Current Affairs from the Hindu DATE: 21-01-15

Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 21-01-15

S.NO. NEWS ITEM SYLLUBUS ESSENCE OF THE ARTICLE

1. a) I.R a) Discussions on Nuclear liability law and Kovvada Obama visit: talks plant rectors are the focus areas of coming Obamas visit. likely on Kovvada (Page 5)

2. a) International a) Pakistan kept the terrorist groups on watch list. Pak denies move to ban JuD (Page 10)

3. a) International a) Sri Lanakan govt will implement the 13th Will implement Amendment to its Constitution for devolution of political 13th Amendment powers to the provinces. within a unitary state: Ranil (Page 12)

4. a) International a) Chinas further move on its progressive Maritime China steps up Silk Road project by integrating Africa. drive to integrate Africa into Silk Road (Page 12)

5. a) I.R a) Taking forward the legacies of Pervez Musharraf India, Pakistan and Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the only way to break the had a solution for deadlock in the India-Pakistan relations. Kashmir in 2001: Kasuri (Page 11)

6. a) National a) Urbanisation is reducing inequality in India. Odds of escaping poverty in India, b) Social issue US same: WB (Pages 1 and 10)

7. a) Economy a) Lowering oil prices and govt policy reforms are the India to beat major factors for Indias growth. China in growth in 2016: IMF (Page 10)

8. a) Economy a) Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is the biggest 11.50 crore bank financial inclusion initiative in the world. accounts opened under Jan Dhan Yojana (Page 11)

9. a) Economy a) Ban lifted because of significant improvements in EU lifts ban on

1 the phytosanitary export certification system. Indian mangoes (Page 13)

10. a) National a) Tiger Census 2014 in India shows increasing figures Giant leap for big of tiger population especially in Western Ghats. cat (Pages 1,4 and b) Geography 10)

11. a) Geography a) To monitor the upper Sea of Cortez to check illegal Mexicos drone fishing and save the critically endangered vaquita marina. plan for porpoise conservation (Page 9)

S.NO. NEWS ITEM SYLLUBUS BACKGROUND IMPORTANT POINTS

1. a) I.R a) India – US relations a) Discussions on the Obama visit: talks nuclear liability law and likely on Kovvada b) Civil Liability for supply of reactors for nuclear (Page 5) Nuclear Damage Act 2010 plants coming up at Kovvada c) Kovvada plant in Srikakulam district of AP d) NPCIL is likely to focus importantly during US President Obamas visit to India. b) The Kovvada plant will generate 1594x6 MW. c) NPCIL is expecting to get all the six reactors from the US in 10 years after acquiring the site.

2. Pak denies move a) International a) Terrorism a) Pakistan Ministry to ban JuD (Page b) Jamaat-ud-Dawa sources have rejected any 10) (JuD) move to ban the JuD (headed by Hafiz Saeed) and other c) LeT terror organisations but said d) Al-Qaeda the groups were on the watch list. e) UNSC counter- terrorism policies b) Sources said the US had warned Pakistan against any terror activity during Obamas visit to India and Secretary of State John Kerry had received assurances on a Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 21-01-15

ban on all terror groups, including the JuD. c) Last week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon had called upon the Pakistan govt to take necessary and corrective measures in accordance with the UNSCs designated terrorist counter-terrorism policies.

3. Will implement a) International a) Sri Lankan internal a) Sri Lankan PM Ranil 13th Amendment issues Wickramasinghe has said within a unitary b) Human Rights issues that the govt will implement state: Ranil (Page the 13th Amendment to its th 12) c) 13 Amendment Constitution within a unitary d) Tamil National state. Alliance (TNA) b) Implementation of the e) Indo-Lanka Accord of 13th Amendment (born out 1987 of the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987) has remained a long- pending demand of the TNA, the main party representing the islands Northern Tamils. c) The Amendment expects substantive devolution of political powers to the provinces.

4. China steps up a) International a) Maritime Silk Road a) China has accelerated drive to integrate (MSR) project its move to draw Africa into Africa into Silk b) China – Africa the MSR (Beijings Road (Page 12) relations progressive transcontinental initiative) following the visit c) US pivot to Asia to the continent by Foreign d) Malacca strait Minister Wang Yi. b) The push for speedy construction of a modern standard-gauge rail link between Nairobi and Mombasa was one of the highlights of the visit. c) The rail corridor will

3 help connect the vast hinterland of East Africa with the Indian Ocean. d) Africa connects well with one of the major incentives of the MSR - the Chinese province of Yunnan, which shares borders with Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos, with Thailand further to the south. e) China has signed an agreement to build a rail corridor that will connect Yunnan with Myanmars port city of Kyaukphyu on the Bay of Bengal, thus bypassing Malacca straits. f) With Laos, the China- Vientiane railroad project is expected to be completed by 2018.

