18 October 2014 Current Affairs
P S N Rao Appointed As Chairman Of Delhi Urban Art Commission
Eminent urban planner P S N Rao was appointed as the new Chairman of the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC), which is mandated with preserving, developing and maintaining the aesthetic quality of urban and environmental design within the national capital. Rao succeeds eminent architect Raj Rewal, who was appointed as Chairman of the commission in July 2011 for three years. At the time of appointment as DUAC chairman, Rao was heading the Department of Housing, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. He studied urban management in Canada.
Tamil Poet Iqbal Named For Singapore’s Highest Cultural Award
Indian-origin Singaporean poet and writer KTM Iqbal was named for the 2014 Cultural Medallion, the highest cultural award of Singapore. He will be awarded by the Tony Tan, the President of Singapore. It is the highest recognition for the 74-year-old Tamil poet whose achievements include more than 200 children’s songs written for Radio Singapore in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as seven collections of poetry. The award, instituted 35 years ago, has been presented to 115 artists to date, including Iqbal, Chong and Tan.
Five New Non-permanent Members Elected To UNSC
Venezuela, Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand and Spain were elected as non-permanent members of United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Appointment of new members of the Security Council will be effective from 1st January 2015 for the period of two years.
Union Home Ministry Drafted A New Counter-Naxal Doctrine
Union Home Ministry drafted a new counter-Naxal doctrine. In the drafted law, the ministry clearly demarcated the role of the state police and central paramilitary forces (CPMFs) in anti-Maoist operations.The ministry proposed to put state police forces in the lead, while tasking CPMFs with using their pan-Indian mandate for seamless operations across state borders and holding the counter-insurgency grid together. The new policy will be circulated to all the states for their comments soon. It will seek to fight the Maoists through a four-pronged approach, comprising elements like security-related measures, development-based approach, rights and entitlement-based measures and public perception management.
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