Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 24 March 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Centre increased dearness allowance by 6 percent

In a decision described as a Holi gift to over one crore Central government employees and pensioners, the Union Cabinet increased Dearness Allowance by 6 per cent to 125 per cent of their basic pay with effect from January.
The decision will cost the exchequer Rs. 14,724.74 crore a year.
Of this, Rs. 6,795.5 crore will go to employees and Rs. 7,929.24 crore to pensioners during 2016-17.

More lower birth seats would be reserved for senior citizens

The government announced an increase in lower berth quota for senior citizens in trains from April 1.
There will be 80-90 seats reserved for senior citizens on every train as against 50-60 at present.
Now, each sleeper class coach will have six lower berth seats reserved for senior citizens, female passengers above 45 years and pregnant women, up from four at present.
In 3AC and 2AC classes, three lower berths will be kept reserved for senior citizens. In Rajdhani, Duronto and fully AC Express trains, four lower berths in every coach will be reserved in 3AC class, as against three per coach that are reserved in Mail or Express trains.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had announced the proposal in the Budget 2016-17 presented last month.
In another move, the government also announced decreasing freight rates on dedicated merry-go-round systems – rail tracks that connect coal mines and power plants.
The freight rates for transporting goods have been revised down to Rs. 47 per tonne effective April 1 from Rs. 63 per tonne at present, Railway Board member (Traffic).
This would make transportation of goods by train cheaper than roads where Rs. 72 per tonne was charged for covering 18 km.

Electricity de France and NPCIL signed MOU for Jaitapur (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Bangladesh will lease 10 GBPS Internet bandwidth to India in return of 100 MW power (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump continues to win

Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton used the backdrop of the Brussels terror attack to drive home their respective political messages after securing new victories in presidential nomination contests.
Mr. Trump reiterated his call for a ban on Muslims travelling to the U.S, and waterboarding of terror suspects to extract information from them, while Ms. Clinton said in her victory speech that “the last thing we need are leaders who incite more fear”.
Mr. Trump and Ms. Clinton won Arizona, the State that had the highest number of delegates.
• Senator Ted Cruz defeated Mr. Trump in Utah, and on the Democratic side, Senator Bernie Sanders won Utah and Idaho and promised to take the contest all the way to the convention.
Occasional terror strikes through the campaign season have helped Mr. Trump’s tactics.
Mr. Trump has effectively used the Paris and California terror strikes to bolster his campaign and Brussels happened just as his rhetoric may have plateaued.
Meanwhile, in a TV interview, Mr. Trump said Muslim communities are “absolutely not reporting” suspected terrorists and need to “open up to society”.
Meanwhile, Mr. Cruz won the endorsement of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush who dropped out of the race last month.
Differentiating between Mr. Cruz and Mr. Trump may be more a question of semantics than substance.
Mr. Cruz called for higher border security to stop “terrorist infiltration”, and increased surveillance of Muslim neighbourhoods in U.S.
Ms. Clinton said. “What Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and others are suggesting is not only wrong, it’s dangerous. It will not keep us safe, this is a time for America to lead, not cower.”

Brussels terrorists also linked with Paris terror attack (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Business and Economy ::

Environment ministry tightened rules for e-waste

The Environment Ministry has tightened rules by putting the onus on manufacturers, dealers, retailers and refurbishers of electronic goods to ensure that electronic or e-waste goods are collected and “scientifically” recycled.
The new norms include fines, a greater involvement of states in policing and collection as well as bringing exhausted compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and other mercury-containing lamps in to the purview of electronic waste.
The actual date of the rules and quantum of fines would be announced later this year after discussions with states.
With nearly 1.7 million tonnes of e-waste reportedly produced in India in 2014 and increasing annually at between four and five per cent, a variety of experts have warned of its dangers to the environment as well as health.
This is because defunct laptops, phone and other electronic goods are usually broken down by hand for precious metals and hacked down manually or crudely burnt.
The residue is frequently thrown in rivers, drains and/or disposed in solid waste dumps that over time can contribute to degraded land and water quality as well neurological and skin diseases, genetic defects and cancer in the workers who deal with them, the ministry added.
The rules governing electronic, or e-waste, have been in place since 2011. The new rules say that producers will have to ensure 30 per cent e-waste collection, based on their projected sales, by 2018 and 70 per cent by 2023.
They can do this through a variety of ways such as a deposit refund scheme, an e-waste exchange and they also have to pay for publicity and awareness programmes.
Later this year, when the rules come into effect, state will have to set up e-waste dismantling and recycling units in industrial park as well as register the workers involved with the e-waste business and finally, take up industrial skill development activities and ensure health and safety of workers.

2.95 crore houses to be constructed in rural area under Housing for All scheme (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: SPORTS ::

India beats Bangladesh in a nail-biting match

Nerves were shredded, nails got chewed and throats turned hoarse as a rousing Wednesday night witnessed India effect a remarkable turnaround and snatch a one-run victory over Bangladesh in the ICC World Twenty20 Super 10 Group 2 match.
Pursuing India’s 146 for seven, Bangladesh needed 11 from the last over with four wickets in hand.
Hardik Pandya conceded a single to Mahmudullah, suffered two fours at the hands of Mushfiqur Rahim and when it boiled down to two from three deliveries, M.S. Dhoni’s men set a miracle in motion, helped largely by the visitors’ desire to go for glory instead of a humble single or two.
Rahim and Mahmudullah perished to wild hoicks and a nervous Mustafizur Rahman was no match for a sprinting Dhoni, who knocked down the stumps to leave the batsman and Bangladesh stranded.
The visitor finished with 145 for nine and crashed out of the tournament.