9 1 0 2 - Y L U J Parliamentary Standing Committees Strengthening Parliamentary Committees Register of Banning of Cryptocurrency Iran’s Chandrayaan 2 Indigenous Inhabitants and Regulation of Official Nuclear Program Mission of Nagaland (RIIN) Digital Currency Bill, 2019 Nagaland version Why ban A door India’s mission to of the NRC is a bad idea? to nuclear escalation Moon’s South Polar Region JULY-2019 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. POLITY 5 • UNWFP • Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 • Utkarsh 2022 • Crimes that India’s statute books have failed to define • World Food India 2019 • J&K Reservation Bill • Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) • Karnataka Political Crisis • Odisha plans scheme for witness protection 3. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 35 • Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019 • African Union • Reservation of Jobs in Private Sector • At the UNSC- India’s agenda • Soon, read SC judgments in your language • Cabinet approves MoU between India and Maldives • Why are Parliamentary Standing Committees necessary? • Demilitarized Zone • Fairness of High-Skilled Immigrants Act, 2019 or HR 1044 2. ECONOMY 13 • Giving ties with Seoul a facelift • A thumbs down to unilateralism – On India- U.S.A trade • India abstains from voting for LGBTQ rights relations • India builds 250 homes in Myanmar to assist Rohingya • Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official • Iran defends seizure of U.K. oil tanker Digital Currency Bill, 2019 • Iran’s Nuclear Program • China stresses need for united trade front • Japan and South Korea at loggerheads • Code on Occupational Safety, Health (OSH) and Working • Kankesanthurai harbour in Sri Lanka Conditions Bill, 2019 • Kulbhushan Jadhav verdict • Consumer Protection Bill, 2019 • OIC’s curious record on Xinjiang • Credit Cards for Fishermen • Russian S-400 defense systems arrive in Turkey • Ethanol bio refinery to come up in Vidarbha • Three Military Logistics Support Agreements on the anvil • From baby steps to giant strides, GST gains momentum • U.S. Senate passes legislative provision to give India NATO • Global Innovation Index (GII) ally-like status • Green shoots of economic growth • What suits Trump? Kashmir mediation: Trump has • Group Work shed Scheme for Power loom Sector violated diplomatic protocols • India International Cooperatives Trade Fair (IICTF) • India, China to overtake U.S. in tech innovation: survey • Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Act, 2019 4. SOCIAL ISSUES 51 • Locusts • Having the last word on ‘population control’ • Merchant Discount Rate • Making national legislatures more gender-balanced • New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2019 • Nearly half of sex offence cases not being investigated in time • Odisha is origin of Rasagola • Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Care and Maintenance • Overestimation of India’s GDP growth of Case Property Animals) Rules, 2017 • Plan Bee • Schools turn nutrition gardens in Mizoram district • Pradhan Mantri Laghu Vyapari Maan-dhan Yojana • Van Dhan Vikas Karyakram • Privatisation of Indian Railways • Who can include castes in SC list? • Scheme for Incubation in Apparel Manufacturing (SIAM) • 376E of the Indian Penal Code- Ignoring the • Silk Samagra proportionality principle • Sovereign Bonds • Sugar Subsidies • Turnover Ratio 5. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 58 • United Nations Convention on International Settlement • Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) Agreements (UNISA) • Chandrayaan 2 Mission • crAssphage For guidance contact us on +91 9243500460 JULY-2019 2 • How micro RNAs regulate the colour of fruits, leaves? • Tamil Yeoman (Cirrochroa Thais) • Hubble Space Telescope • Tiger Census • International Astronautical Federation (IAF) • TRAFFIC • International Charter ‘Space and Major Disasters’ • Vanishing wildlife: 22 species have gone extinct in India • ISRO Technical Liaison Unit at Moscow • Waorani/ Waodani/ Huaorani • MOU between ISRO and Other Space Agencies • New Space India Limited 8. HEALTH ISSUES 87 • Oumuamua • Colistin banned in animal food industry • Senescent Cells • Dolutegravir • Spektr-RG • Ebola • Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) • National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill • Smoking e-cigarettes is more injurious to health 6. SECURITY AND DEFENSE 66 • UNAIDS • Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) • Defexpo India 9. ART AND CULTURE 94 • International Security Alliance (ISA) • Borgeet • LCU L-56 • Jaipur gets UNESCO World Heritage tag • Not a bloodless option for India • JATAN: Virtual Museum software • Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) • Pothamala menhirs stand guard on ancient necropolis • Sagar Maitri Mission-2 • Safdarjung’s Tomb/ Safdarjung Ka Maqbara • Securitypedia • Vyasatirtha • Strum Ataka • The judicial presumption of noncitizenship • Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act 10. GOVERNANCE 96 • Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) • Automated Multi-modal Biometric Identification System 7. ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY 74 (AMBIS) • App to track your carbon footprint to be launched • FCRA violation case against Indira Jaising’s NGO • Bengal port records country’s highest sea level rise in 50 • Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019 years • Why policemen kill themselves? • CPCB pulls up 52 firms over handling of waste • World Press Freedom Index • Dam Safety Bill 2019 • Desalination Technology • Dracaena Cambodiana 11. GEOGRAPHY 101 • Draw up action plan for revamping existing mechanisms: • Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) NGT to MoEF • Ghaggar River • Dugong/ Sea Cow • Milky Way’s violent birth decoded • Ganges River Dolphin • Mount Elbrus • Gharial • Mount Etna • Global problem, local solutions: on biodiversity • National Institute of Miners’ Health (NIMH) • HT Bt cotton • TOI 270 • Immunocontraceptives for wildlife population management • Innovating for Clean Air (IfCA) 12. EDUCATION 104 • Keoladeo National Park • Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ • Report sought on fly ash management Cadre) Bill, 2019 • Restoration of forests • Digital Platforms by MHRD • Sarcoptic Mange For guidance contact us on +91 9243500460 JULY-2019 3 • Draft National Education Policy 2019 • Global Teacher Status Index • Paramarsh • Scheme for Trans-disciplinary Research for India’s Developing Economy (STRIDE) • Transformation of Higher Education in India 13. DISASTER MANAGEMENT 110 • Europe Heatwave • Mumbai marooned • Ulhas River 14. MISCELLANEOUS 115 • Europe Heatwave • Mumbai marooned • Ulhas River • Why Assam is prone to floods and what’s the solution? 15. PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS 117 16. ANSWER KEY 130 17. MAINS PRACTICE QUESTIONS 147 18. INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS 150 For guidance contact us on +91 9243500460 JULY-2019 4 For guidance contact us on +91 9243500460 JULY-2019 5 POLITY 1. Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 • Internationally, CAH are dealt with under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Context: • They are defined as offences such as murder, • The parliament has passed The Aadhaar and Other extermination, enslavement, deportation, torture, Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 imprisonment and rape committed as a part of Features “widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack”. • It allows voluntary use of Aadhaar as proof of identity for users to open bank accounts and get mobile Issues-Reasons for reluctance phone connection. • India is not a party to the Rome Statute, which means • The bill proposes giving a child an option to exit from that it is under no obligation at present to enact a the biometric ID programme on attaining 18 years of separate legislation dealing with CAH. Even after age. ratification of the Genocide Convention (1948), India has not enacted it in domestic legislation. • Provides for voluntary use of Aadhaar number in physical or electronic form by authentication or offline • The most probable reason for India’s reluctance to verification with the consent of Aadhaar number actively participate in the negotiation process on a holder separate Convention on CAH, which started in 2014, could be the adoption of the same definition of CAH • The amendments provide for use of Aadhaar number as provided in the Rome Statute. for KYC authentication on voluntary basis under the Telegraph Act, 1885, and the Prevention of Money • India had objected to the definition of CAH during Laundering Act, 2002. negotiations of the Rome Statute on three grounds. Penalty * First, India was not in favour of using ‘widespread or systematic’ as one of the conditions, preferring • Under the Bill, the UIDAI may initiate a complaint ‘widespread and systematic’, which would against an entity in the Aadhaar ecosystem for failure require a higher threshold of proof. to • Second, India wanted a distinction to be made * comply with the Act or the UIDAI’s directions, between international and internal armed conflicts. and This was probably because its internal conflicts * Furnish information required by the UIDAI. with naxals and other non-state actors in places like Kashmir and the Northeast could fall under the scope • Adjudicating Officers appointed by the UIDAI shall of CAH. decide such matters, and may impose penalties up to one crore rupees on such entities. • The third objection related to the inclusion of enforced disappearance of persons under CAH. It is pertinent • The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate here that India has signed but not yet ratified the Tribunal shall be the appellate authority against UN International Convention