Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 03-04-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 03-04-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. PM asks States to suggest plan for staggered end to lockdown - Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at his second videoconference with Chief Ministers, told them that it was “important to formulate a common exit strategy to ensure staggered re-emergence of the population once the lockdown ends”. Mr. Modi emphasised that the collective goal of all should be to “save every Indian”. He asked the States to brainstorm and send suggestions for the exit strategy. He listed certain “must do steps” that need to be taken as the nation entered the second week of the total lockdown. “Our first priority for the next few weeks should be testing, tracing, isolating and quarantine. For this, all State to district level efforts must be coordinated,” he pointed out.
2. 9,000 with Tablighi Jamaat link sent into quarantine - At least 9,000 Tablighi Jamaat workers and their primary contacts have been quarantined across the country after the sect’s headquarters in Nizamuddin, New Delhi, emerged as a hotspot of novel coronavirus. Around 500 COVID-19 cases in the country are linked to a gathering of Indian and foreign members of the organisation last month. The number in Delhi alone stood at 182, when 129 more people from the centre tested positive and two died.
3. Conviction of four accused in Daniel Pearl case overturned - The Sindh High Court overturned the conviction of four persons accused of kidnapping and killing Daniel Pearl, a reporter of Wall Street Journal, in Pakistan for lack of evidence. The main accused, British-Pakistani Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh who was on death row for the murder, was found guilty of a lesser charge of kidnapping and sentenced to seven years in prison and a fine of Rs. 2 million to be paid to Pearl’s widow and his orphaned son, who was born after the murder. Sheikh has been in custody since 2002. The seven-year prison sentence will be counted as served as he has been in prison for 18 years.
4. DRDO develops bio suit, sealant for safety gear - In a major breakthrough, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a special sealant as an alternative to seam sealing tape which is critical in personal protective equipment (PPE). A bio suit was also developed to keep medical and other personnel engaged in combating COVID-19 safe from the deadly virus. Bio suit production in the country by DRDO industry partners and other industries was being hampered due to non-availability of seam sealing tapes. The DRDO can mass produce this glue through the industry to support the seam sealing activity by suit manufacturers. At present, Kusumgarh Industries, with technology transfer from the DRDO, is producing the raw material, coating material, and the complete suit is being manufactured with the help of another vendor. The current production capacity is 7,000 suits per day.
5. Global virus cases near a million as Spain sees record deaths - Confirmed coronavirus cases approached 1 million around the world as Europe reeled from the pandemic and the U.S. reported record numbers of people out of work. The virus claimed thousands more lives including nearly 1,000 new deaths in Spain, despite more than half of the planet being subjected to some form of lockdown. And it continued to wreak havoc on the global economy, with the U.S. announcing that another 6.65 million workers filed for unemployment benefits last week and Spain reporting its biggest monthly increase in jobless claims on record. Since emerging in China in December, COVID-19 has infected 9,81,221 people — including at least 5,00,000 in Europe — and claimed more than 50,000 lives. Europe has been at the centre of the crisis, with at least 34,000 now dead. Spain had suffered a record 950 deaths in 24 hours, bringing its total number of fatalities to 10,003.
6. No foreign-backed terror in Afghanistan: Taliban - Externally supported terrorism does not exist in Afghanistan, the Taliban said and urged India to ensure welfare of its Muslim community. Spokesman of the Taliban’s Political Office, Suhail Shaheen, said the main problem of Afghanistan is foreign occupation and suggested India should not be at “loggerheads” with real Afghan aspirations. Taliban’s pronouncements on a set of long held Indian positions came a day after the Ministry of External Affairs reiterated and hinted at Pakistan’s hand in fomenting terrorism inside Afghanistan and approved the choice of the team from the side of President Ashraf Ghani’s government for the intra-Afghan negotiation.
7. Movement of essential goods hit by disruptions - With the country witnessing largescale disruptions in transportation network and supply chain on account of the COVID-19 spurred lockdown, the logistics sector is likely to face more hardships as current reserves are depleting and manufacturing is yet to pick up.
8. Realty, airlines, auto dealers set to be worst hit by virus - Real estate, airlines, auto dealers, gems and jewellery and steel are the sectors that are expected to be the worst hit and have the least resilience in the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. While telecom, fertilizer, FMCG, pharmaceuticals and food industry will see a low impact and have higher resilience according to a report by ratings agency Crisil. Meanwhile, ratings agency Moody’s revised the outlook on India’s banking system to negative along with 12 others in the Asia-Pacific region, citing coronavirus related disruption.
9. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved Rs 1,340 crore recapitalisation of regional rural banks to improve their capital to risk-weighted assets ratio - Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the CCEA approved the utilisation of Rs 670 crore as the Central government's share for the scheme. The decision will provide minimum regulatory capital to regional rural banks for another year beyond 2019-20, that is up to 2020-21 for those which are unable to maintain minimum capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of 9 per cent as per regulatory norms prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
10. IRS officers Krishan Mohan Prasad and Satish Kumar Gupta appointed as CBDT members.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	Thiruvarur District Central Cooperative Bank	Assistant	45	Any Degree	April 9, 2020	http://www.tvrdrb.in/doc_pdf/Notification_1.pdf
2	Vellore District Central Cooperative Bank	Assistant	105	Any Degree	April 14, 2020	http://www.drbvellore.net/recruitment/admin/images/DRB%20VDCCB%20Credit%20Re-Notification%20-%202020809249_1584103061.pdf
3	Vellore District Central Coop Bank	Assistant	59	Any Degree	April 14, 2020	http://www.drbvellore.net/recruitment/admin/images/DRB%20Credit%20Institutions%20Re-Notification%20-%202020509681_1584103354.pdf
4	Coimbatore District Central Coop Bank	Assistant	81	Any Degree	April 15, 2020	http://www.cbedrb.in/doc_pdf/Notification_2.pdf
5	Coimbatore District Central Coop Bank	Assistant	55	Any Degree	April 15, 2020	http://www.cbedrb.in/doc_pdf/Notification_1.pdf
6	SHKM Medical College, Mewat	Research Scientist, Lab Technician	9	MBBS, Degree (Relevant Discipline)	Every Day – Walk in	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/04/Notification-SHKM-Govt-Medical-College-Research-Scientist-Lab-Technician-Posts.pdf
7	NHM, Parbhani	Medical Officer, Staff Nurse	80	GNM, B.Sc (Nursing), MBBS, MD	April 2, 2020	https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s39cf81d8026a9018052c429cc4e56739b/uploads/2020/03/2020033099.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 History of quarantine and laws related to it

• Introduction - Quarantine is considered the oldest mechanism to reduce the rapid spread of bacterial infections and viral onslaughts. It has been legally sanctioned by all jurisdictions in the world for the maintenance of public health and to control the transmission of diseases. These measures were often forcibly enforced. In the list of diseases that may require quarantine are — cholera, diphtheria, infectious tuberculosis, plague, smallpox, yellow fever and viral hemorrhagic fever.
• History - The first law on medical isolation was passed by the Great Council in 1377, when the plague was rapidly ruining European countries. Detention for medical reasons was justified and disobedience made a punishable offence. The law prescribed isolation for 30 days, called a ‘trentino’. Subsequently, many countries adopted similar laws to protect the people. When the duration of isolation was enhanced to 40 days, the name also changed to ‘quarantine’ by adopting the Latin quadraginta, which referred to a 40-day detention placed on ships. In 1824 the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the powers of the state to enact quarantine laws and impose health regulations.
• Difference between Quarantine and Isolation - Quarantine is imposed to separate and restrict the movement of persons, who may have been exposed to infectious disease, but not yet known to be ill. But, isolation is a complete separation from others of a person known or reasonably believed to be infected with communicable diseases.
• Opinion of courts – Courts felt that solitary detention was a serious infringement of basic human rights guaranteed to the individual, but held that under unusual situations and exceptional exigencies, such isolated detentions are justifiable for the cause of public health. In matters involving a threat to the health of the community, individual rights have to be balanced with public interest. 
• Laws in India - The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, a law of colonial vintage, empowers the state to take special measures, it was amended in 1956 to confer powers upon the Central government to prescribe regulations or impose restrictions in the whole or any parts of India to control and prevent the outbreak of hazardous diseases. 
• It shows that quarantine is a medically accepted mode to reduce community transmission but a constructive alternative method of treating patients exposed to infectious diseases is the imperative need in the arena of public health.

