Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 12 January 2015

:: National ::

India can lead smart growth says Ban Ki Moon

Raising concerns over the impact of climate change, world leaders laid thrust on renewable energy and sustainable development at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged investors to “shape and agree on the post-2015 development agenda with a set of sustainable development goals.”
He set 2030 as the target to provide universal access to energy to all seven billion people in the world, double energy efficiency and double the use of renewable energy.
Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s smart city initiative for encouraging the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency, Mr. Ban urged the Indian business community “to lead the transformation we need to achieve sustainable development and inclusive growth.”
“India is in a unique position to lead the move towards sustainability,” the U.N. Secretary-General said. The Summit saw participation by 8,500 delegates, including 2500 foreign delegates from around 120 countries and about 30 world leaders from the field of politics and business.
Large conglomerates from India and abroad announced huge investment and job creation plans. While Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani said his group would invest Rs. 1 lakh crore in 12-18 months across businesses, Kumar Mangalam Birla of Aditya Birla Group announced investment plans for Rs. 20,000 crore in the State.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi cited the Centre’s recent decisions to invite foreign investment in Railways, Defence and Insurance. Projecting India as a 3D investment destination, Mr. Modi said the country had “democracy, demography and demand.”

FM expects GST to take effect in 2016

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said he expected the government to implement the common Goods and Services Tax (GST) across the country in the course of next year.
Mr. Jaitley presented the GST Bill in parliament last year. It needs the support of two-thirds of its members as well as ratification by State legislatures.
The Bill, which was returned, authorises payment and appropriation of certain additional sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for 2014-15. It was passed by Lok Sabha on December 10.
Describing the GST reform as a “win-win situation” for both the Centre and the States, the Finance Minister had said the Bill would not have “fear of the unknown” unlike Value Added Tax (VAT).
Investors and manufacturers have long coveted the GST as a game-changer that would simplify taxes while broadening the tax base, adding as much as 2 percentage points to the size of Asia's third-largest economy.

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:: International ::

Taiwan confirmed the H5N8 strain of bird flu

Taiwan’s agriculture authority confirmed that the strain of bird flu found in a goose breeding facility in the Chiayi County was the H5N8, which is not considered to be highly pathogenic.
This follows the discovery of the highly pathogenic H5N2 strain of the bird flu virus at a chicken farm in the southern Taiwanese county of Pingtung.
Agriculture council chief, Chen Bao-ji, said that this was the first time that the H5N8 strain has been detected in Taiwan, adding that it was suspected to have been spread by migratory birds, according to a Xinhua report.
The Chiayi County government began culling more than 1,500 geese at the farm on Sunday and a ban on the movement of poultry in Pingtung, Tainan and Yunlin counties was imposed.
The culling of 120,000 chickens on a farm in Pingtung was completed after poultry was found to be infected with the H5N2 strain. Avian influenza, known informally as avian flu or bird flu, refers to influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds.
It has caused a global concern because of its possible transmission to humans and the threat of a pandemic if it mutates to a form that can be easily passed from birds to humans and then, from human to human.

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:: Business & Economy ::

Deal for mega solar project

SunEdison Inc, the U.S.-headquartered solar energy services firm, and India’s Adani Group have come together to invest $4 billion or Rs. 25,000 crore in setting up one of the world’s largest solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing facility in Gujarat.
The project is expected to create not only thousands of jobs, but also provide a much-need impetus to the country’s electrification programmes through solar energy.
The proposed solar PV production unit will come up at Mundra in about three years. And, it will vertically integrate all aspects of solar panel production on site, including poly silicon refining, and ingot, cell, and module production.

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:: Sports ::

India have slipped to 7th place in Test rankings

India have slipped a place to be seventh in the latest ICC Test rankings after losing the four-match away series against Australia 0-2. India’s slide in the rankings come after the two fighting draws which were not enough to prevent another series loss overseas.
India captain Virat Kohli however has gained three places to be 12th in the batsmen standings after amassing 692 runs in the eight innings Down Under. His Australian counterpart Steven Smith has reached a career-high fourth after piling up 769 runs in the series at a staggering average of 128.16.
Amongst the bowlers, pacer Mohammed Shami has risen seven places to a career-high 31st place after taking match figures of six for 145 runs in Sydney, while Australia’s Mitchell Starc has moved up nine places to 33rd after returning five wickets for 142 runs.
Amongst the other bowlers from the Sydney Test are Australia duo Shane Watson and Josh Hazlewood, up to 38th and a career-high 46th respectively.

