Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 8 April 2015

:: National ::

Remove ‘leper’ from the book, says law panel

India needs to repeal or amend urgently laws which discriminate against persons with leprosy, and stop the official use of the word “leper”, the Law Commission recommended in its 256th report submitted to the Law Ministry.
Since the 1980s, the multi-drug therapy programme to treat leprosy had slowed down the rate of infections. Since 2005, there has been a rise “on account of the shift in public health priorities from leprosy to AIDS and cancer,” the report said.
The commission has prepared a draft Bill to eliminate discrimination against persons affected with leprosy.
The commission recommended the repeal or amendment of all laws carrying discriminatory provisions. The panel recommended an end to the segregation of persons with leprosy, many of whom live in 850 “leprosy colonies” across India.
The Rehabilitation Council of India Act and the Persons with Disabilities Act do not include all categories of persons with leprosy.

‘Guru’ regains place among top business buzzwords

Indian-origin term ‘Guru’ has retained its place among the top-50 business buzzwords globally, while the term ‘content’ topped the list for the second consecutive year, according to a latest survey.
Guru, a Sanskrit-origin term which means teacher or master, has moved down to 15th position in 2014 from 6th slot a year ago on the latest annual list for top business buzzwords compiled by Global Language Monitor (GLM).
After ‘content’, which topped the chart for 2014, the most popular used words by the business world were ‘net—net’, ‘big data’, ‘at-the-end-of-the-day’ and ‘social media’.
Other words named in the chart were: ‘offline’ (6th), ‘face time’ (7th), ‘ping’ (8th), ‘rock-and-a-hard-place’ (9th), ‘win-win’ (10th). GLM’s ‘Business Buzzwords of the Year’ rankings are based upon actual word usage throughout the English-speaking world, which now numbers more than 1.83 billion people.
Guru was followed by ‘re-purpose’, ‘robust’, ‘value-add’, ’transparency’ and ‘seamless’, as among the top 20 business buzzwords for 2014.
To qualify, words, names, and phrases must be found globally, have a minimum of 25,000 citations.

Maharashtra to set up memorial to R.K. Laxman (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Union Cabinet clears Real Estate Bill (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International :

Rand Paul to run for U.S. President

Conservative U.S. Senator Rand Paul announced on Tuesday that he is running for his party’s nomination for the 2016 presidential race, making him the second major Republican to join the contest. “I am running for President to return our country to the principles of liberty and limited government,” Mr. Paul said on his campaign website.
Mr. Paul, a conservative libertarian who was elected to the Senate in 2010 with strong support from the Tea Party movement, was expected to make a more formal announcement later in the day.
Mr. Paul follows Texan Ted Cruz, who launched his candidacy two weeks ago with an appeal to the religious right, among others.

Pak. to be given 1,000 Hellfire missiles

The U.S. State Department may soon be transferring 1,000 Hellfire missiles to Pakistan, along with associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support, at an estimated cost of $952 million.
This week, the Pentagon’s Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said that the State Department had approved a “possible” Foreign Military Sale to Pakistan for AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopters and AGM-114R Hellfire II Missiles along with the additional defence supplies.
DSCA said with its support, Pakistan will enhance its ability to conduct operations in North Waziristan Agency, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and other remote and mountainous areas.”
If the U.S. Congress approves the transaction, there is likely to be consternation in New Delhi about the risk of military hardware being diverted from the Durand Line or other parts of Pakistan to its troubled eastern border .

Malaysia passes tough anti-terror law (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Saudi-led strikes target south Yemen (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Business and Economy ::

Centre Govt. hikes DA by 6 per cent

In a move that will benefit over one crore Central Government employees and pensioners, the Union Cabinet hiked Dearness Allowance (DA) by 6 per cent to 113 per cent of their basic pay with effect from January. The decision will benefit 48 lakh government employees and 55 lakh pensioners.
It would involve an outlay of Rs 7,889.34 crore in the current fiscal.

