Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 04 October 2016

:: National ::

The Centre said the Supreme Court had over-stepped into legislative turf by ordering the National Democratic Alliance government to constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).
Less than 48 hours after the Centre agreed to comply with the Supreme Court’s order to form the CMB by October 4, Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi was back in the apex court.
He told a Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and U.U. Lalit that he made a “mistake” by not giving them the full picture on the CMB as compliance may lead to “other complications.”

Militants planned to mount a Uri-style attack at the Baramulla Army camp but BSF constable Nitin Kumar (24) put paid to their designs, when he came out of his bunker, all alone, to challenge them.
A senior Border Security Force (BSF) official said on Monday that Kumar was killed when the terrorists hurled grenades at the bunkers outside the Army camp and shrapnel hit him.
The BSF is co-deployed with the 46 RR Battalion of the Army and mans some of the bunkers there as part of its road opening duty.
Attackers, three-four, fled from the spot through the narrow alleys of the congested old town after their bid to carry out a Uri-style attack was foiled in effective fire.
A compass, one Global Positioning System (GPS) device and a wire cutter were found near the encounter site.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on a two-day visit to Leh, said he had spoken to National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and BSF DG K.K. Sharma.

YoshinoriOhsumi of Japan won the Nobel Medicine Prize for his pioneering work on autophagy — a process whereby cells “eat themselves” — which when disrupted can cause Parkinson’s and diabetes.
A fundamental process in cell physiology, autophagy is essential for the orderly recycling of damaged cell parts and understanding it better has major implications for health and disease, including cancer.
Researchers first observed during the 1960s that the cell could destroy its own contents by wrapping them up in membranes and transporting them to a recycling compartment called the lysosome.
A discovery that earned Belgian scientist Christian de Duve a Nobel Medicine Prize in 1974.
It was de Duve who coined the term “autophagy”, which comes from the Greek meaning self-eating.
Mr. Ohsumi’s findings opened the path to understanding the importance of autophagy in many physiological processes, such as how the body adapts to starvation or responds to infection.

Days after it asked Islamabad to take “effective” steps to stop the activities of terrorist groups on its territory, Russia “welcomed” the surgical strike by India, saying every country had a right to defend itself.
Russia’s Ambassador to New Delhi Alexander M. Kadakin said his country had always been with India in fighting cross-border terrorism.
“Greatest human rights violations take place when terrorists attack military installations and attack peaceful civilians in India. We welcome the surgical strike. Every country has right to defend itself,” the Russian Govt.said.
He assured India that it did not need to worry about the Russia-Pakistan joint military exercise, saying it did not take place in the “Pakistan-occupied Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir”.
Last week, a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said Russia stood for a “decisive struggle” against terrorism in all its manifestations.

To boost trade among the BRICS nations, India, for the first time, will organise a trade fair for the bloc that also includes Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa.
Intra-BRICS trade in 2014 was just $297 billion — less than five per cent of the $6.5 trillion worth trade that the five countries had with the world that year.
Goods imports from the world into the BRICS countries were $3.03 trillion in 2014, while global goods exports of BRICS countries were $3.47 trillion that year.
The first BRICS Trade Fair & Exhibition will be held from October 12-14 in the national capital, ahead of the BRICS political summit in Goa. This initiative was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.
The focus of the Fair is ‘Building BRICS – Innovation for Collaboration’. The Fair is meant to give an impetus to intra-BRICS economic engagement. It will showcase about 20 key sectors.
Besides established companies, start-ups and innovators from BRICS will showcase their offerings to help technology solution providers share knowledge in dealing with challenges in healthcare, education, energy efficiency, waste management etc.
Leaders from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand have been invited for meetings at the Fair.