Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 23-06-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 23-06-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. India-China Standoff 2020 – Withdraw from Pangong, de-escalate Galwan, Hot Springs, India tells China – India pressed for the withdrawal of Chinese troops from Indian territory in the Pangong Tso area of eastern Ladakh, while expressing outrage at the “premeditated and pre-planned” brutal violence unleashed against Indian soldiers in Galwan Valley on the night of June 15, during the second round of top-level military talks that spanned 11 hours. India strongly reiterated its demand for restoration of status quo as it existed in mid-April, which would involve People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops pulling back from the “Finger 4 to 8” (mountainous spurs separated by an 8-km distance) area on the northern bank of Pangong Tso as well as de-inducting its military build-ups in areas facing the Galwan Valley, Gogra-Hotsprings, Depsang and Chushul in eastern Ladakh.
2. COVID-19 Updates – Puri rath yatra can roll, but under curfew: SC – Four days after stalling rath yatras across Odisha, the Supreme Court made an exception for the world famous chariot festival in Puri. However, it ordered that the yatra would be held under curfew with strict adherence to health guidelines and each of the three chariots would be pulled by a maximum of 500 people who have tested negative for Covid-19.
3. India-Pak Relations – US blocks Pak effort to term India terror backer – Pakistan’s efforts, after the UN ban on Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, to draw a moral equivalence with India on the issue of cross-border terror were nullified by the US, which blocked a proposal to proscribe an Indian by the UNSC sanctions committee. US formally informed all UN Security Council members that it was blocking, and thus terminating, a proposal against an Indian engineer before the UNSC 1267 sanctions committee. Venu Madhav Dongara, an engineer with an Indian construction firm active in Afghanistan, is one of four Indian nationals Pakistan had sought to link with terror attacks on its territory.
4. World Politics – Trump admin suspends H-1B, other work visas till yr-end – The Trump administration suspended a range of work visas for foreigners, including all H-1B and H4 (for H-1B spouses) till the end of the current calendar year. Also suspended are L1 visas (for intra-company transfer) and J1 visas (used by doctors and researchers). Executive order by the President, would be temporary, and would free up 525,000 jobs for US workers. But Trump had also issued directions for a broader reform of the visa regime that will replace the current lottery system for 85,000 H-1B visas with a merit-based system that will favour those who are offered the highest wages. This will drive up wage level and skill level. It’ll also eliminate competition with Americans for entry level jobs.
5. Indian Economy – Demand high but work under MGNREGA still at 50%: Audit – A central audit has found it intriguing that the work generated under MGNREGA remains half of the entitled 100 days per household annually despite a noticeable higher demand in states, urging the Centre to order a study on the mismatch. Crucially, the audit has termed the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (Disha), which oversees the implementation of central schemes in every district, as unwieldy and virtually non-functional. Stopping just short of calling for its disbanding, the audit has urged the Centre to review the body. For years, District Vigilance and Monitoring Committees had the oversight mandate of a handful of schemes run by the rural development ministry but in 2016, they were superseded by Disha, which was charged with monitoring 41 central schemes ranging from infrastructure and power, education and food security to rural development.
6. India-China Standoff 2020 – Govt to curb pharma imports from China –  The government plans to tighten the regulatory noose around pharmaceuticals imports from China through stricter scrutiny of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), key starting materials (KSMs) for medicines and medical equipments. Higher duties on Chinese products may also be on the cards, top official sources said. These moves gathered pace in the wake of the military face-off between India and China in east Ladakh and the continuing diplomatic tension since then, prompting the government to explore all options to reduce import dependence on China. India imports more than 53 critical pharma APIs, including those used in TB medicines, steroids and vitamins from China.
7. Internal Security – Rush arms supplies, India to tell Russia amid crisis – India is set to ask Russia to fast-track contracted weapon systems as well as urgently rush critical spares for its fighter planes, main battle tanks and submarines amid the ongoing troop confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh. Defence minister Rajnath Singh, who left for Moscow on a three-day trip, will also press Russia for air transportation of the spares and related equipment — for Sukhoi-30MKI and MiG-29 fighters, T-90S main battle tanks and Kilo-class submarines — instead of the time-consuming route through shipping.
8. Jammu and Kashmir – Pandit to set up 1st Kashmir multiplex – The last time a theatre in the Kashmir Valley screened a film was in 1999. It was a brief run of a few months. After a 21-year gap, the J&K administration has given the go-ahead to Kashmiri Pandit entrepreneur Vijay Dhar to set up the Valley’s first multiplex. The multiplex is coming up on two storeys of a five-storey 18,000-square feet commercial building at Sonwar in Badami Bagh Cantonment. It will have two screens — one with a seating capacity of 200, the other 150. The eight single-screen theatres in the Valley — Broadway (which Dhar owned), Regal, Firdous, Shah, Neelam, Palladium, Shiraz and Khayam — have been largely shut since 1990. They opened briefly in 1999 but some have been occupied by security forces.
9. COVID-19 Updates – Steepest 1-day spike of 1.8L cases globally rings alarm – The lack of global leadership and unity to fight the coronavirus is a bigger threat than the outbreak itself, the head of the WHO said, adding that politicisation of the pandemic had made it worse. The comments by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has faced criticism from President Trump, came as the world reported its largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases with infections soaring in Brazil, Iraq, India and southern and western US states. It took over three months for the world to see 1 million virus infections, but the last 1 million cases have come in just eight days.
10. China-Japan Relations – Japan city passes bill to rename disputed isles, a furious China warns of reprisal – China said that it reserves the right to respond to a Japanese city’s decision to rename the administrative area that includes remote islands claimed by both China and Japan and have long been a source of friction between the neighbours. The disputed islands are known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. The row over the uninhabited East China Sea islets may add to recent tension caused by Japan’s criticisms of Beijing’s plan to impose a new national security law in Hong Kong. Ishigaki city assembly in Okinawa, in southern Japan, had passed a bill to change the name of the administrative area covering the islands to Tonoshiro Senkaku from Tonoshiro, from October 1.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	SBI	Specialist Cadre Officer	445	Degree, PG, CA, CMA/ ACS	July 13, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/06/Notification-SBI-Specialist-Cadre-Officer-Advt-No-03-2020-21.pdf
2	Bankers Institute of Rural Devp.	Programme Officer	6	Diploma, Deg PG, CA	July 3, 2020	http://www.birdlucknow.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Application.pdf
3	IIT, Gandhinagar	Research Asso., JRF/ Dr. Scholar, Pro. Asst	5	B.Tech, M.Tech, Ph.D	June 30, 2020	https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KSFUOVfuM6DXaWsXKvciEjvk1XuTLXOP/view
4	Join Army Dental Corps	Short Service Commissioned Officer	--	--	--	https://indianarmy.nic.in/Site/NewsDetail/frmNewsDetails.aspx?MnId=wZKaJTvhq6pc+/CjfB48LQ&NewsID=sAKI24QlHKrXiUGdgPmudA==
5	DRDO-Defence Lab, Jodhpur	Research Associate, JRF	9	Degree, PG, Ph.D	--	https://drdo.gov.in/sites/default/files/career-vacancy-documents/DLJ_Advt.pdf
6	Central Railway	Contract Medical Practitioner	13	MBBS	June 23, 2020	https://cr.indianrailways.gov.in/uploads/files/1592648945105-CMP%20NOTIFICATION%2019.06.2020.pdf
7	Northeast Frontier Railway	General Duty Medical Officer	21	MBBS	June 26, 2020	https://nfr.indianrailways.gov.in/cris//uploads/files/1592650493573-20200619%20(3).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 Weekly Roundup – Constitution and Law

• SC passes elaborate directions emphasising on importance of supervision and monitoring of infrastructure facilities, testing and pricing  of Covid treatment. Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, S. K. Kaul and M. R. Shah
• Top court stays Telangana HC direction to conduct mandatory Covid-19 testing on dead bodies. Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, S. K. Kaul and M. R. Shah
• ‘Curb on exorbitant rates charged by ambulances required: SC issues notice in plea seeking mobilising ambulance and resources. Ashok Bhushan, S. K. Kaul and M. R. Shah
• SC asks explanation from registry for 3 years delay in listing Vijay Mallya’s review. Bench of Justice U. U. Lalit and Ashok Bhushan
• Suo Moto extension of limitation of lockdown will not affect right of accused to default bail: SC. Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, M. R. Shah and V. Ramasubramanian
• SC directs High Courts to submit ‘Plan of Action’ to address the issue of long pendency of criminal appeals. Justices L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra Bhat
• SC issues notice on plea to direct insurers to provide medical insurance for mental illness treatment. Justice Rohinton F. Nariman, Navin Sinha and BR Gavai
• Jharkhand government moves SC against centre’s coal block auction.
• Accused is entittled to be heard in a revision petition against dismisal of protest petition: Supreme Court. Justice Navin Sinha and Indira Banerjee.
• Person in whose name vehicle stands registered on the date of accident to be treated as owner: SC. Justice R. Bhanumati and Indira Banerjee.
• SC grants interim protection from arrest to senior journalist Vinod Dua. Justices U. U. Lalit, M. M. Shanatangoudar and Vineet Saran.
  

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

2.1 India second biggest driver of global energy consumption in 2019

• Key points -

1. The increase in energy consumption was driven by renewables and natural gas (NG), which together contributed three quarters of the expansion.
2. All fuels grew at a slower rate than their 10-year averages, apart from nuclear.
3. The energy consumption is made up of oil, natural gas, coal, electricity and renewables.

