WBCS Current Affairs 07/11/2014 to 14/11/2014

[admin]

1.Former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was formally conferred the title of Honorary Professor by the Peking University, one of the oldest Chinese universities.

2.Sri Lankan cricket captain Angelo Mathews has been named as captain of the ICC Test Team of the Year 2014. Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named as the captain of ICC ODI Team of the Year 2014. He has been selected in the ICC ODI team of the year for the eight time (seventh year in a row), while fifth year as a captain of the team.

3.Japanese real estate company TamaHomes Corporation has entered into a joint venture agreement with Developer Group India Pvt. Ltd to create townships in India.

4.The NDA Government has decided to launch scheme in order to infuse Rs 2,375.42 crore to revive 23 District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) in 4 states, which were on the verge of closure.
Of the total amount, state governments will contribute Rs. 1,464.59 crore, Centre Rs. 673.29 crore and NABARD Rs. 237.54 crore.
Why Government want to save these DCCBs?
There are 23 unlicenced DCCBs at district in four states. Among 23 unlicenced DCCBs, 16 are in Uttar Pradesh, 3 each in Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra and 1 in West Bengal.How will government infuse this amount?
For the purpose of implementation of the scheme, a tripartite agreement in the form of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), stipulating conditionalities and deliverables, will be signed between the Centre and state and NABARD.
Centre’s share of Rs 673.29 crore would be released through NABARD as interest-free loan and would be converted into grant on fulfilment of conditionalities/deliverables outlined in the scheme.
Conditionalities are:
Bringing the NPAs to at least half of the current levels by 31st March, 2017.
Making 15 percent growth rate of deposits for next two years.
Drawing up of a monthly Monitorable Action Plan.
Placement of competent CEOs fulfilling ‘Fit & Proper’ criteria.
Putting Corporate Governance Systems in place.
The assistance from NABARD would be in the form of loan to the respective state governments under Section 27 of NABARD Act, 1981.
During the implementation of the scheme, operations of these 23 unlicensed DCCBs would be closely monitored by NABARD and RBI, so that they meet the licensing requirement within the time frame as prescribed in the scheme
Implications of this decision
The scheme will help in revival of these cooperative banks.
It will result in protecting the interests of depositors and catering to the credit needs of farmers.
Once revived, these cooperative banks would become eligible for obtaining licenses from RBI for continuing their operations in rural areas and would also be able to meet CRAR (Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets Ratio) requirement prescribed by RBI.

5.Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing a treaty on transfer of sentenced persons between India and Nigeria. The treaty will facilitate Indian prisoners imprisoned in Nigeria or Nigerian prisoners in India to be near their families, for serving the remaining part of their sentence and shall facilitate their social rehabilitation.
Background of Repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003
Prior to 2004, there was no domestic legislation under which foreign prisoners could be transferred to the country of their origin to serve the remaining part of their sentence, nor was there a provision for the transfer of prisoners of Indian origin convicted by a foreign court to serve their sentence in India.
In 2003, India enacted Repatriation of Prisoners Act to provide for the transfer of prisoners from India to country or place outside India and reception in India of certain prisoners from country or place outside India.
So far India has singed such agreements with 35 countries including Nigeria.
Some countries which have singed such Agreements with India are United Kingdom, Mauritius, Bulgaria, Brazil, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Bangladesh, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, the UAE, Maldives, Thailand, Turkey, Italy, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Israel, Russia and Vietnam.
The same kind of negotiations has also been concluded with the Governments of Canada, Hong Kong, Australia and Spain.

6.On 5th November 2014, Union government reconstituted the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change.
The new Council on Climate Change will be headed by Prime Minister. It will formulate and coordinate the National Action Plan for Assessment, Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change.
The council will have 18 members, which includes 13 government representatives and 5 non-government members. Among 13 government representatives, 8 will be ministers.
The council will focus on the following tasks:
The new council will coordinate the action plan and advise the government on proactive measures that can be taken to deal with the challenge of climate change.
It will facilitate inter-ministerial coordination and guide policy in relevant areas.
The council will evolve a coordinated response to issues relating to climate change at the national level.
It will provide oversight for formulation of action plans in the area of assessment, adaptation and mitigation of climate change and periodically monitor key policy decisions.
The composition of the re-constituted Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change:
Prime Minister(Head of Council)
Minister for External Affairs
Union Finance Minister
Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change: It will assist the Prime Minister’s Office in facilitating the work of the council.
Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
Union Minister for Agriculture.
Union Minister for Urban Development.
Union Minister for Science and Technology.
Union MoS of Power, Coal and NRE.
Principal Secretary to PM (Member-convener of this panel)
Cabinet Secretary.
Foreign Secretary.
Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
Retained members from previous council
R. K. Pachauri, Chairperson ofIPCC and TERI.
Nitin Desai.
Chandrasekar Dasgupta
Newly added members
Ajay Mathur, Chairperson, BEE
M. Mouskar, retired IAS officer.
Previous Council
The first and previous was formed in 2007. It was chaired by then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. It included government representatives and non-government members. But this council had not met for over three years.
Sunita Narain, Raj Chengappa, R.Ramachandran,Prodopto Ghosh and RatanTata were the members of this council who are dropped from this year’s council.
The country’s National Action Plan on Climate Change was framed by this Council.

7.On 5th November 2014, newly formed Telangana State’s first annual Budget of Rs 1,00,637 crore was presented in the State Assembly by Finance Minister Etela Rajinder.
This Budget presentation was considered as a historical occasion for the people of Telangana as they take control over their own resources and fate after bifurcating from Andhra Pradesh.

8.On 5th November 2014, India and Russia signed agreement to set up a Smart City on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).
The agreement was signed by Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Rogozin and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during the 20th session of India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC).

9.On 5th November 2014, Union Cabinet decided to withdraw the Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2014 which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha by the then UPA Government in February 2014.
Reason’s for withdrawal of Bill
The NDA Government’s withdrawal decision comes in the wake of certain judgments of the Supreme Court and the Lucknow Benchof Allahabad High Court.
The Government had also received several representations against the bill.
The Government feels that, the Bill needs to be further amended after taking into account the judgments of the courts, representations and other recent developments.
Cabinet also notified that, this Bill will be introduces after fresh set of amendments and detailed examination of court judgments and several representations.
Fresh set of amendments will be finalised by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Background of withdrawn Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2014
The objective of the Bill was to establish the Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) to regulate the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import of food items.
The Bill had specified that the chairperson shall guide and oversee the FSSAI, preside over its meetings and exercise any other powers of the FSSAI as may be assigned to him.
Under withdrawn Bill, the FSSAI consisted of a chairperson and twenty-two members.
The Bill had proposed to add the Chief Executive Officer as a member of the FSSAI.

10.On 5th November 2014, Forbes magazine released the list of ‘World’s 72 Most Powerful People’. The list gives the annual ranking of the World’s 72 Most Powerful People on the basis of their financial resources, scope and use of power and the number of people they impact.
Some key facts from this year’s Forbes list of World’s Most Powerful People
For the consecutive second year, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been named the world’s most powerful person in the list.
US President Barack Obama took the second spot on Forbes’ list for the second consecutive year.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is new comer in this list, ranked 15th.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was the highest ranked Indian last year at 21, was omitted from the list this year.
Newcomers: This year there are 12 newcomers on the list, including Indian PM Narendra Modi and Egypt President Abdel el-Sisi.

11.The World Trade Centre (WTC) in New York has been reopened for business. The 104 storey building was rebuilt at a cost of $4.2 billion, thirteen years after the 9/11 terrorist attack. Though no official opening ceremony was conducted, businesses will be able to operate from the World Trade Centre. The reopening of WTC was an emotional moment for all New Yorkers, and the structure marks the resilient spirit of the people of New York.

