Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 10 October 2016

:: National ::

Terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba suffered the worst damage in the recent surgical strikes

• The Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) suffered the worst damage in the recent surgical strikes on terror launchpads carried out by the Indian Army. Radio intercepts indicate that nearly 20 militants of the banned outfit were killed.
• The assessment reports available from the Army’s field units, show that the most damage was inflicted on the LeT at the Dudniyal launchpad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, opposite the Kupwara sector in north Kashmir.
• The sources said that five teams chosen from the Army division in the area were tasked with destroying the launch pads of terror groups located at Kail, also known as Kel, and Dudniyal.
• In a well-calibrated operation, which started on the intervening night of September 28 and 29, the Army moved across the Line of Control and smashed four launch pads that were under the guard of a Pakistani post 700 metres from the Line of Control.
• The sources said the terrorists were not expecting an action by the Indian Army and were taken by surprise. The terrorists, mainly of the LeT, were seen running towards the Pakistani post, and they were killed by the Indian troops, the assessment reports say.
• Pakistani Army’s radio intercepts indicated that at least 10 LeT terrorists were killed during the multiple and near-synchronised surgical strikes on four launchpads.
• There was heavy movement of Pakistani Army vehicles till the break of dawn, and all the bodies were taken away. As per the radio intercepts, there was a mass burial in the Neelum valley.
• A similar blow was dealt to the terror launchpads at Balnoi, opposite Poonch, in which nine LeT militants were killed, the sources said. Two Pakistani soldiers belonging to 8 Northern Light Infantry were also killed.
• There were intelligence reports that terrorists were planning to enter India through Kashmir and Jammu. The Army waited for the terrorists to gather at one place before launching the attack.

SC has ordered deletion of words “adult male” the Domestic Violence

• In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court has widened the scope of the Domestic Violence Act by ordering deletion of the words “adult male” from it.
• It paved the way for prosecution of women and even non-adults for subjecting a woman relative to violence and harassment.
• The apex court has ordered striking down of the two words from Section 2(q) of the Domestic Violence Act, which deals with respondents who can be sued and prosecuted under the Act for harassing a married woman in her matrimonial home.
• Apex court said “the microscopic difference between male and female, adult and non-adult, regard being had to the object sought to be achieved by the 2005 Act, is neither real or substantial, nor does it have any rational relation to the object of the legislation.”
• The remaining part of the legislation had been kept untouched and would remain operative.

:: International ::

The Ethiopian government has declared a state of emergency

• The Ethiopian government has declared a state of emergency effective immediately following a week of anti-government violence that resulted in deaths and property damage across the country, especially in the restive Oromia region.
• In a televised address, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said the state of emergency was declared because there has been “enormous” damage to property.

:: Business and Economy ::

A new global pollution deal for aviation

• A new global pollution deal for aviation is seen providing a long-term boost for carbon markets by generating demand for environmental offset projects that now often sell at rock-bottom prices, according to industry groups and analysts.
• The carbon offsetting scheme, the first such industry-wide initiative, will start in 2021 with at least 65 participating countries in its voluntary phases, following the deal's approval by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. agency.
• Carbon credits now sell for 40 cents a tonne, but can rise to $10 a tonne depending on the quality of the carbon-emission reduction project, which can range from efforts to counter deforestation, to more efficient stoves.
• Analysts estimate demand will rise closer to the deal's mandatory phase in 2027.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 09 October 2016

:: National ::

North East Monsoon to come on time

• The much-awaited northeast monsoon, accounting for about 50 per cent of the annual rainfall of Tamil Nadu, is not likely to set in early. Also, the State is likely to experience around 40 cm rainfall in the next three months.
• These aspects have emerged as the authorities, belonging to both the Central and State governments, are making preparations to face any contingency once the monsoon arrives and the State starts feeling the full force of the season.
• The normal date of onset of the monsoon is October 20, with a deviation of plus or minus seven days. The withdrawal process of the southwest monsoon is happening only now.
• Field officials have been advised to take action against encroachments, which are in the nature of permanent structures, on water courses and bodies.

India to deploy an indigenously developed rover on the lunar surface

• India is getting ready to deploy an indigenously developed rover on the lunar surface for on-site analysis of various samples and relay them to the earth station.
• Chandrayaan-II Mission includes launching of lunar explorations by geosynchronous launch vehicles (GSLV Mk-II) with clinical precision.
• The wheeled rover would be useful in using multiple applications by collecting soil and rock sediments for on-site analysis and transmitting the findings to the earth station.
• ISRO has also taken up ambitious programme to build vehicles with cryogenic engines with bigger capacity than GSLV, Mr. Ranganathan, who came here to take part along with other scientists in World Space Week celebrations, said.
• India was ahead of other countries in space technology by continuously test-firing and deploying satellites of various types and configurations for use for communication and other applications.
• LMV3, a full-fledged vehicle will be launched in the first half of 2017. The heavy launch capability launcher would enable ISRO’s self-reliance in launching of satellites. It will send four tonne class geosynchronous satellites into the orbit.