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:: Science & Technology ::

4th navigation satellite launch in March 2015

The fourth navigation satellite of the country is getting ready for launch in March, and it will be another step forward for India in evolving its own navigation satellite system and not depend on the Geographical Positioning System (GPS) service of the U.S.
Cryogenic propulsion systems on board PSLV-C27 rocket that will launch the satellite are being developed by scientists of the ISRO Propulsion Complex at Mahendragiri in Tirunelveli district.
S. Ingersol, group director of the complex, told, “Totally, seven satellites are required to be launched to complete the configuration under the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) and already three had been launched.
Dr. Ingersol said launch of the remaining four satellites would be completed in one year and after that India’s dependency on the U.S. for GPS service would be significantly reduced. “This will trigger the much-needed development in geographic information systems.”
The Mahendragiri complex was developing the second and fourth liquid stages needed for the launch vehicle. “Advance research by ISRO scientists has made India go for launching heavier satellites of three to four tonnes from our own soil,” he said.

TB rate going down, but not fast enough to meet WHO target

India is unlikely to reach the WHO target of elimination of tuberculosis (TB) by 2050 going by the rate at which incidence of the disease is declining in the country.
“Incidence of TB in India is declining at the rate of about 2 per cent per year. However, in order to reach the TB elimination target by 2050, the rate should be 19 to 20 per cent per year,” WHO Representative to India Nata Menabde told.
She, however, said that on using available strategies and technologies effectively, along with universal health coverage and social protection, the country could achieve a reduction of TB incidence rate of 10 per cent per year by 2025.
“To hasten the decline of TB incidence beyond that would require new tools such as new effective vaccines, new points of care, effective diagnostics and new effective shortened treatment regimens,” she suggested.
Additionally, social determinants of TB such as under-nutrition, overcrowding and poor ventilation in slums and clinical risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, smoking etc should be addressed simultaneously, she added.
Citing the WHO Global TB Report 2014, Ms. Menabde said that India has already met the Million Development Goals (MDG) target of 50 per cent reduction in the prevalence of TB by 2015 compared to 1990. “India is also well on track for reducing TB death by 50 per cent by 2015,” she stated.
Ms. Menabde, however, said there was a need to improve the quality of care provided to TB patients at private clinics and hospitals as most approached such facilities for treatment, especially in urban areas.
“At least one-half of the TB patients in India, especially in urban areas, approach private sector for TB care. But the quality of care in the private sector in most situations is not satisfactory.
“There is a need for wider dissemination of ‘standards for TB care’ to the private sector, targeted approaches to engagement with them and more stringent implementation of mandatory notification of TB cases.

Deficient southwest monsoon hits Rabi sowing

A delayed and deficient southwest monsoon has shrunk rabi sowing from last year’s level. If sowing was taken up on 597.15 lakh hectares of land last year, the figure this time was 566.18 lakh hectares.
What is worrisome is the gap of 30.97 lakh hectares between the areas sown in the previous week and its corresponding week last year, higher than the deficit of 26.82 lakh hectares when making such a comparison for the week earlier.
The southwest monsoon was 12 per cent lower than the long period average in the country and 21 per cent in northwest India, hitting kharif crop production by 2-3 per cent. The rain deficit is affecting rabi sowing now.
A meeting in the Agriculture Ministry to review the crop and weather situation noted that wheat has been sown in 4.92 lakh hectares less this year because of lower moisture in the soil. Although the area under wheat will be made up in the next few weeks, the harvest will depend on the weather conditions.
Of particular concern is the lower acreage of pulses. The area under gram is lower this year by 14.8 lakh hectares from last year’s because of the lower minimum support price. Farmers have turned away from sowing gram as the price is low, sources said.
The area under coarse cereals is lower by 4.57 lakh hectares mainly because of reduced sowing of maize and jowar in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

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:: Persons in News ::

Sarabhai award for SHAR director M.Y.S. Prasad

M.Y.S. Prasad, director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota Range (SHAR), has been selected for the Vikram Sarabhai memorial award to be presented by the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) at a function to be held soon.
Dr. Prasad is selected for his outstanding contribution to R&D in the field of space science in his long and chequered career at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Prior to Dr. Prasad, those who received this award were former ISRO chairmen Dr. Satish Dhawan, Dr. K. Kasturi Rangan, Dr. G. Madhavan Nair and Dr. K. Radhakrishnan.
The ISCA, which is a premier scientific organization of the country established in 1914 in Kolkata, has been giving this award in alternate years.