Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 15-03-16
S.NO. / NEWS ITEM / SYLLUBUS / ESSENCE OF THE ARTICLE1. / Sushma to meet Sartaj in Nepal (Page 12) / a) I.R / a) Officials confirmed that the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will meet her Pakistani counterpart in Nepal on the sidelines of a SAARC ministerial meeting on March 17.
2. / India, Maldives to finalise pact to fight Islamic State (Page 12) / a) I.R / a) India and Maldives are in the process of finalising a cross-border counter-terror mechanism to deal with radicalisation, and to tackle the spread of citizens trying to join the terror group, the Islamic State, in particular.
3. / Havent heard of our troop presence across LoC: China (P13) / a) I.R / a) China said it had not heard about the presence of Chinese troops on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control as reported in a section of the Indian media.
4. / Putin orders troop withdrawal from Syria (Page 14) / a) International / a) Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the defence ministry to begin the withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria from March 15.
5. / Interest of child comes first: SC (Page 12) / a) National
b) Polity / a) Noting that the interests should be kept first and foremost during adoption, the Supreme Court directed the Centre and the States to frame regulations under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act 2015 to implement the new guidelines for in-country and inter-country adoption to make the process transparent, friendly and fool-proof.
6. / Why marital rape must be a crime (Page 10) / a) National
b) Social issue / a) The question whether marital rape should be treated as a criminal offence has once again arisen after Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi repeated the governments stand in a written reply in Parliament.
7. / Jan Dhan-Aadhaar link poses hurdles (Page 13) / a) National
b) Social issue / a) According to a report, almost 40 percent of people who have obtained Aadhaar numbers say that it has not helped them, with banking correspondents in rural areas reporting that accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana using Aadhaar face authentication issues, leading to failed transactions.
8. / Retail inflation at four-month low, spurs calls for a rate cut (Page 15) / a) National
b) Economy / a) Retail inflation slowed to a four-month low in February, while the WPI posted a negative reading for a 16th straight month, prompting industry groups to call on the RBI to cut interest rates to spur economic growth.
9. / Nuclear-capable Agni-I missile tested (Page 12) / a) National
b) S&T / a) The Strategic Forces Command of the Services launched an Agni-I missile from the Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast.
10. / Tales decoded from mediaeval copper plates (Page 20) / a) National
b) History / a) Researchers from the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (which houses South Asias largest collection of manuscripts and rare texts) have decoded three copper plates belonging to rulers from mediaeval South Indian dynasties.
11. / Spacecraft blasts off in search for life on Mars (Page 20) / a) S&T
b) Geography / a) Europe and Russia launched a spacecraft on March 14 in a joint mission to sniff out signs of life on Mars and bring humans a step closer to flying to the red planet themselves.
12. / February 2016 broke global temperature records (Page 14) / a) Environment
b) Geography / a) According to NASA data,Global temperatures in February smashed previous monthly records by an unprecedented amount, sparking warnings of a climate emergency.
S.NO. / NEWS ITEM / SYLLUBUS / BACKGROUND / IMPORTANT POINTS
1. / Sushma to meet Sartaj in Nepal (Page 12) / a) I.R / a) India – Pakistan relations
b) SAARC ministerial meeting
c) Foreign Secretary-level talks
d) Terrorism
e) Pathankot terror attack / a) Officials confirmed that the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will meet her Pakistani counterpart in Nepal on the sidelines of a SAARC ministerial meeting on March 17.
b) The meeting, which is expected to be preceded by a meeting of Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan in Nepal marks the first time both sides are engaging directly since India and Pakistan restarted the dialogue process in Dec 2015, and PM Modis surprise Lahore visit.
c) Since then, officials have acknowledged the Pathankot attack has derailed the process, and they have been unable to reschedule Foreign Secretary talks that were put off in Jan. Even a visit by Pakistani SIT that was due to visit Pathankot base is yet to be announced.
2. / India, Maldives to finalise pact to fight Islamic State (Page 12) / a) I.R / a) India – Maldives relations
b) Radicalisation
c) Cross-border counter terror mechanism
d) Islamic State (IS) / a) Maldives Foreign Secretary Ali Naseer Mohamed said that India and Maldives are in the process of finalising a cross-border counter-terror mechanism to deal with radicalisation, and to tackle the spread of citizens trying to join the terror group, the Islamic State, in particular.
b) In a meeting with his counterpart Jaishankar, he said that radicalisation is a big concern and a threat that we are extremely worried about, adding that it was now commonly acknowledged that information sharing was the best way to prevent people from travelling to the IS-controlled areas.
c) As a result, the Maldives (which believes about 40 of its citizens are currently fighting with the terror group in Iraq and Syria) wants to work closely with India and Sri Lanka, two countries that Maldivian citizens most travel to.
