copy of 16020e53 part 2 april current affairs notes 2013_2

7/27/2019 Copy of 16020e53 Part 2 April Current Affairs Notes 2013_2

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1 VISION IAS www.visionias.in

TABLE OF CONTENT

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE ........................................................................................................... 2

ARMED FORCES TRIBUNAL .............................................................................................................................. 2

INDIA BACKBONE IMPLEMENTATION NETWORK (IBIN) ......................................................................... 2

ECONOMY ............................................................................................................................................ 4

REVISED CONSOLIDATED GUIDELINES ON FDI ............................................................................................ 4

REFORMS FOR SEZ ............................................................................................................................................ 4

FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN G-SEC AND CORPORATE BONDS RATIONALIZED.......................................... 5

SOCIAL ISSUES ................................................................................................................................... 7

ZITAPATENT CASE ........................................................................................................................................ 7

9-POINT ACTION PLAN FOR NAXAL AREAS ................................................................................................... 7

EXPANSION OF DIRECT BENEFITS TRANSFERS (DBT) .............................................................................. 8

MEASURES TO STRENGTHEN SC/STACT .................................................................................................... 9

NATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION QUALIFICATION FRAMEWORK FOR MOBILITY OF STUDENTS IN

HIGHER EDUCATION ........................................................................................................................................ 9

INDIA AND WORLD ........................................................................................................................ 11

INDIA-GERMANY............................................................................................................................................ 11

INDIA -CUSTOMS UNION TROIKA ............................................................................................................. 12

NIB INITIATIVE ON WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ........................................................................... 13

VICE-PRESIDENT VISIT TO TAJIKISTAN....................................................................................................... 13

UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN SOUTH SUDAN (UNMISS) .................................................................... 14

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS........................................................................................................... 15G8 ACCORD ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONFLICT ZONES.......................................................................... 15

NEW UN PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN MALI............................................................................................... 15

SCIENCE AND TECH. ....................................................................................................................... 16

QUANTUM BIOLOGY ....................................................................................................................................... 16

SMARTPHONE SATELLITES .......................................................................................................................... 16

RUSSIA LAUNCHES BIO-SATELLITE............................................................................................................. 17

ALPHA MAGNETIC SPECTROMETER ........................................................................................................... 17

2-MARKERS ....................................................................................................................................... 19

PERSONALITIES ............................................................................................................................................. 19Ravuri Bharadwaja ..................................................................................................................................... 19

Pran Krishan Sikand ................................................................................................................................... 19

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala ................................................................................................................................ 19

Margaret Thatcher ...................................................................................................................................... 19

Robert Geoffrey Edwards .......................................................................................................................... 20

PLACES............................................................................................................................................................. 20

Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve ............................................................................................................. 20

Tagore Centre for Global Thought ....................................................................................................... 20

PART 2 : Current Affairs 2013 ( April )


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POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

AR MED FORCES TRIBUN AL

In the face of stiff resistance from the armed forces, the ParliamentaryCommittee on Defence has recommended that the Armed Forces Tribunal

(AFT) be given powers of civil contempt as many of its orders are not being

implemented despite its having the status of a High Court.

In another step, aimed at making the AFT a strong and independentinstitution, and to avoid conflict of interest, the panel has recommended that

the administrative control of the tribunal should be with the Ministry of Law

and Justice Ministry rather than the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The 18th committee, in its report submitted this month, gave its commentson the Armed Forces Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2012, introduced in the

Rajya Sabha last year.

Taking into view the opposition by the defence forces, the committee hasrecommended civil contempt powers to the AFT in cases involving retired

defence personnel but refrained from giving such powers with regard to

serving personnel so as to avoid disturbing the high disciplinary standards

of the forces. The forces apprehend that civil contempt would impinge on

operational requirements.

While approving shifting of administrative control of the AFT to the LawMinistry, the committee noted that eventually it would come under the

Central Tribunal Division proposed to be set up by the Ministry on the advice

of the Supreme Court, for control of all tribunals.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court, in its decision in the public interestlitigation, Maj Navdeep Singh vs. Union of India, has already directed that

the AFT be placed under the Law Ministry, and not the MoD, to ensure its

independence and that keeping in view the separation of powers enshrined

in the Constitution, the government should have a minimal say in its

functioning.

