Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 15-09-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 15-09-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Polity and Governance – On day one of monsoon session, 25 MPs test COVID-19 positive – On the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament, 25 lawmakers are reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 even as Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan admitted in a statement in the Lok Sabha that the “battle against COVID-19 is still far from over”. Both Houses of Parliament did not release an official list of those who have tested positive but Seventeen from the Lok Sabha and eight from the Rajya Sabha have been reported to be infected. Among the infected Lok Sabha members, the BJP has the maximum number of Twelve. The YSR Congress has two MPs and the Shiv Sena, the DMK and the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party one each. In the Rajya Sabha, two each were from the Congress and the BJP and one each from the TRS, Trinamool Congress, the AIADMK and the Aam Aadmi Party.
2. Society – Centre opposes move to recognise same-sex unions – The Centre opposed before the Delhi High Court a petition seeking recognition of same-sex marriages, saying, “our legal system, society and values do not recognise marriage between same sex couples”. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said the 2018 judgment of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court “merely decriminalises homosexuality or lesbianism, nothing more, nothing less”. On September 6, 2018, a five-judge Constitution Bench, led by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, unanimously held that criminalisation of private consensual sexual conduct between adults of the same sex under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is clearly unconstitutional.
3. Polity and Governance – ‘No immediate action against Delhi slums’ – The Centre informed the SC that no immediate action will be taken to demolish 48,000 slum clusters situated within safety zones along the rail tracks in Delhi. SG Mehta said consultations were on among the Railways, the Delhi government and the Union Ministry of Urban Development to reach a solution, taking into consideration the fact that any immediate move would cause the displacement of over two lakh families living in these clusters amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The court scheduled the case for hearing after a month. The dispute is based on an order issued by the Supreme Court itself. It also said that any order of stay by any court would be deemed ineffective.
4. Economy – Retail inflation eases to 6.69% in August – Retail inflation softened slightly to 6.69% in August, even as food prices continued to rule high. The government has revised downwards the retail inflation for July to 6.73% from the earlier estimate of 6.93%. Food inflation during the month stood at 9.62%. Food inflation in August fell marginally to 9.05%, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data. The retail inflation, mainly taken into account by the RBI to arrive at its policy decisions, has been above the regulator’s comfort level. The government has mandated the central bank to restrict the inflation at 4% (+/- 2%).
5. Economy – No regulation needed for communication apps: Trai – In key recommendations regarding operations of global communication apps in India, telecom regulator Trai has said services such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Apple FaceTime, Google Chat, Skype, Telegram and even newer players such as Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex and Zoom should not be bound by a regulatory regime as of now and there should not be specific rules that would mandate them to intercept user calls and messaging. Making interception mandatory (such as prescribed for telecom companies) may weaken the protective architecture of the communication apps or expose them to “unlawful actors”, Trai said in views that were immediately criticised by mobile operators’ grouping COAI. Trai’s recommendations run in complete variance to the strong stand taken by telecom and IT minister.
6. Environment and Ecology – Fossil fuel usage set to drop for first time – India’s thirst for fossil fuels will outpace China’s by a big margin, even though globally, consumption will shrink for the first time in modern history through 2050 as climate initiatives propel renewable energy while the coronavirus pandemic leaves a lasting scar on demand, the benchmark BP Energy Outlook 2020 said. The outlook saw India’s primary energy consumption growing by 2.5% between 2018 and 2050 against 0.1% in China and 0.3% globally. It sees India’s oil consumption more than doubling to 10 million barrels by 2050 under the ‘business-as-usual’ scenario. But gas demand is seen jumping from 58 bcm (billion cubic metres) to 357 bcm under the ‘rapid’ scenario.
7. World – Yoshihide Suga set to become Japan PM – Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga is set to become the country’s next PM after the ruling party elected him successor to outgoing leader Shinzo Abe. Mr. Suga easily won the vote, taking 377 of the 534 valid votes cast by Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers and regional representatives, significantly ahead of his two rivals. Given his party’s legislative majority, he is expected to handily win a parliamentary vote on Wednesday and become Prime Minister, succeeding Mr. Abe, who is resigning for health reasons.
8. World – Sri Lanka revisiting draft 20th Amendment – The Sri Lankan government is revisiting the draft 20th Amendment to the Constitution, gazetted earlier this month, in the light of “public concerns”, according to government sources. PM Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed a nine-member committee chaired by G.L. Peiris, a Cabinet Minister and a former professor of law, to study the proposed Amendment. The newly drafted 20th Amendment envisages enhancing Presidential powers, along with immunity, while significantly reducing the Prime Minister’s role and powers.
9. World – Afghan govt. presses Taliban for truce – The Afghan government pressed its calls for a truce with the Taliban, reiterating its desire for a long-term ceasefire at historic talks in Qatar. The two sides are in the early stages of meetings in Doha as they try to hammer out a deal that would bring 19 years of bloodshed in Afghanistan to a close. The Afghan government and its allies, including the U.S., called for the warring sides to lay down their arms at Saturday’s opening ceremony. But the Taliban, who fought a years-long guerrilla campaign against American and Afghan forces after they were toppled in a 2001 U.S.-led invasion, did not mention a truce as they came to the negotiating table.
10. Science and Technology – Scientists find ‘life harbouring’ gas on Venus – The atmosphere of Venus contains traces of phosphine gas — which on Earth is associated with living organisms — scientists said, in fresh insight into conditions on our nearest planetary neighbour. Conditions on Venus are often described as hellish with daytime temperatures hot enough to melt lead and an atmosphere comprised almost entirely of carbon dioxide. A team of experts used telescopes in Hawaii and Chile’s Atacama Desert to observe Venus’ upper cloud deck, around 60 km from the surface. They detected traces of phosphine, a flammable gas that on Earth occurs from the breakdown of organic matter. Writing in Nature Astronomy, the team stressed that the presence of phosphine alone did not prove the presence of life on Venus.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	Directorate General of Civil Aviation	Dy Chief, Sr Flight Operation Inspector	40	12th Class (Phy & Maths)	SEPT-25-2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/09/Notification-DGCA-Flight-Operation-Inspector-Posts.pdf
2	AIIMS, Rishikesh	Warden (Hostel Warden), Jr Warden	14	Any Degree	SEP-28-2020	http://aiimsrishikesh.edu.in/recruitments/reopen%20warden%20and%20junior%20warden.pdf
3	ICMR	Scientist B	141	MBBS, PG With Ph.D	OCT-2-2020	https://www.digialm.com//per/g01/pub/852/EForms/image/ImageDocUpload/736/1117968272299848423602.pdf
4	NIMR	Lab Technician – III, Data Entry Operator	8	DMLT, Degree, PG	16 to 18-09-2020	https://nimr.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Continuation_walk-in-interview_12_Sep_2020.pdf
5	Pollution Control Board, Assam	Asst Engineer, Jr Accountant & Administrative Asst II	14	Dip(Comp), BE, B.Tech/ AMIE, B. Com/ BBA	OCT-2-2020	http://www.pcbassam.org/recruitment_pcba_2020/Advertisement_PCB.pdf
6	DEE, Assam	Asst Teacher & Hindi Teacher	30	B.Ed/ D.Ed, Assam TET	SEP-26-2020	http://www.freejobalert.com/dee-assam/711222/#Asst-Hindi-Teacher
7	NHM, Assam	Arogyamitra & Pradhan Mantri Arogyamitra	429	Computer Literate	SEP-23-2020	http://www.freejobalert.com/national-rural-health-mission-assam-nrhm/9635/#ARM-PMAM

 

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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 Virtual courts cheaper, faster: Parliamentary panel bats for ‘digital justice’

• SC allows NLSIU Bangalore to conduct NLAT on Sept. 12, restrains from declaring results and making admissions. Justices Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy and M. R. Shah
• SC dismisses fresh petitions seeking postponement of NEET 2020. Justices Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy and M. R. Shah
• SC refers Maratha quota case to larger bench as it involves interpretation of Constitution (102nd amendment) Act, 2018. Justices Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta and S. Ravindra Bhat.
• CBSE compartment exams: SC directs petitioner to serve notice on  central govt. to consider prayer for provisional admission to universities; matter posted to Sept.14. Justices A. M. Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna.
• Loan moratorium and interest waiver – “highest level expert committee convening meeting and will take holistic decision in two weeks”: Centre tells SC, interim order to continue. Justices Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy and M. R. Shah.
• Article 226 – Writ petition not maintainable against judicial order passed by High Court: SC. Justices D. Y. Chandrachud and K. M. Joseph.
• “State governments must fix reasonable charges for Ambulance services” – Supreme Court
• ‘Bangalore Club’, one of the oldest club in Bangalore, is not liable to pay wealth tax under the Wealth Tax Act. Justices R. F. Nariman, Indira Banerjee and Navin Sinha.
• INC’s Ajay Maken moves SC against order to demolish 48,000 Jhuggis without provision to rehabilitate 2.4 lakh affected dwellers.

