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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 17 August 2019

::NATIONAL::

India affirms that Kashmir is an internal matter at UNSC meet

Briefing the media following theconclusion of the informal meeting requested by China and Pakistan, SyedAkbaruddin said India's position was and remains that matters related toArticle 370 of the Constitution are entirely an internal matter of India andthese have no external ramifications.
Syed Akbaruddin also said that India is committed to ensure the situationremains calm and peaceful.
Indian envoy to the UN without naming Pakistan, has said there are some who aretrying to project an "alarmist approach" to the situation in Kashmir,which is far from the ground realities. Akbaruddinsaid one state isusing the terminology of 'jihad' against and promoting violence in Indiaincluding by their leaders.
Slamming Pakistan for interfering in the internal matters of India, SyedAkbaruddin asserted that there are normal diplomatic ways when countries dealwith each other. "That is the way to do it. But using terror to thrive andpush your goals is not the way that normal states behave. No democracy willacknowledge or accept talks when terror thrives. Stop terror, starttalks.
India has categorically told the international community that its move to scrapArticle 370 of the Constitution revoking the special status to Jammu andKashmir was an internal matter and has also advised Pakistan to accept the reality.
He also said that the recent decisions taken by the Govt of India and ourlegislative bodies are intended to ensure that good governance is promoted,social-economic development is enhanced for our people in Jammu and Kashmir andLadakh.

India gets its first national essential diagnostics list

India has got its first National Essential Diagnostics List (NEDL) finalised by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) which aims to bridge the current regulatory system’s gap that do not cover all the medical devices and in-vitro diagnostic device (IVD)
With this, India has become the first country to compile such a list that would provide guidance to the government for deciding the kind of diagnostic tests that different healthcare facilities in villages and remote areas require.
NEDL builds upon the Free Diagnostics Service Initiative and other diagnostics initiatives of the Health Ministry to provide an expanded basket of tests at different levels of the public health system, explained a senior ICMR official.
He said implementation of NEDL would enable improved health care services delivery through evidence-based care, improved patient outcomes and reduction in out-of-pocket expenditure; effective utilisation of public health facilities; effective assessment of disease burden, disease trends, surveillance, and outbreak identification; and address antimicrobial resistance crisis too.
“While affordability of diagnostics is a prime concern in countrieslike India, low cost, inaccurate diagnostics have made their way into the Indian market which has no place in the quality health care system,” said a senior official at ICMR.

::ECONOMY::

Govt. amends DVR provisions in companies act

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has amended the provisions relating to the issue of shares with Differential Voting Rights (DVRs) provisions under the Companies Act.
Its objective is to enable promoters of Indian companies to retain control of their companies in their pursuit for growth and creation of long-term value for shareholders.
The key change brings in an enhancement in the previously existing cap of 26 per cent of the total post-issue paid-up equity share capital to a revised cap of 74 per cent of the total voting power.
Another key change brought about is the removal of the earlier requirement of distributable profits for 3 years for a company to be eligible to issue shares with Differential Voting Rights.
These two initiatives have been taken by the Government in response to requests from innovative tech companies and startups and to strengthen the hands of Indian companies.

Chief ministers agrees upon boosting agricultural exports

Chief Ministers of various states reached a consensus on how to boost agricultural exports. This was stated by Maharashtra Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis yesterday after he chaired the second meeting of the high-powered committee of Chief Ministers for transformation of Indian agriculture in Mumbai organised by NITI Aayog.
Mr Fadnavis said, there was also unanimity on drafting a market intelligence based export policy. The meeting was attended by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar among others.
Mr Fadnavis while appreciating the participation of all states in the meeting, said that some states have come out with solutions on the difficulties faced in the agriculture sector and those aspects will be particularly looked into in future meetings so that they can be implemented across the country.
The Chief Minister said there was broad discussion on universalisation of agriculture credit and also aspects related to productivity, marketing and export.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India to expand cooperation with Baltic states

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu will embark on a three-nation visit to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia today. The Vice President will be accompanied by a high-level delegation. Vice President's visit will be the first-ever high level visit to the three Baltic countries.
The visit takes place in the context of increasing political engagement, as well as intensified trade and commercial ties. The visit of Vice President to the three Baltics countries is to advance India’s outreach to the important countries in the region.
This visit will also provide an opportunity to brief the Baltic countries and get their views on enhanced opportunities for cooperation, thus further strengthening our existing friendly ties.
Notably, India and Baltic countries have historical connect and common linguistic roots. The cutting edge technology and innovation ecosystems of the Baltic countries complement India’s huge market and appetite for these technologies.

BRICS nations to cooperate on urban environment management

Acknowledging the importance of urban environmental management for improving quality of life in cities, the Environment Ministers of BRICS countries today, agreed to work together to resolve the multifaceted environmental issues faced by BRICS cities.
These discussions and announcements were made during the 5th BRICS Minister of Environment Meeting held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This meeting was preceded by two-days meeting of BRICS Joint Working Group on Environment.
Highlighting the path breaking work done by India in achieving its Nationally Determined Contributions(NDCs) Union Environment minister, ShriPrakashJavadekar said that India under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister NarendraModi is walking the talk on NDC’s.
With respect to biodiversity, BRICs countries stand committed to support the development of Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and expect the prospective framework to acknowledge the sustainable use of biodiversity and Access and Benefit Sharing components.
The key themes of urban environmental management, contaminated areas and soil remediation, water quality, circular economy in context of sustainable consumption and production, marine litter and biodiversity were agreed to be integrated into BRICS cooperation initiatives.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Researchers develop new treatment for deadly strain of TB

Scientists have developed a new treatment for the dangerous TB strain.
The new treatment which cures highly drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis will drastically shorten the treatment period.
The three-drug regimen consists of bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid — collectively known as the BPaL regimen.
Pretomanid is the novel compound developed by the New York-based non-profit organisation TB Alliance and which received the FDA greenlight on Wednesday.
The treatment regimen was studied at three sites in South Africa involving 109 patients and achieved a 90% success rate after six months of treatment and six months of post-treatment follow-ups.
With the treatment involving five pills of the three drugs daily taken over just six months, it is easier to administer.This compares to between 30 and 40 drugs that multiple-drug resistant TB patients take each day for up to two years.
“Usually and in many places in the world the treatment for (multiple) ... drug resistant TB would take anything between 18 to 24 months,” said Pauline Howell, principal investigator of the clinical trial at Sizwe Tropical Disease Hospital in Johannesburg.
The FDA approval represents a victory for those suffering from highly drug-resistant forms of the world’s deadliest infectious disease, said Mel Spigelman, president and CEO of TB Alliance.

::SPORTS::

Ravi Shastri re appointed as Indian coach

Ravi Shastri was today re-appointed head coach of the Indian men's team by the KapilDev-led Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which unanimously felt that the incumbent's communication skills and understanding of team issues stood out.
Shastri, who had the public backing of captain ViratKohli even before the short-listing was initiated, has been reappointed for a two-year period, ending with the 2021 T20 World Cup in India. The three-member CAC also comprised former India coach AnshumanGaekwad and ex women's captain ShanthaRangaswamy.
This will be Shastri's fourth stint with the national team, having served briefly as the Cricket Manager (2007 tour of Bangladesh), Team Director (2014-2016) and head coach (2017-2019).