Current affairs- April 21,2016
A step towards gender equality
In a step towards giving equal status to women officers, the Navy
has granted permanent commission to seven officers and has formalised plans to
grant permanent commission in eight branches from 2017. The seven woman
officers were inducted as short-service commission (SSC) officers.
Background:
So far women were allowed permanent commission in select streams
by the Army and the Air Force while the Navy permitted only Short Service
Commission for 14 years which means they were denied pension.
- In a landmark judgement in
October last year, the Delhi High Court granted permanent commission for
women and pulled up the Defence Ministry and the Navy for a 2008 order
which it called “sexist bias.”
- Officials later clarified
that the 2008 order for permanent commission was gender neutral and it
granted women permanent commission along with male officers in three
streams — education, law and naval construction as other areas had
logistical issues.
Facts and
figures:
Previously, the Army and IAF had granted permanent commission to
women. There are currently only about 340 woman officers who have been granted
permanent commission in select branches of the Army and IAF, even though they
have been allowed to join the three Services since the early-1990s as SSC
officers for a maximum tenure of 14-15 years. Overall, women number just 1,436
in the Army, 1,331 in IAF and 532 in Navy.
What is a permanent commission?
A permanent commission means a career in the Army/Navy till one
retires. A permanent commission also entitles 20 years of service and a
pension.
India ranked low in Press Freedom Index
The 2016 ‘World Press Freedom Index’ released by Reporters Without
Borders (RSF), has placed India at 133rdposition among 180
countries.
Key facts:
The list is topped by Finland, which retained its top spot for the
sixth consecutive year, followed by the Netherlands and Norway.
- India jumped three spots
from the 136th position it had in 2015.
- Among India’s neighbouring
countries, Pakistan ranks 147, Sri Lanka (141), Afghanistan (120),
Bangladesh (144), Nepal (105) and Bhutan (94). China is ranked 176.
- The United States is
ranked 44th and Russia is placed at the 148th place.
- At the bottom of the index
lies Eritrea at 180th rank. It is preceded by North Korea, Turkmenistan,
Syria and China at 179th, 178th, 177th and 176th position respectively.
About World
Press Freedom Index:
World Press Freedom Index is published annually by RSF since 2002.
It measures the level of freedom available to journalists in 180 countries
using the following criteria – pluralism, media independence, media environment
and self-censorship, legislative environment, transparency, infrastructure, and
abuses.
Cabinet approves signing the Paris Agreement
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing the Paris
Agreement adopted at the 21st Conference of Parties held in Paris in December
2015. The agreement will be signed on 22 April 2016.
Background:
The Paris Agreement on climate change is a milestone in global
climate cooperation. It is meant to enhance the implementation of the
Convention and recognizes the principles of equity and common but
differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities in the light of
different national circumstances.
- India had
advocated a strong and durable climate agreement based on the principles
and provisions of the Convention. The Paris Agreement addresses all the
important concerns and expectations of India.
The salient
features of the Paris Agreement are as follows:
- The Paris Agreement
acknowledges the development
imperatives of developing countries. The Agreement recognizes
the developing countries’ right to development and their efforts to
harmonize development with environment, while protecting the interests of
the most vulnerable.
- The Paris Agreement
recognizes the importance
of sustainable lifestyles and sustainable patterns of consumption with developed countries taking the lead, and notes the
importance of ‘climate justice’ in its preamble.
- The Agreement seeks to
enhance the ‘implementation
of the Convention‘ whilst reflecting the principles of
equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective
capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances.
- § The objective of the
Agreement further ensures that it is not mitigation-centric
and includes other important elements such as adaptation, loss and damage, finance, technology, capacity building and transparency of
action and support.
- Pre-2020 actions are also
part of the decisions. The developed country parties are urged to scale up
their level of financial support with a complete road map to achieve the goal
of jointly providing US $ 100 billion by 2020 for mitigation and
adaptation by significantly increasing adaptation finance from current
levels and to further provide appropriate technology and capacity building
support.
Cabinet approves changes in bill on afforestation
The Union cabinet has given its approval to move official
amendments in the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management And Planning
Authority (CAMPA) Bill, 2015.
