Daily Current Affairs 3 December 2019

Current Affairs of Today are

1) Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019

• After the implementation of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, from September 1, the national Capital has witnessed a 300% dip in cases of fatal accidents, and the trend applies to other traffic offenses too
• Traffic police data on fines issued show a 79% dip in cases of motorists driving without a valid driving license. 
• There has been an 892% fall in fines in connection with a minor driving a vehicle. 
• A 1,227% dip has been witnessed in cases of driving without a helmet.
• Cases of a minor driving have dropped as under the new MV Act, the guardian or vehicle owner will be deemed guilty. The offense carries a fine of ₹25,000 with up to three years imprisonment. The juvenile will be tried under Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. The registration of the vehicle will also be canceled

2) Intel’s design and engineering

• Intel India on Monday opened a 3,00,000 sq ft Design and Engineering Centre in Hyderabad, a facility the tech major expects will make significant contributions to its critical global products, technologies across next­generation SOCs, graphics, hardware platforms, and software.
• One of the important tasks the 1,500­seater facility will focus on is the Exascale Computing project
• An Intel release said the Design and Engineering Centre also consists of 40,000 sq. ft. labs and an incubation center for hardware and systems start­ups of Hyderabad to “advance Intel’s engagements with Hyderabad’s ecosystem

3) India and Sweden ties

• Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf held extensive talks with President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expand overall bilateral cooperation in diverse areas including in trade and investment, innovation and culture.
• The King and President Kovind, the sides signed three pacts providing for cooperation in polar science, innovation, and research and in maritime spheres.
• Mr. Modi and King Gustaf also chaired a meeting of the India­Sweden High­Level Policy Dialogue on Innovation Policy, discussing ways to expand engagement in research and development

4) China imposes sanctions on the U.S. 

• China suspended U.S. warship visits and sanctioned American NGOs in retaliation for the passage
• of a Bill backing pro­democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
• Sanctions will apply to NGOs that had acted “badly” over the recent unrest in Hong Kong, she said, including the National Endowment for Democracy, Human Rights Watch and Freedom House.
• The Chinese government has decided to suspend reviewing the applications for U.S. warships to go to Hong Kong for (rest and) recuperation as of today

About the bill

U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which requires the President to annually review the city’s favorable trade status and threatens to revoke it if the semi­autonomous territory’s freedoms are quashed

5) Power of Siberia gas pipeline

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin remotely inaugurated the “Power of Siberia” gas pipeline a massive cross­border undertaking not only central to China’s energy security but also for bolstering special ties between Beijing and Moscow. The 30­year project is anchored by a $400 billion gas deal.

About the project

• Russia has been a primary gas supplier to Europe, but the Power of Siberia is the first cross­border gas pipeline between Russia and China, adding a prominent eastern dimension to Moscow’s energy blueprint. 
• Under the contract, Russia will deliver 1 trillion cubic meters of natural gas to China over the next 30 years. 
• Next year, Moscow will supply around 5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas, but the volume will gradually rise to 38 billion cubic meters per year, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) said
• From Siberia to China’s Yangtze River delta in Shanghai, the massive pipeline will cover 8,000 km, with 5,111 km inside China, passing through nine provinces and municipalities.
• Gas is being sourced from Chayandinskoye and Kovytka fields in eastern Siberia and is then piped to Blagoveshchensk the last town on the Russian side of the border. From there, it is tunneled under the Amur River, before entering Heihe on the Chinese side.  
• Analysts say that the brand new pipeline is an emblem of closer energy integration in Eurasia. 

6) Manufacturing PMI 

• The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 51.2 in November, up from 50.6 in October. A reading above 50 implies an expansion in activity, while a reading below 50 denotes contraction
• Manufacturing activity increased in November from a two ­year low in the previous month, driven by a modest increase in the growth of new orders and production, a private-sector survey report showed
• The latest reading was below the survey average (53.8) and indicated only a slight improvement in the health of the sector
• The growth in the overall manufacturing sector was mainly propped up by growth in the consumer goods segment, while the intermediate goods segment returned to expansion. However, the survey respondents reported a deterioration in the operating conditions in the capital goods segment
• Anecdotal evidence suggested that growth was supported by the launch of new products and better demand, though restrained by competitive pressures and unstable market conditions
• the PMI data continued to show a lack of inflationary pressures in the sector which, combined with slow economic growth, suggested that the Reserve Bank of India would likely extend its accommodative policy stance and further reduce the benchmark interest rate during December.

7) Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System (PPRTMS)

• The Election Commission of India has reviewed the system and process of registration of political parties. The new guidelines will be effective from 1st January 2020
• the “Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System” (PPRTMS) will be implemented through an online portal, to facilitate tracking of the status of the application by applicants.
• The salient feature in the Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System is that the applicant (who is applying for party registration from 1st January 2020 onwards) will be able to track the progress of his / her application and will get the status update through SMS and email. The applicant is required to provide contact mobile number and email address of the party/applicant in his application if he/she wishes to track the progress of the application.

About Registration of Political Parties

The Registration of Political Parties is governed by the provisions of section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. A party seeking registration under the said section with the Commission has to submit an application to the Commission within a period of 30 days following the date of its formation in prescribed format with basic particulars about the party such as name, address, membership details of various units, names of office bearers, etc, as required under subsection (4) of the said section, and such other particulars that the Commission has specified under sub-section (6) of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, as mentioned in the Guidelines for registration.

8) Independent Director’s Databank

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, to strengthen the institution of Independent Directors under the Companies Act,  launched the Independent Director’s Databank by the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 and the Rules made thereunder.

About the Databank

The Databank portal which has been developed and will be maintained by the Indian Institute for Corporate Affairs (IICA), is a first of its kind initiative from the Ministry. It provides for a wide array of e-learning courses on various topics including the Companies Act, Securities laws, basic accountancy, board practices, board ethics, and board effectiveness. Several value-added services are expected to be rolled out through the portal for capacity building of Independent Directors.

As per the notified rules, all existing Independent Directors are required to register themselves in the databank within 3 months from 01 December 2019. 

They are also required to pass a basic online proficiency self-assessment test which will available from March 2020 onwards within 12 months thereafter.  To provide sufficient practice to individuals, several online mock Tests have also been made available in the system.   The real test can be taken online through a simple scheduling process.  The real test would be remotely proctored.

9) Government to set up National Company Law Appellate Tribunal Bench in Chennai

In pursuance of the judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court, the Government has decided to set up a bench of National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) at Chennai.

About the NCLT

Benches of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) are set up in various states depending on the caseload and other relevant factors. Considering the heavy caseload at some existing benches, additional members have been appointed and additional courts have been operationalized from time to time.

The Minister further stated that the Government is taking all steps to strengthen the NCLT and NCLAT in terms of the number of benches, number of courts and number of members, to reduce the pendency. Apart from the decision to set up the NCLAT bench at Chennai, five new benches of NCLT have been set up during 2018-2019 at Jaipur, Cuttack, Kochi, Indore, and Amaravati. The Government has recently appointed 28 more members in NCLT and 4 more members in NCLAT. For capacity building of members, regular colloquiums are being held. the e-Court project has also been implemented in a few benches with heavy caseloads.

10) Exercise Hand-in-Hand-2019

The 8th India-China joint training exercise 'HAND-IN-HAND 2019' with the theme counter-terrorism under the United Nations mandate is scheduled to be conducted at Umroi, Meghalaya from 07 to 20 December 2019. The Chinese contingent from the Tibet Military command comprising of 130 personal and the Indian Contingent of similar strength will participate in the 14-day long training exercise. The exercise is planned at the company level with respective Battalion Headquarters controlling the training.

Objective

The exercise aims to practice joint planning and conduct of counter-terrorist operations in semi-urban terrain. The exercise schedule is focused upon training on various lectures & drills associated with counter-terrorist handling & firing with each other's weapons, special heliborne operations and case studies of various operations carried out in the counter-terrorist environment. Two tactical exercises are scheduled during the training; one on counter-terrorism scenario and the other on Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations.

Sources are The Hindu and PIB

Donate us on Paytm