Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 10 September 2018

::NATIONAL::

Tamilnadu wants release of all Rajiv Gandhi assassination convicts

A meeting of the Tamil Nadu Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, on Sunday evening recommended to Governor BanwarilalPurohit that all seven life convicts in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case be released under Article 161 of the Constitution.
The decision followed the Supreme Court’s observation last week that the Governor shall be at liberty to decide on the remission application of Perarivalan, one of the convicts, “as deemed fit."
Briefing journalists after the two-hour Cabinet meeting, Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar said that though the Supreme Court’s direction came on Perarivalan’s plea, the other six convicts had also pleaded to the Governor and the State government for remission of their sentences.
To a question on the contention that the State government could not decide on a case investigated by a Central government agency, the Minister said, “Whatever it may be, law is only interpreted by the authority concerned — the Supreme Court, the highest in hierarchy. The Supreme Court’s direction is clear.”
On the opposition in some quarters to the decision to recommend the release of persons convicted in the assassination of a former Prime Minister, Mr.Jayakumar said: “See, the CBI undertook the investigation. That is past. What is present that is important.”

CRPF director general claims areas under Maoists have been declining

The Central Reserve Police Force has been the main force fighting Maoists in 10 States affected by left-wing extremism. CRPF Director-General R.R. Bhatnagar says the force was undertaking several operations to choke the presence of Maoists in south Bastar, their core area, in Chhattisgarh.
It varies in different regions. In Jharkhand, the number of active cadres wouldn’t be more than 300. In Chhattisgarh, large groups are operating. The Dandakaranya Special Zone Committee, the strongest military formation in south Bastar, presents most challenge to us. We have opened 15 new camps in Chhattisgarh this year, and we are getting closer to their core areas, so that the striking distance and striking time decreases.
IEDs (improvised explosive devices) have been the main threat this year. Last year, 575 IEDs were detected; maximum were in Jharkhand (292) followed by Chattisgarh (159) and Bihar (81). This year, already 230 IEDs have been recovered, mostly from the three States. Last year, there were 29 IED explosions and this year, 16 such blasts have taken place.
Central forces will clear the areas but subsequently these areas have to be developed by opening of roads, bridges, schools, banks, mobile towers… People realise Maoists are anti-development, that is why the areas of influence have been shrinking.
In 2017, we recovered 847 kg of explosives, this year already 1,151 kg have been recovered. As much as 90% of our losses and injuries have been through IEDs. The threat from IED was already there, but now they are resorting to it even more as we are able to defend ourselves better in combat situations and they are not able to inflict much damage,saysMr.Bhatnagar.

::ECONOMY::

Finance ministry to engage with states to identify issues with tax collections

Alarmed by a nearly fourfold rise in GST compensation to States for June-July, the Finance Ministry is crafting a strategy to shore up tax revenues and engaging with States to identify issues hindering their collections.
Finance Secretary HasmukhAdhia has started meeting GST officers, both from Central and State tax departments, in the State capitals to understand issues plaguing GST collections.
The Centre paid Rs. 14,930 crore to compensate States for revenue loss incurred in June and July, a nearly four-fold jump compared to the Rs. 3,899 crore paid for the months of April and May.
“A strategy is to be devised to shore up GST revenues. The amount of compensation to be paid to each State varies every month and there is no set pattern,” an official told PTI. The reason for increased compensation also varied from State to State. For instance, in one of the cases, a State saw a huge outgo on account of VAT refund following a court verdict, the official added.
A discussion to shore up revenues has already happened with four States — Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir, while a dialogue with Bihar and Uttarakhand is slated to take place later this month.
The official said that one of the options being considered is stepping up anti-evasion measures with a focus on top 30 taxpayers.

