1

Current affairs (33) RICE-IAS ACADEMY

22.06.2017- 30.06.2017

NATION

DRAG seeks rollback of GST on disability aids

The Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG) has demanded a complete rollback of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on aids and appliances used by persons with disabilities (PwDs).

Background:

The Central government has proposed a 12% GST on Braille paper, hearing aids and Braille watches, and 18% levy on Braille typewriters and cars for disabled persons.

Bengaluru firm 1st in India to deliver diesel at home

Bengaluru has become the country's first city where one can have fuel delivered at one's doorstep

Mypetrolpump, a one-year-old startup, conducted a soft launch with three delivery vehicles each with a capacity of 950 litres

Diesel is delivered at the day's running price with a fixed delivery charge.

MoU moots ties with Mauritius Parliament

India and Mauritius signed a pact to institutionalise cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Speaker of National Assembly of Mauritius Santi Bai Hanoomanjee after their meeting

Suvidha Providers told to get systems audited in line with ISO standard

IT backbone, i.e. GST Network (GSTN), held a meeting with 34 GST Suvidha Providers (GSPs), wherein it was agreed to release the Application Programme Interface (API) in a staggered manner.

Security aspects of GSPs were discussed and they were told to get their systems audited as per the prevailing ISO standard on security from one of the auditors on the panel of CERT-IN before they connect with and start pushing data into the GST system.

The requirement of GSPs being secure and, in turn, ensuring security of the GST system was also highlighted and emphasised, a finance ministry statement said.

There are 34 GSPs that have been selected by GSTN to provide additional channel of filing returns and other compliances related to GST.

The GSPs will assist taxpayers in interacting with GST systems, from registration of entity to uploading of invoice details to filing of returns under the new regime.

GSTN has also come up with an offline tool where data on invoices (business to business), exports, supplies to consumers etc., which are required to create GSTR-1 can be entered in an excel sheet in offline mode.

The tool can be run to upload all such data on the portal. Only while uploading the data on GST portal, internet connectivity will be required.

The offline tool will be provided free of cost and taxpayers will be able to download it from the GST portal (www.gst.gov.in) from last week of June.

GSTN will also release the format of excel in which businesses will start maintaining the data from July 1 for using the offline tool for uploading the invoice data and other return data.

Taxpayers using offline tool will not require services of any GSPs.

2

DMIT, a Trending Scientific Procedure to Test One's Inborn Intelligences

A new method called Dermatoglyphic Multiple Intelligence Test (DMIT) is being used to evaluate one's inborn intelligences through simple biometrics, where fingerprints will let you know what career plans your talent indicates.

Key facts:

After a simple method of collecting fingerprints of all the fingers of a child, the results of ridges are then manually counted and a detailed analysis is done with the help of software.

According to dermatoglyphic experts, thumb print tells about action and execution; index finger logic and creativity;

Middle finger limb motor ability and art appreciation;

Ring power of voice recognition;

Little finger text image discerning

WORLD

Mohammed bin Salman as first heir to throne

Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s ambitious 31-year-old defence minister, was made heir to the throne

He gained the title of crown prince at the expense of his older cousin, Mohammed bin Nayaf

NASAtestsflexiblesolararrayonspacestation

NASA is testing for the first time the effectiveness of a flexible solar array on space station that could one day power satellites and spacecraft.

The Roll-Out Solar Array, or ROSA, an advanced, flexible solar array that rolls out like a tape measure “can be easily adapted to different sizes for a variety of future spacecraft

It also has the potential to make solar arrays more compact and lighter weight for satellite radio and television, weather forecasting, GPS and other services used on the Earth.

In addition, the technology conceivably could be adapted to provide solar power in remote locations.

NATION In 7 years, India's population will surpass China's

According to a UN report. in seven years Indians will cross the 1.44 billion mark and the nation will go on to have a bigger population than China.

The report is titled as, “The World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision,” It recorded two other dramatic facts:

1.The fertility rate for India has more than halved over the last 50 years to 2.3,

2.While Indians have added almost a decade to their life expectancy in the past 25 year and it is now nearly 69 years.

3

The total fertility rate for India, measured as the number of children born to a woman, has fallen from 4.97 during 1975-80 to 2.3 for the current period of 2015-20.

By 2025-30 it is expected to go down to 2.1 and slide to 1.86 during 2045-50 and 1.78 during 2095-2100, the report projects.

A fertility rate of about 2.2 is generally considered the replacement level, the rate at which the population will hold steady, and when the rate dips below this number, the population will decline.

During 1990-1995 life expectancy for Indians was 59.2 years and during the current period of 2015-20, it has reached 68.9 years.

The current world population of 7.6 billion is projected to hit 8.6 billion by 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050

and 11.2 billion at the turn of the century. Govt to launch National Data Repository on June 28 The government will next week launch Indias maiden National Data Repository (NDR) that will assimilate, preserve and upkeep country’s vast sedimentary data for future use in oil and gas exploration and production.

The NDR will be wholly funded by the government of India and housed with the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH).

Under the open acreage licensing (OAL), companies can visit NDR and look at vast seismic data of currently producing fields and explored areas as also those of unexplored areas, official sources said.

From the areas that are not under any licensee, they can then carve out an area suitable to them and evince interest in doing exploration and production.

