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

Science & Technology, Defense, Environment

ENVIRONMENT

  • Indian Cities with Minimum air Pollution

  • New Species of Dancing Frogs

  • WHO Report on Pollution

  • Change in U.S. Climate

  • "Save Our Snow Leopards"

  • Happy Earth Day doodle

  • River policing

  • 15 Endangered Indian Birds

  • Indian projects shortlisted for Green Oscars

KLOTHO

  • People who have a variant of a longevity gene have improved brain skills such as thinking, learning and memory. Re-searchers found that increasing levels of the gene, called KLOTHO, in mice made them smarter, possibly by increasing the strength of connections between nerve cells in the brain.

  • The study was published in Cell Reports. Those who have one copy of a variant of the KLOTHO gene, called KL-VS, tend to live longer and have lower chances of suffering a stroke whereas those who have two copies may live shorter lives and have a higher risk of stroke.

  • The study also found that those with one copy performed better on cognitive tests regardless of age, sex or the presence of the apolipoprotein 4 gene, the main genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 10 August 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 10 August 2014

Monsoon picks up, so does kharif sowing

  • With improvement in the southwest monsoon, kharif sowing has picked up and is now only 8.89 per cent lower than last year.

  • Although there are still concerns about the lower sowing of oilseeds, pulses and coarse cereals, the paddy plantation is less by only 5.18 per cent over last year and cotton sowing is higher by 1.9 per cent over last year.

  • According to the India Meteorological Department, till August 8, monsoon was 18 per cent below the long period average with the highest departure of 32 per cent in northwest India.

  • The shortfall in the sowing of coarse cereals, however, is still high at 20.89 per cent over last year. Sugarcane cultivation this year has been in 47.17 lakh hectares compared to 50.32 lakh hectares in the corresponding period last year.

  • The average storage in 85 reservoirs is reported to be 57 per cent of the total storage capacity of these reservoirs. Average water levels on August 7 were 82 per cent of the storage of the corresponding period last year.

India to draft 5-year plan of action to deepen ties with ASEAN

  • In her address at the 12th India-ASEAN meeting in Nay Pyi Taw, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said India would soon draft a five-year plan of action starting 2016 to take the trajectories of common interests with ASEAN to a new level and particularly emphasised on improving connectivity in the region to further boost trade and people-to-people contact.

  • Strongly pitching for improvement in connectivity, Indian said India wanted connectivity in all its dimensions - geographic, institutional and people-to-people. She also referred to 5Ts of government of India — Tradition, Talent, Tourism, Trade and Technology — reflecting priority areas and noted that in foreign policy connectivity precedes them all.

  • The ASEAN-India strategic partnership owes its strength to the fact that India's ‘Look East’ policy meets ASEAN'S ‘Look West’ towards India.

  • The members of ASEAN include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam. India and the ASEAN have already implemented a free trade agreement in goods and are set to widen its base and include services and investments. The India-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement was signed in August 2009 and it came into force on January 1, 2010.

  • There has been significant progress in ties between India and the ASEAN grouping in the last few years in diverse sectors, particularly in trade and commerce. The bilateral trade grew by 4.6 per cent from $68.4 billion in 2011 to $71.6 billion in 2012. ASEAN’s exports were valued at $43.84 billion and imports from India amounted to $27.72 billion in 2012. The target has been set at $100 billion by 2015 for ASEAN-India trade.

Jaswant Singh still in coma, critical

  • Former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh “continues to be in a coma and very critical” on Saturday in hospital, where he is being treated for a severe head injury he sustained after a fall on Thursday night at his residence.

  • Seventy-six-year-old Mr. Singh is under care and treatment at the Army Research and Referral Hospital, where he was admitted early on Friday. He is on life support systems and under constant monitoring by a team of neurosurgeons and critical care providers.

The Gist of Kurukshetra: July 2014

The Gist of Kurukshetra: July 2014

Need for bigger outlay for agriculture

The performance of the agriculture sector in India is reasonably good and as per the latest information from Ministry of Agriculture, the total foodgrain production in 2012-13 was 255.36 million tonnes and the estimate for the current year (2013-14) is 263 million tonnes. India is the first in the world in the production of milk (132.43 million tonnes in 2012-13), pulses, jute and jute-like fibres, second in rice, wheat, sugarcane, groundnut, vegetables, fruits and cotton production, and is a leading producer of spices and plantation crops as well as livestock, fisheries and poultry. The latest estimates of production of sugarcane, cotton, pulses, oilseeds and quality seeds point to new records. Agriculture exports in 2012-13 stood at USD 41 billion versus imports of USD 20 billion. In 2013-14, agriculture exports are likely to cross USD 45 billion. Agricultural credit is likely to touch Rs. 735,000 crore, exceeding the target of Rs.700,OOO crore. The agricultural GDP growth increased to 3.1 percent in the five year period of UPA-I and further to 4.0 percent in the first four years of UPA-II. In the current year, agricultural GDP growth is estimated at 4.6 percent and to sustain the 4 percent growth target set for agriculture and allied sectors in the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17) and it is good sign for policy planners and big relief to ruling Government.

Fertilizer Subsidy

Subsidies, which are absolutely necessary should be chosen and targeted only to the absolutely deserving. On fertilizers, Nutrient Based Subsidy regime has been working well in the P & K sector. What is now urgently required are certain pricing reforms in the urea sector with an immediate price correction for urea. This is not only essential from viewpoint of the size of the subsidy bill but also from the viewpoint of balanced use of N, P & K nutrients. Over long-term, Government will be working towards increase in indigenous production of fertilizers which will help reducing dependence on imports and make prices much more stable.

Budget Impact

Domestic gas prices are expected to double to around $8 per mmBtu in 2014-15, increasing the fertilizer subsidy burden to an estimated Rs. 77,500 crore in 2014-15 from the budgeted Rs. 68,000 crore. There will be a subsidy spill-over of Rs 33,000 crore to 2014-15. Thus, the total increase in subsidy rollover to 2015-16 is likely to be around Rs 41,000-42,500 crore. This will push up interest burden on working capital requirements by about Rs 1,000-1,100 crore (assuming a rate of 12%).

