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.

Financial Inclusion Mission to be big I-Day announcement

• On Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the Financial Inclusion Mission to ensure that every household in India has access to banking services such as savings accounts, credit, remittances, insurance and pension.
• At present, more than 40 per cent of Indian households do not have access to banking services. The programme’s objective is to ensure that a minimum two members of each of these 7.5-crore households at least have savings bank accounts.
• The multi-level outreach will be undertaken through ATMs, banking correspondents, branches and other banking platforms.

UPSC exam row creates turmoil in Parliament

• The UPSC exam row generated heat in both Houses of Parliament with a member tearing a paper and throwing it towards the Speaker in Lok Sabha and almost the entire opposition staging a walkout in the Upper House.

• In the Lok Sabha, an agitated RJD member Rajesh Ranjan stormed the Well waving a newspaper while seeking a statement on the UPSC exam row and later tore the newspaper and threw it in the Well, with some landing on the Speaker’s table.

• As there was no assurance from the government about the time-frame by when the issue will be resolved, the Opposition members insisted that the Chair should direct it to come out with a reasonable proposal by when it will be resolved.

Govt seeks ways to increase use of broadband capacity

• Concerned over under-utilisation of broadband capacity, the government sought suggestions from the industry to enhance its usage that is at around 50 per cent level.
• The government and other stakeholders have to find the reason for under-utilisation of broadband by the private sector “whether it is cost, speeds of connectivity or is it devices that are very costly”.
• The government is working to connect all the 2.5 lakh panchayats with high speed broadband network but stakeholders need to ensure that the new infrastructure being laid is utilised by people in the rural areas.
• The government has plans to set-up National E-governance Academy, knowledge portal on e-governance and enhance usage of social media platform.

K V Chowdary appointed as new CBDT Chairman

• K V Chowdary has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the top policy making body of the Income Tax department.
• The officer was till now working as the Member (Investigations) of the direct taxes revenue collection board. He has earlier served as the Director General of I-T (Investigations) in the national capital where he headed a number of high-profile tax probes, including the 2G spectrum allocation case and the HSBC Geneva taxpayers list along with a number of cases dealing with black money and tax evasion.
• CBDT has six members apart from the Chairman and is the apex body for framing policy and administrative issues related to direct taxes and the Income Tax department.

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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

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