Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 05 October 2016

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 05 October 2016

:: National ::

SC put on hold order to constitute the Cauvery Management Board

  • In another roller-coaster hearing, the Supreme Court put on hold its order to constitute the Cauvery Management Board and finally settled for the Centre’s suggestion to appoint a “technical team” to visit the Cauvery basin.

  • The technical team led by G.S. Jha, Chairman, Central Water Commission, will visit the river basin along with nominees of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala to submit a report in the Supreme Court by October 17.

  • The court will hear the matter on October 18.

  • Tamil Nadu accused the Centre of “playing into the hands of the Karnataka government” to deny the people of Tamil Nadu their share of Cauvery water.

GSAT-18 to be launched from the European spacepad of Kourou

  • GSAT-18, India's heaviest satellite to date at 3,404 kg, is scheduled to be launched from the European spacepad of Kourou in French Guiana.

  • It. is expected to add a few new transponders for Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

  • The 48 transponders on the new satellite , including 12 in the Ku-band, should ease ISRO’s shortfall in meeting the growing demand from its numerous users.

  • GSAT-18 will be lifted to its space orbit on a European Ariane-5 rocket, ISRO said.

  • ISRO last launched a communication satellite in November last year. That spacecraft, GSAT-15, did not add new numbers but has replaced the ageing INSAT-3A and a partially crippled INSAT-4B in the 93 degrees East slot.

  • GSAT-18 was approved in May 2015 with a budget of Rs. 1,022 crore, which includes the fee to launch provider Arianespace. It will supplement the INSAT-4CR, sent to orbit in 2007, at the same slot of 74 degrees East longitude.

  • In the coming days, when it is in its final slot GSAT18 is expected to support the services of users in telecommunication, broadcasting, VSAT services and digital satellite news gathering areas.

India gets EU support for surgical strikes (Register and Login to read Full News..)

The government has made Aadhaar mandatory for availing LPG subsidies (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International ::

After EU vote Paris climate deal set to come into force

  • In a historic vote held at the plenary session of the EU Parliament in Strasbourg, a majority of the members voted in favour of ratifying the Paris Agreement.

  • The vote paved the way for the entry into force of the Agreement in November this year, with 610 out of 678 Parliament members voting in favour of the ratification.

  • As per the rules of the Agreement, adopted in Paris last year, the cumulative emissions of the ratifying parties must cross the minimum required threshold of 55 per cent of global emissions for it to enter into force.

  • Accounting for approximately 12 per cent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally, the EU-28 nations will add to the 52 per cent of global emissions that the 62 ratifying parties have covered already.

  • Only seven EU nations — France, Germany, Malta, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria and Portugal — have ratified the Paris Agreement at the national level.

  • However, after the EU submits its instrument of ratification, the member nations will work on following the requisite procedures back at home.

The U.S. suspended talks with Russia over conflict in Syria (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Business and Economy ::

MPC decided to reduce the benchmark repo rates

  • The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided at its first policy review to reduce the benchmark repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 per cent.

  • The Reserve Bank of India’s key policy interest rate has now been cut to its lowest level since 2011. Retail inflation dropped to a five-month low of 5.05 per cent in August.

  • The neutral rate is the difference between the risk free rate and inflation — a key determinant of the policy rate.

  • Market participants expect interest rates to ease further in the next policy review in December.

Black money disclosure tally may increase even further (Register and Login to read Full News..)

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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB