Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 03-03-2020

[message] SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES Supreme Court to hear petition on Delhi violence tomorrow– Chief Justice of India S...

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Supreme Court to hear petition on Delhi violence tomorrow–Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde on Monday orally said courts were not “equipped” to handle palpable “pressure” being created to somehow step in and prevent violence in Delhi.The observations came when senior advocate Colin Gonsalves made a mentioning before him to urgently intervene and pass directions to arrest those delivering hate speeches and to prevent the spread of violence.
2. Delhi court defers hanging of 4 Nirbhaya case convicts –A Delhi court deferred the execution of the death sentence of the four Nirbhaya gang-rape case convicts indefinitely. The four condemned men were supposed to be hanged to death on March 3 at 6 a.m. Hours before what was to be their execution, additional sessions judge Dharmender Rana put on hold their execution when informed that one of the four, Pawan Gupta, had moved a clemency petition before the President. The mercy plea was filed shortly after a five-judge Supreme Court Bench, led by Justice N.V. Ramana, dismissed Pawan’s curative petition for lack of merits.
   
3. COVID 19 outbreak - Two more positive cases, in Delhi & Telangana, surface–India reported two more positive cases and one suspected case of Covid-19, the novel coronavirus infection that has killed over 3,000 people globally till now. The positive cases include a Delhi resident who returned from Italy on February 25 and a 24-year-old man from Telangana who returned from Dubai recently. The suspected case is of an Italian tourist who is quarantined at Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital in Jaipur. He returned positive for Covid-19 in the first test but health ministry officials are waiting for re-confirmation from the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, to declare it as a positive case. Earlier, three students from Kerala who had returned from China’s Wuhan, the epicentre of Covid-19 outbreak, in February had tested positive for the virus. They were sent home once the symptoms cleared and tests confirmed they couldn’t spread the disease further. Health minister Harsh Vardhan, however, said there wasn’t any need for panic in India.
4. SC refuses to refer petitions on Art 370 to a 7-judge bench –The Supreme Court refused to refer to a seven-judge Constitution bench a bunch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of changes in Article 370 for scrapping of special status to Jammu and Kashmir. It said the issue would continue to be heard by the five-judge bench. The five-judge bench of Justices N V Ramana, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, R Subhash Reddy, B R Gavai and Surya Kant, which was set up to decide the issue, said there was no reason to refer the case to a larger bench. It did not find merit in the plea of some of the petitioners, who alleged that there was contradiction in the verdicts of two five-judge SC benches on the scope of Article 370 as they sought reference of the case to a larger bench.
5. Sharp decline in PSB fraud amount, Centre tells Parliament –Comprehensive steps taken to curb fraud in public sector banks (PSBs) have resulted in a sharp decline in the amount involved, from Rs. 50,329 crore in 2013-14 to just Rs. 3,781 crore in the first three quarters of 2019-20. An online searchable database of frauds reported by banks, in the form of Central Fraud Registry, has been set up to enable timely identification, control and mitigation of fraud risk and for carrying out due diligence during the credit sanction process, the Ministry said in response to a question in the Lok Sabha.
   
6. Taliban say will resume operations against Afghan forces –The Taliban said they were resuming offensive operations against Afghan security forces, ending the partial truce that preceded the signing of a deal between the insurgents and Washington. The declaration comes only a day after President Ashraf Ghani said he would continue the partial truce at least until talks between Afghan officials and the Taliban kick-off, supposedly on March 10. It ran for one week ahead of the signing of the historic accord in Doha on Saturday, and continued over the weekend.
7.  Israelis vote in unprecedented third general election in a year –Israelis voted in an unprecedented third general election in less than a year, with the prime minister fighting for his political survival. Neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main challenger, Benny Gantz, were able to put together majority coalitions following the last two elections. The final opinion polls suggested the latest round is too close to call. Mr Netanyahu is seeking re-election two weeks before he is due to stand trial on corruption charges. He has been ordered to appear in court in Jerusalem on 17 March to hear the indictment against him.
8. Jack Welch, former GE CEO, is dead – Jack Welch, who led General Electric through 20 years of its greatest financial success, has died. He was 84. Welch became CEO of GE in 1981 and led it until his retirement in 2001.Welch, who was named "Manager of the Century" by Fortune magazine in 1999, massively increased the scope and financial might of GE (GE) during his time at the top of the company. The market value of the stock rose from $14 billion to more than $400 billion, an increase of more than 2,700%, during those 20 years.
   
