Current Affairs 6th November, 2015

NATIONAL:

Agni-IV to be tested next week

Agni-IV, India’s surface-to-surface missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads, will be flight-tested next week, probably on November 9. The trial will take place on the Wheeler Island, off Odisha. The missile can cover 4,000 km. The Strategic Forces Command of the Services will fire the missile with a dummy payload of chemical explosives.
This is the fifth flight-trial of Agni-IV, originally called Agni Prime. Except the first trial, the three subsequent launches were successful. Agni-IV is a two-stage missile. It is 20 metres long and weighs 17 tonnes.
It was last flight-tested in December 2014 for a reduced range of 3,000 km

60% turnout in final phase

With the fifth and final phase of polling in 57 seats across nine districts having ended on Thursday, registering a 60 per cent voter turnout � highest in all phases of poll � the Bihar election appeared to be a tough contest between the BJP-led NDA and Nitish-Lalu led Grand Alliance. The average percentage of vote in all five phases has been 56.8, four per cent more than that in the 2010 Assembly poll.

Exit polls don’t settle Bihar cliffhanger

Exit poll results from Bihar have shown a wide variation among them, reflective of the many biases that creep into such surveys and not easily justifiable with mere statistical explanations.
Poll for channels such as News24 by Today’s Chanakya , which has generally got its predictions right in the recent past, has given the NDA an emphatic victory, while other agencies have predicted a close finish. In fact, most of the others have actually given the JD(U)-RJD-Congress Grand Alliance an edge over the BJP alliance.

SAD-BJP govt. has pushed Punjab into a crisis: Rahul

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-led government in Punjab of pushing the State into a crisis by ignoring the interest of its people.
Mr. Gandhi, who is on a two-day trip to Punjab, was speaking after he met the families of the two youths, who were killed in police firing during a protest against a sacrilege incident in Faridkot district last month.

Maharashtra to hand over Rajan cases to CBI

After completing preparations at the Arthur Road jail to house underworld don Rajan Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan, the Maharashtra government on Thursday night in a dramatic reversal decided to transfer all criminal cases against the don to the CBI.
The decision came a day after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis returned from Delhi, and an hour after he held a high level meeting at the state secretariat. 

11 CRPF men injured in militant attack

At least 11 CRPF personnel received injuries in a militant attack in Srinagar on Thursday evening, just a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit.
Reports suggest a large explosion was heard inside a paramilitary CRPF installation in Srinagar around 7.30 p.m. A grenade was hurled from the roadside at the Ikhwan hotel, which houses CRPF’s 82 Battalion. The security installation is located at the centre of the city and is just 2 km away from Sher-i-Kashmir Cricket Stadium, the venue of Prime Minister’s rally.

More BJP leaders target Shah Rukh

Film star Shah Rukh Khan has found himself at the receiving end of a flurry of attacks and charges from BJP leaders over the past two days, with yoga guru Ramdev also chipping in to take a dig at the actor.
Mr. Khan had recently spoken out against “increasing intolerance”, thus coming out in symbolic support of writers and film-makers who had been returning awards in protest.
The tone of the attacks was varied: while BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and Yogi Adityanath questioned his nationalist credentials, BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said that he had expressed concern just after an Enforcement Directorate notice to him.

SC Bench invites public participation

The Constitution Bench hearing on Thursday to “better” the collegium system initially got drowned in a wave of protests from certain advocates who demanded that every citizen be heard on the issue.
But the initial pandemonium and a brief confrontation between the Bench and the lawyers became a turning point for the court to decide to look beyond the 60-odd suggestions compiled in a report before it, and invite public participation in improving the collegium system.

INTERNATIONAL:

First formal split in Taliban under new chief Mansour

A breakaway faction of the Taliban has appointed its own leader, in the first formal split in the militant movement under new leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, posing a fresh hurdle to potential peace talks.
Mullah Mohamed Rasool was named the leader of the faction in a mass gathering of dissident fighters this week in the remote southwestern province of Farah, according to an AFP reporter who attended the meeting.

China passes blame for ASEAN split

without naming the United States or Japan, China has blamed “individual countries outside the region” for the failure of the ASEAN Defence Ministers and their partners to agree on a joint statement after their meeting on Wednesday.
The event underscored the split in the Asia-Pacific on the South China Sea issue, highlighting the growing rivalry between Beijing and Washington in the region. China is bolstering its military capability in the Pacific, following the adoption of President Barack Obama’s “Asia Pivot” doctrine, which underscores Washington’s intent to deploy bulk of its forces under the U.S. Pacific Command.

Bomb caused plane crash: U.K.

