Daily Current Affairs 20 March 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Ministry of Defence signs Rs 880 crore contract for Light Machine Guns with Israeli firm

The Indian Armed Forces' long-standing requirement of a modern state-of-the-art Light Machine Gun (LMG) has finally fructified. The Acquisition Wing of Ministry of Defence has signed the capital acquisition contract with Israel Weapons Industries for procurement of 16,479 LMGs for Rs 880 crore with the approval of Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh.
The contracted Negev 7.62X51 mm LMG is a combat-proven weapon and currently used by several countries around the globe. This LMG will greatly enhance the lethality and range of a soldier vis-a-vis the presently used weapon.
The provisioning of this operationally urgent and very critically needed weapon will boost the confidence of the frontline troops and provide much-needed combat power to the Armed Forces.

Source: PIB

2) Indian System of Medicine Bill, 2019 and the National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill, 2019

Two Bills to set up national commissions for the Indian system of medicine and homeopathy have been passed by the Rajya Sabha.
The National Commission for the Indian System of Medicine Bill, 2019 and the National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill, 2019 had been introduced in the Rajya Sabha in January 2019, after which they were sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare.

National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill:

The proposed legislation seeks to repeal the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970.
It provides for a medical education system to ensure the availability of quality medical professionals of the Indian System of Medicine, and the adoption of the latest medical research, among other objectives.
Another key feature of the bill is setting up a National Commission for the Indian System of Medicine.

National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill:

It seeks to repeal the Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973.
It too proposes to constitute a National Commission for Homoeopathy.
It is proposed that the Commission, among things, will frame policies for regulating medical institutions and homeopathic medical professionals, and assess requirements of healthcare-related human resources and infrastructure.

Minister of State for Ayurveda, Yoga, and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) said that the passage of the two bills will help the government to strengthen homeopathy and other Indian medical system streams in the country. AYUSH medical systems are not only popular in India but are also gaining a foothold across the world.

Source: The Hindu

3) India is 3rd largest producer of Electricity in the World

As per the latest key world energy statistics published by the IEA in 2019, India is the 3rd largest producer of electricity in the world and it ranks 106th in terms of per capita consumption in 2017.
Stating this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today Shri R.K. Singh, Minister of State (IC) for Power, New & Renewable Energy and the Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship stated that reforms in the power sector are a continuous process due to changes in the situation. India has become a power surplus from a power deficit situation. Thus, power sector reforms now focus on the supply of 24x7 quality power to consumers, higher standards of service, promotion of renewable energy sources, development of hydropower, improving efficiency, especially in the distribution sector, etc. Reforms linked distribution scheme and changes in tariff policy are some of the measures under consideration in this regard.

Source: PIB

4) IUSSTF - Viterbi Program creates long-term S&T linkages between India & US

A total of 14 students will undertake a research internship at Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, LA, USA. The internship would commence from mid-May for 8 weeks, and students would be working broadly in areas of Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning and Neural Networks, communication circuits, Analog and Digital Circuit Design, and so on.
This exposure would not only enhance the students’ confidence to utilize the knowledge gained at their respective institutions after coming back but would also trigger their interest to take up research as a career. So far, 167 students have benefitted from 2011 to2020, and the number of students pursuing or completed a Ph.D. is 21.
The Viterbi Program of IUSSTF was developed between IUSSTF and the Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California (USC). This program is a part of the Government’s endeavor to encourage research and development amongst the bright young Indian minds to create long-term, sustainable, and vibrant linkages between India and the US.
IUSSTF was established under an agreement between the Governments of India and the United States of America in March 2000. It is an autonomous bilateral organization jointly funded by both the Governments that promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Innovation through substantive interaction among government, academia, and industry. The Department of Science & Technology (DST), Governments of India, and the U.S. Department of State are respective nodal departments. IUSSTF has an evolving program portfolio that is largely conceived and driven by scientific communities of both the countries through extending support for symposia, workshops, conferences on topical and thematic areas of interest, visiting professorships and exchange programs, advanced training schools, public-private networked centers, and knowledge R & D networked centers.
The program provides an opportunity for Indian students pursuing a Bachelors's or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Computational Sciences at a recognized institution of higher education and learning in India to undertake a research internship at the Viterbi School of Engineering for 8 weeks.
The biggest success of the program has been that many students, after completion of their Ph.D. or Masters at US universities, have taken up teaching assignments at US Universities in addition to many of them working at Research Labs of big Corporates like Google, Facebook, etc.

