Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 26 October 2018

::NATIONAL::

Central government reviews measures taken to curb fake news

Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba held a meeting with representatives of various social media platforms to review the steps taken by them to prevent misuse of their sites.
He asked them to check spread of rumours and messages inciting unrest, cybercrimes and other activities that could be detrimental to national security, officials said on Thursday.
From May to June, more than 20 people were lynched based on fake posts or rumours floating on various social media platforms.
Mr. Gauba asked the representatives to nominate India-based grievance redressal officers and to develop a monitoring mechanism for time-bound preventive and other actions for removal of objectionable contents.
The social media platforms were also asked to put in place a system for prompt sharing of information sought by the law enforcement agencies for investigation purposes.
The representatives briefed the government officials about actions taken by them to ensure blocking of websites and for removal of objectionable and malicious contents from public view. All social media platforms assured the government of full cooperation.

Government notifies new citizenship rules

The Union Home Ministry has empowered the Collectors in seven States to accept online applications to grant citizenship to “persecuted minorities” from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh living in India.
A parliamentary committee has been examining the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which proposes to grant citizenship to six persecuted minorities: Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis, Christians and Buddhists who came to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before 2014.
As the Bill is pending, the Home Ministry gave powers to the Collectors in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to grant citizenship and naturalisation certificates to the non-Muslim migrants from these countries under Sections 5 and 6 of the Citizenship Act, 1955. No such power has been delegated to Assam officials.
Under the new rules, notified on October 24, the migrants can apply online, and the verification reports or the security clearance reports of the applicants shall be made available to the Centre through an online portal.

::ECONOMY::

India to become 3rd largest aviation market soon

India will be the third largest aviation market globally a year sooner than was earlier predicted. It is now expected to be among the top three countries by 2024 from its current seventh position, according to global aviation body IATA.
In its latest 20-year forecast for the aviation industry, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) says that air passenger numbers worldwide could double to 8.2 billion in 2037.
The biggest contribution in this growth will come from the Asia-Pacific region, which will account for half the total number of new passengers over the next 20 years.
By 2037, India is expected to add 414 million passengers to its existing 572 million passengers, the report added.In fact, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to see the fastest growth at the rate of 4.8%, followed by Africa (4.6%) and west Asia (4.4%).
While China will climb up one spot to displace US as the world’s largest aviation market in the mid-2020s, India will take the third place by surpassing the U.K. around 2024, according to the IATA forecast.
The other south-east Asian countries predicted to grow rapidly include Indonesia, likely to be the fourth largest by 2030 from its current ranking of 10th largest aviation market. Thailand, too, is expected to enter the top 10 markets in 2030,edging out Italy, IATA said.

Centre ambitious about new agri export policy

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu said that the Government of India is preparing agro specific zones under the new Agriculture Export Policy which will be unveiled soon.
He was speaking at the inauguration of BIOFACH INDIA which is the world’s largest event on organic industry organized by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Indo-German of Commerce in New Delhi today.
The Commerce Minister said that India produces nearly 600 MT of agri products including horticultural produce and its strategy is to increase farmer’s income by doubling it and reducing the wastage of food products to the bare minimum.
Alongside domestic strategy, the Government is also focusing on exporting agricultural products to the world. Suresh Prabhu further said that there is need to cater to the niche market of organic food.
India ranks first in terms of total number of organic producers and 9th in terms of worlds organic agricultural land. The Government of India has implemented the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) which is organised by the European Commission and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Due to these certifications India’s organic products are accepted by importing countries.
In 2017-18 India produced around 1.70 MT of certified organic products which includes all varieties of food products like oilseeds, sugarcane, cereals and millets, cotton, pulses, medicinal plants, tea, fruits, spices, dry fruits, vegetables and coffee.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

China & Japan to cooperate in building Asian Infrastructure

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has arrived in China on a reset visit that is expected to trigger significant collaboration between Tokyo and Beijing in developing infrastructure in Asia.
Soon after his arrival, Mr. Abe was accorded a reception, hosted by his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang, at the Great Hall of the People. The function was held to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the China-Japan treaty of friendship.
“This is a breakthrough visit, important not just for the China-Japan relations, but whose significance would be felt in the region and the world,” Huang Jing, Dean of the International and Regional Studies Center at the Beijing Language and Culture University, told
During Mr. Abe’s talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li, the leaders are expected to seek areas of convergence between China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Japan’s concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific. Analysts say that they are expected to discuss joint development of infrastructure in Asia and Africa during talks.

North Korea eyes U.S sanctions as a hindrance to development

A North Korean official urged the U.S. on Thursday to immediately lift sanctions against his country, warning that Washington’s “confidence-destroying measures” would undermine denuclearisation talks.
The U.S. has insisted on maintaining stringent international sanctions on North Korea until it gives up its nuclear weapons, even as the two countries’ leaders are expected to hold a second summit soon.
At their first summit in Singapore in June, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a vaguely-worded pledge on denuclearisation, but little progress has been made since then as both sides spar over how to interpret the text.
Mr. Song Deputy Director General of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s Institute for Disarmament and Peace said that Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim “recognised that the mutual confidence-building can promote the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula” during their meeting in Singapore.
Mr. Song spoke at the Xiangshan Forum, a regional defence dialogue hosted by China since 2006 as part of Beijing’s efforts to step up its global influence.
Also at the forum was North Korean Colonel General Kim Hyong-ryong, who said that the North would uphold its side of the Singapore agreement.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Scientists come up with centre centric repository for tracking mammals

Scientists and researchers from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore have come up with a new citizen-science repository on Indian mammals, called Mammals of India (MaOI), which is an online, peer- reviewed, freely-accessible portal that was launched late September 2018. By October 25, as many as 768 images, of 161 species of mammals, were uploaded.
“So far, there was no portal exclusively for mammals. These photographic records will help us in having distribution map of mammals in the country,” Vivek Ramachandran of NCBS told.
As per current estimates, 426 species of mammals are found in India; of them 47 species are endemic to the Indian subcontinent.
In one month, this citizen-science initiative has seen photographs of rare species -- such as Red Serow from Manipur, Lynx a species of wild cat from Jammu and Kashmir, Asian Golden Cat from West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh and Binturong, also known as bear cat, from East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh -- being shared for the benefit of researches and public alike.
The website provides an opportunity to anyone to upload photographic observations on mammals.

::SPORTS::

India beats Korea in Asian champions trophy hockey

India got back to its winning ways with a decisive result against Korea in the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament here on Wednesday.
The Manpreet Singh-led squad rode on the prolific Harmanpreet Singh’s hat-trick to post a facile 4-1 win and log 13 points in five matches to be on top.
India’s penalty corner specialist Harmanpreet Singh said his team is focused on retaining the title.
“The Indian team goes out looking for early goals every time. The team is maintaining its structure and focused on retaining the title,” said Harmanpreet, who scored three goals against South Korea. “The support from Indian fans here in Muscat has been wonderful. The fan support is always a big boost for us.”