Service Tax Relief

By virtue of the definition of ‘agricultural produce’ in Finance Act 2012, read with the Negative List, storage or warehousing of paddy was excluded from the levy of service tax. Rice was not. The distinction is somewhat artificial. Hence, Finance Minister proposed to exempt loading, unloading, packing, storage and warehousing of rice from service tax in the presented interim budget 2014-15. This initiative is welcomed by all the rice growers, rice processors, rice traders and also consumer since the will pay less due to the service tax relief.

Agricultural Credit

Agricultural credit is the driver of agricultural production and timely availability of agricultural credit at reasonable rate, especially for small and marginal farmers is crucial for agricultural-sector growth. Government has taken several measures for improving the flow of agricultural credit:

  1. The Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme has been effective for extending agriculture credit. A revised KCC scheme was introduced in March 2012 in which the KCC passbook has been replaced by an ATM-cum-debit card to all eligible and willing farmers in a time-bound manner.

  2. The Finance Minister, P Chidambaram acknowledged the yeomen services rendered by our banks in reaching Government’s policies and programmes to the people. This year, banks will exceed the target of Rs. 700,000 crore of agricultural credit allocated for the year 2013-14.

  3. The Finance Minister made a provision to set a target of Rs. 800,000 crore for distribution to the farmers through KCC for 2014-15 in the interim budget proposed. He also reminded the members that an interest subvention scheme was introduced in 2006-07. There is a subvention of 2 percent and an incentive of 3 percent for prompt payment, thus reducing the effective rate of interest on farm loans to 4 percent. While presenting the interim budget for 2014-15 he informed the house that so far Rs. 23,924 crore has been released under the scheme and he also proposed to continue the scheme in 2014-15.

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

India & The World

SAARC leaders invited for Modi's swearing-in

  • Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi has invited the heads of the governments of all South Asian states to attend his swearing-in in a gesture, which diplomats and experts said was without precedent. Though foreign envoys stationed in New Delhi have attended past swearings-in, Ministry of External Affairs sources said, no world leader has been invited to attend what has traditionally been seen as a domestic event.

  • The move startled regional diplomats-but also caused surprise in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which was not consulted on the decision, Bharatiya Janata Party sources said.

  • Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, the Ministry of External Affairs said, despatched formal invitations afternoon to the Presidents or Prime Ministers of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's Presi-dent, has accepted the invitation but there was no immediate word on which other leaders would attend.

  • Mr. Modi's surprise outreach was intended to allay regional fears that his rise to power would herald a new hawkishness in Indian foreign policy. The Prime Minister-elect had ruffled feathers in Bangladesh by threatening to expel migrants from India's north-east, while Sri Lanka was concerned over the influence ethnic nationalists in Tamil Nadu might have over his foreign policy.

(Current Affairs) Economy & Energy | July: 2014

Economy

Top 10 Global Markets for Australia

  • India has figured among the top 10 markets for the international business community as per Australia's International Business Survey.
  • India has also emerged as the most challenging of the top 10 countries to do business with.
  • AIBS 2014, a comprehensive study of Australian companies involved in international business, was released recently.
  • It found that India ranked as ninth important market currently. The country was also seen as the third important future market, with respondents saying they were planning on doing business in/within the next two years.
  • The survey captured data from more than 1,600 Australian businesses, reflecting the opinions of a wide range of firms from diverse industries operating in over 120 markets.
  • The United States (chosen by about 15 per cent), India (six per cent) and the United Kingdom and Indonesia (five per cent each) make up the remainder of the top five most important future target markets.
  • The survey found that the most important market for international business for the participants varied by the industry.
  • Education and Training industry stood as the most important market for Australian international business community when it came to India.
  • On the list of top most important overseas markets in terms of international revenue, India stood at the ninth position, while US and China took the first and second rank respectively.
  • On rating the ease of doing business in their most important markets as compared to Australia, only 9 per cent of businesses perceived India as an easier or much easier market than Australia, with 81 per cent regarding it as more or much more difficult.

Sino-Russia strategy

  • Russia is intensifying its shift towards China as Russia's relations with the West have sunk to their post-Cold War low over the Ukraine crisis.
  • China has refused to condemn Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Crimea and has adopted what experts called "positive neutrality" over the conflict.
  • The two countries are expected to sign a "fantastic package" of more than 40 agreements when President Vladimir Putin travelled to Shanghai recently for a two-day state visit and participation in a regional security summit.
  • Mr. Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, will oversee the start of joint war games in a sign of closer defence ties between the two countries. At least 16 Russian and Chinese warships will train together in the East China Sea, where China is locked in a bitter territorial dispute with Japan.
  • Russia and China will undertake eight "strategic projects" in space, rocket engines, aviation and infrastructure.

E-auction of Iron ore

  • The Goa Mines and Geology Department will hold its third e-auction of iron ore on May 12, wherein six lakh tonnes of ore, lying at jetties and the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) would be e-auctioned.

  • The State, through MSTC Ltd., has auctioned 1.62 million tonnes of iron ore through two e-auctions in February and March, realising around Rs.260 crore, which would go to the State treasury.

  • These e-auctions are held under the supervision of a Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee, headed by U. V. Singh.

  • The Supreme Court, partially relaxing its October 5 ban on iron ore activities in the State, in December last had permitted the Goa Mines Department to auction about 15 million tonnes of iron ore lying at jetties, mining leases, plots, beneficiary plants and port, all under the supervision of its committee.

  • However, on April 21, the apex court lifted its ban on mining activities, but putting a cap of 20 million tonnes for annual production and ruling that since the renewal of all the deemed mining leases in the State had expired on November, 2007, and the operations carried out, thereafter, have been termed illegal, the mining lessees will not be entitled to the sale value of the ore sold in e-auction but to the approximate cost (not actual cost) of the extraction of the ore.

