Friday 25 October 2013

World Health Days

World Health Days
Health Days List

Thursday 24 October 2013

Updated answer keys of UGC-NET exam held in June 2013

Marks list of UGC-NET June 2013 and Dec 2012

United Nations History

United Nations History

The United Nations was established to foster global peace, prosperity and justice. It has succeeded in its fundamental mission of preventing a third world war and improving global quality of life. But over the last 60 years, the UN’s mission and membership have been broadened dramatically. 

Great Moments in the UN's History:
1945: United Nations FoundedPresident Harry Truman, along with representatives from 50 other countries, signed the UN Charter in San Francisco, California.

1948: Universal Declaration of Human Rights SignedFirst Lady Eleanor Roosevelt personally helped prepare the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first document considered to have international normative value.

1950-1953: The Korean WarWith news that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) attacked the Republic of Korea (South Korea), the Security Council declared the attack to be a breach of peace and recommended that Member States make forces available to a UN Unified Command under the United States. In all, 16 nations supplied troops. UN agencies such as UNDP assisted South Korea in rebuilding and providing development assistance, allowing it to become one of the largest economies in the world today.

1960: 17 States Join the UN17 newly independent States, 16 from Africa, join the UN -the biggest increase in membership in any one year.


1962: Cuban Missile Crisis ResolvedUN Secretary-General U Thant is widely credited for having defused the Cuban Missile Crisis by interceding between U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Soviet General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, thereby avoiding a nuclear war.

1965: UNICEF Receives Nobel Peace PrizeUNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.


1968: GA Approves Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons General Assembly approves Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and calls for its ratification.


1972: First UN Environment ConferenceThe first UN Environment Conference is held in Stockholm, Sweden, leading to the establishment of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), headquartered in Nairobi.

1979: General Assembly adopts the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, covering political, economic, social, cultural and civic values.


1980: Smallpox Eradicated
A 13-year effort by the UN's World Health Organization resulted in the complete eradication of smallpox in 1980 — saving an estimated $1 billion a year in vaccination and monitoring.

1988: UN Peacekeeping Receives Nobel Peace PrizeUN Peacekeeping operations awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, at the time there were seven peacekeeping or observer missions in operation.

1992: "Earth Summit" HeldThe UN Conference on Environment and Development, the "Earth Summit", is held in Rio de Janeiro attended by leaders from over 100 countries, the largest intergovernmental gathering in history, resulting in Agenda 21, a plan of action for sustainable development.

1993: World Conference on Human Rights HeldThe World Conference on Human Rights is held in Vienna, which commemorated the International Year for the World's Indigenous People (1993).

1996: General Assembly Adopts Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban TreatyThe General Assembly adopted the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. This is a turning point in the history of efforts towards nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. The treaty was opened for signature on 24 September.

2005:  Humanitarian Response to the South Asian Tsunami Led by UNThe United Nations was credited with coordinating and leading the historic international relief effort in 12 countries undertaken in response to the 2004 South Asian Tsunami.

 
southsudan_702011:  UN Admits South Sudan as 193rd Member StateThe UN General Assembly admitted the Republic of South Sudan as the 193rd member state, welcoming the newly independent country to the community of nations.

 
- See more at: http://www.unausa.org/membership/una-usa-events/un-day/united-nations-history#sthash.ciMtybxF.dpuf

