VISIONIAS www.visionias.in CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2016 Copyright © by Vision IAS All rights are reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Vision IAS. 1 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. POLITY AND GOVERNANCE __________________________________________________________ 7 1.1. SC Upholds Law on Criminal Defamation ___________________________________________________ 7 1.2. Review of No Detention Policy Under RTE __________________________________________________ 8 1.3. Amendment to Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), 1988 _____________________________________ 9 1.4. Freebies in Election ___________________________________________________________________ 10 1.5. SC Panel to Monitor Medical Council of India (MCI) _________________________________________ 11 1.6. Money Bill Certification Issue ___________________________________________________________ 11 1.7. Rehabilitation of Bonded Laborer Scheme to Be Made CSS ___________________________________ 12 1.8. Unnat Jyoti by Affordable Leds for All (UJALA) Scheme _______________________________________ 13 1.9. Issues in Indian Sports _________________________________________________________________ 13 1.10. Converting Census Towns to Statutory ULBs ______________________________________________ 14 1.11. Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill of 2016 ____________________ 15 1.12. SC Order on Land Acquisition __________________________________________________________ 15 1.13. Issues Related to RTI Act ______________________________________________________________ 16 1.14. CAll Drop Rules Quashed ______________________________________________________________ 16 2. INTERNATIONAL/INDIA AND WORLD _________________________________________________ 17 2.1 India and Iran ________________________________________________________________________ 17 2.2. India and New Zealand ________________________________________________________________ 17 2.3. India and Italy ________________________________________________________________________ 18 2.4. India and Philippines __________________________________________________________________ 19 2.5. Political Crisis in Iraq __________________________________________________________________ 19 2.6. Conference On Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) _____________________ 19 2.7. Responsibility to Protect (R2P) __________________________________________________________ 20 2.8. Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) __________________________________________________________ 21 3. ECONOMY _______________________________________________________________________ 22 3.1. Bank Consolidation ___________________________________________________________________ 22 3.2. Amendment of DTAA with Mauritius _____________________________________________________ 22 3.3. Social Progress Index (SPI) ______________________________________________________________ 23 3.4. WithdrawaL of Notification: GM Technology Liscencing ______________________________________ 24 3.5. Payment Banks issues _________________________________________________________________ 24 3.6. Flaws in Bankruptcy Code ______________________________________________________________ 25 3.7. Tax Reforms _________________________________________________________________________ 25 3.8. Global Competitive Index ______________________________________________________________ 26 3.9. Apple Retail in India ___________________________________________________________________ 26 3.10. WPI in Positive Zone _________________________________________________________________ 27 3.11. New IPR Policy ______________________________________________________________________ 27 2 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS 3.12. Narrow Tax base of India ______________________________________________________________ 28 3.13. On-Tap Banking Licenses ______________________________________________________________ 28 3.14. Development of Indian Ports ___________________________________________________________ 29 3.15. Growth in Core Sector Output __________________________________________________________ 30 3.16. Palm Oil Industry not Attracting Investors: Report _________________________________________ 30 3.17. Steel Firms May Get NIIF Funding Support ________________________________________________ 31 3.18. Indemnity for Bankers to Tackle NPAs ___________________________________________________ 31 3.19. 5-Year Plan to Be Replaced By 15 Year Vision Document ____________________________________ 31 3.20. CPI to Be Sole Parameter for Setting Policy Rates __________________________________________ 32 3.21. Hybrid Annuity Model Draws More Bidder _______________________________________________ 33 3.22. Equalisation Levy/GoogleTax __________________________________________________________ 34 4. SOCIAL ISSUES ____________________________________________________________________ 35 4.1. Draft National Women Policy 2016 _______________________________________________________ 35 4.2. Domestic Violence ____________________________________________________________________ 35 4.3. Occupational Health Hazards ___________________________________________________________ 36 4.4. School Choice ________________________________________________________________________ 37 4.5. Transgender Rights ___________________________________________________________________ 37 4.6. Death Penalty India Report _____________________________________________________________ 38 4.7. Health Protection Scheme ______________________________________________________________ 38 4.8. Reforms in Medical Education ___________________________________________________________ 39 4.9. India-WHO Agreement on Traditional Medicine ____________________________________________ 40 4.10. Saievac meeting _____________________________________________________________________ 40 4.11. Inequality in Education _______________________________________________________________ 40 4.12. Draft Trafficking of Persons Bill _________________________________________________________ 41 4.13. Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 Draft Model Rules ______________________________________________ 41 4.14. Census REport on child marriage ________________________________________________________ 42 4.15. Commercialization of Education ________________________________________________________ 42 4.16. Gender Pay Gap in India ______________________________________________________________ 43 4.17. National Policy on Rape Victims ________________________________________________________ 43 4.18. Reduced Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus ________________________________________________ 43 4.19. Attacks on Africans in India ____________________________________________________________ 44 5. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY _________________________________________________________ 45 5.1. Draft Guidelines on UAV’s ______________________________________________________________ 45 5.2. India Successfully Tested Interceptor Missile _______________________________________________ 46 5.3. Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator _________________________________________ 47 5.4. Helium Microscope ___________________________________________________________________ 48 5.5. Superbug in USA ______________________________________________________________________ 48 3 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS 5.6. India's Red Line Campaign on Antibiotics __________________________________________________ 48 5.7. Gene Database Project ________________________________________________________________ 48 5.8. Quercetin ___________________________________________________________________________ 49 5.9. Kepler -62F __________________________________________________________________________ 49 5.10. Rosetta Findings _____________________________________________________________________ 50 5.11. Mukhota ___________________________________________________________________________ 50 5.12. Geo-Targeting in Advertisements _______________________________________________________ 50 5.13. Lohafex Project ______________________________________________________________________ 50 5.14. Bio-Glass ___________________________________________________________________________ 51 6. INTERNAL SECURITY/LAW AND ORDER _______________________________________________ 52 6.1. Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) ____________________________________________________________ 52 6.2. Role of China in North-East Insurgency ____________________________________________________ 52 6.3. Prithvi-II Missile ______________________________________________________________________ 52 6.4. Draft Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016 __________________________________________ 52 6.5. INS Kalvari __________________________________________________________________________ 54 6.6. Underwater vigil system in Visakhapatnam ________________________________________________ 54 7. ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT ______________________________________________________ 55 7.1. Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015 _______________________________________________ 55 7.2. Cyclone Roanu _______________________________________________________________________ 56 7.3. Asian Waterbird Census Data ___________________________________________________________ 57 7.4. Sangai Brow- Antlered Deer ____________________________________________________________ 58 7.5. Interlinking of Rivers: Data _____________________________________________________________