Current Affairs (August 11th - 17th 2014) Current Affairs (August 11th - 17th 2014) https://facebook/studycircle.co.in https://facebook/groups/studycircle123/ *INTERNATIONAL * - *Erodogan, from PM to President *Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan swept to a landslide victory in Turkeys first direct presidential election. The countrys election board announced Mr. Erdogan had won according to preliminary results, obtaining enough votes to avoid a runoff. With 99% of the ballots counted, the premier had secured 52%, far ahead of his nearest opponent Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, a diplomat with a low profile in domestic politics who garnered 38% of the vote - *Indian on Sri Lanka probe panel *The Sri Lankan government has invited an Indian activist to a panel advising its Presidential Commission on missing persons. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to expand the panel of international experts. The Sri Lankan government has roped in Avdhash Kaushal of Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), a Dehradun-based NGO. Confirming that he received a call from President Rajapaksas office in this connection In July, President Mahinda Rajapaksa expanded the mandate of the Commission -- originally set up to look into complaints of enforced disappearances -- directing it to probe the roles of Sri Lankan army and the rebel Tigers during the civil war. The move surprised many, for it seemed like a shift from the Sri Lankan governments earlier claim that its army was engaged in a completely humanitarian operation. The developments come in the wake of a U.N. probe into Sri Lankas rights record, following a resolution at the Human Rights Council in March. The Sri Lankan government, which declared that it would not cooperate in the process, initiated its own mechanism to probe allegations of war crimes. U.N. Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay has said the U.N. could conduct an effective investigation into reports of war crimes in Sri Lanka without visiting the country. Citing Syria and North Korea as examples where, despite no access, investigations were carried out, Ms. Pillay said. - *Ukraine passes bill to open gas pipelines to EU, US firms *Ukraines parliament approved a law on 14th August to allow gas transit facilities to be leased on a joint venture basis with participation from firms in the European Union or United States. Ukraine will hold 51 percent and foreign partners will be offered 49 percent in the venture, which would manage both transit pipelines and underground gas storage facilities. - *UNSC seeks to cut off its funds *The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on 15th August aimed at weakening Islamists in Iraq and Syria with measures to choke off funding and the flow of foreign fighters. The British-drafted measure also placed six Islamist leaders -- from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other nations -- on the Al-Qaeda sanctions list, which provides for a travel ban and assets freeze. The six include senior Al-Qaeda leaders who have provided financing to the Al-Nusra Front in Syria and Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, the spokesman for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), now renamed Islamic State (IS). British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant noted that the 15-member council had shown strong unity in adopting the resolution. The resolution was endorsed by all 15 members of the Council, including Russia. The resolution demands that IS fighters in Iraq and Syria, rebels from the Al-Nusra Front in Syria and other Al-Qaeda-linked groups disarm and disband with immediate effect. It calls on all member states to take national measures to suppress the flow of foreign terrorist fighters. *NATIONAL* - *CAG raps MEA fro inefficient management of properties *The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India rapped the ministry of external affairs (MEA) for inefficient management of its properties across the world, costing the exchequer several crores. Criticizing the Global Estate Management of the MEA, in its latest report, said, Properties were purchased or developed without assessing the basic requirement and purpose of their acquisition. - *Kerala Tourism trumps Paris on Face Book *Kerala Tourism reached a milestone when the number of its followers on Facebook hit the 10 lakh (one million) mark. Kerala Tourism is the first tourism board in the country to post this achievement. It is well ahead of global boards such as Singapore Tourism (8 lakh followers), Thailand Tourism (6 lakh), and Paris Tourism (3.2 lakh). Launched in 2010, Kerala Tourisms Face book page gives information on the latest events and news in the State in areas ranging from art to culture. - *Lok Sabha passes Apprentice Bill *The Lok Sabha passed a Bill to amend the Apprentices Act, 1961 with a voice vote. The Bill seeks to open up apprenticeship to non-engineering graduates and diploma holders among others to expand the base of skilled workers in the country. Moving The Apprentices (Amendment) Bill, 2014 for passage, Labor Minister Narender Singh Tomar said the measure was revolutionary and would help the country meet the growing requirement of skilled people, whose number could rise to 23.75 lakh from the current level of 4.29 lakh. He said the new law would entitle apprentices to enjoy facilities, such as leave on par with regular employees in any unit with five or more staffers. The Bill, a long-standing demand from industry chambers, had initially been brought in by the previous UPA Government, and seeks to empower employers to formulate their own policies for recruiting apprentices and providing for exchange of information through a web portal. *BILATERAL RELATIONS* - *India for early conclusion of Nuclear Deal with Japan *Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj emphasized the urgency of signing civil nuclear agreement, with her Japans counterpart Fumio Kishida. A bilateral meeting was held on the side lines of the Asean Regional Forum. Civil nuclear talks were hit badly by the Fukushima disaster in 2011 but Japan agreed to resume negotiations last year as it said it wanted to contribute to nuclear safety worldwide by sharing with the world its experience and lessons derived from the nuclear accident. Talks though are yet to be concluded despite Japan determining that civil nuclear cooperation with India was mutually beneficial. Till now India has nuclear agreements with lot of nations. They are........ - The nuclear agreement with USA led to India issuing a Letter of Intent for purchasing 10,000 MW from the USA. - Russia has an ongoing agreement of 1988 vintage with India regarding establishing of two VVER 1000 MW reactors (water-cooled water-moderated light water power reactors) at Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu. [32] A 2008 agreement caters for provision of an additional four third generation VVER-1200 reactors of capacity 1170 MW each. Russia has assisted in Indias efforts to design a nuclear plant for its nuclear submarine. In 2009, the Russians stated that Russia would not agree to curbs on export of sensitive technology to India. A new accord signed in Dec 2009 with Russia gives India freedom to proceed with the closed fuel cycle, which includes mining, preparation of the fuel for use in reactors, and reprocessing of spent fuel. - After the Nuclear Suppliers Group agreed to allow nuclear exports to India, France was the first country to sign a civilian nuclear agreement with India, on 30 September 2008. During the December 2010 visit of the French President Nicholas Sarkozy to India, framework agreements were signed for the setting up two third-generation EPR reactors of 1650 MW each at Jaitapur, Maharashtra by the French company Areva. The deal caters for the first set of two of six planned reactors and the supply of nuclear fuel for 25 years. The contract and pricing is yet to be finalized. Construction is unlikely to start before 2014 because of regulatory issues and difficulty in sourcing major components from Japan due to India not being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. - India and Mongolia signed a crucial civil nuclear agreement on 15 June 2009 for supply of Uranium to India. - On 2 September 2009, India and Namibia signed five agreements, including one on civil nuclear energy which allows for supply of uranium from the African country. - On 14 October 2009, India and Argentina signed an agreement in New Delhi on civil nuclear cooperation and nine other pacts to establish strategic partnership. - The Prime Ministers of India and Canada signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement in Toronto on 28 June 2010 which when all steps are taken, will provide access for Canadas nuclear industry to Indias expanding nuclear market and also fuel for Indias reactors. - On 16 April 2011, India and Kazakhstan signed an inter-governmental agreement for Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy that envisages a legal framework for supply of fuel, construction and operation of atomic power plants, exploration and joint mining of uranium, exchange of scientific and research information, reactor safety mechanisms and use of radiation technologies for healthcare. - South Korea became the latest country to sign a nuclear agreement with India after it got the waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in 2008. On 25 July 2011 India and South Korea signed a nuclear agreement, which will allow South Korea with a legal foundation to participate in Indias nuclear expansion programme, and to bid for constructing nuclear power plants in India. - *India appeals to WTO in steel products dispute with US government *The Government of India filed an appeal at the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) against a panel report in the case of countervailing measures by the US against certain hot-rolled carbon steel products from India. The appeal will be heard by a three-member body and its report is likely within three months. India challenged the anti-dumping and countervailing duties levied on those products in April 2012. It says this was against both world trade and bilateral agreement rules. It requested the establishment of a panel in the case to examine this and one was constituted by the DSB in July 2012. In July, the US department of commerce decided to continue with the anti-dumping duty and countervailing duties on import from India, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Thailand and Ukraine. The US International Trade Commission decided that revocation of these would injure the US steel industry. - *Infra Projects with Japanese Aid to be implemented in Puducherry * - Infrastructure development programmes would be implemented in the Union Territory with an assistance of Rs. 1,510 crore from Japan - Rs. 43.14 crore flyover facility would be established linking Kamaraj Salai and Maraimalai Adigal Salai as part of tackling traffic congestion. - Government would revive construction work to establish the Kamaraj Manimandapam (Memorial) at Karuvadikuppam near here at Rs. 23.60 crore. - *India seeks Singapore investments in Infra & Connectivity Projects *India on 16th August sought investments from Singapore in its infrastructure and connectivity projects along the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai and Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridors as well as in the Northeastern region Kicking off an year-long celebration to mark 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties jointly with her Singaporean counterpart