Comprehensive Current affairs 25 September 2020

 

 World Maritime Day is observed on 24 September.

World Maritime Day is observed on 24th September 2020. The day is observed on Last Thursday of September Month. The day aims to mark the contribution of international maritime industries towards the economy of the world especially shipping. The Day focuses on the importance of shipping safety, maritime security, and the marine environment.

Theme:

The theme for 2020 World Maritime Day is "Sustainable shipping for a sustainable planet". The theme focus to provide an opportunity to raise awareness of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

History:

World Maritime Day was initiated by the United Nations (UN), through the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The day is to celebrate the contribution offered by the industry of international maritime towards the world’s economy, especially in shipping. World Maritime Day was observed for the first time on 17 March 1978. The day is observed to mark when the IMO Convention entered into force in the year 1958.

International Maritime Organization (IMO):

Formed on: 17 March 1948

Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

Secretary-General: Kitack Lim

Parent organization: United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNESC)

IMO was established after the agreement at a UN conference held in Geneva in 1948. It is responsible to regulate shipping. The IMO also focuses on areas such as safety, maritime security, environmental concerns, legal matters, technical co-operation, and the efficiency of shipping.

Monsoon Session 2020 of Parliament Concluded.

Monsson Session 2020 of Parliament commenced on 14th September 2020. The session was scheduled to culminate on 1 October 2020, but due to COVID-19 pandemic risks, the session was adjourned sine-die on 23 September 2020. During the Session, 22 Bills (6 in Rajya Sabha and 16 in Lok Sabha, were introduced. The Lower House and the Upper House individually passed 25 Bills each. 27 Bills were passed by both the Houses of Parliament.

Some of the important Bills are listed below:

Covid-19 related Legislations:

Salary, Allowance and Pensions of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020

 Salaries and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill, 2020

Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020

Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020

Agriculture Bills:

Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020

Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Prices Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020

Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020

Education Bills:

National Forensic Sciences University Bill, 2020

Rashtriya Raksha University Bill, 2020

Health Sector:

National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill, 2020

National Commission for Homeopathy Bill, 2020

Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill, 2020

Labour Bills:

Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code Bill, 2020

Code on Social Security Bill, 2020

Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2020

Economic Sector Bills:

Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020

Bilateral Netting of Qualified Financial Contracts Bill, 2020.

Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020.

Loksabha passes bills aimed at improving condition of workers.

The LokSabha on Tuesday cleared three labour Bills amalgamating laws on social security, occupational safety and industrial relations which would usher in changes including allowing companies with less than 300 workers to hire and fire without prior approval and provide gig and platform workers social security.

Union Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar while speaking about the bill in the lower house said that the labour Codes have been brought with a view to balance the interests, rights and obligations of employees and the employers in the country.

He stressed that these Labour codes will prove to be a Game-Changer milestone in ensuring the welfare of labours in the country.

Referring to several provisions made for the first time in 73 years, he informed that these include the right of letter appointment which will encourage formal employment.

He also said the definition of migrant labour has been expanded to also include those who move to other states for work without routing through the contractors.This will help them secure entitlement of and better targeting of welfare schemes in the country.

The minister added that recognising the importance of the Trade Unions, a tri-stage process of conciliation has been proposed at Enterprise level, State level, and the National level for speedier resolutions of labour issues.

 Parliamentary panel finds massive backlogs in recruitment/promotion of SC/ST's.

A massive backlog exists in the direct recruitment and promotion of SCs and STs in various posts at the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), a parliamentary panel has pointed out.

•According to a report of the committee on the welfare of SCs and STs on the subject "Reservation for and employment of SC and ST in NDMC", representation of SC/ST employees, who attended the training, seminars, symposia, conferences in foreign countries during the last five years, is not adequate.

EAM moots development of African region during global rebalancing.

Outlining India's strong commitment in supporting Africa in its development journey, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today said that any broader global rebalancing is incomplete without the genuine re-emergence of the Africa.

In an address at a conclave on India-Africa partnership, Dr Jaishankar said, only after genuine emergence of Africa, world’s strategic diversity will come into full play.Hesaid, New Delhi welcomes the evolution and rise of the continent as a key factor in the contemporary world.

