Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE:06-05-15
S.NO. / NEWS ITEM / SYLLUBUS / ESSENCE OF THE ARTICLE1. / Assam included in Bill for land swap with Bangladesh (Pages 1 and 10) / a) I.R
b) National / a) Faced with opposition from Assam CM Tarun Gogoi and the Congress in Parliament as well as unhappiness from Hasina govt in Dhaka, the Centre reversed its decision on excluding Assam from the purview of its Bill on exchanging land with Bangladesh.
2. / Monuments Men needed in Nepal (Page 9) / a) International
b) Geography / a) Reconstructing Kathmandu Valleys heritage sites is going to be a difficult task.
3. / Kerry makes surprise visit to Somalia (Page 12) / a) International / a) US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Somalias President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on an unannounced visit, the first trip by a US Secretary of State to the Horn of African nation that is battling an al-Shabab insurgency after two decades of civil war.
4. / UN tries to revive Syria peace talks (Page 12) / a) International / a) The UNs peace envoy for Syria launched wide-ranging consultations in Geneva with regional and domestic players (including Iran) in a bid to revive talks to end the conflict.
5. / SC questions U-turn by Centre (Pages 1 and 10) / a) National
b) Polity / a) Temperatures rose in the Supreme Court as the highest judiciary sparred with the Centre when the latter claimed that the Supreme Court had pulled the original Constitution 22 years ago to give the CJI and his collegiums primacy to appoint judges.
6. / Opposition stalls GST Bill, insists on relook by panel (Page 1) / a) National
b) Polity / a) With several opposition parties raising serious concerns on a number of clauses, chances of the Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill for introduction of Goods and Services Tax clearing Parliament in the current session dimmed.
7. / Rs. 2,800 crore unspent under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana: CAG (Page 10) / a) National / a) The report by the CAG on the performance of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana since its launch in 2007 to 2013 (which was tabled in Parliament) has detected shortfalls in achieving targeted outputs.
8. / Army gets Akash missile (Page 10) / a) National
b) S&T / a) The Army inducted the first regiment of the indigenously-developed Akash surface-to-air missile system, capable of targeting a multitude of aerial threats up to a range of 25km.
S.NO. / NEWS ITEM / SYLLUBUS / BACKGROUND / IMPORTANT POINTS
1. / Assam included in Bill for land swap with Bangladesh (Pages 1 and 10) / a) I.R
b) National / a) India – Bangladesh relations
b) Land Boundary Agreement (LBA)
c) Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill 2013 / a) Faced with opposition from Assam CM Tarun Gogoi and the Congress in Parliament as well as unhappiness from the Hasina govt in Dhaka, the Centre reversed its decision on excluding Assam from purview of its Bill on exchanging land with Bangladesh.
b) The Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill 2013(which will allow the operationalisation of the 1974 India-Bangladesh LBA) was cleared by Cabinet. The expected exchange of land includes enclaves and adverse possessions from West Bengal, Meghalaya, Tripura and Assam.
c) According the agreement, India is to receive 2,777.038 acres and transfer 2,267.682 acres to Bangladesh, much of which has already been effected on the ground.
2. / Monuments Men needed in Nepal (Page 9) / a) International
b) Geography / a) Nepals earthquake
b) Kathmandu Valley
c) UNESCO World Heritage Sites
d) Archaeological Survey of India / a) The April 25 earthquake in Kathmandu Valley in Nepal has not only killed more than 6000 lives and injured more than 14,000 people but has also impacted severely the countrys most iconic buildings and UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
b) Preserving settlements and buildings that have shaped and reflected a groups cultural identity are not easy tasks. The efforts to reconstruct European cities that were bombed in World War II and to restore Buddhist enclaves that Taliban destroyed in Afghanistan in 2001 have demonstrated that such projects pose enormous intellectual challenges, logistical demands, political complexities, and economic strain.
c) The reconstruction of the extraordinary historical fabric of settlements in Kathmandu Valley is going to be difficult. Over the past few decades, collectives such as Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust have inventoried individual monuments and worked with architects and local craft persons to conserve homes and public spaces. However, these collectives lack solid funds and expansive multidisciplinary teams.
d) India has long prided itself on its civilisational ties with Nepal. Since the earthquake rocked the Valley, Indias govt and citizens have responded heartily. However, can India support Nepal in rebuilding the Kathmandu Valleys monumental heritage?
e) The bitter truth is that as things stand, India is not in a position to do very much. The ASI is itself understaffed and remains affected to being drawn into political controversies. The condition of some State archaeology departments is similar. For instance, Uttarakhand (which shares a border with Nepal) has hundreds of lithic monuments and is also prone to natural disasters, does not even have a formalised state archaeology department.
f) In recent years, a few departments with relatively greater autonomy have successfully aligned themselves with growing contemporary art market, and made interventions in the establishment of art fairs and private museums.
g) However, they have mostly been unable to undertake the pressing task of imparting instruction in epigraphy, landscape archaeology, historical preservation, and the study of the material and visual culture of the SAARC neighbours.
h) Indias inability to contribute substantially to the preservation of some of the most significant antiquities in the Kathmandu Valley and its rich urban fabric should encourage those of us who are involved with teaching cultural history to begin rethinking our responsibilities.
i) Indias public institutions, charitable trusts and academic departments need to create background in which archaeologists, art historians, conservation architects, environmentalists, and urban planners can come together to formulate innovative curricula that can equip students to interpret and protect the many building types that stand across South Asia and that are in various states of preservation and vulnerability.
j) Taken together, such measures might allow us to build an army of monuments men, well-trained and dedicated individuals who can offer support and advice to local communities and authorities that are seeking to conserve their own built heritage and material culture. Even if another tragedy strikes, we must be able to sustain the markers of cultural identities.
