Current Affairs: August 24, 2011

60 Crore Aadhaar cards to be issued by 2014

• Target set by the Government to issue 60 Crore UID Cards, Aadhaar by the year 2014
  
• The Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Nandan Nilekani stated that nearly 2.87 Aadhaar cards have been issued to people in 9 states till now
  

Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. resigns

• Jobs announced his resignation from his role as Apple’s CEO. In his letter of resignation, Jobs strongly recommended that the Apple executive succession plan be followed and Tim Cook be named as his successor.
• Steve Jobs is the Chairman of the Board of Apple, which he co-founded in 1976
  
• Apple is leading the consumer technology world with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, its family of iPod media players and iTunes media store, and its Mac computers and iLife and iWork application suites
• In a letter, Mr. Jobs told the Apple Board of Directors that he could no longer meet his duties and expectations as the company’s CEO
  
• Jobs had battled pancreatic cancer and received a liver transplant. He had been on medical leave since January 2011
  
• Mr. Jobs has been elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors and will, in that role, continue to contribute unique insights, creativity and inspiration
  
• Tim Cook will take over as Apple’s new CEO at the recommendation of Jobs
  
• Jobs will now be the chairman of Apple’s board
  
• Steve also co-founded and was the CEO of Pixar Animation Studios
  
• Pixar merged with The Walt Disney Company in 2006 and Steve now serves on Disney’s board of directors
  

Russia-North Korea to build 1,100 km gas pipeline

• Russia and North Korea to build a 1,100 km gas pipeline from Russia to South Korea via North Korea
  
• The accord was declared in the middle of Kim Jong-II’s official visit to Russia
  
• The project will be able to transmit up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas yearly 
  
  

Libyan rebels declare pardon for Gaddafi capture

• Libyan rebels have announced an amnesty for anyone within Col Muammar Gaddafi’s inner circle who captures or kills him
  
• Rebels have also announced a reward of $ 1.7 Million for capturing Gaddafi
  
• Col Gaddafi’s whereabouts are unknown, though rebels believe he is still in or around Tripoli
  

Centre to SC: SIT on black money needs to be scraped

• Centre asked the Supreme Court that the SIT (Special Investigation Team), needs to be scrapped
  
• SIT was appointed by SC to probe and unearth the black money stashed abroad
  
• Centre alleged that the investigating agency can’t function like a super power
  
• Attorney General G E Vahanvati told a bench of the Supreme Court that the Government had very serious reservations on the directions which had also cast defamation on sincerity of the Government in its take on the black money issue
  
• The Attorney General argued that the wide powers bestowed on the SIT has ousted every authority under the various Acts like FEMA, Income Tax, Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
  

Sri Lanka to lift emergency laws

• The controversial emergency provisions in Srilanka prevailing since 2005 will not be lifted from next month
  
• Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the bill to extend the state of emergency, which is passed every month by the Parliament, will not be introduced when the tenure of the current law comes to an end
  
• Sri Lanka has been under emergency rule for the most part of the past 30 years, with the last phase of the tough law enforced in August 2005 after the murder of former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar by LTTE
  
• International community have been calling on the Sri Lankan government to completely remove the disputed laws but the Government argued that the rules were necessary to scrap the Tamil Tiger rebels
  
• However, even after the military defeated the LTTE two years ago, Sri Lanka continued to enforce these provisions on grounds of security concerns
  

Haj Quota for Indians increased by the Saudi Government

• Haj Quota for Indians pilgrims has been increased by the Saudi Government by an additional 10,000 seats this year
  
• The seats will be distributed among various States and Union Territories in proportion to the number of applications received by them
  

Bangladesh backs claim at UN hearing for delineation of its continental shelf

• Bangladesh made a presentation to members of the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) on the legal and technical aspects of its claim filed with the commission for delineation of its outer continental shelf in the Bay of Bengal
  
• Bangladesh Foreign Minister made the presentation at the UN Headquarters in New York
• Bangladesh had submitted its technical report to the UN Commission for delineation of its outer continental shelf in the Bay of Bengal in the month of February this year under the provisions of Article 76 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982
• Bangladesh has filed its claim before the UN Commission as part of its efforts to resolve its disputes over marine resources like oil blocks in the Bay of Bengal with neighbouring countries India and Myanmar
  
• Bangladesh is the 53rd country to submit its report to the United Nation’s Commission on the limits of the Continental Shelf to fix the country’s outer limits of the continental shelf in the Bay of Bengal
• The fixing of the limits of Bangladesh ‘s outer continental shelf is expected to help in resolving its maritime boundary disputes with both India and Myanmar
  
• Bangladesh has filed a case with the International tribunal for the law of the seas to resolve its maritime boundary dispute with Myanmar while it has also initiated arbitration proceedings with India at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
  

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Month: Current Affairs - August, 2011