26 November 2015

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Sexual harassment guidelines in varsities lack uniformity, says DCW  –   (Social Issues)

  • Of the total 101 sexual harassment complaints made to the Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) of 16 universities and institutes in Delhi since 2013, Jawaharlal Nehru University has received the maximum number of complaints — 51.
  • The data released by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) reveal that six of the 101 cases are still pending. Delhi University has not submitted its data and its registrar has been summoned by the Commission.

 

Pay panel proposals widen civil-military gap  –    (Governance)

  • In the military fraternity, already peeved over discrepancies in the implementation of the one rank, one pension (OROP) scheme, recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission have raised hackles.
  • After analysing the pay structures of civil and military officials, the commission observed in its report that, “In fact, the pay of defence service officers remains uninterruptedly higher for a 32-year period. Thereafter, pay of defence and civil service officers are at par.”

 

Can CMs be treated as public servants: plea in apex court  –    (Indian Pplity)

  • In what may impact the disproportionate assets case involving Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, the Supreme Court has agreed to settle the law on whether chief ministers or ministers of government can actually be treated as “public servants” on a par with government functionaries performing public duties.
  • The apex court wants to know whether it is repugnant to treat chief ministers and ministers on a par with other public servants on government roll, especially when no statute passed by the legislature has ever specifically defined them as one.

 

Mumbai, Paris, Nairobi: megacities hit by massive terror  –   (Security)

  • Pointing to several similarities between the Mumbai attacks in 2008, the Nairobi Westgate mall attack in 2013 and the recent Paris attacks, Kenya’s national counter-terrorism chief says the U.N. and NATO countries must drop “double standards” on terror.

 

Dangerous provocation  –   (International Relation)

  • The downing of a Russian plane by Turkey near the Syrian border is indeed a dangerous act that could escalate the already complex Syrian conflict into a much wider war. Ankara’s claim that it acted only to defend its territory because the Russian jet had violated its airspace is hardly enough reason to justify its ghastly act.
  • Turkey and Russia are not at war, and according to Ankara’s own version the Russian incursion lasted only 17 seconds. How did it pose a security threat? An airspace violation is not the rarest of the rare incident in the modern world; nor does every country use firepower to deal with such occurrences.

 

Victims of war, apostles of peace  –   (Social Issues)

  • It is ordinary people, NGOs, women’s groups, trade unions and ecology forums dreaming sustainability that have to lead the new discourses on peace.
  • As victims of genocide of different forms tell their stories, they bring out a new history of the oppression of women as the common refrain of genocidal actions in the 20th and 21st centuries. Yet, their message is one of peace as opposed to war and violence that emanates from present day leaders.

 

Russia to deploy missiles in Syria  –   (International Relation)

  • Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered state-of-the art air defence missile systems to be deployed at a Russian air base in Syria following the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkey, a move that raised the threat of a military confrontation between the NATO member and Russia.
  • The S-400 missile systems, which will be sent to the Hemeimeem air base in Syria coastal province of Latakia, located just about 50 km south of the border with Turkey, are capable of targeting Turkish jets with deadly precision. If Russia shot down a Turkish plane, NATO would be required to intervene.

 

2015 set to be ‘hottest year on record’, says UN  –   (International Relation)

  • This year is set to be the hottest on record and 2016 could be even hotter due to the current El Niũo weather pattern, the U.N. weather agency said on Wednesday.
  • The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said global average surface temperatures in 2015 were likely to reach what it called the “symbolic and significant milestone” of 1° Celsius above the pre-industrial era.

 

7.5% GDP growth will help boost business:Moody’s  –   (Economics)

  • “Healthy 7.5 per cent GDP growth for India for the fiscal year ending March 2017 (FY2017) and a pick-up in manufacturing activity will be broadly supportive of business growth,” said Vikas Halan, a Moody’s vice-president and senior credit officer.
  • Most non-financial corporates Moody rates in India (Baa3 positive) will benefit from strong domestic growth and accommodative monetary policy, although weak global growth and a potential U.S. rate hike will weigh on businesses, said Moody’s 2016 outlook presentation for Indian non-financial corporates.

 

U.S. consumer spending slows as household savings increase  –   (Economics)

  • Consumer spending in U.S. barely rose in October as households took advantage of rising incomes to boost savings to their highest level in nearly three years, pointing to moderate economic growth in the fourth quarter.
  • Anaemic consumer spending will probably do little to change expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month as other data on Wednesday showed a surge in business spending plans in October and a drop in new applications for unemployment benefits last week.

 

Corruption, bribery make up 25% of frauds in India: Kroll  –    (Economics)

  • Corruption and bribery account for more than 25 per cent of corporate frauds in India, according to a survey commissioned by New York-based risk consultancy firm Kroll Inc.
  • About 770 senior executives, working in domestic and multinational companies across industries worldwide, were interviewed and almost three-quarters of the executives said they had encountered fraudulent practices in their firms during the last calendar year.