Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 08 May 2017
:: National ::
According to exit polls Emmanuel Macron could become France’s President
Flag-waving crowds in front of the Louvre in central Paris broke into jubilant cheers as the first exit polls emerged, predicting centrist and independent candidate Emmanuel Macron’s victory in a bitterly fought presidential election.
Mr. Macron is predicted to win 65.5% of the votes against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen’s 34.5%, according to an Ipsos/SofraSteria poll, making the 39-year-old the youngest person to hold the office of President in the Fifth Republic.
While Ms. Le Pen may have lost, her party, Front National (FN), has beaten its previous record by a huge margin; the FN won 17.8% in the second round under Ms. Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, against Jacques Chirac in 2002.
Military personnel to receive revised pay
After a wait of about eight months, military personnel are likely to receive their revised pay recommended by the Seventh Pay Commission with arrears in May’s salary, say the general instructions issued by the three Services to their personnel.
The Union Cabinet issued orders last week for implementing the recommendations for military personnel. Following this, the three Services issued the general instructions stating the various recommendations that were approved.
The recommendations approved include extension of pay stages for junior commissioned officers (JCO) and other ranks from 24 to 40 to prevent stagnation, increase in index of rationalisation for Colonels and Lieutenant-Colonels from 2.57 to 2.67 and extension of pay stages for Brigadiers by two.
On the pension front, two recommendations approved are restoration of the percentage-based disability pension and an additional option for pension by pay fixation method in addition to the consolidation method, whichever is higher.
However, some of the core anomalies raised by the services are yet to be addressed, top among them are Non-Functional Upgrade (NFU) and higher Military Service Pay (MSP) for JCOs.
NFU entitles all officers of a batch who are not promoted to draw the salary and grade pay that the senior-most officer of their batch would get after a certain period.
In a reference to that the instructions notes: “Pay comparison between defence services, all India services and Group A services must be understood in totality and explained to rank and file to dispel apprehensions about discrepancies.
Japan keen to collaborate with India on Asia and Africa projects (Register and Login to read Full News)
Union government aims to make northeast India a gateway to Southeast Asia (Register and Login to read Full News)
:: Science and Technology ::
Central parts of Antarctica’s ice sheet have been stable for millions of years
Central parts of Antarctica’s ice sheet have been stable for millions of years, even when conditions were considerably warmer than present, new research suggests.
The study of mountains in West Antarctica may help scientists improve their predictions of how the region might respond to continuing climate change. The findings could show how ice loss might contribute to sea level rise.
Although the discovery demonstrates the long-term stability of some parts of Antarctica’s ice sheet, scientists remain concerned that ice at its coastline is vulnerable to rising temperatures.
Researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Northumbria in the U.K. studied rocks on slopes of the Ellsworth Mountains, whose peaks protrude through the ice sheet.
By mapping and analysing surface rocks, researchers calculated that the mountains have been shaped by an ice sheet over a million-year period, beginning in a climate some 20 degrees Celsius warmer than at present.