current affairs 2017

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DAILY NEWS EDITORIAL ARTICLES MAINSTORMING

 Today Current Affairs Topics
Tatas Hard Choice
Challenges With Cross Border Data
Disqualification Of MLAs - II
Viability Of Bullet Train Project
Regulating MCI
Sri Lanka's Constitutional Reform
Prelim Bits 23-09-2017

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 Tatas Hard Choice
What is the issue?
Tata Steels recent merger is a proof of hard commercial considerations in overseas
acquisitions.

What is the merger about?

Tata Steel had announced its tentative plans to merge their European steel operations in a
50:50 joint venture.
Tata Steel and Germanys ThyssenKrupp AG have planned for this merger.
This merger will emerge as the second largest steel producer in the high value-added
European market.
These companies clarified that this merger is driven more by industrial and strategic
logic than the need for financial engineering or job cuts.

What is the need for the merger?

This merger is more about reducing exposure to the barely-growing and over-supplied
European market.
Tata Steel is keen to free up the capital from its overseas plants in order to double its
Indian capacity.

AIR-7 in 2015. AIR-6 in 2014, AIR-13 in 2013, AIR-6 in 2012, AIR-11 in 2011, AIR-4 in 2010
Global operations have become a millstone around Tata Steels neck.
ThyssenKrupp has been progressively shedding its commodity businesses to focus on
high-margin capital goods.
This merger seems to be an intermediary step to a complete exit.

What are the challenges in this merger?

The merger may have a rough passage with external stakeholders.

The labour unions and the governments of UK and Germany are already looking to ring-
fence their interests.
Financial considerations are at play in this merger, with both partners looking to de-
leverage their balance sheets.
Chinese export threat is continuing to loom large.
It is unclear that how this joint venture would pay off without pricing sacrifices, cost and
job cuts.
Read More..

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. Challenges With Cross Border Data
What is the issue?
In the present digital era, the governance of cross-border data is a major challenge for
countries.

What is cross border data?

The increased digitalization has made data an input to commerce, and made data of one
nation to travel to another.
It is a simple fact that international trade involving consumers cannot take place
without collecting and sending personal data across borders.
It makes industries streamline their business practices and increase efficiency.

What are the global dilemmas in addressing this?

Governance of cross-border data through trade agreements is a major challenge for
countries, since it is difficult to regulate.
There are differences among countries in outlooks and approaches to data security and
its commercial use.

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What are the challenges for India?
India struggles to discover regulations that would facilitate its economic growth while
ensuring data flow doesnt affect citizens' privacy.
Creating effective domestic regulations is a big challenge.
The choice of the right policy mix is difficult as they may overlap with other complex trade
issues such as IPR.
Foreign investments in Make-in-India industries would be influenced by data regulations.
Data regulations are also critical in terms of the security risks they involve, particularly
financial risks arising from lapses in cyber security and data theft.

What can be done?

India must be prepared to accept that data regulations and digital trade rules, which it
would negotiate in future.
India needs to move towards domestic regulations on digital trade, ensuring sufficient
security of private data.
Indias domestic regulations on cross-border flow of data must also reflect
contemporaneity.
Data rules and digital trade governance deserve much greater attention from India than it
has got till now. Read More..

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 Disqualification Of MLAs - II
What is the issue?
The recent disqualification of 18 MLAs in Tamil Nadu by the Speaker brings to the fore
certain constitutional questions on the role of the Governor and the Speaker.

What are the contentious issues?

Governor - The Governor in this case is showing reluctance to order a floor test, despite a
request from the opposition party.
A Constitution Bench has earlier observed that the activities within a political party, as to
any turbulence or unrest, were beyond the concern of the Governor.
The Governor can intervene only when a breakaway group constitutes two-thirds of a
party, as stipulated in the Tenth Schedule.
However, notably the Bench adds that the Governor should take action during a
constitutional crisis i.e. when the government is seen to have lost the confidence of or
majority in the House.
Thus the court bars Governors only from political embroilment and not restrict their
constitutional duty and responsibility.
Court - On petitions challenging the Speaker's order of disqualifying the MLAs, the court
had extended a stay on conducting the floor test.

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Instead, a stay on the disqualification would have addressed the fears of those disqualified
as well as obviated the need for the questionable stay on the floor test to be extended.
The court could have then adjudicated only the constitutional question on whether the
Governor ought to be directed to order a trust vote.
Speaker - The main question in Speaker's order is that would expressing lack of
confidence in the Chief Minister amount to voluntarily giving up the party membership.
Disqualifying rebellious MLAs as a way of ensuring the majority of a Chief Minister is
highly questionable and needs scrutiny.

