Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 24-01-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 24-01-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Corona virus Outbreak - Wuhan locked down, Indian nurse tests positive – China locked down some 20 million people at the epicenter of the new corona virus outbreak, banning planes and trains from leaving in an unprecedented move aimed at containing the disease, which has spread to other countries. The respiratory virus, 2019-nCoV, has claimed 17 lives since emerging from a seafood and animal market in the central city of Wuhan, infected hundreds of other people and been detected as far away as the U.S.Streets and shopping centers in Wuhan, with a population of 11 million, were eerily quiet after authorities told residents not to leave the city, where most of the cases have been identified. Trains and planes out of Wuhan were indefinitely suspended and tollways on roads out of the city were closed, leading to fear and panic among those trapped.An Indian nurse working in Saudi Arabia has tested positive for corona virus, but with a different strain.
2. Kashmir Issue: India rejects Trump offer – Ruling out any role for a “third party” in the Kashmir issue, India rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments offering to mediate between India and Pakistan. The President’s latest offer was made at a joint press appearance with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, repeating a previous offer made in June 2019.
3. Nirbhaya Case: Condemned can’t fight endlessly - CJI–Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad A. Bobde said a condemned person cannot fight the death penalty endlessly and it was important for the capital punishment to reach its finality. The death penalty, he noted, cannot be questioned at every turn by the convict. The CJI said it was not for a judge to forgive a crime. The cardinal duty of a judge was to see if the punishment was proportionate to the crime. The law applied whether the criminal was a first-timer or a hardened one.
4. Corruption Index : India slips two places – India’s ranking in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI-2019) has slipped from 78 to 80 compared to the previous year, said Transparency International, questioning the “unfair and opaque political financing” in the country. Its score of 41 out of 100 remains the same. In democracies such as India and Australia, unfair and opaque political financing, undue influence in decision-making and lobbying by powerful corporate interest groups have resulted in stagnation or a decline in the control of corruption. The report has revealed that a majority of countries are showing little to no improvement in tackling corruption.
5. Global Warming: Rising CO2 levels may double floods, storms – The risk of extreme floods or storms could double every 13 years at the rate carbon-dioxide concentrations are building up in the atmosphere. This could spell a “catastrophe” for India, scientists have warned in a study.The number of intense “hydro-meteorological” disasters could increase by 5.4% annually for an “average” country facing annually nearly one “extreme disaster” (defined as one that causes 100 or more fatalities and/or affects 1,000 or more people).
   
6. New Species: snake eel discovered in Odisha – A new snake eel species residing in the Bay of Bengal has been discovered.It has been documented by the Estuarine Biology Regional Centre (EBRC) of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) at Gopalpur-on-sea in Odisha. This new marine species has been named Ophichthus kailash chand rai to honour the vast contributions of Dr.Kailash Chandra, Director of ZSI, to Indian animal taxonomy. Ophichthus kailash chand rai is the eighth species of the Ophichthus genus found on the Indian coast. It is the fifth new species discovered by the Gopalpur ZSI in the last two years.
7. Rohingya Muslims: ICJ orders Myanmar to protect – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Myanmar to take urgent measures to protect its Rohingya population from genocide, a ruling cheered by refugees as their first major legal victory since being forced from their homes. A lawsuit launched by Gambia in November at the United Nations’ highest body for disputes between states accuses Myanmar of genocide against Rohingya in violation of a 1948 convention. The court’s final decision could take years, and present ruling dealt only with Gambia’s request for preliminary measures. But in a unanimous ruling by the 17 judge panel, the court said the Rohingya face an ongoing threat and Myanmar must act to protect them.
8. India despatched 30,000 of measles to help Maldives tackle measles outbreak – India has stepped in to help the Maldives tackle a recent outbreak of measles, identified at a government hospital about three weeks ago. The Indian Embassy in Male handed over 30,000 doses of measles and rubella (MR) vaccine to the Maldivian Health Ministry. The outbreak comes less than three years after the World Health Organisation declared the Maldives measles-free. As many as six persons have so far been affected by the contagious viral infection. Following the development, health authorities in the Maldives said they have intensified the vaccination drive, to prevent the infectious disease from spreading further.
9. Dues related to AGR: Reliance Jio pays Rs. 195 crore – The Department of Telecom will not take any coerciveaction against telecom companies that fail to meet the January 23 deadline to pay dues related to adjusted gross revenue (AGR).The Licensing Finance Policy Wing, in its order, has also sought a detailed status report of compliance to be sent to the CGCA by January 24. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have sought more time to pay their dues, given that the Supreme Court would hear their plea to modify its October 24 order next week, Reliance Jio has paid about Rs. 195 crore to the telecom department to clear all AGR-related dues up till January 31, 2020.
10. SEBI eyes AI, machine learning to fix market manipulation – The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) plans to acquire technology to monitor social media, which is being extensively used for market manipulation. The regulator has already issued a tender to acquire such technology and also has plans to further augment its analytical capabilities using advanced technology-based tools. The capital markets regulator has also planned a ‘data lake’ project using tools like machine learning, artificial intelligence and big data analysis among other things. Data lake refers to a repository of data that is stored in a very raw or unstructured manner.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	UPSC	Indian Forest Service Exam 2019	90	Degree (Relevant Discipline)	Jan 28, 2020	https://www.upsc.gov.in/sites/default/files/Advt-05-19-Engl_0.pdf
2	SBI	Specialist Cadre Officer	26	B.Tech, M.Tech, MBA, PGDM	Feb 12, 2020	https://sbi.co.in/documents/77530/400725/CRPD_SCO_2019-20_17.pdf/d183a10a-80ab-dd1d-b5bc-ef4cc1589acc?t=1579700563557
3	SBI	Specialist Cadre Officer	45	Degree (Law)	Feb 12, 2020	https://sbi.co.in/documents/77530/400725/CRPD_SCO-law_2019-20_21.pdf/4cb259c1-51cf-47e5-8516-64f94fd6d00f?t=1579700564341
4	Indian Bank	Specialist Officer	138	Any Degree/ CA/ ICWA/ CFA/ LLB	Feb 10, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/01/Notification-Indian-Bank-Specialist-Officer-Posts.pdf
5	National Housing Bank	Officer	150	Any Degree	Jan 28, 2020	https://nhb.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Advertisement-for-the-post-of-Officers-for-Supervision.pdf
6	Assam Co-op Ap. Bank	General Manager, Dy General Manager	5	Any Degree, MBA, CA	Feb 10, 2020	http://www.apexbankassam.com/admin/pdf/Advertisement_for_the_post_of_GM_DGM.pdf
7	SBI	Clerk (Junior Associate)	8134	Any Degree	Jan 26, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/01/Notification-SBI-Clerk-Posts.pdf

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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• 1. CONSTITUTION AND LAW (Prelims, GS Paper 2, Essay paper)

1.1 Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra made reading of Preamble of Constitution mandatory in schools.

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• 2. ECONOMY (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper)

2.1 Fourth special open market operations (OMO) - RBI bought Rs. 10,000 crore long-term securities and sold Rs. 2,950 crore short-term government bonds.

2.2 NITI Aayog released Vision Document for the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP). Its aim to make all government data accessible to stakeholders in a user-friendly manner. 

2.3 Swiss mint minted smallest gold coin of world. Its diameter and weight is 2.96 mm and 0.063 gm respectively. It is smaller than a match head. The coin is 999.9 pure gold and only 999 have been minted.

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• 3. ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper)

3.1 Not Available Today

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• 4. FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Prelims, GS Paper 2, Essay paper)

4.1 Brexit bill became law

• Context -Britain’s delayed and disputed Brexit bill has become law, removing the last U.K. obstacle to the country leaving the European Union in just over a week (Jan 31, 2020 is the deadline decided for Brexit). The queen’s assent came after the bill completed its passage through Parliament by getting approval from the House of Lords.
• What is Brexit? - Britain wants to leave European Union. This is called Britain Exit from EU. Britain Exit. Brexit. 
• What is European Union? - The EU is an economic and political union involving 28 European countries. It allows free trade and free movement of people, to live and work in whichever country they choose. The UK joined in 1973 (when it was known as the European Economic Community). If the UK leaves, it would be the first member state to withdraw from the EU.
• EU Headquarters – Brussels; President (Council) – Donald Tusk; President (Parliament) – David Sassoli; President (Commission) – Jean-Claude Juncker; Formation - Treaty of Rome – Jan. 1, 1958; Single European Act - July 1, 1987, Treaty of Maastricht – Nov. 1, 1993, Treaty of Lisbon Dec. 1, 2009; 

         Last polity admitted - July 1, 2013

• Why is the UK leaving?

1. A public vote - or referendum - was held on Thursday 23 June 2016, to decide whether the UK should leave or remain. Leave won by 52% to 48%. The referendum turnout was very high at 72%, with more than 30 million people voting - 17.4 million people opting for Brexit.
2. The principle that decisions about the UK should be taken by the UK. The sense that EU membership took decision making further away from 'the people' in favour of domination by regulatory bodies – in particular the European Commission, seen as the supposed key decision-taking body, is said to have been a strong motivating factor for leave voters wanting to end or reverse the process of EU influence in the UK. 
3. Since 2008, Britain's background euroskepticism has been amplified by the poor performance of European economies. The post-2008 recession was bad in the United States, but it was really bad in the euro area. The eurozone took a greater hit than the US did initially, and then quickly collapsed back into recession rather than experiencing a continued recovery.

• Why was Brexit delayed?

1. Brexit was originally due to happen on 29 March 2019. That was two years after then Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50 - the formal process to leave - and kicked off negotiations.
2. Under Mrs May, the deadline was delayed twice after MPs rejected her Brexit deal - eventually pushing the date to 31 October 2019.
3. After replacing Mrs May as PM, Mr Johnson was required to seek a third extension after MPs failed to pass a revised Brexit deal into law.The new deadline has been set for 31 January 2020, three and a half years after the referendum was held.

•  Why did Parliament reject Theresa May's Brexit deal –
  1. The main sticking point for many Conservative MPs and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP - the government's ally in Parliament at the time) was the Irish backstop.
  2. Irish backstop - The Irish backstop (formally the Northern Ireland Protocol) is a defunct appendix to a draft Brexit withdrawal agreement developed by the May government and the European Commission in December 2017 and finalised in November 2018, that was designed to ensure there would be no border posts (one with customs control) or barriers between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after Brexit. 
  3. If it had been needed, the backstop would have kept the UK in a close trading relationship with the EU and avoided checks altogether. But MPs said if the backstop was used, the UK could be trapped in it for years, preventing UK from striking trade deals with other countries.
• What is the new Brexit deal?

1. After winning the Conservative leadership contest, Mr Johnson took over as PM in July 2019 and set about renegotiating Mrs May's deal.
2. Mr Johnson succeeded in replacing the backstop with new customs arrangements. Unlike the previous deal, the revised one will allow the UK to sign and implement its own trade agreements.
3. However, the revised deal effectively creates a customs and regulatory border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. This means some goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain would be subject to checks and pay EU import taxes (known as tariffs).
4. These would be refunded if goods remain in Northern Ireland.

• What is a no-deal Brexit   

1. In a no-deal scenario, the UK would immediately leave the European Union (EU) with no agreement about the "divorce" process. Overnight, the UK would leave the single market and Customs Union - arrangements designed to help trade between EU members by eliminating checks and tariffs (taxes on imports). No deal also means immediately leaving EU institutions such as the European Court of Justice and Europol, its law enforcement body.
2. A hard Brexit is leaving the single market, and the Customs Union, while at the same time negotiating some form of free trade deal with the EU. This would include agreements on things like the Irish border, possibly free movement within Europe of UK nationals already living in the EU (or possibly merely the right to carry on living in the country where you’re already living), rules for EU nationals already living in the UK to get some sort of permanent resident status, etc.  
3. What happens next? - Assuming the European Parliament also gives the green light, the UK will formally leave the EU on 31 January with a withdrawal deal.Following its departure, the UK will enter a transition period until 31 December 2020.During this period, the UK's trading relationship with the EU will remain the same while the two sides negotiate a free trade deal. 

4.2 World Holocaust Forum organised in Jerusalem. It was organised to commemorate 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz camp.

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• 5. GOVERNMENT SCHEMES (Prelims, GS Paper 2, GS Paper 3)

5.1 Uttar Pradesh launched 'Mukhya mantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan Yojana’ to provide financial assistance to farmers suffering accidents.

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

 6.1 Accidents and Natural Disasters – Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandan Puruskar (NSBAPP) 2019

• Background - The Union Government on January 23, 2019 instituted an annual award titled ‘Subhash Chandra Bose AapdaPrabandhanPuraskar’ to mark the 122nd birth anniversary of NetajiSubhash Chandra Bose.
• Details - The award is to be announced every year on 23rd January on the birth anniversary of NetajiSubhash Chandra Bose.  
• Prize Amount - The Award recipient will receive a certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 51 lakh.
• Recipient(s) - For the year 2019, 8th Battalion of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) located at Ghaziabad has been selected for its commendable work in Disaster Management.

6.2 Defence –Pakistan tests nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile 'Ghaznavi' of 290-km range.

6.3 Sports –World Archery lifted suspension on the Archery Association of India (AAI). 

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 A Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah will monitor the disposal of over 9,400 enemy properties across the country. Enemy properties were those left behind by the people who took citizenship of Pakistan and China.

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• 8. SOCIAL ISSUES (Prelims, GS Paper 1, GS Paper 2)

8.1 Republic Day: January 26, 2020 is near, some observations - News, firsts and major attractions

• Startup India Tableau in Republic Day 2020 –

1. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry will showcase a tableau on Startup India in this year’s Republic Day Parade at Rajpath in New Delhi. The tableau on the theme Startups: Reach for the Sky will showcase stages of the lifecycle of a startup and the all-round support provided by the Government in this journey.  
2. Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government of India. The Startup India Action Plan, launched in Jan 2016. Under the Startup India Scheme, eligible companies can get recognized as startups by DPIIT in order to access a host of tax benefits, easier compliance, IPR fast tracking and other benefits. More than 26,000 startups from 551 districts of 28 States and 7 Union Territories have been recognized in this period.

• It is the first time that a chief of defence staff (CDS) is attending it.

• Homage to fallen soldiers ceremony moves from India Gate to National War Memorial –  

1. In a break for tradition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay respect at the National War Memorial along with the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and the three service chiefs before proceeding for the Republic day parade.  Earlier, PM and others used to lay wreaths at the Amar Jawan Jyoti located at India Gate.
2. The National War Memorial is located at the ‘C’ Hexagon near India Gate. It was built in memory of 22,500 Indian soldiers who had laid down their lives for the country after Independence. A new Amar JawanJyoti was also established there.

• Anti-satellite missile tested under Mission Shakti –

1. A major attraction will be the anti-satellite missile tested under Mission Shakti by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). 
2. The Army will showcase the recently inducted 155-mm Dhanush towed howitzer. 

• Chief Guest –

1. Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro is the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations this year. President Bolsonaro, a former army captain, won a landslide victory in Brazil’s presidential election in October 2018 and took the reins of the country in January last year. 
2. India and Brazil are looking to conclude a whopping 20 pacts across defence, energy, agriculture, healthcare and minerals. The biggest ever Brazilian business delegation to India comprising 62 businessmen including 12 defence industry leaders will accompany Bolsonaro in this trip.
3. In 2018, India was the Eleventh biggest exporter to Brazil and the tenth biggest importer from the country. While the Brazilian companies have invested in automobiles, IT, mining, energy, biofuels and footwear sectors in India, the Indian companies have invested in IT, pharmaceutical, energy, agri-business, mining, engineering and automobiles.

• First woman Parade Adjutant – Tania Shergil

1. Captain Tania Shergill, an officer with Army's Corps of Signals, will be the first woman parade adjutant for the Republic Day parade. A parade adjutant is responsible for the parade. Commissioned in March, 2017, from the Officer Training Academy, Chennai, Shergill is an electronics and communications graduate. Parade adjutant is responsible for executing the parade. In the 2019 Republic Day parade, Captain Bhavna Kasturi was the first woman officer to lead an all-men contingent.

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• 9. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (Prelims, GS Paper 3)

New Aqueous Lithium-Ion Battery – Low Cost and Improved Safety

• Prerequisites – 

1. Lithium – It is an element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3 among other 118 elements known to humans. It is a soft, silvery-white metal. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element. Lithium does not occur as the metal in nature, but is found combined in small amounts in nearly all igneous rocks and in the waters of many mineral springs. Spodumene, petalite, lepidolite, and amblygonite are the more important minerals containing lithium. 
2. Ion – An ion is an atom or molecule that has a net electrical charge.
3. Electrolyte – An electrolyte is a substance that produces an electrically conducting solution when dissolved in a polar solvent, such as water.
4. Electrolysis – Chemical decomposition produced by passing an electric current through a liquid or solution containing ions.
5. Organic electrolytes – Organic electrolytes are a type of Solid electrolytes.
6. Aqueous electrolytes – Can be considered as type of liquid electrolytes.

• Context - In research published recently in Energy Storage Materials, a team of engineers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute demonstrated how they could — by using aqueous electrolytes instead of the typical organic electrolytes — assemble a substantially safer, cost-efficient battery that still performs well. (As Lithium-ion batteries that power most phones, laptops, and EVs become increasingly fast-charging and high-performing, they grow more expensive and flammable)
• Configuration - If you were to take a look inside a battery, you’d find two electrodes — an anode and a cathode. These electrodes are immersed in a liquid electrolyte that conducts ions as the battery charges and discharges.
• Why Aqueous electrolytes? - Aqueous electrolytes have been eyed for that role because of their non-flammable nature and because, unlike non-aqueous electrolytes, they aren’t sensitive to moisture in the manufacturing process, making them easier to work with and less expensive. The biggest challenge with this material has been maintaining performance. In this research, Koratkar and his team — used a special type of aqueous electrolyte known as a water-in-salt electrolyte, which is less likely to electrolyze
• The cathode and the Anode - For the cathode, the researchers used lithium manganese oxide, and for the anode, they used niobium tungsten oxide which is relatively heavy and dense. That weight makes its energy storage based on mass about average, but the dense-packing of niobium tungsten oxide particles in the electrode makes its energy storage based on volume quite good. The crystal structure of this material also has well-defined channels — or tunnels — that allow lithium ions to diffuse quickly, meaning it can charge quickly.The combination of fast-charging capability and the ability to store a large amount of charge per unit volume is rare in aqueous batteries.

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• 10. FACTS, CHARTS, RANKINGS and EDITORIALS (Prelims + GS Mains)

10.1 Ranking – Social Mobility Index 2020 by World Economic Forum

• India ranked 76th out of 82 countries. Denmark topped.

• Download pdf of the report from here – 

http://www3.weforum.org/docs/Global_Social_Mobility_Report.pdf

10.2 Daily dose of FIVE Facts -

1. India conducted night trial of Agni II on Nov 2019 which is Surface to surface missile.
2. Arvind Sawant resigned from the Union Council of Ministers in Nov2019.
3. Cortes Generales is the Parliament of Spain.
4. World Quality Day was observed on November 14. 
5. Former President of Bolivia Evo Morales has taken political asylum in Mexico.

10.3 Today’s best editorials to read 

• We offer you 7 excellent editorials from across 10 newspapers we have scanned. 

CLICK HERE TO OPEN AND READ!

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• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

Solve the online quiz given, right now. Check scores, and relative performance!

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