Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 08-07-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 08-07-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Internal Security – Pullback on, but India won’t rest till China scales down along LAC – The disengagement process may have kicked off at the immediate troop confrontation sites in eastern Ladakh, but the “clear and present threat” from China will remain till there is actual de-induction of its major military build-up along the Line of Actual Control in the high-altitude region. Top sources said it would take “sustained” dialogue at the politicodiplomatic level for China to move its over 25,000 soldiers from the Western Theatre Command, with tanks, artillery and other weaponry, back to their permanent locations in Xinjiang and Tibet. The ongoing creation of ‘buffer zones’ is taking place at the immediate confrontation sites in eastern Ladakh under Phase-I of the de-escalation plan decided between 14 Corps commander Lt-General Harinder Singh and South Xinjiang Military District chief Major General Liu Lin on June 30.
2. Indian Society – CBSE reduces syllabus by 30% – The Central Board of Secondary Education has reduced syllabi for Classes 9 to 12 by 30% this year as the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted regular classes. However, core concepts will be retained, Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said. The National Council of Educational Research and Training has provided inputs on strategies to teach this curriculum, given the disruptions to regular classroom teaching caused by the pandemic. The council has also prepared an alternative academic calendar for Classes 1 to 12 to support pedagogy in affiliated schools.
   
3. Covid-19 Updates – India tops worst-hit countries that have ‘no community transmission’ – India is in the company of Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kuwait as countries that maintain they have not reached the community transmission stage despite having over 50,000 cases of Covid and averaging over 1,000 cases a day in the last seven days. Of these, India has by far the highest growth rate of cases, adding on average nearly 22,000 a day at a rate of 3.5%. None of the others has averaged more than 7,000 cases a day over the last week or has a growth rate of over 2%.
   
4. Vizag Gas Leak Case – 12 officials of LG Polymers arrested – A day after the High Power Committee (HPC) submitted its report to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on the LG Polymers styrene monomer vapour leak incident, 12 officials of the South Korea-based chemical company were arrested by the police in Vishakhapatnam. The arrested included Sunkey Jeong Managing Director and CEO; D.S. Kim Technical Director; P.P. Chandra Mohan Rao, Additional Director, and nine others, said Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar Meena. It may be recalled that styrene monomer vapour leaked from a storage tank on May 7, killing 12 persons and hospitalising over 550.
5. Covid-19 Updates – Sanitisers and face masks are no longer essential items – Face masks and hand sanitisers will no longer be on the essential commodities list under the EC Act, the central law that empowers the government to fix prices and caps on such items. Officials said the consumer affairs ministry’s notification was not extended considering there is surplus supply and these items can now be exported. Though this will deregulate these two public health-related items, sources said masks can still fall under price control regime under the Drugs Price Control Order.
   
6. India and it Neighbourhood – As Oli faces calls to step down, China comes to his rescue? –  A flurry of meetings between Chinese ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi and top Nepali leaders, including President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, exacerbated concerns both New Delhi and in Kathmandu about a possible Chinese interference in Nepal’s domestic politics. The meetings come at a time PM K P Oli, who is considered close to China, is busy staving off calls from his own party leaders to step down. How successful Oli has been in his efforts will likely be determined in a meeting of the Nepal Communist Party’s powerful standing committee. Apart from Bhandari, Hou also met influential leaders and former PMs Madhav Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal. Both have demanded Oli’s resignation as PM and also as party chairperson. Hou is said to have also sought a meeting with Oli’s rival and party cochair P K Dahal Prachanda.
   
7. World Politics – China censors Internet in Hong Kong – China has unveiled new powers to censor Hong Kong’s Internet and access user data using its feared national security law — but U.S. tech giants have put up some resistance citing rights concerns. The online censorship plans were contained in a 116-page government document released that also revealed expanded powers for police, allowing warrantless raids and surveillance for some national security investigations. The city’s Chief Executive — a pro-Beijing appointee — will have final approval on all applications for interception of communications and covert surveillance operations to do with national security cases.
   
8. Covid-19 Updates – Jair Bolsonaro tests positive for COVID-19 – Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro says he has tested positive for COVID-19 after months of downplaying the virus’ severity. The President has often appeared in public to shake hands with supporters and mingle with crowds, at times without a mask. He has said that his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus, and that it would be nothing more than a “little flu” were he to contract it.
   
9. Indian Economy – Govt prods PSUs to step up capex to revive eco growth – FM N. Sitharaman sought to push capital expenditure by the country’s top public sector companies, as part of the government’s drive to boost investment in the economy and revive growth. Separately, the government is looking at ways to fast-track some of the investment as part of the over Rs 100-lakh-crore National Infrastructure Pipeline as higher spending in creating assets is expected to spur the demand for cement, steel and other crucial inputs, in addition to creating employment. Sitharaman discussed the capex plan of 23 public sector companies with their CMDs and secretaries of ministries of petroleum, power, coal, mines and atomic energy.
   
10. Indian Economy – 99% businesses in India now in MSME category – A change in the definition of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) has turned India into a country of small businesses as nearly 99% of the entities now fall under the category based on the twin parameters of investment and turnover. An entity can be classified as a micro enterprise if investment is up to Rs. 1 crore and turnover does not exceed Rs. 5 crore. The corresponding figures are Rs. 10 crore and Rs. 50 crore for small and Rs 50 crore and Rs 250 crore for medium enterprises. Numbers with the GST authorities show 99% of the entities have a turnover that fits into the MSME definition.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	Nainital Bank	Specialist Officer	30	Degree, PG, ACA/ FCA	July 21, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/07/Notification-Nainital-Bank-Ltd-Specialist-Officer-Posts.pdf
2	RIMS, Imphal	Stenographer Gr III	8	12th with Shorthand	--	http://www.rims.edu.in/secure/wp-content/uploads/vacancy-notice-1-7-2020.pdf
3	Tata Memorial Centre	Asst Professor, Medical Physicist, Tech., Nurse	106	12th Class, GNM, PG	July 24, 2020	https://tmc.gov.in/m_events/Events/JobDetail?jobId=6932
4	Govt. General Hosp., Kakinada	STS, STLS and Other	7	10+2. DMLT, Any Degree	July 15, 2020	https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s36f3ef77ac0e3619e98159e9b6febf557/uploads/2020/07/2020070691.pdf
5	Govt Gen. Hosp., Ananthapuramu	Staff Nurse, Physical Director	182	GNM, Diploma, Degree, PG	July 22, 2020	https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s333e8075e9970de0cfea955afd4644bb2/uploads/2020/07/2020070617.pdf
6	State Health Society, Bihar	Block Health Manager, Block Accountant	472	Degree, PG	July 26, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/07/Detailed-Notification-State-Health-Society-Bihar-Block-Health-Manager-Block-Accountant-Other.pdf
7	DMHS, Dadra and Nagar Haveli	Principal cum Pro, Tutor/ Demons/ Clinical lnst.	5	Degree/ PG	July 8, 2020	http://dnh.nic.in/Docs/26June2020/Advertisement.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 Permanent commission to all women officers in Army – SC gives one more month to Centre

• News -

1. The Supreme Court gave one more month to the Centre for implementation of its verdict on giving all serving SSC women officers permanent commission in the Army.

• Delay due to Covid-19 crisis -

1. A bench headed by Justices D Y Chandrachud said that the Centre will have to comply with all its directions given in its verdict. The top court's direction came on an application filed by the Centre seeking six months' time for implementation of the verdict citing the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The landmark decision -

1. In a landmark verdict on Febr 17, the top court had directed that women officers in the Army be granted permanent commission and command postings, rejecting the Centre's stand of their physiological limitations as being based on "sex stereotypes" and "gender discrimination against women".
2. It had directed the Centre that within three months, all serving Short Service Commission (SSC) women officers have to be considered for Permanent Commissions (PCs) irrespective of them having crossed 14 years or, as the case may be, 20 years of service.

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

2.1 International Co-operative Day

• Key points - 

1. International Co-operative Day is an annual celebration of the co-operative movement observed on the first Saturday in July since 1923 by the International Co-operative Alliance.

• Highlights -

1. On December 16, 1992, the UN General Assembly proclaimed "the first Saturday of July 1995 to be International Day of Cooperatives, marking the centenary of the establishment of the International Cooperative Alliance."
2. Since 1995 the United Nations' International Day of Co-operatives has been observed jointly alongside International Co-operative Day.
3. Co-operatives around the world celebrate the day in various fashions and each year the organizing institutions agree on a theme for the celebrations.
4. The 2010 theme was Cooperative Enterprise Empowers Women, to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action.

