Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 29 February 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the State governments to give priority to agriculture even as he pledged to “double the income of farmers” by 2022, to mark India’s 75 years of independence.
To attain that goal, Mr. Modi said the Centre had adopted a scientific approach to farming and urged farmers to utilise the various agricultural initiatives introduced by his government.
Fleshing out a formula for productive agriculture, Mr. Modi stressed the need to divide farming practices into three sectors, traditional farming, tree or timber plantation (along the periphery and borders of fields) and livestock rearing.
The Prime Minister praised the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government for its irrigation and farming schemes for the turnaround in the agriculture sector.
Listing the Centre’s steps to get better prices for farmers, Mr. Modi hit out at the State governments for misusing funds allocated for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
He appealed to the States to use MGNREGS funds to support agriculture.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly radio address, Mann Ki Baat reached out to students preparing to sit for their school-leaving “Board” exams, many of whom are likely to enter universities.
He had roped in cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, chess grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand and scientist C.N.R. Rao in this pep talk to students on the eve of the exams.
Mr. Tendulkar emphasised the need to have a positive attitude and to compete with oneself. “I will only say that you set your targets and don’t come under pressure of expectations of others.”
Vishwanathan Anand said “Work hard but set a realistic, achievable target and try to achieve it”.

The Punjab government on Sunday imposed a ban on the sale of Army uniforms across the State.
Punjab had witnessed terror attacks in Pathankot and Gurdaspur in the recent past where militants had disguised themselves in the Army fatigues.
Any person who wants to buy the uniform would have to submit a self-attested copy of his identity card and phone number with the shopkeeper and this record would be maintained along with date of sale in the record register of the shop- keeper.
The State has also banned use of red and blue coloured stickers used by police on vehicles.

A decisive victory over her challenger Senator Bernie Sanders in South Carolina brought back momentum into former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Two narrow victories and one massive loss to Mr. Sanders over the last month had eroded the aura of invincibility that surrounded her and Saturday’s landslide victory in South Carolina, where she won 3/4thof the votes, restores that in good measure.
March 1 is called as Super Tuesday where 11 states will have primaries and caucuses.
Both the Democratic Party candidates criticised Republican front-runner Donald Trump in their responses, keeping their eyes firmly on the November general elections.

Continuing political turmoil in the Maldives is the reason Prime Minister Naren- dra Modi’s visit to Male has had to be put of repeatedly.
The visit that was cancelled at the last moment in March 2015 owing to protests over former President Nasheed’s trial has been due since early January this year, but each time, actions by the government spark of a new crisis that makes it difficult for Mr. Modi to travel to the Islands.
When India’s largest new aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, accompanied by two support ships travelled to the Maldives on February 14 for a “goodwill” visit, many in Male fully expected that Mr. Modi would also be on his way.
MEA believes that moment will only come with some political resolution and a more controlled narrative in Male that seems to be fast spinning out of President Yameen’s grip.
India has stayed away from direct criticism of the Yameen government over the past few months as it tried to rebuild ties with the Maldives.
However, it is a member of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) that passed a resolution giving the government one month’s time to start a dialogue with the Opposition and halt the use of anti-terror laws against political opponents.

The Controller General of Accounts has asked the government to be careful in adopting the accrual method of accounting considering the costs involved as only a few of its departments can benefit.
CGA said that There is no such thing as a big-bang approach.
Even if you've heard of some advanced countries that have made this transition, like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, UK, you must understand that the background to the introduction of accrual accounting was not that it was an end by itself.
The Fourteenth Finance Commission had strongly recommended the adoption of the accrual system of accounting.Accrual method is the standard accounting procedure for most medium and large companies.
The method, according to experts, provides a more accurate picture of the company's current financial position.
However, it is a more complex accounting system than cash accounting, which the government uses currently and so is more ex- pensive and time-consuming to implement.
While cash accounting recognises a transaction only when money changes hands, accrual accounting recognises the transaction at the time it is made, thereby providing a more current snapshot.

A ﬁrst-of-its kind, ﬁeld-controlled experiment carried out for 22 days in a natural coral-reef community has allowed scientists to unequivocally show the detrimental effects of ocean acidiﬁcation on coral reefs across the world.
Coral reefs, which provide marine ecosystems comparable to tropical rain forests, are most vulnerable to ocean acidiﬁcation.
Ocean acidiﬁcation arises when nearly 25 per cent of carbon dioxide released in- to the atmosphere and absorbed by the oceans reacts with water to form carbonic acid.
The carbonic acid thus produced leads to ocean acidiﬁcation by decreasing the pH of the ocean, reducing the concentration of carbonate ion.
oceans are already 30 per cent more acidic than they were before the Industrial Revolution.
Increasing the pH of the ocean to make it more alkaline than acidic will provide an ideal condition for coral reefs to grow.
Global warming has not only increased the acidity of the oceans but has also elevated the sea surface temperature.
While a warming ocean would have initially favoured coral reefs and led to more growth, the continued increase has proved harmful.
Hence, coral reefs suffer from the combined onslaught of both acidiﬁcation and elevated sea surface temperature.