The Minister also talked about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and said its consequences will be far-reaching and will define the world order as de-colonisation did in 1950s and 1960s.

He said, the pandemic is the most debilitating global event of the past 80 years and we are at a point in history that is comparable to the aftermath of the Second World War Jaishankar said, the pandemic has infected more than 31 million people and killed nearly 9 lakh 60 thousand people around the world.

The External Affairs Minister said, the challenge to the global economy, to the reliability of supply chains and the achievement of the sustainable development goals should not be discounted.

 On Africa's development journey, Jaishankar said India is committed to supporting the countries in the continent as per their individual priorities and our shared ethics.

He said India's relationship with Africa is based on four key pillars -- development partnership, trade, people-to-people contact and cooperation in defence and security sector.

India explores ways to utilise Arab FTA’s.

India has pitched for elevating India-Arab economic partnership commensurate with the strategic partnership between the two sides and exploring opportunities to utilise Arab World’s FTA with US and EU for Indian businesses.

High Technology cooperation, especially in defence and space has potential to be stepped up. “We have cooperation agreements in both sectors with most Arab countries. With the increased participation of private sector in these areas, the potential for cooperation is much higher. In defence sector, we can expand equipment and armament export. In space sector, there is potential for training, launch of satellites, sharing of satellite data etc,” a senior diplomat recommended.

TRAI recommends creation of MSB to monitor net neutrality.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Tuesday recommended the creation of a multi-stakeholder body (MSB) to ensure that Internet access providers adhere to the provisions of net neutrality.

The MSB, which could include telecom service providers, Internet service providers, content providers, researchers, academic and technical community, civil society organisations, and the government, should be set up as a non-profit entity.

“The role of the MSB shall be to provide advice and support to DoT in the monitoring and enforcement of net neutrality principles,” TRAI said.

The MSB may also be required to investigate complaints regarding the violation of net neutrality.

 TRAI also suggested that the MSB help DoT in maintenance of a repository of reasonable traffic management practices.

The net neutrality principles adopted by DoT were technology neutral and would apply equally to 5G technology, the telecom regulator clarified.

Borrowing s by states governments increase by 45% this fiscal.

Eleven States raised a total of ₹14,298 crore at the auction of State government securities or State development loans (SDLs) held on Tuesday.

This is ₹1,500 crore more than the notified amount of the auction as Maharashtra and Gujarat had accepted an additional ₹1,000 crore and ₹500 crore respectively, CARE Ratings said in a report based on RBI data.

From April 7 to September 22 in this financial year, 27 States and 2 Union Territories have cumulatively raised ₹3.26 lakh crore via market borrowings, which is a 45% increase from the borrowings in the corresponding period of 2019-20.

DRDO conducts test flight of ABHYAS.

The successful flight test of ABHYAS - High-speed Expendable Aerial Target was today conducted by Defence Research and Development Organisation, DRDO from the Interim Test Range, Balasore in Odisha.

During the trials, two demonstrator vehicles were successfully test flown. The vehicle can be used as target for evaluation of various missile systems.Abhyas is designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment of DRDO.

The air vehicle is launched using twin underslung booster. It is powered by a small gas turbine engine and has MEMS based Inertial Navigation System for navigation along with the Flight Control Computer for guidance and control.

 

Comprehensive Current affairs 12 September 2020

 Making nature conservation a people’s movement.

V.P of India Venkaiah Naidu has called for making nature’s conservation a people’s movement and appealed to all citizens, especially the youth to actively take up this cause.

Speaking at a webinar on the occasion of Himalayan Day,Naidu called for rethinking on the development paradigm in such a way that human beings and nature co-exist and thrive together.

He said, the Himalayas are an invaluable treasure house and emphasized the need for their protection and preservation. He also called for a pan-Himalayan development strategy based on the region's natural resources, culture and traditional knowledge.

Drawing attention to the threat of degradation faced by the fragile Himalayan ecosystem, the Vice President stressed that development should not be at the cost of the environment. He said, frequent natural calamities are a result of our carelessness towards nature.

 On this occasion, the Vice President also virtually presented the copy of a book titled “Sansad Mein Himalaya” written by the Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

Kerala Tops in Care for Children.

