Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 17 October 2014

National

PM Narendra Modi rolls out labour reforms

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled new measures for the youth, workers and employers to improve ease of doing business for enterprises while expanding government support for training workers.

• “Ease of business is the greatest requirement for India’s success. It will be a priority under Make in India. Labour’s problems must be seen from labour’s point of view,” he said.

• Mr. Modi also launched the Universal Account Number scheme (UAN) for all Provident Fund contributors which will allow portability and online tracking of PF benefits.

• Inaugurating the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Shramev Jayate Karyakram, organised by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mr. Modi said the aim of the programme was to emphasise the dignity of labour, especially that performed by blue-collar workers, referring to them as “shram yogi.”

GSLV-Mark III launch in 45 days: ISRO chief

• In just 45 days from now, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) would launch its most ambitious suborbital — less than the usual orbit- test flight — Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III.

• It will be an unmanned crew module. This will unleash India’s dream of sending its astronauts into space come true.

• “We will comeback soon with an unmatched module in the next 45 days. GSLV Mark III will be one of the heaviest indigenous launch vehicles,” said K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, ISRO, after the launch of PSLV C26, IRNSS-1C, the third satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

• The GSLV Mark III will help ISRO put heavier communication satellites of INSAT-4 class into orbit. These satellites weigh anywhere between 4,500-5,000 kg. The vehicle is 42.4 metre tall compared to the other GSLV which is 49 metre. It will be a three-stage vehicle.

• “We are already working on this next launch. The work is completed and in testing stages,” Y.S. Prasad, Director, SHAR, said.

• Terming the Mark III mission as most important and challenging, M. Chandradathan, Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of ISRO, said: “It is one of the heaviest indigenous launch vehicles that is been developed till date.”

• The launch of GSLV Mark III will enhance India’s capability to be a competitive player in the multimillion dollar commercial launch market.

India Bans on import of animal tested cosmetics (Register and Login to read Full News..)  

International

Climate change may impact rice yields in Asia: IPCC

• Rural poverty in parts of Asia could be exacerbated due to negative impacts from climate change on rice production, and a general increase in food prices and the cost of living, says the report of working group two of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report.

• The report Climate Change 2014 Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability of the IPCC says rice is a key staple crop in Asia and 90 per cent or more of the world’s rice production is from Asia. The most vulnerable regions were western Japan, eastern China, the southern part of the Indochina peninsula, and the northern part of South Asia.

• However, the report has some good news for Pakistan. In contrast, climate change may provide a windfall for wheat farmers in parts of Pakistan. Warming temperatures would make it possible to grow at least two crops (wheat and maize) a year in mountainous areas according to studies.

• In the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia there could be a decrease of about 50 per cent in the most favourable and high-yielding wheat area as a result of heat stress.

• The report says Asia experienced the highest number of weather and climate-related disasters in the world during the period 2000–2008 and suffered huge economic losses, accounting for the second highest proportion (27.5 per cent) of the total global economic loss. Flood mortality risk is heavily concentrated in Asia. Severe floods in Mumbai in 2005 have been attributed to both climatic factors and non-climatic factors.

• Impacts of climate change on food production and food security in Asia will vary by region, with many regions to experience a decline in productivity. This is evident in the case of rice production. People living in low-lying coastal zones and flood plains are probably most at risk from climate change impacts in Asia. Half of Asia’s urban population lives in these areas. Compounding the risk for coastal communities, Asia has more than 90 per cent of the global population exposed to tropical cyclones, the report adds.

Argentina launches its first domestically built satellite

• Argentina launched its first domestically built communications satellite.

• The ARSAT-1 satellite is the first to be constructed with local technology in Latin America. It was built by a crew of about 500 scientists over seven years at a cost of $250 million. The satellite was launched from a base in French Guyana and is to orbit 36,000 kilometers above Earth.

• “ARSAT-1 is on its way to space. What a thrill,” President Cristina Fernandez tweeted shortly after the launch.

• ARSAT-1 is designed to provide digital television and cell phone services to Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay for the next 15 years. It’s also expected to improve telephone and Internet connections in remote places, including for scientists working in the Antarctic region.

