National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 28th January 2020

Legislative Council

Topic: Polity and Governance

In News: The Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Monday passed a resolution to pave way for abolition of the Legislative Council.

More on the Topic:

• India has a bicameral system of legislature. Just as Parliament has two Houses, the states can also have a Legislative Council in addition to the Legislative Assembly through Article 169 of the Constitution.
• States having a Legislative Council: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka.
• The Parliament can abolish a legislative council (where it already exists) or create it (where it does not exist) by a simple majority, that is, a majority of the members of each House present and voting, if the legislative assembly of the concerned state, by a special majority, passes a resolution to that effect.
• Under Article 171 of the Constitution, the Legislative Council of a state shall not have more than one-third of the total strength of the State Assembly, and not less than 40 members.
• Like the Rajya Sabha, the legislative council is a continuing chamber, that is, it is a permanent body and is not subject to dissolution. The tenure of a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) is six years, with one-third of the members retiring every two years.
• Powers of the council: The legislative power of the Councils are limited. Unlike Rajya Sabha which has substantial powers to shape non-financial legislation, Legislative Councils lack a constitutional mandate to do so.
• Assemblies can override suggestions/amendments made to legislation by the Council.
• Again, unlike Rajya Sabha MPs, MLCs cannot vote in elections for the President and Vice President. The Vice President is the Rajya Sabha Chairperson while a member from the Council itself is chosen as the Council Chairperson.

Source: Hindu

Air India disinvestment

Topic: Polity and Governance

In News: The government invited bids for a 100% stake in Air India, aiming to finalise a sale of the loss making national carrier by the end of March, after having sweetened the deal by absorbing about two thirds of its debt.

More on the Topic:

Back Ground:

• The first formal attempt at privatising Air India and, at the time, Indian Airlines, in 2000 had elicited interest from the who’s who of India Inc., including the Tata Group, Hinduja Group, L N Mittal, and Videocon Group. But the airlines were not privatised after political opposition from within the then-NDA government.
• Cut to 2018. The NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite all the political will to disinvest its stake in the airline, could not attract a single bidder. The reasons: the Centre’s unwillingness to part with 100% of its holding in the flag carrier, and lack of clarity over the debt being packaged with the airline, among others.
• Less than two years later, the government has tweaked the terms of sale — with room for more changes — and is now putting 100% of its equity in the airline on the block.
• Like the last time, low-cost arm Air India Express and a 50% stake in ground handling joint-venture Air India-SATS are also up for sale. The government has also laid down a principle for calculating debt, which will be bundled with airline, and relaxed the minimum net worth criteria for potential bidders to Rs 3,500 crore from the Rs 5,000 crore in 2018.

What will the new investor get?

• The most attractive proposition in acquiring Air India is the slots and landing rights that it holds at airports such at Delhi, Mumbai, London, New York, Chicago, Paris, etc.
• These could be helpful both to airlines looking to expand into long-haul international operations, and to entities looking to set up global operations from scratch.
• Air India currently operates to 56 Indian cities and 42 international destinations. Several of Air India’s international and domestic routes are profit-generating, while a number of them are loss-making or witness low load factors. This is a legacy problem that the airline comes with for the new promoter.
• The new investor also gets hold of the ground-handling firm AI-SATS, which offers end-to-end ground handling services such as passenger and baggage handling. This would provide the investor with an ancillary services firm with captive use.

How will consumers and employees be impacted?

• The first move by private entity could be pruning of operations to ensure the airline inches closer to profitability.
• This could cause Air India to cease operations on certain loss-making domestic and international routes leading to a rise in fares.
• Air India’s bloated staff strength was flagged by potential investors in the last disinvestment attempt.
• Whether the employees will be retained by the new investor is unclear. The government is expected to provide more clarity on conditions for retaining staff in the request-for-proposal stage, which will come after expressions of interest are received.

Source: Hindu

Coral restoration Technique

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), with help from Gujarat’s forest department, is attempting a process to restore coral reefs using bio-rock or mineral accretion technology.

More on the Topic:

• Biorock is the substance formed by electro accumulation of minerals dissolved in seawater on steel structures that are lowered onto the sea bed and are connected to a power source, in this case solar panels that float on the surface.
• The technology functions by passing a small amount of electrical current through electrodes in the water.
• When a positively charged anode and negatively charged cathode are placed on the sea floor, with an electric current flowing between them, calcium ions combine with carbonate ions and adhere to the structure (cathode).
• This results in calcium carbonate formation. Coral larvae adhere to the CaCO3 and grow quickly.
• Fragments of broken corals are also tied to the biorock structure, where they are able to grow at least four to six times faster than their actual growth as they need not spend their energy in building their own calcium carbonate skeletons.

Source: Hindu

Corona Virus

Topic: Health

In News: The government has set up a 24X7 helpline number to attend to queries about the novel coronavirus (nCov) as number of cases rose across the world.

