CURRENT AFFAIRS 19 OCTOBER 2019

CURRENT AFFAIRS 

19 OCTOBER 2019

IMPORTANT TOPICS IN THE CONTEXT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, INDIAN POLITY,ECONOMY AND SOCIETY,ENVIRONMENT  for TODAY TO LOOK AT
1..Memorandum of Procedure(gs-2) Context: CJI Ranjan Gogoi recommends Justice S A Bobde as his successor 2.International Space Station(gs-3) Context: World’s first all-female makes spacewalking history 3.G20(gs-2,3) Context:G20 must ensure collective action to accelerate global growth: Nirmala Sitharaman 4.Terror funding watchdog-FATF(GS-3) CONTEXT:Terror funding watchdog puts Pakistan on notice 5.Sainik School,“Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao“(GS-2,3) CONTEXT:Girls to be admitted in Sainik Schools from next academic session: Govt 6.Nagaland,interlocutor(gs-1,2) Context: No separate national flag or constitution for Nagas, says interlocutor 7.Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI)(gs-2) Context: ‘37.7% of processed milk samples unsafe’ 8.Geographic information system(gs-3) Context:The State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (Sipcot) is planning to undertake a geographic information system (GIS) mapping of all its  industrial complexes spread over 32,000 acres using drones. 9.Biodiesel(gs-3) Context: Zomato, BioD Energy tie up for cooking oil-to-biodiesel project 10.International Monetary Fund(gs-3) Context:IMF members put off voting change; agree to boost lending capacity

1.Memorandum of Procedure(gs-2)

• Context: CJI Ranjan Gogoi recommends Justice S A Bobde as his successor
• Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Friday sent a letter to the Centre recommending Justice S A Bobde, who is next in seniority, as his successor.
• Official Sources told PTI that Justice Gogoi wrote a letter to the Ministry of Law and Justice recommending Justice Bobde to be the next chief justice.
• Justice Gogoi, who was sworn in as the 46th Chief Justice of India on October 3, 2018, will demit office on November 17.
• Official sources said the chief justice has gone by the convention to recommend the name of the next senior judge after him as his successor.
• Justice Gogoi as the Chief Justice has a tenure of 13 months and 15 days while Justice Bobde, who will be sworn in as CJI on November 18, will have a tenure of about 18 months.
• According to the Memorandum of Procedure, which governs the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, “appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office”.
• Under this process, after receiving the CJI’s recommendation, the law minister puts it before the prime minister who advises the president on the matter.

Memorandum of Procedure:

• MEMORANDUM SHOWING THE PROCEDURE FOR
• APPOINTMENT OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA AND
• JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
• The Chief Justice of India and the Judges of the Supreme Court
• are appointed by the President under clause (2) of Article 124 of the
• Constitution.

CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA :
2. Appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be

• of the seniormost Judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the
• office. The Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs would,
• at the appropriate time, seek the recommendation of the outgoing Chief
• Justice of India for the appointment of the next Chief Justice of India.

2.1 Whenever there is any doubt about the fitness of the seniormost

• Judge to hold the office of the Chief Justice of India, consultation with
• other Judges as envisaged in Article 124 (2) of the Constitution would
• be made for appointment of the next Chief Justice of India.

2.2 After receipt of the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India,

• the Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs will put up the
• recommendation to the Prime Minister who will advise the President in
• the matter of appointment. 

2.International Space Station(gs-3)

• Context: World’s first all-female makes spacewalking history
• The world’s first female spacewalking team made history high above Earth on Friday, floating out of the International Space Station to fix a broken part of the power network.
• As NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir emerged one by one, it marked the first time in a half-century of spacewalking that a woman floated out without a male crewmate.
• America’s first female spacewalker from 35 years ago, Kathy Sullivan, was delighted. She said It’s good to finally have enough women in the astronaut corps and trained for spacewalking for this to happen.
• NASA leaders along with women and others around the world cheered Koch and Meir on. At the same time, many noted that this will hopefully become routine in the future.

NASA Astronauts Spacewalk Outside the International Space Station on Oct. 18

International Space Station:

• The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit.
• Its first component launched into orbit in 1998, and the ISS is now the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit.
• The ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and other fields.
• Five different space agencies representing 15 countries built the $100-billion International Space Station and continue to operate it today. NASA, Russia’s Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities (Roscosmos), the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are the primary space agency partners on the project. 