:: International ::

Inter-Services Intelligence chief to be replaced

• Chief of Pakistan’s powerful spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lt. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar, is likely to be replaced within the next few weeks, a media report said.
• Lt. Gen. Akhtar was appointed the Director-General of ISI in September 2014 and took office in November 2014, when he replaced the retiring Lt. Gen.Zaheer-ul-Islam.
• The appointment is normally for a three-year period unless the ISI chief retires or is replaced by the Army chief.
• The Nation , citing a security official privy to the development, reported of the impending change of command and said preparations were under way for the changes.
• The corps commander of Karachi, Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar, is most likely to replace him.

:: India and World ::

Pakistan’s reference of Kashmir rejected by India

• India has strongly rejected Pakistan’s references on Kashmir at the U.N., saying such remarks are a self-serving attempt by Islamabad to bring extraneous issues to the world body for its “territorial aggrandisement.”
• India, exercising the Right of Reply after Pakistan’s envoy to the U.N.raised the Kashmir issue at the U.N, said that Pakistan had made references to the Indian State of J&K in a self-serving attempt to bring extraneous issues before the committee.
• Such efforts were a flagrant misuse of the body for Pakistan’s own territorial aggrandisement, India said, recalling that the Special Committee on Decolonisation was concerned only with Non-Self-Governing Territories.
• It asserted that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India.
• Exercising its Right of Reply, Pakistan said India continued to perpetrate misinformation on the Kashmir issue year after year.

:: Business and Economy ::

Government to give push to stalled hydro projects

• In a bid to boost hydro power sector, the government is planning to formulate a policy to push stalled projects and extend the benefits for renewable sources like wind and solar to hydro projects beyond 25 MW capacity.
• According to a proposal of the Power ministry, projects with capacities of up to 25 MW have been categorised as small hydro-power projects and would get the benefits as extended to other renewable energy projects.
• Hydro power potential in the country has been estimated at about 150 GW, with 50 GW coming from Arunachal Pradesh alone.
• The Power ministry had earlier said that the planned hydro power generation capacity addition of 4,371 MW out of the total target of 10,897 MW in the 12th Plan will not be completed.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 08 October 2016

:: National ::

Home Minister says Pakistan border will be sealed within two years

Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the surgical strikes, Union Home Minister said the entire stretch of 3,323 km border would be “completely sealed” by December 2018, for which a time-bound action plan would be formulated.
Mr. Singh said the procedure for sealing the international border would be developed in a planned manner.
A mechanism would be put in place for periodic monitoring “by Home Secretary at the Central level, BSF from the security forces perspective and Chief Secretaries at the State level.”
Mr. Singh said the government would apply technological solutions for sealing the border in difficult terrains. A border security grid would also be formed, with guidelines to be framed with suggestions from all stakeholders in the border areas.
A notification would be issued after inputs from the Chief Ministers, Home Secretaries and Directors-General of Police, he added.
Eighty percent of the Jan Dhan Yojana now have balance

Eighty percent of the 240 million new bank accounts created under the Narendra Modi government’s Jan Dhan Yojana now have balance in them, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said.
Mr. Jaitley was participating in a panel discussion at the World Bank on financial inclusion and de-risking or measures to prevent the illicit use of the banking system.
The Ministers of India, Indonesia, treasury secretary of the U.S. and the Governor of the People’s Bank of China who were part of the panel along with World Bank President represented 43 per cent of the world population and 40 per cent of unbanked adults.
Mr. Kim said the progress made by India in financial inclusion is a model that is inspiring for the rest of the world. Other speakers also lauded India’s progress in financial inclusion.

:: International ::

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize

• Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize for his “resolute” efforts to end more than five decades of war in his country, despite voters’ shock rejection of a historic peace deal.
• The award was unexpected after voters rejected the terms of the landmark accord Mr. Santos clinched last month with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) leader Rodrigo Londono.
• The Norwegian Nobel committee rewarded Mr. Santos for his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end.
• The deal, signed on September 26 after nearly four years of talks, was supposed to be ratified following an October 2 referendum but voters shot down the agreement, leaving the country teetering between war and peace.
• The Colombia conflict has claimed more than 260,000 lives and left 45,000 missing over five decades, drawing in several Leftist guerilla groups, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs.

