Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 01 May 2014

Third largest economy

• In a matter of six years, India emerged as the world’s third-largest economy in 2011 from being the tenth largest in 2005, moving ahead of Japan, while the US remained the largest economy closely followed by China.

• According to the major findings of the ICP, six of the world’s 12 largest economies were in the middle-income category (based on the World Bank’s definition).

• When combined, the 12 largest economies accounted for two-thirds of the world economy and 59 per cent of the population.

• The purchasing power parities (PPPs)-based world GDP amounted to USD 90,647 billion, compared with USD 70,294 billion measured by exchange rates, adding that the share of middle-income economies in global GDP is 48 per cent when using PPPs and 32 per cent when using exchange rates.

• The six largest middle-income economies — China, India, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico — account for 32.3 per cent of world GDP, whereas the six largest high-income economies — US, Japan, Germany, France, UK and Italy — account for 32.9 per cent.

• China and India make up two-thirds of the Asia and the Pacific economy, excluding Japan and South Korea, which are part of the OECD comparison. Russia accounts for more than 70 per cent of the CIS, and Brazil for 56 per cent of Latin America. South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria account for about half of the African economy.At 27 per cent, China has the largest share of the world’s expenditure for investment (gross fixed capital formation) followed by the US at 13 per cent.

• China and India account for about 80 per cent of investment expenditure in the Asia and the Pacific region.

• The five economies with the highest GDP per capita are Qatar, Macao, Luxembourg, Kuwait and Brunei.

• Eleven economies have more than USD 50,000 per capita, while they collectively account for less than 0.6 per cent of the world’s population. The US has the 12th—highest GDP per capita.

• The five economies with highest actual individual consumption per capita are Bermuda, US, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong and Luxembourg.

Blast at Chennai Central Railway Station

• Two explosions on a train killed a 24-year-old woman and wounded nine people, two of them critically, at the Chennai Central Railway Station .

• The blasts took place at around 7:15 am in two sleeper coaches of the Guwahati-Bangalore Express, which had just pulled into platform 9 of the station for a 10-minute stop.

• One of the bombs exploded under the seat of a woman, Swati, who was killed instantly. A National Investigation Agency team is going to Chennai to join the investigations. There has been tight security across India as it nears the end of staggered voting for the national election.

• The station was cordoned off after the blasts and scores of police personnel, along with sniffer dogs, checked the platforms and coaches.

• The state government has announced compensation of one lakh for the family of the woman who died, Rs. 55,000 for those who are critical and Rs. 5,000 for the others who were injured.

UPSCPORTAL Open Essay Competition

UPSCPORTAL presents the First Open Essay Competition, for the Civil Services Aspirants. Today, an important part of the strategy for civil services examination is- to develop a good writing habit. Having a good understanding of the syllabus might not help you as long as you do not have a good writing skill. Thus, with an intention to help the aspirants in improving their writing skills, UPSCPORTAL presents ‘Open Essay Competition’ for the very first time.

Any candidate may enroll for this essay competition. Besides the opportunity to improve yourself, there is also an opportunity to win good prizes, and also get your name on a special page dedicated to the competition, on our site.

Topic for April 2014

• Democratic Upsurge in India.
   
• भारत में लोकतांत्रिक लहर

Following is the list of the Short-listed candidates, who were selected

Click Here to Participate in Open Essay Competition

UPSCPORTAL Open Essay Competition "April 2014"

Winner Essay "Essay Topic: Democratic Upsurge in India"

Mamta

Introduction

Democracy necessarily has its essence in “of the people, by the people, for the people”. Democracy is a system where people choose their representatives themselves and these representatives are chosen among us, as any citizen of India (given some constitutional qualifications, which are very general in nature are met) can be chosen to represent people and those chosen representatives are supposed to work for people who chose them to represent themselves. Democracy is the perfect example of “SYNERGY” as no other form of government can work for development of people as the government which is collectively chosen by people.

India is the largest democracy in the world and elections held at regular intervals are its biggest strength. India with a population of nearly 120 million goes to election quinquennially. Since India got independence from British raj we are holding elections on regular basis, it is a great achievement. Universal adult franchise is the fundamental of the building of democracy. Every citizen above the age of 18 has statutory right to vote in the election in India. This voting right is the biggest power in the hands of citizens.

Democratic upsurge in India

India since its rebirth i.e. India after independence is continuously shifting from one government to another but in this transition the essence is the same, India continues to be a shining democracy, presenting an excellent example before the world. The strength of democracy is its people itself. When people come forward to exercise their voting rights then only we can have a vibrant democratic institution. In India initially after independence participation of people in voting was not significant in numbers. But now by efforts of Election Commission and various awareness programs by electronic and print media people are realizing their duty as a voter and their right to have a say in the formation of government. Democracy achieves its fullest strength when all citizens who are entitled to vote actually cast their vote. Generally, people have tendency to avoid participating in the elections. They see voting day as a holiday and voting right as a choice. They fail to recognize the fact that it is they who are going to be impacted by the policy made by the chosen candidates. If they don’t take interest in deciding a candidate then how can they expect that the candidate will take any interest in making policy for their welfare? If citizens today don’t take the pain to go and cast their vote their future tomorrow will become more painful because democracy is democracy till the point people participate in democracy. If a few people are voting to elect the candidates it will be more like assigning power to choose to those few people only. Can we let a few people decide the fate of country? Can we let a few people write our destiny? It is not just right it is duty to vote. Can we blame a system for its inefficiencies when we ourself made the system weak my not participating in its building? Low voter turnout is the problem which needs a great attention. For example if we notice a 60 percent voter turnout in the elections and 50% of the people voting support a particular candidate and he wins but what he actually represents? He represents just 30% of the population. Can he make policies for the welfare of rest 70 percent of population which is not represented by him? In India we don’t have a system of multiphase election i.e. elections in phases till a candidate gets simple majority like more than 50% of the votes casted, for example presidential elections in Maldives. This is not a good practice. To be more specific let’s say there are four candidates and in which first candidate gets 32% votes, second gets 30% and the remaining two get 19% each. In this case first candidate will be declared winner but he represents only a third of the people, which is not a true feature of democracy. But still in India we follow this practice, this could be due to the fact that when we have multiphase election government formation may defer till a candidate gets clear majority, which is itself dangerous for democracy. Secondly, India is a large democracy in terms of number of people eligible to vote. If we indulge in multiphase elections then it might cause huge expenses and thus financial burden on the already stressed economy. Hence citizens here are supposed to play a more crucial role. They should make choices in the manner that the person who finally gets elected must represent a large fraction of population.

BUDGET 2014-2015

• THE PRESENT ECONOMIC SCENARIO (Free Available)

• Deficit and Inflation (Free Available)

• Agriculture (Free Available)

• Saving/Investment (Free Available)

• Foreign Trade (Free Available)

• Manufacturing (Free Available)

• Infrastructure (Free Available)

• Exchange Rates (Free Available)

• UPAfs record of Growth (Free Available)

• Economic Initiative (Free Available)

• 2013-14 Progress Report (Free Available)

• Space (Only for Online Coaching Members)

• Redeeming promises (Only for Online Coaching Members)

• OVERVIEW OF THE INTERIM BUDGET (Only for Online Coaching Members)

• REVENUES (Only for Online Coaching Members)

• BUDGET ESTIMATE (Only for Online Coaching Members)

India has come a long way since the first Union budget of independent India was presented by R. K. Shanmukham Chetty on November 26, 1949 till the recent interim budget presented by P.Chidambaram. ‘Interim –budget’ refers to the budget of a government that is going through a transition period, which at this point of time would be upcoming lok sabha polls of 2014. These budgets are common in democracies where one political party or a coalition is voted out and another political party or a coalition is voted into office. The two governments often have different fiscal plans, so the old government budget is cut short and a new budget is created.

2013 was one of the dismal years when it comes to performance on the economic front. The growth rate was as low as 4.9. It might not be the worst growth rate in relative terms, but it certainly feels so when compared to 9.4% growth rate of this same economy in 2006-07. Let’s hope that with an abundant monsoon last year and a grip over inflation and current account deficit the growth trajectory in India will be back on it’s track and India will lead the race for fastest growing nation in the world , that has an equal opportunistic impact on the country’s poor as well. But let’s take a glance at different aspects of India economy first:

THE PRESENT ECONOMIC SCENARIO:

• The world economy is very crucial when it comes affecting the fortune of developing nations around the globe. And a slow growth of the world economy automatically has an adverse impact on the under-developed
  and developing countries around the globe.

• The world economy has been witnessing a sliding trend in growth, from 3.9 percent in 2011 to 3.1 percent in 2012 and 3 percent in 2013.

• The economic situation of major trading partners of India, who are also the major source of our foreign capital inflows, continues to be under stress. United States has just recovered from long recession, Euro zone, as a whole, is reporting a growth of 0.2 per cent, and China’s growth has also slowed down.

• The economic challenges faced by our country are common to all emerging economies.

Union Public Service Commission

(Result) Special Class Railway Apprentice’s Examination, 2014

The written result of the SCRA (Special Class Railway Apprentices) Examination, 2014 has been declared by the Commission and the same is available on the Commission’s website, http://www.upsc.gov.in . It is informed that all the written qualified candidates are required to fill up and submit the Detailed Application Form (DAF) ONLINE

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 30 April 2014

Claim on stolen idol

• The National Gallery of Australia has surrendered to the Indian claim that a Chola-era Nataraja that it acquired for (A) $5.6 million had indeed been stolen from a village temple in Tamil Nadu, paving the way for an early return of the idol to India.

• The NGA, Australia’s foremost art institution located in the national capital of Canberra, had 30 days to claim its ownership of the imposing bronze Nataraja after receiving a notice from the Australian Attorney General’s Department under the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986. That deadline expired on April 26.

• The 1,000-year-old Dancing Shiva is central to the investigations against antiquities dealer Subhash Kapoor who was arrested in 2012 and is being tried in Tamil Nadu for conspiring to smuggle the idol and several others out of India. The return of the idol is expected to strengthen the case against him.

• The NGA initially defended its purchase of the idol from Kapoor, but with its reputation scorched by the international controversy that erupted over the provenance of the Nataraja, the Gallery seems to have decided not to pursue any claim over the idol. Similarly, Sydney’s Art Gallery of New South Wales has not contested the notice it received at the same time as the NGA on an Ardhanareeshwara it bought from Kapoor, who was operating principally out of the United States.

• This idol too is a subject of Tamil Nadu police investigations against the dealer, and the Indian government had demanded its return along with the Nataraja.

• The Idol Wing unravelled the role of an international network in the theft of 18 ancient bronze sculptures from two temples in Suthamali and Sripuranthan.

Anti-Qaeda offensive

• Yemeni forces have launched an operation to drive Al-Qaeda fighters out of southern towns, where blistering air strikes killed nearly 60 militants recently. military officials.
• Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula jihadists established strongholds in towns and rugged zones in Abyan and Shabwa provinces after security forces chased them from major cities in Abyan in 2012.
• Yemeni and US drone strikes targeted bases of AQAP, considered by Washington as the most dangerous affiliate of the global jihadist network with links to several failed terror plots against the United States.
• AQAP took advantage of the weakening of the central government in Sanaa after the nationwide uprising, establishing strongholds in the southern and eastern regions.
• In June 2012, government forces backed by the Popular Committees drove militants out of major cities in Abyan after they had been in control for around a year.
• US drones frequently strike suspected militants in the country despite mounting criticism from rights groups concerned about civilian casualties.
• The United States has defended its use of drones against Al-Qaeda, saying they allow it to target jihadists without sending soldiers into lawless areas where local authorities have little or no control.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 29 April 2014

Historic accord on sport for peace

• The United Nations (U.N.) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has signed a historic agreement to use the power of sports to promote peace and economic development, a move that strengthens collaboration between two of the world’s major organizations.

