Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 21 February 2018

::NATIONAL::

Private sector in Coal Mining

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs to Open up commercial coal mining for Indian and foreign companies in the private sector.
It approved the methodology for auction of coal mines/blocks for sale of the commodity.
The government described the move as the most ambitious reform of the sector since its nationalisation in 1973.
Coal accounts for around 70% of the country’s power generation, and the move for energy security through assured coal supply is expected to garner attention from majors including Rio Tinto, BHP, Vedanta, Anglo American, Glencore and Adani Group.
The private sector was permitted to mine the fossil fuel only for captive use.

Kerala New Health Policy

Kerala’s new health policy focusses on improving and equipping the public health system to deliver affordable, accessible and quality care to the public at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
This will bring down the huge out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure on health in the State.
It lays accent not just on increasing human resource (HR) in health but also improving the quality of HR and steadily increasing the investment in public health on one hand.
While at the same time aggressively reducing disease prevalence, morbidity and mortality amongst the population.
The government will thus aim at raising its current expenditure on health from the current 0.6% of the Gross State Domestic Product to at least 5% and strive at increasing it by 1% every year.
The draft of the new policy, brought out by a 17-member committee of doctors and public health experts, with B. Ekbal, member of the State Planning Board, as chairperson, and K. P. Aravindan, public health activist, as convener, was approved by the Cabinet.
The policy document identifies the rapidly rising out-of-pocket expenditure, pushing people into impoverishment, as the most important public health problem in the State .
One of the main recommendations of the policy, of focussing on developing a comprehensive primary care system and introducing the concept of family doctor through PHCs.
This was already being implemented by the government through the Aardram Mission.
Another major recommendation in the policy, that of regulating the private sector through a Clinical Establishments Bill had also been initiated by the Government.
The policy recommends that a three-tier policy be followed in the health system, maintaining medical college hospitals strictly as referral centres.
It also advocates “better organic linkages” between medical colleges and health services hospitals.
It recommends the division of the Health Department into two streams, Director General of Health (Modern Medicine) and Director General Health (Ayush) and the setting up of three directorates – Public Health, Clinical Services and Medical Education – under the DGH (MM).
A Public Health Cadre will be created in the Health Services by including doctors who have qualifications in public health.
A multidisciplinary working group will be constituted to estimate the State’s requirement of human resource in health for the next 25 years and to prepare a roadmap to achieve the target.
No new institution will be established in the government or private sector without assessment of needs and formulation of an HR policy for the health sector.
The policy recommends that full functional autonomy be given to government medical colleges to improve the functional efficiency of these institutions.
The Dr. Ekbal committee points out that constant transfers were discouraging doctors from taking up a career in medical education and that it impeded long-term projects.
The policy lays stress on the importance of vaccination.
It recommends that every child be issued an immunisation card and that full vaccination status be made mandatory for school admission.

Mahanadi tribunal by Centre

The Union Cabinet approved the setting up of a tribunal to settle a row between Odisha and Chhattisgarh on sharing the waters of the Mahanadi river.
This is in keeping with a Supreme Court order last month directing the Centre to set up a tribunal in response to a plea by the Odisha government to stop the Chhattisgarh government from constructing several weirs on the river.
The tribunal is expected to determine water sharing among basin States on the basis of the overall availability of water in the complete Mahanadi basin.
The contribution of each State, the present utilisation of water resource in each State and the potential for future development, official sources said.
The order on constituting a new tribunal comes even as the government plans to introduce a new bill that would have a single tribunal to replace all existing water tribunals.
The driving motive for such a tribunal was, according to senior official in the Water Ministry, that tribunals had a decades-long history of being “extremely inefficient” at settling disputes quickly and fairly.
The bill, called the Inter-State River Disputes (Amendment) Bill, was introduced in the Lok Sabha by former Water Resources Minister, Uma Bharti, last March but is yet to be debated.
It is expected to be placed in Parliament after it reconvenes after the recess of the Budget session.
Were such a Bill to become law, it could affect the composition of the members of various tribunals. Currently, all tribunals are staffed by members of the judiciary, nominated by the Chief Justice.
The proposed Bill has provisions for members, even a chairperson, outside the judiciary.
Over the last year, Uma Bharti as well as the incumbent Minister Nitin Gadkari had asked the governments of Chhattisgarh and Odisha to settle their differences over water sharing and avoid the setting up of a tribunal, a long-standing demand of the Odisha government.
Odisha had moved the court in December, 2016, for an order asking Chhattisgarh to stop its construction work in projects on the upstream of Mahanadi, saying it affected the river flow in the State.
According to the provisions of the Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956, the tribunal is required to submit its report and decision within a period of three years, which can be extended for a period not exceeding two years.
Only three out of eight tribunals have given awards accepted by the States.
Tribunals for Cauvery and Ravi Beas have been in existence for several decades.

