{Current Affairs} Daily News Notes: 1st Nov, 2013

· Child marriage of girls in remote areas of the State of WB is one of the main reasons for the infant deaths in the State’s hospitals, feels the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). “Malnourished girls married at a young age give birth to babies with low birth weight and the cycle of infant deaths continues.”
· In a landmark intervention, India’s Apex Court is ensuring that civil servants are not forced to act upon oral instructions of their political bosses, except in certain exceptional circumstances. Also, the Supreme Court directed the Centre and state governments to pass order in three months on giving fixed tenure to civil servants. The Court in its ruling said that fixed tenure of bureaucrats will “promote professionalism, efficiency and good governance.” On the need of recording instructions from political bosses, the petitioners asked: “Every civil servant formally records all such instructions / directions / orders / suggestions which he/she receives, not only from his/her administrative superiors but also from political authorities, legislators, commercial and business interests and other persons/quarters having interest, wielding influence…”. The Apex Court has agreed to such a system. The SC Bench said: “Where in exceptional circumstances, action has to be taken on the basis of oral directions, it is mandatory for the officer superior to confirm the same in writing. The civil servant, who has received such information, in turn, is required to seek confirmation of the directions in writing as early as possible and it is the duty of the officer superior to confirm the direction in writing.”
· As per preliminary reports from States on the progress of sowing of rabi crops (Wheat, Pulses, Coarse Cereals, Oilseeds, Sugarcane etc.), the sowing has been very brisk in the last one week. Nearly 65 lakh hectare area has been sown so far as compared to 21 lakh hectare at this time last year.
· IRCON International Limited, a Public Sector Undertaking in construction sector under the Ministry of Railways, was selected as the Top Infrastructure Company under the category Construction Infrastructure Development at the “Dun and Bradstreet Infra Awards 2013” for delivering exemplary performance by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), the world’s leading provider of global business information, knowledge and insight, announced and presented the third edition of Infra awards.
· In Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram, the process of filing of nominations for the assembly elections began today after notification. All 230 assembly segments in MP and 40 assembly constituencies in MZ will go to polls on 25th of this month. In Chhattisgarh, polling for the 90 member Assembly second phase is scheduled on November 19th. In Madhya Pradesh, young voters are more enthusiastic about electoral process this time due to SVEEP Plan and other activities by the Election Office. About 35 per cent of total four crore 64 lakh voters in Madhya Pradesh are youths in the age group of 18 to 29 years. The maximum voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years are in Dhar district while maximum voters between 20 to 29 years of age are in Indore district. Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) Plan is under implementation in the state since last three years on the directives of Election Commission.
· Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka are among the states which are celebrating their formation day today. The states were formed under the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 on a linguistic basis.
· In Assam, the World Heritage site Kaziranga National park re-opened today for visitors after its annual monsoon closure.
· Dhanteras is being celebrated across the country. This is the first day of the five-day Diwali Festival. On this day, Goddess Lakshmi is worshiped for prosperity and well being. Dhanteras holds special significance for the business community due to the customary purchases of precious metals on this day. In the evening, the lamps will be lit and Dhan-Lakshmi welcomed into the house. Rangoli designs are drawn on pathways including the goddess' footprints to mark the arrival of Lakshmi.
· Shilpotsav 2013, the annual fair of artisans from across the country, belonging to the weaker sections of the society, began at Dilli Haat. Craftsmen/entrepreneurs whose products will be on exhibit/sale in ‘Shilpotsav” are beneficiaries of National Backward Classes Finance & Development Corporation, National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation, National Safai Karamcharis Finance & Development Corporation, National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation and National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation & Multiple Disabilities. National Institute of Social Defence, New Delhi, National Institute of Mentally Handicapped, Secunderabad, DDU Institute for the Physically Handicapped, New Delhi, AYJ National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped, Mumbai, National Institute for Rehabilitation Training & Research, Cuttack, National Institute for Orthopedically Handicapped, Kolkata, Dr. Ambedkar Foundation, New Delhi, Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation, Kanpur are also participating in the Shilpotsav. [Institutes city are imp.]
· The Eight Core Industries have a combined weight of 37.90% in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). These are: [1.] Coal (weight: 4.38%); [2.] Crude Oil (weight: 5.22%); [3.] Natural Gas (weight: 1.71%); [4.] Petroleum refinery (weight: 5.94%); [5.] Fertilizer (weight: 1.25%); [6.] Steel (weight: 6.68%); [7.] Cement (weight: 2.41%); [8.] Electricity (weight: 10.32%).
· India is an underpenetrated ATM market with only 98 ATMs for every 10 lakh of population. ATM density in China is 211; in the UK, it is 530; and in the USA, it is 1,390. White-label ATMs account for nearly 50% of ATMs in the US and 70% in Canada. Within India, Chandigarh has the highest ATM density with 400 machines for every 10 lakh people, while the density is 180 in Tamil Nadu, 141 in Maharashtra and 71 in West Bengal. Maharashtra, with 15,000 ATMs, has the highest number of ATMs; West Bengal ranks eighth with 6,500 ATMs.
· China on Thursday opened a new highway that links what the government has described as Tibet’s “last isolated county - Medog ” – located near the border with Arunachal Pradesh – with the rest of the country and will now provide all-weather access to the strategically-important region. With Thursday’s opening of the road, every county in Tibet is now linked through the highway network, underlining the widening infrastructure gulf across the disputed border, even as India belatedly pushes forward an upgrading of border roads in more difficult terrain. Work on the 117-km road began in 2009, a year after the project was given the green light by the State Council, or cabinet. The opening of the road comes at a time when there has been renewed attention on infrastructure projects in border areas in India and China. Last week, both countries signed a Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Beijing, aimed at expanding confidence-building measures. The agreement calls for setting up channels of communication between military commands, increasing the number of border personnel meetings, and formalising rules such as no tailing of patrols, to built trust and avoid incidents. The agreement does not specify or limit either country’s plans to boost infrastructure – an issue that, analysts say, has in the past triggered tensions along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC), most notably in April when a Chinese incursion sparked a three-week-long stand-off in Depsang, Ladakh.
· A process has been set in motion to arrive at a decision on the level of Indian participation in the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo from November 15, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.
· Vodafone Group (world’s second-largest mobile phone company) said it has sought the government’s approval to invest Rs.10,141 crore to raise its stake in its India unit to 100%, becoming the first overseas telecom operator to take advantage of a relaxation in foreign investment rules in the sector. UK-based Vodafone entered India in 2007 by buying Hutchison Whampoa’s local mobile phone business for around $11 billion. For Vodafone, India is a key market. The fastest-growing and second-largest telecom market in the world is also one of the British telecom major’s major revenue earning geographies.
· INS Vikramaditya will set sail from Russian waters for India on November 30, fulfilling the Navy’s long-standing ambition of adding to its fleet of such vessels and extending the country’s maritime security capability. The delay had become as a major irritant in ties between the two countries that have traditionally had close defence ties. The INS Vikramaditya will boost the Indian Navy’s ambition of projecting power in the Asia Pacific Region. It already has a carrier, the INS Viraat, which will make India the only country in Asia to have two such vessels. China launched its first aircraft carrier, Lioning, last year. Its hull was imported from Ukraine and refurbished in China. Beijing is reportedly building two more aircraft carriers but details aren’t available.
· India and Cyprus have entered into an agreement for avoidance of double taxation of income and prevention of fiscal evasion which is in force since 21st December, 1994. Both the Contracting States under this agreement have a legal obligation to exchange such information as is necessary for carrying out the provisions of the agreement or of domestic laws of the Contracting States, in particular for the prevention of fraud or evasion of taxes. Since Cyprus has not been providing the information requested by the Indian tax authorities under the exchange of information provisions of the agreement, it has been decided to notify Cyprus as a notified jurisdictional area under section 94A of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Section 94A was introduced in the Income-tax Act, 1961, through the Finance Act, 2011, in respect of transactions with persons located in notified jurisdictional area as an anti-avoidance measure. As per section 94A, the Central Government may, having regard to the lack of effective exchange of information with any country or territory outside India, specify the said country or territory as a notified jurisdictional area in relation to transactions entered into by any assesse. The implications of such a Notification are summarized as under: If any sum is received from a person located in Cyprus, then the onus is on the assessee to satisfactorily explain the source of such money in the hands of such person or in the hands of the beneficial owner, and in case of his failure to do so, the amount shall be deemed to be the income of the assesse.
· Indian and Vietnam Home Minister signed today a treaty on transfer of sentenced prisoners. The Treaty will help the Indian prisoners imprisoned in Vietnam or vice-versa to be near their families for serving remaining part of their sentence. This would facilitate the process of their social rehabilitation. The Government of India has so far signed such Agreements with the Governments of U.K., Mauritius, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Bangladesh, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sri Lanka, UAE, Maldives, Thailand, Turkey, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel and Russia. Negotiations have also been concluded with the Government of Canada, Hong Kong, Brazil, and Spain. The Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders adopted the Model Agreement on the Transfer of Foreign Prisoners in 1985 and since then many countries have arrived at bilateral and multilateral treaties. The Repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003 was enacted for achieving the above purpose.
· The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) declared in a statement that Syria has completed the “functional destruction” of all critical equipment that it had declared for manufacturing chemical weapons, raising hopes that it could well be on its way to complete chemical disarmament by the middle of next year. The major announcement, implying Syria can no longer manufacture chemical weapons in future, has brought into focus the country’s existing stockpile of mass destruction arms. Under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States in September, Syria had pledged to eliminate all its chemical stocks by mid-2014, and has already declared a road map for their destruction.
· While Pakistan is banking on funds from Iran to complete its share of the gas pipeline, the Iranian Oil Minister on Wednesday said the contract for the project was likely to be annulled. Earlier, in October, the government had sought financial assistance from Iran as not many were interested in backing the project given the threat of U.S. sanctions. Official sources said the main issues were financing and the agreement. Iran had already offered $500 million but Islamabad says it would need $2 billion to complete its share of the project. Iran has already constructed more than 900 km (out of 1,100 km) of the pipeline on its territory at a cost of $700 million. Conceived in the 1990s as a “peace pipeline,” the project initially had India on board and was scheduled to be completed by December 2014.
· Six major central banks, on Thursday, said they would make their web of currency swap arrangements permanent as a ‘prudent liquidity backstop’ in case of future global financial strains. The Bank of Japan, the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the central banks of Canada and Switzerland will convert their “temporary bilateral liquidity swap arrangements’’ into standing arrangements that “will remain in place until further notice.’’ Currency swap lines were first introduced nearly six years ago in response to a global credit crunch that starved banks of liquidity and threatened to gum up the entire financial system.