(Current Affairs) National Events | March: 2016

National Events

FS level talks between India and Pak rescheduleds

  • After days of suspense, India and Pakistan agreed on Thursday to put off talks between the Foreign Secretaries that were due to be held on Friday in Islamabad.
  • the postponement of talks to a later date is a matter of “mutual convenience”, but the announcement at the last hour indicated that India had held out for more action from Pakistan against the perpetrators of the Pathankot attack before deciding to put off the talks that had been announced by Pakistan for January 15.
  • However, despite media reports quoting several police and intelligence officials on the “protective detention” and questioning of JeM founder Masood Azhar, there was no confirmation from the Pakistani government of this.
  • India had noted the Pakistan government’s discussion on sending a Special Investigation Team comprising a six-man investigation committee including ISI and Military intelligence officials.

National Science Foundation report says Indian scientists increasing rapidly in US

  • Indian-origin scientists and engineers in the U.S. grew 85% between 2003 and 2013, says a report by the National Science Foundation, a key funder of research in the United.
  • The 950,000 scientists and engineers of Indian origin in 2013—the latest year for which the foundation has data—suggest that India’s rise far outstrips that of the Philippines and China.
  • Their share of immigrants rose 53% and 34% in the same period and contributed 465,000 and 438,000 workers respectively.
  • In 2003, Indian-origin researchers were 2.5% of the U.S. research workforce and as of 2013, made up 3.3%.
  • Immigrants, according to the report, include naturalised citizens, permanent residents and temporary visa holders.
  • The most common fields of study for immigrant scientist and engineers in 2013 were engineering, computer and mathematical sciences and social and related sciences and over 80 per cent of the immigrant scientists and engineers were employed in 2013, the same percentage as their U.S.-born counterparts.
  • The rapid rise in the number of expatriate Indian technologists comes in the decade when India—concerned about ‘brain-drain’—has launched a plethora of schemes to attract highly-qualified scientists back to India.
  • According to a report by the U.N., Indians make up the largest diaspora in the world, with 16 million of them scattered across the world. This is partly due to its sizable population of 1.2 billion and a large proportion of youth.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been seeking to convince this massive diaspora to engage more with India as well as invest in the country.
  • HRD and Dept. of Science Technology partnership to start startup hubs

    The HRD Ministry and the Department of Science and Technology have agreed to partner in an initiative to set up over 75 startup support hubs in NITs, IIITs, the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and NIPERs.
  • The number of IIT/IIM graduates looking to start their own ventures has gone from two per cent a few years ago to nearly 10 per cent now, but we need to take this movement to our other educational institutions as well.
  • As per the plan, the HRD Ministry and the Science and Technology Ministry would share the costs for setting up startup centres in these institutions, which would need around 5,000 square feet space and cost around Rs. 50 lakh a year.
  • The Science and Technology Ministry would bear 100 per cent cost to set up business incubators in institutes like NITs. Each incubator would work with 20 budding ventures, and be spread over 10,000 sq.ft.
  • The cost of each incubator is expected to be in the range of Rs. 5 crore to Rs. 10 crore. Separately, research parks like the one at IIT Madras would be set up in a handful of institutes at a cost of Rs. 70 crore to Rs. 100 crore each.

Media reports suggest JeM chief detained in Pak

  • A decision on Foreign secretary meet had been deferred after an announcement in Pakistan that security forces carried out a crackdown on the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), accused of the Pathankot airbase attack, and that its founder Masood Azhar had been detained for questioning.
  • However government sources said, “No information has been received from Pakistan on the arrests”, indicating that a decision would be taken on Foreign Secretary talks only after Pakistan conveyed the nature of action it has taken to the government.
  • “Based on the initial investigations in Pakistan, several officials belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammad have been apprehended,” a statement from Mr. Sharif’s office said.
  • It added that the government would send a Special Investigative Team to India to gather “additional evidence.”
  • Finally, Mr. Sharif constituted a team to “probe the allegations of alleged involvement of certain individuals in the Pathankot attack.” The six-member team included the Punjab police counter-terror chief, Rai Tahir, as well as the Director IB in Lahore, and officials of the Federal Investigation Agency, ISI, and Military Intelligence.
  • Within a few hours, Pakistani police told local media that they had detained JeM founder Masood Azhar, the man India believes masterminded the attack, his operations chief and brother Rauf Azhar and other associates for questioning.
  • However, the information was not confirmed by the government. However Indian officials said they felt the news of Azhar’s arrest could have been a “deliberate plant” and had not been confirmed through official channels.

Final State of the Union address by Obama

  • Delivering his seventh and final State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, U.S. President Barack Obama sought to inspire and unify a country that is gripped by fear and uncertainty fanned by a fractious election campaign that is under way.

  • The U.S. will elect a new President in November.

  • Mr. Obama focussed on technological and political changes that disrupt lives and threaten security in the U.S. Despite near total employment and robust economic growth, two-thirds of Americans feel their country is on the wrong track and Mr. Obama tried to reassure them.

More than 3200 farmers suicide in Maharastra in 2015

  • The year that had recorded 2,590 suicides until October -- the highest ever since 2001 -- went on to register 610 more deaths in just the last two months.
  • Maharashtra has recorded 20,504 farmer suicides since 2001. Data obtained from the government shows Vidarbha, the region Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hails from, was the worst hit last year, with around 1,541 farmers from Amaravati and Nagpur division committing suicides.
  • As many as 1,130 farmers ended their lives in the Aurangabad division of Marathwada.
  • Of the 3,228 suicides, the state has found only 1,841 eligible for government aid, while 903 were found ineligible. While 484 cases are pending for inquiries, ex-gratia aid has been extended to 1,818.
  • Maharashtra had recorded a 75% deficit in rainfall between June and September last year.
  • While the CM had announced a Rs 10,512 crore package of farmers in December 2015, he had refrained from announcing any loan waivers.

