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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 12 December 2014
Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 12 December 2014
National
BJP calls for a nationwide law to restrict conversions
• Trying to turn the tables on the Opposition and reiterating
a long-held Sangh Parivar view, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government called
for a nationwide law to restrict conversions.
• “Let there be anti-conversion laws in all the States and at the Centre also,”
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said at the end of a three-hour
discussion in the Lok Sabha on the “conversion by inducement” of Muslims in
Agra.
• The Speaker allowed the discussion as a “special case” after three
adjournments in the pre-lunch session and a meeting between the government’s
floor managers and Opposition leaders in her chamber.
• Opposition leaders accused the BJP and its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh, of being complicit in the reported campaign by Hindu outfits
to convert Muslims and Christians into Hindus.
• Objecting to the Opposition “maligning” the RSS, Mr. Naidu said the “RSS is
our mother organisation from which we have taken inspiration.” This triggered an
angry outburst from the Opposition, which, in turn, brought the BJP members on
their feet.
• The Congress led at least six parties in a walkout, with the members shouting
slogans. Earlier, initiating the discussion, Jyotiraditya Scindia (Congress)
listed a series of attempts by the Sangh Parivar in the past six months to
strike at India’s composite culture, and pointed to External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj’s call for making the Bhagavad Gita the “national scripture.”
• He also accused the BJP and its affiliates of “changing Indian history,
culture and the national identity.” Wondering if these are the “promised good
days,” he said the Prime Minister should reply to the discussion and allay the
apprehensions of minorities.
States rejected Centre’s GST Bill
• The States have rejected the draft Bill for the Goods and
Services Tax (GST), dealing a major blow to the Centre’s resolve to roll it out
at the earliest.
• The Centre-States stalemate has put a question mark over whether the
government will be able to introduce the GST Constitution Amendment Bill during
the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament.
• Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in the Lok Sabha last month that he
would introduce this Bill during the session. The GST rollout has missed several
deadlines in the absence of a Centre-States consensus.
• At a meeting of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers, the States
opposed the draft Bill and its proposal to extend the GST to petroleum goods and
entry tax.
• “Consensus eludes the Centre and the States on the three main issues of
compensation, petrol tax and entry tax,” Empowered Committee Chairman Abdul
Rahim Rather told presspersons.
• He said the Empowered Committee would not support the Centre’s Bill unless it
conceded the States’ three demands. The GST will subsume all excise and service
taxes.
• The States want compensation from the Centre for the revenues they will lose
over five years from the shift to the GST regime. They want a clause on the
compensation to be inserted into the Bill, Mr. Rather said.
• The Centre’s proposed draft does not have such a provision at present. “We
were surprised to know that the Centre has only agreed to one of our
recommendations,” said Mr. Rather.
• The Union government agreed that its share of the revenue from the GST would
go to the pool of tax revenues devolved to the States.
• Mr. Rather, however, welcomed Mr. Jaitley’s announcement in the Lok Sabha on
the payment of Rs. 11,000 crore by April as compensation to the States for the
central sales tax. “We are happy to know that the Centre has agreed to keep a
provision of Rs. 11,000 crore in the current year’s budget for it.”
NGT stays MoEF clearance for phase 1 of mini-hydel project
• The National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) south zone has stayed
the clearance given by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for phase
1 of a mini-hydel power project.
• The project was proposed by Sri Maruthi Power Gen (India) Pvt. Ltd., in the
reserve forests of Kaginahare and Kenchanakumari in Sakleshpur taluk. The State
government had forwarded the project proposal to the MoEF, despite clear
opposition from the Forest Department in Karnataka.
• Prashanth Y., a wildlife conservation enthusiast of Bengaluru, had moved the
tribunal challenging the MoEF’s clearance for the controversial project.
• The NGT, in its order dated November 20, stated, “The tribunal is satisfied
that a prima facie case is made out for granting an order of interim stay of
phase 1 clearance issued by MoEF”, and posted the next hearing on the matter for
January 21, 2015. Justice M. Chockalingam and expert member R. Nagendran gave
this ruling.
• The Karnataka government had sent the proposal in February 2014 for diversion
of 10.6897 ha of forest land in favour of the private company to generate 18.9
MW of power.
• Dipak Sarmah, the then Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, had recommended
rejection of the proposal. However, Forest Minister B. Ramanath Rai and Chief
Minister Siddaramaiah are said to be in favour of the project.
