Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 31 October 2017

::NATIONAL::

Five-judge statute Bench to decide on Aadhaar validity

• The Supreme Court decided to constitute a five-judge Constitution Bench to hear petitions from November against the validity of the Aadhaar scheme.
• A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra took the step after Attorney General K.K. Venugopal said falsehoods had been spread about Aadhaar linking.
• A separate Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan, meanwhile, issued notice to the government on a petition filed by advocate Raghav Tankha, challenging the mandatory linking of Aadhaar with mobile numbers. Mr. Tankha said the linkage was “orchestrated by the Union of India in tandem with private telecom service providers” in violation of the fundamental right to privacy.
• In an urgent mentioning made before Chief Justice Misra’s Bench after Justice Sikri’s Bench issued notice on Aadhaar-mobile linking, Mr. Venugopal said a Constitution Bench may be set up to decide, once and for all, the various Aadhaar challenges pending before the court since 2014 instead of passing any interim orders.
• The government however did not mention anything about its proposal to extend the date for the mandatory linking of Aadhaar with mobile phones, bank accounts and various welfare schemes from December 31, 2017 to March 31, 2018.
• Mr. Venugopal conveyed to the court the decision of the government to extend the time during an urgent mentioning in the Supreme Court by petitioners who have challenged both the validity of the Aadhaar scheme and the law passed subsequently in 2016.
• The decision to set up a five-judge Bench comes despite Justice Rohinton Nariman’s separate judgment in the nine-judge Bench declaring privacy as a fundamental right.
• Justice Nariman’s judgment had directed the Aadhaar petitions to be posted for hearing before the ‘original’ three-judge Bench.
• This ‘original’ Bench led by Justice J. Chelameswar had referred the petitions for hearing before a five-judge Bench, which found it necessary to first decide whether privacy was a fundamental right or not before hearing the Aadhaar petitions.
• It had referred the legal question to a nine-judge Bench, which came out with the historic judgment in favour of the common man’s fundamental right to privacy against state intrusions.

Centre appoints interlocutor for talks on Article 35A

• Choosing dialogue over court battle, the Centre convinced the Supreme Court to defer hearing on petitions challenging the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir, saying it has appointed an interlocutor to commence talks with stakeholders in the State.
• Appearing before a Bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal said the court should adjourn the hearing on the petitions against Article 35A of the Constitution for six months. The court, however, settled for 12 weeks in its order.
• The government has appointed Dineshwar Sharma, a former IB director, as interlocutor.
• Article 35A is a provision incorporated in the Indian Constitution giving the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislature a carte blanche to decide who are the ‘permanent residents’ of the State and grant them special right and privileges in State public sector jobs, acquisition of property within the State, scholarships and other public aid and welfare programmes.
• The provision mandates that no act of the State legislature coming under the ambit of Article 35A can be challenged for violating the Indian Constitution or any other law of the land.
• Article 35A was incorporated into the Indian Constitution in 1954 by an order of President Rajendra Prasad on the advice of the Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet.
• The Presidential Order was issued under Article 370 (1) (d) of the Indian Constitution. This provision allows the President to make certain “exceptions and modifications” to the Constitution for the benefit of ‘State subjects’ of Jammu and Kashmir.
• So Article 35A was added to the Constitution as a testimony of the special consideration the Indian government accorded the ‘permanent residents’ of Jammu and Kashmir.
• Parliament was not consulted when the President incorporated Article 35A into the Indian Constitution through a Presidential Order issued under Article 370. Article 368 (i) of the Constitution mandates that only the Parliament can amend the Constitution by introducing a new Article.
• The court is hearing a writ petition filed by NGO, We the Citizens, which challenges the validity of both Article 35A and Article 370.

Country’s first public bicycle sharing initiative- Trin Trin

• Trin Trin, the country’s first public bicycle sharing initiative started in Mysuru, has been chosen for a special award under the ‘Best Non-Motorised Transport Project’ by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, New Delhi.
• The ministry, in a communication to Mysuru City Corporation Commissioner G. Jagadeesha, said Trin Trin has been chosen for best practice project in urban transport by the awards selection committee.
• The award will be given by the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, and the Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Government of Telangana, at the valedictory session of the 10th Urban Mobility India Conference and Exhibition. It will be held at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre on November 6.
• As part of Trin Trin, which has been implemented by the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) and MCC, 45 docking stations have been set up across the city to allow people to borrow cycles to commute from one place to another. A total of 450 bicycles have been made available at reasonable tariffs.
• The bicycles are borrowed by 650 to 700 persons every day.

Panel to study legalities on Karnataka State flag yet to receive membership communication

• There have been heated debates on declaring the red and yellow flag as the official “State flag” of Karnatka, but it appears that the State Government has done little to push forward this agenda.
• In fact, some among the nine-member committee, formed to study the legalities of the issue, have not even received an official communication on their membership, even two days ahead of Kannada Rajyotsava. The names of members were announced on June 6, 2017.
• The red and yellow flag is yet to be declared as the official State flag.
• The panel was constituted after representation on giving official recognition to the Kannada flag from Patil Puttappa, president, Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha, Dharwad, and Gundappa Gadada, a social worker from Belagavi, in November, 2014. Following this, there have been many debates on the pros and cons of States having their own flags.

