9 PM Current Affairs Brief – March 12th, 2018

A welcome quietus The Supreme Court finally ends unjustified curbs on Hadiya’s personal freedom Supreme Court’s categorical ruling that the high court was wrong in invalidating a marriage under its writ jurisdiction constitutes a welcome end to the unjustified curtailment of her freedom of movement and her life choices. The verdict, for which detailed reasons… Continue reading A welcome quietus

Under a humane Constitution What is Passive euthnasia? The removal of life-support mechanisms from persons who, for the most part, have slipped into a persistent vegetative state in order to allow them to die in the natural course of things Practice of Passive Euthnasia upheld by the SC Case: In Common Cause v. Union of India… Continue reading Under a humane Constitution

‘Centre finalising Cauvery scheme’ Precedent of Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-1 There was also a precedent of the decision of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal–I being implemented without any mechanism (The order of this Tribunal, popularly called Bachawat Award, was published in the gazette in May 1976) Implementation mechanisms available Two models — the Bhakra Beas… Continue reading ‘Centre finalising Cauvery scheme’

Saving Ghouta What happened? Under the deal, the Jaish al-Islam, the main rebel group, will evacuate militants linked to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly an al-Qaeda front, from Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus Regime and Russian forces continue attack The regime’s argument was that it was seeking to liberate Eastern Ghouta from terrorist… Continue reading Saving Ghouta

A breakthrough and a gamble North Korea’s offer Promised to discuss giving up nuclear arsenal if it’s security is assured To hold off from missile or nuclear tests while talks are under way To accept that the annual U.S.-South Korea military exercises will continue Restrictions will continue on North Korea South Korea and the U.S.… Continue reading A breakthrough and a gamble

A curse to science Context Observations made regarding predatory journals in noted a 2015 paper published in BMC Medicine Observations Alarming increase: In the last decade, predatory journals, which publish papers for a fee with little or no peer review, have become a curse to science. Despite the unethical business practices adopted by publishers of… Continue reading A curse to science

U.S. tariffs: ‘India must raise dispute at WTO’ Context India should drag the United States into the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) dispute mechanism against the latter’s move to hike import duties on steel and aluminium, as the decision will impact exports and is not in compliance with the global trade norms, experts said Expert view… Continue reading U.S. tariffs: ‘India must raise dispute at WTO’

Two-factor authentication gathering steam, shows survey Context A majority IT professionals in India expect their organisations to start using two-factor authentication to protect enterprise applications in the future, with almost half expecting this to happen within the next year, according to a private survey Benefit of two-step verification Two-factor authentication would be able to contribute… Continue reading Two-factor authentication gathering steam, shows survey

‘Bank recap should be part of broader reform package’ Context The IMF has said that the recapitalisation of India’s public sector banks should be part of a broader package of financial reforms to speed up the resolution of their massive non-performing assets, which has attracted attention in the backdrop of the Nirav Modi case Situation… Continue reading ‘Bank recap should be part of broader reform package’

PNB fraud: RBI starts special audit of public sector banks Context PNB Scam What has happened? RBI has initiated special audit of State-owned lenders with focus on trade financing activities, especially relating to issuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs) by them In addition, the RBI has asked all banks for details of the LoUs they… Continue reading PNB fraud: RBI starts special audit of public sector banks

India commits $1.4 billion for solar energy worldwide Context India on Sunday announced one of the world’s largest investment plans in solar energy at the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). The $1.4 billion line of credit will cover 27 projects in 15 countries and boost the much-required financial power to the solar… Continue reading India commits $1.4 billion for solar energy worldwide