National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 21st November 2018

India Singapore Defence Ministers Dialogue

Topic: International Relations

IN NEWS: Joint press conference with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Defence Minister of Republic of Singapore was held at the ENC headquarters, it was held as part of the ongoing 25th Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) and the third Defence Ministers’ dialogue between the two countries.

More on the Topic:

• Defence Minister of Republic of Singapore said they strongly support India’s deep engagement with the ASEAN member-States’ participation in patrols along the Straits of Malacca with Singapore, and look forward to the inaugural conduct of the trilateral maritime exercise with Thailand in the Andaman Sea.
• Both the Ministers agreed on the importance of sea lines communication and maintaining freedom of navigation and overflight, consistent with the international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
• The Ministers also agreed on the importance of international cooperation in tackling transnational security threats and, in particular, measures to collectively tackle the threat of terrorism.
• Both the countries had come to an understanding to share intelligence and information, particularly in the areas of maritime security and counter terrorism, and expand collaboration on submarine safety and rescue.
• Both the countries expressed optimism in the Shangri-La Dialogue

Malacca strait:

• The Strait of Malacca is a narrow, 550 mi (890 km) stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
• As the main shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, it is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world. It is named after the Malacca Sultanate that ruled over the archipelago between 1400 and 1511.
• It links major Asian economies such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, China, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea.
• Over 94,000 vessels pass through the strait each year (2008) making it the busiest strait in the world,carrying about 25% of the world’s traded goods, including oil, Chinese manufactured products, coal, palm oil and Indonesian coffee.

Source:The Hindu

India, Russia to build stealth frigates

Topic: International Relations

In news: India signed a $500 mn deal with Russia to locally manufacture two stealth frigates with technology transfer. The agreement was signed between Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) and Rosoboronexport of Russia.

More on the topic:

• The $500 mn deal is for material, design and specialists assistance from Russia for the two ships. Balance work will be done by GSL, and it will have a whole lot of Indian equipment including BrahMos missiles.
• The cost of the engines for the ships which would come directly from Ukraine and the cost of constructing them at GSL are in addition. While the ships are built by Russia, the engines are supplied by Zorya Nashproekt of Ukraine. Four gas turbine engines, gear boxes and specialist support will cost around $50 mn per ship.
• India had earlier procured six frigates weighing 4000 tonnes of the same class in two different batches, the Talwar class and the upgraded Teg class. The four ships to be built will weigh 300 tonnes more than the earlier ones.

Brahmos Missiles

• The BrahMos is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft, or land.
• It is the fastest cruise missile in the world.
• It is a joint venture between the Russian Federation’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) who together have formed BrahMos Aerospace.
• The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.

Source:The Hindu

Board committees to assist RBI

Topic: Indian Economy

In news: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to get a makeover in line with its global counterparts, with several board committees to be formed on various aspects like technology, risk management, banking regulation, supervision, among others, to assist the central bank in its operations.

More on the Topic:

• The aim of forming board committees is to move to a system of rule-based decision making from the present discretion-based one.
• The move is also seen to make the RBI management accountable to the board and making the board more hands-on. Till now, the board has not been involved in any policy-related matters but is engaged in providing a broader vision to the regulator.

Source:The Hindu

BASIC nations push for ‘climate finance’

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In news: Ahead of the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) in December, Environment Ministers and top climate change negotiators from Brazil, South Africa, China and India (BASIC) convened in Delhi and said the countries — as a group — would continue to push for developed countries on their earlier commitment to providing $100 billion annually from 2020.

More on the Topic

• This year’s edition of the COP — the 24th such meeting — will see representatives from at least 190 countries, think-tanks, and activists converge in Katowice, Poland from December 2 to 14 to try to agree on a Rule Book that will specify how countries will agree to take forward commitments taken at the 21st COP in Paris in 2015.
• Ministers reiterated that public finance is the fulcrum of enhanced climate ambition by developing countries and urged developed countries to fulfil their climate finance commitments of mobilising USD 100 billion per annum by 2020.
• They encouraged developed countries to progressively and substantially scale up their financial support and finalise a new collective finance goal to inform parties for future action through NDCs (nationally determined contributions)”.
• In the run-up to the climate conference, India has had meetings with several countries to firm up a key plank of the forthcoming negotiations on transparency. That is, what would be the mechanism in place for countries to reporting their emissions inventory, steps taken and how other countries could be certain that this was being done truthfully and that this data passed agree-upon norms of quality.

