Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 21 October 2014

National

Govt. approved plan for e-auction coal mines

The Union Cabinet recommended the promulgation of an Ordinance to acquire the land of 214 coal blocks mines whose allocations were quashed by the Supreme Court last month.
It also approved a plan for e-auctioning the cancelled blocks to end-user private players of coal from the power, steel and cement sectors. Government entities, including public sector units such as NTPC and State Electricity Boards, however, will not have to go through the auction route as a pool of coal mines will be reserved for allocation to them from the cancelled blocks.
“The Cabinet’s decisions are with the view of cleaning up the coal mess due to allocations via the screening committee mechanism that the Supreme Court quashed,” Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting.
“The expeditious disposal of the process will provide a huge impetus to the manufacturing sector and the country will save precious foreign exchange on coal imports and this will also help banks that have funds stuck as a fallout of the Supreme Court’s verdict,” the Minister said. Despite being coal surplus, India was importing coal worth $20 billion annually, he said.

Natural Conservation Zones (NCZ) shrinking in NCR

The National Green Tribunal was informed about shrinkage of Natural Conservation Zones (NCZ) like forests, water bodies and waste lands in the National Capital Region.
The National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) in an affidavit made submissions regarding shrinkage of such zones in Delhi, NCR, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
“The National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) perused the satellite imageries and maps which were prepared and analysed by the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) and after examining the same for all sub regions of NCR, came to the conclusion that there is shrinkage in NCZ,” the affidavit said.
It has said that NCRPRB after perusing the variations shown in the analysis acted upon the observations and sent letters to participating States seeking their response on reasons for the shrinkage.
“That the answering respondent was concerned with such shrinkage of NCZ and it issued notices on June 23 under section 29(2) of NCRPB Act 1985 to all the nodal officers (principal secretaries) of the NCR participating States but no reasons for variations of NCZ were received by any of the NCZ participating State governments,” it said.
According to NCRPB, the shrinkage of the conservation zones is 25.97 per cent in Haryana sub-region, 15.43 per cent in Delhi, 43.88 per cent in Uttar Pradesh sub-region and 11.18 per cent in Rajasthan.

Odisha allowed illegal mining: SC panel

The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has found large-scale illegal mining of iron and manganese ore in the forest lands of Odisha.
In its report submitted to the apex court in a public interest writ petition seeking a ban on illegal mining in Odisha, the CEC, quoting the figures of the Odisha government, said, “As per the details given by the Odisha Forest Department, 286.392 lakh MT of iron ore, valued at Rs.13,898.20 crore has been excavated from the forest land without approvals under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. Out of the above, 67.74 lakh MT was illegally excavated during the years 1985-98, 54.38 lakh MT from November 17, 2002 to February 15, 2005 and 164.27 lakh MT from August 15, 2005 to August 27, 2009.”
Indicting the State government for permitting such illegal mining, the CEC said, “It is seen that illegal mining in the forest area included in the mining lease has been undertaken on a massive scale by the lessee concerned and that too spread over a large number of years. The CEC is unable to comprehend how illegal mining on such a massive scale was allowed to take place and how by issuing transit permits such illegal mineral was allowed to be transported through the Railways.”
The panel said that in many instances the environmental clearance had been obtained, but the requisite forest clearance had not been obtained before commencing mining.
The CEC wanted the court to consider directing that “70 per cent of the notional value of the minerals extracted from the forest land falling in Kasia and Jilling Langalota mining leases without approvals under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, should be paid as compensation by the lessee, which will be deposited in the Special Purpose Vehicle for undertaking specific tribal and area development works.”
The report also wanted the court to consider directing the State government not to consider grant of approval under Section 8 (3) of the Mines and Minerals Development (Regulation) Act for the second renewal of the leases.

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Person in news

Peace will not be sustainable unless there is compassion: kailash Satyarthi

For sustainable peace between India and Pakistan, the joint recipients of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, people of both nations will need to come together and work together said Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi.
“Peace will not be sustainable unless there is compassion, and compassion begins with children” he said, adding: “For me peace means people. Sustainable peace will come when people value each other’s concerns, dignity, identity and issues and realise we have to work hand in hand.”
At an interaction at the Foreign Correspondents Club here, Mr. Satyarthi who has been a campaigner for abolition of child rights, regretted that child labour was a reality despite the ban across the globe.
He however, had a word of praise for the Indian judiciary, crediting it for coming up with some of the “best” judgements on child labour, slavery, trafficking and related issues. “I believe in Indian democracy and the judiciary,” he said.
Referring to child labour as “violence” and as a “global problem,” he said governments world over have invested more in “guns and bullets” than in “books and toys” for children. “Child trafficking is the third largest illicit trade after arms and drugs. Though it is outlawed in many countries, child labour is still not abolished. I work across 140 countries; it is not an isolated problem.”
“Children are our collective future and our collective responsibility is to protect them,” he said and called for creating a socio-economic and political environment where children do not have to live in warzones or face insurgency.

