Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 14 DECEMBER 2018


Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 14 DECEMBER 2018


::NATIONAL::

Central groundwater authority to impose fees for groundwater extraction

  •  In a bid to promote conservation of groundwater, the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has notified a water conservation fee (WCF) that industries will need to pay on groundwater extraction starting from June.
  •  As per the notification, industries extracting groundwater including mining-dewatering units and those that use groundwater for packaged drinking water would also need to apply for a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the government. Individual households that draw groundwater using a delivery pipe of a greater than 1” diameter, too, would need to pay a WCF.
  •  The rates, according to a notification by the CGA on Wednesday, would be levied depending on the location of the groundwater extraction point and the amount of water being extracted. The government has a list of groundwater blocks, called assessment blocks. These are classified as ‘safe,’ ‘semi-critical,’ ‘critical’ and ‘over-exploited’ depending on the groundwater draft.
  •  Defence establishments and users who don’t use electricity to extract water have also been granted exemption from the requirement of obtaining NOCs and having to pay the WCF.
  •  In India, extracted groundwater is mainly used for irrigation and accounts for about 228 BCM (billion cubic metre) — or about 90% of the annual groundwater extraction. The rest, 25 CM, is drawn for drinking, domestic and industrial uses.

Supreme court expresses concern over situation of old age shelter homes

  •  Terming the rights of the rising elderly population of the country an “emerging situation” not envisaged even in the Constitution, the Supreme Court on Thursday said the government could not tighten its purse strings in the name of “economic budgeting” to explain the inadequate welfare provided to senior citizens and the aged.
  •  The court said it was a statutory right of every aged person under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act of 2007 to be provided dignity, health and shelter. All the three are important components which make the fundamental right to life under Article 21.
  •  A Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur ordered the Centre to obtain the “necessary information” from all the State governments and the Union Territories about the number of old age homes in each district and file a status report by January 31.
  •  The apex court ordered the Centre to obtain details from the States about the medical and geriatric care facilities available to senior citizens in each district.
  •  The court directed that the Centre should prepare a plan of action for giving publicity to the provisions of 2007 Act and ensure that the State governments carry out and execute the provisions of the law.
  •  The Centre also noted that there had been a steady rise in the population of senior citizens in India. It submitted in court that the number of elderly persons had increased from 1.98 crore in 1951 to 7.6 crore in 2001 and 10.38 crore in 2011. It is projected that the number of 60+ in India would increase to 14.3 crore in 2021 and 17.3 crore in 2026.

::ECONOMY::

Apparel industry demands hike in duty drawback rates

  •  Apparel exporters have appealed to the government to review the duty drawback rates announced recently for ready-made garments.
  •  Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) chairman (acting) A. Sakthivel said the new rates announced by the government were 2.20-2.52 percentage points short of what the council had sought.
  •  For instance, the rates announced for cotton ready-made garments are 1.8% to 2.2% whereas the council had sought 4.32%. Since the introduction of GST, the policy support received for apparel exports had reduced significantly.
  •  “The duty drawback rates for apparel industry has decreased for most of the important product categories of garments like cotton garments, MMF garments, blend garments, etc.
  •  This has come as a serious setback for the industry which is already losing global market share due to reduced competitiveness, post GST,” a release quoted him as saying.

India China to promote tea globally

  •  Two apex industry organisations, Indian Tea Association (ITA) and China Tea Marketing Association (CTMA), have signed a memorandum of understanding to promote green and black tea consumption in major tea markets in Europe , the U.S., Russia and West Asia, besides India and China. The pact could also involve organisation of joint events.
  •  China imported 30 million kg of black tea annually amid its rising popularity in the country where green tea had earlier held sway. Indian exports stood at about 8.7 million kg in 2017 with the market being dominated by Sri Lanka and Kenya. An export of 15 million kg was being targeted next year.
  •  It may be mentioned that Tea Board and ITA had organised a tea delegation to China in October to boost trade between the two countries To a question, Mr. Qing said that China would not look to India as a major market as prices were more attractive in their domestic market. China was the world’s third largest exporter (mainly of green tea).
  •  ITA said that Solidaridad Asia had taken the lead role in forging this alliance which, it felt, would promote sustainable development of the tea industry in the two countries, including that of the small tea sector. The network works to promote sustainable production of 13 commodities across nine regions.
  •  The MoU covers the areas of trade promotion, intellectual property protection and technology exchange.

Online Coaching for UPSC PRE Exam

General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

::INTERNATIONAL::

India Russia to go for joint defence production

  •  India and Russia have agreed on ways to simplify export clearances to take forward joint manufacturing in defence. This was among the various issues discussed during the 18th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) chaired by Defence Minister NirmalaSitharaman and her Russian counterpart General Sergei Shoigu.
  •  India is keen on moving from licence manufacturing of defence equipment to joint production under Make in India. This includes allowing Indian companies, both Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU) and private sector, to manufacture spares for Russian systems in India. “We have worked out some formats for end-use clearances,” the official stated.
  •  Eventually India is keen that its companies supply components and spares to export to third world countries. “There is a larger shift to that,” the official said.
  •  The two sides also agreed to take forward inter-governmental arrangements for facilitating joint manufacturing of spares for Russian origin equipment in India under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement.
  •  In this regard, four military-industry conferences were held between Russian manufactures and Indian companies to take the process forward.

Government & ADB sign agreement to reduce river erosion in Assam

  •  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $60 Million Loan Agreement here today in New Delhi to continue financing riverbank protection works, renovation of flood embankments, and community-based flood risk management activities in critically flood-prone areas along the Brahmaputra River in Assam.
  •  The Tranche 2 loan is part of the $120 million multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) for the Assam Integrated Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Program approved by the ADB Board in October 2010.
  •  Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Yokoyamasaid that the Project 2 under the Program will fund a combination of structural and nonstructural measures in the three subproject areas of Palasbari-Gumi, Kaziranga, and Dibrugarh along the Brahmaputra river which include 20 km of riverbank protection works and upgrading of 13 km of flood embankments.
  •  The non-structural measures will cover community involvement and community-based flood risk management activities through establishing and training disaster management committees for strengthening local disaster preparedness and emergency response.
  •  The Project will continue to support the institutional capacity development of the autonomous body anchored to the Assam Water Resources Department, named Flood and River Erosion Management Agency of Assam (FREMAA), and Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), as the executing and implementing agencies for this Project.

Click Here for Old Current Affairs Archive

This is a Part of Online Coaching Programme for UPSC Exam

Buy Printed Study Material for UPSC PRELIMS EXAM

Join Test Series for IAS (Pre.) Exam