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INDIAN AFFAIRS
MOU signed between Department of Biotechnology(DBT) and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) for joint collaboration on cancer research
Department of Biotechnology (DBT), M/o Science and Technology and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India have signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) for supporting joint collaborative research programmes in the area of Cancer. The MOU was signed by Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary DBT and Shri K N Vyas, Secretary DAE.
Key Points:
i. MOU will help to build different initiatives in the field of cancer like strategizing and prioritizing cancer research, development of new and affordable technologies, jointly design and fund clinical trials, coordinate and collaborate for translational research, interventions, training of manpower and infrastructure development.
ii. Different initiatives like joint clinical fellowships, intensive workshops on clinical research methodologies and protocol development will be held to train the staff and the acquired skills will be used in the best possible manner.
iii. The DAE is represented by Tata Memorial Centre. It will operate as the coordinating centre on behalf of The National Cancer Grid of India.
About Department of Biotechnology:
♦ Secretary: Dr. Renu Swarup
♦ Vision: “Attaining new heights in biotechnology research, shaping biotechnology into a premier precision tool of the future for the creation of wealth and ensuring social justice – specially for the welfare of the poor.”
About Department of Atomic Energy:
♦ Secretary: K N Vyas
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Foreign Ministers of SCO meet in Kyrgyzstan
The meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) held in Bishkek, the Kyrgyzstan Republic on May 21-22, 2019. This was India’s second meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) after becoming a full member of SCO. The last meeting of CFM was held in Beijing, China on April 23-24, 2018. The next SCO summit will be held in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz Republic on June 13-14, 2019.
Key Highlights
i. The purpose of the meeting of CFM was to review the preparations for the forthcoming SCO Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. India delegation was led by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
ii. India and Kyrgyzstan also hold bilateral meetings on the sideline of CFM meeting of SCO.
About Kyrgyzstan
♦ Capital: Bishkek
♦ Currency: Kyrgyzstani Som
US agreed to sell air-defense missiles to Japan & South Korea
US State Department has approved to sell air-defense missiles for the worth of more than USD 600 million to Japan and South Korea. This approval was the result of rising tension with North Korea when a pair of the missile was tested by North Korea last week.
Key Highlights
i. US government has approved the sale of 94 SM-2 Block IIIB surface-to-air missile (SAM) interceptors used by ships against air threats along with 12 guidance systems for a total cost of USD 313.9 million to South Korea.
ii. US government has also approved the sale of 160 AIM-120C-7 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM), and one AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM guidance section to Japan for USD 317 million.
About US
♦ Capital: Washington D.C.
♦ Currency: United States Dollar
♦ President: Donald Trump
About Japan
♦ Capital: Tokyo
♦ Currency: Japanese Yen
♦ Prime Minister: Shinzo Abe
About South Korea
♦ Capital: Seoul
♦ Currency: South Korean Won
♦ President: Moon Jae-in
First Pacific Vanguard Naval Exercise held near Guam
The four countries US, Japan, South Korea, and Australia have kicked off first-of-its-kind Pacific Vanguard Naval Exercise near Guam, U.S. island territory in Micronesia. In naval drills, more than 3,000 sailors from four countries have participated and the naval exercise has focused on live-fire exercises, defensive counter-air operations, anti-submarine warfare, and replenishment at sea.
Key Highlights
i. Australian Navy has participated in the exercise with its two frigates, HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Parramatta. Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force participated with JS Ariake and JS Asahi and South Korea participated with ROKS Wang Geon.
ii. US Navy has participated in the naval drills with the guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam, guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur, fleet replenishment oiler USNS Rappahannock, and dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd.
About US
♦ Capital: Washington D.C.
♦ Currency: United States Dollar
♦ President: Donald Trump
About Japan
♦ Capital: Tokyo
♦ Currency: Japanese Yen
♦ Prime Minister: Shinzo Abe
About South Korea
♦ Capital: Seoul
♦ Currency: South Korean Won
♦ President: Moon Jae-in
About Australia
♦ Capital: Canberra
♦ Currency: Australian Dollar
♦ Prime Minister: Scott Morrison
WHO has declared Algeria and Argentina as malaria-free countries
World Health Organization has officially declared Algeria and Argentina as malaria-free countries after recording no new cases for more than three years. Now, the numbers of malaria-free countries increased to 38 from 36. Argentina reported the last indigenous case in 2010 while in Algeria it was reported in 2013.
i. In the 1960s, there were 80,000 cases a year in Algeria which dropped to 28,000 in 2000. Algeria is the second African nation to have eliminated the disease after Mauritius which achieved the goal in 1973.
ii. It is only in Algeria, where the malaria parasite was discovered by French physician Dr. Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran in 1880. Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted through the bite of female Anopheles mosquitoes.