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

2.1 PM Modi inaugurates three petroleum sector projects in poll-bound Bihar

• Key points –

1. PM Modi inaugurated the three petroleum sector projects in Bihar which cost more than Rs 900 crores.
2. The projects include the Durgapur-Banka section of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur Pipeline Augmentation Project and two Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) Bottling Plants in Banka and Champaran.
3. These two LPG plants will be able to fill gas cylinders for several districts not only from Bihar but also for Jharkhand and few districts of Uttar Pradesh as well.
4. Modi said around ₹21,000 crore have been spent on the 10 large petroleum and gas based projects that are a part of the PM’s package for Bihar.
5. These projects that will help meet the demand for domestic cooking gas in the state include state-run Indian Oil Corporation’s 193-km long Durgapur-Banka section of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline that will supply cooking gas for bottling at the new Banka plant in the state.
6. According to government, the LPG penetration in Bihar has exponentially increased to 76.9% now from 23.5% in 2014. This in turn has also resulted in low kerosene usage in the state that has declined to 2 lakh kilo litre (kl) from 8 lakh kl in 2014.
7. With the critical Bihar state assembly elections on the anvil, there has been a flurry of announcements and inaugurations for and from the state. Bihar is all set to go for assembly elections in October-November.
8. On September 3, PM Modi launched initiatives related to animal husbandry and fisheries in Bihar; including the ₹20,050 crore Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and the e-Gopala mobile app.
9. These launches come at a time when the rural and farm economy has been severely hit by the covid-19 pandemic.
10. The Bihar assembly elections are significant not just for the incumbent NDA government under chief minister Nitish Kumar who has been a the top post for nearly 15 years now but also for the alliance led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) as it aims to return to power with the Congress and other allies.

• PM Modi’s views –

1. PM said that the Centre has worked extensively in developing all energy related projects in the state.
2. He said Bihar’s administration has been exemplary in making sure that government schemes reach the common people. He further added that the age when someone owned a gas connection was considered a bigwig is now a thing of the past.
3. He also highlighted that Centre’s schemes like Ujjwala has also empowered women and made sure that they do not spend hours collecting firewood which would later when burnt to cook would also cause respiratory ailments. PM said eastern India and Bihar’s infrastructure was never prioritised.
4. He further said that earlier people never imagined that they could get access to developed infrastructure because there were economic and political issues to which no one paid attention to despite the fact that the region is teeming with natural as well as human resources.
5. PM Modi lauded Nitish Kumar, Bihar chief minister, for pushing Bihar’s youth and ensuring that the state’s education system nurtures talents.

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

3.1 Air pollution: Low ozone layer found over Brahmaputra river valley 

• Key points –

1. Scientists at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) have evaluated the near-surface ozone in the Brahmaputra River Valley (BRV) and found a relatively low concentration of Ozone over Guwahati compared to the other urban locations in India.

• Highlights –

1. Tropospheric, or ground-level ozone, is created by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC).
2. It usually increases when pollutants emitted by cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants, and other sources chemically react in the presence of sunlight, impacting human health.
3. The study analysed the variability of ozone and other air pollutants over Brahmaputra River Valley region.
4. It also assessed seasonal, day of the week, and characteristics of ozone to identify the emission source of ozone and its precursors, especially methane (CH4) and NMHCs, along with studying the relationships between the meteorological parameters, ozone and its precursors in a tropical setting.
5. The examination of nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone concentrations in this study suggested that this site is well influenced by local sources such as adjacent major national highway.
6. During the daylight hours, the site is in or nearly in a photo-stationary state, indicating a low impact of organic species on the ozone concentrations.

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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 Environment Minister chairs webinar on International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies

• Key points –

1. Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has organised a webinar on the occasion of the first-ever International Day of Clean Air For Blue Skies.
2. In December 2019, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to observe this day on 7th September every year, starting from 2020.
3. The Day aims to demonstrate the close link of air quality to other environmental/developmental challenges and raise public awareness related to air quality at all levels.

• Efforts by the Indian Government –

1. It is committed to reducing the air pollution level in 122 most polluted cities.
2. In 2014, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was launched which currently tracks the levels of pollution on eight parameters. These parameters are ground-level ozone, Particulate Matter (PM) 10, PM 2.5, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ammonia and lead. Ground-level ozone and airborne particles are the two pollutants that pose the greatest threat to human health in India.
3. PM Modi in his Independence Day speech also highlighted the issue of air pollution and put across the goal of holistic improvement in air quality in 100 cities by drawing up micro-plans to target hotspots.
4. A brochure on Integrated Measures to Combat Air Pollution under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was launched in the webinar.
5. India has migrated to BS-VI standards, quality petrol and diesel, which is an important initiative to fight against pollution.