• Mr. Rai had given his opinion, in writing, in favour of it in December 2013.
Prior to this, the Chief Minister had also shown interest in reconsidering the
project, which was previously rejected. A letter sent to the Forest Department
by the Energy Department in June 2013 provides proof of this. The MoEF has
cleared the proposal.
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International
Tackle climate change a test of global leadership says john Kerry
• On a day when there was much despair about the climate
talks, U.S. Secretary of state John Kerry flew into Lima and made an impassioned
appeal for a global commitment to tackle climate change impacts.
• He said addressing climate change promptly and effectively is as big a test of
global leadership and every nation has a responsibility to do its part to pass
this test.
• Addressing a packed press conference, Mr. Kerry who is en route Colombia, made
a 35 minute speech which was more like a political statement where he slammed
climate sceptics and emphasized that no single country, not even the United
States, can solve this problem or foot this bill alone.
• He said there is no time to sit around going back and forth about whose
responsibility it is to act. It’s everyone’s responsibility, because it’s the
net amount of carbon that matters, not each country’s share,” he said.
• He accepted that the biggest emitters, including the United States have to
contribute more to the solution. And only those nations who step up and respond
to this threat can legitimately lay claim to any mantle of leadership and global
responsibility.
• And yes, if you’re a big, developed nation and you’re not helping to lead,
then you are part of the problem, he declared. He called for giant, measurable,
clear steps forward and concrete actions and ambitious commitments.
• However, he also issued a warning to developing countries to act, saying that
while industrialized countries have to play a major role in reducing emissions,
that doesn’t mean that other nations are just free to go off and repeat the
mistakes of the past and that “they somehow have a free pass to go to the levels
that we’ve been at where we understand the danger.”
• “We have to remember that today more than half of global emissions – more than
half – are coming from developing nations. So it is imperative that they act,
too, “he said.
• Speaking of the urgency to combat climate change, he said it ranked equally
with the array of global threats– terrorism, extremism, epidemics, poverty, and
nuclear proliferation – all challenges that know no borders.
• An ambitious agreement in Paris is not an option, it’s an urgent necessity and
he was optimistic that the world can get there.
• And while no one here believes that a global climate agreement is going to be
the silver bullet that eliminates this threat, he said it certainly won’t be
eliminated without an agreement.
• Now you don’t need a PhD to see for yourself that the world is already
changing, Mr. Kerry said and listed out various impacts of climate change and
extreme events.
• He blamed “bad habits’’ for the current state of affairs but pointed out that
the challenge that may be immense but it’s not insurmountable.
US passes bill to use of military force against ISIS
• A key US Congressional committee has passed a bill
authorising use of military force against the dreaded Islamist State militant
group that has seized swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.
• The Authorisation for Use of Military Force (AUMF) bill allows the President
to use military force against ISIS for up to three years.
• “But (it) limits the activities of US Armed Forces from participating in
ground combat operations except in defined circumstances,” said Senator Robert
Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
• AUMF passed by a vote of 10 to 8. This AUMF would also require a report on the
comprehensive strategy for this campaign after 60 days and sunset the 2001
al-Qaeda AUMF after a period of three years enactment, unless it is
reauthorized, he said.
• Earlier, Secretary of State John Kerry appeared before the Committee urging
Senators to approve force authorization.
• “We stand resolved to defeat ISIS,” he said. The State Department said it
continues to believe the Menendez draft AUMF text provides a reasonable basis
for continued discussions.
• “As Secretary Kerry indicated at this week’s hearing, the Administration would
like to continue to work with members to further refine the language, including
how the authorization defines associated forces, the manner in which the sunset
of the new authority is handled at the end of three years, and how it addresses
ground combat force limitations,” an official statement said.
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Science & Technology
Shela River route closed after Sundarbans oil spill
• The Bangladesh government has closed Shela River route to
allvessels after the sinking of an oil tanker that led to a massive oil spill in
the Sundarbans mangrove forest.
• Carrying 357,664 l of furnace oil, the tanker ‘OT Southern Star 7’ went down
after being hit by another vessel on the Shela at Mrigmari in the Sundarbans
Chandpai range three days ago.
• The massive oil spill from the sunken tanker has put the biodiversity and
ecology of the world’s biggest mangrove forest, a world heritage site since
1997, at risk.
