WBCS Current Affairs 15/04/2017 to 22/04/2017- WBCSMadeEasy

The Importance of Current Affairs in W.B.C.S examinations is immense.Success inW.B.C.S  Prelims and W.B.C.S Mains Exam is mainly subjected to how well an aspirant is aware of the important current affairs. Preparation of current affairs for W.B.C.S is the key to unlock the exam.Continue Reading WBCS Current Affairs 15/04/2017 to 22/04/2017- WBCSMadeEasy.

1. Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs has approved the ‘Guidelines on Fair Trade Practices Related to Charging of Service Charge from Consumers by Hotels and Restaurants’. As a part of the guidelines which has been issued in public interest to protect the rights of consumers, the government has said that Service charge on hotel and restaurant bills is “totally voluntary”, adding that mandatory levy of service charge amounts to unfair trade practice. As per the guidelines, Hotels and restaurants cannot decide on service charge and the column of service charge will be left blank in the bill for the customers to fill up before making payment. The guidelines have also stated that in a case of mandatory levy of service charge, customers can file a complaint in the Consumer Court. However, at present, stringent action cannot be taken against the erring hotels as the current Consumer Protection Act, 1986 does not empower the ministry to do so. But, under the new Consumer Protection Bill, an authority is expected to be set up with powers to take such actions. Rationale Department of Consumer Affairs has justified the guidelines in view of complaints received by it from consumers that some hotels are insisting payment of service charge in the range of 5-20 per cent and many people are paying it believing that it is part of taxes. As per the guidelines, a component of service is already inherent in the provision of food and beverages ordered by a customer. Hence, the price of food and beverages is expected to cover both goods and service components. HRAWI’s Response The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) has not welcomed the guidelines by saying that levying of service charge is a global practice and a legitimate tax, adding that it has been in India for more than half a century. It has accused the government of singling out the sector as hospitality sector and several businesses are levying such charges.Continue Reading WBCS Current Affairs 15/04/2017 to 22/04/2017- WBCSMadeEasy.

2. A MoU has been signed between India and South Korea for defence industry cooperation in shipbuilding. Under the MoU, the two countries would recommend the organisations for collaborating in the implementation of specific projects. The MoUs signed will be valid for a time period of 5 years and are automatically extendable for further successive five years at a time. While South Korea is yet to name its recommended organisation, India has nominated Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL), Visakhapatnam for the collaboration. HSL and the nominated shipyard by South Korea will find and develop indigenous sources for the supply of majority of the material and equipment for the construction of the warship. HSL has already teamed with Hyundai Heavy Industries to build five fleet support ships and two strategic operating vessels. In addition to the above project, Kangnam Corporation of South Korea is slated to provide consultancy, design and technological assistance to India’s state-owned Goa Shipyard Limited in building 12 mine countermeasures vessels. Significance The cooperation is part of the ‘Make in India’ policy.

3. Guided by the mutual will to develop friendly relations, Cuba and Morocco has signed an agreement to re-establish diplomatic ties after a time period of 37 years. The two governments have also agreed to forge political, economic and cultural cooperation. The agreement to this effect was signed at the headquarters of the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations. King Mohamed VI of Morocco has ordered the opening of a Moroccan embassy in Havana. Cuba is one of the few Latin American countries in which Morocco does not have any representation. It is expected that the relations between the countries would be restored after the exchange of ambassadors. After Cuba’s diplomatic reestablishment with Morocco, Israel, South Korea and Somalia remain the only countries which do not have any ties with Cuba. The decision to re-establish diplomatic ties has been made couple of weeks after King Mohammed’s private visit to Cuba. The visit of King Mohammed VI is the first ever made by a Moroccan king to Cuba.

4. MGNREGA has reached a major milestone by geotagging one crore assets created under it. The geotagged assets have been put in public domain. The scale of assets created under MGNREGA is massive and is estimated to be about 2.82 crore assets since the financial year 2006-07. On an average, it works out to a creation of 30 lakh assets annually. The type of assets created under MGNREGA includes water harvesting structures, plantations, rural infrastructure, flood control measures, individual assets for sustainable livelihood, community infrastructure etc. As per the Ministry of Rural Affairs, all assets created under MGNREGA will be geotagged and special focus would be given to geotagging of Natural Resource Management works primarily the water-related works. The geotagging exercise is expected to usher in greater transparency and accountability at field level. Background Geotagging of assets created under MGNREGA was started after Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised the need for online recording and monitoring of assets to check leakages. Subsequently, on June 24, 2016, the Ministry of Rural development signed a MoU with National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), ISRO and National Informatics Centre to geotag MGNREGA assets created under each village panchayats. The geotagging exercise commenced from 1st September 2016. Gram Rozgar Sahayak or a junior engineer uploads the photos of assets on the Bhuvan web portal run by ISRO’s National Remote Sensing Centre via a mobile app. The time and location of the asset get automatically encrypted at the time of upload of the photos. In this way, within a span of seven months, one crore assets have been geotagged and shared in public domain. In January 2017, Kangra district (Himachal Pradesh) became the first district in the country to geotag all the assets created under MGNREGA. Geotagging is a process of adding geographical identification in the form of metadata to various media like websites, SMS, QR codes, RSS feeds, geotagged photographs etc. The data usually consists of parameters like latitude, longitude, altitude, distance, place names etc. It can help to find a range of location specific information from a device.

5. Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22. It was first celebrated in 1970, and since then it is celebrated in more than 193 countries by over a billion people every year. Earth Day celebrations are coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network. Earth Day 2017’s Campaign is Environmental & Climate Literacy. Environmental and climate literacy was chosen as it is important for creating green voters and advancing environmental and climate laws and policies across the globe as well as to accelerate green technologies and jobs. Earth Day Every year Earth Day is being observed on the 22nd April to build support for environmental protection around the world. It aims to encourage people to carry out activities that will benefit the Earth, such as recycling more, using solar power or plant trees.

6. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated 11th Civil Services Day programme. The Civil Services Day function is organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. In this edition, awards will be given to five priority schemes, namely, “Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana”, “Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana”, “Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana”, “Start Up India/Stand Up India” and “e-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM)”. Totally, 10 districts would be awarded this year under the five priority schemes. The awards will be given in three groups.

7. China has unilaterally announced ‘standardised’ names for six places in Arunachal Pradesh. It is felt that Chinese move comes as a retaliation against Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh. Experts feel that China’s announcement is aimed at reaffirming its territorial sovereignty over the region. According to the Chinese foreign ministry, change of names was a legitimate action carried out in line with Chinese law. China has named the six places in Arunachal Pradesh with Roman alphabet as Wo’gyainling, Mila Ri, Qoidêngarbo Ri, Mainquka, Bümo La and Namkapub Ri.

8. Pakistan has leased the operations of its strategic Gwadar port to a State-run Chinese firm, the China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC) for a period of 40 years. COPHC is slated to carry out all the developmental work on the port situated in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. COPHC took over the operations of the port in 2013. Previously, the control of the Gwadar port was with Singapore’s PSA (Port of Singapore Authority) International. As per the contract, 91% share of revenue collection from gross revenue of terminal and marine operations as well as 85% share from gross revenue of free zone operation will go to the COPHC. The provinces will not be given any share in the revenue collection. Gwadar Port is a warm-water, deep-sea port situated on the Arabian Sea at Gwadar in Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf just outside the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. It features as the southern Pakistan hub of the $57 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plan. It is considered as a vital link between the Chinese One Belt, One Road initiative and the Maritime Silk Road project.

9. Bar Council of India (BCI) has called for a nationwide stir against what they allege as the undemocratic provisions of the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2017. BCI has planned to submit a memorandum to the Union Law Minister to reject the Law Commissions suggestions to amend the Act. The Law Commission of India has proposed various amendments to the Advocates Act, 1961 so as to usher in forward-looking reforms in the legal profession. It has placed before the government, the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2017. BCI’s objections BCI has condemned those proposals that deter lawyers from going on strike and also those that allow entry of foreign law firms and lawyers to practice in India.

10. The Central Government has raised Rs. 1,200 crore by divesting 9.2% of paid-up capital in National Aluminum Company Ltd. (NALCO). With this disinvestment, Government’s shareholding in NALCO has become 65.37%. Disinvestment involves the sale of Government’s share in the Public Sector Undertakings. In disinvestment, the government sells only a part of the equity which is essentially less than 51% so that ownership and management rights can be possessed by the Government itself. Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), Ministry of Finance, has set a record target of Rs. 72,500 crore to be realized through disinvestment in this fiscal. This target follows the 2016-17 all-time high achievement of Rs. 46,247 crore. For the fourth time in a row, retail investors out-performed institutional investors. It shows that retail investor backs disinvestments of CPSEs. In fact it satisfies one of the objectives of disinvestment policy of the government which aims to make PSU shareholding as broad-based as possible so that nation’s wealth is shared by its citizens. In this disinvestment exercise, the government for the first time has used the green shoe option (over-subscription option) since the modified OFS procedure has been put in place by SEBI in 2016. DIPAM exercised the green shoe option owing to the overwhelming response from the market. Greenshoe option is a special provision in an IPO prospectus. Green shoe option permits the underwriters to sell more share to the investors than originally planned by the issuer. This option is exercised if the demand for a security issue is higher than the expected. DIPAM The Department of Disinvestment was set up as a separate Department on 10th December 1999 and functions as one of the Departments under the Ministry of Finance since 2004. In 2016, the Department of Disinvestment was renamed as Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). DIPAM advises the Union Government in the matters of the financial restructuring of PSUs and also for attracting investment through capital markets. It deals with all matters relating to the sale of Union Government’s equity through private placement or offer for sale or any other mode in the erstwhile Central PSUs. NALCO National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) is a Navratna CPSE functioning under Ministry of Mines. It was established on 7th January 1981. It has integrated and diversified operations in mining, metal and power.

11. Five prominent Madhesi parties in Nepal have united to form a new united party named the Rastriya Janata Party, which will be the fifth largest party in Nepal’s Parliament. Interestingly the word “Madhes” has not been included in the new party’s name. This announcement of unification has come ahead of elections to local government bodies scheduled on May 14. The five parties that have united are Mahantha Thakur‘s Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party, Rajendra Mahato‘s Sadbhawana Party, Sharat Singh Bhandari‘s Rastriya Madhes Samajbadi Party, Mahendra Yadav‘s Tarai Madhes Sadbhawana Party and Rajkishor Yadav‘s Madhesi Janadhikar Forum- Ganatantrik. It has been announced that leaders of the five parties will lead the Rastriya Janata Party by rotation. The new party will continue to push for addressing the demands and grievances of Madhesis including amendment of the Constitution. The new party has warned the Nepal government that they would disrupt the upcoming elections to local bodies if their demands, including proportional representation in Parliament are not met. Background Madhesis account for 50% of Population of Nepal. The Madhesi parties are claiming to represent the interests of the people of the southern Terai region who are mostly of Indian origin. Madhesi parties demand that the Constitution promulgated in 2015 should be revised and the provisions with respect to citizenship should be amended and demarcation of the provincial boundary should be carried out. As per the provisions, most of the key constitutional posts have been reserved for only citizens by descent. Madhesi parties object to this criterion as huge numbers of Madhesis have acquired citizenship by birth or naturalization. This criteria makes them ineligible to hold the office of President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice, Speaker of Parliament, Chairperson of National Assembly etc. Madhesis want representation in terms of proportion. The Nepali constitution has given equal representation on the basis of “geographical area”, while the Madhesis demanded that the constitution should ensure their representation as per their “population” size. The government of Nepal has rejected this demand by stating that if population were to be sole criteria for inclusion, some minority groups such as Dolpa would never get represented.