Source: PIB

5) The International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has rejected economically devastated Venezuela’s request for a $5 billion loan to help it cope with the onslaught of COVID-19.

Details:

It was the country’s first loan request to the IMF since 2001.
The IMF said that the Fund is not in a position to consider this request, because there is no clarity on international recognition of the country’s government.
IMF said that its engagement with member countries is predicated on official government recognition by the international community, as reflected in the IMF’s membership. And in this situation, there is no clarity on recognition.

Issue:

Several countries, including Britain and the US, recognize usurper Juan Guaido who declared himself interim president of Venezuela last year, shortly after Mr. Maduro’s inauguration.
Mr. Guaido has launched several failed coup attempts against President Nicolas Maduro, all of which have ended in embarrassing humiliation as he failed to win the support of the people and the country’s armed forces.
Opposition in the country believes that Mr. Maduro is taking advantage of the pandemic to obtain an international recognition that he does not have.
The IMF said that the request could not be considered, claiming that there was no clarity among member states on who to recognize as Venezuela’s leader. It asserted that the political problem has to be solved before the economic problem can be solved.
The US has also been criticized for increasing sanctions on Venezuela.

Note:

Venezuela’s dire economic situation originated in the continuous fall of oil production that began during the oil industry strike in 2003 and the disappearance of much of the private sector in the last 20 years.
Economic sanctions and the crash in oil prices to 18-year lows have only compounded Venezuela’s economic crisis.

Source: The Hindu

6) COVID-19 and Global Unemployment

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has recently said that the COVID-19 pandemic will drastically increase global unemployment, leaving up to 25 million more people out of work and slashing incomes.
COVID-19 is not only a global health crisis but also a major labor market and economic crisis that is having a huge impact on people.

Key Points

The International Labour Organization (ILO), has warned that the economic and labor crisis sparked by the coronavirus will have far-reaching impacts on labor market outcomes.
The ILO said that by comparison, the global financial crisis of 2008-09 increased global unemployment by 22 million.
Major Findings:

A study based on the report suggests that the world should prepare to see a significant rise in unemployment and underemployment in the wake of the pandemic.

In the best-case scenario, 5.3 million more people will be pushed into unemployment.
In the worst-case scenario, 24.7 million more will become jobless, on top of the 188 million registered as unemployed in 2019.

Underemployment is also expected to increase on a large scale, as the economic consequences of the virus outbreak translate into reductions in working hours and wages.
Self-employment in developing countries usually serves to cushion the impact of economic shifts but this time due to the severe restrictions on the movement of people and goods, it might not help
Reductions in access to work will also mean large income losses for workers.

The study estimates the income loss between $860 billion and $3.4 trillion by the end of 2020, which will translate into falls in the consumption of goods and services, in turn affecting the prospects for businesses and economies.

The number of people who live in poverty despite holding one or more jobs will also increase significantly.

The strain on incomes resulting from the decline in economic activity will devastate workers close to or below the poverty line.

Some groups will be disproportionately impacted by the jobs crisis, including youth, older workers, women, and migrants which will only increase the already prevailing inequality.

Suggestions:

The ILO has called for urgent, large-scale and coordinated measures to protect workers in the workplace and stimulate the economy, employment, and job support through social protections, paid leave and other subsidies.
It is suggested to tackle this pandemic in the same way the global financial crisis of 2008 was tackled, by presenting a united front to address the consequences.

Source: The Hindu

7) Supreme Court Invoked Special Powers to Remove a Minister

Recently, the Supreme Court invoked its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to remove a Manipur minister.

