Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 05 February 2016

:: International ::

The big thrust areas of Union Budget 2016-17, will be the agriculture and transport sectors and big-ticket disinvestment, including strategicsales in high-value companies such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), and oiland defence public sectorunits (PSUs) such as Oil andNatural Gas Corporation(ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL).
Mr. Jaitley will also announce in his budget speech a new centrally sponsored scheme forirrigation.
On the expenditure side,the big outgo will be on account of the implementation of the 7th Central Pay Commission recommendationsfor pay and pension hikes with effect from January 1, 2016
Mr. Jaitley will present the budget in Parliament on February 29.
To meet the fiscal deficittarget, the government willrely on proceeds from disinvestment for which the budget will set ambitious targets

A two-year road map for three types of sales of government stake in PSUs.
First, a plan for windingup loss-making units, including rules for the disposal of their assets and land.Passage next month of thenew bankruptcy code byParliament during the bud-get session, it is expected,will aid these sales
Second,profitable PSUs will be list-ed on stock exchangesthrough public sales of shares.
The government’s shareholding in enterprisesalready listed will be pareddown through public offers to the minimum level depending on the sector and“in line with governmentpolicy.
The third categorywill be that of strategic sales of high-value and big-sizecompanies such as BHEL,and the oil and defense sector PSUs.
Based on inputs received from private investors, the government is finalising anew revenue model for irrigation projects to be developed in the public-privatepartnership space, whichwill bring down the down-stream user charges forfarmers.
This technology-intensive concept will beselectively applied to high-yield, plantation and commercial crops.
The Centre has already opened up 100% FDIunder the automatic routein rolling stock, services, catering and the developmentand running of passenger terminals.
Measures are likely for addressing delaysin land acquisition in various States that is leading to stalled rail projects.

The 10 soldiers trapped in ice after an avalanche on the Siachen glacier were declared dead
The soldiers belong to the Madras regiment of the Army and have been posted there recently.
Avery large rescue team has been deployed to reach down to the swamped Army post. The rescuers are working at extremely low temperatures hovering between -25 to -45 degrees putting their lives at risk.
The major avalanche struck the Army post in Northern Siachen Glacier located at a height of 19600 feet
The Indian Army has been controlling the dominant heights of the glacier, the world’s highest battlefield, since occupying it in April 1984 under Operation Meghdoot pre-empting Pakistan’s move which controls heights at the lower altitudes.

Describing the Justice R.M. Lodha Committeereport on overhaul of BCCI as“straightforward, rational and understandable”, the Supreme Court sternly advised the cricketbody to “fall in line” with therecommendations and save itself further trouble.
Mr. Naphaderepresenting BCCI said the recommendations had to be firstdeliberated with its 30 members and implementation ofthese sweeping reforms in fullwould give rise to “all sorts ofcomplications.”
The Justice Lodha reporthad been distributed amongmembers and a meeting of its legal committee fixed for February 7.

The U.S. demanded that Russia immediately halt its bombing campaign in Syria after a bitter breakdown in peace talks ex- posed the deep rift between world powers aiming to end the five-year conflict.
On the ground, nearly 40,000 people have fled an offensive this week by President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime north of the city of Aleppo.
Mr. Assad’s forces also entered two Shia villages that were under siege by rebels.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Moscow to halt its bombing of the Syrian op- position in what he said was a “robust” phone call with Rus- sian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
Meanwhile, aconference of donor nations raised $11 billion for Syrian humanitarian needs over the next four years.
Mr. Cameron told a news conference that donors had pledged $6 billion for this year alone, and a further $5 billion to be spent by 2020.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley expects the joint committee of Parliament studying the insolveny and bankruptcy code will submit its report by the first week of March, with passage of the reform legislation possible during the Budget session scheduled to begin February 23.
He also expressed the hope that the Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill meant for the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) would al- so be passed in the Budget session itself.
Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha stressed upon prioritising the pro- vision of universal pension security including income security, health and life insurance and taking advantage of the large number of young people in the country who would otherwise become dependent on the State and society in the old age.
He said that he believed in the philosophy to em- power Indians with tools and knowledge to take ownership of their own retirement.
The NIIF would be the major driving force for investments in to India’s infrastructure 2016-17 onwards and can emerge as a major vehicle for bringing in foreign investment for infrastructure.

IT industry body Nasscom said that India’s IT services exports would cross the $100 billion mark in 2015-16 and the sector would clock double digit growth in 2016-17.
The optimism comes despite concerns about the impact of the election campaign in the United States, which accounts for half of India’s IT exports and the rise of protectionism in Europe and the U.K.
The IT sector, which India’s largest private sectoremployer, is likely to add two lakh new jobs this year, taking its employee strength to 3.7 million.
It expects another two lakh new jobs in 2016-17 with an expected 10 per cent to 12 per cent growth in exports at the present currency valuations.

The 12th South Asian Games will be launched with pomp and grandeur at the Indira Gandhi stadium, Sarurasajai, Guwahati.
Originally scheduled to be back in 2012, the prestigious multi-discipline event encompassing competitions in 23 disciplines and 241 events well be held across two cities — Shillong and Guwahati.
From a historical perspective, the South Asian Games were established as a movement to foster peace and friendship through regular sporting contact between athletes from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and current host India.
The first edition was held in Kathmandu in 1984.
This is the third time India will host the Games, after Kolkata in 1987 and Chennai in 1995,and it will have hopes of continuing with its overall dominance across venues for a twelfth straight time.