Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 22 May 2015

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 22 May 2015

:: National ::

MEA rejects Geelani’s application

The External Affairs Ministry has rejected the passport application of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani as he had not mentioned his nationality in the form.
Mr. Geelani told: “I have not filled the nationality column and left it blank as we live in an internationally recognised disputed territory.”
The Ministry, in a statement, said Mr. Geelani’s application could not be processed as he had submitted an “incomplete” form. He had not met the prerequisites for seeking a passport, including payment of the application fee and submission of biometric details and photographs. “The application cannot be processed in its present form,” the statement said.
The Hurriyat leader, who had sought a passport as he wanted to visit his ailing daughter in Saudi Arabia, said he could not submit the biometric details as he was under house arrest and was not allowed to move out to complete the requisite formalities at the passport office.

“L-G’s silence vindicates our stand”

Even as the Delhi government defended its actions over the past few days in the ongoing confrontation with the Lieutenant-Governor, the Opposition, took the matter to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking his intervention.
A delegation led by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta apprised the President of the ‘constitutional crisis’. “We informed the President about the deadlock and sought his intervention,” said Mr. Gupta.
Meanwhile, an elated Delhi Government viewed the absence of any response to a letter seeking clarification on an order from the L-G declaring a minor re-shuffle in the bureaucracy effected by it ‘constitutionally void’ as a welcome development.
“This just proves that the Government is not only right but also that its decisions have been completely in conformity with the Constitution. In any case, we are ready with our own response to any further clarification sought by the L-G, ” a Government official told.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, denied that the morale of bureaucracy had been hit by the ongoing tussle. .
He said their government had stopped transfers and postings that had become an industry in Delhi.

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:: International ::

Half of Syria now under Islamic State’s control

Islamic State now controls over half of Syria’s landmass after its seizure of Palmyra, where it has begun massacring a rebellious tribe and faces no opposition to its entry and sacking of the historic city’s ancient ruins.
“There are no forces to stop them [entering the ruins],” Rami Abdul Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, said. “But the important thing also is that they now control 50 per cent of Syria.”
IS seized Palmyra on Wednesday night after a week-long siege by the forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad collapsed, drawing IS closer to the President’s strongholds of Homs and Damascus. IS has also and severed supply lines to Deir Ezzor in the east, which already faces an overpowering IS crackdown.
Local activists said IS had imposed a curfew and was sweeping the city for remnants of Assad’s forces. The group has also massacred members of the Shaitat tribe, which had railed against it in Deir Ezzor, a rebellion in which the militant group killed 800 members of the tribe. Control of Palmyra leaves IS with unopposed access to the city’s magnificent ruins, amid fears that they will destroy significant chunks of Syria’s heritage as they did in Iraq.
But more significantly, IS controls vast swaths of Syria, from Palmyra to Raqqa and Deir Ezzor in the country’s west, a tract that the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates to be 95,000 sq. km, or more than half of the Syria’s landmass. With its seizure of the Arak and al-Hail gas fields near Palmyra, it also controls much of the country’s electricity supply. Those two fields power much of the Syrian regime’s strongholds in the west. IS also controls the vast majority of Raqqa province, its de facto capital, most of Deir Ezzor, parts of Hassakeh and the Aleppo countryside, most of the Syrian desert as well as parts of the Homs countryside and the Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Damascus.
Palmyra, once a Silk Road hub and also one of the cultural centres of the ancient world that had given mythological status to Syria, is home to some of the most beautiful and well-preserved ruins of antiquity, including the Temple of Bel, built in the first century.
IS considers preservation of such historical ruins a form of idolatry and has destroyed temples and historic artefacts, as well as ancient Assyrian sites in Nineveh in Iraq, after conquering the province last year. The group has profited from looting such treasures, in addition to scoring propaganda victories by the wanton destruction of archaeological sites, and Palmyra is likely to face a similar fate.
The fall of the city raises questions about the fighting capability and cohesion of Assad’s troops and allied militias, whose rapid collapse surprised observers, given the close proximity to supply lines and also the strategic importance of Palmyra. The government forces are stretched thin after a string of losses to rebels in Idlib in the north, who are backed by Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