INDIA BACKBONE IMPLEMENTATION NETWORK (IBIN)

The purpose of IBIN is to improve implementation of policies, programs, andprojects, which the 12th Five Year Plan has located as the critical necessity

for accelerating more inclusive and faster growth.

An analysis of projects and schemes has revealed that the major causes ofbottlenecks in implementation are contention amongst stakeholders, and

poor coordination amongst agencies.


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These bottlenecks are at many levels in the system, at the center, in thestates, and in districts and cities too. They cannot be relieved top down by

the Planning Commission. They require collaborative action by stakeholders

and agencies at multiple points.

IBIN has been modeled on the very successful Total Quality Movement inJapan which in the 1960s and 70s transformed the capability of Japaneseorganizations in the private and public sectors to deliver results.


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ECONOMY

REVISED CONSOLIDATED GUIDELINES ON FDI

Seeking to further simplify the foreign investment regime, government cameout with the revised consolidated guidelines on FDI.

The guidelines incorporated changes with regard to inflows in multi brandretail and allowing Pakistan nationals and companies to invest in the country.

Besides, it has included policy changes in sectors like single brand retail,asset reconstruction companies (ARCs), power exchanges, civil aviation,

broadcasting and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

Last year, the Centre permitted 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail sector.The government also allowed foreign airlines to pick 49 per cent stake in the

cash-strapped domestic carriers.

Similarly, it has raised FDI cap to 74 per cent in various services of thebroadcasting sector. The foreign investment ceiling in ARCs has also been

increased to 74 per cent from 49 per cent, a move aimed at bringing more

foreign expertise in the segment.

It has said that the total shareholding of an individual FII in an ARC shall notexceed 10 per cent of the total paid-up capital.

Further, it has incorporated the changes made with regard to FDI fromPakistan. Now, a Pakistani citizen or an entity can invest in the country

under the government approval route.

With regard to issue price of shares, a new paragraph has been added.Underthis, where a non-residents including NRIs are making investments in an

Indian firm in compliance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956, by

way of subscription to its Memorandum of Association, such investments

may be made at face value subject to their eligibility to invest under the FDI

scheme.

The government has permitted foreign investment of up to 49 per cent in thepower trading exchanges in the country.

The policy has also listed as many as eight mandatory conditions and oneoptional clause with regard to conversion of a company with FDI into a

Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) firm.

REFORMS FOR SEZ

Ruling out any relief from imposition of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT), theCommerce and Industry Minister, announced a set of reforms for Special

Economic Zones (SEZ), including relaxation of land requirement norms,

introduction of graded scale for minimum land criteria, offering an exit


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policy and doing away with minimum land requirement for setting up an

IT/ITeS SEZs.

The package of reforms and changed norms come in the wake of disinterestshown by corporate India to set up new SEZs. Also, they come at a time when

existing players are either seeking to exit their projects or trying to scalethem down.

Govt has decided to reduce the Minimum Land Area Requirement by half fordifferent categories of SEZs. For multi-product SEZ, minimum land

requirement has been brought down from 1,000 hectares to 500 hectares,

and for sector-specific SEZs, it has been brought down to 50 hectares.

There would be no minimum land requirement for setting up IT\ITeS SEZs.The minimum built-up area criteria, too, was eased. It had now been decided

to allow transfer of ownership of SEZ units, including sale.

The 170 functional SEZs export-oriented enclaves have attractedinvestment of over Rs.2.36 lakh crore, and exports from them totalled

Rs.4.76 lakh crore in 2012-13, a growth of over 2,000 per cent over the

seven-year period.

The flexibility to set up additional units in a sector-specific SEZ had beenprovided by introducing sectoral broad-banding to encompass similar or

related areas under the same sector.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN G-SEC AND CORPORATE BONDS

RATIONALIZED

The Central Government in consultation with Reserve Bank of India (RBI)and SEBI has been progressively liberalizing/rationalizing the scheme for

foreign investment in G-Secs and Corporate bonds keeping in view the

evolving macroeconomic scenario and financing needs of the economy.

