Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 30 July 2019

::NATIONAL::

Loksabha passes National Medical Commission bill 2019

The LokSabha on Monday passed the National Medical Commission Bill, 2019 (NMC) with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan assuring the House that the Bill, which seeks to repeal the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, will go down in history as the most revolutionary step taken to improve medical education in India.
According to him, no powers of the State government will be taken away by the Centre through this Bill. Dr.Vardhan said: “We have also withdrawn the suggestion of a bridge course.’’
The Bill was opposed by several Opposition MPs. While Vincent Pala of the Congress asked the Minister to explain what happens to MBBS students who don’t pass the NEXT or the national exit exam, DMK’s A. Raja called the Bill a ‘joke’ and ‘undemocratic.’
Trinamool leader Dr.KakoliGhoshDastidar said many students who study in the regional language find it difficult to clear NEET. She also described the Bill as going against the federal structure of the Constitution.
Doctors and medical students under the Indian Medical Association (IMA) held a protest march from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to NirmanBhawan on Monday, calling the Bill anti-poor and anti-student.

Tiger census gives promising results

India has 2,967 tigers, a third more than in 2014, according to the results of a tiger census made public on Monday by Prime Minister NarendraModi.
Madhya Pradesh saw the highest number at 526, closely followed by Karnataka (524) and Uttarakhand (442). Chhattisgarh and Mizoram saw a decline in tiger population and all other States saw a “positive” increase, according to a press statement.
The survey, the fourth such since 2006, is a gargantuan exercise and conducted once in four years. The latest survey is the culmination of 15 months of forest officials surveying 3,81,400 square kilometres of forested habitat, installing 26,760 camera traps and wildlife biologists ferreting through 35 million images of wildlife — 76,523 of which were tigers (there can be multiple images of the same tiger). Nearly 83% of the estimated tiger population was captured in these images.
While the Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest number of tigers, the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu registered the “maximum improvement” since 2014, the statement said.
Along with the tiger count, the government also commissioned a study to gauge the economic value of tiger reserves.
Based on an analysis of 10 of them, the government claimed that the cumulative benefits — from the carbon and timber conserved, livelihood to those who depend on forest and tourism — were anywhere from Rs. 4,200 crore to Rs. 16,000 crore annually.

::ECONOMY::

Demand for SEBI to look into proxy firms dispute

A working group formed to look into issues related to proxy advisory firms has proposed that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) should be the forum to handle disputes between such advisory firms and listed companies.
The working group has suggested that the capital markets regulator should make the necessary changes in the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations — which every listed company has to comply with — to make listed entities approach SEBI with their grievances.
Currently, there are no explicitly stated legal provisions to handle such disputes arising between a company and a proxy adviser. Proxy advisory firms, which advise shareholders — mostly institutional — on voting on various board resolutions are often found to be at loggerheads with companies. In perhaps the most famous instance, UdayKotak, in August last year, publicly stated that global proxy advisory firms needed to be domestically regulated.
His statements were made in the backdrop of U.S. proxy advisory firm ISS advising shareholders to vote against the reappointment of Deepak Parekh as a director on the board of HDFC.
The report has also given recommendations on the ways to avoid any conflict of interest situations between the advisory firm and the company, and also ways to establish a ‘Chinese Wall’ if the proxy advisory firm also offers consultancy services.

Finance ministry firm on raising funds from abroad

Government bonds yields dropped sharply on Monday after Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman clarified that there was no rethinking on issuing sovereign bonds to raise funds from abroad.
The yield on the 10-year benchmark government bond fell 11 basis points (bps) over the previous close, ending Monday at 6.41%.
“The main reason for bond yields to decline is the reassurance by the Finance Minister that there is no rethinking on the sovereign bond issue,” said a treasury head of a large public sector bank.
Last week, following reports that the government would review the Budget announcement of issuing sovereign bonds after economists raised concerns over such a move, bond yields headed north.
RBI has reduced the repo rate by 75 bps in 2019 and will announce the review of the monetary policy on August 7.
Economists, however, do not expect more than a 25 bps cut in the August policy review, as scanty rainfall so far could lead to a drought situation, which in turn will stoke inflation.
“We continue to expect the RBI MPC to cut 25 bps on August 7, pause with inflation going up temporarily on base effects/drought and cut 25 bps in February again as inflation abates,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a report to its clients.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

WHO submits report on Hepatitis B control

Bangladesh along with Bhutan, Nepal and Thailand in South-East Asia Region has been able to achieve Hepatitis B control. The prevalence of the deadly disease has come down to less than one per cent among five-year-old children says the WHO in its report published on Friday.
Reviewing the immunisation data for the region, WHO found that Bangladesh has consistently provided above 90 percent immunisation to infants for Hepatitis B over the last many years leading to the control of the disease.
Preventing Hepatitis B infection in infancy substantially reduces chronic infections and cases of liver cancer and cirrhosis in adulthood.
According to WHO data viral hepatitis kills 4,10,000 people every year. in the eleven South-East Asian countries where it is running its programme.

Bangladesh gives verification list of rohingyas to Myanmar

Bangladesh today handed over a fresh list of 25,000 Rohingyas to Myanmar for verification before their repatriation to their place of origin in Rakhine State.
So far, Bangladesh has handed over names of around 55000 Rohingyas to the Myanmar authorities.
This was disclosed today by the acting Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh KamrulAhsan after holding discussion with the visiting top-level delegation from Myanmar led by its Foreign secretary U Myint Thu.
Earlier the delegation visited Rohingya Camp in Cox's Bazar on Sunday to explain the preparations for the Rohingyas' return to Myanmar.
It met various groups of Rohingyas including Hindu and Christian groups to convince them to return to Myanmar.
According to the Bangladesh refugee commissioner Mohammad AbulKalam, the talks were positive but the representatives of the Rohingyas in Bangladesh said that they wanted citizenship, safety and security as preconditions for their return to Rakhine province in Myanmar.
They also wanted to return to their villages and not to camps constructed by the Myanmar government, he said.
In the meanwhile, the Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono who is arriving in Dhaka tonight, is scheduled to meet Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar on Tuesday to get an overview of the situation.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Scientists find outZebrafish using landmarks for navigation

A study carried out using Zebrafish, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali have found hard evidence to support how turbidity negatively affects foraging efficiency and how they learn to cope with it. The study was done in collaboration with IISER Kolkata.
The study found that acclimatisation to the immediate visual environment does play an important role in determining success in foraging food. The results of the study were published in the journal Biology Letters.
In addition to acclimatisation, the presence of colourful landmarks that are visible even in extremely turbid conditions plays an important role in improving foraging success.
The study could conclusively show that zebrafish use visual cues to navigate to foraging sites especially when turbidity is high and visibility is low.
“If one of the sensory modalities is compromised in some species they are capable of switching over to another. But in the case of zebrafish we found they continue to use visual sensory to locate food,” Dr. Jain says.

::SPORTS::

Max Verstappen wins German grand prix

Red Bull's driver Max Verstappen clinched the rain-hit German Grand Prix at Hockenheim yesterday. Verstappen now has the second title of the Formula One season.
The 21-year-old Verstappen held himself calm and composed in a race littered with crashes and safety cars.
Four-time former champion Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel claimed the second spot after starting from the rear of the grind.
Russian DaniilKvyat achieved the third spot for Toro Rosso followed by Canadian Lance Stroll in fourth for Racing Point.