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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 27 May 2015

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 27 May 2015

:: National ::

Centre to move SC

The Centre is set to approach the Supreme Court over a Delhi High Court judgment which termed as 'suspect' it's recent notification that gave the Lieutenant Governor massive powers with regard to the administration of Delhi. A highly placed source confirmed that the Home Ministry would approach the Supreme Court for a clarification on the matter.
The High Court had said that the L-G must respect the mandate of the people in all matters which fall under the domain of the Legislative Assembly. It also observed that the Centre could not have issued a notification in July last year restricting the jurisdiction of the Anti-Corruption Branch only to officers working under the Delhi government as it did not have the executive authority to do so.
Speaking earlier in the day, BJP president Amit Shah said that the differences between the Delhi government and the Centre were due to a different interpretation of the Constitution and the matter will ultimately be settled in court.
“It is not a confrontation but a matter of interpretation of the Constitution. The state government is doing it in one way and the Centre in another. The matter will go to court and it will be settled there,” he said.
The BJP president was asked about the Centre's tussle with the Delhi government over jurisdiction issues and its alleged “mistreatment” at a time when the Modi dispensation was talking up its measures to give more power to States.
Speaking in Kolkata, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that the BJP would not create any hurdles for the AAP government in Delhi.

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:: International ::

Iran bill to support transsexuals

A bill that would provide better protection for transsexuals in Iran has been sent to researchers in Parliament, the ISNA news agency quoted an official as saying.
Under a fatwa or religious decree by the Islamic republic’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran recognises transsexuality.
Sex change operations are common, with part of the fees paid by the authorities.

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:: Business and Economy ::

Suresh Prabhu keen on putting PPP model on track

Highlighting the achievements of his Ministry in the past one year, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said that he was keen on putting the public-private partnership model back on track and having a regulator in place.
“The Ministry of Railways has implemented 39 announcements made in the Railway Budget for 2015-16 in just 36 days of the current financial year,” he said in a statement. “The same tempo of implementation is being continuously maintained.”
He highlighted some of the key customer-oriented initiatives, including a security helpline, 182, and a new passenger helpline, 138, to resolve complaints in real-time, paperless ticketing in some sections and e-catering.
Mr. Prabhu said the focus had been on capacity enhancement. “We are aiming at commissioning 500 km of new lines, 800 km of gauge conversion and 1,200 km of doubling in 2015-16. A plan is being drawn to utilise the project-execution capabilities of our railway public sector units to expedite the works we have proposed to undertake in the next five years,” he said.
The Minister said doubling or tripling of 94,000 km of lines on choked routes had been sanctioned and various finance options were being looked into. “To overcome the vicious cycle of chronic under-investment, we are approaching the markets for financing our revenue-generating projects and assuring fund availability to them. These projects, in turn, will generate revenues not only for servicing debt but also financing investments,” he said.
The Life Insurance Corporation has committed Rs. 1.5 lakh crore over the next five years, while the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are assisting in setting up a facility for attracting low-cost funds from long-term international pension and insurance funds, Mr. Prabhu said.

Google woos Indian SMEs

Google India has set a target of creating online presence for 20 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country through its platforms such as Google Search and Google Maps, without these businesses needing to invest in a website or domain.
To achieve this, the search giant, launched a mobile-based application — Google My Business — that will help SMEs to create and manage their business information online across Google platforms in English and Hindi.
“In the next three years, India will have over 500 million Internet users, who will search for information, including local businesses. However, search experience for local business in India is broken today, and we want to fix it by connecting businesses with their customers,” Google South East Asia and India Vice-President and Managing Director Rajan Anandan told reporters here.
Out of the total 51 million SMEs in India, less than 5 to 6 per cent had an online presence, he said.

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:: Sports ::

Bayliss appointed England head coach

Australian Trevor Bayliss has been appointed as the new head coach of England, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced .
The 52-year-old former Sri Lanka coach succeeds the sacked Peter Moores, having been preferred to his compatriot Jason Gillespie, the Yorkshire coach, who was the initial favourite for the job.
“Trevor has an outstanding record as coach, has global experience and is very highly regarded in the game,” said the ECB's director of cricket Andrew Strauss in a press release.
Currently coach of New South Wales, Bayliss will take charge of England in time for the start of their home Ashes series against Australia in July.
“He has proved himself in both domestic and international cricket, has a strong reputation for man-management and has shown how to build winning teams in all three formats,” Strauss added.
“His expertise in the shorter forms of the game will be vital as we build towards three major ICC events over the next four years; the ICC World T20 tournament in India in 2016 and the ICC Champions Trophy and ICC Cricket World Cup, which will be staged in England and Wales in 2017 and 2019 respectively.”
Strauss confirmed that Bayliss will work alongside current caretaker coach Paul Farbrace, who steered England to a stirring 124-run win over New Zealand in the first Test at Lord's, which concluded on Monday.
Farbrace will remain in charge for the second Test at Headingley, starting , and the following limited-overs matches. Bayliss worked with Farbrace during his time as coach of Sri Lanka, who he led to the final of the 2011 World Cup.
“It's an honour to be appointed England coach,” said Bayliss.
“There's a great opportunity to help (Test captain) Alastair Cook and (one-day captain) Eoin Morgan shape the direction and development of their respective teams.
“I am also looking forward to working alongside Paul Farbrace once again as we have a similar outlook on the game, get on well after two years working together and have kept in touch.”

Sanchez wins fan award

Arsenal Alexis Sanchez was on announced as the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Fans’ Player of the Year after an excellent first season in English football