{Current Affairs} Daily News Notes: 10th Dec, 2013

• ·         Proceedings in both Houses of Parliament were disrupted amidst noisy scenes by several members on various issues including the JPC report on 2G spectrum allocation, Muzaffarnagar violence, CBI inquiry into the Chit Fund scam in West Bengal, Lokpal Bill, Telangana, ban on import of natural rubber and training of Sri Lankan Navy personnel in India.
• ·         After a remarkable performance in the Delhi state assembly election Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is all set to be recognized as ‘a state party’ by the Election Commission. As per the criteria of election commission, a party can be called as a state party if all its candidates get minimum of 8 percent votes or secure minimum of 6% of the total votes polled and one assembly seat for every 25 seats in the state. Also, if a political party is recognized as a “State Party” in four or more States then it will automatically become a national party.
• ·         Social activist Anna Hazare has begun his indefinite fast this morning at Ralegan Siddhi in Ahamadnagar District of Maharashtra.  Mr. Hazare started his agitation again for getting the Jan Lokpal bill approved in the ongoing winter session of Parliament. Mr. Hazare said that he will end his fast only after Rajya Sabha approves the bill. He also criticized Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi for the delay in passing the bill.
• ·         The Supreme Court today held that red beacon be allowed to be used only by persons holding constitutional posts and high dignitaries. The bench asked the Centre to issue a fresh list of people eligible for using red beacon on their vehicles and asked the Government to amend the rule within three months. It also said the state governments cannot enlarge the list of VIPs eligible for red beacon.
• ·         Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri P. Balram Naik, informed that as per Section 33 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 [PwD Act], every appropriate Government shall appoint in every establishment such percentage of vacancies not less than three per cent for persons or class of persons with disability of which one per cent each shall be reserved for persons suffering from - blindness or low vision; hearing impairment; and loco motor disability or cerebral palsy, in the posts identified for each disability. Further, he said that mental illness has been included as a category of disability under PwD Act, 1995, whereas nervous disorders has not been identified as a disability under the said Act. However under this Ministry's proposed draft Bill namely Rights for Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Bill, 2013 which is to replace the existing PwD Act, 1995; it has been proposed to include mental illness and chronic neurological conditions under the category of specified disability. 
• ·         Minister of State for Agriculture has informed that as per Registrar General of India, the total number of cultivators which include persons engaged in cultivation of their own land or leased in from the Government or private persons for money or kind, has increased from ~110 million in 1991 to ~120 million in 2011. The number of agricultural labourers in India has increased from ~75 million in 1991 to ~145 million in 2011. One of the reasons for an increase in agricultural labourers can be the continuous sub-division of agricultural land holdings due to limited land and increasing population, making the sub-divisions non-viable after a certain stage and forcing the subsistence farmers to supplement their income through other sources including agricultural wages.
• ·         Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Praful Patel, informed that the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE) was established by the Government in December, 2004 to advise the Government for strengthening, modernization, reviving and restructuring of sick and loss making CPSEs. The Government has approved 44 revival proposals of CPSEs till date. He also said that as per the latest Public Enterprises Survey 2011-12, 260 CPSEs comprising 35 Under Construction and 225 operating CPSEs were functioning in the country. Further he said that the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 is aimed at facilitating significant adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles in India, gradually, by the year 2020 through a number of interventions and facilitations while also promoting indigenous R&D. The plan also underlined the need for making all possible efforts to reduce the transport sector’s dependence on oil. The Government is also facilitating public transport through the implementation of such schemes as the expansion of metro rail services in several cities, funding of buses under JnNuRM etc.
• ·         Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Kapil Sibal, has informed that there is no conclusive evidence available so far to establish adverse effect on human health due to Electromagnetic Field ( EMF) radiations emitted from mobile phone, particularly with regard to mental imbalance, tumour, cancer, dementia, headache, giddiness etc. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in May 2011 has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (of mobile handsets) as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer, associated with wireless phone use. Subsequently, WHO in 2011 has stated that there are some indications of an increased risk of glioma for those who reported the highest 10% of cumulative hours of cell phone use, although there was no consistent trend of increasing risk with greater duration of use. The researchers concluded that biases and errors limit the strength of these conclusions and prevent a causal interpretation. Based largely on these data, IARC has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), a category used when a causal association is considered credible, but when chance, bias or confounding cannot be ruled out with reasonable confidence. WHO has further stated that a large number of studies have been performed over the last three decades to assess whether mobile phones pose a potential health risk. To date, no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use. The Minister further said that based on the recommendation of Inter-Ministerial Committee on EMF radiation issues, the norms for radiation limit for the Radio Frequency Field (Base Station Emissions) in India has been reduced to 1/10th of existing safe limits prescribed by International Commission on Non Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) with effect from 01.09.2012. Also Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) level for mobile handsets has been reduced from 2 Watt/Kg prescribed by ICNIRP to 1.6 Watt/Kg averaged over 1 gram of human tissue with effect from 01.09.2013.