  • Making government the custodian of the money collected through e-auction, the court directed the State to pay 50 per cent of wages of all the workers who were laid off or were not paid salaries since the time the mining operations were suspended.

World's top Brand

  • Google has knocked Apple off the perch as the world's top brand in terms of value in the latest rankings released by global market research agency Millward Brown.
  • The internet search giant may occasionally tick off the public and regulators across the globe with regards to its data collection activities but it hasn't dented its brand value, according to Millward Brown's 2014 100 Top BrandZ report.
  • Google's brand value shot up 40 per cent in a year to $US158.84 billion ($A171.86bn), while Apple has seen its brand value drop by 20 per cent to $160bn.
  • As the report highlights, Samsung, HP and Sony -- all product-dominated companies -- have put in a far less impressive performance than the likes of Tencent, Facebook and Baidu.
  • The latter are up 97 per cent, 68 per cent and 46 per cent respectively, while the former have moved up 21 per cent, 19 per cent and, in Sony's case, a drop of 1 per cent.
  • Meanwhile, Twitter and LinkedIn are the latest entrants into the top 20 list, with brand values of $14bn and $12bn respectively.

Metro AG

  • German retailer Metro AG plans to have 50 wholesale stores in India by 2020 and make the country one of its 'focus expansion' markets alongside Russia, China and Turkey.
  • India has always been an important future growth market of Metro .
  • The Dusseldorf-based company was the first global player to enter the cash-andcarry wholesale segment in India, back in India. It currently operates 16 outlets in the country.

Prepayment fee on floating rate term loans

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that banks cannot levy charges on individual customers if they choose to close their floating rate loans.
  • Some banks charge a fee if an individual borrower chooses to close his or her loan. This fee varies from bank to bank, and is mostly in the range of 1-3%.
  • In its first bi-monthly monetary policy review on 1 April, RBI had indicated that in the interest of their consumers, banks should consider allowing their borrowers the possibility of prepaying floating rate term loans without any penalty.
  • Accordingly, it is advised that banks will not be permitted to charge foreclosure charges/pre-payment penalties on all floating rate term loans sanctioned to individual borrowers.

No Special trade benefits for Russia

  • U.S. President Barack Obama intends to withdraw special privileges granted to Russia because the country is too economically advanced to need preferential treatment reserved for less developed countries.
  • Mr. Obama notified Congress that he intends to remove Russia from the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme as Moscow is "sufficiently advanced" to warrant any preferential treatment.
  • Once Russia's eligibility is withdrawn, which would be effected via a presidential proclamation, U.S. imports of GSP-eligible goods from Russia will be subject to normal, non-preferential rates of duty.
  • The purpose of the programme, which allowed $19.9 billion in imports to enter the U.S. duty-free in 2012, is to assist developing countries to use trade to boost their economic development.
  • Russia has advanced beyond the level of economic development and competi-tiveness for GSP eligibility. As such, Russia should no longer qualify to receive GSP benefits.

'Global 2000'

  • Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries leads the pack of 54 Indian companies in Forbes' annual list of the world's 2000 largest and most powerful public companies, with Chinese companies occupying the top three slots on the list.
  • The Forbes 'Global 2000' is a comprehensive list of the world's largest, most powerful public companies, as measured by revenues, profits, assets and market value.
  • China is home to the world's top three biggest public companies and five of the top 10.
  • The US retains its dominance as the country with the most Global 2000 companies at 564.
  • Japan trails the US with 225 companies in aggregate.
  • India is home to 54 of the world's biggest companies.
  • Reliance Industries is ranked 135 on the list with a market value of 50.9 billion dollars and 72.8 billion dollars in sales as on May 2014.
  • Reliance is followed by State Bank of India which is ranked 155 and has a 23.6 billion dollars market value.
  • The other Indian companies on the list are Oil and Natural Gas ranked 176, ICICI Bank (304), Tata Motors (332), Indian Oil (416), HDFC Bank (422), Coal India (428), Larsen & Toubro (500), Tata Consultancy Services (543), Bharti Airtel (625), Axis Bank (630), Infosys (727), Bank of Baroda (801), Mahindra & Mahindra (803), ITC (830), Wipro (849), Bharat Heavy Electricals (873), GAIL India (955), Tata Steel (983) and Power Grid of India (1011).
  • Also making the list are Bharat Petroleum (1045), HCL Technologies (1153), Hindustan Petroleum (1211), Adani Enterprises (1233), Kotak Mahindra Bank (1255), Sun Pharma Industries (1294), Steel Authority of India (1329), Bajaj Auto (1499), Hero Motocorp (1912), Jindal Steel & Power (1955), Grasim Industries (1981) and JSW Steel (1990).

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 09 August 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 09 August 2014

Govt. to consider UPSC exam in all 8th Schedule languages

  • The Centre on Thursday said there was “force” in the argument that the Civil Services Examination should be conducted in all languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and assured the Lok Sabha that this demand would be considered.

  • At present, while question papers are set in English and Hindi and the main examination can be attempted in any language in the Eighth Schedule, the preliminary examination are available only in English and Hindi.

  • As protests continued within and outside Parliament over the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT), the government reiterated that the preliminary examination would be held as scheduled on August 24.

  • The Union Public Service Commission is yet to clear the air on whether it has accepted the government’s view that the English comprehension skill component of CSAT — paper II of the prelims — should not be counted for merit or gradation, and how this will be implemented.

Speaker’s ruling on LoP final: SC

  • The Supreme Court dismissed on Friday a public interest litigation petition seeking the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha for the Congress.
  • The ruling of the Speaker given in her chambers is not open to judicial review, and political issues can't be settled under Article 32.