9. Markets seesaw as coronavirus fears linger –The rebound in domestic markets, which had seen a 7 per cent fall in the past six sessions, was stopped in its tracks after the health ministry reported two new coronavirus cases. Besides, an Italian tourist also tested positive for coronavirus in Jaipur. Supported by gains in Asian markets, the benchmark indices opened sharply higher, with the Sensex climbing as much as 785 points or 2 per cent only to reverse all gains in the last hour of trade. At one point, the Sensex was down 511 points over its previous close of 37,785.  After a highly volatile session, it finally settled at 38,144, down 153 points, or 0.4 per cent.
   
10. Factory Activity Slows in Feb, PMI Down to 54.5 – India’s factory activity growth slowed in February from the previous month's eight-year high as business sentiment faded over the expected impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on exports and supply chains, a private survey showed. The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 54.5 last month from January's 55.3. A reading above 50 on the index means expansion.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	BECIL	Data Entry Operator, Supporting staff	19	SSLC, Any Degree	March 9, 2020	https://www.becil.com/uploads/vacancy/4f8705579c33bd73cf11982173e545a6.pdf
2	IIITM, Kerala	Data Engineer, Computer Vision Engineer, Post Doctoral Fellow	5	M.Tech, M.Sc, Ph.D	March 16, 2020	https://www.iiitmk.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/0050_CENTRE-FOR-EXCELLENCE-IN-ARTIFICIAL-GENERAL-INTELLIGENCE-AND-NEUROMORPHIC-SYSTEMS_RECRUITMENT-REG1.pdf
3	MIDHANI	Graduate, Diploma & Trade Apprentice	182	ITI, Diploma, Degree (Engg)	March 21, 2020	http://midhani-india.in/WordPress-content/uploads/2018/11/Website-Notifctn-20-21.pdf
4	Army Recruiting Office, RO (HQ) Chennai	Soldier	-	8th, 10th Class, 10+2	March3, 2020	https://joinindianarmy.nic.in/writereaddata/Portal/BRAVO_NotificationPDF/NOTFN_FOR_TIRUVANNAMALAI_RALLY_-__APR_2020_-_Copy.pdf
5	Army Recruiting Office, RO (HQ) Shillong	Soldier	-	8th, 10th Class, 10+2	March 20, 2020	https://joinindianarmy.nic.in/writereaddata/Portal/BRAVO_NotificationPDF/Rally_Notfn_Meghalaya_04_May_to_06_May_20-converted_2_.pdf
6	BEL	Deputy Engineer	24	B.E/ B.Tech (Computer Science)	March29, 2020	http://bel-india.in/Documentviews.aspx?fileName=Web%20Ad%20for%20FTE%20SW-29-02-2020.pdf
7	Sainik School, Kazhakootam	TGT, Art Master, Counsellor, Matron, Contractual	10	10th Class, Diploma, Degree, PG	March20, 2020	https://www.sainikschooltvm.nic.in/images/documents/careers/advt_contractual.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 Not Available Today – 

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

2.1 Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman unveild EASE - Enhanced Access and Service Excellence 3.0 for technology enabled banking

• This move is an initiative of Public Sector Banks (PSBs), that seeks to enhance ease of banking in all customer experiences, using technology.
• The Finance Ministry has the idea of establishing paperless and digitally-enabled banking at places where people visit the most. 
• This government is planned to achieve among themes that include responsible banking, PSBs as Udyami Mitra, customer responsiveness, credit take-off, and deep financial inclusions.
• New features - Palm Banking - end-to-end digital delivery of financial service. Banking on Go - banking outlets at frequently visited spots like malls, stations, complexes, and campuses.is
  
• Background - EASE 1.0 was launched in January 2018, and the subsequent edition of the program ? EASE 2.0 built on the foundation laid in EASE 1.0 and furthered the progress on reforms. In EASE 2.0, the government had proposed pushing liquidity in the public sector banks, reconstituting the management committee and possible mergers among the ideal partners in the Indian banking sector. 