• The U.N. and Olympic charters, both call for international cooperation to promote peace, a better life for people around the world and preserving human dignity.

• The Memorandum of Understanding signed with the IOC was “a logical and historic step after years of ever closer collaboration in using sport to promote development and peace.”

• The agreement calls for joint sporting initiatives between the IOC, national Olympic committees, international sports federations, organizing committees and international athletes and the 193 U.N. member states, U.N. agencies, envoys and goodwill ambassadors.

• The two organizations will be promoting education for youth through sport without discrimination of any kind, access to sport for all communities especially the most disadvantaged and marginalized, healthy lifestyles and peace-building and community dialogue.

1984 riots case

• If it failed to find cause for cheer in India’s ongoing general elections, the Indian National Congress was certainly buoyed by the decision of a federal judge in New York to dismiss and close a lingering case against the party for its alleged role in the 1984 riots that claimed the lives several thousands members of the Sikh community.

• Judge Robert Sweet granted the party’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought against it by the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) advocacy group, which sought damages stemming from the Congress’ alleged responsibility for the riots that engulfed New Delhi and other parts of the nation in violence following the assassination of erstwhile Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

• In his opinion, Judge Sweet ruled against the SFJ’s claim to be “legal representatives” and thus plaintiffs in this case filed under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) of the U.S., as this required the group and the individual complainants to be “aliens”, which they were not, given their U.S. residential status.

• Second, the judge found in favour of the argument that the ATS did not extend to corporate defendants such as the Congress Party and that the SFJ’s claim constituted “an impermissible extraterritorial application of the ATS”.

• Pending cases remain against Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 28 April 2014

From thin air to drinking water

• An Israeli company has developed a new and inexpensive technology that produces drinking water from thin air, an advancement that can address the problem of water scarcity in developing countries such as India.

• Using the technology, a litre of water can be produced for a mere Rs. 1.5, as compared to Rs. 15 for a litre of bottled water, the company claims. The Atmospheric Water-Generation Units created by Water-Gen use a “GENius” heat exchanger to chill air and condense water vapour.

• The clean air is passed through the heat exchanger system where it gets dehumidified. The water is then removed from the air and collected in a tank inside the unit.

• The company claims its water generator is more energy efficient than other such companies as it uses the cooled air created by the unit to chill incoming air. The system can produce 250-800 litres of potable water a day depending on temperature and humidity conditions.

Tornadoes strike central, southern US

• A tornado system ripped through the central US and left at least 12 dead in a violent start to this year's storm season.
• A tornado carved through several Little Rock suburbs. A separate tornado from the same storm system killed one person in Oklahoma.
• The large tornado outside Little Rock, Arkansas, stayed on the ground as it moved northeastward for at least 30 miles (48 kilometres).
• Emergency workers and volunteers went door-to-door to look for victims. Law enforcement officers checked the damaged and toppled 18-wheelers, cars and trucks on a stretch of Interstate 40, a major thoroughfare in and out of the state's capital.
• Tornadoes also touched down in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas, where dozens of homes in Baxter Springs were destroyed. Twenty-five people were injured and one person died.
• Forecasters had warned for days that violent weather would strike over the weekend.

Union Public Service Commission

(Advt No. 07/2014)

Invites Online Recruitment Applications (Ora*) For Recruitment By Selection To The Following Posts

(Vacancy No. 14040701526)

Four Assistant Professors (Civil Engineering) in Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Pahargaon, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Administration, Ministry of Human Resource Development. (OBC-1, UR-
3). The posts are suitable for Physically Challenged Persons with disability viz. Orthopedically Handicapped/Locomotor Disability/Cerebral Palsy with One Leg Affected (Right or Left) (OL) or One Arm Affected (Right or Left) (OA). The posts are permanent.

