Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services -16-07-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 16-07-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. COVID-19 – India hits highest one-day count of over 32k cases & 615 fatalities – India recorded its highest single-day peaks in Covid-19 deaths and fresh cases on Wednesday (July 15) even as the number of recovered patients crossed the six lakh mark. With a huge surge in daily cases in the last fortnight, the country’s caseload as well as addition to active cases in the first 15 days of July is close to the corresponding figures for the entire month of June. The country breached the 32,000 mark for the first time, with 32,498 infections on Wednesday taking the caseload to 9,68,835. India also recorded its highest daily casualty figure of 615— discounting the 2,003 backdated deaths reported on June 16—taking the cumulative toll closer to the 25,000 mark at 24,860.
2. World – U.S. govt. rescinds restrictive rule on international students – The U.S. government has rescinded its policy that foreign (F-1 and M-1 visa categories) students taking all their courses online would have to depart the country. This order, issued on July 6 by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), encountered strong opposition from voices in academia, industry and politics after it left many of the more than 1 million foreign students in the U.S in a precarious situation. It is, however, unclear what the status of students waiting abroad is and whether they will get visas in time for the fall semester given the U.S. missions abroad are not functioning at full capacity.
   
3. World – Trump ends HK’s special trade status, backs sanctions – U.S. President Donald Trump has stripped Hong Kong of preferential trade treatment and authorised sanctions on banks over China’s clampdown in the financial hub, infuriating Beijing that vowed to retaliate. Mr. Trump declared himself to be the toughest President ever on China, a country he is increasingly positioning as his nemesis ahead of the November elections. Mr. Trump announced that he had issued an executive order on Hong Kong as he predicted decline for the restless city, on which Beijing recently imposed a tough new security law.
4. Economy – India records trade surplus after 18 years – India’s exports fell for the fourth straight month in June as shipments of key segments like petroleum and textiles declined but the country’s trade turned surplus for the first time in 18 years as imports dropped by a steeper 47.6%. Exports in value terms declined by 12.4% to $21.9 billion in June on weak global demand due to Covid-19. The outward shipments in June, however, recovered from a steeper decline of 60.3% in April and 36.5% in May. Imports also plunged for the fourth month in a row by 47.6% to $21.1 billion in June, leaving a trade surplus of $0.8 billion. It was in January 2002 when India last posted a trade surplus of $10 million.
5. COVID-19 – COVID-19 vaccine shows early promise – An experimental coronavirus vaccine made by the biotech company Moderna provoked a promising immune response against the virus and appeared safe in the first 45 people who received it. Moderna’s vaccine, developed by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was the first coronavirus vaccine to be tested in humans, and the company has announced that large Phase 3 tests of it would begin on July 27, involving 30,000 people. Half of the participants will be a control group who will receive placebos.
   
6. Defence – Govt. nod for urgent defence procurements – The Defence Ministry has once again given emergency powers to the armed forces to procure weapons systems at costs up to ₹300 crore on an urgent basis, without any further clearances, to cut short the procurement cycle, the Defence Ministry said. Similar powers were given to the services after the Balakot air strike in February 2019. The decision was taken considering the security environment due to the situation along the northern borders and the need to strengthen the armed forces. The Army has already taken a decision to place repeat orders for 72,400 SIG-716 assault rifles from Sig Sauer of the U.S. and 12 launchers and around 250 missiles of the Spike Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) from Israel.
   
7. Research/Study – India’s population may peak by 2047 – At the current rate of growth, India's population is likely to peak by 2047 at about 1.61 billion and then decline to 1.03 billion by 2100. However, were it to meet UN Sustainable Goal Development targets, the peak would be earlier and see a population decline to 929 million. Conventional wisdom is that though a decline in population is expected, it is expected to begin only around 2046 and that fall is expected to see India’s population settle at a little over 1.4 billion, though this too ranges from 2.1-0.9 billion. The sharper fall is due to the assumption that all women globally will have much higher access to contraception and education.
8. Economy – Fight against hunger disrupted by slowdown – Between 8.3 crore and 13 crore people globally are likely to go hungry this year due to the economic recession triggered by COVID-19, warns the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2020 report. Estimates drawn from data available till March 2020 show that almost 69 crore people went hungry in 2019 — up by 1 crore in 2018. The world is not on track to meet the goal of zero hunger by 2030.
   
