National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 22nd February 2019

EC allots symbols

Topic: Polity and Governance

In News: Twenty-seven registered unrecognised political parties have been allotted symbols ranging from chappals, tea filter and chapati roller to gas stove and phone charger, for the coming Lok Sabha election.

About Election Commission of India:

• The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes in India. The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies in India, and the offices of the President and Vice President in the country.
• The Election Commission operates under the authority of Constitution per Article 324,and subsequently enacted Representation of the People Act.
• The commission has the powers under the Constitution, to act in an appropriate manner when the enacted laws make insufficient provisions to deal with a given situation in the conduct of an election.
• Being a constitutional authority, Election Commission is amongst the few institutions which function with both autonomy and freedom, along with the country’s higher judiciary, the Union Public Service Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Functions:

• One of the most important features of the democratic policy is elections at regular intervals.
• In every election, it issues a Model code of Conduct for political parties and candidates to conduct elections in a free and fair manner. The commission issued the code for the first time in 1971 for the 5th Lok Sabha elections and revised it from time to time. It lays down guidelines for the conduct of political parties and candidates during an election period.
• A law regarding the registration process for political parties was enacted in 1989 and a number of parties got registered with the commission.The registration helps avoid confusion ensures that the political parties are brought under the purview of the commission.
• The election commission has the right to allow symbols to the political parties.
• It gives recognition to the national parties, state parties and regional parties.
• It set limits on poll expenses.
• The commission prepare electoral rolls and update the voter’s list from time to time. Notifications of dates and schedules of election for filing nominations are issued by the commission.

Model Mains Question: Analyse the evolution of election commission of India as a strong independent constitutional body?

Source: The Hindu

UN Security Council condemns Pulwama attack

Topic: International Relations

In News: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC)  issued a statement, condemning the Pulwama attack and underlining the need to hold those responsible accountable. Significantly Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has been named on the statement as having taken responsibility for the attack.

More on the Topic:

• The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly suicide bombing in Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in over 40 Indian paramilitary forces dead and dozens wounded on February 14, 2019.
• UN Secretary General António Guterres had called on India and Pakistan to defuse tensions and for “meaningful mutual engagement.”

About United Nations Security Council:

• The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), charged with the maintenance of international peace and security as well as accepting new members to the United Nations and approving any changes to its United Nations Charter.
• Its powers include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action through Security Council resolutions; it is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states. The Security Council held its first session on 17 January 1946.
• The Security Council consists of fifteen members. The great powers that were the victors of World War II—the Soviet Union (now represented by Russia), the United Kingdom, France, China, and the United States—serve as the body’s five permanent members.
• These permanent members can veto any substantive Security Council resolution, including those on the admission of new member states or candidates for Secretary-General.
• The Security Council also has 10 non-permanent members, elected on a regional basis to serve two-year terms. The body’s presidency rotates monthly among its members.

Model Mains Question: How effective has been UNSC in addressing some of pressing security challenges faced by raising extremism across the world? In the light of its mandate, critically comment.

Source: The Hindu

India-Asean Expo and Summit

Topic: International Relations

In News: Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, inaugurated the 4th India-ASEAN Expo and Summit 2019 in New Delhi.

More on the Topic:

• The India-ASEAN Expo Summit is organised with FICCI to carry forward the momentum and to further strengthen India-ASEAN relations under the Act-East Policy.
• The 4th India-ASEAN Expo and Summit aim to build upon the success of the previous edition of ASEAN-India Business and Investment Meet and Expo which was held in 2018 as a precursor to India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit.
• The Summit aims to provide a platform for the policy makers, industry captains and business leaders to come together and forge a common vision for India and ASEAN’s mutual growth and progress.
• The Expo Summit provides a platform for buyer-seller meetings to provide business leaders with an opportunity to closely interact with their counterparts and consolidate B2B and B2G relations.
• The summit will host various Plenary Sessions on sectoral engagements with ASEAN which will be attended by the Ministers and other eminent delegates from ASEAN and India.