On review, it was observed that the existing framework of various debt sub-limits and associated conditions with respect to each sub-limit led to

complexity and inflexibility for investors and hampered investment in debt

securities. Therefore, in order to encourage greater foreign investments in

INR denominated debt instrument, it was decided to simplify the frameworkof FII debt limits, the allocation mechanism of these debt limits and also lay

down a perspective plan for enhancement of these debt limits in the future.

The existing debt limits will be merged into following two broad categories:o Government securities of US$ 25 billion (by merging Government

Securities old and Government Securities long term) and,

o Corporate bonds of US $ 51 billion dollars (by merging US $ onebillion for QFIs, US $ 25 billion dollars for FIIs in corporate bonds

and US $ 25 billion for FIIs in long term infra bonds).

The entire limit in both the Government securities and Corporate bondscategories will be made available to all eligible classes of foreign investors,


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including FIIs, QFIs, and long term investors such as Sovereign Wealth Funds

(SWFs), Pension Funds, Foreign Central Banks etc.

Out of USD 25 billion limit for Government Securities, a sub limit of US $ 5.5billion has been provided for investment in short term papers such as

treasury bills. Similarly in case of USD 51 billion limit for corporate bonds, a sub limit of US

$ 3.5 billion has been provided for investment in short term papers such as

commercial papers.

Because of the room created by unifying categories, the current SEBI auctionmechanism allocating debt limits for corporate bonds will be replaced by the

'on tap system' currently in place for infrastructure bonds.


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SOCIAL ISSUES

ZITA PATENT CASE

The Delhi High Court, refused to grant interim relief on a patent row to U.S.pharmaceutical major Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD), which had sought a

restraint on Glenmark Pharmaceuticals manufacturing and marketing anti-

diabetes drugs Zita and Zita-Met.

The courts order came on MSDs plea alleging that the Indian pharmacompany had violated its intellectual property right (IPR) over its anti-

diabetes medicines, Januvia and Janumet, by coming in the market with their

own drugs containing the same salts.

The U.S. firm said it had invented the Sitagliptin salt, used in the anti-diabetes drugs and has a patent over the molecule.

However, Glenmark said it had used Sitagliptin Phosphate in its anti-diabetes drugs, Zita and Zita-Met and the U.S. firm had no patent right over

this salt. Sitagliptin Phosphate has been a distinct product from Sitagliptin

and due to this, the U.S. firm had obtained separate patent for Sitagliptin

Phosphate in the U.S., Glenmark said. MSD first applied for separate patent

for Sitagliptin Phosphate in India and later abandoned it, it said.

The U.S. firm also said anti-diabetes drug Januvia is not costly as it costsRs.43 a pill which is roughly 1/5th of its price in the U.S.

The high court, however, kept the main petition of the U.S. firm pending forfiling of evidence and other subsequent legal proceedings before its joint

registrar.

9-POINT ACTION PLAN FOR NAXAL AREAS

Concerned over the extreme left groups penetration into tribal territoriesand their ability to win over the hearts and minds of people deprived of basic

necessities of life, the government has drawn-up a nine point action plan to

deal with a host of development challenges. The government had decided to expedite the recognition of forest rights, as

well as review the definition of backward districts under the Integrated

Action Plan/Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF) as part of the action plan.

According to the document, it was felt that there was a need to advance fromthe ad hoc criteria of selecting districts to a more outcome oriented criterion.

Taking note of the gap and requirement of large residential schools, theDirector of School Education and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs are looking to

establish such institutions with a minimum of 1000-2000 students in the

LWE areas.


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To improve the communication infrastructure Bharat Sanchar NigamLimited (BSNL) will install 2199 low cost mobile towers in those areas. The

Telecom Commission is also exploring energy efficient alternate fuels such

as solar energy.

A special window, too, has been introduced under the Forest ConservationAct to expedite the laying of transmission lines under the Rajiv GandhiGramin Vidyutikaran Yojna (RGGVY).

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has given a notification to cover allthe 82 IAP districts granting general approval under the Forest Conservation

Act for diversion of forest land up to 5 acres.