5. India, Pakistan a) I.R a) India – Pakistan a) Khurshid Mahmud had a solution for relations Kasuri held the foreign Kashmir in 2001: b) Kashmir issue affairs portfolio to the end of Kasuri (Page 11) the Musharraf govt in 2008, b) Line of Control (LoC) playing a leading role in the India-Pakistan peace process that formally began in 2003 with the ceasefire along the LoC. b) In a book to be published next month, he is set to provide an insider account of those years, one of the most secretive and interesting periods of India- Pakistan diplomacy and also the best time in recent decades for bilateral relations. c) He said the only way to break the deadlock in the Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 21-01-15

India-Pakistan relations was to take forward the legacies of Pervez Musharraf and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

6. Odds of escaping a) National a) Poverty in India a) Addressing inequality in poverty in India, b) Social issue b) World Bank report South Asia, World Bank US same: WB report has found that the (Pages 1 and 10) c) Census 2011 probability of a poor person d) Urbanisation moving out of poverty in India in 2014 was as good as e) Inequality that in the US. f) BPL b) The report has found g) APL that sons from SC and ST households are no longer stuck in the jobs done by their fathers. c) Across generations, mobility of occupational profiles among Muslims has been similar to that of higher caste Hindus, whereas mobility among SCs and STs and OBCs has become higher than that of upper caste Hindus over time. d) The report shows that one of the main drivers of upward mobility is the increase in number of non- farm jobs in rural India. e) It has found that between 2004-05 and 2009- 10, 40 percent of the poor moved above the poverty line. f) It said that urbanisation is reducing inequality, not increasing it. h) It said the policy factors from the report for PM Modi included struggle for universal health and

5 sanitation; use the opportunity for urbanisation; and create jobs for all and build skills not just through technical training but also with servicing the population with primary and secondary education and nutrition.

7. India to beat a) Economy a) Indias economic a) The IMF has projected China in growth in growth India to grow at 6.5 percent 2016: IMF (Page b) International in 2016, overtaking China 10) Monetary Fund (IMF) whose growth was forecast to slow down to 6.3 percent. c) United Nations World Economic Situation and b) The UN WESP report Prospects (UN WESP) fixed its 2015 Indias growth forecast (lower than the IMFs) at 5.9 percent. c) The IMF said global growth would receive a boost from lower oil prices. d) It said that in India, the growth forecast is broadly unchanged as weaker external demand is balanced by the boost from lower oil prices and a pick-up in industrial and investment activity after policy reforms by the Modi government.

8. 11.50 crore bank a) Economy a) Pradhan Mantri Jan a) The Guinness Book of accounts opened Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) World Records had under Jan Dhan b) Financial inclusion recognised the achievements Yojana (Page 11) made under the PMJDY, the c) Rupay cards biggest financial inclusion initiative in the world. b) By Jan 17 2015 banks had opened 11.50 crore accounts, covering 99.74 percent of the households. c) Rupay cards had been issued to more than 10 crore beneficiaries who would get Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 21-01-15

a benefit of personal accidental insurance of Rs. 1 lakh under the Yojana.

9. EU lifts ban on a) Economy a) India – EU trade a) With the significant Indian mangoes b) Phytosanitary export improvements in the (Page 13) certification system phytosanitary export certification system, the EU has been lifted ban on Indian mangoes. b) Shipments of mangoes from India (including the premium Alphonso mangoes) had been stopped last year after inspections found some deliveries overspreaded with fruit flies. c) However, the ban has been lifted only on mangoes. Ban on taro, bitter gourd, snake gourd and eggplant remains in force.

10. Giant leap for big a) National a) Tiger Census 2014 a) 2014 Tiger Census cat (Pages 1,4 and b) Geography b) Western Ghats shows that India now has 70 10) percent of the tiger c) Mudumalai-Bandipur-population in the world with Nagarahole-Wayanad the latest assessment complex estimating 2226 big cats, up d) Periyar Tiger Reserve 30 percent from 1706 in 2010. e) Nagarjunsagar- Srisailam Tiger Reserve b) The largest increase is recorded in the Western f) National Tiger Ghats Landscape complex - Conservation Authority Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and (NTCA) Tamil Nadu. g) Project Tiger c) The Mudumalai- Bandipur-Nagarahole- Wayanad complex holds the worlds single largest tiger population. d) Andhra Pradesh and Telangana reported a decline.

7 e) The Periyar Tiger Reserve (in Kerala) bagged the NTCA biennial award for encouraging local public participation in managing the reserve.

11. Mexicos drone a) Geography a) Vaquita marina a) Mexico is planning to plan for porpoise b) Porpoise conservation use drones to monitor the conservation upper Sea of Cortez to check (Page 9) c) Sea of Cortez illegal fishing and save the critically endangered vaquita marina, the worlds smallest porpoise. b) Also known as the Gulf of California, it is the only place vaquitas are found. c) The vaquita is threatened by illegal gillnet fishing for totoaba, a large fish whose swim bladder is prized by chefs in China.