Once an area is selected, the government will put it up for bidding and any firm offering the maximum share of oil or gas produced from the area would be awarded the block.

Facebook offers new privacy tools for Indian users

Facebook have added two new features — ‘profile picture guard’ and ‘profile picture design’ which will give people in India more control over their images.

The profile picture guard, when applied, will display a blue border and shield around the profile picture.

People will not be able to do the following things:

Download and share the profile picture.

send it as a message.

share it on an external platform.

right click or long press

take a screen shot of the profile picture

Facebook developed the new tools in partnership with Indian organisations such as Centre for Social Research, Learning Links Foundation, Breakthrough and Youth Ki Awaaz.

The company also partnered with Jessica Singh, an illustrator who took inspiration from traditional Indian textile designs such as bandhni and kantha, to create designs for people to add to their profile picture.

Meira Kumar to contest against Kovind

RBI expands oversight committee

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has expanded its Oversight Committee — formed to advice banks on stressed asset resolution — by adding three more members, taking the total to five.

4

S. Raman and M.B.N. Rao, both former Canara Bank chairman and manging director, and former L&T Finance Holdings chairman Y. M. Deosthalee, are the new members. Former SBI managing director, Janki Ballabh, is the other member.

The committee is headed by former chief vigilance commissioner, Pradeep Kumar.

Ashok Patnaik to be new CEO of NATGRID

The NATGRID, a network aimed at sharing information about terrorists among security agencies, will now be getting access to the Income Tax Department's PAN records and individual taxpayers' data.

The ambitious project conceived by the then Home Minister P Chidambaram during UPA II rule will soon be getting new powers to access tax payers' information after it signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Income Tax department.

Ashok Patnaik, a senior IPS officer, is being appointed as the CEO of NATGRID The department will also share with the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) all information

available in the department's database regarding residential and office addresses, addresses for communication, email addresses and phone and mobile numbers of all the taxpayers

The MoU with the NATGRID that functions under the Union home ministry will also include confidentially clause so that transfer of personal data is safe.

A low inflation, why?

In line with the RBI’s projection for the first half of FY 2018, the consumer price index inflation dipped below the 2.5 per cent mark to record just 2.18 per cent in May 2017 — a five-year low.

How has the decline been?

Inflation has declined over the last three years, the fall particularly noticeable over the last one year. From 8.33 per cent three years ago (in May 2014), it fell to 5.76 per cent in May 2016. After dropping below the 4 per cent mark in October 2016, the downward trajectory continued and in April it crossed the 3-per-cent to reach 2.99 per cent. The decline in May has been sharp, with a fall to 2.18 per cent.

5

What has led to this decline?

Food and beverages, which account for 45.86 per cent in the CPI index, have been at the centre of this decline. The food-and-beverages inflation has witnessed a sharp decline over the last one year. From around 9 per cent in May 2014, it came down to 7.2 per cent in May 2016. Over the last one year, it fell sharply and in April 2017 was 1.29 per cent before hitting a low of -0.22 in May 2017. The decline has also been propelled by a high base effect.

Within the basket of food and beverages, the sharp fall in inflation was led by a deflation in the prices for pulses and vegetables. While pulses (-19.45%) and vegetables (-13.44%) led the fall, low inflation on other items such as eggs (0.72%), fruits (1.4%) and spices (0.52%) too contributed to bringing CPI inflation down to 2.18 per cent. A report prepared by SBI group chief economic adviser Soumya Kanti Ghosh points out that vegetable prices are in the negative territory for the ninth straight month and pulse prices for the sixth straight month.

Core inflation (CPI excluding food, fuel and light, petrol and diesel), however, saw only moderate easing to 4.1%, compared with 4.2% in April, as inflation stayed stubbornly high in housing (4.8%) and education (4.9%).

Is inflation expected to remain at low levels?

There seems to be a broad consensus that inflation may remain at current levels for a couple of months more. However, even as it is expected to climb up in the second half, it is expected to be under 5 per cent. In its monetary policy announcement earlier this month, the RBI had projected that the headline inflation would be in the range 2.0-3.5 per cent in the first half of the year and 3.5-4.5 per cent in the second half. The SBI projected that while the CPI is expected to go under 2 per cent for the next two months, it will start climbing but will stay below 4% until November.

While accepting that the inflation numbers are lower than his expectations, D K Joshi, chief economist with Crisil, said that he expects inflation to be at current levels in the first half but to climb in the second half and possibly breach 4% by the end of FY ’18.

If the prices of pulses are reeling under the impact of a supply glut caused by record output and imports, the prices of vegetables have fallen markedly on account of significantly higher arrivals in mandis relative to the seasonal pattern. With IMD upgrading its initial forecast from 96% of the long period average (LPA) to 98%, the expectation is that it will have a positive impact on agricultural growth and in turn will impact food inflation. Even the SBI note points out that most inflation risks are now on the downside.

Will this lead to a rate cut?

Experts say that the RBI is not expected to take a call on rate cut based on April and May inflation figures. However, they expect rate cuts between 25 basis points and 50 basis points. While Joshi said that RBI may go for a 25-basis-point cut in repo rates this fiscal, Ashish Parthasarthy, head of treasury at HDFC Bank, said given the current inflation numbers in relation to what was expected, “There is room for a rate cut and I think that there is a room for up to a 50-basis-point cut in repo rates in this financial year.”

