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General Studies-02

U.S. backs sale of fighters to India

News:

• The Trump administration has told the U.S. Congress that it “strongly supports” the sale of F-18 and F-16 fighter planes to India.

Beyond news:

• These are built by American companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin respectively.
• Both companies have offered to assemble these planes in India, should New Delhi decide to buy them.
• U.S. lawmakers and bureaucrats, in general, have been enthusiastic supporters of proposals to sell these fighters to India, and are now presenting them as deals that could reduce America’s trade deficit with India and create more jobs in America than they relocate — issues that are on top of Mr. Trump’s agenda.

F-16 and Gripen

• Built by Swedish company Saab, are competing for the proposed single engine fighter acquisition for the IAF.
• French Rafale and Boeing’s F/A-18 are competing for the contract for the Navy’s twin engine fleet for its aircraft carriers.
• Lockheed Martin and Tata have formed a joint venture to make F-16, while Saab announced a JV with the Adani group last week for Gripen.

India keeps off ‘Bali Declaration’

• In a show of solidarity with Myanmar, India refused to be a part of a declaration adopted at an international conference here in Indonesia as it carried “inappropriate” reference to the violence in Rakhine State from where 1,25,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh.
• An Indian Parliamentary delegation, led by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, dissociated itself from the ‘Bali Declaration’ adoped at the ‘World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development’ held here.
• This was in view of the fact that the declaration, which was to be adopted at the conclusion of the Forum, was not in line with the agreed global principles of ‘sustainable development.
• India reiterated its stance that the purpose of convening the Parliamentary forum was to arrive at a mutual consensus for implementation of SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) which required inclusive and broad-based development processes.

State laws repugnant to IBC are void: SC 

News:

• The Supreme Court held that, Provisions of State enactments which hinder the country’s new bankruptcy law, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), meant to protect the interests of shareholders, creditors and workmen against entrenched managements unable to dig their way out of their debts, will be declared void.

Beyond News:

• Court also held that the erstwhile management of a company cannot represent it in court once insolvency resolution process has been admitted in the National Company Law Tribunal and the management transferred to an insolvency professional.
• The judgment dismissed an appeal by Innoventive Industries, represented by senior advocate A.M. Singhvi and advocate Shikhil Suri, against insolvency proceedings under the IBC by lender ICICI Bank.
• The company invoked the Maharashtra Relief Undertakings (Special Provisions Act) of 1958 against the insolvency resolution process under Section 7 of the IBC.

General Studies-03

Where Kerala’s birds go for higher studies

• Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) campus is famous for its biodiversity.
  A four-year survey found that it is home to a third of the State’s 509 bird species, suggesting that such areas could be important refugia for biodiversity.
• A refugium is an area where species can survive through a period of unfavourable conditions.
  The results, published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa, showed the presence of 172 bird species on the campus.
• These included the secretive Watercock, the threatened Oriental darter, and the migratory Common sandpiper. Two species endemic to the Western Ghats, the Malabar grey hornbill and the Crimson-backed sunbird, occur here.
• The campus also supports 11 species (including the Hill myna and the Indian peafowl) listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act.

Demonetisation: now a proven failure?

Its a discussion with different views. Nothing New; All the points are covered in previous days.

For a robust data protection regime

News:

On July 31, the government set up a five-member committee chaired by former Supreme Court judge, Justice (retd.) B.N. Srikrishna, to draw up a draft Data Protection Bill.

Beyond News:

• The Bill, if made law, will be India’s first exclusive statute providing protection to online users’ personal data from breach by state and non-state players.
• Both the government and the court have agreed that this would be the “conceptual foundation for legislation protecting privacy” in the form of the new Data Protection Bill.

Salient features:

The new Bill would be based on five salient features:

1. technological neutrality and interoperability with international standards;
2. multi-dimensional privacy;
3. horizontal applicability to state and non-state entities;
4. conformity with privacy principles;
5. a co-regulatory enforcement regime.

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