Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 21 November 2015

:: National ::

Another terrorist attack in MalI

At least 27 people were reported dead on Friday as Malian special forces, aided by the U.S. and French commandos, stormed a luxury hotel in Bamako, where gunmen had held at least 170 people, including 22 Indians, hostage.
Two gunmen were among the dead, there were no more hostages left inside the hotel, but the government troops were still fighting gunmen.
India's External Afairs Ministry spokesperson also confirmed that all Indian hostages “have been safely evacuated.”
Gunmen had entered the 190-room hotel compound in Bamako at around 7 a.m. in a car with diplomatic plates and automatic gunfire was heard from outside.

Nitish sworn in Bihar CM, 28 join his team

Nitish Kumar was sworn in Bihar Chief Minis-ter for a fifth time on Friday at a grand event attended mostly by non-BJP leaders.
The two sons of RJD chief Lalu Prasad — Tejaswi and Tej Pratap — and 26 others were also sworn in. In the late-evening allocation of portfolios, Tejaswi Yadav, the younger son of Mr. Lalu Prasad, became Deputy Chief Minister.
The elder son, Tej Pratap, was given charge of three important Ministries.

Illegal shrines to be demolished in Maharastra (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International ::

Mali battles gunmen in capital as Islamists hit Iraq, Yemen

The raid on the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, comes a week after Islamic State militants killed 129 people in Paris.
The identity of the Bamako gunmen, or the group to which they belong, is not known.
One security source said as many as 10 gunmen had stormed the building, although the company that runs the hotel, Rezidor Group, said it understood that there were only two attackers.
The attack is not the first such incident occurring in the West African country. Despite a French intervention in its former colony in 2013, Islamists rebels, who have bases in the North, have continued in the country's central belt on the southern reaches of the Sahara, and in Bamako.
An Islamist group claimed responsibility for the death of five people last March in an attack on a restaurant in Bamako that is popular with foreigners.
And in August, 17 people were killed during an attack on a hotel in Sevare in central Mali, some 600 km northeast of Bamako, which was claimed by the Sahara-based Islamist militant group al-Mourabitoun.
The dead in Sevare included nine civilians, five of whom worked for the U.N. mission in Mali (MINUSMA), as well as four Malian soldiers and four militants.
In the wake of last week's Paris attacks, an Islamic State militant in Syria told Reuters the organisation viewed France's military intervention in Mali as another reason to attack France and French interests.
France has more than 1,000 troops in Mali, a key battleground of Operation Barkhane, a counter-terror operation spanning five countries in Africa's restive Sahel region.
Islamist groups have continued to wage attacks in Mali despite a June peace deal between former Tuareg rebels in the country's north and rival pro-government armed groups.
The country's north fell under the control of Tuareg rebels and jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in mid-2012.
Despite French intervention two years ago, the West African country continues to see terror attacks; militants often strike from their desert hideouts.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party defends war crimes convict Chowdhury (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: India And World ::

Trade ties top Modi's agenda at Asean meet

Enhancing the existing trade and economic ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is top on the agenda of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He will participate in the thirteenth Asean-India and the tenth East Asia summits.
Besides the two summits, the Prime Minister is slated to address the Business and Investment Summit, where he wants to emphasise the need for closer economic cooperation and investment opportunities.
The Asean today is India's fourth largest trading partner. India, in turn, is the sixth largest partner for Asean.
Trade between India and the Asean stood at $ 76.52 billion in 2014-15. India's exports to the Asean were $ 31.81 billion and imports were $ 44.71 billion.
The Asean-India strategic partnership was stated to have acquired further momentum after the enunciation of the “ Act East Policy” by Mr. Modi at the 12th Asean-India Summit in November 2014.

:: Economy ::

CBDT outlines roadmap to phase out corporate tax exemptions

The government announced its roadmap towards phasing out corporate tax exemptions, a commitment made by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech.
The Finance Minister had promised the dual actions of reducing the corporate tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent in a gradual manner, and the removal of corporate tax exemptions.
Regarding tax incentives with no date of termination, the CBDT proposes a sunset date of March 31, 2017, adding that there will be no weighted deduction with efect from 01. 04.2017.
During his Budget speech in February, Mr Jaitley had raised the issue of India's perceived high corporate tax and large number of exemptions.

Centre committed to boost public spending on infrastructure (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Sports ::

India takes on Japan in last four

Unbeaten India will look to ride its winning momentum and book a place in the summit clash when it takes on Japan in the first semifinal of the eighth junior men’s Asia Cup hockey tournament
India goes into the last-four clash on the back of a 2-1 win over the same opponent in its opening pool match. India had defeated Japan, Malaysia, China and Oman.
On the other hand, Japan’s performance has improved in its last two matches with wins over China in its last group match and Bangladesh in the quarterfinals.