WBCS Current Affairs 06/12/2014 to 11/12/2014

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1.United States (US) and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) have ceremonially ended their combat mission in Afghanistan.
This mission comes to an end after 13 years of September 11 terror attacks that sparked their invasion of Afghanistan to topple the Taliban-led Government and fight against terrorism.
NATO formally ended its deployment after its International Security Assistance Force Joint Command, which was in charge of combat operations, lowered its flag. This ceremony was the first of two that will draw a formal close to NATO’s combat mission by December 28, 2014.

2.Andhra Pradesh government has announced land pooling policy to build new state capital located close to Vijayawada in the Guntur district. It was announced by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
This policy aims to secure about 30,000 acres of land in order to construct a greenfield, riverfront capital city on the southern side of the Krishna river. The masterplan for building up world-class capital city will be prepared by Singapore government.
Pooling of land for the capital will begin on 9th December 2014. In it around 22,405 farmers in 29 villages are ready to part with their lands.
The state government has immediately released a sum of Rs 200 crore to provide debt relief of up to Rs 1.5 lakh to each farmer as a one-time settlement.
Compensation
Dry land owning farmers as compensation will be given 1,000 square yards of residential plot and 200 square yards of commercial plot as compensation for every acre. They will be also paid with monetary compensation of Rs 30,000 per annum for ten years, with a 10 per cent hike every year.
While the farmers owning wet land will compensated by 1,000 square yards of residential land and 300 square yards of commercial plots in the proposed zone closer to their existing lands. They will be also paid with monetary compensation of Rs 50,000 per annum for ten years, with a 10 per cent hike every year.
In case of 12,000 families of agriculture labourers and tenant farmers will be paid Rs 30,000 per annum each. For this purpose Capital Region Social Security Fund will be formed.
Pooling of land will be initiated by first issuing an authorisation letter to land owners on the first day. In the next nine months, they will get Land Pooling Ownership Certificate. In next three years developed land will be provided to farmers with necessary infrastructure.

3.Public sector power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has achieved one more milestone by constructing and successfully commissioning 28 MW (2×14 MW) Nyaborongo Hydro Electric Project in Republic of Rwanda.
BHEL has synchronized both the generating units of this power project with the grid and helped in increasing Rwanda’s generating capacity by 24% from 119 MW to 147 MW.
Nyaborongo Hydro Electric project is owned by the Government of Rwanda and has been financed under the Government of India’s Line of Credit.

4.Government has launched new user-friendly Indian Trade Portal- http://www.indiantradeportal.in. It was inaugurated by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) Commerce and Industry Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman at a function held in New Delhi.
It is an initiative of the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry. The portal has been developed and maintained by Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).

5.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the TIME Magazine’s Readers’ Poll. It was announced by the magazine. In this poll the readers were asked to vote for who according to them should win the ‘Person of the Year’ title. PM Narendra Modi secured more than 16 per cent of the almost five million votes casted.
Online Readers from more than 225 countries participated in this poll, with US votes leading the tally at 37 per cent, followed by India at 17 per cent, and Russia at 12 per cent.

6.Veteran doyen of Carnatic music, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy passed away in Visakhapatnam, Kerala. He was 87. He was famous for his tonal quality and a style of his own Carnatic music.

7.Karnataka has become the first state in India to launch Unified Mobile Governance Platform for citizens named Karnataka MobileOne. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated this mobile governance platform at function held at Bengaluru.

8.One of the world’s largest congregations of Muslims Aalmi Tabligi Ijtima (World preacher’s congregation) concluded with ijtamai dua or mass prayer in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. It was three day congregation which started on 5th December 2014.
On the concluding day, renowned Islamic scholar delivered religious discourses during the congregation.
After end of this religious preaching, groups or jamaats have started leaving for different parts of the country and the world.
The government of Madhya Pradesh had provided electricity, water supply and security along with parking places for the convenience of Jamaats.
About Aalmi Tabligi Ijtima
The first ijtema was organised in 1949 at Masjid Shakoor Khan in Bhopal’s old walled city. In 2005 the venue was shifted to to Ghasipura, 11 km from Bhopal because of the heavy crowd gathering.
Usually, it is held on a Saturday, Sunday and Monday every year in December.

9.Bangladesh and Bhutan have signed two agreements. The two signed agreements are
Agreement on Trade: It will allow the two neighbouring countries to enjoy duty-free export of 90 items to each other. Earlier, Bhutan enjoyed duty-free export of 74 items from their country to Bangladesh.
Allocation of a land: Allocation of a land at Dhaka city’s Baridhara diplomatic enclave to Bhutan for the construction of its embassy.

10.China has rejected UN arbitration to resolve the South China Sea (SCS) maritime dispute with its Philippines. China instead has asserted that this maritime dispute should be settled through direct bilateral negotiations.
China’s rejection comes before the deadline to respond to UN mediation sought by the Philippines to arbitrate its maritime dispute with China over the South China Sea.
China has alleged that Philippines is attempting to resolve the dispute through “compulsory arbitration” by the UN Convention on Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), without exercising the option to settle it through direct talks.

