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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.

e-rickshaws finally get the legal stamp

The Delhi High Court on Friday advised the Delhi Government to organise camps for registration of e-rickshaws to protect the operators from further loss of earnings.
However, it refused to lift the ban on them plying on the Capital’s roads till the drivers have licences, registration certificates and insurance papers in their possession.
Filing the draft guidelines to regulate the battery-operated rickshaws, the Centre sought two months to finalise and notify them and urged the Court to let the vehicles ply during the this period. But the Court declined.

Don’t disturb country’s secular fabric, says SC

The Supreme Court on Friday cautioned non governmental organisations from making allegations which would disturb the country’s secular fabric.
A three-judge bench of Chief Justice R.M. Lodha and Justices Kurian Joseph and Rohinton Nariman, was hearing a writ petition filed by NGO Jayati Bharatam, seeking a SIT probe into incidents of conversion of Hindu girls into Muslims.
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) told counsel Vishnu Shankar Jain, appearing for the NGO “this is a secular state. Don't try to bring religion into the court. We are also concerned with the matter and you are also saying it is serious. But the colour which you are giving is also concerning us. We are concerned with the law point.

Israel-Hamas truce ends; talks on Gaza deadlocked

A three-day truce between Israel and Hamas has expired after indirect talks in Cairo on new border arrangements for the blockaded Gaza Strip hit a deadlock.
There was no apparent sign of a possible extension of the calm as the truce expired at 0500 GMT on Friday. Just before the end of the truce, Gaza militants fired two rockets at Israel.
Israel has said it is willing to consider easing border restrictions but demands that Hamas disarm.

U.S. is coming to help: Obama

U.S. authorised a two-pronged military intervention in Iraq, aimed both at protecting American personnel and assets located in the conflict zones, and also at staving off “a potential act of genocide,” in the Sinjar area where nearly 50,000 members of the Yazidi minority community were trapped atop a mountain besieged by IS fighters.
Mr. Obama said Washington had begun conducting humanitarian airdrops at the request of the Iraqi government.
Ahead of the airstrikes, the first direct military action by the U.S. in Iraq since troops pulled out in 2011, which were authorised by the U.S. Central Command commander, the U.S. also used one C-17 and two C-130 aircrafts to airdrop 5,300 gallons of fresh drinking water and 8,000 ready-to-eat meals near Mount Sinjar.
Iraqis welcomed the U.S. airlift of emergency aid to thousands of people who fled to the mountains to escape Islamic extremists and called for greater intervention. In contrast to Washington’s decision to invade Iraq more than a decade ago, both the airdrop and the authorisation of military action against the Islamic State group were widely welcomed by Iraqi and Kurdish officials fearful of the militants’ lightning advance across the country.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has welcomed the decision taken by the United States to authorise “targeted strikes” against the Islamic militant forces in Iraq. The U.K. chaired a meeting in the United Nations Security Council on Thursday seeking a strong international response to the crisis in Iraq.

WHO declares Ebola an international health emergency

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa to be an international public health emergency that requires an extraordinary response to stop its spread.
The WHO announced the Ebola outbreak the largest and longest in history is worrying enough to merit being declared an international health emergency. WHO declared similar emergencies for the swine flu pandemic in 2009 and for polio in May.
Countries affected to date simply do not have the capacity to manage an outbreak of this size and complexity on their own, The current outbreak of Ebola began in Guinea in March and has since spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia.