Current Affairs 20th May 2018

Current Affairs 20th May 2018 - Important Points

• SC approves Centre’s draft Cauvery management scheme on - 18th May 2018
• Gina Haspel confirmed as first female director of CIA on - 17th May 2018

Current Affairs 20th May 2018 - Details

SC approves Centre’s draft Cauvery management scheme on - 18th May 2018

The Indian Supreme Court sanctioned the Centre's draft Cauvery Management Scheme, on May 18th , 2018 for the even distribution of Cauvery river water among the southern states. The ruling was approved by a 3-judge bench consisting Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M.Khanwilkar and D.Y.Chandrachud. The bench refused the recommendations of Karnataka and Kerala governments over the scheme, terming them as devoid of merits. The court also refused Tamil Nadu's plea seeking initiation of disapproval against the Centre for non-finalisation of Cauvery scheme.
Supreme Court’s February 16 verdict

• The Supreme Court of India on February 16 th , 2018 decreased Tamil Nadu’s share of Cauvery water by 14.75 tmcft water yearly, relaxing the same to Karnataka.
• The judgement was made by a bench consisting Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Amitava Roy and A.M. Khanwilkar.
• The court informed that the provision to upsurge the water share of Karnataka was taken due to the ten tmcft  groundwater and 4.75 tmcft drinking water needed for Bengaluru inhabitants.
• With the decision, while Tamil Nadu’s share was reduced to 177 tmcft, Karnataka’s share was upsurged to 284.75 tmcft and Kerala’s whereas, the Puducherry’s share remained the same.
• The court, offered recompense by permitting Tamil Nadu to draw an extra ten tmcft ground-water from a sum of twenty tmcft beneath the Cauvery basin.
• The court in its decision had also instructed the Centre to frame the Cauvery management scheme, including the setting up of the Cauvery Management Board, for the issue of the River’s water from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.

Gina Haspel confirmed as first female director of CIA on - 17th May 2018

The United States Senate assured Gina Haspel as the 1st female director of Central Intelligence Agency- CIA on May 17th , 2018. Gina Haspel’s appointment was assured in a 54-45 vote, succeeding a difficult nomination procedure that reopened an emotional discussion about brutal interrogation techniques in one of the darkest chapters of Central Intelligence Agency’s history. The vote divided both parties, with 6 Democrats linking most Republicans in the Central Intelligence Agency veteran’s support.
More about Gina Haspel

• Gina Haspel joined the Central Intelligence Agency in January 1985 as a reports officer. She apprehended various undercover foreign posts, most of them as station chief.
• Previously, she was working as Deputy Director under former Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo in the starting of Trump’s administration.
• Gina Haspel became Acting Director succeeding Pompeo's resignation to become US Secretary of State and was appointed by President Donald Trump to turn out to be the official Central Intelligence Agency Director.
• On May 17th , 2018, she was assured as the Central Intelligence Agency Director, making her the 1st woman to grab the post on a full-time basis.
• Gian Haspel was the 2nd female Deputy Director in history. From 2004-2005, Haspel was Deputy Chief of the National Resources Division.

More about CIA

• Central Intelligence Agency is a foreign intelligence service of the US government, which is tasked with collecting, processing, and analysing national security data from worldwide, mainly through the utilisation of human intelligence.
• The Central Intelligence Agency has no law enforcement function, Unlike the domestic security service FBI and is chiefly focused on foreign intelligence assembly, with only limited domestic intelligence gathering.
• The Central Intelligence Agency is also the only agency approved by the law to carry out and oversee covert action at the behest of the President.
• The Central Intelligence Agency has gradually expanded its role in the present scenario, including conducting covert revolutionary operations.