Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 06 APRIL 2019

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 06 APRIL 2019

::NATIONAL::

Vice President expresses concern over rise in non communicable diseases

• The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has described the rise in non-communicable diseases as a “deeply disturbing trend” and called upon the medical fraternity to educate the people on the dangers of leading sedentary lifestyles.
• Addressing the Annual Meeting of the National Interventional Council (NIC) he said that disease burden from non-communicable diseases increased from 30 per cent to 55 per cent between 1990 and 2016, while the communicable diseases dropped from 61 per cent to 33 per cent in the same period.
• Pointing out that factors such as high levels of stress, increased incidence of diabetes, blood pressure, smoking, excessive consumption of alcohol, lack of exercise and lack of proper sleep were contributing to cardiovascular diseases, he said that lifestyle modification was one of the key interventions needed to prevent premature heart attacks.
• Shri Naidu said that it had been proven beyond doubt that regular moderate intensity aerobic exercise like brisk walking, cycling, jogging, and swimming for five days a week would help in reducing the probability of heart disease.
• He stressed the need to encourage children to be physically active and be involved in sports and games right from school days to avoid NCDs.
• Observing that primary health centres must serve as bulwarks in our battle against cardiovascular disease, the Vice President stressed that transforming PHCs into a robust, responsive and well equipped network of institutions was important.
• The Vice President also advised medical students to render service for at least three years in Primary Health Centres in rural areas, before taking up new assignments.
• Stating that India must invest more resources in R & D, he said unimaginable advancements were being made in Medical Science. “Cutting edge research in disruptive technologies such as Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence (AI), including machine learning and augmented reality are altering the paradigms of medical science”, he added.
• Calling for improving our health sector in terms of quality, accessibility and affordability, the Vice President said "Although our health care services are among the cheapest in the world, some of the life saving drugs and procedures are still beyond the reach of the common man. All the stakeholders in the health sectors need to work in synergy to health care affordable and accessible to common man".

SC rejects pleas against Gujjar quota

• The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea challenging the grant of 5% quota to Gujjars and four other castes in jobs and educational institutions in Rajasthan through an amendment in February.
• A Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi dismissed the appeal filed by Arvind Sharma against a Rajsthan High Court order refusing to grant interim relief on the petition challenging the quota to Gujjars and others, treating them as socially and economically backward classes.
• It was argued that the reservation would breach the 50% ceiling on total quantum of quota.
• “The plea for relief is already pending in High Court, therefore, we are not inclined to entertain it,” said the Bench comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna.
• The Rajasthan Backward Classes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions in the State and of Appointments and Posts in Services under the State) (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed by the Assembly on February 13.
• The Congress government passed the Bill amid protests led by Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla for reservation for community.

::ECONOMY::

RBI squeezes LCR norm to release additional funds

• In a bid to further improve the cash position of banks, RBI has tweaked liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) norms to provide an additional 2 per cent window to lenders.
• Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said, this move will harmonise the liquidity requirements of banks and release additional money for lending.
• LCR indicates the proportion of highly liquid assets held by banks to ensure their ability to meet short-term obligations.
• In a statement on ‘Developmental and Regulatory Policies’ the RBI has extended the timeline for linking floating interest rates on personal, home, auto and MSEs loans to external benchmarks.
• It said that further discussions with stakeholders is required on various aspects like management of interest rate risk and time required for IT system upgradation.
• In another decision, the Apex Bank said it, will set up a task force to study the relevant aspects, including best international practices for developing a thriving secondary market for corporate loans in India.

