Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 01 APRIL 2019

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 01 APRIL 2019

::NATIONAL::

Supreme court rejects Goa’s move for international airport citing environmental issues

• The health of the environment is key to preserving the right to life, the Supreme Court has observed in a recent judgment and suspended the environmental clearance granted for an international airport at Mopa in Goa.
• Upholding the need to strengthen the ‘environmental rule of law’ for both intra and inter-generational equity, a Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta said every branch of governance and institutions across the country should strive to enforce this rule of law.
• While the most direct effect of a strong rule of law is protection of the environment, a firm regime against environmental exploitation would “strengthen rule of law more broadly, support sustainable economic and social development, protect public health, contribute to peace and security by avoiding and defusing conflict, and protect human and constitutional rights.
• “The rule of law requires a regime which has effective, accountable and transparent institutions,” Justice Chandrachud observed.
• In this case, the court said how the State of Goa, the Centre and the concessionaire highlighted the need for the new airport to accommodate the increasing volume of passengers. They had urged the court to disregard the “flaws” in the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) process. They had argued that setting up a new airport was a “matter of policy.”
• However, dismissing their pleas, the court said “the role of the decision-makers is to ensure that every important facet of the environment is adequately studied and that the impact of the proposed activity is carefully assessed.”

Deadline for PAN-Aadhar linkage extended further

• The government on Sunday announced that the deadline for the linking of Aadhaar with PAN has been extended to September 30, 2019.
• Those looking to file their income tax returns on or after April 1, 2019 will still have to quote their PAN while doing so.
• "It has been reported in some sections of the media that those PANs which are not linked with Aadhaar number by March 31, 2019 may be invalidated," the government said in a statement.
• "The matter has been considered by the Central government and now the cut-off date for intimating the Aadhaar number and linking PAN with Aadhaar is September 30, 2019 unless specifically exempted."
• The statement added that the Aadhaar number should be quoted while filing income tax returns from April 1 onwards.
• "Notwithstanding the last date of intimating/linking of Aadhaar Number with PAN being 30.09.2019, it is also made clear that w.e.f. 01.04.2019, it is mandatory to quote and link Aadhaar number while filing the return of income, unless specifically exempted," the government said.

::ECONOMY::

CEA claims growth rate highest post liberalisation

• The average growth rate of 7.5% achieved in the last five years is the highest for any government since liberalisation, despite global headwinds, Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian said.
• Mr. Subramanian asserted that the growth rate was high notwithstanding all the controversy surrounding the GDP data. “The Indian economy has grown at a very high rate, and despite any controversy that you must have read in the newspapers, let me validate that in the three months that I’ve spent [as CEA], one of the things that I’ve realised is that the touch-points of policy in India are large,” the CEA said.
• “Therefore it is very hard to create a narrative that is different from the truth,” he added. Mr. Subramanian was speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) Southern Region conclave ‘Industry Future Forward’.
• “This growth has been achieved amid headwinds against globalisation that have actually dampened our exports. In 2015 and continuing later, the credit culture and credit growth were in quite a bad shape. The growth has happened in the last five years, despite the credit growth being much slower and almost grinding to a halt, especially for small and medium firms,” Mr. Subramanian said.
• He also said that the growth was led by consumption in the domestic economy, which in itself was important, given the fears about recession that economists were anticipating globally.

