Current Affairs Summary-April 2017

Current Affairs Summary-April 2017

 MOTOR VEHICLES (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2017

Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill was passed by Lok Sabha in April 2017.

Third party insurance – The 2017 Bill removes the cap on liability for third party insurance as provided for in the 2016 amendment bill

Scheme for providing interim relief to claimants seeking compensation under third party insurance – The 2017 Bill removes the provisions related to penalties under the scheme.

Funds for hit and run accidents – A motor vehicle accident fund has been constituted for the treatment of injured person, compensation to the person hurt or to the representatives of person died in hit and run case. The requirement of crediting the Fund with a cess or tax in 2016 bill has been removed.

Guidelines for aggregators – State governments were to issue licenses to aggregators in conformity with guidelines issued by the central government which was made optional in 2017 bill.

Agency for road safety – The 2017 Bill provides for a National Road Safety Board (as recommended by Sundar committee) to be notified by central government.

Road design and engineering – The 2017 Bill provides that any contractor or consultant responsible for the design, construction, or maintenance of the safety standards of roads would need to adhere to specified standards by state/central government and would be held responsible through penalty for road accidents instead of bad drivers.

Hassle-free and quick services: the Bill proposes increasing validity of driving licenses, getting learning licenses online and omitting the requirement of minimum qualification to get a driving license issued.

Stricter penalties: for offences such as drunken driving, dangerous driving, non-adherence to safety norms by drivers (like wearing helmets etc.). The bill has proposed three-year jail term for parents of minors who are caught driving with 10-fold increase in compensation to victim.

Adhaar: The number is required to apply for driving license.

 

NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR BACKWARD CLASSES

Why in news?

 The Lok Sabha passed a constitutional amendment which renames NCBC as National Commission for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes in the Constitution.

 An accompanying bill, The National Commission for Backward Classes Bill 2017, was also passed to repeal the 1993 law.

 

Features of the bill

Constitutional status: Constitution of a Commission under Article 338B for socially and educationally backward classes.

One list instead of two: It stipulates only one central list for OBC, same as that for SC and ST. There would be no parallel existence of central and state OBC lists.

Parliament to decide on inclusion/exclusion- Under Article 342A the President may specify the socially and educationally backward classes in the various states and union territories. He may do this in consultation with the Governor of the concerned state. However, a law of Parliament will be required if the list of backward classes is to be amended.

Development: The bill has recognised the developmental needs in addition to reservations. It will hear the grievances of socially and educationally backward classes, a function which has been discharged so far by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes under the article 338.

Definition of socially and educationally backward classes: Insertion of Clause (26C) under Article 366 to define “socially and educationally backward classes” as such backward classes deemed so under Article 342A.

 

Benefits of amendment

Transparency: It is difficult to get an arbitrary decision passed in the parliament than through an executive order.

Political opportunism: The exposure of state and central governments to pressures of non-backward communities to force their way into the list would reduce as opposition cannot easily blame the government and garner brownie points during elections.

Constitutional authority: Giving it a constitutional authority will ensure it has more power in terms of hearing complaints from OBC members like SC/ST commissions

 

Article 351: It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India and to secure its enrichment by assimilating without interfering with its genius, the forms, style and expressions used in Hindustani and in the other languages of India specified in the Eighth Schedule. Article 120 and 210 regarding language to be used in parliament and state legislature respectively gives the option of transacting business in Hindi as well Article 343 gives power to parliament to decide by law, the languages to be used for official work. Article 344 provides for constitution of a parliamentary committee every 10 years to recommend to the President regarding progressive use of the Hindi language for the official purposes of the Union and restrictions on the use of English     

Lok Adalats meaning People’s Court is a system of alternative dispute resolution.  Unlike court where a judgement is passed, Lok Adalats resolve disputes through mutual settlement of parties.  The system of Lok Adalats were developed in India through the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 which is in accordance with the constitutional mandate in Article 39-A of the Constitution of India.  Lok Adalats can be held by State Authority, District Authority, Supreme Court Legal Services Committee, High Court Local Services Committee, or Taluk Legal Services Committee.  The Lok Adalats can deal with all Civil Cases, Matrimonial Disputes, Land Disputes, Partition/Property Disputes, Labour Disputes etc., and compoundable criminal Cases.

