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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 18 January 2015

:: National ::

Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani announced the launch of free online courses by premier institutes such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institutes Management (IIMs) from the current year.
Ms. Irani said that as part of the digital initiatives and education reforms launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, consultations on the New Education Policy would begin on January 26.
A nominal fee would be charged for certification of various online courses. It would be free for people with special abilities and those belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Official Pakistani sources said they were worried that the Enforcement Directorate notice to the Pakistan International Airlines on its offices in Delhi, had political overtones.
The move, they feared, would “cut off a vital link between both countries.” PIA runs the only flights between India and Pakistan, with two flights a week on the Delhi-Lahore sector and once a week on the Mumbai-Karachi sector.
Pakistani officials insisted that the PIA service to India which started in 1976, would not be cancelled, despite all the problems. However, one official said there were apprehensions that the action came after Foreign Secretary talks were cancelled last July, and indicated other actions could follow “causing a further rift in ties.”

Days after terminating the contract of DRDO chief Avinash Chander, the government is planning to corporatise some of the ordnance factories. The plan is to initially corporatise about 10 ordnance factories and turn them into Public Sector Undertakings to make them more accountable and increase their capabilities.
Those under consideration are the cloth-making and equipment factories in the Kanpur belt. A note on this matter has already been circulated in the highest echelons of the government and the proposal is likely to get the government nod by April, the sources added.
These factories are into manufacturing personnel clothing, parachute material, small arms, metallurgical equipment, shells and other such equipment.
The move comes close on the heels of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar promising a major overhaul of the DRDO and defence production units. This is not for the first time though that corporatisation of ordnance factories is being considered.
In the UPA I regime too, the government mooted such a proposal in accordance with the recommendations of the Vijay Kelkar committee.