India may offer credit for building houses in land released by Sri Lankan Army

India, which is funding the construction of 50,000 houses for internally-displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka, may offer a line of credit, this time for building houses in lands released by the Army from the high security zones.
Indicating this, D.M. Swaminathan, Sri Lankan Minister for Resettlement, Reconstruction and Hindu Religious Affairs, said the matter was discussed during his recent meeting with Sujatha Mehta, Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs.
He immediately sounded his President Maithripala Sirisena about the possibility of getting financial assistance from India.
A formal letter has also been sent to the Indian High Commission.
It is learnt that approximately, 52,000 houses are required to be constructed in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, where Tamils live in large numbers.
Explaining how U.N. agencies are providing help for those who want to start their lives afresh in the released lands, the Minister said his Ministry had released an amount of Rs. 24 million (Sri Lankan Rupee) to take care of immediate requirements of the people.
Regarding the case of Varuthuthalaivilan where people are not able to use their properties fully as portions of their lands are with the Army, Mr. Swaminathan acknowledges this problem and says his Ministry is making efforts to resolve such issues.

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:: Business and Economy ::

SBI signs pact with Snapdeal

India’s largest commercial bank the State Bank of India said that its tie up with Snapdeal for funding MSMEs will boost Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make-in-India initiatives by putting more funds in the hands of the small entrepreneurs enabling them to boost their industries.
Addressing a press meet after signing a deal with Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl, SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said that while the e-commerce company had a major presence in the digital space, SBI led in financing.
Under this pact, SBI will offer easy loans to MSME traders and manufacturers on the Snapdeal platform enabling them to scale up operations. There will be concessional interest rate for women entrepreneurs and zero collateral security for loans up to Rs.1 crore. Traders will get collateral free loans up to Rs. 25 lakh.
Mr. Bahl said that boosting ecommerce infrastructure rather than immediate profitability was Snapdeal’s immediate goal.
The three year old company offers 11 million products through 10,000 sellers, delivering to 5,000 towns and cities.
The SBI chief said that this will be part of Make-in-India campaign of Prime Minster Modi and the bank would enter into more such strategic pacts with Snapdeal by 2016-17. She saw a boost to SBI MSME book ( Rs.1.7 lakh crore till 2014-15 third quarter).
Earlier during the day, SBI announced another partnership in the digital space — with Paypal — the open digital payments company, to promote cross-border trade and payments facilitation for SBI and Paypal users in India and overseas.
SBI Managing Director B. Sriram said that this deal would bring new opportunities to SBI’s SME customer base. It would help Indian merchants gain a global audience. This would enable Indian exporters to gain access to a global audience.

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:: Science and Technology ::

Net neutrality panel sees no progress

The first meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT to discuss Net neutrality could make little headway after several members questioned the selective invitation to three private service providers and presence of BJP MP Nishikant Dubey as a special invitee. Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reiterated that the government was committed to “ensuring non-discriminatory” access to Internet for all citizens.
Only Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular were invited by Chairman Anurag Thakur (BJP) for the meeting. Mr. Thakur had asked the three companies to submit a report by May 19.
However, according to sources, the 120-page report was received only on May 20 and given to members. Non-BJP members questioned how they were expected to read such a voluminous report in a few hours; that, too, on a vexed issue like the subject at hand. Veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani is learnt to have joined the chorus of questions raised by the non-BJP members.
Another contentious issue pertained to the absence of other stakeholders, particularly state-owned operators BSNL and MTNL. Also, the absence of over-the-top (OTT) players and consumer groups was questioned. “Why has this meeting been turned into a sponsored group meet,” a member questioned during the hour-long discussion. Besides Mr. Advani and Mr. Thakur, those present included Derek O’Brien (Trinamool Congress), P. Karunakaran (CPI-M), K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao (Congress) and Salim Ansari (BSP).
The next meeting is likely to be held in early June. While the committee members are not allowed to speak on the meeting, Mr. O’Brein tweeted, “Delhi is hot. But deliberations at Parliamentary Committee meetings just got even hotter. Any suggestion on which organisations can provide balanced/credible opinion representing the interest of the Internet user.”
While the debate on Net neutrality has been on at the global level for a long time, in India, it was triggered when country’s largest operator Airtel announced plans to charge customers for VoIP services such as Skype and Viber.

:: Sports ::

Juventus wins Italian Cup

Alessandro Matri came off the bench to hit an extra-time winner as Juventus beat Lazio 2-1 to win the Italian Cup final in Rome.
Juventus’s first Cup triumph since 1995 keeps the Turin giant on track for a treble of trophies in Massimiliano Allegri’s first season at the club.
Juventus secured its fourth consecutive scudetto several weeks ago and will face Barcelona in the Champions League final in Berlin on June 6.