7th Dec Daily current affairs for UPSC Civil Service Exam 2017

RIC Meeting

• 15th RIC (Russia, India and China) foreign ministerial meeting is going to be held in New Delhi.
• It is expected to review global and regional issues of mutual interest as well as discuss trilateral exchanges and activities.
• Russia has assured that it will take up the issue of India’s entry into NSG with china during the meeting.

Nuclear Suppliers’ Group

• NSG is a group of nuclear supplier countries that seek to prevent nuclear proliferation by controlling the export of materials, equipment and technology that can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.
• It was founded in response to the Indian nuclear test in May 1974.
• As of now, the NSG has 48 members with European Commission and the Zangger Committee Chair participates as observers.
• The NSG Chair for 2017-2018 is Switzerland.
• The NSG Guidelines contain “Non-Proliferation Principle,” adopted in 1994.
• It means a supplier, notwithstanding other provisions in the NSG Guidelines, authorises a transfer only when satisfied that the transfer would not contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
• India has been pursuing member countries of NSG to become a member but its entry is being opposed by China, New Zealand, Ireland, Turkey and Austria.

Wassenaar Arrangement

• Wassenaar arrangement focuses on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies.
• It is a multilateral export control regime which became operational in 1996.
• It is presently composed of 41 countries. Currently India is not a member.
• The Secretariat is located in Vienna (Austria).
• Export controls are implemented by each individual participating State based on the wassenaar arrangement list.
• All decisions are taken by consensus and the deliberations are kept in confidence.
• It is not a treaty, and therefore is not legally binding.
• The political committee of wassenaar Arrangement is going to meet in Vienna, which is likely to decide on India’s membership request.

International Tourism Mart

• It is being organized by the Union Ministry of Tourism in association with North Eastern States.
• This year, the 6th International Tourism Mart is organized at Guwahati, Assam.
• It is organised in the North Eastern States on rotation basis.
• The earlier editions of this mart have been held in Guwahati, Tawang, Shillong, Gangtok and Imphal.
• It is organized with the objective of highlighting the tourism potential of the region in the domestic and international markets.
• It will put the spotlight on India’s “Act East Policy”, blossoming ties with ASEAN and the larger East Asia region.

National Green Tribunal

• Current rules require that every Bench of the NGT consist of “two or more” members and made up of at least one judicial and one expert member.
• However, a recent notification from the Union Environment Ministry has relaxed this requirement.
• It has allowed the Chairperson of NGT to constitute single member benches.
• The notification was issued following the SC criticized the union government for not filling up vacancies in the NGT principal and zonal benches.

Ichamati River

• It is a transboundary river in West Bengal which flows through India and Bangladesh.
• It forms the international border between India and Bangladesh for 21 kilometres.
• The Mathabhanga River originates in Bangladesh and it bifurcates near Nadia in West Bengal in to Ichamati and Churni.
• Ichhamati River and its branches form a large oxbow lake complex near Bangaon in North 24-Paraganas district.
• The river is facing the problem of siltation leading to thin flow of water in the dry season and floods in the rainy season.