Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 05-10-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 05-10-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. COVID-19 Updates – One in five Indians may be vaccinated by July 2021: govt. – The govt. indicated that about 25 crore individuals are likely to be inoculated with a double dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by next July. The States have been asked to prepare a list by month-end of “priority population groups” for vaccination. These would include frontline health workers - both government as well as private sector doctors, nurses, paramedics, sanitary staff, ASHA workers, surveillance officers and others involved in the tracing, testing and treatment of patients.
2. Bihar Elections 2020 – LJP quits NDA in Bihar, but will support BJP after polls – Citing ideological differences with CM Nitish Kumar, LJP quit NDA in Bihar, clearing the way for JD(U) and BJP to apportion the 243 seats for the polls. LJP wouldn’t put up any candidate against BJP, but would fight JD(U), it said. Its decision caused few surprises as it had already snapped ties with JD (U), rendering its presence in the Bihar alliance untenable. Though LJP chief Chirag Paswan emphasised his faith in PM Modi, BJP, which has declared Nitish to be its CM choice, found it impossible to meet Paswan’s demand for 30 seats solely at its expense. JD(U) may now ask BJP to consider removing LJP from the alliance nationally, saying LJP’s presence at any level in NDA will send a wrong signal to the electorate.
3. Polity and Governance – Upper caste group holds meet in support of Hathras accused – Oct. 4 saw a large gathering of upper caste men in Hathras in support of persons accused in the gang-rape and murder of a Dalit woman despite prohibitory orders under Section 144. Police lathicharged Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) vice-president Jayant Chaudhary and his associates, who were on their way to meet the family of the victim. The Hathras police said RLD workers had broken police barriers and manhandled personnel on duty, adding that “light force” was used against the crowd to bring the situation under control. In a massive show of strength, men from the dominant caste gathered at the home of former BJP MLA Rajvir Singh Pehalvan amid heavy police deployment, some 6 km from the victim’s village Bulagarhi.
4. Constitution and Law – Half of HCs are yet to take first step towards e-courts – Filing of cases electronically, or e-filing, is the first step in migrating to a virtual court (e-court) system, which has become a necessity in the pandemic-hit world. A recent status report submitted by the government before a parliamentary committee, however, showed 11 of the 25 high courts in the country are yet to adopt the e-filing system. In about half of the states, e-filing is still in the trial stage, both in the high courts and the subordinate courts. Bengal, Telangana, Bihar, Gujarat, Assam, Karnataka and J&K are among states with high pendency of cases where the HCs are yet to implement the very basics of the judicial reforms, either in the HC or in the subordinate courts under them. And this only means further delaying the process of digitisation, making the reality of virtual courts a distant dream.
5. Defence – Next round of military talks with China to take place on Oct 12 – India will once again demand ‘complete de-escalation’ by China at troop face-off sites as well as along the entire frontier in eastern Ladakh, in accordance with the first in, first out’ principle, during the seventh round of military talks now slated for Oct 12. But with China yet to show any real intent on the ground for de-escalation with a clear-cut de-induction timetable, India remains prepared with ‘high operational military readiness’ to deal with any contingency. The next two months are decidedly crucial because once the harsh winter fully sets in eastern Ladakh, it will willy-nilly bring to an end the ‘military campaigning season’ for either side to launch any full-scale operation in the high-altitude region.
6. World – Trump doctors say president's oxygen dropped twice but insist he's improving – Donald Trump’s doctors have said his oxygen levels had dipped suddenly twice in two days and he was on medication normally prescribed for severe coronavirus cases, but they insisted his condition was improving and he could be discharged as early as Monday. The mixed messages delivered outside Walter Reed hospital in the Washington suburbs, added to the confusion over the president’s condition as well as suspicions that the medical team were providing a deceptively rosy account, on White House instructions. Trump posted a video message saying he was “getting great reports from the doctors” and later drove past a crowd of his supporters at the hospital gates in his motorcade.
7. India and its neighbourhood – Xi pitches for closer ties with Bangladesh, seeks BRI push – Chinese President Xi Jinping said he stands ready with Bangladesh leaders to better align the two countries’ strategies and jointly promote the construction of his multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to take the strategic partnership of the two countries to new heights. Mr. Xi made the remarks in an exchange of congratulatory messages with his Bangladesh counterpart, Mohammad Abdul Hamid, on the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the bilateral diplomatic relationship. In his message, Mr. Xi hailed the steady and long-term friendship, saying he is ready to work with Mr. Hamid to better align development strategies with Bangladesh, step up cooperation under the framework of the BRI and push forward the China-Bangladesh strategic, cooperative partnership to a new level.
8. World – Azerbaijan says Armenia hit second city, threatens retaliation – Azerbaijan said that Armenian forces had fired rockets at its second city of Ganja, killing one civilian and wounding 32, and threatened to retaliate by destroying military targets inside Armenia. The developments marked a sharp escalation of the clashes in the South Caucasus that broke out one week ago. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev later on Sunday demanded that Armenia set a timetable for withdrawing from the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding Azeri territories, and said Azerbaijan would not cease military action until that happened.
9. India and its neighbourhood – Afghan woman leader makes it to Nobel front-runner list – Afghanistan’s first women Deputy Speaker in Parliament and member of the team of negotiators engaging the Taliban in talks in Doha, Fawzia Koofi has been named one of the “favourites” among nominees for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, due to be announced on Oct  9. Ms. Koofi, who has survived at least two assassination attempts, including one just two months ago before talks began, said the nomination itself was a “recognition” for the peace process, and would “empower” the role of Afghan women at Doha in particular.
10. India and its neighborhood – Maulana to lead Pak. anti-govt. front – Pakistan’s firebrand cleric-cum-politician Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been unanimously appointed as the first president of the Opposition’s newly-formed anti-government alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). The decision was taken on Saturday during a virtual meeting of the Opposition parties attended by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, BNP chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal among other senior politicians. According to PDM’s steering committee convener Ahsan Iqbal, deposed Prime Minister Sharif proposed Rehman’s name as the alliance president and it was endorsed by PPP chairman Bilawal and others, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	RBI	RBI	7	MBBS	OCT-9-2020	https://www.iiserb.ac.in/assets_external/vacancy/non-teaching/9bc12bbf34c201e2d2bd07b2e6e34826.PDF
2	IISER, Bhopal	Sports Officer, Medical Officer, Technical Office	27	Degree, PG	OCT-31-2020	https://www.iiserb.ac.in/assets_external/vacancy/non-teaching/9bc12bbf34c201e2d2bd07b2e6e34826.PDF
3	IIPA	Junior Counsellor, Sector Expert	17	LLB/ LLM, Degree/ PG	OCT-8-2020	https://iipa.org.in/upload/advertisement.pdf
4	Mail Motor Services, Kolkata	Skilled Artisan	19	-	30 Days	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/10/Notification-Mail-Motor-Services-Kolkata-Skilled-Artisan.pdf
5	CCRUM	Research Officer, Sr Lib. Attendant, Driver	5	MBBS, PG (Pharma, Bio Chem)	30 Days	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/10/Notification-CCRUM-Research-Officer-Sr-Library-Attendant-Other.pdf
6	IIM, Raipur	Administrative Officer, Finance and Acc. Officer	5	Dip (Engg), MBBS, CA / CMA, PG (Mgmt)	OCT-28-2020	https://recruitment.iimraipur.edu.in/recruitment/admin/uploads/Criteria%20for%20non_teaching.pdf
7	NCDC	Consultant, Comm. Officer, Data Pro. Asst.	11	MBBS, MD/ DNB/ DHA/ MAE, PG	16-10-2020 – Walk in	https://www.ncdc.gov.in/showfile.php?lid=589

 

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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 Airlines to pay interest to passengers on credit shell amount: Supreme Court

 

• Key point –

1. The Supreme Court has ordered airlines to pay 0.5 per cent interest per month on delayed refunds of tickets, which were cancelled due to restrictions imposed, to flyers.
2. Thereafter, value of the credit shell shall be enhanced by 0.75 per cent of the face value per month up to March 31, 2021

• Highlights –

1. The apex court said the credit shell would be valid till March 31, 2021, and if the passenger didn’t use the amount after that, airlines had to refund the amount with additional interest.
2. The amount in the credit shell can be used on any route and is transferable.
3. Ruling in favour of validating the concept of credit shell, the court supported the arguments of airlines that any order for an immediate refund to passengers would threaten the survivability of airlines, which have been worst hit by the pandemic.
4. Petitions challenging the concept of credit shell and seeking full refund from airlines on cancelled tickets were filed by various passenger groups like Air Passenger Association of India, and were tagged along with similar pleas filed by the Pravasi Legal Cell, and Travel Agents Federations of India.
5. Under existing rules, airlines are required to refund passengers for flights cancelled during the Covid-driven lockdown period. However, the aviation regulator DGCA told the court that forcing them to do so may be “counter-productive” in view of the liquidity crunch the sector was facing.
6. The DGCA had suggested the concept of paying interest, saying it considers the best interests of flyers and companies.
7. Industry sources said that while IndiGo and AirAsia said they have refunded the entire amount of cancelled tickets to passengers and travel agents, SpiceJet, GoAir and Vistara still have some amount to pay.

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

2.1 USA commits $1.9 million to India to support informal sector workers and micro enterprises

• Highlights –
  

1. The US has committed USD 1.9 million to support vulnerable populations like informal sector workers whose livelihoods have been disrupted due to COVID-19.
2. The financial assistance from US Agency for International Development (USAID) will support efforts to rebuild local economies and improve the livelihoods of Indians who have been hit hardest by this pandemic.
3. USAID funds will support the Revive alliance, founded by the Samhita-Collective Good Foundation and co-funded by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Omidyar Network India, and the Ford Foundation, to address challenges caused by unemployment and income gaps faced by workers in the informal economy.
4. Revive will launch a USD 6.85 million blended finance facility in its first phase to provide accessible and affordable capital in the form of returnable grants or loans to self-employed workers and at-risk nano and micro enterprises to either sustain their work or find alternative business opportunities.
5. The facility is expected to reach between 60,000-100,000 workers and enterprises and will give preference to youth and women. Revive will also undertake upskilling activities for laid-off youth and informal labourers.
6. Samhita-Collective Good Foundation will initiate shared-value partnerships with a range of stakeholders, including business chambers, non-banking financial companies, private enterprises, and others.
7. USAID support will further deepen Revive’s work by augmenting its secretariat strengthening strategic partnerships and offering technical assistance to partners.

2.2 Weekly Round-up – Business and Finance

• Parliament passes The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020 - The Parliament has passed amendments to the Banking Regulation Act to bring cooperative banks under the supervision of the RBI, a move aimed at protecting the interest of depositors. The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which replaces an ordinance that was promulgated on June 26, was passed by a voice vote in Rajya Sabha on September 22, 2020 and in the Lok Sabha on September 16.
• Parliament passes Bilateral Netting of Qualified Financial Contracts Bill - The Parliament has passed the Bilateral Netting of Qualified Financial Contracts Bill, 2020, which allows for enforcement of netting for qualified financial contracts. The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Sept 23 and by the Lok Sabha on Sept 20. Bilateral netting refers to offsetting claims arising from dealings between two parties to determine the net amount payable or receivable from one party to the other.
• IRDAI identifies LIC, GIC, New India Assurance as D-SIIs - The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has identified LIC, GIC and New India Assurance as domestic systemically important insurers (D-SIIs) and subsequently decided to subject them to enhanced regulatory supervision. The three insurers have also been asked to raise the level of corporate governance, identify all relevant risks and promote a sound risk management culture. D-SIIs are perceived as insurers that are 'too big or too important to fail' (TBTF).
• ED attaches assets of Sree Kanva Souharda Co-Operative Credit Ltd - The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth ₹225.17 crore in a case of cheating against the Sree Kanva Souharda Co-Operative Credit Limited (SKSCCL), Bengaluru City, its founder N. Nanjundaiah and others. The accused had collected ₹650 crore from about 13,000 depositors on the promise of a high interest rate.
• SBICAP acquires 56.17% stake in Jindal Stainless - SBICAP Trustee Company on September 23, 2020 said it acquired 56.17 per cent stake in Jindal Stainless (JSL). The latter's promoters had pledged shares as collateral to secure a term loan of Rs 400 crore from IndusInd Bank. JSL had pledged 13.02 million shares to secure the term loan, said SBICAP in a BSE filing.
• HDFC Bank launches warehouse commodity finance app - Private sector lender HDFC Bank on September 25, 2020 launched a Warehouse Commodity Finance App. This will enable customers in drawing down and managing the loan against pledge of commodities online without physical intervention or multiple visits to a bank branch.
• Axis Bank partners with Bayer’s better life farming initiative - Life sciences firm Bayer on September 25, 2020 said it has partnered with private sector lender Axis Bank for its better life farming (BLF) initiative in India to provide enhanced and holistic financial solutions to smallholder farmers and rural farming communities.
• RBI ropes in Amitabh Bachchan for the customer awareness campaign - The Reserve Bank of India has roped in actor Amitabh Bachchan for the customer awareness campaign to prevent gullible account holders from being duped by fraudsters.

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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 Country to build 100-bedded hospital, 22,000-seater stadium in Maldives

• Highlights – 
  

1. India will build a 100-bedded cancer hospital and a 22,000-seater cricket stadium in Maldives, under the USD 800 million Line of Credit (LoC) that was extended to the country last year.
2. Indian embassy has said that the development projects in the Hulhumale will benefit both the visitors and residents.
3. In March 2019, the Exim Bank had extended a USD 800 million LoC to the Maldives for developmental projects in the island nation.
4. Projects covered under the LoC include several infrastructure development projects.
5. Recently, India extended a USD 250 million loan to the Maldives government to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19, in which the State Bank of India will subscribe to a Treasury Bond issued by the Maldives government with a 10-year tenure.

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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 – Accidents and Natural Disasters

• Antonov An-26 military plane crashes in Ukraine, killing 22 - A military transport plane (Antonov An-26) carrying air force cadets crashed and burst into flames near a highway in northeastern Ukraine on September 25, 2020, killing at least 22 people on board.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 10 lakh multi-mode hand grenades for the Indian Army

• Key point  –

1. In a fillip to the “Make in India” initiative, the defence ministry has signed a deal worth Rs 409 crore with a Nagpur-based company for the supply of 10,00,000 multi-mode hand grenades to the Indian Army. Earlier similar products were mostly imported to meet the demands.

• Important details  –

1. These grenades replace the obsolete World War-II design in service with the forces. The new grenades have a distinctive make and are extremely effective in both offensive and defensive modes.
2. The new hand grenades, called multi-mode hand grenades (MMHG) have been designed by the DRDO and is entirely made in India. The complete supply of the hand grenades to the armed forces will take about two years.
3. The grenades have a distinctive design, in that, they can be used in both Offensive and Defensive Modes.
4. It is for the first time that a privately owned company will supply completely built ammunition to the defence forces thus reducing its dependency on Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).
5. According to reports, the costing of the new grenades is relatively less than the production cost of OFB.

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

8.1 International Day for Older Persons 2020

 

• International Day for Older Persons –
  

1. The day is observed on October 1 every year. It is a United Nations designated day to focus on the well-being of the elderly people.
2. The day aims to raise awareness of the impact of an aging population and the need to ensure people can grow old with dignity and to elevate consciousness about points which are affecting the aged, like senescence and elder abuse.
3. The UN General Assembly designated October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons on December 14, 1990. Prior to that there were two key developments - the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing and the World Assembly on Ageing. The two initiatives led to the dedicated day for the elderly people.
4. For the first time in history, 2018 saw people aged 65 and above outnumber children under five globally.
5. Data from the World Population Prospects 2019 (revised) says, "...by 2050, one in six people in the world will be over age 65, up from one in 11 in 2019."
6. The WHO says, the "Decade of Healthy Ageing" - 2020-2030 - is an "opportunity to bring together governments, civil society, international agencies, professionals, academia, the media, and the private sector for ten years of concerted, catalytic and collaborative action to improve the lives of older people.

• Theme –

1. The theme of the 2020 commemoration is “Pandemics: Do They Change How We Address Age and Ageing?”.
2. In the "Decade of Healthy Ageing" amid the pandemic, the United Nations has a multi-pronged approach.

• The multi-pronged approach –

1. Raise awareness of the special health needs of older persons and of their contributions to their own health and to the functioning of the societies in which they live.
2. Increase awareness and appreciation of the role of the health care workforce in maintaining and improving the health of older persons, with special attention to the nursing profession.
3. Present proposals for reducing the health disparities between older persons in the developed and developing countries, so as to 'leave no one behind’.
4. Increase understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on older persons and its impact on health care policy, planning, and attitudes.

8.2 UPSC Prelims 2020: Cut-off is expected to remain low

 

• The CANDIDATES APPEAR AT THE EXAM CENTRES WEARING A MASK or a face cover, not an usual seen at any competitive exam centre in India, but without it, examiners were not allowing to enter the centres.  
• Amid many ups and downs around COVID 19 Pandemic, finally UPSC conducted its UPSC Prelims 2020 on October 4, 2020 (Sunday) at 2569 centres of 72 cities across India. Nearly 10.58 lakh candidates had registered for the exam out of which around five lakh appeared. Which was an exceptionally low attendance. Over 60,000 candidates had availed the option of changing the centre.
• The exam was conducted in two sessions. The first session was held from 9:30 to 11:30 am and the second was from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm. In the morning shift paper of General Studies (GS) and in the afternoon shift CSAT was conducted. Both the papers were  of objective in nature and were  conducted in offline mode. GS paper contained 100 questions while CSAT had 80 questions.  
• Total 796 vacancies are notified this year, 100 fewer than last year.
• Paper Pattern – Questions were asked from the areas like Environment, History, Polity, Arts and Culture and Agriculture. Current affairs questions although less in number was from past six-month period and questions were not from the COVID-19 period. More conceptual and statement based questions were asked.
• Difficulty Level – The candidates who have appeared in the prelims rated the paper as difficult to moderate. Questions related to history and economy were found tough.
• Mains - The candidates who had cleared the prelims will appear for main, scheduled to be held on January 8, 2021. Time gap between Mains and Prelims is very less, a fine idea about expected marks in prelims is going to be nucleus of preparation strategy. Aspirants being sure about their selection based on expected marks can prepare for Mains without much doubt. But students who find themselves on boundary line of expected cut off would be under pressure while preparing.
• Attendance – Attendance of the candidate remained low. For example It was 35-40% in Ranchi, 50% in Lucknow and 65% in Telangana. Overall attendance was of 50%.
• Expected Cut off - Though predicting UPSC cut-off is not a good idea, but one thing is sure, in the given scenario the cut-off is expected to remain low. According to experts for a General Category candidate it could be around 95 marks
• The cut-off marks and answer keys of screening test held through CS (P) examination will be uploaded on the commission’s websites, upsc.gov.in or upsconline.nic.in only after the entire process of the examination is over, that is, after the declaration of the final result.
• The road ahead - Aspirants should start preparing for Mains.

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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 -

• Well-known Fashion designer Sharbari Dutta died at the age of 63 in Sept 2020.
• Reliance Industries (RIL) in Sept 2020 became the first Indian company to surpass the $200-billion# market capitalisation mark.
• PM Modi in Sept 2020 launched mobile app e-Gopala that will provide solutions to farmers on livestock related issues.
• SAMPADA is Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters.
• Rs 15 lakh is the new prize money for each Dronacharya (Lifetime) awardee announced by Sports Minister in Aug 2020.

10.3 Today's best editorials to read

• We offer you 7 excellent editorials from across 10 newspapers we have scanned. 

CLICK HERE TO OPEN AND READ!

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• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

Solve the online quiz given, right now. Check scores, and relative performance!

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