6

Also, given that industrial output slipped to 4-month low in February, mainly on account of a decline in the manufacturing sector and lower offtake of capital as well as consumer goods, the RBI would be under greater pressure to lower rates at its next review.

ThreenewsitesrecognisedasbiodiversityhotspotsinGoa

BirdLife International, a conservation organisation, has recognised three new sites in Goa as hotspots for protection. The sites have been added to their list of “Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas”.

The inclusion of these ecological hotspots in a new book come after systematic data collection by the Goa Bird Conservation Network (GBCN)

Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National Park, Carambolim Wetlands, Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary and Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary.

The list has now added Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, Navelim Wetlands and Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary.

The extent of Carambolim Wetland has been increased to include the fragile ecosystem of Dhado, which has recently become a wintering ground for many species of migratory birds

INTERNATIONAL

Myanmar city seeks heritage status

Myanmar is striving to enlist Bagan, a famous ancient city with thousands of religious edifices and pagodas, as a World Cultural Heritage site.

About:

Geographically, Bagan comprises two areas — Upper Bagan and Lower Bagan. The city was established by descendants of Pyu and attained rapid development after Buddhism had flourished.

The stupas, temples, caves, tunnels and monasteries of different sizes and designs were constructed by the royal families and people around Bagan and Nyaung U between 11th and 13th centuries.

With over 3,000 Buddhist temples, monasteries, stupas and monuments compacted into one area, Bagan is a home to Buddhist architectures signifying the unique morals adorning interior walls of the religious edifices.

Panel to study free movement along Myanmar border

The Union Home Ministry has constituted another committee to examine methods to curb the misuse of free movement along the Myanmar border, indicating a significant shift in India’s policy towards Myanmar

Key facts:

India and Myanmar share an unfenced border of 1,643 km. Free movement regime is being misused by militants and trans-border criminals who smuggle

weapons, contraband goods and fake Indian currency notes. Taking advantage of the free-movement regime, occasionally they enter India, commit crimes and

escape to their relatively safer hideouts.

‘India has 14.4 mn children with obesity’

India has the second highest number of obese children in the world after China, according to a study that has found that 14.4 million children in the country have excess weight.

7

China had 15.3 million children with obesity and India 14.4 million.

Among adults, the U.S. topped the list with 79.4 million people with obesity and China came second with 57.3 million people.

Of the four million deaths attributed to excess body weight in 2015, nearly 40% occurred among people whose body mass index (BMI) fell below the threshold considered “obese”.

The study, which spans 195 countries and territories from 1980 through 2015, includes analyses of other studies on the effects of excess weight and potential links between high BMI and cancer.

The prevalence of obesity has doubled since 1980 in more than 70 countries and has increased in most other nations

On Nuclear Waste, Finland Shows U.S. How It Can Be Done

Beneath a forested patch of land on the Gulf of Bothnia, at the bottom of a steep tunnel that winds for three miles through granite bedrock, Finland is getting ready to entomb its nuclear waste.

If all goes well, sometime early in the next decade the first of what will be nearly 3,000 sealed copper canisters, each up to 17 feet long and containing about two tons of spent reactor fuel from Finland’s nuclear power industry, will be lowered into a vertical borehole in a side tunnel about 1,400 feet underground.

As more canisters are buried, the holes and tunnels — up to 20 miles of them — will be packed with clay and eventually abandoned.

The fuel, which contains plutonium and other products of nuclear fission, will remain radioactive for tens of thousands of years — time enough for a new ice age and other epochal events.

But between the two-inch-thick copper, the clay and the surrounding ancient granite, officials say, there should be no risk of contamination to future generations.

The repository, called Onkalo and estimated to cost about 3.5 billion euros (currently about $3.9 billion) over the century or so that it will take to fill it, will be the world’s first permanent disposal site for commercial reactor fuel.

World drug report stresses drug-terror link

The latest World Drug Report, released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, reiterates the important role drugs play in funding organised crime and stresses the link between drugs and terror.

The report estimated that in 2015 about a quarter of a billion people used drugs. It is well established that there are terrorists and non-state armed groups profiting from the drug trade Up to 85 per cent of opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is in territory under influence of the

Taliban. The Islamic State and other armed groups in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic produce and consume

“captagon” tablets — typically amphetamine mixed with caffeine. The report says Boko Haram has reportedly helped drug traffickers smuggle heroin and cocaine across

West Africa

RBI widens scope of Banking Ombudsman Scheme

The Reserve Bank has extended the scope of Banking Ombudsman Scheme under which banks could be penalised for mis-selling third-party products like insurance and mutual funds via mobile or electronic banking.

The pecuniary jurisdiction of the Banking Ombudsman to pass an award has been doubled to Rs 20 lakh.

About:

8

Banking Ombudsman is a quasi judicial authority functioning under the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006.

The authority was created to enable resolution of complaints of customers of banks relating to services rendered by the lenders.

Under the amended scheme, a customer would also be able to lodge a complaint against the bank for its non-adherence to RBI instructions with regard to mobile banking/ electronic banking services in India

Govt. to assess quality of life in 116 cities

The Union Urban Development Ministry has launched the City Liveability Index, an initiative to rank 116 cities across the country in terms of the quality of life they offer residents.