(Current Affairs) International Events | July: 2014

International Events

Abuse of Power Case

  • Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra defended herself against abuse of power allegations in a crucial court case that is one of several legal challenges, which could remove her from office.
  • Ms. Yingluck is accused of abusing her authority by transferring her National Security Council chief in 2011 to another position. Critics say the transfer was to benefit her ruling party and violated the Constitution.
  • The case was lodged by anti-government senators, who won an initial victory in February when another court ruled that the official, Thawil Pliensri, must be restored to his job.
  • If Ms. Yingluck is found guilty of interfering in state affairs for her personal benefit or that of her political party, she would have to step down as Prime Minister.

First 'Born Free' election

  • South Africans voted in the first "Born Free" election , although polls suggest the allure of the ruling African National Congress as the conqueror of apartheid will prevail even among those with no memory of white-minority rule.

  • Opinion polls suggest there is no doubt about the overall result, with ANC support estimated at around 65 percent, only a shade lower than the 65.9 percent it won in the 2009 election that brought President Jacob Zuma to power.

  • The resilience of ANC support has surprised analysts who a year ago were saying it could struggle at the polls as its glorious past recedes into history and voters focus instead on the sluggish economic growth and slew of scandals that have typified Zuma's first term.

  • Africa's most sophisticated economy has struggled to recover from a 2009 recession - its first since the 1994 demise of apartheid - and the ANC's efforts to stimulate growth and tackle 25 percent unemploy-ment have been hampered by powerful unions.

  • South Africa's top anti-graft agency accused Zuma this year of "benefiting unduly" from a $23 million state-funded security upgrade to his private home at Nkandla in rural KwaZulu-Natal province that included a swimming pool and chicken run.

Ceasefire in South Sudan

  • South Sudan's President has reached a ceasefire agreement with a rebel leader, an African regional bloc said , after a vicious cycle of revenge killings drew international alarm.

  • The deal means "an immediate cessation of hostilities within 24 hours of the signing" and "unhindered humanitarian access" to all people affected by the months-long conflict, said a statement by the political bloc known as IGAD, which is mediating the conflict.

  • Ethnically targeted violence in the world's youngest country broke out in December, killing thousands of people and forcing more than 1.3 million to flee their homes. The U.N. Security Council has expressed "horror" at recent killings of civilians.

  • U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice welcomed the peace agreement in a statement, saying it "holds the promise of bringing the crisis to an end".

  • South Sudan is a largely Christian nation that broke off from the Muslim-dominated Sudan after a 2011 referendum. The fighting is an embarrassment to the U.S., which has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and has been its strongest international champion.

Rockets fired in southern Israel

  • Three rockets from Gaza were fired into Israel recently.
  • The projectile struck uninhabited areas in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council and set off sirens.
  • Few days back, Israel Air Force jets struck five terror targets in the Gaza Strip, following rocket attacks on southern Israel the previous night. The IAF hit sites in northern and central Gaza, including two Hamas posts. .
  • Also last week, a rocket siren went off in the Sha'ar Hanegev region, but an army spokeswoman later said no projectiles were detected in Israeli territory.
  • Last month, the air force stuck 29 targets across the Gaza Strip in response to Islamic Jihad rocket attack on the South. More than 30 rockets - fired in simultaneous barrages from northern and southern Gaza - exploded in Israeli territory. The Iron Dome anti-rocket battery stationed in Sderot shot down three projectiles over the town. The bombardment of the western Negev in March marked the largest flare-up of Gazan terrorism since 2012.

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.

Hatf-III

  • Pakistan conducted a successful training launch of short range surface to surface ballistic missile Hatf III (Ghaznavi) recently.

  • The missile can carry nuclear and conventional warheads to a range of 290 kilometres.

  • The successful launch concluded the field training exercise of strategic missile group of Army Strategic Forces Command.

  • As per the statement released by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the training launch was witnessed by Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Rashad Mahmood, Director General Strategic Plans Division Lieutenant General Zubair Mahmood Hayat, Commander Army Strategic Forces Command Lieutenant General Obaid Ullah Khan, Chairman NESCOM Muhammad Irfan Burney and other senior military officials and scientists.

Code Of Conduct On Communication

  • Naval chiefs from US and Asian-Pacific nations including Vietnam adopted a code of conduct aimed at improving communication at sea to reduce the possibility of conflict.
  • Citing Australian media reports, VNA said that the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea was approved by countries including the US, China, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam at the Western Pacific Naval Symposium in China's eastern coastal city of Qingdao.
  • The pact outlines how naval ships should communicate and manoeuvre when they unex-pectedly come into contact in sea lanes surrounding China, Japan and Southeast Asia.
  • Although not legally binding, the code of conduct is said to help establish international standards in relation to the use of sea lanes.

FATA demand

  • The clamour for holding local government elections in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is growing in a region where a governance system is non-existent at a local or provincial level.

  • A new research study by the FATA Research Centre (FRC) titled 'Local Government in FATA, Past failures, Current challenges and Future prospects' highlights the century old political vacuum in the region coupled with bad governance and corruption which has resulted in a gap between the state and society in this volatile tribal belt.

  • The growing exclusion of people from the political process has created a sense of deprivation and frustration among the masses, the report says and this disconnect was the reason that Taliban were able to consolidate their position in FATA by cutting away at the existing political system and killing the tribal elders and maliks.

  • The Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) is a draconian law which still operates there and power is wielded by the all powerful political agent even today. Lt Gen (retd.) Abdul Qadir Baloch, the minister for States and Frontier Regions said there are no two opinions that local government elections should be held in FATA and he said the driver of reforms must be the people themselves.

  • Senator Farhatullah Babar said the FATA region which was a buffer zone earlier to press the strategic depth policy was now a strategic threat.

(Current Affairs) National Events | July: 2014

National Events

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 govern-ments only after the then President K R Narayanan was satisfied with letters of support from parties backing the NDA coalition on the numbers.

