Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE:09-05-15
S.NO. NEWS ITEM
SYLLUBUS
1.
India will always a) I.R
support Russia
(Page 12)
2.
Cameron back
a)
with clear
majority (Pages 1
and 12)
3.
The return of the a)
Tories (Page 10)
4.
India as the pivot a)
in Asia (Page 10)
5.
The juvenile law a)
(Page 10)
b)
6.
Dead dolphins on a)
Mumbais beaches
worry activists
b)
(Page 22)
ESSENCE OF THE ARTICLE
a) President Pranab said that India-Russia relations
will not be affected by the winds of transient global
political trends.
International a) In an election the results of which defied all
expectations and predictions, the Conservative Party (led
by David Cameron) was swept back to power to govern
the United Kingdom for another five years.
International a) The Conservative Party led by David Cameron has
been elected to govern the UK for the next five years and
this time on its own majority.
International a) If there is anything to be learnt from the history of
Indias Second World War, it is that Indias ability to be a
pivotal power in Asia is contingent on the restoration of
the strategic and economic unity of the subcontinent.
National
a) The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of
Children) Bill 2015 (passed by the Lok Sabha) is a
Polity
forward-looking and comprehensive enactment that
provides for dealing with children in conflict with the
law and those requiring care and protection.
National
a) The washing ashore of dead bodies of five dolphins
and finless porpoises (both protected species) along the
Geography Mumbai coastline in a short span of two months has
confused marine conservation experts.
1
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE:09-05-15
S.NO. NEWS ITEM
SYLLUBUS
1.
India will always a) I.R
support Russia
(Page 12)
BACKGROUND
a) India – Russia
relations
b)
Ukraine crisis
c)
Crimea annexation
d)
World War II
IMPORTANT POINTS
a) President Pranab said that
India-Russia relations will not
be affected by the winds of
transient global political trends.
Russia has been a pillar of
strength at difficult moments in
Indias history. India will always
reciprocate this support.
b) His words hold special
meaning given that Russia is
facing a period of difficulty at
present.
2.
Cameron back
a)
with clear
majority (Pages 1
and 12)
International
a)
UK elections
b)
Conservative Party
c)
Labour Party
c) He is in Moscow to attend
the Victory Day parade that has
been boycotted by all but a few
countries. The US and EU have
led boycott protesting President
Putins actions in Ukraine and
the annexation of Crimea last
year, for which they have also
imposed sanctions on Russia.
a) In an election the results of
which defied all expectations
and predictions, the
Conservative Party (led by
David Cameron) was swept
back to power to govern the UK
for another five years.
b) The Conservative Party
won with 331 seats in the 650seat House of Commons. A
distant second, the Labour Party
won 232 seats, a loss of 26
seats. Its leader Ed Miliband
has stepped down.
c) PM Modi had expressed
congratulatory message for his
British counterpart David
2
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE:09-05-15
3.
The return of the a)
Tories (Page 10)
International
a)
UK elections
b)
Conservative Party
c)
Labour Party
Cameron on his re-election.
a) The Conservative Party
led by David Cameron has been
elected to govern the UK for
the next five years and this time
on its own majority.
d) Liberal Democratic b) The final outcome has the
Conservatives comfortably past
Party
the midway 326-mark in the
650-seat House of Commons.
e) Scottish National
The Labour Party (led by Ed
Party (SNP)
Miliband) has come a far
second. The partys traditional
stronghold of Scotland has been
lost to the SNP. The Labour
Party has also lost out to the
Conservatives in England and
Wales. The Liberal Democratic
Party was destroyed.
c) The Conservative Party
takes credit for steering the
country into economic recovery
and creating two million new
jobs. Its five-year mandate
comes at a time when a million
Britons depend on food banks
for their survival and where the
numbers of people in poverty
have increased in the last two
years.
d) The Conservative
manifesto commits the party to
welfare budget cuts of £12
billion to reduce the deficit.
This comes over and above
severity measures that have
already been undertaken.
e) With Britains National
Health Service in a financial
and staffing crisis, higher
education costs skyrocketing, a
3
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE:09-05-15
serious housing shortage on the
cards and utility costs rising,
the new govt would appear to
have its tasks cut out.
4.
India as the pivot a)
in Asia (Page 10)
International
f) Addressing these issues
through the severity route will
rapidly stop Camerons promise
of building an even greater
Britain. The uncertainty created
by the in-out EU referendum
promised before 2017 by the
Conservatives is likely to
present a challenge for its
international relations, even
beyond EU.
a) Second World War a) The notion of an Indian
arc of influence stretching from
Aden to Malacca was a staple
b) Indias role
of strategic thinking in the
c) Nazi-Soviet pact of British Raj. These lines were
written by the freshly appointed
August 1939
vice-president of the viceroys
executive council, Jawaharlal
d) India – Russia
Nehru.
relations
e) India – Pakistan
rivalry
b) Nehrus views on Indias
current and future role in Asian
security did not only derive
from the older ideas held by
British officials. Rather, they
reflected the reality of the
moment. The Second World
War had indicated Indias rise as
a major regional power. It had
played an immense role
especially in Asia.
c) Indias material and
financial contributions to the
war were equally significant.
India emerged as a major
military-industrial and logistical
base for Allied operations in
South-East Asia and West Asia.
