Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams

05 May 2016

:: National ::

SC refused to reduce the size of pictorial warnings on cigarette

• The Supreme Court has refused to shrink the size of pictorial health warnings on cigarette and tobacco packets.

• SC asked manufacturers to abide by a Health Ministry notification on increasing the size of the warning messages to 85 per cent from the present 20 per cent of the principal display area on packets.

• A Bench of Justices said manufacturers should endeavour to comply with the ministry notification issued under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2008 (COTPA) until the Karnataka High Court takes a final decision on the challenges against certain amendments in the law.

• The Karnataka High Court, to which petitions from various high courts on the issue were transferred, had refused to stay the operation of the rules.

• During the hearing, the court observed that in public interest, tobacco companies should act responsibly and said the awareness created on the issue would help curb the ill-effects of tobacco usage.

Grading of higher educational institutions in the country is set to be tweaked

• The official grading of higher educational institutions in the country is set to get a lot sharper, with the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) tweaking its grading system.

• This is to ensure that top institutions do not share the same grade as ones that are ‘below’ them in quality.

• Instead of a four-point system, where an institutional CGPA of 3.01 to 4 out of 4 (A grade) means “very good”, it will shift to a seven-point grading system in which 3.76 out of 4 will be A++, 3.51 to 3.75 will be A+ and 3.01 to 3.50 will be A.

• The NAAC is an autonomous organisation under the University Grants Commission that assesses quality of higher educational institutions in the country and offers them accreditation.

• The A grade — technically the highest one till now — is enjoyed by a number of institutions that are not perceived to have the same quality.

• Very few institutions will make it to the A++ bracket as per the new system Govt is implementing. This will distinguish the quality of the institutions in a much sharper way.

• The move has another thought, too, behind it. Universities coming anywhere in the top grade of A tend to become complacent, thinking there is no improvement to be made.

• The new system, however, would ensure that most institutions with a CGPA of above 3.01 feel motivated to strive for further improvement.

• As per the new system, grade B++ will fall between CGPA 2.76 and 3, B+ between 2.51 and 2.75, B between 2.01 and 2.5 and C between 1.51 and 2.

• Grade D, meaning a CGPA below 1.5, will mean “not accredited.”

NGT quashed environmental clearances around Bellandur-Agara lakes

• In what might be good news for those looking to protect the Bellandur-Agara wetlands, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) quashed the environmental clearances and sanctioned plans for the projects of Mantri around Bellandur-Agara lakes.

• It stayed further construction till the builders obtain fresh/amended clearances.

• The State Environmental Impact Assessment Agency (SEIAA) was directed to amend the environmental clearance of both projects and also monitor further construction.

• The Tribunal also directed that no further construction be allowed in a buffer zone of 75 metres around the lake and 50 metres from the edge of primary storm water drains. All existing structures in the zones have to be demolished.

NTPC asks BSES to pay 1300 crore dues by May 9

• Delhi may be staring at a major blackout in the sweltering heat as the NTPC has threatened BSES discoms of snapping power supply if they fail to pay about Rs.1,300 crore dues by May 9.

• In separate notices issued to the two Reliance Infra-Backed Delhi discoms – BSES Rajdhani (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna (BYPL) – the NTPC has warned of curtailing power supply by up to 100 per cent from May 10 if they do not pay up.

• The two discoms, which supply power to 70 per cent households in the Capital, draw 2,027 MW (BRPL 1,349 MW and BYPL 678 MW) from the Centre’s power generating major.

• The warning assumes significance as Delhi is reeling under a heat wave and power demand has surged to 5,149 MW. In case the discoms defy the notice, major power cuts are likely owing to a supply deficit.

:: International ::

Fierce fighting raged in the war-ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo

• Fierce fighting raged in the war-ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo and air strikes pounded rebels east of the capital Damascus as top diplomats scrambled to salvage a collapsing truce.

• Intense international efforts to bring a halt to the latest surge in Syrian fighting continued, with talks expected in Berlin and the UN Security Council set for an urgent meeting.

• The renewed violence has threatened the complete breakdown of a landmark ceasefire between President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime and non-jihadist rebels brokered by Moscow and Washington in late February.

• Fighting has been especially intense in and around Syria’s devastated second city of Aleppo, with more than 280 civilians killed since April 22.

• Some of the heaviest clashes in Aleppo in months continued on Wednesday as rebel forces pressed an offensive against regime troops on the city’s western outskirts.

• There was no immediate word on any casualties from the renewed fighting. Moscow and Washington reached a deal last week on a temporary “freeze” in fighting in Eastern Ghouta and in the Mediterranean coastal province of Latakia.

• The so-called “regime of silence” is meant to reinforce a broader truce brokered by the two world powers in February.

• The halt in fighting was initially set for 24 hours in Eastern Ghouta but was extended twice, according to Syria’s armed forces, and finally expired on 3rd may night.

• Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) gave conditional backing to visa-free travel for Turks and unveiled an overhaul of its asylum system under which member states that refuse to take a quota of refugees will be fined.

