(Current Affairs) National Events | January: 2016

National Events

Terrorist attacks killed 130 in France

  • In a deadly terror strike similar to Mumbai on November 26, 2008, suspected Islamic State gunmen launched a coordinated assault on Paris late on Friday night, leaving 129 dead and 352 injured.
  • This was the worst terror attack in France’s history far bigger than the shooting inside the Charlie Hebdo newspaper office in January, which killed 12 and injured 11.
  • French President Francois Hollande announced that he held the IS responsible for the attack and France considered it “an act of war”. He announced a state of emergency, the first in France since 2005, and the deployment of 1,500 soldiers.
  • The attack was carried out on six locations, one being the French national stadium Stade de France where France and Germany football teams were playing a friendly before an 80,000-strong crowd.
  • Mr. Hollande, who was among the spectators, was evacuated immediately following security protocol. As many as 89 people were killed in the attack at the Bataclan Theatre during a concert by the band Eagles of Death Metal.
  • The gunmen entered the 1,500-seat venue and began shoot-ing without warning. The police said the assailants were killed. A Syrian passport was found on one of the attackers.

Islamic State poses danger to India as well

  • With its global appeal, low-cost, high-impact tactics and swelling ranks, the Islamic State is turning out be the deadliest terrorist organisation of modern times, outranking groups such as Al-Qaeda.

  • The Friday evening attacks in Paris, the earlier incidents in France, and the lone wolf attacks taking place in various countries, including Bangladesh, are warnings to India to be on alert to a wave of possible attacks in the coming days.

  • While Indian agencies are ruling out any immediate threat, it is clear a new version of the IS style of attacks, very low cost, but high impact, is a high possibility in the country.

  • The growing scale of IS attacks and the appeal of its twisted ideology are reasons enough to believe that the group could end up being the deadliest terrorist organisation in modern his-tory. Its brutality and scaleof attacks could soon eclipse those of Al-Qaeda, of which it was once a mere splinter group in Iraq.

  • IS is not chasing grand attacks the way Al Qaeda did and is focussed on the immediate — to establish a caliphate, to take on enemies such as Shias and other minorities. However, its ability to attract so many followers in many countries means it is now a violent global ideology, though it may not be a cohesive global network.

Paris, Syria to dominate G-20 talks

  • The Paris terror attacks have added fresh urgency to the scheduled talks on terror, a key theme on the agenda at the two-day Group of 20 Summit starting here on Sun-day.
  • Leaders of the 20 major economies (G-20), including the U.S., China, Japan, Russia, Cana-da, Australia and Brazil, will dis-cuss climate change and global cooperation to unearth black money, but the talks are set to be dominated by the attacks in Paris and the war in Syria.
  • The leaders will discuss terrorism and migrationat a working dinner on Sunday, but following the Paris attacks, the deliberations can be moved forward if such a proposal is moved by the Turkish presidency.

LPG subsidy likely to be limited to households below 10 lakh income

  • The Union government is actively examining discontinuation of subsidies such as the one given on domestic LPG cylinders to all households having an annual income of Rs. 10 lakh and above.
  • Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Poverty Alleviation M. Venkaiah Naidu said the government was also planning to give other subsidies such as the one on urea directly to farmers, instead of giving it to fertilizer companies.
  • He also said that government should be given more time for their policies to show result on ground.

The sun shines on India’s Aditya

  • After a seven year long wait, Aditya, India’s first dedicated scientific mission to study the sun is likely to get a go-ahead from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) this week. The ambitious solar mission will study the sun’s outer most layers, the corona and the chromosphere, collect data about coronal mass ejection and more, which will also yield information for space weather prediction.

  • The project costs approximately Rs 400 crores and is a joint venture between ISRO and physicists from Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru; Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune; Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, and other institutes.

  • Though the project was conceptualised in 2008 itself, it has since morphed and grown and is now awaiting clearance with the government. It now aims to put a heavy satellite into what is called a halo orbit around the L1 point between the Sun and the Earth. This point is at a distance of about 1.5 million km from the earth. With the excitement about the Mars Orbiter Mission yet to settle down, this could be the next most complicated feat that ISRO has carried out till date.

  • Though the project was conceptualised in 2008 itself, it has since morphed and grown and is now awaiting clearance with the government. It now aims to put a heavy satellite into what is called a halo orbit around the L1 point between the Sun and the Earth. This point is at a distance of about 1.5 million km from the earth. With the excitement about the Mars Orbiter Mission yet to settle down, this could be the next most complicated feat that ISRO has carried out till date.

  • In a three-body problem such as this – with the earth and sun engaged in an elliptical orbit and a relatively very light, call it massless in comparison, satellite being placed in between – there are five so-called lagrangian points in space where the light, third body — in our case, the satellite — may be placed so that it can maintain its position with respect to the two others. One of these is the L1 point, which is about 1.5 million km from the earth.

PM’s praise strengthens Imran’s cause for education

  • Imran Khan, a 37-year-old Sanskrit teacher dedicated to the cause of education and with no formal education in Information Technology (IT), has, in the past three years developed 52 Android apps in Hindi on topics varying fromGeneral Knowledge to Science to one on Rajasthan Administrative Services.
  • Clicking on ‘Play Store’ in the Android phone and searching for ‘gktalk’ fetches a series of educational apps designed to assist students on varying topics. However, unlike other apps, these are in Hindi, are neatly designed and are free.
  • A teacher at Alwar’s Varishth Upadhyay Sanskrit school, Mr. Khan is also a member of Alwar-based team EKTA which works towards strengthening elementary education.
  • Further appreciating his efforts, BSNL, on directions of Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, shall now be providing free Internet to Mr. Khan.

