CURRENT AFFAIRS 30 OCTOBER 2019

CURRENT AFFAIRS

30 OCTOBER 2019

1.Chief Justice of India(gs-2)

Context:Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde appointed next Chief Justice of India
The most senior judge of the Supreme Court will take charge on November 18 and succeed Ranjan Gogoi.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday signed a warrant to appoint Justice Sharad A. Bobde as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI).
He will take the oath as CJI on November 18. His term will extend until April 2021.
As per convention, outgoing CJI Ranjan Gogoi recommended the name of Justice Bobde, the most senior judge of the Supreme Court as his successor.

Chief Justice of India:

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) is the head of the judiciary of India and the Supreme Court of India. The CJI also heads their administrative functions.
As head of the supreme court, the chief justice is responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches which deal with important matters of law.[5] In accordance with Article 145 of the Constitution of India and the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure of 1966, the Chief Justice allocates all work to the other judges who are bound to refer the matter back to him or her (for re-allocation) in any case where they require it to be looked into by a larger bench of more judges.
On the administrative side, the Chief Justice carries out the following functions: maintenance of the roster; appointment of court officials and general and miscellaneous matters relating to the supervision and functioning of the Supreme Court.
However this convention has been broken twice. In 1973, Justice AN Ray was appointed superseding 3 senior judges. Also, in 1975 Justice MH Beg was appointed as the CJI superseding Justice HR Khanna.

Powers of CJI:

Chief Justice of India holds superior position in the Indian Judiciary. No FIR can be registered against serving or retired judges of the high courts or the Supreme Court. This has been laid down by a five-judge constitution bench in 1991 and endorsed by another five-judge bench in 2017.
The 2017 judgment said this measure was meant to ensure the independence of the judiciary in the light of the apprehension that the executive is likely to misuse the power to prosecute the judges.
It should be noted that the 2017 judgment dismissed two petitions - from an NGO, Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms, and advocate Kamini Jaiswal - that had sought a special investigation team to probe bribery allegations against a retired Orissa High Court judge, Justice I.M. Quddusi.
Besides, The 1991 Veeraswami judgment had also ruled that allegations against members of the higher judiciary can only be probed with prior permission from the Chief Justice of India. Moreover, any accusation against the Chief Justice of India has to be placed on the administrative side before the senior-most judge whose name does not figure in the allegations.

2.Coastal Elevation Models,Shuttle Radar Topography Mission(gs-3)

Context:36 million Indians face flood risk: study
The number of Indians who stand to be affected by rising sea levels may have been underestimated by as much as 88%, according to a study that uses a new modelling approach.
In India, 36 million people would face annual flooding by 2050 and 44 million by 2100 if emissions continue to rise unabated. Nearly 21 million — and not 2.8 million — are expected to be living below the High Tide Line, the boundary that marks the farthest to which the sea reaches into the land at high tide.
The study, which appears on Thursday in the peer reviewed scientific journal Nature Communications, employs a new software called CoastalDEM. Estimates on the risks posed by flooding now rely on detailed maps of the globe taken by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), which was a radar mapping system that travelled aboard the space shuttle Endeavour in 2000.

36 million Indians face flood risk: study

Coastal Elevation Models:CoastalDEM:

NCEI builds and distributes high-resolution, coastal digital elevation models (DEMs) that integrate ocean bathymetry and land topography supporting NOAA's mission to understand and predict changes in Earth's environment, and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet our Nation's economic, social, and environmental needs.
DEMs are used for coastal process modeling (tsunami inundation, storm surge, sea-level rise, contaminant dispersal, etc.), ecosystems management and habitat research, coastal and marine spatial planning, and hazard mitigation and community preparedness

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission:

The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is an international research effort that obtained digital elevation models on a near-global scale from 56°S to 60°N,to generate the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of Earth prior to the release of the ASTER GDEM in 2009. SRTM consisted of a specially modified radar system that flew on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour during the 11-day STS-99 mission in February 2000, based on the older Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR), previously used on the Shuttle in 1994. To acquire topographic data, the SRTM payload was outfitted with two radar antennas.One antenna was located in the Shuttle's payload bay, the other – a critical change from the SIR-C/X-SAR, allowing single-pass interferometry – on the end of a 60-meter (200-foot) mast that extended from the payload bay once the Shuttle was in space. The technique employed is known as interferometric synthetic aperture radar. Intermap Technologies was the prime contractor for processing the interferometric synthetic aperture radar data.

