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Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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Set procedure to vet NRC claims: Supreme Court

News

  • The Supreme Court directed authorities to not initiate any ‘action’ against 40 lakh persons left out of the draftAssam National Register of Citizens (NRC) published on July 30.

Beyond News

  • The Bench of Justices ordered the government, in consultation with State NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela, to frame a ‘fair’ standard operating procedure (SOP) to deal with the claims and objections of those who did not find their names in the draft NRC.
  • Attorney-General informed the court that the Ministry concerned is working out the modalities of the SOP, which would “deal with the different dimensions of the exercise of hearing the claims and objections to ensure that the process is fair.”
  • Attorney-General submitted that once the modalities are worked out, the SOP would be placed before the court by mid-August.
  • The AG submitted that the government is developing biometrics so that even if a declared foreigner escapes to another State, he or she would be caught there.
  • The court posted the case for August 16 for further orders on timelines leading to the publication of the final NRC. The much-anticipated second and final draft of the NRC shows 2.9 crore names out of the total 3.29 crore who applied in Assam.
  • The names of 40.07 lakh applicants were not included in the historic document, considered proof of Assamese identity. The first draft NRC was published in the intervening night of December 31 and January 1 and showed the names of 1.9 crore people.

All unselected H-1B petitions returned: U.S.

News

  • The S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said that it has returned all the petitions of H-1B visas, popular among Indian IT professionals, that were not selected in the computer-generated lottery system in April.

Beyond News

  • The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
  • The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said that it has returned all the unselected H-1B petitions for the fiscal year 2019, beginning October 1 which were submitted to the agency in April.
  • The Congressional mandated cap of 65,000 H-1B visas and another 20,000 in the advanced degree categories were reached within the first five days after the USCIS started accepting H-1B applications.
  • As an H-1B non-immigrant, the applicant may be admitted for a period of up to three years. The time period may be extended, but generally cannot go beyond a total of six years. However, there are some exceptions to it.
  • On April 6, around 94,213 H-1B petitions were received in the general category and 95,885 in the advanced degree category, as a result of which the federal agency resorted to a computerised draw of lots to select the successful applicants. Petitions of those not selected have now been returned, the USCIS said.
  • The H-1B application process began from April 2 as the top federal agency temporarily suspended the premium processing of all such work visas subject to fiscal cap.
  • The suspension of premium processing of all the H-1B petitions which are subject to the annual caps is expected to last until September 10, 2018.
  • During this time, the USCIS said it will continue to accept premium processing requests for the H-1B petitions that are not subject to the fiscal 2019 cap.
  • According to the USCIS, between 2007 and 2017, it received the maximum number of 2.2 million H-1B petitions from high-skilled Indians. India was followed by China with 301,000 H-1B petitions during the same period.

LS passes Bill on rape of girls

News

  • The Lok Sabhapassed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018, that provides for the death sentence for raping a girl under 12 years and enhances the minimum punishment for rape of a woman from seven to 10 years.

Beyond News

  • It amends the IPC, CrPC, Indian Evidence Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The Bill, once passed by the Rajya Sabha, will replace the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance promulgated in April, 2018, after outcry over the Kathua rape case.
  • The minimum punishment for the rape of a girl under 12 will be 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, the maximum being death sentence or life imprisonment. Earlier, the punishment was rigorous imprisonment ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju told the House in his reply to the debate on the Bill. For gang-rape of a girl below 12, the punishment will be life imprisonment or death.
  • The minimum punishment for rape of a girl under 16 will be 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, extendable to life imprisonment. The punishment in such cases earlier was 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. In the case of gang-rape of a girl below 16, the punishment will be life imprisonment.
  • The minimum punishment under the Bill for the rape of a woman over 16 is 10 years, extendable to life (under Section 376, IPC). The minimum punishment earlier was seven years and the maximum, life imprisonment.
  • The Bill also provides for investigation of rape cases within two months from the registration of an FIR.
  • While there was no timeline earlier for disposal of an appeal after conviction in a lower court, this would now have to be done within six months.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

NASA’s newest planet hunter starts operations

News

  • After a successful launch in this year, NASA’s newest planet hunter, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), has now started its search for planets around nearby stars.

Beyond News

  • Officially beginning science operations on July 25, TESS is expected to transmit its first series of science data back to Earth in August, and thereafter periodically every 13.5 days, once per orbit, as the spacecraft makes it closest approach to Earth, NASA said in a statement.
  • TESS is NASA’s latest satellite to search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. The mission will spend the next two years monitoring the nearest and brightest stars for periodic dips in their light. These events, called transits, suggest that a planet may be passing in front of its star.
  • TESS is expected to find thousands of planets using this method, some of which could potentially support life.

