Daily Current Affairs for 27th March 2018 ( English)
National:
1. The
Supreme Court on March 27, 2018 termed the interference by illegal assemblies
like ‘khap panchayat’ in marriages of two consenting adults as’ absolutely
illegal’ and laid down guidelines to prevent such intrusions. The judgement
was passed by a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and
Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud. The bench laid down certain
punitive and remedial measures to be followed until a suitable legislation is
put in place by the Parliament. The ruling came on a petition filed against khap
panchayats by NGO Shakti Vahini, which had moved the top court in 2010 seeking
protection of couples from honour killings.
2. The
Supreme Court on March 26, 2018 ruled that as per Section 302 of Indian Penal
code, the punishment for murder is death or life imprisonment and any
punishment less than the life imprisonment is illegal and without the authority
of law. The judgment was delivered by a Bench of Justices RK Agarwal
and Abhay Manohar Sapre, who directed that once a murder accused is convicted,
trial court judges have no "discretion" to award lesser punishment
than the life imprisonment.The court expressed its astonishment on the
judgement made by a trial court wherein the Sessions Judge sentenced ten years
imprisonment to a murder convict Bharatkumar Rameshchandra Barot.
3. The Ministry of
Home Affairs (MHA) is planning to relax the protected area permit (PAP) regime
to enable foreign tourists to access border areas. MHA will coordinate with
other agencies and state governments to identify possible locations for which
protected area permit (PAP) regime provisions may be relaxed. However, citizens
from Pakistan and China are unlikely to be given these relaxations.The move is
being initiated to promote tourism, create job opportunities for the locals and
generate revenue for the states.
4. Surat sets an
example for country by developing villages that use sustainable forms of
energy. Surat district in Gujarat become first in country to have 100%
solar powered Primary Health Centers (PHCs). All 52 PHCs in the district are
now powered by solar system. The solarification of all PHCs in Surat district
will bring down electricity bill by 40% and also help fight global warming.
5. E-Tribes India
banners on e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Snapdeal, Paytm & GeM has been
launched by the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India,
(TRIFED), under Ministry of Tribal Affairs. It also launched
TRIFED’s websites-www.tribesindia.com, www.trifed.in and Retail Inventory
Software and M-commerce app as part of Digital India Initiative.
International:
1. The
International Solar Alliance (ISA) on March 26, 2018 signed the Headquarters
Agreement with the Indian Government, enabling the ISA to establish its
headquarters in the Host Country to discharge its functions and programmes. This
Host Country Agreement makes ISA a juridical personality and gives it power to
acquire and dispose the movable and immovable properties. Under this
agreement, ISA will be authorised to institute and defend legal proceedings,
will enjoy tax concessions and immunities as necessary to independently
discharge its function and programmes.
Science & Technology/ defence:
1. Scientists
from the Australian Institute of Marine Biology have developed an ultra-fine
biodegradable film, some 50000 times thinner than a human hair, to prevent
coral bleaching, which had spread across the Great Barrier Reef in Australia in
2016 and 2017.The shield has been designed to sit on the surface of the water
above the corals rather than directly on the corals to provide an effective
barrier against the sun.The test results of this floating sun shield, made of
calcium carbonate, were remarkable enough to establish the certainty in
protecting the reef from the effects of bleaching.
2. The Ministry of
Defence has released draft policy on defence production that aims to make India
one of the top five manufacturers of defence platforms.with active
participation of public and private sectors. The Policy objectives are i)
Make India self-reliant in defence production as well as fulfil demand of
friendly countries. ii) Achieve turnover of Rs.1,70,000 crore in military goods
and services by 2025 by promoting domestic defence industry. iii) Achieve
export of Rs. 35,000 crore in military equipment and services by 2025 by
promoting the domestic defence industry.
3. The National
Conference on Down Syndrome organised by the National Trust under Ministry of
Social Justice and Empowerment was held in New Delhi. The objective of
conference was to provide excellent opportunities to parents to obtain
information about latest development in education and skilling and inclusive
living of persons with Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome is a chromosomal condition associated with
intellectual and learning disabilities. It leads to delayed development and
behavioural problems in children suffering with it.
4. The SWIFT (Society
for World Interbank Financial Telecommunication System) platform has expanded
its GPI (Global Payment Innovation) Tracker system to help banks track their
global transactions at all times and keep full vigil on payments activity.
5. NASA
has partnered with private space launching company SpaceX to launch Transiting
Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to search for exoplanets using the transit
method.
TESS is designed to carry out first spaceborne all-sky transiting exoplanet
survey. It is planned to be launched in April 2018 on board of SpaceX’s Falcon
9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The primary mission
objective of TESS is to survey brightest stars near Earth for transiting
exoplanets over two-year period. It will use array of wide-field cameras to
perform all-sky survey. It will create catalog of thousands of exoplanet
candidates using transit photometry method.
Announcement !
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