9. Economy – India & EU to work on free trade agreement – A high level trade and investment dialogue between India and the European Union, set up after the first virtual India-EU summit on July 15, is expected to move to a broad-based free trade agreement that has held out promise but has been stalled for the past seven years. The convergence on economic initiatives was significant in the context of sluggish world growth in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and India and EU seeing the need for a closer embrace that includes shared strategic goals. India and the EU agreed to enhance convergences to ensure a “high level of protection of personal data and privacy, including through possible data adequacy decisions, with a view to facilitating safe and secure cross-border data flows between them”. The reference is important in view of concerns over China’s state-sponsored data theft. The two sides also decided to engage on 5G and AI to foster “their safe and ethical deployment”.
10. Economy – Jio offers 5G tech, to develop cheap smartphone with Google – Reliance Industries Ltd.’s Jio Platforms unit has developed a 5G technology which will be deployed in India next year. To aid mass adoption of the technology and to enable millions of 2G feature phone users to graduate to smartphones, Jio and Google would partner to develop an entry level 4G or even 5G smartphone with Android operating system. Google also announced that it had agreed to invest ₹33,737 crore to acquire a 7.7% stake in Jio Platforms.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	IFCI Ltd	Associate	9	B.E/ B.Tech, MBA, MCA, CA	July 17, 2020	https://www.ifciltd.com/2020/Advertisement%20for%20website.pdf
2	CSIO	Project Asst, Project Associate - I, II, JRF, SRF, Scientific Admin. Asst	66	Diploma (Engg), Any Degree, PG	July 29, 2020	https://www.csio.res.in/upload/RecruitmentNotice/advt012020.pdf
3	ESIC Medical College, PGIMSR, Bangalore	Tutor	8	MBBS	July 22, 2020	https://www.esic.nic.in/attachments/recruitmentfile/318acd690002a548bad7e829489cd154.pdf
4	Oil India Limited	Contractual Chemical Asst	30	B.Sc (Chemistry)	August 4, 2020	http://www.oil-india.com/Document/Career/Advertisement_Contractual_Chemical_Assistant_new.pdf
5	NTPC Limited	Engineer and Assistant Chemist	275	Degree (Engg.), M.Sc (Chemistry)	July 31, 2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/07/Notification-NTPC-Limited-Engineer-Asst-Chemist-Posts.pdf
6	Army Recruit. Office, Ferozepur	Soldier	--	10th Class, Intermediate	August 30, 2020	http://joinindianarmy.nic.in/writereaddata/Portal/BRAVO_NotificationPDF/Rally_Notification_of_Ferozepur_Rally__15_Sep_-_24_Sep_20_.pdf
7	Central Railway	Doctor	14	MBBS	July 16, 2020	https://cr.indianrailways.gov.in/uploads/files/1594632480428-Notification%20dtd.%2013.07.2020.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 Disabled are entitled to equal benefits of SC/ST quota: SC

• Key Points - 

1. The SC confirmed that persons suffering from disabilities are also socially backward and entitled to the same benefits of relaxation as Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates in public employment and education.

• Highlights -

1. A three-judge Bench led by Justice Rohinton Nariman upheld a 2012 judgment of the Delhi High Court in Anamol Bhandari (minor) through his father/Natural Guardian v. Delhi Technological University in a significant decision.
2. The decision by the Justice Nariman Bench came on a petition filed by Aryan Raj, a special needs person represented by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, and advocate Rajan Mani, against the Government College of Arts, Chandigarh.

• Denied relaxation –

1. The college denied Mr. Raj relaxation in minimum qualifying marks in the Painting and Applied Art course.
2. The college insisted that disabled persons too need to meet the general qualifying standard of 40% in the aptitude test, whereas SC/ST candidates were given a relaxation to 35%.
3. Setting aside the college decision, the Supreme Court noted that Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates require 35% to pass in the aptitude test, the same shall apply so far as the disabled are concerned in future.

• New courses -

1. The court said that new academic courses should be crafted to specifically cater to the needs of intellectually disabled persons.

• Huge fillip –

1. The endorsement of the High Court judgment by the apex court was a huge fillip to disabled persons’ rights.
2. Hitherto, candidates with disabilities were often not able to get the benefit of reservation in education and employment because of not meeting the general standards.
3. Now, public sector employers and colleges / universities will have to allow the same relaxations to them as to SC / ST candidates.
   

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

2.1 India’s WPI inflation falls 1.81% in June

• Key point - 

1. India’s wholesale price-based inflation declined 1.81 percent in June due to decline in prices of fuel and power.

• Highlights -

1. The rate of deflation in May was 3.21 percent.
2. The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at (-1.81 percent) (provisional) for the month of June, 2020, as compared to 2.02 percent during the corresponding month of the previous year.
3. Inflation in food articles during June stood at 2.04 percent, as against 1.13 percent in May.
4. Deflation in Primary Articles stood at 1.21 percent in June as compared to 2.92 in May.
5. In fuel and power basket, deflation stood at 13.60 percent in June, against 19.83 percent in the previous month.
6. Manufactured products, however, witnessed inflation of 0.08 percent in June. In May deflation was 0.42 percent.
7. Meanwhile, the final print of April WPI inflation stood at 1.57 percent.
8. For the month of April, 2020 the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) stood at 119.2 and WPI based rate of inflation stood at (-1.57%).

2.2 Huawei 5G kit must be removed from UK by 2027

• Key points - 

1. The UK's mobile providers are being banned from buying new Huawei 5G equipment after 31 December, and they must also remove all the Chinese firm's 5G kit from their networks by 2027.
2. The policy reversal hands a long-sought victory to US President Donald Trump's administration in its geopolitical tug-of-war with China.

• Detailed analysis - 

1. Britain has bowed to growing US pressure and ordered the phased removal of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from its 5G network despite warnings of retaliation from Beijing.
2. But the move threatens to further damage Britain's ties with the Asian power and carry a big cost for UK mobile providers that have relied on Huawei equipment for nearly 20 years. 
3. Huawei called it "politicised" and likely to put Britain "in the digital slow lane".
4. The change requires companies to stop buying new 5G equipment from Huawei starting next year and strip out existing gear by the end of 2027. 

• US stance -

1. Washington believes the private Chinese company could either spy for Beijing or shut down rival countries' 5G networks in times of war.
2. Huawei has always denied this and pointed to 20 years of cooperation with British security agencies that checked on the safety of its existing 3G and 4G networks.
3. The British review was triggered by new US sanctions in May that blocked Huawei's access to US chips and semiconductors at the heart of 5G networks.
4. The restriction raised the possibility of Huawei having to switch from trusted US suppliers to alternatives whose safety could not be guaranteed by UK security agencies. 

 2.3 Asian Development Bank appointed Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa as new vice-president. 

 

 

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

3.1 As per latest census report prepared by the Madhya Pradesh forest department, the number of dolphins in Chambal river has been reduced by 13% in 4 years

•  Key point -  

1. There are just 68 dolphins left in the 435-kilometre-long Chambal river sanctuary as compared to 78 in 2016.
2. The maximum carrying capacity (maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained in that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available) of dolphins in Chambal is 125.
3. The dolphins were spotted for the first time in 1985 in Chambal river (a tributary of Yamuna) near Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. That time, the number was more than 110.
4. The reasons for reduction are unfavourable habitat, poaching,  illegal sand mining, consumption of water of Chambal river and lack of Studies.
5. The Forest Department of MP has collaborated with the scientists of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) to do a research for safeguarding and increasing the population of dolphins in Chambal.

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

4.1 Not Available Today

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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 – Arts and Culture

• Ministry of Culture to reprint 108 volumes of Mongolian Kanjur - The Ministry of Culture has taken up the project of reprinting of 108 volumes of religious text Mongolian Kanjur under the National Mission for Manus (NMM). In the Mongolian language ‘Kanjur’ means ‘Concise Orders’- the words of Lord Buddha.  The first set of five volumes were unveiled on July 4, the Dharma Chakra Day.

• International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), under the aegis of Ministry of Culture, celebrated Asadha Poornima on July 4, as Dharma Chakra Day. This day commemorates Buddha's First Sermon to his first five ascetic disciples at the Deer Park, Rsipatana in the present day Sarnath near Varanasi, UP.
• Veteran actor-comedian Jagdeep passes away at 81 - Veteran Actor-comedian Jagdeep, best known for his role as Soorma Bhopali in “Sholay”, died in Mumbai on July 8, 2020 at the age of 81. His real name was Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jafri. 