TB deaths see a decline in India: WHO

• Death from tuberculosis in India saw a 12% decline from last year even as the number of new cases saw a 5% increase, according to a report from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
• With 1.7 million new cases in 2016, India continued to be the largest contributor to the global burden with up to a quarter of the 6.3 million new cases of TB (up from 6.1 million in 2015).
• In spite of this year’s dip, India accounts for about 32% of the number of people worldwide who succumbed to the disease.
• Globally, the TB mortality rate is falling at about 3% per year. TB incidence is falling at about 2% per year and 16% of TB cases die from the disease, according to the WHO.
• Overall, the latest picture is one of a still high burden of disease, and progress that is not fast enough to reach targets or to make major headway in closing persistent gaps.
• The government has committed to achieve a ‘90- 90-90 target’ by 2035 (90% reductions in incidence, mortality and catastrophic health expenditures due to TB).
• This is premised on improved diagnostics, shorter treatment courses, a better vaccine and comprehensive preventive strategies.
• In 2016, the WHO said that India had many more deaths and incidence of the disease than had been estimated over the years.

Liberalized Arms Rules eased to see flow of investments

• The Union Home Ministry has liberalised the Arms Rules to encourage investments in the manufacture of arms, ammunition and weapons systems, to give a boost to the Centre’s ‘Make in India’ policy.
• The liberalised rules will promote employment generation in this field, according to an official statement released by the MHA.
• The rules were liberalised with the aim of making India a regional leader in supplying small arms to neighbouring countries as well as help it become an export hub.
• Under the new rules, the licence granted for manufacturing will be valid for the life-time of the licensee company. The requirement of renewal every five years has been done away with.
• Similarly, the condition that small arms and light weapons produced by a manufacturer should be sold to the Central government or the State governments with the prior approval of the Home Ministry has also been dispensed with.
• The liberalised rules will apply to licences granted by the Home Ministry for small arms and ammunition, and those granted by the Department of Indus- trial Policy and Promotion (DIPP)for other defence equipment.

::INDIA AND WORLD::

Bilateral ties between India and Italy

• Reviving bilateral ties, India and Italy agreed to coordinate efforts at the multilateral level to counter global terrorism.
• Describing India as an “Asian superpower”, visiting Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Italy was in favour of a EU-India free trade agreement. He inked six agreements with India, covering energy cooperation, diplomatic training and railways.
• At a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Gentiloni said Italy was keen on deepening cooperation in the strategic sectors and focussed on cybersecurity and anti-terrorism as common areas of cooperation.
• “India can play a big role in the global coalition against terrorism. Today, all countries can face the same terrorist threat from groups that may be different, but have a common link in the use of religious extremism for common goals.
• A multi religious country like India is itself a contribution to fighting terror. The very existence of a democracy with these characteristics is strategic
• Mr. Modi said, “India and Italy are two large economies, and the respective strengths of our economies provide us ample opportunities to strengthen our commercial cooperation. There is a lot of potential for our bilateral trade of about $8.8 billion to grow much further.”

China plans tunnel from Brahmaputra

• Chinese engineers are testing techniques that could be used to build a 1,000- km-long tunnel to divert water from the Brahmaputra in Tibet, close to Arunachal Pradesh, to the parched Xinjiregion.
• The move, that is expected to “turn Xinjiang into California”, has raised concerns among environmentalists about its likely impact on the Himalayan region, South China Morning Post reported.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Saudi to allow women into sports stadiums from 2018

• Saudi Arabia will allow women into three sports stadiums for the first time from next year, authorities said, in a landmark move that would open up the previously male-only venues to families.
• The kingdom, which has some of the world's tightest restrictions on women, has long barred women from sports arenas by strict rules on segregation of the sexes in public.
• The announcement is in line with powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious reform drive shaking up the ultra-conservative kingdom, including the decision to allow women to drive from next June.
• Last month authorities allowed hundreds of women to throng a sports stadium in Riyadh, used mostly for football matches, for the first time to mark Saudi Arabia's national day.
• Under the country's guardianship system, a male family member — normally the father, husband or brother — must grant permission for a woman's study, travel and other activities.
• But the kingdom appears to be relaxing some norms as part of its "Vision 2030" plan for economic and social reforms, which aims to boost female employment.
• In July, rights campaigners welcomed an "overdue" reform by the education ministry to allow girls to take part in sports at state schools.

