Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 09-09-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 09-09-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. India-China standoff 2020 – PLA fired shots in the air, says India – Hours after the Chinese Army claimed that Indian troops opened fire along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, the Indian Army stated that it was actually Chinese troops that fired a few rounds in the air. Following fresh tensions on the south bank of Pangong Tso (lake), Army chief Gen. Manoj Naravane briefed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the ground situation. No shots have been fired along the disputed boundary between India and China since 1975.
2. COVID-19 Updates – Nearly 89,000 infections, India’s active cases set to cross 9L – Active Covid cases in the country are expected to cross 9 lakh — just eight days after hitting 8 lakh—even as fresh infections rose again to nearly 89,000 and deaths reported equalled record high of 1,125, taking the toll to 73,848. This would be the fastest 1-lakh rise since active cases hit the 5-lakh mark in July. The growth had slowed in August as recoveries grew rapidly.The big spurt in infections over the past week or so has led to faster growth of active cases. After a dip in the daily tally, fresh cases again zoomed to 88,995 with testing across the country going up after the weekend. Over 79,000 people recovered from the infection, taking the total recoveries to 33,88,390.
3. Defence – ‘Five missing Arunachal youth found in China’ – The five Arunachal Pradesh youth, who were allegedly captured by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) less than a week ago, have been found in China, said Union Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Kiren Rijiju. Mr. Rijiju is the BJP MP for the Arunachal West constituency that covers Upper Subansiri district. Officials in Arunachal Pradesh hoped the PLA would return the five teenagers soon, just as the Indian Army had handed over 13 yaks and four calves to China on September 7. The bovines had strayed into East Kameng district west of Upper Subansiri on August 31.
4. COVID-19 Updates – Russia wants India to do phase 3 trials, produce its vaccine – Russia has reached out to India to seek the collaboration of Indian companies in manufacturing vaccines against Covid and also whether phase III or bridging studies could be done here. The Centre said there has been significant movement on both the fronts. Outreach has been extended to many companies and several have agreed. The regulator will facilitate phase 3 or bridging studies on Indian patients for the Russian vaccine. India is working to start large-scale manufacturing as well as phase 3 clinical trials locally for Sputnik V the Covid vaccine developed by Russia. Chairman of the National Covid Vaccine Administration Taskforce V K Paul on Tuesday said India attached great importance to the Russian offer of manufacturing of the vaccine by Indian firms as well as phase 3 trials or bridging studies, as might be required to establish the efficacy of the vaccine.
5. Foreign Affairs – Belarus protests: Opposition leader 'tore up passport' to avoid expulsion – Belarusian protest leader Maria Kolesnikova tore up her passport at the border with Ukraine and threw the pieces away to foil an attempt by Belarusian authorities to make her cross into Ukraine, her associate Anton Radnenkov said.
6. Foreign Affairs – 'Kill All You See': In a First, Two Myanmar Soldiers Describe Rohingya Slaughter and Atrocities – The two soldiers confess their crimes in a monotone, a few blinks of the eye their only betrayal of emotion: executions, mass burials, village obliterations and rape. The August 2017 order from his commanding officer was clear, Pvt. Myo Win Tun said in video testimony. “Shoot all you see and all you hear.” He said he obeyed, taking part in the massacre of 30 Rohingya Muslims and burying them in a mass grave near a cell tower and a military base. Around the same time, in a neighboring township, Pvt. Zaw Naing Tun said he and his comrades in another battalion followed a nearly identical directive from his superior: “Kill all you see, whether children or adults.”. “We wiped out about 20 villages,” Zaw Naing Tun said, adding that he, too, dumped bodies in a mass grave.
