Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 30 December 2015

:: NATIONAL ::

Liquor-Free kerala policy upheld by Supreme Court

Upholding the controversial ‘Liquor-Free Kerala’ policy restricting the serving of liquor to five-star hotels in the State, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the State governments be given a free hand to curtail or ban public consumption of alcohol to protect public health and nutrition.
The policy led to the closure of over 400 bars and restricted liquor availability to nearly 20 five-star hotels.
The consumption of tobacco as well as liquor is now undeniably deleterious to the health of humankind. Vulnerable persons, either because of age or proclivity towards intoxication or as a feature of peer pressure, more often than not succumb to this temptation.
Banning public consumption of alcohol, cannot but be seen as a positive step towards bringing down the consumption of alcohol, or as preparatory to prohibition

Foreign funds plan share in India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund

Sovereign and pension funds from Russia, Singapore, the U.K. and the UAE are among those to express interest in the Rs. 40,000-crore National Investment and Infrastructure Fund
The government will invest Rs. 20,000 crore in the Fund that will build greenfield and brownfield projects and revive stalled projects. The remaining Rs. 20,000 crore is expected to come from private investors. The government’s share in the corpus will not exceed 49 per cent.
The Governing Council of the Fund has decided to complete by January-end the selection process of the Chief Executive of the investment management company responsible for taking investment decisions of its corpus

Election Commission to automatic delete voters after death (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Euro V & VI norms (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

Iran moves closer to nuclear deal ‘Implementation Day

Iran had entered the final days of completing its commitments under a landmark international deal to curb its atomic programme after it shipped low-enriched uranium to Russia.
Iran’s atomic energy agency said 11 tons of uranium materials were sent to Russia on Monday, a move U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said was “significant progress” under the July 14 nuclear agreement between Iran and six major powers.
The exchange was one of three major measures Iran had to take to fulfil its end of the nuclear deal
“Implementation Day” when almost a decade of nuclear-related sanctions on Iran will be lifted seems to be near

:: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ::

Seaweed capsules may do away with insulin injections

Seaweed capsules may lead to an injection-free life for diabetic patients, say researchers who have developed a novel method to overcome major challenges in pancreatic islet transplantation.
Pancreatic islet transplantation is an effective treatment to dramatically reduce daily insulin doses or even eliminate dependence on external insulin.
A group of researchers developed a novel cryopreservation method that not only helps to protect pancreatic islets from ice damage but also facilitates real-time assessments of cell viability. Moreover, this method may reduce transplant rejection and, in turn, decrease use of immunosuppressant drugs, which can be harmful to patient health.
The novel technique employs a droplet microfluidic device to encapsulate pancreatic islets in hydrogel made of alginate, a natural polymer extracted from seaweed. These capsules have a unique microstructure: a porous network and considerable amount of non-freezable water.
Hydrogel capsules with large amounts of non-freezable bound water protect the cells from the ice damage and reduce the need for cryoprotectants — special substances that minimise or prevent freezing damage and can be toxic in high concentrations
Islet encapsulation reduces the risk of rejection of transplanted cells by the recipient. The hydrogel capsule allows small molecules to pass through the membrane easily but prevents direct contact between implanted islets and host cells.
Encapsulation also may prevent an attack on transplants by the autoimmune response that destroy the patient’s own islets in the first place.

Barak-8 missile to be tested

The Navy will carry out the maiden test of the long-range Barak-8 surface-to-air missile from INS Kolkata.
The Barak-8 missile is being developed jointly by India and Israel. While two tests have been successfully conducted from Israeli ships, this is the first time that the test would be held onboard an Indian one.
The missile has been designed to defend against a variety of short-to-long-range airborne threats, including fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, drones and projectiles.

A unique fish species is endangered in Telangana (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Rare butterfly sighted at Arippa forests (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: ECONOMY ::

Banks should focus on first generation entreprenuers

Citing Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s belief in industrialisation as a means for uplifting the backward classes from a vicious circle of poverty, Mr. Modi said that the NDA government is committed to facilitating skills and finance for Dalit youth to become job creators instead of job seekers.
Nearly 80 lakh people have been granted loans worth Rs.50,000 crore without any collateral under the PM’s Mudra scheme in its first eight months. Mudra is an acronym for Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency.
Most of these beneficiaries are Dalits, other backward castes, scheduled tribes and some women running small businesses. They create two, three jobs each and together such enterprises employ 14 crore people but were not able to access bank credit,

2015: Reforms, a retreat and resurgence for banks

The government launched a host of reforms, christened as Indradanush, aimed to improve governance in public sector banks like separating the post of Chairman and Managing Directors, proposed the formation of Bank Board Bureau for top level appointments and announced Rs.70,000 crore capital infusion in public sector bank over four years.
Two new full service banks, IDFC Bank and Bandhan Bank started operation during the second half of the year. These banks received in-principle licences from RBI in 2014 — which is the first universal bank licence granted in more than a decade
The banking regulator allowed banks to acquire 51 per cent or more stake in companies defaulting even after restructuring of their loans. The norm, known as Strategic debt restructuring, was aimed to ensure promoter’s have ‘skin the game’. The move is expected to improve repayment culture of the borrowers.
The central bank entered into a historical agreement with the government in March this year over how to tackle price rise which has pinched the consumers for many years. According to the framework, RBI has the explicit mandate to have an inflation target, for which it is accountable.
The RBI on December 17, 2015 issued guidelines for the computation of the benchmark lending rate using the marginal cost of funds method. Banks will have to implement the new Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) with effect from April 1, 2016.
The latest norms hold the potential of improving the efficiency of monetary policy transmission for new borrowings, and will impact new borrowers immediately. They will benefit in a declining interest rate scenario and take a dent when interest rates are rising; existing borrowers with floating-rate liabilities will bear the impact at a lag of up to one year

Global north-south corridor (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Patent rules to b amended (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: SPORTS ::

First Indian in Harvard soccer team

Sixteen-year-old Vardhin Manoj, a U.S. citizen by birth, has been offered a place in Harvard University soccer team and has agreed to join the team as soon as he finishes school.
The 11th grade student of La Costa Canyon High School, California, is the first player from India to be offered a place in the Harvard University soccer team purely on the basis of football talent.