Weekly Current Affairs Update for IAS Exam

VOL - 3 (16th December 2013 TO 22nd December 2013)

Issue : VOL - 3 (16th December 2013 TO 22nd December 2013)

File Type: PDF ONLY "NO HARD COPY"

Click Here to Download Sample Material

Click Here to Buy VOL - 3 Full PDF

Click Here to Buy 1 Year Subscription - "Only PDF"

Covered Topics:

• National  (Full Material Available Only For Subscribed Members)

• NATIONAL PORTAL OF INDIA (Full Material Available Only For Subscribed Members)

• Ministry of External affairs (Full Material Available Only For Subscribe Members)

• Planning Commission of India (Full Material Available Only For Subscribed Members)

• International (Full Material Available Only For Subscribed Members)

• Economy (Full Material Available Only For Subscribed Members)

• India And The World (Full Material Available Only For Subscribed Members)

• Sports (Full Material Available Only For Subscribed Members)

• In The News (Full Material Available Only For Subscribed Members)

• Science and Technology (Full Material Available Only For Subscribed Members)

• Burning Issues (Editorials From Different Newspapers) (Full Material Available Only For Subscribed Members)

NATIONAL PORTAL OF INDIA

A GLINT OF INDIA

(Courtesy: NATIONAL PORTAL OF INDIA)

Ministry of External affairs

India and the United Nations

India was among the original members of the United Nations that signed the Declaration by United Nations at Washington on 1 January 1942 and also participated in the historic UN Conference of International Organization at San Francisco from 25 April to 26 June 1945. As a founding member of the United Nations, India strongly supports the purposes and principles of the UN and has made significant contributions to implementing the goals of the Charter, and the evolution of the UN’s specialized programs and agencies.

Historical perspective: Decolonization and Apartheid

Independent India viewed its membership at the United Nations as an important guarantee for maintaining international peace and security. India stood at the forefront during the UN's tumultuous years of struggle against colonialism and apartheid. India was the co-sponsor of the landmark 1960 Declaration on UN on Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples which proclaimed the need to unconditionally end colonialism in all its forms and manifestations. India was also elected the first chair of the Decolonization Committee (Committee of 24) where its ceaseless efforts to put an end to colonialism are well on record.

India was amongst the most outspoken critics of apartheid and racial discrimination in South Africa. In fact, India was the first country to raise the issue in the UN (in 1946) and played a leading role in the formation of a Sub-Committee against Apartheid set up by the General Assembly. When the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination was adopted in 1965, India was among the earliest signatories.

India’s status as a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77 cemented its position within the UN system as a leading advocate of the concerns and aspirations of developing countries and the creation of a more equitable international economic and political order.

(Courtesy: Ministry of External affairs)

Planning Commission of India

A BRIEF HISTORY OF PLANNING COMMISSION

The Planning Commission was set up by a Resolution of the Government of India in March 1950 in pursuance of declared objectives of the Government to promote a rapid rise in the standard of living of the people by efficient exploitation of the resources of the country, increasing production and offering opportunities to all for employment in the service of the community. The Planning Commission was charged with the responsibility of making assessment of all resources of the country, augmenting deficient resources, formulating plans for the most effective and balanced utilization of resources and determining priorities. Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Chairman of the Planning Commission.

(Courtesy: Planning Commission of India)

NATIONAL EVENTS

India may end nannies for diplomats

• The US State Department sought to prevent tensions from escalating further as India went on the warpath over the shock arrest of its deputy consul Devyani Khobragade in New York.

• India has taken a muscular stand in summoning US Ambassador Nancy Powell, stripping US diplomats of identification cards that give them diplomatic benefits, and removing security barriers outside the US embassy in New Delhi.

• Under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, consular officials can still be arrested for acts committed outside of official job functions.

• India was outraged in Khobragade’s case, as the young mother of two was jumped and handcuffed by US security officials when she was dropping her daughters to school. 'The arrest was handled with shocking insensitivity.

• India reviews nanny service Stung by the nanny scandal in New York, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is weighing in on whether to discourage diplomats from taking a constellation of help from nannies to cooks from India to America. "The diplomat’s life is one big Catch 22..

• This is not the first time an Indian diplomat in the US has been charged with mistreating domestic helpers. Given the frequency of these cases, the thinking in the MEA is that the issue of taking domestic help abroad needs to be reviewed

• In 2011, Santosh Bhardwaj sued her employer India's then consul general in New York, Prabhu Dayal, accusing him of treating her like a slave, forcing her to work long hours for $300 a month, confiscating her passport and making her sleep in a storage closet. Similarly, in 2012, an Indian maid won a $1.5 million lawsuit against Neena Malhotra, a former press and culture counselor at the New York Consulate, for "barbaric treatment to her.

• As for Devyani Khobragade , New Delhi transferred the IFS officer to India's permanent mission in the United Nations from her present post of deputy consul-general in New York, giving the US an opportunity to grant her full diplomatic immunity.

