Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 16 October 2016

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 16 October 2016

:: National ::

Russia came in support of India for fight against terror

  • India and Russia put up an emphatic display of deep bilateral ties, setting aside recent discord, and came out strongly against terror.

  • Both sides signed 16 important deals including one on S-400 missile systems, a game-changer in countering airborne threats.

  • Defence production and acquisition agreements were announced after the summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin.

  • Apart from the Inter Governmental Agreement on the missile system — worth nearly Rs 39,000 crore — Russia also agreed to sell Kamov 226T helicopters and four Krivak class stealth frigates to India.

  • The Kamov 226T helicopters will be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and Rostec State Corporation of Russia under a joint production plan.

  • In his statement, President Vladimir Putin highlighted Russia’s “stable” approach to ties with India and said his government will ensure steady energy cooperation with India to support the expanding Indian economy.

  • “Sometimes differences appear in some projects over a period due to currency devaluation. But we commit to maintain a steady approach to bilateral projects with India,” said President Putin

  • He also added, “we are working on joint development of Sukhoi super jets and passenger aircraft.”

PM Modi says India and China can't have diff on terrorism

  • India and China “cannot afford” to have differences on terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told President Xi Jinping at a bilateral meeting just ahead of the BRICS summit in Goa.

  • He also directly raised the need to designate Jaish-e Mohammad chief Masood Azhar as a terrorist at the U.N. Mr Modi also pushed India’s case for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

  • “No country is immune to terrorism, and we cannot afford to have differences on the issue,” said MEA officials detailing Mr. Modi’s meeting with Mr. Xi, their third bilateral in four months.

  • “Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India and China must increase their coordination on the U.N. Security Council 1267 committee while building a long term road map on countering terrorism,” added MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

  • The reference to Masood Azhar, by Mr. Modi is the most direct attempt by India to pin China to a commitment.

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed India’s hopes for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group at a bilateral summit ahead of the eighth BRICS summit

BRICS, BIMSTEC come together in Goa (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Centre has written to States to implement the recommendations of nurses pay (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Science and Technology ::

Genetic secrets of purple rice

  • The mysterious ways of genes influencing the character of crop plants through long periods of domestication, selection and modern breeding continues to perplex specialists, as found out by researchers working on coloured rice.

  • Even the whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) of the Purpleputtu rice variety has not fully opened the windows to the genetic secrets to the researchers.

  • Researchers at the SciGenom Research Foundation, said the genome sequencing of Purpleputtu revealed around 65,000 unique genetic mutations compared with the reference sequence, of which about 50 are in the genes of the colour pathway.

  • The question of how specific genes and gene networks control the expression of its uniqueness, the purple colour, still remains an unanswered mystery, say researchers.

  • In most cultivated white grain rice varieties, a regulatory gene, Rc is missing 14 base pairs, which is believed to have changed the phenotype of seeds from coloured to white.

  • The presence of the 14 base pairs is believed to help regulate the anthocyanin pathway enzymes to produce coloured seeds, and its absence is accounted for the grains remaining more or less white.

  • The sequencing revealed that the 14 base pairs of Rc gene were absent in Purpleputtu variety.

  • This leads to the conclusion that there are alternative regulatory pathways operating in Purpleputtu.

:: Business and Economy ::

Credit guarantee fund for start ups to be set up by the Centre soon

  • The Centre will soon set up a Rs.2,000 crore credit guarantee fund to support start-ups, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary said.

  • This corpus of Rs.2,000 crore will provide up to 80 per cent risk cover for collateral free credit being given by banks and financial institutions to start-ups.

  • government is working on softening existing regulations for start-ups. DIPP is fast tracking the patent examination process. “We are providing 80 per cent rebate in applications.

Centre to push for infrastructure development in next few months

  • The Centre may seek parliamentary approval to spend about $7.5 billion more on roads, railways and other programmes over the next five months, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks to spur growth and create jobs.

  • The new spending, details of which are still being worked out, would come at a time when private investment has plunged, leading to a slowdown.

  • It would also coincide with the run-up to a crucial state election early next year in Uttar Pradesh, Indian's most populous state that is home to more than 200 million people.

  • At $7.5 billion, the additional spending would represent about 2.5 per cent of the total budgeted so far for the current fiscal year.

  • The Uttar Pradesh poll is shaping up to be one of the most important tests for BJP, with ramifications both for the smooth functioning of government and his chances of winning a second term in 2019 national elections.

  • While some of his government’s initiatives, such as bank accounts have started reaching people in the country's vast rural hinterland, the administration has struggled to create enough jobs.

The Centre plans to widen consultations over a proposed social security code for workers (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Click Here to Register for Full News

Click Here for Archive

Half Yearly Current Affairs for UPSC IAS (Pre.) Exam

This is a Part of Online Coaching Programme for IAS Exam

Buy Printed Study Material for IAS Pre General Studies (Paper-1)

Join Online Test Series for IAS (Pre.) Exam

Sources: Various News Papers & PIB