Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 11 August 2016

:: National ::

All party meet to discuss Kashmir issue

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks with all political parties on the Kashmir unrest, Home Minister Rajnath Singh informed the Rajya Sabha.
• The House also passed a unanimous resolution appealing to the people of the Kashmir Valley to restore peace and harmony, adding that there “cannot be any compromise on national security.”
• Asserting that security forces were asked to show “maximum restraint” in using pellet guns against protesters, Mr. Singh was non-committal on their immediate withdrawal.\
• He said Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were issuing threats to family members of security forces and civil administration officials in the Valley. \
• Mr. Singh said there was no question of handing over Kashmir to the Army and rumours were being spread “deliberately.”

Motor vehicles (amendment) Bill

• The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill tabled in the Lok Sabha includes a section focusing on the safety of children.
• One of the main points includes an amendment making it compulsory for every child above 4 years to wear a helmet.
• The Transport Department hopes that an amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act will create more awareness on the safety of children.
• A heavy helmet made for adults can lead to neck and spinal issues in children
• Certification: The desire to buy a lightweight helmet could result in the purchase of a non-standard helmet
• The helmet must fit perfectly on the head with no free space for movement.
• The child should be able to remove the helmet easily in the absence of an adult.

First unit of Kudankulam started (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Search operations still on for missing An-32 (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Opposition raised issues in Citizenship(amendment) bill (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International ::

US supports India’s aid in Afghanistan

• The U.S. is in favour of India providing greater security assistance to Afghanistan.
• The gift of four MI-25 attack helicopters by India to Afghanistan was specially cited by the U.S. military commander while flagging the crucial role India is playing in the war-torn country.
• The tremendous cooperation India has made in the human capital of Afghan security forces is the one contribution that is going to be enduring.
• He said efforts were under way to create a facility in Afghanistan for servicing Russian made military equipment such as the MI-25 helicopters they got from India.
• The fight against Taliban, he said, is making progress. “Last year, Afghan forces suffered over 5,000 deaths. But by the end of the year, they were able to take control of all major population centres.
• After President Obama gave authority to attack the IS in January this year, U.S. forces have been aggressively targeting them.

:: Business and Economy ::

Cabinet approved foreign investment changes in NBFCs

• The Cabinet approved a proposal to amend rules for foreign investment in non-banking finance companies (NBFCs).
• Foreign investment in ‘other financial services’ that are not regulated by any regulators or by a government agency can be made via the approval route,
• Further, minimum capitalisation norms as mandated under FDI policy have been eliminated as most of the regulators have already fixed minimum capitalisation norms
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a one-time grant of Rs.900 crores spread over three years for an R&D project for the development of Advanced Ultra Super Critical (AUSC) technology for thermal power plants.
• The estimated cost of the project is Rs.1,554 crore, according to the government.
• The Rs.900 crore, commencing from 2017-18, is to be provided as plan gross budgetary support to Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) for the implementation of the R&D project.
• The Cabinet gave its ex-post facto approval for the amendment of Section 64 and section 65 and the consequential amendment in Section 115 of the Factories Act, 1948 by the introduction of the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Parliament.
• The Cabinet also approved the introduction of pension and post-retirement medical services benefits to the employees of the Food Corporation of India.
• “The annual financial implication for both schemes combined would be around Rs.134.4 crore at present level of salaries of the employees,” the government said.

Govt came up with new norms for appraisal and approval of public-funded schemes

• Finance Ministry has issued new norms for the appraisal and approval of public-funded schemes as well as to improve the delivery of goods and services to citizens.
• With the announcement in the Union Budget 2016-17 of doing away with Plan Non-Plan distinction at the end of Twelfth Five Year Plan, it is imperative that a plan non-plan neutral appraisal and approval system is put into place.
• One of the guidelines is that no new scheme or sub-scheme can be initiated without the prior “in-principle” approval of the Department of Expenditure. This will not apply to the announcements made in the Budget Speech for any given year.
• The new policy also empowers ministers to approve expenditure proposals of up to Rs 500 crore, up from the previous limit of Rs 150 crore.
• The Finance Ministry move is aimed at improving the delivery of goods and services to citizens.

South Australia invites India for Uranium (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Science and Technology ::

Cassini spacecraft has discovered steep-sided canyons on Titan

• NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has discovered steep-sided canyons, hundreds of meters deep, on Saturn’s moon Titan that are flooded with liquid hydrocarbons.
• The finding represents the first direct evidence of the presence of liquid-filled channels on Titan, as well as the first observation of the deep canyons, NASA said.
• The observations show that the channels — in particular, a network of them named Vid Flumina — are narrow canyons, generally less than a kilometre wide, with slopes steeper than 40 degrees.
• This suggested that the channels might also be filled with liquid, but a direct detection had not been made until now.
• Cassini’s radar was used as an altimeter, sending pings of radio waves to the moon’s surface to measure the height of features there.
• Earthly examples of both of these types of canyon-carving processes are found along the Colorado River in Arizona.
• An example of uplift powering erosion is the Grand Canyon, where the terrain’s rising altitude caused the river to cut deeply downward into the landscape over the course of several million years.

The Wildlife Institute of India will now house the country’s first repository on tigers (Register and Login to read Full News..)

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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

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