• Highlights - 

1. As per BP Statistical Review, India was second biggest growth driver of primary energy consumption in the world, behind China, in 2019 even though it witnessed fall in demand in oil and coal.
2. Global primary energy consumption growth slowed to 1.3 per cent in 2019, less than half the rate of growth in 2018 (2.8 per cent).
3. World primary energy consumption rose to 583.90 Exajoules (EJ). India's consumption rose 2.3 per cent to 34.06 EJ. The growth was lower than 5.2 per cent in 2018.
4. World coal consumption fell 0.6 per cent. Growth in India, usually a key driver of coal consumption, was only 0.3 per cent (0.1 EJ) - its lowest since 2001.
5. Hydroelectric consumption rose by 0.8 per cent, below its 10-year average of 1.9 per cent per annum. Growth was led by China (0.6 EJ), Turkey (0.3 EJ) and India (0.2 EJ). The US and Vietnam saw the biggest declines (both -0.2 EJ).
6. Renewables accounted for over 40 per cent of the global growth in primary energy last year, more than any other fuel. Their share in power generation (10.4 per cent) also surpassed nuclear for the first time.
7. NG consumption increased by 2 per cent, well below the exceptional growth seen in 2018.
8. Oil consumption grew by a below-average 0.9 million bpd, or 0.9 per cent, while demand for all liquid fuels, including biofuels, topped 100 million bpd for the first time.

• Country-wise analysis -

1. China was by far the biggest driver of energy, accounting for more than three quarters of net global growth.
2. India and Indonesia were the next largest contributors to growth, while the US and Germany posted the largest declines.
3. In absolute terms, India's energy consumption was only behind that of China (141.70 EJ) and US (94.65 EJ).
4. India posted the third biggest rise in oil consumption in the world at 159,000 bpd, just behind 681,000 bpd of China and 183,000 bpd of Iran.

• Carbon emissions - 

1. While the world is moving onto a more sustainable path (continuing strong growth in renewables), continuing persistent growth in carbon emissions underline the scale of the challenge for the world to reach net zero.
2. BP said that “Net zero” can be achieved by 2050.
3. Average annual growth in carbon emissions over 2018 and 2019 was greater than its 10-year average.

2.2 Harsimrat Kaur Badal launches Food Processing Edition of Exclusive Investment Forum.

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

3.1 International Day of the celebration of the Solstice: 21 June

• Highlights -

1. International Day of the Celebration of the Solstice is observed globally on 21st June.
2. It brings awareness about solstices and equinoxes and their significance for several religions and ethnic cultures.
3. The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday adopted a resolution, proclaiming June 21, 2019 as the International Day of the Celebration of the Solstice.
4. The celebration of the solstice is the embodiment of the unity of cultural heritage and centuries-long traditions, which plays a significant role in strengthening the ties among peoples on the basis of mutual respect and the ideals of peace and good-neighborliness.
5. Indigenous peoples celebrate various sun rituals and ceremonies on the occasion of the solstice on June 21.

• About Solstice -

1. Solstice: derived from the Latin sol (“sun”) and sistere (“to stand still”)
2. A solstice is an event occurring when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere.
3. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21.
4. In many countries, the seasons of the year are determined by reference to the solstices and the equinoxes.
5. The day of a solstice in either hemisphere has either the most sunlight of the year (summer solstice) or the least sunlight of the year (winter solstice) for any place other than the Equator.
6. For an observer on the North Pole, the Sun reaches the highest position in the sky once a year in June. The day this occurs is called the June solstice day.
7. Similarly, for an observer on the South Pole, the Sun reaches the highest position on the December solstice day.
8. When it is the summer solstice at one Pole, it is the winter solstice on the other.
9. The Sun's westerly motion never ceases as Earth is continually in rotation.
10. However, the Sun's motion in declination comes to a stop at the moment of solstice. In that sense, solstice means "sun-standing".

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

4.1 International Day of Yoga observed on June 21

• News -

1. The International Day of Yoga (IDY) is observed on 21st June.
2. The theme for the year 2020 is 'Yoga for Health – Yoga at Home', which takes into account the social distancing measures announced by most countries amid Covid-19 pandemic.

• An idea proposed by India -  

1. The idea of IDY was proposed by India.
2. It was proposed during the opening of the 69th session (2014) of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
3. The UN proclaimed 21st June as IDY by passing a resolution in Dec, 2014.
4. The first Yoga Day celebrations in 2015 at Rajpath in New Delhi created two Guinness World Records.
5. People from 84 countries participated in it.
6. It was the world's largest yoga session in which 35,985 people participated.

