(Current Affairs) National Events | August : 2017

National Events

10-year-old rape victim has been left with no choice but to continue with her pregnancy

  • A 10-year-old rape victim has been left with no choice but to continue with her pregnancy after a medical panel informed the Supreme Court that an abortion will endanger both the girl and her 32-week-old foetus.
  • Bench led by Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar had directed doctors from P.G.I., Chandigarh, to medically examine the girl and file a report in court on whether the “health of the girl child concerned and also that of the foetus, would be adversely affected, if the pregnancy is continued for the full term”.
  • In a short hearing, the court perused the report filed by the doctors in a sealed cover and denied permission for an abortion.
  • But the Bench went on to urge the government, to consider setting up permanent medical boards across the States so that women, especially child rape victims, could receive expedient access to medical care.
  • The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 bars abortion if the foetus has crossed the 20-week mark.
  • An exception to the law is made if a registered medical practitioner certifies to a court that the continued pregnancy is life-threatening for either the mother or the baby.
  • Presently, women are forced to undertake the cumbersome process of approaching different courts, from district courts to high courts and finally the Supreme Court, for permission to medically terminate their pregnancies which are over 20 weeks.
  • The frequent number of such cases which have come to the Supreme Court range from child rape victims to destitute women to women with substantial foetus abnormalities.
  • An amended Bill of the 1971 law which extends the bar from 20 to 24 weeks has been in the cold storage for the past three years.
  • This draft Bill allows women, whose pregnancies are within 24 weeks, reproductive rights in consultation with their medical practitioners. The draft Bill also allows abortion beyond 24 weeks in case the foetus suffers from substantial abnormalities.
  • As of now, women who have crossed the 20-week limit need a judicial order to even get medically examined on their plea for abortion.

A developed India is the best tribute to Kalam

  • Paying glowing tributes to former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said a fitting tribute to the late leader would be to develop India in all spheres when the country celebrated its 75th independence day in 2022.
  • Addressing a public meeting at Mandapam, after dedicating the memorial to the former President to the nation, he said Kalam had dreamt of a developed India, and called upon the youth to resolve to fulfil his dream by 2022. This will be the fitting tribute to Kalam.
  • The memorial, which has on display replicas of rockets and missiles on which the late scientist had worked, has been built at a cost of Rs. 15 crore on land allotted by the Tamil Nadu government at Kalam’s village Peikarambu.
  • The Prime Minister said various schemes launched by the Centre “Stand up India” or “Start up India”, ‘Amrut’ cities or smart cities or Clean India projects would all go a long way in realising Kalam’s dream of a “developed India.”
  • If each one of the 125 crore people marched one foot ahead like the squirrel, India will march 125 crore foot ahead.

Two C-130J aircraft

  • While the standoff with China continues in Doklam, the Air Force Station at Panagarh in Bardhaman district of West Bengal has got its first set of the U.S.-made C-130J Super Hercules multi-skilled transport aircraft.
  • Two of these aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin have arrived recently, while the station named after Marshal of Air Force Arjan Singh is awaiting the arrival of four more within a month.
  • The six medium-lift capability C-130Js will complete the first squadron of such aircraft in eastern India.
  • The giant aircraft are described as one of the finest transport aircraft which can perform many duties simultaneously.
  • The fuel-efficient aircraft can carry up to 40 tonnes; can move faster; and provide between crew comfort than the Ilyushin-76 (IL-76), a Russian-made aircraft the Air Force had been using for a long time.
  • While the IL-76 could also carry 40 tonnes, it was a “fuel guzzler”.
  • The C-130Js will be used by the Special Forces and a division of the Mountain Strike Corps, recently raised by the Army.
  • The Corps has two divisions, instead of the usual three, with a strength of 80,000 personnel. One of the divisions will be stationed at the Panagarh station once it is fully raised.
  • The first squadron of C-130Js was stationed at the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad and performed its first landing exercise in 2013 at the Daulat Beg Oldi military base in Ladakh, adjacent to the Chinese border.
  • The C-130Js can land on unpaved surfaces, para-drop special forces, and move faster fast with equipment and goods. It can return quickly to the base to dispatch the next team. Its movement and manoeuvrability is perhaps the reason the U.S. forces used the transport aircraft extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wearable sensor to prevent assault