The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act. The principal objective of NALSA is to provide free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society.

VVPAT

The Centre gave to the Election Commission to buy Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) units for use in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The EVMS currently only display the total number of votes polled followed by votes polled by individual candidates. In the VVPAT system when a vote is cast a slip will be printed showing the name of the candidate voter serial number and poll symbol.

RIGHT TO INTERNET ACCESS: SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court in a judgement has said that the right to access Internet comes under fundamental right of expression and cannot be curtailed at any cost. In 2015, UN declared Internet Access as a Human Right.  In March 2017, Kerala became the first state to declare Internet as a basic right for every citizen.

Teesta is the fourth largest transboundary river shared between India and Bangladesh, after the Ganges, Brahmaputra and the Meghna (GBM) river system.  In 1983, an ad hoc arrangement on sharing water was made, according to which Bangladesh got 36% and India 39% of the waters, while the remaining 25% remained unallocated. Bangladesh has sought an equitable distribution of Teesta waters, on the lines of Ganga Water Treaty of 1996.  In 2011 India and Bangladesh finalized an arrangement, by which India would get 42.5% and Bangladesh 37.5% while remaining 20% would flow unhindered in order to maintain a minimum water flow of the river. This agreement was not signed due to opposition from chief minister of West Bengal.

Cyprus is the eighth largest investor to India with cumulative FDI of over $8.5 billion. However, it was

considered as a tax haven to route investments and India had blacklisted it as a non-cooperative country.

ü India and Cyprus had in November, 2016 signed a revised treaty for the avoidance of Double Taxation

and the Prevention of Fiscal evasion.

ü Since then, India has also removed the tag of notified jurisdictional area or blacklist of Cyprus.

ü Cyprus can act as a gateway for Indian companies wanting to enter the European markets.

A RBI discussion paper has proposed to set up long-term finance banks especially to fund infrastructure and Greenfield projects of industries, with a minimum capital requirement of Rs. 1,000 crores. Tenor of the infrastructural loans is very long and therefore it does not incentivize institutions like Banks. Therefore there is a need of separate infrastructure banks.

The eligibility criterion for promoters of a Wholesale and Long-term Finance Bank (WLTFB) is the similar to on-tap universal banking licenses. Eg. o Individuals with 10 years of experience in banking and finance, with total assets of at least Rs 5,000 crore and with less than 40 per cent of their total income from non-financial sources, can apply for the licence along with business groups, o Large industrial houses cannot take more than 10 per cent stake in these banks. o These banks would be exempted from opening branches in rural and semi-urban areas and would not be forced to lend to agriculture and weaker sections of the society.  WLTF Banks would be allowed to raise funds from selling rupee denominated bonds, commercial bank borrowing and certificate of deposits.  They would have to maintain a Cash Reserve Ratio but not for funds raised through infrastructure bonds.  WLTF banks would not be required to maintain Statutory Liquid Ratio.

STATES ALLOWED OVERSEAS LOANS Why in News?  Cabinet cleared a proposal recently to enable State government entities to directly access funding from international bilateral financing agencies. Background  Presently, external development assistance from bilateral and multilateral sources is received by the Government of India o For projects or programmes in the Central sector o For projects executed by Central Public Sector Undertakings o On behalf of the State Governments for State sector projects or programmes to be implemented by the State Governments or local bodies and state PSUs.  The existing guidelines do not allow direct borrowings by the State Government entities from external agencies.

 

Government of India had assured to make General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) effective from April 1, 2017. GAAR was first proposed in the Direct Tax Code 2009. Parthasarthy Shome committee (2012) was later setup after opposition, to recommend GAAR provisions. GAAR is a set of rules/framework which helps the revenue authorities to decide:

Whether a particular transaction has commercial substance or not. It allows the government to tax overseas deals involving local assets. GAAR provisions would apply on those who claim a tax benefits of over Rs 3 crore. Through GAAR, the government can curb the prevalence of P-Notes which have become a tool to invest black money into the formal Indian economy.

 

Technical/Functional textiles  They are a group of textiles not used for aesthetic purposes but for its functional properties.  They can be woven or non-woven.  E.g. Geo textiles are permeable fabrics that are used in association with soil and have the ability to separate and filter. Technical textile has many benefits like: o Agricultural textiles are used in shading and in weed and insect control. o Environmental conservation– Geotextiles like non-woven bags stored with sand are used to prevent soil erosion. o Meditech products include use in hygiene, personal care and surgical applications. E.g. Diapers etc. o Industrial textiles used in industrial products like filters, printed circuit boards etc.

 

National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) o It aims to bring an additional area of 1.25 lakh hectare under oil palm cultivation by the end of 2016-17. o Increasing irrigation coverage under oilseeds from 26 percent to 38 percent; o Diversification of area from low yielding cereals crops to oilseeds crop

 

START-UPS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION SCHEME

The major objective of the scheme is to protect and promote Intellectual Property Rights awareness for startups and to encourage creativity and innovation amongst them.  For implementation, DIPP has empanelled several facilitators, who are required to provide IPR-related services to startups. Facilitators will not charge anything from a startup as government will bear the cost of facilitation.  The facilitators shall be empanelled by the Controller General of Patent, Trademark and Design (CGPDTM

 

Enforcement Directorate

  • It is a government agency responsible for enforcement of the

Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and certain

provisions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act

(PML).

  • The Directorate is under the administrative control of

Department of Revenue for operational purposes; the policy

aspects of the FEMA, its legislation and its amendments are

within the purview of the Department of Economic Affairs.

 

Indian companies have been permitted to conduct outbound mergers, according to a notification by the Ministry of Corporate affairs

Outbound Merger  Outbound merger and acquisitions (M&A) refers to investments by a company of Indian origin in a foreign based company.  The Companies Act, 1956 had no provisions for outbound mergers (only inbound mergers). It was replaced by Companies Act, 2013.

 

The government announced to bear employers’ contribution of 8.33% of basic pay to the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) for new employees under the Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) even if new posts are not created by the firm. A “new employee” is defined as one who had not worked in any EPFO-registered establishment or had a Universal Account Number in the past, i.e. prior to April 1, 2006.

 

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), a wing of ISRO, and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY) division of the Agriculture Ministry. The government has decided to geo-tag all assets (80 kinds of assets are created under

the RKVY) like farm ponds, soil testing labs and seed godowns for their better utilisation.

 

RKVY is a special Additional Central Assistance scheme to incentivise States that increase their investment in agriculture and allied sectors.

  • It was launched in 2007 on the recommendation of the National Development Council.

 

OUTCOME BUDGET

 

Delhi’s Outcome Budget document was released calling it “a historic innovation for ushering in transparency and accountability in public spending”. Outcome refers to the end result of government initiative and interventions. Therefore, outcome budget measures how well a policy has been implemented.

A unique feature of outcome budgeting is that it not only measures the end results in terms of rupees or fund utilisation but also in physical units. For example: how many kilowatts of energy

have been produced. It was first introduced in India in 2005-06. From 2007-08, it has been merged with the Performance Budget. The outcome budget showcases the physical dimensions of the financial budget indicating the actual physical performance in the previous year, current year and targeted performance during the projected (next) year.

 

RBI REVISED PROMPT CORRECTIVE ACTION

The RBI is set to revise guidelines for Prompt Corrective

Action (PCA) plan required to be mandatorily set in

motion by ailing banks. PCA is a process or mechanism to ensure that banks

don’t go bust.

  • Thus, RBI has put in place some trigger points to assess,

monitor, control and take corrective actions on banks

which are weak and troubled.

  • PCA was first introduced after the global economy

incurred huge losses due to the failure of financial

institutions during the 1980s and 1990s.

  • According to the latest Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) plan, the banks are assessed on three parameters,

and they are:

ü Capital ratios

ü Asset Quality

ü Profitability

  • Indicators to be tracked for Capital, asset quality and profitability would be CRAR/ Common Equity Tier I

ratio, Net NPA ratio and Return on Assets respectively.

  • Breach of any risk threshold would result in invocation of PCA.

 

International conventions and forums against the use of chemical weapons Geneva Protocol in 1925: The Convention was silent on the production, storage and transfer of these chemicals.  Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) of 1993 plugged these holes. It outlawed the production as well as stockpiling of chemical weapons. 192 countries have so far agreed to be bound by it— 4 UN states are not party: Israel, Egypt, North Korea and South Sudan.  The CWC is administered by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013.  The Australia Group (AG) is an informal forum of countries that, through the harmonisation of export controls, seeks to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons.

 

SHAHTOOSH TRADE

 

Recently a parliamentary standing committee demanded lift of ban on shahtoosh trade in Kashmir. Background  Globally, shahtoosh trade was banned in 1975 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to which India is a signatory.  Shahtoosh wool is obtained from Tibetan antelope, Chiru which migrates from Tibet to Ladakh in summer  It is listed in Schedule I of the India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act. Its IUCN status is near threatened.  The committee demands a removal of the ban because trade in shahtoosh provides livelihood security to people of kashmir specially the women.  It further recommends that government should undertake rearing of the antelope so that trade becomes regulated and does not lead to exploitation.

 

CITES (also known as the Washington Convention)  It is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals.  It was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of IUCN.  It entered into force in 1975.

TREE-LIVING CRAB SPECIES

Scientists have discovered a new species of long legged, tree-dwelling crabs in Western Ghats of Kerala.  The new species named Kani maranjandu after the Kani tribe in Kerala. Kani tribe  Found in tropical forests of the Agasthyamalai hills of the Western Ghats  Traditionally a nomadic people with a population of almost 25,000.  They have a rich tradition of using wild plants found in the region for health reasons, and their tribal physicians, called Plathi, hold the traditional medicinal knowledge.  Important medicinal plant used is locally known as ‘arogyapacha’.

 

CONGRESS GRASS

 

Congress grass also known as ‘Carrot weed’ in India is a versatile, annual herb. Its scientific name is Parthenium hysterophorus  It is native of Tropical America, and West Indies  it is a tall growing, deep rooted, much branched dicotyledonous plant species attaining a meter height.  It was introduced to India as a contaminant of food grains imported from Mexico. It was first reported in 1956  Today this weed has been reported from entire India except the hilly states.

 

MESOPELAGIC MAPPING

 

Mesopelagic Zone  It is an aquatic layer of the ocean that runs from approximately 200m to 1000m below the surface, where little light penetrates, so algae do not live.  It is home to largest number of vertebrates. There are bristlemouths, dragonfish, squid and swordfish, etc.

 

The mesopelagic is home to 10bn tonnes of animals. Cropping a mere 1% each year would double the catch from the ocean.  Acts as a carbon pump: pulls tonnes of that element out of the surface waters and into the depths, by its inhabitants that are in a state of perpetual migration, rising to the surface at night to feed, then returning to depths to escape predation.  During the day, they release part of what they have consumed as faeces. Some of them also die. These faeces and bodies fall through the water column as what is known as marine snow, and accumulate at the bottom.  The abundance of animals acts as a ‘false bottom’ which help submarines to go undetected by sonar beneath this zone.

 

The retreat of one of Canada’s largest glaciers has changed the flow of a northern river almost overnight in an extreme case of what researchers call climate change “river piracy.”  For hundreds of years, the Slims carried meltwater northwards from the vast Kaskawulsh glacier towards the Bering Sea.  But in spring 2016, a period of intense melting of the glacier meant the drainage gradient was tipped in favour of a second river (River Alsek), redirecting the meltwater to the Gulf of Alaska,  It was found that a glacial barrier that once routed its flow northward into the Bering Sea had been breached in the spring.

 

India added a record 5,400 megawatts (MW) of wind power in 2016-17, exceeding its 4,000MW target.  The leading states were Andhra Pradesh at 2,190MW, followed by Gujarat and Karnataka.  In February 2017, solar power tariffs hit a record low of Rs 2.97 per kWh and wind power Rs 3.46 kWh.  Now, in terms of wind power installed capacity India is globally placed at 4th position after China, USA and Germany.

 

What is Green Climate Fund (GCF)?  Created by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), GCF was one of the main outcomes of the Cancun Summit held in 2010.  It allocates its resources to low-emission and climate-resilient projects and programmes in developing countries.  The Fund pays particular attention to the needs of societies that are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, in particular Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and African States.

 

Why this problem of stubble burning?  The paddy-wheat system leaves farmers with the sowing time of less than a month between the two crops.  The amount of stubble generated is higher than the harvest. Every four tonne rice or wheat leave behind about six tonne straw.

 

KHARAI CAMELS Why in news? For two days a week, the Kharai camels are left to themselves on a mangrove island in Kutch district of Gujarat. About kharai camels  Kharai Camel or Swimming Camels are found only in Gujarat’s Bhuj area.  Kharai Camel can live in both coastal and dry ecosystems.  It grazes on saline / mangrove trees and is tolerant to high saline water.  It can swim up to three kilometers into the sea in search of mangroves, their primary food  They are bred by two distinct communities — Fakirani Jats, the handlers, and Rabaris, who are owners.

 

CERN SEES “INDICATIONS” OF NEW PHYSICS  The Large Hadron Collider experiment in CERN has shown a sign that contradicts a basic assumption of the Standard Model.  At the subatomic level, there are two types of processes that have been compared by the physicists at LHC. One is the decay of what is called a B meson into an excited K meson and a pair of muons (muon-plus and muon-minus). The other is where the B meson decays into K meson giving an electron-positron pair.  According to the standard model, since the muons and electrons are identical except for their masses, the rates of these two reactions should be the same. However, the carefully done experiment finds the rates are quite different.

 

On April 2017, NASA claimed on the evidence generated by Cassini Mission that Enceladus, Saturn’s icy moon, contains the right chemicals to support life. The Cassin Mission has found the eruption of hydrogen from Underground Ocean underneath the icy crust of Enceladus.

SCIENCE CITY SCHEME

National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) under

Ministry of Culture has set up a Science City at Kolkata and

Regional Science City at Lucknow.

  • Pushpa Gujral Science City at Kapurtala, Punjab and

Gujarat Science City at Ahmadabad, Gujarat have also

been set up.

  • Moreover, proposal for setting up of science city in Assam

has

been approved.

About Science Cities Scheme

  • It provides for setting up of Science Cities in all the states of

the country.

  • States desirous of setting up a Science City under this

Scheme have to provide land, share the cost of setting up of

facilities and maintain a corpus for its upkeep and

maintenance.

 

EXOPLANET: GJ 1132B Why in News?  Recently, Astronomers detected an atmosphere around an Earth like planet known as GJ 1132b, which is 1.4 times the size of earth and is at a distance of 39 light-years from earth.  GJ 1132b orbits the red dwarf star GJ 1132 in the southern constellation Vela. The parent star GJ 1132 is much smaller, cooler and dimmer than our Sun.  As per the astronomers this super-earth is cloaked in a thick layer of gases that are either water or methane or a mixture of both and is tidally locked (also known as gravitational locking or captured rotation) such that one side is always facing its parent star.  It circles its parent star superfast, completing a single “year” in about 1.6 Earth days.  This is the first time that an atmosphere has been detected around an Earth-like planet.

 

NATIONAL HEALTH POLICY 2017 Cabinet has recently approved National Health Policy (NHP) 2017 to address the current and emerging challenges in terms of socio-economic changes and epidemics since the last NHP in 2002. Shifts seen in new policy From communicable to non-communicable diseases: NHP recognizes need for state intervention to control NCDs as they are reason for more than 60% death in India. Thus policy advocates pre-screening and sets the target to reduce premature mortality via NCDs by 25% by 2025. Collaborating & regulating the private sector which has grown tremendously since 2002, such that over 2/3rd services are provided by it. Although policy seems to be patient-centric, as it proposes ü National health care standards organization (NHCSO) to lay down standards and protocol ü Tribunals for redressal of grievances  Shift from sick-care to wellness: NHP seeks to invest in preventive healthcare. For this, ü early screening and diagnosis have been made a public responsibility ü commitment to pre-emptive care to achieve optimum levels of child and adolescent health through school health programmes and focus on health and hygiene in curriculum ü advocates 2/3rd or more allocation of health budget for Primary Health Care ü assuring comprehensive primary health care through the Health and Wellness Centers’  Intersectoral approach involving various ministries such as MoEf, MoHWS, MoA, MoUD, MoHRD, MoWCD etc.  Urban Health Case: prioritizes addressing the primary health care needs of the urban population with special focus on poor populations, convergence among the wider determinants of health – air pollution, vector control, reduction of violence and urban stress.

 

Previous definition of Blindness ü According to National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB) 1976, a person unable to count fingers from a distance of six metres is categorised as blind.  New Definition of Blindness ü According to the World Health organisation, a person who is unable to count fingers from a distance of three metres would be considered blind.

 

The Bihar government will launch year-long celebrations to mark the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi’s Champaran satyagraha with a series of events. Background  The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was Mahatma Gandhi’s first Satyagraha in India.  He was approached by several leaders at the first meeting of the Congress in Lucknow in 1916 with a request to start a movement against the atrocities on farmers in Champaran.  Gandhiji arrived in Champaran but was later ordered by the District magistrate W B Heycock to leave.  Gandhi ji refused and persisted. He decided to commit Satyagraha. Reason for satyagraha  The peasants of Champaran and other areas of North Bihar were growing the Indigo crop under tinakathia system. Under the system peasants were bound to plant 3 out of 20 parts of his land with indigo.  Farmers were also oppressed by the khurki system. Under Khurki system, the British planters used to pay money to the farmers (Raiyyat) by mortgaging their lands and houses and compelling them to sow indigo. Centenary year celebrations Gandhi Smriti Yatra will be set off from Motihari to mark Gandhi’s first visit to Champaran.  A ‘Gandhian circuit’ will be developed for tourists visiting the State. Prominent places to be developed include Bhitiharwa Ashram, Brindaba, Shri Rampur, Koeldih, Amolwa, Murli Bharhawa, Sariswa and Hardiya Kothi, which used to be the house of G.P. Edward, a British Indigo planter.  The Gandhi Peace Foundation will be a partner in the yearlong celebrations.

 

One of the most fascinating rock art sites in India in recent times is Daraki Chattan. It is a narrow cave in a hill in Mandsaur district, where petroglyph (rock carvings) in the shape of 530 cup-marks or cupicles (circular depressions in the rock-wall) have been found. The experts studying it claim it to be the “oldest rock art in the world”, about 2 to 5 lakh years old. Rock art denotes prehistoric man-made markings on natural stone.  This type of Stone Age art is traditionally divided into two main categories: o Petroglyphs: meaning, rock engravings or carvings; this category also includes works of prehistoric sculpture that are part of the rocks themselves (known as parietal art), such as relief sculpture. o Pictographs: meaning, paintings or drawings.  A third, smaller category of rock art is associated with Megaliths or Petroforms, involving the arrangement of stones to create a type of monument. The highest concentration of rock art sites is situated in the Satpura, Vindhya and Kaimur Hills. Bhimbetaka alone has 750 rock art shelters that were discovered by VS Wakankar, considered the father of Indian rock art.

 

The Hoysala architectural style is considered an intermediate between the Indo-Aryan and Dravidian traditions.  They were influenced by the western Chalukyan architecture and employed their craftsmen as well.  Some of the distinctive styles are: ü The temples have a star shaped base with the main structure standing on a raised platform. ü The garbha griha (sanctum sanctorum) houses a centrally placed murti(enshrined icon) on a pitha (pedestal). ü There are three shrines structured around a central pillared hall, each with a tower. ü Pillars with horizontal mouldings, produced by a mechanical process. ü There are intricate grille windows, an abundance of sculptural details. ü The sikharas unlike the northern style (parabolic) are constructed in well-defined horizontal tiers and together with sanctum sanctorum they form the vimana of temple. ü In temple courtyard (Prakram) several minor shrines and outbuildings often abound. ü The temple may be approached via entrances with gigantic gopurams (gigantic entrance towers) towering over each doorway.  The temples are almost entirely covered with intricate sculptural carvings. This was mainly possible, for the temples were constructed out of a very fine grained soft soap stone (chloritic schist).  Other major temples of these styles are: Hoysaleswara temple, Halebid, Karnataka and Kesava temple, Somnathapura, Mysore (Karnataka).

 

What is Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA)?  It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), launched in 2013 which aims at providing strategic funding to eligible state higher educational institutions. Objectives of RUSA  Ensure access, equity and excellence in higher education.  Improve the overall quality of state institutions on par of standardisation institution.  Promoting autonomy in State Universities and improving governance in institutions.  Ensure reforms in the affiliation, academic and examination systems.  Correct regional imbalances in access to higher education by setting up institutions in unserved & underserved areas.

 

TRANSITION TO INDAS

Why in news?

  • The first full fiscal year of reporting under Indian Accounting Standards (IndAS) has been completed.

What is Ind AS?

  • Ind AS or Indian Accounting Standards govern the accounting and recording of financial transactions as well as the presentation of statements such as profit and loss account and balance sheet of a company.
  • For long, there has been a heated debate about Indian companies moving to the globally accepted International

Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for their accounts.

  • Ind AS has been evolved as a compromise formula that tries to harmonise Indian accounting rules with the IFRS.

 

SAGARMATHA FRIENDSHIP-2017

Why in news?

  • The China-Nepal exercise, “Sagarmatha Friendship – 2017” began in Nepal Army’s paratraining school in

Maharajganj.

About Sagarmatha

  • It is the first military exercise between Nepal and China.
  • The military exercise will focus on counter terrorism and disaster response.
  • It marks the Nepali Army’s extension of military diplomacy with china.

 

THE MASSIVE ORDNANCE AIR BLAST BOMB (MOAB)

  • A GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, nicknamed “mother of all bombs,” was dropped on a tunnel complex of ISIS-Khorasan, a regional affiliate of the terror group, in Achin district of Afghanistan’s

Nangarhar province. The Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb (MOAB) also known as the ‘mother of all bombs’ is the largest nonnuclear bomb ever deployed in combat by the United States. The GBU-43 is a 21,600 pound (9,797 kg) GPSguided munition. It is a thermobaric weapon, which uses oxygen from the surrounding air to generate an intense, high temperature blast wave that packs an incredible amount of energy into a small, localised area. In comparison, most conventional bombs consist of a mix of fuel and oxygen-generating substances. Thermobaric weapons consist of almost entirely 100% fuel, and rely on atmospheric oxygen.