{Current Affairs} Daily News Notes: 4th, 5th Dec, 2013
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About 1.2 crore voters
including over 4 lakh first timers, are eligible to exercise their franchise in Delhi Assembly
election. For the first time, the None
of the Above, NOTA option is available to voters in the EVMs who do not find any
of candidates suitable. The NOTA option will be printed
in pink on EVMs.
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The Karnataka legislative
Assembly passed the Essential Services
Maintenance Bill (ESMB) today. The bill has a provision to issue unbailable
warrant against agitating government servants responsible for extending
essential services to public. The entire opposition asked the government to
withdraw the bill as it gives sweeping power to the police and can be misused
by them. The Law Minister however argued that ESMA will be used only during
rarest of rare occasions and the decision will be taken at the highest level.
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The latest 'red list' of endangered bird species released by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) includes 15 Indian bird
species, three of which are found mainly in Gujarat. These include the Great Indian Bustard, the Indian Vulture
and Siberian cranes. All three are in the 'critically endangered' (CR)
category. Several migratory birds that come to Thol and Nalsarovar have also
been listed in the 'vulnerable' and 'nearly threatened' bird species. Officials
said the IUCN red list is the list on the basis of which several countries and
states form their strategies for conservation of birds. The decline in the
population of these species is because of the growing human interference in
areas where bird nesting and colonies exist, said the officials. While the
extensive use of diclofenac by farmers for treatment of their cattle, had led
to the fall in the number of Indian vultures, the destruction of deciduous
forests has lead to the decline in the number of Forest Owlets. The presence of
chemicals in the carcass of animals on which scavenging birds feed has affected
their population adversely.
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India’s Department of Post (DoP) has launched
two new parcel services namely ‘Express Parcel’ and ‘Business Parcel’.
Express Parcel is an air
mail service for retail and bulk customers under which parcel will be shipped
through airlines. This service will be initially available between 20 identified cities—Agra, Bangalore,
Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Patna, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur,
Jammu, Kolkata, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Pune, Parwanoo, Shillong, Surat and
Thiruvananthapuram. Business
Parcel is a contractual service, designed to suit requirement of
business customers for an economical and reliable distribution solution. This
service will have nationwide coverage.
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President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated
Nagaland’s famous Hornbill Festival. Hornbill (name of a bird) Festival,
considered one of the biggest events in the state, puts on display the rich culture
of Naga tribes which includes shows of music and dance. Hornbill Festival is a
festival celebrated in Nagaland every year in the first week of December. Nagaland
is also observing the golden jubilee (50 years) of its formation as a state.
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The Prime Minister has
emphasised the need for measures to bridge the rural-urban divide in telecommunications. Addressing India Telecom 2013 conference in New Delhi today, Dr
Manmohan Singh said, one of the key objectives of the National Telecom
Policy 2012 is to increase rural tele-density to 70% by the year 2017 and 100%
by the year 2020 from current of about 40%. The Policy also recognizes telecom
and broadband connectivity as a basic necessity and aims to provide reliable
and affordable broadband access to rural and remote areas in the country. Also, govt. has raised the Foreign Direct Investment
limit in the telecommunications sector from 74% to 100%. Dr Singh said, India
needs to develop a strong domestic manufacturing base in electronics and
telecommunications.
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Sushma Singh will be
the next Chief Information Commissioner.
Ms Singh, the seniormost Information Commissioner, will succeed Deepak Sandhu
who will complete her term on the 18th of this month. The decision to
appoint the former IAS officer was taken unanimously by a panel comprising
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma
Swaraj and Law Minister Kapil Sibal. Ms Singh will the second woman to become
Chief Information Commissioner after Ms Sandhu.
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The Bharatiya Janata Party
said on Tuesday that it would “unequivocally oppose” the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and
Reparations) Bill when it came up for discussion in Parliament on the
grounds that it would be a “threat to India’s communal harmony.”
