Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 03 April 2017

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 03 April 2017

:: National ::

PM made appeal to Kashmiri youth to leave terrorism

  • Inaugurating the country’s longest tunnel of 9.28 km in Jammu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Kashmiri youth to make a choice between tourism and terrorism.

  • “Kashmiri youths have two options, tourism and terrorism. For 40 years, terrorism gave you nothing but bloodshed, deaths and destruction. Had you chosen tourism, the world would have been at Kashmir’s feet,” said Mr. Modi.

  • Built at a cost of Rs. 3.720 crore, the all-weather tunnel is an engineering feat, and will reduce the travel time between Srinagar and Jammu by two hours and bypass several treacherous and landslide prone areas.

  • The Prime Minister said every Indian dreams of visiting Kashmir. “More the tourists, the better it will be for the economy. The entire country is with Jammu and Kashmir if tourism is the focus,” he stressed.

  • Mr. Modi said, “I want to tell the Kashmiri youth what actually is the power of stones. On one side, youth in Kashmir throw stone. On the other, people are giving their blood and sweat, cutting rocks for Kashmir's development.”

  • Describing the tunnel as “a big leap for J&K’s development,” Mr. Modi said it would be a boon for Kashmir's farmers and fruit growers, whose produce will reach Delhi quickly without spoiling.

  • He said the tunnel will be discussed not only in India but also by climate activists in the world. “We have worked to safeguard the Himayalas and the environment,” said Mr. Modi.

  • J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti described Mr. Modi a “courageous leader” and pushed for the initiation of a dialogue.

Election commission says EVM’s are temper proof

  • Asking the Aam Aadmi Party to introspect on why it did not perform as expected in the Punjab Assembly polls, the Election Commission said the only alternative for verification of the results was to file a petition before the High Court.

  • It reiterated that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were tamper-proof.

  • It cited Rule 93 of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, to say: “You are informed that after declaration of result, only alternative available to verify the data of votes cast is to file an Election Petition before the High Court concerned.”

  • The rule states that while in the custody of the district election officer or the returning officer, all the vital documents related to the elections cannot be opened by any person or authority, except under the order of a competent court.

  • The Commission said the Supreme Court had never expressed any doubt on use of EVMs in the election process, strongly objecting to “wrong and imaginary exploration” of the Court order.

  • Dismissing the allegations of EVM tampering, the EC said various High Courts had also unequivocally reiterated that, given the effective technical and administrative safeguards, the voting machines could not be tampered and integrity of the electoral process was fully preserved.

  • On AAP’s contention that some foreign countries had stopped using EVMs, the EC said such comparisons were both misplaced and misguided as those used by EC were stand-alone machines.

  • The EC said nothing could be written on the chip after manufacturing and so, the machines used in India were fundamentally different from those adopted in various foreign countries.

  • As regards the use of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines for further transparency and verifiability, the Commission said they would be deployed in a phased manner given the financial constraints and production capacity.

The government will soon launch the electoral bonds scheme

  • The government will soon launch the electoral bonds scheme to fund political parties as proposed in this year’s Budget, Union Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley said.

  • The Minister said the government had sought suggestions from all parties on the contours of the scheme, including whether such bonds should be issued only during elections.

  • Mr. Jaitley defended the decision to lift the cap on corporate funds to political parties and said it was an improvement from the current situation, where companies siphon funds from their business activities to fund parties with ‘unclean money.’

  • Till the 1970s and the early 80s, the bulk of political funding in India used to come from political workers going from home-to-home, shop-to-shop, cutting out vouchers for small donations of Rs. 10, Rs. 50 and Rs. 100.

  • That amount now, because of inflation, can increase.Stressing that a system where large parties would get thousands and millions of supporters giving donations online would be the cleanest way.

  • Amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation Act) made last year to change rules that labelled an Indian company as a foreign source of funds if it had some NRI or foreign shareholders.

  • Now when sectoral caps have been lifted in almost every sector to 74% and 100%, you won’t find ten donors in India who won’t get covered by that definition.

  • So, for instance, a telecom or tobacco company doing business in India — Indian company doing 100% business in India, but within the meaning of FCRA would be debarred.

