CURRENT AFFAIRS 29 OCTOBER 2019

CURRENT AFFAIRS 

29 OCTOBER 2019

1.European Union Parliament(gs2,3)

• Context:Close international cooperation essential to fight terror: PM Modi to EU Mps
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told a delegation of the members of the European Union Parliament that close international cooperation is essential to fight terror. He also said that urgent action is needed against those supporting and sponsoring terrorism. Twenty-eight MPs called on the Prime Minister in New Delhi today. Mr Modi asserted that there should be zero tolerance for terrorism. The delegation will visit Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Modi said the visit should give the MPs a better understanding of the cultural and religious diversity of the regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Mr Modi expressed hope that it will give them a clear view of the development and governance priorities of the region. 
• Referring to India's relations with the EU, the Prime Minister said New Delhi attaches the highest importance to its relations with the bloc.
• Pointing out that the EU is India's largest trade partner and source of foreign direct investment, Mr Modi said the early conclusion of a fair and balanced Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) is a priority for his government.
• The Prime Minister also highlighted the jump in India's position in Ease of Doing Business rankings from 142 in 2014 to 63 now. Mr Modi also underlined the focus of the government on ensuring Ease of Living for all Indians. He mentioned the success of key government programmes such as Swachh Bharat and Ayushman Bharat.
• Mr Modi reiterated India's commitment to eliminate TB by 2025, five years before the global target. The Prime Minister also talked about steps taken for environment protection and conservation, including enhanced renewable energy targets and movement against single-use plastics.

European Union Parliament:

• It is the only parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU) that is directly elected by EU citizens aged 18 years or older. Together with the Council of the European Union (also known as the 'Council'), it exercises the legislative function of the EU.
• European Parliament does not possess as much legislative power as its member countries’ parliaments do.
• The European Parliament (EP) is the legislative branch of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union, it adopts European legislation, normally on a proposal from the European Commission. The Parliament is composed of 751 members (MEPs), intended to become 705 starting from the 2019–2024 legislature because of specific provisions adopted about Brexit, who represent the second-largest democratic electorate in the world (after the Parliament of India) and the largest trans-national democratic electorate in the world (375 million eligible voters in 2009)
• Since 1979, it has been directly elected every five years by European Union citizens, using universal suffrage. Voter turnout for parliamentary elections has decreased at each election after 1979 until 2019, when the voter turnout increased by 8 percentage points and went above 50% for the first time since 1994.Voting age is 18 in all member states except Malta and Austria, where it is 16, and Greece, where it is 17.
• Although the European Parliament has legislative power, as does the Council, it does not formally possess legislative initiative (which is the prerogative of the European Commission), as most national parliaments of European Union member states do. The Parliament is the "first institution" of the EU (mentioned first in the treaties, having ceremonial precedence over all authority at the European level),[9] and shares equal legislative and budgetary powers with the Council (except in a few areas where the special legislative procedures apply). It likewise has equal control over the EU budget. Finally, the European Commission, the executive body of the EU (it exercises executive powers, but no legislative ones other than legislative initiative), is accountable to Parliament. In particular, Parliament can decide whether or not to approve the European Council's nominee for the President of the Commission, and it is further tasked with approving (or rejecting) the appointment of the Commission as a whole. It can subsequently force the Commission as a body to resign by adopting a motion of censure.
• The President of the European Parliament (Parliament's speaker) is David Sassoli (PD), elected in July 2019. He presides over a multi-party chamber, the five largest groups being the European People's Party group (EPP), the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Renew Europe (previously ALDE), the Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens–EFA) and Identity and Democracy (ID). The last union-wide elections were the 2019 elections.
• The European Parliament has three places of work – Brussels (Belgium), Luxembourg City (Luxembourg) and Strasbourg (France). Luxembourg City is home to the administrative offices (the "General Secretariat"). Meetings of the whole Parliament ("plenary sessions") take place in Strasbourg and in Brussels. Committee meetings are held in Brussels

