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July 11-20 2013 Current Affairs

Ireland Ireland passes legislation allowing Selective

Abortion

After intense two-day debate, the Irish Parliamentpassed a watered-down legislation allowing abortion

under limited circumstances.

The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013,

Ireland:

The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013would permit abortion if the mothers life is in danger.

It would also extend to women who are deemed

suicidal if refused abortion.

Background:

It can be recalled that due to lack of such provisionsSavita Halappanavar, a young Indian dentist, died in an

Irish hospital last October after being refused abortion

despite apparent risk to her life. An inquiry found that

she could have been saved if doctors had agreed to

her request for termination. The incident was followed

by widespread outrage and protest.

Tag Savita Halappanavar, Ireland Abortion Bill

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Voting Survey to study voter behavior in LS elections

in Tamil Nadu

The Election Commission of India will conduct KABP(Knowledge, Attitude, Behaviour and Practice of

Voters) Baseline Survey in the upcoming Lok Sabha

elections in all the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies of

Tamil Nadu.

The survey which will be conducted by the StateElections Department will seek to determine whatmotivates electors to exercise their franchise and what

deters them.

Tag KABP Survey, Voting patterns

Person in

News

Amar Bose, founder of Bose Corporation,

passes away

Amar Gopal Bose (83), Indian-American founder,Chairman and academic behind the revolutionary

sound systems of Bose Corporation, passed away in

Wayland, Massachusetts.

Tag Amar Bose, Bose Corporation

Polity Supreme Court says Persons in lawful custody

not entitled to vote/contest elections

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Upholding a 2004 judgement of Patna High court, theSupreme Court has held that persons in lawful custody

whether convicted in a criminal case or otherwise

cannot contest polls. However, the ruling does not

apply to those on bail.

Background:

The Chief Election Commissioner and others had fileda appeals against a Patna High Court judgement that

in 2004 had held that when a person in custody is

disqualified from voting he or she must be disqualified

from contesting in elections too. Calling the High

Courts decision right the apex court held that a

person who has no right to vote by virtue of the

provisions of Section 62 (5) of the Representation of

the People Act 1951 is not an elector and is therefore

not qualified to contest the election to the House of

the People or the Legislative Assembly of a State.

Besides, the court said A right to vote is a statutory

right, the Law gives it, the Law takes it away. Persons

convicted of crime are kept away from elections to theLegislature, whether to State Legislature or Parliament

and all other public elections. The Law temporarily

takes away the power of such persons to participate in

elections. To vote is a statutory right. It is a privilege to

vote, which privilege may be taken away. In that case,

the elector would not be qualified, even if his name is

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on the electoral rolls.

Tag Electoral reforms

Telecom ITU: 40% of global population is online

As per the International Telecommunication Union(ITU), nearly 40% of the global population or 2.7 billion

people are already online in 2013 while India still

stands far with around 13% Internet penetration with

roughly 160 million users.

As per ITU:

The percentage of people online in developing anddeveloped world is 31% and 77% respectively.

Europe, with 75% Internet penetration, is the regionwith the highest Internet penetration rate.

The US, with 61% penetration, is positioned at thesecond spot amongst regions.

Africa has nearly 16% of its citizens online only halfthe penetration rate of Asia-Pacific, where one out of

every three (33%) citizens has access to the Internet.

More men than women have access to the Internet,but the distinction is not sharp.

Globally, 37% of all women are online, compared with41% of all men.

The gender gap is more marked in the developing

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world, where 16% less women than men use the

Internet, compared with only 2% less women than

men in the developed world.

41% or nearly 750 million households are connectedto the Net by 2013.

Tag Internet Penetration

EnergyDiplomacy

Irans Gas Offer to India

India is thinking over Irans offer of Production SharingContracts (PSCs) in the energy sector, including one for

developing the prolific Farzad B gasfieldin the Farsi

block of the Persian Gulf.

This is the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolutionthat Iran has offered three Indian oil companies

ONGC Videsh Limited, Oil India Limited and Indian Oil

Corporation PSCs at a time of diminishing crude

purchases by India.

The offer marks a departure from Irans earlierpractice of offering Indian companies 15% fixed

returns under a buy-back arrangement with the

national oil company of Iran and also indicates

towards Irans intention of improving ties with India.

The PSCs offer the Indian companies a guaranteed

share of production. However, India would have to

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analyse the advantages and disadvantages before

accepting the offer, because of the sanctions the U.S.

and the European Union imposed on Iran, primarily

aiming its oil industry, to pressurize Tehran to give up

its nuclear programme.

Tag India-Iran, Energy Import

Person in

News

Zubin Mehta to get Tagore Award

Zubin Mehta, western classical music conductor ofIndian-Parsi origin, will be felicitated with the Tagore

Award for Cultural Harmony. A four-member jury

led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh andcomprising Chief Justice of India Justice Altamas Kabir,

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj

and former Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi

unanimously selected Mr. Mehta to be the second

recipient of the awards 2013 instalment in

recognition of his outstanding contribution to culturalharmony.

Tag Zubin Mehta, Tagore Award

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Person in

News

Pran, veteran actor, passes away

Veteran Bollywood actor Pran, whose menacing eyesand powerful screen presence intimidated heroes and

heroines for decades, passed away. He was 93. The

ailing thespian, who acted in more than 300 films in a

five-decade career, was recently honoured with the

Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

Born Pran Kishan Sikand into a Punjabi family in Delhi,Mr. Pran was credited with enhancing the importance

of the villain in Bollywood at a time when the bad guy

was very much one-dimensional.

In 2001, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, Indiasthird highest civilian award.

Tag Pran

Environment Dow, Monsanto ordered to pay Agent

Orange victims

South Koreas highest court upheld a ruling, orderingtwo U.S. Agent Orange makers to compensate 39

Vietnam War veterans in one of the countrys most

prominent lawsuits.

The Supreme Court (SC) recognised the epidemiologicalcorrelation between the toxic defoliant and skin

diseases for the first time, saying the 39 victims should

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receive a total of 466 million won ($415,000) from Dow

Chemical and Monsanto.

The veterans had complained that Agent Orange wasresponsible for their severe skin diseases.

Tag Agent Orange