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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 08 October 2014

National

Jayalalithaa’s bail plea rejected by HC

• In yet another setback to AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa, the Karnataka High refused to release her on bail and rejected her plea for suspending the four-year prison sentence imposed by the trial court on September 27 in the disproportionate assets case.
• The court also rejected similar pleas of the other convicts in the case — V.K. Sasikala, V.N. Sudhakaran and J. Elavarasi.
• Ms. Jayalalithaa and others may now have to move the Supreme Court for bail. The court adjourned the hearing of the appeal to October 24. The court’s rejection of bail came despite Special Public Prosecutor G. Bhavani Singh telling the Court that “he has no objection for the release of the convicts on conditional bail.” Justice A.V. Chandrashekara said in his order that “no ground has been made out” by the convicts for suspending the sentence.
• Referring to the contention that Ms. Jayalalithaa was entitled to release on bail as she was on bail throughout the trial without causing prejudice to the proceedings, he said suspension of the sentence and release on bail could not be an automatic process when the higher court admits an appeal against conviction.

India stepped up surveillance in Rajasthan as polio sweeps Pakistan

• With Pakistan reporting the highest number of polio cases in the past 15 years, India has stepped up surveillance along the international border, particularly in Rajasthan, to check any spread of the infection.
• Jodhpur and Barmer districts are under heightened vigilance because of the Thar Link Express passing through here which ferries people between the two countries. More than 25,000 people have travelled in Thar link Express.

Talks fail to resolve the LoC issue

• Tension prevailed along the border in Jammu and Kashmir as Pakistani troops continued to violate the ceasefire agreement, targeting 40 Indian outposts and injuring nine civilians.
• The BSF said Pakistani Rangers fired shells in the Balnoi sector in Poonch even as officers of the Directorate-General of Military Operations of India and Pakistan spoke to each other in the morning but failed to resolve the issue. Army sources said the two sides traded charges, accusing each other of violating the ceasefire which came into force in 2003.
• In a deviation from normal practice, instead of DGMOs — a Lt-General from the Indian Army and a Major-General from the Pakistani side — lower-rank officers talked over the hotline for a few minutes.
• Both BSF chief D.K. Pathak and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah visited areas near Jammu to assess the damage caused by the shelling.
• Pakistan blamed India for carrying out heavy shelling over the past “seven days.” In a statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz said the firing had continued “in complete disregard” of the Eid holidays, claiming that “the Indian government has not been able to restrain its forces despite strong diplomatic protest by Pakistan.”

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Sports

Michael Phelps banned for 6 months

• USA Swimming has suspended Michael Phelps for six months, forced him to withdraw from next year’s world championships and taken away his funding from the sport’s national governing body as a result of the Olympic champion’s second driving under the influence arrest.
• The sanctions announced won’t keep Phelps from training with his North Baltimore club, but he won’t be allowed to participate in USA Swimming-sanctioned meets through March 6, 2015. Phelps and USA Swimming also agreed that he won’t compete in the world swimming championships in Russia next July. His monthly funding stipends will be stopped during the suspension.
• Phelps announced he was entering a six-week, in-patient program last weekend, a week after he was arrested and charged with drunken driving in his hometown of Baltimore.

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Science & technology

India launches microscope uses peacock feather technology

• India launched an ingeniously manufactured microscope that generates 3D images of objects. The Broad Spectrum Confocal Microscope has several applications in medicine and materials sciences. It uses an infra red beam which passes through a patented photonic crystal fibre made by the Central Glass and Ceramics Research Institute (CGCRI), Kolkata.
• “The optic fibre produces multiple wavelengths from the laser due to its surface which has very small holes. This is similar to the way a peacock’s feather scatters light. This is projected on to the target object which allows us to see a three dimensional structure of the object,” CGCRI Director Kamal Dasgupta said.
• The microscope was developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) along with Vinvish Technologies, Thiruvananthapuram, under the New Millennium Indian Technology Initiative, an effort launched by the CSIR over a decade ago to develop technologies through collaborative efforts by research laboratories and technology companies in India.

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Persons in news

Nobel Prize in physics 2014

• Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Japan and U.S. scientist Shuji Nakamura won the Nobel Prize in physics for the invention of blue light-emitting diodes a new energy efficient and environment-friendly light source.
• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the invention is just 20 years old, “but it has already contributed to create white light in an entirely new manner to the benefit of us all".
• Prof. Akasaki, 85, is a professor at Meijo University and distinguished professor at Nagoya University. Prof. Amano, 54, is also a professor at Nagoya University, while the 60-year-old Prof. Nakamura is a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
• The laureates triggered a transformation of lighting technology when they produced bright blue light from semiconductors in the 1990s, something scientist had struggled with for decades, the Nobel committee said.
• Using the blue light, LED lamps emitting white light could be created in a new way.
• Last year’s physics award went to Britain’s Peter Higgs and Belgian colleague Francois Englert for helping to explain how matter formed after the Big Bang.