  • Manisha Mohan’s device can alert people nearby with a loud noise or send distress signals to the smartphones of friends and family.
  • An Indian scientist at MIT has developed a sticker-like wearable sensor that can detect sexual assault in real time and quickly alert the victim’s friends and family and people nearby.
  • The sensor, which can be attached to any piece of clothing like a sticker, could be trained to learn the difference between when a person is undressing themselves and when they are being forcefully disrobed.
  • This allows the sensor to detect signs of an assault even when the victim is unconscious or not in the position to fight the assaulter.
  • An integrated bluetooth connected to a smartphone app can trigger a loud noise to alert people nearby and send out a distress signals to pre-set numbers of family members or emergency services. The sensor works in two modes.
  • In the passive mode, the wearer is assumed to be conscious and can set off loud alarms or distress calls on their own by touching a button when they encounter an approaching threat. In the active mode, the sensor tries to detect signals from the external environment.
  • For example, if somebody is trying to remove the clothing of a person, a message is sent to the smartphone asking if the person consents.
  • If the smartphone user does not respond within 30 seconds, the phone begins to emit a loud noise to alert people nearby.
  • If the victim does not stop this alarm using a predefined password within the next 20 seconds, the smartphone app can automatically send distress signals to family or friends, along with the location of the victim.

AYUSH treatment

  • With questions about the credibility of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) systems of medicine being raised time and again, the Karnataka Health and Family Welfare
  • Department has now embarked on the task of validating the treatment methods through documentation and research.

Central government may not sell Air India’s stake

  • The central government may not sell Air India’s domestic and international operations separately.
  • This might come as a hurdle to low-cost airline IndiGo’s plan to acquire its international operations.
  • “AI’s business cannot be split merely based on an expression of interest from a single private player. If we sell lucrative assets separately, it will make the divestment of the domestic unit and subsidiaries tricky.
  • The government’s concern is that Air India’s valuation may further take a hit if it hives off Air India into two companies and invites bids for its domestic and international operations.

Yash Pal dead is no more:

  • Scientist, communicator and institution builder, Dr Yash Pal, 90, who died in Noida, belonged to an era of scientists who espoused ‘Make In India’ decades before it became a politico-marketing cliché.
  • Pal passed at the Max hospital in Noida, his son Rahul Pal, also a scientist with the Science and Technology Ministry’s Department of Biotechnology.
  • In the 1970s, as director of the Space Applications Centre, a wing of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) set up to conceptualise applications for satellite technology for societal needs, Pal put together a team of young scientists from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai to develop remote-sensing technologies, disregarding suggestions that scientists be sent to the U.S. for training.
  • “Where did the Americans, who had launched their remote sensing satellite only a year back, send their people for training?” was his classic retort.
  • Pal, born in Jhang (in erstwhile undivided Punjab), had earned a doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  • He began his career as a professor at the TIFR. He went on to hold several senior position in government as Chief Consultant with the Planning Commission from in 1983, Secretary,Department of Science and
  • Technologyfrom 1984 to 1986) and as chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) for five years from 1986 to 1991.
  • A scientist of international repute, Pal was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1976 and India’s second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2013.
  • He made significant contributions in the field of science and to the study of cosmic rays, high-energy physics, astrophysics.
  • In 1993 he led the MHRD panel on the issue of overburdening school children. The report of the committee, entitled Learning without Burden , remains a seminal document on Indian education.
  • He also chaired the NCERT’s steering committee for the National Curriculum Frameworkin 2005. As chairman of the UGC he chaired a committee to suggest reforms to higher education in India in 2009.
  • A well known science communicator, Pal brought galaxies and cosmic rays to living rooms across India via ‘Turning Point’, an extremely popular science show on Doordarshan.

BillionAbles’ app

  • A Delhi-based start-up has launched a smartphone app that can assist people with special needs to find disabled-friendly restaurants, tourist locations and other public places across India.
  • The app, called BillionAbles, is India’s first lifestyle app for persons with disabilities and special needs, says its founder Sameer Garg.
  • The app was conceptualised by Mr. Garg and developed by Deepak Kumar, 24, who is a student of engineering at Kurukshetra University in Haryana.
  • Users can filter the search results on the basis of features such as step-free access, Braille and sign language availability or gluten-free food availability.

Admiralty Bill and Footwear Design and Development Institute passed:

  • The Rajya Sabha passed two Bills on jurisdiction and settlement of maritime claims and the Footwear Design and Development Institute.
  • The Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims), Bill, 2017, passed by the Lok Sabha in March, seeks to consolidate the laws relating to admiralty jurisdiction, legal proceedings in connection with vessels, their arrest, detention, sale and other related matters.
  • While earlier only the High Courts of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras could take up maritime cases, the Bill extends the power to the High Courts of Karnataka, Kerala, Hyderabad, Orissa and Gujarat, besides any other High Courts as notified by the Centre.
  • The Footwear Design and Development Institute Bill, 2017, as earlier passed by the Lok Sabha, is to establish it as an institution of national importance. Ms. Sitharaman informed the House that the programme currently has 12 campuses, of which seven units are already functional.

