Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 21 May 2014

Stolen items and Foreign Museums

• The Idol Wing of the Tamil Nadu CB-CID has sought help from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to ascertain the antecedents of four ancient idols, allegedly stolen from Tamil Nadu, that have been spotted in museums abroad.

• Of the four idols, three are made of bronze and one is crafted from stone. While the bronze idols — two figures of the Tamil Saivaite saint Gnanasambandar and one of Hindu god Murugan — belonged to the 12th century, the stone idol of Kali belonged to the 11th century.

• In a letter to G. Maheswarai, Superintending Archaeologist ASI, Chennai Circle, Pon Manicakavel, DIG, Idol Wing, wanted to know whether these idols were presented before the ASI expert advisory committee for examination for issuance of ‘non-antiquity declaration certificate’ any time before 1994. He also wanted to know whether any appeal was pending before the appellate authority.

• The letter follows after the ASI, Chennai Circle, sent data about 41 traders and 121 objects suspected to be antiques, covering the period between 2004 and 2014 to the CB-CID.

• Bronze, marble, stone idols, wood carvings and all other handicrafts meant for export should be submitted before the advisory committee of the ASI to obtain mandatory ‘non-antiquity declaration certificate’ before export. Inspection of such items is made at the ASI office once in a month or 20 days, depending on the requirement.

• The ASI has already issued notices to those who could not get a clearance certificate, seeking status of the objects including whether they have been registered or whether appeals have been made.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 20 May 2014

New PM appointed

• Narendra Modi who steered the BJP-led NDA to a stunning victory will be sworn in as Prime Minister on May 26 at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• Mr. Modi was appointed as the Prime Minister by the President and was asked to advise the names of others to be appointed Members of the Council of Ministers.
• Stepping out after his meeting with the President, he addressed the media briefly and held-up the formal letter of appointment as Prime Minister.
• Mr Modi’s call on the President came after he was unanimously elected leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party and later at a combined meeting of the BJP and its allies constituting the NDA as leader of the coalition.
• Later, a Rashtrapati Bhawan communique said as Mr Modi has been elected leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party and BJP has majority support in the House of the People, the President appointed him the Prime Minister of India and requested him to advise the names of members of the council of ministers.
• Today’s scene was vastly different from the summer of 1996 when the then President Shankar Dayal Sharma appointed Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Prime Minister of a minority government that fell in 13 days.
• Later, after the 1998 and 1999 elections Mr Vajpayee was again called to form governments only after the then President K R Narayanan was satisfied with letters of support from parties backing the NDA coalition on the numbers.

Government of India : Planning Commission

Recruitment of Young Professionals

Scale:

• Rs 30,000 to 40,000 monthly (fixed)

Age:

• Below 35 Years

Educational Qualification:

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 19 May 2014

Only witnesses in VVIP chopper case

• The Central Bureau of Investigation, in response to a query from the Union Law Ministry on the ongoing probe into AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, has reiterated that the agency would examine Governors M.K. Narayanan and B.V. Wanchoo as witnesses.

• The Law Ministry had earlier denied permission to the CBI on the grounds that West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan and Goa Governor B.V. Wanchoo enjoyed Constitutional immunity. The agency then wrote to the President Secretariat seeking opinion, citing that the Secretariat would be in the know of the set procedures.

• Mr. Narayanan, as the then National Security Advisor and Mr. Wanchoo, as the Special Protection Group chief, had allegedly attended a meeting in 2005 in which the tender specifications for procurement of VVIP helicopters were “tweaked”.

• The CBI has alleged that during his tenure, former IAF chief S.P. Tyagi had approved reduction of the service ceiling of VVIP helicopters from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres, a relaxation that allowed AgustaWestland to qualify for the tender.

• Alleging that middlemen were hired and bribes paid on the pretext of engineering contracts to swing the deal in the company’s favour, the agency has named the retired Air Chief Marshal, his three cousins and several others in the case.

War on Boko Haram

• African leaders at a summit in Paris have agreed on a regional plan of action to combat Boko Haram, the Islamist group that has abducted more than 200 girls and threatened to sell them into slavery.

• In a rare show of unity, the leaders of Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Benin pledged cooperation including joint border patrols and sharing intelligence to find the girls, snatched from Nigeria more than a month ago.

• Nigeria has faced criticism for not having done enough to protect its people, particularly the girls, and for its slow response to the kidnappings.

