Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 04 March 2017

:: National ::

Dalai Lama’s Arunachal visit increases tension between India and China

The China-India border dispute came into sharp focus after the Chinese Foreign Ministry warned New Delhi not to allow the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh — the State which is at the heart of the Sino-Indian dispute in the eastern sector.
China’s sharp response against the visit by the Tibetan leader in exile followed a call by a former Chinese boundary negotiator, who stressed that if the two sides managed to overcome their differences in the eastern sector.
“We have expressed concerns to the India, urged India to stick to its political commitments and abide by important consensus the two sides have reached on the boundary question, refrain from actions that might complicate the issue” China said
Also said that India should not provide a platform to the Dalai clique and protect the sound and stable development of the Sino-India relations.”

Centre delay imposing Ecological Sensitive Area restrictions

The Environment Ministry has dithered, for the second time in three years, from bringing into force a law that will make about 56,825 sqkm of the ecologically-rich Western Ghats out of bounds for industrial development.
On February 27, the government resuscitated a draft notification that was first published in March 2014 that specified how much land in various coastal States encompassing the Western Ghats would be earmarked as practically-inviolate.
Because it wasn’t made into a final law — thanks to objections from States — this lapsed in a year and a half and on September 2015, a fresh draft notification with the same numbers was reintroduced. This too would expire on March 4.
The reiterated February notification — open to public comment for 60 days — allows the Centre to create an Ecological Sensitive Area (ESA) in the Western Ghats (WG), a 1,500 km, ecologically-rich strip along the west coast spanning Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Regions declared as the ESA will not be allowed to host mining and quarrying projects and building thermal power plants.
Ever since Madhav Gadgil recommended in 2011 that all of the Western Ghats be declared as the ESA — with only limited development allowed in graded zones— States have forced the Centre to consistently delay imposing the ESA restrictions.
Kerala managed to get this down to about 56,825 sqkm after widespread protests and an all-party resolution in the State forced the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to exclude 3,117 sqkm of settlements and agricultural land in the State from the ESA.
Union Environment Minister Anil Dave is expected to have fresh meetings with States on the issue next month.
Another source familiar with the matter said a draft notification allowed the government 545 days to decide on taking a final call.

India and South East Asian countries wants discussion on an ‘Access to Medicines’ report

A month after the 140th World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Executive Board meeting, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) response has revealed that the United States government had opposed including agenda items proposed by India.
The Indian government — along with 11 South East Asian countries — had proposed a discussion on an ‘Access to Medicines’ report by the United Nations High Level Panel that had recommended reforms in the funding of biomedical research and development.
However, the set of documents released by Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), a not for profit organisation that gives technical advice to governments, reveals that both the United States and the WHO opposed including the proposal by India.
The 11 member-states — Bangladesh, Bhutan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Timor-Leste — as well as Brazil, Iran, and South Africa supported the inclusion of the agenda item.
The delays by WHO to place the UN HLP recommendations on the agenda of the WHO’s EB and subsequently at the World Health Assembly have drawn widespread criticism from Asian civil society organisations.
“The U.N. report says there is a need for an RD treaty and it recommended reforms in the area of biomedical R&D. The U.S. government has a policy of blocking all reforms that would lead to funding the R&D system in a way that it prioritises diseases that kill millions of people in the developing world.
The U.N. Access to Medicines report had recommended solutions for remedying the policy incoherence between justifiable rights of inventors, trade rules and global public health targets.
The report recommended that “governments and the private sector must refrain from explicit or implicit threats, tactics or strategies that undermine the right of WTO Members to use TRIPS flexibilities.”

