Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Editorials are covered separately. HINDU NOTES are available free date wise| CLICK HERE

U.S. adds India to currency watch list with China

News

• The U.S. Treasury added India to its watch list of countries with potentially questionable foreign exchange policies, joining China and four others, according to a report issued on Saturday.

Beyond News

• Treasury said the “monitoring list” includes those “major trading partners that merit close attention to their currency practices.” In addition to India, the semi-annual report to Congress names five countries that continue on the list from October: China, Germany, Japan, Korea and Switzerland.
• Countries remain on the list for two report cycles “to help ensure that any improvement in performance versus the criteria is durable and is not due to temporary factors.”
• While no major trading partner was found to be manipulating its currency, five of those on the list meet two of the three criteria, while China is included because “it constitutes a disproportionate share of the overall U.S. trade deficit.”
• The US has a deficit of $337 billion with China of a total global trade deficit of $566 billion, according to government data.
• The report said India, which has a $23 billion trade surplus with the United States, “increased its purchases of foreign exchange over the first three quarters of 2017,” although the rupee still rose in value.
• Germany has the world’s largest current account surplus,also remained on the watch list, even though it is part of the European currency union, which means it cannot independently control the exchange rate for the euro.
• Treasury called for all the countries on the list to implement economic reforms to address their surpluses.

U.S., Britain, France rain over 100 missiles on Syria

News

• S., British and French forces struck Syria with more than 100 missiles in the first coordinated Western strikes against the Damascus government, targeting what they called chemical weapons sites in retaliation for a suspected poison gas attack.

Beyond News

• President Donald Trump announced the action from the White House, saying the three allies had “marshalled their righteous power against barbarism and brutality.”
• The bombing represents a major escalation in the West’s confrontation with Mr. Assad’s superpower ally Russia, but is unlikely to alter the course of a multi-sided war which has killed at least half-a-million people in the past seven years.
• That, in turn, raises the question of where Western countries go from here, after a volley of strikes denounced by Damascus and Moscow as reckless and pointless.
• There were no immediate reports of casualties, with Damascus allies saying the buildings hit had been evacuated in advance. British Prime Minister Theresa May described the strike as “limited and targeted.”

Social auditing of tribal schemes soon

News

• A social audit of over 50 multi-crore tribal welfare projects initiated in recent years in Attappady by the Central and State governments will be conducted by the Palakkad District Legal Services Authority next week, as ordered by the Kerala High Court.

Beyond News

• The projects being audited include the Rs. 12-crore Kurumba tribal development project from which Rs. 11 crore was diverted for the construction of a road between Chindakki and Anawai.
• The project was meant for improving the living standards of the most-primitive Kurumba tribe, numbering hardly 2,250 and living in the deep interiors of the forests in Pudur grama panchayat.
• The Kerala State SC/ST Commission has been opposing the operation of the community kitchens, which promised nutritious meals to pregnant and lactating women, saying that they have failed to meet the objective.
• Various housing and health initiatives implemented in the past one decade will also come under scrutiny.
• The district judge will oversee the audit in which government’s own audit experts and retired auditors will take part along with those from the legal services authority.
• Allegations of tribal organisations that tribal sub-plan funds and additional sub-plan funds to the tune of crores of rupees have been diverted will be checked.

Monitoring mechanism

• Based on the audit, the court will decide on the demand to set up a permanent monitoring mechanism for tribal welfare initiatives in Attappady.
• The audit is likely to be a reality check on tribal empowerment in the largest aborigine collective in the State.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Centre ties up with IIT-Delhi for safety switches on vehicles

News

• Under pressure on the issue of safety of women in the country, the government has turned to technology for a solution.

Beyond News

• The Ministry of Electronics and IT in partnership with IIT-Delhi is working on a switch-based device in cars and buses to aid safety of women.
• They are using technology to ensure help in case of distress while travelling in public transport.
• A senior ministry official said that,the proposed panic switch system when invoked will generate a loud alarm in the vehicle which will attract public attention, and send the coordinates of the person to a server (police control room) to provide necessary help.
• The system will include features such as authenticating the driver of the vehicles and a camera interface.
• The first version has been field tested and final version is expected in May, 2018 for cars and by August, 2018 for buses.
• The project, being developed by IIT-Delhi, is being funded by the Nirbhaya Fund, set up in 2013 for implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security of women in the country.
• The total number of crimes registered against women in the country during the year 2014, 2015 and 2016 were 3,39,457, 3,29,243 and 3,38,954, respectively, showing a mixed trend with a decline of 3.0% in 2015 over 2014 and an increase of 2.9% in 2016 over 2015, as per the government data.

Japan, China pledge to work on economic ties amid heightened trade tensions

News

• Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Taro Kono and his Chinese counterpart kicked off the first high-level economic talks between their nations in eight years , at a time of tense trade relations with the United States for both countries.

Beyond News

• Concern is growing about a trade row between China and the United States in which the two nations have threatened each other with tariffs. 
• Japan has come in for criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump on trade and been hit with tariffs on steel and aluminium, but Japan has not yet threatened counter-tariffs.
• China’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, is the first Chinese Foreign Minister to visit Japan in a bilateral context in nine years. They discussed a broad range of issues, including North Korea, Kono on Sunday night.
• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged last year to reset the sometimes touchy relationship between Asia’s two largest economic powers.
• Financial markets have been roiled recently over fears that a full-blown U.S.-China trade war could shatter global trade and economic growth, and these issues are likely to be high on the agenda, along with Japanese cooperation on China’s Belt and Road projects.
• Japanese officials are also eager to avoid trade friction with the United States, with the issue to be discussed in the Abe and Trump talks later this week.

National Fire Service Day observed

News

Fire and Rescue Services personnel who sacrificed their lives during rescue operations in 1944 were remembered during the National Fire Service Day.

Beyond News

• The day is observed every year to remember the 71 firemen who lost lives fighting the fire that took place at freighter SS Fort Stikine at the Victoria Dock in the then Bombay Port on April 14, 1944.
• The explosion led to killing of hundreds of people including the firemen apart from causing extensive damage to ships.
• To remember those brave men who lost their lives fighting the fire, the day is observed nationally every year.
• The national theme for the year is “Fire loss is National loss – Let us Adopt fire safety measures”.

Gujarat: Fossil reveals ancient tree which is new to science

News

• The dry thorn forests of southeast Gujarat were rich rainforests nearly 55 million years ago.

Beyond News

• The recent discovery of a wood fossil, whose closest living relatives are rainforest trees.
• Plant fossils can help palaeobotanists reconstruct ancient vegetation. Scientists have discovered numerous such fossils from the 55 million-year-old Vastan lignite mine in Gujarat’s Surat district.
• When the team observed its fine wood slivers under a microscope, they noted several minuscule wood cells and rays (pale streaks on a tree trunk that run parallel to the circular tree rings).
• These closely resembled the wood of plants in the mahogany family (Meliaceae).The characteristic long rays of the fossil helped narrow the search further: they were similar to those of living evergreen trees belonging to the genus Chisocheton, which are found in parts of India, China, south Asia and Australia.
• However, the new fossil’s vessels (a type of plant cell) were smaller and rays arranged in fewer layers. They christened their find Chisochetonoxylon vastanensis.
• These studies put together do point to the existence of evergreen forests in the region during this time.

CLICK HERE TO SEE DATE WISE CURRENT AFFAIRS