• Themes -

1. 2020: Cooperatives For Climate Action.
2. 2019: COOPS 4 DECENT WORK. 
3. 2018: Sustainable consumption and production.

• Aim -

1. The aim of this celebration is to increase awareness of cooperatives.
2. The event underscores the contributions of the cooperative movement to resolving the major problems addressed by the UN and to strengthening and extending the partnerships between the international cooperative movement and other actors. 

2.2 All Customs stations would set up Turant Suvidha Kendras (TSKs) by July 15 - Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.

 

2.3 New equipment inducted into Central Revenues Control Laboratory (CRCL) to enhance in-house testing capability of Customs.

 

2.4 Injeti Srinivas appointed Chairman of International Financial Services Centres Authority.

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

3.1 Big flap: golden birdwing is India’s largest butterfly

•  Largest butterfly of India -

1. A Himalayan butterfly named Golden Birdwing is now India’s largest, a record the Southern Birdwing held for 88 years.
2. The smallest butterfly is the quaker (Neopithecops zalmora) with a wingspan of 18 mm and forewing length of a mere 8 mm.

• Golden Birdwing butterfly -

1. With a wingspan of 194 mm, the female of the species is marginally larger than the southern birdwing (190 mm) that Brigadier William Harry Evans, a British military officer and lepidopterist, recorded in 1932. But the male golden birdwing (Troides aeacus) is much smaller at 106 mm. The largest female golden birdwing’s forewing length is 90 mm.

• Research published in Bionotes - 

1. The new measurements of this and 24 other species of butterflies were published in the latest issue of Bionotes, a quarterly newsletter for research on life forms. Shristee Panthee of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Yunnan and Peter Smetacek of the Butterfly Research Centre at Bhimtal in Uttarakhand are the authors of the study. 

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

4.1 Kuwait expat bill cleared, 8 lakh Indians could be forced to leave

•  Key point - 

1. The legal and legislative committee of Kuwait’s National Assembly (Parliament) has approved a draft expat quota bill which could result in eight lakh Indians leaving the country.
2. The anti-expat rhetoric have spiked since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic with lawmakers and governmental officials call for reducing the number of foreigners in Kuwait.
3. According to the latest data, more than 49,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the Gulf country.

• The draft bill -

1. The draft bill is constitutional and seeks to limit the number of Indians to 15 per cent of the population.
2. The move comes a month after Kuwait’s prime minister had said that the country’s expatriate population should be reduced from 70 to 30 per cent of the total.

• Data analysis -

1. As per the government data, foreigners account for 3.4 million of Kuwait’s 4.8 million population.
2. The Indian community constitutes the largest expat community in Kuwait, totaling 1.45 million. 

4.2 Taiwan and Somaliland establish diplomatic ties, bucking pressure from China

•  Key point - 

1. Somaliland, which split away from Somalia in 1991, has its own independent government, currency and security system.
2. The move prompted Beijing to accuse Taiwan of undermining Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

• Highlights -

1. Taiwan has secured a rare diplomatic victory in establishing relations with the independent region of Somaliland.
2. Intense pressure from China has reduced self-governing, democratic Taiwan to having just 15 diplomatic allies and being excluded from the UN and most other international organizations where Beijing has leverage.
3. China claims Taiwan as its own territory to be brought under its control by military force if it deems necessary.
4. In elections and public opinion surveys, Taiwanese have overwhelmingly rejected political union with China.
5. In the spirit of mutual assistance for mutual benefit, Taiwan and Somaliland will engage in cooperation in areas such as fisheries, agriculture, energy, mining, public health, education" and technology.

• Important notes -

1. As per the Taiwanese foreign ministry's website, Minister Joseph Wu said the governments had agreed to establish ties based on friendship and a shared commitment to common values of freedom, democracy, justice and the rule of law.
2. Wu and Somaliland's foreign minister, Yasin Hagi Mohamoud, signed a bilateral agreement in Taipei on Feb. 26.
3. Taiwan has been providing scholarships to students from the region of 3.9 million people.
4. China firmly opposes Taiwan and Somaliland establishing an official agency or having any form of official exchanges.

4.3 Fourth edition of virtual Ministerial on Climate Action held 

• Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar calls upon developed countries to fulfill commitments of providing financial and technological support to developing 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 Arts and Culture – Weekly Roundup

• India’s Kritika Pandey wins 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize - India’s Kritika Pandey (29) won the £5,000 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for 2020 for ‘The Great Indian Tee and Snakes’ on June 30, 2020. Pandey is in her final year of a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (US).

• Ravinder Bhakar appointed CEO of CBFC - Ravinder Bhakar, a 1999 batch officer of Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS), has taken over as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Central Board of Films Certification (CBFC). Lyricist Prasoon Joshi is Chairperson of CBFC.
• AIR starts weekly Sanskrit ‘News Magazine’ programme ‘Sanskrit Saptahiki’ - The All India Radio (AIR) broadcasted its first-ever ‘News Magazine’ programme in Sanskrit on July 4, 2020 which will have news from the world of Sanskrit and prominent developments of the week. The programme titled, ‘Sanskrit Saptahiki’ is of 20 minutes duration and can be heard on every Saturday with a repeat broadcast on Sundays.

• DD News’ Weekly Sanskrit Magazine ‘Vaartavali completes 5 years - The Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Sanskrit News Magazine ‘Vaartavali’ on completion of its five years of continuous broadcast on DD News.
• Dr Arvind Pandey and Dr. Akhilesh Chandra Kulshreshtha jointly given Prof. P.V. Sukhatme National Award in Statistics.
• WhatsApp rolls out 'It's Between You' campaign, narrates stories about how Indians communicate daily.
  

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 NHAI to undertake performance assessment of national highways

• Key point - 

1. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to undertake performance assessment and ranking of national highways in the country and take corrective measures to improve the quality of service to commuters.

• Detailed news -

1. The exercise is an exercise to improve the quality of roads.
2. The assessment parameters are based on different international practices and studies for benchmarking highway performances in the Indian context.
3. The criteria for the assessment have been broadly categorised in three main heads. They are - Highway Efficiency (45%), Highway Safety (35%) and User Services (20%).
4. Based on the outcome of the assessment, the authority will undertake a comprehensive analysis and decide on the level of intervention required to enhance the overall service quality.
5. Additionally, important parameters like operating speed, access control and time taken at the toll plaza, road signages, road markings, and accident rate will also be considered while conducting the assessment.

• Process of ranking -

1. The ranking of the corridors is going to be dynamic under which the contractor/ concessionaire/ operator will be provided with an opportunity to improve upon their ranking by improving the services on that corridor.
2. Apart from overall ranking of all the corridors, separate ranking for BOT, HAM and EPC projects will also be done. 
3. This process of ranking will bring out operational efficiency and ensure high-quality maintenance of roads. 

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

8.1 Not Available Today

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

9.1 First plasma bank of India for Covid-19 patients becomes operational at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in New Delhi

•  What is a plasma bank? 

1. A plasma bank functions like a blood bank, and has been created specifically for those who are suffering from Covid-19, and have been advised the therapy by doctors. 

• Who can donate plasma?

1. Those who had the disease, but have recovered at least 14 days before the donation.
2. People between the ages of 18 and 60, and weighing not less than 50 kg are eligible. 
3. Women who have given birth are not eligible, as the antibodies they produce during pregnancy (after being exposed to the blood of the foetus) can interfere with lung function.
4. People with comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, and cancer are also excluded. 

• How many people would be benefitted by one person’s donation?

1. Each plasma donation would be used to treat 2 patients. The bank collects 500 ml of plasma, depending on weight.

• How does plasma donation differ from blood donation?

1. In plasma donation, as opposed to blood donation, only plasma is extracted and the other components of blood are returned to the body.

• How often can a recovered patient donate plasma?

1. 500 ml of plasma can be donated every two weeks, while blood can be donated once in three months.

9.2 AIIMS partners IIT-Delhi to launch app ‘COPAL-19’ for patients needing plasma therapy.

 

9.3 IAF designs and mounts an Airborne Locust Control System on Mi-17 helicopters for tackling locust attack.

 

9.4 AI enabled MyGov Corona Helpdesk of India won Global Leadership Summit and Festival of AI and Emerging Technology awards at CogX 2020.

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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 -

• Footballer Hamza Koya died in Kerala at the age of 61 in June 2020.
• CACP stand for Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.
• Thierry Delaporte has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Wipro.
• Rajya Sabha MP Veerendrakumar died in May 2020 at the age of 84. He was the MD of Mathrubhumi.
• This year’s International Nurses Day celebrated on May 12, 2020, was 200th Birth Anniversary of Florence Nightingale.

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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