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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 16 April 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 16 April 2014

Military operation to crush anti-government protests in Ukraine

  • Ukraine has launched a military operation to crush anti-government protests in the Russian-speaking eastern part of the country, deploying thousands of troops, armour and aircraft to Donetsk region where protesters seized government buildings in a dozen cities and towns.

  • The military, in armoured personnel carriers backed by aircraft, stormed a small airfield near Kramatorsk. Unconfirmed reports said between four and 11 protesters had been killed in the attack.

  • Following the attack, hundreds of unarmed Kramatorsk residents drove to the airfield to protest against the killing of civilians.

  • The Russian TV channel Rossiya-24, which has several reporters in eastern Ukraine, said about 500 government troops and 20 armoured personnel carriers entered the city of Slaviansk, not far from Kramatorsk.

  • A militia commander in Slaviansk, which is under full control of the protesters, told Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency that the city had been surrounded by Ukrainian tanks and armoured vehicles.

  • In Kiev, two presidential candidates representing eastern Ukraine were attacked by armed far right radicals. Oleg Tsarev, an independent, was severely beaten after appearing in a TV show called “Freedom of Speech.” The mob demanded that he and the other candidate, Mikhail Dobkin, withdraw from the elections scheduled for May 25.

  • Ukrainian authorities confirmed that a battalion of newly formed “National Guard” made up of “Maidan activists” had been deployed for action against pro-Russian protesters in the east.

Dying declaration of Dec. 16 gangrape victim

  • The Supreme Court has directed the Delhi Police to place before it the dying declaration of the December 16 gangrape victim along with other trial court records of the case in which four convicts were awarded death sentence.

  • Besides Mukesh (27) and Pawan (20), the Delhi High Court had also upheld the conviction and death penalty of Akshay Thakur (29) and Vinay Sharma (21).

  • While dismissing their appeals, the High Court had termed the offence as “extremely fiendish” and “unparallelled in the history of criminal jurisprudence” and said the “exemplary punishment” was the need of the hour.

  • The 23-year-old paramedic, on the night of December 16, 2012, was brutally assaulted and gangraped by six persons in a moving bus in South Delhi and thrown out of the vehicle with her male friend. She died in a Singapore hospital on December 29, 2012.

  • The prime accused in the case Ram Singh was found dead in Tihar Jail in March last year and the trial against him was abated.

  • The sixth accused, a juvenile, was on August 31, 2013, convicted and sentenced to a maximum of three years in a reformation home by the Juvenile Justice Board.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 15 April 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 15 April 2014

Transgenders as third gender

  • The Supreme Court has recognised transgenders or eunuchs as third category of gender and directed Centre and States to grant them all facilities, including voters ID, passport and driving licence.
  • The Centre and States were also directed to take steps for bringing the community into the mainstream by providing adequate health care, education and employment.
  • A bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and A.K. Sikri directed the government to take steps for granting recognition to transgenders as a separate third category of gender after male and female.
  • The bench also said they are the citizens of the country and have equal rights to education, healthcare and employment opportunities like other people belonging to male and female gender.
  • The apex court expressed concern over transgenders being harassed and discriminated in the society and passed a slew of directions for their social welfare.

Scientific methods in crime detection

  • The Supreme Court has asked investigating agencies to adopt scientific methods in crime detection to save the judicial system from low conviction rates.

  • “The criminal judicial system in this country is at a crossroads. Reliable, trustworthy, credible witnesses to the crime seldom come forward to depose before the court and even hardened criminals get away from the clutches of the law. Even reliable witnesses for the prosecution turn hostile due to intimidation, fear and a host of other reasons. Investigating agency has, therefore, to look for other ways and means to improve the quality of investigation, which can only be through the collection of scientific evidence.”

  • Writing the judgment, Justice Radhakrishnan said there was a need to strengthen forensic science for crime detection. The judiciary needed to be equipped to understand and deal with such scientific materials.

  • The Bench gave this ruling while modifying the death sentence awarded to Dharam Deo Yadav, who murdered Diana Clare Routley, a 22-year-old girl from New Zealand who visited Varanasi in 1997. The trial court had awarded death sentence and it was confirmed by the Allahabad High Court.

Pulitzer Prize

  • Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, already among the most popular and celebrated novels of the past year, has won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. One of the country’s top colonial historians, Alan Taylor, has won his second Pulitzer, forThe Internal Enemy — Slavery and War In Virginia.

  • The Washington Post and the Guardian have won Pulitzer Prizes in public service for revealing the massive U.S. government surveillance effort.