3.G20(gs-2,3)

• Context:G20 must ensure collective action to accelerate global growth: Nirmala Sitharaman
• The Group of 20 (G20) has the responsibility to navigate global policy coordination in effective fashion by identifying and taking strong measures for building buffers and catalysing the second wave of reforms, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said. She gave a clarion call for concerted action in the face of global slowdown and highlighted that emerging market economies in particular face the challenge of achieving economic growth and inclusive development while pursuing sustainable financing. 
• In this context, Sitharaman emphasised on the importance of countries pursuing structural reform measures to counter the growth slowdown. 
• The minister led Indian delegation at meetings of G20 and BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors held here on Thursday where annual meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF) were held this week. Sitharaman highlighted structural reform measures undertaken by India recently. "We have reduced the corporate tax from 30 per cent to 22 per cent, thereby making India one of the lowest corporate tax imposing countries in the world today. This will spur investments," she said

G 20

G20 countries
Argentina	Australia
Brazil	Canada
China	France
Germany	India
Indonesia	Italy
Japan	Mexico
Republic of Korea	Republic of South Africa
Russia	Saudi Arabia
Turkey	United Kingdom
United States of America	European Union (EU)

History of G20:

• When the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-1998 ended, it was acknowledged that the participation of major emerging market countries was necessary for a discussion on the international financial system. Hence, the G7 Finance ministers agree to establish the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in 1999.
• The meeting of G20 Finance ministers and the Central Bank Governors was centred on major economic and monetary policy issues amongst major countries in the global financial system. Their aim was to promote cooperation towards achieving stable and sustainable global economic growth for the benefit of all countries.
• They upgraded to the head of the state level, as a forum for leaders from major developed and emerging market countries. In September 2009, the third summit was held in Pittsburgh where the leaders designated the G20 as the “premier forum for international economic cooperation.” The summit meetings were, henceforth held semiannually until 2010 and annually from 2011 onwards.

What did India do in the G20 2019 Summit?

Type	India’s discussion with	Topic of Discussion
Bilateral Meetings	Japanese PM Shinzo Abe	Defence, digital economy, infrastructure, space, and startups. Click here to know more about Indo- Japan relations.
	American President Donald Trump	The situation with Iran, trade tariffs, defence, and 5G communication network & data storage.
	President Joko Widodo of Indonesia	Ways to deepen India-Indonesia cooperation in a host of sectors
	Brazilian President Jair M. Bolsonaro	Means to improve business linkages and overcome climate change.
	President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey	Building a strong development partnership between the two nations.
	Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison	Ways to expand cooperation in a range of sectors.
	Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia	To strengthen bilateral ties between the two nations and discussing energy security.
	South Korean President Moon Jae-in	to enhance trade, economic, and people-to-people relations.
	German Chancellor Angela Merkel	means to diversify and deepen Indo-German ties in areas like cybersecurity and AI.
Pull aside meetings	The World Bank, UNSG, Thailand, Vietnam, France, Italy, Singapore, and Chile.
Trilateral talks	Japan – America – India (JAI)	Issues related to Indo-Pacific region, connectivity and infrastructure development, peace & security.
	Russia – India – China (RIC)	Promotion of counter-terrorism, reformed multilateralism, climate change, and international hot-spot issues.
Multilateral talk	BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China, & South Africa	A series of global issues and concerns.
Community event	PM Modi interacted with the Indians living in Japan.

Upcoming G20 summits

Year	Country Hosting the Summit
2020	Saudi Arabia
2021	Italy
2022	India

4.Terror funding watchdog-FATF

(GS-3)

• CONTEXT:Terror funding watchdog puts Pakistan on notice
• Global terror financing watchdog FATF on October 18 retained Pakistan on its Grey List till February 2020 for its failure to take adequate action against money laundering and terror financing.
• The Financial Action Task Force after its five-day plenary, which concluded at its headquarers in Paris on October 18, noted that Pakistan addressed only five out of the 27 tasks given to it in controlling funding to terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, responsible for series of attacks in India.
• Retaining Pakistan on its Grey List, the FATF warned Islamabad of action for its failure to combat money laundering and terror financing, officials said. The terror financing watchdog will take a final decision on Pakistan’s position in February 2020.
• If Pakistan continues with the Grey List or put in Dark Grey List, it would be very difficult for the country to get financial aid from the IMF, the World Bank and the European Union, making its financial condition more precarious.
• Such action could include calling upon global financial institutions to give special attention to business relations and transactions with Pakistan. This language is the same as used for Iran, which is already on the Black List.
• FATF discussed all jurisdictions, which are under review, including Pakistan and there was consensus on Pakistan, with its poor performance on the 27-point Action Plan, despite expiry of its 15-month timelines.

FATF:

• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7.  It is a “policy-making body” which works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in various areas. The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris.
• Objectives: The objectives of the FATF are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
• Functions: The FATF monitors the progress of its members in implementing necessary measures, reviews money laundering and terrorist financing techniques and counter-measures and promotes the adoption and implementation of appropriate measures globally.  In collaboration with other international stakeholders, the FATF works to identify national-level vulnerabilities with the aim of protecting the international financial system from misuse.

What is blacklist and grey list?

• FATF maintains two different lists of countries: those that have deficiencies in their AML/CTF regimes, but they commit to an action plan to address these loopholes, and those that do not end up doing enough. The former is commonly known as grey list and latter as blacklist.
• Once a country is blacklisted, FATF calls on other countries to apply enhanced due diligence and counter measures, increasing the cost of doing business with the country and in some cases severing it altogether. As of now there are only two countries in the blacklist — Iran and North Korea — and seven on the grey list, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria and Yemen.

5.Sainik School,“Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao“(GS-2,3)

• CONTEXT:Girls to be admitted in Sainik Schools from next academic session: Govt
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a proposal for admission of girl children in Sainik Schools from academic session 2021-22 in a phased manner. The decision has been taken following the success of the pilot project started by the Ministry for admission of girl children in Sainik School Chhingchhip in Mizoram two years ago. 
• Mr Singh has directed concerned authorities to ensure availability of necessary infrastructure and sufficient female staff in Sainik schools for smooth implementation of the directive. The decision is in line with the objective of the government towards greater inclusiveness, gender equality, enabling greater participation of women in Armed Forces and strengthening the motto of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao'.

Sainik School:

• The Sainik Schools are a system of schools in India established and managed by the Sainik Schools Society under Ministry of Defence. They were conceived in 1961 by V. K. Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister of India, to rectify the regional and class imbalance amongst the Officer cadre of the Indian Military, and to prepare students for entry into the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, Pune and Indian Naval Academy. Today there are 27 such schools running and proposed for future covering all the states of the country.
• The schools come under the purview of respective state governments and Ministry of Defence, and in his Union Budget of 2008, Finance minister, P Chidambaram, allocated 2 crore to each of the 25 Sainik schools, to counter rising attrition in the defence forces, especially at the officer level. The first Sainik School was opened by Dr Sampoorna Nand in UP in 1960 under UP state government and there after other Sainik school and Military Schools we’re opened. UP Sainik School Lucknow located near Amausi Airport remains the only Sainik School under State Govt.

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao:

• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme was launched in January, 2015. The scheme is aimed at promoting gender equality and the significance of educating girls.
• The Scheme is targeted at improving the Child Sex Ratio through multi sectoral interventions including prevention of gender biased sex selection and promoting girls’ education and her holistic empowerment.
• It is a tri-ministerial effort of Ministries of Women and Child Development, Health & Family Welfare and Human Resource Development.

Significance and the need for scheme:

• The trend of decline in the Child Sex Ratio (CSR) has been unabated since 1961. The decline from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001 and further to 918 in 2011 is alarming. The social construct discrimination against girls on one hand, easy availability, affordability and subsequent misuse of diagnostic tools on the other hand, have been critical in increasing Sex Selective Elimination of girls leading to low Child Sex Ratio.
• Child Sex Ratio is defined as number of girls per 1000 of boys between 0-6 years of age. Hence, a decline in the CSR is a major indicator of women disempowerment. The ratio reflects both, pre-birth discrimination manifested through gender biased sex selection and post birth discrimination against girls

6.Nagaland,interlocutor(gs-1,2)

• Context: No separate national flag or constitution for Nagas, says interlocutor
• The Centre will conclude the Naga peace process by October 31 and there will be no separate national flag or constitution for the Nagas: interlocutor R.N. Ravi
• Accusing National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) [NSCN-IM] of delaying the talks, Mr. Ravi said, “Endless negotiation under the shadow of guns is not acceptable.”
• Mr. Ravi said the NSCN-IM, with which the Centre signed a framework agreement on August 3, 2015 to find a solution to the Naga issue, had adopted a “procrastinating attitude to delay the settlement, raising the contentious symbolic issues of separate Naga national flag and constitution.”
•  Mr. ravi the Governor of Nagaland said the Naga political movement belongs to the Naga people and the civil society groups had given their opinion clearly. He said a “mutually agreed draft comprehensive settlement, including all the substantive issues and competencies, is ready for inking the final agreement”, and it has the blessings of the Church.

Who is a interlocutor?
A person who takes part in a dialogue or conversation.

Video-Nagaland by unacademy:

7.Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI)(gs-2)

• Context: ‘37.7% of processed milk samples unsafe’
• Milk samples from Telangana, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, accounted for the highest number of cases of adulteration, according to a national milk sample safety quality survey released by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) here on Friday.
• The study noted that processed milk, including that of major brands, failed to meet the prescribed quality norm in 37.7% of the total samples tested, and in the safety parameters too, 10.4% of the processed milk samples were non-compliant.
• FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal explained that the study collected a total 6,432 milk samples from 1,103 towns and cities between May and October 2018 in all States and Union Territories. About 40.5% of the total sample was processed milk, while the rest was raw milk.

Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI):

• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is an autonomous statutory body established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSS Act).
• Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India is the administrative Ministry of FSSAI.
• Headquarters: Delhi.

Genesis

• FSS Act, 2006 consolidates various acts & orders that had earlier handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments, such as–
• Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954
• Fruit Products Order, 1955
• Meat Food Products Order, 1973
• Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947
• Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation) Order 1988
• Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992
• These were repealed after commencement of FSS Act, 2006.
• FSSAI was consequently established in 2008 but work within the Food Authority effectively began in 2011 after its Rules and key Regulations were notified.
• This marked a shift from a multi-level to a single line of control with focus on self-compliance rather than a pure regulatory regime.

7 Key Processes

1. Set standards of food products
2. Develop safe food practices
3. License food businesses
4. Ensure compliance through inspections
5. Test food for standards
6. Train and build capacity
7. Citizens Outreach

Functions

Framing of regulations to lay down the standards and guidelines of food safety.

Granting FSSAI food safety license and certification for food businesses.

Laying down procedure and guidelines for laboratories in food businesses.

To provide suggestions to the government in framing the policies.

To collect data regarding contaminants in foods products, identification of emerging risks and introduction of rapid alert system.

Creating an information network across the country about food safety.

Promote general awareness about food safety and food standards.

FSSAI Legislative Framework:

• Highlights of the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006
• The Act aims to establish a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety and standards, by moving from multi- level, multi-departmental control to a single line of command.
• The Act established FSSAI and the State Food Safety Authorities for each State.
• Highlights of Food Safety and Standards Rule, 2011. The Rules provides for:
• The Food Safety Appellate Tribunal and the Registrar of the Appellate Tribunal, for adjudication of food safety cases.
• Highlights of Food Safety and Standards Regulations 2011
• It covers Licensing and Registration, Packaging and Labelling of Food Businesses, Food Product Standards and Food Additives Regulation.
• It prohibits and restricts on sales or approval for Non-Specified Food and Food Ingredients, such ingredients may cause harm to human health.
• It provides for Food Safety and Standards on Organic Food and regulates Food Advertising

8.Geographic information system

(gs-3)

• Context:The State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (Sipcot) is planning to undertake a geographic information system (GIS) mapping of all its industrial complexes spread over 32,000 acres using drones.

Geographic information system:

• A geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic data. GIS applications are tools that allow users to create interactive queries (user-created searches), analyze spatial information, edit data in maps, and present the results of all these operations.GIS (more commonly GIScience) sometimes refers to geographic information science (GIScience), the science underlying geographic concepts, applications, and systems.
• GIS can refer to a number of different technologies, processes, techniques and methods. It is attached to many operations and has many applications related to engineering, planning, management, transport/logistics, insurance, telecommunications, and business.For that reason, GIS and location intelligence applications can be the foundation for many location-enabled services that rely on analysis and visualization.

• GIS can relate unrelated information by using location as the key index variable. Locations or extents in the Earth space–time may be recorded as dates/times of occurrence, and x, y, and z coordinates representing, longitude, latitude, and elevation, respectively. All Earth-based spatial–temporal location and extent references should be relatable to one another and ultimately to a "real" physical location or extent. This key characteristic of GIS has begun to open new avenues of scientific inquiry.

