FEATURED TOPIC: 2009 IRAN ELECTION PROTESTS

FEATURED TOPIC: 2009 IRAN ELECTION PROTESTS

Overview
  • Following the 2009 Iranian Presidential elections, widespread protests have occurred in Iran since June 2009
  • The protests are against the incumbent government of President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and in support of opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi
  • The agitation has been in protest against alleged widespread election fraud tied to the presidential election
  • The protests, which started in June 2009, have refused to die down until date
  • The protests have been the most vehement and most persistent threat to the Iranian regime since the Islamic Revolution in 19Keywords: India, ias, upsc, civil service, study material, general studies, current affairs
Causes of the protests
  • Iran’s tenth presidential election was held in June 2009
  • The incumbent Mahmoud Ahmedinejad was declared elected with 62% of votes and opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi 34%
  • However, the opposition alleged widespread election fraud, and urged supporters to protest peacefully
Keywords: India, ias, upsc, civil service, study material, general studies, current affairs
Iran’s President
  • The President of Iran is the highest elected official elected directly by popular vote
  • However, the President does not control foreign policy or the armed forces
  • Candidates to the office of President have to be vetted by the Guardian Council, a twelve member body consisting of six clerics and six lawyers
  • The six clerics are selected by Iran’s Supreme Leader while the lawyers are proposed by the head of the judicial system (Chief Judge)
  • The Supreme Leader, Ayotollah Ali Khamenei, is the highest ranking political and religious figure in Iran. More powerful than the President, he is in direct command of the armed forces, the national security council, radio and TV etc
Keywords: India, ias, upsc, civil service, study material, general studies, current affairs
Consequences of the protests
  • Police and paramilitary forces called the Basij have determinedly suppressed demonstrations using firearms
  • More than 85 people have died and above 4000 people have been arrested
  • Iranian authorities have closed universities, blocked websites, blocked cell phone transmissions and banned rallies
Keywords: India, ias, upsc, civil service, study material, general studies, current affairs

