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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 30 August 2014

No review of nuclear doctrine, says PM.

India will not review its nuclear doctrine adopted during the first National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
The Prime Minister said Delhi would continue to work for the strengthening of non-proliferation efforts.
“As to the CTBT [Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty], we are committed to maintaining a unilateral and voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosive testing,” he said in advance of discussing civil nuclear cooperation with Japan.

For Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s newly launched Jan Dhan Yojana to be successful, India needs to provide over 100 million households access to banks, data show.
An even harder step, however, is likely to be access to credit.
As of March 2012, the most recent year for which relevant Reserve Bank of India (RBI) statistics are available, India had over 900 million deposit accounts. Of these, over 770 million were in the names of individuals.

A ‘Visitorial Committee’ has been set up by the Union Human Resource Development Ministry under the convenorship of former Indian Institute of Science Director Goverdhan Mehta to look into the functioning of Indira Gandhi National Open University from 2006.
The committee will look into the massive expansion that was undertaken during the Vice-Chancellorship of V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai and the subsequent closure of a large number of courses during the current regime of M. Aslam.
The three-member committee will examine all aspects of IGNOU’s decision to enter into MoUs and MoAs with organisations for imparting programmes and courses “leading to dilution of standards of education through distance and open learning.”
Financial irregularities in the grant of recognitions will be scrutinised, so also the conduct of both serving and former officials.
The committee has also been asked to address the problem of those students who have completed their courses but are awaiting their degrees/diplomas.

The Competition Appellate Tribunal has stayed Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) Rs.25- crore penalty and modification of the gas sale contract order against Adani Gas Ltd., the city gas distribution arm of Ahmedabad-based Adani Group.
In July, the Fair trade watchdog had slapped a fine of Rs.25.67 crore on Adani Gas for violating competition norms by abusing its dominant market position.
Adani Gas is a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises, which is a part of the diversified Adani Group.
The Commission’s ruling had come on a case related to supply and distribution of natural gas by Adani Gas Ltd. in Faridabad.

The awardees:

Arjuna award: Abhishek Verma (archery), Tintu Luka (athletics), H.N. Girisha (para-athletics), V. Diju (badminton), Geethu Anna Jose (basketball), Jai Bhagwan (boxing), R. Ashwin (cricket), Anirban Lahiri (golf), Mamta Pujari (kabaddi), Saji Thomas (rowing), Heena Sidhu (shooting), Anaka Alankamony (squash), Tom Joseph (volleyball), Renubala Chanu (weightlifting), Sunil Kumar Rana (wrestling).
Dronacharya award: Mahabir Prasad (wrestling); Lifetime achievement: N. Lingappa (athletics), G. Manoharan (boxing), Gurcharan Singh Gogi (judo), Jose Jacob (rowing).
Dhyan Chand award: Gurmail Singh (hockey), K.P. Thakkar (swimming-diving), Zeeshan Ali (tennis).
Tenzing Norgay Awards: Land adventure: Subedar Jagat Singh, Passang Tenzing Sherpa; Air adventure: MWO Surender Singh;Lifetime achievement: Wg. Cdr. (retd) Amit Chowdhury.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy: Punjabi University, Patiala.
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (employment of sports persons and sports welfare measures); Jindal Steel Works (community sports–identification and nurturing of budding/young talent); Guru Hanuman akhara (establishment and management of sports academies of excellence); Child Link Foundation of India–Magic Bus (other forms of sports activities not covered in the categories mentioned in the schemes).

The Competition Commission, which has put the multi-billion dollar Sun-Ranbaxy deal for public scrutiny, said the major issue is whether the combination would result in high market concentration of certain molecules.

Tech giant Apple is expected to unveil a larger screen version of its popular iPhone along with its first smart watch on September 9 in its hometown in Cupertino, California.