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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 23 September 2019

::NATIONAL::

Government says it is ready with draft rules to regulate social media

The Centre on Friday informed the Madras High Court that deliberations on the Draft Information Technology [Intermediaries Guidelines (Amendment)] Rules, 2018, which mandate social media companies to cooperate with the police in cracking cybercrimes, had been completed.
A Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and N. Seshasayee was told by the Central government’s senior counsel Venkataswamy Babu that the process of notifying the rules was in an advanced stage. The rules were expected to solve problems faced by the police in obtaining information from social media firms.
Counsel supported the State’s stand that the High Court could continue to hear the present case, without transferring it to the Supreme Court. He also made it clear that the Centre was only concerned with cooperation between social media companies and the police and not with the linking of Aadhaar to users’ social media accounts.
The judges accepted the request and ordered amendment of the cause title. Initially, advocate Antony Clement Rubin had approached the court to obtain an order for linking Aadhaar with social media accounts so that those who indulge in abuses and criminal activities could be identified easily and punished by the law enforcers.
However, the High Court made it clear at the threshold that it was not in favour of such a plea. Instead, it expanded the scope of the case and suo motu impleaded Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter, WhatsApp as parties to the case so that they could be made to cooperate with the local police in cracking cyber crimes by sharing necessary information.

Army deliberates on using AI for mechanised forces

In a first of its kind discussion in the Army, the Jaipur-based South Western Command will discuss ways of incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in mechanised forces at an internal seminar next week.
The South Western Command facing Pakistan across the deserts of Rajasthan is armour heavy. Referring to that, Lt. Gen. Kler said in a conventional war, the command takes 1,500 tanks and such equal vehicles to battle. So we want to understand where to thrust, where to engage and where to disengage. “We can use AI in the next decade or so to greatly assist us in decision making.”
Observing that India is slightly behind in catching up with the developments in AI, he said the nation would “have to” change over the technological bent of mind as “its pace is going to be dictated by global trends”.
A defence source working in the domain observed that with phenomenal increase in information to operators and decision makers at different levels, AI would play a major role in the battle field. The applications range all levels, strategic and operational, the source said.
Observing that India has been slow in the uptake, another defence source said, “China has borrowed technology in a manner that they are right up ahead in the race. So why can’t we do the same.” We may have started late, but we can catch up quickly, the source added.

::ECONOMY::

Government sets in deadline for Ganga hydro projects

The Centre has cut down by two years the grace period accorded to hydropower projects on the upper stretches of the Ganga, for complying with environmental-flow requirements.
Environmental flows refer to minimum water levels that must be maintained in the river at all times of the year for its health and sustainability as against hydropower projects that frequently dam water in rivers for generating power.
Amidst protests by Ganga activists and monks, the government had passed a notification requiring hydropower projects to release minimum quantities of water. However, it gave hydropower projects “three years (beginning October 11, 2018 ) ” to make modifications to projects to comply with these norms.
Last week, via a gazette notification, the government advanced this deadline to December 15 of this year.
There are 16 commissioned projects and 13 under-construction projects along the Ganga. “The CWC has for a year monitored flows from the these projects and what we found was that all of the projects had the capacity to comply with the e-flow regime,” said Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director-General, National Mission Clean Ganga.
“Only half the projects were compliant and the others were non compliant only because they had time till 2021. This is unacceptable, and so we've made this change” he said.

SEBI strengthens risk management framework for liquid funds

As part of its attempts to strengthen the risk management framework for liquid funds, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has made it mandatory for such funds to hold at least 20% of its net assets in liquid assets while mandating an exit load on investors that exit within seven days of making an investment.
In case the exposure in such liquid assets falls below 20% of net assets of the scheme, the fund house will first have to meet the 20% norm before making any further investments.
The capital markets watchdog has also barred liquid funds and overnight funds from parking money, pending deployment, in short-term deposits of scheduled commercial banks and also debt securities having structured obligations (SO rating) and/or credit enhancements (CE rating).
Debt securities with government guarantee, however, have been excluded from such restriction.
While imposing an exit load on investors exiting the scheme within seven days of making an investment, the regulator has directed industry body Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) to prescribe a minimum exit load on a graded basis.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Indian PM holds meeting with US energy sector firms

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has discussed how to harness opportunities in the field of energy to address India's growing energy needs. During his meeting with 17 CEOs of global energy leaders, focus was on working together for energy security and expanding mutual investment opportunities between India and the United States.
The CEOs noted that there has been considerable improvement in doing business in India and welcomed the recent steps taken by the government to reform and liberalize the economy, including cutting down the corporate tax structure.
The External Affairs Ministry spokesperson said, the CEOs talked about enhancing their footprint in India and lauded the Indian government for steps taken towards deregulation in the sector.
The CEOs present in the meeting were from companies such as Tellurian Inc, Perot Group and Hillwood, Exxonmobil, Air Products, Baker Hughes, BP PLC and Emerson Electric Company.

Typhoon Tapah lashes towards north eastern parts of Japan

In Japan, a powerful typhoon is heading northeast to the country's main island of Honshu after lashing parts of southern islands with heavy rains and winds that caused flooding.
Typhoon Tapah was passing near Nagasaki in southern Japan this afternoon after hitting other parts of southern Japan.
Japan's Meteorological Agency said the storm was moving northeast at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour, with maximum winds of 162 kilometers per hour. The agency warned of heavy rain, flooding and possible landslides tomorrow in western Japan.
The typhoon hit Okinawa during the last 48 hours and left 18 people with minor injuries. The storm disrupted air and train travel in the region.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Researchers use genetics to reveal origin and evolution of blackbuck,Chinkara

A regular favourite with poachers and an animal that notoriously made headlines a few years ago, the blackbuck is once again in the limelight, this time, with its story of origin and evolution.
Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, studied four genera of ‘true antelopes’ — Gazella, Nanger, Eudorcas and Antilope and found that the blackbuck’s (Antilope cervicapra) ancestors came into India from the Saharo-Arabian region about two million years ago and then evolved to its current form.
The paper states that the lack of blackbuck fossils outside India leads to the speculation that they diverged from their ancestors only after reaching India, long after the intensification of aridification in the Indian subcontinent. The expansion of grasslands following that period opened up new niches, which could have facilitated the divergence of many taxa.
Blackbucks have been confined to the scrubland regions of India, currently seen in most States, except for the Terai region, northeast and the Western Ghats. In the south, blackbucks can be seen up to the Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu.
Another interesting finding was that the chinkara (Gazella bennetti), another ‘true antelope’ of India, evolved much more recently about 7,00,000 years ago, probably after the establishment of the Thar desert.
These are also found in the hilly terrains of Iran, and are known as Iranian Gazelle. Being facultative drinkers, they were better adapted to the drier, semi-arid region.
Genetics has now helped researchers tell two stories of origin and evolution. Though the blackbucks and chinkara look like sisters they actually may have very different evolutionary histories.

::SPORTS::

Centre decides to create national centres of excellence to groom athletes

Ministry of Sports will create 20 National Centres of Excellence to groom athletes for 2024 and 2028 Olympics.
Each Centre of Excellence will offer funds for four to six specific sports. The new scheme will ensure that athletes in the same premises have access to similar facilities unlike before.
Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju said standardising training on campuses will enable athletes to attain much higher performances in their respective sport. In a tweet, he urged State governments and corporates to develop sports centres.