Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 08-06-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 08-06-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. India-China Standoff 2020 – Restore April status along LAC: India – India has firmly conveyed its demand to China for restoring the status quo as existed in April along the border during the senior military commander talks. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the talks were held in a “cordial and positive” atmosphere, and both sides will continue the military and diplomatic engagements to “resolve the situation”. Talks, which went on for several hours, remained inconclusive, but each side put across their issues, which would be conveyed to the respective governments and taken up in subsequent meetings.
2. J&K / Terrorism – Five Hizbul militants killed in J&K encounter – Five Hizbul Mujahideen militants, including a top commander, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Shopian district of J&K. On a specific input, the security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Reban area of south Kashmir district when the militants opened fire at the search party, which was retaliated leading to the encounter. The bodies of the militants were retrieved from the site of the encounter.
3. India Politics – Shah sounds bugle for Bihar election – BJP leader Amit Shah said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would get a two-thirds majority in the Bihar Assembly election. While addressing a virtual rally, Bihar - Jansamvad, which Mr. Shah claimed was not an “election rally”, he concluded his 45-minute speech listing the achievements of the Narendra Modi government in its first term and the present and its contribution to the development of Bihar.
4. COVID-19 Updates – 95% of Covid toll from top 10 states – A higher number of Covid-19 tests per million population by a state may not necessarily co-relate to more confirmed cases detected or high fatality rates. The top 10 states with highest confirmed cases —Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, UP, MP, West Bengal, Karnataka and Bihar — together account for 84% of the total cases and 95% of the fatalities. Delhi, TN, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Maharashtra, in that order, have carried out maximum tests per million population. However, the order of the top five states changes to Delhi, Maharashtra, TN, Gujarat and Rajasthan when it comes to maximum confirmed cases per million. Highest deaths have been reported from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, MP and Bengal, together accounting for 83% of the 6,650 deceased.
5. COVID-19 Updates – 800 monuments with places of worship set to open today – More than 800 monuments across the country that double up as places of worship will be opened to the public, after being closed since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown. In directions to the ASI, the Ministry wrote that the Centrally protected monuments “under worship” would be opened to the public. The remaining monuments of the ASI’s total 3,691 protected sites, including the Taj Mahal in Agra, will remain closed to visitors for now.
6. US Presidential Elections – Biden formally clinches Dem prez nomination –  Former US vice-president Joe Biden secured enough delegates to formally clinch the Democratic presidential nomination, setting the stage for a challenge to President Trump in the November election. Biden had become the presumptive nominee when his main rival, Senator Bernie Sanders, ended his campaign in April. Biden pulled together the 1,991 delegates needed to become the nominee after seven states and the District of Columbia held presidential primaries.
7. George Floyd Protests Updates - World marches in solidarity as Floyd protests surge in US – The White House is under siege by protesters. Tens of thousands of demonstrators seeking racial justice are streaming into Washington DC for a rally that will push up towards 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and a hunkered down President Donald Trump, even as he pushes back claiming unlimited power and space. The protest against the death of George Floyd, an African-American who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, has spread across the world. From Sydney to London to Berlin to Toronto, brutalised minorities with support from liberal progressive forces are making themselves seen and heard even amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
8. COVID-19 Updates – Brazil stops publishing running total of COVID-19 cases, deaths – Brazil’s government has stopped publishing a running total of COVID-19 deaths and infections in an extraordinary move that critics call an attempt to hide the true toll of the disease in Latin America’s largest nation. The move came after months of criticism from experts that Brazil’s statistics are woefully deficient, and in some cases manipulated, so it may never be possible to understand the depth of the pandemic in the country. Brazil’s last official numbers showed it had recorded over 34,000 deaths related to COVID-19, the third-highest number in the world, just ahead of Italy.
9. Indian Economy – FIIs Back in India, Infuse Rs. 23,000 cr in 7 Sessions – Foreign funds invested nearly 40% of what they sold in entire March in the past seven days as Federal Reserve’s pump-priming and the gradual reopening of the economy stoked interest in riskier assets. Overseas funds bought Rs. 23,000 crore ($3 billion) in the past seven days compared with sales of R. 58,600 crore in March and Rs. 4,100 crore in April. The purchases were higher in India than in South Korea and Taiwan, which received $345.3 million and $853 million, respectively.
10. Indian Economy – Bankers, govt officials oppose interest sop under moratorium – It is not just the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Even bankers and government officials are not in favour of waiving or offering interest concessions to borrowers who opt for the special loan moratorium facility. Last week, the Supreme Court had asked the finance ministry to look at the demand raised before it. The government is yet to firm up its stand on the matter. Officials, however, said that interest should be levied on the amount that has been lent since banks have also borrowed that from depositors who need to be paid.  

