Daily Current Affairs 27 November 2019

Current Affairs of Today are

1) Cartosat­-3

• Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) K. Sivan has termed Cartostat­3 the most complex and advanced satellite India has ever developed. 
• It is also the satellite with the highest­ever resolution that the ISRO has developed to date.
• It will be carried by PSLV-C47. Thirteen small satellites of two U.S. customers will be the secondary payloads. 
• To be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR at Sriharikota in coastal Andhra Pradesh

About CartoSat-3 

• One of Cartosat­3’s cameras offers a ground resolution of 25 cm this means it can pick up an object of a minimum of that size from a height of around 500 km
• Currently, WorldView­3, a satellite owned by U.S. company Maxar, has the best ground resolution of 31 cm.
• Cartostat­3 is mainly an earth observation satellite, which will provide spatial, spectral and temporal data for various fields including urban planning, agriculture, water resource management, environment, and disaster management. 
• At 1,625 kg, Cartosat­3 is unusually heavy and more than double the mass of the previous eight in its class. Many new technologies have been built in, such as a highly agile or flexible camera; high­speed data transmission, advanced computer system, and new power electronics

Carto series

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has orbited eight Cartosats since May 2005. Data from most of them, especially the last four Carto­2 series ones, launched in relatively quick succession in the past three years, are exclusively used by the armed forces. The previous best view from a Cartosat was 65 cm, as put in the last three or four satellites in the Cartosat­2 series — 2C, 2D, 2E and 2F. However, an existing policy allows only government and government authorized agencies to access ISRO's high­resolution imageries below a resolution of 1 m.

2) United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) 

• The 25th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP) in Madrid in December, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned that countries’ action to combat global warming is inadequate
• Countries must cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at least three­fold to have a fighting chance at containing the severest effects of global warming

Stand of UNEP

• Unless global greenhouse gas emissions fall by 7.6% each year between 2020 and 2030, the world will miss the opportunity to get on track towards the 1.5°C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement
• The UNEP assesses the gap between anticipated emissions in 2030 and levels consistent with the 1.5°C and 2°C targets of the Paris Agreement

Report on Carbon Emission by UNEP

The report finds that greenhouse gas emissions had risen 1.5% per year over the last decade and emissions in 2018, including from land­use changes such as deforestation, hit a new high of 55.3 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent. Global temperatures have already risen about 1°C since pre­industrial times and negotiations, such as the COP, are aimed at preventing temperatures from rising more than one degree. Current commitments by countries will see temperatures rise by 3.2°C over pre­industrial levels

India on global emission

India is the third­largest emitter behind the United States and China respectively. India’s per capita emissions, however, are significantly below the United States, China, and many others

3) The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 was passed by Parliament

Passed by the Lok Sabha on August 8 and introduced in the Rajya Sabha by Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawarchand Gehlot on November 20, the legislation was meant to end discrimination against transgender persons

About the Bill

• The Bill defines a transgender person as one whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth.  It includes trans-men and trans-women, persons with intersex variations, gender-queers, and persons with socio-cultural identities, such as kinnar and hijra.  Intersex variations are defined to mean a person who at birth shows variation in his or her primary sexual characteristics, external genitalia, chromosomes, or hormones from the normative standard of the male or female body.
• The Bill prohibits the discrimination against a transgender person, including denial of service or unfair treatment in relation to: (i) education; (ii) employment; (iii) healthcare; (iv) access to, or enjoyment of goods, facilities, opportunities available to the public; (v) right to movement; (vi) right to reside, rent, or otherwise occupy property; (vii) opportunity to hold public or private office; and (viii) access to a government or private establishment in whose care or custody a transgender person is.
• Every transgender person shall have a right to reside and be included in his household.  If the immediate family is unable to care for the transgender person, the person may be placed in a rehabilitation center, on the orders of a competent court.
• No government or private entity can discriminate against a transgender person in employment matters, including recruitment, and promotion.  Every establishment is required to designate a person to be a complaint officer to deal with complaints to the Act.
• Educational institutions funded or recognized by the relevant government shall provide inclusive education, sports and recreational facilities for transgender persons, without discrimination.
• The government must take steps to provide health facilities to transgender persons including separate HIV surveillance centers, and sex reassignment surgeries.  The government shall review the medical curriculum to address the health issues of transgender persons, and provide comprehensive medical insurance schemes for them.
•  A transgender person may make an application to the District Magistrate for a certificate of identity, indicating the gender as ‘transgender’.  A revised certificate may be obtained only if the individual undergoes surgery to change their gender either as a male or a female. 
• The Bill states that the relevant government will take measures to ensure the full inclusion and participation of transgender persons in society.  It must also take steps for their rescue and rehabilitation, vocational training and self-employment, create schemes that are transgender sensitive, and promote their participation in cultural activities. 
• The Bill recognizes the following offences against transgender persons: (i) forced or bonded labour (excluding compulsory government service for public purposes), (ii) denial of use of public places, (iii) removal from household, and village, (iv) physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or economic abuse.  Penalties for these offenses vary between six months and two years, and a fine.
• The NCT (National Council for Transgender persons) will consist of: (i) Union Minister for Social Justice (Chairperson); (ii) Minister of State for Social Justice (Vice-Chairperson); (iii) Secretary of the Ministry of Social Justice; (iv) one representative from ministries including Health, Home Affairs, and Human Resources Development.  Other members include representatives of the NITI Aayog and the National Human Rights Commission.  State governments will also be represented.  The Council will also consist of five members from the transgender community and five experts from non-governmental organizations.

