Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 17 July 2018


Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 17 July 2018


::NATIONAL::

MowCD directive to state governments

  • The Minister of Women and Child Development, SmtManeka Sanjay Gandhi has directed state governments to ensure that all the child care institutions should be registered and linked to CARA within the next one month.
  • Taking cognizance of the recent cases of illegal adoptions carried out by Missionaries of Charity in Jharkhand, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi has instructed the states to get child care homes run by Missionaries of Charity all over the country inspected immediately.
  • The mandatory registration of CCIs and linking to Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) has been provided in Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 which came into force more than two years ago but some orphanages had challenged the validity of this clause.
  • Minister has also expressed displeasure that even the 2300 institutions that have been linked to CARA, the children available in these institutions have still not been brought into on the adoption system.

Faster visa to certain foreign minorities

  • The Home Ministry has further liberalised the process for granting long-term visas (LTVs) to minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
  • The move comes days after one of its officials was arrested by the Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau for allegedly extorting money from Pakistani Hindu migrants for their visa extension, visa transfer and grant of citizenship.
  • The State government, through the local police, has to run a background check on the applicants who has applied for an LTV. If the State doesn’t reply within 21 days, the system will log them out and the application will be deemed to be cleared. If, in future, there is a security implication, the onus will be on the State government
  • The visa facility, first introduced in 2011 for persecuted Hindus from Pakistan in 2011, was further liberalised after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government came to power in 2014. The LTVs granted to Pakistani Hindus from 2011 to 2014 stood at 14,726.

New rules on tobacco products to continue

  • The Supreme Court on Monday declined to stay the operation of new amended rules of the Union Health Ministry directing the manufacturers to have graphic warning images on packets of cigarettes and other tobacco products and helpline numbers for those who wanted to quit the habit.
  • The new rules which have two images depicting the manifestation of cancer as a specified health warning would appear on the package consecutively during the rotation period with an interregnum period of 12 months.
  • During the hearing, senior advocate MukulRohatgi, appearing for the manufacturers, argued that people should have the right to choice and the new rules violated that right.
  • The Bench claimed that “people have the right to informed choice.”

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::ECONOMY::

WPI on a record high

  • Inflation at the wholesale level quickened to 5.77% in June, the highest since December 2013, driven in large part by rising fuel prices, according to official data released on Monday.
  • Growth in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) accelerated in June from 4.43% in May, and is far higher than the 0.9% seen in June last year.
  • While inflation in the primary articles component of the index quickened to 5.3% in June from 3.16% in May, this was not due to food price inflation, which accelerated only marginally to 1.8% from 1.6% over the same period.
  • The real upward push in wholesale inflation came from the crude petroleum and natural gas segment, which saw inflation surging to 48.7% in June from 26.9% in the previous month.

TRAI gives recommendations on privacy,ownership of data in telecom sector

  • Telecom regulator TRAI on Monday said each user owned his or her data collected by or stored with the entities in the digital ecosystem that includes devices and applications.
  • The entities, it stressed, are mere custodians of the data, while pointing out that the existing framework for protecting the personal data of telecom users is not sufficient.
  • Additionally, the regulator has suggested that all entities in the digital ecosystem that control or process users’ personal data such as devices, operating systems, browsers as well as applications, be brought under a data protection framework.
  • Till such time a general data protection law is notified by the government, the existing rules/licence conditions applicable to TSPs for protection of users’ privacy be made applicable to all the entities in the digital ecosystem.
  • Along with running consumer awareness programmes, the regulator has suggested that multilingual, easy to understand, short templates of agreements or terms and conditions be made mandatory. It has also recommended prohibiting use of “preticked boxes” to gain users’ consent.

::INTERNATIONAL::

European Union gives warning to Srilanka over capital punishment

  • Ambassadors from the European Union (EU) warned Sri Lanka on Monday against ending its 42-year moratorium on capital punishment and said that the island risked losing trade concessions if it went ahead.
  • “The diplomatic missions have requested the President to maintain the moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty and to uphold Sri Lanka’s tradition of opposition to capital punishment,” the EU Ambassadors said in a joint statement.
  • Last week, President MaithripalaSirisena said that repeat drug offenders would be hanged as part of his administration’s new crackdown on narcotics.
  • If Sri Lanka resumes capital punishment, Colombo will immediately lose the GSP-Plus status,” said an EU diplomatic source.
  • This refers to its generalised system of preferences (GSP Plus) — a favourable tariff scheme to encourage developing nations to respect human rights — restored by the EU in May 2017 after a seven-year hiatus.

China brings up U.S tariff issue at WTO

  • China announced that it filed a World Trade Organization (WTO) challenge on Monday to U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat, stepping up its diplomatic efforts to counter U.S. pressure in a spiralling technology dispute.
  • The Trump administration has criticised the WTO as unable to deal with the problems posed by China. But it might help Beijing rally support from governments that criticised Mr. Trump for going outside the WTO to impose tariffs on Chinese and other imports.
  • The move is unusually swift, coming less than one week after the U.S. proposed 10% tariffs on a $200 billion list of Chinese goods. Those wouldn’t take effect until at least September.
  • China’s lopsided trade balance means it will run out of U.S. imports for penalty tariffs before Washington does. Beijing is trying to recruit support, so far in vain, from Europe, South Korea and other governments.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Brahmos missile test fired

  • The supersonic cruise missile BrahMos was successfully test-fired on Monday, under extreme weather conditions, as part of the service life extension programme for the Army.
  • BrahMos has again proved its all-weather capability, flying in sea state 7, with waves as high as nine metres.
  • BrahMos, a joint venture between India and Russia, has been demonstrated in various configurations in land-attack, anti-ship and from the air. The Army and the Navy have already inducted the missile, while the air launched variant is undergoing trials.

Vikas engine upgraded to boost ISRO’s launches

  • All three satellite launch vehicles of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are set to add muscle to their spacecraft lifting power in upcoming missions this year. The space agency has improved the thrust of the Vikas engine that powers all of them.
  • The main beneficiary of the high-thrust Vikas engine is said to be the heavy-lifting GSLV-Mark III launcher, which ISRO expects will now put 4,000-kg satellites to space. This would be the third Mk-III and the first working one to be designated MkIII Mission-1 or M1.
  • The Vikas engine is used in the second stage of the light lifting PSLV; the second stage and the four add-on stages of the medium-lift GSLV; and the twin-engine core liquid stage of Mk-III.

::SPORTS::

  • Sahaj Grover wins SA open chess title
  • Sahaj Grover retained the South Africa Open chess title with a commanding performance here.
  • The top-seeded Grandmaster, who scored 10 points from 11 rounds during his unbeaten campaign, finished a point clear of the runner-up Daniel Cawdrey, the highest rated player in South Africa.

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