Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 29 September 2015

:: International ::

NASA finds evidence of liquid water on Mars

Mars appears to have flowing streams of salty water, at least in the summer, scientists reported Monday in a finding that could have major implications for the possibility of life on the planet.
Scientists in 2008 confirmed the existence of frozen water on Mars. But the latest observations from an instrument aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter support the long-time theory that salt water in liquid form flows down certain Martian slopes each summer, according to the researchers.
“Mars just got more interesting,” NASA said via Twitter. The space agency called the results “a major science finding.”

:: India & world ::

U.S., India sign $3-bn defence deal

A few hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama met in New York, the two sides signed final agreements for the purchase of two of the most advanced American helicopters in a deal worth about $3 billion.
Ministry of Defence spokesperson Sitanshu Kar announced on his official Twitter handle: “Contract for purchase of 15 Chinook and 22 Apache helicopters signed.” Just an hour after the official announcement, Mr. Modi and Mr. Obama met in New York with a warm hug.
According to officials, the deal value is worth about $3 billion (Rs 19,800 crore) and would be completed in four years. The agreements were signed in the headquarters of the Ministry of Defence in South Block.
For the Chinook helicopters, the agreement was signed between representatives of MoD and Boeing. For Apache, there were two separate contracts —one between MoD and Boeing representatives and the other between the governments to cover parts of the deal under the Foreign Military Sales programme.
The contracts mark yet another significant step in rapidly expanding military ties between the two sides that would be discomforting to China, while drawing the contours of a broader coalition emerging in the region. Unlike the previous UPA government, which was reluctant to be seen to be doing U.S. bidding in the region, the Modi government has been receptive to U.S. deals and joint exercises. In a first, the latest Malabar exercise between the U.S. and India has been expanded to include Japan.
The latest deal would ensure that the U.S. remains the one of India’s biggest military suppliers for some years to come. The U.S. has signed over $10 billion worth of defence deals with India in the past decade or so. This inclu-des P-8I maritime surveillance planes, C-130J Super Hercules and C-17 Globemaster-III transport aircraft.

Africa-India summit venue far from ready

Despite prominently displaying Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogans on cleanliness, the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex here is not yet clean enough to host the Africa-India summit beginning on October 26.
Though diplomats refused to acknowledge the messy condition of the venue, indeed an alarming situation prevails in “K.D. Jadhav Wrestling Stadium” of the sports complex where workers are battling gigantic puddles of water, broken ceiling patches, water pipes, bird nests, and animal excreta deposited over a period of time.
A few labourers who have recently begun to renovate the stadium are mostly limited to the ground floor leaving the upper floors to be cleaned during the brief period ahead. Apart from stray dog menace, workers say frequent sighting of snakes is another matter which requires them to remain alert. However, this aspect seems to be taken care of by a good number of mongooses that are seen darting across the arena on a good day.
According to workers, a major nuisance for the heads of states and the army of diplomats, unless preventive measures are installed, will be the presence of a few aggressive kites and pigeons which have turned the high roofs of the gymnastics and wrestling wings into their nesting habitat.

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:: Miscellaneous ::

Modi brings net neutrality into focus

Ever since Mark Zuckerberg changed his Facebook profile picture to a tricolour shade in support of the Modi-government’s Digital India initiative, the social network’s users in the country have been split down the middle on the issue, with many saying the gesture indirectly promotes Internet.org, which allegedly violates net neutrality. While several changed their pictures, including PM Modi, many others didn't.
This has restarted the debate on net neutrality an whether or not platforms such as Facebook's internet.org should be allowed -- an issue that the Modi-government appointed expert panel has also looked into. The telecom regulator TRAI is expected to submit a report on net neutrality in a couple of months.
Internet.org, recently rebranded as Free Basics by Facebook, aims to bring Internet services to areas that are still not connected in partnership with tech giants like Samsung and Qualcomm. However, it has been widely criticised for violating net neutrality principles and favouring Facebook’s own services over its rivals.
In India, which has the largest Facebook user base outside the U.S., Facebook partnered with Reliance Communications to provide free access to select websites. In the wake of the controversy over the initiative, a lot of these websites such as Cleartrip, Times Group, Flipkart and Ndtv opted out of Internet.org to voice their support for net neutrality.
Questions are also being raised on why Facebook did not take up the issue of net neutrality during its 45-minute townhall Q&A with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite a lot of users posting questions on the subject on Mr. Zuckerberg’s home page.