12. The Supreme Court in its latest ruling has set 25% of the net salary as the maintenance to be paid by a husband to his estranged wife. The Court has observed that the alimony paid to a woman must be “just and proper” and must be sufficient enough to ensure that a woman lived with dignity after separating from her husband. It has further observed that the alimony must be befitting the status of the parties and the capacity of the spouse to pay maintenance. The ruling has come on a man’s plea challenging Calcutta High Court’s order that asked him to pay Rs 23,000 every month as alimony to his former wife. But the Bench of justices R Banumathi and MM Santanagoudar turned down his plea that the amount was excessive. The present ruling delivered by the Supreme Court follows its inclination to safeguard the interest of women in matrimonial disputes affecting their financial status. In an earlier judgment delivered in 2016, the apex court had observed that as per Hindu Law, the husband has got a personal obligation to maintain his wife whether or not he possessed any property. In case if he possessed of properties, then his wife will be entitled to a right to be maintained out of such properties.

13. Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare announced the finalization of India’s comprehensive and multi-sectoral National Action Plan at the ‘Inter-Ministerial Consultation on AMR containment’ held at New Delhi. The consultation was attended by various ministers including Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan, and Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Anil Madhav Dave. The Ministers signed a ‘Delhi Declaration’ to contain Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). The Delhi Declaration calls for the support of all stakeholders including UN, WHO, FAO and other UN agencies, civil society organizations etc., in developing and implementing the national and state action plans on AMR.

14. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has made sweeping changes to Citizenship laws unveiling tighter requirements for new applicants. This announcement follows the recent scrapping of the 457 visa program for foreign workers, which was used majorly by the Indians. The 457 programme was scrapped to tackle the growing unemployment in the country.

15. The union government has extended the ceasefire with the two Naga armed factions, namely, National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Reformation (NSCN-R) and National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Neakpao-Kithovi (GPRN/NSCN) till April 27, 2018. The decision over extension of ceasefire was taken at a meeting held between the officials of Home Ministry and the Ceasefire Supervisory Board of Naga armed factions. A ceasefire is already in operation between the government and the Naga armed factions of NSCN-R and NSCN-NK. Background Nagaland is known as an epicentre of insurgency in north-eastern India. The Union Government and the insurgent group NSCN had entered into a ceasefire accord in 1997. Since then, they have continued with the peace process. The Naga rebels have been insisting on their sovereignty and also demanding the creation of a ‘Greater Nagaland’ or Nagalim, which consists all the Naga-inhabited areas of neighbouring Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and some portions Myanmar, which it considers to be the rightful homeland of the Nagas. However, the establishment of Nagalim threatens to include large chunks of territories of three neighbouring States, Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, along with some portion of Myanmar. Thus, fulfilling the demand of a Greater Nagaland would affect the integrity of other states. In 2010, the Government of India had made it clear that it will not change the boundaries of the current states. In August 2015, a ‘framework agreement’ between the Central Government and the NSCN-IM was signed. The agreement brought to an end ‘almost two-decade-old’ ceasefire and endless rounds of ‘talks’ and has opened up avenues of peace talks with the militias.

16. India has contributed USD 2,50,000 to the UN Election Assistance Division to help other countries to hold elections and develop their electoral systems. This is the second time that India has contributed USD 2,50,000 towards electoral assistance and capacity building. The first assistance was made in 2012.

17. UNESCO has named Giuseppina Nicolini, Mayor of Lampedusa (Italy) and the non-governmental organisation SOS Méditerranée (France) as the winners of Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize 2017 “for their work to save the lives of refugees and migrants and welcome them with dignity”. In the past, Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize has been granted to internationally renowned personalities like Nelson Mandela, Yasser Arafat, King Juan Carlos of Spain, former US president Jimmy Carter and Shimon Peres. For the first time, the award goes to a mayor. Giuseppina Nicolini is a 56-year-old mayor of a small Italian island since 2012. She has been selected for the award for “her boundless humanity and unwavering commitment to refugee crisis management”. As a mayor, Nicolini ensured that the Lampedusa deals as efficiently and humanely as possible with the migrants and refugees arriving from war-torn Middle Eastern countries by sea. Lampedusa is a small island which is roughly equidistant from Southern Sicily, Malta and Tunisia. SOS Mediterranee is an NGO founded in 2015 to rescue the refugees each week from dinghies and boats in the Mediterranean. Since 2013, it is estimated that nearly 13,000 people have perished in shipwrecks. Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize UNESCO’s Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize was created in 1989 to honour living individuals and active public or private bodies or institutions that have made significant contribution to peace. The Prize was established by a resolution supported by 120 countries and was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO at its 25th session.

