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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 09 December 2014

National

Finance commission may allocate plan funds

• In the aftermath of the scrapping of the Planning Commission, the Modi government is mulling whether the role of allocating plan funds across States can be given to the Finance Commission.
• It would like the new body that will replace the Plan panel to be a ‘think-tank in the era of liberalisation’ that could possibly be merged with the National Development Council (NDC).
• The NDC is the highest development policy planning body, comprising the Prime Minister, Union Cabinet Ministers, State Chief Ministers and State Finance Ministers.
• The Modi government scrapped the Plan panel on August 13 through a Cabinet decision. Till then, the Centre had transferred to States in excess of Rs. 3,00,000 crore, or 2.5 per cent of GDP, annually through the panel.
• The mechanism for the transfers was two-fold. States received funds for Centrally Sponsored Schemes. They also received Central Assistance for their plans.
• Each State’s share was arrived at following discussions between the Planning Commission, Finance Ministry and the State Government in the case of Central Assistance.
• For Centrally Sponsored Schemes, the individual State shares were determined through discussions between the Planning Commission, States and Union Ministries such as Health and Rural Development.
• The Modi government is also considering reducing the total number of Centrally Sponsored Schemes to 10 from the current 60 plus. The Centre may not prescribe in detail how States should spend the funds it allocates to them.
• There could be some broad categories such as health and education, indicated Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
• The Finance Commission is a Constitutional body that is appointed once every five years to recommend a formula for devolving the Centre’s tax revenues to States. The Centre transfers about 2 per cent of GDP to States from its tax revenue.

Development is the only way in Kashmir valley: PM

• The “agonies, sorrows and hardships” of the people of the Kashmir valley would be overcome by “development and development alone,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said addressing his first election rally in the Kashmir valley.
• At the Sher-e-Kashmir stadium — the same venue where Mr. Vajpayee offered a “hand of friendship” to Pakistan, and talks with separatists in 2003 — Mr. Modi declared that it was his “responsibility to fulfil the dreams” of the former premier.
• “ Insaaniyat [humanism], Jamhooriyat[democracy] and Kashmiriyat [Kashmir’s age-old legacy of amity] were the three pillars of Vajpayeeji’s policy. I am committed to taking forward his dreams,” he said.
• Mr. Modi said, “There has been a lot of suffering. You have taken many roads in the past; look back and see whether they have benefitted you. If you realise that they have not, let us take the path of development.”

RS finalised its Draft report on Insurance Bill

• The Rajya Sabha Select Committee finalised its draft report on the Insurance Bill. The report will be tabled in the House, committee chairman Chandan Mitra told.
• The Bill seeks to raise foreign direct investment in insurance joint ventures from 26 to 49 per cent. The committee has given time for notes of dissent, if any, to be submitted.
• The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Trinamool Congress are likely to oppose the report. The other two parties which may differ are the Samajwadi Party and the Janata Dal (United).
• The Select Committee has 15 members. It is expected that with the three BJP members, three Congress and one member each from the AIADMK, Shiromani Akali Dal and Biju Janata Dal on board, the report will be adopted by majority vote.

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International

World’s first handcrafted herbal Holy Koran unveiled in Dubai

• The world’s first handcrafted herbal Holy Koran, made from about 200 medicinal plants, has been unveiled.
• The Koran has been made by the Islamic arts and calligraphy company, Heddem Arts and has been crafted over 23 years from 1957 to 1979 by Turkish Unani Doctor Hamdi Taher.
• The Koran is made of high potency herbal mixtures prepared as per Unani medical system.
• “Herbal sheets of the Holy Koran have many therapeutic properties when the reader moves his fingers on the letters or in and around the pages, the herbal mixture seeps through the pores in the fingers, providing health benefits,” Heddem Arts said in a statement.
• The herbal-cream-written Koran includes 606 pages and weighs about 7.5 kg.
• “Patiently handcrafted over the years, every word and design in the Holy Koran is made without using any printing technology, tools or machinery because of which it is truly one of a kind,” Abdul Azeaz Bin Hassan, Islamic religious adviser at Heddem Arts, said.