Coffee Board to discuss flood impact with south India planters

A high-level meeting will be held on Monday at the Coffee Board to discuss the impact of the floods on coffee-growers, a majority of whom are small cultivators. The meeting is likely to be attended by senior officials of the Union Commerce Ministry, the Coffee Board, planters associations and State government officials, it is learnt.
The board felt the need for a special package by the Centre, as the compensation paid under the Calamity Relief Fund under the National Disaster Management Plan may not suffice, in compensating the losses caused by the continuous rains during the southwest monsoon.
The growers’ associations have urged rescheduling of outstanding loans and reduction of interest rates, in view of the calamity. In a communication to all Coffee Growers Associations, the Coffee Board said that a crop loss of 82,000 tonnes was estimated, due to heavy rains in the traditional coffee tracts of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Currently, the board has deployed its staff in all the calamity-hit areas and is working jointly with the revenue administration of the State governments, to assess crop damage and offer preliminary relief.
Terming the demands of growers in view of the “unprecedented difficult times faced by them” as justified, the board said that unlike other crops, coffee required intensive cultivation and huge financial investments to maintain plantations.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

China rejects accusations of debt trapping Pakistan via CPEC

China has rejected accusations that its financial backing for the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was a “debt trap” that could compromise Islamabad’s sovereignty. Beijing has billed the Gwadar to Kashgar corridor as the flagship of China-led Belt and Road Initiative.
Mounting a robust defence of its ‘no-strings-attached’ backing for CPEC, China’s visiting Foreign Minister Wang Yi asserted during an Islamabad press conference on Saturday that among the 22 projects within the framework of CPEC, 18 involved investment and aid and only four of them used concessional loan. He stressed that nine of these projects have already been completed and 13 are under construction.
During the first phase, the CPEC’s focus has been on energy and infrastructure projects. It was now up to the Pakistani side to drive the trajectory of the “next phase” of the undertaking, Mr. Wang said.
Wang said that the Pakistani military is the protector of the China-Pakistan friendship, and the bilateral military relations are an important part of the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries and a symbol of their high political mutual trust,” Xinhua said.
In talks on Afghanistan, Mr. Wang spotlighted the undiminished relevance of the trilateral China-Pakistan-Afghanistan dialogue as a platform to align perceptions between Islamabad and Kabul. Last year, at the inaugural meeting of the trilateral mechanism in Beijing, Mr. Wang had offered Afghanistan participation in CPEC. China has also apparently agreed to train an Afghan mountain brigade without putting any boots on the ground in Afghanistan.

U.S stops funding hospitals in Palestine

The Donald Trump administration said on Saturday that it is cutting $25 million meant for East Jerusalem hospitals and putting the money toward “high-priority projects elsewhere”.
The move follows the State Department’s late August announcement that the administration is slashing more than $200 million in bilateral aid to the Palestinians following a review that President Donald Trump ordered to ensure the spending was aligned with U.S. national interests.
The Palestinians had held out hope that the hospital money would be spared because it was not included in the previously announced cut. On Saturday, the Palestinian Authority denounced the administration’s move as “an act of political blackmail”.
The State Department said the review was intended to make sure the American aid was “being spent in accordance with U.S. national interests and were providing value to the U.S. taxpayer”.
In response, Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee member HananAshrawi accused the administration of threatening to cause “serious instability and grave harm” to thousands of patients and their families across the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Ocean cleanup project begins from san Francisco

A supply ship towing a long floating boom designed to corral ocean plastic has set sail from San Francisco for a test run ahead of a trip to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The ambitious project by The Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch non-profit group, hopes to clean up half of the infamous garbage patch within five years once all systems are deployed.
After five years of preparation and scale model tests, “this is what it’s all about, this is the culmination of all the efforts,” said an excited Boyan Slat, the 24-year-old Dutch CEO and founder of The Ocean Cleanup.
The ship was heading to a spot 240 nautical miles off the California coastline for a two-week trial before sailing to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating trash pile twice the size of France that swirls in the ocean halfway between California and Hawaii.
“The main mission is to show that it works, and hopefully then in a few months from now, the first plastics will arrive back into port, which means that it becomes proven technology,” Mr. Slat told AFP as he witnessed the launch.
“That means that we can then start scaling up to a whole fleet of maybe 60 of these cleanup systems,” he said.

::SPORTS::

Osaka wins U.S open

It may be that Naomi Osaka’s 6-2, 6-4 win over Serena Williams at the U.S. Open would be remembered more for what she didn’t do, than what she did. The story behind her win may be that of the penalties her opponent received. The narrative may be that of how tennis’ reigning Queen was denied her 24th Major title, robbing New York of its eternal dream yet again.
But if that were to be so, we are nothing but poor chroniclers of history that was made in front of us: 20-year-odl Osaka became the first player ever from Japan to lift a Grand Slam title, in a match where she bested her childhood idol in every department.