Current affairs 01-December-2012.pdf

7/30/2019 Current affairs 01-December-2012.pdf

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National:

Former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral passes awayFormer Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, who headed a rickety coalition government in the late 1990s, diedafter a brief illness. He was 92.Gujral left the Congress to join the Janata Dal in the late-1980s. He became

Minister of External Affairs in the V P Singh-led National Front government in 1989. As the External AffairsMinister he handled the fallout of the Kuwait crisis following Iraqi invasion that displaced thousands ofIndians. Gujral authored a foreign policy doctrine called the "Gujral Doctrine" (a set of principles to guide theconduct of foreign relations with India's immediate neighbours), which was widely acclaimed not only in Indiabut also outside.

Children of illegally wedded wife entitled to pension: govtChildren born to illegally wedded wife of a central government employee are entitled to get family pension,according to a new order. The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, in an order issued,decided that pensionary benefits will be granted to children of a government servant or pensioner from "voidor voidable" marriages. Earlier, children born out of such a wedlock of a government servant had no claim onfamily pension and the legally wedded wife was the sole recipient of the post-retirement benefit. However,the matter was re-examined in consultation with the Ministry of Law and Justice and Ministry of Finance andit was decided to amend the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972. The share of children from illegally

wedded wife in the family pension shall be payable to them along with the legally wedded wife.

Joint naval exercise with RussiaINDRA, joint military exercise with Russia, is being held in Mumbai from November 28 to December 3.Destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov, replenishment oiler Irkut and rescue tug Alatau of the RussianFederations Navy Pacific Fleet (PF) Task Unit and Indias INS Mysore and INS Tabar are participating in theexercise. INDRA began in year 2003 and is being conducted every two years. The main objective of thisexercise is to enhance interoperability, which will be useful if both the navies are working against thecommon threat like the pirates in the Gulf of Aden. It will be helpful for wider cooperation and mutualunderstanding between two navies, said Captain Krishna Swaminathan, Commanding Officer of INSMysore.

Urban renewal mission a failure: CAGFrom basic guidelines to implementation and subsequent monitoring of projects, the Union Ministry of Urban

Developments flagship programme the Jawaharlal National Urban Renewal Mission has failed on all counts,says the Comptroller and Auditor General in its latest report. Tabled in Parliament the performance audit ofthe Mission shows huge deficiencies. The CAG recommended that the government consider suitableincentives to states that have implemented the reforms envisaged under JNNURM guidelines. The Ministryof Urban Development and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation should introduce a zero-tolerance policy at all levels with respect to irregular expenditure and diversion of funds. It alsorecommended identifying the deficiencies in the monitoring of the scheme, at both Central and State levels.The Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) audit into Centre's urban renewal programme. JawaharlalNehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) has shown that 40% of states and Union Territories havefailed to rationalize stamp duty to 5% for property registration. The defaulting states include Delhi, Haryana,West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala and Chhattisgarh. High stamp duty discourages property registration atactual or market value and thereby increases scope of black money in the realty sector. As per JNNURMnorms, stamp duty was to be brought down to 5% or less, including surcharges by local municipal bodies,during implementation of the programme.

T.N. tops the list in dengue deathsThe number of deaths in the country this year till November 15 due to dengue has touched 216, with TamilNadu topping the list with the death of 60 people. It is followed by Maharashtra 59, Karnataka 21, Punjab 15,Kerala 13, West Bengal 9, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh 6 each and Delhi 4. A total of 35,066 cases werereported in the country till mid-November 2012.


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Maila Mukti Yatra launchedUnion Rural Development and Panchayati Raj minister Jairam Ramesh launched a programme "Maila MuktiYatra" under Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan. He informed that the Centre has earmarked Rs 1,500 crore toconvert dry toilets into flush toilets under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan. Sikkim is the first state in the countrywhere the practice of open-area defecation has been eradicated and states like Kerala, Haryana andHimachal Pradesh also have done well.

Tamil Nadu tops in domestic violence casesTamil Nadu has got the dubious distinction of having the highest number of domestic violence cases in thecountry with the state recording 3,983 such cases in 2011. According to the latest data of the National CrimeRecords Bureau, a total of 9,431 domestic violence cases were reported across the country during theperiod, Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath informed the Lok Sabha. Tamil Nadu reportedthe highest number of such cases against women with 3,983 cases followed by Gujarat with 3,266 and WestBengal with 1,661. In 2010, 11,718 cases were registered under the Protection of Women from DomesticViolence Act while in 2009, 7,803, cases were registered.

