Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 10 June 2015

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 10 June 2015

:: National ::

Delhi Minister held for holding ‘fake’ degrees

  • The arrest of Delhi Law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar for allegedly submitting fake degrees quickly turned into another ugly episode of a long-running battle between the Aam Aadmi Party government in the State and the Centre for what is seen as de facto control over the national capital.

  • Mr. Tomar, who was remanded in police custody for four days, resigned on moral grounds soon after the party’s senior functionaries, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, met at his residence.

  • The AAP said the arrest was an act of political vendetta by the Centre, which wanted to teach the party “a lesson”.

  • “This arrest is illegal. There is an Emergency-like situation. Maybe, it is an attempt to teach the AAP a lesson,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.

  • A senior official said the AAP government would support Mr. Tomar till the court delivered its verdict in the case. “We will continue to support him till the judgment is delivered; the only possibility in terms of severing ties with him will depend on his conviction,” he said.

  • Mr. Tomar was arrested from his residence around 6 a.m. by 35 policemen led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, in what the Delhi government alleged was “a disproportionate show of strength”, and taken to a police station for questioning.

  • Police sources said a first information report against Mr. Tomar was converted into a criminal case late on Monday night, and he was booked for cheating, forgery, forgery with purpose of cheating and criminal conspiracy.

  • “We converted a complaint received from the Delhi Bar Council on May 11, served him a notice after 26 days of investigation. Police teams travelled to Awadh University in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, and Tilka Manjhi University in Bhagalpur, Bihar, and discovered that Mr. Tomar’s name did not figure in their records,” a senior police officer said.

  • The arrest comes in the backdrop of a tussle to wrest control of the State’s Anti-Corruption Branch.

  • Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung appointed a Joint Commissioner of the Delhi Police, M.K. Meena, as its head on Monday, though Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had selected S.S. Yadav for the post.

Army, Assam Rifles kill 50 ‘ultras’

  • In the aftermath of the Manipur ambush last week, Indian agencies said that the Army and the Assam Rifles killed over 50 insurgents in two operations along the India-Myanmar border in Nagaland and Manipur.

  • Top government sources said most of the killings took place in encounters in Ukhrul and Chandel districts of Manipur.

  • Along the Nagaland border, eight insurgents are believed to have been killed.

  • In another incident, three insurgents were reported killed as an improvised explosive device they were carrying went off.

  • “We are yet to receive the exact details of those killed in the encounters. Operations are still under way,” said a Home Ministry official.

  • Giving a briefing, the Army said they had engaged two groups of insurgents and “inflicted significant casualties”.

  • “Specific and credible intelligence was received about further attacks that were being planned within our territory… Early this morning, the Indian Army engaged two separate groups of insurgents along the Indo-Myanmar border at two locations, along the Nagaland and Manipur borders,” Major-General Ranbir Singh, Additional Director-General, Military Operations, said.

  • Though Army officials refused to give specific details, informed sources said special forces were likely to have been deployed.

  • While Army officials declined to say if the operations were carried out across the border in Myanmar, they said they were in “communication with Myanmar authorities on this matter” and expect such cooperation in the “future too”.

  • Intelligence agencies believe that 25-27 militants had carried out the Manipur ambush, which claimed the lives of 18 soldiers from the 6 Dogra regiment. After the attack, they headed to hideouts in Myanmar.

More honours for first transgender principal

  • India’s first transgender college principal Manabi Bandyopadhyay is set to become the vice chairperson of West Bengal’s first Transgender Development Board, the ruling Trinamool Congress announced in its official website.

  • The 13-member panel, headed by State Minister for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Shashi Panja will comprise two officials from Dr. Panja’s department, transgender communities and NGOs working with the communities.

  • Issues related to sex reassignment surgery (SRS) will be one of the priorities of the committee.

  • “We’ve spoken to a team of doctors so that SRS can be started in all government hospitals. Carrying out census of the community, issuing ID cards and starting reservations, as laid down by the Supreme Court, are on the cards,” said Dr. Panja.