Plea to ensure prescription of generic drugs

• A petition filed before the Delhi High Court has sought directions to the Centre and the Medical Council of India (MCI) to ensure that doctors prescribe generic medicines.
• The petition filed in public interest by advocate AmitSahni contends that the PradhanMantriBhartiyaJanaushdhiPariyojana (PMBJP) was introduced in 2008 to lower healthcare costs by providing quality generic medicines at affordable prices.
• The MCI had on January 21, 2013, issued a circular to deans of all medical colleges, directors of all hospitals, and presidents of all State medical councils, calling on doctors to prescribe drugs with generic names as far as possible.
• The authorities have failed to ensure this despite clear statutory directions, Mr.Sahni claimed. He said the generic medicines work in the same way and provide the same clinical benefit as the brand-name versions and cost 5% to 60% less than the branded counterparts.
• The petitioner sought strict compliance of regulation 1.5 of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, which mandates that every physician “prescribe drugs with generic names legibly and preferably in capital letters”.
• He claimed that the generic medicine stores were not available in and around government hospitals or other major private hospitals. To benefit the poor, he has asked for directions to set up generic medicine centres under the PMBJP near all super-speciality hospitals across India.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Arab leaders condemn US recognition of Golan heights

• Arab leaders, long divided by regional rivalries, condemned on Sunday a U.S. decision to recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and said West Asia’s stability depended on creating an Palestinian state.
• Arab leaders, gathering at summit in Tunis, have been under popular pressure to reject Washington’s action, while they also grapple with regional differences, including a bitter Gulf Arab dispute, splits over Iran’s regional influence, the war in Yemen and unrest in Algeria and Sudan.
• Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz told Arab monarchs, Presidents and Prime Ministers at the meeting that his country ”absolutely rejects” any measures affecting Syria’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
• The Saudi King’s condemnation echoed those of Arab officials before Sunday's summit of the Arab League, which usually ends with a final declaration agreed by the 22 member states.
• Tunisian President BejiCaidEssebsi said Arab leaders also needed to ensure the international community understood the importance of the Palestinian cause to Arab nations.
• Regional and international stability should come through “a just and comprehensive settlement that includes the rights of the Palestinian people and leads to the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Mr.Essebsi said.

UAE rejects regional experts opinion on Yemen

• UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, has rejected a report by the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen, and urged the Human Rights Council, HRC, to instead refocus on providing support to the Government of Yemen in building institutions to protect human rights in the country.
• In a letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, the Minister explained that "the Group’s mistakes and missteps in judgment and methodology are too numerous and too serious to ignore", which is why the UAE, along with many other HRC members, decided not to support the renewal of the mandate of the Group of Experts last year.
• Attached to the letter was a detailed assessment of the Group of Experts’ report published in 2018. The assessment finds that the Group in its report has both exceeded its mandate in a number of ways, while at the same time failing to fulfill important aspects of it.
• A statement by the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation stated that the Group did not apply the context of the conflict in Yemen to its monitoring and reporting functions, and its methodological approach was flawed. The Group also misinterpreted and misapplied international law, and presented incorrect claims against the UAE.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

ISRO successfully launches EMISAT satellite

• The Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO, launched India’s latest satellite EMISAT and 28 other smaller satellites of international customers this morning with textbook precision. The national space agency’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV-C45, carrying the payloads on board, lifted off from its spaceport, SatishDhawan Space Centre, Sriharikotta at 09:27 am. In a little over 17 minutes, the primary payload EMISAT has been ed by the rocket at an altitude of 754 km, as planned.
• In the next one-and-a-half hours, after two rounds of engine “restart” to reduce the orbital height to 505 kilometers, the customer satellites were released into space. After reaching the planned orbital height, all 28 customer payloads were ed in space within five minutes.
• Later, the remnant fourth stage of the rocket was allowed to fly further for 66 minutes by undergoing two more rounds of engine restarts. It helped to bring the engine to a height of 507 kilometers in a circular path.
• It is set to serve as an experimental platform in space, as it is fitted with research instruments from the ISRO, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology and another Indian organization called Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation.

::SPORTS::

Federer wins Miami open title

• In tennis, Roger Federer lifted his fourth ATP Miami Open title with an emphatic 6-1, 6-4 win over defending champion John Isner last night. The 37-year-old world number five took the first set in 24 minutes.
• In his 50th Masters final, the Swiss fourth seed produced some typically sublime ground strokes and wrapped up the match in an hour and three minutes.
• It is Swiss player's 28th Masters title and the 101st overall for a player who has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles.

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