12.The Justice Mukkul Mudgal Committee, which was constituted to conduct an independent inquiry over allegations of corruption, betting and spot-fixing in IPL matches, submitted its findings in the form of a final Report to the SC in a sealed cover on November 3. The next hearing of the SC is on the 10th of November, when the Court will deliberate upon the findings of the Committee, and take a final decision on the matter.
The SC will also determine if N.Srinivasan can seek re-election as President of the BCCI. In February 2014, the Mudgal panel had presented a sealed envelope to the SC containing the names of 13 individuals who needed to be probed further. N.Srinivasan is one of the persons named on the list.
IPL Scandal
S.Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were the three prominent IPL cricketers who were arrested on allegations of spot-fixing. The former Chennai Super Kings Team Principal, Gurunath Meiyappan, and actor Vindoo Dara Singh are accused of engaging in betting during the sixth edition of the IPL.
Mudgal Committee
The Justice Mukkul Mudgal Committee was constituted by the SC in 2014. It is headed by retired Justice Mukkul Mudgal and includes former Solicitor-General of India, L.Nageshwara Rao, former Umpire Nilay Dutta, Deputy DG of Narcotics Control Bureau B.B.Mishra and former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly.
Justice Mukul Mudgal
Justice Mudgal had started his career as an advocate at the SC and Delhi HC. After which he became a judge of the Delhi HC. He was later the Chief Justice of the Punjab & Haryana HC between 2009 and 2011. He retired on January 3, 2011

13.The Darjeeling Zoo won an award at the International Earth Heroes Awards. It is the first Indian zoo to have received this prestigious honour. Apart from being the only specialized zoo in India, it is internationally recognized for its conservation breeding programmes of endangered animals of Eastern Himalayas. The Zoo is also well-known for its efforts in educating, motivating and initiating awareness about the importance of conservation of Himalayan eco-system.

14.Veteran actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar passed away due to complications from a lung infection at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. Amrapurkar is known for his stellar performance in Sadak, Ishq and Ardh Satya. He was especially well known for his villainous roles, and later his comedic roles. He has done roles in mainly Marathi and Hindi movies, though he established his presence in various other regional movies. He was very active during the 1980s and 1990s. Since the 2000s, he has starred only in one movie, Bombay Talkies. He has also been a recipient of multiple Filmfare Awards.

15.The Central Zone team defeated the South Zone team to win the 2014 edition of the Duleep Trophy. The Central Zone team was led by Piyush Chawla, who helped clinch the narrow win. Of the total 13 games played by the five teams, the South Zone dominated 10 , but the 3 dominated by the Central Zone changed the game. The Central Zone beat the South Zone by a very small margin of 9 runs to claim the Trophy at the Ferozshah Kotla Ground in New Delhi.
The South Zone were chasing the Central Zone set-target of 301. On the last day of the match, the South Zone needed 117 runs with nine wickets intact. However, South Zone lost 7 wickets for just 39 runs, giving an easy win to the Central Zone
About Duleep Trophy
The Duleep Trophy is a domestic cricket competition which is played in India. The country is divided into five teams on the basis of geographical zones of India.
The Tournament was instituted in 1961-62 by BCCI. There are five teams: North Zone, South Zone, East Zone, West Zone and Central Zone. The game follows the format of a 5 team knockout tournament.
K.S.Duleepsinhji

16.he Ministry of Culture will be setting up a National Cultural Audio-Visual Archives in Jodhpur in an effort to preserve India’s cultural heritage. The project will involve collaboration between the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) under the Ministry of Culture and the Rupayan Sansthan. A MoU for the pilot project has been signed between the two bodies. The project aims to digitise and make 10,000 hours of digital audio and video accessible by March 31, 2017. A committee of experts in audio-visual archiving will guide the IGNCA in this endeavor

