Current Affairs – June 11, 2011

New Framework guidelines for Eco-tourism

• The Ministry of Environment and Forests has come up with a detailed set of framework guidelines for eco-tourism, in which it asks the state Governments to check unplanned tourism in and around natural eco-systems in the country.
• The states have been asked to prepare site-specific eco-tourism plan for each of the protected area. Further, the guidelines also have asked the states to levy local conservation cess on all the privately run tourist facilities within 5 kms of the boundary of the protected area.
• All states have been asked to notify their own State-level Eco-tourism Strategy by December 31 , 2011 and place the same in the public domain in local languages.
• The temple boards of pilgrimage sites located in Protected areas have been asked to give a minimum of five percent of their gross revenue for development of local communities through the Panchayat and Gram Sabha.

Indian Delegation reaches Sri Lanka for talks on Tamil rehabilitation

• A high level Indian Government delegation has reached Sri Lanka to discuss an array of bilateral issues with the Sri Lankan Officials.
• The most important issues between India and Sri Lanka at the moment are :
  • Progress in the rehabilitation of war affected Tamils in the northern province
  • Devolution package based on 13th amendment of the Constitution of Sri Lanka.
  • Reconciliation process with the Tamils.
• The Indian delegation has the following people:
  • Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao
  • Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar
  • National Security Advisor, Shiv Shankar Menon.
• Apart from a meeting with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the delegation is also expected to have meeting with representatives of Tamil parties and the opposition groups in Sri Lanka.

MF Hussain laid to rest

• Renowned painter Maqbool Fida Husain , who died recently at the age of 95 was laid to rest at the Brooklyn cemetery, Woking in London.

40% Rise in Cotton Acreage in Country

• As per the latest data released, Cotton has been sown in 20.14 lakh hectares of area as compared to 14.41 lakh hectares last year, which records a 40% rise in the acreage under cotton cultivation in the country.
• Sugarcane has been planted in 50.44 lakh hectares of area till date as compared to 48.63 lakh hectares at this point of time last year, showing 4% rise.

India’s 1st Senior National Hockey Championship    

• Hockey India’s first Senior National Hockey Championship (Men) 2011 has started in Bhopal .
  

Rajanarasimha is the new Deputy CM of Andhra Pradesh:

• Andhra Pradesh Higher Education Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha was elevated as Deputy Chief Minister of the state.
  
• The 53-year old Congress leader from Telangana region, also holds the charge of Agriculture as an additional Portfolio at present has held important portfolios in the last three cabinets in the state.
  

Haryana Government bans Maruti Strike

• The state Government of Haryana passed prohibitory orders to impose a ban on the strike in Maruti Suzuki India.
  
• The state government has also referred the matter of the employees’ strike to the local labour court under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
  
• The Manesar plant has been chanced upon with the strike, in which some 2,000 workers gone off the work , leading to a production loss of about 800 units a day. This strike is in 7^th day on June 11, 2011 and till now the reported loss is around 270 Crore Rupees.

New IIP Index

• The CSO has launched a new series of India’s Index of Industrial production (IIP).
• The Base Year of the new IIP is 2004-05 and it comprises 682 items.
  
• As per India’s Chief Statistician T C A Anant, the new IIP index will give a better picture of growth in various sectors of the economy because it is more broader.
  
• The base Year till now was 1993-94 and it was not usable as the list contained an array of outdated items such as typewriters and tape recorders.
  
• The new list contains some new items such as cell phones and ipods also.
  

What caused E. coli outbreak in Germany?

• The German officials have held contaminated sprouts as source of E. Coli, which claimed the live of 30 people and affected more than 2800 people recently.
  
• The above conclusion was stated by the head of the Robert Koch Institute, Mr. Reinhard Burger, who initially pointed the source among the Spanish sprouts and vegetables.
  

V for Peace-n-Harmony

• Volunteers for Peace and Harmony (V for Peace-n-Harmony) has been launched by National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH) with an aim to create a network of volunteers.
• The programme in inspired from the Gandhism and the event coincides with 10th anniversary of international year of volunteers (IYV-2001) being celebrated by the United Nations.

Demand to rename Dadar Junction as Chaityabhoomi

• Nationalist Congress Party, which is partner in Maharashtra’s ruling coalition, puts a demand to rename Mumbai’s major railway junction at Dadar as Chaityabhoomi in honour of late Dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar.
  

Women in Indian armed Forces

• The 1.4-million-strong armed forces have about 2,000 women officers in their ranks. The army counts 2.5 percent women in its ranks, the navy 3 percent and the IAF over 7 percent.

What is Goondas act?

• The Goondas act is related to the Union Territory of Pondicherry. It was given assent by the President on 2010, and the state officials have now made the first arrest under this act, which is now being implemented in the Puducherry and Karaikal regions.