Current Affairs 21/11/2013 to 29/11/2013

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1.Japanese government is considering phasing out its over four decades old rice subsidy scheme-“gentan” production adjustment system by March 2019. The system was designed to reduce excess crops as part of government’s programme to bring reforms in agriculture sector.
What is the rice subsidy programme in Japan?
The government of Japan provides subsidies to its farmers in exchange for reducing rice output to adjust supply and protect prices through “gentan” production adjustment system. Under this programme, initiated in 1970, farmers who reduce sowing to government-set limits get about 150,000 yen ($1,500) for each hectare (2.5 acres) under cultivation.

2.The Coast Guard in Odisha has launched ‘Operation Oliver’ as part of its annual mission to ensure the safe mid-sea visit of breeding Olive Ridley sea turtles in Gahirmatha marine sanctuary area of the State.

3.The word “selfie” has been recognized by the Oxford Dictionaries as the Word of the Year 2013. As per Oxford Dictionaries’ language research, use of the word, has surged 17,000% since this time last year – when “GIF” was conferred the Word of the Year 2012 honor.
What does the word “selfie” means?
The word “selfie” has been defined as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website”

4.A new toll free telecom consumer grievances helpline with a special number ‘1037’ will soon be made available to subscribers across the country to register their telecom related complaints.

5.A key breakthrough deal has been clinched at Iran and P5+1 group of nations negotiations aimed to curb Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for limited sanctions relief. The Chief Negotiator for the P5+1 nations, Catherine Marie Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarief inked the deal to this effect at UN Headquarters in Geneva. The interim agreement for 6 months is intended to provide time and space to the international community to work out a comprehensive agreement.
What are the key features of the deal?
Iran will stop enriching uranium beyond 5%, the level at which it can be used for weapons research, and cut its stockpile of uranium enriched beyond this point.
Iran will provide greater access to inspectors including daily access at Natanz and Fordo nuclear sites.
In return, there will be no new nuclear-related sanctions for 6 months.
Sanctions relief worth about $7 billion on sectors including precious metals

6.The 19th Conference of Parties (COP-19), to the Kyoto Protocol concluded in Warsaw, Poland.
The UN Conference on Climate Change 2013 concluded with negotiating countries reaching a compromise on how to combat global warming. They came out of the long standing impasse by approving a way out for a new global climate treaty to be signed in Paris in 2015.
What was the purpose of COP19 talks at Warsaw?
Al these deliberations are focused towards reaching a new global climate treaty which will replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which sets targets for developed nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol is valid till 2020. Keeping this in view.the global agreement has to be agreed on by 2015 and in force by 2020, which made it imperative that delegates thrash out a large part of the draft version this year (2013) for consideration at next year’s COP-20 in Lima, Peru.
What is the outcome of COP-19 talks at Warsaw?
Delegates to COP19 agreed that all nations should work to cut emissions from burning coal, oil and gas as soon as possible, and ideally by the first quarter of 2015. Major decisions adopted at this conference include decisions on further advancing the Durban Platform, the Green Climate Fund and Long-Term Finance, the Warsaw Framework for REDD Plus, the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage and other decisions

7.India’s Strategic Forces Command (SFC) successfully test-fired nuclear-capable Dhanush ballistic missile from a naval ship off Odisha coast.
Dhanush Missile:
Surface-to-surface missile developed by DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP)
Naval variant of India’s indigenously developed ‘Prithvi’ missile
Single-stage, liquid propelled
Can carry conventional as well as nuclear payload of 500 to 1,000 kg and strike both land and sea-based targets
Already inducted into the armed services

8.The National Lok Adalat held all over the country effectively settled a record 35 lakh cases pending in various courts.

9.Paving the way for the continuation of some US troops in Afghanistan after 2014, the Loya Jirga, Afghanistan’s Grand Assembly of tribal elders and elite persons on gave nod to the issue of signing the Afghan-US Bilateral Security Agreement. The Afghanistan National Grand Council (Loya Jirga) called on country’s President Hamid Karzai to sign the bilateral security agreement with United States by the end of the year.

10.In a recent international development, China has announced that it is creating an “Air Defence Identification Zone“ over an area that includes disputed Senkaku islands in the East-China Sea which are controlled by Japan but claimed by China.
Chinese defence ministry has also released protocol for aircraft identification that must be followed by all planes entering the area, under penalty of intervention by the military. As per the protocol, aircrafts are required to provide their flight plan, clearly mark their nationality, and maintain two-way radio communication allowing them to respond in a timely and accurate manner to the identification inquiries from Chinese authorities.
The outline of the new zone covers a wide area of the East China Sea between South Korea and Taiwan that includes the Tokyo-controlled islands known as the Senkaku to Japan and Diaoyou to China. As per Chinese defense ministry, China’s armed forces will exercise defensive emergency steps to respond to aircraft that do not cooperate in the identification or refuse to follow the instructions.

