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AirAsia
flight travelling from Indonesia to Singapore missing
World
> Aviation > 28 Dec
An AirAsia plane QZ8501
has been missing with 162 people on board since Saturday, 28th of
December. The airliner, an Airbus A320-200 travelling from Indonesia
to Singapore lost contact with the air traffic control at 06:24 local
time, the flight left Indonesia at 05:35 local time and was scheduled
to arrive at Changi airport, Singapore at 08:30 local time. Bad
weather was earlier reported in the area and the flight had requested
a deviation citing thick storm clouds. The Indonesian navy has so far
retrieved 40 bodies in rescue operations carried around the area in
Java sea, along with the debris and wreckage of the plane.
2014 has been a
difficult year for the aviation industry, in March a Malaysian
Airlines' carrier MH370 went missing with 239 passengers on board,
which has still not been found. Another Malaysian Airlines flight,
MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in July, killing all 298 people on
board.
IIT
Delhi director's resignation causes a row
India
> Education > 30 Dec
The resignation of IIT
Delhi director Professor Raghunath Shevgaonkar has triggered a
controversy. The professor has had a difference of opinion with the
union ministry of Human Resources and Development regarding two
different issues. The first being the reimbursement of wages with
interest to former faculty member and current BJP leader Subramanian
Swamy, and the other reason is the construction of a cricket academy
on the campus. In the light of these events there have been rumours
that the director had been forced by the union government for a
resignation. All the parties involved have denied the allegations.
Greek
PM's presidential nominee loses prompting snap elections, Eurozone
apprehensive
Politics
> World > 30 Dec
The Greek parliament
rejected the presidential candidate nominated by Prime Minister
Antonis Samaras leading to snap elections. Only 168 out of 300 MPs
voted for Stavrov Dimas, the government's candidate.
As the radical left
Syriza party is leading in the opinion polls, its leader, Alexis
Tsipras said "austerity will be history" if Syriza wins on
25 January.
The government's defeat
is considered as as a major setback for eurozone countries that
helped Greece emerge from recession. The Syriza leader also regarded
the parliament votes as "end of the regime that sank the country
into poverty, unemployment, grief and desperation." Warning
Greece about the contractual agreements, German Finance Minister
Wolfgang Schaeuble said things could become difficult if
Greece took a "different path". The European Central Bank
also asked Greece to continue reforming its finances rather than
ending austerity measures.
UN
security council rejects Palestinian draft resolution
United
Nations > World > 30 Dec
Palestinian resolution
demanding withdrawal of Israel from Palestinian territories by late
2017 and a peace deal within 12 months was rejected by the UN
Security Council. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha
Power who voted against the resolution ,said it contains elements
that are not conducive to negotiations between the parties, including
unconstructive deadlines and was put to a vote without a discussion
or due consideration among council members. Not seeing any progress
in peace talks, the Palestinians are attempting to internationalize
the issue by seeking U.N. Membership and recognition of statehood via
membership in international organizations
Others
FDI
cap in insurance sector to rise to 49%
Economy
> India > 28 Dec
The FDI cap in the
insurance sector will increase, following the government’s approval
of an Ordinance to hike Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in the
insurance sector to 49 percent from 26 percent .This hike is believed
to attract up to USD 7 8 billion (about Rs 50,000 crore) from
overseas investors, giving a major boost to the segment. The
Insurance Bill was awaiting the approval since 2008 in the Rajya
Sabha.
Ration
Card set to become obsolete to get free education and medical
treatment for the poor
India
> Food
Security > 28 Dec
A year after the food
security bill was passed, the food supplies and consumer affairs
department has notified the government that ration cards and BPL
(below poverty line) cards will not be valid for people under the
economically weaker section (EWS) to avail food and health benefits.
EWS beneficiaries are entitled to free education, health care and
food supplies at certain government and private organisations.
However, some of the people who have exchanged their BPL cards in
return for food security cards are still not able to avail the
facilities.
Several
reforms to be unveiled, including modified Land Acquisition Law
Economy
> India > 28 Dec
The Narendra Modi
government is set to make some big-ticket announcements in the coming
weeks, including changes in the land acquisition law through an
ordinance.
The Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Act 2013 was enacted by the previous UPA government,
following protests over land being seized from farmers for various
projects. The land acquisition rule was enforced from January 1 and
clamoured for changes in the rule as it had led to a complete halt in
development. The present government had expressed its unhappiness
with harsh provisions of the law. The government favours expansion of
the list of exempted sectors under the land law to include defence,
education and healthcare and infrastructure while leaving
compensation unchanged.
The government will
also launch the direct benefit transfer scheme on 1st January on a
nationwide basis with a view to ensure that the beneficiaries receive
their subsidies directly in their bank accounts.
