Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 3 May 2015

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 03 May 2015

:: National ::

Surprise transfer of National Museum chief

  • The sudden overnight transfer of National Museum Director-General Venu Vasudevan to the Sports Ministry has taken even the Ministry of Culture by surprise. Informed sources said Minister of Culture Mahesh Sharma was unaware of the decision taken by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

  • “He was extremely popular and efficient and enjoyed the Minister’s confidence. He was instrumental in laying the foundation for a National Museum Institute in Noida, was opening new galleries and bringing in new exhibitions. His exit from the helm has taken us by surprise. In fact, we got to know of his transfer only after he told us,” said a senior Ministry official, asking this correspondent to direct all queries on the sudden transfer to the Appointments Committee.

  • The transfer of an efficient administrator, after the museum went without a head for many years, has taken many by surprise and this includes the Ministry of Culture under which the Museum is administered.

  • The transfer also raises fundamental questions about the direction the government wants to give to culture and institutes of culture.

Govt. may find going tough on Bills

  • As the Narendra Modi government prepares to celebrate its first year in office later this month, it has lined up a heavy legislative agenda for Parliament when it resumes after a four-day break.

  • Eager to flaunt some game-changing reforms, the government is pinning its hopes on getting approval for the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Bill, besides another for tracking black money stashed away abroad.

  • Other key draft legislation scheduled for consideration and passage before the close of the Budget Session on Friday include the land acquisition Bill, the amendment to the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act to treat 16-to-18 year-olds as adults in the cases of heinous crimes, and the India-Bangladesh land swap deal.

  • While the BJP’s floor managers are eager to push through these Bills, all indications suggested a rough ride ahead. More than the time constraint — just four working days — it is the absence of political consensus and a perception in the Opposition of being “bulldozed” that is making floor management an uphill task.

  • Though the GST, land swap with Bangladesh and amendments to the JJ Act are Bills originally drafted by the UPA government, the changes introduced in the first two have made the Congress sceptical. The Land Acquisition Bill — which the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has rechristened the ‘Land Grab Bill’ — is staring at a return to the ordinance route for the third time in five months as opposition to it has only increased since the Lok Sabha passed it in March during the pre-recess part of the Budget Session.

  • Despite the clear majority the BJP has in the Lok Sabha, as opposed to the fragmented Opposition, the government’s floor managers are being increasingly given a tough time in the Lower House as was evident on April 24 when Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley sought to move The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill to introduce GST even before the Finance and Appropriation Bills were passed. With the Opposition — led by Deputy Speaker M. Thambi Durai — digging its heels in, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan requested Mr. Jaitley to defer it till the Finance and Appropriation Bills were passed.

UN assures India of taking up Lakhvi release issue

  • A United Nations Security Council (UNSC) committee has assured India that it will take up the issue of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi at its next meeting, after India expressed concern that the LeT commander’s release from a Pakistani jail violates the provisions of the global body.

  • India’s Ambassador to the U.N. Asoke Mukerji had written a letter to the Chair of the UNSC al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee Ambassador Jim McLay expressing concern over Lakhvi’s release and said it violates the provisions of the committee concerning al-Qaeda and associated individuals and entities.

  • India also pointed out that as a listed terrorist, Lakhvi can neither receive nor give money since all his assets and financial resources have to be frozen. Any bail money posted for Lakhvi is also a violation of the provisions of the sanctions committee since he is listed terrorist.

  • Acknowledging India’s concerns, Mr. McLay has responded to India’s letter and assured that the matter will be discussed at the next meeting of the committee, sources here told PTI.

  • The next meeting of the committee is expected to take place in the next few days.

  • The committee had listed in December 2008 Lakhvi as a terrorist associated with LeT and al-Qaeda for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts of activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf or in support of” both entities.

  • As a listed terrorist, Lakhvi is subject to assets freeze, travel ban and an arms embargo.

  • The committee said that as chief of operations and military commander of LeT, Lakhvi has directed its operations, including in Iraq and South-East Asia.

  • The release of Lakhvi had also raised concerns in the U.S., U.K., Russia, France and Germany with Washington calling for him to be rearrested.

  • Lakhvi and six others — Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum — have been charged with planning and executing the Mumbai attack in November, 2008 that left 166 people dead.

  • Lakhvi, 55, a close relative of LeT founder and Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, was arrested in December 2008 and was indicted along with the six others on November 25, 2009 in connection with the 26/11 attack case.

  • The trial has been underway since 2009.

  • A Pakistani court had on April 9 set free Lakhvi, a move which India said “eroded” the value of assurances repeatedly conveyed to it by Pakistan on cross-border terrorism.

Nepal quake damages world’s oldest Buddhist shrine (Register and Login to read Full News..)  

No scope for reform of convicted official: SC (Register and Login to read Full News..) 

:: International :

High point in Indo-French strategic ties

  • The 14th edition of the Indo-French naval exercise (Varuna) concluded with Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, along with Vice-Admiral SPS Cheema, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, reviewing the progress of the exercise from the French Navy’s aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.

  • The 10-day exercise started on April 23 and included both a harbour and a sea phase.

  • The exercise goes a long way in enhancing interoperability between the two navies and showcases the close ties between the two countries.

  • Varuna started with the arrival of four French naval ships. Representing the French Navy is Charles de Gaulle, the destroyers Chevalier Paul and Jean de Vienne, replenishment tanker Meuse and a maritime patrol aircraft, Atlantique 2.

  • Charles de Gaulle carried its complement of the fighter aircraft Rafale M, strike aircraft Super Etendard, E2C Hawkeye AWACS and helicopters Dauphin and Alouette 3.

  • The aircraft carrier INS Viraat, destroyer Mumbai, stealth frigate Tarkash, guided missile frigate Gomati, replenishment tanker Deepak, submarine Shankul and a few fast-attack craft participated from the Indian side.

