China’s probe lands on far side of moon, sends images

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Awareness in the fields of Space

 

Context:

         ★ A Chinese lunar probe named Chang’e-4 made the first-ever landing on the far side of the moon on January 03 2019.

 

Chang’e-4:

        ★ China’s landing on the Dark side of the moon is being hailed as a historic mission which is being seen as an important step for China’s space programme.

        ★ This is the first spacecraft ever to land on this side of the moon.

        ★ The probe will also spend the coming months using its instruments to analyze the untouched surface, potentially helping scientists learn more about the structure and geology of our satellite.

        ★ The lander is also carrying equipment for biological experiments, which will attempt to grow Arabidopsis flowers and potatoes.

        ★ The equipment will divert natural light from the Moon's surface onto the seedlings, triggering photosynthesis. The hope is that the plants will grow and emit oxygen, feeding silkworms also aboard the lander, which will in turn exhale carbon dioxide and exude waste to feed the plants.

                                                                                                                                       Source:- The hindu

Many Swachh Bharat toilets defunct, unusable: MPs’ panel

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources

 

Context:

        ★ According to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development, Many toilets constructed under the Swachh Bharat Mission have already become defunct and unusable.

        ★ It slammed the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation for not bothering to find out the scope of the problem, despite an earlier recommendation to conduct a survey.

        ★ Till the time the problem of toilets becoming dysfunctional is not tackled seriously by the Ministry

 

Key Findings of the Report:

        ★ Many toilets already constructed under SBM have become defunct and non-usable due to various reasons pertaining to the quality of construction and scarcity of water.

        ★ The parliamentary committee criticised the Ministry for not following the recommendation.

        ★ The parliamentary report also said, Swachh Bharat Mission’s data on open defecation was suspect as defunct toilets are being counted as functional.

        ★ The data on the SBM portal which indicates that the beneficiaries has already been provided with a toilet creates a situation wherein, if the toilets so constructed were not of good quality and become defunct within a short span of time and as such are not being used, are still counted as functional toilets.

                                                                                                                                     Source:- The Hindu

Improved Light Combat Aircraft gets green light for production

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

 

Context:

        ★ The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has been given the nod to manufacture weaponized version of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas for the Indian Air Force

         

Light Combat Aircraft (LCA):

       ★ The LCA is being designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in Bangalore.

       ★ The Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) has given the green signal to start manufacturing of Tejas Mk1 under Final Operational Clearance (FOC) configuration

       ★ The IAF has asked HAL to make 40 LCA aircraft. Of this, 20 will be in the advanced ‘FOC’ (final operational clearance) format. Another 20 are in the earlier IOC (initial operational clearance) version.

       ★ The FOC tag signals that the novice LCA is fully equipped and fit for battle. It adds many features over the IOC version, which Tejas achieved in December 2013.

                                                                                                                                      Source:- The Hindu

Judges under surveillance after Dec. order: lawyer

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation

 

Context:

         ★ The Supreme Court Bench led Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on 3 January  2019,declined urgent hearing of Advocate Manohar Lal Sharma's PIL challenging Central Government's order authorizing ten central agencies to intercept, monitor and decrypt information on computers of any citizen.

         ★ The PIL challenges the notification issued by Home Ministry under Section 69 of the IT Act, as a violation of the fundamental right to privacy.

 

Background:

          ★ A nine-judge Constitution Bench judgment of the Supreme Court in 2017 had directed the government to protect informational privacy of every individual.

         ★ The verdict had directed the government to always carefully and sensitively balance individual privacy and the legitimate concerns of the State, even if national security was at stake.

          ★ The December 20 order allows the central agencies, from the Intelligence Bureau to the Central Board of Direct Taxes to the Cabinet Secretariat (RAW) to the Commissioner of Delhi Police to intercept, monitor and de-crypt “any information” generated, transmitted, received or stored in “any computer resource”.

 

Petitioner contention:

          ★ In the PIL, Sharma has alleged the motive behind the notification is to "control the entire country" through "dictatorship" and win the "coming general election under an undisclosed Emergency".

          ★ The petition also, contended that the present government is trying to implicate innocent citizens on the basis of the information collected by these agencies.

                                                                                                                                    Source:- The Hindu

Judges’ retirement age won’t go up

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation

 

Context:

         ★ The Law Ministry on Thursday said there was no proposal as of now to increase the retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 65 to 67 and of High Court judges from 62 to 65.

 

Background:

        ★ In August 2010, then Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily introduced the Constitution (114th Amendment) Bill, 2010 in the Lok Sabha.

        ★ The Bill, which sought to increase the retirement age of High Court judges to 65, could not be taken up for consideration in Parliament and lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.

 

More about the news:

         ★ Parliamentary Standing Committee submitted the report on Thursday, recommended that raising the retirement age of judges would help retain the existing judges, which in turn would help in reducing both vacancy and pendency of cases in short run.

         ★ Parliamentary panel, raised concern over the large number of vacancies of judges in High Courts.

         ★ As of now, out of a total approved strength of 1,079 judges in 24 High Courts across the country, only 695 posts are filled.

         ★ The committee headed by BJP lawmaker Bhupender Yadav was of the view that to reduce pendency of cases, the existing vacancy positions of judges need to be filled up immediately.

 

Significance of increasing the age of retirement:

         ★ It will ensure the continued presence of a strong talent pool of experienced judges.

         ★ New judges can be appointed without displacing existing judges.

         ★ It will address the problem of mounting arrears.

