Current Affairs September 2018
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VISION IAS www.visionias.in CURRENT AFFAIRS SEPTEMBER 2018 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 AND GOVERNANCE _____________ 3 5.3. India Cooling Action Plan ______________ 53 1.1. Aadhaar Constitutionally Valid __________ 3 5.4. Conservation of Migratory Birds and Their 1.2. Reservation in Promotions ______________ 5 Habitats _______________________________ 54 1.3. Criminalisation of Politics _______________ 6 5.5. Disaster Proofing of Telecommunications 56 1.4. Dissolution of Medical Council of India ____ 8 5.6. Landslide Warning System _____________ 57 2. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ___________ 11 5.7. Glacial Lakes Outburst Floods __________ 59 2.1. World Trade Organisation _____________ 11 6. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ___________ 62 2.2. Unrealized Potential of South Asian Trade 13 6.1. Food Fortification ____________________ 62 2.3. Early-Harvest Package for RCEP _________ 14 6.2. Fixed Dose Combinations (FDCs) ________ 63 2.4. Russia and China relations _____________ 16 6.3. Hydrogen-CNG ______________________ 64 2.5. India-Bangladesh ____________________ 17 6.4. World’s First Hydrogen Fuel Cell Train ___ 65 2.6. Maldives Elections ___________________ 19 6.5. Apsara – U __________________________ 66 2.7. Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty _ 21 6.6. Particle Decay _______________________ 67 3. ECONOMY __________________________ 23 6.7. ICESat-2 ____________________________ 68 3.1. IL & FS Crisis_________________________ 23 6.8. Polarimetry Doppler Weather Radar ____ 69 3.2. Bank Consolidation ___________________ 25 7. SOCIAL ISSUES _______________________ 70 3.3. Payments Regulator __________________ 27 7.1. SC Judgement on Sabarimala Issue ______ 70 3.4. India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) ________ 31 7.2. Dowry Harassment Law _______________ 71 3.5. Reining in CAD and Rupee _____________ 32 7.3. Adultery ____________________________ 72 3.6. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana _______ 33 7.4. Section 377 Decriminalized ____________ 73 3.7. Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan 7.5. National Database on Sexual Offenders __ 75 Abhiyan (PM-AASHA)_____________________ 34 7.6. Manual Scavenging ___________________ 76 3.8. Dairy Processing & Infrastructure 7.7. Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Development Fund_______________________ 36 Arogya Yojana __________________________ 78 3.9. Multidimensional Poverty Index-2018 ___ 37 7.8. HIV/AIDS Act, 2017 ___________________ 80 3.10. Human Development Index ___________ 39 7.9. Program for International Student 3.11. Ease of Living Index _________________ 41 Assessment (PISA) _______________________ 82 3.12. National Digital Communications Policy- 7.10. Swachhata Hi Seva Campaign _________ 82 2018___________________________________ 42 8. CULTURE ___________________________ 84 3.13. Real Estate Investment Trust __________ 44 8.1. Battle of Haifa _______________________ 84 3.14. Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) 46 8.2. Paryatan Parv 2018 ___________________ 84 4. SECURITY ___________________________ 47 9. ETHICS _____________________________ 86 4.1. Smart Border Fence __________________ 47 9.1. Code of Conduct for MPs and MLAs _____ 86 4.2. Mid-Air Refuelling of LCA Tejas _________ 48 10. MISCELLANEOUS____________________ 88 4.3. Military Exercises ____________________ 49 10.1. Champion of The Earth Award_________ 88 5. ENVIRONMENT ______________________ 50 10.2. Magsaysay Awards __________________ 88 5.1. Black Carbon ________________________ 50 10.3. Aapoorti App _______________________ 89 5.2. Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste 10.4. UN Global Media Compact____________ 89 Management in India_____________________ 51 10.5. Elephant Bird Vorombe Titan _________ 89 2 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS 1. POLITY AND GOVERNANCE 1.1. AADHAAR CONSTITUTIONALLY VALID Why in news? On September 26, 2018, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice of India by a 4:1 majority upheld the validity of Aadhaar but with certain caveats. Background • Aadhaar sought to mandatory requirement of demographic and biometric data of an individual which was argued to be against the fundamental right to privacy. • Aadhaar Act, 2016 was passed as Money Bill to give statutory backup to the Aadhaar and UIDAI. Its passage as Money Bill too was contested. • Till now no exclusive Data Privacy Law exist in India giving rise to the concerns of State surveillance and misuse of personal data by the commercial entities. Highlights of the Verdict • Constitutionality of Aadhaar: Aadhaar scheme, which is backed by the Aadhaar Act, passes the triple test laid down in the Puttaswamy (Privacy) judgment to determine the reasonableness of the invasion of privacy (under Art 21) i.e. o Existence of a law - backed by the statute i.e. the Aadhaar Act, 2016 o A legitimate state interest – ensuring social benefit schemes to reach the deserving and poor o Test of proportionality - balances benefits of Aadhaar and the potential threat it carries to the fundamental right to privacy. • No fear of Surveillance state: Provisions of the Aadhaar Act “do not tend to create a surveillance state”. o Aadhaar collects minimal biometric data in the form of iris and fingerprints, and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) — which oversees the Aadhaar enrolment exercise — does not collect purpose, location or details of the transaction. o To ensure non tracking, the Court ordered that Authentication logs should be deleted after six months, instead of the five years required under the existing Regulation 27(1) of the Authentication Regulations. • Security of the biometric data: UIDAI has mandated only registered devices to conduct biometric-based authentication transactions. o There is an encrypted, unidirectional relationship between the host application and the UIDAI. This rules out any possibility of the use of stored biometric, or the replay of biometrics captured from another source. o Further, as per the regulations, authentication agencies are not allowed to store the biometrics captured for Aadhaar authentication. • Linking of Aadhaar with Financial transactions: The 2017 amendment Aadhaar: where's it required to Rule 9 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (Maintenance of and where's it not Records) Rules, 2005 which made linking of bank accounts and all other • Welfare schemes (PDS, LPG, financial instruments such as mutual funds, credit cards, insurance MGNREGA etc.) policies, etc. with Aadhaar mandatory, is declared unconstitutional. • I-T returns Because the amendment did not stand the proportionality test in the • Linking to PAN card triple test, thus violating the right to privacy of a person which extends • Banks accounts to banking details. • SIM cards • Aadhaar Act as Money Bill: Section 7 being the main provision of the • Private companies Act, the Supreme Court has upheld the validity of the Aadhaar Act being • School admissions passed as a Money Bill. Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act, demands for • NEET, UGC, CBSE Aadhaar based authentication to receive a subsidy, benefit or service etc. It is very clearly declared in this provision that the expenditure incurred in respect of such a subsidy, benefit or service would be from the Consolidated Fund of India. 3 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS • On a similar issue, the court has upheld the validity of Section 59 that also validates all Aadhaar enrolment done prior to the enactment of the Aadhaar Act, 2016. The court has said that since enrolment was voluntary in nature, those who specifically refuse to give consent would be allowed to exit the Aadhaar scheme. Impact of the Judgement • Striking down of Regulation 27(1) and reducing storage period of authentication data from five years to six months will ensure personal data is not misused. Amending Regulation 26 and making metabase relating to a transaction impermissible will prevent fake profiling of an Aadhaar holder. • Striking down of Section 47 means citizens can file a complaint in case of data theft, which earlier could be done by the Section 33 of the Aadhaar Act refers to government (i.e. UIDAI) alone. disclosure of information in certain cases • Section 33(1) allows disclosure of • That portion of Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act which enables information, including identity and body corporate and individual to seek authentication is held to authentication records, if ordered by a be unconstitutional. This makes it clear that Aadhaar may only court not inferior to that of District Judge. be used by the government, and not by private parties. • Section 33(2) allows identity and • The ruling clears the ambiguity over several aspects of authentication data to be disclosed in the Aadhaar and unleashes its potential for good governance and interest of national security on direction effective distribution of social welfare services. of an officer not below the rank of Joint • The constitution bench strikes down the National security Secretary to the Government of India. exception (Section 33(2)) under the Aadhaar Act while giving Section 47 of the Aadhaar Act refers to citizens the opportunity of being heard before disclosure of cognizance of offences. Under this section, no information under section 33(1) of the Aadhaar Act. This will court is allowed to take cognizance of any indirectly ensure greater privacy