ASEAN:

• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a regional intergovernmental organization comprising ten countries in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration among its members and other countries in Asia.
• It also regularly engages other countries in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. ASEAN maintains a global network of alliances and dialogue partners and is considered by many as a global powerhouse, the central union for cooperation in Asia-Pacific, and a prominent and influential organisation.
• It is involved in numerous international affairs, and hosts diplomatic missions throughout the world.

Source: The Hindu

Indus Waters Treaty 1960

Topic: Neighborhood relations

In News: Pakistan said it is not concerned about India’s decision to stop its share of water that used to flow to Pakistan.

More on the Topic:

• The Indus system comprises of main Indus River, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. The basin is mainly shared by India and Pakistan with a small share for China and Afghanistan.
• Under the Indus Waters Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, all the waters of three rivers, namely Ravi,Sutlej and Beas ( Eastern Rivers)averaging around 33 million acre feet ( MAF) were allocated to India for exclusive use.
• The waters of Western rivers – Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab averaging to around 135 MAF were allocated to Pakistan except for specified domestic , non-consumptive and agricultural use permitted to India as provided in the Treaty.
• India has also been given the right to generate hydroelectricity through run of the river(RoR) projects on the Western Rivers which, subject to specific criteria for design and operation is unrestricted.
• To utilize the waters of the Eastern rivers which have been allocated to India for exclusive use, India has constructed Bhakra Dam on Satluj, Pong and Pandoh Dam on Beas and Thein (Ranjitsagar) on Ravi.
• These storage works, together with other works like Beas-Sutlej Link, Madhopur-Beas Link, Indira Gandhi Nahar Project etc has helped India utilize nearly entire share (95 %) of waters of Eastern rivers.

Source:The Hindu

Seoul Peace Prize

Topic: Awards

In News: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred the prestigious Seoul Peace Prize for 2018  for his contribution to international cooperation and fostering global economic growth.

Findings of the report:

• The Seoul Peace Prize was established in 1990 as a biennial recognition with monetary award to commemorate the success of the 24th Summer Olympic Games held in Seoul, Korea, an event in which 160 nations from across the world took part, creating harmony and friendship.
• The Seoul Peace Prize was established to reflect the wishes of the Korean people and to crystallize their desire for everlasting peace on earth. The nominating group consists of 300 Korean nationals, and 800 internationals. The awardee receives a diploma, a plaque and honorarium of US$200,000.

Source:The Hindu

ATL Drone Module

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Drona Aviation, an IIT Bombay start-up, launched the ‘ATL Drone module: Get, Set, Go’ for Atal Tinkering Labs at the ongoing Aero India 2019 in Bengaluru.

More on the Topic:

• With the ATL Drone Module, young students of India will learn how to create their own drones and use them for solving community problems in India.
• In the age of the Fourth industrial revolution, drones are one of the most promising technologies integrating the concepts of physics, maths, chemistry, engineering and sensor technologies creating a tremendous range of innovative solutions that can be developed using them.
• The ATL Drone Module aims at building open source community of tinkerers who will learn and buid on drone ideas to showcase their many possible application.

About ATAL Innovation Mission:

• The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is the Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.
• AIM is mandated to create an umbrella structure to oversee innovation ecosystem of the country and revolutionizing the innovation eco-system – touching upon the entire innovation life cycle through various programs.

Source: The Hindu

Operation Digital Board

Topic: Government Policies

In News: Union Human Resource Development Ministry has launched Operation Digital Board to leverage technology in order to boost quality education in the country.

More on the Topic:

• ODB aims at converting a class room into a digital class room and provide e-resources at any time and at any place to students.
• The digital board will be introduced all over the country in government and government aided schools from class 9th onwards as well as in higher education institutions.
• The Operation Digital Board (ODB) will be implemented in the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Source: PIB