Another foreign donor on Home Ministry watch list

The Bertha Foundation of the Netherlands is the latest advocacy group to be included on the list of foreign donors that require clearance from the Union Home Ministry for funding non-governmental organisations.
The Centre initiates action against those groups that have been consistently backing “anti-development” campaigns in the country, Home Ministry sources say.
“A distinction has to be drawn between service-delivery NGOs, which are working on the ground for the betterment of society, and advocacy groups that have been funding campaigns aimed at stalling the country’s economic growth,” an official said adding that the government was fine-tuning its policy towards NGOs in this light.
“Bertha Foundation had provided financial assistance to Greenpeace India Society, which has been accused of obstructing development works, particularly coal-fired power projects and mining activity.”
Donations from Greenpeace International and Climate Works Foundation require clearance for each transaction.
The Centre has blacklisted 69 NGOs for unauthorised receipt of funds.
The Central government has blacklisted 69 NGOs for unauthorised receipt of funds.

TRAI recommends ‘112’ on the lines of America’s ‘911’

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended use of a single number ‘112’ for all emergency services in the country, including police, fire brigade and ambulance.
Presently, callers in India need to dial in different numbers for different emergencies such as 100 for police, 101 for fire, 102 for ambulance and 108 for emergency disaster management.
In its recommendations, TRAI said, “In emergency situations every passing second counts, whether it is a burglary, theft, road rage, or a fire spreading, or a citizen struggling with a heart attack — the first few minutes are crucial. It is likely that crucial time may be lost in figuring out what number to dial.”
From a user’s perspective, it is simpler and desirable to have a single number for all types of emergencies, it added.
The regulator proposed that existing emergency numbers be retained as secondary numbers and the calls made to them be re-routed to ‘112’. However, once calls to the secondary numbers reduce significantly, they can be withdrawn gradually.
As per the recommendations, callers seeking help should be able to dial ‘112’ even from mobile or landline phones where outgoing facility has been debarred or the service temporarily suspended.
SMS-based access for the emergency services has also been proposed.
The regulator has recommended setting up of Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), which will be akin to a call centre, through which all calls to ‘112’ will be routed.
“When an emergency call is received at the PSAP, it would be answered by a specially trained officer/call taker/operator... based on the type of emergency, dispatchers activate police, fire, medical and other response mechanisms,” TRAI said.

NGOs get Rs. 11,000 crore in foreign funds a year (Register and Login to read Full News..)

World’s smallest PC (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Science and Technology ::

Can BTM Layout be ‘most polluted place’?

National Air Quality Index, which was launched with much pomp in Delhi, seems to have hit a hiccup . As the numbers popped up for public consumption, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board officials expressed scepticism.
While BTM Layout had the dubious distinction of the “most polluted place” in India, Peenya showed serene pollution levels. “There is no chance BTM Layout could be so high…or that Peenya could be so low. We really don’t know how they (Central Pollution Control Board) have come up with these numbers,” said an official, adding that CPCB had yet to conduct a workshop on the index for the environment officers.
While the NAQI showed BTM Layout having “very poor” air quality index (AQI) of 361, the numbers fluctuated drastically between 43 (good air quality) and 183.
“I was shocked to see the numbers,” said K. Karunakaran, Senior Technical Supervisor at CPCB, Bengaluru. It was found that the configurations at the measuring station were jumbled. “The numbers for CO (carbon monoxide) were being calculated as PM2.5 (Particulate Matter). So ‘normal’ CO levels suddenly became abnormally high PM2.5 levels,” he said, adding that it would take time for the index to stabilize.

:: Sports ::

PCI suspends president

The Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) suspended its president Rajesh Tomar, holding him responsible for the ‘chaos’ at the national para-athletics meet in Ghaziabad, and formed a three-member panel headed by a retired High Court judge to probe the matter.
Vice-president Nale Nandakishore Babu Rao will act as president until the enquiry is completed.
The decision was taken at a recent PCI executive committee (EC) meeting in Bengaluru.
According to a PCI release, the chaos happened “due to the negligence and failing of duties” by Tomar. The EC has also decided to start criminal and civil proceedings against Tomar.
Following reports about the lack of basic facilities at the national meet, where the para-athletes were put up in under-constructed buildings, Union Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal asked for a detailed report on the issue.
Tomar had blamed the Sports Ministry for the mess. “I had approached the Sports Ministry to provide the facilities, but the Sports Authority of India refused, saying its venues were being used by able-bodied athletes,” various media reports quoted Tomar as saying.
The development prompted the PCI to take up the matter urgently. The EC also discussed the “mismanagement of the financial issues by Tomar in the 2014 Asian Paralympic Games”.