Olive ridley turtles gets protection from nature on Odisha Coast

Sea waves and winds have widened a portion of the beach near Rushikulya rookery on Odisha coast, boosting the prospects of increased mass nesting of the endangered olive ridley turtles this year.
A sandbar near Podampeta village has been completely eroded and its sand has deposited on the coast. Because of it, a stretch of the beach has widened and its height has also increased.
“This will surely protect several nests and eggs of olive ridleys near the sea from getting destroyed during high tides,” said Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer Ashis Behera.
He termed it a “gift of mother nature” to the olive ridleys this year.
Another sandbar at the meeting point of the river and the sea still exists. It would be the safest place for nesting of the marine turtles as there would be no chance of intervention from predators or humans.
Mass nesting of olive ridleys is expected to start in a day or two as thousands of them have congregated in the sea near the rookery.
Sporadic nesting of the turtles has already started at this major mass nesting site on the Indian coast.
According to forest officials, the number of turtles coming out to the coast to lay eggs during the pre-mass nesting period has increased in the last three days.
On February 17, nine olive ridleys had laid eggs on this coast.
The number increased to 40 the next night and on February 19, 131 olive ridleys laid eggs on the beach.
Eggs from sporadic nesting sites are being brought to temporary hatcheries of the Forest Department for monitored hatchings.
All arrangements are in place for the protection of olive ridleys and their eggs during the 45-day-long gestation period.
The length of temporary fencing has been increased from 3.5 km to over 5 km to include areas where the turtles had nested last year.
Patrolling in the sea is continuing to check entry of fishing trawlers to the olive ridley congregation zone where mechanised fishing is banned.

TB, a National crisis: Experts

Stating that tuberculosis (TB) has become a national crisis in India, the Health Ministry assured the TB community that eliminating the disease by 2025 had the ‘highest level of commitment from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office.’
Senior Health Ministry official Sunil Khaparde, who heads the TB programme voiced the assurance at the opening day of the 5th Global Forum on TB Vaccines in New Delhi.
Nearly 4.2 lakh Indians die of TB every year.
Out of the 10 million cases globally, India shoulders the maximum burden with 2.8 million cases.
According to Health Ministry data, only 63% of the patients infected with the airborne disease are currently under treatment.
Further, 1,47,000 patients are resistant to first and second line TB medicines.
At the current rate of progress, global targets to eliminate TB by 2030 will be missed by a 150 years.
Against this backdrop, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, deputy director general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that globally, governments need to invest more in TB research and development to meet the global targets.
WHO representative to India Hendrick Bekedam added that TB vaccine was a global public health good, which meant governments need to invest if they want to own it later.

SC asks Centre’s stand on MP’s Salary revision

The Supreme Court asked the Union government to take a “categorical stand” on establishing an independent body to review the salaries and allowances of Members of Parliament and, possibly, scrap their post-retirement benefits and perks.
A Bench, led by Justice Jasti Chelameswar, said the time had come for the government to make clear its position on the issue which had been publicly debated since 2006.
The petition, filed by NGO Lok Prahari, said the pension and perks given to MPs, after they demitted office, were contrary to Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution.
It said Parliament had no power to provide benefits to lawmakers without making any law. It argued that there were no guidelines for granting allowances.
The NGO highlighted how a person in his mid-twenties, a one-time MP, was eligible for pension for the rest of his life, and such an expenditure was a drain on the exchequer.
Mr. Sinha sought a week to file a detailed response. In a preliminary submission, he said the establishment of an independent commission to review the salaries and allowances of MPs was still under consideration.
“Irrespective of the government in power, this is a matter of concern. How long should it remain pending?” the Bench observed.

Printed Study Materials for IBPS, SBI Bank Exam

::ECONOMY::

A Centre Of Excellence (COE ) - TS & Nasscom

A Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence to support product development, research in the areas as well as mine tonnes of government data to aid in policy making will come up in the city soon.
One of its kind, the facility on a public-private partnership model took the first step towards becoming a reality with Telangana government and the National Association of Software & Services Companies (Nasscom) signing an MoU for it.
Nasscom president R. Chandrashekhar, who exchanged the documents with IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan in the presence of IT Minister K.T.Rama Rao, said the CoE – DS & AI would promote growth of start-ups and encourage more entrepreneurs to build products and solutions using these technologies.
The idea is to support them through mentorship, access to funding, international connects and connections with large companies.
The CoE, which he expected would be established within a couple of months, would also connect with various resources, be it academic or research institutions.
The initial, joint investment is to be Rs. 40 crore.
Mr.Ranjan, who described the MoU as a milestone, said initially the facility is to be based out of IIIT-Hyderabad. Eventually, it would be shifted to the upcoming IT park in Budhwel that the government is developing.
The MoU was signed on the sidelines of Nasscom India Leadership Forum being held in the city.
Data science and AI industry in India is estimated to be $16 billion by 2025, said Mr. Rama Rao. A release from Nasscom said it is likely to spur an additional employment of 150,000 professionals in the country.
Mr.Chandrashekhar said Nasscom is also looking at Hyderabad for the proposed CoE on Cyber Security.
The immediate task of the CoE – DS & AI promoters would be identify a CEO for the facility.

