National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams – 21st May 2018

by Mentors4ias · May 21, 2018

PM Modi Inaugurates Kishanganga Hydropower Station In Jammu And Kashmir

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-K) has set up first of its kind Centre for Energy Regulation (CER) in the country to strengthen policy and regulatory limitations in energy and power sector.
It would adopt innovative approach to engage with stakeholders in the power sector, especially the electricity regulatory commissions, electric utilities and the academia.
The centre would also develop a regulatory database to enable stakeholders in taking more informed decisions.
The online learning modules and tools would help enhance understanding of the regulatory and policy aspect for the beginners as well as advanced learners and the centre’s output can later be accessed from its web portal cer.iitk.ac.in.

Government earns Rs 1,400 crore as revenue from e-tourist visa

Since its launch in 2014, e-tourist visa scheme has filled the coffers of Indian government by around Rs. 1,400 crore.
The government offers e-visa to the citizens of 163 countries.
The popular visa service has been availed by nearly 19 lakh tourists in 2017, informed a Union home ministry official.
The ministry expects over 25 lakh tourists to avail the e-visa facility in 2018. Since its launch in 2014, the e-Visa scheme has brought revenue of more than Rs. 1,400 crore
The e-Visa fees are divided into four slabs of zero, $25, $50 and $75 which were fixed on reciprocity and depending on nationality.
The e-Visa scheme has been implemented by the foreigners division of the home ministry in a bid to improve the efficiency and transparency of various services being provided to foreign nationals.
The facility is now available for nationals of 163 countries for entry into India through 25 international airports and five sea ports.
Under the e-visa scheme, an applicant, when an online application is submitted, receives an e-mail authorising him or her to travel to India after it has been approved.
The tourist can travel with a print-out of this authorisation
On arrival, the visitor has to present the authorisation to the immigration authorities who would then allow the entry into the country. The e-Visa scheme also covers business and medical categories, apart from tourism.
The government rules permit that the visitors on e-Visa are allowed to stay in the country for two months.
The window for application under e-Visa scheme has been raised from 30 days to 120 days and duration of stay on e-Visa has been raised from 30 days to 60 days with double entry on e-tourist and e-business visa and triple entry on e-medical visa.
In a bid to promote cruise tourism, the government has allowed the cruise tourists with e-Visas to be exempted from biometric enrolment.
The exemption will be in force till December 31, 2020 as many of the cruise ships coming to India are large ships with anywhere between 2,000 to 4,000 passengers on board.

PMO seeks change in UPSC allocation

The Centre is considering a major change in the allocation of services to successful candidates of the civil services examination.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has asked the department concerned to examine if the services can be allocated after the completion of the foundation course, according to an official communique.
The duration of the foundation course for officers of almost all the services is three months.
At present, service allocation to the candidates selected on the basis of the civil services examination, conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), is made well before the commencement of the foundation course.
The PMO has desired to examine if service allocation/cadre allocation to probationers selected can be made after the foundation course, as per the communication sent by the Personnel Ministry to different cadre-controlling authorities.

Seeks feedback

The departments have been asked to examine the feasibility of giving due weightage to the performance in the foundation course, and making service allocation as well as cadre allocation to all-India services officers based on the combined score obtained in the exam and the foundation course
The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) are all-India services.
The departments have been asked to give their feedback on the proposal to allocate other Central services such as the Indian Revenue Service and Indian Telecommunications Services, a Ministry official said.

Mumbai jeweller becomes first person to be put on no-fly list for hijack scare

A Mumbai-based jeweller has become the first person to be put on the ‘National No Fly List’ for creating a hijack scare on a Jet Airways flight last year.
A senior DGCA official confirmed the development, saying that ‘Salla is the first person to be put on the no fly list’.
Incidentally, he was also the first to be booked under the stringent Anti-Hijacking Act which had replaced the vintage law of 1982.
This comes six months after Jeweller Birju Kishore Salla planted a note about hijackers in the toilet of a Mumbai-Delhi Jet Airways flight, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Ahmedabad.
The note, which was printed in Urdu and English, stated that there were hijackers and bomb in the cargo area.
The DGCA defines three categories – Level-1, 2, 3 – of unruly behavior. Level-1 refers to behaviour that is verbally unruly, and calls for debarment upto 3 months; Level-2 indicates physical unruliness and can lead to the passenger being debarred from flying for upto 6 months and Level-3 indicates life-threatening behaviour where the debarment would be for a minimum of 2 years.