7. Economy – GDP to shrink sharply in FY21: Fitch, Goldman – Global ratings agency Fitch sharply revised its forecast for India’s GDP growth, estimating that it will contract 10.5% in 2020-21, while Goldman Sachs expects it to decline by 14.8%. Both entities have made sharp revisions in their forecasts after data last month showed the economy had contracted a record 23.9% in the June quarter, the sharpest decline globally. “We have cut our 2020 GDP forecast for markets excluding China to -5.7% in this global economic outlook... primarily reflects a huge downward revision to our India GDP forecast,” Fitch said.
8. Social – 40% children not fully vaccinated: NSO report – Although almost all children in India are vaccinated against tuberculosis, and receive their birth dose of polio vaccine, two out of five children do not complete their immunisation programme, according to the ‘Health in India’ report recently published by the National Statistical Organisation (NSO). Most of these children remain unprotected against measles, and partially protected against a range of other diseases. In the national capital, less than half of all children have been given all eight required vaccines. The report is based on the 75th round of the National Sample Survey (July 2017-June 2018) on household social consumption related to health. Across the country, only 59.2% of children under five years are fully immunised, according to the NSO report. This contradicts the Centre’s Health Management Information System portal data, which claimed that full immunisation coverage for 2017-18 stood at 86.7%.
9. Business – Kochhar in ED custody, to be grilled at Delhi HQ – A special PMLA court remanded Deepak Kochhar (59), husband of former CEO of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar, to 11 days custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ED will fly him down to New Delhi for his custodial interrogation in a money laundering case in which he is coaccused along with his wife. The ED had arrested Kochhar, promoter of Nupower Renewables, in a money laundering case after several hours of questioning at their zonal office in Mumbai. Kochhar will be questioned at the agency’s HQ by the headquarter intelligence unit (HIU) which is investigating his case. The high-profile probe is monitored by the special HIU team also because the ED case is based on a CBI FIR registered in the national capital.
10. Social – Rhea Chakraborty arrested by NCB – The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday arrested actor Rhea Chakraborty in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, for allegedly procuring drugs. Her brother, Showik, was arrested last week. In a parallel development, the Bandra police in Mumbai registered an FIR charging Rajput’s sisters — Priyanka and Meetu Singh — with abetting their brother’s suicide. The FIR comes less than 12 hours after Ms. Chakraborty filed a complaint against the two women and one Dr. Tarun Kumar, an associate professor of Cardiology of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, for arranging medicines for Rajput.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	Panipat Urban Co-Operative Bank Ltd.	Clerk cum Cashier	5	Degree, MBA (Mark./ Fin.)	SEPT-17-2020	http://pucb.in/Careers.html
2	Punjab National Bank	Specialist Officer	535	Dip, Degree, PG, CA	SEPT-29-2020	http://www.freejobalert.com/punjab-national-bank-recruitment/15254/
3	Oil India Limited	Lab Tech, Nurse, Pharma., Nursing Tutor, Librarian cum Clerk	29	Diploma (Pharmacy), B.Sc (Nursing)	SEPT-25-2020	https://cochinshipyard.com/uploads/career/cdb850947e0f2ab8c4b587c94316b6c7.pdf
4	Cochin Shipyard Limited	Senior Project Officer	8	Diploma, Degree (Engg)	SEPT-9-2020	Diploma (Computer), Degree (Any Steam)
5	AIIMS, Rishikesh	Research Scientist I, II, Res. Asst & Lab. Tech.	7	MBBS/ BDS/ MS/ M.Tech	SEPT-23-2020	http://www.freejobalert.com/latest-notifications/
6	BSIP	Scientist B	12	M.Sc, Ph.D	OCT-12-2020	http://14.139.63.228:9093/bsipor/pdf/Advertisment%20of%20Scientist%20'B'%20at%20BSIP,%20Lko.pdf
7	ESIC Dental College, Kalaburagi	Tutor	21	BDS	23 & 24-09-2020	https://www.esic.nic.in/attachments/recruitmentfile/ba8b1b5194171831e82bcf14f055ed25.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 Kesavananda Bharti, whose petition led to landmark verdict on Constitution, dies at 79 