Young child outcomes report recently brought out by non-governmental organisation Mobile Creches.

Report:

• The index is part of the ‘State of the Young Child’ in India report released the 50-year-old NGO, which works in the field of early childhood care and development by ensuring creche services at construction sites and slum settlements across several cities.

• The index has been constructed for two time periods (2005–2006 and 2015–2016) to enable inter-State comparisons as well as provide an idea of change over time.

• Another index called the young child environment index by State of the Young Child’ in India to understand the Policy and Environment Enablers that influence a child’s well-being.

• According to the Environment index; Kerala, Goa, Sikkim, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh secured the top Five Positions.

• It uses five policy enablers that influence child well-being outcomes, including poverty alleviation, strengthening primary healthcare, improving education levels, safe water supply and Promotion of Gender Equity.

Highlights of the Report:

• The index measures health, nutrition and cognitive growth with the help of indicators such as infant Mortality rate, Stunting and net Attendance at the Primary School Level.

• Kerala, Goa, Tripura, Tamil Nadu and Mizoram are among the top five States for well-being of children.

 • It identifies eight States that have scores below the country’s average: Assam, Meghalaya,Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

• Towards child nutrition, healthcare, education and other necessary protection services,India spent ₹1723 per child in 2018–2019.

• The budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Women and Child Development has seen a year-on-year increase, all the additional funds have been allocated towards nutrition delivery under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).

Apex court's stay order on reservation for Maratha community.

A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday referred a group of petitions challenging the Maratha reservation law to a Constitution Bench.

The court said the Maratha quota, meanwhile, will not apply for admissions and appointments made in the State for 2020-21. However, the postgraduate admissions which have already been made will be left unaltered.

The appeals challenging the Maratha quota law contend that the statute provides 12 to 13% quota for the community in Maharashtra. This has breached the 50% cap declared by a nine-judge Bench of the apex court in 1992.

Lawyers had submitted that the court should take into consideration recent developments like the 10% quota for economically weaker sections introduced through the 103rd Constitutional Amendment.

Japan calls for increased cooperation in Indo-Pacific region.

Japanese Defence Minister Taro Kono has called for increased cooperation in the India-Pacific region to counter Chinese expansion.

Speaking at a webinar held by Washington-based Center for Strategic & International Studies in Tokyo, Kono pitched for a larger regional mechanism or global mechanism to counter China.

 Indo Pacific region is largely viewed as an area comprising the Indian Ocean and the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea.

China's territorial claims in the South China Sea its efforts to advance into the Indian Ocean are seen to have challenged the established rules-based system.

Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims in the South China Sea.

In recent years, Japan has expressed increasing concern regarding Beijing's activities in the region especially concerning the situation with the disputed Senkaku islands, known in China as the Diaoyudao islands and claimed by Beijing to be Chinese territory.

India, France& Australia holds first trilateral dialogue.

The first India-France-Australia Trilateral Dialogue was held virtually today. The meeting was co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Harsh VardhanShringla, Secretary-General, French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs François Delattre, and Secretary, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Frances Adamson. The focus of the dialogue was on enhancing cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.

The outcome oriented meeting was held with the objective of building on the strong bilateral relations that the three countries share with each other. The three sides agreed to hold the dialogue on an annual basis.

During the dialogue, the three sides discussed economic and geostrategic challenges and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and domestic responses to it.

Finance ministry launches PSB’s door step banking services.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman today inaugurated Doorstep Banking Services by Public Sector Banks and participated in the awards ceremony to felicitate best performing banks on EASE Banking Reforms Index.

 As part of the EASE Reforms, Doorstep Banking Services is envisaged to provide convenience of banking services to the customers at their doorstep through the universal touch points of Call Centre, Web Portal or Mobile App. Customers can also track their service request through these channels. The services shall be rendered by the Doorstep Banking Agents deployed by the selected Service Providers at 100 centres across the country.

At present only non-financial services like pick up of negotiable instruments, new cheque book requisition slip, 15G / 15H forms, IT / GST challan, issue request for standing instructions, request for account statement are available to customers. Financial services shall be made available from next month.The services can be availed by customers of Public Sector Banks at nominal charges.

