Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 16 JANUARY 2019

::NATIONAL::

Center affirms Reservation to EWS category in 2019-2020 academic year

•  Union HRD Minister, Shri Prakash Javadekar while addressing a press conference in New Delhi today, informed that in a landmark decision, the Government has decided that from the academic year 2019-20 itself, 10 percent Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota will be implemented across 40, 000 colleges and 900 Universities in the country.
•  This 10 percent quota for EWS will be over and above the existing quotas for SCs, STs and OBCs and General seats.
•  Adequate additional seats will be created in these colleges and universities to implement the quota for EWS. The UGC and AICTE will be provided the operational mandate within a week to implement the quota.
•  In another major announcement, Shri Javadekar informed that the Government has approved proposal to extend the 7th CPC to the teachers and other academic staff of the State Govt.  Govt. aided degree level technical institutions in the country, which will have additional Central Government liability of Rs.1241.78 crore.
•  This will directly benefit a total of 29,264 teachers and other academic staff of State Government funded institutes. Besides, about 3.5 lakh teachers and other academic staff of private colleges/ institutions within the purview of AICTE will also benefit from the approval given today, he added.
•  The Minister said that the implementation of pay commission recommendation in State Government Aided / funded AICTE approved technical institutes will help them in attracting and retaining the faculty of high academic standards.

Supreme court bans transport of extracted coal from Meghalaya

•  The Supreme Court on Tuesday banned the transportation of extracted coal lying at various sites in Meghalaya which has had no success in rescuing 15 miners trapped inside an illegal rat-hole coal mine for almost a month.
•  The order was passed by a bench comprising justices A.K. Sikri and S.A. Nazeer which refused the plea of miners to allow them to transport the extracted coal at various places.
•  The bench issued notice to the Meghalaya Government, the Centre and others seeking their response on various issues connected with coal mining in the state and posted the matter for hearing February 19.
•  When the law officer said that the state government was trying its best to control illegal mining, the bench expressed its displeasure by citing the tragedy in which 15 miners have not been rescued.
•  The court said that this incident shows that illegal mining continues unabated despite the ban and the state may not be supporting it but has failed to contain illegal mining.
•  The NGT had constituted the committee in August 2018 to supervise and look into the issue of environmental restoration plan and other connected matters in Meghalaya.
•  The committee was constituted during the hearing of the petition which had sought a ban on coal mining in Meghalaya. It had also taken into account some reports of the state pollution control board.

::ECONOMY::

Centre constitutes GoM to deal with issues of GST in real estate sector

•  Government has constituted a seven-member Group of Ministers (GoM) to boost the real estate sector under the GST regime. Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat Nitin Patel will be the convener of the GoM.
•  Finance Ministers of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh and the Panchayat Minister of Goa will be the members.
•  The decision to form the GoM was taken at the GST Council meeting last week. It will analyse tax rate of GST and suggest a composition scheme for residential construction units.
•  The panel will also look into the issue of the legality of inclusion or exclusion of land or any other ingredient in the composition scheme and suggest valuation mechanism. It will also examine various aspects of the GST levy on Transfer of Development Rights and development rights in a joint development agreement and suitable model.
•  Currently, GST on the under-construction flats and houses is 12% whereas ready-to-move-in flats with a completion certificate attract no GST.
•  There are also complaints about the builders not passing on the benefit of input tax credit to the consumers. The Council's law and fitment committee will assist the panel. The officers from the Centre and states can also be invited in the committee for inputs, if required.

Cabinet approves capital infusion into EXIM bank

•  The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved fund infusion in Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), sources said.The infusion would help the bank expand its business, they added.
•  The government had provided for ₹ 500 crore towards capital infusion in the Exim Bank in the budget for this fiscal.The government had infused ₹ 500 crore in Exim Bank last financial year.
•  Established by the Government of India, Exim Bank commenced operations as a purveyor of export credit, mirroring global export credit agencies.
•  It serves as a growth engine for industries and small and medium enterprises through a wide range of products and services.
•  This includes import of technology and export product development, export production, export marketing, pre-shipment and post-shipment and overseas investment.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