[IR-Person In News] President/PM of Foreign countries

[IR-PIN] Prez/PM of Foreign countries

Some carried forward from 2012’s news items:
African national congressPresident Jacob Zuma
African UnionNkosazana Zuma, first woman
Asian forum of parliamentariansRajyasabha Dy.Chairman PJ Kurien became its President
AustraliaPM Tony Abbott (liberal) defeated Kelvin Rudd (Labour)
BangladeshPresident Abdul Hamid.PM Sheikh Hasina (Awami League party)Speaker: Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury. First lady speaker in Bangladesh
Bhutan
  • King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck: was chief guest at 26th Jan parade in 2013.
  • PM Tshering Tobgay
  • Elections in Jul’13. India had provided EVM.
  • India stopped kerosense and LPG subsidy=bitterness
  • Bhutan has became first country of the world to ban pesticides and herbicide sale to become a 100% organic food growing country .
  • Currency swap agreement with India.
Boby GhoshNew editor of TIME international.
BrazilDilma Rousseff
Central African RepublicPresident Michel Djotodia belonging to Seleka rebels.
ChinaPrez Xi Jinping replaced Hu JintaoPremeir Li Kequiang replaced Wen Jiabao. Li also got Pakistan’s highest civilian award “Nishan-e-Pakistan”.
CongoMade peace agreement with M23 rebels.
CubaPrez Raul Castro Replaced Fidel Castro
Czech RepublicPM Milos Zeman. Capital Prague
EcuadorPresident Rafel Correa. Capital Quito
EgyptAdil Mansour interim prez after army threw out Mohd.MorsiMohd. El Baradei became VPPM: Hazem Al BeblawiTamarod campaign:Anti-Morsey campaign, massive street demonstration.
EUHerman Van Rompuy
FijiPresident Ratu Epeli NailatikauNew Constitution
FrancePresident Francois Hollander replaced Sarkozy
GermanyChancellor Angela Markel won again.
IOC, International olymic CommitteeThomas Batch (Germany) repalced Jacques Rogge.
IranPresident Hassan Rouhani. He replaced Ahmadinejad.Iran’s supreme leader: Ayatollah Khamenei.
Israel
  • Prez. Simon Peres
  • PM. Benjamin Netanyahu
  • Their parliament is called Knesset.
  • Stephen Hawkings boycotted academic conference in Israel to protest for Palestine.
ItalyPresident Giorgio NapolitanoEnrica Lexie: name of the ship from which two Italian marines killed Indian fishermen.
JapanPM Shinzo Abe. DyPM Taro Aso. Their parliament is called Diet
Japan has shut down all her nuke powerplant in Sep’13, because of the Fukushima disaster.
JordanKing Abdulla II setup parliament for his country.
KenyaPrez Uhuru Kenyatta
LiberiaPresident Ellen Johnson, had came to India
MalaysiaPM Najib Razak
MaldivesPresident Nasheed N Waheed replaced Nasheed after coup
MaliIbrahim Keita new President.Problem: Tuareg rebels.
MexicoEnrique Nieto
Myanmar
  • President Thein Sein
  • Government Signed peace treaty with Wa rebels
  • Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (National league for democracy)
  • Ceasefire with Kanchi rebels
N.KoreaKim Jong-Un
NepalKhil Raj Regmi
PakistanPrez Mamnoon Hussain replaced Zardari.PM: Nawaz Sharif (PML-N) party replaced Mir Hazar Khan Khoso
Fair trial bill 2012 in Pakistan. It allows intelligence agency to collect electronic data of citizens.
Mohhammed sarwar: Pakistani- Britain’s first muslim lawmaker. Served 3 terms as MP of Glasgow. Now Punjab province (Pakistan)Governor.
PalestinePres. Mahmud AbbasPM Salam Fayyad resigned.Became Observer state in UN
ParaguayPresident Horacio Cartes.Country admitted back in UNASUR
PopeBennedict XVI, German, Resigned.New Pope: Francis I, (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) first South American pope. He is from Argentina
Ramsar ConventionChristopher Briggs became the new Secretary-General
S.KoreaPresident Park Geun-Hye replaced Lee myung Bak. First Lady prez.
ScotlandWill hold referendum in 2014 to decide whether Scotland should get independence from rest of United Kingdom.
SrilankaMahinda Rajpakshe. He threw out CJI Shiran Bandaranyake. Gen.Sarath Fonseca was Ex-Was jailed after power struggle with President.
SyriaPrez Bashar Al AsadPM Wael Nader al-Halqi
ThailandYingluck Shinawatra, first lady PM
TunisiaPM Hamadi Jebali resigned after protests. Capital Tunis
UKPM David Cameron (Conservative)DyPM Nick Clegg (liberal democrats)Ex-PM Margaret Thatcher,Dead.Conservative Party. Known as Iron Lady.
UNSecretary General Ban ki Moon.
President for 68th session: John Ashe of Antigua.
Head of UN Women: Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka From south Africa.
VenezuelaPrez Nicolas Maduro after Huge Chavez died.
ZimbabwePresident Robert Mugabe won again. New Constitution approved. Now President can be elected for two 5-year terms only.

