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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 20 April 2015

:: National ::

India fifth biggest generator of e-waste in 2014: U.N. report

India is the fifth biggest producer of e-waste in the world, discarding 1.7 million tonnes (Mt) of electronic and electrical equipment in 2014, a UN report has warned that the volume of global e-waste is likely to rise by 21 per cent in next three years.
The ‘Global E-Waste Monitor 2014’, compiled by U.N.’s think tank United Nations University (UNU), said at 32 per cent, the U.S. and China produced the most e-waste overall in 2014.
India is behind the U.S., China, Japan and Germany.
Most e-waste in the world in 2014 was generated in Asia at 16 Mt or 3.7 kg per inhabitant. The top three Asian nations with the highest e-waste generation in absolute quantities are China (6.0 Mt), Japan (2.2 Mt) and India (1.7 Mt).
The top per capita producers by far are the wealthy nations of northern and western Europe, the top five being Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, and the U.K.
The lowest amount of e-waste per inhabitant was generated in Africa (1.7 kg/inhabitant). The continent generated 1.9 Mt of e-waste in total.
In 2014, people worldwide discarded all but a small fraction of an estimated 41.8 Mt of electrical and electronic equipment — mostly end-of-life kitchen, laundry and bathroom equipment like microwave ovens, washing machines and dishwashers.
While only 7 per cent of e-waste last year was made up of mobile phones, calculators, personal computers, printers, and small information technology equipment, almost 60 per cent was a mix of large and small equipment used in homes and businesses, such as vacuum cleaners, toasters, electric shavers, video cameras, washing machines, electric stoves, mobile phones, calculators, personal computers, and lamps.

:: International :

700 feared dead in Mediterranean shipwreck

Up to 700 people were feared drowned after an overcrowded boat smuggling them to Europe capsized off Libya in the latest and deadliest in a long list of migrant disasters in the Mediterranean.
Italy’s coastguard, which was coordinating the search for survivors and bodies, said only 28 people had survived a wreck that triggered fresh calls from Pope Francis and others for European leaders to act over what many see as an avoidable loss of life.
Survivors’ testimonies suggested there had been about 700 people on board the 20-metre fishing boat when it keeled over in darkness overnight, officials said.
The European Union announced an emergency meeting of Foreign and Interior Ministers to discuss what Amnesty International blasted as a predictable “man-made tragedy”.
Coastal authorities in Italy and Malta picked up a distress signal from the stricken vessel around midnight (2200 GMT), when it was about 70 miles off the Libyan coast and 110 miles south of the Italian island of Lampedusa.
The Italian coastguard instructed a nearby merchant ship to provide assistance and it was when the Portuguese-registered King Jacob arrived at the scene that the fishing boat capsized, most likely as a result of the terrified passengers stampeding to one side in their desperation to get off, the UNHCR’s Ms. Sami said.
A total of 17 boats scoured the area for survivors on Sunday but only 24 bodies had been recovered by late afternoon, the coastguard said.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, a former Italian Foreign Minister, said ,were a stain on Europe’s conscience.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, added: “This disaster confirms how urgent it is to restore a robust rescue-at-sea operation and establish credible legal avenues to reach Europe. Otherwise people seeking safety will continue to perish at sea.”
If the worst fears about Sunday’s tragedy are confirmed, it will take the death toll since the start of 2015 to more than 1,600.
Amnesty, along with other NGOs, has called for the restoration of an Italian navy search-and-rescue operation known as Mare Nostrum which was suspended at the end of last year.
Italy scaled back the mission after failing to persuade its European partners to help meet its operating costs of nine million euros ($9.7 million) a month amid divisions over whether the mission was unintentionally encouraging migrants to attempt the crossing.
Mare Nostrum has been replaced by a much smaller EU-run operation called Triton which has only a fraction of the specialist assets and manpower.
The fishing boat capsized, most likely as a result of the terrified passengers stampeding to one side in their desperation to get off.

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:: Business and Economy ::

The office of the Chief Educational Officer here has bagged the ISO 9001:2008 certification. This is said to be the first Education Department office to get the certification.
Representatives of Max, a Swedish-based agency for ISO, ascertained the performance of employees of the office during the academic year 2014-15 and ascertained their efficiency in service during the start and end of the assessment.
“Service to people, leadership, system-based management, commitment to service, decision making on rational grounds, design in office, uniform clothes for employees on the lines of corporate sector and above all service to students and teachers were some of the factors which were analysed,” said N. Arul Murugan, Chief Educational Officer, who sought the certification.
Innovation in service was taken into account. For instance, the introduction of photo-affixed transfer certificate was a major new strategy adopted by the office during the academic year 2014-15, he said.
The website of the office of the CEO and the feedback from students and parents were ascertained.
The certification was valid for three years. The agency would take up annual review on the services of the office for the next three years.
“The certification has brought about a sense of confidence and pride among the employees and teachers about the quality of service being rendered by this office,” he said.

:: Science and Technology ::

COAI calls for a debate on Net neutrality

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), whose members have been at the receiving end of the Net neutrality campaign, called for a debate on the issue from an Indian perspective.
“The association urges all stakeholders to have a comprehensive and informed debate on the subject of Net neutrality keeping in mind the requirements of India and its citizens,” a statement said. A subject as important and complex as Net neutrality should “not be left to the opinion of a few.”
Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers should treat all data on the Internet equally, and not discriminate or charge differently by user, content, site, platform or application.
“We support open Internet and believe that consumers should decide what to do online. Our job is to enable consumers to benefit from that freedom. We offer choice and do not block or provide any preferential access to any website or app,” the statement said.
The association has said while its members are committed to investing in the government’s Digital India vision, there is a need to create an enabling and equal environment that promotes the growth of the entire Internet ecosystem.
“Without infrastructure and investment, there will be no Internet access. The operators have invested billions of dollars in licence fees, spectrum fees and network roll-outs. Yet the industry still makes negative return on the capital employed,” it argued.
The industry estimates that the country will need an additional capital outlay of Rs. 3,00,000 crore to 5,00,000 crore over the next 10 years in spectrum, new technology, equipment, towers and optical fibre backbone. “The need of the hour is to have a sustainable industry that has the ability to invest in growth of data services and connectivity to all,” the statement said. It also called for same rules for same services, including mobile and VoIP services.

:: Sports ::

Bangladesh clinches series

Opener Tamim Iqbal struck his second consecutive century as Bangladesh clinched the series with a seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in the second One-Day International.
Bangladesh leads the three-match series 2-0.
Tamim followed up his 132 with an unbeaten 116 to steer Bangladesh to 240 for three off 38.1 overs in reply to Pakistan’s 239 for six.
Mushfiqur Rahim (65) added 118 runs for the third wicket with Tamim.
Earlier Saad Nasim and Wahab Riaz both struck half centuries to lift Pakistan to what it hoped was a fighting total from a precarious 77 for five.