Current Affairs for IAS Exams

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 15 December 2016

The Rajya Sabha passed the Disabilities Bill with the list of ‘disabilities' expanded from seven to 21 and the quantum of reservation in-creased for people suffering from disabilities from three per cent to four per cent in government jobs.
In higher education institutions, the quota has been increased from three per cent to five percent.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014, also gives effect to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and related matters.
It provides for imprisonment ranging from six months to two years,along with a fine ranging from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 5 lakh, for discriminating against differently abled persons.
If the Bill becomes a law, it will benefit millions. It recognises that persons with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities like autism and Down's Syndrome also have a right to education and employment.
In the Bill, disability has been defined based on an evolving and dynamic concept and the types of disabilities have been increased.
The disabilities in the expanded list include mental illness, autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and chronic neurological conditions.
The Bill strengthens the office of chief commissioner and state commissioners for persons with disabilities. They will act as regulatory bodies.

The Supreme Court gave the Centre a four-month deadline to formulate and adopt a comprehensive national plan to combat the rising menace of drug and alcohol abuse among children.
Bench of Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud ordered the Centre to complete within six months a national survey and generate a national data-base on substance abuse.
The judgment, authored by Justice Chandrachud, said the harmful effects of drugs, alcohol and tobacco abuse among children should bemade a specific content in the school curriculum under the aegis of the New Education Policy.
The verdict quotes from the Census 2011 that 24 crore children, constituting 24 per cent of the population of the country, are adolescent.
judgment came on a petition filed by NGO Bach-pan BachaoAndolanthat the funda-mental rights of children, especially those suffering from and involved in substance use and abuse, were violated due to non-compliance with the government's action planfor reduction in drug demand and supply.
The judgment quotes the sample study of the National Commission on Protection of Child Rights in August 2013 to show that the mean age of onset was lowest for tobacco at 12.3 years.
It is followed by onset of inhalants at 12.4, cannabis at 13.4 years, alcohol at 13.6, proceeding then to use of harder sub-stances like opium, heroin at 14.3-14.9 years and then finally substances through injecting route at 15.1 years.

Indian-American PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi has joined Donald Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum, a team that aims to assist him in implementing his economic agenda, the presidential transition team said.
Ms. Nooyi (61) is the only Indian-origin executive in the 19-member ‘Strategic and Policy Forum', which was first announced early this week.
Three new members were also announced in addition to the current 16. The other corporate bigwigs to join the forum are Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, and SpaceXand Tesla chairman Elon Musk.
The forum, composed of some of America's most highly respected and successful business leaders, will meet with the President frequently to share their specific experience and knowledge as he implements his economic agenda.
According to the presidential transition team, members of the forum will be charged with providing theirindividual views to Mr. Trump on how government policy impacts economic growth, job creation and productivity.
During the general election, Ms. Nooyi was a known supporter of Mr. Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. After Mr. Trump's victory, she had said that there was “serious concern” among many, including her daughters, about their safety in the U.S.