SC expressed grave concern on farmers suicide

The Supreme Court expressed grave concern over farmers’ suicide due to indebtedness and crop failure and said it felt the government was going in a “wrong direction” in tackling the real problem.
Asking the Centre to apprise it of the policy roadmap to address the burning issue, a Bench headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar said the issue of farmers’ suicide was of “extreme importance” and paying compensation to the families of such victims “post-facto” was not the real solution.
“This issue is of extreme importance. Tentatively, we feel that you are going in a wrong direction. Farmers take loan from banks and when they are unable to repay, they commit suicide.
The remedy to the problem is not to pay money to farmers after the suicide, but you should have schemes to prevent this.
“Farmers’ suicides have been happening for so many decades and it is surprising that no action has been taken to address the causes behind suicides.”
Additional Solicitor General P.S. Narasimha, appearing for the Centre, told the Bench that the government has initiated many schemes for farmers and the 2015 crop insurance scheme would drastically reduce such fateful incidents.
The ASG said other schemes also needed to be strengthened to make farmers feel that the government would stand behind them in distress.
He also referred to the studies conducted by renowned agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan and eminent journalist P. Sainath on farmer suicides and suggested that they may also be asked to put forth their recommendations.

:: International ::

UN criticised Sri Lanka’s slow progress in addressing wartime crimes

Reports of abuses including torture remain widespread in Sri Lanka eight years after the end of a decades-long civil war, the UN said, criticising the government’s slow progress in addressing wartime crimes.
Sri Lanka’s President MaithripalaSirisena swept to power two years ago promising justice for the minority Tamil community and a full investigation into alleged atrocities committed under the leadership of his predecessor.
But UN rights chief ZeidRa’ad Al Hussein said the island had made “worryingly slow” progress in addressing its wartime past, warning this could threaten lasting peace and stability.
It pointed to the island’s own Human Rights Commission’s acknowledgement of complaints illustrating the “routine use of torture by the police throughout the country as a means of interrogation and investigation”.
At least 1,00,000 people died in the conflict between Tamil separatists and government forces that ended in 2009.
The UN has been pushing for a special court to investigate allegations that government forces killed up to 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final months of fighting.
Mr. Sirisena had agreed to a UN Human Rights Council resolution in October 2015 which called for special tribunals and reparations for victims and gave Sri Lanka 18 months to establish credible investigations.
But the deadline lapsed without those commitments being met. The UN said coalition politics in the unity government Mr. Sirisena formed after ousting former strongman leader MahindaRajapaksa were likely to blame for the slow pace of progress.
In its report, the UN urged the government to prioritise the return of private land occupied by the military, adopt laws allowing the creation of a hybrid court, and invite the UN rights office to establish a presence in the country.

:: Business and Economy ::

Australia wants India to become major buyer of its cotton

Australia, the fifth-largest exporter of cotton, is looking at India to emerge as a consistent and major buyer of the commodity.
An eight-member delegation representing the Australian Cotton Shippers’ Association held meetings in Ludhiana, Mumbai, and Coimbatore between February 27 and March 3.
Australia has close to 1,200 cotton growers and can supply even small quantities to India. China purchased more than 30% of Australia’s cotton production last year. However, this was lower than its usual purchase.
Indian textile mills can use Australian cotton as a blend to produce high-value garments. The area under cotton production was increasing in Australia, Mr. McIntyre said.
Australia’s output was limited until last year. India is the largest producer and consumer of cotton globally.

Services sector saw expansion in Feb

The services sector expanded in February recovering from demonetisation-related disruption, according to a private survey.
The Nikkei India Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 50.7 in February from 49.4 in January. A reading above 50 denotes an expansion in business activity while one below 50 implies a contraction.
The upturn in services activity follows news from the sister PMI survey showing factory production growing for the second straight month in February.
With demand conditions strengthening in India, new business inflows rose in both sectors, leading to the first increases in private sector new work and output since October 2016. Nevertheless, growth rates were mild at best and far from their historical averages.
The Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index signalled growth in February as businesses recovered from the demonetisation-related disruptions seen in each of the previous three months,” according to the report.
The index fell to 46.7 in November, the month demonetisation was announced, the lowest it had been in almost three years. The index posted a tad higher reading of 46.8 in December but was still firmly depicting a contraction in business activity.
This improvement in business activity and order inflows was mostly driven by the ‘Financial Intermediation’ and ‘Other Services’ category, according to the report with most of the other major heads seeing a decline.
However, the report noted that the rate of contraction softened in all cases.
Looking at employment levels in the services sector, IHS Markit said the rate of job losses in February was only fractional. However, staffing levels decreased in the manufacturing sector, in comparison, it noted.