Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 17 August 2018

::NATIONAL::

Kerala death toll rises to 92 in disastrous floods

With 91 persons killed in rain-related incidents on Thursday, the toll in the recent rain- and flood-related incidents across Kerala rose to 156. More than 1.5 lakh people have been shifted to 1,200 relief camps.
Twelve additional National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, comprising about 540 personnel, are being rushed to the State, in addition to the 18 teams already deployed, apart from contingents of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. A further 23 NDRF teams will be deployed in the coming days, NDRF Director-General Sanjay Kumar said.
After two days of relentless downpour that claimed several lives, there has been respite from the rains in the north Kerala region. However, people continue to stay in the government relief camps opened in all the districts by government agencies as well as by NGOs and private groups.
Promising to bring some respite from the ravages of the monsoon in Kerala, the Indian Met Department has scaled down its heavy rainfall warning for the State from August 19. The depression in the Bay of Bengal that wad driving the current spell of rain has moved onto land and weakened.

Centre claims creamy layer norms cannot be applies to SC/ST’s

The government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the “creamy layer” concept cannot be applied to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe communities, who have suffered for centuries.
Arguing before a five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India DipakMisra, Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal argued that SCs/STs are a “homogenous group and any action to regroup them based on economic or social advancement would not be appropriate.”
Mr.Venugopal said rigorous modalities were prescribed for inclusion of communities in the list of SCs/STs. “For inclusion of communities in the list of the SCs, one of the important determinants is the traditional practice of untouchability,” Mr.Venugopal submitted.
This verdict mandates that the government cannot introduce quota in promotion for SC/ST persons in public employment unless they prove that the particular Dalit community is backward, is inadequately represented and such a reservation in promotion would not affect the overall efficiency of public administration.
The government has argued that the judgment was a roadblock to its authority to introduce quota in promotions in favour of SC/ST communities as per Article 16 (4A) of the Constitution.

::ECONOMY::

NPCI upgrades UPI with high security features

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has upgraded the unified payments interface (UPI) with enhanced security features and overdraft facilities.
Unveiling the UPI 2.0 on Thursday, RBI Governor Urjit Patel said that the upgraded UPI was the result of the calibrated approach adopted by RBI in the initial years as a developer and in the later years as a catalyst and facilitator.
He said the payments systems in India were not only comparable to any system anywhere in the world, but also set standards for others to emulate. He also outlined the need for ensuring adequate importance to cybersecurity, adding that all efforts needed to be channelled to this area.
UPI is a path-breaking innovation that is unprecedented globally. Its high volume, low cost and highly scalable architecture built on an open source platform is key to India’s transformation to a digital payment economy.

Rupee downfall will cost oil import bill to increase

India’s crude oil import bill is likely to jump by about $26 billion in 2018-19 as the rupee’s drop to a record low has made buying of oil from overseas costlier, government officials said on Thursday.
Besides, the rupee hitting a record low of 70.32 to a U.S. dollar in opening trade on Thursday will also lead to an increase in the retail selling price of petrol, diesel and cooking gas (LPG).
We, at the beginning of the financial year, estimated that crude oil import bill will be around $108 billion [Rs. 7.02 lakh crore] at an average crude oil price of $65 per barrel and exchange rate of Rs. 65 per dollar,” an official said.
The rupee has been among the worst performing currencies in Asia, witnessing an 8.6% slump this year. Fanned by a higher oil import bill, India’s trade deficit, or the gap between exports and imports, in July widened to $18 billion, the most in more than five years.
Though oil firms fix retail selling price of petrol and diesel on a daily basis, the inputs for that fixation are an average of previous fortnight. So today’s rate is based on average benchmark of international oil prices and the exchange rate of August 1-15.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India-Pakistan DGMO level talks held

DGMO level talks at behest of Pakistan DGMO was held on 16 August 18. Pleasantries were exchanged between the DGsMO on the occasion of Independence Day of both countries.
Pakistan DGMO expressed satisfaction on the measures being taken along the Line of Control by troops to maintain peace and tranquility. The quantum of cease fire violations has drastically reduced and augers well for the future.
Pakistan DGMO made an assurance that Pakistan Army would take prompt actions against move of inimical elements in proximity to the Line of Control and respond to information shared by the Indian side thereby facilitating conduct of anti-terrorist operations.
Indian DGMO emphatically stated that infiltration attempts by terrorists were a major cause of concern. He also informed the Pakistan DGMO that ‘these activities have increased in the areas North of PirPanjal Mountain Ranges. Pakistan must institute measures to prevent infiltration from the launch pads located on its side of the Line of Control’.
Indian DGMO assured that the Indian Army will abide by its commitment to uphold the Ceasefire Understanding of 2003 provided Pakistan Army initiates positive steps to control infiltration and abetment of terrorism in J&K.

U.S likely to impose more sanctions on turkey

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin warned on Thursday that Washington would levy more sanctions on the troubled Turkish economy if Ankara does not soon release a jailed American pastor.
Mr.Mnuchin on Thursday suggested that the next spiral of tit-for-tat sanctions was coming soon.“We have put sanctions on several of their Cabinet members,” Mr.Mnuchin told President Donald Trump in a Cabinet meeting attended by the press.
Mr. Trump prefaced Mr.Mnuchin’s remarks by saying that Turkey had not been a very good friend to America.
Referring to imprisoned pastor Andrew Brunson, Mr. Trump said “they have a great Christian pastor there, he’s a very innocent man”.
The threat comes as Turkey sought on Thursday to reassure investors rattled by the sanctions-fuelled crash of the Turkish lira, insisting that the country would emerge stronger.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Scientists to test landing suitability of LIGO

The Environment Ministry has allowed scientists to test the suitability of land in Maharashtra’s Hingoli district to host the India wing of the ambitious Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) project. This is a key step to establishing the one-of-its-kind astronomical observatory.
The project involves constructing a network of L-shaped arms, each four kilometres long, which can detect even the faintest ripples from cosmic explosions millions of light years away.
The discovery of gravitational waves earned three U.S. scientists the Nobel for physics in 2017. The scientists were closely involved with LIGO. Hosting such a detector in India, scientists have said, will improve the odds of detecting more such phenomena.
The LIGO project operates three gravitational-wave (GW) detectors. Two are at Hanford in the State of Washington, north-western USA, and one is at Livingston in Louisiana, south-eastern USA. Currently these observatories are being upgraded to their advanced configurations.
The project, piloted by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Department of Science and Technology (DST), reportedly costs Rs. 1,200 crore and is expected to be ready by 2025.

::SPORTS::

Davis Cup competition revamped

World tennis chiefs on Thursday approved a radical Davis Cup revamp that will overhaul the 118-year-old competition, condensing the annual showpiece into an 18-team, week-long event.
The shake-up for the men’s team tournament received 71.43 percent support from about 120 delegates at the ITF’s annual meeting in Orlando, well ahead of the two-thirds majority needed for approval.
The current format is a knockout event played February, July, September and November at home and away venues around the globe, best-of-five match ties following Grand Slam events until the final round.
Many top players have skipped it in recent years to ease their workload. The reform plan will create a November finals with 18 teams: 12 winners from 24-team home and away qualifying in February, the previous year’s four semifinalists and two wild-card nations.