Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 12 December 2017
Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 12 December 2017
::National::
IMA urged State governments to subsidise emergencies in the private sector
- Amid allegations of medical negligence and overcharging by two private hospitals in Delhi-NCR, the Indian Medical Association urged State governments to subsidise emergencies in the private sector and create a reimbursement mechanism.
- No hospital can force its consultants to work on targets and the choice of drugs and devices should rest with the doctors based on the affordability of a patient and not the hospital management, it said.
- IMA president Dr. K.K. Aggarwal said: “It is time for the medical profession to introspect and come out with self-regulation procedures. From today onwards, all doctors in the country shall choose affordable drugs.”
- Referring to the Max Hospital case of a premature baby being wrongly declared dead by the doctors, he said such errors happen due to accident and not intentionally.
- “The doctor-patient trust is experiencing a downward spiral in the country as people are looking at the medical profession with suspicion. It is disheartening to see the erosion in trust, and we want to make it more transparent.” Dr. Aggarwal said.
- Stating that it is “absurd to victimise a medical practitioner if a patient does not respond to treatment”, he said: “Once a treatment is administered, the recuperation of a patient depends upon physical and organic factors.”
- “We also appeal to the State governments to come out with an urgent ordinance for 'one drug-one company-one price policy'. Doctors should actively participate in ensuring that no hospital sells any item priced higher than the Market Rate Price. No service charges should be added to procure drugs from outside,” the IMA president added.
No deal which does not include successful resolution of the food security right issue
- India said it cannot envisage any negotiated outcome at the ongoing meeting of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) apex decision-making body, which does not include successful resolution of the food security right issue.
- In his address at the Plenary Session of the WTO Ministerial Conference (MC) here, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said, “… the permanent solution for public stockholding for food security purposes… is a matter of survival for 800 million hungry and undernourished people in the world.”
- He added, “A successful resolution of this issue would fulfill our collective commitment to the global community… we cannot envisage any negotiated outcome at the (Buenos Aires) MC, which does not include a permanent solution.”
- India has already made it clear that it will not accept a 'permanent solution' with onerous conditions that in turn make it very difficult for the (Indian) government or other developing countries to meet the food security needs of their people.
- Mr. Prabhu also said “India calls upon the WTO membership to re-endorse the centrality of development (the agenda to improve the trading prospects of developing nations) in WTO negotiations without creating new sub-categories of countries.”
- He said, “We are increasingly seeing that the discourse on development at the WTO is sought to be deflected by specious arguments based on aggregate GDP figures.”
RIC commended the victory of the Moscow-led counterterrorism operation in Syria
- Agreeing to uphold the rule of law in international affairs, Russia, India and China commended the victory of the Moscow-led counterterrorism operation in Syria.
- After the 15th trilateral meeting of the three Foreign Ministers held under the RIC grouping, EAM and her Chinese and Russian counterparts Wang Yi and Sergey Lavrov urged for “Syrian-led, Syrian-owned” solution to the conflict and highlighted the need for dialogue to deal with the global “hotspots” such as North Korea and Ukraine.
- “We commend Russia-led counterterrorism efforts and achievements in Syria aimed at defeating international terrorism. We emphasise the achievements in Syria aimed at defeating international terrorism.”
- We emphasise the need for a comprehensive approach in combating terrorism, and in this context resolve to step up cooperation to prevent and counter terrorism and radicalisation... stop sources of terrorist financing, prevent travelling of and the supply of arms to terrorists, dismantle terrorist infrastructure...” a joint communiqué issued after the meeting stated.
- The communiqué is significant as it came in the backdrop of declaration of withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria by President Vladimir Putin as he declared success in the country. The trilateral meeting also came out with a post-conflict plan for Syria.
- The statement however did not name Pakistan-based terror groups and individuals like Hafiz Saeed of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Masood Azhar of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) even as Mr. Lavrov indicated that a re-evaluation of Pakistan’s role in the war on terror was under way.
A low-cost small satellite launcher could be the next item on the menu of ISRO
- A low-cost small satellite launcher could be the next item on the menu of the Indian Space Research Organisation.
- Preliminary work to design and develop an ambitious small launch vehicle began about three months ago, said K. Sivan, Director of ISRO’s rocket development node, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
- Its design will enable a handful of engineers to assemble it within a week. And the launcher should be able to put satellites of up to 500-600 kg in orbits close to the Earth.
- VSSC has designed the vehicle using the rocket technology that it already has and is awaiting ISRO’s approval. The development cost would be kept low at a few crore as the new launcher’s requirement of advanced electronics is considerably lower.
- It could also tremendously cut the launch fee that customers would have to pay. Which is what all space agencies aim at: low-cost access to space, as they call it.
- Since 1999, ISRO’s PSLV rockets have launched 209 small satellites from 28 countries for a fee; they have been for experimental, university or remote-sensing uses. In February this year, a PSLV carried a record 104 satellites to space.
- The next one planned in January 2018 will carry some 30 small customer satellites to space — their weights ranging from 1 kg to 100 kg.
- Today, it takes 300-plus engineers and about 40 days to assemble a PSLV. A small launcher that can be got up perhaps in three days by a small team would make a big difference in the market as well as to the launch provider, according to Dr. Sivan.
- For one, satellite operators need not wait one or two years to launch their spacecraft. In shared space rides, satellites going on the same rocket must have compatible sizes and shapes. The thinking, he said, is why waste a big vehicle for a small job?
- Secondly, a ride on small launchers could even be a ninth or tenth of the present cost. ISRO, he said, will not be the first to think of a small launcher.
