CURRENT AFFAIRS 19 MAY 2021

1. WAQF

The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board on Tuesday condemned the demolition of a mosque in a tehsil compound in Barabanki district by the administration, terming it a “patently illegal and high-handed action” and demanded its restoration.

About:

• The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board (or U.P. Sunni Waqf Board) is a body constituted under The Wakf Act, 1954.
• It manages the affairs of Sunni Muslim waqf (charity) properties, waqf institutions and the marriage records of the Sunni Muslim community of the state of Uttar Pradesh.
• The Sunni Waqf Board has been the main Muslim litigant in the Babri Masjid–Ram Janmabhoomi title dispute.
• A waqf (also known as wakf or hubous) is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitable purposes with no intention of reclaiming the assets.
• The state waqf boards were established by the state governments in view of the provisions of Section 9(1) of the Wakf Act, 1954.
• India also has a Central Waqf Council to advise the government "on matters concerning the working of boards and the due administration of wakfs."

Source : The Hindu

2. RETROSPECTIVE TAX

British oil company Cairn Energy Plc is suing Air India in New York to seize its assets to enforce the $1.2 billion arbitration award it won against the Indian government in a retrospective tax dispute.

About:

• The term retrospective means to look back on something that has occurred in the past. So, the term retrospective tax means to pay tax for goods and services purchased in the past or income earned in the past.
• This may happen due to laws being amended or new rules of taxation being introduced in an economy.
• A retrospective tax is usually caveated with a validation clause. It helps validate the demand for a retrospective tax payment made by one party and the decision or order passed by the country's concerned tax authority.
• For example, the Supreme Court of India clearly states that you cannot add a new tax liability in retrospect. That is why it is accompanied by the validation clause that serves to verify the demand and pass a judgment.
• India retrospectively amended its taxation laws through the Finance Act of 2012, permitting tax authorities to reopen and/or investigate transactions from 2006 for evasion of capital gains tax. 

Source : Indian Express

3. CYCLONE TAUTKAE

The Indian Navy and the Coast Guard launched a rescue mission after four vessels went adrift off the Mumbai coast due to inclement weather and heavy rains arising from Cyclone Tautkae.

About:

• In the early hours of May 17, Cyclone Tauktae hit Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai where Oil Natural Gas Corporation Ltds major production installations and drilling rigs are located.
• Due to a combination of weather factors, four vessels that the ONGC put into service went adrift in the high seas.
• What kind of vessels were involved in the accident?
• A total of four vessels have been affected.
• They include three construction barges of M/s Afcons (Barge ‘Papaa–305’, Barge ‘Support Station-3’ and Barge ‘Gal Constructor’), which is working on a project of ONGC in Western Offshore fields in the Arabian Sea.
• The fourth vessel (ONGC’s Drill Ship ‘Sagar Bhushan’) is a drilling rig of ONGC deployed for exploration purposes.

Source : Indian Express

4. WORK-RELATED DISEASE BURDEN

Long working hours led to 7.45 lakh deaths from stroke and ischemic heart disease in 2016, a 29% increase since 2000, according to the latest estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) published in Environment International.

About:

• In a first global analysis of the loss of life and health associated with working long hours, WHO and ILO estimate that in 2016, 3.98 lakh people died from stroke and 3.47 lakh from heart disease as a result of having worked at least 55 hours a week.
• Between 2000 and 2016, the number of deaths from heart disease due to working long hours increased by 42%, and from stroke by 19%.
• This work-related disease burden is particularly significant in men (72% of deaths occurred among males), people living in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions, and middle-aged or older workers.
• Most of the deaths recorded were among people dying aged 60-79 years, who had worked for 55 hours or more per week between the ages of 45 and 74 years.
• With working long hours now known to be responsible for about one-third of the total estimated work-related burden of disease, it is established as the risk factor with the largest occupational disease burden.
• The study concludes that working 55 or more hours per week is associated with an estimated 35% higher risk of a stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from ischemic heart disease, compared to working 35-40 hours a week.

Source : Indian Express

5. INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM DAY

Culture Ministry organised a panel discussions on the occasion of International Museum Day 2021.

About:

• International Museum Day falls on 18 May every year.
• The objective of International Museum Day ,as declared by International Council of Museums(ICOM), is to raise awareness about the fact that, “Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples.”
• The theme for International Museum Day 2021 is ‘The Future of Museums: Recover and Reimagine’.

Source : PIB

6. COLOMBO PORT CITY

A Chinese-funded tax-free enclave billed as Sri Lanka’s answer to Dubai and Singapore cleared the final legal hurdle as the Supreme Court in Colombo ruled it could go ahead with only minor tweaks.

