Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 20-04-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 20-04-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. COVID-19 pandemic update: E-commerce firms can deliver only essentials – The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) clarified that supply of non-essential goods by e-commerce companies will remain prohibited during the lockdown. The Ministry also issued guidelines for the movement of migrant labourers living in relief camps to their workplace, within the boundaries of a State, in areas where the lockdown will be relaxed from April 20. The Ministry asserted that there will be no inter-State movement of labourers. They will be registered, screened and those who are asymptomatic would be transported to their places of work by ensuring social distancing measures. The relaxations will not apply to hotspots or containment zones, and public transport will remain prohibited till May 3.
2. COVID-19 pandemic measures: PM-CARES donations cut from govt. staff salaries – Employees from a number of government departments and agencies have donated a day’s salary toward the PM-CARES fund. While the donations, meant for COVID-19 relief, were said to be voluntary, government circulars show that the deductions were made directly from salaries. Those unwilling to donate were asked to submit their refusal in writing. The communication come as a surprise to the officers and staff of the department as, they say, typically requests for such contributions come through the employees’ association. Further, employees were never asked to give it in writing if they did not want to donate.
3. COVID-19 pandemic impact: Don’t feed the primates - Feeding monkeys during the COVID-19 pandemic could have profoundly negative effects in the long-term, such as helping the SARS-CoV-2 virus mutate and infect primates, biologists have said in a note, advising caution. Honnavalli M. Kumara, principal scientist at the Salim Ali Center for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), said it was well documented that viruses and endoparasites could transmit between humans and primates.
4. COVID-19 pandemic innovation: Afghan girls turn car parts into ventilators – The war stricken Afghanistan faces the pandemic nearly empty-handed. It has only 400 ventilators for a population of more than 36.6 million. So far, it has reported just over 900 coronavirus cases, including 30 deaths, but the actual number is suspected to be much higher since test kits are in short supply. This has spurred Ms. Farooqi and her team members to help come up with a solution. The members of Afghanistan’s prize-winning girls’ robotics team are on a life-saving mission — to build a breathing machine from used car parts and help their country battle the virus.
5. US-Afghan-Taliban issue: Karzai welcomes India’s involvement in talks  - Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has welcomed the American gesture to bring in India into the ongoing negotiation for sustained peace in the war-torn country. The response followed hours after U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad discussed the state of the peace talks and the coronavirus crisis in South Asia with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
6. COVID-19 update: U.S. President calls for ‘liberating’ States that are shut down – Coronavirus deaths have surged past 1,50,000 worldwide with nearly a quarter of them in the U.S., where President Donald Trump lent his support to protesters rallying against lockdown orders. Evidence is mounting that social distancing successfully slowed the COVID-19 pandemic after more than half of humanity — 4.5 billion people — were confined to their homes.