3.Stubble burning (gs-3)

Context:City’s air quality dips with spike in stubble burning
Delhi’s air quality deteriorated further on Tuesday and remained one notch short of the ‘severe’ category (AQI 401), the worst for this season so far. The Air Quality Index on Tuesday was recorded at 400, ‘very poor’ category, at 4 p.m., which is the average of the past 24 hours, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The air quality has worsened since Monday, when it was at 368, mainly due to stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana. The stubble fi??re counts in the two States have increased from 1,654 to 2,577 during the past 24 hours after a noticeable dip on Sunday, said the governmentrun SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research)

Stubble burning :
What is stubble burning?

Stubble burning is a common practice followed by farmers to prepare fields for sowing of wheat in November as there is little time left between the harvesting of paddy and sowing of wheat.
Stubble burning results in emission of harmful gases such carbon diaoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide along with particulate matter.

Concern of the Farmers: Why they opt for stubble burning?

Even though farmers are aware that the burning of straw is harmful to health, they do not have alternatives for utilising them effectively.
The farmers are ill-equipped to deal with waste because they cannot afford the new technologythat is available to handle the waste material.
Experts say that with less income due to crop damage, farmers are likely to be inclined to light up their fields to cut costs and not spend on scientific ways of stubble management.

Advantages of stubble burning:

It quickly clears the field and is the cheapest alternative.
Kills weeds, including those resistant to herbicide.
Kills slugs and other pests.
Can reduce nitrogen tie-up.

What’s the issue?

Stubble burning is adversely affecting environment and public health. The problem has not been fully tackled and the adverse impacts on the air quality and consequent impacts on the citizens’ health and lives are undisputed.

Alternative solutions that can avoid Stubble Burning:

There is great potential for making investments in paddy straw-based power plants which can help avoid stubble burning to a large extent and also create employment opportunities.
Incorporation of crop residues in the soil can improve soil moisture and help activate the growth of soil microorganisms for better plant growth.
Convert the removed residues into enriched organic manure through composting.
New opportunities for industrial use such as extraction of yeast protein can be explored through scientific research.

Need of the hour:

Unless Financial assistance is to be provided by the Centre for boosting farm mechanisation, it is difficult to completely stop stubble burning.
States needs to make alternative arrangements for consumption of paddy straw into the soil as per the directions of the NGT.

What needs to be done- Supreme Court’s observations?

The problem is required to be resolved by taking all such measures as are possible in the interest of public health and environment protection.
Incentives could be provided to those who are not burning the stubble and disincentives for those who continue the practice.
The existing Minimum Support Price (MSP) Scheme must be so interpreted as to enable the States concerned to wholly or partly deny the benefit of MSP to those who continue to burn the crop residue.
Secretary, Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has also been directed to be present to “find a lasting solution.”
The Central government should convene a meeting with the States.

4.Competition Commission of India (CCI)(gs-2,3)

Context:Make My Trip, Oyo face antitrust probe
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered a detailed investigation into online travel booking companies Make My Trip and Goibibo and hospitality provider OYO based on complaints by members of the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) alleging deepdiscounting, payment issues and cheating by these firms. In an order dated October 28, the CCI said following a complaint from the FHRAI, it had examined various aspects of the three companies’ businesses and concluded that prima facie there were violations of competition law.
CCI assessed the allegations on the basis of the relevant markets. While in the case of Make My Trip and Goibibo (referred to as MMTGo), it looked at the ‘market for online intermediation services for booking of hotels in India’, for OYO it reviewed the ‘market for franchising services for budget hotels in India’. The competition watchdog observed that MMTGo prima facie appeared to be a dominant player in the relevant market.
However, in the case of OYO it noted, “Prima facie OYO is not found to hold a dominant position, despite being a significant player in the ‘market for franchising services for budget hotels in India’”

