UPSC 2017: Comprehensive News Analysis - June 10

In news:

• The Supreme Court upheld the validity of an Income Tax law amendment linking PAN with Aadhaar for filing tax returns and made Aadhaar or Aadhaar enrolment slip compulsory to apply for a Permanent Account Number (PAN) card.

Court observation:

• Issue of duplicate/fake PANs:

Section 139AA (1) of the Income Tax Act requiring citizens to mention their Aadhaar number or at least their Aadhaar enrolment ID to the designated authority. This provision seeks to curb with the issue of duplicate/fake PANs.

• Section 139AA (1) was not violative of the right to trade and profession under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.
• Parliament was fully competent to enact Section 139AA and its authority to make this law was not diluted by the orders of the Supreme Court that Aadhaar was voluntary.
• Partial stay: the court issued a “partial stay” on the proviso to Section 139AA (2), which mandates that those who do not link Aadhaar with PAN by July 1 would face the consequences of invalidation of their PAN ab inito — that is, the effect of non-compliance would be the automatic invalidation of their PAN as if it had never existed

In news:

• The government is likely to amend the draft National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill-2016 to make way for elected members also in the new commission. National Medical Commission has been planned as the main regulator for medical sector.
• National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill-2016 has proposed scrapping of Medical Council of India (MCI).
• The draft bill 2016 also proposes to have separate boards for regulating under- graduate courses, post-graduate, accreditation and assessment board and a board for registration of medical colleges as well as monitoring of ethics in the profession

Panagariya (Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya) panel suggestion:

• Elected members: the electoral process of appointing regulators is inherently saddled with compromises and attracts professionals who may not be best suited for the task at hand. It creates an ab-initio conflict of interest and therefore this system must be discarded in favour of one based on search and selection.
• Panel has proposed a fully nominated commission in place of MCI to reform the medical education sector which has been under scrutiny for corruption and unethical practices.
• Panel proposes a Medical Advisory Council (MAC), with members from states who can be eminent professionals such as professors from a medical colleges and the like. There will be two members from Union Territories. NMC members will also be its members and its role will be advisory.

Why scrap MCI?

• The MCI has faced criticism from several quarters for alleged corruption in the top medical body.

In news:

• Switzerland, the incoming chair of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), will support application for India’s membership, but has left the door open for Pakistan to join as well.
• ‘Grossi process’: The “Grossi process” mandates the former NSG chairperson and diplomat Rafael Grossi to build a consensus among all 48 countries of the NSG, many of which resisted India’s membership bid at the Seoul plenary session in 2016, unless the country signs the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Basic Information:

• The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a group of nuclear supplier countries that seeks to contribute to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons through the implementation of two sets of Guidelines for nuclear exports and nuclear-related exports.
• The NSG Guidelines also contain the so-called “Non-Proliferation Principle,” adopted in 1994, whereby a supplier, notwithstanding other provisions in the NSG Guidelines, authorises a transfer only when satisfied that the transfer would not contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The Non-Proliferation Principle seeks to cover the rare but important cases where adherence to the NPT or to a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty may not by itself be a guarantee that a State will consistently share the objectives of the Treaty or that it will remain in compliance with its Treaty obligations.
• The NSG Guidelines are consistent with, and complement, the various international, legally binding instruments in the field of nuclear non-proliferation. These include the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (Treaty of Tlatelolco), the South Pacific Nuclear-Free-Zone Treaty (Treaty of Rarotonga), the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Pelindaba), the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (Treaty of Bangkok), and the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Semipalatinsk).
• The NSG Guidelines are implemented by each Participating Government (PG) in accordance with its national laws and practices.Decisions on export applications are taken at the national level in accordance with national export licensing requirements.

In News:

• India became a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), ending an administrative process that began two years ago.
• India-SCO cooperation will give India a new direction and strength to the fight against terrorism .
• Background information: India and Pakistan were admitted as observers in 2005 and began the administrative process of joining the organization, which began in Shanghai, in 2015.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

• SCO is a Eurasian economic, political and military organisation.
• Its aim is jointly preserving and safeguarding regional peace, security and stability and also establishing a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.
• Headquarters: Beijing, China.
• Established: 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders 6 countries viz. China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
• It is an outcome of The Shanghai Five grouping established in 1996 by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
• SCO’s first enlargement was in 2001 with addition of Uzbekistan and second enlargement was in July 2015 with addition of 2 new members India and Pakistan.
• Presently, it has four observers Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia.

C. GS3 Related

Category: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Context

Scientists at the Hyderabad-based CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB) have developed a novel way to treat fungal keratitis

What is Keratitis?

• Keratitis is the inflammation of the eye
• It starts with redness and itching and might eventually lead to blindness
• Cause of infection
• Keratitis can be caused by both bacteria and fungi
• Fungi attach themselves to the cornea and release enzymes that break down the corneal proteins for their nutritional requirements
• In the process the cornea also gets inflamed

What are the effects of this disease?

• Corneal damage causes wound and scar formation leading to severe visual impairment
• It is estimated that about 30% of keratitis cases in India lead to blindness
• Treating keratitis infection is a challenge because it is difficult to maintain a therapeutic dose at the corneal surface for long periods as blinking and tear formation washes off the drug

How does nanoparticle technique work?

• Certain antibodies get attached to the outer surface of the nanoparticles
• It anchors the nanoparticles to the corneal surface
• The infected cornea expresses a set of receptors (TLR4) when infection sets in
• The team has used antibodies to these receptors to anchor the nanoparticles to the cornea
• In case of severe infection, more receptors are expressed on the cornea and more nanoparticles get bound to the receptors
• Since they are bound, the residence time in the eye is long
• Neither blinking nor tear formation washes off the nanoparticles

Question 1: Consider the following statement with reference to the mobile application 
“Selfie with Daughter” which was launched recently by President of India

Question 2: What is Keratitis?

Question 3: Consider the following statement with reference to Shanghai Cooperation 
Organisation (SCO):

Question 4: Jaduguda mine in Jharkhand is famous for _____.

Question 5: Which of the following nations is/are NOT members of OPEC (Organisation of the 
Petroleum Exporting Countries)?

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