Stem cells will now fight Parkinson’s

News

  • Japanese scientists announced the first human trial to treat Parkinson’s disease by injecting stem cells into brain, building on an earlier trial on primates.

Beyond News

  • The research team plans to inject five million induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells, which have the potential to develop into any cell in the body, into a patient’s brain, the university said in a press release.
  • The iPS cells from healthy donors will be developed into dopamine-producing brain cells, which are no longer present in people with Parkinson’s disease.
  • Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder that affects the body’s motor system, often causing shaking and other difficulties in movement.
  • Worldwide, about 10 million people have the illness, according to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation.
  • The clinical trials come after the researchers successfully used iPS cells to restore functioning brain cells in monkeys last year. They announced last year that primates with Parkinson’s symptoms regained significant mobility after iPS cells were inserted into their brains.
  • iPS cells are created by stimulating mature, already specialised, cells back into a juvenile state basically cloning without the need for an embryo. These can be derived from the patient, making them less likely to be rejected, while also sidestepping ethical qualms about taking cells from embryos.

The cells can be transformed into a range of different types of cells, and their use is a key sector of medical research.

Ban on oxytocin: doctors feel pinch

Ban on oxytocin concerns

News

  • Doctors are already feeling the pinch with the government’s decision to ban oxytocin and its formulations for the domestic market.
  • The move, which came into effect from July 1, was intended to curb the hormone injection’s misuse in cattle but the impact is being felt by pregnant women, who require the medication the most.

Beyond News

  • Known as a natural hormone, oxytocin helps in effective uterine contractions during labour and preventing post partum haemorrhage. While there are alternatives that one can use to stop bleeding post delivery, if any, for effective contractions, doctors say, oxytocin is the only option.
  • Post the government ban, chemists across the city have already returned the stock of injections to the companies.
  • The government’s ban involves removing chemists from the chain of supply of oxytocin and a complete ban on import of the medication as well.
  • A Karnataka-based public sector company has been appointed and authorised to make and supply the drug in the country.

Yamuna level above danger mark

yamuna above danger levelNews

  • The level of the Yamuna river in Delhi continued to be above the danger mark for the fourth day.

Beyond News

  • According to the Central Water Commission’s advisory to the district administration, the water level was 206.05 metres at Old Railway Bridge and 211.425 metres at Palla, where the river enters Delhi.
  • The danger level at the bridge is 204.83 metres.
  • The Delhi Jal Board said the supply of treated water would be hit due to the flood situation. In a statement, the DJB said the power discom concerned had cut electricity to its tube-wells at Palla, leading to non-availability of water for supply.
  • Rising water levels in the river, which is threatening to burst its banks, has forced more than 13,000 people to take refuge on higher grounds. Some have been accommodated in makeshift government camps comprising more than 1,000 tents. But overcrowding has forced many to set up their own temporary shelters along the National Highway 24 in East Delhi near Mayur Vihar.

Leg-up for private sector participation in defence equipment manufacturing

Defense procurement

News

  • In a major step towards boosting private sector participation in domestic defence manufacturing, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the implementation of Strategic Partnership guidelines .

Beyond News

  • SP model aims to revitalise defence industrial ecosystem and progressively build indigenous capabilities in the private sector to design, develop and manufacture complex weapon system for future needs of armed forces. The amplifying guidelines lay emphasis on incentivisation of transfer of niche technology and higher indigenous content.
  • The SP model has four segments submarines, single engine fighter aircraft, helicopters and armoured carriers/main battle tanks  which would be specifically opened up for the private sector.
  • Under this policy one Indian private company would be selected in each segment which would tie-up with shortlisted global equipment manufacturers to manufacture the platforms in India under technology transfer. The ambitious policy came into effect in May last year but progress was delayed due to the lack of specific guidelines.
  • The DAC also approved platform specific guidelines for procurement of Naval Utility helicopters. Similar guidelines for the other categories will be issued soon.
  • The Ministry stated that all procurements under the SP model would be executed by specially constituted Empowered Project Committees to “provide focussed attention and ensure timely execution.”
  • In another decision, the DAC gave approval for the acquisition of eight Fast Patrol Vessels (FPV) for the Coast Guard at an approximate cost of ₹800 crore. These would be indigenously designed and manufactured.

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