ex-servicemen are eligible for 10 per cent reservation in Group C and 20 per cent in Group D posts in all the central civil services.
Benefit of reservation is also extended at 10 per cent of the vacancies in the posts up to the level of Assistant Commandant in all para-military forces to be filled by direct recruitment.

A day after the political class restored its role in appointing judges, Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha said “people” in the judiciary, executive and legislature should have mutual respect and not encroach upon the domain of the other. He was speaking at the 68th Independence Day function held at the Supreme Court lawns.