Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 18-06-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 18-06-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. India-China Standoff 2020 – India will give befitting reply to provocation, warns Modi; Forces on almost war-like alert along LAC, ready to ‘impose costs’ on China – Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised a befitting reply to the killing of Indian soldiers by Chinese troops in Ladakh. In a sharp response that could intensify the border confrontation, the PM said, “I want to assure the nation that the sacrifice made by our soldiers will not go in vain. India’s integrity and sovereignty is supreme for us, and no one can stop us from defending it. Nobody should have an iota of doubt about this. India wants peace. But when provoked, India will give a befitting reply.”.
2. India-China on Diplomacy Table – Premeditated action led to clash, will seriously impact ties: Jaishankar to Chinese counterpart – Premeditated and planned action by Chinese troops was directly responsible for the violence and casualties during the June 15 border clash and this unprecedented development would have a serious impact on bilateral relations, foreign minister S Jaishankar told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Wednesday even as tensions simmered along the border. Protesting in the strongest terms, Jaishankar said the need of the hour was for China to reassess its actions and take corrective steps.
3. India-Pak Relations – Pak def brass make unusual visit to ISI HQ , discuss LoC – Pakistan military top brass, including Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the headquarters of Pakistan spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to discuss regional security issues with special focus on the situation of LoC. According to a report by Radio Pakistan, the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General (CJSC) Nadeem Raza, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Naval Chief Admiral Zafar Mehmood Abbasi and Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan visited ISI headquarters in Islamabad. They were received by DG ISI Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid. Salman Masood, the Pakistan correspondent for The New York Times termed the arrival of the CJSC and other service chiefs at the ISI headquarters as an “unusual and unprecedented development”.
4. COVID-19 Updates – Continue free grain scheme, urge 10 CMs – Government procurement of wheat has scaled a new peak with purchases this year topping 382 lakh tonnes, with the 390 lakh tonnes mark now in sight with two weeks to go for the season to end. The development comes at a time when at least 10 state chief ministers have approached the Centre to continue the scheme to provide 5kg grains to the poor for free to help them combat the dislocation caused by Covid 19. Additional 5kg of free foodgrains under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana are available only up to this month, prompting CMs cutting across party lines pitching for an extension of three months.
5. COVID-19 Updates – Fatality rate now 3.4%, up from 2.8% at start of June – With the sudden spike of over 2,003 deaths in one day, India’s Covid-19 death rate has risen to 3.36% now from 2.82% reported by the health ministry around a fortnight ago (on June 2). India’s fatality rate is, however, still lower than the global death rate of over 5%, even as officials say more states are likely to reconcile figures of deceased retrospectively following death audits. The big jump in the death toll in just one day was due to Maharashtra and Delhi updating the number with earlier unreported deaths. For instance, Maharashtra reported 1,409 deaths on June 16, of which only 81 occurred on the single day and rest were on account of retrospective reconciliation of death figures taking total death toll in the state to 5,537 or a little less than half of the total for India.
6. COVID-19 Update – Continue free grain scheme, urge 10 CMs –  Government procurement of wheat has scaled a new peak with purchases this year topping 382 lakh tonnes, with the 390 lakh tonnes mark now in sight with two weeks to go for the season to end. The development comes at a time when at least 10 state chief ministers have approached the Centre to continue the scheme to provide 5kg grains to the poor for free to help them combat the dislocation caused by Covid 19. Additional 5kg of free foodgrains under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana are available only up to this month, prompting CMs cutting across party lines pitching for an extension of three months.
7. COVID-19 Updates – Beijing cancels 1,200 flights, shuts schools over new coronavirus outbreak – Beijing moved on a war footing, cancelling hundreds of domestic flights and trains while ramping up the mass testing of 90,000 people to stem the spread of the coronavirus, as the city reported 31 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 137. Two airports in Beijing have cancelled 1,255 domestic flights, nearly 70% of the scheduled trips. Beijing currently does not operate international flights. The national railway operator will allow passengers, who had booked train tickets in and out of Beijing, to refund tickets without any extra charges.
8. Environment and Ecology – Carbon emissions surging back as countries and provinces reopen – After a drastic decline this spring, global greenhouse gas emissions are now rebounding sharply, scientists reported, as countries relaxes their coronavirus lockdowns and traffic surge back onto roads. It’s a stark reminder that even as pandemic rages, the world is still far from getting global warming under control.
9. Indian Economy – RBI moves to tighten rules for housing finance lending business – The RBI proposed a host of changes to the rules that govern housing finance companies (HFCs). These include doubling of net owned funds to Rs 20 crore and dividing all these companies into systematically important ones and the rest. The industry regulator also said that at least 75% of half of HFCs’ net assets should be individual housing loans and proposed that no prepayment penalty should be levied for floating rate loans. According to the RBI, a net owned fund is the total of equity capital, free reserves, balance in share premium account and capital reserves. The central bank also proposed that non-adherence to the new rules should render HFCs to be treated as non-banking finance companies (NBFCs).
10. Indian Economy – PSBs press accelerator to sanction loans under govt’s MSME package – Public sector banks which are on an overdrive to sell loans under the government’s Rs three lakh crore package for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) before the October 31 deadline have sanctioned an average of Rs 3.75 lakh per borrower to over 8.54 lakh borrower accounts in the last fortnight.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	THSTI	Project Associate-II, Technical Officer & Lab Technician	7	12th Class, DMLT, Deg. (Engg/ Tech), PG	June 26, 2020	https://thsti.in/ethsti/writereaddata/159230786097COVID_positions_final.pdf
2	PFRDA	Officer Gr A (Asst Manager)	5	Degree (Engg/ Law), PG, CA, CFA, CS, CWA	July 31, 2020	https://www.pfrda.org.in/writereaddata/links/advertisementdb49da36-9f7b-43f6-a0c5-8d338d23acf7.pdf
3	LBSNAA	Nurse, Nursing/ Ward Attendant, Pharmacist	9	10th, 12th, Dip. (Pharma)	June 19, 2020	https://www.lbsnaa.gov.in/upload/resume/5ee8ab23a2cadRevisedWalkininterview.pdf
4	DME, AP	Assistant Professor	737	MS, MBBS, M.Sc, MD	July 18, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/06/Notification-Directorate-of-Medical-Education-AP-Assistant-Professor-Posts.pdf
5	CGPSC	Asst Director (Agriculture)	25	PG (Agriculture)	July 14, 2020	http://psc.cg.gov.in/pdf/Advertisement/ADV_ADA_2020.PDF
6	Rural Devp. Dept., Jharkhand	Block Programme Officer, Technical Asst	23	Diploma (Civil), Degree, PG	June 27, 2020	https://applyrdd.jharkhand.gov.in/docs/advt/9616062020040607PM.pdf
7	IGNTU	Coordinator, Engineer, Manager	31	Degree, PG	July 6, 2020	http://www.igntu.ac.in/recruitment/ProjectAdver/Project-DrVikash-MeittY-June20.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 Net Financial Assets go up

