Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 15 February 2017

:: National ::

SC found Sasikala guilty in disproportionate assets case

• Indicting former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, albeit posthumously, for having criminally conspired with aide V.K. Sasikala to launder ill-gotten wealth, the Supreme Court set aside High Court’s acquittal of Ms. Sasikala.

• A Bench of Justices ‘restored in toto’ the trial court’s conviction of Ms. Sasikala, V.N. Sudhakaran and J. Elavarasi in September 2014, and ordered them to surrender immediately at the trial court in Karnataka.

• Even after Ms. Sasikala serves her four-year sentence, she would be disqualified from contesting elections for the next six years as per the Supreme Court judgment in the Lily Thomas versus Union of India of July 2013 case.

• The trial judge,sentenced Ms. Sasikala, under Section 109 IPC, read with Section 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act to simple imprisonment for a period of four years each and to pay a fine of Rs. 10 crore each.

• The trial court had sentenced Jayalalithaa to four years’ imprisonment and Rs. 100 crore in fine for corruption. If alive, she would have had to resign as CM and serve the rest of her prison term, besides paying the fine.

• Expressing “deep concern about the escalating corruption in the society”, Justice Roy observed that this case was ‘startling’ in the way corruption was carried out by the accused persons with sheer impunity.

• The abatement of charges against Jayalalithaa does not rub off the smear of ignominy the Supreme Court has piled on her political legacy.

Aero India 2017 took off in Bengaluru

• A rather low-pitch Aero India 2017 took off in Bengaluru with Indian metal birds putting up a strong show over the skies of nearby Yelahanka.

• Defence Minister inaugurating the 11th edition of the two-yearly air show and exhibition, reiterated the government’s policy and financial support to spur Indian defence capabilities in design, development and manufacturing.

• Mr. Parrikar said, “I assure you that many more such initiatives will be taken in the coming months. Additional initiatives are also under way to support the private sector in defence manufacturing.”

• The Minister said defence technology development fund had got an initial contribution from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. and Bharat Electronics Ltd. It is learnt that the initial corpus of Rs. 10 crore will be increased as per demand to encourage defence startups.

• He pointed out that while an enabling environment was being created for defence public enterprises and the private defence industry, FDI and tie-ups were also necessary to raise local expertise to global standards.

• Civil Aviation Minister noted that India was the fastest growing aviation region and this called for synergy with defence segment, in tapping defence airports to strengthen air traffic within the country.

SC clarifies its order on national anthem (Register and Login to read Full News)

:: International ::

Michael Flynn resigns as the National Security Adviser to Donald Trump

• Michael Flynn’s resignation as the National Security Adviser to Donald Trump over his Russia contacts could reset the U.S. President’s attempts to reset ties with Moscow.

• At the core of the controversy is whether or not Mr. Flynn told the Russian Ambassador in Washington that Mr. Trump would reverse the new sanctions that Mr. Obama was imposing on Russia for allegedly interfering in the U.S. elections.

• Democrats, critical of Mr. Trump’s overtures to Russia, have seized the opportunity to attack the administration. John Conyers Jr. and Elijah Cummings, senior members of the House committees, have demanded a classified briefing on the entire fiasco.

• More challenging for Mr. Trump will be questions about the extent of his own knowledge of Mr. Flynn’s contacts with the Russian envoy.

• After initial news reports about the monitored phone calls, Vice-President Mike Pence and White House spokesperson Sean Spicer had defended Mr. Flynn. They had said that the conversations did not touch upon sanctions.

• Mr. Flynn and the Russian Ambassador spoke several times during the transition, but in one conversation on December 29, 2016 — the day Mr. Obama announced new sanctions on Russia and ordered 35 Russian diplomats to leave the country.

• Democratic lawmakers and some commentators have said Mr. Flynn’s promise to the Russian Ambassador to review the U.S. sanctions was in violation of the Logan Act that forbids any private U.S. citizen from conducting foreign policy.

:: Science and Technology ::

Meteorologists are likely to review a possible El Nino

• Meteorologists are likely to review the threat to the Indian monsoon from a possible El Nino.

• Scientists will analyse a range of forecasts from international climate models – and their own –that suggest waters are likely to warm and change wind patterns enough to El Nino-like conditions.

• El Nino refers to an anomalous heating up of the waters in the central-eastern regions of the equatorial Pacific and implies a consistent, average rise in temperature of 0.5 degree Celsius above normal.

• Historically that translates to the monsoon drying up over India six out of 10 years.

• In the normal course of events, the Pacific waters ought to have been in the converse cool, La Nina mode and only begin a warming trend late after India’s summer monsoon period of June-September.

• However these trends are expected to begin around March and have an El Nino during the latter half of the monsoon. Meteorologists however say it’s too early to be sure of an El Nino and its impact on the monsoon.

First indigenously built AEW&C, Netra, inducted in IAF

• The IAF has formally inducted the first indigenously built Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C) Netra developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at the Aero India exhibition.

• These airborne warning systems, capable of long range surveillance, are huge force multipliers. Netra is based on Embraer aircraft and three systems are to be developed.

• This system gives a 240-degree coverage of airspace. The three aircraft would be based at Bhatinda, facing the Western border.

• As the AWACS is much heavier, it needs a bigger aircraft. They would be based on the Airbus-A330. It has already been shortlisted through a global process and is in the final stages.

ISRO to create history with launch (Register and Login to read Full News)

1.1 million people die prematurely each year due to air pollution in India (Register and Login to read Full News)

:: India and World ::

Six nations to participate in conference for future of Afghanistan

• India is among six nations participating in a conference on Afghanistan’s future in Moscow, two months after Russia hosted a similar conference with only China and Pakistan.

• After India and particularly Afghanistan objected to being cut out of the discussion, Moscow agreed to expand its ambit, announcing a six-nation conference of Russia, India, Iran, Pakistan, China and Afghanistan.

• The issue of exclusion was raised by Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar during his talks with the Russian delegation at the Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar in early December last year.

• The invitation may not however, smooth over serious differences between New Delhi and Moscow over the past few months on their moves in the region. To begin with, India is increasingly uncomfortable with Russia’s overtures to Pakistan on defence issues.

• Significantly, Russia did not join the U.S., U.K. and France in sponsoring a resolution against Jaish chief Masood Azhar at the U.N. sanctions committee last month, a resolution which China then put a hold on.

• Russia has been seen as favouring a softer line on the Taliban as a counter to the spread of Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan; Russia and China have also been coordinating to demand the delisting of senior Taliban leaders designated as terrorists by the U.N. sanctions committee.

:: Business and Economy ::

Crude oil and minerals take WPI to over 5 percent

• The Wholesale Price Index grew 5.25% in January on the back of accelerating inflation in the crude oil and minerals sectors. The index saw its growth accelerating from 3.39% in December 2016.

• While inflation in the primary articles category quickened to 1.3% in January from 0.3% in Dec 2016, prices in the food segment within this period contracted for the second consecutive month by 0.56% compared with a contraction of 0.7%.

• The minerals segment, however, saw the rate of inflation almost doubling in January to 25.4% from 12.9% in December.

• In the fuel and power category, inflation accelerated sharply to 18.14% in January, from 8.65% in the preceding month.

• Inflation in the manufactured goods category accelerated marginally to 4% in January from 3.7% in December.

Trade unions oppose Centre’s proposed change to empower states (Register and Login to read Full News)

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