Current Affairs US Announce Shutdown

Meaning of shutdown: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Federal employee will face unpaid furlough and missed paydays. Executive office will be reduced. US will stop publishing monthly economic data. National park would close. Defence departments civilian officer will be placed on unpaid leave and will halt military activity not critical to national security. In justice department officer will be furlough. In environmental and protection agency, only 93% will be on working. It announced on Oct 1, 2013, after 17 years. Obama called-off his Asia trip (and Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation). Cancellation came as boost to China. It strengthened its ties with Indonesia and Malaysia by signalling of investing billon of dollar in former and boosting military training in later. Earlier Obama has been cancelled his trip to these nation in 2010, first to stay in Washington for votes on his health care law and later because of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

On Oct 1, 2013, US announced shutdown because US constitution did not able to pass budget. Each year, the US budget ends at September 30, the house of Representation and The senate have to pass budget to fund services for next year, till 30 September separately. During shutdown period US Govt. has to cut all services but essential services like police, hospital, firefighting etc. Govt. furloughed many employees, closed park. If congress either do not able to persuade the both houses to pass budget or do not raise borrowing cap, it will run out to pay bill of daily services and it will impact its economy as well as world economy. Govt. might have to cut their spending. It could miss interest on treasury, held by bank, individuals and government worldwide. SC directives to Session court for rape trials 1. To conduct rape trials in day to day basis and complete the process in 2 months from date of commencement of examination of witnesses. 2. At any rate inconvenience of advocate is not a special reason for bypassing the mandate of section 309 of Crpc(power of court to adjourn) SC are distressed to note that the trial courts flout command with impunity. Even witnesses are present, cases are adjourned on trivial reason and flippant ground. Peace Process Roadmap announced by Kabul Govt. It consist of five point, outline the vision in which, by 2015, the Taliban, the Hizb-e-Islami and other armed groups will have given up armed opposition. A. Focus on securing Pakistans collaboration which would include Pakistan release specific Taliban detainee. B. Direct talk with Taliban, which Pakistan should facilitate in Saudi Arabia in mid-2013. C. Ceasefire and transformation of Taliban into a political party. Final step include peaceful end of conflict during first half of 2014 and move to sustain ling term stability in Afghanistan and the region.

Outcome of Meeting between Taliban and Kabul Govt. Taliban rejected further talk as long as foreign army remain of Afghanistan soil. Five point agenda peace process roadmap presented in meeting. Taliban rejected current constitution because it is written under shadow of US. They demanded constitution will be written by Afghanistan, on the base of principle Islam, national achievement, social justice, past achievement in free atmosphere. Significances of meeting: 1. NATO and US have given up objective of defeating Taliban 2. Afghanistan forces will be incapable of securing its border post-2014. Sbi launched Mobicash a mobile wallet It offer facilities like fund transfer, bill pay, mobile top-ups, DTH recharge, generate mini statement etc. It is prepaid account accessible over mobile phone, user need to recharge its wallet at Oxygen Outlets. Ban on Zero Interest EMI Rates by RBI 1. The interest rate is camouflaged. It is passed on customer as processing fees by banks offering zero percent EMI scheme on credit card outstanding for purchasing retail outlets. 2. Merchant charging processing fees which include interest. 3. RBI gave various reasons to support his move A. It will bring transparency in system and confidence in customer. B. Zero interest EMI scheme only served the purpose of alluring and exploiting the vulnerable customer

Home Minister Shinde sent letters to chief ministers cautioning against wrongful detention of innocent Muslim in name of fighting terror The unfortunate truth is Muslims are first to be picked in terror cases and what follows is illegal detention, torture, force full confessions, denial of bail and years of prison. Case after case has ended acquittal because of shoddy investigation but also often accused is not involved in terror in first place. The SC has laid down guidelines for detention, in D.K. Basu case, but they are in paper not implemented.

First-ever global deal struck on airline carbon emissions

A first-ever global deal on curbing the airline industry's rising carbon emissions was agreed Friday, the International Civil Aviation Organization said, though hammering out the details could take years. The full agreement is not scheduled to take effect until 2020 but the most contentious issues have been resolved, officials said, as the ICAO's full assembly met behind closed doors in Montreal. The deal "is an historic milestone for air transport and for the role of multilateralism in addressing global climate challenges," ICAO Council President Roberto Kobeh Gonzalez said in a statement. Air transport "now becomes the only major industry sector to have a multilateral global marketbased mechanism agreement in place to help govern future greenhouse gas emissions," he added. Leading up to the vote, China and India had joined the United States and Russia in balking at a European Union push for a carbon levy on flights within three years. But at midday (1600 GMT), after some 1,400 delegates representing 170 member states voted on the executive committee's resolution, officials said the plan had been passed and details of the accord would follow. "The good news is (in) having concluded a general agreement that includes China and India," a diplomat involved in the negotiations told AFP.