7. China: Hong Kong protests issue - Hong Kong police arrested 15 activists, including veteran politicians, a publishing tycoon and senior barristers, in raids in the biggest crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement since the outbreak of mass protests last year. Among those detained on charges of illegal assembly were Democratic Party founder Martin Lee, 81, millionaire publishing tycoon Jimmy Lai, 71, and former lawmaker and barrister Margaret Ng, 72, according to media and political sources. In all, one serving and nine former legislators were arrested, including veteran activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Yeung Sum.
8. Appointments - Calcutta HC judge appointed CJ of Bombay HC - After two months of uncertainty with the senior-most judge tendering his resignation and the second senior-most getting transferred to Meghalaya, Bombay high court will get a new chief justice from Calcutta HC to succeed incumbent Justice B P Dharamdhikari, who retires on April 27. The Supreme Court collegium has decided to recommend to the government to appoint Justice Dipankar Datta of Calcutta HC as the CJ of Bombay HC. Justice Datta is the son of former Calcutta HC judge Salil Kumar Datta and brother-in-law of former SC judge Amitava Roy.
9. Virus traces in non-drinking water supply in Paris: Report – Paris has shut down part of its water system after discovering trace amounts of the novel coronavirus in water used for cleaning streets and watering public gardens. City’s drinking water remains safe. A municipal water management lab discovered “tiny traces” of the virus at 4 of 27 sampling points in the network for non-drinking water. That network is distinct from the city’s potable water system. After the discovery, the city suspended use of the nondrinking water network for public places and is using the potable water system instead. The number of patients in intensive care fell for an 11th. The country also posted the smallest increase in new infections in almost a month, with fewer than 2,000 new infections. Meanwhile, PM Edouard Philippe said that France will unveil within two weeks a plan to progressively lift restrictions on travel and business.
10. Indian Economy: RBI’s salvo on COVID-19 -  RBI allows NBFCs to extend the date for commencement of commercial operations (DCCO) for loans given to commercial real estate by additional one year without considering it as restructuring. RBI exempts accounts with moratorium benefits from asset recognition norms for 90 days. RBI announces Rs 50,000 crore special refinance facilities for NABARD (Rs 25,000 crore), SIDBI (Rs 15,000 crore), & NHB (Rs 10,000 crore). RBI debars commercial and cooperative banks from paying dividends to shareholders and promoter groups.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	DHFW, Kolkata	District Epidemiologist, Data Manager, Microbiologist	19	PG	April 21, 2020	https://www.wbhealth.gov.in/uploaded_files/careers/Advt.203_.pdf
2	DHFWS, Purulia	Medical Officer, Staff Nurse	14	GNM, MBBS	April 20, 2020	https://www.wbhealth.gov.in/uploaded_files/careers/341.pdff
3	Directorate of Medical Education, AP	General Duty Medical Officer, Specialist	1184	MBBS, MD/ DNB	April 19, 2020	http://dme.ap.nic.in/E11/2020/Recruitment_notification_14042020.pdf
4	AIIMS, Bhubaneswar	Senior Resident (Non Academic)	84	MD/MS/MDS/DM/M.Ch/DNB	May 20, 2020	https://aiimsbhubaneswar.nic.in/admin/Document/Notices/ROLLING%20ADVT417abb38-d6d9-4845-9c1a-e768c882f80b.pdf
5	MAPIT	Manager & Trainer	166	BE/ B.Tech/ M.Sc/ MCA	April 20, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/04/Notifiction-MAPIT-Manager-Trainer-Posts.pdf
6	Eastern Railway	Medical Practitioner & Nursing Staff	15	-	April 16, 2020	https://er.indianrailways.gov.in/view_detail.jsp?lang=0&dcd=2222&id=0,4,268#
7	North Central Railway	Contract Med Practitioner/ GDMO	37	MBBS	April 14, 2020	https://ncr.indianrailways.gov.in/cris//uploads/files/1586416891803-pers.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 High Courts direct states to take care of transgender people

• A bench comprising Chief Justice Dr. Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad further of the Jharkhand High Court directed the State to file a Counter Affidavit regarding the steps taken in a plea filed by Advocate Sonal Tiwary for Amarjeet Singh who sought directions from the State Government for providing meals and other facilities to transgender people as they were feeling helpless due to the lockdown situation.
• The Advocate General Rajiv Ranjan did not counter averments in this regard and submitted that the State was in fact "duty bound to take care of transgender people" and was willing to take immediate steps in this regard, if a list of bonafide transgender people is submitted by the petitioner.
• The Karnataka High Court on April 9 directed the state government to extend relief under the 'Mythri scheme' for transgenders immediately on receiving applications from all eligible members of the community.
• Transgender rights in India: In April 2014, the Supreme Court of India declared transgender to be a 'third gender' in Indian law. The transgender community in India (made up of Hijras and others) has a long history in India and in Hindu mythology. Justice KS Radhakrishnan noted in his decision that, "Seldom, our society realizes or cares to realize the trauma, agony and pain which the members of Transgender community undergo, nor appreciates the innate feelings of the members of the Transgender community, especially of those whose mind and body disown their biological sex".

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

2.1 To prevent ‘opportunistic takeovers’ by Chinese entities Government made mandatory for FDI from neighbouring countries

• In a move that will restrict Chinese investments, the Centre has made prior government approval mandatory for foreign direct investments from countries which share a land border with India.
• Previously, only investments from Pakistan and Bangladesh faced such restrictions.
• A non-resident entity can invest in India now, subject to the FDI Policy except in those sectors/activities which are prohibited but an entity of a country, which shares land border with India or where the beneficial owner of an investment into India is situated in or is a citizen of any such country, can invest only under the Government route. 
• Pakistani investors face further restrictions in requiring government approval for FDI in defence, space and atomic energy sectors as well.
• India shares land borders with Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Investors from countries not covered by the new policy only have to inform the RBI after a transaction rather than asking for prior permission from the relevant government department.
• With many Indian businesses coming to a halt due to the lockdown imposed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and valuations plummeting, a number of domestic firms may be vulnerable to “opportunistic takeovers or acquisitions” from foreign players. 
• Last week, housing finance company HDFC informed the stock exchanges that the People’s Bank of China now holds a 1.01% stake in the company. This was an instance of portfolio investment through the stock market and not FDI.

2.2 Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman participated in second G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) virtual meeting to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

2.3 Government-appointed committee of experts, headed by IBBI (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India) Chairperson M S Sahoo, recommends setting up National Institute of Valuers.

2.4 Four-month rental of small IT units operating out of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) waived off by the govt.

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

3.1 Safe drinking water supply and management during the nationwide lockdown

• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has issued an advisory to state governments asking them to ensure safe drinking water supply and management during the nationwide lockdown.
• State governments need to assess the requirements of water purifying chemicals, including chlorine tablets, bleaching powder, sodium hypochlorite solution and alum (Products classified under the list of essential commodities under Essential Commodities Act, 1955) and use them wherever necessary.
• For ensuring social distancing, states are recommended to increase water supply hours if demand goes up and people come to fetch water from the public stand post.
• Why advisory? - In the list of preventive measures for controlling the spread of coronavirus, frequent washing of hands with frothing soaps is the most efficient and effective measure in that case it become an issue of urgent need to ensure the availability of safe potable water to all citizens, mainly in the rural areas.  
• Water Crisis in India – 

1. India has been facing the challenge of lack of access to clean water for several years. Falling groundwater levels, drought, increasing demand from agriculture and industry, pollution and poor water resource management are few other challenges which will intensify with the changing climate.
2. According to the data of the Ministry of Water Resources in 2017 average annual per capita water availability fell from 1820 cubic meters assessed in 2001 to 1545 cubic meters in 2011. The data also highlighted the possibility of it reducing further to 1341 and 1140 in the years 2025 and 2050 respectively. Water availability of water stressed/water scarce regions of the country is much below the national average due to the high temporal and spatial variation of precipitation.
3. Water Stressed Condition: Where annual per-capita water availability is less than 1700 cubic meters. 
4. Water Scarcity Condition: Where annual per- capita water availability is below 1000 cubic meters.

• According to the Global Annual Report, 2018 by the WaterAid - the water and sanitation advocacy group, India ranked at the top of 10 countries with lowest access to clean water close to home, with 16.3 crore people not having such access but the government's efforts (such as Jal Jeevan Mission) in solving the water crisis have been appreciated as well.
• In the Constitution, water is a matter included in Entry 17 of List-II i.e. State List. This entry is subject to the provision of Entry 56 of List-I i.e. Union List. Most of the rivers in the country give rise to inter-state differences and disputes (Article 262) on the regulation and development of waters of these rivers.
• Also, Paris has shut down part of its water system after discovering trace amounts of the novel coronavirus in water used for cleaning streets and watering public gardens. City’s drinking water remains safe. A municipal water management lab discovered “tiny traces” of the virus at 4 of 27 sampling points in the network for non-drinking water.
  

