Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 17 November 2017

Current Affairs for IAS Exams -17 November 2017

::NATIONAL::

Creation of the National Anti-profiteering Authority

• A day after the Centre notified the latest set of cuts in the rate of tax to be levied on a wide range of goods as part of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Union Cabinet approved the creation of the National Anti-profiteering Authority to ensure that businesses pass on the benefits of GST to consumers.
• Coming well over four months after the new indirect tax system was introduced on July 1, the decision to set up the enforcement body marks the government’s resolve to ensure that the latest tax rate reductions approved by the GST Council on more than 200 items are implemented immediately by businesses. Crucially, the authority has been granted wide-ranging powers, including to cancel the registration of offending firms in extreme cases.
• • The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the creation of the posts of Chairman and Technical Members of the National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) under GST, following up immediately on yesterday’s sharp reduction in the GST rates of a large number of items of mass consumption.
• This paves the way for the immediate establishment of this apex body, which is mandated to ensure that the benefits of the reduction in GST rates on goods or services are passed on to the ultimate consumers by way of a reduction in prices.\
• The GST Council, held that restaurants had failed to pass on the benefit of input tax credit to customers. It decided to remove restaurants’ ability to avail themselves of input tax credit while at the same time slashing the final tax rate to 5%.
• The changes including removal of input tax credit immediately spurred controversy, with some restaurant chains including McDonald’s raising their pre-tax base prices while keeping the final bill charged to customers unchanged, triggering a storm of protests on social media.

Restrictions on export of pulses abolished

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has abolished all restrictions on export of pulses to allow farmers to seek remunerative prices for their output.
• Opening of exports of all types of pulses will help the farmers dispose of their products at remunerative prices and encourage them to expand the area of sowing.
• India produced 23 million tonnes of pulses in 2016-17 and the government has set a target to produce 22.90 million tonnes in 2017-18. The Centre has acquired 20 million tonnes at market rates or minimum support price.
• While lifting restrictions on exports, the Cabinet’s economic panel decided that the export and import policy for pulses will be reviewed by a committee of top officials, which would also be empowered to consider changes in import duties and impose quantitative restrictions on trade based on domestic and international production and demand trends.
• The committee will be chaired by the Secretary in the Department of Food & Public Distribution and will include the Secretaries in the Ministries of Commerce, Agriculture, Revenue and Consumer Affairs.
• The Centre has acquired 20 million tonnes at market rates or minimum support price. The panel decided that the export and import policy for pulses will be reviewed by a committee of top officials.
• The committee of officials would be empowered to consider changes in import duties and impose quantitative restrictions on trade based on domestic and international production and demand trends.
• It will be chaired by the Secretary in the Department of Food & Public Distribution and include the Secretaries in the Ministries of Commerce, Agriculture, Revenue and Consumer Affairs.

Foreign Diplomats send updates on extreme level of pollution

• In view of the prevalence of smog in Delhi, foreign diplomats have begun informing their headquarters about the “extreme” level of threat they are facing in India’s capital. Diplomats are also travelling across northern India to assess the stubble burning season and its impact on Delhi’s atmosphere.
• “We have informed [our home country] that the Indian capital is witnessing extreme ecological crisis at the moment. We are also aware that heavy fog and smoke have engulfed other parts of India but. as of now, we are limiting our reports only to the situation in Delhi as this is the most extreme situation that we have experienced till date,” said a Ukrainian diplomat on condition of anonymity.
• The smog has already caused health problems, triggered by pollutants in the air, among diplomats here. The issue of pollution faced by diplomats erupted when the Ambassador of Costa Rica Mariela Cruz Alvarez penned a blog post on it, even as she recovered from bronchial ailments triggered by the pollution.
• The envoy, who is a yoga practitioner, had presented her credentials in May 2017 and had to shift to Benglauru to recover. Her blog drew response from several other diplomats, including Sam Chutintorn, the Ambassador of Thailand.

Crop residue-coal mix to nix stubble burning

• The government has directed the state-run power producer NTPC to mix crop residue pellets with coal for power generation in its thermal power plants in a bid to curb crop burning in Punjab and Haryana, one of the reasons behind the pollution crisis in Delhi and its neighbourhood.
• Power Minister R.K. Singh said this step would earn farmers Rs. 5,500 per tonne of crop residue. The statement comes a day after the Ministry of Petroleum brought forward the deadline for the rollout of the cleaner BS-VI grade fuel in Delhi to reduce emissions.
• Mr. Singh said his Ministry was in talks with State governments to make it mandatory to source 10% of their fuel from straw or crop residue for all power plants in their respective jurisdictions.