  • The newspapers’ disclosures about the National Security Agency's spy programs show the U.S. government has collected information about millions of Americans' phone calls and emails based on its classified interpretations of laws passed after the Sept. 11 attacks.

  • The Boston Globe has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize in breaking news, and The New York Times has won two Pulitzers in photography categories — Tyler Hicks was honoured in the breaking news category for documenting the Westgate mall terrorist attack in Kenya, and Josh Haner was cited for his essay on a Boston Marathon bomb blast victim who lost his legs.

  • The Center for Public Integrity won the award for investigative reporting for reports on how some lawyers and doctors rigged a system to deny benefits to coal miners suffering from black lung disease.

  • The Pulitzer for explanatory reporting was given to The Washington Post for reporting on the prevalence of food stamps in America.

  • Annie Baker's The Flick won the Pulitzer Prize for drama, a play set in a movie theater that was called a "thoughtful drama with well-crafted characters" which created "lives rarely seen on the stage".

  • The award for general nonfiction went to Dan Fagin’s Toms River, an acclaimed chronicle of industrial destruction in small New Jersey community. Megan Marshall’s Margaret Fuller, about the 19th century transcendentalist, won for biography; and Vijay Seshadri’s witty and philosophical 3 Sections received the poetry prize.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 14 April 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 14 April 2014

Interceptor missile test

  • India for the first time will be testing a state-of-the-art interceptor missile at supersonic speed that will seek to engage and destroy an incoming target missile at a very high altitude of 120-140 km over the Bay of Bengal. Entirely new interceptor and target missiles have been developed by scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the upcoming engagement, to be conducted in exo-atmosphere (altitude above 40-50 km) on April 27 or 28. The test was originally planned to be conducted in November, 2013 but had been delayed since then.

  • Describing it as a “big challenge,” they said the interceptor’s “kill vehicle,” equipped with a dual seeker, would attack the payload (warhead portion) as it descends towards its intended target. The advantage of intercepting an incoming missile at such a high altitude was that the debris would not fall on the ground and there would be no collateral damage.

  • After some more trials, India plans to deploy a two-tiered Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system to protect important cities from external threats. In the first phase, incoming enemy missiles of 2,000-km range are envisaged to be waylaid and destroyed, while those with about 5,000-km range would be tackled by the interceptors in the second phase.

  • So far, six of the seven interceptor missile tests, carried out by the DRDO, have been successful. While two interceptions were conducted in exo-atmopshere (altitudes between 47 and 80 km) the rest were in endo-atmosphere (below 40 km altitude).

The recent U.N. Security Council meet

  • The U.N. Security Council recently metin emergency session amid growing violence in eastern Ukraine, with Western powers and Russia blaming each other for the deepening crisis.

  • Russia called the meeting hours after Ukrainian special forces exchanged gunfire with a pro-Russia militia in an eastern city, and at least one security officer was killed and five others wounded. Ukraine’s president accused its powerful neighbour of fomenting unrest, and announced that it would deploy armed forces to quash an increasingly bold pro-Russian insurgency.

  • Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin denied Western and Ukrainian claims that Moscow was behind the violence, and told U.N. diplomats that Ukraine has been using radical neo-Nazi forces to destabilize its eastern region.

  • Russia has tens of thousands of troops massed along Ukraine’s eastern border, and there are fears that Moscow might use the violence in the mainly Russian-speaking region as a pretext for an invasion, in a repeat of events in Crimea earlier this year.

India- China Strategic Dialogue

  • India has assured China of its commitment to consolidate strategic bilateral ties based on mutual trust as well as sensitiveness to each other's concerns and aspirations, as their top diplomats held the annual strategic dialogue here amid the Indian general elections.

  • Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh co-chaired the sixth round of the Strategic Dialogue with her Chinese counterpart Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin at the picturesque Diaoyutai guest house.

  • The talks were held as the long-running Lok Sabha elections, hailed as the world's biggest democratic exercise, got underway in India that will form a new government at the Centre.

  • Stating that the annual Strategic Dialogue is being held in less than a year, she told Liu that "it is symbolic of the fact that our relations are growing and our interactions are increasing".

  • China said it was "confident" that India will stay committed to strong bilateral ties irrespective of whichever party comes to power after the polls.

