Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 14-02-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 14-02-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Publish criminal history of candidates, SC orders parties – The Supreme Court ordered political parties to publish the entire criminal history of their candidates for the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections along with the reasons that goaded them to field suspected criminals over decent people. The information should be published in a local and a national newspaper as well as the parties’ social media handles. It should mandatorily be published either within 48 hours of the selection of candidates or less than two weeks before the first date for filing of nominations, whichever is earlier. A Bench led by Justice Rohinton F. Nariman, in the judgment, ordered political parties to submit compliance reports with the Election Commission of India within 72 hours or risk contempt of court action.
2. Cloud over trade talks as U.S. official puts off trip – U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer has put off his trip to India this weekamid signs that the India-U.S. trade talks have hit a rough patch just ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit. No reason has been given for the change of plans in the USTR’s visit that was expected on Feb 20, but that there is still a considerable chance that he would visit as a part of Mr. Trump’s entourage to finalise a trade package or a “mini-trade deal” with his counterpart, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, on items that the two sides have been negotiating for more than two years now.
3. Coronavirus Outbreak - Updates – The Chinese province at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak reported a record rise in deaths and thousands more infections using a broader case definition, while Japan became the third place outside mainland China to suffer a fatality. Japan confirmed its first death — a woman in her 80s— adding to two previous fatalities in Hong Kong and the Philippines. In Hubei province, in central China, officials said 242 people died on Feb 13, the biggest daily rise since the flu-like virus emerged in the provincial capital Wuhan in December. Total deaths in China are 1,367.The rise, following a forecast earlier this week by China’s senior medical adviser that the epidemic may end there by April, halted a global stocks rally. But it appeared in large part to be due to methodology.As a result, 14,840 new cases were reported in the province on Feb 13, from 2,015 new cases nationwide a day earlier. But excluding cases confirmed using the new method, the number of new cases rose by only 1,508.
4. Normalcy almost back in J&K: Envoys – The 25 envoys who had been taken to J&K over the past couple of days returned with mixed reactions. While a few of the European envoys were less than satisfied, the majority of them appreciated the unprecedented access to different parts of J&K establishment and society over the past couple of days. The envoys were briefed on the prevailing security situation by Lt Gen K J S Dhillon, commander XV Corps, following which the group moved to Jammu. There they met Lieutenant governor G S Murmu, chief secretary B V R Subbu and senior members of the administration. Separately, they met a cross-section of civil society in Jammu as well as Justice Gita Mittal, Chief Justice of J&K HC, who is currently ruling on cases involving detentions.
5. Hanging of Nirbhaya convicts entangled in procedural maze – Nearly three years after the Supreme Court sent the Nirbhaya case convicts to the gallows, the noose seems to have got entangled in a procedural maze with lawyers filing petition after petition in various courts since a Delhi trial court fixed January 22 as the date for the convicts’ hanging.
6. US announces 7-day partial truce with Taliban – The United States has secured a seven-day partial truce with the Taliban, following talks to negotiate a path to peace in Afghanistan, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said. The announcement was made as NATO defense ministers met in Brussels, and a day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani touted "notable progress" in negotiations with the insurgent group.
7. Harvard, Yale Investigated over foreign money – The U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into Harvard and Yale Universities over their potential failure to “report hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign gifts and contracts.” Federal officials said in a press release that Yale “may have failed to report at least $375 million in foreign gifts and contracts, choosing not to report any gifts and contracts over the last four years.”
8. Nizam funds case: India finally gets share of £35m – The high commission of India in London has finally received millions of pounds that had been stuck in a British bank account due to a 70-year-old legal dispute over funds belonging to the Nizam of Hyderabad. The UK high commission has received its share of the £35 million (Rs 325 crore) stuck in a National Westminster bank account since September 20, 1948, that Pakistan had also laid a claim to. Last October, the high court ruled in favour of India and Mukarram Jah, the titular 8th Nizam of Hyderabad, and his younger brother, Muffakham Jah, in the case they had been fighting against Pakistan for six years in the London high court. The bank had already transferred the money to court.
9. Better vegetable supplies to lower inflation: CEA – A day after retail inflation shot up to a near sixyear high, chief economic adviser (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian played down fears of inflationary pressures building up in the economy and said prices are expected to soften in the months ahead as onion supplies improve.
10. Son-in-law of Infy’s Murthy named UK finance minister – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s promotion of Rishi Sunak, sonin-law of Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy, to chancellor of the exchequer (finance minister) places Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) in two of Britain’s great offices of state, the other being Priti Patel who remains home secretary after Johnson’s first post-Brexit cabinet reshuffle. There are now a total of four PIOs in Johnson’s cabinet. Reading MP Alok Sharma (52) has been promoted to secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, and ex-barrister Suella Braverman (39) has been appointed attorney general, the government’s most senior law officer.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	AIIMS, New Delhi	Group A, B, C	430	12th Class, Diploma, Degree, PG	March 12, 2020	https://www.aiimsexams.org/pdf/Advertisement%20for%20the%20post%20of%20Group%20A,B%20&%20C%20at%20AIIMS,%20New%20Delhi.pdf
2	GAIL (India) Ltd	Executive Trainee Through GATE 2020	25	Degree	March 12, 2020	https://gailonline.com/careers/currentOpnning/DETAILED%20ADVERTISEMENT-GATE%202020%20FOR%20WEBSITE.pdf
3	Balmer Lawrie and Co Limited	Manager and Associate Vice President	40	Degree (Engg), MBA/ MSW, CA/ ICWA/ CS	March 9, 2020	https://www.balmerlawrie.com/files/uploads/1581334976web_advertisement_srd_final.pdf
4	IIM, Kozhikode	Chief Purchase Officer, Sr Manager, Dy Librarian, System Manager and Other	16	Any Degree, PG (Relevant Engg Discipline), CA/ ICWA	March 10, 2020	https://iimk.ac.in/announcements/careers/notification/permanent/2020/11.pdf?d=59
5	NIEPVD	Mobility Instructor, Stenographer, Store Keeper, Coordinator and Other	19	10th, 12th Class, Diploma, Degree, PG	March  13, 2020	http://nivh.gov.in/images/1miscpostfeb2020.pdf
6	NIEPVD	Mobility Instructor, Stenographer, Store Keeper, Coordinator and Other	7	Diploma (Engg), Degree, PG With NET, Ph.D	Feb 24, 2020	https://nivedi.res.in/sites/default/files/2020-02/website%20advertisement%20of%20walk%20in%20interview%20for%2024th%20February%202020.pdf
7	DRDO-NPOL	Trade Apprentices	41	ITI	March 6, 2020	https://www.drdo.gov.in/sites/default/files/whats_new_document/NPOL_Advt_Trade_Apprentice_2020-21.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 SC slaps fine on states for no reply on community kitchen schemes

• The five states of Punjab, Nagaland, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand, along with the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar, were slapped with a fine of Rs. 5 lakh each by the Supreme Court for not complying with its directions to file affidavits on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking setting up of a state-funded Public-Private-Partnership community kitchens across the country.
• The Bench was headed by Justice N. V. Ramanna.
• The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in August 2019 by social activists Anun Dhawan, Ishann Dhawan and Kunjana Singh through advocates Ashima Mandla, Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi and Mandakini Singh.
• The community kitchens were established by the respective states with the objective of combating hunger and the malnutrition crisis by providing nutritious food at subsidized rates to the socio-economically backward classes of society.
• In their petition, the advocates had referred to the community kitchen services of seven states which were successfully combating malnutrition and the starvation crisis.
• The petitioners said that the alarming rates of hunger and malnutrition in the country were threatening the ‘Right to Food’ and thereby the ‘Right to Life’ enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution.
• Community Kitchen Services -Tamil Nadu - Amma Unavagam, Rajasthan - Annapurna Rasoi, Karnataka - Indira Canteens, Delhi - Aam Aadmi Canteen, Andhra Pradesh - Anna Canteen, Jharkhand - Mukhyamantri Dal Bhat Yojana and Odisha - Ahaar Centre.
• According to United Nations and World Health Organization report, in India, 7,000 persons (out of around 22,500, including children) die of hunger every day and over 25 lakh persons (out of 84 lakh), die of hunger annually.
• 69 per cent of children under the age of five who have lost their lives are due to malnutrition.
• The next hearing in the case has now been scheduled for February 17, 2020.

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

2.1 Foreign borrowings of Indian companies decline 45% to $2.09 billion in December 2019: Reserve Bank of India

• Indian firms had raised $3.81 billion in December 2018.
• Of the total money borrowed by domestic companies during December 2019

1. $1.2 billion was through the automatic route of external  
2. commercial borrowing (ECB),
3. $840 million via approval route of ECB and
4. the remaining $55.98 million was raised through the masala bonds.

• Masala bonds - Rupee denominated bonds
• The borrowers taking the automatic route of ECB included HPCL-Mittal Pipelines ($262.5 million), HDFC Credila Financial Services ($100 million), LIC Housing Finance ($200 million) and Toyota Financial Services India ($100 million), among others.
• Those who borrowed through the approval route were REC Ltd ($500 million) and Power Finance Corporation ($250 million), besides others.
• Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company was the only company to have floated masala bonds overseas to raise up to $55.98 million for on-lending.

2.2 MPEDA (Marine Products Export Development Authority) to take up upgradation and modernisation 25 fishing harbours in the country at a proposed outlay of Rs. 2500 crore.

2.3 Government removed surgical masks and gloves from the list of banned export items.Ban was imposed in January amidst outbreak of deadly novel coronavirus in China.

2.4 National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM) at Faridabad to be renamed as Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management. 

2.5 All medical devices sold in the country would be treated as drugs from April 1 and would be regulated under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940.

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

3.1 Rajendra Kumar Pachauri passed away

• R. K. Pachauri, former Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) passed away at the age of 79.
• A recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, Pachauri was rewarded for his work in the fields of science and technology and environmentalism.
• He was the chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change when it shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore in 2007.
• Born on August 20, 1940 in Nainital, Pachauri began his career with the Indian Railways at the Diesel Locomotive Works in Varanasi.
• He later joined North Carolina State University in Raleigh, United States, where he obtained his PhD along with co-majors in Industrial Engineering and Economics in 1974. His doctoral thesis was on energy demand forecasting.
• In 1982, he founded The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), an independent not-for-profit research institute focused on energy, environment and
  sustainable development.
• His legacy as a leading voice in environmentalism was marred by a sexual harassment charge leveled by a junior colleague in 2015.
  
  

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

4.1 World Bank chief economist Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg resigned

• 57-year-old Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg is a Greek-American economist, born in Athens, Greece.
• A graduate of University of Freiburg in Germany and Stanford University in the United States, Goldberg was the first editor in chief of the American Economic Review and taught economics at Yale before joining the bank.
• She studied global value chains, and in a report published in October 2019 showed how poor countries could transform their economies by specialising in the manufacture of a particular component rather than building entire industries from scratch.

4.2 French and Malian forces kill TWENTYIslamist extremists in the restive border zone in Sahel region of Africa where Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso meet.

4.3 National Security Advisor (NSA) of Israel Meir Ben Shabbat met PM Modi in New Delhi recently.

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

5.1 Janasevaka scheme for home delivery of services

• Launched by – Karnataka government
• Time – in February 2020
• The scheme will pertain to 53 services involving 11 departments.
• The scheme is launched to ensure home delivery of various services like ration cards, senior citizen identityand health cards. 

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 Weekly Roundup –Arts and Culture

• Obituary –

1. Veteran cricket journalist and writer on film music Raju Bharatanpassed away in Mumbai on in Feb2020 at the age of 86. He directed “The Victory Story” (1974), the first full-length cricket documentary for Films Division.
2. Veteran Hindi writer and academician Giriraj Kishore passed away in Kanpur in Feb2020 at the age of 82. A Padma Shri awardee, Giriraj was known for his novel ‘Pahla Girmitiya’.
3. Fashion designer Wendell Rodricks passed away in Goa at 59. He won Padma Shri in 2014.
4. Sonam Sherpa, the lead guitarist of rock band Parikrama, passed away at the age of 48 in West Bengal.

• Awards and Honours – 

1. Brazilian filmmaker Barbara Paz’s Babenco: Tell Me When I Die won the Golden Conch Award for Best Documentary Film at the 16th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) that concluded in Feb2020. Nagraj Manjule received the Silver Conch for Best Short Fiction Film for Paavsacha Nibandh (An Essay of Rain, Mararthi).
2. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards were presented to the winners in London in Feb2020. ‘1917’ was Best Film. Best Film Not in the English Language was ‘Parasite’ (Korean) directed by Bong Joon-ho. Best Director award was won by Sam Mendes for ‘1917’.  Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role was won by Joaquin Phoenix in ‘Joker’. Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role went to Renée Zellweger for ‘Judy Garland’.
3. Odia and English writer Manoj Das selected for the Mystic Kalinga Literary Award (Indian and Global Languages), by the organisers of the Mystic Kalinga Festival (MKF) in Bhubaneswar.
4. Uttar Pradesh Government to replace Yash Bharti Awards with State Cultural Award.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1  20 best performing Smart Cities to guide ‘laggard’ ones

• With some of the 100 selected Smart Cities lagging behind 20 best performing Smart Cities to guide ‘laggard’ ones.
• The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has paired up 20 best performing cities with the 20 bottom cities and they will work as “sister cities”.
• Ahmedabad (1st rank), Nagpur, Tiruppur, Ranchi, Bhopal, Surat, Kanpur, Indore, Visakhapatnam, Vellore, Vadodara, Nashik, Agra, Varanasi, Davanagere, Kota, Pune, Udaipur, Dehradun and Amravati are the 20 best performing cities, according to internal rankings.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency Varanasi will guideAmritsar and Ahmedabad will help Chandigarh in implementing projects under the mission.
• Ranchi and Pune will team up with Shimla and Dharamsala respectively, and share ideas with them to improve their performance.
• Visakhapatnam and Surat will help Diu and Sharanpur improve their performance respectively.
• Bhopal will share its ideas with Mizoram’s capital city Aizawl.
• Cities have been paired up with those from a similar region and culture.  
• Smart Cities Mission, launched in 2015, is aimed at ensuring all-round developments of a city which has advanced facilities for its citizens.
• “Sister cities” will undertake a 100-day challenge from the day of its announcement to enhance the ranks and performance of the bottom 20 cities.
• Under the mission, 100 selected smart cities have identified 5151 projects worth Rs 2,05,018 crore to be executed.
  

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

8.1 Police in Ghaziabad launched ‘Operation Nakail’ under which the identity of all auto-rickshaw drivers will be verified and a unique four-digit number will be allotted to them.

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

9.1 Research points to 90% loss of leopard population a century ago

• India’s leopard population may be only a tenth of what it was a little over a century ago, experiencing catastrophic declines due to human pressures.
• The leopard population, perceived to be stable due to broad geographic distribution, suffered a possibly human-induced population decline of 75% to 90% between 120 and 200 years ago, the scientists propose, in a paper titled, ‘Genetic analyses reveal population structure and recent decline in leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) across the Indian subcontinent’ published in the journal PeerJ – Life and Environment.  
• Scientists from the Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS India) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) used genetic data from leopards from across the subcontinent to investigate population structure and patterns of decline. 
• They probed the demographic history of each sub-population and compared genetic decline analyses with countrywide local extinction probabilities.
• The authors argue that the population decline in a species seen as wide-ranging and locally abundant suggest that leopards demand attention just like tigers.
• The CWS and WII researchers collected faecal samples from the Terai-Arc landscape of northern India and identified 56 individuals using a panel of 13 microsatellite markers, and merged this data with those of 143 other leopards. Genetic analyses showed four sub-populations — Western Ghats, Deccan Plateau-Semi Arid, Shivalik and Terai region with high genetic variation.

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

10.1  Ranking – Municipal Performance Index launched   

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched two Assessment Frameworks -Ease of Living Index (EoLI) and Municipal Performance Index (MPI) 2019.
• MPI will assess the performance of municipalities based on five enablers namely Service, Finance, Planning, Technology and Governance.
  
  Download pdf of the report from here –
  
  
  https://smartnet.niua.org/eol19/pdf/MPI_Methodology.pdf

10.2 Daily dose of FIVE Facts -

• The Kala Ghoda Art Festival was organised in Mumbai in February 2020.
• Pranash is the 200-km strike range tactical ballistic missile being developed by DRDO.
• Maitree Express train runs between Dhaka in Bangladesh and Kolkata in India.
• Shaurya Chakra is the third highest peacetime gallantry award.
• Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International is based in Berlin.

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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