Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 24 April 2015

:: National ::

Ford Foundation on Centre’s watch list

• The Ford Foundation, a U.S.-based funding agency which has been accused by the Gujarat government of interfering in the country’s internal affairs and fanning communal disharmony, was put on the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) watch list.

• Citing “concerns for national interest and security,” the MHA informed the Reserve Bank of India that Ford Foundation had been included on the list of foreign funding agencies which required prior approval from the Ministry for each transaction.

• It invoked Section 46 of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.

Rajnath and AAP face off; FIR blames party workers

• Home Minister Rajnath Singh has backed the Delhi Police which is under fire for allegedly not doing enough to stop the farmer Gajendra Singh from committing suicide during an Aam Aadmi Party rally.

• The FIR said the police received no cooperation from AAP volunteers or leaders. “This is totally an incident where AAP workers and leaders instigated the man to commit suicide and they also did not pay heed to requests made by police,” the FIR says.

• Inspector S.S. Yadav says in the FIR that party workers obstructed the police from rescuing Singh.

• The Minister said in the Lok Sabha on Thursday that while the policemen on duty called up the control room and tried to get help from the fire brigade to stop the suicide, AAP volunteers egged the farmer on. Instead of talking him out of the suicide, as was generally done, the crowd kept clapping and raised slogans, he said.

• “The crowd was clapping. The police requested them to stop raising slogans,” he said.

• The AAP accused the Home Minister of lying in Parliament. The party declared an assistance of Rs. 10 lakh for the family of the deceased, and promised to support his children’s education.

No new judges till SC verdict on NJAC, says Centre (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Gorkha Rifles complete 200 years of valiant service (Register and Login to read Full News..)

National Institute of Electronics signs pact with Snapdeal (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International :

Clinton, Rubio lead in 2016 U.S. poll survey

• Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio are early frontrunners to become the next president of the United States, according to a well-regarded poll released.

• Ms. Clinton — a celebrity former secretary of state, first lady and New York senator — who is bidding to become America’s first woman president, is head-and-shoulders above her 2016 Democratic party rivals according to a Quinnipiac University poll.

• She has the backing of 60 per cent of Democrats, according to the survey, with her nearest potential rival, Vice-President Joe Biden trailing on 10 per cent.

• At first blush, that would appear to be superb news for Ms. Clinton supporters, who were shocked to lose the party nomination to Barack Obama in 2008.

• But Ms. Clinton’s seemingly unassailable lead has the party faithful worried that a meek primary campaign will leave her far from battled hardened by the time the general election campaign against the Republican nominee begins.

• Perhaps more concerning for Clintonites will be Quinnipiac’s finding that more than half of all voters polled say the 67-year-old is not trustworthy.

• Republican Party operatives have already launched a massive campaign to undercut Ms. Clinton’s appeal by painting her as out of touch, manipulative and not to be trusted.

• The scandals and pseudo-scandals of her husband Bill Clinton’s tenure in the White House have been restated, along with allegations about her use of a private email server, her handling of the murder of a US diplomat in Libya and foreign donations to the Clinton family foundation.

• Until now, candidate Ms. Clinton has mostly brushed off criticism, choosing instead to focus on meeting voters in the first primary states Iowa and New Hampshire.

Murthy takes over as U.S. Surgeon-General (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Business and Economy ::

Asian giants promise jobs, trade

• Sixty years after the Bandung Conference, China, Japan and India are opening their wallets, and perhaps their hearts, to woo Asia and Africa — signalling how developmental economics has upstaged the non-aligned doctrine that was the flavour of the day in 1955.

• In his keynote address at the Asian African Conference, Chinese President Xi Jinping, announced duty free access to 97 per cent items produced in the Least Developing Countries, that have diplomatic ties with China.

• The Chinese President also attempted to bolster his country’s Soft Power, by offering to train 1,00,000 people in developing countries in Asia and Africa over the next five years.

• He reiterated his country’s focus on integrating and developing the economies of Eurasia under the Silk Road initiative.

• China has deployed a $40 billion Silk Road fund, and has played a leading role in forming the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which will be used to develop infrastructure along the Asian leg under the “belt and road” plan.

• Bolstered by its pioneering role along the Silk Road, President Xi advised industrialised countries not to tie political conditions to their aid to developing countries. He also called for injecting positivity in international relations, which should be based on fairness, and seek win-win outcomes.