Jokowi Widodo

Joko Widodo, Indonesia’s first leader from outside the political and military elite, was sworn in President and reached out to political foes to seek support for his ambitious reform agenda.
Mr. Widodo, a 53-year-old former furniture exporter known by his nickname Jokowi, won the presidency in July after a close race against controversial ex-general Prabowo Subianto.
The former Jakarta Governor, who won legions of fans with his man-of-the-people image, is the country’s first leader since the end of Suharto’s three decades of dictatorship in 1998 to have no major links to that era.
After taking the oath in parliament at a ceremony attended by dignitaries including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, he called for unity following the most bitterly fought election in Indonesian history.

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International

India, China agree to step up military interaction

India and China have agreed to take solid steps to improve border management, including the establishment of a hotline between the two Army headquarters and designating additional border posts for meetings between local commanders.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying disclosed that both countries have decided to step up military-to military interaction during last week’s Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) held in New Delhi.
She said that during their meetings that commenced on October 16, the two delegations reached a broad consensus on steps that would yield peace and stability in the border areas, following candid, amicable and constructive consultations.
“Both sides agreed to establish a regular meeting mechanism between the two military headquarters of neighbouring military areas and border troops, set up new meeting posts in the border areas and have hotlines between military headquarters,” the spokesperson observed. Analysts say the decision will intensify communications between the two militaries, and provide a better institutional framework for border management.
However, this is an incremental step, and talks on clarification of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) or towards a final border settlement are yet to surface on the agenda. Ms. Hua said the consensus is a demonstration of strong political will and positive attitude by the two countries in tackling their differences, and safeguarding stability of border through cooperation.

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Sports

India wins two golds in Para Asian Games

India opened their gold medal account with two track and field athletes bagging the yellow metal in a haul of six medals on the second day of competitions at the Para Asian Games in Incheon.
The Indians grabbed one silver and three medals also besides the two gold to take the overall tally to 12 (2 gold, 5 silver, 5 bronze) and occupy the 11th spot in the medals table.
China were on top with 115 medals, followed by Korea (54) and Japan (52) in the Games competed among differently-abled athletes. India had won six medals (four bronze and two silver) on the opening day of competitions.
Amit Kumar won a gold in men’s club throw F31/32/51 athletics event in a Para Asian record effort while Sharad Kumar grabbed the other yellow metal of the day in men’s high jump -- T42/44/47 event.
2012 London Paralympic Games silver medallist H N Girisha settled for a bronze in men’s high jump -- T42/44/47 category while 2013 World Championships gold medallist Devendra Jhajharia bagged a silver in men’s javelin throw -- F46.
Ankur Dhama (men’s 1500m -- T11) and Sharath Mahadevarao Gaykwad (men’s 100m Butterfly S8) also won a bronze each. India is being represented in the Para Asian Games by 90 athletes.

Maiden title for Dindor in National archery

A lesser known Vakil Raj Dindor toppled some well-known archers on his way to win the recurve men’s individual title on the concluding day of the National archery championship at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
The 22-year-old won four tie-shoots in six rounds. In the semifinals, Dindor competed with Tarundeep Rai shot-for-shot to put the seasoned Services archer under pressure and clinch the tie-breaker 8-6.
In the fascinating summit clash, Dindor took a 2-0 lead in the first set. Atanu Das replied strongly to level the scores before going on to enjoy a 5-3 lead. However, the Petroleum man slipped a bit as his last set of arrows brought him three 8s and Dindor shot 9, 8 and 9.
Both hit the 8 circle in the tie-shoot, but Dindor was declared the victor for shooting closer to the centre.
L. Bombayala Devi beat her Railways mate Rimil Buruily in another tense final, grabbing her second National title.

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Science & technology

Laser scientists build tractor beam

Laser physicists in Australia have built a tractor beam that can repel and attract objects, using a hollow laser beam that is bright around the edges and dark in its centre, the Australian National University (ANU) announced.
It is the first long-distance optical tractor beam and moved particles one-fifth of a millimetre in diameter a distance of up to 20 cm, around 100 times further than previous experiments, Xinhua reported.
The new technique could be used, for example, in controlling atmospheric pollution or for the retrieval of tiny, delicate or dangerous particles for sampling.