Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 08 October 2018

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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 08 October 2018

::NATIONAL::

Large scale protests erupt after SC verdict on Sabarimala issue

The Kerala government’s efforts to find a solution to the row over entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple faced a setback on Sunday with the family of the Tantri (chief priest) and the Pandalam palace rejecting Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s offer of talks till the government decides to file a review petition on the Supreme Court verdict.
The decision of the two key actors in the row came even as protests against the verdict escalated across the State and appeared to spill over into neighbouring Tamil Nadu and reached the national capital. Hindu organisations took out ‘prayer processions’ with a large turnout of women in different parts of the State.
Meanwhile The Supreme Court could not have interfered in an age-old practice of prohibiting women aged between 10 and 50 years to Sabarimala temple on the basis of a petition filed by those who do not claim to be believers in the deity of the temple, a review petition filed on Monday said.
The devotees of the temple did not accuse the practices followed as discriminatory to their gender. The practices followed are based on the essential characteristics of the deity, who is an eternal celibate. How could the Supreme Court entertain a writ petition filed by Indian Young Lawyers Association under Article 32 of the Constitution in a religious matter?
“The right to move the Supreme Court under Article 32 for violation of Fundamental Rights, must be based on a pleading that the petitioners’ personal rights to worship in this temple have been violated. The Petitioners do not claim to be devotees of the Sabarimala Temple where Lord Ayyappa is believed to have manifested himself as a ‘Naishtik Brahmachari’,” wrote Justice Malhotra.

Government plans to widen pension cover

The Union government launched an evaluation this week as part of measures to double the number of people covered by its pension scheme from the current 3.09 crore to more than six crore.
The measure is in line with proposals made in the last budget, which, however, did not include additional financial allocation. Now, with an upcoming hearing in the Supreme Court on a petition demanding universal pension coverage and higher allocation, the government hopes its study will throw up some concrete proposals, in time for the next budget.
According to the official, advertisements for agencies to conduct the evaluation were issued on Saturday, just days before the October 9 hearing of a Public Interest Litigation petition on care and assistance to the elderly.
In its last order on September 12, the Supreme Court had said: “As far as the National Social Assistance Programme is concerned, even though it is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, the contribution made by the Central government is minuscule.” The Centre’s contribution to the monthly pension is ₹200, an amount that has remained unchanged for the last 11 years.
“We would like the Union of India to obtain all necessary information from each of the States and not take unnecessary time to obtain information. The Union of India should also ascertain the amount of pension and the coverage,” the court added, giving the respondents — Centre and States — a period of three weeks to file a “proper and effective affidavit” on the issue.

::ECONOMY::

Govt. plans to auction around 100 coal blocks soon

Having secured Rs. 1.81 lakh crore in its kitty from e-auction of 50 mineral blocks, the government is looking to put on block another 100 mines in the next six months, according to the Ministry of Mines.
The government, so far, has auctioned 50 mines, including 23 limestone, 17 iron ore, 4 gold, 2 each of manganese and graphite blocks and one bauxite and diamond block each.
As per the report, Jharkhand will auction the highest 20 blocks followed by Rajasthan (16) and Madhya Pradesh (13) and Maharashtra (13). Of these 102, the government plans to auction two limestone blocks in October. Of the two blocks, one is in Andhra Pradesh and the other is in Gujarat.
The Chintalayapalle-Abdullapuram-Korumanipalli (CAK) limestone block in Andhra Pradesh with reserves of 104.68 million tonnes (MT) will be auctioned on October 12. The Bhatvadiya block in Gujarat with reserves of 477.2 MT will go under the hammer on October 17.
The Centre had earlier said it was considering granting all approvals, including environmental clearance, to the mineral blocks before putting them up for sale.
From the 50 mineral blocks auctioned so far since 2015, the government will earn a revenue of Rs. 1.81 lakh crore over the lease period.

