Daily Current Affairs including Static Notes - 4 MAY
💥SC QUALIFIES ITS RULING ON ATROCITIES ACT💥 (POLITY)
The Supreme Court modified its earlier ruling on SC/ST atrocities act by qualifying that police need to conduct a preliminary enquiry before arrest only in cases where they feel a complaint filed about an atrocity committed on Dalits is outright “absurd” or “absolutely” frivolous.
The Judgment clarified that the Supreme Court had never intended to make the enquiry before arrest a mandatory condition in each and every complaint filed by Dalits under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989.
But the top court once again refused to stay the verdict, rejecting the Centre’s claim that it caused widespread violence and even deaths in the country, saying that the order was only aimed at putting filter on immediate arrest.
👉Context
A judgment of Supreme Court in March had banned immediate arrest of a person accused of atrocities against SC/ST community members. To avoid prosecution of innocent people in frivolous cases filed under the Act, the court had ordered a preliminary enquiry to be conducted to check the veracity of the complaint. Till then, no arrests would be made.
The judgment further required prior sanction to be taken from the appointing authority before arrest if the accused is a government servant and permission of the Deputy Police Commissioner concerned in case the accused is a private individual.
But it was widely perceived as a dilution of the provisions of the protection of SC/St and had led to widespread unrest and violence in the country inviting widespread criticism against the order from all walks of life.
The Act, also known as POA (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, was enacted in 1989 to prevent atrocities against scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
💥NEW SNAKE FOUND IN WESTERN GHATS 💥(ENVIRONMENT)
Scientists have discovered an entirely new species of shieldtail snake from the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu, which differs from other members of its group as it has a broader and longer head and more number of scales on its belly, according to a recent report published in the journal Zoo taxa.
Scientifically named Uropeltis bhupathyi, the new snake species is presently only known to exist in the Anaikatty hills of Tamil Nadu which is dominated by a deciduous type of vegetation.
The news species faces threats from road traffic, habitat loss, and a possible fungal infection that leads to deformed heads. We need to protect its habitat to conserve this species and probably others that are yet to be discovered from this region.
👉About the shieldtails family
At present, there are 45 known species of shieldtail snakes in the world, of which 30 are endemic to India and 15 to Sri Lanka. The name ‘shieldtail’ comes from their heavily keeled tails that terminate in disk-like shields or multiple spines in most species. They are small sized snakes, typically 25 to 50 cm in length and live in loose soil among plant roots or under decaying vegetation
They are inoffensive, non-venomous, and easy-to-handle owing to their inability to bite because they have short head and mouth. They come in a variety of colors, mostly dark shades of grayish black/brown and feed on earthworms and arthropods.
India is home to more than 300 snake species.
💥GST COUNCIL TO DECIDE ON SIMPLIFYING RETURN FILING💥 ( GOVERNANCE)
The 27th GST Council meeting today is likely to come up with comprehensive changes to the return filing process in order to make it simpler.
According to the GST law, the return filing process involves three forms (GSTR-1, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3) — two of which have been kept in abeyance to ease the compliance process for businesses. The GST Council will looking at weather or how to reduce these into a single form, making the whole process more user friendly.
If implemented this would mean filing only one return every month compared to three every month under the current GST process
Another key issues in the agenda include a proposal to bring GST Network completely in Government control by buying the stakes of the private entities. Currently, five private financial institutions – HDFC Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd, NSE Strategic Investment Co and LIC Housing Finance Ltd, together hold 51 per cent stake in GSTN.
👉About GST Council
As per Article 279A (1) of the amended Constitution, GST Council will be a constitutional body established by president of India to be a joint forum of the Centre and the States. Its composition will be as follows:
- Chairman – Union Finance Minister
- Minister of State (Finance)
- Finance Minister as member from each state
The meetings of the GST Council can proceed with a quorum of 50 percent and decisions will be taken with at least three-fourth weighted majority voting for a resolution. All decisions of the GST Council will be made by three-fourth majority of the votes cast; the centre shall have one-third of the votes cast, and the states together shall have two-third of the votes cast.
👉Functions
The Council will make recommendations to the Union and the States on important issues related to GST, like the goods and services that may be subjected or exempted from GST, model GST Laws, principles that govern Place of Supply, threshold limits, GST rates including the floor rates with bands, special rates for raising additional resources during natural calamities/disasters, special provisions for certain States, etc.
💥 IRAN TO QUIT N-DEAL IF U.S. WALKS AWAY 💥 ( IR)
Iran warned on Thursday (May 3) it will quit a landmark nuclear deal if President Donald Trump pulls the United States out of the accord, while also criticising European states over “concessions” to the Americans.
The deal to prevent nucelaristation of Iran has run into trouble after Trump has threatened to abandon the agreement when it comes up for renewal on May 12(According to U.S. law, the administration must certify the Iran deal every 90 days), demanding his country’s European allies “fix the terrible flaws” or he will re-impose sanctions
👉What is the deal about?
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal is an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, reached in 2015. It’s a deal negotiated among Germany, the five permanent UN Security Council members (China, France, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S) and the European Union.
The deal aims to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon in return for lifting international oil and financial sanctions. Under it, Iran has agreed to give up its most advanced centrifuges and use only its oldest models. But it still allows Iran to continue enrichment in lower quantities for civilian purposes such as power plants. And according to its provisions
- America and its allies will recognise Iran’s right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, as guaranteed by the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
- Iran will enrich uranium, the vital process that could be used to make the core of a nuclear bomb, this will be monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
- Iran will allow IAEA inspectors more powers to monitor its nuclear plants and other facilities.
- Once the IAEA has confirmed that Iran has taken steps to reduce its nuclear presence, America and its allies will lift all nuclear-related economic sanctions, including oil embargos and financial restrictions.
💥Cyclonic circulation in Haryana could have set off dust storms 💥( Geography)
A cyclonic circulation over Haryana was the trigger for the deadly dust storm that swept parts of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, weather experts said on Thursday, estimating that the wind speed during the storm might have gone up to 100 kms per hour.
A cyclonic circulation is essentially a low pressure system in to which winds flows in and achieves a circulatory nature due to Coriolis Effect. There were primarily four reasons that lead to the thunderstorm — excessive heating, availability of moisture, instability in atmosphere and a trigger for the storm
The northern plains have been witnessing temperatures of over 40 degree Celsius. There were two sources of moisture –a western disturbance over north Pakistan and adjoining Jammu and Kashmir and easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal
The cold winds from the western disturbance was making atmosphere unstable. In case of a dust storm, due to excessive heating, the water from the clouds evaporates before it could land. So soil is dry and the severe winds lift up this soil up to 500 metres above the land.
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