Current Affairs 7th May 2019

Current Affairs 7th May 2019 - Important Points

• Iran to continue enriching Uranium despite US initiative  taken on - 3rd May 2019
• Shops and Businesses in Gujarat can now remain Open 24X7 as per - Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2019
• RBI imposes fines on PPIs for violating - Regulatory Norms
• e-Governance Services and IIT Kanpur agreement to upscale - Unnat Bharat Abhiyan
• Who invested in OLA Electric Mobility?- Ratan Tata
• Climate Emergency declared in - England
• Karnataka takes steps to limit weight of - School Bags
  Current Affairs 7th May 2019 - Details

Iran to continue enriching Uranium despite US initiative  taken on - 3rd May 2019

Iran declared that it will continue with its low-level uranium enrichment in-line with its nuclear pact with World powers. This initiative comes when on 3rd May 2019, United States pushed Iran to stopover producing low-enriched uranium and stop expanding its only nuclear power station, thus intensifying campaign intended at stopping Tehran’s ballistic missile program and limiting its regional power.
Initiative taken by US against Iran
United States efforts to levy political and economic isolation on Tehran started in 2018 when United States President Trump unilaterally withdrew from nuclear pact which United States and other world powers negotiated with Iran in 2015.
United States also scrapped its sanctions waiver under 2015 nuclear pact which until now permitted Iran to ship low enriched uranium generated at its Natanz facility, to Russia before it hit 300 kgs limit and can even evade 300 kgs limit on amount of low-enriched uranium it can store.
In fresh initiative United States declared discontinuing waivers and sanctions for nations, even India,
buying oil from Iranian oil. It is an attempt to decrease Iran’s oil exports to Zero.
It also banned Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorist Organization.
Arguments by Iran
According to nuclear accord, Iran can generate heavy water, which is employed in reactors to generate
plutonium, which is a fuel utilised in nuclear warheads, as this does not violate pact so Iran will carry on
with enrichment activity.
Its low-enriched uranium production assists Iran generate electricity.
Iran called for discussions with its other partners in nuclear pact and United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency to approve that Iran can enrich fuel to 20% and higher.

Shops and Businesses in Gujarat can now remain Open 24X7 as per - Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2019

Gujarat Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2019’ came into existence from May 1st. It permits shops, commercial institutions and businesses operating in state can now remain working 24X7 round the day. The act was approved by state Assembly in February 2019, but was notified on occasion of Gujarat’s foundation day, 1st May 1960.
Gujarat Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act 2019
It replaces ‘Gujarat Shops and Establishments Act of 1948’ which bans shops and other businesses from
remaining open between 12am-6am.
Now shops and commercial institutions employing below 10 people will require no registration and those employing above 10 workers will need single registration with no yearly renewal.
Working hours for female employees can be only between 6am and 9pm. It could be relaxed if following
considering safety concerns authorities make a written request.
Benefits
In Gujarat about 700000 shops and businesses employ below 10 persons and produce direct employment of about 10-12 lakh peoples. According to new law they do not need registration.
Employees working overtime will get paid twofold their pay, against 1.5 under previous law.
Biggest beneficiaries of amendments to present law would be markets, malls, food outlets and retailers,
especially during festive season.

RBI imposes fines on PPIs for violating - Regulatory Norms

Reserve Bank of India forced a monetary penalty on 5 Pre-Paid Payment Instrument issuers which
consist Vodafone’s m-pesa and Phonepe, for violating its regulatory norms under provisions of Payment and  Settlement Systems Act, 2007. Other facing Penalty are, Western Union Financial Services Inc.,
MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc, for compounding of contravention and non-compliance of Reserve
Bank of India norms and on Mobile Payments and Private and GI Technology.
Pre-Paid Payment Instrument
Pre-Paid Payment Instruments are instruments which come with a pre-loaded value and in even with pre-defined motive of payment.
Pre-Paid Payment Instruments enables financial services, inter-personal remittance transactions
including sending money to friend/family member, purchase of goods and services, and many more, against amount stored on such instruments.
Any smart/chip card, magnetic stripe/swipe card, internet accounts including PayPal, internet wallets,
mobile accounts, mobile wallets, paper vouchers including travel and food vouchers and any instruments used to access prepaid amount.