2.2 BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industry(BRICS CCI) hold Annual Direct Tax Summit and Awards 2020 in New Delhi. Dharampal Satyapal Limited WON THE AWARD for Best In-House Direct Tax Team of the Year.

2.3 Food Processing Industries Ministry launched ‘Market Intelligence and Early Warning System (MIEWS) Web Portal’ to enable ‘real time monitoring’ of prices of tomato, onion and potato.

2.4  Power PSU NTPC to provide Rs. 80 crore financial support for installation and commissioning of 25 CAAQMS (Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations) across 6 states and 3 UTs.

2.5 India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) achieved milestone of two crore customers, was launched on September 1, 2018.

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

3.1 The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the constitution of a joint committee to take samples of water from Bengaluru’s Ulsoor lake and neighbouring areas

• Background - It has been reported that the water quality has come down due to illegal activities being carried out while discharging untreated sewage, effluents and the dumping of garbage into the water body. 
• Singur Dam – It is in Medak district of Telangana. It was constructed on the Manjeera River in 1989.
•  Manjeera is a tributary of Godavari river. Manjeera river originates in Maharashtra and flows from the states of Karnataka and Telangana. It is a reservoir built for hydroelectric and irrigation purposes. It also serves as a source of drinking water for Hyderabad. The deep waters of the reservoir are home to about 1000 crocodiles.
• Components of Water Analysis

1. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) - It is the amount of dissolved oxygen used by microorganisms in the biological process of metabolizing organic matter in water. The more organic matter there is (polluted bodies of water) the greater the BOD; and the greater the BOD, the lower the amount of dissolved oxygen available for higher animals such as fishes. The BOD is therefore a reliable gauge of the organic pollution of a body of water.
2. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) – It is a method of estimating how much oxygen would be depleted from a body of receiving water as a result of bacterial action.
3. Coliforms - Water pollution caused by fecal contamination is a serious problem due to the potential for contracting diseases from pathogens (disease causing organisms). The presence of pathogens in the water is determined with indirect evidence by testing for an ‘indicator’ organism such as coliform bacteria. Coliforms are bacteria that are always present in the digestive tracts of animals, including humans, and are found in their wastes. They are also found in plant and soil material.
4. Heavy Metals - Presence of any heavy metals like Arsenic, Phosphorus, etc. Heavy metals are known to induce cardiovascular diseases, developmental abnormalities, neurologic and neurobehavioral disorders, diabetes, hearing loss, hematologic and immunologic disorders. Toxic heavy metals can interfere with absorption and use of nutritionally essential metals such as iron, calcium, copper, and zinc.

• The National Green Tribunal  - It was established in the year 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010. It was established for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources, enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues. The Tribunal is guided by principles of natural justice.

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

4.1 Jack Welch, former Chairman and CEO of General Electric, died aged 84 in US

• Welch died at home, surrounded by his family members and his beloved dogs nearby. The cause of death was renal failure.
• Welch was chairman and CEO of GE from 1981 to 2001. In that time, the tycoon increased the market value of the company from roughly $14 billion to more than $410 billion.
• He invented the "vitality curve," in which managers were ranked into three groups.
• The top 20% "A" group was "filled with passion, committed to making things happen."
• The "vital" 70% "B" group was essential to the company and encouraged to join the A's.
• Then there was the bottom 10% "C" group.
• "The underperformers generally had to go," Welch said in his 2001 book, "Jack: Straight From the Gut."
• According to the book, "the workforce went from 411,000 to 299,000 during his first five years as chief.
• With a determination to win by busting up bureaucratic complacency, Welch earned two titles — "manager of the century," and "Neutron Jack," the latter for slashing tens of thousands of jobs.
• John Francis Welch Jr. was born Nov. 19, 1935, in Peabody, Massachusetts, to Irish American parents. His father was a conductor for the Boston & Maine Railroad and his mother was a homemaker. The younger Welch studied chemical engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1960.
• Welch joined GE in 1960 as a chemical engineer in its plastics division in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He became a vice president in 1972 and vice chairman seven years later. In April 1981, at age 45, he succeeded Reginald H. Jones as chairman and chief executive officer.
• Welch insisted that all of GE's divisions be market leaders. ''Fix it, close it or sell it," he was fond of saying.
• Welch, who played a key role in the creation of CNBC in 1989, retired from GE in September 2001, days before the 9/11 attacks.
• Upon his retirement, The New York Times published an editorial that gushed over his professional record.

4.2 World Health Organization raises Novel Coronavirus threat assessment to highest level.

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

5.1 Har Ghar Jal Scheme

• Context - Scheme to have piped water to the households in Bundelkhand region which comprises certain districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradeshwere launched under Har Ghar Jal Scheme recently.
• Har ghar jal (tap water to every household) is a scheme initiated by the Government of India in 2019 with the aim to provide tap water to every rural household by 2024. 
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the scheme in 2019 union budget.
• Government has plans to spend Rs. 3.5 trillion in next five years under this scheme.
   

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 Weekly Roundup – Accidents, Natural and Man-made Disasters

• Kamal Kishore (in photo), Krishna Vatsa, Rajendra Singh and Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain appointed new members of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), for a 5-year term.
• National Disaster Management Authority, abbreviated as NDMA, is an apex Body of Government of India, with a mandate to lay down policies for disaster management. It was formed in 2005.

• National Conference on Coastal Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience (CDRR&R) – 2020
• Edition – First
• Time – Feb 2020
• Place – New Delhi
• Organiser(s) - National Institute of Disaster Management (NDIM)
• Aim - Enhancement of human capacity in terms of a better understanding of coastal disaster risks and effective collaborative actions. Dissemination of information related to national and local strategies for coastal disaster risk reduction and resilience as well as to develop a network mode roadmap for addressing the gaps by engaging with the institutions, researchers and experts.
• Implementation of the Prime Minister’s 10-point agenda and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
• The PM had listed the agenda during his inaugural speech at the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) 2016, held in New Delhi.
• The Prime Minister’s 10-point Agenda – 

1. All development sectors must imbibe the principles of disaster risk management.
2. Work towards risk coverage for all-starting from poor households to SMEs to multinational corporations to nation-states.
3. Encourage greater involvement and leadership of women in disaster risk management.
4. Invest in risk mapping globally. For mapping risks related to hazards like earthquakes, we have accepted standards and parameters.
5. Leverage technology to enhance the efficiency of our disaster risk management efforts.
6. Develop a network of universities to work on disaster issues.
7. Utilise the opportunities provided by social media and mobile technologies.
8. Build on local capacity and initiative.
9. Opportunity to learn from a disaster must not be wasted. After every disaster there are papers on lessons that are rarely applied.
10. Bring about greater cohesion in the international response to disasters.

• Sendai Framework for Disaster Reduction 2015-30 - It was adopted at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, held from March 14 to 18, 2015 in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. It aims to guide the multi-hazard management of disaster risk in development at all levels as well as within and across all sectors. It is the successor instrument to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters.
• National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) was constituted under Disaster Management Act 2005 with a vision to play the role of a premier institute for capacity development in India and the region. It has been assigned nodal responsibilities for human resource development, capacity building, training, research, documentation and policy advocacy in the field of disaster management.
  