  • Ms. Bandyopadhyay, who was appointed as the principal of Krishnanagar Women’s College in Nadia district, took charge on Tuesday.

  • Announcing the formation of the Board in March, Dr Panja had emphasised that the State was the first to constitute a board for development and not just for the welfare of transgenders. Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra already have transgender welfare boards, the website stated.

Licences of 4,470 NGOs cancelled (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Railways remove chains to speed up trains (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Judicial appointments are too vital for a hit-and-trial method, says SC (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Rail and air travel costlier (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International ::

Sri Lankan Cabinet clears new electoral system

  • After weeks of discussion with political parties across the spectrum, the Sri Lankan Cabinet has finalised the broad contours of the proposed 20th Constitutional Amendment on electoral reforms, leaving many smaller parties “surprised and disappointed.”

  • According to the decision taken on Monday night, there will be no change in the size of Parliament. It will remain at 225.

  • This was the major change from what was proposed earlier. Rajitha Senaratne, Cabinet spokesperson and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)’s senior leader, told that “while our party is for increasing the number of MPs from 225 to 255, the UNP is against it. Eventually, that party’s viewpoint has prevailed.”

  • However, unlike in the present system of proportional representation (PR), the proposed scheme marks a combination of the First Past The Post (FPTP) and PR. Of the total number of 225 seats, it had been decided to earmark 125 seats for FPTP and 100 seats for PR. Again, 75 seats out of 100 would be filled through members representing electoral districts while the remaining 25 seats would be set apart for the national list.

  • Even in the present system, there exists the national list for 29 members apart from 196 members, who are elected on the basis of the performance of parties in respective electoral districts.

  • Mano Ganesan, chief of the newly-formed Tamil Progressive Alliance, and Palany Thigambaram, Minister for Plantation Infrastructure Development and whose National Union of Workers (NUW) is a constituent of the TPA, term the formula decided at the Cabinet meeting “not acceptable.”

  • Mr. Thigambaram says the move will make smaller parties “permanent dependents” of the country’s principal parties. Mr. Ganesan says the new formula completely differed from what had been discussed till now.

  • The Cabinet’s move will affect not merely Indian Tamils, living in five districts, but also other minorities such as Muslims and smaller parties including the Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP).

  • Muthu Sivalingam, president of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress, wants the government to ensure that ethnic mix be made the governing principle at the time of allocating seats to different districts.

  • President Maithripala Sirisena has said any move to prevent the 20th Amendment from becoming a reality would be considered “an act against people.”

Nepal parties reach long-awaited deal (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Business and Economy ::

Cairn India to merge with Vedanta

  • Billionaire Anil Agarwal-led group plans to merge its cash-rich oil firm Cairn India Ltd. with its flagship metals and mining company Vedanta Ltd. in an all-share deal aimed at trimming the group’s huge debt.

  • The merger will help cut Vedanta’s Rs.37,636 crore gross debt by using Rs.16,870 crore cash lying with Cairn and over Rs.14,000 crore of cash the firm generates every year.

  • Shareholders of Cairn India, which has seen stock prices plunge from Rs.385 in June last year to Rs.172.60 at close of trading on BSE on Tuesday, will be issued shares of Vedanta Ltd. — formerly Sesa Sterlite — sources with direct knowledge of the development said.

  • Boards of the two firms are likely to consider the merger proposal soon and the transaction is targeted for completion by March next year, they said.

  • Agarwal’s London-listed Vedanta Resources in a regulatory filing said: “Should a transaction with Cairn India Ltd. proceed, it could potentially be considered a reverse takeover.”

  • Vedanta had in 2011 acquired majority control of Cairn India for $8.67 billion. It held 59.9 per cent in the oil explorer through its various units as on March 31.

  • As a prelude to the merger, Vedanta had this month bought some of the shares held by Agrawal’s Twin Star Mauritius Holdings to raise its stake in Cairn India to 23.71 per cent from 18.73 per cent. Twin Star now holds 34.43 per cent in Cairn India.