Key Points

The Supreme Court removed Thounaojam Shyamkumar Singh, from the state cabinet and restrained him “from entering the Legislative Assembly till further orders”.
A disqualification petition against the minister was pending before the Speaker since 2017 but the Speaker failed to take the decision within a reasonable period.
The Speaker also failed to take any decision within the stipulated period of 4 weeks as provided by the Supreme Court in the 21st January 2020 order.
Article 212 of the Constitution bars courts from inquiring into proceedings of the Legislature. In this case, however, prompted by the fact that the Speaker’s conduct has been called into question on several occasions, the Court said it was “constrained” to invoke the court’s extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution.
Earlier, the Manipur High Court, in this matter, had found grounds for disqualification under the Tenth Schedule but stopped short of issuing directions.

The reason is that the question of whether a High Court can direct a Speaker to decide on a disqualification petition within a time frame is pending before a Supreme Court Bench.

Highlights of 21st January 2020 Order

The court, in general, said that “the Speaker, in acting as a Tribunal under the Tenth Schedule, is bound to decide disqualification petitions within a reasonable period”, which “will depend on the facts of each case.”
The Supreme Court also held that disqualification petitions under the tenth schedule should be adjudicated by a mechanism outside Parliament or Legislative Assemblies.
The Court has suggested a permanent tribunal headed by a retired Supreme Court judge or a former High Court Chief Justice as a new mechanism. However, this would require an amendment to the Constitution.

Currently, the disqualification of members of a House/Assembly is referred to as the Speaker of the House/Assembly.

The rationale behind the Court’s suggestion was to ensure that such disputes are decided both swiftly and impartially, thus giving real teeth to the provisions contained in the Tenth Schedule.

Disqualification under the Tenth Schedule

The Anti-Defection Law was passed in 1985 through the 52nd amendment to the Constitution. It added the Tenth Schedule to the Indian Constitution. The main intent of the law was to combat “the evil of political defections”.
According to it, a member of a House belonging to any political party becomes disqualified for being a member of the House, if

he voluntarily gives up his membership of such political party; or
he votes or abstains from voting in such House contrary to any direction issued by his political party without obtaining prior permission of such party and such act has not been condoned by the party within 15 days.

Exceptions to the disqualification on the ground of defection (Two cases)

If a member goes out of his party as a result of a merger of the party with another party. A merger takes place when two-thirds of the members of the party have agreed to such a merger.
If a member, after being elected as the presiding officer of the House, voluntarily gives up the membership of his party or rejoins it after he ceases to hold that office. This exemption has been provided in view of the dignity and impartiality of the office.

Powers of Speaker with regard to Anti-Defection Law

Any question regarding disqualification arising out of defection is to be decided by the presiding officer of the House.
After the Kihoto Hollohan case (1993), the Supreme Court declared that the decision of the presiding officer is not final and can be questioned in any court. It is subject to judicial review on the grounds of malafide, perversity, etc.

Article 142

It provides discretionary power to the Supreme Court as it states that the Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it.

Source: Indian Express

8) Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

Recently, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has informed about the implementation of the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY) in the country.

Key Points

Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana is the scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
It was launched in 2017.
It is a central sector scheme funded by the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund. The fund was notified in the year 2016.

All unclaimed amounts from small savings accounts, PPF and EPF are transferred to this fund.

It aims to provide aids and assistive living devices to senior citizens belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category who suffer from age-related disabilities such as low vision, hearing impairment, loss of teeth and locomotor disabilities.

The aids and assistive devices, viz walking sticks, elbow crutches, walkers/crutches, tripods/quad pods, hearing aids, wheelchairs, artificial dentures, and spectacles are provided to eligible beneficiaries.

The scheme is being implemented by Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO), which is a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Source: PIB

9) Real-time Train Information System

The Real-time Train Information system is being installed in locomotives to enable better tracking of train movement.

The RTIS Project is being executed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
RTIS is an example of ‘Make In India’ as it has been entirely designed, developed and manufactured within the country.

Benefits of RTIS

RTIS enables automatic acquisition of train movement timings at the stations, including that of arrival & departure or run-through.
It also helps in the automatic plotting of control charts in ICT based Control Office Application (COA) on all divisions of Indian Railways.
It also enables the train controllers to track the location and speed of locomotives/trains more closely, without any manual intervention, which helps in improving the efficiency of train control.

Further, it is extremely handy for emergency messaging from the locomotive to the control center, helping in faster response in case of any breakdown or disaster.

