Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 27 November 2015

:: National ::

Obesity on the rise in India

Obesity has emerged as the new killer disease making the young vulnerable to long-term chronic diseases like cardiovascular issues,diabetes and blood pressure fluctuations.
obesity is now plaguing children, who often become over weight due to innumerable factors like lack of physical activity,unhealthy eating habits, in-creasing reliance on convenience foods and hormonal issues.
Early incidence of obesity causes the deposition of plaque in the heart wall arteries at a much younger age,triggering premature heart attacks. Parents must keep a check on the weight of their children to help ensure that they have a long and healthy life

Saltwater tolerant paddy

Scientists at the Rice Research Station of Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) at Vyttila have developed a new variety of paddy tolerant to saline intrusion, a major challenge faced by farmers in the lowlands.
The landmark achievement in rice research was made possible by the introduction of genes tolerant to salinity and iron toxicity into Jyothi, Kerala’s most popular rice variety.
The project which began in 2008 involved the incorporation of the SalTol gene present in Pokkali, the most saline tolerant rice variety in the world, into Jyothi.
The research team is now working on the introduction of a submergent tolerant gene (Sabl) into Jyothi, to make the rice variety resistant to flash floods up to two weeks.

Corvette Anti-submarine

Kadmatt, the second of the four indigenously built stealth Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) corvette, was formally handed over to the Navy
The Corvette which is named after an island in the Lakshwadeep archipelago, has advanced stealth features is likely to be commissioned with the Navy in January. Indigenously developed with special grade high-tensile, the hull of the ship has bulk of sensors and weapon system. It can accommodate 17 officers,, 106 sailors and can carry a helicopter onboard.
The first ship of the series INS Kamorta was inducted into the Navy in August 2014. Two remaining corvettes of the series Kiltan and Kavaratti will be delivered to the Navy in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

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:: International ::

Reforms in China Military structure

China will shake up its military by establishing a joint operational command structure by 2020 and rejig existing military regions as part of overall reforms, President Xi Jinping.
In a lengthy speech carried by the official Xinhua news agency, President Xi gave a broad-brush description of the reforms he wanted, but gave few details aside from repeating a September pledge to cut troop numbers by 3,00,000.
“Under the leadership of the [Communist] Party, our military has gone from small to big, from weak to strong, from victory to victory. On this road, reform and innovation steps have never stopped,” he was quoted as saying.
China's navy is investing in submarines and aircraft carriers, while the air force is developing stealth fighters. The troop cuts are part of long-mooted reforms to simplify and further professionalise the military, especially command and leadership structures that are still largely run along Soviet lines.
As part of this move, China's seven military regions, which have separate command structures that tend to focus on ground-based operations, are expected to be reduced.

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:: Business And Economy ::

‘undistorted' goods and services tax backed of Industry body

Finance Minister Arun Jaitely got the backing of India Inc. for bringing in an ‘undistorted' goods and ser-vices tax (GST) regime with corporations opting for a complete move to GST even if it involved making a compromise on its structure.
“I have no doubt that we can attain 9 per cent growth in the economy by 2018-19, if political parties can rise above their differences and help ring in the new indirect tax regime that has been in the making for over a decade,” said Sunil Kanoria, vice chairman of Srei Infrastructure and current president of industry chamber, Assocham.
“GST can help kickstart our economy…we are bolstering connectivity infrastructure like highways, railways and digital, but doing business between states remains a nightmare and 4.5 lakh MEs particularly suffer on this account.”
Global investors would also consider it a critical element in the ease of doing business – a parameter on which the Mo-di government is trying to improve India's abysmal standing.
The industry, however, was not in favour of the one per cent inter-state cascading sales tax to be imposed over the GST in order to compensate manufacturing states for a possible loss of revenue.
“We should be moving towards a united India rather than dividing states, so there should be a single rate and the 18 per cent GST rate that the Finance Ministry seems to be considering is reasonable,” the Assocham president said, adding that the GST shouldn't be creating new problems.
The government's efforts to improve the business regulatory environment and give entrepreneurs the confidence to invest fresh capital would start showing results by 2017-18 following a marginal improvement in growth and investments in 2016-17, the Assocham chief said.
Indian industry has not been able to have a regular audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the NDA government has not reconstituted the PM's Council on Trade and Industry and other forums.

Rupay Insurance cover period extended

The government has extended the usage criterion of the RuPay debit cards in order to avail of the in-built insurance cover, according to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Finance.
Earlier, cardholders had to use the card within 45 days prior to claim the insurance claim. This has now been extended to 90 days. “One of the stipulations of meeting the claim under Accidental Death and/or Permanent Disablement was that the RuPay Card holder has to carry-out at least one successful financial or non-financial transactions…up to 45 days prior to the date of incident resulting into Accidental death / Permanent Disability.
This condition was posing problem to the RuPay Card holders,” according to the statement. The National Payment Corporation has extended the usage clause to 90 days for RuPay Classic card-holders from November 25.
Only accidents arising on or after November 25 will be considered for the extended period. Claim intimations on accidents having occurred before November 25 will re-main under the previous eligibility criterion of 45 days. Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana 16.54 crore accounts have been provided a RuPay debit card.