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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 03 September 2019

::NATIONAL::

India gains consular access to kulbushanyadav further course of action to be determined

India has accepted Pakistan's offer of consular access to its national KulbhushanJadhav. Sources in External Affairs Ministry said India's Charge d'affairesGauravAhluwalia will be meeting Jadhav today.
India hoped that Pakistan will ensure right atmosphere so that the meeting is free, fair, meaningful and effective in keeping with the letter and spirit of the International Court of Justice's orders.
India has been seeking consular access to KulbushanJadhav for the last three years. The matter of denial of consular access was taken to International Court of Justice by India. The court gave a unanimous decision in favour of India.
India has said that it will decide on further course of action in KulbhushanJadhav case after receiving the full report from its High Commission in Islamabad on consular access. Officials from the High Commission of India in Islamabad, met KulbhushanJadhav today.
The External Affairs Ministry said that after receiving a detailed report, the extent of conformity to the International Court of Justice, ICJ directives will be determined.
Officials further stated that while MEA awaits a comprehensive report, it was clear that Jadhav appeared to be under extreme pressure to parrot a false narrative to bolster Pakistan’s untenable claims.
Today’s consular access is a part of the binding obligations of Pakistan, as ordered by the ICJ, to ensure effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence awarded to Jadhav through a farcical process he added.

PM assures drinking water to all by 2024

Prime Minister NarendraModi today inaugurated the Garvi Gujarat Bhavan in New Delhi. Later addressing a gathering, the Prime Minister listed out series of measures taken by the Gujarat government for the development of the state.
He said Gujarat is doing well in terms of water harvesting. He expressed confidence that every household will get drinking water by 2024.
The Prime Minister also talked about the preservation and promotion of culture and tradition of a different state. He said, the culture, social and economic strength of different states of India makes the country stronger.
Mr.Modi said, every state Bhawan in the national capital should be the centre to promote the culture and tradition of the state as well as trade and investment. The Prime Minister also made an appeal to the people not to use- single-use plastic.

::ECONOMY::

RBI claims early resolution measures led to decline in Gross NPA ratios of banks

Reserve Bank says early recognition and resolution of stressed assets have helped banks contain their Gross Non-Performing Loans ratio at 9.1 percent down from 11.2 percent a year before.
AIR correspondent reports that the RBI said the steadfastly pursued recognition, repair and resolution has resulted in the gross NPA ratio declining.
The initial teething difficulties, the insolvency and bankruptcy code is proving to be a game-changer. The report has added that recoveries have gradually improved and as a result, deadlock in the potential path of the investment cycle are easing.
The Capital buffers have been strengthened by recapitalisation to the tune of Rs 2.7 lakh crore, including the budgetary allocations for FY20 and the abatement of stress has rekindled bank credit inflows, which are getting broad- based.
The report also notes that the new NPA recognition and resolution norms issued in June 2019 provide incentives for early resolution, with discretion to lenders on the processes.

Growth in core sectors decline in April-July period

Growth in core sector activity quickened in July 2019 to 2.1%, due almost entirely to a recovery in the cement sector, according to official data released on Monday.
The Index of Eight Core Industries had grown at just 0.7% in June 2019. However, July's growth rate is far lower than the 7.3% growth registered in the same month last year.
The cement sector saw growth accelerating to 7.9% in July 2019 compared with a contraction of 1.7% in the previous month. The coal sector, however, slipped into contraction in July, contracting 1.4% compared with a growth of 3.2% in June.
The crude oil sector continued contracting for at least the thirteenth consecutive month, contracting 4.4% in July, compared with a contraction of 6.8% in June. The natural gas sector contracted 0.5% in July compared with a contraction of 2.1% in the previous month.
The refinery products sector also contracted in July, by 0.9% compared with a contraction of 9.3% in June. Growth in the fertiliser sector remained flat at 1.5% over the period.
The steel sector saw growth moderate to 6.6% compared with 8.4% in June. The electricity sector, too, saw a slowdown in growth in July, to 4.2%, compared with 8.1% in the previous month.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India-Japan to expand bilateral cooperation

India and Japan today discussed ways to strengthen the existing bilateral cooperation and adoption of new initiatives for achieving peace and security in the region.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh co-chaired India-Japan Defence Ministerial Meeting with his Japanese counterpart Takeshi lwaya in Tokyo.
Describing it as extremely fruitful Ministerial Level Dialogue, Mr Singh said, India and Japan will continue working together to further deepen the defence ties between both the nations.
An official release said, the importance of the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan in addressing regional peace, security and stability was also highlighted.
The Indo-Pacific vision was also discussed at length during the meeting with emphasis on India's preference for a rules-based order along with centrality of Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Describing the meeting as excellent, Mr Singh said, he conveyed to Mr Abe India’s commitment to further enhance the defence engagements between both the countries. In a tweet, the Defence Minister said, India attaches the highest priority to the bilateral relationship with Japan.

Bangladesh denies telecom services to Rohingyas

Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has directed mobile phone operators to halt sale of SIM cards to Rohingyas and ensure that mobile phone use by them is stopped.
The directive was issued after Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar asked Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to take immediate steps to stop mobile phone services at Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar.
The ban on the sale of mobile SIM cards to Rohingya refugees was first imposed in September 2017. The phone operators have also been asked to inform the BTRC within the next seven working days the measures taken in this regard.
The BTRC also reiterated the directive issued in October last year asking all mobile operators to restrict their networks in the Bangladesh-Myanmar border areas as well as block networks in and around Rohingya camps.
Following the directive, the mobile operators are reported to have weakened their networks in the border areas including Cox Bazar and Bandarban.
The notice was issued following allegations that the telecom operators were providing SIM cards to Rohingyas defying government ban.Bangladesh government had imposed a ban on the sale of mobile SIM cards to Rohingyas in September 2017 citing security reasons.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Russia to prepare Indian astronauts for Gaganyaan mission

India and Russia are stepping up cooperation in the space sector with Moscow extending help in 4-5 critical areas of India’s ambitious manned mission to space, Gaganyaan. This includes training of Indian astronauts at Russian facilities beginning later this year, sources at the Indian Embassy in Moscow said.
Following Prime Minister NarendraModi’s announcement on August 15, 2018 that an Indian will go to space by the 75th Independence Day, Indian Space Research Research Organisation (ISRO) has outlined a road map to put a three-man crew in a low earth orbit for 5-7 days by December 2021 by an indigenous GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle from a third launch pad under construction at Sriharikota.
Stating that the programme is on track and the process of astronaut selection will begin shortly, the source said that “towards the end of the year, by November or so we will have four Indian astronauts who will come here.”
The Gaganyaan programme is expected to cost under ₹10,000 crore and there will be two unmanned missions prior to the manned mission to validate the technologies.
ISRO Chairman Dr. K. Sivan had stated earlier that they began work on the manned mission in 2004 and many of the critical technologies required have already been validated through various tests.

::SPORTS::

India beats West Indies to clinch test series

India beat West Indies by a thumping margin of 257 runs to win the second Cricket Test and clinch series 2-0. Chasing a mammoth victory target of 468 runs set by India, West Indies were all out for 210 in their second innings on the penultimate day of the Test at Kingston, Jamaica last night.
India produced a top-notch bowling performance to demolish West Indies as the series victory put them on top of ICC World Test Championship points table.
For India, RavindraJadeja and Mohammed Shami claimed three wickets each. The victory was 28th in Tests for ViratKohli making him the most successful Indian captain in the traditional format of the sport.