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The Japanese
External Trade Organisation (Jetro), an official promotion body for trade
and investment, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Maharashtra
Industrial Development Corporation to set up a Japanese Industrial Zone at Supa-Parner Industrial Estate, about 80
km from Pune. It said establishing Japanese auto component units in Pune region
would reduce imports by international auto majors, including Japanese auto
firms such as Suzuki Motors, Honda Motor Company, Toyota and source the same
from the proposed industrial zone. He said Jetro expects automobile sales to
remain strong going ahead in this Asia’s third largest economy and the Japanese
companies would play a huge role by improving supplies to the automobile
market. Jetro’s first industrial project in India came up in Neemrana,
Rajasthan, in 2006.
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Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh arrived in
Dhaka this morning on her first visit to Bangladesh. She is scheduled to meet Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina, Opposition leader Khaleda Zia and Jatiya Party Chairman
General HM Ershad during her two-day visit. Meanwhile, there is no letup in the
arson and violence as the 131-hour opposition enforced transport blockade in Bangladesh entered the fifth day today with a
series of train derailments across the country. At least 4 passengers were
killed as three trains derailed today due to removing of fishplates by
miscreants. So far 46 people have been killed in the nationwide transport
blockade enforced by BNP-led 18 party Opposition since the 25th of November
when elections for the 10th Parliament were announced. The Opposition is
demanding that a non-partisan caretaker govt be installed, and the poll
schedule be withdrawn till an agreement is reached.
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Kathmandu-based Indian
diplomat Abhay Kumar has penned an anthem (The Earth Anthem) for the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in a bid to foster regional consciousness and
bring member states closer. Originally composed in Hindi, the anthem will also
be made available in the languages of the other seven SAARC countries. Abhay
Kumar said the huge popularity of Bollywood films in South Asia made him
compose the anthem in Hindi. SAARC Anthem by Kumar will be
translated in Hindi, English, Nepali, Bengali, Pashto, Urdu, Sinhala, Dzongkha
and Dhivehi, languages spoken in the South Asian region. Anthems have been in use for quite some time now and
there are several prominent regional organisations that have their own anthems.
The European Union has adopted the “Ode To Joy” fifth movement of Beethoven’s
Symphony No. 9 as its anthem, while the African Union has adopted a song titled
“Let’s All Unite and Celebrate Together”. The Association of South East Asian
Nations (Asean) adopted “Asean Waya”, in English as its anthem in 2008.
According to Asean, the anthem is an expression of Asean unity and strengthens
the sense of the grouping’s identity and belonging among the region’s people.
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According to a survey by corruption
watchdog Transparency International,
India is positioned at 94th
place on corruption index which
ranked 177 countries.
Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia are viewed as the world’s most corrupt
countries while Denmark and New Zealand have scored the best. Bhutan ranked 31st, Sri Lanka 91, Nepal 116,
Pakistan 127 and Bangladesh 136. Among BRICS group, India is behind
China (80th), South Africa and Brazil (both 72nd). It is, however, better than
Russia (127th).Worldwide, almost 70% of nations
are thought to have a "serious problem" with public servants on the
take, and none of the 177 countries surveyed this year got a perfect score,
said the Berlin-based non-profit group. Transparency International's annual
list is the most widely used indicator of sleaze in political parties, police,
justice systems and civil services, a scourge which undermines development and
the fight against poverty. Among countries that have slipped the most on the
group's 2013 Corruption Perceptions
Index are war-torn Syria as well as Libya and Mali, which have also faced
major military conflict in recent years.
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China’s yuan currency
overtook the euro in October, becoming the second-most used currency in trade
finance, global transaction services organisation SWIFT said on Tuesday.
The yuan, also known as the renminbi, now ranks behind the U.S. dollar, which
remains the leading currency with a share of 81.08 per cent (China: 8.66%).
The top five countries using the yuan for trade finance in October
were China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany and Australia, SWIFT said in a
statement.
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A satellite which will provide TV
services to countries such as India & China has been successfully launched
by private US company SpaceX
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International Volunteer Day
is being celebrated today. The day is celebrated to recognize volunteerism and
pay special tribute to the contribution of youth volunteers in global peace and
sustainable human development. Hundreds
of social service organizations and NGOs are working across the country in
sectors like education and health to help people in need.