HIV claimed 60,000 less lives in India in 2011India recorded around 60,000 fewer deaths due to HIV in 2011 compared to 2007 while the overall number ofpeople living with HIV has fallen by almost 1.7 lakhs during the same period. There has been a 57%reduction in new HIV infections in India during the last decade with HIV prevalence among adults (15-49years) dipping to 0.27% (2011) compared to 0.33% (2007). The total number of people living with HIV/AIDS

(PLHIV) in India is estimated at 21 lakhs last year. Children (below 15 years) account for 7% of all infections,and 86% are in the 15-49 age bracket. Worryingly, of all the HIV infections, 39% (8.16 lakhs) are amongwomen, most of whom being housewives. In 2011, among the states, Manipur has shown the highestestimated adult HIV prevalence of 1.22%, followed by Andhra Pradesh (0.75%), Mizoram (0.74%), Nagaland(0.73%), Karnataka (0.52%), Goa (0.43%) and Maharashtra (0.42%). Besides these, Odisha, Gujarat, TamilNadu, and Chandigarh have shown estimated adult HIV prevalence greater than the national prevalence at0.27%.

Bihar second most poor state: Plan panelUttar Pradesh had the highest number of poor population at 7.37 crore, followed by Bihar and Maharashtra in2009-10. Bihar and Maharashtra had poor population of 5.43 crore and 2.7 crore respectively in the year2009-10 based on poverty line fixed using the Tendulakar Committee formula, as per data provided by thePlanning Commission in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.According to the Tendulkar Committee formula, besides traditional method of fixing poverty line on the basis

of calorie intake, the expenditure on health and education is also factored in. The data also showed that thenumber of poor in the entire country during 2009-10 was 35.46 crore using the Tendulkar Committee formulafor fixing the poverty line. In 2009-10, the commission estimated the number of poor in Madhya Pradesh at2.61 crore, West Bengal 2.4 crore, Andhra Pradesh 1.76 crore, Rajasthan 1.67 crore, Odisha 1.53 crore,Karnataka 1.42 crore, Gujarat 1.36 crore and Jharkhand 1.26 crore in accordance with the formula. TamilNadu and Chhattisgarh had poor population of 1.21 crore each followed by Assam at 1.16 crore andHaryana at 49.96 lakh.

International:

Obama appoints blind Indian-American to key postThe Obama administration has announced to appoint a blind Indian-American to a key administrative post in

an independent US agency devoted for people with disabilities. Sachin Dev Pavithran has been appointed asMember, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, the White House said, as itannounced several other key administration appointments. Pavithran is Program Director of the UtahAssistive Technology Program at Utah State University's Center for Persons with Disabilities, a position hehas held since 2011. Pavithran has more than 12 years of experience as a consultant on disability police anddeveloping and training users of assistive technology and accessible websites. In 2007, the NationalFederation of the Blind awarded him the Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship. He received a BA, BS, and an MSfrom Utah State University.


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Imperial palace found at first Chinese emperor's cemeteryThe remains of a massive "imperial palace" have been uncovered at the mausoleum of China's first emperor,Qinshihuang, in the tourist city of Xian. Based on its foundations, the courtyard-style palace was estimated tobe 690 meters long and 250 meters wide. Covering an area of 170,000 cubic meters, the palace was nearlyone fourth the size of the Forbidden City in Beijing, the imperial palace of China's last two feudal dynasties ofMing and Qing (1368-1911). It is the largest complex ever found at the cemetery of Qinshihuang, known as

China's first emperor as he united the country. The palace included 18 courtyard houses and a main buildingthat overlooked the houses. The palace could shed light on the architectural styles of the Qin Dynasty (221BC-207 BC) and showed emperor Qinshihuang's wish to continue to live in imperial grandeur even during hisafterlife. The 56-square-km Mausoleum of Qinshihuang is the world's largest underground mausoleum and isfamous for its terracotta warriors.

