Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 17 MARCH 2019

::NATIONAL::

Vice president seeks help of pharma sector to make drugs affordable

•  The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that world class drugs with unwavering quality at very affordable prices is the need of hour. He urged the Indian Pharmaceutical industry to remain committed to high standards of quality in drug manufacturing and quality frameworks.

•  Calling for strict adherence to global standards in manufacturing drugs, he exhorted the industry to earmark more resources for discovering new molecules and new drugs without compromising on the affordability of drugs.
•  New healthcare challenges are emerging every day, especially with an alarming rise in the number of non communicable and lifestyle diseases and cancers, he added.
•  Expressing his desire to see India emerge as the world leader in generic medicines, Shri Naidu wanted the young researchers to also work towards standardizing and benchmarking Indian systems of medicine. He wanted them to use globally established experimental protocols, to establish the efficiency, validity and efficacy of the traditional medicines.
•  Shri Naidu asked the Pharma companies to develop new molecules and drugs to combat some of the lesser known diseases, particularly the group of diseases called as “rare diseases”.
•  Saying that the number of people suffering from rare diseases was estimated to be more than 70 million in India, the Vice President said that it was important for the Indian Pharma industry to look into the need for developing low-cost drugs for treating rare diseases.
•  The Vice President speedy introduction of generic drugs into the market should remain the focus. Rural health programmes, lifesaving drugs and preventive vaccines should also receive attention from policy makers and Pharma companies alike, he added.

Election commission to hold meeting with social media and mobile associations

•  The Election Commission will meet senior functionaries of popular social media platforms on Tuesday to review steps being taken against content that may vitiate the conduct of the LokSabha election.
•  Representatives of platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google, WhatsApp and Share Chat, and from the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI) will meet the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners for the first time.
•   In the past few months, they have been interacting with a committee set up to review Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act.
•  “With the input of Facebook, Twitter, Google, WhatsApp and Share Chat, the IAMAI has already responded and confirmed its eagerness to cooperate with the EC ,” the Commission had earlier said.
•  The intermediaries have started awareness campaigns regarding unlawful conduct during polls, particularly the 48-hour prohibited period under Section 126. The platforms have appointed grievance officers and fact checkers to identify fake news and other malpractices.

::ECONOMY::

RBI firm on stance on revised framework on RSA

•  The central bank has clarified that there is no change in its stance on the February 12, 2018 circular on Revised Framework on Resolution of Stressed Assets.
•  “There have been some media reports about the stance of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with regard to the Revised Framework on Resolution of Stressed Assets issued on February 12, 2018,” the central bank said in a communication issued on Saturday.
•  “As the matter is sub-judice and the Hon’ble Supreme Court has reserved its orders on the matter, the Reserve Bank will not comment on the specific details,” it added.
•  “However, it is reiterated that the Reserve Bank maintains its stand on all aspects of the framework as has been consistently articulated in its communications, including the clarification given during the post-monetary policy press conference on February 07, 2019,” the statement added.
•  During the post-policy press conference in early February, when asked if the RBI was considering any proposal to modify February 12 circular, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said, “At the moment, there is no proposal to modify the February 12 circular.” The circular mandates that banks classify a loan as stressed if there was even a day of default.
•  The circular also says that banks have to refer all loan accounts worth more than Rs. 2,000 crore to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) if they failed to resolve the issue within 180 days of default. Through the circular, the RBI also withdrew all the previous loan restructuring mechanisms.

NGT asks govt.to ban campaign materials made of plastic

•  The National Green Tribunal, NGT, has directed the Election Commission, the Centre and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to convene a meeting to consider whether to ban the use of campaigning material made of plastic during elections
•  A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the Election Commission, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, MoEF&CC, and CPCB to convene a meeting at the earliest, preferably within one week.
•  The tribunal passed the directions on a petition seeking a direction to the MoEF&CC and the states to prohibit the use of, synthetic plastic polymer and chlorinated plastic in banners, hoarding for advertising during the poll campaign.
•  The petition claimed that campaigning material made of plastic are used during the election and later discarded as waste, which is detrimental to the environment.
•  NGT, has also directed the Central Pollution Control Board, CPCB, to prepare a noise pollution map and remedial action plan to solve the issue across the country.
•  A bench headed by National Green Tribunal Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the CPCB to identify noise pollution hotspots and categorise cities with specified hotspots and propose a remedial action plan within three months.
•  The NGT said the absence of implementation of noise pollution norms affects health of citizens, especially infants and senior citizens.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India and Maldives to expand developmental collaboration