Modi’s Council of Ministers

The following is the list of council of ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet:

Cabinet Ministers

  • Rajnath Singh: Home Minister
  • Sushma Swaraj: External Affairs & Overseas Indian Affairs
  • Arun Jaitley: Finance Corporate Affairs & Defence
  • M. Venkaiah Naidu: Urban Development Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation & Parliamentary Affairs
  • Nitin Jairam Gadkari: Road Transport and Highways Shipping
  • D.V. Sadananda Gowda: Railways
  • Uma Bharati: Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation
  • Dr. Najma A. Heptulla: Minority Affairs
  • Gopinathrao Munde: Rural Development, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water and Sanitation
  • Ramvilas Paswan: Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
  • Kalraj Mishra: Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
  • Maneka Gandhi: Women and Child Development
  • Ananthkumar: Chemicals and Fertilizers
  • Ravi Shankar Prasad: Communi-cations and Information Technology & Law and Justice
  • Ashok Gajapathi Raju: Civil Aviation
  • Anant Geete: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
  • Harsimrat Kaur Badal: Food Processing Industries
  • Narendra Singh Tomar: Mines & Steel Labour and Employment
  • Jual Oram: Tribal Affairs
  • Radha Mohan Singh: Agriculture
  • Thaawar Chand Gehlot: Social Justice and Empowerment
  • Smriti Zubin Irani: Human Resource Development
  • Dr. Harsh Vardhan: Health and Family Welfare ‘Super City’

In line with the principles of sustainable development advocated in the Medellin Declaration, Gravity 2.0 Research Foundation recommended that a capital city region be considered rather than a single urban agglomeration for the location of a new capital for the State of Andhra Pradesh post bifurcation.

In a representation sub-mitted to the Expert Committee on identification of location of new capital for the State of Andhra Pradesh, the Gravity 2.0 Research Foundation, suggested that the new capital be located in the Visakhapatnam-Rajahmundry-Vijayawada ‘Super City’ ensuring inclusive growth.

They also suggested that coastal shipping be promoted and the National Waterway 4 be extended to Visakhapatnam.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 08 August 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 08 August 2014

Committee set up to review Parliament security

  • Security of Parliament, which was targeted by terrorists 13 years back, is set to be strengthened further with a special committee being set up to suggest measures for it within a month.
  • The committee will be headed by former Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh and will include former Rajasthan DGP Harish Chandra Meena and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh.
  • The committee would give suggestions on training, adequacy of manpower and other relevant issues. It would also review all security equipments installed and future projections for further strengthening security.
  • In the previous Lok Sabha, a committee on security in Parliament complex, headed by then Deputy Speaker Karia Munda, was set up in the aftermath of the pepper spray attack inside Lok Sabha by a Congress MP that sparked massive outrage.
  • This committee had examined security-related matters, which also included ways to prevent bringing of dangerous and life-threatening material into the chamber of the House by the Members of Parliament themselves.

No change in UPSC exam dates: Govt.

  • The government decided to convene an all-party meeting on the issue even as it ruled out postponement of the examinations slated for 24th of August.
  • Govt. said the status quo remained on the government’s view for exclusion from gradation or merit the English comprehension skills component of the Civil Services Aptitude Test in the preliminary examination and for an additional attempt in 2015 for those who took CSAT in 2011.

SC restrains Haryana SGMC from taking control of Gurdwaras

  • The Supreme Court restrained the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras Management Committee (HSGMC) from taking control of 51 of the 52 Gurdwaras in the State.
  • The bench, hearing a writ petition questioning the constitutional validity of the law enacted by Haryana government directed that status quo be maintained in respect of other Gurdwaras.
  • The Bench also directed the SGPC and HSGMC to open separate bank accounts with regard to the Gurdwaras under their management and possession and deposit all the offerings in that account.

The Gist of Yojana: July 2014

The Gist of Yojana: July 2014

Economic growth in india- Performance and prospects

The most comprehensive indicator of economic growth in an economy is the average annual growth in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that is originating within the geographical boundary and measured at constant base period prices. It would, therefore, reflect average incremental availability of goods and services produced domestically in the economy over time. When the growth of real GDP is adjusted for the population growth, it gives the average annual growth of per capita real GDP and reflects closely the improvements in standard of living enjoyed by people in the economy on an average over time. This is particularly valid for large countries where the cross border flows of goods and services are limited in relation to the amount produced within the geographical boundary. These three average annual growth rates in: (i) real GDP, (ii) population and (iii) per capita GDP (PCI) are very significant parameters to reflect the performance and prospects of economic development in any country over fairly long time period.

History of economic growth in India is both interesting and educative. Comparable time series estimates of real GDP in India can be stretched back till the year 1900 for meaningful analysis (Sivasubramonian, 2004; and Hatekar & Dongre, 2005). There is considerable research on attempting periodization of the economic growth history in India to gain insights about policy regimes and factors determining the performanc of the economy over long periods of time (Hatekar & Dongre, 2005; Balakrishnan & Parameswaran, 2007; and Dholakia, 2014). Accordingly, there are five distinct phases so far in the history of economic growth in India: (i) 1900-1901 to 1950-51; (ii) 1950-51 to 1980-81; (iii) 1980-81 to 1991-92 to 2003-04; (v) 2003-04 to 2011-12.

The growth performance during the first phase when the country was under the last 50 years of the British rule was the worst during all the phases so far. Real GDP grew at around 1 percent annually and so did the population. As a result, the per capita real income almost stagnated for the first fifty years of the last century in India. Since the last fifty years of the British rule in the country were perhaps the best perod for the Indian economy under their rule of about 190 years in terms of development of all physical and social overhead capital such as railways, ports, schools, colleges, hospitals, banks and other institutions, it can be safely assumed that the stagnation of real living standards of people observed during 1900-51 wa perhaps the phenomenon during the entire period of 190 years of the British rule in the country.

