DNA 19 JULY

Aadhaar: 9-judge Bench to consider whether privacy is a basic right 

• 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.
• Two judgments of the Supreme Court — the M.P. Sharma case verdict pronounced by an eight-judge Bench in 1954 shortly after the Constitution came into force in 1950 and the Kharak Singh case verdict of 1962 by a six-judge Bench — had dominated the judicial dialogue on privacy since Independence. 
• Both judgments had concluded that privacy was not a fundamental or ‘guaranteed’ right
• Though smaller Supreme Court Benches have, over the years, differed and held that privacy is indeed basic to our Constitution and a fundamental right, the arithmetical supremacy of the MP Sharma and Kharak Singh cases continues to hold fort.

Taking a final call

• Now, by forming a Bench of nine judges, Chief Justice Khehar's Supreme Court has decided to determine once and for all whether privacy is negotiable or not.
• We have to first determine whether right to privacy is a fundamental right or not before going into the issue (on the constitutionality of the Aadhaar scheme)
• “In a Republic founded on a written Constitution, it is difficult to accept there is no fundamental right to privacy.
• There is a battery of judgments saying privacy is a fundamental right, we cannot ignore them

‘Cauvery Tribunal order is like ordering god to send rain’ 

Argument made by Karnataka in Supreme Court:

       1.Take Groundwater into Account :The tribunal’s order to Karnataka to supply 192 

          tmcft annually was without any regard to the 30 tmcft groundwater available in 

          Tamil Nadu. 

       2.Equity among farming families: Karnataka has argued that the water-sharing 

           arrangement decided by the tribunal did not keep in view equity as also the farming                families 

       3.Increase in farming area in Tamilnadu : It said that at the time of the 1924 

          agreement for water-sharing, Tamil Nadu was entitled to develop only 21.38 lakh           

          acres for irrigation. However, even as the 1924 agreement continued, the State had 

          developed 28.2 lakh acres for irrigation utilising 566 tmcft of Cauvery water

Solution proposed by the Karnataka

The “real shares” of each riparian State should be determined on the basis of needs by taking into account : 

                [1]The contribution of water by each State to the river valley

                [2]The population of each State in the basin depending upon the waters 

                                      and 

                [3]The culturable area of each State in the basin requiring application of water to                           raise crops. 

SC nod for new MCI oversight panel

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed with the government’s proposal of five eminent medical practitioners to oversee the functioning and decisions of the Medical Council of India

Medical Council of India (estd. in 1934 under MCI Act 1933)is a statutory body (formed by an act of parliament) aimed to protect and promote the health and safety of the public by ensuring proper standards in the practice of medicine.

The objectives of the Council are as follows:-
1. Maintenance of uniform standards of medical education, both undergraduate and postgraduate.
2. Recommendation for recognition/de-recognition of medical qualifications of medical institutions of India or foreign countries.
3. Permanent registration/provisional registration of doctors with recognized medical qualifications.
4. Reciprocity with foreign countries in the matter of mutual recognition of medical qualifications.

States can enact laws to preserve cattle: Centre 

• The State legislatures have “exclusive” powers to enact laws for the preservation of cattle, the Union government told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. It was in response to a question on what it proposed to do in response to the Rajasthan High Court’s suggestion to declare cow a national animal. 
• “Under the distribution of legislative powers between the Union of India and the states under Article 246(3) of the Constitution, the preservation of cattle is a matter on which the legislature of the States have exclusive powers to legislate,”
• At present,there are 62 subjects in the state list compare to 66 at the enactment of the constitution .

Nagaland CM to face trust vote today 

• Nagaland Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu will face a floor test at a special session of the Assembly on Wednesday after the Gauhati High Court on Tuesday dismissed his plea to stay the Governor’s order directing him to seek a trust vote
• It said the process of by-election Mr. Liezietsu is contesting ,is already underway and therefore it was "imperative & incumbent "upon the Governor to call upon the petitioner to prove his majority on the floor of the house only pursuant to the by-election where the petitioner is a candidate
• His plea before the high court was :There was no recommendation from the Council of Ministers for the floor test and the Governor on his own choose to "impose" the impugned decision upon the petitioner " without any legal foundation and against constitutional norms.

Article 163 in the constitution of India 
163 
1.The Council of Ministers to aid and advice governor:There shall be a council of minister with the chief minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions except in so far as he is by or under this constitution required to exercise his functions or any of them in his discretion

DGCA braces for ICAO safety audit

• The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is bracing for a safety oversight audit by the U.N. body, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), in November 2017.
• The aviation regulator is taking a series of steps to save it from the embarrassment of the 2012 audit in which the ICAO had raised safety concerns about India's aviation system.
• The DGCA will be furnishing its response to the detailed protocol questionnaire posed by ICAO for its Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) by August first week
• The measures include hiring flight operation inspectors, aligning its rules with ICAO norms, certifying flight examiners, among others.
• To make the posts of flight operation inspectors attractive for experienced pilots, the DGCA offered them market-linked salary.
• The aviation regulator has been holding review meetings with airlines and airports every month for safety compliance.
• The ICAO conducts audit in areas related to legislation, organisation, licensing, operation, airworthiness, accident investigation, air navigation and aerodromes.

