Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 20 December 2014

National

No holiday on Christmas for government employees

• Students may have been spared from participating in events on December 25 to mark “Good Governance Day” or “Sushasan Diwas”, but Central Government employees have no such luck.

• Several Ministries have announced programmes to mark former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birthday on December 25 and officers are expected to report to office.

• A circular issued by the Human Resource Development Ministry to government-run schools and Central universities to observe Good Governance Day on Christmas had triggered a furore after which the Ministry issued a statement clarifying that schools would remain closed on Christmas.

• Officials said the Ministry of Rural Development will observe the day as “Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) Diwas” and commemorate 15 years of rural roads scheme launched by Mr. Vajpayee in 2000.

• “Minister of Rural Development Chaudhary Birender Singh will release a compendium of rural roads built under the scheme as well as a booklet and a dossier on December 25,” a Ministry official said.

Electricity amendment Bill focuses on renewable energy

• The Electricity Amendment Bill 2014, introduced in the Lok Sabha, lays strong emphasis on promoting renewable energy generation in the country while also aiming at increasing accountability and transparency in the functioning of regulatory bodies.

• For the first time, the Bill, introduced by Power Minister Piyush Goyal, proposes to make it mandatory for any company establishing lignite and coal-based thermal power plants, to generate renewable energy.

• While the amount of renewable energy to be generated by such plants will be decided later, the Bill proposes it to be not less than 10 percent of the total installed capacity of a thermal plant.

• The Planning Commission had in March 2011, constituted a working group on power sector reforms. The group had recommended several amendments to the Electricity Act 2003.

• The current Bill, prepared following consultations with various stakeholders including those from central ministries, State governments, power utilities, regulatory commissions, private developers, industry associations, consumer groups, among others, seeks to usher in a further wave of reforms in the power sector.

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Persons in News

Verma sworn in as US Ambassador to India

• Indian-American Richard Rahul Verma has been sworn in as the US Ambassador to India by Secretary of State John Kerry. 46-year-old Verma is the first ever Indian-American to be the top US diplomat in New Delhi.

• He is scheduled to arrive in India ahead of Kerry’s visit to Delhi next month. US President Barack Obama will arrive in late January to attend the Republic Day Parade on January 26 as the Chief Guest.

• He was confirmed by the US Senate by a voice vote last week. Last week he met Obama at the White House.

• Verma, who quietly played an important role in the Congressional passage of civil nuclear deal with India, had advocated for strong Indo-US ties when in the administration and recently started “India 2020” project at Centre for American Progress — a top American-think tank.

• He will replace Nancy Powell, who resigned in March after a damaging row over the treatment of diplomat Devyani Khobragade over visa fraud charges.

• The US Embassy in New Delhi is currently headed by a charge d’affaires, Kathleen Stephens. Verma’s association with Obama goes back to 2008 when he worked on presidential debate preparations for the then Illinois senator.

• His parents came to the US in the early 1960s. “It is a day of celebration for Indian Americans,” said Dr Sampat Shivangi, national president of Indian American Forum for Political Education.

• “Verma deserves this worthy appointment due to his dedication and well deserved respect he commands from President Obama and entire US Congress and the nation,” said Shivangi, one of the few Indian—Americans invited to attend the swearing in ceremony at the State Department yesterday.

International

North Korea hacked Sony says President Obama

• President Barack Obama declared that Sony “made a mistake” in shelving a satirical film about a plot to assassinate North Korea’s leader, and he pledged the U.S. would respond “in a place and manner and time that we choose” to the hacking attack on Sony that led to the withdrawal.

• The FBI blamed the hack on the communist government. Speaking of executives at Sony Pictures Entertainment, Obama said at a year—end news conference, “I wish they had spoken to me first. ... We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship.”

• Obama said he imagined situations in which dictators “start seeing a documentary that they don’t like or news reports that they don’t like.”

• Sony said it had had no choice but to cancel distribution of the movie since theaters were refusing to show it. North Korea denied anew that it had hacked the studio.

• “There is not any connection,” U.N. diplomat Kim Song told The Associated Press. Song criticized the film but disputed his government hacked Sony and orchestrated the movie’s shutdown- “It defamed the image of our country.

• It made a mockery of our sovereignty. We reject it. But there is no relation” to the hacking. The U.S. decision to openly blame North Korea which involved agreement by the State Department and intelligence agencies escalated a global game of brinkmanship.

• It happened after the disclosure of confidential Sony emails and business files and threats of terror attacks against U.S. movie theaters until Sony agreed to cancel the Christmas Day release of its comedy, “The Interview.”