About WHO:
♦ Founded: 7 April 1948
♦ Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
♦ Head: Tedros Adhanom
BANKING & FINANCE
SEBI & IRDAI to introduce Regulatory Sandbox Framework for Fintech Startups
On the lines of the initiative taken by Reserve Bank of India (RBI), regarding the setting up of the regulatory sandbox (RS) in its draft “Enabling Framework for Regulatory Sandbox” in April for fintech innovations; the market watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and insurance watchdog Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) have also introduced the similar RS.
i. SEBI has released a testing environment, “Innovation Sandbox”, for firms not regulated by SEBI and also for individuals. They could test their proposed products subject to the fulfillment of the eligibility criteria, based on market-related data made available by stock exchanges, depositories, and qualified registrar and share transfer agents (QRTAs).
ii. On the other hand, for the IRDAI sandbox, an applicant should have a net worth of Rs 10 lakh with proven financial record of at least one year for testing new digital and tech-based innovations, before launching them in the market.
What is RS?
- RS is an infrastructure that helps fintech startups to live test their products or solutions, before getting the necessary regulatory approvals for a mass launch. This will save the time and cost of startup.
About SEBI
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai
♦ Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi
About IRDAI
♦ Headquarters: Hyderabad
♦ Chairperson: Subhash Chandra Khuntia
ADB granted $750 mn loan to India for Railway Track Electrification Project
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has inked an agreement with Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), an entity owned by Government of India (GOI) to provide USD 750 million long-term financing for the Railways Track Electrification Project, as part of a broad modernization program to reduce the dependence India’s railway sector on fossil fuels. It is the largest single non-sovereign loan ever.
i. IRFC will use the proceeds from the loan to install electric traction equipment along about 3,378 kilometres of existing railway lines. Then, the electrification assets will be leased to Indian Railways, under a long-term lease agreement.
ii. The GOI has already developed a 5-year, $132 billion capital expenditure program for the modernization of Indian Railways.
About IRFC:
Established in 1986, it is the financing arm of Indian Railways for mobilizing funds from domestic and international capital markets. is registered as a nonbanking finance company (NBFC).
About ADB:
♦ Establishment: 1966
♦ Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Philippines
♦ President: Takehiko Nakao
♦ Membership: 68 countries
576th RBI’s Central Board meeting held at Chennai
The 576th two day meet of the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, under the Chairmanship of Governor Shaktikanta Das to review the current economic situation, global and domestic challenges and various areas of operations of the Reserve Bank. The key matter of the discussion was the Medium-Term Strategy document, covering the Mission Statement and the Vision Statement.
Key Highlights:
- During the meet, it was decided to create a “Specialised Supervisory and Regulatory Cadre” with RBI to strengthen the supervision and regulation of commercial banks, urban cooperative banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC).
- The decision for creating this cadre was taken due to the failures of credit rating agencies to flag risks, alleged lapses by auditors and divergence in asset quality by big banks. After creation, it would equip RBI in picking up early warning signs.
About RBI
♦ Established: 1 April 1935
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
♦ Deputy Governors – MK Jain, BP Kanungo, Viral Acharya, and NS Vishwanathan
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
UN downgraded the global economy growth forecast to 2.7% in 2019
United Nations (UN) in its mid-year report on economic prospects named “World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2019 Mid-year Update” has diminished the global economic growth forecasts for 2019 to 2.7% and for 2020 to 2.9%. In the January predictions, the economic growth was projected at 3% for both years.
i. The reason behind the lowering of the forecast is high trade tensions, uncertainty over political policies and a complicated confluence of internal and external factors affecting most of the developed and developing economies.
ii. Among developed economies, United States’ will grow at 2.3%, while the European Union’s overall economy will expand at 1.5%, Japan at 0.8% and Russia at 1.4%.
iii. For India, UN has cut the growth rate by 0.6% to be at 7% for 2019 from the earlier prediction of 7.6% in the January edition. But despite of downward revision, India remains the fastest growing major economy in the world, ahead of China’s growth rate of 6.3%.
iv. For 2020, India growth is projected at 7.1%.