Who invested in OLA Electric Mobility?- Ratan Tata

Ratan Tata, the Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, invested in OLA Electric Mobility, the electric vehicle business of cab aggregator OLA. However, the details of the investment were not given. Tata is also an early investor in ANI Technologies in July 2015, which is OLA’s parent company.
In March 2019, the OLA Electric Mobility had elevated Rupees 400 crore in a funding round headed by
Tiger Global and Matrix India. 
OLA Electric Mobility
OLA Electric Mobility Pvt Ltd progresses solutions to make Electric Mobility feasible at scale, enabling
cleaner kms on Indian roads. 
OLA Electric Mobility was initially recognized to enable OLA’s electric mobility pilot program in Nagpur,
released in May 2017. The project brought together industry and government to pioneer in electric vehicles for public and communal mobility in Nagpur.
Following the success of the pilot program, OLA declared ‘Mission: Electric’ in 2018 to bring 1 million
electric vehicles on Indian roads by 2021.
OLA Electric is presently functional several pilots involving charging solutions, battery swapping stations, and  deploying vehicles across 2, 3 and 4-wheeler segments.

e-Governance Services and IIT Kanpur agreement to upscale - Unnat Bharat Abhiyan

e-Governance Services India Limited, a special drive vehicle under the Ministry of Electronics and IT,
has fixed with Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur to upscale Unnat Bharat Abhiyan.

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan is an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource and Development. It intends to find solutions to quicken sustainable growth in rural India. Under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, Indian
Institute of Technology-Kanpur has brought together 15 leading higher education institutions from UP.
Major Highlights

• Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur has adopted 5 villages Baikanthpur, Hridayapur, Pratappur
  Hari, Ishwariganj, and Saxupurva located on the outskirts of Kanpur for its overall progress.
• About 15 associated educational institutions under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan will accept Gram
  Panchayats and prepare them with all citizen centric services through CSCs.
• These institutions will train Village Level Entrepreneurs who operate CSCs as part of the village
  development plan.
• The Village Level Entrepreneurs will also be skilled about the usage of solar energy, cleanliness and
  utilise of modern technologies through interventions of Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur.

Climate Emergency declared in - England

United Kingdom Parliament recently approved a motion of an Environment and Climate Emergency. The United Kingdom has become 1st nation to declare such an emergency in the world. The announcement of an emergency was one of the key demands put to the government by environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion, in a series of protests over past weeks.
Before this, Welsh and Scottish governments had both announced a climate emergency. However,
government has not clarified what "climate emergency means, but various cities, including Bristol and  London, have already announced their own emergencies.
Climate Emergency

• There is no clear definition of what forms climate emergency but the initiative has been connected with vital measures will be taken on climate and the environment.
• The United Kingdom govt is legally committed to 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.
• Nation was lately recognised as one of just 18 developed economies that have pushed down CO2
  emissions over the last decade.
• Some cities and local councils have initiated their climate emergency policies to become carbon zero by 2030 develop around renewable energy supplies.

Extinction Rebellion protest
Extinction Rebellion is a socio-political movement which practices non-violent resistance to protest
against climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, and the risk of human extinction and ecological collapse.
Extinction Rebellion was recognized in the UK in May 2018 with about 100 academics inking a call to
action in support in October 2018.
They were urging the government must announce climate emergency and work with other institutions to make changes.
The United Kingdom must endorse legally binding policies to decrease carbon emissions to net zero by
2025.

Karnataka takes steps to limit weight of - School Bags

After the order of the Ministry of HRD, the government of Karnataka has taken the essential steps and has issued the norms for the school.
The government has released norms to decrease the weight of schoolbags. The government of Karnataka has released a circular to all schools, aided and unaided to take essential steps to make sure that the weight of a schoolbag is not above 10 percent of the child’s weight.
Circular Information
The bag of a student in Class 1 or 2 would weigh no above 2 kgs and the bags can weigh anywhere between 2 and 3 kgs for students from Class 3-5.
The agreed weight increases progressively, with students in Class 9 and 10 permitted carrying bags in the 4-5 kgs range.
Further, students in Classes 1 and 2 should not be issued any homework and schools must form a timetable in advance, which will restrict the number of books that have to be brought to class every day. All classwork should be maintained in the school itself, either in files/books.
Schools have been asked to issue some space in classrooms where students can put their notebooks and
textbooks.
Schools have been asked to make necessities for drinking water facilities so that students don’t have to
carry water bottles.
The 3rd Saturday of every month would be celebrated as a “No School Bag Day” and on that day, teachers are needed to engage students without any books/supplementary materials.
The suggested activities on ‘No school bag day’ include field visits, GK clubs, art classes, indoor/outdoor
games, abacus, dance classes, and discussions.