What should be done?

The constitution holds floor test as a significant means to ascertaining the confidence and
majority of the elected government.
The partisan element in anti-defection law and the adjudicatory power of the Speaker
seem to be defeating this purpose.
This creates the need for transferring the power to an independent body such as the
Election Commission.
Also, the Speaker's role should be reassessed and a law should be put in place to prevent
manipulation while conducting a floor test.
Read More..

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 Viability Of Bullet Train Project
What is the issue?
India is planning its first high-speed railway.
Some see the project as a non profitable extravaganze.

What is the project about?

India is considering establishing a high-speed train corridor between Ahmedabad and
Mumbai based on the Japanese Shinkansen technology.
The project will be funded and executed by Japan.
The Japanese are providing a 50-year loan of Rs 88,000 crore of the total project cost
of Rs 1,10,000 crore.
The rest will come from the central government and state governments of Gujarat and
Maharashtra.

What is the financial viability?

A project viability report was done, but the details havent been shared with the public.
Projections have shown that the train service will need to carry nearly 1 lakh
passengers a day to keep fares at a reasonable levels.
The current traffic is only about 18,000 per day.

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Has Japanese funding been really generous?
Japans loan is claimed to be virtually interest-free.
While the interest rate of 0.10% being offered to India sounds great, according to a financial
analyst, the average Indian inflation at 3%, and Japanese at 0% has serious implications.
The rupee will hence depreciate 3% every year vis-a-vis the yen.
So over 50 years, the sum to be repaid will be well over twice of Rs 88,000 crore.
This will be a huge burden on future generations. .

Is this advantageous for our passenger needs?

95% of rail users in India do not use even the present fast trains like Shatabdi as they find
the fares to be costly.
So, the bullet trains can address only small population that already has the option air travel.
The cost of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project is almost as much as the entire
annual rail budget which stood at Rs 1,21,000 crore last year.
The Indian railway system, with over 13,000 trains running every day, carries more than 8
billion passengers per year plus 1,000 million tonnes of freight over the whole country.
A big bang bullet for the few or a large, improved and safer system for all is the choice that
we need to make, as finances are limited.
Notably, there is no mention of transfer of technology anywhere in the agreement, which is
the norm for big projects. Read More..

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 Regulating MCI
What is the issue?
The regulator of medical education, MCI (Medical Council of India) is itself in need of
regulation.

What are the recent issues with MCI?

Medical education scams continue persistently under the MCIs stewardship.
Earlier, a colonel of the Army Medical Corps was arrested for passing on sensitive
information about inspections to a medical college in Pondicherry.
Recently, a former high court judge and his associates were arrested for agreeing to help
an under-equipped college make the grade in court.
The volume of litigation that MCI faces concerning issues of policy, admission and
examination suggests that the regulator is neither in command nor perceived to be so.

What are the shortfalls in this regard?

MCI has rightly imposed a uniform benchmark for admissions at the undergraduate and
postgraduate levels.
But different syllabi set by states and the diverse languages they are taught in tilt the
playing field.

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While MCI is standardising entrance tests, it is failing to assure uniform, quality
education for entrants who qualify.
Due to this, the implications for the health of the nation are sobering.
The lucrative promise that India holds as a destination for medical tourism and education
stands compromised.

How can these be addressed?

The National Medical Commission Bill of 2016, trifurcate the functions of the MCI to
reduce opportunities for corruption.
Transparent accreditation process guided by checks and balances conferring credibility
should be its priority.
While it is progressive that the regulation of medical education has been handed over to
the professionals instead of administrators, only a functional reform can strike at the
root of corruption.
Merely replacing the MCI will not suffice; its successor must be armed with rules-based
transparency.

Read More..

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 Sri Lanka's Constitutional Reform
Why in news?
Sri Lankan Prime Minister has presented an interim report on the drafting of a new Constitution.

Why a new Constitution?

The Tamil community in Sri Lanka has long been concerned of the discrimination by the
majority Sinhalese.
The TNA (Tamil National Alliance) has been demanding a federal solution to address the
political aspirations of the Tamil community.
The 13th Amendment in 1987 to the 1978 Constitution was the first time when power
sharing arrangements between the Centre and the Provinces were made.
This, being without total consensus, successive governments have come up with
improved proposals to bring a final resolution to the issue.
The recent report is that of an all party steering committee, chaired by the Prime Minister,
on formulating the Constitution in Parliament.

