(FREE) UPSC Current Affairs 2024 PDF

(Current Affairs) India and The World | October: 2015

India & The World

‘India, Japan and U.S. can shape China’s peaceful rise’ (Free Available)
Africa sees opportunities in Make-in-India (Free Available)
India, Bangladesh enclave residents get freedom after 68 years (Free Available)
Nine U.S. satellites to be flown from Sriharikota (Free Available)
Radar satellite (Free Available)
Foxconn may set up a factory in every Indian state in 10 years: Terry Gou (Free Available)
India received $24 billion in FDI from EU in last 3 years (Only for Online Coaching Members)
UN Kalam GlobalSat: Satellite named in memory of APJ Adbul Kalam (Only for Online Coaching Members)
Australia mine project: Adani, StanC ties (Only for Online Coaching Members)
US,China,Russia,oppose India,s bid for permanent seat at UN (Only for Online Coaching Members)
Yuan devaluation & Indian economy (Only for Online Coaching Members)

‘India, Japan and U.S. can shape China’s peaceful rise’

Coordination among India, Japan and the U.S. on security cooperation and economic ties are essential because they can fundamentally talk about how they can “shape China’s rise in a peaceful way”, said Nicholas Szechenyi, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow – Japan Chair at the Centre for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).
“India has unique interests with China, as does Japan and as does the U.S. They may not always align completely, but fundamentally if we are going to encourage China’s rise in a way that favours regional stability, I think this element of regional coordination among likeminded states is critical. Therefore India, Japan and U.S. have an important role to play,”
The Japanese Cabinet on Tuesday approved a defence white paper for 2015 which sounded alarm over China’s “one sided maritime activities” in the South China Sea.
China’s land reclamation in South China Sea has increased tensions in the resource rich region which is contested by several nations.

Africa sees opportunities in Make-in-India

Making a strong pitch for attracting investment to their continent, African diplomats on Thursday said that the Make-in-India initiative could very well be utilised to boost trade between the two countries.
Keeping on a low key their individual country interests, the three diplomats – representing Ghana, South Africa and Tanzania – made a strong pitch for the African continent saying that the economy was now warning up and the 54 countries together could offer vast opportunities in raw material sourcing and product marketing.
Stefanus Botes, Economic Counsellor, South Africa High Commission said that Africa was now a huge market, which is projected to expand to $1.4 trillion by 2020 from $860 billion in 2008. There were 52 cities with a population of over one million.

India, Bangladesh enclave residents get freedom after 68 years

Ending a border dispute, the much-awaited exchange of enclaves (Chhitmahals) between India and Bangladesh came into effect at the stroke of midnight on Friday-Saturday.
Crackers were burst and people rejoiced as India and Bangladesh exchanged enclaves, ending the 68 years of stateless existence for over 51,000 enclave dwellers.
Around 14,000 people living for so long in 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in the Indian territory, and another 37,000 residing in 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh, now have a country of their own.
The Bangladeshi enclaves are now a part of India, while the Indian enclaves join Bangladesh.
History was written as India gave away to Bangladesh a total area of 17,160 acres, covering the 111 enclaves and in return received 7,110 acres comprising 51 enclaves.
As the clock struck 12, the Bharat Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Co-ordination Committee (BBEECC) - an organisation that fought for the rights of the enclave dwellers — celebrated the occasion in Mosaldanga enclave of West Bengal‘s Cooch Behar district.
The 111 Indian enclaves are located in the Bangladesh districts of Lalmonirhat (59), Panchagarh (36), Kurigram 12 and Nilphamari (4) while all the 51 Bangladeshi enclaves are situated in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal.
The swapping is in pursuance of the inking and exchange of documents of the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) on June 6 in Dhaka, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina.
The LBA was first inked in 1974 by then Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.
“July 31, 2015 will thus be a historic day for both India and Bangladesh. The day marks the resolution of a complex issue that has lingered since independence.
It also marks the day from which enclave residents on both sides of the border will enjoy the benefits of nationality of India or Bangladesh, as the case may be, and thus access to civic services, education, healthcare and other facilities provided by the two governments to their respective nationals,” said an official statement released by the central government.
Other steps with regard to implementation of the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement and 2011 Protocol are underway in accordance with agreed modalities between the Indian and Bangladeshi governments, it said.

Nine U.S. satellites to be flown from Sriharikota

In a small but significant progress in the chequered Indo-U.S. space equations, Indian satellite launchers will for the first time put a few U.S.-made satellites into space from Indian soil.
ISRO’s commercial venture Antrix Corporation recently signed contracts to launch nine micro and nano spacecraft separately as small co-passengers on the PSLV light-lifter during this year and next, according to information from ISRO officials.
A micro satellite weighs in the band of 10-100 kg and a nano satellite in the range of one to 10 kg.
The U.S. contracts are seen as the first fruit of the Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) that the Department of Space signed with the U.S. in July 2009.
The TSA leaves the door open for ISRO to launch small non-commercial or experimental spacecraft that are made in the US — or even those of other countries which contain U.S. components.
Until the TSA was signed, even that leeway was not available for ISRO which aspires to take baby bites in the big global launch service business.
Most satellites made around the world use some or other U.S. components.
ISRO and the U.S. have been working at a bigger accord, the CSLA (Commercial Satellite Launch Agreement) which, when sealed, will bring in the business of launching bigger commercial Earth observation or other satellites.
ISRO’s PSLV launcher, which has done 30 flights with just one failure since 1993, has a good record and is considered low-priced and reliable for small satellites.
To date, it has put into orbit 45 small and mid-sized foreign satellites of 19 nations for a fee.

Radar satellite

Another positive outcome with the U.S. is the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), signed about two years ago, to co-develop a radar imaging satellite and launch it from India around 2019-20.
It will be the first synthetic aperture radar satellite in dual frequency.

Foxconn may set up a factory in every Indian state in 10 years: Terry Gou

Terry Gou, founder and chairman of the world’s largest contract manufacturer Foxconn, the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd, made headlines this month when he announced the company’s intention to set up 10-12 factories in India over the next 10 years.
So when Gou cancelled his scheduled press conference in Mumbai where he was to launch the Foxconn Media Lab in association with Whistling Woods International—an institute for film, fashion and communication founded by filmmaker Subhash Ghai—on Friday, many were disappointed.
The reason became apparent on Saturday when Gou announced a $5 billion investment in Maharashtra in addition to the agreement with Ghai for media content creation.