Russia will not do anything detrimental to India says M. Kadakin

• Russia is India’s trusted partner and will never do anything detrimental to India’s security, said Alexander M. Kadakin, Russian Ambassador to India.
• He said this in response to questions by journalists on the recently signed framework agreement between Russia and Pakistan. He said, “It’s just a framework which we have with many countries and does not envisage any immediate arms transfers.”
• “We had offered India several types of helicopters. India is not buying ... Why can’t Russia sell it to others? You opted for Apaches.”
• “The request for attack helicopters came from Pakistan, but we have not sold any yet,” Mr. Kadakin said.
• India has traditionally relied on Russia for most of its weapons imports but in recent years it has been diversifying its purchases.
• The result was Russia lost out on some major deals in recent times which caused some disgruntlement in Moscow.
• On Russia-Pakistan relations, he said that if Moscow and Islamabad had improved relations, it would be easier to influence Pakistan as Russia too had “concerns regarding Afghanistan.”
• On the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India, Mr. Kadakin said the highlight would be the release of a vision document on improving India’s energy security. “The dialogue is a close friend’s talk which does not require much of protocol routine,” said the Russian envoy.
• There would be major discussions on expanding nuclear cooperation. “Russia has agreed to help set up 14-16 nuclear units. Now it seems that demand in India is much bigger,” he said.
• “The discussions will be held in the background of a burdened international milieu, when we face increasing pressure of the U.S.A. and its allies, forcing Russia to succumb its state sovereignty. This will never happen.”

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Business & economy

India sees ‘clear pick-up’ in growth momentum says OECD

• Reflecting improved prospects, India is the only major economy seeing a ‘clear pick up in growth momentum’ while mixed trends are predicted for developed countries, according to Paris-based think tank Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
• The OECD said growth would continue to lose momentum in Europe. For other major economies, the outlook is for stable growth momentum.
• The readings, for the month of October, are based on composite leading indicator (CLI), which is designed to anticipate turning points in economic activity relative to trend.
• “India is the only major economy where the CLI points to a clear pick-up in growth momentum,” OECD said in a statement.
• The country’s CLI rose to 99.6 in October from 99.4 in the previous month. Last month, the OECD said the Indian economy was expected to see an average growth of 6.7 per cent over the 2015-19 period, while a further boost would depend on reform plans of the government.
• In October, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank projected 5.6 per cent growth rate for India this year, citing renewed confidence in the market due to a series of economic reforms pursued by the new government.
• India’s economic growth was below 5 per cent in the last two financial years. Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) forecast the economy to grow at 5.5 per cent in 2014-15 and at 6.3 per cent in next financial year.

Sports

Chikkarangappa triumphs at CG Open Golf 2014

• S. Chikkarangappa defended his title in style at the CG Open Golf 2014, producing a final round of four-under-66 at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club course.
• The Bengaluru golfer totalled 17-under-263 in the PGTI Super Series event and also topped the Rolex Rankings.
• Om Prakash Chouhan bettered the course record with 10-under-60 in the fourth round, and was rewarded with the second spot carding 16-under-264.
• Overnight leader C. Muniyappa of Bengaluru returned a card of 15-under-265 for third place.
• Chikkarangappa (67-66-64-66) started with pars on the first three holes, birdied the fourth, fifth and seventh. Muniyappa bogeyed the 11th, as the former struck form to manage birdies on 16th and 18th for the title.
• Final scores (after fourth round):
• 263: S. Chikkarangappa; 264: Om Prakash Chouhan; 265: C. Muniyappa; 266: Sanjay Kumar, 267: Shamim Khan and Mukesh Kumar;268: Abhijit Singh Chadha; 271: Kapil Kumar;272: Anura Rohana; 273: Md Zamal Hossain Mollah.
• Rolex rankings (after CG Open): 1. S. Chikkarangappa, 2. Om Prakash Chouhan (Mhow), 3. Shankar Das (Kolkata), 4. Rashid Khan (Delhi), 5. Anura Rohana (Sri Lanka), 6. Sanjay Kumar (Lucknow), 7. Mukesh Kumar (Mhow), 8. C. Muniyappa (Bengaluru), 9. K Prabhagaran (Sri Lanka), 10. Shubankar Sharma

