Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 03 November 2017

::NATIONAL::

Delhi LG cannot be a hurdle to govt. schemes

• The Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) of Delhi cannot stultify proposals or schemes forwarded by the Council of Ministers to him by simply sitting on it, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud orally observed.
• “He [the LG] is bound to pass the difference of opinion [between the LG and the Council of Ministers] to the President for early resolution,” Justice Chandrachud said. His observations came on the first day of a five-judge Constitution Bench hearing of a batch of nine appeals filed by the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government against an August 4, 2016, judgment of the Delhi High Court.
• The AAP government argued that the High Court declared that the LG has “complete control of all matters regarding National Capital Territory of Delhi, and nothing will happen without the concurrence of the LG.”
• The Kejriwal government wants the Supreme Court to lay down the law on whether the LG can unilaterally administer the National Capital without being bound by the “aid and advice” of the elected government.
• The 69th Amendment of the Constitution in 1992 gave the National Capital of Delhi special status with its own democratically elected government and legislature.
• Sub-section (4) of Article 239AA mandates that a Council of Ministers shall aid and advise the LG in his functions regarding laws made by the Assembly.
• The focus of the current controversy is a proviso to Article 239AA (4), which mandates that in case of a difference of opinion between the LG and the Council of Ministers, the former has to refer the issue to the President.
• In the meanwhile, while that decision is pending before the President, the LG, if the matter is urgent, can use his discretion to take immediate action.
• The Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra prima facie said the Delhi government’s ability to ‘aid and advise’ the Lieutenant Governor is limited to subjects other than public order, police and land in the National Capital. It said that the proviso to Article 239AA (4), on plain reading, seems to give primacy to the Lieutenant Governor.

Etikoppaka artisans upbeat over GI tag

• The mood is upbeat in Etikoppaka village located on the banks of the river Varaha in Visakhapatnam district, as the Geographical Indication Registry has given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag to the traditional toys made by the artisans in the village.
• The GI is a name or sign used on certain products which correspond to a specific geographical location or origin.
• As per the norms, goods and products having the tag are recognised for their origin, quality and reputation and this would give us the required edge in the global market. This will also ensure that none can use the same name giving the exclusivity.
• According to the artisans, the art is more than 400 years old and it has been traditionally handed over to them by their ancestors through generations.
• The toys are unique not only in shape and form but also the material used. They are made of wood and painted with natural dyes. There is no heavy metal or toxic content and that is why it is unique.
• The natural dyes are prepared from seeds, lacquer, bark, roots and leaves.
• The wood used is from ‘Ankudi Karra’ (Wrightia tinctoria) tree that is soft in nature and the art is also known as turned wood Lacquer craft.
• The Etikoppaka toys now join the elite products from Andhra Pradesh such as Kondapalli toys, Bobbili Veena, Tirupati laddu, Srikalahasthi Kalamkari, Uppada Jamdani sarees and Shadow puppets.

India gears up to counter China by providing real-time maritime data in Indian Ocean

• India has made an offer to share intelligence of maritime movements in the Indian Ocean in real-time with 10 Indian Ocean littoral states.
• This comes even as India gears up to counter China’s increased presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
• The information to be shared includes movement of commercial traffic as well as intelligence.
• The Indian Navy is hosting Navy and Maritime Chiefs of 10 countries of IOR at the first GMC to identify common threats in the region and evolve a mechanism on how to tackle them.
• India already has co-operative arrangements with several countries in the region and this initiative would see that expanding further. For instance, white shipping agreements to share commercial shipping data have been signed with 12 countries and more are in the works.
• India is in a position to be a fusion centre, the officer added and this would be based on the Navy’s nerve centre for coastal surveillance and monitoring, the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) locatedoutside the national capital.
   