3. / Havent heard of our troop presence across LoC: China (Page13) / a) I.R / a) India – China relations
b) Border disputes
c) Line of Actual Control (LAC)
d) Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK)
e) Line of Control / a) In response to a question regarding Chinese troop presence in the POK, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he had not heard about it. He said the Kashmir issue should be handled by the two countries bilaterally. Chinas position on the Kashmir issue is consistent.
b) Responding to a question on the movement of Chinese forces across the Indian side of the LAC, he said it is learnt that Chinas border troops were carrying out normal patrols on the Chinese side of the LAC.
4. / Putin orders troop withdrawal from Syria (Page 14) / a) International / a) Syrias civil war / a) Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the defence ministry to begin the withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria from March 15.
b) The Kremlin announced that Putin had called President Bashar Al-Assad to inform Moscows long-standing ally of the surprise move that appears to end the main part of its intervention in Syrias conflict that began in September.
c) However, the two leaders also agreed that Moscow would maintain an air force facility in Syria to help monitor the progress of a ceasefire in the war-torn country.
d) Russia began its bombing campaign in support of Assads forces in September, a move that helped shore up the Syrian regimes crumbling forces and go on the offensive.
e) A fresh round of talks to end Syrias civil war opened in Geneva on March 14.
5. / Interest of child comes first: SC (Page 12) / a) National
b) Polity / a) Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act 2015
b) Child rights
c) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 / a) Noting that the interests should be kept first and foremost during adoption, the Supreme Court directed the Centre and the States to frame regulations under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act 2015 to implement the new guidelines for in-country and inter-country adoption to make the process transparent, friendly and fool-proof.
b) The new juvenile law defines adoption as the process through which the adopted child is permanently separated from his biological parents and becomes the lawful child of his adoptive parents with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities that are attached to a biological child.
c) Section 2 of the 2015 Act mandates that adoption regulations should be framed by the authority notified for the purpose by the Centre.
d) Terming the new law and its guidelines comprehensive and in line with UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989, the Supreme Court said it puts in place safeguards against trafficking of children in the name of adoption.
6. / Why marital rape must be a crime (Page 10) / a) National
b) Social issue / a) Marital rape
b) Criminalisation of rape
c) Justice J.S. Verma Committee / a) The question whether marital rape should be treated as a criminal offence has once again arisen after Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi repeated the governments stand in a written reply in Parliament.
b) She said that the concept of marital rape as understood internationally cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context due to various factors like level of education/illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs and values, religious beliefs and themindset of the society to treat the marriage as a sacrament.
c) This controversial formulation must be familiar to those calling for marital rape to be criminalised and those opposing it on the ground that it would ruin the institution of marriage. The argument that there is too little education and too many customs and beliefs in Indian society is often held up to stall legal reforms.
d) The principal objection to the criminalisation of rape within a subsisting marriage is rooted in western tradition too. It originates in the common law principle of marriage as coverture, the idea that the woman is always under the husbands protection and authority.
e) Justice J.S. Verma committee (which recommended sweeping changes in the law relating to offences against women) called for marital rape to be made an offence. This was not implemented.
f) The present Indian law exempts non-consensual sex between a husband and wife (not being less than 15 years of age) from being charged with rape. However, by another provision it makes rape of a wife who is living separately a criminal offence.
g) The law against domestic violence already covers both physical and sexual abuse as grounds for the legal system to intervene. It is difficult to argue that a complaint of marital rape will ruin a marriage, while a complaint of domestic violence against a spouse will not.
h) It has long been time to jettison the notion of implied consent in marriage. The law must uphold the bodily autonomy of all women, irrespective of their marital status.
7. / Jan Dhan-Aadhaar link poses hurdles (Page 13) / a) National
b) Social issue / a) Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)
b) Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill 2016
c) Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme / a) According to a report, almost 40 percent of people who have obtained Aadhaar numbers say that it has not helped them, with banking correspondents in rural areas reporting that accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana using Aadhaar face authentication issues, leading to failed transactions.
b) These findings assume greater significance following the recent passage of Aadhaar Bill in the Lok Sabha, which will provide legal sanctity to the Aadhaar number. The govt is keen to use Aadhaar as a means to better target its DBT scheme for subsidy payments and has used this argument to push it as a money bill in Parliament.
c) The passage of the Aadhaar Bill in the Lok Sabha comes following long legal proceedings surrounding the legality of the Aadhaar number and whether the government can mandate its compulsory use. The Supreme Court (in Oct 2015) said linking Aadhaar to bank accounts or subsidy payments was voluntary.
d) The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill 2016 is well on its way to becoming a law. The 14-day period between tabling a Money Bill in Rajya Sabha and it being considered as cleared by both Houses of Parliament has started as far as the Aadhaar Bill is concerned, despite strong protests from the Opposition.
