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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 23 October 2018

::NATIONAL::

Supreme court worried about vacancies in lower judiciary

The Supreme Court on Monday took suo motu cognisance of over 5,000 vacancies in the lower judiciary across the country, saying the situation is “wholly unacceptable”.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi found that even the official statistics provided by various High Courts on the recruitment processes “under way” did not match. The Supreme Court said it wanted specific, updated information by October 31 from the High Courts.
In a five-page order, the Supreme Court recorded that there are a total of 22,036 posts in the district and subordinate judiciary, from district judges to junior civil judges, across the States. As on date, 5,133 posts out of the total 22,036 are vacant, the court found.
It said that information received from various High Courts say that recruitment is on to fill 4,180 of the 5,133 vacant posts. However, the same data show that recruitment is yet to start in 1,324 out of the 5,133 vacancies.
The Supreme Court asked the High Courts’ registries to provide the Secretary-General, Supreme Court, with information, such as when the recruitment process had commenced; whether it is expected to be completed within the schedule formulated by the Supreme Court in the Malik Mazhar Sultan vs U.P. Public Service Commission & Ors judgment; when the appointments would be made; whether the time expected to be taken to complete the ongoing process/processes can be shortened and so on.

Majority toilet wastes in U.P goes to rivers & farmlands : CSE

While urban Uttar Pradesh has an 80% coverage of toilets, inefficient sanitation systems ensure that almost 87% of the excreta being generated by these toilets is being dumped in waterbodies or agricultural lands, according to a new analysis of 30 cities by the Centre for Science and Environment.
“With 2019 just round the corner, the number of toilets and onsite sanitation systems being built in the State are all set to increase exponentially — if not managed scientifically and sustainably, the amount of faecal sludge that these new toilets will generate will swamp the State,” said Suresh Rohilla, programme director of waste and wastewater management at the CSE.
The report, released on Monday, argues that building more toilets will only worsen the environmental, sanitation and manual scavenging situation, unless sewerage connections increase from the current 28% of households in the 30 cities studied. Onsite sanitation systems — such as septic tanks or pit latrines — are far more prevalent, and are used by 47% of households.
Without a sewerage system, the effluent from the septic tank, along with greywater from the kitchen and bathroom flows out into stormwater drains and open drains or nullahs.
The faecal sludge, on the other hand, has to be periodically emptied from the septic tank, either manually or mechanically using vacuum trucks or tankers. CSE’s analysis found that half of all emptying work in these cities is done manually, despite the legal prohibition of the employment of manual scavengers.
The situation is much worse in smaller cities. In cities with a population between five and 10 lakh, more than 70% of the population is dependent on tanks connected to open drains, and only half of them would actually qualify as septic tanks. Of the five cities in this cluster, only Jhansi has a designated disposal site. Overall, only 18% of waste and sludge is safely managed.

::ECONOMY::

Government data claims increase in direct tax base

The direct tax base has significantly widened in the last few years, according to new back series data released by the government.
The data showed a growth of more than 80% in the number of returns filed in the last four financial years from 3.79 crore in financial year (FY) 2013-14 to 6.85 crore (these figures include revised returns) in FY 2017-18.
Further, the number of persons filing income tax returns also increased by about 65% during this period from 3.31 crore in FY 2013-14 to 5.44 crore in FY 2017-18.
Further, the statement said that the overall number of taxpayers (including corporates, firms, and Hindu Undivided Families) declaring an income above Rs. 1 crore a year also saw a sharp growth over the three years under consideration.
The data also shows an improvement in the compliance of salaried taxpayers. During the four-year period under reference, the number of salaried taxpayers increased from 1.70 crore for AY 2014-15 to 2.33 crore for AY 2017-18, an increase of 37%. The average income declared by these salaried taxpayers has also gone up by 19% from Rs. 5.76 lakh to Rs. 6.84 lakh.
“During the same period, there has been a growth of 19% in the number of non-salaried individual taxpayers from 1.95 crore to 2.33 crore and the average non-salary income declared rose by 27% from Rs. 4.11 lakh in AY 2014-15 to Rs. 5.23 lakh in AY 2017-18,” said the government.

Panel to adopt UN model on cross-border insolvency

The Insolvency Law Committee (ILC), tasked with suggesting amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code of India, has recommended that India adopt the United Nations’ model to handle cross-border insolvency cases.
“The ILC has recommended the adoption of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law of Cross Border Insolvency, 1997, as it provides for a comprehensive framework to deal with cross-border insolvency issues,” the government said in a statement.
“The committee has also recommended a few carve-outs to ensure that there is no inconsistency between the domestic insolvency framework and the proposed cross border insolvency framework.”
The UNCITRAL Model Law has been adopted in 44 countries and, therefore, forms part of international best practices in dealing with cross border insolvency issues, the government said.
“The necessity of having a cross-border insolvency framework under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code arises from the fact that many Indian companies have a global footprint and many foreign companies have a presence in multiple countries, including India,” the government said.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

U.S white house secretary arrives in Russia for nuclear treaty

White House National Security Advisor John Bolton on Monday began two days of meetings with senior Russian officials following Washington’s weekend announcement of its withdrawal from a Cold War-era nuclear weapons treaty.
The Moscow visit by Mr. Bolton was planned before the Saturday announcement by President Donald Trump that the U.S. was ditching the three-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, known as the INF, a move Moscow has already denounced as “dangerous”.
The treaty, banning intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles, was signed in 1987 by then U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader. Mr. Gorbachev said on Sunday that “dropping these agreements... shows a lack of wisdom” and was a “mistake”.
The Trump administration has complained of Moscow’s deployment of Novator 9M729 missiles, which Washington says fall under the treaty’s ban on missiles that can travel distances of between 310 and 3,400 miles (500 and 5,500 km).
The INF resolved a crisis over Soviet nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles targeting Western capitals.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Environment ministry releases Harit Diwali-Swasth Diwali” campaign

Air pollution is a serious health issue in the country especially in the northern parts during winter seasons. The air pollution in the northern region is attributed to dust, burning of crops in certain states, burning of garbage construction and prevailing climatic conditions. This air pollution has serious impacts on the health of children aged people and people suffering from respiratory ailments.
Apart from these compounds large amount of waste is also generated after bursting of crackers. Keeping in view the above detrimental effects and also the importance of the festival, Ministry has initiated a “Harit–Diwali” campaign.
This campaign was initiated in 2017-18 wherein large number of school children especially from eco-clubs participated and took pledge to minimize bursting of crackers and also discouraged the neighborhood and their friends from bursting of crackers.
During this intensive campaign, the children were advised to celebrate Diwali in an environment-friendly manner by gifting plant sapling to their relatives and friends along with sweets, undertake cleaning of houses, neighbourhoods, schools, collect old books and unused notebooks gift to needy children, donate old warm clothing, blankets to night-shelters and other homeless people.
The “Harit Diwali-Swasth Diwali” campaign is now merged with “Green Good Deed” movement that has been initiated as a social mobilization for conservation and protection of environment. The Ministry encourages all schools and colleges to be part of this campaign.

::SPORTS::

Indian women cricket team wins over Australia

Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana’s aggressive 72 (40b, 7x4, 4x6) and her 116-run partnership with captain Harmanpreet Kaur (45, 39b, 6x4, 1x6) set up India-A Women’s four-wicket victory with an over to spare in the opening T20 against Australia-A at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy ground here on Monday.
With the series being played a day prior to the women’s team’s departure for the World T20, India fielded a majority of the Windies-bound cricketers.
Smriti and Harmanpreet’s association for the third wicket ensured India-A overhauled the 161-run target comfortably.