::ENVIRONMENT::

Productivity falling due to climate change

• New research published by The Lancet medical journal states that on an average there has been a 5.3% fall in productivity for rural labour estimated globally since 2000, as a result of rising temperatures around the world. In 2016, this took more than 9,20,000 people globally out of the workforce, with 4,18,000 of them in India alone.
• The Lancet report talks of the various ways climate change has started affecting the health of people across the planet. Doctors, academics and policy makers have contributed to the analysis and jointly authored the first report of “The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change”.
• Partners behind the research include the World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO), University College London and Tsinghua University.
• A statement issued the group said, “The findings show that climate change is affecting the health of all populations, today. These impacts are disproportionately felt by communities least responsible for climate change and those who are the most vulnerable in society.”
• China, Bangladesh, India and Indonesia are the countries that have registered the highest number of deaths linked to air pollution.
• The research builds on the work of the 2015 Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change, which concluded that anthropogenic climate change threatens to undermine the last 50 years of gains in public health.
• The report said that over one billion people globally will be faced with a need to migrate within 90 years, due to a rise in sea level caused by ice shelf collapse, unless action is taken.
• The research found that 87% of a random sample of global cities are in breach of WHO air pollution guidelines.
• The world has seen a 46% global increase in weather related disasters since 2000, the reported pointed out. The total value of economic losses resulting from climate-related extreme weather events was estimated at $129 billion in 2016.

::SPORTS::

No.1 spots in ICC ODI rankings to Kohli and Mithali

• India captains Mithali Raj and Virat Kohli have moved to the No.1 spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings released on Monday.
• Mithali, with 753 points, is ahead of Australia’s Ellyse Perry (725) and Amy Satterthwaite of New Zealand (720). Among bowlers, Jhulan Goswami remained on second spot with 652 rating points, behind Marizanne Kapp (656) of South Africa.
• Meanwhile among men, Kohli occupied prime place after logging career-high rating points, going past Sachin Tendulkar in the process.
  Kohli has moved back to the top within 10 days of losing it to South Africa’s A.B de Villiers after the rankings were updated following India’s 2-1 win over against New Zealand.
• Among bowlers, Japrit Bumrah has reached a career-best third in a list headed by Pakistan spinner Hasan Ali.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

51% in Reliance Comm to go to Lenders

• Promoters of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications (RCom) will cede control to lenders who will own 51% stake in the debt-laden company.
• Debt of ₹7,000 crore will be converted into equity. Promoter holding in RCom will decline to 26% from 59%. This comes after RCom’s talks with rival Aircel to merge its wireless business with the latter fell through.
• Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio is likely to bid for RCom’s assets.
• RCom’s lenders have appointed SBI Capital Markets Limited as the adviser to run a competitive process meant to monetise the assets of the company.
• RCom has presented a comprehensive debt resolution plan to its domestic and foreign lenders, which envisages no loan write-offs by them.
• As per the plan, the company will pay off up to ₹17,000 crore of debt, by monetising assets including spectrum, towers, fibre and media convergence nodes.
• Besides, RCom will pay an additional ₹10,000 crore of debt out of the proceeds of sales and commercial development of Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City and other real estate assets across eight metros. The firm’s current outstanding debt stands at ₹45,000 crore.
• After the asset sale, RCom will be left with a portfolio comprising enterprise, carrier, Internet data centre and global submarine cable networks in India and overseas. It will also have revenues and secured debt of ₹6,000 crore each.
• “Debt of ₹7,000 crore is proposed to be converted into 51% of the company’s equity, as per the SDR guidelines of the RBI.
• RCom is under a standstill (or moratorium) period for interest and principal repayments till December 2018 and expects to complete the SDR process as per applicable RBI guidelines.

Jaitley-led panel to over see PSB mergers

• Moving ahead with reforms in the public sector banking space, the government has constituted a ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that will oversee merger proposals of state-owned banks.
• The other members of the panel include Railway and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
• While announcing the unprecedented ₹2.11 lakh crore capital infusion roadmap for the public sector banks (PSBs), Jaitley had said, this will be accompanied by series of banking reforms over the next few months.
• The constitution of Alternative Mechanism (AM) is a movement in that direction.
• The Cabinet in August had decided to set up an Alternative Mechanism to fast-track consolidation among public sector banks to create strong lenders.
• The move to create large banks aims at meeting the credit needs of the growing Indian economy and building capacity in the PSB space to raise resources without dependence on the state exchequer.
• The mechanism will oversee the proposals coming from boards of PSBs for consolidation.
• The decision to set up such a mechanism follows State Bank of India merging its five associate banks, as also the Bharatiya Mahila Bank, with itself.

Cement prices rise due to petcoke ban

• Cement prices are set to rise in north India in the wake of a Supreme Court ban on the use of petroleum coke (petcoke), a vital component used in the making of cement.
• The apex court had ordered a ban on the industrial use of petcoke and furnace oil in the National Capital Region (NCR) from November 1.
• The order is a sequel to the recommendation of the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) to ban the sale, distribution and use of furnace oil and pet coke in the NCR. Their use is already prohibited in Delhi.
• According to India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra), cement prices in northern India could go up from November 1.
• The development was credit-neutral for Ind-Ra-rated cement manufacturers, it added. “Cement manufacturers in the northern region, particularly from Rajasthan (where most of the clinker plants are situated), will have to use either domestic coal or imported coal from November 1.”
• The Supreme Court Bench, led by Justice Madan B. Lokur, had also imposed a fine of ₹2 lakh on the Ministry of Environment for not fixing any emission standards for industries using petcoke and furnace oil in the NCR region.

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