• Key points –

1. Kesavananda Bharati, the head of Edneer Mutt at Kasaragod in Kerala whose petition in the Supreme Court led to the landmark verdict of 1973 that outlined the basic structure doctrine of the Constitution, died in the early hours of Sunday (September 6). He was 79 and had been indisposed for the past two weeks.
2. Bharati became the head of the mutt at the age of 19 in 1960 following the death of Ishwarananda Bharati Swami. Under him, the mutt emerged as a seat of art and learning.
3. Bharati was passionate about Carnatic music and was at the forefront of promoting Yakshagana, a traditional theatre form popular in Kasaragod and coastal Karnataka.
4. He had directed Yakshagana plays and used to organise musical concerts at the mutt.

• Kesavananda Bharati vs State of Kerala –

1. Bharati was the head of Jagadguru Shankaracharya Samsthanam mutt, which belongs to the Shankaracharya tradition. The mutt is believed to have been established by Totakacharya, one of the first four disciples of Adi Shankaracharya.
2. He was the petitioner in the His Holiness Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru and Ors. Vs. State of Kerala and others case in which the SC ruled that the basic structure of the Constitution is inviolable, and cannot be amended by Parliament.
3. It was on March 21, 1970 that Bharati moved the apex court, challenging the Kerala government’s takeover of land owned by the mutt as per the land reforms Act of 1969.
4. Following enactment of the law, the mutt had lost its property and was struggling for financial resources for its functioning and charitable activities.
5. In his petition, Bharati had sought enforcement of rights guaranteed under Article 25 (Right to practice and propagate religion), Article 26 (Right to manage religious affairs), Article 14 (Right to equality), Article 19(1) (f) (freedom to acquire property), Article 31 (Compulsory Acquisition of Property).
6. He had prayed that provisions of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 (Act 1 of 1964) as amended by the Kerala Land Reforms (Amendment) Act 1969 (Act 35 of 1969) be declared unconstitutional, ultra vires and void.
7. During pendency of the writ petition, the Kerala Land Reforms (Amendment) Act 1971 was passed and it received assent of the President on August 7, 1971.
8. The petition was heard by a 13-member bench, the largest-ever bench in the history of the Supreme Court. The court heard the petition for 68 working days, from October 31, 1972 to March 23, 1973.
9. Bharati became the head of the mutt at the age of 19 in 1960 following the death of Ishwarananda Bharati Swami. Under him, the mutt emerged as a seat of art and learning.

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

2.1 Aatmanirbhar Bharat: Government expands programme for agarbatti units; to benefit around 6,500 artisans now

• Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs –

1. Over a month after the Modi government approved a programme to benefit artisans in agarbatti manufacturing under ‘Gramodyog Vikas Yojana’, its size and target number of beneficiaries have been enhanced.
2. As per the new guidelines of the programme, its overall size has been increased from Rs 2.66 crore to Rs 55 crore and would likely benefit 6,500 artisans from around 500 artisans envisaged earlier.
3. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) under the MSME Ministry will implement the programme and handhold artisans and self-help groups (SHG) with backward and forward linkages along with required support.
4. The government will develop two Centers of Excellence (CoE) costing Rs 2.20 crore at IITs/NITs and Flavour and Fragrance Development Center in UP’s Kannauj district to work on “all aspects of this product, like innovation in the fragrance & packaging, use of new/alternate raw materials like re-usable flowers, coir pith etc.
5. 10 clusters would also be set-up with marketing linkages under the ministry’s Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) scheme for around Rs 50 crores.
6. The government expected to benefit around 5,000 artisans through this for sustainable employment and better earnings.
7. Announced on September 4, the revised programme will offer 400 automatic agarbatti making machines instead of 200 planned earlier apart from additional 500 pedal-operated machines to SHGs and individuals through 20 pilot projects in India.
8. The programme will immediately benefit about 1,500 artisans, in providing sustainable employment with increased earnings.
9. The immediate support to these artisans would be worth Rs 3.45 crore.

• Government’s initiatives –

1. In order to boost the sector, the government had earlier this year increased the import duty on bamboo sticks to 25 per cent from 10 per cent.
2. KVC had said that the move would likely generate at least 1 lakh jobs in eight-10 months in the agarbatti industry.
3. The hike was to boost domestic bamboo for Aatmanirbhar Bharat, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs had tweeted announcing the hike.

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

3.1 Not Available Today

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

4.1 Rajnath Singh meets Iranian counterpart Brigadier General Amir Hatami; discuss bilateral ties, regional security

• Key points – 

1. Recently, Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh met his visit to Iran met teh country's Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami in Tehran while returning from Moscow.
2. Several important issues related to bilateral relations between the two countries were discussed.
3. Singh said that the issue of regional security was also discussed in the meeting which included the issue of restoring peace and stability in Afghanistan.
4. Singh's visit is the first travel of a top Indian official to Iran since the coronavirus outbreak.

• Highlights –

1. In this meeting, the two leaders stressed on strengthening the cultural, linguistic and social relations between India and Iran. During this time, ways to take the relationship of the two countries to the next level were also discussed.
2. Singh's visit to Iran, a major regional player, is considered to be significant as it came after he voiced India's deep concern about the situation in Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf.
3. Notably, Singh was on a two-day visit to Moscow to attend the SCO meeting, where China's Defense Minister Wei Fanghe requested for a meet. At that meeting, Singh told the Chinese to restore the old status-quo in Ladakh.

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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-up – Corporate World

• Reliance Retail to buy Future Group’s retail business for Rs 24,713 crore - Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd., on August 29, 2020 announced it is acquiring the retail, wholesale business and logistics businesses of Future Group for consideration of Rs 24,713 crore. RRVL will be the new owner of brands such as Big Bazaar, FBB, Foodhall, Easyday, Nilgiris, Central and Brand Factory.
• PAG to pick up 51% stake in Edelweiss Wealth Management - Private equity investor PAG will make a ₹2,200 crore investment in Edelweiss Wealth Management (EWM) to pick up a 51% stake in the wealth management business of Edelweiss group. Rashesh Shah is the chairman and chief executive officer of Edelweiss group. Weijian Shan is the Chairman and CEO of PAG.
• J&K: Zojila Tunnel project awarded to Megha Engineering - The National Highways and Infrastructure development Corporation (NHIDCL) on August 25, 2020 issued the letter of award to Megha Engineering to execute the 14.2 km-long Zojila Tunnel project in Jammu & Kashmir. The Hyderabad-based company had emerged as the lowest bidder for the project, quoting a price of Rs 4,509 crore.
• Defence Ministry suspends dealings with Vectra company over Tatra case - The defence ministry has suspended all business dealings with Vectra Advanced Engineering Private Ltd for one year in view of a probe by the CBI into the allegations of wrongdoings against it in the Tatra Truck deal. In 2012, the then Army chief General V.K. Singh had claimed that he was offered a bribe of ₹14 crore to approve the procurement of a batch of 600 “sub-standard” Tatra trucks for the Indian Army.
• TikTok chief Kevin Mayer quits company - TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer has quit the company as tensions soar between Washington and Beijing over the Chinese-owned video platform. TikTok filed a suit challenging a crackdown by the U.S. government over claims that the app can be used to spy on Americans.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Government releases draft guidelines for ads; disclaimers must be clearly visible

• Key points –

1. The government has come out with a comprehensive set of draft guidelines on advertising under which 'disclaimers' that are not easily noticeable by or legible or easily understandable to an ordinary consumer will be treated as misleading advertisements under the Consumer Protection Act.
   