• The country’s President, Goodluck Jonathan, described Boko Haram as a “terrorist organisation” and said it was part of an “al-Qaeda operation”.

• Nigeria and its neighbours pledged to reinforce security measures for those living in areas targeted by Boko Haram, carry out bilateral patrols and share operational intelligence to find the kidnapped girls and other snatched by the Islamist group.

• A second summit at ministerial level will be held in London next to report on what progress has been made.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 18 May 2014

15th Lok Sabha dissolved

• The formal process for constitution of the new Lok Sabha commenced with the full Election Commission handing over the list of members of the 16th Lok Sabha to President Pranab Mukherjee. The President also dissolved the 15th Lok Sabha.

• The full Commission comprising Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath and Election Commissioners H.S. Brahma and Nasim Zaidi approved the Section 73 notification under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, notifying the names of the members elected.

• In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the “due constitution” list was handed over to President Pratibha Patil on May 18, two days after the counting of votes.

• This election, which has given a clear majority to a single party for the first time in three decades, would go down as one of the most intensely fought in the electoral history of Independent India. In 1977 and 1989, it was a case of the Congress vs. the rest of the political opposition. This time it was Narendra Modi vs. the Congress and the rest of the divided opposition.

UPSC IAS PRE 2014 Notification Delayed!!

UPSC, on Saturday, May 17, 2014, surprisingly took off the date of the civil services notification, from its ‘Programme of Examination List 2014. This is unexpected on the part of the UPSC, as the Commission has been known for abiding by its schedule.

However, now when the UPSC has allegedly decided to postpone the date for the release of notification of the Civil Services (Prelims) Examination 2014, it shall be interesting to see whether the UPSC sticks to the date fixed for the IAS (Prelims) Examination.

Admit Card State Service (Prelims) Exam - 2013

Exam Name: Chhattisgarh State Service (Prelims)

Year: 2013

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 16 May 2014

Modi’s win

• Narendra Modi trounced his Congress rival Madhusudan Mistry by a staggering 5,70,128 votes in Vadodara but failed to break the record of highest margin of victory set by Anil Basu of the CPI(M).
• The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate’s margin of victory in his first outing in the Lok Sabha polls is the second best after Mr. Basu, a seven-time MP, who scripted history winning the Arambagh seat in West Bengal by 5,92,502 votes, 22,374 more than Mr. Modi, in 2004.
• The earlier record was held by LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan, who as a Janata Dal candidate, had won the Hajipur seat in Bihar by a whopping 5,04,448 votes in 1989.
• Mr. Paswan, whose party is now in the NDA, had then broken his own record set in 1977 when he had won the seat as Bhartiya Lok Dal nominee by a margin of 4,24,545 votes.
• After Mr. Paswan in 1989 and Mr. Basu in 2004, Modi is the third politician to have won a seat by a margin of over 5 lakh votes.

Landslide win for BJP

• Although final results are not expected until later, the scale of the predicted victory is such that the ruling Congress party has admitted defeat.
• BJP leader Narendra Modi tweeted: "India has won. Good times ahead."
• This is the most resounding victory for a political party in India for 30 years.
• But many Indians still have profound concerns over Mr Modi because of claims he did little to stop the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, in which at least 1,000 people died, most of them Muslims - allegations he has always denied and over which he was never charged.
• The election result will be a crushing blow to the Congress party, which is led by the Nehru-Gandhi family and has dominated Indian politics since independence.
• It reflects voter anger with Congress, which has been mired in serious corruption scandals andwhose leadership has been considered ineffective in recent years, according to analy sts.

Free Digital Magazine: Civil Services Mentor, April + May 2014

Issue : April + May 2014
Size: 3.63 MB
File Type: Zipped PDF
Publisher : UPSCPORTAL.COM 

Table of Contents:

Articles:

• United Nations International Conference on Population and Development Beyond 2014
• Two More Attempts at Civil Services Examination
• HIV salvage therapy
• Budget 2014-2015
• Indo-Sri Lanka Fishermen Issue
• Selected Articles from Various Newspapers & Journals

Current Affairs:

• National Issues
• International Issues
• Economy
• India & The World
• Science & Technology
• Sports
• Awards & Prizes
• Persons in News

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 15 May 2014

Entitlements in live-in relationships

• Women in live-in relationships and partners are entitled to payment of maintenance by their male partners since the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, recognises such relationships, according to the Madras High Court Bench.

• The purpose of enacting such a law [the Domestic Violence Act] would only make way for maintenance not only to a legally wedded wife but also to a second wife or concubine.”

• The judge made the observation, disposing of a writ petition filed by the estranged wife of a former Chief Educational Officer (since dead) against payment of family pension to his illegal second “wife” with whom he had lived for 47 years without obtaining divorce from the petitioner.

• Though the case was filed to restrain the officials concerned from disbursing the pension to the second “wife” nominated by the deceased government servant, the two women entered into a compromise midway and informed the court that they wanted to share the monthly pension equally.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 14 May 2014

MERS virus

• Despite a recent surge of ‘Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus’(MERS-CoV) cases, a meeting of an expert committee called by the World Health Organisation has concluded that conditions for declaring a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ had not been met.

• The fifth meeting of WHO’s Emergency Committee for MERS-CoV, which was first convened last year took into account the fact that there had been sharp increase in cases since this March, particularly in Saudi Arabia but also in the United Arabian Emirates.

• Since the virus was first detected in humans two years back, a total of 152 people have now died and 495 have been confirmed to have contracted the virus in Saudi Arabia, according to an Associated Press report. Most cases of the disease have been in the desert kingdom.

• Egypt, Greece, Malaysia, Philippines, and the U.S. have recently reported isolated cases in individuals who had travelled there from the Middle East. The Netherlands has now reported its first such case.

• Seasonality could be a factor driving the recent increase. The virus is widespread in camels in the Middle East and north-east Africa, and the animals appear to become infected when young. Increased spread of the virus from camels to humans might be contributing to the outbreak.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 13 May 2014

Paid news scandal

• The Election Commission has asked the former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and the former Jharkhand Chief Minister, Madhu Koda, to appear before it on May 23 for allegedly giving incorrect accounts of their 2009 poll expenses.

• It is an ongoing case of alleged expenses made by him during the 2009 polls which were categorised as “paid news”. Mr. Chavan and Mr. Koda have been asked to attend the hearing here on May 23 “either in person or through their authorised representative or counsel.

• The poll panel’s action comes a week after the Supreme Court gave it a free hand to inquire into complaints of paid news or incorrect expenses against a political leader. A Bench headed by Justice A.K. Patnaik had dismissed the plea of Mr. Chavan challenging the EC’s jurisdiction to inquire into such issues.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 12 May 2014

Self-Rule in Ukraine

• Security forces and pro-Russian separatists clashed in eastern Ukraine, after an unauthorised referendum showed overwhelming support for independence from the pro-Western government in Kiev.

• Separatists in Sloviansk targeted soldiers and the television tower with grenades,.

• Recent vote in the self—proclaimed “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Lugansk was organised by the separatists despite international condemnation and a call from Russian President Vladimir Putin for a postponement.

• The separatists said voter turnout exceeded 80 per cent, with a “yes” vote of nearly 96 per cent in Lugansk and 90 per cent in Donetsk.

• Eastern Ukraine’s pro-independence leaders said the next step would be to build government and military structures for a “New Russia” in the region.

• The Ukrainian government, the European Union and United States do not recognise the vote. Washington criticized Russia for not using its influence to stop the vote. Mr. Putin meanwhile said he would study the results before commenting.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 10 May 2014

Violation of Model code by Rahul Gandhi

• Noting that he prima facie violated the Model Code of Conduct, the Election Commission has issued a show cause notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his alleged remarks that if Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) comes to power, 22,000 people will be killed in violence.

• The Commission has asked him to respond to the notice by May 12 morning ,otherwise the poll panel will take further action without further reference.

• The BJP had moved the EC against Mr. Rahul for his remarks.

• It had provided the Commission with CD of his speech and newspaper clippings.

• The EC reminded Mr. Rahul of the provision in the Model Code which States that no party or candidate would indulge in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred.

• The show cause notice also referred to the provision which refrains parties and candidates from making distorted or unverified allegations and limits their criticism to policies and programmes of rival parties.
  Issue of natural gas export

• A bi-partisan group of 22 American senators have expressed reservation on the export of natural gas to Asian countries such as India and China, arguing that such a move by Obama Administration would result in an increase in cost for consumers and businesses at home.

• They said the “large-scale exports of natural gas to Asia could also jeopardize America’s goal of achieving energy independence, a goal made more achievable by the recent increase in domestic gas production”.

• The senators urged Mr. Obama to consider the impacts on American manufacturing and families that rely on natural gas.

