Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 11 March 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Real estate bill passed

The Rajya Sabha passed a landmark Real Estate Bill with a promise to secure the interests of homebuyers and developers in equal measure and remove corruption and inefficiency from the sector
Real estate contributes nine per cent to the national GDP and the Bill’s passagewas seen as crucial to ensuring better regulatory over- sight and orderly growth in the industry.
The first draft was rejected last year by the Rajya Sabha, with Opposition leaders saying it favoured developers and did not serve the interests of consumers.
Compared to the previous version of the Bill, in which constructions below the sizeof 1,000 square metres or 12 apartments were left out of the accountability ambit, the new Bill has reduced the size and exempts projects only below 500 square meters.
Previously, in the absence of a regulatory authority, real estate deals were largely done on faith or based on the experience of friends and family
one of the significant aspects of the Bill was the definition of “carpet area”. “Buyers will now be paying only for the carpet areaand not the super built-up area which was fraught with confusion earlier
the developers will now have to take consent of 66 per cent of the home- buyers in case they have to increase the number of floors or change the building plans. This will protect the buyers from any ad-hoc changes that are a norm presently.
If builders still cause delays in transferring properties to buyers, the appellate tribunal would intervene and slap fines on them within 60 days. In a worst case scenario, the tribunals can send a developer found guilty of fraud to jail for three years.
The builders would also beresponsible for fixing structural defects for five years after transferring the property to a buyer. In case consumers fail to make payments to developers, the appellate tribunal can fine them, too.

Radio channels to smoothen your drive

The Union RoadTransport and Highways Ministry is working on an ambitious plan to broad- cast traffic updates through a dedicated radio frequency across various national highways.
The Ministry is in talks with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to get a frequency band to disseminate among national highway commuters travel tips, safety tips, traffic up- dates, including information on accidents and diversions.
The Ministry would also have to get the approval of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for voice broadcasting.
A pilot project, the government on Thursday launched Highway Advisory Services to give traffic updates to commuters on the 256-km Delhi-Jaipur National Highway-8.
While on the Delhi stretch All India Radio FM Gold will air the updates, AIR in Alwar and Jaipur would cover the stretch in Rajasthan.
Doordarshan was planning to return its unused UHF band (ultra high frequency) to the government and it had already asked the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to allocate that frequency to the Highways Ministry.
Another option was to get a licence for the unused 105.6 MHz frequency which was earlier allotted to Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) for its educational radio channel Gyan Vani.

CBI knew about Vijay Mallya’s flight plan

The Central Bureau of Investigation had prior knowledge that businessman Vijay Mallya, who is facing charges of defaulting on a Rs.900-crore loan from IDBI Bank, was to board a London-bound flight at Indira Gandhi Inter- national Airport
At this stage, there is no restriction on Mr. Mallya’s foreign visits. Therefore, legally, he is allowed to go abroad. He is a non-resident Indian and has to remain abroad for at least 183 days every year to retain the status. He also has a 10-year British business visa.
The information on his travel plans was provided to the CBI in response to a lookout circular, valid for a year, the agency had sent to the exit ports across the country on October 16, 2015.
Under the circular that carries passport details and other particulars of suspects, an agency can request the immigration department to provide information on the arrival or departure of the person concerned; seize travel documents and send them to the agency; prevent the person from entering India and inform the agency; or detain and hand over the person to the local police.

World Culture Fest

Though the festival has come under fire for its ecologically-sensitive venue, it was given the go-ahead by the National Green Tribunal (NGT)
Nearly 36,000 artistes from around the world will perform on what is possibly the world’s largest stage.
before this carnival atmosphere took over the floodplains, the site was flanked by two bridges connecting the Trans-Yamuna area to therest of Delhi.Farmers grew vegetables at the site that will now host a mega festival.
The farmers who had been at the site for years were moved. The soil was compacted and debris was added to give it some stability. Vegetation was completely removed. It will take years for the area to recover from the damage.
While the NGT has said that the floodplains have been damaged, the Art of Living Foundation has maintained that it hasn’t done anything wrong.