The Ministry of Power will review pending works in 1776 villages toascertain the ones which can be cleared with the issuance of the new

notification.

The Mobile Health Units will address the LWE districts endemically affectedby malaria. Additionally, an increase in Mobile Health Units is likely to be

introduced in the 12th Plan.

EXPANSION OF DIRECT BENEFITS TRANSFERS (DBT)

78 more districts, 3 more Pension Schemes under DBT. DBT will now cover1/5th of the country.

After reviewing the progress in rollout of DBT in Phase - I, many importantdecisions were taken to expand the coverage of areas under DBT in Phase II

of the rollout. These are:

DBT will now be expanded to NPR states where biometrics are beingcollected under the National Population Register. These include Odisha,

West Bengal, UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.

Additional districts: The next phase of the rollout will begin from 1 July 2013.A total of 78 districts have been identified for this phase based on the lists

given by UIDAI and Registrar General of India.

Additional schemes: DBT now covers 26 schemes. The three PensionSchemes managed by MoRD (old age, disability and widows) will now be

covered under DBT in all the covered districts. DBT for pension schemeswould be introduced from 1.7.2013 along with the rollout of Phase-II.

Expanding to Post Offices: DBT will be expanded to include Post Offices andschemes run through Post Office accounts from 1 October 2013. By this time,

the Post Offices will have the core banking system in 51 districts.

LPG Subsidy through DBT: MoPNG is working on rolling out DBT of LPGsubsidy in a phased manner. The total number of LPG consumers in the

country is 14 crores and as the scheme rolls out, the subsidy amount will be

transferred to consumers directly into their bank accounts. With the subsidy

going directly, there will be only one price at which cylinders will be sold at a


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dealer's shop. This will eliminate all ghost connections and diversion of

cylinders.

Nationwide Database digitisation: Departments will start the process ofdigitisation in all districts, irrespective of the rollout of DBT as this is a

critical activity which need not wait and can be done in parallel. Mission Directorate: A full fledged DBT Mission Directorate consisting of a

Mission Director assisted by other officers is being created to have an

institutionalized administrative arrangement to enable smooth rollout, early

identification of bottlenecks, resolution of bottlenecks and handholding of

Ministries/ departments wherever necessary.

MEASURES TO STRENGTHEN SC/ST ACT

Imposing a social or economic boycott on persons from a reserved caste ortribe, parading them naked, preventing them from entering a place of

worship or employing them as manual scavengers such offences will now

be dealt with more severely and in a time-bound manner, as the Union

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has recommended measures to

strengthen the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of

Atrocities) Act, 1989, and Rules 1995.

The Ministry is also keen on having dedicated special courts and a 30-daytrial to deal with complaints.

The Ministry has recommended that the Act include provisions likeappointment of special public prosecutors to try cases exclusively, all casesbe disposed of within three months from the date of filing of charge sheet

and cases under the Act be given priority in appeals.

Offences that are well documented, but not within the ambit of the Act, suchas obstructing the use of common property resources, causing physical harm

or death on the allegation of practising witchcraft or abetment should be

brought within the purview of the Act, the Ministry has said.

Another important recommendation is expanding the scope of presumptionwhether the perpetrator had knowledge of the (SC/ST) identity of the victim

while committing the offence. There are numerous cases of the policerefusing to register complaints under the Act unless the complainant could

establish that the identity of the victim was in fact the ground for committing

the offence; in some cases, the police refuse to register a case because the

perpetrator did not overtly use the terms of caste abuse while committing

the offence.

NATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION QUALIFICATION FRAMEWORK FOR

MOBILITY OF STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION


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The government has proposed a National Higher Education QualificationFramework (NHEQF) to address the issue of compatibility and seamless

recognition of qualification across all higher education institutions.

With the present system being unique to the country with range ofcomplexities and divergences across levels, the framework would seek toprovide a comprehensive definition of a single system of levels for all

qualifications offered by a variety of higher educational institutions across

discipline.