(Current Affairs) Sports | March: 2014

Sports

CRICKET

TENNIS

HOCKEY

FOOTBALL

BADMINTON

CHESS

GOLF

VARIOUS

CRICKET

Fastest Century in ODI by Corey Anderson

New Zealand’s Corey Anderson has made world record by his name by blasted the fastest century in One Day International. History was created at Queenstown Events Centre ground against West Indies on 1 January 2014. The left-handed Anderson brought up his hundred off just 36 balls, shattering the previous record held by Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi. Anderson remained 131 not out (47 balls). New Zealand posted a mammoth 283/4 in 21 over. Jesse Ryder too hit a quick ton, scoring 104 off 51 deliveries. Ryder’s 100 are the sixth fastest in ODI history. Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi had taken 37 balls for his ton. Afridi had set the record in 1996 in Nairobi against Sri Lanka. The 22-year-old Anderson, batting at number 5, reached the world record mark in the 18th over of the match, which was reduced to 21 over each due to rain. New Zealand won by 159 runs after keeping the visitors to 124/5 in 21 over. The assault by New Zealand batsmen destroyed West Indies bowling figures. Fast bowler Ravi Rampaul was the most expensive with an economy rate of 21.33. He was hammered for 64 runs from 3 over. All six bowlers went for more than 10 runs per over, the least being 11 by Nikita Miller (1/44 in 4 over).

Fastest Hundreds in One Day Internationals

  • Corey Anderson 36 balls
  • Shahid Afridi 37 balls
  • Mark Boucher 44 balls
  • Brian Lara 45 balls
  • Shahid Afridi 45 balls

(Current Affairs) Person in News | March: 2014

Person in News

APPOINTED

DEATH

ACCUSED/RESIGNED/CONTROVERSY

HONOUR

BOOKS/AUTHORS

VARIOUS

APPOINTED

Jamila Bayaz

Jamila Bayaz was appointed as the police chief of District One of Kabul province on 15 January 2014. She is the first woman in Afghanistan to be appointed as police chief of an entire district. She joined Afghan police force more than three decades ago and at present serving as Colonel in Kabul’s police force. The appointment of Jamila Bayaz is significant in more than one sense. Firstly, the appointment will pave the way for more Afghani women to rise through the ranks.

Secondly, her appointment as police chief to one of the core districts of Kabul testifies that women position in Afghan society is improving since the Taliban were driven out from power in 2001. District One of Kabul province houses the presidential palace and numerous ministries. Besides it houses the Central Bank of Afghanistan and is the main money and gold market of Afghanistan. Kabul province is divided into 22 districts. Each
number specifies the name of the district and is organized in ascending order in order of importance.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 13 April 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 13 April 2014

Facebook’s list of censorship request and India

  • The Indian government has topped the list of global governments asking for censorship of content on social network Facebook, according to the ‘Global Government Data requests’ report released by the US-based company. This is the second such report from the world’s largest online social network and corresponds to the time period from July to December last year.

  • In terms of requests for user data information, the U.S. government topped the list yet again with 12,598 requests for user data. However, when it came to requests to remove content, the Indian government had made 4,765 requests. The Turkish government came second in that list with 2,104 requests.

  • Recently, almost all the leading online service providers, including Google, Apple, Facebook, Yahoo! and Microsoft have made an appeal under the collective ‘Reform Government Surveillance’ to ensure that the requests for user data and restrictions of services be done more rationally.

Climate panel on rising emissions

  • The U.N.’s expert panel on climate change has highlighted the disconnect between international goals to fight global warming and what is being done to attain them.

  • Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases must drop by 40—70 per cent by 2050 to keep the global temperature rise below the 2—degree C (3.6—degree F) cap set in U.N. climate talks, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said.

  • The opposite is happening now. On average global emissions rose by 2.2 percent or 1 gigaton a year between 2000 and 2010, outpacing growth in previous decades to reach “unprecedented levels” despite some efforts to contain them, the IPCC said.

  • The graphics divided the world into four categories low, lower—middle, upper—middle and high income countries. Participants in the closed—door session said many developing countries objected to using such income categories.

  • Counting all emissions since the industrialized revolution in the 18th century, the U.S. is the top carbon polluter. China’s current emissions are greater than those of the U.S. and rising quickly. China’s historical emissions are expected to overtake those of the U.S. in the next decade.

  • Global temperatures have already risen about 0.8 C since record—keeping started in the 19th century. The IPCC said the goal of keeping the warming below 2 C by 2100 would require a significant shift in the energy system, away from oil and coal, which generate the highest emissions. That would mean a near—quadrupling of energy from zero— or low—carbon sources such as solar and wind power.