K Shanmugam, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the occasion will be used to advance economic engagement, defence and security cooperation between the two countries. Seeking enhanced investment from Singapore, Sushma Swaraj said both the countries should also look at scope of venture capital for innovations and for cooperative projects in third countries. *ECONOMY* - *SEBI gives nod for Realty, Infra investment trust norms *Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 10th August issued the guidelines under which Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) will be allowed to operate in India. An REIT operates a bit like a mutual fund, offering units to investors. The funds are invested in assets owned, and usually operated by the REIT.. Investors stand to earn both dividends (from rental income of the property), as well as capital appreciation. According to the guidelines, investors will have to put in a minimum of Rs 2 lakh. The units can be traded on stock exchanges once listed. The trading lot for such units will be Rs 1 lakh. SEBI also cleared norms for Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs). InvITs are similar to REITs, but focus on investments in infrastructure. Any REITs or InvITs entering the market will have to be listed. The minimum initial offer size should be Rs 250 crore. They can also borrow additional funds to acquire assets, but the borrowings cannot exceed 49 per cent of the value of the trusts assets. To popularize REITs, the minimum asset size has been reduced to Rs 500 crore from the Rs 1,000 crore initially proposed. REITs cannot have more than three sponsors, subject to each holding at least 5 per cent. To ensure that they have enough skin in the game, it has been made mandatory for fund sponsors to jointly hold 25 per cent of REIT units for three years and continue holding 15 per cent thereafter. The new norms will also ensure that excessive leverage is not undertaken through REITs, while the Trustees will be required to be independent and not an associate of the sponsor or manager of the Trust. The minimum net worth of the manager has been increased to Rs 10 crore from the Rs 5 crore proposed in the draft norms. At least 80 per cent of the money mobilized by an REIT has to be invested in completed revenue-generating properties, while the rest can be put in developing properties, mortgaged-backed securities, shares of realty and G-secs, among others. The approved minimum net worth of an InvIT sponsor is Rs 100 crore (against the Rs 10 crore proposed). The net worth of the investment manager has been doubled to Rs 10 crore. For investors. the minimum investment size for InvITs is Rs 10 lakh. Those managing the InvIT should mainly be independent directors. To avoid a conflict of interest, associates of the trustee have been restrained from investing in the InvIT units. For non-PPP (public-private partnership) projects, credit ratings have not been mandated. The InvITs will invest in infrastructure projects, either directly or through a special purpose vehicle. The proposed holding of an InvIT in underlying assets cannot be less than ?500 crore. A publicly offered InvIT will need to distribute at least 90 per cent of its net distributable cash flows to investors. - *Bimal Jalan to head Expenditure Commission *Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the constitution of an Expenditure Management Commission (EMC). The Commission is expected to recommend major expenditure reforms that will enable the government to lower its fiscal deficit. Over time, a fiscal deficit in control will help the Government to strengthen the macro economy and ease inflation in the country. The Commission will be mandated with the task of suggesting an overhaul for reducing the food, fertiliser and oil subsidies and other ways of controlling Indias fiscal deficit. It is expected to submit its interim report before the presentation of the 2015-16 Budget next February. The final report is expected before the Budget of 2016-17. The Government will shortly issue the terms of reference for the Commission. Former Reserve Bank Governor Bimal Jalan will head the Commission. Members include former Finance Secretary Sumit Bose and former Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn. - *Banks tighten free ATM payouts *The Reserve Bank of India on 14th august said the number of mandated free transactions for savings bank account holders at other bank ATMs located in six metro centers will be reduced from five to three per month from November 1. The six metro centers -- Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad -- are well-served in terms of payment infrastructure. Banks have been advised to provide their savings bank account holders with at least five free transactions per month at their own ATMs. Beyond this, banks may decide to levy transaction charges (not exceeding Rs. 20 plus applicable taxes per transaction) which are decided in a transparent manner. - *RBI board gives green signal for talks to appoint COO *The Reserve Bank of Indias board has given its approval for initiating a dialogue with the Government for creating an additional position of a Chief Operating Officer of the rank of Deputy Governor. This is part of the Human Resources (HR) restructuring exercise, which also entails grouping of departments into five functional clusters, initiated by the central bank. Financial Services Secretary GS Sandhu said appointment of Chief Operating Officer (COO) or fifth RBI Deputy Governor cannot take place without amending the RBI Act. - *Insurance Bill sent to Select Panel *The Union Government on 14th August sent the controversial Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill to a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha. The 15-member panel comprises Chandan Mitra, Mukthar