17.Senior IAAS (Indian Audits and Accounts Service) officer Rajani Sankaran has been appointed the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd. (BHAVINI). She was the Director of Finance at BHAVINI and has been given a temporary posting for three months on the former CMD Prabhat Kumar’s retirement. She will occupy the position till a CMD is finalized. Despite the temporary nature of the position she is set to hold, Sankaran will be the first woman to head an atomic power company in India.
BHAVINI
BHAVINI is a fast breeder reactor power company. It is involved in the setting up of India’s first indigenously designed 500 MW prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam. The project is at a crucial stage and is expected to go on stream in 2015.
Rajani Sankaran
Sankaran is a 1989 batch IAAS officer. She has been a Fellow of International Auditing in the General Accountability Office, USA. She was held multiple positions in the government such as Accountant General (Commercial and Receipt Audit), Tamil Nadu and Principal Director of Audit (South Central Railway) and Southern Railway.
Breeder reactor
India’s PFBR was designed by IGCAR (Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research).
A breeder reactor breeds more material for nuclear fission reaction than it consumes. The PFBR will be fuelled by a blend of plutonium and uranium oxide, called MOX fuel. While the reactor breaks up plutonium for power production, it also breeds more plutonium than it consumes. The original plutonium broken down for power production comes from natural uranium.

18.On the insistence of countries like India, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has constituted a blue-ribbon panel to recommend changes to international peacekeeping to enable it to cope with increasingly complex and dangerous conflicts worldwide. The Security Council takes a call on deployment of UN Peacekeeping Forces (UNPKF), and the last year has seen a spike in violence against the UNPKF with an increased death toll, the brunt of which is borne by countries like India which contribute greatly to the UNPKF soldiers or ‘blue helmets’. A wave of attacks on blue helmets in Mali, Darfur and the Central African Republic left 14 dead in a span of two weeks in October this year. Other than the blue helmets, the UN also has 1,30,000 troops, police and civilian staff serving in missions worldwide.
The report will be laid in front of the UNGA in September 2015.
Membership of the Panel
The independent panel will be chaired by former East Timor President, Jose Ramos-Horta. The Panel will also include 13 other experts from a wide range of countries who will undertake a major review of peace operations. This will be the first such review in 15 years. The Panel will also include an Indian, Lt. General Abhijit Guha, who is a retired Indian Army officer who now holds a UN post.
Objective of the Panel
The Panel will assess UN’s 16 currently active peacekeeping operations. It will also attempt to determine the needs of the future on a variety of issues from ever-changing warfare to administrative arrangements of missions and the protection of civilians.

India’s role
India is the third largest contributor of UNPKF with 8,132 of its soldiers deployed on UN missions. India is preceded only by Bangladesh and Pakistan as far as contribution to the UNPKF goes.
India has lost three Indian peacekeepers in South Sudan and 39 peacekeepers in the Congo. With an estimated 157 Indian soldiers having lost their lives in peacekeeping operations since 1950, India has suffered the highest number of casualties. This has caused India to call for a greater role in the decision making about peacekeeping operations, especially in areas of internal political conflict, and has raised this issue with UNPKF officials.
UNPKF
The Department of Peacekeeping Operations was established in 1948. It has a total number of 1,11,512 active personnel, with 90,905 of them being uniformed forces.
The United Nations Charter gives the UNSC the power to take collective action in the interest of international peace and security. Hence, the UNSC generally authorizes peacekeeping operations. All UN member nations are obligated to make necessary armed forces and facilities available to the UNPKF. Since 1948, approximately 130 nations have contributed military and civilian police personnel to peace operations. As of 30th April 2014, 122 countries were contributing a total of 97,729 personnel in Peacekeeping Operations.