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	Plant Protection Quarantine & Storage	Technical Officer	175	M. Sc	June 12, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/06/Notification-Directorate-of-Plant-Protection-Quarantine-Storage-Technical-Officer.pdf
2	IASRI	Consultant, Professional – II, III, SRF	--	Diploma, Degree, PG	June 19, 2020	https://iasri.icar.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/walkininterview_190062020.pdf
3	155 Base Hospital	Steno II, Ward Sahayika, Chowkidar	54	10th Class, 12th Class	--	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/06/Notification-155-Base-Hospital-Steno-Carpenter-Other-Posts.pdf
4	CGPSC	Chhattisgarh Forest Service Exam	178	Degree	July 15, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/06/Notification-CGPSC-Chhattisgarh-Forest-Service-Combined-Exam.pdf
5	Haryana Postal Circle	Gramin Dak Sevak	608	10th Class	July 7, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/06/Notification-Haryana-Postal-Circle-GDS.pdf
6	PGIMS, Rohtak	Senior/ Junior House Surgeon	133	MBBS	June 12, 2020	http://www.uhsr.ac.in/writereaddata/upload/jobs/jobs27052020.pdf
7	PT BD Sharma Univ. of Health Sciences, Rohtak	Senior Resident/ Demonstrato	188	MBBS, MD/ MS/ DNB, M. Sc	June 10, 2020	http://www.uhsr.ac.in/writereaddata/upload/jobs/advt02062020.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 SC dismisses Andhra government’s plea to allow party colours on government buildings

• News – 

1. The Supreme Court dismissed the Andhra Pradesh government’s plea challenging a high court order to remove the ruling political party’s colours from government buildings.
2. The plea challenged a high court order to remove the colours painted on the building within 10 days

• The bench – 

1. The apex court bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao and comprising Krishan Murari and S Ravindra Bhat heard the case through video conferencing.

• Background – 

1. The Andhra Pradesh high court had on 9 March directed the principal secretary of panchayati raj department to remove the colours painted on the buildings within 10 days. 
2. The order also directed the concerned authority to formulate guidelines specifying suitable colours for painting government properties which are not similar to colours of political parties.

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

2.1 Huge surge in foreign flows into market 

• Key point - 

1. Overseas investors have bought shares worth ₹20,814 crore in just five trading sessions in June 2020.

• Highlights -

1.  Foreign portfolio investors put in a net sum of Rs 20,814 crore in equities but pulled out a net Rs 2,225 crore from the debt segment.
2. Reliance Industries' mega rights issue, which closed during the week and was oversubscribed, and stake sale of 2.8 per cent by Uday Kotak in Kotak Mahindra Bank attracted substantial foreign flows.
3. Before this, FPIs were net sellers for three consecutive months. They withdrew Rs 7,366 crore in May, Rs 15,403 crore in April and a massive Rs 1.1 lakh crore in March.

• Experts’ views - 

1. The ongoing tension between US and China, the economic situation in the US, and the upcoming US elections all are factors that will affect FPI investment in India for the rest of FY21.
2. FPIs have been investing in fundamentally strong blue-chip companies and this trend is likely to continue in the near future.
3. Though foreign investors have returned to invest in the Indian equity markets, it needs to sustain to call it a change in trend and not a short-term investment opportunity.
4. If the situation worsens, foreign investors can again switch back to the risk-averse mode.

• FPI - 

1. Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) consists of securities and other financial assets held by investors in another country.
2. It does not provide the investor with direct ownership of a company's assets and is relatively liquid depending on the volatility of the market.

2.2 Faceless cargo assessment for imports - Customs to begin faceless cargo assessment for imports in Chennai and Bengaluru from June 8.

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

3.1 Ganga Quest 2020 quiz contest organised by NMCG (National Mission for Clean Ganga) in collaboration with NGO Tree Craze Foundation.

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

4.1 Bill making insult Chinese national anthem in Hong Kong

• News – 

1. Hong Kong’s legislature approves bill making it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem.

• Details –

1. It passed with 41 lawmakers voting for it and just one voting against. 
2. Most of the pro-democracy lawmakers boycotted the vote out of protest.
3. The vote coincided with the 31st anniversary of China’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

• 2019–20 Hong Kong protests - 

1. The 2019–20 Hong Kong protests are on-going protests in Hong Kong triggered by the introduction of the Fugitive Offenders amendment bill by the Hong Kong government. 
2. If enacted, the bill would have allowed the extradition of wanted criminal fugitives to territories with which Hong Kong does not currently have extradition agreements, including Mainland China and Taiwan.
3. This led to concerns that the bill would subject Hong Kong residents and visitors to the jurisdiction and legal system of Mainland China, thereby undermining Hong Kong's autonomy and civil liberties and infringing on freedom of speech laws.

• The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests -

1. The Tiananmen Square protests commonly known as the June Fourth Incident in mainland China, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing during 1989.
2. The protests started on April 15 and were forcibly suppressed on June 4 when the government declared martial law and sent the military to occupy central parts of Beijing. 
3. In what became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre troops with assault rifles and tanks fired at the demonstrators and those trying to block the military's advance into Tiananmen Square.
4. Estimates of the death toll vary from several hundred to several thousand, with thousands more wounded.

