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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 25 September 2014

National

SC cancelled allocation of 214 coal blocks

• In an order with far-reaching implications, the Supreme Court cancelled all but four of the 218 coal block allocations declared arbitrary and illegal by it in an August 25 judgment.
• The decision comes as a windfall for the government as the court has ordered the owners of the cancelled coal blocks to cough up Rs. 295 as compensation for every tone of coal they extracted illegally, to make up for the loss to the exchequer.
• The levy was calculated with reference to the figures of loss arrived at by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
• The government is expected to get Rs. 8,000- 10,000 crore this way. The government is also free to auction the cancelled blocks.

Ganga clean-up programme

• The Supreme Court said it wants the NDA government to give it a “commitment” that river Ganga will be cleaned in a phased manner and said the court will keep a close watch on the executive's efforts to rejuvenate the 2,500 km-long river.
• In response, the government said the Centre's efforts alone will not help the river get a second lease of life, instead the “thought to keep the Ganga clean must come from within” for the general public, and moreover, the State governments in the five Ganga river basin States - Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal – should rise above political differences and chip in to save the Ganga.
• Another proposal is by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation to make all 1,649 grampanchayats located along the Ganga banks free from open defecation.
• The third is to enforce zero liquid discharge from “grossly” polluting industries located across the five Ganga river basin States.

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Person in news

Edward Snowden selected for 'alternative Nobel'

• Edward Snowden has been selected among the winners of the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the “alternative Nobel,” for his disclosures of top secret surveillance programs.
• The award foundation said the former National Security Agency contractor splits the honorary portion of the prize with Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger.
• The 1.5 million kronor ($210,000) cash award is shared by Pakistani human rights activist Asma Jahangir, Basil Fernando of the Asian Human Rights Commission and U.S. environmentalist Bill McKibben.
• Award foundation director Ole von Uexkull said all winners were invited to the December 1 award ceremony in Stockholm, though he added it’s unclear whether Mr. Snowden, who remains exiled in Russia, can attend.

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International

Mars mission success “pride of Asia”, says China

• China has hailed India’s success in positioning a satellite in the Martian orbit, calling the interplanetary triumph of the Mangalyaan as “the pride of Asia”.
• With the success of Mangalyaan, India has boosted its credentials as a potential launch pad for its resource-strapped neighbors.
• Among India’s neighbours, it is becoming a symbol of national pride to launch satellites independently rather than hire transponders from other nations. The previous government had highlighted the ISRO’s relative lack of initiative.

Science and technology

New of brain cell discovered

• Researchers have discovered a strange new type of brain cell that sends signals by bypassing the cell body altogether.
• Neurons come in different shapes and sizes but the basic blueprint consists of a cell body, from which protrudes spindly appendages called dendrites and axons.
• Dendrites are branchlike structures that receive signals from other nerve cells and deliver them to the cell body. The neuron then processes the signals and zaps along information to the next cell via a long projection called the axon.
• The newly discovered cells, however, have a different, and until now, unknown process. In these cells, the signals skip the cell body altogether, instead travelling along an axon that project directly from one of the dendrites.
• The new cells were discovered in the hippocampus of a mouse. Humans have the same general brain structure and types of hippocampus cells as mice. The hippocampus is home to extensively branched neurons called pyramidal cells because of their triangular cell bodies.

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Sports

Sawarn Singh wins bronze in rowing

• Young rower Sawarn Singh brought some cheers back to the Indian contingent as he clinched the bronze medal in men’s single sculls final at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon.
• The 24-year-old Singh finished behind Iran’s Mohsen Shadinaghadh, who won the gold medal and silver medallist Kim Dongyong of hosts South Korea.
• Another rower Dushyant Singh was the only athlete to manage a podium finish for India as he grabbed a bronze in the men’s lightweight single sculls.

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Business and Economy

MCX-SX is going to change name

• The Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved a new name for MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SX) which will now be known as ‘Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Ltd’, abbreviated as ‘mSXI’.
• The exchange is in the process of making an application to Registrar of Companies (RoC) for registration of the new name,” MCX-SX said in a statement