Comprehensive News Analysis - 23 February 2016

A. GS1 Related

1. Three killed as police open fire in Sonipat

Topic: Society

Category: Reservation

Location: The Hindu, Page 1

Key points:

• 3 more persons were killed in police firing during protests demanding reservation for jats in Sonipat district of Haryana on Monday
• The death toll in the State has gone up to 16 and 183 persons have been injured
• protesters are still blocking over 449 road and rail points
• A government committee, headed by Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu met in New Delhi to discuss a framework for giving reservation to the Jats
• The state cabinet decided to introduce a Bill for reservation in the coming session of the Assembly

B. GS2 Related

1. Police not allowed to enter JNU

Topic: Polity

Category: rights issue, governance

Location: The Hindu, Page 1

Key points:

• the Delhi police have been camping outside the university premises since 5 students  involved in the sedition case  have resurfaced
• They have not been able to get permission from the Vice-Chancellor to enter the campus
• According to the police, they cannot take any action till the Vice-Chancellor permits them to enter the campus

2. Arunachal: SC refuses to intervene

Topic: Polity

Category: federal relations

Location: The Hindu, Page 13

Key Points:

• the Supreme Court on Monday refused to intervene in the formation of the new government under dissident Congress leader Kalikho Pul
• the 5 judge Bench refused to take up the issue, saying “this is a legislative matter and we will not interfere”

3. U.S. scrambles to contain IS in Libya

Topic: International Relations

Category: global issues

Location: The Hindu, Page 14

Key Points:

• The Islamic State’s branch in Libya is deepening its reach across a wide area of Africa
• the group’s ranks in Libya have roughly doubled to about 6,500 fighters
• the organisation’s immediate goal is to carve out a new caliphate in Libya, and there are signs the affiliate is trying to establish state-like institutions there
• Obama is mulling over how large of a military campaign to order for Libya
• Western powers are trying to help create a unity government in Libya first
• The goal is to use such a new central authority to rally dozens of fractious militias to fight against a common enemy
• The U.S. is about to break ground on a $50 million drone base in Agadez, Niger, that will allow surveillance aircrafts to fly hundreds of miles closer to southern Libya

C. GS3 Related

1. J&K operation ends after three militants killed

Topic: security

Category: terrorism

Location: The Hindu, Page 13

Key points:

• All the 3 militants holed up in a five -storey government building in south Kashmir have been killed
• 3 AK-47s, ammunition and war-like stores were recovered from the 3 slain militants
• Army has lost many of its most experienced counter-insurgency operatives in recent months because of the return of fidayeen attacks and faulty intelligence reports

2. Pollution in India higher than China: Greenpeace

Topic: Environment

Category: pollution

Location: The Hindu, Page 13

Key points:

• India has overtaken China’s air pollution levels in 2015
• The average particulate matter exposure was higher in India than China for the first time in the 21st century, a Greenpeace analysis of NASA satellite data has shown.
• as per World Health Organization (WHO), India is home to 13 out of 20 most polluted cities
• India’s particulate pollution stands higher than that of China, after increasing at an average rate of 2 per cent over the past decade
• Greenpeace, in its National Air Quality Index (NAQI) ranking report, had earlier said that as many as 15 out of 17 Indian cities with NAQI stations showed levels of air pollution that far exceeded the prescribed Indian standards.

3. No patents for standalone software

Topic: Economy

Category: patent laws

Location: The Hindu, Page 15

Key Points:

• Mere computer programs — those not in conjunction with a novel hardware — will not be granted patent in India, according to the latest guidelines of the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (CGPDTM)
• The Office of CGPDTM supervises the working of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) laws in India
• Start-ups, software developers will continue to have the freedom to innovate over stand alone programs without fear of litigation

4. Govt. to divest 5% in NTPC

Topic: Economy

Category: State of Indian Economy

Location: The Hindu, Page 15

Key points:

• The government announced it will be divesting five per cent of its stake in NTPC
• Current share holding of govt. – 74.96%
• The five per cent stake in NTPC works out to 41.22 crore shares
• At the floor price of Rs.122 per share, this could fetch the government Rs.5,029 crore.
• The government has been struggling to meet the disinvestment target of Rs.69,500 crore for the financial year
• Prior to this, the government divested its holdings in 5 other PSUs — Rural Electrification Corporation, Power Finance Corporation , Dredging Corporation of India Ltd , Indian Oil Corporation  and Engineers India

 

D. GS4 Related

E. Important Editorials: A Quick Glance

1.FISCAL DEFICIT – Who Will Belt the Cat?

Location: The Economic Times, Page 16

• When economy is performing below its potential, there is a need to increase govt. spending
• But should there be a deviation from the fiscal roadmap
• The fiscal road map as indicated by the 2015 Union Budget has a target fiscal deficit of 3.5% of GDP for 2016-17 and 3% for 2017-18
• Persistent high fiscal deficits lead to a rise in the debt-GDP ratio
• interest payments use up an increasing share of revenues, leaving less for productive expenditures
• increasing the emoluments of government employees would increase the burden on govt. by  0.4% of GDP
• efforts to contain fiscal deficit, subsidies and tax exemptions  need a relook
• For sustained high growth, stability is critical. Macro-economic stability has three dimensions: price stability , fiscal consolidation and low current account deficit

2. Engineered to flail and flounder

• the service sector in India is likely to reach $1 trillion by 2025, contributing close to 30 per cent to the GDP, up from the current low of 15 per cent
• the service sector would be responsible for the creation of 90 million jobs by 2025
• But a majority of business leaders are concerned about the unavailability of a skilled workforce
• This is the situation despite close to a million and a half engineers graduating from some 3,500 colleges across India — overtaking those produced by the US and China combine
• The scarcity seems most acute in advanced engineering profiles, including product and design intimacy
• leading players from the industry have started to offer solutions through initiatives like skill-based training programmes, finishing school sessions, educator training etc
• there needs to be a shift of perspective about the vocation of engineering right from the grassroots level

3. Raja-Mandala: Retrieving the momentum

Location:The Indian Express, Page 15

• An effective regional policy needs more than a mere demonstration of goodwill
• Delhi’s careful recalibration of regional policy is based on a set of sensible principles
• There is a need for a sustained dialogue with all neighbours — under all circumstances
• you can choose your friends but not your neighbours
• Delhi has also recognized the diplomatic costs of resuming a dialogue after every suspension
• Modi’s surprise landing in Lahore last Christmas was a pleasant surprise indeed
• the Pathankot attack that followed within a week did not see Delhi suspending the dialogue
• Delhi has learnt the virtues of steadfastness in coping with the internal battles of its neighbours
• It has nudged the competing groups in Nepal to find compromises on the constitution.
• It has bailed Nasheed out of arbitrary confinement in the Maldives
• there is no way India can erect a “Great Wall” against Chinese influence in the subcontinent
• But an India that expands cooperation with its neighbours, resolves outstanding political disputes, deepens regional economic integration will have little reason to be concerned about the role of external powers  in the subcontinent

4. Stark reminder in Jammu & Kashmir

Location: The Hindu, Page 10

• The gun battle at Pampore has resulted in grave and unacceptably high casualties — three Army men, two CRPF personnel and a civilian
• India cannot afford to keep losing its young men with such dreary frequency
• It is a stark reminder that in Jammu and Kashmir embers can flare up any moment
• there needs to be greater political determination in dealing with law and order
• since the death of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, violence in the State has steadily increased
• The governor’s rule has to come to an end and a responsible govt installed as soon as possible
• The Centre and all the stakeholders must address the challenge of the growing alienation among Kashmiris

F. Concepts-in-News: Related Concepts to Revise/Learn:

i.  Fiscal deficit/p>

ii.  FRBM Act

iii. IPR

iv.  NTPC

vi. Governor’s rule

G. Fun with Practice Questions 🙂

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