Pay Scale: 15600-39,100 ( PB-3) + Rs. 6,000 (Academic Grade Pay) (T.E. Rs.43,200/-) + TA and HRA as admissible , General Civil Service, Group', Gazetted, Non-Ministerial.

Age*: 35 yrs.

EDUCATIONAL: B.E. / B. Tech and M.E. / M. Tech from a recognized University / Institute in Civil Engineering with first class or equivalent either in B.E. / B. Tech or M.E. / M. Tech.

(Vacancy No. 14040702526)

Four Assistant Professors (Computer Science & Engineering) in Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Pahargaon, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Administration, Ministry of Human Resource Development.
(OBC-1, UR-3). The posts are suitable for Physically Challenged Persons with disability viz. Orthopedically Handicapped/Locomotor Disability/Cerebral Palsy with One Leg Affected (Right or Left) (OL) or One Arm Affected (Right or Left) (OA). The posts are permanent.

Pay Scale: 15600-39,100 ( PB-3) + Rs. 6,000 (Academic Grade Pay) (T.E. Rs. 43,200/-) + TA and HRA as admissible , General Civil Service, Group 'A', Gazetted, Non-Ministerial.

Age*: 35 yrs.

EDUCATIONAL: B.E. / B. Tech and M.E. / M. Tech from a recognized University / Institute in Computer Science with first class or equivalent either in B.E. / B. Tech or M.E. / M. Tech.

(Vacancy No. 14040703526)

Four Assistant Professors (Electronics & Communication Engineering) in Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Pahargaon, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Administration, Ministry of Human Resource
Development. (OBC-1, UR-3). The posts are suitable for Physically Challenged Persons with disability viz. Orthopedically Handicapped/ Locomotor Disability/Cerebral Palsy with One Leg Affected (Right or Left)
(OL) or One Arm Affected (Right or Left) (OA). The posts are permanent.

Pay Scale: 15600-39,100 ( PB-3) + Rs. 6,000 (Academic Grade Pay) (T.E. Rs. 43,200/-) + TA and HRA as admissible, General Civil Service, Group 'A', Gazetted, Non-Ministerial.

Age*: 35 yrs.

EDUCATIONAL: B.E. / B. Tech and M.E. / M. Tech from a recognized University / Institute in Electronics & Communication Engineering with first class or equivalent either in B.E. / B. Tech or M.E. / M. Tech.

(Vacancy No. 14040704526)

One Assistant Professor (Electrical Engineering) in Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Pahargaon, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Administration, Ministry of Human Resource Development. (UR-1). The post is suitable for Physically Challenged Persons with disability viz. Orthopedically Handicapped/Locomotor Disability/Cerebral Palsy with One Leg Affected (Right or Left) (OL) or One Arm Affected (Right or Left) (OA). The post is permanent.

Pay Scale: 15600-39,100 ( PB-3) + Rs. 6,000 (Academic Grade Pay) (T.E. Rs. 43,200/-) + TA and HRA as admissible, General Civil Service, Group 'A', Gazetted, Non-Ministerial.

Age*: 35 yrs.

EDUCATIONAL: B.E. / B. Tech and M.E. / M. Tech from a recognized University / Institute in Electrical Engineering with first class or equivalent either in B.E. / B. Tech or M.E. / M. Tech.

(Vacancy No. 14040705426)

Twenty- Nine Assistant Directors Gr.II (Economic Investigation) in Office of the Development Commissioner, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Development Organization. (SC-10, ST-04, OBC-5,
UR-10). Of the twenty-nine posts, one post is reserved for Physically Challenged Persons with disability viz. Orthopedically Handicapped/ Locomotor Disability/ Cerebral Palsy with One Arm Affected (Right or Left)
(OA). The posts are also suitable for Physically Challenged Persons with dislity viz. Orthopedically Handicapped/Locomotor Disability/Cerebral Palsy with One Arm Affected (Right or Left) (OA). The posts are permanent.

