IMPORTANT TOPICS FOR 16 JULY 2019

IMPORTANT TOPICS FOR TODAY 

                         http://dailycurrentaffairs-sumit.blogspot.com
                              TELEGRAM: t.me/indiancivilservices

BY SUMIT BHARDWAJ                16 JULY2019

1.12 Indian beaches in the race to crest the ‘Blue Flag’ challenge                              (GS-3)

• WHAT IS BLUE FLAG AND WHY IS IT IN NEWS?
• ‘Blue Flag’   is a certification, an international recognition conferred on beaches that meet certain criteria of cleanliness and environmental propriety.
• The Blue Flag Programme for beaches and marinas is run by the international, non-governmental, non-profit organisation FEE (the Foundation for Environmental Education). It started in France in 1985 and has been implemented in Europe since 1987, and in areas outside Europe since 2001, when South Africa joined. Japan and South Korea are the only countries in South and southeastern Asia to have Blue Flag beaches. Spain tops the list with 566 such beaches; Greece and France follow with 515 and 395, respectively.
• IT IS IN THE NEWS BEACAUSE--The Union Environment Ministry has selected 12 beaches in India to vie for a ‘Blue Flag’ certification and these beaches are----
• These beaches are at Shivrajpur (Gujarat), Bhogave (Maharashtra), Ghoghla (Diu), Miramar (Goa), Kasarkod and Padubidri (Karnataka), Kappad (Kerala), Eden (Puducherry), Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu), Rushikonda (Andhra Pradesh), Golden (Odisha), and Radhanagar (Andaman & Nicobar Islands).
  
• (SOURCE:TOI)

2.Supreme Court admits petition to decriminalise abortion…..                        (GS-2) 

• The Supreme Court on Monday admitted a writ petition seeking to decriminalise abortion and allowing women the right to exercise their reproductive choice.               
• IMPORTANT POINTS IN THIS ARTICLE…
• Article 21.(Article 21 reads as: “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to a procedure established by law.” ... This right has been held to be the heart of the Constitution, the most organic and progressive provision in our living constitution, the foundation of our laws).
• Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971.(An Act to provide for the termination of certain gnancies by registered medical practitioners and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto).
• The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill 2014 and Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill 2017 .(have proposed to enhance the cap for termination of pregnancy to 24 weeks).

3.More funds sought for Ayush Ministry in  Rajya Sabha                                            (GS-2)

• Rajya Sabha members on Monday sought more funding for the Ayush Ministry, better regulatory mechanisms, quality education and research infrastructure to promote traditional systems of medicine in the country.
• ABOUT AYUSH MINISTERY: The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy, abbreviated as AYUSH, is a governmental body in India purposed with developing, education and research in the field of alternative medicine. The ministry is headed by a Minister of State which is currently occupied by Shripad Yesso Naik.

4.LS debates changes to NIA Act….       (GS-2)

• The Lok Sabha on July 15, 2019 passes The National Investigative Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2019. 
• ABOUT National Investigation Agency (NIA) (Amendment) Bill, 2019.….
• This Bill gives NIA officers power to investigate offences committed outside India too, and mandates the setting up of Special Courts.

5.Amendments to the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act and the Surrogacy Regulation Bill         (GS-2)

• Amendments to the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act and the Surrogacy Regulation Bill were re-introduced.These bills had lapsed since they had not been passed by the Rajya Sabha.
• WHAT ARE THE AMENDMENTS MADE:
• Amendments to the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act :The proposed amendments to the MV Act seeks to provide a compensation of RUPEES 5 lakh for death and 2.5 lakh for grievous injury in a motor vehicle accident case. Among other provisions, the bill seeks to increase penalties for violations, facilitate grant of online learning licence, simplified provisions for insurance to provide expeditious help to accident victims and their families, and protection of good samaritans.
• The Bill also proposes to raise the time limit for renewal of driving licence from one month to one year before and after the expiry date.
• Surrogacy Regulation Bill :
• The Bill seeks to “allow ethical altruistic surrogacy to the intending infertile Indian married couple between the age of 23-50 years and 26-55 years for female and male, respectively.”
• The Bill states that a woman should be allowed to act as a surrogate only once, should be a close relative of the intending couple and “should be an ever-married woman having a child of her own and between the age of 25-35 years”       

6.WORLD BANK TO OFFER KERELA  $250 MILLION FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT.  (GS-3)

• The announcement was made during “Rebuild Kerala: Development partners' conclave,” a meeting of various funding agencies for rebuilding flood-ravaged Kerala.
• ABOUT WORLD BANK:
• The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides interest-free loans and grants to the governments of poorer countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. 
• Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
• Membership: 189 countries (IBRD); 173 countries (IDA)
• Parent organization: World Bank Group
• Subsidiaries: World Bank, International Finance Corporation.

7.KARNATAKA CM TO SEEK TRUST VOTE ON THURSDAY  …..                                (GS-2)

• THE NEWS ARTICLE IS RELATED TO THE POLITICAL CRISIS GOING ON IN KARNATAKA
• WHAT IS TRUST VOTE?
• A motion proposed in a parliament or other assembly to give members the chance to express their confidence in a government; sometimes proposed by a government to counter a vote of no confidence proposed by the opposition; defeat would lead to the resignation of the government.

