Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 16 October 2017

::National::

Pro bono could be considered even for judges

• Taking its cue from the Supreme Court’s guidelines issued , which stated that a lawyer should have fought a certain number of cases pro bono or free of cost in order to be designated as a senior lawyer, the government wants the same principle to be followed in the appointment of judges.

• The issue, however, is tricky as judges to higher courts are appointed by the Supreme Court collegium, — made up of the top five judges of the apex court — and the Law Ministry only has to give its concurrence. So, the idea has to be first approved by the collegium before it can be implemented.

• Asked if the proposal is under active consideration, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was cautious and merely said: “Our government encourages pro bono lawyering. Exposure to pro bono lends its own weight.”

• On October 12, the Supreme Court fixed guidelines on how to designate a senior advocate and mentioned pro bono work as one of the criteria.

• The Supreme Court has now set up a committee that will also look at various other criteria apart from pro bono work.

• Integrity, conduct, reputation and the number of reported judgments in which the advocate has appeared would all be factored in by the committee before recommending someone as a senior advocate, sources said.

• The Department of Justice has also written to various Bar associations asking for data on lawyers offering free legal service.

SC issued notices seeking views on guidelines for abortion

• The Supreme Court has sought a response from the government on framing of guidelines for setting up a permanent mechanism for termination of pregnancy beyond 20 weeks in exceptional cases.

• A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra issued notices to the Ministries of Health, Women and Child Development and the Medical Council Of India and sought their reply in four weeks.

• The court, however, refused to amend the 1971 Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act which prohibits termination of pregnancy beyond 20 weeks, saying that the issue fell within the legislative domain. “On a perusal of the reliefs sought, we find that as far as the prayer is concerned, that is in legislative realm, hence we are not inclined to address the said prayer.

• “Issue notice, fixing a returnable date within four weeks,” the bench told the government.

• The top court was hearing a plea filed by Karnataka-based Anusha Ravindra seeking amendment of the 1971 Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act for abortion of foetuses older than 20 weeks involving rape survivors and women with abnormal foetus.

• The plea, filed through advocate Abhinav Ramkrishna, also sought constitution of a committee for setting up a permanent mechanism for expedient termination of such pregnancies under safe medical facilities with adequate inputs from an association of professionals and experts.

Linking Aadhaar to bank accounts, phones case to be heard by SC

• The Supreme Court will hear a petition challenging the government move to link bank accounts and mobile phones with Aadhaar numbers, saying it violates the fundamental right to privacy and equates citizens, including the elderly, women and students, with money launderers.

• The petition filed by activist Dr. Kalyani Menon Sen has challenged Rule 2(b) of the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017 for mandatory submission of Aadhaar number for individual clients, companies, partnership firms and trusts for opening of bank accounts, maintaining existing bank accounts, making financial transactions of and above Rs. 50,000 and crediting foreign remittance into ‘small accounts’. Existing bank account holders have been directed to furnish Aadhaar numbers by December 31, 2017.

• Non-compliance would render the bank accounts concerned “in-operational indefinitely” subject to submission of the Aadhaar Number and the Permanent Account Number (PAN).

• “Non-compliance incurs the same liability as Section 5 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (for involvement in money laundering), that is rendering the concerned bank account in-operational. Present and potential bank account holders, who do not wish to part with their biometric information, are therefore treated on par with alleged offenders under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA),” Ms. Menon, represented by advocate Vipin Nair, submitted.

• The petition challenges the Department of Telecom on March 23, 2017 making it mandatory for all mobile phone holders to link their mobile phone numbers with Aadhaar.

• The petition said the provision regarding bank accounts and mobile phones both separately create an “impermissible artificial distinction” between those who have parted with their private, biometric information and those who have not. They both compel the latter category of the population to part with their biometrics for opening and maintaining bank accounts or for a mobile phone connection.