British MP’s reject Theresa May’s Brexit dea

•  British lawmakers defeated Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit divorce deal by a crushing margin on Tuesday, triggering political upheaval that could lead to a disorderly exit from the EU or even to a reversal of the 2016 decision to leave
•  Parliament voted 432-202 against her deal, the worst parliamentary defeat for a government in recent British history. Scores of her own lawmakers both Brexiteers and supporters of EU membership joined forces to vote down the deal.
•  With the clock ticking down to March 29, the date set in law for Brexit, the United Kingdom is now ensnared in the deepest political crisis in half a century as it grapples with how, or even whether, to exit the European project that it joined in 1973.
•  Ever since Britain voted by 52-48 per cent to leave the EU in a referendum in June 2016, the political class has been debating how to leave the European project forged by France and Germany after the devastation of World War Two.
•  While the country is divided over EU membership, most agree that the world's fifth largest economy is at a crossroads and that its choices over Brexit will shape the prosperity of future generations.
•  Supporters of EU membership cast Brexit as a gigantic mistake that will undermine the West, smash Britain's reputation as a stable destination for investment and slowly weaken London's position as a global capital.

Uzbekistan President to be chief guest in Vibrant gujarat summit

•  President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev will attend the Vibrant Gujarat international investment summit as a key guest in a first Central Asian country to participate as a country partner in the flagship investment summit of Gujarat.

•  The high-level delegation from Uzbekistan includes heads of Investment Committee, Trade Committee, Chamber of Commerce, Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as more than 60 business owners, CEOs of the biggest national and private companies of Uzbekistan.

•  During the two day summit, the first meeting of newly formed Uzbekistan Indian Business Council will also be held to pitch the central Asian country as an investment destination for Indian businesses.

•  In Uzbekistan, Indian companies are exploring investment opportunities in the sectors like pharmaceutical, textile, education, Information Technology and tourism.

•  To attract investments in the pharmaceutical sector, an Uzbek Indian Free Pharmaceutical Zone is being developed in the Andijan region and this project was among 17 agreements that were inked during the Uzbek president’s State visit to India last year.

•  In Uzbekistan, 18 free economic zones (FEZ) have been established with a 30-year operational life and the possibility of a subsequent extension. Seven of them have a pharmaceutical focus.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Scientists develop 3D printed venus fly trap

•  Scientists have created a 3D-printed artificial version of the Venus flytrap plant that can selectively capture small objects in response to external, environmental cues, without the need for any batteries, circuits or processors of any kind.
•  The technology may pave the way for aquatic pollution-monitoring devices that can be designed to open and collect a sample only in the presence of an oil-based chemical and when the temperature is over a certain threshold.
•  Even without a brain or a nervous system, the Venus flytrap makes sophisticated decisions about when to snap shut on potential prey, as well as to open when it has accidentally caught something it can’t eat. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in the US have taken inspiration from these sorts of systems.
•  Using stimuli-responsive materials and geometric principles, they have designed structures that have “embodied logic.” Through their physical and chemical makeup alone, they are able to determine which of multiple possible responses to make in response to their environment.
•  “Rather than using a solid-state sensor and microprocessor that are constantly reading what’s flowing into a microfluidic chip, we could, for example, design a gate that shuts automatically if it detects a certain contaminant,” said Raney a scientist.
•  Other potential applications could include sensors in remote, harsh environments, such as deserts, mountains, or even other planets.
•  Without a need for batteries or computers, these embodied logic sensors could remain dormant for years without human interaction, only springing into action when presented with the right environmental cue.

::SPORTS::

Maharashtra tops in Khelo India youth games

•  Home state Maharashtra is still leading in Medal tally of Khelo India Youth Games with 177 Medals including 64 Gold.
•  Delhi is on number 2 with 121 medals including 47 Gold and Haryana is on number 3 with 110 Medals including 37 Gold.
•  In Khelo India Youth Games Under 17 girls from Maharashtra and Delhi entered in Kho Kho finals today. In semi-finals Maharashtra beat Punjab 7 - 6 and Delhi beat Gujarat 7 - 6. Leage matches of Basketball started today.

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