• Important details –

1. The Bharat Stage (BS) are emission standards instituted by the Government of India to regulate the output of air pollutants from motor vehicles.
2. The Environment Ministry is responsible for deciding the fuel standard in the country. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) implements these standards.
3. In January 2019, NCAP was launched to tackle the problem of air pollution in a comprehensive manner with a target to achieve 20 to 30% reduction in PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentrations by 2024 keeping 2017 as the base year.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Former Union Minister and Bihar leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh dies

• Key points –

1. Former Union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who had resigned from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) days ago, died at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi on Sunday (September 13) after he was put on a ventilator. He was 74.
2. The condition of the former Union minister for rural development in the first term of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had deteriorated late on Friday.
3. Singh had been undergoing treatment at AIIMS, Delhi for more than a week after testing positive for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in June.

• Important details –

1. Known as the architect of India’s biggest welfare programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Singh represented Bihar’s Vaishali constituency in the Lok Sabha.
2. He was also a long-time associate of former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
3. The senior leader had resigned from the RJD on Thursday (September 10), apparently peeved over his marginalisation in the party in the last few years.
4. He had stepped down as the RJD’s national vice president more than two months ago.
5. Singh had sent a handwritten resignation letter addressed to RJD chief. On the same day, Lalu Prasad sent a letter to Singh from Ranchi, making an emotional appeal to not to leave the party.
6. He had also written a series of letters with one addressed to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, in which he had demanded changes in MGNREGA job scheme and development of Vaishali.

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

8.1 NGT seeks guidelines for cigarette, bidi butt disposal in 3 months

• Key point –

1. The National Green Tribunal has passed an order directing the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to lay down guidelines for disposal of cigarette and bidi butts within the next three months.

• Detailed news –

1. The order was in response to a 2015 petition filed by the organisation Doctors For You, which has made several submissions regarding smoking in public spaces and disposal of cigarette and beedi butts.
2. While tobacco is undoubtedly harmful and the authorities are seized of the remedial action, the Tribunal is mainly concerned with the manner of disposal of cigarette/bidi butts.
3. The NGT had issued notices to ministries of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Health, Commerce and Industry as well as CPCB in 2015.
4. The MoEF had responded by saying that cigarette and bidi butts were not listed as hazardous. It told NGT that cellulose acetate—cigarette filters are made of this—is a biodegradable substance.
5. While cigarette butts do not fall under hazardous material under the guidelines issued by the Government of India, individually, the components of cigarette butts are all toxic,’’ Jaideep Singh, the petitioner’s advocate, said.
6. Singh said the harm caused by cigarette butts have been documented extensively internationally, and that 4,000 pages of research and study had been submitted to the court.
7. The petitioner had submitted that the butts are particularly harmful to freshwater bodies, the ocean, and to marine life.

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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 40% of children are not fully vaccinated, says NSO report

• Key points – 

1. 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.
2. Most of these children remain unprotected against measles, and partially protected against a range of other diseases.
3. In the national capital, less than half of all children have been given all eight required vaccines.

• The report –

1. The report is based on the 75th round of the National Sample Survey (July 2017-June 2018) on household social consumption related to health.
2. Across the country, only 59.2% of children under five years are fully immunised.
3. This contradicts the Centre’s Health Management Information System portal data, which claimed that full immunisation coverage for 2017-18 stood at 86.7%.
4. About 97% of children across the country received at least one vaccination — mostly BCG and/or the first dose of OPV at birth — a statistic that remains steady across income groups and geographies.
5. However, only 67% of children are protected against measles. Only 58% got their polio booster dose, while 54% got their DPT booster dose.
6. Among States, Manipur (75%), Andhra Pradesh (73.6%) and Mizoram (73.4%) recorded the highest rates of full immunisation.
7. At the other end of the spectrum lies Nagaland, where only 12% of children received all vaccinations, followed by Puducherry (34%) and Tripura (39.6%).
8. The vast majority of these vaccinations — 95% in rural India and 86% in cities — were carried out in government health facilities and primary health centres which will be the same facilities used to distribute and administer the COVID-19 vaccine whenever it is made available.
9. Only half of Indian families with children under five years were able to access immunisation services during the lockdown.

• What is full imunization –

1. According to the WHO guidelines, “complete or full immunization” coverage is defined as a child that has received one dose o BCG, three doses of pentavalent, pneumococcal conjugate (PCV), oral polio vaccines (OPV); two doses of Rota virus and one dose of measles vaccine.

10.2 Daily dose of  FIVE Facts -

• India’s ‘longest’ passenger ropeway across a river was unveiled on Brahmaputra in August 2020.
• Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona in Aug 2020.
• Manoj Sinha was appointed as the next lieutenant governor (LG) of the UT of J&K in Aug 2020.
• The NEP 2020 is built on the foundational pillars of Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability.
• Defence Minister attended the 75th Victory Day Parade in Moscow’s Red Square on June 24.

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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