Current Affairs from the Hindu DATE: 29-11-15
Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 29-11-15
1. / Pakistan ready for talks without preconditions: Sharif (Page 12) / a) I.R / a) Indicating a warming up of bilateral ties, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan was ready for talks without preconditions.
2. / Delhi-Dhaka ties crucial ahead of war crimes execution (Page 12) / a) I.R / a) Dhaka-New Delhi collaboration will play a key role in maintaining law and order in the India-Bangladesh border region, as the govt of PM Sheikh Hasina gears up for the possible execution of one of the most important 1971 war crimes accused, Motiur Rahman Nizami.
3. / India among 4 nations to sign trade pact (Page 15) / a) I.R
b) Economy / a) Sri Lanka, India, Malta and Mauritius have come together to establish a Commonwealth Trade Finance Facility to boost trade and investment flows, particularly for developing nations of the Commonwealth.
4. / Prospects brighten for breaking GST logjam (Pages 1 and 12) / a) National
b) Polity / a) Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha expressed the hope that the Goods and Services Tax would be implemented soon, and prove to be one of the biggest game-changers in Indias history.
5. / Defence procurement policy will be flexible (Page 12) / a) National / a) Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the Defence Procurement Procedure 2015 (to be released soon) will have several measures to ensure a level playing field for Micro, Small and medium enterprises.
6. / Drug-resistant bug causes worry (Page 1) / a) National
b) Health / a) A bug that doctors until about 3 years ago treated with moderate-class antibiotics is now causing worry in intensive care units of hospitals across the country.
7. / India needs to grow at 8 percent for creating more jobs: Sinha (Page 15) / a) Economy / a) Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said that India needs to grow at 8 percent for decades so as to create the required amount of employment for the countrys working-age population.
8. / Goods and Services Tax (Page 15) / a) Economy / a) As name suggests, it is a tax levied when a consumer buys a good or service. It is meant to be a single, comprehensive tax that will subsume all the other smaller indirect taxes on consumption like service tax, etc.
9. / All set for long-range missile launch from ship (Page 9) / a) National
b) S&T / a) Close on the heels of the successful firing of a long-range surface-to-air-missile (often referred to as Barak-8) from an Israel naval platform, the missile jointly developed by DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries will now be test-fired from Indias new class of stealth destroyers under P15-A, INS Kolkata and INS Kochi.
S.NO. / NEWS ITEM / SYLLUBUS / BACKGROUND / IMPORTANT POINTS
1. / Pakistan ready for talks without preconditions: Sharif (Page 12) / a) I.R / a) India – Pakistan relations
b) Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHGM) summit
c) Paris Climate Summit 2015 / a) Indicating a warming up of bilateral ties, PM Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan was ready for talks without preconditions. The declaration of Pakistans willingness for talks acquires significance as he is expected to land in Paris on Nov 29.
b) Both the PMs of India and Pakistan are scheduled to speak at COP21 Climate Change Conferences inaugural session in Paris which will be attended by 140 heads of state and govt.
c) Both sides had kept the Track II channel open, despite the cancellation of official talks. External Affairs Minister Sushma (who is in Malta to attend the CHOGM summit) has also contributed to Track II initiatives with her push for fast-tracking humanitarian cases pending on both sides.
2. / Delhi-Dhaka ties crucial ahead of war crimes execution (Page 12) / a) I.R / a) India – Bangladesh relations
b) Bangladesh war crimes trials
c) Jamaat-e-Islami
d) Liberation War of Bangladesh / a) Dhaka-New Delhi collaboration will play a key role in maintaining law and order in the India-Bangladesh border region, as the govt of PM Sheikh Hasina gears up for the possible execution of one of the most important 1971 war crimes accused, Motiur Rahman Nizami.
b) Nizami is accused of playing a key role in the 1971 genocide. He is the current chief of Jamaat-e-Islami and had founded the Al Badr group, which carried out atrocities during the Liberation War of Bangladesh.
c) Though India has not officially commented on the recent executions of war crimes accused, it is generally understood that India supports Bangladeshs quest to bring the accused to justice.
3. / India among 4 nations to sign trade pact (Page 15) / a) I.R
b) Economy / a) Commonwealth Trade Finance Facility / a) Sri Lanka, India, Malta and Mauritius have come together to establish a Commonwealth Trade Finance Facility to boost trade and investment flows, particularly for developing nations of the Commonwealth.
b) The facility (structured as a guarantee fund) will cover risk for providers of trade credit in financial institutions of Commonwealth countries. It seeks to stimulate lending by major banks to smaller banks in member states and reduce risk.
c) The fund (voluntary in nature) hopes to attract start-up capital of $ 20 million. It will provide member countries facing trade challenges with the funds.
4. / Prospects brighten for breaking GST logjam (Pages 1 and 12) / a) National
b) Polity / a) Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill / a) Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha expressed hope that the GST would be implemented soon, and prove to be one of the biggest game-changers in Indias history.
b) He spoke about various tax-related initiatives (including GST and slashing corporate tax) that the govt will be taking to improve climate for business.
c) His statements came a day after PM Modi reached out to his predecessor Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to discuss differences over the GST Bill.
5. / Defence procurement policy will be flexible (Page 12) / a) National / a) Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2015
b) Micro, Small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) / a) Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the Defence Procurement Procedure 2015 (to be released soon) will have several measures to ensure a level playing field for MSMEs.
b) DPP details the rules and procedures on how the govt can procure defence equipment. The first DPP was drafted in 1992 and has since been revised several times.
c) The current version of DPP issued in 2013 has for the first time laid major emphasis on indigenous manufacturing.
d) The DPP levels are Buy Global (outright purchase from foreign manufacturers); Buy and Make and Buy and Make (Indian) (meaning buying from foreign/Indian vendor followed by Transfer of Technology and production in India); and Make (Indian) - complete development in India.