• The mobile phone circular is violative of Article 300A of the Constitution which protects a person’s right to not be deprived of property. “A bank account and mobile phone connection is the personal property of an individual,” Mr. Nair represented in court.

• Besides, both the provision and the circular are violative of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (hereinafter, “Aadhaar Act”) which limits the purpose of the Aadhaar number to receipt of a public subsidy, benefit or a service, the petition submitted.

Report on Ganga clean-up sought by NGT

• The National Green Tribunal has directed the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh and the Uttarakhand governments to file affidavits stating what steps they have taken to comply with its directions to clean the Ganga in the stretch between Gomukh and Unnao.

• The green panel, in a detailed judgment, had passed a slew of directions to rejuvenate the Ganga, declaring as ‘No Development Zone’ an area of 100 metres from the edge of the river between Haridwar and Unnao and prohibiting dumping of waste within 500 metres from the river.

• A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar also asked all the stakeholders to state what course of action they propose to take in relation to Phase-2 from Kanpur to the U.P. border.

• “All the counsels appearing for their respective clients will inform these directions to them. Copy of this order, also, be sent to DG of National Mission for Clean Ganga; Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources and Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for compliance,” the bench said.

• The tribunal had earlier, in a detailed judgment, said that the government had spent over Rs. 7,000 crore in two years to clean the Ganga, which still remains a “serious environmental issue”.

• The order, running into 543 pages, said “till the demarcation of floodplains and identification of permissible and non-permissible activities by the State government of this judgment, we direct that 100 metres from the edge of the river would be treated as no development/construction zone between Haridwar to Unnao in U.P.”

::INDIA AND WORLD::

Doklamstandoff might have halted a high speed train project

• An ambitious high-speed train project to connect Chennai and Mysore, via Bengaluru, has been delayed as a Chinese company has maintained silence after completing a feasibility study a year ago. They suggest that the “lack of response” may be due to the Doklam standoff.

• An internal brief of the Mobility Directorate on the status of nine high-speed projects of the Railways shows that the 492-km Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru corridor lies in limbo because the Chinese company has failed to respond to the Ministry’s communiques.

• “The Chinese company submitted the final report in November 2016, and after that, the Chinese team has suggested for a face-to-face interaction. No date has been fixed from their side,” says a note by the directorate.

• On the reason for the delay, the brief cites “lack of response” from the Chinese side.

• The brief says the feasibility study by the China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co Ltd. was submitted to the Railway Board in November 2016 and after that, the Chinese company had sought meetings with Board officials.

• “The study began in 2014 and they submitted the report in 2016. The entire cost was borne by them. In fact, they have shown so much interest in collaborating with us for other projects too, so we think that it was the standoff that must have raised doubts,” a railway official said. An email to the Chinese Embassy by PTI did not elicit any response

::INTERNATIONAL::

Talks between Iraqis, Kurds

• The Presidents of Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan held talks to defuse an escalating crisis, after a deadline for Kurdish forces to withdraw from disputed positions was extended by 24 hours.

• Thousands of Iraqi troops are locked in an armed standoff with Kurdish peshmerga fighters in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, amid spiralling tensions following last month’s vote by the Iraqi Kurds for independence.

• Kurdish forces, who were key allies in the U.S.-backed offensive against the Islamic State, are refusing to surrender positions they took during the fightback against the jihadists over the past three years.

::ENVIRONMENT::

Greenland sea becoming less saline due to melting ice

• Melting ice is causing coastal waters in Greenland to become less saline, which may in turn affect marine life as well as the global ocean currents that keep Europe warm, a study warns.

• For the first time, scientists from Aarhus University in Denmark have unveiled the long-term impact of the melting of the Greenland ice sheet.

• The observed increase in freshwater content will affect the conditions in all Greenland fjords, researchers pointed out.

• Over the years, the dramatic meltdown of ice in the Arctic Ocean has received great attention and is easy to observe through satellite images.

