Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 28 September 2017

::NATIONAL::

SwachhathaDarpan award

• Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts are among the 46 districts in the country, and the only two districts in Karnataka, selected for the SwachhathaDarpan award of the Union government.
• The award will be given away in New Delhi on the third anniversary of the SwachhBharath Mission (Gramin) (SBM (G)) on October 2.
• The 46 districts have scored 90 marks to become entitled for the award. The award instituted by the Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, the nodal ministry for the implementation of the SBM (G), is given on the basis of the ranking of all districts in the country on the parameters of performance, sustainability and transparency.
• While 50 % weightage is given for performance, 25 % each is given for sustainability and transparency respectively.
• Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer M.R. Ravi said that Dakshina Kannada was declared open defection-free district in 2016 after 2,89,746 households were found to have built toilets in March 2016.
• A social audit of houses between August 16, 2017 and September 20, 2017 revealed that 2,96,105 of the 3,00,695 households have toilets. Dakshina Kannada has achieved more than the target fixed last year for declaration of a district as open defecation-free.
• The social audit revealed 4,590 households do not have toilets. Following this observation, a survey was carried out by the panchayat development officers that revealed that only 3,937 households do not have toilets.
• Of this, 707 houses were those that do not have door numbers and hence, cannot be considered under the mission to build toilets.

Order diesel online

• The Ministry of Petroleum is working towards creating an e-commerce platform in which customers can order diesel online and get delivery at their doorstep, Petroleum Minister DharmendraPradhan and officials in his Ministry.
• The Minister was referring to a consultative committee meeting that took place in April in Srinagar, where the idea of doorstep delivery of fuel was first mooted as a viable model to increase digital transactions as well as shorten queues at petrol pumps.
• After the consultative committee meeting, the Minister had even tweeted about this e-commerce model.

Rohingya crisis

• The Home Ministry has replied to a notice issued by the National Human Rights Commission over the planned deportation of Rohingya Muslims.
• The Ministry is learnt to have defended its decision, deeming Rohingya “illegal immigrants” from Myanmar. The deportations would be done as per the laid-down procedure. A Ministry spokesperson confirmed that a report had been sent to the NHRC.
• Another Ministry official said a factual report was sent to the NHRC and the various provisions of Foreigners Act and Passport Act, which bar foreigners from illegally staying in the country, have been mentioned in the reply.
• The decision to deport the Rohingya rests with the executive. This was told to the Supreme Court as well. The same reply has been given to the National Human Rights Commission.
• Taking cognisance of media reports, including The Hindu ’s, the NHRC had asked the Home Ministry about the government’s plan to deport the Rohingya by setting up “detention centres”. It observed that the “refugees are no doubt foreign nationals but they are human beings”.
• The Home Ministry is learnt to have told the NHRC that a procedure for detection and deportation of illegal immigrants existed under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and that consolidated instructions were issued afresh on April 19, 2014.
• In its affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on September 18, the Home Ministry said, “A fragile north-eastern corridor may become further destabilised in case of stridency of Rohingya militants, which the Central government has found to be growing, if permitted to continue. There is also a serious potential and possibility of eruption of violence against the Buddhists who are Indian citizens who stay on Indian soil, by the radicalised Rohingya.”
• On August 19, the Home Ministry issued a circular, asking all States to identify illegal immigrants and deport them as per the procedure.
• An official said that identifying an undocumented citizen was a “tedious” process and the final decision lay with a tribunal, set up in such cases to determine their nationality.
• The local police first enquires if the person is not an Indian citizen. He or she will be subject to trial and, if the tribunal decides against the subject, the deportation process will begin. A communication will be sent to Myanmar to verify their address.

Biggest international deal of CSIR stalled

• The biggest international deal signed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to transfer technology and training to a company in Ethiopia has stalled.
• The CSIR had signed a $7 million (Rs. 45 crore approximately) agreement with the Metal Industries Development Institute (MIDI) on June 13.
• The three-year contract involved personnel from both the organisations and, according to a press statement issued in June, was expected to begin technical collaboration from the next month.
• The CSIR — known to be strapped for research funds — had committed to securing 10% to 15% of its Rs. 4,000-crore budget through external projects and sources.
• The agreement was signed by the Director of National Metallurgical Laboratory (NML), Jamshedpur, and the project was to be executed by the CSIR-NML, CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur, CSIR-Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute, Pilani; CSIR-Central Scientific Instruments Organisation, Chandigarh; and CSIR-CLRI, Chennai.

Nirmala Sitharamanchairs her first DAC meeting

• Defence Minister NirmalaSitharamanchaired her first meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) and reviewed the capital acquisition schemes for military modernisation.
• The meeting accorded ‘Acceptance of Necessity’ to the Navy for buying upgraded sonars for its destroyers and frigates through the Buy India (Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured) route at a cost of Rs. 200 crore.
• These sonars are designed, developed and manufactured indigenously by the DRDO and the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory, Kochi, and will provide a significant boost to the Navy’s anti-submarine warfare capabilities. The DAC also cleared procurement of missiles for the Navy.
• The Minister directed that the capital acquisition schemes be meticulously monitored and brought to maturity within time lines.
• The Minister stated that the DAC meetings are to be conducted once in a fortnight to speed up capability development of the Armed Forces.