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

2.1 Cabinet approves recapitalisation of RRBs to improve CRAR

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on March 25, 2020 gave its approval for continuing the process of recapitalisation of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) by providing minimum regulatory capital for those RRBs, which are unable to maintain minimum Capital to Risk (Weighted) Assets Ratio (CRAR) of nine per cent, as per the norms prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• The minimum regulatory capital to these RRBs has been approved for another year beyond 2019-20, up to 2020-21.
• The CCEA also approved the utilisation of Rs 670 crore as central government share for the scheme of recapitalisation of RRBs subject to the condition that the release of Central government’s share will be contingent upon the release of the proportionate share by the sponsor banks.
• An official release said the financially stronger Regional Rural Banks with improved CRAR will be in a position to meet the credit requirement in the rural areas.
• As per RBI guidelines, RRBs have to provide 75 per cent of their total credit under PSL (Priority Sector Lending). They cater to credit and banking requirements of the agriculture sector and rural areas with a focus on small and marginal farmers, micro and small enterprises, rural artisans and weaker sections of the society.
• In addition, RRBs also provide lending to micro and small enterprises and small entrepreneurs in rural areas.
• With the recapitalization support to augment CRAR, RRBs would be able to continue their lending to these categories.
• A committee was set up under the chairmanship of KC Chakrabarty following RBI’s decision to introduce disclosure norms for CRAR of RRBs with effect from March 2008.
• Based on the committee’s recommendations, a scheme for the recapitalisation of RRBs was approved by the cabinet in its meeting held in February 2011 to provide recapitalization support of Rs. 2,200 crores to 40 RRBs with an additional amount of Rs700 crore as a contingency fund to meet the requirement of the weak RRBs particularly in the northeastern and eastern regions.
• Based on CRAR position of RRBs, as on March 31 every year, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) identifies those RRBs, which require recapitalisation assistance to maintain the mandatory CRAR of nine per cent.
• According to the release, the government has initiated structural consolidation of RRBs in three phases reducing their number from 196 in 2005 to 45 at present with a view to enable RRBs to minimize their overhead expenses, optimize the use of technology, enhance the capital base and area of operation and increase their exposure.

2.2 Government to continue scheme for Rebate of State and Central Taxes & Levies (RoSCTL) on export of garments beyond March 31.

2.3  CCEA approves construction of 22-km Aligarh-Harduaganj flyover by Railways in UP at a cost of over Rs. 1285 crore.

2.4 Government to front-load Rs 2,000 paid to farmers in first week of April under existing PM Kisan Yojana.

2.5 State Governments directed to use Building and Construction Workers Welfare Fund to provide relief to construction workers.

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

3.1 Lockdowns are making Earth less noisy

• From a drop in air pollution to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the global coronavirus pandemic has had some surprising effects on the environment.
• The outbreak has actually changed the way the Earth physically moves.
• Researchers from the Royal Observatory of Belgium have reported a drop in seismic noise — the hum of vibrations in the Earth’s crust.
• The researchers used a seismometer to analyse the movement of the Earth and find that seismic noise in Brussels has fallen by about one-third since the coronavirus lockdown was introduced.
• Researchers at the California Institute of Technology has observed similar findings in Los Angeles.
• The researchers hope this fall in noise could boost the sensitivity of detectors to natural waves.
• If the self quarantine extends longer, scientists say they’ll continue to notice new ways their instruments and readings are changing.
• Just as all-natural occasions such as earthquakes create Planet’s crust to relocate, so do resonances caused by moving lorries and commercial machinery. As well as although the effects from private resources could be small, with each other they create history noise, which reduces seismologists’ capability to spot various other signals taking place at the same regularity.
• The fall in sound might likewise benefit seismologists who utilise normally occurring history resonances, such as those from crashing sea waves, to probe Planet’s crust. Because volcanic task and transforming water tables influence just how fast these natural waves travel, researchers can study these occasions by checking how much time it takes a wave to reach a provided detector.  
• A fall in human-induced sound might increase the level of sensitivity of detectors to natural waves at similar frequencies, claims Lecocq, whose team strategies to start testing this.

