Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 16 December 2014

National

UDF decided to make certain changes in liquor policy

The high power committee of the United Democratic Front (UDF) decided to make certain practical changes to its liquor policy and entrusted the State Cabinet to take an appropriate decision “without deviating from its basic policy of ringing in total prohibition by 2024.”
The meeting virtually jettisoned Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V.M. Sudheeran’s hard-line stand on the issue of prohibition citing practical policy perspectives that affected the labour and tourism sectors.
Six other Congress representatives maintained a studious silence virtually isolating Mr. Sudheeran during the course of the meeting. Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala’s suggestion to entrust the State Cabinet to take an appropriate decision on the changes to the liquor policy found favour with a majority of UDF partners, except perhaps the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Kerala Congress (B).
The Cabinet would examine the entire liquor policy on the basis of the High Court verdict, its impact on the tourism industry and workers in the liquor industry.
It would also take a final decision on the sanction of beer and wine parlours, liquor licences for clubs, and day-permits for organisations. The question of reducing the number of dry days would also be considered.
Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said Mr. Sudheeran had expressed disagreement at the move to make the changes. Mr. Sudheeran also wanted a comprehensive study into the impact of the liquor policy.
Mr. Chandy said the proposal for a comprehensive study did not find favour as it would only delay a firm decision. Mr. Chandy, however couched his statements by saying that he viewed Mr. Sudheeran’s positions positively and never doubted his commitment to bringing in total prohibition.

India is third on black money list says report

As India continues its pursuit of suspected black money stashed abroad, an international think-tank has ranked the country third globally with an estimated USD 94.76 billion (nearly Rs 6 lakh crore) illicit wealth outflows in 2012.
As a result, the cumulative illicit money moving out of the country over a ten-year period from 2003 to 2012 has risen to USD 439.59 billion (Rs 28 lakh crore), as per the latest estimates released by the Global Financial Integrity (GFI).
Russia is on the top with USD 122.86 billion, followed by China at the second position (USD 249.57 billion) in terms of the quantum of black money moving out of a country for 2012 — the latest year for which these estimates have been made.
The Washington-based research and advocacy group further said that the illicit fund outflows from India accounts for nearly 10 per cent of a record USD 991.2 billion worth illegal capital that moved out of all developing and emerging nations in 2012 to facilitate “crime, corruption, and tax evasion“.
As per GFI’s 2014 Annual Global Update on Illicit Financial Flows report, that the cumulative illicit outflows from developing economies for ten years between 2003 and 2012 stands at USD 6.6 trillion.
This includes USD 439.59 billion worth illicit money that has moved out of India in these ten years, putting the country at fourth position in overall ranking for a decade, after China (USD 1.25 trillion), Russia (973.86 billion) and Mexico (USD514.26 billion).
In these ten years, an average of USD 43.96 billion of black money is being sent out of India every year, GFI said. The estimate of these huge illegal money flow follows a Supreme Court—constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) tracing Rs 4,479 crore in the accounts of Indians figuring in a list of account holders of HSBC’s Geneva branch.

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Persons in News

M. Madarkar wins achiever’s award

Mahajabeen Madarkar’s struggle against the odds began at a tender age of three when she was affected by polio. But adversity only made her more determined to excel in academics.
Ms. Madarkar, a native of Vijayapura district, is now pursuing her Masters in Dermatology from Father Muller Medical College, Mangaluru.
She recently won the achiever’s award on International Day for Persons with Disabilities, by the Department for Women and Child Welfare. She recalled that her early days in school were hard.
“Since I could not travel on my own and my parents could not take me to school every day, I obtained special permission from school to study from home and attend only the exams. Thus, I missed most of the classes,” she said.
Despite this, she scored 92 per cent in her SSLC and joined PU in Dharwad. Even there she mostly studied from home and would go to college only for the laboratory sessions.
The daughter of a retired accountant, Sahebpatel Madarkar, she got 93 per cent in PU which enabled her to join MBBS at KIMS, Hubballi, by clearing with a third rank in the disabled category.
The proud father recalled his struggle to help his daughter with her disability. “We took her to many doctors but none of our efforts paid off. Finally, we gave up hopes to see her stand on her feet,” he said.

International

Foreign office building in Australia evacuated over suspicious package

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the capital, Canberra, was evacuated after a suspicious package was found in the building's canteen, police said.
Australia is on high alert after heavily armed police stormed a Sydney cafe early and freed terrified hostages being held there at gunpoint for 16 hours. Two hostages and the gunman were killed, police said.

Science & Technology

DNA reveals history of horse domestication: scientists

Speed, smarts, and the heart of a champion: using genomic analysis, scientists have identified DNA changes that helped turn ancient horses such as those in prehistoric cave art into today's Secretariats and Black Beautys, researchers reported.
Understanding the genetic changes involved in equine domestication, which earlier research traced to the wind-swept steppes of Eurasia 5,500 years ago, has long been high on the wish list of evolutionary geneticists because of the important role that taming wild horses played in the development of civilization.
Once merchants, soldiers and explorers could gallop rather than just walk, it revolutionized trade, warfare, the movement of people and the transmission of ideas.
It also enabled the development of continent-sized empires such as the Scythians 2,500 years ago in what is now Iran. It was all made possible by 125 genes, concluded the study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Related to skeletal muscles, balance, coordination, and cardiac strength, they produced traits so desirable that ancient breeders selected horses for them, said geneticist Ludovic Orlando of the Natural History Museum of Denmark, who led the study.
The result was generations of horses adapted for chariotry, pulling plows, and racing. Genes active in the brain also underwent selection. Variants linked to social behavior, learning, fear response, and agreeableness are all more abundant in domesticated horses.
The discovery of the genetic basis for horse domestication was a long time coming because no wild descendants of ancient breeds survive.
The closest is the Przewalski's horse. By comparing domesticated species to their wild relatives, scientists figured out how organisms as different as rice, tomatoes and dogs became domesticated.
With no truly wild horses to study, Orlando's team examined DNA from 29 horse bones discovered in the Siberian permafrost and dating from 16,000 and 43,000 years ago, and compared it to DNA from five modern domesticated breeds.

Policy makers & scientists from SAARC countries discuss climate change

Policymakers and scientists from SAARC countries have begun deliberations on climate change, which is adversely affecting Ocean and marine life in the region.
The five-day-long workshop, which began at Port Blair, set in motion the discussions on this crucial topic. The workshop has been organised by National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) for SAARC Coastal Zone Management Centre.
Policymakers from four SAARC countries- India, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka-are participating in it.
“In the Arabian Sea, the rate of warming after mid 90s is much higher than the previous three decades,” said NIO’s Chief Scientist Dr Prasanna Kumar, who is heading the team of scientists there presenting various studies on climate change.
Kumar said global warming and climate change is real and one of the greatest threat faced by humanity in the present century.
“Climate change has two parts - the natural and that forced by anthropogenic activities such as emission of fossil fuel, land use pattern changes and others,” he said.
He said the human factors are contributing in a large way compared to natural ones to induce the climate change. “The humans are contributing largely through increased carbon dioxide emissions and also through changes in land use pattern due to urbanisation,” he added.
Kumar said that ocean plays an important role in absorbing almost 50 per cent of the carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere by human activities.
“Though carbon dioxide forcing is global, the climate change impact could have regional differentiation. For example, the rate of warming of the Indian Ocean is different from that of the Pacific and Atlantic,” he added.
The scientist, however, said that “We can’t say right now, whether climate change is hitting danger levels. The changes have resulted in warming of the oceans. The rate of warming of Indian Ocean is 0.5 degree Celsius per 100 years for the period of 1900-2000“.

Mango orchards at Muthalamada still a ‘toxic hub’

Mango orchards at Muthalamada remain a ‘toxic hub’ owing to indiscriminate spraying of hazardous pesticides. The orchards, which were earlier known for widespread use of the banned pesticide endosulfan, now use other pesticides, including Cymbush, Monocrosfate, Talstar, Malathion, Azoxistobin, Omethoate, Chlorpyrifos and Thiabaeazove.
Agricultural Department officials conducted a surprise raid on a few mango orchards and godowns upon receiving evidence of excess use of pesticides, especially in farms leased out to people from outside.
Two godowns that had stocked the pesticides were sealed pending investigation. “The trend is not confined to Muthalamada. Health-related complications have been reported in Moochamkund.
Adavumaram, Narippara Challa, Chulliyarmedu and Mechira. Most pesticides used here are highly poisonous. They are, in fact, substitutes of endosulfan,” said S. Guruvayurappan, a local resident and South India coordinator of Wildlife Protection Society of India.
Muthalamada is one of the largest mango production centres in the country. Its fruits are first to hit the market, by January-end. Last season, containers with Muthalamada mangoes were sent back from the Gulf countries after the samples tested positive for high pesticide content,” said Arumugan Pathichira, a social worker and anti-endosulfan activist.
“Here the pesticide is sprayed on trees with the nozzle of the pump directed upwards. The person engaged in spraying gets affected almost instantly,” he added.
“Mangoes estimated to cost Rs.200 crore are exported from Muthalamada every season. In spite of our campaign for organic farming, a number of farmers buy chemical pesticides in large quantities from Pollachi,” said K.D. Kannadas, a farmer at Govindapuram.

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Business & Economy

Senior living projects seeing rapid growth

The senior living segment in India has been seeing rapid growth in the recent past and offers a good opportunity for real estate developers. Increasing life expectancy and an overall enhancement of living standards are significant factors to the growth of the segment.
“Over the last five years, there has been a marked increase in the number of senior living projects in India,” according to Manish Kumar, COO – strategic consulting JLL India said. “This is a very reliable bellwether of the growing acceptance of and demand for senior living-geared real estate,” he said.
L.K. Jain, Chairman, Kumar KUL Builders which has a senior living project in Panchagani, a hill station near Mumbai said, “The segment is growing at a double digits and these projects typically come up outside metros, away from prime locations but with peaceful surroundings.”
Census of India projections show that the share of elders as a percentage of total population in the country is expected to go up from 7.4 per cent in 2001 to 12.4 per cent in 2026.
In 2001, India had about 76 million seniors above age of 60 years and this is expected to reach 173 million by 2025. “This clearly indicates that the country will witness a quantum leap forward in demand for senior-oriented housing options,” Mr. Kumar said.
Senior living projects are coming up in the suburbs of all key Indian metros like Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi NCR and in traditional retirement destinations such as Coimbatore, Goa and Dehradun.
The majority of senior living projects have a size of 50-100 units in the form of residential complexes, with larger ones having over 400 units. Besides the units are designed with specialized equipment like hand railings, lifts etc.
“As the segment has developed, there has emerged a skilled force to cater to and service such a segment,” Mr. Jain said.
The projects have to be conceived specifically for the aged and common parameters employed by buyers include assurance of security, accessibility with proximity and access to medical facilities.

Sports

Yuvraj Singh released by RCB

Yuvraj Singh, who at a whopping Rupees 14 crore, became the most expensive player in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction earlier this year was released by his team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
Though, Yuvraj didn’t exactly set the IPL on fire, he still emerged as RCB’s second-highest run-getter (376) while the bowler in him stood relatively mute with five wickets (economy rate of 8.25).
Like Yuvraj,RCB too failed to scale new heights and missed qualifying for the IPLknock-outs. Over the last week, there was a buzz about RCB parting ways with the all-rounder, who was initially picked due to the insistence of the team’s skipper Virat Kohli.
Until recently, Yuvraj was very much part of the mix as he was called for an informal advisory stint during a corporate cricket tournament helmed by RCB, last month.
It is learnt that RCB wants to bolster its kitty and use the money to buy a wider pool of players and also try and bid for Yuvraj at a lower price-band.
Incidentally, this year’s auction triggered speculation over RCB blowing up a princely sum on Yuvraj while at the same time turning a blind eye to Karnataka’s players, who were part of a squad that won the Ranji Trophy.