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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 31 May 2017
::National::
India and Germany signed dozen MOUs
India and Germany agreed on the need to resume free trade talks between India and the European Union soon.
Countries also signed a dozen wide-ranging but low-profile MoUs on the subjects of education, health, skill development and sustainability.
MEA officials said Indian and EU negotiators would meet in July this year and then in October for the EU-India summit in Delhi, in an effort to “take FTA talks forward.”
FTA talks had stalled after 16 rounds of negotiations in 2013. Since then bilateral investment treaties with Germany and other European countries have also lapsed.
German CEOs, who met with Mr. Modi, said this had caused much “uncertainty” in the business relationship, as they were particularly worried about investor protection.
The Prime Minister, who spent several hours speaking to Chancellor Merkel, was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour at the German Chancery in Berlin.
The two sides announced agreements on cyber policy, railway safety, and the training of Indian Skill Development Officers and Cluster Managers.
Law Commission sought views on whether gambling and betting be legalised
• The Law Commission sought views from the public and stakeholders on whether or not gambling and betting are “morally correct in the Indian circumstances”.
Primarily, it wants public inputs on the question of legalising gambling and betting — conducted clandestinely across the country and the cause of ruin for many families.
Views would be compiled for a report to be handed over to the government. The question came up after the Supreme Court asked the commission to study the possibility of legalising betting in the backdrop of the IPL betting scandal.
The various questions the commission wants to generate opinion on include whether legalising betting and gambling will help in curbing illegal activities; will licensing gambling and betting help the government earn substantial revenue and generate employment.
Commission also seek opinion on whether legalising betting and gambling morally correct in the Indian circumstances; what can be a possible model by which people engaging in such activities can be safeguarded against bankruptcy.
The law on gambling is a grey area and a topic of debate for years.
Gambling is covered under an archaic law, the Public Gambling Act of 1867. The Constitution has enabled the States to enact their own gambling legislation.
However, there is no uniformity in the various State laws and most of these laws pertain to physical gambling and not online or virtual gambling, which is seen to be a route to crime, corruption and money laundering.
Section 67 of the Information Technology Act of 2000 vaguely prohibits online transmission and publication of material which “corrupt” persons.
The Commission noted that both gambling and betting are closely associated. The Commission has found that the strict rules against betting and gambling are hardly a deterrent against clandestine activities.
The legality of various activities which involve betting like horse races and card games have come up before the Supreme Court.
In K.R. Lakshmanan vs State of Tamil Nadu case, the court concluded that horse racing was a game of skill rather than chance.
UAE is in favour of India’s proposal for a unified bilateral air traffic pact
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is in favour of India’s proposal for a unified bilateral air traffic pact provided the Gulf nation gets access to more Indian airports.
Officials on both sides would soon hold a meeting to discuss the proposal to sign a single bilateral air traffic agreement.
India has signed separate agreements with emirates of the UAE which is a unique arrangement as bilateral air traffic rights are generally signed between two countries.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told in an interview recently that India is contemplating a single air traffic pact with UAE to align with global practice.
As per the global practice, countries sign air service agreement bilaterally which decides the equal number of flights or seats per week that can fly into each other’s country depending upon their own requirements.
Then, the government distributes the allocated seats to the respective airlines.
Airlines from India and UAE are entitled to fly around 1.34 lakh seats a week from both sides at present. Airlines from India and Dubai have exhausted their bilateral entitlement.
The air traffic agreement between India and the UAE has been a bone of contention for both the countries in the recent past.
While Dubai has been constantly demanding more entitlements, India has refrained from renewing its present bilateral agreement due to lack of viable slots available for Indian carriers in Dubai.