Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 22-02-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 22-02-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Pakistan retained on ‘grey list’ of anti-terror financing watchdog – Pakistan has been retained on the ‘grey list’ of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for another four months, with a stern warning from the global watchdog that met in Paris (February 19-21) to complete the 27-point action plan it has been given by June 2020 or face being put on the ‘black list’.Pakistan was given a September 2019 deadline to complete the tasks that included shutting down all access to funding of United Nations Security Council-designated terrorist groups, including the Taliban, al-Qaeda, the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed and prosecuting their leadership for any access to finance, as well as tightening laws and banking security norms.
2. SC must ensure our security if road is opened: protesters – Shaheen Bagh protesters told the Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors that if the road parallel to the protest site was opened, the apex court should pass an order ensuring their security.The interlocutors called the police to the spot to discuss the matter with the protesters. The police admitted that the protesters hadn’t blocked the parallel road. An officer told the interlocutors and protesters that they had barricaded the parallel road as well as certain other roads adjoining the area as a security measure for the Shaheen Bagh protest site.
3. Trump visit to India: mixed signals – Ahead of his first visit to India, US President Donald Trump gave mixed signals about prospects for a trade deal between the two countries, saying India had been hitting the US “very hard” with high tariffs for many years and he would “talk business” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to promote American products. Trump and First Lady Melania are scheduled to travel to Ahmedabad, Agra and New Delhi on February 24-25.
4. US deal with Taliban hopes to end 18-yr war – A weeklong reduction in violence across Afghanistan, a major condition for the United States to formally sign its peace deal with the Taliban, was to go into effect. The measure, in which all sides are expected to end most attacks, is the first step in the rollout of a conditions-based peace deal that lays out a timeline for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. Officials hope the process will bring the Afghan government and Taliban together to then negotiate a political settlement that would end the insurgency.
5. PM to trustees: Build mandir without bitterness in society – PM Narendra Modi asked members of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust to ensure that the temple was built peacefully “without any bitterness” in society. “Work should be accomplished at the earliest without hurting anyone,” he told them during a brief interaction at his residence.The temple will be built in Lord Vishnu’s favourite octagonal shape and its structure will be made with stone without the use of iron.The 15-member trust will work independently without any government interference as the four Centre nominees including Nripendra Misra will not have voting rights.
6. Coronavirus on G20 agenda as China reports uptick in cases – China reported an uptick in new cases of coronavirus, boosted by more than 200 people testing positive for the disease in two prisons outside of Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak. As international authorities tried to stop the outbreak in China from becoming a global pandemic, finance leaders from the Group of 20 major economies meeting in Saudi Arabia over the weekend were set to discuss risks to the global economy.China has had more than 75,400 cases of the coronavirus and 2,236 people have died of the disease it causes - known as COVID-19 - most in Hubei province and its capital of Wuhan where the virus emerged in a wildlife market in December.
7. Netanyahu Announces New Homes in East Jerusalem, Days Before Election – Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to build thousands of housing units in contested East Jerusalem. Critics say this would be a blow to prospects for a settlement with the Palestinians. The housing is not likely actually to be built for years, if at all, but it is seen as an effort for Netanyahu to strengthen support among his base 11 days before the election.
8. Iran parliamentary elections: Hardliners to dominate – Iran holding its parliamentary elections, and one thing seems all but certain: It will be a major victory for the country’s conservative hard-liners.This week will see 7,148 candidates vetted by Iran’s unelected religious and legal authorities compete for 290 seats across 31 provinces. But much of the country’s youth, particularly in the capital Tehran, plan to stay at home, foreshadowing what’s expected to be the lowest voter turnout in years.
9. AGR dues: Government considering stress fund for distressed telcos – The government is considering the possibility of setting up a stress fund for the telecom sector that could lend to companies such as Vodafone Ideato help them meet AGR dues as part of a comprehensive relief package. Other measures being discussed include a deferment of licence fee and spectrum usage charge (SUC) payments. These points came up at recent meetings between top telco executives with government functionaries aimed at resolving the AGR payment crisis. With the Supreme Court ruling out any relief on the AGR issue so far, the focus has shifted to concessions on non-AGR issues.
10. Gaming apps among top advertisers in India – One of the country’s top three advertisers in 2019 wasn’t a retail major or a consumer goods company as has been the trend over the years. It was, instead, a popular gaming app. Dream11, a fantasy sports player, broke into the top three of domestic advertisers in 2019, according to the latest Pitch Madison Adex report. 