18. ISRO is all set to undertake the first developmental flight of a ‘game-changer’ rocket (launching vehicle) that will have the capacity to launch four-tonne class of satellites, from Sriharikota spaceport. ISRO looks forward to conduct the second developmental flight within this year. Significance With the successful test launch, ISRO can carry out all the launches within the country instead of depending on international agencies for the launch of heavier satellites. Hence, the successful test launch will help in reducing ISRO’s dependency on international launching vehicles. ISRO’s launch vehicles as of now have the capability to launch satellites only up to 2.2 tonne. For the launch of heavier satellites, it had to depend upon the international agencies. So, the ISRO rightly views operationalisation of this rocket as a “game-changer” mission. GSAT-19 GSAT-19 would be the payload for the first developmental flight of the indigenous GSLV-Mk III-D1 Launcher. GSAT-19 has a mass of 3200 kg and would carry Ka and Ku band payload along with a Geostationary Radiation Spectrometer Payload (GRASP). The spectrometer would be used to monitor and study the nature of the charged particles and influence of space radiation on spacecraft and electronic components. GSAT-19 would also make use of advanced spacecraft technologies such as bus subsystem experiments in the electrical propulsion system, indigenous Li-ion battery and indigenous bus bars for power distribution etc. About GSLV-Mk III The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III is the next generation launch vehicle of ISRO which will be capable of launching four-tonne class satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). It has an indigenous cryogenic third stage, designated as C25. The C25 stage is considered as the most powerful upper stage developed by ISRO which uses Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) propellant combination.

19. The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) will feature Video gaming as a full sport at the 2022 Asian Games. According to OCA, the decision to include e-sports was taken to reflect “the rapid development and popularity of this new form of sports participation among the youth.” Hence, e-sports would be introduced as a medal sport to the official program of the Asian Games at Hangzhou, China. It will be included as a demonstration sport at the 2018 Asian Games in Palembang, Indonesia. OCA has entered into a collaboration with Alisports, a unit of China’s Alibaba Group, to bring e-sports to the games. However, no details have come out on the details of the video games that would be included. The Asian Games features a wide range of traditional Olympic. It includes some of the more obscure sports like sepak takraw ( a game that has features of soccer and volleyball), kabaddi, etc. It also includes a variety of martial arts, contract bridge, jet-ski racing and sport climbing etc.

20. The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad has been given the carbon neutrality status by Airports Council International (ACI) under its Airport Carbon Accreditation programme. The airport’s operator GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), a GMR Group-led consortium, has stated that it was conferred with the carbon neutrality (level 3: neutrality) by the ACI at a ceremony held in Doha, Qatar. The ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation programme was initiated in June 2009 and consists of four levels: ‘mapping’ (level 1), ‘reduction’ (level 2), ‘optimisation’ (level 3) and ‘neutrality’ (level 3+). RGIA achieved levels one and two in 2012. It achieved level 3 status in 2013. The level 3+ status which it has achieved now is the fourth and highest accreditation under ACI’s Carbon Accreditation programme. RGIA adopted many sustainable measures like proactive energy conservation, generation of renewable energy, carbon sinking through extensive greenbelt and various other environment protection initiatives to achieve this status.

21. The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has selected Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura for the Krishi Karman awards for their record performance in the production of food grains during 2015-16. Apart from these states, Meghalaya would get commendation prize for total food grain production and would be given a cash award of Rs 1 crore. Tamil Nadu has been chosen in large category (production more than 10 million tonnes), Himachal Pradesh in medium category (1 to 10 million tonnes) and Tripura in small category (less than 1 million tonnes). Tamil Nadu had produced 130 lakh tonnes of foodgrains in 2015-16, which is the highest in the last five years. In terms of yield in foodgrains, the state managed to get a yield of 3.38 tonnes per hectare as against the all-India average of 2.028 tonnes per hectare, which is 67% more than the national average. The state had adopted an “innovative, eco-friendly integrated pest management” to achieve this feat. In addition, government interventions like post-harvest management, disbursal of subsidies and integrated soil health management were also taken into account by the agricultural ministry. Tamil Nadu will receive a sum of Rs 5 crore for the award. Tamil Nadu had already bagged the award thrice in 2011-12 for highest food grains production, in 2013-14 for highest pulses production and in 2014-15 for highest coarse cereals production. Tripura has been selected for the Krishi Karman Award 2015-16 for a commendable increase in food grain production in small category states. The state produced 825,000 tonnes of food grain in 2016. The state would also receive a cash award of Rs five crore. Tripura gets this national award for the second time. The state targets to produce 935,000 tonnes of food grain in 2017. Krishi Karman Awards Krishi Karman awards were instituted in 2010-11 by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to reward the best performing States in the production of foodgrains and individual crops of Rice, Wheat, Pulses and Coarse Cereals. Totally, eight awards are given, including three for the States with highest foodgrains production in three identified categories-large, medium and small, and five awards are given for highest production under each of the crops Rice, Wheat, Pulses, Coarse Cereals and Oilseeds.

22. The Union Cabinet has put a ban on the use of red beacons atop cars of VIPs. Only three categories were exempted from the ban. They are the President, Vice-President and Chief Justice of India. The exemption also applies to the emergency service vehicles. Accordingly, fire brigade, ambulance services, police vehicles and other emergency services will be allowed to use the blue beacon. The decision will come into force from May 1, 2017. In effect, the ban is applicable to the prime minister, union ministers, chief ministers, state cabinet ministers, bureaucrats and judges of the High Court and Supreme Court. The decision was taken to end VIP culture. As per the existing practice, a red light beacon can be used atop of vehicles of high dignitaries specified by the Central and State government. As per the notification issued by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways in 2005, the following dignitaries were eligible to use red light with a flasher. They are the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Former President, Deputy Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Cabinet Ministers of the Union, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Former Prime Ministers, Leaders of Oppositions in the Rajya Sabha & Lok Sabha, Judges of the Supreme Court. As per the present decision, neither the state nor the central government can nominate any members to use the red beacon. Need The Supreme Court in 2013 directed States to amend the Motor Vehicle Rules to restrict the use of the red beacon. It had stated that only constitutional authorities should be allowed to use the red beacon. The decision of the cabinet assumes significance in the aftermath of the attack on the Parliament in 2001. During the attack, the terrorists entered the Parliament complex through a vehicle fitted with a red beacon. With this decision, it would be easier for the traffic authorities to nab violators illegally using red beacons and prevent the repeat of 2001 incidents. Recently, the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab decided not to use the red beacon on their official cars.

23. The Union Cabinet has cleared the Election Commission’s proposal to buy new Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines. The machines are expected to be used in the 2019 General Elections. The Union Cabinet has permitted the Election Commission (EC) to procure 16,15,000 units, at an estimated base price of Rs. 3,173.47 crore. So far, EC has sent at least 11 reminders to the Centre seeking funds for procuring VVPAT machines. The Centre has chosen Bengaluru-based Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) and Hyderabad-based Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) to manufacture the VVPAT units. The government has also directed the Price Negotiation Committee to negotiate the final unit price. It is expected that the two PSUs will need at least 30 months to produce over 16 lakh VVPATs. Need The Supreme Court has asked the Election Commission to come up with a tentative time period by which it can use VVPAT machines across all polling stations of the country. The Supreme Court has directed the EC to conduct 2019 national elections entirely with these upgraded machines. Earlier in 2013, SC had directed the EC to introduce VVPAT in a phased manner for 2014 general elections. SC had observed that VVPAT will ensure free and fair polls and help in sorting out disputes. Earlier in 2013, SC had directed the EC to introduce VVPAT in a phased manner for 2014 general elections. SC had observed that VVPAT will ensure free and fair polls and help in sorting out disputes. Election Commission has been accused by sixteen parties like Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the congress for allegedly deploying ‘tampered’ EVMs. They have also petitioned EC to revert back to paper ballot system for greater transparency. VVPAT machines- Significance The usage of VVPAT machines of the Election Commission is expected to ensure free and fair elections. In the VVPAT system, when a voter presses the button for a candidate of his choice in the electronic voting machines (EVM), a paper ballot containing the serial number, the name of the candidate and poll symbol will be printed for the voter. The voters will be able to view the voter-verifiable paper audit trail slip for seven seconds after which it will get deposited in a sealed box. VVPAT machines can be regarded as an independent verification system as it (i) allows voters to verify that their votes are cast correctly, (ii) detects possible election fraud or malfunction and (iii) Provides a means to audit the stored electronic results.

24. Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced a restructure of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) with an aim to make it as a leaner fighting force with enhanced joint operations capability. President Xi Jinping is the chair of the Central Military Commission, and also commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The present restructure is the second major phase of President Xi’s reforms. Earlier in September 2015, President Xi announced a reduction in the number of military personnel by 300,000. Those reforms also included establishing a joint operational command structure by 2020. Xi is also seen rooting out corruption in the military by jailing dozens of senior military officers. China is also rapidly upgrading its military hardware owing to its increasingly assertive stance about its sovereignty claims in the South China Sea and its plans to expand its military influence overseas.

25. According to Joint Plant Committee’s annual report on steel sector for the time period 2016-17, India’s import of total finished steel declined 36 % to 7.4 million tonnes (MT). At the same time, steel exports increased 102% to reach 8.2 million tonnes (MT) in the said time period. The country also fared well in terms of production as well. The production of crude steel was 97.385 MT during April-March 2016-17, which is 8.5% increase over the previous year steel production. Steel Sector India is the third largest producer of crude steel after China and Japan. India has set an ambitious target for becoming the second largest in the near term. For this, the Steel Ministry has released new draft National Steel Policy of 2017, that envisages doubling of India’s domestic steel production capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030-31. Joint Plant Committee JPC was founded in 1964 by the Ministry of Steel. It formulates guidelines for production, allocation, pricing and distribution of iron and steel materials across the country. It is the only institution which is officially empowered by the Ministry of Steel to collect data on the Indian iron and steel industry in order to create and maintain a basic, complete and non-partisan databank in this industry. Its headquarters is located in Kolkata.

26. The IMF has predicted that the global economy would grow at 3.5% in 2017, up from 3.1 % last year, and 3.6% in 2018. This year’s projection of IMF is marginally higher than what was stated in their last update. The improvement in this year’s projection springs up from good economic news in Europe and Asia, notably from China and Japan. As per IMF, momentum in the global economy has been building up since the middle of the last year making it reaffirm its previous forecasts of higher growth for this year and next year. However, it has warned that despite these signs of strength, many countries are likely to continue to struggle this year as well. IMF has warned that weather conditions and civil unrest would threaten the low-income countries with mass starvation. Particularly, in Sub-Saharan Africa, IMF expects the income levels to fall slightly. Further, commodity exporters in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America are likely to struggle with low levels of commodity prices since early 2016.

27. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has flagged off Visakhapatnam-Kirandul passenger train with first of its kind, see-through, vistadome coaches through a video link from Bhubaneswar. The Vistadome air-conditioned coach is a first-of-its-kind on Indian Railways that has been introduced with an aim to promote tourism. The 40 seat coach has been built by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu at a cost of INR 3.38 crore. At present only one coach has been attached to the train on trial basis. Similar coaches are expected to be introduced in other routes like northeast as well.

28. The Supreme Court has granted an exemption to six categories of disabled people from standing when the national anthem is played before the screening of a film in theatres. The six categories include people suffering from cerebral palsy, Parkinson disease, muscular dystrophy and other categories of disability. The order comes at the backdrop of reported incidents of people with disabilities facing the wrath of people trying to enforce patriotism during the national anthem. In addition, the Court has also issued notice to the union government on the plea seeking Vande Mataram to be made mandatory in schools. The Centre should file its reply in a four weeks time on the plea. The reply should also ascertain the feasibility of singing the national anthem and the national song in Parliament, assemblies, courts, schools and colleges on working days.

29. TAL Manufacturing Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors has unveiled India’s first ‘conceptualized, designed and manufactured articulated industrial robot’ called “BRABO”. BRABO stands for “Bravo Robot”. The robot has been developed indigenously for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in India. The robot is primarily developed to complement the human workforce and repeatedly perform high volume, dangerous and time-consuming tasks ranging from handling of raw materials to packaging of finished products. BRABO was designed and manufactured at the TAL’s Pune factory. Other than the motors and drives for the Robo-arm, all the other parts of the robot were indigenously manufactured in India. BRABO has four patents registered in its name and TAL has also applied for an intellectual property (IP) certification for the robot.

30. Sagar Baheti has become the first visually impaired Indian runner to complete the historic Boston Marathon. Bengaluru-based 31 years old Baheti completed a distance of 42.16 km distance in just over four hours. Supported by the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (MABVI), Baheti finished the 121st Boston Marathon as one of 30,000 runners. The 2017 Boston Marathon has been recorded as the second hottest marathon in a decade. Baheti, a businessman by profession was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease, a type of macular degeneration that eventually leads to blindness, in 2013. With his participation in the marathon, Baheti expects to raise $10,000 for MABVI, an organization that supports visually impaired persons by providing advanced low-vision devices.

31. Prime Minister has inaugurated phase-I (Link-2) pipeline canal of the ambitious Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (SAUNI) Yojana in Botad district of Gujarat. He laid foundation stone for the Phase-II (Link-2) of the SAUNI Yojana in Saurashtra. The design of Link-2 is to pump Narmada water in 17 dams spread across Botad, Bhavnagar and Amreli districts of Gujarat. This is considered as a second milestone of the Rs 12,000 crore projects to pump Narmada water to the arid Saurashtra region. Link-1 canal will take water to 30 dams in Jamnagar and Devbhoomi Dwarka districts. Last year, in August, Prime Minister dedicated phase-I of the Link-I canal to the nation. SAUNI project The entire SAUNI project envisages supplying water for irrigation purposes to 10.22 lakh acres of land in Saurashtra region. Under this project, one million acre feet (MAFT) of floodwaters of Narmada will be diverted to the Saurashtra region. In total, 1,126-kilometre-long network of giant pipelines would be laid to fill up 115 reservoirs in the Saurashtra region by diverting flood waters overflowing from the Sardar Sarovar Dam across the Narmada in south Gujarat. The project aims to utilize the floodwater which otherwise overflows the Narmada dam during monsoon and drains into the sea. Under the SAUNI project, instead of open canals, pipelines are used. The massive pipelines of SAUNI project will run underground and thus requires no acquisition of farmer’s land and results in less water loss. The pumping stations for the project will be constructed on government land. The project envisages filling irrigation dams that already have canal networks to channel water to farms. Therefore, technically, SAUNI project is a link project. Under the project, four trunk lines (Link I, II, III and IV) will carry water to the 115 dams spread across the 11 districts of the Saurashtra region. Link-1 of the project (180 km) originates from the Machhu II dam in Morbi district and carries Narmada water to 30 dams. Link-2 (253 km) originates from Limdi Bhogavo II dam in Surendrangar, and supplies water to 17 dams. Link-3 (245 km) originates from Dholi Dhaja dam in Surendranagar and ends at Venu I dam of Rajkot district, carrying water to 28 dams along its length. Link-4 originates from Limdi Bhogavo II dam and ends at Hiran II dam in Gir Somnath district.

32. Naval Ship ‘INS Chennai’, a ‘P15A Guided Missile Destroyer’, was dedicated to Chennai in the presence of the chief minister of Tamil Nadu and the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command.

33. The Ministry of Women and Child Development in collaboration with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has launched a nationwide programme for capacity building of Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) of Panchayats and a training program for Trainers of women panchayat leaders at Ranchi, Jharkhand. The Ministry of Women and Child Development has launched the programme representatives at the grassroots level in various fields like engineering (building of roads, drains, latrines etc.), finance, social development, education, health, and environment among others. In the first phase of the training, 40 master trainers of Jharkhand will be trained at the State institute of Rural Development, Ranchi. In the second phase, around 3000 Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) will be imparted training by the master trainers at the districts of Simdega, Pakur and Chatra of Jharkhand. In subsequent phases, similar training modules will be organised in different states throughout the country with the help of National Institute of Rural Development, State Institutes of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Departments of the States. At present, there are around 13 lakhs EWRs in panchayats throughout the country. In the first phase of the training, 40 master trainers of Jharkhand will be trained at the State institute of Rural Development, Ranchi. In the second phase, around 3000 Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) will be imparted training by the master trainers at the districts of Simdega, Pakur and Chatra of Jharkhand. In subsequent phases, similar training modules will be organised in different states throughout the country with the help of National Institute of Rural Development, State Institutes of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Departments of the States. At present, there are around 13 lakhs EWRs in panchayats throughout the country. In subsequent phases, similar training modules will be organised in different states throughout the country with the help of National Institute of Rural Development, State Institutes of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Departments of the States. At present, there are around 13 lakhs EWRs in panchayats throughout the country. Need The initiative is aimed at empowering EWRs by enhancing their capacity, capability and skill in governance and administration of villages as the EWRs lack appropriate knowledge and skill to administer the village. The women sarpanches can be helpful in taking several new schemes of the government to the common man especially those in distress and the underprivileged. Women sarpanches can also play a vital role in ensuring the safety of women, education of the girl child, health of women, creation of assets under MGNREGA, immunisation and other important issues at the grassroots level.

34. Prime Minister felicitated the descendants of 16 families associated with Paika Rebellion of 1817 and other freedom struggles of Odisha in Bhubaneswar. In this year’s budget speech, Finance Minister had mentioned about the Paika rebellion led by Bakshi Jagabandhu and stated that the event will be commemorated appropriately. Paika Rebellion Paika Rebellion of 1817 is an armed rebellion against British colonialism. The revolution was in response to the tinkering of the revenue system by the British in 1803. In response, the farming community of Odisha rose in rebellion. At that juncture, Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar, the military chief of the King of Khurda, led the army of Paikas and forced the British to retreat. This came to be known as Paika Bidroh (Paika rebellion). The landed militia of Khurda was called Paiks. Paika Rebellion of 1817 has various social, economic and political reasons. The main cause of the revolution was the takeover of the rent-free land that had been given to the Paiks for their military service to the Kingdom of Khurda. Though the revolution occurred before the first war of independence in 1857, the revolution did not get similar recognition like that of the Revolt of 1857.

35. he Andhra Pradesh state government has formulated guidelines for a market intervention exercise to help red chilli farmers in the state who are in a great distress due to the price crash in the market yard, which is the biggest in the state and the country. As per the modalities of the scheme, chilli stocks with the farmers would be bought at the price fixed by the government and each farmer will get the additional benefit of Rs 1,500 per quintal, subject to a ceiling of 20 quintals. The price per quintal should not exceed Rs 8,000 inclusive of the Rs 1,500 per quintal being offered by the government. The scheme covers tenant farmers as well. The state’s market intervention exercise will begin from April 20 and continue up to June 30 with a gap from May 12 to June 11 for the summer holidays.

36. In a new World Bank report titled Globalization Backlash, the agency expects India’s gross domestic product to spike to 7.2% in the financial year 2017-18 from 6.8% the previous fiscal. It has also forecasted that the ‘fiscal, inflation and external conditions’ in the country to remain stable and India’s economic growth to rise gradually to 7.7% in 2019-20, “underpinned by a recovery in private investments”.

37. The Government has stated that 14 scholarship schemes for Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) / Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic Tribes (DNTs) students come under Digital Payments Initiatives. This is expected to benefit 3.54 crore students across the country. As per the modalities of this initiative, all scholarship amount will be deposited in the bank accounts of the students. Schemes for SCs There will be a 60% Aadhaar seeding in SC student bank account. Educational Empowerment is carried out by virtue of scholarships, hostels for students, coaching facilities, capital for creation/upgradation of premises, institution etc. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment spends 54 % of its Budget on scholarships for Scheduled castes. In addition, the government has tasked each branch of public sector banks to handhold at least one SC/ST youth, as an entrepreneur, to generate more employment among the members of the community. Scholarships Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is the nodal ministry for the implementation of seven different types of scholarships: Post and Pre-Matric Scholarships; Top Class Scholarship; National Overseas Scholarships; National Fellowship for Scheduled Castes administered by the UGC; Pre-Matric Scholarship for Children of those engaged in unclean occupations; Free Coaching for Scheduled Castes and OBCs (70: 30 ratio); and Upgradation of merit.

38. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the referendum on granting him sweeping new powers by a clear majority. The “Yes” vote garnered by Erdogan was 51.36% and “No” was 48.64%. while the supporters of Erdogan has hailed the results, the two main opposition parties have challenged the results. New Constitution The draft of the new constitution has the following salient features: Next presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on 3 November 2019; It provides for a five year tenure and maximum of two terms for the President; The president will have powers to directly appoint top public officials, including ministers; President will be able to assign one or several vice-presidents; The job of prime minister would be scrapped; President will have power to intervene in the judiciary; The president will have power to decide whether or not to impose a state of emergency Why Referendum? According Erdogan, changes were needed to address security concerns especially after an attempted coup nine months earlier. He also wants these changes to avoid the fragile coalition governments of the past. The new system Erdogan envisages will resemble those in France and the US and would help to bring calm to the turmoil caused by the Kurdish insurgency, Islamist militancy and conflict in neighbouring Syria, which has resulted in a huge refugee influx. Criticism Critics fear that the proposed changes would make the president’s position too powerful without any checks and balances present in other presidential systems. They also complain of massive irregularities with the voting.

39. The Telangana legislature has passed the Telangana Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services under the State) Bill, 2017, that seeks to raise substantially the reservation for backward Muslims and scheduled tribes. The new legislation will increase the reservation for socially and educationally backward Muslims from the existing 4% to 12% and for Scheduled Tribes from 6% to 10% taking the total quotas in government jobs and educational institutions in the state much beyond the 50 % ceiling set by the Supreme Court. The total quota in the state will now increase to 62%. The bill will now be sent for obtaining President’s assent. Since the reservation goes beyond the 50% ceiling set by the Supreme Court, the state government wants the centre to include the bill in the 9th schedule of the Constitution which will preclude a judicial review. States like Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand already have reservations totalling more than 50 percent.

40. Sai Praneeth defeated the world No 29 Kidambi Srikanth in an all-Indian men’s singles final and clinched Singapore Open Superseries badminton title. With this, India has become only the fourth country after China, Denmark and Indonesia to have its nationals in a men’s singles Superseries final. Last year, Sai Praneeth clinched the Canada Open. Kidambi Srikanth has won the 2014 China Super Series Premier and 2015 India Super Series. He also reached the quarterfinals of Rio Olympics. He holds the distinction of being the first Indian to claim a Superseries title after the graded events became part of the world badminton calendar.