Banking Regulation Bill

  • Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2017, in the Lok Sabha.
  • The Bill seeks to authorise the RBI to resolve the problem of stressed assets, even as the Opposition demanded that it be sent to a standing committee for scrutiny.
  • The Bill seeks to amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and replace the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance promulgated in May.
  • It allows the RBI to open an insolvency resolution process in respect of specific stressed assets. The RBI will also be empowered to issue directives for resolution and appoint authorities or committees to advise the banking companies on stressed asset resolution.

Govt yet to give sanction to a dedicated organisation dealing with naval accidents

  • The Union government is yet to give formal sanction to a dedicated organisation for dealing with naval accidents despite a series of accidents involving submarines and ships and loss of several lives.
  • An audit by the Comptroller and Auditor-General also says a series of missteps led to the deadly 2013 accident in a submarine off Mumbai in which 18 people were killed.
  • The explosion aboard INS Sindhurakshak and its sinking off Mumbai coast in August 2013 resulted from a series of missteps, the audit report says.
  • The audit found that many recommendations of the inquiries into naval accidents had not been implemented.
  • This included installation of smoke and fire detectors in all compartments of submarines and procurement of extended line breathing apparatus (ELBA) sets, carbon composite submarine breathing apparatus (SBA), light weight breathing sets for submarines etc.
  • The idea of creating an Indian Navy Safety Organisation was mooted first in 2006 and ultimately promulgated in October 2012, the audit says. “It was set up in February 2014, though it is yet to be sanctioned by Government,” the audit said.
  • From 2007-08 to 2015-16, a total number of 38 accidents occurred, which led to a loss of 33 lives of service officers and sailors. The Navy lost two ships ( INS Vindhyagiri and TRV A-72 ) and one submarine ( INS Sindhurakshak ) in these accidents.
  • Of these accidents, the highest of 12 occurred during 2013-14, followed by six in 2007-08, five in 2014-15 and four each in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

NSA's visit to China shows promise of resolving Doklam area

  • In a shift from the harsh rhetoric of the past weeks, Chinese state media hoped that next week’s visit to China by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will help end the Doklam crisis and advance China-India ties.
  • Mr. Ma is a veteran academic, who has been engaged in Track-2 diplomacy with India following former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to Beijing in 1988. Mr. Doval will participate in a two-day BRICS event starting on July 27.
  • The NSA’s visit will be key to solving the current dispute and if the two sides failed to reach some agreement on the issue, the China-India ties would be severely damaged.
  • The daily prefaced the anticipation of Mr. Doval’s visit by slamming remarks by BJP leader R.K. Singh, who had reportedly opposed changing the status quo in Doklam, on grounds that it would endanger India's vital interests.
  • The focus on enhancing communication echoes recent observations by former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon. In a recent interview with The Hindu , Mr. Menon stressed that India and China “since the ’80s been rubbing up against each other in the periphery we share”.
  • “Most economies, including those in the West, will find themselves negatively affected by an India-China war in a globalised and intertwined world today,” it observed.
  • “The only beneficiaries (of a conflict), sadly, will be opportunists, short-sighted nationalist politicians who don't really have the people's interests in heart. And the dream of an Asian century would become a puff of wind.”

China’s response to the Doklam situation is not unprecedented

  • China’s response to the standoff with India has been rare and can be compared with the strong reaction from Beijing in the aftermath of the 1975 induction of Sikkim into India, said former Shivshankar Menon.
  • Speaking to a select group of foreign affairs reporters, he said that India’s response was justified but said China had not overreacted either.
  • “China’s response to the Doklam situation is not unprecedented in bilateral history. A similar response came from Beijing in the aftermath of the induction of Sikkim into India in 1975,” he said.
  • India had integrated Sikkim on May 16, 1975 but China rejected the integration and finally recognised Sikkim as a part of India in 2003 during the visit of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Beijing.
  • However, following the recent standoff, China had raked up the issue of Sikkim indicating that it might reverse the recognition it bestowed in 2003.
  • Mr. Menon said India’s response was justified as it concerned its strategic interests. But he played down the hyper-nationalist tone of the English media in Beijing which had repeatedly targeted India and reminded Delhi of the humiliating defeat of 1962.

Government would soon introduce a Detention Bill

  • Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar told the Lok Sabha on Friday that the government would soon introduce a Detention Bill.
  • “Detention Bill is also about to come. We should not have the situation that the Pratham report on students from Classes 5 to 8 shows. For this, learning outcomes that are expected of students in each of the classes have been defined,” he said.
  • There will be exams in March for Classes 5 and 8. If the student fails in March, he will be given another chance to pass in May. For the student who fails in May too, govt will soon have a Bill to provide for detention.
  • The UPA government had introduced a no-detention policy till Class 8 and the Bill seeks to change the law.

Ram Nath Kovind declared elected as India’s 14th President

  • Ram Nath Kovind was declared elected as India’s 14th President polling 65.6% of the vote defeating the Opposition’s joint candidate, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who secured 34% of the vote.
  • Mr. Kovind will be the second Dalit President of India after late President K.R. Narayanan but, more significantly, the first from politically significant Uttar Pradesh and the first person from the BJP to hold the office of President since Independence.
  • The total number of MPs and MLAs who cast their votes was 4851, bearing a combined value of 1090300. However, with 77 votes being declared invalid — 21 from Parliament alone — the total number of valid votes was 4774, bearing a combined value of 1069358.
  • Mr. Kovind polled 2930 of these votes — bearing a value of 702044 — and Ms. Kumar 1844 votes — with a value of 367314.
  • The value of each vote of an MP was 708. Among the States, each vote in Uttar Pradesh had the highest value of 208, while each vote from Sikkim had the lowest value of seven.
  • Mr. Kovind got the highest number of votes – 335 – from U.P. and the lowest – just 1 – from Kerala. Ms. Kumar secured the highest number of votes – 273 – from West Bengal and drew a blank in Andhra Pradesh.
  • The polling was marked by cross-voting in various States where many Opposition members favoured Mr. Kovind. According to figures available, cross-voting took place in Gujarat, Tripura, Goa, Delhi and Maharashtra in favour of Mr. Kovind.
  • As many as 11 Congress MLAs appeared to have voted for Mr. Kovind in Gujarat, a State which is to go for Assembly polls at the end of the year.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first to wish the President-elect, tweeting out pictures taken 20 years ago at a wedding in Mr. Kovind’s family and a more recent one with Mr. Kovind and his family at the prime ministerial residence, 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.

Centre says Supreme Court should look into special status to Jammu and Kashmir

  • The Centre asked the Supreme Court to debate on the special status granted to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, saying it was both a sensitive and constitutional matter.
  • “It is a very sensitive matter. It is a constitutional issue. A debate is required,” Attorney General K.K. Venugopal submitted before a Bench led by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar.
  • The top law officer said We the Citizens, contending that the J&K government, given the State’s special autonomous status under Articles 35A and 370, was discriminatory against non-residents as far as government jobs and real estate purchases were concerned.
  • The Bench agreed to schedule the case before a three-judge Bench after six weeks.
  • The hearing comes in the backdrop of an earlier Jammu and Kashmir High Court, which ruled that Article 370 assumed a place of permanence in the Constitution and the feature was beyond amendment, repeal or abrogation.
  • The court said Article 35A gave “protection” to existing laws in force in the State.
  • It also observed that the President under Article 370 (1) was conferred with power to extend any provision of the Constitution to the State with such “exceptions and modifications” as may be deemed fit subject to consultation or concurrence with the State government.
  • The High Court said J&K, while acceding to the Dominion of India, retained limited sovereignty and did not merge with it.

Government said no to grace period for depositing demonetised notes

  • The Centre told the Supreme Court that it took a conscious decision to not give any grace period for citizens to deposit their demonetised notes after the cut-off date of December 30, 2016.
  • Doing so would have defeated the very purpose of demonetisation, the government said.
  • It was replying to the Supreme Court’s appeal to open a window for genuine people, like the terminally ill and invalids, to name a few, who were unable to deposit their demonetised Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 500 notes between November 9 and December 30 last year.
  • Noting that these people had over 51 days to deposit and exchange their old notes for the new currency through multiple outlets.
  • The NDA government said now there exists “no necessity or any justifiable reason” to provide them a “grace period” till December 30, 2017, as many petitioners have sought in a bunch of petitions.

Scientists developed super-stretchy and strong artificial silk

  • Scientists from the University of Cambridge have developed super-stretchy and strong artificial silk, composed almost entirely of water, which may be used to make eco-friendly textiles and sensors.
  • The fibres, which resemble miniature bungee cords as they can absorb large amounts of energy, are sustainable, non-toxic and can be made at room temp. The fibres are spun from a soupy material called a hydrogel, which is 98% water.
  • The remaining 2% of the hydrogel is made of silica and cellulose, both naturally available materials, held together in a network by barrel-shaped molecular “handcuffs” known as cucurbiturils.
  • The chemical interactions between the different components enable long fibres to be pulled from the gel.
  • The extremely thin threads are a few millionths of a metre in diameter. After the hydrogel is stretched for roughly 30 seconds, the water evaporates, leaving a strong fibre.
  • The fibres are capable of self-assembly at room temperature, and are held together by supramolecular host, where atoms share electrons.

