Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 16 December 2017

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 16 December 2017

::National::

Bill to make Talaq-e-biddat a criminal offence

• The Union Cabinet approved a Bill that makes instant triple talaq, or t alaq-e-biddat , a criminal offence. Under the Bill, a Muslim man resorting to instant talaq can be jailed for up to three years.
• The government intends to introduce the Bill in the winter session of Parliament, which got under way. “I cannot discuss details of the Bill. All I can say is that it aims to provide a shield to the helpless victims of triple talaq,”said Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
• Law Ministry had written to all the States for their comments, and asked them to revert urgently. “Many States have supported the Bill,” said the Law Minister, without indicating if any Opposition-ruled State had disapproved of the move.
• The proposed Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill will deal with complaints against instant triple talaq across the country, except Jammu and Kashmir.
• The issue of ending instant triple talaq was part of the BJP’s campaign in the Uttar Pradesh elections and on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is said to have told his colleagues that it was a “historic move” to ensure gender justice.
• The Congress said it supports progressive laws that stop practices like instant triple talaq but would comment on the proposed Bill only after the contents are made public.
• As per provisions of the draft Bill, a husband who resorts to instant triple talaq can be fined or face a jail term of up to three years.
• Instant triple talaq in any form — oral, written or electronic — has been banned and made a cognisable offence.
• The Bill also provides for a subsistence allowance to a harassed Muslim woman and her dependent children and the custodial rights of minor children. In August, the Supreme Court had passed a landmark judgment terming instant triple talaq “llegal and unconstitutional.”
• Govt say data suggest that even after the judgment, there have been 66 cases of instant divorce until November. And before the judgment, there were 177 cases of instant divorces, with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar recording the maximum number.
• Mr. Modi set up an inter-ministerial group to examine the issue after the Supreme Court judgment and it included top Ministers such as Arun Jaitley (Finance), Rajnath Singh (Home), Sushma Swaraj (External Affairs), Ravi Shankar Prasad (Law), his deputy P.P. Chaudhary and Jitender Singh.
• Women’s groups such as the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) welcomed the Cabinet decision.
• A meeting of the members of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and senior leaders of the Muslim community will be held on December 17 to formulate a response.

National Green Tribunal imposed a ban on plastic items in Haridwar and Rishikesh

• Reiterating its previous orders, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed a ban on plastic items, including plastic bags and cutlery, in Haridwar and Rishikesh.
• Further, the bench banned the sale, manufacture and storage of all such plastic items, till Uttarkashi. The green panel specified that the ban would be applicable to towns in Uttarakhand, along river Ganga and its tributaries.
• The Tribunal said a fine of Rs. 5,000 would be imposed on those violating the order. Action would be taken against erring officials as well.
• In a judgment passed in 2015, the NGT had said: “There shall be complete prohibition of use of plastic in the entire city of Haridwar and Rishikesh and particularly on the banks and flood plain of river Ganga.
• "Plastic will not be used for any purpose whatsoever, that is serving food, commodities, packaging or even carrying the plastic in that area.”
• Further, the Tribunal had also prohibited the authorities from throwing municipal waste, construction and demolition waste into Ganga and its tributaries.

Union Govt decided to commission a common effluent treatment plant in Kanpur

• Junking the Uttar Pradesh government’s proposal to displace Kanpur’s tanneries, the Union Water Resources Ministry has decided to commission a common effluent treatment plant there to address the pollution from tanneries.
• There is already such a treatment plant in the city. However, it can at most treat 9 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage and this was based on sewage calculations of 1986.
• “The old plant will be junked and a new one, costing about Rs. 400 crore, will be commissioned,” said U.P. Singh, water resources secretary who is also in charge of the National Mission for Clean Ganga.
• “75% of the cost will be borne by us but operation and maintenance will be the responsibility of the tannery association.” The proposed plant will be able to treat about 20 MLD of industrial waste.
• Earlier this year, the Uttar Pradesh government had said that all tanneries would be shifted to a new location away from the Ganga and new land had been identified for the purpose.
• The tannery clusters at Jajmau — a Kanpur suburb — employ over two million people and for long, tannery managers have argued that the new-technology effluent treatment plants are expensive.
• The Central Pollution Control Board had informed the NGT that the Ganga, running 543 km between Haridwar and Kanpur, was affected by 1,072 seriously polluting industries that were releasing heavy metals and pesticides.