• Also, glaciers have been observed to melt and retreat and the researchers know that today’s meltdown of the Greenland ice sheet has more than doubled compared with the period 1983-2003.

• How the increased influx of fresh water will affect the marine environment is, however, largely unknown.

• Now, unique annual measurements made within the framework of the ‘Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring Program’ since 2003 in northeast Greenland tell a clear tale — fresh water from the ice sheet accumulates in the surface layers of the surrounding sea and flows into the Greenland fjords.

• Measurements show that the surface water layers became up to 1.5 per mill less saline. This equivalent to an increase in freshwater content from about one metre in 2003 to almost four metres in 2015.

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Watch that can survive nuclear blast

• Scientists have developed a military watch for the Russian army kit that can resist high impact, and even survive the consequences of a nuclear blast.

• The watch has been developed by experts of the Central Scientific Research Institute for Precision Machine Engineering (TsNIITochMash) — part of the Rostec State Corporation in Russia.

• It has been included in the new combat system for land forces, airborne forces, coastal troops of the Russian Navy, special operations units. It is designed for continuous time determination.

• The mechanical watch with automatic movement ensures fast and accurate time determination in severe climatic and operating conditions, during routine and combat operations.

• “The watch is capable of withstanding solar irradiation and electromagnetic pulses, for example after a nuclear blast,” said Oleg Faustov, Chief Designer of Life Support Systems for Tactical Gear at the TsNIITochMash.

• Soldiers can determine the time in any light environment or under blackout conditions. The watch is securely fastened on the wrist and does not hinder any manoeuvres or acts.

• The weight of the watch with a band does not exceed 100g, the scientists said.

::SPORTS::

Chess grandmaster Lombardy passed away

• William J. Lombardy, who was one of the most talented and promising chess players of his generation, winning titles and accolades while he was still a teenager, but who all but gave up the game at the height of his career to become a priest, died in Martinez, California. He was 79.

• Lombardy was the first American to win the World Junior Chess Championship — doing so with a perfect score, a feat that has never been duplicated — and he led the United States to victory over the Soviet Union in the 1960 World Student Team Championship, beating Boris Spassky, the future world champion. He was later named a grandmaster, the World Chess Federation’s highest title.

• Most great players start out as tacticians, always looking to attack, before they evolve into strategists, plotting a long-range path to victory from the very first move. Lombardy was a strategic player, and a good one, from the beginning.

Federer wins Shanghai Masters

• Roger Federer brushed aside World No.1 Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-3 to win the Shanghai Masters and register his fourth victory of the year over his Spanish rival.

• The Swiss World No. 2 beat Nadal in the finals of the Australian Open and Miami Masters and in the last 16 at Indian Wells earlier this year, and never looked like losing to his long-time rival here, firing 10 aces as he cruised.

::BUSINESS AND ECONOMY::

Information utility under the IBC

• Information utility is an information network which would store financial data like borrowings, default and security interests among others of firms. The utility would specialise in procuring, maintaining and providing/supplying financial information to businesses, financial institutions, adjudicating authority, insolvency professionals and other relevant stake holders.

• The objective behind information utilities is to provide high-quality, authenticated information about debts and defaults, as per the report of the Working Group on Information Utility published by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

• Information utilities are expected to play a key role as they allow storage of financial information of registered users and expeditiously process and verify information received.

• Moreover, the database and records maintained by them would help lenders in taking informed decisions about credit transactions. It would also make debtors cautious as credit information is available with the utility.

• More importantly, information available with the utility can be used as evidence in bankruptcy cases before the National Company Law Tribunal.

• Information utilities are governed by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy code 2016 and IBBI (Information Utilities) Regulations 2017. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) overseas aspects such as registration and cancellation of these entities, their shareholding and governance among others.

• Recently, IBBI eased norms for information utilities, allowing Indian firms listed on stock exchanges to hold 100% in such firms. It also allowed individuals to hold 51% in the utility for a period of three years.