• At the summit, India also showed that it had fresh ideas to re-engage developing countries in Asia and Africa. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj noted in her address that considering they were part of its extended neighbourhood, India had launched the “Act East” policy towards Asia, complemented by the “renewed Africa policy.” India was also collectively engaging Africa under its flagship India-Africa Forum Summit, whose third edition would be held in October this year.

• Japan, China’s main regional rival, launched its charm offensive targeting the Afro-Asian cluster that had assembled in the Indonesian capital.

• “Asian and African nations are no longer Japan’s aid recipients,” said Shinzo Abe, Japanese Prime Minister. “They are now Japan’s partners for growth.” He pointed out that Tokyo would offer industrial training and technology to 3,50,000 people throughout the region. The Prime Minister added that trade deals under negotiations, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific “will all eventually head toward Africa.”

• The summit provided an opportunity for a 29 minute, one-on-one exchange between President Xi and Premier Abe. At the end of the meeting, which analysts said signalled recognition by both countries of the need not to derail ties, Mr. Abe sounded statesmanlike. “The development of relations between our countries is in the interests of the people of Japan and China,” he observed. “By promoting strategic, mutually beneficial relations, we contribute to the stability and prosperity of the region and the world.”

Reserve Bank revises norms for priority sector lending

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), said that medium enterprises, social infrastructure and renewable energy would form part of priority sector in addition to the existing categories.

• “The distinction between direct and indirect agriculture is dispensed with,” the RBI said.

• The revised guidelines are operational with immediate effect.

• However, it said the priority sector loans sanctioned under the earlier guidelines would continue to be classified under priority sector till repayment/maturity/ renewal.

• It prescribed a target of 8 per cent for the small and marginal farmers within agriculture. RBI asked banks to achieve this in a phased manner, that is, 7 per cent by March 2016 and 8 per cent by March 2017.

• A target of 7.5 per cent has been prescribed for micro enterprises, which also has to be achieved in a phased manner, that is, 7 per cent by March 2016 and 7.5 per cent by March 2017.

• There is no change in the target of 10 per cent for weaker sections, it added Foreign banks, with 20 branches and above, already have priority sector targets and sub-targets for agriculture and weaker sections, which are to be achieved by March 31, 2018, as per the action plans submitted by them and approved by RBI.

• The sub-targets for small and marginal farmers and micro enterprises would be made applicable post 2018 after a review in 2017, the RBI said.

• “Foreign banks with less than 20 branches will move to total priority sector target of 40 percent on par with other banks by 2019-20, and the sub-targets for these banks, if to be made applicable post 2020, would be decided in due course,” it added.

• Bank loans to food and agro processing units will form part of agriculture. Export credit up to 32 per cent will be eligible as part of priority sector for foreign banks with less than 20 branches.

• For other banks, the incremental export credit over corresponding date of the preceding year will be reckoned up to 2 per cent.

• The loan limits for housing loans and MFI loans qualifying under priority sector have been revised.

• RBI said the priority sector non-achievement would be assessed on a quarterly average basis at the end of the respective year from 2016-17 onwards, instead of annual basis as at present.

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:: Science and Technology ::

Smart maps for smart cities

• The use of smart maps in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious smart cities project will lead to $8 billion in savings and value in a year, according to a study by Dalberg Global Development Advisors, a strategy and policy consulting firm.

• This also needs a strong policy and regulatory framework, it said.

• The firm’s report, “Smart maps for smart cities: India’s $8 Billion+ opportunity”, said India was expected to see the greatest migration to cities of any country in the world in the next three decades, with over 400 million new inhabitants moving into urban areas. “The expansion of India’s urban population will also have to be met with an expansion of infrastructure that is 20 times the capacity that has been added to India’s cities over the last decade,” it added.

• The report points out nine high potential uses of smart maps including traffic and commuting, local retail, tourism, women’s safety, city planning, civic engagement, emergency services, logistics and delivery and disaster response.

• Pritha Venkatachalam, principal at Dalberg Global Development Advisors, pointed out the benefits in terms of emergency services and local retail.

• “Surveys show that emergency vehicles in India spend about 25 per cent of their response time or one fourth of their time to reach their patient or beneficiary. And that time is spent in looking at the exact location from where the call originated. A use of smart maps can reduce that time to 2-3 minutes, which is our conservative estimate and save 13,000 lives,” she added.

• The report also pointed out that local retailers could increase revenue by $2 billion. “There are 116 million smartphone users and 78 per cent of smartphone users use maps to search for local business or services at least once a week. In the U.S., 73 per cent of such searches result in purchases, while in India it is only 20 per cent,” Ms. Venkatachalam said. “This is because 80 per cent of kirana shops are not listed,” she added.

