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.