A common reform agenda for PSBs, EASE Agenda is aimed at institutionalizing clean and smart banking. It was launched in January 2018. PSBs have shown a healthy trajectory in their performance over four quarters since the launch of EASE 2.0 Reforms Agenda.

Government aims to add 5 crore additional jobs in MSME sector.

Minister for MSME NitinGadkari has said that Government aims to enhance MSME contribution to GDP from about 30 per cent to 50 per cent and in exports from 49 per cent to 60 per cent.

Speaking at a virtual meet organised to launch Aatmanirbhar Bharat ARISE Atal New India Challenges by NITI Aayog today, Mr Gadkari said, Government is aiming to create 5 crore additional jobs in the MSME sector which presently employs about 11 crore people.

He applauded the Aatmanirbhar Bharat ARISE Atal New India Challenge initiative of NitiAyog and called for using technology in finding solutions to the problems being faced in different areas ensuring value addition.

The Minister cited the issue of excess rice which can be utilised for producing ethanol thereby addressing the problem of storage on the one hand and providing green fuel to the country as import replacement on the other.

 UN releases report on trends in child mortality.

On September 9, 2020, the United Nations released “Levels and Trends in Child Mortality” report. The report says that child mortality rate of India has declined between 1990 and 2019. It was 126 in 1990 and has now declined to 34 in 2019.

Though, there is reduction in child mortality, India along with Nigeria accounts to almost one-third of under five deaths in 2019. India registered 4.5% annual rate of reduction between 1990 and 2019. The number of annual under-five deaths in India was 3.4 million in 1990 and it has now dropped to 824,000 in 2019.

According to the report, globally the child mortality deaths under five has dropped from 12.5 million in 1990 to 5.2 million in 2019.

The report says that the regions of Oceania, Central and Southern Asia saw a faster decline between 2010-19 as compared to that of 2000-2009.

France win over Croatia in nations league.

France earned a roller-coaster 4-2 home win over Croatia in a top-tier Nations League A Group 3 match on Tuesday with a carbon copy result of their memorable 2018 World Cup final clash.

While Ronaldo rattled home a superb first-half free kick to become only the second male player to score 100 international goals as Portugal outclassed Sweden 2-0.

Two Black Holes Merged Billions of Years Ago.

Billions of years ago, a collision between two black holes sent gravitational waves rippling through the universe. In 2019, signals from these waves were detected at the gravitational wave observatory LIGO (United States) and the detector Virgo (Italy).

Highlights:

• The signal detected at LIGO and Virgo resembled “about four short wiggles” and lasted less than one-tenth of a Second.

 • It was in 2015, the first gravitational wave was actually detected — by LIGO. Since then,there have been a Number of Subsequent Detections of Gravitational Waves. Where did it Come From?

• Analysis suggested that GW190521 had most likely been generated by a merger of two Black Holes.

• It was calculated to have come from Roughly 17 billion light years away, and from a time when the Universe was about Half its Age.

• One of the two merging black holes falls in an “intermediate mass” range, which misfit and cannot be Explained by Traditional Knowledge.

Why is it Unusual?

• In the merger leading to the GW190521 signal, the larger black hole was of 85 solar masses.

• It is the first “intermediate mass” black hole ever observed.

• Stars that could give birth to black holes are between 65 and 120 solar masses. Stars in this range blow themselves apart when they die, without collapsing into a black hole.

• The smaller black hole too is borderline, at 66 solar masses.

• Merger create a new black hole of about 142 solar masses. Energy equivalent to eight solar masses was released in the form of gravitational waves, leading to the strongest ever wave detected.

Gravitational Waves:

• Gravitational Waves are Invisible Ripples that Form when a star explodes in a supernova; when two big stars orbit each other; and when Two Black Holes Merge.

• Travelling at the Speed of light, Gravitational Waves squeeze and Stretch anything in their path.

• Gravitational Waves were proposed by Albert Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity over a century ago.

 • Massive Accelerating Objects would disrupt space-time in such a way that ‘waves’ of undulating space-time would propagate in all directions away from the source.

• These cosmic ripples would carry Information about their origins, as well as clues to the nature of Gravity itself.

• The strongest gravitational waves are produced by cataclysmic events such as colliding black holes, Supernovae and Colliding Neutron Stars.