About:

• The largest single foreign investment in Sri Lanka is one of several massive Asian infrastructure projects funded by China as Beijing increases its regional footprint.
• Sri Lanka’s top court rejected 19 petitions challenging the “Colombo Port City Economic Commission” Bill and approved the $1.4-billion project subject to minor amendments which the government immediately said it accepted.
• Project officials have said they hope the brand new “Port City”, an area of reclaimed land, will attract billions of dollars for trade, banking and offshore services similar to what is available in Dubai and Singapore, two of its potential competitors.
• Named the “Colombo Port City” because of its proximity to Colombo’s main harbour, the sea reclamation — carried out with considerable Chinese labour — completed in 2019 has doubled the size of Colombo’s financial district by adding 269 hectares.
• The Port City will be administered by a commission with unprecedented powers to fast track investment approvals. All transactions within the Port City will be denominated in foreign currency and all salaries earned by any worker will be tax-exempt.

Source : The Hindu

7. CUSTOMS (IMPORT OF GOODS AT CONCESSIONAL RATE OF DUTY) AMENDMENT RULES, 2021

The Government has brought changes in the existing Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty) Rules, IGCR 2017 to boost trade facilitation.

About:

• The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has introduced changes through the Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty) Amendment Rules, 2021.
• The IGCR, 2017 lay down the procedures and manner in which an importer can avail the benefit of a concessional Customs duty on import of goods required for domestic production of goods or providing services.
• One major change that accommodates the needs of trade and industry is that the imported goods have been permitted to be sent out for job work. The absence of this facility had earlier constrained the industry especially those in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises sector which did not have the complete manufacturing capability in-house.
• Importers who do not have any manufacturing facility can now avail the IGCR, 2017 to import goods at concessional Customs duty and get the final goods manufactured entirely on job work basis. However, some sectors such as gold, jewellery, precious stones and metals have been excluded.
• Another major incentive now provided is to allow those who import capital goods at a concessional Customs duty to clear them in the domestic market on payment of duty and interest, at a depreciated value. This was not allowed earlier and manufacturers were stuck with the imported capital goods after having used them as they could not be easily re-exported.

Source : All India Radio

8. NEW NAMING SYSTEM FOR VIRUS VARIANTS

The World Health Organization (WHO) would unveil a system of naming of coronavirus variants drawn from the way tropical storms are named, WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan says.

About:

• The initiative, similar to how hurricanes are labelled, seeks to remove stigma. It will also be easier for the lay public to remember rather than these complicated lineage numbers.
• The WHO and health and science agencies across the world refer to viruses and their variants by formal lineage names, which are a combination of letters and names that point to the relationships between different variants.
• Variants such as B.1.1.7 and B.1.617 suggest that they have certain mutations in common and as well clues to their evolutionary history.
• However, because virus names and their associated diseases have frequently been named after geographical places where outbreaks were first reported or samples first isolated — such as the West Nile virus or Ebola.
• 1.1.7 started to be known as the ‘U.K. variant’ and B.1.351 as the ‘South African’ variant.
• The dilemma of having names that don’t stigmatise places but also are amenable to popular use has to an extent been solved by the system of naming hurricanes, or tropical cyclones. The World Meteorological Organisation leaves it to countries that surround a particular ocean basin to come up with names.

Source : The Hindu

9. NEW STORAGE CONDITIONS FOR Pfizer-BioNTech VACCINE

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended a change to the approved storage conditions of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine which changes the way these vaccines are handled in vaccination centres across the European Union (EU).

What is the change in the storage of these vaccines?

• With the new recommendations, an unopened thawed vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine can be stored between 2-8 degrees Celsius for up to a month, which means that it can be stored in a regular refrigerator once it has been taken out of the deep freeze.
• Before this, an unopened thawed vaccine vial could be kept in a regular refrigerator for a period of only up to five days.
• This increased flexibility in storing and handling of the vaccines is expected to positively impact the vaccine rollout in the EU, which has faced some problems since the vaccination drive started. 
• Why do mRNA vaccines need to be stored at such low temperatures?
• mRNA vaccines need to be stored at much lower temperatures than some other kind of COVID-19 vaccines because RNA is much less stable than DNA, which is due to the sugars that their molecules are made up of.
• The second reason for the relative instability of RNA is because of its shape, which is a single strand, while DNA is expressed as a double-stranded helix.

Source : Indian Express

10. K.K. AGGARWAL

K.K. Aggarwal, 62, former national president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) passed away from complications related to COVID-19.

About:

• K. Aggarwal (1958 – 2021) was an Indian physician and cardiologist who was President of the Heart Care Foundation of India and the Past National President of Indian Medical Association.
• In 2010, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for his contributions to the field of medicine.
• Dr Aggarwal had been honoured with the Dr. B. C. Roy Award, the highest Indian award in the medical category, in 2005. 

Source : Indian Express