TNPSC Current Affairs February 06, 2020

www.tnpsc.academy – TNPSC Current Affairs February 06, 2020 (06/02/2020)

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Topic: General Administration, Economic Policies in India

Cooperative banks under RBI

Union Cabinet has approved to bring regulation of cooperative banks under Reserve Bank of India. In order to achieve this, the Cabinet approved amendments to Banking regulation act.

The amendments will apply to all urban co-operative banks and multi-state cooperative banks.

Topic: Latest Diary of Events, General Administration

Supreme Court panel recommends several prison reforms

Every new prisoner should be allowed a free phone call a day to his family members to see him through his first week in jail.

Modern cooking facilities, canteens to buy essential items and trial through video-conferencing should be made available.

Speedy trial remains one of the best ways to remedy the unwarranted phenomenon of over-crowding.

There should be at least one lawyer for every 30 prisoners, which is not the case at present.

Special fast-track courts should be set up to deal exclusively with petty offences which have been pending for more than five years.

Background:

The court had in September 2018 appointed the Justice Roy Committee to examine the various problems plaguing prisons, from overcrowding to lack of legal advice to convicts to issues of remission and parole.

The decision was in reaction to a letter written by former Chief Justice of India R.C. Lahoti highlighting the overcrowding of prisons, unnatural deaths of prisoners, gross inadequacy of staff and the lack of trained staff.

Way ahead: Fundamental rights of prisoners cannot be placed in the back-burner and the Centre and the states need to be more pro-active in sensitising staff about the need to treat prisoners as humanely as possible.

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Topic: Latest Diary of Events

International IP Index 2020

The International IP Index 2020 has been released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC).

What is IIP index?

Released by GIPC, the Index evaluates the IP infrastructure in each economy based on 45 unique indicators, which are critical to the growth of effective IP systems.

The indicators encompass 8 categories of IP protection: patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, commercialization of IP assets, enforcement, systemic efficiency, and membership and ratification of international treaties.

Performance of India:

Ranked 40 out of 53 global economies. Last year India was ranked at 36th position out of 50 countries. India also continues to score well in the Systemic Efficiency indicator, scoring ahead of 28 other economies in these indicators.

Way ahead for India:

To continue this upward trajectory, much work remains to be done to introduce transformative changes to India’s overall IP framework and take serious steps to consistently implement strong IP standards.

GIPC has identified several challenges for India. Prominent among them being patentability requirements, patent enforcement, compulsory licensing, patent opposition, regulatory data protection, transparency in reporting seizures by customs, and Singapore Treaty of Law of TMs and Patent Law Treaty.

Global performance: Top five economies: The US, the UK, Sweden, France and Germany.

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Topic: Places in News, Latest Diary of Events

Vadhavan port and landlord model

The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to set up a major port at Vadhavan near Dahanu in Maharashtra with a total cost of ₹65,545 crore.

Key facts:

This will be 13th major port in India. With the development of this port, India will become one of the countries in the top-10 container ports in the world.

A special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be formed with Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) as the lead partner, with equity participation equal to or more than 50% to implement the project. The port will be developed on the landlord model.

How many major ports are there in India currently?

Currently, India has 12 major ports at Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), VO Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia).

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Topic: Sports, Latest Diary of Events

Rakhi Halder wins gold medal at the Women’s National Weightlifting Championship

Rakhi Halder of West Bengal won Senior Weightlifting Championship. She bagged gold medal in the 64 kg category at the 35th National Weight lifting Championship held in Kolkata.

Key facts:

Halder lifted 117 kg in clean and jerk and 93 kg in snatch to win the medal. She was 10 kgs ahead of her rival Harjinder Kaur from Chandigarh.

Rakhi Halder: Rakhi Halder ranked 19th in the Olympic qualifier list. Her best was 218 kg at the Qatar International Cup that won her a bronze medal. In 2019, she clinched gold medal at the Commonwealth Championship lifting 214 kg. Halder is a Railway employee.

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Topic: Latest Diary of Events

Intellectual Property Index

The Global Innovation Policy Centre (GIPC) of the US Chamber of Commerce released the International IP (Intellectual Property) Index. According the ranking, India was at position 40 of the 53 economies.

Key facts: The report released by GIPC says that India remains to be the most challenging but still promising market for IP-intensive industries. The hurdles mainly remain in patent eligibility and enforcement. This year India scored 16.22 in Intellectual Property Index.