Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 19 April 2015

:: National ::

Yechury is new CPI(M) chief

Rajya Sabha member Sitaram Yechury was elected the fifth general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) after it became evident that his supporters in the newly elected Central Committee (CC) would press for a vote if Polit Bureau (PB) member S. Ramachandran Pillai’s name was proposed by outgoing general secretary Prakash Karat.
Eager to ensure a smooth transition by averting a vote, Mr. Pillai’s candidature was withdrawn paving the way for the unanimous election of the 91-member CC, after which Mr. Karat proposed Mr. Yechury for general secretary which was unanimously accepted. The new CC also elected a 16-member PB. Both bodies have a few new faces.
Three party veterans — two former Chief Ministers, V.S. Achuthanandan from Kerala and Budhhadeb Bhattacharya from West Bengal, and Nirupam Sen — have been dropped from the CC, but made special invitees. Mr. Bhattacharya and Mr. Sen, who did not attend the congress, have also been dropped from the PB, as was K. Vardha Rajan — all on account of advancing age. The four new faces in the 16-member PB are Hannan Mollah, Mohd. Salim, Subhashini Ali and G. Ramakrishnan.
Addressing the concluding session soon after, Mr. Yechury papered over differences by reiterating his commitment to “collective leadership” and said his effort would be to correct the weaknesses that may have come up or are inherent “in all of us.”
Before the issue was clinched, the divide at the top was evident in the morning as Mr. Karat and Mr. Yechury left their hotel for the makeshift red township — Samar Mukherjee Nagar. Asked whether there could be a vote for the post of general secretary, Mr. Karat said: “This does not happen in our party.” Mr. Yechury’s response was: “It is for the new CC to decide.”
Mr. Yechury’s statement was seen as an indication that neither he nor his supporters would blink. Within hours, the party’s Malayalam television channel Kairali broke the news that Mr. Pillai had withdrawn from the race just before the CC election.

TIMELINE

• › Elected as All India Joint Secretary of SFI in 1978 and went on to become the All India President of SFI.
________________________________________
• › In 1984, he was invited to the Central Committee of the CPI(M).
________________________________________
• › He was arrested for opposing internal emergency in 1975. He was later elected the president of JNU’s students union.
________________________________________
• › Elected to the Central Committee in the CPI(M) 12th Congress in 1985.
________________________________________
• ›He was captain of the lawn tennis team in the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
________________________________________
• › Elected to the Central Secretariat at the 13th Congress in 1988.
________________________________________
• › Elected Polit Bureau member at the 14th Congress in 1992.
________________________________________
• › He was elected to Rajya Sabha from West Bengal in July 2005.
________________________________________
• › Elected the fifth general secretary at the party's 21st party Congress in Vishakapatnam on 19 April 2015.
________________________________________
• › Sitaram Yechury and Polit Bureau member S. Ramachandran Pillai were the frontrunners for the post.

Govt may offer e-visa to Chinese tourists

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed visit to China, India may extend the e-tourist visa facility to citizens of that country, despite strong opposition from an intelligence agency.
The matter was discussed threadbare at a recent high-level meeting, chaired by Union Home Secretary L.C. Goyal, during which the intelligence agency expressed reservations and suggested a cautious approach before taking a final decision.
The Tourism Ministry has been strongly advocating extending the e-tourist visa facility to five more countries, including China. The other four countries are the U.K., France, Italy and Spain.
Home Ministry officials said the intelligence agency has red-flagged granting of the e-tourist visa facility to Chinese nationals due to various reasons.
Frequent issuance of stapled visa by China to people from Arunachal Pradesh was one of the key reasons for the objection, an official said.
There is a possibility of announcement of visa-on-arrival facility to Chinese nationals before Mr. Modi’s proposed visit to China in May.

Patel statue under green tribunal radar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s grand plan to erect a giant statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the “Statue of Unity” expected to be the tallest in the world at 182 metres, on the Sadhu Bet island on the Narmada near Vadodara, has come under National Green Tribunal scrutiny.
The tribunal has asked Gujarat to file a reply before May 8 to allegations of irregularities in the project made by activists.
A group of environmental activists from Gujarat has filed a petition with National Green Tribunal seeking a stay on the construction of the proposed 182 metre Sardar Patel Statue on Sadhu Bet island on the Narmada.
“The State has taken time to file a reply, and we are expecting it by May 8 when the petition will be heard again,” Lara Jesani, lawyer representing the petitioners, told .
The activist said the project had not obtained the mandatory permissions required under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification.
Moreover, the site was on an active tectonic plate in a fault line area.
They said the statue was just one part of a big tourism project for which environmental and wetland laws and safety and disaster-management norms had been given the go-by.
The project would require extensive construction work on the active riverbed of the perennial Narmada and was likely to fall within a critical wetlands area to be notified under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010.
No social and environment impact assessment had been done on the impact of the project and how the expected influx of migrant labourers and tourists would affect the livelihoods of the people living downstream for generations.
The activists sought action against officials and agencies for allegedly ignoring the law to go ahead with the project.
While the statue will be built over 20,000 sq.m of land surrounded by a man-made lake called Garudeshwar Weir, the total project area would cover around 1.2 lakh sq.m.
Phase I of the project will include the convention centre Shrestha Bharat Bhavan, hotels, food stalls, retail kiosks and other amenities.
Phase 2 will include the development of the banks of the Narmada up to Bharuch district; road, rail and tourist infrastructure; schools, colleges and universities for tribal development; an education research centre and knowledge city; a tourism corridor from Garudeshwar to Bhadbhut; and a clean technology research park and agriculture training centre.

Vikas Swarup takes charge as MEA spokesperson (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Protection only for honest public servants: apex court (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Nasim Zaidi takes over as new CEC (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International :

IS video purports to show killing of Ethiopians in Libya

A video released by the Islamic State group appears to show the killing of two different groups of captured Ethiopian Christians by the extremist group’s Libyan affiliates.
The 29-minute online video purports to show militants holding two groups of captives. It says one group is held by an IS affiliate in eastern Libya known as Barka Province and the other by an affiliate in the south calling itself the Fazzan Province.
A masked fighter brandishing a pistol delivers a long statement, saying Christians must convert to Islam or pay a special tax prescribed by the Quran.
The video then switches between footage of the captives in the south being shot dead and the captives in the east being beheaded on a beach.
It was not immediately clear who the captives were or when they were captured. It was also not clear how many captives were killed.
The video bore the official logo of the IS media arm Al-Furqan and resembled previous videos released by the extremist group, including one in February in which IS militants in Libya beheaded 21 captured Egyptian Christians on a beach.
The Islamic State group has been able to gain a foothold amid the chaos in Libya, where two governments backed by rival alliances of militias are battling each other as well as extremist groups.
The Islamic State group is also advancing in Iraq, where the extremists captured three villages near the city of Ramadi in the western Anbar province and were locked in heavy clashes with Iraqi troops.
More than 90,000 people have fled the Islamic State group’s advance in Anbar, a United Nations humanitarian agency said .

:: Business and Economy ::

Alto is best-selling car for tenth year in a row

Maruti Suzuki India continued its hold on the country’s car market in 2014-15 with its models Alto, Swift, Dzire and WagonR retaining the top four positions.
According to a data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Maruti’s Alto sold 2,64,492 units in 2014-15 as against 2,58,281 units in the previous fiscal, retaining its numero uno position for the tenth year in succession.
Likewise, Swift retained the second spot with 2,01,338 units in fiscal 2015 as compared to 1,98,571 units in the previous fiscal.
Keeping its third position intact was Maruti’s Dzire, which sold 1,92,010 units in 2014-15 as against 1,87,673 units.
WagonR also retained the fourth best-selling car brand status with 1,61,250 units in year 2014-15 as against 1,56,369 units in the previous fiscal.
Hyundai Motor India’s Grand i10 jumped to the fifth spot in 2014-15 at 99,088 units from 7th in the previous fiscal at 72,789 units.
However, the company’s Eon dropped to the 6th position at 78,334 units in 2014-15 from 5th spot in the previous fiscal at 86,474 units.
Hyundai’s Elite i20 was the 7th best-selling car brand in India in year 2014-15 with 77,747 units, while Honda City was at eighth position clocking 77,343 units.
Maruti’s Celerio was ninth best-selling car at 68,143 units sold, while Honda’s Amaze was 10th with 66,703 units.

