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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 29 April 2014

Historic accord on sport for peace

The United Nations (U.N.) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has signed a historic agreement to use the power of sports to promote peace and economic development, a move that strengthens collaboration between two of the world’s major organizations.
The U.N. and Olympic charters, both call for international cooperation to promote peace, a better life for people around the world and preserving human dignity.
The Memorandum of Understanding signed with the IOC was “a logical and historic step after years of ever closer collaboration in using sport to promote development and peace.”
The agreement calls for joint sporting initiatives between the IOC, national Olympic committees, international sports federations, organizing committees and international athletes and the 193 U.N. member states, U.N. agencies, envoys and goodwill ambassadors.
The two organizations will be promoting education for youth through sport without discrimination of any kind, access to sport for all communities especially the most disadvantaged and marginalized, healthy lifestyles and peace-building and community dialogue.

If it failed to find cause for cheer in India’s ongoing general elections, the Indian National Congress was certainly buoyed by the decision of a federal judge in New York to dismiss and close a lingering case against the party for its alleged role in the 1984 riots that claimed the lives several thousands members of the Sikh community.
Judge Robert Sweet granted the party’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought against it by the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) advocacy group, which sought damages stemming from the Congress’ alleged responsibility for the riots that engulfed New Delhi and other parts of the nation in violence following the assassination of erstwhile Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
In his opinion, Judge Sweet ruled against the SFJ’s claim to be “legal representatives” and thus plaintiffs in this case filed under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) of the U.S., as this required the group and the individual complainants to be “aliens”, which they were not, given their U.S. residential status.
Second, the judge found in favour of the argument that the ATS did not extend to corporate defendants such as the Congress Party and that the SFJ’s claim constituted “an impermissible extraterritorial application of the ATS”.
Pending cases remain against Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

India, which has contributed 1.7 lakh peacekeepers to U.N. missions, has told the U.N. Security Council that it wants crucial reforms of security institutions to facilitate peace-building in the conflict-hit nations.
India’s Permanent Representative to the U.N. Ambassador Asoke Mukerji said in a U.N. Security Council debate on ’Security Sector Reform (SSR): Challenges and Opportunities’ that security sector reform is an “important element of post-conflict peace-building” and should be part of the internal political process of a nation emerging from conflict.
India has experience relevant to reform of a country’s security sector, having played an active role in 43 U.N. peacekeeping missions in which almost 170,000 Indian peacekeepers have participated so far.
Six peacekeeping operations and eight Special Political Missions have been mandated to do SSR.
Outlining a few principles that must guide security sector reform, he said the most sustainable way for effective reforms is by ensuring national ownership of the process.
The focus has to be on what is do-able and not on an agenda driven by priorities of donor countries.

Yet another India-born business leader has climbed the ranks. Finnish firm Nokia, which recently sold its mobile unit to Microsoft, has appointed Rajeev Suri as the company's new CEO and President.
Mr. Suri joined Nokia in 1995 and has held a wide range of leadership positions in the company. Since October of 2009, he has served as CEO of NSN, the former joint venture between Nokia and Siemens that is now fully owned by Nokia.
During his tenure as CEO, that business went through a radical transformation to become one of the leaders in the telecommunications infrastructure industry.
Risto Siilasmaa, who has been serving as the interim CEO, will now return to his role as Chairman of Nokia's Board.

A struggling Somdev Devvarman dropped out of top-100 bracket in the singles rankings as the Indian slipped to 102 with the loss of two places.
Somdev has been struggling since winning the Delhi Open challenger title and failed to cross the first round hurdle in five consecutive tournaments on the ATP tour.
Also sliding in the ATP ranking ladder was India's second best singles player, Yuki Bhambri, who lost four spots to be 153.
The tall and big serving Saketh Myneni though jumped seven places to be 262.
In the doubles, Leander Paes continued to be India's best ranked player and the only one in top-10 at number nine. Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna was next best at number 14.
Mahesh Bhupathi, who will retire this year and will be playing only select events, gained a place to be 46.

Greenpeace International is sending out a ship to protest a tanker bringing the first oil produced at a new Russian offshore platform in the Arctic Circle to Rotterdam.
The environmental group has sent the “Rainbow Warrior III” to meet the Mikhail Ulyanov, a tanker chartered by Russia’s state-controlled oil company, Gazprom OAO.
In September, 28 Greenpeace activists and two freelance journalists were arrested and charged with piracy after a protest near Gazprom’s Prirazlomnaya offshore Arctic platform. They were released before the Winter Olympics in Sochi earlier this year. Their ship, “Arctic Sunrise,” is still being held by Russian authorities.
Greenpeace has fiercely opposed the production of oil in the Arctic Circle, warning of the danger of oil spills in such unforgiving territory and of the worsening global warming caused by using fossil fuels.