Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 26-09-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 26-09-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Polity and Governance – Bihar poll to be held in 3 phases from Oct. 28 – The Bihar Assembly election will be be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7, followed by the counting on November 10, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said the number of phases as well as the duration of the conduct of the poll had been reduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first phase, election will be held in 71 of the 243 constituencies, while the second phase will cover 94 seats and the third phase 78. With 7.29 crore electors, the poll could be the largest held during a pandemic in the immediate future.
2. Economy – CAG: 40% of cess diverted from specified funds – The Comptroller and Auditor General has pulled up the government for diverting a large chunk of the money it collected as cess to the general pool, making it difficult to ensure that the funds were used for the intended purpose. It also said the Centre had overstated its revenue and transferred a lower share of GST to states than it should have. A CAG report on government finances tabled in Parliament found that the Centre did not transfer nearly 40% of the cesses to the designated funds. “…Out of the Rs 2,74,592 crore received from 35 cesses, levies and other charges in 2018-19, only Rs 1,64,322 crore had been transferred to reserve funds/ boards during the year and the rest was retained in the CFI (Consolidated Fund of India),” the report observed.
3. COVID-19 Updates – Nearly seven crore COVID-19 tests conducted in India – India has recorded a high of nearly 15 lakh COVID-19 tests in a day. With 14,92,409 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the cumulative tests have touched nearly 7 crore (6,89,28,440). The surge in the daily testing capacities demonstrated the determined escalation of the testing infrastructure in the country. The last one crore tests were conducted in merely 9 days. The tests per million (TPM) stand at 49,948 as of today. Evidence has revealed that higher numbers of testing subsequently led to lowered positivity rate. The States that were testing the highest numbers were also reporting a gradual decline in the positivity rate. With the expansion of testing infrastructure, the daily testing by States/UTs has also increased. Twenty-three States/UTs have better tests per million than the national average (49,948).
4. J&K – DNA tests show 3 slain ‘foreign ultras’ from J&K – Forensic tests have found a DNA match between the exhumed bodies of three unidentified “foreign terrorists” killed in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir on July 18 and samples taken from the families of three Rajouri labourers reported missing after leaving home for Shopian to look for work, J&K Police said. The confirmation from Kashmir IGP Vijay Kumar came within days of an Army inquiry finding “certain prima facie evidence” of the 62 Rashtriya Rifles “exceeding” powers vested under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act during the disputed encounter at Amshipora in Shopian.
5. Education – 40% more OBC aspirants in JEE (A) than open category – The JEE (Advanced) will see around 40% more OBC candidates take the entrance exam than general category students. There will be almost 15,000 fewer open category students than the OBC candidates, a rare instance since OBC reservation was introduced in 2008. While 41,067 general category students will give a shot at the entrance exam, competing against them will be 56,643 from the OBCNL for 27% reserved seats (about 3,780 seats). While 3.9 lakh open category students took the JEE (main), the first level of the entrance exam, there were 4.02 lakh OBC-NL candidates. Not just boys, even more girls from the OBC category sat for the Mains.
6. US Presidential Elections – Sanders warns about transfer of power – Former contender for the Democratic nomination, Senator Bernie Sanders, jointed a host of voices that expressed alarm at U.S. President Donald Trump’s refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power if he loses the November election. Mr. Sanders said Mr. Trump is to be taken seriously. Mr. Sanders’s remarks came a day after Mr. Trump, when questioned at a press briefing, said he would not commit to the peaceful transfer of power. Again, after Mr. Sanders’s speech, Mr. Trump called into question the integrity of the November elections while talking to reporters at the White House.
7. World – Kim Jong Un offers South Korea rare apology for killing of official – North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, offered a rare apology Friday for the killing of a South Korean government official at sea by soldiers from the North. Kim’s prompt apology to the South, the first issued in his name since he took power nearly a decade ago, appeared to have headed off what could have been another serious crisis in relations between the Koreas. South Koreans across the political spectrum had expressed outrage since Moon’s government announced the official’s killing.
8. World – Terror probe opened after two stabbed in Paris – French terrorism authorities are investigating a double-stabbing outside the former Paris offices of a satirical newspaper where a dozen people were killed in 2015, and two suspects have been arrested in Friday’s violence. France’s counterterrorism prosecutor said authorities suspect a terrorist motive because of the place and timing of the stabbings- in front of the building, where Charlie Hebdo was based until the Islamic extremist attack on its cartoonists and at a time when suspects in the 2015 attack are on trial across town. Prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said that the chief suspect in Friday’s stabbings was arrested, along with another person. Mr. Ricard said the assailant did not know the people who were stabbed, two workers in a documentary production company who had stepped outside for a smoke break.
9. World – China aims to make 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses a year – A Chinese health official said that the country’s annual production capacity for novel coronavirus vaccines will top 1 billion doses next year, following an aggressive government support programme for construction of new factories. Capacity is expected to reach 610 million doses by the end of this year, Zheng Zhongwei from the National Health Commission said. American pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Moderna aim to produce a billion doses each in 2021 as well. Mr. Zheng said distribution of the vaccines would prioritize groups such as medical workers, border personnel and the elderly before they are made available to the general public. China has promoted the construction of vaccine testing facilities and manufacturing plants, and assigned independent monitors for their assembly.
10. Business  – Vodafone wins $2 bn tax case – Vodafone Group has won an international arbitration case against the Indian government, ending one of the most high-profile disputes in the country involving a $2 billion tax claim. An international arbitration tribunal in The Hague ruled that India’s imposition of a tax liability on Vodafone, as well as interest and penalties, were in a breach of an investment treaty agreement between India and the Netherlands. India had claimed a total of ₹27,900 crore ($3.79 billion), including about $2 billion in tax, as well as interest and penalties. It also directed India to pay £4.3 million ($5.47 million) to the company as compensation for its legal costs.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	C-DAC, Pune	Project Engineer	139	B.E/M.Sc/ MCA/ ME/B.Pharm	09-10-2020	https://cdac.in/index.aspx?id=job_pe_aug_2020
2	CDFD	Project Scientist, Lab Tech & EDO	13	MLT/ DMLT, BCA/ B.Sc	OCT-23-2020	http://www.cdfd.org.in/apps/empc-4_202009/
3	OPAL	Asst Manager, Executive, Dy Manager, Sr Manager, Supervisor	25	Diploma, Degree, PG	OCT-10-2020	http://career.opalindia.in/opal_career_2020_09_22/executive/jobs-at-opal_executive.php
4	IHBT	Project Coordinator-II, Sr Project Asscociate, Project Associate I	30	BE/ B.Tech/ PG, M.Sc, Ph.D	16-10-2020	https://www.ihbt.res.in/components/com_chronoforms5/chronoforms/uploads/Recruitment/20200924201539_Advt._No._15_by_2020.pdf
5	BECIL	Base Assistant & Helper	8	8th Class, Any Degree	08-10-2020	https://www.becil.com/uploads/vacancy/6f2032314dc7414fd23e64d9e12c33dd.pdf
6	C-DAC, Pune	Consultant	6	B.E/ B.Tech/ M.Sc/ MCA/ ME/ M. Tech	09-10-2020	https://cdac.in/index.aspx?id=job_consul_aug_2020
7	IGAU	Office Asst, Asst, Driver, Peon	5	5th, 8th Class, Degree	09-10-2020	http://www.igau.edu.in/pdf/Recruitment/recru2020_758.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 Not Available Today

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

2.1 Plastic Parks Scheme

•  Key points – 

1. The government is coming up with a scheme of Setting up of Plastic Parks with a state-of-the-art infrastructure through cluster development approach.
2. India has committed to phase out the use of single-use plastic by 2022.

• What is the scheme –

1. Plastic Park is an industrial zone, developed in cluster approach for establishing units for plastic enterprises and its allied.
2. Under the scheme, the Central Government provides grant funding up to 50% of the project cost, subject to a ceiling of Rs. 40 crore per project.
3. The remaining project cost is to be funded by the State Government, beneficiary industries and by loan from financial institutions.
4. The Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals has approved setting up of 10 Plastic Parks in the country, out of which 6 parks have been given final approval in the States of Assam, Madhya Pradesh (two parks), Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand.
5. The Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for setting up of Plastic Parks in the States of Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh are under evaluation and proposal for setting up of two new Plastic Parks are under process.

• Important details –

1. MP: The Plastic Park at Tamot has completed physical infrastructure and purchase of equipment for common facility centers (CFC) is in progress. One unit is functional in the Plastic Park.
2. MP: The Plastic Park at Bilaua is at implementation stage and work of development of physical infrastructure is in progress.
3. Odisha: The Plastic Park at Paradeep is at implementation stage and work of development of physical infrastructure is almost completed.
4. Jharkhand: The Plastic Park at Deoghar is at implementation stage and work of development of physical infrastructure is in progress.
5. TN: The work at Plastic Park at Thiruvallur has started recently and   land filling on the site is in progress.
6. Assam: The Plastic Park at Tinsukia is at implementation stage and work of development of physical infrastructure is in progress.

• Major challenge –

1. As per reports on the status of India, only 60% of this waste gets recycled.
2. The biggest challenge is segregation and re-aggregation of plastic waste streams such as packaging waste, including laminated plastic.
3. Pollution caused by plastic waste is harmful to the environment including aquatic resources necessitating urgent action, that is why the plastic sector needs better management.

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

3.1 Mass stranding of Whales

 

• In Australia's largest recorded mass-stranding event over 450 long-finned pilot whales have died.
• The whales were beached at a remote beach in Tasmania’s west coast.
• Beaching refers to the phenomenon of dolphins and whales stranding themselves on beaches. Around 2,000 strandings each year worldwide, with most resulting in the death of the animal.
• While individual strandings are mostly attributed to injury or sickness, it is not clear why exactly whales beach themselves in groups.
• Possible reasons behind Whale Mass Strandings can be search of prey into shallow water, panic from being trapped by a predator such as killer whales or sharks, prey-rich currents or sonar signals and other man-made loud underwater noises. Apart from these reasons the shape of the beach and the coastline could also have a role to play.
• Scientists and workers try to drag the whales away from the shore and guide them back into the water. 
• Long-finned pilot whales

1. Scientific Name: Globicephala melas
2. These are one of two species of pilot whale, along with short-finned pilot whales.
3. These prefer deep temperate to subpolar oceanic waters, but they have been known to occur in coastal waters in some areas.
4. They have been documented near the Antarctic sea ice and associated with the colder Benguela and Humboldt Currents, which may extend their normal range.
5. Protection Status

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

4.1 World Pharmacist Day 2020

 

• Highlights – 

1. World Pharmacists Day is observed every year on September 25. This year’s theme is “Transforming global health“.
2. World Pharmacists Day was an initiative of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) along with the council of this organization who voted to establish the event in the late 2000s during a conference held in Istanbul, Turkey.
3. The purpose of the day is to draw attention to pharmacies and the positive benefits they offer when it comes to health and FIP encourages all its members to participate to make the event a success.

• Why World Pharmacist Day is celebrated –

1. The aim of World Pharmacists Day, which was implemented at the FIP Council 2009 in Istanbul, is to encourage activities that promote and advocate the role of the pharmacist in improving health in all corners of the world.
2. Pharmacists are the reason people get the best benefit from medicine. They use their experience, knowledge and expertise to make the (medical) world a better place for everyone. In addition, they enable people to obtain medicines, give people advice on how to take them correctly, and so on.

• Why is it celebrated on September 25 –

1. The Turkish members of FIP suggested the Date because the FIP was established on the same day in 1912.

• International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) –

1. The founder of World Pharmacists Day, the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) is the global body representing pharmacy, pharmaceutical sciences, and pharmaceutical education.
2. Through their 144 national organisations, academic institutional members and individual members, they represent millions of pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists and pharmaceutical educators around the world. FIP is a non-governmental organisation with its head office in the Netherlands.

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• 5. GOVERNMENT SCHEMES (Prelims, GS Paper 2, GS Paper 3)

5.1 GOI & UNICEF launch YuWaah Platform to make young people career ready

 

•  Highlights –

1. To make young people career ready. The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) have signed a SoI (Statement of Intent) to launch YuWaah-Generation Unlimited (GenU), which is a global multi-stakeholder platform in India.
2. This YuWaah initiative started in New York in 2018.
3. The aim is to bring young people together to tackle the urgent challenge of investing in their learning and training for the complex and fast-changing world of work and can be active and engaged citizens.

• Uses of this Platform –

1. Support young people by providing entrepreneurship classes.
2. Up skilling of young people on 21st century skills, life skills, digital skills.
3. Create linkages with motivated economic opportunities to connect young people with employment opportunities, including building pathways to connect them with jobs or self-employment.
4. Providing career guidance support to young people through career portal.

• Important details about UNICEF –

1. UNICEF, or the United Nations Children's Fund is a United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide.
2. U.N. headquarters is based in New York City, it is among the most widespread and recognizable social welfare organizations in the world, with a presence in 192 countries and territories.
3. UNICEF's activities include immunizations and disease prevention, administering treatment for children and mothers with HIV, enhancing childhood and maternal nutrition, improving sanitation, promoting education, and providing emergency relief in response to disasters.
4. UNICEF is the successor of the International Children’s Emergency Fund (ICEF), created in 1946 by the U.N. Relief Rehabilitation Administration to provide immediate relief to children and mothers affected by World War II.

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 Legendary playback singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam passed away

 

1. Legendary playback singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, or “SPB” as he was known to his legion of fans, passed away at a private hospital in Chennai on Friday. He was 74.
2. Born Sripathi Panditharadhyula Balasubrahmanyam in 1946 to Nellore-based Harikatha exponent Sambamurthy, his original ambition was to become an engineer.
3. However, life had other plans for him, and he went on to pursue a career in singing for nearly 50 years.
4. Mr. Balasubrahmanyam made his singing debut in 1966 with the Telugu movie Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna. Since then he has sung over 40,000 songs in as many as 16 languages, including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. For five decades, his was the voice for generations of actors. He went on to win six national awards and the hearts of several fans across the world.
5. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2001 and the Padma Bhushan in 2011. SPB also dabbled in acting and music direction, and more recently, took on the avatar of a judge in reality singing contests.
6. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter — Charan and Pallavi — both of whom are singers.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 School toilets without hand washing facilities in 15 states: CAG report

• Key points –

1. A CAG audit survey of toilets built for schools by seven Central Public Sector Enterprises has revealed that 30 per cent of them were not in use, 72 per cent did not have running water, 55 per cent did not have hand washing facilities, and 30 per cent had no soap or disinfectants.

• The report –

1. The report states that the Prime Minister announced on August 15, 2014, that all schools “should have separate toilets for boys and girls within a year and called upon the corporate sector to give priority to this national endeavour as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility.”
2. About 1.3 lakh toilets were constructed through seven CPSEs—NTPC, PGCIL, NHPC, PFC, REC, ONGC and CIL—at a cost of Rs 2162.6 crore.
3. The audit focused on these toilets and “conducted physical survey of a sample of 2,695 toilets across 2,048 schools in 15 States”.
4. The report found that of the 2,612 toilets reported by CPSEs to have been constructed, 200 toilets were not found constructed and 86 toilets were found to be partially constructed, totalling 11 per cent.
5. Out of 1,967 coeducational schools surveyed by Audit, 99 had no functional toilets while 436 had only one functional toilet. The objective of providing separate toilets for boys and girls was not fulfilled in these 535 cases (27 per cent).
6. The report also found that of the 2,326 constructed toilets, 30 per cent (691) were found not in use “mainly due to lack of running water, lack of cleaning arrangements, damages to the toilets and other reasons like use of toilets for other purposes, toilets locked up”.
7. As per SVA, toilets were to be provided with running water, hand washing facilities and regular maintenance.
8. Of the 1,119 toilets by Coal India Limited in the audit, 14 per cent were found unbuilt or partially constructed in Odisha, MP, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, while 17 per cent of the 564 toilets built by NTPC were either non-existent or partially constructed in Bihar, West Bengal, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.
9. The audit report graded toilets from 5 star to 1 star based on metrics set by the MHRD.
10. Five star rating was given to 29 per cent of toilets built by Power Finance Corporation and 19 per cent of ONGC toilets—with these two being the best performers.
11. Sixty per cent of toilets by PGCIL and 45 per cent by REC were given the lowest 1 star rating.

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

8.1 Guru Nanak Dev’s death anniversary

 

• Key points –

1. At least 4,500 Sikhs from across Pakistan participated in the Jyoti Jot Gurpurb event, which concluded on Tuesday (September 22) at the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in the country's Punjab province.
2. The three-day event commemorated the 481st death anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
3. Guru Nanak, born as Nanak on 15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539), also referred to as Baba Nanak ('father Nanak'), was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus.
4. His birth is celebrated worldwide as Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Katak Pooranmashi ('full-moon of the Katak'), i.e. October–November.
5. Nanak is said to have travelled far and wide across Asia teaching people the message of ik onkar (ੴ, 'one God'), who dwells in every one of his creations and constitutes the eternal Truth.
6. With this concept, he would set up a unique spiritual, social, and political platform based on equality, fraternal love, goodness, and virtue.
7. Nanak's words are registered in the form of 974 poetic hymns, or shabda, in the holy text of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, with some of the major prayers being the Japji Sahib (jap, 'to recite'; ji and sahib are suffixes signifying respect); the Asa di Var ('ballad of hope'); and the Sidh Gohst ('discussion with the Siddhas').
8. It is part of Sikh religious belief that the spirit of Nanak's sanctity, divinity, and religious authority had descended upon each of the nine subsequent Gurus when the Guruship was devolved on to them.

• Highlights –

1. A large number of Sikhs from across Pakistan, including from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, participated in the function.
2. However, Indian Sikhs could not participate in the three-day event due to the travel restrictions in place in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
3. The Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara is the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev, who had spent the last 18 years of his life in Kartarpur. The Sikh founder died on September 22, 1539.
4. 'Jyoti Jyot' is the commemoration of his death anniversary.
5. In November last year, India and Pakistan opened the corridor linking Dera Baba Sahib in Gurdaspur, India to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan, in a historic people-to-people initiative as part of Guru Nanak Dev's 550th birth anniversary celebrations.
6. At the time, it was decided that Indian pilgrims of all faiths would be allowed to undertake round-the-year, visa-free travel to the historic gurdwara.
7. However, India temporarily suspended the pilgrimage on March 16 in view of the coronavirus outbreak.
8. In August, PSGPC president Satwant Singh had requested India to allow Indian pilgrims to visit Kartarpur Sahib on the occasion of 'Jyoti Jyot'.

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

9.1 Weekly Round-up – Science and Technology

• DRDO tests Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle - India on September 7, 2020 entered an elite club when the Defence Research & Development Organisation’s (DRDO) experimental Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle (HSTOV) took off from the APJ Abdul Kalam Launch Complex, off the Odisha coast, and, after separating from its launch vehicle at an altitude of 30 km, flew at Mach 6 for more than 22 seconds.
• The scramjet engine developed by ISO helped the flight achieve a speed 6 times the speed of sound. Only three countries — Russia, USA and China — have flown a vehicle in the atmosphere at a hypersonic speed: Six times the speed of sound (Mach 6), or 2 kilometres (km) per second.
• Enormous military advantages are available from hypersonic flight. Most cruise missiles fly today at sub-sonic speeds of250-300 metres per second. This renders them vulnerable to interception by the enemy’s supersonic fighter jets before they strike their targets. However, a hypersonic cruise missile, flying faster than any fighter, would strike its target well before it can be intercepted. And the kinetic impact of a Mach 6 strike would utterly demolish the target.
• AatmaNirbhar Bharat ARISE-Atal New India Challenges programme launched - The Centre on September 9, 2020 launched the AatmaNirbhar Bharat ARISE-Atal New India Challenges (ANIC) programme to support MSMEs and start-ups for making India innovative, resilient, tech-driven, and research and development (R&D)-oriented. ARISE is Applied Research and Innovation for medium and Small Enterprises.  
• The NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), in collaboration with ISRO and four ministries (defence, health & family welfare, housing & urban affairs, and food processing industries), will focus on challenges in 15 sectors through the programme. NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar were present at the launch event.
• A grant-in-aid of up to Rs 50 lakh for 9-12 months have been earmarked for start-ups to develop a minimum usable prototype.
• The AIM is a flagship initiative of the NITI Aayog to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the country, based on detailed study and deliberations on innovation and entrepreneurial needs of India in the years ahead.
• Cygnus spacecraft of US named after late astronaut Kalpana Chawla - An American commercial cargo spacecraft bound for the International Space Station has been named after late NASA astronaut Kalpana Chawla, who died with her six crewmates aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 2003. She was the first India-born woman to enter space. Northrop Grumman of US announced that its next Cygnus capsule will be named the “S.S. Kalpana Chawla”.
• IPFT develops new “Disinfectant Sprays” to decontaminate vegetables and fruits - Institute of Pesticide Formulation Technology (IPFT), an autonomous Institution under the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers has developed two new technologies namely “Disinfectant spray for surface application” and “Disinfectant spray for Vegetables & fruits.” Gurugram, Haryana, based IPFT was founded in 1991.

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• 10. FACTS, CHARTS, RANKINGS and EDITORIALS (Prelims + GS Mains)

10.1 India’s under-5 child mortality rate declined substantially in 1990–2019: UN

1. India’s under-5child mortality rate has declined substantially between 1990 and 2019, the UN said in its report ‘The Levels & Trends in Child Mortality’ Report 2020’.
2. The under-five mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births) in India declined to 34 in 2019 from 126 in 1990.
3. The infant mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births) in India declined from 89 in 1990 to 28 in 2019, with the country registering 679000 infant deaths in 2019, a significant decline from 2.4 million infant deaths in 1990.
4. The country also witnessed a decrease in neonatal mortality rate between 1990 and 2019 from 57 to 22 - 1.5 million neonatal deaths in 1990 to 522,000 deaths in 2019. Further, the probability of dying among children aged 5-14 years declined from 21 in 1990 to 5 in 2019 (447,000 deaths in 1990 to 136,000 deaths in 2019) and the probability of dying among youth aged 1524 years dipped from 24 to 10 (407,000 deaths to 246,000 deaths) between the period under review.
5. The sex-specific under-five mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births) in India in 1990 stood at 122 males and 131 females and this declined to 34 males and 35 females in 2019.

10.2 Daily dose of  FIVE Facts -

• The First World Solar Technology Summit was organized by the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in Sept 2020.
• Haishen Typhoon hit Japan in Sept 2020.
• The RBI in Aug 2020 launched ‘National Strategy for Financial Education 2020-2025’ (NSFE) that is based on 5Cs: Content, Capacity, Community, Communication and Collaboration.
• Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the refurbished upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar in July 2020.
• UK’s Prime Minister in July 2020 launched Jet Zero Council to tackle aviation emissions as part of a wider plan to step up efforts to tackle climate change.

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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