After achieving independence, it was a major challenge to break out from such vicious circles of low level equilibrium. Committing ourselves to achieving self-sufficiency in general and the socialistic pattern of society by adopting both economic and physical planning through creation of public sector undertakings and imposing numerous controls, liceses and high taxes, during the second phase (1950-81) we achieved the break through largely through public sector interventions.

Although our share in world exports started falling significantly, the real growth of GDP increased to about 3.5 percent annually over the 30 years period, 1950-81. Because of a sharp fall in the death rate due to improved provisioning of primary healthcare infrastructure in the rural areas, the growth of population also increased substantially to about 2.2 percent annually and the per capita income registered annual growth of meagre 1.2 percent. It marked an increase of about 2.5 percentage points in the annual growth of real GDP, but only about 1.2 percentage points in per capita real GDP.

The need for reforms in economic policies was duly recognized in India in the early 1980s, not substantially lagging behind China. Serveral economic reform measures got initiated during the 1980s with exchange rates adjusting continually for differences in the inflation rates, change in the approach of monetary policy to monetary targeting, instituting new institutions in financial sector, announcement of long-term fiscal policy, reducing quota requirements in selected commodities, focusing on telecom & information & technology sector, etc.

The fourth phase saw accelerated pace of implementation of some systematic economic policy reforms in various segments of the economy such as fiscal policy, autonomy of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), commercial policy, capital markets, aviation sector, banking and insurance sector, etc. Sequencing of the reforms was meticulously done starting with privatizing selected sectors by allowing participation by the private sector into those activities reserved hitherto for only the public sector undertakings, liberalizing economic activities by abolishing licensing requirements, gradually reducing protection by cutting tariff rates to integrate domestic economy with the internationl economy, allowing foreign direct investments in the economy and finally allowing domestic players to go global and become multinational companies. The growth of real GDP further increased during this phase to 6 percent and per capita real GDP to more than 4 percent annually.

(Magazine) Yojana Magazine: Issue July 2014

Yojana Magazine: Issue July 2014

It is a well-worn cliché that ‘People get the leaders they deserve’. It perhaps hides and distorts as much as it reveals the real processes at work in a democracy. After all the closely intermeshed network of agencies and institutions through which democracy is actualised may appear like an enigmatic labyrinth with too many closed doors. The electoral process, in a way, if we may paraphrase Foucault, ‘makes windows where there were once walls’. While other institutions of democracy may be difficult to penetrate and change for the common people, the key to its pinnacle in the form of electoral process remains in the hands of masses. Herein lies the importance of the electoral process for democracy. Digging through the ruins of many a failed democracies and exploring the success of many others, it becomes obvious that the nitty-gritty of the electoral process could write the epitaph of democracy or infuse it with energy and vitality. Just like currency in the economy, a political system is as valuable as people think it to be.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 07 August 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 07 August 2014

Three-language formula not implemented effectively: MHA

  • According to union govt., Implementation of the Centre’s Three-Language Formula for schools all over the country has been uneven owing to various interpretations of the formula by different States.

  • In many States, it has been adopted as 3+/-1 formula, and for the speaker of (linguistic) minority languages it has become a four-language formula as they have to learn their mother tongue, the dominant regional language, English and Hindi.

  • The Union Minister said some boards/institutions permit even foreign languages such as Spanish, French and German in place of Hindi or Sanskrit.

  • Listing the reasons for ineffective implementation, Govt. said southern States like Puducherry and Tamil Nadu besides Tripura were not ready to teach Hindi and Hindi-speaking States did not include any South Indian language in their school curriculum. Among the other causes are the fear of heavy language load in the school curriculum; all the languages are not being taught compulsorily at the secondary stage; duration for compulsory study of three languages varies; and the States, most often, do not have adequate resources for provision of additional language teachers and teaching-learning materials.

  • The Three-Language Formula was devised in the Chief Ministers’ conferences in 1961. It was recommended by the 1968 policy under which the first language to be studied must be the mother tongue or the regional language; the second one in Hindi-speaking States would be some other modern Indian language or English, and in non-Hindi speaking States it would be Hindi or English.

Govt to convene all-party meet on UPSC row

  • Under fire from the Opposition on the UPSC row, the Government on Wednesday decided to convene an all-party meeting on the issue while indicating its unwillingness to postpone the civil services preliminary examination scheduled for August 24.

  • Maintaining that it was a sensitive issue, which has many aspects, the minister said a discussion is needed to determine on whether a major reform of the examination pattern of the UPSC is required.

Government issues alert for early detection of Ebola Virus

  • Union Govt. told Parliament that advisories were issued to the State Disease Surveillance Units to be on alert for early detection and management of travel related Ebola virus cases reported from the community.

  • In view of the reports of outbreak of the disease in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria in West Africa, Govt. recommended that non-essential travel to these countries be deferred till such time that the situation is brought under control.

  • Though there is no vaccine or curative therapy for this disease, outbreaks can be contained through early detection and isolation of cases, contact tracing and monitoring, and following rigorous procedures for infection control.

BASIC ministerial meet on August 7, 8

  • The two –day 18th BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) Ministerial Meeting will get underway to discuss important issues relating to the current UNFCCC Climate Change negotiations specially on matters pertaining to the Adhoc Working Group on the Durban Platform.

  • The 17th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change was held in Hanzghou, China last October.

  • The BASIC Ministerial meeting provides an opportunity to Environment Ministers to enhance coordination on important issues in climate change negotiations and to arrive at a common position on such issues. The BASIC Ministers have been meeting regularly since the Conference of Parties in Copenhagen.

UN-IOC Accord for Sport for Peace: Civil Services Mentor Magazine - July 2014

UN-IOC Accord for Sport for Peace

Introduction

Sports have always been recognized as an important means of resolving conflicts and maintaining cordial and peaceful relations. Sporting events have the potential to bring together different communities and nations, and act in a harmonious way. The examples of various international sporting events, like- The Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games etc, are evidence of the fact that many countries have successfully used such events to iron out the differences.

It is in this regard that the United Nations Organization (UNO) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has signed a historic agreement to use the power of the sports to promote peace and economic development, with an aim to strengthen the collaboration between the nations.

At an event, the IOC President Thomas Bach said that the Olympic principles are United Nations principles. While bringing out a comparison between the two international organizations, Mr. Bach mentioned that both- the UN and Olympic charter- call for international cooperation to promote peace, a better life for people around the world and preserving human dignity.

Adding to the commonality in the goals and objectives of the two organizations, UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban-ki-Moon said that:

"the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) 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 Accord for Sports for Peace

The agreement calls for sporting initiatives between the IOC, National Olympic Committees, International Sports Federations, Organizing Committees and International Athletes and the 193 UN member states, apart from the various UN Agencies, Envoys and goodwill ambassadors.

The Accord entails a plan whereby, the two organizations will be promoting education for youth through sports 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.

The Accord specifically recognizes the role of sports in reducing stigma and increasing the social and economic integration of marginalized people and in bridging cultural, religious, ethnic and social divides.

There is a need, in the contemporary world, to promote the values of teamwork, fairness and respect for opponent and the rules of the game. The universal law of sports is based on global ethics, fair-play, respect and friendship.

In the politically and ethnically divided contemporary world, it is the sports world that gives hope to be politically neutral, while also not being apolitical. UN Secretary-General also announced the appointment of former IOC President Jacques Rogge as his Special Envoy on Youth, Refugees and Sport. He will help promote sport as an empowering tool for youth from displaced and refugee communities towards peace, reconciliation, security, health, education, gender equality, and a more inclusive society.

Mr. Ban particularly mentioned the important role of sports in the conflict-ridden areas, such as Syria, the Central African Republic and South Sudan, and in the neighbouring countries which host millions of refugees. The President of the General Assembly, John Ashe, also praised the power of sport to help meet the deadline for the eight anti-poverty targets known as Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

On the same note, Mr. Ban mentioned that Sport can also motivate children to enroll and do well in school, empower girls and women by providing opportunities for leadership and accomplishments, and help reach many groups and communities with important messages on HIV/AIDS and other diseases, drug abuse and environmental protection.

Fiscal Deficit: Underlying reasons and Road ahead for India: Civil Services Mentor Magazine - July 2014

Fiscal Deficit: Underlying reasons and Road ahead for India

'Fiscal Deficit' might be a word many people today are using without even realizing what it means or how significant it is. 'Fiscal Deficit' is actually when a government's total expenditures exceed the revenue that has been generated. The fiscal deficit, was 4.9 per cent of GDP in the previous financial year.

Fiscal deficit is possibly the most crucial issue in the global financial markets these days and one of the most daunting tasks that Government of few particular countries have to face while taking care of it's economy. For instance, the euro zone is under constant threat of falling apart because of large accumulated debt and high fiscal deficit in a number of countries, lawmakers in the US do not give any consent on deficit reduction plan. Indian scenario not very different; however, things seem to be turning up for better.

Fiscal Deficit: different perspectives

Keynesian view, favors huge expenditure by the government to employ available resources to the fullest. On the other hand , argument of Ricardian is that it doesn't make a difference as consumers cut expenditure in anticipation of higher taxes that will be levied later in order to pay off the debt. Neo-classical school of thought, on the other hand has been a dominating view on the subject and the neo-classical economists argue that high government expenditure and savings have a negative co-relation and it affects growth adversely.

The financing of budgets by deficits implies postponement of taxes. The deficit in any current period is exactly equal to the present value of future taxation that is required to pay off the increment to debt resulting from the deficit. In other words, government spending must be paid for, whether now or later, and the present value of spending must be equal to the present value of tax and non-tax revenues.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 06 August 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 06 August 2014

UPSC exam row disrupts Parliament

  • Opposition members created an uproar over the UPSC issue trooping into the well and forcing adjournament of the House for half-an-hour. The Lok Sabha too witnessed an adjournment, till 12.30 p.m. over the UPSC row.

  • Civil Services aspirants also continued their agitation and said they would continue protests as the government had only addressed a “miniscule issue” by doing away with the English component of the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT). They want the entire paper scrapped.

Govt to auction coal mines after obtaining necessary approvals

  • The government will auction captive coal mines to companies engaged in production of steel, cement and sponge iron after obtaining necessary clearances and detailed exploration of the blocks.
  • Notice Inviting application was issued on February 26, 2014, offering three coal blocks for mining to companies engaged in production of steel, cement and sponge iron.
  • The Ministry of Coal had offered three blocks for auction for captive use for steel, cement and sponge iron companies — two in Jharkhand and one in West Bengal. The mines have total reserves of 500 million tonnes.
  • Official auditor CAG had earlier said allotment of 57 mines to private firms without auction had resulted in a notional loss of Rs. 1.8 lakh crore to the exchequer.
  • Last year, the government had allocated 17 coal mines to Central and State public sector units, including four to NTPC. It had planned to auction 54 coal blocks with total estimated reserves of about 18 billion tonnes.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 05 August 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 05 August 2014

English not to count for UPSC grades

  • In a bid to end the ongoing agitation against the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT), the Government said the English comprehension skills component of Paper II in the Civil Services (Prelims) should not be included for gradation or merit.
  • Also, an additional attempt should be given to those who took CSAT in 2011 in the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2015.
  • Government’s opinion was based on consultations with Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) representatives and the three-member Committee set up to review the CSE pattern.
  • With the Government revealing its hand, the Department of Personnel and Training is expected to make necessary changes in the examination rules and notify them at the earliest. The UPSC will then operationalise the amended rules.

Black economy now amounts to 75% of GDP

  • Driven substantially by the higher education sector, real estate deals and mining income, India’s black economy could now be nearly three-quarters the size of its reported Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
  • There were no “reliable” estimates of black money generated in India and held within and outside the country, the government commissioned the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) to estimate the black money in India and held overseas by Indians.
  • The capitation fees collected by private colleges, on management quota seats in professional courses, last year was around Rs 5,953 crore.

