Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 23 July 2015

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 23 July 2015

:: National ::

RS panel backs majority of GST Bill proposals

Though the Opposition forced adjournments in both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, the chances of the Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, meant to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST), clearing Parliament in the current session brightened, with the Rajya Sabha Select Committee endorsing almost all its provisions.
In its report submitted to the House, the committee, headed by Bhupender Yadav of the BJP, said that to start with, the GST rate should not go beyond 20 per cent as standard rate and 14 per cent as reduced rate.
It agreed with the demand of parties such as the Trinamool Congress for full compensation from the Centre for any revenue loss to the States during the transition.
It suggested that the provision in the Bill that the Centre “may” compensate the States for up to five years for any revenue loss be replaced with a commitment of compensation for five years.
The committee’s report also contained dissent notes from the Congress, the AIADMK and the Left parties.
The Bill, which the Lok Sabha has already approved, will now have to be taken up for passage in the Rajya Sabha. As it is a Constitution amendment Bill, it will have to be approved by two-thirds of the members in the Upper House, where the ruling BJP does not enjoy a majority.
The government will have to depend upon the support of regional parties and allies.

:: Science & Technology ::

Archaeologists discovered two human bones about 100,000 years old in China

Archaeologists announced that they have discovered two human bones about 100,000 years old in Central China's Henan province.
The limb bones were unearthed in May at the Lingjing historical site in Xuchang, said Li Zhanyang, a researcher at the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, who led the excavation.
Li said the two fossils were discovered not far from each other. Both belong to a young person, maybe even the same person, Li said.
There are several bite marks on the fossils.
So far, bone fossils from at least nine people have been discovered at the Lingjing historical site, including old and young, making it the largest site of discovered human fossils since the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Fossils from "Xuchang Man" were unearthed at the site, and two almost complete human skulls were dated back 100,000 years.
The Xuchang Man fossil consisted of 16 pieces of skull with protruding eyebrows and a small forehead. More astonishing than the completeness of the skull was that it still had a fossilized membrane on the inner side, so that scientists could track the nerves of the Paleolithic ancestor.
In addition to the bone fossils, more than 1,000 fossilized animals and stone implements have been found at the site.

Humans can be able to live on moon in next decade: NASA

According to a NASA-funded study, humans may be able to live on the moon in a little more than a decade from now. The study outlines a plan to again take human missions to the moon, media reported.
The announcement was made on July 20 -- the 46th anniversary of the Apollo 11 crew's first steps on the lunar surface -- The Verge (an American news and technology media network) reported.
The, study, undertaken by NexGen Space LLC, lays out a detailed roadmap for when and how to take the next step for a landing.
A robotic return to the moon could happen as soon as 2017, if NASA were to adopt the plan right away. Rovers would scout the lunar poles for hydrogen in 2018 and prospecting could begin by 2019 or 2020.
Robotic construction of a permanent base would begin in 2021 in anticipation of landing humans on the moon later that year, it said.
The study said the space agency can do it all within the existing budget for human spaceflights. The way for NASA to do this is to adopt the same method that it is using for re-supplying the International Space Station - a public-private partnership with companies like SpaceX, Orbital ATK or the United Launch Alliance.
SpaceX currently charges NASA about $4,750 for every kilogram of supplies sent to orbit aboard its Falcon 9 rocket, far less than the cost by the Apollo-era Saturn V ($46,000 per kilogram) or even the space shuttle ($60,000 per kilogram).
While the study does use SpaceX's next generation rocket, the Falcon Heavy, as an example in its plans to get to the moon, SpaceX claims the Falcon Heavy will be as cheap or cheaper per kilogram than the Falcon 9.
NASA is already planning to go back to the moon with its next generation rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), but there are no plans to land.
By using commercial partners, NASA could reduce the number of planned SLS launches from 12 to around three, reducing the cost of the programme while still developing the technologies necessary to support it, the study said.
The study was vetted by a 21-person independent review team made up of former members of NASA's administration, members of the commercial spaceflight community and four former NASA astronauts.

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:: Business ::

Apple grows faster in India than China

India is proving to be quite a strong growth engine for Apple, the world's most valuable company that sells the iPhone smartphones, iPad devices and Mac line of computers.
Growth rate in India has surpassed that witnessed in China.
Sales in India were up 93% in April-June against 87% growth in China, according to numbers released by the company, while announcing quarterly results on Tuesday.
However, it must be noted that China is many times bigger for Apple in terms of absolute volume and revenue, contributing almost 25% to the $49.6 billion revenue that the company clocked in April-June quarter.
India, on the other hand, is still a billion-dollar market for Apple, and that too on an annual basis. But, India is moving up fast, say distributors and sellers of Apple's devices.

TRAI disclose firms faulting on call drop service norms

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has named Vodafone, Idea, Reliance and Airtel among the cell phone service providers failing to meet the quality of service norms in Delhi or Mumbai, especially on mobile call drops.
The audit, done by an independent agency in the two metros, on behalf of the regulator, found that Tata (CDMA) in Delhi and Bharti Airtel in Mumbai are the only service providers meeting the benchmark of less than 2 per cent call drops.
In Delhi, the highest call drop rate was that of Reliance (17.29 per cent), followed by Airtel (8.04 per cent), Aircel (5.18 per cent), Vodafone (4.28 per cent) and Idea (2.84 per cent). The call drop rate for Tata (CDMA) stood at 0.84 per cent.
The situation is no better in Mumbai with Idea registering the highest call drop rate of 5.56 per cent, followed by Tata (GSM) (5.51 per cent), Vodafone (4.83 per cent), Aircel (3.19 per cent) and Reliance (2.29 per cent). For Airtel, this was 0.97 per cent.
The TRAI said the drive was conducted in view of complaints on call drops and other network issues on June 23 and June 24 in Mumbai and July 9 to 11 in Delhi.
As per the audit report, barring Tata (CDMA) in Delhi, none of the service providers in Delhi and Mumbai, meets the benchmark for Rx Quality, which measures voice quality during calls.
The number of call drop complaints by mobile phone subscribers has been on the rise, especially in metros. However, operators, on their part, have cited lack of spectrum and delay in its allocation as one of the reasons for network-related issues along with hurdles in installing mobile towers due to radiation issues.
The TRAI report points out that during the last six months around 801 sites in Mumbai and 523 sites in Delhi were shut down due to reasons such as sealing of sites by municipal authorities and radiation-related issues. The closure of each site impacts three to four neighbouring sites and this may lead to increased call drops.

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:: Sports ::

Hockey magician Major Dhyan Chand to be honoured in British Parliament

Indian hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand will be confered with the 'Bharat Gaurav' Lifetime Achivement Award by NRI orgainsation Sanskriti Yuva Sangstha at the House of Commons inside the British Parliament of July 25.
On behalf of Dhyan Chand, his son and former Indian hockey player Ashok Kumar will receive the award.
Dhyan Chand had helped India win three successive gold medals in Olympics. To his credit, he had scored over 400 goals in his international career.
Dhyan Chand was one of the nominees in 2014 for the prestigious Bharat Ratna, an award which cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and scientist C N Rao eventually received.
In 1936, when India won the gold medal in Berlin Olympics, Hitler offered Dhyan Chand to join the German team but he denied the offer.