Daily Current Affairs 4 January 2020

Current Affairs of Today Are

1) Phase-II to FAME India Scheme

• To give a further push to clean mobility in Road Transport Sector, the Department of Heavy Industries has sanctioned 2636 charging stations in 62 cities across 24 States/UTs under FAME India (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India) scheme phase II.
• As many as 317 EV charging stations have been allotted in Maharashtra, 266 in Andhra Pradesh, 256 in Tamil Nadu, 228 in Gujarat, 205 in Rajasthan, 207 in Uttar Pradesh, 172 in Karnataka, 159 in Madhya Pradesh, 141 in West Bengal, 138 in Telangana, 131 in Kerala, 72 in Delhi, 70 in Chandigarh, 50 in Haryana, 40 in Meghalaya, 37 in Bihar, 29 in Sikkim, 25 each in Jammu & Kashmir and Chhattisgarh, 20 in Assam, 18 in Odisha and 10 each in Uttarakhand, Puducherry and Himachal Pradesh. 
• The sanction letters to the selected entities will be issued in phases after ensuring the availability of land for charging stations, signing of necessary agreements/MoU with concerned partner organizations like city municipal corporations, Discoms, and oil companies. Subsequently, each selected public entities are required to initiate the procurement process in a time-bound manner for the deployment of sanctioned charging stations.
• In the future at least one charging station will be available in most of the selected cities in a grid of 4 Km X 4 km. He said it will boost the confidence of users of Electric Vehicles and also encourage the OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to launch the new electric vehicle models due to the lack of charging infrastructure.
• About 106 proposals from Public/Private Entities for the deployment of about 7000 EV charging stations were received. Out of these 2636 charging stations, 1633 Charging Stations will be Fast Charging Stations and 1003 will be slow charging stations. With this, about 14000 Charging Stations will be installed across the selected cities.

About FAME India Scheme

• The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 is a National Mission document providing the vision and the roadmap for the faster adoption of electric vehicles and their manufacturing in the country. As part of the NEMMP 2020, the Department of Heavy Industry formulated a Scheme viz. Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme in the year 2015 to promote the manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicle technology and to ensure sustainable growth of the same.
• Phase-I of this Scheme was initially launched for a period of 2 years, commencing from 1st April 2015, which was subsequently extended from time to time and the last extension was allowed up to 31st March 2019. The 1st Phase of the FAME India Scheme was implemented through four focus areas namely (i) Demand Creation, (ii) Technology Platform, (iii) Pilot Project and (iv) Charging Infrastructure. Market creation through demand incentives was aimed at incentivizing all vehicle segments i.e. 2-Wheelers, 3-Wheelers Auto, Passenger 4-Wheeler vehicles, Light Commercial Vehicles, and Buses.

2) The U.S. kills top Iranian General in an airstrike 

• The U.S. on Friday killed Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, in an airstrike near Baghdad airport, the Pentagon and Iran said
• Top Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al­Muhandis, an adviser to Gen. Soleimani, was also killed in the attack authorized by U.S. President Donald Trump.
• The killing of Gen. Soleimani, considered the architect of Tehran’s spreading military influence in West Asia, marks a dramatic escalation in the regional “shadow war” between Iran and the U.S. and its allies, principally Israel and Saudi Arabia, which could quickly ratchet up tit­for­tat attacks.
• Iran has been locked in a long conflict with the U.S. that escalated last week with an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq by pro­Iranian militiamen after a U.S. air raid on the Kataib Hezbollah militia, founded by Muhandis.

Effect on Market

• Oil prices shot up by nearly $3 a barrel after news of the killing.
• The impact of the U.S. drone strike killing a top Iranian military commander was visible in most market segments in India as gold prices were spiked, while equities fell, and the rupee plunged to a one­ and ­a ­half ­month low.
• While gold prices in the spot market surged by around ₹1,000 per 10 gm, the rupee fell by 42 paise to end at 71.80 against the U.S. dollar amid a spike in crude prices. Equities, however, managed to recoup some of the losses as the benchmark Sensex closed at 41,464.61, down 162.03 points, or 0.39%

3) NHRC issues notice to Government of Rajasthan over the reported deaths of more than 100 children at Kota Government Hospital

• The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, India has taken suo moto cognizance of media reports about the death of more than 100 children at a government-run hospital in Kota district of Rajasthan in the month of December 2019. Ten out of a hundred children died within 48 hours between December 23 and 24, 2019. Reportedly, over 50 percent of the gadgets installed in the hospital are defunct and the hospital is lacking cleanliness and basic infrastructure including oxygen supply in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
• The Commission has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan to submit a detailed report, within four weeks in the matter including the steps being taken to address the issue and to ensure that such deaths of the children do not recur in future due to lack of infrastructure and health facilities at the hospitals.

