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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 1 june 2015

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 01 June 2015

:: National ::

Modi to be first Indian PM in Israel

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Israel, making him the first Indian Premier to visit the country, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said.
Addressing a press conference to recount the achievements of the External Affairs Ministry in the past year, Ms. Swaraj said the PM’s “dates were not confirmed”, but that they were being “worked out.”
Sources told the visit could happen this year itself, with a high-level Indian team travelling to Tel Aviv in July for discussions on several bilateral issues.
Ms. Swaraj also said she would visit Israel, Palestine and Jordan later this year, and will travel to Tehran in June for the Non-Aligned Ministerial meet.
However, officials said there is no decision yet on whether Mr. Modi will attend the NAM summit in Caracas, Venezuela in September this year.

Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus trial run

The trial run of the much-awaited Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus service will begin .
The service, aimed at easy movement of people of two Indian States separated by Bangladesh, is likely to be inaugurated when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Dhaka on June 6 and 7.
This is the first bus service to connect the two north-eastern States through Bangladesh. The Dhaka-Kolkata service was introduced in 1999 and the one between Dhaka and Agartala in 2003.
The cross-Bangladesh service was approved at a recent meeting between Bangladesh Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader and his Indian counterpart Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi. It had been sought for long by the people of Tripura and other adjoining States for travelling through Bangladesh without changing vehicles. It takes nearly three days to travel from Kolkata to Agartala, the capital of Tripura, a 1,650-km distance by land. Now, the journey will take less than 24 hours.
The two countries recently completed a trial run of the Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati service. It is also expected to be opened during Mr. Modi’s visit.

NCSC seeks explanation from IIT-M

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has sought an explanation from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras for derecognising the Ambedkar-Periyar Study Circle.
The IIT-M has been asked to send its response by fax, or a personal appearance will be called for.
The commission is expecting a reply by Monday as the notice was issued on Friday, Chairman P. L. Punia told.
If the IIT-M is found to be in violation of the law, especially the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the commission could instruct the police to register an FIR.
In May, the IIT-M de-recognised the study circle on the premise that it had violated guidelines while organising a meeting in which some literature — critical of the Narendra Modi government and with potential to spread hatred among communities — was circulated.
Following the uproar in various quarters over the bid to curb free expression, the IIT-M said on Friday that it did not curtail the freedom of expression but student groups were expected to adhere to guidelines while conducting their activities.

No ‘flip-flop’ in engagement with Pak.: Sushma

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that there was no “flip-flop” by the Modi government on relations with Pakistan, stressing that New Delhi had underlined that talks will only be held in an environment of peace.
The Minister said talks between the two neighbours were called off earlier this year because a few days ahead of the scheduled dialogue, Pakistan sent out an invitation to the Hurriyat. Unlike in the past, it was not the Hurriyat that had sought an audience with the Pakistani leadership, but Islamabad which sought out the Hurriyat’s view, she specified.
“From the first day, we have adhered to three principles for [dialogue with] Pakistan. All issues will be discussed in a peaceful manner, discussions will only be between India and Pakistan, with no involvement of a third party, and talks will be held only in an environment free of terror,” she said.
India has been vehemently following these principles and will not take the talks forward unless Pakistan takes action against perpetrators of terror like Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Hafiz Saeed, she said.
The Minister also said there was no decision yet on whether the cricket teams of the two countries should play against each other.
Ms. Swaraj said the process of taking the State government on board for the Teesta deal was on and the issue of sharing the waters of 54 rivers was still being discussed.
In September 2011, the Teesta water-sharing deal could not be inked after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee pulled out of the Dhaka visit with the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Following the recent ratification of the India-Bangladesh land boundary agreement, there was speculation that the long-pending Teesta agreement could be inked during Mr. Modi’s two-day visit to Dhaka beginning June 6.
Speaking on the first year of the Modi government’s foreign engagements, Ms. Swaraj said the government’s foreign policy could be best judged by three factors — visits, dialogues and outcomes; and that contacts have been made with 101 countries.
While she flagged the significant takeaways from these engagements, she also stressed that India had set the rules for engagement with its neighbours, particularly Pakistan.
On the issue of fishermen being arrested by Sri Lanka, she said both countries face the problem, and since it was an issue of livelihood, both sides hope to resolve it on humanitarian grounds. She did send a stern message to Sri Lank to avoid “provocative statements as they vitiate the atmosphere.”
Asked why she has opted to maintain a “low profile” vis-à-vis the PM, Ms. Swaraj said: “A proactive PM is a support, not a challenge.” She also denied that Mr. Modi had told the Cabinet to maintain a low profile.
Ms. Swaraj also said her only regret in the year gone by was the inability to secure the release of 39 Indians held hostage in Iraq.

