27th November 2019 Current Affairs

1. Transgender persons (protection of Rights) bill 2019passed

• Parliament today passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019, with the RajyaSabha approving it today by a voice vote.
• The LokSabha had already passed the bill. It defines a transgender person as one whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth.It provides every transgender person a right to reside and be included in his household.
• The Bill prohibits discrimination against a transgender person including denial of service, unfair treatment in education, employment, healthcare, enjoyment of goods, facilities, opportunities available to the public, right to movement and right to reside.
• As per the legislation, no government or private entity can discriminate against a transgender person in employment matters including recruitment and promotion.
• Replying to a debate on the bill, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot said that wider consultations have been made while framing the rules of this legislation. 
• He said recommendations of the Standing Committee directions of the Supreme Court and the suggestions of the members of the RajyaSabha have been taken into consideration.

2. Cartosat -3

• ISRO has launched Cartosat-3 and 13 commercial nanosatellites into Sun Synchronous orbit from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota.
• Cartosat-3 is an earth-observation remote sensing(Remote sensing is the science of obtaining information about objects or areas from a distance, typically from aircraft or satellites) satellite which will replace Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) series.
• The 13 commercial nanosatellites are from the USA, which is the first commercial order for New Space India Limited, the commercial arm of ISRO which was formed in March 2019.
• Cartosat-3 is a third-generation advanced earth observation satellite carried by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C47.
• PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) is an indigenously-developed expendable launch system of the ISRO.
• Resolution: It has the ‘sharpest eye’ of civil remote sensing satellites in the world.
• Currently, a satellite owned by US private company- WorldView-3, has the best ground resolution of 31 cm.
• It has many new technologies such as a highly agile or flexible camera; high-speed data transmission, advanced computer system, etc.

Uses

• Data from most of the Cartosat satellites are exclusively used by the armed forces.
• However, an existing policy allows only government and government authorized agencies to access ISRO’s high-resolution imageries below a resolution of 1 meter.
• Cartosat-3’s optical imaging will also help to detect precise cartographic or mapping activities.
• The imageries are also used for urban and rural infrastructure planning, coastal land use and regulation, utility management such as monitoring road networks, water grids or distribution, creation of land use maps, disaster management, etc.

3. Automotive massive plan

• The Automotive Mission Plan (AMP) 2016-26 is a collective vision by the Government of India and the India Automotive Industry to lay down the roadmap for the development of the industry.
• It provides vision on where vehicles, auto components and tractor industry should reach over the next 10 years in terms of size, contribution to India’s GDP and global footprint in technology, competitiveness and capabilities.
• AMP(2006-16) has been successful which made India not only an automobile producing hub but also a designing and development hub.
• The Indian automotive industry aims to be among the top 3 of the world in engineering, manufacture and export of vehicles and auto components, growing in value to over 12% of India’s GDP, and generating an additional 65 million jobs.

4. Lokpal and Lokayukta

Lokpal and Lokayukta

• The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 provided for the establishment of Lokpal for the Union and Lokayukta for States.
• These institutions are statutory bodies without any constitutional status.
• They perform the function of an “ombudsman” and inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries and for related matters.
• In India, the concept of constitutional ombudsman was first proposed by the then law minister Ashok Kumar Sen in parliament in the early 1960s.
• The term Lokpal and Lokayukta were coined by Dr L. M. Singhvi.

Significance

• To tackle the issues of maladministration and corruption.
• Most of the anti-corruption agencies are advisory in nature, hardly independent and do not have effective powers.
• There is no separate and effective mechanism to check the problems of internal transparency and accountability.
• In this context, the independent institutions of Lokpal and Lokayukta have been a landmark move in the history of Indian polity which offers a solution to the corruption and administrative problems.

5. Government said India is largest milk producer

• Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Giriraj Singh said India is the largest milk-producing country in the world and animal husbandry has been a major contributor to the growth of farmers.
• He was speaking at an event organised to celebrate National Milk Day in New Delhi on 26th November. The Minister said the government is trying to increase the export of milk products, but some countries deliberately look for deficiencies in India’s products.  
• He said, milk production in India has gone up from 137 million tonnes to 187 million tonnes and farmers have benefited immensely. He also recalled Dr.VergheseKurien’s significant contribution to increasing milk production. 

6. New START treaty

• New START Treaty is a treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on measures for the further reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms.
• It entered into force on 5^th February, 2011.
• It is a successor to the START framework of 1991 (at the end of the Cold War) that limited both sides to 1,600 strategic delivery vehicles and 6,000 warheads.
• It continues the bipartisan process of verifiably reducing U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals by limiting both sides to 700 strategic launchers and 1,550 operational warheads.
• It will lapse in February 2021 unless extended for a five-year period.
• Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
• INF Treaty is another treaty that was signed during the Cold War.
• It was a nuclear arms-control accord reached by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987 in which the two nations agreed to eliminate their stocks of intermediate-range and shorter-range (or “medium-range”) land-based missiles (which could carry nuclear warheads).
• The United States withdrew from the Treaty on 2^nd August 2019.