6. / Drug-resistant bug causes worry (Page 1) / a) National
b) Health / a) Drug-resistant bug
b) Klebsiella pathogen
c) Carbapanem
d) Colistin / a) Doctors report that third-generation antibiotics (carbapanems) are failing to treat the Klebsiella pathogen, leading to higher mortality in patients and peg the resistance at up to 50 percent. In Mumbai, the bug is being recorded in 10-20 percent of the patients in ICUs of major public hospitals.
b) Cases of colistin-resistant Klebsiella have started emerging, including four in Mumbai. Colistin is the last antibiotic available in the world for infections that the strongest antibiotics fail to treat.
c) Klebsiella causes urinary tract infections, ventilator-acquired pneumonias and blood stream infections (sepsis) among other conditions and is proving to be fatal in 30 to 40 percent of the patients who have contracted it - usually during a long stay in the hospital, particularly in ICU.
d) Carbapanem usage is rationed. It is a third-generation drug and is used when everything else has failed. Colistin is toxic and the only drug we have now (when everything else has failed).
7. / India needs to grow at 8 percent for creating more jobs: Sinha (Page 15) / a) Economy / a) Indias economic growth
b) GDP
c) Jan Dhan Yojana
d) Aadhaar
e) Krishi Sinchayee Yojana
f) Skill India mission
g) GST / a) Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said that India needs to grow at 8 percent for decades so as to create the required amount of employment for the countrys working-age population.
b) He said there were several key concepts that underpinned the governments philosophy on economic principles.
c) First and foremost, this is a pro-poor govt. This is not a political necessity, but a moral responsibility. Because of this, we are also a pro-market govt. A pro-market policy does not necessarily imply being pro-business. It simply means ensuring efficient market functioning.
d) The second guiding principal was one of empowerment and not entitlement and the third was one that Modi has often repeated: minimum govt, maximum governance.
e) The Minister also outlined six game-changers that were already in place. The first was putting in place universal social security through the JAM trinity (Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar, and Mobile). In 100 days the govt has ensured that 100 percent of families have bank accounts and 90 percent of MGNREGA payments are being done directly into the accounts.
f) The second was the various schemes and initiatives, such as the Krishi Sinchayee Yojana and providing agri-credit and crop insurance, the govt has undertaken for the upliftment of farmers.The third was in its endeavour to create employment through its Skill India mission. He also said that govt would soon be launching a major initiative around startups, a Startups Yojana of sorts.
g) Public investment is pouring into transportation, including railways. There was virtually no capital investment in railways in the last 10 years. Now Rs.8.5 lakh crore will be investment in railways during this govts term. The Indradhanush revamp plan is doing more for banks than anything since nationalisation.
h) Finally, the govt has to do with overhaluing the fiscal architecture of the country. This involves empowering the States in terms of devolution of taxes. We have taken the devolution share from 32 to 42 percent, a change of 10 percent. The GST and the cutting of corporate tax and removal of exemptions were also very important steps being taken.
8. / Goods and Services Tax (Page 15) / a) Economy / a) Goods and Services Tax (GST)
b) GST council / a) As the name suggests, it is a tax levied when a consumer buys a good or service. It is meant to be a single, comprehensive tax that will subsume all the other smaller indirect taxes on consumption like service tax, etc. This is how it is done in most developed countries.
b) A major change like GST requires a constitutional amendment, which requires a bill to passed in both houses of Parliament. The GST constitutional amendment bill was passed in the Lok Sabha in May this year.
c) It has been held up in the Rajya Sabha due to objections being raised by the Opposition regarding the Bill as well as issues with no direct connection to GST. The Bill was also placed before a Rajya Sabha select committee, which made its recommendations regarding changes to the Bill. The Cabinet cleared these changes in July.
d) Congress wants a provision capping the GST rate at 18 percent to be added to the Bill itself. It also wants to scrap the proposed 1percent additional levy (over and above the GST) for manufacturing states.
e) This levy was demanded by manufacturing states who argued that they needed to be compensated for the investment they had made in improving their manufacturing capabilities. The Centre had agreed to this demand to encourage the states to support the GST Bill.
f) The third demand by the Congress was to change the composition of GST council - the body that decides various nitty-grittys like rates of tax, period of levy of additional tax, principles of supply, special provisions to certain states, etc.
g) The proposed composition is for the Council to be two-thirds comprised from states and one-third from the Centre. The Congress wants the Centres share to be reduced to one-fourth. However, this demand was rejected by even the Rajya Sabha Standing Committee.
9. / All set for long-range missile launch from ship (Page 9) / a) National
b) S&T / a) Long-range surface-to-air-missile (LR-SAM)
b) Extended range surface-to-air missile (ERSAM)
c) INS Kolkata
d) INS Kochi
e) DRDO / a) Close on the heels of the successful firing of a long-range surface-to-air-missile (often referred to as Barak-8) from an Israel naval platform, the missile jointly developed by DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries will now be test-fired from Indias new class of stealth destroyers under P15-A, INS Kolkata and INS Kochi.
b) Meanwhile, plans were afoot to take the programme forward with the development of an extended range surface-to-air missile which would greatly enhance its range from the present 70 km.
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