The Competition Master

RAPID GK SERIES 14

RAPID GK SERIES 14

1. The Father of Indian Industry is 2. The Shakespeare of India is 3. The Other name of this Country is Emerald Island 4. The Granite Cit...

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LS begins discussion on Judicial Standards & Accountability Bill, 2010

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> Lok Sabha is now discussing the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill,2010. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The Bill seeks to create a mechanism to increase the accountability of the Supreme Court and High Court Judges. It will pave the way for inquiring into their individual complaints and recommend appropriate action. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The Bill, moved by the Law Minister Salman Khurshid for consideration and passage in the house, is also aimed to have a mechanism to declare assets and liabilities of Judges, strengthening the independence of Judiciary.  
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The Bill further provides for setting up of the National Judiciary Oversight Committee to monitor the behaviour of the Judges. It seeks to repeal the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968 while retaining its basic features. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The Minister also introduced a Constitutional Amendment Bill to raise the retirement age of High Court Judges including the additional and acting Judges of these Courts from 62 to 65 years. 
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</ul></div>

LS begins discussion on Judicial Standards & Accountability Bill, 2010

Lok Sabha is now discussing the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill,2010. The Bill seeks to create a mechanism to increase the...

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EC asks parties in poll bound states to avoid cash transactions

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> The Election Commission has written to all political parties asking them to avoid cash transactions and instruct their cadres not to carry huge cash during the assembly elections in five states.    
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The Commission has written a letter to this effect to all recognized political parties in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur to curb money power during elections.     
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The Commission has advised candidates to open separate bank accounts for their election expenses and to make all election expenses through the said bank accounts 
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</ul></div>

EC asks parties in poll bound states to avoid cash transactions

The Election Commission has written to all political parties asking them to avoid cash transactions and instruct their cadres not to carr...

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Japan keen to strengthen economic ties with India

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> Japan has expressed its keenness to strengthen economic ties with India. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Ahead of delegation level talks with the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh later this evening, Mr. Yoshihiro Noda said that he will hold wide ranging talks with his Indian counterpart on political, economic and security issues in his summit meeting. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The two countries are expected to sign a currency swap deal worth ten billion US dollars. Japan is also expected to announce an investment of 4.5 billion dollar investment for Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor project. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Indo-Japan Civil Nuclear Cooperation is at the centre of talks between the two leaders . 
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</ul></div>

Japan keen to strengthen economic ties with India

Japan has expressed its keenness to strengthen economic ties with India. Ahead of delegation level talks with the Prime Minister Dr. ...

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Somali Pirates hijack Italian cargo ship with 18 crew including Seven Indians

Somali Pirates hijack Italian cargo ship with 18 crew including Seven Indians

Somali Pirates hijacked an Italian cargo ship with 18 crew including Seven Indian seafarers off the coast of Oman. The 18 memb...

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Annual tiger census from next year

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> The National Tiger Conservation Authority, NTCA, has decided to conduct an annual tiger census from next year. It will start in all 39 tiger reserves of the country. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> This  census will continue in tandem with the ongoing every four years census.  
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The  objective of an annual exercise is to ensure that the field staff remains on alert regarding tiger population.  
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The  Authority will also provide 35 lakhs rupees to each tiger reserve for this project. 
 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> For this census operation, a two-day regional training workshop has also been organized by NTCA at the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhay Pradesh. 
</li>
</ul></div>

Annual tiger census from next year

The National Tiger Conservation Authority, NTCA, has decided to conduct an annual tiger census from next year. It will start in all 39 ti...

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LS passes Whistle blowers' Protection Bill, 2011

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> Whistle blowers' Protection Bill, 2011 was passed by the Lok Sabha last night. It seeks to provide for setting up a regular mechanism to encourage persons to disclose information on corruption or wilful misuse of power by public servants, including ministers.  
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The Bill also seeks to provide adequate protection to persons reporting corruption or wilful misuse of discretion that causes demonstrable loss to the government or commission of a criminal offence by a public servant.  
       
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> While the measure sets out the procedure to inquire into the disclosures and provides adequate safeguards against victimisation of the whistle-blower, it also seeks to provide punishment for false or frivolous complaints. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Major amendment cleared by the Cabinet is the inclusion of ministers, MPs, defence services, intelligence agencies, bank officials and PSUs under the ambit of the bill. The Special Protection Group has been kept out of the ambit of the Bill. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> One of the recommendations of the Committee to include higher judiciary (Judges of Supreme Court and High Courts) has been rejected. 
 The definition of competent authority to which a complaint can be made, has also been expanded.   
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> For complaint against a Union Minister, the competent authority is the Prime Minister; for MPs, Lok Sabha Speaker or Chairman of Rajya Sabha; for lower court judges, the High Court of the state; for central or state government employees, CVC or state vigilance commissions.   
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> It provides for punishment for revealing the identity, either negligently or with malafide intention, of the person who reports matters regarding corruption by a public servant. 
</li>
</ul></div>

LS passes Whistle blowers' Protection Bill, 2011

Whistle blowers' Protection Bill, 2011 was passed by the Lok Sabha last night. It seeks to provide for setting up a regular mechanism...

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Iran threatens to close Strait of Hormuz

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> The Iranian Vice President Ali Rahimi has warned that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed off to oil shipments if the West increases sanctions against his country. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The statement has come at a time when Iran is conducting naval war games near the Strait of Hormuz.     
      
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> More than a third of the world’s tanker-borne oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Iran is the second largest producer and exporter of oil after Saudi Arabia in the region. 
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</ul></div>

Iran threatens to close Strait of Hormuz

The Iranian Vice President Ali Rahimi has warned that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed off to oil shipments if the West increases sanc...

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E-governance project helps check pension fraud

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> Mandya, a thriving agricultural town till the late 1980s, is set to change with the state government along with the Reserve Bank of India and IT services firm Ventura Infotech digitising the entire pension records and issuing smart cards to pensioners to plug the leakage.          
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> It is perhaps one of the biggest financial inclusion projects where technology can come to aid of thousands of old and poor farmers, widows and other rural pensioners. But that's only the first part.       
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> For the last-mile authentication and financial transaction, the state government has tied up with a Karnataka-based private bank. A bank correspondent will now be sent to each pensioner's house with a card-reader where the pensioner would swipe his smart card and give his thumb impression.  
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Once the bank receives the data at its central server, the amount would be credited to the pensioner's bank account. The system is expected to fight ground-level corruption by cross-checking the pensioner's identity against multiple database, making it difficult for any single agency or person to log false information.  
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The initial phase has already begun at Mandya Taluk where 52,000 beneficiaries have been photographed for smart card delivery and bank account opening. Physical verification of all pensioners eligible for benefits will now begin in the rest of the district.        
    
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Once successful, the project will be carried out in Bellary, Gulbarga and Chamrajnagar. The e-governance project is not the only technology pilot happening in Mandya. Last February, IBMResearch, the R&D division of IBM, started pilot projects for one of its initiatives called the Spoken Web in Mandya.  
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> According to IBM, the project aims to connect "billions of people without sufficient literacy, without regular access to a computer" with a voice-driven Internet that can be accessed through mobile phones. 
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</ul></div>

E-governance project helps check pension fraud

Mandya, a thriving agricultural town till the late 1980s, is set to change with the state government along with the Reserve Bank of Indi...

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China to build world’s highest airport in 2012

China to build world’s highest airport in 2012

China will construct the world's highest-altitude airport next year in Tibet, which will the sixth in the strategic Himalayan region....

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