Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 30 October 2015

:: India & world ::

India-Africa summit: PM seeks cooperation on climate change, terror

India and African nations decided on Thursday to step up cooperation to fight climate change and terrorism, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for partnership in these key areas amid shared concerns about global warming and extremist groups like Boko Haram.
At the third India-Africa summit in Delhi, visiting leaders backed Modi’s call for a “comprehensive” agreement on climate change at a UN conference to be held in Paris, while the PM pointed out that India and Africa contribute very little to global warming.
Delegates from about 190 countries are slated to attend the Paris meet with the aim to limit the rise in global temperatures to 2°C above pre-industrial levels and move the world away from fossil fuels.
India has opposed the binding nature of the proposed treaty to be implemented from 2020 and repeatedly said only rich countries are required under a previous UN climate convention to reduce carbon emissions.
“For India, 175 GW of additional renewable energy capacity by 2022 and reduction in emission intensity by 33-35% by 2030 are just two aspects of our efforts,” the Prime Minister said, adding that India was making “enormous efforts” with its “modest resources” to combat climate change.
Leaders at the India-Africa summit also agreed to boost cooperation in counter-terrorism and maritime security against the backdrop of the growing menace of outfits like Boko Haram, the terror group based out of north-eastern Nigeria which is a threatening presence in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon.
The CCIT is a treaty proposed by India which is deadlocked at the United Nations for close to two decades. It aims to criminalise all forms of international terrorism and deny terrorists, their financiers and supporters access to funds, arms and safe havens.
The participants called on all countries to ensure their territories were not used for cross-border terrorist activities, while acknowledging that the menace of non-state actors, including armed groups, had acquired “a new dimension”.

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:: Prize ::

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi wins EU's Sakharov rights prize

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for insulting Islam and for cyber crime, was awarded the European Union's prize for human rights and freedom of thought on Thursday.
Badawi received the first of his 50 lashes in January, prompting strong criticism in Western countries of the kingdom's human rights record, including its restrictive laws on political and religious expression and the status of Saudi women.
This month in London, he was given the International Writer of Courage award and was co-recipient of the PEN Pinter Prize.
Saudi Arabia's ambassador in London on Monday threatened "potentially serious repercussions" for its ties with Britain unless a more respectful discourse developed.
British lawmaker Syed Kamall, a member of the European assembly who nominated Badawi for the EU prize, said, "Saudi Arabia can lock up the man and they can lash him, but they will only strengthen amongst his countrymen the yearning for free speech and debate that he stands for."
A Jeddah court handed Badawi his sentence in 2012 after he criticized the Saudi clergy in a blog and called for changes in the way religion is practiced in Saudi Arabia.

:: Sports ::

Bangladesh to host 2016 Asia Cup

Bangladesh will host the Asia Cup cricket for the third time running in February and March despite recent security fears which prompted Australia to cancel a tour, the national cricket chief said.
At a meeting in Singapore this week, the Asian Cricket Council decided Bangladesh will hold the tournament, to be played in the Twenty20 format for the first time, just before the ICC World T20 in neighbouring India.
Test nations Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will get direct entry. Afghanistan, Oman, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates will play a qualifying tournament in November in the UAE for the fifth place.
Bangladesh also hosted the tournament in 2012 and 2014, along with 2000 and 1988.
Australia’s cricketers had been due to play a two-Test series in Bangladesh this month but the tour was scrapped after official Australian warnings that militants may attack Western interests.
Safety fears for foreigners have heightened in Muslim-majority Bangladesh after the recent murders of an Italian aid worker and a Japanese farmer which were claimed by the Islamic State group.