CURRENT AFFAIRS JULY 12, 2011

Naresh Chandra Task Force

Government to set up Task Force to review the existing National Security System

The Task force to suggest the measures to fortify the security machinery in the

non-conventional areas of the Country

The Task Force set up under the chairmanship of former Cabinet Secretary

Mr. Naresh Chandra

The members of the Task Force are:

Shri Naresh Chandra (Chairman)

Shri PC Haldar

Shri KC Verma

Admiral Arun Prakash, (Retd)

Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy, (Retd)

Lt Gen VR Raghavan (Retd)

Shri Brajeshwar Singh

Shri Vinod K Duggal

Shri G Parthasarthy

Dr Anil Kakodkar

Shri RV Raju

Shri D Sivanandan

Shri Suman K Bery

Shri Manoj Joshi

New Mines Bill to be introduced in the next session of Parliament

The Government likely to bring a New Mines Bill in the monsoon session of

Parliament

1. The proposed Bill to be sent for Cabinet approval

The Bill provides for sharing of profits and royalty with the project-affected people

2. The Draft Bill provides 26% profit sharing by coal mining companies and 100%

royalty sharing by others with project-affected people

3. The Bill also proposes to levy State and Central Cess on royalty paid by the miners

Mines Minister: Dinsha Patel

Ban on Exports of Non-Basmati Rice lifted by Government

Government lifted an over 3 year ban and allowed exports of 1 million tonnes of

non-basmati rice

The Ban lifted in the wake of overflowing godowns with bumper crop

Government godowns currently are overflowing with over 65 million tonnes of

food grains, while the storage capacity is only 62.23 million tones

The Agriculture Ministry has aimed at a total food grains output at 245 million tonnes for the 2011-12 crop year, as against 235.88 million

Current Affairs : July 12, 2011

2011-07-12 13:07:05 GKToday

www.gktoday.in

tonnes last year

Decision taken by EGoM (Empowered Group of Ministers) headed by Finance

Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee

A decision on allowing wheat exports was deferred

Background:-

Ban on non-basmati rice was imposed in April 2008 because of high

food inflation

Wheat exports have been prohibited since 2007

BRICS vows to assist World’s poorest nations

BRICS (The grouping of top 5 emerging countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) vowed to assist the World’s poorest nations

to fight disease and to improve access to low-cost and effective lifesaving medicines

BRICS’ cooperation will help build up public health systems

International agencies – WHO &UNAIDS and BRICS Health Ministers commended

India’s role in making quality, safe and effective drugs more accessible and

affordable globally

DG, WHO Dr. Margaret Chan praised India’s efforts when she stated that when

African countries wanted a meningococcal vaccine at a cost of not more than 50

cents, it was the Serum Institute of India which came forward and did the job.

She said: “All the major manufacturers of the world were approached by WHO but

could not meet the cost criteria, which was critical for the African countries. The

supply of this vaccine by India has saved hundreds and thousands of lives in low &

middle income African countries, where a person contracting meningitis often

means 4-5 months of a household’s income”

10 million people in Africa need food: World Food Programme

The World Food Programme expects 10 million people in need of food and as the

worst drought in decades continues to devastate the Horn of Africa

The drought centred in the triangle where the nations of Somalia, Kenya and

Ethiopia meet

The Drought produced a mass migration of starving citizens and created the

largest refugee camps in the world

International agencies face difficulties in providing aid to those who remain in

Somalia which lacks a functioning Government and whose territory is dominated

by the Islamist rebel group, al-Shabad

The core strategies behind WFP activities, according to its mission statement, are to

provide food aid to:

1. Save lives in refugee and other emergency situations

2. Improve the nutrition and quality of life of the most vulnerable people at critical

times in their lives

3. Help build assets and promote the self-reliance of poor people and communities,

particularly through labour-intensive works programmes

Drive to Fill backlog vacancies of Reserved Category by the Government

A drive launched by the Government to fulfil the backlog vacancies of Scheduled

Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs and Persons with Disabilities

All ministries and departments directed to fill up the vacant posts in these

categories by the end of March next year

Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension : Mr V.

Narayansamy

Centre curbs five-star meets, jaunts

In the face of amplifying inflation, the Government has resorted to the well-known

”tightening of the belt” as it declared a swing of ascetic measures that would cut

down extravagant expenditures by its departments

Government asked ministries and departments to restrict foreign travel and

refrain from holding meetings in five-star hotels

As per the official memorandum issued by the Finance Ministry:

1. The departments and ministries not to purchase new vehicles or create

new posts, except for organizations which are to be set up during the

course of the year

2. Officials not go abroad on study tours, workshops, conferences and

presentation of paper at government expenses

3. Only those whose visit is funded by sponsors would be permitted to

travel abroad

4. Holding of exhibitions, seminars and conferences abroad should be

strongly discouraged except in cases of exhibitions for trade promotion