:: Business and Economy ::

India’s foreign exchange reserves scaled to a new high

• India’s foreign exchange reserves scaled a new high of $371.99 billion, up $1.223 billion for the week to September 30, as per the Reserve Bank data.
• The increase was on account of a $1.468-billion surge in the foreign currency assets. In the previous week, the reserves had risen by $1.166 billion to $370.766 billion.
• Previously, they had touched a high of $371.279 billion in the week to September 9. Foreign currency assets which are a major component of the overall reserves surged by $1.468 billion to $346.71 billion, the Reserve Bank said.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 06 October 2016

: India and World ::

Sri Lanka joined the demand for regional organisation to counter cross-border terrorism

• Pushing for revising the agenda of SAARC, Sri Lanka on Wednesday joined the growing demand that the regional organisation counter cross-border terrorism.
• After a meeting with PM Modi, visiting Srilanka’s PM cited Sri Lanka’s experience with war and terrorism, and warned that SAARC would become irrelevant without addressing terrorism.
• “Cross-border terrorism might worsen if SAARC is thrown away,” he said and added that three countries out of the eight-member regional grouping was afflicted by security problems. He, however cautioned against war.
• Sri Lanka was the fifth country to issue a statement against holding the 19th SAARC summit in Islamabad in November.
• He said Sri Lanka’s decision against attending the summit was decided through a process of democratic consultations, and highlighted that Sri Lanka was discussing “several options” in shaping the South Asian regional order.
• India’s preparation to deal with the emerging challenges figured in Mr. Wickeremesinghe’s meeting with Mr. Modi and both sides discussed bilateral issues such as India’s aid and technical support to Sri Lanka.
• He said that in the midst of the “crucial phase” in South Asia, his country would continue with the peace-building process that started following the end of the war against the Tamil Eelam fighters.
• Mr. Wickremesinghe’s demand on SAARC with a counter-terror focus follows India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan citing “cross-border terrorism”, “imposed war” and “interference” from Pakistan.

Science and Technology ::

Trio of scientists won the Nobel Chemistry Prize for developing molecular machines

• A trio of French, British and Dutch scientists won the Nobel Chemistry Prize for developing molecular machines, the world’s smallest machines that may one day act as artificial muscles to power tiny robots or even prosthetic limbs.
• Inspired by proteins that naturally act as biological machines within cells, these synthetic copies are usually constructed of a few molecules fused together.
• Also called nanomachines or nanobots, they can be put to work as tiny motors, ratchets, pistons or wheels to produce mechanical motion in response to stimuli such as light or temperature change. Molecular machines can move objects many time their size.
• The first step towards a molecular machine was taken by Mr. Sauvage in 1983, when he succeeded in linking together two ring-shaped molecules to form a chain.
• The second step was taken by Mr. Stoddart in 1991, when he threaded a molecular ring onto a thin molecular axle and demonstrated that the ring was able to move along the axle.
• Mr. Feringa (65) was meanwhile the first person to develop a molecular motor — in 1999 he was able to make a molecular rotor blade to spin continually in the same direction. Using molecular motors, he has also designed a nanocar.

:: Business and Economy ::

Country’s services sector business activity softer in September

• The expansion of the country’s services sector business activity was softer in September vis-à-vis August as the level of new business placed with Indian services firms increased moderately.
• The headline seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index registered 52.0 in September, down from August’s 43-month high of 54.7. An index reading above 50 indicates an expansion, while below 50 a contraction.
• Reflecting softer expansions in activity at both service providers and manufacturers, the seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index fell from August’s 42-month high of 54.6 to 52.4 in September.

World Economic Forum says India and Pak problem will not impact regional growth

• The current standoff between New Delhi and Islamabad will not impact the growth prospects of the South Asian region including India, the Geneva-based ‘World Economic Forum’ said.
• Chief economist and member of the executive committee, WEF, said South Asia was the world’s fastest growing region and there was no reason to believe that the recent geopolitical tension would impact the region’s growth prospects.
• Director-general, CII, also said the economy and business in India and South Asia would not get affected due to the tension at the India-Pakistan border.
• India Economic Summit’s focus area includes the digital economy, travel & tourism, energy, entrepreneurship, infrastructure, start-ups, skill development, gender equity, urbanisation, boosting manufacturing and urbanisation.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 06 October 2016

:: National ::

