Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 03 APRIL 2019

::NATIONAL::

EC warns railways and AAI for violating model code of conduct

• The Election Commission on Tuesday expressed displeasure over the “lackadaisical approach” of Air India and the Railways in enforcing the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), directing that reports be submitted within a week on action taken against the officers concerned.
• The Commission had on March 26 sent a show-cause notice to the Civil Aviation Ministry for use of boarding passes bearing Prime Minister NarendraModi’s photograph, finding it a prima facie MCC violation. In a letter to P.S. Kharola, the Civil Aviation Secretary, the EC on Tuesday said Air India had failed to respond within the two-day deadline.
• The poll panel said its displeasure be conveyed to Air India Chairman and Managing Director, AshwaniLohani, for the lapse of the organisation in complying with the directive. Air India had earlier said the boarding passes in question had been withdrawn.
• The Commission pulled up the Railways for its laxity in enforcing the MCC, following allegations that tickets carrying Mr.Modi’s photographs and paper cups bearing the “Main BhiChowkidar” slogan were used in the trains.
• “It has come to the notice of the Commission that tea cups were provided to rail passengers with the political slogan of the BJP such a matter is closely related to violation of the Model Code of Conduct,” said the notice.

Study finds weaker brain activity in children from poor background

• Children born into poverty show key differences in early brain function, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA).
• Researchers studied the brain function of children aged between four months and four years in rural India and found that children from lower income backgrounds, where mothers also had a low level of education, had weaker brain activity and were more likely to be distracted.
• Lead researcher John Spencer from UEA’s School of Psychology said: “Each year, 250 million children in low and middle income countries fail to reach their developmental potential. Therefore, there is a growing need to understand the global impact of poverty on early brain and behavioural development.”
• He explained that previous work has shown that poverty and early adversities significantly impact brain development, contributing to a vicious cycle of poverty. But few studies have looked at brain function early in development.
• Using a portable ‘functional near infrared spectroscopy’ (fNIRS) device, they measured the brain activity of 42 children aged between four months and four years in rural settings.
• They investigated the children’s ‘visual working memory’ — or how well they are able to store visual information and detect changes in the visual environment when they occur.
• The research team found that the children in India from families with low maternal education and income showed weaker brain activity and poorer distractor suppression in the left frontal cortex area of the brain that is involved in working memory.

::ECONOMY::

Supreme court quashes RBI circular of loan defaulters

• The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a February 2018 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular giving lender banks six months to resolve their stressed assets or move under the Insolvency Code against private entities who have defaulted in loans worth over Rs. 2000 crore.
• The 84-page judgment by a Bench of Justices RohintonNariman and Vineet Saran spells relief across sectors, ranging from power to telecom to steel, infrastructure, sugar and fertiliser. All insolvency proceedings initiated against debtors under the circular have been declared non est . The RBI countered the petitioner-companies’ claim that its February 12, 2018 circular was “manifestly arbitrary”.
• On the contrary, the central banker said, the circular was in the public interest and “in the interest of the national economy to see that evergreening of debts does not carry on indefinitely”.
• The RBI argued that “these huge amounts that are due should come back into the economy for further productive use”.
• But the court found favour with the arguments made by the companies that a general direction by the RBI, applying the 180-day limit to all sectors, without going into the special problems faced by each sector, would “treat unequals equally”.
• The companies argued that the circular was arbitrary and discriminatory, and therefore, violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.

Manufacturing activity slows to 6 month low

• Manufacturing activity slowed to a six-month low of 52.6 in March due to lower levels of new orders and production, according to a private sector survey.
• The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index came in at a lower reading in March from 54.3 in February. A reading over 50 implies expansion while one below that denotes a contraction in activity.
• “Softer increases were registered for new orders, production, input buying and employment,” the report added. The report said that the increase in new orders was the slowest in six months, with firms reporting that the effect of strong underlying demand, successful advertising, and the receipt of bulk orders was being curbed by competitive conditions and the upcoming elections.
• That said, the report highlighted the fact that business sentiment strengthened to a seven-month high in March with companies predicting that marketing initiatives, capacity expansion plans and favourable public policies after the elections would support production growth over the course of the coming 12 months.
• “Although global headwinds and a general slowdown in trade present some concerns for the future health of Indian manufacturers’ order books, so far companies have been able to weather the storm and secure healthy inflows of new work from abroad,” said Pollyanna De Lima, principal economist, IHS Markit and author of the report.
• “A guarded attitude towards appointing new staff dragged job creation to an eight-month low, while buying activity growth moderated amid sufficient input stocks at some companies,” Ms. De Lima added.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Pakistan fears being included in FATF black list

