Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 3 NOVEMBER 2018

::NATIONAL::

CJI praises centre’s fast track appointment of high court judges

• Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi admitted to his ‘awe’ at the ‘historic’ speed with which the government cleared the path for the swearing-in of four new judges to the Supreme Court on Friday.

• Justices Hemant Gupta, R. Subhash Reddy, M.R. Shah and Ajay Rastogi were sworn in within 48 hours of the Supreme Court collegium recommending their names.

• With them the number of Supreme Court judges goes up to 28, three short of the sanctioned strength of 31.The Chief Justice’s remarks came during an informal interaction with journalists.

• The media asked the Chief Justice about the courtroom exchange he had earlier in the morning with senior advocate Dushyant Dave.The case related to the government not clearing judges’ names for the High Courts.

• Mr. Dave, representing the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, had said there were at least 13 names, reiterated by the collegium, pending with the government for clearance. But the Chief Justice had corrected Mr. Dave, saying there were “three times more than 13,there is a paper lying on my table saying that.”

• Over the notification issued by the Centre appointing Justice Akil Kureshi as Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, Chief Justice Gogoi dismissed the controversy saying, “We made a mistake and corrected it by a new notification, made him acting chief justice for being the senior most, till he takes over in Bombay HC.”

India may get exemption from U.S sanctions

• Eight countries will be given exemptions and “weeks longer to wind down” their trade with Iran, once U.S. sanctions against Iran kick in on November 5.This was clarified by Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Friday during a conference call with some members of the press.

• Mr. Pompeo said the list of eight “jurisdictions” would be released on Monday, two of which have already reached zero levels of Iranian oil imports.He also clarified that the European Union (EU) which consists of 28 countries including the U.K. will not be one of the jurisdictions granted a temporary exemption.

• The EU, which remains party to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA or the ‘Iran Deal’) has been frustrated by the U.S’s withdrawal, and has been searching for ways to work around the sanctions, including through the use of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

• The U.S. plans to bring any SPV within its sanctions net as well. “If there are transactions that go through there that have the intent of evading our sanctions, we will aggressively pursue our remedies,” Mr. Mnuchin said.

• Seven hundred entities individuals and groups as well as companies will be sanctioned on Monday, Mr. Mnuchin said. Most of them will be formerly sanctioned entities, but some 300 will be new.

::ECONOMY::

PM launches support and outreach initiative for MSME sector

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today launched a historic support and outreach programme for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. As part of this programme, the Prime Minister unveiled12 key initiatives which will help the growth, expansion and facilitation of MSMEs across the country.

• The Prime Minister said that the 12 decisions that he is announcing today, will mark a new chapter for the MSME sector. Noting that MSMEs are one of the principal employment generators in India, the Prime Minister recalled the glorious Indian traditions of small scale industry, including Ludhiana’s hosiery, and Varanasi’s sarees.

• The Prime Minister said that the success of economic reforms launched by the Union Government, can be gauged from the rise in India's “Ease of Doing Business Rankings,” from 142 to 77 in four years

• The Prime Minister said that there are five key aspects for facilitating the MSME sector. These include access to credit, access to market, technology upgradation, ease of doing business, and a sense of security for employees.

• The Prime Minister said that these decisions would go a long way in strengthening the MSME sector in India. He said the implementation of this outreach programme will be intensively monitored over the next 100 days.

Digital “Claims Receipt Entry” facility at EPFO inaugurate

• Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State (I/C) for Labour & Employment praised the efforts of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to digitalize the services to accelerate the claims settlement of EPFO beneficiaries in, Provident Fund, Pension & Insurance, while inaugurating 66th foundation day celebrations of EPFO.

• He said that government is sincerely working to bring unorganized sector workers within the social security net. On this occasion, the Minister also inaugurated the online facility of “Claim Receipt Entry” at 117 District Offices of EPFO by integrating them digitally. It will help members to cut down upon long distance travels for claim submission.

• He further said that Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) is yielding good results. Approximately 85 lakh new employees have benefitted from this scheme and government has contributed Rs. 2405 crore in the scheme.

• He further said that he has asked officials to implement Grievance Redressal mechanism effectively and complete all the complaints and enquiry cases regarding employees in a time bound manner.

• Digital Connectivity of district offices and facility of online returns of International Workers launched today promises further conveniences. He added that facility of online claim is widely welcomed by the employees and within one year the submission of online claim has increased from less than 5% to more than 50% and soon it will reach almost 100 percent.

• The function was also marked by distribution of awards to best performing EPFO offices in 17 categories which included best performing Zonal Office, Regional Offices and District Offices.

