Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 30 MARCH 2019

::NATIONAL::

Centre to set up terror monitoring group in Kashmir

•  The Centre has set up a multi-disciplinary terror monitoring group (MDTMG) to ensure synergised and concerted action against terror financing and terror-related activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
•  According to an official order, the MDTMG will have representatives from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Intelligence Bureau, CBI, NIA, and Income Tax Department.
•  It will also take action against hardcore sympathisers among government employees, including teachers, who are providing covert or overt support to terror activities.
•  The order said the monitoring group will have to investigate networks of various channels being used to fund terror and terror-related activities and take coordinated action to stop flow of such funds.
•  The ADGP CID of JK Police will head the MDTMG which will meet on a weekly basis and submit their action taken report regularly.
•  Meanwhile India and United States have jointly urged Pakistan to take meaningful, irreversible and verifiable action against terrorists and terror groups operating from its soil.
•  The Counter Terrorism Joint Working Group exchanged views on threats posed by international terrorist organisations as well as ongoing concerns over cross-border terrorism in the South Asia region.

Diplomats caution against PM’s UAE visit in the midst of elections

•  A high-level political visit to Abu Dhabi in the middle of the general elections would be detrimental to the long-term India-UAE relationship, veteran diplomats and commentators have said.
•  “The United Arab Emirates is the most liberal of the Gulf monarchies and our relationship with them is also very old. However, a visit by the Prime Minister to participate in ashilanyasin election season will throw up visuals that will be used in the elections,” said Ambassador Rajiv Dogra cautioning against such a trip.
•  Local sources in Abu Dhabi and a diplomatic source confirmed that there is a possibility of a visit by the Prime Minister on April 20 to participate at theshilanyasceremony in the BAPS Abu Dhabi Hindu Temple where work began in February 2018 during his visit to Abu Dhabi.
•  Then, a controversy had broken out after an old video of a UAE journalist saying Hindu religious words had been telecast in a few Indian TV channels where the person was introduced as the Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi. Some of the anti-Islam comments at that time attributed to SakshiMaharaj of the BJP also had drawn negative comments from the concerned quarters.
•  Another veteran diplomat said the Model Code of Conduct in place needs to be kept in mind during such an outreach by the political leadership of the current government. In a 2018 interview the UAE Ambassador had expressed his country’s desire for religious openness as a policy and stated that the UAE had hosted mosques, temples and gurdwaras for Indians for decades.

::ECONOMY::

Indian coffee varieties get GI tags

•  Five varieties of Indian coffee have been awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag, a move that will enhance their visibility globally and allow growers to get the right value.
•  While Coorg Arabica coffee is grown specifically in Kodagu district of Karnataka, Wayanaad Robusta coffee is from Wayanad district in east Kerala, Chikmagalur Arabica coffee from Chikmagalur district in the Deccan plateau of Karnataka, Araku Valley Arabica coffee from the hilly tracks of Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha region, and Bababudangiris Arabica coffee from the central portion of Chikmagalur district.
•  The Monsooned Malabar Robusta Coffee, a unique coffee from India, was given the GI certification earlier, according to an official statement issued on Friday by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
•  India is the only country where the entire coffee cultivation is grown under shade, hand-picked and sun-dried. It is cultivated across 4.54 lakh hectares by 3.66 lakh farmers, the statement said.
•  In another development, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Thursday launched an online marketplace for coffee.The initiative will help integrate farmers with markets in a transparent manner, and lead to realisation of fair prices for coffee producers.

SC issues notices to telecom operators based on CBI plea

•  The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from telecom service providers BhartiAirtel Limited and Vodafone Mobile Services on a CBI plea that they were met with “surprisingly and strangely evasive” replies to repeated requests for crucial call data records in connection with the probe into multi-croreponzi scam cases, including the Saradha group scandal.
•  The CBI said it has been writing to the service providers for the call records of certain mobile phone numbers since last year. The agency said it specifically wanted to know what was the period for which the call records were requested by the West Bengal Police. Secondly, it wanted to know the period for which the call records were “actually supplied” by the service providers to the police.
•  The CBI has repeatedly alleged in the Supreme Court that the West Bengal government-appointed Special Investigation Team, of which former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar was functional head, had delayed handing over the call records of influential accused persons by 14 months. The call records, when checked, were found to be incomplete and “tampered”.
•  The CBI application submitted that “till date”, despite communications from the Centre, the service providers had not shared the information.
•  It said Vodafone finally replied on February 12, 2019, and it failed to “disclose the relevant information” sought by the agency. Airtel replied in February and March 2019, but their response was “conspicuously silent”.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

British Parliament rejects Brexit again

•  British lawmakers have rejected the Brexit deal proposed by embattled Prime Minister Theresa May in Parliament for the third time, throwing the UK's divorce plans with the EU into further chaos.
•  Last night, MPs voted in the House of Commons against the terms of Britain's so-called divorce from the European Union (EU) by 344 to 286. An approval to the deal, struck between May and the EU, would have given the British parliament time until May 22 to get all the accompanying legislation passed.
•  The key vote took place on the day Britain was earlier scheduled to exit the bloc, until the EU leaders granted more time.The EU had given May until April 12 to propose a different way forward if her divorce bill does not clear the UK Parliament hurdle.
•  Commenting on the outcome, May told MPs that the implications of the house's decision are grave and this government will continue to press for the orderly Brexit that the result of the referendum demand.
•  Meanwhile the opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said it is clear that this House does not support the deal and it now has to change.
•  In the past, the House of Commons rejected May's withdrawal plan twice, both times by overwhelming margins.

India-Bolivia expands cooperation in various sectors

•  India and Bolivia have signed eight MoUs on the second day of President Ram NathKovind’s three-day visit to that country.
•  These MoUs were signed in the fields of culture, Visa waiver arrangement for diplomats, the exchange between diplomatic academies, mining, space, traditional medicine, establishment of Centre of Excellence in IT and Bi-Oceanic Railway project.
•  Mr Kovind was also conferred with the highest State honour of Bolivia, “Condor de Los Andes en el Grado de Gran Collar” during his visit to Bolivia. President of Bolivia Evo Morales awarded him the Honour at a function held in Santa Cruz.
•  President Ram NathKovind had extensive talks with his Bolivian counterpart today. During the delegation level talks, a range of areas of mutual interest in bilateral, regional and multilateral fields have been discussed.
•  Both countries have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen political and economic engagement. India offered 100 million US Dollar Line of Credit to Bolivia for financing development projects. Both countries also agreed on the need for reform of the UN Security Council to make it reflective of contemporary realities.
•  President is in Bolivia on the second leg of his three nation tour. He is on a three-nation visit to Croatia, Bolivia and Chile from March 25th to April 4th.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Indian ASAT debris to disintegrate in 45 days confirms officials

•  The satellite targeted with an Anti-Satellite (ASAT) missile under Mission Shakti has broken up into at least 270 pieces, most of which are expected to disintegrate within 45 days, Defence sources said on Friday.
•  Being in the Low Earth Orbit, the debris would fall towards earth and burn up as soon as they enter the atmosphere.
•  Officials identified the targeted satellite as Microsat-R, an imaging satellite that was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on January 24 using a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The satellite, weighing 740 kg, was placed in an orbit of 274 km above earth.
•  On Wednesday, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) shot down Microsat-R with a modified exo-atmospheric missile of the ballistic missile defence at an altitude of 300 km.
•  The ASAT test was tracked by sensors of various agencies. Upon impact, data transmission from the satellite stopped and electro-optic systems confirmed an explosion, the official said.
•  Other ISRO satellites and systems too noticed the breakup of Microsat-R, another official said, adding that the debris was being monitored.

::SPORTS::

Manu Bhaker and Saourabhclinches gold in Asian championship

•  Young pistol shooters Manu Bhaker and SaurabhChaudhary on Friday clinched a gold medal each, their second in the competition, as India continued their domination at the 12th Asian Airgun Championships in Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei.
•  Manu won the women's 10 metre Air Pistol on day three of competitions while Saurabh bagged a team gold in the men's event. AbhishekVerma also won individual silver in the men's 10-metre Air Pistol.
•  The women's pistol team also won a bronze to further bolster India's tally to five gold, three silver and one bronze medals with half the competition still to go.

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