Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 17 September 2018

::NATIONAL::

India not to lower guards at LAC with China

India will not lower its guard along the Line of Actual Control with China, while maintaining border peace in sync with the “Wuhan” spirit, Defence Minister NirmalaSitharaman has said.
Nearly a month after talks with her Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe, Ms.Sitharaman said both sides recognised that the broad decisions arrived at the informal summit between Prime Minister NarendraModi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan should govern management of the border.
Asked whether the decision of Mr.Modi and Mr. Xi at the summit to issue strategic guidelines to their militaries to maintain peace along the border is working, she said, “I want to believe it is working.”
At the Wuhan summit in April, Mr.Modi and Mr. Xi resolved to open a new chapter in ties, and directed their militaries to boost coordination along the nearly 3,500-km Sino-Indian border, months after the most serious military faceoff in decades between the two nuclear-armed neighbours in Doklam triggered fears of a war.
Asked if Army Chief Gen. BipinRawat’s comments earlier in the year that the time had come for India to shift focus to its northern border from the western frontier, she said, “I cannot afford to say, at the cost of one border, I will be more alert in another. A border is a border. I have to be conscious of both my borders.”

CIC seeks information on MPLAD break up

Noting that Rs. 12,000 crore of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) funds remains unspent, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the LokSabha Speaker and the RajyaSabha Chairman to come out with a legal framework to ensure its transparency and hold parliamentarians and political parties accountable for their obligations under the scheme.
The MPLADS allots Rs. 5 crore per year to each Member of Parliament (MP) to be spent on projects of their choice in their constituency. The scheme is funded and administered through the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). Projects are to be recommended to and implemented by the district-level administration.
Central Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu issued interim orders on Sunday in two cases where petitioners had requested details on MPLADS, but were told by the MoSPI that the Centre does not maintain constituency-wise, and work-wise details.
The CIC’s orders asked the leaders of the two Houses of Parliament to consider providing the “necessary legal frame” for the scheme, which would “make all Parliamentary parties and MPs answerable and accountable for MPLADS funds as public authorities under the RTI Act to prevent MPLADS irregularities.”
District administrations must provide regular information — work-wise, MP-wise, and year-wise details on progress — which are to be compiled by the MoSPI and made available to the public, said the order.

::ECONOMY::

ICRA report claims states may miss fiscal targets

Funding of farm loan waivers, poll-related spending and other populist measures are likely to ensure that States are set to miss their fiscal consolidation targets budgeted at the beginning of the year, says a report.
“Given the factors such as funding of crop loan waivers, election-related spending and the flood relief will see the States miss their fiscal consolidation targets,” ICRA wrote in a note.
The States’ fiscal deficit is primarily financed by issuing State development loans (SDLs). In April-August of FY19, gross issuance of SDL contracted by 3.4% to Rs. 1.32 trillion, primarily led by sharp decline in issuance by Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Recently, the Reserve Bank of India had estimated that fiscal deficits of all the 29 States might decline to 2.6% of their gross State domestic product (GSDP) citing their FY19 Budget estimates, from 3.1% in FY18.
But an analysis of the FY19 Budgets of nine States, accounting for about 62% of the combined GSDP of all 29 States in FY17, shows that their fiscal deficits are budgeted to slip to 2.5% of GSDP in FY19 from 2.6% in FY18.
As 12 of the 29 States, three of which were part of the nine included in the analysis, are also poll-bound, apart from the general elections before May 2019, there is a risk of new schemes being announced or a higher allocation for welfare schemes, the note said.
The unforeseen expenditure on flood relief in states like Kerala and Karnataka, which may not be fully offset by higher grants or other revenue mobilisation measures, can exert pressure on their fiscal balances, it said.

Economists claim centre not taking measures to stop rupee fall

The measures announced by Finance Minister ArunJaitley on Friday to address widening current account deficit and attract inflows to stabilise the currency may not yield result immediately and the rupee could be under further pressure.
The steps were primarily aimed at easing conditions related to external commercial borrowings, hedging conditions for infrastructure loans, and relaxing restrictions on masala bonds. “The government believes these measures could lead to additional capital flows to the tune of $5 billion-$10 billion and limit currency pressures to some degree.
The rupee went close to 73 per dollar last week, weakening by about 13% in 2018 on the back of rising oil prices and widening current account deficit. Concerns over trade wars have also made emerging market currencies vulnerable, along with the strengthening dollar.
The capital account measures announced are unlikely to result in any significant shift in fund flows in the immediate future since these are better suited when the sentiment in the global market is positive towards emerging markets and when it is relatively easy for emerging market corporates to raise money abroad, Mr.Barua(an expert) added.
Currency experts, while appreciating that the Centre avoided any knee jerk reaction since the primary source of the rupee weakening is coming from external sources, said the rupee could depreciate again and test the 73-to-a-dollar mark.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Bimstec Milex-18 Culminates at Pune