Online Coaching for UPSC PRE Exam

General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

::INTERNATIONAL::

Vice president addresses Indian diaspora in Botswana

• The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that Indians living abroad can contribute to the exciting growth story unfolding in India today. He was addressing the Indian Community Reception organized by the High Commissioner of India to Botswana, Dr. Rajesh Ranjan, at Baisago Convocation Centre in Gaborone, Botswana today

• The Vice President said that Indian Diaspora in Botswana has not only well-integrated into its pluralistic, free and democratic society, but, also have immensely contributed to the economy of Botswana. We Indians take pride in being enterprising, inclusive and law abiding community, he said. In whichever part of the world they live, Indians have excelled, he added.

• The Vice President said that Government of India attaches great importance to its fellow countrymen who are living abroad. He expressed happiness that Indians in Botswana have contributed hugely to the successful story of Botswana’s economic growth. You are India’s cultural ambassadors and the world sees you as the representatives of Indian values and way of life, he added.

• He also welcomed the President of Botswana's decision to join International Solar Alliance. He was calling on the President of Botswana, Dr. Mokgweetsi Eric KeabetsweMasisi, in Gaborone, Botswana today.

• Referring to Indian’s assistance to Botswana in capacity building,the Vice President expressed willingness to enhance our ITEC slots to more than the 140 slots we are currently extending to Botswana, as well as to depute an Indian expert to Botswana for imparting diplomatic training to Botswana’s diplomats.The President of Botswana welcomed this development.
Chinese President to go for change in relationship with Pakistan

• Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan has arrived in Beijing to rework “all-weather” ties with China, after reinforcing Islamabad’s bonds with Saudi Arabia, and keeping the door open for the re-entry of West-backed International Monetary Fund (IMF) into his country.

• He was received at the airport in the early hours on Friday by Chinese Minister for Transport Li Xiaopeng, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing and Ambassador of Pakistan to China Masood Khalid. In the afternoon, Mr. Khan was welcomed by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People.

• President Xi responded by stating that China-Pakistan “all weather” friendship should enter a “new era”. “I attach great importance to China-Pakistan relations and am willing to work together with the Prime Minister to strengthen the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic partnership and build a new era of China-Pakistan destiny,” Mr. Xi said.

• Talks between the two leaders commenced when Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have reached an alarming low of around $8 billion — barely sufficient to finance about two months of imports. Current account deficit in the financial year that ended in June was around $18 billion.

• Pakistani media reports quoted Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry as saying that the Xi-Khan meeting was “very productive”, and signalled that Pakistan would secure a major economic package from China. Geo TV, quoting sources, reported that Pakistan is expected to receive $6 billion economic package from China during Mr. Khan’s visit.

• Analysts point out that China needs Pakistan’s full support to make the CPEC a success. China has billed the $62 billion project as the flagship undertaking of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

NASA’s Dawn mission comes to an end

• NASA’s pioneering Dawn spacecraft — which orbited the two largest objects in the asteroid belt — has run out of fuel, ending a 11-year mission that unravelled many mysteries of our solar system, the U.S space agency said on Friday.

• The $467 million Dawn mission, launched in 2007 to study the protoplanet Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres, missed scheduled communications sessions with NASA’s Deep Space Network on October 31 and November 1, NASA said in a statement.

• After the flight team eliminated other possible causes for the missed communications, mission managers concluded that the spacecraft finally ran out of hydrazine, the fuel that enables the spacecraft to control its pointing.

• “Today, we celebrate the end of our Dawn mission — its incredible technical achievements, the vital science it gave us, and the entire team who enabled the spacecraft to make these discoveries,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate here.

• On Tuesday, NASA had announced that its exoplanet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope had run out of hydrazine fuel, and the craft would be commanded to cease operations.

::SPORTS::

India enters finals of Asian Basketball championship

• India marched into the Division B final of the FIBA U-18 women’s Asian championship following a lopsided 83-38 victory over Hong Kong at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium here on Friday.

• India will play Kazakhstan for the title on Saturday, knowing a win will fetch promotion to Division A.

• Not once did Hong Kong manage to ruffle the host, as it wilted under pressure. Harshitha Bopaiah continued her stupendous form this tournament with another double-double 18 points and 16 rebounds while T. Dharshini chipped in with 15 points, eight rebounds and five steals. Small forward Wing Nga Poon waged a lone battle for Hong Kong with 11 points.
 

Click Here for Old Current Affairs Archive

This is a Part of Online Coaching Programme for UPSC Exam

Buy Printed Study Material for UPSC PRELIMS EXAM

Join Test Series for IAS (Pre.) Exam