Focus on Mains:

Forex Reserves.

While the overall situation on the economic front is gloomy, with India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Growth having contracted 23.9 per cent in the April-June quarter, and manufacturing activity and trade at standstill, the stock of forex reserves is one data point that India can cheer about amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

• India’s Foreign Exchange (Forex) Reserves Surged by $3.883 billion to touch a lifetime high of $541.431 billion in the week ended August 28.

Forex Reserves:

• Forex reserves are external assets in the form of gold, SDRs (special drawing rights of the IMF) and foreign currency assets (capital inflows to the capital markets, FDI and external commercial borrowings) accumulated by India and controlled by the RBI.

• India's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is also considered by some a part of Forex Reserves.

Why are Forex Reserves Rising Despite the Slowdown in the Economy?

• The major reason for the rise in Forex Reserves is the rise in investment in foreign portfolio investors in Indian Stocks and Foreign direct investments (FDIs).

• Foreign investors have acquired stakes in several Indian companies over the past several months.

 • The Fall in Crude Oil Prices has brought down the oil Import Bill, saving precious foreign Exchange.

• Similarly, overseas Remittances and Foreign Travels have Fallen Steeply.

What’s the Significance of Rising Forex Reserves?

• The Rising Forex Reserves give comfort to the government and the RBI in managing India’s external and internal financial issues at a time of major contraction in economic growth and to cover the import bill of the Country for a Year.

• The Rising Reserves have also helped the rupee to Strengthen against the Dollar.

• The International Monetary Fund says official Foreign Exchange Reserves are held in support of a range of objectives like supporting and maintaining confidence in the policiesfor monetary and exchange rate management including the capacity to intervene in support of the national or union currency.

• It also limits external vulnerability by maintaining foreign currency liquidity to absorb shocks during times of crisis or when access to borrowing is curtailed.

What does the RBI do with the Forex Reserves at its Disposal?

• The Reserve Bank functions as the custodian and manager of forex reserves, and operates within the overall policy framework agreed upon with the government.

• The RBI allocates the dollars for specific purposes.

• For example, under the Liberalised Remittances Scheme, individuals are allowed to remit up to $250,000 every year.

• The RBI uses its forex kitty for the orderly movement of the rupee.

• It sells the dollar when the rupee weakens and buys the dollar when the rupee strengthens.

• When the RBI mops up dollars, it releases an equal amount in rupees.

 • This excess liquidity is sterilised through the issue of bonds and securities and Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) operations.

Where are India’s Forex Reserves kept?

• The RBI Act, 1934 provides the overarching legal framework for deployment of reserves in different foreign currency assets and gold.

• As much as 64 per cent of the foreign currency reserves are held in securities like Treasury bills of foreign countries, mainly the US; 28 per cent is deposited in foreign central banks; and 7.4 per cent is deposited in commercial banks abroad, according to RBI data.

• In value terms (USD), the share of gold in the total foreign exchange reserves increased from about 6.14 per cent as at end-September 2019 to about 6.40 per cent as at end-March 2020.

Is there a cost Involved in Maintaining Forex Reserves?

• The return on India’s forex reserves kept in foreign central banks and commercial banks is negligible — analysts say it could be around 1 per cent, or even less than that, considering the fall in interest rates in the US and Euro zone.

• There was a demand from some quarters that Forex Reserves should be used for infrastructure development in the country. However, the RBI had opposed the plan.

• Another issue is the high ratio of volatile flows (portfolio flows and short-term debt) to reserves which is around 80 per cent. This money can exit at a fast pace.

static information about states

 

Comprehensive Current affairs 11 September 2020

 Puducherry CM’s parliamentary secretary slaps contempt of court notice against Kiran Bedi, others.

➡Puducherry chief minister's parliamentary secretary, K Lakshminarayanan, has issued contempt of court notices against lieutenant governor Kiran Bedi and five others, accusing them of disobeying the Madras high court's order on the roles, duties and functions of a lieutenant governor and an elected government in the Union territory.

➡He stated that Bedi and others have not been taking the aid and advice of the chief minister or minister concerned or the cabinet in the appointment of secretaries, excise commissioner and deputy commissioner.

➡He targeted Bedi of stalling the elected government's welfare and development schemes by referring them to the President of India for approval, interfering in the day-to-day functioning of the elected government during the Covid-19 pandemic, stalling magisterial inquiry into the violation of human rights while arresting a tahsildar, directly receiving reports from the police department on the illegal sale of liquor during the lockdown period and issuing a show-cause notice to an official for not responding in her WhatsApp group posts among others.

➡Listing out 30 acts of disobedience, Lakshminarayanan urged Bedi to cease from 'further violating judgement' of Madras high court. He demanded that Bedi and others 'take corrective actions, as per the decision of the chief minister, undo the violations and set the records right'.

➡In March last year, the Madurai Bench of the Madras high court declared that lieutenant governors do not have any powers to interfere in the everyday functioning of an elected government in Union territory. The Union government and Bedi appealed against the order before a Madras high court bench headed by the chief justice. In March, the bench set aside the Madurai bench order and directed the lieutenant governor to work in unison with the elected government.

NSO report finds inadequate vaccination to 40% of children.

Although almost all children in India are vaccinated against tuberculosis, and receive their birth dose of polio vaccine, two out of five children do not complete their immunisation programme, according to the ‘Health in India’ report recently published by the National Statistical Organisation (NSO).

Most of these children remain unprotected against measles, and partially protected against a range of other diseases.

➡In the national capital, less than half of all children have been given all eight required vaccines.The report is based on the 75th round of the National Sample Survey (July 2017-June 2018) on household social consumption related to health.

➡Across the country, only 59.2% of children under five years are fully immunised, according to the NSO report. This contradicts the Centre’s Health Management Information System portal data, which claimed that full immunisation coverage for 2017-18 stood at 86.7%.

 ➡About 97% of children across the country received at least one vaccination — mostly BCG and/or the first dose of OPV at birth — a statistic that remains steady across income groups and geographies. However, only 67% of children are protected against measles.

Among States, Manipur (75%), Andhra Pradesh (73.6%) and Mizoram (73.4%) recorded the highest rates of full immunisation. At the other end of the spectrum lies Nagaland, where only 12% of children received all vaccinations, followed by Puducherry (34%) and Tripura (39.6%).

Apex court directed GOI to make up for loss of green cover in Char Dham project.

Indian Supreme Court ordered the Union to adhere to a Road Ministry circular of March 2018, which had advised against building full-fledged roads cutting across the fragile Himalayan slopes, while implementing the ₹12,000-crore ambitious Char Dham project for better connectivity to pilgrimage centres in Uttarakhand.

➡The project had proposed the widening of single-lane roads into double-lanes by up to 10 metres, developing the highways and thereby improving access to the Char Dham (four shrines) — Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath and KedarNath.

➡Environmentalist groups, led by the Dehradun-based Citizens for Green Doon, had moved the apex court after they failed in the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

➡The petitioners had contended that the project was proceeding without environmental clearances and the debris was being disposed haphazardly. Earlier, the NGT had found no need for an environmental clearance.

Bangladesh asks facebook to abide by its rules and regulations.

The Government of Bangladesh has asked Facebook to abide by the rules and regulations of the country in matters relating to both revenue and content.

 n a virtual meeting with Facebook officials at its regional Headquarters in Singapore on Monday, Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar asked Facebook to comply with all the relevant laws and regulations of Bangladesh including the Digital Security Act.

The Minister also asked the company to appoint resellers and representatives to pay taxes to the government for its operations in Bangladesh.

Mustafa Jabbar reminded Facebook that it has the responsibility not to allow content that is against the socio-cultural values of Bangladesh or promotes communal disharmony, pornography, rumour or terrorist activities in the country.

Facebook officials assured the government that they will comply with the relevant rules and regulations of the country. It informed that it has appointed a Bangladeshi person Sabnaj Rashid Dia as Bangladesh Affairs Officer of Facebook in the country for speedy resolution of issues.

Srilanka reports diesel patch behind burning bunker.

The Sri Lankan Navy on Tuesday reported a ‘diesel patch’ behind oil tanker MT New Diamond, which recently went ablaze drifting off Sri Lanka’s south eastern coast.

