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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 29 July 2014

UPSC issue will be resolved soon: Govt.

As civil service aspirants continued their protests, the government said a solution to their demand on the pattern of UPSC exams will be found within a week.
The report of the three-member government-appointed committee, which is looking into the demands of the aspirants to change the pattern of the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) to give level-playing field to those coming from rural areas, will come soon.
Various student unions and political leaders agreed to look into the matter of students and raise it in appropriate forum.

An Indian humanist is among the pre-finalists of a humanitarian award worth $1 million to be handed over by Gonzaga University of northwestern United States in October.
The award is given on behalf of The Opus Prize Foundation that recognises faith-based humanitarian work.
Gollapalli Israel, the Indian pre-finalist is a Baptist priest who leads the Janodayam Social Education Centre in Tamil Nadu and provides education and human rights services to members of the Dalits.
The other pre-finalists are U.S. based Joe Maier and Sister Teresa Fitzgerald.

Eminent jurists, the Chairperson and members of the Law Commission will review the working of the collegium system of appointments to higher judiciary.
According to the government, the present process adopted by the collegium of judges is beset with its own problem of opacity and non-accountability, besides excluding the executive entirely in the consultative exercise for appointment of judges.
Due to the inherent deficiencies in the collegium, 275 judges’ posts (approximately) in various High Courts are lying vacant, which has a direct bearing on the justice delivery system.
The meeting will consider bestowing constitutional status on the National Judicial Appointments Commission as recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
The Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2013 seeks to set up a six-member body, which includes Judges, executive, Leader of opposition in lok Sabha, for recommending to the President names of individuals having outstanding legal acumen and impeccable integrity and credibility to the post of Supreme Court and High Courts judges.

The Centre is exploring the option of making a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court for its opinion on the validity of the controversial law enacted by the Haryana government to create a new board to manage Sikh shrines in Haryana.
Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi gave an opinion that the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Bill, 2014, which got the assent of the then Governor on June 14, was unconstitutional.
Mr. Rohatgi told the Centre that the Haryana Assembly did not have the legislative competence to pass the Bill as the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, came under the Union List.
The gurdwaras in Haryana are managed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). But, under the new law passed by the Assembly, 72 of them will be managed by the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee, with the SGPC losing control over them.
According to the Punjab government, the SGPC is an “inter-State body” as defined under Section 72 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, indicating that its jurisdiction extends beyond Punjab and its members are elected from places beyond the State’s boundaries. And The move to set up a separate committee in Haryana was in contravention with the provisions of the Reorganisation Act, as it affected the SGPC’s ‘inter-State’ status.

Construction of the world’s tallest railway bridge with the tallest pillar — it’ll be 141 metres-high — has begun near Noney in Manipur.
The bridge, which spans over a gorge with an overall length of about 700 meters, is part of the 111-km long Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal broad gauge railway line under construction that will connect Manipur’s capital Imphal with the country’s railway network.
This bridge is slated to become the tallest in the world from the point of view of pillar height surpassing the existing tallest of Mala-Rijeka viaduct on Belgrade-Bar railway line in Europe where the height of pillars is 139 m.

Israeli jets struck three sites in Gaza after a rocket was launched at Israel. The strikes followed an almost 12-hour pause in fighting and came as international efforts intensified to end the three-week conflict between Israel and Hamas. The UN called for an “immediate” ceasefire.
In New York, an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called for “an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire.” It was the Council’s strongest statement yet on the conflict that has already killed 1,030 Palestinians, 43 Israeli soldiers and three civilians on the Israeli side, but it was not a resolution and therefore not binding.
Both Israel and Palestine criticised the statement on different grounds. While Israel criticesed that statement does not mention rockets launched by palestine and Palestine criticised that it is not legally binding.

Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

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