Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 23 October 2016
:: National ::
PM says sustained fight on corruption and Black money has been made
Using the analogy of surgical strikes, PM Modi wondered what would have happened if the government had adopted similar strategy in the recent campaign against black money, which saw declaration worth Rs. 65,000 crore.
“Now think, Rs. 36,000 crore that was leaking has been stopped [by direct benefit transfer], and Rs. 65,000 crore of black money is unearthed, together it is Rs one lakh crore.
“And this Rs 1 lakh crore has been brought back without launching surgical strikes. If we do surgical strikes [in this area], you can imagine what all will come out,” the Prime Minister said.
Mr. Modi said he had put up a sustained fight against corruption since he took charge.
Mr. Modi, speaking at a camp to distribute ‘assistive devices’ to over 8,000 ‘Divyangs’ (differently-abled persons) here, also criticised past governments for not doing enough for the disabled.
PM said, “Knowingly or unknowingly, this country has remained insensitive towards the Divyangs. The government buildings only had facility for healthy persons.”
Since 1992 till 2014, only 56 such camps for distributing assistive devices for Divyangs were organised. After this government came, 4,500 such programmes were held,” Mr. Modi said.
“In the Central government, I came to know that 16,500 posts for Divyangs were vacant. I told my Ministers to fill up these vacant posts. I can say with satisfaction that 14,500 such posts have been filled up,” Mr. Modi said.
Govt formed a committee to keep a close watch on the bird flu
The Central Government has formed a three-member committee to keep a close watch on the bird flu situation with 24 deaths being reported due to the virus.
The move comes even as the Delhi government maintained that there was no threat to human beings from the bird flu scare.
Delhi Animal Husbandry Minister Gopal Rai said H5N8 virus was found in the samples of three of eight birds which had died recently at the Delhi Zoo and not the H5N1 virus, which is more dangerous.
The Union Environment Ministry noted that a constant vigil was being kept around the national zoological parks.
The Central Government’s Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries added that a new bird flu virus subtype, H5N8, had been confirmed in samples from the Gandhi Zoological Park in Gwalior.
Previously, the Delhi government shut down the Hauz Khas Deer Park amid bird flu scare, and cancelled leaves of all officials of the Delhi Animal Husbandry Department.
He added that the Delhi government had started a helpline number (011-2389 0318) where citizens could report cases of bird flu and seek help.
Rajasthan has promulgated an ordinance for constituting a new OBC Commission (Register and Login to read Full News..)
Sandesh for Soldiers started by PM (Register and Login to read Full News..)
:: International ::
Pakistan to appoint a new Army chief in few days
The Pakistan government will appoint a new Army chief within a week or 10 days to replace incumbent General Raheel Sharif who is poised to retire by end of November.
Gen. Sharif had announced several months ago that he will not seek a second term unlike his predecessor General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani.
The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been under pressure to rename the successor of Gen. Sharif to end uncertainty.
Under the law, it is prerogative of the Prime Minister to appoint the new Army chief.
Iraqi forces pushed into a town near the IS held city of Mosul (Register and Login to read Full News..)
:: Business and Economy ::
The Centre is working with State governments to introduce a One India concept
The Centre is working with State governments to introduce a ‘One India’ concept, the most ambitious ‘ease of doing business’ initiative so far.
Under the ‘one-form-one-portal’ model, aimed at attracting huge investments, the processes will be simplified to an extent where investors will need to fill only a single e-form for investing and doing business anywhere in India.
Currently, firms are mandated to complete multiple forms at the Central and State-levels, and it gets more complicated as each State has different requirements and regulations.
The reform plan is among steps aimed at helping raise India’s global ranking on the World Bank Group’s ‘Doing Business’ index — from 130 in 2016 — to the top 50 among the 189 economies featured on the list.
The proposed concept will also make it easy for investors to even change plans midway and shift projects to different locations in India where it is easier to do business.
As an initial measure, a draft ‘Common Application Form’ is being circulated among states for their feedback, the sources said, adding that a few states have already accepted the concept.
However, discussions will be held on possible exceptions, including for environment and security-related clearances.
The Centre is already developing an eBiz project that is basically a government-to-business portal. The services offered under the portal are on starting, running and closing down a business.
Introduced in January 2014, the portal has an integrated payment gateway and currently offers 17 pan-India services (at the Central government-level).
The focus now is on revamping this portal by identifying and removing glitches. The thrust will be on quality by reducing the cost, time and processes involved, and ensuring greater transparency.
The portal will also be soon shifted to an ‘open source multi-platform’ system/browser. Also in the pipeline is a permanent account number (PAN)-based Business Identification Number (BIN) for firms.
This unique business ID will integrate about 18 identification numbers including the existing Company Identification Number.