All unwelcome physical contact not sexual harassment’

• All unwelcome physical contact cannot be called sexual harassment unless it is in the nature of a sexually-oriented behaviour, the Delhi High Court has said.
• Justice Vibhu Bakhru, who made the observation, also said that even an accidental physical contact, though unwelcome, would not amount to sexual harassment.
• “Similarly, a physical contact which has no undertone of a sexual nature and is not occasioned by the gender of the complainant may not necessarily amount to sexual harassment,” the court said.
• The observations by the Bench came during the hearing of an appeal by a Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) scientist challenging the clean chit given by the complaints committee and disciplinary authority to her former senior colleague, whom she had accused of sexual harassment.
• The allegation pertained to an incident on April 2005 when the man had entered the laboratory where the woman was working and had snatched samples from her hand, thrown the materials and pushed her out of the room.
• The woman had contended that any unwelcome physical contact amounted to sexual harassment.
• The Complaints Committee had after examining her complaint concluded that “it was a case of altercation in the background of the uncongenial environment prevailing in the division”.
• Terming the man’s conduct as deplorable, the Complaints Committee had also said that while there was evidence of physical contact by the man, “the same was not a sexually determined behaviour but was in the nature of an altercation”.
• The disciplinary authority had accepted the committee’s report and passed an order in October 2009 giving clean chit to the man accused of sexual harassment.
• The court also rejected the woman’s challenge to the constitution of the committee and the disciplinary authority, saying that it finds no infirmity in their set up.

Yakshagana Tirugata begins

• The tirugata of the melas for 2017-18 season (November-May) began.
• More than 40 melas would perform during the season.

::INDIA AND WORLD::

India hits out at China’s double standards

• India hit out at double standards in the war on terrorism, hours after China blocked a move at the United Nations Security Council to place Masood Azhar, the Pakistan-based chief of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, in a list of global terrorists.
• India’s strong response did not name China but hinted at “one country” that had hurt the global campaign to ban the terror mastermind who is blamed for several attacks against India, including the Pathankot airbase attack of 2016.
• China blocked an attempt by the U.S., U.K., and France to place Masood Azhar in the list of global terrorists of the Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council citing “no consensus” as a ground for its objection.
• “India strongly believes that double standards and selective approaches will only undermine the international community’s resolve to combat terrorism,” said the MEA statement.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

LeT included in terror list given to Pakistan by U.S

• The U.S. has shared with Pakistan a list of 20 terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) that Washington believes are operating from its soil to target India and Afghanistan
• On the top on the list is the Haqqani network which the U.S. says has safe havens in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in northwestern Pakistan and uses them to launch attacks into Afghanistan, Dawn reported.
• The list includes three types of militants groups: those that launch attacks in Afghanistan, those that attack targets inside Pakistan and those that are focussed on Kashmir, the newspaper quoted diplomatic sources as saying.

::ENVIRONMENT::

Conservation reserve exclusively for Blackbuck in U.P.

• A wildlife conservation reserve dedicated exclusively to the blackbuck is coming up over 126 hectares in the trans-Yamuna region of Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.
• The State cabinet has approved a Blackbuck Conservation Reserve in the Meja forest division that is known for its rocky, undulating and arid terrain.
• A herd of around 350 blackbucks is estimated to be inhabiting the region
• There are a few national parks and sanctuaries inhabited by blackbuck in the country, like the Velavadar Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat and the Ranibennur Blackbuck Sanctuary in Karnataka. However, there are not many conservation reserves exclusively dedicated to the antelope.
• Blackbucks, known for their majestic spiral horns and coat colour contrasts, are found in grasslands and open forests.
• They once ruled the open savannahs of north and central India, but are now restricted to just a few patches and habitats, primarily due to human population growth, ecosystem degradation and hunting.
• The U.P. government evoked Section 36 A (1) and (2) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, to declare the conservation reserve.
• The conservation of blackbuck can now be done in an effective way. It will also create awareness about biodiversity conservation and provide opportunities for people’s participation. Eco-tourism will be encouraged and locals will get opportunities for employment.
• The island of safe haven for the blackbuck within the designated reserve is a rocky terrain dotted with trees of dhak, mahua, neem and acacia. “The area boasts more than 200 species of birds and herbivores like blackbucks and bluebull [nilgai], and carnivores like jackals and stripped hyena.

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Laika the world’s first cosmonaut

• The former street dog was about to make history as the first living creature to orbit the earth, blasting off on a one-way journey.
• The Soviet Union sent Laika up to space in a satellite on November 3, 1957 — sixty years ago. It followed the first ever Sputnik satellite launch earlier that year.
• But things did not go exactly to plan and the dog was only able to survive for a few hours, flying around the Earth nine times.
• Those nine orbits of Earth made Laika the world’s first cosmonaut — sacrificed for the sake of the success of future space missions.
• In a well-timed propaganda effort, it fell just before the 40th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution on November 7.
• The institute specialises in space science and simulated a flight to Mars in 2010 by making volunteers spend 520 days in isolation.
• The canine candidates spent time in a centrifuge, that simulates the gruelling G-forces created when a rocket blasts off, as well as being exposed to similar noise levels.
• Laika was a mongrel dog aged around three who weighed six kilograms.

::BUSINESS AND ECONOMY::

FinMin calls meet over credit growth

• Top bankers from state-run lenders will brainstorm for two days with finance ministry officials in New Delhi to mull over ways to revive credit growth amid a sluggish economy.
• The move comes days after the government announced a Rs. 2.11 lakh crore recapitalisation package, to be implemented over two years, for public sector banks.
• The interaction, which will be on the lines of Gyan Sangam, an initiative started in 2014, will be attended by managing directors, executive directors as well as general managers of all public sector banks. Those GMsretiring after 2020 have also been asked to attend the meeting. The first edition of Gyan Sangam was held in 2015 and the second in 2016.
• Apart from discussions on boosting credit growth, the meeting is also expected to deliberate on issues such as stressed asset resolution process, human resource challenges and capital requirements, among others.
• The country’s economic growth slumped to 5.7% in the first quarter of the current fiscal on the back of de-stocking, ahead of GST implementation and in the wake of continued impact of demonetisation of currency notes.
• Credit growth has been in single digits as there have been hardly any proposals for fresh investment in projects. Retail credit growth — affordable housing in particular — is the only silver lining, growing at a healthy rate.
• Banks are also hesitant to extend fresh loans to corporates due to mounting bad loans, which have eroded their capital position. As many as seven banks are facing restrictions from the RBI on certain activities due to arise in bad loans. Gross NPAs of banks, which touched 9.6% in March 2017, could rise to 10.2% by March 2018, according to the Reserve Bank of India.
• The corporate sector, on the other hand, is over leveraged, and not in a position to make fresh investments. Bankers say reviving loan growth, a prerequisite for growth recovery, is a priority.
• Inviting GMs to the conversation also indicates the government’s intention to nurture talent for future leadership positions. This is probably the first occasion, in recent times, where general managers have been called for such a meeting.

U.S. to probe drug firms

• Twelve pharmaceutical firms, including Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Glenmark, Sun Pharma and Zydus, are likely to face a probe in an alleged generic drug price-fixing conspiracy in the U.S.
• This was evident from a statement the Office of the Attorney General of Washington State.
• The States have asked a federal court to expand their pending complaint, increasing the number of drug companies from six to 18, and the number of affected drugs from two to 15.
• Several States in the U.S. are “alleging that the companies violated antitrust laws to artificially inflate the prices of the drugs and agreed to divvy up the market for the drugs to reduce competition. Some of the drugs increased in price by more than 1,000 %.”
• Previously, the suit named generic drug manufacturers Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc.; Citron Pharma, LLC; Mayne Pharma (USA), Inc.; Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., as defendants. The States are seeking to expand the complaint to include Actavis Holdco U.S., Inc.; Actavis Pharma, Inc.; Ascend Laboratories, LLC; Apotex Corp.; Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Inc.; Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Ltd.; Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Lannett Company, Inc.; Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc.; Sandoz, Inc.; Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc.; and Zydus Pharmaceuticals (USA), Inc.
• The original complaint, filed on December 14, 2016, alleged that the companies entered into illegal conspiracies to unreasonably restrain trade, artificially inflate and manipulate prices and reduce competition in the U.S. for two drugs — doxycycline hyclate delayed release antibiotic and glyburide oral diabetes medication.

ISA, EBRD ink Joint Financial Partnership Declaration for the promotion of solar energy

• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed a Joint Financial Partnership Declaration for the promotion of solar energy
• “India has been in the forefront of the 42-nation International Solar Alliance,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
• “Our energy requirements are huge and [we] want to make optimal use of our new and renewable sources of energy.
• Earlier, interim Director General of the ISA Upendra Tripathy said that the collaboration between the ISA and the EBRD would also help funding of solar projects both in African and other countries.

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