ICAO

DGCA

Australia for ‘peaceful’ end to standoff

Australia’s position is that any territorial disputes should be resolved peacefully between the claimant countries

Distinguishing between land boundary disputes and the maritime disputes China has with countries in the South China Sea, through which two-thirds of Australia’s trade passes.
In the case of maritime disputes,  it should be subjected to arbitration under UNCLOS, if necessary. Land disputes should be resolved peacefully between the competing claimants

India set to extradite Bangladeshi to Britain 

India is set to extradite a Bangladeshi national, Mohammad Abdul Shakur, to the U.K., where he is accused of murdering his wife and children 10 years ago. This development is seen as another signal of increasing cooperation between the two nations on sensitive, and potentially thorny issues in the Home Affairs arena
 Shakur’s extradition was recommended by a New Delhi court in 2013, but a case against him filed in India meant that he remained in the country. However, India has now agreed to drop the case against him, and return him to Britain

The movement on these two cases[Shakur's and Vijay Mallya's]  is a sign that the India-UK Extradition Treaty, which has been in place since 1992 is sufficient to deliver the kind of cooperation the two nations have sought, particularly with political backing. 

Must Read:India-UK Home Dialogue

Delhi, Kabul discuss ‘common regional threats’ 

• External Affairs Minister discussed the “common regional threat” with her Afghan counterpart, Salahuddin Rabbani, on Monday. 
• The discussion is significant as it comes in the backdrop of an ongoing review of Afghanistan policy by the U.S. government which appears to lean on Pakistan in shaping the future of Afghanistan
• iew for Afghanistan. In a recent media interaction, U.S. Secretary of Defence James Mattis acknowledged that the regional context of the Afghan crisis makes the policy review difficult as it needs to take Pakistan into consideration. 
• The problem of this approach includes bilateral problems that Afghanistan and India have with Pakistan

Reluctant Trump recerties Iran deal

Background:Former US President along with other P5+1 leaders signed a nuclear deal with Iran in Oct 2015.

• U.S. President Donald Trump agreed on Monday to certify again that Iran is complying with an international nuclear agreement that he has strongly criticised
• The decision was the second time his administration certified Iran’s compliance, and aides said a frustrated Mr. Trump had told his security team that he would not keep doing so indefinitely 
• Administration officials announced the certification while emphasising that they intended to toughen enforcement of the deal, apply new sanctions on Iran for its “support of terrorism” and other “destabilising activities”, and negotiate with European partners to craft a broader strategy to increase pressure on Tehran
• By law, the administration is required to notify Congress every 90 days whether Iran is living up to the deal, which limited its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of many international sanctions

U.S. announces new sanctions

• US Administration unveiled new economic sanctions against Iran over its ballistic missile programme and for contributing to regional tensions, one day after warning Tehran that it was not following the spirit of its nuclear agreement with world powers
• The U.S. Department of Treasury, in a statement, said it was targeting 16 entities and individuals for supporting what is said was “illicit Iranian actors or transnational criminal activity”
• Those sanctioned had backed Iran’s military or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps by developing drones and military equipment 

Iran's Response:Majlis says it will fight U.S. ‘adventurism

• Iran’s Parliament, known as Majlis, voted on Tuesday to urgently work towards increasing funds for the country’s missile programme and Revolutionary Guards in response to Washington's “adventurism” in the region 

E-commerce: RCEP nations talk details 

Sixteen Asia Pacific nations, including India, are understood to be 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).
Technical level talks of the RCEP are being held from July 18 to 28 in Hyderabad
India has been opposing binding norms on opening up the e-commerce sector at the level of RCEP as well as the global level (WTO) talks on grounds including that it (India) is yet to have a comprehensive national policy on the topic
However, it is understood that many RCEP nations including Australia, Japan and China, are pushing for inclusion of a host of elements for ‘Terms Of Reference’ for RCEP negotiations concerning e-commerce.
 This is with a view to have some binding commitments from the RCEP members on liberalising e-commerce and ensure that the final pact has a separate chapter on e-commerce

Developing Countries including India ,should be wary of:

1.Demands for absolute prohibition on disclosure of ‘source code’ (code behind the software) because lack of access to ‘source code’ will make it tough to prevent anti-competitive practices, hacking and rights violation
2.Demands for prohibition of ‘data localisation’ saying accepting such demands will lead to difficulties in ensuring regulatory control over e-commerce firms