• Yoga -

1. Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice originated in India.
2. The word ‘yoga’ is derived from Sanskrit meaning unity, symbolizing the union of body and consciousness.
3. Today it is world famous and practised in many forms.

• Efforts by India -

1. The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) in its ‘Common Yoga Protocol’ has listed Yama, Niyama, Asana, etc. among popular yoga ‘sadhanas’.
2. About 96,196 candidates have been trained as yoga instructors and trainers through various skilling initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), which is a flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
3. Yoga is also a part of the Fit India Movement which is a nation-wide campaign that aims at encouraging people to include physical activities and sports in their everyday lives.
4. The Beauty and Wellness Sector Skill Council (B&WSSC) has vocational education courses in Yoga for CBSE schools. It is established as a non-profit organization under the aegis of National Skill Development Corporation, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

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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 Weekly Roundup – Accidents and Natural Disasters

1.  2968-metre Mount Merapi volcano erupted on the island of Java in Indonesia.
2. Government approved individual and institutional contributions to NDRF (National Disaster Response Fund) that was set up under Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

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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 Country’s first I-Lab Infectious Disease Diagnostic Lab

• Key point -

1. Health Ministry launches India's first mobile I-Lab for coronavirus testing.
2. The Infectious Disease Diagnostic Lab (I-LAB) is supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, under the COVID-Command strategy.
3. To ensure testing facilities in far-flung areas, such innovations have been developed in the interior, inaccessible parts of the country.

• Highlights -

1. Under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat campaign, Ministry of Science and Technology and Andhra Pradesh Med-tech Zone have collaborated to address the shortage of critical healthcare technologies in India and move progressively towards a stage of self-sufficiency.
2. The I-Lab will be deployed in remote, interior and inaccessible parts of the country and have the capability to perform 25 Covid-19 RT-PCR tests per day, 300 ELISA tests per day and additional tests for TB and HIV.
3. The ministry said that the number of government labs has also been increased to 699 whereas now 254 private labs are authorized for testing samples for Covid-19.
4. Cumulatively, 953 testing labs are operational across India for this purpose.
5. These labs have collectively tested 1, 65,412 samples in the one day. The total number of samples tested thus far is 62,49,668.

• Other updates -

1. In India, there are 4,25,282 confirmed cases including 13,699 deaths.
2. The number of active cases is 1,74,387 and 2,37,196 have recovered as on June 22, 2020.

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

9.1 Micius: A Quantum-Enabled Satellite

•  Key points -

1. Named after the ancient Chinese philosopher also known as Mozi, Micius is the world’s first quantum communications satellite and has, for several years, been at the forefront of quantum encryption.
2. Launched in 2016, Micius has already produced a number of breakthroughs under its operating team led by Pan Jian-Wei, China’s “Father of Quantum”.
3. The satellite serves as the source of pairs of entangled photons, twinned light particles whose properties remain intertwined no matter how far apart they are.
4. If you manipulate one of the photons, the other will be similarly affected at the very same moment. It is this property that lies in the heart of the most secure forms of quantum cryptography, the entanglement-based quantum key distribution.
5. If you use one of the entangled particles to create a key for encoding messages, only the person with the other particle can decode them.

• Details -

1. Satellite Micius sends particles of light to Earth to establish the world’s most secure communication link.
2. China’s quantum satellite has enabled first totally secure long-range messages.
3. A successful long-distance quantum communications link ushers in a new era of communication security.
4. Satellite Micius has successfully brought entanglement-based quantum cryptography to its original ground stations 1,200 km apart by sending simultaneous streams of entangled photons to the ground stations to establish a direct link between the two of them.
5. It provided entangled photons as a convenient resource for the quantum cryptography and the two ground stations then used them according to their agreed protocol.
6. None of the communication went through Micius (i.e behaved like a blind transmitter) providing the ground stations a strong and unbreakable cryptographic protection without the need to trust the satellite.
7. Till now, this had never been done via satellite or at such great distances.

• The most important feature -

1. Scientists say that a remarkable feature of the entanglement-based quantum cryptography that they demonstrated here is that the security is ensured even if the satellite is controlled by an adversary.
2. The scientists note they could increase the brightness of their spaceborne entangled-photon source by roughly 100-fold. This could boost the data rate of the system to tens of bits per second.

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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 -

• Ved Marwah passed away in Goa at the age of 87. He had served as Governor, Head of National Security Guard and Delhi Police Commissioner.
• Madhya Pradesh launched 'FIR Aapke Dwar Yojana' in May 2020 that will enable people to file FIR without having to visit police stations.
• Jaipur City is the most recent Indian site included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2019.
• World Meteorological Day marks the foundation of World Meteorological Organisation in 1940.
• World Poetry Day was observed on March 21.

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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