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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 18 February 2015

:: National ::

Centre defends pictures of politicians in ads

Noting that there was nothing “mala fide” in publishing photographs of the Prime Minister, political leaders and “higher authorities” in government advertisements, the Centre said it was the prerogative of a democratically elected government to decide its expenses and the Supreme Court could not interfere.
Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi told a Bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi that an ulterior motive of “trying to gain political mileage” could not be read into every government advertisement published with the photographs of political leaders. He submitted that any restriction on government advertisements even before their publication would amount to “pre-censorship.”
The court was debating if it should make into law a recommendation by a Supreme Court-appointed high-power committee, led by eminent academic N.R. Madhava Menon, that names and pictures of political parties and their office-bearers should not be mentioned in government advertisements.
The committee, in a report to the court in October 2014, said that such advertisements were instances of self-aggrandisement and misuse of public money. It has framed a series of guidelines to regulate expenditure and contents of government advertisements in order to “keep politics out of ads.”
Prashant Bhushan, counsel of petitioner Common Cause, said such advertisements were harmful instances of patronage of media houses by the government.
Mr. Rohatgi said such guidelines were unnecessary as a constitutional framework was in place to regulate expenses. “All expenses of the government are provided through the Appropriation Bills passed by Parliament. Every penny spent is audited. There is a constitutional requirement for audit. The Comptroller and Auditor General will check. These guidelines have limited value,” Mr. Rohatgi said.

:: International ::

U.S.-based news portal Mashable to foray into Indian market

U.S.-headquartered news portal Mashable announced its foray into the Indian market in partnership with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd’s JV firm India.com.
Mashable, which termed India as one of its top five global markets, said its Indian arm would have an editorial team based in the country for localised content.
Commenting on its India foray, Mashable Founder and CEO Pete Cashmore said: “As Mashable continues to grow in parallel with the expansion of digital, entering India was an obvious next step.”
Web portal India.com is a joint-venture between Penske Media Corporation (PMC) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.
India.com publishes content destinations, including BGR.in, CricketCountry.com, BollywoodLife.com, TheHealthSite.com, Prepsure.com, BrownPaperBag.in, and India.com.
Mashable India will have an editorial team based in India for localised content. It will offer the best global coverage from mashable.com and augment it with extensive editorial coverage from India.
The addition of Mashable India will continue Mashable’s global expansion, which began last year with the opening of a U.K. office, while also adding reporters in Australia and building a strong network of global journalists.
Approximately, half of Mashable’s 42 million monthly unique visitors come from outside the U.S., the company said.

:: Business & Economy ::

Hyundai launches new Verna (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Sports ::

Mandatory to share WC live feed: Prasar Bharti

Reminding that “cricket is almost a religion in the Indian sub-continent,” Prasar Bharti urged the Supreme Court to order “absolute stay” on a Delhi High Court order barring the public broadcaster from sharing its Doordarshan feed of the ongoing ICC World Cup 2015 matches with private cable operators.
In a volatile hearing before a Bench, led by Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi said it was mandatory under the law for Prasar Bharti to give free live signals to cable operators when events of national interest took place. Any tinkering with this statutory obligation, is contrary to law, he said.
The Delhi High Court’s verdict favouring Star India Ltd., which said it had a six-year broadcasting contract worth Rs. 3,850 crore with the BCCI to beam the World Cup matches in the subcontinent, had come after a seven-year court battle with the Prasar Bharti.
The court extended the period of the interim stay till February 19. In the meantime, it asked the AG to respond by an affidavit to a proposal put forward by Star India to “create a separate channel” so that the visuals of India’s World Cup matches could be aired directly to subscribers without passing through private cable operators.