Cabinet approved the long-awaited amendments to the HIV Bill

• The Union Cabinet approved the long-awaited amendments to the HIV Bill, granting stronger protection to the country’s HIV community.
• The Bill prohibits discrimination against people living with HIV (PLHIV) in accessing healthcare, acquiring jobs, renting houses or in education institutions in the public and private sectors.
• There are approximately 21 lakh persons estimated to be living with HIV in India and the percentage of patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) treatment currently stands at a mere 25.82% as against the global percentage of 41%.
• The “HIV and AIDS Bill, 2014” will bring legal accountability and establish a formal mechanism to probe discrimination complaints against those who discriminate against such people.
• Bill requires that “no person shall be compelled to disclose his HIV status except with his informed consent, and if required by a court order.”
• The Bill lists various grounds on which discrimination against HIV-positive persons and those living with them is prohibited.
• These include the denial, termination, discontinuation or unfair treatment with regard to employment, educational establishments, health care services, residing or renting property, standing for public or private office, and provision of insurance.

The International Court of Justice ruled against the Marshall Islands

• The United Nations’ highest court rejected nuclear disarmament cases filed by the Pacific nation of the Marshall Islands against Britain, India and Pakistan, saying it did not have jurisdiction.
• The International Court of Justice ruled that the Marshall Islands had failed to prove that a legal dispute over disarmament existed between it and the three nuclear powers before the case was filed in 2014.
• It took a casting vote by the court’s President Ronny Abraham to break an eight-eight deadlock between the 16 judges on the question of jurisdiction in the case against Britain.
• In a landmark 1996 advisory opinion, the court said that using or threatening to use nuclear arms would “generally be contrary to” the laws of war and humanitarian law.
• But it added that it could not definitively rule on whether the threat or use of nuclear weapons would be legal “in an extreme circumstance of self-defence, in which the very survival of a state would be at stake.”

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 05 October 2016

:: National ::

SC put on hold order to constitute the Cauvery Management Board

• In another roller-coaster hearing, the Supreme Court put on hold its order to constitute the Cauvery Management Board and finally settled for the Centre’s suggestion to appoint a “technical team” to visit the Cauvery basin.
• The technical team led by G.S. Jha, Chairman, Central Water Commission, will visit the river basin along with nominees of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala to submit a report in the Supreme Court by October 17.
• The court will hear the matter on October 18.
• Tamil Nadu accused the Centre of “playing into the hands of the Karnataka government” to deny the people of Tamil Nadu their share of Cauvery water.

GSAT-18 to be launched from the European spacepad of Kourou

• GSAT-18, India's heaviest satellite to date at 3,404 kg, is scheduled to be launched from the European spacepad of Kourou in French Guiana.
• It. is expected to add a few new transponders for Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• The 48 transponders on the new satellite , including 12 in the Ku-band, should ease ISRO’s shortfall in meeting the growing demand from its numerous users.
• GSAT-18 will be lifted to its space orbit on a European Ariane-5 rocket, ISRO said.
• ISRO last launched a communication satellite in November last year. That spacecraft, GSAT-15, did not add new numbers but has replaced the ageing INSAT-3A and a partially crippled INSAT-4B in the 93 degrees East slot.
• GSAT-18 was approved in May 2015 with a budget of Rs. 1,022 crore, which includes the fee to launch provider Arianespace. It will supplement the INSAT-4CR, sent to orbit in 2007, at the same slot of 74 degrees East longitude.
• In the coming days, when it is in its final slot GSAT18 is expected to support the services of users in telecommunication, broadcasting, VSAT services and digital satellite news gathering areas.

:: International ::

After EU vote Paris climate deal set to come into force

• In a historic vote held at the plenary session of the EU Parliament in Strasbourg, a majority of the members voted in favour of ratifying the Paris Agreement.
• The vote paved the way for the entry into force of the Agreement in November this year, with 610 out of 678 Parliament members voting in favour of the ratification.
• As per the rules of the Agreement, adopted in Paris last year, the cumulative emissions of the ratifying parties must cross the minimum required threshold of 55 per cent of global emissions for it to enter into force.
• Accounting for approximately 12 per cent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally, the EU-28 nations will add to the 52 per cent of global emissions that the 62 ratifying parties have covered already.
• Only seven EU nations — France, Germany, Malta, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria and Portugal — have ratified the Paris Agreement at the national level.
• However, after the EU submits its instrument of ratification, the member nations will work on following the requisite procedures back at home.

