Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 27 November 2017

::NATIONAL::

Law Minister criticises NJAC judgement

In sharp criticism of the NJAC judgment which revived the Supreme Court collegium, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that at the core of the verdict is the judiciary’s distrust in the capability of the Law Minister and the Prime Minister to appoint a “fair judge.”
“The people of India trust the Prime Minister with the obligation to secure the unity and integrity of India. As I once said in the Parliament, the Prime Minister possesses the nuclear button... that’s how much the people trust him,”.
Mr. Prasad said a “very loaded statement” has been made by the Supreme Court in the NJAC judgment if it thinks that the mere association of the Law Minister in the Commission would lead to appointments of a “doubtful” character.
Under the now struck down Article 124A of the Constitution, the Law Minister was an ex officio member of the NJAC and the Prime Minister was part of the three-member panel which nominated the two eminent persons to the NJAC.
which was meant to give the political class an equal say in judicial appointments to the Supreme Court and the High Courts. In the gathering was former CJI J.S. Khehar, who authored the majority judgment in the NJAC case in October 2015.
Mr. Prasad said the Constitution had already given him the “principal player” role in the appointments of the President, the Vice-President, the three Armed Forces chiefs, the Chief Election Commissioner and other constitutional bodies.
Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra responded to Mr. Prasad by pointedly saying that the judiciary reposed as much trust in a popularly elected PM as the public does.
“The Prime Minister is the repository of constitutional trust. That is the language of the Constituent Assembly and we are not going to add anything. We also repose the same trust in the Honourable Prime Minister,” Chief Justice Misra said.
To Mr. Prasad’s statement that the Constitution does not envisage the Law Ministry and Minister as mere “post offices” of the collegium, he said the collegium has never ignored the observations and objections raised by the Law Minister.

PM addressed Mann ki Baat on anniversary of 26/11

Prime Minister recalled the deadly terror attack on Mumbai exactly nine years back, leading to loss of lives of security personnel and common citizens, as the country paid tributes to those who sacrificed their lives during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.
In his Mann Ki Baat address to the nation, Mr. Modi said humanity must unite to fight terrorism which has become a global threat.
He recalled how many people did not take India’s repeated assertion seriously till some years back that terrorism was a serious threat.
“26/11 is our Constitution Day but how can the nation forget that on this very day nine years ago, terrorists had launched an attack on Mumbai,” Mr. Modi said.
“The country remembers and bows to those brave citizens, policemen, security men and each one who lost their lives then. This country can never forget their sacrifice.”
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said India had adopted a “zero-tolerance policy” towards terrorism and lamented that neighbour Pakistan was not doing enough to control the growth of terror on its soil.
“The government has made it clear on various international platforms that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism,” he said at a function in Mumbai to commemorate the sacrifices made by security men during the terror attack.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis appealed to citizens to be the security forces’ eyes and ears to prevent a terror attack like 26/11.

PM says balance of power among the three organs in backbone of constitution

Paying homage to the members of the Constituent Assembly on the occasion of National Law Day, PM said the balance of power among the executive, the legislature and the judiciary had been the backbone of the Constitution.
“The government, the judiciary and the bureaucracy are all part of one family. We should strengthen one another. The Supreme Court has itself said that every organ of the state should remain within its allotted space,” Mr. Modi said.
In his Mann Ki Baat address to the nation earlier in the day, Mr. Modi commended the founding fathers of the Republic for producing a document that was the spirit of Indian democracy.
“Today is 26/11. The 26th of November is our Constitution Day. The Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on this day in the year 1949. Our Constitution was implemented on the 26th of January 1950, which we celebrate as our Republic Day.
The Constitution of India is the spirit of our democracy. This is the day to remember the members of the Constituent Assembly. They all worked hard for about three years to draft the Constitution,” he said.
“Can you imagine how hard their task would have been to frame the Constitution of our country which has such big diversities?
They must have shown a great sense of understanding and farsightedness and that too at a juncture when the country was getting rid of the bondage of slavery. Now, this is the responsibility of all of us to make a New India in the light of the thinking of the makers of our Constitution.”
The Prime Minister said equality for all and sensitivity towards all was the characteristic of the Constitution. It guaranteed fundamental rights to all, let they be the underprivileged or oppressed, the backward or deprived, a tribal person or a woman.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Nepal votes to end the crippling political instability

Nepalis across the country’s mountainous north voted on Sunday in elections that could herald change after 20 ruinous years marked by a bloody Maoist insurgency, a devastating earthquake and crippling political instability.
The historic vote marks the final step of a peace process, which began in 2006 with the end of the civil war between the Maoists and the state.
More than two million people — around 65% of eligible voters — cast their ballot for representatives in new national and provincial parliaments.
The two-phase elections will establish the first provincial assemblies as laid out in a post-war Constitution that aims to devolve power from the top-heavy central government to seven newly created provinces.
Nepal’s tumultuous transition from monarchy to democracy has been marred by crippling instability that has seen 10 leaders hold power in 11 years — some of them more than once — hampering development and recovery from the earthquake that struck in 2015.
The areas that were worst-hit by the quake, which killed 9,000 and destroyed half a million homes, voted on Sunday, with many expressing hope that sluggish reconstruction would be kick-started by the political change.
The second phase of polling will be held on December 7.