   Highlights –

1. The violation of these guidelines would face action by the recently established Central Consumer Protection Authority.
2. The draft guidelines, on which the Consumer Affairs Ministry has sought public comments by September 18, are applicable to companies whose products or services are advertised as well as to advertisement agencies and endorsers.
3. According to the draft guidelines, a disclaimer should be clear, prominent enough and legible.
4. The disclaimers used in advertisements should be in "same language" as the claim of the advertisement, the font should be in the "same font" as the claim and place disclaimers on packaging in a "prominent and visible space".
5. If the claim is presented as voice over (VO), then the disclaimer should be displayed in sync with the VO.
6. That apart, a disclaimer should not attempt to hide material information with respect to the claim, the omission/ absence of which is likely to make the advertisement deceptive or conceal its commercial intent.
7. A disclaimer should not attempt to correct a misleading claim made in an advertisement.
8. The draft guidelines also specify that an advertisement should not describe a product or service as "free", "without charge" or other similar terms, if the consumer has to pay anything other than the cost while purchasing a product or service for delivery of the same.
9. On those who endorse advertisements, the guidelines propose that they should take due care to ensure that all descriptions, claims and comparisons that they endorse or that are made in advertisements they appear in are capable of being objectively ascertained and are capable of substantiation.
10. If an endorsement of a product or service is made through a testimonial, the guidelines propose that such endorsement should reflect the genuine, reasonably current opinion of the endorser, and should be based on either adequate information about or experience with the product or service being endorsed.

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

8.1 International Day of Charity

• Key points –

1. The International Day of Charity is an international day observed annually on 5 September.
2. It was declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012.
3. The prime purpose of the International Day of Charity is to raise awareness and provide a common platform for charity related activities all over the world for individuals, charitable, philanthropic and volunteer organizations for their own purposes on the local, national, regional and international level.
4. The International Day of Charity was conceived as a Hungarian civil society initiative supported by the Hungarian Parliament and Government in 2011, to enhance visibility, organize special events, and in this way to increase solidarity, social responsibility and public support for charity.
5. The United Nations quickly picked up on this holiday, and by 2012 it was spread worldwide.
6. September 5 was chosen in order to commemorate the anniversary of the passing away of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 "for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitute a threat to peace.".

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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 Chandigarh ranks 29th in case of doing business 

• Highlights –

1. In the fourth edition of Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) ranking of states, announced by Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman, Chandigarh secured the 29th rank, one of the lowest ranks, in terms of Ease of Doing Business.
2. The city’s rank has remained unchanged from the previous year. Chandigarh Industrialists said that the primary reason for the low ranking was non-implementation of the Chandigarh Industrial Policy of 2015.
3. Chandigarh Industrialists said that a lot was needed to be done by the administration as far as industries are concerned.
4. Both Haryana and Punjab secured better ranks than Chandigarh, with Haryana being ranked 16th and Punjab 19th.
5. The states and UTs are ranked on 187 parameters, including access to information and transparency enabler, single-window system, land administration and transfer of land and property, land availability and allotment, environment registration enablers, construction permit enablers, labour regulation-enablers, and obtaining utility permits.
6. According to the government, the ranks of states are based on the implementation of Business Reform Action Plan that was started in 2015.
7. Till date, ranks have been released for 2015, 2016, and 2017-18. The Business Reform Action Plan 2018-19 includes 180 reform points covering 12 business regulatory areas such as access to information, single window system, labour, environment, etc.
8. The larger objective of attracting investments and increasing ease of doing business in each state was sought to be achieved by introducing an element of healthy competition through a system of ranking states based on their performance in the implementation of Business Reform Action Plan.
9. Chandigarh has not been able to fare well in the rankings till now. States including Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh have earned better rankings than Chandigarh.

10.2 Daily dose of  FIVE Facts -

• Religare Health Insurance Company Ltd was renamed as Care Health Insurance Ltd from Aug 2020.
• Sanjeev Singla is India’s ambassador to Israel.
• Bamako is the capital of Mali.
• According to the Swachh Survekshan 2020, Chhattisgarh is the cleanest state among those with more than 100 urban local bodies (ULBs).
• PM Modi announced the launch of National Digital Health Mission from Independence Day 2020. It will be implemented by National Health Authority.

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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