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Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 05-12-15
S.NO. NEWS ITEM
SYLLUBUS
1.
Syrian invite for a) I.R
Sushma hints at
Delhis role in
peace talks (Pg12)
2.
Draft Paris pact a) International
stresses voluntary
contributions
(Page 14)
3.
Funding holds the a)
key at Paris (Page
10)
International
4.
Gates sceptical of a)
solar, wind power
(Pages 1 and 13)
International
5.
Fighting IS with
air strikes alone
(Page 10)
a)
International
6.
Pak is giving
a)
Taliban leadership
to Haqqanis (Page
14)
International
7.
China
a)
consolidates in
Africa following b)
$60 billion pledge
(Page 16)
NDA plans fresh a)
talks with
Opposition on
b)
GST (Pages 1, 12)
International
8.
9.
10.
Economy
National
Polity
A third of Indias a)
soil degraded:
experts (Page 13) b)
National
Preserving
a)
Bishnupurs
heritage (Page 20) b)
National
Geography
History
ESSENCE OF THE ARTICLE
a) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj (who has
visited several Arab countries in the past) has now been
invited to war-torn Syria.
a) In a clear signal that active diplomacy is at work to
forge an agreement in Paris based on voluntary pledges,
one that is subject to transparent monitoring, India said
that it was ready for a regime of stocktaking of future
carbon emissions.
a) As the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases
among individual countries, India is under pressure at the
Paris Climate Change conference to commit itself to a
future trajectory of low emissions.
a) Lauding India for doubling its funding for research
and development of climate change technology, the
former Microsoft CEO and co-founder of worlds biggest
charitable foundation Bill Gates said technological
innovation was the only way to fight climate change.
a) With British jets having started bombing IS locations
in Syria, four of the five permanent members of UNSC
have formally joined the war against the jihadist group.
a) According to Amar Sinha (Indias Ambassador in
Kabul), the ongoing peacemaking attempts between
Pakistan and the Taliban factions might end up with the
Haqqanis emerging as the leaders of the Taliban.
a) China is set to expand investments in Africa that
would help absorb its excess manufacturing capacity as
part of an effort to re-engage with continent and integrate
it within its Belt and Road connectivity framework.
a) Armed with Chief Economic Adviser Arvind
Subramanians report on the revenue-neutral rates for the
GST regime, the NDA govt will initiate fresh talks with
Congress and other Opposition parties early next week.
a) A third of Indias soil was degraded, and this could
cast a shadow on the sustainability of agriculture in near
future.
a) Anthropologists tracing and documenting the
cultural history of the temple town of Bishnupur in West
Bengals Bankura district have found a new dimension to
1
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 05-12-15
its cultural heritage presenting a unique amalgam of the
Kalinga school and the prevalent Bengal architecture.
S.NO. NEWS ITEM
SYLLUBUS
1.
Syrian invite for a) I.R
Sushma hints at
Delhis role in
peace talks (Page
12)
BACKGROUND
a) India – Syria
relations
b)
Syria crisis
c)
Islamic State (IS)
IMPORTANT POINTS
a) External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj (who has
visited several Arab countries
in the past) has now been
invited to war-torn Syria. She
met Syrian Foreign Minister
Walid al-Moualem in New
York during the UN session and
the two representatives
exchanged invitations.
b) Official said regional and
national reconciliation can take
place only if terrorism in Syria
is eliminated. No political
process can be realised without
elimination of terrorist groups
because they threaten not just
Syria but the entire world as the
recent attacks in Sinai, Beirut,
Tunis and Paris have shown.
c) Criticising the govt of
Recep Tayyip Erdogan of
Turkey for shooting down a
Russian fighter plane, he said
externally-imposed terrorists
were encouraged and equipped
by Turkeys present ruling elite.
She said that continuous
military support from Syrias
enemies has emboldened the
Islamic State which has now
gone out of control.
d) Calling for peace through
an honest international
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Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 05-12-15
mechanism, he said all Arabs in
the West Asian region are in
agreement over the need to end
civil war in Syria but blamed
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar
for fomenting the war in Syria.
2.
Draft Paris pact a)
stresses voluntary
contributions
(Page 14)
International
e) Targeting hostile regional
powers, she said that they have
wronged Syria, Yemen, Iraq
and the Arabs living in all West
Asian countries.
a) Paris Climate
a) In a clear signal that active
Summit 2015
diplomacy is at work to forge
an agreement in Paris based on
b) Climate change
voluntary pledges, one that is
subject to transparent
c) Carbon emissions
monitoring, India said that it
d) Intended Nationally was ready for a regime of
Determined Contributions stocktaking of future carbon
emissions.
(INDCs)
e) UN Framework
Convention on Climate
Change conference
(UNFCCC)
f)
Kyoto Protocol
b) Indias first INDCs are for
the 2021-2030 period, and it
would prefer a review after that.
c) However, India is not in a
position to fix a target year for
peaking of carbon emissions
because of the current state of
its development. The Centre
had engaged several technical
institutions to do modelling
studies, but they could not
identify a likely peaking date
due to uncertainty.
d) The US (which did not
ratify the Kyoto Protocol that
fixed quantified emissions
reductions) would like to have a
transparency regime in the Paris
3
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 05-12-15
agreement that would build
trust.
e) The draft Paris agreement
has controversial optional text
which says all parties to the
UNFCCC who were in a
position to do so should provide
assistance to developing
countries in the area of finance,
for mitigation and adaptation.
3.
Funding holds the a)
key at Paris (Page
10)
International
a) Paris Climate
Summit 2015
b)
Climate change
c) Greenhouse gases
(GHGs)
d)
Global warming
g)
Kyoto Protocol
f) India joined China and the
Arab group led by Saudi Arabia
in calling for exclusion of
substantive recommendations
on keeping global temperature
rise to below 1.5 degrees C
made by a review panel under
the Structured Expert Dialogue
system of UNFCCC, in the
submission to the CoP21
negotiating parties.
a) As the third largest emitter
of GHGs among individual
countries, India is under
pressure at the Paris Climate
Change conference to commit
itself to a future trajectory of
low emissions.
b) All countries with a
e) Intended Nationally significant role in accumulation
Determined Contributions of atmospheric CO2 (which
leads to global warming) have
(INDCs)
made voluntary pledges that are
f) UN Framework
aimed at the stabilisation of
Convention on Climate global temperature rise below 2
Change conference
degree Celsius.
(UNFCCC)
c) Indias own INDCs promise
to reduce emissions intensity of
4
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 05-12-15
its GDP by 33 to 35 percent by
2030, over 2005 levels. A base
agreement of this coalition of
the willing is now possible at
the UNFCCC, but problems lie
ahead.
d) Among the contentious
issues is monitoring and
verification of performance,
which would inevitably be
linked to grant of funding that
is vital to help affected
communities adapt to the
impact of climate change.
e) It is vital that India continues
its strong cooperation with the
G77+China bloc, which has
been aggressively pursuing the
principles of equity and
differentiated responsibilities,
and simultaneously engage the
developed world as the
negotiations move into the
high-level segment next week.
f) The dichotomy of ambitions
on halting dangerous climate
change has been evident at
Paris, with the most vulnerable
island states and the least
developed countries expecting
rising targets for emissions cuts
to keep global temperature rise
below 1.5 degree Celsius, and
liberal funding from rich
nations.
g) India also has to contend
with the growing movement to
persuade investors to withdraw
5
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 05-12-15
from companies using polluting
fossil fuels including coal, and
tax these fuels at higher rates to
consumers. Moreover, although
it has the largest emissions,
China has won plaudits with its
pledge to peak coal use in 2020,
and all GHGs by 2030,
something that India cannot.
h) However, for developing
countries in Paris, the real
challenge is to enshrine in the
agreement strong provisions for
funding that have been
promised but not delivered in
the past. Many of them have
submitted their INDCs with
funding as a condition, and
India has estimated a staggering
$2.5 trillion as its climate
finance requirement until 2030.
4.
Gates sceptical of a)
solar, wind power
(Pages 1 and 13)
International
i) By contrast, the total crossborder flows of funds is
calculated to be $2.2 billion. It
will take a great deal of
diplomacy and commitment to
bridge the gulf in Paris.
a) Climate change
a) Lauding India for doubling
its funding for research and
b) Carbon emissions
development of climate change
technology, the former
c) Paris climate summit Microsoft CEO and co-founder
2015
of worlds biggest charitable
foundation Bill Gates said
technological innovation was
the only way to fight climate
change.
b) Backing Indias stand on
climate justice or the need for
6
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 05-12-15
the developing world to be
financed for cutting emissions,
Gates said that unless clean
energy was made cheaper, it put
countries like India in an
impossible situation.
5.
Fighting IS with a)
air strikes alone
(Page 10)
International
a)
Islamic State (IS)
b)
Syria crisis
c)
Kurdish forces
d) North Atlantic
Treaty Organisation
(NATO)
c) However, Gates indicated
that solar and wind energy
(which formed the bulk of
Indias clean energy mix) may
not be the most viable sources
of electricity in future. The govt
had announced it would raise its
renewable energy production
from the current 38 Gigawatts
to 175 Gigawatts by 2022, 100
GWs of which would come
from solar energy alone.
a) With British jets having
started bombing IS locations in
Syria, four of five permanent
members of UNSC have
formally joined the war against
jihadist group. The US, France
and Russia are already in fray.
But despite persistent bombing
by these countries over the past
few months, IS still holds on to
the territories it controls.
b) PM David Cameron
himself warned against quick
expectations. He said its a
complex war and that the
country has to be patient and
persistent. But the real problem
that the war against IS faces is
not the campaign being less
persistent; its that there is no
coordinated strategy among the
7
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 05-12-15
nations fighting the jihadists.
c) The downing of Russian
aircraft by Turkey over Syrian
border last month exposed the
faultlines of the anti-IS war.
Countries involved in the war
are also competitors for
geopolitical gains and they have
divergent views towards the
future of Syria.
d) Syrian rebel groups are
hardly united, and in tough
battles in the past they fled,
leaving the territories and the
weapons they got from Assads
enemies to the hands of IS.
Those who faced down IS on
the ground were the Kurds. But
Turkey (a member of NATO
that is formally part of the USled coalition against IS) is
bombing the Kurdish rebels on
the Syrian border.
6.
Pak is giving
Taliban
leadership to
Haqqanis (Page
14)
a)
International
a) Afghanistan
situation
b) Taliban-Afghan
government peace talks
c)
Haqqani network
e) The main fight has to take
place on ground and for that,
the coalition needs coordination
among the forces fighting IS,
including the Syrian and Iraqi
national army. Without such a
coordinated strategy, air strikes
would only play into the hands
of the jihadists.
a) According to Amar Sinha
(Indias Ambassador in Kabul),
the ongoing peacemaking
attempts between Pakistan and
the Taliban factions might end
up with the Haqqanis emerging
8
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 05-12-15
as the leaders of the Taliban.
b) Pakistan in recent weeks
has been negotiating with the
Taliban to restart the talks with
Kabul that were stalled in July
following a meeting in the
resort city of Murree near the
Pakistani capital.
7.
China
a)
consolidates in
Africa following b)
$60 billion
pledge (Page 16)
International
a) China – Africa
relations
Economy
b) Forum on ChinaAfrica Cooperation
summit
c) Chinas Belt and
Road initiative
c) The real issue is that
Afghanistans cooperation with
Pakistan under the present set
of circumstances will mean
Afghanistan allowing Pakistan
to determine the Taliban
leadership which should not
happen as peacebuilding has to
be Afghan-led.
a) China is set to expand
investments in Africa that
would help absorb its excess
manufacturing capacity as part
of an effort to re-engage with
continent and integrate it within
its Belt and Road connectivity
framework.
b) The Forum on China-Africa
Cooperation summit starts on
Dec 4. It is also expected to
unveil the contours of Chinas
security partnership with
Africa, focused on counterterrorism, peacekeeping and
funding to train troops within
framework of African Union.
c) President Xi announced a
$ 60-billion-dollar package that
will benefit Africa in 10 major
areas: industry, agriculture,
9
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 05-12-15
infrastructure, financial
services, green development,
trade and investment
facilitation, poverty reduction
and public welfare, public
health, people-to-people
exchanges, and peace and
security.
8.
NDA plans fresh a)
talks with
Opposition on
b)
GST (Pages 1 and
12)
National
Polity
d) In the bigger picture, the
Chinese want to harmonise
Africas Agenda 2063 (a 50 year
developmental framework
drawn by the African Union)
with Chinas Belt and Road
blueprint of connecting Eurasia
with roads, railways, cyberoptic highways, industrial parks
and smart cities.
a) Goods and Services a) Armed with Chief Economic
Tax (GST) Bill
Adviser Arvind Subramanians
report on revenue-neutral rates
b) Constitution (122nd for GST regime, the NDA govt
Amendment) Bill
will initiate fresh talks with
Congress and other Opposition
c) Lok Sabha
parties early next week.
d)
Rajya Sabha
e)
Parliament
b) Soon after he came out with
his recommendations on GST
Bill, the Congress toughened its
stand saying that since there
was no further reach out from
the ruling BJP, the chances of
the Bills passage in Parliament
look bleak.
c) Congress spokesperson
brushed aside Subramanians
recommendations on the GST
and said there will be no
compromise on the three
demands the Congress had put
10
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 05-12-15
forward. The party seeks
scrapping of the proposed levy
of one percent additional tax on
goods, 18 percent cap on
standard tax and introduction of
robust accountability measures.
d) The decks were cleared for
political consensus on the GST
with recommendations from a
committee headed by
Subramanian backing three of
the main demands of Congress
on the pending reform.
e) In a report submitted to
Union Finance Minister Jaitley,
the panel recommended that the
govt drop proposed additional
one per cent tax on inter-state
sales over and above the GST
rate - a key Congress demand.
f) The committee
recommended a two-rate
structure: The lower of these (it
suggested) be kept at 12 percent
and the standard rate, at which
most products are likely to be
taxed, at 17-18 percent.
9.
A third of Indias a)
soil degraded:
experts (Page 13) b)
National
Geography
a)
Soil degradation
g) It recommended that the
proposal in the Bill to allow
bands for GST rates on various
items be dropped in order to
avoid complicating the system.
The GST will subsume indirect
taxes such as excise, service tax
and sales tax.
a) An expert said a third of
Indias soil was degraded, and
this could cast a shadow on the
11
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 05-12-15
b)
Soil health
c)
Agriculture
d) Indian Council of
Agricultural Research
sustainability of agriculture in
near future. Land degradation is
posing a major threat to Indias
food and environmental
security, resulting from the loss
in the biological or productive
capacity of soil.
b) Land degradation (mainly
caused by natural processes like
wind or rain) is often
exacerbated by human activity
like deforestation and
urbanisation. It is closely
intertwined with climate change
and biodiversity loss.
c) According to estimates of
the Indian Council of
Agricultural Research (2010),
of the total geographical area of
328.73 mha, about 120.40 mha
is affected by various levels of
land degradation.
10.
Preserving
Bishnupurs
heritage (Page
20)
a)
National
a)
Bishnupur temples
b)
History
b)
Terracotta art
d) Excessive use of chemical
fertilisers (especially in the
north-western parts of the
country) was one of the major
reasons for soil degradation. In
addition, imbalanced nutrient
application, injudicious use of
pesticides, intensive cropping
system, decline in soil
biodiversity and depletion of
organic matter in soil were
some areas of concern requiring
urgent attention.
a) Anthropologists tracing
and documenting the cultural
history of the temple town of
Bishnupur in West Bengals
12
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 05-12-15
c) Hindu Mallabhum
kings
d) Anthropological
Survey of India (AnSI)
Bankura district have found a
new dimension to its cultural
heritage presenting a unique
amalgam of the Kalinga school
and the prevalent Bengal
architecture.
b) This unique cultural
expression is evident not in the
only famous temples of
Bishnupur but also in the other
material and cultural aspects of
the town such as its terracotta
art, a distinct musical gharana,
the distinctive art of making
playing cards, articles of conch
cells, bell metal (dokra) craft
and also in the stone carvings.
c) Bishnupur, the capital of
the Hindu Mallabhum kings
was founded in the eighth
century AD and continued till
the late medieval period. The
study of the temple town
(located about 140 km from
Kolkata) by anthropologists of
the AnSI is part of the project
of Ministry of Culture aimed at
cultural mapping of India.
d) There is also a unique
history to the Dashabatar tash a set of playing cards depicting
the ten incarnations of Lord
Vishnu. The game played with
this particular deck of cards
started 400 years ago in the
court of King Bir Hambir.
13