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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 12 September 2014

National

The Supreme Court clarified that the three per cent reservation for disabled persons in government jobs covered all classes of employees, including appointments and promotions to the Indian Administrative Services.
Although 19 years had passed since the passage of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act of 1995, the disabled were struggling for their rights, a Bench headed by Chief Justice R.M. Lodha said.

A Himachal Pradesh student has created a bullet train model that has been selected for a national—level exhibition, a school official said.
Shilpa, a class 10 student in Government Senior Secondary School at Sudhial near Nadaun in Hamirpur district, has prepared the bullet train model that is based on the magnetic repulsion effect of similar poles of magnets.
The model, declared the best in the state—level science exhibition, will now be displayed at the national—level Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) exhibition to be held in New Delhi Oct 6—8, school principal Om Prakash said.
INSPIRE is a programme of the department of science and technology of the Union Government to sharpen young minds in science.

Jiten Paul, a veteran journalist and freedom fighter, passed away at a hospital in Agartala, at age of 101.
With his demise, a brilliant legacy of journalism and social movement in northeast India came to an end.
He launched Tripura’s first Bengali daily Jagaran in 1953 and had been a guiding force for journalists, intellectuals and social activists for decades.
He tirelessly worked towards rehabilitation of Bengali migrants from East Pakistan after partition of India and later for people displaced internally due to ethnic strife and insurgency problem in Tripura.
Before settling down in Tripura, he took part in India’s independence movement in Brahmanbaria district of Bangladesh, where he was born in 1914.
The nonagenarian was actively involved welfare activities and rights movements of journalists till his last days.

Former IBN 18 Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai will join the India Today group as Consulting Editor .
Mr. Sardesai quit IBN 18, in July after the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited bought a controlling stake in Network 18 and its subsidiaries.
He founded Cable News Network- Indian Broadcasting Network (CNN-IBN) in 2005, after quitting New Delhi Television (NDTV).
Recently, India Today group’s former Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta was re-designated as Editorial Advisor — just two months after he moved over from the Express Group.
Nalin Mehta, Managing Editor of India Today’s English news channel Headlines Today, also quit in May.

More international medical workers are needed to fight the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, where more than 2,400 have died from the disease, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Margaret Chan said in Geneva.
The WHO Director-General welcomed an announcement by Cuba to send 165 doctors, nurses and infection specialists to Sierra Leone for half a year.
Some 170 international medical staff are already active in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the countries at the centre of the epidemic.
The number of people infected with the deadly haemorrhagic fever virus has risen to 4,784, according to the UN health agency.
Health services in West Africa have been strained, partly because many health professionals have become infected.
Many of them have also stayed away from work because of lack of hygienic protection equipment, security measures and pay.

Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India next week, China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jianchao told journalists in Beijing that President Xi’s visit will mark the beginning of “another era in Sino-Indian ties’, embedded with strong “strategic” resonance.
India and China are expected to sign as many as 20 agreements and MoUs in Delhi, on issues related to infrastructure development, cultural ties among others.
Chief amongst the agreements will be the setting up of two ‘industrial cities’ near Gandhinagar and Pune on the lines of the Chinese manufacturing hub Shenzen.
The two leaders, who are meeting for the second time since Mr Modi took office, are expected to discuss the road ahead in the Sino-Indian border negotiations. However, the two countries are still to appoint their Special Representatives for the border talks.
In Delhi on September 18, President Xi will receive the official welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan and will outline his vision for India-China ties at a speech which will be broadcast live in China.
Before he leaves India on September 19, he will present Friendship awards to the family of the Dr. Kotnis, revered for his service in China during the Sino-Japanese war. President Xi will also meet Congress party president Sonia Gandhi.

General Motors Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mary Barra is on a three-day visit to India, meeting dealers, suppliers and other stakeholders throughout the country, to study the market here.
The development assumes significance given the fact that the American auto major has been present in the domestic market for about two decades, but has not been successful at making a significant impact in the automobile sector here.
The company plans to launch 40 new products globally, including India.

As part of its efforts to make the Ganga rejuvenation programme a mass movement, the Ministry of Water Resource launched a web portal to connect with the public on the ambitious project of the NDA Government.
The bilingual website has a provision to receive feedback from the public, where suggestions can be given about the Ganga Rejuvenation Plan.
The public can also upload files up to the size of 4 MB along with their suggestions, a press release issued in Delhi said.
Launching the website, Union Minister for Water Resource Uma Bharti said the launch of the website was an important tool to connect the public with the gigantic task of Ganga rejuvenation.

Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna will be awarded the Davis Cup Commitment Award in Bangalore on the sidelines of the ongoing World Group play-off tie against Serbia, it was announced by International Tennis Federation (ITF).
The ITF through its national associations, will present Davis Cup Commitment Awards during this weekend’s 2014 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group and zone group ties.
This new award was conceived as part of the ITF’s 2013 Centenary celebrations, and is presented to Davis Cup players who have shown long-standing dedication to representing their country in this prestigious competition.
Each award recipient will have competed in a minimum of 20 home-and-away ties or 50 ties at any level of the competition (including week-long zone group events) over their career.
Besides Bopanna, former Grand Slam tennis champions Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil will also be presented the award after their respective games.