Current Affairs - 30 September 2014

Kem Cho Mr PM? Obama asks Modi; Michelle Obama not present at dinner

• WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Monday hosted a private dinner for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House here, ahead of their summit level talks.
  
  Modi was welcomed by Obama who greeted him in Gujarati, "Kem Chho?" (how are you?), the mother tongue of the Prime Minister.
  
  Set in an informal ambiance, the dinner is the first opportunity for both the leaders to interact with each other.
  
  First Lady Michelle Obama, however, gave the dinner a miss.

Pakistan's admission on 'poor timing' of Hurriyat meeting may pave way for resumption of talks

• NEW DELHI: Pakistan's public admission that its envoy's talks with Hurriyat leaders reflected "poor timing" may open the way for resumption of official dialogue with India. 
  
  Sartaj Aziz, foreign policy advisor to Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif, told an Indian news channel, "The timing of the meeting between Pakistan high commissioner to India and the Hurriyat leaders was not right and it could have been avoided. The newly-elected leaders of both the countries missed an opportunity of starting a dialogue." 
  
  The Narendra Modi government called off foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan in August after their envoy in Delhi, Abdul Basit, met Hurriyat leaders on the eve of the dialogue, and persisted with the meeting even after foreign secretary Sujata Singh warned him that it would not be good for ties. 

O Panneerselvam steps into CM's shoes but party harps on Supreme Leader

• CHENNAI: O Panneerselvam assumed charge as chief minister of Tamil Nadu on Monday. In addition to retaining charge of his previous departments such as finance, public works and irrigation, he has taken on his leader J Jayalalithaa's home and public departments. He will directly hold the reins of the top bureaucracy as well as planning. 
  
  Adding heft to the core leadership are power minister Natham R Viswanathan, housing and urban development minister R Vaithilingam and highways and minor ports minister K Palanisamy. 
  
  But at the swearing-in ceremony, there was no doubt about who was really in charge. The looming presence was the absence of Jayalalithaa. The tears in the ministers' eyes only seemed to reinforce that. The party's electronic mouthpiece continued to call Jayalalithaa "the chief minister of the people of Tamil Nadu". While other channels focussed on the swearing in of O Panneerselvam, the party's channel relegated this to a news item before a commercial break and moved on to an appeal being made to the National Human Rights Commission about the fact that the sentencing was done on a Saturday so that she could not move for bail soon. 

Modi and the media and the mania: It’s complicated

• WASHINGTON: ''It's complicated,'' just about captures Prime Minister Narendra Modi's knotty ties with the Indian media.
  
  That relationship is playing out in all its complexity during his US trip. The large media corporations from India that are trailing him believe he gives preferential treatment to US-based media, including Indian scribes here, because they are less hostile/more friendly/less challenging, etc, to him. In short, they are soft on him.
  
  At the centre of the heartburn coursing through the media centre at the New York Palace Hotel over the weekend was the decision by the Prime Minister's office to meet a small group of US-based correspondents, present company included, for what was described as a private ''social interaction.'' The ground rules were made clear at the outset — No cameras, no tape recorders, not even pen and paper, and no reporting of anything spoken at the meeting.

How Narendra Modi has pulled a 'fast' one on Obamas

• WASHINGTON: In diplomacy, as in life, it has long been believed that a way to a guest's heart is through his stomach. Which is why there is so much fanfare about state dinners and banquets, a Washington specialty that is choreographed and chronicled to the last excruciating detail. But in a remarkable reversal, a White House guest may well be winning his hosts' heart with an abstemious, self-abnegating fast that will resonate with their own struggle to put America on a more moderate dietary path.
  
  When Prime Minister Narendra Modi walks into the White House tonight for a planned "private dinner" with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, he would have abstained from food for five days, with four more days of fasting to follow in keeping with his annual practice during Navratri. In keeping with their guest's needs, he will only be offered hot water, lemon juice, perhaps some tea, honey from the White House's own beehive to lace any of the beverages, with some fruits and nuts for show.
  
  In deference and with respect to their guest's dietary abstinence, even the First Couple will not be chowing down any dinner. And no one will be more interested in the Modi's fast, its underpinnings, its progress, and its benefits than Michelle Obama, who will hare back in the evening from Milwaukee to where she left in the morning to campaign in a gubernatorial race, allowing her husband to prepare for the meeting.

After Raj Thackeray barb, Sena asks Gite to quit govt

• MUMBAI: Barely a day after MNS chief Raj Thackeray criticized the Shiv Sena for continuing in the Union cabinet even after severing poll ties with BJP, Uddhav Thackeray said party MP and Union minister for heavy industries Anant Gite would quit the NDA regime.
  
  "We will ask Gite to put in his papers after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from his US trip," the Sena president told mediapersons on Monday. 
  
  Observers say Uddhav has, in a manner of speaking, acknowledged the validity and logic of Raj's argument. 
  
  "There are ample indications that the two cousins may move closer after the assembly polls," sources close to the Thackeray khandaan said, indicating a possibility of floor coordination between Sena and MNS should Sena emerge as the single largest party after the state legislative assembly polls. 
  
  What lends credence to the talk is Raj's Sunday speech in Kandivli wherein he slammed BJP and sought greater autonomy for Maharashtra, say observers. Many Sainiks pointed out that while riling the Sena for being subservient to BJP during seat-sharing talks, the MNS chief also revealed a soft spot for his cousin. 