(Notification) UPSC: CAPF (AC) Examination, 2014

UPSC

Central Armed Police Forces (Assistant Commandants) Examination, 2014

EXAMINATION NOTICE NO.08/2014-CPF

No.11/5/2013-E1(B) : The Union Public Service Commission will hold a Written Examination on 13th July, 2014 for recruitment of Assistant Commandants (Group A) in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) viz. Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). The Examination will be held in  accordance with the Rules for the Examination published by Ministry of Home Affairs in the Gazette of India dated 12th April, 2014. The date of holding the examination as mentioned above is liable to be changed at the discretion of the Commission. The tentative number of vacancies to be filled on the results of the examination is as follows :

Post Details:

  1. BSF - 68
  2. CRPF -  28
  3. CISF - 40
  4. ITBP  - NIL
  5. SSB - NIL
  6. Total  - 136

The number of vacancies mentioned above is liable to alteration. Reservation will be given effect to as per policy of the Govt.

(Current Affairs) Awards and Prizes | March: 2014

Awards and Prizes

56th annual Grammy Awards

The Recording Academy announced the 56th Annual Grammy Awards at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on 26 January 2014. This year the Grammy Awards weren’t just about the music and they were also about making a statement in the same-sex marriage debate.

About Grammy Awards

The Grammy awards are the recording industry’s most prestigious award presented annually by The Recording Academy.The Recording Academy also known as The National Academy of Recording Arts &
Science in United States was established in 1957.

(Current Affairs) Science & Technology, Defence, Environment | March: 2014

Science & Technology, Defense, Environment

Potentially hazardous asteroid 2013 YP139 discovered

NASA discovered a new potentially hazardous asteroid named 2013 YP139 on 29 December 2013. It was confirmed by the NASA on 15 January2014. It was first discovered by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE). The Researchers at the University of Arizona used the Spacewatch telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory southwest of Tucson to confirm the discovery. The 2013 YP139 is about 43 million kilometers from Earth. On the basis of Infrared brightness, it is found to be 650 meters in diameter and extremely dark like a piece of coal. NEOWISE‘s sophisticated software picked up the moving object against a background of stationary stars. The asteroid circles the Sun in an elliptical orbit titled to the plane of solar system. It is possible for its orbit to bring it as close as 482803 km from Earth, a little more than the distance to the Moon. But it will not come that close within the next century. NEOWISE was originally called as Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) which made the most comprehensive survey to date of
asteroids and comets. In 2010 and early 2011, WISE discovered more than 34000 asteroids and characterised 158000 throughout the solar system. Its reactivation in September 2013 followed 31 months in hibernation.

(Free E-book) Weekly Current Affairs Update for IAS Exam VOL - 8

Weekly Current Affairs Update for IAS Exam

VOL - 8 (20th January 2014 TO 26th January 2014)

Issue : VOL - 8 (20th January 2014 TO 26th January 2014)

File Type: PDF ONLY "NO HARD COPY"

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Covered Topics:

  • National 

  • NATIONAL PORTAL OF INDIA

  • Ministry of External affairs

  • Planning Commission of India

  • International

  • Economy

  • India And The World

  • Sports

  • In The News

  • Science and Technology

  • Burning Issues (Editorials From Different Newspapers)

NATIONAL PORTAL OF INDIA

A GLINT OF INDIA

Bharat Ratna Award

  • India has produced a legacy of brave hearts since times immemorial. Probably there is not enough space to measure their sacrifices. However, we cannot close our eyes to those people who have made our country proud by excelling in their own fields and bringing us international recognition. Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award, given for exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature and Science, and in recognition of Public Service of the highest order. It is also not mandatory that Bharat Ratna be awarded every year.

  • The original specifications for the award called for a circular gold medal, 35 mm in diameter, with the sun and the Hindi legend "Bharat Ratna" above and a floral wreath below. The reverse was to carry the state emblem and motto. It was to be worn around the neck from a white ribbon. This design was altered after a year.

  • The provision of Bharat Ratna was introduced in 1954. The first ever Indian to receive this award was the famous scientist, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. Since then, many dignitaries, each a whiz in varied aspects of their career has received this coveted award.

  • In fact, our former President, Shri A. P. J Abdul Kalam is also a recipient of this esteemed honour (1997). There is no written provision that Bharat Ratna should be awarded to Indian citizens only. The award has been awarded to a naturalized Indian citizen, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa (1980) and to two non-Indians - Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Nelson Mandela (1990).

  • In 2009, the award was conferred on famous Indian vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi. Recently, the PMO has decided to confer the award on eminent scientist Prof C.N.R. Rao and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.

