Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 19 August 2019

::NATIONAL::

Centre claims abolition of triple talaq to ensure dignity and equality of muslim women

Union Minister of Home Affairs ShriAmit Shah addressed an audience on "Abolition of Triple Talaq - correction of a historic wrong" at the Constitution Club of India earlier today.
Tracing the journey of the Act, Shri Shah said that he had spoken on the issue of Triple Talaq when it was in the ordinance format and when it was a bill. He said that it was a proud moment for him to speak of the issue of Triple Talaq when it had finally been enacted by the Parliament.
Blaming the policy of appeasement for the opposition to the removal of Triple Talaq, he said that while removal of social evils is generally welcomed by society, it was appeasement that led to some opposition to the move.
Commenting on the Constitutional Status of the issue, Shri Shah said that a five judge Constitution Bench had pronounced with a majority of 3-2 that the practice of Triple Talaq violates Article 14 of the Constitution - Equality before the law and equal protection of the law. Thus, Supreme Court itself has declared the practice of Triple Talaq to be illegal, unconstitutional, arbitrary and void.
Shri Shah observed that nepotism, casteism and appeasement have collectively damaged the nation's polity, and emphasized that under the leadership of Prime Minister ShriNarendraModi, the government had taken steps to remove all three from India's polity.

Law ministry urges judiciary to educate people via social media

Union Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said that India has become a robust democracy due to the trust shown by our founding fathers in the Constitution and common man of India. He was speaking at the inaugural function of the 7th All India Meet of State Legal Services Authorities in Nagpur.
The Minister urged Judiciary to use Social Media more and more to inform and educate people. He also raised the question of under-trial prisoners and suggested few reforms for deliberation such as women prisoner who has served 25 per cent of her sentence as under-trial prisoner should be released.
Highlighting the issue of pending criminal cases, Mr Prasad said, the judicial community should fast track 10-year-old criminal cases. He stressed the achievements of the government in repealing old laws.
He expressed the wish that India Should become arbitration hub in the near future and new law has been passed in this regard. He said law universities should stress on mediation and arbitration training.
While delivering the keynote address, Justice S.A. Bobade said, about 80 per cent of our population is entitled to legal aid but not many of them approach courts for legal aid.
Due to the active support of High Courts, State Legal Services Authorities are gathering momentum. There is a three-fold increase in the last two years in the percentage of people coming forward for legal aid. The situation is changing but we need to do a lot, he added.

::ECONOMY::

Finance ministry asks PSB’s to align with national priorities

A recent communication from the Finance Ministry will make public sector banks (PSB) burn the midnight oil over this weekend and the next as well.
The Finance Ministry’s note has asked banks to align themselves to the national priorities and to seek feedback on several issues such as the rise in bad loans and slow credit growth in the past five years, and to prepare a roadmap for the coming years. The PSBs have been asked to involve all their approximately 1 lakh branches in the exercise.
Some of the national priorities to which banks need to align include doubling farm income, Jal Shakti Mission, housing for all, education loans, ease of living, corporate social responsibility and financial inclusion.
While feedback has been sought this weekend from the all the branches, the issues will be discussed next weekend at the State-level Bankers’ Committee.This will be followed by a national-level interaction in September, where Finance Ministry officials are also expected to be present.
The Union Bank of India said specific areas of discussion during the meeting included doubling farmers’ income, enhancing credit to small businesses and empowering women and Schedule Caste/Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs.
The exercise, termed as “bottom-up consultative process” for PSBs, is the first comprehensive review of the PSBs after NirmalaSitharaman took charge of the Finance Ministry in May.