The essential purpose of the NHEQF is to provide the broad frameworkwithin which universities and other degree-awarding educational

institutions could develop the syllabi that they consider relevant thereby

using their academic autonomy to the fullest extent in a responsible manner

and without adversely affecting the horizontal and vertical mobility of

students. Another distinctive feature of the NHEQF is making the programmes of

studies modular, thereby permitting accreditation or certification of a

component, part of the larger qualification. Thus, the NHEQF would serve as

an unequivocal description of higher education qualification at the national

level with the aim that the higher education system of the country is

internationally understood.


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INDIA AND WORLD

INDIA-GERMANY

Background

Democratic concerns and values shared by India and Germany had not beensufficient for a strategic relationship. The Cold War and the perceived Indian

partiality towards East Germany had left their scars on ties. Strategic

engagement came after the liberalisation of the Indian economy and the

discovery by both sides of economic realities and necessities.

For an export-oriented Germany, India, as a major emerging economicpower, became a land of opportunities. Old cultural and educational linkages

helped the process and today, India and Germany have a flourishing bilateral

trade (biggest trading partner in the EU and fifth in the world), investments

in both directions, cooperation in security and disarmament, counter

terrorism and educational exchanges.

The solidarity of the G-4, of which both Germany and India are members, asthe champion of UN Security Council reform, has remained intact, even if its

efforts have not succeeded.

2nd India-Germany Intergovernmental Consultations

Chancellor Angela Merkel defined the relationship as "very deep" andpointed out how India, with more than a billion people, with its need for

infrastructure and investment, had provided great opportunities for

Germany.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in turn, stressed that economic relationshave been a defining feature of India-Germany ties. They then proceeded to

witness their cabinet colleagues sign a plethora of agreements to enhance

cooperation in higher education, promote German as a foreign language in

India, strengthen civil security research, agriculture and consumer

protection, create quality infrastructure for cooperation in standardisation

and establish green energy corridors.

A tinge of regret, however, was evident in the statements made by the twoleaders on the India-EU BTIA. Singh acknowledged that though much

progress had been made, there were issues that held back the conclusion of

the agreement. As a member of a viable union of independent states,

Germany has the advantage of pursuing its interests bilaterally to gain

ground and to remain adamant within the union to extract concessions in

other areas. Members of the EU have hidden behind their collective positions

on political issues and human rights and, at the same time, remained cordial

with India on the bilateral front.

Germany and the EU, as a whole, tend to go slow with countries that showsigns of an economic downturn. India's dwindling economic growth and the


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infirm Central government, which is compelled to yield to various kinds of

pressures and has to deal with the exposure of corruption and scams, would

be a source of anxiety for the EU.

Indian foreign policy, too, appears to be hedging. With elections in the offingin India, the EU is likely to wait and watch rather than rush into agreements,unless the concessions offered by India are too attractive to be missed.

During the meet India and Germany has inked six key MoUso Joint Declaration of Intent regarding promotion of German as a

foreign language in India

o Intergovernmental MoU between India & Germany on Cooperationin the field of Higher Education

o Joint Declaration of Intent in the area of Civil Security Researcho Joint Declaration for cooperation in Agriculture sectoro

Joint Declaration of Intent for Cooperation in Standardisation,Conformity Assessment and Product Safety

o Joint Declaration of Intent for Establishment of Green EnergyCorridors

INDIA - CUSTOMS UNION TROIKA

India and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan will holdtalks for a free trade agreement plus in June this year.

The June meeting in St. Petersburg is likely to decide on preliminaryspadework into all the aspects of an FTA plus or Comprehensive Economic

Cooperation Agreement (CECA) that aims to cover trade in goods, service,

investment and movement of labour.

The eventual size of the present Customs Union of three republics of theformer Soviet Union is an issue of much interest to the Indian side as it sets

about getting into serious negotiations with the Russia-led troika.

Kazakhstans neighbour Kyrgyzstan is likely to be the fourth entrant andTajikistan could over time be the fifth country to joint the Customs Union.

Ukraine, Armenia and Moldovia would also be moving close to the CustomsUnion but for some time they are likely to be the first three countries outside

the core.

The increased trade post-FTA could be routed through the North-Southcorridor that would cut down on time and distance to target markets in

Russia and Kazakhstan. Analysts point out that these two countries will be

better served from the Iranian port of Chah-Bahar.