• The recent approval for export of liquefied natural gas from a sixth export facility has meant that the total approved exports now exceeds the amount of gas currently being used in every single American home and commercial business.

• The exports well exceeds the high export scenario referenced by a Department of Energy study in 2012 that indicated prices could increase by up to 54 per cent and it would translate into more than $60 billion a year in higher energy costs for American consumers and businesses.

Gist of The Hindu: March 2014

• A lost opportunity (Free Available)
• New scourge in Assam (Free Available)
• A surprise from the RBI (Free Available)
• Redeeming the Supreme Court (Only For The Subscribed Members)
• An ominous situation (Only For The Subscribed Members)
• The diaspora’s dark side (Only For The Subscribed Members)
• Freeing temples from state control (Only For The Subscribed Members)
• Justice in judicial appointments (Only For The Subscribed Members)
• Scoring over polio (Only For The Subscribed Members)
• Arming India into dependency (Only For The Subscribed Members)
• Mapping the Kashmir trajectory (Only For The Subscribed Members)
• One nation, one grid (Only For The Subscribed Members)
• The redline on fiscal deficit (Only For The Subscribed Members)

A lost opportunity

There are occasions when the finality of a judicial verdict is in unfortunate conflict with the interests of justice. The contentious case of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is one such. By declining to review its retrograde decision to uphold the validity of Section 377, the Supreme Court has lost an opportunity to revisit a verdict that has drawn widespread criticism for failing to extend constitutional protection to sexual minorities. While it is true that the scope for review is limited, there was some hope for the LGBT community when the Union government came forward to seek a review of the December 2013 verdict in Suresh Kumar Koushal . Many jurists, activists and political leaders felt the ruling overturned a well-reasoned judgment of the Delhi High Court, which had read down Section 377 to de-criminalise consensual sex among adults irrespective of gender. It was seen as incongruous with the mores of our times. The verdict required a review on merits because of some intriguing conclusions. The Bench had ruled that “those indulging in carnal intercourse against the order of nature” constituted a different class, and that Parliament could treat the category differently from others. It had failed to see that ‘order of nature’ is itself an artificial construct rooted in the outdated view that alternative sexuality is unnatural. It had dismissed the LGBT community as a minuscule fraction of the population, as though the relative smallness of a group disentitled it to constitutional protection.

SELECTED ARTICLES FROM VARIOUS NEWSPAPERS & JOURNALS

(April + May 2014)

• Telangana birth-pangs (Free Available)
• Keeping people and tigers safe (Free Available)
• ‘U.S. spied on 2009 climate summit’ (Free Available)
• No South China Sea air zone, China assures ASEAN countries (Free Available)
• U.S. warns Sri Lanka on pace of reconciliation (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Australia claims substantial progress on reef protection (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Caught off guard by taper (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• C.N.R. Rao, Sachin conferred Bharat Ratna (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• UN delegation meets with armed groups in Mali (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• India better prepared to deal with US Fed tapering: Rajan (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Pressure on farmland (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• An unjustified delay (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• CCEA approves CAD plan for women’s safety (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Green Tribunal bans tyre burning in public (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Moment of truth for India (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Divesting to bridge the deficit (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• US to announce trade action against India (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• India’s economic growth likely to be ‘below trend’: OECD (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• A chance not to be squandered (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Sri Lanka to sign landmark trade pact with China soon (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• World’s largest solar power plant opens in Nevada (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Challenges for a new IOA (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Spectrum of success (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• China to push Pakistan corridor despite terror concerns (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Scrap 15 of 44 dams planned across Siang in Arunachal: CWC report (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Iran, P5+1 eye comprehensive deal (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• A glimmer of Syrian hope (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Vatican’s moral imperative (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• IMF projects 5.4% growth for India in 2014-15 (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Pension deal for veterans (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Back from the brink in Ukraine (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Whistleblowers’ Protection Bill passed (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Democracy in peril (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Iran keeps the door open (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Panel on new bank licences submits report (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Giving agriculture its due (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• Central African dilemma (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• A water agenda (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• State of distress (Only for Online Coaching Members)
• From austerity to growth (Only for Online Coaching Members)