2.FII Forum(gs-2,3)

• Context:PM Modi to reach Saudi Arabia; will deliver keynote address at FII Forum
• Mr Modi is visiting the Saudi Kingdom on the invitation of King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. The visit is expected to further cement the strategic partnership between the two countries.
• At least 12 Agreements are likely to be signed during the visit covering areas, such as civil aviation, security-related matters, defence, infrastructure & non-renewable energy sector.
• An agreement to establish the Strategic Partnership Council is also expected to be signed during the visit. This will be an all-encompassing bilateral mechanism which will cover an entire spectrum of relationship between the two countries. The Council will be chaired by the Prime Minister himself from the Indian side and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from the other side.

FII Forum:

• The Future Investment Initiative (FII) is an international platform for expert-led debate between global leaders, investors and innovators with the power to shape the future of global investment. It is focused on utilizing investment to drive growth opp
• tion of FII will continue building active, global networks of influential decision makers to explore the emerging industries that will shape the global economy and investment landscape over the coming decades

3.Brexit-WHAT IS IN THE NEW BREXIT DEAL?(gs-2,3)

• Context:EU approves Brexit extension up to January 31
• The European Union agreed to delay Brexit until January 31 next year on Monday, just three days before it was due to take place.
• European Council President Donald Tusk said on Twitter that the EU’s 27 other countries agreed to accept “the UK’s request for a Brexit flextension until 31 January 2020.
• The decision is expected to be formalised through a written procedure.” The term flextension means that the UK will be able to leave earlier if the Brexit deal secured by Prime Minister Boris Johnson is ratified before January 31.
• Tusk’s announcement came as European Union diplomats met in Brussels to sign off on the new delay for Britain’s departure, which had been on October 31.
• Leaving the envoys, EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told reporters that “it was a very short and efficient and constructive meeting and I am happy the decision has been taken.”
• He declined to provide details of the talks.
• It’s the second time the Brexit deadline has been changed since the 2016 referendum on Britain’s departure from the EU.
• In London, British politicians are later set to vote on whether to hold an early election to try to break the country’s deadlock over Brexit.
• Johnson wants a December 12 election but looks unlikely to get the required support from two-thirds of lawmakers.
• Two opposition parties plan to push for a December 9 election if Johnson’s proposal fails.

Brexit:
WHAT IS IN THE NEW BREXIT DEAL?
Key elements of the new deal:

• UK will honour EU rules till the end of 2020.
• UK will pay £39 by ‘divorce bill’.
• Rights of EU citizens living in the UK and UK citizens in the EU will be guaranteed.
• Northern Ireland will be aligned with the EU single market for goods while it will legally part with the EU.
• There will be customs borders between Great Britain and the Irish Island.

Brexit story so far:

• In a 2016 referendum, Britons choose to leave the EU.
• The UK is deeply and bitterly divided on how it should exit the EU, and what its future relationship with the bloc should look like.
• Former British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government and her counterparts in the European Union negotiated a withdrawal agreement last year, but opposition to the deal from the UK Parliament killed it three times. 
• May’s Brexit defeats led to her political downfall, and she resigned her premiership in June.
• New head- Boris Johnson took over in July.
• Johnson promised that he would deliver Brexit for the United Kingdom, “do or die,” by the current deadline of October 31. Johnson has said he’ll achieve what May failed to do: get a Brexit deal that can win the support of Parliament. And if he can’t, well, the UK would be totally fine breaking away from Europe without a deal.
• Leaving the EU without any deal promises chaos for both the UK and the rest of Europe — yet some Brexit devotees are willing to take the risk because they believe it would deliver a swift and decisive end to the UK’s relationship with the EU.

What caused Brexit to happen?

