Current Affairs 01 July to 31 July 2017 NATIONAL Topic Page No. BSF and NSDC sign MoU on Skill Development 8 – 8 Supreme Court allows two broke firms to settle dispute 8 – 9 Gaming: a question of skill 9 - 10 Privacy is a fundamental but wholly qualified right: Centre 10 - 10 Cabinet clears minimum wage code bill 10 - 11 Transfer unclaimed accruals to fund: IRDA 11 – 11 The Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill, 2016 12 - 12 The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2017 introduced in Lok Sabha 12 – 13 Rajnath Singh chairs meeting of Island Development Agency 13 – 13 Supreme Court to rethink on a few Lodha ‘reforms’ 13 – 14 Central Road Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2017 introduced in Lok Sabha 14 – 15 Govt considering new agency to keep check on chartered accountants 15 – 15 MPC members to get Rs. 1.5 lakh per meet, must disclose assets 16– 17 Government plans ‘I stand by my country’ campaign 17 – 17 Government mulls insurance cover for digital transaction frauds 17 – 18 Ram Nath Kovind elected as the 14th President of India 18 – 19 BharatNet deadline pushed to March 2019 19 – 19 Cabinet nod for IWAI bond issue 19 – 20 Private members’ Bill on mob violence 20 – 20 Ministry, NITI Aayog moot privatisation of select services in district hospitals 20 – 21 Supreme Court allows Centre to replace MCI oversight committee 21 – 21 Cabinet approves revision of Indian Community Welfare Fund guidelines 21 – 22 Centre seeks debate in SC on J&K special status 22 – 23 Govt. clears three export infra plans 23 – 24 Panel to study benefits of cow derivatives 24 – 24 MSDE celebrates Second Anniversary of Skill India Mission 24 – 25 Directorate set up under CBEC for data analytics and nabbing evaders 25 – 26 Centre to grant NIIF 20,000 cr. 26 – 26
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Mahadayi Water Dispute- Goa open to out-of-tribunal settlement 26 – 27 Ministry of Railways launched various initiatives 27 – 28 CPWD reminded of challenges ahead as it turns 163 28 – 28 IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) in Varanasi 28 – 29 5 States, a UT sign pact with Centre on e-Marketplace 29 – 30 SC stays cattle sale rules across nation 30 – 30 IROAF wins Golden Peacock Award for Eco Innovation for the year 2017 30 – 31 Ministries of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation 31 – 31 Merged First Edition of WINGS 2017 31 – 32 SC stays Uttarakhand HC order on Ganga, Yamuna living entity status 32 – 32 RBI considering setting up a Public Credit Registry 32 – 33
INTERNATIONAL Topic Page No. BRICS nations sign Taxation Cooperation Memorandum 33 – 33 BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Meet in China 33 – 34 NABARD takes first step to access Green Climate Fund 34 – 35 India’s Alternate Governor on the Board of Governors of the Asian 35 – 35 Development Bank (ADB) Sri Lanka clears revised deal for Hambantota port 36 – 36 India rejects OIC move on vigilantism 36 – 36 5th Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS) 36 – 37 India, Japan civil nuclear deal comes into force 37 – 37 IRDAI’s admission as a signatory to International Association of Insurance 37 – 38 Supervisors (IAIS) E-commerce to get bigger focus at RCEP talks 38 – 39 DGCA braces for ICAO safety audit 39 – 39 Cabinet approves MOC in respect of tax matters between India and BRICS 40 – 40 countries EU, India set up fund for investments 40 – 41 US House passes Bill for strengthening defence ties with India 41 – 41 India ranks 116 out of 157 nations on SDG index 42 – 42 DIPP to set up India’s first TISC in Punjab 42 – 43
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India Give Additional $1 Million To United Nations Partnership Fund 43 – 44 Cabinet approves SASEC Road Connectivity Investment Program 44 – 44 Union Cabinet approves JIN pact between India and Bangladesh 44 – 45 U.S. may tighten rules for foreign students 45 – 45 India to join new global foreign exchange committee 46 – 46 Sri Lanka bans bottom-trawling 46 – 46 New sites get UNESCO heritage tag 47 – 47 122 countries adopt global treaty banning nuclear weapons 47 – 48 G-20 leaders adopt Hamburg Action Plan 48 – 48 Modi presents 10 point action agenda to counter terrorism at G20 summit 48 – 49 Vietnam renews Indian Oil Deal 49 – 50 UNESCO puts Hebron on endangered heritage list, outraging Israel 50 – 50 Why Bhutan is special to India 50 – 51
STATES Topic Page No. Mekedatu: Karnataka replies to CWC 51 – 51 Bengaluru Declaration calls for SC/ST quota in judiciary 52 – 52 200th anniversary celebrations of the Paika Rebellion 52 – 53 Committee formed to study legalities for separate State flag 53 – 53 In Telangana, a unique irrigation project 53 – 54
SOCIAL Topic Page No. Jiyo Parsi Publicity Phase-2 54 – 54 Ministry of WCD seeks suggestions issues related to civil aspects of 54 – 55 “International Child removal” Guidelines for Planning and Implementation of Family Participatory Care 56 – 56 SC for panels to examine dowry cases 56 – 57 Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles Installed in Bengaluru under FAME 57 – 58 India scheme Cabinet approves revision of guidelines of Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme 58 – 58
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A policy on the Prevention and Control of haemoglobinopathies in India 58 – 59 Amendments to Legal Metrology 59 – 60 GoM approves draft National Medical Commission bill 60 – 61 Evaluation of efficacy of Nai Roshni Scheme 61 – 61 FSSAI bans stapler pins in tea bags from January 2018 61 – 62 Sexual Harassment electronic-Box (SHe-Box) 62 – 62 Lok Sabha passes The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education 62 – 63 (Amendment) Bill, 2017 India performs miserably in war on inequality 63 – 64 Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana 64 – 64 Draft Guidelines for implementation of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana 64 – 65 Yojana Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana 65 - 65 Release of GM mustard faces another hurdle 66 – 66 Govt to push e-education with 4 digital initiatives 66 – 67 New drugs needed against hard-to-treat gonorrhoea: UN 67 – 67
SOCIAL ECONOMY Topic Page No. NPCI receives final nod from RBI to function as Bharat Bill Payment Central 68 – 68 Unit Niti Aayog clears six proposals for high-tech public transport 68 – 69 Codex Alimentarius Commission meeting in Geneva adopts three Codex 69 – 70 standards for spices 223 anti-dumping probes initiated by India since January 2012 70 – 70 Finance Minister releases National Trade Facilitation Action Plan 70 – 71 IBBI notifies rules for bankruptcy probe 71 – 72 Bitcoin trade may come under SEBI 72 – 73 First Maize Based Mega Food Park in Kapurthala, Punjab 73 – 73 SEBI to move against non-compliant firms 73 – 74 Centre eases pre-merger filing norms 74 – 74 Integration of oil & gas majors is best avoided 74 – 75
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DEFENCE Topic Page No. India’s first unmanned tank Muntra 75 – 75 First Two patrol vessels for Navy launched by private shipyard 75 – 76 Government empowers Army to procure weaponry for short intense wars 76 – 76 2017 Malabar Exercise 76 – 77 NSG organises first International Aviation Security seminar 77 – 77
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Topic Page No. Breakthrough Initiatives – The World’s Smallest Satellite Is Launched 77 – 78 Flexible bio-glue for wound healing developed 78 – 78 Scientists develop ‘Gelator’ to easily recover marine oil spills 78 – 79 India among top nations with potential for digital payments’: Digital 79 – 79 Evolution Index China produces gas from ‘flammable ice’ under South China Sea 79 – 80 New AI system can create 3D models from photos 80 – 81 Scientists to chase solar eclipse using NASA’s research jets 81 – 81 Human antibodies produced in lab for first time 82 – 82 Castor oil can reduce soil pollution 82 – 82 ASTROSAT, Chandra and Hubble jointly detect massive cosmic explosion on 83 – 83 Proxima Centauri IISER Kolkata develops fire-retardant, rust-resistant material 84 – 84 Govt launches low-cost indigenously developed hearing screening device for 84 – 85 newborns A smart glove that can translate sign language 85 – 85 Super-flexible and strong artificial silk developed 85 – 86 Scientists encode movie clip in the DNA of living cells 86 – 86 Indian Scientists Discover ‘Saraswati’ — a Supercluster of Galaxies 87 – 87 Electrified Droplets Create Mini Saturn Planets 87 – 87 Scheme for IPR Awareness – Creative India; Innovative India 87 – 88 Sharpest laser can help test Einstein’s theory 88 – 88
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ENVIRONMENT Topic Page No. Government launches ‘India Quake’ & ‘Sagar Vani’ 89 – 89 Delhi Metro first to become 100% ‘green’ 90 – 90 NGT directs Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh to submit guidelines on forest 90 – 91 fire Environment Ministry Approves Projects for Climate Change Adaptation in 91 – 91 Three States Underwater ‘ghost nets’ posing threat to marine ecosystem off Kerala 92 – 92 World’s northernmost coral reef bleached 92 – 92 Geologists strike seabed ‘treasure’ in Indian waters 93 – 93 Eco-bridges for the movement of tigers 93 – 94 Safe haven for endangered Egyptian vultures 94 – 94 Green tribunal declares area near Ganga as ‘No-Development Zone’ 94 – 95 Massive iceberg breaks off from Antarctica ice shelf 95 - 96 NGT imposes complete ban on nylon and synthetic manja 96 – 96 Sensor network to map and predict pollution, effluents in Godavari 97 – 97 Earth facing sixth mass extinction: study 97 – 98 Sunderbans steadily losing its famed mangroves 98 – 99 Nine more bird, biodiversity areas in Kerala 99 – 100
ART & CULTURE Topic Page No. India to celebrate Falun Gong 100 – 101 Ahmedabad gets World Heritage City tag 101 – 101
MORE NEWS Topic Page No. Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2017 101 – 101 29 th July: International Tiger Day 102 – 102 Glow-in-the-dark shark discovered in the Pacific 102 – 102 World’s first wind farm 102 – 102
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Aarambh app for Road maintenance 102 – 102 Debug Fresno 103 – 103 USS Gerald R Ford 103 – 103 Novobiocin compound 103 – 103 First meeting of Integrated Monitoring and Advisory Council (IMAC) 103 – 103 Indian Army signs MoU with DRDO to raise MRSAM defence system 104 – 104 regiment World’s first Laser Weapons System 104 – 104 Gujarat retains top slot of states with most investment potential 104 – 105 mAadhaar app 105 – 105 Ganga Avahan 105 – 105 8th Slum Daud 105 – 105 Serial-numbered pens for Presidential poll 105 – 105 Raipur Airport Ranked First in Customer Satisfaction Index Survey 106 – 106 Government at a Glance 2017 report: India tops OECD list of countries 106 – 106 India’s first solar-powered 1600 HP DEMU train launched 106 – 106 India to host 8th Edition of Theatre Olympics 106 – 106 Pope Francis adds fourth path to sainthood 107 – 107 In a first, Rajasthan fixes minimum education qualification for cooperative 107 – 107 body polls Aaykar Setu 107 – 107 Saint Teresa’s blue-bordered sari an Intellectual Property now 107 – 107 What is a “Moonshot” Technology? 107 – 108 “Programme 17 for 17” 108 – 108 22nd World Petroleum Congress 108 – 108 India becomes Fourth Largest Foreign Investor into UK 108 – 108 NMCE and ICEX to merge, creating India’s third largest commodity exchange 108 – 109 QRSAM 109 – 109
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01 July to 31 July 2017
NATIONAL
BSF and NSDC sign MoU on Skill Development • A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Border Security Force (BSF) and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to provide special skill training to serving and retiring BSF India personnel and to the family members of those serving or retired or martyred. Key facts: • The objective of the MoU is to contribute to the Skill Development Agenda of the country by ensuring the successful roll out of NSQF (National Skill Qualification Framework) based skill training to the retiring or retired BSF personnel and local population at the area of deployment through NSQF compliant training programmes at multi-skill development centres run by BSF. • This collaboration aims to train and provide gainful employment to retired BSF personnel and their families, school students, youth, differently abled for five years starting from April 2017 to April 2022. About Border Security Force (BSF): • The Border Security Force (BSF) is the biggest border guarding force in the world. • Came into existence on 1st December, 1965, BSF is the sentinels of Indian borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. • It was created by merging various State Armed Police Battalions for achieving a better coordinated synergy between the border guarding functions in peace time and fighting the war during the eventuality on both Western and Eastern fronts. • BSF is deployed on Indo-Pakistan International Border, Indo-Bangladesh International Border, Line of Control (LoC) along with Indian Army and in Anti-Naxal Operations. • Since its inception, BSF has proven its credentials during various counter insurgency and anti-militancy operations, internal security duties, natural calamities etc. Source: PIB
Supreme Court allows two broke firms to settle dispute • The Supreme Court used its extraordinary constitutional powers ( under Article 142 ) to allow two companies to withdraw from insolvency proceedings and settle their loan dispute despite the case having been admitted by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). What is noteworthy fact? • It is important to note that once the NCLT admits a case for initiating corporate insolvency resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code of 2016, the case cannot be withdrawn even if the parties have decided to settle. What Article 142 says? • Article 142 provides that “the Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it”. Article 142 vs NCLT or NCLAT: • Article 142 is restricted to facts of a particular case and may not act as a precedent for the NCLT or National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to allow an out-of-court settlement in every insolvency case. In the order, Supreme Court also observed that NCLT and NCLAT do not have inherent powers and will be ruled by provisions of IBC.
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Concerns: • Just seven months after the operationalization of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), it has been tested by the Supreme Court with its latest judgment. • The policy underlying IBC shifts the incentive of the parties from individual recovery actions to collective action. In that context, after a petition has been filed in NCLT, allowing out-of- court bilateral settlement between the borrower and one creditor may contradict that basic objective of collective action. About the National Company Law Tribunal: • National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is a quasi-judicial body that will govern the companies in India. • It was established under the Companies Act, 2013 and is a successor body of the Company Law Board. • The setting up of NCLT as a specialized institution for corporate justice is based on the recommendations of the Justice Eradi Committee on Law Relating to Insolvency and Winding up of Companies. • NCLT will have the same powers as assigned to the erstwhile Company Law Board (which are mostly related to dealing with oppression and mismanagement), Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) (revival of sick companies) and powers related to winding up of companies (which was available only with the High Courts). Source: The Hindu, LiveMint
Gaming: a question of skill What is gaming? • Although ‘gaming’ in popular parlance has taken on the meaning of playing computer or video games, the term is in fact a reference to competitive activities — like rummy, chess, bridge, and the like — that are not categorised as sports, as well as the betting that is done on them. Gaming in India: • Gaming in India is rapidly gaining acceptance, by both customers and legislators. • FICCI, in a report in 2013, had said that the government stands to earn about 7,200 crore a year from taxes from only half the 3 lakh crore gaming industry in India. Should cricket be placed under gaming? • There are some industry players who believe that betting on sports such as cricket should also come under gaming and be termed as games of skill. They argue that regulating sports betting will bring it into the light and will prevent match-fixing. • The Lodha Committee report, too, recommends this course of action. How is gaming treated across states in India? • The regulation of gaming in India is fragmented, with each state currently deciding the rules applicable in its jurisdiction , with variations emerging on the definition of gaming, the kinds of games that qualify, and the punishments meted out for indulging in gaming not allowed by law. • For example, Sikkim has the Sikkim Online Gambling (Regulation) Act, 2008 that only looks at online gaming, and not at activities conducted in brick and mortar gaming houses. The Nagaland Prohibition of Gambling and Promotion and Regulation of Online Games of Skill, Act, 2015 only permits skill-based games, defined as all games where there is a preponderance of skill over chance. • The Delhi Public Gambling Act, 1955 penalises the operation of a gaming-house and imposes a penalty for being found in a gaming-house. However, Section 13 of the Delhi Act exempts games of “mere skill” from its ambit. • Laws in other states such as Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Rajasthan are variations of this format. The All India Gaming Federation has
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asked the Law Commission — tasked with looking into the regulation of gaming — to consider proposing a nation-wide central gaming law. What can India learn from other countries? • The U.K. enacted an updated gambling law in 2005 that provided for the creation of a Gambling Commission, which was tasked with crime prevention, the promotion of an open and transparent gaming and gambling industry, and the protection of vulnerable people from the ills and dangers of gambling. The country further updated this legislation in 2014. • Spain has set a 25% tax rate on gambling revenue, among the highest in Europe, and requires customers to provide their unique national identification numbers, names, and addresses before they can be registered to gamble. • Other countries like Singapore, Malta, and the Isle of Man, have robust gaming legislations that can provide good examples of how India can regulate gaming and gambling while increasing government tax revenue, and curtailing misuse. Source: The Hindu
Privacy is a fundamental but wholly qualified right: Centre • The Centre told the Supreme Court that “there is a fundamental right to privacy, but it is a wholly qualified right”. • The apex court was hearing the Aadhaar card privacy issue. Absolute Right vs. Wholly Qualified Right: • A wholly qualified right is one where government interference is allowed in special circumstances, and only when necessary in a democratic society as opposed to an absolute right, which cannot be limited in any way. An absolute right cannot be reduced or amended. Government’s arguments: • Attorney General K K Venugopal, who was arguing for the government, argued that • Privacy as a fundamental right was deliberately avoided from Article 21. Privacy, as a fundamental right, could have been mentioned in 21, but has been omitted. Right to life “transcends” right to privacy. • Citizens could not agitate against Aadhaar, saying it was a violation of their right to privacy. And as far as Aadhaar was concerned, privacy was not a fundamental and absolute right. The state could subject privacy to reasonable restrictions in order to preserve the right to life of the masses. • An elite few could not claim that their bodily integrity would be violated by a scheme which served to bring home basic human rights and social justice to millions of poor households across the country. • Since the right to privacy consists of diverse aspects and is a sub-species of the right to liberty, every aspect of sub-species will not qualify as a fundamental right. • Different species of privacy exist, and all of them cannot be elevated to the status of fundamental rights. Source: The Hindu
Cabinet clears minimum wage code bill • The much-anticipated Wage Code Bill which makes it mandatory for all industries to pay a minimum category of wages across all sectors to employees has been cleared by the cabinet. • The wage code primarily aims at reducing the disparity in minimum wages across the states. • The proposed legislation is expected to benefit over 4 crore employees across the country. Highlights of the bill: • The Labour Code on Wages Bill consolidates the four wage-related statutes: 1. Minimum Wages Act, 1948, 2. Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, 10 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
3. Payment of Wages Act, 1936 and 4. Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. • The bill will be applicable across all classes of workers who are at present employed in scheduled industries or establishments by law and across all sectors. • The bill seeks to empower the Centre to set a minimum wage across all sectors in the country and states will have to maintain that. However, states will be able to provide for higher minimum wage in their jurisdiction than fixed by the central government since labour is in the concurrent list. • The wage code will empower the Centre to notify a ‘national minimum wage’ (below which no state can fix their minimum wages) and this will be revised every two years (five years if the dearness allowance becomes part of the minimum wages). • The new minimum wage norms would be applicable for all workers irrespective of their pay. At present, the minimum wages fixed by the Centre and states are applicable to workers getting up to Rs 18,000 pay monthly. This would ensure a universal minimum wage for all industries and workers, including those getting monthly pay higher than Rs 18,000. • Industrial strikes will now include casual concerted leave by 50 percent of more workers, while the provision for prior notice of strike would be extended to “all activities similar to existing public utility services”. • All classes of workers would be able to avail the benefits of the minimum wage as long as they are employed in a scheduled industry or an establishment of law. Source: PIB
Transfer unclaimed accruals to fund: IRDA • As per the new direction from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA), insurance companies can no longer retain unclaimed amounts of policyholders if those accruals are more than 10 years old. • Such sums need to be, instead, transferred to the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund (SCWF) of the Centre. Background: • The direction from the IRDA has come in the backdrop of the amendment made in April to the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund Rules. • The amendment expanded the purview beyond the unclaimed amounts in small savings and other saving schemes of the Centre, PPF and EPF. • It brought in unclaimed amount lying with banks, including cooperative banks and RRBs; dividend accounts, deposits and debentures of companies coming under the Companies Act; insurance companies and Coal Mines PF. About the Senior Citizens Welfare Fund: • The Centre brought in Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund Act, 2015 (SCWF) as part of the Finance Act, 2015. • The act mandates transfer of unclaimed amounts of policyholders to the fund (SCWF) after a period of 10 years. • The fund will be administered by an Inter-Ministerial Committee, headed by a Chairperson. • The Committee will be competent to spend money from the fund for satisfying various objectives. • The accounts of the fund will be open to audit by CAG, regularly. • The Central Government will present the annual report and the one furnished by CAG to be laid before the Parliament. Source: The Hindu
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The Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill, 2016 • Parliament has passed The Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill, 2016 What are Admiralty laws? • Admiralty laws deal with cases of accidents in navigable waters or involve contracts related to commerce on such waters. Key facts: • The Bill seeks to upgrade existing laws related to civil matters of admiralty jurisdiction of courts, maritime claims, arrest and detention of ships. • It repeals laws such as the Admiralty Court Act, 1861, Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act, 1890. Key Features of the Bill: • The bill confers admiralty jurisdiction on High Courts located in coastal states of India, thus extending their upto territorial waters. • It empowers central government to extend the jurisdiction of these High Courts. Under the earlier laws enacted during the colonial era, the admiralty was only by the High Courts of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. • The bill now extends the provisions of admiralty jurisdiction to every vessel irrespective of place of domicile or residence of owner. • It does not apply to naval auxiliary, warships and vessels used for non-commercial purposes. • It empowers High Courts to exercise jurisdiction on maritime claims arising out of conditions such as disputes regarding ownership of a vessel, mortgage on a vessel, construction, repair, or conversion of the vessel, disputes between co-owners of a vessel regarding employment or earnings of the vessel, disputes arising out of the sale of a vessel, and environmental damage caused by the vessel, etc. Background: • India is a leading maritime nation and maritime transportation caters to about 95% of its merchandise trade volume. • However, the admiralty jurisdiction of Indian courts under the present statutory framework flow from laws enacted in the British era. • The repealing of five archaic admiralty statutes is in line with the Union Government’s commitment to do away with archaic laws which are hindering efficient governance. Source: PIB
The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2017 introduced in Lok Sabha • Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced in the Lok Sabha the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which empowers the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to resolve stressed assets clogging the banking system. What will the new Bill do? • The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2017 will amend The Banking Regulation Act 1949, giving the government power to authorise the Reserve Bank of India to issue directions to banks in order to initiate insolvency resolution in case of a default. • Under the provisions of the Bill, the government can also authorise the RBI to issue directions to banks with regard to resolution of stressed assets and allow it to name one or more committees to provide them with advice in order to do so. • Before the Bill was introduced in Parliament, the NPA ordinance amended The Banking Regulation Act 1949 in the same way. Ordinances, however, have to be approved by Parliament within six weeks of session following the introduction.
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• Apart from empowering the RBI in the above-mentioned ways, the Bill will also give RBI the authority to refer NPA cases to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board. • The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code provides for a time-bound resolution of defaults and stressed assets, either by restructuring a loan or liquidating the borrower’s assets. • The RBI in June identified 12 defaulters all over the country, who accounted for 25 percent of all bad loans in the banking system and is currently focusing on resolving their cases. Need for the introduction of this Bill: • Stressed assets in the banking system have reached unacceptably high levels and hence, urgent measures were required for their speedy resolution. • Therefore, the government considered it necessary to make provisions in the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 for authorizing the Reserve Bank of India to issue directions to any banking company or banking companies to effectively use the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 for timely resolution of stressed assets. Source: The Hindu
Rajnath Singh chairs meeting of Island Development Agency • Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh chaired the first meeting of the newly constituted Island Development Agency (IDA). • At the meeting, he presented the vision for developing India’s maritime economy while preserving the natural eco-system and addressing the security concerns. About IDA: • The IDA was set up on June 1 this year following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s review meeting for the development of islands. • The meetings of the agency are chaired by the Union Home Minister. • Members of the IDA include cabinet secretary, home secretary, secretary (environment, forests and climate change), secretary (tourism) and secretary (tribal welfare). What has been discussed? • The Concept Development Plans and Detailed Master Plans are being prepared for identified islands with principles of sustainability, people’s participation, eco-system preservation and determination of carrying capacity as the guiding principles. Such an exercise is being taken up for the first time in the country. • During the meeting, the progress being made for the formulation of integrated master plans and other matters concerning the islands development were reviewed. • It was also decided that Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and administrator of Lakshadweep Islands will be included as members of IDA. • After detailed consultations with key stakeholders, 10 islands namely Smith, Ross, Aves, Long and Little Andaman in Andaman & Nicobar and Minicoy, Bangaram, Suheli, Cherium and Tinnakara in Lakshadweep have been identified for holistic development in the first phase. • With this meeting, the efforts for holistic development of Islands of India received a major boost. Source: Business Standard
Supreme Court to rethink on a few Lodha ‘reforms’ • The Supreme Court is all set to revisit, if not modify, some key recommendations Justice R.M. Lodha Committee to usher in transparency in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the cricket administration. • The Court has said that it would hear the BCCI, the State cricket associations and member bodies on issues such as “memberships, number of votes” in an effort to make the running of “cricket, the gentleman’s game” come as close to perfect as possible. 13 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
• Meanwhile, the court has exhorted the BCCI and its members to implement the Lodha reforms as regards all issues other than the ones flagged for further debate in court. Background: • Following allegations of corruption, match fixing and betting scandals in cricket in the country, the Supreme Court of India appointed a three-panel member led by Justice R M Lodha in January 2015 to look into the functioning of BCCI and suggest reforms. • The Lodha Committee, in January 2016, released its list of reforms which had some major contentious points. The reforms were contested by several BCCI post holders. What are the contentious proposals? • The possibility of one state, one vote became the biggest point of debate among several others; restriction on ministers and civil servants and those above 70 from becoming its members and cooling off period were some other major contentions. What are the initial basic recommendations made by the Lodha Panel? • These are the things suggested by the board: • BCCI office bearer can work not more than two continuous terms • President of the BCCI cannot hold his post for more than two years • BCCI personnel cannot be a government minister • Proposition of one vote per state and no proxy voting • Separate governing body for BCCI and IPL • Legalisation of betting What were the recommendations accepted by the BCCI? • The induction of the representative of the Comptroller and Auditor General as the member of the Apex Council and the IPL Governing Council. • The formation of the Apex Council – to replace the working committee, according to the Lodha report – with certain modifications. The Lodha report had recommended that only the BCCI president, vice-president, secretary, joint secretary and treasurer be part of the Apex Council but it is understood that the board was in favour of all the members of the working committee remaining a part of the Apex Council. • Putting in place various committees as recommended by the Lodha Committee, including the special committee for the differently abled and the women’s committee. • The formation of the Players Association. • Voting rights for the Associate members as per the ICC guidelines. • Puducherry (Pondicherry) to be granted associate membership in the BCCI. What are the key recommendations that the BCCI did not accept? • The Lodha committee recommended to not let serving civil servants and government ministers to be on the board. The BCCI did not accept this during its SGM on October 1. • The committee directed that the maximum age for anybody to be on the board has to be below 70 years of age, which is applicable to state associations as well. This was a big controversy as it included the likes of Sharad Pawar, Mumbai Cricket Association president and also N Srinivasan, head of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. The board did not accept this recommendation by Lodha Panel as well. Source: The Hindu
Central Road Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2017 introduced in Lok Sabha • The government has introduced in the Lok Sabha the Central Road Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2017 providing for allocation of about Rs 2,000 crore from Central Road Fund (CRF) for developing national waterways (NWs). • The bill seeks to amend the Central Road Fund Act, 2000, to allocate 2.5% of the proceeds of CRF for development and maintenance of NWs and a reduction in the share provided for development of National Highways.
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Background: • Parliament had last year enacted National Waterways (NWs) Act, 2016, for developing and maintaining the existing five NWs and 106 new NWs across the country. • The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has estimated that approximately Rs 25,000 crore would be required for development of identified projects on NWs till 2022-23. About Central Road Fund: • The Central Road Fund was established by the government as per the Central road fund act 2000 to fund the development and maintenance of National Highways, State Highways and Rural roads. • In order to mobilise the fund, the Central Road Fund Act 2000 proposed to levy and collect by way of cess, a duty of excise and duty of customs on petrol and high speed diesel oil. • The fund is utilised for the development and maintenance of National highways, State roads, Rural roads and for provision of road overbridges/under bridges and other safety features at unmanned Railway Crossings. About IWAI: • Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory body in charge of the waterways in India. • Its headquarters is located in Noida, UP. • Its main function is to build the necessary required infrastructure in these waterways, surveying the economic feasibility of new projects and also administration and regulation. Source: Economic Times
Govt considering new agency to keep check on chartered accountants • The government is planning to set up the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) to keep a check in the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) considering its perceived failures in enforcing discipline. Need for the new agency: • ICAI’s disciplinary record is often criticised-a charge that the institute is now trying to cope with. • Corporate balance sheets cannot be trusted, because sometimes, CAs will put their signature on any fiction for a price. • Not just this, helping businesses evade taxes is the main service many of them offer. • Only 25 auditors had faced any action in over a decade even as 1,400 cases were pending. Background: • While Companies Act 2013 had provided for NFRA as a regulatory agency for audit, accounts and financial reporting, Section 132 of the law has remained on paper as the rules are yet to be notified. It is one of the few sections of the law that has not been notified yet. About the NFRA: • The NFRA, which could have up to 15 members including the Chairman, will now take charge from ICAI, which so far prepared the accounting standards in consultation with the National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards (NACAS). • NFRA will become the authority responsible to look into matters of professional or related misconduct, and suspend CAs and firms from practise for six months to even up to 10 years. Why it is opposed? • It’s been years since CAs have been opposing a regulator proposed in the Companies Act, 2013, fearing the body would encroach on its own ground. • There are some apprehensions that several chartered accountants had lobbied with the government to block the notification as it would have taken away several powers that are currently vested with ICAI. Source: Times of India 15 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
MPC members to get Rs. 1.5 lakh per meet, must disclose assets • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently notified the Monetary Policy Committee and Monetary Policy Process Regulations, 2016. Highlights of the regulations: • Members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will be paid Rs. 1.5 lakh per meeting along with air travel and other reimbursements. • Members will have to observe a “silent period” of seven days before and after the rate decision for “utmost confidentiality”. • Members are also required to be mindful of any conflict between their personal and public interest while interacting with profit making organisations and making personal financial transactions. • Each member of the MPC has one vote and in case the numbers are equal, the governor has the casting vote. • The MPC, which has the responsibility of achieving a set inflation target, should submit a report to the government in case of failure to achieve the required target. In such instances, the report shall be sent to the central government “within one month from the date on which the bank has failed to meet the inflation target”. • All members need to disclose their assets and liabilities and update this information once every year. • MPC has to hold meetings at least four times in a year. The schedule of the MPC meetings for the entire fiscal year needs to be announced in advance. • At least 15 days of notice is required for convening a meeting ordinarily, but an emergency meeting can be called with 24 hours’ notice for each member and technology-enabled arrangements need to be made for even shorter notice period meetings. • After conclusion of MPC meeting, a resolution needs to be made public including on the policy repo rate and any other monetary policy measures at the discretion of the Chairperson while keeping in view the functioning and timing of financial markets. About Monetary Policy Committee (MPC): • The idea of setting up an MPC was mooted by an RBI-appointed committee led by deputy governor Urjit Patel in February 2014. Composition: • The committee will have six members, with three members from RBI, including the Governor, who will be the ex-officio chairperson, a Deputy Governor and one officer of the central bank. • The other three members will be appointed by the Centre on the recommendations of a search-cum-selection committee under Cabinet Secretary with RBI Governor and Economic Affairs Secretary. • These three members of MPC will be experts in the field of economics or banking or finance or monetary policy and will be appointed for a period of four years and shall not be eligible for re-appointment. • The RBI Governor will chair the committee. The governor, however, will not enjoy a veto power to overrule the other panel members, but will have a casting vote in case of a tie. Functions: • The committee will be tasked with bringing value and transparency to monetary policy decisions • The monetary policy committee framework will replace the current system where the RBI governor and his internal team have complete control over monetary policy decisions. While a technical advisory committee advises the RBI on monetary policy decisions, the central bank is under no obligation to accept its recommendations. • With the introduction of the monetary policy committee, the RBI will follow a system similar to the one followed by most global central banks.
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• The Committee is to meet four times a year and make public its decisions following each meeting. Source: The Hindu
Government plans ‘I stand by my country’ campaign • As part of a twin celebration to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Quit India movement and the 70th Independence Day, the government hopes to trigger a citizen movement around the theme ‘I stand by my country’. About the campaign: • As part of the programme, the government plans a multimedia campaign that will focus on inspiring the young generation and instilling in them a sense of pride and responsibility. • The celebrations will stress that in the next five years — in an era of determination, will and struggle — a ‘New India’ will be built which is “rid of corruption and black money” and fulfils the aspirations of its teeming millions. • The campaign will also drive home the point that the country has already proved its worth in every field, be it science and technology, sports, spirituality, art, space exploration, economy and defence. • The aim of the campaign, hence is to portray an India which is “bold and decisive, can secure its future, is on the path of reforms, and that cares. About the Quit India Movement: • The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Movement was a Civil Disobedience Movement launched by Gandhi for independence. • The movement was accompanied by a mass protest on non-violent lines, in which Gandhi called for “an orderly British withdrawal from India”. Source: Economic Times
Government mulls insurance cover for digital transaction frauds • The government is “very seriously” considering the recommendations of the Chandrababu Naidu committee on digital payment security, including insurance cover for the victims of fraudulent digital transactions. Background: • The Committee of Chief Ministers on Digital Payment, chaired by Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu, has in its interim report suggested several measures for digital payment security. Important recommendations: • The Committee suggested several measures for digital payment security, including an insurance scheme to cover losses incurred in digital transactions on account of fraud, etc. • The report suggests that in order to address the apprehension of the general public in adopting digital payments, the scheme should target low-ticket transactions to cover the vulnerable sections like small merchants, farmers etc. Why we need digital security? • The number of digital transactions in the country was rising and hence the concern for their security. However, the number of fraudulent digital transactions in comparison to the total number of digital transactions was negligible. • As per data, around 1,200 crore digital transactions take place annually in the country. Of these, between 0.005% and 0.007% are fraudulent transactions. • The number of cases of frauds involving credit cards, ATM/debit cards and Internet banking during 2015-16 was 16,468 and in 2016-17 it was 13,653. • As per incidents reported to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), 40 phishing incidents affecting 19 financial organisations and 10 incidents affecting ATMs,
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Point of Sale (POS) systems and Unified Payment Interface (UPI) have been reported during November 2016 to June 2017. Source: Economic Times
Ram Nath Kovind elected as the 14th President of India • Former governor Ram Nath Kovind was elected as India’s 14th President. • He will be only the second Dalit leader after K R Narayanan since Independence to occupy India’s highest ceremonial post. • He won with over 7 lakh votes against Opposition candidate Meira Kumar. Important FAQs on Presidential Election in India: Who elects the President of India? • As per the Article 54 of the Constitution of India, the President is elected by an Electoral College, which consists of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of all the States and also of NCT of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry. Who conducts the election to the Office of President of India? • Under Article 324 of the Constitution of India, the authority to conduct elections to the Office of President is vested in the Election Commission of India What electoral system/process is followed for the election to the office of the President? • As per Article 55(3) of the Constitution of India, the election of the President shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot. What are the Qualifications required by a candidate to contest the election to the Office of the President of India? • Under Article 58, a candidate should fulfill the following eligibility conditions to contest the election to the Office of President: – 1. Must be a citizen of India, 2. Must have completed 35 years of age, 3. Must be eligible to be a member of the Lok Sabha, 4. Should not be holding any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State or under any local or other authority subject to the control of any of the said Governments. • However, the candidate may be holding the office of President or Vice-President or Governor of any State or Ministers of the Union or any State and shall be eligible to contest election. Is it compulsory for an elector at a Presidential election to mark his preference for all candidates? • Only the marking of first preference is compulsory for a ballot paper to be valid. Marking other preferences is optional. Are the provisions of the Anti-Defection Law applicable in Presidential elections? • Members of the Electoral College can vote according to their wish and are not bound by any party whips. The voting is by secret ballot. Therefore, Party whip does not apply in this election. Are Nominated Members of either Houses of Parliament or a State Legislative Assembly eligible to vote at the election to the Office of President? • As per Article 54 of the Constitution, only elected members of both Houses of Parliament and of the State Legislative Assemblies are members of the Electoral College for Presidential Election. Therefore, nominated members cannot vote in this election. Can an elector at a Presidential election exercise his vote by proxy? • No.
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Whether provisions of NOTA are applicable? • No. How can an elector who is under preventive detention during the period of Presidential election cast his vote? • An elector under preventive detention can cast his vote through postal ballot, which will be sent to him by the Election Commission on the place of his detention. Source: PIB, Election Commission
Bharat Net deadline pushed to March 2019 • The Union Cabinet has approved the second phase of the BharatNet project that forms the backbone for the government’s Digital India initiative. • It also more than doubled the project’s budget and pushed back the deadline to March 2019. Why extension? • The Centre is still working on completing the first phase of the BharatNet project for which the deadline was March 2017. It had been able to lay optical fibre in nearly one-lakh GPs, however, only about 22,000 GPs have been provided Internet connectivity due to equipment procurement issues. • The second phase aims at covering the remaining 1.50 lakh GPS. What is BharatNet? • BharatNet is Centre’s rural internet connectivity programme which is implemented by Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL). • It is world’s largest rural broadband connectivity programme using Optical fibre. • Bharat Net seeks to connect all of India’s households, particularly the rural areas, through demand, affordable broadband connectivity of 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps to realise the vision of Digital India. • The project is being funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). • The three-phase implementation under the BharatNet project is: 1. Under the first phase, one lakh gram panchayats would be provided connectivity by laying underground optic fibre cable (OFC) lines by March 2017. 2. Under the second phase, connectivity will be provided to all 2,50,500 gram panchayats in the country. It is to be completed by December 2018 (now extended to March 2019). 3. Under the third phase from 2018 to 2023, state-of-the-art, future-proof network, including fiber between districts and blocks would be created. About the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF): • USOF was formed by the Central Government to help fund projects to boost connectivity in rural areas. • The money for this fund comes through a ‘Universal Access Levy,’ charged from the telecom operators as a percentage of various licenses fees being paid by them. Source: The Hindu
Cabinet nod for IWAI bond issue • The Union Cabinet has given its nod to Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for raising 660 crore in bonds for extra budgetary resources in 2017-18. • The proceeds from the bonds will be utilised by IWAI for development and maintenance of National Waterways (NWs) under National Waterways Act, 2016. • Funds received through issue of bonds will be used exclusively for capital expenditure to improve infrastructure funding. Background: • The National Waterways Act, 2016, which came into force in April 2016, merges 5 existing Acts which have declared the 5 National Waterways and proposes 106 additional National Waterways. 19 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
About IWAI: • Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory body in charge of the waterways in India. • Its headquarters is located in Noida, UP. • Its main function is to build the necessary required infrastructure in these waterways, surveying the economic feasibility of new projects and also administration and regulation. Source: The Hindu
Private members’ Bill on mob violence • All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi has given notice to introduce in the Lok Sabha a private member’s bill on mob violence. • He has given notice to introduce the Mob Violence (Prevention and Punishment) Bill, 2017. Key features of the bill: • As per the bill, mob violence includes any act in which two or more persons injure, harm, oppress or threaten a person on the basis of his identity or prevent his enjoyment of a Constitutional right. • The Bill criminalises mob violence as well as acts of omission by public servants. • The Bill proposes special courts for trying cases of mob violence, with judges appointed by a collegium of five senior-most High Court judges. These courts will receive complaints of mob violence, set up special investigation teams and appoint public prosecutors. The SIT and public prosecutor will also be under Supreme Court supervision. • Punishment up to life imprisonment, special compensation and witness protection are built into the Bill. • It proposes to award penalties to public servants when such cases are not properly investigated, either due to malafide intentions or wilful neglect. • It proposes to award a minimum 10 years’ imprisonment to public servants for “acts of omission”. What is the Private members’ Bill? • Members of parliament other than ministers are called private members and bills presented by them are known as private member’s bills. • The last Private Member’s Bill passed by parliament was the Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Bill, 1968, which became an act on August 9, 1970. • The last Lok Sabha saw 300 such bills introduced and barely four percent of them were discussed while 96 percent lapsed without even a single debate in the house. Source: The Hindu
Ministry, NITI Aayog moot privatisation of select services in district hospitals • As a part of a radical ‘privatisation project’, the Health Ministry and the NITI Aayog have developed a framework to let private hospitals run select services within district hospitals, on a 30-year lease. • The framework was prepared in consultation with the World Bank. About the proposed framework: • As per the framework, the government will be allowing “a single private partner or a single consortium of private partners” to bid for space in district level hospitals, “especially in tier 2 & 3 cities.” • Under this Public Private Partnership (PPP), care for only three non-communicable diseases — cardiac disease, pulmonary disease, and cancer care — will be provided. • As per the draft model contract, private hospitals will bid for 30-year leases over portions of district hospital buildings to set up 50- or 100-bed hospitals in smaller towns across the 20 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
country. The State governments could lease up to five or six district hospitals within the State. • Further, the State governments will give Viability Gap Funding (VGF), or one-time seed money, to private players to set up infrastructure within district hospitals. The private parties and State health departments will share ambulance services, blood banks, and mortuary services. Concerns related to policy: • A major concern about the policy is that under ‘principles’ of the financial structure, the document states that “there will be no reserved beds or no quota of beds for free services” in these facilities. • The policy document has also come under sharp criticism for the Ministry’s failure to consult with key stakeholders from civil society and academia. • Another particularly disturbing suggestion is that only Below Poverty Line (BPL) patients and those in insurance schemes will be able to access free care. This would effectively exclude hundreds of millions of the Indian population from vital hospital services. Source: The Hindu
Supreme Court allows Centre to replace MCI oversight committee • The Supreme Court has allowed the Union Government to replace the oversight committee set up to supervise the functioning of the Medical Council of India (MCI) with a fresh panel of five eminent doctors. • The Supreme Court also gave the Government liberty to replace any doctor in the list with another if he does not wish to be a part of the oversight committee. • Earlier, Government had proposed the names of five eminent doctors to replace the earlier members of the oversight committee whose term had just expired. Background: • The Supreme Court using its rare and extraordinary powers under the Article 142 of the Constitution had set up the oversight committee court in May 2016 to oversee the MCI’s functioning for a period of one year or till a suitable mechanism was brought in by the Government to substitute it. The committee was led by former Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha. About MCI: • Medical Council of India (MCI) is a statutory body for establishing uniform and high standards of medical education in India. • It grants recognition of medical qualifications, gives accreditation to medical schools, grants registration to medical practitioners, and monitors medical practice in India. Source: The Hindu
Cabinet approves revision of Indian Community Welfare Fund guidelines • The Union Cabinet has approved revision of the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) guidelines. Key features of the revised guidelines: • The revised guidelines being made broad-based seek to expand the scope of welfare measures that can be extended through the Fund. • The guidelines would cover three key areas namely 1. Assisting Overseas Indian nationals in distress situations, 2. Community Welfare activities and 3. Improvement in Consular services. • They are expected to provide Indian Missions and Posts abroad greater flexibility in swiftly addressing to requests for assistance by Overseas Indian nationals. 21 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
About ICWF: • ICWF, set up in 2009, is aimed at providing ‘on site’ welfare services on a means-tested basis in the most deserving cases, including: 1. Providing boarding and lodging for distressed overseas Indian workers in household / domestic sectors, and other unskilled workers; 2. Extending emergency medical care to overseas Indians; 3. Providing air passage to stranded overseas Indians; and 4. Expenditure on incidentals and for airlifting the mortal remains to India or local cremation / burial of deceased overseas Indians. • The ICWF would be funded through budgetary support from the Ministry, funds raised by the Indian Missions by levying a nominal service charge on consular services and through Voluntary contributions from the Indian community. • Apart from assisting Indian nationals in distress abroad, ICWF has been a critical support in emergency evacuation of Indian nationals in conflict zones in Libya, Iraq, Yemen, South Sudan and other challenging situations like assistance extended to undocumented Indian workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the Nitaqat drive in 2013 and the ongoing Amnesty drive in 2017. • It has also created a sense of confidence among the migrant workers going overseas about the support they can expect from India during critical times. • ICWF stands extended to all Indian Missions and Posts abroad and is primarily funded by levying service charge on various consular services rendered by Indian Missions and Posts abroad. Administration of the ICWF: • The Heads of Missions may constitute a three member Committee for administration of the Fund with officers dealing with Labour, Consular, Community Welfare or Administration matters to review the Fund periodically. Source: PIB, MEA
Centre seeks debate in SC on J&K special status • The Centre asked the Supreme Court to debate on the special status granted to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, saying it was both a sensitive and constitutional matter. • The Bench agreed to schedule the case before a three-judge Bench after six weeks. What’s the issue? • The centre’s response came on a PIL plea filed by a Delhi-based NGO, We the Citizens, contending that the J&K government, given the State’s special autonomous status under Articles 35A and 370, was discriminatory against non-residents as far as government jobs and real estate purchases were concerned. • The hearing comes in the backdrop of an earlier Jammu and Kashmir High Court, which ruled that Article 370 assumed a place of permanence in the Constitution and the feature was beyond amendment, repeal or abrogation. J&K High Court ruling: • The court said Article 35A gave “protection” to existing laws in force in the State. • It also observed that the President under Article 370 (1) was conferred with power to extend any provision of the Constitution to the State with such “exceptions and modifications” as may be deemed fit subject to consultation or concurrence with the State government. • The High Court said J&K, while acceding to the Dominion of India, retained limited sovereignty and did not merge with it. What is Article 370? • Article 370 of the Indian Constitution is a ‘temporary provision’ which grants special autonomous status to Jammu & Kashmir.
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• Under Part XXI of the Constitution of India, which deals with “Temporary, Transitional and Special provisions”, the state of Jammu & Kashmir has been accorded special status under Article 370. • All the provisions of the Constitution which are applicable to other states are not applicable to J&K. For example, till 1965, J&K had a Sadr-e-Riyasat for governor and prime minister in place of chief minister. History of Article 370: • The provision was drafted in 1947 by Sheikh Abdullah, who had by then been appointed prime minister of Jammu & Kashmir by Maharaja Hari Singh and Jawahar Lal Nehru. • Sheikh Abdullah had argued that Article 370 should not be placed under temporary provisions of the Constitution. He wanted ‘iron clad autonomy’ for the state, which Centre didn’t comply with. Provisions of Article 370: • According to this article, except for defence, foreign affairs, finance and communications, Parliament needs the state government’s concurrence for applying all other laws. • Thus the state’s residents live under a separate set of laws, including those related to citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as compared to other Indians. • As a result of this provision, Indian citizens from other states cannot purchase land or property in Jammu & Kashmir. • Under Article 370, the Centre has no power to declare financial emergency under Article 360 in the state. It can declare emergency in the state only in case of war or external aggression. • The Union government can therefore not declare emergency on grounds of internal disturbance or imminent danger unless it is made at the request or with the concurrence of the state government. Source: The Hindu, Times of India
Govt. clears three export infra plans • The Union Government for the first time has given approval three infrastructure proposals to address the infrastructure problem under the Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES). These include: 1. An Integrated Cargo Terminal (ICT) at the Imphal International Airport. 2. Modernisation of infrastructure facility in Karnataka for marine exports. 3. Construction of a new ‘Standard Design Factory’ building at Cochin Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Background: • According to a March 2016 report on ‘Export Infrastructure in India’ by the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce, “deficient infrastructure and the manner in which infrastructure is being operated (in India) are the major obstacles to ensure competitiveness in manufacturing of goods and exports thereof.” • It is estimated that the logistic cost in India is about 14% of the GDP whereas in advanced economies like the U.S. and the European Union, it is 8% and 10% of the GDP respectively. • Owing to sub-optimal logistic capability, certain sectors dependent on logistics lose as much as 2% on sales return. • An ASSOCHAM study conducted a few years ago shows that India runs against a disadvantage of about 11% of its trade due to deficient infrastructure. • It noted that India can save up to $50 billion if logistics costs are brought down from 14% to 9% of country’s GDP which will also make domestic goods more competitive in global markets. About Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES): • The main objective of the scheme is to enhance export competitiveness by bridging the gap in export infrastructure, which has not been addressed by any other scheme.
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• Under this scheme, all central and state agencies including Commodities Boards, SEZ authorities, Export Promotion Councils and Apex Trade Bodies recognised under the EXIM policy of Government of India will be eligible for financial support. • The funding would be in form of grant-in-aid and in normal cases it would not be more than the equity being funded by the implementing agency or 50% of the total equity in the project. • However, in cases of projects located in the North Eastern states or Himalayan states including Jammu & Kashmir, the grant will go up to 80% of the total equity. • Five per cent of the grant approved would be used for appraisal, review and monitoring. • The scheme, which is being implemented from FY18 till FY20, has a total budgetary allocation of Rs 600 crore for three years and an annual outlay of Rs 200 crore. • The cost of projects under TIES would be equally shared by the Centre and the states. • An empowered committee will be set up to periodically review the progress of the approved projects in the scheme. The committee will also take the required steps to ensure that the objectives of the scheme are achieved. Source: The Hindu
Panel to study benefits of cow derivatives • The Union Ministry of Science and Technology has constituted a 19-member panel, including members of the RSS, VHP and the ex-CSIR chief, to conduct a scientifically validated research on cow-derivatives, including its urine, and their benefits. Key facts: • The government has given the project the acronym SVAROP (Scientific Validation and Research on Panchgavya) . • It is a “national programme” being conducted by the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of the Ministry of Science and Technology in collaboration with IIT-Delhi. Members of the committee: • The committee will be headed by Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan. • Vijay Bhatkar , also known as the architect of the Param series of supercomputers , is the co-chairman of the committee. • The committee working for it will include the secretaries of the Departments of Science and Technology, Biotechnology, and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and scientists from IIT-Delhi. • It also has three members of Vijnana Bharati and ‘Go-Vigyan Anusandhan Kendra’, outfits affiliated to the RSS and the VHP. Mandate of the committee: • The panel is tasked with selecting projects that scientifically validate research on indigenous cow and also the panchgayva. • The committee will select projects that can help scientifically validate the benefits of panchgavya — the concoction of cow dung, cow urine, milk, curd and ghee — in various spheres such as nutrition, health and agriculture. • The panel, which will have a tenure of three years, will function as an apex body for guiding SVAROP. Source: The Hindu
MSDE celebrates Second Anniversary of Skill India Mission • Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) celebrated the second anniversary of Skill India Mission on the World Youth Skills day (15 July). About the Skill India Mission: • Skill India is a campaign launched by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) on the occasion of the first ever World Youth Skills Day on 15th July 2015. 24 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
• It is the brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. • It aims to train over 40 crore (400 million) people in India in different skills by 2022. • Skill India has been launched to empower the youth of the country with skill sets which make them more employable and more productive in their work environment. • Skill India offers courses across 40 sectors in the country which are aligned to the standards recognised by both, the industry and the government under the National Skill Qualification Framework. • The courses help a person focus on practical delivery of work and help him enhance his technical expertise so that he is ready for day one of his job and companies don’t have to invest into training him for his job profile. Various initiatives under this campaign are: • National Skill Development Mission • National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015 • Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) • Skill Loan scheme • Rural India Skill Source: PIB
Directorate set up under CBEC for data analytics and nabbing evaders • The government has set up a new wing, Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM) , under the indirect taxes body to provide intelligence inputs and carry out big data analytics for taxmen for better policy formulation and nabbing evaders. Key facts: • The DGARM will be under the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) • It will also do big data analytics for taxmen for better policy formulation. • The DGARM was set up on 1 July 2017, coinciding with rollout of Goods and Services Tax (GST). • It will function as an apex body of CBEC for data analytics and risk management and will report to the chairman of CBEC. • It will utilize internal and external data sources for detailed data mining and analysis to generate outputs for focused and targeted action by field formations and investigation wings of the CBEC. • The field formations of CBEC are also expected to gainfully and effectively utilise the data and other inputs shared by the DGARM. • The data analytics and processing coupled with intelligence inputs by DGRAM will provide the CBEC the national and sub-national perspective for policy formulation. Four verticals: • DGARM has four verticals headed by an official of rank of Additional Director General (ADG) or Principal ADG. 1. The first vertical is the National Targeting Centre that has been set up for application of a nationally coordinated approach to risk analysis and targeting of risky goods and passengers crossing the borders of the country. 2. The second vertical is Centre for Business Intelligence and Analytics (CBIA) that will be responsible for identification of information requirements of the CBEC. It will utilise data feeds from internal sources. 3. The third vertical is the Risk Management Centre for Goods and Services Tax which will institutionalise mechanism to collect necessary inputs, adopt coordinated approach and share the outcome for risk-based identification.
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4. The fourth vertical is the Risk Management Centre for Customs that will be responsible for assessment and targeting of risky cargo crossing the borders through sea, air and land. Source: Economic Times
Centre to grant NIIF 20,000 cr. • The Department of Economic Affairs has signed an agreement with the NIIF for a 20,000 crore contribution to the Fund. About National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF): • Proposed in Union Budget 2015, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) has been set up in last month of 2015. • The objective of NIIF is to maximize economic impact mainly through infrastructure development in commercially viable projects, both greenfield and brownfield, including stalled projects, NIIF would solicit equity participation from strategic anchor partners. • The Fund aims to attract investment from both domestic and international sources. • The objective of NIIF is to maximize economic impact mainly through infrastructure development in commercially viable projects, both greenfield and brownfield, including stalled projects, NIIF would solicit equity participation from strategic anchor partners. • NIIF has been structured as a fund of funds and set up as Category II Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Regulations. • It is a Rs. 40000 crore fund to provide long term capital for infrastructure projects. • The government’s contribution would be limited to 49% of the subscribed capital. • The government will seek participation from strategic investors such as sovereign fund, quasi sovereign funds and multilateral or bilateral investors, which can help leverage this fund to many times. • Cash-rich PSUs, pension funds, provident funds, National Small Saving Fund will be able to pick up stake in the fund. Source: The Hindu
Mahadayi Water Dispute- Goa open to out-of-tribunal settlement • Goa has said that it is open to talks with Karnataka and Maharashtra to explore an out-of- tribunal settlement on Mahadayi issue. What is the dispute? • The Karnataka government and Goa government are fighting on sharing of waters of the Mahadayi river (called Mandovi in Goa). • In order to divert 7.56 tmcft of water to the Malaprabha river basin, Karnataka government proposed to build canals to link Kalasa and Banduri, the tributaries of Mahadayi. • However, objecting the move, Goa government argued that if Karnataka implemented the Kalasa-Banduri project, it would prove disastrous for the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats as the proposed project was deep inside the forest. • Karnataka had petitioned the tribunal seeking release of 7.56 tmcft of water for Kalasa- Banduri Nala project. • The tribunal, which gave its interim order after hearing arguments from both Karnataka and Goa, had rejected the state’s plea citing various grounds including ecological damage that the project may cause. About Mahadayi river: • The Mahadayi River also known as Mandovi or Mhadei river, is described as the lifeline of the Indian state of Goa. • The river has a length of 77 km, 29 km in Karnataka and 52 km in Goa. • It originates from a cluster of 30 springs at Bhimgad in the Western Ghats in the Belgaum district of Karnataka . 26 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
• The river has a 2,032 km2 catchment area in Karnataka and a 1,580 km2 catchment area in Goa. What is the Kalasa-Banduri Nala project? • The Kalasa-Banduri Nala is a canal project undertaken by the Government of Karnataka to divert water from the Mahadayi river to the Malaprabha. • The project aimed to improve drinking water supply to the Districts of Belagavi, Dharwad and Gadag. • It involves building across Kalasa and Banduri, two tributaries of the Mahadayi river to divert 7.56 TMC of water to the Malaprabha river, which supplies the drinking water needs of the said 3 districts, i.e., Dharwad, Belagavi and Gadag. • The region is part of Karnataka’s arid area, which is second only to Rajasthan in water scarcity. • The project has been delayed for over a decade during which the state has seen two of the worst droughts in 40 years. Source: The Hindu
Ministry of Railways launched various initiatives • The Ministry of Railways has launched the following Initiatives: Rail Cloud Project: • RailCloud is a virtual server with an inbuilt security system that will enable faster connectivity at a reduced cost. Rail Cloud works on popular Cloud Computing system. • RailCloud has been developed by rail PSU RailTel as part of Railways strategic IT initiative, IR—OneICT. • It is aimed at optimising server the resources and its management. • Most Important works are done through Cloud Computing. Cloud Computing is the emerging technology for faster and on demand commensurate deployment of Server resources which result in reduced cost. Potential benefits to Railways after implementation of RailCloud are: • Faster and on-demand deployment of application • Optimum use of Servers and storage • Utilization of existing infrastructure as part of Cloud • Rapid scalability and elasticity • IT Security enhancement and Standardization • Cost reduction • Better user experience NIVARAN-Grievance Portal (First IT Application on Rail Cloud): • ‘NIVARAN-Grievance Portal’ is the first IT application to be launched on the RailCloud. • It serves as a platform for resolution of service-related grievances and of serving and former railway employees. • The existing application hosted on a conventional server was migrated on RailCloud. • It will save significant revenue and improve user experience at same time. Cashless Treatment Scheme in Emergency (CTSE) Scheme: • To provide immediate care to its retired employees in ‘Golden Hour’ Railway Board has decided to roll out a “Cashless treatment Scheme in Emergency’ (CTSE), in empanelled hospitals, for retired employees and their dependent family members. • A web based system of communication between private hospitals and railway authorities has been developed wherein identity of the beneficiary shall be established using biometrics stored in Aadhar (UIDAI) server, eligibility shall be determined using Railway Data Base and emergency shall be verified by Railway Medical Officer based on private hospital’s clinical report. • The whole system is online and even the bill processing shall be online. 27 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
• This scheme shall provide help and succour to the retired railway employees at the time of need and at the same time will have a morale boosting effect on the serving employees. • The Scheme fulfils both the avowed objectives of the GOI; utilizing IT tools to cut the red- tape and promoting cashless transactions. Source: PIB
CPWD reminded of challenges ahead as it turns 163 • The public sector construction major, Central Public Works Department (CPWD) turned 163 on July 12th, 2017. • On this occasion, it was reminded of the challenges ahead and the need to innovate to retain its primacy. About the CPWD: • The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) of India is a central government owned authority in charge of public sector works. • The Central Public Works Department, under the Ministry of Urban Development, builds and maintains public buildings. • CPWD came into existence in July 1854 when Lord Dalhousie established a central agency for execution of public works and set up Ajmer Provincial Division. • Through the professional expertise in disciplines including Architecture, Engineering, Project Management coupled with comprehensive experience in building construction and maintenance CPWD has been serving the nation for last 162 years and has executed priority of works in difficult and demanding geographical and climatic conditions. • It has now grown into a comprehensive construction management department, which provides services from project concept to completion, consultancy and maintenance management. • It is headed by the Director General (DG) who is also the Principal Technical Advisor to the Government of India. • The regions and sub-regions are headed by Special DGs and Additional DGs respectively, while the zones in all state capitals (except a few) are headed by Chief Engineers. • CPWD has PAN India presence and has ability to undertake construction of complex projects even in difficult terrain and maintenance in post construction stage. • It is the prime engineering department of Government of union of India and its specifications and manuals are followed by local public works departments and engineering wing of other departments. • CPWD consists of three wings in execution field: (i) B&R (Buildings and Roads) (ii) E&M (Electrical and Mechanical) (iii) Horticulture. • CPWD had been involved in construction of stadiums and other infrastructure requirements for Asian Games 1982 and Commonwealth Games 2010. Source: The Hindu
IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) in Varanasi • The Union Cabinet has approved establishment of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) set up a regional centre International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), a global rice research institute. • It will be named as IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) and will be set up at campus of National Seed Research and Training Centre (NSRTC) in Varanasi. • This Centre will be the first of its kind international Centre in the eastern India.
