National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 18th January 2019

Lokpal

Topic: Governance

IN NEWS: The Supreme Court on Thursday gave the Lokpal search committee time till February-end to short-list a panel of names for chairperson and members of the Lokpal to be placed before the high-power selection committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

More on the Topic:

• The ‘Lokpal’ is the central governing body that has jurisdiction over all members of parliament and central government employees in case of corruption. Whereas, the ‘Lokayukta’ is similar to the Lokpal, but functions on a state level. Scope of the ‘Lokpal’ is based on a national government level basis and the scope of the ‘Lokayukta’ relied on a state level.
• The main function is to address complaints of corruption, to make inquiries, investigations, and to conduct trials for the case on respective state and central government with having responsibility to help in curbing the corruption in the central and state government.

Lokpal Act Salient Features:

• The Lokpal to consist of a Chairperson and a maximum of eight Members, of which fifty percent shall be judicial Members. Fifty per cent of members of Lokpal shall be from amongst SC, ST, OBCs, Minorities and Women.

The selection of Chairperson and Members of Lokpal shall be through a Selection Committee consisting of –

a) Prime Minister;

b) Speaker of Lok Sabha;

c) Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha;

d) Chief Justice of India or a sitting Supreme Court Judge nominated by CJI;

e) An eminent jurist to be nominated by the President of India

• A Search Committee will assist the Selection Committee in the process of selection. Fifty per cent of members of the Search Committee shall also be from amongst SC, ST, OBCs, Minorities and Women.
• Lokpal’s jurisdiction will cover all categories of public servants including Group ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ & ‘D’ officers and employees of Government.  On complaints referred to CVC by Lokpal, CVC will send its report of Preliminary enquiry in respect of Group ‘A’ and ‘B’ officers back to Lokpal for further decision.  With respect to Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ employees, CVC will proceed further in exercise of its own powers under the CVC Act subject to reporting and review by Lokpal.
• All entities receiving donations from foreign source in the context of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) in excess of Rs. 10 lakhs per year are brought under the jurisdiction of Lokpal.
• Lokpal will have power of superintendence and direction over any investigation agency including CBI for cases referred to them by Lokpal.
• A high powered Committee chaired by the Prime Minister will recommend selection of the Director, CBI.
• Attachment and confiscation of property of public servants acquired by corrupt means, even while prosecution is pending.

Model mains Question: Analyse the importance of Lokpal and Lokatukta in the present political system. Discuss how it will enable India to become a corruption free state.

Source: The Hindu

Rupee pact with Iran:Pharma Exports

Topic: International Relations

IN NEWS: The Indian pharma industry now has an opportunity to increase exports to Iran, following a rupee payment mechanism agreed upon recently by India and the Persian Gulf nation.

More on the Topic:

• Under the agreement, Indian refiners make payments in rupee for oil imports from Iran, to designated accounts maintained with UCO Bank. A portion thus received is to be used by Iran to pay for imports from India, including pharmaceuticals.
• Indian pharma exports to Iran were at $124.05 million last fiscal. Iran has a well-established pharma industry that meets 80% of the country’s requirement. The remaining 20% is met predominantly through imports from Europe.
• With a cloud of uncertainty hovering over continued pharmaceutical supplies from Europe in the wake of the U.S. sanctions against Iran, the Indian pharma industry could explore opportunities to step up exports, he emphasised. The U.S., had in May last year, come out from a nuclear accord with Iran and re-imposed sanctions. The rupee payment agreement came within weeks of the sanctions to cover oil imports from Iran.

Model Mains Question: Analyse Indo Iran relations in the wake of the U.S sanctions over Iran.

Source:The Hindu

Jallikattu

Topic: Art and Culture

In news: A total of 29 people sustained minor injuries at the jallikattu event held in Tamilnadu.

More on the Topic:

• Jallikattu is typically practised in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu as a part of Pongal celebrations on Mattu Pongal day, which occurs annually in January.
• Jallikattu (or sallikkattu), also known as eru thazhuvuthal and manju virattu, is a traditional spectacle in which a bull, such as the Pulikulam or Kangayam breeds, is released into a crowd of people, and multiple human participants attempt to grab the large hump on the bull’s back with both arms and hang on to it while the bull attempts to escape.
• Participants hold the hump for as long as possible, attempting to bring the bull to a stop. In some cases, participants must ride long enough to remove flags on the bull’s horns

Source: Hindu

‘Shehri Samridhi Utsav’

Topic: Art and Culture

In news: Minister of State (I/C) for Housing and Urban Affairs, has informed that a fortnight of events named ‘Shehri Samridhi Utsav’, focusing on urban livelihoods will be organised.

More on the Topic:

• The event aims at extending the outreach of National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) to the poorest of the poor and the most vulnerable, showcase its initiatives and facilitate access of SHG members to the other government schemes.
• Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana DAY-NULM addresses multiple dimensions of urban poverty by developing strong community-based organizations, providing placement oriented skill training, providing subsidized loans for self-employment ventures, supporting street vendors’ livelihoods and establishing shelter for the homeless.
• A survey named ‘Safety Net Survey’ is being conducted to identify eligible SHG members not covered by government programs viz. SBM(U), PMAY(U), Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Surakhsa Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana and National Nutrition Mission.
• SHG members across cities will participate in a rally to spread awareness about DAY-NULM. Revolving Funds will be provided to all eligible SHGs.
• A drive to form new SHGs, especially for vulnerable sections such as informal sanitation workers, manual scavengers, and waste pickers, will be taken up.
• A new platform called Shehri Sahabhagita Manch has been proposed for regular meetings of ULB officials with SHG federations. This would increase participation of these collectives of the urban poor in resolution of local issues and create a mechanism for ULBs to identify gaps in provision of basic services in urban poor settlements.
• Loan camps would be organized by banks close to the urban poor colonies, to facilitate access to credit for micro-enterprises of the urban poor. Further, all pending loan applications are proposed to be disposed by 31st January 2019.
• Shelters for the urban homeless under DAY-NULM would be adopted by colleges located nearby. This would create a healthy interactive environment for shelter residents and a good learning experience for college students.