• It is mandatory for financial creditors to provide financial information to the information utility. When they initiate insolvency proceedings against the defaulting firm (known as corporate debtor), the utilities may help as they would act as a centralised platform for accessing data.

• While the idea behind information utility is to have a financial data repository, it has to be seen to what extent firms provide data with regard to dues owed to operational creditors and how the utility is going to help the operational creditors during insolvency process.

• While the onus is on financial creditors, operational creditors and corporate debtors to provide the required information, procuring authentic information might be a challenge due to the sensitivity involved. There may also, be resistance in sharing information. Since it is a digital database, there is the risk of exposure to data piracy and data theft.

COAI favored steep hike in global call termination charges’

• Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has favoured a steep hike in international termination charges to Rs. 3.50 a minute against 53 paise per minute at present.

• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is in the midst of reviewing these rates, paid by foreign carriers for terminating international calls in India.

• “Today, there is a 20:1 imbalance between incoming and outgoing international calls. In order to adjust the imbalance, you need to go to Rs. 3.50 on a weighted average basis, to correct the arbitrage,” COAI Director General Rajan Mathews said.

• COAI has argued there is a need to bridge the gap between blended termination rate paid by Indian operators for outgoing international calls and the termination rates received by them on international incoming calls.

• Mr. Mathews sought to draw a distinction between termination charge complexities that come into play for domestic and international calls.

• “International interconnect rates are not as simple as domestic because there are multiple countries with their own regulatory processes and they set their own rates...also there are currency fluctuations to deal with,” he said.

Plantation crops under stress

• The three southern states, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, are home to coffee and tea gardens, rubber plantations, and spice crops, generating employment to more than 13 lakh people.

• Almost 40% of tea produced in the southern States is exported and 31% of pepper grown here, too, goes to other countries. However, the plantation sector reels under issues such as challenges of climate change, increasing labour and input costs, the need to improve yield, and necessity of growers to focus on value addition.

• Apart from tea, South India is the main grower of coffee, rubber, and spices such as cardamom, and pepper. According to data on plantation crops, of the almost 12.54 lakh plantation growers/estates in the southern, 9.73 lakh grow rubber and 1.66 lakh, coffee. In terms of area too, of the 11.47 lakh hectares (ha) under plantation crops, 6 lakh ha is under rubber, 3.55 lakh ha under coffee and 1.2 lakh ha under tea. Spices are mainly cultivated as inter-crop.

• Rubber and pepper growers face problems as domestic industries and trade are able to get imported products at lower prices. In the case of tea, high labour costs and a jump in production in all the tea-growing countries are challenges. For coffee, which is largely export-driven, there is a need to increase yields.

• The average wage for a manday in plantations in the the northeast is Rs. 130-Rs. 140 plus the social benefits. In the case of south India, it is Rs. 300 plus social benefits. “We look at exports to realise better prices,” Mr. Jayaram says.

• Sri Lanka continues to produce orthodox tea that has larger export demand and promotes the “Ceylon tea” varieties. To produce more orthodox tea and realise better prices, efforts should start at tea gardens. Similarly, even for mechanisation, which needs to be done more at the harvest level, the estates need to go in for replanting and re-alignment of the plants. All these require huge investments, he said.

• The climate condition of the Nilgiris is favourable to make tea throughout the year. The limited edition speciality tea that comes in winter has all attributes for exotic tea. We mainly buy the winter tea. We also get tea from these estates for some of the best-selling, in-house blends. It all depends on scaling up production of such teas, introducing new varieties and getting into theme-based marketing

• For coffee, exports reached an all-time high of 3.55 lakh tonnes last fiscal, with the trend continuing this year. A national-level survey in 2012 showed the domestic market too growing at 5%-6%.

• There are several attempts to promote estate brands, speciality coffees, sustainable coffee and the like.

