Daily Current Affairs 10 December 2019

Current Affairs of Today are

1) Lok Sabha passes Citizenship Bill

• The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) that seeks to give citizenship to refugees from the Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh and Zoroastrian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The Bill was passed 311­-80 with zero abstentions
• Home Minister Amit Shah said it was a “historic bill” that sought to complete what the “Nehru­Liaqat pact could not do.” 

Nehru­-Liaqat pact

• The Liaquat–Nehru Pact (or the Delhi Pact) was a bilateral treaty between the two South-Asian states of India and Pakistan, where refugees were allowed to return to dispose of their property, abducted women and looted property were to be returned, forced conversions were unrecognized, and minority rights were confirmed. The treaty was signed in New Delhi by the Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and the Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan on April 8, 1950. The treaty was the outcome of six days of talks sought to guarantee the rights of minorities in both countries after the Partition of India and to avert another war between them.
• Minority commissions were set up in both countries. More than one million refugees migrated from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to West Bengal in India.

Home Minister Amit Shah told the Lok Sabha that Manipur would be brought under the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system, thus exempting it from the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. With Manipur joining the list of ILP­protected north­eastern States, the Bill will apply only to some parts of Tripura and Assam.

2) The Bureau of Indian Standards begins training States on piped water quality standard

• The Bureau of Indian Standards is preparing the ground for enforcement of piped water quality standards with a workshop for State officials. However, it is not yet clear whether the Centre’s own flagship mission to provide piped water to all households by 2024 will implement the BIS standard.
• Providing safe drinking water to the common public is a primary requirement for ensuring the health
• BIS to disseminate information about the requirements of IS 10500:2012, the quality standard. States were informed about the certification schemes and testing facilities required for compliance with it.  Unlike the BIS standard for bottled water, which is mostly produced by private companies, the standard for piped water largely supplied by government agencies is not yet mandatory
• The Central government and BIS were ready to take all steps and provide handholding support to the State governments and various agencies. However, interacting with journalists after his inaugural speech, he admitted that there has been no response as yet from the Union Jal Shakti Ministry with regards to a draft quality control order to make the piped water standard mandatory.
• Jal Shakti is the nodal Ministry for the Jal Jeevan Mission to provide functional household tap connections to 14.6 crore rural households by 2024. 

3) 218 fast-track courts in U.P. for sexual crimes 

• The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday announced that it would set up 218 fast­track courts for speedy disposal of cases of sexual crimes against women and children
• The State at present has 42,389 pending cases of sexual offenses against children and 25,749 pending cases of rape and sexual crimes against women
• Given the high number of pending cases and to ensure their speedy disposal, 218 new fast­track courts would be set up, including 144 for sexual crimes against women
• Out of this, 144 will be regular courts and will hear only rape cases. For crimes against children, under POCSO [Protection of Children from Sexual Offences], we are going to open 74 new court
• New posts of judges of the level of the Additional Sessions Judge would be created in all the 218 courts. The government had estimated a budget of ₹75 lakh per court
• The Centre would bear 60% of the costs and the State the remaining

4) Visa penalty annoy Bangladesh 

A visa regulation, introduced by India about a year ago, has deeply irked Bangladesh. Following the regulation, members of the majority community of Bangladesh, Muslims, are now paying a penalty which is at least 200 times higher compared to the minorities,  mainly Hindus, if they overstay in India.

The issue surfaced during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Kolkata visit about two weeks ago. Bangladeshi cricketer Saif Hasan had overstayed his visa. He informed the Deputy High Commission office in Kolkata, which in turn spoke to the FRRO. 

FRRO rules

The FRRO rules, posted on its website, noted that the “penalty of overstay” for “minority communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan” is ₹500 for more than two years, ₹200 for 91 days to two years and ₹100 for up to 90 days.

On the other hand, if the person who overstayed does not belong to the minority community, then the charges are in dollars $500 (₹35,000), $400 (₹28,000) and $300 (₹21,000) for the same duration of overstay

5) Activist opposes coastal highway connecting Odisha with West Bengal 

• Green Nobel Prize winner Prafulla Samantara has opposed the 415 ­km ­long coastal highway from Digha in West Bengal to Gopalpur in south Odisha proposed by the Central and State governments.
• Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had announced this ₹7,500­crore project. It has recently received the approval of the Odisha government and the National Highways Authority of India has been directed to start obtaining clearances.
• Earlier, the Odisha government had objected to some alignments of the project. The Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change had also made some observations on the proposed road that will pass through Chilika lake and other eco­sensitive areas. 

About the Project

The State government has now agreed to the original NHAI plan for a 320­km stretch between Digha and Satapada. The remaining 95­ km stretch from Satapada to Gopalpur via Chilika lake has not yet received a green signal from the Odisha government.

Harm to the ecosystem of Odisha

• This project will jeopardize the fragile coastal environment of the Odisha coast and affect major biodiversities like Chilika lake and Bhitarkanika.
• The project will also destroy the natural mangrove forests and lead to an increased threat of sea erosion. 
• There is no need of this coastal highway as a tourism or economy booster as the existing NH­16 passing through Odisha is never far away from the coast
• Mangroves act as natural barriers against floods and tides and protect the beach. They house a rich variety of flora and fauna and migratory birds. The coastal highway will destroy more than 33% of mangrove forests

6) Lok Sabha passes the Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019

Lok Sabha today passed the Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019. The Bill seeks to enhance the punishment for existing offenses like illegal manufacture, sale, transfer, etc.; illegal acquiring, possessing or carrying prohibited arms or prohibited ammunition; and illegal manufacture, sale, transfer, conversion, import, export, etc., of firearms. 

