Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 22 August 2016

:: National ::

As the unrest in the Kashmir Valley continues, a committee constituted by the Home Ministry to look for alternatives to pellet guns.
Pellet guns are used against stone-pelting protesters is exploring options such as enhancing the intensity of tear- gas used in shells and using chilli powder and rubber bullets, a senior official said.
The seven-member committee was constituted on July 26 and is expected to submit its report in two months.
The committee has met five times and most members had one major concern — any alternative should not defeat the “primary purpose” of safeguarding the security forces.

Researchers have, for the first time, decoded and predicted the brain activity patterns of word meanings within sentences, an advancement that may help brain injury and stroke patients communicate better.
The study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure human brain activation where researchers successfully predicted what the brain patterns would be for new sentences.
The study makes key advances towards understanding how information is represented throughout the brain.
To predict the patterns of particular words within sentences, researchers used a broad set of sentences, with many words shared between them.
The fMRI data was collected from 14 participants as they silently read 240 unique sentences.

FethullahGulen Terrorist Organisation (FETO), blamed for last month’s coup attempt to topple President Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, has “infiltrated” India, according to Turkish Foreign Minister MevlutCavusoglu.
Asserting that the FETO is “secretive transnational criminal network” with presence around the world, Mr. Cavusoglu said, “Unfortunately, the FETO has also infiltrated India through associations and schools.”
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson said the Indian side was “sensitive” to Turkish concerns and Indian security agencies were “looking into” Ankara’s demand for closure of associations connected with the FETO.

NITI Aayog may seek Cabinet’s approval in a fortnight for a long-term policy to boost manufacturing of electronic products by providing a host of incentives to attract investment.
In view of great potential of electronics manufacturing sector, NITI Aayog has prepared a draft strategy paper titled ’Make in India—Strategy for Electronic Products.’
NITI put the draft in public domain for comments in May this year. The stakeholders and the general public were asked to submit the views and comments by June 30, 2016.
Aayog had suggested a 10-year tax holiday for companies investing over $1 billion in electronics manufacturing activities.
The NITI Aayog has also been asked to devise an export-oriented strategy for the industry, saying the domestic market at $65 billion remains small in relation to the world market, which is in excess of $2 trillion.
The Aayog’s line is big success requires operating in a large world market. Therefore, India must reorient its policy to ensure the industry becomes competitive in export markets.
India’s domestic consumption of electronics hardware in 2014-15 was $63.6 billion while imports accounted for 58 per cent of this figure.
NITI suggested that the country needs to forge free trade agreements (FTAs) to create duty-free market for electronic goods.
It had also suggested setting up coastal economic zones (CEZ) which may be up to 200-250 kilometres wide from the coastline.

After appointing Urjit Patel as the next Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, the government is now expected to finalise the names of three members to the interest rate setting panel MPC in the next few days.
The government nominees to the MPC have been shortlisted by a Search-cum-Selection Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary with RBI Governor and Economic Affairs Secretary and three experts in the field of economics.
The decision is expected in the next few days or may be in the beginning of the next month, sources privy to the development said.
The next bi-monthly RBI policy, scheduled on October 4, will be decided by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
The MPC was set up by amending the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, through the Finance Bill 2016.
Since Mr. Urjit Patel has been elevated as the next RBI Governor, the monetary policy department has to be looked after by any of the three deputy governors till the appointment of the fourth regular Deputy Governor.
So, even if the appointment takes time, the MPC can continue the work with regard to setting up interest rate to meet the inflation target fixed by the government.
Under the agreement with the government, RBI is committed to anchoring retail inflation at 4 per cent (plus/minus 2 per cent) and has set itself a target of 5 per cent by next March as part of a ‘glide path’ to achieving the median mark.
The Governor will have a casting vote once the country shifts to the panel system.