Daily important updates for civil services

Model Answer : Approach: Why in news? Weakening of rupee - Causes Implications for India Economy Way Forward Conclusion Why in news? Rupee crashed to a lifetime low of 69 against US Dollar. Rupee was pushed to a life-time intraday low of 69.10 a dollar. The rupee is the worst-performing currency in Asia this year. It has lost almost 8% in value since January 2018. Weakening of rupee – Causes Rise in crude prices –  Brent crude prices have increased from $70.30 to over $80 per barrel since the beginning of the new financial year in April. This is mainly due to concerns over supply disruptions after the rise in US tensions with Iran, which contributes 11-12% of OPEC production. As oil prices rise, India’s trade deficit — excess of imports over exports — will worsen, which can in turn impact the current account deficit. A growing anticipation of interest rates rising in the US and consequent out flow of foreign funds –  Expecting US interest rates to go up,...

Freedom of press has been granted under  Article 19(1)(a)  of constitution with reasonable restrictions. But the recently released Press freedom index report put India  on 138th number ; just one rank above Pakistan shows the worrying level of threat that the press in India faces. REASONS OF LOW RANKING The colonial era SEDITION LAW has been used extensively to promote "SELF CENSORSHIP". The NCRB data shows that only 2 of 112 cases registered under 124-A between 2014-2016 resulted in conviction which proves that it is merely deterrence. The murder of eminent journalist like  GAURI LANKESH, SANDEEP SHARMA, SUJAAT BUKHARI , etc. Government ban on Kashmir newspapers are seen as direct attack on press freedom The use of derogatory language like presstitute, giraegi etc. Government order on fake news issue is widely seen as Government attempt to interfere in media working Regular death threat and trolling of journalist on various platforms. But the proble...

THE NEWS The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill 2018. Key-Details of the Bill The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018 is the latest version of a Bill that originated as a DNA ‘profiling’ Bill, framed by the Department of Biotechnology. Objective:  The primary objective of the bill is to expand the application of DNA-based forensic technologies to support and strengthen the justice delivery system of the country. It provides for the mandatory accreditation and regulation of DNA laboratories. It aims to set in place an institutional mechanism to collect and deploy DNA technologies in order to identify persons based on samples collected from crime scenes or for identifying missing persons. The Bill seeks to ensure that with the proposed expanded use of DNA technology, there is also the assurance that the DNA test results are reliable and the data remain protected from misuse or abuse in t...