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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 24 July 2014

'Force-feeding' by Shiv Sena MP's rocks Parliament

Parliament was rocked over reports of 11 Shiv Sena MPs, incensed at not being served Maharashtrian food, forcing a Muslim catering supervisor to break his Ramzan fast at the New Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi.
Opposition MPs protested in both Houses of Parliament, even as Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu dismissed the allegations as “unsubstantiated”.

Whistleblowers or people exposing corruption can get security from the government, The government has authorised Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) of ministries or departments of the Central Government as designated authority to receive any written complaint or disclosure on any allegation of corruption or misuse of office in respect of any employee working under them.
If the designated authority in the ministries or departments, either on the application of the complainant, or on the basis of the information gathered, is of the opinion that the complainant needs protection, the designated authority shall take up the matter with the Central Vigilance Commission for issuing appropriate directions to the authorities concerned.
The Commission, after receipt of such reference from the designated authority, takes up the matter with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the nodal agency, to undertake the responsibility of providing security cover to the genuine whistleblowers.

In the context of falling sex ratios in India, a United Nations report points to a new level of ‘daughter aversion,’ most starkly visible in the negligible number of girls-only families in some parts of the country.
The report,“Sex Ratios and Gender Based Sex Selection, History Debates and Future Directions”, which reviews existing studies, says it’s time to look at girls-only families, which are starting to disappear — they are only two per cent in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.
Contemporary India is witnessing a highly gendered version of fertility decline in northwest India.
Families are planning to have at least one son and at most one daughter. It points to institutions and personnel directly mediating sex ratios at birth, for example clinics and medical practitioners, as an important area for research.

India will place special emphasis on its neighbourhood, stretching from West Asia to East Asia, while playing a role to fulfill its international responsibilities to build a peaceful and prosperous world.
In the emerging global environment, it is essential for India to pursue pro—active and broad—based international engagement to advance our national development and security and to fulfill our international responsibilities to build a peaceful and prosperous world.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has warned telecom service providers against increasing call rates and other tariffs beyond the base (maximum) rates in a bid to pay off their debts.
Base rates or headline tariffs are the maximum call or service rates that a telecom operator can charge to its customers but normally companies charge less than these rates.
At present most of the telecom operators have fixed base rate at 2 paise per second. The regulator allows free hand to fix telecom call and service rates as it feels that competition in the market will keep control on tariffs.
Apprehensions over an increase in rates were spiked after TRAI recently released its recommendations on spectrum sharing and lowering of leased line rates that could lead to cost savings for mobile operators.
“I do not expect headline tariff to change. If they change, as and when they change, then the TRAI reserves the right to go back and look at it again if forbearance should be continued or not.” TRAI Chairman Mr. Khullar said.

The British government has confirmed that the two black boxes from Malaysian airlines Flight MH 17 that crashed in eastern Ukraine killing 298 on board have been handed over to British investigators.
Boxes will contain recordings of all cockpit conversations prior to the crash, The AAIB can now analyse hours of conversation and the contents of the flight data recorder for clues on why and how the plane went down.
The boxes were handed over by a joint technical protocol signed by representatives of the Netherlands, Malaysia, Ukraine and the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organisation.
The AAIB is responsible for the investigation of civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the U.K.