Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 23 June 2019

::NATIONAL::

PM interacts with NITI Aayog experts and economists ahead of budget

•  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that inputs given by economists and other experts during his interaction with them were insightful and will benefit the country's growth trajectory.
•  In a tweet last night, Mr Modi said, he had a fruitful interaction with economists and other experts on the themes of macro-economy and employment, agriculture and water resources, exports, education, and health.
•  On Saturday evening, Prime Minister attended the interactive session with over 40 economists and sectoral experts on the theme 'Economic Policy - The Road Ahead' organised by NITI Aayog in New Delhi.
•  A release issued by the Prime Minister's Office said that Mr Modi thanked all participants for their suggestions and observations on various aspects of the economy.
•  During the session, participants shared their views, in five distinct groups, on the economic themes of macro economy and employment, agriculture and water resources, exports, education and health, the release said.
•  Niti Aayog termed the session as lively, vibrant, constructive where extremely positive discussions took place.

Centre develops strategic plan to end TB by 2025

•  The government has developed a National Strategic Plan with the goal of ending Tuberculosis (TB) by 2025.
•  In his reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on Friday, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey said India accounts for 27.4 lakh estimated new TB cases annually, which is the highest in terms of absolute numbers.
•  He said the estimated cases of TB in the country is 204 per lakh population for the year 2017 as per last year's Global TB report.
•  However, India ranks 35th in the world in terms of TB cases per lakh population. Over 5 lakh 62 thousand patients were cured last year.

::ECONOMY::

Petroleum ministry conveys oil price concerns to Saudi

•  Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, in a telephonic discussion with Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih, highlighted Indian consumers’ sensitivity to oil price volatility and sought Saudi Arabia’s active participation within OPEC to keep oil prices at a “reasonable” level.
•  “Today, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan had a telephonic conversation with Mr. Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Energy, Industry & Mineral Resources, Saudi Arabia and discussed about further strengthening cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector to enhance the strategic partnership that exists between India and Saudi Arabia,” the Ministry of Petroleum said in a statement.
•  The two Ministers discussed the recent geo-political developments impacting crude oil prices and Mr. Pradhan, referring to the developments in the Strait of Hormuz, conveyed his concern on rising crude oil prices.
•  “He also reiterated the sensitivity of Indian consumers to prevailing crude oil price volatility,” the statement added. “Shri Pradhan has sought active role of Saudi Arabia within OPEC and in the OPEC Plus discussions for keeping oil prices at a reasonable level.”
•  They also discussed Saudi Arabia’s interests in India’s energy sector and Mr. Pradhan reviewed the progress of that country’s investments in India’s refining and petrochemical sectors.

Realty sector wants budget to sort out NBFC liquidity crunch

•  The real estate sector wants the Budget to spur growth and provide a solution to the NBFC liquidity crisis. Developers and experts said the government must accord high importance to infrastructure growth, which will provide impetus to real estate.
•  “India needs a stable political and investment climate supported by growth-oriented Union Budget 2019. Realty sector needs strong demand through economic activities, including continued infrastructure development, and easy availability of capital,” said Sanjay Dutt, MD and CEO, Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd.
•  The Centre should implement specific initiatives to complement and accelerate growth through policy changes. “Overall, we are confident that this Budget would provide the right traction to the industry and prepare it to lead at the global front,” he said.
•  Stating that the stringent changes made in the last few years had impacted the sector real-estate market severely, Parth Mehta, MD, Paradigm Realty, said the Centre must revise down input side GST rates to restore shrinking margins of developers.
•  In this context, the government should consider providing Industry Status to Real Estate which would enable developers to raise funds at lower rates and augment their execution capabilities, he said.
•  “Alongside, under the ambit of affordable housing, the government can enhance the eligibility for CLSS and GST rate benefits to benefit a larger section of consumers in urban centres,” he said.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

•  U.S not considering capping of H1B visa for countries demanding data localisation requirement
•  The U.S. State Department has said that it is not considering capping the number of H1B visas for countries that adopt laws that restrict data being taken out of their borders (data localisation).
•  The comments are a reaction to a report by news agency Reuters, which said that the U.S. was considering capping H1Bs at 10-15% of all H1Bs for countries that had a data localisation policy.
•  There is a congressionally-mandated cap of 65,000 H1B visas under the general category and a further 20,000 for advanced degree holders. However, there are no country-wise caps for H1B. Some H1Bs – such as those for academic, research jobs and non-profit organisation positions, are cap exempt.
•  The Trump administration has taken several steps to tighten the screws on the H1B programme, since the President signed the ‘Buy American and Hire American’ order in April 2017.
•  Other changes have made the H1B programme less attractive. For instance, an attempt to prevent H1B spouses from getting work-permits (an ‘H4 EAD’) is in the works and could severely alter family dynamics and the ability of foreign worker families in the U.S. to support themselves.

Indian assisted ambulance service launched in eastern srilankan province

•  In Sri Lanka, India-assisted emergency ambulance service reached its countrywide coverage today with the launch in the eastern province.
•  The service is now available in all nine Provinces of Sri Lanka. External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar addressed the gathering through a special video message.
•  The minister also recalled how the service had helped Sri Lanka during floods and the recent terrorist attacks. He also pointed out that the project was a great example of what India and Sri Lanka can achieve together.
•  High Commissioner of India Taranjit Singh Sandhu in his address, mentioned that the project symbolizes the spirit of India, which is nothing but the spirit of sharing. He also noted that India will forever remain the ‘First Responder for Sri Lanka’.
•  The emergency ambulance service was first announced during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Sri Lanka in March 2015.
•  Accordingly, service was launched in two provinces in July 2016 under an Indian grant of 7.5 million US dollars covering the purchase of 88 ambulances, the operational expenditure of the service for one year and setting up of an emergency response centre. Given the positive impact of the project, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe requested Prime Minister Modi for extension of the service all across the island which he did during his next visit to Sri Lanka in May 2017.
•  An additional grant amount of 15.02 million US dollars was provided by India to undertake island-wide expansion which covered the purchase of 209 ambulances, operational expenditure of the service for one year and training costs.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Centre claims rise in forest cover by 1% than last year

•  Union Minister for Environment Prakash Javadekar on Friday told the Lok Sabha that India’s forest cover was up by 1% in the last one year, while former Minister and his own party’s MP Maneka Gandhi told the Minister that the additional forest cover could be a result of satellite imagery being taken where the sugar cane crops could be mistaken for trees.
•  Responding to supplementaries during Question Hour, Mr. Javadekar said for one tree chopped for development work, three to four were planted either in the same area or elsewhere.
•  Responding to Ms. Gandhi, he said satellite imagery was taken at regular intervals and it was unlikely that sugar cane crops were counted as such.
•  According to a latest report, over 24.39% of the country’s geographical area now constitutes of green cover. He said 125 crore trees would be planted along highways to increase green cover.
•  The Minister, in response to a separate question, said the government did not agree with a private weather agency’s report on climate change that 11 out of 15 hottest places in the world are from India.
•  “The report of hottest places — 11 out of 15 hottest places in the world are from India is based on a newspaper article quoting a private weather forecasting agency El Dorado Weather. The agency in its webpage reports the 15 places with maximum temperature of the last 24 hours on a daily basis and the hottest places vary each day.

::SPORTS::

Indian women’s rugby team gets first ever international Rugby15s victory

•  The Indian women's rugby team claimed a historic first-ever international Rugby 15s victory with a 21-19 win over Singapore to finish third in the Asia Women's - Division 1 Rugby XVs Championship in Manila today.
•  The tournament was one of the qualifying rounds for the 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup to be held in New Zealand.
•  China won the tournament with a 68-0 victory over hosts Philippines in a one-sided final.The Asian tournament was being held from June 19 to 22.

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