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Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 13 February 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

As the Centre hardened its position, a Delhi court remanded Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar in three-day police custody.
He was arrested on the charge of sedition, after “anti-India” slogans were allegedly raised at the university during a recent protest meeting in memory of Afzal Guru, hanged in 2013 after his conviction in the Parliament attack case.
A case of sedition against several unknown students was lodged at Vasant Kunj (North) police station.
It was registered under IPC Sections 124A (sedition), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (acts done by several persons with a common intention). Five more persons are absconding in the case.
The university also initiated action, barring eight students from academic activity pending an enquiry, though they would be allowed to stay as guests in thehostels.

The nationwide crackdown on black money has meant a steady increase in detection of undisclosed income, which has jumped 15.5 times over the past five years.
A comprehensive report of the Director General of Income Tax (Intelligence and Criminal Investigation) shows more and more prominent business houses, including diamond traders, steel magnates and the country’s leading pharma companies coming under the taxmen’s scanner.
National undisclosed income jumped from just Rs. 5,894 crore in financial year 2011 to Rs. 90,391 crore in 2014.
The undisclosed income detected in 2012 was Rs. 6,573 crore and Rs. 19,337 crore in 2013.

Diplomats agreed to work toward a temporary “cessation of hostilities” in Syria’s civil war within a week, although efforts to secure a lasting ceasefire fell short.\
The deal appeared to be the result of a compromise between the U.S., which had wanted an immediate ceasefire, and Russia, which had proposed one to start on March 1.
Although foreign ministers from the International Syria Support Group managed to seal an agreement to “accelerate and expand” deliveries of humanitarian aid to besieged Syrian communities beginning this week, their failure to agree on a ceasefire leaves the most critical step to resuming peace talks unresolved.
It was not clear from their comments afterward if deep differences regarding the truce and which groups would be eligible for it could be overcome.

Industrial activity shrank 1.3 per cent in December 2015 for the second consecutive month with the capital goods sector taking the lead.
Consumer price inflation accelerated to 5.7 per cent in January. And the Index of Industrial Production for December 2015 stood at 183.4, which is 1.3 per cent lower than its level in December 2014.
The contraction in the IIP in December comes after a 3.4 per cent drop in November 2015.
The manufacturing sector contracted 2.44 per cent for the second straight month,while mining and electricity sectors grew 2.92 per cent and 3.15 per cent respectively in December.
The capital goods sector, by usage, contracted by 19.69 per cent in December.
Consumer durables, however, maintained a strong growth showing, registering a growth of 16.49 per cent in December on the back of 12.5 per cent in November. Consumer non-durables contracted 3.2 per cent while intermediate good grew modestly, by 0.94 per cent in December.