About the United Nations:
♦ Establishment: 1945
♦ Headquarters: New York, US
♦ Secretary general: António Guterres
Indian economy to grow 7.5% by 2020: OECD Report
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its Economic Outlook projected India’s GDP growth to 7.25 percent in FY19 and 7.5 percent in FY20.
Key Highlights
i. This growth is result of increase rural consumption, fiscal and quasi-fiscal stimulus, recent structural reforms and lower inflation.
ii. Economic Outlook report also suggested that increased Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection and wider base of personal income tax will reduce high public debt-to-GDP ratio.
About OECD
♦ Headquarter: Paris, France
♦ Secretary General: Jose Angel Gurria
ICICI Bank to buy stake in INX for Rs 31 crore
ICICI Bank has entered into an agreement with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to buy stake in its subsidiary India International Exchange (INX) which is located at Gujarat International Financial Tec-City (GIFT City) Gujarat for around Rs 31 crore. ICICI is buying stake up to 9.9 % in INX.
About ICICI Bank
♦ Headquarter: Mumbai
♦ Tagline: Hum Hai Na, Khyal Apka
♦ CEO: Sandeep Bakshi
About BSE
♦ Headquarter: Mumbai
♦ Chairman: Justice Vikramajit Sen
High-level Committee suggested a strategy to reduce oil imports
A High-level Committee of Companies in its report to Oil Ministry has suggested short-term, medium-term and long-term strategies to reduce crude oil imports.The purpose of the formation of this committee is to discuss research-related synergies and tax issues for state-run oil companies. The committee led by Anil Kakodkar, a scientist and Sidharth Pradhan, an expert on financial and tax issues.
Key Highlights
i. The committee has suggested creating a new entity for oil services and supply of qualified manpower to the oil and gas sector around the world.
ii. The Committee members have also looked into mergers, acquisitions and consolidation of oil and gas public sector undertakings (PSUs) and the joint ventures.
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Jokha Alharthi won Man Booker International Prize 2019
Jokha Alharthi, an Omani female author became the first Arabic author to win 2019 Man Booker International Prize 2019 for her novel “Celestial Bodies”. The novel contains the story of three sisters in an Omani village.
Key Highlights
i. The novel was originally published in Arabic and then translated by Marilyn Booth in English.
ii. The jury which selected Alhathi’s novel a winner of Man Booker International Prize was headed by Bettany Hughes.
About Oman
♦ Capital: Muscat
♦ Currency: Omani Rial
Former PepsiCo Chairman and CEO, Indra Nooyi receives Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Yale University for achievements in business
Indra Nooyi, former PepsiCo Chairman, and CEO was honoured with Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Yale University, USA for her achievements in business. She is considered as a global role model who encourages women and girls to see themselves as top business tycoons.
Key Points:
i. In 1980, Indra Nooyi had received a degree in Master of Public and Private Management from Yale School of Management.
ii. She was one among the 11 individuals to receive this Honorary Doctorate along with the author and feminist activist Gloria Steinem, wildlife researcher Cynthia Moss, entrepreneur and philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa, Harvard University president Lawrence Bacow, former U.S. secretary of state and secretary of the Treasury James A. Baker III, Scholar and author Mary Beard, actress, dancer, and choreographer Carmen de Lavallade, artist Sheila Hicks, anti-death penalty advocate Sister Helen Prejean and author Chimamanda Adichie.
iii. At present, she is serving on the board of directors of Amazon in Audit Compensation Committee. She is a member of the World Economic Forum Board of Trustees and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
iv. She also serves as an independent director of the International Cricket Council and a part of the board of directors in the chair of the compensation committee at Schlumberger, an oilfield services company.
