Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 12-08-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 12-08-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Society – SC gives equal inheritance right to daughters from 1956 – Putting the last nail on male primacy in division of Hindu ancestral property, the Supreme Court has cleared the legal cobwebs to declare daughters will have inheritance rights equal to those of sons from properties of fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers right from the codification of the law in 1956. A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah ironed out the confusion arising from the apex court’s conflicting interpretations of the amended Section 6 of Hindu Succession Act, which came into force on September 9, 2005. The bench said irrespective of whether the father was alive or not, daughters born before September 9, 2005, too could claim equal right in inheritance. However, daughters, while claiming coparcenary rights, won’t be able to question disposal or alienation of ancestral properties by the existing coparceners prior to December 20, 2004, as provided in the amended Section 6.
2. COVID-19 – Russia Approves 1st Covid Vaccine – President Putin has said that Russia had become the first country to grant regulatory approval to a Covid-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing, a move Moscow likened to its success in the Cold War-era space race. The vaccine, which will be called “Sputnik V” in homage to the world’s first satellite launched by the Soviet Union, has however not yet completed its final trials. Moscow’s decision to grant approval before then has raised concerns among some experts. Only about 10% of clinical trials are successful and some scientists fear Moscow may be putting national prestige before safety. Putin and other officials have said it is completely safe. The president said one of his daughters had taken it as a volunteer and felt good afterwards.
3. Defence – Plans to arm Israeli drones and make AKs in India fast-tracked – The government has approved measures to speed up long-pending projects to arm its Israeli drones with deadly weapons and indigenously manufacture Russian Kalashnikov assault rifles, while clearing procurements of Rs 8,722 crore of basic trainer aircraft, naval guns and specialised anti-tank ammunition. The decision by the Rajnath Singh-led defence acquisitions council (DAC) to fasttrack the decade-old proposal to arm the Israeli Heron drones is significant since it comes amid the military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh. Sources said ‘Project Cheetah’ to upgrade the Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with laser-guided bombs, air-to-ground anti-tank missiles and other precision-guided munitions as well as advanced reconnaissance capabilities will cost over Rs 3,500 crore.
4. Economy – Industrial output shrinks in June for 4th month in a row – The country’s industrial output contracted for the fourth successive month in June, led by a decline in manufacturing, mining, electricity and capital goods segments as the coronavirus-induced lockdown continued to take a heavy toll on the crucial sector. The index of industrial production (IIP) contracted 16.6% in June, compared with a fall of 33.9% in the previous month and 1.3% expansion in the same month last year. For the April-June period, industrial output contracted 35.9% compared with an expansion of 3% in the year-ago period. The data showed that the pace of contraction has slowed in June compared to May, reflecting the impact of the restart of economic activity across the country as authorities eased lockdown measures.
5. World – China extends Hong Kong council’s term – Chinese lawmakers have extended the term of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council by at least a year in order to deal with the vacuum left by postponing the city’s elections. Hong Kong’s leader said in late July that local elections planned for September would be postponed because coronavirus cases had surged in the international finance hub, a move which infuriated democracy supporters and drew concern from Western governments. Election officials had earlier disqualified four pro-democracy legislators, saying their calls for foreign governments to impose sanctions on Beijing and Hong Kong violated the new national security law, which is criticised for eroding the city’s political freedoms.
6. People & Personalities – A fearless voice and people’s poet – Eminent Urdu poet Rahat Indori who succumbed to COVID-related complications on Tuesday (August 11) was an unwavering light who kept the ‘mushaira’ poetry alive for generations, a fearless voice who unfailingly showed a mirror to the establishment. A people’s poet, he was not meant to be read in literary journals; he was made to be experienced in poetic ‘soirees’ where his unique style of delivery kept the audience hooked for hours.
7. Education – B.Arch. students to get 3-year exit option under new norms – Undergraduate architecture students could soon have the option to exit the 5-year degree programme after three years with a basic degree, according to the Council of Architecture’s (CoA) new norms released on Tuesday (August 11). The Council is also considering the possibility of a professional qualifying exam for architecture to license practitioners. The Minimum Standards of Architectural Education Regulations (MSAR), 2020, released through a webinar by Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, are being revised after 37 years.
8. COVID-19 – Trump may ban re-entry of citizens likely to have virus – The Trump administration is considering new immigration proposals that would enable border officials to temporarily block American citizens and legal permanent residents (Green Card holders) from returning to the country if they are suspected of being Covid positive and coming from a coronavirus hotspot outside the US. The US has banned foreigners from entering the country from coronavirus hotspots, but American citizens and legal permanent residents have so far been excepted. The proposal to selectively shutter down the US came even as virus rages across much of America and there is a furious ongoing debate on the reopening of schools.
9. World – Angry Lebanese now call for removal of president – Angry and grieving demonstrators on Tuesday (August 11) read aloud the names of at least 171 people killed in last week’s explosion at Beirut port and called for the removal of Lebanon’s president and other officials they blame for the tragedy. Gathered near “ground zero”, some carried pictures of the victims as a large screen replayed footage of the mushroom cloud that rose over the city last Tuesday after highly-explosive material stored for years detonated, injuring some 6,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. Lebanese security officials had warned the PM and president on July 20 that 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored in Beirut’s port posed a security risk and could destroy the capital if it exploded.
10. International Relations – First thaw in freeze: India and Nepal will meet next week – For the first time since the deterioration of ties over the Kalapani boundary dispute, India and Nepal are likely to meet next week to review projects funded by the Indian government. India is building roads in the Terai region, helping Nepal in its post-earthquake reconstruction work, building railway lines, a police training academy, a polytechnic college, an oil pipeline and border check posts. The government has allocated Rs 800 crore in this year’s budget for projects in Nepal.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	--	IES Exam 2020	15	PG	SEPT-1-2020	http://www.freejobalert.com/upsc-ies-iss/201219/#IES-2020
2	National Jalma Institute for Leprosy	Biotechnologist, Biomedical Engineer & Other	7	B.E/ B.Tech (Biomedical Engg), Degree/ PG	AUG-18-2020	https://www.jalma-icmr.org.in/pdf/Application2.pdf
3	C-DAC	Adjunct Engineer	31	B. E. / B. Tech/ME/ M. Tech / MCA	-	https://cdac.in/index.aspx?id=job_corp_CAE_2020
4	BCPL	Graduate & Technician Apprentice	71	-	-	Graduate & Technician Apprentice
5	Army Public School, Hisar	TGT, PGT, LDC & Robotics Trainer	13	Dip./ Degree, BE/ B.Tech with B.Ed	AUG 17,2020	http://www.apshisar.com/downloads/files/n5f228d82910ee.pdf
6	DRDO-Defence Lab., Jodhpur	AP SET 2020	10	Research Associate, JRF	21 DAYS	https://drdo.gov.in/sites/default/files/career-vacancy-documents/Award_of_Fellowship_DLJ.pdf
7	SSB	Constable	1522	Matriculation, ITI/ Diploma	30 DAYS	http://www.freejobalert.com/ssb-constable/862756/

