(Current Affairs For SSC Exams) National Events | July 2014

July-2014

Central government officials to declare assets under new Lokpal rules

  •  The Union government has notified rules on declaration of assets and liabilities of its employees under the Lokpal Act.

  • Though system of declaration of assets and liabilities has been in vogue, the Lokpal Act seeks to systematise it with additional information

  •  As per the new rules notified by the government, its employees have to file returns with details on cash in hand, bank deposits, investment in bonds, debentures, shares and units in companies or mutual funds, insurance policies, provident fund, personal loans and advance given to a person or any entity, among others

  • The returns should give information about spouses as well. The employees’ need to declare motor vehicles, aircraft, yachts or ships, gold and silver jewellery and bullion possessed by them, their spouses and dependent children, according to the form.

  •  The employees also to have to give details of their immovable properties along with statement of debts and other liabilities on first appointment or as on March 31 of every financial year.

Government promises broadband facility in every village

  •  The Centre promised to extend broadband facility to every village in the country with the active cooperation of State governments.

  •  More than 1.34 lakh internet enabled centres have been set up in rural areas to promote and develop information technology in rural areas of the country.

  •  Problem of unavailability of bandwidth and regional language barrier have impeded thee-governance initiatives in India, government said availability of bandwidth to important places will be done on priority basis.

Hubble telescope inspired technology helps restore eyesight

  •  NASA’s telescopes are not just helping us look into the dark deep universe but have inspired surgeons to restore the eyesight of the elderly.

  •  The tiny telescopes inserted in Phyllis Price (a 79-year-old woman can see again) eyes, magnified the images and also directed them away from diseased parts of the eye and onto healthier areas.

  •  This “giant leap” in medical science holds hope to an optical disease that affects hundreds of thousands of elderly people.

TRAI paves way for sharing of all telecom spectrum

  •  Telecom sector regulator TRAI has recommended allowing sharing of all categories of spectrum.

  •  The move is likely to benefit major operators such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices, helping them reduce costs and at the same time improve service quality.

  •  At present, telecom operators are allowed to share passive infrastructure such as mobile towers and have been demanding allowing of spectrum sharing for a long time.

  •  All access spectrum i.e. spectrum in the bands of 800/900/1800/2100/2300/2500 MHz will be sharable provided that both the licensees are having spectrum in the same band.

Shipping firms needn’t renew licences every year

  •  The Ministry of Shipping has decided to reduce paperwork by scrapping the requirement of annual renewal of licenses for Indian ships and any other vessel charted by an Indian citizen or company.

  •  Such licences will now be issued with a life-time fee instead of annual fee but the licence will be co-terminus with the certificate of Registry of the Ship.

  •  The decision also provides for all the five Registrars of Ships at Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Goa and Cochin to issue these licenses under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act,1958.

Parliament passes bill on Polavaram project

  •  Parliament on Monday passed a bill to facilitate transfer of 205 villages spread across seven mandals in the newly formed State of Telangana to the residual state of Andhra Pradesh for the multi-purpose Polavaram irrigation project.

  •  The bill, approved by Lok Sabha last week, was opposed by members of the House from Telangana and the States of Odisha and Chattisgarh on the plea that it would cause unwarranted displacement of 52 thousand scheduled caste families from the three States.

  •  The project is a difficult project to implement as it involves massive resettlement. It is on par with Sardar Sarovar Dam (in Gujarat) and Indira Sagar project in Madhya Pradesh.
    w Commission had submitted a report relating to passive euthanasia and ‘living will’.

SC Constitution Bench to decide on ‘living will’ to die with dignity

  •  A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court will take up for consideration a petition seeking to declare the execution of a ‘living will’ of persons, suffering from chronic terminal diseases and likely to go into a permanent vegetative state, to refuse treatment to pave way for their death.

  •  Petition was filled by NGO Common Cause.

  • AG Mr. Rohatgi said the issue had lot of legal, social and moral aspects concerning the humanity as a whole. He said right to die merely because of pain and suffering would not be in the interest of society as it was against public policy.

  •  Ruling in ‘Aruna Shanbaug’s case’ decided that passive euthanasia is wrong.

  • In November 2012 the Law Commission had submitted a report relating to passive euthanasia and ‘living will’

NCW backs amendments to Juvenile Justice Act
 

  • National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Mamta Sharma on Wednesday said the Commission would back amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act to ensure proper punishment in rape cases.