Form the time the large vessel carrying 2,70,000 tonnes of crude oil — from Kuwait to Odisha — went up in flames on Thursday, the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard personnel, along with the Sri Lankan Navy, have been fire-fighting to douse the flames. “The flames are under control,” Captain de Silva told The Hindu.

India on Tuesday sent fresh supplies of chemicals to help battle a new blaze spotted on Monday night, a press statement from the Indian Coast Guard said.

According to the Sri Lankan Navy, the fire-fighting teams have, over the past few days, continued to spray a large volume of sea water to extinguish the fire onboard.As a result, the engine room of the ship was flooded with sea water, making it lying in a position called ‘trim by aft’.

 CARE ratings moots rural spending to overtake urban in mid term.

Higher demand across rural India which is being seen as the only silver lining for economic growth over the next two-three quarters, has led packaged consumer goods companies to accelerate spends on hinterlands, with rural spending on distribution outreach, consumer promotions and products overtaking that of urban spends this year.

“Favourable monsoon, record kharif crop sowing and high reservoir levels would spur rural incomes that could push up demand at the onset of the festive quarter; this would be a silver lining for economic growth as other sectors have seen more adverse impact of the pandemic,” CARE said.

The report said the agriculture sector contributes nearly 15% of India’s GDP, and that the economy is banking on the farm sector to grow by 3.5-4% across all quarters to prop up GDP growth.

Companies are also pinning hopes on the rural bounce back fuelled by higher farm incomes, good monsoons, government stimulus and reduced impact of lockdowns, because macro indicators of overall economic revival in the immediate term remain challenging.

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) has contracted by a massive 23.9% in the first quarter of current fiscal. Fitch said India recorded one of the sharpest GDP contractions in the world in the April-June quarter.

PSU’S to join ISA coalition on sustainable action climate.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister DharmendraPradahan today said that five Public Sector Undertakings under his Ministry will be joining International Solar Alliance (ISA) Coalition for Sustainable Climate Action (ISA-CSCA) as Corporate Partners.

He said, Indian Oil and Gas companies are actively taking part in this clean energy transition. He said, in order to reduce carbon footprint, these companies will be focusing more on green energy investments such as renewables and biofuels.

He said, the government is also actively encouraging industry as well as Oil and Gas companies to become participants in this solar transition. On the achievements made in the sector so far, the

 

Minister said that our oil and gas companies are also making efforts to deploy solar panels across the value chain of their operations, and current installed solar power capacity is 270 Mega Watt.

China successfully launches experimental reusable spacecraft.

An experimental reusable spacecraft launched into orbit two days ago by China has successfully returned to a designated site on Sunday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The successful experiment marks an important breakthrough in China's technology to reuse spacecraft, which would provide the country more convenient and cheaper space round-trips for it to use the space in a peaceful way, Xinhua said.

Three years ago, China said it would launch a spacecraft in 2020 that can fly like an aircraft and would be reusable, increasing the frequency of launches and lowering mission costs.

It is not known if the experimental spacecraft launched by China was a fixed-wing craft like the U.S. Space Shuttle. If it was similar to the X-37B, it would be about a fifth of the Space Shuttle in size.

Focus for mains.

Guidelines for Parole and Furlough

Prelims Syllabus: Institutional Reforms

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recently revised the Model Prison Manual,2016 guidelines related to parole and furlough.

Highlights:

• It has asked states to not release prisoners, on parole and furlough, who are considered a threat to the security of the state or to individuals.

• Imprisonment besides being a mode of punishment also aims at protecting the society from criminal activities, therefore release on parole is not an absolute right but a concession.

 • A balance is, therefore, considered essential between ensuring the rights of inmates and protecting the society from further harm.

• The parole rules of states to be reviewed about the benefits and detriments of such parole.

The Parole and furlough may not be granted as a matter of routine and may be decided by a committee of officers and behavioural experts, especially for inmates sentenced for sexual offences and serious crimes such as murder, child abduction, violence etc.

• Inclusion of an expert psychologist/ criminologist/correctional administration expert as a member of the sentence review board and in the committee which decides grant of parole and furlough to inmates and obtain their opinion before such temporary release.

