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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 04 July 2014

ED books Tyagi

The Enforcement Directorate has registered a money laundering case against retired Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi and others in connection with the alleged payment of over €21.4 million by AgustaWestland to IDS Infotech India and its erstwhile Tunisia subsidiary.
Transferred in seven instalments between 2007 and 2011, the money was allegedly meant to pay kickbacks for the Rs.3,700 crore VVIP chopper deal. While IDS Infotech allegedly received a total of €2.14 million, the rest went to IDS Tunisia.

Supreme Court stays order quashing VC’s appointment

The Supreme Court stayed an order of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, quashing the appointment of Kalyani Mathivanan as Vice-Chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University.
After hearing senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, who appeared for Ms. Kalyani, a Bench of Justices S.J. Mukhopadhaya and Ranjan Gogoi issued notice to the respondents, including the petitioner who got the appointment quashed.
Since 1965, Madurai Kamaraj University, like every other university in Tamil Nadu, had prescribed no qualification for appointment as Vice-Chancellor, going instead by the wisdom of the Chancellor and the experience of the search committee. The UGC Regulations, introduced in 2010, upset the existing mechanism, affecting the federal structure of the Constitution.

AAP plea referred to Constitution Bench

A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court will adjudicate whether the President on the advice of the Governor could be directed to dissolve a Legislative Assembly which is in suspended animation.
A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice R.M. Lodha and Justices Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph referred to the Constitution Bench a writ petition filed by the Aam Aadmi Party seeking dissolution of the Delhi Assembly.
“Since the matter involves interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution, viz. Article 239AB read with Rule 50 of the National Capital Territory Act, we are of the view that it needs to be heard by a five-judge Constitution Bench. List this matter on August 5,” the Bench said in its brief order.
During the resumed hearing on the writ petition filed by the AAP challenging the Assembly being kept in suspended animation, senior counsel Fali Nariman pointed out that after three BJP MLAs were elected as Members of Parliament, the strength of the BJP had come down to 28 from 31.
It was now clear that no party was in a position to form the government and there was no reason for not holding the elections. He alleged that the BJP was inducing defections to form the government.

Goa Governor also quits

Goa Governor Bharat Vir Wanchoo, who was quizzed by a team of the Central Bureau of Investigation as a “witness” in AgustaWestland Chopper deal scam, submitted his resignation in the evening.
He forwarded his resignation to the President of India.The Governor, a former chief of the elite Special Protection Group, recorded his statement as a “witness” in the VVIP helicopter case under Section 161 CrPC. Continuing its probe into allegations of over Rs.360 crore bribe paid in the purchase of VVIP helicopters, a team of CBI comprising officials from Mumbai and Delhi recorded Mr. Wanchoo’s statement.
His questioning comes a week after former West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan was quizzed by the CBI; Mr. Narayanan resigned thereafter.

Xi Jinping’s historic Sri Lanka visit

China’s President Xi Jinping will this year become the first Chinese head of state to visit Sri Lanka in three decades, underlining Beijing’s renewed push to deepen its strategic and economic presence in the neighbourhood and in the Indian Ocean.
Mr. Xi’s visit was discussed in Beijing this week as Sri Lankan Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa, as the President’s Special Envoy, met with the Chinese leadership.
The Chinese leader will become the first President to visit Sri Lanka since former leader Li Xiannian in 1986. His visit assumes significance in the context of strengthening ties between the two countries, with China investing heavily in the island nation.
A $500 million- built port built by the Chinese was inaugurated in Colombo last year giving Beijing a strong foothold in one of the busiest international shipping routes in the world. With heavy investment in infrastructure, including in a massive port it helped build in Hambantota along Sri Lanka’s southern coast, China is said to have surpassed Japan and India as the biggest contributor to investments in the island nation.
Foreign policy experts have often pointed to Sri Lanka playing the “China card” against India, which has invested in some key projects in the neighbouring country, including a massive housing project targeting 50,000 homes in the war-torn north that it is currently engaged in.
For Chinese President Xi, Sri Lanka has become a particularly important country as a crucial point on his government’s signature “maritime silk road” economic initiative, which the President unveiled in October in a bid to boost maritime connectivity and economic ties in the neighbourhood.

Tata Power to sell 5 % stake

Tata Power said it would sell its 5 per cent stake in PT Kaltim Prima Coal for about $250 million to cut its debt, less than six months after offloading its holding in another Indonesian coal company PT Arutmin.
Tata Power, facing under recovery and cash flow challenges due to its Mundra UMPP operations has signed options agreements to sell 5 per cent stake in PT Kaltim Prima Coal to get additional cash as well as to reduce its consolidated debt.The company will sell its stake to Indonesian coal firm Bakrie Group entity.
Post-stake sale, Tata Power’s stake PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) will be 25 per cent.As part of the deal, Tata Power through its subsidiaries has the option to sell 30 per cent stake in power infrastructure companies, which are associated with PT Kaltim Prima Coal, to the Bakrie Group entity.