However, many raised concerns about certain provisions including the requirement of getting a transgender certificate from a District Magistrate, terming them regressive 

4) Government plans to merge Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli 

Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to merge

the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Reason for merging

• The Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Bill, 2019, seeks to provide “better delivery of services to the citizens of both Union Territories by improving efficiency and reducing paperwork.”
• Having two separate constitutional and administrative entities in both Union Territories leads to a lot of duplication, inefficiency and wasteful expenditure.policy of
• The government to have a minimum government, maximum governance, considering the small population and limited geographical area of both Union Territories, and to use the services of officers efficiently, it has been decided to merge the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu into a single Union Territory
• The Union Territories share a lot in terms of administrative set­up, history, language and culture

India now has nine Union Territories. With the merger of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the number will come down to eight. 

5) India Ratings and Research (Ind-­Ra)

• India Ratings and Research (Ind-­Ra) has revised downwards its growth projection for the second quarter of the current financial year to 4.7% and the full­year growth estimate to 5.6%.
• This is the fourth revision and has come in after the agency had revised its FY20 GDP growth forecast only a month ago to 6.1%
• Despite a favorable base effect, declining growth momentum suggests that even the second half FY20 will now be weaker than previously forecast and is likely to come in at 6.2%
• The 5.6% GDP growth rate for the full year will require the government to shoulder a large part of the investment burden
• The rating agency said that private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) growth is now expected to grow 4.9% in FY20, as against the previous forecast of 5.5%, which is significantly lower than the 8.1% in FY19, and the slowest since at least FY13.
• Ongoing agrarian distress and dismal income growth so far, coupled with subdued income growth expectation in urban areas have weakened the consumption demand considerably
• The Central government adheres to the budgeted fiscal deficit of 3.3% of GDP by cutting/rolling over expenditure, then Ind­Ra believes FY20 GDP growth could be even lower than 5.6%

6) Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY)

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has expressed concern over rising bad loans from Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY), a scheme announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2015, which offers faster credit, with ticket sizes starting from ₹50,000 and going up to ₹10 lakh, to small businesses.

What is meant by a bad loan?

Bad debt or bad loans is the amount owed by a person/entity (the debtor) that is considered unlikely to be paid in due. When the debtor is illiquid (going into bankruptcy), banks generally write off bad loans (this will result in the decline of credit rating for the debtor)

• The government had in July informed Parliament that total NPA in the Mudra scheme of over ₹3.21 lakh crore has jumped to 2.68% in FY19 from 2.52% in FY18. Since the inception of the scheme, over 19 crore loans have been extended under the scheme up to June 2019, it had said. Of the total, 3.63 crore accounts are in default as of March 2019
• The bad loans in the scheme soared a whopping 126% in FY19, jumping by ₹9,204.14 crore to ₹16,481.45 crores in FY19 over the previous year.

About NPA

A nonperforming asset (NPA) refers to a classification for loans or advances that are in default or in arrears. A loan is in arrears when principal or interest payments are late or missed. A loan is in default when the lender considers the loan agreement to be broken and the debtor is unable to meet his obligations.

7) DEFCOM India 2019

• The two-day DEFCOM INDIA 2019 seminar commenced at Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi on 26 November 2019. The theme for the seminar is, “Communications: A Decisive Catalyst for Jointness”. The seminar is devoted to the seminal theme of leveraging communications for achieving jointness between the three services. 
• DEFCOM 2019 one the first day witnessed active participation from the armed forces, industry, research and development organizations, and academia. It provided an excellent opportunity for the industry to understand the requirements of the Armed Forces. The DEFCOM exhibition showcased cutting edge communication solutions from the industry and gave officers from the three services an opportunity to gain insights on technology and industry capabilities. The prestigious DEFCOM journal was also released during the seminar.

8) WCD Ministry and NITI AAYOG Examining Measures to Strengthen ICDS

• The Union Minister of Women & Child Development (WCD) and Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani, said that the Ministry of WCD, NITI Aayog and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare are examining measures to strengthen the integrated Child Development Services(ICDS) program in order to ensure that targeted children are benefitted. She reiterated that malnutrition is not restricted to women and children belonging to the poor strata of society, many children from affluent families living in urban areas are equally afflicted with malnutrition. She added that proper nutrition depends on the selection of nutritious food for children, expectant mothers, and lactating women. The WCD Minister informed that nutrition levels have improved by 40% between 2006 and 2016.
• 2.7 crore activities were undertaken by the Ministry of WCD, State Governments, Anganwadi workers during the POSHAN Maah in September this year with 1.3 million ground-level functionaries dealing with 85 million beneficiaries.
• malnutrition is a big challenge and it has to be tackled successfully if India has to grow at the rate of 8-9 percent annually
• POSHAN Abhiyaan cannot be run merely as a government program. It has to be made a Jan Andolan by actively engaging Panchayati Raj institutions and self-help groups.
• The government is considering amendments to the Prevention of Child Marriage Act to make reporting of cases of child marriages mandatory for the concerned agencies. Her remarks came in response to a question on the prevalence of a large number of cases of pregnancies among married girls under 18 years of age. The number of cases of pregnancies in girls under 18 years is as high as 21%. Children born from child marriages are more prone to undernourishment.