Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 18 July 2018

::NATIONAL::

Supreme Court on Tuesday condemned the recent spate of lynchings as “horrendous acts of mobocracy” and told Parliament to make lynching a separate offence.
The recent litany of spiralling mob violence, their horror, the grim and gruesome scenes of lynchings are made worse by the apathy of the bystanders, numbness of mute spectators, inertia of the police and, finally, the grandstanding of the incident by the perpetrators of the crimes on social media,” Chief Justice Misra wrote.
Describing lynchings and mob violence as “creeping threats”, the court warned that the rising wave of frenzied mobs fed by fake news, self-professed morality and false stories would consume the country like a “typhoon-like monster
It directed several preventive, remedial and punitive measures to deal with lynching and mob violence. It ordered the Centre and the States to implement the measures and file compliance reports within the next four weeks. Lynchings cannot become the order of the day, the court said.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has notified draft amendments to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, making FASTags and Vehicle Tracking System device mandatory for all commercial vehicles obtaining national permit.
The draft amendments also stipulate other additional conditions for obtaining national permit that include display of the words “National Permit or N/P” in the front and rear of the vehicles in bold letters. In case of trailers, the words “N/P” will have to be inscribed on the rear and left side of the vehicle.
The proposed amendment also provides that Driving License and Pollution Under Control certificates can be carried in physical or digital form.
The body of a tanker carrying dangerous or hazardous goods has to be painted in white colour and display the prescribed class label on both the sides and rear of the tanker. The vehicle will be affixed with reflective tapes at front and rear.
The ministry has invited suggestions & objections to the proposed amendments from the public.

The Centre has raised safe limits for axle weight for transport vehicles by 20-25%.
The revised axle limits will be applicable to new vehicles,” Road Transport Highways Minister NitinGadkari told reporters on Tuesday. “The move will help reduce logistic costs by 2% and attempts to bring norms at par with international standards.
Mr.Gadkari added that an advisory would be issued to States to ensure that axle weight limits for heavy vehicles and trucks are enforced strictly.

The government has doubled import duty on more than 50 textile products — such as jackets, suits and carpets — to 20%, a move that is aimed at promoting domestic manufacturing.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has also raised the ad-valorem rate of duty for certain items. Imported products that face the new duty include woven fabrics, dresses, trousers, suits and baby garments.
It will help boost domestic manufacturing but least developed countries including Bangladesh would continue to enjoy duty free access to Indian markets,” FIEO Director General Ajay Sahai said.
Experts said as per WTO norms, India would not be able to give further incentive to the textile sector and the government had increased the import duties to encourage domestic manufacturing.
Aligned to the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the increased customs duty on import of a range of textile products should entail the domestic manufacturing of these products witnessing a growth.

Japan and the EU signed a sweeping free trade deal on Tuesday saying they were sending a “clear message” against protectionism, as Washington puts up barriers and threatens a trade war.
The deal signed in Tokyo is the largest ever negotiated by the EU and creates a massive free trade zone, eliminating tariffs for everything from Japanese cars to French cheese.
It also provides a stark counterpoint to U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive “America First” protectionism, which has seen Washington impose trade tariffs on allies and rivals alike.
The agreement is expected to enter into force from 2019.

President Donald Trump is in the eye of a storm in the U.S for blaming American security agencies and praising Russian President Vladimir Putin after a summit meeting between the two in Helsinki, Finland on Monday.
A vast array of mainstream political leaders and strategic commentators have accused the President of compromising American national interest.
The mainstream commentary on the Trump-Putin summit has particularly focussed on the President’s refusal to endorse the claim by American intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S presidential election to help his victory.

Aviation security watchdog BCAS has finalised a strategy to neutralise drones near airports, with the government set to unveil a framework to regulate unmanned aircraft systems in the country.
The strategy deals with drones operating near aerodromes as the body is mandated to ensure aviation security. The Ministry of Home Affairs may prepare a separate plan to deal with drone attacks in sensitive zones such as Parliament, said a government official.
The official added that a “soft kill” approach instead of a hard kill approach has been suggested because destroying a drone with a payload of explosives or biochemical will result in an attack and serve the purpose of their handlers. Therefore, the official said, the best approach is to entrap them and not destroy them.
The bureau of civil aviation security will now conduct a trial to examine effective technology to neutralise drones, following which it will prepare technical specifications.

Skipper ViratKohli cracked a strokeful 71 before England dished out some disciplined bowling effort to restrict India to a modest 256 for eight in the series-deciding third and final ODI at Headingley.
India got off to a poor start as England pacers Mark Wood and David Willey moved the new balls around under a heavy cloud cover with opener Rohit Sharma, in particular, struggling to put bat to ball.

SajanBhanwal duly managed to do the same, winning India’s first gold on the opening day of the junior Asian wrestling championships . The host managed to add two silvers and a bronze in the five bouts during the day.
He had taken a 3-0 lead and maintained it throughout despite suffering a blow. With 27 seconds to go for the final whistle, he received a cut above the right eye and had to be treated. Sajan bravely held off the Iranian to claim the gold.
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