New Education Policy on the anvil: Smriti

  • Government is formulating a new Education Policy aimed at meeting the challenges posed by lack of quality, research and innovation in educational institutions.
  • Education being a subject in the Concurrent List of 7th Schedule of the Constitution, the responsibility of education lies primarily with the State Governments.
  • However, all States will be advised to develop syllabi and Text Books keeping in view the New Education Policy, taking into consideration State specific concerns.
  • The National Policy on Education (NPE) 1986, as amended in 1992, has been the guiding document for the policies of the Central Government in the education sector.
  • In the last twenty years, the education scenario has been a monumental change with the emergence of several new paradigms like rights based approach to elementary education, the endeavour to extend universalization to secondary education, reshape the higher education scenario and its impact on the innovation environment and providing an impetus to skill development through vocational education.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 04 August 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 04 August 2014

Kosi floods: Centre rushes relief teams to Bihar

  • The Centre rushed in essential supplies, relief teams and other assistance to Bihar to deal with Kosi flood situation and put on standby several aircraft to deal with any emergency.

  • An assessment team comprising experts from different fields is in Nepal to oversee the situation as an artificial dam created there on a Kosi tributary following a massive landslide has sparked fears of floods in Bihar.

  • Government also said eight National Disaster Response Force teams have already been deployed and seven will soon be sent.

  • 44,000 persons had been evacuated by the Bihar government and the state administration was urged to speed up the process, adding that 107 relief camps had been set up. One composite column (100 personnel) of army and air force had reached Supaul and one Saharsa in the state and three more columns mobilised from Sukna have gone to Katihar.

Centre constitutes committee to look into changes in Lokpal rules

  • A committee under the chairmanship of the Attorney General (AG) has been formed by the Centre to look into the amendments in Lokpal search panel rules, which were notified by the last United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
  • The search panel is mandated to recommend names for appointment of chairperson and members of the Lokpal. This panel has faced some objection in the past, the search panel has to choose these persons from among the panel provided by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
  • As per the existing rules, an eight-member search panel is tasked to draw up a panel of persons for consideration by the selection committee led by the Prime Minister for appointment of chairperson and members of the Lokpal.
  • The government is likely to empower the search committee to also include people from outside the list to be provided by the DoPT for consideration by the selection committee.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 03 August 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 03 August 2014

First push to inland waterways on cards

  • Government will give a decisive push to make the Ganga-Hooghly waterway navigable for freight movement by tying up for a World Bank loan that could be as much as $1 billion.

  • Developing inland waterways is a key agenda for the National Democratic Alliance Government as it pushes for decongesting communication bottlenecks and opening up options for high volume freight.

  • These barrages will be part of the Government’s recent announcement of a series of barrages on the Ganga from Allahabad to Haldia which will facilitate movement of larger vessels. The plan has drawn criticism from environmentalists who have highlighted the dangers of sedimentation and the decline of fisheries.

  • Government believes that river transportation is the cheapest available option and should be maximised to boost economic growth. Already barges have begun supplying imported coal to Farakka super thermal power plant in the absence of land based transportation alternatives.

  • The plan for the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly stretch, which the Government is prioritising, envisages a large number of additions such as navigation aids along the entire 1,600-km-stretch and night navigation between Tribeni and Farakka, a GPS system and repair facilities along the route.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 02 August 2014

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 02 August 2014

‘Monsoon deficiency gone down to 23%’

  • With the country receiving good rain in July, monsoon deficiency has gone down to 23 percent, in the first two months - from June 1 to July 31 - the whole of India received 342.2 mm as against expected rainfall of 443.6 mm.
  • Central India, which saw little rain in June, has by now seen some good rain. It received 402.2 mm of rainfall as compared to expected rainfall of 477.7 mm with a deficiency of 16 per cent, much lesser compared to other parts of the country.
  • The Sourthern Peninsula also received good rainfall, especially the coastal belt of Konkan and Goa. It received 288.4 mm of rainfall as compared to expected precipitation of 371.5 mm with a deficiency of 22 per cent.

No final decision on gas pricing yet: Jaitley

  • More than a month after it deferred a decision on raising natural gas prices, the Government said it has not taken a final decision on the issue yet.
  • Government had in December last year decided to price all domestic gas from April 1, 2014 according to a formula suggested by the Rangarajan Committee.
  • The Rangarajan formula would lead to doubling of natural gas prices to USD 8.4 per million British thermal unit, an increase that would jack up urea production cost, electricity tariff and CNG rates.

Pace of justice delivery system not satisfactory: SC

  • Expressing concern over the slow pace of justice delivery system in the country, the Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to formulate a policy within four weeks to speed up trial in criminal cases, saying it is not a good sign of democracy and good governance.
  • Justice Lodha said, “Fast tracking one category of cases is not going to improve the situation. It would affect other cases. Fast tracking of justice is needed for all cases not only for one category".
  • The apex court’s view against putting one category of cases on fast track assumes significance in the light of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked Home and Law Minister to draw up a blueprint for settling of cases against politicians, especially legislators, within one year.

Govt. proposes no marks count for English and 1 Extra Attempt to clear CSAT Logjam

Govt. proposes no marks count for English and 1 Extra Attempt to clear CSAT Logjam

In a bid to end the agitation against the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT), the Union government on Monday said the English comprehension skills component of Paper II in the Civil Services preliminary examination should not be included for gradation or merit. Also, an additional attempt should be given to those who took CSAT in 2011 in the Civil Services Examination, 2015.

This is the government’s opinion, Minister of State for Personnel Jitender Singh said in the Lok Sabha after the CSAT issue disrupted proceedings in the Rajya Sabha again. When some members asked if CSAT had been scrapped, Mr. Singh said he had nothing more to say.

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