Online portal for Saubhagya Scheme

• The Minister launched the portal for the Saubhagya Scheme, which seeks to implement last-mile connectivity to electrify rural households.
• Achieving electrification of four crore households is a big challenge, but nevertheless the government is committed to achieving this target by December 2018, with the cooperation of all States,” Mr. Singh. This would, in turn, bring about a huge improvement in the quality of life of the citizens.
• The online Saubhagya portal (http://saubhagya.gov.in) is meant to enable every State to enter the current status of progress of electrification.

Indigenous short-range UAVs will be purchased by Army

• The Army has issued the Request for Information (RFI) for 60 short range Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to be developed and manufactured in India by the private industry based on proven technology.
• “The government of India invites responses to this request only from Indian vendors. The vendors are to include their capability to indigenously design, develop and absorb the technology sought and provide life time support,” the RFI stated.
• As per the specifications given, the UAV would be used for aerial surveillance over a large area by day and night for a sustained period and should have an altitude ceiling of 20,000 feet and a range of 200 km with a minimum endurance of 10 hours. It needs to have a service life of 20 years.
• The requirement is for 60 systems along with associated payloads and ground support equipment to be delivered within 24 months from the day of signing the contract.
• The Army is in the process of inducting a range of tactical UAVs to augment the surveillance capabilities of its ground forces.

::INTERNATIONAL::

France wants UN to designateAzharas a global terrorist

• Emphasising the need to designate Pakistani terror mastermind Masood Azhar as a global terrorist under the 1267 counter-terror committee of the UN Security Council, France sought international consensus on countering cross-border terrorism.
• Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France and India are successfully cooperating in areas like counter-terrorism and defence and highlighted France’s territorial interests in the Indian Ocean region.
• “It is deeply regrettable that we could not reach a consensus on such an obvious request for designation,” Mr. Le Drian stated, arguing that as the leader of the banned group Jaish-e-Mohammed, Mr. Azhar too should be designated a global terrorist.
• Mr. Le Drian’s comment on terrorism came after France marked the first anniversary of the November 13, 2016 terror strike in Paris which left 130 dead and dozens wounded.
• The Foreign Minister’s visit is expected to prepare the ground for President Emmanuel Macron’s India visit during which he is expected to participate in the International Solar Alliance Conference.

China denies abandoning North Korea proposal

• China denied that it has abandoned its long-standing proposal to ease the North Korean nuclear crisis after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Beijing had agreed to drop the policy.
• Beijing has long campaigned for a “dual track approach” in which the U.S. would halt military drills in the region while North Korea would freeze its weapons programmes.
• But Mr. Trump suggested following his five-nation trip to Asia, which included meetings with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, that the Chinese leader had ditched the plan.
• “President Xi recognises that a nuclear North Korea is a grave threat to China,” Mr. Trump said. “And we agreed that we would not accept a so-called ‘freeze for freeze’ agreement like those that have consistently failed in the past.” But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman GengShuang said Beijing’s position on the nuclear issue remained “consistent and clear-cut
• Mr. Xi is sending a special envoy, Song Tao, to North Korea. Although Mr. Song’s mission is officially to brief North Korea about China’s recent Communist Party congress, analysts say he will likely discuss the nuclear issue.
• Meanwhile, Singapore has suspended trade relations with North Korea, the latest of Pyongyang’s major trade partners to cut commercial ties under UN sanctions, a customs notice obtained on Thursday showed. Singapore is North Korea’s seventh-largest trading partner.

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Japan and China trying to mend the gap between them

• With President Donald Trump creating unease among allies about the role the U.S. will play in the region, Japan and China are inching toward a possible rapprochement as they recognise the shifting dynamics around the Pacific Rim.
• But with the two Asian powers long divided by disputes over history and territory, as well as testiness over influence in the region, it will take more than a few handshakes — or a smile — to cement a genuine realignment.
• In gesturing toward a new friendliness, Japan is motivated in part by the recognition that China is supplanting the U.S. as the leader of free trade in the region.
• Japan is also propelled by fear that the U.S. may develop a closer relationship with China that would exclude Japan. And as China seeks to consolidate its power, it realises it may have more success exerting its authority in the region with Japan as a partner rather than a pure rival.
• The threat from North Korea is also naturally drawing China and Japan together, although Mr. Abe has so far hewed closely to Mr. Trump’s approach of calling for more pressure and sanctions.
• Neither country has given any ground in a territorial dispute over a set of islands in the East China Sea, known in Japan as the Senkaku and in China as the Diaoyu. China also still regularly objects to what it perceives as any sign that Japan is returning to its militaristic past and carefully watches the debate in Japan about how much to develop the military’s capabilities.
• Japan has also actively sought to counter China’s economic rise by developing relationships with other countries in the region. On the same day Mr. Abe met Mr. Xi in Danang, Japan led a group of 11 countries in announcing the restart of negotiations for a sweeping trade agreement to create an economic bloc that would exclude China.

Zimbabwe seize

• The head of the African Union said that the body “will never accept the military coup d'etat” in Zimbabwe. “We demand respect for the Constitution, a return to the constitutional order and we will never accept the military coup d'etat,” Alpha Conde said in an interview.
• Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has been under house arrest. According to reports, Mr. Mugabe refused to resign under pressure from the military.
• Still seen by many Africans as a liberation hero, Mr. Mugabe is reviled in the West as a despot whose disastrous handling of the economy and willingness to resort to violence to maintain power pauperised one of Africa’s most promising states.
• A fighter, both literally and figuratively during a political career that included several assassination attempts, Mr. Mugabe now appears to have reached the end of the road.
• ZANU-PF youth leader KudzaiChipanga, a vocal Mugabe supporter, publicly apologised for opposing the army after being marched into the state television headquarters to read out a statement, sources at the broadcaster said.
• Zimbabwean intelligence reports seen by Reuters suggest Mr. Mugabe’s exit was in the planning for more than a year. Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former security chief and life-long Mugabe confidant known as “The Crocodile” who was axed as Vice-President earlier this month, is the key player.
• Fuelling speculation that this plan might be rolling into action, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, 65, who has been receiving cancer treatment in Britain and South Africa, returned to Harare.
• Despite lingering admiration for Mr. Mugabe among older African leaders, there is little public affection for 52-year-old Grace, an ex-government typist who began an affair with Mr. Mugabe in the early 1990s while his first wife, Sally, was dying of kidney failure.

::ENVIRONMENT::

120 Indians endrose second warning on climate change

• More than 120 Indians are among the 15,364 scientists from 184 countries to endorse the second warning the world’s scientists have issued to humanity: not mending currently unsustainable ways of living could augur “widespread misery” and “catastrophic biodiversity loss”.
• Indian scientists from institutes including the Delhi University, Wildlife Institute of India, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Nature Research, IIT, IISER are among the signatories to the paper. The first warning, issued in 1992 and signed by 1,575 scientists, urged governments to take immediate action to prevent environmental degradation.
• Following up on nine environmental issues identified by these scientists, a team led by scientist William Ripple (Oregon State University, U.S.A.) compiled current data to see how these issues fare now.
• Their findings, published in Bioscience, show declines in freshwater availability and global marine fisheries catch. Biodiversity is disappearing at an alarming pace: between 1970 and 2012, the world’s vertebrates have declined by 58%. Forest loss has been tabled at 129 million hectares between 1990 and 2015.

::SPORTS::

Asia Cup of Road Racing to be hosted by India

• The 20th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing championship will have a robust international flavour, with the addition of the high-profile FIM Asia Cup of Road Racing (ACRR) leg to the grand finale.
• Top bikers from Japan, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Nepal, Taiwan and India will participate in round three of the ACCR on Nov. 18 and 19 at the BIC.
• India will be represented by Sai Rahil Pillarisetty and Israel Vanlalhruaizela, who are fourth in the standings after the first two rounds.

::BUSINESS AND ECONOMY::

Inspection of airfields under UDAN scheme

• Aviation officials will soon embark on inspections of airfields at 64 new destinations set to find a place on India’s aviation map under the government’s regional connectivity scheme.
• Teams comprising officers from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) would visit the 64 unserved and under-served airports for which bids had been received in the second round of bidding as part of the UDAN scheme. Their task would be to ascertain if the airports were ready to cope with commercial flight operations.
• A total of 18 out of the 43 unserved/under served airports that were to be connected under the first round are in the process of being upgraded.
• The officials from AAI and DGCA had been given a “template, based on our last year’s experience,” said the official, who did not wish to be identified. “The team will go and check the runway, the building, and what all infrastructure is needed.”
• The teams would be expected to submit a preliminary report to the Ministry before the close of counter bidding on December 4.
• Under phase 1 of the scheme, operations had started at 13 airports, while 12 others were ready with “airlines making arrangements for acquisition of aircraft and to commence the flights.”
  Fifth edition of a Global Conference on Cyber Space
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will, inaugurate the fifth edition of a Global Conference on Cyber Space, which will see participation from global policymakers and cybersecurity experts to deliberate on issues relating to cyberspace.
• Cyberdiplomacy is a big topic in this conference. Cybersecurity has come to occupy a centre stage in the international diplomatic discourse. This conference will give the world’s cybercommunity an opportunity to learn from global experience.
• As India is poised to become a $1 trillion digital economy, it is imperative to formulate and put across a robust cyberspace. RIL chairman MukeshAmbani and Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal are also expected to attend.

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