Daily Gk Update For January 3, 2015

Sri Lankan Cricketer Kumar Sangakkara Joins Elite 12,000-Runs scorer Club in Test Cricket

Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara has joined an elite group of cricketers to make 12,000 runs in Test Cricket.

He reached this milestone in Sri Lanka’s second Test match against New Zealand held in Wellington, New Zealand.

He has become the fifth cricketer to make 12,000 runs. Other four cricketers are Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar (15,921 runs), Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting (13,378 runs), Jacques Kallis from South Africa (13,289 runs) and India’s Rahul Dravid (13,288 runs).
Earlier in December 2014, he had achieved another feat by becoming only the fourth batsman to surpass the 13,000-run mark in one-day internationals (ODI’s).
Other three batsmen in this list are Sachin Tendulkar (18,426 runs), Ricky Ponting (13,704 runs) and Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya (13,430 runs).

Union Government extends AFSPA for another one year in Assam

Union Government has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 for another one year in Assam and has declared the entire ‘state of Assam’ as a ‘Disturbed Area’.
As per government notification, this extension will for another one year beyond 03 November 2014 which is presently in force.
Besides Assam, government has declared the area falling within 20 km wide belt along the border of Assam with Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya as Disturbed Area.
In these disturbed areas, Army is empowered to take action for counter Insurgency (CI) operations against the underground (UG) outfits under the provisions of AF (SP) Act, 1958.
Thus it seeks to control the violent incidents caused by the UGs which has direct disturbances to general law and order of the state.
Background
This extension comes after the law and order situation had worsen in the North eastern state of Assam and its border areas due to the violent incidents caused by the underground banned outfits like ULFA(I), NDFB(S), KPLT, UALA, NSCN(IM) and NSCN(K) etc.

Facts about Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958

•     It was enacted by Parliament on September 11, 1958.
•    It conferred special powers upon the armed forces in disturbed areas in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. The act was introduced in Jammu and Kashmir in 1990.
•    AFSPA was enacted to provide army officers and jawans legal immunity for their actions in disturbed areas. Under this act, a member of the Indian armed forces cannot be prosecuted or tried in any criminal or civil court for any act committed by him or her while performing duty in a disturbed area. Moreover, no court or quasi-judicial body can question the government’s decision to declare any area disturbed.

The provisions of AFSPA are very objectionable as it requires the following:

•    All that is necessary for a part of the State to be handed over to the armed forces is for the Governor or the Central Government to notify it to be in a “disturbed and dangerous” condition.
•    Even a non-commissioned officer of the armed forces is free, on the mere suspicion of violation of the law or commission of an offence, to fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing of death, against any person.
•    He can also without any warrant, arrest any person and enter and search any premises.
•    No prosecution of anyone indulging in excesses purporting to act under AFSPA is possible except with the previous sanction of the Government.

PM inaugurates 102nd Indian Science Congress 2015 at Mumbai University

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Indian Science Congress 2015 at the Mumbai University. It is the 102nd edition of this congress and Mumbai is hosting it again after the gap of 45 years.
The theme of 102^nd Congress is Science and Technology for Human Development.

The Congress sessions aims to bring together eminent scientists, research scholars to popularize science and foster a scientific temperament.
Key facts

•    It is 5 day event and will witness deliberations and presentation of papers by the scientific fraternity from across the globe. More than 12 thousand delegates are going to participate in the session.
•    In this congress several symposia on relevant themes such as Women’s Science Congress, Children Science Congress and Science Exhibition etc will be also organized.
•    This edition will cover a wide variety of topics like: Agriculture and forestry, veterinary science, earth science, environment, engineering, information & communication, computer sciences, mathematics, medicine, biology, physics and plant sciences among others.
•    Other themes of interest include science & technology in SAARC countries, biodiversity conservation, space application, GM crops and the use of modern biotechnology in agriculture, clean energy systems for the future.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurates Pride of India Science & Technology Exhibition in Mumbai Union Minister for Science and technology, Shri Harshvardhan today inaugurated the ‘Pride of India Expo’ a mega science & technology exhibition showcasing cutting-edge technologies, leading scientific products and services, path breaking R&D initiatives, schemes and achievements of India’s leading public and private sectors, government departments, research labs and educational institutions. The Expo, organized as part of the 102nd Indian Science Congress is being held at the MMRDA Grounds, Bandra-Kurla Complex.

Major attractions at the exhibitions are the pavilions of Defence Research Development Organization, DRDO, showcasing defence related technologies, ISRO exhibiting actual scale models of rockets and satellite transponders, Mangalyan model etc. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Council of Medical Research also have stalls at the exhibition. ONGC is displaying latest oil drilling technologies.

The exhibition will be open to public free of charge from tomorrow (January 04 to 07, 2015) The timing of the Expo will be from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm .