Current Affairs - 2019-20

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The Vishakhapatnam railway station in Andhra Pradesh has been adjudged as the cleanest railway station among the 75 busiest stations in the country in category A1, followed by Secunderabad, Jammu Tawi, Vijayawada and Anand Vihar railway stations. This was revealed by Third Party Audit Report on Station Cleanliness i.e. released by Ministry of Railway in New Delhi on May 17, 2017. The railway stations are categorised — A1, A, B, C, D, E and F — based on their annual passenger revenue by the ministry. Among the ‘A’ category stations, Beas railway station in Punjab was rated the cleanest station followed by Khammam station in Telangana and Ahmednagar station in Maharashtra. Zone wise South-East Central railway has been ranked first followed by East Coast railway and Central Railway. The survey was carried out by the Quality Council of India (QCI) and was based on criteria such as toilets on platforms, management of tracks and dustbins.

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India will host a meeting of WTO member countries in February 2018 to muster support for food security and other issues. This was stated by Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu while speaking at an event organised by Apparel Export Promotion Council, AEPC in New Delhi on December 18, 2017. He further stated that the government is trying to call a meeting of almost 30 to 40 countries in Delhi to help multi-lateral process. India has been keenly pushing agriculture issues at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It has also been raising its voice against bringing new issues, especially those which are not directly linked to trade, on the negotiating table.

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Judicial corporal punishment, such as whipping or caning, has disappeared from most European countries. However, it remains lawful in parts of Africa, Asia, the Anglophone Caribbean, and indigenous communities in South America.
Corporal punishment of children is legally banned in most countries in Europe and Central Asia. The latest countries to prohibit it are France (July 2019) and Kosovo (June 2019).
Corporal punishment is explicitly prohibited by several international conventions on human rights, including the European Convention on Human Rights and the United Nations’ “Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners”.

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Maximum expenditure of the family is on food, which is 23%

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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has constituted a 2-member monitoring committee to oversee the Yamuna rejuvenation project. The committee, comprising former Delhi Chief Secretary Shailaja Chandra and retired NGT expert member Bikram Singh Sajwan, has been directed to submit the first action plan by September 2018 and report by December 2018. The green panel also directed the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments to assist the committee on the project. The Tribunal directed the authorities to take strict action against encroachments on the Yamuna floodplains. It also directed the Delhi Development Authority and the Delhi Jal Board to hold a meeting on July 30 for identifying land for setting up of a sewage treatment plant on a drain which falls under phase-II of the Yamuna cleaning programme. The current chairperson of the NGT is Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, retired Supreme Court Judge.

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World Bank’s analytical report classifies the economies into four groups’ viz. high-income group; upper-middle- income group; lower-middle-income group and low-income group. This classification is made on the basis of Gross National Income per capita (GNI per capita). India’s GNI per capita was $1670 in 2016.

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Recently, the Union Defence Ministry has approved most of the proposals of a committee of experts, headed by Lt. Gen. D.B. Shekatkar (Retd) to bring host of reforms in the military and improve financial management. Recommendations of the committee are: Capital expenditure: Roll-on defence budget must have enough capital expenditure available for modernisation. It must be against the present practice of surrendering unspent capital budget at the end of each financial year. Performance audit: It must be conducted of non-combat organisations under the Defence Ministry. It must include those dealing with defence estates and accounts, Director- General of Quality Assurance, Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and National Cadet Corps (NCC). Downsizing or rationalisation of manpower: It will lead to significant savings. Joint services War College: It must be established for training middle-level officers. Reduce deployment of active-duty soldiers in avoidable postings: They will be replaced by retired officers and jawans in the running of NCC. Comprehensive reforms in the running of NCC: Transfer of NCC out of the Defence Ministry to the HRD Ministry: NCC can be run by re-employed or on-contract ex-service personnel.

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TRAPPIST-1 is a newly discovered solar system that is 39 light years from Earth. It has been discovered by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

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Maldives left the Commonwealth in October 2016, claiming that it was "unfairly and unjustly" treated by the global body.

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Punjab has recently declared the endangered Indus river dolphin as the state’s aquatic animal. The decision was recently taken at a meeting of the state board for wildlife chaired by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. Indus Dolphin is an endangered freshwater aquatic mammal found only in Indian and Pakistan in the Beas river. These are brown/grey in colour, but blind and live for at least for 30 years. The Chief Minister also gave approval to declare Kanjli Wetland and holy Kali Bein River as a wildlife conservation reserve to mark the historic 550th Parkash Purb of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The sacred Kali Bein River was associated with the life of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, who got enlightenment while taking a dip in the holy river.