It also proposes to define new offenses and prescribing punishment for them, such as for taking away firearms from police or armed forces, involvement in organized crime syndicate, illicit trafficking including smuggled firearms of foreign make or prohibited arms and prohibited ammunition, use of firearms in rash and negligent manner in celebratory gunfire endangering human life, etc. Further, the Bill seeks to enhance the period of arms license from three years to five years and also to issue arms license in its electronic form to prevent forgery.

Reason

The Amendment assumes significance in recent times as Law enforcement agencies have indicated growing nexus between possession of illegal firearms and commission of criminal offenses. With the advancement in technology, the firepower and sophistication of illegal firearms have increased significantly over the years. The trans-border dimensions of illegal arms trafficking are causing a threat to internal security and to prevent the usage of illicit firearms so trafficked has also become a prime concern. To effectively curb crimes related to or committed by using illegal firearms and to provide effective deterrence against violation of the law, there is an urgent need to strengthen the existing legislative framework by making appropriate amendments in the Arms Act, 1959. Simultaneously, there is also a requirement for rationalizing and facilitating the licensing procedures for the use of firearms by individuals and sportspersons.

History of Bill

The original law was brought by the British after the Revolution of 1857, to prevent such an incident in the future. Gandhi Ji also connected the issue of arms ownership with the basic rights of Indians and demanded repeal of the Indian Arms Act, 1878, and this demand was included in the eight-point agenda that Gandhi Ji presented to Lord Irwin.

After independence, it was deemed that there was no need for an armed revolution, and the responsibility of the protection of people would be that of the State, which led to the evolution of and amendments in the law.

Punishment under the amendment

prison sentence for illicit trafficking of firearms and ammunition including smuggled firearms of foreign make or prohibited bore had been increased to prison time between 10 years to life imprisonment. Shri Shah said that the theft of weapons from police or armed forces would carry a punishment of 10 years to life imprisonment; illegal manufacturing, sale, conversion, repair, import/export would attract 7 years to life imprisonment; acquiring, possessing, carrying prohibited arms and ammunition to get 7 to 14 years imprisonment; involvement in organized crime syndicate would all henceforth carry the punishment of 10 years to life imprisonment. He also said that involvement in negligent and rash use of firearms or in celebratory firing endangering human life would attract a fine of Rs. 1,00,000 or imprisonment for 2 years or both.

7) The Recycling of Ships Bill, 2019’ passed in Parliament

Parliament today passed a landmark “The Recycling of Ships Bill 2019’’ for Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships in India. The passing of this Bill is a giant step and historical moment in the Indian Maritime arena and will have far-reaching effects in the Indian Ship Recycling industry. The existing Shipbreaking Code (revised),2013 and the provisions of the Hong Kong Convention, 2009 are dovetailed in this Bill. The Bill, upon becoming Act, will ensure the environment-friendly recycling process of Ships and adequate safety of the yard workers. 

The Key Benefits of the bill are as follows:

• The bill will harbinger a significantly increased number of global ships entering into Indian Shipyards for Recycling.
• Recycling of Ships will boost business & employment opportunities and strengthen India’s position in the recycling industry.
• It will raise the brand value of our Ships Recycling Yards located at Alang in Gujarat, Mumbai Port, Kolkata Port & Azhikkal in Kerela.
• 10% of the country’s Secondary steel needs, as an outcome of Recycling of Ships, will be met in an eco-friendly manner.
• Ships Recycling facilities will become compliant to International standards and Ships will be recycled only in such authorized facilities.
• The tremendous growth of business activities will contribute to the country’s GDP.

8) MOU signed Between NSIC & ARAMCO Asia for development in Oil & Gas Sectors

• An MoU has been signed recently between NSIC and Aramco Asia for the development of MSME Ecosystem in India in Oil & Gas Sector. This MoU will pave a way for accredited Indian MSMEs to carve out space as vendors in the Global space.   
• NSIC is the flagship Mini Ratna PSU under the Ministry of MSME in the business of facilitating MSMEs in India and  Aramco is the world's largest Oil & Gas Company from Govt. of Saudi Arabia having reported revenue of USD 355 Billion (2018) and estimated the market value of 1.5 Trillion Dollars.

9) Para Military Forces now to use Khadi in Uniforms

The Khadi and Village Industries products will get a major boost as Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah has recently instructed the Director Generals(DG’s) of all para-military forces to use Khadi Fabric in their uniforms and Village Industries products such as pickles, papad, honey, soaps and detergents, shampoos, phenol, tea, mustard oil, etc. in their canteens.

10)  Human Rights Day

• Human Rights Day is celebrated on the 10th December every year to commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948 as the shared standard yardstick to protect human rights across the globe. The Declaration recognizes that the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of mankind are the foundation of justice, freedom, and peace in the world.
• The United Nations’ theme for this year’s Human Rights Day is: “Youth Standing up for Human Rights.” The youth will be celebrated as agents of change and encouraged to amplify their voices against racism, hate speech, bullying, discrimination, and fight for climate justice, among other issues, and engage a broad range of global audiences in the promotion and protection of rights