:: Business and Economy ::

MPC decided to reduce the benchmark repo rates

• The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided at its first policy review to reduce the benchmark repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 per cent.
• The Reserve Bank of India’s key policy interest rate has now been cut to its lowest level since 2011. Retail inflation dropped to a five-month low of 5.05 per cent in August.
• The neutral rate is the difference between the risk free rate and inflation — a key determinant of the policy rate.
• Market participants expect interest rates to ease further in the next policy review in December.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 04 October 2016

:: National ::

Centre says SC has over-stepped its jurisdiction in Cauvery case

• The Centre said the Supreme Court had over-stepped into legislative turf by ordering the National Democratic Alliance government to constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).
• Less than 48 hours after the Centre agreed to comply with the Supreme Court’s order to form the CMB by October 4, Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi was back in the apex court.
• He told a Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and U.U. Lalit that he made a “mistake” by not giving them the full picture on the CMB as compliance may lead to “other complications.”

Another terrorist attack in Baramulla

• Militants planned to mount a Uri-style attack at the Baramulla Army camp but BSF constable Nitin Kumar (24) put paid to their designs, when he came out of his bunker, all alone, to challenge them.
• A senior Border Security Force (BSF) official said on Monday that Kumar was killed when the terrorists hurled grenades at the bunkers outside the Army camp and shrapnel hit him.
• The BSF is co-deployed with the 46 RR Battalion of the Army and mans some of the bunkers there as part of its road opening duty.
• Attackers, three-four, fled from the spot through the narrow alleys of the congested old town after their bid to carry out a Uri-style attack was foiled in effective fire.
• A compass, one Global Positioning System (GPS) device and a wire cutter were found near the encounter site.
• Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on a two-day visit to Leh, said he had spoken to National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and BSF DG K.K. Sharma.

:: India and World ::

India gets support of its old ally Russia

• Days after it asked Islamabad to take “effective” steps to stop the activities of terrorist groups on its territory, Russia “welcomed” the surgical strike by India, saying every country had a right to defend itself.
• Russia’s Ambassador to New Delhi Alexander M. Kadakin said his country had always been with India in fighting cross-border terrorism.
• “Greatest human rights violations take place when terrorists attack military installations and attack peaceful civilians in India. We welcome the surgical strike. Every country has right to defend itself,” the Russian Govt.said.
• He assured India that it did not need to worry about the Russia-Pakistan joint military exercise, saying it did not take place in the “Pakistan-occupied Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir”.
• Last week, a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said Russia stood for a “decisive struggle” against terrorism in all its manifestations.

:: Business and Economy ::

To Boost BRICS trade, India will organise trade fair for BRICS

• To boost trade among the BRICS nations, India, for the first time, will organise a trade fair for the bloc that also includes Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa.
• Intra-BRICS trade in 2014 was just $297 billion — less than five per cent of the $6.5 trillion worth trade that the five countries had with the world that year.
• Goods imports from the world into the BRICS countries were $3.03 trillion in 2014, while global goods exports of BRICS countries were $3.47 trillion that year.
• The first BRICS Trade Fair & Exhibition will be held from October 12-14 in the national capital, ahead of the BRICS political summit in Goa. This initiative was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.
• The focus of the Fair is ‘Building BRICS – Innovation for Collaboration’. The Fair is meant to give an impetus to intra-BRICS economic engagement. It will showcase about 20 key sectors.
• Besides established companies, start-ups and innovators from BRICS will showcase their offerings to help technology solution providers share knowledge in dealing with challenges in healthcare, education, energy efficiency, waste management etc.
• Leaders from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand have been invited for meetings at the Fair.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2016

Yoshinori Ohsumi

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2016 was awarded to Yoshinori Ohsumi "for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy".

Yoshinori Ohsumi, a Japanese cell biologist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for his discoveries on how cells recycle their content, a process known as autophagy, a Greek term for “self-eating.”

It is a crucial process. During starvation, cells break down proteins and nonessential components and reuse them for energy. Cells also use autophagy to destroy invading viruses and bacteria, sending them off for recycling. And cells use autophagy to get rid of damaged structures. The process is thought to go awry in cancer, infectious diseases, immunological diseases and neurodegenerative disorders. Disruptions in autophagy are also thought to play a role in aging.

But little was known about how autophagy happens, what genes were involved, or its role in disease and normal development until Dr. Ohsumi began studying the process in baker’s yeast.

Why Did He Win?

The process he studies is critical for cells to survive and to stay healthy. The autophagy genes and the metabolic pathways he discovered in yeast are used by higher organisms, including humans. And mutations in those genes can cause disease. His work led to a new field and inspired hundreds of researchers around the world to study the process and opened a new area of inquiry.

“Without him, the whole field doesn’t exist,” said Seungmin Hwang, an assistant professor in the department of pathology at the University of Chicago. “He set up the field.”

Who Is He?

Dr. Ohsumi, who was born in 1945 in Fukuoka, Japan, and received a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 1974, floundered at first, trying to find his way. He started out in chemistry but decided it was too established a field with few opportunities.


So he switched to molecular biology. But his Ph.D. thesis was unimpressive, and he could not find a job. His adviser suggested a postdoctoral position at Rockefeller University in New York, where he was to study in vitro fertilization in mice.

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2016

David J. Thouless
University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

and the other half to

F. Duncan M. Haldane
Princeton University, NJ, USA

and

J. Michael Kosterlitz
Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

”for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter”

They revealed the secrets of exotic matter
This year’s Laureates opened the door on an unknown world where matter can assume strange states. They have used advanced mathematical methods to study unusual phases, or states, of matter, such as superconductors, superfluids or thin magnetic films. Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now on for new and exotic phases of matter. Many people are hopeful of future applications in both materials science and electronics.

The three Laureates’ use of topological concepts in physics was decisive for their discoveries. Topology is a branch of mathematics that describes properties that only change step-wise. Using topology as a tool, they were able to astound the experts. In the early 1970s, Michael Kosterlitz and David Thouless overturned the then current theory that superconductivity or suprafluidity could not occur in thin layers. They demonstrated that superconductivity could occur at low temperatures and also explained the mechanism, phase transition, that makes superconductivity disappear at higher temperatures.

In the 1980s, Thouless was able to explain a previous experiment with very thin electrically conducting layers in which conductance was precisely measured as integer steps. He showed that these integers were topological in their nature. At around the same time, Duncan Haldane discovered how topological concepts can be used to understand the properties of chains of small magnets found in some materials.

We now know of many topological phases, not only in thin layers and threads, but also in ordinary three-dimensional materials. Over the last decade, this area has boosted frontline research in condensed matter physics, not least because of the hope that topological materials could be used in new generations of electronics and superconductors, or in future quantum computers. Current research is revealing the secrets of matter in the exotic worlds discovered by this year’s Nobel Laureates.

Japanese cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi won Nobel Prize in medicine

Yoshinori Ohsumi (71) of Japan has won the 2016 Nobel Prize for physiology or Medicine for his pioneering work on autophagy. With this he becomes the 23rd Japanese national to win a Nobel prize and overall the sixth Japanese medicine Nobel laureate. Mr. Ohsumi had received a PhD from the University of Tokyo in 1974. Currently, he is a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT). What is Autophagy? Autophagy is a process whereby cells “eat themselves”. It is a fundamental process in cell physiology dealing with how the body breaks down and recycles cellular components. It is essential for the orderly recycling of damaged cell parts and its better understanding has major implications for health and disease, including cancer. It was first observed by Belgian scientist Christian de Duve who had won Nobel Medicine Prize in 1974 for it. Christian de Duve had coined the term “autophagy”, which comes from the Greek meaning self-eating. Yoshinori Ohsumi’s Research in Autophagy Ohsumi’s discoveries in Autophagy have led to a new paradigm in the understanding of how the cell recycles its content. In his research, Mr. Ohsumi had used baker’s yeast to identify genes essential for autophagy. He explained the mechanisms for autophagy in yeast and showed that similar sophisticated machinery is used in human cells. Significance: Ohsumi’s research had located the genes that regulate this self-eating process and also related that errors in these genes can cause disease. His findings have opened new path to understand importance of autophagy in many physiological processes, such as how body adapts to starvation or responds to infection. It has helped to establish links to Parkinson’s disease, type 2 diabetes and other disorders that appear in the elderly. About Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel award for medicine is given to persons whose discoveries have significantly enhanced the understanding of life or the practice of medicine. The winners are chosen by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute and are always announced before the Nobel Prize for other categories. The prestigious award carries prize money of 8 million Swedish kroner or 1.1 million dollars. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite in 1895.

Read more at: http://currentaffairs.gktoday.in/

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 02 October 2016

National ::

Defence Minister says Pakistan still unaware that surgery has been done

• Pakistan is like a patient who has been given anaesthesia and doesn’t know that surgery has already been done on him, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said.
• The Minister’s remarks are first comments from a member of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) following the “surgical strikes” on terrorist launch pads along the Line of Control.
• Mr. Parrikar’s comments came even as Army chief Gen. Dalbir Singh visited the Northern and Western Commands and reviewed the Army’s operational preparedness in these two crucial commands.
• Addressing a gathering in Peethsain in Pauri district of Uttarakhand, the Minister warned that India would not hesitate to carry out more such operations in the future if its interests were harmed.
• “If Pakistan continues with such conspiracies, we will give them a befitting reply again,” the Minister said.
• Army chief interacted with top commanders and got a first hand assessment of the security situation amid heightened tensions along the LoC and the international border.