Mumbai
attack mastermind held in another case
Terrorism
> World > 28 Dec
Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi,
the mastermind behind 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, was arrested
for the third time just before his release from Adaila Jail in
Rawalpindi . The jail superintendent received an order from the
government regarding his arrest in another case. Lakhvi was to be
released after he submitted a 1 million surety bond. Lakhvi had been
detained for a second time after he was released for lack of evidence
by a Pakistani court which had evoked a strong reaction from India.
Kashmiri
Pandits to be provided Rs 40 Lakh flat in Srinagar
Jammu
& Kashmir > India > 30 Dec
The government of India
is going to provide 1000 apartments to encourage the Kashmiri Pandits
to return to J&K. The 'good quality' apartments are built at a
cost of Rs 40 Lakh. The government had received criticism from the
Kashmiri Pandits, as they were provided with shabby two-room transit
accommodation.
The 5764 families who
migrated from West Pakistan to Jammu Division are still struggling to
get their voting rights along with the Permanent Resident Right in
J&K. This year's budget had set Rs 500 crore for rehabilitation
of Kashmiri Pandits out of which a bulk of it will be spent on
building the new 1000 flats near Srinagar.
Dense
fog halts flights and trains in Delhi, UP shivers from intense cold
India
> Others > 30 Dec
Heavy fog enveloped
Delhi propelling visibility to drop below 50 metres. As a result, 19
flights were cancelled at the Indira Gandhi international airport, 30
trains were also rescheduled for the same reason. Sunday's
temperature dropped as low as 2.5 degree Celsius. The situation is
even worse in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where dense fog coupled
with icy cold winds have disrupted normal life. A total of 16 deaths
were reported in the state on Monday alone.
Power
shift in the Taliban over reclusive leader
World
> Terrorism > 30 Dec
This year has seen
jihad rise to a new level with the influence of the Islamic State in
Syria and Iran, which has reduced the role of the Taliban to a second
fiddle in the world of Islamic militancy. In the face of such events,
the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar remains reclusive and
maintains a low profile. This invisibility of the Taliban leader has
caused disarray among the ranks of the Taliban and has led to
internal tensions, which has given an opportunity to local as well as
western organisations to dismantle it. There have also been
speculations that the Taliban leader might be dead already, but
various sources have denied it and have attributed his low profile as
his attempt to hide from security forces.
Mahendra
Singh Dhoni retires from Test Cricket
Sports
> Cricket > 30 Dec
Indian cricket captain,
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has retired from Test Cricket with immediate
effect. The decision comes after India drew the third test against
Australia today in Melbourne. Out of the 90 Tests he played, Dhoni
led India in 60 matches. Dhoni finished with most Test wins as India
captain (27), beating the previous best of 21 wins held by Sourav
Ganguly. The BCCI thanked Dhoni for his enormous contribution to
Indian cricket and said that Dhoni was retiring in order to relieve
himself from the pressure of playing all formats of the game and in
order to concentrate more on ODIs and T20s.
Microsoft's
once popular browser IE to be discontinued
Technology
> World > 30 Dec
Microsoft is set to
replace its once popular web browser Internet Explorer with a new web
browser in a clear attempt to follow the footsteps of Chrome and
Firefox. This new browser codenamed 'Spartan' will be revealed on
January 21; on the same day Microsoft's new Windows 10 OS will be
demonstrated. The new browser will still use many of the same
technologies as Explorer, but will have a simpler look and feel, and
will support extensions. This initiative is expected to shed users'
bad memories of old versions of IE.
Putin
opponent's conviction sets off one of the biggest anti-government
protests in Russia
World
> Russia > 30 Dec
Russian president
Vladimir Putin's chief political opponent Alexei Navalny was on
Tuesday convicted along with his brother, for fraud charges. This
move has sparked off an anti-government protest, mainly because of
the public opinion, which views the conviction as a result of the
political rivalry between Putin and Navalny. The protest was one of
Russia's boldest anti-government demonstrations in years. The duo was
charged for defrauding a French cosmetics company Yves Rocher. The
police allowed the protest to occur at the Red Square for about two
hours, after which they started to disperse the gathering.
Defence
Minister advises troops to retaliate with double force in case of a
ceasefire violation
India
> Border
Disputes > 31 Dec
The defence minister of
India, Mr. Manohar Parrikar, has advised security forces to not
hesitate while attacking in future cases of ceasefire violations by
Pakistan. The bold statement comes in the light of cross border
firings carried out by Pakistani troops in Jammu district, which
injured an Indian soldier. The incident was the fifth such instance
in the past week alone.
There have been quite a
few instances where the Pakistani troops have violated the ceasefire
agreement in the past. Tensions arose when a Border Security Force
(BSF) personnel was beheaded by Pakistani nationals earlier this
year.
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