Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 30-01-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 30-01-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Corona virus Outbreak Updates – The Union Health Ministry advised people to refrain from travelling to China in the wake of the corona virus outbreak, as the death toll there rose to 133 with nearly 1,500 new cases.The Government of India has sought the Chinese authorities’ permission to operate two flights to bring back Indians from Hubei Province. Meanwhile, two Indian carriers that fly to China — IndiGo and Air India — announced suspension of most of their flights to that country.The U.S. and Japan flew nationals out of Wuhan, the epi centre of the corona virus outbreak in China, as the number of deaths rose by 27 to 133.UAE reported first case of virus in West Asia. 6061 people infected now in China.
2. Time limit on advance bail violates personal liberty: SC – The protection of anticipatory or pre-arrest bail cannot be limited to any time frame or “fixed period” as denial of bail amounts to deprivation of the fundamental right to personal liberty in a free and democratic country, a Constitution Bench consisting of five judges of the Supreme Court ruled. The bench was led by Justice Arun Mishra.
3. CAA: MEPs began discussion – Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) began a discussion on a joint motion criticising India’s Citizenship Act. In partial relief for the government, however, the MEPs decided not to hold a vote on the motion until the second half of March this year. On March 13, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to visit Brussels for the EU-India summit, and an amendment moved by MEP Michael Gahler of the European People’s Party (EPP) sought time so as to ensure that India could engage with the MEPs on the motion.
4. Cabinet approved to raise abortion limit to 24 weeks –The Union Cabinet approved the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020, to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. The Bill will be introduced in the coming session of Parliament. The proposed amendment seeks to enhance the upper gestation limit from 20 to 24 weeks for special categories of women that will be defined in the amendments to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules and will include vulnerable women including survivors of rape, victims of incestand others like differently abled women and minors.
5. Email accounts of government officials hacked – An independent security researcher has alerted the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre, Government of India, that the credentials of the official email accounts of at least 3,000 employees working in sensitive establishments such as the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) among others have been hacked in various data breaches.
6. China-Tibet Issue: US house passes Bill on sanctions against Chinese officials – The US House of Representatives voted to authorise sanctions against Chinese officials who interfere in the process of determining the Dalai Lama’s successor, raising pressure as the Tibetan spiritual leader approaches 85. Under the legislation, Washington would freeze any U.S. assets and ban travel to the United States of Chinese officials found to be involved in identifying or installinga government-approved Dalai Lama. A total of 392 lawmakers voted for the Bill with 22, all of them Republicans plus one conservative independent, opposed. The Act still needs approval from the Senate, where Republican Marco Rubio has promised to lead efforts, before heading to President Donald Trump for his signature.
7. Indigo Airlines: Share holders voted out change to share transfer norm – In the latest round of the ongoing duel between IndiGo co-founders, Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal (RG), the former has emerged as the winner. The airline’s shareholders voted overwhelmingly against a special resolution proposed by Mr.Gangwal which would deny his rival the right of first refusal in case of an equity sale. In a BSE filing after the meeting, Inter Globe Aviation Ltd. (IGAL) informed the resolution was defeated as the votes cast against it were more than three times than those cast in favour.
8. Free legal services to poor and needy: only one legal aid advocate for every 161 prisoners – Nearly 33 years after a law was enacted to ensure free legal services to the poor and needy, its quality and accessibility remains abysmal as a Supreme Court-appointed committee found only one legal aid advocate for every 161 prisoners to help them seek relief from courts. Legal Services Act was enacted in 1987 and National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) was set up in 1995 followed by State bodies (SALSAs). The SC-appointed committee, headed by former SC judge Justice Amitava Roy, surveyed data from 12 major states and found that free legal aid was provided by state authorities in 482 prisons, by NGOs in 97 prisons and pro bono by individual lawyers in 90 jails..
9. R. P. N. DevMech and T. Basumatary, persons behind the Bodo deal – Driven by their shared dream of a “gun-free society” and working behind the scenes, a Bodo ‘prince’ and an IIT graduate in their 20s have emerged as the unsung heroes of the tripartite accord signed this week to end the community’s 34-year unrest. RajkumarPrithviraj Narayan DevMech, the 19th descendant of King ChikraMech, and Thulunga Basumatary, a graduate from IIT-Madras, not only visited Myanmar to rope in the anti-talks NDFB(S) functionaries based there but also drafted the pact that was then adopted almost in its entirety by all the stakeholders in the peace process. All of this was apparently accomplished by Prithviraj, who turned 22 a couple of months ago, and his friend with just their conviction and ability to persuade everyone, including the Union home ministry.
10. Pak shuts Afghan border after mortar blast – Pakistan closed the Khyber Pass border crossing with Afghanistan for 10 hours after mortar bombs landed in Pakistani territory from across the border. The Torkham crossing, through which thousands of vehicles pass every week, is the main trade link between the uneasy neighbours. Exchanges of fire across the border, which Afghanistan has never recognised, are common. But an Afghan official denied that the country’s forces had fired into Pakistan. Hundreds of stuck vehicles began moving after the border crossing was reopened.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	NIT, Rourkela	Office Assistant	6	Any Degree	Feb 5, 2020	https://nitrkl.ac.in/OldWebsite/IntraWeb/Jobs_Tenders/Jobs/NonTeachingPosition/2020/201601322819_1.pdf
2	NIIST	JRF, Project Asst – I, II	5	Diploma, B.Sc, M.Sc, M.Tech With NET	Feb 24, 2020	https://www.niist.res.in/english/download/1597/
3	IIT, Kharagpur	Professional Trainee	12	B.Lib, M.Lib	Feb 28, 2020	http://www.iitkgp.ac.in/files/cl_adv_2020_pt.pdf
4	Hindustan Copper Ltd	Trade Apprentice	161	10th Class, 10+2, ITI	Feb 15, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/01/Notification-Hindustan-Copper-Ltd-ITI-Trade-Apprentice-Posts.pdf
5	RARI, Gangtok	SRF, Pharmacist, Office Assistant, DEO	6	Diploma, D.Pharma, Any Degree, BAMS	Feb 14, 2020	http://www.ccras.nic.in/sites/default/files/viewpdf/Vacancies/21012020_RARI_Gangtok_advt.pdf
6	IWAI	Specialist (Hydro)	6	B.Tech (Civil/ Survey Engg)	Feb 10, 2020	https://iwai.nic.in/showfile.php?lid=1847
7	BECIL	Pharmacy Manager, Pharmacist, OT Asst, Accountant, Jr Technician	52	10+2, Diploma, BAMS, B.Com/ BBA, B.Pharm	Feb 5, 2020	https://www.becil.com/uploads/vacancy/cbc38caedf1497ede08e0371a31dae41.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    Entry of woman into mosque for Namaz is permitted in Islam – affidavit filed by AIMPLB in SC