• Obama spoke not long after the FBI provided the most detailed accounting to date of the digital break—in. The president’s pointed criticism of Sony shifted focus to whether the studio would modify its decision, as some leading celebrities including actors George Clooney and Sean Penn have recommended.

• “Sony is a corporation. It suffered significant damage. There were threats against its employees. I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced,” Obama said. “Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake.”

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Business & Economy

Mid-Year Economic Review projects 5.5% growth: Jaitley

• Despite the sprouting of green shoots, a robust recovery is still to fully take hold, says the Mid-Year Economic Analysis for the current year, tabled in Parliament by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
• The Review projects 2014-15 growth will be 5.5 per cent. India faces challenges that are mostly domestic, says the Review.
• India grew at sub-5 per cent for the last two years. Growth bounced to 5.7 per cent in the April-June quarter before slipping again to 5.3 per cent in the July-September quarter.
• We see some signs of private consumption stirring, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian told reporters after the Review was tabled.
• “What we are yet to see decisively is private investment picking up.”
• The Review says that over-indebtedness in India’s corporate sector is amongst the highest in the world. This, it says, exerts a drag on future investment and spending. The public private partnership model has been less than successful, the Review says.
• “First, the backlog of stalled projects needs to be cleared more expeditiously…But even if the backlog is cleared, there is going to be a flow challenge: attracting new private investment, especially in infrastructure.”
• With private sector investments uncertain, Dr. Subramanian said, public investment itself could be an engine of growth over the medium-term but not in the short run as government’s revenues are likely to fall short of the budget’s ‘optimistic’ targets.
• The Review said too that the Centre faces a ‘major challenge’ in achieving its fiscal deficit target of 4.1 per cent of GDP in the current year. Dr. Subramanian, however, said the government is committed to achieving it and is considering all measures including spending cuts.

GreenDust.com planning to expend global presence

• Refurbished goods retailer Reverse Logistics Corps, which operates GreenDust.com, is planning to expand its global footprint by entering Africa, South Asia and CIS. It has already started a pilot in Dubai, the U.S., and Hong Kong.

• “We are planning to expand our presence in the emerging markets. Returns and refurbished market are a $500-billion opportunity worldwide, and we want to be the Alibaba of this space,” said GreenDust founder and CEO Hitendra Chaturvedi.

• Founded in 2008, GreenDust refurbishes damaged or defective products and sells through its online channel and offline franchisee. The company sells products under three categories such as end of life products, factory seconds and refurbished products at a discounted price.

• “We started with consumer appliances, mobile phones, laptops and computers. However, looking at the growth of the e-commerce sector, we believe that we can sell any thing that is sold through e-commerce,” added Mr. Chaturvedi.

• The company had recently partnered e-commerce companies such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon to manage their reverse supply chain. The company, which expects a revenue of over Rs.1,000 crore this year, is planning to expand its reach.

• It is planning to increase the franchisee by 1,000 within 2-3 years, and expects to touch a revenue of around $1 billion within that period. GreenDust, which has refurbishing centre across 14 States, is also planning to increase the network to 17 by opening one centre each in Assam, Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir.

SpiceJet is all to change hands

• Embattled airline company SpiceJet is all set to change hands.
• With the Marans of Sun Group not keen on investing more, Ajay Singh, one of the original co-promoters of SpiceJet is understood to be doing due diligence of the company with a view to acquire a fresh stake along with a couple of financial investors.
• An official privy to the development said that the data room had been opened for due diligence.

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Sports

Boxing India not recognized by IOA

• N. Ramachandran, President of the Indian Olympic Association, has categorically stated that the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) will be the official body and not Boxing India (BI). He added that boxing affairs will now be handled by IOA’s ad-hoc committee.

• “This matter was discussed at length at the Executive Committee. The EC unanimously agreed that the body that will be recognised by the IOA will be IABF,” said Mr. Ramachandran at a press conference, after attending the IOA’s executive committee and the annual general body meeting.

• Explaining the rationale behind the decision, Mr. Ramachandran said IOA refused to give official sanction to BI because BI elections were held without consulting IOA.

• “When the dispute first arose between IABF and Boxing India, the IOA constituted an ad-hoc committee. It is AIBA which recognised Boxing India and the latter’s elections. Neither the Government of India nor the IOA sent an observer for the elections.