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 National Technical Textiles Mission

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the setting up of a National Technical Textiles Mission at a total outlay of Rs. 1,480 crores.
• The Mission will aim at taking domestic market size to $40 billion to $50 billion by 2024.
• A Mission Directorate will be operational in the Ministry of Textiles.
• It will be implemented for four years starting from 2020-21 and will have four components - first, focus on research, development and innovation with an outlay of Rs. 1,000 crores, second will be for the promotion and development of the market for technical textiles, third will focus on export promotion so that technical textile exports from the country reach from the Rs. 14,000 crores to Rs. 20,000 crores by 2021-22 and fourth component will focus on education, training and skill development.
• About Indian Technical Textiles Segment - It is estimated at $16 billion which is approximately 6% of the $250 billion global technical textiles market.
• Technical textiles are functional fabrics that have applications across various industries including automobiles, civil engineering and construction, agriculture, healthcare, industrial safety, personal protection etc.

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

8.1 Chief Justice of India Sharad Bobde inaugurated 7-day camp for distribution of artificial limbs to specially-abled persons in Nagpur.

8.2 Punjab Govt. prohibited online supply of food from food business operators (FBOs) which don't have hygiene rating.

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

9.1 Presence of colistin-resistant bacteria of food origin in the gut is cause for worry

• Context - A study of the gut bacteria in humans.
• Colistin is the last-resort antibiotic used to treat highly drug-resistant bacterial infections.
• The research - A small study involving 65 stool samples taken from patients from a single hospital in Chennai found 51% of them harbouring colistin-resistant bacteria. This is the first study from India which has found indirect evidence of these bacteria. 
• Details - Colistin-resistant bacteria can be of hospital origin or food origin. Of the samples that had bacteria resistant to colistin, 77% were found to be food-acquired and the remaining had an antibiotics resistance pattern suggestive of hospital origin. Studies have shown that colistin-resistant Klebsiella bacteria were widely present in poultry and raw vegetables. The main cause of colistin resistance in food is due to the rampant use of colistin in poultry and to use poultry litter as manure to grow vegetables. In clinical practice, it is the mutation in the mgrB gene or other chromosomal genes that confers colistin resistance to Klebsiella bacteria.
• Concerns - Studies have noted that colistin resistance due to mutation in food has the potential to spread Klebsiella in the human gut and hence may contribute to colistin-resistant infections. The finding that a large number of individuals carry colistin-resistant bacteria of food origin in the gut is therefore worrying. Colistin-resistant bacteria of hospital origin do not respond to any of the antibiotics, including carbapenem while colistin-resistant bacteria of food origin will respond to carbapenem.
• Efforts should focus on methods to control the use of colistin in poultry.

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

10.1   Ranking – 2019 report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) released by United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

• India among top manufacturers of illicit and licit drugs that are smuggled to other countries and into the hands of addicts.
• Drug traffickers tend to smuggle pharmaceutical drugs rather than illicit drugs (e.g. hashish, heroin, etc.) because of the more lenient penalties.
• Countries like China, South Korea and the United States have received drugs without pre-notification through the Pre-Export Notification (PEN) Online system.
• Increased diversion of controlled pharmaceutical precursors, in particular ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, from licit to illicit channels has continued in India.
• Precursors are chemicals which are used to manufacture narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Ephedrine and Pseudoephedrine have been notified as ‘controlled substance’ in India. The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 empowers the Central Government to declare any substance as ‘controlled substance’.
• The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was established in 1997.
• The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is the independent and quasi-judicial monitoring body for the implementation of the UN international drug control conventions. It was established in 1968. Its secretariat is in Vienna, Austria.

For more information download pdf from here –

https://www.incb.org/documents/Publications/AnnualReports/AR2019/Annual_Report/English_ebook_AR2019.pdf

10.2 Daily dose of FIVE Facts -

• Police in Ghaziabad launched ‘Operation Nakail’ to verify identity of auto-rickshaw drivers.
• Mahindra & Mahindra launched Cruzio range of buses recently.
• Bhutan has decided to charge Rs. 1200 per day as fees from Indian tourists visiting the country from July 2020.
• According to Final Estimates released in Jan 2020, the production of fruits in 2018-19 crop year was 97.97 million tonnes.
• NASA has decommissioned the Spitzer Space Telescope, which has studied the universe by detecting cosmic infrared radiation for more than 16 years.

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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