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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 18 April 2014

The curious case of ‘ Transsexual’ in TN

A woman, who was terminated from the Tamil Nadu police service last year after a medical examination report declared her a ‘transsexual,’ is set to get the job back, thanks to a Madras High Court order .
Allowing a petition challenging the termination, the court declared the petitioner as a female for all purposes. She has right to retain such sexual/gender identity.
Setting aside the termination order, Justice S. Nagamuthu directed the police to issue the consequential order within six weeks permitting her to join duty as a Grade II Police Constable (woman) with continuity of service.
She had the liberty to choose a different sexual/gender identity as a third gender in future based on the medical declaration, if a law was put in place recognising female to males (FTMs) as a third gender.

In a major relief to Narendra Modi’s close aide Amit Shah, the Election Commission (EC) has lifted its ban on his participation in Lok Sabha poll campaign in Uttar Pradesh after he assured the poll body that he would not disturb the public tranquillity and law and order.
The Commission allowed Mr. Shah to hold public meetings, public rallies and roadshows and take out public processions in U.P.
The EC had “censured” Mr. Shah for his controversial “revenge” remarks. On April 11, it had ordered the U.P. government to ban Mr. Shah and U.P. minister Azam Khan from campaigning in the state following their controversial remarks.
Mr. Shah had landed in a major controversy for his remarks that the general election was an opportunity to seek “revenge for the insult” inflicted during the riots in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh last year.
The Commission also noted that Mr. Shah had pledged that he will in no manner give cause to be accused as having indulged in any act of commission or omission which has the effect of prejudicially affecting the public tranquillity and law & order.

Russia, the United States, the European Union and Ukraine have agreed on a plan to resolve the crisis in Ukraine through a constitutional reform that would grant more powers to Russian-speaking regions.
After eight-hour talks in Geneva, the Foreign Ministers of the four nations signed a joint statement on de-escalation of the Ukraine crisis.
Russia, the U.S. and the E.U. have called on Ukraine to launch a broad national dialogue involving all political forces and all regions with the aim of undertaking a constitutional reform.
The constitutional reform should provide for “decentralization” of authority, election of regional bodies of power and guaranteeing the language rights of Russian-speaker.
The monitoring mission of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which has already been deployed in Ukraine, must play “the lead role” in assisting the Ukrainian authorities to resolve the crisis.
The plan, at least on paper, has incorporated Russia’s main demands for a settlement in Ukraine.

Astronomers have discovered what they say is the most Earth-like planet yet detected a distant, rocky world that’s similar in size to our planet and exists in the Goldilocks zone where it’s not too hot and not too cold for life.
The planet was detected by NASA’s orbiting Kepler telescope, which examines the heavens for subtle changes in brightness that indicate an orbiting planet is crossing in front of a star. From those changes, scientists can calculate a planet’s size and make certain inferences about its makeup.
The newfound object, dubbed Kepler-186f, circles a red dwarf star 500 light years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. A light year is about 9.5 trillion km.
The planet is about 10 per cent larger than Earth and may very well have liquid water a key ingredient for life on its surface. That is because it resides at the outer edge of the habitable temperature zone around its star the sweet spot where lakes, rivers or oceans may exist without freezing solid or boiling away.

Chennai Super Kings’ imposing 205 for four failed to intimidate Kings XI Punjab, who chased down the total with six wickets in hand and seven balls to spare in their Indian Premier League match at the Zayed cricket stadium.
Drifting dangerously at 52 for three early into the chase, the hour of reckoning produced the man for the crisis in the form of Glenn Maxwell, whose 43-ball 95 brought the Kings well within range of what had once seemed a distant target.
Man-of-the-Match trophy was given to G. Maxwell.

A controversial Pakistani cleric who runs an Islamic seminary for girls in the capital of Islamabad has named the school’s newly built library in honour of Osama bin Laden.
The tribute is an unusual first, though there have been cases in recent years of Pakistanis naming their sons or even their stores and places of business after the terror network’s slain leader.
Bin Laden was killed in a May 2011 raid by U.S. Navy SEALs in his hiding place in Abbottabad, a garrison town about 125 kilometres north of Islamabad. The unilateral raid at the time angered the Pakistani government, which said the United States had violated the country’s sovereignty.
In the immediate aftermath of bin Laden’s death, Islamists held small rallies across Pakistan to denounce the killing. The slain al-Qaeda chief is still regarded as a hero by most students at Islamic schools, or madrassas.