- “Globally, the small satellites market is booming as they are used for various applications. Some of ISRO’s satellites are also going to reduce in mass. As such, worldwide, operators and private players are developing small launchers to capture the market at a much lower cost,” he explained.
- Global space industry consulting firm Euroconsult estimated in July that 6,200 smallsats — many of them constellations — would be launched during 2017-2026 and touch a market value of $30 billion — up from $8.9 billion in the last decade.
Printed Study Materials for IBPS, SBI Bank Exam
::International::
Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act
- A decision on the U.S.’s continued participation in the Iran nuclear deal could be back in President Donald Trump’s hands, as the Congress appears unable to gather support to amend an existing oversight law, as he had demanded.
- In October, Mr. Trump had refused to issue a certification required for the maintenance of the deal, and asked Congress to amend the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA), which had established legislative oversight on the operation of the deal.
- Mr. Trump called for stricter conditions on Iran for U.S.’s participation in the deal — outside of the multilateral agreement it had signed — through a new domestic law.
- INARA allows Congress 60 days to reimpose nuclear related sanctions in the event of a refusal by the President to certify the deal. That deadline ends this week, and the move to introduce new legislation has failed to take off.
- That leaves the deal intact, and Mr. Trump could be challenged by his conservative support base and hawkish advisers to terminate the deal altogether ahead of the next presidential certification which is due next month. INARA requires the President to make this certification every 90 days.
- “In the event we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated,” Mr. Trump had said, while announcing his decision to de-certify the deal.
- “It is under continuous review, and our participation can be cancelled by me, as President, at any time,” he had said then. Other five signatories to the deal — the U.K., France, Russia, China, and Germany — have said they would continue with the deal regardless of what Mr. Trump decides.
- Meanwhile, Republican Senator Tom Cotton and CIA Chief Michael Pompeo, vocal advocates for the deal’s termination, have been talking of a military intervention to destroy Iran’s nuclear’s capabilities. Mr. Cotton has also argued for pushing for a regime change in Tehran.
::Business and Economy::
There are still wide differences among countries
- Even as the World Trade Organisation’s 164 member countries have begun hectic parleys in an attempt to reach accord on areas including agriculture, development, fisheries’ subsidies, domestic regulation of services and e-commerce, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo observed there were still “wide” differences in members’ positions.
- In his remarks at the opening ceremony of the WTO’s Ministerial Conference Mr. Azevêdo said, “There are still gaps between positions in most areas — and some of these gaps are very wide... the more open and flexible we are, the more likely we are to succeed.”
- Mr. Azevêdo urged members to use the ministerial conference as an opportunity “to make progress wherever we can, and to set the direction for our future work.”
- “Today there are different questions and different challenges, including regarding the dispute settlement system. We will meet these challenges,” he said adding “we must continue this journey here in Buenos Aires — and beyond.”
- South Africa’s Xavier Carim, who is the chair of the General Council, said member nations had been engaged in Geneva in the process of drafting a possible outcome document, or a draft ministerial declaration, that could be adopted in Buenos Aires.
- Separately, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Guyana, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Uruguay adopted a joint declaration “to coordinate actions in the WTO in order to pursue the process of reforming the rules of international trade in agricultural products.
- to work towards the prohibition of certain forms of fisheries subsidies, to make progress in domestic regulation in services, and to discuss topics of increasing relevance to the trade agenda of the 21st century, including e-commerce, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and investment facilitation.”
- They also called on other WTO members to join their declaration, if they wished to do so.
India is set to see growth accelerating to 7.2% in 2018-19 and 7.4% in 2019-20
- India is set to see growth accelerating to 7.2% in 2018-19 and 7.4% in 2019-20, up from the 6.7% in 2017-18, according to the United Nations’ World Economic Situation and Prospects 2018 report.
- However, it said, while the outlook for India remained positive on the back of strong private consumption and public investment, the poor state of private investment remained a key concern.
- “Despite the slowdown observed in early 2017 and the lingering effects from the demonetisation policy, the outlook for India remains largely positive, underpinned by robust private consumption and public investment as well as ongoing structural reforms,” the report said.
- “Hence, GDP growth is projected to accelerate from 6.7% in 2017 to 7.2% in 2018 and 7.4% in 2019. Nevertheless, the anaemic performance of private investment remains a key macroeconomic concern,” the report added.
- “Gross fixed capital formation as a share of GDP has declined from about 40% in 2010 to less than 30% in 2017, amid subdued credit growth, low capacity utilisation in some industrial sectors and balance sheet problems in the banking and corporate sectors.”
- “The GDP growth projections for 2017-18 reflects a sharp downward revision by 1% (as compared with the projection made for the year in last year’s report),”.
- “However, despite the two major disruptions in the year, only 1% has been shaved off. I think this will be a short term phenomenon, and growth will rebound.”
- The report also said credit growth in India had remained subdued, especially in the industrial sector.
- “Looking ahead, there exists some degree of uncertainty over the monetary policy stance in India,” the report said.
- “Subdued inflation, coupled with a good monsoon season, offers scope for additional monetary easing. However, if inflation accelerates faster than anticipated, the loosening cycle could end abruptly.”
Former RBI Governor Y.V. Reddy said farm loan waiver was not good
- Former RBI Governor Y.V. Reddy said farm loan waiver was not good for “economic or credit culture” and insisted that ultimately it was a political decision and cannot be justified in the longer run.
- Another former RBI chief C. Rangarajan took a similar line, saying the alternative is to offer farmers a longer window to pay off.
- Dr. Reddy said that every political party had offered such waiver in some State or the other or at an all-India level. Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra recently announced farm loan waivers.
