Current Affairs for IAS Exams

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 13 January 2017

Less than three months after it ousted Cyrus Mistry as Chairman, the board of Tata Sons has picked N. Chandrasekaran, CEO of the group’s most- profitable company, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS), as his successor.
The Board of Directors of Tata Sons, in a swift move, appointed Mr. Chandrasekaran as Executive Chairman at a meeting held at the Tata Group headquarters Bombay House.
The 53-year-old TCS veteran will become only the third non-Tata Chairman of the $103 billion salt-to-software conglomerate’s holding company and will take the helm of the group from Feb 21.
Mr. Chandrasekaran has been at the helm of TCS since 2009 and has been spearheading its growth across geographies. He joined TCS in 1987 as a soft- ware programmer.
A trusted lieutenant of Tata Sons interim Chairman Ratan Tata, Mr. Chandrasekaran is expected to carry forward the Tata legacy as he has the Tata DNA, analysts said.

For over a decade now, the central police forces deployed in areas affected by Left Wing Extremism have been demanding a special allowance, considering the high-risk duties they perform in these areas.
The demand is yet to be fulfilled despite announcements made by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
The government, however, convened a meeting on the various allowances for the jawans, after two videos on conditions of para-military personnel went viral on social media in short succession.
Since the NDA government came to power, Mr. Singh has on multiple occasions announced that a “risk allowance” would be granted to Central Armed Police Force personnel in LWE-affected areas in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
That will be on a par with forces posted in Jammu and Kashmir or the insurgency-hit areas of the northeast.

U.S. Attorney General-designate Jeff Sessions told a Senate committee that he would take measures to curtail the “misuse” of H-1B visas, a move that could impact Indian IT companies that use them in large numbers.
As a Senator, Mr. Sessions has been in the forefront of a campaign against the H-1B programme, and as AG, he will be able to interfere with it in several ways.
The H-1B visa programme is Congressionally mandated and U.S. courts have held that hiring cheaper foreign workers is maintainable under the law.
The executive branch can bring pressure on the programme without changing the law, as its execution is dependent on the processing of visa applications involving multiple departments.
Moreover, there is an increasing consensus among lawmakers to bring some sort of curbs on the programme.
There are bills pending on the programme and the newly elected Democratic leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer from New York, is a supporter of restrictions on the programme.

The U.S. Army is planning to use biodegradable bullets loaded with special seeds that sprout into plants, which can eliminate ammunition debris and contaminants, reducing soil pollution in training grounds.
Spent shells litter U.S. Army training facilities around the world as there is no efficient way to clean them up.
The shells, which contain metal and other chemicals, can rust and pollute soils and groundwater.
Proposals are being solicited until February 8, after which the chosen contractors will produce the biodegradable bullets as part of a three-phase process.
In phase one, the contractor will focus on making 40 mm to 120 mm training rounds. Phase II includes developing a prototype and the means to manufacture it and phase III has the biodegradable round transitioning to use at the Army training facilities.
The plants that grow from the seeds could also help remove soil contaminants or feed local wildlife.