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

International Court of Justice

Topic: Important international organizations

In News: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will hold public hearings in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case  at The Hague during which India and Pakistan will present their arguments.

More on the Topic:

• Jadhav, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. India moved the ICJ a month later. A 10-member Bench of the ICJ on May 18, 2017 restrained Pakistan from executing Mr. Jadhav till adjudication of the case.

International Court of Justice:

•  The International Court of Justice (abbreviated ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN).
• It settles legal disputes between member states and gives advisory opinions to authorized UN organs and specialized agencies.
• It comprises a panel of 15 judges elected by the General Assembly and Security Council for nine-year terms. It is seated in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands.
• Elections are staggered, with five judges elected every three years to ensure continuity within the court. Should a judge die in office, the practice has generally been to elect a judge in a special election to complete the term.
• No two judges may be nationals of the same country.
• There is an informal understanding that the seats will be distributed by geographic regions so that there are five seats for Western countries, three for African states (including one judge of francophone civil law, one of Anglophone common law and one Arab), two for Eastern European states, three for Asian states and two for Latin American and Caribbean states.

Source:Hindu

Black Buck

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: Black bucks of Punjab’s Abohar Wildlife Sanctuary  are facing barbed wires and attack of stray dogs as new threat.

More on the Topic:

• In 2019, so far, as many as eight blackbuck have died in the AWS, and a majority of them succumbed to their injuries, caused by barbed wires while trying to escape from stray dogs.
• Other unnatural reasons for blackbuck deaths include road accidents and falling into water storage tanks and concrete drains.
• For the blackbuck, Punjab’s State animal, it’s a fight for existence at the AWS in Fazilka district. It faces a severe threat from stray cattle, attacks by stray dogs, and habitat fragmentation due to change in land use and cropping patterns over the past few years.

About Black Buck:

• The blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), also known as the Indian antelope, is an antelope found in India, Nepal and Pakistan. The blackbuck is the sole extant member of the genus Antilope.
• The antelope is native to and found mainly in India, while it is extinct in Bangladesh. Formerly widespread, only small, scattered herds are seen today, largely confined to protected areas. During the 20th century, blackbuck numbers declined sharply due to excessive hunting, deforestation and habitat degradation.
• In India, hunting of blackbuck is prohibited under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. The blackbuck has significance in Hinduism; Indian and Nepali villagers do not harm the antelope.
• Bishnoi community is associated with protection of Black Buck.

Source: The Hindu

Exercise Vayushakthi

Topic: Internal Security

In News: The Air Force carried out a mega exercise involving 140 fighter jets and attack helicopters, in a firepower demonstration close to the border with Pakistan that came two days after the Pulwama attack.

More on the Topic:

• In the Vayu Shakti exercise, the IAF showcased firepower capability of indigenously-developed platforms like Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and efficacy of Akash surface-to-air missile and Astra air-to-air missile.
• The IAF also deployed the upgraded MiG-29 fighter jet in an air-to-ground role during the exercise. A total of 137 aircraft including Sukhoi-30s, Mirage 2000s, Jaguars, Mig-21 Bison, Mig-27, Mig-29, IL78, Hercules and AN-32 aircraft participated.

Source: The Hindu

Govt issues guidelines to set up EV charging stations

Topic: Infrastructure Development

In News: The government has issued a set of guidelines to set up charging stations for electric vehicles across the country, outlining ways to build such fuelling points every 25 km.

More on the Topic:

• According to the Union Housing an Urban Affairs Ministry, the government expects 25 per cent of the total vehicles on roads will be electric vehicles by 2030, necessitating to erect robust electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure across the country.
• The ministry has made amendments to the Model Building Byelaws (MBBL) 2016 and Urban Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines 2014, making provisions for establishing EV charging infrastructure.
• For long range and heavy-duty electric vehicles, there should be at least one station on each side of the highway every 100 kilometers.
• The government has also advocated for charging points in residential areas.
• It also stated a public charging station should be on both sides of the highways or roads on every 25 km.
• “The guidelines on Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure have been circulated to all the State Governments and UT Administrations with the request to amend their Building Byelaws and Master Plan Regulations

Source:The Hindu

CAG Report on Rafale Deal

Topic: Economy

In News: The report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India on acquisition of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France was recently tabled in Parliament.

