23 August 2024, The Indian EXPRESS
PM in Kyiv today: Deep concern, offer all cooperation in returning peace via talks
Page no- 1
GS2- India and its bilateral relations
- Ahead of his visit to Kyiv, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed “deep concern” over the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and said India was ready to extend “all possible cooperation” to restore peace and stability through “dialogue and diplomacy”.
- Modi made the remarks after his meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw, where India and Poland upgraded their ties to a “strategic partnership” and agreed on a social security agreement to promote the mobility of skilled workers.
Internship portal in the works, will match skill sets with opportunity
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GS3- Indian Economy and issues relating to employment
- A new portal is in the works to enable youth to apply for internships directly with the country’s top 500 companies under a special package announced in the Budget.
- The portal will facilitate matching of skill sets of the applicants with the type of internship opportunities provided by the companies.
- The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) will announce the guidelines for the internship scheme over the next two weeks, following which the portal will be made active for the prospective applicants, officials involved in the exercise said.
Part of proposed stone crusher unit in Rajaji park ESZ falls in River Song’s floodplain: Wildlife Institute to NGT
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GS3- Conservation
- The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has submitted in a report before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that a part of a stone crusher unit proposed in Rajaji Tiger Reserve’s eco-sensitive zone , Dehradun, falls in River Song’s active floodplain area which sees regular elephant movements.
- The NGT’s principal bench was hearing a plea filed by a group of residents from Dehradun, who have sought quashing of permits granted for the proposed stone crusher unit, stating that no wildlife clearance was obtained for the project.
- The environmental clearance granted for the project, proposed to be run by M/S Balaji Associates, stated that it was subject to obtaining wildlife clearance.
- The Tribunal granted four weeks to the project proponent to respond to the plea as well as the WII report.
Ministry bans 156 ‘irrational’ fixed dose combination drugs with immediate effect
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GS2- Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating Health
- The Union Health Ministry has banned 156 “irrational” fixed dose combination (FDC) medicines with immediate effect, with the notification stating that an expert committee had found “no therapeutic justification” for these combinations and they may pose risk to the patients.
- Fixed dose combination drugs contain more than one active ingredients. While such combinations may help patients with illnesses such as tuberculosis and diabetes consume fewer pills, they also end up delivering ingredients to patients that they may not need.
- For example, patients may end up taking an antibiotic combination for fever when they only require paracetamol.
Europe push, India’s agency: why Modi visit to Kyiv is significant
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GS2- India and its bilateral relations
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Friday (August 23).
- Modi will be the first Indian prime minister to visit Ukraine after diplomatic relations were established in 1992.
- On July 6, Modi met Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Moscow — a visit that both Zelenskyy and the United States had criticised.
Chandrayaan 3: the first findings
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GS3- Awareness in the fields of Space
- Almost a year after Chandrayaan 3 landed on the Moon, scientists in India have released the findings of studies carried out by one of the instruments on the rover module.
- The findings comprise the first analysis of the composition of the topsoil in the Moon’s southern latitudes, and support the widely-accepted hypothesis that the lunar surface in the immediate aftermath of the Moon’s formation was covered by a sea of molten material.
Food inflation pressures showing little signs of abatement in near-term: Das
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GS3- Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment
- With persistent food inflation and pick up in household inflation expectations, monetary policy needs to be vigilant of the likely spillovers of food price pressures, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in the minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held from August 6 to 8.
- In the August monetary policy, the six-member MPC, with a 4:2 majority, left the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent for the ninth consecutive time as persisting high food inflation continued to remain a risk.
GST rate rationalisation: GoM not keen on tweaking current slabs for now, seeks more data
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GS3- Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment
- The reconstituted Group of Ministers (GoM) on rate rationalisation under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime met for the first time on Thursday and broadly agreed to not make any changes with the existing slabs in the indirect tax regime.
- State finance ministers, who participated in the meeting, also said that the issue of reduction of GST rate in health and life insurance premiums was raised in the meeting of the GoM and it is being reviewed by the fitment committee.
- GoM members have sought more data on various items after which it will make a detailed presentation on rate rationalisation proposals at the GST Council meeting slated for September 9.
- The GoM will then meet again in September-end, state finance ministers said. Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, who is the convenor of the GoM on rate rationalisation said some members of the GoM were not in favour of any tweaks in the existing tax slabs under GST.
- “All matters were discussed. We will have further discussions. For now, every member has given their views.
- Some are demanding that there should be no changes in tax slabs under GST. More discussions will happen and then only a final decision will be taken,” he said.
Market Facts & Fears
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GS3- Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment
- On Wednesday, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal raised the issue of “predatory pricing” by e-commerce platforms and the possibility of “social disruption” as their rapid growth could adversely impact millions of small retailers across the country.
- E-commerce platforms in India have been in the regulatory glare for some time now. In 2020, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had initiated an investigation against Amazon and Flipkart over allegations of deep discounting and the practice of preferred sellers.
- Allegations of predatory pricing were also levied against e-commerce firm Shopee and taxi aggregator Ola, subsequently dismissed by the Competition Commission.
For dignity in the end
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GS1- Society
- A recent Supreme Court judgment reveals the legal and ethical confusion surrounding euthanasia in India.
- A Ryles tube is a device through which food can be passed through the nose into the stomach.
- Permission to remove the tube was denied to parents of Harish Rana, a 32-year-old who has been in a vegetative state for the past 11 years with no chance of recovery.
- While withdrawal of life-support in cases deemed terminal is allowed in India as per the SC’s 2018 judgment, a bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud observed on August 20, “Ryles tube is not a life support system.”
- The term “passive euthanasia’, adopted by the Supreme Court in 2018, refers to allowing natural death by withholding or withdrawing life-prolonging measures in patients with terminal illnesses.
- This term is not ideal. Withholding of futile life-sustaining measures, or withdrawing them allows for natural death, while euthanasia implies an intent to kill.
Managing political risk
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GS3 & 2– Economy + International Relations
- The political crisis in Bangladesh and a renewed wave of anti-India sentiment sweeping across the neighbouring country have once again prompted analysts to examine the nature of political risk Indian companies face when they invest abroad.
- It is useful to remember that it is not so much in distant lands but, in fact, closer home in South Asia that Indian businesses have had more run-ins with political risk.
- In 2004, a Tata group proposal to invest up to $3 billion in Bangladesh’s energy sector ran into political rough weather and was eventually abandoned.
- In 2009, products of the Dabur group came under what was perceived to be a politically-motivated consumer attack in Nepal.
- In 2013, a newly-elected government in the Maldives terminated an airport construction project awarded to the GMR group by a previous government.
- More recently, the Adani group has faced rough weather in Sri Lanka when functionaries of the government in Colombo alleged political pressure from India in the award of a contract.
When Modi meets Zelenskyy
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GS2- India and its bilateral relations
- Making the trip, six weeks after he visited Moscow and met with President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Narendra Modi who reached Ukraine early Friday met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a warm embrace.
- India hopes to strike a delicate balance in the conflicted-ridden region with the Prime Minister's latest visit.
- India and Ukraine will sign four agreements for cooperation in agriculture, medicine, culture and humanitarian assistance.
- Modi told Zelenskyy, "I am personally ready to play any role as a friend to help bring peace. India stands ready to make proactive contributions towards peace efforts.
- Both sides must sit together to find a way out of the conflict, for the only resolution lies in dialogue and diplomacy.'"
Thailand’s mpox case is Clade 1b strain, first in the country: Officials
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Prelims Syllabus- Current Affairs
- "The test results confirm that he is infected with the Clade 1b strain of monkeypox, which is the first case diagnosed in Thailand, but this man is likely infected from an endemic country," Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
- Since last year, a devastating Mpox outbreak centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has claimed over 450 lives.
- The virus has spilled over into neighboring countries, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, all of which were previously untouched by the disease.
- A more concerning variant, Clade 1b, has been identified in eastern DRC and is spreading across borders.