Pay Scale: 9300-34,800 ( PB-2) + Rs. 4,600 (Grade Pay) (T.E. Rs. 27,800/-) + TA and HRA as admissible, General Central Service, Group 'B', Gazetted, Non-Ministerial.

Age*: 30 yrs.

EDUCATION :Master's degree in Economics from a recognized University or equivalent*. * The term "or equivalent" is defined as M.Com in Economic, Master's in Financial Economics, Master's in International Economics, Master's in Development Economics and Master's in Sustainable Economic Development

B.EXPERIENCE: Two years' experience in conducting and guiding investigation/Surveys/Research relating to small scale industries.

DESIRABLE: i) Experience of handling economic data pertaining to and/or other industries. knowledge of problems relating to small scale industries and/Basic knowledge of computers applications currently used softwares/packages for offices.

(Vacancy No. 14040706426)

Ten Administrative Officers in Geological Survey of India, Ministry of Mines. (ST-01, OBC-03, UR-6). Of the ten posts, one post is reserved for Physically Challenged Persons with disability viz. Orthopedically
Handicapped/ Locomotor Disability/ Cerebral Palsy with Both Legs Affected but not Arms (BL) or One Leg Affected (OL) (Right or Left) or One Arm Affected (Right or Left) (OA). The posts are also suitable for Physically Challenged Persons with disability viz. Blindness or Low Vision with Partially Blind (PB) or Hearing Impairment with Partially Deaf (PD) or Orthopedically Handicapped/ Locomotor Disability/ Cerebral Palsy with Both Legs Affected but not Arms (BL) or One Leg Affected (OL) (Right or Left) or One Arm Affected (Right or Left) (OA).The posts are permanent.

Pay Scale: 9300-34,800 ( PB-2) + Rs. 4,600 (Grade Pay) (T.E. Rs. 27,800/-) + TA and HRA as admissible, General Central Service, Group 'B', Gazetted, Ministerial.

Age*: 30 yrs.

A. EDUCATIONAL: Bachelor's degree of a recognized University.

B. EXPERIENCE: Two years' experience in Administration, Account and Establishment, Legal or Vigilance matters in Central or State or Union Territory Government or Government Autonomous or Statutory Organisation or Central or State Public Sector Corporation or University.

DESIRABLE: Degree in Law or Personnel Management from recognized University or equivalent and knowledge of Government Regulation relating to administrative, accounts and establishment.

(Vacancy No. 14040707426)

Two Assistant Director General/Directors in Ministry of Tourism. (UR-2).The posts are permanent.

Pay Scale: 15600-39,100 ( PB-3) + Rs. 6,600 (Grade Pay) (T.E. Rs. 44,400/-) + TA and HRA as admissible, General Central Civil Service, Group 'A', Gazetted, Non-Ministerial

Age*: 40 yrs.

A. EDUCATIONAL i) Graduate in any discipline from a recognized University. ii) Diploma/ Certificate of foreign language(s) course other than English for a minimum period of six months

EXPERIENCE: Five years' experience in the field of public relations or publicity or administrative work including two years' experience in the field of tourism and hospitality in the Central Government or State Governments or Union Territories or Public Sector Undertakings r State Governments or Union Territories or Public Sector Undertakings or Universities or Recognized Research Institutions or Semi-Governments or Statutory or Autonomous Organizations or Recognized Organizations.

Application Fee:

• Candidates are required to pay a fee of Rs. 25/- (Rupees Twenty five) only either by remitting the money in any branch of the SBI by cash or by using net banking facility of the SBI or by using visa/master credit/debit card.
• No fee for SC/ST/PH/Women candidates of any community. No "fee exemption" is available to OBC male candidates and they are required to pay the full prescribed fee.