Union Cabinet approved Swachh Bharat Mission for Urban Areas

• The Union Cabinet on 24 September 2014 approved Swachh Bharat Mission for Urban Areas. The mission will begin from 2 October 2014 and will be implemented over a period of five years.
  The mission will be implemented in over 4041 statutory towns of the country and will cost around 62009 crore rupees of which 14623 crore rupees will be borne by the Union Government.
  The Mission is the urban component of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and will be implemented by Union Ministry of Urban Development. The rural component of the Mission will be implemented by Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
  Main elements of the Mission
  • The Mission includes elimination of open defecation, conversion of insanitary toilets to pour flush toilets, eradication of manual scavenging, Municipal Solid Waste Management.
  • The Programme consists of components for providing (i) Individual household toilets; (ii) Community and public toilets; and (iii) Municipal Solid Waste Management in all 4041 statutory towns
  • It would cover 1.04 crore households, provide 2.5 lakh seats of community toilets, 2.6 lakh seats of public toilets and solid waste management facility for all towns.
  Aim of the Mission
  • It aims towards bringing a behavioural change in people regarding healthy sanitation practices and generating awareness among citizens about sanitation and its linkages with public health.
  • It also aims at strengthening of urban local bodies to design, execute and operate systems to fulfill these objectives and creating an enabling environment for private sector participation in capital expenditure and operational expenditure.
  Background
  The plan of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was mentioned in the Union Budget 2014-15 by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 10 July 2014. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was proposed in the Union Budget under Drinking Water & Sanitation plan. As proposed, the Abhiyan will cover every household with sanitation facility by the year 2019

Union Government launched Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana for urban and rural poor

• Union Government on 25 September 2014 launched Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana for urban and rural poor. The Yojana aims at alleviating urban and rural poverty through enhancement of livelihood opportunities through skill development and other means.
  Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana has two components one for urban India and other for rural India. The Urban component will be implemented by the Union Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation while rural component named as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana will be implemented by the Union Ministry of Rural Development.
  Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana
  Under the Yojana, the Union Ministry of Rural Development will launch skill development training centres on a large scale to address the problem of unemployment particularly in rural India.
  Main Highlights of the Rural Scheme
  • The Yojana aims at training 10 lakh (1 million) rural youths for jobs in three years, that is, by 2017.
  • The minimum age for entry under the Yojana is 15 years compared to 18 years under the Aajeevika Skills Programme.
  • Skill development training centres to be launched so as to address the unemployment problem in the rural area.
  • The skills imparted under the Yojana will now be benchmarked against international standards and will complement the Prime Minister’s Make In India campaign.
  • The Kaushalya Yojana will also the address the need for imparting training to the differently-able persons and chip in private players including international players to impart the skills to the rural youths.
  Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana for urban areas
  Under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana (DAY) for urban areas extends the coverage to all the 4041 statutory cities and towns, there by covering almost the entire urban population. Currently, all the urban poverty alleviating programmes covered only 790 towns and cities.
  
  Main Highlights of the Urban Scheme 
  The scheme will focus on
  • Imparting skills with an expenditure of 15000 rupees to 18000 rupees on each urban poor
  • Promotion of self-employment through setting up individual micro-enterprises and group enterprises with interest subsidy for individual projects costing 2lakhs rupees and 10 lakhs rupees for group enterprises. Subsidized interest rate will be 7 percent.
  • Training urban poor to meet the huge demand from urban citizens by imparting market oriented skills through City Livelihood Centres. Each Centre would be given a capital grant of 10 lakhs rupees.
  • Enabling urban poor form Self-Help Groups for meeting financial and social needs with a support of 10000 rupees per each group who would in turn would be helped with bank linkages.
  • Development of vendor markets besides promotion of skills of vendors
  • Construction of permanent shelters for urban homeless and provision of other essential services.

Union Government launched Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana

• Union government on 25 September 2014 launched Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana. The Yojana was launched by Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Rural Development during the National Convention on Skills for Rural and Urban Poor held in New Delhi.
  The Yojana was launched during the 98th birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay. Earlier the Yojana was known as Aajeevika Skills Development Programme (ASDP).
  Main Highlights of the Yojana
  • The Yojana aims at training 10 lakh (1 million) rural youths for jobs in three years, that is, by 2017.
  • The minimum age for entry under the Yojana is 15 years compared to 18 years under the Aajeevika Skills Programme.
  • Skill development training centres to be launched so as to address the unemployment problem in the rural area.
  • The skills imparted under the Yojana will now be benchmarked against international standards and will complement the Prime Minister’s Make In India campaign.
  • The Kaushalya Yojana will also the address the need for imparting training to the differently-able persons and chip in private players including international players to impart the skills to the rural youths.
  The Rationale for launching the Yojana
  The Yojana was launched in the light of huge problem of unemployment among the rural youths despite the fact that they have merits. In order to correct this match, Union government decided to launch skill development scheme.
  Further, in light of the fact that, by 2020 developed countries will have a shortfall of over 57 million semi-skilled workers while India by 2020 will have 47 million surplus of workers. This effectively means that there will be high demand for skilled manpower in developed countries, where Indian rural youth can be absorbed after they acquire industry-specific training.
  Status of Skilled workers in India
  In India as against 12 million people entering the workforce every year during the last 10 years only 1 million youths were trained. Further out of 12 million people, only 10 percent were skilled ones, while the percentage in European Union is 75 and in China it is 50 percent. Also, as compared to 4500 skills in China, India only has 1600 skills, a huge gap indeed.
  About the Aajeevika Skill Development Programme (ASDP)
  Aajeevika Skills Development Programme (ASDP) was launched in June 2011 as a sub-mission under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). It was launched to cater to the occupational aspirations of the rural youth who are poor and to diversify incomes of the rural poor.
  The ASDP aimed at skilling and placing 50 lakhs youth in the formal sector by 2017.