MFN
Category: International
- India revoked the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status of Pakistan.
- Though the term MFN suggests special preference for the country given MFN status, it actually means it would be treated equally as all others.
- According to the World Trade Organisation rules, countries cannot normally discriminate between their trading partners.
- If one country is granted a trade concession such as, for example, lower import duties, then all WTO members must be extended the same concessions. This principle is known as the Most Favoured Nation treatment.
- Pakistan has never granted MFN status to India. What does revoking.
- Revoking MFN status means India can levy whatever import tariffs it wants. India can now make it very expensive for Pakistan to export its goods or services to India.
- So far, India has only revoked the MFN status. It has not altered the import duties on Pakistan. However, if it does hike them, then this will likely have an impact on that country.
- Revoking Pakistan’s MFN status seems to be more of a symbolic move.
PCSK9
Category: Science & technology
- PCSK9 is a gene which particularly protects African-Americans against heart disease.
- The PCSK9 discoveries led to the development of PCSK9 inhibitors, said to be the most effective drugs to lower cholesterol — or low density lipoprotein (LDL) — since statins.
- While the PCSK9 may be critical for a category of heart disease patients, drugs were of limited utility if people had indulged in a lifetime of fatty food.
Gaganyaan
Category: Science & technology
- Gaganyaan was announced on August 15, 2018 as a marquee mission for the 75th year of Independence.
- It is slated to take place at a ‘near-Earth’ distance of 400 km.
- Before that, two unmanned trial flights with human-friendly capsules are to be flown in 2020, carrying a few micro-gravity experiments.
- The astronauts will be mainly trained at the IAF’s Institute of Aerospace Medicine in Bengaluru.
Langpih
Category: Geography
- Langpih is a disputed place on the Assam-Meghalaya border, about 40 km west of Guwahati.
- While Assam says the village is in the State’s Kamrup district, Meghalaya claims it falls in its West Khasi Hills district.
NDM-1
Category: Science & technology
- The recent detection of the antibiotic resistant (AR) gene NDM-1, first isolated in India, in the Arctic region is a further indication of the globalisation of antimicrobial resistance.
- In essence, AR is a natural phenomenon. Most antibiotics are produced by soil microorganisms and over time they have evolved to become resistant to the compounds which they excrete to survive.
- NDM-1 was first reported in 2007 in a patient admitted to a hospital in New Delhi, but was reported to be present in Germany, the same year.
- The first finding of NDM-1 in the environment, rather than a clinic setting, was in surface waters of Delhi, in 2010. So finding NDM-1 in the High Arctic three years after the first report of its presence in the environment was very intriguing. The results show how far reaching and fast resistance can move around the globe.
- NDM-1 gene is present in highest concentrations near fresh water sources where wildlife tend to congregate.
- Mobile genetic elements (MGEs) is a mechanism by which bacteria ‘trade’ AR, to mirror NDM-1.
- MGEs are noteworthy here because they are often associated with ‘acquired’ resistance and are found at higher levels in human, or animal waste-impacted environments.
- The findings point towards the involvement of migratory birds, who could carry the resistance in the gut and transfer it to the Arctic soil through faecal matter.
- However, it is also possible that it may have migrated with humans and spread via local wildlife, or it may be a combination of factors.
Labour Bureau
Category: Economy
- The Labour Bureau in India has been compiling and maintaining average daily wage rates in rural areas for select agricultural and non-agricultural occupations on the basis of data collected by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
- Data based on a 2017 survey show that the average daily wage rates for general agricultural labourers were ₹264.05 for men and ₹205.32 for women. It means that women workers in the sector get 22.24 per cent less than men.
- To reduce the gender wage gap, the government has enacted Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, which provides for payment of equal remuneration to men and women workers for the same work or work of similar nature without any discrimination.
- To enforce the Act, Central and State governments conduct regular inspections. However, the rules and regulations do not seem to have bridged the gender gap.
PCR
Category: Economy
- While public sector banks (PSBs) have substantially ramped up their loan-loss provisions and strengthened balance sheets in the first nine months of the current financial year, only 6 out of 21 PSBs, have crossed the ‘desirable’ level of 70 per cent provision coverage ratio (PCR) as of December-end 2018.
- PCR is the ratio of provisioning to gross non-performing assets, and indicates the extent of funds a bank has kept aside to cover loan losses.
Tagore Award
Category: Miscellaneous
- Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony was instituted by the Government of India from 2012 recognizing the contributions made by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore to humanity at large with his works and ideas, as part of the Commemoration of his 150th Birth Anniversary in 2012, for promoting values of Cultural Harmony.
- The Award may be divided between two persons / institutions who are considered by the Jury to be equally deserving of recognition in a given year.
- This annual award is given to individuals, associations, institutions or organizations for their outstanding contribution towards promoting values of Cultural Harmony.
- The Award is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed or gender.
- Normally, contributions made during ten years immediately preceding the nomination are considered.
- Older contributions may also be considered if their significance has become apparent only recently.
- A written work, in order to be eligible for consideration, should have been published during the last ten years.
- Work by a person since deceased cannot be the subject of an Award.
LADIS
Category: Infrastructure
- Moving a step ahead towards ensuring optimum use of National Waterways, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) launched a new portal LADIS – Least Available Depth Information System here today.
- LADIS will ensure that real-time data on least available depths is disseminatedfor ship/barge and cargo owners so that they can undertake transportation on NWs in a more planned way.
- An assured depth of waterway is required for seamless movement of vessels. If real time information is made available regarding LADs in stretches of various NWs, it will help transporters by guiding them on the suitability of time of movement.
- IWAI has designed LADIS to facilitate the day to day operations of inland vessels plying on National Waterways and to avoid any hindrance in service and operation.
- It will enhance credibility and efficiency of information sharing to achieve seamless operations on National Waterways, besides pre-empting problems that may occur during movement of vessels.
e-Tourist Visa
Category: International
- The e-Tourist Visa which was introduced in September 2014 with 46 countries has now been made applicable for 166 countries.
- Recently, government has made series of amendments in e-visa regime, liberalizing it further and making it more tourist friendly.
- Duration of stay in India of e-Tourist and e-Business Visas is maximum upto 1 Year with multiple entry subject to the stay stipulations.
- Also, the existing restriction of allowing foreigner for a maximum of three times has also been removed.