  •  Ms Sharma reiterated that times were changing and keeping in mind that 45 per cent of the registered rape cases were perpetrated by juveniles, amendments were necessary in the law.

  •  Union Minister for Women and Child Development said juveniles committing rape should be tried as adults, the National Commission of Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and child rights groups had opposed it.

  •  Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number cases against women at 8252, with Delhi coming second with 2000 cases and Haryana -864 cases.

  •  She also called for a Code of Conduct for Parliamentarians.

  •  The NCW is also short of funds and last year the annual budget was down to Rs nine crore, half of which goes for salaries.

SC/ST Amendment bill sent to standing committee

  •  A Bill that makes it a punishable offence for public servants to “wilfully neglect” duties on matters relating to atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Tribes was referred to a Standing Committee.

  •  The Bill replaces an Ordinance that states that if a non-SC/ST public servant wilfully neglects duties required to be performed under this Act, he or she shall be punished with imprisonment for a term from six months to one year.

  •  The Bill also makes provisions for States to set up special courts to try offences under the Act.

Special court to hear coal scam cases: SC

  •  The Supreme Court decided to set up a special court to try cases arising from the coal block allocation scam and also appoint a special public prosecutor to lead the cases there.

  •  The petitioner NGO common cause and CBI both accepted the name of Gopal Subramanium as the special prosecutor.

  •  Court on Friday issued notice to seven private and public sector companies on central government’s plea seeking transfer, to apex court of all cases, challenging the cancellation of coal blocks allocated to them, pending before various high courts.

An emotional outpouring on Bangalore streets

  •  Emotions ran high as hundreds of people, including college students and members of several organisations, parents and grandparents took part in a rally, demanding justice for the six-year-old who was sexually assaulted in a school in Marathahalli earlier this month.

  •  The parents have urged the police to ensure that the evidence is not tampered with. They have also sought speedy trial of the accused in fast-track courts. The 10 demands also include police seeking answers from the management over the punishment meted out to the six-year-old, by keeping her in a dark room where the alleged crime is said to have taken place.

Modi government to go with UPA policy on FDI in retail

  •  The Narendra Modi Government is unlikely to rescind the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy for multi-brand retail that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government had notified.

  •  The decision to continue with the UPA Government’s policy has been taken as the Centre does not want to deny the freedom of choice that the notified FDI rules gives to States for choosing whether or not to let foreign retailers set up shop.

  •  The Modi Government also decided to carry on with the UPA Government’s initiative of Aadhaar card for targetted schemesbut new Government will issue Aadhaar numbers to Indian citizens only.

Water levels dip in major reservoirs

  •  Water level in major reservoirs in the country has dipped lower than the average of last 10 years, due to a weak south-west monsoon this year.

  •  Water storage in six reservoirs of the northern region, including Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan has dipped to 47 per cent as compared to 56 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

  •  In the western region comprising Gujarat and Maharashtra, where the monsoon is particularly deficient this year, the average water level in 22 reservoirs is reported to be 22 per cent of the total storage capacity as against 45 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

  •  In the central region comprising U.P., Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh the water level is on an average 31 per cent of the total capacity as against last year’s 48 per cent.

Law Commission recommends fixed tenure for CJI

  •  A.P. Shah has recommended, Same retirement age of 65 for Supreme Court and High Court judges; a “cooling-off period” for judges after retirement; and a fixed tenure for Chief Justice of India.

  •  Justice Shah reasons that the retirement age of Supreme Court judges was increased to 65 as an “incentive” for High Court judges to leave the comfort of their hometowns and come to New Delhi. This consideration is no longer relevant, the note says. The retirement age of High Court judges is 62. Elevation to the Supreme Court guarantees them an additional three-year tenure.

  •  It recommends that the Chief Justice of India should get a fixed tenure of two years in case their tenure as CJI is less than two years. This step should be implemented from August 26, 2022 after the junior-most judge currently serving in the Supreme Court, and who is slated to be CJI, retires.

  •  The note says the JAC should be a seven-member body with the CJI as chairperson, and three Supreme Court judges. Incidentally, the note has the Law Minister as the sole representative from the government side “to ensure that the executive has a meaningful voice”.

Govt to review DTC bill in its present form

  •  Draft DTC Bill prepared by the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in 2010 which proposed the slabs at Rs 2-5 lakh (10 per cent) , Rs 5-10 lakh (20 per cent) and Rs 10 lakh and above (30 per cent). Here the corporate tax was proposed at 30 per cent.