8.NGT forms panel to probe university on floodplains……….                              (GS-2,3)

• ABOUT NGT:National Green Tribunal Act, 2010  is an Act of the Parliament of India which enables creation of a special tribunal to handle the expeditious disposal of the cases pertaining to environmental issues. It draws inspiration from the India's constitutional provision of Article 21, which assures the citizens of India the right to a healthy environmenT.
• ABOUT FLOODPLAINS:
• A floodplain or flood plain is an area of land adjacent to a stream or river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge. The soils usually consist of levees, silts, and sands deposited during floods.

9.Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.         ( GS-2,3)

• WHY IS THIS ACT IN THE NEWS?
• IT IS IN THE NEWS BECAUSE …The Madhya Pradesh government on Monday began

organising gram sabhas in villages to consider afresh
rejected claims of ScheduledTribes and other traditional
forest dwellers to forest land rights under the Forest
Rights Act (FRA), 2006. 

• ABOUT FRA 2006:
• The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, is a key piece of forest legislation passed in India on 18 December 2006. It has also been called the Forest Rights Act, the Tribal Rights Act, the Tribal Bill, and the Tribal Land Act. The law concerns the rights of forest-dwelling communities to land and other resources, denied to them over decades as a result of the continuance of colonial forest laws in India.
• Supporters of the Act claim that it will redress the "historical injustice" committed against forest dwellers, while including provisions for making conservation more effective and more transparent. The demand for the law has seen massive national demonstrations involving hundreds of thousands of people

10.A test of law and justice …………(GS-2)

• 103rd constitutional amendment:
• The One Hundred and Third Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019, introduces 10% reservation for economically weaker sections of society for admission to Central Government-run educational institutions and private educational institutions (except for minority educational institutions), and for employment in Central Government jobs. The Amendment does not make such reservations mandatory in State Government-run educational institutions or State Government jobs. However, some states have chosen to implement the 10% reservation for economically weaker sections.
• Currently, the quota can be availed by persons with an annual gross household income of up to rupees 8 lakh (US$12,000). Families that own over 5 acres of agricultural land, a house over 1,000 square feet, a plot of over 100-yards in a notified municipal area or over a 200-yards plot in a non-notified municipal area cannot avail the reservation

11.A WASH for healthcare ……         (GS-3,4)

• IT’S A NEWS ARTICLE RELATED TO HEALTHCARE FACILITIES AND IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE DOWN IN THIS NEWS ITEM ARE …..
• water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) amenities
• World Health Organization and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
• Sustainable Development GoalS(SDG)
• infection prevention and control procedures (IPC)

12.Senior BJP leader KalrajMishra was on Monday appointed Governor of HimachalPradesh, replacing Acharya Devvrat, who hasbeen transferred and appointed the Governor of Gujarat.

13.Trade deficit shrinks 8% in JuneGS-3)

•    

  India’s trade deficiT Narrowed by nearly 8% to $15.28  billion during the last month, as against $16.6 billion in June 2018, according to official data released on Monday.

• UNDERSTANDING TRADE DEFICIT:
• A trade deficit is an economic measure of international trade in which a country's imports exceed its exports. A trade deficit represents an outflow of domestic currency to foreign markets. It is also referred to as a negative balance of trade (BOT).
• Trade Deficit = Total Value of Imports – Total Value of Exports

14.RBI fines Union Bank, SBI for flouting norms……….                                           (GS-3)

• The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has penalised StateBank of India and UnionBank of India for violating certain regulatory guidelines.
• Income Recognition and Asset Classification(IRAC):Assets are classified as Standard if they are performing and not impaired. If they turn as non performing (NPA) they are classified as Sub standard, Doubtful or Loss. ... An asset becomes non-performing when it ceases to generate income for the bank.

• Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC):
• The RBI has set up a Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) to collect, store, and disseminate credit data to lenders. Hence, banks will have to furnish credit information to CRILC on all their borrowers having aggregate fund-based and non-fund based exposure of Rs.5 crores and above. Similarly, banks will be required to report, among others, the SMA status of the borrower to the CRILC.
• An Asset Reconstruction Company is a specialized financial institution that buys the NPAs or bad assets from banks and financial institutions so that the latter can clean up their balance sheets. Or in other words, ARCs are in the business of buying bad loans from banks.

15.WPI INflATION EASES  TO 2 PERCENT IN JUNE   ................                 ( GS-3)                

• Wholesale price­based in­ flation declined for the second consecutive month to its 23­month low of 2.02% in June, helped by decline in prices of vegetables as well as fuel and power items, according to official data released on Monday.

• The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is the price of a representative basket ofwholesale goods. Some countries (like the Philippines) use WPI changes as a central measure of inflation. But now India has adopted new CPI to measure inflation. However, United States now report a producer price index instead.



DOWLOAD FREE PDF FOR 16 JULY 2019

FOR IMPORTANT TOPICS EVERY DAY PLEASE VISIT…. https://dailycurrentaffairs-sumit.blogspot.com/
AND DOWNLOAD  THE FREE PDF AS WELL….…..PLEASE  FOLLOW ME AS WELL BY CLICKING THE FOLLOW BUTTON AT THE END OF THE BLOG. PROVIDE FEEDBACK TOO AS CHANGES ARE DONE ON YOUR SUGGESTIONS EVERYDAY.
THANKYOU.