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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 13 October 2017

::NATIONAL::

Hyderabad High Court makes it mandatory ofGram sabha nod must for liquor shops

In a far-reaching judgment, which will strengthen gram sabha in tribal areas of both Telugu States, a bench of Hyderabad High Court ruled that retail wine shops and bars in scheduled area villages be permitted only after gram sabha gave its consent. The concept of ‘deemed ‘consent coined by excise officers was frowned upon by the bench.
The bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Ganga Rao was dealing with a writ appeal filed by Pode Ratnam. He had filed writ petition before single-judge, challenging the action of superintendent of JayashankarBhupalpally district who issued notification calling for applications to set up retail IMFL outlets in 17 tribal villages of fifth schedule area without waiting for consent of grama sabhas.
He contended that the rules issued by the excise department provide for prior intimation to each gram sabha and then, based upon the resolution, licence should be issued.
The unilateral notification calling for applications before this process was over was bad.
The single-judge had asked the excise department to follow the rules framed under the excise act scrupulously.

Bar on crackers sale applicable to online sale and purchase too

The Delhi Police have said the Supreme Court’s ban on sale of firecrackers in Delhi and the NCR region applied to online sale and purchase too. Action will be taken against those who try to sell or purchase firecrackers online, they said.
Delhi Police spokesperson Madhur Verma said temporary licences would also be automatically suspended after the new order. Temporary licences for selling firecrackers were provided by the Delhi Police every year
the Supreme Court restored the ban on the sale of firecrackers till November 1 in Delhi and the NCR region. The order has been passed to control pollution levels during Diwali.

Making‘senior lawyer’ designation uniform and transparent

After the Supreme Court drew back the curtains to let the sunshine in on the secretive Collegium system of judicial appointments, the court repeated the act of transparency by making the procedure for conferment of ‘senior advocate’ designation to lawyers uniform and objective to ensure that only the deserving will get the coveted status.
So far, the judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts had sole discretion over whom to grant the senior gown. The reasons for conferring this honour have often remained opaque.
The status of senior advocate commands enormous respect from courts and, as far as the litigant is concerned, it is synonymous with considerable fee charged.
“The court held that the credentials of everyone who seeks to be designated as a senior advocate or whom the Full Court suomotu decides to confer the honour must be subject to the “utmost strict process of scrutiny leaving no scope for any doubt.”
For the first time, the court recorded that the pro bono work done by lawyers would be a major consideration for grant of the senior status. The Bench directed the setting up of a permanent committee headed by the Chief Justice of India and consisting of two senior-most Judges of the SC or the high courts.
The panel will have the Attorney General of India or the Advocate General of the State in case of a high court. The fifth member of the panel would be nominated from the Bar.
The panel would examine each candidate based on the data provided by the secretariat and interview them. It would make its overall assessment on the basis of a point-based format. The names shortlisted by the panel would be placed before the Full Court, which will take the final decision.

CBI couldn’t prove beyond doubt- Talwars acquitted

The Allahabad High Court acquitted dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar and quashed their conviction in the 2008 murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj in Noida.
A Division Bench, comprising Justices B.K. Narayana and A.K. Mishra, pronounced the judgment on an appeal filed by the couple challenging their conviction by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Ghaziabad in November 2013. The Talwars had been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Stating that there was no clinching evidence that the Talwars committed the crime, the court, while reading out the operative part of the judgment, said the “benefit of doubt” in the case seemed to go in their favour. “In cases where you depend on circumstantial evidendence... the benefit of the doubt goes to the accused,” the court said.
The CBI failed to prove “beyond reasonable doubt” that the Talwar couple committed the murders, noting that all circumstantial evidence did not tally to prove the couple guilty.
Accepting the argument of counsel for the Talwars that the case against them was based entirely on circumstantial evidence, the court also said the chain of evidence as presented by the CBI in the case was inconclusive.
The court also noted there were many shortcomings in the trial court verdict, and dismissed its “irresistible conclusion” that the Talwars had committed the crime.
Both judges read out separate judgments. The full judgment was not uploaded on the HC website at the time of going to press.
The Talwars, who are lodged in the Dasna jail in Ghaziabad, could be released on Friday, their lawyers said.
Tanveer Ahmed Mir, the lead counsel of the accused, said the “perseverance” of the Talwars had finally paid off and said his team was glad to have “restored the honour and dignity of Aarushi and Hemraj, whose characters were sullied in the media by putting them in some farcical compromising position
“Both the honourable judges found that the cases against the Talwar couple were baseless and the evidence produced was not strong enough. None of the circumstances pointed to the guilt of the parents. The trial court judgment was based on superficial assumptions and presumptions,” Mr. Mir said.
The lawyer said between September 22, 2016 and January 11, when the Talwars’ appeal, which ran into 3,000 pages, was heard, 16 circumstances were argued in court and that the defence “proved that not a single circumstance went against thecouple.”
“As per the operative portion of the judgment, there was a strong case of alternate theory of killers. It was the CBI’s own case that there could be other killers or accused,” he said

::INTERNATIONAL::

