WBCS Current Affairs 17/10/2015 to 30/1/02015 Part 2

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51. As per recently released report of United Nations (UN), mortality rate among Indian girls below the age of five higher than the boys. It was mentioned in recently published UN Report titled The World’s Women 2015. Key facts Men have outnumbered women in southern Asia, eastern Asia, Oceania and western Asia. India is among the countries having largest surplus population of men and worrying under-five sex ratio. Number of girls in India dying before the age of five (Mortality rate) is relatively higher compared to the boys. In case of India: Higher mortality rate among girls is closely related to a general preference for sons. Special treatment for boys in terms of parental investment in nutrition, access to health treatment, vaccinations and parental care is main reason for less under-five sex ratio. Though, sex-selective abortions have been technically banned since 1996 by enacting stringent laws there has been little effect so far on the sex ratio at birth. Labour force: Between 1995 and 2013, women’s participation in the labour force has declined from 72 to 64 per cent in case of China and from 35 to 27 per cent in India. Child marriage: It is the most common practice in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. India accounts for one-third of the total global child brides.

52. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) between India and Maldives in case of Criminal Matters. Decision in this regard was taken at Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Key facts of Treaty Aims to enhance effectiveness of both signatory countries in investigation and prosecution of crime. Seeks to enhance cooperation and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. Provide a broad legal framework for bilateral cooperation in the context of transnational crime and its linkages to terrorism. The bilateral cooperation will mainly focus on investigation and prosecution of crime. It will also focus on tracing, confiscation of proceeds, restraint and instruments of crime as well as monetary funds meant to finance terrorist acts. What is MLAT? MLAT is an agreement signed between two or more countries for the purpose of exchanging and gathering information to enforce criminal laws or public laws. Under the MLAT a mechanisms has been developed among countries for obtaining an evidence to solve the criminal investigations and further use it for prosecutions.

53. Maharashtra Government has decided to use stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) law against the hoarders and black marketers. State government’s decision comes after the state machinery has started large-scale raids on suspected hording of pulses. Those found guilty will booked under MCOCA and various other sections under the Essential Commodities Act. Stock limits on pulses, edible oil seeds and edible oil also have been imposed as per the directives issued by the Union Government to meet the large demand of essential commodities. About MCOCA The law enacted in 1999 by Maharashtra state to combat organised crime and terrorism in the state. It was enacted to remove drawbacks of legal framework which were inadequate to curb or control the menace of organised crime. The law has stringent and deterrent provisions including in certain circumstances power to intercept wire, electronic or oral communication to curb the menace of organised crime.

54. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing of an agreement on Maritime Transport between India and Egypt. Decision in this regard was taken at Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. The agreement seeks to Strengthen cooperation in the field of merchant shipping and other matters related maritime transport between both countries. Encourage the development maritime relationship between both countries and mutually cooperate to enhance and stimulate steady growth of maritime traffic. Facilitate training and exchange of staff and students between both countries from various maritime establishments. Boost exchange of information necessary for facilitating and accelerating the flow of commercial goods in the sea and at the ports. Facilitate establishment of joint ventures (JVs) in the fields of maritime transportation, maritime training, shipbuilding and repairs, IT including development of simulators, port facilities and related maritime activities, etc.

55. Russia and United States have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to avoid deconfliction and mid-air incidents between their air forces over Syrian skies. The MoU seeks to avoid direct clashes between both air forces in the skies over Syria. It also includes steps to be taken by pilots to avoid an inadvertent clash over Syria. Key facts The text of the MoU has not been disclosed and remained secret but it has laid out means and protocols for both sides to communicate and establish a hotline on the ground. It also contains a number of rules and restrictions aimed at preventing incidents between American and Russian planes. However, both countries would not share intelligence on their targets. Background The issue of military aircraft safety over the Syria began after Russia started bombing targets in the civil war torn country in September 2015 to target Islamic State (IS) militants. Russia entry was in the same battle space of US in the Syria created issue related to military aircraft safety and deconfliction.

56. Former Delhi High Court judge Reva Khetrapal has been selected as Delhi’s new Lokayukta. The post was lying vacant since 2013 after retired Justice Manmohan Sarin had relinquished office after completing five-year term. With this, she will become the fourth Lokayukta of Delhi and shall have five years terms as per Delhi Lokayukta and Uplokayukta Act, 1995. Background Justice Khetrapal was chosen as head of anti-corruption ombudsman unanimously by a four-member panel. The panel included Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Justice of Delhi High Court G Rohini and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta. It should be noted that she will be appointed by President Pranab Mukherjee after Lt Governor recommends her name to President. About Reva Khetrapal Reva Khetrapal had practiced in the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court from 1975 to 1991. She was elevated to the HC in 2006 and she retired in September 2014. In 1991, she was appointed sessions judge and additional district. Later she was posted as special judge (narcotics) in 1994. In 1999, She was also appointed secretary, Press Council of India (PCI).

57. Gujarat-based Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) to handle import and exports of pulses across its ports in the country. The MoU seeks to Develop an efficient and dedicated supply chain for pulses using Adani Ports’ strategically located facilities to all key consumption centres in the country. Ensure the smooth and cost efficient availability of this key protein source by ideally connecting to the key markets of North, West and Central India. To facilitate handling of pulses, APSEZ has developed the world class facilities for an agricultural market place at its all ports. It also has largest dedicated covered warehouse space inside ports for Agricultural goods. The company also has tied up with multiple partner agencies to provide collateral management and trade finance services at the port itself. It should be noted that APSEZ is India’s largest private port development company. Annually, India imports nearly 5 million tonnes of pulses for domestic consumption mainly from countries like Canada and Australia.

58. Noted criminologist K Chockalingam has been conferred with the prestigious 2015 Paul H Appleby Award. The award was conferred on him by Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) for his distinguished services to public administration and to the institute. About K Chockalingam He has served as professor and researcher in criminology in University of Madras. He was also Vice President of World Society of Victimology. He was Chair Professor of criminal law from 2012 to 2014 at the National Law University (NLU) in Delhi. He founder and president of Indian Society of Victimology (ISV). Since 2003, he is also an International Advisor of Tokiwa International Victimology Institute, Japan. He has authored 4 books and more than 75 research papers. Awards: He has won many awards including Senior Social Scientist Award of Indian Society of Criminology (1994), Distinguished International Scholar Award of American Society of Criminology (1996). About Paul H Appleby Award The award has been instituted by IIPA as a tribute to Paul Appleby, a noted author in recognition of his works in the field of public administration. Appleby also had helped in developing the IIPA’s vision in the early years of its founding.

59. Renowned Kannada filmmaker Kikkeri Shamanna Lakshminarayana Swamy (KSL Swamy) passed away in Bengaluru, Karnataka. He was 77. He was popularly known Ravee and was also Kannada film producer, actor and playback singer. About K.S.L Swamy Swamy was born in 1938 in Kikkeri in then Mysore Kingdom of British India. He had started his cinematic journey as an assistant director to legendary filmmakers such as G.V. Iyer and M.R. Vittal. Swamy made his directorial debut with Kannada film Thoogudeepa in 1966. In his 49-year celluloid career, he had directed as many as 37 films. His directed films such as Gandhinagara (1968) and Bhagya Jyothi (1975) and Malaya Marutha (1986) were successful hits. Awards: His is film Jamboo Savari (1989) had won the National Award for the Best Children Film. He is also recipient of Padma Bhushan (2013) and B. Saroja Devi National Award (2013).

60. Justin Trudeau of Liberal Party has been elected as 23rd Prime Minister of Canada. He is eldest son of Canada’s former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau who was in office for 16 years and led the country till 1984. With this Justin Trudeau (age 43 years) became the second youngest Prime Minister of Canada and the first to follow a parent into office. The youngest Prime Minister was Joe Clark (age 40 years) of Conservative party who was elected to office in 1979. Trudeau is a former school teacher and was elected as Member of Parliament for first time in 2008 and again in 2011 and 2015. Background In the 2015 Canadian Federal election, Liberal Party has emerged victorious by winning 185 seats (54% votes) in 338 member House of Commons (Lower House of Parliament). Conservative Party led by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper has emerged as largest opposition party by winning 99 seats by securing 29% votes. It was followed by New Democratic Party (NDP) of Canada led by Thomas Mulcair which has won 44 seats. India-Origin candidates: In this election, record 19 India-Origin candidates have won the election. 15 candidates belong to Liberal Party, while 3 are from Conservative Party and one from NDO.

61. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has launched Trident Juncture Military Exercise in Italy to test the alliance’s ability to respond to new security threats. It will also demonstrate NATO’s capability to deal with conventional military engagements to more subtle hybrid warfare techniques and propaganda. It is the biggest military exercise conducted by alliance in past 13 years as it has mobilized around 36,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen from more than 30 countries of NATO. Key facts The operational centre for the exercise is based in the Sicilian city Trapani (Italy). It will take place till early November 2015 and extend into Spain, Portugal and adjacent waters. The exercise envisions a fictitious invasion of a small alliance member by a large country, followed by creating a crisis with ethnic and religious dimensions. It also envisions threats to energy supplies and navigational freedom along with risks of terrorism and cyberattacks. Background Last time such large-scale military exercises were held during the Cold War era. But now they are held due to recent changes in global geopolitical scenario in Mediterranean and West Asian region. The geopolitical scenario has changed after Russia’s annexation of Crimea peninsula of Ukraine in February 2014 followed by support of eastern Ukrainian separatists and attacks against moderate rebels in Syria.

62. Union Government has appointed veteran sports administrator Vijay Kumar Malhotra as President of newly established All India Council of Sports (AICS). With this he became first President of AICS and was given an equivalent rank of a Minister of State (MoS) in the Union Council of Ministers. About Vijay Kumar Malhotra VK Malhotra was born on 3 December 1931 in Lahore (now in Pakistan) in then undivided British India. He holds a Doctorate in Hindi Literature. Prior to this appointment, Mr Malhotra was President of Archery Association of India and had served for 40 years. He also had acted as the Senior Vice President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and served as acting President of the IOA after the 2010 Commonwealth Games scandal. AICS also includes former sportspersons including PT Usha, Baichung Bhutia, N Kunjarani Devi, Limba Ram, IM Vijayan, and P Gopichand as its members. About All India Council of Sports AICS is as an advisory body established in July 2015 to deliberate on matters relating to the development and promotion of sports and games in the country. Composition: It will be headed by a President in the rank of Minister of State (MoS). It will include 4 Members of Parliament (MPs), coaches, experts, sports personalities, administrators and Director General (DG) of Sports Authority of India (SAI).

63. United States and Spain have reached an in principle agreement to clean up land at Palomares site (in Spain) contaminated by plutonium radiation from undetonated US nuclear bombs. The binding clean up deal was finalised in Madrid during US Secretary of State John Kerry official visit to Spain. Under the agreement, US will remove the soil contaminated by nuclear radiation at Palomares. Background In January 1966, a US B-52 bomber plane carrying 4 nuclear bombs had crashed off the coast of Spain over the Mediterranean Sea. It was one of the most serious nuclear accidents of the Cold War era. The plane had crashed after it had collided with a tanker plane during mid-air refuelling. Of these 4 nuclear bombs, 3 fell around Palomares and a 4th was found on the sea bed. After the crash, the bombs did not detonated but highly toxic radioactive plutonium from the bombs leaked and spread over a 490-acre area of Palomares town. Under the earlier agreement which ended in 2010, US had paid 350,000 dollars every year for tests of radioactive soil contamination in the region as well as regular blood tests for Palomares residents.

65. India’s second largest software services major Infosys has announced acquisition of US-based oil and gas consulting firm Noah Consulting for 70 million US Dollars in an all-cash deal. This acquisition is part of Infosys strategy to bring next generation data analytics solutions to the oil and gas industry. Noah Consulting was founded in 2008 and has emerged as a leading provider of advanced information management consulting services for the oil and gas industry. It helps oil and gas companies to create and deploy information solutions in order to generate value from their oil and gas assets. It should be noted that this is third acquisition of Infosys in 2015. Earlier in June 2015, the IT major had completed acquisition of Kallidus (business name Skava) for 120 million dollars. In March 2015, it also had acquired US bases Panaya Inc which is was an automation technology company for 200 million dollars.

66. Ace Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag has announced his retirement from international cricket. This announcement comes after more than two-and-a-half years on from his last appearance in Test match for India in March 2013 against Australia in Hyderabad. About Virender Sehwag Born: 20 October 1978 in New Delhi. He had started his international cricket career in 1999 after he played his first One Day International (ODI) against Pakistan and later in 2001 joined the Indian Test team. In his remarkable career, he had scored 17,253 international runs across all formats. ODI Career: He had played 251 ODI matches and scored 8273 runs with batting average of 35.05. It includes 15 centuries including the second-highest individual ODI score of 219 after Rohit Sharma. Test Career: He had played 104 test matches and scored 8,586 runs with batting average of 49.34. His score stands at fifth position in India’s all-time list. It includes 23 centuries and highest score of 319 (against South Africa). It was also the fastest triple century in the history of international cricket reached 300 off only 278 balls. Captaincy: He had occasionally captained India tean in 12 ODIs between 2003 and 2012 and 4 Tests matches between 2005 and 2012. Sehwag was a part of the Indian cricket team that had ended runner up in 2003 ICC World Cup and also part of Indian cricket team that lifted the 2011 edition ICC World Cup. Awards and Honours: Arjuna Award (2002), ICC Test Player of the Year 2010, Padma Shree (2010)

67. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information. It was signed at Abu Dhabi, UAE by Saeed Abdulla Al Hamiz, Assistant Governor of Central Bank of UAE and Meena Hemchandra, Executive Director of RBI. By signing the MoU, RBI is seeking to promote greater co-operation and share supervisory information among the authorities. So far RBI has signed 29 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory Co-operation (LSC) and one Statement of Co-operation (SoC) in this regard.

68. Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has made a major modification in the National Blood Policy (NBP), 2002 to allow blood banks to borrow units from one another in case of a shortage. This decision was taken as part of reforms for handling of blood units in the country based on the recommendation of the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC). The ministry also has made modification in the policy to fix an exchange value for surplus plasma available at some blood banks in the country. This move will help to curb the trading or selling of surplus plasma by the blood banks with proper regulatory framework. Implications: Increase the availability of essential life saving medicines like immunoglobulins, human albumin and clotting factors which are all derived from plasma. Reduce the country’s dependence on import of these products. Background Country is facing shortage of blood units and it was a recurring problem since the Supreme Court banned paid donation in January 1998. Following SC’s order, Union Government had framed National Blood Policy, 2002 to phase out replacement donation in 5 years and promote voluntary blood donations. To further promote voluntary blood donations, National and State Blood Transfusion Councils were established in the 1990s. It should be noted that, human blood is treated as a drug as per provisions of Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. Presently, India has around 2,760 licensed blood banks as per the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).

69. Powerful Typhoon Koppu (also known as Lando) has hit the northern Philippines battering the coast with powerful winds with speed of 240 kph. The eye of tropical cyclone (typhoon) Koppu has struck the remote northern coastal town of Casiguran which is 215 kms northeast of Philippines capital city Manila. US military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center has categorised this typhoon equivalent of a Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The Typhoon Koppu is considered as the strongest landfalling of tropical cyclone in past five years faced by Philippines. The most ominous threat of this cyclone is its prolific rainfall which may cause flood like situations followed by mudslides across the mountains and valleys of Philippines main northern island of Luzon. Each year, Philippines is hit by an average of 20 tropical storms, most of them many are deadly. The North eastern coat of the country is one of the most tropical cyclone-prone coastlines on Earth.

70. An Indian short film, An Old Dog’s Diary has won prestigious Best Short Film Award at the 2015 London Film Festival (LFF). The award was bestowed by the British Film Institute (BIF) at 59th edition of LFF. The 11-minute film has been directed by Shai Heredia and Shumona Goel. It story of film reveals the cultural conditions of Indian avant-garde painter Francis Newton Souza’s work and its institutionalisation by assembling the puzzle-piece evocations of his portrait. Earlier the film was showcased in the Wavelengths category at 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. About London Film Festival LFF was founded in 1957 and is an annual film festival held at London to show the best of the year’s world cinema to a British audience. The Festival showcases the best work of world cinema that champions originality, creativity, vision and imagination. It is organised by British Film Institute and is United Kingdom’s largest public film event. It screens more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts films from almost 50 countries.

71. Great Britain won the 2015 Sultan of Johor Cup under-21 field hockey tournament by defeating defending champions India. In the final, India lost to Great Britain in penalty shoot by 3-4 goals score. Both teams had equaled by 2-2 goals score in regular full time match played at Johor Bahru, Malaysia. In this edition of Cup, Sumit Kumar and Harmanpreet Singh of India with three goals each have been the top scorers in the tournament for the country. 2015 Sultan of Johor Cup of Hocey Earlier, India was placed at the top of the table in the league phase of the cup, just losing one match to Great Britain. Host Malaysia has been placed at third position in this edition of tournament after they had defeated Argentina by 3-2 goal scores in semi-final. Australia, Argentina, India, Pakistan, Great Britain and hosts Malaysia were 6 teams that had participated in 2015 edition of tournament. About Sultan of Johor Cup of Hockey Established in 2011 and named after the Sultan of Johor, a ceremonial hereditary seat and title of the nominal ruler of the Malaysian state of Johor. The tournament held annually in Malaysia and it is the only invitational junior hockey competition played at international level. India is most successful team in the tournament and has won it for two times in 2013 and 2014.

72. Acclaimed Egyptian novelist and journalist Gamal al-Ghitani passed away in Cairo, Egypt. He was 70. He was one of the greatest Egyptian authors of historical and political novels and cultural and political commentaries. About Gamal al-Ghitani Ghitani was born on 9 May 1945 in Gihena, Egypt. He had started his writing career at a very young age and his first short story was published when he was only 14. Though he was trained as a carpet designer, he switched to journalism in his 20s and went on to write historical fiction. Much of his work has been widely translated in different languages, including his famous novel Zayni Barakat published in 1974 is considered a seminal portrayal of authoritarian rule. Awards: He was awarded Egyptian National Prize for Literature (1980), French Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1987), Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Ren (2009) etc.

73. Telecom Regulatory Authority of Indian (TRAI) has made it mandatory for telecom operators to compensate consumers by Rs.1 for call drops with effect from 1 January 2016. As per new TRAI rules The compensation will be limited to three dropped calls in a particular day. It is mandatory for telecom operators to send a message to the calling customer within 4 hours of the occurrence of call drop along with details of amount credited in his account. In case of post-paid customers, the compensation details of the credit should be provided in the next bill. What is Call drop? Call drop occurs after voice call is interrupted or disconnected before it is completed after being successfully established. Thus, it can be said that it represents telecom operator’s inability to maintain a successfully established call prior to their normal completion. Reasons: Call drop may occur if signal strength of mobile tower of telecom operator goes below the minimum acceptable single to make a call. It may also even occur due to interference created by bad environmental conditions and because of improper hard handoff if user is moving from one cell to another cell.

74. Maharashtra Government has declared drought-like condition in 14,708 villages of the state’s total 43,000 villages. This means the drought covers 34% of the state and these villages have receive inadequate rainfall in monsoon season 2015 leading to decrease in Kharif production. The drought like condition was announced by a state Cabinet Sub-Committee headed by State Agriculture Minister Eknath Khadse in Mumbai. As a relief measure, the committee has decided to waive off college and school fees of students residing in these villages. Electricity bills of farmers using agricultural pumps also has been subsidised by one third of the total amount. This is the second successive year Maharashtra has faced drought like condition in state. In fact, state has experienced three such natural calamities in the last four years. Region wise Drought conditions Marathwada region: It has been worst-hit with a drought-like condition as it has been declared in every single village of this central region. Around 8,522 villages in the region have been impacted due to this natural calamity and accounts for 58% of the drought area in the state. North Maharashtra region: It includes Nashik and Jalgaon districts of state. In this region follows 4,869 villages impacted and accounts for 33% of the drought area. Konkan region: It has not a single village affected by the calamity and has region experienced a plentiful monsoon this year.

75. Rajasthan government has issued a notification to provide 5 per cent quota to Gujjars and other Special Backward Classes (SBC). The notification was issued by state government under the Rajasthan Special Backward Classes Reservation Act, 2015. The Act came into force from October 16, 2015. It will provide 5% reservation in educational institutes and government jobs to Gujjars, Raibari, Banjara and Gadiya Lohar communities in the state. Background Earlier in September 2015, Rajasthan state assembly had passed two separate bills to provide reservation in educational institutions and government jobs. Rajasthan Special Backward Classes Reservation Bill, 2015 seeks to provide 5% quota to SBC and Rajasthan Economically Backward Classes Reservation Bill, 2015 seeks to provide 14% reservation to Economically Backward Classes (EBC) of unreserved categories. With the passing of these bills, total reservation in Rajasthan had exceeded the 50 per cent reservation cap/limit laid down by the Supreme Court.

76. Maharashtra government has appointed Shreehari Aney as the Advocate General (AG) of the state as per provisions of Article 165 of Constitution. He will succeed Sunil Manohar who had resigned in June 2015, seven months after he took over the constitutional post citing personal reasons. About Shreehari Aney He was born in Pune, Maharshtra in 1950. He had studied law at Indian Law Society’s law school in Pune. Earlier he has appeared in several high-profile cases of government including the Adarsh housing society scam and Maharashtra Sadan controversy. In addition, he was also counsel for the state government in the ongoing legal tussle over the “chikki controversy. He was also a member of the Maharashtra Law Commission and has been practising law as a senior counsel for over 2 decades. Article 165: Advocate General (AG) for the state He is person who is qualified to be appointed as a Judge of a High Court. He holds office during the pleasure of the Governor of state. His duty is to give advice to state government on legal matters and perform duties of legal character assigned by Governor.

77. Kumar Mangalam Birla led Aditya Birla Group has launched a new online fashion store Abof.com. With this, the textiles and telecom conglomerate has entered into e-commerce space which is considered as sunrise sector from an investment point of view. The newly launched portal abof which stands for Aditya Birla Online Fashion will offer shoppers range of merchandise brands from its subsidiaries and other companies. It will be one-stop fashion portal with wide range of merchandise products including apparel, footwear and accessories for men and women. Prashant Gupta is President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of abof.com and it will remain a private and unlisted company. The fashion portal will target young consumers with curated quality collection and will not provide discounts. By entering in e-commerce space, Abof.com will compete with the other e-commerce fashion stores like Myntra (a subsidiary of Flipkart) and Jabong.com etc.

78. Every year 17 October is being observed as International Day for the Eradication of Poverty throughout the world. Significance of Day: The Day seeks to promote awareness among people to eradicate poverty and destitution around the world particularly in developing countries. 2015 Theme: Building a sustainable future: Coming together to end poverty and discrimination. The theme is a special one as it eradication of poverty is one of the 17 ambitious Sustainable Development Goals adopted in September 2015. Background The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty was observed for first time in 1993. It was established after United Nations General Assembly had passed resolution in this regard in 1992. This day is observed and promoted to create awareness to eradicate poverty and destitution in all countries.

79. Pakistan and Russia have signed a major agreement to build a 1,100-km North-South gas pipeline from Lahore to Karachi. In this project, Russia will invest 2 billion dollars and it will be built by Russian company RT Global Resources, a subsidiary of Russian state corporation Rostec. Key facts The pipeline is expected to get completed by December 2017 and has capacity of 12.4 billion cubic metres per annum. It will connect Karachi’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals with those in Lahore. The pipeline project will be implemented in compliance with Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) model. It will be owned and operated by the manufacturer for 25 years and after that it will be handed over to the Pakistan government. The project will take cooperation between Russia and Pakistan to a new level. It will also help to develop a multi-dimensional relationship with Russia in the fields of defence, trade, energy, culture, infrastructure and other spheres. Earlier in August 2015, Pakistan and Russia had signed a landmark defence deal for the sale of 4 Mi-35 ‘Hind E’ attack helicopters to Pakistan. Currently, both nations are in talks for the delivery of Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets which in turn will take cooperation between the two Cold War-era adversaries to a new level.

80. Every year 16 October is being observed as World Food Day (WFD). Significance of Day: It aims to raise public awareness about hunger challenges and encourage people around the world to take action in the fight against hunger. It is widely celebrated globally by many organisations concerned with food security including International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Food Programme (WFP). Theme of 2015: ‘Social Protection and Agriculture’. The theme seeks to underline the role of social protection in reducing chronic food insecurity and poverty. In this case social protection is viable alternative for stimulating agricultural production and local economic activity. It also seeks to ensure direct access to food or the means to buy food. Background World Food Day commemorates the date of establishment of United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1945. It was established in November 1979 by FAO’s Member Countries at the 20th General Conference of FAO to raise awareness of the issues behind poverty and hunger For the first time it was celebrated on 16 October 1981 and the idea of celebrating the WFD worldwide was mooted by Hungarian Delegation to FAO.

81. Supreme Court has declared National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, 2014 and 99th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2014 unconstitutional and void. Ruling in this regard was given by five-judge Constitutional Bench of SC headed by Justice J S Khehar on a petition were filed by Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA) and others. SC bench has held that Collegium system will remain operative which was established by its earlier ruling of in 1993 for the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary. The petitions had challenged the new law on the selection and appointment of judges mentioning that it is unconstitutional and aimed at hurting the independence of judiciary. Backgroud The parliament had unanimously passed the NJAC Act, 2014 and the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act. Both acts were meant to replace the two-decade old collegium system of judges appointing judges in higher judiciary. These Acts were passed in order to bring transparency in appointment of Judges and give executive i.e. elected public representatives a role in the appointment process. The Constitutional Amendment Act was then ratified by 20 State Assemblies and had received the Presidential assent on 31 December 2014 and became effective from April 2015. Composition: The NJAC was supposed to have 6 members, three from Judiciary comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) as its Chairperson and ex officio member and 2 other senior most judges of SC. While, other three members were Union Minister of Law and Justice (ex-officio) and 2 eminent persons.

82. Myanmar government has signed a peace accord with eight of the 15 ethnic armed minorities groups especially belonging to Kayin and Chin groups to end decades of civil war. The ceremony was held by President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw in the presence of six international witnesses including India, China, Japan, Thailand, UN and European Union (EU). The agreement will remain open for the signature from the other armed groups with which the government of Myanmar is being involved in negotiations. Indian delegation was represented by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval along with PM’s special envoy for northeast R N Ravi and former Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga. The peace deal is considered as the fruit of more than two years of negotiations between Myanmar’s junta government and rebels as part of key reforms undertaken President Thein Sein ahead of November 2015 general elections. Background Myanmar was engaged in armed conflict with various ethnic and other groups seeking greater autonomy since it became independent country from the British colonial rule in 1948. The armed conflict has left tens of thousands dead over the years and has displaced thousands more. Resolving the conflicts issues with these armed ethnic groups is seen as Myanmar Government’s attempts to reform after decades of military rule in the country.

83. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has established Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF) with Rs. 2000 crore corpus expanding reach of banking services. This fund will support the developmental and promotional activities covered under the financial inclusion initiatives. Key facts FIF has been established as a single entity (fund) by merging Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF) and Financial Inclusion Technology Fund (FITF). It will provide support for funding the setting up and operational cost for running financial inclusion and Literacy Centres. One of its major objective will be enhanced investment in Green Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solution. It will be administered by the reconstituted Advisory Board constituted by Union Government and will be maintained by NABARD. Contribution to FIF would be from the interest differential in excess of 0.5 per cent on Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) and Short-Term Cooperative Rural Credit (STCRC) deposits. These deposits are held on account of shortfall in priority sector lending kept with NABARD by banks.