Dr. Ankur Patwardhan, a scientist from Pune conferred with ‘German Chemistry Prize’
Dr. Ankur Patwardhan, a scientist from Pune won ‘German Chemistry Prize’ by securing a second place in an international competition named ‘Elsevier Foundation-ISC3 Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge’ during in the 4th Green and Sustainable Chemistry Conference held in Dresden, Germany. The first prize was won by Dr. Ramia Albakain with €50,000 for his project “New green technique to remove toxic metal from wastewater”.
Key Points:
i. Dr. Ankur Patwardhan received the second prize with €25,000 for his project ‘Butterfly attractant for pollination and ecosystem health’. It deals with the relation between chemistry and ecosystem. This project was developed with the help of Dr. Tejaswini Pachpor and Dr. Dattatray Naik.
ii. At present, Dr. Ankur is working as head of the ‘Annasaheb Kulkarni Biodiversity Department’ at Abasaheb Garware College, Pune. He is also a member of the Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board and the president of a high-level committee appointed by the Centre on Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani Eco-Sensitive Zone.
iii. This international competition had received 600 applications out of which 50 were shortlisted and the final 5 were selected for presentation.
Bharti AXA Life Insurance, private life insurer conferred with FICCI Claims Excellence Award
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) confers Private Life Insurer, Bharti AXA Life Insurance with the ‘Claims Excellence Award’ during 20th Annual Insurance Conference – FINCON 2019 held in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
KeyPoints:
i. The award was presented for its customer-friendly claims services, including dedicated claims handler and one of the best claim settlement ratios, in the life insurance sector.
ii. Bharti AXA Life Insurance has improved its individual claim settlement ratio, the number of claims paid to the number of claims received, to 96.85 percent in the financial year 2017-18.
About Bharti AXA Life Insurance:
♦ MD & CEO – Vikas Seth
♦ Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Bengaluru based Doctor Hema Divakar gets ‘Global Asian of the Year’ Award for Contribution to Women’s Healthcare Ecosystem
Bengaluru based doctor Hema Divakar received the ‘Global Asian of the Year 2018-19’ Award for her yeomen services and contribution towards Women’s Healthcare Ecosystem.
Key Points:
i. Dr. Hema was conferred the award at the Asian Business & Social Forum 2019 in Dubai under the ‘In Service of the Society and the Nation’ category from UAE’s Trade Promotion Director Mohammed Naser Hamdan Al Zaabi.
ii. She is leading a healthcare initiative for the overall development of women with qualitative and affordable treatment.
Flight Lieutenant, Bhawana Kanth becomes 1st fighter pilot of IAF to undertake combat missions
Flight Lieutenant, Bhawana Kanth has become the first female fighter pilot of Indian Air Force, who qualified to undertake combat missions.
KeyPoints:
i. Bhawana Kanth, was one among the first batch of women fighter pilots of the IAF, who joined in July 2016. She flew the first solo on MiG-21 Bison in March 2018.
ii. She became the first female fighter pilot after successfully completing day operational syllabus on MiG-21 Bison aircraft.
First Batch of Women Fighter Pilots are:
Bhawana Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi, and Mohana Singh.
About Indian Air Force:
♦ Chief of the Air Staff – Birender Singh Dhanoa PVSM AVSM YSM VM ADC
♦ Headquarter – New Delhi
HDFC group overtook Tata Group in terms of market capitalisation (m-cap)
HDFC Group surpassed Tata Group in terms of market capitalisation and became the most valuable business house. HDFC Group with 5 listed companies recorded the m-cap as Rs. 11.66 lakh crore whereas Tata Group with 29 listed firms stood at Rs. 11.64 lakh crore.
Key Points:
i. The 5 listed firms of HDFC Group are HDFC Ltd, HDFC Bank, HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company, HDFC Asset Management Company and Gruh Finance. Tata Group includes TCS, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Titan, Tata Chemicals, Tata Global, Tata Chemicals, Tata Power and others.
ii. In January 2018, the Tata Group’s m-cap stood at Rs 9.6 lakh crore which was 15% higher than that of the HDFC Group. But it saw a decline because of the weak performances of Tata Group companies excluding TCS. On the other hand, increasing investor focus on financial services helped the HDFC Group to become the most valued firm.
About HDFC Group:
♦ HDFC stands for Housing Development Finance Corporation.
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai
♦ Founded: 1977
About Tata Group:
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai
♦ Founded: 1868
♦ Founder: Jamsetji Tata
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS
Volodymyr Zelenskiy takes oath as President of Ukraine
Ukrainian TV star Volodymyr Zelenskiy, won the presidential election in April 2019 and sworn in as 6th President of Ukraine recently. He succeeded Petro Poroshenko.
i. He hails from the south-eastern city of Kryvyi Rih. His election campaign slogan was ‘unify Ukraine’.
ii. He won 73% of the vote cast and became Ukraine’s youngest post-Soviet President.
About Ukraine:
♦ Capital – Kyiv
♦ Currency – Ukrainian hryvnia
Cyril Ramaphosa re-elected as President of South Africa
Cyril Ramaphosa’s party, African National Congress (ANC) won South African elections with a majority and secured 57.51 percent votes and Cyril Ramaphosa elected as South African President. Last year in February 2018, Cyril Ramaphosa elected as South African President after President Jacob Zuma resigned from the post due to charges of corruption.
i. This was the first time that African National Congress has got less than 60 percent votes in national polls.
About South Africa
♦ Capital: Cape Town, Pretoria, Bloemfontein
♦ Currency: South African rand
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Nepal banned the use of Chinese digital wallets Alipay and WeChat
On May 21, 2019, Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank of Nepal, banned the use of Chinese digital wallets Alipay and WeChat Pay. This is done to prevent the loss of foreign currency earnings through its usage.
Key Points:
i. The apps WeChat Pay and Alipay are operated by Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding’s Ant Financial Services Group affiliate respectively. They had failed to secure licenses to operate in the country.
ii. Nepal has witnessed more Chinese tourists and they use these apps for payments.
About Nepal:
♦ Capital: Kathmandu
♦ Currency: Nepalese Rupee
♦ President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari
♦ Prime Minister: KP Sharma Oli
About Nepal Rastra Bank:
♦ Founded: April 26, 1956
♦ Headquarters: Baluwatar, Kathmandu
♦ Governor: Dr. Chiranjibi Nepal
IAF test fired aerial version of BrahMos missile
Recently, Indian Air Force (IAF) has successfully test-fired an aerial version of supersonic BrahMos cruise missile from Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago. The aerial variant of BrahMos missile was developed with the help of IAF, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
Key Specifications of Missile
i. This aerial version of air-to-surface BrahMos missile weighed 2.5 tonnes and a target range of around 300 km. It has a capability to travels at a speed of Mach 2.8 which is nearly three times that of sound.
ii. In 2017, IAF became the first air force in the world to have successfully fired an air-launched 2.8 Mach surface attack missile of this category on a sea target.
About Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
♦ Headquarter: New Delhi
♦ Chairman: Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy
♦ Motto: Strength’s Origin is in Science
About Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)
♦ Headquarter: Bengaluru, Karnataka
♦ Chairman and Managing Director: R Madhavan
ENVIRONMENT
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu calls to protect and promote Ongole cattle breed
On May 20, 2019, Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu called to protect and promote Ongole cattle breed and released a Compendium on Ongole breed of cattle at the Swarna Bharat Trust in Vijayawada, Andra Pradesh.
Key Points:
i. Compendium on Ongole breed of cattle consists of 1200 pages. It provides the history of the animal from 1885 to 2016 with the information from 13 books and 80 research findings.
ii. The compendium is a collaborated work of Mullapudi Narendranath, an agricultural scientist and former Joint Director of Animal Husbandry Department, Adusumilli Madhusudan Rao.
iii. Instructions have been given to officials to strengthen up the work on the breed at National Kamadhenu Breeding Centre, Chintaladevi in Nellore District of Andra Pradesh.
About Ongole breed of cattle:
Ongole is a place in Andhra Pradesh. Ongole breed of cattle is also nicknamed as ‘Nelore cattle’ as Ongole was once a part of the Nellore area. It originated from Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh. These are used in bullfights in Mexico and some parts of East Africa and also participate in traditional bullfights in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. These are one of the heaviest breeds.
About Andra Pradesh:
♦ Capital: Amaravati
♦ Governor: E. S. L. Narasimhan
♦ National Parks- Sri Venkateswara National Park, Rajiv Gandhi National Park, Papikonda National Park
♦ Wildlife Sanctuaries: Coringa WLS, Gundla Brahmeswaram WLS, Kambalakonda WLS, Kolleru WLS, Nagarjuna Sagar-Srisailam WLS, Rollapadu WLS, etc
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OBITUARY
Seventh King of Malaysia Sultan Ahmad Shah Sultan Abu Bakar passed away at the age of 88 in Kuala Lumpur
Seventh King of Malaysia Sultan Ahmad Shah Sultan Abu Bakar passed away at the age of 88 in National Heart Institute, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He was born in 1930 in Istana Manggal Tunggal, Pekan, Pahang, Federated Malay States, British Malaya.
i. He also served as the fifth Sultan of Pahang state, central of Malaysia. From 1979 to 1984, he served as the seventh Yang di-Pertuan Agong or the supreme head of state.
ii. He was a football player and held Presidency of the Malaysian Football Association (FAM) from 1984 until 2014, Presidency of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) from 1994 until 2002 and Asean Football Federation (AFF) 2011.
IMPORTANT DAYS
May 23 observed as an International Day to End Obstetric Fistula
United Nations celebrated May 23 as International Day to End Obstetric Fistula. In 2003, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly known as United Nations Fund for Population Activities and its partners had launched a global campaign to End Obstetric Fistula.
i. In 2012, United Nations announced to celebrate May 23 as International Day to End Obstetric Fistula every year starting from 2013. An obstetric fistula is a hole between the vagina and rectum or bladder that is caused by prolonged obstructed labor, leaving a woman incontinent of urine or feces or both. Obstructed labor means, labor that goes unattended, the labor can last up to six or seven days.
About United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
♦ Headquarter: New York, US
♦ Head: Dr. Natalia Kanem
STATE NEWS
United Nation, not State under Article 12 as per the judgment of Delhi High Court
Delhi High court passed a judgment in Sanjaya Bahel v. Union of India & Others that United Nations Organization (UNO) is not a State under Article 12 of the Indian Constitution. So it is not amenable to its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Indian Constitution.
About the case:
i. The decision was given by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait against a petition filed by a Sanjay Bahel, former UNO employee who was found guilty of misconduct. He was then convicted by a US Federal Court and sentenced to 97 months of imprisonment and 2 years of mandatory probation. He was released and deported to India in May 2014. He claimed that due process was not followed in his case.
ii. Under Section 86 of Civil Procedure Code, 1908 which states that a foreign state may be sued in any court with the consent of the Central government, he had written a letter to the Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) for the permission to initiate legal action against UNO in November 2018.
iii. MEA had stated that consent of Union Government was not required to initiate a legal suit against UNO because as per Section 2 of Article II of the Schedule of Act, 1947, UNO enjoys immunity from every kind of legal process except insofar as in any particular.
About Article 12 of the Constitution of India:
The term “State” denotes the union and state governments, the Parliament and state legislatures and all local or other authorities within the territory of India or under the control of the Indian government.
About Article 226 of the Constitution of India:
It authorizes the high courts of India to issue orders or directions which includes writs in nature of habeas corpus, prohibition, mandamus, certiorari, and quo warranto to any concerned person or authority, including the government.
Telangana records 15% GSDP growth in FY19 with Rs. 8,66,875 crore
Telangana recorded 15% Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) growth for the Financial year ended March 31, 2019 with Rs.8,66,875 crore. For the year 2018, it stood at Rs. 7,53,804 crore.
Key Points:
i. After the formation of Telangana state, this was the first ever highest growth registered.
ii. The capital expenditure for the year was Rs. 47,038 crore and this was the main reason for recording the highest growth rate. The total capital expenditure from 2014-15 to 2018-19 was Rs. 1,64,519 crore.
iii. Primary sector grew by 10.9%, secondary sector by 14.9% and tertiary sector registered a growth of 15.5%. The debt to GSDP ratio was 22%, lower than the limit set by Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act which is 25%.
iv. 14.2% was the GSDP rate for the year 2017-18 and 2016-17.
About Telangana:
♦ Capital: Hyderabad
♦ Chief Minister – K. Chandrashekar Rao
♦ Governor: E. S. L. Narasimhan
♦ Folk Dance – Perini Sivatandavam or Perini Thandavam, Oggu Katha and Lambadi
♦ National Parks – Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National Park, Mahaveer Harina Vanasthali National Park and Mrugavani National Park
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