Technology:

NASA spacecraft discovers 'ice' on MercuryA NASA spacecraft has confirmed the presence of abundant 'icy' water along with other frozen volatilematerials within 'burning hot' Mercury's permanently shadowed polar craters. NASA's MErcury Surface,Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft has been studying Mercury, thenearest planet to the Sun, in unprecedented detail since its historic arrival there in March 2011. Scientists

have seen clearly for the first time a chapter in the story of how the inner planets, including Earth, acquiredtheir water and some of the chemical building blocks for life. Spacecraft instruments completed the firstmeasurements of excess hydrogen at Mercury's north pole, its reflectivity of polar deposits at near-infraredwavelengths and enabled the detailed models of the surface and near-surface temperatures of the planet'snorth polar regions. Given its proximity to the Sun, Mercury would seem to be an unlikely place to find ice.However, the tilt of Mercury's rotational axis is less than 1 degree, and as a result, there are pockets at theplanet's poles that never see sunlight. Scientists suggested decades ago there might be water ice and otherfrozen volatiles trapped at Mercury's poles.

Business & Economy:

Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) launches its e-Passbook serviceOver 50 million provident fund subscribers can now access their account statements online as the

Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has launched its e-Passbook service. Active subscriberswhose electronic challan-cum-return is already uploaded, can download their e-Passbook every month underthe service launched by the EPFOs Central Provident Fund Commissioner RC Mishra. The facility shall beavailable on www.epfindia.gov.in. Also, the online downloading of PF account statement is not available as ofnow for members of PF trusts which are set up employers to manage their employees retirement benefit.Members can register themselves on the portal by using photo identification number, such as PAN, Aadhaar,National Population Registry, driving licence, passport, voter ID, ration card. They can use their mobilephone numbers as passwords.

BSE launches carbon-based thematic indexThe Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), has launched BSE Carbonex, the first carbon-based thematic index inthe country, which takes a strategic view of organisational commitment to climate change mitigation. Thisindex has been launched with the aim of creating a benchmark, and increasing awareness about the risksposed by climate change. The British High Commission in India through the British Foreign &

Commonwealth Offices Prosperity Fund supported the development phase of the index. ENDS Carbon, aspecialist in environment, social and governance (ESG) ratings and benchmark services provider, hasprovided its expertise in assessing the companies with data sourced from the carbon disclosure project(CDP), a not-for-profit organisation which holds the largest and most continuous set of climate change datain the world.


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Ranbaxy stops production of generic LipitorRanbaxy Laboratories has stopped production of its generic version of cholesterol lowering drug Lipitor untilit investigates the issue of potential glass particles in certain lots. The Indian drug major, had informed itscustomers of a voluntary recall of certain lots of the companys 10mg, 20mg, and 40mg dosage strengths ofatorvastatin tablets (generic version of Lipitor), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) said in a

statement. The lots of atorvastatin packaged in bottles of 90 tablets and 500 tablets are being recalled due topossible contamination with very small glass particles similar to the size of a grain of sand (less than 1 mm insize).

Infosys to list its ADS on NYSEInfosys has announced that it will be transferring the listing of its American Depository Shares (ADS) to theNew York Stock Exchange (NYSE) from the Nasdaq Global Select Market (Nasdaq). The company is alsoseeking to list its ADS on the Paris and London Exchanges of NYSE Euronext. NYSE Euronext is a leadingglobal operator of financial markets and its equity markets represent one third of the worlds equities trading.Infosys ADS will begin trading on the NYSE Euronext markets on December 12. Until the transfer iscomplete the ADS will continue to trade in the U.S.

Sport:

Lee is AFC Player of the YearSouth Korean footballer Lee Keun Ho was named the AFC Player of the Year.

Andrew Flintoff survives knock down to win debut fightFormer England cricketer Andrew Flintoff beat American Richard Dawson on points after surviving aknockdown in his first professional fight at the MEN Arena in Manchester. The 34-year-old got a rousingreception from the 5,000 fans and won the first of four two-minute rounds before being caught by a left hookearly in the second that sent him to the canvas. However, Flintoff got up to receive a standing eight countand battled back with a more composed performance against a flagging opponent for a 39-38 win on thereferee's scorecard. Flintoff, coached by former world champion Barry McGuigan, had weighed in at 216lbs(97.98kg), 25lbs (11.34kg) lighter than Dawson, 23, who had won his previous two professional fights.

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Current affairs 01-December-2012.pdf