         ★ It will be a buffer against impending litigation explosion.

         ★ It will render post-retirement assignments unattractive and, as a consequence, strengthen the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, both of which are crucial to sustain democracy.

                                                                                                                                    Source:- The Hindu

Parliamentary Panel Asks RBI To Ease Bank Capital Requirements

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

 

Context:

         ★ A parliamentary panel asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ease its rules on capital requirements for banks so that they can increase lending.

         

Background:

        ★ The report comes after the government and some of the board members of the RBI have put pressure on the central bank to relax capital requirements for banks as they seek to boost credit and economic growth.

 

More about the news:

        ★ To address the conflict, Parliamentary panel has asked the Reserve Bank to ease capital adequacy norms for banks, review supervisory framework PCA, and urged the government to set up a committee to look into issues concerning accountability of the central bank as a regulator.

        ★ But RBI has decided to retain the capital to risk weighted asset ratio at 9 percent and extended the transition period to maintain capital conservation buffer by a year till March 31, 2020.

        ★ RBI said the norms address many shortcomings in the pre-crisis regulatory framework and provide a foundation for a resilient banking system.

        ★ The framework will also allow the banking system to support the real economy through the economic cycle

 

Parliamentary panel Recommendation:

 

Capital adequacy Norms:

                    ★ RBI's decision to keep capital adequacy norms higher than prescribed under global framework of Basel III, the central bank has restricted lending capacity of banks and increased the  burden on the government for recapitalisation of PSBs.

                    ★ ‘Such stringent norms stipulated by the RBI for our banks ... is unrealistic and unwarranted,” said a report tabled in parliament by the Parliamentary Committee on Finance.

                    ★ The parliamentary panel said the stipulated additional capital requirement for the banks (who are already under RBI's PCA framework with lending restrictions), if waived, will release huge funds to the extent of approximately Rs 5.34 lakh crore, representing 51 per cent growth in the loan book of these banks.

                          ☆ This will lead to generation of additional interest income of about Rs 50,000 crore annually, "which will obviate the need" for additional capital infusion into these banks

 

Prompt Corrective action framework:

                ★ The committee notes that the RBI has been tightening the screws on the operations of 11 PSBs including their lending and hiring activities under the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework.

                ★ The panel asked the RBI to provide a coherent and positive road map for each of these 11 banks to come out of the stringent PCA framework within a stipulated time frame, so that they can resume their normal banking operations

 

More powers seeking by RBI:

               ★ The panel has recommend that the government should constitute a high-powered committee to evaluate the role, powers and authority of RBI in "its entirety", while also appraising the economic impact of the various NPA resolution guidelines/schemes formulated by RBI from time to time.

               ★ The proposed Committee should look into those provisions of the RBI Act, Banking (Regulation) Act and other relevant statutes with a view to ensuring the accountability of RBI as the regulator of the banking sector including the matter of having RBI nominees on the Boards of banks

 

For smooth transition in PSBs:

             ★ Committee suggested increasing the retirement of age of chiefs of public sector banks to 70 years and effect proper manpower planning and HR development strategies in PSBs.

             ★ The panel also suggested that a three-month overlap may be provided at CEO level

 

What does the Rating agencies said?

            ★ Rating agencies have warned against dilution of capital norms for banks.

           ★ Fitch Ratings, said capital ratios for many banks were well below global standards, and any relaxation could prove detrimental to banks and their ability to absorb unexpected losses.

         

Capital Adequacy Ratio:          ★ The Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) is a measure of a bank’s available capital expressed as a percentage of a bank’s risk-weighted credit exposures.          ★ The Capital Adequacy Ratio, also known as capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR), is used to protect depositors and promote the stability and efficiency of financial systems around the world.   BASEL III rules:            ★ After the 2008 financial crisis, there was a need to update the BASEL norms to reduce the risk in the banking system further.            ★ Until BASEL III, the norms had only considered some of the risks related to credit, the market, and operations.            ★ To meet these risks, banks were asked to maintain a certain minimum level of capital and not lend all the money they receive from deposits.            ★ This acts as a buffer during hard times.            ★ The BASEL III norms also consider liquidity risks.

                                                                                                                    Source:- Hindu Business Line

India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - India and its neighborhood- relations.

 

Context:

         ★ India has released Rs 193.16 crore from the Rs 1,830.87 crore fund approved for the construction of Kalewa-Yagyi road section and to build bridges on the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway, Parliament was informed January 3.

 

India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway:

         ★ The 1360 km long highway project is an initiative pertaining to India, Myanmar and Thailand. 

         ★ India is undertaking construction of two sections of the Trilateral Highway in Myanmar namely,

                    ☆  Construction of 120.74 km Kalewa-Yagyi road section, and

                    ☆  Construction of 69 bridges along with the approach road on the 149.70 km Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa (TKK) road section.

          ★ The works on both these sections were awarded on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode in May 2018.

          ★ The scheduled time for completion of both the projects is three years from the date of commencement at the project site by the executing agency.

          ★ The above mentioned both the projects are being funded by Government of India under grant assistance to the Government of Myanmar.

          ★ A Motor Vehicles Agreement along with protocols for regulating and facilitating movement of cargo and passenger vehicular traffic is under inter-governmental negotiations between India, Myanmar and Thailand.

 

Benefits of the Project:

       ★ The road is expected to boost trade and commerce in the ASEAN–India Free Trade Area, as well as with the rest of Southeast Asia.

       ★ India has also proposed extending the highway to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

                                                                                                                                                        Source:- PIB

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