Aviation accounts for around three percent of global CO2 emissions but the ICAO forecasts that by 2050 emissions will have risen between four and six times the levels they were in 2010. Last year, the EU suspended its CO2 Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) for intercontinental flights, after facing a storm of criticism. Under the EU's ill-fated arrangement, airlines flying in EU airspace were required to buy pollution credits to cover 15 percent of their CO2 emissions for the entire flight, wherever it originated. Several nations rejected the scheme that threatened to tip into a trade war. The ICAO resolution "is a strong message to Europe after it lost three votes on its proposals," a negotiator said.

According to a draft text of the agreement submitted for consideration at the ICAO meeting, countries must agree by 2016 on a global market-based mechanism and reject all regional schemes, according to the negotiator. The measure is to be accompanied by a series of technical and operational steps to reduce emissions, said a European Commission statement. Specific proposals under consideration for curbing CO2 emissions include a carbon tax and a carbon trading system. The European Union would thus have to abandon its more ambitious ETS and adhere to the new global system for curbing greenhouse gases linked to global warming. Even so, European Commission Vice President Siim Kallas praised Friday's outcome. "I am very pleased that after long and hard negotiations we finally have a global deal on aviation emissions," Kallas said in a statement. "This is good news for the traveling public, good news for the aviation industry, but most importantly it is very good news for the planet," he said. Furthermore, he added, theEuropean Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard meanwhile congratulated the ICAO members. "After so many years of talks the ICAO has finally agreed to the first-ever global deal to curb aviation emissions," she said. In addition to the mechanism for curbing emissions, the accord also calls for promoting the use of better alternative aviation fuels and fuel-saving navigation. There is also an exemption clause that provides a "fair and equitable solution" for a number of countries facing "special circumstances or with limited capabilities," said the EU. deal averts a "damaging conflict among trading partners."

Food Security Bill

Ref-The Hindu OCT 8, 2013 WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo asserted that India would breach its commitment for Aggregate Measurement support (AMS) due to its food security programme. India asked to WTO to work out a solution as it was keen to win legitimacy for its ambitious food security law that promised highly subsidized food grains to rural and urban poor. He said the Bali Ministerial meet would look at how this permanent solution would come. The Peace Clause in Article 13 of the agreement on agriculture (AOA) has been there for nine years. India is open to accepting a Peace Clause as an interim mechanism till an acceptable final solution is arrived at. India is also ready to commit that procured food grains would not be released for international trade and the management of public stocks would be done in a transparent manner, the official said.

Threat of Cyclone Phailin in Odisha

Odisha has asked the collector of 14 district of coastal areas to remain alert as deep depression formed over Bay of Bengal could be intensified into cyclone. National disaster response team, Odisha disaster rapid action force, fire department have been directed to ready for recue and relief operation. Cyclone names Phailin is very severe could reach speed of 205-215 kmph. It is not only intense but large like the size of Katrina.There are five district (Srikakulam in AP and Gunjam, Puri, Khordha, Jagatsinghapur in Odisha ) are preparing for worst hit. The heavy rainfall has been started and people living near coastal advised to move higher ground. Govt.s holidays have been cancelled, people which had been on strike, returned to work. Govt. keeping choppers and food package ready for areas to be expected to be worst hit. In neighbouring Odisha state, Muslims and Hindus flocked to mosques and temples to pray Phailin would not wreak the kind of havoc left by a similar storm 14 years ago that killed 10,000 people. This is example of Hindu Muslim unity in danger. This time, however, the Odisha government said it was better prepared. Half a million people are expected to shelter in schools and other strong buildings when the storm hits, officials said. At least 60,000 people left their homes in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh on Friday

The weather department warned against extensive damage to mud houses, the major disruption of power and communication lines, and the flooding of rail tracks as well as escape routes set up to flee disasters, with flying debris another threat. Heavy rains left lush green fields sodden with water along the Andhra Pradesh coast. Cyclone Phailin, which made landfall with a windspeed of 200 kmph near Gopalpur town in Odisha on Saturday night, is likely to maintain the intensity of a very severe cyclonic storm for six hours, the IMD said. Gopalpur in Ganjam district was experiencing heavy rains and the cyclone is likely to move northwestwards across interior Odisha after about six hours bringing heavy to very heavy rain at some places in the state, it said. Squalls with wind speeds reaching 100-120 kmph would occur for another six hours which would lessen to 60-70 kmph in the subsequent six hours, it said. Extremely heavy rains would occur in Ganjam, Puri, Gajapati, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Bhadrak and Kendrapara districts on the coast during the next 48 hours, the IMD said. The sea off the coast would be lashed by waves 3.0 to 3.5 metre high which could inundate low-lying areas of Ganjam, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts, it said. The Great Danger Signal Number Ten was hoisted at Gopalpur and Puri and Great Danger Signal Number Nine at Paradip and Chandbali.
Around 3 to 5 lakh people is evacuated to safe place meant for cyclone shelter.

How they evaded from casualty As gusty winds of over 200 kilometers an hour and a very heavy downpour marked the onslaught of Cyclone Phailin on Saturday, India's preparedness to face one of the major disasters of the recent times seems to have evaded a major casualty. In one of the biggest evacuation programme in Indian history, over 5.5 lakh people were evacuated from Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to safer places. The massive evacuation programme was put in place two days ahead of the Cyclone Phailin hitting the Indian coasts largely because of the advance warning issued by the Indian Meteorological Department. Learning lessons from the recent Uttarakhand floods, the Indian authorities pressed all their might to ensure the safety of people living in the coastal belt of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. About 4,50,000 people were evacuated from Odisha and one lakh from three districts of Andhra. An alert was also issued for those who were not ready to move out. The government pressed into action some 18 helicopters and 12 aircrafts which were put on stand by to tackle any emergency situation. The administration, police, NDRF and the defence forces were made fully prepared to combat any challenge. The Government also identified some 600 buildings as cyclone shelters, and people were evacuated from areas near the coast, including Ganjam, Puri, Khordha and Jagatsinghapur Districts in Odisha. The Centre put all disaster preparedness measures in place so that the impact of the natural disaster is minimized, and urged the people living along the coast to exercise prudence. In the process, the NDRF deployed a number of teams both in Odisha and in Andhra Pradesh. In Odisha, 26 NDRF teams along with three on standby were deployed. In Andhra Pradesh, there were 15 teams of NDRF, with additional two on standby. There were an additional 30 to 25 teams, which could be deployed at short notice. Control rooms were set up within every Ministry, which would work around the clock. The Army deployed an engineering task force, six composite relief units, four columns in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The Air Force, on its part, put in place frontline C-17 Globemasters, C-130 J Super Hercules and IL-76 transport planes to Odisha to carry out relief operations. The Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy assumed the highest degree of readiness to render all necessary humanitarian assistance. Two Indian Naval ships, including the Landing Platform Dock INS Jalashwa were standing by to proceed with dispatch to the most affected areas of Odisha in the cyclone's aftermath. INS Jalashwa, the second largest combatant of the Indian Navy, is ideally equipped to undertake

Humanitarian Aid Distress Relief (HADR), evacuation, logistic support and hospital ship operations. Both the ships were poised with additional divers, doctors, inflatable rubber boats, integral helicopters and relief material that include food, tentage, clothes, medicines, blankets etc, in quantities sufficient to sustain over 5000 personnel for three days. Six advance diving teams with inflatable boats, rescue material and satellite communication left for Odisha by road to operate from INS Chilka, 50 km north of Gopalapatnam, where the cyclone was expected to make landfall. These personnel were assisted by four platoons from the local naval station and doctors from INHS Nivarini in their rescue and relief efforts. The Eastern Naval Command was monitoring the developments closely and was in constant communication with the state administration to augment rescue and relief operations. Six helicopters were standing by at the Naval Air Station INS Dega to undertake reconnaissance, rescue, casualty evacuation and air drop of relief material to the stranded. Additionally, the telecom department also prepared itself to ensure that communication links are stable during the expected disaster. The Indian Railways cancelled 99 trains and also short terminated and diverted a number of trains in view of the sever Cyclone Phailin to evade any casualty. With the combined coordinated efforts of disaster management, Indian Meteorological department, police, CRPFs personnel and state and center Govt. there was negligible loss to life, but loss to property was huge. 5 lakhs house had been partially or completely hit, boat had been destroyed, and small shop had been destroyed, small marginal fisherman had lost their occupation and their home because their small boat and home had been shattered. Electricity and mobile wire were snapped and restoration would take 2 to 3 weeks may be more. State has provided food to every person. Tents, plastic sheets are being provided. After effects of cyclone- heavy rain and floods took 27 lives of person and made rescue operation difficult.

Libyan Pm Ali Zeidans Kidnaping

Libyan PM had been kidnapped and held for several hours by former militiamen on OCT 10, 2013 angry at the weekend captive by US Special Forces, of a Libyan al Queda suspect in tripoly. His brief detention was the latest of many incidents that demonstrate Libya's post-Gaddafi turmoil. Its vulnerable central government and nascent armed forces are struggling to contain rival tribal militias and Islamist militants who control large parts of the country. Zeidan had distanced his government from U.S. assertions it had cooperated in Saturday's capture of Abu Anas al-Liby, wanted for the al Qaeda bombing of the U.S. embassy in Kenya in 1998. But the group which seized the premier appeared to hold him responsible for helping Washington's operation.

The Standard model of Physics

The Higgs Boson Bio toilet

Bio toilet convert human excreta into water and gases (CO2, Methane) using inoculums bacteria. The colony of anaerobic bacteria collected from Antarctica and analysed in extreme harsh condition. The gases emit into the atmosphere and water after chlorination is discharged. It check unhygienic condition and corrosion. This is environmental, robust and easy to install technology. It will stop work when it is chocked by plastic bottle, paper napkin, paper cup, etc.

Nobel Prize
Canadian Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for Literature on Thursday for her tales of the struggles, loves and tragedies of women in small-town Canada that made her what the award-giving committee called the "master of the contemporary short story.

Telangana Issue
The States Reorganisation Commission, appointed in December 1953 to recommend the reorganisation of state boundaries, was not in favour of an immediate merger of Telangana with Andhra state, despite their common language. With the intervention of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Telangana and Andhra states were merged on November 1, 1956. Nehru termed the merger a "matrimonial alliance having provisions for divorce". The State Reorganisation Report of 1955, which brought the merger into effect, said that the existing Andhra State had faced financial problems of some magnitude ever since it was created. Besides, in comparison with Telangana, the existing Andhra State had a lower per capita revenue. Telangana, on the other hand, was much less likely to face financial embarrassment, the report noted. The report also strongly notes the dissent of the people of the Telangana region and their unwillingness to form the larger Andhra Pradesh. Why are odds still stacked against Seemandhra? Seemandhra (Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema) is a poor cousin of Telangana, which is rich in industry and, more primarily from a southern perspective, water. Of the three regions of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana has the largest area (114,800 square kilometres). The Deccan Plateau has two major rivers - the Godavari and Krishna. Of this, Telangana alone has some 69 per cent of the Krishna river and 79 per cent of the Godavari catchment area. Besides, Telangana is also drained by minor rivers such as Manair, Bhima, Dindi, Kinnerasani, Manjeera, Munneru, Moosi, Penganga, Praanahita, Peddavagu and Taliperu. And if we did not have enough water disputes south of Vindhyas, expect more than ever once the two warring cousins (Telangana and Seemandhra) are born. Besides, 20 per cent of India's coal deposits, 45 per cent of Andhra's forest area and 41.6 per cent of AP's population are in Telangana.

In a way, things have come a full circle. After 57 years of merger, Telangana is all set to go its own way. However, the loss of Telangana which is rich in natural resources and has filled the combined state's treasury thus far is still too big for Seemandhra. In a way, after nearly six decades of spoonfeeding, the new state being born is actually Seemandhra, not Telangana. For the Congress, Telangana was their trump card. Telangana has 17 Lok Sabha seats and 119 Assembly seats (AP has a total of 294 Assembly seats). If there is a Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)-Congress coalition/merger, it can aspire to the magic figure of 60 Assembly seats and 12-14 LS seats here. However, all depends on the TRS support. The TRS leadership has been approached by BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who is also in touch with the TDP. In Seemandhra, which has 25 LS seats and 175 Assembly seats, the simple majority is 80. The Congress currently holds 97 seats here but a Jaganmohan Reddy sweep has been forecast here long. In the emerging scenario, the Congress seems to have lost the plot here.