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

4.1 Sindh High Court overturned the conviction of four persons accused of kidnapping and killing Daniel Pearl

• The Sindh High Court overturned the conviction of four persons accused of kidnapping and killing Daniel Pearl, a reporter of Wall Street Journal, in Pakistan for lack of evidence.
• The main accused, British-Pakistani Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh who was on death row for the murder, was found guilty of a lesser charge of kidnapping and sentenced to seven years in prison and a fine of Rs. 2 million to be paid to Pearl’s widow and his orphaned son, who was born after the murder.
• Sheikh has been in custody since 2002.  
• The seven-year prison sentence will be counted as served as he has been in prison for 18 years.
• The incident came three years after Sheikh, along with Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, was released by India in 1999 and given safe passage to Afghanistan in exchange for the nearly 150 passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814. He was serving a prison term in India for kidnappings of Western tourists in the country.
• Pearl was Wall Street Journal’s South Asia Bureau Chief. He was working on a story about links between religious extremists in Karachi and ‘show-bomber’ Richard Reid, who tried to blow up a passenger plane.
• Pearl went missing in January 2002 from Karachi. A month later, a video of his beheading was delivered to the U.S. Consulate in Karachi.

4.2 UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres calls coronavirus pandemic as world’s biggest challenge since WWII.

 4.3 1977 Nobel Physics Prize winner Philip Anderson passed away in US at 96. He was known for work on magnetism and superconductivity.

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

5.1 Govt app ‘Arogya-setu’ to track if you have been near a Covid +ve person

• In its effort to spread awareness among citizens on the novel coronavirus outbreak in India, the government launched a new tracking app ‘Aarogya Setu’ to help people track Covid-19 infections more accurately and effectively.
• The mobile application, developed by the National Informatics Centre under the ministry of electronics and information technology, is available on Google Play Store on Android smartphones and App Store for iPhones. 
• The app is available in 11 languages.
• It will help track the coronavirus infection by using the smartphone’s GPS system and bluetooth and provide information that will help in determining if you have been near a Covid-19 infected person or not.
• Once installed in a smartphone through an easy and user-friendly process, the app detects other devices with AarogyaSetu installed that come in the proximity of that phone. The app can then calculate the risk of infection based on sophisticated parameters if any of these contacts has tested positive.
• The app will also help the government take necessary timely steps for assessing risk of spread of infection, and ensuring isolation where required.

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 Weekly Roundup – Defence

• Defence Ministry signed contract to procure 16,479 light machine guns (LMGs) from Israel Weapons Industries (IWI) for Rs 880 crore.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Details of Tablighi Jamaat

• Introduction - The Tablighi Jamaat, a little known Islamic organisation, has been at the centre of a controversy after dozens of people who attended a religious congregation held by it at its headquarters in Delhi in March tested positive for COVID-19. At least 2,000 people, both from across the country and foreign nations such as Indonesia and Malaysia, had attended the gathering in Nizamuddin that started in early March and went on for a couple of weeks. 
• Leader - Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, leader of the group, has been booked by the Delhi police under the Epidemic Disease Act. 
• Origins - The Tablighi Jamaat (Society of Preachers) was founded by a Deobandi Islamic scholar Muhammad Ilyas al-Kandhlawi in Mewat, India, in 1926. As its name suggests, Al-Kandhlawi’s goal was to establish a group of dedicated preachers as a Muslim revivalist society, who could revive “true” Islam, which he saw was not being practised by many Muslims. The slogan Al-Kandhlawi coined for his new organisation captured the essence of its activities — “Oh Muslims, become true Muslims”. Al-Kandhlawi called upon his fellow Muslims to “enjoin the good and forbid the evil”.
• Growth - The organisation grew fast in British India. In its annual conference held in November 1941, some 25,000 people attended. After Partition, it grew stronger in Pakistan and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The group has presence in 150 countries and millions of followers.
• Believes - Inspired by the Deobandi creed, the Tablighis urge to live like the Prophet did. They are theologically opposed to the syncretic nature of Sufi Islam and insist on its members to dress like the Prophet did (trouser or robe should be above the ankle). Men usually shave their upper lip and keep long beard. The focus of the organisation was on ‘purifying’ the Muslim faith..
• Key Activities - The Tablighi Jamaat members have declared they are not political. They have also decried violence in the name of religion. They say the Prophet Mohammed has commanded all Muslims to convey the message of Allah, and the Tablighis take this as their duty. They divide themselves into small Jamaats (societies) and travel frequently across the world to spread the message of Islam to Muslim houses. The group’s modus operandi is peaceful and it is focused entirely on the Muslim community worldwide.

7.2 Veteran freedom fighter Nagorav Vitthalrao Deshpande passed away at 90 in Aurangabad, Maharashtra.

7.3 Padma Shri awardee and former 'Hazuri Raagi' at Golden Temple passed away of coronavirus in Amritsar aged 52.
7.4 Anyone who has resided in the J&K UT for 15 years or has studied for 7 years is a domicile: centre.

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

8.1 Role of private health sector in facing COVID 19 pandemic in India

• India enters the second week of a national lockdown is still unclear how well prepared the healthcare system is in dealing with the pandemic. It is clear that government hospitals alone will not be able to manage the fallout. 
• So far, the Central and State governments have given little indication of bringing an increase in public expenditure on health. So, an already overburdened public health system will be unable to meet the increase in moderate and severe cases of COVID-19 that would require hospitalisation. 
• While some individual private sector companies have come forward with offers of creating capacity and making it available to COVID-19 patients, there is a need for a comprehensive national policy to ensure that private healthcare capacity is made available to the public.
• Some States like Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have already roped in the private sector to provide free treatment.
• The governments at the Centre and in States have to take responsibility for providing universal health services free of charge and accessible to all. This will require governments to not just expand the capacity within the public sector, but also to tap into the available capacity in the private sector.
• The National Health Authority has recommended that the testing and treatment of COVID-19 be included in the PM-Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) but this proposal is still awaiting clearance. There is lack of a visible central command, which should be created under the supervision of the Union Health Minister, aided by a team of experts.
• There have been some tentative measures taken by States to allow individuals seeking testing for COVID-19 to access private laboratories at subsidised rates. 
• At present, the government has put a cap on the cost at ₹4,500 per test, which is a burden for even a middle class patient.
• At this point, and certainly before the lockdown is lifted, it is absolutely essential that adequate testing and quarantine facilities are created.
• The Central government has already taken over some private hotels to accommodate persons quarantined for COVID-19. 
• One way of expanding such facilities would be for the government to ‘take over’ private corporate laboratories and hospitals for a limited period. 
• A graduated approach to this is possible by asking tertiary private hospitals to create ICU facilities and isolation wards to care for the moderate and severe cases under the supervision of the government.
• The political directive for such a move needs to come from the Central government while ensuring that the Ministry of Health provides standard treatment protocols for health personnel.
• The Spanish government issued an order bringing hospitals in the large private corporate sector under public control for a limited period. In Britain, given the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, the health workforce in the National Health Service has been under a lot of pressure. British trade unions have demanded that the government make the 8,000 beds in 570 private hospitals in the country available. 
• In India, private corporate hospitals have, in the past, received government subsidies in various forms and it is now time to seek repayment from them. They are also well poised to provide specialised care and have the expertise and infrastructure to do so. So, why is it that the government does not deem it fit to bring them under public control? Does less government mean no accountability even amidst this humanitarian crisis? Is it that the overburdened public health service should be made to care for the rising number of needy patients, while most private hospitals remain reserved only those who can afford to pay?
• The government may argue that treatment for COVID-19 has been included under Ayushman Bharat, and this will take care of the poor. But, what about the large, differentiated middle class, many of whom are employees in the services sector? They do not have secure employment, nor do they have insurance cover.

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

9.1 Geo-fencing app to locate quarantine violators

• The Centre is using powers under the Indian Telegraph Act to “fetch information” from telecom companies every 15 minutes to track COVID-19 cases across the country.
• The government has tested an application that triggers e-mails and SMS alerts to an authorised government agency if a person has jumped quarantine or escaped from isolation, based on the person’s mobile phone’s cell tower location.
• The “geo-fencing” is accurate by up to 300 m.
• Kerala was one of the first States to use geo-fencing to track COVID-19 cases.
• The system will collate phone data, including the device’s location, on a common secured platform and alert the local agencies in case of a violation by COVID-19 patients under watch or in isolation.

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

10.1  Not Available Today

10.2 Daily dose of  FIVE Facts -

• Singapore was the top source of foreign investment into India in April-December 2019.
• Sweden Minister of International Development in Feb 2020 participated in Mithi river clean up with environmental activist Afroz Shah in Mumbai.
• Kane Tanaka is the world’s oldest living person according to Guinness World Records.
• Sinn Fein has emerged as the largest party in Ireland in general elections held in Feb 2020.
• India and Portugal in Feb 2020 signed agreement to set up National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal in Gujarat.

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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