4.2 Joe Biden officially clinches Democratic Party’s nomination for Presidential election.

 

4.3 French forces kill Abdelmalek Droukdel, the leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, in Mali.

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

5.1 Covid-19 opportunity for India to speed up Ayushman Bharat - WHO chief Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

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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 Draft Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2020

• Key point - 

1. The Ministry of Civil Aviation notified the draft rules, known as Unmanned Aircraft System Rules, 2020, on June 2 for importing, manufacturing and owning drones as well as for drone ports, or airports for drones.

• Highlights - 

1. The draft has prohibited “carriage of payload” and “dropping of articles” by unmanned aerial vehicles.
2. This means that the plans for facilitating deliveries of hyperlocal delivery service providers Dunzo, Swiggy and others may hit the roadblock, at least for now.
3. The drones are only allowed to fly at a maximum height of 15 meters and within the range of 100 meters from the remote pilot.
4. The rules propose setting up of drone ports which will be similar to airports.
5. The ministry has allowed the drone operators to capture images in permissible areas while ensuring that there is no breach of privacy of individuals or their property.
6. DGCA is also expected to come up with an Unmanned Aircraft Traffic Management System, which will work towards the prevention of drone collision.
7. According to the draft, a “Certificate of Manufacture” for drones is going to be issued by testing laboratories or organizations approved by the DGCA for both made in India and imported drones.
8. Unique Identification Number (UIN): The draft has made it very clear that no drone in India will be allowed to fly without a UIN.

• NPNT protocol - 

1. The government has also continued its no permission no take-off (NPNT) protocol.
2. DGCA will only issue the licenses to drone operators which are NPNT compliant.
3. The ministry has also made it mandatory for all the operators to insure their drones via third-party drone insurance companies.
4. This will cover the liability that may arise in case of accidents.

7.2 Other Important News

• Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry released advisories for effective waste management to save biodiversity.
• Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot launched Raj Kaushal Portal and Online Shramik Employment Exchange.
• Cabinet approved renaming of Kolkata Port Trust as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Trust.
• 820 Archeological Survey of India (ASI) monuments which have places of worship to open from June 8.

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

8.1 Formation of taskforce to examine matters related to maternity

• News - 

1. Government sets up 10 member taskforce headed by Jaya Jaitly to examine matters pertaining to the age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering maternal mortality rate and improvement of nutritional levels.

• What this taskforce will do?

1. It will suggest suitable legislations or amendments in the existing laws to support its recommendations; and also work out a detailed roll-out plan with timelines to implement these recommendations. The taskforce will submit its report by July 31.

8.2 Other Important News

• World Food Safety Day observed on June 7.
• International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression observed on June 4.
• Union Grant Commission (UGC) advised students of J&K and Ladakh UTs against taking admissions in colleges/universities in PoK as they are not recognised by India. 
• Visa, travel restrictions eased for some categories of foreign nationals such as businessmen, healthcare professionals, health researchers, engineers and technicians.

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

9.1 Asteroid 163348 (2002 NN4)

• What is it - 

1. It is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth.
2. Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid.
3. Comparable in size to a football field.
4. It is a Near-Earth Object (NEO) and classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA), which means the asteroid has the potential to make threatening close approaches to the Earth.
5. The asteroid is estimated to be between 250-570 meters in diameter.
6. It was discovered in July 2002 and is anticipated to approach the earth in June 2020 - Will pass within 5,093,634 km of Earth.

• PHAs - 

1. Asteroids with a minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) of about 0.05, which is about 7,480,000 km or less and an absolute magnitude (H) of 22 or less are considered PHAs.
2. It is not necessary that asteroids classified as PHAs will impact the Earth – it is just a possibility.
3. Probability of hitting the earth and related Concerns:
4. NASA says that the objects with huge size pose a great risk to Earth due to the level of destruction and the impact they can create.
5. Less than half of the estimated 25,000 NEOs that are 140 metres or bigger in size have been found to date.
6. However, no asteroid that is bigger than 140 metre has a “substantial” chance of hitting the Earth for the next 100 years.

• Near-Earth Object -

1. A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it to proximity with Earth.
2. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU).
3. If a NEO's orbit crosses the Earth's, and the object is larger than 140 meters (460 ft) across, it is considered a potentially hazardous object (PHO).
4. Most known PHOs and NEOs are asteroids, but a small fraction are comets.
5. These objects are composed mostly of water ice with embedded dust particles.

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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 -

• Coastal areas of West Bengal and Odisha were hit by extremely severe cyclonic storm ‘Amphan’ hit in May 2020.
• According to the findings of the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative released on May 12, 2020, child and maternal malnutrition were behind 68% of the under-five fatalities in India from 2000 to 2017.
• Atulya is the microwave steriliser developed by Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune to disintegrate COVID-19.
• The government recently announced the extension of nationwide lockdown till May 3 to battle the coronavirus pandemic.
• World Bank released its ‘South Asia Economic Focus’ report in April 2020.

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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