IMPORTANT TOPICS FOR 21 JULY 2019

    IMPORTANT TOPICS FOR TODAY 

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BY SUMIT BHARDWAJ                                 21 JULY 2019

1.Four new Governors appointed       (GS-2)

• In a major reshuffle, President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday transferred two Governors and made four new appointments across six States. New Governors will take charge of the Raj Bhavans in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Nagaland and Tripura

• APPOINTMENT OF THE GOVERNOR:
• The Governor’s appointment, his powers and everything related to the office of Governor have been discussed under Article 153 to Article 162 of the Indian Constitution.
• The role of the Governor is quite similar to that of the President of India. The Governor performs the same duties as of President, but for the State. Governor stands as executive head of a State and the working remains the same as of the office of President of India. Under the Constitution of India, the governing machinery is the same as that of the Central Government.
• It is stated that the Governor has a dual role. 
• He is the constitutional head of the state, bound by the advice of his council of ministers.
• He functions as a vital link between the Union Government and the State Government.
• Constitutional Provisions related to Governor:
• The appointment and powers of government can be derived from Part VI of the Indian constitution. Article 153 says that there shall be a Governor for each State. One person can be appointed as Governor for two or more States.
• The governor acts in 'Dual Capacity' as the Constitutional head of the state and as the representative.
• He is the part of federal system of Indian polity and acts as a bridge between union and state governments.
• Article 157 and Article 158 of the Constitution of India specify eligibility requirements for the post of governor. They are as follows:
• A governor must:
• Be a citizen of India. Be at least 35 years of age. Not be a member of the either house of the parliament or house of the state legislature. Not hold any office of profit.
• The term of governor's office is normally 5 years but it can be terminated earlier by:
• Dismissal by the president on the advice of the council of minister headed by the prime minister of the country. Dismissal of governors without a valid reason is not permitted. However, it is the duty of the President to dismiss a governor whose acts are upheld by courts as unconstitutional and malafide. 

2.NIA conducts searches across T.N.   (GS-2,3)

• CONTEXT: The searches were conducted
• at five locations in
• Ramanathapuram district, two locations in Theni district
• and one location each in the districts of Chennai, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Thanjavur,  Perambalur, Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur,
• ABOUT NIA:
• The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is a central agency established by the Indian Government to combat terror in India. It acts as the Central Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency. The agency is empowered to deal with terror related crimes across states without special permission from the states. The Agency came into existence with the enactment of the National Investigation Agency Act 2008 by the Parliament of India on 31 December 2008.Headquartered in New Delhi, the NIA has branches in Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kochi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Kolkata, Raipur and Jammu.
• NIA was created after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks as need for a central agency to combat terrorism was realised. The conviction rate of this anti-terrorism agency is currently 95 per cent as it has managed to convict 167 accused in the 185 cases registered by it since its inception.
• MORE LATEST :
• NATIONAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY (AMENDMENT) BILL 2019:
• Key features of the Bill:
• The Bill amends the NIA Act, 2008 and provides for a national-level agency to investigate and prosecute offences listed in a schedule (scheduled offences).  
• It allows for the creation of Special Courts for the trial of scheduled offences which include offences under Acts such as the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967. 
• As per the Bill, the NIA will now have the power to investigate the following offences, in addition: (i) human trafficking, (ii) offences related to counterfeit currency or bank notes, (iii) manufacture or sale of prohibited arms, (iv) cyber-terrorism, and (v) offences under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908.       
• Jurisdiction: The officers of the NIA have the same powers as other police officers in relation to the investigation of such offences, across India. In addition, officers of the NIA will have the power to investigate scheduled offences committed outside India, subject to international treaties and domestic laws of other countries. 
• The central government may direct the NIA to investigate such cases, as if the offence has been committed in India.  The Special Court in New Delhi will have jurisdiction over these cases.
• The Bill states that the central government may designate Sessions Courts as Special Courts for the trial of scheduled offences. The central government will need to consult the Chief Justice of the High Court under which the Sessions Court is functioning, before designating it as a Special Court.  When more than one Special Court has been designated for any area, the cases will be distributed among the courts by senior-most judge.
• The state governments may also designate Sessions Courts as Special Courts for the trial of scheduled offences. 

3.CSR awards to focus on women empowerment                              (GS-3)

CONTEXT: The third edition of The CSR

Journal excellence awards

will celebrate the theme of

‘India First’ with a focus on

women empowerment on

July 22 at the Vigyan Bhavan

in New Delhi

ABOUT CSR:



4.Hyderabad gets facility to sequence 30 genomes a day                                           (GS-3)

 CONTEXT:Next Generation Sequencing

(NGS) facility, fourth such facility

in the country, which

can sequence 30 human genomes

a day, was inaugurated

by Union Minister of

Science and Technology

Harsh Vardhan at the Centre

for Cellular and Molecular

Biology (CCMB), a CSIR lab

in Hyderabad, on Saturday.

