Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 02 March 2017

:: National ::

The government is unlikely to be able to clean the Ganga by 2018, a target set by Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti.
Key reasons include “unreasonable” directions by the National Green Tribunal questioning the operating capacity of sewage treatment plants in Uttar Pradesh and a delay in clearances by State governments to execute projects.
Work at developing the sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Uttar Pradesh had stopped because different expert groups, tasked by the court to estimate the sewage in the drains, had conflicting figures.
These estimates are necessary to determine the processing capacity of a treatment plant.
Ever since the Supreme Court had transferred 30-year-old cases, which dealt with the tardiness in cleaning the Ganga, to the NGT, it has routinely pulled up officials, for poorly executing projects.
The NGT has fined officials for inaccurate information on the 30 drains in the State and “wasting public money” on commissioning projects that didn’t properly account for the pollution load in the city.
It has also tasked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) with probing how certain projects were cleared by the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam in Garhmukteshwar.
Out of a Rs. 20,000-crore clean-up programme, only Rs. 2,000 crore has been sanctioned to the National Mission for Clean Ganga, the executive authority tasked with commissioning treatment plants, cleaning and beautifying the ghats and setting up improved crematoria.

DRDO successfully carried out a test of an interceptor missile, further validating the reliability of the under-development, two-layered Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) in shooting down enemy missiles.
The missile intercepted the incoming missile at an altitude of 15 km scoring a direct hit.
Last month, the DRDO carried out a successful test of the exo-atmospheric interceptor missile destroying the target outside the earth’s atmosphere at an altitude of over 85 km.
Research Centre Imarat (RCI) of the DRDO which had played a role in the development of all strategic missiles has speared the design and development of the BMD programme.
The BMD consists of two interceptor missiles, the Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV) for exo-atmospheric ranges and the Advanced Area Defence (AAD) missile for endo-atmosphere or lower altitudes.
The BMD is critical to protect the country from the long-range ballistic missiles proliferating in the neighbourhood. DRDO expects to have shield ready for deployment by 2022.

All Syrian sides that fought in the battle for Aleppo committed war crimes and the deal to evacuate civilians following the rebel defeat was a “crime of forced displacement”, a UN probe said.
The United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI) for Syria documented violations including chemical attacks and civilian executions perpetrated during the Damascus regime’s five-month siege of eastern Aleppo.
From July 21, 2016 to December 22, when government troops recaptured the city, the Syrian air force and its Russian ally “conducted daily air strikes” on Aleppo, the COI said.

An expansion in manufacturing business activity strengthened in February as compared to January, with data showing an increase in new orders, according to a private sector survey.
The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) registered a value of 50.7 in February, an increase from January’s 50.4. A reading above 50 implies an expansion while a value below that shows a contraction.
Greater output needs encouraged some firms to step up buying levels, but production requirements were insufficient to generate job creation.
However, while the reading was above 50 for a second month, the February figure was still much weaker than the long-term average of 54.2 “largely reflecting below-trend rates of growth for output and new business”.
Manufacturing PMI fell below 50, to 49.6, for the first time in 12 months in December amid a contraction in business activity following demonetisation.

In a further push to promote a less-cash economy, the government has asked all the banks to provide mobile banking facility to all customers by March 31.
Any customer who accesses UPI or BHIM app should automatically be enabled for mobile banking “because it means they want mobile banking.”
The Ministry for IT has recently been given the mandate of spearheading the NDA-government’s drive to push digital payments.
Prior to this, NITI Aayog was made responsible for promotion of digital transactions.
Government would roll out a programme in the coming weeks to bring more women into the start-up ecosystem by offering them mentoring and capital for setting up business.