British Prime Minister David Cameron declared on Thursday it was “more likely than not” that a bomb brought down a Metrojet flight packed with Russian vacationers a scenario that Russian and Egyptian officials dismissed as premature speculation.
Mr. Cameron said he had grounded all British flights to and from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula because of “intelligence and information” indicating that a bomb was the likely culprit in the crash on Saturday that killed all 224 people onboard. The move stranded thousands of British tourists at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh

Maldives impeaches Vice-President Adeeb

The Maldives Parliament on Thursday approved a state of Emergency imposed by President Abdulla Yameen and used extraordinary powers to sack his estranged deputy despite mounting international concern.
Lawmakers loyal to President Yameen voted to remove Ahmed Adeeb, who was arrested last month in connection with a September blast aboard the Presidential speedboat that the government says was an assassination attempt.
All 61 parliamentarians present voted in favour of the impeachment, while Opposition members in the 85-strong House stayed away, knowing the government had enough votes to carry the decision.

IS claims Bangladesh policeman’s murder

In the face of repeated denial of the Islamic State’s presence in Bangladesh, the jihadist group has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack at a police checkpost on the outskirts of Dhaka on Wednesday, leaving a police constable dead.
Hours into the sudden attack that also left another constable badly injured on the Dhaka-Tangail highway, the U.S.-based SITE (Search for International Terrorist Entities) intelligence group reported the IS’s claims.

China open to India’s constructive role in S. China Sea

China on Thursday said it was open to India’s “constructive and positive” role in cementing peace and stability in South China Sea, following nuanced remarks by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in Kuala Lumpur where he linked an advocacy of “freedom of navigation” with the swift implementation a Code of Conduct in these waters.
“We hope that countries who really care about freedom of navigation in the South China Sea (SCS) can play (a) constructive and positive role” in peace and stability of the region, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying said in response to a question, related to Mr. Parrikar’s observations at the conference.

BUSINESS:

Air travel gets cheaper this festive season

Falling jet fuel prices have yielded a bonanza for fliers and that too in the festive season. Airfares on some prime routes, including Delhi-Mumbai, this year are 50 per cent lower than same time last year.
According to travel portal Yatra.com , on an average, the domestic air fares have come down by about up to 20 per cent, while Makemytrip has seen a drop of up to 10 per cent across domestic and international routes over the last year. October-February is generally considered a peak flying season.
For this week, a one-way ticket to Mumbai from Delhi is available for Rs.3,426 on an average, over 50 per cent cheaper compared with Rs.6,923 in the first week on November last year. Likewise, average price for a one-way ticket from Delhi to Chennai is cheaper by 52 per cent at Rs.4,253, against Rs.8,960 in the year-ago period, as per data by Yatra.com . Similarly, a flight from Mumbai to Bengaluru is cheaper by 24 per cent, Delhi to Hyderabad 44 per cent lower; Bengaluru to Delhi now costs 7 per cent less and Mumbai to Kolkata costs over 2 per cent less.

Obama believes commerce is strategic

The recent understanding between India and the U.S. that strategic and commercial interests of both countries were one compact came from President Barack Obama, a senior U.S. official has said. “This notion that commerce is strategic comes from the highest level,” he said. Both countries had their first Strategic and Commercial Dialogue in September, combining the two separate annual dialogues.
“Closer commercial ties can provide ballast to our relationship when occasional irritants pop up. It can serve as the basis for greater cooperation and engagement elsewhere in Asia: National economic strength can help both countries ensure the Rebalance to Asia and Act East policies have staying power. And it will help support democratic India’s growing positive role in world affairs,” Arun M. Kumar, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets, said.

PM unveils 3 gold schemes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday unveiled three gold-related schemes, namely the Gold Monetisation Scheme, Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and Gold Coin and Bullion Scheme.
“India has no reason to be described as a poor country, as it has 20,000 tonnes of gold. The gold available with the country should be put to productive use, and these schemes show us the way to achieve this goal,” the Prime Minister said while introducing the schemes. Gold has often been a source of women's empowerment in Indian society, and these schemes will underscore that sense of empowerment, Mr. Modi added. The Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) will replace the existing Gold Deposit Scheme, 1999. However, the government has made clear that deposits outstanding under the Gold Deposit Scheme will be allowed to run till maturity unless the depositors prematurely withdraw them.
Under the GMS, resident Indians (classified as individuals, Hindu Undivided Families, Trusts including Seri-registered Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds) can deposit gold at collection and purity testing centres certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards.

Virtusa to buy Polaris

The U.S.-based Nasdaq-listed IT outsouring firm Virtusa has agreed to buy majority stake in Chennai-based Polaris Consulting and Services for a total value of about $180 million (Rs.1,173 crore).
The deal consideration includes 53 per cent majority stake and an unconditional mandatory open offer to purchase up to 26 per cent of the outstanding shares of Polaris from the public shareholders of Polaris.
Under the proposed deal, Virtusa will acquire 53 percent stake in Polaris held by Arun Jain, founder and Chairman of Polaris, Orbitech, and certain other minority shareholders, for about $180 million (Rs.1,173 crore).

Anti-dumping probe against dry cell battery imports

The Centre has decided to initiate anti-dumping investigation into the imports of AA dry cell batteries after finding prima facie evidence of dumping of the goods originating or exported to India from two Asian countries.
This follows the filing of an application to this effect by Association of Indian Dry Cell Manufacturers. There are three major players in the domestic segment &ndash Eveready Industries, Panasonic Energy India and Indo National Ltd. While AA batteries account for 70 per cent of the dry cell battery market, nearly 10 per cent of this is fed by the unorganised sector &ndash namely cheap imports, an industry source said. Imports are estimated at 200 million piece annually in a 2.6 billion piece market for AA batteries.

Cabinet clears financial ‘reform’ package for discoms

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a ‘reform’ package for loss-making electricity utilities, allowing for the transfer of 75 per cent of the about Rs 4.3 lakh crore outstanding debt incurred by stressed discoms to States’ debt.
The scheme, named Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY), will be optional for States. The electricity distribution firms in the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Haryana are among the most stressed and have run up the maximum losses. Announcing the Cabinet decision, Union Power Minster Piyush Goyal told reporters that the Centre aims to help states in wiping out the discoms’ losses by 2019.

ADI to capitalize on startup revolution

Analog Devices Inc. (ADI), a leading global company that designs and manufactures semiconductor products and solutions, will ramp up its operations in India by leveraging the wide availability of talent pool and the burgeoning start-up ecosystem.
President and CEO Vincent Roche said there were opportunities for the company to work with the startups that were “solving problems not just for India, but for the world”. The India Design Centre of ADI is now the company’s second largest design centre outside of the U.S.

SPORTS:

Elgar has the Indian batsmen in a bind

The Indians did not fancy Dean Elgar as a bowler.
Though he played during the recent mayhem at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, when South Africa amassed 438 in 50 overs, he did not bowl there.
He did abundantly enough at the I.S. Bindra Stadium here to leave the Indian batsmen in a tangle of sorts with his left-arm spin, which looked friendly to begin with and assumed menacing proportions as the ball did a few things after coming out of Elgar’s palm

Goans party in Chennai

FC Goa chief coach Zico’s master strategy panned out exactly the way he wanted it to. Playing deep with five defenders, Goa blunted the attacking instincts of host Chennaiyin FC and went on to score two goals through penalties to emerge triumphant in their Hero-Indian Super League clash at the Nehru Stadium here on Thursday.
With the victory, Goa rose to top of the table with 14 points from eight matches while Chennaiyin remains on 10 from the same number of matches.

Isner topples Federer in Paris

Big-serving American John Isner stunned Roger Federer to reach the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters on Thursday. Isner won 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-6(5) for just his second career win over the Swiss legend.
Federer, who won the tournament for the only time in 2011, dropped an opening set tie-break 7-3 before battling back with three games in a row to win the second 6-3.
The deciding set again saw serves on top with Federer failing to convert a rare break point at 3-3. He then twice served successfully to stay in the match to force another tie-break.

Djokovic in last eight

Novak Djokovic defeated Gilles Simon 6-3, 7-5 to record his 19th straight win and reach the quarterfinals of the ATP Paris Masters on Thursday.
He has now won 26 sets in a row, taking him past his own previous best of 24 sets which he achieved in early 2014.
Bopanna-Mergea in quarters
Top Indian player Rohan Bopanna, partnering Romanian Florin Mergea, entered the men’s doubles quarterfinals. It wasn’t an easy outing as the eighth seeds needed an hour and 33 minutes to overcome the Colombian pairing of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-5 in the second round.
The Indo-Romanian combine committed as many as six double faults in the match.

Susie Wolff calls time on F1 career

Scottish racing driver Susie Wolff is to retire from her role as a Formula One practice and test driver at the end of this season, her Williams team said on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old, who joined Williams in 2012 and who is married to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, was the first woman in over two decades to take part in a Formula One race weekend.
Wolff said in a recent blog post that she held little hope of seeing her success followed by a flood of younger women taking part in motor racing.