TABLE OF CONTENT
A. GS1 Related B. GS2 Related POLITY 1. SC to hear plea on cattle trade rules INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. India to join SCO in Astana C. GS3 Related ECONOMY 1. RBI holds rates to retain ‘credibility’ 2. India to remain among top 3 investment destinations till ’19 ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY 1. 115 endangered vultures sighted on a tree in Dudhwa national park SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1. WHO revises antibiotics protocol D. GS4 Related E. Concepts-in-News: Related Concepts to Revise/Learn F. Bills/Acts/Schemes/Orgs in News G. Practice Questions for UPSC Prelims Exam
UPSC Current Affairs 2017: News Analysis
A. GS1 Related
Nothing here for Today!!!
1. SC to hear plea on cattle trade rules
Context: Centre banning sale and trade of cattle in livestock markets
In news:
- The Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition challenging the new notifications issued by the Centre banning sale and trade of cattle in livestock markets for the purposes of slaughter and religious animal sacrifices.
Contention raised by the petitioner:
- The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Care and Maintenance of Case Property Animals) Rules, both issued on May 23, were unconstitutional.
- The Livestock Markets Rules ban sale or purchase of cattle for slaughter in animal markets.
- The Rules are imposing an absolute ban on slaughtering of animals in the country, directly affecting the employment of the butchers and depriving citizens to have the food of their choice
- Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act of 1960: only intends to prevent the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering on animals. It does not ban slaughter for food.
- The fundamental right to carry on trade under Article 19 could be restricted only by the legislature and not through a delegated executive fiat.
- Violates Article 25 and Article 29 of the constitution of India.
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. India to join SCO in Astana
Context: Full membership the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)granted to India.
In news:
- SCO has broadly two legs of cooperation.
- Cooperation in the field of trade, banking, connectivity, energy
- Cooperation in the fight against terrorism under Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS). Under the framework of the SCO, an annual counter-terror exercise is hosted by a member country.
- India is willing to join hands with Pakistan and China to combat terrorism.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting to Astana, Kazakhstan, where India will be admitted as a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
India’s commitment after joining SCO:
- India should coordinate with member countries both on the trade front in the SCO headquarters in Beijing and at the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) based in Tashkent.
- Cooperation was part of the obligation of membership.
Basic Information:
Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS)
- The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is a permanent organ of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) which serves to promote cooperation of member states against the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism. The Head of RATS is elected to a three-year term. Each member state also sends a permanent representative to RATS.
C. GS3 Related
1. RBI holds rates to retain ‘credibility’
Context: Monetary policy review
In news:
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.25%.
- Reason given for the decision taken: aimed at ensuring retail inflation stayed close to 4%.
Basic Information:
What is a repo rate?
- Repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends to its clients generally against government securities.
- Reduction in Repo rate helps the commercial banks to get money at a cheaper rate and increase in Repo rate discourages the commercial banks to get money as the rate increases and becomes expensive.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC):
- The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is a committee of the Central Bank in India (Reserve Bank of India), headed by its Governor, which is entrusted with the task of fixing the benchmark policy interest rate (repo rate) to contain inflation within the specified target level.
- Background: MPC was set up consequent to the agreement reached between Government and RBI to task RBI with the responsibility for price stability and inflation targeting. The Reserve Bank of India and Government of India signed the Monetary Policy Framework Agreement on 20 February 2015.
Composition:
- MPC will have six members, – the RBI Governor (Chairperson), the RBI Deputy Governor in charge of monetary policy, one official nominated by the RBI Board and the remaining three members would represent the Government of India.
- These Government of India nominees are appointed by the Central Government based on the recommendations of a search cum selection committee consisting of the cabinet secretary (Chairperson), the RBI Governor, the secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and three experts in the field of economics or banking as nominated by the central government.
- The three central government nominees of the MPC appointed by the search cum selection committee will hold office for a period of four years and will not be eligible for re-appointment. These three central government nominees in MPC are mandated to be persons of ability, integrity and standing, having knowledge and experience in the field of economics or banking or finance or monetary policy.
- RBI Act prohibits appointing any Member of Parliament or Legislature or public servant, or any employee / Board / committee member of RBI or anyone with a conflict of interest with RBI or anybody above the age of 70 to the MPC.
- Further, central government also retains powers to remove any of its nominated members from MPC subject to certain conditions and if the situation warrants the same.
Decision Making at MPC:
- Quorum for a meeting shall be four Members, at least one of whom shall be the Governor and in his absence, the Deputy Governor who is the Member of the MPC.
The MPC takes decisions based on majority vote.
2. India to remain among top 3 investment destinations till ’19
Context: UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2017
In News:
- India will remain among the top three investment destinations globally till 2019, according to a survey by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
- UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2017: said India ranked 10th in terms of FDI inflows in 2016, with $44 billion coming in, as in 2015. Over the next two years, India will be behind only the U.S. and China in terms of investment attractiveness.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development:
- The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body.
- UNCTAD is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment, and development issues. The organization’s goals are to: “maximize the trade, investment and development opportunities of developing countries and assist them in their efforts to integrate into the world economy on an equitable basis.”
- The primary objective of UNCTAD is to formulate policies relating to all aspects of development including trade, aid, transport, finance and technology. The conference ordinarily meets once in four years; the permanent secretariat is in Geneva
Category: ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
1. 115 endangered vultures sighted on a tree in Dudhwa national park
In news:
- In a rare sighting, 115 vultures were spotted atop a tree in the Dudhwa National Park.
- Vultures are listed as ‘critically endangered’ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s red list.
- Gyps bengalensis, also called the white-rumped vulture, is an indigenous bird of the Terai region and can be seen at several places of the park.
- The Himalayan griffon is another vulture species, which migrates from the Himalayas during this period in search of food.
Basic Information:
Dudhwa National Park
- The Dudhwa National Park is a national park in the Terai of Uttar Pradesh, India
- It is located on the Indo-Nepal border in the Lakhimpur Kheri District, and has buffer of reserved forest areas on the northern and southern sides.
- It represents one of the few remaining examples of a highly diverse and productive Terai ecosystem, supporting a large number of endangered species, obligate species of tall wet grasslands and species of restricted distribution.
- Dudhwa National Park is a stronghold of the barasingha. Around half of the world’s barasinghas are present in Dudhwa National Park. The barasingha (Rucervus duvaucelii syn. Cervus duvaucelii), also called swamp deer, is a deer species distributed in the Indian subcontinent. Populations in northern and central India are fragmented, and two isolated populations occur in southwestern Nepal. It is extinct in Pakistan and in Bangladesh
Category: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. WHO revises antibiotics protocol
Context: Increasing trends of antibiotic resistance diseases.
In news:
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has divided the drugs into three categories — access, watch and reserve — specifying which are to be used for common ailments and which are to be kept for complicated diseases.
- Categories and its usage:
- Access: Commonly used antibiotics. Treatment for a wide range of common infections. This includes amoxicillin, a widely-used antibiotic to treat infections such as pneumonia.
- Watch: Second line of antibiotics. Ciprofloxacin, used to treat cystitis (a type of urinary tract infection) and upper respiratory tract infections (like bacterial sinusitis and bacterial bronchitis).
- Reserve: potent drugs, the last line of defense. Colistin and some cephalosporins that should be considered last-resort options, and used only in the most severe circumstances when all other alternatives have failed, such as for life-threatening infections due to multidrug-resistant bacteria.
Increasing trends of antibiotic resistance diseases:
- Reason: antibiotic resistance stems from how we are using — and misusing —medicines
- The new WHO list should help health system planners and prescribers ensure that people who need antibiotics have access to them, and ensure they get the right one, so that the problem of resistance doesn’t get worse.
Nothing here for Today!!!
- Brahmagiri and Talacauvery gets eco-sensitive tag.
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Article in News |
About the Article |
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Article 19. Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech etc |
(1) All citizens shall have the right
(2) Nothing in sub clause (a) of clause ( 1 ) shall affect the operation of any existing law, or prevent the State from making any law, in so far as such law imposes reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub clause in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence (3) Nothing in sub clause (b) of the said clause shall affect the operation of any existing law in so far as it imposes, or prevent the State from making any law imposing, in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India or public order, reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub clause (4) Nothing in sub clause (c) of the said clause shall affect the operation of any existing law in so far as it imposes, or prevent the State from making any law imposing, in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India or public order or morality, reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub clause (5) Nothing in sub clauses (d) and (e) of the said clause shall affect the operation of any existing law in so far as it imposes, or prevent the State from making any law imposing, reasonable restrictions on the exercise of any of the rights conferred by the said sub clauses either in the interests of the general public or for the protection of the interests of any Scheduled Tribe (6) Nothing in sub clause (g) of the said clause shall affect the operation of any existing law in so far as it imposes, or prevent the State from making any law imposing, in the interests of the general public, reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub clause, and, in particular, nothing in the said sub clause shall affect the operation of any existing law in so far as it relates to, or prevent the State from making any law relating to,
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Article 25. Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion |
(1) Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion (2) Nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the State from making any law
Explanation I The wearing and carrying of kirpans shall be deemed to be included in the profession of the Sikh religion Explanation II In sub clause (b) of clause reference to Hindus shall be construed as including a reference to persons professing the Sikh, Jaina or Buddhist religion, and the reference to Hindu religious institutions shall be construed accordingly |
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Article 29. Protection of interests of minorities |
(1) Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same (2) No citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them |
Question 1: What is the theme of 2017 World Environment Day (WED)?
- Green Economy: Does it include you?
- Raise Your Voice Not The Sea Level
- Connecting People to Nature
- Think.Eat.Save
Question 2: Who among the following was propounder of the Madhyamika Philosophy?
- Bhadrabahu
- Parshwanath
- Sheelbhadra
- Nagarjuna
Question 3: Which of the following is not a correct statement about UPSC?
- UPSC submits its annual report to the President
- UPSC Chairman can be removed by Central Government by order
- Composition of UPSC is determined by President
- All of the above are correct statements
Question 4: The famous Nabakalebara festival belongs to which of the following states?
- Rajasthan
- Odisha
- West Bengal
- Bihar
Question 5: The Coriolis force is maximum at _______.
- Poles
- Equator
- Tropics
- Mountain peaks
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