Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 20-02-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 20-02-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Trump’s visit to India – India-US delink trade deal – An Indo-U.S. trade deal has been delayed but is not “stuck”, the government said, hours after President Donald Trump confirmed that negotiations will not be completed in time for his visit next week. However, expectations on trade would not overshadow the larger context of the visit, which will be a massive roadshow for Mr. Trump and his wife Melania from the Ahmedabad airport to Motera as well as a joint rally with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the stadium (billed as the world’s biggest cricket stadium), the “key deliverable” of the visit.
2. Voda Idea, Airtel seek more time to pay, bailout package – As they line up funds to pay the telecom department after the order of the Supreme Court on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) matter, stressed telecom companies Vodafone Idea and Airtel are understood to have made a series of suggestions to the government to help them tide over the difficult times. Among them is a plan to give more time to the companies to make the AGR dues payment, while also giving them access to easier funding facilitated by the government so that payments can be made accordingly.
3. Ram temple trust elects chairman – The Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust, set up to oversee the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, held its first meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday, and elected Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas’s Mahant Nritya Gopal Das as chairman and Champat Rai, described as a social activist and also associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, as general secretary.
4. Court pulls up CBI in Asthana probe – A special court pulled up the CBI for not conducting a lie detector or psychological test on its former Special Director Rakesh Asthana in an alleged bribery case. The court, which earlier in the day asked the CBI to submit the case diary for examination, also enquired about the previous investigating officer, Ajay Kumar Bassi.
5. Russia, Turkey spar over Syria operation – Turkey and Russia exchanged warnings on Wednesday after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened an “imminent” operation in Syria to end the regime’s brutal assault on the last rebel enclave.Syrian aid workers called urgently for a ceasefire and international help for nearly a million people fleeing the regime onslaught in the country’s northwestern Idlib province — the biggest wave of displaced civilians in the nine-year conflict.
6. Won’t honour UN pledge on war probe: Mahinda – Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday said that his government will withdraw from co-sponsoring a UN Human Rights Council resolution on accountability for war crimes.His statement came days after the U.S. imposed travel restrictions on Army chief Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva and his immediate family members over alleged gross violations of human rights during the final phase of the island nation’s Civil War in 2009..
7. COVID 19 updates - Shares surge as virus fears fade – Indian benchmarks snapped a four-day losing streak on Wednesday as a decline in new COVID-19 cases in China along with expectations of action by the Indian government to limit the impact of the outbreak revived investor interest in equities. The 30-share Sensex gained 428.62 points, or 1.05%, to close at 41,323. It closed just a tad lower than the day’s high of 41,357.16. The rally was visible in many side counters as well with more than 1,500 stocks gaining ground as against around 1,000 stocks that ended in the red. Within the Sensex pack, 22 stocks gained ground with Reliance Industries, HDFC, HDFC Bank, HUL, Bajaj Finance and ICICI Bank contributing the maximum to the day’s gains.About 500 passengers left the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship moored at Yokohama in Japan over coronavirus fears, at the end of a 14-day quarantine period that began on February 5. Six Indian passengers and 125 Indian crew members, however, were not among those who left the ship on the first day of the phased disembarkation.
8. No solution on Day One of dialogue at Shaheen Bagh– The first attempt for a dialogue between the Shaheen Bagh protesters and two senior lawyers—appointed by the Supreme Court as interlocutors—resulted in an exchange of views. The protesters articulated their position, turning emotional at times, and the lawyers conveyed the SC’s concern and the need to find a solution. There was no breakthrough and the dialogue will continue on Thursday. Welcoming this initiative to “hear each one of them”, the women expressed a deep sense of disappointment at having been ignored by the authorities so far. They gave an emotional account of what they had experienced during their prolonged agitation against CAA and NRC. A huge crowd surrounded the stage from where senior lawyers Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran were speaking.
9. Cabinet OKs bill to regulate ₹3,000cr infertility industry – The Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Regulation Bill, 2020, proposing a legal framework and code of conduct to keep a check on in vitro fertilisation, embryo transfers and sperm banks - a set of infertility related industry that is mushrooming rapidly in the country. The bill proposes a fine of up to Rs. 10 lakh for anyone indulging in sale of embryo or trafficking at the first instance, and jail term of up to 12 years after that. It seeks to establish a national registry and registration authority which will be applicable to all medical professionals and clinics operating or providing services in the field of ART.
10. Desis to gain as UK eyes skilled with visa overhaul – Thousands more highly skilled Indians could potentially work in Britain as the country launches a new points-based immigration system starting next year. The new streamlined visa system, inspired by Australia’s pointsbased immigration system, will take effect from January 1, 2021, and will replace the Tier 1 and Tier 2 schemes. The cap on the numbers of skilled workers is being scrapped and a small number of highly skilled workers will be allowed to enter without a job offer.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	Kerala State Coop Bank Ltd	Chief Security , IT Officer, Head Treasury	5	Degree	March 2, 2020	http://www.keralacobank.com/pdf2020/15keralabank.pdf
2	MOIL Ltd	Graduate Trainee/ Management Trainee	36	B.E/ B.Tech, PG	March 11, 2020	http://www.moil.nic.in/writereaddata/PDF/rect170220.pdf
3	PDIL	State Coord., Tech. Consultant	9	B.E/ B.Tech, PG	March 11, 2020	https://pdilcareer.in/Notification.aspx
4	NALCO	Management Trainee, Asst Manager	12	Any Degree, CA	March 18, 2020	https://nalcoindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Recruitment-of-Management-Trainee-Asst.-Manager-For-Finance-Discipline.pdf
5	NIT, Calicut	Librarian, Super. Eng., SAS Office	8	Degree (Engg), PG	March  20, 2020	http://www.nitc.ac.in/app/webroot/img/upload/notification_nonteaching_2020.pdf
6	Assam Police	Constable, Sub Officer, Firemen, Emergency Rescuer	1283	12th Class, ITI	March 15, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/02/Notification-Assam-Police-Constable-Sub-Officer-Other-Posts.pdf
7	PGIMER, Chandigarh	Senior Resident, Assistant Professor	17	PG	March 9, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/02/Notification-PGIMER-Chandigarh-Sr-Resident-Asst-Professor-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 Voter ID Sufficient Proof Of Citizenship - Mumbai Court

• Context - The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Esplanade Courtin Mumbai recently acquitted two persons accused of being 'Bangladeshi Infiltrators' by Mumbai Police.
• Background - The police told the Court that the case was taken on the basis of "secret information" received in March 2017 that some "Bangladeshi infiltrators" are residing in Ray Road, Mumbai. It was further stated by the police that the probe showed that the accused persons had entered into India through unauthorized route without valid document of entry because of the poverty and starvation spread over in Bangladesh. They had no valid documents to prove Indian citizneship.
• Judgment –

1. APP SC Lingayat argued that the prosecution has established a prima facie case against accused persons and that the burden lies upon the accused under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 to establish that they are Indian citizens in the manner claimed by them.The Court noted that the first accused Abbas Shaikh filed his Aadhar Card, PAN Card, Election Card, Passbook, Health Card and Ration Card. The second accused Rabiya Khatoon filed her Aadhar Card, Pan Card and Election Card.
2. First, the Court held that these are admissible in evidence, being documents issued by public authorities.
3. "It is pertinent to note Aadhar Card, PAN card, Election Card and Ration Card are the documents issued by the public authority and the same can be termed as a public document. They are admissible in evidence." 
4. Though Aadhaar card, PAN card, driving license or ration card cannot be termed as documents proving citizenship, election card can be a sufficient proof of citizenship, the Court held.
   

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

2.1 Finance Commission expert group on agri-exports

• The 15th Finance Commission decided to set up an eight-member high level expert group headed by ITC chairman Sanjiv Puri to recommend strategies and measures to increase farm productivity and boost exports.
• Apart from Puri, other members of the committee also included former Agriculture Secretary Radha Singh Nestle India CMD Suresh Narayanan, UPL CEO Jay Shroff and RIS Director General Sachin Chaturvedi.
• The committee will submit its recommendations within three months for further consideration of the Commission.

2.2 Railway Minister Piyush Goyal inaugurated first phase (4.88 km) of the East-West Metro corridor in Kolkata.

2.3 Senior Bureaucrat Rajiv Bansal appointed CMD of Air India.

2.4 Senior Bureaucrat Debasish Panda appointed as the new financial services secretary.

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

3.1 Thailand faces worst drought in decades

• Context - Lower Mekong Basin countries, including Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam are facing drought like conditions. Thailand is hit worst, facing its worst drought in more than 40 years.   
• Reasons -A shorter-than-normal monsoon, below-average rainfall, and El Nino condition leading to abnormally high temperatures. The Mekong Delta in southwest Vietnam received about 8 per cent less precipitation last monsoon.
• A map released by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Earth Observatory on February 15, 2020 showed below-normal subsurface soil moisture in large parts of southeast Asia. (photo). NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission measures water content of soils and can detect water in the top five centimeters of the ground.
• Effects –

1. The drought has exhausted the southeast Asian country's major reservoirs, which held less than half the water they could. 
2. River water levels were so low that salt water from seas entered them, affecting drinking water supplies. Low-lying areas have been the worst-affected by salt water intrusion.
3. The drought has pressured Thailand’s economy, which employs over 11 million people in farming and crop production. 
4. The country, one of the world’s leading sugar exporters, was expected to produce 30 per cent less sugar than previous years.
5. The Earth Observatory reported that saltwater intrusion has started damaging rice fields in Trá Vinh.
6. More than 10,000 hectares of winter-spring rice have been affected by water shortage in the province.If such conditions prevailed, about 94,000 hectares could be affected.

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

4.1 India-Portugal Relations - Portuguese PM’s visit to India

• PM Modi and Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa holds talks in New Delhi
• India and Portugal signed seven agreements to boost cooperation in a range of areas. The pacts provide for cooperation in areas of investment, transport, ports, culture and industrial and intellectual property rights.
• India inked pact with Portugal to set up a world class National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal in Gujarat. MoU was signed between India’s Ministry of Shipping and Portugal’s Ministry of National Defence.
• Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Minister for Culture and Tourism Prahlad Patel jointly inaugurated Cha-Chai, an installation of art work of Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, at the National Museum in New Delhi.
• Sousa was on a four-day visit to India from February 13.
• Assembly of the Republic is the Parliament of Portugal, euro is the currency and Lisbon is the capital.

4.2 Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) lowers global growth forecast for 2020 to 2.2%.

4.3 Soviet spy Alexei Botyan, known for "saving" the Polish city of Krakow from the Nazis in 1945, dies at the age of 103.

4.4 Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra, New Delhi renamed as Sushma Swaraj Bhawan. Foreign Service Institute, New Delhi renamed as Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service.

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

5.1 National Groundwater Management Improvement Programme

• World Bank to give $450 million loan for Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY) to improve India’s groundwater requirements.
• The Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY) aims to strengthen the institutional framework associated with participatory groundwater management. It also aims to encourage changes in people's behavior at the community level for sustainable groundwater resource management.
• Key features of loan agreement –

1. The  total outlay of Atal Bhujal Yojana is Rs 6,000 crore.
2. The World Bank will provide 50 percent as a loan while the rest amount will be paid by the Government of India.
3. The scheme will be implemented in five years (2020-21 to 2024-25).
4. This program will increase the recharge of aquifers, initiate measures related to water conservation, promote activities related to water harvesting, water management, and crop conformity, create an institutional structure for sustainable groundwater management and continuous groundwater management Communities and related stakeholders will be enabled for management.
5. This agreement will help in better implementation of this program by using state-of-the-art technology such as Artificial Intelligence and Space Technology. 
6. This program will also help rural people to strengthen the rural economy in the context of climate change.
7. The scheme will be implemented in Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
8. All these states have alluvial aquifers of the Indus-Gangetic plains and hard rock aquifers of peninsular India.
9. The government of India selected these states because of their certain features and specific criteria. It includes experience in groundwater exploitation, constructively established regulatory and statutory bodies, implementing programs related to groundwater management.

• Significance –

1. The last few decades saw exponential growth in the exploitation of groundwater through the construction of millions of private wells.  
2. Between 1950 and 2010, the number of drilled tube wells increased from 1 million to nearly 30 million.
3. This allowed the area irrigated by groundwater to increase from approximately 3 million ha to more than 35 million ha.
4. Groundwater currently provides approximately 60 per cent of irrigation water.
5. Over 80 per cent of the rural and urban domestic water supplies in India are served by groundwater, making India the world's largest user of groundwater.
6. If the current trends persist, 60 per cent of districts are likely to reach critical level of groundwater depletion within two decades, which, in turn, will render at least 25 per cent of the agriculture production at risk.
7. Climate change will likely exacerbate current pressures on groundwater resources.
8. The programme will introduce a bottom-up planning process for community-driven development of water budgets and Water Security Plans (WSPs).