4
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE:09-05-15
Such extraordinary mobilisation
for war was achieved at great
human cost - the Bengal famine
was the most extreme
manifestation of widespread
wartime deprivation.
d) Yet, in the aftermath of the
war, Indias importance was
undeniable. By 1946, Japan lay
prostrate in defeat. And China
was caused in a renewed civil
war. Therefore, India stood as
the most potent Asian military
power.
e) It is essential to recall this
moment as President Pranab
joins his Russian and Chinese
counterparts to mark the 70th
anniversary of the end of the
war in Europe. During the Cold
War, the erstwhile Allies were
not only ranged against each
other, but also drew the former
aggressors into alliances.
f) The renewal of tensions
between the West and Russia
over Ukraine has ensured that
the current celebrations are
almost as divided as those
during the Cold War. Indias
participation in the parade will
inevitably signal the importance
that it attaches to ties with
Russia.
g) Indian participation in the
celebrations in Russia is not
without irony. Relations
between India and Russia
during the war were far from
straightforward. Indian military
planners had spent decades
5
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE:09-05-15
drawing up schemes to meet the
invader in Kabul or Kandahar.
Concerns about the threat from
Russia acquired a fresh lease of
life after the Nazi-Soviet pact of
August 1939.
h) In the early months of the
war, New Delhi and London
remained apprehensive of a
Russian threat to India via
Afghanistan. With Britain
involved in a continental war, it
was believed that Russia might
find this an opportune time to
attack Afghanistan. These
concerns were accentuated by
the Soviet attack on Finland in
late 1939.
i) The Afghan govt was even
more apprehensive about
Russians. Afghans distanced
themselves from the British and
sought a rapprochement with
the Russians. By late 1940, the
Raj was relieved at the receding
Russian threat to Afghanistan.
j) Nevertheless, London and
New Delhi were worried about
a potential Russian threat to
West Asia - especially the
Anglo-Iranian oilfields and the
port of Basra in Iraq. However
within a few months, the
strategic relationship between
Russia and India was
fundamentally transformed.
k) Days after the invasion of
Russia, London, New Delhi and
Moscow discerned a common
interest in taking control of
Iran. The Shahs refusal to
6
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE:09-05-15
abandon his neutrality, led to a
joint invasion of Iran on Aug 25
1941. The Indian Army
occupied southern Iran for the
remainder of the war - the now
forgotten Persia and Iraq Force.
l) The war does not have
purchase on our historical
imagination for different
reasons. In the first place, our
historical profession has
focussed mainly on the
development of anti-colonial
nationalism or various forms of
subaltern resistance against
groups of all stripes. The Indian
Army has proved an unpleasant
subject because it involves the
study of subalterns who
collaborated with the Raj.
m) With Partition and the
onset of the India-Pakistan
rivalry, both the new states
needed new stories for selflegitimation. Equally significant
was the severing of Burmas
umbilical ties with India and the
inward turn of that country for
several decades.
n) From late 1947,
independent India was no
longer capable of projecting its
power in West Asia and SouthEast Asia as earlier. The Cold
War further complicated Indias
international position and drew
it in a different direction from
that expected by Nehru in 1946.
o) If there is anything to be
learnt from the history of Indias
Second World War, it is that
7
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE:09-05-15
5.
The juvenile law a)
(Page 10)
b)
National
Polity
a) Juvenile Justice
(Care and Protection of
Children) Bill 2015
b)
Child rights
c) UN Convention of
the Rights of the Child
Indias ability to be a pivotal
power in Asia is contingent on
the restoration of the strategic
and economic unity of the
subcontinent - both to its west
with Pakistan and Afghanistan
and to its east with Bangladesh
and Burma.
a)
The Juvenile Justice (Care
and Protection of Children) Bill
2015 (passed by the Lok Sabha)
is a forward-looking and
comprehensive enactment that
provides for dealing with
children in conflict with the law
and those requiring care and
protection.
b) However, its laudable
features have been
overshadowed by one provision
that states that children in the
16-18 age group will henceforth
be tried as adults if they are
accused of committing heinous
offences.
c) The govt believes that the
provision will help address
public disquiet over perception
that young offenders are getting
away with light punishment
after committing crimes such as
murder and rape.
d) The division into two
groups (one below 16 and
another above 16) goes against
core principle that all children
should be treated as such till the
age of 18. This age has been
fixed based on studies in child
behaviour and UN Convention
of the Rights of the Child.
8
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE:09-05-15
e) In response to criticism,
govt has made some changes
before getting the Act passed in
the Lok Sabha. It has dropped a
patently unconstitutional
section (Clause 7 in the Bill)
that sought to treat as adults,
children allegedly committing
an offence after the age of 16
but getting arrested only after
they are 21.
6.
Dead dolphins on a)
Mumbais beaches
worry activists b)
(Page 22)
National
Geography
f) Also, govt has modified
the wording involved, saying
that what the Juvenile Justice
Board will hold is a preliminary
assessment rather than a
preliminary enquiry into mental
and physical capacity of child
to commit such an offence. The
prospects of the govt making
further changes before the Bill
goes to Rajya Sabha appear to
be difficult.
The washing ashore of
a) Marine biodiversity a)
dead bodies of five dolphins
b) Dolphins
and finless porpoises along the
Mumbai coastline in a short
c) Wildlife Protection span of 2 months has confused
Act 1972
marine conservation experts.
b) The dolphins (identified to
be humpback dolphins) are
protected under Schedule 2 of
Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
b) According to experts,
different factors including water
pollutants, radio-active toxins,
factory effluents and climatic
changes are among the many
possibilities that could have led
to spotting of the dead animals.
9