• So far, there seem to be three theories for what drove so many people to vote Brexit:
• Immigrants: Faced with rising immigration locals worried about their jobs and the erosion of the English way of life wanted their government to clamp down on immigration. This was a revolt against unrestricted immigration from poorer Eastern European states, Syrian refugees residing in the EU and millions of Turks about to join the EU.
• Elites: Faced with decades of economic malaise, stagnant real wages and economic destitution in former industrial heartlands ever since the rise of “Thaterchism” and the embrace of Neoliberal policies by Tony Blair’s New Labour the non-Londoners have decided to revolt against the elite. This isn’t just about being against the EU as it stands, and its free market and free movement of peoples.
• Bureaucracy: Faced with Brussel’s asphyxiating amount of red tape the English people decide to “take back control” of their country’s bureaucracy.
• The three theories are obviously intertwined at times and contradictory at others, that’s why it matters who is going to be negotiating the post-Brexit relationship between the UK and the EU.

What’s the future for the U.K. and E.U.?

• This may be the end of negotiations but it’s also the beginning of talks for a new chapter in Britain’s relations with the European Union. The future relationship will be a matter of debate and negotiation that will most likely take years to crystallize.
• In a nonbinding statement, known as the Political Declaration, they agreed “to work together to safeguard the rules-based international order, the rule of law and promotion of democracy, and high standards of free and fair trade and workers’ rights, consumer and environmental protection, and cooperation against internal and external threats to their values and interests.”
• A central element of this relationship will center on how Britain trades with the bloc, which will remain its No. 1 trading partner.

4.International Civil Aviation Organization(gs-2,3)

• Context:India takes up Pak’s denial of airspace use to PM’s aircraft with intl body
• India has taken up Pakistan’s denial of use of its airspace to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flight with the International Civil Aviation Organisation, government sources said on Monday.
• Modi is travelling to Saudi Arabia later in the day on a bilateral visit. India has sought overflight clearance from Pakistan for the prime minister’s aircraft to go to Saudi Arabia.
• Sources said India regrets Pakistan’s decision to yet again deny overflight clearance for the VVIP special flight which is otherwise granted routinely by any normal country.
• India has taken up the issue of denial of overflight clearance with the relevant international civil aviation body, they said.
• “Overflight clearances are sought, and granted by other countries as per prescribed ICAO guidelines,” said a source.

The International Civil Aviation Organization 

• is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It changes the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth.Its headquarters is located in the Quartier International of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• The ICAO Council adopts standards and recommended practices concerning air navigation, its infrastructure, flight inspection, prevention of unlawful interference, and facilitation of border-crossing procedures for international civil aviation. ICAO defines the protocols for air accident investigation that are followed by transport safety authorities in countries signatory to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation.
• The Air Navigation Commission (ANC) is the technical body within ICAO. The Commission is composed of 19 Commissioners, nominated by the ICAO's contracting states and appointed by the ICAO Council. Commissioners serve as independent experts, who although nominated by their states, do not serve as state or political representatives. International Standards And Recommended Practices are developed under the direction of the ANC through the formal process of ICAO Panels. Once approved by the Commission, standards are sent to the Council, the political body of ICAO, for consultation and coordination with the Member States before final adoption.
• ICAO is distinct from other international air transport organizations, particularly because it alone is vested with international authority (among signatory states): other organizations include the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade association representing airlines; the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO), an organization for Air navigation service providers (ANSPs); and the Airports Council International, a trade association of airport authorities.

5.National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)(gs-2)

• Context:Sukhbir Singh Sandhu takes charge as NHAI Chairman
• Senior IAS officer Sukhbir Singh Sandhu took over as the chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Monday.
• Sandhu succeeds Nagendra Nath Sinha who has been appointed as the Secretary, Department of Border Management.

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI):

• The National Highways Authority of India or NHAI is the nodal agency for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in India. It is an autonomous agency accountable for the management of the national highway network in India which stretches for over 92000 km. The organization was formed under the NHAI Act in 1988. It converted into an autonomous body in 1995. It operates, develops and maintains India’s national highways. NHAI also performs the function of toll collection in many highways. In 2016, it signed an MoU with ISRO and the North East Centre for Technology Application and Research for the use of spatial technology for highways monitoring.