Social media democratising govt.: U.S. expert (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Sports ::

ICC guidelines to deal with illegal bowling

• In a 14-page document titled ‘Identification of suspect/illegal bowling actions’ circulated to the umpires this month, the International Cricket Council has suggested ways to determine if a bowler has an illegal or suspect action, how to use the field technique, what to look for with certain types of bowlers and types of deliveries among orthodox spin bowlers, pace bowlers, wrist spin bowlers and doosra , how to best use video resources and evidence (through television) and assessment in a non-TV situation.

• At the outset the ICC guidelines say that “dealing with suspect/illegal bowling actions is a major challenge for the umpires; not only is this a difficult skill, but the issue is also a sensitive and emotive one for the players and their team. Care is advised and one has to have a high degree of confidence when arriving at a specific conclusion in this matter. The availability of video evidence makes the job easier, but the challenge lies where umpires have to make judgments on the field with a naked eye. The umpires require strong teamwork and communication with each other, careful observation of the available and visible facts and the courage when committing to a course of action.”

• The guidelines say bowling actions are divided into three clear categories under law: 24. 2 (Fair Delivery — the arm and ICC Suspect Bowling Action Policy). They are:

• 1. Correct / Legal Bowling actions: The actions of these bowlers are clean, have no visible straightening of the elbow joint to the naked eye, after the elbow has reached the shoulder level in the delivery swing, until the ball leaves the hand.

• 2. Illegal bowling actions: There is a clear and conspicuously visible straightening of the elbow joint after the bowling arm has reached the shoulder level before the ball leaves the bowler’s hand. When the umpires come across such bowlers with blatantly illegal actions, they should call and signal “No ball” after every such ball is bowled. The law takes it course with the warning and suspension procedure. However, to initiate this action of calling the bowler on field, the umpire needs to be satisfied that the bowler’s action is illegal.

• 3. Suspect actions: The umpires suspect a possible straightening of the elbow joint as described above. The action cannot be branded as blatantly illegal, but there is enough visible evidence to create a doubt about the bowling action. In such a case the umpires will report the bowler for a “Suspect” bowling action, which will be later examined and tested for legality by the relevant authority in a laboratory environment.

• The report further says that “when the umpires see a bowler with a potentially illegal action, the naked eye will pick up a visible discrepancy with the action. That is the first clue. What can first catch the umpires eye is a jerky arm action or a visibly bent arm during the bowling action. While just a bent bowling arm is not sufficient to conclude that the action is illegal/suspect, it is enough to let the umpires know that the bowler’s action requires closer scrutiny; if required, the umpire may choose to stand on the off side to get a clearer picture of the bowling action.”

• The umpires fraternity has been informed that though the spin and pace bowlers will have different mechanics and actions the two simple indicators in most illegal actions are (1) bowling arm flexed greater than 15 degrees at upper arm horizontal or just after and (2) front shoulder pulling away early.

• What may surprise the followers of the game is the observation that “although the doosra is most commonly the delivery questioned, the normal action used by many orthodox spinners (mostly right-armers) is often compromised when bowling the orthodox delivery to make it easier to bowl a doosra if needed.”

• The report has used illustrations of illegal and legal bowling actions. With regard to wrist spin bowlers the observation is: “It’s rare to find illegal actions amongst wrist spinners as the normal delivery action produces forces that tend to keep the bowling arm extended. However, some wrist spinners who tend to “push” the ball out of the front of the hand might still bowl with extension at the elbow.”

Super Kings register another facile win

• There was an overwhelming feeling that if Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) was to notch up a win, it had to be done by Virat Kohli and A.B. de Villiers.

• Their fourth-wicket partnership had only begun to blossom, when an outstanding piece of wicketkeeping by M.S. Dhoni snuffed out all signs of life.

• After de Villiers was sent back, RCB could not recover, and slipped to its third successive defeat.

• The duo got together with 121 runs needed off 70 balls, in pursuit of 182. A couple of sixes from de Villiers kept the chase on track, before Dhoni stamped his presence.

• Kohli and his partner hesitated on the second run, allowing Dwayne Smith to fire in a throw from deep cover. Though out of position, Dhoni gathered cleanly and deflected the ball onto the stumps to catch de Villiers short.

• The next six wickets, including that of a perseverant Kohli (51 off 42 balls), could only manage 69 runs, giving Chennai Super Kings (CSK) its fourth win in five outings.

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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

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