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.

Drones to guard India’s forests and wildlife

• Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones will soon fly over India’s forests to monitor poaching, track wildlife and even count the population of tigers.

• Scientists at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) are coming up with a series of such drones which are being customised indigenously to suit different types of forest landscape.

• Under a joint collaboration with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and international environment body WWF, they are preparing a detailed project report for introducing drone monitoring in 10 wildlife-rich areas across the country.

• A drone can be put on autopilot mode and sent as far as 40-50 km deep into the forest where it can record images and videos and transmit them on a real-time basis. Its movement can also be controlled through a GPS-based system. Such drones were recently tested successfully in Panna Tiger Reserve and Kaziranga forest.

• Drones can also be used for night surveillance and tracking of many elusive and shy animals like the red panda and snow leopard, which are very rarely seen by the human eye in their natural wild habitat. Travelling at a speed of 40 km per hour, the drones can be used for around 40-50 minutes.

Rajapaksa expresses regret, calls for report on article

• Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has sought a report on the recent article and graphic published on the Defence Ministry’s website that was derogatory to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
• The Defence Ministry issued an ‘unqualified apology’ in the wake of the controversy. The Ministry said the views of Shenali D. Waduge or those expressed in the graphic did not reflect those of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa or of the government.
• India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the government would summon the Sri Lankan High Commissioner, and the matter had been taken up with the Sri Lankan government.

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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

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