Indian cities had started improving infrastructure in the past two years under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the Smart Cities Mission, and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban).

The cities to be ranked would include the ones selected for the Smart Cities Mission, State capitals, and those with a population of over 10 lakh.

The cities would be assessed on 79 parameters such as governance, identity and culture, education, health, water supply, and reduced pollution.

Bengal govt wins UN award for its ‘kanyashree’ scheme

Kanyashree Prakalpa, the Mamata Banerjee government's flagship cash-transfer scheme aimed at checking child marriage in Bengal, was awarded the United Nations Public Service Award.

Key facts:

9

The scheme was one among eight schemes chosen for the UN award from 552 applications from 62 countries.

The scheme that provides cash incentives to nearly 4.33 million girls statewide has won six different awards, including: the National E-governance Award 2014-2015 by the Narendra Modi government's, The US consulate, Unicef, DFID, the World Bank

The scheme provides an annual scholarship of Rs 500 to all unmarried girl students aged between 13 and 18 and a one-time grant of Rs 25,000 to all unmarried girl students on turning 18, provided their family income is not more than Rs 1.2 lakh per year

Lawshouldbestretchedtoallowabortionbeyond20weekspregnancy:SupremeCourtThe Supreme Court said that legally permissible period of 20 weeks for allowing a pregnant lady to abort must be stretched to allow women to abort terminally ill foetuses under Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act.

The court said that quality of life of a woman after pregnancy should also be considered while deciding her plea of abortion

INDIA

Ray of hope for Thar’s endangered wildlife

In an attempt to reduce mortality of endangered wildlife in Thar desert, new “rescue wards” have come up in the far-flung rural areas of Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

Objectives

These will provide quick treatment to animals injured in road accidents, dog bites and fights.

Reasons:

With an average of nearly 1,000 injuries a year, the wildlife in Thar desert has witnessed 60% mortality because of lack of transport to the main rescue centre at the Jodhpur zoo.

This has led to the depletion of wildlife, mainly chinkaras (Indian gazelles).

Key facts:

The Forest Department’s move to set up 17 rescue wards has come as a much-needed support to the Bishnoi community of western Rajasthan, which has been in the forefront of wildlife conservation. Bishnois risk their lives to save gazelles from poachers and transport injured animals to Jodhpur.

The rescue wards were launched, well before the onset of monsoon which causes widespread mortality among gazelles as they cannot run fast in the moist soil and fall prey to dog bites.

Customers may get Rs 5,000 if international SIM card fails: TRAI

Telecom regulator TRAI on Wednesday recommended that international roaming SIM card and global calling card providers should pay Rs 5,000 as compensation to consumers who face service failure during an overseas travel.

The compensation of Rs 5,000 has been suggested by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) both for pre-paid and post-paid subscribers.

Pre-paid customers should additionally get full refund of the amount they have already paid to the service provider, TRAI suggested to the telecom department, DoT.

10

The regulator’s recommendations pertain to the sale and rent of international roaming SIM cards and global calling cards of foreign operators in India.

The compensation has been recommended in cases of “non-activation of services, no usage of the card for reasons beyond the control of the customer like poor network coverage, in-compatibility of handsets etc”.

TRAI has also said that the penalty and refund should be remitted to the customer within 15 days of their return and reporting non-usage of the card.

The sector regulator also suggested cancellation of the permits of such companies in case 10 per cent of the total international SIM cards sold by them are found to be non-working.

The regulator recommended that international SIM card sellers should set up grievance redressal mechanism. For early settlement of complaints they should set up an appellate authority having representation from the company and the telecom department

TRAI has also recommended that purchase of global calling cards and International SIM cards be done though digital mode only that is net banking, credit or debit cards and e-wallets.

The discussion between regulator and players was held after an SMS-based survey initiated by the regulator revealed that nearly half the consumers who used such services claimed it worked partially or did not work at all.

TRAI has also favoured cancellation of permits of 23 companies which did not respond to its call for discussion on the issue.

Timeismoney,insistsofficialclockkeeper

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL), part of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, is host of the most accurate clocks in the country, and the only agency in India authorised to maintain Indian Standard Time (IST). The NPL maintains accuracy of ±20 nanoseconds through the Primary Time Scale, an ensemble of five caesium clocks and one hydrogen maser. The rest of the world connects to these via tele-clocks, satellite links, and Network Time Protocol services(which, for example, reflect in laptops’ clocks).

The ISRO launches rockets and tracks satellites, which requires precision at the nanosecond level. Only the NPL is equipped to provide that level of accuracy

From July, Shirdi just a flight away

The domestic and international airport will cut down travel time to Shirdi from Mumbai, 238 km and a five-hour road trip away, to just 40 minutes.

Funded in part by the Saibaba Sansthan Trust, the airport will bring the temple town closer to pilgrims from all over the world.

Sanctioned in 2010 as an effort to promote religious tourism, the airport is being inaugurated at a time to commemorate the 100th death anniversary of Saibaba in October 2018.

It is being built at a cost of Rs 340 crore, with Rs 45 crore funded by the Saibaba Sansthan Trust and the rest by the state government.

WORLD

Finland assessing universal basic income scheme’s impact

Finland is busy tracking data of 2,000 unemployed people who are paid €560 each a month under a two-year universal basic income experiment started by the Nordic nation in January.

