Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 22 March 2014

GM food crop field trials

Field trials for ten varieties of GM (genetically modified) food and other crops were revalidated by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), the statutory appraisal arm of the Environment Ministry. These included field trials for rice, wheat, maize, cotton and sorghum.
Companies applied for revalidation after their earlier permits lapsed following opposition from States. The revalidations would have to be first approved by the Union Environment and Forests Minister and then the promoter companies would have to go back to the States for a final nod as agriculture is a State subject under constitutional provisions.
There are nearly 50 applications pending before the GEAC for first-time appraisal of GM crops, including several food crops.
The move to go ahead with GM technology — especially food crops — has been a subject of hot debate among the scientific community and evoked concerns among civil society groups. It had also created divisions in the government — the Agriculture Ministry, the department of Biotechnology and the PMO on one side and the Environment Ministry on the other.

The Israeli military has uncovered another tunnel the biggest so far dug from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, stretching into Israel and intended for militant attacks or abducting soldiers and civilians.
The tunnel was found by Israeli intelligence and the military. The structure was lined with concrete and describing it as very sophisticated, resembling a subway tunnel.
In 2013, Israel announced finding three such tunnels, including one that was over a kilometer and a half (mile) long and 18 meters (yards) deep.
Last week, Gaza militants fired the heaviest rocket barrage at Israeli communities since 2012, and Israel responded with air strike on militant targets.
Earlier this month, Israeli special forces captured a ship in the Red Sea carrying rockets and other weapons that Israel said were supplied by Iran and destined for militants in Gaza.

Voting in Maldives parliamentary elections has opened under the close watch of local and international election observers and a tight security cover.
An estimated 240,000 voters were registered to vote.
The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party led by former president Mohamed Nasheed is challenging the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives led by incumbent President Abdulla Yameen.
It is the first parliamentary election since Mr. Yameen took office in 2013.

India's largest software services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which has over 2.9 lakh employees globally, has been named as the top employer in Europe by the Top Employers Institute for the second consecutive year.
Tata Consultancy Services was ranked first among the 20 companies that were eligible for the award. The company was recognised as an exceptional performer across six core Human Resources (HR) areas; primary conditions, secondary benefits, working conditions, training, career development and company culture.
The Top Employers certification is only awarded to the best employers around the world, organisations that demonstrate the highest standards of employee offerings.
TCS was certified in eight separate markets in 2014, including the UK – where the company secured the certification for the fourth year in a row – and Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, where it was certified for the second consecutive year.
This year also saw TCS certified in France, Sweden and Denmark for the first time.

India’s export of gold jewellery rose 1.04 per cent in February, rising for the first time in fiscal 2013-14.
Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said that cumulative gold jewellery exports from April 2013 to February 2014 fell 45.6 per cent to $6.352 billion.
Exports of gold jewellery have taken a beating in 2013-14 with the government imposing restrictions on the import of gold in a bid to control the current account deficit (CAD) resulting in very limited gold supplies. The measures included higher import duty of 10 per cent on gold and an 80:20 scheme which made it mandatory for gold importers to export a fifth of the gold imported.
India’s total gem and jewellery exports during February 2014 fell 8.2 per cent to $3.143 billion ($3.437 billion) while for the 11-month period ending February 2014, it fell 9.9 per cent to $30.828 billion.

Scientists, using data from the twin NASA Van Allen Probes, have discovered a new, persistent pattern in Earth's inner radiation belt.
The probes, which launched on August 30, 2012 as the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, were re-named in honour of physicist James Van Allen who, in 1958, discovered the radiation belts encircling our planet.
The Van Allen Probes mission goal is to shed light on how and why radiation levels in the belts change with time.
The radiation belts are dynamic, doughnut-shaped regions around our planet, extending high above the atmosphere, made up of high-energy particles trapped by Earth's magnetic field.
Radiation levels across the belts are affected by solar activity, such as solar storms, and can ebb and flow.
During active conditions, radiation levels can dramatically increase, which can create hazardous space weather conditions that harm orbiting spacecraft and endanger humans in space.

Scientists have found the earliest fossil evidence for the presence of bone marrow in the fin of a 370 million-year-old fish.
Long bones, which are found in the limb of tetrapods, are not only important for locomotion and supporting the weight of the body, but also host the bone marrow.
The latter plays a major role in haematopoiesis, the formation of blood cells. In a healthy adult human, about a hundred billion to one trillion new blood cells are produced every day to maintain the stable blood circulation.
It was discovered that Eusthenopteron, a Devonian (370-million-year-old) lobe-finned fish from Miguasha in Canada that is closely related to the first tetrapods, exhibited typical marrow processes inside its humerus (upper arm bone).
These processes are longitudinal, larger than blood vessel canals, and connect to the shoulder and elbow joint surfaces of the humerus.