Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 21 March 2014

New Green Tribunal direction

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the Assam government not to permit traffic on six sections along the 54-km stretch of National Highway 37 passing through the Kaziranga landscape.
These are used by the animals as corridors from/to the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape during peak animal activity hours from 5-7 a.m. and 4-7 p.m.
The NGT also directed the government to install cameras in all the six sections to ensure that vehicles passing through the area did not exceed the speed limit of 40 kph.
The Tribunal said no overloaded vehicles should be allowed to ply on the highway and proper records maintained on the number of vehicles that passed through the sector everyday.

Thailand’s Constitutional Court annulled the February 2 general election for failing to hold nationwide voting in every constituency on the same day.
The court’s judges voted 6 to 3 to void the election, which was boycotted by the opposition Democrat Party and could not be held in 28 of 375 constituencies nationwide.
No balloting was held in 28 constituencies, all of them in southern provinces that are the traditional power base of the Democrat Party, because no candidates had been registered amid anti—government protests.
The ruling Pheu Thai party effectively ran unchallenged for the other seats because of a boycott by the opposition, which accused the government of corruption and vote-buying.

India and Singapore won the 2014 edition of the UN-Water “Water for Life” Best Practices Award for their sustainable practices of water resources .
The award was announced by the United Nations Office during an official ceremony to mark World Water Day 2014 .
The prize is awarded yearly for “best water management practices” and “best participatory, communication, awareness-raising and education practices”.
This year’s “best water management practices” went to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI)-Tata Water Policy Programme, a project based on water scarce across India.
Singapore-based “NEWater programme”, which can meet 30 per cent of Singapore’s daily water needs, won the “best participatory, communication, awareness-raising and education practices” for its strong social component and enduring partnerships in its manifold and remarkable water management practices.

The board of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) decided to revise the fee it charges from various intermediaries in a bid to fund its programme in investor awareness, education and protection in FY15.
Laying down the agenda for FY15, the board of Sebi decided to stress on investor awareness and education and enhance the regulator’s reach to potential investors.
While Sebi will revise the fee charged for various services in a bid to fund its planned objectives, it has clarified that they will have minimal impact on the investors. The changes in fee structures will be notified by the regulator through circulars going forward.
It is expected that Sebi will revise the registration fee and other fee for stock exchanges, mutual funds, brokers and other intermediaries.

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail is expected to emerge as the largest player in India’s organised retail sector this year, overtaking erstwhile market leader Future Retail.
It posted a turnover of Rs. 10,857 crore for the nine months ended December 31, 2013. Future group chairman Kishore Biyani had said in January that his group would clock revenues of about Rs. 11,000 crore for the full year. Reliance has already reached that figure in the first nine months of the year and so, is likely to be comfortably ahead by March 31, 2014.
Parent company Reliance Industries, which is sitting on a cash pile of Rs. 90,000 crore, has lined up massive expansion plans for the retail business. The target: a turnover of Rs. 50,000 crore from this segment by 2016-17.
The company expects the bulk of this growth to come from the value and digital segments, where it can leverage its deep pockets, world class backend and well-oiled logistics chain to provide competitive prices.

India`s Parupalli Kashyap arrested his slide in the latest Badminton World Federation rankings, by rising a place to No.24 in men`s singles.
Kashyap, who reached a career high of World No.6 last year, had been out of form for quite some time until his semifinal performance last week at the Swiss Open which helped him gain vital points.
Meanwhile, first round exits at both All England Open and Swiss Open have led Kidambi Srikanth to drop two places to 22nd.
Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu, however, have retained 8th and 9th positions in the women’s singles rankings.
No Indian figures in the top-25 of men`s, women`s and mixed doubles rankings.

The common sparrow has not remained so common these days, with the bird attaining the fourth rank in the list of rare birds. This is what prompted NGO WARD (Wild life Conservation and Agro-Rural Development) Foundation to declare the current year as the 'year of the sparrow'.
On World Sparrow Day on 20th of March , the NGO pledged to take efforts to conserve and protect sparrows along with increasing awareness about it.