Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 17 November 2016

:: National ::

SC crack down on online pre-natal sex determination advertisements

The Supreme Court directed the Central government to constitute a nodal agency to monitor and trigger search engines to crack down on online pre-natal sex determination advertisements.
A Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra ordered that the nodal agency should receive complaints about illegal online advertisements under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act of 1994.
It should communicate the tip-offs to online search engines like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, which would delete these advertisements within 36 hours of getting the information.
“We direct the Union of India to constitute a nodal agency which would give advertisements on TV, radio and in newspapers, that if anybody comes across anything which identifies a girl or a boy.
“Once it is brought to the notice of the nodal agency, it shall inform the search engines and they, after receiving the information, are obliged to delete it within 36 hours and inform the nodal agency,” the court said.
It said this interim arrangement would continue till it took a final decision on the continued existence of online sex selection ads.
The court was hearing a petition filed in 2008 by Dr. Sabu Mathew George in the background of increasing instances of female foeticide.
The petition contended that pre-natal sex determination tests continue with impunity despite being made illegal in 1994.

Advisor to Pak PM will travel to India for Heart of Asia conference

Pakistan Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has said he will travel to India to attend the Heart of Asia Conference on Afghanistan in December.
He said the trip could be a “good opportunity” to “defuse” the tension. The conference will be held in Amritsar on December 3.
Mr. Aziz would be the first senior Pakistani official to visit India since the September 10 Uri attack, blamed on Pakistan-based militants. The attack led India to pull out of the SAARC Summit planned in Pakistan in November.
Mr. Azizi, however, said it was not yet confirmed whether or not he would meet his Indian counterpart on the sidelines of the conference.
He said the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump would deserve the Nobel prize if he resolved the Kashmir issue.

Sharp fall reported in property prices (Register and Login to read Full News)

:: International ::

After Trump’s win, Merkel could become the new leader of world

The shock election of Donald Trump as U.S. President has forced greater responsibility for defending Western values and interests onto German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s shoulders.
While the last decade has been defined by Britain, France, Germany and the U.S. showing a largely united front on issues ranging from NATO affairs to defence of basic freedoms, the coming four years may present a more fragmented picture.
Ms. Merkel, after 11 years at the helm, now looks increasingly like the only bulwark of stability and liberal freedom among Western allies.
Rather than visit Britain, a natural stop for any U.S. leader given the two countries’ special relationship, U.S. President Barack Obama is travelling on Wednesday to Berlin on his last official trip to Europe.
Ms. Merkel (62) does not have Mr. Obama’s oratorical flourishes but her voice is increasingly forceful on the world stage. She put her fluent Russian to good use in mediating in the Ukraine conflict with Vladimir Putin.
When most other European countries were busy shutting their doors to refugees fleeing war in predominantly Muslim countries, she let in nearly 900,000 people last year — a stance that Mr. Trump branded “insane”.

:: Science and Technology ::

Indigenously developed drone, Ruston-2 had a successful flight

Rustom-2, indigenously developed drone for surveillance and attack, had a successful first flight.
The first prototype of the pilotless or unmanned combat air vehicle was flown for about 10 minutes in the morning at the new second test range of the Defence Research & Development Organisation at Challakere, about 200 km from here.
It met the necessary test specifications, according to sources. This is part of a series of routine tests being conducted on the UAV over the past few months.
Ostensibly more tests on more prototypes of Rustom-2 would be conducted before its production mode and users are known.

NASA has renewed its search for Antarctic meteorites (Register and Login to read Full News)

:: Business and Economy ::

Banks to gain the most from demonetisation

Banks stand to gain the most from the demonetisation efforts due to the impetus it provides for people to enter the formal banking system, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
The demonetisation scheme could result in bank deposits increasing by about 1-2 per cent once the volatility subsides.
Moody’s points out that studies have shown that first-time users of banking systems tend to keep using them once they start.
“Therefore, we expect a material proportion of the first-time or very infrequent users to become more sticky customers of the banks.”
This could benefit banks through an increase in low-cost deposits, although this benefit may not be apparent in the short-term, the note added.
Although banks have seen a sharp increase in their deposit levels over the last few days, this is likely to reverse once cash availability increases and restrictions on cash withdrawals go back to normal.
Once this volatility subsides and stability is achieved, possibly around three months from now, we estimate that bank deposits will increase by around 1-2 per cent compared to what they would have been without the demonetisation scheme.
“The government move has meant that a large proportion of the population will have to access banking channels at least once, so as to convert their existing holdings into the new legal tender,” the note added.

Moody’s Investors Service has retained its positive outlook on India

Moody’s Investors Service has retained its positive outlook on India, the company said, predicting a continued reform push and lowering of debt levels.
“The positive outlook denotes Moody’s expectation that, over time, India’s credit metrics will likely shift to levels consistent with a Baa2 rating,” Moody’s Investors Service said in a note.
“In particular, the outlook reflects our expectation that continued policy reform implementation will allow balanced growth to support a reduction in the government debt burden, currently a constraint on India's rating.”
Moody’s further said that a number of policies have already been put in place to moderate inflation and limit the current account deficit.
However, Moody’s said that private investment had still not picked up, despite the government’s efforts, which shows the limited effectiveness of government policy in this regard.
Moody’s pointed out that there are several factors bolstering India’s up-gradation to a higher rating, including its size, growth potential, and increase in income levels.
“GDP per capita in India was 11 per cent of the U.S. levels on a Purchasing Power Parity basis in 2015 - still well below the level in other Baa-rated sovereigns,” the note said.
“But this level marks an increase from 6.6 per cent of U.S. levels in 2005 and 9.2 per cent in 2010.”
Moody’s also pointed out that India had several constraints that could keep its credit rating where it was, such as income and consumption levels remaining vulnerable to external shocks like a poor monsoon, for example.
The high debt levels of the government also play a part in weakening India’s position, the note added.