Doubt Classes

3rd June 2017

     National

Telangana Statehood Day: K Chandrasekhar Rao celebrates, Chandrababu Naidu bemoans 'black day'

·         Telangana celebrated its third formation day with Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his cabinet colleagues leading the celebrations across the state.

·         It was on this day in 2014 that Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh as India's 29th state.

·         At the main official function held at Secunderabad Parade Ground, Chandrasekhar Rao unfurled the national flag and reviewed a colourful ceremonial parade.

• Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that in a short span of three years Telangana had made rapid progress in all sectors and was on course to become 'golden Telangana'.

·         Quoting the report of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), he said Telangana topped revenue growth rate in the country in 2016-17 at 17.82 percent.

·         KCR, as the Chief Minister is popularly known, said Telangana became the number one state in the country in implementing welfare schemes for the poor and weaker sections.

• However, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu termed it a 'black day' in the history of his state. He said that the  state has yet to come to terms with the bifurcation of the undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Indian Naval Mountaineering Team Successfully Unfurled National Flag and Naval Ensign Atop Highest Point on Earth at Mt. Everest

• The Indian Naval Mountaineering team comprising eleven summiteers (9 on Mt Everest & 2 on Lhotse) have successfully unfurled National flag and Naval Ensign atop highest point on earth i.e. Mt. Everest and thereby achieving this remarkable feat under challenging conditions.
• The expedition was headed by Cdr Sanjay Kulkarni (Oi/c expedition) and comprised 18 climbers for Mt Everest; two climbers for Lhotse and four base camp members.
• The team followed the route from Jiri and trekked to Everest base camp covering over 180 km in 16 days of arduous climb, gradually gaining height and also acclimatising in the process from 05 to 20 Apr 17.

MODI Fest inaugurated in Bengaluru

• Union Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation Shri D.V.Sadananda Gowda has inaugurated Making of Developed India Festival - MODI Fest at Malleswaram in Bengaluru .
• The objective of the programme was to communicate, on the occasion of completion of three years in office by the Central Government, to the people about the Union Government’s achievements over the last 3 years and to convey them about the various Government schemes and initiatives.

India has 31% of world’s poor kids: report

·         About 31% of the world’s “multidimensionally poor” children live in India, according to a new report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), a poverty reduction project grounded in economist Amartya Sen’s ‘capability approach’.

·         “In terms of countries, fully 31% of the 689 million poor children live in India, followed by Nigeria (8%), Ethiopia (7%) and Pakistan (6%),” noted the survey, titled ‘Global Multidimensional Poverty Index [MPI], 2017’. OPHI is an economic research centre at the Oxford University, led by Professor Sabina Alkire, and the study is based on a survey conducted among 103 countries.

·         A “multidimensionally poor” child is one who lacks at least one-third of ten indicators, grouped into three dimensions of poverty: health, education and standard of living. The health dimension comprises indicators such as nutrition, child mortality, and education. Under standard of living are indicators such as access to cooking fuel, improved sanitation, safe drinking water, electricity, flooring, and asset ownership.

·         In terms of the number of such multidimensionally poor children as a proportion of the total population, India stood 37th among 103 countries. Out of India’s 217 million (21.7 crore) children, 49.9% were multidimensionally poor. However, the survey pointed out that the data for India were “somewhat outdated”, being based on the Indian Human Development Survey of 2011-2012.

SC order enhances rights of landlords

·         A landlord can continue eviction proceedings against his tenant even after taking possession of the disputed building from the latter, the Supreme Court has held.

·         “Merely because the landlords have taken possession on the basis of an order for eviction granted on one ground, that does not mean that the surviving grounds have become non-est,” a Bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and R. Banumathi interpreted the rent control laws.

International

Trump pulls US out of Paris climate pact, hits out at China, India

·         The Paris climate agreement gives undue advantage to India and China at the cost of the Unite States' interests, President Donald Trump said, announcing America’s withdrawal from the pact. 

·         “China will be allowed to build hundreds of additional coal plants. So we can’t build the plants, but they can, according to this agreement.  India will be allowed to double its coal production by 2020.  Think of it:  India can double their coal production.  We’re supposed to get rid of ours,” the President said, adding that the agreement “is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the U.S.” 

·         According to Mr. Trump, the Paris agreement would lead to a redistribution of American wealth to other countries and transfer of American jobs abroad. His predecessor Barack Obama had argued that by promoting a global climate regime, the U.S would create wealth and jobs at home. He had showcased the Indian and Chinese endorsement of the Paris accord as a key diplomatic success of his presidency. 

Climate change is real, says Elon Musk, resigns from President’s advisory council

·         United States President Donald Trump’s decision to quit the Paris climate accord drew swift opposition from some of the most influential business leaders in the country, including the heads of Disney, GE and Goldman Sachs.

·         And Tesla boss Elon Musk carried out his threat to resign from the President’s advisory council shortly after Mr. Trump made his Rose Garden announcement. Disney Chief Bob Iger quickly followed his lead.

Contemporary Economic Developments

Ravi Narain quits as NSE vice-chairman

·         Ravi Narain, former managing director and chief executive officer of the National Stock Exchange resigned as the vice-chairman of the bourse.

·         He has submitted his resignation to NSE chairman Ashok Chawla.

·         A person familiar with the matter, requesting anonymity, said Mr. Narain’s resignation was to avoid any conflict of interest and enable the board to take an independent view on issues related to the regulatory probe concerning high-frequency trades and alleged unfair access to select brokers.

·         This is the NSE’s second high-profile resignation. Chitra Ramkrishna, MD and CEO, had resigned in December.

·         Mr. Narain and Ms. Ramakrishna’s were part of the NSE’s founding team of the NSE, having joined the bourse in 1994.Mr. Narain’s exit comes close on the heels of thethe SEBI Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issuing show-cause notices to top officials employees of the NSE, including the two former CEOs of the bourse.

Economy to grow 7.5% in FY ’18: Panagariya

·         A day after India lost the tag of the world’s fastest growing economy to China, with GDP growth slipping to 6.1% in the last quarter of 2016-17, NITI Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya said he expects 7.5% growth in the current financial year and possibly a return to the 8% growth rate by the end of the present NDA government’s tenure.

·         Stressing that India is ‘pretty much out of the woods’ when it comes to the impact of demonetisation on the economy, Mr Panagariya said, “Re-monetisation has happened… We should see a good turnaround in the first quarter (of 2017-18).”

·         The contraction in the construction sector in the last quarter of 2016-17 could be due to many reasons including the war on black money that was the stated goal of demonetisation, he said.

·         “Our main objective of demonetisation was to curb black money and prices of real estate have fallen by about 20%-25%, which in turn may have impacted the construction activity,” he said.

GST Council set to discuss July 1 deadline

·         The Goods and Services Tax Council will meet in the capital on 3rd July to finalise tax rates on goods such as textiles, footwear, gold, beedis and cigarettes, biscuits, bio-diesel, and agricultural implements.

·         The Council will also discuss the possibility of postponing the roll out of the new tax regime from the current deadline of July 1, according to officials in the Ministry of Finance. West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra has stressed this week that the state is not entirely prepared to kick off the new tax regime from July.

·         Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs Minister Mr. Jaitley, who chairs the GST Council, said that during the last meeting there was almost a complete agreement among states about rolling out the new tax regime from July 1.

Science & Technology

Prithvi-II missile successfully test-fired

·         India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile from a test range in Odisha as part of a user trial by the Army.

·         The trial of the surface-to-surface missile, which has a strike range of 350 km, was carried out using a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur, at around 9:50 am, according to official sources.

·         The trial of the sophisticated missile was successful and the mission objectives were met, they said.

·         The Prithvi-II missile is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1,000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engines. It uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory to hit its target with precision and accuracy.

·         In salvo mode, two Prithvi-II missiles were successfully test fired in quick succession from the same base, on November 21, 2016.

·         Inducted into Indian armed forces in 2003, the nine metre tall, single stage liquid-fuelled Prithvi-II is the first missile to have been developed by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.

New AI system can predict your lifespan: study

·         Scientists have developed a new artificial intelligence system that can predict how long a person will live simply by looking at the images of their organs.

·         The system, developed by researchers from University of Adelaide in Australia, analysed the medical imaging of 48 patients’ chests and was able to predict which of them would die within five years, with 69% accuracy.

·         This is comparable to ‘manual’ predictions by clinicians, researchers said.

·         The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, has implications for the early diagnosis of serious illness and medical intervention.

·         “Predicting the future of a patient is useful because it may enable doctors to tailor treatments to the individual,” said Luke Oakden-Rayner, PhD student at the University of Adelaide.

·         “The accurate assessment of biological age and the prediction of a patient’s longevity has so far been limited by doctors’ inability to look inside the body and measure the health of each organ,” said Mr. Oakden-Rayner.

·         “Our research has investigated the use of ‘deep learning’, a technique where computer systems can learn how to understand and analyse images,” he said.

·         “Although for this study only a small sample of patients was used, our research suggests that the computer has learnt to recognise the complex imaging appearances of diseases, something that requires extensive training for human experts,” he said.

U.S. pullout from Paris accord: Temperature could rise by 0.3°C, says U.N.

·         The U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate pact could “in a worst case scenario” add a 0.3°C rise in global temperatures over the 21st century, the UN said.

·         The head of the World Meteorological Organisation’s atmospheric research and environment department, Deon Terblanche, underscored, however, that the likely impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s widely-condemned decision remains far from clear.

·         “We haven’t run new models overnight but the indications are that it could be in the worst case scenario in the order of 0.3°C,” Mr. Terblanche told reporters in Geneva, referring to a possible rise over pre-industrial temperatures.

• Under the Paris deal agreed in 2015, world nations vowed steps to keep the worldwide rise in temperatures “well below” 2°C from pre-industrial times.

Sports

Anu posts new 400m hurdles meet record

·         Anu Raghavan beat the seasoned Jauna Murmu in the women’s 400m hurdles in a new meet record of 57.39 seconds on the opening day of the 21st Federation Cup athletics at the Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports complex. Anu brought the track alive with her strong finish, as she held on to the lead gained over the hurdles.

·         Olympian Manpreet Kaur threw one metre below her best in the women’s shot put and yet set a new meet mark. Manpreet, who has already qualified for the World Championship to be staged in London in August.

·         The women’s hammer throw also saw a fresh mark late in the evening, when Sarita Singh set a National record with her fifth throw of 65.25m. The previous mark was in the name of Manju Bala set in Lucknow in 2014.

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