Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 14 October 2016

:: National ::

Bangladesh says Pakistan is not acting on terror

Bangladesh feels “frustrated” with Pakistan over its export of terror, but Dhaka’s reasons for pulling out of the SAARC summit in Islamabad were “different from India’s,” says Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“It was over the situation in Pakistan that we decided to pull out. Terror has gone everywhere, which is why many of us felt frustrated by Pakistan” Ms. Hasina said.
Ms. Hasina said one of the other main reasons for her government’s SAARC pullout was the hurt felt over Pakistan’s strident criticism of the war crimes tribunal process in Bangladesh in which a dozen Jamaat-e-Islami leaders.
When asked about India’s decision to launch cross-LoC strikes after the Uri terrorist attack, in which 19 soldiers were killed, however, Ms. Hasina said, she feels “Both the countries should maintain the sanctity of the LoC and that can bring peace.”
She defended her government against allegations of persecution of the opposition and a clampdown on the media, and human rights violations by security forces in the crackdown on terror.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board rejected move on civil code

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), along with several other organisations associated with the Muslim community, has opposed the Law Commission’s questionnaire on the possibility of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
Announcing that they would boycott the entire exercise, the organisations accused the NDA government of threatening the pluralistic fabric of India.
AIMPLB general secretary Wali Rehmani, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind president Maulana Arshad Madani and representatives of other bodies addressed a press conference where the announcement was made.
The Board suggested the Centre’s affidavit in the Supreme Court last week rejecting the validity of the triple talaq was an underhand means to impose a UCC in India.

Singer and songwriter Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Science and Technology ::

ISRO has firmed up a strategy to a make increasingly smaller satellites

Even as it moves into making heavier communication spacecraft weighing 4,000 kg to 6,000 kg, ISRO has also firmed up a strategy to a make increasingly smaller satellites for earth observation and scientific, experimental and other missions.
The plan for small satellites is two-pronged and can range from 10 kg ‘micros’ to 300 kg-500 kg ‘minis’.
A series of 350-kg ‘mini’ satellites, probably with high resolution cameras and innovative features, will be built in the near future for the ISRO’s own remote-sensing uses.
They will be built on the decade-old IMS-2 platform on which the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) has earlier brought out half a dozen EO (earth observation) satellites.
It also plans to build 10 kg or smaller nano and micro satellites using a 100 kg IMS-1 platform.
This will offer ready and reliable micro and nano satellite ‘shells’ on which the Indian Institutes of Technology, universities and even start-ups can put their experimental payloads or devices.
The idea is to encourage users to save time to import a suitable small satellite and instead focus on test novel concepts on the satellites. IMS stands for 80 kg Indian Mini Satellite, launched in 2008.
The 300 kg- 400 kg class may be the new norm in Indian EO.
It estimates that more than 3,600 small satellites are expected to be launched over the next 10 years, much more than during the last decade.
Their market value, including the cost of satellites and their launch fee, is put at at $22 billion which would be 76 per cent more than what it was in the previous decade (2006-15).

Estimates of TB burden has been inaccurate in India (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: India and World ::

India is Russia’s especially privileged strategic partner says Russian President

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia remains one of India’s leading suppliers of advanced weapons and defence technology as “India is Russia’s especially privileged strategic partner”.
Mr. Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to sign an agreement on the delivery of S-400 ‘Triumph’ anti-missile defence systems and other deals during the BRICS Summit in Goa.
Russia has deployed the S-400, its most modern air defence system, for the bombing campaign Syria.
“Our countries actively collaborate in the military technical field. Russia remains in the lead in terms of both direct supplies of most advanced weapons and military equipment and conducting joint researches with India, as well as producing goods for military purposes,” Mr. Putin told.
He said many of the Russian projects in India had commercial importance and played a social and economic role for the two economies.
The S-400 anti-missile system can track some 300 targets and shoot down around three dozen simultaneously over a range of several hundred kilometres.
India has signed a series of key defence deals under the Modi government as part of a $100-billion upgrade of its Soviet-era military hardware, making it an attractive proposition for arms exporters.

Maldives quits the commonwealth

The Maldives angrily quit the Commonwealth on Thursday after years of wrangling over its human rights record since the toppling of its first democratically-elected leader four years ago.
The island nation said it had been treated “unjustly and unfairly” by the bloc, a voluntary association of more than 50 countries, many of them former territories of the British empire.
The Commonwealth put Male on notice after Mr. Nasheed stood down as President in February 2012 and said he had been forced out in a coup.
It has since criticised the government over its crackdown on dissidents and its controversial judiciary, and sent a special envoy to try to improve the archipelago’s rights record.
In its statement, the Maldives, which had previously threatened to pull out of the bloc, accused the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat of interfering in its affairs.
The United States has said democracy is under threat in the strategically located archipelago, which sits on key international shipping lanes.
A UN panel has also ruled that Mr. Nasheed’s imprisonment last year was illegal and ordered the regime of President Abdulla Yameen to pay him compensation.
Mr. Nasheed secured political asylum in Britain this year after travelling to London for medical treatment while on prison leave from a controversial 13-year prison sentence.
The country becomes the latest to leave the Commonwealth after Gambia which quit in October 2013.

UN General Assembly appointed Antonio Guterres as Secretary General (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Business and Economy ::

Government pursuing lower GST rate

With an eye on job creation, the government is going all out to make the textile sector more competitive by pursuing a lower Goods and Services Tax rate and is even willing to allow automobile and wine imports from the European Union in return for market access for Indian apparel.
Government is seeking to nullify the competitive disadvantage that arises due to these countries getting duty-free access to the EU and U.S. Indian products attract a 9.5 per cent duty in the EU.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has chaired about six meetings on India’s strategy towards free trade agreements (FTAs) with the textiles and commerce ministries, with a view to offset this disadvantage.
The entire cabinet is on board with a proposal to trade-off access to automobiles and wine imports under an India-EU FTA in return for access to Indian textiles.
A one crore rupees investment in most sectors creates ten to twelve jobs, but in textiles it creates 100 jobs.
The government realises the need to incentivise the sector for its job-generation potential, especially for women who form 70-80 per cent of its workforce.