Daily PIB Analysis For UPSC/IAS - 26th Apr'18

Table of Contents

Daily PIB Analysis

PMO

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has left for China on a two day visit.
• Informal meeting: Wuhan city of China.

• Candid communication
• In a statement before departure, Mr Modi said, he and the Chinese President will
exchange views on a range of issues of bilateral and global importance.
• Both sides will discuss their respective visions and priorities for national
development, particularly in the context of the current and future international
situation.
• The Prime Minister said, they will also review developments in India-China
relations from a strategic and long-term perspective.
• Indian Ambassador to China, Gautam Bambawale said, the main element will be
that there is going to be no set agenda.
• Chinese media is hailing the visit as the summit may herald Century of Asia.
• The media in China has raised expectations of warming ties between the
two countries following the extended chill in the aftermath of the Doklam military
standoff last year.
• In an article in China Daily, the writer quoting former Chinese leader Deng
Xiaoping told then Prime minister 30 years ago that the Century of Asia will not come
without the development of China and India.

President

• President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Ms Indu Malhotra as a judge of the Supreme
Court with effect from the date she assumes charge of her office.
• She is the first woman lawyer from the Supreme Court bar to be directly elevated.
• In 2007, Ms Malhotra, was only the second woman to be appointed a senior advocate
by the apex court, three decades after Leila Seth first made history.
• Ms Malhotra, a renowned arbitration expert, is likely to take oath as apex court judge
tomorrow.

Road Accidents

• In Uttar Pradesh, 13 children were killed and 5 others seriously injured after a
school van collided with a train in Kushinagar district this morning.
• Police has filed an FIR in this case and arrested the Principal of the School.
• The state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered to suspend 4 Officials in this
case.

Railway Ministry

• The Railway Minister today reviewed the plan to completely eliminate Unmanned
Level Crossings (UMLC) from Indian Railways.
• Railways has taken many steps towards reducing accidents at UMLCs with 79 per
cent reduction in accidents in the last four years.
• The target for eliminating UMLCs in 11 zones will be September this year and for
the remaining five zones targets will be set shortly.

Vice President

• Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has said the private sector must join hands with
the government to ensure accessible and affordable healthcare.
• He said, to overcome the shortage of doctors in rural areas, posting of MBBS
graduates in the rural areas should be made mandatory before getting their first
promotion.
• Country is facing acute shortage of doctors, nurses and other technical
paramedical staff.

Pakistan

• Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khwaja Asif was disqualified as a Member of
Parliament by the High Court in Islamabad today for concealing details of his UAE
work permit while contesting elections in 2013.
• Dar, who lost election against Asif in 2013, had challenged the qualification of Asif,
as a member of Parliament for not declaring his job and salary while contesting the polls.

BRI

• India is justified in opting out of China’s ambitious multi-billion dollar Belt and
Road Initiative until its concerns are addressed.
• Chinese president Xi Jinping has asserted that the massive project which creates
road, rail and naval connectivity through much of Asia with linkages to Europe and
Africa has “no geopolitical calculations”.
• Yet the Chinese side is unwilling to assuage Indian sensitivities on the BRI’s
flagship project, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), passing
through Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
• India’s position on BRI has been that “development connectivity must be
transparent, fair and equal”, in the process voicing the concerns of smaller
South Asian countries that these projects will leave them indebted to China,
economically and politically.
• India and its huge market is critical to the project’s success, which is also a way for
Chinese companies to parcel out their huge debts to other nations.
• These include countries that have faced the brunt of colonialism until a century
ago.
• China’s hesitation to open up its markets to India and other countries raises the same
spectre again.
• Given such realities, India must goad China to settle the border issue which is a source of
constant tension.
• Further, China must also use its immense leverage with Pakistan to end the latter’s
proxy war in Kashmir.
• India does not have to take sides in the ongoing trade war between US and China
either, as it is a firm proponent of a rules based. multilateral trade order and must
insist that both sides conform to their WTO commitments.
• The Modi-XI summit is an opportunity to discuss the strategic issues raised by
BRI instead of sweeping them under the carpet.
1. Agariyas is a group of people known for Salt Farming. They are from which of the following state?
1. Maharashtra
2. Gujarat
3. Andhra Pradesh
4. Odisha