What are the highlights?

The report envisages an undivided and indivisible country, with the province as the unit
for devolution of power.
It introduces the concept of subsidiarity.

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Under this, function that can be performed by the lowest tier of government should be vested in it.
The report also provides for the creation of a second parliamentary chamber representing the
provinces.
The report commits that the controversial terms unitary and federal be avoided.
Instead, Sinhala and Tamil terms that suggest an undivided country be used to describe the
republic.
Besides, the electoral system solely based on proportional representation is proposed to be changed.
A mixed method under which 60% of parliamentary members to be elected under the first-past-the-
post system is to be introduced.
Complying to earlier demands, the interim report aims at abolishing the executive presidency.
The government has promised that the pre-eminent status given to Buddhism will remain as such;
an assurance that may help overcome opposition from the majority.
What is the way forward?

While the interim report is a significant step, there is a possibility that the whole process could be
derailed by the extremists.
Demands from some opposing factions for retaining the states unitary character and the feature of
executive presidency are getting stronger.
On the other hand, the TNA had taken the unprecedented position that they would agree with the
contents of the interim report.
It is for the government to ensure that the reforms are materialised, to resolve Sri Lanka's long
drawn controversial issue. Read More..

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 Prelim Bits 23-09-2017
Zero Hunger Programme
On the occasion of world food day (October 16), three districts in India will initiate
India's ambitious 'Zero Hunger' programme through interventions in farm sector.
The three districts are Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Koraput in Odisha and Thane in
Maharashtra.
It is a dedicated farm-based programme in sync with India's Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) to end hunger by 2030.
It will be initiated by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in association
with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the M S Swaminathan Research
Foundation and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).
These three districts would act as a model of an integrated approach adopting suitable
agricultural/horticultural practices.
The programme consists of organisations of farming system for nutrition, setting up
genetic gardens and initiation of Zero Hunger training.
A genetic garden for biofortified plants/crops contains the germplasm of naturally
biofortified crops or such crops through plant breeding.
It has plants and crops that help supplement micro-nutrient deficiencies, including iron,
iodine, vitamin A and zinc among others.

AIR-7 in 2015. AIR-6 in 2014, AIR-13 in 2013, AIR-6 in 2012, AIR-11 in 2011, AIR-4 in 2010
SATH

Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital (SATH) is a joint initiative of

Government of Assam and NITI Aayog.
It aims to provide support to Assam in identifying key health priorities and implement
the solutions towards transforming the health.
The workshop brings experts from development organizations such as World Bank,
World Health Organization, UNDP, UNICEF.

Mahamana Express

The Mahamana Express, superfast series trains between Varanasi and Vadodara was
recently inaugurated.
The name of the train was chosen after the name of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
who was popularly known as Mahamana and also the co-founder of the Benaras Hindu
University.
The first Mahamana express was flagged off in 2016 between Varanasi and New Delhi
route. It is also in service between Bhopal Khajuraho route.

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Char Dham Highway Project
National Green Tribunal (NGT) has cleared the proposal for Char Dham Highway
project.
The Char Dham highway development project is an initiative to improve connectivity
to the Char Dham pilgrimage centres in the Himalayas i.e Gangotri, Yamunotri,
Kedarnath and Badrinath.
Notably, these four ancient pilgrimages sites in Uttarakhand are known as Chota Char
Dham to differentiate them from the bigger circuit of modern day Char Dham sites
namely Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram.
The project objective is to provide roads with paved shoulders, make provisions for
landslide mitigation and other road safety measures, which will provide all weather
road connectivity for pilgrims and for movement of defence forces.

VASTRA 2017
VASTRA 2017 is an international textiles and apparel fair organized by the Union
Minister of Textiles in Jaipur.
The international fair was started in 2012 and it is considered as the place for
disseminating technology in textile sector.

IFoS results are out. 11 out of 110 pan India.10% of total India are from Shankar IAS.
Deendayal Hastkala Sankul

It is a trade facilitation centre for handicrafts located in Varanasi.

The centre would help the artisans and weavers showcase their skills to the world, and
facilitate a brighter future for them.
It will facilitate the weavers/artisans/exporters in promotion of handlooms/handicrafts in
both domestic and international markets.
It will preserve the traditional handloom and handicrafts products of Varanasi which will
boosts the tourist potential of Varanasi.

Read More..

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