About Parole:

• It is a system of releasing a prisoner with suspension of the sentence. The release is conditional, usually subject to behaviour, and requires periodic reporting to the authorities for a set period of time.

• It is not a right, and is given to a prisoner for a specific reason, such as a death in the family or a wedding of a blood relative.

• It may be denied to a prisoner even when he makes out a sufficient case, if the competent authority is satisfied that releasing the convict would not be in the Interest of Society.

About Furlough:

• It is similar to parole, but with some significant differences. It is given in cases of long-term imprisonment. The period of furlough granted to a prisoner is treated as remission of his sentence.

• Unlike parole, it is seen as a matter of right for a prisoner, to be granted periodically irrespective of any reason, and merely to enable the prisoner to retain family and social ties, and to counter the ill-effects of prolonged time spent in prison.

 • Both parole and furlough are considered as reformative processes. These provisions were introduced with a view to humanising the prison system.

• Parole and furlough are covered under the Prisons Act of 1894.

Background:

• In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, states are under pressure to release prisoners in order to avoid overcrowding in prisons. Earlier, the Supreme Court of India has also passed orders on measures taken to decongest prisons, correction homes and detention centres due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

• Prison is a state subject and all states have their own rules for parole, furlough, remission and premature release based on good conduct of the prisoners.

• The MHA guidelines came in the backdrop of reports of several prisoners being released on parole and furlough and some of them committing crimes out of jail.

Way Ahead:

• It is Important for state authorities to review their guidelines to ensure that the facility and concession given to inmates, by way of parole, furlough and premature release etc. with the intention of providing them relief and rehabilitation, is not abused and misused by them and their Advantage does not turn into Disadvantage and nuisance for the Society at large.

State of the Young Child in India report.

The State of the Young Child in India report has recently been released by Mobile Creches, a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

• The Young Child Outcomes Index (YCOI) and the Young Child Environment Index (YCEI) are parts of the report. Mobile Creches works in the field of early childhood care and development by ensuring creche services at construction sites and slum settlements across

Several cities.

 About Young Child Environment Index:

• It helps to understand the policy and environment enablers that influence a child’s well-being. It uses five policy enablers that influence child well-being outcomes, including poverty alleviation, strengthening primary health care, improving education levels, safe water supply and promotion of gender equity.

• It was constructed for 2015–2016 only due to limitations of data availability.

• Kerala, Goa, Sikkim, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have secured the top five positions.

• The eight states with a below-average score on the YCOI have also performed poorly on this One.

Abut Young Child Outcomes Index:

• It measures health, nutrition and cognitive growth of children in the 0-6 years age group with the help of indicators such as infant mortality rate, stunting and net attendance at the primary school level.

• It has been constructed for 2005-2006 and 2015-2016 to enable inter-state comparisons as well as provide an idea of Change over time.

• Kerala, Goa, Tripura, Tamil Nadu and Mizoram are among the top five states for the well-being of children.

• Assam, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have scores below the Country’s Average.

Highlights:

• India spent Rs. 1,723 per child in 2018–2019 towards child nutrition, healthcare, education and other necessary protection services which is insufficient and fails to reach the entire eligible population.

 • It highlights that the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Women and Child Development has increased on a yearly basis however all the additional funds have been allocated towards nutrition delivery under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).

• While the population of children under six years of age is 158.8 million, the ICDS covers only 71.9 million children as calculated from the total number of beneficiaries across states.

• Out of the 159 million children aged below 6 years in India, 21% are undernourished, 36% are underweight and 38% do not receive full immunization.

• The report calls for an increase in public spending on children.

Way Ahead:

• For a country, poor early childhood development could mean economic loss. The importance of this aspect of national development needs to be understood and effective steps should be taken to ensure that all children have a healthy start to their lives.

• The Government of India has introduced several comprehensive policies and flagship programmes like the ICDS and the National Nutrition Mission (Poshan Abhiyan) for early childhood development in the country but the need of the hour is to implement them effectively through proper coordination among various ministries.

• The recently unveiled National Educational Policy, 2020 among other schemes and programmes like Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY), National Nutrition policy 1993, etc. towards ensuring early childhood care and comprehensive education has to be implemented properly to ensure universal access to high-quality early childhood care and education across the country in a phased manner.