It costs around RS 1

lakh to sequence

one genome using

this facility.

• Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) facility: Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) allows parallel sequencing, resulting in the generation of Giga bases of data in a short amount of time. This recent technological advances (NGS) has reduced the cost per genome significantly, making genomic data more accessible to individual researchers.
• Human genomes: The human genome is the genome of Homo sapiens. It is made up of 23 chromosome pairs with a total of about 3 billion DNA base pairs. There are 24 distinct human chromosomes: 22 autosomal chromosomes, plus the sex-determining X and Y chromosomes. ... There are an estimated 20,000-25,000 human protein-coding genes.

5.Colistin banned in animal food industry 

(GS-3)

CONTEXT: The Ministry of Health and

Family Welfare has issued an

order prohibiting the manufacture,

sale and distribution

of colistin and its formulations

for food­producing animals,

poultry, aqua farming

and animal feed

supplements.

• WHAT IS COLISTIN?
• Colistin, also known as polymyxin E, is an antibiotic produced by certain strains of the bacteria Paenibacillus polymyxa. Colistin is a mixture of the cyclic polypeptides colistin A and B and belongs to the class of polypeptide antibiotics known as polymyxins. Colistin is effective against most Gram-negative bacilli.

6.M.P. yet to form tiger protection force     

(GS-3)

• CONTEXT: State recorded highest number of deaths due to poaching from 2012 to 2018
• IMPORTANT ASPECTS IN THE ARTICLE:
•  Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF): 
• A FORCE WHICH PROTECTS AND CONSERVE THE TIGER POPULATION.
•  National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA):
•  It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation, as per powers and functions assigned to it under the said Act.

• The National Tiger Conservation Authority is set up under the Chairmanship of the Minister for Environment and Forests.
• The Authority will have eight experts or professionals having qualifications and experience in wildlife conservation and welfare of people including tribals, apart from three Members of Parliament of whom two will be elected by the House of the People and one by the Council of States. 
• The Inspector General of Forests, in charge of project Tiger, will be ex-officio Member Secretary.

Objective of the NTCA:
• Providing statutory authority to Project Tiger so that compliance of its directives become legal.
• Fostering accountability of Center-State in management of Tiger Reserves, by providing a basis for MoU with States within our federal structure.
• Providing for an oversight by Parliament.
• Addressing livelihood interests of local people in areas surrounding Tiger Reserves.

Power and Functions of the NTCA:
• to approve the tiger conservation plan prepared by the State Government under sub-section (3) of section 38V of this Act;
• evaluate and assess various aspects of sustainable ecology and disallow any ecologically unsustainable land use such as, mining, industry and other projects within the tiger reserves;
• provide for management focus and measures for addressing conflicts of  men and wild animal and to emphasize on co-existence in forest areas outside the National Parks, sanctuaries or tiger reserve, in the working plan code;
• provide information on protection measures including future conservation plan, estimation of population of tiger and its natural prey species, status of habitats, disease surveillance, mortality survey, patrolling, reports on untoward happenings and such other management aspects as it may deem fit including future plan conservation;
• ensure critical support including scientific, information technology and legal support for better implementation of the tiger conservation plan;
• facilitate ongoing capacity building programme for skill development of officers and staff of tiger reserves.

7.Release our sailors, India tells Iran   (GS-1,2)

CONTEXT: India has reached out to

the Iranian government to

help release 18 Indian crew

members on board the

British oil tanker seized by

Iranian forces in the Straits

of Hormuz, the government

said here on

Saturday.

• Strait of Hormuz: The Strait of Hormuz is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and is one of the world's most strategically important choke points.
• CHAHBAHAR PORT: Chabahar Port is a seaport in Chabahar located in southeastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman. It serves as Iran's only oceanic port, and consists of two separate ports named Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti, each of which has five berths

8. Iran defends seizure of U.K. oil tanker        ( GS-1,2)

• CONTEXT:Britain denounced the Iranian seizure of a British­ Flagged oil tanker in the Gulf as a ”hostile act” on Saturday,rejecting Tehran’s explanation that it had seized the vessel because it had been involved in an accident.
• CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING IMAGE CAREFULLY:
• 
  


                                                        SOURCE:THE HINDU

9.Mt. Etna, Italy’s biggest live volcano, erupts        (GS-1)

Italy’s Mount Etna, Europe’s biggest live volcano, erupted

overnight with lava flows and
explosions, volcanologists
said on Saturday. The
eruption forced the closure of
two airports in Sicily’s
second-biggest city of
Catania.
Mount Etna, or Etna, is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina and Catania. It lies above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate


                                                          SOURCE:DAILY NEWS

10.New species of sharksquirts clouds of light.

• It was found in the Gulf of Mexico                                   ( GS-1,3)
• A pocket­ sized pocket shark found in the Gulf of Mexico has turned out to be a new species. 
• The shark has light-emitting cells dotted on its belly.

• Gulf of Mexico :  
• The Gulf of Mexico is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba.                                

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