Finland, which has a welfare system that is often cited as the most generous offered by a nation, embarked on the project after a two-year study as globalisation and the changing work environment are posing new challenges.

Finland cuts an average 25% of wages as taxes, and the deductions finance the welfare benefits, including pensions and free medical treatment. But when employment contracts become short term and people get more into self-employment, administering the system will be difficult

11

Finland maintains a register of every permanent resident of the country. All the data collected, even disease and drug consumption details, of the 2,000 people randomly

selected for the experiment will be studied. One aspect that will be eagerly looked into is labour behaviour meaning if anyone is taking up

employment. Universal basic income is meant to be paid to all people in a country without conditions, whether rich or poor or employed or unemployed.

If many people in the sample under study take up jobs, one assumption will be that the handout is not a disincentive to employment. Finland pays unemployment benefit of €560 for any number of years till the age of 63, when pension payment begins. Hence, people do not take up jobs that pays less than that sum.

U.S. issues Zika advisory in India

The WHO placed India as a ‘Category-2’ country for Zika risk. A Category-2, the second highest on a four-point scale and that also includes 2015 Zika-hotspot Brazil, indicates that the virus is being actively transmitted within the country. Until April, India was a Category-4 country.

NBT to hold workshop on nationalism

The National Book Trust has decided to dedicate its 60th year celebrations less than two months from now to a theme that has been much talked about in the recent past: nationalism.

On August 1 and 2, the Trust – an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Human Resource Development – will hold a national workshop on nationalist consciousness in literature in Indian languages.

This leaves out English but includes writings in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam and all other Indian languages.

The two-day workshop will have two broad sections – literature pertaining to the pre-independence period and literature written after independence.

INDIA

Kasturirangan to head education committee

Eminent scientist, former Chief of ISRO Dr. K. Kasturirangan has been appointed Chairman of the committee tasked with preparing the final draft of the National Education Policy.

About:

The National Policy on Education (NPE) is a policy formulated by the Government of India to promote education amongst India's people.

The policy covers elementary education to colleges in both rural and urban India. The first NPE was promulgated in 1968 by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and the

second by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1986.

ArmyhasarethinkonitsSahayaksystemThe Army is now actively considering recruiting civilian staff in peace stations to do away with the colonial-era Sakayak system, in the wake of rising cases of jawans coming out openly against it.

The Sahayaks or buddy system, whereby a solider is attached to officers will continue to be deployed in key bases and field areas as they have defined military duties.

Sahayaks are soldiers and their duties include protecting the officers, maintaining their weapons and equipment and helping them in carrying out their responsibilities.

INTERNATIONAL

China protests against ‘incursion’

12

China confirmed the suspension on the entry of Indian pilgrims undertaking the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and lodged a formal protest with New Delhi, following an alleged cross-border incursion by Indian troops.

China’s diplomatic protest was in response to the “trespassing into the Chinese border by Indian border personnel

The Chinese protest comes after a warm personal meeting earlier this month between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Astana, on the sidelines of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

13

14

INDIA

Shabnam Hashmi returns award to minority panel

Social activist Shabnam Hashmi returned the National Minority Rights Award to the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), conferred on her in 2008, to protest recent incidents of mob lynching and killing of Muslims.

Hashmi returned her award to NCM director T M Skaria, along with a letter to the commission members, saying that she was returning the award because the NCM had “lost all its credibility”.

Haven of mangroves will soon be santuary for birds too

3.38 hectares of the Chettuva mangrove forests is proposed to be declared as the Chettuva bird sanctuary.

The location sits in the middle of an estuary with dense mangrove patches and serves as a habitat for wetland and migratory birds

After formal declaration, the Chettuva mangrove forests will become the seventh bird sanctuary of the Andra Pradesh

The existing sanctuaries are Kadalundy, Kumarakom, Mangalavanam, Pathiramanal, Pakshipathalam, and Thattekkad.

Significance

The Chettuva mangrove is one of the most rewarding bird-watching destinations of the State and some of the avian inhabitants there are on the threatened and declining list.

Loristic analysis revealed that the vegetation comprised 12 mangrove species belonging to 10 families.

Success, the ‘ZED’ way

The ‘Make in India’ initiative unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, provided the much-needed boost to the languishing manufacturing sector and also an overarching framework for long pending structural reforms. Supply side interventions including FDI reforms, ease of doing business, scaling up physical infrastructure and competitive federalism are all being addressed under this initiative.

While the ‘Make in India’ program has been incessantly analysed by economic commentators, the relatively less talked about the initiative is the effort to align with “zero defect, zero effect” (ZED). The ZED focus of the program is not only the most arduous to achieve but also most durable in its impact on overall competitiveness.

A survey conducted by Statista-Dalia Research in 52 countries showed that ‘Made in Germany’ products were perceived as the best among 49 countries analysed followed by Switzerland and EU reflecting the inherent strength of their manufacturing engines. Interestingly, China was ranked last (49th) in terms of quality perception. India only fared marginally better at 42nd position.

Silver lining

Nonetheless the silver lining for India is that no other Asian country is listed in the rankings, presenting an opportunity. Despite the two-decade lead taken by China in unleashing its manufacturing prowess, it continues to be at the bottom in the battle for perceived quality.