International

Hong Kong “one country-two systems” protests

• Hong Kong has been rocked by a spate of student-led protests that have swept across the city’s sensitive financial, administrative and shopping hubs. The agitation has sharply brought into focus the “one country-two systems” policy that defined Hong Kong’s transition from an erstwhile British colony to a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
• The protesters are clamouring for full democracy that includes open nomination of candidates for the post of Chief Executive (CE) of the territory in the elections scheduled for 2017. Their protests have acquired a sharp and emotive edge after Beijing was accused of reneging on its commitment to premise the entire electoral process from 2017 on universal suffrage, including the choice of candidates for Hong Kong’s highest office.
• The high-profile protests that could, if they get prolonged, threaten Hong Kong’s status as one of Asia’s premier financial centers need to be analysed in their fuller context. During the entire period of British rule — a full 155 years following the Opium Wars — democratic advancement in the territory was minimal.
• Post-1997 under Chinese sovereignty, the democratic reform process has begun to take shape, based on the Basic Law adopted by China in 1990. Under its terms, the CE would be elected by universal suffrage in 2017; but a committee would also be formed that would supervise nominations. While the agitating students, seeking unconditional democracy, may be unhappy with this law, the accusation that Beijing has reneged on its legal obligations is entirely flawed.
• It is highly unlikely that despite the considerable force of the social media at their command and the sizeable mobilisation on the streets, the protesters will manage to persuade Beijing to change its mind on the fundamentals of its “one country-two systems” policy, which allows the people of Hong Kong to retain their distinctive legal and political system.

Canadian Parliament authorizes air strikes in Iraq

• Following a request from the U.S., Canada’s Parliament has voted to authorise airstrikes against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq
• Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party introduced the motion last week and it was debated this week. Mr. Harper has a majority of seats in Parliament so the vote was all but assured. The motion authorises air strikes in Iraq for up to six months and explicitly states that no ground troops be used in combat operations.
• The combat mission includes up to six CF-18 fighter jets, a refuelling tanker aircraft, two surveillance planes and one airlift aircraft. About 600 airmen and airwomen will be involved.
• Canada is among dozens of countries that have joined the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State militant group.
• “The threat posed by ISIL is real,” Mr. Harper said in a statement, referring to the Islamic State by one of its acronyms.
• “If left unchecked this terrorist organisation will grow and grow quickly. They have already voiced their local and international terrorist intentions and identified Canada as a potential target.”

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Business & Economy

IMF lowered its outlook for global economic growth

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) slightly lowered its outlook for global economic growth this year and next, mostly because of weaker expansions in Japan, Latin America and Europe.
• The global economy will grow 3.3 per cent this year, one-tenth of a point below what it forecast in July. World growth should then pick up to 3.8 per cent in 2015, two-tenths of a point lower than its previous estimate, the IMF says in the latest installment of its World Economic Outlook.
• The global lending organization has a more optimistic view of the U.S. economy, which it expects will grow 2.2 per cent this year, up from an earlier forecast of 1.7 per cent. Its forecast for 3.1 per cent growth in the U.S. next year was unchanged.
• Still, the global lending organization warned that the U.S., Europe and Japan could face years of sluggish growth unless governments take steps to accelerate activity. It acknowledged that it has frequently cut its forecasts in the past several years, and said that was partly because of slower long-run growth in advanced economies.
• “World growth is mediocre and a bit worse than forecast in July,” the report said.
• The IMF forecasts that growth in the 18 countries that use the euro will be just 0.8 per cent this year, down from 1.1 per cent in its July forecast. It lowered its 2015 projection to 1.3 per cent from 1.5 per cent.

SEBI monitoring sought as battle for MCFL gathers momentum

• With the battle for takeover of Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd. (MCFL) entering a decisive phase, analysts are of the view that investors will stand to gain by offloading their shares to Pune-based Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. (DFPCL) as the scrip has already hit a high. However, there is also a growing concern on account of the current market price of MCFL shares, which are ruling at around Rs.104.
• M&A (mergers and acquisition) experts have expressed concern whether this is due to normal play of market forces.
• They also feel that the Securities and Exchange Board of India should start tracking the transactions to rule out any unfair practice if it is established.