HERE IS THE ENTIRE LIST OF RECIPIENTS OF BHARAT RATNA AWARDEES TILL DATE :

1. Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari in 1954
2. Dr. Sarvapali Radhakrishnan in 1954
3. Dr. Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman in 1954
4. Dr. Bhagwan Das in 1955
5. Dr. Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya in 1955
6. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru in 1955
7. Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant in 1957
8. Dr. Dhondo Keshave Karve in 1958
9. Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy in 1961
10. Shri Purushottam Das Tandon in 1961
11. Dr. Rajendra Prasad in 1962
12. Dr. Zakir Hussain in 1963
13. Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane in 1963
14. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri (Posthumous) in 1966
15. Smt. Indira Gandhi in 1971

(Courtesy: NATIONAL PORTAL OF INDIA)

Ministry of External affairs

Official Visit of the PM of Japan to India

  • The Prime Minister of Japan, H.E. Shinzo Abe was on an official visit to India on 25-27 January 2014 at the invitation of the Prime Minister of India, H.E. Dr. Manmohan Singh as chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations. The two Prime Ministers held extensive talks during their Annual Summit on bilateral, regional and global issues on 25 January 2014 in Delhi.

  • The two Prime Ministers welcomed that the State Visit of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan to India from 30 November to 6 December 2013 further strengthened the long-lasting historically close ties and friendship between the peoples of India and Japan.

  • The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their resolve to further deepen the Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan as two democracies in Asia sharing universal values such as freedom, democracy and rule of law, and to contribute jointly to the peace, stability and prosperity of the region and the world, taking into account changes in the strategic environment.

  • Prime Minister Abe elaborated his policy of "Proactive Contribution to Peace”. Prime Minister Singh appreciated Japan’s efforts to contribute to peace and stability of the region and the world.

  • Welcoming the successful outcome of the visit by Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera to India, the two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their determination to further strengthen bilateral defense cooperation. In this connection, they welcomed the decision of the two defense ministers to realize the visit of Indian Defense Minister to Japan within 2014. They also expressed satisfaction that the Trilateral Dialogue between India, Japan and the US has been held on a regular basis and also that the 3rd two plus two dialogue and the 4th Defense Policy Dialogue are to be held before the end of the year. They confirmed to hold the 2nd meeting of India-Japan Bilateral Talks on Cyber-affairs in spring 2014 with a view to further exploring possible areas of cooperation.

  • The two Prime Ministers welcomed the successful conduct of the second bilateral exercise between the Indian Navy (IN) and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) in December 2013 off the coast of Chennai and shared their intention to conduct the joint exercise in the Pacific Ocean in 2014. They reaffirmed the importance of such exercises, and renewed their resolution to continue to conduct them on a regular basis with increased frequency. Prime Minister Abe appreciated India’s invitation to JMSDF for the next "Malabar” maritime exercise.

  • The two Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction with the holding of the 1st meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on the US-2 amphibian aircraft in December 2013 in Delhi and welcomed the 2nd meeting of the JWG which is scheduled for March 2014 in Japan.

  • Welcoming the expansion of the bilateral currency swap arrangement from 15 to 50 billion US dollars and signing of the contract for its entry into force in January 2014, the two Prime Ministers expressed their expectation that this expansion will further strengthen financial cooperation and contribute to the stability of global financial markets including emerging economies.

  • Prime Minister Singh appreciated the relaxation of Maximum Residue Levels (MRL) of Ethoxyquin on the shrimps imported to Japan to 0.2ppm by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan.

  • The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed the importance of investment for driving economic growth and job creation in their economies and ways to create enabling environments to mobilize investment and give a fillip to economic relations. They agreed to continue working towards a greater understanding of all financial and taxation related issues including Indian rupee denominated finance by JBIC and establishing a consultative mechanism between the two countries. They appreciated JETRO's business matching activities to strengthen business partnership and consolidate supply chains between the two countries. They expressed their expectation for introducing Japanese technologies and expanding investment through the implementation of "the Action Plan for India-Japan Investment Promotion” agreed between the Minister of Commerce and Industry of India and the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan in September 2013.

  • Welcoming that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) has deepened the bilateral economic relations, the two Prime Ministers expressed their expectation that both countries would continue to work closely to further expand trade in goods and services as well as investments.

  • The two Prime Ministers appreciated that both countries have signed the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) between the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Japanese Industrial Standards Committee (JISC). They expressed their hope to strengthen their cooperative relationship in this field further in order to facilitate trade and to harmonize activities within international standardization and conformity assessment.

  • The two sides welcomed the outcomes of the first India-Japan Joint Working Group on IT and Electronics held in New Delhi by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of India and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan. The two Prime Ministers expressed their hope for the cooperation being further developed between IT and electronics industries of both countries through the framework. They expressed their intention to explore the proposal for setting up of Japanese Electronics Industrial Township in India. Both sides also expressed satisfaction with the ongoing cyber security dialogue between the CERT-In and JPCERT, Japan and emphasized further collaborative and proactive response against cyber-attacks at international level.

