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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 23 October 2014

:: National ::

Two days after show of strength by his supporters in Nagpur, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari asserted that he would not be a hurdle to the elevation of State BJP president Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister.
Denying rumours of “differences” between the two, Mr. Gadkari reiterated that he was not in the running for the Chief Minister’s post. His comments came after Mr. Fadnavis met him twice, once at the former’s residence and later at the party office in Nagpur, in less than four hours.
Explaining Mr. Fadnavis’ visit, Mr. Gadkari said their families shared a close relationship. “There is no competition between us. We are colleagues. I brought him into politics and his father had brought me into politics” he said. Mr. Fadnavis’ father Ganghdharrao, a prominent Jan Sangh member and an RSS pracharak, is said to have mentored Mr. Gadkari.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has reassured US support for Iraq’s anti—Islamic State (IS) efforts during a phone conversation with newly appointed Iraqi Defence Minister Khaled al Obeidi.
Mr. Hagel emphasised on the importance of rebuilding the Iraqi security forces in a way that builds trust and confidence among the armed forces and the Iraqi people.
“The minister was quite clear on more than one occasion that he has every intention of going on the offence against (IS) and making sure that the Iraqi security forces are properly resourced, trained and equipped to do that,” Xinhua quoted Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby as saying in the statement.
Mr. Kirby added the two leaders also discussed ways to prepare Iraqi security forces for upcoming offensives against IS, noting that Mr. al Obeidi expressed his appreciation for US advisors and airstrikes.
Mr. Hagel and Mr. al Obeidi promised to continue to work closely together to pursue mutual security objectives, Mr. Kirby said, adding that Iraq’s defence minister seeks to ensure that the country’s security forces represent the interests of all its citizens.

Less than 24 hours after Terry Walsh tendered his resignation as chief coach of the Indian men’s hockey team, hectic negotiations and several meetings indicated that the Australian may well continue in his job.
However, status quo remains since Walsh has not formally withdrawn his resignation. He has reiterated that he was willing to re-negotiate the terms of his contract in the next one month. Walsh’s tenure ends on November 19 post his resignation. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has insisted that a new contract would be ready before then.
Walsh, who had a contract till the 2016 Olympics, had put in his papers citing difficulty in adjusting to the decision-making style and bureaucratic confines of the Indian system. SAI said it was willing to allow greater freedom to the coach.
“His major concern was about the lack of functional autonomy in deciding the technical matters relating to hockey. He was of the view that he, along with the High Performance Director (Roelant Oltmans), need to be given more freedom in the decision making process. From SAI side, we have absolutely no issues on this,” SAI Director General Jiji Thomson said in a statement

China has launched an experimental spacecraft to fly around the moon and back to Earth in preparation for the country’s first unmanned return trip to the lunar surface.
The eight-day program begun on 24th october is a test run for a 2017 mission that aims to have a Chinese spaceship land on the moon, retrieve samples and return to Earth. That would make China only the third country after the United States and Russia to have carried out such a mission.
China already has launched a pair orbiting lunar probes and in 2013 landed a craft on the moon with a rover onboard. None of those missions were programmed to return to Earth.
China has also hinted at a possible crewed mission to the moon at a future date.

Microsoft Corp looks set to ditch the Nokia name from its Lumia range of smartphones just months after buying the Finnish company's handset business.
According to a post on Nokia France's Facebook page, the page will change its name to Microsoft Lumia "in the coming days." Microsoft declined comment.
Under the terms of the $7.2 billion deal - struck in September 2013 and completed in April - Microsoft acquired Nokia's handset business, though not the name of the company itself.
Nokia, which continues as a networks, mapping and technology licensing company, owns and manages the Nokia brand, and only licenses it to Microsoft.
New Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella has already begun to reduce the scale of its phone making operations. Of the 18,000 job cuts he announced in July, about 12,500 came from the unit acquired from Nokia.