[IR] Summits/Treaties 2013/Controversies (for net aspirants of political science subject)

[IR] Summits/Treaties 2013/Controversies

Arctic councilIndia gets observer status
ASEAN human rights declarationIn Phnom Penh, Cambodia 2012
ASEAN summit
  • 2012: 21st ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh Combodia with theme:“ASEAN: One Community, One Destiny”
  • 2012: ASEAN – India Commemorative Summit 2012. To mark the 20th year anniversary of the ASEAN – India dialogue. Theme: ASEAN-India Partnership for Peace, Progress and Shared Prosperity.
  • 2013: 22nd ASEAN summit in Brunei, theme: Our People, Our Future Together.
BASIC ministerial meeting on climate changeChennai
BRICS 2013At Durban, S.Africa (5th Summit)Theme: BRICS and Africa: Partnership for development, Integration and industralizationeThekwini DeclarationDiscussed to create an infrastructure focused “development bank”
Convention on Biodiversity (CBD)Conference of Parties (COP)11th Summit in Hyderabad (2012)12th Summit in PyeongChang, S.Korea (theme = Biodiversity forSustainable Development)
Falkland islandsVoted for British rule
First Arctic SummitOslo, Norway
G20 summit2013: St.Petersburg, Russia2013: Finance ministers meeting held in Moscow, Russia2012: Los Cabos.
G8Lough Erne, N.Ireland. Theme: tax evasion and transparency
Global Arms trade treaty of UNIndia abstained from voting.
High seas conferenceParis
IBSA resolution for women empowermentIndia signed this.
Indian chapter of World Economic Forum sumitWill be held in Kochi, Kerala.
Indian ocean rimUSA became dialouge partner.
Indian ocean rimFirst economic and business conference held in Mauritius
IPCCIts fifth assessment report will come in 2014.
Mekong-Ganga SummitDelhi, Dec12
Minamata Mercury treatyIn Minamata city of Japan, to sign the world’s first legally binding treaty on mercury pollution under United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
National conference on E-governanceJaipur
NATOGeneral Joeseph Dunford (USA)Afghani forces tookover the security ops from NATO in June 2013.
Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas 2013Kochi, Kerala
Silk road festivalBamiyan, Afghanistan
Surajkund International Crafts Mela 2013Organized by Haryana government in Surajkund, Faridabad district. This year focus was Karnataka state.
Tokyo Summit’12In Tokyo for rebuilding of Afghanistan.
UN resolution on Death Penalty banIndia voted against
UN Resolution on Syria
  • 2012: new sanctions against President Bashar Al Assad’s regime= India voted favour of this.
  • 2013: for rapid progress on a political transition in Syria= India abstained from voting.
UNHRC resolution on Sri LankaCondemning Sri Lanka for violation against Tamil minorities. India voted against Sri Lanka.
WCIT-2012World Conference on International telecommunication @Dubai
WHO SEAROInternational conference for traditional medicine in south-east Asia was held in Delhi. Led to Delhi declaration.
Visits to India
  1. US Vice Prez Biden
  2. French President Hollande
  3. UK PM David Cameroon
  4. Egyptian President Morsi
  5. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang
  6. Liberian President Ellen Johnson
  7. Afghani President Hamid Karzai
Visits from India
  1. Pranab to Mauritius
  2.  PM Mohan to Japan, Thailand, Germany
  3.  PM Mohan to 68th Session of UN general assembly + Met Paki PM Sharif in Sep’13.
  4. AK Antony to Singapore, China
  5. PM to Russia and then China

