Kerala Government lays foundation stone for Global Artists Village

Kerala government has laid foundation stone for the first government-run ‘Kalagramam’ i.e Global Artist village in the country at Kakkananpara in Kannur district of Kerala.
The foundation stone was laid by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
Key facts of Global Artists Village

• Global Artists Village i.e. Kalagramam is a project planned by the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi.
• This planned facility will provide artists from different parts of the country and abroad to stay and work in the place surrounded by swathes of scenic beauty.
• The art village project will be implemented in phases and the first phase of the project will be completed in four months.
• The art village project envisages construction of four living rooms, mess house, conference hall and other amenities in the first phase of the project. It will provide accommodation facilities for the artists visiting there.
• It is being developed on a 3.5-acre plot. State government has allocated Rs.75 lakh for the project and further going to extend it to Rs.3 crore.

Union Cabinet approves ordinance to amend Land Acquisition Act, 2013

Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to take the ordinance route to amend the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
It seeks to speed up developmental and security related projects without compromising on the benefits/compensation given to the farmers under parent Act.
This Union Cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Key Amendments

• Consent clause and Social Impact Assessment (SIA): This amendment ordinance relaxes the requirements of consent and SIA survey clause from parent Act for projects in five areas namely- national security and defence, rural infrastructure and electrification, affordable housing for the poor, development of industrial corridors and infrastructure and social infrastructure including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government. In this regard multi-crop irrigated land can also be acquired for these purposes.
• Brings 13 exempted Acts under it: It brings all those exempted 13 Acts of parent Act under the purview it for the purpose of compensation as well as rehabilitation and resettlement.

Thus, by choosing ordinance route to amend parent Act government is aiming to strike a balance between farmers’ welfare and the strategic and developmental needs of the country.
Background
This Act came into force on January 1, 2014. Its objective was to transform the process of land acquisition into a humane, participative, informed and transparent process.
It had replaced Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and hiked the compensations by four times and twice the market value in rural areas and urban areas, respectively.
Under it there was need of consent from 70 per cent of the affected land owners in case of their lands being acquired for a public private partnership (PPP) project. If the acquisition was meant for private companies, consent from 80 per cent of the affected owners was required.
It also had mandated a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) survey to be held along with the process of getting the families’ consent.
Previously, 13 statutes Acts were exempted from this Act. They were Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958, Atomic Energy Act 1962, Damodar Valley Corporation Act 1948, Indian Tramways Act 1886, Land Acquisition Act 1885, Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act 1978, National Highways Act 1956, Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines Act 1962, Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1948, Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act 1957, Electricity Act 2003 and Railways Act 1989.

Tamu Lhochhar festival being observed in Nepal on 30th December

Tamu Lhochhar festival is being observed on 30th December with gaiety and full fervor in Nepal which marks new year among different communities.
It is the biggest cultural festival of the Mahayana sect of Buddhism and generally being observed by the Gurungs at different places in Nepal including in the Kathmandu Valley.
The people of Tamang, Sherpa, Gurung, Magar, Thakali, Jirel, Nesyangwa, Bhote, Dura and Lepcha communities and others celebrates this festival.
The Gurung community mark this festival as Tamu Lhochhar while the Tamangs and other communities celebrate it as Sonam Lhochhar on the first day of waxing moon in the Nepali month Magh. While Sherpas and Bhotes celebrate it as Gyalpo Lhochhar.
On this day, the junior members of the community and family receive blessings from seniors and greet each other wishing for good health, happiness and prosperity.
People of these communities who are living and working abroad also celebrate this festival with exchanging New Year greetings and joy.

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.

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.
• 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.

Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni announces his retirement from Test cricket

Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni has announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect.
His decision came after the third Test match of India against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground which ended in a draw.
Now on 6th January for the Fourth and Final Test against Australia, Indian team will be led by Virat Kohli. It should be noted that India has already lost the series.
After his retiring from Test career, he is going to focus on ODI and T20 cricket.
Some facts about Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Cricket career

• He was captain for 60 test matches out of total 90 he had played.
• He also holds best record of most Test matches wins as India captain i.e. 27 wins, beating Sourav Ganguly’s earlier 21 test matches wins record.
• He had started his Test career in 2005 as wicket-keeper against Sri Lanka and for the first time he became captain of Indian Test Cricket team in 2008.
• He also hold record for stumping around 134 players in all the three match formats of cricket by surpassing Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara.
• In his Test career, he has scored 4876 runs in 144 innings and his highest Test score is 224 runs.
• He also is first Indian batsman to complete 10,000 runs or more as captain in international cricket, joining Ricky Ponting (15440), Graeme Smith (14878), Stephen Fleming (11561) and Allan Border (11062).
• He also had led India in two unprecedented ICC World Cup titles (2007-Twenty20 World Championships and the 2011-ODI World Cup).