Govt assured all party that solution for Chinese problem would be found

  • The government told an all-party meeting of MPs that China was trying to extend its control further down the Doklam trijunction in an effort to gain a strategic advantage over “Chicken’s Neck” in Siliguri, West Bengal, which connects India to the rest of the Northeast.
  • The government assured the parliamentarians that there would no flexing of muscles and a solution would be reached through dialogue.
  • The meet was to clear doubts on the ongoing standoff with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army at the Doklam trijunction near Sikkim.
  • With the help of satellite maps, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar made a presentation before 19 MPs that Indian troops were engaged in a “face-off” with the PLA in
  • Doklam near the Sikkim-Bhutan-China trijunction.
  • Mr. Jaishankar told the MPs who attended the three-hour meeting that apart from diplomacy, “other channels” were also being used to end the standoff and India is insisting that the pre-June 16 condition is reached at Doklam

Trade talks between India and China remained deadlocked

  • Trade talks between India and China remained deadlocked with neither side willing to offer concessions to end the impasse.
  • Recent bilateral talks on issues relating to farm products, which took place in the backdrop of the military standoff in the Doklam area of the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction, failed to make any headway.
  • China deferred taking a decision on grant of market access to Indian rice, pomegranate, okra and bovine meat, while India opted to stick to its ban on imports of apple, pear, milk and milk products from China.
  • The discussions were held with visiting officials from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China (AQSIQ) – the body “in charge of national quality, metrology.
  • And entry-exit commodity inspection, entry-exit health quarantine, entry-exit animal and plant quarantine, import-export food safety, certification and accreditation, standardisation, as well as administrative law-enforcement.

Regulatory mechanism to come for Bitcoin

  • The government is considering the introduction of a regulatory regime for virtual or crypto currencies, such as Bitcoin, that would enable the levy of the Goods and Services Tax on their sale.
  • The new regime may possibly bring their trading under the oversight of the stock market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
  • The idea is to treat such currency in a manner similar to gold sold digitally, so that it can be traded on registered exchanges in a bid to “promote” a formal tax base, while keeping a tab on their use for illegal activities such as money laundering, terror funding and drug trafficking.

Two Drugs taken off the restrictive Schedule X of the Drugs and Comestics Rules

  • Concerns regarding a build-up of resistance to antiviral drugs used to treat swine flu are surfacing, after two such drugs — Oseltamivir and Zanamivir — were taken off the restrictive Schedule X of the Drugs and Comestics Rules.
  • Now under Schedule H1, the drugs can be stocked by all chemists.
  • Central health authorities have also advised doctors to prescribe the drugs based on strong symptoms, without opting for the swab test. Medical experts say these decisions could lead to misuse and eventually, severe drug resistance.
  • Oseltamivir and Zanamivir are antiviral drugs that block the actions of influenza virus types A and B in the body. While Oseltamivir is available as tablets, Zanamivir comes in powder form.
  • Drugs under Schedule X require three copies of prescription for the doctor, patient and chemist, and can be sold by a chemist who holds a special Schedule X licence.
  • Also, the chemist has to preserve the prescription copy for up to three years. In Schedule H1, only one copy of the prescription is required, and drugs in this category can be sold by all chemists.
  • Till date this year, India has recorded over 11,700 H1N1 cases and 561 deaths.

Army is ready for the long haul in holding onto its position in the Dokalam

  • The Army is ready for the long haul in holding onto its position in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan tri-junction, notwithstanding China ratcheting up rhetoric against India, demanding pulling back of its troops.
  • The soldiers deployed in the disputed area have pitched tents, in an indication that they are unlikely to retreat unless there was reciprocity from Chinese personnel in ending the face-off at an altitude of around 10,000 feet in the Sikkim section.
  • A steady line of supplies is being maintained for the soldiers at the site, signalling that the Army is not going to wilt under any pressure from China.
  • At the same time, they sounded confident of finding a diplomatic solution to the dispute, citing resolution of border skirmishes in the past through diplomacy.
  • Though China has been aggressively asserting that it was not ready for any “compromise” and that the “ball is in India’s court”, the view in the security establishment here is that there cannot be any unilateral approach in defusing the tension.
  • Both the countries had agreed to a mechanism in 2012 to resolve border flare-ups through consultations at various levels.
  • The mechanism has not worked so far in the current case as the standoff near the Bhutan trijunction, triggered by China’s attempt to build a road in the strategically important area, has dragged on for over three weeks.
  • New Delhi has already conveyed to Beijing that such an action would represent a significant change of status quo with “serious” security implications for India. The road link could give China a major military advantage over India.
  • Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.
  • China and Bhutan are engaged in talks. India argues that since it is a tri-junction involving the three countries, it also has a say in the issue.

PM urged British PM to ensure the U.K.’s cooperation for economic offenders

  • Prime Minister urged his British counterpart Theresa May to ensure the U.K.’s cooperation to bring back economic offenders, as India works hard for the return of liquor baron Vijay Mallya and former IPL chief Lalit Modi.
  • Mallya has been in the U.K. for months, escaping arrest warrants. A London court is hearing a case on his extradition.
  • Mr. Modi met Ms. May at a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. Both leaders also discussed the whole range of bilateral ties.
  • Asked whether the request was limited to Mallya or it covered Lalit Modi, Mr. Baglay told reporters: “I don’t want to get into the specifics but the phrase used in the tweet is ‘escaped economic offenders’ and it is plural.”