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NIB INITIATIVE ON WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

In a significant development indicating a sub-regional strategic alliance,Nepal, India and Bangladesh (NIB) have decided to join hands to cooperate

and exploit the hydropower sector and use water resources management formutual advantage, including jointly developing and financing projects in the

Ganga river basin.

Indicating its seriousness to give a boost to this initiative, India has alreadyapproved the composition of a working group on water and power that will

coordinate with Bangladesh and Nepal.

According to a note prepared by the Ministries of Power, Water Resourcesand External Affairs, the Ganga Basin has tremendous potential for

development of water resources and hydropower. Therefore, the role of the

Ganga in the agriculture, hydro-power, fisheries, navigation, andenvironmental sectors and in the economy of the co-basin countries is vital.

The joint initiative will contribute to poverty eradication and better socio-economic integration.

The note states that the NIB initiative will explore technically andgeographically feasible means for augmentation and equitable distribution

of augmented supply of water and power. There shall be a Committee of

Water Resources and Power Ministries of the NIB which will be the highest

decision-making body, subject to the approval of the respective governments.

Similarly, in order to derive optimum benefits from the Brahmaputra Basin,Bhutan, India and Bangladesh have agreed to work jointly towards

cooperative development and management of water resources and

hydropower in an integrated and holistic manner. For this, the three

countries have agreed to cooperate on the Bhutan, Bangladesh and India

(BIB) Initiative.

VICE-PRESIDENT VISIT TO TAJIKISTAN

Vice-President Hamid Ansari was on a four-day official visit to Tajikistan thatis expected to give an impetus to Indias relations with the Central Asianneighbour.

It coincided with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomaticties between the two countries. India had played a key role in developing the

Ayni airbase and continues to cooperate with Tajik authorities in

maintaining it..

India has also unveiled its Connect Central Asia policy, which includes aproactive multi-pronged diplomatic thrust to expand ties with the energy-

rich Central Asian nations Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan,

Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.


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Tajikistan with whom India has strategic ties also holds a crucial place forIndia, owing to its geo-political position, as it shares borders with China and

Afghanistan. The nearest Tajik point is only 16 km from Pakistan-Occupied

Kashmir (PoK). The two countries also have old and traditional linguistic

and cultural ties. The low level of trade between India and Tajikistan, which stood at $27

million last year, remains an area of concern for both the nations.

The focus of his visit was to go forward from where India and Tajikistan hadstarted out in September 2012, when President Rahmon had visited New

Delhi for the fifth time and the special relationship between the two

countries was elevated to the strategic partnership.

During his visit to Tajik Technical University here, India offered to gift asupercomputer to Tajikistan which would be in place over the next 18

months at a centre of IT excellence and become the seed for developing ITexpertise among young people in the Middle East nation. India also proposes

to set up an Enterprise Development Centre in Tajikistan which will help

create entrepreneurs and job-providers as against job-seekers.

On the existing counter-terrorism measures and joint working groupbetween India and Tajikistan the cooperation was continuing and

information was being exchanged.

UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN SOUTH SUDAN (UNMISS)

Five soldiers of the Indian Army were killed and four injured in an ambushof their United Nations peacekeeping mission by unidentified assailants in

South Sudan.

A contingent of 2,200 Indian Army personnel are deployed with the UnitedNations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). While one group is based in

Malakkal on the border with Sudan, the other one is deployed in Jonglei.

Elsewhere on the African continent, Indian troops are involved inpeacekeeping operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cote

dIvoire.

The peacekeepers did not engage in any combat, but were friendly andpeaceful towards the populace.

Jonglei is the largest and most populous State in South Sudan, a countrycarved out its northern neighbour in 2011 after a brutal civil war spanning

many decades. Post-independence, the State has been roiled by inter-ethnic

conflict between the Lou Nuer and Murle communities. The conflict has since

escalated into a full-blown insurgency led by Murle leader David Yauyau

who, the South Sudanese believe, is backed by the government of Sudan.

Sudanese officials have repeatedly denied these allegations.

