Daily News Analysis for IAS / UPSC (4th July, 2016)

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National Mineral Exploration Policy to accelerate activity in the country

Aim:Motivating the exploration activity in the country through improved participation of the private sector.
Focus:To make use of full mineral energy such as non-Fuel and non-Coal to the extreme and maximize sector contribution to the Indian Economy.
Fund Allocation:2116 crore over 5 years
Providing platform for Geo-scientific Data of world standards in the public domain

MoU between UPSC and Bhutan’s Royal Civil Service Commission

Will tighten the relationship between Royal Civil Service Commission, Bhutan and Union Public Service Commission.
will support sharing of experience and capability of both the parties in the area of recruitment process.
enhance institutionalized linkage between the Public Service commission of both nations.

Pact with ASCI to check misleading advertisements

council has been given a suo motu monitoring mandate by FSSAI to process complaints against misleading advertisements of food and beverages.
Agreement also requires ASCI to report to FSSAI non- compliance of ASCI’s decisions for further action as required per provisions of the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Act

‘Prashikshak’- a teacher education portal

Prashikshak’ is launched with a vision to strengthen District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) and bring quality teachers into the Indian school education system.
Prashiskshak Portal has started only for DIETs, it will cover block level institutes in the future and identify gaps at the bottom of the pyramid.

MoU between India and Tanzania in the field of water resources

Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation have been signing bilateral agreement with other countries in related to water resources development and management.
Memorandum of Understanding between India and Tanzania for bilateral cooperation in water resources Management and Development

Ethiopia, Bolivia, Sweden and Kazakhstan elected non-permanent UNSC members

elected as the non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for a two-year period beginning in January, 2017.
will replace Spain, Malaysia, New Zealand, Angola and Venezuela.
Italy and the Netherlandshad been vying for the one remaining seat, but the voting yielded no clear winner so they have proposed to split a two-year term on the UN Security Council.
voting for these countries in the UNGA was conducted by secret ballot in which members of the UNGA had voted.
Bolivia (183 votes) and Ethiopia (185 votes)were chosen from Group of Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa region respectively.
Sweden (134 votes)won from the Group of Western Europe.
Kazakhstan won from the Group of Asia Pacific against Thailand.

SCO Summit 2016 concludes in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

2-day meetingwas conducted under the presidency of Uzbekistan.
India and Pakistansigned the Memorandum of Obligations on 24 June 2016.
They are expected to become full members of the SCO by the next meeting at Astana in 2017.

Rodrigo Duterte sworn in as President of Philippines

Suzuki Motors appoints scion Toshihiro Suzuki as CEO

appointment came after Osamu Suzukiannounced that he will decline the CEO position to take responsibility for the automaker’s use of incorrect testing methods when calculating vehicle mileage.
Toshihiro Suzuki is the son of Suzuki Motor Chairman Osamu Suzuki.
Toshihiro served as a Senior Managing Executive Officer and Senior Managing Director of Suzuki Motor Corp.
He joined Suzuki Motor Corp. in January 1994.

Renowned artist K.G. Subramanyan dies at 92

G. Subramanyan, credited with being one of the pioneers of Indian modern art, passed away in Vadodara,
He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2012.
In 1951 he became a lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts in M.S. University in Baroda.
He was famous for his terracotta murals, glass paintings, illustrated children’s books, works on canvas that drew upon myth, memory and tradition, sculptures and drawings.
Awards and Honours:Padma Vibhushan (2012), Padma Bhushan (2006) and Padma Shri (1975)

India to get $1 bn World Bank funding for solar projects

World Bank committed USD 1 billion (about Rs 6,750 crore) to support solar energy program in India,
reducing dependence on conventional energy sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
the multilateral funding agency will provide more than USD 1 billion to support India’s ambitious solar initiatives through investments in generation.

India’s First Integrated Defence Communication Network Launched

network enables the Army, the Air Force, the Navy and the Special Forces Command to share situational awareness for a faster decision-making process.
first tri-service communication and IT network of the Armed Forces.
strategic, highly secure and scalable system. It has a pan-India reach from Ladakh to the North East to island territories.
network has been fully designed and developed in India by HCL Infosystems.

Sweden inaugurates world’s first electric road

one of the first countries in the world to conduct tests with electric power for heavy transports on public roads.
involved a current collector on the roof of the truck that feeds 750 volts DC to the truck’s hybrid electric system.
current conductor can connect automatically at speeds up to 90 km/h.
tests will continue up through
will provide knowledge of how electric roads work in practice, and whether the technology can be used in the future.
experiment is based on the Government’s goal of energy efficiency and a fossil fuel-free vehicle fleet by 2030, and will contribute to strengthening Sweden’s competitiveness.

Anti-submarine torpedo Varunastra inducted in Navy

The induction of the anti-submarine torpedo makes India one of the eight countries to have the capability to design and build such a system.
has been developed by Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), a premier laboratory of DRDO.
Weighing around 1.25 tons, it can carry about 250 kg of explosives at a speed of around 40 nautical miles an hour.
almost 95 per cent indigenous content. It is capable of targeting stealthy and quiet submarines, both in deep and littoral waters in intense counter-measure environment.
Varunastra has been designed with latest technologies such as high-speed and long endurance propulsion, software driven intelligence, conformal array acoustic homing with wide look angle and advanced digital signal processing.
has a GPS-based locating aid, a unique feature in contemporary torpedoes in the world.
also equipped with advanced autonomous guidance algorithms with low drift navigational aids, insensitive warhead which can operate in various combat scenarios.

Amul signs up as official sponsor of Indian team to the Olympics

Amulhas signed up as the official sponsor for the Indian contingent to the Rio Olympics 2016.
company will launch a series of advertising campaigns for milk and other dairy products to promote this association.
the company’s products will also sport special branding to promote this association.