IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

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Over 19 lakh excluded from Assam’s final NRC

News

• More than 19 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants in Assam were left out of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) that was published to conclude a Supreme Court-monitored exercise that took five years and ₹1,220 crore.

Final National Register of Citizens

• State Home Department officials said though the NRC was called ‘final’, the 19,06,657 people excluded would have opportunities to be back on the citizens’ list if they appeal against their exclusion and establish their citizenship via courts.
• Each excluded person will have 120 days to file an appeal at any of the existing 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals 200 more are to be established within a month which in turn will have to dispose of the cases within six months.
• The appellant then has the option of approaching the High Court and Supreme Court.
• The process of receipt of NRC application forms started in May 2015 and ended on August 31, 2015. A total of 3,30,27,661 members applied through 68,37,660 applications. The particulars submitted by the applicants were taken up for scrutiny to determine the eligibility of their inclusion in the NRC.
• The complete NRC draft was published, wherein 2,89,83,677 people were found eligible for inclusion while 40,007,707 were excluded. Thereafter, claims were received from 36,26,630 people against exclusions.
• Verification was also carried out of persons included in the draft NRC under Clause 4(3) of the Schedule of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.

Timeline of the immigration issue in Assam

• 1950: Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act comes into force following influx of refugees from then East Pakistan to Assam after partition.
• 1951: First Census of Independent India conducted.
• Based on Census, first NRC compiled.
• 1957:Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act repealed.
• 1964-1965: Influx of refugees from East Pakistan due to disturbances in that country.
• 1971:Fresh influx due to riot and war in East Pakistan. Independence Bangladesh comes into existence.
• 1979-1985:Six-year-long Assam agitation, spearheaded by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP) for detection, disenfranchisement and deportation of foreigners.
• 1983: Massacre at Nellie in Central Assam which claimed the lives of over 3,000 people. Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act passed.
• 1985:Assam Accord signed by the Centre, the state, AASU and AAGSP in the presence of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. It stated, among other clauses, that foreigners who came to Assam on or after March 25, 1971 shall be expelled.
• 1997:Election Commission decides to add ‘D’ (doubtful) against names of voters whose claim to Indian citizenship is doubtful.
• 2005: Supreme Court strikes down IMDT Act as unconstitutional. Tripartite meeting among Centre, state government and AASU decides to update 1951 NRC. But no major development takes place.
• 2009: Assam Public Works (APW), an NGO, files case in Supreme Court praying for deletion of foreigners’s name in electoral rolls and updation of NRC.
• 2010:Pilot project starts in Chaygaon, Barpeta to update NRC. Project successful in Chaygaon. Four killed in violence in Barpeta. Project shelved.
• 2013: Supreme Court takes up APW petition, directs Centre, state to begin the process for updating NRC. NRC State Coordinator’s office set up.
• 2015:Updation of NRC process begins.
• 2017:On December 31 midnight, Draft NRC published with names of 1.9 crore of total 3.29 crore applicants.
• July 30, 2018: Another Draft NRC published, 40 lakh of 2.9 crore people excluded.
• June 26, 2019:Publication of Additional Draft Exclusion List of 1,02,462 released.
• August 31, 2019:Final NRC released.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

WHO opens global registry on human genome editing

News

• An expert advisory committee of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has approved the first phase of a global registry to track research on human genome editing as the UN’s international public health monitor seeks to address the ethical and regulatory challenges surrounding promising new technologies to address gene based treatments.

Global registry on human genome editing

• Accepting the committee’s recommendation, WHO announced plans for an initial phase of the registry using the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP).
• This phase will include somatic and germline clinical trials. In order to ensure that the registry is fit for purpose and transparent, the committee will engage with a broad range of stakeholders on how it will operate.
• The 18-member expert committee also announced an online consultation on the governance of genome editing.
• The committee called on all relevant research and development initiatives to register their trials.
• To enhance the development of a global governance framework for human genome editing, the committee will undertake both online consultations and in-person engagement.

HC stays construction of artificial islands in Begur lake

News

• Observing that construction of artificial islands within Begur lake is prima facie violation of guidelines issued by the court for protection of lakes, the Karnataka High Court directed the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) not to continue works related to building of artificial islands and related civil works without the permission of the court.

Begur lake

• The lake, spread over 137.24 acres, is heavily contaminated due to industrial and domestic sewage in recent years, and it is found to be encroached and poorly maintained as per a survey by the Environmental Management Policy Research Institute of the State government.
• A few artificial islands are being built within the lake to make it a tourist destination as part of a rehabilitation plan.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

Brazil says it is successfully controlling fires in Amazon

News

• Brazil’s Foreign Minister said that country is successfully extinguishing the fires in the Amazon region that have generated international concern after discussing the situation with President Donald Trump at the White House.

Amazon fires

• On Thursday, Brazil banned most legal fires for land-clearing for 60 days in an attempt to stop the burning. Many of the current fires were set in areas already cleared of trees.
• About 60 percent of the Amazon region is in Brazil. The Amazon’s rainforests are a major absorber of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

GDP growth down to 6-year low in Q1 of 2019-20 financial year

News

• India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate slowed to a six-year low of 5% in the first quarter of the 2019-20 financial year, the government announced, led by a dramatic slowdown in the manufacturing sector.

Gross domestic product growth

• The last time the GDP grew slower was in the fourth quarter (January to March) of the financial year 2012-13.
• It grew at 8% in the first quarter of last year. The growth of Gross Value Added (GVA) stood at 4.9% in the first quarter of the financial year 2019-20, also the slowest in six years.
• This is due to both endogenous and exogenous factors. The impact comes, especially, from global headwinds due to the deceleration in developed economies, the Sino-American trade conflict, etc.
• The data show that the manufacturing sector grew at an anaemic two-year low of 0.6% in the first quarter of 2019-20, down from 12.1% in the same quarter of the previous year. The agriculture sector also saw a dramatic slowdown in growth to 2% from 5.1% over the same period.
• The plight of the real estate sector was also highlighted by the slowdown in its growth rate to 5.7% in the first quarter of this financial year, compared with 9.6% in the same quarter of 2018-19.
• The government, the last week, announced a whole host of measures to help revive the economy, aimed at easing tax rules for foreign portfolio investors, start-ups, increasing credit outflows by the banks and NBFCs, increasing demand for the auto sector, and liberalising the foreign direct investment rules for single-brand retail.
• Finance Minister also announced a slew of banking reform measures, including merging 10 banks into four entities.

Chandrayaan-2 moves into pre-final orbit

News

• The team of ISRO engineers further nudged the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft closer to moon in an operation lasting 20 minutes.

Closer to moon

• The spacecraft will now go around the moon in an almost circular orbit of 124 km x 164 km, eventually getting into the desired orbit of around 100 km x 100 km.
• This was the fourth orbit manoeuvre since the orbiter-lander reached the moon’s vicinity.

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