Nasscom on IT exports

Software and services exports, the mainstay of the Indian IT industry, will grow 7-9%, according to a key projection by Nasscom for 2018-19.
This comes in the backdrop of continuing turbulence for the industry.
A trajectory not entirely different from the 7.8% export revenue growth estimated in the current fiscal.
The industry body’s projection recognises the up tick in the global economy and technology spend, as well as the challenges impacting the overall positive sentiment.
In FY16 and FY-17, the exports were $108 billion and $116 billion.
The industry, as per Nasscom guidance, will further expand its digital footprint with a growth of 7-9% for technology services and 10-12% for domestic technology.
The current outlook, Mr. Chandrashekhar added, was one of cautious optimism, given that 2017 started in the backdrop of uncertainties across protectionism, Brexit and slowdown in technology spend decision making.
Mr. Chandrashekhar and Nasscom leaders in Hyderabad, where the World Congress on IT and Nasscom India Leadership Forum are underway, said that the IT industry export revenues would be about $135-137 billion in FY-19 as against $126 billion in current fiscal.
Domestic revenues were projected to grow 10-12% to $28-29 billion ($26 billion).
Overall, the industry is expected to add $14-16 billion in revenue next fiscal.
Beginning on a muted note, 2017-18 was driven by a better growth in the second half and expected to clock revenues of $167 billion.
On the hiring front, he said the industry would add 1,00,000 new jobs next fiscal, something similar to FY 2018.
Technology jobs in non-technology sectors are expected to grow faster.
Overall, the economic growth, rapid technology adoption and progressive policies would remain the key to accelerate job creation in the country.
Chairman Raman Roy said that the software and services sector had crossed $ 150 billion, thereby tripling in size in less than a decade.

::INTERNATIONAL::

Maldives crisis

The Maldives looked set for a collision course with India, as the Majlis (Parliament) cleared an extension of the current state of emergency by 30 days, defying India’s expectation conveyed hours earlier.
According to an official statement from President Abdulla Yameen’s office, the Parliament’s National Security Committee approved the extension with additional amendments.
These included one stating that the emergency rule would apply only to those “alleged to have carried out illegal activities”, and not to “law abiding residents of, or visitors”.
On February 5, Mr. Yameen declared a state of emergency for 15 days, citing threats to “national security”.
The move came after his government refused to implement a dramatic Supreme Court ruling delivered on February 1, which ordered the release of nine jailed Opposition leaders, including exiled former President Mohamed Nasheed, and the reinstatement of 12 expelled legislators.
Releasing a statement earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs said: “It is our expectation that the government of Maldives will not be seeking extension of the state of emergency so that the political process in Maldives can resume with immediate effect.”
The Opposition has termed the move illegal.
Mr. Nasheed said the government cannot legally extend the state of emergency because it does not have the 43 legislators in the Majlis that must vote in favour of it.
“The Constitution states that 43 MPs must be present during a vote on a matter of public compliance and a state of emergency is a matter of public compliance.”
By implication, Mr. Nasheed said, the emergency, or any extension to it, is illegal.
“It also means that any actions taken by the government or security forces using emergency powers are illegal.
“President Yameen is ruling down the barrel of a gun. There is zero legitimacy to anything he is doing,” said Mr. Nasheed, who had earlier sought Indian military intervention to resolve the problem in Male.
However, in an official tweet evening, the President’s office said: “It is unconstitutional to say that the state of emergency cannot be declared.”
While India is yet to indicate its strategy in responding to the ongoing political and constitutional crisis in its neighbourhood.
New Delhi reiterated its earlier position and urged the Maldives to implement the SC ruling.
“It is important that Maldives quickly returns to the path of democracy and the rule of law so that the aspirations of Maldivian people are met and the concerns of the international community are assuaged,” it said in a statement.
The UN, the U.S., the U.K., the European Union, Australia and Canada, among others, earlier asked Mr. Yameen to comply with the ruling and ensure that rule of law prevails.
Many nations have issued travel advisories directing citizens to avoid travelling to the Maldives.