Model Mains Question: Comment on the SHG revolution and how it helped the women empowerment.

Source: The Hindu

Index of Industrial Production

Topic: Economy

In news: Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) recent data show that factory output growth had slipped to a 17-month low in November, 2018.

 More on the Topic:

• IIP is a composite indicator measuring changes in the volume of production of a basket of industrial products over a period of time, with respect to a chosen base period.
• It is compiled and published on a monthly basis by the CSO with a time lag of six weeks from the reference month.
• IIP is the only measure on the physical volume of production. The all-India IIP provides a single representative figure to measure the general level of industrial activity in the economy.
• It is used by government agencies including the Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of India etc, for policy purposes.
• It forms a crucial input for compilation of Gross Value Added (GVA) of the manufacturing sector in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on a quarterly basis.
• IIP remains extremely relevant for the calculation of the quarterly and advance GDP estimates. It is also used extensively by financial intermediaries, policy analysts and private companies for various analytical purposes.

Changes from 2017 Onwards:

• The change in the base year of the all-India IIP to 2011-12 happened in 2017.It was the ninth revision of base year of the all-India IIP since the beginning of its dissemination.
• In the 2011-12 series, as compared to 2004-05 series, a number of items were introduced or deleted.
• In all, 149 new items were added in the new IIP 2011-12 data series, and 124 of them were deleted.
• This helped check the volatility of the index that was earlier seen especially for capital goods.
• A change in the base year should not end up making too much difference to the IIP growth figures.
• But the bigger impact is on account of the difference in the constituent items of the index and weights assigned to each of them.

IMD Statement on Climate of India

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In news: LA recently released IMD (India Meteorological Department) statement shows 2018 as the sixth warmest year on record.

More on the Topic:

• 2018 was the sixth warmest year on record, with the average temperature over India being “significantly above normal”.
• [The 5 warmest years on record (nationwide records began in 1901) are, in order, 2016, 2009, 2017, 2010, 2015.
• Notably, 11 of the 15 warmest years were during the recent past fifteen years (2004-18).
• The 20 warmest years on record have been in the past 22 years, with the top four in the past four years. The temperature trends of recent years are part of the larger “global warming” trend.
• The rate of increase of temperatures over India is almost similar to the global average. The winter and pre-monsoon seasons, with an anomaly of +0.590°C and +0.550°C respectively, mainly contributed to the warming in 2018.
• Mean temperature during the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons were also above normal. The mean monthly temperatures were warmer than normal during all months of the year across the country, except December.
• Broadly, temperatures are increasing during both day and night time.Heat waves are increasing in frequency as well as in magnitude.
• Consequently, extreme rainfall and rainstorms which can cause floods are increasing. Dry spell duration is also increasing.

Extreme weather events:

• The increase in temperatures is predicted to lead to more extreme weather events.
• Apart from the six cyclonic storms that formed over the northern Indian Ocean, India experienced “high impact weather”
• These were extremely heavy rainfall, heat and cold waves, snowfall, thunderstorms, dust storms, lightning and floods. Uttar Pradesh was the most adversely affected state during 2018.
• It reported nearly 600 deaths due to cold waves, thunderstorm, dust storm, lightning and floods. Flood and heavy rain related incidents reportedly claimed over 800 lives from different parts of the country.
• North India also witnessed high-velocity dust storms and thunderstorms in April and May and then, later in June-July. Dust storm claimed over 150 lives from Uttar Pradesh and adjoining parts of Rajasthan.
• Thunderstorm was another major event of the year over the north eastern parts of the country. Notable cyclones in the year are Titli, Gaja, and Phethai which crossed the Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh coasts respectively.

Collegium System

Topic: Polity and Governance

In news: The collegium system is in news  due to the recent appointments to Supreme Court of India.

More on the Topic:

• In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President has appointed Shri Justice Sanjiv Khanna, judge of the Delhi high court and Shri Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, chief justice of the Karnataka high court, to be a judge of the Supreme Court of India. Their names had been recommended by the collegium.

About the collegium system of appointment of judges:

• The collegium system was commissioned by two judgments of the Supreme Court in 1990s. It has no mention in the original Constitution of India or its successive amendments.
• In the Third Judges case (1998), the Supreme Court opined that the chief justice of

India should consult a collegium of four senior most judges of the Supreme Court and even if two judges give an adverse opinion, he should not send the recommendation to the government.

• The collegium sends its final recommendation to the President of India for approval. The President can either accept it or reject it. In the case it is rejected, the recommendation comes back to the collegium. If the collegium reiterates its recommendation to the President, then he/she is bound by that recommendation.
• The collegium system has come under a fair amount of criticism.
• In 2015, the parliament passed a law to replace the collegium with a National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC). This was struck down as unconstitutional by the supreme court, in the Fourth Judges’ Case, as the new system would undermine the independence of the judiciary.