NOV 5th 2015-Current Affairs

>>Prime Minister Narendra Modi  launched three gold-related schemes, including a coin engraved with the images of national emblem Ashok Chakra and Mahatma Gandhi on its two sides, in a bid to put some 20,000 tonnes of idle gold into productive use.

The other two were a gold monetisation scheme to convert jewellery and other yellow metal assets into interest-bearing deposits, and a sovereign bond scheme with an eight-year tenure, while allowing an exit option after five years.

The monetisation scheme will offer option to resident Indians to deposit their precious metal and earn an interest of up to 2.5 per cent; while under the Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme, investors can earn an interest rate of 2.75 per cent per annum by buying paper bonds.

Initially the coins will be available in denominations of 5 grams and 10 grams. A 20 gram bullion will also be available through 125 MMTC outlets.

According to the World Gold Council, an estimated 22,000-23,000 tonnes of gold is lying idle with households and institutions in India.

>>France is reportedly deploying its largest warship in Syria region to continue its fight against the Islamic State (Isis) militants - two months after it joined the US-led coalition bombing missions in the region.

The French defence ministry said that it was sending in the massive Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to support operations against Isis in Syria and Iraq.

"The deployment of the battle group alongside the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier has been decided to participate in operations against Daesh and its affiliate groups”.

Paris supported all efforts to bring in a political transition in Syria, however, it will never consider Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as part of the country's future.

France carried out its first airstrike against Isis in September, in what the country claimed was an act of "self-defence" to stop the radical Islamist militant group from carrying out more attacks on its soil.

The French carrier is expected to be accompanied by an attack submarine, several frigates and a refuelling ship. 

The Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier is the largest warship in Western Europe and is also the only nuclear-powered carrier in service outside of the US Navy.

The warship can support the operations of 40 fixed wing aircraft and helicopters including Rafale M, Super Étendard, E-2C Hawkeye, SA365 Dauphin, EC725 Caracal and AS532 Cougar.

>>Ace shooter Jitu Rai won India's first senior medal at the 13th Asian Shooting Championship, finishing second behind Korea's Park Daehun in the finals of the men's 50m pistol.

Park shot a finals world and Asian record score of 199.2 to clinch the gold medal. Jitu finished with a finals score of 189.5, in the process beating his long-time rivals Jin Jongoh of Korea and Vladimir Issachenko of Kazakhstan.

>>Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been ranked 9th on the Forbes list of powerful people for 2015, up six places from last year when he was at number 15. He is placed between his host next week, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, at number eight and Google's Larry Page at 10.

Forbes said PM Modi "presided over 7.4% GDP growth in his first year in office, and raised his profile as a global leader during official visits with Barack Obama and Xi Jinping. A barnstorming tour of Silicon Valley reinforced his nation's massive importance in tech."

"But governing 1.2 billion people requires more than shaking hands: Now Modi must pass his party's reform agenda and keep fractious opposition under control,"

Russian President Vladimir Putin retains his place as the world's most powerful, while US president Barack Obama has slipped one place to number three. At number two this year is German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Putin, Forbes said, "continues to prove he's one of the few men in the world powerful enough to do what he wants - and get away with it."

Top 10 in the list are

·         Vladimir Putin (Russia)

·         Angela Merkel (Germany)

·         Barack Obama (United States)

·         Pope Francis (Roman Catholic Church)

·         Xi Jinping (China)

·         Bill Gates (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)

·         Janet Yellen (Washington, United States)

·         David Cameron (United Kingdom)

·         Narendra Modi (India)

·         Larry Page (Google)

>> Navtej Singh Sarna was appointed as Indian High Commissioner to United Kingdom (UK).

Earlier to this appointment, he was working as Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

He had also served in Indian missions in Washington DC, Geneva, Warsaw, Thimphu, Tehran and Moscow and served as Indian Ambassador to Israel.

>>
President Pranab Mukherjee today launched ‘IMPRINT India’, a joint initiative of country’s top educational institutes, aimed at developing a roadmap for research to solve major engineering and technology challenges relevant to India today.

The initiative is based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s suggestion that research done by institutions of national importance must be linked with immediate requirements of the society at large.