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

4.1 COVID-19: Law suits against China in US courts

• US President Donald Trump has threatened China to face consequences if it is knowingly responsible for the coronavirus pandemic. Republicans and Democrats meanwhile are fighting over who is responsible for US cozying up to the Asian giant.
• Trump did not specify the consequences he had in mind but the remarks came even as US lawyers have initiated class action lawsuits seeking billions of dollars in compensatory damages for those who have suffered personal injuries, wrongful deaths, property damage and other damages as a result of China’s failure to contain the coronavirus.
• In a separate lawsuit, conservative lawyer Larry Klayman and his group Freedom Watch have filed the complaint in a federal court in Texas seeking at least $20 trillion from the Chinese government because of its “callous and reckless indifference and malicious act” vis-a-vis the pandemic.
• U-turn: Trump, who was initially praising China’s response to the virus, including it’s transparency on the matter, has had to change course after the Republican party’s right wing began targeting Beijing, alleging the Covid-19 coronavirus was made in a virology lab in Wuhan as part of China’s competition against the US and it leaked out in an accident.  
• Blame game: Some Chinese officials in turn have alleged that the virus was brought into China by the US military during an exchange programme. The charges and countercharges have infected even domestic politics in the US, where Republicans and Democrats have each accused the other of being cozy with Beijing.
  

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

5.1 Door-to-door delivery of newspapers and magazines prohibited in Maharashtra.

5.2 CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore (CFTRI) protein-enriched biscuits reached COVID-19 patients.

5.3  CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), Bengaluru and MAF Clothing develop ‘Personal Protective Coverall Suit’ for healthcare workers combating COVID-19.

5.4 MP Government started manufacturing 10,000 PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) kits daily for healthcare workers.

5.5 Home Ministry issues SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for the movement of stranded migrant labourers to their places of work.

5.6 Govt. created nationwide database of healthcare professionals and volunteers “https://covidwarriors.gov.in” to help States, UTs deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.

5.7 Uttar Pradesh geotags its 7,368 community kitchens and community shelters across 75 districts, claims to be the first state to do so.

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 Not Available Today

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Not Available Today

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

8.1 Islamophobia

• Islamophobia is the fear, hatred of, or prejudice against the Islamic religion or Muslims generally, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or the source of terrorism.
• OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) urges India to take “urgent steps” to protect the rights of its minority Muslim community; stop incidents of “Islamophobia”.
• The OIC's Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission in a tweet also said the Indian media was negatively profiling the Muslims and subjecting them to discrimination.
• There was no immediate reaction from the Ministry of External Affairs.
• India has previously hit out at the 57-member grouping of Muslim majority nations, saying bodies like OIC should not make irresponsible statements.
• The OIC remarks came after reports that the Tablighi Jamaat members have emerged as the prime suspects among potential coronavirus carriers, not just in India, but in Pakistan, Malaysia and Brunei.
• The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is an international organization founded in 1969, consisting of 57 member states, with a collective population of over 1.8 billion as of 2015 with 53 countries being Muslim-majority countries. It is headquartered at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

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

9.1 NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan, Jessica Meir and Russian space agency Roscosmos’ Oleg Skripochka returned to earth from the International Space Station after more than 200 days in space.

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

10.1  Report and Rankings – Forbes annual world’s billionaires list

•  Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos topped list with a net worth of $113 billion.

To download the report visit here –

https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/ 

10.2 Daily dose of  FIVE Facts -

• Ben Stokes was named as Wisden’s Leading Cricketer of the Year in April 2020.
• Masatsugu Asakawa is the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
• e-NAM (electronic agriculture market platform) was launched in the year 2016.
• 75% of Indian companies in contracts awarded by the Defence Ministry for procurement of defence equipment in 2019-20.
• Qutb Shahi Tombs are in Hyderabad.

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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