Current Affairs February 4, 2010

Appointments / Elections:
Ashwini Sharma: BJP Chief Punjab

Ashwini Sharma is elected unopposed president of the Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Events, Happenings & Observances:
World Cancer Day:
Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world. WHO estimates that 84 million people will die of cancer between 2005 and 2015 without intervention. February 4, every year is observed as “World Cancer Day’ supported by WHO. The theme this year is “Cancer can be prevented too”, focuses on simple measures to prevent cancer such as: no tobacco use , a healthy diet and regular exercise, limited alcohol use , protection against cancer-causing infections.

World CEO Forum 2010
Recognizing the increasingly important role played by the business sector in transforming the world economy, and its stakes in sustainable development, TERI- BCSD India, in association with the WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development ) Geneva organized the
World CEO Forum 2010 on 4 February 2010 at Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi. ‘Vision for a Sustainable Tomorrow- Business as a Game Changer’ was a seminar where IPCC chief R K Pachauri calls upon the tycoons of Indian trade and industry to opt decisively for solar energy if sustainable future has to be ensured.

90th Anniversary Celebrations of International Labour Organization (ILO)
The International Labour Organization (ILO) deals with labour issues and is a specialized agency of the United Nations with its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. ILO is the winner of Nobel Peace Prize in 1969. It was established as an agency of the League of Nations following the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles is one which ended World War I.

India has been one of the founder members of ILO and over the years, the mutual relationship has been very meaningful.

Awards & Honors:
Delhi Government Rs. 5,00,000 Cash award to Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu
Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu, who became the first Indian woman to ski to the South Pole in 2009 is selected for Rs.5-lakh award by the Delhi government.
Delhi-based Dharmashaktu, a 38-year-old mountaineer and outdoor instructor, was part of an all-women expedition that skied for nearly eight-nine hours daily for 40 days, braving chilly winds, sub-zero temperatures, the vast emptiness of Antarctica and carried 80 kg of load on their backs to reach the South Pole Dec 31, 2009.

National Updates:
Last member of an Andaman tribe dies
Boa Sr, the last member of a unique tribe has died. She was special because she was the last speaker of ‘Bo’, one of the 10 Great Andamanese languages. The language Bo has lived in the Andaman Islands for as much as 65,000 years, making them the descendants of one of the oldest human cultures on Earth.

Combined Gradual Level Examination 2010:
The Second administrative Reforms Commission (2nd ARC) has made extensive recommendations in its report on SSC’s selection process in order to enable it to complete the recruitment cycle within reasonable time. Its major recommendation was to have a single short listing examination for posts for which graduation is the minimum educational qualification, in order to obviate the need for holding multiple examinations. Extensive use of objective type testing was also recommended in order to cut down the delay in evaluation, to eliminate bias and to infuse further objectivity into the selection process.

In this process, SSC is going to hold Combined Graduate level Examination 2010 which marks the commencement of Examination Reforms in the Commission. This test replaces the five earlier examinations- Combined Graduate Level Examination, Tax Assistant Examination, Sub Inspectors in Central Police Organizations Examination, Statistical Investigator Gr II Examination, and Compilers in RGI Examination. Its going to be a two tier selection process. All papers will have only objective type multiple choice questions, amenable to machine scanning and quicker and more objective evaluation.

The benefits of this restructured examination will be faster completion of recruitment cycle, quicker selection and early placement.

Special Initiatives of Ministry of Environment & Forests:
some specific initiatives of Ministry of Environment & Forests, which have been announced as a series of measures to strengthen the scientific base underlying the activities of the Ministry. Some of them are as follows:

Business & Economy:
Anti dumping duty on carbon black
India Government imposes anti-dumping duty of ranged between Rs.4 to Rs.20 per kilogram of imported carbon black for 5 years as carbon black
from Thailand, China, Russia and Australia was being sold to Indian companies below their normal value.

What is antidumping duty?
When any country exports any article to India at less than its normal value then upon the importation of such article to India , Govt. may be notification in the official gazette impose an anti dumping duty not exceeding the margin of dumping in relation to such article.

Who identifies the dumping?

For purpose of identification, assessment and collection of Anti Dumping Duty on dumped articles and for determination of injury, the Govt. has appointed Additional Secretary to the Govt. of India Ministry of Commerce as designated Authority for purpose of above rules.

How does it help?

The government imposes anti-dumping duties on various products including chemicals, yarns and certain aluminum items to prevent cheap imports that hurt domestic producers. It is to be understood that imposition of Anti Dumping Duty is based on Commodity to Commodity, country to country and suppliers in Exporting countries.

Yahoo Hotjobs! sold
Yahoo! HotJobs, formally known as hotjobs.com, is an online job search engine. It was acquired by Yahoo! in 2002 and since then it has been re-branded as Yahoo! HotJobs. It provides tools and advice for job seekers, employers, and staffing firms. It has been now sold to Monster.com on February 3, 2010. This deal was worth $225 million (£141.58 million).

CPCB survey – highest e-waste producing city, Mumbai
As per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)’s survey Mumbai tops the list of electronic waste producing cities in the country. Delhi was placed second in the list. Top ten cities generating e-waste are Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmadabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Surat and Nagpur.

India & World:
World’s smallest ECG Machine:
15th annual conference of the Indian Academy of Echocardiography, which is scheduled to held in Goa in February 2010 is going to showcase world’s smallest echo-cardiogram (ECG) machine manufactured by Phillips. Alabama-based Dr Navin C Nanda, who is known as the father of echo
cardiography in the world of medicine
is also expected to take part.

India-Hungary social security agreement
Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai sign at Budapest, a social security agreement Read here

Dalai Lama’s donation to Haiti Victims:
The Dalai Lama has made a donation of Swiss Francs 100,000 to facilitate relief efforts in Haiti through the International Red Cross Committee in Geneva.

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