Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 24 August 2017

::National::

Microsoft will come to the aid of farmers in Karnataka for prize prediction

• If all goes according to plan, software giant Microsoft will come to the aid of farmers in Karnataka who constantly struggle with an unpredictable market.
• The Agriculture Department has signed MoU with Microsoft India to develop an unique ‘farm price forecasting model’ using the latest IT tools in a bid to help farmers, administrators and other stakeholders understand the market behaviour in advance.
• The proposed initiative is said to be the first-of-its-kind in the country, as it is a ‘multi-variate’ one that takes into consideration various factors beyond the conventional supply-demand equation.
• It will examine a slew of related factors, including weather, rainfall and external factors, that impact market behaviour.
• On the other hand, the forecast would help the government prepare in advance for market intervention if there is an indication of price crash, he pointed out. The model is expected to be in place for the next kharif crop.
• Microsoft has already taken up a 100-day study on the price pattern of onion and toor dal. Depending upon the outcome, the price forecasting model would be applied to other crops later, Dr. Prakash said.
• The initiative appears to have caught the attention of the Centre, which has sought suggestions from the KAPC on the importance of price forecasting for its initiative to double farmers’ incomes. Microsoft would also develop a software for providing sowing advisory services to farmers.

Nine Judges bench to deliver verdict on right to privacy

• A nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar, will deliver its judgment on the question whether the right to privacy of citizens is a fundamental right under the Constitution.
• The question is important as, in the words of one of the judges on the Bench Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, privacy means “the right to choose solitude if I want solitude or the freedom to socially cohabit, that is, if I want it”.
• Privacy can also extend to other aspects, including bodily integrity, personal autonomy, informational self-determination, protection from state surveillance, dignity, confidentiality, compelled speech, freedom to dissent or move or think.
• The Supreme Court’s judgment gains international significance as privacy enjoys a robust legal framework internationally, though India has remained circumspect.
• The judgment, if it declares privacy a fundamental right, will finally reconcile Indian laws with the spirit of Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948.
• Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, which legally protects persons against the “arbitrary interference” with their privacy, family, home, correspondence, honour and reputation.
• The immediate effect of the judgment would be felt on the government’s Aadhaar scheme which collects personal details and biometrics to identify beneficiaries for accessing social benefits and government welfare schemes.
• A bunch of petitions were filed in the court in 2015 challenging Aadhaar as a breach of privacy, informational self-determination and bodily integrity.
• The petitioners argued that Aadhaar enrolment was the means to a “totalitarian state” and an open invitation for personal data leakage.
• The government countered that the right to privacy of an “elite few” was submissive to the right of the masses to lead a dignified life in a developing country. It said informational privacy did not exist before compelling State interests and was not an absolute right.
• It reasoned that collection and use of personal data of citizens for Aadhaar benefits the lives of millions of poor by giving them direct access to public benefits, subsidies, education, food, health and shelter, among other basic rights.
• Both government and service-providers collect personal data such as mobile phone numbers, bank details, addresses, dates of birth, sexual identities, health records, property ownership and taxes without providing safeguards from third parties.
• National programmes such as Aadhaar, NATGRID, CCTNS, RSYB, DNA profiling, reproductive rights of women, privileged communications and brain mapping involve collection of personal data, including fingerprints, iris scans and bodily samples, and their storage in electronic form.
• The Law Commission has recently forwarded a Bill on human DNA profiling. All this adds to the danger of data leakage.
• The Supreme Court has repeatedly asked the government whether it plans to set up a “robust data protection mechanism”.

Commission to look into sub-categorisation of OBC

• In a move that could have a far-reaching political and social impact, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to set up a commission which will examine the issue of sub-categorisation of the Other Backward Classes (OBC).
• The committee has a three-point mandate. One, it has to examine the “extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation” among various castes and communities that come under the Central OBC list.
• The committee also has to work out the mechanism, criteria and parameters for the actual sub-categorisation. This will be tricky. The actual reservation will continue to be 27% and within this the committee will have to do the re-arranging.
• For example, if the committee comes to the conclusion that in the last many years Yadavs have benefited far more than Khatiks or Sainis then the amount of reservation for them will be increased vis-à-vis the Yadavs.
• The third task is bringing order to the Central list of OBCs by removing any repetitions.
• The committee will work on a tight schedule and have to deliver the report in 12 weeks.
• The Union Cabinet also increased the “creamy layer” ceiling for the Other Backward Classes to Rs. 8 lakh per annum from the existing Rs. 6 lakh for Central government jobs.
• This means that the umbrella of reservation is widened and those earning up to Rs. 8 lakh per annum would now get the benefits.

Defence Ministry is yet to clear the file on allowances and revised pensions

• The Defence Ministry is yet to clear the file on allowances and revised pensions for military personnel under the Seventh Pay Commission, almost two months after they were approved by the Union Cabinet.
• “The Defence Ministry is yet to clear the file and then forward it for approval of the Finance Ministry. This includes disability pension, revised pension for those retired January 1, 2016 and allowances .
• They have already been implemented for civilian employees in the government “over a month ago”.
• The Union Cabinet had approved the recommendations in June-end and the gazette notifying them was issued on July 6. Based on this, various ministries were supposed to issue orders implementing the revisions.
• It has been learnt that the file is pending with the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare.

::International::

Qatar comes up with new Domestic Employment Law

• Qatar has approved a law limiting domestic staff to a maximum of 10 hours’ work a day, the first such protection for thousands of household maids, nannies and cooks in the emirate.
• The “Domestic Employment Law” also orders employers to pay staff wages at the end of each month and entitles workers to at least one day off per week and an annual leave of three weeks.
• They will also receive end-of-service benefits equating to a minimum of three weeks’ wages for each year of service when their contract ends.The law prohibits staff being recruited from abroad who are older than 60 and younger than 18.
• Hundreds of thousands of foreign workers have flocked to the gas-rich Gulf emirate in recent years, including almost 1,00,000 women working as house staff.
• Other domestic workers covered by the new law include cleaners, gardeners and drivers.
• Although Qatar has come under severe international pressure to improve its record on the treatment of construction workers in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup, until now domestic staff have not been protected by any legislation.
• Human Rights Watch backed the introduction of the law.The legislation comes at a time when Qatar’s laws remain under scrutiny from the International Labour Organisation.
• The UN body has given Qatar until November to improve its human rights record or face sanctions.

U.S. Says it will carry out strikes against terrorist anywhere in the world

• The U.S. may carry out strikes in Pakistan as part of its new regional strategy for stabilising Afghanistan, its Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, a day after President Donald Trump announced a change in America’s approach to Pakistan.
• The aid being provided to Pakistan, and its status as a non-NATO ally are on the review table as Washington begins to reset its ties with Islamabad.
• During the last year of the previous Barack Obama presidency, a U.S drone strike inside Pakistan had killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansour.
• Mr. Tillerson said that India is “emerging as a very important regional strategic partner” and that the U.S. will seek its help in efforts to change Pakistan’s behaviour. “The U.S. alone is not going to change this dynamic with Pakistan.
• India and Pakistan, they have their own issues that they have to continue to work through, but I think there are areas where perhaps even India can take some steps of rapprochement on issues with Pakistan to improve the stability within Pakistan.
• He reiterated the point that the new strategy is to bear enough pressure on the Taliban to come to negotiating table and on Pakistan to change its behaviour.
• Pakistan can play an important role in “delivering the Taliban to the negotiating table”, he said. U.S. help for Pakistan will be conditional on Pakistan’s change in behaviour, he said.

::Business and Economy::

Alternate mechanism for merger of PSB’s

• Paving the way for quicker consolidation among public sector banks, the Cabinet approved ‘in-principle’ the constitution of an alternative mechanism, likely to be a ministerial group, that will oversee the proposals for mergers among banks.
• Stressing that the decision to create ‘strong and competitive banks will be solely based on commercial considerations and such decisions must start from the boards of the banks,’ the Minister said the proposals received from banks will be reviewed by the members of the alternative mechanism, enabling ‘quick decisions.’
• The Centre’s nudge towards consolidation among public sector banks assumes significance as most of them are grappling with huge levels of non-performing assets or NPAs, slow credit offtake and resultant pressures on capital adequacy.
• Rating agency Crisil termed the Cabinet decision as an important first step towards kick starting the consolidation process and said such mergers would improve NPA resolution following swifter decision making and an unified strategy.
• When asked the likely criteria for bank mergers, the Minister said these will have to be driven by the bank boards.
• An official statement said that stronger public sector banks will help meet the credit needs of a growing economy, absorb shocks and give them the capacity to raise resources without depending unduly on the state exchequer.
• This year’s Budget provided Rs. 10,000 crore for bank recapitalisation, which, most bankers said, was inadequate. Mr. Jaitley had, however, held out the possibility of allocating more funds for banks if the requirement arose.
• The Centre said though suggestions to have fewer but stronger banks had been around since 1991, it was in May 2016 that effective action to consolidate them began.
• The merger of six banks into SBI was completed in ‘record time unlike earlier mergers of State Banks of Indore and Saurashtra,’ it stressed.

RBI is not in favour of NBFC’s to accept deposits

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is not in favour of allowing non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to accept deposits, Deputy Governor N.S. Vishwanathan said.
• Mr. Vishwanathan said the licences already given would, however, not be revoked.
• The Deputy Governor said that NBFCs were one of the bright spots of the Indian economy, with advances growing by 14-15%, which was higher than at banks, Mr. Vishwanathan noted.
• The RBI regulates NBFCs for three reasons, he said. The reasons include depositor protection, the fact that many NBFCs rely on banks to finance their liabilities and also to regulate the interface between customers and NBFCs.

RBI said banks must initiate bankruptcy proceedings against loan defaulters

• To expedite stress resolution in the banking system, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Viral Acharya said banks must initiate bankruptcy proceedings against loan defaulters if the lenders are unable to resolve bad loans in three months.
• “RBI should not be in the business of creating restructuring schemes for banks to resolve a company,” Mr. Acharya said.
• The Deputy Governor said the recovery of bad debts in India was low compared with other countries.
• “Our loan recoveries are in the order of 15-25 paise to a rupee. In other parts of the world, where bankruptcy system is working well, and these things are being done in a timely manner, the recovery is to the order of 85-90 cents to a dollar,” he said.
• The central bank also stressed on the need for counter-cyclical buffers — in terms of setting aside higher capital — during periods of higher growth.
• Most banks in the country do not make adequate provisioning — above the regulatory mandate — which could be used when non-performing assets are increasing.
• The Indian banking sector has been battling a surge in bad loans over the last three years with gross NPAs climbing to about Rs. 8 lakh crore.
• In percentage terms, gross NPA (GNPA) ratio of the banking system is at 9.6% and the stressed advances ratio at 12% as of March 31, 2017.
• Recently, RBI Governor Urjit Patel had said that it was a matter of concern that 86.5% of the GNPAs were accounted for by large borrowers, that is borrowers with aggregate exposure of Rs. 5 crore and above.

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