Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 13 April 2017

:: National ::

Veteran diplomats says India had various options for Kulbhushan Jadhav

India should not rush into negotiations with Pakistan to free the former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been awarded the death sentence by Pakistan, veteran diplomats said.
They said India had several bilateral and multilateral options to free Mr. Jadhav, who was accused of sabotage and tried in a military court.
One option before India is to ask [U.S.] President Trump to prevail upon the Pakistan military to release Mr. Jadhav. It is highly unlikely that any request to shift Mr. Jadhav to a civil court would work.
Mr. Jadhav’s case was unique in the history of India-Pakistan hostility and was reminiscent of a Cold War spy drama.
Some diplomats have recommended that India should not hurry in responding to this move by Pakistan as the case is peculiar.
There were many instances when individuals suspected of being spies were given the death sentence in the usual courts of law in Pakistan and therefore the issue was why a normal legal process was avoided in this case.
Diplomats also said that India would have to deliberate upon what kind of response would be befitting if Pakistan executed Mr. Jadhav.

PSLV received double customers since Feb

The PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) space vehicle has received more than double the volume of inquiries from prospective customers ever since it launched a record 104 satellites on a single flight in February.
A world best, 101 small foreign commercial spacecraft were taken up at once in the feat, catapulting the PSLV’s overall commercial tally to 180.
The PSLV, with a near impeccable 37 successes in 39 flights, he said, is a clear leader in the category of rockets that lift small satellites to low earth orbits or LEOs.
These satellites weigh up to 500 kg and must be placed in polar orbits 500 km from the earth.
Similar 100-plus satellite contracts on a single flight would be uncommon; Mr. Sasibhushan said the next PSLV, C-38, due in May, would have 30 small satellites (smallsats) riding piggyback with the primary Cartosat-2 series satellite.

Curative petition filed by centre in AFSPA case

The government asked the Supreme Court to urgently reconsider its July 2016 verdict which ripped open the cloak of immunity and secrecy provided by the AFSPA to security forces for deaths caused during encounters in disturbed areas.
The Supreme Court had held that “there is no concept of absolute immunity from trial by a criminal court” if an Army man has committed an offence.
Judgement held that every death caused by security forces in a disturbed area, even if the victim was a dreaded criminal or a militant or a terrorist or an insurgent, should be thoroughly inquired into to address any allegation of use of excessive or retaliatory force.
Attorney-General appeared before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar during the mentioning hour, and apprised the court that the judgment had become a fetter on security forces involved in anti-militancy operations.
The judgment came on a plea by hundreds of families in Manipur for a probe by Special Ivestigation Team.

National Lok Adalatsettled nearly 6.6 lakh cases in one day (Register and Login to read Full News)

Budget session came to an end (Register and Login to read Full News)

:: International ::

Chinese President urged US counterpart to peacefully resolve North Korea issue

Chinese President Xi urged Donald Trump to peacefully resolve raging tensions over North Korea’s nuclear programme after the U.S. President warned that Washington would “solve the problem” on its own if Beijing did not rein in its close ally.
Mr. Xi spoke over phone to Mr. Trump as a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson churned towards the Korean peninsula, raising regional tensions.
He said that China sticks to the target of the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and that China is committed to peace and stability of the peninsula.
China holds that the issue should be solved through peaceful means, said Mr. Xi.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly called on China to do more to rein in its reclusive neighbour and close ally, which has stepped up its missile development and nuclear programme since 2016.
Mr. Xi’s phone call came after Mr. Trump turned to Twitter to vent his frustrations over North Korea’s provocative behaviour.

:: Business and Economy ::

Industrial production shrank to 1.2%

Industrial production in February 2017 shrank 1.2% year-on-year, the lowest in four months, mainly due to a decline in manufacturing output and the persistent impact of demonetisation, data released by the Central Statistics Office.
The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had recorded 1.99% growth in February 2016. The previous low was a contraction of 1.87% in October 2016.
Manufacturing sector, accounting for more than 75% of the index, shrank 2% in February 2017. The sector had marginal growth of 0.6% in February, 2016.
The main factor retarding growth was a fall in consumer goods output — both durable and non-durables being in the negative zone, according to an analysis by CARE Ratings.
CARE Ratings said 15 of the 22 industries witnessed negative growth, which was not a good sign, adding that capital goods declined against an increase in January which was expected as such growth rates have been volatile in the past.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation inched up in March 2017 to 3.81% (provisional) as against 3.65% recorded in February 2017, according to government data. Still, retail inflation was slower than the 4.83% recorded in March 2016.
According to CARE Ratings, the acceleration in inflation could be ascribed to higher fuel prices on account of rising global crude oil prices and increases in the costs of food articles like fruits and milk products.
Slower gains in the prices of pulses helped cap headline retail inflation.

FRBM review committee says centre can hold fiscal deficit at 3% till 2020

The Centre can take a pause on the fiscal consolidation front over the next three years by maintaining a fiscal deficit to GDP ratio of 3% till 2019-20, the FRBM Review Committee chaired by former Revenue Secretary N.K. Singh has recommended.
Set up to comprehensively review and give recommendations on the FRBM roadmap for future, the panel has advocated reaching a fiscal deficit to GDP ratio of 2.8% in 2020-21, 2.6% the subsequent year and 2.5% in 2022-23.
To put that in context, the government has set a fiscal deficit target of 3.2% of GDP in 2017-18, marginally better than the 3.5% clocked last year.
The FRBM law enacted in 2003 had originally envisaged attaining a fiscal deficit of 3% of GDP by 2008-09, but amendments over the years had revised the year for achieving the same target to 2017-18.
The panel has introduced an escape clause that allows the government to skip the fiscal deficit target for a particular year, in situations that include national security concerns, acts of war, national calamities, a collapse of the agriculture sector.
It recommended that deviations from the stipulated fiscal targets should not be more than 0.5%. The Reserve Bank of India governor Urjit Patel was not in favour of such a large deviation.
The escape clause can also be triggered if the economy’s real output growth slips by three percentage points from the average of the previous four quarters.
A similar buoyancy clause has been proposed, so that fiscal deficit must fall at least 0.5% below the target if real output grows 3% faster than that average.
The panel has recommended that the existing FRBM Act and rules be scrapped and a new Debt and Fiscal Responsibility Act be adopted and proposed the creation of a Fiscal Council that the government must consult before invoking escape clauses.