Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 22 July 2017

::National::

Personal data is an integral part of one’s dignity and life

• Personal data is an integral part of one’s dignity and life, the Centre told the Supreme Court.

• Any sharing of personal data by service providers or social media platforms, which impinges on a person’s right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution, requires regulation, the government submitted.

• The Bench is hearing a petition filed by students — led by Karmanya Singh Sareen — alleging that a contract entered into between Facebook and instant messaging platform WhatsApp in 2016 was a violation of the citizens’ right to privacy.

• This data includes photographs, messages and pictures shared by users on WhatsApp.

• “Data is an extension of personality. It is a reflection of one’s footsteps in life. There cannot be an individual without personality. There would be a need for state’s intervention if any contract infringed upon the data as it affects my right to life,” Centre said.

• He added that a regulatory mechanism was in the works to protect people from personal data leaks online.

• However, this stand taken by the Centre in the WhatsApp case does not quite gel with its position before a nine-judge Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar, currently examining whether privacy is a fundamental right with respect to Aadhaar.

A “mentally-retarded” adult cannot be given protection under POSCO

• A “mentally-retarded” adult cannot be considered a child and given refuge under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act of 2012, the Supreme Court held.

• The case before the court was that of a rape victim, whose biological age is 38 though medical reports conclude that her “mental age” is that of six-year-old.

• The woman’s mother had moved the Supreme Court to expand the definition of the term ‘child’ in Section 2 (d) of the POCSO Act to embrace adults who are “mentally-retarded or extremely intellectually-challenged.”

• The mother’s petition said the biological age of a person should not be the governing yardstick for POCSO treat them with fragility and provide them gentle care throughout the criminal trial and swiftly punish the guilty.

• A holistic interpretation of the term ‘child’ to include intellectually-vulnerable adults serves the basic purpose of the 2012 Act.

• A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Rohinton Fali Nariman, in their separate judgments, agreed that a judge cannot take on the role of the legislator.

China’s response to the Doklam situation is not unprecedented

• China’s response to the standoff with India has been rare and can be compared with the strong reaction from Beijing in the aftermath of the 1975 induction of Sikkim into India, said former Shivshankar Menon.

• Speaking to a select group of foreign affairs reporters, he said that India’s response was justified but said China had not overreacted either.

• “China’s response to the Doklam situation is not unprecedented in bilateral history. A similar response came from Beijing in the aftermath of the induction of Sikkim into India in 1975,” he said.

• India had integrated Sikkim on May 16, 1975 but China rejected the integration and finally recognised Sikkim as a part of India in 2003 during the visit of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Beijing.

• However, following the recent standoff, China had raked up the issue of Sikkim indicating that it might reverse the recognition it bestowed in 2003.

• Mr. Menon said India’s response was justified as it concerned its strategic interests. But he played down the hyper-nationalist tone of the English media in Beijing which had repeatedly targeted India and reminded Delhi of the humiliating defeat of 1962.

Following global leaks, Govt detected over Rs. 19,000 crore in black money

• Following investigations into global leaks, the Income Tax department has detected over Rs. 19,000 crore in black money, including with HSBC account holders in Switzerland, the government said.

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said investigations into info put into the public domain by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, pertaining to about 700 Indians.

• It was allegedly linked to offshore entities have led to detection of more than Rs. 11,010 crore of credits in undisclosed foreign accounts.

• “Seventytwo complaints in 31 such cases have been filed before the criminal courts,” he informed the Lok Sabha.

::Business and Economy::

World Customs Organisation decribes India's plan as best

• India’s National Trade Facilitation Action Plan (NTFAP), which aims to cut cargo release time for exports and imports as part of measures to boost goods trade, has been described by the World Customs Organisation (WCO) as a ‘best practice’ other nations can adopt.

• The WCO was impressed by the fact that as many as 51 of the 76 activities mentioned in the NTFAP “go beyond” the implementation requirements of the World Trade Organisation’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).

• The NTFAP, which is to be implemented between 2017 and 2020, is part of India’s efforts to improve its ease of doing business ranking.

• While India’s overall rank in the World Bank’s Doing Business report is 130, it ranks 144 out of 190 nations in the ‘Trading Across Borders’ category.

• The TFA — meant to ease Customs norms for faster flow of goods across borders — had come into effect in February 2017.

• The WCO — the international body supporting the uniform implementation of the TFA across the globe — has 182 member nations (including India) that manage more than 98% of world trade. India had ratified the TFA in April 2016.

• The NTFAP further stated that “similarly, enhancement of existing compliance levels to achieve global benchmarks in crucial segments like Time Release Study, Post Clearance Audit and AEO scheme belong to the TFA Plus category as they are dynamic objectives.”

Floor price for voice, data not ‘workable’, says TRAI

• TRAI said that the industry had reached a consensus that fixing of floor price for voice and data services was not a “workable idea” at the moment, and the current regime of tariff forbearance would continue.

• Last month, some telecom services providers, in a meeting with TRAI, had sought imposition of a floor price for both voice and data services.

• The operators had argued that telcos offering below cost tariffs to consumers over a period of time might harm the industry and its financials. He added that no further discussion or meeting on the issue was planned.

• Under forbearance regime, operators are allowed to fix their own tariffs on grounds that there is enough competition in the market.

• TRAI chairman added that the consultation paper on introduction of 5G was “almost ready” and would be out soon.

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