The real-time data of RTIS is also linked with the National Train Enquiry System (NTES). Thus, more accurate train running information is being passed to the passengers, which helps them to conveniently plan their arrival at the stations.

Centre for Railway Information Systems

The Ministry of Railways set up CRIS as a Society in July 1986. It is the Information Technology (IT) wing of Indian Railways.
It is headquartered in New Delhi.
It performs the functions of Indian Railways such as passenger ticketing, freight operations, train dispatching and control, crew management, e-procurement, etc.

NTES was developed by the CRIS.

Source: PIB

10) Plea against Gogoi’s nomination

A petition was recently filed in the Supreme Court conveying “widespread disquiet and unease” triggered by the nomination of the former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha.
The petition sought the court’s intervention for extending the post-retirement restrictions imposed on the office of the Lokpal to former judges as well.

What is the demand of the petitioner?

The petition said former judges should be insulated from “post-retirement allurements” like the Lokpal, as faith in the judiciary will dry up.

What’s the issue here?

There is no law or constitutional provision that prohibits such a nomination. Nor is this an unprecedented decision by the government. Still, it is not a common practice that a government nominates or appoints a former Supreme Court judge or even a high court judge to some office within months of her or his retirement.

What are the exceptions currently in place to ensure the independence of the judiciary?

Currently, the only bar imposed on a Judge of the Supreme Court who has retired is that he shall not thereafter plead or act in any Court or before any authority.

What has the Law Commission said in this regard?

14th report of the Law Commission of India considered the question of such nominations and appointments before forming a negative opinion.
The report said it is clearly undesirable that Supreme Court Judges should look forward to other Government employees after their retirement.
Explaining the reason for why Supreme Court judges should resist such offers from the government, the Law Commission report says, “The Government is a party in a large number of causes [cases] in the highest Court and the average citizen may well get the impression, that a judge who might look forward to being employed by the Government after his retirement, does not bring to bear on his work that detachment of outlook which is expected of a judge in cases in which Government is a party.”
Therefore, the practice has a tendency to affect the independence of the judges and should be discontinued.

Why Ranjan Gogoi should not have accepted this offer?

Within five months of his retirement as Chief Justice of India, Justice Ranjan Gogoi has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the government.

Shortly before his retirement from the Supreme Court of India, he delivered several important verdicts with far-reaching political consequences that left the government pleased, including the Ayodhya judgment.
Before that, Justice Gogoi dismissed a review of the Rafale fighter aircraft deal without substantially dealing with the grounds on which the original judgment, negating an independent investigation, had been challenged.
During his tenure, Justice Gogoi also presided over and pushed through the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, an exercise that has excluded more than 19 lakh people from the final version of the citizenship register, and which has been widely criticized on several grounds.
Then there was the Sabarimala temple review. A Constitution Bench judgment of the Supreme Court held that excluding menstruating women from entering the temple was discriminatory, and therefore against “constitutional morality”.

What the 16-point code of conduct for judges says?

Also called the “Restatement of Values of Judicial Life” (adopted at a Chief Justices Conference in May 1997), the code lays the basis of how post-retirement conduct ought to be. For example, if a judge after deciding politically sensitive cases involving particular political parties or politicians, soon after retirement seeks and gets a plum post such as a Rajya Sabha nomination by those very politicians or parties, it would obviously raise serious questions about his or her independence as a judge when he or she had decided those cases.

Can this appointment be seen as a way of ensuring cohesion between the judiciary and the legislature?

No. Because, he no longer represents the judiciary, and his contribution will be limited to the expertise and knowledge he can bring to debates in Parliament. Any attempt to create ‘cohesion’ between the two wings would necessarily encroach on the judiciary’s role as a restraining force on the executive and legislature.

Need of the hour:

There is a creeping worry that post-retirement jobs are a result of pre-retirement judgments. Above all, public confidence in the judiciary cannot be shaken through such appointments. The issue needs to be resolved convincingly.
Besides, ethics demand that no retired judge of the highest court accepts a post that will room to criticism and controversy.

Nominated member of the Rajya Sabha:

Under article 80 of the Constitution, the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) is composed of not more than 250 members, of whom 12 are nominated by the President of India from amongst persons who have special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art, and social service.

Source: The Hindu