• Over the years, cultivation of the Robusta variety has increased over the Arabica variety. Indian Robusta has gained recognition in the international market and gets a premium.

• However, Arabica cultivation requires attention as it is consumed more in the domestic market and this variety is important to conserve the forest ecosystem. Arabica is susceptible to climate changes and in almost every-coffee growing country, Arabica production is affected because of climate changes, said another official of the Coffee Board.

• In India, in the early 1950s, Arabica constituted 82% of coffee production and Robusta pitched in with 18%. By 2016-2017, Arabica had slumped 31.3% and Robusta had zoomed to 68.7%.

• However, the cost of coffee production in countries such as Vietnam is much lower. Vietnam plantations are relatively new and hence the yields are also high.

• The rubber-consuming industry in India (tyre manufacturers), which was earlier using the domestic sheet rubber, is now switching over to block rubber, citing better quality.

• A majority of the domestic growers are small-scale, who tap rubber and make sheet rubber from it. The larger rubber producers in India, who are few in number, make centrifuged latex which is used in surgical gloves, contraceptives, foam adhesives and mattresses.

• With climate change and imports increasing, tapping for rubber has been reducing in the plantations in India as it became unviable. If import of block rubber increases further, it will affect the model of small growers making sheet rubber as value addition and selling it.

• The Government brought in measures last year to regulate imports and the domestic industry has shown signs of revival. Rubber imports needs to be reviewed every quarter to protect the small and marginal rubber farmers, Mr. Cherian said.

• Cardamom and pepper are the main spices on the plantation side, apart from cloves and nutmeg.

• India has a trade agreement with Sri Lanka to import 2,500 tonnes duty free a year. This is to meet the demand during September-December as Indian pepper starts coming into the market in December-January.

• However, using this route, as also through illegal modes, pepper imports from Vietnam have shot up.

• Spices are sensitive to climate changes. Even a slight variation in rainfall can bring down productivity 50%-60%, he added.

• Adverse climatic conditions in the last two years in several cultivation pockets have hit the cardamom crop. Though cardamom needs to be replanted every 10 years, even the younger crops were affected by drought.

Recapitalisation bonds may return

• India is eyeing a circular solution to fix its banking mess. New Delhi might revive so-called “recapitalisation bonds”, which it used back in the 1990s. This makes sense given that banks are flush with deposits after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ban on big banknotes.

• New Delhi will recapitalise its banks in the next few months, senior finance ministry official Sanjeev Sanyal said last week. He added that options included a mix of reducing the government’s stakes to 52%, a direct cash injection, and recapitalisation bonds.

• Local banks need as much as $65 billion by 2019 to meet Basel III standards, Fitch Ratings reckons. With valuations below book value for most state banks, the government could raise barely $6 billion by reducing its stake in around 20 lenders. Nor does New Delhi have much cash to deploy in direct injections, since it is already stretched to meet a 3.2% fiscal-deficit target.

• Here the government borrows from the banks by issuing them bonds, and then uses the proceeds to bail the lenders out. This looks attractive because banks are flush with deposits, giving them firepower to lend, but credit demand is weak.

• Bank of Baroda grew deposits almost 5% over the year to end March but saw a decline in advances. Over time, New Delhi can potentially settle the debt by selling the bank equity it acquires using the bond proceeds.

• Neelkanth Mishra, equity strategist at Credit Suisse, says under some accounting standards this fix would not add to the fiscal deficit — though it would do under India’s current norms. Perhaps those might be changed.

• Credit-rating agencies might not be impressed either, since this would add to the government’s overall debt burden, but the only obvious alternative, privatisation, is not on the table.

• The details will matter. A 2003 IMF study of more than 40 bond issues for recapitalisation by countries including Algeria, Croatia, Indonesia, and Tanzania found such instruments are most effective when they are tradable and pay high enough coupons that banks can still fund loan growth. On the right terms, this money-go-round could get India’s key financial institutions moving again.

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