Current affairs- March 26,2016
Scientists
working on NASA’s Cassini mission have
identified the highest point on
Saturn’s largest moon Titan.
§ Titan’s
highest peak is 10, 948 feet high. It is found within a trio of mountainous
ridges called the Mithrim Montes.
About
Cassini Mission:
Cassini–Huygens
is an unmanned spacecraft sent
to the planet Saturn.
Cassini is the fourth space probe
to visit Saturn and the first to enter orbit.
§ Its
design includes a Saturn orbiter and a lander for the moon Titan. The lander,
called Huygens, landed on Titan in 2005. The spacecraft was launched on October
15, 1997. This was the first landing ever accomplished in the outer Solar
System.
Objectives:
§ Determine
the three-dimensional structure and dynamic behavior of the rings of Saturn.
§ Determine
the composition of the satellite surfaces and the geological history of each
object.
§ Determine
the nature and origin of the dark material on Iapetus’s leading hemisphere.
§ Measure
the three-dimensional structure and dynamic behavior of the magnetosphere.
§ Study
the dynamic behavior of Saturn’s atmosphere at cloud level.
§ Study
the time variability of Titan’s clouds and hazes.
India to appeal WTO
verdict in solar case
India
has decided to appeal against the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) verdict over
its policy relating to solar power equipment.
§ Meanwhile,
the government is also examining options to file a case against the US in the
World Trade Organisation based on programmes run by American state governments
which give protection to domestic manufacturers.
Background:
A
World Trade Organization (WTO) panel, in February 2016, ruled against India in
a dispute raised by the US over the country’s solar power programme, requiring
the government to offer a level playing field to both foreign and domestic
manufacturers of solar panels.
§ The
panel found that the domestic content requirement imposed under India’s
national solar programme is inconsistent with its treaty obligations under the
global trading regime.
§ The
United States had challenged the rules on the origin of solar cells and solar
modules used in India’s national solar power programme. A requirement that
certain cells and modules be made in India fell afoul of WTO rules on
discriminating against imports.
§ The
United States said its solar exports to India had fallen by 90% from 2011, when
India imposed the rules.
India’s
Solar Mission offers a subsidy of up to Rs 1 crore per MW to solar developers
sourcing components from local manufacturers. It also stipulates that 10% of
the solar capacity target of 100,000 MW by 2022 should be built with
domestically manufactured solar modules.
How
India defends its move?
India
principally relies on the ‘government procurement’ justification, which permits
countries to deviate from their national treatment obligation provided that the
measure was related to “the procurement by governmental agencies of products
purchased for governmental purposes and not with a view to commercial resale or
use in production of goods for commercial sale”.
§ India
also argued that the measure was justified under the general exceptions since
it was necessary to secure compliance with its domestic and international law
obligations relating to ecologically sustainable development and climate
change.
§ Besides,
it is also being said that only a small portion of demand can be met by India,
leaving still a substantial market for foreign component makers.
Election Commissioon
clears PM’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on Sunday
The
Election Commission of India has given its approval for Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s upcoming radio broadcast “Mann Ki Baat”, with a condition that his
address to the public should not violate the Model
Code of Conduct in place for the coming Assembly elections in four States and a
Union Territory.
§ The
Model Code of Conduct came into force on March 4 when the ECI announced the
schedule for elections.
Model
Code of Conduct (MCC):
What
is MCC?
These
are the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India for conduct of
political parties and candidates during elections mainly with respect to
speeches, polling day, polling booths, election manifestos, processions and
general conduct.
Aim: To ensure free and fair elections.
When
it comes into force?
The
Model Code of Conduct comes into force immediately on announcement of the
election schedule by the commission. The Code remains in force till the end of
the electoral process.
Status:
§ The
need for such code is in the interest of free and fair elections. However, the
code does not have any specific statutory
basis. It has only a persuasive effect.
§ It
contains what is known as “rules of electoral morality”.
But this lack of statutory backing does not prevent the Commission from
enforcing it.
Evolution:
§ The
Commission issued the code for the first time in 1971 (5th Election) and
revised it from time to time.
§ This
set of norms has been evolved with the consensus of political parties who have
consented to abide by the principles embodied in the said code and also binds
them to respect and observe it in its letter and spirit.
§ The
salient features of the Model Code of Conduct lay down how political parties,
contesting candidates and party(s) in power should conduct themselves during
the process of elections i.e. on their general conduct during electioneering,
holding meetings and processions, poll day activities and functioning of the
party in power etc.
Karnataka develops mobile
app to monitor rural employment scheme
A
mobile application developed by the Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat
Raj Department has drawn the attention of the Union government.
§ Officials
of the Union Ministry of Rural Development have sought a report on the unique
features of the App, titled ‘MGNREGA
M-platform.’
Details:
The
App, titled ‘MGNREGA M-platform,’
helps officials monitor the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme, and allows the beneficiaries to monitor progress at every stage.
§ It
has been devised to increase transparency, reduce fund diversion and
interference by middlemen.
§ It
can also be used to ensure automatic payment of wages to labourers by
transferring data to the central server.
How
it operates?
§ If
a beneficiary plans to build a pond in his field, he does so by telling the
Panchayat Development Officer (PDO) and starts feeding data through pictures.
§ He
posts ‘before and after’ pictures at every stage of construction. Once the
construction is complete, he poses at his pond and uploads the picture to the
M-platform.
§ This
initiates the process of payment of wages and material cost to him. The money
is transferred electronically to his account.
Salient
features:
§ The
most important aspect of the app is citizen interface. It helps the labourers
or below poverty line families to communicate with senior officials and tell
them how they are progressing.
§ This
also speeds up the process and ensures that there is no misuse of funds.
§ The
app also helps collate data for the government. Officials can get real-time
feedback.
Facts
NCDs
As
per the provisional data with SEBI, Indian firms have raised over Rs.58,000
crore through issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) in the ongoing
fiscal. This is much higher than last year. Most of the funds have been
mobilized for expansion, to support working capital requirements and for other
general corporate purposes.
What
are NCDs?
The
debentures which can’t be converted into shares or equities are called
non-convertible debentures (or NCDs).
§ Non-convertible
debentures are used as tools to raise long-term funds by companies through a
public issue. To compensate for this drawback of non-convertibility, lenders
are usually given a higher rate of return compared to convertible debentures.
§ Besides,
NCDs offer various other benefits to the owner such as high liquidity through
stock market listing, tax exemptions at source and safety since they can be
issued by companies which have a good credit rating as specified in the norms
laid down by RBI for the issue of NCDs. In India, usually these have to be
issued of a minimum maturity of 90 days.
What
are debentures?
Debentures
are long-term financial instruments which acknowledge a debt obligation towards
the issuer.
Coal unit by BHEL
State-run
power equipment maker BHEL recently commissioned a 500 MW coal-based unit at Singareni Thermal Power Project in Adilabad District of
Telangana.
Fortune 50
Arvind
Kejriwal has been placed at 42 in Fortune’s list of top 50 world leaders. Kejriwal is the only Indian in the list.
The list features men and women from across the globe from the fields of
business, government, philanthropy and the arts who are “transforming the world
and inspiring others to do the same.”