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Persons in news

New team to direct economy

• With the appointment of former IMF economist Arvind Subramanian as the Chief Economic Adviser and Rajasthan cadre IAS officer Rajiv Mehrishi as the finance secretary, the Narendra Modi government has brought in a new team to steer the economy, five months after it came to power.

• Mr. Subramanian, earlier a senior fellow at the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics, is pronouncedly pro-market. He has in the past argued for quicker subsidy reforms, fast introduction of GST, and faster deficit reduction than the temporal target set by the government.

• The medium term fiscal policy envisages a progressive reduction of the deficit to three per cent of the GDP by 2016-17.

• His appointment is a bold signal from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, a ministry official told. “Mr. Subramanian was critical of the first budget, but that he still gets this job is a clear signal that the government is serious about reforms.”

• Mr. Mehrishi replaces Arvind Mayaram, who has been appointed the new Tourism Secretary. Mr. Mehrishi is also known to be pro-market and has been handpicked by Mr. Jaitley.

World Food prize presented to Indian scientist (Register and Login to read Full News..)  

Science & technology

Another success of ISRO with PSLV-C26 launch

• On October 15, 1994, India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-D2) for the first time successfully placed an Indian Remote-sensing Satellite into orbit.

• Twenty years later, on October 16, 2014, the PSLV-C26 lobbed the 1,425 kg Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS-1C) satellite into its precise orbit.

• This mission was ISRO’s twenty-seventh consecutively successful PSLV flight. ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said, “The PSLV has done it again. IRNNSS-1C is up in orbit. ”

• After a flight of 20 minutes and 18 seconds, the satellite was injected into an elliptical orbit. The IRNSS-1C is the third among seven navigation satellites, with a wide range of applications from helping truck drivers to submarines, missiles and battle tanks locate their positions.

Cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’ test-fired (Register and Login to read Full News..)  

Business & economy

Autos, tractors exempted from MV tax

• The Government of Telangana exempted Motor Vehicles Tax in respect of three-wheeled goods carriages up to gross vehicle weight of 3,000 kg and three-wheeled contract carriages --passenger autos with the seating capacity of 4, 5, 6 and 7-in-all, as promised by the TRS before elections.

• The government has also written off cumulative arrears of MV Tax to an extent of Rs. 76.26 crore up to the period of June 30, 2014, in respect of three-wheeled goods carriages up to gross vehicle weight of 3,000 kg and three-wheeled contract carriages (passenger autos with seating capacity of 4, 5, 6 and 7-in-all and tractors and tractor-trailers used for agriculture purposes. The government also exempted MV Tax payable in respect of tractors and tractor-trailers.

Discriminatory regulation of tobacco cultivation will cause revenue loss: study

• The discriminatory regulation of tobacco cultivation will cause a revenue loss of about Rs.21,000 crore annually to India Inc, besides forcing about 3.80 crore people out of livelihood, a study report, jointly conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) and the Thought Arbitrage Research Institute (TARI), said.

• Releasing the report on ‘Tobacco economics in India: the voice of the farmer and other stakeholders’ here on Thursday, Assocham national Secretary-General D. S. Rawat and TARI founder Kaushik Dutta said non-ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) would have an adverse impact on the lives of a sizable section of people in the country.

• The study suggested that a multi-pronged strategy of agricultural diversification in a phased manner and shifting to other economic activities was the need of the hour to provide sustainable livelihood solutions to the people associated with tobacco. “Tobacco cultivation is a lifeline for a sizable population, including rural women, tribal communities and other weaker sections,” Mr. Dutta said.

• The alternative livelihood should be based on the capabilities of those involved in tobacco cultivation, and should match their present socio-economic position. “Or else, it will lead to economic imbalance and social conflicts,” Mr. Dutta said.

• Further, non-ratification of the treaty for limiting tobacco production would lead to trade disputes and illegal smuggling, thereby threatening millions of jobs and lower realisation of taxes, duties and foreign exchange.

• Terming the proposal of the Union Health Ministry to limit only Flue Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco, an export-oriented variety, tobacco farmers said they had no qualms if the government banned all varieties of tobacco, including the ones used in other forms of products.

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Guidelines for 3,000 MW solar projects released (Register and Login to read Full News..)  

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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

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