Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 15 September 2019

::NATIONAL::

Home ministry wants Hindi and other languages to grow together

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said, Hindi and other Indian languages should grow together. Home Minister was speaking at a special function in New Delhi on the occasion of Hindi Diwas today. On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi written in Devanagari as the official language of the Union.
Mr Shah said, Hindi has the ability to bring the entire country together. He said it is extremely important for a country to have a common language that becomes the mark of its identity in the world. Mr. Shah called for making Hindi a peoples' movement across India saying that diversity of languages and dialects is the strength of a country.
He said, the government will make all out efforts to use Hindi in all sectors including law and justice, science and medicine. Mr. Shah appealed to the people to use Hindi more often and contribute to fulfilling the dream of Mahatma Gandhi and SardarVallabhBhai Patel of One nation - One language.
Earlier, the Home Minister gave away Rajbhasha awards to mark the occasion. Awards were given to chiefs of various departments, Ministries and offices for their outstanding performances in promoting the language.
Ministers of State for Home Affairs NityanandRai and G.Kishan Reddy were also present. Meanwhile, Prime Minister NarendraModi has congratulated and extended best wishes to the people on the occasion of Hindi Diwas.

Defence ministry claims minority communities safer in India

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has asserted, minority communities in India were safe, are safe and will remain safe unlike in Pakistan.
Mr Singh said, the population of minorities in India has increased since Independence, while human rights violations keep taking place in Pakistan against Sikhs, Buddhists and others.
He was speaking at a felicitation programme for the families of 122 soldiers who lost their lives in the line of duty at Surat in Gujarat yesterday.
The Defence Minister said, Pakistan should stop promoting terrorism, otherwise no one will be able to prevent its disintegration.Mr Singh also warned Pakistan that if its people cross the Line of Control, the Indian Army will not allow them to return.
He said Pakistan is unable to digest India's decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and went to the United Nations to mislead it. He said, the international community is not willing to believe what Pakistan is saying.

::ECONOMY::

New incentives to boost housing and exports sector

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman has announced a fresh set of measures worth around 70,000 crore rupees to boost exports and housing sector. She said that the government will provide a 10,000 crore rupees special window with an aim to help complete ongoing affordable and middle-income housing projects.
The housing projects considered for the special window have been limited to non-NPA (Non-Performing Assets) and non-NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) projects. This will benefit roughly 3.5 lakh projects across the country.
The other key incentives include extending the scheme of reimbursement of taxes and duties for export promotion, fully automated electronic refund for Input Tax Credits (ITC) in GST, revised priority sector lending norms for exports and expanding the scope of Export Credit Insurance Scheme (ECIS).
An inter-ministerial working group has also been formed to monitor export finance. Accordingly, the scheme for Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP) was announced which will replace Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) for textiles. In effect, RoDTEP will more than adequately incentivise exporters than existing schemes put together.

GSTN to make Aadhar authentication mandatory from next year

The GST Network has decided to make Aadhaar authentication or physical verification mandatory for new dealers from January next year to check malpractices in GST.
This was announced by Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi, who heads the Group of Ministers of GST Network.Addressing media in Bengaluru today, he said Aadhaar authentication was earlier optional.
Mr Modi said the decision was taken after noticing in the last two years that there is a good number of fly-by-night operators, who make fake invoices.

He said for those who do not want Aadhaar authentication, physical verification will be carried out, which will be completed in three days.
Mr Modi said as refunding is a big issue, the GSTN decided on complete online refunding from September 24 this year from a single source, either by the Central GST or State GST.
He further said that no State government is in favour of slashing the GST slab for the Automobile sector from 28 per cent to 18 per cent, fearing loss of revenue. He said the next GST Council meeting is scheduled to take place in Goa on September 20.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India raises concern over Pak ceasefire violations

New Delhi has highlighted its concerns over unprovoked ceasefire violations by Pakistan forces. The violations include those in support of cross-border terrorist infiltration and targeting of Indian civilians and border posts by Islamabad.
An official spokesperson said this year, Pakistan has resorted to as many as 2,050 unprovoked ceasefire violations resulting in the death of 21 Indians.
He said India has repeatedly called upon Pakistan to ask its forces to adhere to 2003 ceasefire understanding and maintain peace and tranquillity along the LoC and International Border.
The spokesperson said Indian forces exercise maximum restraint and respond to unprovoked violations and attempts at cross-border terrorist infiltration.
Meanwhile, Baloch rights activists have organised a poster campaign in Geneva to highlight Pakistan's egregious infractions in Balochistan where enforced disappearances and killings have assumed epidemic proportions.
'Stop Baloch Genocide' poster campaign, organised by the Baloch Human Rights Council (BHRC) at the Broken Chair monument area coincides with the 42nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Oil and Gas production to reduce post drone attacks in Saudi

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blamed Iran for yesterday's drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities. He dismissed a claim by Yemeni Houthi rebels that they had attacked the two facilities, run by state-owned company Aramco.
Yesterday, TV footage showed a huge blaze at Abqaiq, site of Aramco's largest oil processing plant, while a second drone attack started fires in the Khurais oilfield.
Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the strikes had reduced crude oil production by 5.7 million barrels a day - about half the kingdom's output.
In a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, the Minister said the attacks resulted in a temporary suspension of production operations at the Abqaiq oil processing facility and the Khurais oil field.
The statement said the fires were controlled and no workers were injured. It said Saudi Aramco would provide d information in the next 48 hours.
The attacks were the latest of many drone assaults on the kingdom's oil infrastructure in recent weeks.
They raise concerns about the global oil supply and are likely to further increase tensions across the Persian Gulf. This comes amid an escalating crisis between the US and Iran over its unravelling nuclear deal with world powers.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Researchers discover bacterial strain that helps in remediation of pesticides

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, is not just home to great science minds, it also harbours some unique microorganisms. Recently, researchers have identified a soil bacterial strain from the campus that helps in “complete remediation” of the carbaryl pesticide.
Carbaryl pesticide continues to be used in the agricultural sector in spite of experimental studies in laboratory animals suggesting it to be a probable carcinogen to humans. Carbaryl is also persistent in nature leading to pollution of both soil and water ecosystems.
The newly isolated bacterial strain utilises the pesticide as its source of carbon and nitrogen for its growth. The team was also able to identify the genes responsible and the metabolic pathway involved in the complete metabolism and bioremediation process.
The bacterial enzyme ‘carbaryl hydrolase’ acts on carbaryl and generates ‘1-naphthol’ and ‘methylamine’. While 1-naphthol is used as a carbon source, methylamine is used as the nitrogen source.
A study of the genome showed that it has special genes responsible for carbaryl degradation. The bacterium might have acquired these genes from other related microbes that are capable of breaking down hazardous compounds. The team has recently published a review paper in the journal Genes explaining this process of movement of genetic material between organisms.

::SPORTS::

SourabhVerma wins Vietnam Open super cup

In Badminton, SourabhVerma clinched the Vietnam Open Super 100 title, defeating China’s Sun Fei Xiang in a thrilling Men's Singles summit clash at the Ho Chi Minh City today.
Second seed Verma recovered from a mid-game slump to beat Sun 21-12, 17-2, 21-14. The match lasted an hour and 12 minutes.This victory marks Verma's second Super 100 win in the ongoing calendar year. He had won the Hyderabad Open earlier in August.