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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 14 April 2020

::NATIONAL::

SC judgement claims floor test is governor’s discretion

A Governor can call for a floor test any time he objectively feels a government in power has lost the confidence of the House and is on shaky ground, the Supreme Court held on Monday.
In a judgment, a Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta concluded that a Governor can call for a trust vote if he has arrived at a prima facie opinion, based on objective material, that the incumbent State government has lost its majority in the Assembly.
“The idea underlying the trust vote is to uphold the political accountability of the elected government to the State legislature,in directing a trust vote, the Governor does not favour a particular political party. It is inevitable that the specific timing of a trust vote may tilt the balance towards the party possessing a majority at the time the trust vote is directed. All political parties are equally at risk of losing the support of their elected legislators, just as the legislators are at risk of losing the vote of the electorate. This is how the system of parliamentary governance operates,” Justice Chandrachud observed.
The intention behind a trust vote was to enable the elected representatives to determine if the Council of Ministers commanded the confidence of the House. It was the MLAs, and not the Governor, who made the ultimate call whether a government should stay in power or not, the court said.
It said that a Governor’s power to call for a floor test is not restricted only before the inception of a State government immediately after elections, but continues throughout its term.
The court clarified that the Governor’s requirement to have a trust vote does not “short-circuit” any disqualification proceedings pending before the Speaker.It said a Governor need not wait for the Speaker’s decision on the resignation of rebel MLAs before calling for a trust vote.

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Employment under MGNREGA collapses to just 1 % in April

Employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has collapsed to just over 1% of the usual rate this month due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Activists petitioned the Supreme Court demanding that the government pay full wages to all active job card holders during this time, following its own instructions issued to other employers.
Data from the MGNREGA website show that less than 1.9 lakh families have been provided work under the scheme so far in April 2020, in comparison to almost 1.6 crore households which were provided work in March, and the 1.8 crore households employed under the scheme in February before the lockdown began.
The crash in employment rates under the scheme is despite the fact that migrant workers returning to villages should have increased demand in rural areas.
While announcing the PM GaribKalyanYojana relief package last month, Union Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman had said MGNREGA daily wages would be increased by ₹20, and would support the 13.6 crore families who hold job cards.
“This is a collapse of the employment guarantee given to rural Indians at a time when it is most needed,” said Nikhil Dey, an activist with the MazdoorKisan Shakti Sangathan, who has filed a Public Interest Litigation petition in the Supreme Court on the issue along with Magasaysay award winner and RTI activist Aruna Roy.

::ECONOMY::

Retail inflation eases due to drop in food prices

Retail inflation dropped to 5.91% in March from the 6.58% in February, mostly on a drop in food prices, according to the Consumer Price Index data released by the National Statistical Office on Monday.
Food inflation fell to 8.76% in March, in comparison with the 10.81% in February. Vegetable price inflation saw the sharpest fall, dropping from 32% to 19% over the course of a month. Spices and prepared food, snacks and sweets were the only food categories that saw a slight increase in prices.
Retail inflation has been easing off since hitting an almost six-year high of 7.59% in January, and analysts expect the trend to continue over the next few months.
The COVID-19 crisis has also affected field data collection used to calculate inflation, although the NSO said the overall impact of missing price data on CPI estimates was within acceptable limits.
Price data is usually collected from selected 1,114 urban markets and selected 1,181 villages by the Field Operations Division of NSO in a uniform weekly roster.

E-NAM portal completes four years of implementation

The pan-India Agriculture trading portal e-NAM completes four years of implementation today. On this occasion, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that e-NAM helped in realising the vision of One Nation One Market for agri produce.
He also said that e-NAM is being expanded to cover additional 415 mandis which will take the total number of e-NAM mandis to 1000 soon.
He also added that this online platform will prove to be a giant leap in reforming the agriculture market in India. AIR correspondent reports e-NAM was launched by Prime Minster NarendraModi in 21 mandis on 14th April in 2016.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Muslim organisations in Srilanka expresses concern over hate mongerings

A group of Muslim organisations in Sri Lanka have sought immediate investigation and urgent action on “the continued hate-mongering against the Muslim community”, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a letter addressed to the acting Inspector General of Police, the organisations cited social media posts and audio recordings in circulation that, they said, violated laws on hate speech.
The letter refers to appeals made by anonymous persons in the audio clips, urging the public to refrain from making purchases from Muslim-run businesses, while accusing the community of trying to spread the coronavirus.
The “racist appeals”, the organisations said, were similar to those circulated ahead of earlier instances of violence targeting the community in 2018 in the central Digana town, and soon after the Easter terror attacks last April.
Muslims have already raised concern over Sri Lanka making cremation compulsory for COVID-19 victims, as it goes against their beliefs.

Pakistan intensifies ceasefire violations for second consecutive day

In yet another ceasefire violation, Pakistan army intensified ceasefire violations along LoC in Balakote and Mendhar Sectors of Poonch district for second consecutive day.
PRO, defence said this time Pak army targeted civilian areas along the LoC in Balakote&Mendhar sectors in District Poonch at about 1845 hours.
Pak army yet again initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms & intense shelling with mortars in civilian areas along LoC in Balakote&Mendhar sectors in District Poonch.
He said today, this is the third ceasefire violation by Pak army targetting innocent civilians. He said Indian army is retaliating befittingly and the exchange of fire continued till reports last came in. There are no reports of loss of any life and damage to any property yet, added the PRO defence.

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::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

CollabCAD to provide engineering solutions to 3D product design

Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and National Informatics Centre today jointly launched CollabCAD, a collaborative network, computer enabled software system providing a total engineering solution from 2D drafting and detailing to 3D product design.
The aim of this initiative is to provide a great platform to students of Atal Tinkering Labs across country to create and modify 3d designs with free flow of creativity and imagination.
This software will also enable students to create data across the network and concurrently access the same design data for storage and visualization.
Atal Tinkering Labs established across the country, provide tinkering spaces to children to hone their innovative ideas and creativity.

::SPORTS::

BFI decides to host Asian meet at the end of this year

Amid uncertainty over resumption of sporting activities, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) on Monday said the country would host the 2020 Asian boxing championships for men and women towards the end of the year.
BFI president Ajay Singh made the announcement during E-Pathshala, the online review meeting of boxers and support staff over a video conference.
The final decision on dates and venue will be taken after discussion with the government and other important stakeholders once the lockdown is over.

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