More on the topic:

• Rafale is a twin-engine Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA).Tenders for 126 MMRCA fighters were issued by India in 2007.
• It was an open competition between companies, including Dassault Aviation of France.Dassault was announced as the lowest bidder in 2012.
• But on Indian PM’s visit to France in 2015, India’s intention to buy 36 Rafale aircraft in “fly-away” condition was announced.The Defence Minister announced the previous 126 fighter jet deal to be dead.

The CAG Report:

• The CAG report has examined the €7.87-bn deal for 36 Rafale aircraft signed between India and France in 2016.
• The purpose is to assess if the objectives of Indo-French joint statement and the objectives set out for INT (Indian Negotiating Team) by DAC (Defence Acquisition Council) were achieved in the deal.
• The CAG had to compare the latest deal for 36 Rafale with the price bid by Dassault for 126 Rafale jets in 2007.
• It did this by converting the earlier deal into an equivalent cost for 36 aircraft in 2016.The question of 50% offsets in the deal, which has been at the centre of a major controversy, has not been dealt by the CAG.
• It will form part of a separate report by the CAG on offsets in all the deals.

Findings of The Report:

• The CAG report concludes that the 2016 agreement is slightly better in terms of both pricing and delivery than the 2007 deal.
• Price comparison – The 2016 deal through IGA (Inter-Governmental Agreement) is 2.86% cheaper than the earlier UPA (United Progressive Alliance) regime deal.
• On the Rafale’s India Specific Enhancements (ISE), which cost more than €1.3 billion of the €7.87 billion deal, the CAG stated that there was a saving of 17.08%.
• Delivery schedule – There was an improvement of one month in the 2016 contract (71 instead of 72 months for the earlier bid).
• Absence of bank guarantee – The 2007 offer from Dassault had costs of bank guarantee embedded in its offer.But there is no such guarantee in the 2016 contract which is a “saving” for Dassault.This sum should have been passed on to the Indian government, the audit observed.
• 126 to 36 – By reducing aircrafts to be bought from 126 to 36, there is a wide gap in the operational preparedness of the IA
• But the CAG could not find any proposal with the Defence Ministry for filling this gap.
• Ministry of Defence had reportedly informed CAG that it had issued a fresh Request For Information (RFI) for new fighter aircraft to fill this gap.
• Government claims – One of the government’s claims was that each basic aircraft (without enhancements) was 9% cheaper in the 2016 deal.
• But the audit concluded that there was no difference between the 2007 and the 2016 offer in this regard.

Concerns:

• The report comes amidst varied revelations about possible lapses and deviations in the Rafale deal.
• But the audit report is less likely to bring closure to the controversy over the deal as it does not clarify all the doubts about the deal.
• The original issue of bringing down the total acquisition from 126 to 36 aircraft was not given much attention.
• The CAG’s assessment of savings in India Specific Enhancements (ISE) to be around 17% is also not properly documented and needs deeper examinations.
• The report, in all, stresses on the fact that the defence acquisition processes in India require reforms and streamlining.

Source: The Hindu

Kelp forest

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: Climate change could lead to declines of underwater kelp forests through impacts on their micro biome.It was predicted that ocean warming and acidification can change microbes on the kelp surface, leading to disease and potentially putting fisheries at risk.

More on the Topic:

• Kelp Forests are underwater ecosystems formed in shallow water by the dense growth of several different species known as kelps.
• Kelps are actually extremely large brown algae, although they look like plants.
• They thrive in cold, nutrient-rich waters.
• Kelp attaches to the seafloor and eventually grows to the water’s surface and relies on sunlight to generate food and energy.
• Kelps live further from the tropics than coral reefs, mangrove forests, and warm-water seagrass beds, so kelp forests do not overlap with those systems.

Source: The Hindu

Luira Phanit

Topic: Culture

In News: Luira Phanit is one of the most important festivals of the Tangkhuls Naga.

More on the Topic:

• Tangkhuls are a major Naga ethnic group living in the Indo-Burma border area occupying the Ukhrul district in Manipur.
• It is a traditional seed sowing festival which is famous for song ,dance and food.
• It also remains the greatest agriculture festival celebrated by the Tangkhuls.
• It is also called as ‘pork eating festival’ as a pig or cattle is killed during the festival.

Source: The Hindu