Centre to bring law for proper maintenance of parents (Register and Login to read Full News)

Election commission to buy next-generation EVMs (Register and Login to read Full News)

Grassoline — a biofuel derived from grass that could one day power aircraft (Register and Login to read Full News)

:: International ::

Decision on Myitsone dam to come soon

  • A government-appointed commission is to soon make a recommendation on the fate of the $3.6 billion, China-financed Myitsone Dam in Myanmar.

  • The decision is a daunting test for Aung San Suu Kyi, who risks angering China, the region’s economic powerhouse, if she cancels the project, or the public if she lets it go forward.

  • Analysts say the commission’s report would provide her the political cover to kill an unpopular white elephant that she inherited from Myanmar’s former military government.

  • But getting out of the deal would be difficult. If her government cancels the project outright, it could have to repay some $800 million that the state-owned Chinese developer says it has already spent on the project.

  • If Myanmar offers China other dam projects in return, a compromise her govt has floated, they are likely to impinge on disputed ethnic areas where they could threaten the peace talks she has championed since her political party came to power last year.

  • The Myitsone Dam is among the largest of many Chinese-financed energy and mining projects approved by the military junta that ruled Myanmar until 2011.

  • It is especially contentious because it would be the first dam to cross the Irrawaddy River, the mythic cradle of civilisation for Myanmar’s ethnic Burman majority.

  • Dam would provide Myanmar much-needed cash and electricity, critics said it would cause irreparable harm to the river, destroy fish stocks downstream and displace thousands of villagers.

  • But perhaps the most incendiary objection was that under the deal struck by the ruling generals, 90% of the dam’s electricity could go to China.

  • In 2011, the military-backed transitional government yielded to public pressure and suspended the project, the decision coming as a shock to Chinese officials and businessmen.

  • The Myitsone was meant to be the first and largest of seven dams planned by the Chinese developer.

  • It would generate more power than the entire country produces now, according to some estimates, but would still not cure the country’s chronic energy shortages.

:: Business and Economy ::

Export-Import Bank of India, is looking to raise about $3 billion

  • The Indian government-owned export credit agency, Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), is looking to raise about $3 billion from international capital markets in 2017-18.

  • Of this $3 billion, Exim Bank plans to mop up $1 billion by introducing a 10-year bond issue in the ‘144A / Regulation S format’ (under the US Securities Act) to raise funds from Qualified Institutional Buyers.

  • The bond issue of $1 billion in July 2016 was the largest issuance ever for Exim Bank and the largest single tranche issuance out of India in 2016, it had said.

  • MTN is a debt note typically maturing in five to ten years. Further, Mr. Rasquinha said out of the $10.5 billion GMTN programme, Exim Bank has so far drawn down around $6-6.5 billion.

  • Huge funds such as pension funds as well as wealth and asset management funds, that have promised a certain minimum rate of return to their investors in countries including the U.S., are looking at emerging markets to give them a better weighted average rate of return.

  • Mr. Rasquinha said of all the emerging markets, India – being the fastest growing economy, and with best performing stock market and currency – offers such funds the greatest opportunities.

India’s merchandise export is expected to cross $300 billion during the current fiscal

  • India’s merchandise export is expected to cross $300 billion during the current fiscal, said a top official of Federation of India Export Organisations (FIEO).

  • FIEO expects India’s shipments for fiscal 2016-17 to close at $272 billion against $262 billion in the previous year – a growth of 3-4%.

  • This fiscal, the exporters’ body expects manufacturing shipments to be in the region of $300-310 billion and services to be between $175 billion and $180 billion.

  • India’s merchandise export is expected to cross $300 billion during the current fiscal, said a top official of Federation of India Export Organisations (FIEO).

  • FIEO expects India’s shipments for fiscal 2016-17 to close at $272 billion against $262 billion in the previous year – a growth of 3-4%.

  • This fiscal, the exporters’ body expects manufacturing shipments to be in the region of $300-310 billion and services to be between $175 billion and $180 billion

  • Though last year’s export growth was minimal, Mr. Sahai said one must look at the outcome in the context of global scenario.

Industry concerned with anti tax avoidance rules (Register and Login to read Full News)

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