Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 07 September 2016

:: National ::

The Centre may toughen its stand against separatist leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, and security forces are expected to be given a larger role in the Valley.
The government has decided to step up crackdowns against elements stonewalling the return of normalcy in the Valley, which has been under curfew almost continuously for the past 60 days.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and informed him of the situation.
"One thing is clear, we have engaged with the people there and it might have a long-term impact. Now, the short-term goal is to reopen markets and schools and bring normalcy to the State", Govt. said.

Amid dissent by the Opposition parties and serious opposition from farmers, the Karnataka Government decided to release 15,000 cusecs of water a day to Tamil Nadu as per the Supreme Court’s directive.
The State has also decided to file a modification petition before the apex court in addition to approaching the supervisory committee to convince it about the distress situation due to a deficient monsoon.
A decision to this effect was taken by the government after a meeting of the floor leaders of both Houses of the State legislature and MPs from the State.
Meanwhile, the protests by various groups in Karnataka in the wake of the Supreme Court order derailed inter-State movement of people across the Jujuvadi checkpost.
In Karnataka, the protests led to traffic blocks, cancellation of bus services to Tamil Nadu and Kerala and halting of shows of Tamil movies. Train services were not affected, said railway officials.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Sri Lanka to be malaria-free, after certifying that the life-threatening disease had been completely eliminated here.
Sri Lanka’s achievement is truly remarkable. In the mid-20th century, it was among the most malaria-affected countries, but now it is malaria-free.
Sri Lanka’s road to elimination had not been easy. It demanded well-calibrated, responsive policies.
For instance, after cases of malaria soared in Sri Lanka in the 1970s and 80s, the country revised its strategy, intensively targeting the parasite in addition to targeting the mosquito.
Sri Lanka has, despite the protracted civil war that ravaged the country, set high standards in public health and sanitation in South Asia.
India is in the “control phase” with regard to malaria, but is working to reach pre-elimination by 2017 and to complete elimination thereafter, says a 2015 WHO report.

Global warming is making the oceans sicker than ever before, spreading disease among animals and humans and threatening food security across the planet.
The findings, based on peer-reviewed research, were compiled by 80 scientists from 12 countries, experts said at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in Hawaii.
The report, ‘Explaining Ocean Warming’, is the “most comprehensive, most systematic study we have ever undertaken on the consequence of this warming on the ocean,” co-lead author Dan Laffoley said.
The world’s waters have absorbed more than 93 per cent of the enhanced heating from climate change since the 1970s, curbing the heat felt on land but drastically altering the rhythm of life in the ocean, he said.
The study included every major marine ecosystem, containing everything from microbes to whales, including the deep ocean.
The higher temperatures will probably change the sex ratio of turtles in the future because females are more likely to be born in warmer temperatures. The heat also means microbes dominate larger areas of the ocean.