Enhancing the quality quotient of ‘Made in India’ is a huge challenge as well as an opportunity for India’s manufacturing push. The Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index published by Deloitte Touche and the Council on Global Competitiveness indicated the rise of the “Mighty Five”—Malaysia, India, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. Indian manufacturing stakeholders should be acutely aware of the following in this regard.

15

First, Chinese factory wages have trebled over the past decade and are almost at par with eastern Eurozone countries. Low-cost production jobs are now moving to countries in South/South-East Asia. India could potentially be one of the countries to benefit from this realignment.

Second, about 131.29 million people are employed in as many as 58.5 million establishments in our country, according to the sixth economic census, 2016 reflecting the ultra fragmentation of our manufacturing base. The baby steps taken by some States in labour reforms need to be scaled up to remove the hurdles for micro units in achieving the scale of operations. Only reasonable sized enterprises shall have the economies of scale to compete globally.

Finally, while low-cost manufacturing is important for India, a comprehensive policy on value-addition to transform the economy is needed. Existing competitive edge in sectors like textilesneeds to be supplemented with focused strategies under the ZED philosophy (certification, productivity, technological depth, energy efficiency and IPR).

While Government’s immediate concern is job creation , it has to be kept in mind that unless India starts competing on quality and technology, healthy moats around manufacturing can’t be created. The initiatives under ZED Model, National Productivity Council and QCI need to be amplified multi-fold for achieving quality consciousness at the MSME level.

NATION

Govt. to shed stake in loss-making AI

‘Air pollutants on solar panels cut power generation by 17%’

Particulate matter — dust, black carbon and organic carbon from biomass burning and fossil fuel deposited on solar panels and present in the ambient air is responsible for about 17% reduction in solar power generation in India.

Key facts:

The Centre has set an ambitious renewable energy target of 175 GW by 2022. This translates to the reduction of about 2 Gigawatts (GW) in solar power production for about 12 GW

installed solar power capacity. Dust and non-dust particulate matter deposited on solar panels and

16

present in the air prevent shortwave solar radiation from reaching the panels, thereby reducing energy production.

Analysis of samples collected from the solar panels revealed that dust accounted for 92% while the remaining fraction was composed of organic carbon, black carbon and ions produced from sources linked to human activity.

Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace hotel acquires image trademark

The iconic Taj Mahal Palace hotel has acquired an `image trademark’, making it the first building in the country to get intellectual property rights protection for its architectural design.

It will ensure that commercial use of the image of its dome and grand exterior can be made only with the consent of Taj Hotels Palaces Resorts Safaris.

The dome of The Taj Mahal Palace, which stands on the waterfront in south Mumbai, has long been been `triangulation point’ for the Indian Navy which guides its vessels to the harbour.

India becomes 71st country to ratify UN TIR Convention

India has become the 71st country to ratify the United Nations TIR Convention, that will boost trade and regional integration across South Asia and beyond, thereby fast-tracking the region's potential to become a strategic trade hub.

TIR is the global standard for goods customs transit managed and developed by IRU -- the world road transport organisation.

The accession to the TIR Convention is part of India's multi-modal transport strategy that aims to integrate the economy with global and regional production networks through better connectivity, IRU said in a statement.

TIR will help India to integrate with Myanmar and Thailand as well as Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. It will also enable India to move cargo along the International North-South Transport Corridor via

Chabahar port in Iran, to access land-locked Afghanistan and the energy-rich Eurasian region.

LasttwoScorpenesubmarinesfromMazgaonDockstojoinNavywithoutAIPsystemThe last two Scorpene submarines will roll out of the manufacturing line without the Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system meant to extend the reach of the conventional diesel-electric submarine

The AIP module is not part of the original Scorpene contract but the Navy has been keen on having them fitted on the last two of the six Scorpene submarines being manufactured by Mazgaon Docks Limited (MDL) in Mumbai.

The AIP module is being developed by the DRDO and was supposed to be installed before the submarines roll out.

BurrowingfrogsaddtodiversityofWesternGhatsThe four new species belong to the genus Fejervarya, but unlike other members of the family, they possess the ability to burrow.

Key facts:

The first of the new species, Manoharan’s Burrowing Frog (Fejervarya manoharani), was discovered from the Agasthyamala hills in South Kerala and is named after T.M. Manoharan, former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, in recognition of his conservation efforts.

The Kadar Burrowing Frog (Fejervarya kadar) was collected from the Vazhachal forests and named after the Kadar tribe that was in the forefront of the agitation against the Athiripilly hydel project.

The CEPF Burrowing Frog (Fejervarya cepfi) was found in Amboli, a popular hill station in Maharashtra and is named after the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund which had contributed to the preservation of biodiversity in the Western Ghats.

Discovered in the Parambikulam tiger reserve, the Neil Cox’s Burrowing Frog (Fejervarya neilcoxi) was named after Dr. Neil Cox of the International Union for Conservation of Nature who was instrumental in preparing the Red List of global amphibian species.

17

NATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (Special Coverage)

This Is What ISRO's Cartosat Satellites Are Doing In Space

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully executed the PSLV C38 launch mission, with the the sixth satellite in the Cartosat series as part of the payload. The rocket's payload also included 30 nano satellites. Here is an introduction to the Cartosat satellites that have already been launched and their functions. The order is reverse chronological.

