Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams

14 May 2016

:: National ::

Apex court upheld pre-constitutional law criminalising defamation

• In a judgment that holds far-reaching implications for political dissent and a free press, the Supreme Court upheld a colonial and pre-Constitutional law criminalising defamation.
• The verdict dismissed apprehensions, raised by personalities across the political spectrum and media organisations championing the fundamental right under Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution.
• Apprehension was that criminal defamation may have a chilling effect on the freedom to circulate one’s independent view and “not to join in a chorus or sing the same song.”
• The judgment came on a batch of petitions filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and media associations, among others.
• The court refused exhortations that penalisation of defamation is past its time, and the nation now risks the danger of being reduced to a “frozen democracy.”
• A Bench of Justices said the reputation of an individual was an equally important right and stood on the same pedestal as free speech.
• The court said it would be a stretch to say that upholding criminal defamation in modern times would amount to imposition of silence.
• “Mutual respect is the fulcrum of fraternity that assures dignity. It does not mean that there cannot be dissent. One has a right to freedom of speech and expression. One is also required to maintain the idea of fraternity that assures the dignity of the individual,” said Justice Misra.
• The court held that criminalisation of defamation to protect individual dignity of life and reputation is a “reasonable restriction” on the fundamental right of free speech and expression.
• “The right to reputation is a constituent of Article 21 of the Constitution. It is an individual’s fundamental right,” Justice Misra observed.

Govt announced the new IPR policy

• The NDA government announced the long-pending, “all-encompassing” National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy.
• The Policy aims to push IPRs as a marketable financial asset and , promote innovation, while protecting public interest including ensuring the availability of essential drugs at affordable prices.
• Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, “Our approach balances consideration of inventability, innovation and public health consideration.”
• Though the U.S. concerns include the “rejections” of patent applications for innovative pharmaceutical products due to “unpredictable” application of Section 3(d) of the (Indian) Patents Act, Mr. Jaitley clarified that the policy will ensure that no changes are made in that Section.

SC directed Centre and States for better implementation of MGNREGA

• Directing the Centre and the States to make all efforts to encourage needy persons to come forward and take advantage of the MGNREGA scheme.
• The Apex Court slammed the government for not giving compensation to workers for delayed payment of wages under MGNREGA even during the current drought.
• A Bench of Justices Madan said the government had no provision for providing compensation to the workers. “A success rate below 50 per cent is nothing to be proud of,” the Bench observed.
• The court said it was also regrettable that the government cleared the pending wage bill for 2015-16 only during the pendency of this case and underlined that “The Government of India must shape up in this regard”.
• “A worker is entitled to compensation at the rate of 0.05 per cent per day for delayed payment of the wages due,” the court said.

:: International ::

Belgium to take fight against IS into Syria

• Belgium will extend its F-16 air strikes against Islamic State jihadists in Iraq into Syria, Belgium grapples with the aftermath of deadly IS-claimed bomb attacks in Brussels.
• In accordance with UN Resolution 2249, the engagement will be limited to those areas of Syria under the control of IS and other terrorist groups.
• The objective will be to destroy these groups’ refuges,”, Govt also said that the strikes would begin on July 1.
• Belgium launched its first attacks against IS in Iraq in late 2014 as part of the U.S.-led coalition, but decided against strikes in Syria amid public fears over getting dragged into a wider conflict.
• However, the November 13 Paris attacks which left 130 people dead brought home the IS threat to the heart of Europe and changed sentiment sharply.
• Earlier, Belgian Foreign Minister said the government was reconsidering its position, as it did not make sense to attack IS in Iraq but not in Syria.

Nepal on turmoil again

• Madhesi protesters under the leadership of the United Madhesi Democratic Front (UMDF) of Nepal declared that they would start a new round of agitation and enforce a blockade on the capital Kathmandu.
• The protest comes three months after the end of a crippling economic blockade that the UMDF had launched demanding citizenship rights for the Madhesis of Nepal.
• “We will not let the government function unless it carries out amendments to the Nepali Constitution guaranteeing citizenship rights.” UMDF said
• May 13th declaration of protest was made exactly a week after Nepal cancelled the visit of President Bidhya Devi Bhandari to India and recalled its ambassador.

:: India and World ::

Defence Minister to visit UAE and Oman to deepen security and defence cooperation

• Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will leave for Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to deepen security and defence cooperation with a region which has traditionally been viewed only as politically important.
• “While political ties with the region has been deepening over the years, security and defence cooperation were the missing pieces in the relationship. It had been low key,” Govt said.
• As India’s strategic interests stretched to the Middle East and beyond, the thinking in India too had changed. The big thing that happened in the recent past is the evacuation of Indian nationals from Yemen under Operation Rahat.
• It gave a sense of what our forces have to face. Yemen made it very clear that we need to focus on structures and processes in these countries.”
• Mr. Parrikar’s trip to the UAE would be the first bilateral visit by an Indian Defence Minister and the idea was to take forward the understanding reached during Mr. Modi’s visit last year.
• Oman is India’s strongest defence partner in the Gulf and both sides have extensive defence and security ties in place. Oman has been hosting Indian warships on anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden.

India and Sri Lanka looking for permanent solution to fishermen issue

• Seeking a permanent solution to the issue of frequent arrests of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, India reiterated the need to build a dedicated mechanism.
• PM Modi stressed the need to develop a mechanism and find a permanent solution to the issue of fishermen straying into each other’s waters, following a meeting here between PM Modi and the visiting President of Sri Lanka MaithripalaSirisena.
• The Ministry of External Affairs informed that Sri Lanka currently holds 34 Indian fishermen and 96 Indian fishing boats in custody.
• Creation of a dedicated mechanism has been in the making for several years but has not moved ahead. Mr. Modi and Mr. Sirisena reviewed a number of bilateral issues during their talks but the free trade agreement between the two countries which has been discussed earlier was not taken up.
• Mr. Sirisena is in India to attend the Vaicharik Mahakumbh in Ujjain, an inter-faith event which will take place on the sidelines of the SimhasthaKumbh.
• He will also visit Sanchi, where he will unveil a bust of Buddhist revivalist AnagarikaDharmapala.
• Mr. Sirisena’s visit is likely to provide an opportunity for India to deepen ties with Sri Lanka, especially in view of the growing Chinese influence over Colombo.