• India is considering proposing an agreement to extend full diplomatic immunity to all personnel of the two countries under the Vienna Convention for Diplomatic Relations, regardless of whether they are posted at consulates or the embassy. Russia is said to have such an agreement with the United States.

INTERNATIONAL

Tussle in oil rich South Sudan

• The death of three Indian UN peacekeepers has brought into sharp focus a power struggle, whose roots may lie not so much in an inter-ethnic contest for political ascendancy, but a larger tussle for the control and diversion of South Sudan’s rich energy and mineral resources.
• The three soldiers were killed when fighting between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar spiralled, resulting in an attack on a UN peacekeeping base.
• The targeted UN stronghold in the town of Akobo is in Jonglei State whose capital Bor is already under the control of Mr. Machar’s forces, making it an ideal base for a further advance.
• UN forces are protecting 14,000 civilians who have fled the fighting in Bor.
• More than 500 people have so far been killed amid fears that a civil war may be on the cards, riding on the growing animosities between the country’s Dinka and Nuer ethnic groups.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky released from prison

• Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an oil tycoon and political opponent of Vladimir Putin, has been released from prison after being pardoned by the Russian President.
• Mr. Khodorkovsky, who has spent the last 10 years in prison on charges of fraud and tax evasion, left a prison colony in Russia’s northwest near the Arctic Circle, on Friday morning, within an hour after the Kremlin published Mr. Putin’s decree pardoning the 50-year-old businessman on “humanitarian” grounds.
• Mr. Putin said Mr. Khodorkovsky had cited his mother’s worsening illness when asking for clemency.
• Russia’s richest man and owner of the country’s largest oil company was arrested in October 2003 and sentenced to eight years in prison. His company, Yukos, was dismantled and taken over by the state. In 2010 Mr. Khodorkovsky was tried again on charges of embezzlement and slapped with another prison term that would have kept him behind bars till August 2014.

INDIA AND THE WORLD

India-Japan maritime exercise

• India’s indigenously built stealth frigate INS Satpura, the Guided Missile Destroyer INS Ranvijay and missile corvette INS Kuthar participated in the four-day first ever Japan-India Maritime Exercise (JIMEX) that was conducted in waters off the Indian coast in the Bay of Bengal from December 19.

• Japan participated in the exercise, which focussed on Maritime Security Cooperation, through its Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) that would be bringing in two Guided Missile destroyers, JS Ariake (with Commander Escort Division – 7 embarked), and JS Setogiri.

• The exercise comprised of harbour and sea phases of two days each that strived to enhance interoperability, thereby enabling the two navies to undertake operations in the sphere of maritime security in the future.

• India and Japan had agreed to conduct bilateral naval exercises during Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s visit to Japan in November 2011 and the first such exercise was conducted off Japan in January 2012.

ECONOMY

Tesco and TATA

• More than a year after the government allowed 51% foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, Britain’s Tesco, the world’s third largest retailer, is set to become the first foreign supermarket to foray into India’s Rs 31 lakh crore ($500 billion) retail sector.

• Tesco announced it had applied to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to buy a 50% stake in Tata group’s Trent Hypermarket, thus confirming months-long speculation about a possible multi-brand joint venture (JV) between the two.

• Trent operates the supermarket chain Star Bazaar. Subject to mandatory approvals, the Tata-Tesco joint venture would focus on Karnataka and Maharashtra.

• Tesco, reports said, wants to invest $110 million (around Rs 682 crore) on its India foray, well above the stipulated minimum multi-brand retail FDI of $100 million.

• Tesco had formed an alliance with the Tata group in 2008 for providing back-end support and for wholesale and franchise agreements.

• The British retailer now supplies around 80% of the goods to Tata’s 16 Star Bazaar and Star Daily stores.

• The year has been a busy one for the Tata group led by Cyrus Mistry (pictured) what with partnerships with three global players. Apart from the latest one with Tesco, Tata had inked a deal with Malaysia’s low-cost carrier AirAsia in February and the two are all set to launch a budget airline come 2014. In September, Tata tied up with Singapore Airlines for a 51:49 $49 million (to be scaled up to $100 million) JV to launch a full-service airline in India.

ENVIRONMENT

Green Tribunal’s powers challenged

• The National Green Tribunal’s powers to take up cases about wildlife have been challenged. The question of the tribunal’s jurisdiction has cropped up in a petition filed by an iron ore miner in Kohlapur, Maharashtra, asking for renewing his right to mine in a piece of land the government has said is a tiger corridor.

• The case pertains to a mine operating in a village that falls between the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve and Radhanagri Wildlife Sanctuary but the case could now take a greater significance, besides deciding the fate of the tract of land between the two tiger-bearing areas that the environment ministry said is a corridor used by tigers.

• The mine owner who applied for renewal of his lease to mine iron could not secure the forest clearance as the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) — the apex body of the government in charge of tiger conservation, under the environment ministry — said the lease fell in a wildlife corridor that needed protection.