• In its latest bid to tackle the biggest migration crisis since World War II, the European Commission proposed making countries pay a “solidarity contribution” of €250,000 ($290,000) for every refugee that they decline to take.

Brazil’s embattled President Dilma Rousseff ignited the Olympic flame

• Brazil’s embattled President Dilma Rousseff ignited the Olympic flame, as a nationwide torch relay got under way with protests highlighting the country’s deep political and economic crisis.

• Ms. Rousseff presided over the flame ceremony in Brasilia, even though she faces impeachment and is unlikely to be in office when South America’s first Olympics open in less than three months.

• Ms. Rousseff is expected to be suspended from office next week as the country’s Senate hears an impeachment case against her, which means Vice- President Michel Temer is likely to be President during the games.

• “Brazil is completely ready to offer protection to the athletes, the technical staffs, heads of delegations, tourists, and journalists to all our visitors,” she said.

:: Business and Economy ::

India’s airline industry says caping air fares during periods of crisis impractical

• India’s airline industry has termed the government’s proposal to cap air fares during periods of crisis such as natural calamities or agitations as an impractical and misinformed idea.

• The civil aviation ministry is expected to issue a draft concept note on containing airfares during crises in the public domain within a month.

• Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said that the government will hold discussions with stakeholders, including airlines, to “contain” fares on affected routes in times of distress.

• The Minister had pointed out that fares were capped at Rs. 2,000 on a few sectors during the Chennai floods

• Airline pricing is dynamic and highly complex as it varies with many factors, including availability of seats, booked cabin class, etc.

• Airlines said they are inherently committed to do whatever is possible to help communities.

Government is planning for independent regulators for services such as medicine, law etc

• The government is planning to appoint independent regulators for services such as medicine, law, chartered accountancy, cost accountancy and company secretaryship.

• The existing structure of a regulator-cum-professional body for these services has resulted in several alleged instances of conflict of interest.

• Thishurt the credibility and reputation of these bodies and hampered India’s attempts to secure Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRA) with other countries to enable easier temporary movement of skilled workers across borders.

• The independent regulators will maintain distance from the professional bodies similar to the situation in developed countries.

• MRAs are pacts where two or more nations recognise each other’s compliance assessments to ensure that services, products and processes meet relevant technical norms.

• The bodies being referred to include Medical Council of India (MCI), Bar Council of India (BCI), Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Institute of Cost Accountants of India and Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI).

• All these are statutory bodies under an Act of Parliament.

• The ministry was initially considering preparing a comprehensive plan for appointing independent regulators for all these service segments and then coming out with a Cabinet note for inputs from other ministries. However, the “wholesale approach” has been junked.

• The current plan is to initiate discussions with each of the ministries concerned. Then,separate Cabinet notes can be put up by the ministries on the need for independent regulators for these services.

• The move comes in the backdrop of the Supreme Court recently citing a Parliamentary panel report to state that the MCI “was repeatedly found short of fulfilling its mandated responsibilities” and that the “quality of medical education was at its lowest ebb”.

• The apex court, noting the instances of corruption in MCI, had set up an Oversight Committee to supervise the council’s functions and scrutinise its policy decisions.

• Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra dismissed allegations of conflict of interest regarding the council and objected to the proposal of appointing a super-regulator for the body.

• The BCI involves former Supreme Court judges, chief justices of high courts and top academicians in its legal education and disciplinary committees.

Civil aviation policy plans to auction international traffic rights

• The government's plan to auction international traffic rights to foreign airlines may find its place in the final version of the civil aviation policy that will be submitted to the Cabinet soon, despite opposition from domestic airlines.

• The draft civil aviation policy, released in October last year, was sent for inter-ministerial comments last month before being sent for the Union Cabinet’s approval.

• “We have received most of the comments (from ministries). The civil aviation policy will be sent for the Cabinet’s approval within next 10 days,” Civil Aviation Secretary R.N. Choubey.

• If the Cabinet approves the proposal, India will become the first country to bid out traffic rights to foreign players.

• In a first, the government has proposed bidding out traffic rights to foreign carriers flying on short-haul routes (within a 5,000 km radius from India).

• As per the proposal, the auctioning would, however, be done only in cases where the foreign carrier or country has utilised the existing bilateral rights but the Indian counterpart has not.

• The seats will be auctioned for flying into metro airports in India for a period of three years.

• At present, countries sign air service agreements, which decide the equal number of flights or seats per week that can fly into each other's country depending on their requirements.

• Then, the government distributes the allocated seats to the respective airlines.

• However, some foreign carriers have asked the Indian government to increase the seat entitlement as they exhaust the limit.

• But since domestic carriers are unable to utilise their quota, the government does not opt to increase the seat entitlement or sign fresh bilateral agreements.

• According to official estimates, while Indian carriers utilised 32 per cent of the allotted capacity in 2014 on international routes, foreign carriers utilised, on average, 62 per cent of the seats allocated to them.

• Domestic airlines and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have both strongly opposed the idea.

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