  • To local bourses, Vedanta said, “Company’s stated strategy is to simplify and consolidate its corporate structure. Management reviews options to deliver this strategy on an on-going basis.”

  • British oil explorer Cairn Energy, which had sold majority of its stake in Cairn India to Vedanta, still holds 9.8 per cent in the oil firm. It has however been restrained by the Income Tax department from disposing of its shares pending Rs.10,247 crore tax demand.

  • Sources said, however, that it was not being seen as an impediment in the merger because Cairn Energy will get shares of Vedanta Ltd in proportion to the merger ratio.

  • This shareholding will continue to be locked till resolution of the tax dispute, they said.

  • Vedanta may also merge its other cash cows, Hindustan Zinc Ltd, and Bharat Aluminium. But that merger depends on government’s selling its residual stake in the companies to Vedanta.

  • “In addition, in line with the Group’s stated strategy to continue to simplify the Group structure, the Group continues to evaluate a transaction with the Government of India in relation to their minority stakes in Hindustan Zinc Ltd and Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO),” Vedanta Resources said.

  • Government owns 29.5 per cent stake in Hindustan Zinc, which holds cash of more Rs.30,000 crore.

  • Queries sent to a Vedanta spokesperson on speculations about Cairn India with the company did not elicit any response.

  • In January, the company was mulling merging Cairn India and Hindustan Zinc into the Vedanta Group.

M.K. Sharma is ICICI Bank Chairman

  • ICICI Bank appointed M. K. Sharma as the non-executive Chairman of the Board for a period of five years, in place of K. V. Kamath.

  • Mr. Kamath would shortly step down from the Board consequent to his nomination as the first President of the New Development Bank.

  • “The appointment of the new non-executive Chairman is subject to the prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India and would be effective July 1, 2015, or the date of receipt of RBI approval, whichever is later,” ICICI Bank stated in a press release.

  • Mr. Sharma is an independent director of several leading companies and has been a member of Government committee.

  • He was an independent Director on the Board of ICICI Bank for eight years from 2003 to 2011.

RBI issues draft norms on rupee-linked bonds overseas (Register and Login to read Full News..)

World Bank team in India to assess ease of doing business (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Science and Technology ::

Did Airtel invade customers’ privacy?

  • Private telecom operator Airtel has once again come under fire, this time from a social media activist. The company, which faced severe criticism over Net neutrality, is now facing allegations of invading customers’ privacy.

  • In a Twitter post, Bengaluru-based Independent Technologist Thejesh G.N. has claimed that “Airtel 3G is injecting java script into your browsing session.” He also posted a screenshot of the code on GitHub. According to Mr. Thejesh’s post in GitHub, the IP address from which the Java code originated was from Bharti Airtel in Bengaluru.

  • Clarifying Airtel’s stand on the matter, an Airtel spokesperson in an email statement, said “This is a standard solution deployed by telcos globally to help their customers keep track of their data usage in terms of mega bytes used. It is therefore meant to improve customer experience and empower them to manage their usage.”

  • “One of our network vendor partners has piloted this solution through a third party to help customers understand their data consumption in terms of volume of data used. As a responsible corporate, we have the highest regard for customer privacy and we follow a policy of zero tolerance with regard to the confidentiality of customer data… We are also surprised at the Cease & Desist notice served by Flash Networks to Thejesh G. N., and categorically state that we have no relation, whatsoever, with the notice.”

  • When contacted, an Airtel official who did not wish to be quoted, said, “We have stopped running this code as we found it is not helping our customer.” Meanwhile, Flash Networks, which was doing the trial for Airtel indirectly through Ericsson, has taken a legal action and sent a ‘cease and desist’ notice to Mr. Thejesh. Following a DMCA takedown notice to GitHub, the screenshot of the codes has been taken down.

  • When contacted, advocate Ameet Mehta, Managing partner of the law firm Solicis Lex which issued C&D notice, said, “We are not against anybody, we want to safeguard the copyright of our client, if there is any infringement.”

Stempeutics gets Japanese process patent for stem cell drug (Register and Login to read Full News..)

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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

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