Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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India, South Korea agree on framework to improve trade

News

• India and South Korea signed a joint statement agreeing to discuss an ‘early harvest’ package for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) aimed at identifying key areas for enhanced trade between the two countries.

Beyond News

• Resolving to work towards promoting mutual prosperity, India and South Korea agreed to expand bilateral trade, including through the early conclusion of ongoing negotiations to upgrade the ROK-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)
• The two countries also agreed to try to increase their bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030, up from current levels of $20 billion.
• According to the Ministry of Commerce, the signing of the early harvest package was in keeping with the ongoing discussions with South Korea, and was one of many objectives the two countries wanted to achieve.
• In the last meeting held in 2017, three deliverables were identified: early harvest package of CEPA, forming futures strategy group to jointly harness fourth generation technology and innovative products and a trade remedies MOU, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
• An early harvest agreement of the CEPA which has three chapters: goods, services, and investments (was agreed to), Indian Ambassador to South Korea said.
• India and South Korea  want to see progress in all three. The original CEPA that came into existence in 2010 contained the space for this expansion.

Section 377: Partner can be from the same sex, says Justice Chandrachud

News

• A person’s choice of a partner is a fundamental right, and it can include same-sex partner, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said.

Beyond News

• The observation came on the first day of hearing by a Constitution Benchof petitions challenging the constitutionality of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a colonial era provision that criminalises private consensual sex between adults.
• Justice Chandrachud drew his observation from the March 2018 judgment in the Hadiya case, which held that neither the State nor one’s parents can influence an adult’s choice of partner. That would be a violation of the fundamental right to privacy. Hadiya, a Hindu girl from Kerala, converted to Islam and chose to marry a Muslim man.
• The Constitution Bench, also comprising Justices, is re-visiting the December 2013 verdict of the Supreme Courtin the Suresh Koushal case, which had upheld Section 377. It had dismissed the LGBT community as a negligible part of the population, while denying them the right of choice and sexual orientation.
• Senior advocate said Section 377 described such sexual acts as against the order of nature.
• At one point, the judges on the Bench mooted various means to approach the case. Justice said the court should not confine itself to a declaration on whether Section 377 was constitutional or not. It should go beyond the topic of sexual orientation and examine the wider concept of “sexuality” to include co-habitation, etc.
• But Chief Justice Misra observed that the Bench should first decide the constitutionality of Section 377.
• Senior advocate said, though it was silent, the government had never supported Section 377. The Centre had not appealed in the Supreme Court against the historic Delhi High Court judgment of 2010 which had protected the LGBT community from Section 377. In fact, it was the Centre which filed the review petition against the apex court judgment of December 2013.

India will lose ‘special privileges’ if it buys crude from Saudi Arabia, U.S.: Iranian diplomat

News

• Iran will end “special privileges” for India if New Delhi tried to replace Iranian crude with supplies from Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States, said a senior Iranian diplomat in New Delhi.

Beyond News

• Senior Iranian diplomat said that Iran had tried to help India whenever possible on strategic issues like energy and connectivity, but argued that India’s investment promises in the port of Chabahar have not been delivered.
• The Iranian response comes days after India was asked by the Donald Trump administration to drastically cut down crude supply from Iran.
• India has not spelt out how it would address the concerns of the U.S. government. The Ministry of External Affairs has maintained that Delhi would consult “all stakeholders” in ensuring energy security.
• The Iranian official said that Iran remained an open market for Indian requirements like petroleum, , urea and LNG and Iran understood India’s energy requirements.
• Senior Iranian diplomat also spoke about the impact of U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, also known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and argued that unilateralism by the U.S. was imposing a heavy cost on the world.
• He cautioned that a conflict in the Gulf region would “drive up” the price of crude oil and impact growing powers like India and China.

U.S. proposes tariffs on $200 billion more in Chinese imports

News

• The Trump administration is readying tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese imports, ranging from burglar alarms to mackerel, escalating a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.

Beyond News

• The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative proposed 10% tariffs on a list of 6,031 Chinese product lines.
• S. imposed 25% tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese products, and Beijing responded by hitting the same amount of U.S. imports.
• The administration said the new levies are a response to China’s decision to retaliate against the first round of U.S. tariffs.
• President Donald Trump has threatened to tax as much as $550 billion in Chinese products an amount that exceeds America’s total imports from China last year.
• The United States complains that China uses predatory practices in a push to challenge American technological dominance. Chinese tactics, the administration says, include outright cybertheft and forcing U.S. companies to hand over technology in exchange for access to the Chinese market.
• The initial U.S. tariff list focused on Chinese industrial products in an attempt to limit the impact on American consumers. By expanding the list, the administration is beginning to hit products that U.S. households buy, including such things as electric lamps and fish sticks.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

60% of Indian computers vulnerable

News

• India must go the Japanese way if it wishes to prevent cyber attacks on the country’s massive IT infrastructure, says Avast Antivirus chief technical officer and executive vice-president.

Beyond News

• Over 60% of the personal computers in India were vulnerable to cyber crimes. As many as 18% of routers, 17% phones, 14% printers, 25% network associated storages, 4% security cameras and 2% media boxes too were vulnerable to threats in India.
• In comparison, only 9% of personal computers, 3% phones, 25% of routers, 16% of printers and 23% of security cameras in Japan were under threat.
• The situation was not rosy in Hong Kong either, where about 45% of personal computers were vulnerable to cyber attacks. The percentage for China, the U.S. and Singapore were 39%, 38% and 33% respectively.
• Already most countries are taking precautionary steps specially when it comes to hardware devices. But government-enabled regulations can prevent cyber crimes with the growth of Internet of Things (IoT).
• Incidentally, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play a key role in IoT safety. In future, AI will identify malicious and legitimate behavior.

A.P. tops in ‘Ease of Doing Business’

News

• Andhra Pradesh has topped the third edition of the government’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ index for States with a final score of 98.42%. This is the second time in a row that A.P. achieved the first rank.

Beyond News

• AP., which was given second rank in 2015, outperformed other States and Union territories by maintaining its leadership position through implementation of 99.73% reforms.
• Telangana and Jharkhand trailed behind A.P. though they scored 100% in reform evidence score.
• AP. got 99.73% score in reform evidence and 86.50% in feedback score. While Telangana stood second in the final score, Haryana bagged the third position. A.P. and Telangana jointly occupied the top slot in fiscal 2015-16.

Western Ghats bags fourth best tourist spot in Lonely Planet’s best Asia destinations list

News

• Older than the Himalayas and well known for its rich and unique flora and fauna, the Western Ghats has figured in Lonely Planet’s top five “2018 Best in Asia” list, a collection of 10 of the best destinations to visit in the continent for the year.

Beyond News

• One of the Hottest Biodiversity Hotspots and UNESCO World Heritage site, the Western Ghats has came fourth in the list of the Lonely Planet, considered a Bible by travellers worldwide.
• Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana), which has started blooming after 12 years in the famed hill station of Munnar has found mention in report.
• Western Ghats offer an atmospheric mirror to Shimla and Darjeeling, with added jungle appeal.
• Traversing Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, these rugged hills are UNESCO listed as one of the top spots for biodiversity in the world, protecting everything from wild elephants and tigers to the neelakurinji flower, which blooms only once every 12 years and will be painting the hills in purple livery from August to October 2018.
• Western Ghats supports the life of 7,402 species of flowering plants, 1814 species of non-flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species, 179 amphibian species, 6000 insects species and 290 freshwater fish species.

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