(FREE) UPSC Current Affairs 2024 PDF

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 03 October 2017

::National::

DPCs have started the process of preparing district development plans in Kerala

Reviving the bottom-up planning approach yet again, District Planning Committees (DPCs) have started the process of preparing district development plans in full steam.
Following the revival of decentralised planning and development in the State under the 13th Plan.
DPCs have once again become the pivots of the planning process and the government has taken the first step to move towards an integrated State Plan that would have key inputs from the district plans.
This approach runs contrary to that of the previous government that virtually neutralised the DPCs and made a move for forming a high-power council above the State Planning Board for preparing development plans.
Each DPC would now function like a secretariat that coordinates local governments as well as various departments, missions, universities and research institutions in their purview for sourcing statistics and eliciting expert views on development and other allied issues.
This would lead to optimum use of human, natural and financial resources and also avoid duplication of projects from the grassroots to the apex level.
The DPCS have been armed with wide powers, but the thrust is on integrating the projects prepared by local bodies and prepare a draft district development plan.
Such plans would set the ground for a meaningful sharing of scarce natural resources including water and also conservation of nature. This also extends to other sectors such as industry, health, education, housing, power,
SC/ST development and welfare and such others too.
The committees could also seek the assistance and advice of agencies functioning outside their purview too.
Experts from all sectors, especially outside the district, could be invited for consultations to prepare the development Plan.
Specific deadlines have been set for preparing the plans and it is being monitored by the State-level committee headed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

PM wants participation of 125 crore Indians for Clean India

PM said that “1,000 Mahatma Gandhis or one lakh Narendra Modis” could not achieve the goal of a “Clean India” without an “ideological movement” and the participation of 125 crore Indians.
He was addressing a gathering to mark three years of the Swachh Bharat Mission. He said he had been severely criticised when he had initiated the programme, stepping out with a broom to launch it.
People went to the extent of saying that the Prime Minister was making these statements just for the purpose of making a speech, Mr. Modi said.
People, including fellow politicians, had slammed him for “spoiling” the October 2 holiday of children by launching the mission, Mr. Modi said.
Asserting that he was convinced that the path shown by Mahatma Gandhi could not be wrong, he said he had endured a lot of criticism.
About five years ago, when children were seen cleaning their schools, it would create controversy with even parents criticising teachers. But now, children helping clean schools was seen as positive news, he added.
Mr. Modi stressed the plight of women who had to go out every day before dawn for ablutions. He spoke on how women, even if there was a need during the day, waited for sunset, adversely affecting their health.
He conceded the criticism that many of the toilets constructed by the government were in disuse.
He lauded the involvement of school students in the mission.
“If we make cleanliness our religion, then each and every family would save Rs. 50,000 annually and also protect themselves from any problems arising due to illness,” he said quoting from a Unicef report.

IMD will review the computer models it used for preparing forecasts this year

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) will review the computer models it used for preparing forecasts this year, but is unlikely to make any dramatic corrections .
India has ended up with “below normal” rain (less than 96% of the 50-year Long Period Average (LPA) of 89 cm), even as the IMD forecast near normal or 96% (of 89 cm) rain in April and then upgraded it to 98% in June.
While that is arguably within the error margins of the statistical systems employed by the IMD to prepare the forecast, the organisation was way off the mark in assessing rainfall in August and September. These are the months that pool in about half the monsoon rain.
On August 8, the IMD said in a press release that rain in that month would be 99% (of 26.1 cm) of what was usual. But India got only 87% of rain, well outside the 9% statistical error margins of the forecast models.
In September too, when the country expects about 17.4 cm of rain, it got just 14.9 cm or 15% short. This even as the IMD said rain in these months combined would be “normal,” or at worst 6% (of 43.4 cm) short.
It also — in its monthly assessments — failed to anticipate a yawning deficit over Central India, a key region that indicates the overall health of the monsoon.

Maoists were attempting to raise a new armed group

Maoists were attempting to raise a new armed group along the Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh trijunction as they continue to face the heat at their stronghold in Bastar.
new unit, ‘Vistara platoon,’ was trying to gain a foothold at the tri-junction, which has lesser deployment of security forces than the seven districts in the Bastar division of Chhattisgarh, said to be one of the last Maoist bastions.
The forces had opened new camps in the once-inaccessible Bastar region to “squeeze out” the militants.
There are more than 1.6 lakh CRPF personnel deployed in Chhattisgarh, of which 1.3 lakh concentrate on a 40,000 sq. km. area in Bastar, known for rich mineral deposits of iron ore, granite, tin and corundum.
Internal documents recovered from Maoist camps showed that there was an attempt to operationalise the Vistara platoon.
Muppala Lakshman Rao, alias Ganapathi, the elusive head of the banned CPI(Maoist), was making way for his second-in-command and chief of the Central Military Commission Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavraj.
Another Maoist leader, Sudhakar Reddy, who moved to Jharkhand two years ago, is learnt to have been siphoning off money from the party fund, the official said.

Specific targets asked from every ministry

The Cabinet Secretariat has asked all Central government departments to work out specific targets to be achieved by 2022, when India will complete 75 years of independence.
The Ministries have also been asked to adopt the tenet of ‘minimum government, maximum governance’ in their work, by using technology, so as to improve processes and service delivery.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is monitoring the Ministries’ progress in implementing projects and policy initiatives under the e-Samiksha mechanism for tracking the progress on projects and policy initiatives on a real-time basis.
Most Ministries have responded with some broad goals. For instance, the Labour and Employment Ministry has said it will introduce a policy for regulating private employers, amend the Contract Labour Act, 1970, to spur job creation and bring in a national domestic workers’ policy.
Separately, the Departments have been told to identify five-seven major reform areas that need attention, while highlighting ‘transformative changes’ already undertaken.
The Ministries have also been asked to ensure that there is no difference in their responses to questions raised in Parliament by MPs and questions received under the Right to Information Act.

President appointed a commission to examine the sub-categorisation of OBCs

President appointed a commission to examine the sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to ensure that the more backward among the communities can access the benefits of reservation.

The five-member panel will be headed by retired Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court G. Rohini.

Sub-categorisation of the OBCs will ensure that the more backward among the OBC communities can also access the benefits of reservation for educational institutions and government jobs.

The decision, taken on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, reinforces, in the spirit of his teachings, the government’s efforts to achieve greater social justice and inclusion for all, and specifically members of the OBC.

The Joint Secretary in the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment will be its secretary. J.K. Bajaj would be its member, while the Director of the Anthropological Survey of India and the Registrar-General and

Census Commissioner are ex-officio members.

The terms of reference of the commission are to “examine the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the castes or communities included in the broad category of OBC with reference to such classes included in the Central list; to work out the mechanism for sub- categorisation.”

::International::

Bangladesh and Myanmar to form a panel for repatriation of Rohingya refugees

Amid mounting international pressure on Myanmar to end atrocities on Rohingya people, Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed to form a joint panel for repatriation of Rohingya refugees.
The joint panel was proposed by Myanmar to take back the Rohingya who had come to Bangladesh, fleeing the violence in the Rakhine State since August 25.
“Kyaw Tint Swe has shown interest in taking the Rohingya back after forming a joint working group to identify the Rohingya people,” said Mr. Ali. However, the Myanmar Minister did not said anything about the framework of the commission.
This was the first bilateral meeting between the two countries since refugees entered Bangladesh following actions by the Myanmarese security forces in late August. According to the UN, more than five lakh Rohingya people have entered Bangladesh since August 25.
Mr. Ali also said that Bangladeshi Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal will visit Myanmar soon to “discuss with the Myanmar government regarding border security and border management issue”.

::Business and Economy::

Many more problems before Electric vehicles

India’s transition to EVs could have far-reaching implications for the global oil economy. “India, the world’s third-largest consumer and fastest-growing major market, could see a cut of 8%-20% of current annual oil demand,” the report said.
Affordability challenge could be addressed with an India-specific EV, it felt.
The government has set an ambitious EV sales ratio target of 40% in 2032 with almost 100% in commercial applications (compares with China’s EV target of 20% by 2025).
“We believe this target will be difficult to achieve; our base case (moderate adoption) forecasts an EV sales ratio of 13% for cars in 2032, 25% for 2-wheelers and 55% for buses,” the report said.
Nevertheless, according to Goldman Sachs, the late mover advantage may help India in its endeavour. “This should enable it to benefit from lessons learnt in other countries,” it added.
According to Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Principal Advisor, Ministry of Power & New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, the key challenge for development of electric vehicles would yet be the issue of subsidy.
There was an urgent need for a strong policy framework to promote Indian manufacturing and support from the Government to nudge Indian stakeholders move towards EV gradually, it said.
The fact of the matter, however, is that green has become a hot subject of debate and ‘EV’ has become the new buzz word — a fancy one, at that, in the world of Indian automobiles.

The first ever shipment of U.S. crude oil Reached India

The first ever shipment of U.S. crude oil of 1.6 million barrels, purchased by state-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), was received at Paradip Port.
The shipment is a part of recent commitments to purchase U.S. oil by IOC, Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL).
IOC has placed a cumulative order for 3.9 million barrels from the U.S. while BPCL and Hindustan Petroleum have placed orders for about 2.95 million barrels and one million barrels, respectively.
“The inclusion of the U.S. as a source for crude oil imports by India’s largest refiner will go a long way in mitigating the risks arising out of geo-political disruptions.
U.S. crude oil shipments to India have the potential to boost bilateral trade by up to $2 billion, according to a. U.S. Embassy release.
The crude oil shipment was delivered by MT New Prosperity, a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) of capacity 2 million barrels of crude, which left the U.S. Gulf Coast on August 19.
The United States and India are elevating our cooperation in the field of energy, including plans for cleaner fossil fuels, renewables, nuclear and cutting edge storage and energy efficiency technologies.

Morgan Stanley predicts India to be world’s fastest growing large Economy

India is likely to be the world’s fastest-growing large economy in the next 10 years, driven by digitisation, favourable demographics, globalisation and reforms, predicts a Morgan Stanley report.
According to the global financial services major, the trend line in India’s annual GDP growth has been accelerating to 6.9% in 2000s, from 5.8% in the 1990s, and this momentum is likely to continue in the next decade as well.
Morgan Stanley expects digitisation will provide a boost of 50-75 bps to GDP growth and forecast that India will grow to a $6-trillion economy by 2026-27.