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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 09 May 2014

U.N. medal for “exceptional courage”

The Security Council voted unanimously recently to establish a U.N. medal for “exceptional courage” in the name of an unarmed U.N. peacekeeper from Senegal, who lost his life after saving hundreds of Rwandans from death in the 1994 genocide.
In a rare display of emotion in the council, Rwanda’s U.N. Ambassador Eugene-Richard Gasana broke down in tears in the council chamber after calling Captain Mbaye Diagne “a hero”, who went against orders to save lives during the 100-day slaughter.
The resolution, sponsored by Jordan, creates “the Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage” to be awarded to U.N. military, police, civilians and associated personnel, “who demonstrate exceptional courage, in the face of extreme danger.”
It asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to design the medal within six months and submit recommendations for nominating and selecting recipients to the council.

In a setback for the West Bengal government, the Supreme court has handed over investigation into Saradha chit fund scam to the CBI.
The court also asked the CBI to investigate ponzi scheme scams in Odisha, Assam and Tripura.
The West Bengal government, all through the hearing of the matter, had strongly resisted the plea for handing over the investigation to the CBI.
The apex court asked the West Bengal government to hand over all Saradha chit fund scam cases to CBI.
It also said that the CBI will investigate all cases against 44 chit fund companies in Odisha.
The SC said the state police have not yet been able to trace the money trails that clearly had an inter-state as well as possible international links.
The SC also asked the Enforcement Directorate to join CBI in finding the money trail. The ED is already conducting a probe into the scam.
The apex court said it wanted the chit fund scam in these states to be probed by an independent agency like CBI because of involvement of politicians and influential persons in the cases.
Saradha Group chairman Sudipta Sen was arrested from Sonmarg in Kashmir on April 23,2013 along with two close associates.

The Supreme Court has rejected the plea for a direction to appoint an expert team headed by former Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Chairman A. Gopalakrishnan to examine whether directions on safety aspects were being properly implemented at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.
A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Vikramajit Sen dismissed a special leave petition filed by social activist and Aam Aadmi Party leader G. Sundarrajan against a Madras High Court verdict, rejecting his petition.
Justice Radhakrishnan said the directions given by the apex court last year were being addressed and there was no laxity in its implementation.

In another step towards shedding banking secrecy practices, 47 nations including Switzerland and India, have agreed upon automatic exchange of information on tax matters.
The endorsement of the ‘Declaration on Automatic Exchange of Information in Tax Matters’ by 47 countries under the aegis of OECD will come as a boost for India, which is stepping up pressure on Switzerland to share details on alleged illicit funds stashed away by Indians there.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the global body that frames economic policies and conventions against tax frauds, said the latest declaration commits countries to implement a new single global standard on automatic exchange of information.
Switzerland, long perceived as a safe haven for stashing away untaxed money, is an OECD member.
Such a protocol was required between the countries as tax crimes rob countries of their genuine revenues.

Scientists have discovered 14 new species of so-called dancing frogs in the Western Ghats, just in time, they fear, to watch them fade away.
Indian biologists say they found the tiny acrobatic amphibians, which earned their name with the unusual kicks they use to attract mates, declining dramatically in number during the 12 years in which they chronicled the species through morphological descriptions and molecular DNA markers. They breed after the yearly monsoon in fast-rushing streams, but their habitat appears to be becoming increasingly dry.
The study listing the new species published in the Ceylon Journal of Science brings the number of known Indian dancing frog species to 24.
Only the males dance: it’s actually a unique breeding behavior called foot-flagging. They stretch, extend and whip their legs out to the side to draw the attention of females who might have trouble hearing mating croaks over the sound of water flowing through perennial hill streams.
They bigger the frog, the more they dance. These are tiny, delicate frogs no bigger than a walnut and can easily be swept away in a gushing mountain stream. So breeding happens only once the level of a stream drops to the point where the water babbles over stones.