Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 17 April 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Motoring along National Highway (NH) stretches is set to become further smooth with the Govt going ahead with removing all speed breakers from highway corridors that hinder speedier and smoother flow of vehicular traffic.
The intervention of Govt comes in the wake of speed breakers (road humps) being constructed against the Ministry’s policy of not providing them on the NH corridors.
Scientifically designed rumble strips have been mooted by Govt for places such has approaches to sharp curves at level crossings, and congested or accident prone locations.
But, the Ministry is worried over rumble strips being put up on NHs indiscriminately.
Govt has asked the States to inform the Ministry by April 20 about removal of speed breakers and the location of rumble strips on NH corridors.
Henceforth, the location of the rumble strip needs to be approved by the chief engineer, NH, or the appropriate authority in the NHAI.
States have been asked to explore the possibility of providing foot overbridges and underpasses at pedestrian crossings on NH to prevent direct crossing and entry of pedestrians on highways.
Govt’s Road Accident Report for 2014 says 4,726 lives were lost in crashes due to humps and that 6,672 people died in accidents caused by potholes and speed breakers.
Kerala has around 1,550 km of National Highways and removing speed breakers will be a risk. as there is no urban-rural divide in the State.

Contrary to speculation that India and France have reached an agreement for the direct purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets, govt said talks on pricing had reached a critical phase and were expected to be completed in a few months.
The differences over pricing had narrowed down considerably, and the talks were in the final phase.
While the French offer was about €11 billion, India said it would not go beyond €8 billion. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has clarified on various occasions that there will be no compromise on the price.
After some hard negotiations, the differences seem to have narrowed down considerably, with the French climbing down on their offer. The conclusion of the inter-governmental agreement will pave the way for signing of the final contract.
In January this year, both sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the purchase during the visit of French President Francois Hollande to India.
The development comes one year after the surprise announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Paris on the direct purchase of 36 fighter jets under a government-to-government agreement.
However, the talks to conclude the deal were gridlocked over offset requirements, customisations as sought by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and pricing.

Saudi Arabia has told the Obama administration and members of Congress that it will sell off hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of American assets held by the kingdom if Congress passes a bill that would allow the Saudi government to be held responsible in U.S. courts for any role in the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Adel al Jubeir, the Saudi Foreign Minister, delivered the kingdom’s message personally last month during a trip to Washington, telling lawmakers that Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750 billion in treasury securities and other assets in the U.S. before they could be in danger of being frozen by U.S. courts.
The administration, which argues that the legislation would put Americans at legal risk overseas, has been lobbying so intently against the bill that some lawmakers and families of September 11 victims are infuriated.
President Barack Obama will arrive in Riyadh for meetings with King Salman and other Saudi officials.
Saudi officials have long denied that the kingdom had any role in the September 11 plot, and the 9/11 Commission found “no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organisation”.
But critics have noted that the commission’s narrow wording left open the possibility that less senior officials or parts of the Saudi government could have played a role.

Scores of people were feared buried alive on Saturday after two powerful quakes hit southern Japan a day apart, killing at least 41 people, as a forecast storm threatened more devastating landslides.
Homes, roads and railway lines were swept away when huge hillsides collapsed as thousands of tonnes of mud were dislodged by the thunderous seismic tremors.
Buildings were reduced to rubble, including a university dormitory and apartment complexes, with dozens of people unaccounted for over a wide area.
More than 90,000 people have been evacuated, including 300 from an area near a dam thought to be at risk of collapse.
Isolated villages in mountainous areas near Kumamoto were completely cut off by landslides. At least 500 people were believed trapped in one settlement and expected to spend the night in public buildings.

A bleak global economic outlook and the resultant export contraction are challenges to the Indian economy but good monsoon rains that are forecast this year would provide an impetus, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
Indian economy has been the fastest growing among major economies for the past three quarters, the minister said at a conference of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors’ meeting at the International Monetary Fund.
He outlined the policy initiatives that the government was taking to capitalise on growth and said the Centre was re-examining existing fiscal policy approaches and increasing public investment.
Mr. Jaitley, during his speeches and interactions in the U.S capital over the last two days, said India was doing better than many other countries, but admitted that more needed to be done.

India suffered a 0-4 drubbing at the hands of World champion Australia to settle for a silver medal, its best finish in six years, in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament.
This was Australia’s ninth title win as it continued its stranglehold over the tournament.
India last won the tournament in 2010, its fifth title, when it was a joint-winner with South Korea. In 2012 and 2015 it was the bronze medallist.

In the chill climes of polar waters, scientists are looking for specific oceanographic factors that could influence Indian monsoon.
IndARC, the country’s first moored-underwater observatory in the Arctic, had recently been deployed for the continuous monitoring of the oceanographic parameters from various depths.
IndARC is expected to provide significant inputs in the understanding of the Arctic climate and its possible link to tropical processes, specifically the Indian monsoon.
The observatory is presently anchored about 1100 km away from the North Pole at a depth of 192 metres.
The observatory carries with it an array of high-end oceanographic sensors strategically positioned at discrete depths in the water column.
The sensors are programmed to collect real-time data on seawater temperature, salinity, current and other vital parameters of the fjord (creek),
Climate change is felt first and fastest in the Arctic. It manifests as rising temperatures, loss of sea-ice and the melting of ice sheets.