Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 17 December 2014

National

Environmental clearance must for permits says Kerala HC

• A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court directed the State government not to grant henceforth fresh permits or leases or renew existing permits for mining and quarrying operations without environment clearance.

• The Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice A.M. Shaffique issued the order when a batch of writ petitions filed by quarry owners against the government refusal to renew their quarry permits and a writ against indiscriminate quarrying came up for hearing .

• Deepak Kumar case The writ petitions were referred to the Division Bench by a single judge.

• Advocate General K.P. Dandapani submitted that the government was in the process of amending the existing mining rules in the light of the observations of the Supreme Court in the Deepak Kumar case.

• In fact, draft rules on amendment had already been prepared. The rules would be finalised by January 21.

• The Advocate General also told the court that the government would not issue fresh permits or renew the existing permits or leases till the matter was heard by the Bench.

SHGs to run Aavin booths in parks owned by TCC

• In an effort to boost self employment, the Tiruchirapalli City Corporation (TCC) has decided to allow setting up of Aavin booths in parks owned by it. The booths would be operated by community groups.

• V.P.Thandapani, Corporation Commissioner, who held a detailed discussion with the General Manager of Aavin, Kamarajar, and Lead Bank Manager Prabakaran on urban livelihood mission, told that the programme would be implemented based on the guidelines of National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM).

• It was aimed at reducing poverty and vulnerability of poor urban households by enabling them to get access to gainful employment. It would ultimately result in appreciable improvement in their livelihood status through sustainable grassroots-level institutions.

• As many as 11 parks, including Rajan Park, Thillai Nagar Park, Ibrahim Park, Thiraviyam Park, and Parangiri Velupillai Park, have been identified for the scheme. Before identifying progressive and qualified community groups, the civic body would provide training to members of various groups to make them eligible for participating in tenders.

• The right of running the milk booths would be decided based on tender. Mr.Thandapani said besides selling milk products, the groups would have to maintain the parks. They would also be given the responsibility of collecting user charges.

• The Corporation would give Rs.1, 000 for each member of the group for six months. It would also facilitate the groups to avail loan to a maximum of Rs.3 lakh, for investment, with 35 per cent subsidy.

• He said there were about 1.74 lakh households in the city. A self-help group federation formed in the city would network with the SHG members. Creation of complete database was on progress.

• Listing the skills of SHG members such as carpentry, masonry, electric and electronic repairs, two-wheeler mechanism, floor cleaning, and interior decoration, Mr.Thandapani said that opportunities would be created to use their skills effectively.

• The SHG member could also be used for distributing notices and pamphlets of the civic body to the members of the public.

IS banned in India

• The dreaded IS terror group has been banned in India, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh disclosed, days after a Bangalore techie was allegedly found tweeting in support of the terrorist organisation.
• “We have banned this organisation [IS] as a first step. I will like to inform [the House] that the group has been banned under the Unlawful Activities [Prevention] Act,” he said during Question Hour.
• The Home Minister said the group has been proscribed under the provisions of the UAPA that relates to organisations listed in the Schedule to the U.N. Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism (Implementation of Security Council Resolutions) Order, 2007, made under section two of the United Nations (Security Council) Act, 1947 and amended from time to time.
• The government took cognisance immediately after IS activities began to spread in different parts of the world, Mr. Singh said. There was “negligible” support from Indian youth for IS, he said.

Grant clearance to new industries in 21 days: N. C. Naidu

• Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has directed the industries department to grant clearances for new units within 21 days of receiving applications.

• At review meeting on the yet-to-be-unveiled State’s new industrial policy, the Chief Minister wanted all 28 types of approvals needed for industries to be granted within three weeks. Industrialists and investors should get clearances in a hassle-free way, he added.

• When the officials informed him that according to the current industrial policy, building plan, power and fire approvals were being granted in 90 days, he said there could not be any delay beyond the 21-day period.

• The Chief Minister asked the Industries Department to prepare a manual with a set of rules to serve as a guide to investors. He said escort executives would be appointed to act as a bridge between the government and industrialists.

• These executives would be responsible for clearances for the project. He said the new industrial policy should also clarify the role of service sector (that generates more jobs) than merely focusing on manufacturing sector alone.

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International

Barak Obama signs a bill $1.1 trillion government spending bill

• U.S. President Barack Obama signed a $1.1 trillion spending bill passed by Congress last week that lifted the threat of a government shutdown.

