Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 15 May 2015

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 15 May 2015

:: National ::

Modi, Xi get down to tackling tough issues

Using the historical backdrop of Xian and the shared link of Buddhism between their countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping discussed how to build better cooperation and trust between India and China.
Difficult issues dominated the discourse between the two leaders, including the boundary row and balance of trade.
Briefing the media after the 90-minute meeting held at the Governor’s Guest house in Shaanxi province, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said the leaders discussed maintaining “peace and tranquillity” at the boundary and cooperation on tackling terrorism.
The attack on a guest house in Kabul on Thursday that left four Indians among 14 people dead, and the gunning down of 43 minority members on board a bus in Karachi were also discussed.
Earlier, Mr. Modi spoke to Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani about the attack in Kabul. Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi also talked about other issues in the subcontinent, most notably coordinating relief for the Nepal earthquake victims, and sending water supplies to Maldives last December.
Officials, however, did not reveal much on the progress made in the talks on the resolution of the India-China border dispute, saying that the leaders spoke of the need for “strengthening trust” so as to have “peace and tranquillity” at the boundary, and discussed the issue of trans-boundary rivers.
No mention was made of China’s Silk Road initiative and the economic corridor in Pakistan which will run through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Meanwhile, a storm of criticism on social media networks followed state-broadcaster CCTV’s broadcasting of a map of India that cut both Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh out of it.

SC stays Kejriwal circular on criminal defamation

Days after he challenged criminal defamation as a slur on free speech, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal faced major embarrassment with the Supreme Court staying his government’s May 6 circular to initiate criminal defamation proceedings against media houses responsible for negative media reporting of his Ministers and colleagues in power.
The court criticised the government for issuing the circular, saying it left it open for anyone aggrieved with a media report to randomly seek criminal defamation proceedings.
“Why this circular by the government? So now anyone affected [by news reports] can file defamation in individual capacity? We issue notice, you file a response,” a Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and P.C. Pant observed.
The court questioned the logic behind the government’s policy. “What is this policy? Who is that authority [the official who issued the order]. We direct stay of the circular dated May 6, 2015 till further orders by this court,” the Bench said.
The circular allowed officials to identify reports damaging the reputation of the Chief Minister and other Ministers for prosecution.
The court order came on an application by senior advocate Amit Sibal, son of former Union Minister Kapil Sibal, for vacation of the stay granted by the apex court on defamation proceedings initiated by him against Mr. Kejriwal in a trial court.

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:: International ::

Anti-terror arrests in U.K. hit record high

Terror-related arrests in Britain hit record high levels last year with an arrest almost every day, Scotland Yard’s top counter-terrorism officer said.
Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said that 338 suspects were detained in 2014-15 and of those 11 per cent were women and 17 per cent were under 20 years of age.
“We are talking about an arrest a day. That is extraordinary,” Mr. Rowley said.
The latest arrest figure marks a 33 per cent increase on the 254 recorded for the 12 months ending in April 2014.
More than half of the arrests were related to Syria and Islamic State (IS) and 114 of those arrested are awaiting trial. Mr. Rowley also revealed that more than 700 British nationals of “significant concern” have travelled to Syria for feared IS terror-related activities.

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:: Business and Economy ::

E-commerce: demand for parity between online and offline FDI policy

With the Government holding discussions on FDI (foreign direct investment) in e-commerce with various stakeholders, industry, said there should be a parity between online and offline retail policy.
“FICCI feels that FDI should be allowed in B2C e-commerce with a focus on sourcing from manufacturers and in a phased manner. The idea is to emphasise that there has to be a parity between online and offline retail policy with respect to FDI levels,” the chamber said.
However, CII said that e-commerce in India was at relatively nascent stage and the market was yet to attain full maturity level. The Government discussed various issues related with foreign direct investment in e-commerce sector with several stakeholders, including Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon and industry associations such as CII, FICCI, NASSCOM and others. At present, 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) is allowed only in B2B e-commerce and not in retail segment.
“By broadening the scope of foreign investments in e-commerce to include inventory apart from marketplace, the government would be placing the Indian industry at par with other emerging markets where both marketplace and inventory models are able to operate freely.”
Nasscom President R. Chandrashekhar said growth of ecommerce was essential because it would enhance efficiency and access to market for small manufacturers and people in the unorganised sectors.

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:: Science and Technology ::

SBI launches contactless cards

State Bank of India joined its private sector rivals to launch contactless cards using latest near field technology (NFC).
Called the SBIinTouch cards, these contactless debit and credit cards are more secure and hassle-free to use at merchant outlets or ATMs and use the NFC technology, which enables users to make payments by waving or tapping the card near the contactless reader instead of swiping or dipping it.
Launching the cards, SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said the bank has already issued 1.08 lakh new cards to its customers in the eight largest metros and the remaining customers will get the cards in the following months.
These cards come with a fraud liability cover of Rs.1 lakh, managing director and group executive for national banking B. Sriram said. These cards will be especially targeted towards fast-food outlets, coffee shops and supermarkets where customers make quick transactions.

:: Sports ::

KXIP prevails over RCB in 10-over shoot-out

Kings XI Punjab did not disappoint its patient fans, who braved the drizzle for hours in the open stands of the PCA Stadium, as it beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 22 runs in their rain-affected IPL encounter.
Kings XI, which suffered a humiliating loss to Royal Challengers in the previous meeting in Bengaluru, salvaged some pride and also upset the visitors’ hopes of securing a berth in the play-offs.
This was the Punjab outfit’s third win of the season, and the first at home.