• Pakistan could be blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) due to “lobbying by India”, Foreign Minister Shah MahmoodQureshi said, as he estimated that the country could suffer a loss of $10 billion annually if it remains in the watchdog’s grey list.
• In June last year, the Paris-based FATF had placed Pakistan on the ‘grey list’ of countries whose domestic laws are considered weak to tackle the challenges of money laundering and terrorism financing.
• “The Foreign Office is calculating the annual loss if Pakistan is pushed in the black-list by the FATF as India is lobbying for this,” Mr.Qureshi told reporters here on Monday evening.
• A group of experts from the FATF recently visited Pakistan to review whether Islamabad had made enough progress on global standards against financial crimes to warrant its exclusion from the ‘grey list’.
• During the visit, a delegation of the Asia-Pacific Group on money laundering, a regional affiliate of the FATF, expressed serious reservations over insufficient physical actions on ground against banned groups to block flow of funds and activities. The delegation reportedly raised questions over specific actions against each of the eight organisations proscribed under international requirements.
• It said activities of banned organisations and NGOs were still unchecked at the provincial, district and grass roots level, where they can still raise funds and hold meetings and rallies.

India-Ukraine working group on Trade and Economic Cooperation held

• The 4th Meeting of India-Ukraine Working Group on Trade and Economic Cooperation (IU-WGTEC), under the India-Ukraine Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical, Industrial and Cultural Cooperation was held today in New Delhi.
• Indian delegation was led by BidyutBehari Swain, Additional Secretary, Foreign Trade (CIS), Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. Ukrainian Side was led by Mr.OleksiyRozhkov, Director of Directorate for International Trade and Economic Cooperation and European Integration of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine.
• A protocol was signed at the end of the meeting. The protocol deals with review of trade, cooperation in the field of small and medium entrepreneurship, cooperation in the field of technical regulation (standardization, metrology, certification, conformity assessment).
• Also public-private partnership (PPP) and investment, agriculture, facilitating the access of Ukrainian food products to the market of India, energy sector, finance, granting Ukraine market economy status within the framework of anti-dumping investigations, and banking and cooperation in tourism.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

India –Australia naval exercise held

• The third edition of AUSINDEX, an acronym for Australia India Exercise is scheduled to commence with the arrival of HMAS Canberra (L02), a Landing Helicopter Dock, HMAS New Castle(06) and HMAS Paramatta(154), both frigates; HMAS Collins, a conventional submarine and HMAS Success(OR 304), a Durance-class multi-product replenishment oiler at Visakhapatnam on 02 April 19.
• The aim of the exercise is, “To strengthen and enhance mutual cooperation and interoperability between the IN and RAN, providing opportunities for interaction and exchange of professional views between the personnel of the two navies”.
• A sign of strengthening of bilateral and defence cooperation between the two countries as envisaged in the Framework for Security Cooperation (FSC) announced by the Australian and Indian Prime Ministers in 2014. The maiden edition of the exercise was held in September 2015 at Visakhapatnam.
• Australia hosted the second edition of the exercise off Freemantle in June 2017, wherein ships of the Eastern Fleet of the Indian Navy (IN) exercised with Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ships and submarines.
• Overall, the exercise underscores India’s vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and shared objectives of the two countries towards ensuring good order in the maritime domain and solidarity with friendly and harmonious countries.

::SPORTS::

AIFF to impose sanctions on I-league clubs

• The All India Football Federation is likely to impose sanctions on all the aggrieved I-League clubs for skipping the Super Cup.
• Well-placed AIFF sources said a “strong case is being built up” against the seven I-League clubs — MohunBagan, East Bengal, Churchill Brothers, Aizawl FC, Minerva FC, Gokulam FC and Neroca FC — for withdrawing from the Super Cup.
• The AIFF has incurred financial losses due to the pull-outs of the clubs, which had cited unfair treatment by the apex body.“A strong case is being built up and it will be put at the League and Disciplinary Committee meeting on April 13.
• The federation will go by the regulations and guidelines,” a reliable source said.The clubs had pulled out barely three days before the start of the Super Cup qualifications.
• In March, AIFF general secretary Kushal Das had informed the I-League clubs that the federation has accepted their demand of a meeting with president Praful Patel — between April 13 and 15 to discuss their grievances but made it clear that the Super Cup qualifying round matches would not be rescheduled.

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