How to Apply:

She broke the glass ceiling many a times, from being the first woman to enter any Class-I civil service to becoming the first IRS officer to be appointed a UPSC member and to being the only woman to have worked in the Central Narcotics Department.

After donning multiple hats during her long career, it was another proud moment for Parveen Talha, when she was conferred the Padma Shri award on Saturday for her contribution to the Civil Services.

But the road to success wasn't that easy for Talha and the biggest hurdle was to overcome the anti-women mindset of her bosses at the initial stages of her career.

"It is indeed a proud moment for me but I am grateful to my bosses too. Though I had to initially deal with their anti-women mindset when I joined services 45 years ago, after a few years I was able to prove that I could handle the tricky jobs as efficiently as my male colleagues," Talha told PTI.

70-year-old Talha joined Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) in 1969 where she worked for 35 years and was then picked up as a member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in 2004.

"Once my bosses began to trust in my capabilities, I started getting challenging assignments including posting as Deputy Narcotics Commissioner in Uttar Pradesh," she said.

"There was a large-scale leakage of opium going on in UP then. While I tried my best to play a stringent officer dealing with certain illegal channels, poppy cultivators were surprised too because they had never seen a woman at that level," she added.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 26 April 2014

New sanctions against Russia

• The United States and other nations in the Group of Seven agreed to “move swiftly” to impose additional economic sanctions on Russia in response to its actions in Ukraine.

• In a joint statement released by the White House, the G—7 nations said they will act urgently to intensify “targeted sanctions.” The statement said the G—7 will also continue to prepare broader sanctions on key Russian economic sectors if Moscow takes more aggressive action.

• The announcement came as top Ukrainians spoke of imminent invasion and Moscow said that pro—Russian separatists would not lay down their arms in eastern Ukraine until activists relinquish control over key sites in Kiev.

• The G—7 nations said they were moving forward on the targeted sanctions now because of the urgency of securing plans for Ukraine to hold presidential elections in May.

• The penalties are expected to target wealthy Russian individuals who are close to President Vladimir Putin, as well as entities they run. However, the U.S. will continue to hold off on targeting broad swaths of the Russian economy, though the president has said he is willing to take that step if Putin launches a military incursion in eastern Ukraine.

• Tensions were heightened on the ground, with Russian fighter jets reported crossing into Ukrainian airspace and a team of unarmed foreign military observers detained by pro—Russian forces in Slovyansk, the heart of the separatist movement in the east.

Manipur Public Service Commission

CS (Main) Exam 2013 Scoresheet

Important Link:

INDO-SRI LANKA FISHERMEN ISSUE

• Background (Free Available)

• Indo-Sri Lanka Marine Relations: Some Irritants (Free Available)

• Recent Developments: Fishermen Resettlement Issue (Free Available)

• Historical Overview of Indo- Sri Lanka Relations (Only for Online Coaching Members)

• Future Prospects (Only for Online Coaching Members)

Background

The issue of capture and imprisoning of fishermen by the Coast Guards of India and Sri Lanka respectively, has been one of the major bone of contention in the betterment of the Indo-Sri Lanka relations. Apart from the issue of Tamils in Sri Lanka, the issue of Fishermen has been a major source of bitterment of relations between the two nations. Due to this issue, the state of Tamil Nadu has been raising repeatedly, concerns over the security of the state's fishermen and their economic interest.

However, there have been certain developments in this regard, with both- India and Sri Lanka, taking steps to reconcile the matter, through peaceful channels. It is in this context that several developments and initiatives have been made on the issue of resettlement of the fishermen of both countries.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 25 April 2014

Stay on release of Rajiv Gandhi murder convicts

• In a major setback to the Tamil Nadu government the Supreme Court has extended the stay of an order passed on February 19 directing the release of seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

• On February 20, the court had directed the Tamil Nadu government to maintain status quo in its decision to release the three convicts Sriharan alies Murugan, T.Suthendraraja alia Santhan and A.G. Perarivalan allias Arivu, whose death sentence was commuted to life term on February 18 as well as in the release of four other convicts Nalini, Robert Pious, Jayakumar and Ravichandran. On Friday the court said the interim order of staying the release would continue till the final decision was rendered by the five-judge constitution Bench.

