Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 06 March 2017

:: National ::

Sustainable tourism to be promoted in India

The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority is raring to go. In its quest to put the State on the international map, it has partnered with the United Nations WTO to promote sustainable tourism across the state.
The U.N. has declared 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.
The decision comes 50 years after the celebration of the International Tourist Year on Tourism – Passport to Peace (1967) and 15 years since the International Year of Ecotourism (2002).
The General Assembly has invited WTO to “facilitate the organisation and implementation of the Year, in collaboration with governments, relevant organisations of the United Nations system, other international and regional organisations and other stakeholders”.
The A.P. Government has grabbed the opportunity. The first State in the country to forge a partnership with the global body and [India is] one of the very few nations who have come forward for participation.
The themes that the A.P. Tourism will focus are sustainable fishing culture in East Godavari district, beach tourism at Yerada in Visakhapatnam, at Pulicat Lake and in Kondapalli village.
The Chinese-made nylon fishing nets have not entered the Andhra market as fishermen use only eco-friendly hand-woven nets. This is a very healthy trend.
In Pulicat Lake, the myriad migratory birds, especially flamingos, are a big attraction. The natural habitat of exotic birds is worth promoting in a big way. Even in the Pulicat Lake, no mechanised boats are used; only rowing boats are available.
In the Araku tribal valley, tourists have a number of choices. They can relish the bamboo chicken, join the tribal Dhimsa dance or simply observe the simplicity of the life of the tribes of this picturesque valley.
The tourism drive will be guided by three main themes: protection of environment, protection of the livelihood of the local community and steps to ensure that the benefits of the tourism reaches the local community.

Major portion of the Kolleru Lake has dried up

With the onset of summer, a major portion of the Kolleru Lake has dried up, raising anxiety among residents of lake-bed villages.
Many villages of fisherfolk and more than 50 other villages in the West Godavari and Krishna districts are likely to suffer as the lake has dried up at the beginning of the summer season.
All that one can see now are parched fields, small pools and cattle and birds searching for food in the largest freshwater lake in the country.
Bird lovers are worried about the drought-like situation as many species are flying off to the nearby water bodies in search of food.
The lake is home for thousands of birds during the wintering season, especially spot-billed pelicans and painted storks, which arrive from different places.
The pelicans also roost at Nelapattu in Pulikat Lake of Nellore district, Uppalapadu in Guntur district and Cilemeelapuram village in Srikakulam district.
But more than 5,000 pelicans were counted at the Atapaka Bird Sanctuary, located in Kolleru Lake, and the sanctuary has been identified as one of the biggest grey pelican habitats in the world.
Kolleru is the safest place for the pelicans and other migratory birds. Painted storks, grey herons, black-tailed godwits, stilts and others are scattered in the lake and in nearby villages now.
The government should take measures to maintain the water level and protect them.
The Atapaka Bird Sanctuary is a rich reserve and bird watchers from different places visit the lake every year.
When the water level in the sanctuary is good, birds have enough feed, but without that, the migratory birds fly off to other places.
Water was being pumped into the sanctuary from the Polaraju drain. Four engines were used to maintain the water level.

Confusion over INS Viraat

INS Viraat, the oldest aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy, remains unclear as to whether it will be converted into a luxury hotel or will it head to the scrapyard to be broken up.
The Defence Ministry is yet to take a decision on the proposal from the Government of Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) to convert it into an entertainment hub in Visakhapatnam through a joint venture with the Government of India.
The Navy is keen on an early decision to avoid Viraat meeting the same fate as its predecessor Vikrant, which eventually went to the scrapyard.
Responding to a call from the Defence Ministry to put forward proposals on INS Viraat, A.P. has proposed to convert it into an offshore luxury hotel and build a Marina along with an entertainment zone around it.
The proposal for joint development has already been communicated to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar by A.P. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
Mr. Naidu has stated that his government intends to take forward the legacy of INS Viraat by making it a world-class project on the lines of other global projects like USS Alabama, USS Constellation, and HMS Belfast.
INS Viraat, weighing 27,800 tonnes, is the world’s oldest aircraft carrier in service. It had served in the British Navy as HMS Hermes for 25 years from November 1959 to April 1984 and after refurbishment, was commissioned into the Indian Navy in May 1987.
The Navy had maintained Vikrant, India’s first aircraft carrier, at Mumbai for 17 years as various proposals to convert it into a museum went back and forth unsuccessfully before the ship was eventually sent to the scrapyard in 2014.
The Sea Harrier aircraft which flew off the deck of INS Viraat have already been withdrawn and the Navy’s 300 squadron which operated them has since inducted the newer multi-role Mig-29K fighter aircraft.
Now the ship which had won the Royal British Navy the Falklands Wars against Argentina in 1982 awaits its fate.

MEA worried about safety of Indians

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was quick to react to the shooting of a Sikh U.S. citizen in Washington, the third attack on a person of Indian origin in the past two weeks.
The Ministry said the Indian Consulate in San Francisco was in “touch with local authorities who are ascertaining the nature of the crime”, though there is a suspicion of this being a hate crime.
Punjab’s Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal urged Ms. Swaraj to “intervene in the matter and address the issue.”
Despite the pleas, however it is unclear what the Indian government can do, especially given that two of the men attacked are U.S. citizens.
The Modi government’s policy has been to treat the entire diaspora as one large entity, not distinguishing between Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), which can become a problem.”
As a result, the Ministry is finding itself besieged by complaints from both categories, though there is little jurisdiction or official responsibility for India when it comes to U.S. citizens.
Another problem that is emerging is the panic over all incidents involving citizens of Indian extraction being called racially motivated attacks.
The incident is, however, an indicator of the task cut out for the government over fears that hate crimes are allegedly on the rise because of the anti-immigration rhetoric of the Trump administration.

India runs out of life-saving HIV drug for children

Desperate over withdrawal of a life saving drug, children living with HIV (CLHIV) have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for help.
Tthe pharmaceutical company Cipla has in various forums cited delay in payments by the national programme for the HIV medicines by several years and even non-payment of its dues in many cases.
Profits on child doses of HIV medicines are small and delayed payments are having a chilling effect on the ability of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to convince the company to participate in the bids it invited annually.
Stocks of Lopinavir syrup — a child friendly HIV drug — ran out after Cipla, the sole manufacturer of the drug, stopped manufacturing it over the issue of non-payment from the Health Ministry.
Cipla is the dominant player in the Indian market across the HIV segment and has not stopped participating in government tenders after the Health Ministry failed to pay Cipla for consignments sent in 2014.
Since the syrup has gone out of production, they are not available in retail markets. Across the country, in every State, there is no one to make this drug. The sole producer is not manufacturing it.
Experts say the critical shortages are proving to be both tragic and embarrassing for India’s HIV programme.
The government is abdicating its constitutional responsibility to make available life saving medicines for the HIV community.
It is also unfortunate that the present management of Cipla is walking away from its commitment to access to medicines all over the world, for which they are globally renowned.

UIADI dismissed reports of Aadhaar data misuse

Dismissing reports of misuse of Aadhaar biometrics for identity or financial thefts, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said personal data held by it were secure.
There has been no incident of misuse of Aadhaar biometrics leading to identity theft and financial loss during the past five years when more than 400 crore Aadhaar authentication transactions have taken place.
Recently, a breach of Aadhaar data was reported after the UIDAI sent a notice to three firms for possible unauthorised authentication attempt and storing of biometric data.
The notice it had served was shared widely on social media and questions were raised over the safety of Aadhaar data.
The UIDAI said it had “carefully gone into these reports”, and asserted that the Aadhaar system has the capability to inquire into any instance of misuse of biometrics and identity theft and initiate action.
UIDAI uses one of the world’s most advanced encryption technologies in transmission and storage of data. As a result, during the past seven years, there has been no report of breach or leak of residents’ data out of UIDAI.
UIDAI clarified that there were “stringent provisions in the Aadhaar (Authentication) Regulations governing the usage of e-KYC data, including storage and sharing, resident consent being paramount in both the cases.
Banks or mobile operators have to become UIDAI’s authentication user agencies and authentication service agencies to obtain e-KYC data of their customers from the UIDAI.
The e-KYC data can be given by the UIDAI to these agencies only after they obtain consent of their customers and can be used only for the purpose for which it was obtained.
More than 111 crore people have Aadhaar in India, covering more than 99% of the adult population. According to official data, more than 4.47 crore people have opened bank accounts using Aadhaar e-KYC.
Aadhaar has helped the government transfer LPG subsidy under the PAHAL scheme, MGNREGS payments, scholarships and pensions directly into the accounts of beneficiaries eliminating diversion and leakage of funds by middlemen.
The direct benefits transfer has saved the government Rs. 49,000 crore during two-and-a-half years, the release added.

:: Business and Economy ::

e-commerce faces too many policy challenges

Exporters face restrictions in the form of poor incentives and debilitating fees, made worse by surging global competition.
India had woken up to huge potential of e-commerce exports when the Centre decided to provide incentives in the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 to promote exports of goods hosted on a website and dispatched through courier or postal mode.
However, exporters have now identified several ‘restrictions’ under the FTP and related norms as ‘challenges’ that are preventing them from maximising the potential of e-commerce exports.
The payment for goods purchased on e-commerce platform shall be done through international credit or debit cards and as per the Reserve Bank of India norms.
There are more than 25,000 Indian companies, small and medium firms and entrepreneurs present on the American multinational e-commerce company eBay alone, exporting their items directly to the consumers across the world.
It is estimated that there are more than two lakh such Indian business-to-consumer (B2C) exporters making use of their own websites or other e-commerce platforms and social media sites.
There is intense competition in the e-commerce exports space, and several countries are actively promoting e-commerce exports.
For instance, the U.K. government’s Department for International Trade (DIT) has an ‘E-Exporting Programme’ to help U.K. companies sell their products or services overseas through e-commerce.
India’s e-commerce retail exporters are also facing major competition from their counterparts in China and South Asia. According to the World Trade Organisation, in 2015.
e-commerce in goods and services was worth about $22 trillion globally, and has grown the fastest in emerging economies.
As per India’s FTP 2015-20, the incentives for e-commerce exports are under the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS).
The rewards are in the form of freely transferable duty credit scrips (that gives duty benefits for imports of inputs / import of goods including capital goods / domestic procurement of inputs and goods including capital goods, etc).
The list of items for incentives should be expanded to include jewellery, which is among the biggest finished product exports from India, as well as health & beauty items, auto spare parts and musical instruments.
A major disincentive is that currently, when a buyer sends an item back to an e-commerce exporter, import duty is charged.
However, in the case of exports other than through the e-commerce route, customs duties are exempted on return of exported goods.
Another difficulty being faced by e-commerce exporters is that such exports through India Post or via the commercial courier mode are ticked as “samples” or “gifts” and not as ‘Commercial Shipment’.
Sellers need to sign and attach multiple physical documents and pay a commercial clearance charge of Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 1200 for every shipment.
A single-product shipment via private courier requires seven copies of invoices (self-declaration), while India Post requires three copies of invoices (self-declaration).

U.S. could roll out a red carpet for Indian visitors

U.S. could roll out a red carpet for Indian visitors even as IT staff worry over H-1B.
Amidst rising concerns over H-1B visa prospects for Indian professionals, Indian tourists to the United States could soon have a smoother entry process into the U.S.
Indian and U.S. authorities have kicked off talks to expand air connectivity with more non-stop flights, allowing frequent Indian visitors quicker exits at the airport under the U.S.’ Global Entry programme and, most importantly.
The prospect of setting up a pre-clearance facility at an Indian airport so passengers may avoid delays related to customs and border protection inspections at U.S. gateway airports.
They are also talking about expanding the Global Entry program for frequent Indian travellers to the U.S. to enable them to have faster access at the border.
That’s under discussion and these are very tactical ideas to improve access and transit between the two countries,” Mr. Dixon told.
About 1.1 million Indians visited the U.S. in 2015 and spent close to $12 billion, making it the seventh-largest market for U.S. travel and tourism exports.
Over the last decade, travel and tourism exports to India have more than doubled and now account for 65% of U.S. services exports to India, and U.S.

Law enforcement in the digital era

One consequence of the recent demonetisation was a push towards the digitisation of the economy a move that will create transparency in the financial system.
But this digital push must be accompanied by greater security of digital transactions to deal with the tsunami of cybercrimes that is bound to follow.
India’s enforcement mechanisms, laws and policies must be re-examined immediately to ensure that the theft of data or money is dealt with severely, swiftly and transparently.
A recent ASSOCHAM-PwC study found that cybercrime in India surged almost 300% between 2011 and 2014.
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), the national agency tasked with maintaining cybersecurity, reported more than 50,000 security incidents in 2015.
With the push towards digital transactions, this number will only grow. As smartphones become the preferred mode of transactions, hacking, phishing and malware based attacks are serious concerns.
The logistical burden these incidents will place on law-enforcement the judiciary, will be enormous.
Our police infrastructure, which doesn’t yet have the capacity to handle existing cybercrimes, will be strained to breaking point in the coming surge.
Dealing with cyber offences necessarily means upgrading the capabilities of law enforcement, either through new recruitment or by imparting technical training to existing personnel.
But this prescription comes with its own problems, not least being the supply of qualified people.
The more promising option is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) to combat cybercrime.
Such a partnership will draw upon the skills in the private sector to train the police, while providing practical experience in dealing with cybercrimes to corporate employees. Such models already exist and are fairly successful.
One example is the National Cyber Forensic Training Alliance (NCFTA) in the U.S., a non-profit platform that tackles cybercrime through partnerships with subject matter experts in the public, private, and academic sectors.
A similar set-up in India is the NASSCOM-affiliated Data Security Council of India (DSCI). The DSCI sets up cyberlabs in different cities and imparts training.
This model is now ripe for scale-up across the country and can be tapped into by the jurisdictional police.
Such a force can become a one-stop-shop for digital monetary fraud and will go a long way in assuaging the concerns of cyber-fraud victims.
Such a force will also be able to identify trends and stop entities that prey on the gullibility of uninformed citizens transitioning to the digital economy.

Centre gives nod to sell three SAIL plants

The Centre has approved outright sale of state-owned SAIL’s three special steel units, including the Salem and Alloy Steel plants.
SAIL has now sought advisers, including legal and merchant bankers, to carry out the strategic sale along with transfer of management control in the three steel plants Alloy Steels Plant, Salem Steel Plant and Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant.
The ‘Maharatna’ PSU is scouting for transaction advisers from professional consulting firms, investment bankers and financial institutions to provide advisory services and manage the disinvestment process.
The transaction adviser will advise SAIL on the modalities and timing of the strategic disinvestment of the three steel plants and prepare a detailed operational scheme to successfully implement the process, indicating tentative timelines for each activity.
The firm will also finalise the process of strategic sale as to whether it will be done through bidding or auction and assist SAIL in fixing the range of the fair reserve price, considering the valuation of the divesting plants.
The government has budgeted to raise Rs. 15,000 crore from strategic disinvestment in 2017-18.
The Centre currently holds 75% stake in SAIL, which is the largest steel producer in India.