Contents [hide]
- 1 Prelims Special
- 2 Topic : Pak. shares draft pact on Kartarpur Corridor
- 3 Topic : ‘Plastic waste imports to India go up’
- 4 Topic : Centre proposes to hike pensions for the poor
- 5 Topic : 19 amphibian species are critically endangered: ZSI list
- 6 Topic : WhatsApp limits ‘forwards’ to 5 chats for users globally to combat fake news
KKUPSC Daily Current Affairs, 22 January 2019
Prelims Special
Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) :-
- EVMs are manufactured in Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronics Corporation of India Limited, under very strict supervisory and security conditions.
- There are rigorous standard operating procedures meticulously observed at all stages under the supervision of a committee of eminent technical experts constituted way back in 2010.
‘Special Reference Case’ of 1998 :-
- A nine-judge Bench in the ‘Special Reference Case’ of 1998 had ruled that “merit is the pre-dominant consideration for the purposes of appointment to the Supreme Court”.
- “Where there is outstanding merit, the possessor thereof deserves to be appointed regardless of the fact that he may not stand high in the all-India seniority list or in his own High Court,” the court had held in its opinion on the 1998 Presidential Reference on the intricacies of the Collegium system.
- 1998 Special Reference case explains that when a Collegium judge retires in the midst of an appointment process and reasons are later made available for the non-appointment of the person under consideration, such reasons should be placed before the newly constituted Collegium.
‘Call your woman MLA’ campaign :-
- Asking political parties to allot 50% of tickets in polls to women, a non-partisan group launched a national campaign — Call your woman MLA .
- The campaign was conceptualised keeping in mind the unequal representation of women in politics.
Novel hope for stem cell approach to treat diabetes :-
- New stem cell approach may help treat diabetes.
- By tweaking the recipe for coaxing human stem cells into insulin-secreting beta cells, researchers have found that the resulting cells are more responsive to fluctuating glucose levels in the blood.
- The study published in the journal Stem Cell Reports , showed that transplanted cells produced insulin at levels that effectively controlled blood sugar in the mice, thereby curing their diabetes for several months.
GS Paper 1 Source: The Hindu
Context
- Proposes to keep it open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day; officials from both countries to meet next month
- Pakistan had shared the draft of the agreement, to be signed by the two governments, for “facilitation of (Indian) Sikh Yatrees to visit the Gurudwara, Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, Narowal, Pakistan”.
- Kartarpur initiative is seen as an exceptional case for the Indian government, which has refused to open talks with Pakistan on any other issue until concerns on terror are addressed.
- The agreement included setting up a database of all pilgrims visiting, with a suggested cap of 500 pilgrims per day.
Kartarpur Corridor
- GoI to commemorate 550th Birth Anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Devji from November,2018.
- For this purpose, Kartarpur Corridor is being build.
- It will connect Dera Baba Nanak Sahib Gurudwara in India to Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur shrine in Pakistan.
- It is just four kilometres across the border from India.
- Corridor runs across Ravi river.
Importance of Kartarpur Corridor
- Sikh pilgrims from India travel to Pakistan to offer at the Gurudwara.
- This corridor will help in easy passage to pilgrims to visit Gurudwara Darbar Sahib throughout the year.
- This will act as peaceful step between the two countries.
GS Paper 3 Source: The Hindu
Topic : ‘Plastic waste imports to India go up’
Context
- Influx of PET bottles quadrupled from 2017 to 2018, according to green body
- Indian firms are importing plastic scraps from China, Italy, Japan and Malawi for recycling and the imports of PET bottle scrap and flakes has increased from 12,000 tonnes in FY 16-17 to 48,000 tonnes in FY 17-18 growing @ 290%.
- India has already imported 25,000 MT in the first 3 months of FY 18-19, says a note by the organisation.
- Government and industry estimates suggest that India consumes about 13 million tonnes of plastic and recycles only about 4 million tonnes.
- Root cause :- Lack of an efficient waste segregation system and inadequate collection for much of the plastic not making its way to recycling centres.
- To incentivise domestic plastic recycling units, the government had banned the import of plastic waste, particularly PET bottles in 2015.
- In 2016, an amendment allowed such imports as long as they were carried out by agencies situated in Special Economic Zones. It’s this loophole that’s been exploited.
Cause of concern :-
China, once a major global importer of plastic waste for recycling, had banned such imports.
GS Paper 2 Source: The Hindu
Topic : Centre proposes to hike pensions for the poor
Context
- Proposal is being scrutinised by National Social Assistance Programme(NSAP).
- Study has been launched to consider doubling the number of people covered by the scheme, a promise originally made in last year’s Budget.
- Discussions are also being held with the State governments on a proposal to merge the Central and State pension schemes.
National Social Assistance Programme(NSAP)
- NSAP is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with an annual budget of Rs. 9975 crore.
- Currently covers more than three crore people who are below the poverty line (BPL).
- It includes about 80 lakh widows, 10 lakh disabled and 2.2 crore elderly.
GS Paper 3 Source: The Hindu
Topic : 19 amphibian species are critically endangered: ZSI list
Context:
- An updated list of Indian amphibians was released on the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) website last week, with 19 species being treated as critically endangered and 33 species as endangered.
- In 2009, the total number of species listed was 284. In 2010 it was 311, in 2011 it was 314, in 2012 and 2013 it was 342, in 2015 it was 384 and in 2017 it was 405 species. (Which means we need some innovative way to tackle this situation, as the numbers are increasing every year)
- Current list bears the names of 432 amphibian species from India, the year of discovery and their IUCN ‘red list’ conservation status.
- The list describes 19% of amphibians as data deficient species and 39% as not assessed by the IUCN.
- It is high time that we assess the IUCN status for the Indian ‘not assessed’ amphibians (169 species) based on species-specific field exploration.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) :-
- Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) was established on 1st July, 1916 to promote survey, exploration and research leading to the advancement in our knowledge of various aspects of exceptionally rich life of the erstwhile British Indian Empire.
- The survey has its genesis in the establishment of the Zoological Section of the Indian Museum at Calcutta in 1875.
GS Paper 3 Source: The Hindu
Topic : WhatsApp limits ‘forwards’ to 5 chats for users globally to combat fake news
Context:
- WhatsApp will now globally limit message ‘forwards’ to five chats at a time.
- This practice was introduced in India in July last year to crack down on spread of rumours and fake news through its platform.
- The firm said the move will help keep “WhatsApp focused on private messaging with close contacts”.
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💡 Drishti Current Affairs English Magazine December 2018 PDF, Click to Download
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