8. / Retail inflation at four-month low, spurs calls for a rate cut (Page 15) / a) National
b) Economy / a) Retail inflation
b) Inflation
c) Food inflation
d) Wholesale Price Index (WPI)
e) Consumer Price Index (CPI)
f) Index for Industrial Production (IIP)
g) RBI / a) Retail inflation slowed to a 4-month low in February, while WPI posted a negative reading for a 16th straight month, prompting industry groups to call on the RBI to cut interest rates to spur economic growth.
b) CPI-based inflation decelerated to 5.2 from 5.7 percent in the preceding month. Wholesale prices also continued to soften with official numbers for the WPI showing a 0.91 percent contraction in February.
c) RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had taken note of the poor industrial performance in Jan and said while the economy was recovering, this recovery was volatile and that not all economic indicators were moving in the same direction.
d) IIP in January showed output contracted 1.53 percent compared with the 1.18 percent contraction in December 2015.
e) Food inflation in the CPI came in at 5.5 percent in Feb compared with 6.7 percent in January. In the WPI, the rate of inflation in food articles also decreased to 3.35 percent in Feb from 6 percent in January. Primary article inflation in the WPI slowed down significantly in February to 1.6 percent compared to 4.6 percent in Jan.
9. / Nuclear-capable Agni-I missile tested (Page 12) / a) National
b) S&T / a) Agni-I missile
b) Agni-II
c) Agni-III
d) Agni-IV
e) Agni-V
f) Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
g) Wheeler Island / a) The Strategic Forces Command of the Services launched an Agni-I missile from the Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast.
b) Agni-I is a strategic missile that carries a nuclear warhead. The missile can target places 750 km away.
c) India has a quiver of five Agni missiles (Agni-I, II, III, IV and V) all of which carry nuclear warheads. Developed by the DRDO, the missiles have been inducted into the Army.
10. / Tales decoded from mediaeval copper plates (Page 20) / a) National
b) History / a) Mediaeval copper plates
b) Mediaeval South Indian dynasties
c) Badami Chalukyan dynasty
d) Yadava dynasty
e) Aravidu dynasty
f) Vijayanagara Empire / a) Researchers from the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (which houses South Asias largest collection of manuscripts and rare texts) have decoded three copper plates belonging to rulers from mediaeval South Indian dynasties.
b) The oldest plate (which has inscriptions in Sanskrit and Kannada) dates back to the 7th Century A.D. It records an anecdote about Vinayaditya, who ruled the Badami Chalukyan dynasty from 680 A.D. to 696 A.D.
c) Vinayaditya gifted the village of Telgi in Karnataka to a scholar of the Gautam Gotra in 683 A.D. The village is on the northern banks of the Krishna river in Bijapur district in Karnataka.
d) The second plate dates back to the time of the Yadava dynasty of Devagiri. It records King Kanhardev Yadav giving a strip of land near Saundatti in Karnataka to some beneficiaries on April 29 1254.
e) Kanhardev ruled the Yadavas before the dynasty was subjugated by Ala-ud-Khilji and incorporated into the Delhi Sultanate in 1294 A.D. This plate too bears three strips and consists of 104 lines in Sanskrit and Kannada. It also has a seal in the shape of an eagle.
f) The third plate (dated January 7 1606) belongs to King Venkatapati Raya of the Aravidu dynasty, which was the fourth and the last Hindu clan to hold sway over the once-powerful Vijayanagara Empire.
g) The plate dates back to a time when the empires grandeur had all but faded after Rama Raya (the powerful regent of Vijayanagara empire) suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Bahamani kings in the battle of Talikota in 1565 A.D.
11. / Spacecraft blasts off in search for life on Mars (Page 20) / a) S&T
b) Geography / a) ExoMars programme
b) Mars missions
c) Methanogens / a) Europe and Russia launched a spacecraft on March 14 in a joint mission to sniff out signs of life on Mars and bring humans a step closer to flying to the red planet themselves.
b) The craft (part of the ExoMars programme) blasted off from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan on board a Proton rocket, starting a seven-month journey through space.
c) It carries an atmospheric probe that is to study trace gases such as methane (a chemical that on Earth is strongly tied to life) that previous Mars missions have detected in the planets atmosphere.
d) Scientists believe the methane could stem from micro-organisms (called methanogens) that either became extinct millions of years ago and left gas frozen below the planets surface, or that some methane-producing organisms still survive.
e) Another explanation for the methane in Mars atmosphere could be that it is produced by geological phenomena, such as the oxidation of iron.
f) The spacecraft will deploy a lander that will test technologies needed for a rover due to follow in 2018, one step in overcoming the practical and technological challenges facing possible future human flights to Mars.
12. / February 2016 broke global temperature records (Page 14) / a) Environment
b) Geography / a) Climate change
b) Global temperatures
c) Greenhouse gases
d) El Nino / a) According to NASA data,global temperatures in February smashed previous monthly records by an unprecedented amount, sparking warnings of a climate emergency.
b) The result was a true shocker, and yet another reminder of the incessant long-term rise in global temperature resulting from human-produced greenhouse gases.
c) The global surface temperatures across land and ocean in February were 1.35 degree Celsius warmer than the average temperature for the month, from the baseline period of 1951-1980.
d) The global record was set just one month earlier, with January already beating the average for that month by 1.15 degree Celsius above the average for the baseline period.
e) Although the temperatures have been spurred on by a very large El Nino in the Pacific Ocean, the temperature smashed records set during the last large El Nino from 1998, which was at least as strong as the current one.
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