 

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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 Hindu Succession Act, 1956

• News -

1. In its landmark judgment recognizing the equal rights of daughters in coparcenary property, the SC has explained the law regarding devolution of coparcenary property and also the impact of 2005 amendment to Hindu Succession Act on daughters' right to it.

• Verdict -

1. The bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, S. Abdul Nazeer and MR Shah, observed that the classic Shastric Hindu law excluded the daughter from being coparcener, and this injustice has been done away with by the 2005 Amendment of the Hindu Succession Act in consonance with the spirit of the Constitution.

• Two Schools of Hindu Law -

1. There are two main schools of Hindu law, i.e., Mitakshara and Dayabhaga. Mitakshara law applies to most parts of India except Bengal. Maharashtra school prevailed in North India, Bombay school, in Western India. However, certain areas in Southern India are governed by Marumakkatayam, Aliyasantana, and Nambudiri systems of law.

• Joint Hindu Family -

1. A joint Hindu family consists of all persons lineally descended from a common ancestor and include their wives and unmarried daughters. A joint Hindu family is one in worship and holds joint assets. After separation of assets, the family ceases to be joint. Mere severance in food and worship is not treated as a separation.

• Hindu Coparcenary Before 2005 Amendment

1. Before 2005, it included only those persons like sons, grandsons, and great grandsons who are the holders of joint property. For example, in case A is holding the property, B is his son, C is his grandson, D is great-grandson, and E is a great great-grandson. The coparcenary will be formed up to D, i.e., great grandsons, and only on the death of A, holder of the property, the right of E would ripen in coparcenary as coparcenary is confined to three lineal descendants. Since grandsons and great grandsons become coparceners by birth, they acquired an interest in the property.

• Changes brought in by 2005 Amendment -

1. Made daughter by birth a coparcener "in her own right"
2. In case of death of a coparcener after 9.9.2005, succession is not by survivorship
3. Makes a daughter liable in the same manner as that of a son
4. The provison to saves any partition effected before 20.12.2004.
5. A plea of partition based on oral evidence alone cannot be accepted for the purpose of Section 6(5)

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

2.1 Indigenous platforms in negative list to avoid imports: Defence Ministry

• Key points –

1. Several military platforms like the Light Combat Aircraft, Pinaka rocket launchers and Akash missile systems, which have been indigenously developed, were included in the negative list of imports to ensure that the Services do not go in for procurement of similar systems by imports.
2. The Defence Ministry has issued a 101-item negative defence import list which must be domestically procured in a phased manner.
3. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday (August 10) launched the “Atmanirbharta Saptah” and said it was to focus on modernisation of defence infrastructure, creation of new manufacturing capability and investments.

• Important details –

1. It is also highlighted that for a product to be considered as an indigenous system, the percentage of indigenous content has to meet minimum laid down specifications.
2. Hence, manufacturers are also required to ensure indigenisation and decrease import content to the permissible limits.
3. The reason for specifying systems presently made in India with part-import content is to ban procurement of such equipment or items which carry similar qualitative requirements but are often contracted under differing nomenclatures.

• 3 facilities of Ordnance Factory Board inaugurated –

1. Mr. Singh inaugurated three facilities of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and BEML’s (Bharat Earth Movers Limited) Industrial Design Centre at its Bangalore Complex.
2. The three facilities include manufacturing facility for sighting devices for T-90 Tanks at the Opto Electronics Factory, Dehradun, automated assembly line for the production of Pinaka Rockets at the Ordnance Factory, Chandrapur and assembly and testing facility of Stabilised Remote Controlled Gun (SRCG) at the Ordnance Factory, Tiruchirappalli.
3. The automated Pinaka assembly will not only enhance the production capacity but would also be more efficient as it seeks to do away with most of the manual operations.

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

3.1 World Biofuel Day celebrated 10th August

• Highlights –

1. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas celebrates the World Biofuel Day on 10th August every year.
2. On the occasion, the ministry also organized the webinar with the theme “Biofuels towards Atmanirbhar Bharat”.
3. The World Biofuel Day is observed every year to aware about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels.
4. The day also highlights the various actions taken by the Government in the Biofuel sector.
5. Ministry of Petroleum & Natural gas has started observing the World Bio fuel Day since 2015.
6. The day also aims to honour the research experiments by Sir Rudolf Diesel. He ran an engine with peanut oil in 1893.
7. His experiment predicted that vegetable oil will replace fossil fuels in the next century to fuel different mechanical engines.

• Biofuels –

1. Biofuels are derived from renewable biomass resources. It is expected that the utilization of biofuels will address global concerns about the suppression of carbon emissions.
2. Biofuels are eco-friendly and it provides a strategic advantage to promote sustainable development. These fuels supplement conventional energy sources in meeting the rapidly increasing demand for transportation fuels.
3. Biofuels will reduce the import dependence, ensure a cleaner environment, generate additional income for farmers and employment generation.
4. Government of India (GoI) has taken a number of initiatives to increase the blending of biofuels from 2014.
5. The initiatives taken by GoI include simplifying the procurement procedures by OMCs, administrative price mechanism for ethanol, enabling lignocellulosic route to procure ethanol introducing a long term ethanol procurement policy, ethanol distillation capacity addition, and amending many provision in Industries (Development & Regulation) Act, 1951.

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

4.1 India, Maldives ink contract for development of five eco-tourism zones in Addu atoll of island nation

•  Key points -    

1. India and Maldives have signed a contract for development of five eco-tourism zones in Addu atoll of the island nation.
2. These eco tourism zones are part of grant projects being implemented under the High-Impact Community Development project (HICDP) scheme which involves a total grant assistance of  5.5 million US dollars to the Maldives.
3. Currently, there are 9 such high-impact projects being implemented in the Maldives.
4. High Commissioner Sunjay Sudhir, in his remarks, highlighted that developing high-impact assets, building capacities within the local councils and supporting of the local island economy are most important objectives of these projects.
5. He recalled that contracts for the other three HICDP projects in Addu, relating to setting up of fish-processing plants, were awarded last month.
6. He remarked that taken together, these projects could be expected to bring about a transformation in the economic and employment landscape of Addu.

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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 Round – Arts and Culture

• Folk musician Sonam Tshering Lepcha dies at 92 - Sonam Tshering Lepcha, folk musician, composer and lyricist, died on July 30, 2020 at the age of 92. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2007 and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995.
• Actor Anil Murali dies in Kochi at 51 - Actor Anil Murali, who made his mark through villain roles in Malayalam films, died in Kochi on July 30, 2020. He was 51 and acted in around 200 movies in Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu.
• Flipkart’s Samarth programme helps artisans sell their products online - Walmart-owned Flipkart on July 31, 2020 said it supports over six lakh artisans, weavers and craftsmen across the country through its Samarth programme under which it has partnered with NGOs to help artisans use the online marketplace to sell their products.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 G. C. Murmu appointed Comptroller and Auditor General of India

• Highlights - 

1. The Modi government has appointed ex-Gujarat cadre IAS officer G.C. Murmu as Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG) a day after he resigned as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
2. Mr. Murmu, a 1985 batch IAS officer who served as Expenditure Secretary in the Ministry of Finance before he was appointed as the L-G of the newly created Union Territory of J&K, will take over as the C&AG from Rajiv Mehrishi, whose tenure has ended.
   He is considered to be close to PM Modi as he worked as his Principal Secretary in Gujarat during Mr. Modi’s tenure as CM.
3. He joined the central government on deputation in 2015 when he was first appointed as Joint Secretary in the Department of Expenditure and then became additional secretary in the Department of Financial Services and Revenue before he was made full fledged Secretary of the Department of Expenditure.
4. GC Murmu's resignation from the post of J&K Lt Governor came exactly a year after the centre revoked Article 370 and reorganised Jammu and Kashmir, bifurcating it into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. 

• Who is the new J&K Lt Governor –  

1. Former Union minister Manoj Sinha has been appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, succeeding GC Murmu.

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

8.1 FSSAI’s ‘Eat Right India’ movement wins ‘Food System Vision Prize’

• Key Point –  

1. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has said it has been awarded the 'Food System Vision Prize' for its 'Eat Right India' movement's vision, along with nine other finalists.

• Highlights –

1. The 'Eat Right India' movement is a collective effort of all stakeholders in the food environment. It includes regulatory actions as well initiatives targeted to food businesses and consumers.
2. Eat Right India's vision for 2050 aims to create a culture of safe, healthy and sustainable food for all and to address its numerous public health, economic and environmental challenges.
3. Strong networks and innovative tools have been put in place, so that the Eat Right initiatives can be replicated at scale across the length and breadth of the country by states.
4. To further bring synergies and collaboration in the area of food safety and nutrition, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between FSSAI and Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) for seeking collaborative research and information dissemination in this space.

8.2 Other Major Happenings

• Noted writer and activist Sadia Dehlvi dies at 63 in New Delhi.

• Conclave on Transformational Reforms in Higher Education under National Education Policy organised by Ministry of Education and UGC.

• Serum Institute enters into partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and international vaccine alliance GAVI to accelerate manufacture, delivery of Covid19 vaccines for India.

• World Day against Trafficking in Persons observed on July 30 - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) observed the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons on July 30, 2020. This year the focus is on the first responders to human trafficking. These are the people identifying, supporting, counselling and seeking justice for victims of trafficking.

• International Day of Friendship celebrated on July 30 - The UN celebrated International Day of Friendship on July 30, 2020. The day was proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.

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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 -

• Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister tested coronavirus positive in July 2020?.
• P. Praveen Siddharth has been appointed Private Secretary to the President.
• Former West Indian batsman Everton Weekes holds world record of five consecutive centuries in test innings. He made these centuries against India and England.
• The International Day of Cooperatives is celebrated on first Saturday of July every year.
• The rate of interest for Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme July-September 2020 is 7.6%.

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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