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	SSC	Selection Posts (Phase VIII)	1355	Matriculation, Higher Secondary	March20, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/02/Notification-SSC-Selection-Posts-Phase-VIII-Posts.pdf
2	BEL	Trainee Hindi Officer, Trainee Publication Officer	5	PG	March 4, 2020	http://bel-india.in/Documentviews.aspx?fileName=web-ad-english-18-02-2020.pdf
3	NDRI	Research Associate, SRF, JRF, Young Professional – II	15	12th Class, Any Degree, PG  With NET, Ph.D	March 13, 2020	http://www.ndri.res.in/ndri/Design/documents/emp_ra_feb2020.pdf
4	Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre	Research Associate, SRF, JRF, Lab. Tech.	8	Diploma, B.Sc PG, NET, Ph.D	March9, 2020	https://gbrc.gujarat.gov.in/Images/Upload/Recruitement%20Dosier%2017%20Feb%202020.pdf
5	District & Sessions Judge, Gurugram	Stenographer Gr-III	18	Degree, Typing Knowledge	March 12, 2020	https://districts.ecourts.gov.in/sites/default/files/Advertisement%20for%20the%20post%20of%20Stenographer%20grade-III%20%28Ad-hoc%20Basis%29.pdf
6	Revenue Dept, Chikkamagaluru	Village Accountant	50	12th Class, Computer Knowledge	March20, 2020	https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s367d96d458abdef21792e6d8e590244e7/uploads/2020021795.pdf
7	KSRTC	Driver & Driver cum Conductor	3745	10th Class, Valid Driving License	March20, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/02/Notification-KSRTC-Driver-Advt-No.-01-2020.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 Intervention application of Association of Pellet Survivors dismissed by J and K HC

• Context - On February 10, 2020, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has dismissed an application filed by Association of Pellet Survivorsto intervene in an on-going Public Interest Litigation.
• Judgement -The Court observed that the intervention of the Association was "unnecessary" as the interest of the"alleged pellet survivors" is already being pursued by the Bar Association.
• Background - From a verification of case history, it is seen that on eleven previous postings of the case since August 5,2019 (the President of the J&K HC Bar Association, Mian Abdul Qayoom, has been under preventive detention since August 5), thehearing got adjourned due to the non-availability of the petitioner.The case was then posted on February 10.
• Pellet gun victims - Number of pellet victims in Kashmir since the pellet shotgun was introduced in 2010 to quell mass streetprotests, is likely to be between 10,000 to 20,000 persons. As per a study by 'India Spend', pellet guns havekilled 24 and blinded 139 persons in Kashmir since 2010.
• According to Union Home ministry, pellet guns are considered as non-lethal weapons for controlling crowdduring protests.
   

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

2.1 National Conference on e-Governance organised

• Edition - 23rd
• Place – Mumbai
• Time – Feb 7 and 8, 2020 
• Highlights –
  
  
  1.  Haryana government has been honoured with the ‘Gold Award’ by the Centre for the state government’s timely implementation of citizen-centric services.
  2. The Antyodaya Saral project has been selected for the ‘Gold Award’ in the category of ‘Excellence in providing citizen-centric delivery’.
  3. The awards ceremony was organised by the Central Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances Department (DAR & PG), Government of India.

2.2 Unemployment rate in the country was 6.1% in 2017-18: Government

• Unemployment rate in the country as per a new survey was 6.1 per cent in 2017-18, the government informed Rajya Sabha on February 5, 2020.
• “As per the new Periodic Labour Force Survey being conducted by the government, the labour force participation is 36.9 per cent and the rate of unemployment for 2017-18 is 6.1 per cent,” Minister of State for Labour Santosh Gangwar said.

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

3.1 Soil Health Card Day

• Fifth year of launch of Soil Health Card being observed across the country on Feb 19.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Scheme in 2015 at Suratgarh in Rajasthan.
• The scheme aims at issuing soil health cards to farmers every two years so as to provide a basis to address nutritional deficiencies in soil.
• The scheme ensures additional income to farmers by an increase in yields and it also promotes sustainable farming.
• During Cycle-I (2015 to 17), 10.74 crore Soil Health Cards and during Cycle-II (2017 to 19), 11.74 crore Soil Health Cards have been distributed to farmers.
• The Government has spent more than 700 crore rupees on the scheme.
• On the occasion the Agricultural Minister Narendra Singh Tomar announced that Government of India is to launch “TILHAN MISSION” to boost the the oil seed production.
• India is the fourth largest vegetable oil economy in the world after USA, China and Brazil.
• The oil seeds seeds account for 13% of cropped area in the country.

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

4.1 Norwegian Environment Minister Sveinung Rotevatn visit to India

• India-Norway Task Force on Blue Economy for Sustainable Development inaugurated.
• A new collaboration on Integrated Ocean Management and Research commenced.
• Several projects on combating Marine Litter are already being implemented.Plastic pollution has become a persistent and widespread challenge reaching all corners of the world.
• History - Environmental cooperation between India and Norway started in 2006, when the Norwegian-Indian Cooperation Commission established its own environmental working group.The working group had its first meeting in 2007.In recent years, the focus has been on projects related to HFCs, hazardous chemicals, marine pollution and the ocean.During Prime Minister Solberg's visit in January 2019, a working group on the blue economy was established.

4.2 Election commission of Afghanistan declared Ashraf Ghani re-elected President in September 28, 2019 poll.

4.3 External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar opened the India Pavilion at Berlin International Film Festival in Germany.

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

5.1 Cabinet approved Changes in Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) to address the existing challenges in implementation

• Key Features – 

1. Allocation of business to Insurance Companies to be done for three years.
2. Central Subsidy to be limited for premium rates upto 30% for unirrigated areas/crops and 25% for irrigated areas/crops.
3. Districts having 50% or more irrigated area will be considered as irrigated area/district.
4. Flexibility to States/UTs to implement the Scheme with option to select any or many of additional risk covers/features like prevented sowing, localised calamity, mid-season adversity, and post-harvest losses.
5. For estimation of crop losses/admissible claims, two-step process to be adopted based on statisticsusing specific triggers like weather indicators, satellite indicators, etc. for each area along with normal ranges and deviation ranges.
6. Enrolment under the Scheme to be made voluntary for all farmers.
7. Central Share in Premium Subsidy to be increased to 90% for North Eastern States from the existing sharing pattern of 50%.

• Benefits - Farmers would be able to manage risk in in a better way. Increase coverage in north eastern region. Quick and accurate yield estimation leading to faster claims settlement.
• Background -PMFBYwas launched in Feb 2016. Under it is mandatory for farmers to take insurance cover while taking loan. Currently, 58 percent of the total farmers are loanee.  
• Coverage -The Scheme covers all Food & Oilseeds crops and Annual Commercial/Horticultural Crops for which past yield data is available and for which requisite number of Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) are being conducted under General Crop Estimation Survey (GCES).
• Premium - 2% for Kharif crops; 5% for Rabi crops; 5% for commercial and horticultural crops.

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 Weekly Roundup – Sports

• Athletics – Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda created new world record in men’s 5km in 12 min, 51 sec at Monaco.
• Badminton – Badminton Asia Team Championships in Manila (Philippines) - South Korea won men’s event; Japan won women’s event.
• Chess - Koneru Humpy of India wonCairns Cup chess tournament in US.
• Football –

1. Northern Ireland’s Henry Gregg, Best Goalkeeper at FIFA World Cup in Sweden in 1958, passed away at the age of 87
2. India selected as host of 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup by the Asian Football Confederation’s Women’s Committee  

• Lawn Tennis – $1,62,000 Bengaluru Open ATP Tennis Challenger tennis - Ramkumar Ramanathan and Purav Raja won men’s doubles title; Australia's James Duckworth wins men’s singles title
• Pole Vault – Sweden's Armand Duplant is improves his own men’s pole vault world record at 6.18 m in Glasgow.  
• Rugby - South African rugby legend Bryan Habana inducted into Laureus World Sports Academy.
• Squash – 77th Senior National Squash Championship in Chennai - Joshna Chinappa (women’s) and SauravGhosal (men’s) won titles respectively.
• Wrestling – Asian Wrestling Championships in New Delhi

1. India’s Sunil Kumar wins gold in 87kg Greco-Roman.
2. Ashu (men’s 67kg), AdityaKundu (men’s 72 kg) and Hardeep (men’s 97 kg) won bronze medals in Greco-Roman.
3. Sarita Devi (59kg), PinkiJangra (55kg), DivyaKakran (68kg) win gold, Nirmala Devi (50kg) wons silver in women’s freestyle category.

• Olympics 2020 –

1. “United by Emotion” unveiled as the motto of 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.
2. Haryana govt announced Rs 6 crore to those winning gold medals at Olympics.
3. Bhawna Jat qualified for Tokyo Olympics in women’s 20 km race walk after win at National Race Walk Championships in Ranchi.