Apart from providing peacekeepers, India also has significant economicassets in the two countries. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Videsh Ltd


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(OVL) has a stake in South Sudans oil fields. It has constructed and financed

a 741-km pipeline in the north from the Khartoum refinery to Port Sudan on

the Red Sea.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

G8 ACCORD ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN C ONFLICT ZONES

G8 adopted what they described as a historic declaration committing theinternational community to tackle sexual violence in conflict zones.

The agreement, reached on the sidelines of discussions on North Korea andSyria ahead of the summit of G8 leaders in June, was hailed by ForeignSecretary William Hague as a turning point in the campaign against war

zone rape.

He announced an additional funding of 5 million from the Foreign andCommonwealth Office to support the campaign, while another 5 million

were committed by the Department for International Development bringing

the total funding by G8 nations to roughly 24 million.

NEW UN PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN MALI

The Security Council approved a 12,600-strong United Nations peacekeepingoperation to take over from the African-led mission in Mali and authorized

the blue helmets "to use all necessary means" to carry out security-related

stabilization tasks, protect civilians, UN staff and cultural artefacts, and

create the conditions for the provision of humanitarian aid.

MINUSMA's (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated StabilizationMission in Mali) core task is to support the political process in Mali, in close

coordination with the African Union and the Economic Community of West

African States (ECOWAS).

The mission willhelp the Malian authorities to implement the transitionalroadmap towards the full restoration of constitutional order, democratic

governance and national unity.

This includes the holding of elections in July, confidence building andfacilitation of reconciliation at the national and local levels.


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SCIENCE AND TECH.

QUANTUM BIOLOGY

For the first time scientists have engineered a series of molecules that showquantum effects similar to that observed in the light-harvesting complexes.

They have been able to both understand as well as mimic the efficient

mechanism of light transfer happening in plants.

Aside from other benefits, this would lead to the production of artificialenergy-transfer devices which could use the mechanism efficiently.

Photosynthetic antennae are arrays of proteins and chlorophyll whichtransfer absorbed light energy to the reaction centres where light energy is

converted to chemical energy. This enhances the efficiency of light transfer

compared to the process when light is absorbed directly by the reaction

centres themselves.

The secret of the efficiency of the transfer process lies in quantum electroniccoherence that stretches over some femtoseconds (a femtosecond is a

millionth of a billionth of a second). When there is coherence, energy from

the incoming photon can simultaneously explore every possible cholorophyll

route from the proteins surface to the reaction centre at its core and then

settle for the shortest route.

Compare this with the time and energy wasted if the photon had tosequentially try out every path before reaching the reaction centre. Thus the

efficiency of the process is increased manifold.

The main actor in this is a dye-like material called fluorescein. Theresearchers modified fluorescein and linked parts of these together rigidly to

form a series of compounds.

SMARTPHONE SATELLITES

NASA recently successfully completed their PhoneSat mission involvingnanosatellites. The missions goal was to discover if a consumer-gradesmartphone can be utilized as the main flight avionics for a satellite orbiting

far above the earths surface.

The mission began on Sunday, April 21st with the launch of three tinysatellitesfittingly christened Alexander, Graham and Bell. Each of the

satellites were built using a smartphone (NASA isnt saying which brand) as

the main source of computational power.

The agency wanted to find out if satellites could be constructed from off-the-shelf components available to anyone.


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NASAs team of researchers, along with regular citizens, were able to createwhat social media-philes would call a planet selfie of the Earth with the

iSatellites.

PhoneSat was a proud collaboration between the government agency andaverage stargazers from all across the world.

During the missions relatively short amount of time, the three satelliteswere able to take hundreds of photos of our planet.

This exciting project may open up a new age of citizen space exploration,where building a satellite requires little more than an iPhone.

RUSSIA LAUNCHES BIO-SATELLITE

Russia launched an orbital Noah's Ark to space a bio-satellite packedwith an array of mice and other small creatures to study the effects of long

flights on living organisms.

Russias latest BION-M1 biological research capsule carrying 45 mice, eightMongolian gerbils, 15 geckos, snails, fish eggs, micro-organisms and plants

blasted off aboard the modernised Soyuz 2 rocket from the Baikonur launch

pad in Kazakhstan.