Golden Jubilee of the historic concert of M.S. Subbulakshmi (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Upper house to look after Aadhaar Bill (Register and Login to read Full News..)

IAF short of aircraft to face wars (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

Scientists believe Britain’s exit from EU will be a disaster to science

Over 150 Fellows of Britain’s leading scientific institution, the Royal Society, have expressed their opposition to Brexit [Britain’s exit from the European Union] arguing that it could be a “disaster for science”.
In a letter to The Times, the signatories, who include physicist Stephen Hawking, astronomer Royale Martin Rees and eminent Cambridge scientist Alan Fersht, have drawn attention to the benefits that have accrued to science as a shared enterprise in the EU.
The signatories point to the example of Switzerland, which was for long a popular destination for scientists.
It now has limited access to EU funds be- cause it voted to restrict the free movement of workers, and is desperately trying to find other ways to attract young talent.

:: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ::

Finally, a bacterium that degrades polluting plastics identified

bacterium species capable of breaking down plastic — polyethylene terephthalate (PET) — has been identified by a team of Japanese researchers. The bacterium uses two enzymes in sequence to break down the highly biodegradation-resist- ant polymer PET.
Except for rare instances of two fungi that have been found to grow on a mineral medium of PET yarns, there are no reports any bacteria biologically degrading PET or growing on the chemically inert substance.
looked for microorganisms that relied on PET film as a primary source of carbon for growth.
At first they identified a distinct microbial consortium that contained a mixture of bacteria species that degraded the PET film surface at 30 degree C; 75 per cent of the PET film surface was broken down into carbon dioxide at 28 degree C
From the microbial consortium, the researchers isolated a unique bacterium — Ideonellasakaiensis 201-F6 — that could almost completely de- grade a thin film of PET in a short span of six weeks at 30 degree C. “The PET film was almost fully degraded after six weeks at 30 degree C
The bacterium degrades PET using two enzymes that act on it in sequence. First, the bacterium adheres to PET and produces an intermediate sub- stance through hydrolysis.
The second enzyme then works with water and acts on this intermediate substance to produce the two monomers — ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid — used for making PET through polymerisation

IRNSS-1F placed in orbit (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: BUSINESS and ECONOMY ::

New gas pricing formula approved by cabinet

The Union Cabinet approved a new pricing formula for gas discoveries made in difficult- to-access areas.
The formula will be based on a weighted one-year average of prices of fuel oil, naptha and imported coal.
Since the rate is not enough to incentivise exploration, the government approved the new price formula for undeveloped gas discoveries in deep-sea, ultra-deep sea and high-temperature, high- pressure areas using average of landed price of naphtha, fuel oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG)
This will definitely be positive for up- stream companies since the new pricing will be applicable to exist- ing as well as future discoveries.
This will lead to prices rising by about 70-80 per cent of their cur- rent levels and will enable companies to begin work on their new discoveries in these difficult areas.
The Cabinet also approved the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Li- censing Policy (HELP).
The high- lights of the new policy involve granting explorers a uniform license for exploration and production of all forms of hydrocarbons. The previous policy required a separate license for each type of hydrocarbon.
The new policy also incorporates an open acreage policy wherein exploration and production companies will be allowed to choose the blocks they want to use from the designated area.
In addition, the policy moves towards an easier revenue-sharing mechanism from the current profit-sharing mechanism.

In order to boost economy ECB cuts rate (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: SPORTS ::

Rest of India pulled off stunning chase

Rest of India upset all predictions by chasing down 480 to win the Irani Cup match, against Ranji champion Mumbai.
Akhil Herwadkar’s direct hit from point, which saw the exit of Rest captain Naman Ojha, kindled hopes of a home team win but Stuart Binny’s big blows (54, 3x4, 2x6) and an equally dynamic performance by Sheldon Jackson (59 not out, 4x4, 1x6) took their side past the finishing line in the mandatory overs.
It was the third-highest run chase in India’s domestic first- class tournament history (see factbox) and Rest’s win was memorable because it was be- hind in the first innings by 297 runs.