• Italian Academy Award winning composer Ennio Morricone dies at 91 - Ennio Morricone, well-known for composing music of films such as ‘A Fistful of Dollars’, ‘For a Few Dollars More’, ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ and ‘The Mission’, passed away aged 91 on July 6, 2020. He won the 2016 Academy Award for Best Original Music Score for ‘The Hateful Eight’ and an honorary Oscar in 2007.

• Veteran Gujarati writer and journalist Nagindas Sanghvi dies at 100 - Veteran Gujarati writer and journalist Nagindas Sanghvi passed away in Surat at the age of 100 on July 12, 2020. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2019. 
• Turkey converts Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia museum back into a mosque - Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 11, 2020 formally converted Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia back into a mosque after a High Court annulled a 1934 decision that had made the religious landmark a museum. Hagia Sophia was a church built under Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the sixth century but was converted into a mosque following the 1453 Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (now Istanbul). UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay expressed disappointment over Turkey’s decision.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Union minister Nitin Gadkari kickstarts 11 highway projects worth Rs. 20,000 cr in Haryana

• Key point - 

1. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated and laid foundation stone for 11 national highway projects worth ₹20,000 crore in Haryana as part of the new economic corridor.

• Highlights -

1. In the ‘new economic corridor’, more than ₹20,000 crore will be invested to ensure smooth connectivity from Haryana to other States, including Punjab, Delhi and UP.
2. These highways will pave the way for infrastructure development at large scale and farmers will get better market access.
3. Foundation stones were laid for eight projects worth over ₹17,000 crore.
4. Improved road connectivity will further boost industrial growth and usher in development in the state.
5. Mr. Gadkari, who is also the MSME Minister, said he has set a target of creating 5 crore new jobs in next five years.
6. The government “will do road projects worth ₹2 lakh crore in Haryana” within two years of second term of government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
7. Mr. Gadkari said a highway will also be built from Jalandhar to Ajmer, which will help in bringing new highways to backward areas and lead to their development. 

7.2 Malini Parthasarathy replaces N Ram as chairperson of The Hindu group.

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

8.1 Number of undernourished people declines by 60 million in India: UN

•  Key point -  

1. The number of undernourished people in India has declined by 60 million in over a decade, according to a UN report which said that there were less stunted children but more obese adults in the country.

• The UN report - 

1. Almost 690 million people globally were undernourished (or hungry) in 2019, up by 10 million from 2018.
2. The number of undernourished people in India declined from 249.4 million in 2004-06 to 189.2 million in 2017-19.
3. In percentage terms, the prevalence of undernourishment in the total population in India declined from 21.7 per cent in 2004-06 to 14 per cent in 2017-19.
4. The two subregions showing reductions in undernourishment -- eastern and southern Asia -- are dominated by the two largest economies of the continent -- China and India.
5. Despite very different conditions, histories and rates of progress, the reduction in hunger in both the countries stems from long-term economic growth, reduced inequality, and improved access to basic goods and services.
6. The prevalence of stunting in children under 5 years of age in India declined from 47.8 per cent in 2012 to 34.7 per cent in 2019 or from 62 million in 2012 to 40.3 million in 2019.
7. The number of adults (18 years and older) who are obese grew from 25.2 million in 2012 to 34.3 million in 2016, growing from 3.1 per cent to 3.9 per cent.
8. The number of women of reproductive age (1549) affected by anaemia grew from 165.6 million in 2012 to 175.6 million in 2016.
9. The number of infants 05 months of age exclusively breastfed grew from 11.2 million in 2012 to 13.9 million in 2019.
10. The hungry are most numerous in Asia, but expanding fastest in Africa.
    

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

9.1 Not Available Today

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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 -

• Plastic surgeon V. Ramadevi won Indian Organ Donation Day award on November 30, 2019 for performing a Hand transplant at the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital in Chennai.
• Wipro launched ‘Future Skills’ platform for engineering students in India in tie up with NASSCOM.
• ‘1917’. Won the Best Motion Picture-Drama at the at the 77th Golden Globe awards given in Los Angeles in Jan 2020.
• 2020 Padma Shri awardee Prem Watsa is the founder, chairman, and chief executive of Fairfax Financial Holdings.
• Famous Basketball player Matthew Satya Babu passed away in Chennai at the age of 79 on January 30, 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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