During the 30-day flight the crew will take part in more than 70 genetic,physiological and biological experiments that should help prepare better for

flights to Mars and other planets.

A meteorite-type heat-resistant material with tiny holes carrying variousbacteria and fungi has been attached to the outer skin of the satellite. The

microbes will be exposed to freezing temperatures, space vacuum and re-

entry heat to see if they can survive travel through space.

Russia has resumed biological satellite launches after a break of 15 years.AL PHA MA GN ET IC SP EC TROMET ER

An international experiment aboard the International Space Station (ISS)reported the observation of an excess of positrons in the cosmic ray flux, the

source of which could be the elusive dark matter. This forms the most important part of the first results from the experiment,

called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS).

The mysterious dark matter, which is believed to account for a quarter of theuniverses mass-energy balance and is distributed isotropically invariant

with respect to direction in the space, can be observed indirectly through

its gravitational interaction with visible matter but is yet to be directly

detected.

The search for dark matter is one of the objectives of this space-borne AMSeven as it is being actively searched for in ground-based experiments such as


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the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and other experiments in deep

underground experiments.

The instrument is basically a giant magnet and an antimatter detectorattached to the outside of the ISS. It is the most powerful and sensitive

particle spectrometer ever deployed in space. It is designed to study thecosmic ray particles, which are charged high-energy particles that permeate

space, before they have a chance to interact with the Earths atmosphere.


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2-MARKERS

PERSONALITIES

RAVURI BHARADWAJA

The eminent Telugu novelist, short story writer, poet and critic RavuriBharadwaja was selected for the prestigious Jnanpith award for the year

2012 for his contribution to Telugu literature.

Along with the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, Jnanpith award is one of the twomost prestigious literary honours in the country. Any Indian citizen who

writes in any of the official languages of India is eligible for the honour.

PRAN KRISHAN SIKAND

Veteran Bollywood actor Pran Krishan Sikand, who played villain andcharacter roles in Bollywood movies, has been chosen for the Dada Saheb

Phalke Award, 2013.

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in cinema givenannually by the Government of India for lifetime contribution to Indian

cinema.

RUTH PRAWER JHABVALA

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, the German-born screenwriter and novelist who,as the writing member of the Merchant Ivory filmmaking team, won two

Academy Awards for adaptations of genteel, class-conscious E. M. Forster

novels, died recently.

She wrote dozen novels and screenplays and eight collections of shortstories and was made a CBE in 1998 and granted a joint fellowship by

BAFTA in 2002 with Ivory and Merchant.

She is the only person to ever have won both a Booker Prize and an Oscar.MARGARET THATCHER

Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first woman Prime Minister who led theConservative party for more than a decade through one of the most

tumultuous periods in modern British history and became a deeply

divisive political figure, died.

Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation(particularly of the financial sector)flexible labour markets, the

privatisation of state- owned companies, and reducing the power andinfluence of trade unions.


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ROBERT GEOFFREY EDWARDS

He was a British physiologist and pioneer in reproductive medicine andin-vitro fertilisation (IVF) in particular. Edwards successfully pioneered

conception through IVF, which led to the birth of the first test-tube baby,Louise Brown.

He was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for thedevelopment of in vitro fertilization".

PLACES

MUKUNDARA HILLS TIGER RESERVE

After Ranthambhore and Sariska, Rajasthan will now be home to a third bigcat habitat-the Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve.

The new tiger reserve, located chiefly in Rajasthan's Hadoti region, wasnotified by the state government.

TAGORE CENTRE FOR GLOBAL THOUGHT

The Tagore Centre for Global Thought at India Institute, Kings College,London was inaugurated recently.

Set up as part of the Tagore Commemoration celebrating 150th BirthAnniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, this Tagore Centre will

enhance Tagore-related, academic intellectual and philosophic work

globally.

The underlying concept is to promote the study of liberal arts and supportprogrammes connected with all aspects of Tagores works and showcase

how the Indian thought and intellectual capability was influenced by

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.

copy of 16020e53 part 2 april current affairs notes 2013_2

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