Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 22 October 2016

:: National ::

The Border Security Force (BSF) have killed at least seven Pakistan Rangers personnel in Hiranagar, Jammu, in retaliation for a sniper attack that injured one of their men along the International Border.
The sniping incident came after a lull of almost 15 months. Officials cautioned that it was a worrying development as the 192 km IB in Jammu had not witnessed any cross-border firing even after the September 29 strikes.
This is also the first time such heavy casualties have been inflicted on the Rangers in the past five years. Deaths had been confirmed by reports of their observation posts and by intercepts of Pakistani wireless communication.
The BSF also asked district officials to make necessary arrangements if villages along the border need to be evacuated in the event of shelling and firing from Pakistan.

If you are a Delhi Metro user, you will be able to ‘wear’ your travel smart card from next month. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is going to come up new smart cards in the shape of wrist watches, wrist bands and mobile covers.
These merchandise will work the same way as the smart card but it will mean that you will not have to carry a smart card separately the way you carry a credit or debit card.
Though the DMRC did not reveal how much these wrist watches, wrist bands or mobile covers will cost, it said the wrist watches would be affordable and other merchandise will be sold at a nominal rate.
The idea behind the chip based merchandise is that commuters wouldn’t have the hassle of carrying around a smart card separately because these merchandise double up as utility items.

The Syrian government opened a new corridor for rebels and civilians who want to leave the besieged eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo.
However U.N. said that planned medical evacuations have not begun as planned due to lack of security assurances from warring sides.
The evacuations, part of a Russia—announced pause in fighting, were announced a day earlier by U.N. officials.
U.N’s humanitarian aid agency spokesman, Jens Laerke, described it as an “astronomically difficult situation,” and declined to specify who was responsible for the breakdown in the plans.
U.N. humanitarian aid official Jan Egeland said the U.N. had received the “green lights” for evacuations from Syria’s govt., armed opposition groups and Russia.

A support scheme for the Nitaqat (’Saudi-sation’ of the workforce), introduced by Saudi Arabia this week, is expected to benefit a large number of Indian expatriates facing retrenchment.
Particularly relieved are many Keralites whose jobs in shops and companies had been under threat.
According to the new support scheme, business establishments in yellow and red categories can continue to employ the expatriates after paying a special monthly fee.
As per the support scheme, an employer will have to pay a fee of 3,600 Saudi Arabian Riyal (SAR) for avoiding the appointment of a Saudi citizen.
However, the higher the number of Saudis to be appointed, the more the fee to be paid to the government. For every second Saudi national not appointed, the company will have to pay SAR 4,200.
The fee will be SAR 4,800 for every third Saudi citizen. And, for the fourth, the fee will jump to SAR 9,000.
The support scheme has come at a time when there were fears among Indians about a possible forced retirement at 60.

Global airline body IATA has expressed disappointment over India’s opposition to a global pact for curbing aviation emissions proposed by the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in Montreal recently.
Although 65 countries signed the pact committing to cap emissions at 2020 levels, India and Brazil were among countries that opted out as it felt the deal would be unfair for developing countries where the civil aviation market is not mature.
India ratified the COP21 accord on climate change in the same week and Mr. de Juniac was “hopeful that the spirit of climate leadership would extend to aviation emissions.”
India is set to become the third largest aviation market by displacing the UK in 2026. Minister of State Civil Aviation said earlier this month that the government is examining ways to offset higher emissions from rising aviation traffic.

Government will be ready with second version of model Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act by next year, aiming to increase farmers’ income by measures like taking contract farming out of the law.
NITI Aayog and Agriculture Ministry are working on the new model law, which can be adopted by the states. At present, few states like Punjab have come out with separate contract farming law.
The new APMC Act will also have provision for promoting online or spot (e-national agriculture market) agriculture market platforms and ensure that all these measures are revenue neutral for states.