Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 23 November 2018

::NATIONAL::

Supreme court slams centre for condition of jails and observation homes

The Supreme Court asked the government on Thursday whether it viewed undertrial prisoners and children who suffered primeval conditions in jails and observation homes as “human beings.”
Undertrial prisoners accounted for 62% of India’s prison population, against the world average of 18-20%, the court said. The statistic raised questions about the humaneness of our system, it said.
The court compared the condition of the undertrial prisoners and the juveniles in observation homes with that of influential prisoners who watched TV shows on sofas and “enjoy life” in prisons.
“Is there a parallel system running in jails? Do they [the influential prisoners] have special rights? What have you done about Tihar Jail,” Justice Lokur asked Mr.Lekhi, showing him media reports and pointing to one, saying “he [the prisoner] is enjoying TV and God knows what all he is enjoying.”
The court expressed concern about the facilities given to Justice Amitava Roy, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, who is heading a committee appointed to review the cases of undertrial prisoners. The court has sought details of the infrastructure for the committee.
In March, the court’s amicus curiae GauravAgrawal submitted that 240 jails in the country were housing inmates 150% above their capacity. His report said that of the 77,000 sanctioned posts in the prisons department, 24,500 were vacant. Mr.Agarwal said Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh were some of the worst cases in the prison staff-inmate ratio.

::ECONOMY::

Board committees to assist RBI in its operations

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to get a makeover in line with its global counterparts, with several board committees to be formed on various aspects like technology, risk management, banking regulation, supervision, among others, to assist the central bank in its operations.
Proposed by the government, the issue will be discussed in the next board meeting of the central bank, scheduled for December 14. The other issue of improving governance standards of the RBI was on the agenda for Monday’s board meeting but could not be discussed.
At present, there are no such committees of the central board. The board will discuss the issue in the next meeting,” the person said adding there could be a committee which will be formed to study the matter. The move is also seen to make the RBI management accountable to the board and making the board more hands-on.
On Monday, after discussing several contentious issues during the nine-hour long board meeting, decisions were taken on four aspects: forming a committee on RBI’s economic capital framework, debt recast scheme for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, extending the deadline for last tranche of capital conservation buffer by one year and review of banks under prompt corrective action by the Board for Financial Supervision (BFS).

Cabinet approves the Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2018

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister ShriNarendraModi has approved the Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2018 for regulation and standardisation of education and services by allied and healthcare professionals.
The Bill provides for setting up of an Allied and Healthcare Council of India and corresponding State Allied and Healthcare Councils which will play the role of a standard-setter and facilitator for professions of Allied and Healthcare.
The Bill provides for Structure, Constitution, Composition and Functions of the Central Council and State Councils, e.g. Framing policiesandstandards, Regulation of professional conduct, Creation and maintenanceof live Registers, provisions for common entry and exit examinations, etc.
The Central Council will comprise 47 members, of which 14 members shall be ex-officio representing diverse and related roles and functions andremaining 33 shall be non-ex-officio members who mainly represent the 15professional categories.
The State Councils are also envisioned to mirror the Central Council,comprising 7 ex-officio and 21 non-ex officio members and Chairperson tobe elected from amongst the non-ex officio members.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India Australia sign five key agreements

India and Australia signed five agreements on Thursday to boost investments and enhance cooperation in key sectors like disability, agricultural research and education as President Ram NathKovind met Australian Prime minister Scott Morrison in Sydney.
Mr.Kovind, the first-ever Indian head of state to visit Australia, arrived in Sydney on Wednesday on the second leg of his two nation trip.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that during the state visit of President Kovind to Australia, five agreements were exchanged in the presence of Marise Payne, Foreign Minister of Australia and AnantkumarHegde, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, by High Commissioners of both countries.
Following the meeting with President Kovind, Prime Minister Morrison announced the release of Australia’s response to the India Economic Strategy, a blueprint to transform the economic engagement.
Australia also pinpointed the initial implementation plan with key actions for next one year which will include agreements forged between Austrade and Invest India, the establishment of an Australia-India Food Partnership, opening up new opportunities for agri-tech and service companies and Australia-India Strategic Research Fund grants of up to Australian dollar 500,000.

EU and UK agree on future relationships post Brexit

The British government’s Brexit process reached another milestone as the European Commission said that the U.K. and the EU had agreed at a negotiator level and in principle the draft political declaration on the future relationship between the two sides.
While observers continue to pick apart the statement which has been leaked to U.K. media to assess whether the government’s ambitions set out by the U.K. have been enmeshed in it, the development marks a symbolic victory for Prime Minister Theresa May ahead of a summit on Sunday.
In the summit EU leaders are set to finalise and formalise details of both the exit process and outline of future relations.The development also follows last week’s news that Britain and the EU had agreed to the draft terms of the withdrawal.
Controversy over the terms of the withdrawal agreement led to several ministerial resignations and letters of no confidence in the Prime Minister, though an initiative to oust her through formal party processes appears to have been abandoned for now, for want of support from backbench MPs.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

India gets UN award for combating transboundary environment crime

United Nation Environment has awarded Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India with Asia Environment Enforcement Awards, 2018 for excellent work done by the Bureau in combating transboundary environmental crime.
Congratulating the Bureau Union Environment Minister said that the Asia Environmental Enforcement Award, recognizes the excellent work done by Government officials and teams from the bureau who are diligently involved in combating trans boundary environmental crime.
The Asia Environment Enforcement Awards publicly recognize and celebrate excellence in enforcement by government officials and institutions/teams combating transboundary environmental crime in Asia.
The awards are given to outstanding individuals and/or government organizations/teams that demonstrate excellence and leadership in enforcement of national laws to combat transboundary environmental crime in one of the following eligibility criteria areas: collaboration; impact; innovation; integrity and gender leadership.
In order to involve the public in the fight against wildlife crime, WCCB has also developed a scheme to enroll willing persons as WCCB Volunteers.

::SPORTS::

Mary Kom enters finals of World boxing championship

Experience from a decade and a half in the ring once again helped M.C. Mary Komwho outwitted another tough opponent, North Korean HyangMi Kim, with a 5-0 verdict inch closer to her sixth World title on Thursday.
On the other hand, LovlinaBorgohain, the other Indian in action, lost her 69kg semifinal bout 4-0 to Nien-Chin Chen of Chinese Taipei and settled for the bronze medal in the World women’s boxing championships at the Indira Gandhi Stadium Complex here.