:: Science and Technology ::

TRAI chief says ‘shrill voices’ won’t win Net neutrality debate

Telecom watchdog TRAI Chairman Rahul Khullar said “shrill voices” will not win the Net neutrality debate and the concept is not “practiced strictly” even in countries like the U.S. and the U.K.
The principle of Net Neutrality calls for equal treatment to be accorded to all Internet traffic, without discrimination or priority for any person, entity or company.
While Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has floated a discussion paper on this topic, a raging debate has broken out in the country following the launch of platforms like Airtel Zero and internet.org.
“There has to be democratic debate. It’s a debate that is waiting to happen. Shrill voices do not win debate. Cool-headed reasoned arguments on both sides are need of the hour,” Mr. Khullar said.
“There are different practices in different jurisdictions. U.K. and parts of Europe do not practice strict Net neutrality. Even in U.S. zero rating plans are permissible,” he said.
In response to its paper, for which public comments have been sought till April 24, Trai has already been flooded with over 8 lakh petitions against any attempt to throttle Net neutrality concept.
“Both sides have their argument. We have consultation process running. Let everybody’s comment come in place, then we will decide further course of action,” Mr. Khullar said.
The debate had begun after Airtel decided to charge separately for Internet-based phone calls in December, which it had to later withdraw.

Net neutrality (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Sports ::

IPL 2015: Clinical RR beat CSK by 8 wickets

A rampaging Rajasthan Royals thrashed Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets as openers Shane Watson and Ajinkya Rahane hit strokeful fifties to help the team register its fifth straight win in this season of the IPL, in Ahmedabad .
Chasing 157 for a win at their adopted home ground at Motera, RR rode on a 144-run record opening stand between skipper Watson (73 off 47 balls) and Rahane (76 not out) to canter home in 18.2 overs and hand CSK their first loss in this edition.
The previous best opening partnership for RR was the 135-run stand between Graeme Smith and Naman Ojha in Durban, South Africa in 2009.
After taking stock of the slow-paced wicket in the first 6 overs, Watson cut loose before the strategic time-out to punish the CSK bowlers at will.
Making his first IPL appearance this season, Watson, who took over the reins from stand-in-skipper Steven Smith, hit 6 fours and 4 sixes to provide perfect entertainment.
Rahane, who smashed his second fifty of the season, matched Watson stroke by stroke to accumulate 231 runs in five appearances and get the Orange Cap, for being the leading run-scorer, on his head.
Watson was finally done in by a yorker from Ravindra Jadeja as the left-arm spinner got a consolation wicket in the 17th over.
CSK delayed the inevitable by getting another wicket as Smith (6) gave a simple caught and bowled chance to Dwayne Bravo in the 19th over.
Karun Nair (1 not out) walked in to hit the winning runs as Rahane savoured the victory at the non-strikers end with his 55-ball stay laced with 6 fours and 2 sixes.
Earlier electing to bat in hot and testing conditions, CSK lost early wickets, but skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (31 not out) and Bravo, in his 36-ball knock, stitched an unbeaten 91-run fifth wicket partnership to lift the team to 156 for four in 20 overs.
Bravo, who brought up first fifty of the season in just 29 balls, smashed 8 fours and a six while Dhoni played the sheet anchors role but was a tad slow in his 37-ball stay.
Dwayne Smith also struck a 29-ball 40 to give the much-needed boost after CSK were in trouble at 39 for three.
Looking to make full use of the powerplays in the first six overs, CSK opener Brendon McCullum (12) fell to leg-spinner Pravin Tambe (1-36) after he mistimed a pull to James Faulkner at mid-on.
Suresh Raina (4) was the next to go as Chris Morris (1-19) got the left-hander caught behind in the sixth over.
Young left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma (1-26), who opened the bowling for the Shane Watson-led side, then got Faf du Plessis back in the dug out to reduce CSK to 39 for three.
But just when it looked that Smith, whose innings was laced with 3 fours and 2 sixes, will bail the visitors out of trouble with his big and powerful hitting, RR medium-pacer Faulkner (1-26) got the burly West Indian clean bowled just after the strategic time out post the ninth over.
But Faulkner and company bowled a decent line and length during the course of the 20 overs and South African medium-pacer Morris summed up the team’s bowling in the final 6 deliveries, allowing the opposition batsmen only 7 runs.