(Current Affairs) National Events | October: 2015

National Events

Arvind Panagariya to head panel on caste data

  • Amid the delay in release of caste data collected by the states under the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2011, the Cabinet on Thursday approved setting up of an expert group headed by Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya to classify the data and publicise it.
  • However, no time line has been set for release of the data on caste/tribe as most of the states are yet to submit their report to the Centre on clubbing of various sub-groups of castes.
  • States have yet to complete the consolidation of 46 lakh castes,sub- castes,sub-caste names, synonyms, surnames, clan and gothra names enumerated by the census.
  • Other members of the Panagariya committee would be nominated by the ministries of social justice & empowerment and tribal affairs.
  • The Centre’s move comes after opposition parties demanded release of the caste data immediately.
  • The government has already released the socio-economic data generated by SECC on rural areas on July 3. It showed that almost 75% of households earn less than R5,000 per month; nearly 60% of them are deprived in some way or the other; 56% are landless and close to 36% of the rural people are illiterate even 68 years after independence.

India Working With 27 Countries on Earthquake Early-Warning System

  • Taking a lead, India is working on an ambitious project with scientists, geophysicists, and seismologists of 27 countries to develop an early-warning system for “prediction” of earthquake.
  • The warning could be the issued some seconds before the earthquake strikes. India is also planning to launch a satellite to track the changes that take place on earth’s surface before the tremors, a top official has said.
  • Before earthquakes, some chemical changes under the earth’s surface and some physical displacements on the surface occur and hoped if parameters are developed to observe, study and analyse these changes, the quakes can be predicted.
  • India has been conducting experiments in the Koyna river valley in the Western Ghats in Maharashtra.
  • In India, 22 states are prone to earthquakes of various intensities like severe, high, moderate and low, and urban explosion and densely populated cities with high-rise buildings makes the quake scenario worse.

India’s interest in Paris climate conference

  • India iiiiIhas reiterated its demand and cautioned developed nations to not to make any changes or introduce new agenda at last moments and stick to the plan if the big players want to make the crucial climate change conference in Paris to be held later this year a “success”.

  • Environment Minister Prakash Javedkar appealed to the developed nations that the meeting should not be “rewritten”.

  • “We should not forget that what will lapse is the Kyoto Protocol and not he United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). We should not try to rewrite the convention. Annexes are part of the convention’s basic structure stemming from historical responsibility of countries,” said Javedkar at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate Change at Luxembourg.

  • He wants Paris event to be a huge success where every country would take their own actions but in accordance with the universal benefit.

  • “Let Paris be an event for celebration of a universal, yet differentiated new agreement, where every country takes action which it determines on its own. Such collective action will address the challenge of climate change

  • His entire speech was focused on the developed nations introducing new agenda at last hour. India wants all the developed nations to adhere to pre-2020 action plan that enables developing countries to contribute on their will along with their plan for INDCs.

  • On contribution of developing countries, Javedkar said that earlier the developing nations weren’t authorized to take any action, but the new climate meet will allow all countries to commit to some action.

Now its turn to Venus for ISRO

  • Following the success of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) and the recent launch of five British satellites, India plans next possible ‘deep space exploration’ missions to Venus, Mars and even an asteroid.
  • Besides the second Mars mission, we are looking at Venus and even an asteroid for exploration. A project has to be formulated for this before we chart out a proper roadmap for the explorations, ISRO Chairman Kiran Kumar was quoted as saying.
  • “Venus is our neighbor and has many scientific challenges and aspects that need to be studied. Exploring an asteroid is also challenging task, he added.
  • The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is now embarking on a new planet-hunting endeavour. There are indications that the United States of America will be working with India in this ‘deep space exploration’.

IAS topper got 53 per cent

  • The topper of civil services examination has got about 53 per cent, thus showing the strict pattern of civil services examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for selecting country’s top bureaucrats.
  • The Commission has made public the marks obtained by the successful candidates. The mark sheets of the candidates who qualified the civil services (main) examination and those who could not, have also been put in public domain.
  • The civil services examination is conducted annually in three stages—preliminary, main and interview—to select candidates for the elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.
  • Ira Singhal, a physically handicapped Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) officer from Delhi who topped the 2014 exam, got a total of 1,082 marks (53.43 per cent) out of a total of 2,025—comprising 1,750 of main and 275 of interview.
  • Second rank achiever Renu Raj, a doctor from Kerala, got 1,056 marks (52.14 per cent) and third-rank holder Nidhi Gupta got 1,025 marks (50.61 per cent), according to their marks sheet.

ISRO tests indigenous cryogenic engine

  • An indigenous cryogenic rocket engine being developed to power India’s most powerful rocket system, the GSLV Mk III, underwent a successful endurance test for a duration of 800 seconds on July 16 at ISRO’s propulsion complex at Mahendragiri, ISRO reported Monday.

  • The cryogenic engine which will power the upper stage of the GSLV Mk III was fired for a period that is 25 per cent longer than required in a space flight with a nominal thrust of 19 tonnes and its performance matched prediction made through computer simulation, ISRO reported.

  • The cryogenic C25 stage engine operates on Gas Generator Cycle using extremely low temperature propellants Liquid Hydrogen at 20 Kelvin (-253 degree C) and Liquid Oxygen at 80 Kelvin (-193 degree C), ISRO stated.

  • “The successful endurance hot test of the first high thrust cryogenic engine is the tenth test in a series planned as part of the development of the engine employing complex cryogenic technology,’’ ISRO said in an official release announcing the successful tests. “Mastering this complex, high-performance cryogenic propulsion technology will go a long way in building self reliance for the Indian space programme,’’ ISRO said.

  • The cryogenic engine is being developed as part of plans to enhance India’s capabilities in space programmes by providing more power to launch heavier four tonne category spacecraft. Indian capabilites are currently in the two tonne-plus range.

PM Modi to Release Vision 2050 for Indian Agriculture on July 25

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release ‘Vision 2050’ for Indian agriculture prepared by the country’s premier agriculture research institute in Patna on July 25, said Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh today.

  • This is also the first time that celebrations of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) foundation day will be organised outside Delhi.

  • PM Modi will also inaugurate three new projects - Farmers First, Arya and Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav (My village my pride), and ask agriculture scientists from all over the country to speed up the process to provide new technologies to farmers, which will lead to a quantum jump in agriculture productivity.

  • Assembly elections are due Bihar in a few months. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is hoping for some new announcements.

  • Speaking to reporters in Patna, Mr Kumar said, “There is not much hope of PM announcing anything new in the package he is expected to announce.

  • His announcement would be a packaging of the existing ones initiated by me and approved by the UPA.”

  • The country’s first agriculture research and education institute - ‘Indian Agricultural Research Institute’, then known as Imperial Institute of Agricultural Research, was established at Pusa in Samastipur district here in 1905.

RS panel backs majority of GST Bill proposals

  • Though the Opposition forced adjournments in both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, the chances of the Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, meant to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST), clearing Parliament in the current session brightened, with the Rajya Sabha Select Committee endorsing almost all its provisions.

  • In its report submitted to the House, the committee, headed by Bhupender Yadav of the BJP, said that to start with, the GST rate should not go beyond 20 per cent as standard rate and 14 per cent as reduced rate.

  • It agreed with the demand of parties such as the Trinamool Congress for full compensation from the Centre for any revenue loss to the States during the transition.

  • It suggested that the provision in the Bill that the Centre “may” compensate the States for up to five years for any revenue loss be replaced with a commitment of compensation for five years.

  • The committee’s report also contained dissent notes from the Congress, the AIADMK and the Left parties.

  • The Bill, which the Lok Sabha has already approved, will now have to be taken up for passage in the Rajya Sabha. As it is a Constitution amendment Bill, it will have to be approved by two-thirds of the members in the Upper House, where the ruling BJP does not enjoy a majority.

  • The government will have to depend upon the support of regional parties and allies.

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