11.President Pranab Mukherjee led the nation in paying homage to architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr. B R Ambedkar, on his 59th death anniversary which is observed as ‘Mahaparinirvan Din’.
Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh also offered tributes to the Dr Ambedkar.
The function began with a prayer by Buddhist monks. The programme was organised by the Ambedkar Foundation, an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Many functions are being organised across the country to mark the day. In Maharashtra, rich tributes were paid to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar by thousands of followers from all over the state who converged at his memorial ‘Chaityabhoomi’ near Shivaji Park in Dadar, Mumbai.

12.The Second National Lok Adalat was held across India on 6th December 2014 involving the Supreme Court, 24 high courts, districts courts and taluka-level courts.
These nationwide adalats settled nearly around 1.25 crore pending and pre-litigation cases and brought financial relief of over 3,000 crore rupees to ordinary litigants in a single day.
It was organised by the National Legal Service Authority (NALSA) and has helped to reduce backlog of cases by about nine percent in all the States.
Even in the Supreme Court, 28 out of 53 cases put up for settlement were disposed of and cheques were handed out at the time of settlement itself.
In the Second National Lok Adalat, the cases settled out of court included family disputes, matrimonial cases, motor accident claims, bank recoveries, petty criminal matters, revenue matters, disbursement of payment under the MGNREGA and other government welfare schemes.
About Lok Adalats
Lok Adalats (people’s courts) settle dispute through conciliation and compromise. The First Lok Adalat was held in Una city in Junagarh district of Gujarat in 1982. Generally, Lok Adalat accepts the cases pending in the regular courts within their jurisdiction which could be settled by conciliation and compromise.
The decision of the Lok Adalat is binding on the parties to the dispute and its order is capable of execution through legal process. No appeal lies against the order of the Lok Adalat.
First National Lok Adalats was held across the country in all courts on 23rd November 2013. It had settled a record 28.26 lakh cases pending in various courts.

13.Typhoon Hagupit has approached Philippines and has made landfall in the town of Dolores in the eastern Philippines with terrifying winds and intense rain pounding in the eastern part.
The powerful storm from the typhoon which has its origin from the Pacific Ocean crashed into the remote fishing communities of Samar Island with wind gusts of 210 km/hr. Almost 7 lakh people were evacuated before the typhoon. United Nations has mentioned it as one of the world’s biggest peacetime evacuations.
Typhoo Hagupit is expected to make five landfalls as it crosses the Philippines before leaving the country by 10th December 2014.

14.India’s multi-band communication satellite GSAT-16 was successfully put on a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) by the European launcher Ariane 5 VA221, from the Kourou space port in French Guiana.
Earlier, due to bad weather, the launch of GSAT-16 was delayed by two days.
Key facts
It is indigenously developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and has lift-off mass of 3,181 kg.
GSAT-16 is carrying C-band and Ku-band transponders in order to further augment communication services across – VSAT (very small aperture terminal) services, TV services and emergency communications in India.
It is configured to carry a total of 48 communication transponders, the largest number of transponders carried by a communication satellite developed by ISRO the so far.
GSAT-16 with a designated on orbit operational life of 12 years will be the 18th satellite to be launched by Arianespace for ISRO.
It will replace INSAT-3E, which was decommissioned a little prematurely in April, 2014.

15.Prime Minister Narendra Modi was named ‘Asian of the Year’ for being development-focused leader of India by editors of Singapore’s leading daily, The Straits Times.
The Straits Times editors’ choice was based on several factors for selecting PM Narendra Modi. He was picked for being development-focused Prime Minister of India who fashioned an impressive victory for BJP in the Lok Sabha elections 2014.

16.The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to rename Sant Ravidas Nagar district in the state as ‘Bhadohi’. This decision was taken during a meeting of the state Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at Lucknow. Earlier District Magistrate had recommended renaming the district.

17.President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Governor of Nagaland Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya to take additional charge as the governor of Assam.
Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya will continue to hold the additional charge till a new governor is appointed to succeed J B Patnaik, the Governor of Assam, who will be completing his tenure on December 10.

18.The Cabinet has given nod for introduction Indian Trusts (Amendment) Bill, 2014. It amends the section 20 and 20A of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882.
This bill aims to provide greater autonomy and flexibility to trustees in taking investment decisions of trust money. This amendment will enable the Central Government to notify securities or class of securities for investment by trusts and will remove the outdated provisions occurring in section 20 of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882.
Earlier, in 2009 then UPA government had introduced a bill for amendments in 2009, but the legislation lapsed.