4) The anti-­child marriage law

• The anti­child marriage law does not intend to punish a male aged between 18 and 21 years for marrying a “female adult,” the Supreme Court has held in a recent judgment.
• A Bench led by Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar was interpreting Section 9 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, which says: “Whoever, being a male adult above 18 years of age, contracts a child marriage shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees or with both.”
• The court said neither does the provision punish a child for marrying a woman nor a woman for marrying a male child.

Reason

• The latter because “in a society like ours, decisions regarding marriage are usually taken by the family members of the bride and groom, and women generally have little say in the matter.” 
• The sole objective of the provision is to punish a man for marrying a minor girl. “The intention behind punishing only male adults contracting child marriages is to protect minor girls,” the court reasoned.
• The 2006 Act also gives an option for prospective grooms who are between 18 and 21 years old to opt-out of marriages.
• The case at hand concerned a boy who married a 21­year­old woman when he was 17 years old. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had set aside its own order providing protection to the couple and initiated prosecution against the boy for contracting a child marriage, in which he himself was the child.
• The Supreme Court set aside the HC order, saying the intent behind Section 9 was not to punish a child for contracting a child marriage. 

5)  The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC)

• India is facing diplomatic isolation because of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), former National Security Adviser and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said
• The new law was exclusionary and introduced a religious category in determining citizenship. The cumulative effect of a series of actions, including what happened in Kashmir. We seem to know we are isolated. The External Affairs Minister ducked a meeting with U.S. legislators
• The future of the idea of India it will now have to deal with the international consequences of the challenges from the CAA and the NRC.
• Global public opinion on India has shifted if you see the international press. It’s a self-­inflicted goal
• India’s friends were speaking in a dismissive manner about its internal developments.

6) Gurdwara Nankana Sahib 

• India on Friday strongly condemned acts of vandalism at the Nankana Sahib in Pakistan and urged the neighboring country to ensure the safety of the Sikh community there.
• The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) called upon the Pakistan government to ensure the safety of the  Sikh community and protection of the holy Gurudwara, which was targeted by a mob on Friday afternoon.

About Nankana Sahib

Nankana Sahib is a city and capital of the Nankana Sahib District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is named after the first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak, who was born in the city and first began preaching here. Nankana Sahib is the most important religious site for the Sikh religion. It is located about 91 km (57 mi) west of Lahore and about 75 km (47 mi) east of Faisalabad. According to the census of 2017, the city has a population of 79,540 inhabitants. Until 2005, it was the part of Sheikhupura District.

Indias take on it

We call upon the Government of Pakistan to take immediate steps to ensure the safety, the security of the members of the Sikh community. Strong action must be taken against the miscreants who indulged in the desecration of the holy Gurudwara and attacked members of the minority Sikh community

The agitated mob pelted stones from a nearby area towards the place of worship after a dispute broke out over the alleged forcible abduction and conversion of a Sikh girl, Jagjit Kaur, who was kidnapped from her home in Nankana Sahib in August last year

7) Nobel winner’s prescription of Indian Economy

• Economics Nobel Prize winner Abhijit Banerjee said instead of cutting corporate taxes, the government should be putting it in the hands of poorer people who will spend it immediately and kick­start demand in the economy
• With the annual budget coming up in less than a month and the country in the midst of an economic crisis, Dr. Banerjee was asked what the Finance Minister should be doing in order to boost demand and revive the economy. “I would say, first, no more cuts in corporate taxes
• The corporate sector is not acting to boost demand. “The clear fact is that the corporate sector is actually sitting on cash and is not investing. Why is it not investing? Because every sign of a demand problem is there

8) Special provisions likely for J&K residents in jobs, land rights

• The Centre is all set to provide protection to domiciles of Jammu and Kashmir in government jobs, educational institutions, and land rights, a senior government official said
• The Centre is exploring the option of implementing the mandatory requirement of continuous stay in the region for a minimum of 15 years before applying for a job in the government sector and for admissions in schools and colleges in the Union Territory of J&K

Background

On August 6, the Centre revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution and downgraded and bifurcated the State into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh. The two provisions of the Constitution that were revoked let the J&K legislature decide the “permanent residents” of the State, prohibiting a non­J&K resident from buying a property in the State and ensuring job reservations for its residents.

Northern State

• The official said special provisions were being examined on the lines of those in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The provisions pertain to regulating ownership and transfer of land to conserve the limited resources available for development. 
• The regulations also ensure that the State preserves its unique identity.  There are 12 States including Himachal Pradesh where provisions of special status under Article 371 of the Constitution apply

Reason Of Provisions

Centre was considering a proposal to grant special status to J&K. After the new UT of J&K was carved out, several groups in Jammu expressed concerns about losing special status and apprehension of losing land and jobs to outsiders.