Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 11 April 2016
:: National ::
Fire crackers incident killed more than hundred in Kerala
In the worst-ever pyrotechnics tragedy to strike Kerala,
107 persons were killed and close to 400 injured, many of them grievously.
Disaster struck the crowded precincts of the Puttingal
Devi Temple at Paravur, when an entire dump of fire crackers meant to be
burst to mark the conclusion of the Meena-Bharani festival exploded, killing
over 40 persons instantly, maiming many more and causing extensive damage to
nearby buildings.
The State government has announced a judicial inquiry and
a Crime Branch investigation into the disaster.
The sparks reached the storehouse, igniting fireworks
stored there. The explosion that followed brought down a building and caused
damage to several structures in the vicinity.
The explosion was followed by power disruption, which
left the crowd clueless about the magnitude of the tragedy for some time.
However, the locals swung into action, extricating bodies from the debris
and pulling out the injured, many of whom did not survive the journey to
hospitals.
The Kollam district administration had denied permission
for the fireworks display based on reports from the local police that the
temple authorities planned to hold a competitive pyrotechnics display.
However, the temple authorities went ahead with the
display after giving much publicity to the event. People from neighbouring
districts had converged on the temple to witness the show.
The Paravur police have registered a case against the
temple authorities and the fireworks contractor, who is stated to have
suffered 80 per cent burns and is undergoing treatment at the medical
college hospital.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelled all his programmes
and rushed to Kollam with a team of medical experts from the All India
Institute of Medical Sciences.
After a visit to the disaster spot and hospitals,
accompanied by Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda and discussions with Chief
Minister Oommen Chandy, he announced all support for the State.
At an emergency meeting, the State Cabinet announced ex
gratia of Rs. 10 lakh to the kin of the deceased and Rs. 2 lakh to the
seriously injured.
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister announced that the
Centre would pay ex gratia of Rs. 2 lakh to the kin of the deceased.
A national conference on Kharif campaign to formulate crop strategy
Realising the gravity of the agrarian situation after two
back-to-back droughts, the Union government is all set to formulate a crop
production strategy for the coming summer (kharif) season to ensure that the
plan to double farmers’ income in the next six years gains momentum.
A national conference on kharif campaign is being held in
New Delhi on April 11 and 12 in which senior officials of agriculture and
allied sectors from the Centre and States would review the performance of
the preceding crop season and formulate a crop production strategy for
kharif.
The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’
Welfare, which is organising the conference, said that kharif campaign-2016
assumes great importance in view of the recent crop damage on account of
moisture stress due to uneven and untimely rains, hailstorm across various
States.
Notably, the south-west monsoon during the previous
kharif season was weak leading to a rain deficit of 14 per cent. Also, the
rabi 2015-16 season had experienced less post-monsoon and winter rains.
Committee recommended 1304 crore to UP under NDRF
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:: INTERNATIONAL ::
Frustrated with Pak, US wants larger role for India
The U.S. is now more open to a larger role for India in
Afghanistan, partly due to its frustration over Pakistan’s failure or
unwillingness to deliver on the promises it has been making with regard to
the peace process.
U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter’s visit to India
emphasises the partnership between the countries, U.S. Special
Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Olson, indicates fresh
U.S. thinking on India’s role in Afghanistan.
However, the caveat is that India can never replace
Pakistan in U.S.’s Afghanistan calculus, and the signalling may well be more
to Pakistan than to India.
Mr. Olson and Peter Lavoy, Senior Director for South
Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, met with senior Indian
officials, including India’s National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.
They then joined Secretary of State John Kerry in Kabul on an unannounced
visit.
While the U.S. has never opposed or actively discouraged
India from playing a significant role in Afghanistan, it has been very
sensitive to Pakistan’s objections, particularly on security-related issues.
The U.S. has welcomed India’s efforts in reconstruction,
development and institution-building in Afghanistan that take place under
the U.S security umbrella, but maintained ambiguity on its security role.
At the same time, at Pakistan’s insistence, it has kept
India out of the Afghanistan peace negotiations, which are now a four-nation
initiative of the U.S., China, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The U.S. is grappling with the increasing complexity of
the situation in Afghanistan, even as it is planning to pull its troops out
of the country by next year.
Meanwhile, India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi
appears less constrained by Pakistan’s views and more willing to enhance
cooperation with Afghanistan on security issues.
India and Afghanistan had signed the Strategic
Partnership Agreement in 2011, but security cooperation slowed as both sides
sought not to antagonise Pakistan.
However, Mr. Modi’s recent visit to Afghanistan and
India’s transferring of three Mi-25 attack helicopters to the Afghan Air
Force (AAF) recently indicate fresh thinking on the Indian side.
Pakistan has so far not been able to get Taliban to the
process, even as new challenges emerge. Last year demonstrated the
vulnerability of the Afghanistan security forces.
They briefly lost the city of Kunduz to Taliban.
Casualties rose to an all-time high of more than 11,000.
Meanwhile, Mullah Mansoor, who has succeeded Mullah Omar
as Taliban chief, is struggling to consolidate power within the group, even
as some Taliban factions are transmuting into those of the Islamic State
(IS).
Given this uncertainty, Mr. Kerry’s mission in
Afghanistan was to demonstrate U.S.’s support for the unity government.
Dismissing the notion that the current arrangement will
be replaced by a new one, Mr. Kerry said the Ashraf Ghani-led government
would continue for five years.