CURRENT AFFAIRS-MAY1

KEYWORDS: Security challenges and their management in border areas; linkages of organized crime with

terrorism

India Severely Affected by Terrorism from Pakistan: US report

India remained severely affected by and vulnerable to terrorism from Pakistan-based groups and their affiliates as well as left-wing violent extremists, last year, according to a new US report.

In response, Government of India "continued to undertake efforts to coordinate its counter-terrorism capabilities more effectively", said the State Department Country Reports on Terrorism 2013 submitted to the US Congress Wednesday.

India also "expanded its cooperation and coordination with the international community and regional partners", said the annual report released by Tina Kaidanow, the state department's coordinator for counter-terrorism.

Describing South Asia as a frontline in the battle against terrorism, the report said: "Although Al Qaeda's (AQ) core in Afghanistan and Pakistan has been seriously degraded, their global leadership continued to operate from its safe haven in the region."

"AQ maintained ties with other terrorist organizations in the region, such as Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Haqqani Network (HQN)," it said.

"These alliances continued to provide the group with additional resources and capabilities."

The report said while "Pakistani military undertook operations against groups that conducted attacks within Pakistan such as TTP, but did not take action against other groups such as Lashkar-e-Taeba (LeT)", held responsible for the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

LeT, it said, "continued to operate, train, rally, and raise funds in Pakistan during the past year".

In 2013, Indian sources continued to attribute violence and deaths in Jammu and Kashmir to transnational terrorist groups that India alleges are backed by Pakistan, the report said.

                                      

"Continued allegations of violations of the Line of Control between India and Pakistan (the border along Jammu and Kashmir), Pakistan's failure to bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks to justice, and activities of Pakistan-based terrorist groups remained serious concerns for the Indian government," it said.

The report cited the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), to say that about 400 people were killed as a result of terrorist attacks in India in 2013.

"This figure is somewhat higher than in 2012, demonstrating that India remains subject to violent terrorist attacks and continued to be one of the most persistently targeted countries by transnational and domestic terrorist groups."

CURRENT AFFAIRS - MAY1

KEYWORDS: International relations, Economic Development, Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and

downstream requirements, supply chain management.

Centre asks EU to lift ban on Indian mangoes

The Government and exporter body The  Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) have asked the European Union to lift a ban on mangoes shipped from India, saying concerns raised by the 28-nation bloc about the quality of the fruit have been addressed.

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has written to EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht on the issue

On Monday, the EU banned the import of Alphonso mangoes, the king of fruits, and four vegetables from India for the period from May 1 to December 2015, after authorities found consignments infested with fruit flies.

“The EU informed India in mid-March about the issue and immediately after that we have put in place a strong mechanism for examination and certification of the commodity. We have already addressed their concerns,” said Ajay Sahai, Director General, FIEO. Mr. Sahai said plant quarantine officials were inspecting all consignments. “So we have asked the EU to lift the ban,” he added. — PTI

Our Mumbai Special Correspondent reports:

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said on Wednesday that an Indian delegation had left for Brussels to ask the EU to revoke its ban on the import of Alphonso mangoes. “The EU felt certain export norms had not been met. This is being addressed,” said Mr. Chavan. He, however, said that the ban had not impacted prices in Maharashtra since the European market accounted for a a small share of the export of Alphonso mangoes. India exports around 25,000 tonnes of Alphonso mangoes each year, a fifth of which comes from Maharashtra.

“The markets for the Alphonso mango in the U.S., Japan and the Gulf are larger than Europe,” Mr. Chavan said.

CURRENT AFFAIRS- MAY1

KEYWORDS: Economic Development

India became third largest economy in 2011: World Bank

2005--->10^TH LARGEST

2011----> 3^RD LARGEST ECONOMY

·         The US remained the largest economy closely followed by China, according to data released the by the International Comparison Program (ICP), hosted by the Development Data Group at the World Bank Group.

·         “The relative rankings of the three Asian economies — China, India, and Indonesia

·         The world produced goods and services worth over USD 90 trillion in 2011 and that almost half of the total output came from low and middle-income countries, it said.

·         The purchasing power parities (PPPs)-based world GDP amounted to USD 90,647 billion, compared with USD 70,294 billion measured by exchange rates, it said, adding that the share of middle-income economies in global GDP is 48 per cent when using PPPs and 32 per cent when using exchange rates.

The six largest middle-income economies — China, India, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico — account for 32.3 per cent of world GDP, whereas the six largest high-income economies — US, Japan, Germany, France, UK and Italy — account for 32.9 per cent, the report said.

CURRENT AFFAIRS-MAY1

KEYWORDS: CULTURAL,HERITAGE,INTERNATIONAL RELATION, cooperation between India and China

1 1080 pilgrims selected for MansarovarYatra 

        

T            The pilgrims were selected through a computerised draw of lots in presence of Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh who described the Yatra as a “lasting symbol” of friendship and cooperation between India and China.

·         In a brief address, she said the pilgrims have been cultural ambassadors of India to China and were important contributors for deepening people-to-people contacts with the neighbouring country.

·         Every year, hundreds of people visit Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva, and take a holy dip in the sacred Manasarovar lake. The Yatra is organised by the Ministry of External Affairs.

·         The Government has been conducting the Yatra since 1981 in close cooperation with the Government of China under a bilateral arrangement.

·         The Yatra will pass through Uttarakhand and cross into the Tibet Autonomous Region via Lipulekh Pass(Lipulekh is a Himalayan pass connecting the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand in the Pithoragarh district in India with the old trading town of Taklakot (Purang) in Tibet. It has been used since ancient times by traders, mendicants and pilgrims transiting between India and Tibet. This is used by Manasarovar pilgrims. Presently, it is a border post manned by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.).

·         Last year, the government had to cancel the yatra in view of disruption of roads, bridges and tracks along the route due to floods that had hit Uttarakhand.