41. Emma Morano, the world’s oldest woman has passed away in Italy at the age of 117. She was the last known person born in the 19th century who was still alive. Emma Morano was born on 29 November 1899 in Italy. She held the Guinness World Record titles for the oldest living person and oldest living woman. Morano is five years younger than Jeanne Calment, the 122-year-old person who held the title for being the oldest person ever. Morano was a solitary person who made her living by working in a factory producing jute sacks. She had been living in her two room apartment for the last 20 years. In her lifetime that spanned three centuries, she has seen two World Wars and more than 90 Italian governments. Morano had admitted that the reason behind her longevity was genetics.

42. Robert Taylor, a pioneer of Modern Computing and the Internet has passed away at the age of 85. Rob Taylor was instrumental in creating the internet and the modern personal computer. Taylor’s engineering team was also responsible for the development of Ethernet and a word processing program, Microsoft Word. Taylor worked with Pentagon’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in 1966 and was instrumental in creating a single computer network to link ARPA-sponsored researchers at companies and institutions. That shared network, ARPANET has evolved into the internet. Taylor also worked at Xerox’s famous Palo Alto Research Center, or Parc, where he and his team created the Alto, a pioneering personal computer. This technology was the inspiration for Microsoft’s Windows software and the Apple computers. Taylor was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 1999. He was also awarded the Draper prize from the National Academy of Engineering for the development of “the first practical networked personal computers” in 2004.

43. A deep depression in Bay of Bengal has intensified into a tropical cyclone named Maarutha. This cyclone is expected to hit Myanmar on 17 April 2017 and bring heavy rains in parts of that country. Tropical Cyclone Maarutha is the first named storm of 2017 Northern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season. About Tropical Cyclones A Cyclone represents a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and has closed low-level circulation. Most large scale cyclonic circulations are centered on areas of low atmospheric pressure. Based on their latitude, the cyclones may be tropical cyclones or temperate cyclones (extra-tropical cyclones). The tropical cyclones rotate anti-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and are classified into three types viz. Tropical Depression maximum sustained winds of 38 mph or less); Tropical Storm (maximum sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph); hurricane (maximum sustained winds of 74 mph) and major hurricane (maximum sustained winds of 111 mph).

44. NASA has announced that Saturn’s sixth-largest moon Enceladus and Jupiter’s fourth-largest moon Europa may be habitable as they have the necessary ingredients required to sustain life. The key ingredients of life are liquid water, a source of energy for metabolism, and chemicals such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulphur. Findings were made by NASA with the help of Cassini-Huygens unmanned spacecraft and the Hubble Telescope. Cassini-Huygens unmanned spacecraft was sent in 1997 to study Saturn, its rings, and its moon.

45. Scientists have found second Great Spot in Jupiter which is cold and high up. The Great Spot was found to be 24,000 km across and 12,000 km wide. It is found to be in the upper atmosphere and is much cooler than the hot surroundings. Unlike the Great Red Spot which was identified in 1830, this newly discovered Great Spot is continuously changing its shape and size. The Great Cold Spot is believed to be caused by magnetic forces responsible for Jupiter’s polar auroras. This phenomenon drives energy into the atmosphere and creates a region of cooling in the boundary layer between the underlying atmosphere and the vacuum of space.

46. The government has directed the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to share battery technology for mass production of Lithium-Ion batteries for electric vehicles. The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre under ISRO has developed indigenous technology to manufacture high-power batteries for use in two- and three-wheelers and their feasibility tests conducted by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) was found to be successful. This development is expected to push India’s electric vehicles (EV) industry.

47. The Uttar Pradesh government has signed “Power for All” pact with the Centre to provide 24×7 power supply to all the households in the State. With this signing of the agreement, Uttar Pradesh which was the only state in the country which did not join the central government scheme has finally joined in it. The previous government in the state did not show interest in joining the Power for All initiative of the central government. As a part of energy efficiency measures, 10,000 energy efficiency solar- panel pumps will be distributed through Centre’s undertaking, Energy Efficiency Services (EESL). In addition, it has been agreed to distribute energy efficient bulbs, tube lights and fans at cheaper rates. Separately, the state government has also launched ‘1912’ as the toll-free helpline for the consumers in rural areas to communicate their grievances pertaining to power and electricity.

48. Prime Minister has launched 81 cashless/less cash townships across 12 states in Nagpur. The 81 townships included 56 in Gujarat and 25 in 11 states including Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Chhatisgarh. The model of cashless/less cash township was developed by Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd (GNFC) across these States under the auspices of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog. GNFC’s township at Bharuch (Gujarat) had become India’s first 100% cashless township after demonetization. It is expected that these 81 townships will deliver 2.5 lakh cashless transactions per day, translating into 9 crore cashless transactions in a year.

49. RBI has come up with a notification titled “Revised Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework for banks.” The revised framework would apply to all banks operating in India including small and foreign banks. The new set of provisions will be effective from April 1 based on the financials of banks as of March 2017. The revised framework will override the existing PCA framework. The revised framework will be again reviewed after three years. Need for revised framework RBI had promised to revise the PCA framework at its first monetary policy review of the current fiscal held on April 6, as the bad loans including those already restructured reached USD 80 billion or 15% of the system as of March 2017. As per the estimates, the NPAs of state-run banks reached Rs 6.3 lakh crore as of September compared to Rs 5.5 lakh crore at the end of June 2016. Salient guidelines of revised PCA Capital, Asset Quality and profitability would be the basis on which the banks would be monitored. Banks would be placed under PCA framework depending upon the audited annual financial results and RBI’s supervisory assessment.
50. Nepal and China is all set to hold their first ever joint military exercise named ‘Sagarmatha Friendship-2017’ from April 17 to April 26. The 10 day long joint exercise will focus on combating terror and disaster management. Although, Nepal conducts joint exercises with other countries like India and United States, this is the first time it is holding a joint exercise with China.

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