• “In fact, when the IOA took up the matter with the President of the International boxing body (AIBA) and said that, in the interest of the athletes, the elections should be held under the aegis of IOA and with AIBA’s observer present, the latter did not accept these suggestions and BI held its elections under the supervision of AIBA,” he said, adding that the IOA had received “many” complaints of irregularities during the elections.

• He said the top three athletes at the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Beach Asian Games, will receive a cash award of Rs. 3 lakh, Rs. 2 lakh and Rs. one lakh respectively. He regretted that the government funding for National Sports Federations has been reduced to a larger extent.

• “Government grants for NSFs have come down considerably. There are hardly any funds given to the State Association. So, the IOA has taken a decision which will enable each NSF to get Rs. 3 lakh per year and State association will also receive Rs. 3 lakh,” said Mr. Ramachandran.

• He said a presentation was made by the JSW Group, which has offered to help the National Sports Federations. SportsMechanics too has offered to “video analyse the top four athletes” of India in different sports. He said that his goal by the end of his tenure was to make IOA financially viable and independent.

• The National Games in Kerala to be held from January 31 to February 14, 2015, which the Prime Minister will inaugurate, will go on as per schedule.

• The following editions would be held in Goa, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand. The South Asian Games will be held in Northeast by the end of next year, he added.

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Science & Technology

NASA’s Kepler spacecraft discovers ‘super-Earth’

• NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft, which is carrying out a new mission, has made its first exoplanet discovery — a ‘super-Earth’ located 180 light-years from Earth.

• Lead researcher Andrew Vanderburg, a graduate student at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, studied publicly available data collected by the spacecraft during a test of the new K2 mission in February 2014.

• This led to the discovery of a planet, HIP 116454b, which is 2.5 times the diameter of Earth and follows a close, nine-day orbit around a star that is smaller and cooler than our Sun, making the planet too hot for life as we know it. HIP 116454b and its star are 180 light-years from Earth, toward the constellation Pisces.

• The discovery was confirmed with measurements taken by the HARPS-North spectrograph of the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo in the Canary Islands, which captured the wobble of the star caused by the planet’s gravitational tug as it orbits.

• HARPS-N showed that the planet weighs almost 12 times as much as Earth. This makes HIP 116454b a super-Earth, a class of planets that does not exist in our solar system. The exoplanet discovery was made after astronomers and engineers repurposed Kepler for its new mission.

• “Last summer, the possibility of a scientifically productive mission for Kepler after its reaction wheel failure in its extended mission was not part of the conversation,” said Paul Hertz, NASA’s astrophysics division director at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.

• “Today, thanks to an innovative idea and lots of hard work by the NASA and Ball Aerospace team, Kepler may well deliver the first candidates for follow-up study by the James Webb Space Telescope to characterise the atmospheres of distant worlds and search for signatures of life,” Dr. Hertz said.

• Since the K2 mission officially began in May 2014, it has observed more than 35,000 stars and collected data on star clusters, dense star-forming regions, and several planetary objects within our own solar system.

Bangladesh-India river development plan needed say experts

• Highlighting the intricate and complex river system shared by India and Bangladesh, experts from both the countries stressed on developing a comprehensive river development plan which involves water management, sediment management, navigation and inland transport.

• International Union For Conservation of Nature (IUCN), under its initiative ‘Ecosystem for Life’ which has been emphasising on management of shared river ecosystem of the two countries, launched a documentary 'River Highways’ on the theme of inland navigation between the two countries.

• The documentary, which is a result of a joint research between the two countries, points out that despite huge economic demand for the river route, water is receding in the rivers and they are turning non-navigable.

• Well known river expert Kalyan Rudra said that the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna river basin brings about 167 crore tonnes of sediment a year which is the highest in the world.

• Stating that one first challenge to save the river is doing away with sedimentation, Prof Rudra said that efforts should be made for turning the river routes more sustainable.

• The documentary also talks about the bilateral protocols between India and Bangladesh and the four different river transit routes between the two countries.

• “There are 54 rivers shared between two countries, but so far only a river agreement on Ganga has been inked between the two countries,” senior journalist Santanu Sanyal said, adding that about 620 million people are depended on the rivers in both the countries.

• While delving on the issue centering the shared river system, scientists also pointed out that rivers themselves are environmental hot spots and sustain a number of species.

• Experts from IUCN along with professor Imtiaz Ahmed also launched an open access website ‘Life of a River’ where information will be uploaded about river Brahmaputra, from the point of its origin till it descends in the Bay of Bengal.

• The resources are important for raising awareness of rivers in nurturing and supporting ecosystems health, people’s livelihoods, culture, tradition and dignity, an IUCN press release said.

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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

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