Paris climate deal:

• The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance, starting in the year 2020.
• The agreement’s language was negotiated by representatives of 196 state parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Le Bourget, near Paris, France, and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015.
• As of November 2018, 195 UNFCCC members have signed the agreement, and 184 have become party to it.
• The Paris Agreement’s long-term goal is to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels; and to limit the increase to 1.5 °C, since this would substantially reduce the risks and effects of climate change.
• Under the Paris Agreement, each country must determine, plan, and regularly report on the contribution that it undertakes to mitigate global warming. The NDCs are the commitments made by countries to adapt to climate change and reduce emissions.
• No mechanism forces a country to set a specific target by a specific date,but each target should go beyond previously set targets.

Source:The Hindu

Odisha House passes 33% reservation for women

Topic: Polity and Governance

In news: The Odisha Assembly on passed a resolution by unanimous voice vote for providing 33% reservation for women in Legislative Assemblies and Parliament. Chief Min-ister Naveen Patnaik had initiated discussion on the motion.

More on the Topic:

• Patnaik, known for initiating women-focussed programmes, said that no household, no society, no State, no country has ever moved forward without empowering its women. He appealed to the legislators to extend their support and adopt the resolution unanimously.

Significance of Women Reservation:

• Stating their findings in The Print, here are what the researchers involved in the study say:
• Women legislators in India raise the economic performance in their constituencies by about 1.8 percentage points per year more than male legislators.
• Women are more effective at completing road projects and hence creating infrastructure.
• Women legislators are significantly less likely than men to be carrying criminal charges. They are also slightly younger on average.
• Evidence suggests that women legislators are less likely than men to exploit their office for personal financial gain.
• On the subject of economic growth, women legislators do a lot better than men in constituencies located in less-developed states, thus making their contribution more valuable.
• Poor participation of women in Parliament has a direct impact on the priorities and assumptions of policies and legislations. There will be a qualitative change in governance with the inclusion of women in decision-making processes.
• Political parties will have to, or will soon be forced to, recognise that if Parliament does not reflect contemporary trends in women’s education and excellence in varied fields, they will face a crisis of credibility.

Source:The Hindu

New species of Indian horned frogs from Himalayan regions:

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In news: Scientists have discovered four new species of Indian horned frogs from Himalayan regions of Northeast India.

More on the Topic:

• Horned frogs get their name from fleshy horn-like projection on upper eyelids of some species.
• They were discovered in the forests of Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Scientists have named them as Himalayan horned frog (Megophrys himalayana), Garo white-lipped horned frog (Megophrys oreocrypta); Yellow spotted white-lipped horned frog (Megophrys flavipunctata) and Giant Himalayan horned frog (Megophrys periosa).
• These frogs vary in size — yellow spotted white-lipped horned frog measures about 5.7-7.5 cm and is smallest among four. Giant Himalayan horned frog measures about 7.1 to 11.2 cm, making it largest of 15 horned frog species found in Northeast India.

Source:TOI

Kambala

Topic: Art and Culture

In news: The coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi are all set for the kambala. The races would be held under the auspices of the District Kambala Committee.

More on the Topic:

• Kambla in its traditional form is non-competitive with buffalo pairs made to race one after another in paddy fields, which is considered a thanksgiving to the Gods for protecting the animals from diseases.
• Over the years, it has however become an organised sport with animal rights activists claiming that the buffaloes run in the race due to fear of being beaten, which the organizers dismiss, saying no violence is involved and that several modifications had been made to ensure that it is an animal friendly event.
• Karnataka government had promulgated Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 on July 20 last year. The President gave his assent to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Bill making Kambala a legal rural sport in Karnataka. The Bill seeks to exempt kambala and bullock-cart racing from the ambit of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960.

Source:The Hindu