A citizens group is demanding a central law for restricting the number of children

  • A citizens group, Taxpayers Association of Bharat (TAXAB) endorsed by personalities such as agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan, is demanding a central law for restricting the number of children a couple can have.
  • The TAXAB, headed by agriculturist and social worker Manu Gaur will launch a petition on July 10 asking for the same from the government.
  • “We occupy 2.5% of the land mass and have over 17% of the world’s population, how is that not an issue that needs to be addressed on an urgent basis,” said Mr. Gaur.
  • Several State governments, most recently Assam, have linked access to government jobs, facilities and even eligibility to contest local body polls to following the two-child norm.

Experts believe pale tiger of Nilgiris is an aberrant genetic mutation

  • While the pale tiger of the Nilgiris has won global attention, it could be just an instance of an aberrant genetic mutation, say experts.
  • The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, where the pale tiger was photographed, also encompasses the Mudumalai-Bandipur-Nagarhole-Wayanad complex, which is home to the world’s largest wild tiger population.
  • Random genetic mutations could occur in large populations and since this contiguous patch allowed good intermixing of genes, this could just be a random genetic mutation as was natural in the wild.
  • In 2013, scientists from China’s Peking University sequenced genomes of white and normally-coloured Bengal tigers and found that a very small mutation in a single pigment gene – SLC45A2 – causes the white colouration.
  • This genetic mutation is already known to cause light coloration in horses, chicken and fish.
  • Concluding that such mutations are natural, especially since adult white tigers have been recorded in the wild in India in the past, the researchers say that white tigers could be viable in the wild and important for a healthy wild tiger population.

SC said the Centre cannot close all options for person depositing old notes

  • Cautioning the government against depriving genuine persons of their hard-earned money and property, the Supreme Court said the Centre cannot close all options for such persons.
  • It should open a window for them to approach the authorities to prove that it is their money, the court said.
  • “It is harsh if you close all options for genuine persons who were unable to deposit their [demonetised] notes within the stipulated period,” a Bench of Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar and D.Y. Chandrachud told the government.
  • Mr. Kumar said the government had already filed an affidavit explaining why the period to deposit demonetised notes was restricted.
  • The Centre restricted the grace period till March 31, 2017 only to Indian citizens who were abroad during the period between November 9 and December 30, 2016.

Centre is considering partial removal of the AFSPA

  • The AFSPA gives powers to the Army and Central forces deployed in “disturbed areas” to kill anyone acting in contravention of law, arrest and search any premises without a warrant and provides cover to forces from prosecution and legal suits without the Centre’s sanction.
  • It is effective in the whole of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur (excluding the seven Assembly constituencies of Imphal).
  • In Arunachal Pradesh, it is in force in 16 police stations and in Tirap, Longding and Changlang districts bordering Assam. Tripura withdrew AFSPA in 2015.
  • It is not in force in Meghalaya (except a 20-kilometre area along the Assam border) and Mizoram.
  • The notification extending AFSPA in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh is issued for six months after a review twice a year. Govt has reduced this duration to three months and see if it could be withdrawn completely from certain areas.
  • The Home Ministry issued fresh notification to continue Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Arunachal Pradesh on May 4 for three months; it would expire on August 8.
  • Ministry had said in its notification that “the security situation in Assam remained vitiated due to the belligerent attitude of the underground groups including ULFA (I), NDFB (S), KLO and KPLT.”
  • It said that in 2016, 33 persons including four security personnel were killed in Assam, 14 were abducted for ransom and 75 incidents of violence were reported.

ED to probe if companies de-registered recently have been involved in money laundering

  • ED will be roped in to probe if companies de-registered recently have been involved in money laundering, official sources said in the wake of PM’s statement that over one lakh companies had been struck off at one go.
  • “The fate of one lakh companies has been locked with one stroke of a pen in one minute. The Registrar of Companies (ROC) has removed these one lakh companies. More will be found and even tougher action can be expected against shell companies,” Mr. Modi said.
  • Meanwhile, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) is preparing to send show-cause notices to over three lakh more firms for striking off their names from the ‘register of companies’.
  • Tax consultants and government sources pointed out that while action against companies are initiated under the Companies Act, the scrutiny was stepped up in the wake of demonetisation and as part of the action against black money.
  • ED, which deals with Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) provisions, will soon be called in to look at the companies recently struck off the register.
  • The ED is empowered “to take actions of attachment and confiscation of property if the same is determined to be proceeds of crime derived from a Scheduled Offence under PMLA.” The ED can also launch prosecution against those involved in money laundering.
  • These measures followed an operation that was launched post-demonetisation to expedite action against companies that failed to start business within one year of incorporation or were not carrying on any business for two immediately preceding financial years or not applied for dormant status.
  • However, referring to Section 252 of the Companies Act, officials pointed out that persons aggrieved by the RoC order — notifying a company as dissolved under Section 248 of the Act — may file an appeal to NCLT within three years from the RoC’s order.
  • If the NCLT finds that the removal of the company’s name was unjustified, it may order its restoration in the register.
  • According to the MCA, the total companies registered in India as on May 31, 2017, were 1,659,965, of which 1,322,175 were active.
  • The trend of registration of companies (month-wise) showed that after a high of 10,000 in May 2016, it had gradually fallen to about 6,000 in November 2016 — the month when demonetisation was announced.
  • The new registrations fell in April to around 9,000, but then rose to 9,673 in May.