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 Weekly Roundup – Corporate

• 2020 Auto Expo was organised at the India Expo Mart, Greater Noida (UP) from February 7 to 12, 2002 jointly by Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Theme was: Explore-The World of Mobility. 
• DRDO Chairman G. Satheesh Reddy launched the electric two-wheeler EPluto 7G manufactured by Pure EV in Hyderabad on February 9, 2020. The vehicle has a range of 116 km per full charge and a maximum speed of 60 kmph. Battery warranty is for 40,000 km.
• Energy major TOTAL will acquire 50 per cent stake in all operational renewable energy projects of Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) for USD 510 million.
• State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) said it has acquired a minority stake in Israeli battery developer Phinergy Ltd for developing ultra-lightweight metal-air batteries that can be used in electric vehicles (EVs).  Founded in 2008, Phinergy develops an assortment of zero-emission batteries including aluminum-air and zinc-air batteries designed to offer power sources for electric cars.
• Industrial tech major Rolls-Royce launched a skill development initiative programme for underprivileged women in partnership with the Centre of Excellence in Maritime & Shipbuilding (CEMS). The programme has been touted ‘Unnati’. Rolls-Royce also launched ‘Unnati’ Scholarship Programme for women engineering students with Buddy4Study and Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) India.
• Cipla announced the acquisition of nutrition products’ portfolio from Wanbury. Cipla has acquired 4 brands CPink, CDense, Productiv and Folinine to further strengthen its presence in women’s health.
• China’s Xiaomi, Huawei Technologies, Oppo and Vivo are joining forces to create a platform for developers outside China to upload apps onto all of their app stores simultaneously. 
• Twitter said it will soon begin labelling tweets containing “manipulated media” which aim to mislead people, and would take steps including removal of tweets if such content has the potential to harm public safety or lead to voter suppression.
• Nike has launched its Zoom Alphafly NEXT% footwear in two versions. The Air Zoom Viperfly is aimed for the 100-meter sprint crowd, while Nike’s Air Zoom Victory is designed for 800m to 10-kilometer races.
• Shree Cement will replace Yes Bank in the benchmark index Nifty 50 from March 27
• Cricketer Virat Kohli retained the top spot in the celebrity brand valuation rankings released by Duff & Phelps, for the third year in a row. 
• HDFC ERGO Health Insurance Ltd (HDFC ERGO Health), erstwhile Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company (Apollo Munich), announced the launch of a new brand campaign ‘Bad News - Good News’, that communicates about the landmark acquisition of Apollo Munich by HDFC Ltd in the General Insurance sector and the many benefits this will now offer the existing & new customers of HDFC ERGO Health. 
• JSW Steel announced Rishabh Pant as brand ambassador to promote JSW’s steel products which include JSW Colouron+ color coated sheets & JSW Neosteel TMT bars.
• Tata Power said it has signed Indian cricket player Shardul Thakur as its brand ambassador.
• LinkedIn Chief Executive Officer Jeff Weineris stepping down from the helm of the Microsoft Corp-backed company. 
• LIC-owned IDBI Bank said it has raised Rs 745 crore through issue of Basel III compliant tier 2 bonds which will help improve its capital position. 
• BMW launched sedan BMW 530i Sport priced at Rs 55.4 lakh 
• Suzuki Motorcycle India launched BS-VI compliant 125cc Burgman Street scooter priced at Rs 77,900
• Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India starts delivery of its scooter Forza 300.
  

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Puducherry House passes resolution against CAA

• After Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal, the Puducherry Assembly on February 12, 2020 adopted a resolution urging the Centre to repeal the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). 
• The Assembly adopted another resolution condemning the “BJP government’s attempts to destroy India’s secular fabric”. 
• At a special session, Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy moved the resolutions and said the CAA, along with the plan to prepare a pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR), would destroy India’s unity and secular character.

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

8.1 Haryana: Ambala city bus stand renamed after late external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.

8.2 Maharashtra: Government Medical College in Latur to be named after former CM and Congress leader late Vilasrao Deshmukh.

8.3 Inaugurates a 430-bed super speciality government hospital and a 74-bed psychiatry hospital at Banaras Hindu University.

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

9.1    Solar Orbiter mission 

• NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) launch the mission to reveal Sun’s secrets.
• The probe started journey to the sun on February 9, 2020 to take the first close-up look at the star’s polar regions.
• The mission expected to yield insight into how solar radiant energy affects Earth.  
• The Solar Orbiter spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral and is on a 10-year voyage.

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

10.1   Ranking – TIMES Higher Education Rankings 2020    

• ELEVEN Indian universities ranked among top 100.
• India has seen a highest representation since 2015.
• The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020 includes almost 1,400 universities across 92 countries.
• For the fourth year in a row, the University of Oxford leads the rankings in first place, while the University of Cambridge falls to third.

Visit following link for detailed list –

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2020/world-ranking#!/page/0/length/25/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats

10.2 Daily dose of FIVE Facts -

• The 15th Higher Education Summit was organised by FICCI in New Delhi in Nov. 2019. 
• Lakshya Sen won the men’s singles title at the Scottish Open Badminton in Glasgow in Nov. 2019.
• The Parliament of Maldives is known as People’s Majlis.
• Sashastra Seema Bal celebrated its 56thFoundation Day in Dec. 2019.
• Ethiopia’s first satellite was launched from China in Dec. 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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