Foreign investors pull out high amount from capital markets

Foreign investors pulled out ₹8,319 crore on a net basis from capital markets in the first half of August, continuing their selling spree in the Indian market amid uncertainty over FPI tax and global trade worries.
According to the depository data, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold equities worth ₹10,416.25 crore on a net basis during August 1-16 period.FPIs, however, invested a net ₹2,096.38 crore in the debt securities during the period.
So far in August, FPIs have been net sellers for nine out of 10 trading sessions, indicating “extreme negative sentiment”, HimanshuSrivastava, senior analyst manager research at Morningstar said.
“Prevailing uncertainty over the higher tax on FPI has negatively impacted foreign investors. They have been exiting Indian equities ever since the higher surcharge, or ‘super rich’, tax was introduced in the budget announced on July 5th,” Srivastava added.
Besides, a mix of unconducive domestic and global factors have also contributed towards this exodus of foreign funds from the Indian equity markets in July as well as in August. While there has been a marked slowdown in India’s economic activity, a sub-par monsoon and weak earning season have made matters worse.
Experts opined that the ongoing tension between the U.S. and Iran and the continued trade war between the U.S. and China have also impacted the investor sentiment.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India-Nepal joint commission to be held in Kathmandu

The 5th Meeting of India-Nepal Joint Commission will be held in Kathmandu on 21- 22 August. Minister for External Affairs of Dr S. Jaishankar and Nepal’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali will co-chair the meeting and lead their respective delegations.
According to Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Joint Commission Meeting will review the overall state of bilateral relations and various areas of cooperation such as connectivity and economic partnership, trade and transit, power and water resources, culture, education and other matters of mutual interest.
India-Nepal Joint Commission was established in June 1987. Its meetings are held alternately in Nepal and India. The last meeting of the Commission was held in New Delhi on October 2016.
During the visit, the Minister of External Affairs Dr Jaishankar will pay courtesy calls on President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister Mr K P Sharma Oli. Nepal’s Minister for Foreign Affairs will also host a dinner in honour of Dr Jaishankar.

U.S asks Pakistan to solve Kashmir issue bilaterally

U.S. President Donald Trump asked Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to resolve the Kashmir issue with India bilaterally during a phone call on Friday.
The phone call took place before the UN Security Council held closed consultations on the fallout of India’s abrogation of Article 370 (special status for Jammu & Kashmir), according to a PTI report.
Last month, Mr. Trump started a diplomatic kerfuffle between India and the U.S. when he told reporters in the presence of Mr. Khan (who was visiting the White House) that Prime Minister NarendraModi had asked him to mediate in the Kashmir dispute. This was strongly countered by India, which said no such request had been made.
India played down the significance of the informal closed consultations held by the UNSC, with India’s UN envoy Syed Akbaruddin saying the abrogation of Article 370 was entirely an internal matter of India.
Mr.Akbaruddin noted that no statement had emerged from the consultation and that two countries [China and Pakistan] were passing off national statements for the position of the entire Security Council.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Iceland commemorates its lost glacier

Iceland unveiled a plaque to its Okjokull ice sheet on Sunday, the first of the country’s hundreds of glaciers to melt away due to climate change.
Scientists see the shrinking of glaciers as one of many warning signs that the earth’s climate is lurching toward dangerous tipping points.
A ceremony to unveil the plaque was attended by scientists and locals at the glacier in west-central Iceland, which in 2014 no longer fulfilled the criteria to be classified as a glacier after melting throughout the 20th century.
According to satellite images from the NASA Earth Observatory, the glacier appeared as a solid-white patch in 1986, but in an image from August 1 this year, only small dashes of white ice remained.
Icelanders call their nation the “Land of Fire and Ice” for its other-worldly landscape of volcanoes and glaciers, immortalised in literature. But the glaciers are melting and scientists say rising global temperatures are to blame.

::SPORTS::

Hima Das and Mohd.Anas wins gold in Czech republic event

Top Indian sprinters Hima Das and Mohammad Anas have won a gold each in 300m races at the AthletickyMitink Reiter event in Czech Republic. While Hima won the gold in women's event yesterday, Mohammad Anas claimed the yellow metal in men's category today. This was Hima's sixth gold in 2019 in European races since last month.
Mohammad Anas won the gold clocking 32.41 seconds. India’s Nirmal Tom clinched a bronze medal in the same event by clocking a timing of 33.03 seconds.
National record holder Anas has already qualified for 400m event for the World Championships to be held in Doha in September-October while Hima is yet to achieve it.