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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 25 may 2019

::NATIONAL::

PM submits resignation ahead of forming new government

16th LokSabha has been dissolved; President Ram NathKovind accepted the resignation of Prime Minister NarendraModi and his Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister met the President at RashtrapatiBhawan this evening and tendered his resignation.
The President requested Mr Modi and the Council of Ministers to continue till the new Government assumes office. Earlier, the Union Cabinet passed a resolution recommending the dissolution of the 16th LokSabha.
The term of the 16th LokSabha will end on the 3rd June and the 17th LokSabha has to be constituted before that date.
The process to form a new House will be initiated when the Chief Election Commissioner along with Election Commissioners will meet the President in the next few days to hand over the list of newly-elected members.
Sources also said that the oath-taking ceremony was still being worked upon and did not rule out the possibility of a special touch to it, like the invitation to heads of government of SAARC countries last time. “But since the time to organise is shorter this time as it’s a government in continuation, it may not pertain to foreign dignitaries alone,” said a source.

Higher education to get boosted with quality upgradation programme

In what could be one of the first new initiatives of the second act of the NDA government, the Ministry of Human Resource Development plans to launch an ambitious Rs. 1.5 lakh crore action plan to improve the quality and accessibility of higher education over the next five years.
“While the country has been in election mode, we have had 80 experts working on the EQUIP project over the last two months, to bring transformational change to the system,” Higher Education secretary R. Subrahmanyamtold on Friday.
EQUIP stands for the Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme and was crafted by ten committees led by experts within the government such as NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, principal scientific advisor K. Vijay Raghavan and former revenue secretary HasmukhAdhia, as well as some corporate chiefs.
The ten committees have drafted strategy to improve access to higher education, especially for underserved communities; improve the gross enrolment ration; improve teaching and learning processes; build educational infrastructure; improve the quality of research and innovation; use technology and online learning tools; and work on accreditation systems, governance structures and financing.
“This is the implementation part [of the higher education section] of NEP, which we hope to release by May 31, after the new government is in place.” Other officials involved in the preparation of NEP and EQUIP said the release was more likely in early June.

::ECONOMY::

SEBI to encourage foreign inflow to Indian market, moots rule change

As part of its attempts to streamline the regulations to encourage foreign inflows in the Indian market, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed fast track on-boarding procedure for such investors, apart from a simplified registration process.
The capital markets regulator on Friday released the report of the working group formed under the chairmanship of former RBI deputy governor HR Khan last year. “As a key source of capital to the Indian economy, it is important to ensure a harmonised and hassle-free investment experience for international investors and improve transparency as economic regulations evolve,” stated the report released on Friday.
The committee has further proposed a liberalised investment cap under a review of prohibited sectors for foreign investment for FPIs, restriction on Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) for investment in corporate debt securities, and permitting FPIs for off-market transactions.
The committee has also proposed alignment of regulations for FPIs and Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs) and the harmonisation between investment restrictions in FPI regulations and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
Interestingly, in terms of restrictions on FPI investments in mutual funds, the group said that there was a need for further deliberations on whether such restrictions should be there.FPIs are currently not permitted to invest in liquid and money market mutual fund schemes.

Copper,aluminium producers fear of India’s joining the RCEP

Copper and aluminium associations in the country have sent representations to the government voicing concerns about India joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) grouping of countries.
Such a move would pave the way for zero duty on imports of copper and aluminium, which would cripple the domestic sector and stall further investments, they said. Officials from the government are in Bangkok for an inter-sessional meeting of the potential RCEP members.
The RCEP countries are trying to conclude a treaty that would eliminate input tariffs on about 90% of traded goods. The copper industry has a somewhat nuanced approach to this, wherein it wants the raw material to be included in the RCEP deal, but does not want copper-finished goods to carry zero import duty.
On the finished goods, the demand in the country is only 6.5 lakh tonnes, which is expected to grow to about 8 lakh tonnes in the next five years. As such, India has a domestic surplus capacity.
The consequence of the uncertainty over whether India will join RCEP and if it does, which product lines will be included in the zero-duty structure, has meant that future investments have been stalled.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India votes in favour of UK withdrawal from Chagos

India was among 116 nations to vote in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution that demanded the UK withdraw its “colonial administration” from the Chagos Archipelago unconditionally within six months, supporting Mauritius in its quest for the restoration of sovereignty over the island chain in the Indian Ocean.
The General Assembly adopted the resolution on Wednesday ‘Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965’ with 116 votes in favour, 56 abstentions and six nations voting against, including the UK, the United States, Australia, Israel and the Maldives.
The UK retained sovereignty over the islands after Mauritius gained its independence from Britain in 1968. The islands have since been used for defence purposes by the UK and the United States, which established a military base on the island of Diego Garcia. The entire Chagossian population was forcibly removed from the territory between 1967 and 1973, and prevented from returning.
Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth told the UNGA meeting that the ICJ’s findings show the “gravity and extent” of the wrongful act under international law that the colonial power has committed in carrying out the excision of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 and maintaining the Chagos Archipelago as a colony ever since.

U.S to deploy additional troops in West Asia

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that some 1,500 additional U.S. troops would be deployed to West Asia against a backdrop of soaring tensions with Iran.
“We want to have protection in the Middle East,” Mr. Trump told reporters as he prepared to set off on a trip to Japan.We’re going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective,” Mr. Trump added. “It’ll be about 1,500 people.”
The deployment includes reconnaissance aircraft, fighter jets, engineers, and the extension of the presence of a Patriot missile defense battalion that accounts for 600 of the personnel.
Pentagon officials said the move is in response to recent incidents in the region, including a rocket attack on the Green Zone in Baghdad, explosion that damaged four tankers in Fujairah at the entrance to the Gulf, and a Houthi drone attack against a Saudi oil installation. The U.S. intelligence had tied the incidents to Iran.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Indian air force AN-32 fleet to use bio jet fuel

Indian Air Force formidable workhorse, the Russian made AN-32 aircraft was today formally fleet certified to fly on blended aviation fuel containing up to ten per cent of indigenous bio-jet fuel.
The approval certificate was received at the aero-engine test facilities at Chandigarh by Air Commodore SanjivGhuratia.
According to an official release, the IAF has undertaken a series of evaluation tests and trials with this green aviation fuel for the last one year.
The scope of these checks was in consonance with the international aviation standards. Today’s approval is an acknowledgement of the meticulous testing using the indigenous bio-jet fuel by the IAF.

::SPORTS::

ICC announces digital distribution plans for world cup 2019

The ICC today announced plans for digital distribution and broadcast of upcoming Men's cricket World Cup which will be broadcast live to more than 200 territories. These will provide cricket fans across the globe with the widest range of platforms to tune into the World Cup.
Numerous platforms will be available to access the tournament across television, radio and digital platforms, as well as in news, in cinemas, at Fan Parks and via other media rights partners.
For the first time in history, cricket will be brought to fans in Afghanistan via state broadcaster Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), who are participating in their first ever World Cup. This coverage will reach approximately 60 per cent of households or an audience of 20 million.