DNA JULY 18

Eco-bridges for the movement of tigers

• In a first of its kind, Telangana will have ecofriendly bridges over a canal cutting across the tiger corridor linking the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra with the forests in Telangana's Kumram Bheem Asifabad district. 
• Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve was established as second Tiger Reserve in the Maharashtra State, in 1994-95.
• Andhari, a minor river in waiganga basin flows through the tiger reserve.
•  The intervention requires the laying of fertile soil to grow grass and plants over the structure so that fragmentation of the reserve forest is camouflaged
• The ‘eco-bridges’ will be constructed at key spots along the 72-km-long, and at some places over a kilometre wide, right flank canal of the Pranahita barrage in the Bejjur and Dahegaon mandals

• The concept emerged after visits by experts from the Wildlife Board of India and the Wildlife Institute of India. They were concerned about the large-scale destruction of pristine forest along the corridor, which would result in cutting off tiger movement between the TATR and Bejjur

Storage in Cauvery basin less than half of last year

The Article has got the relevance as it mentioned of the Cloud Seeding technique .

What is cloud seeding ?

Cloud seeding is a form of weather modification, a way of changing the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds, by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical processes within the cloud.

In this method,the chemicals are dispersed into the atmosphere using an aircraft or dispersion device located on the Ground (generators,firing canisters from anti-arcraft guns or even rockets). 

When release by aircraft, silver iodide flares are ignited and dispersed as an aircraft flies through the inflow of a cloud. When released by devices on the ground, the fine particles are carried downwind and upward by air currents after release. 

The most common chemicals used for cloud seeding include silver iodide, potassium iodide and dry ice (solid carbon dioxide),liquid propane .The use of table salt is also popular.

Centre wants debate on J&K’s special status

• The Centre asked the Supreme Court for a detailed hearing on the special status granted to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, saying it is both a sensitive and a constitutional matter
• “It is a very sensitive matter. It is a constitutional issue. A debate is required,” Attorney General K.K. Venugopal submitted before a bench led by Chief Justice .
• The top law officer was responding to a PIL filed by a Delhi-based NGO, We the Citizens, contending that the J&K government, given the State’s special autonomous status under Articles 35A and 370, was discriminatory against non-residents as far as government jobs and real estate purchases are concerned
• Responding to this, the State government argued that its special status was sourced from the 1954 presidential order, which gave special rights to the State’s permanent residents
• The hearing comes in the backdrop of an earlier order of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, which has already ruled that Article 370 assumes a place of permanence in the Constitution and the feature is beyond amendment, repeal or abrogation
• The Court also said that Article 35A gives “protection” to existing laws in force in the State. 

‘Temporary Provision’

•  “Article 370 though titled as ‘Temporary Provision’ and included in Para XXI titled ‘Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions’ has assumed place of permanence in the Constitution,” the High Court had observed
• “It is beyond amendment, repeal or abrogation, in as much as Constituent Assembly of the State before its dissolution did not recommend its Amendment or repeal,” the High Court had added.
• The court also observed that the President under Article 370 (1) is conferred with power to extend any provision of the Constitution to the State with such “exceptions and modifications” as may be deemed fit subject to consultation or concurrence with the State government

South Korea offers talks with North 

• South Korea offered talks with the North to ease animosities along their tense border and resume reunions of families separated by their war in the 1950s
• It was unclear how North Korea will react since it remains suspicious of new South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s outreach to it. 
• But Mr. Moon’s overture, the first formal offer of talks since his inauguration in May, indicates he wants to use dialogue to defuse the international stand-off over North Korea’s weapons programmes, despite having condemned the North’s first intercontinental ballistic missile test on July 4. 
• If realised, the talks would be the first inter-Korean dialogue since December 2015. Ties between the Koreas have plunged over the North’s expanding weapons programmes and the hardline policies of Mr. Moon’s conservative predecessors. 

 The Boundary between South korea and North Korea  

Indonesia renames part of South China Sea 

• Indonesia will now refer to the northern areas of its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea as the "North Natuna Sea" in an act of defiance against Beijing's territorial ambitions in the region, the media reported.
• It unveiled a new map with the renamed territory.
• "We need to continue updating the naming of the sea and report to the UN about the borders," Oegroseno told Indonesia's state-run news agency Antara. 
• Part of the renamed area falls in China's "nine-dash line" -- waters extending hundreds of miles to the south and east of China's island province Hainan.
• China claims the entirety of the sea, but Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia all have competing territorial claimsto parts that are near their respective shores, reports CNN.
• Indonesia is not the first country to rename part of the South China Sea.
• In 2011, the Philippines renamed the waters as the "West Philippine Sea" and two years later took the territorial dispute before an international tribunal at The Hague.
• In July 2016, the tribunal ruled in favour of the Philippines, concluding that China has no legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk of the South China Sea. 

DNA 17 JULY

Parliament, Assemblies in poll fervour 

The Election Commission has permitted 14 Rajya Sabha and 41 Lok Sabha members to vote in the Assemblies for the presidential election, while five MLAs will vote in Parliament on Monday

Some salient facts:

• The President is elected through an Electoral College that comprises of :

                        -MPs and 

                        -State and Union Territory MLAs. 

•  There are 543 Lok Sabha members, 233 Rajya Sabha members, and 4,120 MLAs from 29 States and two Union Territories. 
• The total number of votes is 10,98,903. 
• Nominated members of Parliament or the Assemblies are not eligible to vote. 
• Besides, members of the Legislative Councils are also not electors.
• As per the election rules, political parties cannot issue any whip to their MPs and MLAs for the presidential election
• In consultation with the Union government, the Election Commission appoints the Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, by rotation, as the Returning Officer.

Serial-numbered pens for voting 

• Electors have to mark the Ballot only with this particular pen and not with any other pen. Voting by using any other pen may lead to invalidation of the vote at the time of counting under Rule 31(1) d of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections rule 1974.
• Article 55(3) of the constitution provides that The election of the President shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot.In this system,the elector has to mark preferences against the name of the candidates .
• The elector can mark as many preference as the number of candidates. While the marking of the first preference is compulsory for the ballot paper to be valid, other preferences are optional.

 Safe haven for endangered Egyptian vultures

• Breeding of the rare and threatened Egyptian vultures in a human habitat at the Punjabi University campus in Patiala has come as a pleasant surprise for birding enthusiasts
• Egyptian vulture is successfully breeding within a human habitation in Punjab and, more importantly, has become a resident species
• The Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), one among the globally threatened vulture species found in India, is classified under the ‘Endangered’ (EN) red list of the International Union for Conversation of Nature (IUCN). 
• The species is popularly known as safed giddh (white vulture) in Hindi. 
• According to BirdLife International, a global partnership of organisations working for the conservation of birds, the present global breeding population of the Egyptian vulture is estimated to be 12,000 to 38,000 individuals. 
• GM mustard release faces another hurdle
• Dissent has crept in among agricultural scientists of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) over the possible release of genetically modified mustard
• The GEAC,India's apex regulator for genetically modified seeds has cleared GM Mustard for environmental release and use in farm fields on May11 this year.
• However,the approval is contingent on a final nod from Environment Minister.
• In May, NAAS President Panjab Singh wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, endorsing DMH-11, a variety of mustard developed by Deepak Pental of Delhi University, a NAAS Fellow, that employs genes from soil bacterium
• If approved, it would be the first transgenic edible crop to be grown in Indian fields. 
• The plant had gone through adequate tests and was declared “safe” and passed regulatory muster
• The NAAS — a 625-member body of agricultural scientists — had about 200 scientists in its quorum when it passed a resolution endorsing the GEAC’s decision to clear DMH-11 for commercial field trials.  

Guardian UAV deal with U.S. still a work in progress

• At present,The Navy currently operates Israeli Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAVs
• The NAVY is keen on acquiring High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) to augment its maritime surveillance capabilities
•  The other option is to go for Israeli HALE drones, which India is quite familiar with
•  Last year, the Navy asked General Atomics for the details of the Guardian, following which company officials made presentations on its capabilities
•  Given the Sea Guardian’s capabilities, such a U.S. response to the Indian Navy’s request demonstrates a major change in U.S. policy as this type of aircraft capability is only exported to a very select few of America’s closest defence partners.

Govt. clears three export infra plans under TIES  

• Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) seeks to bridge the infrastructure gap and provide forward and backward linkages to units engaged in trade activities.
• The TIES which is being implemente from 2017-18 till 2019-20 has a budgetary allocation of Rs.600 crores.The Scheme's annual outlay is 200 crores.

Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme

• The scheme would provide assistance for setting up and up-gradation of infrastructure projects with overwhelming export linkages like the Border Haats, Land customs stations, quality testing and certification labs, cold chains, trade promotion centres, dry ports, export warehousing and packaging, SEZs and ports/airports cargo terminuses.
• First mile and last mile connectivity for export-oriented projects and addressing quality and certification measures
• The Central and State Agencies, including Export Promotion Councils, Commodities Boards, SEZ Authorities and Apex Trade Bodies recognised under the EXIM policy of Government of India; are eligible agencies for financial support under this scheme. 

Funding Pattern

• The Central Government funding will be in the form of grant-in-aid, normally not more than the equity being put in by the implementing agency or 50% of the total equity in the project. 
• In case of projects located in North Eastern States and Himalayan States including J&K, this grant can be upto 80% of the total equity.
• The grant in aid shall, normally, be subject to a ceiling of Rs 20 Cr for each infrastructure project. 

 

 

DNA 16 JULY

MPs, Ministers exchange notes on Doklam 

• At meeting with Swaraj, Jaitley on Sikkim stand-off, members flag 2016 report on poor state of roads, lack of funds for BRO(Border Road Organisation )
• Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence last year had criticised the government for not utilising funds in the Defence budget, and under-allocating the budget for the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) by more than Rs.1,000 crore of the amount requested.
• Concluding that “to compete with our neighbouring countries, especially with China, India must have latest, state-of-the-art equipment with the Border Roads Organisation”. 
• The report had said there is an “acute shortage of manpower, both combatant and civilians put together, in the BRO,”   

IISER Kolkata develops reretardant, rust-resistant material

• Now, paper or other materials coated with a hydrophobic (water hating) hybrid molecular material synthesised by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata can behave like a lotus leaf and keep the surface clean and waterproof
• Besides increasing the mechanical strength of the coated paper 1.5 times, the molecular material can inhibit bacterial growth and even render the coated material such as paper or wood fire-proof.
• The organic-inorganic hybrid material was synthesised by combining polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) and diphenylalanine. 
• The POSS molecule by itself has unique properties such as high thermal stability and fire retarding ability. While both POSS and diphenylalanine are naturally water repelling, the hydrophobic nature gets enhanced when they are combined. 

Corrosion resistance 

• Testing the hydrophobic nature of the hybrid material and its ability to prevent corrosion, the researchers coated iron nails with the hybrid molecular material and exposed it to water. While the nails that were not coated rusted, those with the coating did not. Coating one half of the nail with the hybrid material, the team found the uncoated portion of the nail rusted in about 12 hours when treated with water; the coated portion remained rust-free. 
• The nails coated with hybrid solution were able to resist corrosion even when treated with an aqueous solution of sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium bromide and even hydrochloric acid.

Fire-retardant property 

• Finally, the fire-retardant property of matchsticks coated with the hybrid material was tested. While matchstick with no coating burnt completely, those coated with only POSS to more time to reach the end of the matchstick. But matchsticks coated with the hybrid material were able to extinguish the flame as soon as fire reached the coated portion. 
• The peptide not only retards the flame but also extinguishes the fire

No substitute for mother’s milk  

• While scientists grapple to understand the complexity of humanmilk, policymakers in India are grappling with something much more elementary: the need to encourage breastfeeding among new mothers.

Currently, 38% of children are stunted and 35.7% are underweight in India. 

• Experts maintain that inappropriate complementary feeding practices are having a significant impact on the nutritional status of children 
• Despite that, we still see that rates of breastfeeding are going down in higher socio-economic group. This is partly because they can afford to buy alternative feeds and partly because most people don’t understand why it is important to breastfeed
• The Rapid Survey on Children (Ministry of Women and Child Development, 2015) shows that only 45% infants are now being breastfed within an hour of birth in India and just 65% are being exclusively breastfed as per World Health Organization recommendations. 
• Further, the NFHS 4 (National Family Health Survey) data reveal that only 42.7% of children received complementary foods at the age of 6-8 months while only 9.6% children received an adequate diet. 
• Experts say ‘adequate diet’ for a baby of 6-8 months should involved four or more of the following food groups — grains; dairy products; meat; eggs; vitamin A-rich fruitsand vegetables.
• The India Newborn Action Plan,developed by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in 2014, is targeting a 75% rate of initiation of breastfeeding within an hour of birth by 2017 and 90% by 2025. 
• To achieve these rates, there is a need to understand the sophistication of human milk, and enable new mothers to make an informed choice about breastfeeding

DNA 15 JULY

Centre briefs MPs on China standoff 

• The government told an allparty meeting of MPs it had called on Friday that China was trying to extend its control further down the Doklam trijunction in an effort to gain a strategic advantage over “Chicken’s Neck” in Siliguri, West Bengal, which connects India to the rest of the Northeast
• The government assured the parliamentarians that there would no flexing of muscles and a solution would be reached through dialogue

The Red dot in the map shows the chicken's Neck Area

Indian astronomers discover supercluster of galaxies, name it ‘Saraswati’

A group of Indian astronomers have discovered a massive supercluster of galaxies, and have named it Saraswati.

The supercluster is about 4 billion light years away and spreads over a “great wall” about 600 million light years across. 

This makes it one of the largest superclusters to be discovered and also the furthest. 

The first supercluster of galaxies, the Shapley Supercluster, was discovered in 1989, and the second, the Sloan Great Wall in 2003. 

The Milky Way galaxy is part of the Laniakea Supercluster, which was discovered in 2014. 

It is the first time that we have seen a supercluster that is so far away. Even the Shapley is about 8-10 times closer

Clumpy universe 

The structure of the universe is not a homogeneous distribution of matter. It is clumpy with galaxies forming clusters and these in turn forming superclusters. 

There are thin “filaments” that connect galaxies, forming a cosmic web, and there are large voids in between

The current belief is that infant galaxies form in these filaments and then drift to the intersections of the filaments where they grow. 

The Saraswati supercluster could challenge this premise, because it had formed so early and building such a big structure far back might have been difficult

Dark matter and dark energy are invoked to explain the structure of the universe. 

Dark matter, being massive, binds together the universe while dark energy, exciting the surrounding space, drives it apart; the balance of the two effects helps in maintaining the universe in its present form. 

Malabar drills aim at giving regional security, says Japan

• The trilateral Naval exercise, Malabar 2017, involving India, the U.S. and Japan, is strategically very important and meant to maintain the rule of law and maritime security in the region:Japanese Ambassdor to India
• “This is very significant politically and [of] very symbolic value that the three countries are working together to safeguard the rule of law and maritime security in this region
• The Ambassador said his country’s relations with India had a solid base, “for safeguarding peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region” adding that there could be more exchanges involving ground and air forces and an exchange of personnel in various areas

Cooperation in Africa:AsiaAfrica Growth Corridor project

• Asked whether the AsiaAfrica Growth Corridor project — envisaging an India-Japan collaboration in Africa — was to counter China’s Belt and Road project, the Ambassador said it was not aimed at any specific initiative
• Asia-Africa Growth Corridor was for a free and open Indo-Pacific region and to make this region more inter-connected and prosperous
• Concrete plans On whether India and Japan would take up specific pilot projects in Africa, the Ambassador said there was a “good win-win situation”
• “We think that India has vast experience, network in eastern part of Africa. We have good technology and financing to support African development,” he said.
• Japan has been working with Indian officials and businessmen for “a concrete development plan” in Africa.

Asia Pacific Group meet on money laundering in Colombo 

• The APG meeting is scheduled to be held from July 17 to 21.
• Representatives of 41 countries, including India, are expected to participate
• Among the participating member countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Maldives, United States, Australia, Canada, China and Pakistan
• It would also be attended by representatives of the Philippines

Important issues:

1. Several countries have expressed concerns over the developing situation in Philippine and extended support to the Philippine government.   
2. The Indian agencies have taken strong measures and registered several terror financing cases in the recent past
3. The Indian agencies have taken strong measures and registered several terror financing cases in the recent past
4. Following allegations of its failure in controlling the funding of terror outfits, the International Cooperation Review Group of FATF had requested the APG to furnish a follow-up report on Pakistan.

EU, India set up fund for investments

• The European Union (EU) and India on Friday announced the establishment of an Investment Facilitation Mechanism (IFM) for EU investments in India.
• The mechanism will allow for a close coordination between the European Union and the Government of India with an aim to promote and facilitate EU investment in India
• The IFM has been established with the key objectives of paving the way for identifying and solving problems faced by EU companies and investors with regard to their operations in India
• Invest India, the Indian government's official Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency, will also be part of the IFM.
• It will create a single-window entry point for EU companies that need assistance for their investments at the central or state level.
• The EU is the largest foreign investor in India and this initiative helps ensuring a more robust, effective and predictable business environment for the EU investors."
• Trade and Investment are key elements of the EU-India Strategic Partnership launched in 2004.
• There are currently more than 6,000 EU companies present in India, providing direct and indirect employment to over 6 million people.

DNA 14 JULY

National Green Tribunal prohibits dumping of waste near Ganga banks 

• An area of 100 metres from the edge of the Ganga between Haridwar and Unnao has been declared a ‘No Development Zone,' with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) prohibiting dumping of waste within 500 metres of the river.
• An environment compensation of Rs. 50,000 will be imposed on anyone dumping waste in the river
• The NGT also directed the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments to formulate guidelines for religious activities on the ghats of the Ganga and its tributaries.
• All industrial units in the catchment areas of the Ganga should be stopped from indiscriminate groundwater extraction.
• The green court reiterated its earlier order of a ban on mechanical mining in the Ganga -
• “No instream mechanical mining is permitted and 
•   The mining on the floodplain should be semi-mechanical and preferably more manual.”

How to ensure implementation of Directives:Supervisory Committee 

• Appointed a Supervisory committee:headed by the Secretary of the Water Resources Ministry and comprising IIT professors and officials of the Uttar Pradesh government 

                            -to oversee implementation of the directions passed in its verdict. 

                            -The committee is to submit reports at regular intervals.

 

• Sand and Gravel mining should be permitted only after a detailed and comprehensive assessment of the annual replenishment
• After ensuring that the connectivity of the river is not disturbed and that only a quantity less or equal to the annual replenishment is permitted to be removed from the riverbed or the banks

Art & Culture :Regional Festivals 

Tiwa tribals prepare a ‘jhum’ eld during the Panthai Langa ritual in Karbi Anglong district of Assam on Thursday. It is believed that Tiwas, who live in the hills, are not permitted to prepare their paddy eld for the next harvest before performing this ritual

Tiwa  is an ethnic group/indigenous tribe inhabiting the states of Assam and Meghalaya  

They are recognized as a Scheduled tribe within the State of Assam.

They were known as Lalungs in the Assamese Buranjis, Colonial literature and in the Constitution of India

Though members of the group prefer to call themselves Tiwa (meaning "the people who were lifted from below").

Now, e-visa facility for Uganda

• After much deliberation, India has added Uganda to the list of countries to which it extends the electronic visa (or e-visa) facility.At present, India offers e-visa facility to only 18 of the 54 African Nations.
• Indian authorities remove Uganda from the high-risk category of nations, as there is a healthy trade and business relationship with the African nation. 
• The e-visa scheme will further boost our prospects The e-visa is an online pre-authorisation that allows visa on arrival through nine airports and three seaports. 
• India is currently in stiff competition with China for the Ugandan import market.
• The East Africa nation is also home to a 30,000-strong Indian community, mostly Gujaratis.
• In the past, security agencies had reported the presence of several Mumbai-based underworld gangsters in Kampala, the country's capital. This had discouraged India from extending the e-visa facility to Ugandans, an official said.
• In March, the Ugandan Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda was in Mumbai, where he met heads of automobile and pharmaceutical firms and pledged to invest $100 million in India.
• In February, Vice-President Hamid Ansari on his visit to Uganda announced that the two countries had agreed to expand cooperation in the "energy sector, training of personnel for space research, and peaceful uses of atomic energy".
• The Home Ministry implements the e-visa scheme, and any country is removed or added to the list on the basis of inputs from security agencies.
• At present, India offers the e-visa facility to 162 countries.
• Recently, the government increased the window for application under the e-visa system from 30 to 120 days.
• Once applied for, the e-visa is granted within 72 hours.
• Conceptualised when the UPA was in power, the e-visa facility was operationalised in 2014.

EAC(East African Community)

The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of six countries in the African Great Lakes region in eastern Africa: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. 

The organisation was founded in 1967, collapsed in 1977, and revived on 7 July 2000 

HQ:Arusha,Tanjania

Liu Xiaobo, Chinese dissident who won Nobel Prize, dies 

• Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, China's most prominent political prisoner, died at a hospital in China. He was 61.
• Liu had been transferred to the hospital after being diagnosed with advanced liver cancer in prison in May 2017 but remained under police custody
• Liu was only the second Nobel Peace Prize winner to die in prison, a fact pointed to by human rights groups as an indication of the Chinese Communist Party's increasingly hard line against its critics.
• The first, Carl von Ossietzky, died from tuberculosis in Germany in 1938 while serving a sentence for opposing Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.
• Liu's supporters and foreign governments had urged China to allow him to receive treatment abroad, but Chinese authorities insisted he was receiving the best care possible for a disease that had spread throughout his body.
• Liu was imprisoned for the first time in connection with the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests.
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2010 while serving his fourth and final prison sentence, for inciting subversion by advocating sweeping political reforms and greater human rights in China.

PM’s task force recommends scrapping 5-yearly job survey

• The Prime Minister-appointed task force has recommended that traditional Employment-Unemployment Surveys carried out by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) every five years be scrapped.
• The panel has instead suggested a new periodic labour force survey to provide                                                    - estimates of labour force,                                                                                                              - employment, unemployment, nature of employment and industry.
• To get more frequent employment trends data, an urban module of this survey will be updated every quarter.
• The recommendation comes amidst criticism about the lack of adequate jobs as well as a debate over jobs cuts in the economy.
• However, refuting criticism, the task force, headed by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya, in the report has mentioned that "much of the recent debate on jobs in the media has relied on the estimates from the Quarterly Enterprise Surveys," which has "severe limitations".
• QES conducted by Labour Bureau measure employment in eight broad sectors of industry and services.
• The Centre has sought comments on the recommendations made public by July 23.
• A time use survey should also be conducted at three year intervals to provide data on time spent in various occupations and non-market activities, the panel said.
• The survey will help track how time spent by households has been changing and measure women's participation in unpaid work.

DNA 13 JULY

Bitcoin trade may come under SEBI 

The government is considering the introduction of a regulatory regime for virtual or crypto currencies, such as Bitcoin, that would enable the levy of the Goods and Services Tax on their sale.

Crypto-currencies are digital currencies which allow transacting parties to remain anonymous while confirming that the transaction is a valid one.

Risk involved :They are not owned/controlled by anyone-government or private

At present a Bit-coin value is = 60 gm of gold 

There are multiple such currencies — Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple are some of the popular ones.

Currently, they are neither illegal nor legal in India

The market cap for all crypto-currencies has just crossed $100 billion, with most of the increase coming in the past few months. On April 1, the total market cap was just over $25 billion, representing a 300% rise in just over 60 days

The idea is to treat such currency in a manner similar to gold sold digitally, so that it can be traded on registered exchanges in a bid to “promote” a formal tax base, while keeping a tab on their use for illegal activities such as money laundering, terror funding and drug trafficking.

Advantages of recognising Bit-coin/Crypto-currency

[i] It would enable the levy of the Goods and Services Tax on their sale

[ii]Regulatory may possibly bring their trading under the oversight of the stock market regulator,SEBI

Disadvantages

[i] It allow transacting parties to remain anonymous while confirming that the transaction is a valid one.

[ii]It might lead to proliferation of Black Money

[iii]Tantamount to legitimise speculative risk taking 

Bitcoins were in the news recently when during the two global cyber ransomware attacks — WannaCry and Petya — attackers sought about $300 in bitcoin as ransom.

Banning will give a clear message that all related activities are illegal and will disincentivise those interested in taking speculative risks  

 
India-China trade talks deadlocked

• Trade talks between India and China remained deadlocked with neither side willing to offer concessions to end the impasse
• Recent bilateral talks on issues relating to farm products, which took place in the backdrop of the military standoff in the Doklam area of the India-BhutanChina tri-junction, failed to make any headway
• China deferred taking a decision on grant of market access to Indian rice, pomegranate, okra and bovine meat, while India opted to stick to its ban on imports of apple, pear, milk and milk products from China
• China is yet to lift the import ban on India’s bovine meat that it had first imposed in 1990 in the wake of incidence of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) in India.
• “India has an alarming trade deficit that in our view emanates from obstacles to market access in China,” Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said.
• India’s goods trade deficit with China, which had ballooned to $52.7 billion in 2015-16 from just $1.1 billion in 2003-04, eased marginally to $51.1 billion in 2016-17.

Cabinet clears widening of Manipur-Myanmar road

The Union government on Wednesday approved a ₹1,630 crore road project in Manipur, which is a vital link in providing road connectivity up to Thailand and Malaysia,

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its nod for upgradation and widening of 65 kms of the Imphal-Moreh Section of National Highway 39 in Manipur

Landlocked Manipur, with almost 90% of the area under difficult terrain, has only road transport as a means of mass transport system. 

The project will be developed with Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s loan assistance under the under the South Asian Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Road Connectivity Investment Program which aims at improving road connectivity in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and India (BBIN). 

China sends PLA unit to man overseas base

China has dispatched People’s Liberation Army (PLA) personnel to man its first overseas military base at Djibouti in the strategic Indian Ocean region, a move likely to spark concerns in the U.S.

Ships carrying Chinese military personnel departed to set up a support base in Djibouti, located in the Horn of Africa

 The base will ensure China’s performance of missions, such as escorting, peace-keeping and humanitarian aid in Africa and West Asia

It is the first such base being set up by China. The second base is coming up in Gwadar, Pakistan, which links up with China through the $50 billion ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor

The base will also conduct overseas tasks, including military cooperation, joint exercises, evacuating and protecting overseas Chinese and emergency rescue, as well as jointly maintaining security of international strategic seaways

Nod for Bangladesh JIN pact

• In a bid to boost bilateral investments between India and Bangladesh, the Cabinet gave its approval for the Joint Interpretative Notes (JIN) on the Agreement between both the nations for the Promotion and Protection of Investments.
• The JIN would impart clarity to the interpretation of the existing Agreement between India and Bangladesh for the Promotion and Protection of Investments.
• The JIN includes interpretative notes to be jointly adopted for many clauses, including,-- the definition of investor, definition of investment, exclusion of taxation measures, Fair and Equitable Treatment, National Treatment and Most Favoured Nation treatment, expropriation, essential security interests and Settlement of Disputes between an Investor-and a Contracting Party, an official statement said.
• Joint Interpretative Statements, in general, play an important supplementary role in strengthening the investment treaty regime.
• With increasing Bilateral Investment Treaty disputes, issuance of such statements is likely to have strong persuasive value before tribunals, the statement said, adding that such pro-active approach by States can foster a more predictable and coherent reading of treaty terms by arbitration tribunals.