CBDT received disclosures of more than 65000 crores under IDS

• Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had received total disclosures of Rs. 65,250 crore under the Income Disclosure Scheme, 2016 in the form of cash and other assets.
• The Minister added that since some disclosures that were received manually were yet to be tabulated and verified, the figure could be revised upward.
• The four-month window under the scheme for declaring undisclosed income or black money that had escaped assessment closed.
• Mr. Jaitley refused to draw comparisons of the current Income Declaration Scheme (IDS), 2016 with the Voluntary Disclosure Scheme of 1997.
• Then government had mopped up Rs. 9,760 crore in taxes at an average of about Rs. 7 lakh per declarant.
• Unlike the IDS, Mr. Jaitley said, the earlier scheme had not penalised the declarents and allowed them to value the assets declared at the market prices of 1987 rather than current rates.

International ::

US warns Pakistan about Nuclear posturing

• The United States has conveyed to Pakistan that nuclear threats are not acceptable, a senior State Department official, who did not want to be named, said.
• The message was conveyed after Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said twice in the span of a week that his country could use tactical nuclear weapons against India.
• The U.S is concerned about the safety of Pakistani nuclear weapons otherwise also, the official said “The safety of these weapons is always a concern for us. So we are always monitoring it, regardless of what they said on this particular occasion,”.
• Meanwhile, State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said the U.S Secretary of State John Kerry is talking to the Indian leadership to ensure that the situation does not escalate.
• “we’re very concerned about the situation there. We don’t want to see it escalate any further. And as part of that concern, the Secretary is certainly engaged and talking to Indian leadership – senior Indian leadership,” Mr. Toner said.
• Mr. Toner said: “I would just say nuclear-capable states have a very clear responsibility to exercise restraint regarding nuclear weapons and missile capabilities. And that’s my message publicly and that’s certainly our message directly to the Pakistani authorities.”

:: India and World ::

India would stresson trying to operationalise the Green Climate Fund

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in Kozhikode on September 25 that India would ratify the Paris climate deal.
• The ratification document will be submitted at the offices of the UN Secretary-General by Syed Akbaruddin, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, or his representative, said Environment Ministry officials.
• It is still unclear what led India to alter its position dramatically from mere weeks ago.
• At the G20 summit in China last month, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya said India “wasn’t ready” in terms of the domestic actions required to ratify, or at least commit to ratify, the Paris deal within 2016.
• After India’s bid to enter the NSG was rebuffed by China in Seoul in June, the External Affairs Ministry said, “An early positive decision by the NSG would have allowed us to move forward on the Paris agreement.”
• Mr. Dave said that at the climate talks in Morocco in November, India would stress most on trying to operationalise the $100 billion corpus — called the Green Climate Fund — committed by developed countries.
• Fund will aid policy, projects and technology transfer as a buffer against the impact of climate change. Only a fraction of it has been pledged so far.
• The funds will help nations work on fulfilling their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) which aim to reduce carbon emissions through a host of solutions.
• Mr. Dave said that India has already completed 12 per cent of all pre-2020 Intended National Determined Contributions (INDC), or the road map by which it will make good on its commitments to reduce carbon emissions.
• As part of its INDC plans, India had promised to bring down its emissions intensity, or emissions per unit of the GDP, by at least 33 per cent by the year 2030 as compared to 2005 levels.

:: Business and Economy ::

The centre is reconsidering a plan to widen the social security net

• The centre is reconsidering a plan to widen the social security net for workers by bringing more factories under the provident fund coverage.
• The Cabinet Secretariat has pointed out a few contradictions in the Labour Ministry’s proposal to amend the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act of 1952.
• The Labour Ministry had proposed to bring down the threshold limit for coverage of firms under the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) to factories with at least 10 workers. At present, the EPF Act is applicable to factories with minimum 20 workers.
• The proposal to decrease the threshold limit was found to be contradictory with another proposal in the Act to give an option to workers to switch to the NPS, managed by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority.
• In his Union Budget 2015-16 speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had proposed allowing EPF subscribers to opt for NPS and to make EPF contributions optional for workers below a certain income threshold.
• In June this year, Centre proposed making EPF optional for textile workers earning less than Rs 15,000 a month as a part of a special package for the garments sector.
• The government’s proposal to bring factories with at least 10 workers under the EPF fold can bring 50 lakh additional workers under the social security coverage.
• At present, 8.7 crore workers are subscribing to the EPFO out of which around 3.77 crore workers have been making active contributions to their provident fund account till 2015-16, data showed.
• The proposal to cover factories with at least tenworkers under the Employee Provident Fund Act was one of the recommendations of the 44th Indian Labour Conference Session which was held in February 2012.

