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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 17 April 2015

:: National ::

‘Reformer-in-chief’: Obama’s name for Modi

PM Narendra Modi is featured in the Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people for this year with an article by U.S. President Barack Obama, who titled it “India’s reformer-in-chief.”
“As a boy, Modi helped his father sell tea to support their family. Today, he is the leader of the world’s largest democracy, and his life story — from poverty to PM — reflects the dynamism and potential of India’s rise,” Mr. Obama wrote.
Recalling how they reflected on the teachings of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi last year, Mr. Obama said Mr. Modi recognised that more than 1 billion Indians living and succeeding together can be an inspiring model for the world.
“Like India, he transcends the ancient and the modern — a devotee of yoga who connects on Twitter and imagines a “digital India,” Mr. Obama added.

Raising of Pakistan flags intolerable: Mufti

A day after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to take strictest possible action against those involved in raising pro-Pakistan slogans at a rally in Srinagar, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed spoke the same language terming the act intolerable.
Mr. Sayeed told NDTV that such an act was unacceptable and the law would take its course. He told the media that it was fine till the separatists kept to rallies, but the raising of Pakistani flags would not be tolerated and action would be taken against those who hoisted the Pakistani flag at the rally of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in Srinagar.
The J&K police have registered a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against Mr. Geelani, Masarat Alam and Peer Saiffulah. However, no arrests have been made so far.
While Mr. Sayeed had struck an understanding with the BJP over providing a democratic space to all political views in Kashmir, the waving of Pakistani flags evidently crosses the threshold of the arrangement, provoking the BJP to cry foul and forcing the Chief Minister to act.
Stating that the government would not tolerate any anti-national activity, Mr. Singh on Thursday said at Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh that he had spoken to Mr. Sayeed and sought strict action against those involved.
Amid pro-Azadi and pro-Pakistan slogans, thousands of people in Srinagar welcomed Mr. Geelani with Tehreek-e-Hurriyat and Pakistani flags. The Hurriyat leader had returned to Kashmir after spending four months in Delhi.
The Chief Minister decided to deny permission for a rally by separatists on Friday from Srinagar to Tral where a youth was killed by the Army in a “gun battle.”

Be a partner in India’s growth, Modi tells Harper

Prime Minister Narendra Modi not only kept the 8,000-strong audience of mostly Indo-Canadians roaring with approval and on their feet during his speech of one hour and ten minutes at Toronto’s Ricoh Coliseum, but he pitched his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper an enticing invitation to be a partner in his vision for India’s development.
The bond between the men was evident and Mr. Harper reminded the gathering of Canada’s historical friendship with the Indian Prime Minister.
He said, “I am so proud to say that [Mr. Modi] has long been a friend to Canada and we to him as during his many years as Chief Minister of Gujarat we had extended the hand of friendship long before others.”
The point was not missed on Mr. Modi, who noted that since the time he launched the ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ summit in 2003, the year following the anti-Muslim pogrom in that State, Canada had consistently been a partner-State of Gujarat.
On this occasion, Mr. Modi came bearing a gift for Canadians and the cheers were loudest when Mr. Harper announced what it was — the inclusion of Canada in the list of nations receiving a visa-on-arrival from India.
Yet if the bonhomie was the icing on the cake, the main subject on Mr. Modi’s mind was India’s development, whether through the construction of more toilets for girls, or through the expansion of opportunities for the youth of India to innovate and create the next IBM or mp3.
As he wrote earlier in the day in an op-ed published by The Globe and Mail , Mr. Modi admitted that the bilateral relationship had somewhat “drifted,” and yet, he said, the two countries were cooperating in deep space even as their relationship on the ground remained unfulfilled.
Mr. Modi also sought to defend the progress made on the Jan Dhan Yojana under his government, answering critics who questioned the logic of opening millions of bank accounts with a zero bank balance saying the poor did in fact save their incomes, and had done so to the tune of Rs. 14,000 crore.
At the heart of his speech was his repeated assertion, “ jan man badla hai ,” or “The minds of the people have changed,” over his 10 months in office, and that India was finally on the move.
While the Prime Minister did not appear to allude to the protection of religious minority rights, as he has done on past occasions, a group of 150 or more protesters held a rally a short distance away from the venue, some from the Sikhs for justice rights group protesting Mr. Modi’s alleged involvement in the 2002 pogrom.

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:: International :

New visa scheme for tourists from Sri Lanka

India has launched e-tourist Visa Scheme (eTV) aimed at making visa facility easier for India-bound Sri Lankans.
Those Sri Lankans holding ordinary passports can avail themselves of the facility, which came into effect coinciding with the Tamil and Sinhala New Year Day. Applicants need to go to indianvisaonline.gov.in and apply, according to a release of the Indian High Commission issued. This will be in addition to the existing system of visa services wherein applications for most of the categories are being processed through a private agency.
The launch of the scheme follows the announcement made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Colombo last month.
Visas to be issued under the new scheme will be for single-entry and valid for only 30 days’ stay from the date of arrival in India.
Entry into India must be through any of the nine designated airports. A fee of $ 60 will be levied per person for the new scheme. Asked about the expected increase in the number of tourists from Sri Lanka, an official of the High Commission replied that “we are in the test mode.” However, the fee under the new arrangement is about four times that of the existing system. The official acknowledges this but points out that the eTV scheme is “hassle free.”