NITI aayog releases report on FAME-2 scheme

• The NITI Aayog and the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) released a report on opportunities for the automobile sector and government under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles II (FAME II) scheme.
• The technical report titled ‘India’s Electric Mobility Transformation: Progress to Date and Future Opportunities’,quantifies the direct oil and carbon savings that the vehicles incentivized under FAME II will deliver. RMI is an Indian and global nonprofit organisation focused on driving the efficient and restorative use of resources.
• The report also quantifies the catalytic effect that FAME II and other measures could have on the overall Electric Vehicle(EV) market. According to the analysis, if FAME II and other measures – in public and private space - are successful, India could realize EV sales penetration of 30% of private cars, 70% of commercial cars, 40% of buses and 80% of two and three-wheelers by 2030.
• Extrapolating from the same, the lifetime cumulative oil and carbon savings of all electric vehicles deployed through 2030 could be many-fold larger than the direct savings from FAME II.For example,achieving these levels of market share by 2030 could generate cumulative savings of 846million tonnes of CO2 over the total deployedvehicles’ lifetime.
• The FAME II scheme, which was notified by the Union Cabinet in February 2019, aims to further accelerate the government of India’scommitment to a clean mobility future, sees the electrification of transportation as a primary focus area. FAME IIintends to catalyze the market for faster adoption of EVs to ensure durable economic growth and global competitiveness for India’s automotive industry.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

U.S and allies to de-escalate tensions in Libya

• The United States and its allies yesterday called for an immediate de-escalation of tensions in Libya. They warned any military action would have consequences after Libyan army commander Khalifa Haftar ordered forces to advance on Tripoli, the capital of the UN-backed government, in Libya.
• The United States, France, Britain, Italy and the United Arab Emirates in a joint statement in Washington said they oppose any military action in Libya and will hold accountable any Libyan faction that precipitates further civil conflict.
• The statement further said military posturing and threats of unilateral action will only risk propelling Libya back toward chaos.
• Dozens of militias have fought for control of the North African country since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
• Haftar's forces have emerged as a key player, opposing the government in Tripoli and backing a parallel administration in the east.

India-Nepal investment expo from next month

• Nepal-India Franchise Investment Expo and Conclave will be held in Kathmandu from 15th to 16th May, 2019.
• The event primarily focuses on building the relations between India and Nepal through entrepreneurship development.
• The conclave is organised by Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FNCCI) in association with Embassy of India and Franchise India.
• Briefing media persons in Kathmandu this afternoon, FNCCI President Bhawani Rana said the event is expected to introduce new investment opportunities to Nepalese market. She said one of the core areas will be to focus for networking between investors of Nepal and India.
• According to Indian Ambassador Manjeev Singh Puri the summit will help in bringing the leading Indian iconic brands to Nepal.
• Their entry would not only bring investment into Nepal but also technology transfers and business know how. According to organizers 250 businesspersons and investors will attend the conclave and more than 1000 prospective franchisees and investors are expected to visit the expo.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Study claims rise in obesity and vision related diseases amongst Indian children

• Obesity, vision and dental issues are the major health problems faced by schoolgoing children in the age group 2 to 17 years across India, according to a report.
• The report, “Enhancing the Effectiveness and Impact of Schools: Insights from School Health Screening Program”, released by Jarma Wellness, an organisation working in the area of healthcare consultation, assessed nearly two lakh children belonging to various socio-economic backgrounds from 20 cities.
• The report adds that hygiene is a major issue. According to the report, vision screening of 1,55,584 children shows that an overall of 39,674 (25.5%) of children have abnormal vision.
• The number of children with uncorrected myopia/ hyperopia and wearing glasses touches nearly 50% in higher-secondary section, indicating that potentially one in every two children may need glasses.
• Also, 30.4% of all students screened have been found to have abnormal BMI. Of this, 19.1% students have been found to be in the overweight and obese category. The report also shows a significant jump from 16% to 23% in the same category as the child moves from pre-primary to primary grades, and goes up to 26% in higher secondary.

::SPORTS::

AIFF president becomes first Indian member to be elected to FIFA EC

• All India Football Federation president Praful Patel has become the first Indian to be elected as a member of the FIFA Executive Council. He got 38 out of 46 votes.
• Mr Patel was one of the eight candidates vying for the spot in the election which was held during the 29th Asian Football Confederations Congress in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. The membership in the council will be for four years, from 2019 to 2023.

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