RECENT NOTEWORTHY DEVELOPMENTS

DOMESTIC
  1. Change of leadership at BJP
    1. Nitin Gadkari replaced Rajnath Singh as the President of the BJP
    2. Sushma Swaraj replaced L K Advani as Leader of the Opposition
    3. Arun Jaitley has re-appointed as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha
    4. L K Advani has now been made the Chairman of the BJP Parliamentary Party
  2. Gujarat makes voting compulsory
    1. The Gujarat Local Authorities (Amendment) Bill 2009 makes voting mandatory in local body polls
    2. This is the first law in India that makes voting mandatory
    3. The Bill also raises the seats reserved for women in local bodies from 33% to 50%
  3. Rangnath Commission recommends 10% reservation for Muslims
    1. The Justice Rangnath Mishra Commission has recommended 10% reservation for Muslims and 5% for other communities in government jobs
    2. It has also favoured SC status for Dalits in all religions (currently SC status only applies to Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs)
    3. Formally known as the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, the Commission was established in 2004 and submitted its report in 2007
Keywords: India, ias, upsc, civil service, study material, general studies, current affairs
INTERNATIONAL
  1. Copenhagen Climate Summit concludes
    1. The United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 held at Copenhagen (Denmark) 07 Dec 2009 – 18 Dec 2009 has concluded
    2. The Conference had two Presidents: Connie Hedegaard (Danish Minister) until 16 Dec and Lars Lokke Rasmussen (Danish Prime Minister) for the final stretch
    3. The Conference ended with the drafting of the Copenhagen Accord
    4. The Copenhagen Accord was drafted by the US, China, Brazil, India and South Africa and “recognized” but not “adopted” by delegates of all countries in assembly
    5. Major highlights of the Copenhagen Accord
      1. Not legally binding and does not contain any legally binding commitments for carbon dioxide reduction
      2. Recognises the need to limit global warming to no more than 2C above pre-industrial levels
      3. Developed countries to set a goal of mobilising USD 100 billion a year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries
      4. USD 30 billion in aid to developing countries over the next three years
      5. Emission reductions of industrialized nations to be verified by international monitors.
      6. Reductions of developing nations to be monitored by themselves and to report to the UN every two years
      7. Developed nations to pay developing nations to reduce deforestation
    6. Major pledges by important players
      1. Brazil: To cut emissions by 38-42% below project 2020 levels by that same year
      2. Canada: to cut emissions by 20% below 2006 levels by 2020. This is equivalent to 3% below 1990 levels
      3. China: to cut emissions intensity (carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP) by 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2020
      4. EU: to cut emissions by 20% below 1990 levels by 2020 unconditionally. To cut emissions by 30% below 1990 levels by 2020 if agreement is reached to commit other developed and more advanced developing nations to comparable reductions
      5. India: to cut emissions intensity by 20-25% below 2005 levels by 2020
      6. USA: to cut emissions by 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, 42% by 2030 and 83% by 2050. This is equivalent to 3% below 1990 levels by 2020,
  2. Deepest underwater volcano caught on video
    1. The eruption of the West Mata submarine volcano has been caught on video. This was the first observed underwater volcanic eruption
    2. The video was captured by the Jason robotic submersible built for the purpose
    3. The West Mata volcano is located in the Pacific Ocean, about 200 km SW of the Samoan Islands
    4. The volcano is 9 km long, 6 km wide and is 3 km deep
    5. Animal life observed include microbes and volcano-dwelling shrimp
    6. The volcano is spewing bonnite lavas, the hottest erupting lavas on Earth, which have hitherto only been observed in extinct volcanoes older than a million years
  3. Human-like fossil is breakthrough of the year
    1. The discovery of the fossilised skeleton, Ardi, has been named the scientific breakthrough of the year by the journal Science
    2. Ardi belongs to the species Ardipithecus Ramidus
    3. The skeleton is an important link in the story of human evolution
    4. The runners up in the 2009 list include
      1. NASA’s discovery of Pulsars, highly magnetised and rapidly rotating neutron stars
      2. Extension of life span in mice using the compound rapamycin
      3. Supra-conduction using grapheme, a highly conductive single layer of carbon
      4. Discovery of a critical substance that helps plants survive drought
      5. Development of X ray laser, capable of capturing chemical reactions as they happen
      6. Gene therapy for treating fatal brain disease, inherited blindness and severe immune disorder
      7. Magnetic monopoles (particles with only one pole) using crystalline materials called spin ices
      8. NASA’s discovery of water on the moon
      9. Repair of Hubble telescope by austronaughts
  4. World’s longest running trade dispute resolved
    1. The EU has agreed to cut tariffs on banana imports from non-ACP countries. ACP stands for Africa, Caribbean and Pacific
    2. The “banana wars” was the longest running trade dispute in the world, which started when the EU imposed banana import tariffs in 1993
    3. The import tariffs were instituted in order to favour former European colonies
    4. However, the tariffs were criticized by Latin America and USA. The WTO ruled the tariffs illegal in 2005 and 2008
    5. The new deal includes a EUR 200 million compensation package for the ACP countries
    6. The EU is the largest market for bananas in the world
  5. Boeing 787 Dreamliner makes maiden flight
    1. The 787 Dreamliner, Boeing’s long-awaited aircraft has made its maiden flight after 2.5 years of delay
    2. The 787 Dreamliner is a long-range medium-capacity aircraft designed to cut fuel consumption by about 20%
    3. The Dreamliner is made from carbon composites which makes it light weight compared to conventional aluminium frame aircraft
    4. With 840 orders already, the Dreamliner is the fastest selling commercial aircraft ever
    5. Rival planemaker Airbus is also working on a lightweight aircraft called the A-350
  6. Gibraltar wins Miss World 2009
    1. Miss Gibraltar, Kaiane Aldorino was crowned Miss World 2009 in Johannesburg
    2. The second place went to Mexico’s Perla Beltran, and third place to South Africa’s Tatum Keshwar
    3. Miss India, Pooja Chopra, won the “beauty with a purpose title”
    4. Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain). It sits at the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea, overlooking the Straight of Gibraltar
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