Daily News Analysis for IAS / UPSC (3rd March, 2016)

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NATIONAL

Document for Lalit Modi’s Extraction submitted

Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers submitted documents for the extradition of former cricket administrator Lalit Modi
The documents were required by Interpol to extradite Lalit Modi
Lalit Modi has been accused of money laundering by the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court

Supreme Court Questions validity of All India Bar Exam

Supreme Court questioned if the conduct of the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) was a violation of the fundamental right to practice the profession.
Law graduates must clear the AIBE with 2 years of enrolment to practice.
The rules were notified in 2010 to improve the quality of the profession.
The apex court has asked reports from the Law Commission on the issues of holding such an examination.

First Raisna Dialogue in New Delhi

The Raisna Dialogue conference has started in
It is intended to rival conferences such as Munich Conference, Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that attract global players.
It is attended by speakers from 40 countries.
Tension between India and Pakistan have slowed South Asian integration.
There is a call for greater south Asian cooperation and economic integration

India Asks questions about team that probed Pathankot attack

Chennai gets smart self-cleaning toilets in India

They are free to use.
Each toilet cleans itself with 5 liters of water after 3 minutes of usage and 4.5 liters if usage is longer.
43 toilets are specially for women
Each toilet costs Rs 4.5 lakh.
1600 such toilets have been provided in 16 Indian states to various private organizations.

Food Security Scheme implemented in 47 districts in UP

All of UP districts are now covered under the food scheme.
Beneficiaries get subsidized food grains. Wheat at Rs 2, rice at Rs 3 per kg. Each beneficiary will get 5kg per month.
The scheme will benefit 64 crore people in 40 lakh households.
75% of population of the state will benefit from the scheme.
50 districts were declared as drought hit in 2015.

Military Exercise FORCE 18 started in Pune

It involves participants from 18 countries.
10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) –
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- Laos
- Indonesia
- Malaysia
- Myanmar
- Philippines
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Vietnam

It will conclude on March 8 2016.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Rural Electrification Scheme

Every house to be electrified by 2018.
Aims to augment power supply to rural areas and strengthen sub transmission and distribution lines
Separate agricultural and non-agricultural feeders.
Increase number of hours of power supply in rural areas
Reduction in peak load
Improvement in billed energy by metered consumption.
Center has provided a grant of 63000 crore

Unified Agricultural market to be launched soon

Can remove inter-state barriers in moving farm produce and can be a game changer.
Amendment of APMC act is required. 12 states have amended the act.
Logistics have to be provided for transportation of produce
Will benefit farmers and consumers by ensuring fair prices
Opens up agriculture market to foreign capital and marketing and creates employment opportunities.

Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain becomes Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command

Vice Admiral Atul Kumar took over command from Admiral Bimal Verma.
He was commissioned in Navy in 1982.
He specialized in Gunnery Missile and Warfare
He was gunnery officer of missile destroyers, ships Ranvijay and Ranvir

Micromax CEO resigns

Micromax CEO Vineet Taneja has
A replacement has not been announced
He was business head of Samsung India and had skimps at Bharati Airtel and Nokia earlier.
Micromax faces competition from Chinese and Indian handset makers
Micromax has become the third largest Russian market recently.

INTERNATIONAL

India stood 90^th rank in energy security

India has been ranked 90^th place in list of 126 countries
Report is compiled in accordance with Global Energy Architecture Performance Index compiled by WEF
Report is prepared in collaboration with Accenture
Ranking is done on basis of ability to provide energy access across the ‘energy triangle’
- Affordability
- Environment sustainability
- Security and access

Iraq to fight Sunni militancy

The battle to retake Mosul has gained an upper hands in recent months.
US backed forces have begun laying the groundwork to isolate Mosul from IS HQ in Raqqa, Syria.
Kurdish and Arab forces retook the town of Shaddadi in Eastern Syria.
It took 5 months to gain control of the city center of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province.

Myanmar to vote for President on March 10

The announcement leaves little time for Aung San Suu Kyi to get the top spot.
The current democracy figurehead is currently banned from becoming President according to junta-era constitution.
Negotiations have failed to reach a deal to clear her path to power.
Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won victory at the elections.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Indo-WB Financing Agreement inked

World Bank, Govt of India and Govt of Madhya Pradesh have signed a credit agreement worth $300 million.
It is for Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Quality Improvement Project
Credit has been given by International Development Association (IDA)
Sanctioned for 25 year period with a 5 year grace period.

RBI unlocks 40000 crores to capitalize banks

Relaxation of norms in balance sheet to unlock 40000 crores.
Will support capital requirements of Indian banks
Indian banks are facing huge losses due to Non-performing assets what have eroded capital.
The revised RBI norms give public sector banks (PSB) access to additional capital of Rs 35000 crore.

India’s GDP growth to hike by 7.8% in 2016-17

Nomura predicts India’s GDP growth will go from 6% to 7.8% in 2016-17
GDP growth will be based on discretionary demand driven by 7^th pay commission.
Also decided by various other factors
- Wage hike
- Low inflation
- High corporate probability
- Ongoing implementation of public capital expenditure

Infosys to collaborate with Microsoft on Analytics solution

Infosys will offer healthcare analytic solutions on Microsoft Intelligent Cloud Technology
It is now possible to store and analyze large volumes of structured and unstructured datasets at low cost
Will provide managed care organizations with tools to improve clinical and operational effectiveness at reasonable costs.
Will provide health-care call centers with customer support and self-service options to both health care workers and consumers.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Delhi Government to launch HPV vaccine

The HPV vaccine will help to prevent cervical cancers in women caused by sexual transmission.
Recent research shows that 122844 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer.
67477 die from the disease every year in India.
Vaccination will be given for 6th standard in 2 phases. It will be later given to girls between 9-13 years of age.
80% of cervical cancers can be prevented.

AWARDS

Forbes 2016 World Billionaries List

Forbes magazine has released its 30^th annual list of the world’s richest people
It features 1810 billionaires. Their net worth in $6.48 trillion
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is at the top position for the 3^rd consecutive year with net worth of $75 billion.
The US has 540 billionaires. China has 251 and Germany with

Three Britan professors win the Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Prize

The prize has been won for discovery of how memories are formed in the brain.
Three brain professors Tim Bliss, Graham Collingridge and Richard Morris.
The first prize 1 million euros.

Windham-Campbell Prizes announced

Nine writers have been awarded with the prize from Yale University.
Jerry Pinto from India has been included in the list.
Other writers are from USA, UK, Australia, India and Ireland
Three categories were chosen – fiction, non-fiction and drama

Science Journalist Pallava Bagla Bags National Award

Pallava Bagla has won the national award for “Outstanding Efforts in the Field of Science and Technology Communication on Electronic Medium”