::BUSINESS AND ECONOMY::

GST council's proposal to offer a 2% discount for electronic transactions

GST Council’s proposal to offer a 2% discount for electronic transactions, likely to be discussed during its next meeting, will need to be implemented sensibly so as not to add to businesses’ compliance burden, according to tax consultants.
Most probably, what the government will do is to come out with a notification which says that if there is a digital transaction, then after the GST rate, one more line item called digital discount or digital incentive is added, which is subtracted from the GST rate.
But this would also mean that each vendor will have to keep two sets of accounts, one digital and another non-digital.
Incentivising digital transactions by providing a 2% rebate would lead to a significant upsurge in consumers opting for digital payments.
However, this will require necessary changes in the GST return processes as this would effectively translate to a lower GST rate for both the buyer and the seller.
The proposed discount would be capped at Rs. 100 per transaction, thus making all retail purchases up to Rs. 5,000 eligible for the discount. This could result in a revenue shortfall of more than Rs. 25,000 crore a year, but would spur cashless payments, the government reckons.
This digital discount, if implemented, would be applicable on all business to consumer (B2C) transactions on items with a tax rate of 3% or more. One option to implement the discount would be to amend the existing tax rates to include the discounted rates, according to indirect tax consultants.
However, they added that this was the least likely option due to the operational difficulties it would pose, since the GST Council is at present only authorised to implement the tax rates of 0.25%, 3%, 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%.
The majority of payments are for Rs. 5,000 or less, so the Rs. 100 limit will mean the discount will apply to all these transactions.
“To incentivise digital transactions, it is proposed to provide a concession of 2% in GST rate on B2C supplies, for which payment is made through digital mode [1% each from applicable CGST and SGST rates, if the applicable GST rate is 3% or more] subject to a ceiling of Rs. 100 per transaction,” the GST Council proposal states.
This concession would, however, not be available for small businesses registered under the Composition Scheme. Businesses registered under the scheme are eligible to pay tax at 1% for traders and manufacturers, and 5% for restaurants.
Taking an average transaction value of Rs. 1,800 per transaction, the revenue authorities expect the loss to the exchequer due to such a digital discount at Rs. 25,920 crore, if 40% of all digital transactions get the discount.

India amended Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 through an ordinance

A company is bankrupt if it is unable to repay debts to its creditors (banks, suppliers etc). The inability to repay debts by some Indian firms has resulted in a huge pile of non-performing assets for the banking system.
The Indian government had introduced the IBC as a method to tackle the issue. Under the Code, a resolution has to be found for the indebted company within 270 days. Otherwise, a liquidator is appointed.
The company can also opt for voluntary liquidation by a special resolution in a general meeting.
The resolution to stressed assets picked up steam under IBC and investors started warming up to the huge opportunity.
key questions were — can promoters seek a huge cut from lenders and be back in the business? Does this provide a level playing field to other prospective bidders?
Does this send the right political and economic signals? The government took note of all these concerns expressed by investors, and that’s what led to the recent (amendment) ordinance.
The amendment has inserted two new sections in the insolvency code — Section 29A, which provides for persons ineligible to be a Resolution Applicant; and Section 235A, which provides for punishment for contravention of the provisions where no specific penalty or punishment is provided.
Section 29A says those ineligible to be a Resolution Applicant include: Wilful defaulters (ie, those associated with non-performing assets, or are habitually non-compliant and, therefore, are likely to be a risk to successful resolution of insolvency of a company);
Those whose accounts are classified as Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) for one year or more and are unable to settle overdue amounts including interest and charges relating to the account before submission of the Resolution Plan;
Those who have executed an enforceable guarantee in favour of a creditor, in respect of a corporate debtor undergoing a Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process or Liquidation Process under the Code and others connected to the above.
such as promoters or those in management control of the Resolution Applicant, or those who will be promoters or in management control of corporate debtor during the implementation of the Plan, the holding company, subsidiary company, associate company or related party of the above persons.

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman said the time has come for consolidation of reforms

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman said the time has come for consolidation of reforms, including GST, bankruptcy code and benami law, initiated by the NDA Government in the last 42 months to ensure they deliver the “desired fruits.”
The new initiatives in the next 18 months, Mr. Kumar said, should focus on health and education sectors as these two are going to be critical for human resource development.
“You know Modi Government has done far too much in those 42 months, it has taken some very major steps. My view is that time has come for consolidation and making sure that these reform steps which have been taken yield the desired fruits,” he said.
On the criticism that the government has failed to create enough jobs, Mr. Kumar said there are a large number of areas which have seen substantial increase in employment opportunities, though they may not be in organised and formal sector.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

WHO formulated clinical guidelines on responding to who have been sexually abused

In a first, the World Health Organisation has formulated clinical guidelines on responding to children and adolescents who have been sexually abused.
The guidelines put forward recommendations for the frontline health care providers — general practitioners, gynaecologists, paediatricians, nurses and others — who may directly receive a victim of sexual abuse or may identify sexual abuse during the course of diagnosis and treatment.
While Indian doctors have welcomed the new guidelines, they feel that there is more than just guidelines required in the country.
In 2010, the IAP released similar guidelines on ‘recommendations on recognition and response to child abuse and neglect in the Indian setting.
Like the IAP guidelines, the new WHO guidelines too focus on the recommendations and good practice suggestions in terms of disclosure made by the child, obtaining medical history, conducting physical examinations.
And forensic investigations, documenting findings, offering preventive treatment for HIV post exposure, pregnancy prevention, and other sexually transmitted diseases, psychological and mental health interventions among others.
The guidelines highlight that child sexual abuse has a short-term as well as long-term mental health impact like lifetime diagnosis of post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, externalising symptoms, eating disorders, problems with relationships, sleep disorders and suicidal and self-harm ideation and behaviours.
Health consequences of the abuse include the risk of pregnancy, gynaecological disorders such as chronic non-cyclical pelvic pain, menstrual irregularities, painful periods, genital infections and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.