  • The two Prime Ministers appreciated the progress of zoning and planning of National Investment Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) stipulated in National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) of India. They expressed their expectation for investment by Japanese companies in NIMZs in general and in India-Japan joint projects such as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) in particular.

  • The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their shared commitment to the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Prime Minister Abe stressed the importance of bringing into force the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) at an early date. Prime Minister Singh reiterated India’s commitment to its unilateral and voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosive testing. They also reaffirmed their commitment to working together for immediate commencement and an early conclusion of negotiations on a non-discriminatory, multilateral and internationally and effectively verifiable Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT). Both sides expressed their commitment to work together for India to become a full member in the international export control regimes: the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement, with the aim of strengthening the international non-proliferation efforts.

  • The two Prime Ministers acknowledged that there is a high potential to be explored in the area of people-to-people exchanges between India and Japan and expressed their intention to make utmost effort for the expansion of exchange of peoples in various fields.

  • The two Prime Ministers welcomed Japan’s participation as a partner country in the India International Trade Fair in Delhi and the International Film Festival of India 2013 in Goa. They also expressed their expectation to enhance cooperation between the two countries on development of human resources, and matching activities in the area of content industry.

(Courtesy: Ministry of External affairs)

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 12 April 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 12 April 2014

Heartbleed : the internet bug

  • Heartbleed is an Internet bug that has been widely employed in software that secures users’ personal information on the web.

  • In an advisory to users in the country, the Computer Emergency Response Team of India, a nodal agency, has categorised the problem’s severity as “high”.

  • Ominously named Heartbleed, this bug interferes with the regular function of software called OpenSSL by causing it to spill the secrets, it’s tasked with protecting, to malicious attackers.

  • When users key in their personal information on a website and hit ‘Enter,’ the data is on the Internet travelling between your computer and the site’s server. To safeguard it, the site uses OpenSSL (SSL refers to Secure Sockets Layer) to encrypt it — turning it into an incoherent jumble of characters — using an encryption key.

  • With Heartbleed in the picture, OpenSSL allows malicious messages sent to the server implementing it to potentially hand over the encryption key to the attacker.

  • Companies like Amazon and Google have issued advisories to their customers stating that they have updated their systems and eliminated the threat. Kaspersky, a security firm, advised caution because a Heartbleed attack leaves no traces nor does it give users a chance to protect themselves.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 11 April 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 11 April 2014

Plea to reconstitute SIT on Gujarat riots

  • The Supreme Court has refused to entertain a plea questioning the clean chit given to Narendra Modi by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in its probe in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.
  • A bench comprising justices H.L. Dattu and S.A. Bobde also declined the plea for reconstituting the SIT involving retired judges of the apex court, including a person from the minority community.
  • “Reconstitution of SIT at this stage is not good,” the bench said, referring the plea questioning the SIT clean chit given to Mr. Modi.
  • After the bench’s remark, advocate Fatima, who had filed the petition, decided to withdraw it, which was allowed.

Rape law remark by Mulayam Singh Yadav

  • BJP strongly condemned the statement made by Yadav on women, on rape-related mater and on his suggestion that if by chance he becomes part of the government in 2014, he would make sure that the rape law would be amended.
  • In a controversial statement, the SP leader had yesterday questioned the death penalty for rape, saying "mistakes" by boys happen sometime.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 10 April 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 10 April 2014

Save Vikrant campaign

  • Over 200 defence correspondents spread across the country have recently launched the ‘Save Vikrant Campaign.’ They are planning to meet the Defence Minister, seeking his immediate intervention to stop the sale of India’s first aircraft carrier. The majestic-class aircraft carrier, purchased from Britain in 1957, played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the India-Pakistan War of 1971.
  • INS Vikrant is a symbol of our country’s valour and courage. It was Vikrant that fought many battles on the high seas, notably the 1971 war.
  • The auctioning of Vikrant is a matter of national shame.

China-backed Boao Forum

  • Ratan Tata, the doyen of Indian industry, was recently inducted as a member of the Board of Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), a rare distinction for an Indian in the Chinese government-backed influential body.

  • This is the first time a senior Indian business leader was accorded the distinction.It is also a recognition for Tatas as a global conglomerate, he said.

  • The 15-member Board of BFA included former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda, former Malaysian prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badwai, former Singapore prime minister Goh Chok Tong and former prime minister of France Jean—Pierre Raffarin besides former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

  • BFA was formed in 2001 on the lines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

  • Every year top world’s political and business leaders gather at Boao to brainstorm on global political and economic issues.

  • The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI) is an ordinary member of the forum.

India of my Dreams - March Open Essay: Nishtha Jain

UPSCPORTAL Open Essay Competition "March 2014"

"Essay Topic: India of my dreams"

Attaining Independence was just one of the several hurdles. The battle is yet to be won”

15th August 1947, the day when all Indians were blessed with Independence from 200 years of British rule, every Indian was filled with enough joy and happiness. The happiness was so much that they considered this success as their ultimate destination. But the fact is that seeking Independence was merely one of the several challenges. The destination is yet to be reached. According to my perspective, there are yet several hurdles on our way to be cleared to build INDIA OF OUR DREAMS.

World’s 7th largest country with 4th largest army, 3rd largest railways, 2nd highest man power, 2nd fastest growing economy, largest democracy and largest work force is still counted as a developing nation. Sounds strange, but that’s the fact. The main reason behind this is the corrupted politics. There is an illusion in India that politics is the worst profession and all politicians are corrupt. Politics is a blend of both good and bad. We the citizens of India should understand the basic point that politicians are the servants and we are the rulers. We have the right to choose the right person. The strings of this show of politics are in our hands. Politicians are merely the puppets. They could act only if we allow them. But the present scenario is totally opposite. The corrupt politicians are ruling us. In order to change this scenario we should first develop an educated India. The literacy rate in India should be 100% and every individual should be aware of his/her rights. Only then we could choose the right person.

The educated India will not only give a break to corruption but also solve several other issues. It will know the power of women and help them showcase their talent. 49% of Indians are women and this number could prove to be a game changer not only in politics but also in leading India towards development. But this is possible only if women in India are motivated towards education and building their career. Women education in India will double India’s strength. Instead of identifying women talent and power, we are trying to continue the trend of male dominant society. It’s high time to take strict actions against sexual harassment and domestic violence on women. There should be fast track courts to handle such cases and one stop rape crisis centre should be established for providing a better environment to victims. Women security should be given highest priority in our system. This will assure parent of every girl that their child is safe and is going to have a bright future. The day when every citizen will know the value and power of women, India will be free of social issues like female infanticide and dowry system.

As said above, India is 2nd highest populated nation. There are two kinds of perceptions regarding India’s huge population. One is good and the other is bad. Unfortunately, we all concentrate only on the disadvantage out of the huge population in India. I considering the 2nd perspective would say that populated India could be proved as a strength gifted by our ancestors in disguise. We can consider it as 2nd highest manpower rather than 2nd highest populated nation. Every nation hire outsiders for their organizations because of less man power. Fortunately, India is gifted with this asset. The only thing required is the encouragement and financial support from government to youngsters who want to step towards becoming entrepreneurs. If entrepreneurs in India are encouraged then it will solve the problem of unemployment. We can open our own companies and hire our own people for our company. This will even help in improving India’s economy.

(Current Affairs) India and The World | March: 2014

India & The World

INDIA & JAPAN

India and Japan inked several pacts during the official visit of the Prime Minister of Japan to India from 25 to 27 January 2014. Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan was the Chief Guest of India on the occasion of the Republic Day parade on 26 January 2014. The sides signed memorandum for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism, enhancing energy efficiency in telecom towers and power generation in the country. During this tour of Shino Abe, the two countries inked several pacts and they includes

(Current Affairs) Economy & Energy | March: 2014

Economy

India of my Dreams - March Open Essay: Manohar Singhnai K. Khetavath

UPSCPORTAL Open Essay Competition "March 2014"

"Essay Topic: India of my dreams"

You have to dream before your dreams can come true.
- A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 09 April 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 09 April 2014

Jats in the OBC category

  • Observing that the Centre had sufficient prima facie materials, the Supreme Court has refrained from staying the government’s poll-eve decision to include Jats in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in nine states. The decision by the UPA-II government was seen as an attempt to appease the community, which has strong social and political clout in western Uttar Pradesh and its bordering areas of Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan besides also being present in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

  • A Bench led by Chief Justice P Sathasivam however asked the government to place on record a comprehensive affidavit detailing the reasons to add Jats in the list. The court also said that any decision on providing reservation benefits shall be subjected to its final order on a batch of petitions, some of which favour the inclusion and others oppose it.

Walmart’s online marketplace model

  • In a first for the domestic retail industry, the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, plans to set up an online marketplace model in its cash-and-carry stores in the country.
  • The company is entering the wholesale e-commerce space and will extend the business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform to its Best Price Modern Wholesale store members.

