Comprehensive News Analysis - 06 January 2017

A. GS1 Related

B. GS2 Related

Category: International Relations

Topic: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, India’s Neighbourhood

Key Points:

• In an important development, Pakistan has released 218 Indian fishermen on 5th January, 2017.
• These fishermen were detained for the past 12 months.
• Officials have said that this is a goodwill gesture aimed at confidence building measures.

C. GS3 Related

Category: Indian Economy

Topic: Government Policy

Key Points:

• At a meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council held on 5th January, 2017, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley mentioned that “the Centre’s measures to eliminate the shadow economy and tax evasion are expected to have a positive impact both on GDP and on fiscal consolidation in the long run”.
• Along with other financial sector regulators, RBI Governor Urjit Patel also attended the Council’s meeting.
• At the Council’s meeting, developments and issues pertaining to financial technology, digital innovations and cyber security were discussed along with the regulators’ suggestions and proposals for the Union Budget.
• Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian made a presentation on the state of economy, following which the Council reviewed the major issues and challenges facing the economy.

2. Brief economic slowdown likely: Pranab

Category: Indian Economy   

Topic: Government Policy

Key Points:

• President Pranab Mukherjee said on 5th January, 2017 that the demonetisation aimed at fighting corruption may lead to a brief economic slowdown.
• The President went on to add that “Goodwill must prevail between different communities. At times, harmony may be put to test by vested interests. Communal tensions may rear their ugly heads. Rule of law must form the sole basis of dealing with any such challenging situations.”
• Quoting Jawaharlal Nehru, he said India was a country held together by strong but invisible threads. Tolerance, he said, was a core civilisational value for India.

Category: Indian Economy   

Topic: Government Policy

Key Points:

• In an effort to boost export infrastructure, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on 5th January, that “the Centre will tie up with the States to soon roll-out a new scheme called ‘TIES’ — or Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme”.
• She further went on to add that States must develop their own export strategy in alignment with the national foreign trade policy, as well as enhance co-operation with Central agencies to set up common facilities for testing, certification, trace-back, packaging and labelling.
• The Centre has decided to soon bring out a Logistics Performance Index to rank states on steps taken to facilitate trade and improve logistics.
• Measures in the pipeline include expediting the proposal for a north east corridor to improve connectivity with south east Asian countries and exports to that region.
• She further went on to add that, “There is a need to diversify our services exports. Areas like medical tourism, nursing and healthcare, education, audio-visual media have an excellent potential that can be harnessed. For this, we need to develop the right competencies like language skills for the East and North East Asian markets,”

D. GS4 Related

E. Important Editorials: A Quick Glance

Category: Polity and Governance

Topic: Judiciary

Key Points:

• The recent Supreme Court verdict on electoral malpractice ensures that future legal challenges to election victories based on identity politics will walk the fine line of text, context and subtext.
• It is important to note that in 1973, it was a 7:6 plurality of the Supreme Court in the Kesavananda Bharati case that gave India its doctrine of the basic structure of the Constitution.
• Further, it is important to note that the lead judgment of the majority relies upon the principle of purposive construction of statutes to hold that “the Representation of the People Act, 1951 is a statute that enables us to cherish and strengthen our democratic ideals.
• To interpret it in a manner that assists candidates to an election rather than the elector or the electorate in a vast democracy like ours would really be going against public interest.”

Economic Times

Category: Indian Economy

Topic: Government Policy 

Key Points:

• Food loss and waste is a global problem, but unaffordably high in India. Minimising food wastage should be taken up as a priority. 

Important Statistics

• According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation, one-third of all food produced for human consumption, roughly 1.3 billion tonnes, is lost or wasted. 
• The Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET), Ludhiana, estimated the harvest and post-harvest loss of nearly Rs 93,000 crore in 2012-13 — nearly 16 per cent of fruit and vegetables and 6 per cent of cereals were lost. 

Reasons Attributed

• Missing processing capacity, transport links and storage facility are to blame for most wastage.

Benefits of reducing post-harvest loss

• Reducing post-harvest loss can increase the amount of food available to farmers for their own consumption and for sale.
• It can contribute to addressing the country’s hunger and malnutrition problem.
• With nearly 200 million people undernourished, India ranks 97th among 118 countries on the 2016 Global Hunger Index. 

The Way Forward

• The focus needs to be on moving the produce from the field to the consumer.
• This means marketing freedom for farmers, motorable roads, refrigerated vans and smooth movement across state borders, besides investing in the food processing industry, particularly close to the areas of production.
• This will minimise food loss during transport.

Indian Express

1. Let the budget be

Category: Indian Economy

Topic: Government Policy, Budget  

Key Points:

• The Election Commission (EC) has been approached by a united Opposition, seeking postponement of the presentation of the Union Budget for 2017-18 till the completion of polls to the five state assemblies, for which the schedule has already been announced.
• These parties are of the belief the government would use the budget, which it wants to present on February 1, to dole out various sops to “allure” voters while these polls are held between February 4 and March 8.
• In fact, it has been alleged that the decision by the government to advance the presentation of the budget from the normal date of February 28 has been made with a view to influence voters.
• This raises an important question, which is ‘Can a popularly elected government at the Centre be denied the right to make announcements, populist or otherwise, during its tenure just because of state-level elections?’

PIB

1. High Level Meeting Between Indian Coast Guard and Sri Lanka Coast Guard

Category: International Relations

Topic: Bilateral Agreements

Key Points:

• A three member delegation led byDirector General Sri Lanka Coast Guard (SLCG) Rear Admiral Samantha Wimalathunge, is on a three day visit to India from 03 January 2017 for a High Level Meeting, with the Indian Coast Guard (ICG).
• The Indian delegation was led by Director General, Indian Coast Guard Shri Rajendra Singh. 
• The visit was in continuation of the various efforts by the governments of the two countries in furtheringcooperation between the coast guards of two countries on maritime issues of mutual concerns to formulate a cooperative approach.
• Of late the Sri Lankan Coast Guard has been proactive in meeting thechallenges in the new global safety and security regime in this region. The recent visit is significant in providing continued impetus to the existing ties between the two organisations. The focus of the meeting was on further strengthening the operational level interaction for search and rescue, preservation & protection of marine environment, revalidating operational & communication procedures between the two coast guards.

2. Distribution of AIDS and Assistive devices on The Birthday of Sir Louie Braille

Category: Polity and Governance  

Topic: Government Initiatives

Key Points:

• During an event organized on the occasion of Sir Louie Braille’s birthday, 270 Smart Phones and 40 Daisy Players distributed to students with visual impairment under ADIP scheme of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan),Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.
• Scholarships cheques worth Rs. 5.00 lakhs were also distributed to each of 66 Students with visual impairment under National Scholarship Scheme of National Federation of the Blind.
• The Purpose of National Federation of the Blind is to act as a vehicle for collective self-expression by the blind. Since its beginning in 1940, the NFB has been providing public education about blindness, information and referral services, scholarships, literature and publication about blind, advocacy services and protection of civil rights, employment assistance and support services.

3. Government issues notification of ‘Indian Skill Development Service’

Category: Polity and Governance  

Topic: Government Initiatives

Key Points:

• The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has issued the notification of setting up of Indian Skill Development Services (ISDS).
• This service has been created for the Training Directorate of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
• The purpose of instituting a formal service in Group ‘A’ category was initiated almost two years back when the Ministry was formed and the union cabinet approved its creation on October 7, 2015.
• With notification of this service the skill ecosystem is expected to get strengthened and modernised in line with the current scientific and industrial development in the country.
• ISDS will be a Group ‘A’ service where induction will take place through Indian Engineering Service Examination conducted by UPSC. It is an attempt to attract young and talented administrators for Skill Development.
• The knowledge acquired by the engineers recruited will give new impetus to the initiative of the government to the skill development and also efficient and effective implementation of the schemes. In years to come the ministry will be able to create a workforce of trained skill administrators who will enable us to achieve the goal of increased skilled youths. Administered training is paramount to face big challenge of skilling Indians.
• Under the leadership of Prime Minister skill development has taken a priority with a hope that Skill India mission will supply huge human resource not only in India but also Internationally. This is a step forward to meet the target of skilling 500 million people by 2022.

4. Shri Shripad Naik inaugurates three day International Conference on Yoga for Diabetes

Category: Polity and Governance

Topic: Government Initiatives

Key Points:

• The three day International Conference on “Yoga for Diabetes” was inaugurated by Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent  Charge), Shri Shripad Yesso Naik  in New Delhi on 4th January, 2017.  
• In his inaugural address, the Minister informed  that UNESCO, the world’s apex body for culture has recently included yoga in its list of intangible cultural heritage.  
• This is yet another recognition of the universal relevance of yoga and will add to its respectability across national borders, the Minister added.

Shri Naik said  that  this conference aims to generate discussions on the role of Yoga in the prevention and management of Diabetes and to draw up a roadmap to be adopted for the control of Diabetes through Yoga. It will provide a common platform for the Allopathy and AYUSH practitioners, Researchers, Academicians, Policy makers and students to come together in the fight against diabetes.

F. Concepts-in-News: Related Concepts to Revise/Learn:

• Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE)
• Indian Skill Development Services (ISDS)

G. BILLS/ACTS/SCHEMES/ORGS IN NEWS

National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016 : Salient Features 

H. Fun with Practice Questions 🙂

Question 1: Consider the following statements,

Question 2: Which among the following was the major outcome of the Kesavananda Bharati case?

A) Basic Structure doctrine of the Constitution

B) Federal structure of the constitution

C) Concept of Fundamental Duties

D) Concept of Fundamental Rights

Question 3: Consider the following statements

Question 4: Consider the following statements,

Question 5: Global Hunger Index was adopted and developed by -

I. Archives:

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