U.S., Israel withdraw from UNESCO

The U.S. announced its withdrawal from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), accusing it of “continuing anti-Israel bias.”
UNESCO is the first UN agency to have admitted Palestine as a full member in 2011. As required by law, the U.S. has stopped funding UNESCO since then. The U.S. withdrawal will take effect on December 31, 2018. Until then, it will remain a full member.
Israel has also decided to pull out of UNESCO, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “The Prime Minister has instructed the
Foreign Ministry to prepare Israel’s withdrawal from the organisation alongside the U.S.,” his office said in a statement.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson notified UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova of the decision. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the U.S. would seek a permanent observer mission to UNESCO.
The United States’ decision to withdraw from the UNESCO is “a loss for multilateralism”, said the UN heritage agency’s Director General Irina Bokova.
The U.S. State Department cited the agency’s “anti-Israel bias” as one of the reasons for its withdrawal.
The United States indicated to the Director General its desire to remain engaged with UNESCO as a non-member observer state in order to contribute U.S. views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organisation, including the protection of world heritage, advocating for press freedoms, and promoting scientific collaboration and education
U.S. laws bar funding to any U.N. agency that recognises the Palestinian state.
Israel and UNESCO have a contentions relationship, and Israel recalled its Ambassador to UNESCO last year, accusing it of ignoring Jewish views of the heritage of the region. In a stinging attack on the world body in September, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained to the UN General Assembly the Israeli view on a recent UNESCO decision that triggered the U.S withdrawal from it.

Decade long split ended with Hamas, Fatah ink deal

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement on ending a decade-long split following talks mediated by Egypt in Cairo, with President Mahmud Abbas calling it a “final” accord.
Under the agreement, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority is to resume full control of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip by December 1, according to a statement from Egypt’s intelligence agency, which oversaw the talks.
Mr. Abbas welcomed the deal and said he considered it a “final agreement to end the division” — though many details remain to be resolved and previous reconciliation attempts have failed. It was signed in Cairo by new Hamas deputy leader Salahal-Aruri and Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of the Fatah delegation for the talks.
Negotiations are now expected to be held on forming a unity government, with the various Palestinian political movements invited to another meeting in Cairo on November 21.
An official from Mr. Abbas’s Fatah movement said the Palestinian President was planning to soon travel to the Gaza Strip as part of the unity bid in what would be his first visit in a decade.
Sanctions taken by Mr. Abbas against Gaza will also soon be lifted, the Fatah official said.
The deal includes 3,000 members of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority’s police force redeploying to Gaza, a member of the negotiating team said on condition of anonymity.
The figure is, however, a fraction of the more than 20,000 police officers employed separately by Hamas.
Another party to the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the agreement would see Palestinian Authority forces take control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

::BUSINESS AND ECONOMY::

Rise in protectionism and policy uncertainty could have stakes on economy recovery-WB

After years of disappointing growth, the global economy has begun to accelerate, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said, cautioning that a rise in protectionism and policy uncertainty could derail this fragile recovery.
Addressing a press conference at the start of annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, Mr. Kim said that though trade is picking up, investment remains weak.
“Overall, we are seeing growth rise in most developing and advanced economies — which is why countries need to make critical investments now. This is the time to implement the reforms that are going to insulate against potential downturns in the future,” the World Bank chief told reporters.
He expressed concern that risks such as rise in protectionism, policy uncertainty or possible financial market turbulence could derail this fragile recovery.
He said countries need to build resilience against the overlapping challenges the world faces today, including the effects of climate change, natural disasters, conflict, forced displacement, famine and disease.

Real estate will be brought under GST’

The issue of bringing real estate under the Goods and Services Tax’s ambit will be discussed, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, as he acknowledged that it was the one sector where maximum amount of tax evasion and cash generation takes place.
The matter will be discussed in the next meeting of the GST Council on November 9 in Guwahati, Mr. Jaitley said while delivering the ‘Annual Mahindra Lecture’ on India’s tax reforms at the Harvard University.
“The one sector in India where maximum amount of tax evasion and cash generation takes place and which is still outside the GST is real estate. Some of the states have been pressing for it. I personally believe that there is a strong case to bring real estate into the GST,” the Finance Minister said.

Tatas’ mobile arm is acquired by Bharti Airtel

The country’s largest operator Bharti Airtel said it would acquire the loss-making consumer mobile business of the Tata Group on a ‘debt-free, cash-free’ basis, while taking on some spectrum-related cost.
The deal, which is Bharti Airtel’s seventh acquisition in the past five years, will entail the operator paying a “small portion” of unpaid spectrum liability of the Tatas, estimated at Rs. 2,000 crore.
All past liabilities and dues would be settled by the Tatas, the companies said in a joint statement, adding that Airtel would acquire 40 million subscribers of Tata Teleservices Ltd. and Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Ltd. across 19 circles. “These circles represent the bulk of India’s population and customer base,” the statement said.
Tata Teleservices has a debt of about Rs. 31,000 crore. The proposed merger will include transfer of all the customers and assets of the Tatas’ consumer mobile business to Bharti Airtel.
It will also enable Bharti Airtel to further bolster its strong spectrum footprint with the addition of 178.5 MHz spectrum (of which 71.3 MHz is liberalised) in the 850, 1800 & 2100 MHz bands.
The deal, which is Bharti Airtel’s seventh acquisition in the past five years, will entail that the operator pay a “small portion” of unpaid spectrum liability of the Tatas, estimated at Rs. 2,000 crore. All past liabilities and dues would be settled by the Tatas, the companies said in a joint statement, adding that Airtel would acquire 40 million subscribers of Tata Teleservices Ltd. and Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Ltd. across 19 circles.Ques
The proposed merger will include transfer of all the customers and assets of the Tatas’ consumer mobile business to Bharti Airtel, augmenting the latter’s customer base and network.
The deal is likely to help Bharti Airtel narrow down the gap with Vodafone-Idea combined entity that would have about 400 million customers once the merger is concluded.
Bharti Airtel, which is also in the process of acquiring India operations of Norway’s Telenor, has about 300 million subscribers with a market share of about 24%. The Bharti Airtel-Tata’s CMB combined entity is likely to have a market share of about 27-28%, against estimated 34% of the Vodafone-Idea combined entity. The deal will also help the firm widen its lead over Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio.