Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 23 August 2014

SC sets deadline on LoP issue

The Supreme Court asked the Centre to decide the status of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha by September 9 and made it clear that Lokpal legislation could not be put into cold storage because no-one has been appointed to the post. (The Leader of the Opposition should be on the Lokpal selection committee.)
A Bench of Chief Justice R.M. Lodha and Justices Kurian Joseph and Rohinton Nariman told Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi that the law could not be rendered ineffective by the delay in decision-making.
The Bench was hearing a writ petition filed by Common Cause, an non-governmental organisation, challenging the provisions of the Lokpal Act.

Caught in an embarrassing situation after differences within the Haveri Zilla Kannada Sahitya Parishat and Haveri leaders led to the executive committee of Kannada Sahitya Parishat deciding to withdraw the invitation extended to Haveri for hosting the 81st Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelan, the warring factions seem to have mellowed down.
With wide criticism over the district losing the opportunity to host the annual mega literary event, literary enthusiasts of Haveri and Ranebennur, who, earlier, tried every trick to make their city the venue of the literary event, seem to have slackened their stand now.
Writers, leaders and literary enthusiasts of Ranebennur and Haveri have been open in their demand for a chance to host the event in their place ever since the central committee extended the invitation to the Haveri district unit to host the annual literary event in January 2014.

Air Asia is planning to launch a direct flight from Vizag to Kuala Lumpur during its winter schedule in November this year.
IndiGo is also planning a morning flight from New Delhi to Vizag and back, according to president of the Air Travellers Association (India) D. Varada Reddy.
SpiceJet is also planning morning flights to Bangalore and Chennai. These additions will take the total number of flights from Vizag to 42.
The routes in high demand from Vizag are Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, Mr. Reddy told a media conference . On the facilities required at the cargo terminal at Visakhapatnam International Airport, he said a big scanner and a fork lift should be provided.