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 01 October 2016

National ::

Supreme Court cancels Shahabuddin’s bail

• Finely balancing societal interest with concerns about individual liberty, the Supreme Court ordered former RJD MP Mohd Shahabud-din to be sent back to prison 20 days after he came out on bail.
• The Supreme Court however ordered the Bihar government and the trial court to complete the trial as early as possible. In a “judicious” decision taken after pouring through evidence, a Bench of Justice P.C. Ghose and Amitava Roy said Shahabuddin should be “forthwith” taken back into custody.
• The Supreme Court observed that the High Court erred in granting Shahabuddin bail as a “matter of course” without taking into consideration “the overall facts”.
• It noted that several cases against him are pending in various stages of trial and appeal in various courts of Bihar and in the Patna High Court.
• The Bench made it clear that it has taken serious notice of Shahabuddin's repeated contention that there was a “conscious delay” in the conduct of his trial by directing that “all steps as contemplated in law to dispose of the case, as early as possible”.
• The order quashing the High Court decision to free Shahabuddin came despite the Bench flaying the lacklustre performance of the Bihar government on the prosecution side.
• The Bench had castigated the State for its 17-month delay in conducting the trial and the almost zero interest it showed to pre-vent Shahabuddin's bail.

Bihar’s liquor law amendment’s are ultra virus says HC

• The Patna High Court set aside the amended Bihar Prohibition and Excise Bill, 2016, which had banned the sale and consumption of liquor in the State.
• A division bench of the court, comprising Chief Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari and Justice Navaniti Prasad Singh, quashed the April 5 notification of the government.
• It said, “Section 19(4) of the Bihar Excise Act 1915 as amended with effect from 01.04.2016, (passed by the legislature on 31.03.2016) is ultra vires the Constitution and unenforceable.”
• The Bench, in its 142-page order, went on to say, “The impugned notification, issued by the State under Section 19(4) of the said amended Act is also ultravires the Constitution, and, consequently unenforceable.”

:: International ::

US Presidential candidate Clinton concerned over Nuclear weapon in Pak

• U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has expressed concern over the possibility of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons falling into the hands of jihadists, which she said was “a threatening scenario,” according to a media report.
• “Pakistan is running full speed to develop tactical nukes in their continuing hostility with India,” the former Secretary of State told a close door fundraiser in Virginia in February, The New York Times reported.
• Such remarks from the former secretary of state gains significance in view of an interview of Pakistani Defence Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif to the local TV channel in which he threatened to unleash nukes against India.

:: India and World ::

SAARC summit in Pakistan postponed after withdrawal from various countries

• Blaming India for derailing the SAARC Summit, Pakistan announced that the summit in Islamabad will now be held on an alternative date, even as Sri Lanka joined others in opposing the summit under the “prevailing environment”.
• Nepal subsequently issued an official statement seeking an indefinite postponement of the summit.
• Sri Lanka joined India, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh in demanding the summit should not be held.
• Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding, “Sri Lanka condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and stresses in this regard the need to deal with the issue of terrorism in a decisive manner”.
• Addressing the media in Delhi, Afghan envoy Shaida M. Abdali demanded that SAARC should focus on counter-terror initiatives.
• Meanwhile, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted, ‘We note Pakistan’s decision 2 postpone SAARC Summit. They’ve been compelled 2 recognise the regional sentiment against terrorism.’

:: Business and Economy ::

India considering about developing airport at Chabahar

• India may examine a proposal from Iran to develop the airport at its strategic Chabahar port as part of comprehensive infrastructure development that includes rail-road connectivity to the port.
• The Chabahar port in the Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich nation’s southern coast lies outside the Persian Gulf and is easily accessed from India’s western coast bypassing Pakistan.
• Apart from discussions on expanding scope of cooperation to cover development of the entire Chabahar port, it was discussed that air transport could be of much significance.
• Chabahar has an operational airport and the Iranian minister enquired whether India would be willing to modernise it.
• Chabahar project will open a new gateway for development of India, Iran and Afghanistan by boosting connectivity and trade.
• A “milestone” pact on the strategic Chabahar port in southern Iran that will provide India access to Afghanistan and Europe by passing Pakistan was signed by India and Iran in May this year.