India to push for inclusive view in G-20 summit

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived here from London on Saturday evening to attend the two-day G-20 Summit, after completing his three-day U.K. visit, is scheduled to be the lead speaker at its inaugural session on Climate Change and Development.

  • India’s stated position is that the emphasis should rather be on clean technology, Economic Affairs Secretary and head of India’s finance track delegation here at the G-20 Summit Shaktikanta Das told press persons. “India calls for balance between focus on climate change and development needs.

  • Mr. Modi is also expected to emphasise that the commitment from the developed countries to make available from 2020 $100 billion of cli-mate finance every year to developing countries has to be ensured and a road map for this should be laid down over the next five years.

  • On the IMF, India is concerned that the 14th round of reforms are pending, in the absence of ratification by the U.S. Congress, since 2010 which have also pushed the 15th round reforms that were to be taken up in January 2015.

Diversity is our pride, strength said PM Modi in UK

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said on Friday that diversity is India’s “strength and pride” and underlined the importance of peaceful co-existence. “India is full of diversity.
  • This diversity is our pride and it is our strength. Diversity is the speciality of India,” Mr. Modi said, adding that despite the country being home to diverse religions, over 100 languages and 1,500 dialects, Indians have shown how to live together.
  • The Prime Minister was addressing thousands of people of Indian origin, at a Grand Community reception in his honour at the iconic Wembley Stadium, home to rock concerts and England’s national soccer team.
  • The event was themed ‘Two Great Nations, One Glorious Future.’
  • The PM also had “quiet lunch”, as officials termed it , with Queen came after a day of packed engagements and several speeches on Friday.
  • Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (William and Kate) will visit India in the spring of 2016. The visit is being undertaken at the request of Her Majesty’s Government and will be the first time The Duke and Duchess have visited the country.

Reforms to continue even after defeat in Bihar election, says Nirmala Sitharaman

  • The NDA government’s latest move to liberalise the foreign investment regime is part of an ongoing process and such economic reforms will continue irrespective of any adverse State-level poll outcome for the alliance or the BJP in future.

  • Ms. Sitharaman said the FDI reforms are not just a public relations exercise.

  • Turning to the defence sec-tor, the Minister said the condition — that foreign investments above 49% would be considered on a case-to-case basis and only where investment resulted in access to state-of-the-art technology – held good in the new policy, even in cases where the investment was 100%.

  • Also on the decision to do away with the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) clearance — in cases of foreign investment proposals in excess of 49% in the defence sector — and instead allow the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to approve such proposals, the Minister said it was done for the sake of ease of do-ing business. “Defence and Home Ministries are represented in FIPB also. They will take care of all the security and technology related issues,” Ms. Sitharaman said.

Chetia likely to join peace process

  • India decided to drop all charges against Nur Hossein, wanted for multiple murders in Bangladesh, it paved the way for his deportation.
  • Hossein’s deportation is directly linked to Bangladesh’s handover of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) leader Anup Chetia to India.
  • It was a “give and take” between the two countries and the swap happened within 24 hours of Chetia coming back to India.
  • Chetia, one of the founding members of the ULFA, was in Bangladesh for the past 18 years.
  • The government is planning to use him as a “front” against Paresh Barua, the leader of ULFA (Independent) or the anti-talks faction.
  • The ULFA has backed the demand for inclusion of the six communities, Moran, Muttock, Tai Ahom, Koch Rajbongshi, Sootea and Tea Tribes, under the ST category.
  • Former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief P.C. Halder is heading the peace talks with Arabinda Rajkhowa of ULFA and the Centre’s interlocutor has had several rounds of talks with the group. A source in the establishment said that Chetia’s deporta-tion will definitely “fast-track” the peace process and they hoped that he would join the talks.

Ecological norms are diluted in kerala

  • Environmental organisations and public interest groups are up in arms against the government move to dilute environmental laws for the mining industry in the State.
  • This follows a number of government orders and notifications issued by the Indus-tries Department to amend the provisions of the Kerala Minor Minerals Concession Rules.
  • According to the notification amending Rules 12 and 13 of KMMCR, quarries which had short-term permits on or before February 26, 2012 would not require Environ-mental Clearance (EC) or mining plan for renewal of permit.
  • The notification also allows the permit holder to operate the quarry for three years before applying for a quarrying lease with EC.
  • Environmental activists say the amendments amount to a blatant violation of the directions issued by the Supreme Court and High Court making it mandatory to secure EC for all quarries.
  • They feel the government was driven by its commitment to supply building materials for the Vizhinjam seaport project.
  • The State EIA Authority has also expressed apprehension that the amendment would make it possible to by-pass environmental regulations.

India not intolerant: Modi

  • India and the U.K. announced an enhanced defence and strategic partnership as well as a civil nuclear agreement as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart David Cameron met here on Thursday, and said trade deals worth £ 9 billion would be signed during Mr. Modi’s three-day visit.

  • “India is the land of Gand-hi and Buddha, we are not an intolerant society,” Mr. Modi said in answer to a point-ed question, adding, “every incident taking place in any corner of the nation is a serious incident, law takes its course and strict action is taken.”

  • The Prime Minister made the statement, even as more than 1,000 protesters raised slogans against him outside 10 Downing Street. The pro-testers comprising Kashmiri, Sikh, Nepali, Tamil and Dalit groups were joined by British human rights activists, and even saw an appearance by controversial politician George Galloway, who had once backed Saddam Hussein.

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