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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 02 December 2019

::NATIONAL::

Parliament to discuss on crimes against women

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said the government is ready for a discussion in LokSabha on the issue of crime against women and willing to explore stringent provisions in laws to check incidents like the Hyderabad rape and murder case.
Responding to a discussion during Zero Hour in the wake of the rape and murder of a veterinarian in Hyderabad, Singh said he was falling short of words to condemn the heinous crime.
As soon as the House met for the day, Speaker Om Birla said he would allow members to raise the "serious issue" in Zero Hour.
Uttam Kumar Reddy (Cong) raised the issue of the rape and murder of the 26-year-old veterinarian and slammed the Telangana Home Minister for his purported "insensitive" remarks.
He also slammed the state police for initially delaying to lodge a case.T R Baalu (DMK) raised the issue of sexual assault of a school girl in Coimbatore.Saugat Roy (TMC) said rape convicts should be hanged.
PinakiMisra (BJD) questioned the delay in executing the death sentence awarded to convicts in the "Nirbhaya" gang-rape case.He said laws and establishment on fast track courts will not make a differences till the time the death sentences are not executed.
On November 29, four men, aged between 20 and 24, were arrested on charges of raping and killing the young woman veterinarian in Hyderabad.

Nationwide vaccination to be conducted under Mission Indradhanush 2.0

Centre is launching nationwide vaccination drive to prevent eight diseases under Intensified Mission Indradhanush 2.0 across the country today.
The government's flagship scheme is aimed at immunizing children under the age of 2 years and pregnant women against eight vaccine preventable diseases.
The IMI covers vaccines for diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, measles, meningitis and Hepatitis B. Vaccines for Japanese encephalitis and hemophilus influenza are also being provided in selected areas.
The IMI 2.0 aims to achieve targets of full immunization coverage in 272 districts spread over 27 States. The IMI 2.0 will be carried out between December 2019 and March 2020.
The campaign will be carried out in 260 development blocks of 43 districts of the state including the capital Bhopal and Indore. In addition , the mission will be running in four-phases in state. Children will be vaccinated under the National Mission Indradhanush in the months in January , February and March next year.
Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Tulsiram inaugurated this campaign in Indore district. The Project Officers of the District Urban Development Agency has been made the nodal officer for the successful operation of the mission.

::ECONOMY::

Steel imports have increased over a period of 5 years ,claims govt.

Government today said import of steel has increased during the last few years.
Replying to questions in the LokSabha, Steel Minister DharmendraPradhan, however, said domestic production has consistently increased regardless of such imports. Mr Pradhan said, in the current year, country is a net exporter.
He said, to counter import of cheap steel, anti-dumping duties have been imposed on various grades of steel which were dumped into the country.
Mr Pradhan further said, import of steel grades which are not manufactured in adequate quantity in the country is essential for supporting manufacturing sector.
The Minister informed the House that the total number of steel plants in the country is 977. He said, work is currently going on in NMDC steel plant in Nagarnar, Chattisgarh, which is a Greenfield project.
In reply to another question, the Minister said, the production of iron ore in the country is sufficient to meet the current demand by domestic steel industry. Mr Pradhan said, the supply of iron ore during last year 2018-19 was 207 metric tonne against its demand of 189 metric tonne.

Centre plans listing of single-use plastics

The Centre is likely to identify as many as eight articles as ‘single-use plastic’ items that will be discontinued on a priority basis, including plastic cutlery, plastic bags and certain Styrofoam items.
Defining single-use plastic is the first step in the direction of doing away with such products in India by 2022, as called for by Prime Minister NarendraModi during his Independence Day address.
While many states have banned plastic, there are wide variations in implementation and the range of products covered.After consulting stakeholders, the environment ministry is close to announcing a clear and uniform definition of single-use plastic.
The idea is to completely phase out single-use plastic where it is replaceable with environment friendly alternatives and to bring in a robust segregation, collection and disposal mechanism for single-use plastic.
The ministry wrote to the states in September asking them to curb production of plastic bags, irrespective of thickness and size, and Styrofoam (thermocol) cutlery and to encourage manufacturers and consumers to shift to other environmentally friendly material.
Every village will be asked to start waste segregation. They will send plastic waste to block-level units that will convert the aggregated waste into bales, shred them and transport them to aggregators for recycling to build in a sustainable mechanism.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India –Sweden to expand cooperation at delegation level talks

Prime Minister NarendraModi held delegation level talks with King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at Hyderabad House in New Delhi today.
The meeting is aimed at giving a boost to bilateral co-operation in various sectors. Several agreements are expected to be signed between the two countries.
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia arrived on a state visit to India this morning at the invitation of President Ram NathKovind. They were given a ceremonial welcome at RashtrapatiBhawan. This is His Majesty’s third visit to India. The King will meet President Ram NathKovind this evening.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called on the King and Queen after their arrival and held discussions on ways to deepen bilateral ties.
Apart from the official programme in Delhi, the royal couple is scheduled to visit Mumbai and Uttarakhand. Several documents on furthering bilateral engagement are likely to be signed during the five day visit.

UN chief urges to improve efforts to counter climate change

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that the world's efforts to stop climate change have been utterly inadequate so far.
There is a danger global warming could pass the point of no return. He was speaking before the start of a International Climate Conference in Madrid scheduled for today.
The U.N. Chief noted that the world has the scientific knowledge and the technical means to limit global warming, but the political will is lacking.
Mr Guterres said, he hoped the meeting in Madrid would see governments make more ambitious pledges ahead of a deadline to do so next year.
Delegates from almost 200 countries will try to put the finishing touches on the rules governing the 2015 Paris climate accord at the two-week meeting.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Govt. considering satellite mechanisms to monitor forestation

A satellite-based mechanism to monitor areas under green cover and the growth of saplings planted there is being developed by the government, Union Environment Minister PrakashJavadekar said on Saturday. The Environment minister said some states have made significant achievements in nurturing planted saplings to their full growth.
The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) funds to the tune of Rs 47,000 crore will be utilised for greening India, he said after a meeting with the forest ministers and officials of various states.
The minister said "very positive discussions" on issues like the use of CAMPA fund for forestation, water conservation, fodder augmentation and moisture management in the forests, besides the eradication of Lantana weed were held in the meeting.
In August this year, the Environment minister handed over Rs 47,436 crore of CAMPA funds to various states for the promotion of afforestation and achieving green objective of the country.
In the wake of under-utilisation of money for compensatory afforestation, the Supreme Court in 2001 had ordered for coming up with CAMPA fund.
In 2009, the Supreme Court permitted release of Rs 1,000 crore every year to the states and Union territories for compensatory afforestation and other activities.

::SPORTS::

Gurpreetsingh and Sunil Kumar wins national wrestling championships

In wrestling, Asian Championships silver medallists Gurpreet Singh and Sunil Kumar clinched gold medals on the final day of the senior national championships in Jalandhar yesterday.
Gurpreet defeated two-time world junior championships medallist SajanBhanwal, who was representing the Railways, by a 3-1 margin, in the 77 kilogram categor. This was Punjab grappler's fourth senior national title.
Sunil also managed an easy win over Punjab's Prabhal. The Railway's grappler used all his experience to crush the Punjab wrestler 5-1 in the 87 kg final.In the 55 kg category, Arjun, representing Services, won against Ajay by technical superiority.