More on the topic:

• Signs and symptoms: Coughing, Fever, Pneumonia, Shortness of breath, Vomiting, Diarrhea.
• In advanced cases, the patient can have very serious complications, which can lead to death, such as: Sever pneumonia, Renal (Kidney) failure.
• Coronavirus infection is similar to a common cold and typically affects the upper respiratory tract. Symptoms include sore throat, mild headache and fever, cough and cold. The fever can last over two days.

What is novel coronavirus (nCoV)?

• Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from common cold to acute respiratory syndromes. The virus has emerged from a seafood and animal market in China’s Wuhan, and is suspected to have spread to as far as the United States.
• A coronavirus has many “regularly arranged” protrusions on its surface, because of which the entire virus particle looks like an emperor’s crown, hence the name “coronavirus”.
• It is an RNA virus with ribonucleic acid (RNA) as its genetic material instead of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). That means the virus blends with its host’s DNA and can mutate rapidly.
• Due to this property of rapid mutation, coronaviruses can be quite different from one another.
• These can affect humans as well as mammals including pigs, cattle, cats, dogs, martens, camels, hedgehogs and some birds

Model Mains Question: India’s expenditure on healthcare is not adequate and there is a need to increase expenditure on the preventive healthcare front. Discuss.

Source: Indian Express

Comprehensive Bodo Settlement Agreement

Topic: Polity and Governance

In News: The MHA, the Assam government and the Bodo groups have signed an agreement to redraw and rename the Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) in Assam, currently spread over four districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri.

More on the Topic:

• Several Bodo groups led have been demanding a separate land for the ethnic community since 1972, a movement that has claimed nearly 4,000 lives.
• The first Bodo accord was signed with the ABSU in 1993, leading to the creation of a Bodoland Autonomous Council with limited political powers.
• The BTC was created in 2003 with some more financial and other powers.
• The BTAD and other areas mentioned under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution have been exempted from the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

More on the New Agreement:

• As per the agreement, villages dominated by Bodos that were presently outside the BTAD would be included and those with non-Bodo population would be excluded.
• Bodos living in the hills would be conferred a Scheduled Hill Tribe status.
• The BTAD is to be renamed as the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).
• The criminal cases registered against members of the NDFB factions for “non-heinous” crimes shall be withdrawn by the Assam government and in cases of heinous crimes it will be reviewed.
• A Special Development Package of Rs. 1500 Crore would be given by the Centre to undertake specific projects for the development of Bodo areas.
• New Commission: It proposes to set up a commission under Section 14 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution which will recommend the inclusion or exclusion of tribal population residing in villages adjoining BTAD areas.
• In this commission, besides State government, there will be representatives from ABSU and BTC. It will submit its recommendation within six months.
• More Powers: The present settlement has a proposal to give more legislative, executive, administrative and financial powers to BTC.
• The total number of Assembly seats will go up to 60, from the existing 40.
• Bodo Language: The Assam government will also notify Bodo language as an associate official language in the state and will set up a separate directorate for Bodo medium schools.
• Bodo with Devnagri script would be the associate official language for the entire Assam.
• Significance of the agreement: The signing of the agreement would “end the 50-year-old Bodo crisis.”
• Around 1500 cadres of BODO militant factions will be rehabilitated by Centre and Assam Government.

Source: Hindu

PRAGATI Platform

Topic: Government Initiatives

In News: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the 32nd interaction through PRAGATI- the ICT-based, multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation in New Delhi. In the previous thirty-one interactions of PRAGATI, projects worth over twelve lakh crores have been reviewed by the Prime Minister.

More on the Topic:

• Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation ( PRAGATI) was launched in 2015.
• It is a multi-purpose and multi-modal platform that is aimed at addressing common person’s grievances.
• It also simultaneously monitor and review important programmes and projects of the Government of India as well as projects flagged by State Governments.
• The PRAGATI platform uniquely bundles three latest technologies: Digital data management, video-conferencing and geo-spatial technology.
• A three-tier system involves PMO, Union Government Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries of the States.
• Through this platform PM holds a monthly programme with the Government of India Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries through Video-conferencing enabled by data and geo-informatics visuals.
• The programme will be held once in every month on Fourth Wednesday at 3.30 PM-to be known as PRAGATI Day.

Source: PIB

GATI Portal

Topic: Government Initiatives

In News: Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry launched online web portal ‘GATI’ on the pattern of ‘PRAGATI’, the portal.

More on the Topic:

• GATI Portal has been created by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
• The portal ‘GATI’ can be accessed from NHAI’s website, and contractors and concessionaires can raise any project-related issues on the platform.
• The issues raised on ‘GATI’ will be daily monitored by a team of NHAI officers and will be constantly reviewed by the senior officers of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Source: Hindu