1. Cartosat 2E

Launched today, the Cartosat 2E weighs 712 kilograms and has an operating lifespan of 5 years approximately. Deployed at an orbital height of 505 kilometres, the satellite will be used mostly for cartographic observations including defense surveillance. According to ISRO, Cartosat 2E can detect objects at a resolution level of 0.6 metres.

2. Cartosat 2D

The Cartosat 2D is ensured a place in space research history as it was launched in February 2017 along with 103 satellites as part of the PSLV C37 mission. It weighed 714 kilograms, and its dimensions and functions are similar to Cartosat 2E.

3. Cartosat 2C

In September 2016, the Indian Army announced that it had carried out a "surgical strike" on terror camps situated across the Indo-Pakistan Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir. A key component of the strike was surveillance from Cartosat 2C. Launched in June 2016, the satellite has a resolution of 25 centimetres. It was launched as part of ISRO's PSLV C34 space mission.

ISRO

4. Cartosat 2B

There was a gap of almost six years between the launch of the 3rd and the 4th satellite in the Cartosat series. Cartosat 2B's panchromatic camera can be panned to 26 degrees to take photographs.

5. Cartosat 2A

The Cartosat 2A was launched exclusively for defense surveillance and its panchromatic camera can be tilted up to 45 degrees to capture images. The satellite was launched in April 2008 as part of the PSLV C9 space mission.

6. Cartosat 2

The first satellite in the series, Cartosat 2 was launched in 2007 as payload in the PSLV C7 mission. The satellite's on-board camera had a spatial resolution of less than 1 metre, and it can cover a swath of 9.6 kilometres in one image. The camera can be tilted up to 45 degrees.

GSAT-17 to add teeth to ISRO satellite fleet

GSAT-17, the country’s newest communication satellite to be launched, will soon join the fleet of 17 working Indian communication satellites in space and augment their overall capacity to some extent.

The 3,477-kg spacecraft was set to be launched at 2.29 a.m. IST on June 29 from the European space port of Kourou in French Guiana

GSAT-17 is designed to provide continuity of services of operational satellites in C, extended C and S bands

18

INTERNATIONALPOLITICAL

IndiaobjectstoBRICSsupportingChina’sBRIIndia and China are working together to find common ground ahead of the BRICS summit in September, despite their differences over docking the Beijing-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with the grouping in the future.

PLA constructing road in disputed territory at tri-junction, says Bhutan

The current standoff between India and China at Sikkim which has led to Beijing closing the Nathu La route for Mansarovar yatris possibly arose from Bhutan’s concerns,

The road construction by the Chinese Army was “progressing towards” a camp of the Royal Bhutan Army at Zom Pelri.

Bhutan has conveyed that the road construction by the PLA is not in keeping with the agreements between China and Bhutan [over boundary resolution]

19

20

China may be giving a diplomatic message via tri-junction

The issue:

Indian Army troops objected to the Chinese soldiers carrying out construction on a road stretch through the disputed Dolam Plateau (Donglang or Doklam), triggering the confrontation.

In response, Chinese authorities denied entry to pilgrims for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra via the Nathua La pass.

The Chinese believe that the Dolam Plateau belongs to them, and have been constructing a road through the disputed area to Bhutan for a long time

The present standoff must also be seen against recent diplomatic unease between the two sides, including India’s stand on the Belt and Road Initiative.

NATION

Petya ransomware cyber attack: Not WannaCry, same lock and demand tactic

A new wave of cyber attacks has hit computers and enterprise servers. After the massive WannaCry attack, which impacted over 300,000 computers globally, the new ransomware is Petya, which has hit chiefly Ukraine and Russia, spread elsewhere in Europe, and hit some big firms in the US, besides shutting down operations in Mumbai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.

Is Petya the same as WannaCry?

Petya ransomware has been around since 2016, and so far researchers don’t think it is the same as WannaCry.

Ransomware essentially locks a user out of his or her computer, and asks for a certain amount to be paid.

The ransom is usually demanded in Bitcoins before the user can decrypt the hijacked data. Experts say Petya locks the ‘Master Boot Records’ in Windows, which in the words of Microsoft is “the most important data structure on the disk” as it contains all the information on disk partitions as well as the code that allows the operating system to be loaded/booted onto the PC’s memory.

So, what is the latest attack doing?

Petya is more advanced ransomware, and researchers are convinced it has no kill switch. Once it infects the computer, it will wait for an hour or so, and then reboot the system. After that, the files are encrypted and the user sees a ransom note. Users are also warned against switching off during rebooting.

The attack is believed to have started against an update used on third-party Ukrainian software called MeDoc, used by many government organisations in the country. (Source: AP photo)

According to Kaspersky, the hackers have used a “standard, solid encryption scheme” and unless they made a mistake, there’s no way of getting the files back.

What is the EternalBlue exploit, and does Microsoft have a fix ?

EternalBlue is a vulnerability that exists in Windows 10, 8, 7, and even XP.

EternalBlue was developed by the US National Security Agency (NSA) along with other hacking tools.

How did the ransomware attack start?

The attack is believed to have started against an update used on third-party Ukrainian software called MeDoc, used by many government organisations in the country.

Ukraine was the worst affected

21

In India, the Port Trust was hit since AP Moller-Maersk operates the Gateway Terminals India at JNPT. This has a capacity for over 1.8 million standard container units.

