Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 11 May 2017

:: National ::

Govt says going to ICJ was carefully considered move

A day after India got a stay on Pakistan’s death sentence to arrested former Navy official Kulbhushan Jadhav at an international tribunal, the government defended going to the tribunal, as a “carefully considered decision.”
The Ministry of External Affairs said the decision to resort to arbitration at the International Court of Justice, after a gap of 46 years, was appropriate as the ultimate aim is to save Mr. Jadhav’s life.
“Despite requesting the government of Pakistan, we did not get the documents on the case. We do not know the status of the petition and the appeal filed by the mother of Mr. Jadhav.
The visas sought for by his family have not been granted. In this situation to save the life of an Indian who was kidnapped and who was not given a fair trial, we have approached the International Court of Justice,” said spokesperson of MEA
India had repeatedly sought consular access to Mr. Jadhav and had been repeatedly denied it. The spokesperson said the ICJ had informed New Delhi about the steps it has initiated in response to India’s request.
The ICJ stated in a press release that India seeks suspension of the death sentence that has been given to Mr. Jadhav by a Pakistani military tribunal. India is expected to take up the case on May 15 when senior advocate Harish Salve will represent it.

Home ministry to take opinion from Attorney General for FCRA

Home Ministry will seek the Attorney-General’s opinion to amend the repealed Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) 1976, which barred foreign donations to political parties.
The Representation of the People Act and the FCRA bar political parties from receiving foreign funds.
government had amended the FCRA through the Finance Bill route, which allowed foreign-origin companies to fund NGOs here and also cleared the way for donations to political parties by changing the definition of “foreign companies.”
The glitch was that although the amendment was done retrospectively it only made valid the foreign donations received after 2010, the year when the 1976 Act was amended.
The retrospective amendment did not apply to donations prior to 2010 and the Association for Democratic Reforms, a political watchdog, moved a contempt petition against the Home Ministry.
The ADR filed a PIL plea against the two parties for violating the FCRA. The Delhi High Court had held that the donations were illegal in 2014, but the two parties challenged the order in the Supreme Court but later withdrew the petition.

Doctors against legal framework to prescribe generic drugs

The Centre’s move towards a legal framework to make doctors prescribe generic drugs and the subsequent notice by the Medical Council of India enforcing the same has failed to find many takers in the medical field.
Curofy, an online community of verified doctors, conducted an opinion poll on generic drugs. Of 5,673 doctors who participated, 73% were against the decision.
Across tier 1, 2 and 3 cities, the doctors were united in their disagreement with the decision. They expressed various concerns, ranging from the quality of generic drugs to educational qualification of chemists who will now be the decision-maker.
Although doctors from all across the country are against the decision, some States like Assam (89%), Jharkhand (86%) and Kerala (81%) had more one-sided results.
Interestingly, more super specialists were against this decision than general physicians. Within super specialists, gynaecologists (89%), pulmonologists (93%) and intensivist (internal medicine) (89%) disapproved of this ruling than other specialities

Artificial bone tissue that can provide new bone marrow

Scientists, led by an Indian-origin researcher, have developed artificial bone tissues that could provide new bone marrow for patients needing transplants and make the procedure much safer.
Researchers in the U.S. developed bone tissues with functional bone marrow that can be filled with donor cells and implanted under the skin of mice.
The donor cells survived for at least six months and supplied the mice with new blood cells.
Bone marrow transplants are used to treat patients with bone marrow disease. Before a transplant, a patient is first given doses of radiation, sometimes in combination with drugs, to kill off any existing stem cells in the patient’s bone marrow.
This pre-treatment is meant to improve success of the transplant by clearing up space in the marrow, allowing donor cells to survive and grow without competition from the patient’s own cells.
However, this treatment often comes with harmful side effects. To address these issues, researchers developed a bone-like implant that gives donor cells their own space to live and grow without competition, eliminating the need to wipe out the host’s pre-existing cells.

:: International ::

Tamil issue to come up during PM’s visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Colombo on to participate in the international UN Vesak Day hosted by Sri Lanka.
During the two-day visit, he will address thousands of upcountry Tamils of the country, shining the spotlight on the 1.6 million-strong community inhabiting the island’s Central and Southern provinces.
Mr. Modi will speak at a public meeting in Norwood, in the island’s hill country, which is likely to draw tens of thousands of upcountry Tamils, most of them descendants of Indian-origin labourers brought in by the British.
This is the first time that an Indian Premier will travel to the Central Province, where the country’s famed tea estates are located, to address Sri Lankans of recent Indian origin.
India has always expressed concern for our Tamil brothers and sisters from the north and east. This visit is only an extension of that to include Tamils from other parts of the island.
While TPA hopes to revive a 2014 MoU and seek Indian support in housing, education and vocational training, the CWC too wrote to Mr. Modi in April, requesting for assistance in the same areas.
India is currently building 4,000 houses for estate workers. Mr. Modi will inaugurate a hospital in the area built with Indian assistance.
For the first time, Sri Lanka is hosting an international conference and celebrations around UN Vesak Day. Nearly 750 people from 85 countries will participate in the event.

:: Business and Economy ::

Rail development authority to set standards of performance and efficiency

India’s first rail regulator, Rail Development Authority (RDA), would not just look at tariff structures for passenger and freight operations but also set standards of performance and efficiency that would be enforceable under the Railways Act.
The regulator will set “standards for efficiency and performance for consumer satisfaction in both passenger and freight” and will also be “authorised to check for deviations and suggest remedial measures.”
The regulator will provide guidance on quantity and quality of service provided to passengers.
These may include setting standards including hours of service, frequency of trains, capacity per coach, cleanliness level, and quality of water, food, furnishing and linen.
The Union Cabinet had last month approved setting up the rail regulator responsible for recommending passenger fares, setting performance standards for rail operations and creating a level playing policy for private sector participation.
The resolution states that the regulator will be mandated to “suggest measures for absorbing new technologies for achieving desired efficiency and performance standards.”
The Railway Board also defined the structure of the RDA with a Chairman along with three members each for tariff, public private partnership and efficiency, standards and benchmarking.
The regulator will, however, not involve itself in policy making of the Indian Railways, operations and maintenance of the rail system, financial management, setting technical standards and compliance of safety standards, the resolution said.
It clarified that the regulator would only make recommendations on tariff and not impose a tariff on the Indian Railways.

Centre plans to provide them financial assistance to 4 million fisherman

With about four million people — mainly small-scale and artisanal fishers — in India depending on marine fisheries resources for livelihood, the Centre plans to provide them financial assistance and introduce norms to improve labour conditions in the sector.
However, it will ensure that the Indian fishing fleet does not engage in ‘Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated’ (IUU) fishing, according to the National Policy on Marine Fisheries, 2017.
The Indian marine fisheries account for an economic wealth of about Rs. 65,000 crore, according to the policy — meant to guide the coordination and management of India’s marine fisheries during the next 10 years.
It noted that fishermen are having difficulties in availing institutional credit to buy fishing implements and crafts, and that the risky nature of returns has led to many fishermen falling into the debt trap of private financiers and middlemen.
Therefore, the Centre, with the help of National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development, will provide financial assistance to fishermen with liberal terms and conditions.
In addition, the Government will introduce new schemes to skill traditional fishermen.