MPs Ratangarh Temple miss happening

There was a stampede on a bridge near Ratangarh Temple, MP.s Datia district on the day of Dussehra, OCT 13, 2013. Over 115 pilgrims lost their life, several injured. There is allegation of lapses of service by officers who were on charge. Chief Minister has announced compensation to victim and ordered judicial probe against role of police and officers in handling the gathering. This is another tragedy and another example of indifference of administrative officers, police personnel after stampede on Railway Bridge of Allahabad Railway Station during Mahakumbh. Various rumours came out to surface. Witness told there was rumour that a part of bridge was about to collapse. Some have alleged that police personnel had spread the news. Some personnel snatched the jewellery and throw the dead body into the river. The district collector left the site without handling over the charge to his deputy. 21 persons have been suspended.

First past the post system

After 15 elections to the Lok Sabha and an equal (if not more) number of elections to the State Legislative Assemblies, the debate on the suitability of the First Past the Post (FPTP) system is still very much alive. Advocates of a Proportionate Representation (PR) system argue that the nature and structure of political/party competition make it the appropriate moment to abandon the FPTP system and adopt a PR system. The supporters of FPTP system would, on the other hand, assert that contemporary developments in Indian politics bear testimony to the success of the present electoral system and has permitted the representation of diverse political interests and varied shades of political opinion. The fact that representatives of 39 different political parties sit in the Lok Sabha today, reflects the

authentic multi-party system that has emerged in the country today under a FPTP electoral system. The FPTP system is closely linked with the Westminster form of parliamentary democracy. Under this system, a winning candidate in an electoral constituency wins the election merely on account of polling the highest number of votes. In a multi-party contest in a constituency, votes are often split between different candidates, resulting in the winning candidate securing less than fifty percent of the votes polled. An individual is thus declared as elected from a constituency to represent the electorate even though she/he has not secured a majority of the votes but merely the highest number of votes. In the recent past, Lok Sabha elections have seen a large number of elected MP's winning by less than fifty percent of the votes. This is not the only anomaly of the FPTP system. Another consequence is the wide gulf between the percentage of votes polled by a party in a particular election and the percentage of seats it secures. The party/alliance which emerges as the ruling party, having secured a majority of the seats, rarely gets above fifty percent of the votes polled. In the last 15 Lok Sabha elections, no ruling party/ alliance has secured a majority of the votes. The closest a ruling party came was in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections, when the Congress secured secured 49 percent of the votes polled and managed to win 79 percent of the seats (404 out of 514). Does this fact justify the demand for replacing the FPTP system with an electoral framework that helps mirror the voter`s choice more effectively? It is in this context that the Proportionate Representation (PR) system is advocated. An equally critical issue that needs to be addressed is whether a PR system would bring in its wake a new set of challenges that the electoral/ political system will need to additionally confront? Ever since the 1990s, with the emergence of a competitive multi-party system in India, not only has the number of state based parties in the Lok Sabha increased, their share in the number of seats has also gone up. If in 1989, the number of Lok Sabha members who did not hail from the national parties stood at 46, it has risen to 174 in 2004 and 158 in 2009. Many had argued that the FPTP system would discourage smaller parties without an All India presence from establishing their presence. However, in the Indian context, it has proved to the contrary. Since the 1990s, smaller state based parties have used the FPTP electoral system to register a significant presence at the national level. The reasons for the same are seen in the nature and structure of the electoral contest in India. The FPTP system has allowed the dynamics of political competition at the state level to be successfully mirrored at the national level. It can be argued that most states in India, have a stable bi-party system or bi-polar alliance system. This can be gleaned from the fact that in 22 of the 28 states, the ruling party/alliance and the principal opposition party/alliance secured over two thirds of the votes in the last state assembly elections held. This is a reasonably high percentage of polarization in a FPTP system. It implies that there is a clear polarization of choice that voters make in the state elections. What appears to have clearly emerged in the recent past is a clear bi-polar alliance system in most of the states. This can be clearly concluded if one looks at the 2009 federal poll as 28 different elections held in 28 different states. In the 2009 Lok Sabha poll, in more than half the states (15 of the 28) the two major parties/alliances in the electoral contest secured more than eighty percent of the valid votes polled. In another nine states, the two major alliances/parties secure over two thirds of the valid votes polled. In only four states was there a truly multi polar contest at the state level.

Thus, the states of India have emerged as the true 'centre' of politics as is clearly evidenced from the bi-polar alliance system that exists in most of the Indian states in a Lok Sabha election. The political trends of the last two decades indicate that the FPTP system has allowed the electoral outcomes to mirror ground reality. The present FPTP system has allowed for the multi-track diversity in the political/electoral system to find a legitimate expression which other alternatives may not so effectively achieve.