INDIA AND WORLD

India -Syria

• India assured its support to Syria in the fight against terrorism in the war-ravaged country, a major theatre of dreaded terror group Islamic State (IS).
• This was conveyed when visiting grand mufti of Syrian Republic Ahmad Badr Eddine Mohammad AbidHassoun met Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
• Mr. Singh assured the grand mufti of India’s support in eliminating terrorism on all fronts and recollected the long-standing friendship between India and Syria, an official statement said.
• Official sources said the issue of several Indians joining the IS and fighting for the terror group in Syria and Iraq was understood to have figured in the discussion.
• The Home Minister welcomed the grand mufti and discussion was held on wide-ranging issues including terrorism and security, the statement said.
• The Home Minister was confident that bilateral relations would improve further by such visits and wished that peace and stability were restored in Syria soon. The
• During the meeting, the grand mufti highlighted the evils of terrorism by citing the example of the killing of his son by terrorists and how he forgave the assassin.

India-Palestine

• Indicating at a new strategy of engagement, Palestine said India’s recent display of support has boosted the ongoing political reconciliation in the country.
• A senior Palestinian diplomat said the speech of External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj at the Non-Alignment ministerial in New York encouraged the Palestinian cause, and said his country would seek support from all sections of Indians for protection of the Al Aqsa mosque.
• The speech that President Mahmoud Abbas delivered at the annual UN General Assembly [UNGA] strongly urged the international community to come forward supporting the Palestinian cause, and the speech of External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj at the ministerial of Non-Alignment movement on the sidelines of the same summit, made a very positive contribution, and boosted our position.
• In her speech delivered at the ministerial of the member countries of the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM), Ms. Swaraj had cited India’s traditional support for the rights of the Palestinian people
• In his speech at the UN delivered on September 20, President Abbas strongly urged the international community to pressure Israel for the implementation of the two-state solution, and pledged to give a chance to the peace plans of the U.S.
• He also indicated that Ramallah would begin a new outreach to all parts of India and in this respect a beginning would be made with two India-Palestine friendship societies to be inaugurated soon in Odisha and Punjab.

::INTERNATIONAL::

Women given driving rights in Saudi Arabia

• Saudi Arabia’s historic decision to allow women to drive won plaudits internationally and inside the conservative kingdom on Wednesday, as euphoria mixed with disbelief among activists who long fought the ban.
• King Salman’s decree, which takes effect next June, is part of an ambitious reform push that runs the risk of a backlash from religious hard-liners.
• Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world to impose a ban on women driving and its maintenance was seen as a symbol of repression in the Gulf kingdom around the world.
• U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed the decision to end the ban as “a positive step toward promoting the rights and opportunities of women in Saudi Arabia”.
• British Prime Minister Theresa May hailed it as an “important step towards gender equality”.
• Saudi Arabia will use the “preparatory period” until June to expand licensing facilities and develop the infrastructure to accommodate millions of new drivers, state media said.
• Conservative clerics in Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy ruled according to Islamic sharia law, have long opposed lifting the ban, arguing that it would lead to promiscuity. One of them even claimed that driving harmed women’s ovaries.
• The announcement comes after decades of resistance from women activists, many of whom were jailed for flouting the prohibition.
• Human rights watchdog Amnesty International said: “It is a testimony to the bravery of women activists who have been campaigning for years that... Saudi Arabia has finally relented and decided to permit women to drive.”
• Saudi Arabia has some of the world’s tightest restrictions on women.
• Under the country’s guardianship system, a male family member normally the father, husband or brother must grant permission for a woman’s study, travel and other activities.
• It was unclear whether women would require their guardian’s permission to apply for a driving licence.
• The policy could socially liberate women — heavily reliant on foreign drivers and ride-sharing apps — and also boost the economy at a time of low oil prices by increasing their participation in the workforce, analysts say.

Twitter doubles character limit

• Twitter announced that it is doubling its character limit to 280 for all languages except Japanese, Chinese and Korean.
• At its inception, a tweet, modelled after an SMS message, was restricted to 140 characters. Over the years, Twitter found ways to sneak in a few more characters, first by excluding any form of media and later the @reply from the character count.
• The company had also flirted with the idea of 10,000 character tweets, according to technology website Re/Code. however, Jack Dorsey, the company’s co-founder and CEO, pulled the plug on it.
• Twitter has explained that its current update is meant to even out the difference caused by the idiosyncrasies of the scripts of different languages. For instance, in
• Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, 140 characters can convey a lot more information as compared to English or Spanish — it is this unevenness that Twitter currently aims to iron out.