Abbas Naqvi and Jagat Prakash Nadda (BJP), Anand Sharma, BK Hariprasad and JD Seelam (Congress), Satish Chandra Misra (BSP), KC Tyagi (JD-U), Derek OBrien (TMC), V Maitreyan (AIADMK), Naresh Gujral (SAD), Ram Gopal Yadav (SP), Kalpataru Das (BJD), P Rajeev (CPI-M) and Rajiv Chandrasekhar (Independent) as its nominees. *SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY* - *India test fires Akash missile in user trial *India successfully conducted trials of its indigenously developed surface-to-air Akash missile, which has a strike range of 25 kms, as part of a user trial by the Air Force from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur. Akash is a medium range surface-to-air anti-aircraft defense system developed by Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) as part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. The missile has a strike range of 25 km and can carry a warhead of 60 kgs. It has the capability to target aircraft up to 30 km away and is packed with a battery that can track and attack several targets simultaneously. With its capability to neutralize aerial targets like fighter jets, cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles, Defense experts compare Akash to the MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system of the USA. The missile was last test-fired from the same base on June 19. *About Integrated Guided Missile Program: *The Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) was an Indian Ministry of Defence Program for the research and development of a comprehensive range of missiles. The program was managed by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Ordnance Factories Board in partnership with other Indian government research organisations. The project started in early 1980s and ended in 2008 after these strategic missiles were successfully developed.. The last major missile developed under the program was the Agni 3 intermediate-range ballistic missile which was successfully tested on 9 July 2007. On 8 January 2008, the DRDO formally announced the successful completion of the IGMDP. It added that the strategic integrated guided missile program was completed with its design objectives achieved since most of the missiles in the program had been developed and inducted by the Indian armed forces. - *INS Kolkata commissioned *Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 16th August commissioned INS Kolkata, Indias largest indigenously built warship, at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai. It is an advanced version, but significantly more versatile, of the Delhi-Class ships - INS Delhi, INS Mysore and INS Mumbai - which will add considerable teeth to Indias maritime warfare capabilities with all-round capabilities against enemy submarines, surface warships, anti-ship missiles and fighter aircraft. The warship, constructed by the Mazagon Dockyards Limited, has been designed by Navys design bureau. The 6,800 tonne warship is a technology demonstrator and will showcase a giant leap in shipbuilding technology in the country. *SPORTS* - *Kush Kumar created history *Kush Kumar on 13th August 2014 became the first Indian player to reach the semi-final of World Junior Squash Championship. The championship is being held in Windhoek, Namibia. He achieved this feat when he defeated Englands George Parker. - *Deepika earns 3 medals for India in World Cup Archery *Deepika Kumari won one gold and two bronze medals in the World Cup archery Stage 4 at Wroclaw (Poland) on 10th August. *World Cup Archery: *The Archery World Cup is a competition, started in 2006, organized by the World Archery Federation, where the archers compete in four different stages in four different countries and the best eight archers of each category (from 2010, four archers from 2006-09) advance to an additional stage to contest the Archery World Cup Final. This form of competition was introduced following the success of the 2003 World Archery Championships in New York and the 2004 Summer Olympics with the intent of making the sport more popular and attractive to the spectators, with the matches being held in spectacular locations and the final matches being broadcast online. From 2013, the World Cup is being broadcast live on Euro sport. It carries sponsorship from Kia and Longines, which supports the annual Longines Prize of Precision for archery, for the best male and female athletes that master bow and arrow through concentration, balance, accuracy, and skill. - *Kheta Ram triumph *Kheta Ram won in the mens 5000m, as the 18th Federation Cup athletics championships that were started at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) Patiala, on 17th August. In the womens 5000m, O.P. Jaisha won - *First Para-Gliding World Cup in Himachal Pradesh *Himachal Pradesh has been selected as venue to host Paragliding World Cup 2015. This will be the first-ever para-gliding World Cup and it is being hosted by India. The tournament will be organized under the auspices of Para-gliding World Cup Association, France. The tournament will be held in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh from October 25, 2015 and will witness participation of around 150 top ranked pilots of the world besides 500 free flying pilots.. Himachal bagged the opportunity to host the world cup event after successfully hosting the para-gliding pre-World Cup in 2013. *AWARDS* - *Recognition for Indian origin professor in Mathematics *Prestigious Fields Medal, touted as the Nobel Prize in Maths was declared. The medals will be presented in Seoul at the International Congress of Mathematicians, held every four years. A mathematician of Indian-origin Manjul Bhargava has won the prestigious Fields Medal, a Canadian-American professor of mathematics at Princeton University, was among four winners of the celebrated