  • The scope of the exercise included the entire gamut of maritime operations from aircraft carrier operations, anti-submarine warfare exercises, maritime interdiction operations and a multi-ship replenishment exercise.

Kerry urges Colombo to cooperate with U.N. (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Business and Economy ::

Guidelines for Smart City project likely to be finalised soon

  • Gearing up to roll out its ‘100 smart cities’ scheme across the country, the government is likely to finalise the guidelines for the Rs. 48,000 crore mega project next week.

  • The NDA government’s flagship project got Cabinet’s approval, paving the way for the Ministry of Urban Development to work out details for the selection of cities for the project.

  • “The detailed guidelines of the project, aiming at recasting the urban landscape, are likely to be notified next week after its finalisation,” a senior ministry official said.

  • After the guidelines are announced, States and UTs will be asked to nominate names of cities for a ‘City Challenge Competition’ and the chosen ones will get a central fund of Rs. 100 crore each year for 5 years, he added.

  • According to the plan, 20 cities will be selected this year, followed by 40 each in the next two years.

  • “Smart City aspirants will be selected through the competition which intends to link financing with their ability to achieve the mission objectives,” the official said.

  • “The cities will be given scores based on urban reforms that they have carried out, their impact and what they propose to do in four key areas — Swachh Bharat [sanitation], Make in India [ease of doing business], good governance [modern accounting system, rationalisation of property taxes] and e-governance,” he added.

  • While most of the smart cities will be brownfield ventures and will be implemented through an ‘area-based’ approach including retrofitting and redevelopment, the official said there will also be a few greenfield projects which means setting up of new cities.

SEBI makes fresh bid to find Sahara investors for refunds (Register and Login to read Full News..)  

:: Science and Technology ::

ISRO carries out series of cryogenic engine development tests

  • After successful test of the high thrust cryogenic engine recently, a series of development tests on the engine are being carried out to validate the performance and to prove its design, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said.

  • Successful long duration hot test (635 seconds) of high thrust cryogenic engine (CE20) was carried out on April 28 at ISRO Propulsion Complex in Tamil Nadu’s Mahendragiri. The achievement is considered as a major milestone in the development of next generation launch vehicle, GSLV MkIII, ISRO said.

  • The CE20 cryogenic engine is being indigenously developed by ISRO to power the cryogenic stage of GSLV MkIII launch vehicle, ISRO has posted on its Facebook page.

  • The completion of successful long duration hot test has once again proved ISRO’s capability in mastering the complex cryogenic technology, it said.

  • Sharing details about the test, ISRO said all subsystems of this engine such as Thrust Chamber, Injector, Gas Generator, LOX & LH2 Turbopumps, Control Components, Pyro systems etc, and the ground Test Facility systems performed very well and the parameters are well within the prediction.

  • It said a series of development tests on this engine are being carried out to validate the performance and to prove the design of the engine, adding, two cold start tests and four short duration hot tests were already carried out on this engine at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri.

  • The indigenously developed cryogenic engine will help India put satellites of upto four tonnes in geostationary orbit.

TRAI moots virtual telecom operator (Register and Login to read Full News..) 

:: Sports ::

At stumps on crazy day 2, England 39/5 with 107-run lead

  • England was wobbling at 39/5 in its second innings yet leading by what could be called a handy 107 runs after an extraordinary second day of the third cricket test.

  • Eighteen wickets tumbled for 245 runs at Kensington Oval. Never before in 231 tests in the West Indies since the first in 1930 had more than 17 wickets fallen in a day.

  • After fortunes seesawed by the session, England was in the driver’s seat, but with little semblance of control.

  • England had 257 and 39/5, and West Indies 189.

  • Before stands packed to their 11,000-seat capacity on a warm, sunny day, the batting of both teams was exposed by incisive fast swing bowling by Jerome Taylor for the West Indies and James Anderson for England on what was essentially a good batting pitch.

  • Taylor took England’s remaining three first-innings wickets at the start of the day, and two more when England batted a second time.

  • Anderson created the early damage to the West Indies innings by dismissing the top three batsmen in six overs for four runs, returning to finish it off with the last three. His figures of 6—42 were his best in his 41 tests outside of England.

  • Jermaine Blackwood, with a stroke-filled 85 off 88 balls with four sixes and 11 fours, was the only West Indian to bat with assurance. Veteran left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s 25 was the second highest score.

  • Taylor dismissed Chris Jordan then Stuart Broad and Anderson with successive balls from 7.1 overs at the start, converting England’s 240/7 into 257 all out.

  • Anderson followed Taylor’s example, removing opener Kraigg Brathwaite second ball for 0, debutant Shai Hope for 5, and Marlon Samuels for 4 as the West Indies went to lunch at 37/3.

  • Offspinners Moeen Ali and Joe Root, and fast bowlers Stuart Broad and Ben Strokes claimed a wicket each in the second session as the West Indies continued to stumble, ending up at 139/7 by tea.

  • Counterattacking batting by Blackwood, No. 10 Veerasammy Permaul and Taylor, who hit two sixes and seven fours between them, added 50 for the last three wickets in seven overs after the interval to reduce England’s lead until Anderson accounted for all three.

  • When England batted a second time with a lead of 68, Taylor returned to remove opener Jonathan Trott for 9, his fifth single-digit score in six innings in the series, and Ian Bell for his second duck in the match.

  • Shannon Gabriel accounted for England captain Alastair Cook for 4, Jason Holder had Joe Root taken low down at first slip by Darren Bravo for 1, and, nine balls from the end, Ali was bowled cutting left-arm spinner Permaul.

Click Here to Register for Full News

Click Here for Archive

Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

This is a Part of Online Coaching Programme for IAS Exam