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Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 29 March 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Single all emergencies number to come soon

Indian citizens in distress will soon be able to get help using a single number, ‘112’, for all emergency services in the country, including the police, fire brigade and ambulance.
At present, such callers need to dial different numbers for different emergencies like 100 for police, 101 for fire, 102 for ambulance and 108 for emergency disaster management.
The move, recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in April 2015, was approved by the Telecom Commission.
It will be rolled out within months rather than a year.

Global energy flow has been changed by human activity says study

The impact that human beings have made on the Earth in terms of production and consumption of natural resources has formed a ‘striking new pattern’ in the planet’s global energy flow, finds a new research.
The results, published in the journal Earth’s Future , showed definite signs that human beings have permanently changed the planet and have triggered Anthropocene — an era where humans dominated Earth’s surface geology.
Patterns of human production and consumption mainly characterise the era.
Human beings have seized something like one quarter of the net primary biological production of the planet.
In addition, by digging phosphorus out of the ground and by fixing nitrogen out of the air to make fertilizers; and by exploiting hundreds of millions of years worth of stored carbon-based energy, humans are increasing productivity well above natural levels.
The findings revealed that Earth is now characterised by a geologically unprecedented pattern of global energy flow that is pervasively influenced by humans.

Haryana state Govt approves Jat quota (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International ::

With opening of reconciliation village Sri Lanka to improve domestic relations

With President Maithripala Sirisena set to declare open a ‘reconciliation village’ in Vavuniya in the Northern Province, it seems the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka is picking up pace.
The government organised a trip of a group of journalists, mostly Sinhalese, working in Sinhala and English media, to the Province.
The journalists, accompanied by Minister of Mass Media Gayantha Karunathilake and Deputy Minister Karunaratha Paranawithana, visited the offices of Tamil dailies and met C.V. Wigneswaran, the Province’s Chief Minister.
A few days ago, the Navy handed back 177 acres of land in Sampur village in the Eastern Province — where they had a training centre — to its original owners.
The ‘reconciliation village’ project, however, has triggered criticism from Northern Province Councillors.

Pakistan arrested terrorist targeting Christians (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: INDIA and WORLD ::

PM to push for global initiative against nuclear terrorism

India will push for a global initiative against nuclear terrorism at the fourth Nuclear Security Summit (NSS 2016) in Washington this weekend.
To safeguard the world from nuclear terrorism, India will ask for institutional follow-up through institutions like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations, Interpol, and the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT).
India has often called for measures against Pakistan for proliferation of nuclear materials, especially during the tenure of its former nuclear programme chief A.Q. Khan.
The Indian delegation at the summit, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will also circulate a national plan and progress report covering the measures taken by India to prevent nuclear terrorism on the Indian soil. “
Mr. Modi will land in Washington after a daylong stopover in Brussels, where he will attend the 13th EU-India Summit and is expected to announce the restart of free trade negotiations which have been suspended for the past four years.
At meetings with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, Mr. Modi is expected to discuss cooperation against terror in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Brussels last week.
He will also address a reception for Indian nationals based there.
At the last leg of the three-nation tour, Mr. Modi’s trip to Saudi Arabia will focus on the safety and well being of Indian citizens in Saudi Arabia and the GCC region and on an uninterrupted supply of energy from the GCC region to India.

:: Business and Economy ::

Virtual Network Operators to start working in India

The Telecom Commission on Monday accepted the telecom regulator’s recommendation to permit Virtual Network Operators (VNOs) in the country.
VNOs do not own telecom infrastructure but can offer various services to users by entering into an agreement with existing service providers.
It will need the Telecom Minister’s approval.

Reduction in small savings rate does not give relief to short-term money market rates

The reduction in the small savings rate has failed to provide any relief to short-term money market rates as banks rush to meet their business targets for the financial year end.
As a result, the rates have increased by 25 to 35 basis points in March.
On Monday, the overnight rate climbed as high as 8.3 per cent, intraday, before easing to 6 per cent at the close.
There was advance tax outflow in the middle of the month. During quarter-end, banks also try to get more business to increase their balance sheet.
Mutual funds also face redemption pressure during this period. In addition, the government goes slow on spending.
According to bankers, the shortfall in liquidity in the system is estimated at more than Rs 2 lakh crore.
According to dealers, the rate on three-month certificates of deposit, which were issued at 7.9 per cent at the start of the month, has moved up to the 8.20-8.25 per cent range.
Short term rates typically rise at the end of a quarter as banks push to grow their balance sheet. Bankers said the liquidity scenario will improve once the new financial year starts.

Crisil report says subsidy to further reduce next year (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: SPORTS ::

India beats Australia to reach semifinals

Kohli’s extraordinary batsmanship, which produced an unbeaten 51-ball 82, carried India to a memorable six-wicket win over Australia and earned the host a place in the World T20 semifinals.
The class of Kohli’s knock, which came amidst extremely difficult circumstances and in a do-or-die match, reminded one of Sachin Tendulkar’s unforgettable assault on the Australian attack in the summer of 1998 in Sharjah.
India staged a tremendous fightback to restrict Australia to 160 for six even though the Aussies were off to a flying start thanks to the pyrotechnics of its combative openers.
India’s resilience was put through another tough test when Australia relied on an astounding onslaught from its openers Usman Khawaja and Aaron Finch to amass 50 runs in less than four overs.
Finch stunned the Indians by hitting Nehra on the off-side and hoisting Ashwin over long on for two successive sixes.