award. Mr Bhargava is awarded a Fields Medal for developing powerful new methods in the geometry of numbers, which he applied to count rings of small rank and to bind the average rank of elliptic curves, according to the award citation. The IMU website says Mr Bhargavas work in number theory has had a profound influence on the field. - Iranian-born Maryam Mirzakhani, who works in the US, has become the first ever female winner of the Fields Medal. - The other winners of the prize are Prof Martin Hairer from the University of Warwick, UK - Dr Artur Avila, a Brazilian mathematician who earned his PhD in dynamical systems at the age of 21. The Fields Medal, established by Canadian mathematician John Fields, is regarded as akin to a Nobel Prize for maths and comes with a 15,000 Canadian dollar (£8,000) cash prize. - *Global South Award to Sunil Kumar *The International Political Science Association has honored Delhi University professor Dr. Sunil Kumar with the Global South Award in recognition of outstanding work on the politics of the developing world. Kumar, an Associate Professor in Political Science Department of Shyam Lal College (evening), has bagged the award for his paper titled Changing Landscape of Electoral Democracy and Political Demography: A Study of 2014 General Elections in India. *PERSONS IN NEWS* - *Tayyip Erodogan:* Turkeys Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan won the countrys first direct presidential election. He won enough votes to avoid a runoff. With 99% of the ballots counted, the premier had secured 52%, far ahead of his nearest opponent Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, a diplomat with a low profile in domestic politics who garnered 38% of the vote. Presidential elections were held in Turkey on 10 August 2014. The Law on Presidential Elections accepted and put into effect on 20 January 2012 decided that presidential elections will be held in 2014 instead of 2012; within 60 days before the end of the seven-year term of incumbent President of Turkey Abdullah Gül, who will be the last indirectly elected President of Turkey. As Gül took office on 28 August 2007, the first possible day could be 29 June, but a date between 10 and 17 August is considered more reasonable. Erdogan belongs to GK party - *Haider Al-Abadi:* Iraqs president has asked Haider al-Abadi, Iraqs main Shia coalition nominee for prime minister, to form a government. Abadi had previously been nominated Prime Minister by Shia Parties. The political chaos situation is happening in Iraq, since 2005. Interim, Transitional governments formed, yet stability has not been achieved. The Iraqi Interim Government was created by the United States and its coalition allies as a caretaker government to govern Iraq until the drafting of the new constitution following the National Assembly election conducted on January 30, 2005. The Iraqi Interim Government itself took the place of the Coalition Provisional Authority (and the Iraq Interim Governing Council) on June 28, 2004, and was replaced by the Iraqi Transitional Government on May 3, 2005. The Iraqi Transitional Government was the government of Iraq from May 3, 2005, when it replaced the Iraqi Interim Government, until May 20, 2006, when it was replaced by the first permanent government. On April 28 it was approved by the transitional Iraqi National Assembly, which had been elected in January 2005. It operated under the Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period, and its main functions were to draft a permanent Constitution of Iraq and to form a transitional government. The first government of Iraq led by Nouri al-Maliki took office on May 20, 2006[1] following approval by the members of the Iraqi National Assembly. This followed the general election in December 2005. The government succeeded the Iraqi Transitional Government which had continued in office in a caretaker capacity until the new government was formed and confirmed - *Thambidurai:* AIADMK leader M Thambidurai was on 13th August unanimously elected as the deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha. The motion for his election was moved by home minister Rajnath Singh and seconded by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. Almost all parties moved motions for his election, including the Congress. The AIADMK has 37 MPs in the lower house of parliament and is the third largest party after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. - *Rajni Razdan:* Rajni Razdan has been appointed the next Union Public Service Commission chairman. She is former Indian Administrative Service Officer from Haryana cadre. She has been a member of UPSC since April 19, 2010. - *H.Kumar:* H Kumar, who was appointed as the Managing Director of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL), by the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on August 7, took charge in Mangalore on August 14. - *NABARD appoints Deputy MDs:* The Government has appointed R. Amalorpavanathan and H.R.Dave as Deputy Managing Directors of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard). Their appointment is for a period of five years from the date of their taking over. Prior to their elevation both were Chief General Managers in Nabard. - *Robin Williams:* Robin Williams, the Academy Award-winning actor who imbued his performances with wild inventiveness and a kind of manic energy, died. Williams earned Oscar nomination for his roles in Good Morning, Vietnam; Dead Poets Society; and The Fisher King . He won an Oscar in 1998 for Good Will Hunting, playing a therapist who works with a troubled prodigy played by Matt Damon. https://facebook/studycircle.co.in https://facebook/groups/studycircle123/
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 10:52:35 +0000
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