Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 19 February 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

After JNUSU president getting threats in Patiala house court SC to hear his bail application

• A day after violence returned to the Patiala House courts in defiance of the Supreme Court’s call for calm.

• The apex court accepted that “something extraordinary is going on in this country” and agreed to hear the bail petition of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, facing sedition charges on the allegation that anti-national slogans were allegedly raised on the university campus.

• Bench brushed aside objections raised in the courtroom that the court should not function like a magistrate and hear bail pleas, and posted the student lead- er’s case for urgent hearing.

• “If a citizen comes to this court saying his fundamental rights are under threat, wehave to hear him. Something extraordinary is going on in this country.” Said Justice Chelameshwar.

Pak anti-terrorism court wants 24 Indian eyewitnesses statement to be recorded

• The Pakistani anti-terrorism court holding the Mumbai attack trial has ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to present all 24 Indian witnesses before it so that their statements can be recorded.

• The Anti-Terrorism Court in Islamabad, which is holding the trial of the seven accused including Mumbai attack mastermind and LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

• Court also directed that the boats used by Ajmal Kasab and others be broughtback from India and made case property.

• The official said the Interior Ministry will write to the Foreign Ministry in this regard.

Experts wants India to learn from China for pollution control

• Experts who worked on China’s successful pollution control measures have said India should learn from China’s mistakes and put in place regional and national level action plans.

• Delhi’s poor air quality has been at the top of the government and the public’s agenda, with road rationing, car-free days and other measures being tried out.

• However, measures restricted to Delhi cannot have any substantial impact on the air quality — just like the Chinese authorities learned.

• The Chinese government woke up to the problem of air pollution only in the early 2000s, particularly in the run up to the 2008 Olympics.

• They tried out pollution control measures in Beijing, which hosted the games, but found that the problem lay elsewhere.

• Apart from the crackdown on polluting industries, China expanded its air quality monitoring system, which is something India needs to do as well.

• Some of the most polluted parts of the country do not have an air quality monitor- ing station.

• An online platform for each province of China was created, where air quality data, including emissions from individual industrial units in the area, is available to the public via an app.

• A five-year plan with specific targets for pollution reduction was also drawn up in 2013.

• Pollution control became a political agenda as well, with local government representatives being judged on whether they achieve air quality targets.

Li-Fi could make use of LED bulb for providing Internet

• Imagine an LED bulb doubling up as an access point for connecting to the Internet and ordinary light being used as a medium to carry data.

• A whole new world wherein a bulb would not only give us light but also help us access the Web might not be too far away, if a new technology called Li- Fi (or Light-Fidelity) goes mainstream.

• Prof. Harald Haas of the University of Edinburgh, who coined the term Li-Fi in 2011.

• Li-Fi was a disruptive technology that could transform business models, create new opportunities, and was poised to be a $113 billion industry by 2022.

• Prof. Haas said that the RF (radio frequency) spectrum would not be enough considering the rate of growth of wire-less data communication.

• The visible light spectrum was much larger. The use of the light spectrum for Li-Fi overcomes the issues in traditional wireless communication, like the shortage of spectrum and network disruption because of interference.

• In Li-Fi, anyone who has access to light can access theInternet. The system also allows users to move from one light source to another without losing their network connection

• In order to provide Internet at night, the stream of photons can be reduced to a minimal level that won’t produce visible light but enough to carry data

• The inability of light rays to pass through walls and similar structures is seen as a major drawback of this technology.

Toxicity testing of drug in the Indian population will start in India by month end (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Defence Minister says OROP may also be given to military personnel retiring Prematurely (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Vice-Chancellors of central universities accept Tricolour will increase nationalism (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: INTERNATIONAL ::

U.S. President will visit Cuba

• U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Cuba on March 21-22 and meet with Cuban President Raul Castro, in the first U.S. presidential trip to the country in nearly 90 years as relations between the for- mer adversaries thaw.
• During the trip, Mr. Obama will have the opportunity to meet with Mr. Castro, Ben Rhodes
• Mr. Rhodes noted the ultimate aim is to persuade Con- gress to lift the trade embargo, Havana’s biggest request of the U.S.
• Although short-term prospects have seemed un- likely, a Republican congress- man just back from leading a delegation of lawmakers to Cuba said he believed legislation ending the embargo could pass Congress by the end of the year
• Word of his travel plans drew immediate resistance from opponents of warmer ties with Cuba including Re- publican presidential candi- dates.

:: INDIA and WORLD ::

Counter terrorism operation needs to be viewed with flexibility

• Weeks after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar spoke about sending troops to fight the IS in Syria, India told the United Nations Special Committee for Peacekeeping Operations that it recognises the need for “flexibility” on international anti-terror operations if they are backed by U.N. authorisation.

• Presenting India’s position on the HIPPO (High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations) report, which is aimed at countering international terror groups, Syed Akbaruddin, said: “We understand that these issues [response to counter-terrorism operation with U.N. authorisation] need to be viewed with flexibility in response to emerging challenges.”

• The HIPPO report has expanded the scope of counter-terror operations beyond the traditional U.N. peacekeeping operations by recommending that “ad hoc coalitions authorised by the U.N. Security Council” can undertake counter-terror operations with the intention of peacekeeping and peace-enforcement.

:: BUSINESS ::

Reliance will start oil lifting from Iran

• India’s Reliance Industries Ltd, owner of the world's biggest refining complex, is preparing to lift oil from Iran next month after a gap of about five years,

• The Indian conglomerate, con- trolled by billionaire Mukesh Am- bani, stopped Iranian oil imports in 2010 because it was worried that the threat of U.S. sanctions on companies doing business with the Islamic republic would com- plicate its eforts to boost market share for its fuels in the United States.

• The shipment will make Reliance Iran's first new Indian oil customer since the lifting of the sanctions.

• Reliance's sophisticated complex at Jamnagar in western Gujarat state can refine 1.24 million bpd of crude as varied as light West African to heavy sour Middle East and Latin American grades, allowing it to switch to whatever crude is cheapest.

Ministry moots National Social Security Authority (Register and Login to read Full News..)

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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

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