Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 19 July 2018

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 19 July 2018

::NATIONAL::

India –BRICSMoU approved

  • The centre has today approved the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) amongst BRICS Nations on the Regional Aviation Partnership Cooperation viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
  • The MoU signifies an important landmark in the civil aviation relations between India and other BRICS Member States and has the potential to spur greater trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges amongst the BRICS Nations.
  • Among the areas of cooperation,the following areas have been identified:Public policies and best practices in regional services,airport infrastructure management & air navigation services,environmental sustainability etc.

Supreme courts claims that men do not possess exclusionary rights of temple entry

  • In a public place of worship, a woman can enter, where a man can go. What applies to a man, applies to a woman, Chief Justice Misra observed on Wednesday in the Sabarimala temple entry case.
  • He was leading a Constitution Bench hearing the question whether the fundamental right of women to pray at the place of their choice can be discriminated against solely based “on a biological factor (menstruation) exclusive to the female gender.
  • He quoted Article 25 (1) which mandates freedom of conscience and right to practise religion. “All persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion
  • Chief Justice Misra pointed out that there were many temples which allowed visitors only up to a certain point, but there are none which ban entry to the temple in total.

Cabinet approves continuation of various scholarship schemes for minorities

  • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister ShriNarendraModi has approved the proposal for Continuation of Pre-Matric, Post Matric and Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Schemes for the students belonging to the six notified Minority Communities at a total cost of Rs. 5338.32 crore for period up to 2019-20. This will benefit 70 lakh students annually.
  • These Schemes shall be implemented through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) and scholarships are disbursed through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.
  • Renewal scholarships are also awarded, in addition to the fresh scholarships. Renewal scholarships are for all such students who have been awarded scholarships in the previous years and fulfill the eligibility criteria.
  • For all the Scholarship Schemes, the State/Community-wise target/allocation shall be applicable as per Census 2011. Around 70 lakh scholarships are likely to be disbursed to the students belonging to the six notified Minority Communities viz. Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi who are from the economically weaker sections of the society.

::ECONOMY::

Move to boost promotion of GI products

  • The Government has undertaken several steps as a part of the campaign for promotion of Indian products registered as Geographical Indications (GIs).
  • These include, participation in events to promote and create awareness on GIs through social media, involving State Governments, Union Territory Administration and other relevant organizations for facilitation of GI producers.
  • All State Governments have been requested to appoint nodal officers for promotion of Geographical Indications from their respective states, establish facilitation cells for each GI from the state, undertake steps for GI awareness in consumers, undertake training of GI producers, take effective action against manufacture and sale of counterfeit GI products among others.

WTO to to consider India’s concernaout U.S tariffs

  • The government has once again expressed its concern at the imposition of import duties by the U.S. on aluminium and steel. Its appeal in the WTO Appellate Disputes Settlement Committee will be heard on July 19 and 20.
  • After studying the issue, India filed a dispute resolution application before the WTO Appellate Disputes Settlement Committee on June 20, in which we raised the question how these tariffs have been imposed on India.
  • U.S. President Donald Trump signed into effect import tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium in March this year. It sparked off a trade war involving the U.S., EU, China, and India.
  • India also increased import tariffs on 29 items originating from the U.S. by 10-20% which will be effective from August 4.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

MoU between India and Cuba on cooperation in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy

  • The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister ShriNarendraModi has given its ex-post facto approval for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Cuba on cooperation in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy.
  • The MoU will enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the areas of Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy . This will be of immense importance to both countries considering their shared cultural heritage.
  • The Ministry of AYUSH having the mandate to promote, propagate and globalize these Traditional Systems has taken effective steps by entering into MoU with 10 countries for Cooperation in the field of Traditional Medicine. T
  • The MoU will facilitate better understanding of the regulatory aspects between the two sides and help in increasing India’s export of medical products to Indonesia and better coordination in international fora.

India –U.S 2+2 dialogue to be scheduled for septmeber

  • The first 2+2 dialogue between Defence and Foreign Ministers of India and the U.S. will take place in September first week in New Delhi.
  • The dialogue was scheduled for July 6 in Washington, but was postponed due to changes in Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s schedule. Mr.Pompeo was in Pyongyang for denuclearisation talks with the North Korean regime on July 6.
  • Negotiations are under way on the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA). Two U.S delegations are in India this week one on Iran sanctions and the other on U.S.-India Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI).
  • A communications agreement is key to the forward movement of the pending proposal for India to buy armed drones from American company General Atomics.
  • India has reservations about the standard text of the COMCASA agreement that the U.S enter into with allies.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

U.N claims that 3/5 HIV carriers have access to drugs

  • Almost three in five people infected with HIV, or 21.7 million globally, took antiretroviral therapy in 2017 — a new record for anti-AIDS drug access, the UNAIDS said on Wednesday.
  • There were 36.9 million people living with the immune system-attacking virus in 2017, of whom 15.2 million were not getting the drugs they need the lowest number since the epidemic exploded, the joint UN programme on HIV/AIDS reported.
  • In 2017, about $20.6 billion was available for AIDS programmes in low-and middle-income countries which funded about 56% from their own budgets, said the report.
  • The number of people on antiretroviral therapy (ART) grew from 19.4 million in 2016 to 21.7 million last year up from a mere 6,11,000 in the year 2000 and 2.1 million in 2005, said the report released in the run-up to the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam next week.

ISRO invites partners to make small –medium satelllites

  • The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has roped in three partners to help it assemble 27 satellites at a quick pace over the next three years.
  • On Wednesday in Bengaluru, its nodal satellites division URSC (U.R. Rao Satellite Centre) signed separate three-year contracts with Alpha Design Technologies P Ltd and its six consortium members; with defence public enterprise Bharat Electronics Ltd; and with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, Hyderabad.
  • Each partner will work with the URSC to produce three small to medium satellites each year, or a total of 27 spacecraft by July 2021, it is learnt. About 50 members from each partner will separately work with URSC engineers to complete the project.
  • It is learnt that URSC unit, ISRO Satellite Integration and Test Establishment or ISITE, will provide three separate work stations for the three partners.
  • The space agency launches three types of satellites - for communication, Earth observation and navigation. It has earlier said it needs to put double the number of its current satellites in space in order to fully meet national needs. They range from telephony. Internet and broadcasting services to security and simple socio-economic activities.

::SPORTS::

Sports ministry relaxes norms for Asiad selection

  • There might be hope after all for the Indian football team’s participation in the Asian Games, and a handful of others as well, after the Sports Ministry on Wednesday relaxed its own selection norms with an eye on maximising the medal tally at the quadrennial event.
  • The ministry, in a communiqué to the IOA, has allowed it to relax the qualifying norms that were notified in 2015 and “reassess the decisions taken for sending entries and send their recommendations” for the Asian Games “in the larger interest of sports and sportspersons”.
  • The IOA in consultation with the federations has to recommend the names/teams that it feels can finish among the top four at Asiad even if they do not meet the criteria. This has been done to ensure maximum medals for the country.

Neerajchopra clinches gold

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