VISION IAS www.visionias.in CURRENT AFFAIRS OCTOBER 2016 Copyright © by Vision IAS All rights are reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Vision IAS. 1 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. POLITY ______________________________________________________________________________6 1.1. Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal II Verdict ___________________________________________________ 6 1.2. Right to Choose _________________________________________________________________________ 6 1.3. Elections In India ________________________________________________________________________ 7 1.3.1 Religion and Elections ________________________________________________________________________ 7 1.3.2. E-Postal Ballot System for Armed Forces _________________________________________________________ 8 1.4. Relevance and Suitability of ‘Referendum’___________________________________________________ 9 1.5. United Group in Rajya Sabha ______________________________________________________________ 9 1.6. Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat Initiative ______________________________________________________ 10 1.7. Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 _____________________________________ 11 1.8. Sexual Harassment at Workplace _________________________________________________________ 11 1.9. Western Zonal Council Meeting __________________________________________________________ 12 1.10. Parity Issues Related to Army ___________________________________________________________ 13 2. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS __________________________________________________________ 15 2.1. China-Pak Axis _________________________________________________________________________ 15 2.2. India-Bhutan __________________________________________________________________________ 15 2.3. India-Asean ___________________________________________________________________________ 15 2.4. India-Singapore ________________________________________________________________________ 17 2.5. India-Russia ___________________________________________________________________________ 18 2.6. BIMSTEC______________________________________________________________________________ 18 2.7. BRICS ________________________________________________________________________________ 19 2.7.1. Eighth BRICS Summit _______________________________________________________________________ 19 2.7.2. BRICS Rating Agency _______________________________________________________________________ 20 2.7.3. MoU Between Exim Bank and New Development Bank ____________________________________________ 20 2.8. Nuclear Disarmament ___________________________________________________________________ 20 2.9. Disarmament and Security Committee _____________________________________________________ 21 2.10. MoU between India and AARDO _________________________________________________________ 22 2.11. Maldives Quits Commonwealth _________________________________________________________ 22 2.12. International Criminal Court ____________________________________________________________ 22 2.13. UN Human Rights Council ______________________________________________________________ 23 3. ECONOMY _________________________________________________________________________ 25 3.1. Idea of Bad Bank _______________________________________________________________________ 25 3.2. Public Debt Management Cell (PDMC) _____________________________________________________ 26 3.3. Project Insight _________________________________________________________________________ 27 3.4. IMF’s Recent Growth Forecast ____________________________________________________________ 27 3.5. Indigenous Defence Production: Dassault Reliance Aerospace JV _______________________________ 28 3.6. Indian Bridge Management System _______________________________________________________ 28 3.7. India’s First Medipark ___________________________________________________________________ 28 2 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS 3.8. Power Transmission Planning ____________________________________________________________ 29 3.9. Regulation of Pension Products ___________________________________________________________ 29 3.10. Ethanol Pricing Revision ________________________________________________________________ 30 3.11. Agro Irradiation Centers ________________________________________________________________ 30 3.12. National SC/ST Hub and Zero Defect-Zero Effect Scheme Launched ____________________________ 30 3.13. Options in Agricultural Produce__________________________________________________________ 31 3.14. Global Competitiveness Index ___________________________________________________________ 31 3.15. Mining Surveillance System (MSS) _______________________________________________________ 32 3.16. Central Assistance Under AIBP __________________________________________________________ 33 3.17. Agricultural Marketing and Farm Friendly Reforms Index ____________________________________ 34 3.18. Regional Connectivity Scheme ‘UDAN’ ____________________________________________________ 35 3.19. Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor _______________________________________________________ 36 3.20. Trends in CSR Spending ________________________________________________________________ 36 3.21. Urja Ganga Project ____________________________________________________________________ 37 3.22. DBT for Kerosene _____________________________________________________________________ 38 3.23. Ease of Doing Business Rankings _________________________________________________________ 38 3.24. Nobel Prize in Economics _______________________________________________________________ 40 4. SOCIAL ____________________________________________________________________________ 42 4.1. Gender Related Issues __________________________________________________________________ 42 4.1.1. India Ranks 87 in WEF Gender Gap Report ______________________________________________________ 42 4.1.2. Janani Suraksha Yojna ______________________________________________________________________ 42 4.1.3. Changes in Domestic Violence Act _____________________________________________________________ 43 4.1.4. Muslim Personal Law: Need for Reforms _______________________________________________________ 43 4.2. Vulnerable sections ____________________________________________________________________ 44 4.2.1. Elderly in India ____________________________________________________________________________ 44 4.2.2. Vayoshreshtha Samman ____________________________________________________________________ 45 4.2.3. Amendments to the HIV and AIDS (Prevention And Control) Bill, 2014 ________________________________ 45 4.3. Health and Diseases ____________________________________________________________________ 46 4.3.1. Dengue and Chikungunya ___________________________________________________________________ 46 4.3.2. Leprosy __________________________________________________________________________________ 48 4.3.3. Global TB Report __________________________________________________________________________ 49 4.4. Education _____________________________________________________________________________ 49 4.4.1. National Academic Depository _______________________________________________________________ 49 4.4.2. New Delhi Declaration on Education ___________________________________________________________ 50 4.5. Miscellaneous _________________________________________________________________________ 50 4.5.1. Liquor Ban _______________________________________________________________________________ 50 4.5.2. Swachh Bharat Mission: 2nd Anniversary _______________________________________________________ 51 4.5.3. Open Defecation in India ____________________________________________________________________ 52 4.5.4. Sugar Tax ________________________________________________________________________________ 53 4.5.5. India moves up in the World Giving Index _______________________________________________________ 54 4.5.6. Rajasthan Drive to end Child Marriages ________________________________________________________ 54 5. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY __________________________________________________________ 56 5.1. Nobel Prize in Medicine/Physiology _______________________________________________________ 56 5.2. Nobel Prize in Physics 2016 ______________________________________________________________ 56 3 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS 5.3. Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016 ____________________________________________________________ 57 5.4. Solution to Marine Oil Spills _____________________________________________________________ 58 5.5. Himansh ______________________________________________________________________________ 58 5.6. Hyperelastic Bone ______________________________________________________________________ 59 5.7. GSAT 18 Satellite Launched ______________________________________________________________ 59 5.8. ICGS Ships Commissioned _______________________________________________________________ 59 5.9. India Shows Second Highest Growth in Science Research ______________________________________ 60 5.10. Biotech-Kisan and Cattle Genomics_______________________________________________________ 60 5.11. Indian Researchers Produces Stable Solar Cells _____________________________________________ 61 6. SECURITY __________________________________________________________________________ 63 6.1. Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) _________________________________