  •  The Standing Committee on Finance headed by Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha suggested raising the income tax exemption limit to Rs 3 lakh as against Rs 2 lakh proposed in the DTC Bill, 2010.

  •  The Standing Committee in its recommendation suggested the slabs in the brackets of Rs 3-10 lakh, Rs 10-20 lakh and Rs 20 lakh and above. On corporate tax, it recommended that the rate be retained at 30 per cent.

11 per cent jump in Home Ministry’s budget

  •  The Home Ministry was allocated Rs. 65,745 crore in the 2014-15 Budget announced on Thursday, a 11 per cent jump over last year’s outlay.

  •  It is also proposed to set up ‘Crisis Management Centres’ in all the districts of National Capital Territory of Delhi this year in all government and private hospitals. The funding will be provided from the Nirbhaya Fund setup after 16th december 2012 incident in Delhi.

  •  CRPF which is involved in anti-Naxal operations besides maintaining security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeastern region has been allocated Rs. 12,169.51 crore comparison to Rs. 11,373.72 crore it received last year.

  •  The BSF, which guards Indo-Pak and Indo-Bangladesh borders ; Assam Rifles, which plays a key role in anti-insurgency operations in the Northeast and guards the Indo-Myanmar border ; The ITBP, which guards the icy heights along the Sino-Indian border etc. have all seen a rise in their allocation.

  •  A sum of Rs. 11.37 crore has been allocated for developing traffic and communication networks and model traffic systems in NCR, Rs. 11.50 crore for installation of traffic signals in the national capital and Rs 110 crore for construction of fortified police stations in Naxal-affected states.

Govt proposes over Rs. 2,000 cr for Ganga Conservation Mission

  •  An integrated programme for the conservation of river Ganga called “Namami Gange” with an outlay of Rs 2,037 crores has been proposed.

  •  To harness the enthusiasm of the NRI community towards the conservation of the river Ganga, an ‘NRI Fund for Ganga’ will be set up which will finance special projects.

  •  A sum of Rs. 100 crore has been set aside for Ghat development and beautification of the river front at Kedarnath, Haridwar, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna and Delhi.

  •  The budget also contains the first ever effort to link the rivers across the country with the Finance Minister setting aside a sum of Rs. 100 crore in the current budget to expedite the preparation of Detailed Project Reports.

Govt to continue Aadhaar, provides Rs. 2k cr in 2014-15

  •  A sum of Rs 2,039.64 crore has been provided for 2014-15 to execute the task of implementing Unique Identification as entrusted to Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

  •  UIDAI was mandated to collect biometrics of 600 million residents in the country and rest of the population was to be covered under the National Population Register (NPR) project.

  •  Cabinet Committee on UIDAI decided that all residents would be issue National Multi-purpose Identity Cards under NPR and UIDAI would generate Unique identification number for the entire population. Both UIDAI and NPR were to share the biometric data collected by them for issuing NMIC and generating unique identification number.

  •  The NPR is a comprehensive identity database maintained by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Home Ministry.

Supreme Court stays order quashing VC’s appointment

  •  The Supreme Court stayed an order of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, quashing the appointment of Kalyani Mathivanan as Vice-Chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University.

  •  After hearing senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, who appeared for Ms. Kalyani, a Bench of Justices S.J. Mukhopadhaya and Ranjan Gogoi issued notice to the respondents, including the petitioner who got the appointment quashed.

  •  Since 1965, Madurai Kamaraj University, like every other university in Tamil Nadu, had prescribed no qualification for appointment as Vice-Chancellor, going instead by the wisdom of the Chancellor and the experience of the search committee. The UGC Regulations, introduced in 2010, upset the existing mechanism, affecting the federal structure of the Constitution.

DOPT launches e-service record system for govt. employees

  •  With the objective to promote a paperless regime and better human resource management, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has launched an e-service record book portal for government employees.

  •  Earlier documented in paper files, the service record provides information on various portfolios and posts held by a particular government employee.

  •  In future, it would also prove to be of great assistance in an efficient management of human resource. The system can facilitate work allocation based on the skills and experiences of the employees under consideration for a particular post or department.

  •  The DOPT has also launched a Basic Leadership Skills Module for Central Secretariat Services officers at the Institute of Secretariat Training and Management. The module is expected to equip civil servants with the skills that help them function efficiently in a complex and challenging environment.

  •  A Learning Resource Centre has also been set up with a mandate to identify and adopt the leading national and international practices in the field of training techniques and technologies to strengthen the Trainers Development Programme, to develop a cadre of high quality trainers.

     

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