•  India and Maldives have agreed on a broad spectrum of issues for further collaboration, including development cooperation and enhancing people to people contact.
•  The agreement came at a high level meeting between External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj with her Maldivian counterpart Abdulla Shahid in Male this evening.
•  A joint ministerial meeting also discussed ways to enhance cooperation on a variety of issues, including capacity development, health cooperation, trade, investment and economy.
•  Mrs. Swaraj reached Male this afternoon on a two-day official visit, the first high level visit since new Maldives government came to office. She is accompanied by a high level delegation, including Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale.
•  Mrs. Swaraj also met other senior ministers, parliament Speaker Qasim Ibrahim and visited Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Male gifted by the Indian government in 1995.

Czech republic to expand cooperation with India

•  Czech Republic and India have strong bilateral and economic ties and both countries want to elevate it to the next level, Czech Ambassador in New Delhi Milan Hovorka has said.
•  He said bilateral trade between the two countries is strong and both India and Czech Republic offer investment opportunities for each other. “Bilateral trade is now $1.6 billion out of which $870 million is imports from India. So, we provide very good business and investment opportunities for Indians and they are doing extremely well.”
•  In the defence sector, according to the Ambassador, both countries have already established strong ties. “You may know Tatra trucks, which has been providing high quality service to Indian armed forces for decades... We do have different kind of surveillance systems. We do have first class radars. Most of Indian airports use radars originating from the Czech Republic.”
•  Honorary Consul ArRmArun said his priorities would be on strengthening business-to-business ties between Czech Republic and Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. “Right now we have only one Czech investment here which is focussed on engineering service industry. But certainly there are a number of things that Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry have to offer,” he said, identifying energy, health care and tourism as potential areas where opportunities could be explored.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Researchers discover a solar  tsunami which may cause sun spots in future

•  It is believed that the “solar dynamo” a naturally occurring generator which produces electric and magnetic fields in the sun is linked to the production of sunspots. What kick-starts the 11-year sunspot cycle is not known. Now, a group of solar physicists suggests that a “solar tsunami” is at work that triggers the new sunspot cycle, after the old one ends.
•  The extreme temperature and pressure conditions that prevail some 20,000 km below the sun’s surface cause its material to form a plasma consisting primarily of hydrogen and helium in a highly ionised state. The plasma is confined with huge magnetic fields inside the sun.
•  These magnetic fields behave like rubber bands on a polished sphere. They tend to slip towards the poles. Holding these fields in their place requires that there is extra mass (plasma mass) pushing at the bands from higher latitudes.
•  Thus, a magnetic dam is formed which is storing a big mass of plasma. At the end of a solar cycle, this magnetic dam can break, releasing huge amounts of plasma cascading like a tsunami towards the poles.
•  These tsunami waves travel at high speeds of about 1,000 km per hour carrying excess plasma to the mid-latitudes. There they give rise to magnetic flux eruptions. These are seen as the bright patches that signal the start of the next cycle of sunspots. The tsunami waves can traverse the required distance in a few weeks, unlike in earlier models.
•  The model provides a sound physical mechanism supporting why we should expect the next sunspot cycle 25 to begin in the year 2020, followed by a strong increase in space weather shortly after the trigger of a series of new sunspots in that year.

::SPORTS::

India shines at Special Olympics with 70 medals

•  In Special Olympics, India have bagged 70 medals including 18 golds, 22 silver and 30 bronze, so far, at Abu Dhabi. On the second day yesterday, Team Bharat clinched a whopping 55 medals, including 14 gold.
•  In Roller Skating, Supreet Singh from Haryana in 1000-meter, Rishabh Jain from New Delhi in 1000-meter and PriyaPrakashGada from Maharashtra in 100-meter won a Gold Medal each. Amanjot Singh won gold in the squat contest after lifting 385kg.
•  Indian roller skaters bagged a staggering 29 medals comprising nine golds, 13 silver and two bronze. The powerlifters of India also found the podium 23 times by the end of the second day of competitions.
•  The cyclists fetched two yellow metals while the judokas brought in two more gold medals. The athletics and swimming contingents, who are competing in Dubai, were also successful in winning eight medals.

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