• ·         Minister of State for Home Affairs informed that the 161st Report on Demands for Grants (2012-13) made a recommendation for exploring the possibility of conducting a separate examination for IPS were the attitude and aptitude of the candidate must be thoroughly tested, besides their mental makeup and inclination for policing. The same was also reiterated in the 163rd Report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs. However, the UPSC have stated that based on the various committees on reforms in Civil Services Examination, they do not feel it necessary to have a separate examination for selection of IPS Officers by delinking it from the Civil Services Examination. Keeping in view the feedback from States/UTs and the UPSC, a separate examination for IPS Officers is not desirable. Further, the Minister said that the Government has decided to create a National Population Register(NPR) by collecting information on specific characteristics of all usual residents in the country. The NPR would include citizens as well as non-citizens. It would have photographs, 10 finger prints and 2 IRIS prints of all usual residents who are of age 5 years and above. Financial proposals for the issuance of Resident Identity (smart) Cards (RICs) to all usual residents who are of age 18 years has already been approved by the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC). Further, the list of ‘usual residents’ would be published in local areas and placed in Gram Sabha/ Ward Committee for invitation of objections and claims. The objective of creating a NPR is to net all usual residents of the country at a given point of time. The proposed resident identity (smart) cards shall not be a proof of citizenship and would carry a disclaimer that the card does not confer any right to citizenship to the card holder. The citizenship of each individual would be separately determined at the time of preparation of National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC), which would be subset of NPR.
• ·         Jammu and Kashmir legislative council summoned former Army Chief, Gen V K Singh, for his alleged comments about pay-offs to state politicians. The Privilege motion was moved during the last session of the legislative council, upper house of the assembly, and was taken up by the council on Monday. The summoning is besides a breach of privilege pending against Gen Singh with J&K assembly speaker Mubarak Gul who issued a notice on October 24 asking him to explain his alleged remarks on pay-offs to some ministers from the Army’s secret funds during his tenure.
• ·         President Pranab Mukherjee arrived Johannesburg today to attend a memorial service in honour of South Africa's anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, whose death triggered an unprecedented outpour of rich tributes worldwide. Mr Mukherjee will join the heads of governments and states from more than 53 countries, including US President Barack Obama, in the two-hour long memorial service to be held at FNB Stadium. President Pranab Mukherjee is accompanied by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury and BSP leader Satish Mishra.
• ·         Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai has reached out to Iran to counter attempts by the United States to push Kabul to sign a security pact that would keep thousands of U.S. troops on the ground beyond the official withdrawal deadline of 2014. During his visit to Tehran, Mr. Karzai and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani decided to sign a comprehensive “friendship” pact that would also cover “regional security” issues. “The pact will be for long-term political, security, economic and cultural cooperation, and regional peace.” The meeting follows warnings from the U.S. that it would be ready to exercise the “zero option”— implying that no troops would be available after 2014, at a time when Afghan security forces appeared unready. Apparently, Mr. Karzai has been seeking the return of Afghan citizens from the Guantanamo Bay — the U.S. detention centre, to facilitate the launch of the “peace process” with the Taliban ahead of the exit timeline of U.S. and NATO forces.
• ·         Singapore faced shocking scenes of burning cars and littered streets on Monday following a riot by South Asian workers in the worst outbreak of violence in more than 40 years in the tightly controlled city-state. The hour-long disturbances on Sunday night, triggered when an Indian construction worker was struck and killed by a private bus in the Little India district, compelled Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to order the creation of a special committee to investigate the incident. Singapore is one of the wealthiest places in the world, but the island republic of 5.4 million people depends heavily on guest workers, with labourers from South Asia dominating sectors like construction. Widely regarded as one of the world’s safest societies, the city-state prides itself on social order and racial harmony, and many citizens expressed dismay over the mayhem. Analysts played down suggestions that the riot, which was brought under control by elite police commandoes, could be an indication of wider discontent among poorly paid migrant workers. Sunday’s violence was the first riot in Singapore since racial disturbances in 1969. Since then, the government has imposed strict controls on protests. Ethnic Chinese make up 74 per cent of Singapore’s resident population of 3.8 million, with Malay Muslims accounting for 13.3 per cent, followed by ethnic Indians, Eurasians and other racial groups.
• ·         Human Rights Day is being observed today. It commemorates the day the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 as the common standard of achievement. This year the theme is - "20 years: working for your rights" marking the 20th anniversary of the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights. In his message, Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, Justice K G Balakrishnan asked people to resolve to help maintain a value-based society and stand up for the promotion and protection of human rights.
• ·         Miss Venezuela, Alyz Henrich, was crowned Miss Earth 2013 title at a pageant organized at Versailles Palace, Philippines. It is the second beauty pageant title for Venezuela this year. In November 2013, Gabriela Isler, of the same nation was crowned Miss Universe 2013.  India’s contestant Shobita Dhulipala couldn’t make it to the top 16 of the event. Miss Earth is an annual international beauty pageant promoting environmental awareness. The contest held its maiden edition in 2001 to promote the preservation of the environment. Nicole Faria, who won in 2010, is the first Indian contestant to have won the title.