Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 23-04-16
S.NO. / NEWS ITEM / SYLLUBUS / ESSENCE OF THE ARTICLE1. / China upset after Uighur leader given visa for Dharamshala meet (Pages 1,14) / a) I.R / a) Dolkun Isa (a German national of Uighur ethnicity who is in the middle of the latest diplomatic stand-off between India and China) has requested Indian and German authorities to ensure his safety during his next weeks visit to Dharamshala.
2. / China wants fair solution to border dispute (Page 16) / a) I.R / a) The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said that China and India should meet each other halfway to reach a fair and reasonable political solution to the border dispute acceptable to both sides.
3. / 175 countries sign Paris Agreement (Page 16) / a) International / a) The United Nations said a total of 175 countries (including India) on April 22 signed the Paris climate agreement at the United Nations, a record for a one-day signing of an international accord.
4. / RCEP draft moots tough curbs on cheap medicines (Page 15) / a) International / a) A leaked chapter of the draft Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement being negotiated by 16 countries reveals that the trade pact in its current form could reduce access to affordable medicines in many developing countries.
5. / Growing cracks in the US-Saudi alliance (Page 12) / a) International / a) Barack Obama arrived in Riyadh on April 20 to attend a regional summit of Gulf leaders, he was welcomed by the local governor, not by King Salman Bin Abd al-Aziz himself.
6. / Stay in EU, visiting Obama tells Britain (Page 16) / a) International / a) In an impassioned appeal that unsurprisingly has not been received well by the UKs Brexit campaign, visiting US President Obama has urged British citizens to vote to stay in European Union in the referendum on June 23.
7. / On going beyond Bommai (Page 12) / a) National
b) Polity / a) The Uttarakhand High Courts verdict declaring the imposition of Presidents Rule in the State as unconstitutional was expected, but the quick stay on its operation granted by the Supreme Court means that Harish Rawat is once again a former Chief Minister and Presidents Rule is back in force.
8. / 7th IRNSS navsat to belaunched next week (Page 9) / a) National
b) S&T / a) Indias own Regional Navigation Satellite System (the IRNSS) is all set to be completed in space next week when the seventh and last of its spacecraft gets placed in orbit.
9. / Rare primate sighted in Arunachal Pradesh (Page 15) / a) National
b) Geography / a) A group of wildlife photographers and biologists in India have reported sighting of a new species of primate, the White-Cheeked Macaque, in Arunachal Pradesh.
S.NO. / NEWS ITEM / SYLLUBUS / BACKGROUND / IMPORTANT POINTS
1. / China upset after Uighur leader given visa for Dharamshala meet (Pages 1 and 14) / a) I.R / a) India – China relations
b) Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO)
c) World Uighur Congress (WUC) / a) Dolkun Isa (a German national of Uighur ethnicity who is in the middle of the latest diplomatic stand-off between India and China) has requested Indian and German authorities to ensure his safety during his next weeks visit to Dharamshala.
b) Isa is a leader of the so-called World Uighur Congress, who has been declared a terrorist in China.
c) The WUC is a member of the UNPO, founded in 1991 in The Hague. The Dharamshala conference is being organised by the Citizen Power of China, an organisation based in the US
d) Isa said he was looking forward to his first trip to India which has thousands of years of cultural, spiritual, and economic ties with the East Turkestan (Xinjiang) region of China.
2. / China wants fair solution to border dispute (Page 16) / a) I.R / a) India – China relations
b) Border disputes / a) As NSA Ajit Doval (who along with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi held border talks) concluded his visit, China said in a statement that both sides had in-depth and candid exchanges on boundary question, bilateral relations and relevant international and regional issues.
b) Both sides agreed that the negotiation on China-India boundary maintains a positive momentum, with boundary disputes effectively controlled and boundary regions generally peaceful and stable.
3. / 175 countries sign Paris Agreement (Page 16) / a) International / a) Paris Climate Agreement
b) Climate change
c) Global warming
d) Carbon emissions / a) The United Nations said a total of 175 countries (including India) on April 22 signed the Paris climate agreement at the United Nations, a record for a one-day signing of an international accord.
b) Fifteen countries (mostly small-island states) have already ratified the agreement on combating global warming. The landmark deal takes a key step toward entering into force years ahead of schedule.
c) The agreement will enter into force once 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of global emissions have formally joined it. The US and China have said they intend to join this year.
4. / RCEP draft moots tough curbs on cheap medicines (Page 15) / a) International / a) Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP)
b) Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
c) Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
d) Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)
e) Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)
f) Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)
g) TRIPS / a) A leaked chapter of the draft RCEP agreement being negotiated by 16 countries (10 member states of the ASEAN and 6 other countries that have FTAs with the ASEAN) reveals that the trade pact in its current form could reduce access to affordable medicines in many developing countries.
b) The chapter on IPR is part of an October 2015 draft of the RCEP agreement. India has opposed some damaging proposals initiated by the RCEP members, particularly Japan and Korea, involving patent extensions, restrictive rules on copyright exceptions, and other anti-consumer measures.
c) Some member countries (who are part of both the TPP and the RCEP) are trying to push for the TPP standards in RCEP. Japan and Korea are working to introduce some of the worst ideas from the ACTA, the TPP and other trade agreements in the RCEP chapter on Intellectual Property.
d) There are proposals for patent extensions, restrictive rules on exceptions to copyright, and dozens of other anti-consumer measures, illustrating the power of rights-holder groups to use secret trade negotiations to influence democratic decisions that impact access to knowledge, the freedom to innovate and the right to health in negative ways.
e) From Indias point of view, the draft proposals will compel govts to commit to newer Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights provisions like TRIPS plus - including the Patent Law Treaty (Geneva, 2000), which involve harmonisation in examination of patent applications and requirements of patentability.
f) Least Developed Countries are concerned at the move to withdraw the exemption granted under the TRIPS to implement intellectual property laws until 2033.
g) The RCEP is one of three mega FTAs proposed so far (the other two being the TPP and the TTIP) and aims to integrate Asian markets. The next round of RCEP discussions will take place in Perth,
5. / Growing cracks in the US-Saudi alliance (Page 12) / a) International / a) US – Saudi Arabia relations
b) Iran – P5+1 nuclear deal
c) Syria crisis
d) Islamic State (IS) / a) Obama arrived in Riyadh on April 20 to attend a regional summit of Gulf leaders, he was welcomed by the local governor, not by King Salman Bin Abd al-Aziz himself.
b) The visit was positioned as a major diplomatic outreach to the kingdom by Obama to allay concerns about Washingtons approach towards Iran and other contentious issues such as the civil war in Syria.
c) This is not the first awkward moment in the over 70-year-old US-Saudi alliance. On the face of it, relations are riddled with contradictions. One is a democracy that has even embedded human rights issues into foreign policy actions. The other is a closed society ruled by a conservative, authoritarian family.
d) But economic and strategic interests (the USs dependence on the Gulf for oil, the fight against Soviet communism and the war on terror) had helped both countries set aside these contradictions and build a strong partnership based on trust. Of late, with the region witnessing massive changes, this partnership has come under enormous strain.
e) Relations turned sour when Washington refused to protect the regime of Hosni Mubarak (the Egyptian dictator) when he was threatened by mass protests. The mistrust deepened when President Obama declined to bomb Syria. It hit a new low when the Iranian nuclear deal was signed.
f) The Obama administration is against bombing Bashar al-Assads regime because it thinks a collapse of the state in Syria would help the IS. Likewise, it wants Iran to play a more responsible role in regional politics, especially in stabilising Iraq and defeating IS in Syria: both are vital for American interests in the region.
g) This marks a clear divergence of interests between the US and its Sunni Gulf allies, who are worried about Irans growing stature in West Asia. Interestingly, Obama pressed ahead with his policy despite pressure from the Gulf.
h) Both the US and Saudi Arabia still need each other. Despite tensions, US defence sales to the kingdom and other Gulf countries have soared in recent years. The US is still committed to the security of its Gulf allies.
6. / Stay in EU, visiting Obama tells Britain (Page 16) / a) International / a) EU referendum
b) European Union
c) Brexit
d) Bretton Woods
e) Marshall Plan
f) NATO / a) In an impassioned appeal that unsurprisingly has not been received well by the UKs Brexit campaign, visiting US President Obama has urged British citizens to vote to stay in EU in the referendum on June 23.
b) He placed the EU in the class of post-war international institutions and initiatives like the United Nations, Bretton Woods, the Marshall Plan and NATO.
c) Obama told British citizens that they should be proud that the EU has helped spread British values and practices (democracy, the rule of law, open markets) across the continent and to its periphery.
7. / On going beyond Bommai (Page 12) / a) National
b) Polity / a) Uttarakhand Political crisis
b) Presidents Rule
c) Article 356 of the Constitution
d) Supreme Court
e) High Court
f) Bommai case 1994 / a) The Uttarakhand High Courts verdict declaring the imposition of Presidents Rule in the State as unconstitutional was expected, but the quick stay on its operation granted by the Supreme Court means that Harish Rawat is once again a former Chief Minister and Presidents Rule is back in force.
b) The dismissal of an elected govt on the eve of a confidence vote was a drastic measure that no court could have unequivocally endorsed.
c) The High Court after all was only applying the law laid down in the Bommai case in 1994, which made it clear that the only place to ascertain the majority of a govt was the floor of the House. In assessing the merits of the Centres case for imposition of Presidents Rule, the High Court had to examine three main contentions.
d) These were the unusual passage of the Appropriation Bill through a voice vote rather than a division (following which the Bill was not sent for approval to the Governor), the summary disqualification of nine dissident ruling party legislators, and a sting video that allegedly caught Rawat offering inducements to win back the support of dissidents.
e) While it is impossible to predict what the Supreme Court will make of the High Courts judgment, the controversy in Uttarakhand is symptomatic of the kind of problem that requires a judicial fix going beyond the rules laid down by the Bommai judgment.
f) However, those relating to the application of Article 356 today are somewhat more complex. Chief Ministers cling on to posts even after dissidents have clearly reduced their govts to a minority, and partisan Speakers manipulate floor tests by a selective application of the anti-defection law.
8. / 7th IRNSS navsat to belaunched next week (Page 9) / a) National
b) S&T / a) IRNSS
b) IRNSS-1G
c) PSLV
d) US Global Positioning System
e) ISRO / a) Indias own Regional Navigation Satellite System (the IRNSS) is all set to be completed in space next week when the seventh and last of its spacecraft gets placed in orbit.
b) ISRO said the 1425-kg spacecraft (IRNSS-1G) will be launched on April 28.
c) ISRO said that IRNSS will be to the subcontinent what the US GPS is to its users worldwide, but with far greater precision and in Indian control. It will drive both everyday uses as a 24/7 standard service for air, sea, ship transport and will also be used for missile-related applications as an encrypted and restricted service.
d) IRNSS-1G is slated to be launched from the PSLV-C33 from Sriharikota and will be the 35th PSLV flight in the last two decades.
9. / Rare primate sighted in Arunachal Pradesh (Page 15) / a) National
b) Geography / a) White-Cheeked Macaque
b) Rhesus Macaque
c) Arunachal Macaque
d) Tibetan macaque
e) Assamese macaque / a) A group of wildlife photographers and biologists in India have reported sighting of a new species of primate, the White-Cheeked Macaque, in Arunachal Pradesh.
b) Macaques (which are distant cousins of langurs and gibbons) are a hard catch it was only the third macaque ever discovered since 1903.
c) The Mentawai macaque (Macaca pagensis) was found in Indonesia in 1903 and Arunachal macaque (Macaca munzala) in 2005. The new species becomes the 22nd known macaque species and the 9th in India.
d) Researchers were confident about the newness of their find on the basis of photographic records and its several distinguishing characteristics from similar-looking macaque species, such as the Rhesus Macaque, Arunachal Macaque, Tibetan macaque and Assamese macaque.
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