Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 25 March 2014 World Poetry Day ■The head of Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) marked World Poetry Day by extolling the virtues of one of the highest forms of linguistic and cultural expression and calling for support to those who give it life. ■Unesco proclaimed March 21 as World Poetry Day in 1999, with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and offering endangered languages the opportunity to be heard. Coalition in Maldives ■Maldives President Abdulla Yameen’s party, with the help of its coalition partners, has attained majority in parliament in elections that was held recently. ■Vote counting gave the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), led by former president Mohammad Nasheed, who was controversially ousted from power in 2012, a slim lead initially but it was soon overtaken by Yameen’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM). ■Of the 85 constituencies, 34 seats were won by PPM while its coalition partners Jumhoory Party (JP) bagged 15 seats and the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) five seats. Nasheed’s MDP secured only 24 seats and lost its majority in parliament. Myanmar’s anti-dam march ■Recently, dozens of protesters went on a 2,400-km march to northern Myanmar, calling for the cancellation of a Chinese-backed hydroelectric dam project over environmental concerns. ■The $3.6 billion dam along the Irrawaddy River, which was supposed to export 90 per cent of its power to China, was suspended in 2011. ■Waving banners were called for permanent cancellation of the Myitsone dam, in a suburb of the main city of Yangon. ■It is a disturbing fact that the vast majority of Burmese do not have access to electricity. Chris Gayle’s 100th Test ■Chris Gayle is set to play his 100th Test at his home ground in Jamaica when New Zealand tours the Caribbean in June. ■The WICB has announced a three-match Test series and two Twenty20 Internationals between the two teams. ■West Indies will then host Bangladesh for two Tests, three ODIs and a one-off T20I. Debris of MH370 spotted by French satellites ■French satellites had captured new images of debris in the southern Indian Ocean, adding further weight to recent leads suggesting that the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 had crashed into waters around 2,500 km west of Australia. ■The French images had captured a 22 metre-long and 13-metre wide floating object. ■Chinese and Australian satellites picked up images of debris in the vicinity, with the region in question lying deep in the southern Indian Ocean, rarely traversed by ships. ■Four days of searches by aircraft from Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. have, as yet, failed to locate the debris spotted in the images, with efforts hampered by adverse weather conditions. ■Malaysian officials said two modern reconnaissance aircraft from India — a P8-I Poseidon and a C-130 Hercules — left Subang airport to join search operations, along with two P3 Orions from Japan.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 07:09:54 +0000
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