The objectives of this initiative are to identify areas of immediate relevance to society requiring innovation, direct scientific research into identified areas, ensure higher funding support for research into these areas and measure outcomes of the research effort with reference to impact on the standard of living in the rural and urban areas, a press release by the President’s office said.

The idea of launching IMPRINT India, which is now a joint project of IITs and IISc, originated during the conference of Chairmen, Board of Governors and Directors of Indian Institutes of Technology convened by the President in August last year.

IMPRINT India will focus on 10 themes, with each to be coordinated by one IIT or IISc, including Health Care (IIT Kharagpur), Computer Science and ICT (IIT Kharagpur), Water Resources and River systems (IIT Kanpur), Defence and Manufacturing (IIT Madras), among others.

>> Chief Justice H L Dattu has started the process for appointment of the next Chief Justice of India by recommending to the government to appoint senior most judge, Justice T S Thakur, as his successor. 

Justice Dattu will retire as the CJI on December 2 and the same day Justice Thakur will be sworn in as the CJI by President Pranab Mukherjee. 

Though writing the letter of recommendation for appointment of successor by the incumbent CJI is seen as a mere formality in the seniority-determined succession line, the letter still marks as the first step in rolling out the procedure for swearing-in of the new CJI. 

>> The union cabinet has approved the signing of an MoU with Colombia for strengthening cooperation in the tourism sector.

"The union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for signing a memorandum of understanding between the tourism ministry of India and the trade industry and tourism ministry of Colombia for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism,".

The main objectives of the MoU include expanding bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector, exchanging information, encouraging cooperation between stakeholders such as hotels and tour operators and establishing an exchange programme for cooperation in human resource development.

Other objectives include exchange visits of tour operators, media and opinion makers for promotion of two-way tourism, participation in travel fairs and exhibitions in both countries and exchange experiences in promotion, marketing, destination development and management.

>> The Union Govt hiked the support price to farmers for masoor and gram dals sharply by Rs 250 a quintal each to boost production in the ongoing rabi season and reduce dependency on imports.

Apart from raising the minimum support price (MSP) of pulses, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a bonus of Rs 75 per quintal for gram and masoor dals over and above the support price.

The MSP of wheat, the main rabi crop, has been increased by Rs 75 to Rs 1,525 a quintal for the 2015-16 rabi season, while that of oilseeds has been increased by Rs 250 a quintal.

The MSP of six rabi crops -- wheat, barley, gram, masoor, rapeseed-mustard seed and safflower seed -- has been increased as recommended by the government’s advisory body Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP), he said.

The sowing of rabi crops begins in October and harvesting starts from April onwards. MSP is the price at which the government would buy wheat, pulses and oilseeds from farmers. In case of other rabi crops, the government intervenes when the market price falls below the MSP.

The sharp jump in pulses MSP will encourage cultivation of pulses and reduce dependence on imports. At present, the domestic shortfall in pulses output has led to rise in retail prices of lentils to around Rs 190 a kg forcing the government to take several measures to curb price rise.

To encourage cultivation of oilseeds and reduce dependency on edible oil imports, the CCEA has increased the MSP of rapeseed-mustard seed by Rs 250 to Rs 3,350 a quintal for 2015-16 from Rs 3,100 a quintal in the year-ago period. 

>> Scientists have developed a 3-D printing method capable of producing highly uniform 'blocks' of embryonic stem cells
Imagine if you could take living cells, load them into a printer, and squirt out a 3D tissue that could develop into a kidney or a heart. Scientists are one step closer to that reality, now that they have developed the first printer for embryonic human stem cells.

In a new study, researchers from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh have created a cell printer that spits out living embryonic stem cells. The printer was capable of printing uniform-size droplets of cells gently enough to keep the cells alive and maintain their ability to develop into different cell types.

The new printing method could be used to make 3D human tissues for testing new drugs, grow organs, or ultimately print cells directly inside the body.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are obtained from human embryos and can develop into any cell type in an adult person, from brain tissue to muscle to bone. This attribute makes them ideal for use in regenerative medicine — repairing, replacing and regenerating damaged cells, tissues or organs.