• Key point -

1. RBI data shows that in the year ended March 2020, the net financial assets jumped from Rs 13.73 lakh crore in FY’19 (7.2 % of GDP) to Rs 15.62 lakh crore (7.7% of the GDP) FY’20.

• Net financial assets - 

1. Net financial asset is the difference between gross financial assets (GFA) less financial liabilities (FL).
2. While the GFA rose marginally Rs 21.23 lakh crore in FY’19 to Rs 21.63 lakh crore last year, the FL witnessed a sharp decline from Rs 7.5 lakh crore to 6.01 lakh crore, thereby contributing to the rise in net financial assets.
3. In terms of percentage of GDP, the GFA declined from 11.1 per cent to 10.6 per cent and the financial liabilities fell deeper from 3.9 per cent of GDP to 2.9 per cent in FY’20.

• What it means -

1. Economists say that since there is an economic slowdown and income levels of individuals are either going down or not increasing, the financial sector will practice higher caution in extending loan and that is what is leading to a decline in financial liabilities of households.
2. It is reflective of a slowdown in the economy.

• Households’ saving -

1. While overall savings have not grown in proportion, a closer look at the data shows that there has been shift in preference of deposit instruments by individuals over the last few years.
2. While household savings in bank deposits as a per cent of GDP stood at 3.8 per cent in year ended March 2019, it went down to 3.4 per cent in March 2020 as banks reduced their interest rates following sharp cut in repo rate by the RBI over the last 18-months.
3. Small saving instruments that continued to offer higher rates than bank deposits witnessed a higher deployment of household savings as their share as per cent of GDP increased from 1.1 per cent to 1.3 per cent in the same period.
4. Savings into life insurance funds and mutual funds as a per cent of GDP also went down from 2.2 per cent in FY’19 to 1.9 per cent in FY’20.

• Future outlook -

1. RBI expects a spike in savings in current times of slowdown and income uncertainty.

2.2 First nationwide online delivery-based gas trading platform named Indian Gas Exchange (IGX), launched.

2.3 WPI (Wholesale Price Index)-based inflation was –3.21% in May 2020.

2.4 Exports in May 2020 fall 36.47% to $19.05 bn, trade deficit down to $3.15 bn.

2.5 EPFO launched facility allowing settlement of online claims from its regional offices.

2.6 CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs) launched e-Office to automate internal file handling.

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

3.1 World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought observed on June 17

•  News -

1. June 17 is observed worldwide as the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought and this year’s ‘global observance event’ is being hosted virtually by Korea Forest Service.
2. Theme 2020 -  ‘Food. Feed. Fibre. – the links between consumption and land’

• Key point -  

1. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has said that Land use change, which prepares the ground for zoonoses like the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), should be reversed urgently.

• Land use change -

1. Land use change simply refers to the conversion of a piece of land's use by humans, from one purpose to another.
2. For example, land may be converted from cropland to grassland, or from wild land (e.g. tropical forests) to human-specific land uses (e.g. palm oil plantations).
3. Certain types of land use change have well known words associated with them, such as deforestation. afforestation, or rewilding.

• Matter of concern - 

1. In a short space of time, COVID-19, a zoonotic disease, led to the worst economic crisis since the Second World War.
2. UNCCD said that the urgency both at the policy and practical levels to slow down and reverse land use change cannot be overstated.
3. Investing in the over 4 million square kilometres (sq km) land earmarked for restoration will help to build back better and safeguard our relationship with nature.
4. Agricultural land for food, animal feed and fibre is behind the land use change.

• Data analysis -  

1. Over 70 per cent of all natural, ice-free land in the world is affected by human use. 
2. This could further rise to 90 per cent by 2050, if global land use follows the same path. This land degradation affects some 3.2 billion people worldwide.
3. By 2050, over 500 mha of new agricultural land will be needed to meet the global food demand.
4. A preliminary analysis shows over 400 mha earmarked under this initiative, which is about 80 per cent of the agricultural land required to meet global food demand by 2050.
5. The restoration of these areas as part of building back better to avoid future zoonosis would bring other crucial benefits, particularly mitigating climate change.
6. Ecosystem services worth $10.6 trillion are lost due to land degradation annually.
7. By contrast, switching to sustainable land management practices could deliver up to $1.4 trillion in increased crop production.
8. In the largest-ever global restoration initiative, in the last five years, close to 100 countries have earmarked areas for repair and restoration by 2030.

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

4.1 India’s election to UNSC

• Key point -

1. India was elected to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as a non-permanent member from the Asia-Pacific category for a two-year term on Wednesday (June 17) night.

• Highlights -

1. India was elected unopposed as one of the non-permanent member of the UNSC after winning 184 votes in the 193-member General Assembly. The minimum requirement to get elected was 128 votes.
2. India has served seven times earlier as non-permanent member of the UNSC in 1950-1951, 1967-1968, 1972-1973, 1977-1978, 1984-1985, 1991-1992 and 2011-2012.
3. India was elected unopposed as it was the only candidate in the Asia-Pacific Group (APG).
4. India has returned to the UNSC after a decade starting January 2021. The last time India served at the UNSC was between 2011 and 2012.
5. India's election to the UNSC was endorsed in June 2019 by the APG after Afghanistan gave up its seat for India.
6. Along with India, Ireland, Mexico and Norway also won the UNSC elections held on Wednesday.
7. The UNSC has 15 members, including five permanent members - the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China.
8. The 10 other members are non-permanent and half of them are elected every year, each for a two-year term, starting January 1.