• Awards and Honours

• Laureus Sports Awards, 2020 

1. British F1 driver Lewis Hamilton and Argentinean footballer Lionel Messi were joint winners World Sportsman of the year award
2. American gymnast Simone Biles won the World Sportswoman of the year award
3. Snowboarding player Chloe Kim (US) won the World Action Sportsperson of the year award 
4. Oksana Masters (US) won the Sportsperson of the year award with a Disability 
5. South Bronx United (SBU), a football programme based in New York, won Sport for Good Award
6. South Africa’s Rugby team won Laureus World Team of the Year Award 
7. Germany's F3 driver Sophia Florsch won the World Comeback of the Year award
8. Colombian cyclist Egan Bernal won the World Breakthrough of the Year award
9. German basketball great Dirk Nowitzki won the Lifetime Achievement Award  
10. Spanish Basketball Federation got the Exceptional Achievement Award

•  ESPN Multi-sports Awards

1. Badminton player P. V. Sindhu wins ESPN’s ‘Female Sportsperson of the Year’ award
2. Shooter SaurabhChaudhary wins ESPN’s ‘Male Sportsperson of the Year’ award  
3. Women’s sprinter Dutee Chand won the ‘Courage’ award 
4. Women’s chess player Koneru Humpy won the award for the ‘Comeback of the Year’
5. Wrestler Deepak Punia won ‘Emerging Sportsperson of the Year’ award
6. Pullela Gopichand claimed the ‘Coach of the Year’ award
7. Hockey legend Balbir Singh (Senior) won ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award

• 48 sportspersons selected for Maharashtra government’s Shiv Chhatrapati Award for 2018-19.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Cabinet passed Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill

• It aims to regulate In vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinics. 
• Key Features – 

1. Creation of a national board to lay down and implement a code of conduct for people working at IVF clinics.
2. Determines the minimum standards of physical infrastructure, laboratory, diagnostic equipment and expert manpower to be employed by ART clinics and banks.
3. Intends to make genetic testing of the embryo mandatory before implantation for the benefit of the child born through ART.
4. To streamline the cryo-preservation processes for sperm, oocytes and embryo.
5. Proposes to constitute a national registry and registration authority to maintain a central database and assist the national board in its functioning.
6. Proposes stringent punishment for those “practising sex selection, sale of human embryos or gametes and running agencies/rackets/organisations for such unlawful practices.

• Details - There are 1,269 ART clinics in India (Nov19). The number increase to 1,846 when ART clinics and ART banks are taken together. Maharashtra has the maximum number of ART clinics (266) followed by Tamil Nadu (164), Delhi (113), Karnataka (102), Uttar Pradesh (92) and Gujarat (80).
• What is ART? – It comprises procedures such as in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), intra-uterine insemination (IUI), oocyte and sperm donation, cryopreservation and includes surrogacy as well.Social stigma of being childless and lengthy adoption processes have increased the demand for ART in India. The ART industry is expected to grow by a compounded annual growth rate of 10%.

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

8.1 Centennial Summit 2020 of Rotary India held in Kolkata on February 14 to 16.

8.2 Delhi Police, Uber launch Himmat Plus app for safety of people travelling in cabs.

8.3 Foundation stone for a 50-metre high lighthouse at Dhanushkodi (Tamil Nadu) laid by Union MoS for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya.

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

9.1 PM chaired meeting of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Society in New Delhi

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

10.1   Ranking – Child Flourishing Index - A future for the world’s children? report

• India was ranked 131st (among 180 countries) while Norway was first on Child Flourishing Index that measures the best chance at survival and well-being for children.
• Index released by the World Health Organization (WHO), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and The Lancet medical journal.
• World Health Organization(WHO) – Formed – 1948; HQ – Geneva, Switzerland; DG – Tedros Adhanom
• UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) – Formed – 1946; HQ – New York, USA; Executive Director – Henrietta H. Fore.

Download pdf of the report from here –

http://www.thelancet-press.com/embargo/childhealth.pdf 

10.2 Daily dose of FIVE Facts -

• The per capita availability of milk in the country in 2018-19 is 394 grams.
• The World Antibiotic Awareness Week was observed from November 18 to 24, 2019.  
• The fifth edition of annual ‘MED - Mediterranean Dialogues’ was organised in Rome in Dec2019.
• Zozibini Tunzi was crowned Miss Universe 2019 in Atalanta (US) in Dec2019.
• India won 174 gold medals at the 13th South Asian Games in Nepal 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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