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Science & technology

Slimmer & sleeker Google Glass soon: report

• The new version of Intel-powered Google Glass may look slimmer and sleeker than its earlier version.
• The exteriors of the new device also add a textured area to the touch-sensitive side panel where non-voice interactions are performed, according to media reports.
• The new Google Glass is expected to be unveiled next year. The Google patent describes a sleeker version of Google Glass that should still draw plenty of public attention.
• Google Glass is presently available for $1,500, though it is speculated that the final retail version will sell for a lot less.

India would have new comprehensive climate legislation: Javadekar

• Union minister of state for environment Prakash Javadekar said that India would have new comprehensive climate legislation in the next budget session of Parliament.
• Speaking at an event organised by The Globe Legislators Organisation (Globe India) , Mr Javadekar said there is the real issue of Climate finance.
• While the world has realised the dangers of climate change, the main issue is that the Green climate fund must become a reality.
• From 2012, it was expected to start with $10 billion every year to reach $100 billion by 2020 and then continue with $ 100 billion per year. But today its just $9.7 billion.
• He said funds will be a key decision point in Lima and apart from that there is the issue of the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions(INDC)s.
• Things are very different from Kyoto when the world was divided into the developing countries or the non annexe one and the annexe one countries which was the developed world.
• Now things had changed, he pointed out and every country has to take action and announce them. He predicted heated debates on Climate Finance, INDCs and other key issues.
• He referred to India's targets for solar power and the scaling up of solar energy from 20 gigawatt(GW) to100 GW by 2022 for which an investment of $ 100 billion was made.
• Thats a big achievement, he said. So, every country can take steps at Lima, and ultimately reach a conclusion. However, this is just a preparatory event and ultimately what happens next year in Paris is very important, he added.
• Mr Javadekar said his association with GLOBE since seven or eight years had helped him a lot in understanding climate change from a different perspective and he was part of every conference since Copenhagen.
• He was former president of GLOBE India. In the next two days Mr Javadekar will attend bilateral meetings and also the high level segment.

Modi, Mukesh Ambani amongst most searched personalities in 2014: Yahoo

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and industrialist Mukesh Ambani feature amongst the most searched personalities online this year, according to search engine Yahoo.
• According to the seventh edition of Yahoo India’s ‘Year in Review’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the list of ‘High and Mighty? the Political Top 10’ in 2014, followed by his aides Arun Jaitley (Finance and I&B Minister) and BJP President Amit Shah.
• Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu and BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav have also been named in the list.
• The review is based on users’ daily search habits and an editorial selection of what they read, recommended and shared most on Yahoo in India.
• “The slew of reforms and Modi’s efforts to improve diplomatic ties were of ongoing interest to Yahoo users. ‘Make in India’ made it to the top of the list of Biggest Financial Events of the Year,” Yahoo said.
• Industrialist Mukesh Ambani made a second appearance at the No. 1 spot as the nation’s most influential people, followed by Tata Group boss Cyrus Mistry and Gautam Adani, Chief of Adani Group of Industries.
• This year’s top finance newsmakers include Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Infosys CEO and MD Vishal Sikka, Flipkart’s Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal and Snapdeal’s Rohit Bansal.
• Two high-profile deaths in the corporate world — the mysterious plane crash of French oil major Total’s CEO Christophe de Margerie’s in Moscow and the death of Tata Motors’ MD Karl Slym in Bangkok — were among other top searches in this category.
• Sachin Tendulkar, with his much talked about autobiography, topped the cricketers of the year list, followed by Phil Hughes, MS Dhoni and N. Srinivasan.