Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 8 March 2015

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 8 March 2015

:: National ::

As tensions rise, Assam on alert to protect Nagas

  • The Assam government has put its administration on high alert following the lynching of a rape accused, Syed Sarif Khan, from the State by a mob after dragging him out of the Dimapur jail in Nagaland .

  • The government has asked the Deputy Commissioners, the Superintendents of Police and the Divisional Commissioners to provide security to people from Nagaland living in the State and to ensure the safety of travellers between the two States.

  • Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rockybul Hussain listed the steps in a statement in the Assembly after the Opposition raised the issue.

  • The government informed the Assembly that Nagaland promised to arrest the guilty and instituted a judicial investigation, besides suspending three officials.

  • Mr. Hussain said Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had written to his Nagaland counterpart, T.R. Zeliang, requesting that those behind the lynching be arrested and the lives and property of Assamese be secured.

  • The Chief Minister had written to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to take up the matter with the Nagaland government.

  • He said Sarif Khan, 28, from Bhanga village in Karimganj district had been living in Dimapur for over two years after marrying a Naga woman.

  • Mr. Gogoi told presspersons that it was important to fix responsibility for security lapses. The Union government owed an explanation because the Central Reserve Police Force was deployed for jail security.

  • The movement of lorries to Nagaland remained suspended. Members of the All-Assam Goods Carrier Truck Drivers and Handyman Union staged a protest in the city.

Mufti orders release of political prisoners

  • Senior separatist leader Masarat Alam was released from prison just days after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed directed the police to release political prisoners against whom no criminal charges had been registered.

  • Earlier in the day, police sources had confirmed that he had been moved from the Baramulla prison to a police station in Srinagar.

  • Head of the Muslim League in the State, Mr Alam was among the main organisers of pro-Azadi protests in the Valley in 2010. He was arrested along with several other leaders after those protests and remained one of the few senior leaders still behind bars.

  • Arrested under the Public Safety Act (PSA) — a preventive detention law in J&K which gives a Deputy Commissioner the authority to take anyone in his district into preventive custody for up to two years without trial if he feels the person poses a threat to the security of the State — Mr. Alam has been in various prisons for more than four years now.

  • Police sources said since 2010, more than six consecutive PSA charges had been slapped on him.

  • Reacting strongly to the release of Masarat Alam, the BJP said the decision was anti-national, unacceptable and detrimental to the coalition.

Nirbhaya film: Bar council issues notice to defence lawyers (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International ::

Pollution control: China sends mixed signals

  • China has sent mixed signals about its approach to tackle pollution — by announcing zero-tolerance to violators of a stringent environmental law, but the same time seemingly curbing public debate on the subject by pulling out from mainstream video sharing sites a hard-hitting documentary on emissions that had gone viral on the internet.

  • “We are going to punish, with an iron hand, any violators who destroy ecology or environment, with no exceptions,” said China’s President, Xi Jinping, while reviewing the work report of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) — the official body that exercises administrative and planning control over the Chinese economy.

  • Mr. Xi’s remarks had followed the release of the documentary Under The Dome , which had drawn over a million hits on the internet on account of its unvarnished focus on the enormity of the crisis.

  • The film, produced by Chai Jing, a former employee of CCTV, the state-run broadcaster, began to disappear from mainstream domestic video-sharing sites.

  • It was now no longer available on popular mainland video sites, including Youku and iQiyi.

  • The move was surprising as the film had been praised earlier this week by China’s newly-appointed Environmental Protection Minister, Chen Jining. People’s Daily , the official newspaper of the Chinese government had also posted the documentary on its website.

  • China’s decision to lower its growth rate target for 2015 to seven per cent; the framing of the new environment law; and plans to enhance the role of nuclear and renewables in its energy mix, is expected to sharply reduce emissions in the world’s second largest economy.

  • A major element of China’s clean energy strategy is the reduction in the use of coal — a double-edged weapon that has been both at the heart of the country’s breakneck growth story and the cause for heavy smog choking many Chinese cities.

  • “For areas affected by severe smog, regions where conserving energy is difficult, and industries with overcapacity, we will strictly control the number of energy-intensive projects and implement policies for reducing coal use, and for replacing coal with alternative energy sources,” the report said.

  • Planners say that the country’s energy use has entered “medium-low growth,” in tune with the more sustainable model of development that China plans to follow.

  • Nur Bekri, the head of National Energy Administration, predicts a steep decline in the expansion of China’s primary energy consumption.

  • While annual energy intake increased by 7.9 per cent since 2000, it is expected to grow by only 3.4 per cent over the next six years.

  • That figure conforms with China’s target of capping annual primary energy consumption at 4.8 billion tonnes of standard coal equivalent by 2020.

  • Mr. Bekri said that energy growth will further dip to 2.3 per cent during 2015-2030.

  • China hopes to reduce the use of coal — which fuels 66 per cent of the current energy consumption — by expanding the share of non-fossil energy to 15 per cent by 2020, and 20 per cent by 2030.

:: Business & Economy ::

Walmart India appoints Ashwin Mittal as CFO

  • Walmart India announced Ashwin Mittal as the new Chief Financial Officer and Javier Rojo as Head of Real Estate and Business Development. Mr. Mittal will replace Jill Anderson, the present CFO, the company statement said.

:: Science & Technology ::

24x7 drug store in three months

  • Foundation stone was laid for the much-awaited 24x7 generic and other medicines store on the Government Wenlock hospital premises.

  • The new medical store, called Janasanjeevini Medical Centre, operated by Union government’s HLL Life Care Limited, will come up in the 700 square-foot space next to the dilapidated jail ward of the hospital.

  • The Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader Minister said the State government had fulfilled most of the promises made when the government was formed.

  • He said the government giving final shape to providing free treatment to the extent of Rs. 25,000 for road accident victims in the first 48 hours of admission to hospital.

  • The bike ambulance facility would also be launched soon.

  • MP and senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes earlier handed to the Wenlock Hospital Superintendent Rajeshwari Devi, the keys of a hearse van donated by SASVAT Foundation. U.T. Fareed Foundation will maintain and operate the vehicle.

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:: Sports ::

Quasar bags Indian Turf Invitation Cup

  • Quasar (Yash Narredu up) upset stablemate Be Safe in the Indian Turf Invitation Cup (Gr. I), the stellar attraction of the races.

  • The winner is owned by Mr. Jaydev M.Modi rep. J.M.Livestock Pvt Ltd, M/s. Tanmay A.Agashe & Madhav G.Patankar. Malesh Narredu trains the winner.

  • Yet again the race course here witnessed unruly scenes when the punters in the first enclosure protested soon after the hot favourite Be Safe lost a certain race.

  • The punters did not allow the horses for the last race to leave the paddock for more than 45 minutes. Only after the police intervened the crowd dispersed and the last race was held after an hour’s delay.

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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

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