19.India and the United States on 13 November 2014 reached an agreement to resolve the differences over public stockholding for food security under World Trade Organisation (WTO).
As per the deal agreed between India and the US, the Peace Clause under Bali package will be allowed to continue in perpetuity and India’s food security programme will not be challenged under the WTO rules until a permanent solution to it is found.
Under the Peace Clause, a four year interim period starting from December 2013 and ending on December 2017 is provided during which all the issues related to food security would be addressed and a permanent solution will be reached.
However, bilateral agreement between India and the US need an endorsement by the 160 WTO members. In lieu of this India will now move its proposal on food security before the WTO’s General Council in December 2014.
The breakthrough in the stalled WTO process over TFA comes close on the heel of US-China pact to cut tariffs on IT products and U.S. agreement with China on carbon emissions. These two pacts were agreed between US and China during APEC Summit in Beijing on 11 November 2014
Impact of the India-US deal on WTO trade reforms
The agreement will help pave the way for reaching a consensus on Bali Package of WTO and help implement far reaching reforms of custom rules under Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). TFA aims at simplifying customs procedure, increasing transparency and reducing transactions cost to allow unhindered trade.
According to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) streamlining the customs procedures could add 1 trillion US dollars to the world economy and create 21 million jobs across the world.
This in turn will help revive the WTO as a global trade body, the future of which became uncertain after India vetoed to sign the TFA in July 2014 until a permanent solution to the issue of food security was found.
How the deal will help India?
Further, it will help India continue its food security programme and food subsidy. India was concerned that the WTO rules were limiting its farm subsidies and would undermine its spending on food stockpiles intended to ensure that the poor have enough to eat.
In a recent disclosure to the WTO, India said its state food procurement cost 13.8 billion US dollars in 2010-11, part of the total of 56.1 billion US dollars it spends on farm support. Wheat stocks, at 30 million tonnes, are more than double official target levels

20.Child Rights and You (CRY) launched Project Unlearn with an aim to end child labour and encourage children to go to school. It was launched on 14 November 2014 on eve of Children’s Day.
Project Unlearn is a campaign which will help children in labour (28588) across the country to be able to free themselves from shackles of labour, go back to school and be hopeful of a bright future.
The deprived basic rights of children in labour are minimum wages, long working hours, suffering abuse and exploitation. The CRY with Project Unlearn aims is to spread awareness about above issues of child labour and shake people out of their indifference towards the grim reality that India faces.

21.Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile was test-fired on 13 November 2014 at Chandipur, Odisha. The test-fired was part of a regular training exercise of Strategic Force Command of Defence (SFC) and monitored by Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).
Prithvi-II was developed indigenously which is nuclear-capable and has a strike range of 350 km. It is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1000 kg of warheads.
It is powered by liquid propulsion twin engines and uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory.
Prithvi II was inducted into the SFC in 2003. This is the first missile to be developed by DRDO under India's prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP).

22.Act East Policy was recently in news due to the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Myanmar to attend the India-ASEAN Summit and the 18-nation East Asia Summit.
Act East Policy builds upon the Look East Policy that was envisioned in the era of 1990’s under the then Prime Minister of India P V Narsimha Rao.
The need for an Act East Policy was articulated by External Affairs Minister in August 2014 during her visit to Vietnam as slogan Look East is no longer adequate.
The new Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a new dimension to the Look East Policy. It tries to make the initiatives taken under Look East Policy more pro-active and hence it has been termed Look East Policy 2.0 by some defence analysts.
The Act East policy envisages accelerated across-the-board engagement between the two growth poles of a vibrant Asia, that is, India and ASEAN countries.
It also articulates India’s effort aimed at bolstering extensive strategic and economic ties with Southeast Asian countries so as to tap them for greater investment. The investment especially aimed in the infrastructure sector and also to connect trade points in the region.
Commerce, Culture and Connectivity would be the three pillars of India’s robust engagement with ASEAN.
The policy will bring greater economic benefit to the northeastern region in India and would possibly act a counterweight to the influence of China in the region.

23Devendra Fadnavis led BJP Government won the trust vote in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly through voice vote on 12 November 2014. The decision of voice vote was made by newly elected speaker Haribhau Bagde.
The confidence motion of BJP government which was accepted by the voice vote was moved by senior BJP leader Ashish Shelar.
Earlier, BJP’s leader Haribhau Bagde was elected unopposed as speaker of Maharashtra assembly, after Shiv Sena and Congress withdrew the nominations of their candidates.
On the other hand, Speaker Haribhau Bagade also announced that Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde will be the opposition leader of the house.
Speaker’s decision of voice vote was criticised by Shiv Sena and Congress. Congress has decided to meet the Governor and demand to take the trust vote again through division vote instead of voice vote.
Division vote is a process in which legislators press buttons on a voting machine to record their votes, which are then counted.