Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 28 February 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Opposition, saying they were criticising him as he had “blocked all routes of corruption” and the “hungama over petty issues” stemmed from this.
PM said his government had stopped “chor bazaar” (black market) in many sectors, citing the fertilizer manufacturing and distribution as an example.
PM also said The chor bazaarwale are angry and all these hungama over petty issues is because of it.

Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence has expressed dismay over the government’s reluctance to commit to a minimum percentage of its expenses for the armed forces, despite its recommendations.
The committee desires that declining ratio should be arrested in the next financial year itself, so that the services are provided adequate funds, and hence they are not deprived of essential equipmentand ammunition.
The committee had then told the government that it should “consider fixing a minimum benchmark for this percentage, which should be adhered to, in every case”.
Though the defence budget is increasing numerically annually, as a proportion of the Central budget, it has consistently been declining.
In 2009- 10, the defence expenditure of Rs. 1,41,781 crore was 13.84 per cent of the total expenditure.
In 2010-11, the budget increased in absolute terms, but in percentage terms, it came down to 12.87 per cent.
In 2011-12, the defence expenditure rose to Rs. 1,70,913 crore, but in percentage terms, it was merely 13.1 per cent of the government’s expenditure. Since then, it has been sliding continuously.
In 2012-13, the defence expenditure was pegged at Rs. 1,81,776, which was 12.89 per cent of the government’s expenditure. However, it further came down to 12.81 per cent under the revised budget.

A rare calm prevailed across much of Syria as the first major ceasefire of the five-year war took hold and an international task force prepared to begin monitoring the landmark truce.
Guns fell silent at midnight in suburbs around the capital and the bomb-scarred northern city of Aleppo, after a day of intense Russian air strikes on rebel bastions.
The nationwide cessation of hostilities, brokered by Washington and Moscow, is seen as a crucial but fragile step towards ending a war that has claimed 270,000 lives and displaced more than half the population.
It faces formidable challenges, including the exclusion of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group and Al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate Al-Nusra Front, which control large parts of the country.
United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura said peace talks would resume on March 7 if the truce holds and more aid is delivered – a key sticking point in negotiations.
The complexities of a conflict which escalated from anti-government protests into a full-blown war drawing in rival world powers make brokering a lasting halt to the fighting a huge challenge.

India’s plans to acquire amphibious aircraft from Japan, in the first big military deal between the two countries, is facing serious challenges.
Indicating at a longer wait- ing period for India’s plans to acquire the amphibious aircraft, US-2, in a deal involving 12-18 aircraft, Japan had no immediate plans for “selling or delivering” the capacity-multiplier aircraft to India.
The absence of diplomatic progress on India acquiring the aircraft is significant in view of the fact that during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to India in December 2015.
The two countries had concluded agreements on Transfer of the Defence Equipment and Technology, and, Security Measures forthe Protection of Classified Military Information, aimed at deals such as the one on the US-2.

The formation of the New Development Bank (NDB) of the Brazil-Russia- India-China-South Africa (BRICS) grouping is an assertion of the Global South and its significance would be felt beyond the economic domain, says K.V. Kamath.
The New Development Bank was not an economic instrument alone, but an initiative that also symbolised an assertion of political sovereignty of the five emerging economies.
Currency reserve arrangement that is in place in the BRICS context, it is a commitment of another 100 billiondollars.
Mr. Kamath also said that two institutions, NDB and the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) are complementary rather than competitive.

A close scrutiny of foreign direct investments from Singapore and Mauritius is needed as both the nations accounted for about 60 per cent of the $30 billion worth of FDI in India during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year.
A detailed examination is needed to find out if they constitute actual investments or whether they are diversions from other sources to avail tax benefits under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) that India has with these two countries, according to the Economic Survey.
According to government data, of the $29.5 billion FDI into India during April-December 2015 in 2015-16, around $11 billion was from Singapore, while $6.1 billionwas from Mauritius.
Most of the FDI coming in- to India through Mauritius, Singapore and Cyprus are actually from the U.S. or from India-related investors.
The Mauritius route is used for availing tax benefits and for ensuring anonymity.
FDI from Mauritius is however sector-agnostic unlike FDI from countries like Japan, Germany and France, which are mostly in manufacturing-related sectors.