Govt working to increase the movement of Goods by waterways

  • The Union government is working on a strategy to increase the movement of goods and passengers through waterways by nearly five-fold from a mere 3.5 per cent now to 15 per cent by 2019.
  • The passenger and cargo traffic share in the country through water transport will be increased to at least up to 15 per cent by 2019.
  • Currently, the share of passenger and cargo traffic is only 3.5 per cent as against the average of 30 to 40 per cent in countries such as China, South Korea, United Kingdom, Germany and France.
  • Development of waterways would reduce the logistics cost, enabling India to effectively compete in the international market.
  • Coastal shipping and inland water transport is a fuel efficient, environment friendly and cost effective mode, especially for bulk goods.
  • While the road transportation cost per km is Rs.1.50 and for the Railways it is Re.1, for waterways, it would be 25 to 30 paise.
  • To encourage transportation of goods by coastal shipping, service tax has been brought on par with road and rail transport.
  • The government has also relaxed cabotage (right to operate transport services within a particular territory) for specialised vessels like Ro-Ro, Hybrid Ro-Ro, car carriers and truck carriers for a period of five years.

SC says no jallikattu

  • In a clear message that animals cannot be bullied into pain and suffering in the name of custom and tradition in the 21st century, theSupreme Court stayed a January 7 notification issued by the Centre allowing jallikattu, despite theban imposed by the court in2014 on the sport, which it had called “inherently cruel.”

  • It was Justice Banumathi, as a single judge on the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, who first banned jallikattu.

  • That decision was set aside by the High Court’s Division Bench but was redeemed by the Supreme Court in 2014, concluding that the bull-taming sport inflicted inconceivable cruelty on animals.

  • Jallikattu is a clear violation of Sections 3 and 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. Cruel treatment of bulls cannot be a matter for human festivity, especially in the 21st century

  • Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Centre, said it was true that bulls were being tortured prior to the 2014 Supreme Court ban. “But the 2014 judgment was talking about what was happening then.

  • The Supreme Court was then dealing with jallikattu when bulls were tortured and ran around in frenzy like mad animals. The new notification protects the animals from cruelty, has prescribed safeguards.

  • Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s reiteration that an ordinance be promulgated as a last-ditch attempt to allow the conduct of jallikattu in 2016 may be untenable in law.

  • Legal experts say such an ordinance, if promulgated, would be seen as the legislature usurping judicial powers. Secondly, the ordinance would go against the very essence of the Supreme Court judgment and its conclusion that bulls are not performing animals.

  • Legal experts point to the 2005 Supreme Court judgment in Sarbananda Sonowal versus Union of India, which bestows the right to any public-minded citizen to approach the highest judiciary under Article 32 of the Constitution if a law made by the legislature has a “disastrous effect.”

  • In the Dr. D.C. Wadhwa versus State of Bihar case, the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that the Executive has no arbitrary right to promulgate ordinances.

  • The apex court held that it is the right of every citizen to insist that he should be governed by laws made in accordance with the Constitution and not law made by the Executive in violation of the constitutional provisions
    Death on beach

  • In a rare occurrence, 45 short-finned pilot whales were washed a shore in Thoothukudi district.. But as many as 36 mammals, part of the school that survived the beaching, were pushed back into the sea in a joint operation by several government agencies. Marine scientists said the school could have got stranded in search of food.

  • Marine scientists working in the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve say that the short-finned pilot whales are deep water whales, diving upto 1,000 metres, who form stable matrilineal kinship groups. This particular group could have been stranded while in search of food, the favorite being squids.

  • Not much is known about the species. In fact, the IUCNRed List of Threatened Species classifies it as ‘data deficient’.

  • A team from Fisheries College and Research Institute(FC&RI), Thoothukudi,made observations on the water temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen content of the inshore region, all of which were found to be normal.The short-finned pilot whales use call dialects to communicate within the group. One of the animals could have been isolated after falling sick or in search of food. The other whales might have followed it and might have been stranded as they could not have communicated effectively within the group.

Mixed responses for new defence norms

  • Indian industry has given a mixed response to the new guidelines approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) as part of the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016. While some in the industry welcomed the greater role for the private sector and the focus on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), some major industry players seemed disappointed with the guidelines.

  • The DAC, headed by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, approved some key changes to the Defence Procurement Procedure while deferring decisions on other issues such as strategic partnerships and procedures for blacklisting companies.

  • On the other hand, there was a positive response to the proposed new category of Indigenous Design Development Manufacturing (IDDM)

  • The new guidelines have put a major focus on the MSME sector to stimulate domestic innovation. The DPP talks about creating a new category for MSMEs as well as funding of up to Rs.10 crore for design and development.

Blood banks to update realtime stock status in public domain

  • In a move to introduce transparency in availability and disbursement of blood units, all blood banks in India have been asked to update realtime stock status in public domain.
  • National Health Portal (NHP) site gives realtime data about blood and blood components at the State and the district level. As the data is updated every 48 hours, families looking for blood can use the web-enabled system, taking away the need to tapping into personal sources, social media platforms etc for blood.
  • The eBlood bank will enable electronic monitoring of blood collection, testing, storage and final use and even disposal The app also will maintain a database of regular donors, in case of requirement.
  • The project was launched earlier this month after a pilot in Delhi and Mizoram during which the NACO found nearly 100 per cent reporting from blood banks in both States. According to the NACO data, out of the 2,760 blood banks in India, 2,711 are already on a digital platform
  • With all the information online and readily available, the onus of procuring safe blood shifts from the individual to blood banks and will lead to even distribution and weed out professional donors and touts etc.

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