Competition Commission of India (CCI):

Competition Commission of India (CCI) is a statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002, it was duly constituted in March 2009.
The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 (MRTP Act) was repealed and replaced by the Competition Act, 2002, on the recommendations of Raghavan committee.
Competition Commission of India aims to establish a robust competitive environment.
Through proactive engagement with all stakeholders, including consumers, industry, government and international jurisdictions.
By being a knowledge intensive organization with high competence level.
Through professionalism, transparency, resolve and wisdom in enforcement.

Competition Act, 2002

The Competition Act was passed in 2002 and has been amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007. It follows the philosophy of modern competition laws.
The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control and M&A), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.
In accordance with the provisions of the Amendment Act, the Competition Commission of India and the Competition Appellate Tribunal have been established.
Government replaced Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in 2017.

Composition of CCI

According to the concerned legislations, the Commission shall consist of a Chairperson and not less than two and not more than ten other Members who shall be appointed by the Central Government.
The Competition Commission of India is currently functional with a Chairperson and two members.
The commission is a quasi-judicial body which gives opinions to statutory authorities and also deals with other cases. The Chairperson and other Members shall be whole-time Members.
Eligibility of members: The Chairperson and every other Member shall be a person of ability, integrity and standing and who, has been, or is qualified to be a judge of a High Court, or, has special knowledge of, and professional experience of not less than fifteen years in international trade, economics, business, commerce, law, finance, accountancy, management, industry, public affairs, administration or in any other matter which, in the opinion of the Central Government, may be useful to the Commission.

Functions and Role of CCI

To eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.
To give opinion on competition issues on a reference received from a statutory authority established under any law and to undertake competition advocacy, create public awareness and impart training on competition issues.
The Competition Commission of India takes the following measures to achieve its objectives:
Consumer welfare: To make the markets work for the benefit and welfare of consumers.
Ensure fair and healthy competition in economic activities in the country for faster and inclusive growth and development of the economy.
Implement competition policies with an aim to effectuate the most efficient utilization of economic resources.
Develop and nurture effective relations and interactions with sectoral regulators to ensure smooth alignment of sectoral regulatory laws in tandem with the competition law.
Effectively carry out competition advocacy and spread the information on benefits of competition among all stakeholders to establish and nurture competition culture in Indian economy.
The Competition Commission is India’s competition regulator, and an antitrust watchdog for smaller organizations that are unable to defend themselves against large corporations.
CCI has the authority to notify organizations that sell to India if it feels they may be negatively influencing competition in India’s domestic market.
The Competition Act guarantees that no enterprise abuses their 'dominant position' in a market through the control of supply, manipulating purchase prices, or adopting practices that deny market access to other competing firms.
A foreign company seeking entry into India through an acquisition or merger will have to abide by the country’s competition laws.
Assets and turnover above a certain monetary value will bring the group under the purview of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

5.Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant(gs-3)

Context:‘Kudankulam plant control systems are hackproof
Officials of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) on Tuesday said a cyberattack on the unit was not possible as its systems were all standalone. R. Ramdoss, Training Superintendent and Information Offi??cer, KKNPP, said in a press release that in the Kudankulam and other Indian nuclear power plants, control systems were not connected to an outside cyber network and Internet

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant:

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (or Koodankulam NPP or KKNPP) is the single largest nuclear power station in India, situated in Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Construction on the plant began on 31 March 2002,but faced several delays due to opposition from local fishermen.KKNPP is scheduled to have six VVER-1000 reactors built in collaboration with Atomstroyexport, the Russian state company and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), with an installed capacity of 6,000 MW of electricity