Daily Current Affairs 14 November 2019

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) The office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is a public authority

• The office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is a ‘public authority’ under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, a five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
• The Supreme Court is a “public authority” and the office of the CJI is part and parcel of the institution. Hence, if the Supreme Court is a public authority, so is the office of the CJI.

Personel life of Judge won't count in RTI

• The right to know of a citizen ought to be balanced with the right to privacy of individual judges.
• The right to information should not be allowed to be used as a tool of surveillance.
• These factors include various criteria from the nature of the information sought to its impact on the private life of the judge.
• The Bench upheld the Delhi High Court judgment of 2010 that the CJI does not hold information on the personal assets of fellow judges in a fiduciary capacity

2) The Consumer Price Index (CPI)

• Retail inflation climbed to a 16­-month high of 4.62% in October, driven by food inflation, which hit its highest level since August 2016.
• The Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew sharply in October from 3.99% in September, which itself was the highest reading in 14 months
• Within the CPI, inflation in the food and beverages category continued its sharp acceleration, at 6.93%. This figure is the highest since August 2016. 
• Food inflation was at 4.7% in September, the highest in nearly two years

Reason for Inflation

• The overall jump in inflation partly reflects the spurt in demand because of the festive season in October and partly the impact of scarcity of the monsoon in certain areas of the country.
• Some of the crops were affected and there was a scarcity
• The supply side should have been managed better
• It reflects a need to calibrate our food imports with the emerging scarcities

3) ITBP winter suits

• More than 15,000 personnel of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force deployed along the China border is set to benefit from a policy decision on altitude specifications that makes them eligible to get special cold climate clothing. 
• Earlier, only those ITBP men deployed at an altitude of up to 12,000 feet from the sea level were entitled to special protective clothing. However, last year, the guidelines were revised and personnel deployed at 9,000 feet also became eligible to get the special clothing

Difficult terrain

The ITBP is deployed along the Line of Actual Control with China, spanning 3,488 km of difficult terrain up to at an altitude of 18,900 feet. Five pockets are not defined and their territories are claimed by both the countries. Three are in Ladakh and one each in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. The ITBP force comprises 60,000 personnel now. Of this, around 12,000 personnel deployed in Ladakh were entitled to snow clothing

4) Indo-Uzbekistan Joint Field Training Exercise (FTX)-2019 Exercise Dustlik-2019

The inaugural Indo-Uzbekistan Joint Field Training Exercise (FTX)-2019, Exercise DUSTLIK-2019 culminated on 13 November 2019 after 10 days of joint training with Uzbekistan Army.

          In the joint exercise which began on 04 November 2019 training was focused on counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations in urban scenarios as well as sharing of expertise on skills at arms, both combat shooting and experiences in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism. The exercise also provided an opportunity to armies of all nations for greater cultural understanding, sharing experiences and strengthening mutual trust and cooperation.

5) Prakash Javadekar Takes Charge as Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister

Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting & Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar, assumed office today in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

The Minister was welcomed by Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry, Asha Ram Sihag, Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises, Sailesh, and senior officers of both Departments.

6) Rupee slips 62 paise to two­month low 

The rupee weakened 62 paise, or 0.9%, against the dollar on Wednesday amid weak macroeconomic data, with traders unwinding their speculative positions. The rupee opened at 71.75 against the U.S. dollar and went on to weaken further to touch the day’s low of 72.10 before closing at 72.09 a dollar, down 62 paise over its previous close

Reason

• The central bank was absent from the currency market today and once the 71.40 level was breached, there was no supply of dollar in the market, which took the rupee down. In the absence of intervention from the central bank, the rupee could drop to 72.50 levels
• The on­going trade tensions between the U.S. and China also impacted sentiments in the currency market. The effect of the weak domestic macro data was visible in the stock market as well, with the benchmark.

7) Sunderbans mangroves at risk

A satellite image from the Indian Space Research Organisation pointed to a loss of 3.71% mangrove and non-mangrove forest cover along with massive erosion of the archipelago’s landmass. The analysis, based on satellite data of February 2003 and February 2014, shows that while a 9,990­hectare landmass has been eroded, there has been an accretion of 216 ­hectare landmasses in the Sunderbans during the period.

About Sunderbans

The constant degradation of the mangrove forest in the Sunderbans, particularly in areas that are inhabited. The Indian Sunderbans, considered to be an area south of the Dampier Hodges line, is spread over 9,630 sq. km., of which the mangrove forests are spread over 4,263 sq. km

Banglar Abas

• The latest example of an assault on mangrove forests came to light in an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) dated September 23, when it directed a committee to inspect allegations leveled by environmental activist Subhas Datta that the State had allocated houses under the ‘Banglar Abas’ scheme by clearing acres of mangrove forest on Sagar island.
• The committee inspected and found the allegations to be true. For years, the State government has been felling mangrove trees in the name of development