Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 23 April 2017

:: National ::

The Centre has set the ball rolling to make Wi-Fi available for free at all Central universities by the end of July so that students can make better use of online resources to pursue academic work.
While some institutions already provide Wi-Fi, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has set deadlines for the remaining institutions to provide free access to their students.
Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Vishwavidyalaya, Wardha, and E.F.L University, Hyderabad, are supposed to provide the facility by April 30.
By June 1, Hyderabad University will get Wi-Fi, while Tezpur University and Assam University, Silchar, will get it by June 2 and 7.
Banaras Hindu University by July 8; and Kashmir Central University, Manipur University, Nagaland University, Central Universities at Karnataka, Kerala and Aligarh Muslim University by July 30.

The Union Law Ministry is examining the list of 51 names recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointment as judges in various High Courts, with 445 of the total 1,079 posts currently vacant.
As the draft Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) for appointments in the higher judiciary has not been finalised, the Collegium has sent more recommendations for further appointments as per the existing system.
Govt also said deliberations with the Supreme Court on finalising the MoP were under way despite indications that certain issues were yet to be worked out.
The Supreme Court Collegium is learnt to have handed over the finalised draft to the Law Ministry, as per which it will have the final say on any objection by the government to any proposed appointment on the ground of national security and public interest.
The government’s recommendation for setting up of secretariats in the Supreme Court and the 24 High Courts to assist collegiums in the Supreme Court and the High Courts in the selection of judges has also been accepted.
However, the suggestion for committees of retired or sitting judges to assist the collegiums in finding suitable candidates has not been accepted.
While the draft MoP is being discussed since January last year, the Allahabad HC tops the list with 76 vacancies.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has 39 posts vacant, while 37 vacancies are there in the Calcutta HC, according to the latest government data.

A pregnant silence enveloped Paris, a day of quiet before the French people vote on Sunday in the first round of the presidential election.
The city appeared to be quietly recovering from gun battle on Champs Elysees and preparing for the poll. Two of the 11 candidates will make it to the May 7 run-off.
The mood of the country with its 10% unemployment rate, disillusionment with the political class and multiple terrorist attacks, coupled with the number of viable candidates, has kept the first round vote significantly more open than it has been in recent history.
Francois Hollande, the sitting President, facing single digit approval ratings, decided late last year not to run for another term. By then, it was too late for any candidate from Mr. Hollande’s Socialist party to consolidate the left’s support.
There are four serious contenders in the race — Mr. Macron, Ms. Le Pen, Mr. Fillon and Mr. Melenchon. Mr. Macron, who is perceived as a “bit of left, and a bit of right”, is, according to polls, set to win the run-off.

India strongly condemned attack in Afghanistan and blamed externally backed terrorists for the incident that killed at least 140 soldiers of the Afghan National Defence Forces.
Indirectly pointing at Pakistan for offering support to the Afghan Taliban that carried out the attack in Mazar-e-Sharif, India called for dismantling of safe havens of terrorism.
Following the attack which targeted soldiers praying in a mosque, Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences on social media even as the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) called for justice.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on a social media platform, “I strongly condemn the cowardly terror attack in Mazar-e-Sharif. Our prayers and condolences to the families who lost loved ones”.
No Indian citizens and diplomats were in the vicinity of the targeted area at the time when suicide attackers drove into the base and shot down dozens of soldiers who were just concluding their Friday prayers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the meeting of the governing council of NITI Aayog, where a new three-year policy action plan to replace the old system of five-year plans will be discussed.
Besides the new planning process, the council is likely to take up for discussion issues such as increasing farmer incomes and urban development. Three-year action plan will also include a strategy to spruce up the law and order situation.
The practice of five-year plans, being followed for over six decades, ended with the 12th Plan that concluded on March 31 this year.
NITI Aayog which was set up in December 2014 after abolishing the Planning Commission, will now come out with a 15-year vision document that is to be supplemented by a seven-year strategy and three-year action plans.
The Council, that includes all chief ministers as members, will be presented with “detailed plans on doubling of farmers’ income.”
The Prime Minister had in February last year urged all state governments to give priority to boosting the agriculture sector with a target of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.
The Aayog is also likely to place before the council a report card on its two years as an institution.