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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 27 April 2014

FATA demand

The clamour for holding local government elections in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is growing in a region where a governance system is non-existent at a local or provincial level.
A new research study by the FATA Research Centre (FRC) titled ‘Local Government in FATA, Past failures, Current challenges and Future prospects’ highlights the century old political vacuum in the region coupled with bad governance and corruption which has resulted in a gap between the state and society in this volatile tribal belt.
The growing exclusion of people from the political process has created a sense of deprivation and frustration among the masses, the report says and this disconnect was the reason that Taliban were able to consolidate their position in FATA by cutting away at the existing political system and killing the tribal elders and maliks.
The Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) is a draconian law which still operates there and power is wielded by the all powerful political agent even today. Lt Gen (retd.) Abdul Qadir Baloch, the minister for States and Frontier Regions said there are no two opinions that local government elections should be held in FATA and he said the driver of reforms must be the people themselves.
Senator Farhatullah Babar said the FATA region which was a buffer zone earlier to press the strategic depth policy was now a strategic threat.

Pope Francis declared his two predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II saints on before hundreds of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square, an unprecedented ceremony made even more historic by the presence of retired Pope Benedict XVI.
Never before has a reigning and retired pope celebrated Mass together in public, much less at an event honouring two of their most famous predecessors.
Pope Benedict’s presence was a reflection of the balancing act that Pope Francis envisioned when he decided to canonize Pope John and Pope John Paul together, showing the unity of the Catholic Church by honouring popes beloved to conservatives and progressives alike.
Poep Francis took a deep breath and paused for a moment before reciting the saint-making formula in Latin, as if moved by the history he was about to make.

The head of an international mission to Syria charged with destroying the country’s chemical weapons called on President Bashar Assad’s government to ensure it meets a deadline to destroy all its toxic chemicals amid a raging civil war.
Sigrid Kaag of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) told reporters in Damascus that 92.5 percent of Syria’s chemical materials had been removed from the country and destroyed. She called it “significant progress,” although she called on Syria’s government to ensure remaining materials would be eradicated by the end of April.
Syria missed an April 13 deadline to destroy all its chemical weapons in accessible locations. International experts say that could impact on reaching a June 30 deadline to remove all Syria’s chemical weapons.
Another 12 chemical weapons production facilities are still being reviewed by the OPCW to see how they will be destroyed.

Amid hopes of a stable and reform oriented government after general elections, net investments by foreign institutional investors into India so far this year has reached $10 billion level, while their cumulative total inflows into the country is nearing $200 billion mark.
According to the latest data compiled by capital markets regulator SEBI, the net investments by FIIs into Indian equity markets since the beginning of 2014 have crossed $ 5 billion (over Rs. 30,000 crore), while the same for debt markets also stands near $5 billion (about Rs. 29,000 crore) — taking the total to close to Rs. 60,000 crore.
This includes net investments of about Rs. 1,500 crore so far in April. This is despite a net outflow of about Rs. 7,000 crore from debt markets, as equity markets have seen a net inflow of over Rs. 8,500 crore this month till April 25, the latest trading session.
According to market analysts, FIIs are bullish on India and they are expecting a stable government emerging post-elections.
FIIs, the main driver of the equity market, have helped pushed up the benchmark BSE Sensex by over 7 per cent so far in 2014 and is now being seen as moving closer to 23,000 mark.

India successfully test fired a new interceptor missile capable of neutralising any incoming long-range missile at higher altitude.
The interceptor, positioned at launch pad-IV of Integrated Test Range at Wheeler Island, about 100 km from Balasore, Odisha, roared into the sky at about 9.10 a.m. to hit its target.
Earlier DRDO, which is the premier agency to develop such a sophisticated interceptor, had successfully tested six interceptor missiles developed by it, both in endo-atmosphere (within 30 km altitude above sea level and exo-atmosphere stage (above 30 km altitude).
The Prithvi Air Defence interceptor missile has already demonstrated its killing capability at an altitude of 50 km and 80 km while the Advanced Air Defence interceptor missile has smashed the target missile at an altitude of 15 km to 30 km.
Now the target is to achieve the interception at an altitude of above 100 km of a long range missile.