China and India’s wrangling over Bhutan escalated

  • China and India’s wrangling over Bhutan escalated amid accusations by Beijing that the alleged intrusion by Indian troops in the Sikkim sector was a “betrayal” of a former colonial-era understanding of the boundary alignment in this area.
  • Adopting a shriller tone in demanding the pullback of Indian forces, from the Doklam area, where there has been a military standoff, the Chinese Foreign Ministry accused New Delhi of virtually manipulating Bhutan to “distort facts,” and engineering a “cover-up” for the “illegal entry” of its forces in its territory.
  • As the war of words escalated, Foreign Ministry spokesperson GengShuang responded to remarks by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley that India of 2017 was different from what it was in 1962.
  • The Chinese allege that Indian troops have breached New Delhi’s well-recorded position of abiding by the 1890 British-era convention defining the boundary between Sikkim and Tibet.
  • Besides, the boundary between China and Bhutan — a country with which India has special ties — has not been settled, despite 24 rounds of negotiations, which began in the 1980s between Beijing and Thimpu.
  • The current round of border tensions was triggered by the construction of a road by China in the Doklam area. New Delhi has maintained that a road there will threaten its national security.
  • Analysts say that if built, the road will provide China further access to the Chumbi Valley, adding to the vulnerability of the “Chicken’s Neck”, a narrow corridor that links the northeast with the rest of India.

Palestine says it understands the need for India to de-hyphenate ties

  • India’s relations with Israel should not come at the “expense of ties” with Palestine, but the Palestinian Authority (PA) understands the need for India to de-hyphenate ties with both, says the Palestinian President’s diplomatic adviser.
  • Mr. Modi will travel to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem from July 4, and will be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel.
  • However, unlike President Mukherjee, and three External Affairs Ministers Jaswant Singh (2000), S.M. Krishna (2012) and Sushma Swaraj (2016), Mr. Modi will not pay a visit to the Palestinian side.
  • Instead, the government had hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Delhi in May this year, separately signing several agreements on development assistance, and backing Palestine’s claim to a “two-state solution.”

India continue to slide in money parked by its citizens with Swiss banks ranking

  • India has slipped to the 88th place in terms of money parked by its citizens with Swiss banks, while the U.K. remains on the top.
  • Also, the money officially held by Indians with banks in Switzerland now accounts for a meagre 0.04 per cent of the total funds kept by all foreign clients in the Swiss banking system, as per an analysis of the latest figures compiled by the Swiss National Bank as on 2016-end.
  • India was placed at 75th position in 2015 and at 61st in the year before that, though it used to be among top-50 countries in terms of holdings in Swiss banks till 2007. The country was ranked highest at 37th place in 2004.
  • The latest data from the Zurich-based SNB comes ahead of a new framework for automatic exchange of information between Switzerland and India to help check the black money menace.
  • The funds are the official figures and do not indicate the quantum of black money.

Rate of growth for India students goint to US is currently the highest

  • In 1998-99, there were just 707 Indian students in American colleges. In the years since — except for one dip between 2010 and 2012 — there has been a steady rise. 2015-16 saw a 25% increase, the third successive year of rising numbers.
  • Since Donald Trump’s ascension to the American presidency, however, there have been disturbing incidents where discrimination against Indians has escalated to violence; since February, seven Indians have been killed in racially motivated hate crimes.
  • Education consultants say this atmosphere has caused a drop in the number of students planning for a U.S. degree. “Enquiries have declined,” says Narsi Gayam of Promac, a GRE coaching institute in Hyderabad.
  • Jimeet Sanghavi of Collegepond, a Mumbai-based consulting service for students, agrees. Unwilling to share the exact numbers, as those would help his competitors, he said demand was 49% higher than last year.
  • U.S. consulates in India were unable to provide statistics for the current year, but the overall trend in student visa applications been growing over the last five years.
  • The Open Doors Report says the rate of growth for India is currently the highest among the top 25 places of origin among international students in the U.S. America would certainly be keen to see that trend continue.
  • The figures for this year will become clearer towards August, when the number of approved student visas for the fall semester (when most courses commence) will be available.