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Key facts: • For setting up of the Centre, a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) will be signed between Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DACFW) and IRRI, Philippines. • Under the proposal, a Centre of Excellence in Rice Value Addition (CERVA) will be set up in Varanasi. This will include a modern and sophisticated laboratory with capacity to determine quality and status of heavy metals in grain and straw. • The Centre will also undertake capacity building exercises for stakeholders across the rice value chain. Benefits from ISARC: • The ISARC will help in utilizing the rich biodiversity of India to develop special rice varieties. • It will help India to achieve higher per hectare yields and improved nutritional contents. • Further it will help to address India’s food and nutritional security issues. • It will play a major role in harnessing and sustaining rice production in the region. • It is also expected to be a boon for food production and skill development in the eastern India and similar ecologies in other South Asian and African countries. • The Centre will support in adopting value chain based production system in the country. Thus, help to reduce wastage, add value to produce and generate higher income for the farmers. • The farmers in Eastern India will be main beneficiaries, besides those in South Asian and African countries. About International Rice Research Institute (IRRI): • IRRI is an international agricultural research and training organization with headquarters in Los Baños, Philippines. • It was established in 1960 and has offices in 17 countries. • It is also the largest non-profit agricultural research centre in Asia. • It aims to reduce poverty and hunger, improve the health of rice farmers and consumers, and ensure environmental sustainability of rice farming. • IRRI is known for its work in developing high yielding rice varieties that contributed to the Green Revolution in the 1960s. • It advances its mission through collaborative research, partnerships, and the strengthening of the national agricultural research and extension systems of the countries IRRI works in. Source: The Hindu
5 States, a UT sign pact with Centre on e-Marketplace • In a spirit of cooperative federalism, 5 States and a Union Territory (UT) have formally adopted the Centre’s initiative called the Government e-Marketplace (GeM). • The States and the UT that signed an MoU with the Centre include Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Telangana, Puducherry and Arunachal Pradesh. About Government e-Marketplace (GeM) initiative: • GeM is an Online Market platform to facilitate procurement of goods and services by various Ministries and agencies of the Government. • It aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement of goods and services and eliminate corruption. • It functions under Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D), Union Ministry of Commerce and Industries. • GeM is a completely paperless, cashless and system driven e-market place that enables procurement of common use goods and services with minimal human interface. • Presently more than 40000 products in about 150 categories and hiring of transport service are available on GeM POC portal.
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Benefits of GeM: • GeM to a great extent eliminates human interface in order placement, vendor registration and payment processing. • It is open platform and does not offer no entry barriers to bonafide suppliers who wish to do business with the Government. For procurements of higher value, GeM has bidding facility. • GeM allows direct purchase on it in a matter of minutes. The entire process in online, end to end integrated. It has online tools for assessing price reasonability. • GeM platform is a completely secure. The antecedents of the suppliers are verified online and automatically through Aadhar, PAN databases. Besides, all the documents on GeM are e- signed at various stages by the buyers and sellers. • GeM has filters which are Preferential Market Access (PMA) compliant for selecting goods which are manufactured by Small Scale Industries (SSI). Thus, it will enable Government buyers to easily procure Make in India and SSI goods. • Transparency, efficiency under GeM initiative will result in a substantial reduction in prices of procuring goods, in comparison to the direct purchase rates and purchases by tender and rate contract. Source: The Hindu
SC stays cattle sale rules across nation • The Supreme Court has stayed centre’s May 26 th notification banning the sale of cattle in livestock markets for slaughter and religious sacrifices. • The order came after the centre accepted that public outcry and objections from the states about the law’s impact on livelihoods made it realise that the rules need tweaking. • The court was taking up a bunch of petitions challenging the amendments to the rules framed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. What’s the issue? • The centre, on May 26th, notified the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Market) Rules, 2017. • The notification banned the sale of cattle in livestock market for slaughter and religious sacrifices. • This had dismayed cattle traders, butchers and beef eaters. • Farmers were also hit as they were also barred from selling non-milch and ageing cattle thus being deprived of their traditional incomes. • Various states too opposed the notification saying that it would impact the livelihoods of many. • The validity of the rules was challenged in various high courts and the SC. The Madurai bench of Madras HC had stayed the rules. What’s next? • The centre has acknowledged that the law needs some tweaking keeping in mind the concerns raised by various stakeholders. It has also clarified that tweaking does not mean repeal. It would shortly come out with necessary amendments. Source: The Hindu
IROAF wins Golden Peacock Award for Eco Innovation for the year 2017 • Indian Railways Organization for Alternate Fuel (IROAF) has won the Golden Peacock Award for Eco Innovation for the year 2017. • It was awarded for Eco-Innovation for substitution of fossil fuels (Diesel) by environment friendly CNG in DEMU passenger train services. Use of CNG in Train Sets for passenger transportation has been done for the first time in the world.
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About IROAF: • IROAF is a unique organization in the Government space which was established by Ministry of Railways to explore new environment friendly fuels/ renewable energy and eco- friendly technologies like substitution of diesel with CNG/LNG in train sets, replacing acetylene/LPG by CNG/LNG for metal cutting in Railway Workshops, proliferating and promoting use of Bio-Diesel in Railway Locomotives etc. • The organization is a premier single window agency of Indian Railways to work as a knowledge base and explore and prove out new fuels and technologies for Indian Railways with a view to being down Indian Railways fuel bill and at the same time achieve a shift towards greener fuels / renewable energy sources for a sustainable future. About the Golden Peacock Awards: • Golden Peacock Awards, instituted by the Institute Of Directors (IOD), India in 1991, are now regarded as a benchmark of Corporate Excellence worldwide. • Golden Peacock awards have become a hallmark of excellence, both locally & globally. • Based on internationally recognised criteria, the credibility of these awards lies in the transparency depth & impartiality of the assessment process. Source: PIB
Ministries of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Merged • The government has merged the ministries of urban development, and housing and urban poverty alleviation — involved in policy making in urban areas — to form the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). • With this merger, the government now has 51 ministries. In 2004, the number was 42. • The first government in independent India had just 17 ministries. Significance: • The merger would help ensure cohesiveness in formulating policies related to urban issues and cut the flab in bureaucracy. Background: • A panel of secretaries in February this year had recommended the merger of the two ministries to increase efficiency in governance. • It had recommended that the ministries of housing and urban poverty alleviation, and urban development be merged and that the pharmaceuticals and AYUSH ministries be brought under the health ministry. Source: Times of India
First Edition of WINGS 2017 • The First edition of WINGS 2017 – “Sab Uden, Sab Juden”- Expanding Regional Connectivity was hosted in New Delhi by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. • Participants: Around 338 delegates from Government and Civil Aviation sector participated. Key stakeholders of the Aviation Sector such as States, Tourism Departments and Tour Operators as a Group representing airline consumers • Aim: To facilitate interaction with various airlines, airport operators, cargo operators and other ecosystem players at a common forum. • India’s Civil Aviation sector: • India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets and currently the ninth largest civil aviation market in the world. • It is projected to be the third largest aviation market by 2020. • The 33 unserved airports are being added for scheduled flights in one year as compared to 75 operational airports during last 70 years.
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• The Airport Authority of India (AAI) plans to revive and operationalize around 50 airports in India over the next 2 years to improve regional and remote air connectivity. Source: PIB
SC stays Uttarakhand HC order on Ganga, Yamuna living entity status • The Supreme Court stayed the controversial Uttarakhand High Court order declaring Ganga, Yamuna and their tributaries as living entities. Background: • In March 2017, the Uttarakhand High Court in its verdict held that the rights of the two major rivers “shall be equivalent to the rights of human beings and the injury/harm caused to these bodies shall be treated as harm/injury caused to the human beings.” • The order issued in exercise of parens patrie (authority regarded as legal protector of citizens who are unable to protect themselves) jurisdiction said “the rivers Ganga and Yamuna, all their tributaries, streams, every natural water flowing with flow continuously or intermittently of these rivers, are declared as juristic/legal persons/living entities having the status of a legal person with all corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person in order to preserve and conserve river Ganga and Yamuna”. • It also declared the Director of the Namami Gange project, the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand and the Advocate General of the state “loco parents” — the human faces to protect, conserve and preserve the rivers and their tributaries. • These officers were bound to uphold the status of the rivers Ganges and Yamuna and also to promote the health and well-being of these rivers. Problems created by the order: • The order had put the state government in a quandary. Since the rivers flow through several states, only the Centre could frame rules for their management. • The ruling also raised questions like whether the victim of a flood in the rivers can sue the state for damages and also about whether the state and its officers will be liable in case of pollution in the rivers in another state through which it flows. Source: Indian Express
RBI considering setting up a Public Credit Registry • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may consider setting up a Public Credit Registry (PCR), which will be an extensive database of credit information for India that is accessible to all stakeholders. What is Public Credit Registry (PCR)? • Generally, a PCR is managed by a public authority like the central bank or the banking supervisor, and reporting of loan details to the PCR by lenders and/or borrowers is mandated by law. • The contractual terms and outcomes covered and the threshold above which the contracts are to be reported vary in different jurisdictions, but the idea is to capture all relevant information in one large database on the borrower, in particular, the borrower’s entire set of borrowing contracts and outcomes. Why might such data help? • A PCR, if put in place will help in credit assessment and pricing by banks; risk-based, dynamic and countercyclical provisioning at banks; supervision and early intervention by regulators; understanding if transmission of monetary policy is working. How the data can help in India? Firstly, • It is required to improve the credit culture in our country.
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• It has been demonstrated in the ‘Doing Business 2017’ report that credit information systems impart transparency in the credit market, following which access to credit improves and delinquencies decrease. • At present, several Indian banks burdened with mounting NPAs appear less confident in taking credit decisions. • A transparent public credit registry would help the bankers to rely on objective data for making credit decisions and also enable them to defend their actions with market evidence when subjected to scrutiny. Secondly, • Large borrowers get a preference in credit markets due to their existing credentials in the public space. They have established credit history, brand value, and supply of collateral. • In contrast, small and marginal aspirants, start-ups, new entrepreneurs, and small businesses in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector are disadvantaged as they lack many of those desired qualifications for credit. • Transparency of credit information would serve as a “reputational collateral” for such borrowers. This would not only help promote financial inclusion, but also reward the good borrowers thereby imparting credit discipline. Thirdly, • Public credit registers in many countries have gone beyond the credit relationship of borrowing entities with financial institutions. • They tap other transactional data of borrowers including payments to utilities like power and telecom for retail customers and trade credit data for businesses. Finally, • Public credit registry can have a profound impact for regulatory purposes. In its absence, only fragmented images are available of credit behaviour and indebtedness. • PCR will help in getting to a complete picture that is necessary for supervisors and policy makers to assess credit risk of the entire system. Source: The Hindu
INTERNATIONAL BRICS nations sign Taxation Cooperation Memorandum • Tax authorities of the five BRICS countries signed, BRICS Taxation Cooperation Memorandum , a landmark document to establish a mechanism for taxation cooperation. Key facts: • It was signed at the fifth meeting of BRICS Heads of Tax Authorities. • It is the bloc’s first document that elevates taxation cooperation to the institutional level. • The authorities also agreed to cooperate on taxation information exchange, improve consultation procedures efficiency, boost taxation capacities and plan paths for coordination of taxation policies and tax collection. Source: Indian Express
BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Meet in China • The 2017 BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Meet was chaired by China. • The meeting was held in Chonqging, China. • The meeting concluded with the adoption of the BRICS Labour and Employment Ministerial Declaration by the BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers. About the BRICS Labour and Employment Ministerial Declaration: • The Declaration covered a variety of areas that are of critical importance to all BRICS countries including India and called upon strengthening collaboration and cooperation on these through appropriate institutionalisation. These areas consisted of:
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• “Governance in the Future of Work”, • “Skills for development in BRICS”, • “Universal and sustainable social security systems”, • “BRICS Network of Labour Research Institutions”, • “BRICS Social Security Cooperation Framework” and • “BRICS entrepreneurship research”. About the BRICS countries: • BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. • It was established in 2009. • The BRIC idea was first conceived by Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs. • In 2011, South Africa joined this informal group and BRIC became BRICS. • So far, eight BRICS summits have taken place. The first formal summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia in 2009. • The BRICS countries are home to 42% of the world’s population. • Their total share in the global economy has risen from 12% to 23% in the past decade, while contributing more than half of global growth. Source: PIB
NABARD takes first step to access Green Climate Fund • India’s National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has signed an Accreditation Master Agreement (AMA) with the Green Climate Fund. • With the signing of the AMA, NABARD becomes the first Indian organisation to get Direct Access Entity status and is the first step for the body to access GCF resources . About the Green Climate Fund (GCF): What is it? • The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a fund within the framework of the UNFCCC founded as a mechanism to redistribute money from the developed to the developing world, in order to assist the developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change. Who will govern the Fund? • The Fund is governed and supervised by a Board that will have full responsibility for funding decisions and that receives the guidance of the COP. • The Fund is accountable to, and functions under the guidance of, the COP. Why it was founded? • It was founded as a mechanism to redistribute money from the developed to the developing world, in order to assist the developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change. • It was also founded to make a significant and ambitious contribution to the global efforts towards attaining the goals set by the international community to combat climate change. How does it help? • The Green Climate Fund will support projects, programmes, policies and other activities in developing country Parties using thematic funding windows. • It is intended to be the centrepiece of efforts to raise Climate Finance of $100 billion a year by 2020. • The Fund will promote the paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change, taking into account the needs of those developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. 34 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
• The Fund will strive to maximize the impact of its funding for adaptation and mitigation, and seek a balance between the two, while promoting environmental, social, economic and development co-benefits and taking a gender-sensitive approach. Source: PIB
India’s Alternate Governor on the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) • Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance, Government of India has been appointed as India’s Alternate Governor on the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila, Philippines. About the Asian Development Bank (ADB): • The ADB is a regional development bank which aims to promote social and economic development in Asia. • It was established on 19 December 1966. • It is headquartered in Manila, Philippines. • ADB now has 67 members, of which 48 are from within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside. • The bank admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP, formerly known as the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East) and non-regional developed countries. • The ADB has been modelled closely on the World Bank. It has similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with members’ capital subscriptions. • The ADB offers both Hard Loans and Soft loans. The ADB offers “hard” loans from ordinary capital resources (OCR) on commercial terms, and the Asian Development Fund (ADF) affiliated with the ADB extends “soft” loans from special fund resources with concessional conditions. Functioning bodies: • The highest policy-making body of the bank is the Board of Governors, composed of one representative from each member state. • The Board of Governors, in turn, elect among themselves the twelve members of the Board of Directors and their deputies. • Eight of the twelve members come from regional (Asia-Pacific) members while the others come from non-regional members. • The Board of Governors also elect the bank’s president, who is the chairperson of the Board of Directors and manages ADB. Traditionally, and because Japan is one of the largest shareholders of the bank, the president has always been Japanese. • The Alternate Board of Governors are nominated by Board of Governors of ADB’s 67 to represent them at the Annual Meeting that meets formally once year to be held in a member country. Funding of ABD: • ADB raises funds through bond issues on the world’s capital markets. • ADB also rely on its members’ contributions, retained earnings from its lending operations, and the repayment of loans. • Japan holds the largest proportions of shares at 15.67%. The United States holds 15.56%, China holds 6.47%, India holds 6.36%, and Australia holds 5.81%. Source: PIB
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Sri Lanka clears revised deal for Hambantota port • Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has cleared a revised deal for the Chinese-built port in Hambantota. About the revised deal: • The modified agreement is believed to be more profitable to Sri Lanka and also addresses security concerns raised by other countries. • As per the deal, while the Chinese would manage port operations, no naval ship, including Chinese ones, can call at Hambantota without Sri Lanka’s permission. India’s concerns: • The Hambantota port is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. India’s apprehensions about the apparently growing Chinese presence in the island are well known, given the two countries’ competing strategic interests in the island. • Chinese control of Hambantota, which is part of its modern-day “Silk Route” across Asia and beyond, as well as a plan to acquire 15,000 acres (23 sq miles) to develop an industrial zone next door, had raised fears that it could also be used for Chinese naval vessels. Source: The Hindu
India rejects OIC move on vigilantism • India has strongly rejected the resolutions of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that had expressed concern about the recent attacks on people by cow-vigilante groups. • India has termed the resolutions adopted at the OIC’s latest foreign ministers’ meeting as “factually incorrect”. Background: • The OIC noted that incidents of violence against the Muslim community were being committed by extremist Hindu groups and said it viewed such incidents “with grave concern”. About the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation: • The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) (formerly Organization of the Islamic Conference) has membership of 57 states spread over four continents. • Established in 1969. • Its headquarters are at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia . OIC has permanent delegations to United Nations and the European Union . • Its objectives are to raise collective voice of the Muslim world and to ensure the safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world. India and OIC: • In this organisation, India is a blocked country, though it has about 12% of the world’s Muslim population. • India has been blocked by Pakistan from joining the OIC over Kashmir issue. OIC regard parts of Kashmir as “occupied by India”. Source: The Hindu
5th Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS) • India will be hosting the 5th Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS) in 2017, one of the world’s largest conference on Cyber Space and related issues. • The GCCS is taking place outside OECD nations for the first time. • It is being held in India for the first time. • The theme for the GCCS 2017 is ‘Cyber4All: An Inclusive, Sustainable, Developmental, Safe and Secure Cyberspace’.
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About Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS): • The GCCS is a prestigious international conference that aims at encouraging dialogue among stakeholders of cyberspace. • It was incepted in 2011 in London. • It brings together governments, private sector and civil society gathers to discuss and promote practical cooperation in cyberspace, to discuss norms for responsible behaviour in cyberspace and to enhance cyber capacity building. • The conference is built on the themes such as economic growth and development, social and cultural benefits, a safe and secure cyberspace, cybercrime and international security. • It has helped in setting up rules and guidelines for the editions to follow. • During the fourth edition of the conference held in The Hague, Netherlands, Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE) for capacity building in cyber space was launched. Source: The Hindu
India, Japan civil nuclear deal comes into force • The landmark India-Japan civil nuclear agreement came into force. • The India-Japan Agreement for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy was signed in Tokyo during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Japan in November, 2016. Key provision of the pact: • The deal includes the option that Japan can give a year’s notice before terminating it in case India breaks the nuclear testing moratorium that it had extended to the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2008. Significance of the pact: • This agreement is a reflection of the strategic partnership between India and Japan and will pave the way for enhanced cooperation in energy security and clean energy. • India is the first non-member of the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) to have signed such a deal with Japan. The deal will help India access Japan’s nuclear market. • It seeks to promote full cooperation between the two countries in the development and uses of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes on a stable, reliable and predictable basis. • The deal is essential for bringing a network of nuclear energy cooperation for India, especially with the U.S. as prominent American nuclear companies are owned by the Japanese nuclear majors. • The deal is significant as it will help guarantee Japan’s continued support to India’s civil nuclear programme. • The deal will bring Japan into the Indian nuclear market where France and Russia have already have a strong presence. Source: The Hindu
IRDAI’s admission as a signatory to International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) • The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval for Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) ’s admission as a signatory to International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) , Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU). About IAIS: • The International Association of Insurance Supervisors is a global framework for cooperation and information exchange between insurance supervisors . • IAIS MMoU is a statement of its signatories’ intent to cooperate in the Field of information exchange as well as procedure for handling information requests. 37 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
About the IAIS MMoU: • MMoU provides a formal basis for cooperation and information exchange between the Signatory Authorities regarding the supervision of insurance companies where cross-border aspects arise. • The scope of the IAIS MMoU is wider than the existing agreements as this agreement also provides for supervision of other regulated entities such as insurance intermediaries under Anti Money Laundering, (AML) and Combating the Finance of Terrorism (CFT). Background: • With increasing integration of financial market and growing number of internationally active insurance companies there is an increased need for mutual cooperation and information exchange between insurance industry supervisors. About the IRDAI: • The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is an autonomous, statutory agencytasked with regulating and promoting the insurance and re- insurance industries in India . • It was constituted by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999, an act of Parliament passed by the government of India. • The agency’s headquarters are in Hyderabad, Telangana, where it moved from Delhi in 2001. • IRDAI is a 10-member body including the chairman, five full-time and four part-time members appointed by the government of India. Key facts: • In India insurance was mentioned in the writings of Manu (Manusmrithi), Yagnavalkya (Dharmasastra) and Kautilya (Arthashastra), which examined the pooling of resources for redistribution after fire, floods, epidemics and famine. Source: The Hindu
E-commerce to get bigger focus at RCEP talks • Sixteen Asia Pacific nations, including India, are discussing in detail norms on e-commerce as part of negotiations on the proposed mega Free Trade Agreement known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Discussion on E-commerce: • Issues including digital certification, paperless trading, online consumer protection and customs duties in e-commerce have been identified for discussion. • The discussions follow the setting up of a panel on e-commerce two years ago by RCEP countries in response to a Japanese proposal on easing foreign direct investment in the sector under which member countries would exchange best practices linked to online commerce. • Developed nations’ demand for talks on proposed global e-commerce rules has become louder. • Increased focus on e-commerce led to formation of an international grouping composed of Latin American nations as well as Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. • Global e-commerce giants are looking for an official route to tap the lucrative developing markets, especially India. Background: • Australia and Japan have already proposed at the RCEP that there should be no compulsory disclosure of source codes, no restriction on transfer and processing of data outside the country, prohibition on requirements concerning the location of computing facilities and allowing cross-border transfer of information by electronic means. India’s concerns: • India has been opposing binding norms on opening up the e-commerce sector at the level of RCEP as well as the global level (WTO) talks on grounds including that it (India) is yet to have a comprehensive national policy on the topic.
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• It is also believed that such binding norms would harm development by diminishing policy space, some economists have warned. • Also, experts fear RCEP talks could be used by developed countries to get an outcome at the WTO ministerial in Argentina later this year. About RCEP: • The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement (FTA) is proposed between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and the six states with which ASEAN has existing FTAs (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand). • RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia. • The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is among the proposed three mega FTAs in the world so far. The other two is: • The TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership, led by the US) and • The TTIP (Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the US and the EU). • RCEP is viewed as an alternative to the TPP trade agreement, which includes the United States but excludes China. Source: The Hindu, Business Standard
DGCA braces for ICAO safety audit • The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is bracing for a safety oversight audit by the U.N. body, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Why? • The aviation regulator (DGCA) is taking a series of steps to save it from the embarrassment of the 2012 audit in which the ICAO had raised safety concerns about India’s aviation system. • The measures include hiring flight operation inspectors, aligning its rules with ICAO norms, certifying flight examiners, among others. About the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO): • ICAO is a UN specialized agency , established by States in 1944 to manage the administration and governance of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention). • Its headquarters are located in Quebec, Canada . • It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth. • ICAO works with the Convention’s 191 Member States and industry groups to reach consensus on international civil aviation Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and policies in support of a safe, efficient, secure, economically sustainable and environmentally responsible civil aviation sector. • These SARPs and policies are used by ICAO Member States to ensure that their local civil aviation operations and regulations conform to global norms, which in turn permits more than 100,000 daily flights in aviation’s global network to operate safely and reliably in every region of the world. • ICAO also coordinates assistance and capacity building for States in support of numerous aviation development objectives; produces global plans to coordinate multilateral strategic progress for safety and air navigation; monitors and reports on numerous air transport sector performance metrics; and audits States’ civil aviation oversight capabilities in the areas of safety and security. Source: The Hindu
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Cabinet approves MOC in respect of tax matters between India and BRICS countries • The Union Cabinet has approved signing of Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) in respect of tax matters between India and the BRICS countries namely, Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa. Objective: • The MoC aims to promote cooperation amongst BRICS Revenue administrations on common areas of interest in tax matters and capacity building and knowledge sharing. • It envisages regular interaction amongst the heads of Revenue administration of BRICS countries to continue discussion on common areas of interest. • It also strives towards convergence of views and meeting of the experts on tax matters to discuss the contemporary issues in areas of international tax. • MoC will also accord confidentiality and protection to information exchanged under it. Impact: • The MoC will stimulate effective cooperation in tax matters. • Moreover, the collective stand of BRICS countries can prove to be beneficial not only to member countries but also to other developing countries in long run in tax matters steered by the G20. Background: • The Heads of Revenue of BRICS countries have been meeting regularly to discuss potential areas of cooperation in tax matters. • They are also exchanging their opinions and views based on existing commitment to openness, solidarity, equality, mutual understanding, inclusiveness and mutually beneficial cooperation in tax matters. • It was also affirmed in the 2016 Goa Declaration of BRICS. • The BRICS countries also had identified four areas of mutual interest on which understanding and cooperation can be further strengthened. • The heads of Revenue of BRICS countries in their meeting held on sidelines of FTA plenary at Beijing, China in May, 2016 also had decided to sign MoC outlining areas of cooperation in tax matters. Source: PIB
EU, India set up fund for investments • India and European Union (EU) have established Investment Facilitation Mechanism (IFM) for EU Investments in India. • The mechanism will allow for a close coordination between EU and India with an aim to promote and facilitate EU investment in India. About the IFM: • The key objective of IFM is to pave the way for identifying and solving problems faced by EU companies and investors with regard to their operations in India. • It will cover both new investors as well as those already present in India. • It will also serve as a common platform for discussing general suggestions from the point of view of EU investors and companies with regard to ease of doing business in India. • Invest India, the official Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India, will also be part of the mechanism. • It will create a single-window entry point for EU companies that need assistance for their investments at the central/state level. • The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry will also facilitate participation of other relevant ministries and authorities on a case-to-case basis.
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• Under it, the EU Delegation to India and DIPP will hold regular high level meetings to assess and facilitate “ease of doing business” for EU investors in India. • It will also include identifying and putting in place solutions to procedural impediments faced by EU companies and investors in establishing or running their operations in India. Significance of the IFM: • The establishment of the IFM is considered as a right step in the direction of strengthening the trade and investment ties between the EU and India. • This initiative will help ensuring a more robust, effective and predictable business environment for the EU investors. Background: • Trade and Investment are key elements of the EU-India Strategic Partnership launched in 2004. • The EU is the India’s first trade partner in goods and services and also largest foreign investor with a stock exceeding US$ 81.52 billion as of March 2017. • There are more than 6,000 EU companies currently present in India, providing direct and indirect employment to over 6 million people. • The IFM builds on the Joint Statement of the 13th EU-India Summit held in Brussels in March 2016, where the EU had welcomed India’s readiness to establish such a mechanism. Source: The Hindu
US House passes Bill for strengthening defence ties with India • The United States House of Representatives has passed an amendment to National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA), 2018, a $621.5 billion defence expenditure bill to advance defence cooperation with India. • Now, NDAA needs to be passed by the US Senate before it can be sent to US President Donald Trump to sign into law. What is the National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA)? • The US Congress oversees the defence budget primarily through two yearly bills: the NDAA and Defense appropriations bills. • They are authorization bill that determines the US agencies responsible for defence, establishes funding levels and sets the policies under which money will be spent. • The NDAA is a United States federal law specifying the budget and expenditures of the United States Department of Defence. • The NDAA-2017 had designated India as a major defence partner of US. This designation had brought India at par with closest partners of US in terms of defence trade and technology transfer. About the NDAA 2018: • As passed by the House, NDAA-2018 asks the State Department and the Pentagon to develop a strategy that addresses common security challenges, the role of American partners and allies in India-US defence relationship, and role of the defence technology and trade initiative. • Following the passage of the National Defence Authorisation Act, the Secretary of Defence and Secretary of State have 180 days to develop a strategy for advancing defence cooperation between the United States and India. • It also asks them to address how to advance the communications interoperability and security memorandum of agreement and the basic exchange and cooperation agreement for geospatial cooperation. Source: The Hindu
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India ranks 116 out of 157 nations on SDG index • India has been ranked low 116 out of 157 nations on the 2017 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Index and Dashboard report. About the index: • The SDG Index and Dashboards Report is released by Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and Bertelsmann Stiftung. • The index assesses the performance of countries towards achieving the ambitious SDGs. • It ranks countries based on their performance across the 17 SDGs. Highlights of the report: Global scenario: • Sweden leads the list, followed by Denmark and Finland. • Among the G7 countries, only Germany and France can be found among the top ten performers. • The United States ranks 42nd on the Index, while Russia and China rank 62nd and 71st respectively. • The countries which are closest to fulfilling the goals are not the biggest economies but comparably small, developed countries. • Many of the richest countries in the world are nowhere near achieving the global policy objectives but also deteriorate the implementation process for poorer countries because of negative spillover effects. • One of the greatest obstacles to achieving the global goals for high-income countries are poor performances regarding sustainable consumption and production. All countries that score lowest on electronic-waste generation, for example, are high-income countries. • Not only does a rising trend of nationalism and protectionism impede the implementation of the goals, but as the report shows, industrialised countries are not serving as role models. India’s performance: • India with a score of 58.1 was ranked 116th on the index, behind countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and China. Pakistan was ranked 122. • In 2016, India was ranked 110th. About Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): • The SDGs are the set of 17 non-binding goals featuring 169 targets to be implemented from 2015 to 2030. • They were adopted by member countries of United Nations at the 2015 UN Sustainable Development Summit held in New York. • These goals intend to achieve sustainable development and are more comprehensive than earlier Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Source: The Hindu
DIPP to set up India’s first TISC in Punjab • The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) will establish India’s first Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC) at Patent Information Centre, Punjab. • In this regard, DIPP has signed an Institutional agreement with the Punjab State Council of Science and Technology. • The TISC will be set up under the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) TISC program. About TISC program: • TISCs will be set up under WIPO’s Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISC) program. • The programme provides innovators in developing countries with access to locally based, high quality technology information and related services, helping them to exploit their innovative potential and to create, protect, and manage their intellectual property (IP) rights. 42 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
Services offered by TISCs may include: • Access to online patent and non-patent (scientific and technical) resources and IP-related publications; • Assistance in searching and retrieving technology information; • Training in database search; • On-demand searches (novelty, state-of-the-art and infringement); • Monitoring technology and competitors; • Basic information on industrial property laws, management and strategy, and technology commercialization and marketing. Key facts: • The Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) is designated as the National Focal point for the TISC national network. • As the national focal point, CIPAM shall identify potential host institutions, assess their capacities and support them in joining the TISC project. • CIPAM will also act as the main intermediary between WIPO and TISC host institutions and coordinate all the activities of the national TISC network. • Over 500 TISCs operate worldwide and establishing TISC in India will give the host institutions an access to the global network. About WIPO: • Created in 1967 “to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations. • It has currently 188 member states, administers 26 international treaties, and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. • Non-members are the states of Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands, South Sudan and Timor-Leste. Palestine has observer status. • India is a member of WIPO and party to several treaties administered by WIPO. Source: PIB
India Give Additional $1 Million To United Nations Partnership Fund • India has contributed an additional $1 million to India-UN Development Partnership Fund launched to support sustainable development projects across the developing world. • Earlier, India had made an initial contribution of $1 million when the fund was created. • The amount was allocated for the implementation of a project benefiting seven Small Island Developing States in South Pacific Ocean. About the India-UN Development Partnership Fund: • The India-UN Development Partnership Fund will implement country-level projects that are catalytic towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. • The initiative is aimed at reducing poverty and hunger, improving health, education and equality, and expanding access to clean water, energy and livelihoods. • The fund will focus on Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). • Initially, the fund will start with an initial contribution of USD 1 million for its first project Climate Early Warning System in Pacific Island Countries (CEWSPIC). • CEWSPIC Project was formulated by India and the UN Development Programme in consultation with the governments of Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Solomon Islands and Tonga. The project will increase resilience to natural disasters in these seven Pacific island countries.
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About UNOSSC: • The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) was established with an objective to promote, coordinate and support South-South and triangular cooperation across the world and within the United Nations system. • UNOSSC has its genesis in 1974 when the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the establishment of a special unit to promote technical cooperation among developing countries within the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). • In 2012, the special unit was given the name United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) by the General Assembly through a resolution. • UNOSSC receives policy directives and guidance from the General Assembly and through its subsidiary body, the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation. • UNOSSC submits its strategic planning frameworks to the UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS Executive Board for approval and funding. • The Director reports to the UNDP Administrator and has also been appointed Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation. Source: The Hindu
Cabinet approves SASEC Road Connectivity Investment Program • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister has given its approval for upgradation and widening of 65 kms of Imphal-Moreh Section of NH-39 in Manipur. • The project is being developed with ADB’s loan assistance under the South Asian Sub- Regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Road Connectivity Investment Program. • The project corridor is also a part of the Asian Highway No. 01 (AH01) and acts as India’s Gateway to the East . Thus trade, commerce and tourism in the region will get a boost. About SASEC Programme: • In 2001, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal formed the South Asia Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) programme, which the Maldives and Sri Lanka joined in 2014. • Under SASEC programme, these countries have worked together to build power plants, highways, rail systems and fibre optic networks to expand and improve Internet access. • It is a project-based partnership to promote regional prosperity by 1. Improving cross-border connectivity, 2. Boosting trade among member countries, and 3. Strengthening regional economic cooperation. • The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is the secretariat and lead financier of the SASEC programme. About the SASEC Road Connectivity Investment Program (SRCIP): • SRCIP is a strategic initiative that aims to achieve regional integration among the members of the SASEC group by improving road connectivity within the North Bengal-North Eastern Region in India. Source: PIB
Union Cabinet approves JIN pact between India and Bangladesh • The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the Joint Interpretative Notes (JIN) on the agreement between India and Bangladesh for the promotion and protection of investments between the two countries.
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What the approved JIN includes? • The JIN includes interpretative notes to be jointly adopted for many clauses, including, the definition of investor and investment, exclusion of taxation measures, Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET), National Treatment (NT) and Most Favoured Nation (MFN) treatment, expropriation, essential security interests and settlement of disputes between an investor and a contracting party. Significance of the JIN: • Joint Interpretative Statements play an important supplementary role in strengthening the investment treaty regime. • With increasing Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) disputes, issuance of such statements was likely to have strong persuasive value before tribunals. • Moreover, such pro-active approach by states also can foster more predictable and coherent reading of treaty terms by tribunals. • The JIN would impart clarity to the interpretation of the existing agreement between India and Bangladesh for the Promotion and Protection of Investments (BIPA). Source: PIB
U.S. may tighten rules for foreign students • Foreign students in the United States may be required to reapply every year for permission to stay in the country, if a proposal under consideration by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is implemented. Background: • The proposal is part of an ongoing review of the immigration policy to ensure that it “promotes the national interest, enhances national security and public safety and ensures the integrity of our immigration system.” What are the current regulations? • Under current regulations, international students can stay in the U.S. as long as they are enrolled for a programme. • Students who enter the U.S on F-1 visas are issued an entry document with an end date that states “duration of stay”, which is theoretically open-ended. • They can stay as long as they have a valid I-20 document, which is issued by the university, with all details regarding the student’s programme of study, financing, etc. • They can also move from one programme to another and from one institution to another, by a notification to the DHS, based on a new I-20 document that the institution issues. Implications: • Foreign students in the United States may be required to reapply every year for permission to stay in the country. It will make their visa status time-bound. • The proposed measures could increase costs and paper work for students and universities. For India: • Since the proposal requires fees to be paid each time a student reapplies, it could make the U.S. a less attractive destination for students from India. Indian students in U.S. • Indians are the fastest growing group among the international student population in the U.S. • There are 1,66,000 students from India pursuing higher education in the U.S. now, up from about 1,00,000 two years earlier. • A large majority of them pursue science, technology, engineering and math courses. • Around 1.4 million international students are currently present in the U.S. Source: The Hindu
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India to join new global foreign exchange committee • India will soon join Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC), a newly-constituted forum of central bankers and experts working towards promotion of a robust and transparent foreign exchange (Forex) market. About the GFXC: • The Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC) was established in May 2017 as a forum bringing together central banks and private sector participants. • It was established with the aim to promote a robust, liquid, open, and appropriately transparent FX market in which a diverse set of participants, supported by resilient infrastructure, are able to confidently and effectively transact at competitive prices that reflect available information and in a manner that conforms to acceptable standards of behaviour. • The committee has been set up under guidance of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) , an international financial organisation. • The newly expanded and formalised GFXC, replaces a similar but more informal organisation of eight FXCs from Australia, Euro area, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, UK and US. • It will now also include representatives from existing, or soon to be established FXCs or similar structures in China, India, Brazil, Korea, Mexico, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland. The objectives of the GFXC are: • To promote collaboration and communication among the local foreign exchange committees (FXCs) and non-GFXC jurisdictions with significant FX markets; • To exchange views on trends and developments in global FX markets, including on the structure and functioning of those markets, drawing on information gathered at the various FXCs; and • To promote, maintain and update on a regular basis the FX Global Code (the Code) and to consider good practices regarding effective mechanisms to support adherence. Source: The Hindu
Sri Lanka bans bottom-trawling • Sri Lanka has banned the destructive fishing practice of bottom-trawling in their waters, making violators liable for a fine of LKR 50,000 (approximately 20,000) and face two years imprisonment. • In this regard, an Amendment to the country’s Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act was passed unanimously, in effect declaring the fishing method an offence. Why the bottom trawling is banned? • Bottom trawling is a destructive fishing practice which affects the marine ecosystem. • The practice, which involves trawlers dragging weighted nets along the sea floor, is known to cause great depletion of fishery resources, and curbing it is in the interest of sustainable fishing. Background: • The development could directly impact a section of fishermen from Tamil Nadu, who engage in bottom-trawling and have often been found trespassing into Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. Source: The Hindu
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New sites get UNESCO heritage tag • The United Nations’ cultural agency has added 22 heritage treasures to its list of World Heritage sites. • The additions come as the agency meets in Poland for an 11-day session to nominate new locations in need of protection and reviews the status and well-being of existing designated sites. New additions include: • Britain’s Lake District • The Baden-Wuerttemberg caves in Germany • The modernist architecture in Asmara — the capital city of Eritrea • The underground mines in Tarnowskie Gory in Poland, • The historic city of Yazd, in Iran • Japan’s sacred and restricted-access island of Okinoshima • Los Alerces National Park in Argentina • Turkey’s 3rd century B.C. Aphrodisias temple • The Valongo Wharf Archeological Site in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. About the UNESCO World Heritage Site: • A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as of special cultural or physical significance. • The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 UNESCO member states which are elected by the General Assembly. • Each World Heritage Site remains part of the legal territory of the state wherein the site is located and UNESCO considers it in the interest of the international community to preserve each site. Source: The Hindu
122 countries adopt global treaty banning nuclear weapons • Over 120 countries in the United Nations voted to adopt the first-ever global treaty- ‘The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons’ to ban nuclear weapons. About the treaty: • Led by Austria, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and New Zealand, 141 countries joined in drafting the treaty that they hope will increase pressure on nuclear states to take disarmament more seriously. • The treaty prohibits a full range of nuclear-weapon related activities, such as undertaking to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, as well as the use or threat of use of these weapons. Key facts: • The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first multilateral legally-binding instrument for nuclear disarmament to have been negotiated in 20 years, was adopted by a vote of 122 in favour to one against (Netherlands) and one abstention (Singapore). • India and other nuclear-armed nations – the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel had not participated in the negotiations. Opposition: • The nuclear powers view the treaty as unrealistic and argue that it will not have any impact on reducing the global stockpile of 15000 atomic weapons. • According to the nuclear powers, their nuclear arsenals serve as a deterrent against nuclear attacks and they remain committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The NPT seeks to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and puts the onus on nuclear states to reduce their stockpiles.
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• But the non-nuclear states are increasingly worried about the slow pace of disarmament and are concerned that weapons of mass destruction may fall into the wrong hands. Source: The Hindu
G-20 leaders adopt Hamburg Action Plan • The G-20 summit concluded in Germany’s Hamburg city with adaptation of Hamburg Action Plan. • It sets out the group’s strategy for achieving strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth. • Aim: • The action plan aims to address major global challenges, including climate change, harnessing digitalisation, and to contribute to prosperity and well-being. Highlights of Hamburg Action Plan: • G20 members resolved to tackle common challenges to the global community, including terrorism, displacement, hunger, poverty and health threats, job creation, climate change, energy security and inequality including gender inequality, as a basis for sustainable development and stability. • They stressed on the importance of harnessing the benefits of globalisation, reaffirm the importance of transparency for predictable and mutually beneficial trade relations. • They also underlined importance to boost employment by improving sustainable global supply chains, as an important source of job creation and balanced economic growth. • G20 members will use all policy tools such as monetary, fiscal and structural- individually and collectively to achieve the goal of strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth, while enhancing economic and financial resilience. • They agreed that the 2015 Paris Agreement is irreversible and reiterated the importance of fulfilment of the UNFCCC commitments by developed countries in providing means of implementation including financial resources to assist developing countries with respect to both mitigation and adaptation actions. • G-20 members are committed to increase innovation on sustainable and clean energies and energy efficiency, work towards low greenhouse-gas emission energy systems and harness digitalisation to achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. • G-20 members called for strengthening health systems and safeguarding against health crises. • The leaders called on the UN to keep global health high on the political agenda and strive for cooperative action to strengthen health systems worldwide, including through developing the health workforce. • The leaders also stressed on combatting Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR), which is a growing threat to public health and economic growth. Source: Times of India
Modi presents 10 point action agenda to counter terrorism at G20 summit • Prime Minister Narendra Modi presents 10 point action agenda to counter terrorism at the 12 th G20 summit held at the German city of Hamburg. • The main agenda of the 2-day conference is Theme: ‘Shaping an inter-connected world.’ • While counter—terrorism and economic reforms dominated the discussions, the Summit also discussed issues like free and open trade, climate change, migration, sustainable development and global stability.
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PM Modi’s 10 Point Agenda: 1. Deterrent action against nations supporting terrorism must be made compulsory, such nations should be barred from G20 2. G20 nations must exchange lists of suspected terrorists and their supporters 3. Legal processes such extradition should be simplified and expedited 4. Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism should be adopted soon 5. UNSC resolutions and other international processes should be effectively implemented 6. G20 nations should give emphasis to de-radicalisation programmes and exchange best practices 7. Terror financing should be curtailed by means of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and other means 8. Weapons and Explosive Action Task Force (WEATF) should be constituted on lines of FATF so that source of weapons to the terrorists is stopped 9. G20 nations should cooperate in cyber security, with a focus on terrorist activities 10. National Security Advisors on Counter Terrorism mechanism should be constituted About G20: • The Group of Twenty (G20) is the premier forum for its members’ international economic cooperation and decision-making. • Its members include Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, India, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Turkey, South Africa, UK, US and EU. • It comprises total 19 countries plus the European Union (EU), representing 85% of global GDP, 80% of international trade, 65% of world’s population. • It is deliberating forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies on economic issues and other important development challenges. • It was started in 1999 as a meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in the aftermath of the Southeast Asian (Tiger economies) financial crisis. • It was established for studying, reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability. • In 2008, the first G20 Leaders’ Summit was held in Washington DC, US. The group had played a key role in responding to the global financial crisis. Source: The Hindu
Vietnam renews Indian Oil Deal • Vietnam granted Indian oil firm ONGC Videsh a two-year extension to explore oil block 128. • The concession was first granted to India in 2006 but had been due to expire in mid-June. Background: • The moves come at a delicate time in Beijing’s relations with Vietnam, which claims parts of the sea, and India, which recently sent warships to monitor the Malacca Straits, through which most of China’s energy supplies and trade passes. • Part of that block is in the U-shaped ‘nine-dash line’ which marks the vast area that China claims in the sea, a route for more than $5 trillion in trade each year in which the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan also have claims. • The interest in the block was strategic rather than commercial, given that oil development there was seen as high-risk with only moderate potential. India-Vietnam relations: • Vietnam has welcomed India to play a bigger role in Southeast Asia and specifically, the South China Sea. • Vietnam is following the strategy of seeking many partnerships with big powers while avoiding formal military alliances.
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• India has provided naval patrol boats, satellite cover to monitor Vietnam’s waters and training for its submarines and fighter pilots. • India is providing more military support than it is currently offering to any other South-east Asian country. Further, under the $500 million defence credit line announced by India last year, India will transfer naval vessels and missiles to Vietnam. Source: LiveMint
UNESCO puts Hebron on endangered heritage list, outraging Israel • The Heritage Committee of the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted a Palestinian request to declare Hebron’s Old City—and with it the Cave of the Patriarchs—as a Palestinian World Heritage Site, raising ire in Israel. • The decision outraged Israeli officials who say the move negated the deep Jewish ties to the biblical town and its ancient shrine. • The move was the latest chapter in Israel’s contentious relationship with UNESCO, an agency it accuses of being an anti-Israeli tool that makes decisions out of political considerations. • Background: • The inclusion of the Old City of West Bank into the list of World Heritage in danger is aimed at drawing world’s attention to the situation in Hebron. • The resolution for declaring Hebron as a protected area of outstanding universal value was brought by the Palestine and the resolution was fast-tracked by the UNESCO on the basis that the site was under severe threat. • Palestine accuses Israel for involving in violations, vandalism and for causing damage to properties in the area. Israel’s stand: • Israel has rejected the Hebron resolution saying that the resolution’s reference to the city as Islamic denies thousands of years of Jewish connection with the city. • Israel believes that Hebron is the birthplace of the Jewish people. The religious site at the Hebron was originally built by the Jewish King Herod, which was later added to by the Muslim caliphs. • Israel has accused the UN for adopting anti-Israel bias at all issues concerning it. In May, UNESCO had passed a separate resolution on Jerusalem condemning Israel. About Hebron: • Hebron is cited as one of the oldest cities in the world. The city is very old dating from the Chalcolithic period or more than 3,000 years BC. • Both Jews and Muslims revere the same site in Hebron as the traditional burial place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs — Jews call it the Tomb of the Patriarchs, while for Muslims it is the Ibrahimi Mosque. • The city which is the largest city in the West Bank is home to more than 200,000 Palestinians and a few hundred Israeli settlers. Source: The Hindu
Why Bhutan is special to India • The present standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Doka La (Doklam) is a rare insight into India’s very special relationship with Bhutan, which includes military responsibilities towards it. Why in news? • Recently, China’s PLA (People’s Liberation Army) attempted to construct a road in the disputed Doklam region unilaterally. • However, the Royal Bhutan Army patrol attempted to dissuade them from this unilateral activity. 50 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
About the 2007 India-Bhutan Friendship Treaty: • In 2007, India renegotiated the 1949 treaty with Bhutan and signed a new treaty of friendship. • Under the 2007 India-Bhutan Friendship Treaty, the two sides have agreed to “cooperate closely with each other on issues relating to their national interests. Neither Government shall allow the use of its territory for activities harmful to the national security and interest of the other.” • Under the previous treaty, India was to “guide” Bhutan on foreign and defence policies. The language of the 2007 treaty, is meant to respect the sensitivities of Bhutan regarding its sovereignty. • But the reality is that the Indian military is virtually responsible for protecting Bhutan from the kind of external threat that the Chinese military poses. • The Eastern Army Command and the Eastern Air Command both have integrated protection of Bhutan into their role. • The Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT), headed by a Major General, plays a critical role in training Bhutanese security personnel. Source: The Hindu
STATES Mekedatu: Karnataka replies to CWC • The Karnataka State government has replied to clarifications sought by the Central Water Commission (CWC) on its proposal to build a balancing reservoir across the Cauvery at Mekedatu at a cost of Rs. 5,912 crore. About the project: • Karnataka intends to build a reservoir across river Cauvery near Mekedatu in Kanakapura taluk. • It was first proposed along with Shivanasamudra hydro power project at Shimsa in 2003 with an intention to use the water for a hydro power station and supply drinking water to Bengaluru city. • The drinking water and hydroelectric project will have a balancing reservoir to store 66.50 tmcft of Cauvery water. • The project is estimated to cost 5,912 crore and about 4,900 hectares of forest land will submerge if the project is implemented. Controversy over the project: • The contentious project has been opposed by Tamil Nadu on the grounds that it violates the Cauvery tribunal order. However, Karnataka has said that it aims to utilise excess water after releasing 192 tmcft to Tamil Nadu. About Central Water Commission: • Central Water Commission is a premier Technical Organization of India in the field of Water Resources. • It is presently functioning as an attached office of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India. • The Commission is entrusted with the general responsibilities of initiating, coordinating and furthering in consultation of the State Governments concerned, schemes for control, conservation and utilization of water resources throughout the country, for purpose of Flood Control, Irrigation, Navigation, Drinking Water Supply and Water Power Development. • It also undertakes the investigations, construction and execution of any such schemes as required. Source: The Hindu
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Bengaluru Declaration calls for SC/ST quota in judiciary • The Bengaluru Declaration was recently adopted by the Karnataka State government sponsored Dr. B.R. Ambedkar International Conference 2017. • The theme of the conference: “Quest for Equity”. • The declaration recommends a slew of affirmative action measures in private sector, judiciary, educational institutions, government contracts and promotions for Dalits. • The declaration has 40 recommendations under six broad categories — safeguarding the people, strengthening democratic institutions, deepening social justice, enhancing human development, ensuring responsive governance, and promoting social security. Some of the important recommendations of the declaration: • Upholding the Rule of Law and reassert political and legal accountability for any violence to prevent lynchings. • Set up Equal Opportunities Commission to ensure wider representation of SC, ST, OBC, women and minorities in employment. • Law for prevention of caste, religious and gender discrimination in educational institutions. • Removing of provisions in law that place constraints on freedom of speech and expression, include those on defamation, sedition, art/film censorship and social media. • Ensure land ownership for SC/STs and establish SC/ST land bank, where government buys these lands at market prices and re-allots to the same community, to ensure non-dilution of ownership. • Reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs in higher judiciary. • Ensuring diversity in media houses by promoting representation of SC, STs, OBCs. • Protecting media freedom and journalists from attacks by fundamentalist elements and tacit state censorship. • Empowering the Press Council of India to regulate corporate monopoly and cross ownership of media. • Launch a “living wage” and comprehensive social security scheme for all labourers working in the unorganised sector apart from ensuring dignity in retirement through enhanced pensions of 1,500 per month. • A national legislation to ensure that a portion of the budget equal to the population proportion of SC & STs is reserved to support schemes to promote their development. • Reservations in procurement and contracts for up to Rs 100 lakh. • English medium education to SCs, STs, OBCs, women and minorities. • Universal access to hostels for SCs, STs and OBCs. • Reservations in the private sector. • Agricultural land for landless Dalits with legal entitlement and special support. • Comprehensive reform of caste based occupational vocations through modernisation. • Immediate publishing of socio economic caste census. • Farmers Income Commission to ensure income security. Background: • In 2002, similar Declaration was adopted by Madhya Pradesh, namely ‘The Bhopal Declaration’ which called for “liberalisation of capital for Dalits”. • It was adopted in 2002 during the tenure of Congress leader Digvijaya Singh in Madhya Pradesh. Source: The Hindu
200th anniversary celebrations of the Paika Rebellion Why in news? • The President of India Shri Pranab Mukharjee recently inaugurated the “Bicentenary (200th anniversary) celebration of the heroic Paika Rebellion of Odisha . • The celebration was organised by the Ministry of Culture.
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Who were Paikas? • Paiks were the traditional landed militia of Odisha, used to perform policing functions. • They owned rent-free land that was given to them for their military service to Kingdom of Khurda. • However, they were rendered landless by the policies of British East India Company. About Paika Rebellion: • Paika Rebellion of 1817 is an armed rebellion against British colonialism. • The revolution was in response to the tinkering of the revenue system by the British in 1803. In response, the farming community of Odisha rose in rebellion. • At that juncture, Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar, the military chief of the King of Khurda, led the army of Paikas and forced the British to retreat. This came to be known as Paika Bidroh (Paika rebellion). • The main cause of the revolution was the takeover of the rent-free land that had been given to the Paiks for their military service to the Kingdom of Khurda. • Though the revolution occurred before the first war of independence in 1857, the revolution did not get similar recognition like that of the Revolt of 1857. Source: The Hindu
Committee formed to study legalities for separate State flag • The Karnataka State government has constituted a nine-member committee headed by Principal Secretary, Department of Kannada and Culture, to study and submit a report to the government on the possibility of “designing a separate flag for Karnataka and providing it a statutory standing.” Why this committee? • Recently, some activists had urged the government to design a separate flag for Kannada ‘naadu’ and accord statutory standing for that. Are states permitted to have their own flags? • In S.R. Bommai v/s Union of India (Supreme Court 1994) case, the Supreme Court has declared that federalism is a basic feature of the Constitution and States are supreme in their sphere. • This being the Constitutional position, there is no prohibition in the Constitution for the State to have its own flag. • However, the manner in which the State flag is hoisted should not dishonour the national flag. It has to be always below the national flag. • The national flag code specifically authorises use of other flags subject to the regulation by the court. So, State flag is not unauthorised. Source: The Hindu
In Telangana, a unique irrigation project • The execution of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) is important for the Telangana state government. Why is it important? • The project is claimed to be the costliest irrigation project to be taken up by any State till date with an estimated cost of Rs. 80,500 crore. • The project holds the key to the state government’s promise of providing irrigation facility to one crore acres of land under all projects/tanks. • The government has already spent Rs. 10,000 crore on the project, including land acquisition, and has allocated Rs. 7,000 crore in the current budget, besides tying up a Rs. 7,400 crore loan from a consortium of banks.
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• Notwithstanding its share of controversies, particularly related to land acquisition for the Mallannasagar reservoir, one of the key components of the project for storage of 50 tmc ft water, the project is making swift progress. About the project: • The Kaleshwaram project is an off-shoot of the original Pranahitha-Chevella Lift Irrigation Scheme taken up by the Congress government in 2007 when Andhra Pradesh was not divided. • After the formation of Telangana in 2014, the TRS government redesigned the project on the ground that the original plan had too many environmental obstacles and had very low water storage provision — only about 16.5 tmc ft. • After conducting a highly advanced Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) survey for a couple of months, the government separated the original component serving the Adilabad area as the Pranahitha project and renamed the rest as Kaleshwaram by redesigning the head works, storage capacity and the canal system based on the data of availability of water at different locations along the course of the Godavari and its tributaries. • The Kaleshwaram project has provision for the storage of about 148 tmc ft with plans of utilising 180 tmc ft by lifting at least 2 tmc ft water every day for 90 flood days. • The project is designed to irrigate 7,38,851 hectares (over 18.47 lakh acres) uplands in the erstwhile districts of Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Warangal, Medak, Nalgonda and Ranga Reddy. What’s unique? • According to engineers, KLIP has many unique features, including the longest tunnel to carry water in Asia, running up to 81 km, between the Yellampally barrage and the Mallannasagar reservoir. • The project would also utilise the highest capacity pumps, up to 139 MW, in the country to lift water. Source: The Hindu
SOCIAL Jiyo Parsi Publicity Phase-2 • The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs has launched Jiyo Parsi Publicity Phase-2 in Mumbai, Maharashtra under the Jiyo Parsi scheme. • The scheme aims to fulfil the objective of inclusive growth of the government. About Jiyo Parsi scheme: • Declining population of parsi community in India is a matter of concern. Therefore, “Jiyo Parsi Publicity Phase-1” was initiated in 2013 for containing the declining trend of population of the Parsi community and reverse it to bring their population above the threshold level. • The main objective of the “Jiyo Parsi” scheme is to reverse the declining trend of Parsi population by adopting a scientific protocol and structured interventions, stabilize their population and increase the population of Parsis in India. • The scheme has two components: Medical Assistance and Advocacy/Counselling. Source: PIB
Ministry of WCD seeks suggestions issues related to civil aspects of “International Child removal” • The ministry for women and child development has put out in the public domain a “concept note” on issues related to civil aspects of International Child Removal.
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Background: • A multi member committee led Chairmanship Justice Rajesh Bindal, Judge Punjab and Haryana High Court was set-up in February to study all aspects of the matter pertaining to Hague Convention on Child Abduction in detail and make its recommendation. • Before it gives the final report, the Committee has sought suggestions on the concept note and the various concerns raised. • The report of the committee once ready will steer further deliberations of the WCD ministry to recommend to the government of India on whether India should ratify the Hague convention and if it does how to ensure that the rights of the parents and child are not compromised in any way. Why should India have a Child Abduction law? • With the rise in trans-national marriages and complexities involved in modern day relationships, the protection of rights of parents and children involved has become a critical issue of National and International importance. • The instances of an Indian citizen marrying an NRI or a person of Indian origin having citizenship of a foreign nation, popularly referred to as ‘transnational marriages’ are frequent and in abundance. However, many a times, it so happens that the spouses fall apart and the marriage breaks down irretrievably. In many such cases, the spouses return to the net of their families/extended families in India, seeking mental comfort for themselves and their children. However, such instances often land such estranged spouse in a situation of being perceived as abductors of their children in light of The Hague convention provisions. • In another situation where both the spouses may be Indians, residing in India, one of the spouses may move out of India along with the child born out of such wedlock after breakdown of marriage. In such situation, the issue of getting the child back from the foreign land assumes importance, in the process of redressing the grievance of the left behind spouse. In such cases, the signatory countries of the Hague convention can avail access to the Central authorities of the other contracting states to resolve such issues. • Another factor that deserves consideration, is that many a times, on account of the broken marriages, often the complaint of child abduction is alleged against each other by the estranged spouse, to settle their personal scores. About the Hague Abduction Convention: • The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction or Hague Abduction Convention is a multilateral treaty developed by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). • It provides an expeditious method to return a child internationally abducted by a parent from one-member country to another. • The Convention was entered into force between the signatories on 1 December 1983. • The Convention was drafted to ensure the prompt return of children who have been abducted from their country of habitual residence or wrongfully retained in a contracting state not their country of habitual residence. • The primary intention of the Convention is to preserve whatever status quo child custody arrangement existed immediately before an alleged wrongful removal or retention thereby deterring a parent from crossing international boundaries in search of a more sympathetic court. • The Convention applies only to children under the age of 16 . • 94 states are party to the convention. In 2016, Philippines acceded to the convention. Source: Times of India
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Guidelines for Planning and Implementation of Family Participatory Care • The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has released Operational Guidelines for Planning and Implementation of Family Participatory Care (FPC) for improving newborn health. • The guidelines are for all stakeholders involved in the process of planning and delivering newborn care. • They will serve as a guiding document for those intending to introduce FPC in their facility as an integral part of facility based newborn care. What is Family Participatory Care (FPC)? • FPC has emerged as an important concept of health care as it provides partnership between health care staff and families in care of sick newborns admitted in the Special Newborn Care Units (SNCU). • Under it, the capacities of parents-attendants are built in newborn care through a structured training programme (training guide and audio-visual module). Need for FPC: • Sick and newborn are highly vulnerable and require careful nurturing in order to survive the neonatal period and first year of life. • In the recent years, it was realized that if parents are trained, during the stay of their babies in the hospital, to provide supportive care to their newborns, it will help in not only to improve survival of the babies after discharge but also cater psycho-social and developmental needs of the newborn. Key Operational Guidelines: • The Operational Guidelines provides details of infrastructure, training, role of health care providers and steps in the operationalization of FPC in the newborn care unit. • It also addresses various aspects of attitudes, infrastructural modifications and practice that will help in establishing FPC at SNCU. • It also includes sensitization of State and District Managers on FPC, prioritization of SNCUs for initiating FPC, making required infrastructural enhancement in SNCU, creating family participatory care environment in SNCU. • It also seeks to ensure availability of supplies for parents-attendants, role of healthcare providers for FPC implementation, training of SNCU staff for SNCU and institutional support for FPC. • The guidelines will be shared with the states for implementation to further improve the quality of care provided in the SNCUs across the country. Key facts: • Under National Health Mission (NHM), more than 700 state of the art SNCU have been established across the country to provide 24 X 7 comprehensive care to the newborns by dedicated trained staff. Source: PIB
SC for panels to examine dowry cases • The Supreme Court has ruled that the police cannot arrest the accused without conducting a preliminary inquiry under dowry harassment cases. • With this, apex court put an end to immediate arrest of the husband and his family members in the dowry harassment cases filed under Section 498A of Indian Penal Code (IPC). Highlights of SC order: • Now cases under Section 498A of IPC will be referred to Family Welfare Committees (FWC) must be constituted at every district and no arrest will be effected till the committee’s report is received. • Such report may be then considered by the investigating officer or the magistrate on its own merit. 56 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
• FWC must comprise 3 members who may be social workers, retired persons, para-legal volunteers, wives of working officers and other citizens who are found suitable and willing. However, these committee members will not be considered as witnesses. • There must be adequate material to show that the arrest is necessary to prevent the accused from committing any further offence. Moreover, designated police officer should be appointed to deal with such complaints. • These directions will not apply to the offences involving tangible physical injuries or death. • There will be also no routine impounding of passports or issuance of Red Corner Notice for the accused NRI. • The personal appearance of all family members and particularly outstation members will also not be required. Need for the court’s intervention: • The anti-dowry law was enacted with the laudable object of punishing cruelty at the hands of husband or his relatives – particularly when such cruelty drives the wife to suicide. However, complaints are mounting up over the years alleging misuse of the anti-dowry harassment law – framed in 1983 following a spate of dowry-related deaths – by disgruntled wives. The law is also being misused. • A growing trend is being observed among women involved in marital discord to abuse Section 498A of IPC to rope in their husbands’ relatives — including parents, minor children, siblings and grandparents — in criminal cases. • Therefore, it is high time such frivolous cases which violate the human rights of innocent is checked. Significance of this development: • The SC order is a shift from the dominant judicial conception of women as victims who would silently suffer injustice rather than bring disrepute to their family by taking domestic conflict outside the four walls of the home. Going by the popular portrait, it is only the worst victim of abuse among women who approach the court for redress. • With its latest observations, the court broke away from the reigning perception to rule that in dowry cases, the account of the alleged victim need not be taken at face value. Source: The Hindu
Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles Installed in Bengaluru under FAME India scheme • Under Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) Electric Vehicles in India [FAME- India] Scheme of the Government, 25 Charging Stations have been installed at 6 different locations in Bengaluru by Mahindra REVA Electric Vehicles Pvt. Ltd, as a pilot project. • Based on the proposals received under FAME Scheme, charging infrastructure in selected cities/ locations were sanctioned by the Department of Heavy Industries. What is FAME India scheme?
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• With an aim to promote eco-friendly vehicles, the government had launched the FAME India scheme in 2015 offering incentives on electric and hybrid vehicles of up to Rs 29,000 for bikes and Rs 1.38 lakh for cars. • FAME India – Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles in India – is a part of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan. • The scheme envisages Rs 795 crore support in the first two fiscals starting with the current year. • It is being administered by the Heavy Industries Ministry. Source: PIB
Cabinet approves revision of guidelines of Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme • The Union Cabinet has given approval for revision of guidelines of Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB) Scheme with a view to achieve its intended objectives. Need for the revision: • In view of less than expected response of the investors to the scheme, and considering its bearing on CAD and consequently on overall macro-economic health of the country, it was felt necessary to make changes in this scheme to make it a success. Two sets of changes have been made in the scheme: 1. Specific changes: • Specific changes have been made in the attributes of the scheme to make it more attractive, mobilise finances as per the target and reduce the economic strains caused by imports of gold and reduce the Current Account Deficit (CAD). 2. Flexibility: • Ministry of Finance (the issuer) has been given flexibility to design and introduce variants of SGBs with different interest rates and risk protection that will offer investment alternatives to different category of investors. • Finance Ministry has been delegated this power to amend (or add new features) of the Scheme to reduce the time lag between finalizing the attributes of a particular tranche and its notification. • Such flexibility will help to address the elements of competition with new products of investment and deal with very dynamic or volatile market, macro-economic and other conditions. About the Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) Scheme: • The SGB Scheme was notified by the Government of India on November 05, 2015 after due approval of the Cabinet. • The main objective of the scheme was to develop a financial asset as an alternative to purchasing metal gold. • The target was to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for Investment into ‘demat’ gold bonds. • The target mobilisation under the scheme at Rs. 15,000 crore in 2015-16 and at Rs.10,000 crore in 2016-17. The amount so far credited in Government account is Rs. 4,769 crore. Source: PIB
A policy on the Prevention and Control of haemoglobinopathies in India • The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has recently released a policy on the Prevention and Control of haemoglobinopathies in India. • Now, People living with Thalassaemia, sickle cell anaemia and other variant haemoglobins can look forward to better screening and treatment.
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Highlights of the policy: • The policy aims at creating treatment protocol benchmarks, to improve the quality of life of patients. • It is also a guide on prevention and control, which includes antenatal and prenatal testing to reduce the incidence of live haemoglobin disorder births (currently pegged at 10,000-15,000 live births a year). • Using public health awareness programmes and education, it highlights various haemoglobinopathies. • The guidelines include the creation of a national registry to plan future patient services. The registry will also collect useful data, such as the location of patients to identify areas of high concentration, ethnicity or other characteristics, age distribution, records of deaths and their cause. • The guidelines provide for screening of pregnant women during antenatal check-up, pre- marital counselling at college level and one-time screening for variant anaemia in children. • The policy is supported by the National Health Mission, Blood Cell and the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram. About the thalassaemia and sickle cell anaemia: • They are caused by errors in the genes responsible for the production of hemoglobin, a substance composed of a protein (globin) plus an iron molecule (heme) that is responsible for carrying oxygen within the red blood cell. • These disorders can cause fatigue, jaundice, and episodes of pain ranging from mild to very severe. • They are inherited, and usually both parents must pass on an abnormal gene in order for a child to have the disease. When this happens, the resulting diseases are serious and, at times, fatal. In India: • Thalassaemia and sickle cell anaemia are the most frequently encountered ‘rare blood disorders’ in the country and impose a significant economic burden on families. Source: PIB
Amendments to Legal Metrology • The Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 have recently been amended. • The said amendment will come into force from 1 st January, 2018 to enhance consumer protection and for requirement of ease of doing business. The salient features of the said amendment are: • Goods displayed by the seller on-ecommerce platform shall contain declarations required under the rules. • Specific mention is made in the rules that no person shall declare different MRPs (dual MRP) on an identical pre-packaged commodity. • Size of letters and numerals for making declaration is increased, so that consumer can easily read the same. • The net quantity checking is made more scientific. • Bar Code/QR Coding are allowed on voluntarily basis. • Provisions regarding declarations on Food Products have been harmonized with regulation under the Food Safety & Standards Act. • Medical devices which are declared as drugs are brought into the purview of declarations to be made under the rules. What is Legal Metrology? • “Legal Metrology” is a new name of weights & Measures. • Legal Metrology treats units of weighment and measurement, methods of weighment and measurement and weighing and measuring instruments, in relation to the mandatory
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technical and legal requirements which have the object of ensuring public guarantee from the point of view of security and accuracy of the weighments and measurements. • About the Legal Metrology Department:
Source: PIB
GoM approves draft National Medical Commission bill • A draft of the National Medical Commission Bill, with some modifications, has been approved by a Group of Ministers (GoM). Background: • The GoM was constituted to have a “relook” at the National Medical Commission Bill which was drafted by a four-member committee, headed by vice chairman of NITI Aayog, to examine all options for reforms in the Medical Council of India (MCI) and suggest a way forward. • The committee has framed a draft NMC Bill which provides for constitution of the NMC in place of the MCI. About the National Medical Commission Bill, 2016: • The NITI Ayog has introduced the National Medical Commission Bill, 2016 which would be extending to the whole country in order to create world class educational system. • The bill seeks to repeal Indian Medical Council Act 1956 and be replaced by a body called National Medical Commission. The Bill seeks to: • Ensure adequate supply of high quality medical professionals at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. • Encourage medical professionals to incorporate the latest medical research in their work and to contribute to such research. • Provide for objective periodic assessments of medical institutions. • Facilitate the maintenance of a medical register for India and enforce high ethical standards in all aspects of medical services. • Ensure that the medical institutes are flexible enough to adapt to the changing needs of a transforming nation. Medical Advisory Council: • The bill seeks to constitute a Medical Advisory Council which will undertake the following functions: a. The Council shall serve as the primary platform through which the states would put forward their views and concerns before the National Medical Commission (NMC) and shall help shape the overall agenda in the field of medical education & training. b. The Council shall advise the National Medical Commission (NMC) on the measures to determine, maintain and coordinate the minimum standards in the discipline of medical education, training and research. 60 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
c. The Council shall advise the National Medical Commission (NMC) on measures to enhance equitable access to medical education. Source: PIB
Evaluation of efficacy of Nai Roshni Scheme • NITI Aayog had conducted an evaluation study on ‘Nai Roshni’- the scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women in 2015-16. Objective of the study: • The main objective of the study was to assess the impact of the scheme on minority women and to identify policy/ programme impediments in implementation of the scheme. About Nai Roshni scheme: • The Ministry of Minority Affairs has started implementation of a scheme “Nai Roshni” for Leadership Development of Minority Women from 2012-13. • The scheme aims to empower and instil confidence among minority women by providing knowledge, tools and techniques for interacting with Government systems, Banks and other institutions at all levels. • The scheme endeavours to provide leadership development of minority women, especially for development of women belonging to notified minority communities like Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains. • The scheme is implemented through Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). • As per the existing guidelines, the scheme is implemented with the involvement of the Gram Panchayat at village level and Local Urban bodies at the District level. Performance of the scheme: • According to NITI Aayog, majority of the findings of the study indicate that the programme has been appreciated by most of the segments of the population of the society and it has assisted in creating confidence among minority women and developing leadership spirit in them. • Moreover, the trained women are also utilizing their enriched knowledge within their surroundings and thereby helping their families as well as neighbours in raising their essential demands and claims from various Government authorities. Source: PIB
FSSAI bans stapler pins in tea bags from January 2018 • The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) banned the use of stapler pins in tea bags. • The decision is effective from 1 January 2018. Why? • The FSSAI has deemed the use of stapler pins in tea bag a serious health hazard. • In its order, FSSAI has stated that the use of stapler pins in tea bags poses potential hazard to consumers since any loose staple pin consumed inadvertently with tea may cause a serious health hazard. Implication of the move: • The move is expected to affect the fast growing packaged tea business in the country. Background: • At present, there are two types of tea bags available in the market like stapled tea bags and knotted tea bags. Majority of tea bags being sold in the market use staple pins. About Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI): • The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is an agency of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India.
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• The FSSAI has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which is a consolidating statute related to food safety and regulation in India. • The FSSAI is led by a non-executive Chairperson, appointed by the Central Government. • The Chairperson is in the rank of Secretary to Government of India. • The agency also has 8 regional offices, 4 referral laboratories and 72 local laboratories located throughout India. Source: The Hindu
Sexual Harassment electronic-Box (SHe-Box) • The Women and Child Development Ministry launched an online complaint management system — ‘SHe-box’ (sexual harassment electronic box) — to enable women employees of the central government to file complaints related to sexual harassment at the workplace. About the SHe-Box: • The platform will cater to Central government employees in the beginning and thereafter, its ambit will be widened to include the private sector as well. • The platform seeks to ensure “effective implementation” of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. • It is also an effort to provide “speedier remedy” to women facing sexual harassment at the workplace. • The portal is an initiative to provide a platform to women working or visiting any office of Central Government (Central Ministries, Departments, Public Sector Undertakings, Autonomous Bodies and Institutions etc.) to file complaints related to sexual harassment at workplace under the SH Act. • Those who had already filed a written complaint with the concerned Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) constituted under the SH Act are also eligible to file their complaint through this portal. How will it work? • Once a complaint is submitted to the ‘SHe-Box’, it will be directly sent to the internal complaints (ICC) committee of the ministry/ department/ PSU/ autonomous body etc concerned, having jurisdiction to inquire into the matter. • The ICC will take action as prescribed under the Act and update the status of the complaint. About the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013: • The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 seeks to protect women from sexual harassment at their place of work. • This statute superseded the Vishakha Guidelines for prevention of sexual harassment introduced by the Supreme Court of India. • Under the Act, which also covers students in schools and colleges as well as patients in hospitals, employers and local authorities will have to set up grievance committees to investigate all complaints. • Employers who fail to comply will be punished with a fine of up to 50,000 rupees. Source: PIB
Lok Sabha passes The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017 • The Lok Sabha has passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill.
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Key facts: • The Bill amends the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), 2009 to extend the deadline for teachers to acquire the prescribed minimum qualifications for appointment. • The bill allows teachers appointed on or before March 31, 2015 to acquire minimum qualifications within a period of four years from the date of commencement of the Act. • This gives the 8.5 lakh unqualified teachers, appointed after implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) law, another chance to get recognized degrees. Why is there a need for extension? • According to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which came into force on April 1, 2010, a teacher, who did not possess minimum qualifications, was required to acquire them in five years. • The Act was enacted to provide free and compulsory education to all children between the age of six and 14 years. • The central government subsequently received requests from states for extension of the period to enable them to complete the training process for in-service untrained teachers. • Moreover, many new schools had come up in the days of educational expansion under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the RTE, and many teachers who were hired did not have requisite degrees, some having studied only till school. • They were given five years to train themselves, and many did, but 5-6 lakh private schools teachers and 2.5-lakh government school teachers still did not have the requisite degrees. • The qualifications are deemed necessary to ensure that teachers are well-qualified to ensure quality of education. Source: The Hindu
India performs miserably in war on inequality • India has been ranked 132 out of 152 countries in an index that rates countries by their commitment to reducing inequality. About the index: • The index and the inequality report were put together by the international NGO Oxfam and Development Finance International. • The index measures the efforts of governments that had pledged to reduce inequality as part of the sustainable development goals. • The index mainly focused on redistributive actions governments can take, rather than those that would prevent rising inequality in the first place. Highlights of the index:
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• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries headed by Sweden ranked the highest while Nigeria was at the bottom. • The US had the highest level of inequality among developed countries, though it is the wealthiest country in history. • Ironically, Bhutan, known for coining the term ‘Gross National Happiness’, is ranked even lower than India at 143. • Nepal (81) and China (87) ranked between 138 and 150. This region is home to the largest chunk of poor people in the world. Note on India: • The report noted that government spending on health, education and social protection was woefully low in India. • The tax structure looks reasonably progressive on paper, but in practice much of the progressive tax is not collected. • India fared poorly on labour rights as well as respect for women in the work place. • If India were to reduce its inequality by a third, 170 million people could be raised out of poverty. In contrast, it noted how Namibia had halved the poverty rate from 53% to 23% with very high spending on health and education. Source: Economic Times
Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana • The Union Finance Ministry has launched Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), a pension scheme exclusively for senior citizens aged 60 years and above. • The Scheme can be purchased offline as well as online through Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India which has been given the sole privilege to operate this Scheme . Major benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY): • Scheme provides an assured return of 8% p.a. payable monthly (equivalent to 8.30% p.a. effective) for 10 years. • Pension is payable at the end of each period, during the policy term of 10 years, as per the frequency of monthly/ quarterly/ half-yearly/ yearly as chosen by the pensioner at the time of purchase. • The scheme is exempted from Service Tax/ GST. • On survival of the pensioner to the end of the policy term of 10 years, Purchase price along with final pension installment shall be payable. • Loan upto 75% of Purchase Price shall be allowed after 3 policy years (to meet the liquidity needs). Loan interest shall be recovered from the pension installments and loan to be recovered from claim proceeds. • The scheme also allows for premature exit for the treatment of any critical/ terminal illness of self or spouse. On such premature exit, 98% of the Purchase Price shall be refunded. • On death of the pensioner during the policy term of 10 years, the Purchase Price shall be paid to the beneficiary. Source: PIB
Draft Guidelines for implementation of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana • The draft guidelines for the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) have been prepared by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD). Draft Guidelines: • The draft guidelines inter-alia provide Aadhaar linkage, Direct Benefit Transfer of Rs. 5000 in beneficiary’s bank/post office account in three installments at the stage of early
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registration of pregnancy, after six months of pregnancy on at least one antenatal check-up and registration of child birth and first cycle of immunisation of the child. About the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY): • Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. • It is a maternity benefit program run by the government of India. • It is a conditional cash transfer scheme for pregnant and lactating women of 19 years of age or above for first two live births. • It provides a partial wage compensation to women for wage-loss during childbirth and childcare and to provide conditions for safe delivery and good nutrition and feeding practices. • Under the scheme, the cost sharing ratio between the Centre and the States & UTs with Legislature is 60:40, for North-Eastern States & three Himalayan States, it is 90:10 and 100% Central assistance for Union Territories without Legislature. • It was previously known as Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY). • In 2013, the scheme was brought under the National Food Security Act, 2013 to implement the provision of cash maternity benefit of 6,000 stated in the Act. Source: PIB
Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana • The Union Ministry of Rural Development is all set to launch Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY), a sub-scheme under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM). Aim of the AGEY: • AGEY aims to provide an alternative source of livelihood to members of Self Help Groups (SHGs) by facilitating them to operate public transport services in backward rural areas. Key Features of AGEY: • AGEY will provide safe, affordable and community monitored rural transport services like e- rickshaws, 3 and 4 wheeler motorised transport vehicles to connect remote villages. • These transport vehicles will connect villages with key services and amenities including access to markets, education and health for the overall economic development of the area. Implementation of the scheme: • The scheme will be implemented in 250 blocks in the country on a pilot basis for a period of 3 years from 2017-18 to 2019-20. • Under it, Community Based Organisation (CBO) is proposed to provide interest free loan from its own corpus to SHG member for purchase of the vehicle. About DAY -NRLM: • Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY - NRLM) is a flagship rural poverty reduction program. • It was launched nationwide by the Ministry of Rural Development with the objective of social mobilization, financial inclusion and sustainable livelihoods promotion. • DAY – NRLM aims at creating efficient and effective institutional platforms for the rural poor enabling them to increase household income through sustainable livelihood enhancements and improved access to financial services. • One of the major focus areas of DAY – NRLM is promotion of existing livelihood portfolios of the rural poor in farm and non-farm sectors. Upgradation and sharing of knowledge on agricultural practices for sustainable income is therefore, considered a valuable input for poverty alleviation and higher income generation. • DAY – NRLM recognizes the importance of achieving the post-2015 agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as other global priorities, that relate to rural poverty reduction, sustainable rural livelihoods, rural employment, social protection, good governance and gender equality. Source: PIB
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Release of GM mustard faces another hurdle • Dissent has crept in among agricultural scientists of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) over the possible release of genetically modified mustard. What is the hurdle? • In May, NAAS President Panjab Singh wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, endorsing DMH-11 that the plant had gone through adequate tests and was declared “safe” and passed regulatory muster. • However, a Fellow of the NAAS, wrote that he disagreed with this endorsement. He also stated that the resolution of the NAAS in its present form is neither scientifically valid, nor ethical, and therefore not maintainable. • He also emphasised that using genetically-modified technology to produce hybrid seed varieties was a “failed experiment” as evidenced by the experience of Bt cotton. • Though initially, Bt cotton occupied 95% of India’s acreage, its yields were on the decline since 2006, largely due to insect resistance. It nearly tripled the cost of producing cotton between 2006-2013. Key facts: • The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), the regulator under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) can clear the GM mustard for commercial use in India. • Bt-Cotton is the only GM (Genetically Modified) crop being commercially cultivated in India. • The NAAS — a 625-member body of agricultural scientists — had about 200 scientists in its quorum when it passed a resolution endorsing the GEAC’s decision to clear DMH-11 for commercial field trials. What is DMH-11? • DMH-11 is a hybrid variety of mustard developed by crossing a traditional variety of mustard, called Varuna, and an East European variety. • It is developed by Deepak Pental of Delhi University. • If approved, it would be the first transgenic edible crop to be grown in Indian fields. Source: The Hindu
Govt to push e-education with 4 digital initiatives • On the occasion of Guru Purnima, President Pranab Mukherjee launched four major digital initiatives in to push e-education. • All these digital initiatives are operational under Union Ministry of Human Resource and Development. • Four major digital initiatives are: 1. Swayam: • It an indigenously designed massive open online course (MOOC). • It will host all the courses, taught in classrooms from 9th class till post-graduation and can be accessed by anyone, anywhere at any time. • It aims to bridge the digital divide for students in e-education. • With the launch of SWAYAM, India has become one of the few countries in the World which has its own online interactive learning platform that provides, not only video lectures, reading material but also assignments/quizzes that could end up in securing credits after completing the assessment system. • More than 400 Courses are available on SWAYAM covering all the engineering and non- engineering subjects at undergraduate and post-graduate levels. • The UGC has already issued Regulation that allows transfer of credits earned through the courses done through SWAYAM into the academic record of the students. • It is now possible for the students and others to take courses of the prestigious IITs or IIMs without formally studying there.
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• The platform has been constructed by Microsoft with totally indigenous efforts. 2. Swayam Prabha: • It will provide high quality educational contents, developed by experts, through 32 DTH (direct to home) Television Channels with an aim to bring uniformity in standards of education. • These channels transmit 4 hours of fresh content every day, and contain lectures from the best teachers in the Country. • There is no monthly charge for viewing these channels. • These channels include the IIT-PAL channels which were intended to help students taking the prestigious JEE examination, taught by the IIT faculty. • It will cover diverse disciplines of all levels of education in various languages. 3. National Academic Depository: • It is a digital depository of academic awards for authenticating all certificates issued by institutions. • It will directly integrate with Boards/Universities which issue Certificates which will be verified, authenticated, accessed and retrieved in a digital depository for purpose of employment, higher education, and loans. 4. National Digital Library: • It is a large online library containing 6.5 million books. • It provides free access to many books in English and the Indian languages. Source: PIB
New drugs needed against hard-to-treat gonorrhoea: UN • According to a new warning from the World Health Organization (WHO), antibiotic resistance is making gonorrhea harder and sometimes even impossible to treat. Therefore, a new drug may be urgently needed to treat the disease. Why in news? • Nearly 80 million people are infected with the disease every year. Among these, doctors are finding more and more cases of infection untreatable by all known antibiotics. • Gonorrhea resistance to penicillin and tetracycline, a common broad-spectrum antibiotic, first emerged in the 1970s in Asia, spreading to the rest of the world during the early 1980s, according to the WHO. • Resistance to the next level antibiotic, ciprofloxacin, developed in the mid-2000s. • A third generation of drugs called cephalosporins — orally-administered cefixime and injectable ceftriaxone — then came into use. • But resistance to cefixime — and more rarely to ceftriaxone — has now been reported in more than 50 countries. These are so-called multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains. What is Gonorrhea? • Gonorrhea, also called “the clap”, is a disease caused by bacteria. • Untreated, it can cause painful pelvic inflammation in women, and infertility in both genders. • In extreme cases, the bacteria can spread in the blood to cause life-threatening infections in other parts of the body. • Symptoms of infection include painful urination and abnormal discharge, but many will experience no symptoms at all. How bacteria become resistant? • Bacteria can become resistant to drugs when people take incorrect doses of antibiotics. • Resistant strains can also be contracted directly from animals, water and air, or other people. • When the most common antibiotics fail to work, more expensive types must be tried, resulting in longer illness and treatment, often in hospital. Source: The Hindu 67 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
ECONOMY NPCI receives final nod from RBI to function as Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit • National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems, has received a final nod from the Reserve Bank of India to function as the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) and operate the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS). • The final clearance from RBI comes almost a year after NPCI launched the BBPS pilot project to make payment of utility bills easier. • The total number of Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units certified by NPCI now stands at 24. The certified units include 10 private sector banks, 3 public sector banks (Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank), five cooperative banks and six non- bank biller aggregators. About Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS): • The Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an RBI conceptualised system driven by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). • BBPS is an integrated bill payment system offering interoperable and accessible bill payment service to customers through a network of agents, enabling multiple payment modes and providing instant confirmation of payment. • The BBPS initiative aims to provide a major push to digital payments as it is a big step forward in formalizing the bill payment system in the country. • Under the BBPS framework, a customer will be able to pay several bills such as electricity, telephone, water, gas, and DTH television at a single location—physical or electronic—and receive instant confirmation once the payment is made. Nearly 45 crore bills are permitted under BBPS. • Payments through BBPS can be made using cash, transfer cheques and electronic modes. • Bill aggregators and banks, who will function as operating units, will carry out these transactions for the customers. • At present the bulk of transactions on BBPS are of electricity bills. It contributes to about 180 million bills per month out of which only 10% is digital. About the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI): • NPCI is an umbrella organization for all retail payments system in India. • Founded in 2008, NPCI is a not-for-profit organisation registered under the Companies Act 2013. • It aims to allow all Indian citizens to have unrestricted access to e-payment services. • It was set up with the guidance and support of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). NPCI has ten promoter banks. • It has been promoted by the country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India. • Its recent work of developing Unified Payments Interface aims to move India to a cashless society with only digital transactions. • It has successfully completed the development of a domestic card payment network called RuPay, reducing the dependency on international card schemes. Source: The Hindu
Niti Aayog clears six proposals for high-tech public transport • Niti Aayog has cleared proposals of the transport ministry exploring options to improve public transport. • These proposals include mass rapid transportation technologies such as hyperloop, metrino and pod taxis.
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• The proposals of the transport ministry were approved with a condition that the transport ministry conducts trial run of all these technologies and puts in place safety measures before starting operations commercially. • Following the go-ahead, the transport ministry has formed a six member committee, headed by a former top official of Railways, to study safety parameters associated with these technologies and global practices. Significance: • These new technologies are path breaking and can alter the way of intercity travel in the country. • The new technologies are being explored as current public transportation is unable to resolve the increasing traffic crisis in the country. • Besides, some of them are more cost effective than the existing ones. What is Metrino? • Fully automatic, driverless small pods travel independently suspended over an overhead network which is usually 5-10 meters above the ground. What is Podtaxi? • Small automated vehicles/podcars/cable cars which carry a small number of passengers. • The ropeway-like system runs on electricity and driverless pods and comes down at designated stations, thus removing the traffic burden from crowded roads. What is Hyperloop? • A hyperloop comprises a sealed tube or series of tubes through which a pod may travel free of air resistance or friction conveying people or objects at speeds matching that of an aircraft. Source: Economic Times
Codex Alimentarius Commission meeting in Geneva adopts three Codex standards for spices • The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) has adopted three Codex standards for black, white and green pepper, cumin and thyme. • It is for first time pepper, cumin and thyme, spices will have such universal standards. • These standards were adopted at 40th session of CAC held in Geneva. • The adoption of Codex standards paves the way for universal agreement on identifying quality spices in various countries. • It also set reference points and benchmarks for member-nations to align their national standards for spices with Codex. Background: • With the approval of the Central government, the Spices Board India (SBI) had submitted a proposal to CAC for harmonizing the standards for spices and culinary herbs. SBI is the flagship organization of the Commerce Ministry for export and promotion of spices from the country. Significance: • The adoption of Codex standards for the three spices will help evolve a common standardisation process for their global trade and availability. • It will bring harmony to the global spice trade and ensure availability of high quality, clean and safe spices to the world. • It is also considered as major recognition of India’s efforts to benchmark global spices trade. What is Codex Alimentarius? • The Codex Alimentarius (Food Code) is a collection of standards, guidelines and codes of practice adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). • It is a collection of internationally adopted food standards presented in a uniform manner. These food standards aim at protecting consumer’s health and ensuring fair practices in the food trade. 69 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
• It includes standards for all the principal foods, whether processed, semi-processed or raw for distribution to the consumer. • It also includes standardised provisions in respect of food additives, contaminants, pesticides residues, labelling and presentation, methods of analysis and sampling. About the Codex Alimentarius Commission: • The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) is an intergovernmental body with over 180 members, within the framework of the Joint Food Standards Programme. • It was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), with the purpose of protecting the health of consumers and ensuring fair practices in the food trade. • Its mandate is to prepare an international codex alimentations, based on principles outlined by itself. • The Commission also promotes coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations. Source: PIB
223 anti-dumping probes initiated by India since January 2012 • Between January 2012 and July 14, 2017, India has initiated as many as 223 anti-dumping investigations against various countries, including China and Indonesia. • During the period, maximum number of cases were against China. • Product categories on which the levy was imposed include chemicals, fibre boards, glass & glassware, pharmaceuticals and steel. What is Anti-dumping duty? • An anti-dumping duty is a protectionist tariff that a domestic government imposes on foreign imports that it believes are priced below fair market value. • Countries initiate anti-dumping probes to determine if the domestic industry has been hurt by a surge in below-cost imports. To counter it they impose duties under the multi-lateral WTO regime. • Anti-dumping steps are taken to ensure fair trade and provide a level-playing field to the domestic industry. • They are not a measure to restrict imports or cause an unjustified increase in cost of products. • The use of anti-dumping measure as an instrument of fair competition is permitted by the WTO. Source: Times of India
Finance Minister releases National Trade Facilitation Action Plan • Finance Minister Arun Jaitley released the National Trade Facilitation Action Plan (NTFAP). • The NTFAP was considered a major milestone for the global trading system. About the NTFAP: • The NTFAP gives a time bound map, not only for implementing WTO-Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) but also for India’s initiatives for trade facilitation and ease of doing business which goes beyond TFA. • The NTFAP aims to transform cross border clearance ecosystem through efficient, transparent, risk based, coordinated, digital, seamless and technology driven procedures which are supported by state-of-the-art sea ports, airports and land borders. • The action plan lists out specific activities which would be carried out by all regulatory agencies like Customs, FSSAI, Drug Controller, Plant Quarantine and DGFT in a time-bound manner.
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• The action plan not only covers the activities coming under the TFA but they go beyond the ambit of TFA per se, which have been defined as TFA Plus category . • It also covers many activities in the areas of infrastructure augmentation, particularly the road and rail infrastructure leading to ports and the infrastructure within ports, airports, ICDs, land customs stations that cuts across all stakeholders for which various ministries like shipping, civil aviation, railways, road transport and highways, home affairs, finance and commerce have been assigned specified targets. • All actions covered under the plan have been categorised by prioritising the activities into short, mid and long term. Monitoring and review of NTFAP: • The national plan would be monitored by the steering committee (the operational arm of the National Committee on Trade Facilitation) chaired by the revenue secretary and the commerce secretary. • The plan would be reviewed by the cabinet secretary. Background: • Earlier, under Article 23.2 of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), a National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) headed by the Cabinet Secretary was constituted. • The NCTF comprises stakeholders from the government and the private sector, including trade community. • The NCTF has adopted a 76-point National Trade Facilitation Action Plan (NTFAP) which is a reflection of the government’s commitment to implement the TFA. About Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA): • The TFA in Goods is the WTO’s first-ever multilateral accord that aims to streamline, simplify, standardise and ease customs procedures and norms for the cross-border movement of goods. • The TFA in Goods was adopted by the WTO Members in 2014. • It was outcome of WTO’s 9th Bali (Indonesia) ministerial package of 2013. • While Trade Facilitation in Services (TFS) Agreement is the global pact proposed by India to boost services trade at the WTO-level. • The proposed services pact is similar to the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) in Goods. Provisions under TFA: • The agreement includes provisions for: • Lowering import tariffs and agricultural subsidies: It will make it easier for developing countries to trade with the developed world in global markets. • Abolish hard import quotas: Developed countries would abolish hard import quotas on agricultural products from the developing world and instead would only be allowed to charge tariffs on amount of agricultural imports exceeding specific limits. • Reduction in red tape at international borders: It aims to reduce red-tapism to facilitate trade by reforming customs bureaucracies and formalities. Source: PIB, Indian Express
IBBI notifies rules for bankruptcy probe • The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), which is implementing the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), has notified the regulations for inspection and investigation of service providers registered with it. • The Code, which provides for a market-determined and time-bound resolution of insolvency proceedings, became operational in December 2016. • Insolvency professional agencies, professionals, entities and information utility are considered as service providers under the Code.
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What’s the new regulation? • According to new regulations, IBBI has powers to start probe against service providers registered with it without intimating them. • As per the regulations, the investigation authority has to serve a notice intimating the entity concerned about the probe at least ten days in advance. • However, the requirement could be done away with on grounds such as apprehensions that the records of the particular service provider might be destroyed before the probe starts. About the IBBI: • The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) was established on October 1, 2016 in accordance with the provisions of The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. • It provides a market-determined and time bound mechanism for orderly resolution of insolvency, wherever possible, and orderly exit, wherever required. • It seeks to consolidate and amend laws relating to reorganisation as well as insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals in a time-bound manner. • It has been set up by the code to regulate professionals, information utilities (IUs) and agencies engaged in the resolution of insolvencies of companies. • It has chairman and 10 members. Present chairman is M S Sahoo. There four government- nominated members. • It functions under Ministry of Commerce. Source: The Hindu
Bitcoin trade may come under SEBI • The government is considering the introduction of a regulatory regime for virtual or crypto currencies, such as Bitcoin, that would enable the levy of the Goods and Services Tax on their sale. • The new regime may possibly bring their trading under the oversight of the stock market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). What’s the idea? • The idea is to treat such currency in a manner similar to gold sold digitally, so that it can be traded on registered exchanges. • It was also suggested that government maintain limited regulation. This means reiterating that crypto currencies are not recognised and those who deal in them do so at their own risk, while focusing on curbing illegal activities. Benefits of regulation: • The regulation of such currency will “promote” a formal tax base, while keeping a tab on their use for illegal activities such as money laundering, terror funding and drug trafficking. What are cryptocurrencies? • Crypto-currency is a digital currency that allows transacting parties to remain anonymous while confirming the transaction is valid. • It is not owned or controlled by any institution – governments or private. • There are multiple such currencies — Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple are some of the popular ones. • Crypto-currency can be used for a lot of legal activities — such as booking tickets, buying coffee or fast food, depending of which retailers accept such currency. Why their regulation is needed? • Currently, they are neither illegal nor legal in India. • Bitcoins were in the news recently when during the two global cyber ransomware attacks — WannaCry and Petya — attackers sought about $300 in bitcoin as ransom. • The market cap for all crypto-currencies has just crossed $100 billion, with most of the increase coming in the past few months.
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• On April 1, 2017, the total market cap was just over $25 billion, representing a 300% rise in just over 60 days. One bitcoin today is worth as much as 60 grams of gold. Why their ban is not good idea? • Banning such currencies will give a clear message that all related activities are illegal and will disincetivise those interested in taking speculative risks. • It will also impede tax collection on gains made in such activities and that regulating the currency instead would signal a boost to blockchain technology, encourage the development of a supervision ecosystem (that tracks legal activities and may also assist in tracking illegal activities) and promote a formal tax base. Government’s concerns: • However, the government is wary that regulation will provide legitimacy to “what is currently ambiguous,” and may lead to further rise in its valuation and end up contributing “to the investment bubble”. Source: The Hindu
First Maize Based Mega Food Park in Kapurthala, Punjab • The foundation stone for First Maize based Mega Food Park was recently laid in Kapurthala, Punjab. Background: • Maize is an amazing cereal and is an alternate to Jhona (paddy) and Kanak (wheat). • Maize is rich in protein, provides nutritional requirements that India needs and Maize consumes much lesser water and could contain the problem of further water depletion. Significance: • Maize Based Mega Food Park is the first major and serious step in the history of India for containing the desertification problem of Punjab and would make farmers turn to maize cultivation which need less water for more production. • Kapurthala has been declared as a Dark Zone district where slow desertification is happening because of overexploitation of water due to cash crops. Establishment of this Mega Food Park will result in the development of this Dark Zone which includes Job opportunities, Environmental Conservation. • Maize is being used by different industries for seed, starch, brewery, food additives, sweeteners etc and it is also a basic raw material to thousands of industrial products like oil, proteins, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, beverages, film, textile, gum, value added foods, paper industries, bio-ethanol etc. Source: PIB
SEBI to move against non-compliant firms • The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has initiated action against non- compliant “Exclusively Listed Companies (ELCs) on Dissemination Board (DB),” and its directors and promoters. What are the non- compliant firms? • These are companies which were earlier listed on regional stock exchanges (RSEs) that have been de-recognised by the regulator. • Such companies were allowed to be part of the national exchanges through a dissemination board but were directed to submit a plan of action for listing or providing an exit option to shareholders. Why in news? • These firms were supposed to submit their plan of action. The deadline to submit the plan of action was extended until June 30. • As per SEBI, of the 2,000 companies listed on dissemination board as on June 30, there are 536 entities that are traceable and yet not submitted a plan of action.
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SEBI’s powers to punish non- compliant firms: • SEBI can bar such promoters and companies from accessing the securities market for a period of 10 years apart from freezing the shares held by promoters and directors. • The regulator can even attach the bank accounts and other assets of promoters and directors to compensate the investors. Source: The Hindu
Centre eases pre-merger filing norms • In a move that is likely to boost mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the country, the Centre has done away with the thirty-day time period to submit before the Competition Commission of India (CCI) an application for pre-merger clearance. • According to a notification, every person or enterprise who is a party to a combination is exempted from giving notice within thirty days. This new provision (exemption from the 30- day time period) will be valid for five years starting June 29, 2017. • The notification means that parties can make a CCI application at any time in course of an acquisition but cannot effect or close an acquisition before obtaining the CCI’s approval. Earlier norms: • The earlier norms had specified that an application to obtain the CCI’s prior approval for an acquisition, merger or amalgamation had to be filed within thirty days of: • Board approval of the proposed merger or amalgamation by each of the respective parties; • execution of any agreement or other document of a binding nature conveying a decision to acquire shares, control, voting rights or assets; • execution of any document by the acquiring enterprise conveying a decision to acquire shares, control, voting rights or assets, in case the acquisition is without the consent of the enterprise being acquired; • Or date of the public announcement under India’s takeover regulations applicable to acquisitions of listed entities. Significance of this move: • It will give parties the liberty and flexibility to decide at what stage they want to make the CCI filing, depending on the deal parameters and commercial terms. • Besides, this will specifically benefit large, multi-jurisdiction transactions where parties may be burdened with regulatory requirements in several jurisdictions and, therefore, need more time to assess the Indian law implications and prepare a comprehensive CCI application. Source: The Hindu
Integration of oil & gas majors is best avoided • In his fourth budget speech, Finance minister Arun Jaitley revisited the idea of an integrated oil and gas sector. Background: • The idea first made its appearance during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government in 1998. The proposal was then rejected for encouraging a monopolistic scenario in distribution of essential goods like LPG, petrol, kerosene etc. • In 2005, the Krishnamurthy committee formed by the UPA government debunked the idea as it would reduce competition and manpower in the oil and gas sector.
What are the reasons for latest surface even after being rejected twice? • Five major reasons: 1. Better capacity to bear higher risks, 2. Avail economies of scale, 3. Create more shareholder value, 4. Make better investment decisions and
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5. Be more competent globally. Why an integrated oil major is not suitable for India? • Indian firms are much smaller in size compared with top international oil companies. The Government’s track record of consolidating state-run firms has not borne good results. For example, the aviation sector suffered a major setback following the merger of Air India and India Airlines in 2007 and has not yet fully recovered. • In oil and gas, minimum political interference and liberalisation have proven better in creating more shareholder value compared with integration. • With oil firms facing such allegations and inefficiencies, giving complete autonomy to one entity can risk the nation’s energy security. • Another concern is employment generation. The graph shows that the sector has seen a continuous decline in manpower since FY11. The Krishnamurthy Committee had earlier deduced that such integration will result in manpower reduction. At a time when the government is struggling with job creation, it will be difficult to justify job losses due to restructuring. Way ahead: • Any decision that creates a monopoly in the oil and gas sector must be carefully thought through. • An important question here is whether a bigger oil company will help reform the sector. Or, will it create new problems for the Indian people at large? Source: The Hindu
DEFENCE & SECURITY India’s first unmanned tank Muntra • The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed India’s first unmanned tank- Muntra. • Though developed and tested for the Army, paramilitary has expressed interest to use them at Naxal-hit areas. About the Muntra: • Muntra, the unmanned tank, has three variants 1. Muntra-S: for unmanned surveillance missions 2. Muntra-M: for detecting mines 3. Muntra-N: for reconnaissance in areas with nuclear and bio threats • The vehicle has been tested and validated under dusty desert conditions where temperatures touched 52 C. • It has surveillance radar, an integrated camera along with laser range finder which can be used to spy on ground target 15km away – may be a crawling men or heavy vehicles. Source: PIB
First Two patrol vessels for Navy launched by private shipyard • Reliance Defence and Engineering Limited (RDEL) launched the first two Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels (NOPVs) — Shachi and Shruti at their shipyard in Pipavav, Gujarat. • These two NOPVs are the first warships to be launched by a private sector shipyard in India. • These ships are part of a five-ships being constructed for the Indian Navy under the P-21 project. What are NOPVs? • The NOPVs are primarily patrol ships to undertake surveillance of the country’s vast Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
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• They also undertake operational tasks such as anti-piracy patrols, maritime security of offshore assets, fleet support operations, coastal security operations, and protection of shipping lanes. • The NOPVs would increase the ocean surveillance and patrolling capabilities of the Indian Navy. • The NOPVs are patrol ships and are armed with 76mm Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM) system along with two 30mm AK-630M guns which provide medium range and short range offensive and defensive capabilities. • The armament is remotely controlled through an electronic Fire Control System. • The ships are fitted with diesel engine driven propulsion systems and can deliver speeds upto 25 knots. • All ship operations are controlled by an intelligent Integrated Platform Management System which has interfaces for all operational activities onboard the ship. Background: • RDEL, subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure is the first private shipyard in India to obtain defence production licence and sign a contract for defence ships in 2011. Source: PIB
Government empowers Army to procure weaponry for short intense wars • The Centre has given Army vice-chief full financial powers to procure critical ammunition and spares to maintain an optimum level to fight a short intense war. What does this mean? • The major decision means procurement process of such ammunition and equipment that would take months would be completed much faster. • This is the revenue route for in-service equipment and there will be no need to head to the Defence Acquisition Council (headed by defence minister Arun Jaitley) or the Cabinet Committee on Security, for procuring such critical equipment. This will ensure that the time taken in procuring such equipment will reduce tremendously. • As part of it, the Army has been allowed to procure 46 types of ammunition and spares for 10 different types of weapons systems. Background: • The Army faces severe shortage in ammunition, mainly for artillery guns, tanks, air defence and certain infantry weapons, which will make it very difficult to fight a short intense war that lasts for 10 to 15 days. • The government has conducted faster procurement in the past when it realised that there were several voids in the capabilities of the Army, mainly in ammunition. Source: Economic Times
2017 Malabar Exercise • Navies of India, US and the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force have begun Malabar naval exercise 2017. • It is the 21st edition of the Malabar exercise.
Key facts: • The primary aim of this multilateral exercise is to increase interoperability amongst the three navies and develop common understanding of procedures for Maritime Security Operations and deepen defence relations. • The exercise consists of both ashore and at-sea activities.
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• This year operations of the exercise include anti-submarine warfare, familiarization with inter-operability between maritime forces, search and rescue and seizure missions and many other drills. • One of the main goals of this edition of the exercise is “submarine-hunting”. • Malabar Exercise began as an Indo-US bilateral naval drill in 1992. Since then it is held annually. Japan had formally joined the exercise as a permanent participant in 2015. • In 2007, the exercise also saw participation of Australia and Singapore. All the participating nations in the exercise have clarified earlier that the Malabar series is not aimed at any specific country. Source: PIB
NSG organises first International Aviation Security seminar • National Security Guard (NSG) has organised the first International Aviation Security seminar, with the aim of bringing all major stakeholders under one roof and facilitate them sharing views/opinion, discussions, brain storming with the matters concerning Aviation Security. About the NSG: • The National Security Guard (NSG) is an Indian special forces unit under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). • It was raised in 1984, following Operation Blue Star and the assassination of Indira Gandhi, “for combating terrorist activities with a view to protect states against internal disturbances”. • NSG is under the authority of Ministry of Home Affairs (India), However it is not categorised under the uniform nomenclature of Central Armed Police Forces. • It has a special forces mandate, and its core operational capability is provided by the Special Action Group (SAG) which is drawn from the Indian Army. • The Special Rangers Group (SRG) , the police component of NSG, which also handles VIP security, is composed of personnel on deputation from other Central Armed Police Forces and State Police Forces. • The chief of the force designated as a Director General is an officer from the Indian Police Service. • The NSG personnel are often referred to in the media as Black Cats because of the black dress and black cat insignia worn on their uniform. Source: PIB
Science & Technology Breakthrough Initiatives – The World’s Smallest Satellite Is Launched • Breakthrough Starshot, a Russian billionaire’s $100-million effort to explore the closest star system to our own, has launched the smallest-ever spacecraft into orbit around Earth. Key facts: • The six cracker-size robots, called “sprites,” are printed circuit boards designed to survive in space. • They are smallest spacecraft that have managed to establish contact with ground stations. • Each “sprite” spacecraft is about the size of a cracker and is equipped with a radio, computer, and other instruments. • The feat is a step towards developing even smaller and more capable “starchip” robots. • Starchips may be propelled by lasers to the nearby Alpha Centauri star system within two to three decades. 77 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
• The latest development is an important precursor to an ambitious attempt to send space probes to planets beyond our solar system, dubbed Breakthrough Starshot. • Breakthrough Starshot’s goal is to develop chips with a weight of roughly one gram and fit them to a lightweight sail before propelling them through space with a 100-billion watt laser. • Sprites have previously been carried on board the International Space Station, but this is the first demonstration that it is possible to launch such a lightweight satellite. Source: The Hindu
Flexible bio-glue for wound healing developed • A team of researchers developed a super strong, flexible bio-glue for wound healing without causing toxicity. • The bio-glue is inspired by an adhesive material secreted by slugs that sticks to biological tissues. • Slugs naturally secrete a special kind of mucus in its place when threatened, making it difficult for a predator to pry it off its surface. About the bio-glue: • The bio-glue is double-layered hydrogel consisting of an alginate-polyacrylamide matrix supporting an adhesive layer that has positively-charged polymers protruding from its surface. • It bonds to biological tissues via three mechanisms – electrostatic attraction to covalent bonds between neighbouring atoms, negatively charged cell surfaces and physical interpenetration. This bond makes the adhesive super strong. • It is the combination of a very strong adhesive force and has ability to transfer and dissipate stress. • It can bind to tissues with strength comparable to the body’s own resilient cartilage. Potential applications: • The bio-glue has numerous potential applications in the medical field, either as a patch that can be cut to desired sizes and applied to tissue surfaces or can be also used as an injectable solution for deeper injuries. Source: Indian Express
Scientists develop ‘Gelator’ to easily recover marine oil spills • Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER), Thiruvananthapuram have developed gelator that can suck up oil and congeal it. What is gelator? • The gelator is hydrophobic material that has property of oleilophilic (oil-loving) and takes up oil when it comes in contact with it. • It can be used to recover marine oil spills with a simple, efficient and cost-effective method. How it is developed? • The gelator is developed using a cheap raw material mannitol and cellulose pulp through a one-step process. • In this process, the mannitol gets adsorbed on the cellulose fibre through hydrogen bonding. The adsorption process changes the cellulose matrix from being very hydrophilic (water- loving) to hydrophobic (water repelling). How gelator sucks oil? • The property of gelator to self-assemble to form micro fibres makes congealing of oil possible and the oil loses its fluidity and gets trapped within the entangled fibrous network to form a rigid gel. • Gelation essentially turns the liquid oil into semi-solid and this allows congealed oil to be simply scooped out using a scoop or a sieve. 78 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
• During the studies, it was found that the gelator was able to absorb and congeal 16 times its own weight of oil. Even, the absorbed oil can be recovered by applying pressure or fractionated by a simple distillation process. Potential applications: • Gelator can also serve as a more efficient, quick and cost-effective way for absorption of crude oil from the sea following marine spill. • Unlike other alternatives, the gelator can be easily applied over oil-water mixture and no solvent is needed for spraying it thus making it environment friendly. Source: The Hindu
India among top nations with potential for digital payments’: Digital Evolution Index • India has emerged strong, exhibiting a high potential in terms of digital payments and has been categorised under the “break out” segment among 60 countries, according to the Digital Evolution Index 2017. What is break out segment? • The ‘break out’ segment refers to countries that have relatively lower absolute levels of digital advancement, yet remain poised for growth and are attractive to investors by virtue of their potential. About the index: • The Digital Evolution Index 2017 was unveiled by the Fletcher School at Tufts University in partnership with Mastercard. • The Index is a comprehensive research that tracks the progress countries have made in developing their digital economies and integrating connectivity into the lives of billions. • The Index measures four key drivers – supply, consumer demand, institutional environment, and innovation. • With nearly half of the world’s population online, the research maps the development of 60 countries, demonstrating their competitiveness and market potential for further digital economic growth. India’s performance: • As per the index, • India has been experiencing rapid strides of progress with an evolving payments landscape, catalysed by the government’s demonetisation decision. • The government’s endeavour to boost the acceptance infrastructure coupled with a host of other economic reforms have further hastened the momentum for the country’s journey towards a cashless society. • Adoption of digital payments has also witnessed a massive growth with a shift in behaviour change as more people adopt digital payments in daily life. • With new players foraying into the market and an entire gamut of solutions for alternate payments, the India payment ecosystem is growing each day. Source: Economic Times
China produces gas from ‘flammable ice’ under South China Sea • In an experimental project in the South China Sea (SCS), China has successfully produced natural gas from methane hydrate, also known as “flammable ice”. Background: • Methane hydrate has been identified as a potential new gas source for China, with the South China Sea thought to contain some of the world’s most promising flammable ice deposits. • India, Canada and US are also believed to be looking at hydrates as an alternative energy source. 79 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
What is flammable ice? • Flammable ice (also known as methane hydrate or methane clathrates) consists of methane trapped within water crystals. • It is the world’s largest natural gas resource is trapped beneath permafrost and ocean sediment where low temperature and moderate pressure combine to trap methane in this specific way. • Despite the low temperature, these hydrates are flammable. By lowering the pressure or raising the temperature, the hydrates break down into water and methane – a lot of methane. One cubic metre of the compound releases about 160 cubic metres of gas, making it a highly energy-intensive fuel. • Many countries including the US and Japan are working on how to tap those reserves, but mining and extracting are extremely difficult. • Accessing the power of this flammable ice has been difficult, for two reasons. 1. First, these reserves are often distributed over a large area rather than concentrated in one spot as oil or natural gas reserves often are. 2. The bigger problem, however, is that, true to their moniker as flammable ice, methane hydrates are unstable and potentially explosive. Drilling into the seafloor could destabilize the methane ice crystals and cause explosions, spewing vast troves of methane into the atmosphere, where it is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (CO2). Significance of the flammable ice: • Methane hydrates are thought to have the potential to be a revolutionary energy source that could be key to future energy needs – likely the world’s last great source of carbon-based fuel. • Vast deposits exist basically underneath all oceans around the globe, especially on the edge of continental shelves. Countries are scrambling for a way to make the extraction safe and profitable. Potential threat: • Any exploitation of the reserves must be done with the utmost care because of environmental concerns. • The potential threat is that methane can escape, which would have serious consequences for global warming. It is a gas that has a much higher potential to impact climate change than carbon dioxide. Source: Economic Times
New AI system can create 3D models from photos • Scientists, including one of Indian origin, have developed a new artificial intelligence software, called SurfNet , that can create 3D models from two dimensional photographs. • This advance could allow future robots to navigate in the real world. About the technology: • SurfNet software using hundreds of thousands of 2D shapes of objects can reconstruct it model in 3D. • It utilizes machine learning to analyze 2D shapes and convert them into projected 3D forms. • In addition to transforming 2D shapes, the technology can also merge two shapes into one another. • The technology becomes more refined over time as the AI learns more about the shapes. Potential application: • When fully developed, the method could have significant applications in the fields of 3D searches on the internet. • It can be used in robotics, object recognition and even self-driving cars. SurfNet will give them ability to understand the 3D environment around them using standard 2D cameras.
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• It can also be used to create 3D content for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) by simply using standard 2D photos. Source: Indian Express
Scientists to chase solar eclipse using NASA’s research jets • For the upcoming total solar eclipse, a team of NASA-funded scientists are planning to observe the solar corona using stabilised telescopes aboard two of the space agency’s research aircraft. • The purpose of the chase is to capture the clearest ever images of the Sun’s outer atmosphere. • These planes will be equipped with telescopes to observe the outermost layer of sun’s atmosphere, corona, which isn’t visible in partial eclipses. Background: • On August 21, 2017, the United States will experience a total solar eclipse – the first time since 1918 – in which the moon will come directly between the sun and earth. • It will last for about an hour and 40 minutes and NASA has plans to fund a number of projects during this unique period of time. Why scientists chose total solar eclipse? • The total solar eclipse provides a rare opportunity for scientists to study the Sun, particularly its atmosphere. As the Moon completely covers the Sun and perfectly blocks its light during an eclipse, the typically faint corona is easily seen against the dark sky. Why scientists are interested in studying the Corona? • The corona is heated to millions of degrees, yet the lower atmospheric layers like the photosphere – the visible surface of the Sun – are only heated to a few thousand degrees. Scientists are not sure how this inversion happens. • One theory proposes micro explosions, termed nanoflares – too small and frequent to detect individually, but with a large collective effect – might release heat into the corona. • No one has yet directly seen nanoflares, but the high- resolution and high-speed images to be taken from the WB-57F jets might reveal their effects on the corona. About the corona: • The corona is the outermost layer of the Sun, starting at about 1300 miles (2100 km) above the solar surface (the photosphere). • The temperature in the corona is 500,000 K (900,000 degrees F, 500,000 degrees C) or more, up to a few million K. • The corona cannot be seen with the naked eye except during a total solar eclipse, or with the use of a coronagraph. • The corona does not have an upper limit. • Corona is where giant solar eruptions like solar flares and coronal mass eruptions take place. Significance of the project: • This project will offer an opportunity to NASA to not only develop a better understanding of this region but also to take high definition pictures. • Additionally, NASA hopes that the eclipse will also allow them to observe Mercury more closely and take thermal pictures to learn about varying temperature on its surface. Source: The Hindu
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Human antibodies produced in lab for first time • An international team of scientists has developed a method to rapidly produce specific human antibodies in the laboratory. • The technique could speed the production of antibodies to treat a wide range of diseases and facilitate the development of new vaccines. About Antibodies: • Antibodies are produced by the body’s B cells to fight off infections by bacteria, viruses, and other invasive pathogens. • When an individual B cell recognizes a specific pathogen-derived “antigen” molecule, it can proliferate and develop into plasma cells that secrete large amounts of antibody capable of binding to the antigen and fending off the infection. How they developed? • To develop revolutionary technique, researchers had replicated the process of natural production of antibodies from B cells isolated from patient blood samples in the laboratory to produce specific antibodies. Significance of the research: • Researchers successfully demonstrated their approach using various bacterial and viral antigens, including the tetanus toxoid and proteins from several strains of influenza A. In each case, they were able to produce specific, high-affinity antibodies in just a few days. • In some of the anti-influenza antibodies generated by the technique were able to neutralise multiple strains of the virus. • They were able to generate anti-HIV antibodies from B cells isolated from HIV-free patients. This approach may help researchers to rapidly generate therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of infectious diseases and other conditions such as cancer. Source: Economic Times
Castor oil can reduce soil pollution • According to a study conducted by Indian researchers, castor oil can prove useful in fighting a major problem of soil pollution. How? • Castor seed plant has been observed growing in areas where the soil is highly polluted, including in areas where mining is carried out. • Castor plants growing in these areas absorb toxic heavy metals such as lead from soil. • Hence, Castor bean plants can be grown in such polluted lands and over a period of time the levels of heavy metals can be reduced in the soil. • Castor plant has also been observed to accelerate the remediation of polluted soils due to presence of some chemicals in them known as chelators which enhances the capability of castor bean plant to accumulate heavy metals. • The latest study highlights how castor bean plants can prove a boon in remediation of areas in and around Hyderabad where soil is highly polluted with heavy metals due to industrial pollution. About the castor oil: • Castor oil also known as ‘Arandi ka tel’ in Hindi and ‘Amudham’ in Telugu has been an age- old home remedy for a variety of ailments in India. • Castor seed plant is known to be one of the most sturdiest plants. Way ahead: • Government bodies can take a cue out of this study if they are serious towards remediation of polluted areas. Source: Indian Express
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ASTROSAT, Chandra and Hubble jointly detect massive cosmic explosion on Proxima Centauri • Three space-based observatories ASTROSAT, Chandra, Hubble Space Telescope and a ground-based observatory HARPS have simultaneously detected a massive coronal explosion on the nearest planet-hosting star ‘Proxima Centauri’. • The explosion was detected as part of joint multi-wavelength simultaneous observational campaign undertaken by these three space-based observatories. What is Coronal explosion? • Coronal explosion is an unusually large release of plasma and magnetic field from the solar corona. • They often follow solar flares and are normally present during a solar prominence eruption. • The plasma is released into the solar wind, and can be observed in coronagraph imagery. About the Proxima Centauri: • It is group of stars which hosts an Earth-like habitable planet — Proxima Centaur b — orbiting within (Proxima Centauri) its habitable zone. • It was discovered in 2016. • It is a cool dwarf star located around 4.25 light years away from the Earth. • Because of Proxima Centauri’s proximity to Earth, its angular diameter can be measured directly. It is about one-seventh the diameter of the Sun. About ASTROSAT: • ASTROSAT is India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory. • It was launched on a PSLV-XL on 28 September 2015. • It was built by a consortium of institutes across India led by ISRO Satellite Centre, TIFR Mumbai, IIA Bengaluru, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Space Applications Centre in collaboration with University of Leicester (UK) and the Canadian Space Agency. • One of the unique features of ASTROSAT mission is that enables the simultaneous multi- wavelength observations of various astronomical objects with a single satellite. • The scientific objectives of ASTROSAT mission are: • To understand high energy processes in binary star systems containing neutron stars and black holes • Estimate magnetic fields of neutron stars • Study star birth regions and high energy processes in star systems lying beyond our galaxy • Detect new briefly bright X-ray sources in the sky • Perform a limited deep field survey of the Universe in the Ultraviolet region About Chandra: • The Chandra programme is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. • The flight operations and the Chandra Science are controlled by the Smithsonian Astrophysics Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. About the Hubble Space Telescope: • The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. • It is one of the largest and most versatile space telescopes, and is well known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy. Source: Indian Express
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IISER Kolkata develops fire-retardant, rust-resistant material • Researchers from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata have developed an organic-inorganic molecular hybrid material which is fire and rust resistant. How was it developed? • The hybrid material was synthesised by combining polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) and diphenylalanine . • Both POSS and diphenylalanine are naturally water repelling, and when they are combined together the hydrophobic nature further gets enhanced. The POSS has unique properties such as high thermal stability and fire retarding ability. About the material: • The hybrid material is colourless and does not react with metal. • It also inhibits bacterial growth and make coated material such as wood or paper fire and flame proof. • It also increases the mechanical strength of the coated paper 1.5 times Nails coated with the material can resist corrosion even when treated with highly corrosive aqueous solution of sodium chloride, sodium bromide, potassium chloride and hydrochloric acid. • Paper or other materials coated with it can behave similar to the lotus leaf and keep the surface clean and completely water-proof. • The hydrophobic nature of the hybrid material can protect artefacts from corrosion and environmental pollution. Moreover, its fire-resistant property can prevent plenty of fire accidents. Source: The Hindu
Govt launches low-cost indigenously developed hearing screening device for newborns • The Union Ministry of Science and Technology has launched SOHUM , an indigenously developed low-cost hearing screening device for newborns with an aim to make this battery- operated non-invasive device available across the country to cater nearly 26 million babies born every year in India. • The newborn hearing screening device has been developed by School of International Biodesign startup Sohum Innovation Labs India Pvt. Ltd under Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology supported (SIB). Features of SOHUM: • Sohum is a low cost and unique device which uses brainstem auditory evoked response , the gold standard in auditory testing to check for hearing response in a newborn. As of now, this technology is prohibitively expensive and inaccessible to many. • It measures auditory brain waves via three electrodes placed on the baby’s head. • When stimulated, electrodes detect electrical responses generated by the brain’s auditory system. If there is no response, it indicates child cannot hear. Once it is detected at quite an early age, measures can be taken to prevent other problems such as impaired communication skills and even possible mental illness. • It is battery operated device and is non-invasive, it doesn’t require babies to be sedated, which is risky, testing in process at present. • It has in-built algorithm that filters out ambient noise from the test signal. This is important because health clinics can be crowded and noisy. About the School of International Biodesign (SIB): • SIB is a flagship Program of the DBT aimed to develop innovative and affordable medical devices as per unmet clinical needs of India and to train the next generation of medical technology innovators in India, it is a valuable contribution to the Make in India campaign of the Government.
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• This Program is implemented jointly at AIIMS and IIT Delhi in collaboration with International partners. • Biotech Consortium India Limited manages techno-legal activities of the Program. Background: • Globally, 8,00,000 hearing impaired babies are born annually of which, nearly 1,00,000 are in India. And all this preventable damage needs early screening, which can facilitate timely treatment and rehabilitation. Source: Business Standard
A smart glove that can translate sign language • Scientists have created a low-cost smart glove, called “The Language of Glove” , that can wirelessly translate sign language into text and control objects in virtual reality games. • The device was built for less than $100 using stretchable and printable electronics that are inexpensive, commercially available and easy to assemble. How is it unique? • The glove is unique in that it has sensors made from stretchable materials, is inexpensive and simple to manufacture. • It could enable other researchers to develop similar technologies without requiring costly materials or complex fabrication methods. How was it made? • The device using a leather athletic glove and adhered nine stretchable sensors to the back at the knuckles — two on each finger and one on the thumb. How does it work? • Stainless steel thread connects each of the sensors to a low power, custom-made printed circuit board. • The sensors change their electrical resistance when stretched or bent. This allows them to code for different letters of the American Sign Language alphabet based on the positions of all nine knuckles. • The glove creates a nine-digit binary key that translates into that letter. • The low-power printed circuit board on the glove converts the nine-digit key into a letter and then transmits the signals via Bluetooth to a smartphone or computer screen. Source: The Hindu
Super-flexible and strong artificial silk developed • A new artificial spider silk that is super strong and stretchy has been developed by Cambridge University scientists. • It almost entirely composed of water. How was it made? • The silk is woven at room temperature using mostly water, meaning it is made using sustainable methods. • The web-like fibres are non-toxic and are made by stretching a strand of ‘silk’ out from hydrogel, a soupy material which is 98% water. The remaining 2% of the hydrogel is made of naturally available silica and cellulose. • These materials are held together in a network by barrel-shaped molecular “handcuffs” known as cucurbiturils. The chemical interactions between the different components enable to pull long fibres from the gel. • The water from hydrogel evaporates after it is stretched for 30 seconds, leaving a strong fibre which is both strong and stretchy.
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Potential applications: • The fibres that make up each strand work like miniature bungee cords and could one day be used to make bike helmets and even bulletproof vests. What is spider silk? • Spider silk is a protein fibre spun by spiders. • Spiders use their silk to make webs or other structures, which function as sticky nets to catch other animals, or as nests or cocoons to protect their offspring, or to wrap up prey. • They can also use their silk to suspend themselves, to float through the air, or to glide away from predators. Most spiders vary the thickness and stickiness of their silk for different uses. • In some cases, spiders may even use silk as a source of food. • Spider silk is incredibly tough and is stronger by weight than steel. • It is finer than the human hair (most threads are a few microns in diameter) and is able to keep its strength below -40°C. • The toughest silk is the dragline silk from the Golden Orb-Weaving spider (Nephilia clavipes), so-called because it uses silk of a golden hue to make orb webs. Source: The Hindu
Scientists encode movie clip in the DNA of living cells • Scientists for first time have encoded a small movie clip in the DNA of living bacterial cells and then played it back. • It is the latest and perhaps most astonishing example of the genome’s potential as a vast storage device. About the findings: • Scientists had used the CRISPR gene-editing technique to encode and retrieve reconstructed frames of a classic 1870s racehorse in motion sequence of photos into the genome of common gut bacteria E. coli. • Scientists have found out that despite the genetic modification, the bacteria thrived and multiplied. • The film stored in the DNA of bacteria was also well preserved and was intact even in new generation of bacteria. How DNA store information? • The geneticists ended up with a sequence of DNA molecules that represented the entirety of the film. • Then they used a powerful new gene editing technique, Crispr, to slip this sequence into the genome of a common gut bacteria, E. coli. • Despite the modification, the bacteria thrived and multiplied. • The film stored in the genome was preserved intact with each new generation of progeny. What is CRISPR gene-editing technique? • CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) allows to selectively edit genome parts and replace them with new DNA stretches. • Cas9 is an enzyme that can edit DNA, allowing the alteration of genetic patterns by genome modification. • CRISPR is a collection of DNA sequences that direct Cas9 where to cut and paste. • CRISPR-Cas9 technology has the potential to revolutionise the treatment of blood diseases, tumours and other genetic diseases. • It was named “2015 Breakthrough of the Year” by the U.S. journal Science. Source: The Hindu
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Indian Scientists Discover ‘Saraswati’ — a Supercluster of Galaxies • A team of Indian scientists have discovered a previously unknown ‘supercluster’ of galaxies, some four billion light years away from Earth, and named it Saraswati . What is Supercluster? • Superclusters, a group of clusters of galaxies, are the largest structures of stars, planets and other heavenly bodies in the universe, and very few of them are known. • A cluster could roughly have galaxies ranging from 1000 to 10,000. A supercluster could have clusters ranging from 40 to 43. • The Milky Way, the galaxy in which earth is located is part of a supercluster called the Laniakea Supercluster. About the Saraswati supercluster: • Saraswati supercluster is one of the largest known structures in the neighbourhood of the universe, 4,000 million light-years away from Earth and roughly more than 10 billion years old. • Its mass extends over the scale of 600 million light years. Significance of the discovery: • The discovery of Saraswati supercluster will help astronomers in understanding galaxy formation and evolution, effect of superclusters on environment of the galaxies. Source: The Hindu
Electrified Droplets Create Mini Saturn Planets • Scientists have created miniature versions of Saturn, complete with rings, by electrifying tiny droplets of fluids. How does it work? • When a drop of electrically conductive liquid is exposed to an electric field, the droplet responds by forming two electrically charged poles. • These poles can get pulled towards the sources of the electric field, taking on cone shapes. If the pull is strong enough, the tips of the cones can spray jets of droplets. • Experiments regarding this effect, known as electrospraying,often involved drops of liquid surrounded by less electrically conductive fluids. • If an electric field is strong enough, researchers found that the equators of these squashed drops emit concentric rings of droplets, making the drops look like miniature versions of Saturn. What is electrospraying? • Electrospraying is a method of liquid atomisation by electrical forces. Significance: • The advance may pave the way for generating microscopic and uniform particles and capsules which are often used in products such as drugs, inks, cosmetics and paints. • It will also explore new materials that can be used to produce “ring of particles” effect. Source: Indian Express
Scheme for IPR Awareness – Creative India; Innovative India • Taking forward the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy 2016, a ‘Scheme for IPR Awareness – Creative India; Innovative India’ has been launched by Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) under the aegis of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. Key facts: • The Scheme aims at raising IPR awareness amongst students, youth, authors, artists, budding inventors and professionals to inspire them to create, innovate and protect their creations and inventions across India including Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 cities as well as rural areas in the next 3 years. 87 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
• The Scheme will conduct over 4000 IPR awareness workshops/seminars in academic institutions (schools and colleges) and the industry, including MSMEs and Startups, as also IP training and sensitization programmes for enforcement agencies and the judiciary. • Workshops will cover all vital IP topics including international filing procedures, promotion of Geographical Indications and highlighting the ill effects of piracy and counterfeiting. About CIPAM: • The Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) is nodal agency under the aegis of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry. • It is working to ensure effective implementation of the National IPR Policy 2016. • It has undertaken several measures to strengthen the IP ecosystem in the country. Source: PIB
Sharpest laser can help test Einstein’s theory • Scientists have developed the world’s sharpest laser with record-breaking precision that can help make optical atomic clocks more precise as well as test Einstein’s theory of relativity. About the research: • Ideally, laser light has only one fixed wavelength or frequency. In practice, however, there is always a certain linewidth. The spectrum of most types of lasers can, however, reach from a few kHz to a few MHz in width, which is not good enough for numerous experiments requiring high precision. • Researchers have now developed a laser with a linewidth of only 10 miliHertz (mHz) — closer to the ideal laser than ever before. Significance of the research: • This precision is useful for various applications such as optical atomic clocks, precision spectroscopy, radioastronomy and for testing the theory of relativity. What is a laser? • A laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. • A laser is an unusual light source. It is quite different from a light bulb or a flash light. • Lasers do not occur in nature. • One of laser’s outstanding properties is the excellent coherence of the emitted light. • Lasers produce a narrow beam of light in which all of the light waves have very similar wavelengths. The laser’s light waves travel together with their peaks all lined up, or in phase. This is why laser beams are very narrow, very bright, and can be focused into a very tiny spot. Applications of a laser: • Laser light is used in numerous applications in industry, medicine and information technologies. • Lasers have brought about a real revolution in fields of research and in metrology — or have even made some new fields possible in the first place. Source: The Hindu
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ENVIRONMENT & ECOLOGY Government launches ‘India Quake’ & ‘Sagar Vani’ • The Union Ministry of Earth Science, on the occasion of its foundation day, has launched two Mobile apps – ‘India Quake’ for dissemination of earthquake parameters and the other one ‘Sagar Vani’ to disseminate ocean related information and alerts (like high waves and Tsunami early warnings) to the user community in timely manner for their safety. • The mobile app has been developed by the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) for automatic dissemination of earthquake parameter (location, time and magnitude) after the occurrence of earthquakes. Key Features of the ‘India Quake’ app: • The App facilitates information dissemination faster with no restrictions on the number of recipients. • It will provide real time earthquake location information on mobile of the user. • It also will help in reducing panic amongst people during an earthquake. For example, if an earthquake occurs in Hindukush region, Afghanistan and is strongly felt in Delhi, then people in Delhi will know in less than 2 minutes that the earthquake has actually occurred in Afghanistan and not in Delhi. • The app will notify two categories of events scrutinized and unscrutinized. Unscrutinized earthquake events are those whose parameters have been estimated automatically by the software using the incoming waveform data from remote stations. In the case of scrutinized events category, the unscrutinized will be scrutinized and confirmed by the NCS. Key features of the ‘Sagar Vani’ app: • The ‘Sagar Vani’ is a software platform where various dissemination modes are integrated on a single central server. • The App has provisions of multi-lingual SMS, Voice Call, Audio Advisory, Social Media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and Digital Display Boards for dissemination of information. • The system also has facility to provide access to various stakeholders (NGOs, State Fishery Departments and Disaster Management Authorities) so that they too will be able to further disseminate these ocean-related information and alerts to the user community – residents of coastal areas and fishermen. • This ‘Sagar Vani’ system compares with the most advanced countries’ services in terms of speed of delivery, omni channel capabilities and diverseness of services. With this system, the services will be disseminated in local languages using advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities. • For the first time in India, the power of television and cable network mediums for topical and alert dissemination services is being used. • The ‘Sagar Vani’ will now serve the coastal community, especially the fishermen community with the advisories and alerts towards their livelihood as well as their safety at Sea. About the National Centre for Seismology (NCS): • The National Centre for Seismology (NCS) under the Ministry of Earth Science operates national seismological network with 84 stations. • These stations are connected to NCS headquarter for real time data communication through VSAT. • In case of an earthquake, NCS locate these stations using data from its network and disseminate earthquake parameters to all concerned government departments and other stake holders through email, SMS and fax. • However, this causes some delay in dissemination and also restricts the number of recipients. India Quake app will overcome this problem. Source: PIB
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Delhi Metro first to become 100% ‘green’ • Delhi Metro has become the only completely ‘green’ Metro system in the world for adhering to green building norms for its residential colonies. • Delhi Metro has secured the platinum rating for adherence to green building norms for its 10 residential colonies from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).
Background: • The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had earlier received the green certificates for its Phase-3 stations, depots, and sub-stations. • In 2008, DMRC was the first railway project in the world to be registered by the United Nations under the CDM, enabling it to claim carbon credits. • In 2015, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) had registered DMRC as the world’s first transport sector project under the Program of Activities (PoA), making it the managing entity for all other Metros of India. About Indian Green Building Council: • The Indian Green Building Council, part of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), was formed in 2001. • The vision of the council is to enable a sustainable built environment for all and facilitate India to be one of the global leaders in the sustainable built environment by 2025. • The council offers a wide array of services, which include developing new green building rating programmes, certification services and green building training programmes. • The council also organises Green Building Congress, its annual flagship event on green buildings. • The council is committee-based, member-driven and consensus-focused. What is Green Building? • Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the using of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource- efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. • Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings which was Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. Source: Economic Times
NGT directs Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh to submit guidelines on forest fire • The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh governments to submit the national forest fire prevention and control guidelines. • The court has also asked both the state governments to inform it about the total number of forest fires till date starting from 2016. • The tribunal had earlier directed the states to submit crisis management plan for prevention and control of forest fires to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). Background: • In Himachal Pradesh during 2016-17, there were 1,545 forest fires which affected 13,069 hectare causing loss of Rs 1.53 crore, whereas, in 2015-16, there were 672 fire incidents which caused harm in 5,749.95 hectare area causing loss of Rs 1.34 crore. Forest Fires in India: • As per the latest state of forests report of the Forest Survey of India the actual forest cover of India is 19.27% of the geographic area, corresponding to 63.3 million ha. • The Forest Survey of India, data on forest fire attribute around 50% of the forest areas as fire prone. This does not mean that country’s 50% area is affected by fires annually. Very heavy, 90 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
heavy and frequent forest fire damages are noticed only over 0.8%, 0.14% and 5.16% of the forest areas respectively. Thus, only 6.17% of the forests are prone to severe fire damage. • The bulk of forest fires in India occurs in the tropical dry forests of our country, an umbrella category encompassing scrub, savanna grassland, dry and moist-deciduous forests. Almost 70% of forests in India are composed of these types. • This is mainly because during the dry season, the forests shed their leaves and allow the development of fuel at the surface of forests. • Forests in India are also burnt for economic reasons. For example, Forest grazing is one of the important sources of income for many people. • Burning of forests at the peak of dry seasons helps to stimulate grass growth before monsoon rains. This is one reason of intentional forest fires in some parts of India. • Similarly, collection of non-wood forest products is also one of the reasons of burning. The surface fire would remove the litter and freshly fallen fruits would become visible to collect. Source: The Hindu
Environment Ministry Approves Projects for Climate Change Adaptation in Three States • The Environment Ministry approved three projects for climate change adaptation in three states i.e. Rajasthan, Gujarat and Sikkim for funding under the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC). • In this regard, the National Steering Committee on Climate Change (NSCCC) headed by Environment Secretary has approved the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) submitted by these three state governments. Approved projects: • In Rajasthan , the project builds on work carried out under Phase I of the Mukhya Mantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan to enhance the adaptive capacity of villages by making them self- reliant in terms of water requirement. • In Gujarat , the project seeks to enhance the adaptive capacity of natural resource dependent communities to climate change in targeted villages of Kachchh district. • In Sikkim , the project aims to address the issue of water security which are directly identified as climate resilience building interventions under the SAPCC. About the NAFCC: • Launched in 2015, the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) is a flagship Scheme of Union Government, which provides 100 per cent grant to the State Governments for implementing climate change adaptation projects . • The Scheme is designed to fulfil the objectives of National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and to operationalize the State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCCs) . • The projects address vulnerabilities in climate sensitive sectors like agriculture, animal husbandry, water, forests and coasts among others. • The project outcomes are expected to increase resilience and adaptive capacity of vulnerable communities and ecosystems against climate change impacts. • Under this scheme, Union Government is encouraging States to come up with innovative and scalable projects to develop resilience against climate change and mainstream it in the planning processes. • During the two year period, 21 projects were approved at a total cost of Rs. 435.72 crore. Source: PIB
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Underwater ‘ghost nets’ posing threat to marine ecosystem off Kerala What are ghost nets? • Ghost gear, or ghost nets, is commercial fishing nets that have been lost, abandoned, or discarded at sea by fishermen. Types of ghost nets: • There are four types of ghost nets that infest the bottom of the seas. • The first are the large fishing vessels that stray into the territorial waters and deploy large nets. At times, these nets get caught in underwater reefs, forcing the vessel to abandon them before leaving the territorial waters. • The second type are smaller nets cast by fishermen, that are cut off by a passing vessel. These too drift down to the ocean floor and get attached to the rough features there. • The third type of ghost nets refer to those that get caught in violent currents and swivel down to the ocean floor, where they get stuck. • The fourth type are nets abandoned at sea after three or four uses. The nets remain under water for decades if not centuries. Why in news? • The issue of ghost nets came up for discussion at the UN Ocean Conference recently in New York. • Ghost nets have emerged as the greatest killers of the underwater ecosystem in the seas off Kerala. How do they pose threats? • Ghost nets, among other fishing gear that are accidentally lowered into the depths, now pose a major threat to the natural habitat and breeding ground of underwater fish. • The stock of fish rearing and living under water is much larger in size and number than those populating the surface. Many of the underwater reefs identified with flourishing fish stock have either been destroyed or are threatened by the ‘stifling cover’ cast by ghost nets. • Every year ghost nets are responsible for trapping and killing millions of marine animals including sharks, rays, bony fish, turtles, dolphins, whales, crustaceans, and birds. • Ghost nets cause further damage by entangling live coral, smothering reefs and introducing parasites and invasive species into reef environments. • It is estimated that at least 10 per cent of the reduced fish catch globally could be blamed on ghost nets, some of which have survived deep underwater for decades together. Source: The Hindu
World’s northernmost coral reef bleached • According to researchers, about 30 percent of the coral reef off the Coast of Tsushima Island in Japan, which lies in the temperate zone some 1,000 kms southwest of Tokyo, suffered bleaching. Background: • There was large-scale coral bleaching in Japan’s subtropical Okinawan chain of islands last summer. • Coral in Okinawa were taking refuge in waters with lower temperatures, expanding their habitat range. What are the major reasons? • Above-average sea water temperatures caused by global warming have been identified as a leading cause for coral bleaching worldwide. • Since 2015, all tropical coral reefs have seen above-normal temperatures, and more than 70 percent experienced prolonged high temperatures that can cause bleaching. • Early in 2017, the rise in water temperature caused significant bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia for the second consecutive year and also in American Samoa. Source: The Hindu
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Geologists strike seabed ‘treasure’ in Indian waters • Scientists from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) have discovered the presence of millions of tonnes of precious metals and minerals deep under the waters that surround peninsular India. Key facts: • Under the discovery, the scientists have found the amount of lime mud, phosphate-rich and calcareous sediments, hydrocarbons, metalliferous deposits and micronodules that geologists. • The discovery was a clear indication that deeper and more extensive exploration could lead to a larger treasure trove. • The organisation has also confirmed the presence of Phosphate sediment off Karwar, Mangaluru and Chennai coasts, gas hydrate in the channel-levee system of Mannar Basin off the Tamil Nadu coast, cobalt-bearing ferro-manganese crust from the Andaman Sea and micro-manganese nodules around Lakshadweep Sea. • Three state-of-the-art research vessels — Samudra Ratnakar, Samudra Kaustabh and Samudra Saudikama — carried out the ‘High Resolution Seabed Mapping and Natural Resource Evaluation’. “The main objectives were to identify potential zones of favourable mineralisation and evaluate marine mineral resources,” said Ashish Nath, superintendent geologist at GSI. Background: • The huge presence of marine resources was first identified off Mangaluru, Chennai, Mannar Basin, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and around Lakshadweep in early 2014. • After three years of exploration, GSI has generated 181,025 square kilometres of high- resolution seabed morphological data and established the occurrence of more than 10,000 million tonnes of lime mud within the Exclusive Economic Zone of India. About the Geological Survey of India (GSI): • The Geological Survey of India (GSI) was set up in 1851 primarily to find coal deposits for the Railways. • Over the years, it has not only grown into a repository of geo-science information required in various fields in the country, but has also attained the status of a geo-scientific organisation of international repute. • The main functions of GSI relate to creation and updation of national geoscientific information and mineral resource assessment. • These objectives are achieved through ground surveys, air-borne and marine surveys, mineral prospecting and investigations, multi-disciplinary geoscientific, geo-technical, geo- environmental and natural hazards studies, glaciology, seismotectonic study, and carrying out fundamental research. • Outcome of work of GSI has immense societal value. Functioning and annual programmes of GSI assume significance in the national perspective. • GSI, headquartered at Kolkata, has six Regional offices located at Lucknow, Jaipur, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Shillong and Kolkata and State Unit offices in almost all States of the country. • Presently, Geological Survey of India is an attached office to the Ministry of Mines. Source: Times of India
Eco-bridges for the movement of tigers • Telangana State is planning to construct eco-friendly bridges over a canal cutting across the tiger corridor linking the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra with the forests in Telangana’s Kumram Bheem Asifabad district. • The Telangana Irrigation Department has given its consent for the construction of the eco- bridges.
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About the plan: • The ‘eco-bridges’ will be constructed at key spots along the 72 km-long, and at some places over a kilometre wide. • The plan involves laying of fertile soil to grow grass and plants over the structure, so that fragmentation of the reserve forest is camouflaged. • Wildlife Crossing in Belgium • Recommendations on the size and locations of the bridges are awaited from the National Board of Wildlife. Background: • The concept emerged after visits by experts from the Wildlife Board of India and the Wildlife Institute of India. • They were concerned about the large-scale destruction of pristine forest along the corridor, which would result in cutting off tiger movement between TATR and Bejjur. About the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve: • Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra state in central India. • It is Maharashtra’s oldest and largest national park. • It is one of India’s 50 “Project Tiger” – tiger reserves. • Andhari, a minor river in waiganga basin flows through the tiger reserve. Source: The Hindu
Safe haven for endangered Egyptian vultures • The rare and threatened Egyptian vultures is successfully breeding within a human habitation in Punjab and, more importantly, has become a resident species. About the Egyptian vultures: • The Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) is one among the globally threatened vulture species found in India. • It is classified under the ‘Endangered’ (EN) red list of the International Union for Conversation of Nature (IUCN). • The species is popularly known as safed giddh (white vulture) in Hindi. • According to BirdLife International, a global partnership of organisations working for the conservation of birds, the present global breeding population of the Egyptian vulture is estimated to be 12,000 to 38,000 individuals. • Egyptian vultures usually build their nests on the cliffs of mountains, roofs of buildings and on tree-tops. • The species rarely hunt its food — the birds mostly feed on dead carcasses of animals, birds and reptiles. They eat eggs and sometimes, in the absence of animal carcasses, switch over to household solid waste like rotten fruits and vegetables. Source: The Hindu
Green tribunal declares area near Ganga as ‘No-Development Zone’ • An area of 100 metres from the edge of the Ganga between Haridwar and Unnao has been declared a “No Development Zone”, with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) prohibiting dumping of waste within 500 metres of the river. Penalty: • An environment compensation of 50,000 will be imposed on anyone dumping waste in the river. What is ‘No Development Zone’? • No-development zones are zones where no construction, including commercial or residential buildings, can come up. 94 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
NGT’s directions: • The NGT also directed the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments to formulate guidelines for religious activities on the ghats of the Ganga and its tributaries. • It also directed the authorities concerned to complete projects, including a sewage treatment plant and cleaning of drains, within two years. • The Supreme Court also appointed a supervisory committee, headed by the Secretary of the Water Resources Ministry and comprising IIT professors and officials of the Uttar Pradesh government, to oversee implementation of the directions passed in its verdict. The committee is to submit reports at regular intervals. About National Green Tribunal (NGT): • The NGT was established in 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources. • It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues. • It also includes enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith. • It adjudicates matters relating to Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991; Forest Conservation Act and Biological Diversity Act. • The NGT is guided by principles of natural justice and not bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. • It is mandated to make and endeavour for disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing. • New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting NGT. Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai are other regional sitting of the Tribunal. Members of the NGT: • The tribunal shall consist of a full time chairperson, judicial members and expert members. • The minimum number of judicial and expert member prescribed is ten in each category and maximum number is twenty in each category. • Another important provision included in the law is that the chairperson, if find necessary, may invite any person or more person having specialized knowledge and experience in a particular case before the tribunal to assist the same in that case. • A judge of the Supreme Court of India or Chief Justice of High Court are eligible to be Chairperson or judicial member of the Tribunal. Even existing or retired judge of High Court is qualified to be appointed as a Judicial Member. Source: The Hindu
Massive iceberg breaks off from Antarctica ice shelf • An iceberg weighing more than a trillion tons–one of the biggest ever recorded and nearly four times the size of Delhi—has broken away from the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica. Impacts: • The iceberg was already floating before it calved away so had no immediate impact on the sea level. • The calving of this iceberg leaves the Larsen C Ice Shelf reduced in area by more than 12%, and the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula changed forever. Who monitored the rift? • The final breakthrough of the rift was detected in data from NASA’s Aqua MODIS satellite instrument , which images in the thermal infrared at a resolution of one kilometre and confirmed by NASA’s Suomi VIIRS instrument .
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• The development of the rift over the last year was monitored using data from the European Space Agency Sentinel-1 satellites – part of the European Copernicus Space Component. What do experts say about the Antarctica ice sheet breaking off? • Experts opine that the large chunk of ice mass floating in Antarctica is not a new development, but the freely floating element is. • A report elucidates that although ice shelves already do float on open water, the icebergs that are created as a result of it don’t affect global sea levels, which are reported to be rising at approximately 3.4 millimeters annually. • The report further states that warmer water usually takes up a bigger volume than similar amount of cold water. This contributes to the expansion. Although the gigantic Antarctica ice sheet will eventually melt into water and warm over a period of time. • The report says it won’t necessarily have a significant effect on overall heating of the world’s oceans, cautioning that glaciers pouring water into the oceans are of greater concern. • Although the remaining ice shelf will continue naturally to regrow, researchers have previously shown that the new configuration is potentially less stable than it was prior to the rift. There is a risk that Larsen C may eventually follow the example of its neighbour, Larsen B, which disintegrated in 2002 following a similar rift-induced calving event in 1995. Key facts: • The Antarctic ice sheet contains 90% of the ice on Earth and would raise sea levels worldwide by over 200 feet if it melts. Sea level rise and India: • If there is eventually a rise in sea level, it is certain to impact India badly since the country has a long and densely populated coastline. • India has already started seeing effects of sea level rise in places such as Sundarbans and Majauli, one of the largest riverine islands in the world. • Any rise in sea level will also lead to economic loss of coastal communities and spark inland migration. Source: Indian Express, LiveMint
NGT imposes complete ban on nylon and synthetic manja • The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed nationwide blanket ban on the use of kite strings (manja), made of nylon or any synthetic material on the grounds that it poses a threat to animals and humans. • The judgement of Tribunal came on a plea filed by animal rights body People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and others. What petitioners say? • The petition filed by PETA and others had contended that ‘manja’ poses a grave threat to humans and animals as a number of deaths are caused by it every year. • It has also alleged that sometimes these strings coated with sharp metals, traps and kill migratory birds. • It also claimed that minor children were engaged by the cottage industry for the manufacture of ‘manja’, which caused respiratory problems as they inhaled harmful substances which were detrimental to their health. What is the NGT Judgement? • The Tribunal has directed all state governments to prohibit the manufacture, sale, storage, purchase and use of synthetic manja or nylon threads and all other synthetic strings used for flying kites with immediate effect. • It also ordered the authorities across the country to ban import of any synthetic manja or nylon thread or other similar threads coated with synthetic substances. Source: Indian Express
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Sensor network to map and predict pollution, effluents in Godavari • A group of U.S. researchers is working on a system to map undulating pollution trends in India’s second longest river- River Godavari. Key facts: • The exercise is part of a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation project to support the programme of the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) to provide city-wide sanitation improvements in urban Andhra Pradesh. • Sensors to monitor river pollution are an emerging technological approach in India. • Using a mix of methods, including satellite-monitoring, traversing stretches of the river to collect water samples and using special sensors to measure bacterial and chemical pollution, the researchers are trying to develop a cost-effective forecast system. • Through cloud-based data collection and real-time mapping systems, the research and implementation teams intend to demonstrate the importance and value of detecting and anticipating pollutants that enter the river in the form of human waste, organic materials, and chemical contaminants. Objectives of the project: • The long-term objective is to be able to inform State officials and citizens of a probable spike in, say, levels of dangerous microbes or effluents, similar to weather and air pollution forecasts. • Also, it is to be able to access “raw data” that could be used to inform the efficacy of a proposed faecal sludge treatment plant and whether behavioural interventions — including incentives or punishments — to restrict activities that pollute the river could actually work. About Godavari River: • The Godavari is the second longest river in India after the river Ganges having its source at Triambakeshwar, Maharashtra. • It starts in Maharashtra and flows east for 1,465 kilometres (910 mi) emptying into Bay of Bengal draining the Indian states Maharashtra (48.6%), Telangana (18.8%), Andhra Pradesh (4.5%), Chhattisgarh (10.9%), Madhya Pradesh (10.0%), Odisha (5.7%), Karnataka (1.4%) and Puducherry (Yanam) through its extensive network of tributaries. • Measuring up to 312,812 km, it forms one of the largest river basins in the Indian subcontinent, with only the Ganges and Indus rivers having a drainage basin larger than it in India. • In terms of length, catchment area and discharge, the Godavari river is the largest in peninsular India and had been dubbed as the ‘Dakshina Ganga’ – the South Ganges river. • The major tributaries of the river can be classified as the left bank tributaries which include the Purna, Pranhita, Indravati and Sabari River covering nearly 59.7% of the total catchment area of the basin and the right bank tributaries Pravara, Manjira, Manair together contributing 16.1% of the basin. • Pranhita is the largest tributary covering about 34% of its drainage basin. • The Coringa mangrove forests in the Godavari delta are the second largest mangrove formation in the country. Part of this has been declared as the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary , renowned for reptiles. Source: The Hindu
Earth facing sixth mass extinction: study • According to research, a “biological annihilation” of wildlife in recent decades means a sixth mass extinction in Earth’s history is under way and is more severe than previously feared. What are the factors behind the loss? • The main drivers of wildlife decline are habitat loss, overconsumption, pollution, invasive species, disease, as well as poaching in the case of tigers, elephants, rhinos and other large animals prized for their body parts. • Climate change is poised to become a major threat in the coming decades. 97 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
Highlights of the study: • Globally, the mass die-off — deemed to be the sixth in the last half-billion years — is the worst since three-quarters of life on the Earth, including the non-avian dinosaurs, were wiped out 66 million years ago by a giant meteor impact. On an average, two vertebrate species disappear every year. • More than 30% of animals with a backbone — fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals — are declining in both range and population. • The mammal species that were monitored have lost at least a third of their original habitat. 40% of them — including rhinos, orangutans, gorillas and many big cats — are surviving on 20% or less of the land they once roamed. The loss of biodiversity has recently accelerated. • Several species of mammals that were relatively safe one or two decades ago are now endangered, including cheetahs, lions and giraffes. There are as few as 20,000 lions left in the wild, less than 7,000 cheetahs, 500 to 1,000 giant pandas, and about 250 Sumatran rhinoceros. • Tropical regions have seen the highest number of declining species. In South and Southeast Asia, large-bodied species of mammals have lost more than four-fifths of their historical ranges. • While fewer species are disappearing in temperate zones, the percentage is just as high or higher. • As many as half of the number of animals that once shared our planet are no longer here, a loss described as “a massive erosion of the greatest biological diversity in the history of Earth”. Source: The Hindu
Sunderbans steadily losing its famed mangroves • Data obtained from latest study conducted using remote sensing and GIS for the first time has offered definite proof that the mangrove forest cover in Indian Sunderbans has been depleting alarmingly. What are the concerns? • From 1986 to 2012, 124.418 sq km or about 5.5% of the mangrove cover of Sunderbans was lost. Moreover, variable degrees of erosion were also observed in at least 18 islands. The continuation of this process is a serious ecological threat. • Total forest cover of the Indian Sunderbans as assessed by remote sensing studies for the year 1986 was about 2,246.839 sq km. It has gradually declined by 2,201.41 sq. km. in 1996, then down to 2168.914 sq km in 2001 and to 2122.421 sq km in 2012. The loss in the mangrove forest in the Indian Sunderbans is about 5.5 %. • The continuation of this process in response to climate change and sea level rise poses a serious threat to the carbon sequestration potential and other ecosystem services of this mangrove forest in future. • The study also highlights a time series of the erosion of at least 18 mangrove forested islands of the Indian Sunderbans from 1986 to 2012. These islands include Sagar, Gosaba, Dulibhasani, Dalhousie, Bhangaduni and Jambudwip. • The mean sea level rise is considered a driving factor for coastal erosion, coastal flooding, increase in the number of tidal creeks and losing land. The loss land, including mangrove forest is mainly due to decrease in fresh water flow and sediment supply in the western (Indian) part of the delta, and the rate of sea level rise is higher than sediment supply. However, the eastern (Bangladesh) side of the Sunderbans delta is gaining land because of the huge amount of sediment and water flow from the Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers. • Critical minimal inflow of freshwater is necessary for the luxuriant growth of mangroves. Decrease in freshwater inflow results change in mangrove succession where freshwater loving species of mangroves are replaced by salt-water loving ones. This immediate impact of
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salinity will also have negative impact on the fishing community, as commercially sought fish species will be replaced by fish that does not have as much market value. About the Sunderbans: • Sundarbans is a vast mangrove forest in the coastal region of the Bay of Bengal. • It covers approximately 10,000 square kilometres of area of which 60% is in Bangladesh with the remainder in India. • It is located in the delta region of Padma, Meghna and Brahmaputra river basins. • It is the largest tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world . • In 1997, Sundarban was recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Site . • In May 1992, it was recognized as a Ramsar Site . • Sundarban forests are known for its self- Royal Bengal Tiger and other numerous species of animals, including Chital Deer, Crocodile and Snakes. Source: The Hindu
Nine more bird, biodiversity areas in Kerala • Nine more locations in Kerala have been identified as Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs). • The new list was released by the Bombay Natural History Society , a partner of BirdLife International , in its recent publication, Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas in India Priority sites for conservation. Key facts: • With the latest addition, Kerala now has 33 IBAs. • Kerala IBAs are home to three critically endangered species — Whiterumped Vulture, Indian Vulture, and Red-headed Vulture. Newly identified IBAs of Kerala • The newly identified IBAs of Kerala are Achencoil Forest Division; Anamudi Shola National Park; Camel’s Hump Mountain, Wayanad; Kurinjimala Wildlife Sanctuary; Malayattoor Reserve Forest; Mankulam Forest Division; Mathikettan Shola National Park; Muthikulam- Siruvani; and Pampadum Shola National Park. What are IBAs? • The IBAs are “places of international significance for the conservation of birds and other biodiversity” and are “distinct areas amenable to practical conservation action,” according to BirdLife International. What if a site is declared an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area? • Declaring a site as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area does not ensure that the site gets legal protection or becomes inaccessible to people. • Instead BirdLife International encourages national and State governments to recognise the areas as sites of vital importance for conservation of wildlife and to empower local community-based conservation initiatives. Criteria for IBA: • Globally threatened species. • Restricted-range species. • Biome-restricted species. About the BirdLife International: • BirdLife International (formerly the International Council for Bird Preservation) is a global partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources. • It is the world’s largest partnership of conservation organisations, with over 120 partner organisations.
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• BirdLife International publishes a quarterly magazine, World Birdwatch, which contains recent news and authoritative articles about birds, their habitats, and their conservation around the world. • BirdLife International is the official Red List authority for birds, for the International Union for Conservation of Nature. About BNHS: • Bombay Natural History Society (BHNS) is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. • It was founded on 15 September 1883 and headquartered at Hornbill House, Mumbai. • It supports many research efforts through grants and publishes the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. • Department of Science and Technology has designated as a ‘Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’. Source: The Hindu
ART & CULTURE India to celebrate Falun Gong • Falun Gong, the ancient Chinese holistic system that is banned in China , will be celebrated in India on July 15 with a parade and Human Word Formation in the capital. • The event would highlight the persecution against the practitioners in China. About the Falun Gong: • Falun Gong is a Chinese spiritual practice that combines meditation and qigong exercises with a moral philosophy centered on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. • The practice emphasizes morality and the cultivation of virtue, and identifies as a qigong practice of the Buddhist school, though its teachings also incorporate elements drawn from Taoist traditions. • Through moral rectitude and the practice of meditation, practitioners of Falun Gong aspire to eliminate attachments, and ultimately to achieve spiritual enlightenment. What’s the difference between Falun Gong and Falun Dafa? • These are two names for the same practice. They can be used interchangeably. “Falun Gong” translates as “Practice of the Law Wheel” or “Law Wheel Qigong,” while “Falun Dafa” translates as “Great Way of the Law Wheel.” Why is Falun Dafa persecuted in China? • The complex rationale behind the persecution can be broken into four elements: • A paranoid dictator’s fear of Falun Gong’s meteoric growth and soaring popularity; • That same dictator’s intense jealousy of Falun Dafa’s popularity; • The inherent conflict between the communist regime’s savage political ideology and its polar opposite—Falun Dafa’s principles of “Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance”; and • The very nature of communism, which to sustain itself requires periodically labeling a small segment of the population as the “class enemy” to “struggle” against. • In October 1999, Chinese government declared Falun Gong a “heretical organization” that threatened social stability. Falun Gong is unique in eight ways: 1. A Falun is cultivated, rather than an energy elixir. 2. The Falun refines the person even when he or she is not doing the practice’s exercises. 3. One’s primary consciousness is cultivated, such that it is the person him or herself who obtains Gong energy. 4. Both mind and body are cultivated. 5. The practice consists of five exercises, which are simple and easy to learn. 100 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
6. The mind is not used to direct anything, there are no associated risks, and Gong energy increases quickly. 7. Location, time, and direction are not of concern when exercising, nor is how one concludes one’s exercise session. 8. Protection is provided by the master’s Fashen, so one needn’t fear harm from malevolent entities. Source: The Hindu
Ahmedabad gets World Heritage City tag • The 600-year-old Walled City of Ahmedabad was declared World Heritage City by the World Heritage Committee (WHC) of UNESCO after it met in Karlow, Poland. • Earlier, the committee also added Asmara (capital of Eritrea), added Hebron-Al Khalil Old Town (Palestine) and W-Arly-Pendjari Complex (Benin, Burkina Faso) to the list. Key facts: • The Walled City of Ahmedabad will now join the likes of Paris, Cairo, and Edinburgh. • It is first Indian city get the honour. • It will be third city from the Indian subcontinent to enjoy this status along with Bhaktapur in Nepal and Galle in Sri Lanka. About the Walled City of Ahmedabad: • The Walled City of Ahmedabad is located on the eastern banks of Sabarmati river. • It was founded by Sultan Ahmed Shah I of Gujarat Sultanate in in 1411. • It presents a rich architectural heritage from the sultanate period, notably the Bhadra citadel, walls and gates of the Fort city and numerous mosques and tombs, as well as important Hindu and Jain temples of later periods. • The city’s historic characteristics include densely-packed traditional houses (‘pols’) in gated traditional streets (‘puras’) with features such as bird feeders, public wells and religious institutions. • The city also holds rare distinction of being one of the oldest trading points in India and also centres of Indian freedom struggle under Mahatma Gandhi. About World Heritage Cities Programme: • It is one of six thematic programmes formally approved and monitored by the World Heritage Committee (WHC) of UNESCO. • It aims to assist state parties in the challenges of protecting and managing their urban heritage. • The programme is structured along a two-way process (i) development of a theoretical framework for urban heritage conservation, and (ii) provision of technical assistance to States Parties for the implementation of new approaches and schemes. Source: The Hindu
MORE NEWS Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2017 • The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an international event of military music performance undertaken by the Armed Forces. • In fact, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is the largest tattoo performed in the world in the majestic, sprawling stretch of Edinburgh Castle Esplanade, Scotland. • It is in news as Indian Navy Band is going to participate in this year event.
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29 th July: International Tiger Day • The International Tiger Day (also known as Global Tiger Day ) is celebrated every year on 29 July to raise awareness for tiger conservation. • The International Tiger Day was founded in 2010 at the St. Petersburg Tiger Summit. The summit had issued St. Petersburg Declaration on Tiger Conservation with an aim to double the big cat population by 2022. • The tiger is the largest of the world’s big cats with its distinctive orange and black stripes and beautifully marked face. • According to WWF, only 3,890 tigers are left in the world, of them, India with more than 2500 tigers has the highest number.
Glow-in-the-dark shark discovered in the Pacific • Scientists have discovered a glow-in-the-dark shark species that has an unusually large nose, weighs a little less than a kilo and measures less than a foot. • The new species is a member of the lanternshark family, and has been named Etmopterus lailae • It lives 1,000 feet below the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. • Like other lanternsharks, the Etmopterus lailae is bio-luminescent and the flanks on the bottom of its belly glow in the dark. • Some of the other distinctive characteristics include its flank markings that go forward and backward on their bellies and a naked patch without scales on the underside of its snout. • This species is very understudied because of its size and the fact that it lives in very deep water.
World’s first wind farm • The world’s first full—scale floating wind farm is being built off the coast of Scotland in the North Sea. • The wind farm, known as Hywind is a trial project which aims to bring power to 20,000 homes. • The floating wind farm technology will allow wind power to be harvested in waters that are too deep for the existing bottom—standing turbines particularly installed in shallow waters. • The turbines in the floating wind farm can operate in water up to a kilometre deep. The power output is also larger than power generation from current stationary turbines.
Aarambh app for Road maintenance • The Union Ministry of Rural Development has launched a mobile app- Aarambh- for road maintenance. • It was launched for performance based maintenance contracting and community contracting for maintenance of rural roads. • This Mobile Phone App aims at use of GIS based mapping for making road inventories, condition surveys, and producing cost estimates and other relevant data for preparation and monitoring of annual road maintenance plans. • Its usage would greatly enhance the service delivery of the state level institutions in planning and implementing performance based rural roads maintenance contracts.
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Debug Fresno • It is the 20 million machine-raised mosquitoes to shrink the numbers of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes — the species responsible for spreading zika, dengue and chikungunya. • The project is released by Verily, a subsidiary of Alphabet, Google’s holding company and US scientists. • For 20 weeks, the company plans to release a million of the sterile, non-biting male mosquitoes in two neighbourhoods in Fresno county. • The male mosquitoes are bred and infected with Wolbachia, a bacterium that is naturally found in at least 40% of all insect species. The bacterium used to sterilise mosquitoes “is not known” to infect humans. • In a phenomenon called cytoplasmic incompatibility, matings between Wolbachia-infected males and uninfected females result in embryo lethality or low hatch rates.
USS Gerald R Ford • It is the world’s largest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier inducted by U.S. Navy. • USS Gerald Ford is first in the series of three of the futuristic ships of the Ford-class carriers ordered by US Navy. • Its operational deployment will be in 2021 after undergoing final outfitting and testing.
Novobiocin compound • Recently, researchers from Spain have discovered novobiocin compound that could be used as a potential drug to fight the effects of a Zika virus infection. • The novobiocin compound was previously used in antibiotic drug to fend off “nosocomial” infections (those acquired inside a hospital). However, the drug was withdrawn from the market because it had lost its potency as an antibiotic. • Researchers have found that this compound can counter the symptoms of the mosquito-borne Zika disease.
First meeting of Integrated Monitoring and Advisory Council (IMAC) • The first meeting of the newly formed Integrated Monitoring and Advisory Council (IMAC) was held in New Delhi. • It was chaired by Union Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan. • IMAC is an inter-ministry monitoring and advisory body for policy formulation and implementation of ‘Roadmap to achieve target of 10% reduction in import dependency in oil and gas by 2021-22. About IMAC: • IMAC was envisaged to facilitate better coordination and comprehensive strategy for all energy resources by focusing on supply and demand side management . • IMAC is consisted of Secretary, Petroleum & Natural Gas and other Senior Officers from various Ministries such as Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Urban Development, Road and Transport, Agriculture, Power/Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Rural Development, Finance, Petroleum Planning Analysis Cell, PCRA, DGH etc.
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Indian Army signs MoU with DRDO to raise MRSAM defence system regiment • The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has signed a pact with the Army for developing a medium-range surface to air missile (MRSAM) which will be capable of shooting down ballistic missiles and aircraft. • The missile will be produced by the DRDO in collaboration with the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). • The MRSAM is an advanced, all weather, mobile, land-based air defence system. • MRSAM is a land-based variant of the long-range surface-to-air missile (LRSAM) or Barak-8 naval air defence system, which is designed to operate from naval vessels. • The missile will be capable of engaging multiple aerial targets at a range of more than 50 kms. • The MRSAM system will be capable of shooting down enemy ballistic missiles, aircraft, helicopters, drones, surveillance aircraft and AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control Systems) aircraft • The Army has been pressing the government for the MRSAM to enhance its strike capability. • MRSAM’s current version is operational with the Indian Air Force and Navy.
World’s first Laser Weapons System • United States Navy successfully tested the world’s first-ever active Laser Weapons System (LaWS) . • The LaWS is currently deployed aboard the USS Ponce, an amphibious transport ship, in the Persian Gulf. USS Ponce is first ship in the world to be deployed with such advanced weapons system. • LaWS operates within an invisible part of the electromagnetic spectrum. • It is absolutely silent and incredibly effective. • It strikes are extremely accurate, silent and invisible. • The system has special materials that release photons at the speed of light. • It silently hits the target, burning it to a temperature of thousands of degrees. • It can even target a single component of an enemy target and disable or destroy it as necessary. • Each strike of the system travels 50,000 times the speed of an incoming ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile). • It is a very versatile weapon that can be used against a variety of targets in air or surface targets or ground-based targets. Its precise nature can also limit collateral damage in wartime.
Gujarat retains top slot of states with most investment potential • According to a report by economic think-tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), Gujarat has retained the top position in the list of 21 states and UTs with most investment potential. • Gujarat is followed by Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. • While Gujarat topped in economic climate and perceptions, Delhi ranked one in infrastructure. While Tamil Nadu topped the chart in labour issues, Madhya Pradesh ranked one in land pillar. • The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) State Investment Potential Index (N-SIPI 2017) report ranks states on their competitiveness in business and their investment climate. 104 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
• The ranking of 20 states and one Union Territory of Delhi was based on six pillars — labour, infrastructure, economic climate, governance and political stability, perceptions and land — and 51 sub-indicators.
mAadhaar app • The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has launched ‘mAadhaar’, a new mobile application for syncing Aadhaar data on mobile phones. • The application allows users to have their Aadhaar profile on their mobile as a quick and convenient identification proof. • The app also allows users to lock or unlock biometrics data.
Ganga Avahan • ‘Ganga Avahan’ is a 2,800-km exploratory open-water swim expedition on the Ganga river. • It was in news as a book titled “Ganga Avahan – The Epic Tale of a Historic Swim” was recently released. • The book is on the first-ever human effort to swim down the entire stretch of the Ganga river. • It is also the longest ever social campaign undertaken through an adventure sporting activity for the Swachh Bharat Mission, Clean Ganga project and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative. • The expedition commenced on October 8, 2015 at Devprayag, where Bhagirathi and Alaknanda merge and the Ganga begins and it culminated 43 days later on November 19, 2015.
8th Slum Daud • Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel flagged off the 8th Slum Yuva Daud in Delhi. • The Slum Yuva Daud is part of the Adopt Slum Campaign initiated by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan which aims at highlighting the government’s pro-people schemes among masses. • The “Adopt a Slum” campaign will involve groups like NSS, public schools, RWAs, NGOs, rotary clubs etc. • Total 11 Slum Yuva Runs have been planned out of which 8 have already been successful with mass participation of youth from various Delhi slums.
Serial-numbered pens for Presidential poll • The Election Commission (EC) for the first time is using unique serial numbered special pens with violet ink for casting of votes for the presidential polls. • Now, MPs and MLAs have been barred from carrying their own pens to the voting chamber for the presidential election. They will have to mark the ballot with a specially designed marker. • These special pens have been procured from Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd., which supplies indelible ink to the commission .
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Raipur Airport Ranked First in Customer Satisfaction Index Survey • Raipur’s Swami Vivekananda Airport was once again ranked first in Customer Satisfaction Index Survey among 49 airports in the country. • Raipur Airport achieved 4.84 score on a five point scale index in the latest CSI survey conducted by an independent agency for the period of January-June 2017, followed by Udaipur, Amritsar and Dehradun airports. • Customer Satisfaction is one of the key performance objectives of Airport Authority of India (AAI) which is evaluated through CSI survey conducted by an independent agency commissioned by AAI. • The survey covers a wide range of parameters like transportation, passenger facilities, cleanliness and parking etc.
Government at a Glance 2017 report: India tops OECD list of countries • The latest edition of the OECD’s Government at a Glance report states that 73 per cent Indians have faith in the Narendra Modi led NDA coalition, the highest in the world. • India is followed by the Canadian government headed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (62 per cent). • Turkey, which witnessed a failed coup attempt in 2016, is in third place (58 per cent). • Russia and Germany rounded off the top 5, with confidence levels at 58 per cent and 55 per cent respectively. • On the other hand, the United States government led by President Donald Trump secured only 30 per cent of the peoples’ confidence. • In the United Kingdom, which is in the midst of a bitter ‘Brexit’ following a divisive referendum last year, trust in the Theresa May government stands at 41 per cent. • Greece, which had to bear the brunt of the EU migration crisis while struggling with a failing economy, is at the bottom of the table with a mere 13 per cent of the people’s confidence.
India’s first solar-powered 1600 HP DEMU train launched • Indian Railways has launched the country’s first solar-powered local train with a battery bank facility that ensures sufficient power even in the absence of sunlight. • The entire electrical need of the coaches, which includes lights, fans and information display system, will be met by the energy produced by solar panels fitted atop the coaches of the DEMU (diesel electric multiple unit) train. • The train was launched from Safdarjung railway station.
India to host 8th Edition of Theatre Olympics • India will host 8th Edition of Theatre Olympics ‘The Biggest Theatre Celebration of the World’ from February 17 – April 08, 2018. • The Theatre Olympics, being held in India for the first time, is being organised by National School of Drama, under the aegis of Ministry of Culture. • The Theatre Olympics was established in 1993 in Delphi, Greece, as the first international theatre festival. • With the tagline ‘Crossing Millennia’, this is an initiative to connect the cultural past with the present and future, bringing the richness and diversity of theatre heritage to the experiments and research of contemporary theatre. • The first country to host the Theatre Olympics was Greece in 1995. • In 2016, the 7th Theatre Olympics were held in Wroclaw, Poland. 106 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
Pope Francis adds fourth path to sainthood • Pope Francis has issued an apostolic letter creating a new category (a fourth one) called an oblatio vitae or a “free offering of one’s life” under which someone could possibly become a saint. • The category added, as described by the Vatican, involves people who freely accept an imminent death for the good of others. • The pathway focuses on people who sacrifice their lives for others. • Previously, gaining consideration for sainthood in the Catholic Church took only three routes: 1. Martyrdom (dying for your faith); 2. Living a life of heroic, Christian values; or 3. Having a saintly and devout reputation. • One of the most well-known figures to take one of those paths in recent times was humanitarian Mother Teresa, who was canonized as Saint Teresa of Calcutta in 2016.
In a first, Rajasthan fixes minimum education qualification for cooperative body polls • Rajasthan has become the country’s first State to lay down the minimum educational qualifications for contesting elections to village cooperative societies and various other cooperative bodies. • The State Cooperative Societies Rules, 2003, were amended for the purpose and notified. • The educational qualifications will range from Class V to Class VIII for election as members of governing boards of dairy societies, farming societies, consumer societies, weavers’ societies, housing construction societies, urban banks, primary land development banks, credit societies, salary earners’ societies and cooperative unions. • This move will ensure more employment in the field of cooperatives. It will also ensure competent and talented personnel are selected in a transparent way.
Aaykar Setu • The Union Finance Ministry has launched Aaykar Setu, a new tax payer service module. • The new e-initiative literally means taxpayer’s bridge and will be available in android phones. • This e-initiative aims provide better taxpayer services and also help in reducing the direct physical interface between assesses and tax assessing authorities. • It will also help people link their 12-digit biometric identifier Aadhaar with PAN card.
Saint Teresa’s blue-bordered sari an Intellectual Property now • The famous blue-bordered sari of Mother Teresa, who has been canonised as Saint Teresa of Calcutta by the Vatican, has been recognised as an Intellectual Property of the Missionaries of Charity. • The Trade Marks Registry, Government of India, has granted the registration of the trade mark for that pattern of blue border of sari.
What is a “Moonshot” Technology? • A moonshot, in a technology context, is an ambitious, exploratory and ground-breaking project undertaken without any expectation of near-term profitability or benefit and also, perhaps, without a full investigation of potential risks and benefits. 107 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
• The term “moonshot” derives from the Apollo 11 spaceflight project, which landed the first human on the moon in 1969. • “Moonshot” may also reference the earlier phrase “shoot for the moon” meaning aim for a lofty target. • Google has adopted the term moonshot for its most innovative projects, many of which come out of the Google X, the company’s semi-secret lab. • Google moonshots include Google Glass, Project Loon (a balloon-based Internet service project), the driverless car, augmented reality glasses, a neural network, robots for the manufacturing industry and Project Calico, a life extension project.
“Programme 17 for 17” • It is a 17-point action plan for 2017 – for building digital campuses and high quality education. • The action plan covers measures like universal adoption of digital education, digital financial transactions in the campuses from the current academic year.
22nd World Petroleum Congress • The 22nd World Petroleum Congress (WPC) International Conference has begun at Istanbul, Turkey . • India is also taking part in the conference . • The tri-annual WPC Conference is widely recognized as the `Olympics` of the oil and gas industry. • It attracts Ministers, CEOs of Oil and Gas MNCs, experts and academics from the hydrocarbon sectors and provides an ideal forum to showcase potential of countries’ hydrocarbon sector. • It also provides a platform to interact with policy makers, technologists, scientists, planners and management experts.
India becomes Fourth Largest Foreign Investor into UK • According to the latest official figures, India has slipped by one spot to become the fourth- largest foreign investor into the UK. • The US remains on the top, investing in 577 projects in the UK, with China (including Hong Kong) remaining in second place with 160 projects. • India set up 127 new projects in Britain last year and safeguarded 7,645 existing jobs as a result and created 3,999 new jobs in 2016-17. However, it lost its position as the third largest investor in the UK to France which set up 131 projects last year. • India shares the fourth spot with Australia and New Zealand, which also set up 127 projects collectively.
NMCE and ICEX to merge, creating India’s third largest commodity exchange • National Multi-Commodity Exchange (NMCE), India’s first demutualized multi- commodities exchange , will merge with Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX). • The proposed merger will create India’s third largest commodities exchange, offering a range of contracts including bullion, oil, rubber and other agri-commodities. • The exchange will also offer the world’s first diamond futures contract , which has already received “in-principle” approval from the regulator. 108 Call: 8899999931/34, 7065202020, Email: [email protected], Visit: www.eliteias.in A-1, Chandra House, Top Floor, Opp. ICICI Bank, Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi-110009
• The largest commodity exchange by volume is the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) followed by National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX). • The merger will help ICEX to further strengthen its position in the country’s fast-growing commodity derivatives market. • It will result in greater financial strength, the consolidation of clients and members, an enhanced product basket, and higher operational synergies.
QRSAM • Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) developed Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) was recently successfully flight tested from ITR Chandipur, off the Odisha Coast. • The QR-SAM weapon system has been jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Bharat Electronics Ltd. • It has been designed to be a quick reaction missile. • It is an all-weather, network-centric missile system capable of search-on-the-move. • The missile system can also engage multiple targets within a range of around 30 km with two vehicle configuration for area air defence. • It is a truck-mounted missile with a 360° rotatable, electro-mechanically operated, turret- based launch unit. • The missile has a strike range of 25 to 30 km and can engage multiple targets. QR-SAM will complement the existing Akash short range SAM (surface-to-air missile) with a range of 25 kilometres which has already been inducted into the services.
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