• The green laws that the tribunal is empowered to adjudicate on does not cover the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, though the body is empowered to deal with issues pertaining to forest clearances under the Forest Conservation Act 1980, besides other regulations and legislations.

SCIENCE AND TECH

Thalassemia kit

• India launched a low-cost, indigenously-manufactured Thalassemia and Sickle Cell diagnostic kit that will simplify the identification of seven common beta-thalassemia mutations and two common abnormal haemoglobins common in India.

• This kit, tailor-made for the Indian population, can also be used for screening.

• The kit, to be made available at approximately Rs 400 in the public health facilities up to district levels, is expected to bring down the prices of the test in the open market where it costs up to Rs 15,000.

SPORTS

Delhi Waveriders

• Actor-turned-producer John Abraham has been signed by Hockey India League (HIL) franchise Delhi Waveriders as its co-owner recently.
• The franchise also appointed former national hockey coach Cedric D'Souza as their new coach for the second edition of the league which starts next month.
• The Hockey India League is scheduled from January 25 to February 15, with six teams competing against each other.

IN THE NEWS (PERSONS)

Sushma Singh

• The President Pranab Mukherjee administered the oath of office to former IAS officer Sushma Singh as Chief Information Commissioner at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
• A panel comprising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, and Law Minister Kapil Sibal appointed Ms. Singh.
• Ms. Singh, who is the fifth Chief Information Commissioner of CIC, is the second woman to be appointed to the post after Deepak Sandhu.
• She had joined the CIC as Information Commissioner on September 23, 2009.
• Prior to joining the CIC, Ms. Singh served as Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministries of Information & Broadcasting, Panchyati Raj and the Development of the North East Region (DONER).
• Besides her, there are eight Information Commissioners — Rajiv Mathur, Vijai Sharma, Basant Seth, Yashovardhan Azad, Sharat Sabharwal, Manjula Prasher, M A Khan Yusufi and Prof Madabhushanam Sridhar Acharyulu.
• The CIC is mandated to resolve appeals and complaints filed by information seekers, under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, against government departments or public authorities.

Selected Editorials of Importance

Silence of the workplace

By doing nothing, institutions foster hostile sexual environments

Once upon a time, facts amounting to sexual harassment did not socially "exist", let alone constitute a legal claim. Behaviour such as sexual innuendo, sexually offensive gestures, sexually explicit material, sexual expletives, hostile workplace environments, job-related decisions based on implied requests for sexual favours were, well, just the way things were — it was systemic in nature. These were common life experiences that our mothers, and perhaps their mothers, and yes, we too, simply "managed". When it did get legally recognised by the landmark Vishaka judgment in 1997, sexual harassment moved from the primitive language of "eve teasing", "outraging modesty", "light-hearted banter" to be framed in terms of a fundamental constitutional right to equality and dignity for women at work.

Vishaka envisaged that women might finally go to work with the legitimate expectation that their workplace would be free of any of the overt or implied sexual harms described above — that women would be accepted as colleagues and equals and not as sex objects in a context of unequal power. And that the responsibility for ensuring that women no longer have to dodge the offensive sexual proclivities of colleagues and bosses would lie with the employer or those in positions of responsibility. Or so it was thought.

Sixteen years later, those projecting themselves as the custodians of such basic and fundamental expectations, be it a Tehelka, the Supreme Court of India or even the state, have barely, if at all, complied with Vishaka. Had they done so, the law intern and the journalist would have entered a workplace that prioritised the prevention of workplace sexual harassment, encouraged its employees or members to speak up about it and cultivated an environment supportive of their claims. They would have been equipped with language that understood sexual harassment as a violation of constitutional equality at work and hailed leadership that promptly condemned sexually inappropriate behaviour (irrespective of the offender's status). As a last resort, they would have had access to a trained, skilled and capable complaints committee, with third party expertise, to hear their complaint empathetically and through an informed lens.

(Courtesy : Indian express)

MCQs

Q 1.

i) The Supreme Court has accepted a petition for disqualifying MPs and MLAs, convicted for criminal offences, without giving them the benefit of appeals pending in higher courts recently.
ii) Section 8 says that a person convicted of the charge of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment under Sections 8 (1) (2) and (3) shall be disqualified from the date of conviction and shall remain so for six years after his release.

Which of the above statement/statements is/are true?

a) only i
b) only ii
c) both i and ii
d) neither i nor ii

Q 2.

i) India is planning to go ahead with construction of the 330-MW Kishanganga hydro-electric project in Punjab after much delay due to controversies surrounding it.
ii) The Election Commission has recommended to the Law Ministry to treat all paid news as an electoral offence since it had been causing “maximum damage” to the electoral process.

Which of the above statement/statements is/are true?

a) only i
b) only ii
c) both i and ii
d) neither i nor ii

Click Here to Download Sample Material

Click Here to Buy VOL - 3 Full PDF

Click Here to Buy 1 Year Subscription - "Only PDF"

<< Go Back to Main Page