Important Committees and Commissions in 2013

Committees Commissions Task forces

7th Pay CommissionTo revise salary of 80 lakh workers and pensioners. Its recommendations will be effective from January 2016.6th PC was formed in 2006.
Adi GodrejCorporate governance
Arvind Mayaram
  • FDI relaxation
  • to Define FDI and FII
Bimal JalanTo scrutinize application for New Bank Licenses
BK ChaturvediRevamping power sector
Restructuring of centrally sponsored schemes
ChinduGoM for CBI autonomy
Cyrus Mistry, Anil AmbaniAdvisory group for electricity sector. For power ministry
Dr. SarojIllegal sand mining by MoEF
JS MathurTo review the rate revisions of newspaper advertisements. By Ministry of information and broadcasting
Justice Bilal NazakiFunctioning of Haj Committee
Justice BN SriKrisha
  • Telengana
  • Financial sector legislative reform commission: to get the need of unifying SEBI, IRDA, PPFRDA and FMC into a single regulator
Justice DK Jain20th Law commission of India
Justice JS VermaDelhi Gangrape.Dead. was a part of the nine-judge bench in 1994 which gave the landmark verdict in the S R Bommai case relating to proclamation of President’s Rule under Article 356 of the Constitution in Karnataka. Presidential rule can be invoked only after parliament approval.Chief Justice of India,he was also a former Chairman of National Human Rights Commission. and the 1st Chairperson of News Broadcasting Standards Authority.
Justice Mukul Mudgal
  • IPL Spot fixing. Formed by SC
  • Walmart Lobbying, by Corporate Min.
Justice RC GandhiBy JK government for Kishtwar Communal riots
Justice Santosh HegdeJudicial Commission on Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA)  by SC
Justice Usha MehraFor probing lapses in Delhi Gangrape.
K RatnaprabhaIndecent Representation of Women in Media
K. Vijay RaghavanEvaluation of Research And Rankings of higher edu. Institutes
KK VohraBy RBI for loan products
MBN RaoFor setting up All-women’s bank
MudgalFor reviewing Cinematograph Act 1952. By Ministry of information and broadcasting
Nachiketi MorRBI Committee for FINANCIAL INCLUSION (financial services to small business)
Parthasarathi ShomeTax administration reform commission.
Raghuram PanelTo determine a new index of backwardness to see which states need special assistance. Most Developed: GOA,KERALALeast developed: ODHISSA,BIHAR.
Rangarajan
  • Gas princing, LNG imports
  • Sugar pricing
Ranjit RoychaudhariClinical trials, drug bans.
Sam PitrodaFor restructuring Prasar Bharti. By Ministry of information and broadcasting
Sanjay DhandeFor National Testing Agency (NTA) by HRD
SK RoongtaBy planning commission. For reforms in Central PSUs
Srikant MalteDhule Riots in Maharashtra
Vijay Kelkar
  • Fiscal consolidation
  • Energy security. By Natural Gas ministry
Virginius Xaxa
  • He is NAC member
  • Earlier Sacchar Committee was made for muslims, same way this Xaxa Committee is for tribals.
Yashwant SinhaParliamentary Standing Committee on Finance-Report on Guidelines of new banking licenses
YV Reddy14th Finance commission. Under Art280. He was ex-gov. of RBI

National Eligibility Tests: HC allows writ appeals by UGC

Kerala High Court allowed a batch of writ appeals filed by University Grants Commission (UGC) against a single judge verdict on change of criteria for National Eligibility Tests.

During the pendency of appeals, Supreme Court had upheld the UGC stand following which a division bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice K Vinod Chandran also upheld the claims of UGC.

Earlier, a single judge had set aside the change of criteria of NET examination of UGC.

Justice Chellur and Justice Chandran said the judgement shall be declaratory and applicable to all students, who appeared for NET exams during June 2012.

In March 2012, the UGC had called for applications for NET exam and in its notification it had prescribed the minimum marks for general category as 40 per cent in papers 1 and 2, and 50 per cent in paper 3.

OBC and SC/ST candidates were given a relaxation of five per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

After the test in June 2012, the UGC had added a clause prescribing 65 per cent aggregate marks in all three subjects for general candidates, 60 per cent for OBC and 55 per cent for SC/ST as final qualifying criteria.

Nearly 12,000 students approached High Court challenging change of criteria.

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