• Context – The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in the plea seeking direction to permit the Muslim women to enter and offer prayers inside Mosque.
• Details of the affidavit – The affidavit states that the only difference between men and women is that women have the option to offer their prayers at the home. However, if she wishes to offer prayer at the Mosque, she has right to do so.
• Role of AMPLB - AMPLB is one of the respondents in the plea, represented by Advocate M. R. Shamshad.The AMPLB has contended that since the plea relates to the doctrine of Islamic religious principles, it would not be appropriate for the court to enter into the religious practices based upon beliefs of the religion by invoking Articles 14, 15, 21, 25 and 29 of Constitution.
• Background –  

1. The affidavit has been filed in a plea filed by a Pune-based couple, Yasmeen Zuber Ahmad Peerzade and Zuber Ahmad Nazir Ahmad Peerzade, who had approached the Supreme Court last year, seeking entry of Muslim women in mosques across the country and claiming that such restriction was ‘unconstitutional’ and violate the fundamental rights to life, equality and gender justice.
2. In Oct 2019, the SC said that it would hear the PIL only because of its judgement in the Sabrimala temple case.
3. In Nov 2019, SC take up the larger issue of whether courts can intervene in matters of essential religious practices and hear a batch of pleas in that regard.

• Conclusion -The present plea, thus along with cases relating to entry of women in Sabrimala temple, female genital mutation in Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community etc. are likely to be taken by the Constitution bench in first week of February 2020.

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

2.1 Budget Special – Retail Sector

• The last one year has brought new challenges for the retail industry in the form of decelerating growth and slowing consumption.
• Key Challenges –

1. Multiple regulations and regulators governing the sector.
2. Low consumption demand leading to reduction in investments and profitability.
3. Lack of alignment between centre and state on applicability of laws/regulations and compliance therein  leading to increased cost of doing business.
4. Inadequate physical and digital infrastructure affecting efficiencies in supply chain management.

• Industry Expectation –

1. Seek alignment between sectoral policies and regulations-Multiple laws and regulation govern the retail sector, including economic and product specific regulations like FSSA, legal metrology, Drugs and cosmetics. Further there are disparities in interpretation and implementation at all levels of the government. Thus, there is need to align and harmonise the multiple policies and regulations to facilitate ease of doing business
2. Avenues for financing and linkages with Global Value Chains: Retail is a complex ecosystem with extensive backward and forward linkages having intricate distribution network and infrastructure requirements. An enabling investment environment that supports the business to scale up their value chain and help companies integrate with the global value chains is the need of the hour.

2.2 Indian Banks Association appointed Sunil Mehta as its new chief executive.

2.3 According to World Steel Association, crude steel output of India increased 1.8% to 111.2 million tonnes (MT) in 2019.

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

3.1 Indian Railways commissions first governmental waste to energy plant of country in Bhubaneswar

• Brief description of waste to energy plant –

1. Total plant installation cost: Rs. 1.79 crore
2. Date of commissioning: January 22, 2020
3. Estimated income from the by-products: Rs. 17.5 Lakhs per annum
4. Maintenance cost: Rs. 10.4 Lakhs per annum
5. The capacity is: 500kg/ Batch

• Indian Railways has commissioned the country’s first governmental waste to energy plantin Mancheswar Carriage Repair Workshop at Bhubaneswar in East Coast Railway.
• This waste to energy plant, constructed in three months, is a patented technology called POLYCRACK, is first-of-its-kind in Indian Railways and fourth in India.
• It is the world’s first patented heterogeneous catalytic process which converts multiple feed stocks into hydrocarbon liquid fuels, gas, carbon and water.
• Polycrack Plant can be fed with all types of plastic, petroleum sludge, un-segregated MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) with moisture up to 50%, E-Waste, automobile fluff, organic waste including bamboo, garden waste etc., and jatropha fruit and palm bunch.
• The process is a closed-loop system and does not emit any hazardous pollutants into the atmosphere.
• The combustible, non-condensed gases are re-used for providing energy to the entire system and thus, the only emission comes from the combustion of gaseous fuels.The emissions from the combustion are found to be much less than prescribed environmental norms.
• This process will produce energy in the form of light diesel oil which is used to light furnaces. 
• Polycrack has the following advantages over the conventional approach of treating solid waste -

1. Pre-segregation of waste is not required to reform the waste. Waste as collected can be directly fed into Polycrack.It has high tolerance to moisture hence drying of waste is not required.
2. Waste is processed and reformed within 24 hours.The foot print of the plant is small hence the area required for installing the plant is less when compared with conventional method of processing.
3. There is no atmospheric emission during the process unlike other conventional methods except for combustion gases which have pollutants less than the prescribed norms the world over.
4. Operates around 450°, making it a low temperature process when compared with other options.
5. Low capital cost and low operating cost.Fully automated system requires minimum man power.

• Awards and Recognition -Best innovation Gold Medal in 2007 by Lockheed Martin, Dept of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, FICCI; Best Innovation Gold Medal 2008; Best Innovation Gold Medal 2009; Nominated for Tech-Museum Awards 2008; Frost and Sullivan – Global Innovation and Leadership Award -2011 and IGCW-2011 – Best Green Chemistry Innovation Award.

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

4.1 Taranjit Singh Sandhu appointed as India's new Ambassador to the United States.

• Taranjit Sandhu has been appointed as India’s ambassador to the United States.
• Sandhu, currently India’s high commissioner to Sri Lanka, will succeed Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who will take charge as the country’s new foreign secretary.
• Sandhu’s appointment comes at a time when New Delhi is looking to balance its strategic ties with the US amid tricky trade relations.India is looking at a trade pact with Washington and is readying for a visit by US President Donald Trump next month. 
• Sandhu’s appointment is also crucial as India is facing criticism from the US Congress over Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Kashmir policy following abrogation of Article 370. Democrat Congress woman Pramila Jaypal has introduced a resolution in the US House of Representatives over Kashmir.
• Introduction - Sandhu, a 1988-batch IFS officer, has served twice before at the Indian mission in the US and his prior work experience may come handy. He was Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian embassy in Washington between July 2013 and January 2017. Sandhu also held the position of First Secretary (Political) at Embassy of India, Washington responsible for liaison with the US Congress from 1997-2000. Between July 2005 and February 2009, Sandhu was posted at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.

4.2 United Kingdom launched 4 million pound Innovation Challenge Fund in India to support collaborative research into emerging technologies.

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

5.1 Bhuvan Panchayat V 3.0 web portal launched 

• Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh launched the Bhuvan Panchayat V 3.0 web portal in Bengaluru.
• About the portal -The Web Geo portal is an easy to use Geo portal developed for database visualization, data analytics, generation of automatic reports,  model based products and services for the benefit of Gram Panchayat members and other stake holders.
• Targeted audience -The targeted audience for this portal are Public, PRIs and different stakeholders belonging to the gram panchayats.
• Background - ISRO launched SISDP project to assist Gram Panchayats at grass root level with basic planning inputs derived from satellite data. SISDP phase I Project was successfully concluded in the year 2016-17.Based on the rich experience gained and encouraging feedback received from various stakeholders SISDP-Updatewas initiated.  For the first time, thematic database on 1:10,000 scale for the entire country is available with high integrated High Resolution satellite data for planning.
• SISDP - Space-based Information Support for Decentralised Planning

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1  Arts and Culture  –Weekly Round up

• Crossword Book Awards 2020 –

1. Business and Management — Anju Sharma for ‘Corporate Monk’
2. Health and Fitness — Dr. R. Jaishree Sharadfor ‘Skin Rules’
3. Non-fiction — Gauraur Gopal das for ‘Life’s Amazing Secrets’
4. Children’s Books — Sudha Murty for ‘The Upside-Down King’
5. Fiction — Twinkle Khanna for ‘Pyjamas Are Forgiving’
6. Biiography— Krishna Trilok for ‘Notes of a Dream: The Authorized Biography of A.R. Rahman’
7. English Fiction — Madhuri Vijay for ‘The Far Field’
8. English Non-fiction — Shanta Gokhale for ‘One Foot on the Ground’

• Poet Arvind Krishna Mehrotra (in photo) received 5th Maha kavi Kanhaiyalal Sethia Award at Jaipur Literature Festival 2020.

• The Hindu Group Chairman N. Ram won national award instituted by Kerala Media Academy.
• Sneha Pamneja won Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize for designing the cover of  ‘Tiffin: Authentic Recipes Celebrating India's Regional Cuisine.’
• Oxford University Press named Samvidhaan (Constitution) as its Hindi Word of 2019.
• Nobel Economics 2019 laureate Abhijit Banerjee conferred honorary D. Lit. by Calcutta University.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Former Bihar Minister and RJD MLA Abdul Gafoorpassed away at the age of 60.

• He was suffering from liver ailment.
• He served as Minister of Minority Welfare in Nitish Kumar government of Bihar, he was also a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly representing the Mahishi vidhansabha for the fourth time (he was elected in 1995,2000,2010 and in 2015).
• He was also the chairman of Bihar State haj Committee and held the post between 2003 and 2006. 

7.2 Andhra Pradesh Assembly passes resolution to abolish Legislative Council

• Context -The Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly unanimously passed a resolution on January 27, 2020 to abolish the state legislative council.  The state cabinet had approved the resolution earlier in the day. The proposal will now be sent to the centre for further action.
• Why does AP government want to abolish the Legislative Council? - With just nine members, the ruling YSRCP is in minority in the 58-member legislative council. The opposition TDP has an upper hand with 28 members. The YSRCP is enraged after three of its crucial bills are stuck in the state legislative council. The AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, and the APCRDA (Repeal) Bill—which, in essence, will help Jagan establish three capitals in the state—were referred to a select committee at the insistence of the TDP..
• What is the Legislative Council?  - The Legislative Council is the upper house in the state legislature. Similar to the Rajya Sabha, the council is a permanent house, which means that it cannot be dissolved. Only the state legislative assembly can be dissolved.
• How can the state legislative council be abolished? - The Parliament is the sole authority that can provide for the abolishment of a state legislative council or creation of a council in a state that has no council till now. The Parliament can pass the law if the state legislative assembly passes a resolution proposing the abolishment of the council by a majority of the total membership of the assembly and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of members present and voting.
• Assam was the first state to abolish its state legislative council. The state passed a resolution for the same in 1947.After Assam, West Bengal had abolished its legislative council in 1969 and Punjab abolished it in 1970. The state legislative council of Andhra Pradesh was also abolished previously in 1985 and was revived again in 2006.

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

8.1 Centre inaugurates Composite Regional Center (CRC) in Port Blair for Skill Development, Rehabilitation and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

8.2 EAM S Jaishankar laid foundation stone of skill development centre to train tribals of Kevadiya village in Narmada district of Gujarat.

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

9.1  India completes phasing out of ozone-depleting chemical HCFC-141b

• India has successfully completed the phasing out of Hydro chloro fluoro carbon (HCFC)-141b, used by foam manufacturing companies and one of the most potent ozone-depleting chemicals.
• HCFC-141b is not produced in the country and all the domestic requirements are met through imports.
• Ozone Layer - Ozone occurs naturally in small amounts in the upper atmosphere of earth. It protects life on earth from the sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

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

10.1  Ranking – Annual Status of Education Report (Rural), 2019

• Report is released by NGO Pratham in January 2020.
• Only 16% of children in Class 1 in 26 surveyed rural districts can read text at the prescribed level, while almost 40% cannot even recognise letters
  Only 41% of these children could recognise two-digit numbers.
• ASER surveyors visited almost 37,000 children between 4 and 8 years in 26 rural districts across 24 States.
• Among Class 1 children who could correctly do none or only one of the tasks requiring cognitive skills, about 14% could read words, while 19% could do single digit addition.
• However, among children who could correctly do all three cognitive tasks, 52% could read words, and 63% could solve the math problem.
  
  Download pdf of the report from here –
  
  
   http://img.asercentre.org/docs/ASER%202019/ASER2019%20report%20/aserreport2019earlyyearsfinal.pdf

10.2 Daily dose of FIVE Facts -

1. SAANS launched by Health and Family Welfare Ministry is Social Awareness and Action to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully.
2. India in Nov 2019 kicked-off a US $ 43 mn project to boost climate resilience in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
3. Dhaka Global Dialogue was organised jointly by India-based Observer Research Foundation and the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) in Nov. 2019.
4. BrankoLustig passed away in Zagreb, Croatia in Nov. 2019. He was a well-known Film producer.
5. Afghanistan was the Partner Country at the 39th India International Trade Fair (IITF) organised in New Delhi in Nov. 2019.

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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