ECONOMY AND BUSINESS

EPFO gets notice under GST

• The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Intelligence unit has slapped a notice on the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for defaulting on payment of service tax and has sought to examine the PF department’s records till 2016-17.
• The EPFO, however, told Revenue authorities that the PF office was exempted from paying service tax from April 2016 and hence, its services were exempt from any levy under the new indirect tax system.
• In its letter, it further challenged the demand for levy of service tax on statutory administration charges and interest charged by EPFO. The EPFO cited an order dated April 13 from the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal which said that it was not liable to pay service tax on the statutory activities performed under the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952.
• As the service tax exemption came into effect from April 2016, the Labour and Employment Ministry, which has administrative charge of the EPFO, earlier this year asked the Finance Ministry to extend the relaxation retrospectively. The ministry had argued that the EPF was a social security scheme and did not come in the category of ‘banking and financial services.’

Initiative to encourage SMEs in Britain to invest in India

• The Indian High Commission in London has begun an initiative to encourage small and medium sized British businesses to invest in India, in a renewed focus away from the larger firms that aims to match the success of the relationship between India and Germany which has seen strong partnerships in this area.
• The high commission is working to identify 50 companies that have the strength and interest in working in India initially that it can work with, as part of the Access India, which will provide necessary market entry support, and work with organisations such as the U.K. India Business Council.
• This programme is designed to provide market entry support services, strategy advisory, legal and financial advisory, product financing, location services and mergers and acquisition advisory as well as support through the process of states and central government approval.
• The defence, pharmaceutical and food sectors would be particularly ripe for investment under the programme.
• There is a small negative risk but that is mainly in railways, atomic energy and gambling.
• The SME sector is the backbone of the U.K. but they don’t have international exposure,” said Deputy High Commissioner Dinesh Patnaik.

::SPORTS::

ICC rule changes to apply for new series from today

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has attempted to address several key issues by bringing in new rule changes.
• The burgeoning size of bats has been among the major concerns. In a game favouring batsmen, these oversized willows were making the contest even more lop-sided.
• Now, the ICC has adjudged that no bat can be more than 40 mm in thickness at the edges and 67mm at any other point including the sweet spot.
• Another interesting change is the number of unsuccessful reviews reduced to two per innings of a Test; there will be no top-ups after 80 overs. However, the ‘umpire’s call’ will not see a team losing a review.
• As per the new rules, a batsman who had grounded his bat or any part of the body behind the crease, cannot be run-out or stumped even if his willow or frame is off the ground when the bails are subsequently removed.
• The players can now be sent off for Level IV offences, that include physical violence.
  A bowler sending down a ‘deliberate’ no-ball can be removed from the attack by the umpires. The batsman will not be allowed to take stance in the danger area.

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Rotavirus vaccine of Serum Institute’s found to be effective on children

• A rotavirus vaccine tested on children during a Phase III trial has been found to be safe and efficacious.
• The vaccine (ROTASIL) manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India has nearly 39% efficacy in children with severe rotavirus cases and nearly 55% against the very severe form of rotavirus diarrhoea.
• The vaccine targets all the five rotavirus serotypes.
• In 2013, an estimated 47,000 rotavirus deaths occurred in India. India accounted for 22% of all rotavirus deaths in the world.
• The Phase III trial was carried out at six sites in India.
• Three doses of the vaccine were given at 6, 10, and 14 weeks of age to 3,749 infants, while another group of 3,751 children was given a dummy.
• Children were randomly assigned to receive either the vaccine or the dummy and neither the children and their parents nor those involved in vaccinating the children were aware who was receiving the vaccine and who was receiving the dummy.
• The trial followed the vaccinated children till they turned two to study the safety of the vaccine. The results were published in the journal Vaccine .
• The three doses of the vaccine were given at 6, 10, and 14 weeks to coincide with the routine vaccination under India’s universal immunisationprogramme.
• The vaccine used is a mixture (reassortment) of bovine and human rotavirus
• “The bovine serotype does not cause diarrhoea in children. But as the bovine serotype carried the human antigen (gene) it helps the human body to develop antibodies against all the five human rotavirus serotypes,” says Dr. Prasad S. Kulkarni, Medical Director at Serum Institute, Pune.\
• Bharat Biotech launched a human rotavirus vaccine in 2015.
• The international NGO PATH partnered with Serum Institute on evaluating the vaccine in the Phase III trial.

First lunar space station

• Russia and the United States agreed to cooperate on a NASA-led project to build the first lunar space station, part of a long-term project to send humans to Mars.
• The project envisages building a crew-tended spaceport in lunar orbit that would serve as a “gateway to deep space and the lunar surface”
• The Russian space agency Roscosmos and NASA said they had signed a cooperation agreement at an astronautical congress in Adelaide.
• NASA said the agreement reflected the two agencies’ common vision for space exploration.

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