Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 27 October 2018

::NATIONAL::

Air quality in national capital worsens

Delhi’s air quality remained very poor for the fourth day on Saturday with five areas of the national capital recording severe pollution levels. Authorities have warned that the situation may deteriorate further next week due to localised emissions during the Diwali festival and stubble burning.
The Central Pollution Control Board recorded the overall Air Quality Index of Delhi at 341 on Saturday. The highest AQI of this season was recorded on Friday at 361.
According to the data by the Centre-run System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research, the overall air quality index of Delhi will deteriorate in a few days, remaining just points below the severe category.
The CPCB-led task force has recommended stringent measures from November 1 to 10, predicting further deterioration in the air quality ahead of Diwali.
Some of these recommendations include shut down of coal and biomass factories, intensification of inspection by transport department to check polluting vehicles and control traffic congestion in Delhi-NCR during November 1-10.
The task force warned that at beginning of November the situation may further deteriorate on account of localized emissions during festival and regional contribution due to stubble burning.

India seeks UNSC support to list out terrorists involved in sexual violence

India has called for the UN Security Council sanctions regime to “proactively” list terrorists and terror groups involved in sexual violence in armed conflicts, underscoring that prosecution of criminals engaged in trans-boundary crimes is critical to deliver justice to victims.
First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN, Paulomi Tripathi, said that women’s role and perspectives in peace processes remain largely neglected despite the normative and operative frameworks relating to women, peace and security agenda having been considerably strengthened across the UN system over the last two decades.
She voiced concern that sexual violence, abductions and human trafficking continue to be used as weapons of war in armed conflict by non-state actors and terrorist organisations.
Tripathi noted that large scale movements of refugees emanating from armed conflicts increase the vulnerability of women to discrimination and exploitation.
Earlier, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the Council’s annual high-level debate that the participation of women in formal peace processes remains extremely limited and the international community still has “far to go” as conflict continues to have a devastating effect on women and girls.
India has recently partnered with the UN Women toward a capacity building initiative. Under the initiative, the New Delhi-based Centre for UN Peacekeeping (CUPNK) conducted the third UN female military officers course for 40 women military officers from 26 countries.

::ECONOMY::

DoT asks telecom operators to discontinue Aadhar e-kyc verification

The Department of Telecom issued a notification on Friday asking all telecom service providers to discontinue the use of Aadhaar e-KYC both for verification as well as for issue new mobile connections.
It has, however, said the operators may accept a copy of physical Aadhaar or e-aadhaar letter having masked or unmasked Aadhaar number as proof of identity “if offered voluntarily by the subscriber” for issuing new mobile connections.
The notification follows the Supreme Court’s September order striking down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act that allowed private entities to seek Aadhaar data.
“In compliance with the judgment of the Supreme Court... all licensees shall discontinue the use of Aadhaar e-KYC service of UIDAI for re-verification of existing subscribers with immediate effect,” the notification said.

Centre says universities with their own ordinances need not follow central service rules

The Centre has decided that central universities already having an Ordinance of their own need not adopt the Central Civil Services rules. However, new central universities not having an Ordinance have to adopt them.
This comes close on the heels of a UGC letter to all central universities that they should adopt the CCS rules, which led to much controversy on the ground that the freedom of faculty members to criticise any government policy would stand in violation of these rules.
The Central Civil Services Conduct Rules say: “No government servant shall make any statement of fact or opinion which has the effect of an adverse criticism of any current or recent policy of the Central government or a State government.”
This aspect of the CCS rules had been interpreted as a gag order by various teachers' associations.
However, Aditya Narayan Mishra of Academics for Action and Development told , “Institutions follow written orders. Unless the UGC issues a letter to all universities reversing its last order, how does it matter”?

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India & European commission discuss cooperation in digital communication & economy

The Minister of State for Communications (Independent Charge) Government of India, Mr Manoj Sinha and the H.E. Mr Andrus Ansip, European Commissioner for Digital Single Market and Vice President of the European Commission have met in New Delhi to discuss cooperation on Digital communications, Digital economy and society.
India and European Union (EU) stressed that Digital Communications and Technologies are of vital importance for all spheres of society, business and government.
The development and widespread adoption of new ICT services and networks have powerful effects on economic and social development, supporting sustainable growth and competitiveness and contributing to addressing global societal challenges.
Both sides confirmed their commitment to further strengthen and broaden the cooperation in the field of Digital Communications and Emerging Technologies. India and the EU will work together to develop joint plans of action in the agreed areas of cooperation such as-future networks and emerging technologies.
EU expressed interest in strengthening cooperation in the area of testing and certification by supporting the visit of Indian Government experts to the European testing and certification laboratories for telecom equipment, with a view to exploring the possibility of India recognizing EU certifications. EU side also discussed about basic custom duties on some ICT products.

Political turmoil in Srilanka brings Rajapakse back as PM

In a sudden move, President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday pulled his faction out of Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition and within hours appointed former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister. The startling developments led to the collapse of the country’s first national unity government, with Mr. Sirisena joining hands once again with the leader he ousted in 2015.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP), however, maintained that Mr. Rajapaksa’s appointment was “illegal and unconstitutional.”
The growing friction between Mr. Sirisena and Mr. Wickremesinghe within the country’s uneasy coalition was no secret. Mr. Sirisena’s reported outburst at a Cabinet meeting last week over an alleged assassination plot targeting him and the development of a container terminal in Colombo further exposed the discord.
As of midnight on Friday, the Wickremesinghe-led United National Front remains the largest parliamentary group, with 106 seats. The UPFA, including supporters of Mr. Rajapaksa, who until Friday morning sat in the opposition, has little less than 100 members.
The turbulent turn of events comes less than a week after Mr. Wickremesinghe returned from New Delhi. “We are aware of the developments and are watching the situation closely,” official sources in New Delhi said.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Migratory birds to chilika lake reduce in numbers

Migratory birds have started arriving at the wetlands of Odisha’s Chilika Lake one of the largest wintering grounds in Asia, but not in their usual numbers this year.
The arrival of migratory birds is awaited with the onset of winter every year. This year, however, fewer winged visitors have descended on the mudflats of the lake.
Close to one million birds congregate on the mudflats of the lake during winter. The lake, spread over 1,000 sq km, is home to 230 bird species, out of which 97 are intercontinental migrants from the Artic and Eurasian regions.
The lake has been a designated Ramsar site (a wetland of international importance) since 1981.
The Nalabana Bird Sanctuary and Mangalajodi, the two major places where the birds congregate, also have not received the usual numbers. “Many migratory birds are flying in v-shape over Chilika and assessing the situation. Once the mudflats are exposed, birds will descend in lakhs,” said Mr. Nanda.
One of the reasons behind the low turnout is the flooding after incessant rain triggered by cyclone Titli that hit the Odisha coast in the second week of October.

::SPORTS::

Shrikanth & Sindhu out of French Open

Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth crashed out in the quarterfinals of the French Open after suffering straight-game defeats in their respective matches as India’s campaign ended in the singles events at the BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament here.
Third seed Sindhu looked a pale shadow of herself as she lost 13-21 16-21 in 40 minutes against seventh seed He Bingjiao of China on Friday night.
It was Sindhu’s second consecutive loss at the hands of the Chinese shuttler this year after her straight-game defeat in Indonesia Open in July. By virtue of this win, Bingjiao extended her head-to-head record to 7-5 against the Indian.
Earlier in the day, Saina Nehwal yet again failed to crack the code of top seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei, losing 20-22 11-21 in another quarterfinal encounter.