U.P. and M.P. resolved their dispute for Ken Betwa river interlinking project

• The Ken Betwa river interlinking project may yet see delays and a price escalation even as the two States involved, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, have reportedly resolved differences over the execution of the project.
• The KBP, a two-part, Rs. 18,000-crore project, is the first river interlinking project and perceived by the government as a model plan for similar interstate river transfer missions.
• Phase-1 involves building a 77 m tall and a 2 km wide dam, called the Dhaudhan dam, and a 230 km long canal to transfer extra water from the Ken river and irrigate 3.64 lakh hectares in the Bundelkhand region of U.P. and Madhya Pradesh
• Originally, the project was to provide 49 million cubic meter (MCM) of water for en-route drinking water supply. This would require, according to the Centre’s calculations, M.P. getting 1,687 MCM (million cubic metre) and Uttar Pradesh, 1,700 MCM.
• The blueprint was, however, drawn up in 2005 under the assumption that constructing the Dhaudhan would mean that 4,364 MCM would be available for allocation.
• Now, it emerges, both States have agreed to stick to the original water-share plan provided they get additional funds for implementing micro-irrigation projects said a source, requesting anonymity.
• Two months ago, Water Minister Nitin Gadkari claimed that Gujarat and Maharashtra have “resolved” their differences but without divulging how.

National Medical Commission Bill cleared by Union Govt

• The Union Cabinet has cleared the National Medical Commission Bill, which does away with the MCI and replaces it with a regulator that will do away with “heavy handed regulatory control” over medical institutions and will also bring in a national licentiate examination.
• Among its key provisions is to ease the processes for colleges to manage undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
• Earlier, the MCI approval was needed for establishing, renewing, recognising and increasing seats in a UG course. Under the new proposal, permissions need only be sought for establishment and recognition.
• While separate permission would be required for starting a postgraduate course after UG recognition, colleges could start PG courses on their own.
• The Bill proposes a government-nominated chairman and members, who will be selected by a committee under the Cabinet Secretary.
• The 25-member NMC will have 12 ex-officio members, including four presidents of boards from leading medical institutions such as AIIMS and the ICMR; 11 part-time members and, a chairman and member-secretary.
• The NMC also aims to be less draconian. Deterrence for non-compliance with maintenance of standards is in terms of monetary penalty — ranging up to 10 times the annual tuition fee — rather than the existing system of not renewing permissions in case of serious infractions.
• The new commission will also have the power to frame guidelines for fees for up to 40% seats in private colleges and deemed universities.
• The Bill is aimed at bringing reforms in the medical education sector which has been under scrutiny for corruption and unethical practices, an official told PTI.

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::International::

EU said it would give the green light for Brexit talks to move to the crucial phase two

• Two days after parliamentarians inflicted a major legislative defeat on the British government, Prime Minister Theresa May won a domestic political reprieve, as the EU said it would give the green light for Brexit talks to move to the crucial phase two.
• The EU had insisted that until certain issues on the terms of Britain’s exit were resolved, talks could not move onto the far more complex theme of the terms of the relationship that Britain would have with the bloc once it had exited.
• European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted his congratulations to British Prime Minister Theresa May, on the second day of talks in Brussels.
• The agreement is something of a formality — significant nonetheless — after the meeting between Ms. May and Mr. Tusk last week, in which he agreed enough progress had been made.
• Welcoming the “sufficient” progress that had been made on addressing the issues in the first phase of negotiations, the European Council said the talks would now cover transitional arrangements as well as the long-term relationship.
• But warned that progress was contingent on the commitments made in the first phase to be “respected in full and translated faithfully into legal terms as quickly as possible”.
• This condition is an oblique reference to concerns about comments made by the Brexit Secretary David Davis, who cast a shadow over the deal agreed last week by suggesting that the commitments made were just a statement of intent.
• These conditions are unlikely to go down well among the so-called hard Brexiteers who are keen for free movement, and stopping the the application of the European Court of Justice’s rulings on Britain from the earliest date possible (March 29, 2019).
• The council also said the terms of a future trade agreement between Europe and Britain could be concluded after Britain fully left the EU.
• Whatever the challenges, the developments mark a milestone in the British government’s progress towards the Brexit deadline, which the government is currently attempting to enshrine in legislation.

U.S. regulators voted to roll back the so-called “net neutrality”

• U.S. regulators voted to roll back the so-called “net neutrality” rules, which required Internet service providers to treat all traffic equally, a move opponents say would curb online freedom.
• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in a three-to-two vote, adopted a proposal by Republican-appointed chairman Ajit Pai, who said his plan would scrap “heavy
• handed” rules adopted in 2015, which, he argued, discouraged investment and innovation.
• The vote capped a heated partisan debate and is just the latest in a battle over more than a decade on rules governing Internet service providers in the courts and the FCC.
• Net neutrality activists have staged a series of protests in cities around the U.S. and online, amid fears that dominant broadband providers could change how the Internet works.
• Net neutrality backers have argued that clear rules are needed to prevent internet service providers from blocking or throttling services or websites for competitive reasons.

::Business and Economy::

Centre has increased customs duty on several electronic items

• The Centre has increased customs duty on several electronic items including televisions, mobile phones and microwaves, making the import of these goods more expensive and thus lending a fillip to its ‘Make in India’ programme.
• The custom duty on push button phones, including mobiles, and on smart electricity meters has been increased to 15%, from 10% now, as per a notification issued by the Ministry of Finance. The duty on products like monitors, projectors, water heaters, microwaves, TVs and lamps and light fittings has been doubled to 20%.
• “This is a major policy shift from the Government, as the peak customs duty rate for many electronic products has effectively been increased from 10% to 15% or 20%,” said Pratik Jain, Leader - Indirect Tax, PwC India. “This seems to be with the twin objective of increasing revenue as well as to encourage more manufacturing and value addition in India.”
• Mr. Jain said the duty increases had been made under “emergency powers” included in the customs laws, and could prompt manufacturers in other industry segments to push for similar protection from imports.
• “Some announcements can be expected in the upcoming budget about these changes and policy direction in this regard,” he added.
• Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the rise in tax to 15% on handsets will make imports of phones — including most of Apple’s iPhone models — more expensive at a time the company’s revenue growth is slowing in India’s $10 billion smartphone market.
• The increase will boost domestic manufacturers who are making about 500 million cellphones a year, more than double the output three years ago. Eight out of 10 phones sold in 2017 have been made locally, data from Counterpoint Research showed. Samsung assembles in India most of the handsets it sells in the country.
• “It will impact Apple the most as the company imports 88% of its devices into India. Either this will lead to increase in iPhone prices or force Apple to start assembling more in India.”

India’s exports rose 30.55% to $26.19 billion in November

• India’s exports rose 30.55% to $26.19 billion in November, reversing the decline witnessed in October, helped by robust growth in shipments of gems and jewellery and engineering goods.
• Exports had witnessed a decline of 1.12% to $23 billion in October this year, retreating from a six-month high growth rate in September.On year-on-year basis, the country’s outward shipments in November 2016 stood at $20.06 billion.
• Imports too grew 19.61% to $40 billion in November from $33.46 billion in the same month last year, the Commerce Ministry data released. The trade deficit widened to $13.82 billion as against $13.39 billion in November 2016. Meanwhile, gold imports dropped by 25.96% to $3.26 billion last month.
• Oil imports and non-oil imports in November grew 39.14% and 14.57% to $9.55 billion and $30.47 billion respectively.
• Cumulative exports during April-November 2017-18 increased by 12.01% to $196.48 billion, while imports grew 21.85% to $296.45 billion, leaving a trade deficit of almost $100 billion.

RBI says growth picking up in the second quarter of the current financial year

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel said with growth picking up in the second quarter of the current financial year, the economic slowdown may have bottomed out.
• “Our recent growth numbers may have disappointed some in the first quarter of this fiscal year, but the second quarter has recorded an uptick and the slowdown may well be bottoming out,” Dr. Patel said in a speech.
• Official data released this month, showed gross domestic product (GDP) in the July-September quarter expanded 6.3% year-on-year, snapping a four-quarter slowdown. Growth in the preceding quarter was 5.7%.
• Dr. Patel said while structural changes, such as the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), may result in temporary disruptions, they were “efficiency augmenting” in the medium to long term.
• He said the current account deficit “remains within sustainable levels”, and other indicators of external viability also reflected a healthy improvement.
• The RBI chief said international investors had warmed to the Indian economy as reflected in the sizeable foreign investment inflows.
• “Meanwhile, domestic financial markets have shown resilience and stability in spite of escalation of global geopolitical uncertainty and heightened volatility in financial markets. These developments have enabled the build-up of buffers against unforeseen shocks.”
• At the same time, building up adequate buffers in foreign exchange reserves was a natural “self-insurance” to manage risks arising out of volatile capital flows.
• Commenting on inflation, the central bank governor said while some disinflation was underway and inflation expectations were, perhaps, getting re-anchored, “considerable caution and vigilance” was warranted.
• The monetary policy committee has left interest rates unchanged for two successive bimonthly policy reviews, citing concerns about the outlook for inflation. The RBI has also retained a ‘neutral’ policy stance.

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