• The ten non-permanent seats are distributed on a regional basis -  

1. Five for African and Asian countries.
2. One for Eastern European countries.
3. Two for Latin American and Caribbean countries.
4. Two for Western European and other countries..

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

5.1 Not Available Today.

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 Ambubachi Mela 

• News - 

1. Ambubachi Mela of Assam has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Details - 

1. The festival is also known as Mahakumbh of the East as lakhs of devotees visit it from all over the world.
2. It serves as an occasion to promote awareness on menstrual hygiene.
3. The attainment of womanhood of girls in Assam is celebrated with a ritual called ‘Tuloni Biya’, meaning small wedding.
4. The ritualistic fair celebrating the goddess’ period is one of the reasons why the taboo associated with menstruation is less in Assam compared with other parts of India.
5. This festival symbolizes the fertility cult of goddess Kamakhya which is worshipped in the form of a yoni-like stone over which a natural spring flows, as there is no idol in the temple.
6. Kamakhya, atop Nilachal Hills in Guwahati, is one of 51 shaktipeeths or seat of Shakti followers, each representing a body part of the Sati, Lord Shiva’s companion.
7. The goddess is a Hindu tantric goddess of desire who evolved in the Himalayan hills.
8. She is also identified as Kali and Maha Tripura. Hence, she is also known as Siddha Kubjika.

6.2 Meru Jatra festival and Pattachitra paintings

• News -

1. Odisha’s Ganjam district administration banned the Meru Jatra festival and congregations related to it at temples on the occasion of Mahavishub Sankranti (April 13, 2020), due to COVID-19.
2. Earlier, the administrations had also banned the famous Chaitra Jatra festival at Tara Tarini hill shrine.
3. COVID-19 has also affected the sale of Pattachitra paintings.

• Details - 

1. Meru Jatra marks the end of the 21-daylong festival of penance named ‘Danda Nata’ (celebrated in the month of Chaitra).
2. Danda as the name implies, is selfinflicted pain, which the danduas (people who participate in the festival) undergo to pay their obeisance to the lord Kali. 
3. It is also a form of worshipping the lord Shiva and his consort Parvati.
4. The origin of the festival is generally traced to 8th and 9th AD after the decadence of Buddhism in Odisha.
5. On the occasion of Mahavishub Sankranti (start of the Odia New Year) thousands of devotees used to gather at the Tara Tarini hill shrine and other temples.
6. Tara Tarini hill shrine, located at a hilltop on banks of the Rushikulya river, is a major centre of Shakti worship in Odisha.
7. The twin goddesses Tara and Tarini represent one Shakti and are the main deity of Ganjam district

• Pattachitra style of painting -

1. It is one of the oldest and most popular art forms of Odisha.
2. The name Pattachitra has evolved from the Sanskrit words Patta, meaning canvas, and Chitra, meaning picture.
3. Pattachitra is done on canvas and is manifested by rich colourful application, creative motifs and designs, and portrayal of simple themes, mostly mythological in depiction.
4. The Pattachitra, when painted on cloth, follows a traditional process of preparation of the canvas. First, the base is prepared by coating the cloth with the soft, white, stone powder of chalk and glue made from tamarind seeds.
5. It is a tradition to complete the borders of the painting first. The painter then starts making a rough sketch directly with the brush using light red and yellow.
6. The colours used are normally white, red, yellow, and black.
7. Some of the popular themes represented through this art form are 

1. Thia Badhia - depiction of the temple of Jagannath;
2. Krishna Lila - enactment of Jagannath as Lord Krishna displaying his powers as a child; 
3. Dasabatara Patti - the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu; 
4. Panchamukhi - depiction of Lord Ganesh as a fiveheaded deity.

• When the painting is completed it is held over a charcoal fire and lacquer is applied to the surface. This makes the painting water resistant and durable, besides giving it a shining finish.