  • The platform will provide them with a convenient online shopping opportunity. As an exclusive virtual store for its members, the e-commerce platform will provide a similar assortment of products, as well as special items. Online retail, at present, accounts for less than 1% of the total market in India, but this space is slated to grow at 50-55% over the next three years to reach R50,400 crore by 2016, according to a report by Crisil.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 08 April 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 08 April 2014

Mamata Banerjee’s face-off with EC

  • Recently ,West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee threatened to defy an Election Commission of India (EC) order of transferring eight officials and dared the poll watchdog to take action against her for not complying, her administration had to eat humble pie as EC held its ground and asked her government to implement it’s order.

  • But Banerjee accused deputy election commissioner Vinod Zutshi of playing into the hands of Congress and BJP and sought his removal from the poll panel.

  • She accused him of being a tainted official with criminal cases pending against him. She also alleged that Zutshi was misleading the EC.

  • Of the eight officials that EC wanted transferred, it said seven were found to have favoured the ruling Trinamool Congress party in the run-up to the general election. EC barred these officials from taking any poll-related responsibility.

'Know your candidates' tool

  • Google recently announced the launch of a new tool as part of its elections portal offering 'google.co.in/elections', called 'Know Your Candidates'.

  • The new tool will allow citizens to get easy access to relevant information about political candidates contesting from their constituency and their incumbent Member of Parliament. This tool integrates publicly available information sourced from Indian organizations such as the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), PRS Legislative Research and Liberty Institute India.

  • The tool will provide information for each sitting Lok Sabha MP and contesting candidates such as their disclosed educational background, financial details and social media presence (wherever available) including video bios of the candidates provided by Ping networks. Mapped onto Google Maps interface, citizens will be able to find the information by using pin codes of their area or by zooming on their locality on the map. The tool will be updated regularly to provide information about all candidates as they get finalised and will be made available at least a week before the voting day in each constituency.

  • Google created its first elections tools seven years ago when our engineers noticed a huge increase in search traffic around the election period in the United States.

  • Today over 20 countries including Malaysia, Thailand, and now, India have elections pages that aid voters during election periods. Google aims to encourage people to be more participative and engage with candidates. It also allows voters to have a deeper understanding of politics and governance through engagement with the candidates.

Pakistan Protection bill

  • The Nawaz Sharif Government managed to get the Protection of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill passed in the National Assembly,but the Opposition parties, which tore up the bill in the House are determined to take the fight to the Supreme Court.

  • The controversial law which started off as an ordinance, was referred to the Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics which debated the bill and approved it while proposing some amendments.

  • The bill, which is expected to give more powers to the security forces to tackle terrorism and powers to search and arrest apart from preventive detention of up to 90 days and excluding the public from proceedings of the special court.

  • The ordinance, which was notified in January, was not approved by the Senate and the bill too is going to run into difficulties in the Upper House.

  • The ordinance is not very different from the bill, and members of the Opposition feared that Pakistan could be turned into a police state using this law and its stringent provisions would be misused. While there are no two opinions about the need to tackle terrorism, there are provisions in the existing law which could be efficiently implemented, some felt.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 07 April 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 07 April 2014

BrahMos missile test fired

  • The Army successfully test-fired an advanced version of 290 km range supersonic cruise missile BrahMos as part of a user trial at Pokhran test range in Rajasthan.
  • The missile was launched by a mobile autonomous launcher deployed in full configuration with mobile command post at the ranges.
  • The launch was successful and the missile hit the designated target.
  • Both the Army and Navy have already inducted the missile, developed by India in partnership with Russia.

Candidates with criminal past

  • The Congress has fielded the highest number of Vidhan Sabha candidates with criminal records among all parties, according to an analysis of contestants' affidavits from 70 assembly segments going to polls on April 10 in Odisha.

  • Forty-four Congress nominees, around 63% of its 70 candidates, have criminal history compared to overall 22% of the total candidates with tainted past, the Odisha Election Watch (OEW) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) analysis released here on Sunday said.

  • As many as 31 Congress nominees have serious criminal charges such as rape, murder and kidnapping. Subal Sahu, who is seeking re-election from Bijepur, has been charged for rape.

  • Among other parties, 17 (24%) of 70 BJD candidates, 26 (37%) of 70 from BJP and four (9%) out of 43 candidates from AAP have declared criminal cases in their affidavits.

  • Of them, 13 (19%) BJD candidates, 23 (33%) from BJP and three (7%) AAP nominees have mentioned serious criminal cases, which can attract punishment of at least five years jail.

  • Altogether 147 of the 673 candidates have criminal cases pending against them. They include 115 candidates with serious criminal charges.

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