Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 10 August 2013

Sindhu makes badminton history

• P.V. Sindhu made history by becoming the first Indian woman singles player to win a medal at the World Badminton Championships, defeating the host nation’s Shixian Wang to enter the semifinals at Guangzhou in China.

• She is thus assured of at least a bronze medal.
• Sindhu, who hails from Hyderabad, is now ranked 12th in the world.
• In 1983, Prakash Padukone won the bronze in the men’s singles in Copenhagen.
• In the 2011 World Championships in London, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa bagged the bronze.

Indigenous cryogenic engine to power GSLV-D5 on Aug. 19

• As Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D5) is slated to lift off around from Sriharikota, and various checks showing that the vehicle is in the pink of its health, the mood is one of optimism at the spaceport.

• The mission’s significance is that GSLV-D5 is powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has used every expertise available in the country to ensure that the engine performs smoothly this time.
• The rocket will put India’s advanced communication satellite called GSAT-14, weighing 1,980 kg, into orbit.

•  “The Mission Readiness Review (MRR) has cleared the vehicle. The integration of the satellite with the launch vehicle has been completed. On August 11, we plan to move the vehicle to the launch pad.”

• There is enormous focus on this mission, as the GSLV flight with an indigenous cryogenic engine failed in April 2010. The subsequent GSLV flight with a Russian cryogenic stage also failed in December of that year.

International Criminal Court & india

• On July 17, 1998, the Rome Statute for establishing a permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) was adopted: 120 countries voted it in, the United States, Iraq, China, Israel, Qatar, Yemen and Libya voted against, and 21 countries abstained, India among them.

• It was a dramatic moment, when governments spanning continents and political cultures acknowledged that the criminal laws of states were not bringing the perpetrators of mass crimes to justice.

• On July 1, 2002, the Statute came into force. By now, 122 countries have signed and ratified the Rome Statute, testimony to the anxiety over the escalation and pervasiveness of large-scale atrocities across the world.

• Thirty-one countries have signed up but not yet ratified it. Of these, the U.S., Israel and Sudan have withdrawn as signatories to the Statute — a process not known to international law — intending to communicate that they will not be moving towards its adoption, and may even now act in ways contrary to its “object and purpose.”

India’s stance

• The ICC challenges impunity. It is striking that when the issue of impunity was raised in discussions on the Rome Statute in India during 1997-98, there were very few who were acquainted with the term..
• India has been hostile to the idea of internationalising criminal justice and is not a party to the ICC.
• What’s more, in December 2002, India inked a Bilateral Immunity Agreement with the U.S. — which has signed over a 100 such agreements to nullify the ICC’s impact as far as U.S. personnel are concerned — with an eagerness that was embarrassing.
• The Indian position, that India does not need the ICC because it is perfectly capable of dealing with mass crimes, is misleading.
• The ICC only steps in when the state does not act, or acts in ways that shield perpetrators.
• In line with its founding principle of “complementarity” between national courts and international tribunals, the ICC defers to the former’s role in the domestic criminal justice system.

Unequal status tells on women’s nutrition

• There is new evidence that the unequal social status of women could play a significant — and as yet ignored — role in explaining India’s “inexplicably” high under-nutrition levels.

• For its per capita income, India has stubbornly higher than expected levels of stunting and under-weight among children and adults — the so-called “Asian enigma” which, with countries like Bangladesh making strong progress on development indicators, has increasingly become the “Indian enigma

Companies Bill 2012 passed

• Rajya Sabha, , ratified The Companies Bill, 2012, as passed by the Lok Sabha about eight months ago.
• As and when consented to by President Pranab Mukherjee, the new legislation will replace the 57-year-old Companies Act, 1956.
• In 1956, there were just about a few thousand companies in the country.
• The number had now grown to more than a million now, he pointed out. The government was in favour of a fewer regulation and self-regulation by the business houses.
• The objective was also to help small one-person companies to access facilities and credit, besides ensuring one minimum woman director in certain prescribed class of companies.
• The effort would also be to encourage these companies to give employment to all sections of society.

• The Bill, as ratified by Parliament, prescribes an expenditure of 2 per cent of profits on CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities in their respective areas of operation. These would have to be outcome and timeline-driven with details posted on websites.

Sources: Various News Papers