3. / Kerry makes surprise visit to Somalia (Page 12) / a) International / a) US – Somalia relations
b) Al-Shabab insurgency
c) Civil war / a) US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Somalias President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on an unannounced visit, the first trip by a US Secretary of State to the Horn of Africa nation that is battling an al-Shabab insurgency after two decades of civil war.
b) The US and Western nations have flowed aid into Somalia to help reconstruction and prevent it sliding back into the hands of al-Shabab.
4. / UN tries to revive Syria peace talks (Page 12) / a) International / a) Syrias conflict
b) Geneva I and Geneva II peace deals
c) UNSC
d) Islamic State (IS) group
e) Al-Nusra / a) The UNs peace envoy for Syria launched wide-ranging consultations in Geneva with regional and domestic players (including Iran) in a bid to revive talks to end the conflict.
b) Iran (a key player in the conflict) was excluded from the stopped Geneva I and Geneva II peace deals. The current dialogue will also include the five permanent members of the UNSC. The consultations will be held on a one-to-one basis between the UN and the separate players.
c) Terror groups such as the Islamic State group and Al-Nusra have not been invited but groups in contact with them are on the cards.
5. / SC questions U-turn by Centre (Pages 1 and 10) / a) National
b) Polity / a) Collegium system
b) National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) law
c) Judicial independence
d) Articles 124 and 217 of the Constitution
e) Supreme Court
f) CJI / a) Temperatures rose the Supreme Court as the highest judiciary sparred with Centre when the latter claimed that the Supreme Court had pulled the original Constitution 22 years ago to give the CJI and his collegium primacy to appoint judges.
b) The five-judge Bench led by Justice Khehar deciding the validity of the NJAC law that there was not a word about judicial primacy in the original Constitution drafted by the founding fathers.
c) Justice Rohatgi submitted that independence of judiciary did not mean that the CJI and his collegium had the final say or primacy in appointment and transfer of judges.He blamed the 1993 judgment in the Second Judges Case by a nine-judge Bench for ushering in the collegium system of judicial appointments.
d) He said the 1993 judgment needs to be first re-considered by a larger Bench on the question of interpretation of Articles 124 and 217 of the Constitution, which deal with judicial appointments.
e) Justice Khehar said his Bench was sitting to decide the validity of the NJAC law and here it is not enough to prove that the 1993 judgment about the CJIs primacy is wrong. He said govt would only succeed if it proved that its new NJAC law is equally independent.
6. / Opposition stalls GST Bill, insists on relook by panel (Page 1) / a) National
b) Polity / a) Goods and Services Tax (GST)
b) Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill
c) Parliament
d) Lok Sabha
e) Rajya Sabha / a) With several Opposition parties raising serious concerns on a number of clauses, chances of the Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill for introduction of GST clearing Parliament in the current session dimmed.
b) The Oppositions strategy in the Rajya Sabha will be to force the govt to accept the referring of the Bill to a Select Committee on ground that there are substantial changes which have not been scrutinised.
c) Jaitley argued that if the GST Bill was sent back to the Standing Committee on Finance, it would delay the benefits to the States by another financial year as yet another deadline of April 1 2016 would be missed.
7. / Rs. 2,800 crore unspent under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana: CAG (Page 10) / a) National / a) Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)
b) Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)
c) XI Five Year Plan / a) The report by the CAG on the performance of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana since its launch in 2007 to 2013 (which was tabled in Parliament) has detected shortfalls in achieving targeted outputs in 62 projects costing Rs. 1405 crore in 19 States.
b) Against the backdrop of faltering growth in agriculture sector, the scheme was launched in the XI Five Year Plan giving complete flexibility to the States to launch projects with an aim to generate growth in agriculture and allied sectors. As part of the plan, Rs. 30,873 crore was released to 28 States and seven UTs during the period under review. However, Rs. 2800 crore remained unspent.
c) The CAG report highlights numerous instances of expected benefits of RKVY not reaching the farmers. The CAG report revealed that RKVY funds to the tune of Rs. 91.24 crore were diverted for other purposes in nine projects.
8. / Army gets Akash missile (Page 10) / a) National
b) S&T / a) Akash missile
b) Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme
c) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
d) DRDO / a) The Army inducted the first regiment of indigenously-developed Akash surface-to-air missile system, capable of targeting a multitude of aerial threats up to a range of 25km.
b) Akash has been developed by the DRDO. It was originally planned as part of the five missiles under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme initiated in 1984.
c) Akash system can simultaneously engage multiple targets in all weather conditions and has a large operational envelope from a low altitude of 30 metres to a maximum of up to 20 km and can also engage UAVs in addition to helicopters and fighter planes.
d) Unlike the Air Force version, the Army variant of Akash is designed for high mobility and can be quickly moved to any operational theatres based on necessity.
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