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:: International ::

Stapled visa issue with China still unresolved

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj admitted that the issue of China granting stapled visas to Indians from Arunachal Pradesh remains “unresolved.”
She said this issue, along with the pending ones of land border agreement, recognition of the Line of Actual Control and of sharing hydrological data, had been taken up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Beijing.
Ms. Swaraj said she was hopeful that the issue of stapled visas would be resolved through dialogue
Asked whether China had offered any clarification, when India had extended the facility of e-visas for Chinese tourists, she said: “The two issues cannot be correlated. E-visa is not a concession, it has been done to promote tourism and it is only allowed for 30 days after proper verification.”
Much to India’s chagrin, China continued to grant stapled visas to residents of Arunachal Pradesh, claiming it to be a part of its territory.
The issue continued to hang fire despite successive governments taking up the matter with the Chinese and registering their protest.
In 2012, during the UPA government’s tenure, China agreed to stop stapling visas of Jammu and Kashmir residents.
For its part, India announced the decision to grant e-visa to Chinese tourists during Mr. Modi’s recent visit to China.
Ms. Swaraj said the Prime Minister had in no uncertain terms told the Chinese government that for the 21st Century to belong to Asia, all pending issues would have to be resolved.
The Minister also said India had objections to the Pakistan-China economic corridor only if it involved activities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Asked whether India had taken up the issue of China putting a technical hold on its effort to seek the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) sanctions against Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, Ms. Swaraj said New Delhi had conveyed to Beijing that terrorism was an issue that concerned them as well and that should be borne in mind when they vote [at the UNSC].
India had also told China that there should be freedom of navigation and trade in the South China sea and use of threat was not good.

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:: Business and Economy ::

Centre notifies simpler income tax forms

The Union Finance Ministry came out with a simplified income-tax return (ITR) form, replacing the controversial 14-page form that had sought information on foreign trips and dormant bank accounts.
The last date for filing returns has been extended till August 31 against the normal practice of July 31, as the software for these forms is under preparation.
In forms ITR-2 and ITR-2A, the main form will not contain more than three pages, and other information will be captured in the schedules that are required to be filled only if applicable.
Form ITR-2 is needed to be filled by individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUF) having income from more than one house property and capital gains.
Observing that majority of individuals/HUFs who file Form ITR-2 do not have capital gains, the government has introduced new form ITR-2A for individuals who have income from more than one residential property but no capital gains from them.

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:: Science and Technology ::

Week-long events to push Digital India

As the government readies to formally launch the ‘Digital India Program’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a meeting of ministers, including Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Power Minister Piyush Goyal and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, entrusted with creating a road map for the weeklong campaign.
The launch of Digital India, one of the pet projects of the government, that just completed its one year in power, is expected to be a big-ticket event.
“The idea is total digitisation of society. During the week-long event that will be held across the country, a number of new applications/portals will be launched to bring government services to citizens digitally,” a source said, adding the aim is to ensure that people see a visible change in governance by the end of the year.
The campaign will involve multiple partners and stakeholders, including ministries and government departments, industry, school and academic institutions, gram panchayats and civic bodies.
These applications include tele-medicine and e-hospital applications for delivering healthcare services and e-schoolbags application for education services, among others. As a part of the Digital India initiative, the government will also be launching a portal to exchange information on missing and found children.
Though the dates have not been fixed yet, sources said it is likely to take off by the end of June or in early July.

:: Sports ::

Four Indians bag gold

Four Indian grapplers, including Yogeshwar Dutt, struck gold at the International Wrestling tournament in Sassari City, Italy, after finishing top of their respective weight categories in men’s freestyle.
Yogeshwar bagged the yellow metal in 65kg division, while Praveen Rana claimed the gold in 70kg. Amit Kumar and Narsingh Yadav also finished on top in the 57kg and 74kg respectively. Other Indians in the fray were Mausum Khatri (97kg) and Hitender (125kg).

Chen Long and Carolina emerge champions

World No 1 Chen Long was taken to three games before downing Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen to win the Australian Open badminton superseries final.
The Chinese star defeated world number nine Axelsen in one hour and 17 minutes.
Chen now leads Axelsen in their tournament meetings.
Chen had reached the men’s final after beating 10th-ranked Tian Houwei in an all-Chinese semifinal.
Spain’s world number three Carolina Marin took the women’s singles in a tight contest with China's sixth-ranked Wang Shixian in just under an hour.
It was a big week for the Spaniard, who beat South Korea's world number seven Sung Ji-Hyun to reach final after losing to India’s Saina Nehwal in last year’s tournament decider.