Daily Gk Update for December 30, 2014

Mahendra Singh Dhoni retires from Test cricket

• Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday retired from Test cricket with immediate effect, citing strain of playing all formats, after his team lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia. 

•  “Virat Kohli will be the captain of the Indian Team for the Fourth and Final Test against Australia to be played in Sydney from the 6th of January 2015,” the BCCI stated.

 The 33-year-old, who led India to an unprecedented two World Cup titles (2007 Twenty20 World Championships and the 2011 ODI World Cup), had been drawing flak for India’s poor run in overseas Tests.

AirAsia flight QZ8501 Incident

AirAsia flight QZ8501 had disappeared from air traffic control (ATC) screens over the Java Sea coast off Indonesia on 28 December, as it flew from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore with 162 people on board.
This flight lost its contact with ATC after the pilot of plane had requested a change of flight plan due to bad weather, but were not allowed to alter course by authorities.
The debris of the missing plane along with floating bodies of some passengers were spotted on 30th December in the Java Sea off Indonesia, close to the area where contact was lost with the aircraft.
About AirAsia flight QZ8501 Incident

•    Airbus A320-200 took off from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore.
•    It was carrying 155 passengers- 1 British, 1 Malaysian, 1 Singaporean, 3 South Koreans, 149 Indonesians and 7 crew members- 6 Indonesians and a French co-pilot.
•     The pilot’s last contact was a request to divert around bad weather.
•    The debris of plane along with dead bodies were discover three days after the multinational search and rescue operation involving Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia in the Java Sea.
•     b  The AirAsia plane was delivered in 2008, has flown 13,600 times, completing 23,000 hours, and underwent its last maintenance in November.
•    AirAsia also has an excellent safety record and there were no fatal accidents involving its aircraft.

It is the third aviation disaster of 2014 involving South Asian country Malaysia

•    First incident was the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in March 2014 which is consider as worst Aviation Disaster killing 239 people on board and still remains unsolved.

•     Second incident was attack on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 by pro-Russian rebels over Ukraine in July 2014.

Union Cabinet gives nod to an Ordinance to regularise unauthorised colonies in Delhi

The Union Cabinet has given its nod to an Ordinance regarding Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Amendment Bill, 2014. It seeks to extend the cut-off date for regularisation of illegal colonies from March 2002 to June 2014 in Delhi.
The ordinance was approved in a Cabinet meet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and will amend National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second Act, 2011 which aims to regularise illegally constructed colonies in Delhi.
Implication: It will provide relief to 60 lakh people who are residing in nearly 2,000 unauthorised colonies in Delhi.
Background
Earlier then UPA government had considered 895 of 1,639 colonies eligible for regularization. But this Cabinet nod for extending the cut-off date will pave way for regulising these 1,639 colonies plus another 300 colonies that have come up since March 2002.

Government gives nod for Ordinances to amend Citizenship Act, 1955 & Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996

Union government has given its nod for ordinance route to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
This move of government comes few days before Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) 2015 which marks the centenary year of Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India from South Africa on January 9, 1915.  
Key facts

•    Citizenship Act amendments will benefit People of Indian Origin (PIO) and will give them benefits like life-long visa and exemption from appearing before the local police station on every visit etc.
•      It will also change the clause of parent Act which says that foreigners who marry Indians must continuously stay in the country for a period of one year before they get an Indian citizenship. In this regards they will get relief of 30 days in a year when they can travel outside the country.
•    The amendment also clears the way for relaxed visa norms for minor children of Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cardholders.
•    While, the amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act are based on the 246th report of the Law Commission of India. It seeks to remove inadequacies in its functioning.

Background
These ordinances come in the wake of Prime Minister’s Madison Square Garden speech to Indian diaspora in September 2014 where he had mentioned that both PIO and OCI cards would be merged.
Previously, in 2013 then UPA government had first introduced Citizenship Amendment Bill.
There was also demand from PIOs to amend the Act as they were facing often stringent visa norms that debarred them from buying property in India, in comparison to those holding OCI card and  visits to local police stations.
As per the previous provisions, PIO cardholders are eligible for 15-year visas in comparison to lifelong visas given to those having OCI cards.