So what happens now?

As a first step, the email address being used by the hackers has been suspended by the service provider

For users who have lost their data, it means there’s no way of getting the decryption key from the hackers, since the email account has been shut down.

However, according to a tweet from HackerFantastic, when the system goes in for a reboot on its own, the user should power off the computer rather than switch it on. This is because during the reboot the files are being encrypted, and if the computer is switched off during this period, the files remain safe, though still inaccessible. Researchers warn against paying the hackers, saying there is no certainty that they will get the data back.

Under the GST umbrella, three taxes for states/UTs and Centre

Under the GST regime, the Centre and states/Union Territories shall simultaneously levy indirect taxes on a common tax base.

Key facts:

Within the umbrella of GST, the GST levied by the Centre on intra-state supply of goods and/or services will be called Central GST (CGST)

And that levied by states/UTs, State GST (SGST/UTGST). Integrated GST (IGST) will be levied and administered by the Centre on the inter-state supply of

goods and services. IGST shall be levied and collected by the Government of India, and such tax shall be apportioned between the Centre and the states.

The CGST and SGST will be levied simultaneously on every transaction of supply of goods and services except exempted goods and services, goods which are outside the purview of GST, and transactions which are below the prescribed thresholds.

Historic launch of GST

GST will be launched at midnight of 30th june,’17 in the central hall of parliament

Honoraries Present will be:

President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice president Hamid Ansari, PM Narendra Modi, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, HD Deve Gowda and Dr. Manmohan Singh

CBSE class X exams: Nod to add vocational sixth subject marks

The Central Board of Secondary Education said that Class X students can now keep the vocational subject as a sixth paper.

Key facts:

In case a student fails in one subject out of five, she can replace it with the vocational subject marks while calculating the percentage.

The Class X board exams set to return in 2018 after seven years The HRD ministry had constituted the board comprising members from eight different boards. The function of this committee is to come up with a common system which all boards can follow

New system to catalogue library books

The Ministry of Culture (MoC) has decided to merge the functions of the Central Reference Library (CRL) with the National Library.

About:

22

The CRL, located in the National Library campus in Kolkata, is responsible for the publication and sale of the Indian National Bibliography (INB).

The INB is the list of all books published in India annually and is the key source for foreign libraries to know about the books published in India.

Significance:

It will “reduce duplicity [the same book being catalogued twice by both institutes] and speed up the process of accession.

The MoC has set a target of “9,000 books per month (250 per person)” to be catalogued by the staff of both the institutes.

CRL has to catalogue 3,000 books and the National Library 6,000 books monthly target, respectively.

Pune to get policy research institute

The State Cabinet has approved a proposal to set up a research institute that will regularly assess State policies and train officials as well.

The proposed institute is to come up at Tathawade in Pune.

The institute will assess government policies, research, best practices and administrative reforms via continuous training of officials, according to a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

It will also study the best policies, practices followed by other States and countries, and make suggestions to the government accordingly

Delhi,Goa,Maharashtraspendleastonprisoner’smeals:NCRB

AccordingtoadatafromtheNationalCrimeRecordsBureau(NCRB),thegovernmentsofDelhi,GoaandMaharashtrahasspenttheleastperdayonthreemealsgiventoaprisonerin2015,muchlowerthanthenationalaverageofRs52.42

Delhi and Goa spent even lesser than Maharashtra Nagaland topped the country in the expenditure on prisoner’s food, spending Rs 139.22 per prisoner

per day. It was closely followed by Jammu and Kashmir, which spent Rs 110.33 per prisoner per day

The Model Prison Manual drafted by the Union Home Ministry prescribes that a male prisoner should have a calorie intake between 2,320 and 2,730 kcal/day.

For female prisoners, it is prescribed to be between 1900 to 2830 kcal/day

The glitches

Since prison administration is a federal subject, every state has the right to decide its menu, provided that it adheres to the nutritional requirements laid down by the model prison manual.

Moon mission: Start-up has contract, not clearance

Team Indus, a Bengaluru start-up aspiring to be the first Indian private space company, have signed a contract with ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix Corporation for a

Team Indus and a Japanese team, Hakuto, are contracted to fly on ISRO’s PSLV XL rocket on December 28, 2017, three days before the closure of the deadline for the Google X Prize contest.

The two teams will share the nearly $30 million commercial cost for the launch.

About:

23

The Google Lunar XPRIZE (GLXP), sometimes referred to as Moon 2.0 is an inducement prize space competition organized by XPRIZE, and sponsored by Google.

The challenge calls for privately funded spaceflight teams to be the first to land a privately funded robotic spacecraft on the Moon, travel 500 meters, and transmit back high-definition video and images

INTERNATIONAL

Grandparents and cousins aren't considered 'close' family under Trump's new visa criteria

The Trump administration has set new criteria for visa applicants from six mainly Muslim nations and all refugees that require a "close" family or business tie to the United States.

Key facts:

The move comes after the Supreme Court partially restored President Trump's executive order that was widely criticized as a ban on Muslims.

Visas that have already been approved will not be revoked, but instructions issued by the State Department say that new applicants from Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iran and Yemen must prove a relationship with a parent, spouse, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or sibling already in the United States to be eligible.

Grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, fiances or other extended family members are not considered to be “close” relationships