Current affairs- June 2, 2016
Union Cabinet
Meeting Highlights
- The Cabinet has approved the decision that the chairperson and members of the public enterprises selection board (PESB) should hold office for a period of three years from the assumption of charge or until they turn 65 years of age, whichever is earlier.
- The Cabinet has approved the signing of three memoranda of understanding (MoU) between India and Qatar for cooperation in skill development and ‘recognition of qualifications.’ It will strengthen ties in the field of tourism, and provide cooperation and mutual assistance in matters related to customs.
- Cabinet has approved the MoU between the United States of America and India to enhance cooperation in wildlife conservation and combating wildlife trafficking. The pact seeks cooperation in various areas including wildlife forensics and conservation genetics which is useful in species conservation efforts and better scientific evidence collection in wildlife crimes leading to better enforcement. Both the countries, under the pact, will also cooperate in the area of natural world heritage conservation which includes facilitating the institutional capacity of the existing UNESCO Category -2 centre at Wildlife Institute of India. The pact also seeks cooperation in nature interpretation and conservation awareness which involves use of information technology in strengthening interface of forest managers with the people to sensitise people.
Licensing and
Formats for GM Technology Agreement Guidelines, 2016
The
Ministry issued — and retracted in less than a week — a new set of terms that
would govern contracts between licensors and licensees of genetically modified
cotton seeds.
The
short-lived notification, called the Licensing and Formats for GM Technology
Agreement Guidelines, 2016
Details:
- Companies that licensed GM technology could charge seed companies royalty no more than 10% of the government-specified maximum sale price of a packet of cotton for 5 years.
- Moreover, they would have to reduce this value by 10% every year from the sixth year and were it proved that the potency of the technology was waning, the company could no longer claim this royalty.
- Finally, technology firms also could not refuse any eligible seed company wanting genes and any request not followed upon within 30 days would be deemed to have been granted.
- Genetically modified seeds are only permitted in cotton and the dominant player in the business of licensing seed technology is Monsanto Mahyco Biotech Ltd (MMBL), which licenses technology to several seed companies and underlies at least 95% of commercially grown cotton in the country.
- Earlier this year, the Central government capped the sale price of cotton seeds and the royalty that companies like MMBL could charge.
- The government caps have been challenged in the courts and separately MMBL is also fighting a legal battle to recover royalty payments from the Andhra Pradesh-based Nuziveedu Seeds, until last year.
- MMBL’s biggest licensee and the largest supplier of cotton hybrids in the country.
Government firm on its rules for judges’ selection
The government has decided to confront the higher judiciary by
sticking to its proposed Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) that will guide the
Supreme Court collegium on the appointment of judges to the apex court and high
courts, notwithstanding the top judiciary rejecting almost all major
suggestions made by the Centre.
Background:
Chief Justice of India (CJI) T S Thakur had sent back the MoP
recently with a point-by-point rejection of the Centre’s proposals. The
government has referred the matter to attorney general (AG) Mukul Rohatgi and
asked him to prepare a point-by-point rebuttal and give reasons why the
collegium’s rejection is not acceptable.
The SC had, after striking down the National Judicial Appointments
Commission (NJAC) Act last year, agreed on framing of the MoP by the Centre in
consultation with the collegium.
Proposed contentious rules in MoC:
- Government’s right to reject a recommendation on concerns of national interest.
- Involvement of the AG in suggesting a list of suitable candidates.
- Names for judges’ appointments could be suggested by all judges of the bench as well as by the AG and the bar.
- The list of candidates brought before the collegium will first be vetted by a committee of two retired judges and an eminent person.
Presently, the government is bound to comply if the Supreme Court
collegium chooses to override its disapproval of a person recommended for
judicial appointment. If the government returns the candidate’s file to the
collegium, and the latter reiterates its recommendation, the government has no
choice but to comply.
Way ahead:
The government should send a response to the apex court as early
as possible to avoid any further delay in filling vacancies in HCs. There are
over 40% judges’ positions lying vacant in HCs.
Einstein ring
Scientists have discovered an unusual astronomical object: an
Einstein ring. These phenomena, predicted by Einstein’s theory of General Relativity, are quite rare but scientifically interesting.
- The interest is sufficiently strong that this object has been given its own name: the “The Canarias Einstein ring”.
What is it?
An Einstein ring is a distorted image of a very distant galaxy,
which is termed “the source”. The distortion is produced by the bending of the
light rays from the source due to a massive galaxy, termed “the lens”, lying
between it and the observer. The strong gravitational field produced by the
lens galaxy distorts the structure of space-time in its neighbourhood, and this
does not only attract objects which have a mass, but also bends the paths of
light. When the two galaxies are exactly aligned, the image of the more distant
galaxy is converted into an almost perfect circle which surrounds the lens
galaxy. The irregularities in the circle are due to asymmetries in the source
galaxy.
India’s NIIT to train 50,000 China students on ‘Big Data’
The National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT) located in
new industrial park in southwest China is gearing up to train 50,000 Chinese
students over the next five years on Big Data.
Background:
The training contract was signed on the sidelines of China’s ‘Big
Data’ conference and exhibition at Guiyang recently. An agreement was also
sealed with the provincial government to establish a Big Data Talent Research
Centre in Guiyang “to enhance innovation and research”.
What is Big Data?
‘Big Data’ refers to a massive accumulation of information,
siphoned from multiple sources and domains, which can then be analysed to make
informed decisions.
- It is an all-encompassing term for any collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using traditional data processing applications. Big data “size” is a constantly moving target.
- It requires exceptional technologies to efficiently process large quantities of data within tolerable elapsed times.
- The use and adoption of Big Data within governmental processes is beneficial and allows efficiencies in terms of cost, productivity, and innovation.
Proposal to hire private sector talent in PSUs wins approval
The Cabinet has given an ‘ex-post facto’ approval for amending
public sector recruitment rules to allow the selection of candidates from the
private sector and state public sector enterprises.
Details:
The nod is for the selection of candidates from state public
sector enterprises and the private sector as “non-internal candidates for a
period of five years for appointment in Central Public Sector Enterprises
(CPSEs).”
Who will benefit?
The good talent at the top of the private sector will not migrate.
Those not in the top rungs may see an advantage in PSUs.
Concerns:
The move is expected to bring in greater efficiency but there are
some concerns that need to be addressed. There must be careful selection so
that those who have not been able to make it in the private sector don’t opt
for a government job just because of higher job security. The selection process
must be shielded from politics which is something difficult to do in India.
Govt. mulls ‘outcome-linked’ incentive for NIIF chief
The government is considering an ‘outcome-linked’ payment package
as part of incentives for the recruitment of a chief executive of India’s first
sovereign wealth fund, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).
- However, negotiations on the incentive payment, which will be paid for every $10 billion the fund succeeds in raising, are still on.
Background:
The Cabinet had given its approval in July for setting up NIIF.
The Finance Ministry, in October 2015, constituted a search-cum-selection
committee for selecting a chief executive. The governing council of the fund,
chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, had decided to complete the selection
process by January-end.
About NIIF:
National Infrastructure and Investment Fund (NIIF) was set up as a
trust with a corpus of Rs 20,000 crore.
- The Fund aims to attract investment from both domestic and international sources.
- The government’s contribution would be limited to 49% of the subscribed capital.
- The government will seek participation from strategic investors such as sovereign fund, quasi sovereign funds and multilateral or bilateral investors, which can help leverage this fund to many times.
- Cash-rich PSUs, pension funds, provident funds, National Small Saving Fund will be able to pick up stake in the fund.
- The objective of NIIF is to maximize economic impact mainly through infrastructure development in commercially viable projects, both greenfield and brownfield, including stalled projects, NIIF would solicit equity participation from strategic anchor partners.
- Sovereign funds and pension funds from a number of countries, including the U.K., UAE, Russia and Singapore, have already expressed interest in investing in NIIF. India and the UAE signed a pact to mobilise up to $75 billion long-term investment.
Facts
- The Supreme Court, in its recent verdict, has observed that mere possession of assets disproportionate to known sources of income is not an offence and a person can be held guilty only if it is proved that the assets were acquired through illegal means.
- The world’s longest tunnel has officially been opened. The 57-kilometre (35-mile) Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) is longest tunnel now. It runs from Erstfeld in the central canton of Uri, to Bodio in the southern Ticino canton. With its official opening, the GBT has surpassed Japan’s 53.9-kilometre Seikan tunnel as the world’s longest train tunnel. The 50.5-kilometre Channel Tunnel that links England and France has been bumped into third place.
- The government has set up the Financial Sector Search and Recruitment Committee headed by cabinet secretary P K Sinha to decide on members and heads of financial regulatory agencies. The head of the regulatory body, whose members are to be selected, will be a special invitee to the panel.
- Noted Lawyer Indira Jaisingh’s NGO- “Lawyer’s Collective” Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) license was suspended by the Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) for a period of 180 days from receiving foreign funds.
Important
Days
June-2 : Telangana Formation
Day
Telangana:
- 29th state of the Indian Union formed on June 2, 2014 during UPA regime.
- Present CM- K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
International News
Maldives opposition forms shadow govt. in London
- Former Maldives President Mohamad Nasheed described as a “watershed” and “turning point” for his country, a new multi-party opposition platform – Shadow Cabinet was launched in London.
- Former Vice-President of the Maldives Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed will head the Shadow Cabinet of the newly formed Maldives United Opposition.
- The Deputy Leader is Ali Waheed, currently Chairperson of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
- Mr. Nasheed, the first democratically elected leader of the Maldives who was recently given political asylum in the UK, chose to take a back seat in the Shadow Cabinet with the post of Advisor
Banking
India Post Payment Bank (IPPB)
The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of India Post’s
payments bank at a total project cost of Rs 800 crore.
- The India Post Payment Bank (IPPB), which will generate employment opportunities for about 3,500 skilled banking professionals, will set up 650 branches and 5,000 ATMs across the country.
- The total fund requirement for the proposal is Rs 800 crore, which will be split up as Rs 400 crore equity and Rs 400 crore as grant.
- IPPB will start operations in March 2017 in about 50 districts and will cover the entire country by the end of FY 2018-19.
- With 1.54 lakh Post offices and 650 Payments bank branches in district HQ locations on core banking, it will be the largest bank in the world in terms of reach. All post offices, including the 1.39 lakh rural post offices, will be the access points for IPPB
Payment Banks:
- Payments Bank can hold a maximum balance of Rs 1 lakh per custome
- They can an issue ATM/debit cards but not credit cards
- They offer payments and remittance services
- They deal in simple financial products like mutual fund units and insurance products.
- They cannot undertake lending service.
Sports
Tennis:
- World No.1 Novak Djokovic became 1st Tennis player to reach $100 million prize money mark.
- 2nd Place- Great Roger Federer $98,011,727 prize money