• A bench of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and Justices Ranjan Gogoi and N.V. Ramana, while extending the stay, referred to a Constitution Bench the issues raised by the Centre on the powers of the State government to release the convicts after the same had been rejected by the President or the Governor in exercise of their clemency powers. The Bench gave this verdict on the writ petition filed by the Centre challenging the Tamil nadu government's decision to release the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

• The Bench framed seven questions to be considered by the Constitution Bench, including whether the State could exercise its remission powers to release a life convict after the same had been exercised by the President or the Governor or by the apex court by commuting the death sentence into life term.; what was the meaning of `consultation’ contemplated in Section 432 Cr.P.C. and whether it would mean concurrence with the Central government; whether imprisonment for life would mean imprisonment for the rest of life without remission; whether the court could evolve a special category of sentence in certain cases and substitute death sentence into life sentence for rest of life and make such an order beyond the power of remission and which was the appropriate government, either the State or the Centre or there could be two parallel government which could exercise the power of remission.

Russia's new credit rating

• The Standard & Poor’s credit agency has recently cut Russia’s credit rating for the first time in more than five years, citing the capital flight and risk to investment in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.

• Russia’s economic growth slowed to 0.8 percent in the first quarter — sharply worse than earlier forecast — while spooked investors pulled about $70 billion out of the country in 2013. However, the cut in Russia’s rating from BBB to BBB- is the most tangible economic result of Russia’s policies toward Ukraine so far.

• BBB- is just a step above a speculative or non-investment grade.

• S&P said in a statement that they revised Russia's rating because the tense situation “could see additional significant outflows of both domestic and foreign capital from the Russian economy.”

• Rating agencies had not cut Russia’s sovereign rating since December 2008.

HIV SALVAGE THERAPY

• The Menace of HIV (Free Available)

• History of HIV/AIDS Treatment (Free Available)

• The Anti-RetroViral Therapy (ARV) (Free Available)

• The Salvage Therapy (Free Available)

• Indian Initiatives to Tackle with HIV/AIDS (Only for Online Coaching Members)

• Norms for HIV Treatment in USA: A Comparison (Only for Online Coaching Members)

• Conclusion (Only for Online Coaching Members)

The Menace of HIV

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which causes the condition of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has been a global menace for quite some time now. The main challenge faced by the scientists in checking the spread and threats, posed by this disease, is that the virus could not be successfully checked from spreading itself. No course of medicine has been able to restrict and counteract the growth of the virus. That is why, there has been much global concern regarding the HIV/AIDS.

The life Cycle of HIV can be as short as about 1.5 days from viral entry into a cell, through replication, assembly, and release of additional viruses, to infection of other cells. HIV lacks proofreading enzymes to
correct errors made when it converts its RNA into DNA via reverse transcription. Its short life-cycle and high error rate causes the virus to mutate very rapidly, resulting in a high genetic variability of HIV. As the virus mutates, many of the cells develop an ability to resist the human immune system and anti-viral drugs. This makes the development of the antivirus for HIV difficult.

Union Public Service Commission

UPSC released Consolidated Reserve List for Civil Services (Main) Examination 2012

UPSC has released the Press note giving details of the Consolidated Reserve List for the Civil Services (Mains) Examination 2012. The list comes as a respite for those who might have lost hopes of getting selected for the prestigious job. Here is the official notification from the UPSC-

The results of the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2012 were declared vide Press Note dated 03.05.2013 recommending 998 candidates in order of merit for appointment to IAS, IFS, IPS and Central Services Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ against 1091 vacancies.