Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 20 June 2014

PMO has no intention to impose Hindi on any State

After the Union Home Ministry’s May 27 instruction to government departments to use Hindi compulsorily in their social media communications spiralled into a political controversy, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) clarified that the directive applied only to Hindi-speaking States and did not amount to a change in policy.This is neither a new policy nor an attempt to impose the use of Hindi on any non-Hindi-speaking State.
The PMO clarification came in the wake of loud protests from Tamil Nadu, capped by a letter from Chief Minister Jayalalithaa who urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure “that English is used on social media.”
The release said the instruction was only a follow-up to the Ministry’s circular on March 10 — when the United Progressive Alliance was in power — to the same effect. “It was a routine circular and the government has no intention to impose Hindi on any State.

India-born Booker Prize winning author Salman Rushdie named the winner of this year’s prestigious Pen Pinter prize for his outstanding literary output and support for freedom of expression.
The award was established in 2009 by writers’ charity English Pen in memory of famous British playwright and Nobel laureate Harold Pinter.
Maureen Freely, chair of the judging panel, said: “This prize is English Pen’s way of thanking Salman Rushdie not just for his books and his many years of speaking out for freedom of expression, but also for his countless private acts of kindness.
“When he sees writers unjustly vilified, prosecuted, or forced into exile, he takes a personal interest. I think he would be the first to say that it was Harold Pinter who set the example in this regard: the engaged writer never sleeps.”

The launch campaign is progressing smoothly for a multiple-satellite mission from Sriharikota on June 30. A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C23) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will liftoff from the spaceport on the island in Andhra Pradesh at 9.49 a.m. on that day and put into orbit five foreign satellites.

The overall 45 per cent deficiency in the southwest monsoon so far has impacted kharif sowing, which is lagging by 17.64 per cent over the previous year. Sowing of rice, pulses, coarse cereals, oilseeds, sugarcane, cotton, jute and mesta is lower compared to the corresponding period last year.
An Agriculture Ministry-headed inter-ministerial group reviewed the crop and weather situation on Friday. It was informed that rainfall is deficient in the country as a whole. The deficiency is 62 per cent in the east and northeast region, 40 per cent in the northwest, 38 per cent in south Peninsula and 32 per cent in central India.
Of the 36 met sub-divisions, rain has been deficient in over 14 and scanty in 13 sub-divisions. It was normal in only five sub-divisions and excess in four, according to the India Meteorological Department. The forecast is that till June 26, north-eastern States as well as coastal Karnataka will receive widespread rains, while the rest of the country will get either scattered or isolated rain.

Seeking to simplify norms, a government panel has suggested that foreign investment of over 10 per cent in a listed company be treated as FDI and the one from NRIs on a non-repatriable basis be deemed as domestic investment.
The panel on rationalising definitions of FDI and FII, headed by Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram, said foreign investment in an unlisted company should be treated as FDI.It aims at removing ambiguities over clear demarcation between FDI and foreign institutional investment.
The report also says an investor may be allowed to invest below the 10 per cent threshold, and “this can be treated as FDI, subject to the condition that the FDI stake is raised to 10 per cent or beyond within one year from the date of the first purchase.’’
If the stake is not raised to 10 per cent or above, then the investment can be treated as portfolio investment.Foreign direct investment is subject to sectoral caps.
FDI reflects a lasting interest and long-term relationship, while under portfolio investment, the relationship between the investor and the company remains largely anonymous, the report says.

Ahead of the Modi-government’s first budget, the World Bank, suggested that India should roll out the Goods and Services Tax (GST), reduce subsidies, and broaden tax base to promote growth, projecting it to be lower at 5.5 per cent for 2014-15, from the earlier forecast of 5.7 per cent.
“Implementing the Goods and Services Tax (regime), targeting subsidies better, and broadening the tax base will help create the fiscal space for supporting accelerated growth and poverty reduction,” said Onno Ruhl, World Bank’s Country Director-India.
He was speaking at a function here to release the World Bank’s report on Global Economic Prospects (GEP) 2014. Lead author of the report Andrew Burns, too, was present at the launch of the report in India.
The report, which was released globally earlier, has scaled down economic growth projection for the current financial year to 5.5 per cent from 5.7 per cent estimated in April.
“The growth in India is projected at 5.5 per cent in 2014-15, accelerating to 6.3 per cent in 2015-16 and 6.6 per cent in 2016-17,” the GEP 2014 report says.

National champion Sanjeev Rajput shot 1160 to take the 26th spot in the men’s free rifle 3-position event, but India had the honour of finishing fifth in the medals table, in the shooting World Cup at Maribor, Slovenia.
Rajput shot 386 in kneeling, 394 in prone and 380 in standing, 16 points short of his national record 1176, and missed the final by 10 points.
Gagan Narang was in awful form, finished second from last among 52 shooters with a score of 1141. It was his third lowest total in an international competition in the event.
India was fifth out of 14 countries that won at least one medal, in an overall field of 59 countries, thanks to a gold and silver by Jitu Rai and a bronze by Ayonika Paul.China (7) and Germany (4) finished in that order with three gold medals.