6.AQI(gs-3)

• Context:Capital’s air quality dips to season’s worst;Post­Deepavali AQI least  toxic since 2015: CPCB
• Delhi’s air quality nosedived to the season's worst on Monday, reaching the higher end of ‘very poor’ category on Monday. While it was due to a mix of factors including bursting of firecrackers on Deepavali night that went beyond the Supreme Court­prescribed time slot of 8­10 p.m, the Capital experienced cleaner post­Deepavali air compared with previous years. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) said peak values of PM2.5 — the deadly respirable particles — were lower than last year’s

AQI:
NATIONAL AIR QUALITY INDEX

National Air Quality Index (AQI) has been launched for monitoring the quality of air in major urban centres across the country on a real-time basis and enhancing public awareness for taking mitigative action.
The Union Environment Ministry proposes to extend the measurement of air quality to 22 state capitals and 44 other cities with a population exceeding one million.

Salient features of the Index:
• The Index is centred around five chief pollutants: Particulate Matter, Ozone, Nitrogen Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide.
• The unit of measurement is microgram (or milligram in the case of CO) per cubic meter.
• The AQI has been at present launched for 10 cities -- Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. 
• The AQI has been developed by the Central Pollution Control Board in consultation with IIT-Kanpur and an expert group comprising medical, air-quality professionals and other stakeholders.

• India has joined the global league of countries like the US, China, Mexico and France that have implemented smog alert systems.

7.Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)(gs-2)

• Context:Second round of Smart Cities, AMRUT may roll out in 2020
• The second round of the Centre’s flagship urban development schemes — the Smart Cities Mission and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) — were being considered and could be rolled out in 2020, Union Minister of State (independent charge) Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT):

• The scheme was launched by [Prime Minister of India] Narendra Modi in June 2015 with the focus to establish infrastructure that could ensure adequate robust sewage networks and water supply for urban transformation by implementing urban revival projects. Rajasthan was the first state in the country to submit State Annual Action Plan under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). The scheme Housing for All by 2022 and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) were launched on the same day. The scheme is dependent with public–private partnership(PPP) model. If required, various other schemes like Swachh Bharat Mission, Housing for All 2022, along with the local state schemes like that related to water supply and sewerage and other infrastructure related schemes can be linked to AMRUT

8.Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)(gs-2,3)

• Context:Rajnath to attend SCO meet in Uzbekistan
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh would represent India at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) heads of state meeting in Uzbekistan later this week, defence sources said. On the bilateral front, the fi??rst Army exercise between India and Uzbekistan is scheduled to begin next week

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO):
About SCO:

What is it? The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, also known as the Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai.

Founding members: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The cooperation was renamed to Shanghai Cooperation Organisation after Uzbekistan joined the organisation in 2001.

The SCO’s main goals are: strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states; promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas; making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region; and moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order. currently:

Presently, the SCO comprises eight member states, namely the Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan;.

The SCO counts four observer states, namely the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Belarus, the Islamic Republic of Iran and  the Republic of Mongolia.

The SCO has six dialogue partners, namely the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the Republic of Turkey, and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.



9.India, Saudi Arabia to sign Strategic Partnership Council pact(gs-2)

• India and Saudi Arabia are set to sign an agreement for creating a bilateral strategic partnership council on Tuesday during the official visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Riyadh. The council will include multiple sections involving the External Affairs Ministry and NITI Aayog and counterpart organisations from Saudi Arabia.
• The council will be led by Mr. Modi and King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Both sides are expected to seal several other agreements during Mr. Modi’s visit.
• Formation of the Council has been under discussion for some time and found mention during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s India visit in February in the aftermath of the terror strike in Pulwama. Mr. Modi will hold a discussion with Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, Minister of Energy, on Tuesday morning and follow it up with talks with Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and King Salman. He will deliver the keynote address at the Future Investment Summit organised by the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Saudi Arabia, the kingdom’s public investment fund. Mr. Modi’s last and most important meeting will be with the Crown Prince. 

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