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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 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day observed on June 15.

8.2 Suvidha sanitary napkins made available at a minimum price of Re. 1/- per pad at PMBJP Kendras. PMBJP - Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana   

8.3 World Blood Donor day observed on June 14. Theme 2020 - ‘Safe Blood Saves Lives’.

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

9.1 Gateway lunar orbiting outpost of NASA

•  Key point -

1. NASA has described the Gateway as key to the new era of lunar explorations both in the orbit and on the surface of the Moon.

• Highlights -

1. NASA recently finalized the contract for the initial crew module of the agency’s Gateway lunar orbiting outpost.
2. The contract, which is worth $187 million has been awarded to Orbital Science Corporation of Dulles, Virginia, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Space.
3. One of the most unique features of the Gateway is that it can be moved to other orbits around the Moon to conduct more research.
4. The Gateway is a small spaceship that will orbit the Moon, meant for astronaut missions to the Moon and later, for expeditions to Mars.
5. It will act as a temporary office and living quarters for astronauts, distanced at about 250,000 miles from Earth.
6. The spaceship will have living quarters, laboratories for science and research and docking ports for visiting spacecraft.
7. Further, astronauts will use the Gateway at least once per year and not stay around the year like they do on the International Space Station (ISS).
8. The agency wants to use the Gateway as a science platform to look back at the Earth, observe the Sun, and get unobstructed views of the vast universe.
9. According to NASA, by studying the geology of the Earth, the Moon, and Mars and the ways in which they are similar and different from each other, we can learn important things about how planets and planetary systems form.

• What is the contract for -

1. To design the habitation and logistics (HALO) support for the Gateway, which is a part of NASA’s Artemis program that aims to send the first woman and the next man to the Moon by 2024.
2. The HALO refers to the pressurised living quarters where astronauts will spend their time while visiting the Gateway.
3. These quarters will be about the size of a small apartment and will provide augmented life support in tandem with NASA’s Orion spacecraft.

• How long will it take to build the Gateway -

1. As of now, NASA has targeted the completion of the Gateway for 2026, while work on the spaceship is already underway.
2. By 2022, NASA plans to ready the power and propulsion for the spaceship, which will be launched on a partner-provided commercial rocket.

 9.1 DRDO developed ‘GermiKlean’ chamber to sanitise uniforms of security forces.

9.3 ICMR recommended use of rapid antigen test kits for diagnosis of COVID-19 in combination with RT-PCR test.

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

10.1 World Competitiveness Index (WCI) 2020

• WCI compiled by Institute for Management Development (IMD).
• India’s rank was unchanged at 43rd on the annual World Competitiveness Index (WCI).
• Singapore retained its top position on the 63-nation list.  
• WCI compiled by Institute for Management Development (IMD)
• Reasons behind India’s low rank were traditional weaknesses like poor infrastructure and insufficient education investment.
• Denmark has moved up to the second position (from 8th last year)
• Switzerland has gained one place to rank 3rd.
• The Netherlands has retained its 4th place.
• Hong Kong has slipped to the fifth place (from 2nd in 2019).
• The US has moved down to 10th place (from 3rd last year).
• China has also slipped from 14th to 20th place. 
• Among the BRICS nations, India is ranked second after China, followed by Russia (50th), Brazil (56th) and South Africa (59th).

To download the complete index visit here –

 https://www.imd.org/contentassets/6333be1d9a884a90ba7e6f3103ed0bea/wcy2020_overall_competitiveness_rankings_2020.pdf

10.2 Daily dose of  FIVE Facts -

• Raveesh Kumar has been appointed as India’s next Ambassador to Finland he will replace Vani Rao.
• The Ministry of AYUSH and Indian Council for Cultural Relations have jointly launched the “My Life – My Yoga” Video Blogging Contest.
• Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on April 20, 2020 inaugurated a revamped “strategic bridge” over: Subansiri River.
• CII has recommended phase-wise lifting of the lockdown in its report titled ‘Exit from the Lockdown’ in April.
• World Autism Awareness Day was observed on April 2.

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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