11.India has decided not to agree to the ‘Peace Clause’ for agriculture subsidies that the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo has proposed for Bali talks. India will not agree to any deal until it is clear that the proposed interim solution will be available till a permanent solution to the issue of India’s Minimum Support Prices (MSP) transgressing the WTO norms has been found and agreed to.
What is the ‘Peace Clause’ offered by the WTO?
India wants to implement its Food Security Scheme by providing food entitlements at subsidized rates to 2/3rd of its population. To realize this, the government will have to procure a huge quantity of grains from farmers. The government procures grains at certain MSPs. However, WTO norms under the Agreement on Agriculture may hamper the plan as the rules set a subsidy cap of 10% of the value of production for developing countries. India is already inching closer to that limit. If India breaches that limit it would create dispute and may be dragged to the WTO Disputes Settlement Body. The ‘Peace Clause’ proposed by the WTO general-secretary offers an interim solution by allowing the developing countries to offer subsidies to farmers that are currently prohibited under WTO norms. The clause will restrict other WTO members from seeking penalties and facilitating the government to procure grains at MSPs and sell them at subsidized rates through Public Distribution System (PDS).
What is the problem then?
There is catch in this ‘peace Clause’ : While developing countries can provide WTO-prohibited subsidies to farmers without inviting any dispute under the Agreement on Agriculture, developed countries will have the right to drag these countries to the WTO Disputes Settlement Body, under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. This would render the peace clause null-and-void. There is also lack of clarity on when the proposed Peace Clause will expire and in case there arrives no solution or agreement at the eleventh Ministerial conference, the protection from the Peace Clause will end and its extension will be have to be renegotiated — a contingency India doesn’t want.
What is Minimum Support Price?
The Minimum Support Price (MSP) Scheme is a scheme of the Government of India (GOI) to safeguard the interests of the farmers. Under this Scheme the GOI declares the minimum support Prices of various agricultural produces and assures the farmers that their agricultural produce will be purchased at the MSP, thereby preventing its distress sale. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) acts as the Nodal Agency of the GOI.

12.World No. 1 women’s tennis player Serena Williams (32) has been named WTA Player of the Year for 2013.

13.Eminent Scientist and Bharat Ratna awardee Prof CNR Rao has become the first Indian scientist to be elected as honorary foreign member of Chinese Academy of Science (CAS).
CAS consists of several Nobel laureates and eminent scientists of the world. Prof. Rao was recently awarded the Bharat Ratna. In 2012, CAS had conferred on him the prestigious Award for International Scientific Cooperation.

14.Justice Ajit Prakash Shah has been appointed as the new Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India . He has taken charge of the position vacated by the resignation of Justice D K Jain, who was appointed as the head of National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The 20th Law Commission was constituted with effect from September 1, 2012 with a 3-year term, ending on August 31, 2015.

15.‘Voice Over LTE’ technology, which will soon be deployed in USA shortly by some of the mobile companies, has still some time to yet arrive in India. Indian operators in due course will adopt the 4G LTE standard which will improve the carrying capacity of airwaves, furnish data at nearly 10 times the speed offered on 3G and better quality voice, etc.
What is ’Voice Over LTE’ technology?
‘Voice Over LTE’ technology is a technology for providing a unified format of voice traffic on LTE, and other systems including CSFB (Circuit Switched FallBack ), and SV-LTE (Simultaneous voice and LTE). It empowers 4G LTE operators to offer rich voice, video and messaging services as a core offering.
LTE stands for ‘Long Term Evolution’.

16.Norway’s Magnus Carlsen ended 5 times title-holder Viswanathan Anand’s reign as the world champion. Magnus Carlsen took the crown after a hard-fought draw in the 10th game of the World Chess Championship match.

17.India and Vietnam signed eight agreements, including one for oil and gas exploration in the seas off Vietnam that includes the South China Sea as visiting Vietnamese Communist Party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held talks in New Delhi.
The eight agreements as well as a $100-million line of credit to Vietnam for defence purchases consolidate India’s “Look East Policy”.

18.The RBI has directed Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to give loans to women Self Help Groups (SHGs) at a rate of 7% per annum so as to provide them the benefit of interest rate subvention scheme under the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana-Aajeevika (SGSY) scheme.

19.As per a research team from the US space agency NASA, granite – an igneous rock common on Earth— could be found in abundance on Mars. The research backed by the NASA Mars Data Analysis Program strengthens the evidence for granite on Mars by using remote sensing techniques with infrared spectroscopy to survey a large volcano on Mars that was active for billions of years.

20.Internet search engine giant Google launched Wallet Card in the US. It is a prepaid debit card that will facilitate consumers to buy goods at stores and to withdraw cash from ATM machines.
What does Google Wallet Card offer?
The card allows consumers access the funds stored in their Google Wallet accounts. Consumers can use this facility to purchasing goods at stores and to withdraw cash from ATM machines. Consumers add money to the new Wallet Card by linking it to a bank account or when another person transfers money to their Google Wallet account. The card can be ordered online from Wednesday, and typically takes 10 to 12 days to arrive. The card is free and the company will not charge cardholders any monthly or annual fees.
What is Google Wallet?
Google Wallet is a smartphone app and online payment service that allows consumers buy goods and transfer money to each other.

21.Legendary actress Waheeda Rehman will be conferred with the first Centanary Award for the Indian Film Personality at the 44th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) to be held in Goa.

22.The next CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) 2015 will be held in Malta. The south European nation invited the Commonwealth to hold the summit after Mauritius pulled out in protest against the decision to hold this year’s gathering in Sri Lanka despite an international protests over alleged rights violations and war crimes.