VISION IAS www.visionias.in CURRENT AFFAIRS JUNE 2019 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 & CONSTITUTION ______________ 4 5.4. Sustainable Livelihoods and Adaptation to Climate Change _________________________ 44 1.1. NITI Aayog __________________________ 4 5.5. Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency/Economy 1.2. Rationalisation of Centrally Sponsored Regulation _____________________________ 45 Schemes ________________________________ 6 5.6. Delay in Monsoon ___________________ 45 1.3. Removal of Judges ____________________ 8 5.7. Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project ______ 47 1.4. Cabinet Committees Reconstituted ______ 9 6. SOCIAL ISSUES ______________________ 49 1.5. One Nation, One Ration Card __________ 10 6.1. Draft National Education Policy _________ 49 2. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS __________ 12 6.2. Healthy States Progressive India ________ 51 2.1. Shanghai Cooperation Organization _____ 12 6.3. Food and Nutrition Security ____________ 52 2.2. G-20 ______________________________ 14 6.4. Female Work and Labour Force Participation 2.3. UNSC Non-Permanent Seat: India’s in India ________________________________ 54 Candidature ____________________________ 15 6.5. SDG Gender Index ___________________ 56 2.4. ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific ______ 16 6.6. UN Women’s New Report _____________ 56 3. ECONOMY _________________________ 17 6.7. Population Research Centres (PRCs) _____ 57 3.1. GDP Estimation in India _______________ 17 7. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ____________ 59 3.2. 2 Years of Goods & Services Tax (GST) ___ 19 7.1. Data Localization ____________________ 59 3.3. Decline in NPAs _____________________ 22 7.2. Elimination of Tuberculosis ____________ 61 3.4. Leverage Ratio ______________________ 24 7.3. Food Fortification ____________________ 63 3.5. Base Erosion and Profit Shifting ________ 25 7.4. Proton Therapy ______________________ 64 3.6. Rating Agencies _____________________ 25 7.5. Optoelectronics _____________________ 65 3.7. Food Grain Management in India _______ 27 7.6. Short Wave Radio Transmission ________ 65 3.8. Solar Manufacturing in India ___________ 29 8. CULTURE ___________________________ 67 3.9. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises ___ 31 8.1. Treaty of Versailles ___________________ 67 3.10. National Investment and Manufacturing Zones _________________________________ 32 8.2. Chaukhandi Stupa ___________________ 68 3.11. Circular Economy ___________________ 33 8.3. Amaravati School of Art _______________ 69 3.12. Smart Cities Mission _________________ 35 8.4. Maharaja Ranjit Singh ________________ 69 4. SECURITY __________________________ 37 8.5. Cultural Festival in News ______________ 70 4.1. Cross-Border Linkages in Northeast 9. ETHICS _____________________________ 71 Insurgency _____________________________ 37 9.1. Addressing prejudices in the society _____ 71 4.2. Strategic Partnership Policy ____________ 38 10. NEWS IN SHORT ____________________ 73 4.3. Report on Black Money _______________ 39 10.1. Role of Opposition _____________________ 73 10.2. President’s Rule in J&K _________________ 73 5. ENVIRONMENT _____________________ 41 10.3. National Party Status ___________________ 73 5.1. GM Cotton _________________________ 41 10.4. Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Summit _______ 74 5.2. Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) _____ 43 10.5. Council of Europe _____________________ 74 5.3. Ozone Pollution _____________________ 44 10.6. Saudi Arabia get FATF membership _______ 74 10.7. Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) 74 10.8. Complaint Management System _________ 74 2 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS 10.9. SEBI Permits Futures on Commodity Indices 74 10.26. Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme ____ 78 10.10. Guidelines for Financial Benchmark 10.27. Methane On Mars Surface _____________ 78 Administrators ____________________________ 75 10.28. Special Moral Rights __________________ 78 10.11. ISTA Congress _______________________ 75 10.29. National Maritime Heritage Museum in Lothal 10.12. Beekeeping Development Committee Report _________________________________________ 78 ________________________________________ 75 10.30. Jnanpith Award ______________________ 79 10.13. Varunastra __________________________ 75 10.31. Kolhapuri Chappal GI Tag ______________ 79 10.14. Strum Ataka Anti-Tank Missile __________ 75 10.32. Puerto Williams, Chile _________________ 79 10.15. Operation Sankalp ____________________ 76 10.33. Imphal Peace Museum ________________ 79 10.16. Exercise Garuda ______________________ 76 10.34. Arogyapacha Plant ___________________ 79 10.17. G20 Implementation Framework for Actions 10.35. Sheath Blight Disease _________________ 79 on Marine Plastics Litter ____________________ 76 10.36. Parthenogenesis _____________________ 79 10.18. First Resilient Kerala Program ___________ 76 10.37. Dragon Fly Mission ___________________ 80 10.19. Mount Etna & Mount Sinabung _________ 76 10.38. Raavana-1 __________________________ 80 10.20. Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring 10.39. C-ATFM system ______________________ 80 System __________________________________ 77 10.40. Libra- Cryptocurrency _________________ 80 10.21. Emission Trading Scheme for Particulate 10.41. Indices and Reports ___________________ 80 Pollution _________________________________ 77 10.22. End of Childhood Index ________________ 77 11. GOVERNMENT SCHEMES IN NEWS _____ 82 10.23. Go Tribal Campaign ___________________ 77 11.1. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban ______ 82 10.24. AWaRe _____________________________ 77 11.2. Employees’ State Insurance Scheme ______ 82 10.25. Swachh Survekshan League 2020 ________ 78 3 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS 1. POLITY & CONSTITUTION 1.1. NITI AAYOG Why in news? Recently Government has reconstituted NITI Aayog, renaming Rajiv Kumar as its vice chairman and appointing Home Minister Amit Shah as ex-officio member. Background • Planning Commission was initially set up in 1950 as an agency to direct investment activity in a country. • Planning Commission of India had two key duties to perform i.e.; to implement five-year plan and second was to provide the finances to the state. • The disenchantment with the Planning Commission could be traced on two important fronts: o the perception that it was not able to capture the new realities of macro-economic management at the national level, o it had not been conducive to sound fiscal relations between the Union and the States. • This did not fit well with the imperative for an inclusive and equitable path of economic development in India. • In this context, National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) was constituted in 2015 as a think tank and advisory body of the government. Relevance of NITI Aayog • Competitive Federalism: Various reports of NITI Aayog like Healthy states Progressive India etc which give performance-based rankings of States across various verticals to foster a spirit of competitive federalism. It helps to identify the best practices in different States in various sectors and then try to replicate them in other States. • Cooperative federalism: Due to composition of NITI Aayog, it gives better representation of states in this body which facilitate direct interactions with the line ministries, also helps to address issues in a relatively shorter time. • Greater Accountability: NITI Aayog has established a Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office which collects data on the performance of various Ministries on a real-time basis. The data are then used at the highest policymaking levels to establish accountability and improve performance. o Earlier, India had 12 Five-Year Plans, but they were mostly evaluated long after the plan period had ended. Hence, there was no real accountability. • Think tank of innovative ideas: NITI Aayog is visualised as a funnel through which new and innovative ideas come from all possible sources — industry, academia, civil society or foreign specialists — and flow into the government system for implementation. o By collecting fresh ideas and sharing them with the Central and State governments, it allows states to progress with these new ideas. 4 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS o Hence it helps in improving governance and implementing innovative measures for better delivery of public services. • Convergence for resolution: Being a common point for similar issues faced by different sectors, states etc., it acts as a convergence point and platform to discuss these issues. Concerns with NITI Aayog • Biasness towards government & private sector: While generating new ideas, NITI Aayog should maintain a respectable intellectual distance from the government of the day. However, concerns have been regarding NITI Aayog’s offering rather uncritical praise of governments projects. o Concerns have also been raised regarding NITI Aayog’s treatment of public sector while advocating private sector in almost every sphere as the savior of Indian economy. • Financial constraint: NITI Aayog has no powers in granting discretionary funds to states, which renders it toothless to undertake a “transformational” intervention. o While during the Planning Commission days, it was easy for the commission to give to shape the idea as it had the control over funds and hence over an agenda. • Only