• Forest officials suspect that all of the furnace oil in the sunken tanker has
already spread into the rivers and canals of the Sundarbans.
• Ministry of Shipping also said the ship which rammed the victim vessel was
detained and its survey certificate and registration were cancelled.
Sports
Ankita enters semifinals in ITF women's tennis
• Ankita Raina battled her way past Ellen Allgurin of Sweden
3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $15,000 ITF women's tennis tournament.
• Ankita, seeded second, was the only Indian to make the semifinals as qualifier
Bhuvana Kalva and Natasha Palha lost to top-seeded Sofia Shapatava and
fourth-seeded Emily Webley Smith.
• Ankita will be challenged by qualifier Anastasiya Komardina of Russia who
recovered from the brink of defeat to oust Margarita Lazareva of Russia 2-6,
7-6(4), 6-4.
• Natasha Palha did well to win unfinished match against Silvia Njiric of
Croatia, but lost her quarterfinal clash with Emily Webley Smith.
• In the doubles, Rushmi Chakravarthi and Nidhi Chilumula set up a title clash
against second-seeded Ankita Raina and Webley Smith.
• The results: Quarterfinals: Sofia Shapatava (Geo) bt Bhuvana Kalva 6-3,
7-6(3); Emily Webley Smith (GBR) bt Natasha Palha 6-1, 6-3; Anastasiya Komardina
(Rus) bt Margarita Lazareva (Rus) 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4; Ankita Raina bt Ellen
Allgurin (Swe) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Business & Economy
India is on growth track: IMF
• The International Monetary Fund said the focus on
governance and financial inclusion measures taken by the government were
positive signs that India was back on the growth track.
• In India, the growth was stalled for sometime, but the measures taken by the
new government started showing signals of growth, it said.
• “We see a positive outlook for India. Last year, the growth rate was 4.7 per
cent, and in the current year it would be around 5.6 per cent.
• With the new government’s initiatives, we believe the growth rate next year
would be even more,” said Ratna Sahay, Deputy Director (Strategy, Planning and
Coordination), Monetary and Capital Markets Department, IMF.
• The IMF also said, in India lack of infrastructure was a major hurdle for
developmental activities, which the government needed to address for speedy
growth.
• Commenting on the ‘Make in India’ move by the government, Ms. Ratna said, “It
will create jobs, and will generate tax revenues. This will help in reducing the
fiscal deficit.’’ The IMF also said the growth outlook was good.
• However, the country needed more reforms to fuel the growth. “Though there are
positive signs, there are lot of reforms needed to bring inflation and budget
deficit down,” she added.
• Some of the reforms the government should look at would be to improve tax
administration, introduction of GST, to get rid of subsidies on fertilizers as
well as food and reduce corruption.
• “Getting rid of subsidies does not mean ignore the poor. It should be
targeted. When the entire country gets bank accounts, it can be facilitated by
direct cash transfer. The current account deficit has improved from last year
and it will also improve,” added Ms. Ratna.
PSBs can issue equity with differential voting rights: Arundhati Bhattacharya
• With the government indicating that it would not continue
to fund public sector banks (PSBs), State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Arundhati
Bhattacharya said they could look at issuing shares with differential voting
rights to raise funds to meet the Basel-III capital adequacy norms.
• “The writing on the wall is very clear...they (PSBs) have to think of
differential voting rights. It is time to lay out some kind of roadmap on how
much the banks need to do and how much support it would get,” she said while
talking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference.
• The government allowed PSBs to raise up to Rs.1.60 lakh crore from markets by
diluting government holding to 52 per cent in phases so as to meet the Basel III
norms.
• Pitching for consolidation in the banking sector, Ms. Bhattacharya said it was
important to have 3-4 major banks. According to Ms. Bhattacharya, “it is better
to merge good banks with good banks.”
• “The news that the government has allowed PSBs to bring down the government
stake to 52 per cent kicks off the next round of reforms... because for the
first time, clear signal has been given (to PSBs) to source capital from the
market.
• “The big daddy back there is not going to be around to give them capital as
and when they need. If they need to be competitive and want to grow, then they
definitely need to look at other places for more capital,” Ms. Bhattacharya
added.
• The Basel III norms, which will come into effect from March 31, 2019, were put
in place following the 2007-08 financial crisis triggered by the fall of Lehman
Brothers.
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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB