Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 27 October 2016

:: National ::

CJI says freebies can't be camouflaged as welfare measures

Is announcement of free colour TVs in election manifestos in return for votes a “corrupt practice”?
In 2013, the Supreme Court replied that a promise in the election manifesto did not amount to an electoral corrupt practice under the Representation of People Act (RPA).
The court was then deciding a challenge against the free distribution of 30,000 colour TVs by the DMK after its victory in the 2006 Assembly polls. The party’s manifesto had promised TVs for every household.
Chief Justice T.S. Thakur, presiding over a seven-judge Constitution Bench, contradicted the apex court’s 2013 stand.
The Chief Justice did not mince words. He said promises like free TVs and money in election manifestos were nothing short of bribery.
Chief Justice Thakur asked how instruments of amusement like free colour TVs could be camouflaged as “welfare measures” by political parties.
The CJ made the observations while examining the question of whether Section 123(3) of the RPA prohibited a candidate or his agent or any other person with the candidate’s consent from appealing for votes or refrain from voting on the grounds of his religion, race, caste, community or language.

Narendra Modi Scholarship for Muslim students received enthusiastic response

The Narendra Modi Scholarship for Muslim students received enthusiastic response from students in Aligarh and beyond.
The scholarship was constituted in May by an Aligarh-based group of Muslim intellectuals, the Forum for Muslim Studies and Analysis (FMSA), and is meant for the economically backward Muslim students.
Over 22,000 applications were received, claimed director of FMSA Dr. JaseemMohammmad.
The largest chunk of the 15,956 applications came from girls. The applicants compete for a total number of 100 annual scholarships of Rs. 5.000 each.
Narendra Modi Scholarship for Muslim Students was launched this year, considering the weak economic condition of Indian Muslims because of which a large number of Muslim children remain uneducated or fail to have higher education.
The first volume of the proposed five volume biography was launched by the Prime Minister himself on May 10.

Paul Beatty’s novel The Sellout, won the Man Booker Prize (Register and Login to read Full News..)

The committee, headed by L. Narasimha Reddy gave report on OROP (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International ::

Sri Lanka drafts new law to counter terrorism

Even as Sri Lanka drafts a new law to counter terrorism, human rights activists and lawyers here fear it might be worse than the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) they want repealed and replaced.
One of the key demands around regime change in Sri Lanka in January 2015 — when former President MahindaRajapaksa was unseated —was to repeal the PTA.
The PTA was enacted in 1979, under President J.R. Jayawardene, primarily to crush the emerging armed struggle of Tamil youth protesting the state’s apparently discriminatory policies.
Modelled on South Africa’s apartheid-era legislation and laws that the British used against Irish militancy, the PTA became a permanent law in 1982.
Ever since Sri Lankan armed forces defeated the rebel Tigers in May 2009, bringing a nearly-three decade-long war to an end, civil society groups have been campaigning for repealing the PTA.
It was this question and mounting international criticism that pushed the government to consider a new law to replace the PTA with, but the draft of the proposed legislation has only reinforced old fears.
According to human rights activists, the draft policy and legal framework of the counter-terror law, much like the PTA, have broad definitions that may infringe on free expression and human rights activism.
For hundreds of families in the north, the PTA evokes unpleasant memories. The Act was used indiscriminately during Sri Lanka’s war years—then the army would round up Tamil-majority villages in the north
One of the few times that the Sri Lankan state evoked the Act in the south was during the second JVP insurrection from 1987-89, to arrest revolting Sinhalese youth.

:: India and World ::

India- New Zealand discussions encourage chance of NSG bid

India failed to get an outright statement of support for its bid to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group from New Zealand Prime Minister John Key after talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However India is encouraged” by the discussions they held ahead of the next NSG meeting on the issue on November 9-10.
Mr. Key said, indicating that New Zealand is yet to change its hard-line position on only admitting signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty into the NSG, a group which works by consensus.

India and Russia called for collective action against terrorism (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Business and Economy ::

India has third largest startup companies

India continues to harbour the third largest start-up base, marginally behind the U.K., according to a Nasscom-Zinnov start-up report.
The report, titled “Indian Start-up Ecosystem Maturing – 2016,” says that the ecosystem is poised to grow by an impressive 2.2X to reach more than 10,500 start-ups by the year 2020.
There is an increased interest from student entrepreneurs this year, according to the report. A remarkable growth of 25 per cent has been witnessed in 2016 with over 350 ventures founded by young students.
The median age of start-up founders has reduced marginally from 32 years in 2015 to 31 years in 2016.
Some of the notable findings of the report include: continued growth in the number of start-ups in 2016 with Bengaluru, the National Capital Region and Mumbai continuing to lead as major start-up hubs for the nation.
In terms of vertical growth, investors are looking at domains like health-tech, fin-tech, and edu-tech. With a total funding of approximately $4 billion, close to 650 young firms were funded signifying a healthy growth of the ecosystem.
The number of technology firms in India is expected to grow by 10-12 per cent to more than 4,750 start-ups by the end of 2016.
More than 1,400 new ventures emerged in 2016 denoting that the ecosystem is becoming prudent with both investors and start-up founders focusing on profitability and optimising the overall spend.