RBI maintains status quo on policy rates

On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation at its meeting today, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.5 percent.
Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remains at 6.25 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.75 per cent.
The decision of the MPC is consistent with the stance of calibrated tightening of monetary policy in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 percent within a band of +/- 2 per cent, while supporting growth.
Although RBI has kept the key policy rates unchanged, now it is up to the banks on whether they will keep interest rates where they are or raise them. Many banks and lending institutions have been increasing their interest rates even before the RBI hiked repo rate for the first time in June 2018.
The country's largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) raised its MCLR by 5 basis points. The new rates were effective from October 1, 2018. This is the fourth hike in this year. Previously, the bank has hiked interest rate in September by 20 basis points.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

President addresses Indian community in Tajikistan

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, landed in Tajikistan this afternoon (October 7, 2018) on a three day visit to the country.
Later in the evening, he addressed members of Indian community at a reception hosted by Mr Somnath Ghosh, Ambassador of India to Tajikistan, in Dushanbe.
Addressing the gathering, the President said that a major change has been made in the Indian Government’s mechanism to connect with the overseas Indian community.
Emotional, cultural, economic and institutional relations between India and its diaspora have become stronger in the past few years. Missions have been instructed to promptly respond to diaspora members in need of assistance.
Addressing the “Friends of India in Tajikistan”, the President assured them that India will continue to give its cooperation to Tajikistan in capacity building and development. He appreciated the work of Tajikistan’s Indologists.
He recalled that the Padma Shri had been conferred on the famous Indologist, Prof. Habibullo Rajabov this year for his contribution in education and literature.

Brazilians vote for presidential elections

Brazilians began casting ballots on Sunday in their most divisive presidential election in years, with a far-right politician promising an iron-fisted crackdown on crime, Jair Bolsonaro, the firm favorite in the first round.
Surveys suggest that the 63-year-old former paratrooper, who wants to cut spiralling debt through sweeping privatisations and embrace the U.S. and Israel, could count on more than one in three voters in the vast Latin American nation.
He is known for repeated offensive comments against women, gays and the poor, and for lauding the military dictatorship Brazil shucked off just three decades ago.
If Mr. Bolsonaro gets more than 50% of the vote to lead the field of 13 candidates, he will win the presidency outright. Otherwise, a run-off will be held on October 28.
The last surveys released on Saturday credited him with 36% against 22% for his nearest rival, leftist former Sao Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Scientist create tiny titanium dioxide particles that can destroy BPA

Scientists have created tiny spheres that can catch and destroy bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic chemical used to make plastics that often contaminates water.
BPA is commonly used to coat the insides of food cans, bottle tops and water supply lines, and was once a component of baby bottles. While BPA that seeps into food and drink is considered safe in low doses, prolonged exposure is suspected of affecting the health of children and contributing to high blood pressure.
Scientists at Rice University in the U.S. have developed something akin to the Venus’ flytrap of particles for water remediation.The micron-sized spheres resemble tiny flower-like collections of titanium dioxide petals.
The supple petals provide plenty of surface area for researchers to anchor cyclodextrin a benign sugar-based molecule often used in food and drugs. It has a two-faced structure, with a hydrophobic (water-avoiding) cavity and a hydrophilic (water-attracting) outer surface.
While a 100-nanometer particle is 1,000 times smaller than a human hair, the enhanced titanium dioxide is between 3 and 5 microns, only about 20 times smaller than the same hair.

::SPORTS::

India wins U-19 asia cup for seventh time

The Indian colts emulated the senior squad by winning the U-19 Asia Cup, with a crushing 144-run win over Sri Lanka in the final at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium on Sunday.
Runaway favourite India outplayed Sri Lanka in all departments by first scoring an imposing 304 for six after skipper Prabh Simran Singh elected to bat.
The highlight of the Indian innings was Ayush Badoni’s unbeaten 52 off 28 balls which included five sixes and two fours.
Badoni hit four sixes, with a couple of them landing in the stands, in an over from left-arm spinner Shashika Dulshan.