Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 12-02-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 12-02-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. AAP sweeps Delhi with 62 seats – Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were voted back to power with a massive mandate in the Delhi Assembly election as the party won 62 seats in the 70-member House. The party dropped just five seats and less than a percentage point in vote share from its stellar 2015 showing. Despite a hard-fought and bitter campaign that saw big guns, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah address rallies, the BJP managed to win only eight seats, up five from its 2015 tally. The Congress, yet again, failed to open its account — the party’s candidates looked set to forfeit their deposits on 63 of the 66 seats contested.
2. U.S. President Trump to come India on Feb 24, 25 – U.S. President Donald Trump will visit India on Feb 24 and 25. He will visit with First Lady Melania Trump to New Delhi and Ahmedabad. The White House said Ahmedabad was chosen for the visit as Gujarat was home to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and played an “important role” in Mahatma Gandhi’s life.
3. Nirbhaya Case Updates – The Supreme Court allowed the Union government to approach the trial court for issuance of a fresh date for the execution of the death sentence of the Nirbhaya gang rape convicts. Appearing before a three-judge Bench led by Justice R. Banumathi, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the Nirbhaya convicts were trying the patience of the nation. Mr. Mehta made a chilling reference to how policemen who gunned down the four gang rape and murder accused in Hyderabad were cheered by people, calling the incident a symptom of people losing faith in the process of law.
4. Muzaffarpur shelter case: 6 jailed for life – A Delhi court sentenced Brajesh Singh Thakur - who ran the children’s shelter home in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district where 44 girls were sexually exploited - and five others to imprisonment for the rest of their lives and slapped Thakur with a fine of over Rs. 32 lakh for committing sexual crimes. Additional sessions judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha also sentenced five convicts in the case to life terms while handing 10-year terms to six others. Two more persons got relatively minor sentences. Thakur and 18 others, including nine women, were convicted on January 20 of committing or abetting sexual assault on 44 minor girls at the Muzaffarpur shelter.
5. FM cites ‘7 green shoots’ to defend handling of economy – Hitting back at former finance minister P Chidambaram for his ‘incompetent doctors’ comment, finance minister Nirmala Sitharman said she doesn’t want to learn from those who gave “faulty remedies” and under whom FDI literally ran away and “cronies” fled the country after defaulting on bank loans. Sitharaman defended handling of the economy citing “seven specific green shoots” in rising foreign direct investment, net foreign portfolio inflows, kicking off of Rs 103 lakh crore infrastructure pipeline, jump in foreign exchange reserves, GST collection topping Rs 1 lakh crore in current fiscal, rebound in industrial production and surge in stock markets.
6. Coronavirus Outbreak - updates – Around the world, there are now 45,182 cases and 1,1115 deaths.World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a global threat potentially worse than terrorism.WHO renamed the virus as ‘Covid-19’. “co” for “corona”, “vi” for “virus” and “d” for “disease”.
7. Hafiz Saeed’s plea accepted by Pak court – An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan accepted a plea by Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamat-ud-Dawa chief (JuD) Hafiz Saeed to club all six terror financing cases against him and his aides, and announce the verdict on completion of the trial. The anti-terrorism court or ATC had indicted Saeed and others on December 11 in terror financing case in day-to-day hearings.
8. Jewish extremists vandalised Arab village – Dozens of cars in an Israeli Arab village were vandalised overnight with slogans sprayed on a mosque indicating the involvement of Jewish extremists. The slogans “Jews awaken” and “Stop assimilating” were scrawled on a mosque and another building in Jish, a small village in the Galilee just south of Israel’s border with Lebanon. Police said they were investigating the incident.
9. Medical devices to be regulated as drugs – Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, clashed throughout the day in a combative display of their determination to treat the upcoming New Hampshire primary.
10. Govt may have to infuse capital into LIC before IPO – All medical devices sold in the country  such as Medical devices and medical technology equipment used for “diagnosis, monitoring, treatment, investigations and for supporting or sustaining life” will be categorised as ‘drugs’, under the Drug and Cosmetics Act, 1940, from April this year. At present, over 30 devices including syringes, cardiac stents and orthopaedic implants are classified as drugs (under Medical Device Rules), leaving a whole host of med technology companies “largely unregulated”. The development is expected to bring in important changes for the sector over the next few years — one, their prices will be governed, and second, in case of a violation, they could be penalised in a court.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	South Indian Bank	Probationary Manager (CA)	15	CA	Feb 23, 2020	https://www.southindianbank.com/UserFiles/file/Notification_Probationary_Manager_CA_2020.pdf
2	SVNIRTAR	Asst Professor, Workshop Supervisor cum Store Keeper & Other	7	10+2, B.Ed, MBBS With PG Degree/ Diploma	March6, 2020	http://svnirtar.nic.in/sites/default/files/news/CRC%20Rajnandgaon%20Recruitment%20Notification.pdf
3	SCTIMST	Apprentice (X-Ray Technology)	22	Diploma (Relevant Discipline)	Feb.18, 2020	https://www.sctimst.ac.in/Recruitment/resources/APPRENTICE%20IN%20X-RAY%20TECHNOLOGY,%20DATE%20&%20TIME%2018.02.2020%20-%2002.00%20PM.pdf
4	SVNIT, Surat	Sr Executive Engineer, Dy Registrar, Executive Engineer & Other	6	B.E/ B.Tech, MBBS, PG (Relevant Discipline)	March2, 2020	http://www.svnit.ac.in/Data/jobs/2020/Recruitment%20for%20post%20of%20officers%20%20(Sr.%20Ex.%20Engineer,%20Dy.%20Engineer,%20Ex.%20Engineer,%20Medical%20Officer,%20%20Scientific-Technical%20Officer.pdf
5	RRC, Eastern Railway	Act Apprentice	2792	8th Class, 10th Class, 10+2	March 13, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/01/Notification-RRC-Eastern-Railway-Act-Apprentice-Vacancy.pdf
6	Rail Wheel Factory	Sports Quota	5	10th Class, ITI, 10+2	Feb24, 2020	https://rwf.indianrailways.gov.in/works/uploads/files/Misc/PersonnelDept/Notifications/Sports%20quota/Sports%20Quota%20Notification%202019-20%20II.pdf
7	IRFC Limited	General Manager, AGM, Joint General Manager, DGM & Manager	8	Degree, PG (Relevant Discipline)	Feb 13, 2020	http://irfc.nic.in/ActiveJobs.php

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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 Cannot block roads for protests: Supreme Court

• What is the case? – Kaindi Kunj - Shaheen Bagh stretch and the Okhla underpass in Delhi were closed because of the assembly of anti-CAA protesters from Dec. 15, 2019.
• Advocate Amit Sahni and former BJP MLA Nand Kishore Garg were the main petitioners in the courts filing pleas to consider the inconvenience because of this.
  
• The Supreme Court said the anti-CAA protesters at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh cannot block public roads and create inconvenience for others.
• The apex court issued notices to the Centre, Delhi government and the Police on pleas seeking removal of protesters from Shaheen Bagh
• The court said that it will not pass any direction on Shaheen Bagh protest without hearing the other side, the Supreme Court listed the matter for hearing on February 17.
• The bench comprised of Justices S K Kaul,  K M Joseph, Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant.
• "You cannot block the public roads. There cannot be indefinite period of protest in such an area. if you want to protest, it has to be in an area identified for protest," -  the SC bench said.

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

2.1 India International Seafood Show (IISS) 

• Edition – 22nd
• Organised by – Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI)  
• Place – Kochi
• Time  – February 7 to 9, 2020
• Theme –Blue Revolution - Beyond Production to Value Addition.

2.2 Coal India Ltd. subsidiary Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) setup Research and Development centre Science and Applied Research Alliance and Support (SARAS) for sustainable mining.

2.3 Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority(PFRDA) DOUBLED minimum net worth for PENSION FUND MANAGERS to Rs. 50 crore.

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

3.1 Naturally North-East: The Naga Narrative, fashion show held

• Organised by – Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) under ministry of Tribal Affairs 
• Time – Feb 7, 2020
• Place – Suraj kund Mela in Faridabad, Haryana
• Chief Guest – Renuka Singh Saruta, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs
• This show was first of its kind.
• It showcased the Naga weave with a modern touch and various other products from Northeast states.
• The show was curated by famous fashion designer Ritu Beri.
• The tribes constitute over 8% of the country's population.
  

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

4.1 India – Sri Lanka relations in January 2020

• India pledged a US $ 50 million assistance to Sri Lanka as National Security Advisor Ajit Doval called on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Colombo and discussed a range of bilateral issues, including strengthening cooperation in defence, intelligence sharing and maritime security.
• India handed over new buildings for five schools it constructed in Tamil-majority Northern Province under the people-oriented development cooperation with the Sri Lankan government.

4.2 Twitter to start labelling tweets containing "manipulated media" which aim to mislead people.

4.3 Appointments –PHILIP BARTON appointed new High Commissioner of Britain to India.

 

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

5.1 Not available today

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 92nd ACADEMY AWARDS

• Best Picture: Parasite (Korean)
• Best Director: Bong Joon-ho – ‘Parasite’ 
• Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix – ‘Joker’
• Best Actress: Renée Zellweger – ‘Judy Garland’
• Best Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt – ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’
• Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern – ‘Marriage Story’
• Best Original Screenplay: Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won – ‘Parasite’
• Best Adapted Screenplay: Taika Waititi – ‘Jojo Rabbit’
• Best Animated Feature Film: ‘Toy Story 4’ 
• Best International Feature Film: ‘Parasite’ (South Korea)
• Best Cinematography: ‘1917’ – Roger Deakins.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi inaugurated as 28th district of Chattisgarh

• Chief Minister of Chattisgarh - Bhupesh Baghel
• The new district, carved out of Bilaspur, has three tehsils and three development blocks namely Gaurela, Pendra and Marwahi.
• It comprises 166 gram panchayats, 222 villages and two nagar panchayats, with an area of 1,68,225 hectares.
• Chattisgarh was formed on November 1, 2000 by partitioning ten Chhattisgarhi and six Gondi-speaking south eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh.It is the ninth-largest state in India having capital at Raipur. 

7.2 Jammu and Kashmir administration renamed Public Health Engineering and Irrigation and Flood Control Department (PHE&IFC) as 'Jal Shakti Department'.

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

8.1 Hyderabad Metro Rail

• Hyderabad Metro Rail became SECOND largest operational Metro network in the country at 69 km after Delhi Metro (103.93 kms).
• It has 57 stations while the Delhi Metro has 285 stations.
• A special purpose vehicle company, L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Ltd (L&TMRHL) was established by the construction company L&T to develop Hyderabad metro rail project under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
• It Began operation on November 29, 2017

8.2 First 'Disha Police Station' inaugurated in Raja mahendravaram city of Andhra Pradesh to exclusively handle cases of crime against women and children.

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

9.1 International Day of Women and Girls in Science observed on February 11

            

• Edition – 5th
• It is celebrated by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on December 22, 2015.
• It is implemented by UNESCO and UN Women, in collaboration with intergovernmental agencies and institutions, as well as civil society partners that aim to promote women and girls in science.
• The day's purpose is to promote full and equal access to participation in science for women and girls.
• Theme 2020 - Investment in Women and Girls in Science for Inclusive Green Growth
• The theme focuses on the empowerment of women and girls, equal access and motivates them to opt for science. 
• Today, just 30 per cent of researchers worldwide are women, and only 35 per cent of all students enrolled in STEM related fields of study are women.
• According to the Gender Bias Without Borders 2015 study by the Geena Davis Institute showed that of the onscreen characters with an identifiable STEM job, only 12 per cent were women.
• STEM - Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
  

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

10.1  Ranking – International Intellectual Property (IP) Index 2020   

• Report was prepared by US Chamber of Commerce's Global Innovation Policy Center.
• India ranked 40th among 53 economies.
  
  Download pdf of the report from here –
  
  
  https://www.theglobalipcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GIPC_IP_Index_2020_FullReport.pdf

10.2 Daily dose of FIVE Facts -

• Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury won the Men’s Doubles title at the 2020 Australian Open tennis.
• The International Customs Day was observed on January 26.
• World Economic Forum in Jan 2020 launched 1t.org to support efforts to grow, restore and conserve one trillion trees around the world.
• National Assembly is the Upper House of Parliament in Nepal.
• The 2020 Dakar Car Rally was organised in Saudi Arabia.

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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