Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 08 APRIL 2019

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 08 APRIL 2019

::NATIONAL::

India rejects Pak’s statement on claiming another attack

• India on Sunday rejected as “irresponsible and preposterous” Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah MahmoodQureshi’s comments that India was planning to attack Pakistan again between April 16 and 20.
• In a strongly worded statement, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the comments by the Pakistani Foreign Minister were aimed at whipping up war hysteria in the region.
• “India rejects the irresponsible and preposterous statement by the Foreign Minister of Pakistan with a clear objective of whipping up war hysteria in the region. This public gimmick appears to be a call to Pakistan-based terrorists to undertake a terror attack in India,” Mr. Kumar said.
• The MEA spokesperson’s statement came hours after Mr.Qureshi said at a press conference in Multan that Pakistan had “reliable intelligence” that India was planning to attack Pakistan again between April 16 and 20.
• Mr.Qureshi claimed that ambassadors of the permanent members of the UN Security Council in Islamabad had been informed about “the plan” two days ago.
• Mr.Qureshi said the planned aggression was aimed at “increasing diplomatic pressure against Pakistan.”
• India struck the biggest training camp of the terror group, Jaish-e-Muhammed, deep inside Pakistan on February 26 nearly two weeks after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

Closure of national highway creates havoc in Jammu

• The first day of closure of the 271-km Baramulla-Udhampur national highway for convoy movement disrupted distribution of essentials on Sunday and halted all passenger services. The National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held street demonstrations to defy the ban
• The highway closure was enforced around 4 a.m. in accordance with the State Home Department’s directions, leaving many stretches deserted till 5 p.m. Additional troops and mobile bunkers were used to seal the connecting roads. Many stretches were dug up to disallow any civilian traffic. Concertina wires were used to plug the streets leading to the highway.
• Essentials like milk and vegetables from south Kashmir to capital Srinagar, and the movement of newspaper hawkers from the capital to south and north Kashmir, was badly hit. “My vehicle was stopped at Pathachowk. I failed to distributed newspapers,” said Aslam Khan, a hawker.
• The blockade also resulted in the closure of markets and shops on the flanks of the highway. Locals were seen walking deserted streets to reach hospitals and see relatives. “My daughter is admitted in a maternity hospital. I walked on many stretches to reach Srinagar,” said Nazima Jan, a resident of Pulwama’sTral. Meanwhile, the NC, the PDP and the People’s Conference made separate bids to defy the civilian traffic restrictions, which have been imposed in the wake of the Pulwama suicide attack that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans dead on February 14. The closure will be enforced on Sundays and Wednesdays till May 31.

::ECONOMY::

NCDR fines e-commerce portal for potraying misleading ads

• The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed e-commerce portal Home Shop 18 to compensate a complainant by paying ₹16,000 over misleading advertisements of “free gift vouchers”.
• Stating that the portal was guilty of unfair trade practice, the consumer panel said, “Inducing the consumer to purchase a particular article without specifically mentioning the terms and conditions of the gift coupon in the main advertisement can be construed as not providing them as offered.”
• The complainant, Mridul Jain, alleged that on seeing an “offer of gift vouchers worth ₹1,000,” he purchased a phablet worth ₹6,400. However, the vouchers received had “terms and conditions” he was not aware of previously. The portal contended that the vouchers were “voluntarily” provided and that the terms and conditions were on the website.
• However, the panel said, “The advertisement on the website does not specifically mention about the ‘conditions to follow’ therefore the case falls within the ambit of relevant rules, which specifies the offering of gifts, price of other items with the notification of not providing them as offered, when it is fully or partly covered by the amount charged in the transaction as a whole.”

Majority beneficiaries under PMUY still using earthernstoves : Study

• The hidden truth of the PradhanMantriUjjwalaYojna (PMUY), being touted in the BharatiyaJanata Party’s (BJP) election campaigning as one of the big successes of the incumbent government, is that most rural households with LPG (liquiefied petroleum gas) connections still use chulha s with firewood or dung cakes, to the detriment of rural health.
• The survey, conducted in late 2018, covered a random sample of 1,550 households in 11 districts of the four States, which collectively have two-fifths of the country’s rural population.
• The UjjwalaYojna, launched in 2016, subsidises LPG connections for rural households by providing a free gas cylinder, regulator and pipe. Central government data shows that more than six crore households have received a connection through the scheme.
• The r.i.c.e study shows that in the four States surveyed, there has indeed been a substantial increase in LPG ownership due to the scheme, with 76% of households now owning an LPG connection.
• However, more than 98% of these households also own a chulha . Surveyors asked if food items roti , rice, sabzi , dal , chai and milk had been cooked on the chulha or the gas stove on the previous day. They found that only 27% of households exclusively used the gas stove. Another 37% reported using both the chulha and the gas stove, while 36% made everything on the chulha .
• Gender inequalities also play a role. Surveyors found that almost 70% of households do not spend anything on solid fuels, meaning that the relative cost of an LPG cylinder refill, even if subsidised, is far higher.
• The study argues that those women, who do the unpaid labour needed for “free” solid fuels, are not typically economic decision-makers in the household, hindering a shift to LPG usage.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Former Maldivian president wins massively in elections

• Former President and popular leader of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Mohamed Nasheed, was among the major winners in Saturday’s parliamentary polls — the third multi-party contest in the Indian Ocean archipelago that saw President Ibrahim Solih’s party heading for a majority.
• The popular MDP leader has lived in exile in the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka following a widely-disputed criminal conviction in 2015 that many believe was politically motivated during former President Abdulla Yameen’s tenure.
• Speaking to a large crowd of supporters as early results came in on Sunday, President Solih dispelled rumours of about possible splits within the coalition that backed him for presidency last year.
•  The speculation followed the MDP’s decision to go it alone in the general election, reportedly upsetting other members of the ruling alliance. They saw the MDP as reneging on an earlier pledge to stay together for the parliamentary polls.
•  The main Opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), led by former President Abdulla Yameen, whose leadership was tainted by accusations of large-scale corruption and authoritarianism, fielded candidates in just a quarter of the seats. As per results declared so far, the PPM has lost in most.

India Srilanka expands cooperation in defence and security

• India and Sri Lanka have agreed to increase cooperation in security and defence spheres in several areas, including regional security, curbing drug smuggling and human trafficking. The issues came up for discussion when Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra called on Sri Lankan President MaithripalaSirsena in Colombo during his official visit.
• President Sirisena thanked the Indian Government for the cooperation extended to Sri Lanka in security issues and for training provided to Sri Lankan security forces personnel.
• He also requested to increase the number of personnel trained by India. Defence Secretary agreed to look into the possibility of enhancing training facilities.
• President Sirisena stressed the importance of close cooperation between the two countries to ensure regional security. They also exchanged views on issues pertaining to bilateral defence cooperation and regional security.
• It was agreed that the Defence Secretary and his Sri Lankan counterpart will continue discussions on these issues to further strengthen security cooperation between the two countries.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Scientists discover new fungus spread across the globe

• In May, an elderly man was admitted to Mount Sinai Hospital in Brooklyn, U.S., for abdominal surgery. A blood test revealed that he was infected with a newly discovered germ as deadly as it was mysterious. Doctors swiftly isolated him in the intensive care unit.
• The germ, a fungus called Candida auris , preys on people with weakened immune systems, and it is quietly spreading across the globe. Over the past five years, it has hit a neonatal unit in Venezuela, swept through a hospital in Spain, forced a prestigious British medical centre to shut down its intensive care unit, and taken root in India, Pakistan and South Africa.
• C. auris is so tenacious, in part, because it is impervious to major antifungal medications, making it a new example of one of the world’s most intractable health threats: the rise of drug-resistant infections.
• For decades, public health experts have warned that the overuse of antibiotics was reducing the effectiveness of drugs that have lengthened life spans by curing bacterial infections once commonly fatal. But lately, there has been an explosion of resistant fungi as well, adding a new and frightening dimension to a phenomenon that is undermining a pillar of modern medicine.
• All the while, the germs are easily spread carried on hands and equipment inside hospitals; ferried on meat and manure-fertilized vegetables from farms; transported across borders by travellers and on exports and imports; and transferred by patients from nursing home to hospital and back.

::SPORTS::

Li Dan wins Malaysian open badminton title

• Chinese badminton ace Lin Dan clinched the Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur today. After an electric performance , he beat countryman Chen Long 9-21, 21-7, 21-11.
• The title is Lin's first win this year, and also his first major success since taking the Malaysia Open in 2017.

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