9.Biodiesel(gs-3)

• Context: Zomato, BioD Energy tie up for cooking oil-to-biodiesel project
• Restaurant aggregator and food delivery service Zomato and biodiesel manufacturer BioD Energy have inked a partnership to collect used cooking oil from restaurants around the country so that it can be converted into biodiesel, which will then be sold to oil marketing companies that will blend it with regular diesel.
• The government has been pushing hard for used cooking oil in the country to be converted into biodiesel as an environment friendly measure. Through the partnership, Zomato and BioD are aiming to collect 1,000 tonnes of used cooking oil per month and converting this into biodiesel.

Biodiesel:
Biodiesel Definition

• “Biodiesel is a renewable, biodegradable fuel that is manufactured from vegetable oils, and animal fats.”
• Read on to know what is biodiesel, how is it produced and what are its advantages.

What is Biodiesel?

• Biodiesel is an alternative clean-burning renewable fuel similar to conventional diesel. It is produced using animal fats, vegetable oils, and waste cooking oil. Due to its biodegradable nature, it is used as a replacement for fossil diesel fuel. It can also be mixed with petroleum diesel fuel in any proportion.

Biodiesel

Important Features of Biodiesel
Below are certain features of the fuel like:

1) Biodegradable and Renewable Fuel.

2) Safer to use and has low toxicity compared to fossil diesel fuel.

3) Lower exhaust emission rate than normal diesel fuel.

4) As per ASTM D 6751 quality parameters, the quality of diesel is analyzed.

5) Using biodiesel doesn’t require any diesel engine modification.

Biodiesel Production
Biodiesel is produced from tallow, vegetable oil or animal fat, and waste oils. There are three stages of this transformation of oil and fats to biodiesel.

a) Transesterification of the oil in which is base-catalyzed.

b) The direct acid-catalyzed transesterification

c) Finally conversion of oil to fatty acid and then the formation of biodiesel.

• The production of biodiesel involves a chemical reaction. This chemical reaction is known as transesterification.
• Transesterification is the chemical process, which converts natural fats and oils into Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME) or Biodiesel. Some of the major sources of suitable oil (to make biodiesel) come from crops like palm, soybean or rapeseed. High-quality biodiesel is made from rapeseed but nowadays most of the biodiesel is produced from waste vegetable oils obtained from chips shops, restaurants, and industrial food producers.

Benefits of Biodiesel
Biodiesel has the following benefits:

1) Biodiesel and Biodiesel blends are used in almost all diesel engines and vehicles.

2) It is a carbon-neutral liquid, which means that combustion of biodiesel never produces the net output of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide like other mineral diesel.

3) In 2007, British Royal Train ran its train with 100% biodiesel fuel.

4) Used as heating oil – In many commercial & domestic boilers, biodiesel is also used as heating fuel.




10.International Monetary Fund(gs-3)

• Context:IMF members put off voting change; agree to boost lending capacity
• Global finance ministers agreed Friday to double a key pool of money that the International Monetary Fund can use to aid distressed countries but again put off giving more votes to major emerging economies.
• The IMF has been working to restructure its voting shares to give more weight to growing economies like China, India and Brazil but some traditional powers have resisted since they stand to lose influence in the institution.
• Despite a prior commitment to complete the new voting distribution before now, IMF membership at this week''s annual meetings kicked the can down the road, committing instead to revisit the issue at the latest by December 2023, according to a statement on Friday.
• However, a new division of voting power "would be expected to result in increases in the quota shares of dynamic economies in line with their relative positions in the world economy," the statement said.
• The Washington-based lender, founded in the wake of World War II, has traditionally been controlled by the United States and western European countries.
• But major developing economies, which account for a growing share of global GDP, warn that without a shift of the power structure the IMF risks losing legitimacy and the ability to influence economic policies.

International Monetary Fund:

• The International Monetary Fund or the IMF is a global organization with its headquarters at Washington, D.C. to promote international monetary cooperation, enable international trade, achieve financial stability, stimulate high employment, diminish poverty in the world and sustain economic growth. IMF was formed at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 and it was formally established a year later. Initially, there were 29 countries with a goal of redoing the global payment system. Today, the organization has 189 members.
• The IMF offers policy advice and financing to its members and works with developing countries to assist them in attaining macroeconomic stability and overcoming poverty. The logic for this is that private global capital markets operate imperfectly and many nations do not have enough access to financial markets.