Details:
- The legislation will
ensure expeditious utilisation of accumulated unspent amounts available
with the ad hoc Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning
Authority (CAMPA), which is currently around `40,000 crore, and fresh
accrual of compensatory levies and interest on accumulated unspent
balance, which will be of the order of approximately `6,000 crore per
annum, in an efficient and transparent manner.
- Apart from facilitating
timely execution of appropriate measures to mitigate impact of diversion
of forest land, utilisation of these amounts will also result in creation
of productive assets and generation of huge employment opportunities in
the rural areas, especially the backward tribal areas.
- The amendments include
deleting some of environmental services for which credible model to assess
their monetary value does not exist while it also provides for prior
consultation with states for making a rule under it. The amendments
provide for use of monies realised from the user agencies in lieu for
forest land diverted in protected areas for voluntary relocation from
protected areas.
About the
Bill:
The CAMPA Bill is meant to promote afforestation and regeneration
activities to compensate for forest land diverted to non-forest uses, by
regulating and managing $5.3 billion (almost Rs.350 billion) collected over
years.
- The union government in
April 2015 approved the bill for introduction in parliament. However, it
was rejected in theRajya Sabha, where the government is in minority.
- The bill basically
envisages the establishment of a national Compensatory Afforestation Fund
(CAF) and state CAFs to credit amounts collected by state governments and
Union territory administrations to compensate for the loss of forest land
to non-forest projects.
India-Chile preferential trade agreement
The cabinet has approved expanding the present India-Chile preferential trade
agreement (PTA).
Details:
- Under the expanded PTA,
Chile has offered concessions to India on 1,798 products and India
reciprocated with concessions on 1,031 products.
- Under the proposed
expanded PTA, 86% of India’s exports to Chile will get covered with
concessions, which is likely to result in doubling of our exports in the
near future.
Benefits:
- Expansion of India-Chile
PTA will enhance the trade and economic relations between the two
countries.
- The expansion would be an
important landmark in India-Chile relations and consolidate the
traditional fraternal relations that have existed between India and Latin
American countries.
Background:
The India-Chile PTA signed in March 2006 came into force in August
2007. Bilateral trade registered growth of 58.49% from 2006-07 to 2014-15 after
the PTA came into force. India exported $570 million worth of goods to Chile in
2014-15 and imported goods worth $3.08 billion, leading to a trade deficit of
$2.5 billion.
What is a PTA?
A preferential trade agreement is a trading bloc that gives
preferential access to certain products from the participating countries. This
is done by reducing tariffs but not by abolishing them completely.
President’s Decision is subject to Judicial Review
The Uttarakhand high court has observed that the legitimacy of the
President’s decision to suspend the Uttarakhand assembly is subject to judicial
review as even he can go wrong.
Background:
The court was responding to an argument by additional solicitor
general Tushar Mehta, appearing on behalf of the Centre, who contended that the
President relies on his political wisdom in many matters.
About President’s rule:
What’s in the constitution?
The article 356 of the constitution which
focuses on the failure of the Constitutional machinery of the State is often
termed as the President’s rule. There are various reasons for which President’s
rule can be imposed on a State. The failure of the State government to function
as per the constitution is the first step towards this.
- Other factors include the
loss of majority, break down of law and order, indecisive outcome of
elections, no alternate claimant to form the government, insurgency,
defections and break-up of coalition.
- It can be imposed
initially for a period of six months.
What happens
to the legislative assembly?
When President’s rule is imposed, the assembly is either dissolved
or kept in suspended animation.
Shift in role:
The state comes under the direct control of the Central
government. The authority shifts from the Chief Minister and the council of
ministers to the Governor. The Governor gets the power to appoint civil
servants and some administrators to assist him who will take on the role and
responsibilities of the Council of Ministers.
Facts
- The Union Cabinet has
given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
between India and Bhutan on technical cooperation in the field of capacity
building, benchmarking and bilateral exchange in infrastructure
engineering. The MoU will provide an Umbrella for educational, scientific
& technical research and environment protection which are also stated
aim of the India-Bhutan foundation established in August 2003.
- The Union Cabinet has
given its approval for operationalisation of new Indian Institute of
Science Education and Research (IISER) at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.
- Europe has
become the world’s first region to wipe out malaria,
with zero cases reported last year. The number of indigenous malaria cases
dropped to zero in 2015 from 90,712 in 1995, and the last cases were reported
in Tajikistan in 2014.