:: Science and Technology ::

Leo Minor, can shed new light on birth of the universe

• A faint blue galaxy situated about 30 million light years from the Earth and located in the constellation “Leo Minor” can shed new light on birth of the universe.
• Astronomers from Indiana University (IU) found that a galaxy nicknamed Leoncino or “little lion” contains the lowest level of heavy chemical elements or “metals” ever observed in a gravitationally bound system of stars
• Finding the most metal-poor galaxy ever is exciting since it can help contribute to a quantitative test of the Big Bang.
• There are relatively few ways to explore conditions at the birth of the universe, but low-metal galaxies are among the most promising.
• This is because the current accepted model of the start of the universe makes clear predictions about the amount of helium and hydrogen present during the Big Bang.
• The ratio of these atoms in metal-poor galaxies provides a direct test of the model. To find these low-metal galaxies, however, astronomers must look far from home.
• Our own Milky Way galaxy is a poor source of data due to the high level of heavier elements created over time by “stellar processing,” in which stars churn out heavier elements.
• Low metal abundance is essentially a sign that very little stellar activity has taken place compared to most galaxies.
• Leoncino is considered a member of the “local universe,” a region of space within about one billion light years from Earth and estimated to contain several million galaxies.
• Leoncino is unique in several other ways. A so-called “dwarf galaxy”, it is only about 1,000 light years in diameter and composed of several million stars.

:: Economy ::

Christine Lagarde gives gloomy economic forecast to Brexit

• A day after the governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney’s dark warning that a Brexit vote could push the U.K. into recession, comes another prediction of economic doom.
• Head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, on Friday offered a gloomy economic forecast in the event of Britain voting to leave the EU in the in-out referendum to be held on June 23.
• A majority of economic analysts agree that a vote to leave the EU would be costly in the long run, even after the uncertainty has been resolved.
• And in the short term, “there is also risk of an adverse market reaction to a leave vote. This would imply a depreciation of the sterling and large contractions of investment and consumption,” she said.
• U.S. President Barack Obama utilised his visit to the U.K. to openly canvas for Britain to stay in Europe, breaking the long-accepted convention of heads of countries not offering opinions on the domestic affairs of another country.
• Recently, five former NATO secretaries-general wrote to the Daily Telegraph warning of the security threat to the U.K. that a vote to leave would create.

Govt puts onus of securing grid connectivity and transportation on the developers

• The Renewable Energy Ministry’s draft guidelines for the development of onshore wind power projects lays the onus of securing grid connectivity and transportation on the developers, which experts say could dampen investor interest in the sector.
• The draft guidelines lay down the rules for setting up onshore wind projects ranging from land use permissions to metering and real-time monitoring to eventual decommissioning.
• India’s wind potential is pegged at 302 GW, according to Niti Aayog, with the sector expected to contribute 60 GW to the target of 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022.
• The Ministry issued the draft norms and has sought comments from stakeholders until May 27. While the rules are comprehensive in their scope, experts argue that they could also be over-prescriptive.
• The states are guardians of providing such infrastructure for development.” “The project developer should ensure that grid connectivity is technically and commercially feasible at the site selected,” according to the draft guidelines.
• In some cases, the minutiae of the rules also render them redundant or too binding in the face of climatic factors that could affect the flow of wind.
• The project developer should judiciously select the size of the wind turbine for a particular site. considering the wind recourse available at that site.

Inflation higher than RBI’s liking

• India's core inflation remains a bit higher than policymakers would like, but the economy's recovery should accelerate with a good monsoon, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan said.
• Consumer prices rose last month at a more-than-expected 5.39 percent annual rate, up from 4.83 percent in March. It was the first increase in the retail inflation rate since January.
• With Rajan targeting 5 percent retail inflation by March 2017, his comments will solidify the view that the RBI will hold interest rates steady at its June 7 policy meeting. The bank cut rates last month to a four-year low of 6.5 percent in April.
• “Broadly, core inflation has been fairly sticky, a bit higher than we would want. It hasn't moved up and down. We will continue on the task of anchoring expectations,” Rajan said
• Rajan said growth also seemed to be ticking higher. India's economy is among the world's fastest growing, at 7 percent-plus, but the 8 percent level needed to alleviate poverty remains elusive.
• I think we are at the beginning or maybe in the midst of a slow recovery. The signs of faster growth are there –e.g. auto, cement production and consumption. And a good strong monsoon would accelerate the process of recovery.
• One issue for India is that banks remain reluctant to lend and to reduce rates for borrowers, despite 150 bps basis points of rate cuts in the past year.
• To ensure rate cuts feed into the economy, the RBI has injected billions of rupees via open-market bond purchases and cut daily maintenance of bank cash reserve ratios.

:: Sports ::

Vijender Singh gets sixth straight knockout

• Indian boxing star Vijender Singh’s rampaging winning streak remained intact as he carved out a sixth successive knockout victory by battering Poland’s Andrzej Soldra.
• Fighting the first eight-round contest of his fledgling pro career, Vijender completed yet another dominating win barely a minute into the third round.
• The experience of 81 rounds, which Soldra brought into the bout, hardly made a difference to the strapping six-footer from Haryana, who went about dismantling the Pole with ease.

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