Current Affairs 20 January 2014

Cross-LoC trade in J&K has been suspended

Cross-LoC trade in Jammu and Kashmir has been suspended after the police booked a driver from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir for carrying a sizeable quantity of brown sugar, a narcotic substance, and seized his truck seized at the Trade Facilitation Centre (TFC) Uri, even as PoK authorities allegedly held hostage 27 Kashmiri drivers and seized their vehicles.
On Friday, the customs authorities seized 114 packets of brown sugar, each weighing 1 kg, at TFC Salamabad (Uri), from a truck packed with a registered load of almonds.
The drug is worth Rs. 114 crore in the international underground market.
The driver, Mohammad Shafi Awan of Sirad Muzaffarabad, was taken into custody and booked under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

Taking forward its advisory to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry against giving Chinese companies exploration and production contracts for oil and gas blocks located close to the border with Pakistan, the Home Ministry said the possibility of terrorists and sea pirates targeting proposed oil installations in the Kerala-Konkan region cannot be ruled out, though there was no specific threat at the moment.
For blocks in the Mahanadi-NEC basin in Odisha, it said as sensitive DRDO installations were in close proximity to the proposed blocks, auction was not advisable.
The Ministry also wanted restrictions to be observed while giving out sub-contracts. “It would be pertinent to mention that these restrictions may be observed in respect of sub-contracts, leasing the work, consultancy, procurement of equipment and utilising services for repair and maintenance of the equipment too,” the advisory said.
The next round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) is scheduled to be unveiled next month.
The Home Ministry’s views came in response to an inter-Ministerial note by the Petroleum Ministry, seeking clearances for 55 to 60 blocks, which will be on offer to domestic and international players.

The UAE has decided to make military service compulsory for all adult males, but keep it optional for women. “ UAE’s Prime Minister revealed the decision on his official Twitter handle on Sunday.

A large blaze on Sunday raged through a historic village in western Norway, destroying many of its famed 18th- and 19th-century wooden houses and forcing the evacuation of local residents, police said.
The fire in the riverside village of Laerdalsoyri, some 200 km northwest of Oslo, began in a house on Saturday evening and was still not under control by midday Sunday, fanned by strong winds.
Laerdalsoyri is located in the West Norwegian Fjords area, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The age distribution of India’s population shows a young country, our so-called ‘demographic-dividend’. Yet, poor maternal and foetal nutrition, poor sanitation, open defecation, infections and diseases — such as diabetes in mothers — severely affect the development of India’s children.
The health of our young people is of great importance and will ensure their future as productive adults and healthy seniors.
The long-term consequences of early ill health can be severe. Recent studies point to the high prevalence of stunted growth of children in India aged 0-5 years. The frequencies are comparable to those in sub-Saharan Africa.
Research is also challenging the conventional belief that the brain is the organ least affected by early developmental problems stemming from nutritional deficits or diseases.
Importantly, the cognitive consequences of early developmental disorders can range from the mild to the severe. Many who do not show obvious impairment could be affected.
The frequency of severe cognitive disability may only indicate the more widespread range of less obvious impairments. Some of these can be manifested as more serious deficits or loss of cognitive abilities in later life.

Source :UPSCPORTAL