19.The government has approved relaxation in norms for driving licences of e-rickshaw drivers. This decision was taken by the Cabinet meeting held at New Delhi.
Decision taken
The provision that no person shall be granted a learner’s licence to drive a commercial vehicle unless he or she has held a driving licence for light motor vehicle for at least one year has been waived.
e-rickshaw was made legal entity and any driver passing the driving test will now be granted a licence.
Background
Earlier in July 2014, Delhi High Court had banned e-rickshaws on the roads of the national capital saying that they are a hazard to other traffic as well as citizens.
In October, government had notified the Central Motor Vehicles (Sixteenth Amendment) Rules, 2014, which paved the way for e-rickshaw. This rule also made mandatory for e-rickshaws driver’s to have licence for operating them and limiting the maximum speed to 25 km/ hr. The new rules also provide that e-rickshaw will be allowed to carry four passengers and 40 kg luggage while e-carts would transport goods up to 310 kg.
Thus, the government’s recent decision to relax the norms for e-rickshaw drivers, will pave the way for the battery-operated vehicles to ply on national capital roads, which were banned by the Delhi High Court on safety concerns.

20.According to an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report the wage growth in the Asia Pacific region has significantly outperformed the rest of the world as developing countries continue to expand at a rapid rate.
Key facts of the report
The average annual incomes in Asia rose 6%, compared to global average growth of 2% in 2013.
China was a major contributor to the significant wage growth in average annual incomes in Asia with a rise of 9%. This has resulted to a salary increase in East Asia to 7.1% compared to 5.3% in Southeast Asia and 2.4% in South Asia.
Top 3 in average salary scale is $3,694 per month in Singapore, $3,320 in Japan and $613 in China.
At the bottom end of the scale, were workers who receive on an average of $73 in Nepal, $119 in Pakistan, and $121 in Cambodia.
Wage growth has slowed to almost zero for the developed economies as a group in the last two years.
Slow wage growth of developed economies is leading to sluggish household demand in most of these economies and the increasing risk of deflation in the Eurozone.


21.India helped Maldives to tackle drinking water crisis after the only water desalination plant in Maldives capital Male, had caught fire and had to be shut down. Due to this emergency over 100,000 residents of Male were left without drinking water
Earlier, Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen had declared a crisis situation and had appealed to India, Sri Lanka and China and the United States for help.

22.NASA’s Orion capsule blasted off on its first journey into orbit, from Kennedy Space Centre off Florida coast. United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket was carrying this unmanned spacecraft. This mission is a key test flight before carrying people to deep space destinations like Mars in the coming years.

23.Railway Ministry has set up a committee under the chairmanship D K Mittal, former secretary, financial services, to examine the existing revenue structure and suggest ways and means for raising earnings of Indian Railways.
It will be nine-member panel and has been given a timeline of 18 days for submitting its recommendations i.e. it will submit report by 21st December 2014.

24.Arun Majumdar, a top Indian-American scientist from Stanford University has been appointed as one of the Science Envoys of the United States (US). Arun along with other three scientists Peter Hotez, Jane Lubchenco and Geri Richmond will serve as U.S. Envoys from January 2015.

25.India and Japan have decided to cooperate in the fields of Cyber security and Green Information & Communication Technology (ICT). This decision was announced after India-Japan Joint Working Group Meeting on ICT held at New Delhi.
Joint Working Group Meeting on ICT between two countries announced to work and implement following five areas-
Green ICT- Green Mobile Base Station project.
Cyber Security Cooperation- Japan-India Combat Spam project.
Cooperative project for detecting symptoms and quick response to cyber-attacks (PRACTICE).
ICT for Disaster Management (ICT4DM) – Use ICT in disaster-affected areas projects.
ICT Application for Social and Economic Challenges- National ID Application and Utilization Platform project.

26.The Union Women and Child Development Ministry has set a new target to cover at least 10 lakh women under Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) over the next three years. The new target was announced by Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi at the 52nd Governing Board meeting of RMK which has been recently reconstituted to make it more effective.
About Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK)
RMK is a national credit fund for women under the aegis of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It was established in 1993 for socio-economic empowerment of women. It aims to provide financial services with backward and forward linkages for women in the unorganized sector through Intermediary Micro Finance Organizations (IMOs) and Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) and to augment their capacities through multi-pronged efforts. RMK also extends micro-credit to the women in the informal sector through a client friendly, without collateral and in a hassle-free manner for income generation activities.

27.The Web Index 2014 was released on 10 December 2014 was World Wide Web Foundation to measure the internet's contribution to social, economic and political progress in the world.
Top 10 Web Index 2014-15 Rankings
Rank
Denmark,Finland,Norway,United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Northern Ireland,Sweden,United States of America,Iceland,Korea,Netherlands,Belgium

India's Ranking in the Web Index 2014
India ranks at the 48th Rank with 44.6 score in the index. It ranks behind China and other BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) nations.

28.Randhir Singh was appointed as an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). He was appointed as the honorary member during the IOC session in Monaco held from 8 December 2014 to 9 December 2014.

29.German drug regulator Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) on 10 December 2014 banned the sale of 80 generic drugs with immediate effect on the grounds that their clinical trials were insufficient.
It also suspended the marketing authorisation given to the drugs concerned based on the data of clinical trials conducted by the India's pharmaceutical research company GVK Biosciences between 2008 and 2014.

30.Samsung Electronics Ltd on 10 December 2014 announced the appointment of HyunChil Hong as President of Southwest Asia Headquarters.