Telangana birth-pangs

By getting a resolution rejecting the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill for creating Telangana passed by the State Assembly just before the deadline set by President Pranab Mukherjee to consider the Bill ended on Thursday, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy did what little he could to protect what he saw as his political constituency: those standing for a united Andhra Pradesh in the Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra regions. Neither the delay nor the ultimate rejection of the Telangana Bill by the Assembly will have any bearing on the creation of the new State if the Centre stands firm on its decision on Telangana. The Chief Minister, in raising legal and technical objections to the Bill, might have managed to convey the opposition of large sections of the people in Seemandhra to the division of Andhra Pradesh, but the manner in which the proceedings of the House were conducted from the day the Bill was introduced till the day it was rejected reflects badly on his government and the democratic traditions of the legislature. Speaker Nadendla Manohar, who too is politically opposed to Telangana, put the Chief Minister’s contentious resolution to a voice vote amid noisy scenes, and declared the motion carried in a matter of two minutes. It was obvious from the regional representation in the House that those opposed to the Bill constituted a majority. The Bill presented a chance to address the concerns raised by the proposal to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh. Instead, the time was used for political posturing and the reiteration of known positions by both sides. Pro- Telangana members, on their part, did not press for a division amid the din, perhaps because they did not want to expose their lack of numbers. The voice vote was, in effect, the only mode of expression of the views of the legislature.

Now that the onus is on the Centre to shepherd the Bill through Parliament, the Congress must eschew any temptation to use this issue as part of any electoral strategy before the Lok Sabha polls. With the national leadership of the party backing the creation of Telangana, and the State unit divided on geographical lines, making this a campaign issue is anyway fraught with risks. No political consensus on the Bill is possible at this late stage, but the Centre can bring in amendments to the Bill to incorporate the concerns of other parties and representatives of Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra. As the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party is necessary in the Rajya Sabha, the Congress will have to keep the Bill open for amendments. The State legislature was robbed of a free, reasoned debate on the issue, but hopefully Parliament will consider all aspects of the Bill before bringing Telangana into being.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 09 May 2014

U.N. medal for “exceptional courage”

• The Security Council voted unanimously recently to establish a U.N. medal for “exceptional courage” in the name of an unarmed U.N. peacekeeper from Senegal, who lost his life after saving hundreds of Rwandans from death in the 1994 genocide.

• In a rare display of emotion in the council, Rwanda’s U.N. Ambassador Eugene-Richard Gasana broke down in tears in the council chamber after calling Captain Mbaye Diagne “a hero”, who went against orders to save lives during the 100-day slaughter.

• The resolution, sponsored by Jordan, creates “the Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage” to be awarded to U.N. military, police, civilians and associated personnel, “who demonstrate exceptional courage, in the face of extreme danger.”

• It asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to design the medal within six months and submit recommendations for nominating and selecting recipients to the council.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 08 May 2014

WHO Report on Pollution

• The 2014 version of the Ambient Air Pollution (AAP) database contains results of monitoring of outdoor air pollution from 1600 cities in 91 countries and it found that Delhi has the highest concentration of PM2.5 - particulate matters less than 2.5 microns - form of air pollution.
• According to WHO, this type of concentration is dangerous because it consists of tiny particles that increase the risk of respiratory diseases and other health problems.
• The Delhi air has PM2.5 concentrations of 153 micrograms and PM10 concentrations of 286 micrograms, which is much more than the permissible limits.
• Beijing, which was once regarded by many as the most polluted cities in the world, has PM2.5 concentration of 56 micrograms and PM10 concentration of 121 micro grammes.
• The WHO study covers the database from 2008 to 2013, with the majority of values for the years 2011 and 2012.
• WHO added that they have enough to data to compare the air quality in a city today with previous years and all data showed that the problem of air pollution is getting worse.

Clean chit to Amit Shah

• The CBI has sought dismissal of the plea by Gopinath Pillai, father of Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, who was among those killed with Ishrat Jahan, to arraign Narendra Modi aide Amit Shah and the then Ahmedabad police commissioner K.R. Kaushik in the case. Mr Pillai had cited the resignation letter of suspended IPS officer and an accused in the Ishrat Jahan case D.G. Vanzara in support of his petition.

• The agency, in its affidavit further, said that the resignation letter contains general allegations against some persons and not providing any concrete information about the role of Shah in this offence. After receiving the letter, CBI examined Vanzara in the jail. However, he has not disclosed any further details during his examinations”.

• The CBI also said there was no evidence against Mr Kaushik to show his involvement in the encounter and so he was made a witness in the case. “During further investigation and evidence collected so far, it appears that Mr Kaushik was not involved in the conspiracy of killing the deceased.