Current Affairs- 17 January 2014

Rahul Gandhi would only lead the party

• The Congress decided that Rahul Gandhi would only lead the party in the general election, due in three months, after party president Sonia Gandhi rejected suggestions that he be named the prime ministerial candidate.
• The decision was taken at a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, ending a fortnight of speculation after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced on January 3 that he would “pass the baton” after the election.
• On Thursday, shortly after Ms. Gandhi made her opening remarks around 5.30 p.m. — half an hour after the draft resolution was distributed to members of the extended CWC — some senior leaders made a pitch for Mr. Gandhi being named as the prime ministerial candidate.

U.N. watchdog grills Vatican on child abuse

• The Vatican was on Thursday pushed for the first time to provide answers to the U.N. over its commitment to stamp out child sex abuse by priests.
• The landmark question-and-answer session before the U.N.’s child rights watchdog here came as Pope Francis said Catholics should feel “shame”, in an apparent reference to the scandals that have rocked the Church.
• Francis has vowed zero tolerance of abuse, setting up a special committee to investigate sex crimes, enforce prevention and care for victims.
• But top officials at the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child questioned the Vatican’s resolve.
• “The Holy See has not established any mechanism to investigate those accused of perpetrating sexual abuse, nor to prosecute them,” charged committee member Sara Oviedo.
• The Roman Catholic Church has been shaken by a decade-long cascade of scandals involving child abuse by priests and Catholic lay officials, from Ireland to the United States and Australia.

India not agree with Non-Discriminatory Access (NDA)

• India is not agreeable to the term Non-Discriminatory Access (NDA), suggested by Pakistan in lieu of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status.
• Instead, India has mooted in response to Pakistan’s request the term “Non-Discriminatory Market Access” (NDMA), Commerce Ministry officials told

India, South Korea sign nine pacts

• India and South Korea signed nine pacts aimed at imparting forward momentum to their bilateral ties that have seen intensification over the past four years.
• During a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting South Korean President Park Geun-hye here on Thursday, India assured her that work on the multi-billion-dollar Posco steel plant in Odisha would start in the coming weeks.
• Another forward looking aspect was exploring the possibility of setting up a Korean Industrial Park in India. South Korea is one of the few countries with a trade surplus with China and India’s intention is to not only to provide a new avenue for its industry suffering from sluggish growth in exports that account for half of the country’s GDP, but also get integrated in the global supply chain.
• The two sides also announced the conclusion of negotiations for revision of the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention.
• “President Park and I have agreed to set up a CEOs Forum comprising captains of the industry and commerce from both countries to provide us with new ideas for deepening our economic collaboration,” Dr. Singh said in his media statement.

Russia come closer with Iran, Syria

• Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the Iranian leadership for its role in getting off the ice talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.
• The Foreign Ministers of Russia, Iran and Syria held an unprecedented trilateral meeting here to fine-tune their positions ahead of Syria peace talks next week.
• The three ministers discussed “the situation in Syria and around it in the context of preparations for the Geneva-2 international conference opening on January 22,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
• The Iranian Foreign Minister and his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem arrived in Moscow on Wednesday on the same plane from Damascus where Mr. Zarif met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

More than 90% Egyptian in favor of new charter

• Egyptian voters overwhelmingly backed a new constitution that paves the way for the army chief to run for president, results showed on Thursday, but turnout figures will provide a key measure of his popularity.
• Initial tallies reported by state media gave 90 percent support for the new charter, which the military-installed authorities say provides greater protection for freedom of speech and women’s rights.
• The result of the referendum was always a foregone conclusion with the Muslim Brotherhood, designated a “terrorist organisation” by the government, calling for a boycott and little sign of a “No” campaign in the run-up to the vote.

Central government unveiled new policy guidelines for 12 major ports

• The Central Government, on Thursday, unveiled new policy guidelines for 12 major ports, a move that would allow the ports to leverage their land resources for commercial benefit.
• The guidelines, aimed at bringing transparency, were approved by the Cabinet on January 2, and were announced by Shipping Secretary Vishwapati Trivedi at a conference here on Thursday.
• The new guidelines will provide the necessary regulatory framework for land allotment by major ports across India. Mr. Trivedi said these guidelines had been drawn to help ports carry out leasing and licensing of port land in a transparent manner.
• Discretionary powers have been reduced and tender-cum-auction had been prescribed as the most preferred method of allotment, he added.
• The guidelines are expected to give a fillip to major ports and help them attract more business and make optimum use of their land resources.
• Major ports in India have, between them, 2.64 lakh acres of land. Though a major resource, the land utilisation has not been optimum and has often yielded lesser returns.
• The thrust of the new policy, therefore, has been on linking the value of land with prevailing market rates.
• Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) has about 741 acres for leasing purposes, including 70 acres of vacant land. A large part of the vacant land can be leased out now.
• MPT Chairman Rajeev Gupta could not quantify the financial gain, though he said that the port trust was currently getting lease rentals of Rs.120 crore.
• Similarly, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) can monetise 1976 acres outside the customs bond area, according to its Chairman-in-charge NN Kumar. “We don’t have much land inside the customs bond area and the new policy will help in increasing throughput. This policy has come at the right time and we will lease out most of the land outside the customs bond area and attract more port-related businesses to stay ahead in the race,” Mr. Kumar said.
• Under the new y guidelines, land can be allotted only through licensing in custom bond areas for only five years by inviting competitive bidding, while land outside custom bond areas can be leased through tender-cum-auction for 30 years.
• Source:UPSCPORTAL