Indigenously developed molecular diagnostic test for TB

  • A cheaper, indigenously developed molecular diagnostic test for drug-sensitive and rifampicin-resistant TB is entering the final leg of performance validation and operational feasibility testing by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
  • ICMR plans to take the test to Public Health Centres, which currently use smear samples to test for TB, with a sensitivity level of only 50%, which is roughly half of what the newer method has achieved.
  • The diagnostic tool, Truenat MTB, which uses sputum samples for diagnosing TB is being tested in the field in 100 designated microscopy centres in 50 districts in 10 States.
  • The one-month study will look at nearly 18,000 samples and the results are expected next month. The diagnostic tool has already been installed in 80% of designated microscopy centres for testing.
  • Validation carried by ICMR at four sites in India tested nearly 5,000 samples from 2,500 patients. The samples were also tested for resistance to the drug rifampicin and the results have been encouraging.
  • Based on the results of a preliminary test carried out on 191 patient samples in 2013 , the sensitivity (ability of a test to correctly identify those with the disease) of Truenat MTB was found to be over 91% and the specificity was 100%.
  • The battery-operated, hand-held machine takes about 25 minutes for DNA extraction and another 35 minutes for diagnosing TB. It takes an additional one hour for testing rifampicin resistance.
  • Compared with a one ml of sample needed when GeneXpert, a molecular test developed in the U.S., is used, only about 0.5 ml is required for a test with Truenat MTB.
  • According to Dr. Gomathi, the main advantage of Truenat MTB over GeneXpert is that only when samples are tested positive for TB will tests for rifampicin resistance be carried out.
  • While GeneXpert is a closed cartilage system, Truenat MTB is an open system — the DNA is first extracted and the testing is carried out using a portion of that DNA.

Goods and Services tax started in India

  • One of the key sticking points thwarting consensus in the Goods and Services Council over the course of its meetings in 2016 was the compensation the Centre would have to pay States for any losses they might incur due to the implementation of the new indirect tax regime.
  • The GST is a destination-based tax, and as such is viewed as being to the advantage of the consuming States and to the detriment of the producing States like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana, and Karnataka.
  • These States had raised objections to the implementation of GST, forcing the Centre to agree to a formula for compensating them in the event of a loss of revenue.
  • The 14th FC advised the Centre to provide 100% compensation to States for their revenue loss after implementation of GST for the first three years. The fourth year would bring 75% compensation, and the fifth year 50% compensation.
  • This, however, did not pacify the States who demanded full compensation for five years. The Centre agreed to this demand in December 2016, settling one of the most contentious issues delaying GST.
  • The next question, however, was how the Centre was going to finance this compensation package, which experts estimated could be as much as Rs. 55,000 crore.
  • The GST, once implemented, will subsume almost all the cesses levied at the moment, including Swachh Bharat Cess and Krishi Kalyan Cess. Other cesses like the education cess on imported goods and the cess on crude oil will remain under GST.
  • However, the government needs extra revenue to compensate the States, and so the GST Council decided to impose additional cesses for five years on certain goods over and above the highest tax bracket of 28%.
  • These goods on which cess will be levied include tobacco products, coal, motor vehicles, which include all types of cars, personal aircraft, and yachts.
  • Hours prior to the official launch, the GST Council chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley slashed the tax rate on fertilizers from 12% to 5% and tractor parts from 28% to 18%, in a bid to make the new tax regime more farmer-friendly.
  • The Council also approved additional rules for GST implementation, the Finance Minister said, while the Finance Ministry said on its Twitter handle that the GST rate on ‘exclusive parts of tractors’ has been reduced from 28% to 18%.
  • Meanwhile, a last-ditch attempt by Jammu and Kashmir to pass the necessary legislation to enable a simultaneous rollout of GST with the rest of the country failed, as no consensus could be reached. A special session of the J&K Assembly will be held from July 4 to discuss the issue.
  • Mr. Jaitley had earlier warned the State about the adverse impact on its consumers as well as businesses if they fail to roll out GST in sync with the other States.
  • Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will ease inflation, make tax avoidance difficult and boost GDP growth.
  • Addressing the midnight launch event of the GST in the Central Hall of Parliament, Mr. Jaitley said the implementation of the landmark unified tax should be seen as the beginning of a new journey that will expand the country’s economic horizon.
  • India is making history with the launch of GST, which is the biggest and most ambitious tax and economic reform in its history, the Finance Minister said.
  • Terming GST as an important achievement, Mr Jaitley said not only will India write a new destiny, the new tax regime would also strengthen federalism.
  • He appreciated the efforts of all Members of Parliament, State finance ministers and officials in making GST a reality when many had expressed doubts over its roll out from July 1.

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