Daily Current affairs - July 19th, 2017 for all competitive exams
A nine-judge Bench of the
Supreme Court will hear the question whether privacy is a fundamental human
right and is part of the basic structure of the Constitution.
- The decision taken by a five-judge Constitution
Bench led by Chief Justice Khehar is on the basis of a bunch of petitions
contending that the Aadhaar scheme, is a violation of the citizens’ right
to privacy. The petitioners have argued that right to privacy is part of
Article 21, the right to life, and interspersed in Article 19, though not
explicitly stated in the Constitution.
- The nine judges will be Chief Justice of India J.S.
Khehar, Justices J. Chelameswar, S.A. Bobde, R.K. Agrawal, Rohinton Fali
Nariman, A.M. Sapre, D.Y. Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S. Abdul
Nazeer.
UIDAI launches mAadhaar app on
Android
UIDAI, which issues Aadhaar
numbers, has launched mAadhaar app for mobile users that will
allow users to carry unique identification profile on mobile.
- It allows users to carry their Aadhaar demographic
information, i.e. name, date of birth, gender, address and the photograph
linked with their Aadhaar number, on their smartphones.
Supreme Court allows Centre to replace MCI oversight
committee
The Supreme Court has allowed the Centre to replace the oversight committee
set up to supervise the functioning of the Medical Council of India (MCI) with
a fresh panel of five eminent doctors.
- It also gave the Centre liberty to replace any
doctor in the list with another if he does not wish to be a part of the
oversight committee.
- The MCI was established in 1934 under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1933, as an elected body for maintaining the medical register and providing ethical oversight, with no specific role in medical education.
Modi Cabinet shrinks again
The portfolios of M.
Venkaiah Naidu, the vice-presidential candidate of the National Democratic
Alliance, were reallocated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Union Textile
Minister Smriti Irani was given additional charge of Information and
Broadcasting, while Rural Development Minister Narendra Tomar took over the
Urban Development Ministry.
- The reallocation was a temporary fix for what is turning out to be a shortage of hands: the Ministries of Defence, Environment, and now Information and Broadcasting and Urban Development are without full-time Ministers.
Mobile operators seek doubling
of IUC
According to sources, Top
mobile operators, including Bharti Airtel on Tuesday pitched for doubling the
interconnection usage charge (IUC) while newer rival Reliance Jio has suggested
a zero IUC regime at a workshop organised by regulator TRAI on the issue.
- These charges are payable by the operator whose
subscriber makes a call to the operator whose subscriber receives the call
thereby impacting the tariff. The older operators and Reliance Jio had
been at loggerheads over the issue for some time now.
Zakir Naik’s passport revoked,
says NIA officials
The passport of
controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, wanted in connection with alleged
terror funding cases, was on Tuesday revoked at the request of the National
Investigation Agency (NIA).
- The travel document was revoked by the Regional
Passport Office of Mumbai after 51-year-old Naik failed to respond to a
show cause notice issued to him for personal appearance by July 13.
- The NIA, on November 18, 2016, had registered a
criminal case against Mr. Naik at its Mumbai branch under various sections
of Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
- His organisation, Islamic Research Foundation (IRF),
has already been declared as an unlawful association by the government a
day prior to registering of the case.
Gujarat retains top slot of states with most investment
potential:
Gujarat has retained the top position in the list of 21 states and UTs
with most investment potential,
according to a report by economic think-tank NCAER.
- The National Council of Applied Economic Research
(NCAER) State Investment Potential Index (N-SIPI 2017) report ranks states
on their competitiveness in business and their investment climate.
- The ranking of 20 states and one Union Territory of
Delhi was based on six pillars — labour, infrastructure, economic climate,
governance and political stability, perceptions and land — and 51
sub-indicators.
- Gujarat is followed by Delhi, Andhra Pradesh,
Haryana, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya
Pradesh.
Get real on Swachh
Despite the most stringent penal provisions in the law against manual
scavenging, it continues in parts of India.
- The recent order of the Madras High Court asking the
Centre and the Tamil Nadu government to ensure the strict enforcement
of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their
Rehabilitation Act, 2013 points to the
malaise.
- Manual scavenging persists mainly because of the
continued presence of insanitary latrines, of which there are about
2.6 million that require cleaning by hand.
India & Sri Lanka sign MoU
to develop village in Anuradhapura District
India and Sri Lanka have
signed a MoU to develop a village in Anuradhapura District (in Sri Lanka) at
a cost of 30 crores Sri Lankan rupees.
- The village in the name of a famous Buddhist monk
Sobitha Thero, envisages construction of 153 new houses, a multi-purpose
community building, internal water supply system and renovation of monk’s
quarters & library.
- The project is in line with Government of Sri
Lanka’s policy of rehabilitation of rural villages for economic
development. It will benefit 153 families residing in the village.
World’s 1st Laser Weapon:
The US has launched the world’s first laser
weapon known as the Laser Weapons System (LaWS). The LaWS is currently
deployed aboard the USS Ponce, an amphibious transport ship, in the Persian
Gulf.
- Operationally, it works just like a laser
pointer. There’s a chamber inside with special materials that
release photons.
- The LaWS laser beam is completely silent and
invisible. It’s also fast: The laser travels at the
speed of light (186,000 miles per second, or about 300,000 kilometers per
second), meaning it’s about 50,000 times the speed of an incoming
intercontinental ballistic missile.
UK’s first woman Sikh MP Preet
Kaur Gill elected to key Parliament panel
Britain’s first woman Sikh MP
Preet Kaur Gill has been elected to an influential cross-party panel in
the UK Parliament that examines the workings of the Home Office.
- The Labour MP, who won the Birmingham Edgbaston seat in the UK elections 2017, will be one of 11 MPs on the cross-party home affairs committee, which investigates the spending, policy and administration of the ministerial department.
Flipkart lifts bid for rival
Snapdeal to up to $950 mn
According to sources.Online
retailing major Flipkart is believed to have sent a revised offer of $900-950
million to buy smaller rival, Snapdeal.
- The Bengaluru-based firm has offered to pay the said
amount for buying Snapdeal’s online marketplace and Unicommerce.
- In 2015, Snapdeal had acquired Unicommerce, an
e-commerce management software and fulfilment solution provider.
- Snapdeal’s board has already rejected a takeover
offer of $800-850 million (around Rs. 5,500 crore) from Flipkart. In case the Snapdeal board accepts the
new offer from Flipkart, the two parties will negotiate a sale and
purchase agreement (SPA).
E-commerce: RCEP nations talk details
Sixteen Asia Pacific nations, including India, are discussing in detail
norms on e-commerce as part of negotiations on the proposed mega Free Trade
Agreement known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
- Issues including digital certification, paperless
trading, online consumer protection and customs duties in e-commerce have
been identified for discussion.
- The discussions follow the setting up of a panel on
e-commerce two years ago by RCEP countries in response to a Japanese
proposal on easing foreign direct investment in the sector under which
member countries would exchange best practices linked to online commerce.
- RCEP is proposed between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and the six states with which ASEAN has existing FTAs (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand).
Colombian chef Espinosa wins
€100,000 prize
Leonor Espinosa, a Colombian
chef known for sourcing local ingredients and giving back to the communities
that supply them, has won the Basque Culinary World Prize, a €100,000 (Rs. 74.4
lakh) prize for chefs who make a difference.
- Ms. Espinosa, the head chef at LEO in Bogota and
founder of the Funleo foundation, received the award in Mexico City.
Infosys executive V-P Ritika
Suri quits
Infosys executive
vice-president Ritika Suri, who was focused on getting large deals, has
resigned from the company.
- Ms. Suri, who led the acquisition of Israeli
automation technology firm Panaya for Infosys, was based out of the U.S.
FIFA has lifted their ban on
the Sudan Football Association
World football's governing
body FIFA lifted the ban on the Sudan Football Association
(SFA) imposed on it for the failure to abide by agreements mentioned in
articles 14 and 19 of the FIFA statute.
- The SFA and its member officials are now eligible to benefit from the FIFA development program, course or training.