The Inaugural Edition of the BIMSTEC Nations Military Field Training Exercise i.e. MILEX - 2018 culminated on 16 September 18 after a Validation Exercise and an impressive Closing Ceremony held at Foreign Training Node, Aundh Military Station, Pune.
The tactical drills showcased during the Validation Exercise included Hostage Rescue by insertion of troops from helicopters, Room Intervention as well as House Clearing Drill as part of Cordon and Search Operations, Raid on a Terrorist Hideout and neutralization of Improvised Explosive Devices(IED).
The entire exercise was monitored and controlled through the Joint Command Post established with representatives of the participating contingents. The Exercise demonstrated the commitment and capabilities of the participating BIMSTEC National armies in working closely with each other to eradicate the menace of terrorism existing in different forms.
Almost 20 different agencies dealing with defence equipment participated in the display including Ordnance Factories, Defence and Research Development Organisation (DRDO), leading private sector companies, startupsetc to showcase some of the latest weapon systems and vehicles produced indigenously.
The exercise has been a grand success and has taught valuable lessons to the troops of the Bay of Bengal region in countering terrorism. The camaraderie and friendship developed between the contingents during the course of the exercise will assist in enhancing interoperability between the armies which may be called upon to collectively fight this growing menace of terrorism in the region.

Typhoon mangkhut slams china

Typhoon Mangkhut slammed into mainland China late on Sunday after leaving a trail of destruction in Hong Kong and Macau and killing at least 59 people in the northern Philippines.
The world’s biggest storm this year felled trees and sent skyscrapers swaying in high-rise Hong Kong, injuring more than 200 people there before making landfall on the coast of Jiangmen city, in southern China’s Guangdong province.
Provincial authorities said they evacuated a total of 2.37 million people and ordered tens of thousands of fishing boats back to port before the arrival of what Chinese media has dubbed the “King of Storms”.
Mangkhut left large expanses in the north of the main Philippine island of Luzon underwater as fierce winds tore trees from the ground and rain unleashed dozens of landslips. Hong Kong weather authorities issued their maximum alert for the storm, which hit the city with gusts of more than 230 km per hour and left 213 people injured, according to government figures.
The Philippines was just beginning to count the cost of the typhoon which hit northern Luzon on Saturday. The death toll jumped to 59 on Sunday evening, police said, as more landslip victims were discovered.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Researchers to go under water to save coral reefs

Coral reefs are among the most diverse ecosystems on earth, and their role in maintaining marine biodiversity is of no small measure. However, it is well documented that coral systems around the world are bleaching and dying due to climate and chemical changes in the sea water.
A team from National Centre for Coastal Research, Chennai, plans to work on coral monitoring and restoration in the Gulf of Mannar region. “We assess the location and coverage of corals through remote sensing, then study how the sediment affects the coral reef,” says T Shunmugaraj, who leads this project.
Corals have a symbiotic relationship with the unicellular algae dinoflagellates. An increase in sea surface temperatures leads to coral bleaching and the breaking of this relationship.
The National Centre for Coastal Research, which comes under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, conducted a mapping of corals for Gulf of Kutch, Gulf of Mannar, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar islands over a period of five years, from 2000 to 2005. Their results were startling, as they found less than 40% of the coral reefs in India were still alive.
The researchers plan to replicate the model in the Gulf of Mannar region, and towards this end, they have set up a centre in a 25-acre piece of land near the Rameshwaram coast. Partnering with Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park Authority, they will first monitor the 21 islands in this region and identify degraded areas.

::SPORTS::

Kipchoge sets new marathon world record

Kenyan EliudKipchoge set a new marathon world record in Berlin on Sunday, smashing the previous best as he clocked 2hr 1min 39sec.
The 33-year-old Olympic champion, initially aided by pacemakers in the 42.195km race, took 1min 18sec off the previous best set four years ago by Dennis Kimetto.It was the largest single improvement on the marathon world record since Derek Clayton improved the mark by 2:23 in 1967.