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:: Business and Economy ::

Google unveils ‘Find My Phone'

If you misplace your Android phone in the car or leave it somewhere around the house, search engine giant Google can now help locate the smartphone.
Using Google search on a desktop, users need to type in ‘Find my phone’ and an approximate location of the device will be shown, Google said in a blog post.
The users just need to ensure that they have the latest version of the Google App on their registered device and smartphone location services are also on.
The Android Device Manager will allow users to ring their device, using which they can locate their device. The phone will ring for five minutes, once the ring option is chosen. However, there are other apps available in the market to track and erase data remotely, if required.

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:: Science and Technology ::

NASA probe captures colour image of Pluto

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has sent back its first colour image of the dwarf planet Pluto and its largest moon Charon, after more than nine years of travelling through the solar system.
The new photo, taken on April 9 from a distance of about 115 million kilometres, is already providing insights about Pluto and Charon, as well as suggestions of the science to come when New Horizons flies by the Pluto system on July 14, NASA said.
The image shows “tantalising glimpses of this system,” Jim Green, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, said. “You can immediately see a number of differences between Pluto and Charon,” he added.
Charon is dimmer than Pluto. The contrast may be due to a difference in composition of the two bodies, or it could even be caused by a previously unseen atmosphere on Charon, Mr. Green said.
The uncertainty should clear up this summer, when New Horizons gets history’s first good look at the two frigid, faraway objects.

MIT develops sensor to detect spoiled meat

MIT researchers have developed an inexpensive, portable sensor that can detect gases emitted by rotting meat, allowing you to determine whether the meat in the grocery store or refrigerator is safe to eat.
The sensor, which consists of chemically modified carbon nanotubes, could be deployed in “smart packaging” that would offer much more accurate safety information than the expiration date on the package, said Timothy Swager, the John D MacArthur Professor of Chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The sensor is similar to other carbon nanotube devices that Swager’s lab has developed in recent years, including one that detects the ripeness of fruit.
All of these devices work on the same principle: Carbon nanotubes can be chemically modified so that their ability to carry an electric current change in the presence of a particular gas.
In this case, the researchers modified the carbon nanotubes with metal-containing compounds called metalloporphyrins, which contain a central metal atom bound to several nitrogen-containing rings.
For this sensor, the researchers used a metalloporphyrin with cobalt at its centre. Metalloporphyrins are very good at binding to nitrogen-containing compounds called amines.
Of particular interest to the researchers were the so-called biogenic amines, such as putrescine and cadaverine, which are roduced by decaying meat.

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:: Sports ::

New Zealand crushes India

The Indian women’s hockey team lost 4-1 to New Zealand to crash out in the quarterfinals of the Hawke’s Bay Cup here.
India drew first blood, Ritu Rani converting its first penalty-corner in the sixth minute.
But New Zealand equalised in the next minute when Petrea Webster converted a penalty-corner. The hosts had another penalty-corner soon but failed to utilise the opportunity.
India played went on the in the second quarter and managed to rattle the Kiwis, but failed to score.
Two minutes into the second quarter, India got another penalty corner but wasted the chance.
In the 28th minute, New Zealand managed to break the Indian defence and take a 2-1 lead.
The third quarter was a story of near misses for India.
New Zealand extended its lead to 3-1 in the closing stages of the third quarter.
In the 55th minute, New Zealand made it 4-1 when Ella Gunson scored a fine field goal.
India will next face the loser of the match between USA and Korea in the 5-8 place classification match.

Award for Indian team

The Indian men’s team, which won the gold medal in the Incheon Asian Games in 2014, will get the Asian Squash Federation’s ‘Outstanding Team of the Year’ award.
The coach of the team, Cyrus Poncha, the national coach, will receive the ASF ‘Coach of the year award.’
Another Indian to figure in the awards list is Kush Kumar, the first Indian junior male player to reach the semifinal of a World junior championship. He achieved it in Namibia, 2014 and returned with a bronze medal.
Other awardees: Dato Alex Lee Award – Outstanding Performance of the Year (Senior): Men: Abdullah Kh. Al-Mezayen (Kuwait); Women: Nicol David (Malaysia).
Hassan Musa Award: Outstanding Performance of the Year (junior): Girls: Vanessa Raj Gnanasigamani (Malaysia).
Outstanding Team of the Year: Women's team Malaysia .
ASF Development Award: The Most Improved Team of the Year: Pakistan junior team .
ASF coaches awards: Coach of the year (individual): Nasser Sayed Zahran (Kuwait). Junior Coach of the Year: Leung Kan Fai Dick (Hong Kong, China); Development Coach of the Year: Kang Ho Suck (Korea).
Coaches Certificate of Recognition: Ifrahim Gul (Malaysia) and Shamsul Bahary Salleh (Malaysia).