• The legislation funds most government agencies through September 2015. The Department of Homeland Security will be treated differently, getting a funding extension only through Feb. 27, by which time Republicans will control both chambers of Congress.

• Passage of the 1,603-page bill was a long struggle in the Senate and the House of Representatives marked by bitter disputes over changes to banking regulations and Obama's recent executive order on immigration.

Persons in News

V. Murthy is 19th Surgeon-General of America

• Indian-American physician Vivek Hallegere Murthy (37) has been confirmed as the 19th Surgeon General of America by the U.S. Senate. He is youngest person and first person of Indian-origin to hold the post.

• The upper house of U.S. Congress confirmed Mr. Murthy’s nomination by 51 votes to 43 more than year after President Barack Obama had nominated him to this top administration post on public health issues in November 2013 which saw a strong opposition from the powerful pro-gun lobby National Rifle Association (NRA).

• The final voting came soon after the Senate invoked cloture — a procedural hurdle — by same numbers (51 to 43 votes).

Business & Economy

Indian Rupee falls to 13-month low of 63.53 against dollar

• The Indian rupee plummeted to 13-month low of 63.53 against dollar due to heavy demand for the U.S. currency from importers and some banks amid falling oil prices and chaos in stock markets.

• Dealers in foreign exchange said the Reserve Bank may have intervened in the markets but it seemed dollars selling through State-ran banks did not pay off.

• They also predicted that the rupee is likely to breach the 64-mark as early as tomorrow. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the rupee commenced sluggish at 63.25 a dollar. Sustained capital outflows pulled it further down to a low of 63.59.

• It finally ended the day at 63.53, a fall of 59 paise or 0.94 per cent. This is the worst single day loss for the domestic currency in more than four months.

• “The Reserve Bank was likely there in the market to smoothen the weakness. They came at 63.50 level. I think we are heading towards 64 level, which we may see tomorrow,” said a dealer with a state-run bank.

• “The exchange price has come down to 63. As the Secretary of the Department of Commerce I feel that the rupee if it goes further down, or stays for too long at this point, it should give me a reason to feel a little concerned,” he said.

• Weakness in financial markets abroad following continued downslide in global crude oil (Brent) prices below $60 a barrel amid fall in Chinese manufacturing data also put pressure on the local currency.

• “There was a lot of selling in the market. Negative sentiments in stock markets and weak global cues impacted the rupee.

• Importers demand for dollars and a possible exit of FIIs weakened the currency. November trade deficit numbers added to gloom,” FirstRand Bank Treasurer Krishnamoorthy Harihar said.

• “An array of factors are weighing on the Indian rupee. The IIP numbers came in at negative 4.2 per cent for November, and the trade deficit has widened to $16.86 billion ...,” said Sugandha Sachdeva, AVP & Incharge, Metals, Energy & Currency Research, Religare Securities.

• Meanwhile, oil importers have been buying dollars heavily to benefit from low oil prices as crude continues to drift lower, he added.

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Sports

If officials don’t own teams, IPL will not crash, SC says

• “Heavens will not fall” if cricket administrators do not own Indian Premier League (IPL) teams. Having BCCI president-in-exile N. Srinivasan relinquish his role as team owner will not lead to the collapse of the IPL, the Supreme Court said.

• A Bench led by Justice T.S. Thakur was examining the validity of amendment 6.2.4 brought by the BCCI in February 2008, which excluded IPL and Champions League from the purview of conflict of interest. The amendment enabled BCCI office-bearers to own and promote teams for the two events.

• “Tell us how many IPL teams are owned by administrators? The fact that the president [Mr. Srinivasan] will not have a team does not mean your entire IPL will collapse.

• You can add another seven teams. Not just administrators should have teams,” Justice Thakur observed orally. The observations from the Bench came in response to submissions made by BCCI counsel C. Aryama Sundaram that there was no conflict of interest per se if a BCCI office-bearer owned a team.

• “There should not be a conflict in discharge of the functions. A person can have parallel interests, but they should not clash,” Mr. Sundaram said.

• The BCCI lawyer argued that there was no contract between the Board and the general public; the contract, instead, was a private one between it and the players.

• “You [the BCCI] are in our public interest jurisdiction. Your rules are sacrosanct for you, not for us. You should take it out of your minds that we cannot interfere with your rules. Unless you can prove that 6.2.4 is valid in law, consider the amendment as good as gone.

• This kind of limiting of our jurisdiction will not be tolerated. We are exercising our jurisdiction in this case not for you, but in the interest of the game,” Justice Thakur observed.

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Science & Technology

How Mars lost its atmosphere decoded researchers say

• Early discoveries by NASA’s newest Mars orbiter have unveiled key features about the loss of the Red Planet’s atmosphere to space over time, researchers say.

• The findings are among the first returns from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission, which entered its science phase on November 16.

• The observations show a new process by which the solar wind can penetrate deep into a planetary atmosphere. They include the first comprehensive measurements of the composition of Mars’ upper atmosphere and electrically charged ionosphere.

• The results also offer an unprecedented view of ions as they gain the energy that will lead to their escape from the atmosphere.

• “We are beginning to see the links in a chain that begins with solar-driven processes acting on gas in the upper atmosphere and leads to atmospheric loss,” said Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN principal investigator with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado.

• “Over the course of the full mission, we’ll be able to fill in this picture and really understand the processes by which the atmosphere changed over time,” Mr. Jakosky said.

• On each orbit around Mars, MAVEN dips into the ionosphere — the layer of ions and electrons extending from about 75 to 300 miles above the surface.

• This layer serves as a kind of shield around the planet, deflecting the solar wind, an intense stream of hot, high-energy particles from the Sun, researchers said.

• Scientists have long thought that measurements of the solar wind could be made only before these particles hit the invisible boundary of the ionosphere.

Gutka ban helped many kick the habit: WHO

• A study conducted by the World Health Organisation country office for India in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health across seven States in India shows that banning gutka, a form of chewing tobacco, helps users kick the habit.

• India is estimated to be the world’s largest consumer of smokeless tobacco; WHO estimates indicate that 26 per cent of adults use smokeless tobacco, a major cause of death and disease. Nearly one million people die in India every year because of tobacco use.

• The new study conducted across Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and the National Capital Region, shows that there are “strong indications” that State-level laws banning gutka have a positive impact owing to reduced product availability and a decrease in its consumption.

• It also shows as many as 92 per cent of the respondents support a gutka ban while 99 per cent agreed that a ban is good for the health of India’s youth. A substantial proportion of respondents in each State (from 41-88 per cent) reported that they quit using gutka because of the ban.

• “These findings have a strong message that regulatory mechanisms are effective and can have a positive impact on the consumption pattern,” said Dr. Nata Menabde, WHO Representative to India.

• According to her, the study revealed that product ban did impact use. “Of the respondents who continue to use pre-packaged gutka, half (49 per cent) reported they consume less since the ban.

• I am also happy to learn that there was high degree of unanimity (90 per cent of the respondents) that the government should ban the manufacturing, sale and distribution of other forms of smokeless tobacco,” she said.

Countdown begins for GSLV Mk-III

• The 24-and-a-half hour countdown for India’s maiden experimental launch of latest generation vehicle GSLV Mk III, also carrying the ‘Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment (CARE), began at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, some 100 km.

• “The 24 and a half hour countdown for the mission has commenced at 9 am on December 17,” ISRO said. The Mission Readiness Review and the Launch Authorisation Board, has cleared the launch for December 18 at 9.30 a.m., it said.

• A senior ISRO official explained that the lesser duration of the countdown for the mission was due to the dummy cryogenic stage.

• As per the plan, soon after the lift-off at Sriharikota, ISRO would study the flight validation of the complex atmospheric flight regime of LVM 3 and would also test the ability of the CREW module to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere with thermal resistance, parachute deployment in cluster formation, aero braking system and apex cover separation procedures.

• The CREW module would be separated from the rocket about 325.52 seconds after the lift-off at 126.16 km altitude.

• The specially made parachutes would help the module ‘soft-crash’ in the Bay of Bengal, some few hundred km from Indira Point in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which would later be fetched by Indian Coast Guard ships.

• “The entire exercise would be completed in around 20 to 30 minutes from lift-off in Sriharikota to splashing in the Bay of Bengal,” the official said. While the rocket cost ISRO Rs 140 crore, the crew module has taken another Rs 15 crore.

• The 630-tonne GSLV-Mk III would carry the 3.65 tonne crew module even as the national space agency is equipping itself for its plan of sending astronauts into space eventually.

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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

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